Trapped In the Darkness – Chapter 12

A Pokemon Fanfiction

So, I got really excited about this fic again. And guess what- this story is about HALF-WAY OVER! I planned for this fic to be twenty-four chapters. This fic should be about that length. It may have a few less or a couple more chapters, it really depends on how the plot continues to unfold.

And don't worry. I haven't planned to kill anyone off.

Yet.

~000~

Green stared at the legendary trainers before him, his mouth hanging open. The shades Lt. Surge had given to him were falling down the bridge of him nose and they revealed his jade eyes slightly. No noise came from the boy with auburn hair until he began stuttering.

"You- what- here—how-" Green suddenly didn't know how to form sentences that had more than two words. Blaine sighed irritably and got up from where he sat at the table, crossing over to the boy quickly. He silenced the young gym leader by smacking him in the back of the head. The borrowed glasses fell of his head and onto the floor, where they were quickly saved by Janine before they were broken.

Green was quick to react. "Ow! What the hell?" He glared angrily at the old man, holding the back of his head. Blaine glared back, pointing to the Champions in irritation.

"Shut your trap, boy," he said, his rough voice clipped. "You're making us look bad."

Green snorted, making sure he was eye to eye with the elder leader. "Oh, I'm making us look bad? Who's the one throwing the punches, eh Gramps?" he retorted.

Blaine narrowed his eyes, raising his cane high in the air in a way that looked like he was going to hit someone again. That someone being Green. "I can hit whoever I damn please. I've had this job long before you were born!"

Green narrowed his eyes again. "Oh yeah? Show me, old man."

Before any more hitting could occur, Jasmine stepped in between the two men in a calming gesture, her palms being placed on each of their chests. "Alright, boys. We don't have time for this. There are some trainers in trouble."

Green reluctantly backed down, Blaine grinning in triumph as he returned to his seat at the table. Jasmine patted Green on the back, nudging him toward the other Ex-Champions gently. He cleared his throat calmly before speaking.

"So how did you know we were meeting here?" Green asked, coughing slightly after. Wallace giggled, Steven shushing him before turning to Green again.

"We noticed the disappearance of several of our regions top trainers. We decided to investigate and then Lance," he pointed to the dragon-type master as he spoke, "got a tip that one of the Ex-Champions were found alive outside of his gym."

Green glanced at Lance in question, and Lance simply looked up at the ceiling. "Clair told me."

"Of course she did," Morty spoke up softly, and there was a slight twinge of smugness in his voice. His smile seemed to hold teasing. "She tells you everything. I see that almost everyday."

Lance put his hand over his face, Clair glaring daggers at the blonde leader menacingly. Wallace began to laugh quietly beside Steven Stone, who couldn't help but smile. Clair pointed at Green in accusation. "He tells Red almost everything too, so I'm not the only guilty person here! He even goes up to Mount Silver just to see him!"

Green rolled his eyes, but couldn't help his face from flushing. "He's my best friend, alright?"

Clair stood up indignantly, slamming her palms on the tabletop. "And he's my cousin!"

"Alright, alright." Lance said irritably, shushing the room. Clair took a seat again, but she seemed like she wanted to leave even more now. Lance turned back to Green after sending her a warning glance. "Anyway, we couldn't see to ask you because you was asleep for a while. We contacted Oak, and he said you needed to recover and would call me when you awoke."

Green felt his stomach coil in anxiety. He puts his hands up in front of him in a command for Lance to stop talking. "Wait. Whoa, whoa, whoa. How long was I asleep?"

Lance gave him a strange look. "About three weeks, Green. I would hope so considering the amount of venom your body needed to-"

"What?" Green was standing straight again, his face white. He looked horrified. "Three whole weeks?" When the others nodded his hands flew to his had and he wove his fingers through his hair, tugging. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no. It couldn't have been three weeks!"

The Viridan leader looked like he was going to vomit now. The color had drained from his face and now had a light shade of green against his pale cheeks.

Cynthia went to his side immediately. "Whoa, Green! Calm down!"

