*I hate having stuff to study for and having so many things I want to do... TT^TT Play White 2, draw a Nuzlocke, draw for PMD-E, draw a Kiriban, write a birthday present for someone, and the urge to do so many other things... But I'm still getting this done, so that's a plus. :3 (the other stuff... not so much. Especially not the studying. XD) Here's the chapter! (on Sunday this time, because I actually managed to remember what day it is! :D)*

Chapter 7

"Dia!" cried Pearl as Platina's Empoleon finished the final stretch to where Dia had been washed up. "Dia,we're here!"

"Pearl!" Dia called back excitedly, jumping up and down, his body just a shadow in the darkness. He had to yell to be heard above the sound of rushing water- the waterfall was only a few hundred feet away. "Platina!"

"I was so worried!" said Pearl as the Empoleon finally reached the ledge of where Dia was, jumping off impatiently to catch his best friend in an embrace. "I thought we might have lost you! Are you okay?"

"I was worried about you two too," said Dia, hugging Pearl in joy as well. "And Tung is in really bad shape after going down that waterfall, so I had no way to leave, and I was so scared!" Dia was unafraid of sharing his fears, and his relief was completely obvious on his face. "I'm okay. I'm hungry, but that's all."

Platina stood silently next to her Empoleon as the two boys were reunited. Looking at them, you'd think they had been torn apart for years instead of less than a day. She was really quite envious of the two of them. They were so much closer than any other people she'd ever met, and sometimes, she felt as if they'd forget about her. Like now. Not that she minded at the moment. As long as Dia was okay, it was all she needed to know.

"Platina!" Pearl called, waving her over with a wide smile. "Don't just stand over there-you were worried about Dia too!" His face was filled completely with joy- it was hard to believe that just minutes ago his features were tight with worry and fear. "Join the group hug!"

"It's okay, I'm fine," answered Platina, chuckling at his enthusiasm. "I'll just wait over here until you two are ready to-"

"Nope!" Pearl grabbed her hand and pulled her in, and Platinum felt the security of just their trio being together, safe and sound, and relaxed, letting out the breath she didn't realize she'd be in holding in. It might have been dark, cold, and wet, but she didn't feel uncomfortable at all. "Besides, this is an easier way to get warm, I'm freezing!"

"You're the one with the fire-type, Pearl," pointed out Dia, who was zipping up his jacket. "Don't you remember?"

"And that's why we're all here in the first place..." sighed Pearl, looking suddenly subdued. Dia's expression softened, and so did Platina. After all, they didn't blame Pearl- he'd only been trying to help. "I'm sorry." He hung his head, looking like a child ready to be punished.

"It's okay," said Platina, beating Dia to it. The black-haired boy already had his mouth open, but closed it so he wouldn't interrupt. "As long as you don't do it again," she added. Knowing Pearl, he could quite possibly attempt it another time if he was excited enough. "Once is enough."

"I know," he answered somberly, but his smile was back in place. He hugged both of them tighter, and Platina laughed- his mood was so erratic, but it was good to just feel his happiness at simply being alive and safe. "Okay, I think we've had enough of the group hugging."

"Back to Empoleon?" Platina sounded resigned- after all, that would mean they were about to start their search for Jade. And Pearl's Zelhiko, but he seemed to be of a lesser concern as he was a water-type and unlikely to have been harmed much. Jade on the other hand... Platina didn't want him hurt, after all, she barely knew him and it was wrong to hate him do much in the first place, but she didn't want to go rescue him either.

"We're looking for Jade, right?" asked Dia, walking to Platina's Empoleon. Would they really all fit? "Since he wasn't with me?"

"Yup. I sent Chahiko to go search downstream on our way up here. That way, we'll have a better idea of where to stop. We'll be able to intercept him on the way," explained Pearl, motioning towards the darkness ahead. "He can't have washed up closer to the waterfall- even Zelhiko wouldn't have been able to escape the currents that easily."

"...I don't think my Empoleon can carry us all," said Platina suddenly, her gold-silver eyes troubled. "One of us is going to fall off if we try and sit like we normally do. Two people is already a bit of a squeeze," she pointed out. When she and Pearl had been riding, they'd had to press hard together and hold on to the water- type tight in order to avoid being thrown into the current. "What should we do?"

"Like I said, my Tung is too injured to Surf..." said Dia dejectedly, staring sadly into its Pokeball. "I already tried some potions, but I'll take hours and maybe a few days until he gets better.

"You could sit on one of us, Platina," offered Pearl, a slight blush on his cheeks. However, it was hardly visible in the dim lighting. "Like you could be sitting sideways on my lap and hold onto me while Dia and I hold onto Empoleon."

"That would work," said Dia, nodding his approval of the idea. "We could try it- if it doesn't, Empoleon could try to get a small ledge like this again."

