Pokemon Adventures: Hunt of the Plates

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon Adventures/Special.

Arc 2 is an arc where mysteries build up, and you won't get to see them blow until Arc 3. Suspense, suspense... ;)

Began writing in December 2nd, 2011. Currently drafting Chapter 16 of Arc 2.


Chapter 8. Vs. Purugly: Power of the Stars

- Veilstone City, the Meteors -

"Sudowoodo, use Wood Hammer!" Emerald snapped, having his Imitation Pokemon knock away a Team Galactic Hippopotas that was about to chomp down on Maylene from behind, who was fighting an enemy Machoke hand-to-hand.

"Hey, thanks!" The young Gym Leader exclaimed, ducking in time for her Lucario to sweep in and take out the Machoke with an Aura Sphere. "I saw them getting rough over there in front of the Game Corner. We need help!"

"You heard that, Dusknoir?" Emerald turned to the Gripper Pokemon, who nodded once before slipping away via Shadow Sneak. "Damnit, I can't believe these idiots honestly believe the Fist Plate's buried in these space rocks!"

"Tell me about it!" Maylene huffed, this time kicking away an attacking Bidoof. "But who knows, really. I've never heard about the legends, but maybe it really is - Medicham!"

The Gym Leader's alarmed cry had Emerald follow her gaze up to the sky; even in the stormy heavens he had little trouble spotting a large Staraptor high above the tall buildings of Veilstone, holding a struggling Medicham - Maylene's - in its talons. Before Emerald's disbelieving eyes a Gengar floated up to the trapped Meditate Pokemon, cackling sadistically into her face before flinging one, two, three Shadow Balls into her, knocking the Fighting/Psychic-type Pokemon out cold instantly. As if disposing of a carcass after an execution the Staraptor carelessly tossed away the defeated Medicham, who came plummeting down onto Maylene's feet with a loud thump.

Now THAT was enough to snap several tempers.

"Mienshao, use Hi Jump Kick!" Emerald screamed in sheer fury as he flung a Poke Ball straight upward, so hard that his artificial arm nearly came apart from the momentum. The ball opened up to reveal his newest member, who quickly used his own ball as a springboard to kick himself up further. The Martial Arts Pokemon quickly came level with the Staraptor, wasting no time in smashing his knee into the surprised Predator Pokemon and sending it tumbling out of the sky with a dismayed shriek.

"That's it!" Emerald snapped in satisfaction as Mienshao landed lightly beside him, sharing a sleeve hi-five with him before roaring at the top of his voice: "WHO THE HELL JUST DID THAT? I'LL TEAR THAT ONE APART!"

"Can you?"

The words reached Emerald with an odd quality, with the voice of a man and the tone of a snake. Swerving around to the source of the voice, Emerald's eyes immediately focused on a shadowy cloaked figure standing on top of a nearby house, calmly watching the mayhem below with dead gray eyes.

"Hell yeah, I will!" Emerald snarled loudly. "You treat Pokemon like they're trash, so now it's time you get trashed by one! Mienshao, use Stone Edge!"


- Sandgem Town - Prof. Rowan's Lab -

"Geez, you're unbelievable! What's with all the barricades?" Mars clicked her tongue in distaste as she slipped in through the destroyed doorway, leaving the grunts to clear away the debris of the door and the impromptu barricade and let her Golbat in. To the researchers gathered in the corner of the lab she rolled her eyes and said: "It's not like I'm here to kill anyone - at least, not on purpose, right? We just wanna ask something, like: What do you know about the Splash Plate?"

"We're Pokemon researchers, not archeologists!" Snapped Professor Rowan from the head of the gathered scientists, kneeling in front of his injured Staravia as he glared up at the Team Galactic Commander. (#1) "If you want to hear about far-fetched myths and childrens' bedtime stories you came for the wrong people. And even if we know, we'd never share it with thugs like you!"

"Yeah, yeah, the sort of things you always say," said Mars boredly as she approached them with her Purugly leading the way. Looking round at the anxious researchers her eyes suddenly fixed upon Sir Berlitz, who was standing tensely by the Professor's side. "Why, hi there! I do believe we've met before?"

