Chapter 16: Wrinkles in space and time

Evening

Hoenn

Slateport harbor

Submarine explorer one docked near the concrete pier and the people inside it all exited in a grateful manner, The past few days in the vehicle was an experience of a lifetime as the crew set sail in high spirits and returned in depressed ones. Only the two teenagers on board were cheerful. They hopped out and stood by till they were given permission to return home, since they were simply doing a part-time job, Captain Stern decided that it would be unnecessary to take them back to the shipyard. The duo bid farewell, summoned their flying pokemon and flew off.

Sapphire sighed and lay on the back of her tropius, the large pokemon was cruising at a comfortable speed and she took the time to admire the sky, painted in various shades of peach with the light of the dying sun. Out of the corner of her eye, she beheld Ruby dangling dangerously close to the edge of fruit pokemon whilst going through his PokeNav. She let him be, he was probably trying to get back into the thick of things. It must be frustrating not to know what was going on. Another contented sigh left her and she closed her eyes. Her pokemon was warm, sluggishly, her eyes drifted shut.

Minutes later, she was being roughly shaken and she woke up to see a pair of ruby irises staring kindly down at her, fighting down a blush, she sprang up and Ruby pulled back in the nick of time to avoid a forehead collision. Touching down at Littleroot, the two waved and parted ways. The black haired boy shoved his gloved hands deep into pockets and walking off, and the girl recalled her pokemon into a capsule before striding in to the laboratory her father owned. Opening the doors, she marched in to see her father running around the lab with a sheaf of papers clutched in his hand, a pen was stuck behind his ear and a stained coffee mug sat near his computer. She giggled at his antics and tackled him with a hug.

"I'm back Papa!" she announced at earsplitting volume.

The laboratory lights were turned off, computers and other electronic equipment were shut down and the father-daughter pair locked up the glass doors for the night. It was a short walk home and the professor took great pleasure in listening to his daughter's rambling exclamations and dramatic gestures. He smiled as she recalled her adventures in vivid detail, not even pausing in her narration as they entered their modest home. Finally, the young girl gave another twirl in the living room and abruptly crashed on the sofa seemingly drained of energy. Her blue tinted eyes wandered over to the family portrait hanging on the wall above the flat screen television. The picture showed a young girl, resplendent in a frilly dress, her father, beardless and slimmer at the time, stood to her left whilst her mother, long brown tresses reaching her waist, was situated on the right. The little family was smiling blindingly unaware of what was to come. Sapphire's smile morphed into sadness. She lay on the sofa for a while and closed her eyes. Her father had gone upstairs to put down his bag and get changed; he'll come down in a few moments and start cooking. Then he'll call her and they'll share dinner in the kitchen, thereafter the two would sit in front of the television and watch news, or whatever took their fancy. As time ticked by, Birch would eventually usher her to bed and he'll spend some time working on his projects or go to sleep.

This is how things were at home ever since her mother died. Simple, like clockwork. Every day it was wake up, get dressed, eat, head to the lab, do field work and come home. Saph did not mind at all, she loved her father to bits, he did not break down when his wife died, instead, he simply stepped up to fill the dual roles of both mother and father and she appreciated this from the bottom of her heart. So exactly what would her dear Papa say when he found out that his beloved child was a criminal?

"Saph darling! Dinner is ready!" His warm tones rang out from the kitchen and she shoved her morbid ruminations for later.

The next day, early morning

Hoenn

Littleroot town.

Birch glanced at his daughter as he put his shabby laboratory coat on, the coat needed a wash, he was discreetly aware of all the coffee and other obscure stains soiling the once white jacket. Shrugging it on with a bit of difficulty, (was he gaining weight that quickly?) he asked his daughter to repeat her words.

"I wanna do what Ruby is doing" her eyes were downcast and she twiddled with her thumbs in an embarrassed manner. "Not, not the contest stuff Papa! Just you know, resume travelling the different regions but with him this time, I know you are worried with all the kidnappings and other evil organizations on the rise but you won't have a problem if I travel with him right? He's gym leader Norman's son and I can hold my own in battles so-" he stopped her rambling explanation and chuckled lightheartedly. In contrast, Sapphire's heart sped up. Lying was bad for her health.

