Unsinking Feelings
..
Celestic Town
10:05 AM
"Are you still on your break, dear?" an elderly woman asked her rather sleepy granddaughter. A yellow electric Pokémon ran up to her and got on her shoulders.
"Morning, Pikachu. And, yes, grandma." Cynthia answered lazily, heading for the kitchen to get some water. She took the luxury of sleeping in, having been on her break after a hectic schedule in the Sinnoh League the past couple of weeks. "I still have a week left, I think? I can get plenty of rest and research done." She answered, gulping down the glass of water. "What about you, grandma? You're not working today?"
"Oh, I think I'm entitled to a break every now and then, dear. I am the head professor of the research centre." Her grandmother replied while turning on the television. "I wonder what's on the news today."
"…And that concludes the weather report for today. Next up; The Time Thief strikes again after a long peaceful absence, successfully stealing two Time Gears."
Cynthia immediately made her way to her grandma, almost spilling the water in the process. "Grandma, what did he just say?"
"The time thief.. Isn't he your boyfriend?" the professor commented.
"..Yes, yes he is."
The two waited in silence for the commercials to end, eagerly anticipating the return of the news program. For the two minutes that passed, it felt like hours for Cynthia.
"Welcome back. It has been reported last night that the highly dangerous Time Thief has successfully stolen two Time Gears, after a six months absence- a rather long one. The desert area of Hoenn's Route 111, has been completely turned to a dead-zone that is the term used by the researchers to indicate that Time Paralysis has indeed taken place." the news anchor said, showing the gray turned area of the desert from above, seemingly from a news helicopter. "The thief had also broken through the barricades of the police in the Crystal Cave, hidden not far from Snowpoint City. The officials are reportedly trying their outmost best to capture this fugitive; powers from the regions combined. Researchers have said that the paralysis is growing at a slow, but steady pace. According to them, the criminal is most likely to strike again tonight, in the last remaining Time Gear's location, Limestone Cavern."
Hearing this, Cynthia immediately got up and made her way to her room.
"Leaving to Limestone Cavern, dear?" the professor asked, turning her head to her granddaughter.
"Yes, grandma. And please don't try to stop me." Cynthia replied with a determined voice.
"I won't. But do be careful, dear, and don't forget to take a shower before you leave."
"Of course, grandma."
Raito's Mansion
10:10 PM
The mansion that Ash inherited from Raito was rather secluded and out of reach from most of the public. Resting from the previous day's incidents, Ash found himself relaxing in the lounge Carmine had built in the mansion. He turned off the television and placed his feet on the foot rest. "Those guys won't know what hit them tonight." He said with a grin.
Feeling sleepy, he moved into a better position and tried to take a nap. Out of habit, he placed his hands inside his pockets and felt something out of the usual. He took the object out of his pocket to see that it was a crystal. "What the? How did this get in my pocket?"
Suddenly, he felt an excruciating pain in his head. A familiar sensation.
"Over here?" a voice said.
"Yeah, it should be this wall over here." Another voice spoke. "Take the crystal and hold it in your hand. I'm counting on you."
"I'll be back before you know it." The first voice replied.
"That's pretty clever." The second voice thought out loud. "Making an illusion of a wall to hide the Time Gear.. Good thing we have the crystal to dispel it."
"Ash! Hey, Ash!" a voice called out.
"Hmm?" the young man groaned, finding it a little hard to open his eyes, mostly due to the blinding pain that was running across his head. "What?"
"How long are you going to sleep?" the voice continued.
Ash opened his eyes to find that it was Carmine waking him up. "What time is it?"
"Four o'clock."
Ash jumped up in surprise, not expecting to have wasted so much time passed out. "Dammit, that's a lot of time lost." He muttered. "Get the other guys and meet me in the study." Minutes later, Ash found himself in the company of the Bravo Team members once more. "So what did you guys find in Brine Cave?"
Carmine stepped up and placed pictures on Ash's desk. "Right, Brine Cave. Is that what it's called?" said the man as he got some more pictures from the other members. Similarly, he also placed the remaining ones on the desk. "Dead end, man. We got to the end pretty easily, but once there our way was blocked by this strange looking wall, see?" explained Carmine, pointing at a specific picture. "Do we have to go through this cave to get to.. What did you call that place? Temporal Tower?"
"Yes, yes we do. It's kind of a gateway, you see." Ash said as he shifted his gaze to the object on the desk. The picture showed a strange symbol engraved on a wall, a symbol Ash had seen somewhere before. Ash took the picture and examined it for a second before stowing it away in his newly bought overcoat pocket. "I'll look into this myself. Now, on today's plan." He continued. "You say you've met a dead end in Limestone Cavern, Carmine?"
Carmine shrugged and sighed. "Yeah, we descended for quite a while before finally deciding that we couldn't go any further. Just when we thought we were going somewhere, the path ended."
"The dead end," Ash started. "The dead end that you found yourselves in. What did it look like?"
"This really big wall of rock. Couldn't get through, we couldn't. We tried everything. We even attempted to break it down." Carmine's story was supported by the other members nodding.
"Alright then." Ash said as he grinned. "Here's the plan."
