Chapter 58: Rewind

Afternoon

Hoenn

Mount Chimney

Yellow felt guilt churn deep in her stomach. The guilt evaporated the moment she beheld her underlings bouncing happily around in the room, most of the members crowded around the large flat screen television and whiled their time away watching movies whilst the chamber, formerly neat and well organized, now resembled a cosy room with blankets covering the Persian rug and cushions scattered everywhere. Crystal brought the coffee maker from the kitchen and the machine whirred in one corner, supplying them with a never ending amount of caffeinated goodness. All the peach coloured couches had been lined up and Rald seized the opportunity to live in the common room instead of retiring to his bedroom. The female blonde wondered when her superior would return, ever since he left, he didn't contact them and Emerald admitted that Green only called him up once for a job. She hoped the spiky haired brunette fared well. Walking past the pillow fortress Pearl and Rald built for themselves, she squeezed in next to Crystal and Chuchu clambered on to her lap. The two females resumed staring at the monitor. They watched their fourth movie, the first two had been subjected to much scrutiny and analysis till Yellow pointed out that Green might return any day, with the time constraint in mind, the duo made it their lives' mission to cram as much screen time as they possibly could before their superior came back and saddled them with paper work and a never ending list of tasks. Emerald and Pearl on the other hand grew disturbingly close and the duo often drew up blueprints for software that obviously could not be put to good use. Crystal often admonished Rald for being a bad influence to his junior.

A heater diffused the stone cold layering the room and the occupants shifted and looked forward to the end of another lazy day. The flowers in the oversized porcelain vase standing next to Green's desk, withered and wilted and no one bothered to change them. The two eldest members gave the common room and base a customary sweep every morning and did the daily task of checking up on the legendary pokemon. Tapping furiously on one of Rald's many laptops, Pearl wrestled with an online game and after losing for the fifth time, he inhaled a lungful of warm air and looked up to see the door creaking on its hinges. He blinked as the wooden door opened wider and their commander stepped in.

Time froze along with the people inhabiting the room.

"Welcome back Green!" Yellow piped in a cheerful tone whilst her junior scrambled up from the table and shut the television off. Pearl's mouth hung open and Emerald, in total disregard of his superior's return, slouched further in his bed of comfortable cushions. The jade eyed man's eyes gave Strategy's common room a sweep, pupils dilating and betraying his incensed emotions. "You didn't inform us that you will be coming home soon..." his aide made a feeble attempt to make light of the mess in the chamber, "we checked up on the legendary creatures every morning and since you were not home...We...Uh...Took a break. Anyway, did the trip to Kalos prove to be beneficial? What about mega evolution?" The blonde kept on smiling blindly in hopes that her superior won't explode or pack his things up and move to another room in order to work. Oak had a habit of working alone and in their previous bases; he always set up some sort of partition between his workstation and the rest of the common room.

"Is that a pillow fortress?" Green deadpanned and Pearl jumped up and replied in affirmative, his chatot wriggled out of the mountain of pillows and screeched "...Clean this place up and get to work...we have lots to do and I'm not tolerating such slovenliness. If anyone of you needs me, I'll be in my room, holding a video conference with Red and Blue, there are urgent matters I have to discuss with them." Saying this, he turned around and left, his trench coat tails billowing in tandem to his movements. Mechanically, the rest of the department unwound and started to clean up.

"And there goes our merry making." Pearl loudly muttered as he flung the wilted flowers out of the window and watched the wind whisk the dried petals away, "I'm going down to Lavaridge to buy new flowers and other necessities, if you want something, speak up now." He received several requests for energy bars, herbs and pills. Great, he mused, might as well buy energy drinks as well; his future loomed up with the prospect of pulling many all nighters.

