A/N — Yo, as usual I'm late asf. I had planned to update a month earlier but then a lot of tests were shoved onto me, and I didn't get the chance to go online last week, so. Well, anyways, I'm not going to say much until the bottom, so go ahead and read!
TO THE BEAUTIFUL REVIEWERS WHO I LOVE SO MUCH:
Falneou17 — LOL, I love your reactions to everything :)))) Thank you so much for reviewing and being so patient with my lonnngggg updates!
QueenLlama — Thank you! You made my day that day! I'm just gonna be frank, literally all my chapters have cliffhanger, and this chapter *spoiler alert* won't really satisfy you LOL.
Yeet — Hmmm? Is that it?
EmeraldoftheStars — Thank you so much XD That will be needed later, so yay!
Just Another Kid — OKAYYYY SO FIRST, THANKS! AND SECOND, LOLOLOLOL. Your review cracked me up and how you summed it up XD Thanks again! Also, I'm gonna be honest, and I will never, never, never, answer all of your questions in this chapter bc I'm leaving suspended, sorrynotsorry! XD Also, I totally understand how you feel! I have midterms next week and I have to study a lot, so I haven't gone on here in awhile.
darkdemon5 — Your review made me laugh LOL (the le gasp though). Thanks for reviewing :)))))
A Lights Shadow — LOL, your review though XD First, thanks for reviewing, and second, you'll have to find out in this chapter, or the next! XD Also, it's okay. I stay up till 6 am anyways. (only the weekends and holidays, of course)
mysteryreader6626 — thank you so much! Also, seriously, all my chapters so far has been confusing so it's okay... I think?
Shidake — Thank youuuuu! Also, hopefully some(? I think one?) of your questions will be answered. The rest will be unanswered (gotta spoil it) bc of some mystery stuff in the later chapters. Sorry!
Pale1357 — Find out in the chapter *smirking face*
Once again, thanks for reviewing :) Or following or favoriting! Y'all make my day :) Also, I have a side comment about Ruby, and just saying, I laugh at each one of them. LOL at the reviewer who called him a dick and the other reviewer who wanted to kill him XD Find out what his reason was in the chapter!
Chapter Thirteen — Unexpected Saviors
A bright flash came out of the pokéball as a small yellow creature came out of it. Yellow winced at the light, but recovered quickly. Chuchu blinked at her innocently, looking around.
These past few days since Chuchu came out, Yellow hasn't really interacted with her much, but she was a pretty docile Pokémon. Yellow didn't really try out her attacks because electricity could be dangerous and kill her, but she did groom the mouse every so often and sleep with it.
Chuchu nestled up to the blonde, and Yellow reciprocated the affection with her hand on its head.
"It's nice to see you again, Summer," Chuchu's voice appeared in her mind this time. Well, Yellow couldn't tell if Chuchu's voice was in her head last time with everything going on, but this time she heard it more clearly with contact.
"Wait, what?!" Yellow exclaimed back in her thoughts. "How— Wha— Who's Summer? Can you hear me?"
"Ah, I mean Yellow," the pikachu corrected, flinching for a split second. "You have the ability to read the minds of animals, if I'm correct." Yellow nodded her head, agreeing that she could communicate with normal animals.
She didn't know why she was born with it, but she was able to naturally talk to animals and understand their feelings. Yellow always hid it though in case she got outcast as crazy— not that it matters anyways since they were in the city, far, far away from the forests.
"And also that grants you the power to read the minds of Pokémon."
Yellow had a mini freak out session in her head. Okay sure she could communicate and do special things to animals she met, but to Pokémon that came out of a digital screen? Well, animals and Pokémon are both creatures, but that didn't really count as anything. The reasoning and scientific evidence was very lax that she couldn't come to a conclusion.
"Uh okay...?" she replied, not wanting to sound stupid. She shook her head, snapping back to the previous situation. "Chuchu, can you please help my friends?"
Her heart sped up faster.
Soul cannot believe what was happening.
When Silver had tried to explain what he meant, he went over to her blood-soaked sock and unraveled it, showing her wound. She expected a gun wound that was basically a hole in her thigh, but instead, her wound was more shallow than she had originally thought, and her bone was slightly showing, but not too much.
Maybe it wasn't as harsh as I thought, she thought, staring at it.
"Kristina took this rare chemical that a doctor gave her when she was on the verge of dying one time. The chemical changed her regeneration cells and turned into something abnormal. The cells had gradually grown in size and changed, and after that, her regeneration process became faster than an average human's. Unfortunately, the chemical she took was made by that doctor only and no one knows its secrets besides the doctor, so Kristina is the only human being who has that ability," Silver explained in a monotone voice as if he was in some sort of trance. "But when Kristina was the first in line for another experiment, the experiment had failed and turned her into two beings, splitting her into two and aging her backwards. The scientists afterwards conducted a research on the babies and found the cells in only one while the other one with barely."
"Just one question," Soul interjected. "Who the heck is Kristina, and what the heck are you talking about again? I mean, I know what you're saying. I understand it completely, but you sound crazy and you need some help."
