A relatively fast update. For a reason. I'm focusing on ending SY, SR is still in shambles after that disastrous series, I have no intention of updating SL any time soon, so this was all that was left.

Consider it as a Valentine's Day gift. Probably better than the last one I gave out, which involved 3 deaths in SA.

And as another Valentine's Day gift, the successor to SE is live.

Chapter 11: The Battler

Pallet Town Kanto, 9 am…

"You really found him?" Blue asked, unable to hide her surprise and excitement.

"Well… not exactly, but we did narrow his possible and probable locations to 3 places," Crystal said. "But we are absolutely sure he's in one of the 3."

"Okay, so tell us what you found."

Crystal took out the maps of Kanto and Johto from her bag and spread it out on the floor. "Okay. We checked around for unusual occurrences," she started. "Very strong trainers appearing out of nowhere, for example. We then narrowed down the results to match Red. Strong trainers with Pokémon that Red has. And there are 3 possibilities. First possibility: there is a really strong trainer with an Espeon around Goldenrod City of Johto. Nothing else is known about the trainer, but apparently that Espeon has beaten every challenger to date. Second possibility: there is a powerful trainer spotted in Pewter City of Kanto, defeating wave after wave of challenger trainers. And even some who aren't challengers. Final possibility: there have been sightings of an Aerodactyl flying around in Celadon City of Kanto. Reports say that it's always holding someone in its claws. It could be Red just flying around with his Aerodactyl. It's worth a look."

Blue slowly nodded. "Hmm… It's worth a try, I guess. Alright. Black, White, Platinum, you three are up for this. Red knows everyone else, but he probably never even heard of you three. So, White. You search Goldenrod City. I'll give you something to help you track down an Espeon. Black, you take Celadon City. Platinum, that leaves you with Pewter City. Maintain contact with each other and with us and let us know as soon as possible if you find him."

"Yes, senior."

The three youngest Dex Holders bowed to their seniors and soon left the house. With their aerial transport Pokémon, they all headed their separate ways, going as fast as they could so that Red would not move from his current position.

…

Goldenrod City, Johto, 11 am…

…

White glanced around here and there while walking around the streets. Looking for a trainer with a strong Espeon was going to prove to be difficult. It's not like that Espeon will be out of the Pokéball all the time. AND a strong trainer would have more than one Pokémon. According to Crystal, Red had… a Pikachu, Espeon, Snorlax, Aerodactyl, Venusaur, and a Gyarados. So… she just had to look for someone with any of those Pokémon and see if that trainer matched the description of Red.

Again, easier said than done. Because Goldenrod had a LOT of people, as it was the heart of Johto.

To aid in her search attempts, Blue had lent her a little device that she had used in the past. A psywave detector. If any Psychic type was out of its Pokéball, the detector would track it and point to it. Blue had apparently used an early model of it during her attempts at capturing Mew.

White took out the psywave detector and turned it on. Oh? There was a little blip on the radar. So there was a Psychic type out of its ball. It was worth a look.

She eventually found the blip. An Espeon… White quickly glanced around for its trainer. There was only one person in the vicinity, and it was a girl. Rats.

"… White? Is that you?" the girl asked all of a sudden.

White almost jumped in surprise. She focused on the girl and then realized that she recognized her. The girl had long black hair tied into a ponytail and had deep red eyes. Curiously, she had bandages wrapped around her leg and around her chest (portion of the wrapping visible).

"… Sora?"

"White! It is you!" Sora exclaimed happily.

White smiled brightly and hugged her friend. "It's so great to see you again!"

"Ow, ow… not so hard," Sora complained as she broke free from the Unova Dex Holder's hug. "You know, I'm surprised to see you here. I thought you'd never leave Unova because of your companies."

"Normally, yeah. But…" White sighed. "You haven't heard about what happened to Unova?"

"No. I've been resting in my… house in Johto recently. The last time I was at Unova was… 2 weeks ago?"

"Let's just say that things are hectic over there. And I'm here trying to recruit those willing to help us defeat evil. You should come with us, Sora. We could really use your help. And your brother's too."

Sora slowly shook her head. "About that… It took me half a year to get out of the hospital after what happened to me and my brother. And even right now, I can't even run properly, let alone fight. If you need someone for a friendly battle or something, then fine. I can help out. But against a big enemy? Sorry. I won't be of any help. Brother's not doing any better than I am, so… we're going to have to sit this one out."

"What happened?"

"Long story." Sora glanced around for a little while. "Hey, where's Black? Isn't he always with you in times like this?"

White's expression darkened and she sighed. "We… broke up."