"Awww! My little flower is growing up" and she scowled good humoredly at the nickname, "of course I don't mind, you and your Toro are a formidable team. If you come across those law breakers, give them a good walloping you hear?" ruffling her brown locks, he proceeded to grab his satchel and move out of the door, his laughter echoed all the way, taking two steps beyond the house he paused and added, "and don't forget to tell your mother where you are going!" This time, he rightfully left. Reluctantly she raised her eyes to her mother smiling in the picture and a bitter grin formed on her lips.

"I'm sorry...Mama."

Mid-afternoon

Kanto

Celadon city, Dex criminal's headquarters.

"Uhh, let see, they are still searching for senior Red, apparently this is his longest disappearance yet, trying to reach Green Oak is also futile...Pffft typical. Next, hmm, this will be a hard one to crack; viruses huh...Let me just..." Emerald was hard at work, his green pigmented eyes swinging over the giant monitor akin to a pendulum. At the moment he was hacking into the international police team's website and procuring snippets of much needed information. He was very careful about this, one wrong step and it was all over. Thus his hacking was limited to a few heists in a given month. Fingers flying over the keys, he squinted and bit his lower lip in concentration. This particular bit of information was heavily encrypted and so he was sure it contained vital information. A feral grin took its place on his face and his typing speed increased to epic proportions, "finally...I got it." Victorious in his quest, he leaned back in his specially crafted chair and smirked.

"Heya Rald, you have a scary expression on your face."

"Yes!" Ruby gestured dramatically, he and Saph walked in unannounced in Strategy's common room, "it looks rather ugly."

"Shut up, I just cracked a major scoop!" he grudged "give me a break and stop touching my hair Ruby!" In a flash, the self-proclaimed fashionista had gathered Emerald's long hair and tied it into a ponytail, too fatigued to reach up and loosen his blonde strands, he merely let them be.

"So what's this scoop you just cracked? And Hello you two" Green walked in minutes later, he was wearing an olive tinted shirt and his hands were occupied with an overflowing folder. Tossing them on a table, he slumped in his chair, crossed his legs and rotated to face his partner. Sapphire watched him apprehensively; she still did not ask him to train her. If Rald gave him good news, she might just exploit the opening and hit the nail on its head.

"Before I give you the information you need to know something, apparently Silver is under their radar, makes sense because he was at the sight of two major incidents, they might be keeping a close eye on his actions. Also there is senior Re-"

"Has he been found out all ready?" Green shot up straight in his chair, his fists clenched. It was uncharacteristic to see him this riled up.

"Err...no? Why would he be found out?" The leader relaxed and waved a hand in response, nodding, the subordinate carried on, "Red is just under the fire for being absent for the league for such a long period, there are talks of having him replaced, seems like a major meeting is going to take place soon. And about the main point of this discussion, it appears as if there is a third dragon in Unova, and a team has been sent in the Giant Chasm to keep a watch over it. The dragon, who is an ice type, is found out to be a shell of some sorts...I didn't really understand the specifics sir, maybe you will but I'm sure this Kyurem is tied to Zekrom and Reshiram somehow."

The three teenagers watched the spiky haired brunette; the man sported a contemplative look as he peered at nothing. Finally he spoke up, uttering rare words of praise and his underling beamed in return. Office chair swiveling to face his personal computer, the jade eyed trainer was about to get to work when Sapphire blurted out her request and bowed.

"Senior Green, will you please train me?"

"What about Red?" he asked with his back towards her.

"He...Told me you would do a better job since you practiced marital arts." the chair creaked as he whirled around to face her.

"Red told you that?...I'll wring his neck the next time I see him. Fine" he relented and she smiled, showing her sharp canines "I'll train you but as you can see, I'm normally swamped with work so the training sessions will probably be irregular. I won't be able to give you attention like how Red's giving to Diamond. Hope you don't mind." The girl bowed gratefully once more and muttered her thanks. Glad to finally get a strong training partner, she hurtled off to Execution's common room to tell everyone the good news. Saph must have collided with someone along the way because a small shout was heard. An unbalanced Yellow entered the room and heavily sat on a couch to regain her breath.

"Emerald, transfer the files to my computer, I want to read the reports." The blonde complied with his orders and soon, Green was jotting down notes and simpering. He reached into his pocket, brought out his Pokemon gear, dialed a number and waited.

"Hello?"

