Last chapter, I said that Red was the co-leader of the Dex Holders because Green also shares the same position. Red is the symbolic leader, and Green is the practical one.

Chapter 13: Catching Up

Ruby and Sapphire returned from their training session in time for Red's feast. Inside Blue's house, the preparations were complete and the other Dex Holders were waiting for the two Hoenn Dex Holders to return.

Blue and Green were talking to Red so they could catch up and restore their old friendship. Gold and Crystal were on food duty, with Crystal cooking and Gold being bossed around. Black… just watched Platinum and White struggle with taking care of Blue's daughter. It was fun to watch two renowned Dex Holders struggling so badly against a baby.

"RED!" Sapphire yelled out the moment she spotted her returned role model. She immediately charged over before Red could even turn to look at her. "YOU'RE BACK!"

"Uh… yeah," Red said as Sapphire latched onto him. "… Hi, Sapphire. Long time no see." He pulled his arm back a little so that his circulation wouldn't be cut off from Sapphire's tight embrace. "… You haven't changed a bit too, huh?" He looked over at the other familiar Dex Holders. "7 years, and none of you really changed at all."

"So you'd think, Red," Blue said with a smile. "Well, since everyone's here, let's begin the feast! White, come and set up the…" Blue trailed off as she realized the predicament of both Platinum and White.

The two girls were on their arms and knees, practically pressing their bodies against the ground and their faces pulled close to each other. Blue's baby daughter had grabbed each Dex Holder by their cheek and had pulled them close, thereby forcing the predicament.

"… This isn't as fun as it looks," White muttered despite having her cheek pulled pretty far. "… Black, don't just sit there and smile. Help me!"

Blue smiled and lifted her daughter into her arms, freeing her two juniors. "I can see that she really likes playing with you two," she said.

Platinum and White rubbed their cheeks and rose to their feet.

"… Yeah… playing. That's what was happening," White muttered.

…

The feast went without anything hectic happening. Sapphire kept trying to talk to Red, so in the end, neither Dex Holder could really eat much.

After the feast, the Dex Holders scattered. Green went to do some research work. Blue tucked her baby to sleep and cleaned the dishes with Crystal and Sapphire (who was forced to do something that required a delicate touch). Gold and Ruby talked with Black and White to kill some time, and Red… stayed with Platinum in the living room. For some reason, the Kanto champion preferred to stay with her…

Once again, Platinum felt Red looking at her. Looking at her closely. But he wasn't… checking her out. He was just staring at her head. She slowly faced him. He didn't look away. Instead, his eyes were focused on hers, and she was feeling… uneasy. Being the focus of a mercenary's attention was never good. But at the same time, he was also her senior by 11 years.

"Senior? Is something wrong?"

"… Tie your hair back for me, would you?" Red asked abruptly.

Platinum slightly frowned and thought for a few seconds. But she eventually complied. She took off her hat and removed her hair clips and neatly set them down next to her. She straightened out her hair for a second before she pulled her hair backwards into a long ponytail. She held the style in position with one of her hair clips and spent a couple of seconds to make sure no loose strands of hair were visible.

"… Like this, senior?"

Red blinked a few times but kept his eyes on her. He let out a long sigh and closed his eyes. "… You look so much like her…" He opened his eyes once more and stood up. "Thanks. You can put your hair back to normal now."

Platinum fixed her hairstyle to her normal style and put her hat back on.

"What was your name again?" Red asked.

"It is Platinum, senior."

"Platinum… I'll remember that."

The heiress watched her senior leave and let out a long sigh. Damn, that was awkward.

…

Gold and Ruby listened as Black and White described their original journey 4 years ago. An interesting tale, really. The situation that forced the meeting of the two Unova Dex Holders was odd and quite unique. Then again, the situations that forced most of the Dex Holders to meet were unique. From Red, Green, and Blue's meetings that either involved a Mew or a scam attempt, Gold, Silver, and Crystal with the burglary and an encounter with Lugia, Ruby and Sapphire with a massive misunderstanding and forgetfulness that made them not recognize each other… Only Diamond and Pearl (according to Platinum's descriptions) have met like normal people, and they're childhood friends.

