Chapter 55: Open your eyes and see

Three figures crouched in the shadows of Greek styled pillars and waited with bated breath. The room they occupied bathed with shadows and starlight trickling in from the broken windows. Argent light fought to keep the umbra away and threw into sharp relief the decrepit state of the once grand chamber. The masked men kept a hawk-like watch on the entrance of the room and their stringent gaze veered ever so slightly to the green haired man sitting on a throne. Next to him, an ice dragon blew blasts of freezing air and dusted the room with fine coating of rime and a bone chilling cold.

"Kill your employer and bring the black stone to me at all costs." A sinister voice in his head reminded him twenty times a day. The ninja pulled his mask up and adjusted his shock of white hair, he signalled to his co-workers and they shifted minutely in order to remain ready at a moment's notice. Their target was the dark dragon stone and the only way to get it, is to force the Dex-Criminals into a fight with Team Plasma. Lord Nobunaga orchestrated the events leading up to this moment and he hoped the two criminal organizations would finish each other off. Their lord did not care about Reshiram and he generously ordered them to either keep or destroy the sphere.

The masked operative heard commotion in the hallways. An ear splitting sound of a dragon landing and tearing something apart. A human voice screeched inelegantly and he tensed.

Soon, it shall begin.

He longed for it, to slide the thin steel blade concealed on his person into the neck of the man slouching haughtily on an alabaster throne. Thanks to him, his comrade almost met an untimely end and every time his co-worker removed his shirt or got changed, they beheld the jagged saw-tooth marks starting from his chest and ending up all the way to his neck. The punched out marks caressed his jugular vein and the covert ninja knew Lord Nobunaga showed them mercy. And they must repay the mercy by appeasing his never ending lust for power.

Three masked figures crouched in the shadows of a Greek styled pillar and adjusted their bodies. The time has come.


Dawn

Unova

Pokemon League, near Elite four accommodations

The world stopped turning for both of them as they soaked in each other's presence. Hugh didn't believe it, he couldn't believe it. After searching for such a long time, one of his friends whom he so desperately wanted to see, now stood before him bearing the same astonished expression he wore. He racked his brains, was she one of the finalists? No, he would've seen her name on the list of participants joining the competition. His body moved involuntarily and he didn't care anymore. The lilac haired trainer did not care how or why Whi-2 ended up in front of him, he only cared for the fact that she did. She stood in before him, living, breathing and her body felt small and warm against his own.

He wanted to cry.

Whi-2 stiffened as Hugh embraced her tightly, his ragged breaths brushed past her ear and betrayed the intense emotions he felt. Her friend's arms trapped her into a comforting vise grip and slowly, she threw her arms around him and chocked back a pained sob. None of them spoke, silence being a soothing accompaniment to their broken friendship. Didn't Hugh wonder how she ended up here? Whi-2 pondered and mentally detached herself from the tender embrace. Sooner or later he will piece things together and trepidation seized her for when he might finally understand. Her arms went limp and instead of letting go, Hugh held on to her tighter. The faraway sounds of battle seemed to have diverted away from this room. In this area, bared to the elements and cordoned off by simple white walls, the two teenagers, with very different lifestyles met and wished for a time when things were uncomplicated. With great reluctance, Hugh untangled himself from Whi-2 and his lips twitched into a full blown smile. A single tear dropped from Whi-2's eyes and she briskly brushed it away.

She never saw her friend looking this happy.

"So..." The mauve haired trainer laced his arms behind his head and peered at the watery light bleeding across a semi-darkened sky, "Is Lack-2 with you? Where is he anyway? And if you are thinking, I know for a fact that you aren't part of Team Plasma." He motioned to her outfit, a plain t-shirt paired with a skirt and comfortable sneakers. "You still look the same..." he paused and gave her a once over, a red tint spread across his cheeks. "Well not the same...A bit...Uh different." Scratching the back of his head, Hugh busied himself with ogling his pokemon and they stared back at him with impassive looks.

Smooth, they all collectively taunted.

