Chapter 26: Diamonds from a coal mine

Morning

Unova

Victory road, one of the caves

The pieces were not lining up.

N twisted the cube several times but to no avail. His puzzle was still a mess of blocks that were refusing to line up properly. On the floor of the small cave, his pokemon scurried about; zorua was having fun teasing his archen, the two fought in the cramped space, tumbling over each other. Darmanitan stood in one corner, near a table in Zen mode, the tussling pair bumped into him and the pokemon became active. The male gave up solving the puzzle and clipped the cube back on the strap of his pants. He slumped lower in his seat and stared around in his secret base. Without telling anyone, and especially not his father, N came here to seek some refuge from the castle which was still being built. The quaint cave was decorated with a large rug, a small table and chair, several shelves which displayed pictures, ornaments and stuffed poke-dolls. A mini fridge was also hauled here and right now his klang was supplying it with electricity. He eyed the zekrom poster against the rocky wall and wondered how it would feel to soar the skies on the vast black pokemon's back.

"...I don't feel like going back to the castle zorua" he spoke when the trickster turned its attention to him, "I'm not deaf I can hear when the pokemon cry for help. What father is doing...What he is doing is not...Is not right."

It's not right, his mind echoed and he felt miserable. Something was crushing his ideals like a soda can, his beliefs folded upon itself till it resembled a distortion of the original idea. Team Plasma, the seven sages and most importantly, his father was the cause of his misery.

He didn't understand.

A few days ago, the team had a party in the partially constructed castle for being able to successfully sweet talk the public into releasing their beloved pokemon partners in the wild, as soon as night fell, the confounded and hurt monsters were rounded up and all brought to the castle. N had just walked in the chamber to witness his dad congratulating the lower grunts. His face was ecstatic...Did not his father understand that they want to liberate pokemon? Not capture them! The imprisoned beasts were shrieking up a cacophony, their fear and pleas of help were loud in his ears. Unable to hold back tears, he rushed to the giant cage and let them out. Gleeful growls greeted him as the freed pokemon stampeded to escape. In the aftermath, Ghetsis took him aside and tried explaining his actions. N did not listen to him, why would he when his father's own pokemon were absolutely terrified of their master? Cofagrigus longed to wrap its shadowy tentacles around the leading sage of Team Plasma and drag him to an early grave, same with bouffalant. As for his bisharp and hydreigon, he did not want to voice their intentions out aloud. It was then he realized that his father's ideals and his clashed, horribly. A verbal fight broke out and the words uttered by Ghetsis left a lasting, stinging impression on him.

"You monster," his father had said, face twisted into an ugly caricature, "I knew it was a mistake to pick a freak like you off the streets. Hmpf. And to think I tried to make you into something useful. You are hopeless even as a puppet!" With the swishing of his cloak and the tapping of the wooden cane, Ghetsis left and N, his mind broken like piece of delicate glass, sat in the gloom numbly. Around midnight he escaped from the castle and went to his secret hideout, he was running out of food and money, but the thought of going back to headquarters made his head and stomach spin.

He was at a loss for what to do. Smiling lopsidedly at his partner, he went to the fridge, asked his klang how it was faring (very good actually, the pokemon grinded its gears) and took a bottle of water out. The moment the open bottle touched his lips-

"AAAAAHHHHHHH. HELP. SOMEONE HELP ME!"

A scream assaulted his ears. The voice was definitely human, putting the bottle down, he leapt on archen's back and flew outside, the events playing out was certainly weird. There was a teenager, falling to his doom from the slopes of victory road, the boy's body was sometimes hitting the sheer rock face and N winced, he was sure this person was chafing off some skin. Tailing him desperately was a braviary with galvantula on its back and a girl who was flying on a vullaby; she was screaming and reaching out for him but to no avail. Without further ado, N commanded his archen to rescue the falling trainer. Just as the boy reached him, the avian swooped and Black crashed into N's arms. The older male immediately regretted the decision as his arms felt like they popped out of his sockets. He buckled under the weight of the male he saved and still swaying unsteadily, archen dropped him in the secret base. Without much thought, White and the rest of the beasts tumbled in and rushed towards their friend, she examined the rope around his waist and found it slashed.

