The lone figure made his way though Route 216, gritting his teeth against the cold. What he wouldn't give for a Magby right now. Being small, he would easily be able to carry the Pokémon and since it was a fire type, it would be very, very warm.
Sadly, Hugh did not have a Magby.
Grimacing, Hugh continued onwards with his journey. It had been nearly a week since he had left Snowpoint City. On one hand, he was glad for the lack of people. No people meant that there was no one to stare at him like he was offending them by just existing. But on the other hand, a small sadistic part of him wished that there were other people suffering with him.
He frowned. Bad Hugh. He should not wish suffering on other people. He frowned again. Talking to himself was the first sign of him turning insane.
He also tried to ignore the fact that if he was Cyrus, he'd also have the same sadistic thoughts.
-Pokemon-
"Hello? Is this Palmer?"
"Yep. Who's thi-"
"I am known as Looker, working for the International Police. We need your help in apprehending a powerful trainer. Would you agree to help us?"
"..."
"Hello? Mr Palmer? Are you there?"
"Yeah, I'm here. I'm just surprised that you're calling me. Is no-one else available? I mean, you are part of the International Police."
"Although all them have been notified about him, he is too powerful for Gym-Leaders to take on, and the Elite Four are currently busy with the sudden influx of trainers challenging them. Currently, we cannot contact the Champion, as she is currently out of Sinnoh."
"... How powerful of a trainer is he? Last I checked, the Gym Leaders were no pushovers."
"Before coming to Sinnoh, he competed in the Unova League. He was able to beat 2 Elite Four members, before being defeated. It can be easily deduced that only extremely experienced trainers, like yourself, would be able to match up to him."
"...That's pretty strong."
"Indeed Mr Palmer. He is pretty strong. So will you aid us?"
-Pokemon-
From the mouth of the cave that led into Mt Coronet a lone figure emerged. His normally spiky hair was a mess, and his clothes and face were stained with dirt. He wavered a bit before leaning against the wall of the cave.
In the distance, he could see Eterna City. Much like his own hometown, Eterna was a city that slowly melted into a forest. The only reason he did not mistake it for Aspertia City was because the buildings weren't as cramped as the Unovan town. And unlike Aspertia, this one had a giant statue of the Pokémon that the people of this region considered as gods.
Hugh slowly made his way towards the city, stopping completely before the statue. It depicted the legendary Pokémon Palkia and Dialga, both locked in combat. Hugh took a step back to admire the statue. Even though they were stationary, both Pokémon radiated power. Space and Time. Hugh could understand why people called these Pokémon legendary.
Shaking his head, Hugh turned away and made his way towards the Poke-centre. He wasn't here for the sights.
He was here for his father.
-Pokemon-
The next day, Hugh decided to visit the prison. At first, Hugh wondered why the hell a prison was this close to a populated area. If there ever was a breakout, the prisoners could easily enter Eterna City. When he finally reached the Prison, he found out why.
The Prison was formerly known as the Haunted Mansion. That itself helped it being a veritable fortress. The mere reputation of the place forced the prisoners to remain in their cells. If any of the prisoners ever got out of their cells and evaded all patrols, there was always a chance that they would run into the wild Ghastly and Haunter.
It's location was another reason why it was regarded as one of the most secure prison in the Pokémon world. Being in the depths of Eterna Forest, in addition to the guards and the ghastly, prisoners also had a forest, full of wild forest Pokémon, to look out for. It also didn't help that the entire forest was extremely easy to get lost in.
This time, while venturing out, Hugh, bought a black beanie and sunglasses to hide his face. It did make him look like a rapper, but now fewer people looked at him with narrow eyes. The ones who did were elderly citizens that did not like rap.
Their loss.
He picked his way through the forest, gingerly avoiding the tree branches. Since this was a secluded area, not many people came to visit the inmates, but there were exceptions. Finally he found himself at the doors of the ex-Mansion.
The International Police really had made a lot of modifications to the place. Walls were still crumbling, but years of being a trainer allowed him to notice small things in the terrain. Like the fact that all the weak walls were reinforced with steel within their crumbling facade. This made it look like a haunted area, yet it did not allow those with no fear from the supernatural to escape.
He made his way into the Halls of the mansions searching for the help desk. He found it and went up to it. The officer there was busy on one of the computer systems.
Hugh waited until he was done. When the officer finally noticed Hugh, he turned to face the boy.
"May I help you."
The fact that Hugh could see the officer reaching for the poke-ball on his belt did not calm Hugh down. This is a prison after all. And Hugh was dressed up to cover his face. The guard could afford to be suspicious.
"I'd like to see a prisoner."
The guard raised an eyebrow at this, noticing that Hugh said 'prisoner', rather than the more polite 'inmate'. This meant that the kid thought that the person he was visiting deserved to be in prison. Or maybe the kid knew about that and was just playing mind games. Paranoia was part and parcel of being inducted into the International Police.
"I'll need Identification and some details."
