Chapter 5: Dex criminals
Middle of the night
Castelia City, Hotel
Steven's room.
He heard a knock on the door and blearily forced his eyes open. Sluggishly, his pupils focused on the luminous digital clock next to his bed. One o'clock it showed.
One o'clock. Who in their right mind is awake at this time and knocking on the door?
Wearily, he ran a hand through his messed hair and put on the lights, thereafter he made his way towards the door, on opening it he stared, his brain processing things a bit slowly due to being half asleep. On seeing the individual, he became wide awake.
It was that over cheerful hotel attendant that delivered him chocolate cake a few hours ago. What was he doing here?
"Hello sir, so sorry to interrupt your beauty sleep, but I came to fetch the plate." he smiled.
"It's the middle of the night" Steven croaked, what was wrong with the universe?
"I apologize for my untimely interruption, you see I'm new and not used to the work around here, anyway I was tasked to wash dishes tonight and while I was sorting through the pile of dirty plates, I suddenly remembered about you, since I forgot to take back yours, so here I am!"
For some reason, the grey haired adolescent found himself being enraptured by the attendant's rambling.
"You are new? When did you start working?" going inside, he retrieved the plate and handed it back to Ruby.
"Tonight sir, the hotel staff manager was running short on hands for their anniversary and since I possess both beauty and fashion sense" he adjusted his bandanna "they called me up to help."
Steven chuckled at his antics, speaking of which, this person reminded him a bit of his friend's son: Ruby.
"You know, you remind me of someone" He was still questioning why he was up in the middle of the night, wearing pajamas and standing in the doorway of his room talking to an inept attendant, the stress of juggling his champion and international police duties must be getting to him.
Ruby was maintaining his facade rather well, but the moment he heard those words come out of Steven's mouth, he paled once again and hoped he was not sweating too profusely so that the makeup would run down his face. He was stretching things a bit and he sent a brief prayer to Arceus so Platina could hurry up, his job was to distract the trainer in front of him till the large window situated on the other side of the room broke. Grinning, he launched into a tangent about the totally fake anniversary that will be taking place. True to his rather kind nature, the champion merely smiled lazily and listened to every false word, nodding at times and commenting a few words. As Ruby thought he was nearing his limit, the sound of shattering glass startled them both. Steven's steel gray eyes sharpened in concentration and he spun around. Taking advantage of the situation, Ruby summoned his Swampert and commanded it to knock out the champion with a punch.
Against all odds, Steven avoided it by ducking and rolling across the floor. His instincts screamed at him to protect the Dark stone and as he scrambled to the cube, a torrent of water struck him squarely on his back and he went soaring to the other side of the room, his body hit the wall. Climbing in through the broken window in an elegant manner was a young girl; she was being helped up by an Empoleon. Near the doorway the 'hotel attendant' walked in with a milotic slithering beside him. The woman made a beeline for the Dark stone and the male followed her, seizing a chance, the police agent was about to get his pokemon when the tail end of the milotic stiffened like steel and pressed against the skin of his throat.
"Don't move" the male commanded in a hard, low voice completely unlike the cheerful tone he used before "Milotic here will slit you."
Helplessly and soaked to the bone, he watched as the duo sifted through the room, they collected the cube carrying the Dark stone and all the information he collected over the past two days. His fists tightened, what was his superior, Cynthia going to say? More importantly, what was he going to say? The two thieves collected what they needed and spoke in hushed tones; the female wore a masquerade mask over her face. More than scared, Steven felt mortified, the people they were so desperately searching for was right in front of him and escaping away with the black stone...
They were the same people right?
He swallowed nervously and the milotic turned its head to glare at him.
"Got everything we need?"
"Yes, please let me leave first"
Holding the case in one hand, Platina jumped out of the window and recalled her Empoleon; Ruby stared at the card she handed over to him. It showed a fancily scripted C and on turning over the card, he sported a cluster of stars on one half and on the other, a Milotic and Empoleon. Tossing the card at Steven's feet, he followed his companion out of the broken pane and retrieved his Pokemon. Shivering, the duped champion snatched the card off the floor and stared at it, his mind whirring.