Black groaned as his burn wounds started to ache. He rubbed some of the wounds and massaged his arms. "Damn… this is going to be a literal pain in the ass for a while…"

"Yeah, those kinds of burns last a while," Gold said. "I once got hit by a Fire type attack from Ho-oh. And I tell you, THAT takes a LONG time to heal. And it would've healed faster if I had time to rest up."

"You know what?" Black muttered. "… I am having one hell of a week so far. I got my ass handed to me by Kyurem, Reshiram, and Zekrom, had to go all over the place in Sinnoh, Hoenn, Johto, and Kanto, got attacked by a filming security squad, and I got destroyed by a Pokémon League champion/mercenary of a senior thanks to a misunderstanding caused on purpose by another senior."

"Yeah, that sucks," Gold said. "Well, you still have an ass kicking or two left ahead of you."

"I don't want to think about that," Black said. "I just want to sit back and rest up for a while."

White let out a long sigh. "… Black, you're not the only one suffering recently. I… had it worse than you. Kidnapped by Kyurem, constant waves of Psychic, and worst of all… you dumped me."

Gold glanced at Ruby. Another upset girl incoming. Time to be a man and run. "… Let's get out of here," he mouthed out silently.

Gold and Ruby silently left/fled, leaving the two Unova Dex Holders alone. Black stared at White, realizing then that he had neglected her quite a bit. And he did feel quite guilty.

"… I've been thinking about what you said," White said quietly. She lowered her head and sighed again. "… I'm sorry. I'm sorry for how I've been acting around you. I'm still upset at how you don't trust me, but ultimately, it's your decision. You want to break up with me, and… that's that."

"… Miss President…"

"When we return to Unova and all this crisis ends… you don't have to talk to me or see me again if you don't want to. I'm going to be wandering all around Unova to rebuild my reputation, so you wouldn't want to follow me around anyways."

"… I can't imagine how that'll take long," Black said. "People really like you there."

White sighed. "That's probably no longer true. People can be incredibly fickle, Black. Of course, you would know that very well, wouldn't you? Sure, they'll first have sympathy for me because of the mind control. But sooner or later, they'll stop trusting me because of what I did while mind controlled. It's inevitable. … Just like how you stopped trusting me."

Black fell silent. White didn't say anything anymore either, and instead, simply stared at him with resentment in utter silence. Eventually, the girl shook her head and walked away. But once she had walked around the corner, she let out a bitter smile. So this was targeting guilt, huh?

…

Next day, 10 am…

…

While the other Dex Holders waited for a status update from Unova, Platinum went to visit Red as per Blue's suggestion. She spotted him sitting in front of his television, completely focused on the screen. The heiress glanced at it and noticed that it was showing a recorded past of Green and Blue. The "notable moments" Blue had talked about the previous day. Red was so devoted to catching up as fast as possible. He must've really felt guilty about abandoning his friends.

Red didn't even seem to notice her presence, so the heiress moved to sit beside him and watched the recording with him.

Crystal was staring directly at the camera with her hands doing something just past the edges of the screen. The camera didn't seem too stable, as if it was a hidden one attached to someone. But the images were still clear.

"There. The camera's set," Crystal said with a bright smile. "Make sure you capture everything."

"Understood," came Green's voice.

"Good luck, Green."

"Thanks."

Green soon started to move somewhere, and the camera recorded directly ahead of him. Before too long, Blue came into the field of view. She smiled brightly and waved at him before walking closer.

"Hi, Green!" she said happily. She gave him a quick kiss. "How've you been?"

"Fine," Green answered. "You?"

"Oh, I've been doing great." Blue moved to stand beside him and the two Kanto Dex Holders started to walk. "So… why did you call me here?" she asked. Green didn't answer. "… Green?"

"Blue, there's something I need to ask you," Green said in a serious tone.

