^.^ So, now I'm updating this. I feel like, I dunno, really inspired 'cause I listened to NateWantstoBattle. Honestly, I'm not one to go on about youtubers, but I REALLY like Nate. I mean, his parodies and remixes of songs are AMAZING. You don't believe me? Google his Magikarp song.
Amy47101 does not own pokémon.
o.0.o.0.o
The Adventure Saga
Enlightening the Soul
o.0.o.0.o
Crowds cheered around Vale as she stood across from the battlefield of a trainer whom she didn't get to hear his name. Or perhaps she simply didn't care. All she knew was that she was prepared for this battle. The opponent sent out a Beautifly, It was a rather pretty pokémon, but Vale knew that it was nothing against her choice of pokémon.
"Altaria!" she exclaimed, sending out the flying bird-dragon. "Dragon Dance!"
o.0.o.0.o
"Oh wow! An Altaria! Where can I get one? It's so pretty!" Lyra exclaimed.
"They aren't native in Johto." Silver stated.
"So I can't catch one?" she asked. Silver shot her glance, as if she was stupid. "Aaaaw well. I guess I don't really need a flying-dragon type anyways. Dratini will become a Dragonite after all!" As Lyra continued to chatter on about her pokémon. Silver studied Tani for a moment, watching as her Altaria swooped gracefully through its battle.
Two pokémon obtainable outside of Johto. Perfectly explainable. She could be from another region. Hoenn, perhaps, where Snorunt and Swablu originate. But it would cost a lot of money for her to not only relocate to a new region, but also to get a legal trainer license in Johto and a contest pass. She could be no older than seventeen! There was no way she could possibly afford that, along with the items vital to human life.
So who was she?
Silver narrowed his eyes as a gust attack swept her hair back, sending the long black locks whipping into the air. He saw something imprinted on her shoulder blade. A tattoo? He turned his head to the screen, showing a close up of Tani as she braced the attack then ordered out another. He widened his eyes.
駆逐艦
"Destroyer..." he mumbled as he jumped up.
"Silver? Where are you going?" Lyra asked.
"Bathroom." he spat back, hurrying off.
He knew exactly who Tani was. And if his hunch was right, which he was willing to bet his stolen pokédex on, then he wouldn't doubt that he was in the city as well. Silver was usually one to confront his problems rather than run. The police were to stupid to ever catch him, let alone defeat him, and Team Rocket made him laugh. Even the Rocket Wannabes weren't as scary as they originally were to him as a child. But he knew there was one person that he would never, ever confront unprepared.
"I hate running." he thought as he made it to the contest hall lobby. "But I'm no fool. The Masked Man will not get me again."
o.0.o.0.o
"I know that, but you have to understand, I can't- No I'm not- But in the middle of the contest?" Krystal walked into the bathroom, hearing the somewhat familiar voice of Tani. She assumed she was talking to someone on the pokégear, but wondered if she noticed that she wasn't alone anymore.
She used the restroom, then washed her hands. Tani fell silent, then Krystal heard a small, shaky sigh. She turned, wondering if she should disturb the coordinator.
"Tani?" she asked. No answer. She heard a sniffle. "Why are you crying?"
"No reason." she answered.
"You've been in here for a while. Ever since you cleared through first battle before the semi's."
"So?"
"You should be happy. Honestly, you got into the semi-finals."
"So did you."
"I suppose." Krystal responded, sitting down across from the stall she believed Tani was in. This was further proven to be true when she saw a pair of black ballet slippers under the stall. Tani was sitting on the floor, tutu flaring out around her. "Why're you crying?"
"Family issues."
"Huh."
"What's your family like?" Tani suddenly asked. Krystal blinked in surprise, then leaned her head back against the wall.
"My Dad works for Prof. Elm. He cares for pokémon that trainers catch and give to Prof. Elm. My mum helped Prof. Oak update the pokédex, and often travels between Kanto and Johto. Even though she travelled a lot, she was always a good mother. My Dad is more of a Mr. Mom, you know, and my Mum always makes time to visit."
"High expectations, huh?" she stated, jokingly. Krystal rolled her eyes.
