Chapter 7: Smash and Grab

August 11, Pallet Town, Kanto, 7:30 pm…

"I have contacted my mansion in Sinnoh and told them about what had happened," Platinum reported as she went to sit down on the empty seat of the couch.

Red's living room wasn't fully prepared to seat too many visitors at once, apparently, as the couch and sofa put together offered a total of 5 seats, 7 at best if the visitors were crammed together. Even with Blue and Diamond working in the kitchen to prepare dinner and Y seated on the floor, there was only one seat left for Platinum.

"Okay. I guess all we can do right now is hope that that lead goes somewhere," Red said with a sigh.

"If senior Blue is right, I assume tracking the transfer to the enemy will take quite some time and effort," Platinum said. "It is… worrisome."

"So… what do we do next?" Y asked. "Do we continue the tour around Johto? Cancel those plans and just go home? Or…"

"I guess it's too dangerous to continue touring Johto," White said with a sigh.

Platinum shuddered a little as she recalled what her kidnapper had said. … The enemy knew where everyone lived. They knew where Diamond and Pearl lived. And she could not escape the fear that the enemy might ambush her or her friends on the way back to Sinnoh, or attack her friends in their home in Twinleaf Town. She could offer them refuge in her mansion, but her family's protocols would not allow such a thing. Outsiders were not allowed to stay in her mansion outside of short visits, and certainly not allowed if they were going to be a risk. Getting Diamond and Pearl, who were still definitely outsiders despite how close they may be to Platinum, to stay in the mansion because of a concern that they would be attacked would definitely be considered as bringing risk to the mansion.

"… The enemy knew far too much about us," she said quietly. "… They knew about Diamond and Pearl… and where they lived. It is safe to assume that the enemy knows about everyone else. If we split up to return home, that would only increase the risk of being attacked."

"While I doubt I'd be attacked on my way back to Kalos, I agree that we'd be easy pickings if we split up," Y said. "… I'm worried about X, though. … I mean, the enemy didn't even demand anything of me. I wasn't their target, but maybe they were trying to use me to get to someone else. … So if X is a target…"

"I don't know," Black said, shaking his head. "Why would he be a target? … Because he has a Mega Ring? But the enemy had literally just captured two people with Mega Rings, and both of you still have them. They clearly didn't care about that."

"Yes, that is true," Platinum said with a nod. "I do not think that X could be a target."

"… Maybe there aren't any more Dex Holder targets?" Pearl suggested. "Other than Miss Lady, we're not really… well… important enough to warrant being a target. Like for Dia and myself, why would the enemy want a couple of comedian hopefuls? Do they really need a comedic relief or something? And from what I've heard, they only wanted Miss Lady for the money. Now that they have it, they might not want anything else from us."

White pondered for a moment. "… I guess that makes sense too. I mean, would the enemy want Pokéstar Studios or BW Agency? If not, they have nothing to gain from me or Black, so…"

"I guess at best, they might want some leverage against the famous professors of each region," Y suggested. "But… they didn't even ask anything about them when they captured Miss Platinum, and she works for Professor Rowan. Her father also works for Professor Rowan. So… doesn't seem like that's the case either."

"I'm having a thought here," Blue said as she came from the kitchen. "The dinner's almost done, by the way. Dia is just finishing up. So, I overheard you guys talking, and… it's entirely possible that no other Dex Holders would be targeted. So maybe we should… test them. Starting tomorrow, we should resume the tour of Johto and Kanto. We'll divide into two groups, so if the enemy do intend on targeting one of us, they'll be more willing to take the chance than if we were all together in a big group."

"Isn't that a bit dangerous, though?" Red asked.

"Yeah. It's risky, but we can't be hiding at home forever," Blue said. "We don't know if the enemy is actually targeting us, and if so, when they'll strike. So we'll just end up hiding at home because of something that may never happen, for an unspecified amount of time. It's better and faster to lure out the enemy so we can deal with them immediately. And if they don't attack us, then we'll know that they aren't targeting us anymore."

"I agree, senior," Platinum said with a nod. "My mother wishes me to return home immediately, but I will not be returning to Sinnoh. If I hide because of this unknown enemy, I must continue to do so until this enemy is no longer a threat, whenever that may be. I will not hide at home because of an uncertainty. And I would certainly like a chance to defeat the enemy for what they have done to me."

"Dinner is ready!" Diamond called out, clapping his hands.

Red rose to his feet. "All right. Let's discuss the specifics of what we're going to be doing after dinner." He glanced at all of the juniors in his house right now and chuckled. "… And also discuss how everyone is going to be sleeping here tonight. There's only one bed and that's occupied, so… most of you will end up sleeping on the floor!"

