Chapter 10: Journey's End
12:00 pm, Lilycove City, Hoenn…
3 ShadowNet assault squads patrolled the city in the air while 7 squads searched the intact buildings. The Hoenn commander had received a message from the Johto commander, and had agreed to assign 10 squads the task of capturing the Johto prisoner's brother. The task was… not easy. All the squads knew was that there was a guy around Lilycove who had a sister traveling around in Johto. They didn't know whether the brother was older or younger than the prisoner girl, or anything about him. The squads didn't know much of the girl either.
"So we're looking for a brother of a girl who has black hair and red eyes, was traveling around in Johto, and has an Espeon…" one of the grunts muttered as he looked around the streets of Lilycove City.
"… That could be anyone," another grunt muttered. "This is bullsh*t. We should be with the other assault teams in Mossdeep and other cities."
"Actually, from what I heard, the other assault teams aren't doing anything exciting either," said the third grunt. "The assault teams in Mossdeep say that the city's Gym Leaders weren't there. The guys in Lavaridge and Mauville say the same. The news is out somehow… The Gym Leaders know that we're coming. … Either that, or we've conveniently decided to strike at their cities when they were on vacation."
A few blocks away, another squad of ShadowNet grunts entered the Lilycove Department Store, which had been left intact by the assault teams that swept the city shortly before. The Department Store had lots of supplies that ShadowNet needed, thus the commander had ordered the assault teams to leave the building alone.
Now, all the 'refugees' from the destroyed Pokémon Center and Contest Hall were gathered in the first floor, wondering what was happening. But it was chaotic in there, as everyone was panicking. The ShadowNet grunts seriously doubted that there would be anyone threatening in the building, but tried to do their jobs anyways.
The grunts searching the Lilycove Art Museum had much better luck. There were only 7 people inside, and they were all sitting quietly and looking at various paintings despite the whole ShadowNet invasion.
"Excuse me!" one ShadowNet grunt yelled loudly. "Can I have everyone's attention?" But surprisingly, only two people turned to look in his direction. The other 5 didn't even budge. "Hey!" the grunt yelled at them.
"Those people are deaf," one of the two reacting people said. "They can't hear you, so stop yelling."
The ShadowNet grunt turned to look at his teammates. "… The guy we're looking for… is it possible that he's deaf?"
"I don't know. We should find out if the one we're looking for is one of them."
The first grunt took a piece of paper and wrote a question on it. He then went to the 5 deaf people and showed them the question while the other grunts asked the two non-deaf people.
"Does anyone have a sister who's traveling in Johto?"
The five deaf people all shook their heads in response to the written question and resumed looking at the artworks.
"No, I don't," said one of the other two people.
"Well… I do," said the other.
The ShadowNet grunts looked at the person. He looked about 20 years old, so it was possible that he would have a sister about 15 years old.
"What's your name?"
"Dave."
"How old is your sister, Dave?"
"16 years old."
"Long black hair and red eyes?" asked the grunt. "Has an Espeon?"
Dave nodded. The ShadowNet grunt was about to get his fellow grunts to take Dave down when he spoke. "Wait… no, not black hair and red eyes. She has red hair and black eyes. And she did have an Espeon until she traded it away to someone for a Magikarp…"
The ShadowNet grunts looked dumbfounded. "… Who the hell has red hair and black eyes? And who in their right mind would trade an Espeon away for a Magikarp?!"
Dave sighed. "She dyed her hair red. I don't know why. And I don't know why she traded away her Espeon when it's been with her for 5 years. The Magikarp was yellow, but… that still doesn't explain why she traded away a green Espeon. Don't ask!"
The ShadowNet grunts looked at each other and shrugged. "This clearly isn't the guy we're looking for. The guy we're looking for his probably a lot smarter."
"Hey!" Dave yelled. "My sister, who I hope will remain healthy, is a moron. But that doesn't mean I'm anything like her!"
"Whatever. Thanks for all your… help, sir," said a grunt. He headed out of the Art Museum and the other grunts followed. "Well, that was… productive. I don't think the guy's in Lilycove. He probably headed for Fortree or something after we took over this city."
Just outside the museum, they could see 3 more grunts surrounding a guy (who looked around 18 years old) who was sitting on a bench with a book. Because of the angle, the museum-grunts could only see that the guy on the bench had black hair, a white cap, black pants and a black jacket. The museum-grunts walked over towards the bench to see what was going on.
