Chapter 38: A galactic clash

Early morning

Sinnoh

Base of Mount Coronet

The sunlight washed over the stark white world of route two hundred and six and the base of Mount Coronet. Glittering snow reflected the weak light and everywhere was blinding white save for the polished silver door set into the rock face of the mountain. The grey shadows of five people loomed over the door, their footsteps softened by snow. A spiky haired man regarded the door with cobalt irises, his face was ashen and dark circles were prominent underneath his eye sockets. Boots crunching, he broke away from the group and placed his hand against the metallic surface. It was slightly warm to the touch, meaning there were people inside. Cyrus didn't smile at his discovery, however his lips managed a twitch and the Galactic commanders who were fanned out before him understood. Their commander had found his quarry at last and now it would be a simple affair to capture the three brats and ship them off to the Galactic Building in Veilstone city.

"Should I break the door down Sir Cyrus?" Saturn stepped forward, his pupils shining, "my beasts are more than enough to take down that flimsy piece of metal..." Cyrus paid him not attention as his gaze was fixated on the entrance, next to him, probopass floated and emitted a strong wave magnetic wave. The underlings flinched and the blue haired commander merely closed his eyes and opened them again.

"No." The tone of his voice was akin to the whisper of the dead. "Use a laser and cut through the sheet of metal, if we use pokemon, the occupants inside will wake up and alert themselves...I want the element of surprise on my side. My encounter with the Berlitz heiress has showed me that these children are not to be underestimated. The princess has information I've been looking for. My visits to the Celestic and Heart caves had been futile." Or not as he thought about how he witnessed the destruction of Heart cave in Unova. A single shark-esque dragon had called down debris from space, hurtling atmosphere heated boulders and pockmarking the surrounding landscape with craters and a destroyed heritage sight. Pulling himself out of his ruminations, the dispirited man watched as Saturn and Charon got to work, they pulled out a laser cutter and crouched near the door, slicing through the metal like a hot knife through butter. A neat rectangle of iron fell outwards into the snow and the edges of the sliced sheet glowed red hot. Clasping his hands behind his back, the commander stepped in first and his monster trailed after him. The first thing he saw on entering the room was three pre-teenagers sleeping in a circle on the frigid floor. A small fire burned in the middle and their heavy breaths intermingled with the cackling of burning wood. With measured footfalls, Cyrus strode to them and came to a stop before a plush sleeping bag. A crafted face peeked out between faux fur and a mass of blue-black hair. The Galactic commander simply stared, Mars was right, she was beautiful. Keen sight observed the girl's eyelids shifting and a minute later, they fluttered open and he silently beheld the debilitating despair swirling in the inky depths of her irises.

Wordlessly, she shuffled and got up, her body a coiled spring. Cyrus admired her composure. Platinum Berlitz's gaze was calculative as she beheld the five intruders. She recognized them from her mission in Veilstone and their spacesuit uniforms. The blue haired man standing before her must be the leader. Eyes shifting again, she noted how the other executives stood near Diamond and Pearl, her two best friends were still fast asleep. Blissfully oblivious

"It's rude to walk in when a lady is sleeping" she intoned and heard one of the females snort, "Lopunny...High jump kick." The commander's eyes registered confusion, all that washed away when a lump began moving underneath the sleeping bag, a mass of brown and cream fur exploded out and arced into the air, the slim beast descended with a bang on his probopass, a strong hind leg kicking a dent into the metal, the main body of his pokemon blasted outwards and the rabbit-like monster landed elegantly on the floor. Twirling around, it launched itself again in the air and somersaulted, Mars watched, her scarlet irises widening as lopunny rammed a limb into her. The dizzy punch threw her off balance as she crashed to the floor. In the next instant, Jupiter and Saturn jolted into action. The blue haired male tried to strike a sleeping Pearl; instead the blonde quickly rolled to the side and abruptly shot up, striking his opponent with a fist. Diamond was not so fortunate, the indolent boy woke up lazily and yawned, Jupiter kicked out viciously with the heel of her thigh high boot and clipped his forehead.