Blue stopped walking and faced him. Her worried face was clearly visible in the camera. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

Blue looked very worried, as she had no idea what was going to happen next. She suddenly gasped in surprise and moved her hands over her mouth. The hidden camera dipped down slightly, and a large engagement ring appeared on the screen. Blue's eyes started to water as she looked back and forth between the ring and Green's expression. She looked very surprised and was caught completely off guard.

"Well?" Green asked. "Will you marry me?"

"G – Green…" Blue stammered out. "… Do you… do you really mean it?"

"Yes."

Blue looked afraid to accept the ring. She stared at the ring and a look of sadness appeared on her face. "… Green… … I… I know I'm not good enough for you… … You can do so much better… There are so many girls so much better than me…"

"They're not you, Blue. I don't care about them. I care about you. And you're the best out there. So… will you?"

Blue started to tremble as tears streamed down her cheeks. "… Yes… yes! Thank you…"

Blue approached Green for a tight embrace. And in the process, she pressed herself against the camera, thereby completely blocking the view.

Red fast-forwarded the video file for a little while. He glanced to his side and finally spotted Platinum.

"… Hey, Platinum," he said.

"Senior… I see that you are watching the notable moments of seniors Blue and Green."

Red let out a sigh. "… I missed my best friends' wedding and the births of their children. The least I can do is catch up. Want to watch them with me?"

"If you wish, senior."

"Oh, Blue! You look so beautiful!" came Crystal's voice as the camera now showed Blue in her wedding dress.

The Kanto Dex Holder blushed in embarrassment and looked down. She pulled the dress up a little higher and checked over her appearance again and again.

"Are you nervous?" Crystal asked.

"… Yeah," Blue replied. "… I just… never thought this day would come. To think that Green loved me so much… To think that he valued me so much… I just never thought this could happen…"

"Blue, it's so nice to see you so happy," Crystal said. "Usually, whenever I see you, I see a bit of forced happiness. But now… you just look so happy! I'm so happy for you!"

"Thanks, Crys. I hope one day, you'll feel as happy as I am." Blue took a deep breath. "… Okay… I… I think I'm ready."

Red and Platinum watched the wedding video in silence. It was mostly Crystal filming her two seniors as they followed the wedding procedures and danced together to the music. The filming would've continued on for hours if Crystal didn't have to stop due to her own tears of happiness.

Red let out a sigh. "… I can't believe I missed that," he muttered.

"… Senior Blue understands," Platinum said. "It was not your fault, senior."

Red didn't look exactly convinced. "… I still feel guilty. But this will not happen again. I may have missed my best friends' wedding, but I won't miss my juniors'. When Gold and Crys get married, when Ruby and Sapphire, or when you and… whoever, I promise I'll be there."

Platinum didn't know what exactly she should say, so she remained silent. The video was fast forwarded once more towards the next notable moment.

Blue's birthday. It was a surprise party Green was planning for his new wife, Blue. And of course, Crystal was there to help out. Along with Gold and Silver, who were being bossed around by Crystal.

"She's coming," Green said to the others. One by one, the Dex Holders hid, waiting for Blue to come downstairs. Green didn't hide, as he had to lead Blue towards the party area.

"… Green? Is that you?" came Blue's weak voice.

Green slightly frowned from her voice, but approached her. "Yeah. Is something wrong?"

"Sorry… I don't know, I just… don't feel that good today," Blue answered. She appeared rather sick and had a hand over her forehead.

"Blue, it's your birthday," Green said. "I wanted to do something special for you today."

Blue managed to smile. "… Thanks, Green. But… I just feel… so sick…"

Green supported her and slowly led her towards the party area, so the surprise party can begin. He wanted to let Blue know that he prepared something special for her. Afterwards, she could get her rest and… recover from whatever ailed her.

"Sorry, Green," Blue said quietly. "You must've planned this for a while, but…" She suddenly clamped a hand over her mouth. "Ugh…"

Blue broke free from Green's support and ran towards the bathroom. Green watched her vanish and looked worried as he heard her starting to vomit. Or trying to, at any rate.

Crystal left her hiding spot and approached Green.

"Is that… morning sickness?" she asked.

"… What?" Gold asked.