Morning of the same day

Unova

Undella Town

Diamond woke up to see Lack-2's head on his chest and the boy drooling all over his clothes. With much difficulty, he rolled over and came to a stop at the edge of the bed, on the floor; the unsightly image of Gold in his boxers prompted the Sinnoh native to recoil and dive back into the covers. Thankfully, his headache dissipated and after stretching and yawning, the azure eyed male clambered over his junior and tried his luck with the opposite end, to his dismay, the laminated flooring was covered in so many things that Dia didn't know where to step. He spied figurines and comic books strewn with discarded snack wrappers and drink bottles. Did Lack-2 and his mentor have a party here or what? Seconds later, a knocking on the door forced him to wade through the mound and open up, Red stood there with a watery grin on his lips and implored Diamond to wake the others up and come down to breakfast. Adjusting his hat securely on his head, the azure eyed teenager shook Lack-2 till the Unovian woke up and then poked Gold. The Johto native snored and rolled over, mumbling something about Crystal in his sleep. Dia almost gave up trying to wake up the amber eyed man when said person's student whacked him awake.

"If this is how you treat your mentor...I'll give you up for adoption one day...Tsk...I feel nauseous."

"I feel sorry for senior Red if he had to keep up with you for so long...Besides, you want to give me up for adoption? Heh, you aren't even my parent."

"Well you nag like a freaking baby! What else should I think of you?" Gold yawned and wiped stray tears from his eyes, he fixated on the poster decorating his wall, it showed DJ Mary and her smeargle posing together.

"And you groan like a grandpa! Your room is filthier than mine!" Lack-2 pointed at the pile of clothing heaped on Gold's chair, "Commander Red put you on cleaning duty and I do all the work."

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that..." Gold reached up and sifted through his clothes, "go down to eat you two, I'll join you in a minute." The two boys left and the door shut with a bang, instead of dressing himself, the amber eyed trainer threw open his curtains and stared out of the window and to the sea. Sunlight streamed in and he saw clouds of dust rising up in the air. A sneeze forced itself out and he mumbled to himself, "ugh...I really gotta clean this room." Shuffling, he dumped all his clothes on a messy bed and sat on the wooden chair pondering on the events that occurred the day before:

He couldn't find Execution's commander anywhere and where could the ebony haired adolescent be at this time of the night? Gold briefly glanced at the clock in the empty room and decided to give the base a sweep. Carefully closing Red's bedroom door, he poked his head in the kitchen, peeked into the game and recreation room and snorted at the dartboard. (Diamond is horrible in darts, he mused and the child couldn't throw a single one straight to save his life). Eventually, he sauntered into the common room only to find it deserted as well. A queer feeling at the back of his mind prompted him to give the large chamber a thorough search and he came across Dia's groaning form pressed against the cold floor to ceiling length windows. Picking the teenager up, he hiked back upstairs and dumped him next to Lack-2. Finally deciding that Red might not be in base, the Johto native ventured outside and jogged down to the beach. Sitting on a boulder and cradling the light stone in his hand, Red gazed out to the black ocean and stared akin to a zombie. Pika scampered up and down on his shoulders and nudged its owner; however, the action elicited no response. On spying Gold, the electric rodent squeaked a greeting and poked its trainer again. The crimson eyed male uttered a languid nod and went back to ignoring everything around him. Scrambling up an adjacent rock, Gold made himself comfortable and waited for an opportunity to speak.

"I wonder...If it'd be better for everyone if we just disbanded and carried on with our everyday lives..." Stifling a yawn with much difficulty, Gold gawked at his senior, "Will everything go back to the way it was or-"

"Of course it won't!" The Johto native furiously interjected, "how can you think for a moment that everything will go back to normal huh? Are you dumb?" he shook his fist, "our lives are ruined, the moment we disband, most of us will be locked up in an itty bitty cell and have our faces and deeds plastered all over the media...And I'm sure none of them will be about how awesome I am or the fact that I actually beat you fair and square! You said it yourself, the world is rotten and you want to create a new one so why...Why are you just giving up now? Don't tell me you took this path expecting the walkway to be lined with roses. Casualties occur and if you aren't strong enough to shoulder the burden and carry on...then you disgust me." Pika hissed and its fur stood on end as it eyed Gold in a deplorable manner, "and why is your mouse so worked up? If anyone needs brain cell regeneration, it's you." Muttering under his breath, he slid of the boulder and jerked his head back when Red laughed. "What is so funny?" the younger male demanded, "I fail to see the joke."