Silver being creepy and telling her weird things wasn't her exact ideal situation. Well, sitting here in the forest side of the school with a gun wound wasn't her favorite thing either. The last thing she needed was some confusing mumble jumble right now.
Silver didn't answer her, and instead, his stoic face expression suddenly broke and he fell to the floor, clutching onto his head. He let out a grunts and groans, evident that he was in pain. Soul looked at him with a worried look and reached out to help him, but he quickly slapped his hand away. In response to this, her face twisted into a scowl.
"Look, I know you're a stubborn asshole, but if you're feeling under the weather, you should at least let me help!" she hissed, pissed off at his reaction.
"I don't need your help," he snapped, his face returning to the usual Silver she always saw— basically, annoyed. "I'm remembering so many memories right now. There's finally explanations for those visions— Argh!"
Silver let out another groan, unable to contain the throbbing of his head. Soul watched him warily, wondering what she should do now. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard something rustling in the bushes a bit farther for them and some muffled voices. Peeking, she saw a couple more people dressed in black with guns walking around, and her heart dropped.
She turned to Silver. "We have to go."
He flinched. His attacks weren't hitting the boy for some reason. All of the gunshots he had fired, all of the knives he threw, all the punches and attacks he hurled at the boy weren't working at all. Ruby approached closer, a serious expression on his face that had a hint of ease with the smile from earlier.
"Why won't you just die?!" he shouted, getting irritated.
"Barbaric people like you might win with brute strength, but when you're going up against me, you're going to need to use your head a bit, y'know?" he replied nonchalantly, smugness present.
The man started to get more aggravated. He ran towards him, rashly trying to end the battle quickly without getting more provoked. But before he could make another attack or stab the boy, he felt his arm move by itself. He looked at it, wondering what happened. The man widened his eyes when he realized the blue light glowing over it— it wasn't only his arm, but was his whole body. It went against his brain's orders and he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" he shouted desperately, trying to get a hold of himself.
He looked at the boy, thinking he was doing some wizardry or something, but he was just standing there. He could see his perfectly arched eyebrows and dead ruby eyes staring at him. It was as if it was watching his every move, predicting what would happen— completely scanning his whole body. But then the expression changed for a second. Ruby looked completely confused and his eyebrows were furrowed.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," he replied innocently, shrugging and keeping his calm posture.
A cracking noise was heard throughout the quiet hallway as a scream echoed following it. When he got a glimpse of Ruby again, he saw his red eyes flashing at him with a look of no compassion. The man collapsed with a loud 'THUD' as his body made contact with the floor, becoming unconscious.
Ruby grinned at the small, short creature that was walking towards him. "Ruru, that was great," he complimented. He placed a hand on his chest and sighed in relief, happy that it's over. "I thought something bad was going to happen when another one came, but good thing you came."
"Ralts! Ralts!" Ruru cried happily, raising its arm to reach towards him.
Ruby clasped his hands together and his eyes beamed at the ralts. The sparkling atmosphere surrounded the boy completely as he bent down and stared at Ruru in awe. "Aw, you're just so adorable!" he commented.
"Ral!" Ruru stopped looking enthusiastic, and with its small hands, it pointed at the unconscious Sapphire lying on the floor.
Ruby stopped his cheering session and inwardly groaned. "She's going to totally kill me by the time this is over," he mumbled, walking over to her. His face fell serious when he saw the injury she received from the first guy. He wrapped his arms around her gently and lifted her up, carrying her like bridal-style.
"Let's go back to my dorm, Ruru. I think that's the safest place," he suggested.
"Do I know you?" Pearl asked cautiously, cocking an eyebrow. She seemed familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it. If anything, she's dressed so uniquely, he found it weird that he didn't remember her.
Marley kept her stoic expression, but her eyes had a look of concern. "You don't remember me?" she asked, sounding a bit offended. "I know it's been about a decade or longer, but I thought you would at least have the heart to remember me."
"Decade? Were you my father's friend's daughter or something? Because I'm pretty sure I had a lot of play dates with a lot of random people," Pearl replied. "Also, my name is Pearl Lani, not Barry Luck, whatever you said."
She frowned deeply. "They were wrong," she muttered in irritation as she clenched her fist to contain her anger. She looked at Pearl again and spoke louder and calmer, letting her anger disappear. "Pearl, I need you to come with me." She gestured to come closer to her.
"No way! I have to help my friends!" Pearl denied. There was no way he was going to just go with some strangers at a time like this.
"Yes, I know. Your friends are supposed to be Dawn Hikari Mitsuki and Lucas Kouki Li—" Marley paused, realizing her mistake. "I mean... umm... whatever their names are now. Anyways, if you want to help them, come with me."
"You don't even know them, and this is a stranger danger alert!" Pearl rejected.
"I'm not a stranger!" she snapped angrily, stepping in.
Marley paused again when she realized her anger was coming out. Taking deep breaths, she calmed herself down then spoke again, "... I'm not a stranger. I knew you for about twenty years of your life, and even though I haven't grown at all in that game, I still knew you were out there! Do you know how hard it was to get out of that game to help you?"