Crystal suddenly clapped her hands and jumped up and down in excitement. "Green! Congratulations! I think Blue's pregnant! You're going to be a father! And Silver, you're going to have a non-biological nephew or niece!"

"Non-biological?" Gold muttered. "I knew it! Senior Green, you really ARE a robot!"

Crystal smacked Gold on the back of the head. "No, you idiot. Silver and Blue aren't biological siblings. So if Blue has a child, he or she wouldn't be Silver's biological relative!"

"… I'm going to take Blue over to the hospital," Green said. "Crystal, stay here and get ready for our return. And shut that camera off now."

…

Once again, Crystal was recording this event. This time, the Dex Holders were waiting in the hospital while Blue gave birth to her first child. Green was pacing around in the waiting room, and Crystal followed his movements with the camera.

"Green, I'm telling you. She'll be fine," she said in a comforting tone. "She's really tough, you know."

Green sighed. "Perhaps. But the fact that I'm here and she's in there…"

"You heard her," Crystal said. "She doesn't want you to see her in pain."

The Dex Holders in the waiting room froze as Blue's pained groans came from her room. But she was stifling it to the best of her abilities. Her groans died out pretty quickly as the child birth process was completed.

"… You have to hand it to her," Crystal said. "Child birth is the worst pain the average woman will experience in her life. And Blue's not screaming bloody murder."

"Let's go see her right now," Green said.

By the time the Dex Holders were allowed into Blue's room, the cleanup process was completed. Blue was smiling as she held her newborn son. Her skin was pale and she looked exhausted, but her smile was very bright and genuine.

The baby wasn't crying despite being newborn. He just calmly looked at his mother…

"… Gee, I wonder who he takes after," Crystal said as she turned the camera to face Green.

"He's our first child," Blue said happily. "… He's so cute… My son… I can hardly believe it…"

Red looked over at Platinum. "So… Their precious son, and… Green shipped him to Cianwood City?"

"Yes," the heiress answered. "Apparently senior Green wants his son to grow up just like him."

Red raised an eyebrow. "Uh-huh… Another… Green, huh? Can Blue survive with two Greens in the house?"

"I believe senior Blue wishes that her daughter will grow up like her, without the kidnapping. Perhaps that would balance things out?"

"Two Blues and two Greens… That, I have to see."

The recording skipped a few years again, and once again, showed the inside of a hospital. It was the recorded event of the birth of Blue's second child.

Green paced around. Even though this was the second time he was in this situation, he looked just as nervous and anxious as the first.

"Blue and her stubbornness," he muttered.

"She really cares for you," Crystal said. "She doesn't want you to see her in pain, as that'll hurt you too much."

"Being out here and not in there with her is worse," Green answered.

"But if you were in there, she'd feel guilty."

Green let out a long sigh. "Perhaps…"

Blue's pained scream suddenly filled the air. The gathered Dex Holders froze and looked where the scream was emanating. The last time she gave birth, Blue didn't scream. So this one must've been worse on her.

Many frantic doctors and nurses were spotted by the camera. Something was going on…

Green couldn't wait anymore. "Blue!" he yelled out as he ran towards her room.

"N – No! Don't come in here!" Blue cried out in between her pained screams. "AH! … Just… … wait…"

Green tried to go in anyways, but some of the nurses blocked his approach. Green tried to move past them, but eventually, he complied with his wife's wishes and returned to the waiting room.

Eventually, Blue's screams died out and everything became quiet. A doctor came out of the room and approached the Dex Holders. The amount of blood on his clothes was quite troubling.

"Congratulations," he said to Green. "It's a baby girl."

Green and the others (namely Crystal and Silver, as Gold really didn't care) let out a sigh of relief.

"Can I go see Blue now?" Green asked.

The doctor shook his head. "This was a very bad birth. The baby is perfectly fine, but your wife lost a lot of blood. She's unconscious right now, but should wake up within a few minutes. Until then, she needs to rest."