"You do know that some organization kidnapped Lack-2 and me right?" Constellate's youngest operative held her breath, "Lack-2 is in Team Plasma's castle..."

"Yes I do and since the day you two evaporated, I've been searching. Just searching." Hugh's arms dropped to his sides. "You know, the police promised me that you two could be found, I went there every day to gather some information...I didn't care if they fed me half-truths, I wanted to know where they took you two...I wanted to know if my friends were safe and sound." Angrily, he kicked at the tiles, "But do you know what those police officers did?" She shook her head, "they tried to placate me, they gave me canned soda and shushed me with kind words and false promises. After four or five months, I knew they told me lies so I set off on my own. Unfortunately, everyone in Unova seemed to have forgotten about the presence of two brilliant children. Even the computers and databases had no traces of your existence. The only thing left of you two were those missing child posters and those too, were bleached white by the sun." He grinned sweetly again and clasped her shoulders, "come back with me Whi-2...Don't worry I'll keep you safe from anything that tries to take you away from me...And from your family. We can bust Lack-2 out as well..." his voice dropped to a murmur and he gently swept another of her tears away, his fingertips lingering on her cheek longer than he intended to. "Don't cry...Whoever kidnapped you won't be able to take you back. If they want to, they can do it over my dead body. I swear, I won't let you go with them. No matter what...So...Please trust me okay?"

Over his dead body. Whi-2 shuddered at his words. Clearly her best friend didn't know who he stood up against. If her commanders wanted it, they could very well leave a cold dead body behind.

"I don't want to go with you." The brown haired girl forced out her wavering tones and he took a step back, shock giving way to his seldom seen soft expression. "You don't understand Hugh...The people who kidnapped me...They don't treat me like a prisoner, they treat me like family and as much as it disgusts me to admit it. I like it there." She reached up and cupped his cheeks, closing his agape mouth. "Don't worry about me okay? Both Lack-2 and I are in good hands."

Stockholm syndrome?

No, she had to be lying.

If Whi-2 was happy, why did her words emanate such sadness? Why did she cry?

Why did her body tremble with such fright?

"NO!" He forcefully interjected and held her hands against his cheek, "You don't understand. Listen to me...those people did something to you alright? Perhaps they did something to Lack-2 as well. Don't worry, when I get you out of their clutches I'll book an appointment with a psychologist for you. I know those sessions are a bit pricey but I'll get myself a job and pay for them okay? You are safe now; the entire league building is crawling with police officers and Elite Four members." Holding her hand firmly he peered intently into her eyes and forgot what he wanted to say. Lazuli irises gleamed with a thousand different unspoken emotions and fears and he wanted to bury them and return to the life they shared together. All three of them. "...I know!" A sudden burst of inspiration exploded in his head, "let's get out of here, if I explain the circumstances to Grimsley, he'll protect you himself. You know Grimsley right?" His anxious babblings floated unheard by Whi-2, "He is part of the Elite four and a master of Dark types, the man packs a mean punch. Don't worry" Hugh didn't know how many times he repeated the particular phrase, "I'll protect you." Saying this, he tugged on her hand and started to drag her to the entrance of the courtyard, his friend kept up a slight resistance, however he burned with renewed passion. No one is going to separate them again.

"Boring..." In another area, Red stood over the fallen form of a sage and exhaled in mild irritation. He angled his head and gazed out of a long window. The raging inferno he caused in the earlier part of the night simmered down and reduced itself to glowing embers, fire fighters, with their neon uniforms, hoses and water types doused the remaining flames. Scratching an impatient Pika under its ears, the red eyed man took in his surroundings. "Yep I'm lost" he said to Pika and the rodent swiped a tail at him, "sorry there buddy, I thought this dude would put up a better fight...I guess he wasn't the one who tried to trap Black in a cofagrigus...So is the other dude in the Plasma castle? Tch...I guess I'll leave him to N and the others...hopefully they will come out unscathed." Pika darted downwards and pressed the switch on one of the pokeballs and espeon materialized in a flash of light. The two creatures conversed with each other with growls and squeaks and the psychic pokemon's fuchsia fur stood on end whilst its forehead jewel glowed. Fur still fluffed up, the feline padded down the twisting hallways and motioned its trainer to follow it.

