FOREVERMORE
~Part Three Of The Forever Trilogy~
Chapter 23
Uniting Forces
January 6, 5001.
(Topaz's POV)
It was so nice to sleep in a real bed that night. I let Eris out so she could sleep on the bed with Raiden and me. I took a nice hot shower before going to bed, changed into the brand new pajamas I bought during Jade's shopping spree, braided back my hair for the night, and crawled into bed. I was about to shut off the light when someone tapped on the door.
I stifled a groan, slid out of bed, and stalked to the door. I yanked it open, and gave my visitor a death glare. "What do you want?"
It was Rubin of all people. What did he want now? It was past ten, and I was exhausted from all the traveling and the drama.
"I need your help," he snapped. "I let Valor out to feed him, and he suddenly evolved, and now he's stuck, and he won't listen to me. He even crushed his Ultra Ball."
I narrowed my eyes. "Why not ask Cerise? She can talk to Pokemon, too, you know."
"I already did," he replied. "He set her hair on fire."
...Great.
"Fine, I'll see what I can do," I said with a sigh, brushing my bangs aside; there was no real point anymore, but it was a habit.
Raiden and Eris followed me to Rubin's room. The door was wide open. Raiden leaped onto my shoulder, and Eris moved closer to my side. I walked right inside, and immediately saw the problem. The newly evolved Camerupt was stuck between the queen sized bed and the wall. Valor looked very angry, and smoke was coming out of the two volcanoes on his back.
I ignored the death glare he gave me, and walked up to the stuck Camerupt. I knelt down in front of him, and placed my hand on his snout.
"Hey, be careful!" warned Rubin. "Cer did the same thing when he set her hair on fire!"
"I know what I'm doing," I snapped, turning my head to look at him. "I've been doing it way longer than her."
"Well, excuse me for caring!" he exclaimed, putting his hands on his hips.
Hearing him just say that made my heart ache. Did he really still care about me? Was his anger fading? Or was it just his natural nature that looked out for others? No, I couldn't be hopeful. He was probably just cooling down some. Or maybe it was because we were alone. I had no idea, but it sure left me so confused.
"You don't need to care," I replied stiffly, returning my attention to Valor. "We're over, remember?"
"How could I forget?" he said icily.
Raiden growled, sliding off my shoulder. I lifted my free hand, and said, "Leave him alone. He's fine."
He was far from fine, but I didn't want the Pikachu to hurt him.
I forced myself to ignore everything else around me, and just focus on Valor. He was angry; I could feel it. He wasn't that fond of his trainer. He thought Rubin was a pathetic excuse of a trainer. He wanted to get stronger, and he felt like he couldn't do that with Rubin.
"Valor... I understand," I said.
I stood up, and turned to face Rubin. "We have to trade."
"What?" he exclaimed, shocked.
"Temporarily!" I added. "Valor has a bad attitude. I think I can train that out of him, but you have to let me have him for a while. I'll give you Apollo to compensate."
He narrowed his eyes, frowning slightly. He seemed to debate my suggestion for a moment or two before sighing, and nodding.
"Oh, all right," he said. "But this better work, okay? Don't mess Valor up on me."
"Of course not," I said, forcing myself not to snap at him. "He's going to need a new Poke Ball. Hang on, I think there's some extra ones somewhere."
I headed out of his room, and Raiden and Eris hastily scampered after me. Valor rumbled angrily right before I crossed the threshold. You think it'd bother me to walk around a stranger's house in my pajamas, but it really didn't. I knew the majority of the people here pretty well, and it wouldn't be weird if I stumbled across the professor. But Alan or Shirou? Yeah, that would be... awkward.
I remembered Professor Willow mentioning she kept extra Poke Balls in a drawer in the kitchen, which was right near the front door. I had no idea why she kept them in the kitchen, but I assumed it was since they were close to the exit outside.
I entered the kitchen, wincing as my bare feet touched the cold tile floor. It was dark, and I couldn't see a thing.
"Raiden, hit the light switch, will you?" I asked.
The pikachu leaped up on the wall, and the lights flickered on. I had to squint for a few moments so my eyes could adjust. I knew I would regret having him forget Flash someday. Next time there wouldn't be a light switch to turn on.
"Hurry up," Rubin said. "You'll wake somebody up!"
I ignored, and started checking the drawers. And right as I found the one with the Poke Balls, the front door opened, sending in a rush of cool air. I flinched out of surprise, and Raiden jumped onto my head. I turned around as the door clicked shut.