"Something like that." Krystal answered.
"Any siblings?"
"Nope, only child. I have a cousin and an aunt, though."
"Oh?"
"Lyra Kotone is my cousin, her mother, Makenzie Kotone, is my moms sister. My uncle is dead."
"How'd he die?"
"No idea." Krystal answered truthfully. "My mom and my aunt were never very close. Lyra just called crying about my uncle being dead, and then they moved into New Bark." She paused.
"Lyra?"
"I suppose she found him." she paused thoughtfully. "Even though, me and Lyra are like sisters, she never elaborated on his death."
"That's sweet." there was an awkward pause. "No, not your uncle's death!" she unlocked the door, opening it. "The fact that you and Lyra are like sisters. It's sweet."
"What about your family? What're they like?" Krystal asked. Tani fell silent, and Krystal mentally slapped herself. She was just crying about family issues! She shouldn't be asking about that. "I'm sorry, I just-"
"I'm adopted." Tani said. "I was adopted when I was little. I never knew my real parents. My... father is single, wether by choice or not, I'm unsure. He never spoke of a woman in his life."
"Any siblings?"
"Six adopted." Tani said. Krystal widened her eyes at this.
"Wow." she said.
"I know, right?" Tani smiled, sliding down next to her. "A set of triplets- they're a little older than me. They're twenty-two, and have been with my father the longest of us adoptees. I have two adopted sisters, not related in any way, but extremely close. So close, they're almost like sisters. They're seventeen, too." she paused. "The triplets still work for my Dad's company, as do my sisters."
"That's five." Krystal said. "Who's the last one?"
"I had a little brother." she stated. "He's the last adoptee, two years younger than me. We were close."
"What happened to him?"
"He ran away." Krystal blinked.
"Oh, I'm so-"
"Don't apologize." Tani said, smiling slightly as she wrapped her hands around her knees. "Don't apologize, 'cause I helped him escape."
"What, why?" asked Krystal.
"He and our adoptive father weren't on good terms. At the time, I wasn't either. We were gonna go together, but I got caught and he went ahead. I haven't had contact with him since."
"I-" Krystal paused. "Wow."
"I know, right?" Tani folded her hands. "There's one more kid, around my age. I think he might actually be my father's biological son."
"Why?"
"I only ran into him once or twice, but he's separate from the rest of us. No one is allowed to see him except my father. I talked to him though, he's a sweet kid, though I don't know his name." she laughed, shaking her head. "If we get caught in 'his' area of the house, our father gets really mad. Like, ballistic. He's way to overprotective of that boy. It's like our presence will contaminate him."
"That's strange." Krystal commented. "How could he have a biological son if you think he's never had a wife or girlfriend?"
"Maybe he's a widower." Tani shrugged. "I have no idea." Both were silent for a moment.
"Are you close to any of your siblings?"
"Only my brother." Tani said. "The other's don't pay much attention to me. Not that they can with lessons and work. Sometimes I wonder," she paused. "I wonder what he would think of me now. Like, if I ran into him, what would we talk about? I know if he knew what I was doing, he'd be ashamed."
"Does your brother dislike contests?"
"Contests? No idea. If he knew what work I did though..." she shook her head.
"We should get going." Krystal said, standing up and holding out her hand. "The semi-finals will start soon." Tani smiled, taking her hand as she pulled her up. Krystal turned, going towards the door. "What work do you do anyways?" She heard a click, and turned around again, immediately raising her hands in surrender as she saw Tani with a gun. "T-Tani, hold on, why're you-?"
"Don't scream and act naturally. This is loaded." she said.
"What's going on?" Krystal asked.
"This is the work I do. We're leaving." Tani answered simply as she pulled out a pokégear. Eyes never leaving Krystal, she called a number. "I've got her." she said. "Let the grunts cause a distraction. We'll meet up once chaos has ensued."
o.0.o.0.o
Lyra remembered watching the announcer come up onto the screen to announce the semi-finalists. She remembered Silver getting up to go to the bathroom, and though it was strange since he went only a little while before. She remembered bouncing with anticipation since Krystal and Tani were about to go up next.