"Look you, I don't know who you think you are, but you better cooperate," said one of the bench-grunts.
"Hey, I don't know who you are, but just go away, would you? I've been reading the same freaking sentence in my book for the last three minutes," the boy said. "And the plot's getting interesting."
A ShadowNet grunt yanked the book away and tossed it behind. The boy sighed as he looked at his bookmark lying on the bench beside him. He then stood up, and reaching into his pocket, glared at the grunts.
"Oh, you bastards…"
…
Route 1, Kanto, 2 pm…
…
Platinum was busy talking to her friends as she headed towards Viridian City while Gold and Crystal followed from behind. In order to conserve some time in traveling around Kanto, the Sinnoh trio were riding their foldable bicycles while Crystal was on her Meganium and Gold on his skateboard.
The goggled boy was busy thinking of new orders for Crystal while the girl sighed at the oncoming darkness. The jerk had ordered her to brush his teeth for him after lunch, and Crystal had struggled with the urge to shove the toothbrush down Gold's throat. Now, she was afraid of the possible tasks the fool would give her.
Gold sped up so he could talk to Platinum, leaving Crystal fuming in the cloud of dust he created with his skateboard.
"Hey, Proto-Gal, where's the first Gym that you're going to challenge?"
"Since senior Green had given me the Earth Badge, I believe that my first destination is the Pewter Gym. And I also believe that the Gym Leader specializes in Rock types, like Mr. Roark in Sinnoh's Oreburgh Gym."
"Roark, huh?" Diamond muttered. He somehow managed to reach into his bag and withdraw the Roark-mask he wore back in the days and put it on his face all while riding a bicycle (hands free) and looking at the heiress. "That shouldn't be a problem, Lady. You beat Roark years ago, and you're much stronger now."
"By that logic, I would not have many problems with the Cerulean Gym," Platinum started, and Diamond put on a Crasher Wake mask (which he never used the first time, worn on top of the Roark mask). "Vermillion Gym (Volkner mask, also never used), or the Celadon Gym (Gardenia mask)." Diamond said something, but Platinum couldn't hear him as his voice was muffled by the four masks (which overlapped to completely cover his face). "Diamond, I cannot hear you. Would you please remove the masks?"
Diamond took off the four masks and after stuffing them back in his bag (with both his hands still not on the bicycle handles), spoke again.
"I was saying that you won't have problems in this region."
Crystal sped up with her Meganium and silently ordered the Herb Pokémon to stomp on Gold's skateboard, sending the goggled boy flying backwards. An… accident.
"Hey Platinum, are you going to train before your Gym Battles?" Crystal asked.
"Yes, senior."
"In that case… I can help you," Crystal said after a brief moment of thought. "After all, I do have every Pokémon the Gym Leaders have, and I have seen most of them battle during the Gym Leader Exhibition Match years ago."
Platinum looked overjoyed. "Oh, thank you, senior! I would be honored to train with you!"
"SUPER SERIOUS GAL!" Gold yelled from behind.
Crystal looked back and saw the goggled boy chasing after her with all his might. 'Uh oh…' "Hey Gold, where'd you go?" she asked with an innocent look as he skateboarded right beside her.
"Crys, I'm going to tell senior Blue that you purposely sent me flying off my skateboard," Gold said while glaring at her. "What you did was totally uncalled for!"
"Oh, Gold, grow up. You sound really childish," Crystal said with a sigh.
"And now you insult me? Now I'm really telling."
The girl sighed again. "Fine. When we get to the next city, I'll buy you a lollipop or something."
"Ha, you dare bribe me? Why Crys, I never thought you were so low!" Gold said with a smirk.
Crystal gritted her teeth and tried to calm her erupting anger. Her face was red from anger, fists were white from clenching too hard, and there was a thick vein that bulged out from her forehead.
"Look at the vein on her forehead… She's going to blow!" Pearl said to Diamond while glancing back at his senior.
Crystal took a shuddering breath and hoped that Platinum would gather all the Kanto Gym Badges quickly. Within two days, at the latest… otherwise, she might murder Gold.
…
Pallet Town…
…
Blue stood quietly, occasionally glancing towards the direction of her old home. She considered in asking her parents whether they could move back to Pallet Town. They'd probably refuse, as the town gave them bad memories… But Blue wanted to move back to Pallet Town. Perhaps she could try to convince them.