Pearl stared at her and let her words soak in. He had a thought. He recognized her. Her main Pokémon, her appearance, and her face. But her name was different. "Alexa..." he muttered, remembering the same game character that had a similar look.
Alexa was an in-game character who guided players to places incorrectly. There was a lot of rumors where Alexa was a virus and that she went against the computer programming, so she ended up in the dungeon area. In the dungeon area, there were locked up Pokémon who were caught because people couldn't control them and they were too powerful, and players that were banned from the game temporary because of broken rules. Alexa was in jail in the beginning of the game when Pearl first started, so he only saw her for awhile. Alexa was pretty infamous though because of the rumors of how dangerous she was.
"Don't call me that! My name is Marley," she corrected, her voice getting louder again. "Okay, I'm just going to say this now quickly again. I need you to come with me because I can help you."
"I'm going to help my friends."
"Please. What you're doing isn't even called helping," she retorted. "If you're not going to come with me, I'm going to use force."
"Try me! I'm the runner on the football team!" Pearl said, pushing his sleeves up. "Don't think you can intimidate me!"
"You might be stronger than me before, but not now," Marley commented. "Go, shaymin."
The small Pokémon hopped off of her arms and onto the ground. Pearl widened his eyes when he watched the creature glow and change form.
Stop. Stop. Stop. That word ran through Crystal's mind repeatedly as she rushed out of the stairways and into an unknown hallway she wasn't familiar with to get away. There were no booths, only empty classrooms that were probably storage rooms, so there was no presence of anyone. She looked left and right. There was a dead end on the left, and on the right, there was a small hallway. Having no choice, she ran to the only option she had left. But then she stopped when she realized it was another dead end after five classrooms.
Just her luck.
Crystal stiffened up when she heard the stairway door open. Screw it. She should just hide in the classroom.
The blue-haired girl quickly tried any door she could enter, only to find it all locked. She could hear loud footsteps echo as she rushed to find an opening. That's when she remembered something. Sapphire flashed in her mind. She remembered the time at City Hall, whereas the brunette made her own exit by jumping off the roof, or at least that's what Red and Yellow told her. But Crystal knew Sapphire could only pull it off because she was athletic and practiced the jumps before. Sure Crystal might've been on the soccer team before and had mighty strong legs, but she wasn't confident that she would land good. They were about five stories up, and she felt like she was going to fall to her death. Actually, it was most likely literal instead. She was actually going to die, or just get a lot of broken bones if she was lucky.
Crystal bit her lip. It was either that or some guy shooting bullets into her. She would totally jump right now if it wasn't for the possibility of death and Gold in her arms. She didn't have a choice, and her options were limited. Hurrying with one arm, she swung the window open then gulped before looking down. As the footsteps echoed closer, she put her back to the window so that Gold could use her body as a cushion or something. When she spotted the front of someone's shoe, she didn't hesitate and she leaned back, falling out of the window.
"Crystal!" Emerald shouted, watching the scene and running to the window even though he was too late.
Crystal shut her eyes tightly as she felt the cold air rush against her back. She wrapped her arms around Gold, making sure that he was going to end up on her. Holding him tightly, she remembered a nostalgic feeling. A memory of her and Soul as kids during Christmas flashed in her mind. It was a memory of when they were little and hugging each other happily. That's right. There's also Soul, Crystal thought, shooting her eyes wide open. If she got injured or died, then Soul wouldn't have anyone to rely on in Japan, and Crystal couldn't let that happen. But Crystal didn't have a choice to change her decision now because gravity was shoving her body down.
"La! La!" She heard some kind of weird cry.
Looking above her, she saw a black shadow fly towards her. She didn't see what happened, but when the black shadow approached her, she felt something grab her shirt and placed her on the floor gently. Immediately, Crystal wrapped her arms around Gold protectively, afraid of whatever was flying at her. She didn't get a glimpse of it besides its silhouette, but she was still alert.
"Crystal, are you okay?" Emerald asked worriedly as he placed a hand on her shoulder. He looked at the thing that caught her earlier. "Good job, Latias!" The red and white Pokémon nodded, replying by grinning happily.
The blue-haired girl snapped out her daze and heard Emerald's voice, realizing he was there and the one who saved her and what the shadow actually was. She placed her hands on his shoulders and began to shake him furiously. "Rald? Wait— Are you okay? Did someone hurt you? Did you find someone here?"
Emerald shook his head, reassuring her he was okay. "The question is, are you okay? You looked frightened and scared, and you literally just jumped out a window while we're five stories up!"
"Umm... yeah, I'm okay," she said, shakily. "Oh, but Gold isn't! Emerald, can you please help me and bring him to the hospital?! He got really hurt, and I don't know how, but someone shot him! This is all my fault! Can you do anything to help, please?!"
"La! La!" Latias hovered over the two and placed one of its arms (or at least that's what Crystal concluded) on Gold's injury and closed its eyes. A small bell-like chime rang through the empty hallway as a soft glow appeared on his wound site. Slowly, the blood stopped and Crystal widened her eyes when she saw the wound heal itself. But it didn't heal itself all the way, just halfway until it stopped, no longer showing his flesh inside. There was still some blood present, but at least there wasn't a hole anymore.
