Welcome to Gaia! ::

"It's good that you asked. Not only do these Pokemon react to their local environment, they can cause a wide array of weather phenomena. We've been researching why they're able to do this. After years of research and the application of new microscopic filters, we've learned that there are small particles they store in their bodies. Each particle is composed of three sub-particles, and we've only seen two different types of subparticles. So far they have been observed to emit eight kinds." Seth explained.

"That sounds familiar," Tails mused.

"Chi?"

"Or Trigrams," Tails said. "That's what the individual particles are called. You mean you can see Trigrams?"

"Er...if that's what they are. Are you sure it's the same thing?"

Tails looked about the room, for a table, and thankfully on its corner were a paper and pen. Good enough. "I'll show you."

There at the table, he drew a series of eight characters, each composed of three lines, either broken or unbroken. He circled two of these. "These two are Fire and Water. They might not look like this exactly, but this has to be the same principle, right?"

"Well I'll be...I never expected something from the People's Republic would prove applicable to science. They're definitely recognizable."

"So perhaps...you were doing the same thing Castform do?" Seth wondered.

"Maybe. I dunno. The energy ball was just for show, really," Tails admitted. "So, um...Do you think there's a way kids like us can get a Castform?"

"I'd need to speak with the Castform Project director," Seth said. Fearing a hurdle they might not be able to clear, Tails' ears drooped. "But confirming our lead might have him lend an ear. How about we go to see him?"

Tails' ears perked right up again.

"Marcus will be looking over today's rain patterns," Seth said. "Follow me. He's not -too- irritable when he's disturbed."

Seth left the room, and when Tails followed, the sunny Castform followed him. Tails grinned, but of course this troubled Seth a little. He hoped this was only a temporary infatuation.

"Mm. They react with hail and snowy weather as well. And, while they don't seem to transform during snowstorms and other strange weather, they have an attack that does," Seth explained.

He did not like that the Castform followed them downstairs. Or through the halls to Marcus' office. "Say, fox kid, could you turn off the fire?"

Tails shrugged. "I'm not putting anything out. I used too much with the Castform."

"Mm, that might work. You two announce that you're here, and I'll take the Castform outside." Seth looked then to the happy little suns. "Come along now, you two. Your new heat source is out of heat."

As he nudged them along, the two Castform seemed downcast. "Awwww."

"Well, they sound disappointed," Tails said, trying not to laugh.

Tails shrugged. "I dunno. It'd be nice. But it sounds like pretty serious business..."

He knocked on the door, and said, "We're here to see Marcus." Tails waited, but Seth returned to them before someone answered the door.

Marcus was an older man, but not too old. His crew-cut hair had started to grey, and the lines on his forehead bore witness to his many nights of studying radar scans. Like the other meteorologists here, however, he did not look severe. "What's this then?"

"Marcus. These two gave us a more concrete lead about those three-part particles. The fox kid claims that it's these trigrams that the Castform let off to change the weather. I think it's Castform that know how to do it efficiently enough to change the weather on a larger scale," Seth explained.

"Mm. Did he substantiate his claims?"

"He changed the forms of the Castform on his own."

"Really, now?" Marcus said, and looked down to Tails. "It's nice that you visited then."

"They were wondering if they could get a Castform for themselves."

"Mm. Well, for obvious reasons, they're tightly regulated." Marcus turned, and was silent. He paced and, after time, found himself before his window.

Two rainy Castform stared back at him.

Marcus opened the window, and in flew the two Castform, shaking the water off their bodies. "Eee!"

"Whatever the boy did, it seems they're accepting him as one of their own," Marcus said.

"And it's not like we can keep him here. His friend would get lonely, and surely he has parents."

Tails didn't answer that. He didn't think he needed to.

With a sigh, Marcus sat down at his desk. He waved one of the Castform to him, and urged it onto the wooden surface. It returned his stare, its bulbous eyes almost pleading. "Hm. I don't think it would take no for an answer. And these two are brothers. After all the monitoring we've given them, it'd be a shame to let them go." He looked up to the boys again. "However, we now have a solid lead for our next set of Castform."

"And the characters he drew matched the description. Eight of them, two sub-particles between all of them. He even circled the two arrays we've associated with fire and water," Seth added.

"Then I think my confidence can rest on letting these two Castform go with these boys. Mind you, this will need to stay off the books. You know what that entails?"

Tails nodded. Behind the official mask, he knew the old guy was pleased with this development. "Don't let anyone know where or how we got them."

"That's right. And mind how potent they are. I'm sure Seth briefed you on their powers?"

Again, Tails nodded. He tried so very hard not to bare his teeth in a victorious grin, and only succeeded with a downward tilt of his head.