Note: Diamond will not have Regigigas in my stories, under the assumption that he would have released after the events of the Platinum arc.
Chapter 9: To the Hunt
9:30 am, Pallet Town…
Completely unaware of the fate Azalea Town was suffering, or the fate that would befall on Ecruteak City in 15 minutes, the Dex Holders were still enjoying the day at the beach. Ruby and Sapphire had managed to throw Emerald into the water. Ruby laughed as his fellow Hoenn Dex Holder flailed around in the water when Sapphire betrayed him and threw him into the water as well.
Platinum watched her three Hoenn seniors before she approached Crystal, who was sitting in the shade, lost in thought. No one was near her at the moment, so the heiress was free to ask the question she wanted to ask for quite some time.
"Senior Crystal, may I ask you a question?" the heiress asked.
Crystal snapped out of her thoughts and looked at her junior. "Sure."
"I have wanted to ask this question for some time… Do you know the contents of the memory storage device I brought from Sinnoh?" Platinum asked. "You did not seem surprised in any way when Professor Oak found the storage device in the map Professor Rowan had issued to me."
Crystal started to hesitate. "Well… um… I know of it, but… … Sorry, I'm not allowed to tell you."
"Oh… I understand," Platinum said. To her credit, she didn't sound or look disappointed at all.
"But when I'm allowed to tell people, you'll be the first."
"Hey Crys, come here for a second," came Blue's voice from behind. "You too, Platinum."
The two girls quickly jogged towards their senior, wondering why the Kanto Dex Holder called for them. Beside the Kanto Dex Holder was Gold, who was grinning. Crystal prepared herself. Gold grinning was never a good sign.
"Platinum, you're going to start your journey around Kanto after lunch, right?" Blue asked. The heiress nodded. "And Gold and Crys were supposed to go with you. But right now, Dia and Pearl are also here, and I assume you want to travel with them, right?"
"Yes, senior," Platinum replied. She looked at Diamond and Pearl who were approaching.
"In that case, how would you like to travel with all four?" Blue asked. "That way, you'd be able to travel with your friends and your seniors at the same time. A group of five seems a little big, but I don't see that much of a problem."
Platinum gladly accepted. "I would be honored to have the opportunity to travel with my seniors, and I am glad to be able to travel with my friends at the same time."
"That's great then!" Blue exclaimed. "In that case, Crys, you remember the results of the game we played, right?"
Crystal glared at Gold. 'You better not have said anything, you jerk…'
"Starting right now, I order you to become Gold's… slave, I guess, until Platinum obtains all 8 Kanto Gym Badges!"
Gold burst into laughter while Crystal stared at her senior in disbelief.
"… You're joking, right?"
Blue grinned. "You'll have to do whatever Gold tells you to, and if you disobey his orders, then… I'll have to do something about that, won't I?"
"But… come on! That's just… no!"
"Don't worry, Crys. I won't abuse the power too much," Gold said from beside.
Crystal took a step as if she was going to kick the goggled boy in the head, but Gold already had his billiard cue out, ready to block.
"Why you…"
"My first order to you is… Don't kick me. Ever," Gold said as he put his billiard cue away. "Second order is… Get me a glass of water. Oh, this is going to be so much fun!"
Crystal sighed. "Seriously Gold… you will be the death of me…"
"Aw, don't say that, Crys. You know I won't hurt you."
As the girl walked away to get Gold a glass of water, Green approached Blue.
"You're going back to the Sevii Islands," he said as he stood beside her. Blue couldn't tell whether it was a question, a statement, or an order. Sounded like an order, though…
"If you order me so," Blue said with a fake sigh. She turned to face Green with a smile. "I'm just kidding. But yeah, I'm going back home after lunch. Why?"
"My grandfather wants me to show you something before you go," Green replied. "He would have told me to do so sooner, but he kept forgetting."
The Gym Leader turned and started to walk away. Blue quickly followed. She asked where he was taking her, but he didn't reply. After a few minutes of walking in silence, Green stopped in some neighborhood. Blue looked at the surrounding houses and noticed something.
"Seem familiar?" Green asked. Blue didn't reply, as she was at a loss for words. She silently approached one particular house. Green looked at the house and the address. "According to my grandfather, that house is where you lived before Pryce had Ho-oh kidnap you."
Blue looked at her old house and front lawn, remembering some of the happy moments in her life before everything went wrong. Green slowly started to walk back, trying to leave Blue alone with her nostalgic memories.
"Wait…" the girl said silently. Green stopped and turned to look at her. "… Don't go…"
The Gym Leader put his hands in his pockets and waited. Blue put her hands over her heart and took a deep breath. Even the air felt nostalgic…
"Thanks Green," she said a few seconds later as she turned to face him.
