Chapter 4: The Meeting Begins

Astounded, awestruck and impressed: these were Platinum's first impressions of her seniors. She had witnessed first-hand just how amazing her seniors were, their aura of greatness making them seem like heroes. Of course, these were only general and temporary first impressions (which were heavily influenced by the stories that she would hear from the common folk), but as of that moment, Platinum believed these impressions to be the absolute truth.

The Sinnoh Dex Holders had only arrived in Pallet Town the night before as they were held back by the officers at the harbor. They were saying something about tracking down a wanted terrorist who sunk down a passenger ship.

The grand meeting was about to start, and all of the Dex Holders were present. The meeting room was a tad bit smaller than what Platinum was expecting, but this was enough for the young girl. They were seated around a long rectangular table, with the trainers being arranged by generation. The only exceptions were the first generation Dex Holders: they were all standing at the end of the table, accompanied by a high-tech box-like projector.

"Without further ado, let us now officially start this meeting," Green said as he walked towards the door. "Now, let us give a warm round of applause for Professor Oak, who will be giving us his opening remarks."

Opening the door for his grandfather, Professor Oak, the world-renown Pokemon researcher and one of the creators of the Pokedex, entered the room to the sound of cheering and applause. Platinum was utterly starstruck to finally meet the famous professor face-to-face.

"Greetings my children young trainers from all over the globe! As you all may know, I am Professor Oak. You may consider me to be the father of the Pokedex, as I was one of the people who invented it." Professor Oak spoke with confidence, his voice commanding attention throughout the room. Platinum now realized where Green got his awesome aura. She then wondered how it would be like to have Professor Oak as your grandad.

"Speaking of the Pokedex, the device that I had originally planned to solely entrust to my grandson Green over here has now become a sort of symbol that binds us, people from differing backgrounds and origins, together as one family. That device isn't merely used to identify Pokemon and to help you in battling, but its image has now evolved to represent your identity. Your identity as protectors of those who can't protect themselves, your identity as saviors of your respective regions, your identity as peacekeepers, and especially your identity as the youth who prove people day-in and day-out that age doesn't limit one's ability to change the world. Embrace this identity, this responsibility as Dex holders, this destiny that you have all been gifted with. And just like how you'll need to embrace this identity, I trust that you will warmly embrace each other with open arms as brothers and sisters. You guys are all one family now, and I hope that as this meetup progresses, all of you may embrace the opportunity to become more united under the power of love and friendship."

As the professor ended his short speech, the Dex Holders gave the man a standing ovation: a great way to start off the momentous occasion.

"Thank you grandfather," Green whispered silently to the professor.

"And thank you all for the outstanding support," The professor said, addressing the entire group, "but I really need to be going now. I still have a broadcast to make from Goldenrod in a few hours." And with that, the professor promptly left the room.

"Ok, now that the inspiring opening remarks were given, I think that it is best that we first start things off by getting to know each other. We wish for the juniors to have a strong bond with their seniors as early as now so that things won't be so awkward later on. You can leave the lab, but make sure to be back in exactly an hour."

With that, all of the Dex Holders exited the lab, scattering in order to meet both new and sometimes familiar faces. Green and Obsidian stayed inside of the meeting room however, apparently having to discuss some important matters.

Platinum had idolized Green and Red ever since before, looking up to them as if there were some kinds of unreachable heroes, so she was surprised by how fast she became friends with Blue. Soon enough, the two girls started started to share stories about their upbringing, and although their pasts were practically opposites, the two chatted as if they understood each other completely. There was that instant "zing" as soon as they began to talk, so Platinum knew that they would become the closest of friends in a very short amount of time.

Red noticed that the other Sinnoh Dex Holders, namely Diamond and Pearl, were just standing nervously behind Platinum. Seeing what he assumed to be their defensive positions, he remembered that Platinum came from a wealthy family, meaning that these two must be her "psuedo-bodyguards".

Seeing how they had nobody to talk to, Red decided to engage both of them in a conversation about Pokemon battles. Despite the nervousness of the duo, Red quickly became acquainted with the two, and soon enough all of them were laughing to the same stupid stories.

