The direct sequel of SE #022: Rescue.
Primary: Diamond & Platinum.
The Outside World:
Platinum watched with interest as Diamond showed her the basics of making a fruit cake. She stayed far away from the knife used to cut the fruits, as she had been attacked with a pair two months ago, and had accidentally cut herself with it (a minor cut) the previous day while attempting to cook. The only thing the heiress did to help in completing the cake was placing the fruits on the icing.
"The cake looks wonderful, Diamond," Platinum said with a bright smile. "I wish to learn more. Could you come over tomorrow as well?"
"Uh… sure, Lady. But I think it'll be much easier for you to learn in a simple kitchen, like the one in my house," Diamond said.
Platinum suddenly looked troubled. "Um… I – I do not think I am ready to leave my home…"
"Take your time, Lady. When you think you're ready, we'll take it one step at a time."
Platinum sighed. "You must think I am pathetic… Pearl certainly thinks so. It had been two months, and I still cannot leave my home."
"No, no. I understand this kind of thing takes time."
As Diamond and Platinum continued to talk, the old butler Sebastian entered the (massive) kitchen.
"My Lady, Sir Gold and Lady Crystal are here to see you," he said after a polite bow.
"Ah, thank you. Please tell my seniors to wait a little longer."
Platinum and Diamond quickly washed their hands and went to greet their seniors a minute later. Gold and Crystal were standing outside the kitchen, looking at the various art on the walls. The two Johto Dex Holders saw their juniors and waved at them. Diamond waved back and Platinum bowed.
"Seniors, I apologize for making you wait."
"It's okay," Crystal said with a warm smile. "I really like coming here. "Lady Crystal"… I just love hearing that."
Gold grinned. Looks like he would have to do something about that…
"Seniors, it was my understanding that you were in Snowpoint City. What brings you here?"
"We're here to make you face your fears," Gold answered.
Crystal scowled at him for being so damn blunt. "Sorry, Platinum. But we really think it's time you overcame your fears. You missed out on quite a few Dex Holder meetings and events."
Platinum looked over at Diamond, wondering if he knew of this. Diamond seemed equally surprised. Before the heiress could say anything, Gold dragged her away from the kitchen and towards the front door. Platinum tried to stall, but to no avail. There was a moveable chair in front of the door and Gold forced her to sit here. Crystal opened the door and Pearl was standing in the doorway.
"Finally," he said with an aggravated look. "Miss Lady, this is how we're going to do this. You're going to say a number that best suits the way you're feeling. 0 if you're perfectly calm and normal, and 10 if you're about to go crazy from nervousness and such."
"Um… okay. I believe I am at 1 at the moment."
Crystal started to push the chair forward, with Gold, Diamond, and Pearl surrounding the chair to give Platinum the idea that she's perfectly protected. The heiress shut her eyes the moment she was outside. The sun was a little too bright… Also, she had just taken her first step (well, not step) out of her mansion in months.
"2…" she muttered.
"It's okay, Platinum," Gold said as he took the lead. "I'll narrate to let you know what's happening."
"Gold, that's not necessary. It's not like she's blind," Crystal said from behind, but the goggled boy ignored her.
"The sun is bright. There is no wind," Gold started. "It's getting a little hot, and there are some kids by the street, playing with a ball dangerously close to the road, as if tempting their fate." He grinned as he continued his 'helpful' narration. "Oh? There's a guy hiding in the trees!"
"5… 5…" Platinum muttered.
"Oh wait, that's just a Starly."
"3…"
"There's a guy coming right for us!" Gold yelled.
"8! 8!"
"Now he's going away from us!"
"Gold! That's just a guy jogging!" Crystal yelled from behind.
"6…" Platinum muttered as she looked around fearfully.
Diamond grabbed onto her hand. "It's okay, Lady. Nothing's happening. And even if something unexpected happens, we're here."
Platinum smiled at him and steadily stopped trembling. "4… 3… 2."
Diamond let go of her hand now that she was calm. But the moment he did, Platinum started to mutter higher numbers.
"3… 4! 6!"
Diamond quickly grabbed her hand again and sighed in relief when the numbers started to decrease. He looked at her and noticed that she seemed very distressed.
"Maybe we should stop," he said to Crystal.
"This is for her own good," she said with a sigh. "We can't wait forever. She needs to start facing her fears." She glanced over at Gold and sighed again. "I knew I shouldn't have brought him here… he's not helping at all…"
"All is quiet and…" Gold trailed off. "Wait… what the hell is that?"