Hugh handed his Trainer I.D over the guard, who looked at it carefully and then back to Hugh. Satisfied, the guard handed over the Trainer I.D and a register. Quirking an eyebrow, Hugh picked up a nearby pen and filled out the details, which included his name, hometown, and contact number. Hugh quickly wrote down the details (putting in his X-transceiver number as his contact) and handed the register back.
"Now who would you like to see?"
High didn't even pause to think.
"Saturn."
-Pokemon-
The guard watched Hugh's retreating form as the blue haired boy walked up to cell he was directed to. All officers in Sinnoh were informed that there was a person asking around about Team Galactic, and the Police did not want to take any chances. Team Galactic was one of the most evil organizations around the world (they did try to destroy the world after all).
If someone was showing an interest in them, that had a high possibility of something being afoot. You could not miss a step when it came to Team Galactic.
So after Hugh was well out of earshot, the guard picked up the phone.
"Hello, HQ?"
-Pokemon-
"So they said you wanted to meet me."
Hugh glanced around at the room he was in. One could make out traced that the room had once been grand. What with the painted wall covered with fading paint and the antique candle holder along the walls. But the now dirty decorations just gave the place a spookier feel. The windows that once had glass that was tastefully decorated along the edges now had thick metal bars across them to prevent any escape attempts. The furniture in there was Spartan, the room only had a wooden cot and a single chair.
Hugh turned back to look at the person across him that was occupying said cot. Dirty hair that had once been blue, nearly the same shade as Hugh's own hair, was strewn across the man's face. Now it was partially Brown, with streaks of blue remaining, obviously the hair had been coloured a long time ago. Dark blue intelligent eyes stared back at Hugh's maroon ones.
"I'm searching for Cyrus." High finally started. This seemed to startle the man, but Hugh continued without letting the man talk.
"I know that 4 years ago, Cyrus tried to take control of the Legendary Pokémon Dialga and Palkia. To do that, he went to Spear Pillar. That is the last that was seen of him. People have speculated what happened there, some say he died, some say he escaped, some say that he was taken away by the two legendaries, but that is all speculation. I want to know what happened up there. The only people there were the ex-champion Cynthia, the current champion Dawn, Cyrus himself, and three of his commanders. Both champions are currently unavailable. The only commander of his available is you. So tell me, what happened up on Spear Pillar?"
Saturn regarded the entire speech with nothing more than contempt, but now he leaned forward, as if contemplating something.
"What's in it for me?"
Hugh was perfectly blunt in his answer.
"Nothing."
Saturn barked out a harsh laugh, looking around the room to see if this was a joke. Hugh continued regarding him silently, waiting for him to speak. Leaning forward again he asked "Nothing for me, eh? Then why the hell should I tell you?" narrowing his eyes, Saturn continued with another question."Why are you so interested in Cyrus? What does he have to do with you?"
The two had a mild staring contest, neither willing to speak until, "I'm his son."
Saturn gave out a mocking laugh, Hugh appeared non-plussed.
"Does the name Pluto ring any bells?"
Saturn abruptly stopped laughing, glaring at Hugh with narrowed eyes until he finally accepted the fact. Slowly his eyes widened, as the revelation struck him.
"You really are his son."
It wasn't a question. Hugh merely tilted his head in acknowledgement.
"You aren't lying."
"Never said I was."
The two stared at each other, while Saturn tried to wrap his head around the fact that his leader's son had come to him. Hugh on the other hand was getting tired of watching Saturn keep his mouth half opened.
"Look here." Hugh said leaning forward " I just learned that my father is one of the most wanted criminals in Sinnoh two months ago, and I have a lot of questions for him. I'm asking you this as Cyrus's son. If you ever respected the man, please, just tell me what happened on Spear Pillar."
Hugh finished his tirade staring deeply into Saturn's eyes. The prisoner had his mouth clenched into a firm line. Finally, sighing, he said, "Fine. On Spear Pillar, Cyrus tried to take control of the legendaries by using a Red Chain, forged using the three Lake Guardians. When Dialga and Palkia did appear, their sheer power tore a rift in Space and Time, opening a portal to another dimension. Cyrus, Cynthia and Dawn were sucked into the portal. That's all I know. After that I ran away. Cynthia and Dawn made it back, but I'm guessing Cyrus is still stuck there, in that other dimension."
Saturn finished with a huff of breath, leaning backwards. Hugh was still focused on Saturn, his eyes unreadable. The silence grew in the air for a few moments. Abruptly, Hugh stood up.
"Thank you."
By his tone, Saturn knew that he was just following social convention, and was not thanking him in any way. So he did not respond. Instead he just sat there and watched his leader's son walk away.
Well i still haven't toned down on the drama. I think that is going into lost cause territory. Damn it. I might have made a few spelling mistakes here, so i would be graateful if you pointed them out if you ever came across them. Thanks!
Hope you enjoyed
Read and Review.
-ProdigyPsycho