Then there was nothing but screams.
The half-masked people form the Ilex forest suddenly swarming into the contest stands, pokémon out, attacking people, pokémon, anything. People were suddenly screaming around her, running to get away from it while the announcer tried to calm people down. It was not working.
Lyra rose, her bag over her shoulder as she whipped her head around. Where was Ethan? Had she lost him in the crowd? Or Krystal? Was she okay alone? And what about Silver? Was he even prepared for this? She nearly smacked her forehead at that. Silver seemed prepared for anything! Eevee mewed from her arms, and she looked down.
"We've gotta find the others!" she declared, but quickly found that she was being pushed to and fro from the crowd. Colors blurred and flashed, faces whizzed by, but none of them belonged to her friends. Suddenly, a pair of hands grabbed her shoulders and sharply pulled her back. She let out a startled shriek.
"Stop that." Silver's gruff voice ordered. "It's annoying."
"S-Sorry!" she stuttered out. Eevee mewed happily seeing Silver. Silver looked at it, then back at Lyra. He pulled them aside and slipped behind the clerks counter, ducking down. Lyra followed suit, plopping down with a sigh.
"Do you have all your pokémon?" he asked. Lyra blinked, going through her bag, then smiled.
"Yup!" she said happily. "All five of my pokéballs are here."
"Alright, we're going to get out of here and change at the center. Once that's done, we're going to get as far away from here as we can."
"What? Why?" Lyra exclaimed. Silver said nothing. He simply grabbed her hand and began dragging/leading her through the stampeding crowd. Lyra was yelling something over all the noise, but he ignored her. Suddenly, they were outside the contest hall, hiding along the side of the building.
"Here's the plan," Silver said, turning to her. "We're going back to the pokémon center and changing out of these ridiculous outfits. Then, we're hightailing it to the next city."
"What?!" exclaimed Lyra. "But those masked guys are in there! They might be hurting people and pokémon! And my friends! I got separated from Ethan and I have no idea where Krys is!"
"Do you honestly think I care?" Silver shot back.
"Silver!"
"You're lucky I took the time to drag you out!" he shouted back.
"I'm not leaving without them!" she exclaimed.
"Do you think I give a crap about your moronic friends?!" Silver suddenly roared. "I don't care! In this world, there are only three people I care about! Me, myself, and I!" he paused, taking a deep breath. He glared as coldly as possible at her. "If you want to go back into that madhouse, be my guest. Go and get yourself killed." Lyra widened her eyes, then shut her eyes, clenching her fists.
"Fine. I will." she said. She looked down at her Eevee. "C'mon Eevee, we're going to find Ethan and Krys." Eevee mewed happily as Lyra scooped up the pokémon, jogging back into the contest hall. Silver turned on his own heel, about to stomp away when an emotion suddenly burst in his heart. He nearly groaned in annoyance.
He was feeling that stupid guilt again. He wanted to slam his head into the lamppost nearby. How many times was that stupid, idiotic girl gonna make his feel guilty?! He didn't feel guilt, much less cared what people thought of him.
"But..." that tiny voice in the back of his mind said. He groaned, turning around and heading back into the contest hall. His pokémon needed training, and no better training was available than the waste of air grunts who worked for the Masked Man.
o.0.o.0.o
"Where are we going?" Krystal finally managed to muster up the courage to ask. She always supposed that, when Lyra and Ethan insisted that they watched those ridiculous movies with hostage situations and kidnappings that the crying was fake and that the actresses- it always irked her how the girls were constant damsels- were just blatantly stupid for not recognizing the villain sooner. Seriously, how could they fall for such stupid things?
But being a part of a kidnapping in real life was completely different. Now she wanted to slam her head into a wall. She was blatantly stupid for not recognizing that Tani was Vale sooner. Seriously, Tani, translated from japanese to english, meant Vale! She couldn't believe it. The girl behind her looked so graceful and beautiful that no one would ever suspect her to be carrying a gun, much less having it loaded and pointed to the back of another coordinators head!
Yet here she stood, walking in the underground tunnels of Goldrenrod City, a stupid damsel in distress who fell for the villain's tricks. Unlike the movie's, however, she was going to save the last shreds of her dignity and not cry.
