Hello guys!
And here we go for a new half-chapter! This chapter (including the first part), was typically one of the chapters for which I was like "meh this one's going to be short I'll probably not have to cut it in two" and guess what? Well I had to-
Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this, and thank you again to Hilda for beta-reading it!
oOo
To say that Green was annoyed was an understatement.
All of them had successfully taken their plane back in Nimbasa City, and arrived at Icirrus City without a problem. During that time, his newly arrived friends could catch up with the younger Dexholders, but the Viridian Gym Leader did not learn anything new from their conversation. They could also, once again, determine that their major problem for the moment was teamwork, and everyone came with their own ideas to handle it, although none of them looked satisfying from his point of view. But those things were not what was bothering him.
What was bothering him was the annoying "Do not enter" red sign in the entrance of the Twist Mountain, the road that was supposed to bring them directly to the lab.
Next to him, he could hear Edward apologize, "The lab's staff thought that the best way to avoid an attack was to completely close it, so nobody can leave or enter. Because the area around the mountain's pretty dangerous and full of fog, they think it might be enough to stop them, and that it would be dangerous if they let people go inside the mountain. They won't even let other colleagues from Testsuch come in, let alone some strangers they don't really know... I'm terribly sorry!"
"So you basically mean that," Blue started, "we're supposed to protect a place but we're not even allowed to go right through a path that leads us directly to it? How the hell are we supposed to arrive in the lab on time?"
"Sorry, with all those attacks, some of us are quit... Paranoid, to put it kindly. They're usually not like that, but with the recent events... They're not really fighters, just a bunch of scientists, so they're too easily scared. As their boss, I really apologize for their attitude but..."
"The mountain is already a good obstacle for them, isn't it?" Lack-two stated. "With so many people in their group, they'll have to use the roads or ways. If we can't stop them in the lab itself, maybe we can still stop them if we guard some strategic point instead."
"We already tried this kind of strategy," Y sighed, "but it never worked. It's like they always see us before we can go through with our plan!"
"Did you see them use any gadget during the attacks? Because if they used some of them, maybe they can have things like a small camera that films what happens around them, and then..." Blue started, before X interrupted her.
"Except that time back in Lumiose City where Ama used a communication device, although we don't even know if he used a Holo Caster or something else, we saw nothing like that. And they never looked at a screen or something special before they caught us. Do you have any idea of something they can use, Mr. Edward?"
"Nothing, unfortunately," the punk scientist sighed. "If they're using such a device, it's definitely not made or supplied by our foundation."
"Maybe a sound, then? Or something else?" the Evolver theorized. "But they should've had a device like that, or maybe a Pokémon watching us. If they don't have anything like that, then it would've been impossible for them to escape every single time. We just need to find what it is, and then maybe they won't see us, or we might even be able to lure them into a trap."
"But for the moment, we still don't know what they're using," Lack-Two countered. "So, unfortunately, as long as we haven't made any progress, we'll still need to keep using other simple plans such as guarding the different entrances of the mountain."
"But the Twist Mountains have complicated routes, and with the fog..." White frowned. "And from what you said earlier, those attackers already knew the area, right?" After a confirming nod from Edward, she continued, "Our chances to succeed are non-existent here."
"So why not use it as an opportunity to learn more about them and to learn to work together? So we can have more chances to catch them on the next attack."
Everybody turned to Black with a surprised look. To say such a reasonable thing for someone like him was a huge surprise for the group, except for his fellow Dexholders from Unova.
As he looked at them, the Dreamer explained, a bit embarrassed, "I mean, it's like when you're planning to take down the League, isn't it? You have to prepare yourself for it, right? So you get information about who they are, what their abilities are, how you can beat them... And then you train for it. So if we do the same thing with the attacks, we can use them to get as much information that we can and use the free time we have to get used to working together with different strategies, so we can do better and finally catch them."
"But there's still the possibility that they can stop after a while, isn't there?" Crystal asked.
"Maybe, but it's still a good idea," Green countered. "I don't know what they're looking for, but I don't think that they'll stop now. And it doesn't mean that we won't try to capture them during the next attack, it just means that we'll try to observe what they're doing. But there's still the issue of working together as a group. Seeing as it caused some issues during the last attack is an understatement. We need to solve it before they use it to their advantage."