The trainer chuckled and praised it warmly. And Pika shocked him out of spite.

Following Vee, Red kept up a conversation with himself and his beasts who marginally understood his verbose speech. "Thanks for guiding me; I didn't think of this myself. Use future sight as well, I don't want to run into any enemies." He bit his bottom lip, "Argh! If Whi-2 gets as much as a scratch...Blue will kill me! Let's hurry up...I'm worried for her." Espeon took him through shortcuts and passages known only to the league officials. The Kanto native ducked through restricted areas, traversed down grossly extravagant hallways and halted behind secret rooms. A farce...The league, the system was a giant ploy set up by the authorities to cajole infant trainers into enslaving themselves. And what beautiful champions they turn out to be. Tempered like exquisite weaponry, both he and Iris managed to hold their positions longer than their predecessors. Even the champions of the other regions could not hold a candle to him. Steven Stone came a close second before his injury forced him to an untimely retirement.

The man and beast trio exited into a carpeted hallway. Spying a double height door set into the end of the passage Red took two huge steps towards it and suddenly petrified.

Dread poured over him akin to a bucket of cold oil. The slimy feeling slipped down his throat and expanded into his chest. Pika squeaked loudly next to him but its master paid no attention. The crimson eyed male forced his breathing to even...He came here to destroy this place, not to be entrapped in it again. Coercing his erratic emotions to stabilize, he gulped in a mouthful of air and twisted the handle. Opening the door with more strength than necessary, he froze for a second time on seeing two teenagers engrossed in an amorous conversation; Execution's commander caught dulcet tones and sentimental whispers.

"Sorry..." he added and started to back out sheepishly, "please don't mind me...I'm a bit lost." The girl spied him and his eyes widened...hold on...Whi-2? And who was the incensed looking guy holding her hand? An opponent? Did she get caught? Lips pressing into a firm line, he raised his hand and she blurted his name out loudly.

"Commander Red!" Tearing out of Hugh's grasp, she put on an overly cheerful smile and bounded to the older trainer. Hugh reigned in his anger...the man looked too old to be Whi-2's...Wait Red? As in the Kanto's Champion Red? The guy who managed to hold his title for more than a decade? The blood eyed teen's wrath dissipated and reverence took its place. The man walked in smiling genially and enquired about Whi-2. Rifling through his little bag, Hugh brought out a notepad and a pen, the opportunity to acquire a legend's autograph should not be missed. Striding up to the man he well respected, Hugh thrust out his pen and tersely asked for a signature. The raven haired male laughed, graced him with a kind smile and gave his things back to him.

"I'm afraid I don't hold the title anymore Hugh." The Unovian's head inflated with pride, the man even knew his name! "I retired a few years ago and the current champion is Lance the Dragon tamer." Hugh packed his stationary away, "Whi-2...No one hurt you right?" She shook her head and reassured him for the seventh time.

Commander Red...

Commander Red

Commander...

"Your friends have been kidnapped by an organization known as the Dex-criminals. As for why we call them that...the entire ring consists of highly talented individuals and you've already guessed it; they are all Pokedex holders."

Whi-2 called him commander and hanging off the waist of his slightly faded jeans and clipped to a belt, Hugh noticed an out-dated version of the Kanto Pokedex, constructed by Professor Oak himself. At school, the teachers forced aspiring trainers to study up on Pokedex history and this one looked very much like the first, ancient ancestor to the fancy, high tech ones professors gifted talented trainers these days. And moreover, the term his female friend used to address the once champion sounded weird...Commander? Why commander?


