FROZEN IN TIME: CHAPTER ONE
"The Earth is home to secrets unknown. They will be revealed when the world is ready."
- Secrets of the Earth
May would be lying if she said she wasn't nervous. Of course she was, she was shaking, sweating, and feeling like she was going to throw up, cry, and wet herself at the same time.
She didn't, of course. That would be unbecoming of her, a top coordinator, in such an important event such as the Grand Festival. Instead, she took a deep breath in, and watched as the smoke, created by the finishing Flamethrower and Ice Shard from Dawn's Quilava and her Glaceon respectively, slowly cleared. Seconds turned into hours as time seemed to slow down, crawling by like a newly hatched Slowpoke.
"Aaaand..." May braced herself, squeezing her eyes shut, tears begging to be set free, waiting for the inevitable defeat to Dawn, the coordinator who had already bested her once before.
Dawn was a terrifyingly exceptional coordinator, catching up with May's already impressive four ribbons in record time. May had injured her head after a traumatic incident with a ghost type coordinator. The coordinator had been disqualified, and so May had won by default, but the visions she kept seeing ended up with her hallucinating her way off her balcony.
She'd eventually returned, of course, but not before Dawn had blasted her way through the challenging Johto contest scene.
"Unbelievable!" The words of the announcer blasted through her ears, and May thought the announcer was just shocked that she lost to Dawn again, in such an important competition. But the next words that came out of the stadium speakers proved her wrong. "It's a tie! We apparently have two winners of this year's Grand Festival!"
May let out a shriek of jubilation, and almost pounced onto her Glaceon for a hug. "Glace." Glaceon nuzzled her trainer affectionately, as the crowd screamed like all of Rustboro Cave's Whismur using Hyper Voice, clapping and cheering for the new winners of the Johto Grand Festival.
"Wait, why do we have a kid in a cell?"
"You haven't heard?"
"What? No, I've been busy all this time, investigating Plasma! Wait, is this kid connected?"
"Well, the thing is, we don't actually know. We found him snooping around through some top secret files. I have no idea how he accessed them, since not even I know the passwords, and I'm the same rank as you."
"He could be a hacker… Maybe he's connected to Colress?"
"You mean that Plasma science guy? Maybe. Science people have to be great with computers nowadays. Me, I still don't understand Starler or Joltagram."
"I'm going to ask him a few questions. Maybe he'll be helpful."
"Go ahead, but I'll warn you; no one has gotten him to crack just yet."
May was still feeling slightly delirious when she had finished changing her clothes. Her fancy princess outfit had been carefully folded and put back in her bag, no doubt needing to be washed of the sweat and dust before reappearing on stage again.
She had just picked up her bag, ready to head off, when her phone began to ring, blasting out Whiteberry's Hide and Seek. Pulling it out and accepting the call, she was greeted by the ecstatic face of her little brother.
"Congrats, sis!" Max cried. Their parents, Norman and Caroline, as well Prof. Birch, the local Pokemon professor, stood behind him, smiling elatedly at her. "You won the Grand Festival! Now every contest fan in the entire region should know how awesome you are!"
May blushed at the compliment. "Glaceon was the awesome one," she pointed out modestly. "I just gave the commands, its Glaceon who really showed us all."
In the background, Prof. Birch shook his head, and spoke as if scolding her. "May, May, May. You really need to learn that you're an exceptional coordinator, comparable to even the Charmer himself. We're all in Petalburg City, so why don't you drop by? We've been anticipating this for the past week!"
"Alright, that sounds awesome!" May enthused. "I'll be on my way as soon as I can!" She waved goodbye to her family and the professor, prepared to head to Petalburg.
She spun around to head out, when Dawn appeared right in front of her."Eep!" She jumped back a bit, startled by the other coordinator's sudden appearance. Dawn laughed, and told her, "Soon, there'll be fans doing that all the time. You'd better get used to it."
"How do you know?" May inquired.
"You know my friend Zoe? That girl with the Glameow?" May nodded. She recalled how the red haired girl had handily beaten the competition and edged Dawn out in the finals. It had been a great afternoon of television. "She beat me in the Grand Festival. I was kind of sad at first, but now, I'm actually kind of glad I didn't win that. She's told me that fans and stalkers alike have been following her basically everywhere!"
