Chapter 57: Let the tears and rain fall

Morning

Unova

Pokemon League

"We are going back..." Red ordered and Whi-2 gave him a puzzled look. "Black...And N...Are...They..." the words didn't want to come out, "they are dea-...They passed away." With great difficulty, he forced himself to speak and angled his face to the sky. Whi-2's mouth formed a perfect oval and involuntarily her tears started flowing again. "We are going back..." Red repeated in a barely perceptible tone and spoke into his poke-gear. "White...Regroup at the Plasma frigate...we shall return to Undella shortly." He stared at the Pokemon association building standing teasingly several meters in front of him. Maybe if he let Saur loose...No, his friends were more important than blowing up a stupid piece of architecture.

Aero gently dropped its load on the deck of the ship and flew over to Red who waited patiently for them, the rock wrym noted several burns lacing its master's shoulder and arm. The ebony haired male petted him and returned it back into a ball. Lack-2 said nothing; he stood apart from them and decided to ogle at the scenery instead. White came forward and held out the light stone to Execution's commander, formerly the sphere was snow white and smooth, now the white grew a shade darker and a visible crack spanned the circumference of the sphere. Whi-2 hugged her senior and the latter broke down crying and clutching the younger Unovian tighter against her.

Dead...

Black and N...

"Where is...the dark dragon stone? Did you manage to bring it with you White?"

On hearing his superior's question, Lack-2 answered for White, "no, the Shadow Triad faction of team Plasma stole it...And they killed Ghetsis as well." The teen spied a twitch on his commander's raw face and wondered who on earth managed to damage the ex-champion to this extent, "I suppose they had a falling out between themselves or..."

"Or what?" Red sharply queried, "tell me everything you know or I'll get Pearl to interrogate you, he'll make your ears bleed with the amount of talking he'd do."

Lack-2 snorted before continuing, "I think the Shadow Triad works for someone else. I didn't tell you this before, but my parents were murdered by them so I looked up some information on their inner workings and found out that they work for anyone as long as the pay is good. Most likely, their target was the dark dragon stone because they stole that first...Sorry, I don't know anymore. I came in later when Aero picked me up in the corridors and swooped into the throne room, by that time Ghetsis breathed his last and the triad took the dark dragon stone already, they aimed for the light stone as well but aerodactyl snatched it up and together with White, we escaped."

I'm sorry

I'm so sorry White and Whi-2

The words merely danced in his mind as crimson irises zoned in on them.

How unfair.

"...Get down to the station, we are leaving by train...If you have any luggage, leave it here, we are abandoning the frigate." Red commanded, "Please change your clothes, we don't want to be caught simply because the police could guess what we were up to when they look at our dirt stained gear." The three members shuffled below deck whilst he stood alone on top and shielded his face when a helicopter flew overhead. Clasping his hands over the dragon stone in his possession, he uttered a long prayer for both Black and N. They deserved much more than this.

One hour later, White sat with her face pressed against the glass as the train made the journey down towards Undella. Earlier, Red gave the light stone back to her and asked her to keep it. Rock faces and cliffs flashed past and she closed her eyes and opened them again. Every time she shut her eyes, an image of either N or Black would pop up in her head and she knew that when she retired to bed tonight, she'd be dreaming about one of them. N, with his gentle smile, a tendency to befriend pokemon faster than humans and an aura of harmony; and Black, with his ambitious dreams and a passion which blinded everything around him. Musha, who had been outside its pokeball when Black got sucked in, perched on her head and dozed. Didn't it feel any pain? She wondered, perhaps the pokemon slept its anguish away, musharna and Black were inseparable and the dream eating pokemon feasted on his ridiculous goals.

"I love you..."

N's confession broke her heart, not because he said it right before he expired, but because she never realized his feelings towards her. The acid green haired man always occupied himself with his pokemon and most people, including her, thought that he regarded those beasts on a level higher than humans. He could feel their thoughts, speak to them and even connect to them in a way that other people couldn't. His ability to communicate with pokemon was amazing and it dawned on her that it must have taken a drastic change in order to feel the same way about the humans whom he despised. Why her? Out of all the females working in the organization, why her? Slumping further into the plastic leather seat, she exhaled...She'd never know the reasons why N fell for her, never would she ask him about his favourite things or childhood memories or about the time when zorua mimicked him and pranked a local shop keeper. Her eyelids grew heavy as the scenery changed from brown cliffs to a dense green forest of leaves and trees; soon, they would see the sea.

