I'm kind of excited about this story but I don't know how well it will work. I'm still working out kinks and if this chapter does not meet up to my standards later then it probably will be taken down. If you like it, don't hesitate to tell me!

So at first this was largely inspired by the Hunger Games, but then I revised the whole thing after I recently started watching Heroes again, one of my absolute favorite shows. Now, like I said, I don't know if this is going to work out but I have high hopes for it.

This is a story about a city consumed by crime. Crystal is going to put a stop to it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon

Update:

Hey everyone I have recently decided to redo the current chapters so check back regularly for updates. I know this chapter is now way better than it was before so please reread and enjoy!

The rain pattered softly on the top of the woman's umbrella. Her black high-heeled boots clicked on the sidewalk as she hurried with her head down. She had her brimmed hat tilted down slightly so her face wasn't visible from a distance. It was a bad part of the city, and she wasn't exactly wanted here anyway. Many shady characters watched her with interest. She was attractive, curves just hidden by her long grey button-up jacket, long brown hair flowing over her shoulders, black skirt with tights.

A crack of lightning lit the cold night sky as she turned the corner and picked up her pace down the street. She stopped in front of an old apartment building. She pressed the call button and heard a buzz and a click. She opened the door, closing her umbrella and removing her hat.

The inside of the apartment complex was bare. Little occupied the wood flooring save for an unlit fireplace and a series of mailboxes. There was one flight of stairs. The woman ascended it, turning down the hallway and stopping at room number ninety-four. She knocked on the door.

In a moment the door opened. An attractive man greeted her with a smile. He stepped aside and held the door open for her.

The two sat at his small dining table, talking and laughing with each other.

She removed her hat and set it on the table, revealing her piercing blue eyes alit with mischief. She had no doubt been up to something that night. The man could tell. He watched her, studied every inch of her expression. It was his job after all. He'd gotten so good at it too. People were like books to him.

"That's a nice necklace," he said to her. "Who'd you steal it from?"

She sighed with a fake grin and looked down at it. "Nothing gets past you does it, Green?"

"You never answered my question." He held his smirk.

"It's nothing major," she stated. "I pulled off some rich daddy's-girl I met at the bar. She wanted to come home with me, if you catch my drift."

He shook his head and rolled his eyes. "You're a doctor, Blue. You could afford ten of those necklaces."

She smirked. "I know, but paying for things is never any fun."

He smiled and looked down at his papers, glasses sliding down his bridge. Blue noticed how nicely dressed he was, as always. He wore a white dress shirt underneath a black button-up vest and grey dress pants. The only thing remotely unkempt about him was his hair, but it never was neat.

There was a long silence before Blue's tone turned serious.

"How's the project coming?" she asked.

He glanced up and gave her an exasperated work. "I don't know. I think I've hit a dead end." He sat back. "Some variable needs to be changed, something small. I just don't know what yet."

"Well keep working at it," she replied. "It's necessary that you get it developed as soon as possible. You know after you finish, we still have to run trials and manufacturing. If you don't get it done soon, we're going to run out of time."

He looked at her and sighed. "I know."

(One year later)

Crystal stared through the muzzle of the gun pointed in her face. She swallowed as a crowd gathered. The man threatened to shoot if anyone took another step closer. She silently prayed that no one moved another inch. She knew this man would do it. He had nothing to lose.

Jesus Christ, she thought to herself. Where the hell is security?

She swallowed again before speaking. "Sir. Please, I-I can't—"

"Shut up!" he said, wiping the sweat off his face with his hand. "You rich assholes! I'm the one who needs a damn house!"

Crystal looked down to avoid watching his hand become shakier. One slip and BAM! She'd be done for. She licked her lips nervously, feeling the sweat form on her own forehead.

"Sir," she started again, shakily. "Y-you don't have the right licenses, bu—"

"Shut up!" he said louder this time, spit flying onto Crystal's desk. He frowned at her.

"Sir, let me finish," she started again calmly. "But you can easily get them. It will take no less than a few hours."

