For those who are wondering, yes the older Dex Holders will appear (as written on the summary). And yes, I know that they're going to be pretty old if Black and White are 18. That's why I don't like using Age Relations Edition IV (as written on my profile), which is why S-EARL doesn't use it. SY… is an exception. Because in SY, Red, Green, and Blue are 30. And Ruby and Sapphire are 25. The bickering kids are all grown up! … Or are they? (Yes, they will appear). According to my plans, 5 Dex Holders will not appear at all. Those who have read all of S-EARL will probably be able to guess accurately 4 of the 5. Hint 1: They are those who I don't give a damn about. Hint 2: The only two Dex Holders who have yet to appear in SL are related.
Chapter 2: Friend to Foe
Somewhere in Unova, 12:30 pm…
White collapsed on the steel floor the moment she reappeared after forcefully being Teleported from Route 19. She tried to push herself off the floor, but couldn't. Her body was still iced over, her clothes were frozen, and she was quite disoriented, all of which hindered her movement capabilities. So instead of trying to move, she simply focused on her hearing. She could hear the footsteps of her kidnapper quickly fading away after what sounded like a solid steel door closing.
So she was locked in a steel room. Great. And she had no Pokémon or items with her. Fantastic. … And the steel floor was cold! Not helping with her ice problem… White shivered violently as she tried to push herself off the floor again. Her entirely body stung all over the place due to prolonged exposure to ice.
As the girl began to shake off the thin layers of ice on her skin, a few worries popped up in her mind. One, herself. Namely… she didn't want frostbite or anything that could hinder her appearance. She was still an icon in her hometown and appearing like crap wasn't what she wanted, ever. Two, Black. He saw her being taken and was most likely worried sick. He would come to find her, which led to her next worry. Kyurem. How the hell did her kidnapper manage to catch that? And unless Black knew what he was up against, there was no way he'd be able to save her.
But most importantly, what did the kidnapper intend to do with Kyurem and kidnapping her? As White proceeded to crawl towards the corner of the room, she began to think of the possible reasons behind her kidnapping. Ransom? It seemed most likely. But then why go through the effort of catching Kyurem? World domination? But then why kidnap her?
The third thought scared the hell out of her. Was it possible that the kidnapper caught Kyurem just to kidnap her? Did he intend to… use her for his own… pleasure? White shuddered as she forced that thought out. She'd rather bite off her tongue and die than be forced to serve him…
As time passed and her body began to thaw, she felt sharp pain from all over the place. She curled up into a ball in the corner of the room and tried to withstand them. But the throbs helped her mind to focus and think properly. Now, only two theories seemed likely.
Either her kidnapper wanted to force her to sign a series of documents that would hand over all of her assets onto him (including company ownerships), or he intended to use her for dominating Unova. Since everyone in Unova knew her and quite a lot looked up to her, if her kidnapper decided to use her to force everyone to obey him, things could get quite problematic.
But none of that would happen if she died from heat loss. White tried to breathe some warm air into her hands. It wasn't all that helpful, but it was still better than nothing. As she tried to warm herself, a sudden thought occurred that heated her body through anger and frustration.
"Teleport-kidnapped again…" she muttered in between breaths. "I'm still too weak… I need to get stronger. And fast. I need Black to train me…"
3 hours later, as White rubbed her arms and legs to warm herself up, she could hear a set of heavy footsteps coming closer to her cell. Given the sound of the footsteps, she estimated that this guy must weigh around 3~4 times her own weight. So this guy was either really, really fat, or really muscular and bulked up. If the guy was coming into her cell to hurt her, she hoped on the former possibility. That way, she'd be able to run away from him and he wouldn't be able to catch her. Otherwise, she hoped on the latter. A heavily muscular guy generally meant he had little to no brains and therefore, easily convinced. And White had better chances of escape with a bulky guy helping her rather than a fat one.
When the cell door opened, White looked up and saw a heavily muscular guy looking at her. Given his size, she estimated that one of his legs would weigh more than her. And the guy's fist was as big as her head… But he didn't seem fast, physically and mentally.
"On your feet," the bulked up guard ordered, his voice… higher pitched than his physique would imply.
White didn't move. She felt perfectly fine huddled up in the corner and didn't want to comply with her enemy's orders. She doubted that she could get to her feet anyways. The muscular guard was quite impatient, as White found out. He stomped his way towards her and wrapped a massive hand around her throat. And before the girl could do anything, the guard lifted her off the ground and onto her feet. Without warning, he shoved her towards the open door.