"Ouch..." the teen slowly raised his hand and wiped at the dribble of blood. It took him a few moments to see the predicament he and his team were in. Surrounding them were strange and imposing adults...Judging by their expressions and actions, they were not friendly. His suspicions were confirmed when several metallic spheres formed in mid-air, the heavy orbs were launched from somewhere far and the projectiles sliced through the air, hitting Platina's lopunny with deadly accuracy. One, two, five balls of metal smashed in the monster, the pokemon was hurtled around like a rag doll and squealing in a pained manner, a final orb hit its skull and rabbit pokemon fainted with blood pouring out of its groomed ears. Platina watched wordlessly as Mars got up with a wretched look on her face. The executives all reached for the pokemon clipped to their belts, several clicks and flashes of light later; there was an army of trained beasts surrounding her and her friends. They shook the abandoned base with their cries and growls. The trio huddled together and suddenly felt very small and insignificant as the Galactic members bore down on them from all sides. Probopass had returned next to Cyrus and the mini-noses levitating around him did not look too welcoming.

"We are taking you with us" Cyrus spoke, his words cutting through the din, "You" he pointed to Platina, "will relay to us the information we are looking for and we will keep those two safe..." he jerked his head to Dia and Pearl.

The trio of Poke-Dex holders kept quiet.

"Let's use formation Alpha" Diamond broke the tension and his co-workers eyed him with mild concern...Was he okay?

"Dia...no, Diamond..." Pearl only used his full name in grave situations, "now is not a good time to be making jokes. Save those for later okay?" he tried to sound soothing but it was difficult to comfort when his voice was shaking.

However the blue eyed trainer did not heed his words. Rising, he defiantly locked eyes with the supreme commander and pointed a finger at him.

"You won't take Missy away from us and we won't go quietly with you mister...We will defeat-" his words stopped in mid-sentence as all the mini-noses punched into him. Pearl screamed and summoned infernape; the agile monkey caught the assaulting creatures and kicked them away from Diamond. The boy was sitting on the floor with various bruises on his face and body and he spoke up again: "I'll be the defense, Pearl and Platina, you two strategize and attack..." Pearl grinned with renewed vigor and crouched down to Dia, his flame eyes glittering. Platina copied his movements and the Galactic team showed pitying smiles. A single thought ran through their heads...

These kids were doomed.

Midnight

Cave of Origin

Team Aqua's hideout

Beep beep

Beep bee-

Whi-2 slammed her hand on her Xtransciever and groaned. She lay in the bed for a few more moments before abruptly sitting up. Blinking, she stole a glance at her communication device and saw it was twelve o'clock sharp, the time she designated in order to explore the base without hindrance. Now that the hour had come, she wanted to snuggle back into the comforting depths of her baby blue comforter and succumb her consciousness to fantastic dreams. Sighing, she pulled herself out of the warm bed and switched on the light, instantaneously she grimaced at her reflection. The girl had gone to sleep wearing the admin's uniform. Staring dazedly at herself for a moment longer, she eventually crept towards her backpack and began to rifle through the contents, sifting out the equipment she would need for her mission. Out came a few button sized cameras fitted with mikes, an all-purpose pocket knife complete with a miniature screwdriver, scissors, glass cutter and a bottle opener, she briefly wondered why the bottle opener was necessary. Pulling out a utility belt, she clipped on two pokeballs and stowed the other gadgets into the several pouches. She put on a pair off goggles and began tinkering with the functions, it sported a thermal sensor, night vision, X-ray and magnification, setting it to night vision she blinked at the ghostly green surroundings and turned it off. Shrugging, Whi-2 dove into her bag again and retrieved a laser and a set of fingerless gloves. With renewed excitement she pulled on the gloves. The black latex seemed to mold itself into her hands and it fitted so perfectly she forgot she was wearing anything in the first place; the grip of the rubber was firm and the material cool. Smiling, the young spy grabbed a small flashlight and jammed it into her belt, with a calmness she was not used to feeling; the child opened the door and slinked out.

