"He what?" Blue's voice filled the air as she started screeching into the PokeGear. "Prof Oak, you can't be serious!"
"Blue, please calm down," Professor Oak pleaded. "Just get the others over to my lab and I'll explain everything."
"You... you aren't joking?' Blue spluttered. "But this can't be happening!"
"Blue! There's not much time left! Get the other DexHolders over, now!" Oak ordered and switched off his PokeGear. His shoulders slumped when he glanced at the strange letter which lay on his desk. One word stood out from the black and red type on the paper. Pokedex...
"Explain."
Professor Oak jumped out of his seat, startled. He turned around to see Blue with the rest of the other DexHolders. All of them were there - the Kanto quartet, the Johto trio, the Hoenn trio and even their latest additions, the Sinnoh trio. The three youngest looked rather nervous at being in the presence of their older (and probably scarier) seniors, and the renowned Professor Oak.
"You could have just knocked," Oak said.
Green narrowed his eye. "Why did you gather all of us here for? And why did you ask Blue to do it?"
"Blue's the most sociable! If I asked you, probably only the Kanto and the Johto people would have come," Oak answered. "This way, I knew that everyone would be here."
"Get to the point, old uncle," Gold yawned. "What happened?"
Professor Oak passed the letter to Green. "Please read it. This letter is from Mr Ghetsis."
Green's eyes widened when he saw the words. He looked at Professor Oak questioningly and Oak nodded. Green swallowed hard and spoke. "Dear Professor Oak, I greatly respect your opinion and your knowledge on Pokemon. Truly, your invention of the Pokedex has been most beneficial to humans and Pokemon alike. However, it has come to my notice that the group of people who have been given Pokedexes by you - the DexHolders - are not suitable to own a Pokedex."
"WHAT?" Gold and Red shouted. "That's not true!"
"He said that?" Crystal paled. "But why?"
Sapphire was on her feet in an instant. "I'd dare him to say that again to my face! See how this DexHolder is not suitable to own a Pokedex!"
"Calm down, Sapphire," Ruby said. "Let Green continue!"
"Pokemon were not meant to be enslaved by humans. They were meant to run free in the wild and natural environment, not trapped in a small ball. The Pokedex was created as a tool to study Pokemon, but lately the DexHolders have been abusing that privilege. Those DexHolders are a bad example to people everywhere. They encourage more people to catch and train Pokemon, causing harm to Pokemon are frequently put into dangerous battles without care for their well-being. Not a single one of them truly cares about their Pokemon."
"That's not... not true," Yellow stuttered. She blinked rapidly, her eyes getting misty. "How could he say that?" Blue went over and wrapped her arms around the smaller girl, comforting her.
Green continued, "As such, I have decided that all the Pokedexes shall be returned to me. I own the original patent on them, and thus I own all Pokedexes. Rest assured that the Pokedexes will be put to good use. My son N will be travelling with a Pokedex to help to encourage people to stop enslaving Pokemon. I understand that the DexHolders may need some time getting used to the idea. By the end of this year, 31st December, I shall expect to receive all 10 Pokedexes. I do hope you see the wisdom in my decision and return them to their proper owner. Thank you. Yours Sincerely -"
"Who does that guy think he is?" Gold yelled, cutting off Green. "He can't just take our Pokedexes like that! What gave him the right?"
"Professor, you can't let him do this to us!" Blue seethed. "He's just a bully!"
"Mr Ghetsis is very rich and famous. He is well-known in social circles," Platinum pondered. "But he doesn't own our Pokedexes... does he?" All eyes turned to Oak.
Oak shifted uneasily. "The thing is... Ten years ago I had developed the Pokedex, but I didn't have the proper technology to actually create and produce it. Mr Ghetsis was the one who helped me find the parts and finalize the Pokedex. Without him, I could never have accomplished it. In return, I let him have the patent. It seemed like a small thing at that time."