"Move!" he ordered, even though he just pushed her out of the cell (and into the wall).
White leaned against the steel wall and glanced left and right. There were no evident hints at an exit, but the path to the right led to a map of the area. The Unova Dex Holder quickly formulated a plan. When the muscular guard came close, she would kick him right where it hurts the most and make a run for it. It was risky and bound to piss off her captors. But since they didn't kill her, they clearly wanted her alive. And White hoped that her escape attempt wouldn't change that.
The muscular guard approached her, ready to force her to her next destination. The moment he came close, White gathered all her strength to her right leg and kicked him between his legs, right in his private parts. When the man doubled over in unimaginable pain, she quickly poked him in the eyes and immediately ran to her right.
But it seemed that this massive guard wouldn't be fazed by such attacks. Even through the (literally) blinding pain, his thick arm shot out and grabbed White by her hair just before she ran out of arm's reach. The girl quickly spun around and tried to pull her hair out of the guard's massive fist. But before she could manage, the guard yanked her close and immediately thrust a massive knee into her stomach.
The impact knocked the wind out of White and she dropped to her knees, gasping for air. The guard took this time to recover from the girl's attacks. Once his vision cleared, he looked down, where he saw the girl lying on her side, trembling in agony with both arms wrapped around her stomach. With an angry growl, the guard reached down, grabbed the girl by her throat, and proceeded to drag her away.
A minute later, the guard arrived at a large, dark, circular room with a spotlight aimed at the center. He then tossed White into the spotlight and shut the steel door as he left. The girl hit the solid steel floor with a thud, and for over a minute, she remained lying face down on the floor, trying to catch her breath.
"Stand up," came an unfamiliar voice from somewhere.
While still on the floor, White proceeded to scan the area around her, trying to see where the voice was coming from. It was futile, as the rest of the room (which felt quite large, given the echoes in the voice) was still pitch dark.
With a grunt, the girl struggled up to her feet. With one arm wrapped around her stomach, she used the other arm to support her upper body by pushing down on her knee.
"… What do you want?" she demanded.
"To put it simply, you are going to help me take over Unova," the voice answered. "With your reputation in this region, my goals will be reached very easily if you were to work for me. People of Aspertia will follow you regardless of what they believe, and more and more people will gather and follow like iron filings attracted by a strong magnet."
"What makes you think that I'll help you? I'll never join you!" White yelled in anger. She immediately winced at the pain in her stomach. She slowly took a deep breath to calm herself. Anger was clearly not going to do any good any time soon.
The voice laughed. "Did you really think that I'd drag you all the way here just to ask nicely for your help? Of course not. I have various methods to convince you. At the end of the day, you will help me, whether you want to or not. Even if you die, this will not change. Just holding you hostage would work well, as long as no one knows you're dead. But it's much more convenient for both of us if you stayed alive."
As another spotlight suddenly turned on, White felt a severe chill all over her body. And she realized what she would be facing before her eyes registered the being made visible by the new spotlight. Her kidnapper had just sent out Kyurem again. She took a nervous step backwards as the Boundary Pokémon stared at her with its blank, hollow, and (quite) creepy eyes.
White took another step backwards as Kyurem slowly stomped closer. Perhaps annoyed by the fact that the distance between them was not decreasing, the Boundary Pokémon created a wall of ice behind White, effectively preventing her from backtracking any more.
White realized her predicament and quickly looked for a solution. She suddenly felt an intense pain in her head and pressed her hands against her temples. As she doubled over in agony, she managed to take a glimpse of Kyurem and noticed that its blank eyes were glowing blue.
'Kyurem's Psychic…' she thought as the mental pain increased.
The Kyurem intensified the Psychic, forcing White to drop to her knees and writhe. The girl groaned as she twisted and contorted her body in a futile attempt to escape or lessen the effect of the Psychic. And to make the situation a whole lot worse, the power of Psychic tripled as two other Pokémon joined Kyurem. White couldn't see them as she couldn't open her eyes. Instead, exactly one more thought could pass through her mind before she lost consciousness altogether.
'Black… hurry…'
…
Meanwhile, Aspertia City…
…
Black paced around in Cheren's Gym while the Gym Leader contacted the other Unova Gym Leaders. As much as the Unova Dex Holder hated waiting, especially if it involved White, he knew he had no choice. He didn't know where the kidnapper went with Teleport. And with Kyurem, he also knew that he would be screwed if he went to fight it head on. But with the help of the other Gym Leaders and maybe even Elite Four members, the Kyurem might get distracted enough for Black to be able to rescue White.
