Chapter 6: The Edge of Insanity I
The trio and their pokemon sat together eating lunch, by Quartz's calculations the sea trip to Dewford would last around five days give or take. So the small group had stocked up on a heavy number of provisions, enough food and water for all of them (pokemon included.)
"We have to leave right now so that we can find Steven Stone!" Sapphire exclaimed.
"I say we need to do a bit more training first." Quartz argued. "Like you said, those guys we fought were tough, what if we run into someone like them again? Besides, I wanna see if I can catch another pokemon."
"Nya!" Sky agreed.
And so it came down to Kirie to give the final vote. "...I do need a bit more training, my team need to level up so that they can learn better contest moves." Res nodded along with her.
"Then it's settled." Quartz smirked.
Sapphire glared at Kirie but admitted defeat. "Fine, let's meet back here in an hour, no being late!"
"Yes!" Kirie said as she called out all her pokemon. "Alright guys, time to work hard and reap the benefits!" Her pokemon cheered with her.
Whilst Kirie ran off Quartz and Sky headed for Petalburg Woods...
Meanwhile...
Quartz's mother Michelle hastily walked into Petalburg City and looked around, spotting a nearby citizen she walked up to him. "Excuse me sir? Sir? Ha-Have you seen my son? He's about average height and has a Shiny Skitty with him?...Y-Yes I have a picture of him, here...you haven't? No no, it's okay...thank you..."
She sighed as she walked to the Pokemon Centre and sat inside, she couldn't find Quartz or Sky anywhere. She had heard that they were heading for Petalburg but...but...
She quietly sobbed into her hands at the thought of losing her son. She would have to call Professor Berlitz again.
Back with Quartz...
"Sky! Use Thunderbolt!"
"Nyaaa!" The Skitty fried the Nincada it was battling with yellow bolts of electricity.
"Okay! Go Pokeball!" Quartz threw the capsule which absobed and contained the Nincada. "Yes! Our third friend!" He exclaimed as he picked up the ball and stared at the unconcious Nincada inside of it, looking up its info on his Pokedex. "Female huh? Okay then! I'll call you Nina! That works perfectly!" He placed the Pokeball in his pocket as he scratched Sky behind her ears for a job well done.
Suddenly the two heard noises. "Huh? Sky, get down!" The two flattened themselves against the grassy earth as two men wearing red suits with hoods appeared.
"What are we even doing here?" One asked his companion.
"I already explained to you! Leader Maxie said that he gained information on Team Aqua members in this forest! We're scouting for them!" The other replied angrily.
'Team Aqua? Were those the guys who attacked Mr. Stone?' Quartz asked himself in his head.
"Yeah yeah, so we spread out, right?" Red #1 asked.
"Yes, report if you find anything." Red #2 confirmed, the two then started looking around.
"Damn it! They're gonna find us pretty soon!" Quartz whispered to Sky. "We've gotta get out of here!" The pokemon and her trainer began to shuffle away slowly.
"What was that?" One of the guys said, causing them to freeze.
"What was what?" The other one asked in an annoyed tone.
"I thought I heard something over there!"
"It was probably just a stupid Wurmple or something."
"I'm gonna check it out."
"Do whatever the hell you want." The first guy began walking towards Quartz and Sky.
"Crud!" Quartz hissed under his breath. "...Sky, let's make a run for it, get on!"
Sky jumped onto Quartz's shoulder as he took off. "Hey! There was some kid spying on us!" R1 yelled.
"WHAT!? After him!" R2 shouted.
Quartz ran until he came to a particularly thick tree, or in his mind a dead end.
The two men stood in front of him. "What are we supposed to do with him?"
"Simple, he listened in on Team Magma, so now he 'disappears'." The two then got out a Poke-Ball each.
'Team Magma?' Quartz thought.
"Mightyena!" "Numel!" The two specified pokemon emerged from their capsules.
"Sky! Tro!" Sky leapt off of his shoulder whilst Tro popped out of his Pokeball. "Tro, use Dig and Sky use Ice Beam!" Tro dug underground and erupted underneath Numel, whilst Sky hit Mightyena with blue lightning bolts from her mouth.
"Hey Maurice, those pokemon know some high level moves." One Magma grunt told the other.
"Yeah, I can see that Melvin." Maurice said. "Once we deal with this kid those pokemon will belong to Team Magma! Mightyena! Use Crunch!"