The exterior was pitch dark and quiet as a grave, fumbling with the heavy set goggles; she turned night vision on and cautiously advanced forward to the end of the living quarters. Her interest lay in the lowest chamber, in the room where Kyogre was kept. Most possibly it was also Archie's personal space so she reminded herself to tread carefully. As she debated on taking the elevator downwards, the doors of the tube hissed open and she came face to face with a grunt. The trainer felt her limbs slacken, a terrified scream was making its way from the pit of her stomach and with great difficulty she managed to bite it down. The surprised man standing before her was familiar...He was the grunt who escorted her to her new room.

"I needed to go to the toilet but I got lost in the dark" slipped Whi-2's lame excuse and she cursed under her breath. What sort of person going to the lavatory would be equipped like her? The grunt arched an eyebrow and stepped out of the elevator.

"You have an attached bathroom with your chamber miss..." he relayed and the Unova native was aware of his suspicious gaze travelling up and down her form. She was a dead giveaway; the mission was over before it even started. "Also, it is not wise to prowl around the dark...Let me escort you back to your place."

"I could say the same to you" the spy took a few steps back, "all grunts should be sleeping so why are you strolling about in the middle of the night? Only authorized personnel are allowed in the lower chambers after dark. I'll report you to Archie for your misconduct." The grunt's face screwed up and he peered at her through half lidded eyes.

"Who sent you?" he demanded, "clearly you are a spy...A terrible one. I told Steven that I'll be okay on my own! Why did he send me an incompetent child?" the man pulled off his bandanna to reveal a shock of spiky turquoise locks. He eyed Whi-2 with a mixture of disbelief and exasperation. "The name's Brawly, police...nice to meet you new kid." His expression flitted as if it wasn't sure whether he was pleased or disgruntled to have another person on board.

Whi-2's mind was a tornado of ideas, excuses and other mundane thoughts. Clearly there was a huge misunderstanding going on here, without even enquiring further, this Brawly had assumed that she was one of their own...Sent by Steven Stone nonetheless, she remembered reading about the champion of Hoenn, he was a hard worker and diligently balanced his policing work along with his champion duties, apparently the man was also a geologist of sorts and travelled the different regions studying rocks, metals and other precious stones. A prominent member in both the Pokemon's Association and the police he is a master of steel type pokemon...And a handsome young guy to boot. The trainer shook her head, his looks were irrelevant to the situation, right now the tide turned into her favor and what did Ms. Blue say? Exploit every opportunity given to you; in this field of work, even a small mistake can jeopardize one's assignment and life.

"Yes, Steven sent me..." she whispered slowly as if the information was confidential, "and he told me all communications between us and them should be cut off" Brawly glanced at her in alarm, "apparently if we keep on contacting headquarters we will be found out sooner or later, so to minimize the chance of this happening, we are now on our own. Sorry for being so unprofessional...this is the first time I'm doing this" the blue eyed girl admitted and Brawly's countenance softened, "so please let's work together" and I can simply leave you here when my work here is done. A cruel thought wormed into her mind and she dismissed the villainous idea immediately.

"Chill" Brawly ran a hand through his spiky hair and grinned, "The more the merrier right?"