She sent out her Wigglytuff and looked at Green, who was looking at the remaining Dex Holders with a blank look. Feeling her gaze, the Gym Leader glanced at her. The girl signaled him to come closer and hid behind a tree.
"Thanks again Green," she started quietly when Green came towards her. "If… if you're not busy, would you like to come over for dinner? I'm sure my parents would like to get to know you better."
Green looked at her and narrowed his eyes. "… Why?"
Blue looked slightly depressed. "Out of all my friends, you're the only one who refused the offer every time."
"What guarantees do I have that you are not tricking me into one of your schemes?"
Blue remained silent for a few seconds before she sighed. "Please trust me… You can trust me now… My parents were always so far away, but they're close now. But I can't help feeling that in exchange, I'm losing my friends…"
Green noticed the lack of enthusiasm in her voice. Perhaps something bad happened to her recently? Green simply stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Red trusted you, and look what you did to him. Although it was nothing too bad."
Blue looked down in disappointment. "I understand…"
"You do realize that I'm a Gym Leader and that I need to be at my Gym."
"Green, that's a stupid excuse. You're never at your Gym! That's why you have that hologram substitute and your ridiculously strong Pokémon that can fight on their own!"
The Viridian Gym Leader sighed and withdrew a notebook. "I'll consider your offer, though. Let me check my schedule…" He noticed that someone had scratched out "possible Gym Battle" and wrote "thrashing some unlucky kids" in his schedule. Naturally, he glared at Blue. "What else did you do to my notebook?"
Blue looked genuinely confused. "I don't know what you're talking about." She suddenly realized something and looked even more depressed. "But you naturally assume it was me, huh?"
Green examined her expression for a few seconds before he put his notebook away. He peeked around the tree, and after ensuring that no one was around, put his hands on Blue's bare shoulders. "Okay, what's wrong with you today? You're usually a lot more… perky."
Blue sighed. "You can't expect me to keep that façade on forever, do you? There haven't been many reasons for me to smile recently…" She looked up at the Gym Leader's eyes for a split second before she looked away. "Green, did you know that before I dropped in front of Red's house 3 weeks ago, no one had bothered to call or visit me for two months? Silver called at least once a week, but no one else did."
Green put his hands back in his pockets. "I can't explain the lack of calls, but I can explain the lack of visits. You live in a place that isn't easy to go to. You live too far away to visit frequently, but not far enough to go over for a few days. You live a few hours away by ship, but through the air, it's two hours straight over the ocean from Vermillion."
"If… if I move back to Pallet Town…" Blue started.
"Then that would change."
"Okay…" Blue got her Wigglytuff to inflate and gently hopped on.
Green watched her and shook his head. 'I'm going to hate myself for this…' "Blue, I'll accept your invitation. State the date and I'll be in One Island that day."
The girl looked at him in surprise. "Really? … How about today?"
Green sighed. "I gave you my word. Fine. What time?"
Blue smiled faintly. "Right now?"
The Viridian Gym Leader simply sent out his Charizard, as if he expected the whole thing. But as he jumped onto his Charizard, Blue got off of her Wigglytuff.
"What are you doing?" Green asked with a sigh.
"Do you mind if I ride with you?" she asked. "I mean… your Charizard is faster, after all," she added hastily.
'This is going to be a long day…' "Fine…"
Silver watched from afar as Green and Blue headed towards One Island. He remembered what she had said to him a few weeks ago, and felt relieved that she wouldn't be so lonely now. He sent out his Honchkrow and prepared to return home.
"Hey, Hoenn guys!" Red yelled. Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald were quite far away from him at that time, but in a blink of an eye, Sapphire was in front of him. The champion wondered whether she knew how to contract space. "You three came a long way, so… what are you going to do?" he asked once the other two Hoenn Dex Holders arrived in front of him.
"I want to stay with you and train!" Sapphire said excitedly before her fellow Hoenn Dex Holders even had a chance to breathe. "You said that you would train me!"
"What? Nonsense!" Ruby exclaimed. "We have to go to Celadon City's Department Store! They'll have lots of stuff that we can't buy in Hoenn. We'll need to stock up!"
Sapphire glared at him. "No, I'm training!"
Ruby glared back. "No, you're shopping!"
"Training!"
"Shopping!"
"TRAINING!"
"SHOPPING!"
Emerald groaned as he tried his best to cover his ears. "Shut up, the both of you!"
