Chapter 2: Galactic states
Night
Sinnoh
Eterna Building
Silver's shoulder length hair was tied up into a high ponytail and with an inaudible sigh he scrubbed the pristine white floors of the lab corridors. It was a few hours after all the workers left and the only occupants in the multi-story building where the cleaners and a few security guards. Dipping the mop back into a bucket of murky water, he sloshed it around and raised the cleaning equipment, after wringing it; he set it back on the floor and continued to clean. The mechanical hum of machines and an aged security guard were the only source of comfort offered in this stark area.
He continued to mop.
"Silver...How long have you been working here?" the guard, back from his rounds questioned. Normally, the reserved red head would not talk, but it was rather lonesome and besides, a little conversation won't hurt.
"Two months" he replied in a monotone.
"I see" the man nodded "although, I don't understand why a young man like yourself is assigned to cleaning duty. You should study boy! Nowadays we have twelve year old kids challenging the gyms and making it to Pokemon league!"
"I'm not interested" he wiped sweaty hands on his grey overalls "also, someone needs to keep these areas clean. If all of us are busy with grandiose dreams, we won't have cleaners and security guards anymore." He picked up his pail and shouldered the mop. Together with the guard, they moved forward into a new area. Tripping over his own feet, Silver crashed into the person in front of him. The bucket of dirtied water flew up and rained down on them. Both people's clothes were soaked.
"I'm so sorry" he shot up and bowed, snatching a rag from his back pocket, he moved towards the fallen man, helped him up and began to press the rag onto the wet areas of his clothes. Taking a step back, the cleaner bowed once again and muttered several apologies.
"Son...you are clumsy aren't you?" the security man chuckled "Don't worry; there are spare uniforms downstairs in the supply closet. I'll just head over and get changed. Will you be okay on your own?"
"Yes, I'll be fine" he reassured "once again, I'm sorry"
The man's laughter echoed down the bare corridors as he left. Silver watched him go. As the guard vanished, he smirked and looked at the key card in his hand. Retrieving a pokeball from a belt hidden underneath his uniform, he called his Weavile out.
"We have to get to work..."
Discarding the bucket and mop he moved forward, wary of the cameras dotted throughout the facility. Lowering his cap, he made sure his face was well hidden as he passed. Weavile darted back and forth, pausing before some doors and sniffing the air. It ran further down the winding passage and stood before a set of double glass doors. Inhaling the air, it growled softly at Silver. The young male peered through the doors, trying to see what lay beyond, alas, the lights in the room where all turned off. Locating the card reader next to the doors, he swiped the security guard's key card and the pneumatic doors hissed open. Just as he was about to step over the threshold, he remembered something. Rummaging through his pockets, he brought out a stiff square card, with a flick of his wrist; he tossed it into the corridor and walked in. The doors hissed shut.
In a gloomy monitor room, a guard snored, fast asleep. There was a cup of half-drunk coffee on the desk. Several screens blinked and changed, showing different parts of the facility. Only the topmost bank of monitors showed the same floor. One of them sported the unblinking image of a forsaken card. The piece of paper showed a cluster of stars.
Early morning of the same day.
Kanto
Underneath Celadon city game center
Yellow fidgeted. Red was going to get an earful from his best friend. The ruby eyed male was assigned to steal Suicune from the water gym leader: Misty. Unfortunately he failed and instead procured vital information on the inner workings of the International Police. Green had dumped a stack of documents that required filling up before afternoon today, but it seems like the man had fallen asleep at his table and chair, laying his head on top of the stacked papers and drooling on them. Despite being in such an unflattering posture, Yellow still smiled. The person sleeping before her occupied a special place in her heart. Putting her clipboard down, she gently began shaking him awake.
"Red, wake up" she nudged and the male groaned something incomprehensible "wake up or else Green is going to yell at you!"
At her words his head shot up and collided with her chin. She let out a pained cry and shuffled backwards.
"Huh...? Oh Yellow, sorry bout that" he grinned sheepishly and simultaneously scratched the back of his head and wiped his mouth "...you were saying something?"