An hour later the two were crawling through one of the thick shafts which were prevalent through the base. Brawly explained that these vine-esque pipes carried water and the entire base relied on a hydraulic system to keep it functioning, unsurprisingly, it was Kyogre who acted as the power station. Brawly's first task was to infiltrate one of the pipes, to do so he had do gouge a hole through a thick mixture of glass and concrete of which the tunnels were constructed out of. It took several days for the pipe to empty out sufficiently for him to slosh through knee deep water and plug the entrance. A week later he was scurrying through the network of tunnels and sabotaging the rest of the shafts. Aqua grunts were increasingly getting frustrated on the failing power system, sometimes the lifts would get stuck and on other days the screens would malfunction. Guards and maintenance teams were posted on the second level of the base, with their goal already nearing its end, Archie was not bothered enough to catch the criminal. The leader was too absorbed with his glorious plans of submerging the entirety of Hoenn underwater. Although he and Maxie had a temporary truce, it would break down as soon as the fake blue orb had been assimilated by him.

In the constricted confines of the glass pipe, Whi-2 spied a metallic grille and shuffled close to it, despite Brawly's protests, she made a beeline for Archie's room, digging out the pocket knife, she selected the mini screwdriver and got to work on the rusting screws, her hands shook and it was plain to the observer that she was scared, nevertheless she managed to unscrew the grate and slide into the next section. Crawling on her arms proved to be difficult work, it was tiring to drag her entire body and for a moment her mind wandered to snakes, with the thought occupying her head she failed to see the surroundings change. Beneath the tube, the area glowed a luminous blue and it was Brawly's impatient hiss which forced her back to reality. With a bit of difficulty she pulled her goggles off and stared, right underneath her was Kyogre's massive tank and the legendary beast beheld her with incensed eyes. Suspended above the whale-like creature, Whi-2 swept her eyes and to her dismay found that the pipe she crawled in did not end in this room, it curved away dipping, rising and disappearing somewhere into the dark depths. Letting herself drop to her stomach, the girl turned on her back with much difficulty and began patting her belt, fishing out the multi-purpose pocket knife and taking out the glass cutter. The Hoenn gym leader simply gaped, his mouth falling open.

"Are you nuts?" he queried, "there is no way your flimsy glass cutter is going through slice through these pipes...Kid, these glass walls can stop a bullet! Also, how do you plan to land? A fall from this height can shatter your spine or even kill you"

"It's diamond edged" The young trainer quipped back and spared him a tired glance, "and I'll think about landing once I get this shaft to shatter."

She worked in silence, her lazuli irises narrowed in focus. It was getting difficult to breath, the concentration of oxygen was low and the two occupants were feeling fatigued and light-headed. The scraping of stone on glass was the only sound shattering the silence. Whi-2 cut away furiously, the handle of the tool was digging in her palms, blinking sweat out of her eyes she slid the brilliant blade back and forth over a section of the pipe, but for all her efforts, the shaft showed no signs of splintering. There was only a thin white line and it showed no signs of cracking. Taking a gulp of air, the Unova native scraped harder and faster and the friction caused a small spark. Motivation renewed, she wedged the edge of the blade into the thin score and stabbed, on her second stab, the handle broke off with the head lodged into the tiny crack.

The two spies stared in dismay and Whi-2 heaved. She felt helpless, lonely and claustrophobic. The glass surfaces were pressing down on all sides, threatening to smother her. Taking another few breaths and forcing her emotions to stabilize, she summoned Foongy, the mushroom pokemon sent fine tendrils in the miniature slit and from there the tendrils absorbed energy and grew, the green shoots pulsing forcefully and turning into thick vines. To her delight, spider web fissures spread across the length of the tube. The thick vines pulsated again, glowing acid green. With an almighty crash the segment broke beneath them and Whi-2 found herself falling. Desperately she scrabbled on the sides of the shattered tube for a hold, instead she slid downwards and the rough surfaces cut through her gloves and lacerated her palms and fingers. Screaming, she landed with a thud on her back and lay there. When Brawly tried to help her up, she couldn't move.