"Where," she said again. "Are we going?"
"The National Park." Vale answered simply.
"Why?"
"The shuttlecraft is there."
"Shuttlecraft?"
"Don't act so surprised, we're well off." Vale said. Krystal fell silent.
"Is that thing really loaded?"
"Yes."
"How'd you get past security?"
"That's none of your concern."
"Are you going to kill me?"
"Are you dead?"
"No...?"
"Then there's your answer." Krystal fell silent for a few moments.
"You captured Lyra earlier and thought that she was me." Krystal said.
"Mistaken identity. Simply put, a girl with pigtails who was heading to Slowpoke Well. That could've been anyone. They should've done more research for a kidnapping because now we have three other witnesses."
"I see." Krystal said. "And what do you do with witnesses?"
"Me? Let them go. Other members, though..." she trailed off.
"Do you want me to capture Celebi?"
"Yes. None of us are nearly skilled enough to capture it." Vale said. "Anyways, I've been wondering..." she trailed off. "Do you capture pokémon for people as payment or do you catch and release them for the pokédex?"
"I don't catch pokémon for people unless it's a wild pokémon disturbing villagers." Krystal said. "That's the only time I will accept payment. Otherwise I capture pokémon for the pokédex and then release them unless it's a pokémon I want to keep on my team."
"Speaking of the pokémon on your team," Vale said, placing a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "You might want to hand them over to me."
"Excuse me?" Krystal asked, turning around.
"Unless you want your pokémon to be sold over the black market, hand them over to me. Besides, I don't think any logical kidnapper would let their victim keep such powerful beings on hand." Krystal hesitated. "At least with me, you know they'll be fed, Krystal." Finally, Krystal gave in, handing over the belt then folding her hands in front of her. Vale glanced at it, then smiled. "You're sly, eh? The last one, Krys."
Krystal blinked in surprise, sure that she was being sly enough to get by. Begrudgedly, she passed over her Croconaw's pokéball, Vale clipping it to the belt.
o.0.o.0.o
"The trail ends here, Aipom?" Ethan asked as they came upon a door near the dressing rooms. Ever since the Masked Rockets that kidnapped Lyra in the Ilex forest popped out and began to attacking at random, he tried to track down Krystal. He was glad to say that, while many people swarmed to the exits, he hopped down onto the battlefield and hurried backstage, where coordinators and their pokémon hurried by. He glanced around furiously for Krystal's blue hair, but as of yet was unsuccessful.
He was regretful to say that he got separated from Lyra in the chaos ensued. He was sure she was behind her and following him, but when he took the time to stop, she was gone. He knew that the girl, despite her own doubts, was an incredible battler. He even heard she beat Whitney in one shot, while he had to go back many, many, many times just to beat her stupid Miltank. So he knew she could handle herself... if she could get past her gullibility, kindness, and overall naive nature.
He sighed. Maybe Lyra wouldn't be so good on her own...
So that left Silver. As reluctant as he was to trust the redheaded jerk, he knew how to take charge, and how to make a gameplan. He seemed like the type to be an intense trainer, so his pokémon certainly wouldn't be weak... But he was also a liar, as well as sly, though not in a good way. He already tricked himself and Krystal not just once, but twice: lying blatantly to their face about his name and misleading them through the forest so he could rescue Lyra on his own.
He wanted to tear his hair out. Was he the only one who was trustworthy and able to handle himself among the trio?! This was becoming ridiculous! He was already worried sick over the fact that Krystal was missing, but now he literally had to trust Lyra's life in Silver's hands?! She may as well be better off on her own!
"Okay, Aipom, I'll go on ahead. If you find Lyra or, Arceus help me, Silver, lead them back here." Aipom nodded, then hurried off. Ethan eased open the door, expecting multiple Masked Rockets to jump out and mug him, but then realized it was just a normal old janitors closet. He looked around the dimly lit room for Krystal. No one was in here, unless he felt bad for the lonely mop in the corner.