…

A few hours later, Platinum stretched her tired limbs as she lied down on the couch. With Red and Blue sleeping in the bedroom upstairs, the visiting Dex Holders had to sleep downstairs. And it was decided that the two kidnapped Dex Holders should get to sleep on the couch and sofa, as they had a tiring day, while the others were to sleep on the floor.

And now that she was relaxing, she had time to think. She steadily recalled her horrific kidnapping experience, and what she had to go through. She still didn't understand how the kidnapper knew so much about her and her friends. Was he really reading her mind? Or was it all a trick, and he was simply using knowledge he already knew to make her think that he was reading her mind?

She put a hand over her chest as she recalled how close things had gotten to that. That awful sensation of the tip of the knife slowly cutting her shirt… she never wanted to experience such a thing ever again.

Platinum clenched her teeth as she remembered how she had broken as a result. She thought she was stronger than that, but… she had broken and given in to her kidnapper's demands. And she even begged for mercy… That shame would never go away, and she could only redeem herself by defeating that kidnapper.

"Lady? Are you okay?" Diamond asked.

Platinum rolled onto her side so that she was lying on her side on the couch while facing Diamond. He was lying on the floor in his sleeping bag while looking over at her with worry.

"Yes. I am okay," Platinum answered with a smile.

"You seemed to have been trembling. What's wrong?" He looked into her eyes and saw a glimpse of her feelings. "… Is it because of what those kidnappers did to you?"

Platinum's expression crumpled a bit, but she slowly nodded. "… Yes…"

Diamond raised a hand up towards the couch and grabbed her hand. "Lady… I noticed that the top of your shirt got a little cut. Did they…"

Platinum gently gripped his hand. "… I think he only did that to break me," she said quietly.

"So he… broke you?" Diamond asked in surprise. Platinum didn't answer and simply closed her eyes. Diamond clenched his teeth and gripped her hand a bit tighter. "… We'll get him back for this, Lady…"

"Yes… that we will…"

Y stretched her arms as she returned to the living room, having gone to the washroom to brush her teeth after waiting for her turn. And immediately, she could see Diamond and Platinum quietly talking amongst themselves while holding hands, and Black and White lying in their sleeping bags facing each other extremely closely as they discussed their plan for the coming days. And with Pearl gone to the washroom to take his turn in brushing his teeth, Y was left alone with these couples.

She took out her Pokégear and called X as she sat down on the sofa. But unfortunately, he wasn't answering. Y checked the time; it was almost 11 pm. So X was either asleep, or busy playing some video game. With a sigh, she sent him a brief message, asking him to call her in the morning once he woke up. She wanted to talk to him right now, but… it couldn't be helped. She grumbled under her breath and put her Pokégear into her bag and lied down on the sofa. She stretched her arms and legs and pulled the blanket over her, and tried to get some sleep.

…

Next day, August 12, Vaniville Town, Kalos, 10 am…

…

X yawned as he went downstairs towards the kitchen. He took out a bottle of water from the fridge and chugged it. Well, today was another day. Time to do the same things he always did. … Admittedly, it was a bit boring here, now that Y had gone to Kanto. He now didn't really have any reason to go outside. Tierno, Trevor, and Shauna occasionally came by to check on him, but they didn't try to drag him outside for some activity.

X checked the time before heading back upstairs. He recalled seeing a message from Y a few hours ago when he woke up from the alarm. But as usual, when he groggily shut it off so that he could wake up to the follow-up alarms, he somehow bypassed all of them and slept for another 3 hours. Wonderful.

He booted up his computer and sat down on the bed as he gave Y a call. He lazily lied down on the bed again and stretched just as Y answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Y. You wanted me to call you?" he asked in a relaxed tone.

Y let out a sigh. "… You're still in bed, aren't you? You sound like you're lying down right now."

X glanced around. "… Sure seems like it. So… what's up? How's Kanto or Johto?"

"X, listen. A lot of stuff happened yesterday," Y began, her tone deadly serious.

X's relaxed expression turned rigid and he sat up as Y explained all that had happened yesterday, and the made assumptions of the Dex Holders.

"… Damn…" he muttered as he clenched his hand into a fist. "… So how are you holding up? Are you okay?"

Y momentarily hesitated, as she apparently wasn't expecting such a question already. "Yeah, I'm fine. … Thanks for asking. … But anyways, I think it's best if you come over to us as soon as you can. We don't know who those guys are targeting next, if any, but those who are isolated are naturally at a higher risk."

"Yeah. All right, I'll head to Kanto right now."