Foongy hopped close to its inert master and peered at her through tiny pupils. For some reason she wouldn't move even though the floor was really cold. The girl lay sprawled, not even attempting to fix the awkward angles that her limbs were in. The pokemon bounced around till it could see its trainer's face. There were no tears as well and the youthful face was static. A rush of dread swelled up in Foongy's chest, there was something terribly wrong with its trainer and it was evident. Squeaking indignantly, it head butted the other male who merely stood there at a loss. Fed up with the useless human, the little monster directed its attention back to Whi-2, the rising and falling of her chest was becoming labored. Shutting its eyes it screeched and released a cloud of healing spores. The colored dust settled on her and another dose was released, amoongus kept on releasing spores till it ran out of energy and yet, it's partner showed no signs of stirring. Tottering to the girl, it emitted a fatigued squeak and fainted with its head touching hers.

Brawly inhaled sharply, dawn was threatening to break out and with it the base will burst into a hive of activity. The current situation was not in his favor. The kid had fallen and injured her spine, thus paralyzing her completely, she needed emergency medical treatment or else...It was too late and he watched as her chest stilled. Morbidly he realized that it was his first time watching a person die and it had to be a young child. After the little pokemon fainted next to her, he crouched down in order to pick her up and nearly screamed his head off when her half lidded eyes snapped open and she spoke, each word ringing clearly in the air.

"Bug the room, we need to get out of here before Archie enters and catches us." Instead of doing as he was told, he gawped at her.

"You...You just..."

"Just get on with it!" Whi-2, normally docile, snapped, "we are running out of time." Scooping Foongy in her arms, she dug out the button cameras and handed them to the older spy, quickly the duo concealed the devices in shadowy corners. Nodding to each other, they crept out, keeping close to the walls lest anyone is out and about. The harrowing journey back to the room was rewarded, they encountered no-one. As the brown haired girl finally entered her bedroom, an overwhelming sense of exhaustion claimed her. Staggering towards her bed, she passed out with her partner still cradled firmly in her arms.

Late-morning

Sinnoh

Base of Mount Coronet

Formation Alpha turned out to be a defensive fortress. It was the first time Cyrus felt such intense emotions, anger mingling with something he couldn't describe. A multitude of heavy, slow pokemon formed a ring around the three brats. This placement was not static, when the galactic commanders attacked, the beasts would huddle together, either absorbing or rebounding the assaults, the ring was then widened and out of the gaps poured several other pokemon, an infernape, empoleon, cherrim, and chatot. These beasts would perform a hit and run, quickly slipping back into the tight knit circle. The formation was perfect. In a short amount of time, half of the Galactic executive's pokemon were wiped out. He watched as Mars and Saturn lashed out furiously, the veins in their foreheads distending with frustration. Toxicroak and purugly prowled around Diamond's ingenious arrangement, looking for a crack to slip through in. The heavy beasts shifted to the side for a moment, a small gap formed between lickilicky and torterra and the toxic mouth pokemon tried to leap inside, instead a luxray barreled out and closed its lightning cloaked jaws over the attacking monster. With a croak, the poisonous frog tried to land a sucker punch but failed as the electric type jumped away, when probopass began targeting it, the lion-esque beast whipped around, its tail lashed toxicroak on the face and it dove back into the safety of the fortress. Saturn cursed when luxray disappeared, his monster had fainted.

"I can't battle anymore" he announced with a solemn tone and next to him Mars giggled in a high pitched voice. Sneering at him, she turned her attention to the living wall and addressed the trio huddled in the center.

"How cowardly, battling us like this, if you have any dignity left, come out and face us instead of hiding behind your pokemon you STUPID BRATS! Purugly, use hypnosis!"