"You are funny...Ouch Pika, stop that will you?" The commander gasped and grinned, "I'm not going to give up Gold...It's just...In the past, I used to think about disbanding when I knew the tasks given by the organization could put you and the others in danger, now, I won't ever let the thought surface in my head again. Black's ambition, although I won't ever be able to accomplish it on his behalf, at least I hope to emulate N and take responsibility." His pikachu crooned and delightfully rubbed its head against its owner's cheek, "From now on...No matter what happens, I won't falter, I'll forge ahead and see this project till the very end." An amiable silence stretched between them and Gold queried him on his health condition, "my burns...Ahahaha, Do you remember Hugh? The finalist in the Unova Champion's league? Yeah, he is a classmate of Whi-2 and we had the unfortunate pleasure of bumping into him...dude almost roasted me alive. As for Pika, he's fidgety because he fainted in battle." Red let the titbit of information sink in as his underling crawled up the boulder once more and shook his head in disbelief, "I know...I mean the last time Pika got knocked out was when you battled me...He's even madder because Whi-2's mid-evolved servine managed to make him unconscious. Pika's been enraged since then...Entertain him will you?" Without warning, the electric mouse jumped to the ground and squeaked up a storm. Gold stared at the only pokeball hanging from his belt and after a shrug, let loose his sunflora.

Two humans watched the potent display of two pokemon fighting each other. Blades of leaves danced in the air and tongues of cackling electricity shot them down and lit up their dark surroundings. Sunflora elegantly weaved itself from pikachu's deadly assaults, twirling and dodging them in the last possible second whilst the rodent side stepped and flashed away from sinewy tendrils as they snaked, unseen, across the shifting sands of the beach. The trainers did not speak; one resumed his thoughtless stargazing and the other, golden irises reflecting the violent exhibit, scrutinizing his grass type's moves, whispered and directed his monster with tiny flicks and gestures. A storm of leaves, caught by a sea breeze, sailed past and glinted silver under the moonlight. And as abruptly as the wind carried those razor edged leaflets away, the match between the two beasts ended. Pika had its tail, stiffened and pressed against the tender spot just beneath the flower pokemon's head.

"See Pika?" Red drawled and clambered down, "I kept on telling you that you haven't lost your touch but you don't believe me...next time, I'll pit you up with Saur." He held his arms out and the little rodent jumped into them, "come on Gold; let's go back, I'm tired, I need to sleep."

He stepped into the rustic kitchen and saw all his team mates staring back at him with inquisitive looks. Lack-2 rolled his eyes expressively and beckoned him to sit next to him. Swaggering over, Gold playfully cuffed his student on the head and took his place, he tried to steal one of Diamond's donuts but a hand chopped down viciously down on his arm. Sapphire grazed him with a dirty look and soon, the duo started their daily bickering which didn't quiet down even as Whi-2 and White made their way into the raucous room. The Hoenn native perched nimbly on her stool and haughtily looked down on Gold who sputtered indignantly. Red came in, took the scene and blissfully ignored them. He opted for a seat next to Diamond and the cobalt eyed teenager showered him with snacks. Dia took a quick peep at his senior's arm and cheek and felt relieved on seeing the raw red burns fade into ugly brownish marks. The older man irritably pulled on the too tight tank top he wore and told his subordinates to keep it down. Unsurprisingly, no one listened. Sapphire twirled a bagel in her fingers and with frightening accuracy, launched the food projectile straight in Gold's face. When it hit home, the girl dissolved into giggles and soon thereafter, everyone roared with laughter.