The stars were swimming before his eyes and Black briefly recalled the tormenting journey to his death halted by a familiar face. Where did he see this person again, tea green hair, slate tinted eyes. His view of the cavern's rugged roof was broken by Prez, his concerned partners and him. Bolting upright he stared at N.

"I've been looking everywhere for you!" the teenager exclaimed exuberantly despite his injuries. The king of team plasma looked at him disturbingly, parts of the youth's clothes were shorn off, his skin underneath was grazed and oozing bloody water. N shifted his scrutiny to the pokemon and inhaled deeply. These creatures were just as insane as their master. With mild annoyance, he saw the girl was also gazing at him in an interested manner...Who were these people?

"Prez!" the trainer hollered and White stood up and dusted her shorts, "let's get our mission underway."

Warning, warning.

All his Pokémon were flashing the same message as the boy in front of him released an emboar, the fire pig breathed flames and stomped the ground, it charged at N with a flame cloaked paw. Zorua leapt and took the full brunt of the attack, the fox pokemon was sent smacking into a side of the cave. A snap was heard and it whimpered slightly, not deterred in the slightest, zorua changed form and roared. It now resembled the three headed hydreigon. Black whooped and commanded emboar to knock the pokemon out. Unfortunately it missed.

"My name's Black and I'm gonna be the champion of the pokemon league!" The boy shouted, "also it is my mission to find and capture you, my seniors are looking for a new wielder of the dark stone since it doesn't respond to Prez. And we got lucky when Silver found you talking to that ice-dragon, Kyurem was it? Yeah, him...so you can communicate with pokemon huh? Pretty neat, oh yeah, Bo! Flamethrower."

"Are you crazy?" N screeched as both he and zorua dove to the side, fighting in such a small space was unheard of. The column of flames hit the fridge and klang instead and a small explosion occurred. The cave shook and he heard the girl yelling at her companion to keep things under control. Instead of doing so, he simply went all out.

"Brav, Tula, get him at all costs! I refuse to fail any mission given to me by my leader!" the bird swiped for zorua whilst the large insect scurried to the Zen statue, who amidst all the chaos, remained inert on the rug. As soon as galvantula came close, the darmanitan uncurled and blazed to life, rearing back, it punched the electric spider with a flaming fist and the monster's mandibles broke into pieces, chittering, it fainted. The blazing pokemon turned his attention to a new foe, the avian trying to spread its wings in the tiny area. Brav simply gave up and bodily slammed into its opponents, his large stature and strength was too much for the Zen pokemon and with a screech, it passed out. N looked around in alarm.

"Stop this!" he cried but Black, drunk on the prospect of a victorious battle did not heed him, "STOP! Don't hurt my friends!" he gritted his teeth with an anguished expression but the boy took no notice. Turning his attention to the female, he implored one again as his transformed zorua gave a cry of distress, "please don't hurt them, I-" the words died out when his last pokemon crashed into his chest, the dark red blood staining his shirt and the grey fur of his zorua. He couldn't stop the tears that fell from his eyes. After doing his victory dance, Black stared at N who was shedding tears silently.

"...I'm sorry, I didn't think losing a pokemon battle would make you cry." he awkwardly stated and ran a hand through his unruly locks.

"You are so insensitive Black!" White hissed from behind him, she cast a worried gaze at their target, her view of N was one of a ruthless criminal, but...it seems he was actually more humane than them, the thought made her cringe.

The green haired adolescent cradled his comatose partner and looked up with shining eyes, "You use your pokemon for this?" he spat, and his eyes shifted to the party of beasts fanning the insane human, directing his words at them he added, "I don't understand how you can worship someone as violent, as narrow minded as him..." they growled in return and the human's voice rose in pitch, "he commands you to battle! He tells you to get wounded simply for the pleasure of war and you...You guys like him? This, this formula is one I can't... Won't understand!"

It reminded him of the red-headed man he met on the Ferris wheel a long, long time ago.

"Look, I'm really sorry about your pokemon...I admit I did go a bit out of hand...Our base has a pokemon healing machine and they...Your partners will be back to full health in no time!" The brown haired boy chirped.

"I don't know what you speak of." N's voice gained a frosty edge, "I'm going back to the castle and I'll treat my friends by myself, excuse me."