"Knowing to work altogether... Like training and doing stuff together?" Gold questioned with a grin. "Like going to a freezing place and bonding there like what I did with senior Red a while back? Is there any freezing place where you can train in the area?"
"The former Gym should be available, I guess... It'll be fun, with all the skating challenges and the ice!" Black mumbled. "Okay! Let's train together, guys!"
"Ya know I was joking when I spoke of a freezing place, right?" Gold laughed nervously. "We can train and bond on a beach or something like that, no?"
"Gold," Crystal interrupted, rolling her eyes as she put emphasis on his name, "we're in the north of Unova, so no, no beach for you. Well, if you want to train with water, you can always try the big puddles or Route 8, but I'm not sure they'll be what you're thinking of."
"I was joking, joking!" the Breeder answered immediately, with a fake smile on his face, before he tried to change the topic. "So, where's the Gym?"
"In the north of the city, on the top of the hill," Black informed. "It's not too far, so we can start as soon as you're all ready. The Pokémon Center is also not far, so we can heal our Pokémon every time we need to."
"But what about all the problems with that?" White wondered. "Do we train together as one big group, or in little groups? If we train in groups, should we have shifts? And what about the risk of being attacked while we train? Should we spare our time between training and patrolling on the mountain? But we also need time to rest, because if we don't eat or sleep enough it won't be good for us."
"You're really bossy, young girl!" Edward shouted out. "But don't worry. We have all the reasons to think that those guys are still in Driftveil City, and unlike you, they have to walk to get here, not to mention the time it'll take them to reach the lab. The attack won't happen for at least another two days, so you can use those two days to focus on training and organizing your teamwork, while our people will take care of all the guarding stuff for the next two days. So rest and bond as much as you can during this time, okay?"
"They won't attack before at least two days... Wasn't it the same thing that we were thinking back in Lumiose City?" Shauna muttered. "What makes sure that they won't attack tonight?"
"Well, of course, we can't be completely sure that they won't go to the lab before that," the scientist argued. "But even if they do, I think that it'll be better to work on your cooperation now before it's too late. Not to mention that the things you can do to stop them here are something our security branch can handle perfectly by themselves. So honestly, for what I know, if it means that you can work on a strategy to stop them, it might be better for you to focus on all the training and bonding for now. Even though it means that you won't take part in the lab patrolling for now."
"What are you saying? Of course we'll help you with this attack!" Red exclaimed. "And I'm not really worried, I'm sure that with a bit of communication, it'll all work perfectly fine in no time!"
"But if we want it to work that fast, we need to start quickly," Blue grinned. "Time to get ready! I want everyone to go to the Gym by the next 30 minutes, or I'm going to sue some people!"
"BLUE!"
oOo
The whole group spent all of the first-day training altogether, learning about each other's strengths and weaknesses, and planning different ways of fighting according to their abilities. The process to work with everyone was not easy, when their team was made up of 14 people. But, slowly, they managed to get some results. Of course, cooperation could not be that easy for such a huge group, but with everyone willing to work for it, it will undoubtedly be a success. Although they will still have to work with the other people that will come later...
For the second day, Blue, who had somehow taken the lead of the operation, decided that it would be nice to work in small groups depending on how they can work well with the others. And after that, she took all the girls with her to do who knows what. The boys then split up and, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, Black ended up hanging out with Red and Gold.
Meeting Red, who was such a legendary Champion, was something the Unovan Champion was happy about. He did not, after all, had the opportunity to do that every day, so he planned to enjoy it as much as possible. And if the training battles they did during the day before were above anything he can imagine, learning to know the man behind the legend was also incredible. The untold stories, the hidden truths, everything the books did not speak about... He felt terribly lucky to be able to hear all of that. To think that a few months back, he was still trapped in the Light Stone... The whole situation was just so enjoyable, even if the reason for their meeting was not the best.
While he was listening to the Kantonian and by extension Gold, he started to daydream again, his mind slowly slipping out of reality, Musha started to get agitated in his Pokéball. And it was probably because he was zoning out that he did not notice that Gold suddenly stopped walking, or that Red was warning him about something before he bumped into a man.