Why did the sun shine so bright? She viewed the world with half lidded eyes. Why didn't the sky pour rain the way it did in the movies? When someone died, the world shed tears and everything was grey and monochromatic.

She fell into a sleep, welcoming the prospect of nightmare.

Maybe she'll see her best friends in them.

Afternoon

Unova

Undella

"What... happ-ened to you?" The donut in Dia's hand fell to the floor as his cobalt irises traced the burn marks on Red's cheek, the young boy took in his miserable looking comrades and further enquired, "where is senior Black and N?" A hand clasped him on the shoulder and Gold pulled him aside and ushered the returning members in the lobby. Having a whole bunch of people congregate at the door of the villa might attract attention; the Johto native said and escorted them to the common room. On seeing the familiar environment, Lack-2 crashed on a couch and let his pichu free; the tiny rodent bounded over to its former master and perched on Gold's head.

"So where are N and Black?" Gold queried, both he and Dia scrutinized their commander who shrugged his jacket off, "and why...Do you look like that?!" Suddenly a vein pulsed in the amber eyed trainer's forehead and he shouted: "I TOLD you not to go ahead with you plan but did you LISTEN? Look at YOU! Who the heck did this to you?" Red ignored him and implored Diamond for a meal whilst Gold kept up his uncharacteristic rant.

"Black and N...are dead."

What?

"As for how I got these burns...they are of no concern to you. I'm fine...really, Saur healed me right up." The Kanto native replied and dug into his food. On the couch, Whi-2 momentarily paused in her absentminded petting of Foongy, this action of hers did not go unnoticed by Lack-2 and russet tinted irises inspected her critically before feigning innocence when his mentor sauntered over. The angry man sat down heavily and turned on the television. A feeling unease hung in the air, Gold didn't know what went on and his commander refused to divulge the details. Still he couldn't believe it, Black and N, dead?

How...And why?

A crushing feeling of loneliness and pain expanded in his chest and his eyes briefly flickered to White...She napped on the couch with the light stone clasped to her chest.

Unknown time, night

Sinnoh

Route 214

The back of an armed police van was dismally dark, Silver sunk himself in a corner and sat away from his sister. Following the commotion in the Veilstone building, the two of them were given a customary search and the officials removed all weapons and like objects from their person. Then came the daunting task of forcing the criminals into strait jackets. The starched clothing pressed into their bodies and a dozen or so police looped the belts into the buckles and secured them tightly. By the time they finished, the red head had trouble breathing and he gratefully shuffled to the back of the van and got in. The doors clanged shut, a lock and a steel bar sealed it and half an hour later, the driver and two other people climbed in the front seat. Silver jolted as the engine revved, the tires squealed and they shot off to Palkia knows where. A tiny, thickly barred window let in air and since the sky was cloudy, no light filtered through. Leaning on her back and a few paces away from him, Blue remained eerily quiet. He didn't mind, Silver did not want to talk to her anyway.

"Did you think I would use you to save my own skin Silver?" She shattered the silence with a question.

"...Of course not." He replied and shifted, backing up further in his corner, "one upon a time I'd think that...But now I'm not sure anymore."

She exhaled like someone punched the breath out of her and he knew he hit a sore spot. "Just remember...You will always be my little brother Silver...No matter what I do and no matter what happens between us." Blue lapsed into a brooding silence and he let her words sink in. How could she? How could his sister, whom he adored and looked up to, do something so painful to him? Reminding both him and bringing to light the fact that Giovanni was his father. The heinous boss of Team Rocket. He calmed his rampant thoughts down and forced himself to ruminate...Could he think of another way to stall for time when the local police forced them into such a narrow predicament? The Johto native raked his brains and tried to think up an alternative solution...their pokemon? No, the blindingly fast grass type next to Sinnoh's Champion took the belts before he could blink. Plus they were led into a trap like sacrificial mareep. So the only way to snag their attention would be to spout something utterly flabbergasting and that is what his sister ultimately did. People knew about Giovanni...Everyone talked about him but no one knew the fact that he had a son. A red head by the name of Silver who turned out to be every bit nefarious as his father. The silver eyed male did not like associating with his parent and any mentions of him sent the silent adolescent further into a slump of anger.