May's eyes widened, and Dawn laughed again. "No need to worry, as soon as the next Grand Festival comes around, you'll be old news again. I'm headed back to Twinleaf, you?"
"I'm going back to Petalburg. My family's there, and I haven't seen them in quite a while." May answered. She was itching to be getting back, and although Dawn was great, her parents and little brother were more important at the moment.
Suddenly, the loud horn of a boat sounded, shocking the two out of their conversation. "Oh! That's my boat!" Dawn exclaimed. "I'd better go!" She rushed towards the exit, then turned around. "See ya!" She rushed off.
"Bye!" May called at Dawn's vanishing figure. She tossed her phone back into her bag, and, grabbing it once more, she darted outside. The sun shone brightly, reflecting how excited she was to see her family again.
"Hey there, kid."
Blank stare.
"So… what's your name?"
No response.
"Alright, I guess you're going to be difficult, huh."
"What!" Professor Birch demanded into the phone. "What do you mean I have to get there right now? My niece is one of the winners of the Johto Grand Festival!"
The man on the other end sighed. "This amazing discovery can't wait. Miss Grand Festival Winner can. You're a Pokemon researcher, this is related to Pokemon research. This finding could teach us even more about ancient Pokemon!"
Prof. Birch groaned, placing the hand not holding the phone on his forehead. "Fine..." he muttered. "But no matter how good this discovery is, it won't amount to spending time with Norman and his family..." He hung up, visibly frustrated, shook his head, before tromping out the door.
"So you're not gonna tell me anything about yourself, are you. I'm wasting my time trying"
A hint of a smirk.
"How about I ask you something different? What do you know about Team Plasma?"
"I was actually hoping you'd mention them, Looker."
May stared in dismay. She had just arrived from Petalburg City, after being told that the professor had to go back to Littleroot for some new discovery. Recently, Birch had been going on expeditions to learn more about pre-gen Hoenn, but if you asked May, most of it was just fairytales and B.S. If you asked the professor, however, he would tell you all about how important our history was, and you would regret asking at the end of his hour long lecture.
Instead of a lecture, she got nothing. The lab was empty. It was freaking empty. No professor, no assistants, no nine year old trainers staring in wonder as they counted the hours until their tenth birthdays. Only the faint glow of computer screens in power saver mode, the buzz of the old lighting that Professor Birch hadn't bothered replacing.
May decided to do the logical thing (at least, in her opinion) – investigate. It wasn't a new thing to her; after all, she had participated in the various adventures of Ash Ketchum and co., who go check out sketchy old mansions and the headquarters of villainous organizations for kicks.
A few papers were scattered around Birch's working space, most likely detailing various theories about pre-gen Hoenn. She plucked one from the table, hoping that it might shed some light on the situation.
"Pre-gen Pokemon are recorded to have been more dangerous, and Pokemon battles could easily result in fatalities. In Lavender Town, Kanto, there have been discoveries of old graves in the restored Pokemon Tower which have inscriptions about Pokemon battling until their very last breaths. Carbon-14 dating estimates the date to be pre-gen artifacts. The Lavender Town Council no longer permits excavation on the site, as it is considered disrespectful to unearth the final resting grounds of the deceased."
May blinked a few times, before carefully setting the paper back down on the desk. She shook her head a few times, before shuffling through a few more papers, the thought of innocent Pokemon dying due to trainer battles gone too far at the front of her mind. The pre-gen world, no matter how farfetched it sounded to her, was still a place that she would rather not think about.
She scanned the desk, looking for anything else that could aid her efforts, when she spotted a picture of herself and... was that Brendan Maple? And why was the picture in a ziplock bag?
She snatched it up, staring at it. It was her, wearing her normal outfit... almost. The girl in the picture wore a dark tank top, and her bandanna was tied like a bow on top of her head, rather than wrapping over the top part of her hair. She had a sharp fang that poked out from her scowl, and she was poking Brendan in the cheek in a rather aggressive manner.
Next, she focused on Brendan, who she really only knew from him participating in the Hoenn League a while back. He wore his signature hat, or at least a variation of it, as this one had black instead of green, a pair of glasses (definitely not Brendan, she remembered him spotting the enemy Diglett through a Sandstorm), and a form fitting shirt. He held a hairbrush in his hand, which he was using as defense against the May look-a-like.
