AN: Hullo again. So sorry, I'd planned to upload this yesterday, but the Internet connection's gone on the frizz for some reason, so I had to wait until I had some free time at school to get this up.
I posted the first chapter on Monday, and within the day, someone had already alerted this story. Tucker1901, you made my week right there :) So yeah.
I'm going to be uploading the 3rd chapter on Thursday, probably sometime in the afternoon. Opinions, thoughts, criticism, anything is greatly appreciated. /AN
Edit: Sorry, just fixing some formatting stuff that Doc Manager ate. :P
2. In Which Darius Discovers His Purpose and Promptly Gains a New One
They had reached the city of Rustboro with no more hassle, and the businessman, who had given his name as Jackson, thanked Darius repeatedly and profusely. They had separated in front of the Devon Corporation Headquarters, which was where the man worked. Jackson went into the building to deliver the papers and Darius made his way to the local Pokecenter. He recalled the Poochyena into the empty Pokeball and handed the two balls to the nurse on duty. She nodded and smiled, giving Darius an address that led to a local business called the Trainer Inn, where Trainers could bunk for a night at little cost. After she finished healing his Pokemon, he made his way to the inn. The nurse had been right, if you had Pokemon with you, you could rent a bed for a single night for dirt cheap.
The first thing he did upon entering the room he'd been given was to release the two Pokemon from their Pokeballs. The Poochyena and a Ralts appeared on the bed, both watching him curiously. Darius then turned his attention to the mirror on the wall that reflected the dirty boy standing in the middle of the room.
Light blue eyes stared back at him from under a wild mess of darker blue hair. Absently he reached up and tugged at some of the stray blue hair, watching as the boy in the mirror did the same. His skin was a light tan, and he wore a black t-shirt paired with blue jeans and dark brown hiking boots. He sighed and wandered back to the bed, sitting between the two Pokemon that had been watching him nervously, crossing his legs as he did so.
"I suppose you two know who I am better than I do right now, huh?" He asked the Pokemon, looking to the both of them. The Poochyena whined quietly and the Ralts wrapped her little arms around his knee in a hug. He absentmindedly patted the top of her head before he reached over to where he had tossed his bag onto the bed. Opening it up, he pulled out the letters he had spotted earlier. Opening one up, Darius read it out loud to the two Pokemon.
"Darius,
"How has your life in hiding been? I hope you are feeling more acquiescent than you were just a few months ago, because I have a job for you. One that you already have experience with. My superiors received a call a week ago from the Hoenn police requesting backup with a situation that is familiar to both you and I. These people are slippery. No matter how many lower members are caught, the higher ups are too nimble for the police. That's why you're being called in. Due to your past, you seem to be the best person to get this job done. As encouragement, you are hereby given police immunity, and you have permission to do whatever it takes to apprehend the leader or leaders of this organization.
"Until you complete this mission however, you are still on our wanted list. Keep your head down, because the police don't know that we're sending you there. The reason we're not telling them, I'm sure you've already figured out.
"No one is to know who you are, nor why you are there. Keep your identity secret at all costs. You may call me for backup only if the situation becomes so dire that your very life is in danger. Knowing you however, I doubt you will call me even in that situation. Let me tell you now that if you decide to reject this proposal, my superiors have commanded me to find you and arrest you. I do not wish to do this after all your help in apprehending your uncle, but those are the conditions.
"Here's hoping you make the smart decision, Special Agent Looker."
Darius looked up at his two companions. They looked back at him. Darius looked back down at the letter and sighed. "Now I really want to know who I am. At least I won't have trouble with the whole keeping my identity hidden part." The rest of the letter bothered him, but he put it aside in favour of reading the second letter. Unlike the first one, which had been typed and very formal, this one was done in a scrawling handwriting, and was worded much less formally.
"Hey there little bro.
