Pokemon Adventures: Where Legends Cross

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon Adventures/Special.

OMG, this is so slow... when the hell am I gonna draft? Haven't written a single word during all of vacation... but. HOLS IS OVER! I'm goin' back to school today. Hopefully, I'll be drafting - and typing - again by tomorrow. But I'm afraid the pace will still be rather slow. This lag will last at least up to mid November, and at the worst scenario, throughout all of next year. Brr, I don't wanna even think about that conclusion! :/

Currently began drafting Chapter 10 of Arc 2.

Chapter 28. Vs. Seismitoad: The Strongest Trainers

At least for a while, her tears and her sobs were enough excuse for him to cheat time and embrace her back.

As he gently cradled Yellow into his own arms, a small part of Red's mind was awed by how much she had grown; though he himself had grown quite a lot during the last four years, Yellow was now less than a foot shortrer than him, with her hair almost grown waist-long as well. But no changes in her body had managed to dull the purity that still shone in her eyes as she cried over him. She was still his sweet Yellow, and that fact made Red feel much better.

"You dropped this, Yellow," he said quietly as he leaned away from the weeping girl for a moment, handing over the very familiar straw hat that he had picked up in front of the castle. Yellow received it with twinkling eyes, putting it on her head again before burying herself in his arms again.

But eventually time caught up to them, and Red somewhat reluctantly raised his chin from Yellow's hat to address other matters: the two deities imprisoned by Kyurem; the Glaciate's advance, barely stopped thanks to Pika and Sear; the unveiled threat of Ghetsis; the sudden resurfacing of the real Giovanni (though he didn't seem like an enemy at the moment); his own comrades' stunned reaction to his appearance; Black's utterly incomprehending and confused expression.

"Master! What's going on?" His apprentice asked in stark disorder as he scaled down the ledge to join him below, the rest of the Dex Holders following now that the threat from the ice had halted. "What happened to your cloak, Master Maroon? Why are they calling you Red?"

"What's this?" Green asked Red, raising his eyebrows in a questioning way; he alone seemed to have recovered quickly from the suddeness of Red's arrival. Talk of a good friend. "You went around Unova, mentored Black with a fake name... no, wait. How long have you been in Unova in the first place?"

"Three years," Red admitted sheepishly, scratching the back of his head wth a lousy attempt at a chuckle. "One year spent getting to know the region, another spent with Black, and the last just travelling around. How should I put it... I wanted this to be a new beginning, hence the alias. I've enjoyed it... something like it."

"Three years?" Blue burst out, getting slightly red in the face as she rushed over and began shaking him by the shoulder. "Red, you ass! You've been in a different CONTINENT for three whole years and you didn't even tell one of us! Poor Yellow had been crying hysterics for a week, and Gold and Silver spent a whole month raiding Mount Silver for you, and - "

"And I told them to give him a rest, noisy woman," Green cut her off with a snort as he turned to the dumbfounded Black and White, with three faces Red failed to recognize; from Sinnoh, he supposed. "... Perhaps you're not familiar with him. This carefree moron here is Red, our Dex Holder comrade from Kanto - and also the victor of the ninth Pokemon League."

"You could never leave that out, second-place winner," Red grimaced under his breath as gasps of amazement began rising.

"But... but that means he's the League Champion!" A tall boy with messy blond hair exclaimed in shock, exchanging an awestruck look with a round-faced boy with large blue eyes.

"The Zenith..." breathed a middle-heighted girl standing between them, her gold-tinged silver eyes widening in astonishment.

"Black, you never told me you had such a great master!" The girl who was obviously White remarked at Black, whose expression was so BLANK with shock that Red almost felt sorry for his apprentice.

"I... I never knew," Black murmured as he looked up at him, a multitude of emotions mixed in his brown eyes. "Master... Red... why didn't you tell me?"

"I first came to Unova to look back at myself and grow stronger from it," Red admitted, willing his apprentice to understand as he held Black's gaze evenly. "To do that I need to shed all tags of identity but myself, Red the Pokemon Trainer. That included my identity as League Champion as well. I never wished to deceive anyone, Black. I'm sorry."

Black still looked as if he would need some more time to relieve himself of the shock, but that time couldn't be spared. Seeing that by now most of his comrades have gotten by the shock of seeing him (man, how he had missed them all!), Red gave them all a friendly nod before he turned back to face the sea of Glaciate stretched out in front of them all, a web of blue aura running through it and the three dragons frozen within.

"Pika, Aero, Sear! Distract that Hydreigon for awhile!" He commanded quickly, watching Aero carry Pika and Sear into the air to face Ghetsis and the Brutal Pokemon as he took out two Poke Balls from his belt, of two of his beloved comrades that haven't had the chance to fight someone (other than each other) for three years.