The screen suddenly went blank, as Crystal had shut off the camera. When the camera turned back on, Blue and her newly born baby daughter appeared on the screen. The baby was fast asleep, and Blue held her in her arms. She had a bright smile on her lips despite the fact that her skin was quite pale and she looked absolutely exhausted.

"Oh, my baby girl…" she muttered weakly. "… My… precious baby…"

"She's sooo cute!" Crystal said happily. "I'm sure she'll grow up to be great! Just like you, Blue."

"Thanks… As long as she doesn't follow my footsteps exactly, I'll be happy," Blue answered, her voice still very quiet. She faced Green with a serious expression. "Green… we need some anti-air defenses and detection around our house. I can't let my baby girl be kidnapped like I was…"

"… We'll discuss that later."

"I'm guessing Blue won that discussion," Red said to Platinum.

"I believe so, senior. I believe senior Blue is going to install motion trackers and defensive mechanisms to protect her daughter from possible aerial kidnappers."

"… If anyone tries to kidnap Blue's kids, they'll have quite a few… mercenaries on the hunt for them," Red muttered. "I'll make sure of that."

"I am sure that senior Blue would appreciate your thought."

Red stopped the recording and shut off the TV. He glanced at the clock. 2 pm… So he's been watching the recorded past for 7 hours now.

"Thanks for keeping me company," he said to Platinum. "Let's go to the others and see what they're doing."

…

The other Dex Holders were gathered in the backyard of Green and Blue's house, waiting for Black to finish the call to Unova. The Unova Dex Holder finished with his call to Cheren by the time Red and Platinum arrived.

"So, what's the verdict?" Blue asked.

"Cheren says the enemy is trying to scout around. He doesn't know where they are exactly, but Reshiram and Zekrom have been spotted flying around Unova. They don't know where we are exactly or what we're doing. We were chasing them pretty tight but we stopped after a while and left them alone, and I suppose they're getting curious."

"So, what do we do?" Gold asked.

"Perhaps we should go over to Unova now," Platinum suggested. "If we go there and find the enemy before they find us, we can catch them off guard and win very easily."

"But there's a high chance that we'll be spotted first," Sapphire said. "Considering how we don't know where they are and their scouts are moving around, we'll probably be spotted first."

"Red, what do you think?" Blue asked.

The mercenary crossed his arms and thought for a second. "If they're scouting, we have to scout back. We have to find out where they are and where they will be before we reveal ourselves. So having a small number of people go on a scouting run would probably work out."

Crystal nodded. "I think I know a group of people who can do that without being spotted."

"Your monstrous hell raiser orphans?" Blue asked.

"Well… yeah."

"Which ones? Don't you have like 4 sets of them?"

"The first set was just Emerald, so I suppose there are 3 actual sets. But I'm talking about the orphans who coined the term "hell raiser". They're no longer in the orphanage, but they'll still listen to me. And no one outside Violet City really knows them, so they'll be perfect."

Green cleared his throat. "Alright, so we'll send those orphans to Unova to scout around. And based on their findings, we'll decide what to do."

Platinum took out her Pokégear so that she could call the Berlitz Mansion servants/guards currently staying with Skyla's private jet in Violet City. That way, she could tell them to take the designated orphans to Unova and return.

"What about your mercenary friends, Red?" Blue asked. "Would any of them help us?"

Red shrugged. "Lots of people are willing to fight… for the right price. But they're all busy with their current jobs. I'll see what I can do."

Platinum glanced at her Pokétch and almost jumped in surprise. She quickly excused herself from the group and ran inside the house so she could make a private call.

"Where's she going?" Blue asked.

Sapphire eyed her disrespectful (only to her) junior. "Probably so she could call home. Check her parents' condition, that kind of thing."

"Well, go check on her then," Blue said. "You're the closest senior to her by age, since Emerald's not here."

"… Do I have to?" Sapphire asked.

"Yes. Intergenerational cooperation is very important," Blue stressed. "Whether it's me and Silver, Red and Gold, Green and Crys, Crys and Emerald, or you and Red, we need more intergenerational friendship. Right now, we don't have enough connecting the Sinnoh Dex Holders with the others. So go."