A girl stood before us, probably about sixteen or so. She had wavy light brown hair that went down to the small of her back, and blue eyes. She looked a lot like the professor, I realized. She was wearing a light pink dress that bared her shoulders. A Gothitelle was by her side.
"Oh, you must be some of the trainers," she said, her voice soft and gentle.
"Um, yeah," I said, wondering who this girl was. "Who are you?"
The girl looked embarrassed. "I'm Katherine Willow, the professor's younger sister... But please, call me Kate. I'm a member of the Elite Four..."
This girl, this fragile, delicate looking teenager, was a member of the Elite Four? She looked like she couldn't hurt a fly. Her skin was so pale, it made me wonder if she was sickly. It was just hard to believe.
And her Gothitelle... It kept staring at Rubin for some reason, right above his head, like it saw something.
"It's a honor to meet you, Kate," I said. "I'm Topaz Rosso, one of the two generals of the Resistance."
"You're a general?" she asked, confused. "But you're so young..."
I saw Rubin grimace out of the corner of my eye as I clenched my hands into fists. Arceus, again? So soon? It had to be the pajamas. Ugh, I hated this.
"I'm seventeen," I deadpanned.
Her eyes grew wide, and she covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh, I'm so sorry! Oh, it happened again..." She sighed, and her Gothitelle looked up at her with sad eyes. "My psychic abilities are out of whack for some reason... I should have been able to tell... Oh, you, don't tell me anything about yourself! Let me guess, please..."
Rubin blinked. "Uh, okay..."
She seemed to scrutinize Rubin, making him shift awkwardly on his feet. "Your name is Rubin Senri... You're seventeen years old... You were born March first, two thousand and twenty... You have a twin sister named Sapphira... Your parents... Y-Your parents... Are the Pokedex owners Ruby and Sapphire?"
He let out a strained laugh, and rubbed the back of his neck. "Um... Yeah... You got it all right."
Kate stared at us, her innocent blue eyes wide with shock. "But that's... That's impossible!"
"It's a long story," I sighed. "A really long one."
She looked at me, and stared at me for a moment, her lips forming a frown. "You... Topaz... I haven't felt such a strong energy vibe from anyone else in my life... Let me see... Your name is Topaz Rosso. You're seventeen years old. You were born June fifteenth, two thousand thirteen... You have a younger sister named Cerise, and two younger brothers named Crimson and Orange... Your parents are... Red and Yellow... You have Viridian powers..."
I bit my bottom lip, and nodded. "You're right. About all of it."
Kate shook her head. "This is all insane. Where's Liz?"
Liz? Oh yeah, Professor Willow. "She's sleeping, I think. We're only up because Rubin's Camerupt is being a pain."
"And it would be really bad to leave him alone for a long period of time," Rubin added.
"Oh yes, I apologize for keeping you," Kate said hastily. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."
"Okay," I said. "Come on, Rubin."
...
January 7, 5001.
The next morning, we all got ready to go. Before we left, the rest of the Elite Four arrived. They, like Kate, were not what I had expected. What had I expected, anyway? That was a good question.
The awkwardness started when I left my room after getting ready. I was dressed for cold weather, and had my bag on from my shoulder, across my chest, and on my hip opposite to my shoulder. All my Poke Balls were in my bag, and I had switched Apollo for Valor last night. Raiden was perched on my shoulder.
"Good morning, Sapph!" I greeted my friend when she left her room.
Sapph jumped, and whirled around to face me. Her face suddenly flushed, making me frown. She looked really nervous.
"H-Hey, Topaz," she stammered.
I narrowed my eyes. "Are you okay?"
"W-What? I'm p-perfectly f-fine!" she snapped. "N-Nothing's wrong!"
"Then why are you stammering like a idiot?"
"NOTHING'S WRONG!" she yelled before storming away down the stairs.
I stared after her. "And that's why you don't nag Sapphira Senri, Raiden."
The orange electric rodent snickered, and I rolled my eyes at him. I headed down the stairs. I heard the voices of my friends and their banter as everyone ate a quick breakfast so we could get moving. A chorus of greetings met me as I entered the kitchen.
I noticed Sapph was purposefully avoiding Gold, sticking close to her brother. Hm. What happened last night, I wonder?
...Maybe I didn't want to know...
"Fiori made us breakfast!" Cerise exclaimed, bounding up to me. "It's awesome! She's even better than Rubes and Jaz!"
My stomach growled, as if on cue. I laughed. "All right, I'll eat before we go."
I went with my sister to get a plate of the delicious smelling food, and right as I had filled a plate, the door opened, and the rest of the Elite Four had arrived. Like I said, they were not what I expected.