"I'll be going with Miss Platinum, Diamond, and Pearl on a tour around Kanto, so I'll meet you in Vermillion City. And be careful, X. Be on your guard."

"Okay. You be careful too."

X soon hung up and cursed as he quickly hopped off of his bed. To think that Y had been in serious danger in Johto while he was playing a game here in Kalos was very upsetting. Never again. He wasn't going to sit by while Y was off on her own.

He began the necessary preparations for the journey. It didn't take him too long to fill a luggage bag full of stuff, and after taking a brief shower, finished dressing and ran out of his house.

X locked the door to his house and was about to send out his Charizard when he saw a small group of people gathered outside Y's house. And the guy in the front had a Flygon out. … Was the unknown enemy here already?!

X sent out his Charizard and rushed over towards Y's house. The Charizard hastily followed after briefly checking that it still had its Mega Stone somewhere. But as he got closer, X realized that he was overreacting. For one, it was way too quick for the enemy to be here in Kalos, looking for Y. If she escaped from their clutches yesterday, she couldn't possibly have returned home to Kalos already. And from what Y had said, the enemy didn't even seem to be interested in her. Next, the 4 people standing outside Y's house were all in Sky Trainer suits, so were likely all Y's schoolmates. And finally, the guy in the lead with the Flygon was knocking on the door politely instead of trying to break it open. So these guys were definitely not an enemy, or someone that X should be concerned around.

He stopped running and walked over towards the group of Sky Trainers. The guy in the lead knocking on the door saw him walking over and turned to face him.

"Hey, are you looking for someone?" X asked as he came to a stop.

"Yes. We're looking for our senior," said the leading Sky Trainer.

"Senior? You mean Y?" X asked. "… I didn't know that Y had juniors in the academy. …Who are you?"

The Sky Trainer took off his helmet, and X noticed with a small mental alarm that this guy was pretty good looking.

"My name is Jeremy, and I've been in the same school as senior Y for 4 years now," he said courteously. "And… who are you, if you don't mind me asking?"

'4 years? Y never told me about this guy before…' "I'm X, and I've been Y's friend and neighbor for about 10 years," he said, his voice sounding a bit strict as a result of his wariness. "And if you're looking for Y, she's not here right now."

"Oh. … Can you tell us where she is?" Jeremy asked. "She told me that she would be on a break for a while, but didn't say how long that would be or where she'd be in that time."

"She's currently in the Kanto region," X said, slightly narrowing his eyes as his suspicion grew. "And I'm on my way to go see her right now."

Jeremy let out a sigh. "Oh, okay. I guess we'll have to wait until she returns to Kalos, then." He gave X a curt nod. "Thank you for letting us know." He then signaled the other three Sky Trainers, and with their flight-capable Pokémon, they all took flight and flew off somewhere, presumably to the Sky Trainer academy.

X watched them all leave and quickly took out his Pokégear to call Y.

"Hey, X," she said as she answered the call. "What's up?"

"I just ran into a handful of Sky Trainers in front of your house," X said as he watched said group flying in the distance. "They seemed to be looking for you."

"Oh. Was it Jeremy?" Y asked.

"… Yeah, it was," X answered, a bit surprised that she mentioned him this quickly. "I don't think you ever told me about him."

"Well, there was no reason to," Y said, either failing to notice or ignoring his slight implication. "I guess I should've told him where I was going to be. Oh well. I'll give him a call right now. Thanks for the heads up, X. And get going. Try to catch the next ferry to Kanto, okay?"

X clenched his teeth a bit. "… Yeah. Okay. I'll see you in a couple of days." He hung up and glanced in the direction of the Sky Trainers once more before climbing onto his Charizard. "… Let's go to Ambrette Town. And quickly."

…

Next day, August 13, Route 1, Alola, 12 pm…

…

Moon stretched her arms and let out a long yawn before focusing on the documents in front of her. … This little research job was getting pretty boring and time consuming… especially since she was basically doing this alone. With Professor Kukui gone off somewhere probably to do his little pro wrestler gig, Moon was left alone in the research lab, with only Lillie offering assistance. The blonde girl was certainly enthusiastic about helping, but she wasn't familiar with the research topic, which meant her help was greatly limited.

Moon glanced at her Pokégear. Two days ago, Lady Berlitz had sent her a message, informing her of the recent developments. The fact that the Lady had been kidnapped was disturbing in itself, but the concern that the enemy knew so much about the Dex Holders was definitely alarming. But at least the Lady had successfully escaped and was unharmed. Otherwise, Moon would've immediately abandoned her job and headed to the region of Johto to rescue her.