Over the cold and uneven surface of the floor, Silver wriggled his way to his sister and parked himself next to her. "I'm sorry..." he mumbled and leaned against her. Blue merely smiled contently and strained her ears for sounds other than the humming of the engine. Too quiet...And she inwardly snorted, what did she expect? A party in the middle of the night? And clearly the police might be using unfrequented lanes. She wished to see the outside or at least get a bearing of her surroundings. Never in her wildest dreams did the Kanto native think of getting caught, unfortunately here she sat, buckled, bundled and with no one but her own wits to rely on. Forcing down the feeling of dread and nausea that repeatedly threatened to overcome her, she meditated on possible routes of escape. Cynthia, Volkner or perhaps both of them also rode in this van to contain the criminals should they entertain thoughts of escaping. A camera trained its lens on them and she knew even if they made as much as a wrong move, the police would automatically hone in on them. Thankfully, they didn't think to bug the back of the van with a mike and the brown haired woman minutely shifted and angled her head on her brother's shoulder. A gesture of wanting comfort and helplessness it may seem to the viewer, however, it served a different purpose as well.

"Silver, whatever happens next, do not panic or look alarmed...Although I'm pretty sure there are only a few things in the world that could startle you

"What are you going to do sis?" he queried, "we are stuck with means of escape...I've been thinking...the only opportunity we will get is when they escort us to our cells..."

"Hmm...You could do it, if you were alone I guess but with two people, the chance decreases exponentially. And they will use us against each other. Now be quiet, I have to concentrate and don't move...Ditty, disable that camera will you?" Silver blinked, in the dark, he saw blackish slime ooze out of the folds of his sister's clothes and condense into a blob on the ground. It slunk, unseen, up the walls of the confinement and slipped into the camera. A brief spark and the device stopped transmitting. At once, Blue snapped upright and fired a series of commands so quickly, they phased into each other. "Good, now transform into scyther and slice these bindings off Silver and myself." The morphed bug drew a razor sharp appendage neatly over the straitjackets and other impeding cuffs and those fell away. Not wasting a breath, Constellate's commander sprung up and inspected the sides of the van with her hands. "Not good," she muttered whilst her brother watched and decided not to interfere. A phantom thief, they called him and he took pride in the title, however the public forgot that Blue was a master escape artist and as a young girl, she escaped the stringent clutches of Team Rocket and even managed to take him with. "Ditty...As your trainer I hate to ask you this but we are on a time constraint...the minute they figure out that the camera is busted, the van will stop...Please transform into electrode and use self-destruct, place yourself in the middle of that side there." She pointed to the middle of the opposite wall. "Right, now Silver...Prepare to jump out when self-destruct activates." His jaw tightened, a crazy plan...He thought...Although, he'd rather face a jump to his death than a life spent rotting in jail.

BOOM!

With an alarming crash and a scream of the tires grinding to a brusque halt, the van toppled sideways and collapsed on the side of the road. Volkner cursed, Cynthia warned him that the duo might try something, alas; he'd been too busy ogling the criminal's pokemon rather than keeping a watchful eye on the camera. The window to his side shattered and glass fragments cut into his neck and face, the pokeballs on his lap rolled away and the driver fell heavily on him. He saw stars and his vision threatened to blank out, instead, he gritted his teeth and forced himself to stay conscious. Shoving the bumbling driver off him, he fumbled for his ball and released Raikou. The moment the thunder beast appeared, a flash of lightning arced against the sky, the heavens opened their gates and it rain poured in the gallons.