But losing their friends...Still hurt.

"CAVE GAL!" Gold screeched, "have more respect for food and pipe down! I'm trying to eat. No Lack-2 you can cut that roll by yourself and I'm not going to...Oh for Lugia's sake! Pass me the butter someone, instead of growing older, my lackey here is regressing! When did you get so annoyingly childish anyway? Hey Whi-2..." the girl jumped and smiled sweetly at him, "want me to butter your roll as well? I won't mind," he suavely added, "since it's for you." Breakfast became an orderly affair after that and everyone ate in silence. One by one, the members excused themselves from the island and left, White didn't feel hungry and stared intently at her bowl of cereal. When it dawned on her that only she, Whi-2 and Red were left in the kitchen, she hurriedly shoved the food down and opted to leave.

"Please wait...Both of you," Red implored them, he collected the dirty dishes scattered all over the marble counter top, placed them in the kitchen sink and swept the surface clean. The two girls held their breath as he pulled up a chair and sat solemnly before them. "First of all, I am sorry." Red bowed and the duo gaped and requested him to lift his head, "I apologize for all the bad experiences this organization put you through...Both of you were ingrained in here against your will and I'm truly sorry for the last few days. I put you two through some very horrible events and I know that merely an apology won't suffice. So...In order to make amends I want to give you two a choice...If you desire, you can leave the organization permanently and my only request is for you to keep quiet." Scarlet eyes bored into identical pairs of blue as both of their faces twisted into expressions of astonishment. Freedom? White pondered, from this organization?

Truthfully it sounded like a dream come true. Now that Black is no more, she didn't have to stay here any longer, but what about her direct superior...Green? She knew Red's decisions overrode the spiky haired brunette's verdicts because Execution's commander is the original founder. Suddenly a torrent of fear squeezed her chest tightly and she found it difficult to breath. Freedom? No, it didn't feel like being free. An invisible noose tightened around her throat and she spied the younger Unovian mirroring the shock painted on her face. If she left, she would have to constantly look over her shoulder for both the police and her former comrades, if they could commit theft, kidnapping, arson and toy with the legendary pokemon...Why not a step further? Of course the organization never betrayed any of their friends, however, if she left them...Would they still consider her as a friend?

Would they...

Still consider them as friends?

"No..." her voice trembled, "I'd like to stay here if you don't mind Senior Red...You option to allow me to leave is well received and you are very kind, but I want to stay here and carry on Black's and N's will to see this through in the end...He...He respected you a lot so please..." she hiccupped and wiped away the stubborn tears falling down her face, "don't make me leave." Red nodded and gently squeezed her shoulder.

"I understand, here..." he thrust a cloth covered sphere into her hands, "this is the light stone...I'm not sure if Reshiram can be summoned any longer, I'll ask Green to look up on it when he has the time. This sphere belongs to you know and I don't have any right to keep it...Please use it as you see fit." Still sniffing, she clasped the stone in a venerated manner. "Whi-2, I want to hear your thoughts as well."

She took a moment to answer. "I have the same thoughts as senior Whit-"

"Nope..." the male cut in, "I want to hear your thoughts."

The girl shivered involuntarily and exhaled, "Commander Red...can we make a trade?" Though surprised by her words, he grimly nodded and motioned her to continue speaking, "I will stay in the organization and render my services unconditionally...In return...Please don't go after Hugh any longer. If...If he goes to the police, allow me and Lack-2 to deal with him, I don't want this mess to escalate any further than it should. Hugh can be a bit hard headed and unpredictable...Even after you threatened him, there is a chance that he still might go to the police and report everything."

