Disclaimer's Note: Thanks goes out to Asuka-SAFAXAWN and Chaosblazer for minor contributions to this update. A small note as well pertaining to this update as well, this chapter slightly involves a crossover into another friend's fanfic called Pokemon: Tournament of Champions by fellow author Chaosblazer, but you all will figure out the point of this in the update. If desired, you may wish to read Chaosblazer's fanfic if wanting to figure out what has occurred during the moment in which the crossover will occur, since there will be several references from this fic to come later on in the Emerald saga.
Chapter Special: Journeys in the Night: Part I
"AH-CHOOO!!!" came the loud sneeze of a female trainer, followed by sniffles and rubbing of her nose.
"Oh man Beka," said Brendan, "looks like you got a head cold."
"I said I'm fine guys….ACHOO!!!" sneezed Beka again and sniffled once more.
Beka and the others had made it back to the Center and members consisting of her, May, Brendan, Edgar, and PK were sitting around the head cold trainer on various couches and chairs. Beka sniffed once more and leaned back a bit in her seat on the couch.
"You don't look fine Beka," said May as she crossed her arms, "you ought to just take it easy for the rest of the day."
Beka let of a soft sigh. "I guess you're right," said Beka softly and rubbed her nose.
"See?" said Edgar in a joking manner, "Now you know better than to go outside in the rain without anything on your arms as well as to wear more in the snow."
Beka shot him a sick, yet dirty look, but then sneezed again; causing her momentary gaze to subdue.
"What you need is some soup, hot tea, and rest," said Brendan and then got up, "let me go see if we can find you something in the cafeteria. Come on May."
"Right," nodded May and stood to follow Brendan, leaving Beka, Edgar, and PK alone on the couch.
Beka sneezed once again in her hands and then rubbed her nose once more, causing Edgar to hold an even more concerning look to his friend.
"Hey, I'm sorry about joking around like that earlier," said Edgar as he gave Beka a handkerchief to sneeze and blow her nose into.
"Thank you," sniffed Beka as she took the piece of cloth and then sneezed into it, "it's alright Ed."
"Well, it was really unnecessary," said Edgar with a soft sigh, "in fact, my attitude towards you lately has been very unnecessary; even out of character per say…"
"You mean…before we faced Spenser?" asked Beka meekly, afraid of treading back on that thin piece of ice again.
Edgar shamefully nodded. "Yeah," said Edgar, "I was acting selfish, and a total jerk toward you Beka. I guess I was getting way over my head and I was only concerned with my own feelings that I failed to realize that yours is much more important than mine."
"Edgar…" said Beka softly, but was stopped when Edgar continued.
"Beka, I just wanted to let you know that, well, you are a very important person to me in my life and I will always be here for you no matter what. I promise you that I will not scare you like I did before. There will be no more running away from you, no more forcing myself onto you, and I will promise to be the best friend that you deserve…" and then switch to thought with: 'Even though I have to compete after Steven, I will prove to you that I am worthy to be by your side.'
"Edgar," said Beka softly, blushing a bit at his words, "I…ACHOO!"
Beka sneezed once more in the handkerchief and sniffled more. Edgar softly chuckled and patted Beka's shoulder.
"It's alright, you don't have to say anything," said Edgar, "at least I was able to-"
"EDGAR JASON KNIGHT!!!" came a loud, yet familiar yell out across the Center's lounge, nearly shaking the place due to the pitch of the voice.
"AH!" screamed Edgar in shocked and turned to where the voice came from, causing him to hold a bugged-eyed look and his mouth to gape open as he saw: "M-M-Misty?!!"
Sure enough, the leader of the Cerulean Gym, Misty Waterflower, was making her way toward Edgar in an angry strike and once getting in close range of him, Misty grabbed his right ear and lifted him up to his feet by it.
"OW-OW!!! Misty!!!" screamed Edgar as tears of pain rolled down his face, "That hurts!!!"
"It won't be hurting if you give me back the money you owe me!!" exclaimed Misty with an angered look on her face and twisted his ear more, causing him to whimper to his cousin's grip.
"Misty?" asked Beka softly, sort of afraid of seeing the Gym Leader in her enraged attitude.
Perking to Beka's voice, Misty turned to see who had spoken to her and smiled; letting go of Edgar's ear and letting him crash to the ground during the process.
"Beka!" smiled Misty and went to hug the trainer on the couch, "How are you doing?!"
"I'm doing okay," said Beka as she hugged her back, "just a little…ACHOO!" Beka accidentally sneezed on Misty's shoulder and blushed in embarrassment to it. "Oh man, I'm sorry Misty!" Beka then began to wipe Misty's shoulder with another handkerchief that was produced from her pocket.
"It's alright Beka," said Misty and she wiped her shoulder, "I didn't know you were sick. Are you feeling okay? Here, let me feel if you have a fever," Misty then touched her forehead with her hand and stated, "Well, you're not burning up; just a head cold."
"Yeah, Brendan and May went to find Beka some tea and soup," said Edgar as he stood back up and rubbed his ear softly.
"And you did nothing?!" snapped Misty, causing Edgar to wince a bit.
"Well, I uh…" said Edgar softly with an embarrassed blush.
"Ugh, come on!" said Misty, grabbing Edgar's wrist hard, "Let's go find some cold medicine here at the Center!"