"The pokeballs..." The electric type gym leader rasped, instead of obeying his commands, the beast tore the front part of the van off and proceeded to free them from deadly bits of crumpled metal and glass. "Leave me...get...the pokeballs and two humans. Lady and a man. Thief." Volkner clutched his throat and coughed, speaking proved to be painful, "get them and bring them...Oh for Zapdos' sake! Just do what I tell you!"

Silver and Blue jumped out of the van after Ditty blasted a man sized hole into it and managed to bring the speeding vehicle to a stop. The moment they stepped out, the clouds burst and a flood of rain gushed over them. The azure eyed woman pushed her wet hair behind and smiled, apart from Silver banging his head quite painfully when the van lurched sideways, no other permanent damage occurred. Creeping past, she spied a dozen pokeballs rolling away from the van and the presence of a legendary beast who untangled its master from the smashed car. Her throat became dry...having a mythical beast chase after them, she didn't think of this possibility. Glancing back, she saw her brother peering intently at their capsuled monsters and the made a sign. She nodded and observed with bated breath when Silver pressed himself against the vehicle and crept forward slowly. The rain dampened all smells and mixed them together so he knew Raikou would not pick up his presence so easily and the beast busied itself with giving Volkner a thorough lick. Crawling, he inched his way right under Volkner's dangling legs and held his breath. The international police member, his mythical beast and the driver had all been hoisted to the top of the toppled lorry and he crouched underneath them. Sticking out his arm, he gathered all the balls and when he reached for the last one, another flash of lightning lit up the sky and threw his profile into sharp relief. The change in Raikou happened instantaneously, its pupil narrowed and locked on to its quarry, a shivering red head, with a howl, it sprung down and Silver bolted, kicking up mud and fiercely signalling at his sister to get away. They split and went two different ways. Without hesitation, the electric monster chased after the male and caught up to him in a few bounds, lifting a massive paw, it thwacked the human and sent him flying straight into the other one. Blue gasped when Silver's body bashed into her, the duo came to a heaping stop.

"Quick! Get my nidoqueen and your honchkrow out!" She said and after a few fumbles, the two beasts materialized and nidoqueen bared its teeth at Raikou. "No, don't fight it! Stall for time till we get away." Honchkrow grabbed its master by the shoulders and allowed Blue to sit on its back, with a bit of effort, it rose in the sky. A yellow spark passed from one black cloud to the other and Silver paled...No, please not thunder, he silently prayed. More sparks congregated and built up charge whilst the avian flapped harder and picked up speed. An eye searing flash rendered the world into black and white and he closed his eyes and gave up, they couldn't survive a thunder of this magnitude and seconds later, the three of them would plunge to the floor and his honchkrow will be nothing but a carcass.

Thunder never hit them.

Nidoqueen grounded the electricity and watched as the piece of land underneath its feet absorbed the teravolts of lightning, the ground super-heated, melted the individual grains of sand and then fused them into a crystalline material, she now stood on a little glass stage and Raikou growled in her face and one of its eyes veered ever so slightly to the rapidly escaping humans. Lashing out with a pointy tail, it smacked the ground type hard in its face and followed up with a hit of its paws. Roaring, it descended on nidoqueen with jaws open wide and snapped them shut in air. The beast had been recalled in a timely manner

Too far. It only saw a speck in the sky and Raikou's enhanced vision picked out a brown haired woman waving a pokeball in her hand. Articulating another furious roar, it padded back to a comatose Volkner.

"We should really get back to work!" Crystal sternly stated and sat next to Emerald and Yellow on the sofa, her eyes reflected the scenes shown on television, "I mean if senior Green comes back and sees us doing this..." her hands gestured to the mountain of papers on the leader's desk as well as several books and unfilled data sheets packed neatly on the polished floor, "he's not going to be pleased in the slightest...Oh wait! I missed that, Rald...Rewind it up for a bit will you?" the diminutive blonde snorted and heeded her request and the Johto native lapsed into a spellbound silence. Ever since Strategy's commander left a few days ago, they neglected all their work and spent time entertaining their hobbies. Emerald's eyes snapped to the laptop that lay open on a small coffee table, he had total command of the primitive security system that Sycamore protected his laboratory with. His senior tasked him to feed the camera with false feed and edit out any illegal activities, so far, he saw nothing scandalous and with a sigh, he pushed his device away and made himself more comfortable.