"I don't ever recall meeting you," retorted Sir Berlitz tartly.

"Oh, but I remember you!' Mars laughed as she drew back a little. "You're that Berlitz man Saturn and Jupiter were after! Ah well, they were after you money. Now I want your knowledge."

"What makes you think I'll know what you want to know?" Sir Berlitz snapped back, though his voice trembled ever so slightly.

"Well, since your daughter seemed so knowledgable in the ancient lore, I figured her father should be pretty good with it too," replied Mars smugly as she clicked her Purugly forward, claws unsheathed. "So... what do you know about the Splash Plate? Isn't it buried somewhere nearby?"

Sir Berlitz remained silent.

"Fine," sighed Mars in boredom. "Purugly, the man needs a little persuation, don't you think?"

The Tiger Cat Pokemon slowly stalked towards Sir Berlitz, this time baring its fangs.

"I'm giving you three seconds, then it's a Super Fang in the throat for you," said Mard cheerfully, at one beginning count. "Three, two, o -"

"Moo, barge in! Ice Shard!"

With a ferocious roar the enormous Manoswine broke through the not-so-large doorway, scattering the sentry grunts while throwing back Mars's Golbat with a fierce barrage of ice fragments.

"Professor, are you Okay?" Diamond cried as he hurriedly rushed into the lab with Bro waddling behind. His eyes grew round as he spotted Mars in front of the Professor, who quickly had her Purugly press its wicked claws against the throat of Sir Berlitz.

"Now, not a step further. There's a good lad," spoke Mars, that sneaky grin on her face as she faced Diamond. "It's nice to see you again, honestly... let's see, when have I done this before with you, the routine make-one-move-and-"

"Bro, use Telekinesis!" Dia ordered without waiting for her to finish, feeling a sudden burst of anger at her cowardly tactics; not to mention the fact that she was threatening him with Platina's father. At once the Slowbro utilized his deceptively-strong psychic powers, swapping Mars and her Purugly's position with Dia and Bro's in an instant.

"Diamond! You - " Professor Rowan and Sir Berlitz both exclaimed as they crowded around Dia, and he took time to give them a reassuring smile whle Mars worked out the sudden exchange of location.

"Don't worry 'bout me," he said quietly as he turned to match eyes with the surprised Galactic Commander. "The last time I couldn't save my mom from her... I hope all that training made a change. You'll never hurt the people I care for again, Mars. Not after then."


- Sunyshore City, the Lighthouse Entrance -

"Electivire, Thunderpunch," Volkner ordered with a lazy sweep of his hand. Pearl blinked in amazement as the hulking Thunderbolt Pokemon stalked forward, blasting about seven Team Galactic Pokemon everwhere with a single electrified punch. This man may be a bit of... a lot of a sloth, but he certainly knew his stuff.

"Push on, Saruhiko! Fire Blast!" Pearl quickly shouted, not ready to be outdone. The Infernape at once jumped beside the Electivire with a challenging screech, launching a wheel of star-shaped flame that blasted the entrance again.

"It's no good, sir!" Yelled one engineer as he struggled to enter the lighthouse wth his Magnemites, only to be barred by more Galactic grunts that came storming through the stairs. "There's too many of 'em. We can't keep trying to push through like this!"

"What a tiresome bunch of criminals," muttered Volkner in boredom, continuing to have his Electivire bulldoze through wave after wave of Team Galactic. Turning to Pearl the Gym Leader gave him a curious look before speaking: "You seem to be quite proficient in battling... you have a flier?"

"You want me to go through the top and face the leader?" Pearl guessed. "Yeah, I've got one. Come out, Perahiko!"

"Come out, come out," squawked Perahiko as he popped out of the Poke Ball, immediately knocking out a nearby enemy Zubat with his Hyper Voice attack. Volkner looked at the Chatot somewhat dubiously, but shrugged it off before giving a thin smile at Pearl.

"I've seen you fight; I thinkk you'll be able to handle your own up there. We'll keep the grunts busy down here. Now go!"

"I'll take care of 'em!" Pearl promised the Gym Leader firmly as he held onto Perahiko's leg, allowing him to lift him up into the air. As he rose above the fighting Trainers he thought he heard Volkner mutter to himself: "He is his father's son, alright."