"No can do I'm afraid." The exit was blocked and a cruel gleam took hold of the boy's cinnamon tinted eyes, he grinned. "You are coming with us and it's a long way to Johto, so get your pokemon back into their pokeballs and the two of us will go on Brav, he's strong enough to carry us both-"

"We are NOT flying all the way back to Johto Black" White interjected in an alarmed tone, "don't be daft!"

"...Right, so we are going by train and it's still a long trip and you can't lug your fainted pokemon with you. Resistance is futile; I won't hesitate to punch you in the face if you still insist on going home!"

Great, pondered White, maybe her best friend would make a better King for Team Plasma than this green haired wimp standing before her, she took out her Pokedex to examine N's pokemon whilst the two males argued in loud voices. To her surprise, N's pokemon were very well trained, on par with Black's levels, so why did he not send his beasts to fight?

"I despise violence! Pokemon are supposed to be our friends, we cannot force them to do the things they don't want to!" the slate eyed youth screeched, he was still holding his zorua against him.

"And what if they actually like battling?" Black shouted in return, "you are refuting your own ideals if you think separating people from pokemon is right, my partners like fighting so I seek out challenges, they share my dreams! If I simply listened to you Plasma scum and set them free...I'll be undermining their feelings, don't you understand that?" his voice grew soft as he watched the man before him widen his eyes. "Never mind, stay with us and you'll understand what I mean...You should check our senior Red's pokemon, he doesn't need to tell them anything, they can fight and bring down ace trainers on their own. I'll give you one last chance. Will you come with us willingly or should I forcibly drag you out of here?"

"...I-" The person in question hesitated

"We have the dark stone..."

"..."

"And the light stone" White piped up.

"Fine...Not like I can go back home anyways."

Then why in Kyurem's name were you hesitating so much? The two criminal minded Unova natives wondered.

Afternoon

Unova

Nimbasa City

The green haired adolescent watched hawkishly as the pokeballs were placed into a machine and the device lit up. Once the flashing died down, he was handed the capsules back by a friendly looking nurse. Grabbing the spheres he scrutinized them and saw his partners shifting in the itty-bitty space. Some of them looked up at him in confusion. Of course they would be surprised; this is the first time they were stuffed in a pokeball. With great difficulty, and much insistence from his new travelling companions, the pokeballs were clipped to a belt around his waist. He didn't like it at all, his friends were uncomfortable, they were used to running around, not being forced into some device which shrunk them (how did the capsule do that?) and confined them to a miniscule space.

"We hope to see you again!" the pink haired woman smiled and bowed and he scowled in return. White thanked her and Black nudged him aside so another trainer could get their pokemon treated.

"Why would that woman hope to see me again?" he queried incredulously, "does she want my friends to get hurt?" The clipped capsules were hitting each other as he walked out of the facility. The pokemon center was a large building dedicated to the care and maintenance of pokemon and their trainers. He spied several terminals and a healing machines, the second floor of the building contained computers which could be used to store or retrieve items and pokemon. People could also use the pokemon center as a one day inn during their travels. As the trio stepped into the sunlight, Black started dragging him again to another direction.

"Where are you taking me now?" he asked the over enthusiastic trainer, the teenager had gotten some much needed first aid at the center.

"Poke-mart," he replied and scanned the area for the shop, "you need to stock up on supplies right? We don't have time to go through the department stores so you will have to make do with what they have."

It was a short walk to the poke-mart and the green haired adolescent was exhausted from mental anxiety. He fervently hoped that none of the plasma grunts, or worse, the sages would spot him. If they did, he'd be hauled back into the castle and saddled with Anthea and Concordia. Not that he disliked his foster sisters; they were compassionate to him but he it was lonely with no one other than them and his pokemon to talk to. The duo in front of him were chattering endlessly and only stopped talking once they entered the mart. N stared at the rows and rows of potions, super potions, revives, pokeballs of various types and other merchandise displayed on the shelves. White grabbed a basket and started packing a few things in, Black grabbed the bottles and after throwing them a customary glance, he placed them in the basket. For his part, N reached out and took down one of the potions, when he tried to read the ingredients, he became cross-eyed.

"I'm not feeding my partners this chemical soup!" he vehemently stated and put the bottle back, "there is things in there I can't even pronounce."

"N" the female teenager sighed, "we don't feed them these things, we spray their wounds with it."

"...I still think it is bad for their health."

"Fair enough, what do you do when your pokemon get hurt?"