"Poli, Snor! Smash the ice!" Red shouted energetically, flinging the Poke Balls high into the air. During the last four years he had not neglected physical training for himself, and his arm strength was such that when his Poliwrath and Snorlax appeared out of their capsules they were at the opposite end of the large hall, their altitude level with the edge of the crumbling wall.

"Do it, senpai!" Gold shouted from above him (with Pichu cheering on his shoulder) as Poli and Snor began to drop, both their fists glowing respectively with Dynamicpunch and Superpower. The two Pokemon landed onto the frozen floor as one, striking the ice with a united battle-cry from Red.

Instead of following the laws of physics by spreading cracks along its body before breaking down, the entirety of the Frozen World shattered in one blow under Poli and Snor's powerful attacks; even Red was a little awed as he watched the suddenly-freed shards of ice disintegrate into thin air, revealing beneath the three dragons, N and Zoroark. Reshiram and Zekrom appeared to be knocked out cold, while Kyurem's eyes slightly widened in shock as the blue aura surrounding them dissipated.

"Wow..." Red thought he heard Sapphire breathe in awe from behind. "In one blow? This... this is just amazing."

"That's the Red-senpai we know," commented Ruby as well. "He never ceases to surprise us."

"NO!" Ghetsis's snarl was filled with disbelief and rage as his Hydreigon swept down onto the newly ice-freed floor, followed swiftly by Aero as he landed next to Red with a thump. Pika and Sear leaped off the Aerodactyl's back with smug cries, where they were joined by the other Pokemon as they all rushed over to welcome their comrades. "I will not let you obstruct my perfect plan! Crush them all, Hydreigon! Bouffalant, Seismitoad, join it!"

Two other Pokemon quickly materialized beside the Brutal Pokemon, who swiftly glided across the floor to where the Dex Holders were grouped; Red was just about to retaliate with Poli when an unpleasantly familiar voice growled from behind: "Rhyperior, Hammer Arm."

The Drill Pokemon's thick arms swung like a giant club as he charged at Hydreigon, who was forced to swerve back to avoid getting pummelled under them. With an enraged hiss the three-headed dragon lounged at the Rhyperior with fangs out, who evenly met his attack with outstretched claws.

"And what are you doing here?" Ghetsis asked angrily as Giovanni stepped forward to face the High Sage, his dead expression revealing nothing. "Why do you insist on facing me here in treachery, with your true enemies at your back? What game are you playing on?" (#1)

"You fool," spoke Giovanni in a cold, deadly voice, a tone he had never used, even on Red. "You believe I can stand the sight of ignorant trash like you claiming to know perfection, to be one, to seek power you don't deserve? I work with none but by will, and my will is telling me to teach you some humility... something that took me two battles to get."

"And besides," the former Team Rocket Boss added as he glanced back at Red and someone behind him that Red knew was his redhaired kin. "You're planning on killing a man that I must overcome myself, and another that I'm oblieged to protect with my life. That considered, I should be grinding you under my feet right now. Rhyperior, use Megahorn!"

"Hydreigon, use Dragon Pulse!" Ghetsis countered as the two Pokemon rushed at each other again, but Red had only a moment to watch the ensuing devastation before the High Sage continued with one hand on his lens again: "Kyurem, feast on the vermins' flesh! Seismitoad, Bouffalant, trample them onto the floor! Spring forth, the Royal Guards of Team Plasma! Show them who is the rightful owner of the Power!"

Red was momentarily distracted from Kyurem's feral scream and the two charging Pokemon by the sudden appearance of more Team Plasma grunts; this time they shot out of nowhere in a manner similiar to the Shadow Triad, each armed in a dark-brown cloak and a long spear with their Poke Balls attached near the head.

"They're at it again, Diamond," groaned the blond boy as he faced the newcomers spreading out to surround them. "When the hell is this ever gonna stop - Platina, what's wrong? What's the matter?"

"It - it's nothing, Pearl," stammered the strange-eyed girl quickly, although her horrified gaze kept itself fixed upon the cloaked grunts, as if the sight brought her bad memories. (#2)

"Right, break-time's over! Time to kick some TP butts again," growled Gold as he leaped down from the ledge to land beside Silver. "C'mon, pal. Stop looking at your old man and help me out. Let's go get that Bouffalant! Red-senpai, what should we do 'bout Frosty over there?"

"I'll take on the Seismitoad with Green," said Red with a thin, knowing smile. Noticing the others' confused looks, he hastily added: "Leave Kyurem to my companions for awhile; I didn't come alone."