A muscle laden arm crashed into his face and Red staggered backwards as an arc of blood exploded out of his nose and dripped down his partially dislocated jaw. He shut his eyes, pain flared behind his eyelids and spread to his forehead. His head rung and he heard Whi-2 scream something incomprehensible. Still staggering, he tripped over and fell on his back, the hulking form of an emboar and its fuming trainer cast a shadow over his aching body. Pikachu leapt to the ground in front of him and squeaked up a storm whilst Vee calmly pinned the lilac haired teenager with an enigmatic gaze.

"HUGH!" Whi-2 screeched and placed herself between him and Red, "What..." she sputtered, "what do you think you are doing?" Instead of listening to her, he slunk forward and gently pushed her to the side. Boar followed him and bore down on Execution's commander who struggled with stemming the haemorrhage from his nose. The older male forced his jaw back into place with an audible grind and winced with agony. Pressing his wristband to his nose, he gingerly felt around the appendage and exhaled when it remained unbroken. Quickly, Red veered to the side and gasped when the fire pig hammered down an arm and crushed terracotta tiles into brown fragments and dust. Suddenly the area around him grew scorching hot and his skin popped with blisters, with growing horror; the Kanto native realized that the beast wanted to roast him alive. His arm shot down towards his belt and in the next instant, a fireball erupted in his face. Whi-2 watched the entire spectacle mutely, she witnessed the leader engulfed with flames and her heart stopped beating. The grey outline slowly dissipated and when emboar stopped firing, only a blackened smudge remained.

"Hugh...HUGH! Are you crazy?" She whirled on her best friend with angry tears streaming down her cheeks, "how could you! He's one of the most respected members in the public and you just...You just...incinerated him! Are you crazy?!" The younger male's eyes widened with shock when she whipped out a servine, two vines feebly lashed out and hit his Boar before retreating at high speed.

"He's not dead..." crimson irises scanned the room critically, "at least I think so. And respect Whi-2? For an Arceus forsaken criminal? I don't think so. They forced you to work for them didn't they?" He pointed at the Pokedex in her hand, "throw that thing AWAY!" Stomping towards her, he snatched the digital device and flung it with all his might. His emotions took another blow when Whi-2 ran after the sailing device in an effort to catch it. The pale pink Pokedex looked like it would hit a wall and simultaneously break apart into a million pieces, alas a green vine caught it and both Unovians stilled.

The entire chamber crawled with fat vines and in one side of the room, the ground rumbled and tore open. Tiles broke, the earth heaved up and a giant, pink petaled flower pushed out of the earth. Venusaur rose with its master lying limply on its back. One arm and a good portion of the ex-champion's upper body had been burnt and the flaccid limb had green vines buried into it as Saur pumped a blend of healing chemicals. The man, who was unconscious slowly stirred, moaned and curled up in anguish. When the saurian grass monster fully emerged from underground, its trainer's blackened body healed and gained a healthy flush and the blood eyed human sat up with tumultuous expression on his face. Whi-2's Pokedex dropped into his lap.

For the first time in his life...Hugh felt afraid. Swallowing the panic, the focused in on his opponent. Red. The man who ordered his friends to be kidnapped and kept against his will. Red. The person who forced his childhood companions into doing atrocious deeds. The scum of a human who currently looked down on him and sneered. Hugh felt fire coursing through his veins; he'd wipe that arrogant, self-satisfied smirk off that hideous man's face and take back Lack-2 and Whi-2. Putting a distance between him and venusaur, he glanced around the room. Very clever, ex-champion Red thought that he controlled the battle ground, the child snorted, not for long and grass types stood little chance against fire types. Briefly, he sent a prayer to the deity monsters and thanked them for type advantages.