"Okay," agreed Platina, nodding, feeling embarrassed as she did so. After all... the idea wasn't very lady-like, but then again, what was? "I'll do it."

"Then just let me lift you up," started Pearl, bending down so he could pick her up bridal style. "This way we can get on without Empoleon having to fight the current. Just hold onto my neck."

"Like this?" She felt almost uncomfortably close, and if it were anyone else, she probably would have demanded they put her down. Holding on tight, she gasped as he jumped onto Empoleon's back as the penguin-like Pokemon leapt into the water, Dia jumping on as well. The current was rough, pushing them forwards even before the Empoleon began to swim, making it difficult for Dia and Pearl to stabilize themselves on the water-type.

"Are you okay?" asked Pearl, concerned, as Empoleon began its Aqua Jet and they were almost flying when they hit the small waves of the underground river. "Not-" he flinched as they catapulted into the air for a second, relaxing as they landed, "uncomfortable or anything?"

"I'm fine," she said, trying to find something else to stare at but his luminous orange eyes. They were a strange color, really, glowing like a cat's eyes in the dark. They were so familiar too, that just looking into them felt like being at home, safe and comfortable. Only one of his arms was still supporting her, holding her head close to him, and the other held on tightly to one of the Empoleon's prongs.

"Pearl, I think I see Chahiko!" exclaimed Dia from behind Pearl, pointing at a white-feathered Pokemon a few hundred feet away. Platina turned to see it- she could recognize the note-shaped shadow of its head, and frowned. So it had found Jade... She wished that she could feel relief, but all she felt was fear. Being close to Pearl helped, and she could breath easily, but she couldn't help but feel that something horrible was waiting to unfold.

"Jade!" called Pearl loudly over the giant roar of the water, so loudly that it caused Platina to flinch. "Jade, we're here!"

She saw the man even in the darkness. His light blond hair reflected the little light there was, like a dim candle. His silver eyes shone as well, the dark water reflecting in them as he stared out at them. At his feet were three shining... stones? Orbs? She couldn't tell from here.

The underwater river took a sharp turn at the rock where he stood and Empoleon was forced to leap out of the water to land on the platform. Jade gave a smile as they landed, looking not at all afraid or relieved as Dia had. He looked as if he had been waiting for them.

"Are you okay?" asked Dia, climbing off of Empoleon's back first. "Are you hurt or anything?"

"Not at all. That Floatzel of yours is quite a talented swimmer," complimented Jade, turning to Pearl as he said so. "He's taking a rest back there."

"In the cave?" Platina asked, trying to see into the darkness. She let out her Pachirisu in order to light the place up. "Pachirisu, Flash!"

She hadn't used the small electric squirrel earlier fearing that it would be tired or fall off of her Empoleon. It looked fine now, energetically creating light with its electricity, allowing her to clearly see that they weren't exactly in a cave, but a tunnel. Pearl's Zelhiko was sleeping near the entrance of the tunnel and Pearl ran to it.

"Good job, Zelhiko," he said, returning the water-type to its Pokeball. He then looked at Rei and asked, "What are those things?"

At that, Rei grinned widely. "I went into that tunnel in hopes of finding something and I found those three orbs at the end of it. I've seen things like these before. They allow you to summon and control legendary Pokemon."

"Legendary Pokemon?" echoed Platina, shocked, instantly realizing what the three stones were. She'd only heard them rumored in stories and myths before- she'd dismissed them as fairy tales. Her need for knowledge had her running to the three stones, examining them in her hands. "These are the stones for Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina!"

"Really?!" exclaimed Pearl, jumping up in excitement. "That's amazing! This is great for your research, Platina! Are you sure?"

"Definitely!" affirmed Platina. She could feel the quiet but undeniable power flowing through them into her body, not overwhelming, but still palpable. It echoed of the battle where they had fought against Giratina, lord of the other dimensions, with Dialga, lord of time, and Palkia, lord of space. "This blue one is the Adamant Orb for Dialga. This pink one is the Lustrous Orb for Palkia. And this yellow one is the Griseous Orb for Giratina."

"And there's more," said Jade, looking annoyingly obnoxious. Platina had almost forgotten he was there in the face of this exciting new discovery.

"What?" asked Pearl, his excitement showing in every facet of his movements and his expression. He rooted through his bag, pulling out a pen and a soaked notepad. "Tell us!"

"I can't explain it," answered Jade, walking into the tunnel and motioning for them to follow. "Just come over here."


"Wait, Silver, is that true?!" yelled Crystal, breaking her serious reverie. Her eyes were wide with shock. "Lance said that Rei's in Sinnoh."

"He said that there was a Salamence sighting in Sinnoh," corrected Silver, still maintaining his cool. He was quite good at that-from his expression, you wouldn't be able to tell anything was amiss. "And chances are it's Rei. The witness didn't follow up it- she was just busy training and noticed it passing."

