Took a while to update. Let's just say that SL has fallen out of my stories' priorities.
This chapter has a LOT of info to cover before getting into the actual chapter, so I'll make the advertisements and such very short.
1: Check the update on my profile under Alternate Communications. I now have a Tumblr blog. Details of every SL segment (and their future) can be found there.
2: There are stories and drawn images out there which got their inspiration from S-EARLY and mention my ID. Apart from a small handful of images, I have no knowledge of their existence. I have no issues about them. So if you find them, let me know so I can check them out. The drawn artwork will be posted on my Tumblr blog as I find them.
3: As mentioned on my Tumblr blog… SA2 incoming. Not from me, but someone else who has permission. Expect it to come either in February or March.
And now, something very important worth clearing up. Younger Dex Holders. In S-EARLY, they have a tendency of appearing… wimpy. Well, Platinum and White, at least. Weak, incompetent (sort of), and requires lots of assistance. Now, if I made them fully capable of defending themselves and I allow the older Dex Holders to appear… what would happen? Either the older Dex Holders sit back and do absolutely nothing like Serena of the XY anime, or every enemy gets obliterated because they were already struggling against the weaker Dex Holders. Why would I bother to make the older Dex Holders appear if they're not going to do anything? And if every enemy gets their ass handed to them… where's the anxiety/conflict? It's like going through the Generation II Pokémon League with a bunch of level 100s. There is absolutely no threat, and no purpose.
And personality wise, I just don't see Platinum and White being capable of doing a whole lot by themselves. Platinum will require at least 1 more arc in which she's all alone and not hiding behind Diamond and Pearl. What did she do in the DP arc against the big enemy? More or less nothing. Even in Pt, she didn't do much. As such, in S-EARLY, she requires external assistance frequently. White started to fight halfway through BW, and even then, she didn't do much. More of a support role for Black, and even then, didn't do much. Though admittedly, she's doing good given her team… Anyways, she got kidnapped in a blink of an eye at the "peak" of her prowess. So is it a surprise that White was kidnapped in the very first chapter of SY? She requires showing lots of badass moments in BW2 for me to even think about altering her S-EARLY personality. But that seems quite unlikely. I think Faitsu and Y already showed more fighting and badassery potential (especially Y, more or less Sapphire junior) than White, and they're new. So most likely, White will get shoved into the background in BW2. Not that she's in the spotlight to begin with.
But I won't let them appear weak in every single story. SY will be the last story in which all the Dex Holders appear together. Meaning, it's the last story in which Platinum and White are harmless. They will show their prowess in the later stories since no one else is there to overshadow them. When the large bowls are broken, the smaller bowls fill the roles of the large ones.
This huge note will be posted on my profile page (under MISC – Dex Holder Capability) for easy access.
After this point, all of my responses/notes/etc of this type of every story will be on my Tumblr blog instead of individual chapters. Check under QNA. Questions n' Answers. If you don't check it out and think that I'm ignoring your questions, it's no longer my problem and I will not respond.
Anyways… vote results: 1 for Green & Blue, 1 for Gold & Crystal, 2 for Ruby & Sapphire, and 5 no-votes. So with a total of 6, SL #020 is Gold & Crystal.
Segment: Gold & Crystal.
Chapter 20: It's War
April 21, Violet City, Johto, 6 pm…
Crystal blinked. Gold simply grinned. And his 'date' had a smug smile on her face. So, this was how it was going to be, huh? The first girl to physically captivate Gold would be the winner? Well, two could play at that game…
Crystal glanced over at Gold. He still had his stupid grin. She clenched her teeth and thought of kissing him too, but that… would be weird. The timing was way off, and her intentions will be known to everyone. Not to mention, her own pride did not allow her to do such a thing.
Since she couldn't fight back with impulse and emotions, she had to use… logic. She cleared her throat as she thought of what to say.
"Am I interrupting something?" she asked Gold.
"Well, Crys. We were having a date," Gold answered. He still kept his stupid grin. It must've been his first kiss.
Crystal felt a bit of dread. Since Gold had his first kiss already while she didn't, this meant that she would not be sharing first kisses with him. Was that… bad?
"You never talked about her before," she said, hiding her emotions. "How come? You two must be quite close to kiss like that."
"Not exactly," Gold said. "Today's technically the first time I ever talked to her."
"Then wasn't that kiss a bit sudden?" Crystal asked slowly to emphasize her point. "And rushed, even? Getting desperate, are we?"
Crystal winced as she felt a sudden sharp pain from her knee. It seemed that Gold's date had just kicked her under the table. Crystal suppressed her anger.
"Don't kick me," she said through clenched teeth. The date kicked her again.