"I almost died..." Red drawled and scratched the back of his head in a nonchalant manner, "what an unpleasant experience...Here Whi-2" another of Saur's vines picked up the electronic encyclopaedia from his lap and handed to the girl. She shook like a leaf battered with an autumn breeze. "Keep the Pokedex safe, even if the device defines us, it will serve as an aid during battling and times of crisis." His eyes shifted and took in the other boy whose face screamed defiance. Hugh, a friend of Whi-2, clearly the teen wanted his comrade back and was prepared to sell his soul for it. The man smiled and clutched his cheek when a throb pulsed through it. This action riled the boy up further and Red swore he beheld the child shooting out lasers from his eyes. "You wanna fight?" The Kanto native quizzed, Hugh gritted his teeth and cussed and Whi-2 shivered uncontrollably as she saw her best friend launch an assault, "then come at me... But don't expect any mercy from a man you tried finish." Red barely completed his sentence when his opponent tore at him with an animalistic growl.

I have to stop them...

Without a doubt, Red might damage Hugh forever.

BANG!

Saur's vines and Pika bounced off a translucent barrier covering Hugh and his pokemon, meanwhile, emboar and flygon were restrained by vines and the two creatures struggled to wriggle out of the sinewy tendrils. Both battlers rotated their heads and their mouths fell open to see Whi-2 standing there, tear stained and a terrifying determination ringing her eyes. The fact that she managed to stop both of them, remained a long discussed topic amongst the Dex-criminals in subsequent weeks. She covered her best friend with a safeguard since, the brown haired girl pondered; he would be more prone to loosing and getting hurt.

"Please stop fighting both of you! Hugh...What I do is my choice and they didn't force me to do anything..."

"DON'T LIE!" The boy exploded and tore his protection apart. "Don't worry...I'll get you out of their clutches, you will be safe and sound again. Boar, let's go! Bulk up." He vigorously massaged his throbbing temples and pointed at Red who crouched like an invalid atop Saur. The mega fire pig curled and his muscles bulged as hyper growth took place, sweat poured out of its heated skin and after uttering a sound which sounded like the amalgamation between a squeal and a roar, it shot off and barrelled at venusaur with a flaming fist. The grass type's eyes widened, the fire beast possessed an agility hidden by its heavy weight appearance.

"Protect"

All the vines dancing around the room folded inwards and condensed into a tightly woven net in front of venusaur and its master, however, the flaming pig never reached them. A jet of pressurized water fired from jellicent, hit the careering fire monster and sent him off track and crashing into the opposite wall. In a split second, flygon took its place and soared above Red, opening its mouth, it fired a ball of fire which shot downwards. Desperately, Saur rearranged its grass net and held it above its trainer. Fire and grass collided and the vines charred instantaneously into grey cinders, fresh tendrils leapt up and smothered Red from head to toe as the sand dragon sought out a new angle of attack. The dragon swooped low and another beam of ice, coming from the middle of the room froze it; flygon dropped towards the ground like a meteorite.

"Jellicent, use Hex on all of them" Whi-2 relentlessly commanded and wiped sweat from her brow, "Servine, swagger go!" Plumes of mauve flame wreathed around all the monsters in the field and dissipated with a ghostly glow; the moment servine finished its infuriating walk, pikachu and emboar barrelled towards it and refused to obey any commands given by their trainers. Hugh shouted forcefully and one of venusaur's tendrils snaked towards the electric rodent in an effort to catch it. When Pika came into range, the grass snake struck. Lightning fast, it sprouted an uncountable number of vines and ensnared the mouse with it, servine itself coiled its taut body around the struggling creature and Pika squeaked and thrashed madly in a choking, leafy grip, streaks of electricity flew outwards from its body but it did scant damage. The more it struggled, the tighter servine closed in on it and soon Pika began gasping for air, Red shouted a few commands and with wide eyes he saw his partner make another feeble scratch on the serpent's emerald and white scales before outright fainting.

No way...

The last time Pika fainted in battle was when Gold challenged him for the position of Pokemon champion.

How many years ago was that?

He couldn't remember.