"B-B-But Misty!" said Edgar as he was being dragged through the lounge by his cousin.
"We'll be right back Beka," said Misty with a smile, "we'll get you some cold medicine for that stuffiness, okay?"
"Oh, sure. Thank you so much," said Beka with a soft smile.
Misty merely nodded as she dragged Edgar with him while PK sighed and decided to after them as well. This left Beka all alone in the lounge and to her surprise, no one else was here.
'Maybe there are a lot of people training today,' thought Beka as she looked around at the empty room, 'Well, the ending ceremonies are coming up in about a week or so, I'd imagine everyone is getting ready too.'
Just then, Beka felt the room around her was slowing going down into a deep chill and caused her to become more aware of what was going on. She was about to get up from her spot on the couch to see what was going on, but was stopped when she saw someone standing before her, dressed from head to toe in a black robe and had the hood over their head; concealing the face very well. The cloaked figure also seemed to have a bizarre ring design on the center of the hood that was made out of gold-leaf foil with tiny emerald jewels incrusted at four points of the ring. Beka grew nervous at the individual that now over towered her and looked down upon her, their eyes gleaming in a purple aura.
"Are you Beka Goldheart?" the cloaked figure asked her, their eyes narrowing at her a bit.
"Yes, I am…" spoke Beka meekly.
Just then, she noticed the individual pulled out a black gloved hand, which looked liked a three fingered mitten was covering their hand, and held out their hand to her. In the hand the individual held out was a silver card that had the same strange ring shaped symbol etched into the card.
"I am here to offer you a chance to compete in a tournament," the individual spoke to her.
"A tournament?" asked Beka softly, seeming very suspicious about a tournament begin held during the Battle Frontier and not once hearing from other trainers about such an event, "How come I've never heard of it?"
"My master, the one who is holding this event," spoked the cloaked figure, "is a very private individual and likes to hold isolated tournaments for trainers like yourself."
"I'm not that great or famous…" spoke Beka.
"You underestimate yourself my dear," spoked the cloaked individual, "you're more famous than you realize."
"I don't know," said Beka as she shifted her gaze a bit, "there are better trainers out there who could deserve this more than me…"
"It's amusing that you bring that up my dear," the cloaked individual spoke, "I should let you on a little secret. Trainers from across other worlds will also be competing at this tournament as well."
This caused Beka to look up at the cloaked stranger even more suspiciously. "Other worlds?" asked Beka, "You have to be joking, right?" She then switched to thought with: 'Is this guy for real? The only way someone was to travel world to world would be by a Legendary, I mean, Rayquaza brought me into this world…so that would be the only way…right?'
"No, it is all true," said the cloaked stranger as they shook their head, "and yes, many trainers like you will be there. It is of course, however, your choice if you wish to attend or not."
Beka looked down at the card in her hand and asked in her mind: 'A chance to prove my skills against various beings…from various realities…it sounds too farfetched, but I am proof of sorts that one can slip between different realities…maybe he speaks of the truth…'
"Well?" the individual asked, "What do you think of this?"
"How do I know this is true?" asked Beka, looking up at the cloaked stranger.
"At the farthest south-west edge of the Frontier, within the depths of the forest, is a stone wall surrounded by thick brush that holds the pathway to where the tournament will be held," the individual spoke of, "present the card to the stone by midnight tonight and the gateway will open to you. Deciding to step through and see where it takes you involves the strength and courage of one's heart to see if I speak gold or dust…"
"And how do I know you are not a member of Team Sky plotting a trick or what not?" asked Beka.
The individual reached out to touch Beka's forehead, allowing a flash of blue light to admit into her form and for Beka to suddenly feel her cold slip away from her body. The cloaked individual slipped their hand back into their cloak's folds and spoke: "I am not who you think I am…and now, I leave you to decide your choice, dearest Emerald." With that, the cloaked individual vanished into thin air and causing Beka to grow shocked at what had just happened.
"No way…" spoke Beka softly, "…he knows I am Emerald…but how?" She looked once more down at the card in her hand, the silver luster sparkling in her eyes, "Hmm…maybe if I join this tournament, I might know how he knows of my other reference…"
0o0o0o0o0o0
Opening her door to her room in the Center, Tia staggered into the room after having a long talk with her Pokemon after their recent attitude toward Benen.
"When will they finally learn about him?" sighed Tia as she held her head in her hand, feeling a headache come over her.
The female trainer then threw herself on the bed that was in her room and closed her eyes, letting herself get some rest.
"I'm too tired after today…" moaned Tia, "…I'll just get some sleep and battle once more tomorrow."
Tia then drifted off to sleep.
0o0o0o0o0o0
"Miss. Zoey, you're going back down there again?" asked Libra, a bit shocked to hear the news from Zoey.
"That's right," said Zoey as she straightened her jacket in the throne room, "I'm going back down there to settle my score against that Emerald brat and you're not going to stop me!"
"Remember what happened last time?" asked Libra, "She knows who you are now."
"Well, as long as I have the Team Sky Elite and several Grunts patrolling the area along with me, things are sure to fall in my favor," smirked Zoey.
Libra just sighed and said: "Alright Miss. Zoey…as you wish…"
"Just keep an eye out on things here at the base Libra, and our secret weapon," smirked Zoey as she gently ran her long fingers against the black colored Pokeball that rested on the throne's armrest.