The first to enter was a twelve year old girl. Yes, you heard me right. And she was the creepiest twelve year old I had ever seen in my life. Her hair was jet black, and rather short, framing her face. His eyes were startling violet, darker than even Viola's eyes, almost black. She was obviously a Gothic Lolita, with her frilly black dress, black stockings, and black flats. A black headband was also on her head. The look on her face was not of a typical little kid; it creeped me out.
A guy came in next. He had to be in his mid twenties, and was pretty attractive. He had shaggy dark brown, almost black, hair long enough to tie back in a short ponytail, with stray strands of hair slipping out, and startling icy blue eyes. He was dressed in a red dress shirt with the first few buttons open, a black suit jacket, and black slacks.
Last but not least, another guy came in, by far the oldest. He had to be in his thirties. He had brown hair cropped real short, bronze skin, and dark eyes. He was wearing sweats, and had a belt with six Poke Balls on it. His expression was fierce.
"This better be good," the girl said, her voice a startling soprano, like ice, in a monotone. "A Resistance, you said?"
"Yes, Raven," Kate said, walking over to join her fellow Elite Four members. "Kanto's Mount Silver Resistance."
The girl, Raven, looked over at us, her dark violet gaze penetrating. "Humph. I suppose that is fine."
A little kid should not talk like that.
"Guys, this is the Elite Four!" Shirou exclaimed, jumping right into introductions once the Goth girl was finished. "This is Manny Norris, he's the most senior member of the Elite Four. He's a master of the Fighting type." He gestured to the fierce looking guy. "This is Delano Karan, the second most senior member. He's a master of the Dark type." He gestured to the young guy. "This is Raven Mortimer, the youngest, and most junior member, but don't let that fool you. She's a master of the Ghost type, like her grandfather before her." He motioned to the creepy girl. "And you've already met Kate. She's a master of the Psychic type."
"It's an honor to meet all of you," Grey said, fulfilling his duty as the current guy in charge. "I'm Grey Kuro, one of the generals. Topaz Rosso-" He gestured me me. "-is also a general."
"We're going to meet up with our High Commander, Amethyst Kimu," I said. "It would be best if you come with us."
"That's cool," said Delano. "We'll come. It would be best to meet with your leader, too. We're helping them, right Shirou?"
Shirou nodded. "Yep!"
"Where are we headed?" asked Manny, his voice gruff, but friendly.
"Castelia City," said Grey.
"Then we best get moving," said Raven.
That girl really was creeping me out.
...
I was very grateful for Alan, Shirou, and the Elite Four's help. If we had never met with them, it would have been harder to get a alliance with Unova, and would take days to reach Castelia City. It was so weird being in a place that accepted us. It, like when we went to the past, made me feel free. It was so weird walking around with our Pokemon without a fear of being arrested. But would the people of Unova understand our plight?
We separated from the Elite Four so our traveling group would be smaller, and would attract less attention. We released our flying Pokemon once again, and began the flight to Castelia City. Zeus was so happy I could feel it; he hadn't been able to stretch his wings so often in a very long time.
Castelia was huge. I never saw a city so large in my life; it was definitely not this big back in the past. The skyscrapers towered above everything, and some even eclipsed the sun. As we navigated through the towers, I could see people the size of ants walking down on the roads, and the occasional biker. There were hovercars, too, below us. It was all so amazing. I was awestruck.
We landed right outside the docks. People stared at us, probably because of our unusual Pokemon. Zeus cawed, and I scratched his head before returning him to his Poke Ball. I let Raiden back out, and he hopped onto my shoulder. It was much warmer here, so I put away my hat, gloves, and scarf so I wouldn't overheat.
"This place is so huge!" said Jade. "I don't remember it being so big!"
Oh, crap. Alan and Shirou gave her confused looks. Oh, shoot, we were screwed now.
"You've been here before?" Shirou asked.
Our cover was blown yet again. Thanks, Jade.
"Oh, I mean in pictures!" she hastily said, trying to cover herself. "I've seen Castelia in photos, and I didn't realize how huge it was!"
They both seemed still skeptical, but they let it go.
"Photographs don't give anything in Unova justice," said Alan. "Of course Castelia is much larger. The photo you might have seen could have been really old. Anyways, we need to get moving. What's the address again?"
I took a piece of paper out of my coat pocket, and handed it to him. It had the address we had gotten from Am a while ago. He read it, and Shirou looked over his shoulder to see it as well.
"Oh, we know where that is!" Shirou exclaimed. "C'mon, follow us!"
...