During the Dex Holders' training in Celestic Town Pearl's Pokemon had grown considerably, given the fact that Pearl himself had only gained increased endurance from Sapphire's daily beatings. Perahiko, in particular, had gotten a lot stronger with his wings (and his voice), and it took surprisingly little time for him to lift Pearl all the way up to the top of the tall lighthouse.

Looking through the window, he wasn't surprised by what he found inside.

Team Galactic grunts were stalking all over the not-so-large room cautiously, all of them holding what seemed to be some sort of detectors. Judging from all those gadgets, it was easy to guess who was in charge of searching for the Zap Plate. Fantastic.

"SATURN!" Pearl bellowed as he released Pikahiko from its Poke Ball, who quickly used Thunderbolt to shatter the window. Quickly following the Rotom inside Pearl let go of Perahiko's leg, using the momentum to crash into a grunt and knock him clean off his feet with a loud battle cry.

"Toxicroak, use Sucker Punch!"

"Torahiko, Wild Charge!" Pearl yelled back at the familiar voice. With a feral roar the Luxray erupted out of his Poke Ball, intercepting the toxicroak's charge toward Pikahiko with a terrific crash that sent it careening into a nearby wall.

"Gah, you again?" Growled Saturn as he stomped angrily into view. Like his grunts he was carrying the detector around, and he also wore a pair of electronic goggles over his head. "I'll show you once and for all what happens to interlopers like you against me! Toxicroak, use Brick Break!"

"Torahiko, strike from the side!" Pearl quickly ordered, knowing that Saturn's target wouldn't be the Luxray. As expected the Toxicroak ignored Torahiko dashing off to the side (passing Pikahiko busily roasting the grunts) and came tearing straight towards Pearl, its clawed hand raised to snap his neck in half.

"Oh, no you don't," Pearl growled, throwing one arm up to block the Brick Break attack as it landed ruthlessly upon his bone. The shock cracked through his nerves as if he'd been shot, but compared to the sort of attacks he received everyday - from either Sapphire or Gold - the blow wasn't so bad after all. (#2)

"What?" Saturn exclaimed in shock as Pearl flung off the surprised Toxicroak off him with an effortful heave, allowing Torahiko to shoot out from the side and deliver a second Wild Charge to the Toxic Mouth Pokemon, this time slamming it flat into the wall and leaving it stumbling.

"I'm just a bit more than that loudmouthed kid you beat down back in Lake Valor," said Pearl quietly, remembering everything that had taken place between then and now. "I went through a lot and came out stronger, all to stop thugs like you from doing this sorta thing. You're never taking the Zap Plate while I'm standing here!"


- Hearthome City, Amity Square -

Platina decided that Team Galactic had finally abandoned the last of their sanity.

The once-peaceful walking course was all in ruins, thanks to the grunts rushing around everywhere with shovels, dynamites and Haunters. As she let Empoleon and Froslass take care of the blasphemous criminals she couldn't help but wonder - Did these fools seriously believe that they could dig up the Spooky Plate from a park?

"Pachirisu, please scout ahead over there!" Platina hurriedly told the little EleSquirrel Pokemon, pointing at the deep end of the square heading north. "We must find out who's behind this atrocity. Hurry back!"

Pachirisu nodded quickly before dashing ahead, only to stop after a few steps with an alarmed squeak. Taking that as a bad sign Platina snapped her head up, in time to see a very familiar and not-so-missed Darkness Pokemon.

"Pachirisu, get back!" Platina cried quickly, having the little Electric-type Pokemon leap back from the Sableye's Fake Out attack and land lightly on top of Empoleon's crown (a habit the proud Emperor Pokemon seriously disliked). Glaring beyond the little wicked imp she snapped with narrowed eyes: "Come out, Jupiter!"

"You've gotten bolder, little Miss," sneered the horrid woman with a sick grin as she walked out of the shadows to stand in front of her. "And thoughtless, it seems. Barrelling through blindly into our ranks indeed! Thinking of handling my entire squadron alone?"