The man glared at Black. The presence of this man was impressive, with his black scrap cloak, slightly open so he could look at the white tank and the torn worker pants he wore under the cloak. The Champion swallowed. Did he just bump into one of the workers of the mine? He looked kind of pissed off. Maybe it had to do with the security protocol Testsuch put in place? Their work must be affected by those events, and they might not take it very well. Would it mean that maybe, the man would be in the mood to do a Pokémon fight? There was no way he could let go of an occasion like this one!
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when two people he had not seen since he was trapped in the Light Stone appeared from behind the man, wearing uniforms that were as elegant as the man's ones were torn. A single look was enough for the three of them to recognize each other.
"Aren't you two Cilan and Cress from Striaton City?"
"Black? Is it really you?"
"It's been a long time! But what are you doing here? Icirrus City is at the opposite location of Striaton!"
"We, uh, had some business to do here," Cilan explained. "Not to mention that, hum, we're not any more Gym Leaders, so we, uhm, often take visits to the cities around the region."
"And our guest was interested by the mine at the Twist Mountain, so we brought him here," his blue-haired twin added.
"I was, but apparently, it's closed 'cause of security stuff... Ah, I really wanted to go here!" The man spoke for the first time, with a loud Sinnohsian accent.
"Ah, sorry to bump into you!" Black suddenly remembered.
"It's okay, kiddo! So you're Black, right? The guy that disappeared right after you became a Champion? A lot of people spoke about it back then, even in the newspapers in Sinnoh!"
"Ah, yeah, yeah..." The boy was embarrassed that the reason why some people knew him was only because he was trapped in the Light Stone.
"And you sir, you are?" Gold asked suddenly, as he interrupted the discussion, with obvious suspicion on his face. If this man was really that interested to come here, did he have something to do with the attacks?
"Oh, I forgot! The name's Byron, I'm a Gym Leader from Sinnoh!"
"And you came all the way from Sinnoh to visit a mine?" the Breeder continued, even more suspicious.
"Not only because of that. I was, along with those two, supposed to meet some acquaintances of mine, but they can't come here before a few days, and because I was curious about the mine here, Cilan and Cress offered to bring me to Twist Mountain."
"And why are you even interested in the mine? Is there really something interesting here, like money?" the Johtonian questioned.
"It's just that back home, I also work in mines, so... But why are ya asking me all those questions? Is there a problem with the mine?"
Before anybody could say something, Red smiled in a friendly way at the three trainers and started to explain the whole situation, under the stunned look of Gold and the admired one from Black. Although he tried to protest, the Breeder eventually gave up, mumbling something about the need for his senior to seriously stop telling other people things so easily. As soon as the Fighter was done with his explanation, the others could swear that they saw an aura of fire and anger all around Byron.
"You're just sayin' that I can't visit the mine 'cause some petty terrorists decided to attack a lab? There's no way I can just let it go like that! Those terrorists or whatever they're called are gonna pay for this!" Byron declared.
"Byron, calm down, it's just..." Cress attempted, before being interrupted.
"How can I stay calm when some guys like this wanna attack a mine?! Don't they realize how it causes trouble for the workers? Do they have any idea about the amount of money the mine and the workers lost every day because of them? I swear, they're going to realize it very soon!"
"What do you mean by that?" Gold asked. "You're not con-"
"Why are you asking that?! They're going to attack soon, right? So we just have to fight and beat them, it's that simple!"
"Wait, you mean that-"
"Cress! Cilan! Before our friends arrive, can we just take care of that? Please?" The man, although he was the oldest out of all of them, was looking at them with puppy-like eyes. The two triplets stared at each other. What else can they answer to something like that? With a heavy sigh, they eventually answered.
"Sure..."
oOo
Five days have passed since the Dexholders arrived at Icirrus City.
And five days have passed without any accidents.
In the city, the atmosphere was as calm as usual. Some children were playing near the Pokémon Center. At a little house in the north of the city, a middle-aged woman was looking for participants for her quiz. A few wild Pokémon were playing together in the puddles, under the caring look of a young lady.
And White was guarding the entrance to the Twist Mountain, with the help of Y, Blue, and Silver.
Curls of fog from the morning were still present and lazily winded around them as they looked around them, searching for anything suspicious, examining the faces of passersby, analyzing every one of their gestures. But the job was rather annoying.