"Blue, it's me. I want to send Silver on a mission and since you chewed me out the last time I used him without your permission, I decided to call you. In Unova there is a place near the Pokemon league called the Giant chasm, a remnant of Zekrom and Reshiram currently inhabits the cavern. The dragon's name is Kyurem and its mastery is over ice. From what I read, it is powerful in its own right and becomes even stronger when combined with either Reshiram or Zekrom. Yeah, you heard right, combined. According to the data, the pokemon is not complete. Oh and by the way, your underling is spotted on the radar; I'll have him go in masked. It's just an infiltration and scouting mission, nothing heavy and he won't definitely lose sleep and weight over it!" Exhaling in a peeved manner, he put the gear down and resumed his task. Sensing Yellow in the room, he relayed an order to her and she went off to carry it out.

Back in the corridors, Yellow took care not to crash into anyone this time, her impact with Saph had been a particularly nasty one, despite her looks, that teenager sure packed some muscle! As she passed the kitchen, she could hear some gleeful cheering coming out of it, seems like the rowdy team Execution was celebrating something, Gold and the not so new recruit's voice were vying for dominance. Barely a second later, the double doors sailed open and Red flew out, careering into her and squashing her against the wall. Instinctively she screamed and blushed, this was so mortifying!

"Ouch! Oh Yellow, gosh are you h- UGH!" the black haired adolescent screeched as a bolt of lightning seared him, "Pika! Gimme a break will you and UGHHHH!" this time he twitched uncontrollably "Gold! Why is your pichu attacking me?" The gold eyed trainer carelessly answered as Red sluggishly stood up and helped the girl to her feet.

"Pibu's probably following his dad's violent tendencies" he shrugged; Red's Pika went over to the young electric mouse and nuzzled it affectionately. Red, forgetting that he still had a firm grip on Yellow's hand, watched, his eyes softening at the scene. The flushed female was at loss for what to do; eventually she plucked up enough courage and spoke up. Hearing her, the adolescent sheepishly let go and scratched the back of his head. Face burning, she stammered a few apologies and bolted from the place. Her fluttering heart calmed down as she walked in Constellate's opulent room. Silver was lying on the couch, one hand dangling to the floor, the other held a remote as he flipped through the channels of a screen. On the ground next to him was Whi-2, the youngster was putting on a bowtie on her Snivy, seems like Ruby's contesting skills were starting to rub off on her.

"Silver" the older blonde called out and the male forced himself into a sitting position, "Green has a mission for you..." she passed on her leader's words and handed him the documents crucial to the mission, "and you will have to go in masked...the police have a tab on you." His irises widened and then narrowed in understanding.

Around the same time

Sinnoh

Veilstone city.

Blue put her pokemon gear away and resumed her task of hacking in the computer, irritably; she wiped her palms on her spacesuit-esque outfit and scowled when the material crinkled. Ruby would have gotten a heart attack at their appearances. Both she and Platina were dressed as Galactic Grunts, apparently this building was owned by the organization and when her search for the creation myths led her here, she was vehemently denied entry. Seems like no one except those eccentric looking individuals were allowed inside, deciding to take another route she and her consort ambled through the large city and eventually spotted a few of those grunts guarding a warehouse. Knocking them out with a few sedatives, she stripped the female guards and put on a uniform. It was a bit too tight for her tastes. Platina, the noble merely gaped in shock at her leader's actions, the duo spent precious time arguing and eventually the heiress relented and reluctantly donned the used clothing. Now the main problem turned out to be the hair.

"I've got some hair spray in my bag, turquoise in color. Silver's information about these bizarre groups of people certainly came in handy." Once again, the younger female eyed her superior as Blue turned her cinnamon tinted locks into a ghastly light blue.

"I'm not applying that on my head!" Platina firmly declared and marched off into the warehouse with her head held high. Chuckling, Blue followed after tossing her can to the floor. Inside the two women navigated the underground maze and unlocked several doors thanks to the keycard they swiped, eventually they reached the basement of the main building and watched. True to what Silver told them, the lower ranking members of the team marched with a hive mind, they walked in perfectly synchronized groups and not one individual was out of place. Footsteps echoed rhythmically as they pounded the floor in unison. Locating a gap between one drill and another, the duo scurried over to the other side and Platina glanced at her Poketch. Using a fancy stylus, she began drawing a layout of the place.