Suddenly, black-coated security burst into the room. She took the moment to duck underneath her desk as the man was distracted with the sudden clamor behind him. After a small skirmish, they easily confiscated the gun and took him out by his arms. Crystal sighed with relief as she sat back up. Everyone had gone back to their respective positions.

She rapidly hit a pen on her desk as she rested her head in her hand. It wasn't the first time she'd been threatened, but it was the first time anyone had actually gone through with it. Housing authority wasn't even worth it anyway. It wasn't a fun job. She never dealt with anyone prominent. They were pretty much all poor lunatics who couldn't afford the clothes on their back let alone any form of shelter.

Kingdom City, the land of beaches, sunshine, and crazies.

It had once been such a nice place to live, a paradise. Located just off the ocean, it was cozy place with good, nice people. Sometime after the terrorist attack on the twin towers, it took a turn for the worse. People took a turn for the worse. They became distant, closed off. Crime was at an all time high. And it seemed like the police just gradually lost interest. The hopelessness of the situation was really quite sad. Kingdom wasn't on its way down the drain; it was already in the sewer.

She had lost her own parents to crime. It had already been five years a few weeks ago. Crystal was sixteen at the time. It was a few years after they adopted her little brother. He was thirteen. Now eighteen, he was proving to be a real pain to get to take life seriously. But honestly, in this city, who takes life seriously?

Crystal clocked out as she was flooded with memories of the way things used to be. Until that fateful day, she hadn't even noticed the city's descent into madness. It wasn't until the gang shooting on her block that killed her parents when she realized that Kingdom was taking a turn for the worse.

She walked to the parking garage and pulled out of her parking spot. Her baby blue 1993 Chrysler was chipped and rusted in some parts, but it got her to work and back home, and that was all she needed.

She pulled her car up along the sidewalk curb, feeding the parking meter her spare change. She walked up the steps of her apartment complex and pulled out the key, unlocking the front door and walking in. She checked the mailbox, it was empty. She suspected her brother had already gotten it.

She took the elevator up to the third level, walking to her door. She unlocked it and walked in, closing it behind her with an exasperated sigh. She slunk down to the ground and buried her face in her palms.

Her brother called her name a few times, and when there was no response, he walked out. Crystal looked at him through fanned fingers. A grimace was plastered on her face. He could tell it hadn't been a good day. He went over and sat by her.

"What happened?" he asked.

She told him. He wasn't really surprised. Nothing in this city ever surprised him anymore.

She glanced at him and suddenly noticed how much older he'd gotten. She remembered the day he came to them, with that ludicrous hair. It was now much shorter and styled in a flow. It was a lot nicer. He'd also beefed up quite a bit, despite being in front of the computer for most of his days on the earth. He was shorter than her pretty much up until he reached sixteen, which he never liked about himself. Now he stood at at least six-foot-one.

Ironically, he was more affected by their parents' death than Crystal was, and Crystal was their blood daughter. She understood though. His real dad died when he was about five and his mother took a slow descent into drugs. By the time he turned seven, he was taken from her custody. After that he bounced around from foster family to foster family until Crystal's parents decided to adopt him. He was the happiest he had been for a long time, and once they died, it was just like another family had been taken away.

Crystal still had nightmares about the day they died.

"Have you found a job yet?" she asked, breaking the silence.

He sighed and wiped his face with his hand. "Crys. I don't want a job." He got up and walked into the kitchen.

"I don't mean to be a nag, but you need one, Emerald. I can't support us both and pay Nana's bills."

Nana, their grandmother, took custody of them after their parents died. She was old then, and once Emerald turned eighteen, she willingly admitted herself in a nursing home. Truthfully, she was scared of this city just as much as everyone else. A few years after the adoption, she slowly began to admit to Alzheimer's and now barely recognizes either of them. Usually she thinks Crystal and Emerald are her own children, Crystal's mother and uncle.

"You can work from home you know!" Crystal yelled to him. "There are plenty of jobs, like medical transcription, or jewelry making!"