Gold noticed the sudden mood change and understood what was happening. "Relax, both of you." He looked at his "date" with a stern expression. "There's no need to be jealous. Crys is my close friend, and she doesn't like me like that."
The date jumped to her feet, fuming in anger. "This was supposed to be a date with just the two of us! But then this bitch just came out of nowhere to interrupt us, and you've been talking to her the whole time! How could you do this to me?!"
"Whoa, settle down!" Gold said with a stern expression.
Crystal narrowed her eyes into a glare but remained seated. She effectively broke up this date, thereby accomplishing her objective. So, even though she was being insulted, she felt a bit of joy. Not that she showed it.
"No, I'm not settling down!" the date yelled. "I'm going to tell the club and let them know about this!"
"Look, just calm down," Crystal said with a sigh. "You're making a scene in publ-"
The date threw the water in her cup at Crystal's face. The Johto Dex Holder slowly but aggressively wiped the water away from her eyes and resumed her deadly glare.
"… Crys, I think it'd be best if you… left," Gold suggested. "Because she's not going to leave and if you two are together, things would get messier."
Crystal glared at him now. "You're taking her side?"
"Not exactly. I'm just trying to diffuse the situation."
Crystal let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine, whatever." She rose to her feet and pretended to be very angry. "I hope you two will be very happy," she said to Gold. Without even waiting for his response, she stormed away and headed outside.
Once she was outside, Crystal reverted her expression to normal and headed home. She did what she intended to do with this dinner interruption. She learned that Gold didn't like anyone yet (including herself), she proved to Gold that she was much better than his "date" by not retaliating, and she pretended to have her feelings hurt, thus giving Gold an incentive to visit her and talk to her very soon.
Ah, things were going very well. Now all she had to do was figure out how to get Gold to fall in love with her.
…
Several hours later, New Bark Town, 11:20 pm…
…
Gold stared into his pool table. He couldn't focus on the game at hand. For some reason, Crystal kept popping up in his mind. She seemed quite upset during the dinner, since she stormed off before he could even apologize for what happened. Even through the remainder of the awkward date, he kept thinking about her. Even after he ended the date, he thought about her. Maybe he should go talk to her and cheer her up.
He checked the clock. It wasn't quite midnight yet, so maybe it wasn't too late for him to set things right. Crystal probably wouldn't like being woken up near midnight, but Gold would settle for the lesser anger. If he left her alone, her rage would probably build up. It would be best to just get his ass kicked for waking her up at night and prevent that rage from building.
With his decision made, he grabbed his Pokémon and headed towards Violet City once more. Though he hadn't a clue as to what to say to Crystal. He'd make that up as he went.
…
Violet City, 11:50 pm…
…
Gold stood outside Crystal's house. He was going to ring the doorbell, but then realized that it wouldn't go well for him. A sudden doorbell in the middle of the night was going to surprise her a lot. And she'd get even angrier. Like using Frost Breath against an Anger Point Tauros. It would quickly bite him in the ass.
So he had to wake her up subtly. But how?
Gold walked around the house until he found Crystal's bedroom window. He remembered where it was because he had been over at her house quite a few times. Once he was sure he had the right window, Gold picked up a few small rocks and began to throw them one by one at the house. First, at the wall to create a subtle "thud". Then he'd move on to the windowsill for a slightly louder noise. Then the window frame, then the window itself. That gradual increase of noise should wake up Crystal without surprising her too much. In theory.
Gold threw the first rock at the wall. He waited a few seconds and received no response. So he threw another one. Again, no response. He aimed at the windowsill. Still, no response. Window frame now. Again, nothing. Now the window itself. … Nothing.
Gold picked up a fist sized rock this time. He aimed for the window frame (so he wouldn't shatter the windows) and threw it.
Just as the rock left his hand, Crystal appeared in her room, rubbing her eyes as she opened the window to see what the ruckus was about. The moment she opened her tired eyes, she saw a fist sized rock flying through the air… which passed the now-open window without any resistance and smashed into her head.
Gold froze as he saw Crystal fall backwards in her room. "… Uh oh…" He briefly contemplated in whether he should climb through the open windows and see if the girl was alright. But his brain hastily ordered him otherwise. 'Bail out, you idiot! Run!' He complied to his brain and ran like hell. Hopefully, Crystal did not see him before the rock hit her on the head. In which case, he would not speak of this, ever.
… Maybe he should've just called her?
…
Next day, April 22, 5 am…
…
Crystal groaned as she woke up thanks to her alarm clock. Her head hurt quite a bit… With a hand on her forehead, she slowly sat up, only then realizing that she was on the floor and not on her bed. It took her a couple of seconds to remember what happened. That fist sized rock lying next to her was a big clue.