"Oh. I'm really sorry to hear that. I know how it feels to lose a boyfriend."

"You guys broke up too?"

Sora rubbed the back of her neck. "Yeah… broke up… you can say that."

"… So… I guess you're that trainer with the strong Espeon around here."

"I guess. I did a few battles to test whether I healed enough, and I guess I won a little too easily." Sora glanced at her Espeon for a bit. "If you're looking for a trainer with a strong Espeon… Ef said there's another strong Psychic type around Pewter City of Kanto. I'd say that's worth a look."

"Oh. Thanks." White checked the time. "You know, I'd really love to stay and chat, but I'm here on a mission, unfortunately."

"Oh, it's okay. We'll catch up later. I have to go rest up anyways."

White waved at her friend and with her Vullaby, headed towards Pewter City. She took out her Xtransceiver and let the others know that the Goldenrod lead was a dud.

…

Meanwhile, Celadon City, Kanto…

…

Black eventually managed to find the flying Aerodactyl. It was flying around in circles above the greatest hotel of the city for some reason. Black squinted his eyes and soon realized that it was indeed holding someone in its claws.

With his objective spotted, Black ran straight towards the hotel. When he got closer, he noticed that there were a lot of things flying around on top of the building. A battle, maybe?

The Unova Dex Holder sent out his Braviary and quickly headed up there. The moment he passed the rooftop, he noticed that this scene wasn't what it appeared to be. For one, there were police on the rooftop, with the Aerodactyl attacking them. Two, the person being carried by the Aerodactyl was a little girl. Three, that little girl wasn't even REAL. Four, this whole thing was… a movie set.

"… What the?" Black muttered as he got off his Braviary to land on the rooftop.

A couple of security guards charged over at him and tackled him down to the ground. "Intruder neutralized!"

The guards flipped the Unova Dex Holder to force him to lie face down as they pulled his arms backwards.

"Hey, hey! Watch the burns!" Black yelled. "And let go! I didn't come all the way here from Unova just to get my ass handed to me! I already had it kicked pretty hard over there!"

Because of the sudden interference, the movie shooting stopped and the Aerodactyl slowly landed on the rooftop. The movie's director approached the unwanted intruder.

"What are you doing up here, kid?"

Black forced himself up, pushing the security guards away as he did. He took a few moments to massage the burns all over his body before answering.

"I'm looking for a really strong trainer who has an Aerodactyl in his team. I saw that Aerodactyl, and I just wondered."

"That Aerodactyl belongs with an actress from Johto. And we have to pay her a lot per hour. So, now that you know this isn't the one you're looking for, I suggest you go and let us resume filming."

"Yeah…"

Black hopped onto his Braviary once more and headed towards Pewter City. On his way, he called Crystal and the others to let them know that the Celadon lead was a dead end.

…

Meanwhile, Pewter City…

…

Platinum stood near the Pokémon Center and scanned the expressions of those walking in and out of the building. If there was a really strong trainer beating everyone, there were bound to be lots of people rushing towards the Pokémon Center to heal their Pokémon. And as such, if she was to ask them about the whereabouts of that trainer, the search would go quite well.

The heiress didn't have to wait long. A girl appearing a few years younger than her was rushing towards the Pokémon Center while carrying an injured Skitty in her arms. Platinum waited until she ran inside the building before following. She approached the girl after she handed the nurse her Pokémon.

"Excuse me," the heiress started.

"Yes?" the girl asked back.

"There have been rumors of a very powerful trainer attacking numerous people within this city. Would you know anything about his whereabouts?"

The girl nodded. "Yeah. In the southwestern corner of the city, there are a few dark alleyways. If you pass near one, this… big guy would just come out of nowhere and fight you. He's really strong…"

Platinum nodded. "Thank you." She then left the Pokémon Center and headed towards the southwestern corner as told.

The dark alleyways were easy to spot from the air. And Platinum could even see a small handful of people wandering in them. So she landed nearby and with the Pokéball of her Empoleon in hand, walked by the alleyway. She kept her guard up, but pretended to be a naïve tourist. She purposely walked slowly, creating plenty of opportunities to be attacked.

As she slowly made her way past one particular alley, she spotted a homeless man sitting in the corner of the street.

"Hey miss, care to spare some change?"

Change? What's that? Since Platinum had never used coins in her life, she didn't know what he was talking about. And her instincts told her to ignore suspicious people. Diamond insisted in doing such as well, for her safety.

"I said, care to spare some change?" the homeless man asked louder. He even got up and approached the girl.

"I apologize, but I do not have time for this," Platinum said coldly. She tried to pass him but he grabbed her arm.