"For what?"
"This wasn't Professor Oak's idea, was it?"
"… Does it matter?"
"It does." Blue smiled warmly at him. "Thanks again."
"Whatever."
Green turned and walked away, and Blue followed after memorizing the address and location of her old house.
Back at the beach, Platinum sat beside Diamond and Pearl with her feet in the water. Diamond was sitting right beside her and Pearl was beside him. Diamond chose to believe that it was not a random coincidence that the heiress had chosen to sit beside him (and not Pearl).
As the three Sinnoh Dex Holders talked, Sapphire came and sat beside Platinum. The Hoenn Dex Holder put her feet into the water as well.
"Ah, senior Sapphire," Platinum started as she looked at her senior. "How did you like Diamond and Pearl's comedy act?"
"It was really funny," Sapphire replied. "But hey, rookie, you seem really happy today. You looked a little sad yesterday. You must've really missed your friends, huh?"
"Yes, senior," Platinum replied. She smiled at her two friends sitting beside her. "To be completely honest, I did feel lonely and rejected…"
Sapphire patted her junior on the back. "Well… you won't feel rejected now, would you? I mean… all you got to do is spend more time with your seniors…"
Without warning, Sapphire pushed Platinum into the water. The water was deep enough to reach up to the heiress's neck, and as a result, she was completely soaked. Sapphire was laughing while Platinum was trying to get over the shock of entering the cold water.
"How's the water, rookie?" Sapphire asked.
Platinum smiled before she dived underwater for a few seconds. After resurfacing, she wiped away the water on her face and looked at her senior.
"It is very cool." The heiress approached her senior. "You should experience it too, senior!" she yelled as she grabbed her senior's feet and dragged her into the water as well.
Sapphire quickly resurfaced and wiped away the water from her face. She looked at her junior playfully. "Oh, you are going down!"
Platinum let out a playful laugh as her senior tried to chase her. Diamond and Pearl watched the heiress for a few seconds before they glanced at each other. The two Sinnoh boys removed their scarves and jumped into the water.
While the Dex Holders played and enjoyed the peace, a ShadowNet grunt watched from a forest far away with binoculars, observing their movements. So far, the Dex Holders seemed to be completely unaware of the existence of ShadowNet…
…
10:00 am, Sootopolis City…
…
Wallace stood outside his/his master's Gym, enjoying the view of the calm, relaxing lake that covered a huge portion of Sootopolis. The Gym Leader/champion considered in calling Winona. Wallace knew that she was probably stressed from having to deal with a festival in her city, so it would help her greatly to just hear someone tell her to relax. But unfortunately, Winona had warned him to not call her unless it was an emergency. The Fortree Gym Leader apparently didn't want him to make any more attempts at trying to get her in a relationship.
Wallace decided to go visit Winona instead. He couldn't call her unless it was an emergency, but apparently, the Fortree Gym Leader hadn't banned visits. Wallace took his Pokégear and input the numbers that would bring his air car to him.
But before he could get into his air car, something exploded with a loud thud, causing the mini-island (where the Gym is located) to shake. Wallace quickly looked around, and spotted a horde of Aerodactyls and other Flying types flooding the skies. The flock began bombarding the city with Hyper Beams and other attacks. The first loud thud had been the opening attack from the leading Aerodactyl.
The door of the Gym opened and Juan appeared, who was wondering what the commotion was about.
"Master, they're attacking the city!" Wallace said as he pointed at the huge flock of attacking Pokémon.
Juan looked at the invading Pokémon and sent out his Kingdra. Wallace sent out his entire team, and with his master, began to prioritize targets.
The leading ShadowNet grunts attacking the city were invited with a hail of Water Pulses. The grunts behind them ordered their Pokémon to spread out. The two Sootopolis Gym Leaders could see that a small portion of the Flying types had their owner riding on top. The targets of the Water Pulses were naturally the Pokémon carrying the people.
The ShadowNet commander noticed the difference in the invasion of Sootopolis compared to Fortree. There were several key differences. First, the assault group in Sootopolis was significantly smaller than in Fortree. Second, there was one Gym Leader, and she wasn't the region's champion. Third, the assault group in Fortree had Pokémon with type advantage against the Gym Leader's main type, while the group in Sootopolis did not. And last, the Fortree Gym Leader was distracted, tired, and was attacked before she knew what was happening.
The should-have-been-expected-but-wasn't-resistance made the ShadowNet commander think of a new tactic…
"Everyone, stand down!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. The grunts nearby heard the order and passed them on to the others.