"Berries, food and herbal medicine. Fresh water and lemonade do wonders." he answered

"Ehhh?" the male pulled a face, "herbal medicine, ugh, my pokemon hate those, they can't stomach the bitter taste. Anyway, there is nice shop in Johto selling herbal stuff and since senior Gold knows the shop owner you will be able to get a discount."

Going up to the cashier, White paid for their purchases and the three once again stepped outside. This time they pulled N to a side street and began lecturing him.

"Okay" Black started as his companion kept a lookout for any one coming this way, "first of all, you need to hide that mane of yours, tuck it in behind your shirt." With some difficulty he managed to do so and his back itched horribly, "next pull your hat over your eyes so it's difficult to see your face and for zekrom's sake, push those bangs up in your hat, we don't want those creepy sages or worse, any one of the police officers to spot you and take you away-"

"Why are the police looking for me?"

"And when we get on the train, pretend you are asleep; in that way the conductors won't bother you...You are the King of a criminal organization, why shouldn't the police be after you? As for you father, good Arceus, he almost killed me!" N's hair was now haphazardly pushed into his cap and out of sight, the adolescent was sure he resembled something ugly.

"I'm sorry about my father...He can say some pretty mean things..."

You monster...

I knew it was a mistake to pick you off the streets...

You are useless, even as a puppet.

"Hey!" Black's voice broke into his morbid contemplations, let's go, the train leaves in half an hour.

N had never ridden a train, or an airplane or even a ship for that matter. His only form of transport consisted of his beloved pokemon; zorua would frequently mimic other types of beasts so a young N could have fun riding different monsters each day. As he got older and heavier, zorua could not support his weight and eventually the riding game came to a halt. Ghetsis would sometimes carry him around and he found great comfort in gripping his adoptive father's cloaks as the older man went about the castle with him in his arms. Regret and sadness clawed his heart as he watched the flashing scenery through half lidded eyes. Black had fallen asleep and leaned heavily against him and the girl had her face glued to one of the windows and she was sighing at the running view. He himself didn't know how or what to feel. His life had taken a drastic turn since this morning, having all of his friends brutally beaten and now on the run with two people he hardly knew, his father's admonishing tone rang hollowly in his head:

"I taught you be better than that N"

His eyelids were growing heavy and slowly he succumbed himself to a sleep full of fantastic nightmares.

Approximately two days later, evening

Johto

Beneath the secret souvenir shop.

"So your full name is Natural Harmonia Gropius? It's a...Unique name" the spiky haired man in front of him commented.

"We'll just call him N; I don't know why you are bothering to ask him his full name when we'll never use it."

"I didn't ask for your opinion Red"

"I'm not giving any out Green." the ebony haired man scathed.

"Will you two SHUT UP?!" Blue seethed and placed herself between them, inhaling she tossed her locks and smiled kindly at him. "You said you could talk to pokemon correct?" the green haired youth nodded, "so...What is Red's Pika saying?" she pointed to a bored looking electric mouse who was sitting atop its master's head. He locked eyes with the creature and spoke to it whilst the occupants in the room, consisting of Black, White, Green, Red and Blue watched him with great interest.

"...He says his master drools in his sleep and while he can be quite disgusting and hardheaded, Pika hopes that Red will solve his problems with Green and continue to be the unbeatable trainer he usually is."

A tense silence stretched in the room...did he say anything wrong?

"Ah, I see. This is wonderful right guys?"

"..."

"RIGHT GUYS?" Blue shouted and the two grunted in agreement. "Say, how about we have to try to communicate with the legendries we have downstairs?" The posse in the room got up and herded him through a maze of corridors, as they were making their way down; more trainers slipped out from various places and joined them. Most of them gave him friendly smiles; a few just looked at him. One child in particular glared at him with undiluted hatred. The russet tinted eyes seared his flesh till another trainer, carrying a pool-cue, cuffed him on his head. Ignoring the hostile stare, he waited till the holding chamber was opened and stepped over the threshold.

