Chapter 32: Spotlight shines on one

Mid-afternoon

Johto

Dex-criminal's base

The poke gear buzzed off and the connection was cut. Sitting in a comfortable chair, Blue stared at the tiny screen and wondered what happened. Her friend's face looked deathly pale and what was that awful noise? It was so loud she could clearly hear it through the speakers of their gears. As usual Green refused to divulge any details; the only thing he mentioned was a flying ship...the tone of his voice sounded disbelieving. Biting her bottom lip, she set the device down on the table and stared at it for a few more minutes, waiting for it to ring again, alas nothing happened. Finally, she turned her attention to her laptop and tried to work, but the immense worry gnawing on her mind prevented her from absorbing anything. Briefly, she wondered about Ruby and how he might be doing. According to Red, Sapphire drifted listlessly in and out of the execution's room these days. Due to the rise in crime, where were all these new groups popping up from? The police and gym leaders where on high alert. Hands poised over the keyboard, she welcomed the new distractions in the quaint room, Silver and Whi-2 had just walked in, the youngster was chatting in an animated manner and the red head was nodding to her words.

"Anything good happen recently?" she asked, desperate to get her mind off morbid thoughts.

"Oh yes!" Whi-2 almost bounced on the couch "Foongy evolved! I can't wait to have another match with Lack-2" she exclaimed with her eyes glittering. For his part, Silver merely let a lopsided grin show.

"That's wonderful news," Blue praised warmly and flipped her hair back, "...So you like it here now Whi-2?"

The glimmer died down from the girl's eyes and the leader immediately regretted her line of questioning.

"I...Yes I do, I like here very much, it's better than school." The trainer hesitatingly replied, "But...But I still miss my parents and everyone." she looked at Silver, "senior, don't you have any family you miss? And what about you Ms. Blue?"

"I don't have any other family except for Blue, so to answer your question, no I don't miss anyone. Currently, my dad is rotting in jail. In fact, I don't even consider him as a father...He ruined our lives." Silver watched as Whi-2's azure irises showed profound sympathy, she looked down and fidgeted with the ruffles on her skirt. Feeling slightly awkward, he grabbed the remote and was about to switch on the screen when Blue spoke up:

"I have parents whom I visit from time to time, Silver is my adopted brother so I sometimes have to drag him along" she cast the adolescent a good natured glare, "As for Silver's real dad, he was the founder and leader of Team Rocket..." here, the Unovian's eyes widened in understanding, "so you can understand why he feels so negatively towards his father. Don't worry though, we don't let those things get us down, I mean, I have a little family to look after now!" saying this, the woman puffed her chest out and her two subordinates smiled happily. Wanting to know more, the youngest trainer queried about the other leaders and Blue kept on speaking. "Red...Has no parents, he never talks about his childhood...From what I heard from Green, Red's parent's died when he was very young...Probably in the war that took place around twenty years ago...It was a civil war and the records are all wiped so I can't get more information on how it started or why...Anyway, Green's parents have also passed away, he lives with his grandpa, Professor Oak, who is famous for inventing the Pokedex."

"Wow! Senior Green's grandfather invented the Pokedex?" Whi-2 took her digital encyclopedia out and stared at it in wonder, her respect for the normally stoic brunette rose exponentially, "and Green is also famous isn't he...Err, for what is he known for?" her tone turned sheepish.

"Well, he is, or rather was, the forerunner to the champion. Being related to professor Oak already makes one famous, however, Green is also well known for his investigations on pokemon evolution...My lectures all came from his notes. He is also well versed in cloning pokemon and other forms of research. Whenever something odd happens in Kanto, he is generally called, so it is a pretty big deal that we have a super brain amongst us. Red and I don't give him enough credit for his work actually." The realization sunk in and the gloominess returned. Suddenly, Blue's poke gear rang once again, whipping around she grabbed the gear and went out of the common room to answer it.

Around the same time

Driftveil City

Hotel room

"So… let me get this straight," Red's voice issued through the gear, the black haired adolescent had his cap off and the background din could be heard, from the noise, it seems Lack-2 and Gold where having a pokemon brawl and were enjoying themselves. "You got assaulted on the train, had a fight with Cynthia in Heart cave and now you and your team are huddled in in a hotel room, in a half frozen city whilst the police and a local gym leader are crawling around? Does that about sum it up or is it worse?" Green watched his friends' faces scrunch up in concern, it was obvious the red eyed male was busy training his underling, yet, all those and other work were shoved aside to listen to his complaints. Now that he had relayed all the woes plaguing him for the past few days, the strategy commander felt much better, the gears in his brain worked over time as he recalled the series of unfortunate events following him and his team mates. A plan began to unfold in his mind and slowly he divulged all the information. If he rationalized, this mess was caused by Team Plasma, a rival criminal group. A smirk formed on his tired face, it was time to get rid of...Unneeded distractions and weak players. Like he had learnt in his studies, only the strongest survive.