Meanwhile, the Unova Dex Holders went to chat with the Johto Dex Holders. Although Silver was an introvert by nature, it didn't take long for him to have a friendly relationship with Rakutsu.

It took the same amount of time however for Gold to begin teasing Black. Black teased him back of course, and just 5 minutes after they had come to know each other, they were already challenging each other to a race to the other end of Pallet Town, the loser having to pay up some of his own lunch money.

"Would you two stop being so childish!" Crystal and White said in unison. They then looked at each other and smiled. Realizing their common characteristics and situations, they soon found it easy to talk about their journeys as Dex Holders. Crystal also recommended some famous Johto tourist destinations to White.

"Actually, I was wondering: what's your relationship with Obsidian?" White asked Crystal.

"Hmm...Well, I can say that we have a rather complex sibling relationship. We weren't really raised together, rather he was an orphan when I found him. I found him earlier than I found Emerald though. Back then, I was unfamiliar with the psychological state of orphans, so I didn't know how to confront him. He was also a year younger than me, so I assumed that he would be more immature and irresponsible than me. Ironically, he was the exact opposite (being more mature than Gold could ever be). As far as I know, he had to survive on his own for some time after he was abandoned after a certain incident. Actually, it might be better if you go ask Obsidian about his past yourself."

"Is Obsidian really his real name?" White asked. "I mean, who names their kid Obsidian?"

"Who names their kid 'White'?" Crystal retorted, almost a bit too quickly. "Sorry, hope I didn't hurt your feelings. Anyway, Obsidian isn't his real name: it's just a codename that he came up with. I believe that he chose the name due to his dark past." As Crystal said all of this, she began to recall her memories of when she first found Obsidian. Suddenly, recollections of his pain came flooding back to here...

Snapping out of her thoughts, Crystal then noticed Faitsu out of the corner of her eye, alone with her back against the wall. She decided to approach the girl, as White had already left due to how long Crystal was in her trance-like state

'What am I doing in this place? If Lord N finds out, I'm screwed!' Faitsu thought to herself. Her worrying was then interrupted by an approaching girl. She forced herself to snap out of it, realizing that she was being approached by one of her seniors.

"Hello, if memory persists, your name is Faitsu right?" Crystal asked in as friendly a manner as she could.

"Huh? Uh, yeah," Faitsu replied nervously, afraid that she had gotten into some trouble.

"Well, Faitsu, we could chat if you like, you know. Is anything bothering you?"

Not wanting to upset her senior, Faitsu stood up as she and Crystal walked over to join White in her conversation with some of the other trainers.

Meanwhile...

"Hey, juniors, which do you think is better? Beauty or barbaric power?" Ruby asked the seemingly terrified juniors.

The 2 Kalos Dex Holders were petrified, afraid of what might happen if they answered either of the two.

Before they could properly react though, their thoughts were interrupted by a hyperactive girl, her hair becoming more and more unruly as she bounced around the place.

"Battling is the most important right? RIGHT?" Sapphire asked rather forcibly, her eyes staring into the depths of their souls as if probing them for answers.

The 2 were frozen solid, scared to hell by the two bickering seniors. They technically even weren't part of the fight, but they somehow became the center of it! Luckily, they didn't have to make a choice as they were then alerted by the loudspeaker system that they had to be back in the lab in 5 minutes. They used this as an excuse to escape the argument, although it still didn't stop their seniors from practically screaming at each other.

Once everyone was settled inside, the group saw that it wasn't the first generation Dex Holders that were in front anymore, but rather it was Green, Obsidian, and Emerald who had taken center stage. In Emerald's hands were 2 green buckets of equal size.

"Ok guys, before we have lunch in 30 minutes, we'll first be playing a game." Green said this with little emotion in his voice, something which started to creep out some of the juniors. "Emerald here has 2 buckets, the first bucket contains names from the first 3 generations of Dex Holders, while the other bucket contains names from the latter 3 generations. The rules are simple: Obsidian will draw one name from each bucket. The 2 lucky trainers will then have to write down one sentence describing their first impression of each other on the piece of papers in front of you. Once you have finished, you will pass the paper to me and I will read it out loud. There will be no repetitions. Any questions?"