"Yes Miss. Zoey," said Libra with a nod, "if that is what you wish…"
Just then, a Grunt with shadowing over his eyes appeared into the throne room and spoke: "Lady Zoey, three teams are ready and are awaiting for your lead."
"Ah, excellent work Grunt," said Zoey as she left the room with a smirk, "I am surprised Lee hasn't come to inform me of this, but very much the least, I am informed." Zoey turned to Libra and spoke with, "Not to worry Libra, we will hope to be back before dawn breaks."
"Yes Miss. Zoey," bowed Libra, "be safe."
Zoey merely smirked and left the throne room as Libra went to sit in her royal chair to keep the sit warm for his leader. Meanwhile, as Zoey and the Grunt walked down the hallway, Zoey asked: "So tell me Grunt, do you have a name?"
The Grunt seemed hesitant at first to speak, but replied softly: "Daigo madam."
"Daigo…interesting name," smirked Zoey, "very well Daigo, I'll put you as leader as Sky Group Three while One, Two, Four, and Five will receive their commanders."
"Yes madam…" spoke the Grunt, only for him to lift his head up a bit to reveal his sky-blue eyes gleaming in a serious tone toward the Team Sky Leader's back.
0o0o0o0o0o0
"So you got this card from some weird cloaked dude and he ended up healing you?" asked Brendan as he examined the silver card. He, May, Edgar, PK, and Misty had returned back into the lounge to check up on Beka and were discussing what was going on with Beka.
"Yeah, this is so weird," asked Beka, "and to top it off, he said that if I decide to go, I will compete against others from other worlds."
"Other worlds?" asked May, "But how? I thought only a Legendary could send people through dimensions; I mean, that's what you told us Beka when Rayquaza brought you through."
"Yeah," said Beka as she took back the card from Brendan, "so I'm thinking that this might be the case, maybe there is a Legendary who is behind this."
"But that sounds impossible," said Misty, "why would a Legendary want to hold a tournament?"
"Sounds fishy to me," said Edgar as he crossed his arms, "Maybe we're dealing with something much more than a Legendary."
"Actually, Misty might be onto something," said May, "I mean, there could be a certain meaning why this will occur and what not."
"Well, whatever it is," said Beka as she stood, "I'm going to find out myself by going to this so-called tournament and figure out how they know of my other reference."
"Beka, you can't be serious are you?!" asked Edgar with a surprised look on his face.
"Why not?" asked Beka, "I have a right to know why they know of my other name! Only you guys, Team Sky, and Larz know of my other name as 'Emerald', who knows of how many more people are out there who know of Emerald!"
"You're right Beka," said May as she stood up and held up a fist of determination, "you do have a right to know and I'm going with you to help you out!"
"Count me in!" said Brendan as he stood up beside May, "You all need a strong man to protect you girls and I'm your guy!"
"Yeah, protect them against snapping headbands," chuckled Edgar.
"Hey!" exclaimed Brendan with an angered look on his face.
"Well, I'm going with you Beka," said Edgar as he stood up, "looks like I could give out a good one-two out there in this so called tournament. Right PK?"
"Pi-ka!" chimed in PK.
"Well, count me in as well!" said Misty, "The more the merrier I say!"
"Right," said Beka with a nod and a smile toward her friends, "you guys are the best."
"Hey, anything for you Beka," smiled Edgar.
"Very well then," said Brendan, "we got to be prepared. Let's go to town, get some last needed supplies, and head out to where this portal, or whatever it is that will take us, is at!"
"Right, let's go!" cheered May and the group began to make preparations for their next journey into the unknown.
0o0o0o0o0o0
The evening was begin to arise over the Battle Frontier region as well as the sound of low flying jets that began to one by one slowly descend on a deserted beach at the Frontier, far from any of the facilities or the main town that showed sighs of civilization. With their hauls shimmering in a green luster and bearing a black S symbol upon the sides, the aircrafts slowly landed onto the beach and immediately, their engines were cut off as well as a crystal-like veil shimmering along the sides of them and causing the craft to disappear from sight; as if they were a sudden mirage in the night. It proved that they were not simply mirages as several green cladded Sky members began to pour out of the ships. With a total of about twenty members, including Zoey, Lee, Wilma, and Emily to one of five groups that were now paired up. With the leaders being Sky Group One, Sky Groups Two through Five had all high-ranking Grunts as their commanders and the five groups began to plan.
"As Sky Group One," said Zoey, "we will branch off in search of Emerald within the southern parts of the facility. Group Two, depart out to the north and search for them. Group Four, search in the eastern sectors of the Frontier and Group Five, you all take the western half. As for Group Three, you shall invade the town and its Center for search of Emerald. Now then, you all have your orders, now go!"
"Yes madam!" exclaimed the groups of Grunts in unison and they all departed to their respected sectors of the Frontier region upon foot.
"Are you sure that it is wise for the Grunts to go on their own without a member in higher ranking than them to lead them?" asked Lee a bit crossly as the other four groups left the scene.
"They need to learn of survival of the strongest and fittest," said Zoey with a sly smirk, "plus, those Grunts have been sitting on their butts for weeks without anything to do; we must let them have a bit of exercise as they are on their hunt."