Emerald's agenda everyday was sleep until one in the afternoon, wake up, tweak his electronics, go out and party at nine and not come home until three or four in the morning. She worried about him a lot, but he had picked up some street smarts over the years. He knew how to keep out of trouble.

On more than one occasion, she thought of taking her brother and moving, but she couldn't. Her parents' graves were there, and they had bought a plot for the whole family when she was little. Their father's parents were buried there, and their grandpa on their mom's side. She wanted to stay.

Besides, for some reason, Emerald liked the excitement. He wouldn't leave. He had friends and a life. Crystal could go alone; he was eighteen after all, but she didn't want to go without him. He was the only family she had left ever since their grandma succumbed to the disease.

Their parents both had siblings, but they all lived in different cities. After Kingdom's crime rate went up, they decided to leave the ties they had with their family and get out. They couldn't be swayed to stay in a place where they put their own lives at risk everyday just be being alive. Paradise was lost.

After Crystal and Emerald had talked about it for a few hours, they were still at a stalemate, so Crystal decided to give up for the time being and turned on the TV. She instantly flipped it to the news. The senator was on delivering a speech.

"Why do you watch the news? It's so boring," Emerald asked, taking a seat next to his sister on the old, worn sofa. "Why do you watch that bitch, especially? I'd rather stick needles in my ears than listen to her talk."

Senator Berlitz wasn't well-liked in the city. Before the election, she was popular, had a landslide victory in the state of Florida. In Kingdom City, the few that went to vote voted for her. She held promises of lowering crime and bringing out Kingdom's potential. Soon after the election it was revealed that she was involved with a gang, and that they helped her win the election. Of course there was no evidence, so she couldn't be charged with anything, but everyone still knew.

Crystal couldn't question her abilities though. Apparently she was a genius, skipped three out of four years of high school and then got a full-ride scholarship to Harvard Law. A handful of newspapers in the nation claimed her to be one of the smartest people in America. Lots of politicians wanted her to run for president. Crystal was sure she'd be elected in a heartbeat. She wondered how a woman like this could let corruption tarnish her image.

After she concluded the speech with a smile, the crowd exploded with questions. The senator wouldn't answer them though. She never did.

Blue looked at her reflection in the mirror. She was still naked, hair still wet, toothbrush running over her grimy teeth. Green's cramped bathroom hardly gave her the space she needed, but she fared. Besides, after the month was out, they'd both be living in a penthouse uptown. Birch promised them that.

Green had already left for work. He didn't have to work as much as last year, but his hours were still insane.

Blue spat in the sink.

This place is such a bachelor pad, she thought as she examined the moldy corners of the bathroom. She was sure it wasn't a luxurious place in the beginning, but no doubt Green's busy schedule and masculine traits didn't allow time for cleaning the bathroom. Blue left, put clothes on, and then headed out the door.

It was a blisteringly hot day, not uncommon for Florida. The sky was an endless expanse of blue. The humidity made it hard to breath and the bright sun made it hard to see. Blue never liked the heat all that much. The highest temperature she could handle was about eighty-five. Kingdom City was not the place for her. Kingdom City was not the place for anyone anymore.

Blue was on her way back to the quick tram system that ran in the city. Kingdom was split into five districts, the Kanto district, Johto district, Hoenn district, Sinnoh district, and Unova district—essentially, North, South, East, West, and Central respectively. After Kingdom succumbed to corruption, the city council established a quick tram system for easier travel. The main station was located in the heart of the Unova district. It branched out into four different directions, connecting the other districts to it. It was truly one of the city's greatest ideas in a long time.

Downtown Kingdom was in Johto. Most of the crime happened there, but Blue happened to know that the Black Hands operated in Hoenn, to keep the cops off their guard. They said that district was significant to the leader in some way, but Blue couldn't remember. It wasn't like she really cared anyway.

Each district was classified in a different way. Like the same way Johto was downtown, Sinnoh was uptown, classy, with all the ritzy hotels and mansions. It was where distinguished people lived, where the senator stayed when she was in the city.

