Chapter 64: Dawn of a new world
Night
Sinnoh
Spear Pillar, summit of Mount Coronet
Giratina felt the winds shift in his distortion world. It was nothing new, the winds changed direction all the time and in his pocket dimension, nothing mattered. No laws governed it, time did not flow and space stretched boundlessly. Islands floated and waterfalls flowed back to front. It lacked have a sense of direction and a horizon whilst the skies, a patchwork of different shades of blue, didn't have any celestial bodies inhabiting it. Not real ones anyway. The renegade pokemon lived alone, away from his brothers who were hard at work in maintaining space and time, away from his mother who locked herself up in a psychic barrier on some obscure islet and away from his father whom he last saw several thousand millennia ago. His offshoot, the nightmare pokemon Darkrai, had been captured by a band of lowlife humans and the renegade pokemon thought about how he should punish those upstarts. Blinking, it looked downwards and at a pool of something thick and black. The surface of the viscous pond cleared to reveal another world altogether. He witnessed seven circles, seven ghosts and innumerable amount of pokemon toiling away at the seven trials. Hot winds and frozen wasteland lay side by side next to a sea which robs memories, in the midst of them all, a cheery town sprung up and tried to keep its broken existence together. Giratina tapped the surface with a scarlet tipped wing and the view from the pond changed. It showed an unsuspecting pokemon, a well-proportioned galvantula, strolling down the cobblestoned streets of the town and on its way to purchase a few necessities. The mouth piece fitting over the banished legendry's cavernous maw slid downwards to reveal a set of gleaming ivory jaws, the ghost pokemon focused intently on the galvantula and suddenly,
The creature spontaneously combusted.
Black flames licked over its body as the spider screamed and thrashed for help. The resident pokemon in the town all inched away from it and some outright scurried as fast as their legs could carry them. Up in the distortion realm, Giratina covered up its mouth and the pool resumed its murky colour. Punishment. If anyone dared to escape their dues, they would be painfully burnt alive. Sinners must repent.
The winds shifted abruptly again.
He knew he shouldn't pay much attention, but the presence of three Sinnoh born humans outside the pocket dimension tickled his curiosity, they didn't come to pay their respects, they came here, hefting those abhorred chains in order to tie him up. His brothers, Dialga and Palkia started fighting the moment they saw each other and the renegade snorted at their antics. In order for time and space to correctly flow, they should be kept separated from each other and why his brothers decided to battle in a sacred area, was a question they could answer. Giratina felt more people, their intentions evil and as dark as the cloak of frayed wings sprouting from his back. A throb of energy pulsed from the Poke-verse and permeated into his pocket dimension, it screamed of murder, malice, hate, vengeance and Giratina stirred.
He couldn't sit still any longer despite his instinct warning not to get close. The only way to force him out of his hiding place is to bring on a catastrophe. The ghost legendary loved to muddle in death and destruction, he fed on people's negative emotions. It kept him alive. Dialga and Palkia fought intensely once more and he knew his brothers were afraid of the chains just as much as he was. They restrained not only the physical body, but the mind and other abstract concepts as well. A torrent of negative energy poured into the distortion world and the force sent some of the smaller floating masses deeper into the unfathomable depths. Wings outstretched, the serpentine creature forced the boundaries to tear and made his presence known. Dialga and Palkia stopped fighting immediately and ogled him with mild hatred before two of the Sinnoh born lassoed them with the red chains. It hurt to even look at the revolting crystals, radiating a bright crimson glow underneath the silvery moonlight. The time and space titans allowed themselves to be restrained and kept on glaring at him as if this was somehow all his fault. His fault? He roared, better blame mother who thought of making these two legged abominations in the first place. A young, navy haired girl, whose ancestry stemmed from some noble land, rode up to him on a rapidash, twirled the chains and flicked them expertly. And they bounced off a shield of energy. Instead of quivering and moving away, she held her head high and tried again. This time, Giratina offered scant resistance and greedily, the blood red crystals snaked over his form, bit into his skin and ensnared him.
