Chapter 11: Rainbows are made from fire
Dawn
Hoenn, Mossdeep city
Space center
Maxie was not sure what transpired. A few hours before dawn, he had personally broken into Mossdeep space center to find and steal some top secret information so that he could use it as blackmail material should the facility refuse to hand over the required quantity of rocket fuel he demanded a few days back. This fuel was needed as energy to undertake the creation of a pseudo Groudon since some blasted criminal organization had stolen the legendary. Anyway, he had infiltrated into the archives and his senses had picked up someone else's presence. The only hiding place in the dank and dimly lit room was a rickety wooden table placed in one corner and buckling under the weight of several heavy tomes placed on the dusty surface. With deliberate slowness, he made his way there and peered under the table, only to find a pasty faced young girl quivering underneath. They gazed at each other for a moment. Giving an earsplitting, terrified scream, she scrambled out of her concealment and tackled him to the floor. Sweaty hands gripped his neck and cut off air flow as she attempted to strangle him, with minimal effort, he threw the girl off and tried to raise himself off the floor, this required some heavy effort because for some reason, his body refused to obey commands.
He was paralyzed.
Trembling, Whi-2 shifted a few paces from the bespectacled man and got up on shaky legs. Foongy had released paralytic spores and slowed the strange individual's movements down to a remarkable degree. Not knowing what else to do, she rummaged in her bag, brought out the Snivy gifted to her by Blue and released it. Pulling out her Pokedex she focused on the information shown on the screen and in a vibrating voice gave it a command:
"Snivy, use wrap." Two green vines shot out from the grass pokemon and began coiling around the intruder's neck. Whi-2 watched with mute horror as he gasped and failed for air and eventually quieted down. Only then, did Snivy retract its vines. His job done, the grass snake was recalled.
She could not believe what she'd done. With unblinking eyes, she stared at the person's prone form.
Footsteps echoed at the door and the surge of panic returned. Swallowing down bile, she was about to dive back into her hiding place when she saw Silver enter. The relief was so great that she ran towards her senior and grabbed on to him tightly; choking on her words. The older trainer took in the scene and glanced down to his junior sniffing and gripping him. Patting her awkwardly on her head, he simply relented and let her be, besides, his tension too was mitigated.
"I think...I think I killed him." The neophyte relayed in a cracked voice.
Silver detached her arms gently and then went over to the inert man. The individual was wearing a red trench coat with the collars embroidered with a grey colored letter M in a fancy script. Expertly, the Johto native reached for the pulse and found a feeble one, it was thrumming against his fingers. Taking out a card from his pocket, the laid it on Maxie's chest and ordered his assistant to leave the room. Back in the hallway, Silver fixed up the door and closed it, sooner or later, someone is going to stumble across the man and all hell will break loose.
"He's not dead, don't worry, you did a good job Whi-2. Come on, we'll have to hide till the laboratory opens up again, then we can return to Kanto safe and sound. Just hang in for a few hours." Unable to speak, the girl nodded and followed him.
Around the same time
Hoenn
Lilicove city
Norman wiped sweat from his brow and frowned. His Spinda was still teetering on the rubble before him. The alien pokemon had reduced Lilycove's department store into a pile of building remains, glass windows were shattered, slashed pipes gushed water and electricity cables gave off dangerous sparks as they lay in pools of water collected in street potholes. The scene was one of disaster and as Deoxys aimed another Hyper beam at him, a protect, courtesy of Steven went up and negated the attack. The young and overworked champion landed next to him and glared at the creature's blue-green face, his eyes travelled down to its chest where a luminous crystal core was set in a round indenture.
"The researchers have informed me that the crystal is its driving force, if we manage to shatter it, the pokemon will die. However, cracking it will severely drain its energy thus enabling capture. Cynthia is busy tailing the other one but it seems to have escaped."
The gym leader merely grunted in response. He noted how Deoxys had its attention fixated on Spinda and soon, the pokemon's movements became incoherent. Seizing the chance, he summoned his Staraptor, in tandem Steven sent out a multitude of Beldums and the hovering pokemon surrounded the monster entrapping it into a psychic barrier. Using the setup and locking on to the dizzy creature, Norman ordered his Staraptor to perform a Final Gambit. The large predatory bird tucked his wings in and focused on its prey soon after, the attack hit and Staraptor fainted. Deoxys as well, staggered back and crashed on the uneven ground, breaking a big piece of debris in half.
"Did it faint?" A woman's voice questioned as she joined the duo, the two males ignored her in favor of staring at the motionless beast.