"What do you m - " Emerald's question was cut off when several odd cries rang out from beyond the broken chamber gate, through which four figures suddenly dashed through. Heads held high and racing across the ground on all fours like a Rapidash, all four shapes ignored the Royal Guards and Ghetsis's Pokemon and leaped straight at Kyurem, smashing into the Boundary Pokemon's large head as one. With a surprised shriek the ice-dragon reeled back, feet gouging into the stone floor as it staggered and its yellow eyes flashing in madness.

"What was that?" Blue gasped as the four Pokemon repositioned themselves in a square around Kyurem, at last revealing themselves to the astonished Dex Holders.

"Impossible..." whispered White in disbelief as she stared at the four quadrupeds. "Th-these Pokemon are stuffs of legend too..."

"The Guardians of Justice!" Cried Black in amazement. "Cobalion, Terrakion, Virizion and Keldeo, the four just Pokemon devoted to protect the Pokemon around all of Unova! Master, how did you ever - "

"Met them on my way here," explained Red quickly. "I think they joined together to quell the disturbance made by Reshiram and Zekrom fighting, and I convinced them to wait nearby 'til the true culprit revealed himself."

"Amazing," whispered Crystal.

"Alright, that's enough standing around. Let's move!" Green barked out, already spurring his Pokemon into motion. "Gold and Silver, take the Bouffalant. Sapphire, Diamond, Black, White, help the Four with Kyurem. Yellow, do what you can and heal the injured, but save up your strength. The rest of you, stop the grunts! Hurry now, time is short!"

"Well, someone's familiar with giving orders," chuckled Red as he turned to face his friend, who was in turn matching gaze with a yet-unoccupied Seismitoad. "So, shall we go as well? I need some action after four years of hermit life."

"Whatever you say, Champion," replied Green disinterestedly, then cracked a very thin smirk as he earned a mock-punch in the shoulder from Red. How long has it been since he had last done this sort of thing with his (self-proclaimed) rival?

"I choose you, Vee!"

"Ninetales, come over!"

As he shared a nod with his materialized Espeon, Red noticed Ghetsis's Seismitoad narrowing his bulging eyes in glee as he looked at Green's Ninetales loping over to his Trainer. The Fighter could almost laugh at the brute's naivety; type-advantages meant little to Green or him.

With his bell-shaped warts looking as if they would burst, the Vibration Pokemon stood to his full height and let out a deafening croak into the air. Red didn't need to look up at the already-cloudy sky getting even darker to see what he was planning, and quickly warned: "Green - "

"I know," Green cut him off calmly, as expected. "Ninetales, use Sunny Day."

Gracefully reeling his head back the Fox Pokemon unleashed a beautiful and terrible howl into the heavens, sending a small ball of fire ejected from his mouth up above. As soon as the glowing orb touched the clouds a small patch of it shattered into nothingness, shedding a shaft of blinding sunlight upon Red, Green, their Pokemon and the dismayed Seismitoad.

"Planning on using Muddy Water, were you?" Red asked the Vibration Pokemon jokingly, and was pleased to have his guess proven correct by the returning bellow of anger. Knowing the great toad's ability to use soundwaves to enhance his physical attacks, Red immediately saw the warts convulsing and shouted: "Vee, use Reflect!"

With a loud roar the Seismitoad slammed his fists down onto the stone floor, creating a massive shockwave that began effectively tearing the frost-freed ground apart as it advanced toward Ninetales. However Vee had already jumped in front of his partner, throwing up a transparent wall of protective energy. To Red's pride the Sun Pokemon refused to move away or flinch back from the barrier as the Earthquake attack struck it; it was, of course, a sign of confidence. The Ground-type attack struck the Reflect in full force, but both Vee and Ninetales kept their calm as the shockwave slammed against the wall, only to dissipate away from the barrier's might.

"Show-off," muttered Green, though Red didn't miss the slight amusement in his voice. "Ninetales, finish with Solarbeam!"

Thanks to the temporary sunshine the Grass-type move was already charged, and the Fox Pokemon quickly pushed in front of Vee with the bright orb of solar energy in his mouth.

"Hell yeah!" Red heard Gold shouting from further away, noticing.

With a punishing howl Ninetales launched the Solarbeam, which struck the dismayed Seismitoad straight in the forehead, knocking him out instantly. The beam of light refused to stop there, tearing violently through the stone floor as if it was a Frenzy Plant attack rather than a Solarbeam. It eventually ended as it traversed across the entire floor of the throne room, exiting through the gate which Giovanni had broken through - pulverizing it completely in the process - and shooting off into the sky like a laserbeam.

"Show-off? Speak for yourself," chuckled Red as he looked out to where the Solarbeam pierced the clouds with an impressed whistle. "Someone's been training berserks for the last four years, eh? Talk about blockbusters."

"Speak for yourself," retorted Green, flashing an acknowledging nod at Vee, then a disgusted one at the defeated Seismitoad. "Hn, what a waste. I could've just handled this on my own."