"I'm surprised your puny brain could actually keep up with what I've said," hearing this Red frowned, "yes, more often than not, we were accused of being N's underlings. N himself was tracked by cameras wired to pokemon, when we boarded the train; the twin conductors lumped us together and attacked. Later, they made the connection that we are indeed the Dex-criminals. Let's see, the list of people who saw us include Steven and Cynthia..." His friends had gone mute with shock, their mouths falling open comically, gulping, Blue implored him to continue, "In the cave, I confirmed what we already know, the red chain comes from three pokemon, most likely those legendary psychics. Unfortunately, nowhere was it written or drawn how the chain is made." The duo in the screen inclined their heads sympathetically, "Heart cave is in smithereens thanks to Draco Meteor. Due to this, we won't be able to go back and investigate."

"I appreciate your lengthy report Green but get to the point already, tell us what happened today." Red drawled and the two exchanged a glower.

"Team Plasma, a criminal group operating in Unova, got wind that their kidnapped King was sighted in the vicinity. The media reported that he was last sighted in Heart cave, with a new set of underlings." hearing this, the two others giggled and Green growled in displeasure, "so the group decided to barricade the drawbridge...A wise move on their part since it is a major route. They took over Driftveil city also and once the flying ship was sighted, the situation was deemed critical. Surge was summoned and-"

"Wait, what?! Surge?" The ebony haired man sputtered in disbelief, "why him out of all people?" Arceus that's bad!"

"I don't know my guess is the others were not available. Lt. Surge brought in an entire army; the place resembled a war zone. The Plasma frigate fired two beams and encased the ships and half the city with ice, from there, Surge and his underlings had a skirmish with the Plasma people, despite their huge ship and cannon, they suffered a defeat and had to return. The frigate had long retreated and the city is currently under restoration. They are having the fire type pokemon defrost it. Lots of people are a bit afraid to come out of their homes; I just hope we can survive if they decide to check on the civilians..."

A short silence befell the conversation. Done with his work, Pearl flopped to the floor and started reading a magazine. Crystal parked herself on the other side of the bed and her robotic gaze was fixed on the cream colored wall.

"So...What are you going to do know?" Blue asked.

"Hmm...First, it will be to our advantage if we get rid of the rival groups."

Green's statement elicited different responses from the other two. Red's muted visage lighted up whilst Constellate's leader groaned audibly.

Ignoring their excitement, or lack of, the spiky haired brunette ploughed on: "From the snippets of intelligence we've procured..."

"Simple terms please, Professor Oak" the ruby eyed man harshly interjected.

"...From the itty bitty pieces of information I've gathered from all of our heists, it seems there is at least one organized criminal group operating in any given region. We've taken care of Team Rocket, so they are out of commission. Blue?" the woman hummed, "do you remember the people who assaulted you when you went to Sinnoh? I guess those...Galactic was it?" she replied in affirmative, "they are probably the ring leaders in Sinnoh, here in Unova it'd be Team Plasma in Hoenn I think there is a Team Magma in operation. I'm a bit obscure on the details; we can question Ruby or Sapphire more on that. We need more information on each of the groups and once we have them in our palms...Smash them and get rid of them permanently. Easy as that. I'm sick of playing dodge with the police."

"So now our course of action would be too find information on these other groups and get rid of them..." Blue had a sly smile on her face, "Oh Green, I didn't know you where such and attention hogger!" she laughed.

"Pesky woman, keep your comments to yourself, why don't we switch positions and let's see if you fare any better!"

The blue eyed adolescent twirled a strand of chocolate brown hair and winked, "It'd be a cinch for me~" she suavely added, "I'd ask the guards nicely and they will gladly help a damsel in distress." At her bold statement, Red chuckled and Green wore a deadpan expression on his face. Of course whatever Blue had said was all true, she could silkily worm her way out of tough situations. In the top three, Green was the worst when cornered, he always feared that one day he'd be found out and his reputation and career as a researcher would be ruined.

"Not everyone is a trickster like you," he snidely commented, "anyway, I'll return to Johto tomorrow, I expect you two to start preparing teams and dispatching them already. The sooner the other players are eliminated, the more advantageous it is for us." Ending the call, he ordered the rest to return to their own rooms and to keep calm should the police come knocking and asking. Picking himself up, he commanded N to come to his room later. As he exited from the gathering, Yellow noticed a derisive smile tugging at his lips.

And his emerald irises held a savage gleam of pleasure.