"I understand Agent Looker offered you a pardon. That's great! No reason you should get dragged into uncle Cy's shit anyway. Don't worry about me- I've got a ridiculously short sentence in comparison to Mars. Of course, I'm not the one who held a bunch of people hostage, nor did I blow up a national icon with a big-ass bomb, so relativity, right? Now, let me tell you something little bro. Looker and all the other officers don't think you can handle this mess by yourself, but they don't know you. And besides, you'll have Ayashii and Kuraishi by your side. When in Hoenn, keep an eye out for a man named Tyler. He's a TV cameraman, and also a good friend of mine. If there's any gossip to be had, he's got it. And by gossip, I mean information. If he tries to brush you off, just say to him 'Satty's gonna whoop you bad ahou' and he'll burst out laughing. He'll be more chatty than a journalist with ADD and a cup of coffee after that. Also, watch out for the police as well. They're the ones sending you on this mission, but that doesn't mean they're your friends or that they'll be any bit helpful. Can't believe I'm agreeing with the idiot, but do as Looker says and keep low.
"Your brother, Saturn.
"PS – Watch your back, 'cause Jupiter's still loose, and she's pissed at you for helping the police to arrest uncle Cy. It won't take long for her to track you to Hoenn, so I suggest you watch yourself. She will stop at nothing to get revenge on you, and that includes breaking the law. She's probably pissed enough to attempt killing you, so watch yourself, yeah?"
Darius stared at the second letter. Finally he flopped back onto the bed and heaved a sigh. He glanced at the two Pokemon that sat by his legs, both watching him with worried eyes. "So you guys are Kuraishi," the Poochyena yipped, "and Ayashii?" The Ralts nodded, watching him with a small smile. "And I'm Darius, brother of Saturn who is in jail for something that isn't holding people hostage, nor blowing things up with big-ass bombs, and nephew of someone called 'Cy' who seems to be a pretty up-and-big criminal. I got that right so far?" He asked the Pokemon. They both nodded slowly. "I'm guessing the police are offering me a pardon because I did something to help them arrest said uncle, but because he was my uncle, they're suspicious of me, and one of my uncle's followers is pissed that I turned him in and now wants to kill me. That's fun." Kuraishi whined lightly and Darius reached down to scratch behind his ears. Darius thought about the mission he'd been given in the first letter. Something clicked in his mind and he sat up quickly. "Lower members." He said, jumping up off the bed and hurrying to the door. "That idiot that attacked us in the forest, he was saying he was a member of Team Aqua. Team Aqua must be the group I was sent to investigate." And that Team Aqua member had attacked Jackson for the research papers he was delivering to the Devon Corporation.
"Guess I know where to go next." He said, heading out the door, Ayashii and Kuraishi quickly following after.
Darius returned to the Devon Corporation where he'd split up with Jackson. He sighed and opened the large glass double doors into the front lobby. It was a very nice lobby. He might have spent more time admiring the random paintings and statues that decorated the room if he hadn't spotted the frazzled looking security guard slouching in the chair and the red-faced secretary behind the desk. He walked up to the desk behind which the secretary sat and cleared his throat to get her attention.
"Did something happen here?" He asked curiously. The security guard eyed him suspiciously before huffing loudly.
"Some crazy bastard got into the building and made off with some really important something just now." Darius raised his eyebrows. A something? Not the research papers, but an object?
"What was stolen?" He asked.
"We don't know." The secretary said, frowning. "It was something the boss was commissioned to do personally, none of us even knew what he was making. All I know is that the order came in from Slateport."
"And the boss was the only one who was working on it?" What was the connection between the boss's project and Jackson's papers?
"Why you asking so many questions kid?" The guard asked, suddenly sitting up and looking far more alert than he had just a few seconds ago.
"Ah, no, I was just curious, since you two looked bothered." The security guard's gaze did not let up and his hand slowly began making its way towards the radio on his belt. Darius felt himself tensing. He remembered the letters that he'd left on the bed. Lie low, watch out for the police. However, Darius knew that anything he said at that point would simply arouse the guard's suspicion further. Just then, a familiar voice came from behind the secretary's desk.
"Darius? What are you doing here?" Darius looked over to see Jackson walking through a doorway, in just as frazzled a state as the secretary and the security guard. The guard looked at Jackson and then back to Darius.
"You know this kid sir?" He asked. Jackson nodded vigorously.
"Of course! Darius here is the one that saved me from the thief in the forest! I was just telling you guys about him wasn't I?"
"Really?" The security guard's hand left his radio and he leaned back into his chair.
"This is your savior?" The secretary asked in surprise. "I'd imagined he'd be a bit older what with how you were going on about how he handled that criminal."
"I did say he was a kid." Jackson huffed. Darius cleared his throat to get Jackson's attention back.