"Um…very well Miss. Zoey," said Lee a bit uneasily.
"Well come on then," said Zoey, "quiz standing like a bunch of statues and lets find that Emerald brat!"
"Yes Miss. Zoey," Wilma replied and the south-bound group began to make their way to finding Beka.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Within the darkness of her room, Tia suddenly awoken from her sleep and sat up. She turned to see that night had now fallen outside of her window, with the moon glowing in a silvery-white light and the stars beginning to sparkle silently in the sky. She turned to a clock that was in on the wall in the room and in the bright moonlight, she saw that the hands of the clock had been positioned at about five minutes after nine.
'It's only around nine o'clock?' though Tia, rubbing sleep from her eyes and laying back down in her bed, but it proved useless to go back to sleep, 'I can't go back to bed…maybe a nice stroll in the northern part of the Frontier will do me some good. I haven't seen the ocean from there yet and I bet it would look pretty tonight.'
Tia slowly lifted herself out of her bed and slipped on her jacket to keep warm as she took her leave. She took a quick peek at the desk in her room, seeing her Pokebelt and Pokeballs on the wooden table, and decided to leave them there. She didn't want to disturb them as they slept and seeing as she was merely taking a walk, she felt she didn't have a need for them. She quietly slipped out of her room and began to make her way out of the Center, seeing several Trainers coming in for the night or heading out into the harbor to leave on ferries heading out of the Frontier facilities. As she stepped out into the night, she immediately headed straight for the woods. For several peaceful moments, Tia enjoyed the serenity that surrounded her: the faint rustling of the leaves in the trees, the grass quietly crunching under her shoes, the pleasant sea breeze that gently made her dark brown hair dance in the night lullaby. What she enjoyed most was the now full moon that hung silently in the sky, like a disk dream for all to see. As she continued to stare at the moon, she quietly bent down to pick up a fist-sized rock and gently stroked it with her long elegant fingers; something wasn't right and she could sense it.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Sky Group Two: Northern section of the Battle Frontier…
The four Grunts were hiding in some underbrush when they heard the sounds of footsteps from outside of the bushes. One of them, a Grunt by the name of Dean, peered out of the leaves to see a girl dressed like a combat fighter in a heavy jacket looking up at the moon without a care in the world.
"What the…?" whispered Dean to the leader of the group, "Tyson sir! That's not Emerald! What the heck is she doing-OW!"
"Shut up and concentrate on what she's doing!" snapped Tyson as he finished slapping his hand behind Dean's head, "She has a connection to the Emerald, so she might be useful to us!"
Dean moaned and rubbed the back of his head as Tyson turned to rummage through his bag, looking for his goggles out all things.
"Yeah," moaned Dean, "but she's…OOF!"
"She's what…?" asked Tyson as he turned around and suddenly had a surprised look on his face, "Dean? Dean!"
Tyson saw that Dean was unconscious on the ground, causing Tyson to also see that a fist-sized rock was lying right next to the knocked out Grunt. Tyson picked up the rock and looked at.
"Where did this rock come fro-ARGH!"
0o0o0o0o0o0
"Hah! And Tia Rina hits another one!" cheered Tia to herself proudly.
"She knows where we are! ATTACK!" came a yell from the bush she just threw a rock at and soon, the three Team Sky Grunts from Group Two surrounded her in the open field.
"What is it you guys want?" smirked Tia.
"Oho, we want you; aside from the Emerald of course," said Tyson sneakily, "You're the only precious thing we want right now…come on now and let's lead you our base and-"
"Sorry," said Tia as she turned and held up a hand to Tyson, "but I'm not interested."
"Oh really?" asked another Grunt in a flirting manner, "Can we try and persuade you then?"
"Try me," said Tia as she got into a defensive pose, preparing for a fight.
"A girl like you?" the third Grunt of the group laughed, "You want to fight us mano a mano? Ahahahahaha! You'll never win!"
Tia suddenly dropped her arms slowly and looked down, showing that she was giving into them. "You're right, I will never win…" Tia said softly and in a sad manner. She then approached Tyson and held out her hands a bit, "I should just surrender and follow you back to your base."
"Now that's more like it," Tyson stated as he pulled out some handcuffs, "at least you went down much more quietly and easily than the Emerald."
As Tyson reached out to take her hands, Tia suddenly gripped her hands around Tyson's wrists hard and in one fluid swing; she sent Tyson flying over her shoulders. Tyson crashed hard several feet away from Tia's back, causing the final two Sky Grunts to become shocked at what they were up against; gazing back and forth between her and their leader. Knowing not let their leader's attack go in vain, the other two began to lunge at her. Tia threw out a punch to the nearest Grunt that connected with his eye and then she swooped down to advert a punch delivered from the other Grunt member. She then quickly swiped her leg around and knocked the Grunt who was recently punched and tripped him over, causing him to fall down hard onto his back. Tia then kicked up into the air and landed back onto her feet as the other Grunt member ran toward her. In return for his 'wonder courage', as Tia had thought at that moment, she gave him a full-swing kick that connected with his chin and caused him to be sent crashing back hard onto the ground.
0o0o0o0o0o0
'Sigh…why can't I go to sleep now?' came the thoughts of Benen as he laid wide awake in his bed, staring at the ceiling. He turned to see Ken and Jack Cameron, who had just come in not too long ago, were both fast asleep in their bunks and at that moment, envied them on that factor. 'Maybe a walk in the woods would benefit.'