Gold and Ruby glanced at each other. This… wasn't going to work out well. While Ruby was glad that he didn't have to see the coming fire, Gold… wanted to see the said fire. Once Sapphire reluctantly entered the house, Gold slowly followed her while dragging Ruby.

"And where are you two going?" Crystal asked.

"I have to use the washroom," Gold lied. "And this sissy left his sewing kit inside."

A blatant lie, and Crystal knew it. But she decided to let it slide, since she didn't know the exact problem between Sapphire and Platinum.

Inside, the heiress quickly called home for the status update of her parents. She was in a hurry since she had forgotten to call earlier that day. At 10 am, she was busy watching the recorded past of Green and Blue at Red's house. And she berated herself severely for forgetting about her parents. If anything had happened to them, she would never forgive herself…

"Hello? … Yes. I am so sorry for calling late. I have no excuses. How are they doing? … … Minor improvements? … Oh, I see…"

Sapphire entered the house and immediately spotted Platinum sitting on the couch with her Pokégear pressed against her ear. The Hoenn Dex Holder crossed her arms and remained silent. Yes, she didn't like Platinum, but there was no reason to interrupt her call.

"Are they awake?" Platinum asked. "No? … May I speak with the doctor? I would like to ask him personally to see why…" the heiress trailed off when her Pokégear suddenly lost connection. "Hello? Hello?"

Platinum ended the call and immediately tried calling back. No connection. She tried again and again, but no luck. She jumped to her feet and ran towards the nearest phone. She tried to call home, but there was no connection either.

"… I'm sure they're fine," Sapphire said reluctantly.

"I – I must know for sure," Platinum quickly answered. She tried using all of the phones in the house, but none were successful in getting a connection. "… I must return to Sinnoh as soon as possible…"

"You can go back to your parents once we finish dealing with the enemy in Unova," Sapphire said. "And that'll only take a couple of days at most. So relax."

"How can I relax?" Platinum asked rather angrily. "My parents are not recovering quickly enough and I have no way of contacting home. We could push onwards to Unova, but we are staying here in Kanto, just wasting time!"

"I thought you were smarter than this," Sapphire said sarcastically. "If we go over to Unova right now, the enemy will find us and we'll have more trouble against them. Which will end up taking more time."

"I understand that, but I cannot stay here doing nothing!" Platinum said. "… Even if they spot us, we would already be in Unova. We could pursue their scouts back to their base and confront them directly. They still will not be able to prepare. A fast thunder does not provide enough time to cover the ears, but everyone would already know that the thunder is coming from the rainclouds alone. As long as we do not stall in Unova, the enemy will still be unprepared."

"A rookie like you will never understand the importance of maintaining the element of surprise," Sapphire said with a huff, giving up in trying to convince her junior.

Platinum narrowed her eyes and she suddenly calmed down. "A rookie? For your information, senior, I have saved Sinnoh numerous times over the years. I have also single-handedly stopped the terrible Bidoof Rebellions that threatened to destroy every major city." Her tone suddenly turned ice cold as she began to retaliate. "Of course, you may not know the difficulty of saving your home region all by yourself. Have you ever stopped a crisis all by yourself? Or are you so dependent on senior Ruby that you must do everything with him? And here you call me inexperienced…"

Sapphire stared at her junior in surprise. Flames began to erupt from her eyes as her anger peaked. "… You did not just say that."

Platinum smirked and looked away. "And what if I did?"

"… You bitch…"

Sapphire grabbed the heiress by her shoulder and forcefully spun her to face her. She then immediately punched the girl with her right hand, forcing her to spin once more. Platinum didn't fall without putting up a fight, however, as the heiress used the spin's momentum to strike her senior back with the back of her fist.

The unexpected strike burst Sapphire into a fit of rage. She grabbed her junior by the throat and forcefully slammed her against the wall. Platinum kicked her senior repeatedly but those kicks did nothing against the infuriated Sapphire.

Sapphire repeatedly punched her junior in the stomach, thus preventing the girl from breathing or mustering enough strength to fight back. Platinum clenched her eyes shut from the pain but managed to push her senior away from her. She started to cough and gasp for air, giving Sapphire enough time to approach her once more and grab her by the throat.