The agreed "directive" was that the younger junior Dex Holders needed to gather and meet up with their seniors for better protection. The Unova Dex Holders were already with their seniors, leaving just Kalos and Alola. But Moon wasn't really able to simply pick up and leave, as she had to finish her assignment here. Abandoning the job to save the Lady was one thing, but abandoning the job to simply stay safe from an uncertain danger was another. But heeding the warnings from her senior, Moon had asked Sun to stay around until she had finished her task. Currently, he had gone to the nearest marketplace to purchase some food to bring back. And once he returned, she'd have to keep him around to obey the directive.

But she wasn't entirely sure if it was necessary. An enemy who had kidnapped the Lady for the sake of obtaining a huge amount of money would obviously be planning something big. From the scale of the operation, it certainly wasn't just a pack of thugs wanting a quick way to get money. These guys had an agenda. But… what would enemies like those want with Sun or herself? She certainly didn't have anything remotely of interest, and didn't have any sort of connections or powers. Her only "connection" was that to the Berlitz family, but the enemy had already kidnapped Lady Berlitz only for the money, so… Moon was likely going to be safe.

And for Sun… he had nothing of interest. Maybe if the enemy thought that the two Alola Dex Holders were linked with Aether Foundation and the Ultra Space? … But that would mean Aether Foundation itself would be a target, not the two Dex Holders. So Moon was pretty confident that she was irrelevant in the enemy's hidden agenda. That said, she still intended to obey the directive and meet up with the senior Dex Holders as fast as possible. That way, she'd be helping them against the enemy. But again, she had to finish the assignment here first, which would take her about… another day or two, maybe?

Moon snapped out of her thoughts when she heard someone knocking on the door. She looked up from the documents she had been staring at for a bit, and blinked a few times to return to reality. … Did Sun return already with the snacks he said he'd be bringing?

Moon rose to her feet and briefly straightened out her clothes before walking over to the front door. But when she opened it, instead of seeing Sun, she a small group of four people, two wearing suits and the other two wearing lab coats.

"… Hello? Can I help you?" she asked, slightly frowning at the unexpected guests.

"Hello, miss," said the female researcher. "Is this Professor Kukui's lab?"

"Yes, it is," Moon answered, as she tried to recall if the professor had told her about incoming guests. But the professor never told her about these things in the past, leaving her to deal with the guests a fair number of times. "But he's currently not here right now. He'll be back probably tomorrow."

"Ah. May we come inside and try to contact him?" the researcher asked. "We have something very important to discuss with him and it would be best if we can contact him as soon as possible."

"… I suppose." Moon stepped aside and let the researchers enter.

"Oh, Moon," said Lillie as she came close. "I finished sorting out the documents like you asked."

"Thanks, Lillie," Moon said with a smile. "Could you contact Professor Kukui for me? These guests apparently have some urgent matters to discuss with him."

"Sure thing."

Once Lillie went to use the picture phone, Moon went to stay with the guests to keep an eye on them. "This will only take a bit," she said as she stood around them.

"Oh, miss, we heard that Professor Kukui has developed one of those Pokédex machines that would serve as a home for a Rotom. Is that true?" asked another researcher.

"The Rotom Dex?" Moon asked. "Yes, that's true." She walked over towards her bag on the shelf and pulled out her Pokédex. She gave it a light tap on the side to wake up the Rotom inside. "Hey, wake up, would you?"

The screen glowed to life as the Rotom woke up and took control of the device. "Zzt… I'm awake," came a robotic voice from the speakers. "Hi, Moon, what's up, zzt?"

"Fascinating! The Rotom is speaking out its thoughts in a comprehensible language?" the female researcher asked.

One of the men wearing the business suit slowly took out a Pokéball, and sent out an Arcanine. "Can the Rotom show us the data it has on this Pokémon?"

"Sure thing, zzt!" the Rotom said as it flew over towards the Arcanine. Its "face" faded away from the screen and Arcanine's recorded data began to appear. "Arcanine, the Legendary Pokémon! There are so many old tales about them that they're called legendary Pokémon, but there are way more of them than you'd expect. It's certainly not as legendary as Necrozma, zzt!"

"Simply incredible!" the lead researcher exclaimed. She took out another Pokéball and sent out a Darmanitan. "How about for Pokémon not found native in the Alola region?"

The Rotom looked at the Darmanitan. There was a slight delay, but its data began to appear on screen again, but in a different format than for the Arcanine. "Darmanitan, the Blazing Pokémon. When one is injured in a fierce battle, it hardens into a stone-like form. Then it meditates and sharpens its mind."