Sitting up and making sure he didn't wake up Swablu who nestled quietly beside his pillow, Benen got up from out of his bunk, slipped on his cape and Pokebelt, and then left the room quietly to make his way out of the Center.
0o0o0o0o0o0
After several moments, both Grunts were down on the ground and moaning in pain after being beaten up by a girl that they thought would have been easier than catching Beka, but they were proven wrong, very wrong. Tia stood in her defensive mode, panting heavily after her combat with the two Grunts who were struggling to get back up to their feet, and then yelled out: "Anyone else willing to fight?!"
Tia suddenly felt a sharp pain at the back of her neck that caused her to fall down hard onto the ground. It turned out it was Dean, who had recovered from being knocked out and decided to creep up behind the fighter and take her out when she least expected it. Feeling confident in what he just did, Dean smirked with: "Heh, now that wasn't so hard, now wasn't it?"
"And where had you been?" sneered another of the Grunts as he and the other gave out sharp glares toward Dean, "hiding in the bushes like a coward?!"
"What did you call me?!" sneered Dean and began to roll up his shirt's sleeve, only to be stopped by Tyson, who had just gotten up.
"Easy now boys," said Tyson, "at least we have a hostage so that we can have a way Emerald can surrender herself to us…" He then smirked and shouted: "Team Sky owns this victory!"
"No they don't!" came a yell from the woods and followed with: "Azuleblaze! Verdeflame! Dragonbreath now!"
From the woods, two massive surges of green flames shot over the Grunts' heads that began to cause panic in the group.
"We've been spotted!" exclaimed Tyson, "Retreat and run like heck!!!"
The Grunts ran into the forest, screaming their heads off like school girls (and oddly, a few pitches sounding very similar to it) as they retreated back into the darkness of the woods. Benen and his two Pokemon Azuleblaze the Salamence and Verdeflame the Flygon staggered from out of the woods. As he watched them leave, Benen produced a soft sweat-drop and pondered upon the fact if they were newly elected Grunts to the group. With a shrug, Benen approached over to Tia and knelt down to her; pressing two fingers against her neck to check her pulse.
"She's alive…good…" said Benen softly and then stood back up, holding out two Pokeballs toward his dragons, "Azuleblaze, Verdeflame, return. You, uh…did great in scaring those cowards off…"
The two Dragon Elements let out cough-like, chuckling sounds from their throats as they returned back into their Pokeballs for rest. After doing so, Benen focused on Tia once again and saw that, under the moonlight, her jacket had been torn open in the back and that he saw some black marks on her shoulders and near her back.
'What are these?' asked Benen to himself in his mind, 'It looks like as if she had been burned…but by what?' He looked them over a bit. 'Looks like serious burning here…what had she been going through?'
Benen decided it was best to get the both of them back into the Pokemon Center and by doing so, he gently picked her up in his arms and found that she was very light, much lighter than a human her size.
'It's like her body is built for flying, like mine…' thought Benen, but suddenly stopped when he realized what he just thought in his mind, '…the heck…why did I say like mine…what am I thinking?'
Benen softly shook his head and continued to head back to the Center.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Sky Group Four: Eastern section of the Battle Frontier…
"My feet are killing me!" complained a Grunt as she staggered to keep up with the rest of the group.
"Stay on your toes Nina!" snapped the female leader of the group named Dania, "We have to make sure the Emerald hasn't been spotted through here!"
"But madam-" whined Nina, but was stopped when Dania held up an arm for the group to stop.
"Shush!" hissed Dania, "Listen!"
Something was heard rustling in the depths of the woods surrounding them, but then stopped all the sudden.
"Maybe it was the breeze?" asked another Grunt.
"Can't be," the other hissed in a whisper, "we would have felt it and I didn't feel anything!"
"Quiet you two!" snapped Dania at her two other members.
There was nothing but silence as the group began to listen out for anymore rustling movements in the woods.
"This is ridiculous," muttered Nina as she crossed her arms and adverted her gaze downward, "we're acting all so…madam!! Look down at your feet!!!"
"Huh?" asked Dania as she looked over her shoulder at a now petrified Nina, "What's wrong with you this time girl?"
"L-L-Look!" spoke Nina meekly and pointed to the ground.
Dania and the other Grunts adverted their gazes downward to see something black and shadowy beginning to burn into the ground before them. Dania backed away a bit to look at what was unfolding and saw, within the moonlight, that a huge black D had formed onto the ground.
"A 'D'?" asked Nina meekly.
To their surprisement, the black D shattered upon the ground and began twisting and molding into more letters that began burning into the ground. The group looked down, horrified and surprised at what was going on and Nina couldn't help but shriek as the shadowy letters molded to say:
Harm her and I shall rain death upon you all.
-D. Dour
"What the heck is going on?!" exclaimed one of the Grunts, but was quickly knocked down when Nina broke out of the group, ran into the guy, and ran away back toward the shoreline in a crying hysteric.
"What is her problem?!" exclaimed Dania, but saw the rest of the members beginning to follow after her.
Dania turned to look at the shadowy letters burnt to the ground and sneered.