"No way..." Hugh whispered when Boar keeled over at his feet and went still after a series of painful convulsions. He couldn't believe that shy, sweet Whi-2 brutally sent his prized monster tethering to the edge of a coma. Water pulse bombarded into his enraged fire pig and hex doubled, no, tripled the damage done to it when the two status conditions activated. Emboar went on a rampage and hammered itself with fists and a hydro pump sent it crashing, sliding and halting at his feet. Securing his partner back into a pokeball, Hugh commanded all of his beasts to join the battle. With a furious cry, he set them loose on Red. Execution's commander busied himself with tending to Pika and he looked up sharply to see a multitude of beasts charging towards him. A snap of his fingers and Gyara along with Poli emerged from their pokeballs and took a defensive stance. Espeon stood in the rear and sent a cloud of psychic energy towards them. An ominous, black wind blew the invisible particles away and another barrier stopped the two parties from colliding with each other. At this moment, the Unovian female turned towards her servine and saw it evolving. Temporarily, everyone focused their attention to the growing, glowing creature as it shed its skin and morphed into an elegant servine, the regal pokemon lost its feet and grew thicker, a set of gleaming fangs poked out from its bottom jaw when it opened its mouth to deliver an ear curling hiss. Shedding the last part of its opaque, dead skin away, it slithered towards Whi-2 and leered at everyone else. Tick tock, the silent spell shattered and the two males resumed their murderous brawl.

"I said STOP IT you TWO!" The teenage girl screamed when Poli broke her barrier with a decisive brick break and proceeded to whale on boufallant. Punches reinforced with water and ice rained down on the buffalo and the bovine beast evaded and lashed out with its ringed horns. They peppered the wall and floors with gashes and holes. Away from them, simipour and elektross tried toying with an impassive espeon. The feline, a pink puffball due to its fur standing on end, confused the duo and observed as the elefish pokemon shocked the daylights out of simipour. A brief glint of the psychic type's eyes revealed an impromptu attack and seconds later, the sun pokemon scattered a procession of golden stars and sliced five vines coming her way. The grass tendrils were chopped into confetti and it rained down on top of Hugh's pokemon. Finally it erected a barrier around its opponents and sat back to enjoy watching the two of them bludgeoning each other into unconsciousness. Whi-2 inhaled crisply when the cat-esque pokemon locked in on her, she needed to put espeon out of commission quickly, the psychic beast's ability to predict attacks is a nuisance.

A pool of shadows gathered at espeon's feet and nimbly the feline sprang away and retreated towards the safety of its trainer and Saur's grass net. Unfortunately, the black circle kept up with her and with a yowl, the sun beast leapt to the side and avoided a shadow ball coming out of the circle on the floor. Another barrage had it veering left and right, evading the orbs with perfect accuracy, unbeknownst to the psychic, a second eclipse formed behind her and out of it; jellicent rose and wrapped its salmon coloured tentacles around espeon's throat. The cat let out a piercing screech and Red snapped his fingers. Return. A pokeball sucked Vee up and its human gently tapped the clear surface of the ball and told it to rest.

"..." Red took in the destruction of the room and glanced at his watch, his body still shrieked with pain but he could deal with it later. Poli, his last remaining able pokemon apart from Saur, had its movements and abilities severely thwarted by Whi-2. He could see the girl panting and pushing her sweat drenched, damp hair away from her face, one of her intricately styled buns came loose and a sheet of caramel brown hair cascaded over and hid half of her strained visage. To be honest, he felt surprised; never in his wildest imaginations did he think that this teenager, with little combat experience, would be able to topple two league finalists at once. She looked and behaved akin to a war goddess, fiercely pointing and commanding her troops into a well conducted battle. Did he or Hugh own this arena? No, Whi-2 did. A flicker of amusement and pride glinted in his eyes as she forced boufallant and Poli apart. The blue frog back flipped and dodged a torrent of emerald energy spheres. The projectiles hit the wall and floor instead and decimated the constructions. Meanwhile, boufallant kicked out helplessly as it lay suspended in a bubble of water; the watery sphere rose and Hugh uttered a string of curses. Prick. The balloon burst and the normal type plunged towards the earth from a considerable height, a waterfall squeezed the consciousness out of it.