A map was stapled to the back of the ziplock bag, along with a caption, which May began to read:
"Discovered in a cave in the woods near Littleroot Town, containing remnants of pre-gen Pokemon food, cloth, and a few ribbons made with Sewaddle silk and an unidentified metal alloy. Photo estimated to be taken around 10 PGE. Further investigation pending."
"Wait, what?" May blurted out loud. She was incredibly confused. What was going on?
After gathering herself (breathing exercises helped), she put the ziplock bag into her own bag. She hefted her bag up, before setting out.
A clipboard clattered to the floor.
"How in Arceus' name do you know that?"
A knowing smile.
"I know things that I probably shouldn't."
"Care to elaborate?"
Roxanne, Rustboro's gym leader and fossil expert, had been jumping with excitement ever since she learned of this new discovery, and she'd departed for Littleroot as soon as she found a suitable substitute at the gym.
She had most likely broken a few speed limits while driving to Littleroot, so she was slightly worried about getting a ticket, but she was sure the Pokemon Association would cover the costs. Roxanne had no intention of spending Rustboro City's money on things like that. Parking was free in Littleroot as well, so that was a plus.
The professor and a few archaeologists had greeted her at the lab, and they had animatedly discussed the possibilities of the cave. Roxanne admitted that she was incredibly hyped up, and she was itching to head out.
The trek through the forest had significantly dampened that hype. It had rained the day before, and the archaeologist in front of her had constantly whipped branches into her face and bumped into trees so that they sprayed water onto her. When the group had finally arrived, Roxanne was soaked to the bones and seriously reconsidering her life choices.
The cave they were in wasn't terribly impressive, and for a moment, Roxanne was disappointed. There was no way there was anything of historical importance in this dinky little cave.
The professor had managed to convince her that the cave would be interesting, and although it really wasn't, she was intrigued by the strange items in the room, apparently from the pre-gen era, according to the professor.
She crouched down in front of what appeared to be a bundle of pink and cream cloth and Jumpluff stuffing, poking it with a finger. It was soft, like a plushie.
She stood up, scanning the room. Professor Birch and another archaeologist clutched a few papers, talking animatedly. Nearby lay a few wooden planks, as well as a broken chair. Close to the wall was a pile of ragged cloth, removed from the cave floor so they could start excavating. Around where she stood, there were many plushie-like bundles around of various colours. A few of the items they had uncovered included a makeup bag, a pair of strange shoes, and a ribbon case. No doubt this had been someone's living area, perhaps a secret base.
Her Probopass was chattering happily with a few of the other Pokemon, and Roxanne chucked as one of the Drilbur began to poke at Probopass's mustache.
She heard a chorus of gasps, and turned to see the professor and the head archaeologist, who were both now crouched in front of something at the center of the cavern, sharing amazed and awestruck looks, a few other archaeologists surrounding them. "What's going on here?" she inquired.
The two were both staring mouths agape, while the other archaeologists were muttering among each other. Roxanne pushed her way through the group and looked down.
Her jaw dropped.
Right in front of her was the most gorgeous gemstone she had ever seen. It was a beautiful shade of ruby red, and it reflected the light that was coming from the lamps that were placed around the cave. Only part of it was uncovered, but it was already larger than any other ruby she had ever seen
Professor Birch stood up, nearly bumping into the gym leader, who took a step back. "Looks like we've made a discovery," he stated, a huge grin plastered across it face. "Let's keep digging!" he exclaimed, raising a fist to the air.
Roxanne sweat dropped as the rest of the archaeologists mimicked the motion, crying "Yeah!"
"Are you telling me the kid's psychic?"
"That's what he's telling me! I don't know how, but he knows almost all about what I've done in Sinnoh!"
"Wait, about you arresting the guys with planet names, or you giving lunches to some Rocket members?"
"About Team Galactic! He knew about me dressing up as a Galactic grunt, Cyrus' plan to capture Dialga and Palkia - heck, he even knew about Charon!"
"Well… what do we do about this?"
"I… I honestly have no idea."
May burst into the cave, panting, most likely startling everyone inside, but she didn't really care at the moment.
"Professor! There you are!" she exclaimed, both in relief in finding him and in frustration of having to spend an hour and a half of her day searching through the forest.
Said man turned around to face her. "May! What are you doing here! I thought you were in Petalburg!"
"I got here this morning, but guess what? Your lab was empty!" May didn't mean to be rude, but her current fatigue decided to pour through her words. "And then I spent the past hour and a half looking for you!"