"You need to complete your documents..." she trailed off when the pokemon trainer in front of her visibly paled. It appears as if Green had walked into the room. His emerald green irises glittered viscously.
"Uh...Green" Red stammered "nice to meet you! Great day isn't it?"
His friend and co-worker merely glared, his poisoned gaze shifted to the quivering blonde and his expression mellowed.
"Yellow we are leaving" he sighed in irritation "leave Red to his own devices; if he does not complete the documents by noon...He can forget about the holiday he so badly wanted." Casting an apologetic glance at the stiff man, Yellow bowed and retreated with her superior.
Red sat in his room alone. Yesterday was an extremely hectic day, he looked towards his bed and found it empty, the two individuals sleeping in them must have left. Wearily, he got up from his chair and went to his closet. Shrugging off the dusty and torn suit, he changed into regular clothes. His hair was still slicked downwards with Blue's obnoxious brand of gel. He reached up and felt his bangs. They were dry and hard. Moving towards the bathroom, he turned the faucet on and put his head underneath it, washing his hair. There was no time for a shower if he wanted to complete his work by noon. No time for breakfast either, he mused. Grabbing a towel, the roughly dried his hair and checked the mirror, thankfully his hair had was sticking up again. Slouching back into the room he eyed the pile of waiting documents.
Suddenly, he had a brainwave.
Gathering the papers up, he exited the room and into a busy corridor. Several familiar trainers rushed past, each busy with whatever they were required to do. He spied Diamond drifting lazily about with a donut stuffed in his mouth. Making his way towards him, Red greeted and the teenager's eyes shone.
"Red...You are back? Was the mission successful?"
His superior replied in negative. Fishing a rice ball out from a small back pack Diamond always carried around, he offered it to his senior, who gulped it down in one bite. Dia's cooking was legendary amongst them. The duo entered a spacious room punctuated by large French windows. Sunlight filtered through, bathing the area gold and providing natural lighting. The wooden floors creaked as Red made his way to a pool table situated in the middle of the room and dumped his documents. In one corner, before an ornate wooden desk sat Black, the table was littered with a small globe showing the different regions and a pile of books and scrolls. Ignoring the world around him, the brunette busied himself, making marks on a map, taking notes in a book and reading. Off to another corner stood a suit of medieval armor and an ancient brass telescope, Sapphire's warnings of breaking the armor suit had no effect on Gold who had brought in the piece. There was a bookshelf lining an entire back wall and a few meters in front of it, a sand bag hung from the ceiling. A granite counter housed several computers and a section of the chaotic room was draped with a maroon colored banner depicting two crossed sword and an E lettered in Old script.
E, E for execution. Team execution.
They carried out plans.
"Where are the rest?" Red's voice echoed in the empty room and Black turned around to reply.
"Senior Gold is flirting with Crystal. Sapphire is arguing with Ruby" he stated. Picking off a large spherical stone off his desk, he stowed it away and grabbed a stool, placing it before the pool table, he sat down and stared at the documents.
"Fetch them" the eldest male ordered and Black scrambled off his chair and bolted out the door with a jubilant shout. Dia simply continued to eat. Feeling somewhat dismayed, the team leader started to shuffle the documents and read what was required to fill in. He let out a snarl. The papers were unnecessary, it was mainly due to Green's impeccable organizational skills that they entire organization was forced to do these useless work. Maybe he should saunter over Sapphire's sand bag and punch it a few times to get rid of stress. As he was entertaining the thought, the rest of his crew piled in with smiles.
And full stomachs. A growl from his own made his team mates chuckle.
"Need us for something?" Gold queried and lifted himself on the table, sitting on it, the others grabbed chairs and crates and huddled around.
"I have to finish documents" he forlornly stated "Green is being a moron."
"Oh yeah...Silver is returning tonight...Who was supposed to fetch him?"
"Pearl" Diamond answered, he dug around in his bag and began assembling a small meal on the table, reaching out, Red grabbed several food articles and ate them hungrily. "He departed for Sinnoh last night."