After a few moments, White raised her hand.

"Yes?" Green asked, his voice still devoid of enthusiasm.

"Doing the Math, there's 11 seniors, while there are only 9 juniors."

"Oh yes, I forgot to add: Emerald will be joining the junior's side for the time being."

"Wait what!?" Emerald answered, shocked at Green's statement.

"Ok, let's begin," Green said with a smirk on his face, completely ignoring Emerald's outcry.

With that, Obsidian drew one paper from each bucket.

"Let's see... For the seniors we have Gold, and for the juniors we have Black." Obsidian couldn't hide the smile on his face, as it was in situations like these that Gold was the most entertaining.

Both boys quickly got the paper and pen placed in front of them, and within mere seconds they had both passed their papers to Green.

Green began to unfold Black's paper. "Ok, let's see... Black's first impression of Gold is that he is a self-centered asshole who is terrible with girls."

Gold snorted as he smirked in Black's direction. "Bullshit" Gold said in reply, with everyone in the room not being able to suppress a smile.

"Moving on, here's Gold's first impression of Black: he is a gay bastard who can suck my-." Green was then forced to cut himself off.

As Gold began to laugh by himself, everyone in the room shrugged as they all got a better understanding of Gold's personality. Crystal, who was beside Gold, kicked him in the shin, causing him to yelp out in pain as Black watched the pain building up on Gold's face. He couldn't help but giggle at how Gold had caused his own downfall.

"I think that it should be obvious to treat this game and the person you are talking about with respect. Please avoid using vulgar words. That is, if you don't want to get punished." Green said this whilst eyeing Gold, his "death stare" like a viper's as it was stalking its pre. The fear that entered Gold caused him to reel back in his seat. The room suddenly went silent.

Also scared by Green's look, Crystal once again kicked Gold in the shin. Gold had to suppress his scream this time around though, afraid to be the one who awkwardly breaks the silence.

"Moving on!" Obsidian said after a few moments (to everybody's relief). "Next up would be... Sapphire and White."

Both girls did the same, and after some time (they took longer than the first two boys), they too passed the papers to Green.

Green first read the two strips of papers silently to ensure that age appropriate. He then sighed out in relief: 'Thank goodness these girls are much more mature.'

"Sapphire's first impression of White: 'Hardworking and a generous person, would like to have her as a sparring partner.'" Out of the corner of his eye, Green noticed White blushing as a few eyes turned towards her direction.

"White's first impression of Sapphire: 'Strong and independent girl, it would be a good idea if she were to work in my studio.'" Green said this as the entire room applauded, everyone amazed at how perfect their descriptions were for each other.

After a few moments, Obsidian picked up another pair of names. This time it was himself and Y's turn. With Green having to exit the room to check up on lunch, Emerald read their papers in his stead.

"Obsidian's description of Y: 'Responsible and mature. Possible leader.'" Emerald then stuck his tongue out at Obsidian before turning to Y. "Yeah right! This jerk!? Gold would make a better leader than him, and he doesn't even know how to wear his cap properly!"

"Quit it dickface!" Gold shouted back. "You want to take this outside!?"

As if nothing had happened, Emerald cleared his throat and proceeded onto Y's paper, completely ignoring Gold's childish outburst. "Y's description of Obsidian...oooh! This is interesting!"

At this point, many eyes in the room, including Obsidian's, turned to Y's direction. With dead air filling up the lab, Y nervously laughed in the hopes of shaking off the awkwardness, but Emerald had just placed all of the tension on her.

"Y's description of Obsidian: 'Shady guy. Too secretive for my sake and possibly his own. Don't trust.'"

The room remained quiet as everybody had turned their attention towards Obsidian. Instead of being embarrassed however, the senior simply smiled back at everybody. "I have my reasons" was the only friendly reply that everybody received in return.