"Two people, two pokemon" he muttered "so the pokemon they use are depicted on here...But he, the boy, used another one, I didn't get a good look at it but I'm sure it was not the Milotic. Groaning miserably, he reached for his phone, a few rings later the person on the other end picked up and snarled:
"For Celebi's sake it's two in the morning! I need my sleep! Something better be horribly wrong for you to call me at this time, don't forget I have a painstaking job to do in the morning!"
His voice failed him.
"Steven?"
"Sir...I'm sorry to report that the Dragon stone and all its information has been stolen by them, however I found out how their card works...Somewhat." He was surprised when instead of yelling, the person merely laughed.
"Oh, nice, we needed this information...Although; Cynthia is so going to kill you. Anyway, I hope you aren't wounded or anything, go back without me, I need to sort some stuff out." Saying this, the call ended.
Five in the morning
Aspertia City
Blue's room
"Did he recognize you?" Blue eyed Ruby who had ditched his temporary work clothes and was fixing his trusty hat on his head. Before her lay the Dark stone and a thick folder of notes on the legends of the twin dragons. Black will be elated because they had also managed to find some information on Reshiram. Now the poor boy won't have to sit and study for long hours trying to crack the mysteries of the stone in his possession.
"I don't think so...Although, he did comment about how I remind him of a certain someone...geez Blue, I need a vacation. If I'm not home, Mom and Dad are going to start worrying. For all they know, I'm currently in Kanto participating in Pokemon contests." he replied and sat down on the floor. Next to him, Platina had already begun working on her laptop, dark eyes swinging like a pendulum as she researched.
"We have to leave Unova by tonight and arrive at Kanto by tomorrow, most likely near late afternoon. Superior, where does this leave us?"
"Lack-2 and Whi-2 do not have their Pokedexes yet, according to Green we can't wait for them to become Dex holders...Therefore, it's up to you and Ruby to steal the Pokedexes from Professor Juniper's lab in Nuvema town...Which is situated on the other side of Unova, way past Castelia. And while you two are at it, take two starter pokémons as well." Blue calmly stated much to her two underling's chagrin. The young girl was cultured enough not to say anything, the black haired boy however:
"...Seriously? Don't we get to sleep today? I'm tired Blue, very tired"
"Sorry Ruby, I'll make sure you won't get another difficult mission for a while. Also, I'll handle our two targets, with the time constraint, the only thing we can do is kidnap them. Deal?"
"Deal..." he grumbled and began searching through his backpack, extracting a belt, he stuck six pokeballs on it and fixed it at his waist. Platina had also gotten ready, she fixed her beanie and put on a short, light pink jacket, around her slim waist was a belt akin to Ruby's also with six pokeballs. The two made their way to a window and Ruby halted.
"Hey leader...None of us have any flying pokemon do we? Call Green and tell him to deposit his Charizard into a box, we'll use the computer downstairs to retrieve it.
An hour later, the adolescent's eyes sparkled at the majestic fire breathing creature, like its trainer, the orange dragon stared impassively at them as Ruby danced around it and commented on Charizard's aesthetic beauty. Finally it snorted out embers and the duo climbed on his back. Powerful webbed wings beat the air and slowly they rose, with impressive speed they flew off to Nuvema town.
Late morning
Aspertia City
Pokemon Academy.
Whi-2 listened attentively as their new teacher dished out notes and a list of pokemon who evolve via trading. It seems this method of evolution is not as simple as she led to believe. Some pokemon only evolved under certain conditions whilst others evolved by holding an item and being traded. If the owner of the new pokemon wanted it back, they had to trade once more. The influx of information was making her giddy, yet she paid rapt attention, there was something captivating about the woman lecturing them, the way she showed a special interest to each and every one of her students, even someone like her, who generally made it a point not to be noticed. Her eyes slowly travelled around the classroom and landed on Lack-2, he was sitting up straight and taking notes. She giggled, this has to be the first, a few seats away from him sat Hugh, a warm flush spread across her cheeks as she beheld the frowning trainer furiously scribbling in his books. Sensing the teacher's eyes on her, she immediately went back to her notes with her head bowed.
Blue smirked, she had her suspicions but now they were confirmed. The girl, Whi-2 would make an excellent spy. Her timid and shy behavior covered up the way she discreetly took note of her surroundings and she was rather cute. Perfect to work under her.