Someone threw that rock at her. In the middle of the night. She didn't see who exact threw it, but she guessed that it was one of Gold's fan girls. Probably. So that's how it was going to be, huh?
Crystal put the rock on her table and closed the windows before getting ready for the day. Since Gold's fan girls have declared war on her, she was going to respond. Since she was quite busy herself, she couldn't deal with them personally. So she would get someone else to do it. Discreetly. And someone absolutely loyal to her.
Emerald and the hell raiser orphans popped up in her mind. But she didn't want to drag them into this mess. Especially the orphans. She was going to have to think about this for a while.
Half an hour later, she finished eating breakfast and getting ready for the day and headed outside. She thought of her schedule for today as she locked her house. Her days were quite simple. First she'd work at Prof. Oak's lab for several hours. Around 2 pm, she'd stop by Gold's house to see what he was doing before heading towards the orphanage where she'd work for more hours. And around 7 pm, she'd return home where she'd do some more things. Today, she would skip visiting Gold. Since he knew she was very punctual, if she was to skip out on a daily event, he would realize something was wrong and he would probably visit her to see what's up.
…
Pallet Town, Kanto, 6 am…
…
Crystal released herself from her Xatu's grip and returned it to its Pokéball. She could see Prof. Oak's lab a short distance away, but headed towards the only café of Pallet Town first. Knowing Green, he was probably doing research since 5 am, and usually, he'd do so by skipping breakfast. So, per standard, Crystal was going to buy some food for him. Nothing overly expensive.
She bought a medium sized sandwich, which cost around 800 PKD. Green usually asked her the cost of the food she brought him. And according to experience, he didn't like it if the cost was over 1000 PKD. She didn't know why, but whatever.
Crystal thanked the cashier and put the nicely wrapped sandwich in her bag. Because her attention was on her bag, she failed to notice the suspicious looks she was getting from a rather large group of girls in the side of the café.
"Give Green my regards!" said the cashier with a friendly wave.
"Okay, I will!" Crystal said as she waved back.
The moment the Johto Dex Holder left the café, the group of girls instantly rose to their feet and followed her outside.
"Excuse me," the leading girl said, stopping Crystal before she walked far away.
Crystal turned to face her. "Can I help you?"
The group of girls circled around her, effectively surrounding her from all sides. Crystal narrowed her eyes and carefully observed their expressions. They seemed rather hostile for some reason.
"We understand that you work with Green in Professor Oak's lab," said the leading girl, apparently the leader of the group.
"And?" 'Something tells me I know where this is going…'
"You see, we're a group dedicated to honoring the handsomest Dex Holder of all, Green. And we are politely asking you to state your relationship with him."
Crystal rolled her eyes and sighed. 'Figures…' "… He's my senior, okay? We work together, fight together during crises, and we're friends."
The group of girls appeared even more hostile. The leader's politeness quickly faded.
"We're warning you," she said in a growl. "Stay away from him. He's ours, you understand?"
Crystal glared at her. "First of all, he's not yours. In fact, he hates you. Second, he's my senior and we're friends. I'm not going to stay away from him just because you tell me to. And third, don't you have better things to do?"
One of the girls suddenly pushed her from behind. "Just stay away from him! We're warning you!"
Crystal glared at her. "Or what?!" Another girl pushed her. And another. And another. Crystal pushed back. "What is wrong with you?!"
Someone grabbed her hair from behind and pulled. Crystal kicked her in response. More girls reached for her and she kept swatting them away. For those who approached way too close, she kicked them back. The angry group didn't dissipate, however. Instead, they just became more and more aggressive.
Crystal blocked an oncoming attack and kicked in retaliation. This situation was starting to remind her of her combat against the horde of Beedrills from yesterday. Except this time, no one was helping her.
One of the hostile girls roughly pushed her just as another one kicked her knees. Crystal fell backwards but quickly jumped back up. She elbowed the one who kicked her and kicked the one who pushed her.
The situation wasn't improving, however. As the angry group became more and more aggressive. But just as things were about to get out of hand, a loud roar came from above and a shadow of a Charizard covered the girls. Crystal looked up and saw Green and his Charizard coming to save her.
All the hostile fan girls started to scream in happiness. They all jumped with their arms stretched, aiming for the slightest contact with Green or his Charizard when he swooped down.
But Crystal knew that wasn't going to happen. She could just barely see the expression of her senior. He was looking at them in disgust (not at her, obviously). Crystal prepared herself for what was about to happen.
The Charizard started to flap its wings repeatedly as hard as it could. The powerful gusts of wind forced all the girls backwards. As the gusts became stronger, some of the girls were sent flying back, Crystal included.