"We need to get rid of the security devices and avoid fighting those...People at all costs" the department leader muttered as she checked her reflection in a camera, winking into the lens, she brought out her ditto and commanded the pink slime to destroy the apparatus, sparks emitted from the device and she whipped around to see Platina still scribbling on the gadget encircling her wrist. Turning back to her pokemon Blue commanded another move "Ditty, use Transform and go wreak havoc, I have some business to attend to okay~" The pokemon wriggled in its place and began morphing; its trainer was rather impressed by its choice. Her ditto had turned into Mew, with a blithe growl, the pink pokemon shot off disabling cameras along the way and drawing the colony of robotic grunts to it. Seizing Platina's slender arm not too gently, the commander dragged her across the building, poking her head into several rooms; some of the things she saw were outright disturbing. Shaking her head and still tugging her underling along, they traversed the corridor boldly.

Their search was finally rewarded when she stepped into a warp panel and it instantly transported her into the control room. Both she and Platina had first froze and when it became apparent that the chamber was deserted, they relaxed. Releasing the teenager, the woman vaulted over to the computer and started typing away in a zealous manner. Slightly panicking and wary of the cameras dotting the room, Platina summoned her froslass and ordered it to use aurora veil, the thick multicolored curtain of light will shield them from prying eyes. Not wanting to get in her superior's way; the indigo haired youth stationed herself in front of the doors in case intruders try to break in. A few minutes later, Blue got a phone call from Green and after listening to him she resumed her task. Froslass was still in the middle of the futuristic chamber, levitating above the grey tiled ground and keeping the veil in place.

A loud commotion took place in the corridors.

And before the Sinnoh native could bring out another monster, the attacker struck. Fist sized metallic spheres broke down the door and struck Platina, the girl soared across the room and skidded to a halt on the floor, the damage was reduced thanks to her Froslass, wiping a dribble of blood off the edge of her mouth she gathered herself in an upright crouch. Blue, alerted by the noise discarded her work and stood in front of her protectively, she had Blasty out and the pokemon was growling in an ominous manner.

"Well, it seems we have unwanted guests in here" a low sinister voice revealed a man with a shock of electric blue hair sticking up in gravity defying spikes. He entered the room slowly, deliberately and next to him a probopass floated. "You are not allowed in here. By my name, Cyrus, the information you learned in here will be buried alongside your bodies...Probopass-"

"Blasty! Flash cannon! And then use Hydro pump!" Blue picked up her injured team mate in her arms and quickly closed her eyes as a blinding flash of light forced Cyrus and his metallic beast backwards. Throwing herself and the injured Platina on the shellfish pokemon's back, she secured her grip tightly and the cannons changed direction, aiming backwards. A high pressurized torrent of water shot forth propelling the pokemon and the occupants hanging on his back forward and they shot past Cyrus and another bespectacled old man who was lingering in the corridor. Blastoise broke through a window and streaked across the sky before landing roughly in a glade bordering the Pokemon center. The water had run out and all three fell in a comical manner, bodies thumping on the grass. Blue rolled out of the way as her heavy pokemon landed, the tortoise grunted in pain.

"Thanks Blasty" she recalled the beast "If it weren't for you, we'd be killed. I'll count on you for future missions as well." Tossing her hair, she put her pokeball away and went to inspect her subordinate. The girl was trying to cover up a large tear in her suit.

"Let's sneak back to our rooms at the hotel, I'll check out the information we gathered and see if we got what we wanted. Thereafter we'll return home." the leader announced.

Late afternoon

Veilstone city

Hotel room

The scalding water offered scant relief to the round bruises decorating her body. Her arm was extremely painful and the skin was a nasty blue black. Facing her back to the shower head, Platinum allowed the hot water to run down as she lingered in the cubicle for far too long. The bathroom was cloaked in mist and after spending another half an hour she stepped out, immediately the chilled air gripped her and the aches returned again. I should wear a long sleeved coat to cover up those markings she mused, can't have senior worrying abo- her thoughts were cut short when her superior knocked on the door.

"Platina, is everything alright? I got some medicine; you can put it on okay? I'll leave it here." The noble waited till the footsteps faded before opening the door and grabbing the tube placed on the floor. A soft sigh left her lips and she retreated back inside the bathroom and applied the cream on her skin. When she exited, the older female was smiling at her kindly.

"I'm sorry you had to endure all that...If I was more perceptive of my surroundings instead..." she trailed off, her cyan irises trained to the floor in guilt.

"Don't worry senior, I'll be fine in a few days...Besides I'm more interested in the intelligence we procured from them, what does it say?"