"Right, since we are already familiar with Pokemon that need a certain item to be held before trading, now I want to introduce another way, this will most probably be the most difficult way of trading but it's well worth it if you have to fill in the Pokedex" Blue smiled, acting skills raising a few notches "this pokemon also comes from Unova so you can blame your region for being so problematic."
A few light hearted chuckles were heard.
"Karrablast and Shelmet evolve to Escavalier and Accelgor respectively, but there is a catch. If you want an Escavalier your trade partner must trade you a Shelmet. Same with Shelmet, in this case you need a Karrablast"
The class groaned.
"If it weren't for you Ms. Blue, I'd really, really hate this subject" a random learner complained and she beamed at the praise.
"Ah yes. Whi-2, Lack-2 I want to see you during break time, please come to the staffroom, this has to do with handing over your Pokedexes" in the periphery of her vision, she saw the third promising trainer raise his head and immediately regretted the slip up. "Hugh, you too as well, although personally, I think you don't need any re-evaluation."
Lack-2 scowled, he wanted to be praised as well.
The rest of the morning passed by uneventfully. The boy fantasized about what he'll do once he got his Pokedex, of course he had a duty to travel around the entire region and collect data on pokemon, the lessons on pokemon trading helped, now he knew it was impossible to fill the Pokedex with only wild pokemon, one had to form interpersonal relationships and friends in order to complete it. He smiled to himself, after he's done with Unova, maybe he'll go to other regions and meet famous trainers. Hmm, perhaps also participate in the Pokemon league? He'll probably be up against his Quilfish friend, unlike him who thrived on raw talent, Hugh worked hard, he'll definitely become some hotshot one day, in that case, he too needed to work hard. Although he was in an extremely reputable position already. The bell rang and pulled him out of his sweet day dreams.
"Hey Quilfish" he called "Let's go see Ms. Blue together."
For reasons unknown to him, she unnerved him, like there was some deep dark secret to her jubilant personality, sure she was kind and warm and nice, however, there was something.
Something sinister and painful about her. He had resolved to find out, alas, he felt slightly awkward in her presence.
"Stop calling me that!" the mauve haired trainer gritted his teeth and marched off, Lack-2 and Whi-2 trailed behind him. The trio navigated through several passages and came to a halt before the staff room, knocking politely, they entered. The room was occupied with a few teachers and near the other end, in a cubicle sat the woman they were looking for. Hesitantly they went inside and Blue adjusted her glasses and conveyed a warm smile.
"I wanted a one on one session with you, starting with Hugh; will the rest of you step outside please?"
To Lack-2 the first session felt agonizingly long even though his watch told him only two minutes have passed, as the third minute reached to a close, Hugh came out with a happy grin on his face, he inclined his head to his classmate and the young trainer went in. Standing in front of Blue, who scrutinized him, he wished that he combed his hair more neatly this morning. Charming her did not work, experience told him so.
"Do you think you are a qualified trainer for the Pokedex?" she initialized their discussion "if so, why?"
Why?
Why?
He certainly did not need a Pokedex.
"I want to travel the world and meet new pokemon and outstanding people like you Ms. Blue" he suavely stated.
"...Any other reason? Do you have a goal?"
Does he have a goal?
His gaze sharpened.
"Yes" he solemnly answered "I want to become an international police agent when I grow older. I look up to people like Steven Stone, Norman and Falkner who are doing their best to deal with their personal jobs and still have time for civil service. Although, I won't be diligent like them, my main work is will be in the policing field"
"Lack-2, your brutal honesty scares me..." Blue commented and took down notes. The child simply grinned and took his leave. The next session with Whi-2 went without a hitch; the girl diligently answered all her questions in a straightforward manner, this calmed the con artist down as Lack-2 was a bit annoying. She'll toss him over to Red, she decided, that idiot needed a headache to deal with, she mused with a savage gleam in her eyes.
Dawn of the same day
Nuvema Town
Professor Juniper's lab.