Limestone Cavern
6:00 PM
"Miss Cynthia, are you sure it's okay for you to be helping us?" A police officer asked.
"Yes, it's quite alright, officer. I would like to confront this 'Time Thief' myself." Cynthia answered.
The officer bowed and tipped his cap. "Many thanks, Champion. It is reassuring to have such a formidable ally."
Cynthia smiled back. "No worries, officer. I am glad to help." She replied, watching him stray back to his post. She noticed that the sun had started to sink, causing the officers to go and turn on the lights they had stationed there. The Sinnoh Champion had been standing by since noon, deciding to see for herself it the Time Thief was indeed the Ash Ketchum she knew.
"Ah, the rumors were true! The Sinnoh Champion is here!" a person shouted, pointing at Cynthia. "Quick, Ty, turn of the camera!"
"Okay, okay! Geez, Gabby, give me a second, will ya'?" the Cameraman shot back.
Cynthia turned to see what the commotion was, to find a reporter and her cameraman walking towards her.
"Miss Cynthia, it's an honor to see you. What brings you here to Limestone Cavern?" Gabby asked enthusiastically.
Cynthia tried to put a sincere smile and answered. "Well, I've heard that the Time Thief might appear here tonight, so I've decided to help out."
"What makes you want to aid the officers, Miss Cynthia?" the reporter continued.
"Well, I think it goes without saying that a criminal like the Time Thief is very dangerous, and who know what he will do when he obtains all five Time Gears." She answered fluently.
Gabby nodded and added one last question. "Well then. Now that you're here, do you think the criminal would be able to make off with the Time Gear?"
"Hmm.. I can't say for sure, but I think with me here, it would be very difficult for the thief to even get inside the cavern."
"Oh, confident, are we?" a voice commented from behind the reporters.
Cynthia quickly approached the source of the voice and confronted it. "Who's there?"
"The thief you just mocked, Champion." The man said, all too casual.
"It's the thief! That's the thief!" Gabby shouted to Ty, shaking the camera. "Quick, quick! Get a shot of him!"
"Oh, confident, are we?" Ash commented upon hearing that he was being underestimated.
The Sinnoh Champion quickly came towards him in a careful manner. "Who's there?"
Hurt by the question, Ash answered nonetheless. "The thief you just mocked, Champion."
Ash looked over to the reporter who was standing behind Cynthia, looking very excited. "It's the thief! That's the thief!" she shouted, apparently shaking the camera behind her. "Quick, quick! Get a shot of him!"
Alerted by the commotion, the other guards came running, armed. An officer Jenny came from the crowd, ready with her Growlithe. "You are under arrest, criminal! Place your hands up where we can see them!" she ordered. Ash noticed that her leg was bandaged, the same leg that the Officer Jenny from the day before had injured due to the crystal debris.
"Ah, it's you. How's the leg?" Ash asked, undermining the situation at hand.
"It's.. I.. I won't fall for your lies, criminal! Now put your hands up where we can see them!" she shot back, glaring at Ash.
"Gee, okay, don't have to be so rude.." Ash said as he complied. An officer approached him from the crowd, ready to apprehend him. The officer signalled him to get on his knees. Ash got on one knee slowly and aimed his mechanical arm at the officer, and shot a sharp burst of air, flinging the officer like a ragdoll. "Oops, my bad. Did he die?" the young man said with a sneer.
"You bastard!" another officer shouted, charging at him. Ash easily dodged the charge and flipped him over. "If.. If only we're allowed to kill you, you'd be dead by now you little shit!" the man cried out.
"Why of course, I would. But you need me to confess the location of the four Time Gears I possess, no?" Ash replied to the man, tapping his cheeks lightly in a mocking manner.
"Enough." The Champion ordered. She took a step closer to Ash and proceeded to ask some questions of her own. "What will you do with the Time Gears once you've collected all of them?" she asked.
"What's it to you, Champion? It's none of your business." Ash rudely answered.
Expecting the answer the criminal had given, Cynthia continued. "If it's going to cost our time and lives, then, yes, I think everybody has the right to know."
"..Fair enough, I guess you people do have a right to know." Ash shrugged and placed his hands in his pocket. "I thought the gears would look nice in my house. You know, next to the pride of the police I've also taken yesterday."
Agitated by the mockery that the criminal had spat out, a number of officers could not bear to watch the scene any longer. A couple of them charged at Ash and tried to apprehend him, all of them failing miserably, some bones broken. Intimidated by the strength displayed by the criminal, the rest unconsciously backed out.
"Well? Some more? All of you, come at me already so I can take the Time Ge.." Ash had meant to taunt them some more, however, he felt something prick his shoulder blade. He looked to see that it was a tranquilizer dart. Ash turned around to find a face he had not seen for quite a while. "You.."
"Oh, confident, are we?" the man commented on Ash's bravado.
"Impressive aim, brother Kozenikata! Now we can bring him back to the headquarters!" a rather tomboyish girl ran up next to him.
Ash took out the dart and threw it on the ground. "You think this will stop me? This puny little thing? Well think again!" he shouted, charging for Kozenikata.