Middle of the night

Kalos

Sycamore's laboratory

Theft.

Was the pesky woman's job, Green thought as he crept out of the guest room and took a moment to allow his eyes to adjust to the dim surroundings. Normally, she'd call him every single day without fail and a few hours earlier, he phoned her in order to enquire about basic thieving techniques, however, Blue didn't pick up and he exhaled...So much for friends in fair weather. The jade eyed male stood ponderously in front of the next room and contemplated on jamming Steven's door. One never knew when the man needed a toilet break. His mind erupted into a hive of activity and he found it difficult to focus. How ironic, Green prided himself in his logical thinking and here he was, standing outside an ex-police officer's door and absentmindedly toying with the handle, after a mind harrowing decision, he sheepishly wiped his fingerprints off the golden knob and padded down the overly familiar corridors, he had every nook and cranny of the building memorized and yet a digital display of the building flashed in the palmtop he carried in his hand. In the dark, the friendly surrounds appeared menacing and before long, he had to pause and calm down his breathing. Oak stuffed two pairs of latex gloves in the oversized trench coat he wore and caught a glimpse of himself in a reflective surface...A harried man stared back at him, brown spikes of hair a tangled mess and sweat collecting on the sides of his temples, the Kanto native groaned and closed his eyes…there goes his dignity down the drain all over again. Sighing and senses into a hyper drive, he ambled his way to the one of the two work rooms situated on the second floor and paused. Tomorrow, both he and Steven will be returning to their respective regions and if he wanted those mega-stones, he'd best take them tonight.

He wanted them, badly. Not only to increase the might of his already well trained pokemon, but as a means to ask amnesty from his friends. Pulling on a pair of latex gloves, he contemplated and punched in the seven digit password required to enter the room. Augustine Sycamore was not a particularly careful person and he trusted those who worked with him too easily. The man did not bother to keep his research materials in a safe place nor did he upgrade the flimsy, out-dated security system of the laboratory and he never urged his subordinates to routinely maintain the camera circuits. If they did so, they would've noticed a bug in the system. However, the security remained lax and the young professor felt thankful for it. The door finally opened with a hissing noise that sounded a bit too loud to his ears and Green held this breath and waited for some someone to storm down the shadowy corridors and arrest him on the spot. His heart rate speed up till it felt like his chest would burst. Fortunately nothing happened and after waiting for a full five mind numbing minutes, he went inside the room and expertly navigated towards the table. His eyes picked out no less than four cameras and their indicting gazes bored into him. Glancing at them and assuring himself for the umpteenth that Rald did his job correctly, the spiky haired brunette peeled off his sweat stained gloves and swapped them for another pair. Near him, something woke with a hum and he almost jumped out of his skin.

"Just a machine...doing its scheduled defragmentation..." he muttered to himself and took deep breaths, "darn it Blue...how on earth do you do this for fun?" Still mumbling, he bumped his shin on a corner, uttered a few expletives and finally brushed his hands against the leather case he searched for. The thing sat right in front of his nose and angrily, he opened it and stared. The marbles emitted a vague glow of energy and he quickly pocketed three mega-stones and their respective keystones. Best not be greedy, if Sycamore decided to take a customary glance at the stones in the morning, with some luck, he'd notice nothing. Work done, he meticulously wiped traces of his existence and bolted back to his room. His breathing only stopped hitching once he dumped his mortifying outfit in a disposable bag and ordered his scizor to take it somewhere faraway. Green didn't sleep that night, his thought processes tumbled over each other as he replayed his thieving scenario over and over again.

The next morning:

Sycamore bid them a warm farewell and Steven along with Green Oak both succumbed themselves to the Kalos native's overly friendly nature as the man engulfed them both with a hug. Green's heart hammered a million times and after saying goodbye for the last time, they left for the station. Hands in his pockets, his fingers brushed repeatedly against the stones. They felt cold to the touch and reminded him of his brazen actions. Steven kept up an amiable chat and talked about the future of mega evolution.

