DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN POKEMON.
Driftveil Gym, Driftveil City. Unova Region.
The next day had come and a certain white-haired trainer was toughing it out against the Underground Boss of Driftveil's Gym.
"Close Combat!" White called and Scraggy closed the gap between him and Clay's Excadrill before landing hard punches on the Subterrene Pokémon's gut. This proved to be super-effective as it moaned in pain before falling to its knees.
"Show some guts! Reel in that snapper with yer Rock Smash!" the portly gym leader called. Whereas he was down to his last pokemon, White still hadn't lost a single one of hers showing that she had definitely over-trained for this battle. Scarlet wasn't surprised though since he wanted no mistakes or slip-ups that would hinder his progress. As he always said, the sooner White finishes her gym battles and beats the league, the faster he gets closer to this Reshiram of hers.
"Jump and use Hi Jump Kick!" Snapping back to reality, the ravenette was just in time to see Excadrill throw a glowing punch and miss Scraggy who jumped into the air and brought his knee down on the Subterrene Pokemon's steel hood. With a sharp cry, it fell to the ground defeated and White lifted her pokemon in triumph while the shocked gym leader called back his pokemon and walked up to her.
"Well I'll be! Sure didn't see that coming," he remarked as he tipped his white wide-brimmed hat. "Fer such a young 'un, ya have an imposin' battle style just like ya brother. I know ya got people who can dig up yer potential. Here! Take this 'ere badge! Ya earned it!"
"Thanks!" Taking the badge in his palms, the trainer turned to Scarlet and struck a pose. "Alright! I've got the quake badge! And I didn't need a grass pokemon to do it too!" and her victorious pokemon jumped beside her for emphasis.
"Keep that up and we'll get sued in no time," her coach deadpanned, sweatdropping. "Let's go back to the PC." Picking up Jolteon, he started towards the exit with White skipping happily after him. Once outside, they turned in the direction of the PC before stopping as a car parked up beside them. From behind the glossy windows, the duo could make out Bianca's grinning face at the passenger's seat in front with Cheren sitting semi-impatiently at the wheel.
"From that big grin on your face, I'm guessing your battle was a success?" said the older ravenette as the windows wound down. At White's ecstatic nod, he smiled and gave a thumbs up.
"Not a single one of my friends fainted too!"
Bianca whistled in surprise. "Wow, Clay's never lost that badly before. You've really got Black's blood!"
"Are you guys leaving?" Scarlet chipped in and Cheren nodded.
"Bianca's rested enough and I've just about finished formalities here. It's high time we moved anyway."
"I can't wait to get there! Cheren said there'll be pokemon from foreign regions in the east too!" the blonde gushed as she bounced on her chair earning a concerned look from her husband.
"You didn't drink coffee, right?" he asked and Bianca giggled at the question.
"Only a teeny pinch," she replied, putting two fingers close for emphasis. "It's not like I'll get hyper on that!"
"Help me..." groaned Cheren as anime tears trickled down his face. "Anyway White, where're you guys headed now?"
The trainer nudged her coach who rubbed his forehead in thought.
"According to that map I read yesterday, Mistralton City's the closest city to Driftveil with a gym," he mumbled and caught the flicker of slight uncertainty in the couple's eyes. "What?"
"Oh you never knew...?" Bianca asked and sighed. "I don't blame you though. Skyla's been keeping to herself all this time..."
White tilted her head, puzzled. She had only seen Skyla once and that was during Black's funeral. She also remembered that while alive, her brother would often talk about some of the air-races he'd had with the Flying-type specialist.
"Did something happen to her?" she asked in concern.
"Well for starters, she refuses to battle anybody anymore. It was slow at first but she gradually lost interest in battling. And to think she was the most enthusiastic before," Cheren began and White arched an eyebrow. Black had once said that Skyla would even put flights on hold just to battle a challenger. "She also goes to the Celestial Tower more often."
Bianca sighed again. "I've tried talking to her but nothing I said cheered her up. I'm so worried for her...it's almost like she's a ghost of her old self."
Scarlet shrugged. "Oh well. We'll just have to find another gym then."
"No!" White cut in and tugged on his arm obnoxiously. "She's Black's friend so I've gotta help her!"
"If Bianca's personality couldn't get through to her then I highly doubt yours could instead," Cheren remarked and started the car. "It's okay to try though. She might open up a little since you're his sister."
"What does being his sister have anything to do with her?" White asked and Bianca leaned out the window.
"It's a hunch, but I think she had a thing for Black."
After saying their goodbyes, the couple drove off to their new world leaving two teens and one Jolteon to continue on their journey through the rest of olden Unova. White felt a light sensation on the bridge of her nose and looked up to see the grey skies swelling with rain.
"Do we really have to go to Mistralton?" Scarlet muttered as he too faced the sky and watched the pregnant clouds. "If this Skyla-person doesn't wanna battle then you've got no right to force her..."
"It's not about battling, Scarlet. If she's Black's friend then she's my friend too. It's only logical that I help her out."