"Numel! Use Flamethrower!" Mightyena bit down hard on Sky whilst Numel blew flames all over Tro.
"Sky! Tro!" Quartz yelled in horror as his injured and knocked out pokemon fell at his feet. He fell to his knees as he looked at them and his face was shadowed. "Sky...Tro..." He sobbed as tears rolled down his face.
Maurice smirked. "We'll be taking your pokemon now."
With Michelle...
Professor Berlitz picked up on the video phone almost immediately as Michelle called. "Michelle, have you found Quartz!?"
"No..." Michelle shook her head sadly.
"Ungh...you HAVE to keep looking! I'm doing everything in my power to try and keep him safe!" The Professor assured her.
Michelle looked up angrily at her image. "Why did you have to keep Quartz in Littleroot for so long!? Why was he not allowed out!? I followed your instructions because I thought it was what was best for my son! If I'm going to keep doing this I want answers! NOW!"
Berlitz retained her emotionless expression. "...Okay, but you might not like it." She rummaged around in some drawers, until she pulled out a group of folders labelled 'TOP SECRET'. "When we found Quartz with Sky, we had to perform a few MENTAL tests to check if he had been affected by Rayquaza in anyway, these were the results."
Michelle rubbed her hands nervously as Professor Berlitz opened the first folder and pulled out a sheet that had 'Overall Results' written on it.
"The first few tests were basic, seeing if he could still read or write, whether he had lost the ability to speak or see, if his preferred tastes still existed, all turned up normal." Berlitz said as her eyes scanned along the paper. "It wasn't until one test where we discovered some...unsavoury results."
"Unsavoury? What do you mean?" Michelle almost whispered.
"We had all noticed that Sky had never left Quartz's side since the incident. So our next test involved...removing Sky for a short period of time."
"Take away Sky!? Those two are practically inseperable!"
"We understood that, and obviously there were struggles on both sides, but we eventually managed to put Sky in a seperate room. Obviously there was crying and screaming on both sides, normal reactions...And then Quartz's emotional levels...spiked dramatically."
"W-What happened?"
"We suspect there was a trigger, but no physical results were shown at the time, they emerged slowly. The first sign was that he started smiling."
"Smiling? That can't be-"
"A dark smile Michelle, the one a murderer makes before giving the killing blow. He wouldn't eat, wouldn't sleep, just smiled at us from behind the one way glass. Then he started talking to himself, muttering away in the corner, still smiling, and he would always talk about how he hated us. Then he behaved more violently, attacking the walls and floor and glass, we sent in ten of our top scientists to detain him...all were hospitalised."
Michelle covered her mouth to as tears streamed down her face. "No...not Quartz..."
"Eventually the only thing we could think of was returning Sky. As soon as they were together again the spike disappeared...and Quartz had absolutely no recollection of the events that transpired. We decided on a verdict...that Quartz was a danger to the Hoenn region itself, and needed to be contained. It was quite difficult for me to persuade them to monitor Quartz in Littleroot Town."
Michelle couldn't speak as she sobbed into her arms.
"I'm sorry Michelle. But as far as the Pokemon Federation is concerned...your son is a sadistic psychomaniac who is to be detained on sight."
With Quartz...
As Maurice reached towards Sky something suddenly stopped him. Quartz's hand had gripped firmly onto his wrist. "What the hell!? Let go of me you brat!"
Quartz raised his head with shadowed eyes as an evil toothy smile formed on his face.
SLAM!
Quartz suddenly punched the Magma grunt in the fce, sending him flying into a tree with a loud thud, whre he fell unconcious.
"Hehehe..." Quartz chuckled as Melvin and the grunts' pokemon looked on in disbelief. "Man, that guy was WEAK! Hehehehe...hehehahaha, hahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!"
Melvin turned to Quartz with a dropped jaw. "How...How the hell did you do that!?"
Quartz turned to him with sick joy in his eyes. "A magician never reveals his secrets..."
Maurice's Mightyena growled as it leapt towards him with a Crunch. "Bad boy!" He yelled as he easily dodged and grabbed the pokemon by the tail, swinging it around and forcefully slmming it into a nearby tree, knocking it out.
"You guys SUCK!" Quartz declared as he picked up Numel and began juggling it. "At least give me a f****** challenge." He then casually tossed Numel over his shoulder into a tree, knocking it out.