"The person that broke in here and stole this top-secret, whatever it was; was it the same dude as the one in the forest?" Darius asked. Jackson frowned.
"I don't know. He was dressed the same, but he looked kinda different about the face." Darius nodded. He turned to walk out the door when Jackson yelped and caught Darius's arm. "Are you thinking of going after him?" Jackson asked incredulously. Darius nodded.
"Of course. This top-secret thing is really important, isn't it? So, you need to get it back as soon as possible. It'll take a while before the police can get mobilized anyway, and by that time our thief may have gotten away." Darius refrained from mentioning that he had any kind of personal interest in going after the man. Jackson nodded.
"In that case, I'll come with you! We can find this thief together!" Darius nodded and set out again, Jackson following after. As he left, he could hear the secretary making a call, probably to the boss to tell him that someone was looking for the something. Or maybe not.
It didn't take long to find the man. Or rather, where the man had gone. After asking several locals if they'd seen someone matching the man's description go by and following his trail, Darius and Jackson found themselves on the northern outskirts of town.
"I don't know where he thinks he's going to escape to, the tunnel to Veranturf Town isn't even complete yet, this road is a dead end." Jackson was saying. Darius shrugged.
"I saw a sign on the way up here that said 'time-saving Rusturf tunnel up ahead'. He must have seen that and thought it would make the perfect getaway."
"Maybe." They continued following the man's path until they came upon the mouth of the tunnel. There was a tunnel worker there, trying to talk to an elderly man who was howling loudly. Darius and Jackson approached the two quickly.
"What happened?" Darius asked the tunnel worker, who seemed more willing to talk than the old man.
"Ah, Mr. Briney here was strolling around with his Pokemon and-" The old man howled, interrupting the worker's words.
"That damn little punk! How dare he run off with my precious Peeko! Let me at him I say!" He lunged for the tunnel entrance, but the tunnel worker caught him by the waist.
"Civilians are not allowed in the tunnel sir!" He grunted, struggling to keep the surprisingly spry old man close. Darius looked at Jackson and grinned.
"Mr. Briney, my friend Jackson here is going to stick here with you while I go get Peeko back, okay?" Darius dashed away and into the tunnel even as Jackson was protesting being left behind and the tunnel worker was repeatedly shouting that no civilians applied to children as well. As soon as he entered the tunnel their voices seemed to fade away however, and Darius quickly went in search for the thief.
He released Kuraishi and Ayashii, feeling more comfortable with them outside of their Pokeballs. Slowly, he walked into the dark tunnel. Faint grey shadows were all he could see, and a faint mist that eddied around his legs. The air was damp and surprisingly chilly compared to the warm summer weather that he had left outside. Luckily for Darius, the tunnel was a straight shot and he didn't have to worry about going the wrong way. It wasn't long before he came upon the Team Aqua member, whose back was turned as the man glared at the unfinished tunnel that blocked his escape. Just as Jackson had said, he was wearing the same blue bandana, black and white t-shirt, and strange patterned blue cargo pants as the man from the forest. Next to the man was a small bird-like Pokemon that was tied up and looking thoroughly miserable. Darius approached the man calmly, and when he was about 5 feet away, he stopped and cleared his throat. The man ceased his helpful litany of swears at the wall to spin around and begin swearing at Darius. The boy couldn't help but cock a grin at the man. It was too dark to make out faces, but his voice was different from the man in the forest. So they really were part of some group with a uniform. Darius waited patiently for the man to finish swearing. Finally the man paused.
"Who the hell are you brat?" The man demanded. Darius sighed.
"Apparently I'm just the brat." Darius saw the man reach for his belt, most likely going for a pokeball. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." He said quickly, at the same time motioning to his two companions. Kuraishi nodded and swiftly ran over to the man, nipping at the man's pants before quickly dashing away again. The man swore and tried to kick out, but Kuraishi had already disappeared into the fog. Darius saw the Pokemon's eyes glinting behind the man, waiting for a second signal to attack. Ayashii quietly slipped into the fog, vanishing from sight.
"The hell do you want brat?" The man snarled. Darius could see his head swivelling around as he searched for the Pokemon that attacked him.
"All I want is for you to give me whatever you stole and release the Pokemon you kidnapped."