"I understand...I give you my word as Execution's commander that I won't allow anyone to go after Hugh...However" Whi-2 gulped inaudibly, she knew this pact came with some strings attached, "if his actions harm any of my comrades, they have every right to defend themselves. I cannot condone their acts if their lives are in danger." He leant forward and stared at her meaningfully, "I hope you understand my point of view." She nodded her head slowly, "either than that, please forgive me and...Try not to think so badly of your superiors, our top priority will always be your safety." Giving them another smile, he let them go and watched sadly as they discreetly wiped their tears.

Ruby watched as Blue's poke gear buzzed on the coffee table. He waited for Silver to pick it up but the red head engrossed himself with reading the latest news which detailed their failed thieving of the fake Azure flute. Grumbling under his breath, he put down his sewing and crawled off the divan, snatching up the device, he walked down the marble corridors and eventually located his senior's room. Knocking politely, he entered and handed it over to her.

"Thanks Ruby..." His commander trailed off and stared at the multiple messages popping up on the tiny screen, "It's from Red and Green, they are going to hold a video conference soon to discuss urgent matters and the meeting starts in less than five minutes, if anyone needs me, tell them I'm busy okay? Toodles" He nodded and she waved him away. Connecting her gear to the laptop, Blue waited for a few more minutes before the device rang, accepting the call, she smiled brightly on glimpsing her friends again. On seeing Red, her lips curved downwards and she spied the same bewilderment flickering on Green's visage.

"What happened to you?" They queried at the same time and to Blue's dismay, he simply chuckled and nonchalantly ran a hand through his unruly hair.

"Accident-"

"Accident?!" Green snarled, "What? Did you go fist to fist with an emboar?" His query sent the ex-champion sniggering some more. Blue on the other hand asked him again, worry twisting her face.

"Let's say I messed up." Red conceded and held up his hands, "we didn't have much contact with each other and I had this project I desperately wanted to undertake...Unfortunately I'm sure Green would not approve so I grabbed the chance when we split." Crimson eyes turned morose when the spiky haired brunette questioned his goals, "I wanted to burn down the Unova league." A short, tense silence descended on them before Red continued, "and in trying to do so...I ruined many things. I ended up killing Black and N and ruining Whi-2's friendship with Hugh, the scars on my face and hands are from when I fought Hugh and his emboar, they looked worse before but thanks to Saur's healing spores and some stuff Gold bought me, the marks are fading and it's safe to say that my mission was a massive failure...watch the news guys, the event is making international headlines." Exhaling in a defeated manner, he leaned back in his swivel chair and stared absentmindedly at a trophy sitting proudly on his desk. "And what were you two up to? Nothing bad I suppose."

"Black and N...Are dead? How Red...Just how? You killed them?"

"He is using a figure of speech Green!" Blue cut in exasperatedly, "dear Mesprit! Try to understand how Red is feeling for a change, he blames himself for not being able to save them...Look Red," her voice dropped into a tender tone, "don't blame and beat yourself over something you couldn't prevent. I'm sure you tried your best to save them and as for what happened between Whi-2 and Hugh, you don't have to worry about the consequences, I'll take care of it." She barked out a short, humourless laugh, "nothing bad? Hahaha, Silver and I almost got caught by the police."

"What?" Now Red and Green sported horrified looks.

"Yeah...Forgive me for saying this Red but you hardly ever have a backup plan should things go awry. In case the creation of the Red chain fails, I asked Emerald to search up on the Azure Flute." Grabbing a photo of the relic off her table, she held it up for her friends to see, "this is how it looks and this object is the only thing that can summon Lord Arceus to our dimensio-"

"Oh, and what are you going to do when Lord Arceus comes waltzing into the Poke-earth Blue? Ask him to graciously tear open a hole leading to the distortion world so we can go take over his son's dimension? Cool, I'd like to see how he responds to that." Red snarkily delivered his thoughts and Green held his stomach and fell off his chair from laughing too much. Constellate's leader remained prim, even as her cheeks tinted pink with embarrassment."

"Silly Blue...Good one Red." Oak agreed and wiped tears of mirth.