Red looked at Ruby and Sapphire bickering with each other and looked at Yellow for help. Yellow put a hand on Ruby's shoulder to try to get him to calm down. Red tapped Sapphire on the shoulder and instantly, she stopped bickering and looked at him expectantly.
Red cleared his throat. "Well then… Sapphire, let's train."
The girl jumped in joy repeatedly as she said her thanks to her role model. Ruby groaned and put a hand over his face. Yellow tapped her junior on the shoulder to get him to look at her.
"Um… Ruby, how about we go to Celadon City Department Store?" she offered.
"How often do you go shopping?" Ruby asked.
"Basically never."
Ruby slapped a hand over his face. "That… will have to change…"
…
Later that day, Pewter City hotel, 8 pm…
…
Crystal lay on the couch and placed a hand on her forehead. She felt… dizzy. The jerk named Gold had given her more degrading and anger-fueling tasks. He even ordered her to wash his skateboard and his dirty clothes. He claimed that it was her fault that his clothes got dirty and that she had the responsibility of washing them.
And now, Crystal had a severe headache and she had no doubt that her blood pressure had skyrocketed. And as a result, she had been unable to train Platinum for her upcoming Gym Battle. Luckily Pearl offered to take over, and the Sinnoh trio left the hotel to train and challenge Brock. And, if she was lucky, Gold would have left the hotel to do something exciting and leave her alone to rest. But to her horror, Gold came into her vision. The girl quickly pretended to be asleep. The last thing she wanted was another task…
"Hey Crys, I know you're awake," he said.
'Damn it, Gold…' "What do you want?" Crystal groaned out.
"Come, I made you dinner," Gold said.
Crystal faced him with a skeptical look. "… Why, did you spit in it?"
"No."
"Is it going to make me sick? Because I'm feeling quite sick already."
"No, no."
"Alright Gold, what's wrong with it? There's no way that you'll make dinner for me unless there was something that your puerile mind would find funny."
"No, no, no! There's nothing wrong with it! I just felt sorry for pissing you off so much today."
"Don't lie to me Gold," Crystal groaned out again. "I'm not in the mood right now."
"Crys, what do I have to do to prove that I have no ill intentions this time?"
"You can't do anything. It's a little too late for that."
Gold sighed. "Fine." He walked away and Crystal started to feel bad. But he'll have to understand her decision. But to her surprise, Gold came back, carrying a small table with a bunch of plates full of food. "Look, I made all this!"
"Wow…" Crystal muttered.
Gold stabbed a spoon into the mound of food on a plate and looked at Crystal. "Open up and say 'ah'!"
Crystal slowly sat up and glared at Gold. "Even if I did want to eat, I'm not crippled, Gold. I'm fully capable of eating by myself."
"Crys, I'm trying to be nice to you for a change."
"… What do you want from me? You'll never do something nice without wanting something in return."
"I don't want anything in return! I'm just being nice. If you don't like it, then I can change," Gold said as he repositioned the spoon so that it appeared as if he was going to launch the spoonful of food into Crystal's face.
Crystal sighed. "Fine… But if this is a trick…" She snatched the spoon from Gold and after preparing herself, put the food in her mouth.
"Well?"
"… It's… it's pretty good, actually," Crystal said after a few seconds. "A lot better than what I expected."
"Ha! I beat your expectation, huh? Well, enjoy the meal."
"… Am I going to have to clean the dishes?"
"No, no. I think I'll make Proto-Gal do it. Or maybe Slow-Bro."
"Who?"
"You know, the guy that's always eating. But that's beside the point. The point is: you should relax for the rest of today."
"Well… thanks, Gold."
…
Two days later, August 13, 11 am…
…
"Hello?" Crystal said into her Pokégear.
"Crystal, this is Green," came the Gym Leader's voice from the other side.
"Oh, hi, Green."
"Where are you?"
"We're currently in Route 12. Platinum, Dia, Pearl, and Gold are looking through the binoculars in the watch tower."
"Crystal, listen carefully, but do not panic. I want you to get those four out of the watch tower, and I need all five of you to return to Pallet Town immediately. Professor Elm arrived an hour ago, and he has some… bad news regarding Johto."
Crystal almost dropped her Pokégear. "Johto? W – What's going on?"
"From what we've been able to piece together, there's an evil team in Johto that's trying to take over that region."
"D – Did anything happen to Violet City?"
"Crystal, just get over here. We've sent Red and Sapphire to Violet City to find out what happened. When they return, we'll let you know."