To their unpleasant surprise, Deoxys rose again, this time; the three leader class trainers discerned a good sized fissure on the surface of the purple crystal. Without further ado, Deoxys changed form and charged again. Norman was violently pulled back by Steven as one of the tentacles slashed across his chest; a quantity of blood rose in an arc and decorated the place he was standing on. Sparing the gym leader a sorry glance, Cynthia, held on to her garchomp and both trainer and partner took off after the space creature. The thing's appearance was now more bulky. Garchomp tore after it at Mach speeds and soon the platinum blonde female was having trouble breathing and holding on to her monster. Deoxys briefly stopped flight to aim an assault and the land shark took the same opportunity to dislodge its master and leap up. It snapped its razor sharp jaws around one broad tentacle and hung there. The guard forme Deoxys emitted a roar of pain and roughly spun around in an attempt to get the ground pokemon off him. The pseudo-dragon did fall off, but with a large section of his orange-red tinted tentacle in its mouth.
Cynthia observed how her garchomp and Deoxys glared at each other, judging their current energy levels, her partner had a slight upper hand, she took in the ruined city and decided that it needed a serious restoration. Closing her eyes, she worded out a command.
"Garchomp, use Draco meteor"
Hopefully Steven and Norman won't be around to see the further destruction of their beloved region.
The Mach pokemon complied.
A roaring sound filled the air and the cloudless sky turned a bit dark. The ground began quaking and on looking up, Deoxys beheld fist sized flaming pebbles raining down from the sky, it struck the ground and the hard pavement cratered on impact. Even his guard forme would not be able to stand up to this. One atmosphere heated rock after the other pelted him and he felt the pain, searing pain radiate to his weakened core. His friend had left him to relay a message home and now he desperately wished she was near his side and supporting him. The fissure in his crystal widened and his vision turned hazy. Images of his home flashed in his mind and unwillingly he glanced at the human and it's pokemon who was responsible for his fate. Eyes forced shut; he exhaled and crashed to the floor. More meteors assaulted his back rendering him unconscious. Striding to the fainted pokemon, the Sinnoh champion collected it into an ultra-ball and returned to her partners. She came upon Norman stemming the bleeding on his chest whilst Steven tried to talk him to going back home and resting.
"I've captured Deoxys" at her statement, the two looked up with surprised expression. The black-haired man's expression morphed to fatigue and he announced that he was going home. Cynthia and Steven were left to transport the captured monster to Mossdeep space center. Wasting no time, the two mounted their flying pokemon and set a course to the east.
Mid-morning
Mossdeep city, Space center
The laboratory was fully functional again and this time Silver and Whi-2 had a very difficult time dodging and ducking in deserted hallways and corridors. The short circuited cameras gave the technicians a headache and several of them were called to fix and investigate the cause. A cleaner discovered the intruder's body in the secret archives and that incident caused a bigger uproar. Local police were summoned and countless times, Silver clasped his junior close to him and slinked in empty rooms. The process left them both exhausted and for the young girl's part, embarrassed. She was pretty sure if Hugh were here, he'd be glaring at Silver nonstop.
Hugh...
Hugh.
What was he doing? What was Lack-2 doing? No doubt demanding his leader to coach him. The image brought a tiny smile on her face; however, it promptly vanished when her senior snatched her and dragged her into another area. They both crouched at the entrance to a new room and the red-head signaled her to stay in her position. Half crouching, he leaned in the door in order to catch snippets of the conversation, seems like a team of scientists were having some sort of debate.
"...They captured it already, one escaped back to space and the other reduced Lilicove into...Yes, on their way here...Strap it or else...Free, we can't let it break free again...Crystal cra..."
The trainer retreated; he was unable to make heads or tails of their conversation. One thing was for sure, they captured Deoxys and it was probably making its way here. Change of plans: Stay here till the space Pokemon is transported to this facility, once a glimpse of it is taken, they will leave. He discreetly went back to Whi-2 and relayed his latest plans, she simply nodded her consent. The duo resumed creeping around the facility and soon, another furor announced the arrival of Deoxys. Desperately, Silver joined the masses of scientists as they filed around a steel stretcher transporting the alien to a holding cell. It was wide awake and it thrashed its double helix styled tentacles in a florid manner. Time seemed to slow down as the phantom thief and space monster locked eyes. With a melancholic realization, Silver understood the Pokemon was simply lonely and afraid.
It wanted a home. It needed a partner.