"Heal Pulse..." Emerald muttered, concluding what happened.
Crystal's tears at the edge of her eyes fell again, but this time in relief. She smiled at the Pokémon. "Thanks Latias," she said gratefully, wiping her tears. "... Thanks, Rald."
Emerald stood there awkwardly, surprised she would go so far as to do this for Gold. Sure they were acquainted for a while because of the detention thing, but she would always scold him or just looked annoyed. Right now, she was just crying, elated that he wasn't going to die.
"Crystal," he called, interrupting her happy breakdown. "Umm... I'm sorry that I lied to you earlier about not knowing about the game."
The girl stopped wiping her tears and remembered their conversation earlier. "It's okay. I'm not upset about you lying, but more concerned that you could've gotten hurt by being involved."
"Ruby kind of took care of the guy that was after me," Emerald reassured. After he got away, he saw the man who was shooting up their classroom earlier go in the direction of Ruby and Sapphire. Emerald assumed that Ruby had handled him already since he talked about it before.
Crystal widened her eyes slightly again. "Wait, Ruby? As in the same Ruby who would pick fights with Sapphire all the time? As in the Ruby who insulted my clothes and who's always picky with fashion? That Ruby?"
Emerald's sweat dropped. "Umm... yeah, that Ruby," he said less enthusiastically. "Anyways, he's Sparkles."
"Sparkles? Woah, I thought Sparkles was a girl though... Well, maybe a boy. I actually wasn't sure what gender Sparkles was because of the name and the gender profile," Crystal remarked. Now looking back, Ruby did share many similarities with Sparkle's attitude and personality.
"Yeah, Ruby likes to confuse people online," Emerald stated. "I'll go call him now, so just stay there and umm... go help Gold."
Emerald excused himself for a moment, walking away and pulling out his cell phone to make a call. As he waited for Ruby to pick up, he glanced at Crystal. She was touching Gold's hair and she gave him an endearing gaze, along with a small smile.
Lt. Surge tapped impatiently on the desk, waiting for the news of the statuses regarding them. He had to go report to the boss soon, and after hearing that Marley escaped, he needed some good news.
BUZZ.
The communication device in his hand vibrated, signaling that someone was calling him. Eager to hear the news, Lt. Surge accepted the call. "Hurry up and tell me quickly! Did those brats remember anything, or give up information?"
"Boss, the results did not come out as planned. It turns out that some of the targets are on the verge of dying with excessive bleeding. I suggest we should back out of it while we have the chance! They don't seem to be giving answers either!" a voice came from the other side.
"DID I TELL YOU TO STOP?!" he yelled into the device, getting angry. "Those kids put me through so many horrors, don't hesitate. Just make sure they're barely alive. I've dealt with them a decade ago, and I'll deal with those brats now! They won't die so easily!"
"As you wish, sir!"
SLASH!
Diamond blocked the next knife hit with his shoe, throwing it randomly at the man. Honestly, he had to admit that it was a pretty stupid move, but then again, his shoe did protect them a bit so he didn't regret, even if it did get slice in half afterwards.
Where's the bow? Where's the bow? Platinum kept wondering, glancing at the bushes a million more times, anxious to run and get it. Once she was closing in on the man and shot another arrow, her hand was hit with something and the bow was knocked into the nearby bushes or somewhere, and she couldn't find it.
"I just need to find the bow..." Platinum muttered.
Diamond looked at her, immediately understanding her next action. "Missy, what are you talking about?" he asked, turning to have eye-contact with her despite the killer walking closer and closer to them.
"If I can get a bow and an arrow, I am pretty confident that I can defeat him," Platinum announced confidently.
"Don't," Diamond suggested, surprising her. "I'm not trying to be the boss of you, but I saw how sharp that arrow is from when you blocked him before."
"Yes, that is the point," Platinum replied.
Diamond shook his head. "You're not getting my point. Look, I get how that guy is a killer or assassin, or whatever, but you're not— we're not. That arrow can hurt him and if you aim correctly, then it could kill him. Do you really want to make a person bleed so bad? Because that'll make you sink to the same level as him. And you're not the same."
Platinum bit her lip, a pang of guilt immediately entering her heart. "I know," she muttered. "And you're right." She looked him in the eye confidently. "I hope you know karate because I am very useless when it comes to martial arts or any form of fighting besides archery."
Diamond gave her a confused look, but when he saw their opponent approach them, he widened his eyes and pushed Platinum again.
"Look out, Missy!"
Just when the knife was jabbed forward, Diamond successfully protected Platinum from the shot, despite getting a loud ringing in his ear as damage. But he knew they couldn't run anymore, seeing their position. Diamond still attempted to despite their position, but he did, the knife was already in his face, the tip of it pricking his nose.
"Enough of running, I'm going to end this," the guy announced, lifting his arm to give the hit more blow.
Diamond shut his eyes and covered Platinum as he waited for the hit.