…
Meanwhile, Canalave City, Sinnoh…
…
"Alright, listen up. Our regional HQ is in Hearthome City, but we don't have the city under control. So squads 1 to 15, head over to Hearthome City and take it over. Squads 16 to 25, take over this city. Any reinforcements we receive will enter Sinnoh through here. Everyone else, we're going over to destroy Celestic Town and deal with the region's champion. Let's move!"
…
Meanwhile …
…
L: What's the status of 05-032?
D: We have another stabilizer for the… rampant problem. It does work, but in a different way. Without the stabilizer, the subjects lose control over themselves and the mind control device goes rampant. The subjects end up attacking everything nearby. But with the new stabilizer, the subjects can go through up to 4 different stages. The very first stage is… unsettling. The subject looks identical to the rampaging form, but can be commanded and will not go into a rampage. The subject is not conscious at this time, but is physically stronger and faster. The second stage occurs when the subjects start to thrash around. We can't give specific commands to them, but we can give them general orders. The third stage looks identical to the subject except the exoskeleton disappears and can reform at will. The subjects in the third stage only have a layer of the exoskeleton material over their faces. The fourth and final stage is when the mind control device completely melds into the subjects. The subjects are in complete control over themselves and can create the exoskeleton at will to take advantage of the boosts in strength.
L: … Wow. So subjects in stage 4 aren't really under our control, now are they?
D: No sir. But luckily, no subject had been able to progress to stage 4. One came close, but it requires tremendous mental strength and willpower to go from stage 3 to 4. We are currently developing an upgrade to the stabilizer to make it impossible to get from stage 3 to 4.
L: Great then. Get every prisoner, useless members, and troops in our HQs to the third stage.
D: Uh… that is not possible at this time, sir. We don't have anywhere near the amount of mind control devices.
L: Right! Well then, let's get working! Time to move on to mass-production!
D: Oh, by the way, should we send some assault teams over to the Sky Pillar?
L: Why?
D: Having Rayquaza under our control would greatly help us crush the opposition.
L: Legendary Pokémon are quite predictable in a way. They'll only awaken to participate in a fight if someone disturbs their rest or someone does something that directly affects them. For example, Mew will interfere with anything only if Mewtwo is involved. For Rayquaza, it will only rise to battle if we try to wake it up. So don't. Besides, if we try to take on Rayquaza right now, we'll be destroyed. Groudon and Kyogre are Pokémon capable of destroying entire regions and Rayquaza is a Pokémon capable of calming those two and possess equal power. We don't stand a chance against that thing.
D: But what if our enemies try to use those Pokémon?
L: They won't be able to. As long as we leave the other Legendary Pokémon alone, no Legendary Pokémon will participate.
D: But…
L: Listen. If we piss off Lugia, then Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres will join the battle. If we piss off Ho-oh, then Raikou, Entei, and Suicune will join. If some crazy bastard within our ranks decides to piss off Arceus, then Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina will all join the battle and we're all going to die. They're the most threatening Pokémon along with Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza. So, leave them alone.
D: What about Regigigas?
L: What about Regigigas?
D: Once we have Sinnoh under our control, should we attempt at taking Regigigas? It seems to be the only Legendary Pokémon that won't be able to destroy us or escape.
L: No. At best, having it will only get Regirock, Regice, and Registeel to join the battle. And those three are already captured by someone. So don't bother.
…
/ / FRAGMENT 3/ERROR [RECORDED VERBATIM AND INTERPRETED PRE-CATACLYSM]
S: ShadowNet finally developed something that we will be able to use. But it's not ready yet. We'll have to wait further.
J: Great. More hiding and waiting. By the way, in the videos of their precious little project 05-032, what's that black thing that turns into that white thing?
S: You don't need to know what the initial black thing is. The white thing is something formed from psychic energy. ShadowNet's mind controlling device works by having the controlling device alter the target's brain waves to gain complete control over the target. The white exoskeleton is the result of the psychic energy traveling through the target's body.
J: By the way, how'd you get the videos anyways?
S: You forget that I have a Pokémon that can blend in to the environment. Stealing a disc is easy.
/ / FRAGMENT ENDS
Current good guy KIA/MIA list: Winona, Falkner, Whitney, Morty, Wallace, Juan, Tate, Liza, Flannery, Wattson. And… I think that's everyone…
Current Dex Holder KIA/MIA list: NONE! … for now.