"Tsk...Wish I could go...I'd bust him out in no time"
"You suck at espionage" Sapphire jeered.
"Like you are any better" Gold jabbed back, he took out his pool cue, extended it and used the stick to pull a few papers to where he was sitting. Work forgotten, both Dia and his leader were immersed in the wonders of the culinary world.
Half an hour later, the ruby eyed male passed the documents around the room; his group members began to either read or scribble furiously on them. The commander sighed contently; it was nice to have a loyal group of people under your command. A small squeak alerted him to his Pikachu who had bounded out from somewhere and sat on his head.
"I don't understand what's written here" the dex holder from Littleroot complained "what does rend...rendezvous point mean?"
A snicker alerted her to the golden eyed male. He showed a pitying smile and a mouthful of teeth. Growling, Sapphire formed a fist and accurately smashed his nose. Seeing them at it again, Red got up and retrieved a tissue; he handed it over to Gold and replied to her query.
"It means meeting point...You can leave the space blank." She nodded and went back to writing. Time slowly ticked and the room grew quiet as a grave, only the turning of pages and the scratching of pens filled the still space.
"Done."
"DONE!"
"Done..." Want another donut Mister Red?
"Yeah thanks"
"Done!"
Four voices echoed and they simultaneously glanced at an ancient clock. It was a little past noon.
"Someone...Get these documents to Green pronto" Red moaned "I'm famished...Dia make something for lunch, we'll eat it here."
Like before, Black gathered the documents up with frightening speeds and rushed out of the area like a whirlwind. Diamond left a few minutes after him. The only female member of the group pushed the pool table aside and faced Red. She bowed and requested a match with him.
"He just said he is tired..." pointed out Gold and kept his mouth shut when his half dead leader sprung up from the chair and commanded his pokemon to battle. Knowing his infamous strength, the female battler set out her strongest pokemon. A flaming Blaziken, the creature burst out of the pokeball and took a fighting stance.
"Discharge" droned a low tone.
"Inferno" countered a high pitch.
Surprisingly, the fire based move struck first. Following the first move, a second fire punch was commanded, however, Blaziken's arms refused to obey commands.
It was paralyzed.
"Match over!" the golden eyed referee announced "and it is an unsurprising victory for Red!" he marched over and raised his leader's hand.
"How...How did this happen!" demanded the girl "Inferno struck first!"
"Double team Saph" he rubbed the younger trainer's head "Pika used double team when he sensed the move was going to strike first. You did well."
"I need more training" she mumbled unhappily "will you train me? Please, I know you trained Gold while you were still champion and you sneak in some sessions with Dia! Why not me?"
"Green will be a better trainer for you." She heard these exact words coming out of Red's mouth countless times. Huffing, she turned away and started punching her sand bag with her pokemon.
A little bit past midnight.
Eterna Building
Topmost floor
He switched on the lights and shielded his eyes from the harsh fluorescence. Chrome and glass. Chrome and glass everywhere. The entire room gave off a smell akin to surgical steel. His footsteps echoed thunderously loud in the area as he purposely moved forward. Weavile was darting back and forth again, the dark pokemon left little scratches on the innumerable glass cabinets set into the chamber's walls. Not paying any attention to the wall sized shelves, Silver continued to walk and he came across another obstacle.
Namely a gigantic, circular steel door. An electronic key-pad was set in the middle and he grit his teeth.
The key-card was unusable here.
A pale hand remained poised over the green buttons, if he entered the password wrong. It was over. Taking a deep breath, he pressed a key and a beep confirmed his choice. Haltingly he pressed another button. He was about to press a third one when a familiar voice jolted him.
"SILVERRRRR! Where are you son?" It was the aged security guard. Scowling, the red head ignored him and focused on the task at hand. He had dutifully turned off the lights when he entered the inner chamber and the only lighting came from the sickly green glow of the keypad, it reflected off his face. He briefly wondered if he should summon his Feraligatr and simply break the door down. The prospect seemed much easier.