Hoenn was a mostly residential area, a few apartment complexes here and there, but none all that big. The few families left in the city lived there, but most of the houses were bought out by gang bangers who used them as meth labs. Police never had any good reason to investigate them though.

Kanto was the industrial part of the city. Its streets were riddled with warehouses and manufacturers. The sun was barely able to break through the thick smog from the factories there. Word on the street was that Kanto had some of the best places to hide bodies.

Finally Unova sat in the center. The only remarkable thing about the Unova district was the tram station. Unova also held the government building and one of the top police stations in the city (which wasn't all that great of a compliment). For this reason, crime was lowest there.

Blue made her way to the station. The quick tram had been a good idea on the city's part, but the stations were filthy. Management never came around the clean them and most of the city's homeless people lived there freely. They were sketchy places, but it was nothing Blue couldn't handle. There wasn't a lot Blue couldn't handle.

As she ascended the flight of stairs to the ticket office, two very big men appeared in front of her. They both were easily twice her size with small, fat necks and greasy hair. They reeked of booze and sweat. Blue nonchalantly turned around but there were two more men of the same caliber behind her. She gave them a polite smile.

"Gentlemen," she said as she tried to side step them. One grabbed her by the arm and shook her to face him.

"I don't think so lass," he said in a heavy Irish accent. He carried her to the nearest bathroom, followed closely by the other three men. He threw her on the tiled floor of the bathroom and they all gathered around her in a semicircle, their arms folded.

She laughed as she propped herself up on her hands. "When was the last time you guys showered?"

"Don't give us any lip," one of them said as they kicked her in the stomach. She groaned and then started gasping.

"Alright," she said between breaths. "Mind telling me what this is about?"

"You well know," guy number three said. "Birch gave you ten months and a great amount of money to do this job for him. It's been a year and he's still wasting on you. He's sent us to collect the product."

"Moron," Blue commented. "I'm not the one who's been working on it for the past year, Green is. If he wants it so bad go to the hospital."

The fourth man picked her up by the throat and slammed her against the wall, she gagged.

"We know where the drug is. But you see, we're merciful. We're willing to give you more time, but first we need some reimbursement, plus interest."

He dropped her and she started coughing. She glared at him. "That wasn't apart of the deal."

"Two extra months and two-hundred-thousand dollars more wasn't apart of the deal either. You see, the Black Hands are kind of low on funds because of you. Birch's being generous; you have a week to pay up all the money you owe him plus ten percent," the one who drug her into the bathroom said.

She laughed. "The Black Hands are low on funds? Really? Are pigs flying too?"

One of the men kicked her in the stomach again. "No lip."

She was gasping for air. "Listen, you guys are crazy if you think I can come up with that in time. But I'm sure Green and I can work out a deal with Birch if we can just talk to him."

The fourth man picked her up by her upper arms this time, violently holding her in one spot. "No. You're going to find a way to get the money, or else things aren't looking good for you and your boy."

Her mocking smirk faded, replacing itself with a menacing glare. "If you don't let me go now, things aren't going to look well for you either."

Her press conference's always had a big turn out, whether people liked her or not. She was charismatic, charming, had a way with words, and she had that million-dollar smile.

Senator Berlitz's closing words were always met with a barrage of questions from old and young reporters alike. She learned to ignore them when all anyone asked about was her affiliation with the Black Hands. But not answering made her look just as suspicious.

She gave the crowd one last smile as she turned around and went into a corridor that led to her office. There she was met with a handful of her staff, but the only one she wanted to talk to was her advisor. She walked ahead of the crowd with him at her side.

"How do you think that went?" she asked the blonde man.

"You did well," he replied, "but you can't keep evading the questions. Sooner or later you have to make a statement."

"Yeah well, the later the better," she said quietly.

"Senator! Senator!" a blonde woman yelled from behind her. A fake, cheesy smile only a fake, cheesy reporter could wear was plastered across her face. There was a pencil stuck just behind her ear, partially covered by an orange lace hat. "Hello," she said, sticking out her hand. "My name's Bianca, and I'm with the Kingdom City Gazette. I just have a few questions that I was hoping you would answer."