Breaking away from the group, he ushered Whi-2 outside the facility. Thereafter the duo set a course for Slateport where they will be sailing all the way to Kanto.
Previous day, late afternoon
Johto
Bell Tower
Rainbows are made of fire, White thought as her arms went slack. True to the legends and information collected by Team Constellate, those two artifacts did indeed summon Ho-oh and the legendary pokemon appeared in a legendary fashion. The afternoon sky had at first turned scarlet, then from the far west a semi-circle of colors began appearing in the sky. It curved over, stopped by the Bell tower and a gigantic bird pokemon flew into view. The rainbow seemed to resonate with its existence and where the avian pokemon flew, it set the sky ablaze in a trail of fire. Flapping its seven toned wings, it perched on the golden spire and surveyed them. Sapphire, ever the impatient one, commanded blaziken to damage the pokemon, instead, a whirlwind sent the fire type soaring into oblivion. The irate trainer gritted her teeth and summoned another partner.
Unfortunately it was too late.
Ho-oh glowed with an intense golden light and Dia, sensing trouble threw himself over White who was standing the closest to the mythical beast. The creature opened its beak and released a stream of scorching flames at its surroundings. Sacred flames licked on the tiles forming a sizzling barrier around the three trainers. Sapphire gripped Aggron and as the heat seared her back, she shuffled forward and the trio huddled together in the slowly constricting ring of vermillion flames.
The bird did not move from its perch. It stared the three criminals down as they discussed a strategy and began moving about in the small area provided on the roof. The male produced a bulky pokemon with a face resembling a shield, next to the pokemon stood another steel clad one with a horn jutting out of its forehead. The trio of humans took cover behind the makeshift living wall. A third pokemon was summoned and this was flopped on the floor. It was a brown bodied fish.
"THUNDER!" Screamed Diamond, White and Sapphire together in an effort to knock out Ho-oh with one move. Instantly thunder clouds gathered overhead and as the Rainbow Pokemon angled its crested head to the sky, three simultaneous pillars of lightning descended upon it. The potent streams of light threw the environment into black and white and over the din of roaring thunder; they could hear the cries of the mythical beast. The capturers shielded their eyes and only opened them when everything subsided. The sky was clear and sunny and there were no rainbows. Ho-oh's perch was burnt black and the beast itself lay before them smoking, it's multi-colored plumage damaged by the assault. Securing it in a pokeball, the three high-fived each other and decided to return to base.
Three days after capturing Ho-oh
Morning
Cianwood City, Safari Park
Crystal stood with her mouth wide open and her legs entangled in mud. Her Mega had fainted.
"Ready to go back to Goldenrod yet?" Gold chirped from where he was sitting with Black in a tree. The two males had brought out their phones and were now playing an interactive game. Sometimes Gold would look over to Crystal and snap pictures of her capturing Pokemon. As many times as he'd seen it, it still presented an awe inspiring sight. She was doing fine with her Meganium till she had the misfortune of facing a dusksull, the ghost pokemon used destiny bond and both the user and the target fainted. The pale green quadruple had crashed on its side and half of the herb pokemon was now covered with mire. Sighing, the blue haired trainer returned meganium to its pokeball and glared at Gold who had hopped down from his perch and was grinning in a smug manner. She wanted to kick the smirk off his face.
"Not yet," she announced and consulted the map given to her by the Safari Zone's information desk, "I want to go to the rocky beach area, there is a chance I might find a gible."
"Oh come on!" The gold eyed male protested, "we have been here all morning already! I'm getting good money at the slots and so is Black!"
"That's because you are both CHEATING!" Crystal stomped over to her friend and poked him hard in the chest. "Don't think I'm dumb. I'm going to the rocky beach; you can go wherever you want." With a huff, she turned her heel and marched off with Bonee at her side. Running a hand through his hair, Gold noticed how swamp mud was caked to her legs and splashed on her clothes. With a sigh, he called Black down and the two followed their female partner as she ventured into a new area. Instantaneously, a mareep surfaced and it was reduced into a semi-comatose state by a Bonemerang, with a cheer, the capturer threw a ball and secured it.
"Say super serious gal, you are not supposed to be using Pokemon in here. Mega fainted because you did not obey the rules."