A painful wave of noise reached his ears and he clasped them with his hands and dropped to the floor. The cries were unbearable. Each of the legendary pokemon was in a state of wretched euphoria. Their thoughts clashed with each other's. One group wanted to leave at all costs, another party wanted to stay here and waste their lives away. The same pokemon's thoughts all tumbled over each other in a confusing haze. The monsters didn't know what they wanted; their drugged minds were unable to comprehend between reality and fiction. One moment they agreed their confines were heaven, the next moment an uproar went up, they would rather join Giratina in his distorted world. The gentle psychic types raged, seeking vengeance whilst Groudon, not the most docile, would be contented if someone could pat him on his head. Celebi, the time traveller was trying to age itself to an untimely death whilst Ho-oh, the phoenix who was capable of being reborn from nothing, shrieked about the horrors of death. Concerned about the way he suddenly dropped to the floor; both Red and Blue crouched next to him. Black gripped his shoulders comfortingly and queried if anything was wrong.

"They are insane...the legendary pokemon are crazy, they can't talk properly and their thoughts are so loud, even I can hear them..." haltingly he brought his hands down from his ears and flinched, "...you people are not paying any attention to their needs, you are simply doing as you please. I can't speak to them, they won't respond to me. The pokemon are just spouting nonsense." He got up and pulled himself out of the holding cell and slumped in the corridor...what mess did he get himself into?

"I guess all those sedatives and drugs did some damage to them... Judging by their regenerative capabilities, they should be back to normal if we release them back into the wild..." Green mused and his eyes travelled over a few of the pokemon. He was always under the impression that the legendary monsters were quite happy, he had gone through painstaking effort in order to emulate the best conditions for them...only to find out that the artificial habitat was causing them to lose their minds. Next to him, Red also looked thoughtful; perhaps they were thinking the same thing.

"We'll have to readjust everything again," the red eyed man sighed and looked at N who was hugging himself unhappily, "This time, we'll ask N to help us with the adjustments."

"First he should be placed in a group." strategy's commander intoned and ordered everyone out. The newcomer was escorted to another small room and seated on a comfortable couch. He looked around the stark rom for signs of his companions but the Unova natives where nowhere to be seen. The three leaders sat on a couch opposite him and Red placed the dark stone on a table separating the two sofas. Instantaneously, N felt a tug coming from the stone. He reached for the dark orb and cradled it. To the astonishment of the trio, the sphere glowed and in a flash they were staring at Zekrom, the pitch black dragon stretched its wings, and emitted an earthshaking roar. N found his pompous declaration almost beautiful.

"It..." Green trailed off unable to believe his eyes.

"...Responded to him" Red finished, he too was gaping at the scene in front of him. Black had to carry the light stone for months before the vast white dragon showed itself, even now, its appearance was sporadic.

"It's settled then," the strategy department's leader recovered first, "he'll be in my group."

"Why yours?" Blue and Red countered heatedly.

"Last year, you two gained two new underlings, I need a new member."

"Pardon me Green" Blue's tone turned deceptively sweet, "I don't think N will be able to do much typing on a computer, not to mention he won't be able to process your scientific jargon. He-"

"Do you like battling?" desperate to claim him, Red asked the youth who beheld him with horror.

"No...I despise violence."

"See?" the woman pointed out, "I'll take good care of him~" the two men next to her glared.

Zekrom and N exchanged glances as the trio started bickering. It seemed like the beautiful woman in the middle was trying to stop the two males from yelling each other to death. Pika, the pikachu gave a distressed cry but it was ignored. The green haired adolescent felt a void stretch from the pit of his stomach all the way to his chest. His gift of understanding pokemon was craved for all the wrong reasons. What did Black say again, something about understanding pokemon better if he saw Red, said person was engaged in a brawling argument completely snubbing his partner who was squeaking at him to stop. Perhaps life was better at the castle...Or maybe not, at least these people's pokemon adored them, they will gladly fight for their human partners. The legendary dragon next to him snorted at the humans' antics, N could tell he was quite amused by the situation. When the shouting reached its peak, the electric mouse, temper rising because it was disregarded, let loose several thunderbolts. The paralyzing attacks missed but it had the intended effect, the quarreling duo quieted down.

"Now let's act like civilized people and sort the problem out." Constellate's commander gritted out.

"May I say something?" N spoke up and the three nodded, "I don't want to be part of whatever you three are planning, I'm happy that you gave me a new friend" he indicated Zekrom who sniffed, "therefore I'll-"

"We are not letting you out of here it that's what you are thinking" the woman spoke up with a steely look in her eye.