"5… 6!"
"That buzzing noise… it's coming closer!" Gold yelled.
"7! 9!"
"There must be a hive of either Beedrill or Combees and Vespiquen nearby. Don't worry, I'll set it on fire!" Gold said as he sent out his Typhlosion. "Come, Explotaro!"
Gold ran ahead with the Typhlosion and disappeared into the small forest nearby. As people started to gather to watch the commotion, Platinum started to hyperventilate.
"Take me back! Take me back!" she cried between breaths. "10! 10! 10!"
Crystal swiveled the chair around and started to push it back towards the Berlitz mansion. As Diamond and Pearl followed, Gold ran past them, having accomplished nothing except pissing off all the inhabitants of the now-ablaze hive.
"RUN!" he yelled as a large cluster of Combees chased him.
Platinum shut her eyes and put her hands over her ears as she shouted out increasing numbers.
"13! 17! 43! 141421356…"
Once the five Dex Holders were back in the mansion, Diamond gently helped Platinum off of her chair and led her towards the cushioned seats in the waiting room. Pearl paced around, thinking of what to do, while Crystal gave Gold a hell of a reprimand for making everything worse.
Pearl suddenly snapped his fingers, as a brilliant idea occurred. Platinum probably wouldn't think so, but it was for her own good. The hasty Dex Holder walked up to Diamond.
"Hey, Dia, I forgot to tell you. Your mom wants you back home."
"Why?" Diamond asked.
"I don't know. She didn't tell me."
Diamond looked back and forth between Pearl and Platinum, wondering what he should do. If his mother called him back home but sent Pearl, then it probably wasn't urgent. Seeing Platinum's utterly distressed look, he didn't want to leave either.
"You know, when your mother asks you to return, that generally means that she needs your help with something around the house. So you should probably get going," Gold said from behind, unknowingly helping Pearl.
Diamond sighed but nodded. "I'm really sorry, Lady," he said as he looked at Platinum. "But I have to go back."
"No… Diamond, please stay," Platinum begged.
"Always listen to your mother," Crystal said from behind. "No matter how… weird they may be to you."
"Sorry, Lady," Diamond said again as he rose to his feet. Platinum grabbed onto him and he had no choice but to gently pull himself away.
Once Diamond left, Platinum curled up into a ball and started to rock back and forth. While Gold stood with a blank expression, Crystal went up to Pearl.
"Okay, so why did you send Dia out of here?" she asked. "I know his mother didn't call for him, otherwise she would've just called him on his Pokégear."
"Well, I'm thinking that we use a more… drastic measure to cure Miss Lady," the hasty Dex Holder replied. "Dia definitely wouldn't support this plan, which is why I sent him out."
"What do you have in mind?"
"First, we force Miss Lady to go to Dia's house in Twinleaf. We can do that by… well, basically tying her up to a Pokémon capable of flying, and sending it to Dia's house. And I guess I'll do that. She'll hate me for a while, but once she gets over her fears, she'll see that it was necessary. Then once we're at Dia's house, you and Gold should pretend to leave, thus leaving only me, Dia, and Miss Lady in the house. Then you and Gold will dress up as home invaders or something and pretend to attack me and Dia. Once we pretend to be knocked out, Miss Lady will have no choice but to stand up to you, thus overcoming her fears!"
"That sounds like a poorly thought-out plan," Crystal said as she slowly shook her head.
"Do you have a better idea?" Pearl asked.
Crystal sighed. "… Let's do it."
Two hours later, Twinleaf Town…
Diamond opened the door to his house and entered. "Mom, I'm home!" he called. Instead of a reply, all he got was Platinum suddenly running up to him. "Lady? What are you doing here? How did you get here?"
The heiress simply hugged him and cried onto his neck. "I – It was horrible…"
Pearl soon appeared in his sight. "Hey, Dia. Uh… in case you're wondering, your mom's actually not here. She let us in and then went to Jubilife City to shop."
Everything fell into place and Diamond looked at Pearl with disbelief. "So… my mom didn't actually need my help. You only lied to me so you could kidnap the Lady and bring her here?"
"More or less… Dia… no, Diamond, come here. There's something we need to discuss. Leave Miss Lady there."
Diamond followed his friend after comforting Platinum for a short while. He listened intently as the hasty Dex Holder began whispering his plan.
"But… wouldn't that hurt the Lady more?" Diamond asked worriedly. "I mean… I want her to overcome her fears as quickly as possible so we can go to places again, but your plan sounds like it'll just hurt her and make things worse."