Tossing her luxurious locks back, she waited for her snickering friends to stop commenting on her skills before speaking. "...I get it, dumb thing to do, however it would've fetched a handsome price on the black market. In any case, Sinnoh's Pokemon Association had the artefact locked up in the heart of the Veilstone building which formerly belonged to our dear Cyrus. Similarly to the griseous orb, the Azure flute had an entire chamber dedicated to its protection and they barricaded the interior with both psychic and dark barriers. Silver warned me that the setup seemed too easy and I did not listen to him. Turns out, the original thing rests in Ransei and the one in Veilstone was a manufactured one designed to lure us in. A trap Green," she answered the male's inquiring gaze, "an intricately woven trap, the police are getting better so we should watch our step. They bundled us in the back of a van and I managed to escape with Ditty and honchkrow." Blue shivered and hugged herself, "I felt so scared and the events were so surreal...Like I watched them happening through someone else's eyes. What about you Green? Anything good or bad happened to you?"

"I bumped into Steven Stone, by the way, due to his disability, he is not part of the International Police force anymore and I got these," rummaging in his backpack, he extracted a small pouch and poured the contents into his palm, six marbles tumbled out, three smaller than their counter parts. "Stole them actually," he confessed and held them up when Red craned his neck to get a better look at them, the ebony haired man opened his mouth to ask a question and Green answered before he uttered a word, "these are the mega stones I researched on and they hold the power to send our pokemon to a new, primordial form of evolution. However, this process is temporary and needs to be controlled by the stones. Uh...I...Brought them as gifts" Blue's mocking grin split her face and he wanted to drown himself, "Red asked for souvenirs okay!" he heatedly defended himself when his male friend smiled, "And I didn't want to give anything meaningless! You have to be careful with these things because they haven't been publicized or confirmed by the government yet...Stop smiling both of you or else I won't hand them over!" He timorously threatened.

Red leaned forward again and graced his squirming friend with a dubious smirk, "thanks so much Green, it's very thoughtful of you, all I wanted was a simple memento…You didn't have to steal a research object for that." Oak sputtered and hissed when Blue chortled at his expense. "Thank you, I'll use it wisely." Strategy's leader quieted down on hearing the sincerity in his voice. "I have another proposition to make...Let's re-group."

Let's re-group.

A brief silence severed the animated conversation the three conducted mere seconds ago. Execution's leader's words echoed inside their heads and they came to a unanimous agreement.

Yes, let's re-group. They nodded. In Sinnoh and they can function smoothly as one organization again. No matter what happens, they will never fork into three.

Ever again.

Evening

Unova

Castelia

A voice bled through the speakers and urged the passengers to buckle up their seatbelts. Red fumbled with the straps and drowned the muted chatter in the pressurized cabin, a few minutes remained before take-off and he opted for staring out of the tiny porthole window. He observed blackness descending over the city as the sun sank in the distant horizon. With a gentle hum, the aeroplane rose smoothly in the air and raven haired man watched the buildings and landscape shrink into insignificant blobs. Lights, mere pinpricks at this altitude winked one by one into existence and soon, the dim landmass underneath him blazed with a million glows. Shifting in his seat, he undid the restraints and made himself comfortable, next to him, White breathed heavily with a blanket covering her knees, headphones clamped over her ears and the light dragon stone cradled in her lap. She slept, chocolate brown hair tumbling messily over her serene face. Her hushed snores somewhat calmed him and he angled his head backwards to check on Whi-2. The girl sat next to her best friend, reading a book whilst the male's eye's reflected the electric glow of the device he clutched in his hands. He seemed to be preoccupied with a game.