"So basically you gave him the rights to all Pokedexes." Green looked appalled. "Grandpa, didn't you think?"
"I did!" Oak protested. "But I never thought he would actually try to claim it. He seemed as sincere as I was in creating the Pokedex to benefit everyone!"
"And what if we refuse to return it?" Silver frowned. "What would he do?"
"He can't exactly force us," Pearl pointed out. "If we defended ourselves, there'd be no need to surrender our Pokedex."
"Don't even try."
Everyone froze at the sound of the cold voice and turned around slowly. A tall, green-haired man stood in front of them smirking cruelly. "Hello," he said, fixing his eyes on Oak. "We meet again."
Oak locked eyes with the man. "Everyone..." he gestured. "This is Ghetsis."
"So you're the guy who's trying to steal our Pokedexes?" Sapphire glared at Ghetsis. She probably would have jumped out of her seat and tackled him had Ruby not caught her arms from behind.
"Not steal, my dear. Merely claim what was mine in the first place," Ghetsis corrected. "You must be the charming Sapphire."
Sapphire gaped at him. "How did you know?"
"I always do my research," Ghetsis smiled. "Your father is Professor Birch, you were born in Littleroot Town..."
"That's enough," Red interrupted, seeing Sapphire's shocked face. "We get your point. What are you here for?"
"The Battler." Ghetsis nodded at him. "Why, I'm here to see that you keep your word after all."
"We're not going to give in to you." Emerald stepped up. "People like you don't deserve Pokedexes."
"That's too bad. I'd hoped we could do this peacefully, but it looks like you stubborn kids won't budge," Ghetsis said. He pulled a small remote out of his pocket. "Lucky guess!" He pressed a blue button on the remote and there was a sudden beeping sound.
"Its coming from Diamond's Pokedex!" Blue pointed at Diamond's vibrating pocket. Dia blinked sleepily and retrieved his Pokedex. "What's wrong?" He looked confused at all the commotion as his attention had been focused on the banana he had stolen from Sapphire' Tropius.
Gold snatched the Pokedex from Dia's hands and tried to access the data. To his horror, there was nothing on the Pokedex. The screen was blank. Gold shook it in frustration. "What did you do to it?" he cried.
Silver took the Pokedex and unscrewed the back. He gasped as he saw a single, corroded microchip. He held it up to show the others and it crumbled into dust, blown away with the wind.
"You!" Crystal covered her mouth and stepped backwards. "You destroyed Dia's Pokedex!"
Pearl clenched his fists. "You did that to Dia? You're gonna pay!" he growled. He swung a fist at Ghetsis, only to find Green blocking him. "Get out of my way, senior!" Pearl attempted to push Green away, but Green held on to his hand.
"Stop! If Ghetsis could do that to Diamond's Pokedex, think of what he could do to yours! Do you want your Pokedex to be destroyed like his was? Come to your senses, Pearl!" Green ordered. Pearl calmed down and lowered his fist. He walked over to Dia and patted him on his back. "Sorry, Dia. But I swear I'll make him pay."
"Wise choice, Green Oak. With this remote I can easily destroy any of your Pokedexes. And even better," Ghetsis grinned, pointing at a red button. "I can destroy everything. If I press this button here, one of your Pokedexes will explode."
"You're insane!" Ruby said, shocked. "If you blow this place, you'll be killed too." He stared incredulously at Ghetsis.
"Or maybe not." Ghetsis pointed at a small silver earring he wore. "I designed the bombs myself - of course I put in a safety catch. As long as I have this on me, I am protected from the bomb."
"But... but Ghetsis, why? I thought you were helping me all along. And you've done all this secret work on the Pokedexes... for what?" Oak's face was pained as he stared at the man he had once called his 'friend'. Suddenly he staggered, clutching his chest. Green hastily ran forward to support his grandfather, helping the old man to a chair.