Outside the house, Gold and Ruby carefully watched the fight through the windows, but with no intention of stopping it. Ruby feared for his life, as Sapphire would probably kill him. Gold… was enjoying the fight.

"Gold… stop them!" Ruby whispered.

"No way! This is great!" Gold whispered back, being extra quiet so Sapphire may not hear him. "Ooh, that has got to hurt!" he muttered as Sapphire thrust her knee into Platinum's ribs.

Sapphire threw Platinum across the room and through a table. Luckily, every other Dex Holder was outside and in the backyard, so no one heard the loud smash.

Platinum struggled up to her feet. It was hard for her to breathe, but Sapphire was unrelenting. The heiress couldn't defend herself at this rate. She quickly scanned the ground below her and picked up the broken table leg. With one arm wrapped around her stomach to ease the pain, she swung the table leg with the other, hitting her senior in the arms and shoulders.

The heiress would never have guessed that the self defense lessons she received from her guards would come in handy at a time like this.

"Hey, Fashion Boy," Gold whispered. "Want to make a bet?"

"What?"

"Obviously Wildchild Girl's going to win, but… in how long? I'll bet you 5000 PKD that she'll win within the next… 3 minutes."

"… I don't carry 5000 PKD with me!" Ruby said.

"… What are you, broke?"

"No, but… … Look, we shouldn't make bets on this! This is serious!"

Gold rolled his eyes. "Pansy. Come on, this is fun!"

Platinum struck her senior in the face with the broken table leg. Sapphire retaliated with a double fisted hammering strike to her chest.

"Ouch. That probably hurt," Gold muttered.

"… I think she's really hurt," Ruby said as he worriedly stared at Platinum. The heiress had dropped the weapon she was using to defend herself and was struggling to stay standing.

"Well, duh."

"Do something!"

"You do something!" Gold argued back.

"No way! Sapphire will kill me!"

"That's why I'm not going to stop this!"

Sapphire slammed her knee into her junior's ribs once more and hammered her back with both fists. Platinum let out a pained scream as she collapsed on the floor. Even though the heiress was no longer able to even defend herself, Sapphire wasn't done yet. She grabbed her junior by her clothes and yanked upwards, forcing the heiress up to her feet. In the process, her thin black vest was torn off. Sapphire punched the girl once more in the stomach, forcing her to double over and drop to her knees.

Platinum gasped and groaned as she fell to her side. Her entire body ached horribly and she couldn't move on her own. She tried to breathe, but even that was very difficult.

Sapphire spat out the blood in her mouth. She was about to walk away and leave the heiress writhing in agony when something caught her eyes. Platinum's dress was a lot thinner than she thought, as she could see the outline of the girl's undergarments through the white material. And with that, a thought occurred. The heiress was acting so damn high and mighty, and particularly arrogant towards her. So what would fix that? … Utter humiliation, perhaps. In front of everyone.

Sapphire delivered another hard kick to the side of her junior. Platinum could only grunt in pain as she no longer had any energy to even scream. She lay motionless on her side, with her eyes trying to stay open. Sapphire reached down and grabbed her by the dress. She yanked her upwards once more, effectively tearing off the thin dress of the heiress. Platinum didn't even seem to realize what just happened, as her consciousness was wavering from the repeated attacks. She wasn't even aware that she was now wearing only her reddish pink undergarments. Sapphire contemplated in tearing off her long socks, but decided against it as it would accomplish nothing.

So instead, with a satisfied smirk, she grabbed her by the arms and proceeded to drag her towards the door. Gold and Ruby immediately ran like hell so they wouldn't be spotted peeking inside. Hopefully, Sapphire was way too preoccupied with humiliating Platinum and did not see them.

Platinum only recovered enough from the fight when Sapphire suddenly threw her. She landed hard and realized that she had just crashed into grass. She felt dirt and blades of grass brushing against her bare skin and then noticed that her clothes have been torn off. She mustered up her strength and tried to push herself off the ground. It was very difficult, but she managed to rise up to her knees. With half open eyes, she looked ahead and spotted the other Dex Holders, all looking very surprised to see her like this.