"Oh yeah? And what does a brat like you want with these goods anyway?" The man demanded, his hand again reaching for his belt. Kuraishi lunged forward and nipped at his pants again. The man yelped and again tried to kick out, but again Kuraishi was already gone.
"What I want with those goods is simply to take them from you. After that, I'll simply do what you'd have done." Darius said matter-of-factly, allowing a slight grin to dance across his face. He saw the man's head shoot up in surprise.
"You'd give the goods to the boss?" the man asked in surprise. Darius allowed his grin to grow wider.
"Of course. What else would I do with them?" Slowly the man reached down, into a bag that lay by his foot this time, and he drew out what Darius knew had to be the stolen goods. With a snap of his fingers, Kuraishi jumped up and caught the goods in his mouth, running them to Darius who accepted them silently.
"Hey, just remember to tell Boss Archie that I was the one that got them in the first place, yeah?" Now Darius laughed.
"You seem to misunderstand me." He informed the man. "When I said I was going to give this to the boss, I meant the boss of the Devon Corporation." He heard the man gasp in a way that was almost comical.
"You little brat! You lied to me!" Darius scoffed at the man, holding back his laughter.
"And in what way did I lie to you? When I said I'd do what you would do with the goods, I meant I'd give them to the person who told me to get them in the first place. In your case, that was your superior. In my case, it was the people of the Devon Corporation. That was no lie." The man swore again.
"You give those back or my little hostage won't see the light of day again!" The man reached down to grab the hostage Pokemon, only for his hand to close on air. With a small 'pop', Ayashii appeared back by Darius's side, the hostage Wingull in tow. Upon seeing his hostage's new location, the man swore again.
"And now that I have your hostage and the goods, I shall be leaving. Take your time though, the police will be waiting for you when you try to leave." And with that, Darius quickly reached down, scooped up Peeko and walked away.
The police were indeed outside the tunnel when Darius exited. Inside he was cursing himself for taking so long, but outside he simply nodded to the officers and quickly slipped through their ranks to find Jackson. It wasn't hard. The man was sitting with Mr. Briney and the tunnel worker from before, as well as an officer who seemed to be trying to question them. The elderly man was still howling up a storm, but he seemed to have given up trying to get into the tunnel. Upon seeing Darius's approach, Jackson jumped up and ran over to the boy.
"Darius! Did you get the goods back?" He pleaded. Darius nodded and smiled, handing the strange device to Jackson. Darius then walked over to Mr. Briney and laid Peeko in the man's lap. The man's vivid description of what he planned to do to the kidnapper quickly ended as he looked down at his Pokemon. With another howl he quickly began untying the rope that bound his friend.
"Peeko!" Mr. Briney cried out, hugging the Wingull close to him. The Pokemon chirruped happily, and Mr. Briney smiled at Darius. "Thank you so much for saving her lad." Darius nodded, but he didn't get a chance to respond as there was a loud commotion behind him. Darius spun around to see several police scrambling up the cliff, chasing after a figure dressed in blue who was doing his best to flee as quickly as possible. Darius made to go after the man as well, but the closest officer snagged his arm.
"It's alright young man, you can leave the rest of this to us cops, okay?" Darius nodded quietly, drawing away from the man and ducking his head down as the rest of the officers ran by. After most of the officers were gone, Darius made to slip away. If he hung around, he'd probably have to answer some questions from the police, and the words 'still on our wanted list' kept dancing across his vision. Before he could slip away however, a hand firmly caught him by the wrist and pulled him about. Darius yelped in surprise but blinked when he found himself face to face with Jackson.
"Where are you going?" Jackson asked curiously. Darius opened his mouth to respond, but Jackson took the boy's wrist in his hand and began dragging him back to the city.
"Oi! Lad!" Mr. Briney called out. Darius turned his head to acknowledge the man. "If you're ever down by Petalburg, stop by my sea-shack and say hello, will ya?" Darius nodded and grinned before following after Jackson.
Darius sat quietly, looking around the impressive office. Jackson had bodily dragged the boy through Rustboro city and back to the Devon Corporation Headquarters. After giving a brief explanation to the secretary and the security guard, who'd been joined by several police officers with notebooks, Jackson dragged him up several flights of stairs into what Darius could only assume was the boss's office. Darius sat in a large, sofa room, that stood between the boss's main office and the rest of the stairs. For some reason, the stiff, formal room was giving Darius the shivers. He'd released Kuraishi and Ayashii from their Pokeballs once again, and they both occupied his lap. They too seemed nervous in the formal room. Why he had to meet with the head of the Devon Corporation, Darius didn't have a clue. He had tried to get away, but Jackson would have none of it. The door to the boss's inner office opened and Jackson peeked out.