The game continued until everybody got a chance to write on their respective papers. Once the game had finished, Green announced that it was time to eat lunch.

The freshly-cooked lunch was made and served by Cerulean City's Misty and her maids. It was a simple bento consisting of fried rice, salmon, tempura, and seasoned vegetables, along with all of their respective sauces. The aroma was exquisite and the taste was scrumptious, almost as if they were eating hotel food (and for the trainers who did recently stay in a hotel, they had to admit that Misty's cooking was somehow better than some of the professional chefs.)

After eating, for the next half hour, the group of trainers played hide-and-seek right outside of the lab to get to know each other better. Luckily, nobody was injured, and everybody was able to have a fun time.

While everyone was resting from the game, Obsidian was sitting under the shade of Oak's oak tree, rereading some reports that he got the other day. Green was also casually doing some work, listing some records down on his notebook.

"Hmm, ok…. ok…" Obsidian said to himself as he read the different reports. That was when he stumbled across a certain line which caught his attention. "Well, this isn't good."

Meanwhile, the trainers were resting on the grass when they suddenly heard a loud explosion. Gold was apparently showing off his skills to some of the younger generations as his Typlosion used the Ultimate Fire Type Move: Blast Burn. The fiery awesomeness of this move did strike a sense of awe for the younger Dex Holders, but the blast was a bit too powerful for Gold's Typlosion to control since Gold wasn't completely focused on his Pokemon.

Almost immediately, the fire went out of control and started burning amongst the nearby trees. The cinders from the fire almost hit Platinum (if it weren't for Gold running in and shielding her), startling all the Sinnoh Dex Holders, as well as some of the other Dex Holders in the vicinity of the blast. If it weren't for Blue's Blastoise and the alertness of the seniors, people could've gotten seriously injured.

"Gold! What the hell was that!?" Emerald suddenly shouted at Gold as he began to check up on Platinum for any burns. His hair gel was melting just from being close to the source of the fire.

There was another wave of complains that Gold could hear from Platinum's direction but he simply shrugged it all off and pretended to mind his own business. His plan to impress the younger Dex Holders had failed spectacularly.

His apathy did not appease the crowd though, and before he knew it, he was surrounded by an angry mob. Luckily enough for him, the loudspeaker system then alerted everyone to come back into the lab.

In the lab, they were greeted once again by Green and Obsidian. This time however, they both wore rather grim expressions on their faces.

"Ok, play time's over," Green said, his face as serious as your high school teacher's. "Obsidian has something very serious to say."

There was a brief moment of silence before Obsidian started to speak up.

"As you all may know, crime rates have been increasing rapidly within the recent weeks. Not as high as when Team Rocket was still operating, but high enough to pose a threat to civilians."

"It is now becoming common for fragments of big crime disbanded organizations (such as Team Rocket) to rise up and try to take control of different parts of the cities. The gym leaders are already scrambling to all crime scenes, however more and more organizations are rising each day. The Pokemon Organization has tasked us, the Dex holders from the different regions, with crushing these smaller organizations." Obsidian declared.

"The Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn Dex Holders will handle most of the heavy hitting," Green explained. "However, we need all of you to stay for several months in the event that we lack the necessary manpower. Don't worry: we will be giving appropriate food and housing to every Dex Holder. The Hoenn and Sinnoh Dex Holders will stay here in Pallet Town whilst Unova and Kalos will stay at The Dex Holder's Mansion. The meeting is now over. Dismissed."

Just before Green hurriedly left the room, Y raised her hand. "Any questions?" Green said, acknowledging her presence.

"Well, what exactly is 'The Dex Holder's Mansion'?" Y asked, her ears perked up in curiosity. Almost half of the room followed, all looking at Green with interest in their eyes.

Green smiled. "Oh, sorry for not explaining properly. By Dex Holder's Mansion, I mean Obsidian's house."

Many eyes then turned towards Obsidian, shocked at what they had just heard. Obsidian was just laughing to himself, not being able to believe what he had just heard.

"Hahahahaha...Wait...legit?"