Ruby and Platina slid down Charizard's back and the older trainer recalled the dragon into a pokeball. The two had landed a ways off and after visiting the local Pokemon center and Mart to check the condition of their pokemon and purchase some needed merchandise, they scoped the area around the lab. Like Professor Oak's laboratory situated in Kanto, Juniper's lab was also in a residential area, although, it was built at a further distance. Platina made a little map of the area whilst Ruby mentally marked out escape routes, should a disaster occur. The sun had not come up yet and the dewy grass was soaking his shoes. Silently the duo crept towards the lab, keeping to the shadows and walls of houses. Silver had trained them well. After some ground, they alighted near the lab and crouched low near the hedge decorating the facility. Taking off the backpack, Ruby pulled out spy equipment and they fitted themselves, the noble took out her portable computer as well and contacted Emerald.
"Heya!" The short technician waved "need any help?"
"Yeah, thanks to your leader I didn't get any sleep! Whatever, we are at Professor Juniper's lab and I want the cameras malfunctioning in the next minute."
"Whoa slow down Ruby, I'm a genius but I can't do that."
"Well this is what Green wants from us! Your superior is ugly and ruthless!"
"...Did you say something Ruby?" Green's sinister tone replaced Emerald's one "Team constellate specializes in independent work, I'd like to know why you are contacting Emerald..."
His voice sent shivers down their spines.
"Sir...We are doing double duty, so I thought having Rald help us out will make our miserable lives easier" he answered in a defeated manner.
It took the strategy department around five minutes do disable all security measures in the laboratory.
"Thanks Rald."
"No problem" the blonde's last words were whispered "and if you need help, just call me." Beaming, he cut the connection off.
Getting up from his crouching position, the ruby eyed teenager put on a mask and after giving a few instructions to Platina, he moved to the side of the lab and used his Pokemon to punch a neat square shaped, man sized hole. His companion shook her head at his fastidiousness and gave a thumbs up as he traversed deeper into the lab.
"Jeez, it's really dark in here" Ruby held up a flashlight and studied his surroundings. The electrical hum of machines greeted him, and the white beam of light picked up computers, cabinets and shelves lining the walls. A note board was stuck with post-its and the teenager took some time to read the information relayed on it, one note caught his attention and he held up a little camera and took a picture of it. Footsteps echoing faintly on the grey floor, he inspected the facility, on a table, piled high with documents, a computer and a photograph, lay three Pokedexes, nearby the devices was a long rectangular box. The trainer pocketed two Pokedexes without second thought and unclasped the box next to it. Inside the cushioned interior were three pokeballs.
"Starters" he muttered "let's see, I have to take two of them...Question is which ones?"
Through the clear covering, he peered at the three pokemon who had also looked up inquisitively at the human who disturbed them. Red tinted eyes skimmed over Tepig, Snivy and Oshawott.
"...Tepig does not possess beauty...And judging by Black's Emboar...his evolutions are no better" a gloved hand gently extracted the grass pokemon and with sea otter-esque one, Ruby had a staring match. The determined little pokemon gazed at him with small, beady eyes.
"Senior...Please hurry up, the sun is coming out" his companion's voice floated through his earphones. Letting out an exhale, he picked the water pokemon up and shut the case. Thereafter he swept the torch around the room once more and made sure nothing else was disturbed. Nodding to himself, he exited the lab the same way he came in.
"Call Blue" he commanded "tell her we secured the Pokedexes and starters."
It was a bit past afternoon when Blue actually got her underlings' message. Fed up with trying to call her, the field agents sent her a message and she had neglected to view it due to her work. She sat in the staffroom, packing away everything...Since she won't be here tomorrow. The thought made her a bit despondent, working here was quite fun. Clasping her bag shut, she made her way outside and was pleasantly surprised to see her two targets waiting at the school gates. Seeing them sitting on a bench, she made her way towards them.
"Aren't you two going home?" she queried in a warm tone. "School has been dismissed."
"Yeah" Lack-2 answered "I offered to take Whi-2 home today but she won't leave without the Quilfish, speaking of him, he's still in class taking supplementary lessons from Professor Cheren."
"Oh, how hardworking"
Whi-2 agreed with Blue, her eyes sparkling with admiration.
"Say, do you two like music?"
"Yes/ Yes Ms. Blue" they both chorused.
"In that case...Wigglytuff, sing for them please" her words turned soft.