But... it never came.
He shot his eyes open, his arms still around Platinum. He widened his eyes in surprise when he saw some sort of a half dog and half something he couldn't recognize appeared before him, its fur in Christmas colors. For a second, he thought it was a reindeer, considering the wings and Christmas aura it gave off.
"Good job, Shaymin," a soft voice said.
The reindeer thing smiled then flew away towards the voice. Diamond sat up and helped Platinum up after a few seconds, and witnessed the reindeer thing glow and change shape into a small porcupine with leaves and flowers on its back. The soft voice from earlier turned out to be a girl in a black dress.
"Eh?" Platinum mumbled, wondering whether she was an enemy or not. She might've helped them at that moment with the creature in her arms, but she was also dressed in black like the other guy who was sent to kill her. Also, there was a creature in her arm that she immediately recognized as a shaymin.
"Missy! Dia!" A blond-haired boy popped behind the girl and ran to them, worriedly.
"Pearl!" Diamond shouted back as he reunited with his friend. He saw the bruises and scratches on Pearl's face and body. "What happened to you?"
"I'm fine and harmless! What about you guys, huh? I see blood all over!" Pearl scolded.
"Blood..." That's when Platinum remembered something really important. She flinched then ran over to Candice's body. She flipped her friend over to see the wound she got and grimaced at her hands stained red. "Candice! Candice!" She tried to wake up her, hoping that she wasn't dead.
"What are you doing to her?" the shaymin's owner asked, popping up next to Platinum. "Don't you have a brain? She passed out from blood loss, and you're making it way worse. Here, move." She gently shoved Platinum aside and put her finger on the girl's neck to find a pulse.
"She's still alive," she announced, making Platinum heart jump. "We need to get her and you guys to Summer... I mean, that blonde doctor, whatever her name is now."
The three looked at her, completely confused of who she meant.
Blonde doctor?
A face flashed in Platinum's mind as she tried to compare it to someone. She remembered the name Summer from some of the weird dreams she has been having, and seeing everyone's face in the dreams, she always compares it to someone she knows in real life because they would look identical but older and mature.
Platinum stiffened up, remembering what Summer looked like. Does she mean Yellow?
"Wha—" Sapphire immediately shot up from her position, and accidentally bumped her forehead against something in the process.
"OW!"
Or maybe someone, to be exact.
"That hurts!" Sapphire exclaimed, touching the bump.
"Same here," Ruby mumbled. "Anyways, you shouldn't move too much. I don't know how to put bandages on your wound, so..."
When he mentioned the wound, she finally realized the pain surging through her thigh and shoulder. Sapphire winced quietly and fell backwards onto the soft pillow she was laying on, taking deep breath to attempt to relieve the pain.
"Where am I? What happened to me? I can't remember; everything is too blurry," Sapphire said.
"... Someone shot you at the cultural festival and you're hurt," Ruby replied casually as if the situation didn't have any gravity on it. "Oh, by the way, you're in my dorm. Try not to soak your blood on the couch much."
Sapphire's cheeks started to heat up when she found out that she was at a guy's place alone with him. She remembered her father telling her about those situations and that she should avoid it as a teenage girl.
"I want to leave," Sapphire announced.
"I have a small recollection of what happened. I remember a guy there and what happened... but after that, I blanked out. I can't remember why though. Do ya know? Can ya give me more details on what happened?"
Ruby gave her a fake smile and shook his head. "I have no idea. Maybe it was because of your blood loss." It was much better for Sapphire to stay oblivious, otherwise, she'll kill him for what he did to her.
Sapphire believed it and sighed, feeling frustrated that she didn't know. "Well, can ya help me move to mah dorm then? Papa would kill me if I was alone with a boy."
He raised an eyebrow, giving her an 'are you serious' look. "You do know that the girl dorms are like all the way across the building and that I can barely carry you, right?"
"I can walk, but I just need somethin' to hold my arm— something like crutches," Sapphire told him. Ruby rolled his eyes, giving an annoyed look to her. Before he could say something to convince her to stop, she scowled and snapped at him, "Don't give me that look. Ya're giving me that look that Green gives to Blue."
"... Sorry," Ruby said, not really meaning it. "I'm just wondering whether we'll get attacked or something if we go outside."
Hearing those words, Sapphire widened her eyes when she remembered something important. The prissy boy she always looked down on for the past month they knew each other is actually her amazing best friend and hero online that she knew for years.
She gulped, feeling awkward now. "Umm... Sparkles— I mean Ruby," she began, "You're apart of that group, right?"
Ruby slowly nodded, hesitating a bit.
Sapphire continued, "... Then do ya know the others? The ones that go ta this school... I know that some of 'em knew each other in real life, and I'm relieved that they have someone to guard their backs, but others don't. Even if they weren't alone, not everyone can defend themselves. So... ta get ta the point, I'm asking ya whether ya know some of the others so we can go to their aid."
"No, I don't," Ruby lied because he knew Emerald. "Also, you shouldn't be worrying about them too much."
"I know, I know, they're strong and all—" Sapphire started to blab on until Ruby stopped her.