"So,you've decided to betray us…Daniel." growled Dania and turned to follow after her fleeing members.
As the letters continuing shimmering in the moonlight, a red flash of what appeared to be red eyes gleamed for a moment as the Grunts left, but then quickly subdued to the darkness once more.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Sky Group Five: Western Section of the Battle Frontier…
The four Grunts of Group Five began scanning the area where they were stationed at with various night equipment to figure out where they exactly where and if there was any sighs of Beka anywhere.
"Still nothing being picked up sir," came the voice of Grunt William as he fiddled with a small device in his hand.
"Well, keep on searching Grunt!" spoke the leader named Hank as he scanned the area with a pair of night binoculars up to his face.
"Yes sir," said William and continued fiddling with the device in his hand. Just then, a shrill beeping escaped from the device in his hand and caused Hank and the other Grunts to turn to face William. "Sir, I'm picking up a life sigh coming this way!"
"Is it the Emerald?!" asked Hank with a hint of excitement in his voice.
"I'm not for certain sir," said William, "but I just indicated that there are now two life signs and one is really closing-ARGH!"
William was suddenly hit hard in his side which caused him to fall hard to the group and for the small device to fall from out of his hand and crash to the ground.
"William!" exclaimed Hank to see one of his men down and rushed to his side.
A dark chuckle was suddenly heard from the darkness of the woods which followed up with several bushes rustling and for a red-headed male trainer to step out with a Sneasel, a Dark/Ice Element that looked like a black weasel with long claws, red feather like tails and ears, and narrowed cat-like eyes, perched on his shoulder. The Grunts turned to see who the stranger was and Hank began to growl softly.
"Larz!" he sneered, "What right do you have for attacking my men?"
"Simple," smirked Larz as he handed Sneasel a yellow Pokeblock from his pants pocket, in which Sneasel took it and began eating away at it, "I am eliminating weak competition so that I can get one step closer in capturing the Emerald for myself."
"You scum!" sneered Hank, "You're suppose to be on our side!"
"Change of plans," smirked Larz, "give my regards to Zoey as well as a two-week notice. Now Sneasel, use Dark Pulse!"
Sneasel jumped off of his trainer's shoulders and into the air, forming a sphere of darkened energy in its white claws. Once fully charged, Sneasel quickly released the attack toward the ground which hit and then sent forth massive surges of dark beating light toward the Sky Grunts. The pulses of light hit the Grunts multiple times and caused them to let out several yells when the Dark Pulse impacted them. Once the attack hit them, they quickly dropped down to the ground in unconsciousness. Larz smirked evilly to see that his planned had worked and to feel Sneasel once again land on his shoulder.
"Excellent work Sneasel," said Larz as he produced another yellow Pokeblock to his Dark/Ice Element.
"Snea!" said Sneasel in a sneering voice and began to nibble at the yellow Pokeblock given to it.
"Now then," said Larz as he walked over the knocked out Sky Group, "time to check in and see where our dearest Emerald is at." With a deep chuckle and evil smirk plastered to his face, Larz continued onward into the depths of the woods.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Sky Group Three: Along the Outskirts of the Central Town in the Battle Frontier…
"How much longer will this take sir?" whined Sara, one of the female Grunts that was growing tired after the groups' walk toward the town that nestled in the central region of the Battle Frontier.
"Not much, here's the town," pointed another Grunt named Ivy toward the faint glow of street lights before them.
Their leader Daigo suddenly stopped when they neared the town, causing the remaining three Grunts to become confused.
"Sir?" asked Sara, "What's wrong?"
"Follow me this way, we need a plan," spoke Daigo softly and quickly headed toward a line of trees that clearly separated them from the town. The rest of the Grunts didn't know what was going on or what their leader was doing, but decided to follow him as ordered. They quickly caught up to their leader to see he was looking straight at them, but they couldn't see his eyes since his aviation hat was lowered enough on his face to produce a shadow over his eyes.
"Sir, what's wrong?" asked Ivy, "Why aren't we attacking the town?"
"Because I will not allow it," Daigo spoke and slowly removed a Pokeball from his belt.
"Sir…?" asked Sara meekly, now starting to worry about her leader's sudden change of attitude.
"I pity that you three, as well as the other Grunts that joined this expedition, have submitted your lives to an evil organization that will harm someone very dear to me," spoke Daigo as he slowly lifted his head to show his sky blue eyes piercing in a bright glow within the moonlight, "and I have all means to stop you where you stand."
"Wait…" said Ivy as she began to recognized those eyes from somewhere, "…are you…him?!"
"That's right," said Daigo as he ripped off his Team Sky uniform to fully reveal himself as a silver haired, sky-blue eyed man about in his early twenties in a black and purple designed suit with silver rings on his arms and fingers, a white high collar around his neck as well as a red scarf producing from his chest, "Daigo is only one of the few aliases I go by; for I am really Steven Stone: Champion of Hoenn!"
The Grunts were immediately stricken back to see that one of their own was really the Champion of Hoenn standing before them.
"T-This can't be…" said Sara shaking, feeling weak in the knees at the sight of Champion before them.
"You spy!" sneered Ivy in a deadly hiss, "You will pay for your actions by being in Team Sky, pretty boy!"
"Try me," said Steven with a soft smirk on his face as well as tossing out the Pokeball from his to revealed his Metagross along side him.