Kozenikata raised his tranquilizer gun and shot it once more, hitting Ash's knee. "How about now?"
"Y.. You bastard.." Ash muttered, taking out the dart and tossing it aside. He struggled to stand up and aimed his arm at the detective. "See you in hell-"
Without a batting an eyelash, Kozenikata shot another dart at the criminal's chest, causing him to finally collapse. "Commendable, to say the least. Those darts were very high in doses." Said Kozenikata while walking up to Ash. He grabbed Ash's head and held it in front of his face. "Never underestimate a hard-boiled detective."
International Police Headquarters
Interrogation Room
…
"Finally awake, huh?" a man spoke in a condescending manner, looking down at Ash with a high and mighty look. "Took you quite a while."
"Cyrus.." Ash muttered under his breath. He attempted to charge at the Team Galactic leader, to find that he was confined to a chair in a room. He looked around to see that he was also in the company of the Sinnoh Champion and the man who tranquilized him, along with other security guards. "Well.. This is nice." Ash commented at his own situation. "We have ourselves a nice party here."
"Drop the act, scum." Cyrus commanded, slamming the desk in front of him. "Tell us where you are hiding the Time Gears!"
"Up yours, that's where." Ash spat.
Cyrus quickly threw a right hook at Ash's face, causing him to lose balance and fall with the chair. He could taste the flavour of iron in his mouth, denoting that he must be hit pretty hard. Surprising, coming from a man such as Cyrus. He was picked back up by the officers that was standing by. "I know what you're going to do with the gears, you cur. You are attempting to create the world paralysis, are you not?" asked the blue-haired man.
Ash scoffed at the statement. "And what are you going to do with the gears? What will stop you from using them for your own personal interest once you get your hands on them?"
Cyrus sat down and straightened his formal attire. "My interest is saving the planet, criminal. I will save the people of the planet of its doomed future."
"I think we have a different idea of salvation, you bastard." Ash stated bluntly.
Cyrus closed in and glared at Ash. "Where do you get this confidence of yours, scum? Your actions will lead to the fall of the world, you brainless filth. Your actions will cause the world's paralysis! Now you will tell us where you are hiding four of the gears you possess!"
"..Five." Ash whispered.
"What? What did you say?"
"I possess five gears. All of them."
"What? That's impossible!" Cyrus shouted, interrupted by the sound of an explosion echoing through the room.
"What was that?" said one of the officers, getting ready for an attack.
"..God." Ash muttered with a chuckle.
"Don't be smart with us, you criminal scum, that was your doing, wasn't it!" the other officer screamed on the top of his lung, grabbing Ash by the collar, seemingly losing patience.
"..Well, I am God." Ash stated with a grin on his face.
"You bastard!" the officer shouted, ready to punch Ash in the face.
"Alright, that's enough." Said Kozenikata as he shot the officer with his tranquilizer gun.
"What?" the other officer spat in disbelief. Wasting no time, Kozenikata quickly shot him right between the eyes.
"You traitor.." Cyrus muttered, pulling out his gun.
Being a trained man, Kozenikata's draw was noticeably faster than Cyrus's, making quick work of the leader of Team Galactic. He then freed Ash and used the chair to block the handle of the door to block the other officers from coming in.
"Took you long enough." Said Ash, his turn to straighten his clothes.
"Had to wait for the right moment." Kozenikata replied simply. "What do we do about her?" he asked, nodding at the woman sitting in the corner, terrified.
"Leave her, she can't harm us." As if on cue, the ceiling was crushed to reveal a Salamence, ready to pick Ash and his companion. "Let's go." The blue dragon Pokémon flew up, leaving the Sinnoh Champion in the interrogation room.
Flying back to the mansion, he was greeted by Carmine and his Fearow, who was also heading back to the mansion. "I got the gear!" Carmine shouted.
"Good! How was the trip?" Ash screamed back.
"Pretty smooth! Not too many guards! But the Time Gear guardian was annoying! I had to do a lot of talking!" Carmine said in a similar volume.
Ash maneuvered his Salamence closer to the Fearow to hear Carmine better. "What was it?"
"A Ditto!"
"Well, at least you didn't get thrown back a ways back like I did!"
"Touché!"
The flight back was rather uneventful, aside from the screaming and shouting the three did in order to communicate. After getting to the mansion, Ash had ordered Carmine and the team to rest up for the big day to come in two days.
"We're getting a day off?" Carmine asked.
"Yeah, you'll need it."
"And what about me?" Kozenikata chimed in.
"You can stay here and lay low for the next few days. You'll be safe here." Ash answered, getting ready to call it a day.
"Right. And what are you going to do tomorrow?" the detective asked.
Ash pulled out the picture he had gotten from Carmine from his pocket. "I have some catching up to do."
A/N: Comparably shorter than the last chapter, but not the shortest. Also a bit disorganized, as I had meant to put the first part of Limestone Cavern in the previous episode, but I seem to have messed up the timing, hehe.
As for the story, well, the D-day is near. Ash currently has all five Time Gears, but he still need to collect one last key to get through Brine Cave and reach the Spire of Temporal Tower.