"Huh?" was Lack-2's response as he struggled to stay awake; however, the Pokémon's hypnotic tones had already washed over both of them. With a blurred vision, he saw his classmate pitch forward and he held out his hands in order to catch her, holding her firmly, he tardily turned his head to his smiling teacher and his eyelids drooped shut. Before the two children fell to the floor, Blue instructed Wigglytuff to carry the boy whilst she dealt with Whi-2. Securing the girl on her back, the woman and her pokemon disappeared without a trace and reappeared in her hotel room. Once there, she began wiping traces of her existence and taking all her things with her, thankfully both Ruby and Platina had finished their preparations before they left for the mission this morning and only their respective luggage cases lay in their rooms. Taking out her phone, she looked at the time, and began pondering about her course of actions.
Calling Platina, she told the girl and Ruby to meet her at Anville train station, they were going to leave Unova by late afternoon today. Distinctly she heard him groaning about how sitting on Charizard for such a long duration was going to be bad for his skin. Ignoring him, she changed Whi-2's clothes and put on a casual dress on the girl, whilst Lack-2 was changed by her pokemon into a jeans and t-shirt. The two children were stripped of their visors, Xtransciever and pokeballs and these are put in with Blue's things. Finally she called out her Ditto, had it transform into an Abra and teleported out of the place, besides, she won't be able to fly carrying two unconscious children and three people's luggage.
Charizard flew in an amiable manner and on top of the fire dragon Ruby fidgeted. His partner sat calmly, almost elegantly and sipped tea from a flask, occasionally, she'd pick up her binoculars and peer through it, commenting about the landscape below or the Pokemon flying past them. If she saw something interesting, an expensive camera would flash and take pictures. The sky was blue and cloudless and the sun steadily trickled downwards, as mid-afternoon passed, the air began to cool down and with it the older male calmed down a bit, shuffling towards the beast's head, he ran a hand through its coarse fur. The duo was silent, their mission was done and because the hype died down, they were feeling rather tired. More than twenty four hours without sleep, he ruminated. Still, it was nothing compared to Silver, during one of his assignments, when he was tasked to steal Mewtwo from Team Rocket's lab, the adolescent had shown up with the Pokemon secured in a master ball. His appearance was so disheveled that Ruby had a hard time recognizing him. The red-head keeled over after delivering the pokemon to Blue and slept for one week straight afterwards. Concerned about his health, he was never again given such an arduous project to do.
They passed the outskirts of Mistaltron and entered a long and wide stretch of woodland. The atmosphere here was much cleaner than in the cities and mainland Unova. Platina still kept on doing what she doing except now she had no tea to sip. Taking out a water bottle, Ruby took a long gulp and glanced at the sky, it was imbued with orange and pink as the sun sunk westwards. Evening was going to set soon and at this altitude, it was getting cold. He shivered; at least his far saner junior had the foresight to bring a jacket. Suddenly Charizard began descending and he stretched, as the wings beat the ground, both he and Platina hopped off. Tucking the pokeball safely away they began walking to the station where Blue awaited.
His eyes fluttered open, where was he? Ah yes, sitting on the school bench flirting with Whi-2 as they waited for Quilfish...
Or not.
With a jolt, his body became rigid as he came to. He was dressed in strange clothes and was sitting on a wooden bench in what looked like a station platform. Next to him, Whi-2 leaned with uncharacteristic weight. She was still fast asleep. He half twisted in order to wake her up and in the process spied a lady with long brown tresses. Seeing her, he gritted his teeth furiously.
"What did you do to us? Where are we? Take us back home!" he growled with undiluted fury and put his arms around his classmate in a secure manner.
"It's not nice to talk to your older sister like that Lack-2" her tone was sickeningly sweet "we are going home don't worry" she leaned closer to him "if you make a fuss...I'll permanently damage your brain so sit tight till the train comes in." He trembled wordlessly and pulled Whi-2 closer to him. Blue checked her watch and a few moments later a train began coming in. She inwardly panicked, where were her co-workers? If they were any late, she'd have to board the train without them. As the pneumatic doors hissed open, Lack-2 trudged forward and dragged an unsteady Whi-2 with him. Blue followed after and just as the train was about to leave, two new occupants burst in through the doors. One was a black haired male and the other was a rather beautiful female with an appearance akin to a porcelain doll.
A/N: And the deed is done. Like it people? Drop a review to tell me your thoughts/ask questions/give constructive criticism, it is all appreciated. Once again much thanks to Jack54311 for reviewing, it is food for the writer's soul. Read and enjoy!