"Be quiet Gold!" his friend hissed and her cheeks turned red due to embarrassment. Meanwhile, Black was still tapping away on his phone, oblivious of the new environment. Breaking away from the group, Crystal clambered on the raised rocky outcrop in the middle of the area and was delighted to see a pool of clear water. Without thinking too much she jumped in and began scrubbing the dirt stains and mire stuck to her body. Gold's words had an effect on her and after casting cubone an apologetic smile, she recalled the ground pokemon. Several minutes were spent to get her legs clean and to reduce the muddy color of her clothes. When she finally dragged herself out of the pond, she observed Gold and Black speaking into the Xtransciever. Thinking something urgent has come up, she ran down the rock hewed stairs and was surprised to her Red's voice coming through the speakers. He was shouting.
"It's been almost a week!" the male exploded "Ho-oh's team returned, Ruby and I finished on the first day, even Silver who was given a mission after you finished his project and returned! I understand you want to have fun Gold, I thought you'd stay for a two days maximum...Not a week. Green is furious. There is a new Pokemon we have to capture and you three are undermining our goals, doing what you please and wasting time! Crys!" the girl flinched on hearing him spit out her name "you are the most responsible of the three. Return here at once and before night fall."
The connection was cut without a goodbye. The three individual's watched the screen blankly, the leader's words were harsh. He sounded like Green.
"...Let's go home...gosh, my leader is going to kill me." Crystal complained.
Several hours later the three of them stood with bowed heads before Red and Green. They were given an earful and Crystal wished the floor would open up and swallow them whole. Or better, Gold's Typholsion could produce and earthquake and knock everyone out. It was a bad move listening to him, but at the time he proposed it, she was unable to say no to a white faced, shivering and utterly crushed Gold. Her superior's words flew over her head and soon, she found herself pending with punishment.
"As for Gold, Red has been training your student in your absence. I want you to put a session with him before you go to bed. No excuses." The brunette's jade irises glittered viciously.
The black haired adolescent saluted and went off. He started searching for Lack-2. The first place he stopped by was Execution's room, inside, Sapphire and Diamond were having a little feast, he approached the duo in an attempt to swipe a rice ball but the martial artist chopped down on his wrist in a violent manner. Cursing, he grabbed his hand and massaged it. After making sure Lack-2 was not in there, he set off again, down a twisting, gradually declining corridor and walked all the way to the dormitory area. Locating his student's bedroom door, decorated by a poster of Unovian model Elesa, he knocked and called out:
"Hey Lack-2, I'm back from my mission, let's do some train-"
"I'M BUSY!" screeched a voice from within and Gold shrugged helplessly, he couldn't force his apprentice to train if he did not want to. Folding his hands behind his head, he ambled to his room and paused by the door. No other sounds came from Lack-2's room and the tone was unnaturally loud and a bit strange. Maybe...Maybe he was trying to cover up the fact that he might've been crying. Hovering a minute more, he eventually gave up and entered his messy bedroom. Neglecting to switch on the lights, he discarded his backpack on the rug, pulled off his belts, equipment and clothes and lied face down on his bed. His eyes slowly drifted shut.
Late night
Sinnoh Region
Police headquarters.
"So we have managed to capture one of the Deoxys' and the other flew off into space. According to those scientists, these pokemon needed a new home and found our universe suitable...Heh, I should've been on sight, I'd fry their brain circuitry!" A voice boomed in the circular chamber.
"How are the plans going for Hoenn's restoration? I heard Lilicove city was completely evacuated and the city itself was destroyed to the point of not being able to sustain people. Cynthia ma'am, I'd advise discretion on using Draco Meteor, as magnificent it is to be able to call forth debris from outer space, if it leads to heavy collateral damage, it is usually sensible to refrain from using it. Please keep that in mind for next time." The woman nodded and glanced at the speaker, the man's attention was already on the next victim who happened to be Steven, despite the polite tone, there was a cutting edge to his voice. After the interrogation of both Steven and Norman was over, the topic switched to more pressing matters.
The three captured legendries and the uproar in Mossdeep space Centre.
"I rushed to the Bell tower when I got a call from the local police" the cyan haired man explained "by the time I got at the foot of the temple, I saw three trainers leave through air, also, inside the tower, all the trainers we allocated for protection were found eating a rice ball which was laced with narcotics...Sleep power obviously and a memory altering drug, none of the questioned monks or ace trainers could provide an accurate picture of the intruders. Lugia was underwater and thus free for capture and Celebi...They somehow knew the fairy was going to return in this time period." Reaching out, he grabbed a bottle of water and took a few sips and continued to speak, "apparently, the criminal we apprehended in Mossdeep's research facility claims he was attacked. Judging from the marks around his neck, this is highly viable."