He blinked curiously. What was this? Aipom's nose was always on the dot! But no Krystal. Was some of Krystal's belongings here? Or was Aipom's nose honestly off? He glanced around some more, stepping inside for a closer look, but careful to shut the door behind him, hoping this would delay the Masked Rockets finding him. He groped the wall for a light switch. Giving up, he pulled out his pokégear, using the flashlight on it, and cast it around the closet.
Nothing seemed out of place. Though that didn't prove that there wasn't something wrong. Krystal's scent would not just end at an empty closet. He sighed, growing impatient. He wasn't the smart, puzzle-solving hero! But he needed to find Krystal!
"Arceus..." he growled out angrily. Suddenly, the door opened behind him, and he whipped around in surprise, pokéball gripped in his right hand.
"What the...? Why are you in a closet, moron?"
"Silver?!" Ethan exclaimed, noticing that the redhead was still in his mafia boss costume. Silver sighed in irritation.
"No, your weird ass grandfather." Silver responded. "Yeah, it's me. Your stupid monkey lead us here."
"Aipom is not stupid!" Ethan exclaimed defensively as the pokémon crawled up his arm and onto his shoulder. "That was fast, buddy." he said to the pokémon. Stupid monkey... Aipom was not stupid! Just because he lead them here... He blinked, looking up at him. "Us?" Silver simply responded by moving to the side slightly, revealing a grinning Lyra- still in her pixie costume- holding her Eevee. "Lyra! You're safe!"
"Yeah!" Lyra grinned. "Good and fine!"
"Why are you in a closet?" Silver asked again. Ethan glared at him.
"Aipom followed Krys's scent and it lead us here." he said. Silver blinked.
"You stupid pokémon lead us in the wrong direction." Silver said. Lyra blinked.
"I don't see Krystal anywhere..." she mumbled, glancing around the closet. She mulled over this for a moment. "Maybe there's a secret passage? Like in the video games?"
"But this is reality, Lyra..." Ethan said. "If it was just as easy as it was in video games, we'd be battling a boss by now..."
"It's not that bad of an idea..." Silver said. "Think about it. The Masked wannabes have to have gotten in unnoticed. While they attacked and distracted everyone, then that would give someone higher up, like an admin or an executive, time to drag Krystal away." he paused for a moment. "I think that Vale was hiding in plain sight."
"You mean that chick from the Ilex forest?" Ethan asked. Silver rolled his eyes.
"Tani was Vale." he said. "They were the same person. Vale probably tried to get close to Krystal, then dragged her off."
"So how are we supposed to locate a secret passage?" Ethan asked, sitting down and crossing his legs.
"Use your stupid monkey." Silver said. "It'll be quicker than searching around this whole place."
"Gee, thanks captain obvious." Ethan muttered as he watched his Aipom scurry around the room. The pokémon paused in one corner, sniffing for a moment before pulling out something from the wall. Silver blinked, staring at it.
"It's a fingerprint scanner." he said. "I wonder..." he dug through his pockets for a moment, pulling out two items. Ethan glanced at them strangely.
"Play-Doh and Scotch Tape?" he asked. "Why do you have Play-Doh and ScotchTape?" Silver glared at him.
"Tape in case of medical emergency." Silver said.
"I gave him the Play Doh!" Lyra said happily. "He seemed stressed and angry all the time, so I thought that if i gave him the Play-Doh to squeeze when he got angry!"
"Why not buy him a stress toy?" Ethan asked.
"'Cause Play-Doh is more fun." Lyra said with a content nod. Silver sighed.
"It's a fairly simple method. Someone even as stupid as you could figure it out, Nathan."
"It's Ethan."
"Don't care." Silver responded as he brought out the tape, took a strip, then pressed it against the scanner. Slowly, he lifted the tape and pressed it into the Play-Doh. He took the Play Doh and carefully pressed it onto the scanner. He stood still for a moment as the scanner ran over the fake fingerprint. There was a ding, and a small light glowed green.
"Fingerprint recognized, Executive Vale." Silver smirked as the machine let them in, the door slowly opening.
o.0.o.0.o
Yeah. This bastard made Miley Cyrus sound good.
Amy47101 signing off! ^.^