"Tch! How sappy..."
Smiling, she faced her companions and tapped Scarlet's forehead playfully. "It's called having a heart, baldy! Honestly, you act like haven't got a soul at times!" With that, she zigzagged her way back to the PC. The hunter watched her briefly before facing the sea. At that moment, the sky let itself fall and spring rain fell upon Driftveil. Looking up at his master's face, Jolteon saw that dead look of melancholy on his face that only appeared when the word 'soul' was mentioned.
"Haven't got a soul..." he murmured lowly as the rain soaked him thoroughly, as if trying to wash away his features. Starting after White he whispered, "Give me some credit...I've at least got half..."
By the time he and Jolteon had arrived, White had packed her bag and was currently waiting for her pokemon to heal up. Sitting himself down in one of the large couches, the hunter took a towel out of his bag and dried himself off before towelling off his electric pokemon. A small DING was heard and that gave the signal that White's pokemon were fully rested and ready to go.
"We'll most likely have to pass Route 6 and Chargestone Cave before we get to Mistralton since there's no train route to that city," Scarlet stated as the trainer gathered her pokeballs and walked up to him. "It's gonna be a long hike so gather all the essentials you'll need. For now though, we should wait for the rain to die down."
Sitting beside him, White picked a magazine from the rack beside her and checked out the puzzle sections while Scarlet took out a newspaper, leafing through it in search of any news concerning hunters or something. Luckily, he didn't have the name LP as stated in the wanted poster on the paper so he could still move freely throughout the region. His eyes however caught sight of a headliner stating that a train was mysteriously derailed the other day. His mind flashed back to Lightning's train but he pushed it aside for the time-being. There were no casualties as reported so he wouldn't have died or something. Also the possibility of the derailed train being his was slim as there were ten of those machines going for the same route.
Why am I thinking all this anyway? It's not like I care if he lives or dies.
In minutes, the heavy pounding reduced to light drizzles and Scarlet got up and stretched before slipping on a black, knee-length trench coat.
"Jolteon, rookie, time to go." Dropping the magazine back in the rack, White put on her pink, calf-length raincoat before grabbing Jolteon and placing him in her bag leaving his head sticking out comfortably.
"Please come again," said Nurse Joy with her usual bow and White waved while Scarlet merely nodded. In a minute, they were well on their way to the end of Driftveil and back to that familiar entrance to Route 6.
"Terrain's kinda rough so the cube can only get us to Chargestone cave. After that, the cube'll need some time to self-recharge so walking through the cave'll be our only option."
"Recharge?" White asked and eyed the cube dangling on a chain from his pocket. Sure enough it looked a little dim.
"Tissue regeneration takes a lot of energy from the cube. Of course it'll need to recharge," he replied and took out the cube. "Not to mention I stopped a freaking train with it too." Twisting it, he dropped the cube and let it change to cycle mode. Sitting on it, he beckoned for White to follow and started the engine. As soon as she positioned herself behind him, the girl leaned forward and wrapped her arms around the ravenette before resting her head on his back.
"Let's go!" she called and Scarlet (still unused to that pressure from White's chest) twisted the handlebars, sending the cycle rocketing through the forest. From the top of a tall office building nearby, two familiar figures watched the speeding vehicle lazily.
"Too bad, looks like we missed the rain," Draco sighed and sat against the ledge. Taking out a cone, he licked intently and made a satisfied face at its heavenly taste. His sister, who lay stretched out fully on the ledge with her head on his lap as if asleep, yawned and stared at the grey sheet that called itself sky.
"Draco, how come you let that weakling live?" she asked in a tone neither irritated nor angry. Just bored, which made the young man chuckle lowly.
"For that very reason, Alphy. He was weak and too afraid to continue against me. Also, I lost interest halfway through our fight. I wonder why he was so scared of me, though? Did I go overboard again?"
Overboard doesn't even compare, you sadistic oaf, the blonde inwardly deadpanned before shrugging her shoulders. "Are we gonna follow those two or what?"
"But I want to soak in the rain today..." her brother whined and received a light kick on the back of the head. "Have I ever mentioned how very flexible you are?"
"I guess the Shadow Triad's training came in handy for once," she replied and smiled slowly as Draco stroked her head gently.
"I hope Scarlet's not as weak," he murmured and faced the sky. "I'd hate to break both his arms and legs like Filbert's."
"Hey! What're you kids doing there?"
The guard on duty slowly walked up to them and held out a hand to grab Draco's shoulder. "This place is off-limits and it's dangerous to -"
"Don't touch me trash..." was all he heard as something flashed and blood poured from his severed arm. Before he could scream, a force from nowhere hurled him over the other side of the building and he fell screaming to his death. Without so much as moving from his spot, the dragon knight smiled wryly. "...Can't you see my sister's sleeping right now?"
Night...