"STOP!" The three of them reached an impasse and appraised each other from three different corners. "Hugh...Senior Red, there is no point in fighting any long-"

"Says who?" Hugh screeched and whipped out another pokeball "SAYS WHO?!" he repeated and threw the capsule in the air. Out popped unfezant, it uttered a cry and perched on his head, "I'm taking you back and I don't care how I do it...And not even an undefeated, living legend or whatever the heck people call him, is gonna stand in my WAY! Don't interfere with us any longer."

"Hugh! You don't understand" his companion pleaded, "don't you see he is going easy on you? You can't defeat him Hugh...You just can't! Please listen to me. When Red gets serious he takes the battlefield himself. Did you hear him commanding his pokemon?" Hugh didn't reply, "No you didn't! One word orders don't qualify as commands. Now imagine if he's standing in front of you and actually telling his partners what to do! Think Hugh!" She strode towards him and clasped him by his chest, "think! He would destroy you!" She quivered violently and hung on to him, "let us pass...Please. You won't stand a chance against him. Lack-2 didn't and you won't either."

"No."

"Hu-"

"No. I'm going to defeat him and I'm going to save you from his and the organization's clutches. Don't worry. I can and I will do this."

"Whi-2" another low voice entered the conversation, "step aside. I like Hugh's fiery passion and it'd be rude not to grace him with a battle. I accept your challenge." The ebony haired man recalled Poli and made himself comfortable on Saur's back. Again, the azure eyed girl shuddered and hugged herself. Nodding, she retreated to a safe distance. "Right...I'll only use Saur since you only have one pokemon Hugh. I'll let you go first."

Muttering under his breath, the boy pressed his hands over his eyes and prayed. Relaxing his rigid stance, he surveyed the room and took note of the vines still screening his injured opponent. He was allowed the first move? Red's kindness disgusted him. Wiping the tiny scope lens clamped over his bird's eyes, he gave it a command. "Aerial ace" he droned and the bird leapt with talons outstretched. The proud pokemon blitzed over and Hugh held his breath, if the net of brambles covering Red and his monster could be torn apart, he would have a clear shot at the man and hopefully, a hyper beam would put the ex-champion out of commission. Then he and Whi-2 could esca...

"Saur...Use Solar beam."

A lurid pillar of electric green light erupted out of the seed pokemon's mouth and tore a jagged hole through the net, it caught unfezant straight as the avian soared and thrust it backwards. The beam continued and slammed into Hugh who failed to see it coming. Both boy and his beast ploughed into the opposite wall and the lilac haired teen heard his ribs, leg and arm shatter under stress. He howled, his voice petering to a hoarse scream as he clutched his leg and cried. Indescribable agony coursed through him and Whi-2 immediately went to him and offered him healing berries and herbs.

"You did well." Red slid down from his resting place and limped towards Hugh, "now please let us continue with our work. Come on Whi-2, we wasted a lot of time...we have to leave before the authorities catch up. Placing the berries in next to her friend, the girl nodded and pulled her hair into a ponytail. The two criminals stood and the crimson eyed man placed an armful of potions and other recovery items at the groaning child's feet. He moved away first and allowed Whi-2 to say a farewell. As the girl turned to leave, an arm shot out and grabbed her ankle.

"Please..." Hugh rasped and grasped his chest, "don't leave me...Don't go away Whi-2...Don't leave me alone again." He crawled across the ground and put his other, broken arm around her legs and held his breath, the mere act of breathing sent silvers of pain running down his body.

Protect Hugh

Whi-2 gently shook her head and stepped out from his broken embrace. "I have to protect you" she muttered and wiped away her stubborn tears, "you don't understand...Or rather you don't want to accept the fact that I work with them. Frankly I enjoy my time with them and I once thought about having you with us would make me very happy." Hugh coughed and spat up blood, he still lay face down on the floor, "But I know you wouldn't...You shine so bright Hugh and I want to protect you. As long as I'm in the organization...They will heed my request and they won't lay a hand on you. Please understand, the Dex-criminals work this way. However if I go with you...I don't know what they would do to you Hugh." She started walking away from him and Hugh sputtered something incomprehensible. "Goodbye Hugh...For your sake I hope we don't run into each other again."