"It is you who is being thoughtless," retorted Platina sharply, trying to to fuel her outrage by looking around at the ravaged landscape. "If the Plates are things that can be found by your crude excavations, the archeologists would've discovered them ages ago. You are wasting your time."

"Are we?" Jupiter asked back, her smile widening wickedly. "Everything we do, now and then, all along... they've all been very much worth the effort. Very much, little Miss... in achieving our goal."

It only took a bit of logic for Platina to realize the implication behind her words.

"You know," she breathed, suddenly feeling herself getting even more tense. "You know the purpose of seeking the Plates."

"And what if I do?" Inquired Jupiter cruelly, waving her Sableye forward.

"I will be hearing it," Platina replied firmly, taking out the Poke Ball of her newest team member. "I choose you, Chandelure!"

"You'll have to shred me for that," sneered Jupiter as the Luring Pokemon flashed into Existence. "Sableye, use Foul Play!"

"Chandelure, use Shadow Ball!" Platina countered, allowing Chandelure to take the Dark-type attack before blasting the Sableye away with a powerful blast of shadow energy.

"I'm prepared to do that, Jupiter!" She declared hotly.


- Hall of Origin, Chamber of Knowledge (Uxie's dwelling) -

"... Done," Darkrai reported curtly as he entered Uxie's chamber, finding the Knowledge Pokemon crowded by her sisters, Dialga and Palkia, busy watching something projected from her eyes. "Captured Deoxys in Iron Island, has him under stasis in the Den." (#3)

He knew he didn't have to report about Black and the Iron Plate, for it was one of the many images portrayed in Uxie's vision. In truth the Titans probably knew about Deoxys already as well, but Darkrai was nothing if not thorough.

"Hm, good," Dialga grunted without turning to look at him, his intense gaze fixed on the sight of the Dex Holders struggling to protect the Plates. "As soon as the Plates are found we can carry on with the interrogation... perhaps we can retrieve them after these brave humans repel the enemy."

"I believe that is wise," Uxie agreed in an encouraged tone, but Darkrai caught her voice trembling very slightly. As a being able to induce negative emotions one of his specialty was detecting them, almost as well as Mesprit could. Judging from the way the Emotion Pokemon glanced rather queerly at her sister every now and then made Darkrai certain of the fact: something was worring Uxie, so much that she couldn't hide it as well as she usually could. He could also trace faint senses of guilt and fear, but for whom and what he couldn't tell.

What are you hiding, Seer? Darkrai silently questioned the Knowledge Pokemon.

His silence was returned, though the emotions remained.


Ha, getting serious, isn't it? XD Oh by the way, heard that the 2nd Popularity poll result are out? Red kept his place as No. 1, but Gold's catching up right behind. After that it goes like Ruby, Yellow, Diamond/Sapphire, Silver, Green, Blue, Pearl, so on. I'll talk more about that later.

#1. Rowan wasn't seen using any Pokemon in the manga, but since he has a Starly and a Staraptor in the anime I thought I'd just throw in a Staravia here. :)

#2. I can only guess Sapphire's still pissed with Pearl beating the crap outta her Aggron in Chapter 7 of Arc 1... poor guy, tut tut.

#3. The Den refers to Den of Clarity, Kyurem's dwelling. In short, Deoxys literally is under stasis, namely a mile of ice ;/

Sasuke XII, erm, the Plates aren't actually found yet. XD

G.F.T.W, it was day at the time, but it doesn't really mean anything, 'cause the sun's all but invisible these days thanks to the Storm. :)

The important point to notice here:

1. Like I said, the guy observing Jupiter and Charon from Chapter 6 is back. But his identity is still covered, and I don't think Emerald will be the one to uncover it...

2. Straight from Arc 1 Saturn seems to know that he's missing something, something that Jupiter knows already. Mars, on the other hand, doesn't seem to care.

3. Pearl is daily beaten in training XD

4. Dialga's feeling much better these days toward the Dex Holders, going as far as to praising them. But something's off with Uxie. Might she be hiding something?

In Chapter 9 the Dex Holders' fight continues. This time we return our focus on the original bad guys, Team Rocket. Until then, R&R!

Writing completed on December 4th, 2011. This is Yowl of Time, out. Oh yeah, almost forgot! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DIAMOND!