What Could Have Been (cut out to quicken the pace… again, 1 of 2):
Diamond stood behind Emerald, looking for a place to sit. It was lunch time, and the relaxed Dex Holder couldn't wait to start eating. Perhaps he would start with some bread… a croissant, maybe?
"Uh… Dia?" Pearl said from behind.
Diamond started to drool as he thought of eating a giant croissant, such as the one right in front of him… He snapped out when he realized that he was looking at the hair of his senior. But it was too late…
Emerald felt something drip onto his head. Instantly realizing what it was, his temper flared and he slowly stood up. Gold, who saw what happened, burst into laughter.
"Dia, run!" Pearl yelled.
Diamond did as told and ran as fast as he could. But he forgot what he read in Platinum's notebook about Emerald… The Hoenn Dex Holder extended his Magic Hand Extensors to maximum and instantly caught Diamond. Emerald then dragged his victim away from the other Dex Holders, and more specifically, behind a thick tree.
"I regret nothing!" Diamond yelled out before he disappeared from view behind the tree.
…
(2 of 2)
…
Gold grinned as he watched the Sinnoh trio look at the Pokémon Tower in Lavender Town. He just thought of something… hilarious. Crystal would probably disagree, but hey, since Platinum didn't have all 8 Kanto Gym Badges yet, he technically had full command over her.
"Hey, do you want to go inside?" Gold asked, trying to appear casual.
Platinum looked at the Pokémon Tower and nodded. "This tower does seem similar to Sinnoh's Lost Tower, but it would be interesting nonetheless."
Crystal wondered why Gold looked extremely happy, but knew that it couldn't be good. She was about to suggest doing something else, but Gold glared at her and shook his head.
An hour later, Crystal found herself surrounded by thick fog around the fifth floor of the Pokémon Tower, wondering where the exit was. Behind her, Platinum had her hands clasped together over her heart, constantly glancing around with a frightened expression. Diamond and Pearl were standing beside her, but they couldn't do anything about the creepy atmosphere and ominous thumping and creaking sounds. To make things worse, Gold had disappeared a while ago…
"Senior Crystal, may we go outside now?" Platinum asked, fear evident in her voice.
"I've… been trying to find the exit for the past twenty minutes now," Crystal replied.
"Are we lost?" Pearl asked.
"Well… yes. Gold! Are you out there?!" Crystal yelled out. The only reply she received was the eerie silence. She swallowed nervously and turned to face her juniors. "Did… did Red tell you what happened to him the last time he was here?"
The Sinnoh trio shook their heads. Crystal was about to tell the story when something popped out from behind and grabbed her shoulders. Platinum screamed and Diamond and Pearl instantly jumped into protective positions. But even they looked alarmed and terrified.
"Lady, don't look," Diamond whispered to Platinum. The heiress clenched her eyes shut, but curiosity overcame her and she opened her eyes slightly…
"G – Gold, if… if that's you, I s – swear that I'll… I'll kill you!" Crystal stuttered out, trying to hide the fact that she was scared senseless.
But when she turned around, she ended up screaming. She was looking at the somehow-reanimated skeletal remains of a Machamp, whose skull was right in front of her face. Crystal had turned pale but quickly backed away nonetheless. She looked in horror as the skeletal remains of the deceased Pokémon rose from their graves all around to haunt the living once more…
"S – Senior, what… what is happening?" Platinum asked, absolutely terrified.
Crystal couldn't say anything. She remembered Red telling her about his experiences with the zombie Pokémon and the possessed Green… She felt a hand touch her shoulder from beside and looked. She could see Gold and his Typhlosion out, but their eyes were blank, as if they were possessed…
Platinum screamed again and shut her eyes. She dropped to her knees and started to cry. Diamond knelt beside her and embraced her, so that he could perhaps tell the heiress how he felt before it was too late.
"We're all going to die!" Pearl screamed out.
Crystal started to tremble as the possessed Gold started to reach towards her. The girl screamed and tripped as she tried to back away. She clenched her eyes shut and covered her face with her hands to avoid looking at the horrors…
Then she heard Gold laughing… In a minute, Crystal would realize that the Machamp skeleton was a toy, the surrounding zombies were an illusion, and the Gastly that was animating the toy and pretending to be possessing Gold and Explotaro was the oddly colored one she caught to aid Professor Oak's research. 10 seconds afterwards, she would kick Gold so hard that he would be smashed through the wall of the Pokémon Tower…