Green rejected any source of comfort and stepped back. His eyes were wide. "Calm down? How the fuck am I supposed to calm down when I learned I've been gone for three whole weeks! Do you have any clue what they could have done to them?"

The room was silent. Green covered his face for a second to try and regain his composure, but it wasn't working and he was beginning to hyperventilate.

Erika got up from the table and made her way over to the former Champion calmly.

"Green," she said, her voice soothing. "We're going to help them. They'll be alright." She rubbed circles into his back to calm him down, and slowly but surely, he was beginning to breathe more deeply and less sharply.

"I'm sorry," he said weakly. He moved his hand in a waving motion. "Please continue. Don't we have business?"

"Yup," Whitney said. "As much business as Lance has Dragonites."

The room fell silent as they digested the statement. Everyone looked at the young leader, eyebrows raised. She blushed, pursing her lips as he shrunk back in her seat, hugging a Clefairy plush she pulled from under the table.

"Well I thought it was funny," she muttered.

Alder laughed after a minute, but shook his head. "Okay, all joking aside..." He looked back up, his eyes serious. "Do we even know where the base is located? We've narrowed it down to two regions: Kanto or Johto."

Green looked up, nodding. He looked much better now, and Erika returned to her seat at the table silently, smiling. "I know," he said, clearing his throat. "It's in Kanto."

Cynthia seemed surprised. "How did you find that out?" she asked, crossing her arms.

Green stood up straight and grinned. "Dirt."

Erika looked up from a cup of tea one of the Kimono Girls brought in, her smile wry. "Kanto has the most unique dirt in the world in my opinion. I can tell it apart out of any other dirt just by looking at it," she said, sipping at the tea delicately.

Misty looked baffled. "Dirt? Are you serious?"

Brock nodded, nudging her waist gently with an elbow. "Yeah. Minerals specific to only Kanto are found in it. This is the basics." This didn't help clear up many people's confusion, but nobody questioned the significance of dirt any longer.

"Alright, so where do we start?"

~000~

Hope?

Hope was lost.

The Rockets had done more to the trainers in the cell than they had done to Green in a week in only a couple of hours. Red had returned shaking and white-faced by something he had seen only a half and hour later, even if he tried to hide it as best as he could.

The only thing he whispered was Green's name.

Gold had been taken out and returned in the same state, only he didn't hide his horror after being thrown in the cell. He had scrambled backwards so his back had hit the wall, covering his face with his hands instantly. Silver and Crystal immediately got to his side.

"Gold? Gold, answer me!" Silver said, shaking his rival roughly.

"Goodbye forever," he breathed. Silver seemed to become terrified by this statement.

"No, no, no! You're staying here with me! You're alright, Gold!" Silver pleaded, not even bothering to hide his concern. He finally got his hands around Gold's and pulled them away from his face, but the Champion merely kept his head down, his face hidden.

Silver seemed like he was close to exploding now if he could. He whipped his head around to Red. "What did they do? Tell me so I can fix him!"

Red seemed to look better, but his eyes read different. "They took our nightmares," he said, his soft voice hollow and dead. "And turned them into a reality."

In the first week of Green being gone, the trainers had proposed the idea of a false hope, that someone would come and find them, and they had to do all they could to survive the escalating methods in which the enemy tested them.

Then came the day where everyone ended up almost losing their hope.

Mars had made her way down into the cell room, Saturn following her down as well, still looking quite uncomfortable like he did before.

Pearl cringed as Mars looked his way with a glare, like she had unfinished business. Diamond and Platinum seemed to harden, moving slightly so they were in front of him. This was unnoticed by the Galactics as they took their place in front of the cell.

"So," Mars began, putting her hands behind her back. "We've come to collect someone else today. Come on, don't be shy."

The ones in the cell were silent, all of them keeping their eyes on the unstable crimson-haired woman on the other side of the steel. None of them moved.

There was a giggle. And it grew louder, Mars moving away from the cell so she couldn't hurt herself as she bent forward to hold her stomach. "You guys are ridiculous! I would have given in a long time ago, and if you had, Green wouldn't be dead!" Mars said gasping. "You are all such idiots!"