"In Sinnoh?" echoed Gold, thinking hard. "Hmm... I've heard the Old Gateau there is fantastic..."

"Now's not the time to talk about food!" fumed Crystal, exploding on her boyfriend. "This is serious business! We need to warn them!"

"Calm down, Crys," said Gold sounding slightly apologetic. "I was about to say I've always wanted to try it, but it takes like- a week to get there on boat or something. His Salamence can't have had that much energy."

"It's not like there's no land at all between Sinnoh and Hoenn," said Silver, taking out a map and pointing to the area between the two. "It's mainly ocean, but even without a map, if he was flying high enough, he'd be able to see the land."

"Ah, I see," said Gold, falling back into his bed. They were meeting at Gold's house as they usually did. Silver didn't really have a set place and mainly wandered, and Crystal was usually in New Bark Town for research anyways. "So we gotta leave for Sinnoh then, right?"

There was a moment of silence before anyone answered. "Wait, what?" asked Crystal. She hadn't actually thought about going to try and find Rei. But if something did happen, they wouldn't be able to reach Sinnoh fast enough. "Go to Sinnoh? Ourselves?"

"Our seniors too," affirmed Gold, counting on his fingers. "Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow. They should go if we are."

"Emerald too," added Crystal, thinking that it really wasn't a bad plan. A little rash, but of course, this was Gold's plan, but was pretty good. Rei was not in Hoenn, and if he struck, a faraway region would ensure that they would not be there to stop him. "He's arriving tomorrow to visit me anyways."

"Ruby and Sapphire?" asked Silver, watching as Gold and Crystal exchanged sad glances. "Yeah... I kind of thought so."

"I wouldn't mind bringing the wild girl," said Gold, sounding apologetic. "But there's no way we can contact her without getting prissy boy involved."

"Use their names," scolded Crystal, grabbing Gold's laptop off of his desk and throwing her Xtransceiver at him. "Call our seniors and tell them to meet us at the Olivine Harbor tomorrow evening. There's a ship from Vermillion in three hours that can take them there overnight."

"Woah, woah, slow down, Crys!" said Gold, barely managing to catch the watch-like device. "We don't need to leave right away! It could be a random Salamence!"

"This is a little sudden," piped up Silver, who was busy reading the documents Lance had given him. It wasn't much, but the witness, the Champion of Sinnoh, had been pretty detailed in her subscriptions. As as a dragon trainer, she had been able to remember some defining characteristics. The problem was, none of them were able to remember many defining characteristics of the Salamence and the one photo Silver had found on the web was too low resolution. "Lance said he'll try to get more info anyways-"

"Worst case, we're wrong, we get a nice vacation with our seniors, get to meet our juniors, and have fun. Well, I guess the real worse case is that we run into Rei and we have to battle him again, but you get my point," ranted Crystal, booking tickets for a speedboat to Sinnoh. It would take them there in four days from Olivine Harbor. Of course, it would be very small and cramped for the eight of them, but it would have to do. "Do you two understand me?!"

Gold and Silver stared at each other with the same expression, one that spoke of both fear and respect for their friend. Crystal really was kind of scary when she got like this- ultra-serious and ultra-demanding. They nodded dumbly, afraid saying something could incur her wrath.

"Gold!" called Crystal, and Gold stood up straight, tensing as she stared at him. "Have you called them yet?"

"You asked a minute ago! You can't expect me to have-" Her sudden glare silenced his protests the moment she trained her angry blue eyes on him, and he began stuttering instead. "I-I-I'll get right on it, Crys!"

"You too, Silver!" commanded Crystal, looking into her purse for her credit card. She'd have them reimburse her later. "You call Blue and Green! Gold can call Red and Yellow! I'll call Platina and tell her to meet us at Sunyshore in a few days and warn her and her friends about Rei. Give me my Xtransceiver back, Gold! Use your own Pokegear!"

Platina? Gold and Silver hadn't heard the name before, but they didn't bother to question her. Right now, Crystal's word was law and they didn't feel like reaping the punishment for disobedience. Gold threw the device back to get and grabbed his own Pokegear, avoiding eye contact. His girlfriend was scary...

"Blue," said Silver, having reached his girlfriend through the line. "We need you to get to Olivine Harbor by tomorrow! Crystal, Gold, and I of course! It's not a surprise date, Blue! There's a ship leaving from Vermillion in three hours, can you get there? Crystal's reserved tickets for you four already. It's about Rei, okay? I'll call you back in minute- I have to call Green next. Okay, bye." He ended the call with a sigh- the call had felt like a sprint with obstacles as he tried to paraphrase the plan, albeit badly, to her.