"Come on, Dia. Situations like this require drastic measures."
"Well… fine. But if I think she's too distressed, I'm going to stop the whole thing."
"Of course."
A few minutes later, the door (that was unlocked by Pearl) opened and two masked people entered. Diamond and Platinum were currently in the living room, so Pearl went to meet the home invaders. The two invaders raised their masks, revealing themselves as Gold and Crystal.
"Is everything ready?" Crystal asked.
"Yeah, we're all set," Pearl answered. "But first…"
The hasty Dex Holder simply collapsed on the ground to pretend as if he's been knocked out. The two Johto Dex Holders stepped over their junior and entered the living room. To give the impression that they were hostile, they knocked over every non-fragile thing they could see (such as chairs, tables with nothing on them, etc).
Platinum screamed in fear as she hastily ran over to the other side of the room. She stayed as far away as she could from the home invaders as Diamond went up to fight them. The heiress watched in horror as her boyfriend got stabbed by one of the home invaders and dragged out of the living room.
"No, no, no! Diamond!"
Crystal dragged Diamond over to where Pearl is and let the relaxed Dex Holder lie on the floor. Gold had 'stabbed' him (a weak punch to the stomach while pretending to hold something small), so as far as Platinum knew, he was either dead or dying.
"This was not a part of the deal!" Diamond whispered.
"Well, change of plans," Pearl said with a grin. "Now stay quiet. Miss Lady thinks you're dead."
Crystal walked into the living room and could see that Platinum was crying in the corner with her face buried in her hands. Gold looked as if he didn't know what to do next. He attempted to 'attack' her, but the moment he took a step forward, Platinum shrieked and cried more sorrowfully.
Gold rubbed the back of his neck, wondering what he should do. Deciding to force the heiress to defend herself, he reached forward and grabbed her by the hair. But all he did was make her start trembling. He didn't know, but he was repeating the exactly the same steps Platinum's kidnappers took when they attacked her. They first stabbed the gardener nearby, then they cornered the heiress and then grabbed her hair before hurting her.
Pearl looked into the living room and saw Platinum too scared to do anything. 'This isn't going according to plan…'
Diamond looked as well, and upon seeing the heiress, he tried to go and help. Pearl quickly grabbed him and put a hand over his mouth to prevent him from saying anything.
"Pearl, do something!" Diamond whispered after moving his friend's hand.
"Relax, Dia. It's just like the time she first learned to ride a bicycle," the hasty Dex Holder whispered back. "Miss Lady responds to shocking and maybe insulting motivations."
"… What?"
"Watch." Pearl crawled to the entrance of the living room while pretending to be hurt. "Damn it, Miss Lady!" he yelled out. "Do something! Dia's dying here!"
"I – I cannot…" Platinum cried out.
"Come on, Miss Lady!" Pearl yelled again. "You can't be this weak and pathetic!"
Platinum seemed to have been greatly affected by the words and she snapped into focus. 'He is right… I must be strong! For Diamond…' She clenched her teeth and swatted the home invader's hand away. She summoned up as much courage and strength she could possibly manage and kicked him between the legs as hard as she could.
Gold groaned as he dropped to the floor. "Ow, son of a b-"
"It… worked, but maybe a bit too much…" Pearl muttered from afar as he watched Platinum lunge towards Crystal.
"Whoa, wait!" Crystal tried to say, but her junior had already kicked her in the stomach and proceeded to punch her in the face. She tried to block, but the wind had been knocked out of her due to the unexpected kick and thus she couldn't move in time. The punch hit her in the right cheek, but it hurt a lot more than it should, thanks to the large diamond ring on the heiress's left hand. Crystal collapsed on the floor beside Gold and Platinum began to kick them.
"Miss Lady, stop!" Pearl yelled as he hastily ran over to the heiress.
"Pearl?" Platinum said between breaths. "A – Are you okay?" Before Pearl could answer, she saw Diamond behind him and quickly ran to him. "Diamond!" But seeing how the relaxed Dex Holder wasn't hurt at all, Platinum appeared confused. "What is going on?"
Crystal groaned as she sat up. She took her mask off and felt around her cheek. There was a big cut there, caused by the diamond ring. "Ungh… Gold, are you okay?"
"No…" the goggled boy groaned out.
Platinum gasped in shock. "Senior Gold? Senior Crystal? The two attackers were… you?"