"They're not strong at all. They're gamers," Ruby corrected.
"Let me finish!" Sapphire hissed. "I was just going to say that I know they're strong at heart and mind! Okay, why don't we go look for them?"
"You're literally confusing me with your statements. One moment you're saying they're strong, and now you're saying you want to help them?" Ruby mocked.
He was on the edge with her. She wasn't even in fighting condition after receiving that much damage, and yet she wants to go help them?
"Because they're probably in a worse condition than I am, and I have a feeling—" Sapphire stopped talking when she saw Ruby lift his arm towards the back of her neck. Before she could do something, Ruby pushed the pressure point of her neck again, making her faint. He sighed afterwards, either in relief or to let out stress.
"Ral! Ral!" Ruru lectured, popping up beside him, telling him it was wrong to do that.
"I can't help it. She's way too injured and if she dies, then what would the others expect me to say?" Ruby replied. "And speaking of the others, I wonder if Rald is okay... He said he was going to keep them company, but I feel like something bad is happening. Can you check his feelings, Ruru?"
"Don't move," Red told him. "We have the upper hand, I think."
"We do have the upper hand," Green confirmed, glaring from the side.
"Oh yeah? Well, I have the gun pointed at your friends."
"And I have it pointed at you."
Silence filled the air again as the two looked at each other fiercely. The mood was quickly broken when Yellow made a small crumbly noise by rising up from her spot. All the attention turned to her as she awkwardly stood there, hating that she was the center of attention. She ignored it and showed a more confident look.
The man changed his direction from Blue and Green to Yellow, making Red flinch. "You pull the trigger, I kill the girl."
"I could say the same to you," Red said, trying to not show him any hesitation. In his mind, he wanted to scold Yellow for not covering or hiding and for showing herself out in the open like that.
"Chuchu..." Yellow mumbled, her voice being the only one that could be heard. "Go!"
Just as she said that, a yellow streak was seen coming from behind her, the pressure moving her ponytail. Before anyone could process anything, a yellow mouse appeared in front of the man all of a sudden and jumped on him. Without anything said, it quickly regenerated electricity in its cheeks before releasing it onto his body.
"ARGH!" he exclaimed while being electrocuted.
"What should we do?" Blue asked quietly, nudging Green.
So far the situation was Red and the other guy having a showdown with guns and Yellow bringing out an electric mouse into the field. After the conditions turned towards their side, Green and Blue stood up from the bed, cautiously preparing to go down again just in case they were going to get shot at again.
"... So it's not a coincidence?" Green mumbled to himself, ignoring Blue.
His green eyes turned sharp after being amazed for a moment. He reached for his pocket and took out a small round red and white ball that made Blue widen her eyes. Green pressed the button in the middle, and a red creature as tall as him emerged from the ball with a glow.
"N-No way..." she said, recognizing the Pokémon. According to her logic and calculations, if she, Silver, Yellow, and Gold have the same Pokémon as their characters online, and the only people who actually have Pokémon are limited to their online group, then that would mean that Leaf, the beloved person online that she always loves to talk to is none other than—
"What is it?" he asked, looking at her.
—Green.
As the brunet sent his Pokémon into the battle to take out the other guy, Blue watched him. She had a different view of him, and she felt like she saw him in a new light now. Instead of his green eyes being sharp and his frown representing him as a grumpy, always annoyed person, she saw it as a front and how he shined when he looked serious. She should've expected it when Leaf and Green had similar personalities and how they were both fun to tease, but she never expected them to be the same person. Leaf was always by her side for as long as she could remember and she would always confide in her problems with him. Now that she found out it was Green, she didn't know how she was feeling though.
Green's frown turned into a slight smirk when he realized he took down the other guy. He didn't even notice Blue gazing at him for the whole time until he finished and turned to her. He blinked, his smirk now going back to his usual frown. "Why are you looking at me?"
Before she could answer his question, Red fell to the floor, his legs finally giving out. Yellow rushed to him, worried that he got hurt at all. Green went over to help his friend too, running passed Blue. She wanted to stop him to tell him her answer to his question, but then she hesitated and paused for a moment, thinking. It wasn't the time for it.
Blue followed behind him. "Are you okay?" she inquired.
Red gave her a sheepish smile as he dropped the gun next to him and glanced at the two unconscious bodies in front of him. "The pressure just got to my legs. That's all," he reassured. "Man... what was that?"
"Two guys were trying to kill us," Green replied nonchalantly as if it was nothing big. He turned to Yellow. "But that was a good plan. We probably would've stood there for hours with an intimidating scene if it wasn't for the Pokémon plan."
He remembered the game mentioned, but he didn't think it would be too plausible since he didn't believe people would actually come and kill them.
Yellow blushed in embarrassment. "Thanks," she muttered, smiling softly. She bent down to Chuchu, and the yellow mouse jumped into her arms in return. "It was all Chuchu's idea."
The three looked at her with strange looks. "How?" Red asked for everyone.