"Chahiko, chatter! Keep Dia's pokemon awake!" Chatot flew upwards and a stream of noise began to issue from its beak, human phrases, Pearl and Diamond's comedy jokes, swear words, various pokemon growls and cries, all of them were perfectly mimicked and Cyrus longed to plug his ears to save him from the torture of the cacophony. Inside the tight-knight circle, Platina's eyes were flashing with displeasure and her empoleon mirrored her expression. "Platina, please...Our lives are more important than pride...they are simply taunting us because we are bringing them down, listening to them would only serve to defeat us." The orange eyed boy glanced at Diamond who nodded. Dia ordered two of his beasts to shift and empoleon dived smoothly through the space. It held out its metallic claws and as it streaked past purugly, the penguin raked its steel appendages through the thick fur and fat of the cat-like beast. Blood sprayed in an arc and the wounded beast fought back with an aerial ace, the attack did little more than splash more blood on empoleon's body. Brutally, the emperor pokemon swung it's sharp fins and sliced purugly in half.

Mars screamed and cursed.

Her screeching were grating on empoleon's nerves, briefly waddling on its webbed feet, the monster shot out like a bullet and embedded it's trident crested head into her abdomen, the female stilled at once and her eyes rolled over. A sigh escaped her lips and she passed out. Smoothly sliding out its horns, the proud beast turned and received a face full of metal from probopass, swatting the last metallic sphere away, the two creatures locked eyes. Each one's full of hate for the other.

"Jupiter..." Cyrus intoned, his hands still folded behind his back, "keep them busy...When I'm done with this creature, we will take them down together." The silent female nodded and beheld a flaming monkey jump out from the center of the ring, it joined empoleon but the penguin arced a bladed fin at it. With a hiss, infernape retreated and Jupiter saw her chance.

"Skuntank use night slash" the skunk blitzed forward and used poison coated claws to draw a neat slit on infernape's neck, the monkey screamed and staggered back, the horrible stench emitting from the creature was befuddling him. A smoke screen of stinking poisonous gas was thrown out and Chimhiko, blinded and choking, countered with a flamethrower. It missed the target and skuntank barreled into him, throwing the ablaze monkey into the far end. Somersaulting, the fire type touched down and its body was wreathed in flames. With a cry, it smashed its fist into the toxic pokemon and a flaming uppercut threw it into the air, Chimhiko jumped, drew level with its opponent and issued a devastating kick on the beast's back. A crunch was heard before skuntank collided back on the floor. It twitched and became still. Swiping a hand over the thin score on its neck, Pearl's partner leered at Jupiter, it taunted the calm executive by swinging irritatingly around her and when her hands inched to the belt on her hip, the monster executed a double kick, two fire cloaked limbs blasted into her, one shattering her forearm, the other hitting her sternum and punching her out of breath, she rocketed outwards and her head hit the wall.

"..." Dia observed the battle through the tiny spaces provided by his pokemon. Chimhiko was recalled. "Aren't we...going overboard Platina?" How he managed to make a rice ball in this confined space was a question Arceus would be able to answer. The porcelain faced female, her expression hard, shook her head.

"No...They were prepared to kill us" her eyes briefly went to the injury on Dia's forehead, "so we shall retaliate with like...Empoleon" her perfectly even voice carried over, "your pride was wounded...Show no mercy. Brick break" At her command, her partner kicked off the ground and toward probopass, it's fins raised high and glinting.

"Gravity"

In the next instant, empoleon lay face first on the floor, an unseen force gluing its half metallic body to the ground. A ball of electricity was gathering in front of probopass, zap cannon, with trepidation Platina observed the sphere gathering mass, if it hit, her empoleon would surely die. Inhaling, she forced her trembling limbs to keep still, her faith in her companion was high, even now, the water type was painstakingly angling his head at the compass pokemon, The Sinnoh native gulped, would her command work? She had only learnt of the ultimate attack for a short while and was lacking practice... but, she had to give it a try.

"Empoleon..." a brief hesitation, "hydro cannon"

The water exploded out of its beak and jerked empoleon off the floor and into the air. A colossal pillar of liquid hit zap cannon and pushed it back, enveloping probopass with electricity and water. Right then, Diamond issued a command and Cyrus turned, his emotionless face morphing into horror as the ring of bulky monsters stampeded outwards, bastiodon stomped probopass and a power whip courtesy of lickilicky smacked him across his face. His head whirled and everything went black.