"Yes it is" Cynthia crossed her legs and spoke up; she extracted a paper from the pile lying on the table and held it up. "This is Silver...the same Silver who infiltrated Eterna laboratory and took the griseous orb, as you can see, he looks familiar in both pictures" she pointed to the red hair and contours of his face "he also entered both facilities with the same name."
"Which idiot does that?!" a voice boomed "it's a fake! They are two different people."
"No they are not" the blonde lady countered "he leaves the same cards, the one with a cluster of stars and a postage stamp sized mug shot of a weavile, except this time, the card had additional pictures of a Foongus and Snivy. According to Steven, those images depict the pokemon they use in a mission."
The Sinnoh champion's sentence was punctuated by a loud blaring ring tone. Accusing stares were thrown at Norman and Volkner with the former glaring back. Finally, Looker reached deep into the pocket of his brown trench coat and retrieved his cellphone. With a sheepish smile he answered the phone there was a tense silence as all the other eyes swiveled to him. A few mutterings later he set down the mobile phone and was instantly bombarded with questions.
"It's Boss" he replied "he is currently in Kanto investigating the champion of the region; he's there at the moment. He told me to deposit his partners in the box, since he's got no Pokemon to fight with."
"Did he say anything else? I'm going to wring his neck when he returns!" Looker quailed under the intense stare of the individual and stammered a few apologies for his absent superior.
"We have another problem brewing in Unova" Looker further added, "it concerns the-"
"Giant chasm" chorused two voices. The twins adjusted their uniform hats and leaned back in the chair. "We have reports from the residents of Lacunosa town. Apparently the temperatures are falling and it gets really cold at night, sometimes during the evening the civilians reported seeing frost creeping around the walls. When we drive the train between route twenty two and twenty three, there is a chill in the air. We decided to discuss the phenomenon with the Season Research lab and they told us it is most likely caused by a Pokemon and not because of some freak weather accident."
"We should get the Unovian champion and Professor Juniper on the case." The blue haired man ordered, "Skyla, since you are a gym leader in that region, you will be able to persuade them to come, as for Ingo and Emmet, keep the area clear, we might have to dispatch a team there soon." The addressed people nodded and the gathering broke up. Looker got up from his chair and exited the hall. He located a computer and began the task to transfer the stored monsters over to his boss. Typing in a few keys, he selected the location: Kanto Pokemon league and eventually sent the pokemon over. As the screen flashed a confirmatory message, he sighed and uttered a small prayer for his superior.
Late night
Kanto, Pokemon league
Elite four and Champion's chambers
Red's quarters were remarkably simple. The dim lights showed a deserted bedroom and one large window was open, pale white curtains floating in a breeze. The room was spacious; it had a couch decorating one wall, a huge bed against the other, an attached bathroom with all the necessities of a toilet, shower and a bath. There were pictures and paintings lining the walls and the centerpiece was a portrait from the hall of fame. The police officer moved towards the wall, lifted the painting and ran gloved hands along the wall; he found nothing, not even an indention. Setting the image back on its place, he methodically scoured the room, lifting the mattress, checking under the sofa, even going into the kitchen and sweeping the area clean. He briefly peeked into the bin, but the basket was empty and so was the closet. Perhaps the champion did not like living in his designated place. Failing to come up with anything related to his unexplained disappearance, he moved out of the living area and into the arena. This place was very famous, during the annual Pokemon matches the media hounded this chamber the most and matches held in here were shown live where possible.
The champion's battle arena.
A huge pokeball design dominated the floor; the champion stood on the white part of the ball whilst the challenger would enter through the far door and take their place on the red piece. Red would always have all his partners fanned out beside him or in Pikachu's case, sitting on his shoulder. Eyes drawn to the PC located in one corner, the investigator made his way there and extracted his pokemon and sent an email to his underling thanking him for his efforts. Once again, he resumed his task of scrutinizing the area till his eyes were dry.
Literally.
Getting up from his crouching position, he was certain this chamber contained no clues as well. He glanced at his watch and yawned, a few tears leaking from his eyes. It was almost three o'clock in the evening and he decided to call it quits. No point in searching for clues when none was left behind.
A/N: Wow...no one could guess Maxie? But then again, the description was very...lacking. Oh well. Much thanks to Jack54311 and TheSilverHunt3r for reviewing. At Silver: If you do publish a story, please tell me, I'm looking forward to reading it. Anyways dear readers, please carry on reading the story and drop a line of your thoughts/complaints/random outbursts.