Professor Birch had an apologetic look on his face, but before he could say anything, May whipped out the photo she had found on his desk. "And what's this?" She held it up in front of him. "Who are these people?" she demanded.
The professor took a deep breath, before starting. "I'm really sorry that I wasn't there May, I just found out about a pre-gen secret base here, and I had to come here as soon as possible, or one of my sponsors would cut funding for my research. I had to get here quickly, and I didn't have enough time to notify you. I'm really sorry about that."
May instantly felt guilty for her outburst. Professor Birch hadn't done anything wrong. "I'm sorry for being rude to you," she apologized.
"You don't need to apologize, Miss Grand Festival Champion," Professor Birch grinned. "Congrats on your victory!"
May smiled from ear to ear. "Thanks Professor." She paused for a moment, before motioning towards the picture in her hand. "Still, I'm wondering. Who are these people? It says this was discovered here?"
"Ah… yeah." Professor Birch took the picture and examined it. "I'm thinking these were the owners of this secret base. From what we've found here, one of them probably participated in contests of some sort. I have no idea why the girl looks like you."
Suddenly, one of the excavators came running up, his Roggenrola toddling behind him. "Professor!" he cried. "Come check this out!"
The two of them turned towards the center of the cave, and gasped, awestruck. During their conversation, the archaeologists and Roxanne had uncovered a large portion of the ruby, and it was enormous.
May was faintly reminded of the Red Orb during the Kyogre Groudon incident, but she shook those thoughts away, astonished by the sheer beauty of the gemstone. It glimmered and sparkled, reflecting the light in intricate patterns across the walls. She wondered why she hadn't noticed them before.
Roxanne stood up from her crouched position next to the ruby. "Professor! May, glad to see you. Look at this!" She motioned towards the gem with both hands. "It's incredible! I'm an expert on all things geology, and I know for a fact that there has never been a ruby as large as this one."
"Oh Mew almighty, that's amazing! Roxanne, this ruby-" Professor Birch nearly squealed (although he would never admit it) and launched into fanboying about the discovery.
As the professor and Roxanne began to discuss the possible reasons as to why the ruby was in the cave/fangirl/boy about geology and other sciency stuff, but May wasnt paying attention to that. She marveled about the ruby, beginning to inch closer.
"Can I touch it?" she asked one of the archaeologists.
He nodded. "Go ahead. I don't see why not."
Her fingers had only brushed the surface when she was blinded by a sudden bright light.
"What do you know about Plasma?"
"You asked this exact question ten minutes ago."
"But you didn't answer me. You talked about me."
"... They might be researching a Pokemon known as Genesect. They could also be going after Reshiram and Zekrom. You might have to watch out for Kyurem as well."
"Are you sure you aren't making this up?"
May blinked, shaking her head. It was quite a disorienting experience, and her vision was a bit fuzzy.
She looked forwards, and shrieked at the sight of two ruby red eyes staring back at her, taking a step back. Examining the owner, her heart skipped a beat as she realized this boy looked exactly like the one in the photo, albeit a few years older. "Sapph?" he heard him say.
"Who are you?" she could hear someone demand. A female voice - Roxanne, most likely.
The boy turned to face the gym leader. "Miss Roxanne?" he inquired. His voice was soft, lilting, elegant. He had an aura of intellect and grace, and May couldn't help but stare at him as he brushed off a few invisible dust particles off his shirt. "What's going on? Why's Sapphire like seven years younger all of a sudden?"
Professor Birch cut in. "I don't know who this 'Sapphire' is, but this is May Birch! What did you do to the ruby?" he demanded.
May finally glanced down, noticing that the cave was now missing its radiant new centrepiece.
"The Ruby?" The boy tilted his head. "I haven't done anything to the Ruby, professor." He paused for a moment, as if pondering something, before continuing. "Wait, I had mud on my shirt on my last TV interview! That must have damaged my image!"
No one knew what to say in response, and awkward silence ensued.
The boy was the first to break it. "So since you have conveniently have amnesia, let me reintroduce myself. My name is Ruby, master coordinator and fashion designer. Now, it's polite to introduce yourselves as well. Go ahead."
"So, kid, you willing to tell me your name yet? I mean, I can't just call you kid now, can I?"
"Call me… call me Lack-Two."
Rewritten December 11th 2015