Meanwhile, Gold was lucky. Yellow and Red had been eating lunch together when he called, and those two were much less chatty than Blue. Red had asked few questions and Yellow merely listened in. They were at Viridian Forest, and they'd fetch Green and go to Vermillion. They'd be at Olivine by morning.

"If Red and Yellow are getting Green, I don't have to call him, right?" quipped Silver hopefully. He knew that every second he didn't call was another second her anger would rise.

"No," answered Crystal, slamming the laptop shut. She looked up, her expression stressed and urgent. "Pack your stuff, Gold. You too, Silver. I'll get mine on the way to Olivine."

"How do you want to travel?" asked Silver. "Land, sea, or air."

"Air is the fastest," answered Crystal, already on her way out the door. "You can call Blue while we're in the air."

"Got it," said Silver, grabbing a bag off of Gold's bed. He always travelled light, able to leave and go at a moment's notice. "You realize we'll be there before nightfall, right?"

"I booked hotel rooms," replied Crystal curtly from downstairs. "Right by the dock."

"I think she took me too seriously..." commented Gold, looking awestruck. "It's only been ten minutes since I said it... And I hardly meant it too."

"Well, you know Crystal. She always likes to be extra sure," said Silver, running down the stairs after her.

"That super serious gal..." muttered Gold to himself, stuffing clothes and other necessities into his backpack and then running after them. "Oy, wait for me!

*I dunno why, but I think Gold is hilarious to write. He just... is. (meanwhile, Silver is just awesome all around- *is shot*) Wonder what Jade found... :3 It could be a trap for all you guys know, couldn't it? XD And now everyone's booking it to Sinnoh as fast as they can... will they be there in time to stop Jade's plans from working? Review Reply time~

blazelight790: I can't keep track of days. :/ So... yeah. Saturday. XD I could this week because I had a big cross country meet yesterday. Only 10 seconds slower than my personal record, and on a course that's like- ten times harder! XD Haughty is so cute... but if I start talking, I'll start sounding like the Pokemon Fan Club Director. =w=" We did go find Dia! :D (and surprisingly, I didn't actually hurt him or anything. Wonder how that happened.) I wish the games were like... Super Smash Bros Brawl. TT^TT Imagine how cool that would be... it means a skilled person really can win with a crappy Pokemon (no offense to Nana and Coco... just to their species minus them... they suck in Gen III and Mightyena isn't usable in competitive play, and Delcatty's even worse. XD) and a lesser fighter could lose with a good Pokemon. I forget small things too sometimes. :3 (like whether or not Ruby went in the right cave or the left one... *sigh* It's even worse due to the flipped translation, so I just gave up trying.)

YellowSaphFan69: I didn't kill off Ruby's spirit yet! (keyword: yet *is shot* *by Ruby* OwO") I really loved writing that battle, so I'm glad you enjoyed it! :D I thought it would be more fun than 'Yay! Gardevoir Psychic sweep~ (which would be completely plausible even in-game. XD)'which was what I had originally planned before I realized this would be cooler.

ZXCVBNMEM: Or did it? :3

POKESPE-FAN: He just needs to be re-exposed, that's all... (I think.) Well, Ruby is shown to be stronger than her even in the manga. X) It's hard to say who's technically the rival, since Ruby's Mudkip has an advantage over Torchic (which the rival always does), but he has the general story line (moved to Littleroot, Norman is dad) of the player character, so... meh. They're both rivals! XD It's more fun if Pearl and Dia are clueless! :D

Light-Sakura: Yup... Well, at least they found him again. XD You guessed right~ That is where they're going. :3 Now I have a temptation to attempt to draw it despite sucking at backgrounds... *sigh* *adds more to 'to-do list'... One-shot idea sounds good. :3 As long as I don't have to write OldRival or Commoner. XD (those are the only two I really hate. The rest I'm pretty much okay with.)

SniperGYS: Well, I think the game order is kind of weird. Not everyone lives in Littleroot Town! (in fact, there are only like- three houses there. *is shot* Oh well... Game logic!) I don't think that there really is a concrete order... I remember reading a Nuzlocke that had the gym leaders ask what badge the challenger was on and use a specifically leveled team to fight. But I guess in-manga, you could beat a Ludicolo with a Torchic... I took the Double-Edge from the chapter against the Crawdaunt, because the spinning looked funny. x) Well, they found Jade! But what did he find...?

We got an idea for fifty reviews! (which, if we get eight reviews, will hit fifty... but I somehow doubt that's going to happen. XD) The fiftieth reviewer gets a oneshot of a pairing of their choice. :3 (as long as this pairing is not OldRival or Commoner because I hate those pairings.) Don't let that discourage you from reviewing though... =w=" I'll... hmm... sketch a Pokemon or a Dex Holder for you if review the chapter that gets fifty, how does that sound? (I'll post links on my profile or something.) See you all next week!*