About twenty minutes or so later, after trekking through the streets of Castelia, and avoiding Alan and Shirou's fangirls—I was surprised that they both had them—we reached our destination. We waited for Alan to call the Elite Four and tell them where to find us. Then we waited for them to arrive. Then we went inside the apartment tower.
It took us ten minutes just to find the floor and apartment number. Then Grey and I moved to the front, while everyone else stood back in the hall. My fellow general knocked on the door. We waited, rather impatiently, for several minutes. Arceus, what was taking so long? They better be home. But then, finally, the door opened, revealing Diamonda.
Diamonda had changed a lot since I last saw her. Her platinum blonde hair—paler than mine—was pulled back into a sloppy high ponytail that last time I checked, she wouldn't be caught dead in with her high standards. She was wearing a black t-shirt that was way too big for her; it had to be one of Am's. It was so long you could barely see the rim of the shorts she wore underneath. Her pale blue eyes brightened up.
"You're here!" she exclaimed happily. "And there's so many of you!"
"We grew," I said with a laugh.
"Where's Am?" asked Grey.
"Oh, he's here, don't worry," she said. "Come on in, everyone! But first, where's my baby?"
"Right here!" Jade exclaimed, appearing next to me. She happily handed the nine-month-old to her mother.
"Oh my Arceus! She's grown so much!" Diamonda shifted Aqua in her arms before stepping back to allow us to come inside.
Somehow, we all managed to fit inside. We all followed Diamonda into the living room, which was pretty nice. There was white carpeting, two comfy looking black leather couches, a black leather loveseat, and a black leather recliner. All of the furniture was facing each other, forming a rectangle, and in the middle was a glass coffee table. On the wall above the couch, a wicked two-handed claymore sword was mantled.
Where, in the name of Arceus, did they get a sword?
"Please, sit down," Diamonda said, gesturing to the couches.
Wow, she was being so nice and friendly! It was yet another weird thing. This was not the Diamonda I was used to, the girl I had known for going on three years. I guess being with Am really changed her for the good.
I sat down on one of the couches crammed between Sapph and Crimson. We all managed to fit. Ethan, Evan, and Raven sat on the floor, which made things easier for the rest of us.
Suddenly, Cyan, Jasper, and Esmeralda leaped to their feet, standing erect, saluting. "High Commander Kimu!" they all said.
I looked over; Am had finally joined us. I hadn't seen him in months, so it was kind of shocking. He was even taller than I remembered now, beating Grey as tallest by a couple of inches. His black hair was messy as always, as were his clothes. It was odd seeing him without his bandana—his mismatched red and silver eyes were startling.
"At ease," he said. "Sit down."
They did so as Diamonda took Aqua over to him. The baby let out a happy squeal, reaching out with her chubby little hands towards her father. Am's expression softened slightly, but that quickly faded. He took her from his wife since it was obvious she wanted to be with her dad.
"This is Shirou Kazuo, the Unova Champion," Grey said, making introductions. "Alan Vin is his manager. The Elite Four is also here—Raven Mortimer, Manny Norris, Delano Karan, and Katherine Willow. They're here to help us."
Am nodded. "Thank you."
"No, thank you!" said Shirou. "The Resistance has brought so many stronger trainers to Unova! We never realized how horrible 'the Empire', as we call it, is. Pokemon and humans need to be united, not separated."
"We are here to help," said Alan. "And we will."
"We're going to have to discuss what to do in a meeting," said Shirou. "That's acceptable, right?"
"Of course," Am replied.
Suddenly, Shirou coughed, and pounded his chest with his fist, trying to clear his throat. "Yikes, I need a drink. Where can I get a glass of water?"
"The kitchen," said Diamonda. "You can help yourself; you're one of us now."
He grinned. "Thanks!"
He stood up, and went to go help himself. Alan excused himself, and went with him. After a moment, Shirou called in the Elite Four for something. We were now alone to ourselves.
"Tell me what the hell happened," Am said, his voice harsh. "Now."
"Which part?" Grey snorted. "The bombing, the increase of population, or the tension?"
Arceus, was it that visible?
"All of it," he said as Diamonda brought in chairs for them to sit on from the kitchen, which they did.
"Well, the bombing's easy," I said, pitching in. "We were all caught by surprise. No one saw that coming. But none of us would be alive if it wasn't for Jewel." I gestured to the girl, who was blushing from my compliment. "She's... Synis's daughter."
Diamonda gasped, as did almost everyone else who didn't know. Am merely narrowed his eyes.
"She's good," I added. "She's helping us. She hates her father."
"Crimson, Indigo, Argent, and Perla came from the past," said Grey. "Red sent Crimson and Indigo to help us. Argent and Perla were a accident. Also, Crimson revealed to us that we're all born different years, and should be different ages."