"No...I'll leave a huge trail behind" he spoke to himself. He had spent two months here and each night, after completing his duty, he sneaked into the archives and read. He knew the layout of the research facility like the back of his hand; the officials trusted him and sometimes slipped him secrets. After all, he was a simple cleaner whose goal to become a respected trainer has been crushed.
Or so they thought.
A small grin worked into his face as he typed in the rest of the password and held his breath. A soft pressure on his leg alerted to his partner who gripped him comfortingly. With a whirr, the huge door swung open on oiled hinges and Silver stepped in. The next room was worse than the first.
In the center of the room, a pedestal was guarded by numerous lasers, cameras and other high-end security devices. Tonight's target was the object resting inside the glass plinth. In the dim interior, the orb glowed yellow. Stripping off his cleaner's uniform, the thief put on gloves, raised the collar of his shirt and cartwheeled over the first laser. He continued in this fashion, dodging the lethal light beams with all his might. Taking out a mini night-vision binoculars, he peered into the four corners of the room, counting the laser devices.
"Weavile, take down the large ones on the corners, they are hidden in niches about a meter above the floor." he whispered and waited on his spot. The pokemon discreetly carried out its orders and one by one, numerous red laser lights blinked out of existence.
"Thanks..."
He continued his harrowing journey across, careful not to trip or make the loud sounds, it was possible there were sound detectors inside here. Landing with a soft thump, he struck his arms out to prevent himself from losing balance and falling. Exhaling lightly he stared at his prize:
The griseous orb.
The sight was enthralling. Nestled in a black velvet pillow, the palm sized orb exuded an unearthly amber light. Briefly forgetting about safety procedures, Silver gripped the glass plate and lifted it.
And all hell broke loose.
Cringing at the alarms blaring throughout the facility, he roughly grabbed the orb and pocketed it. Recalling his pokemon back into a pokeball, he rushed backwards into the outer chamber and looked around, trying to locate a window big enough for him to squeeze through.
There were none.
Keeping his calm, the red head took out the key-card and opened the doors, outside waited a multitude of guards armed with pokemon and handguns, all pointing towards him. The security officers all gaped in shock.
"Silver...don't tell me you..." the aged man's face morphed into an expression of utmost sorrow, throwing him a nonchalant look, the thief strode in the middle, holding his hands up in a resigned manner. One of the guards lowered his weapon and brought out a set of metal cuffs, as he came closer; Silver grasped him, pulled him and thereafter roughly shoved him into the small army of officers. In the ensuing chaos, he sidestepped and broke into a run.
"After him!" the leading official bellowed.
The sirens blared louder and warning lights were put on. Shutters were being lowered to prevent him from escaping. Without missing a heartbeat, he called on his honchkrow and the large bird type pokemon simply crashed through the closed shutters or drilled holes through the ones which were being lowered. Silver himself slid under several and after coming underneath one particularly low one, a blow to his head disorientated him. Rolling to avoid another one, he scrambled to his feet and stared at the perpetrator.
A shock of electric blue hair with a face set in such an emotionless visage; he could be mistaken for a doll, or a robot. A futuristic suit enclosed the attacker and chest of the outfit sported a large golden G.
"Apprehend the thief" it spoke in a monotone and marched in a robotic manner towards him.
"Drill peck" Silver commanded and his pokemon flew. A Purugly swiped a claw in response.
"Take down the thief...Orders confirmed. Purugly...Take down"
The cat-esque pokemon charged, a whirlwind of wind blew it to the other side of the corridor and Purugly crashed into a wall with a sickening crunch, glancing at his watch; Silver spared the strange human (or humanoid) a glance and tore down the hallways. To his horror, a mass of the aforementioned people poured out of the corridors on all sides. They marched mechanically, cutting off his path. Blank faces, shining like porcelain. Twisting half-way he attempted another corridor and was met with the same scene. They came like ants, blocking every path except the one he came through.
"..."