"Gold… let's get out of here," Crystal said. "Let Dia and Pearl explain things…"
Two days later, Pallet Town…
"You did WHAT?" Blue yelled at Gold and Crystal. It seemed that Diamond had told her of what the two Johto Dex Holders did in Twinleaf…
"We… um… tried to help Platinum," Crystal replied quietly while keeping her head down.
"Yeah. I thought it went pretty good," Gold added. "Except for the part where she… kicked me."
"You IDIOTS!" Blue yelled. "You only made things worse!" She glared at Crystal. "Crys, I thought you were smarter than that!"
"… Sorry…"
"So the thought of asking me, the only one with experience in overcoming phobias, for help didn't occur at all?"
"You were… um… with Green at the time," Crystal mumbled out. "I know how much you were looking forward to it, so… I… um… thought I could help instead…"
"The only thing you fools managed to do was make Platinum hate you! Now it's going to be a lot harder to help her cure her phobia!"
"So what are you going to do?"
"I'll go and help her. Who knows what'll happen if I send you two idiots again."
Crystal bowed as her senior flew away on her Wigglytuff. Once she was gone, the Johto girl sighed and glared at Gold.
"Thanks a lot, Gold. Now I'm a part of "you idiots"."
Two weeks later, Twinleaf Town…
Diamond prepared to leave his home so he could visit Platinum again. He heard that Blue had 'kidnapped' the heiress to help her get over her phobia and that the heiress had returned the previous day. He wanted to know how Platinum was doing right now, which was why he was going to visit her. But the moment he opened the door and stepped outside, he collided into Platinum, who was just about to knock on the door. Her head hit him on the chin and both Sinnoh Dex Holders took a step backwards to recover from the collision.
"Ow. Lady, are you okay?" Diamond asked as he rubbed his chin.
"Yes, I am fine," the heiress replied as she placed her hands on her forehead.
"Uh… Lady, how did you get here?" Diamond asked after a second of thought. "Did someone kidnap you here again?"
"No, I came here on my own will."
"Really? How?"
"Senior Blue helped me to quickly overcome my fears of the outside world. The 12 days I had with her were frightening and horrible, but they were effective."
"Does that mean we can go to places now?"
"Yes." Platinum smiled and suddenly bowed to him. "Thank you, Diamond. You are the only one who had shown me unrelenting support through my difficult time. I can honestly say that the two months I had with you in my home were very comforting only because you were there."
"It's okay, Lady. I did what I could to make you comfortable. What about Gold, Crystal, and Pearl though? Did you forgive them?"
"Yes. What they did was awful, but they were only trying to help. I cannot believe that Pearl came up with such a terrible idea, and I also cannot believe that senior Crystal agreed to it. But once again, they were only trying to help. I invited them over to my home so that we can have a feast celebrating my recovery. I hope that you can attend as well."
"Of course. I wouldn't miss it! When is it?"
"It is in 3 days."
"No problems, then." Diamond stepped aside to open the doorway. "So… I was actually going to visit you, but since you're here, why don't you come in? Let's make cake. I'm getting hungry."
Platinum gave him a warm smile. "You are always hungry, Diamond. I am eager to learn more about cooking, and perhaps the smaller kitchen can teach me the basics much better than at my home." She took a few steps towards him and hugged him. "Again, thank you Diamond. The outside world is very scary, but if you are there with me, I have nothing to fear."
Could you imagine a Beedrill hive? A hive of a huge cluster of bees that are a meter tall… with 3 huge stingers… Stay the hell away from there!
The current poll's results are in the SE category of the News section on my profile.
Post Ending:
3 days later, Sandgem Town…
Gold and Crystal waited just outside Platinum's reading room as the old butler entered to tell the heiress of their presence. While waiting, Crystal noticed that Gold was grinning and occasionally coughing to appear casual.
"What's so funny, Gold?" Crystal asked.
"Oh, nothing," the goggled boy replied.
"If this is about Platinum kicking and punching me… it was just a few hits. I wasn't ready and she was… desperate."
"No, she was kicking your ass, and you couldn't do anything about it! But seriously, I wasn't laughing or anything like that."
It was obvious that he was lying, so Crystal was about to ask again when she heard the old butler announcing to Platinum inside the room.
"My Lady, the Great Amazing Master Gold and Super Serious Gal are here to see you."
Now review, please. For all of SE, SA, SR, and quite possibly the 4th S, follow the 4Rs. Read chapter, Review chapter, Read profile news, Repeat.