"Sorry, mate," grinned Red sheepishly, knowing that he was right. "I couldn't miss out on the fun again, not after seeing you all for the first time in forever and a week."

"Apology accepted," replied Green cooly, cocking his head to Red's direction as if wanting to ask him something. Instead, he hesitantly pulled back before adding: "Well, you can tell us all about it later... after we clean up the mess here. There's still much to do."

"Shall I go help Giovanni, then?" Red suggested, noticing the said Team Rocket Boss engaging heavily with Ghetsis with brutal ferocity. Then, glancing over at Green's that's-not-funny look, he hastily added: "Just kidding, geez."

"Sure you were," said Green, rolling his eyes before glancing back. "Yellow's over there. Go guard her, then."

Blinking in surprise, Red followed his friend's gaze to spot Yellow in a corner of the large hall, busily healing Black's injured Pokemon as he helped Cobalion attack Kyurem. It was plain to see that she was already exhausted bad, and even with Platina fighting near her with her entire team it looked as if she needed protection.

Of course, that sensation was more associated with her nature than the current situation.

"Thanks. I'll do that," said Red with a grateful grin, and was about to rush off when he suddenly felt Green's hand on his shoulders. Looking back with a curious blink, he blinked twice more to see more warmth on his cool friend's face than he had never seen him yield.

"It's good to see you again, Red." His voice sounded warmer than usual, too. "Welcome back."

How could anyone see such an expression on him, hear such words from him and not smile?

"Thanks; I feel at home already," Red chuckled again, clashing fists with Green one last time before turning back to rush towards Yellow. However, he had only taken four steps when he spotted something odd.

A small patch of ground behind where Yellow was crouching was shifting, as if something was hiding under it.

With a great burst the ground exploded, spraying earth everywhere as Yellow whirled behind with a yelp of surprise. Directly in front of her rose an enormous Cofagrigus, easily seven feet tall in contrast to the usual five-feet-seven. The Coffin Pokemon's scarlet eyes flashed greedily as he towered over the psychic girl, his door swinging open and revealing an empty space of utter darkness ready to swallow her inside.

"NO!" The words came out of Red's mouth before the thought did, and his feet began moving on their own as he raced headlong toward Yellow's horrified form. In the span of few seconds that the coffin door closed over her only one thought made itself clear in his head:

Not her... not her... NOT HER!

Holy crow, writing half a chapter is hard without the draft... *gasp gasp*

#1. Ghetsis, of course, doesn't know that the 'Giovanni' he was working with was actually Petrel. lol.

#2. Yep, an inference to the cloaked grunt of the DP saga. Spoiler? Maybe XD

Hell yeah Red, you're awesome. You appeared for a single chapter and already you're flying around everywhere XD Of course, Green and Giovanni, I'm not leaving you out as well. Ah, how I love you all.

On a different note, I'm beginning to understand why the original manga plot keep changing the main characters: it gets way too complicating when there are a lot of characters. And how many I'm working with, sixteen? It gets worse as the story proceeds, so you might find things get more tedious while we go on. But, well, what can I say? Enjoy it when you like it, I tell myself. I'm a sucker for anthologies, or stories of how the old characters interact with the young. I just hope I don't suck at them as much as I think I am...

Sloganlogan, I'm afraid I didn't have enough room in the story to reveal all the messengers of the prophecy to each Dex Holder. But Red DID receive one, and it's carrier... shall appear within a few chapters.

While I'm at it, now that we have all the Dex Holders here why don't I lay down all the new Pokemon I've included for each Dex Holder?

Red: Sear(Simisear)
Green: Cryogonal
Blue: Umbry(Umbreon)
Yellow: Kirly(Kirlia)
Gold: Sandbo(Sandslash)
Silver: Crobat
Crystal: Spinee(Ariados)
Ruby: Staro(Staraptor)
Sapphire: Lili(Roserade); hasn't appeared yet. Will show up next chapter, though.
Emerald: Mienshao
Diamond: Bro(Slowbro)
Pearl: Pikahiko(Rotom)
Platina: Chandelure
Black: Sharp(Bisharp)
White: Gigalith; Unfezant doesn't count :P
N: Unaccquired.

In the next chapter the Dex Holders struggle with the popped-out Cofagrigus (which is Ghetsis's, obviously), who is holding a hostage... typical villain strategy, that Ghetsis. Complicated scheming, backstabbing tactics, hostages... reminds me of a certain snake-eyed woman. A perfect character to ruin. I've got a lot of sympathy for N and the other Sages, but Ghetsis just has to burn. Just watch how much I let him fall from grace, haha! Until next chapter (which seems pretty far off :(), R&R!

Updated on August 15th, 2011. This is Yowl of Time, out.