"I suppose the authorities might not want to make it public after all...the risks are too great and I'm sure Ransei would rather monopolize this method of evolution instead of allowing everyone else to benefit from it." Metagross saved him from smacking into a street sign, "although, I have an inkling that the Pokemon association would use Augustine's research to develop ultra-powered beasts of their own...A sort of military backup in case of inter-region wars."

"Do you really think an inter-region war will break out in this day and age?" Oak queried, his guilt at the theft already forgotten.

"I don't see why not..." The Hoenn ex-champion replied, "you may not remember but Kanto had been ravaged by a civil war twenty years ago. Media will tell you otherwise, however, the war started when scientists resurrected a pokemon from a fossil...A week after that, another team of professors and researches, managed to make Mewtwo...People revolted, the Association cried foul and a war erupted, plunging the once flourishing region into a shadow of its former self. Anyway, where are we? Don't we have to part?" Pondering deeply over Steven's words, the brunette failed to see the intersection.

"Yes...Thanks for everything...This trip proved to be a rewarding experience." Green inclined his head respectfully and set off for the airport, he decided to take a direct route to Hoenn instead of taking the train. If Sycamore suspected anything, it'd be too late and by that time, Oak would be out of Kalosian soil and airspace.

Later in the evening, Augustine, who spent the entire afternoon hunched over his laptop, received several e-mails in rapid procession. One contained a letter from Professor Samuel Oak asking about the fruits of his research, another came from Lysander's laboratories, a third one came from the Kalos Pokemon Association and he scanned the contents with a grin splitting his stubbled cheeks, they wanted to conduct a trial run of mega-evolution before giving him a verdict. If things went well, the government would fund the research themselves. A fourth one came from Ransei and here, the slate eyed man froze. A summoning from Pugilis, the fight type region in Ransei, the electronic letter bore an imperial seal and he wondered if he could just ignore it. Holding his breath, he read the rest of the letter and exhaled in relief...They invited him because the research he did fascinated them and piqued their intrigue. The ruler of the region, Lord Yoshihiro, beckoned him to spill the secrets of mega-stones and right there, Sycamore decided that yes, he would tell them everything since a beating heart is far, far better than a non-beating one. Giddy with pleasure, he pushed off his swivel chair and walked over to his mega-stone carrying case. On opening it, he realized that something looked wrong.

Very wrong.

A head count of the stones revealed three missing.

Three stones with their respective keystones.

The ones needed to mega-evolve the Kanto starters. Frantically, he reached for his Holo caster and desperately made a call to the security room downstairs, he waited till the men sifted through the camera records.

"I'm sorry Professor," his secretary responded, her holographic image flickering slightly on his end, " the camera feed is clean...We are reviewing them again but we see no suspicious events taking place. The laboratory has not been broken into has it?"

No...Sycamore didn't want to think about, however a nagging suspicion rooted in his mind.

It's either Steven Stone...The rock maniac or Green Oak who took them. His mind poisonously whispered. Far away and up in the clouds, Green reclined into a seat and transferred the gleaming spheres into a small leather sack and stuffed the pouch deep inside his backpack.

Mission accomplished, he contemplated, the euphoric rush of pulling it off successfully settled into a happy haze and he now understood why Blue was addicted to stealing. If executed properly, the results were very rewarding. Sinking back into the chair, a wry grin formed on his lips.

Night

Undella

Execution's base

Diamond came down the wooden steps to the first floor and strolled aimlessly to the common room with a rice ball in his hands. The lights in the chamber still burned and after internally bad mouthing Gold, who had a habit of leaving lights on, he stepped into the room and paused. An individual sat in the rather empty room and on closer inspection, Dia found Lack-2 slouching on his own and the child glued his russet irises on the television, he watched the news as it reported the aftermath of Team Plasma's and the supposed Dex criminals' attack on the league. Stuffing the rest of the food rather roughly in his mouth, the indolent teenager shuffled deeper and sat down next to his junior. The Unova native gave no notice nor did he spare a glance. When the news finished, the boy merely shut the monitor off and tiredly lay back on the couch.