"Darius, the boss wants to see you." Darius sighed and nudged his companions off his lap before standing and following Jackson inside the office. Unlike the outer room, the man's inner office was a mess. Rocks with little sticky notes cluttered the shelves, papers covered every table available and random gizmos occupied the two chairs that sat facing the large mahogany desk. The man behind the desk had greying hair, but his deep blue eyes twinkled with a boyish merriment and his smile was warm and welcoming.
"Take a seat young man." The boss said. Darius glanced at the chairs and the man laughed.
"Just throw those doodads on a table, there's a good lad, now you can take a seat." Darius did as he was told and Jackson did the same with the other chair. The old man smiled again, and then he began scooting his chair around his desk so he was sitting in front of it instead of behind it. He leaned forward and smiled at Darius.
"So, you're the young man who saved the day. I must give you my greatest thanks for not only protecting those important papers from being stolen, but then promptly giving chase when this component was stolen." He waved vaguely at a table where the object Darius had retrieved lay atop a messy pile of papers. Darius looked back to the old man in time to see the smile fall away and the laughter fade out of his eyes.
"I suppose you're going to want some kind of repayment for all you've done then, hmm?" Darius thought about that. Repayment?
"Well sir, now that you mention it, I would like one thing." The old man's eyes narrowed, but he did not speak, so Darius continued. "By the looks of things, this is going to lead into a police investigation, and there's the chance the media might jump on it. I'm just asking that you refrain from mentioning me if they ask." The old man stared at Darius for a minute before leaning back in his chair and bursting into laughter. Out of the corner of his eye, Darius saw Jackson jump in surprise, but his attention was on the chuckling man in front of him.
"What a lad you are." The man said, wiping tears away from his eyes. "You're sitting in the office of Edward Stone, one of the richest and most influential men in the region of Hoenn, I'm offering you anything you want, and all you ask for is animosity." He laughed again. "I like you kid." Darius couldn't help but grin himself.
"When you put it that way, perhaps I could ask to know exactly what I just stole back?" Mr. Stone looked like he was about to laugh once more before he got a thoughtful look on his face and he suddenly stood up and strode over to the table that the mysterious component rested on. He picked it up and carried it back to Darius, dropping it in the boy's lap.
"How about this. I'll make one more request of you. Please escort that component to Slateport safely and keep it from getting stolen again. In return, I'll send a message to my friend Captain Stern and when you deliver the component to him, he'll explain what it does far better than I'd be able to. How does that sound?" Darius looked at the device and nodded. He looked back up at the president of the company.
"In return, can I make one more request myself?" Mr. Stone cocked an eyebrow, but nodded anyway. Darius paused before continuing with his request. "If you hear anything else about those thugs, Team Aqua, could you please quietly pass me the info?" Darius averted his eyes as he made his request. He knew it was risky to make such a request, but he also knew that trying to track the movements of the group all on his own would be difficult. Mr. Stone seemed to think about his request for a bit before reaching around to another table and plucking a small, rounded, yellow device off the mess of papers and dropping it in Darius's lap along with the mysterious component.
"This is a PokeNav. It's one of Devon Corporation's latest inventions. This version hasn't even hit the shelves yet. Not only does it replicate the Pokegear that is very popular in the Johto region, it also has an advanced map function, as well as several add-ons that can appeal to Pokemon Trainers." Darius raised an eyebrow and Mr. Stone laughed again. "It's a mobile phone my boy! Either I'll call you or I'll have young Jackson here call you if anything to do with these rude young fellows comes up again." Darius blinked a few times before nodding happily.
"That will be very helpful Mr. Stone." He said. Mr. Stone laughed.
"Call me Ed my boy! Only those boorish executives and such call me Mr. Stone. Everyone else just calls me Ed. You are by no means a boorish character." Darius smiled as Ed laughed heartily. Even Jackson started laughing.
AN: Like I said, reviews, follows, favs, whatever you can offer! And next chappy will be up Thursday! I promise!