Unknown time

Hoenn

Gnarled Den

Silver was crying.

Fat tears rolled down his cheeks as he banged on the steel door. He wanted to get out; confining him was out of the question. Yelling at the top of the voice, he demanded the occupants inside the base let him out of the small room they barred him in. The door was thick, as much as he pounded it, it wouldn't even dent. His fists were turning reddish purple and his hands were throbbing in pain. After a particularly loud screech, the door slid to the side abruptly and a uniformed grunt stared him down.

"Pipe down you stupid kid!" the man snarled and the red head backed up in fear and sniffed. His legs were trembling, yet he managed to glare at the foot soldier, in the next instance, the heated glare melted right off and Silver bit down a whimper of fright. Hulking behind the man was the nasty outline of a rhydon. The beast lumbered behind its trainer, its plated tail thrashing from side to side. Taking a shaky breath, the Johto native searched for a way out but to no avail, he was stuck in this place.

"You've been a real headache you know that kid?" the sinister man grinned, "all the other ones have quieted down, but you...Need some discipline instilled in your puny head it seems." The rhydon growled as if agreeing and Silver scooted further inside the cell. He was terrified of this man and his rhydon. "...It's punishment time little Silver" the smile inched wider till it was splitting the individual's face into two, "hope my lovely Rhydon here makes it a memorable account~" The red head screamed in fright as the horn on the drill pokemon's head started spinning rapidly, producing a high pitched whine. Opening its jaws wide, the grey monster let out an earthshaking roar and stamped its thick hind legs on the ground. The trainer could only watch as the roaring came closer along with a set of dirty white teeth that were the size of his fingers. Closer and closer it came and he could feel the pain already, the beast's foul breath washed over his face and he screwed his eyes shut, praying to whatever deity monsters to free him out of this predicament. Nothing answered his prayers. The crunch of his arm shattering was loud in his ears and sweat poured down his neck and back from sheer agony...the awful gnarls was deafening him and his whole body twitched.

Silver jolted awake.

In the gloom, the cavern was shaking and he could hear the distant roars of a beast echoing through the Den. His whole body was covered with a sheen of sweat. For the past several days, he heard those thundering growls. It came from deep within the base, alas all his snooping provided no results. Whenever he heard those unholy sounds, his whole body shuddered involuntarily and before long, he started having nightmares of his past. The silver eyed male held his breath as another growl ripped through space, exhaling, he crept out of bed and began to put on clothes. A black full sleeved shirt and black pants. Pulling his messy hair into an equally messy bun, he slapped on a pair of night vision goggles and set out to explore. It was easy to navigate the twisting tunnels when they were devoid of grunts. Stealthily he crept across the downward sloping floors and came across the room Courtney forbade him to enter. Acting as an amnesiac certainly had its merits. He was free to roam around and make stupid blunders. Unfortunately it also meant that he couldn't lash out at Tabitha when the rotund male picked on him, Silver smirked, it was a small price to pay for such an easy mission.

The entrance before him was marked with a strange crest and the spy regretted not brining a flashlight with. The world before his eyes was a digital green and it was beginning to give him a headache. Crouching on the dirt floor, he put his ear against the door and immediately regretted his decision when another bellow rang out. The noise rattled his brains and forced his breath to still, the sheer horror he felt on hearing it was indescribable. Panting and wanting to find out once and for all what exactly was making such a discord he gripped the door and pushed it, to his astonishment, it offered no resistance and opened easily. Caught off-guard, he stumbled into the room and let out a silent gasp.

It was like stepping into a different world.