The crowd of Berlitz's employees fell silent as the senator looked at the woman for a long time. Bianca's smile slowly faded. Berlitz glowered at the blonde woman before piping, "No."

Berlitz started to turn around, but Bianca was persistent.

"Oh," She said with a light giggle, "but it'll just take a minute of your time."

The senator rolled her eyes and turned around to face her. With a small smirk, she said, "And that's one minute too much. You're questions aren't any better than the questions of the other ten thousand reporters in the state of Florida, and my time isn't worth even one of them. You see my biggest pet peeve is when joy-sucking life-ruining reporters like you try asking questions they don't have the capacity to even comprehend the answer to."

She took a few steps towards Bianca.

"Now, you must be new to this business, because I've never seen you around before, but let me just say this, when I say I'm not commenting, then I mean I'm not commenting. Are we clear?"

Bianca held her gaze confidently before replying, "Yes ma'am."

"Good," the senator said with another million-dollar grin before turning around and walking away. Her blonde advisor was trying to stifle his grin as he returned at his spot by her side.

Her crowd slowly began to disperse into their own offices, soon leaving the senator with only her lanky blonde advisor. They adjourned to her own office. She flipped on the lights, revealing a dark mahogany desk in front of a series of large windows.

"God I hate reporters," she said as she closed the shutters.

"They're only doing their job, Platinum. They wouldn't make money if they didn't try. Do you want their children to starve?" he asked, glancing at her with a smirk. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and leaned up against the desk.

"It's not even that. Becoming a reporter is a very nice career choice, and one can make many friends if they so choose to be an honest, respectful reporter, but they're all like paparazzi around here. What's my business is my business, and I'm handling it."

He went up to her and brushed a stray piece of hair back. "It's only because you're involved with the Black Hands. Relax, she was new. It probably won't happen again."

She smiled as she looked in his eyes. He frowned.

"I wouldn't be expecting a very nice article on you in the gazette tomorrow morning though."

She just rolled her eyes at him.

As a detective, Yellow De Tokiwa Grove had seen her fair share of unexplainable things in the city, but this by far took the cake. This man was a hit-man one of the Black Hands' best. Yellow arrested him a few days prior, but now she sat in front of him in the very interrogation room he confessed all his murders in, his frightened shrieks piercing her eardrum. It was simply unexplainable.

Behind her stood Dr. Green Oak. She held a certain disdain for this man. He had cleared many prisoners for insanity, but most of them weren't insane in the detective's opinion.

This man was not insane, now, however, he clearly was.

He sat there in his straight jacket, tears flowing down his cheeks, blood dripping from his nostril as he rocked back and forth in his chair, muttering over and over again the word "ape". His eyes were lost. He was truly gone.

"Well," the doctor said, pushing himself off the wall he was leaning on, "he's clearly insane. I'll talk to the judge and see if I can have him moved to the psychiatric hospital."

Green left the interrogation room. Yellow watched him go before turning her attention back to the ex-serial killer before her. Her eyes filled with disbelief. She wasn't sure what was going on, but she knew something was not right.

The door to the bathroom hit the hallway wall with such shock that anyone in the surrounding area was sure to have heard it. One of Birch's men hit the ground hard, his swollen eye and fat lip matching the ripped clothes and broken joints. The other three were brutally killed, some of their limbs torn completely from their bodies.

Blue calmly stepped out of the bathroom and placed her heel gently on the man's temple, keeping her head down. He shouted when she put a little force on it. She gripped the frame of the door for support.

"I'm going to leave you alive, so you can pass along a message," she said, pressing down harder. "If Birch wants his money, he can come to me himself. Until then, you stay away from Green and me. If I catch anyone of you so much as looking at us the wrong way then—" she broke off, pressing her heel onto the man's head harder so he was bleeding a little, "—well let's just say it won't be pretty. Are we clear?"

The man choked out a "yes" like a little mouse at the mercy of a bloodthirsty cat.

"Good," Blue said with a smile before walking away.

I hope you enjoyed! Don't forget to review!

-PrestigiousP