From her new position, Crystal flatted herself against the ground as the gusts became stronger and stronger. When all the girls were knocked down, the gusts stopped. Crystal quickly glanced left and right. All the girls seemed to be dazed. She took the opportunity and jumped to her feet. The Charizard flew directly overhead, with Green reaching down for her. Crystal jumped and grabbed onto his hand.
The moment she felt Green's strong grip on her hand, the Charizard sped up and headed towards the lab.
"Are you okay?" he asked as he pulled her up.
"Yes… Thank you so much," Crystal said with a sigh of relief. She sat behind him on Charizard and straightened out her clothes. "How did you know?"
"The store clerk called me," Green answered. "Damn these girls. Such nuisance."
"We need to do something about them," Crystal said. "This is the second group to attack me…"
"Bring up the issue in the Dex Holder meeting you're setting up. We should be able to come up with a solution there."
"Yeah…"
The two Dex Holders soon reached Prof. Oak's lab and landed near the door. Crystal got off of the Charizard and thanked it for the rescue. Green jumped off and returned it to its Pokéball before facing her.
"Now Crystal. It's probably best if you take today off. Rest up."
Crystal shook her head. "No. I'm okay. I just need to get my mind off of it."
"Are you sure? You look very tired."
"Really. I'm okay."
The two Dex Holders faced each other for a few seconds before Green nodded. "Very well then. Let's get to work."
Crystal nodded as well and headed inside the lab. She approached her work desk and set her bag down. She straightened out her hair and took a deep breath to calm herself down. She put her lab coat on and booted up her work computer.
Green approached her and gave her the list of things to do today. In return, Crystal gave him the sandwich she bought and the receipt so he'd know that it didn't cost over 1000 PKD.
…
Crystal looked up from her computer monitor. It was 9 am now, so she's been working for around 3 hours. It was time for a short break before getting back to work. And for the first time ever, she felt that she really needed a break. She couldn't think clearly and her mind kept drifting towards the events of today and yesterday.
"Damn it," she muttered quietly. She checked the list of her tasks. She only accomplished 4 of the 20 given. Normally, she'd able to complete around 10 before the first break time.
With a sigh, Crystal stood up and approached the nearest window. She opened it to let in the fresh morning air. She took a deep breath with her eyes closed, trying to refresh her mind and clear her cluttered thoughts.
For the next few minutes, she stood perfectly still with her eyes closed, breathing in and out in perfect rhythm. She only looked away from the windows when she heard her Pokégear vibrating. Blue was calling her. Great. What did she want now? She considered in not answering, but that would be rude, so she answered.
"Hello?" she answered in a rather frustrated tone.
"Hi, Crys," came Blue's cheerful voice, sounding awfully hollow for some reason. "How are you doing?"
"Fine, I guess," Crystal replied with a sigh.
Blue didn't sound convinced. "Is something wrong?"
"No, no… I'm okay," Crystal lied. Again, her senior didn't buy it.
"Crys, you're lying," she said, the cheerfulness gone from her voice. "Something seems wrong. What happened?"
Crystal let out a long sigh. Her senior could be quite persistent at times… Fine. She'd indulge her for a bit. "Gold went on a date yesterday, and I met him in the same restaurant. And there, his date… well… she doesn't like me. Let's just say that. And Gold…" Crystal trailed off. She really didn't want to talk about this anymore. "… Forget it. It's yesterday's problem."
"Crys," came Blue's warm voice. "Do you… want to talk about it? Maybe I can help you."
"No… I'm okay, Blue. I can handle it."
"Come on, you shouldn't deal with this kind of issue all by yourself."
"No, seriously. I'm fine, Blue," Crystal said, trying to give her senior hints to leave her alone.
"Are you sure?" Blue asked. "I mean, if you feel hurt because Gold is-"
Crystal couldn't take it anymore. "Blue," she interrupted with a frustrated sigh. "You're my senior and you know I really respect you. But sometimes, you really need to just fuck off and let people handle their own damn business!"
She heard Blue's surprised gasp. But she wasn't in the mood for this, so she hung up and almost slammed the device back into her bag. But a few seconds later, as her irrational anger calmed, she regretted her decision.
"I shouldn't have done that," she muttered. "She was only trying to help… I guess I'll apologize to her later today. Since she's very nice, everything will be okay if I apologize to her quickly enough." She sighed again as she sat down on her chair. "Damn it, today's a bad day…"
The Gold & Crystal segment is the only one that hasn't caught up to Blue's rampancy. As such, this chapter was used to show what exactly happened between Gold and Crystal from Gold's date, all the way to Crystal swearing at Blue over the phone, thereby unknowingly starting the rampancy.
Next up: the continuation of the Gold & Crystal segment. But after Blue becomes rampant. Meaning, as of SL #021, all the segments are past the rampancy point. Assuming SL continues to that point…