Yellow just smiled softly and ran her fingers through her fur. "... She just got my attention somehow," she said, partially telling the truth. She felt that they would think that she was a crazy person if she told them that she could actually read minds of Pokémon and other animals, but then again, everyone was already crazy for possessing an online virtual creature.
Red bought it immediately. "Oh, that's cool. Also, are you a part of my online group, or what? I mean, I know you play Pokérune and all, but who knew you were one of the fourteen?! Wait, are you? Or did you just get your pikachu from somewhere else?" he blabbed on, giving her curious and confused looks.
"Uh... yeah, my name is Healer," Yellow answered.
Red brightened at that name. "No way! You're Healer? Remember the things we chatted about at midnight last week?" he asked excitedly.
Yellow giggled at the memory of it and nodded.
"Wait, Red, who are you again?" Blue asked, wanting him to say it officially.
"Oh, I'm Fire, and Green is Leaf," he answered. "You play the game too?" He was really surprised that Blue actually played because she seemed like one of those fashion girls who think Pokémon is lame, or something.
"Yeah," Blue said. She glanced at Green for a second, before faking a smile and quickly changing the subject. "So obviously, I feel a bit shaken up after what happened. Yellow, can we go to your dorm? I don't feel like being here at school anymore and your place feels so safe."
Yellow nodded, quickly agreeing with her. She looked over to the other two. "Do you want to come too?"
"No!" Blue shouted, surprising everyone. "I just... don't want to see Green's cranky face right now. Like dang, Green, if you wanna come, crack a smile or something."
Green's eye twitched. "Shut up."
"Oh, so there's the answer~! Let's go, Yellow, I'm getting a headache," she grumbled, hooking her arm with the blonde and dragging her out the door.
"W-Wait!" Yellow said, pulling her towards the guys. "Umm... are you okay Green? Aren't you still sick?"
"I'm okay. I didn't even have a fever in the first place," Green replied, remembering his annoying situation before those guys popped up.
"Okay, just text me online or something if you're feeling under the weather," Yellow told him, to which he nodded back to be polite. "I'll see you two later then. I have to go take care of Blue!" And with that, Blue successfully retreated away with Yellow, leaving Green and Red.
"So... what should we do with these two?" Red asked.
"... Bring them to the principal," Green replied, looking down at his phone and focusing all his attention on the phone.
"What are you doing?" Red inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"Texting Aoi about something," Green answered. "Mm... never mind, there's no cell service here." He clicked his phone off and shoved it back in his pocket.
"Oh yeah, speaking of which, we only found out Healer's identity, huh? Not the other eleven," Red mumbled. "I wonder who Aoi is."
"Boss Koga says to retreat."
Soul overheard one of the men through the bushes after she went to hide with Silver, deeper in the forest behind the school. A few murmurs were followed after, and she heard the sound of their footsteps fade away into the distance. She sighed in relief, feeling a bit optimistic that luck somehow got on her side for once.
She turned to Silver. "Thank goodness they're gone," she said, a small smile on her face. "You okay?"
Silver stopped holding his head and looked up to her. He blinked, a confused expression on his face. "What happened?"
"What?"
"I can't remember what I was talking about... who... what? I can't recall anything," Silver mumbled. He flinched when he noticed the blood leaking from her leg. "Woah, what happened?" He didn't even realize that he got shot himself.
"Wait, what? You were there when I got it," Soul pointed out. "You were the one who told me about Kristina and everything!"
"Who the heck is Kristina?" Silver asked innocently.
"Why are yo—" Soul stopped mid-sentence when she heard a projected shout and loud footsteps come closer. Just as she heard the shout, a brunet ran through the bushes and appeared in front of her with a girl following behind.
"SOUL! ARE YOU OKAY?!" Black asked worriedly when he saw her wound. After that call, he went to track her phone.
White elbowed his side, irked by his yelling. "Stop yelling, you're hurting my ears and probably hers!" she reprimanded. The girl bent down to Soul. "We'll take you to the nearest hospital and then you can explain what happened. C'mon, Black, carry her."
Black lifted her up piggyback style and was about to sprint out of there, but Soul tugged on his jacket hood to tell him to stop. "Aren't you going to help Silver too?"
"Who?" Black asked, raising an eyebrow.
"The guy right there—" Soul stopped when she turned around and found Silver missing. Just a second, he was there, but now there was only a small blood stain on the floor in his absence.
"Okay, so are you going to tell me what that was about, or was I just imagining it?" Yellow confronted Blue when they had entered her dorm.
Blue shut the door behind her and let out a sigh. "Wow it must've been that obvious if you noticed," she said, knowing how oblivious the blonde is when it comes to some situations. "I just didn't want to tell them my username."
"Why not?" Yellow asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Because! Leaf has been with me for years and supported me and I can't face him anymore if he knew how I was like in real life. I want to look presentable in front of him... and now that I know it's Green, I feel like I already ruined my chances," Blue confessed.
Hearing her explanation, Yellow saw Blue as a teenage girl who didn't want to say anything dumb to her crush. Well, 'crush' isn't the word used specifically in this situation, but it's usually used in other situations. Yellow didn't judge her for it, after all, she felt the same way about Red a lot— not that she'll ever admit it.