"The Rotom Dex has received an upgrade to the National Dex mode," Moon said, as she turned her head to look at where Lillie had gone. "Lillie? Have you called the professor yet?"

"No," came her reply. "There's no signal for some reason. I can't call anyone else either. Maybe I should reboot the system?"

"Do it," Moon said with a slight frown. She took out her own Pokégear and tried to call Prof. Kukui, but the call failed as well. She tried to call Sinnoh next, but that also failed. … Were the phones being-

"Zzt! Moon!" the Rotom cried out in alarm.

Moon gasped and quickly swiveled around, just in time to see a giant burst of fire coming straight at her from the Arcanine. Since she had been on guard from the beginning, she reacted quickly and dove to the side, pulling her bag with her at the same time. But she was too close to the Arcanine from the beginning to be able to fully dodge the attack. Even as she was in the air, diving away from the attack, half of the Fire Blast still struck her. Moon screamed as the Fire Blast severely burned her, her clothes now fully engulfed in flames. The explosion caused by the attack's impact against the bookshelf propelled her further backwards, slamming her head into the far wall.

"Moon?!" Lillie cried out in shock as she quickly ran out into the main room. She gasped as a Darmanitan suddenly appeared in front of her, with one of its giant fists pulled back for a Fire Punch. "Wh – What…" The Darmanitan struck her in the chest with Fire Punch, its power further boosted by its Sheer Force ability.

Lillie gave a muted cough as she was sent flying backwards, her body smashing into the wall with enough force to crack the surface, before crumpling onto the floor. Just a few feet away, Moon lay slumped on the floor, her eyes staring vacantly at her bag. Her vision had tunneled to the point where she could only see her bag. Her hand shakily reached for the Pokéballs that had fallen out of her bag's open compartment. If she could just get her Toxapex… But her vision was fading quickly, and just as her hand reached her Toxapex's Pokéball, her consciousness slipped away completely.

The team leader watched as the blonde girl lifelessly collapsed onto the floor, and the targeted Dex Holder lying unconscious and on fire. … Good. There would be no witnesses. He got the Arcanine to spread the fires a bit more, at least to cover up the damages done by Darmanitan's Fire Punch on the blonde girl. The damages on the girl and the wall would seem suspicious, but would not be visible if everything was completely burnt, as if a massive accidental fire broke out.

"Let's get out of here, preferably before our suits get damaged in the fire," he said as he attached a small device onto the Rotom Dex to disable it completely while trapping the Rotom inside.

The group quickly left the burning lab, but just as they stepped outside, they ran into a local boy who was carrying a box of the local food known as a malasada.

"H – Huh?" the boy muttered in shock and horror. The lab was on fire, and four suspicious people had just exited the lab, holding onto an inactive Pokédex. … Were they responsible?!

"No witnesses, go!" the team leader ordered.

The other man in the suit grabbed the boy by his face around the mouth to prevent him from making any sounds and threw him into the burning lab. The box of malasada opened up as the boy was thrown inside, with its contents spilling all over the place. And before the boy even crashed into the burning floor next to the two burning bodies, the Arcanine's Fire Blast hit him, completely engulfing him in flames as well.

The team leader watched as the boy screamed and flailed a bit before turning away. "Contact HQ and tell them that we've accomplished our mission with no complication and no witnesses," he ordered to one of the researchers. "And then let's get out of here as fast as we can. People are going to notice the smoke from the fire, and will come to investigate. So let's move!"

…

"Our team reported in. The Rotom Pokédex is in our possession now."

"Excellent! Now we only have one objective left."

"The reports say there were no witnesses, which either means they stole the Rotom Pokédex without being spotted, or all of the witnesses were removed."

"I will assume the latter. These Pokédex Holders generally hold onto their devices pretty tight, so it'd be hard to take it without being noticed. But it doesn't matter. One way or another, the other Pokédex Holders will be on quite the high alert now. They already seem to be on high alert, with their 'tour' around Kanto and Johto, just trying to lure us. And now, once the news reaches them, it'll be impossible to try to take our final target any time soon. But that's fine. We'll need a lot of time to get ready anyways. Until we're ready, we'll have to stay low, or throw a decoy so that they'll think everything is over. But we'll think of that later."

"So what should we do now?"

"For now, we'll need to establish our research room. The Pokédex gives a certain electronic frequency that can be tracked if you have the knowledge. So we'll need a room that blocks those signals."

"We'll get started right away."

Note, Sky Trainer Jeremy is a… Sky Trainer (duh) that you battle in the XY games. He has a Ninjask, Drifblim, and a Flygon in the games, but he'll only have a Flygon in Legacy.