"Were...You there when senior Black died?" Dia asked and got a baleful look in return.

"No."

"Why?" The Sinnoh native continued.

"Because I had to deal with a bunch of Team Plasma scum that were trailing me in the corridors...Ask senior White, she was with me when we split up." Lack-2 answered and poked Pibo gently in its stomach, the little rodent uttered a cheerful squeak and then turned tail and bounded off, probably to Gold, the boy mused.

"Do you think...You could prevent Black's and N's death...If you happened to be there?" Azure eyes probed deep into his soul and Lack-2 felt uncomfortable, his senior's scrutinizing gaze seemed to penetrate through everything.

"I don't know..." copper tinted irises shifted uneasily and the Unovian realized how fragile a person's existence is, "I don't think so...Maybe...I'd just get in the way. Or, I'd be killed and resting with my parents now."

Dia patted his junior with a pudgy hand and smiled, "Do you see night-mares when you sleep Lack-2?"

"Yes..." he hesitantly replied and wondered if the Sinnoh teenager didn't have anything better to do rather than sit here late at night and interrogate him on matters that he didn't want to talk about. "Do you have nightmares senior Diamond?"

"Not really..." The older male admitted, "altho-ugh I started getting them after I banged my head. It still hurts sometimes. I get them when...Something bad happens and when Pearl or Miss Platina are not there to cheer me up. That reminds me...Gold called for you upstairs." Nodding his thanks, Lack-2 got up and left the room. Alone, Dia feebly slid off the stone coloured couches and onto the white ash floor and stared off into space. Earlier, he barged into Red's room unannounced and caught his leader mooning over a picture. Apologizing profusely, he was about to leave the room when his commander beckoned him and showed the image, the picture showed a faded, blurry image of a black haired toddler and two adults. Red pointed at them and said that they were his parents and Diamond strained his eyes. The photo had been damaged and after gazing at it for a few more minutes, Execution's leader reveredly put it away. Next, he pulled out a picture of Black with his arms around White and N and here the Sinnoh native found himself shedding tears.

"Dia...Do you think separating into three was a bad decision?" Red asked and Dia couldn't give a coherent reply. "Black's ambition... I think, I need some time alone Diamond...If you want, please come back later."

He didn't want to go back, once again, Diamond questioned himself on why his leader favoured him, Red never talked about his deceased parents in front of anyone and here, he just got a glimpse of a part of his leader's most precious memories. He didn't understand, thinking hurt his head and he felt the beginnings of a migraine. Blinking rapidly, Diamond trotted to the back of the room and peered out of the windows. Still not a cloud in the sky and he silently beheld countless twinkling stars decorating the black canopy. Tomorrow morning, he decided, he will ask Red to re-group. Functioning as an entire organization rather than isolated clusters reduced their chances of making mistakes and if they were together, he could take comfort in his friends. The gradual throbbing in his head reached a crescendo and he clutched his head and moaned in pain. Minutes later, his prone body dropped to the ground and he lay there, comatose and undiscovered by anyone.

A/N: I apologize if Green's thieving episode didn't meet anyone standards…I wrote him the best I could and I picture him more as a timid (I'm too dignified to do this) kinda thief rather than how Blue or Silver would steal the stones. At Silver: Blue and Silv didn't betray the dex (Congrats) and Giovanni…hmm, I totally forgot about him. Sorry, I have no idea what/who MAT is. At Jack54311: I started favouring 'grey stories' after watching Code Geass, I used to find politics really boring and nothing could convince me to read my school recommended novel (Animal Farm), but after watching that anime, it made me realize that there are no true good and bad boundaries in this world. Okay, that just got a whole lot philosophical so I'll just stop there. I enjoy books with clear cut characters as well though. Hahaha, overconfidence, I wanted to write something where it leads them to their downfall.

Much thanks to all those who reviewed. Please keep on reading and reviewing. As always, constructive criticism is appreciated. Is Halloween over already? In any case, Happy Halloween. (My brain is a total mush right now)