"I'm going to tell the POLICE!" The battered Unovian announced in a grating voice and gulped for air, a bone dislocated in his chest and sent him hissing with pain, "And I'm going to tell them everything!" Holding his breath, he pulled himself forward and left a thick coating of blood glistening on the terracotta tiles. "I'll tell them that Kanto's...Ex-champion is a ring leader of the Dex-criminals. The international police, the Unovian and Kanto authorities will... hunt you till the ends of the earth and put you behind bars. And my friends..." he took in a shallow breath, "they will be safe and leading a normal life like they are supposed to. I HATE YOU!" He reached out his hand again and held on to Whi-2, gripping her legs with both hands he sobbed.

The police...When Hugh mentioned the word; it sent alarms ricocheting inside Red's head. Anything but the police, he didn't want to be chained up and forced to do things against his will ever again. He beheld the boy desperately holding the girl...It can't be helped. "Police? I suppose you forgot that your friends' lives are in our hands now." The male Unova native's head snapped upwards, "go ahead and report me...You will have to deal with the consequences for your entire life." He let the threat hang, "and if our spy department gets a whiff of your whistle blowing...You best say your last farewell you your friends now already. Come Whi-2, I need to rest. Let's get this over and done with." She marched ahead, stiff faced and without looking back. Hugh curled up and started spouting raw expletives and begging Whi-2 to reconsider, the boy writhed on the floor and cried.

"Whi-2...WHI-2! Please don-"

A door slammed on the other end of the room and cut his agonized wails off.


Morning

Unova

Pokemon League

The duo stepped out and an early morning breeze buffeted their clothes, the wind carrying the scent of charred flora and ash. Watery sunlight filtered through puffs of white clouds and washed the earth below in dappled rays of light. Far away from them, the two criminals could still hear commotion and the roar of helicopters intermingled unpleasantly with sirens coming from both the police and the fire trucks. In front of them, a cluster of grandiose buildings stood apart from the mountainous terrain and after consulting his map, Execution's leader set off with a swaying gait whilst Whi-2 followed mutely.

Ring ring

ring...

Exhaling, Red picked up his poke-gear and took a moment to confirm the identity of the caller. White. He wondered if they managed to secure N and conclude their mission smoothly. Accepting the call, he reeled backwards when a burst of static hit his ear forcefully.

"Senior Red..." White exclaimed, "this is terrible, Black and N are... they are."

A hollow feeling opened up in his chest and expanded filling his body with profound sense of foreboding.

"...Are?" he prompted the frantic female to speak and after a few more squeaks of static, she replied:

"Dead"


A/N: Another cliff hanger which I hope will have everyone losing their minds! I'm kidding. Enjoy the chapter people, I hope I portrayed Hugh's desperation properly and didn't overdo it. At Guest: I like pizza and I love chocolate even more. If you want to offer food, offer away, I'll virtually munch on them, gladly. I have fantastic friends and they are the main source of inspiration for this story, some of the interactions between them are based on real life experiences. Friends with members of different regions? I'm exploring that (as in the chapters I'm currently busy writing not posting) Look forward to how their interactions play out. At Eevee: I'm doing well, thank you for asking, hopefully you are doing fantastic as well :) Ahahaha, your love across the oceans is much appreciated, continue to be healthy. At Jack54311: Story Silver is right, the catch and their shenanigans will be revealed in the next chapter. And you can see how unfortunate Whi-2 and Hugh's encounter ended up. At AceTrainerLeaf: Time flies when you are having fun…sorry I just had to sound old. Anyway, I never have enough time for reading, literally and I don't remember when was the last time I came on just to read. Either than that, I'm happy to hear my chapters are interesting and detailed (and they are just getting longer) and will continue to strive to make it a better experience.

Thanks to all those who have read and reviewed. Please keep on dropping a line of your thoughts and telling me what you think. As always, constructive criticism is much appreciated. Virtual pizza for all!