"I just want a place where I'm not used for something BAD!" N finally shrieked and the trio recoiled. Sensing the man's anguish Zekrom roared and stamped its hind legs. "I'll be happy if one of you could throw me on a mountain somewhere away from people like you and my father!"

"He's got daddy issues" Green commented

"Yeah" Blue shook her head in sympathy.

"Poor guy..." Red scratched Pika who was purring contentedly on his lap. "Say N, obviously we can't throw you on a mountain somewhere so out of the three of us, who would you like to stay under? My team excels in pokemon battling...Which you hate. Blue's group are spies and Green is the brain who keeps us all alive."

Who did he want to stay under? He didn't know any of them properly, it was difficult to judge when his opinion of all of them was low. The image of two brown haired teenagers surfaced in his mind and he wondered...

"I'd like to stay with White and Black..." Although not exemplary humans, they were friendly and nice. And they accepted him as one of their own. In a surge of energy, Zekrom, feeling his master's emotions had stabilized; morphed back into a stone.

"Black huh?" the red eyed trainer chuckled, "he-" the door opened violently and the teenager in question stepped in with a wide smile and Musha stuck on his head.

"You called Boss?"

"No he didn't you idiot and don't eavesdrop on important conversations! Get out!" Green growled, "and give your new friend a tour of the base. Grinning, Black beckoned N to follow him. Picking up his new treasure, the youth followed him out immediately. The three commanders watched him go.

There was a smile blooming on N's face.

Several weeks later, Night

Sinnoh

Twinleaf town.

Ring, ring

Ring

Ri-

Diamond picked up the phone and held it to his ear. He could pick out Pearl's hasty speech on the other end of the phone. The boy was as usual, talking about the day's events that took place at Battle tower in fight arena. Since they were sent back home all three of them were forced apart and engaged in different activities. Miss Platina was touring the region and trading for information, his best friend was sharpening his battling skills with his father, Palmer. They moved ahead with renewed purpose, as for him, he was stuck at home undergoing some therapy, no one really told him that but Dia slowly understood. Sometimes his head would hurt terribly and his mother would get afraid, she was afraid because she was worried for him, he knew that. Holding the phone more securely, in case it slips out of his grasp, he responds to his friend's excited questions:

"Hmm, I'm fine. I'm helping mom with a berry grill actually. Yeah...Uh...the doctors said I'm okay now. But they still advise cau-tion when battling. I never trained ever since I came back home. Wonder what senior Red will think of me. Pearl...Will he get mad?" Dia fidgeted slightly and gripped the phone tighter

"Don't be ridiculous!" Pearl's voice was deafening through the speaker, "of course he won't be mad Dia, Red's gonna be glad that you are okay and ready to rumble."

"I can't rumble."

"That was a figurative saying."

"Oh..." Diamond exhaled.

"So...I'm glad you are finally able to speak like this to me. I missed the old Dia so much! Hey, when we get back together let's practice our comedy routines again alright? Promise me."

"Hmm, I promise. Oh...I have to go now, I forgot about the berries. I think I burnt them again. See you later Pearl and come visit me." He dropped the phone and made a mad dash to the kitchen. Throwing open the oven he groaned on seeing the berries all charred. "I hope Mom doesn't stop me from cooking again." Muttering endlessly to himself, he scraped the burnt food off and threw them in the trash. Lax stared at him with calculating eyes.

"Don't tell mom," he begged, "if she finds out...that I'm using the oven without telling her...She'll force me to stop cooking. And look" he showed his palms, "I didn't burn myself today."

A/N: People...I had no power last night (the horror) and therefore this chapter came a day late. Anyway, N joins the team! Yay or Nay? Much gratitude to Helltrainn, AceTrainerLeaf and ReverdeLune for favoriting and following this story, I hope you find it an awesome read. At Jack54311: Cliffhanger? I see what you did there, Black was hanging of a cliff *Pun intended :) In the manga, they trade the exact same pokemon and I thought...why not? At Silver: I like people who tear stories apart, my siblings and I do that all the time, once we're done reading/watching something, we'll analyze it to kingdom come and back. Looks like one of your theories came true, Virtual cake to you! (Oh hey, that rhymed, somewhat). Anyway, I look forward to more predictions and questions. Keep the reviews coming, it's food for a writer's soul.