Red simply stared at her in shock. Green stared at Sapphire in a look of disappointment. Blue glanced back and forth between her two juniors, too stunned for words. Gold and Ruby feigned surprise and looked away from the half-naked girl, for the fear of repercussion. Crystal and White looked very embarrassed for Platinum while Black did his best to avoid staring at her.

The heiress forced her arms to cover herself up as much as possible. It was a futile effort, as her arms and hands weren't nearly large enough.

"M – Mark my words… senior," she gasped out, her voice filled with anger and hatred. Her head turned slightly in the direction of Sapphire as she spat out her promise. "… I will return this… humiliation… in kind…"

"You started this fight," Sapphire growled out. "You started this when you disrespected me the moment we first met. So you deserve this. If you want some more, then come at me whenever you want."

Sapphire spat out the blood in her mouth again and walked away so that she may clean her own wounds.

Platinum trembled as her cheeks started to turn red from sheer embarrassment and humiliation. Even though her skin was quite pale from the shock and near unconsciousness, the humiliation alone was enough to restore some color.

Red slowly rose to his feet and walked over towards her. Platinum kept her head down (not that she was able to look up) and tightened the gap between her arms and her body. Red didn't say anything and instead, took off his coat. He put his coat around her body so that she may use it to cover herself. Platinum didn't hesitate and quickly put the coat on and zipped it up. Thanks to the overall size difference between herself and her senior, the coat was long enough to reach down as much as her skirt, thereby covering everything that needed to be covered.

Red then pulled her up to her feet and lifted her onto his arms as he carried her away from everyone else and towards his own house. There, the heiress would feel less embarrassed and would start to recover from the fight.

The Kanto champion arrived at his house pretty soon. Platinum still kept her head down and her cheeks were still flushed. Her skin was still pale as well, and she looked to have difficulties in breathing and staying conscious.

Red went up to his bedroom and set his junior down on the bed. He then went over to his clothes drawer and tried to find something that the heiress could wear. He soon found something that might be suitable. Conveniently, the last time Yellow was at his house all those years ago, the two Kanto Dex Holders had gone camping, and the girl's spare clothes were kept in the drawer.

Red stared at Yellow's clothes for a second before he placed them on the bed next to Platinum. He wasn't trying to make Platinum look and act like Yellow. But IT JUST HAPPENED that the situation kept forcing the similarities.

Platinum stared at the clothes laid out next to her. Wearing Yellow's clothes just felt… odd. And quite… unnerving? Things with Red were awkward enough as is. Seriously. Right now, she was wearing only her underwear underneath her senior's coat. And he had just carried her over to his bedroom, after he saw her stripped of her clothing. VERY awkward. Wearing the clothes of his dead girlfriend would make stuff a whole lot worse.

The Kanto champion soon left her alone so that she could change… er… just put the new clothes on.

Platinum kept her eyes on Yellow's clothes but didn't touch them. She didn't want to. Besides, she had other options. She had a spare set of clothes in her bag, which was in Blue's house currently. Once someone delivered that bag, she could just wear her spare clothes. And currently, she couldn't exactly move, so even if she wanted to put Yellow's clothes on, she wouldn't be able to. Instead, she just felt overwhelming fatigue and drowsiness. With a grunt, she simply fell to her side on the bed and drifted off into sleep.

There. The fight of Sapphire vs. Platinum has finally happened. Too bad it didn't last long. And it was pretty one-sided, resulting in Platinum getting her butt kicked hard. And causing a lot of collateral monetary damage to Green and Blue. And of course, this makes Sapphire look very, very bad. Why? Because she won the fight. The aggressor is rarely liked. The loser/victim usually gets more support thanks to sympathy. Though technically, Platinum did start it. See? Equal fault distribution. Platinum started it, and Sapphire was way too aggressive in retaliation.

Next up: start of final battle. Reshiram, Zekrom, and Kyurem aren't the only threats?