"Me-ta-GROSS!!!" bellowed out Metagross as it focused its red glare upon the three Grunts.
Sara was holding herself against the male Grunt member of the group while Ivy produced a Pokeball of her own.
"You wanna play rough pretty boy?" sneered Ivy as she cocked the Pokeball in her wrist, "Fine, let's battle!"
"Metagross, Psychic!" said Steven.
Metagross' red eyes narrowed upon its three targets and the crimson eyes began to slowly take on a glowing blue hue of light which then consumed around its metallic body. The same hue of light produced over the three Grunts and caused them to be unable to move and for them to float in the air. Sara was screaming and pleading to be let down while the male Grunt struggled to be let out. Ivy was also struggling and trying to thrash around to release her Pokemon from their Pokeball, but it proved useless.
"Let us go now!" snapped Ivy as she cast down her gaze at Steven.
Steven just stared up at the three silently with his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed at the three before, not saying a word. As the moments pasted by and seeing that Sara looked like she was going to go into an emotional shock, Steven spoke to his Steel/Psychic Element: "Let them go…"
Metagross lowered them to the ground before unleashing its Psychic holding on them. Immediately after hitting the ground, Sara dashed off into the woods back toward the shoreline in tears; her first time experience in a ground turning bad had completely overwhelmed her, as the male Grunt rushed after her as well; leaving Ivy alone to face Steven.
"So you still want that battle?" asked Steven.
"Of course I do chump!" sneered Ivy and threw out her Pokeball, "Let's go Scizor!"
From the Pokeball expelled out a Bug/Steel Element that looked like a metallic red praying mantis with black markings on its neck, abdomen as well as black and yellow markings on its huge pincers, large transparent wings, and narrowed yellow eyes.
"Sci-zor!" hissed out Scizor as it took its place on the field.
"Very well then," said Steven in a cold tone, "let us begin…"
0o0o0o0o0o0
"So is this the place Beka?" asked Brendan as they approached the place where the cloaked man had told Beka to go. They had arrived in a secluded place in the woods that showed that there was a large stone that looked like a ruin with the same odd ring like design that was shown on the silver card. There was also seven emerald jewels that were embedded on various parts around the ring design as they glowed faintly in the moonlight.
"I guess so," said Beka softly, "do you have the time?"
Brendan flipped out his Pokenav and stated with: "Three minutes until midnight."
"This is so exciting," said May, "who knows what we'll see in this tournament."
"At least let's hope it is a tournament," spoke Edgar softly and thought with, 'Even though this seems pretty exciting to the others; I wouldn't be so sure. I mean, if Beka got an invitation and it's for top trainers, how come I was entitled to one?'
"Are you okay Edgar?" asked Misty as she looked to her younger cousin.
"Huh?" asked Edgar as he turned to Misty, "Oh! I'm fine Misty. Just got a lot on my mind y'know?"
"I understand," said Misty as she looked at the other, "you must be wondering what will happen, right?"
"Yeah," nodded Edgar, "especially with Beka; I mean, it just seems a bit suspicious and such."
"Well," said Misty, "if we go, then we'll figure out what's going on, right?"
"Yeah," said Edgar, "I'm just worried about her Misty."
"I know you are," said Misty as she placed her hand on his shoulder, "but things will be alright."
"Okay Beka," said Brendan's voice that caused Edgar and Misty to look up from their conversation, "it's midnight!"
Beka nodded and pulled out the card from her pocket. From the moonlight, she saw it luster off a faint silver hue and that the ring outline design on the card was now glowing in a golden aura.
'This is it…' thought Beka and held out the card toward the ring structure on the rock.
As she held out the card, a thin beam of golden light that emitted from the card struck the central emerald jewel that was embedded in the center of the ring; causing it to begin to glow in a golden aura and for the same golden aura to pour into the outline of the ring design as well as the jewels around it. There was a bright flash of light that caused the ground to shield their eyes momentarily as well as a strange sound that seemed familiar to the sound of a surge of water beginning to gush out rapidly and then expelling back down. The group looked up to see that the portal had now had a shimmer green ripple to it that looked like water as well as a faint churning sound to it.
"Say, does this remind you guys of Stargate?" asked Brendan.
"You know of Stargate?" asked Beka.
"Uh, just a little! Heh!" chuckled Brendan nervously as a small sweat-drop rolled down the side of his head.
"Well anyway, should we be going through?" asked Misty.
"Right, let's go," said Beka as was about to make her way to the portal when she felt someone grab her arm.
"Wait Beka," said Edgar, being the one who stopped her for the moment.
"Yes?" asked Beka as she turned to face Edgar.
"Well, I just wanted to say," said Edgar as a soft smile crept onto his face, "that whatever happens, we will be by your side cheering on and that, we're here for you Beka."
Beka couldn't help but smile at Edgar's words and nodded softly. "Right," Beka spoke, "I know. So, are we ready?"
"I am!" cheered Brendan.
"Count me in!" chimed in May.
"Ready as always!" stated Edgar with PK on his shoulder adding in with: "Pi-ka-chu!"
"Let's do this!" added in Misty.