He could hear the deafening cheering of the crowds before he emerged from the building, two officials, dressed in charcoal tuxedos and wearing sunglasses stood on either side of the entrance as he exited and stepped on to the strip of carpet lining the passage. At once, a thousand camera flashes went off in his face and he smiled genially at the crowds chanting his name and showering him with flowers and graces. Speeding along the red carpet, Red signed autographs, got a pat on the back from Steven Stone who faced the same predicament as him and almost made it into the lobby designated for champions when he spied a cinnamon haired child pushing through the crowds in a desperate manner. The boy looked left and right and thereafter seamlessly ducked through the ropes cordoning off the walkway and stood defiantly in front of Kanto's champion. Instantaneously, the security in charge of the annual Pokemon World Tournament, held in Unova, closed on him akin to predators. Screaming a war cry, the boy hit the men, flailed, dodged them haphazardly and came to a scrambling stop in front of Red and looked up at him with adoration. The champion, a teenager at that time, smiled and stooped to his level, he accepted the pad the child handed over to him and scribbled an autograph.

"So, what's your name? And I must say that you were brave to come all the way here." The Unovian grinned at the compliment and puffed out his chest.

"My name is Black and," he took a deep breath, "I'M GOING TO BE UNOVA'S YOUNGEST CHAMPION! WHOOHOOO!" The boy announced at an ear-splitting volume and all the champions from the other regions who lined up behind Red, guffawed at his passionate declaration and praised him for his goals. Tiny Black, blushed, grinned, thanked them a hundred times and vanished in the crowds

And he vanished from this world too, without being able to fulfil his dream.

Lack-2 heard it...An indiscernible sniff coming from the front seat. He shut his gaming device off and listened keenly, it came again. Taking care not to disturb Whi-2 who had her concentration ensnared by a novel, he sat upright and witnessed his commander wiping his face. Was that man crying? He wondered. Did criminals, who had no qualms of kidnapping two children, have the capacity to shed tears? Red put up a facade when he mingled with them and the Unovian questioned if his superior would be able to smile if Gold or Diamond met the same fate as Black. Maybe he would...Criminals are known for having stone hearts anyway. He saw the commander ease into his chair and pull a sleeping mask over his face. Night fell, the light fixtures in the plane cabin dimmed and stowed his gadget away and turned to Whi-2. Despite half an hour passing after take-off, she still stared at the same page and he knew that his companion had her mind too preoccupied with something else entirely rather than losing herself into the realm of fantasy. Leaning closer to her, he questioned:

"Tell me what happened with you and Red...When we split up at the league," he whispered, taking care not to wake the snoring Dia and Gold who sat behind him, "I want to know everything and especially how he got those scars...not anyone can go against our commander and damage him like that.

Whi-2 shut her book with a snap, "it doesn't matter anymore Lack-2. He apologized for his actions and I've accepted it. I don't want to dwell on it any longer all right? Please let me sleep, I'm very tired." She reached over to her hand luggage and rifled through the contents, searching for a sheet to cover herself with, the blanket they issued in the plane did not suit her.

"It matters to me Whi-2"

"..." She sighed and deliberately took her own time adjusting the fleece blanket over herself before answering, "We...ran into Hugh..."

"Hugh..." Lack-2 echoed.

"Yes, Hugh. He told me that he's been searching for us ever since our disappearance and now, as they showed on television, he is participating in the Unova league. When Team Plasma popped up, the league officials used him and three other finalists to defend the buildings." Grabbing a small bottle, she drunk a healthy amount of water and ignored her friend's impatient gestures, "They situated Hugh right at the back, near an area leading to the Pokemon Association headquarters in Unova and the Elite four apartments. Unfortunately, commander Red's target happened to the Headquarters and Hugh didn't allow him to pass. He kept on insisting that they let me off the organization and he used his emboar to sear Red like that. I tried to mediate their fight but it didn't go as planned...hopefully they will take him to hospital; Hugh has been injured pretty badly as well. Not as bad as your senior though." She finished her narration and looked at him, "don't bring this up again Lack-2 and please...Don't do anything stupid as to try and escape from here, they will hunt you down and Zekrom knows what else the leaders might do to you."