Evening

Driftveil City

Hotel, Green's room

The moment N stood before the hotel room door, it felt like the inside of his stomach dropped down somewhere to his legs and disappeared. Holding the dark dragon stone protectively over his chest, he cautiously rapped his knuckles on the wooden doors. Back when he was still the King of Team Plasma, he was given everything he wanted; there wasn't the apprehension of answering for what he did. Here, he was often admonished and forced to do things against his will. Green scared him the most, the individual's rationality was a force to be reckoned with. True to his words, Strategy's leader and he personally adjusted the living conditions of the encaged legendries. They seemed to return back to normal; however a few days later, the situation returned to its former self. Once again, they had become intoxicated, mad. When he suggested to the commander that they be released, he received a scowl in return.

Like the one he was getting now. Green stood patiently on the threshold and waited for N to return to the realm of reality.

"Sorry, I was thinking" came the flat apology.

"Come in, I have a few questions to ask."

N meekly shuffled in the identically decorated room and seated himself on the plush couch. It appears Green had already started working. The laptop was whirring at a desk and a few papers were strewn about. Shutting the door, he seated himself with Green grabbing a chair and facing him. Another tense silence stretched before them; finally the brunette asked a question. One that caught N off guard:

"Why didn't you escape from us?" the green haired youth mumbled something incomprehensible, "I'm not only talking about today...When you first joined us, we handed the dark dragon stone to you, Zekrom is formidable, I'm sure it would have been easy for you to use him and break out." Jade tinted irises pinned the younger male with a questioning gaze. N shifted slightly and the leather couch made a squeaky noise.

"I don't have a home to return to," he lethargically responded, "besides my father...no Ghetsis said I was useless even as a puppet. Team Plasma hails me as a king but I know they don't view me that way. I'm merely a figurehead..." he trailed off and hung his head, a moment later he looked up, "after staying with you people for a few months, I've learnt a lot of things. Before, I was always under the impression that humans and pokemon should be treated as equals, the beasts are to be set free and allowed to do the things they please. Here, despite how you guys command your pokemon to battle, they do not dislike you. Your partners are well prepared to die for you...And it got me thinking, perhaps people and pokemon can perfectly co-exist. The trained monsters usually emulate the dreams of their trainer. I think Black is a very good example...Uh, so is everyone else in the base. Sometimes all this confuses me, however it all makes sense. We grow to care for each other and if suddenly our long time companions are set free, it impacts both the human and the pokemon." Swallowing, N hugged the stone, "Oh, I noticed something weird with Red's pokemon..." he wasn't sure if he should continue with his sentence or not.

"...What did you notice?"

"They all adore him" Green rolled his eyes and snorted, "except his Gyarados; the pseudo dragon hates his guts. The stuff it spouts out when commander Red asks it to battle would put a swearing sailor to shame. It's quite ill tempered."

"Generally, gyarados' have nasty tempers, don't let it bother you." Besides, the thing is stolen, Green added in his mind. "It's getting late; I'll start with the questions. Answer them as truthfully and accurately as possible. I'll punish you if you lie."

N gulped and nodded. The way the older male worded punish, it sounded like he was going to kill someone.

"Okay, first...What was that giant ship in the sky? And how could it fire ice beams of such power? If you don't know the answer to a question simply tell me, be warned though, I'll be able to tell if you are lying."

Beads of sweat dotted N's forehead, nevertheless he continued: "The ship is known as the Plasma frigate. It is the brainchild of a scientist named Colress who is sort of the vice leader of Team Plasma. He mainly stays at the ship and conducts experiments on how to bring out a pokemon's fighting strength to its optimum level. The Plasma frigate is a mobile base of sorts; it harnesses solar power and thus is able to fly. As for the cannons..." he grew quiet.

"I don't care if its confidential information, spit it out. You are no longer affiliated with them anyway."

"Yes, I understand" a heartbeat later N continued, "the cannons are utilizing Kyurem's powe-"

"HOW?!" Green sat bolt upright at the statement, one hundred and fifty one possibilities whizzed through his head. It took one of those blindingly white elemental beams to freeze half of the city and another one to reduce an entire fleet of ships to nothing. If only he could understand the process...the opportunities were endless. As the scenarios floated through his mind, Red's displeased face popped up and the theories deflated like a punctured drifloon. His friend would severely disprove of using pokemon in such a manner. Why, the crimson eyed man didn't even give his partners any stat boosting items. The fissure between them would widen further. And besides, he was done doing such experiments with pokemon. His memory of Mewtwo will be following him till his grave, even if he became senile and forgot everything else, he'll never forget mewtwo.

Never

"...Carry on, I was just overly curious" Green mumbled and the former Plasma King dipped his head.

"Last year, Ghetsis brought Kyurem home; he refused to tell me how he got the stone and simply instructed me to coax the dragonoid out. After I did so, he was taken away; father cited that having such a dangerous beast close to our incomplete castle might be dangerous. The dragon may have a mood swing and decide to crush us all. From there, I've heard that Colress managed to create a machine capable of artificially stimulating a pokemon's power and spiking them to dangerous levels. I suppose they are doing it with Kyurem and using its extra energy to power the cannons. It was a novel concept which came true. They want to coat Unova with ice and force everyone to go with their ideals." N's eyes turned glassy.