"I don't think you quite understand," the homeless man said. "You need to pay me to go across here."

Platinum narrowed her eyes. Was this that powerful trainer? If so… was this really her senior? Time to test, perhaps.

"Let go," she said, her voice becoming ice cold once more.

The homeless man took out a Pokéball from his pant pocket. A Gyarados. Platinum quickly smacked the man's hand off of her arm and sent out her Empoleon.

The Gyarados attacked with Flamethrower. Platinum got her Empoleon to retaliate with Hydro Pump. It seemed that the Fire type attack wasn't nearly as powerful as she thought it'd be, as the Hydro Pump easily neutralized it with enough power remaining to knock the Gyarados back.

'This Gyarados is poorly trained,' Platinum thought as she focused on the battle. 'Does that mean this man is not senior Red?'

The homeless man took out many more Pokéballs from his pant pockets and threw them into the battlefield. Apparently he intended to flood Platinum's Pokémon with an overwhelming number… of Magikarps with a few Gyarados thrown in.

Platinum was about to use Blizzard when a huge Solarbeam came out of nowhere to wipe out a huge portion of the Magikarp and Gyarados. In the large gap made by the Solarbeam, a Pikachu shot out and jumped onto the homeless man with its sharp tail stopped across his throat.

Platinum returned her Empoleon and backed off a little. She watched the ordeal from a bit far, trying to see what the new situation was about. A new trainer appeared from out of nowhere with his arms crossed. Platinum noticed that this new trainer appeared around 10 years older than her.

The heiress squinted and observed the new trainer. He was… pretty tall and looked quite statuesque, really. He was wearing black pants with a black coat. He didn't look in her direction, but something told Platinum that this guy wasn't some stranger. She had to pay close attention to him.

The new trainer grabbed the homeless man by the back of his throat and dragged him away. Platinum observed the carnage for a little while, mainly to make enough of a gap between herself and the new trainer. Once she felt that she was far enough, she slowly followed.

The trainer stopped at a particular alley and dragged the homeless guy in it. Platinum sent out her borrowed aerial transport Pokémon and flew above so she could see what was going on in the alley without being spotted. There seemed to be a camera set up…

Platinum gaped in surprise and horror as the trainer began to mercilessly beat up the homeless man/mugger in front of the camera. Once the mugger dropped unconscious (or worse), the trainer took the camera and exited the alley. Platinum followed from high above once more.

The trainer stopped at a house far away from the alley and knocked on the door. Someone appeared in the doorway and the trainer returned the camera. Apparently it was borrowed for this particular purpose? The trainer received something in return. It appeared to be money… a payment?

The trainer tilted his hat to the house owner and walked away. Platinum quickly landed and returned her borrowed aerial transport Pokémon. The trainer was a fast walker, it seemed. Platinum had to run to chase him.

"Excuse me!" she called as she ran as fast as she could.

The trainer seemed to have heard her and stopped. He didn't turn around yet, and kept his hands in his pockets. Platinum caught up to him and stopped roughly 3 steps behind him to catch her breath. The trainer suddenly swiveled around and the heiress could see that he was carrying a Pokéball in hand.

The moment he saw her, he seemed to flinch. But he kept a stern expression.

"Who are you?" he asked, almost demanding.

"I just wanted to thank you for helping me," Platinum said. "You helped me against that mugger in the alley."

"Oh." The trainer put his Pokéball away and his expression brightened by a lot. He suddenly looked very kindhearted as opposed to being frightening. "No problem."

Platinum took the opportunity to examine his face. His black hair was quite messy, like Gold's hair. But more importantly, this trainer had deep red eyes that appeared… oddly warming. Ruby's red eyes looked kind of cold, but this trainer's were warm.

The trainer reached into his pocket and took out what appeared to be a card. He gave it to her and she took it. A business card, it seemed.

"Private security?" she muttered.

"Yeah. If you need some strength backup, or if you need protection against a certain group of people, call that number and I'll help out if I deem you worthy. At a cost, of course."

Platinum slightly frowned. That didn't sound like a very good business… or a legal one at that. "… May I ask for your name?"

The trainer tilted his hat as a partial hello. "Sure. My name's Red. What's yours?"

And my created character makes a brief appearance in SY. She'll never appear in this story from now on.

And Red appears! Though I did originally want him to pretend to be a homeless guy, I changed his "concept" at the last moment. I think it's for the better.

Next up: long filler. Mostly revolving around Red, and the final clash between Platinum and Sapphire. It's like in those RTS games where both players clash with everything at their disposal instead of just scouting and harassing.