Wallace and Juan watched as the attacking horde suddenly stopped and simply flew around in a circle around the Gym. One particular Pidgeot slowly came close and landed in front of the two Gym Leaders. Juan's Kingdra eyed the Pidgeot and the surrounding Pokémon carefully. A man jumped off of the Pidgeot, carrying a plastic bag in hand.
"As to be expected from the Hoenn champion and his master," he said as he applauded the two Gym Leaders.
"Who are you, and what do you want?" Wallace asked. His Sealeo and Seaking remained on guard, ready to blast anything that moved.
"Let's just say that we're a group called ShadowNet, and we want you and your master out of our way. There are many ways for you to do that, I'm sure. One method is for us to try to overpower you, or the other method is you simply leaving the region."
Before Wallace could reply, the ShadowNet commander reached into the plastic bag and pulled out something and tossed it in front of the two Gym Leaders… The Hoenn champion soon fell into shock. He was looking at the shattered and bloodied half of Winona's helmet…
"Master… is… is that what I think it is?"
"Stay calm, Wallace," Juan said quietly so that only his disciple may hear. "You must not show your weakness here." He stared at the ShadowNet commander. "If I recall, the young lady who owns that helmet was supposed to be watching over a festival today. How uncouth of you to ambush a distracted young woman in greater numbers."
"Spare me the lectures, old man. All you need to know is that you have ten minutes to leave this city and a day to leave this region. If you don't comply, then let's just say that the owner of this helmet won't nearly be as healthy as she is now."
Juan glanced at Wallace and took notice of his expression. After a second, he withdrew his Kingdra. The Hoenn champion was in no condition to fight, as he was currently devastated. And as a result, his Pokémon would not be able to fight. Morale and momentum were very important in battles. And with Wallace and his Pokémon unable to help, Juan knew that he wouldn't be able to fight as effectively.
"Very well then. We will leave," he said calmly. "However, if you have any sense of honor and if you do not wish to see us again, you will let the young lady go."
The ShadowNet commander smirked. "Of course."
Juan approached his disciple's air car. "Come, Wallace," he said as he entered the driver's seat.
The Hoenn champion, who was holding the bloodied helmet with trembling hands, glared at the ShadowNet commander for a second before he entered the passenger's seat. He continued to glare at the commander until the air car moved far away from him.
"Master… shouldn't we find out where they're keeping Winona?" he asked as the air car left the boundaries of Sootopolis City. "We shouldn't be running away like this…"
"We are not running away," Juan replied. "You are in no condition to fight. You know that." He looked at his disciple. "The last time the young lady was held hostage, you could not fight. Right now, you know that something bad had happened to her, and that she is in the hands of this ShadowNet. You will not be able to fight this time. Unless…"
Wallace looked at his master. He looked as if he was trying to make a hard decision.
"Unless what?"
Juan sighed. "I do believe that that ShadowNet fellow was bluffing. If he really did have the young lady hostage, then he would have shown her to us. Instead, he simply showed us her bloodied helmet. That means either she escaped, or… was killed."
Wallace froze. "… Dead? … No… she can't be…"
Juan was about to say something when he noticed an Altaria flying closer. He flew the air car down onto a small island in Route 124. Wallace wondered why his master was lowering the car when he saw the Altaria as well. Though the Humming Pokémon flew straight to Sootopolis from Fortree, by the time it got there, ShadowNet had already 'convinced' the two Gym Leaders to leave. So the Altaria followed the air car, as it had nowhere else to go. Seeing the Altaria by itself and seeing its expression, Wallace fell into shock once again.
"No… she's really gone…"
The moment the air car landed, Wallace jumped out and looked at the Altaria a little closer. The Humming Pokémon kept its head down and looked as if it was going to cry at any moment. Juan saw the devastated look on his disciple and cleared his throat.
"A gentleman's revenge is not late even if it takes 10 years. We will bide our time. If we remain quiet and unseen, this ShadowNet will become arrogant. And depending on what they hope to accomplish, there will be a time for us to figuratively remove the ladder when they are on the roof."
Wallace didn't reply and didn't respond at all to his master. He simply stood there with a blank look. Juan took out his Pokégear and began to make calls. Though ShadowNet did take out the main communications tower in Lilycove City, they apparently didn't know that the Hoenn Gym Leaders and the Pokémon Association had a secondary communications center (which only they could use) within New Mauville.
…
10:40 am, New Bark Town, Johto…
…
Professor Elm sat in front of the picture phone, wondering why it wasn't working. He wanted to know how the research of the package from Sinnoh was going, but for some reason, he was unable to contact Professor Oak, or anyone else.