At the mention of Green's name, Red seemed to snap. He grew tense, his fists clenched tightly. Standing suddenly, he made his way over to the bars, grasping them tightly. Saturn flinched, shrinking back against the rock wall behind him.

"Don't you dare say his name," he growled, his voice dark. His gaze was terrifying: even Mars took a step back. "I swear you'll regret it if you say his name again."

Mars was beginning to like it better when the kid was silent. She ignored the warning messages her body was throwing her and grinned sadistically.

"Oh you. Teeny, tiny, little Red. The first to become Champion in this cell as well. You may have tough Pokemon, but nothing you can do will bring your friend back, no matter where he may be." she yawned into her hand. "His dying words were a desperate plead for your safety, did you know? This only made him die faster. Talking increased the venom's movement through the bloodstream."

Red clasped his hands over his ears. "Shut up!" he hissed.

Mars only shouted. "We dumped his body in front of the Viridian Gym! His precious sister Daisy found his corpse as he stared blankly at the sky! He never had the chance to say goodbye to any of his friends or loved ones!"

Red shook his head furiously as his words grew louder. "Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

Mars seemed joyful as she screeched the upsetting words down at the boy.

"Green Oak is dead! He'll never have the chance to see you again!"

Red let out an angry cry, launching himself at the bars to grab the Galactic Executive in his fury. She stepped back again, making sure she stayed out of his reach. He threw obscenities in her direction as he tried to grasp her, the tips of his fingers just barely touching her dress.

She lessened her smile so it was just a small, contempt smirk, watching his struggles lazily. Her eyes were cold and showed cruelty. Pity was a foreign emotion found almost never on her flawless face. In a swift motion, she pushed his hand away and kicked him in the chest roughly, his body flying to hit the back of the cell. He laid motionless.

"Such a pitiful situation," Mars said, her hands on her hips as she dusted off her dress casually. "Anyway, my dear Red. I haven't gotten to the point of my visit, dearie."

Red coughed in response, holding his chest as he hissed in pain. He glared from under the brim of his hat at Mars continued her rant.

"I've come to pick up a Sinnoh trainer," she said calmly, scuffing at the ground in her white boots. She looked down almost childishly, her wine colored irises looking through her lashes at the Sinnoh trio.

Platinum automatically stood in front of them, her arms wide and stretched out in front of them. Her deep blue eyes were mature and hard, almost harsh.

"You can't do this to them, Mars," she said, he voice steely and sharp. "You aren't hurting Pearl again. Especially if I have a say in it." She was nothing like she was a week ago, where she cried about Green for three nights straight. She truly seemed like the girl that was the Sinnoh Champion.

Mars laughed, her giggle squeaky. He expression turned dark immediately. "Who said I wanted to pick him up? I really came for you, my dear."

Platinum didn't flinch. "Fine."

Pearl and Diamond were obviously not too thrilled about this plan. "No," they said simultaneously. Platinum craned her neck to look at them, a smile on her face.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. It's all part of my job," she said quietly.

Pearl looked pained, Diamond almost a perfect match to his friend beside him. "Platinum," Pearl said, his voice cracking. "I don't want to see you hurt. Especially with what I went through, I don't want you in that sort of pain."

Platinum didn't want to hear it. She hesitated, but kissed both of the Sinnoh boys on the cheek before she turned to Mars. Each boy was stunned silent, holding the right sides of their faces as they stared blankly at the girl in front of them.

"Do your worst," Platinum said darkly. "I know there's someone waiting for me when I return."

Mars grinned, folding her arms across her chest. "Oh, my dear, don't be so sure. You may not come back mentally from the trip I'm going to take you on."

Platinum didn't flinch. "I don't care."

Mars laughed.

"You will, my dear. You will."

~000~

Tons of romance-y gunk in this chapter.

Green and Silver need to learn how to take a chill pill, seriously. Learn from Red, he has one every morning for breakfast. But the secret is, it wears off by lunch so he's naturally chill.