"Cerise here is my younger sister," I said. "She was kidnapped as well, but something happened to either change our memories about her, or she got away. It's the same deal with Cyan, Jasper, and Esmeralda. Cyan is Blue's son, Indi's older brother. Jasper is Diamond's son. Esmeralda is Emerald's daughter."
I heard a glass shatter.
We all stood up. I followed Diamonda into the kitchen. There stood Shirou, a shattered glass at his feet, water dripping out of his mouth, frozen in shock. Alan looked equally surprised, but he hadn't dropped anything; his eyes were just wide. Delano and Manny looked just as startled, but both Kate and Raven didn't. I knew Kate already knew, but Raven... I guess it wasn't in her persona to be surprised.
But they heard us talking. They knew our secret.
"My glass!" Diamonda shrieked, caring more about her glassware than anything else.
Shirou snapped out of his shocked daze. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I'll clean it up right away!"
"You... What... What's going on?" asked Alan. "I swear you just talked about being from the past."
"It's true," I said. "It's... a long story."
Alan pinched the bridge of his nose as Shirou continued to apologize to Diamonda. "Then get explaining."
Minutes later, everything was cleaned up, and we were back in the living room. Aqua started getting feisty in her dad's arms, trying to crawl all over him. This seemed to fascinate Shirou; I think he found the baby absolutely adorable. Alan seemed annoyed by him, but paid us strict attention as we explained to them our situation.
"So let me summarize this," said Alan. "Topaz, Cerise, and Crimson are Red and Yellow's children. Cyan and Indigo are Blue's children. Jade and Argentum are Silver and Green's children. Amethyst, Fiori, and Gold Jr. are Gold Sr. and Crystal's children. Rubin and Sapphira are Ruby and Sapphire's children. Esmeralda is Emerald's daughter. Jasper is Diamond's son. Plato and Perla are Pearl and Platina's children. On the same day when you were all the same age, five, in different years, Topaz, Cerise, Cyan, Jade, Rubin, Sapph, Esmeralda, Jasper, and Plato were kidnapped. Am, Fiori, and Gold Jr. managed to escape. Obsidian Synis, the president, masquerading as the Masked Man, was your captor. He and his admin Karen Karin trained you. But then Am and Gold rescued everyone but Cerise, Cyan, Esmeralda, and Jasper. But somehow, the ones not rescued managed to get away. You all had your memories erased during the escape via Celebi, which brought you to our time. But your memories appear to have been tampered with, and what you remember is obviously not the truth."
I nodded. "Exactly."
"That's insane," he said. "But there's no way you would make all that up. I believe you."
"As do I," said Raven.
"Ditto," said Delano.
"Of course I believe you," said Kate.
"It would be rude of us not to trust you," said Manny.
Alan looked over at his best friend. "...Shirou."
"Uh, what?" He blinked, and then sweatdropped, smiling Mareepishly. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention."
Alan sighed heavily, and rubbed his forehead. "I'll update you later."
"Okay," said Shirou. "Anyways, I as I have suggested, you should take on the Unova League to get stronger! The trainers will only take you seriously if you have all eight badges. Besides, I'd like to have some of you as challengers someday! So what do you say?"
"We will challenge the Unova League," said Am.
The two leaders stood up, and shook hands, finalizing our alliances. The two forces that could stop the Government were officially united.
Synis better watch out.
EARLY UPDATE BECAUSE I'M AWESOME THAT WAY.
Happy belated birthday, Goldy! His birthday was January 30th.
Am and Dima are back! I love Dima's new personality, she's awesome.
Besides bringing Fearless back and uniting the Resistance and Unova, the point of this chapter was to show Rubin still cares. I hope you caught on that.
Why was Sapph acting so nervous in the morning? I haven't done chapter questions for a while. I need to start doing that again.
Wow, I can't believe it's February already. Jeez. Time sure does fly, doesn't it?
EXPECT A MAJOR SURPRISE NEXT CHAPTER. AND THEN THE GOVERNMENT CHAPTER.
The Government chapter is more important than you realize. It dives into the admins true personalities and what they do with their free time. But I will warn you, as I have already, the chapter has lots of insinuations and such. Because these are the ADMINS we're talking about. KAREN. FLAX. MAROON. NAVY. VERDANT. PINK. And you'll find out what really happened with Flax and Cerise, too, so look forward to that.
THE MAJOR SURPRISE IS AWESOME, IF I SAY SO MYSELF. So expect another early update, hopefully.
REVIEEEEW!