The chamber was circular and softly lit with different shades of pastel. Niches and alcoves ran around the length of the walls and these spaces were filled with thousands of psychic pokemon each glowing in a different color of light. The kaleidoscope dimly illuminated a hulking figure which was sitting in the middle of the room surrounded by a wide metallic ring. Briefly forgetting his fear, the adolescent stepped forward, his boots echoing on the tiles and came to a stop before the monster and froze. There was no mistaking the plated armor and the massive steel tipped claws, even the crimson pupils were the same. But how? Groudon was in the Dex-criminals' grasp and he was sure it was not stolen from them. Was this a clone then? Cautiously, the thief circled the beast and stopped when he came to the front. Groudon's chest was peeled away to reveal a mess of flexible tubes and pipes feeding into what looked like a metal ribboned heart. The organic tissue was pulsing eerily against the thin sheets and like the psychic pokemon inside the chamber; it emitted a multicolored light every time it throbbed. The beats were sickeningly loud and carried an ominous weight to it. Inhaling sharply, Silver crept closer to the monster and put a hand to it. The body of Groudon was very cold and felt synthetic. Like it was made from an alloy of metals. Sweeping his gaze around the room once more, he came to an understanding. This legendary monster was a fake, a marvelous creation by Team Magma; however it lacked life and thus needed copious amounts of energy just to get its manufactured heart pumping. Pulling the goggles off, Silver peered at the monster's lifeless pupils and felt a pang of sympathy; this little project was not going to end well. It was virtually impossible to create another legendary by means other than cloning or breeding, both which have been forbidden by the International Pokemon Association. As the male turned to leave, a small orange pokemon floated before him and sped away into the gloomy depths. The silver eyed trainer halted...Victini...why was it here?

A growl tore through the humming silence and the man half turned to see the semi-beast and machine moving. The previously dead eyes rolled around their sockets and pseudo Groudon stirred, its metallic joints creaking and whining. The sound coming out of the legendary was unnatural and without thinking, Silver bolted from the chamber. His mind reeled...Victini, the victory pokemon. Team Magma's plan was already an award winning success.

Character Ages. Ending with team Strategy

Green: 24 years old currently, was 22 at the beginning of the story

Crystal: 21 was 19

Emerald: 18 was 16

Pearl: 16 was 14

White: 19 was 17 (He is the same age as Ruby and Saph)

Each arc spans around one year

A/N: Much thanks for all the reviews and support! I had fun writing about the Sinnoh trio's battles, Diamond's strategy is quite genius no? And a bit more about Silver's tragic past. At Miniwolfy2: Thanks so much for reviewing! I hope you will continue to support this story and that the chapters will not disappoint. As for him…he gets angrier? You will have to read to find out. At Jack54311: Hahaha, revel in the mystery! Misty probably wants to catch them so she can knock some common sense into his skull. Green quitting the Dex-criminals? Does it happen? At Silver: You have a point…they are all alive. I always wanted some girl to kick Lack-2 so it finally occurs to him that not everyone will fall at his feet and Saph was perfect. No problem if there is no summary, hey, people are busy right? Platina's family are really supportive, since they have money to burn and why wouldn't you want them to get caught? Won't it be intriguing to see how they sort themselves out? Sorry for the cookies (you cake monster :P) I was pretty distracted with my studying. At Eevee: It's heartwarming when I see a reader actually takes note of all the little itty bitty stuff that goes on between the lines. Writing is no joke (well…at least to me.) As for Green, I'm glad you noticed, basically he is going through negative character development, Red and to some extent Blue as well due to the stress of their somewhat strained relationship. Their stance gets better so please look forward to that. And the love from across the oceans was much appreciated. At AceTrainerLeaf: I covet reviews since they tell me what the readers think. Ah, we don't have mangoes anymore but the coconuts are still there. Do you like coconut water? I'm not a huge fan but my family loves them. I'm happy that the characterization of the characters are coming along well. Please keep on supporting.

Virtual canned coconut water to all. The stuff from Malaysia tastes real good (If there are any readers from that country, you guys are doing an excellent job with the coconut water!)