Because it was the beginning of July, some tourists started to visit the little town, but they were mainly families with children or old couples who were, without a doubt, Unovan, and a look at them was enough to put them out of the suspects' list.
So far, the only ones they found suspicious drove them to a dead-end, as they were just a bunch of Kantosian students enjoying the end of the year. The confrontation with the said students, which quickly became pointless as they were completely drunk and were making fun of the Dexholders, was the more interesting event that happened during the last three days of patrols.
In other words, the group felt the boredom growing inside them more and more during every minute they were spending there.
And this boredom could be felt in their job. From time to time, one of them had to exclaim "Let's focus on the task!" to remind themselves what the goal of those patrols was.
At least, they could make good use of the time they spared together, as they could speak with Y about their enemies, and learn some details she did not think was necessary to mention earlier, and that could actually help to recognize the group of terrorists in a crowd, as apparently, some of them were wearing overly warm clothes for the season.
From that, the topic quickly drifted to the different strategies they used during the attacks, and then it ended in an explanation of Flying Trainers' abilities and a collaboration plan between the Dreamer and the Flyer for a potential show in Unova when all of this is over.
WHEN all of this would be over.
Inside her, White could not help but beg for the terrorists to finally make a move and attack, so they could finally act. She just wanted all of this to be over, so she could come back to her job and work on this collaboration.
And so, when an odd whistling resonated in the mine entry behind them, and when a strange mist suddenly covered the town, the ponytail girl could not help but smile.
The time to finally act was now.
oOo
"Fuah! We're finally done with it!" Sapphire exclaimed, sweating, a large smile on her face.
"What day is this already?" Emerald sighed. "I feel like we came here more than one year ago already…"
"Same here, I feel so old…" Ruby added.
"You are old, Ruby!"
"Emerald!"
"C'mon, stop it ya two!" the Conqueror interrupted. "Now that we're done, we can go with everyone to Unova! Let's go to the airport, grab a plane today!"
"Eh? Sapph, it's already 6 in the evening! Can't we get a night of proper sleep before we leave?"
"We can always sleep in the plain! C'mon already"
"Farewell, comfortable bed…"
The young girl ran toward the door of the warehouse, her foot treading on some forgotten paper, and would have gone outside if it was not for the door who opened at the exact same moment. The man blinked at her, before he smiled, the gentle smile of someone who was used to this kind of situation. And Sapphire smiled too, recognizing the man in front of her immediately.
"Steven! Been a while! How are ya doing?" she exclaimed as Ruby and Emerald arrived behind her.
"Glad to see that you are doing well, Sapphire," the Champion laughed. "Nice to see you too, Ruby, Emerald."
"I would've said that the pleasure is mine," Ruby sighed, with a resigned smile. "But usually, when you come like that, it means that you have a problem and you want our help. And with how you look right now, I'm thinking that you're here for a reason. Is Hoenn still in danger or..."
"Hehe, you got me… Well, it doesn't put Hoenn directly in danger, but there is something going on with the Pokémon Association right now, and I, as well as a colleague of mine, are starting to get really suspicious… Have you heard of those terrorist attacks in Kalos?"
oOo
Fact of the chapter: Speaking of timelines, do you know that there is also a timeline for this fanfic? To be exact, the event of the first chapter happened on the 21st of June. Since then, in the fanfic, a few days have happened, of course. And being stupidly obsessed by details, I counted those days, so here is the timeline!
Chapter 1: 21st June, Afternoon
Chapter 2: 24th June, Midday
Chapter 3 and 4: 25th June, Morning and Midday
Chapter 5: 26th June, Morning
Chapter 6: 27th June, the whole day
Chapter 7 and 8: Between the 27th and 28th June, Night
Chapter 9: 28th June, Morning and Midday
Chapter 10: Day of the 29th June + 30th June, Morning
Chapter 11, 12 and 13: 30th June, the whole day
Chapter 14: 2nd July, the whole day
Chapter 15: from the 2nd to the 7th July
And if you take a look at these dates, you will notice an important event, not mentioned in the fanfic, that happened in one of those days! If you have any idea about what it might be, you can always comment, maybe you'll win a drabble or a little doodle! And don't be afraid, this event is of course Pokespe related.