"Professor, something odd is happening," youngster Joey said as he entered the room. "I can't call anyone."
"I have that problem too," the professor replied. "I wonder if the radio and communication tower in Goldenrod City is experiencing a power failure."
Just then, there was a loud thud from the outside which shook the entire lab. The professor quickly ran outside to see what the thud was about, and youngster Joey followed. Outside, the skies of New Bark Town were filled with all sorts of Flying types as ShadowNet bombarded the town with Hyper Beams and Air Cutters (occasional Air Slashes). Professor Elm reasoned that whoever the owners of the violent Pokémon were, they could not be on the good side. He reasoned that they were probably in New Bark to either take over the town or to steal his research notes. Either way, in order to prevent any data from falling into enemy hands, the professor ran back inside his lab to take all the important documents.
Youngster Joey volunteered to stall for the professor, but there was very little a boy and a Rattata could do against a horde of Flying types. At most, he could only have his Rattata try to hit the airborne targets with Quick Attack.
Just as ShadowNet began to feel the annoyance of the youngster, Professor Elm returned from his lab, and with the youngster, quickly ran east. The best hope the professor had of escaping the attackers was to get to Kanto…
…
ShadowNet Johto HQ, Goldenrod City…
…
"We have orders to test the research project 05-032 on this prisoner. Are the preparations complete?" the Johto commander asked.
"Yes commander," replied the grunt from beside.
The commander looked into the giant glass cage, where the prisoner girl was. She was currently banging on the glass with her fist, demanding her release. The girl soon stopped and dropped onto the floor of the cage as she rubbed her sore fist. The door to the cage slowly opened and a ShadowNet grunt entered. The girl glared at him and forced herself to rise to her feet. But before she could, the grunt kicked her back down.
The grunt tried to put something on the girl's face, but she kicked him in the knees to push him away. The grunt gritted his teeth and kicked the girl in the ribs.
The girl couldn't see what happened next. All she knew was that the ShadowNet grunt had placed some kind of a heavy black piece of leather (or so it felt) on her face.
"You're going to regret this when my brother finds out!" the girl yelled angrily.
"Where is he?" the grunt asked.
"Go screw yourself. I'll never tell you."
The ShadowNet commander pressed a button on the machine beside him. He looked into the glass cage observantly. A second later, the girl started to scream as she rolled on the floor, clawing at the black leather-like stuff on her face. The grunts watched with interest as the black leather-like stuff turned white and hardened. The girl stopped thrashing and was now lying on the floor motionless.
"Crap… is she dead?" the commander asked.
The grunt inside the cage checked. "No, she's still breathing."
"Oh very good then. Proceed with the test."
The grunt inside the cage nodded and approached the girl. "Rise." The girl suddenly rose to her feet, and the ShadowNet commander grinned at the success. "Now, tell me where your brother is."
The girl remained silent for a second before she spoke. "Route 120… Hoenn… heading to… Lilycove City…" the girl muttered out. Her voice sounded unnatural…
"What's his name?" the grunt asked.
Suddenly there was a spike in the status monitor and the girl twitched. The hardened white material on her face started to expand and stretched down to her hands. The bulk of the material moved off of her face and formed a lump between her neck and left shoulder. Her red eyes were blank but oddly eerie.
"What's his name?" the grunt asked again.
With a growl that sent shivers down everyone's spines, the girl suddenly attacked the grunt. The hardened white material had formed some kind of an exoskeleton on her arms, and the girl smashed them onto the grunt. With the sound of bone snapping, the grunt dropped.
"Oh, crap!" the commander yelled. "Hit the stabilizer!" he yelled to the grunt beside him. The grunt did as told and the girl stopped moving. But she twitched again and slammed her forearm into the glass, creating a large crack on the glass. "Why isn't it working?!"
The commander tried shutting off all the machines, but it did nothing to stop the girl's rampage. As a result, the commander had no choice but to send a team of grunts to forcefully hold the girl down. The girl immediately stopped thrashing when one of the grunts punched and shattered the lump near her neck.
"Whew…" one of the grunts muttered. He looked at the fallen grunt beside him. "He's in a very bad shape…"
"Get him to the infirmary," the commander ordered. "And get all the scientists and researchers who worked on this project to fix this thing as soon as possible. What the hell were they doing? The stabilizer doesn't do crap!"
"What about the girl?" a grunt asked from beside.
"Lock her in a cage and see what happens when she wakes up." The commander sighed. "And try to hunt down her brother. The girl gave us quite a trouble in Violet City. If her brother is stronger than her, and he ends up assisting those Dex Holders, we could be screwed. Contact the Hoenn branch and tell the Hoenn commander about this. He'll know what to do."