From the glazed windows beside their bed, the young redhead watched in awe at the black night sky clashing artistically with the endless sheets of snow that went as far as the mountains that could only have been seen faintly at that time of the night. Standing on the large bed he was sharing with his snoring friend, Scarlet counted the small snowflakes falling from the heavens and recalled Professor Jillian's explanation on how snow was formed. Jade obviously never got it but being the young semi-prodigy that he was, Scarlet had no trouble understanding the theory. Despite that, he still preferred the story Jade had told him concerning a betrayed legendary pokemon, Arceus, and how its tears form snowflakes when it cries for humanity's ever-growing foolishness.
"I'm telling you this is wrong!" Turning his head quickly, Scarlet traced the quiet outburst and gingerly stepped through the ajar door. The facility's endless hallway greeted him as he began his way to the meeting room where the professors usually gathered.
"It's a little late for a meeting..." he whispered under his breath. "Why's Professor Jillian still awake...?"
Pressing his back to the wall beside the ajar meeting-room door, he peeked and watched as the professor he saw as a mother sat weeping silently into her hands with a hard-faced man he didn't know standing before her.
"When will it be...?" the brunette whispered slowly.
"Two days from now. They must be transported to Lacunosa by then," said the stranger impatiently and the child wondered what it was that this man said to shake the professor up that badly. "We have determined, after several trials of course, that the chasm can only be opened once in 8 years, Jillian. The boss cannot afford to lose this opportunity."
"After losing the other children to this farce? Thanks to that, I know that tyrant can only go so far for his evil cause and I will not allow the boys to become the sacrificial pawns for his twisted plans!" Jillian whispered hoarsely making the stranger raise an eyebrow.
"I was right all along. You care for subject S and J too much to let them be used for our purposes."
Scarlet put a hand to his chin in thought. Before Jillian had given them names when he and Jade had been put in her custody, the other professors referred to them as subjects S and J respectively out of all the 26 children in that facility (the letters becoming Jillian's base inspiration for their names). What exactly was going to happen them? Were they going to be moved? Separated from the one woman who they had come to know as their foster mother?
"They are human beings, not test subjects and they will not be sacrificed to some other-worldly abomination that should otherwise be left unawakened," the brunette snapped and crossed her arms defiantly. "If this is all you came for, then please leave."
Bemused, the man turned and tapped the desk rhythmically.
"Do you think this is some way to atone for what you've done so far, Jillian? What happened to the over-curious scientist who sacrificed her own child for the sake of results-"
SLAP!
The redhead's eyes went wide as hand-print on the stranger's cheek glowed red. Unfazed, he leered at the panting brunette and took out a pokeball.
"Those two will be taken tomorrow and there's nothing you can do about it. If you so much as try to stop us, I'll use this to kill that brat hiding behind the door. We have several other research facilities with test subjects ripe for the picking so S and J are very, very expendable. See you tomorrow."
In a flash, the ball opened and both Jillian and Scarlet watched as an alienish pokemon stood menacingly behind the man and made a low growl.
"Deoxys..." the redhead muttered while Jillian stared at the pokemon in slight surprise.
"Where did you-"
"Just one of the many things our organization is capable of attaining. Good night, Professor Jillian," and with that, he disappeared from sight. Letting out the breath she had been holding, the brunette sank back to her seat and looked forlornly at the empty room. Turning to the door, she smiled sadly and called out to the child hiding behind it. Opening the door, Scarlet ran up to her and buried his head in her lap while clutching her lab coat tightly.
"What was that scary guy talking about? Are we really gonna leave you? Why?" he cried and Jillian put a hand on his head gently.
"Geez Ginger, if you keep asking so many questions, my head's gonna explode," she laughed quietly and cupped his small face in her hands. "What the man says is something I should worry about okay? You should just be good as always and go to sleep."
"But I don't wanna go! They'll stick needles and wires into me again and treat me like trash like scientists always do! I'm not goi-"
His tantrum stopped as the brunette put a finger to his lips and smiled.
"Time for bed, Scarlet." Like magic, fatigue overcame him and he gave a small yawn. Carrying him in her arms, Jillian took the child back to his room and tucked him in with his snoring companion.
"I...don't wanna...go..." he murmured as she kissed his forehead and walked to the door.
"It's okay Scarlet..." she said and gave her warm smile for emphasis. "I won't let them take you two. That's a promise."
"Ginger! Hellooooo!"
White knocked on her coach's back, bringing him back to the world. Re-focusing on the straight path in front of him, Scarlet twisted the handlebars and sped up the cycle. An hour more and they'd be at the mouth of the cave where their real journey would begin.
"You never space out. Something on your mind?" White asked and only got a shake of the head. "It's not good to lie, you know..."
Scarlet huffed. "Whatever. And don't call me Ginger."
Author's Corner.
Scarlet: How come you put White's gym battle on fast-forward anyway?
Slybill: Clay's not a very important character to me so its for story-length purposes. Besides, I don't like him.
Clay: WHAT?
Slybill: Also, my baby sister's got a hold of my computer now so my update speed's gonna drop even lower. She's just soooo cute! I just have to let her use it.
Draco: Yes! Now I'm not the only one with a sister complex! Woohoo!