Temporarily catching Reshiram and Zekrom might also be a decent idea, but capturing Legendaries tend to make things a hell of a lot worse than normal. So that idea would be reserved for the if-all-else-fails scenario.
Black groaned and slammed a fist onto a table nearby. He couldn't stand just waiting around when he knew White needed him. He took a look outside through the window. There was a large group of Aspertia citizens gathered right outside, demanding to know what happened with White. So the girl really was an icon in the city… More the reason to get her back safely!
Within a minute, Cheren exited his office and approached Black. He took a glance at the crowd gathered outside his Gym and sighed. Dispersing that crowd without a riot or White's presence was going to be a huge pain in the ass… And the last thing he needed was random citizens trying to find and rescue the girl on their own. Needless casualties do not help the situation at all.
"Cheren! What happened?"
"Drayden and Iris called for a gathering in Opelucid City of every Gym Leader and Elite Four member," the Aspertia Gym Leader answered. "They have a theory on what White's kidnapper group is after, and they're going to need assistance in stopping them. But I've been told to stay here and make sure this city doesn't crumble apart."
"Why in Opelucid?" Black asked.
"They said that the kidnapper's possible next target is in Opelucid Gym. And if Kyurem is in control of the enemy, stopping him is going to be difficult."
Black let out a long sigh. He nodded at Cheren and quickly left the Gym. The moment he took a single step out of the doorway, a horde of people ran towards him.
"Where's Miss White?!" demanded the crowd. "What happened to her? Who attacked her, and why?"
Some of the people were getting a little too close and angrily, so Black pushed them backwards. "If I knew, do you think I'd be standing here like this?" He then sent out his Braviary and hopped on. "Get out of the way!"
Cheren came out of the Gym shortly after Black left and tried his best to calm the mob. The Unova Dex Holder needed… practice speaking to crowds without pissing them off…
…
Opelucid City, 6 pm…
…
By the time Black arrived in Opelucid City, the city was already under attack. Only a handful of Gym Leaders were present, using their Pokémon to attack something in a thick mist. The Unova Dex Holder immediately knew that the mist was from Kyurem. He quickly landed and sent out his entire team to assist.
"Black, we could use your help!" one of the Gym Leaders (Elesa) said after a brief glance.
Black noticed that the gathered Gym Leaders (Drayden, Elesa, Skyla) and… others (Iris) were having trouble in the battle against Kyurem. However, the Kyurem wasn't doing entirely well either. His assistance could actually help the Gym Leaders overcome the Boundary Pokémon, or at least push it back.
"Boar, Flamethrower! Tula, Thunderbolt!"
The two attacks joined together and hit the Kyurem in its thick mist, forcing it to jump in order to maintain balance. Now that the Boundary Pokémon wasn't in its thick mist, it couldn't evade the oncoming attacks as well as before.
"Excellent," the Kyurem's trainer yelled out from behind the Dragon Pokémon. "Your reputation is well deserved."
"You son of a bitch! What did you do with Miss President?!" Black roared.
"… Not too good on manners, though. Didn't your girl ever tell you that you had horrible manners?"
"Shut up!" Black yelled in anger. "Where is she?!"
"Inside a warehouse near the Opelucid Gym," the kidnapper calmly replied.
"Liar!"
The kidnapper shook his head. "Why bother asking me for her location if you're not going to believe me? I never lie."
Black thought of a reply, but couldn't. However, since the Opelucid Gym wasn't too far away, he could check it out pretty quickly… With clenched teeth, he left his Pokémon with the Gym Leaders and quickly ran towards the Gym. There was only one old warehouse nearby that had some old Gym layout equipment stored, so if the kidnapper really wasn't lying, then White would be locked somewhere in there.
He was quite skeptical though. No kidnapper takes their hostage around everywhere. And no kidnapper gives away the location of the hostage. Willingly, at any rate. But even if it was complete bullshit, he couldn't just let it slide.
Black arrived at the warehouse within 5 minutes. The door was unlocked, curiously. So if the kidnapper really was telling the truth, then either White was unconscious, or tied up so that she couldn't escape.
"Miss President?" he called the moment he entered. He kept the Pokéball containing his Braviary in his hand, in case the kidnapper had minions. But the whole warehouse sounded empty. There was absolutely no movement, anywhere. It was pretty empty too, so it wasn't going to be hard to scan the whole place. There was nothing in this room, but there was another door in the corner that was partially open.