The russet eyed teenager leaned back and laced his hands behind his head, "I won't do anything dumb" he reassured her, "and I don't feel like leaving this place anyway," he jerked a thumb at Gold who had his head squashed against Dia's chubby cheek, "I don't have a choice do I? It's getting late...Or rather, it is late. Let's get some sleep; we'll be in Sinnoh by dawn.

Dawn

Sinnoh

Resort Area

Emerald and Ruby feigned interest at the classical paintings adorning the walls of the mansion lobby. Rich people had disgusting taste, the pair snorted and inwardly agreed. They waited for Execution's members who were reported to arrive very soon. The Hoenn natives ambled around the marble tiled foyer and gazed up at the decorative pillars stationed on either side of the grand staircase leading to the upper floors of the palace. The Victorian styled architecture was offset by modern art and statues, two of them stood on raised pedestals, flanking the entrance of the mansion with their frozen, graceful postures. Bronze girls, their forms twisted into delicate stances and Rald, his height bolstered by platform shoes, stood on his tip toes and reached up to the figurine's head, with a pocket knife, he gouged out a small silver of metal and studied it carefully. Ruby watched him dispassionately and admonished him for vandalizing the sculpture because for all they knew, those ugly effigies might've cost Platina's parents a fortune. A fresco depicting the three creation titans, Dialga, Palkia and Giratina glared down on them all and Rald sheepishly stowed his catch away and decided to focus on the decorative trim lining the walls. Too much white and gold, he thought but he whole heartedly accepted that the building oozed luxury and finesse.

"Rald! Ruby!" Sapphire strode briskly into the mansion with her trolley case rattling behind her, her friends jumped up and welcomed her with cheerful smiles. "I'm BACK!" The trio huddled together in a group hug and the rest of Strategy and Constellate traipsed down the stairs to greet their friends. Gold, on spying Crystal looking fine in a form fitting knee length dress, dumped his luggage carrier in Lack-2's arms and flew over. Silver pulled his female friend aside and saved her from being crushed to death. Blue gently traced the scars on Red's arm and hugged him, a few meters away; Pearl squeezed Dia till the latter wheezed.

"Welcome back Diamond" Platina chirped regally and brushed her hair backwards.

"It's good to be back," the teenager gasped and dissolved into a fit of light hearted giggles.

A/N: I apologize for the delay, but I have this horrible flu bothering the brains out of me and I had to stay in bed for the time being. The three factions are re-merging again...At HeyYouYaYou: Thank you and let me say that you are amazing as well. I don't read many fanfictions, but I've yet to come across one that portrays him as antagonistic. The ones I read either makes him into a complete moron or a Gary-stu. At Jac54311: Ditto could've transformed as a disguise and later slipped inside with Blue when the police weren't looking. Okay, I'll admit, I didn't think much about that. It might me a personal nitpick of mine but I hate the move self destruct...it's like telling you pokemon: Dude, faint for my cause. Lol, that sounded a bit funny. At Silver: I've been reading you review for the past few days and now I've reached a new state of enlightenment...I agree that there are clear cut moral boundaries written in the various holy books...but what I meant was, as a person, there are no definite good and bad people. Let say, that person who murdered someone over a bar of chocolate? Is probably suffering from some deep seated mental disease; and although people might and will point fingers and call him a murderer, to himself, the action of his is perfectly plausible and makes sense to him. For me, people are grey. That girl in class who is super polite? Is probably being nice to everyone because of some ulterior motive. In any case, your review was really awesome and I look forward to see what else you can come up with. I learnt a lot to be honest.

Anyway, read and review people. Once again, I'm sorry for the late upload, I suffer from photo-phobia whenever I get a flu or a headache. Reviews and constructive criticism is much appreciated. For all those who are also suffering from a flu: Virtual medicine to you all.

...I just realized that Virtual medicine is going to do absolutely nothing. Take care of yourselves people. You don't want to end up as sleeping sloth like me.