"Right, onward we go!" stated Beka and then turned to face the shimmering green pool of light before her. 'Well,' thought Beka, 'I wonder will this new path will take us now…'
One by one, each person in the group slipped through and into the green light; making their way into the unknown that waited for them at the other side…
0o0o0o0o0o0
"Miss. Zoey!" exclaimed Lee as he pointed toward something glowing near them, "Look over there!"
Zoey and the Team Sky Elite had reached within eye distance near the portal to see Beka and her group slipped through into the green light that the stone ruin was admitting, causing the four members to gasp softly at the sight.
"Impossible," spoke Zoey softly, "how are they…what are they doing?!"
"Should we follow them Miss. Zoey?" asked Wilma softly.
"We just can't up and follow them Wilma," Emily hissed, "they'll spot us if we follow them so quickly and who the heck knows where that portal leads to. It could lead them into the depths of the underworld for all I care!"
"We should derived a plan before we…Miss. Zoey!" exclaimed Lee as he turned to see Zoey running to the portal, "Come back!"
Zoey stopped inches from the portal and looked back at the Elite members with a smirk. "Stop wasting time and follow me!" Zoey stated.
"B-But Miss. Zoey," said Wilma, "we don't know where that thing will take us! We must plan or we'll…Miss. Zoey! Look out!"
Zoey wondered what was wrong with Wilma all the sudden as she saw the Elite member with a shocked look on her face. Zoey turned to see that something long, black, and tentacle-like was reaching out from the portal and had quickly wrapped itself around Zoey's waist.
"UGH! What is this thing?!" screeched Zoey as she tried to squirm out of the black stream of light that had a firm, fluid grip on her waist.
"Miss. Zoey!!!" exclaimed the three Elite members as they saw Zoey helplessly being slipped and then pulled into the portal by the black stream of light.
"No!" exclaimed Lee and then turned to the girls, "Come on and let's go through! Emerald must of have something to do with Miss. Zoey being grabbed into that portal; so we have to find her to find Miss. Zoey."
"Are you insane?!" yelled Emily, "If there are weird black streamed creatures running around in that universe, what if there is something much more of a threat awaiting us?!"
"Only one way to find out!" said Lee as he grabbed Wilma and Emily both by the arm, "Let's go through!"
With that, the three Team Sky Elite members leapt into the portal in hopes of retrieving back their leader. After the two groups, both friend and enemy alike, transpired through the portal, the watery vortex suddenly began to shrink into the central jewel and was absorbed into the jewel; cutting off the way to the unknown dimension.
0o0o0o0o0o0
"Well now, what have we here?" asked Larz as he saw a strange cloaked figure slowly approach him from the darkness of the woods.
"Hello there…Larz Silver Rocket…" the cloaked figure spoke as it neared the red haired trainer.
"So I take it you know my name huh?" asked Larz, his dark eyes narrowing on the cloaked figure.
"I do, as well as many other things about you: Kameron." chuckled the cloaked figure that caused Larz to sweat for a moment and then snarl softly.
"I abandoned that name a long time ago! Don't you dare test me with that name!!!" Larz spat at the cloaked figure and then called out to his Sneasel on his shoulder, "Sneasel, Dark Pulse!"
Sneasel once again leapt off his trainer's shoulder and unleashed another Dark Pulse attack onto the cloaked individual. The cloaked stranger merely raised up a gloved hand to create a golden barrier around their body and the Dark Pulse vanished upon impact to the shield. Larz and Sneasel were taken by surprise by the cloaked individual's defensive move and had failed to see that the cloaked individual unleashed a pulsing blue sphere of light that slammed hard into Sneasel and knocked him back hard into a tree; automatically knocking him out.
"Sneasel!" exclaimed Larz and ran to his Pokemon. The red-haired trainer was in shock to his Pokemon knocked out so quickly, by a person…or was it? "You're not human, are you?!" sneered Larz at the cloaked individual before him.
The cloaked stranger chuckled a bit and stated: "Clever you are, and I am sorry about what had happened to your Sneasel, but I do not take lightly those who attack me on merely visits that might benefit them and their plans."
"What do you mean?" asked Larz as he recalled back Sneasel and raised an eyebrow.
"You are after someone by the name of Emerald, are you not?" the cloaked individual asked.
"Heh, so you know of Emerald the Weakling as well," smirked Larz, "how does this involve you?"
"I happen to know where she is at," said the cloaked stranger, "and I can take you to her if you wish."
"Very well," said Larz, "if you give me a way to find Emerald, what do you want in return?"
"Just to enjoy the scenery," chuckled the cloaked stranger and immediately as he said that, a green portal opened up beside him that was big and wide enough for an individual to slip through.
Larz only looked at the portal for a moment and looked back at the individual: "How can I know that she will be here like you said?"
"Only if a heart is strong enough to take a step into the unknown will one's heart be rewarded…" quoted the cloaked stranger.
"Humph! Very well then," spoke Larz and thought with: 'If this weird guy is right and leads me right straight to Emerald, I will have so much fun when I find her. Just you wait Knight, if you are with her, I'm going to enjoy making you cry out for your precious gem!'
Having a smug smirk on his face, Larz leapt into the green vortex and into the unknown as well. The cloaked individual merely chuckled and slipped into the portal with Larz as well. Once these two had slipped on through, the green portal slowly shrank away and left; leaving the night to be at peace once more.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Coming up, Part II of this chapter special will commence…