"You brat! Nobody messes with us and gets away with it!" Melvin declared angrily.
"Oh shut UP!" Quartz said as he kicked him hard in the groin, forcing him to his knees, still smiling. "Hehehe...I don't care what crap comes out of your mouth!" He grabbed both his arms and pulled them back. "And now for my next trick..."
SNAP!
"ARRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!" Melvin screamed as Quartz stamped down so hard on his back his spine broke, passing out from the pain.
"I'm a genius!" Quartz declared. "I've just invented pain! I should get an Oscar for that! Hehehehe..."
Maurice rubbed his burning face as he stood up and surveyed the damage. "What the...YOU BASTARD! DID YOU DO THIS!?"
Quartz turned to him. "Awwww, your not dead yet? Shame..."
"I'LL KILL YOU FIRST!" Maurice yelled as he charged Quartz.
"Too slooooow!" Quarz said mockingly as he punched the Magma member in the side of his face, sending him sprawling into the dirt.
As Maurice tried to pick himself up Quartz stamped down on his head hard. "Stay in the dirt and shit!" He yelled. "That's where all you Magma bastards belong! Drown in your own selfish and foolish desires!" He kept his foot firmly on the Magma's head until the struggling stopped. "Job well done." Quartz said as he brushed his hands together.
"Magma 9, Magma 9. Do you copy, Magma 9?" Quartz bent down to the unconcious Maurice to find a communicator, which he swiftly took.
"Hello? I'd like to order a pizza." Quartz spoke down the line. "Yes, Meat-Feast with cheese stuffed crust, extra large with sour cream on the side should do."
"Wha-...WHO IS THIS!? How did you get this comunicator!?"
"I beat up your babies, simple as that. And are you gonna deliver my pizza or not?"
"Answer my questions first! Do you have ANY idea who you're dealing with."
"Yeah yeah, Team Magma, I get it." Quartz waved his hand dismissively, retaining his twisted smirk. "Make yourself as BIG and as BAD as you possibly can for now, it'll be even more fun to watch when I take it all away."
"You think you can stand up to us!? Leader Maxie shall hear about this!"
"Ooooh! I'm so scaaaared! Tell your big bad boss whatever the hell you want, DO whatever the hell you want, but you should know this..." Quartz's smile grew so big it covered half his face. "In the end, I'll sit atop your bloody corpses and rule with a gentle hand." Before the other speakrr could reply Quartz dropped the communicator in the mud and let it sink.
Immediately a mental switch flicked in Quartz's mind, his eyes glazed over and his smile disappeared as he staggered around and clutched his head. "Ahhhh...Why have I got such a headache...?"
It was then that Sky and Tro woke up. "Nya!" "Tree!" They cried as they ran to their trainer.
"Sky! Tro!" Quartz gasped as he hugged his pokemon tightly with tears streaming down his face. "I'm so glad your okay...I thought I lost you both..." He wiped away his tears as he looked behind him and saw the scene. "WOAH!...Wh-What happened to them...?" He looked at the two pokemon in his arms. "Did you two see anything?"
"Nya?" "Tree?" The two looked at each other and shook their heads.
"No, huh? I don't remember anything..." He shook his head. "I guess we must've got saved or something...come on, let's meet up with Sapphire and Kirie." And with that he walked along with his pokemon in his arms...
Quartz Yua, Number of Badges: 1, Stone Badge.
Pokemon: Sky (Skitty), Female, Level 18, Hasty Nature, Moves (In rotation): Sing, Thunderbolt, Doubleslap, Ice Beam, Water Pulse.
Tro (Treecko), Male, Level 15, Adament Nature, Moves: Pound, Absorb, Dig, Brick Break.
Nina (Nincada), Female, Level 7, Naive Nature, Moves: Unknown
Kirie Haan, Number of Ribbons: 0.
Pokemon: Res (Zorua), Male, Level 13, Hasty Nature, Moves: Bite, Shadow Ball.
Soul (Surskit), Female, Level 11, Timid Nature, Moves: Unknown
Spirit (Gible), Male, Level 12, Adamant Nature, Moves: Unknown
Manna (Ducklett), Female, Level 17, Timid Nature, Moves: Unknown
And now you know the truth...pretty damn dark isn't he? I am preparing myself for reviews of shock or whatever, they still help though. And I also apologise if this chapter seems short.
Thank you for reading!...Hehehe...