Ghetsis's gaze hardened as he stared at Oak. "You never learn, do you?" He turned his attention back to the DexHolders. "Remember what I said. The Pokedexes in my possession by 31st December - or everything will be wiped out." He started walking out but paused at the doorstep.
"What other tricks do you think I installed?"
"We can't let him do this to us," Red vowed. He was pacing back and forth angrily in the Oaks' living room. The rest of the DexHolders were watching him, either sitting on the couch or leaning against the wall. All of them were frantically trying to think of a solution. After Ghetsis had left, Blue and Silver immediately checked all the Pokedexes to see whether they had been bugged. They found nothing but for now, the Pokedexes were locked away in a soundproof room. Daisy was taking care of Professor Oak in his bedroom upstairs.
"What can we do? Its not like we can refuse," Yellow said worriedly. "He'll just destroy the data, or even kill all of us."
"Senior, don't talk like that! We'll think of a solution," Sapphire said. "There has to be a way!"
"But Ghetsis has all loopholes covered," Green replied. "It doesn't look like we can do anything about it."
"What, so you're just going to give in to him like that?" Blue narrowed her eyes at Green. "I never thought you were the type to give up. I'm not giving in."
"I can't afford to lose all my data." Crystal's voice trembled. "After all that hard work I put in... I'd rather have my Pokedex in Ghetsis's hands then see it all gone."
"Super Serious Gal! You can't give in!" Gold cheerfully smacked Crystal with his pool cue in an attempt to cheer her up. However, Gold being Gold, he accidentally whacked Crystal in the wrong place. Gold started backing away as Crystal turned around and glared at him. "GOLD! YOU PERVERT!"
"I said I'm sorry, it was an accident!" Gold yelped as Crystal started kicking him. "Ow! Ow!"
Diamond, Pearl and Platinum were talking quietly in the corner. Dia was shocked but not angry that his Pokedex had been destroyed like that - Pearl was angry enough for both of them.
"He shouldn't have picked on you!" Pearl raged. "Ghetisis's just a bully!"
"Its okay, Pearl," Dia shrugged. "I'd rather it was me than any of the others - especially Crystal," he added, glancing at the Catcher. The other two followed his gaze and cringed. Crystal was still kicking Gold despite his repeated protests and pleas.
"Diamond, do you want me to transfer my data to your Pokedex? I'm sure Professor Oak can think of something," Platinum offered.
"Missy, you don't have to do that! Anyway the most important thing now is that we think of a solution to save our Pokedexes from Ghetsis," Dia urged.
"It doesn't look like the seniors can think of anything good," Pearl sighed.
"You're telling me!" A voice piped up. The Sinnoh trio looked around and spotted Emerald. The blond boy was fiddling with his extendable hands. "All they've been doing is arguing. Don't even talk to me about Ruby and Sapphire." Emerald rolled his eyes.
"I do hope that the seniors will think of a solution," Platinum said nervously. "They're not going to argue the whole day... right?"
"LISTEN UP PEOPLE!" Blue yelled. All the DexHolders stared at her. She was jumping up and down on the sofa and bellowing into a loudhailer .
"... Blue, that's my sofa you're jumping on," Green said.
"Oops, sorry." Blue stopped jumping but remained on top of the sofa. "Anyway, I, the Great Blue, have come up with a mighty plan!" She blew a kiss to the DexHolders. "Now now, you can stop your applause," she trilled.
"Blue, no one's clapping," Yellow told her.
"Just get on with whatever you're saying," Gold said meekly. He was still aching after Crystal's torture - ahm, punishment - and besides, Crystal stood beside him, ready to smack him if he said or did anything inappropriate again.
"This requires full cooperation from all of us. Including you, you and you," Blue pointed at Green, Silver and Emerald, who glared at her. "If this plan is going to succeed, we only have this one chance to do it. And you may want to look at this." She gestured at a poster on the wall.
It read: CHRISTMAS DANCE AT THE CASTLE!