"It's okay, Blue. Your personality is the same online and offline," the blonde reassured.
"Look Yellow, I'm just tired and stressed out. My brain is already fried by almost getting killed today and finding out that grumpy guy Green is Leaf. I'm going to just go rest," Blue told her, wanting to desperately get away from the embarrassing conversation.
"I feel the same," Yellow agreed. "Do you need me to walk you to your dorm?"
Blue shook her head. "I have my jigglypuff. It's okay," she rest assured.
The brunette said a brief goodbye and left her dorm. Yellow turned around to go to get laptop to check something, but stopped when she heard a knock on the door. Is it Blue? Did she forget something? Those thoughts in Yellow's mind formed as she went over to answer the door.
Upon opening the door, she felt her heart sank to the floor when she saw someone else.
"Gold," Yellow mumbled quietly as she found Crystal in front of her door, carrying her unconscious cousin.
She widened her eyes in horror as she saw the shallow hole in his shoulder. She should've known that he would get attacked as well, but she thought he was going to have a better chance than her since he's way more athletic and was with Silver, or so she assumed he was with Silver.
"Hi," Crystal greeted awkwardly. "Gold... kind of got injured today."
"Oh," Yellow replied, trying to not lose her composure. "You can come in and put him on the couch."
Crystal nodded and came inside, following the directions Yellow told her. Yellow wanted to throw her many questions at her as to why she was the one who brought him and what happened, but she couldn't. She was in too much of a rush to go help him. "Crystal, thanks for bringing him. Do you want tea or something?" the blonde asked to be polite even though she wasn't in the mood.
"I'm okay. Sorry, but I have to go. I just got an urgent call from my brother earlier," Crystal apologized, already heading for the door.
"Oh, okay! See you later, and again, thanks for bringing him here," Yellow called out to her when the door shut.
Yellow went over to go get the first aid kit, wondering if she could do something to help him. She opened it and put on latex blue gloves, staring at her medicine options. She glanced back at the wound, taking in the sight. Unconsciously, she began working on Gold's wound without a thought, her hands and fingers already knowing what to do. She didn't think about how she knew how to fix him, nor did she wonder about it, but she just felt everything naturally happened.
Ruby froze in his tracks when he saw Pearl carrying a bloody body in his arms with three other people following behind him. He was on the way back to his dorm after dropping Sapphire off when he saw them. He hid behind the wall, watching them cautiously. All of them besides the girl in black were either hurt or injured, and it seemed like they've been hit by a car or something.
But then realization hit him.
Sapphire got hurt today and was bleeding a lot because of the gunshot.
Did they get hurt too? he wondered. Once they passed the wall without being noticed, he came out of his hiding place and turned to look at the direction they were heading to. It made him curious to find Platinum all dirty and that she was in the boy's dorm area.
He flickered his eyes to the body in Pearl's arms.
Are they a part of the game too? he thought. I should leave before they see me.
Ruby went around the other way to avoid them, thinking about the assumption he made about them. Unknown to him, the girl in black who he didn't recognize from earlier noticed his presence.
"What's wrong, Marley?" Pearl asked curiously when he saw her look.
She turned to him with her usual frown. "Nothing's wrong," she replied nonchalantly. "Let's just focus on getting to Pearl's dorm first before we consult the blonde doctor."
"Again, we don't know the blonde doctor," Pearl told her.
Platinum hesitated to say her thoughts about it being Yellow since it would be embarrassing and stupid if she got it wrong, and swallowed her words. . "Just... please, you can save Candice with or without the doctor, yes? Please do so."
"I could, but it would be so much easier with the blonde doctor," Marley grumbled.
"Wait, why are we going to Pearl's dorm again?" Diamond asked, raising an eyebrow.
"'Cause I need one of you guys to go online for more information about the situation," Marley answered. "That stupid creator should be testing you and he should be telling you what to do next. I just need to know the next phase."
"They said to meet up at 8 PM tomorrow though," Platinum reminded.
"Well, regardless of when they're going to contact you all, we still need a more secure place to treat this girl," Marley replied. "Let's hurry before some outsider notices us."
Blue came home, and the first thing she did was check the time. 7:30 PM. After trying to contact Silver for the last few hours, she grew worried. It was almost time for them to be contacted by the crazy assholes who are in charge of this, and he wasn't home yet.
{One new message!} A monotone voice rang in her ears when she heard her phone vibrate.
Blue checked her phone, wondering if it was from Leaf. She was texting him earlier about what had happened (she still didn't tell her identity to Green) because she was still shaken up. It could also be Yellow checking up on her too. She opened the message, and once she read the contents, she dropped her phone.
Immediately, she ran out, not even bothering to stop for shoes.
A/N — Exams are coming up and I'm forced to study, but then I want to write, so I multi-task even though it's stupid. THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS AGAIN, AND THE FOLLOWING AND FAVORITES! :) Also, have a happy thanksgiving (if you live in America and know what that is) and also happy past anniversary that this story has been officially alive for the past a year :)