Whipping around, he careered down the hallway and the masses surged towards him. He switched his Honchkrow out for Feraligatr and both pokemon and trainer haphazardly ran down the passages, feet pounding against the tiled floors. The incessant chattering of flat tones unnerved him as he continued his mad dash.
The roof his mind supplied and he took a quick turn. Feraligatr, being a bit slower and bulkier skidded to a halt and after a few seconds, lumbered after his quickly vanishing trainer. Shouldering a door open he tumbled on towards the roof and stared in dismay.
His retrieval team had not yet arrived. He looked at his watch, he was not early.
They were simply late.
Multiple hissings of monsters reached his ears and he faced the open door with his trusty water pokemon. The first wave oozed forth and a timely roar sent them crashing back down. More came in their place and Feraligatr opened his jaws wide. White teeth gleamed and a torrent of water issued from the back of its mouth and struck with full force. The jet stream of water broke down the door and a bit of the structure, burying the humanoids under concrete and rubble. A sound of rotating blades prompted the red head to look around.
"I came to pick you up!" Pearl roared from the helicopter, he was leaning out of the vehicle with a wide grin on his face.
"You are late!" Growled Silver, displeasure and relief evident in his tones.
"Sorry, I had to borrow a helicopter" the blonde added.
Borrow was the wrong term, behind the trainer; the master thief spied an Inferape aiming a flaming fist at an obviously terrified pilot's head. The man's face was drenched in sweat. Sweeping low, the airborne vehicle landed on the roof of the building and Silver dove in along with his pokemon. With an almighty roar, the blue haired gang regained their footing and was slowly advancing towards their escape vehicle.
"Who are those people?" Pearl screeched over the din of chopped air.
"Some organization...I don't know anything else, seems like they're after the griseous orb. I got chased by them" he returned his blue crocodile back in its pokeball.
The chopper slowly rose, down below, the enemy pokemon were readying a group attack.
"Go faster" Silver urged the pilot, fear rendered the aviator mute and the individual simply nodded.
Boom.
A multi-colored energy ball struck the tail of the copter and their transport system twirled around nauseatingly. To his alarm, Pearl swayed dangerously over the edge and jumped back in closing the door.
"That was FUN!" a dizzyingly cheerful voice spun around the enclosed area. Silver gripped the seats tightly and peeked out of the small windows, another energy projectile was closing in.
"Protect" rang out a shrill voice and the helicopter was capsulated by a barrier. Attacks rebounded with dull thuds and the vehicle stabilized. It gained altitude and the two passengers slumped in their respective seats.
"Mission accomplished?" the younger trainer asked the older one.
"Mission accomplished" he droned and fastened the seatbelt tighter. The helicopter soared through the sky amidst search lights and pandemonium down below.
Five in the morning
Kanto
Blue watched live news on the television and snorted. Next to her Ruby looked up.
"What happened?"
"Silver messed up" she responded and the black haired male's eyebrows disappeared in his hat.
"Seriously? I told you someone should've gone with him...Stealing the orb under such tight security is unheard of, you can't-"
His superior cut him short.
"No...If he can't do it, no one else can...Besides it's rather okay. Now the international police's attention will be fixated on Eterna city and Sinnoh, we will be able to stroll around Unova for a while. I can't wait to check out the latest fashion trends!" she sighed blissfully "Anyway, have you packed everything Ruby? If you remember something on the last minute, you will have to leave it" she eyed his humongous luggage.
"Yeah...I think so" he distractedly answered. His eyes were glued on the wall sized television. "Who else is coming with us?
"Platina" drifted Blue's voice "and remember, you two are on guard duty..."
The teenager got up from his place on the lush carpet and stretched, muttering something underneath his breath, he left the room and sauntered down the corridor. It was nearly dawn and he was exhausted. Numbly turning into a room he saw his team mate was still wide awake and reading something.
"We're leaving two days from now" he relayed his message and made his way back to his room.
A/N: Like it? Dislike it? Leave a review to tell me your thoughts.
On another note: Much thanks to fluffandrows57 for reviewing and following the story, you deserve chocolate! Please keep on supporting the story further.