There were footsteps going in and out of that room, clearly visible in the dust covered floor. There weren't any footsteps going anywhere else, so Black followed the visible trail. The moment he pushed the door completely open, he spotted White sitting on the floor, leaning against a large box. Well, damn. So the kidnapper really wasn't lying… But then why tell him?
"Miss President!" Black yelled in a mix of joy and worry. He quickly knelt beside the girl and shook her by the shoulders. She was breathing, but she kept her eyes closed. She didn't appear to be injured anywhere. Her clothes were damp due to the thick layer of ice that had formed all around her during her kidnapping. Black gently put a hand to her cheek and rubbed. "Miss President?"
White started to stir. Black almost jumped in joy. He gently brushed the few stray strands of hair away from her face and readjusted her cap so no other strands of hair could get in the way. White steadily opened her eyes.
Black froze. Something seemed different… Her usually bright blue eyes were… blood red.
"Black?" the girl muttered. Her voice wasn't any different, though.
"Yes, it's me. I'm so glad you're okay!" Black said happily. He decided to worry about the eye color shift later.
White suddenly narrowed her eyes and pushed him away from her. As Black stared at her for the sudden push, she rose to her feet and brushed off the dirt on her. And without taking a single glance at Black, she walked out of the room. He quickly followed her, wondering what was wrong with her.
He caught up with her by the time she exited the warehouse. Much to his surprise, he spotted the kidnapper and his Kyurem standing right outside, facing the gathered Gym Leaders and their Pokémon. The kidnapper must've moved the battle over here…
Much to Black's horror, White turned to face him with two Pokéballs in her hand. Since her entire team was with him at the moment, he wondered for a second what Pokémon she could possibly have. Then a theory popped in his mind that drained the energy from him.
The kidnapper had Kyurem. Drayden and Iris, the two people who know more about Dragon Pokémon than anyone else in the region, claimed that the kidnapper's next target would be in Opelucid. And Drayden had access to a certain device that Ghetsis-
White sent out her two Pokémon. Black froze as Reshiram and Zekrom appeared around him. His theory was correct… The girl turned away from him and walked towards her kidnapper. Now standing beside him, the girl faced the gathered Gym Leaders and her 'former' boyfriend, with all three Unova Dragons by her side.
"That's right," the kidnapper said with a grin. "Now destroy them."
White was about to order something to the three Unova Dragons when she suddenly pressed her hands to her temples. "N – No! I… I won't!" She looked over at Black and he could see that her eye color had returned to normal. "B – Black… hel-" she trailed off into a long pained groan as she doubled over. When she stood up straight again, her eyes were once again blood red.
"Black, focus," Skyla warned. "We need to hold them off until the rest of the Gym Leaders and the Elite Four arrive. Try not to think about White…"
"But… Miss President…" Black stammered. "… Miss President! Fight back! You can do it!"
White pointed over at him. "Flamethrower, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam," she ordered in monotone.
The Reshiram, Zekrom, and Kyurem did as told. The three attacks merged together into one devastating attack. The Gym Leaders quickly jumped to the side to avoid the attacks. Black ducked under the attacks and pressed his body onto the ground to avoid the explosion that would follow when the attacks hit the warehouse.
White maintained her blank look as her hair swayed in the wind caused by the exploding warehouse. Black grunted as he got back up. All the Gym Leaders and their Pokémon were fine as well. The Unova Dex Holder looked at White, still having trouble believing what was happening. But he had no choice…
With hesitation, he sent out the rest of his team and White's entire team, which had been fully healed during the time spent in Aspertia City.
"I won't let you control her like this, you bastard!" Black roared at the kidnapper.
The kidnapper didn't say anything but maintained his grin. White looked at her team without any emotion in her eyes. Her team looked back, each with a look of worry and despair. The girl's eyes suddenly reverted to normal again and started to groan with her hands pressed against her temples.
"No! … No! I – I can't…" White groaned out in agony. Through her pain, she managed to make eye contact with her Serperior. "A – Amanda… Leaf Storm… on me!"
The Serperior hesitated but prepared to do as told.
"No! Stop!" Black quickly yelled.
In that moment of hesitation, White lost control again and her eye color returned to blood red. She pointed at her team and gave her orders to the three Unova Dragons.
"Fusion Flare, Fusion Bolt, Glaciate."