The two sat themselves comfortably in a sofa and peered at Blue's laptop screen, whilst Platina was showering, Constellate's leader took it upon herself to organize the bits of information into a chronologically coherent piece, written in an old fashioned font, the text read:

In a vortex of complete chaos and nothingness a single egg birthed Arceus. This new pokemon then formed Mew and the two lived together in the infinite darkness for centuries. Over time, they became lonely of the nothingness around them and together they created a semblance of space and time. Palkia and Dialga respectively. To this, they added a third element, antimatter and so Giratina was born. The third pokemon was promptly chained down by Arceus because of its violent tendencies. More often than not, it would urge Space and Time to collide and perspectives would shift, time would flow. The red chains binding Giratina eventually wore off and he disappeared into a dimension he created on his own. The chain was refashioned into knowledge, emotion and willpower. Due to the periodic clashing of space and time, the first lands were created. Sinnoh. Azelf, Mesprit and Uxie, located three resting places and dove down to them, hiding themselves away. The pokemon lording over space and time retreated into their own dimensions and Arceus and Mew split, each contributing to the newly created world in their own way.

The barren universe was then given three new elemental masters. Kyogre rose from the pressure of deep sea trenches and proceeded to flood the world with water. Similarly, fire burned in the earth's core and Groudon broke the never ending oceans with landmasses. Naked earth was covered up by an ozone layer in an effort to shelter its inhabitants from the pollutants of space. Thus Rayquayza became master of the skies. At times both land and sea will fight over dominance and this shall continue till Rayquayza quells their rage. Their work done, they retreat and sleep and wait to meet again.

From the unbroken landmass rose the Titans which broke up the huge continent and pulled them apart with their power and the face of the Poke Earth was shaped this way. They too retreated in special areas when their toils were complete. Around this time, Mew gave rise to prehistoric pokemon and thus life began on the newly created planet. Arceus eventually creates the orbs capable of summoning the creation pokemon should there ever arise a need for them. He eventually retreated into a slumber and kept minimal contact with the world.

"…But I thought Arceus was created from an energy being called Unown; this fact is not mentioned here!" Platinum's dark eyes swung over the text again and she frowned in confusion.

"I suppose Unown is what you call energy..." Blue contemplated "individually they might not have much power but when they gather in masses, they are even capable of producing the Alpha pokemon. Maybe Arceus dispersed the concentration of Unown and thus they hardly have any power left." Yawning, the brunette glanced at a clock and jerked, it was close to midnight. She was aware of her subordinate already molding theories and laws in her head and spoke up before the young trainer could propose anything, "Let's go to sleep Platina, we'll return to home base tomorrow and you can put your knowledge into good use."

"Yes" the indigo haired teenager responded in a distracted manner, her fingers were already busy typing, "we need the three orbs to summon those pokemon right? Hmm...Well this text makes it clear only those involved in the original creation of this world is capable of creating another one..."

"Platina! Sleep! Now!" Snatching the laptop away, Blue commanded her junior to bed in a fierce manner.

A/N: It's okay people, I'm alive, even though I had to brave storms, raining mangoes and no electricity for the past couple of days, I survived! I'm a survivor! And now for the part that matters. First of all, thank you all for reviewing and reading, virtual cookies to all of you! (Except Silver, he wants cake) At bruhhhhhhh: I type my chapters way in advance and unfortunately I can't tweak his character to be serious all the time. Of course he isn't always going to be sunshine and rainbows but, he won't be Mr. Poker-face either. I guess the best way to see his growth would be to read the story? And I'm definitely not abandoning this fic, rest assured. And thanks for reviewing! At Silver: I titled my fic after planning out the ending chapter, although it does not make much sense now (Black Justice...Whaaat?) once the ending rolls around, you'll understand why I titled this novel as such. My first choice was Dex criminals...ugh, like that'll give all the suspense away, so after much deliberation, I re-titled it before uploading. I think a title that reflects on the plot/story is a best one. Decide on the title last, that way you'll be able to think of a far better one. RedxGreen? (le shudder) I tend to stay far away from slash. Thanks.

Okay, to make things clear, this fic is not a shipping fic. Please don't let that discourage you from reading. Since the genre is set to drama, there will be a lot of ship teases, but nothing intimate and romantic, the interactions between the characters are there to show their growth.

Whoa! I hope this is the last time I'm going to do such a lengthy author's note and hopefully get more reviews? Yes? Motivation for those nights when there's no electricity? Once again, thanks for supporting the story, please keep on reading and drop a line of your thoughts or some constructive criticism.