"Hmm, I see. Pfft, Foolish idiots, such elaborate schemes will eventually end in failure. If not, we'll just blot them out. So, you have another partially completed base? Where is it situated?"

"Underground" the youth replied and Green's eyebrows joined his hairline, he was beginning to have a grudging respect for these group of felons, "it surrounds the Pokemon league. Ghetsis and the sages agree the Pokemon league is the pinnacle of pokemon slavery."

A spell of silence descended, the brunette scribbled something on a loose sheet of paper and N stared at his shoes.

"One last question" Green held N's gaze, "if we fight with Ghetsis...Will you betray us?"

Will you betray us?

Will you-

Betray us?

"This is the ideal world N, where pokemon are free from the selfish and unreasonable demands of their owners. Yes owners' child, they claim to be trainers but look at their actions and tell me...cannot you not see the brutal glee on their faces when they win a battle? Do you think the sorry monsters, scarred both mentally and physically are happy with what they did? You think they deserve their wounds? No N, they don't. These beasts don't have a voice, it is up to you and to us to give them one and liberate them from slavery...they do not deserve to be handled with such cruelty..."

Lies.

"I won't" the slate tinted irises sharpened, "I'll fight for myself, to find out what is right. I will not betray you." The words fell from N's lips as the sun sunk lower. The room, the city was bathed in muted light and shadows.

Mid-night

Unova

Driftveil city Hotel room

Crystal understood why Gold watched the stars at night. She and Yellow shared a room and the blonde was fast asleep. The indigo haired female sat in a nightgown near the windows and threw the curtains aside to let the silver moonlight through. Despite the metropolis' light pollution, she could clearly see the stars in the sky, shining faintly like diamonds. And the moon, a huge argent disk hanging against a raven tinted sky. Gripping herself she let out a huge sigh and laid her head against her folded arms. It has been a few days since Bonee's death, she wanted to bury him as soon as possible and unfortunately they have been tumbling from one unpleasant situation to another. Hopefully, tomorrow team Strategy will be able to board a plane back to Johto, from there she'll have to ask Green for a vacation in order for her to go to Kanto and lay cubone in peace. It's been a long time since she went to Lavender tower...

A soft sniff punctuated the serene silence in the room. Crystal was now laying on the carpet, on her side and letting the tears fall from her eyes. No matter how much she reasoned with herself, the overwhelming feeling of having lost something very precious overtook her. It came from the abyss in her chest and tried to force itself out with an indignant cry. It wasn't fair for her loyal partner to die. It wasn't fair. Curling up she let the pale white light wash over thinly clad form. The moonbeams, although surreally beautiful, was cold. She didn't want comfort; Crys was an independent girl and thrived as such. Now she felt all broken and jagged like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Confused. Someone should start putting the individual pieces together and make the picture whole again. She's got better things to do then wallow in self-pity.

But everyone needs a bit of self-pity.

Countless times, she thought of a new partner to replace Bonee, it was a logical decision and one she ought to seriously think about, yet, every time the idea popped in her mind, she felt like she was betraying the deceased pokemon. Bonee was a gift from her mother; she nurtured him, grew with him and fought battles with him. And now:

He was gone.

And preferably in a better place.

Yellow tried not to flinch when she heard her junior emit a pained sob. Being sensitive to both people and pokemon's emotions, she lied still and pretended to be asleep. A very demanding part of her wanted to get up and comfort the poor girl, the rational part told her to allow Crys some time. Torn in indecision, the blonde merely lay exhausted on the bed and listened to the anguished, muffled cries of her team mate.

It's going to be okay, the brown eyed girl soothed, alas; the words uttered were not a decibel louder than a subdued whisper.

A/N: It's okay people...I'm alive. I went to a family reunion and spent a few days at that place...then I came back home to no internet for another few days. Life was going great...somewhat. Anyway I'm back with a new chapter which will hopefully get the ball rolling once again. Thanks to all those who keep on reading. Virtual roast beef to you all (man, I love roast beef). At Silver: I chuckled at your rendition of Lt Surge using his electricity puns, good one! I have a habit of reading the dex entries of the pokemon I write about and honestly some of them surprised me. At Jack54311: Yep, they are creepy and the anime doesn't give them enough creepy credit (does that make sense?) So I prefer the manga, I used to watch the anime though, when I was five. At Eevee: Your review was a pleasant surprise! (And I hope to see more of them) I couldn't update for reasons stated above, but now I'm back! If you have any questions, feel free to shoot (and that includes anyone). Once again, please read and enjoy, constructive criticism and reviews are highly appreciated.