The humans dragged him out of his pocket dimension and his serpentine body morphed to accommodate six legs which were instantaneously bound, thin wisps of wings joined together to form a frayed, leather-esque cape and the golden mouth piece flitted down to reveal a cavernous jaw. He didn't roar because he didn't have the energy to. Before the gaping maw of his contorted dimension, the puny humans stood awed and afraid. He could taste their fear, enveloping the area like a cloud. As his energy steadily sapped away, the little group shuffled into the distortion world tentatively and he watched them as darkness swallowed up their forms. The creation trio looked at each other and the renegade pokemon sensed an outburst from its brother in the next few seconds, he didn't have to wait long as Dialga exploded with a question and Giratina felt like he was being de-aged into an egg again. Palkia, the milder one, merely grunted and shifted, the chains securing his two brothers fissured and he waited for one of them to graciously tear his own bindings off. The last time, Darkrai gnawed through the chain through, alas; the nightmare legendary had been trapped by those humans.
"The distorted world is not my realm...I'm the lord of the underworld." Giratina's rasped reply belied his pain. "Thus I don't care what happens to it. I've hidden in it for far too long; it's time I head to my original place." The brilliant red crystals around the time and space pokemon dissolved into fine fragments and for a moment they stood still, angling their heads to the moon. A few heartbeats later they vanished into portals of their own. Giratina's own bindings were cut and he spread his wings. A hideous black, bubbling gate opened beneath his feet and he gleefully sank into the murk; his glowing eyes lingering on the opening of the reverse world till the very end.
When time and space held no meaning:
A universe ungoverned by laws.
Pearl found himself floating a good few inches above the ground, embarrassingly, his shirt lifted up and he kept on smoothing it down. The rest of the organization floated in front of him and he feasted his eyes on the troubled form of his superior as he struggled to plant his feet on the ground. The blonde snickered despite his situation, seeing Green in such ungainly postures never failed to amuse him or his team mates as he spied Emerald wearing a vicious grin and holding up a camera. Inexplicably, the device self-combusted and Crystal frowned and shook her head admonishingly. Flapping his hands in a poor imitation of a bird, the hyperactive blonde spied his best friend trying desperately to fly after a doughnut which hovered teasingly just out of reach from Dia's fingers. The azure eyed teen propelled himself by furiously flapping his hands and to his dismay, the pastry levitated further away. Pearl watched, the lazy grin on his face melting as he beheld Diamond struggling for his food in the most comical way. The remaining members of Execution hovered nearby and orange tinted irises witnessed Gold trying to sneak a look up Blue and Crystal's skirts whilst Silver grabbed his best friend by his ebony locks and repeatedly punched him. Since Dia became the temporary commander for Execution, Gold's and Sapphire's moods marginally improved with the former going back to his old perverted self. On finding out that Dia self-proposed his status, Pearl went to confront him and try to convince him that taking over an entire department is probably not the best idea, instead, Dia said:
"You aren't my boss Pearl" the boy spoke slowly, enunciating each world clearly. "So let me do what I want."
It felt like a ton of snow descended on his head and decided to stay there for the time being. He couldn't discuss this with Platinum nor with Yellow who enquired if anything went wrong. Pearl simply shook his head, retreated to the room he shared with Diamond and Platina, curled up into a ball and cried softly. Chahiko pecked his head comfortingly whilst he buried his face and snivelled. He didn't understand why Diamond changed so much and for a brief moment, he directed all his anger at the missing Execution commander. It's his fault. The blonde Sinnoh native internally accused, it's all Red's fault Dia is becoming like this. Last year, his best friend showed the same strains of rebellion and he dismissed it as stress...However...
He didn't want Diamond to change. Not for him. And certainly not for anyone else. When Diamond himself barged into the room a few minutes later, Pearl tried to wipe his tears and quickly got up to leave whilst his best friend stood in the doorway and gaped. Well he could gape all he wanted because Pearl hardly cried. Stubbornly flicking away the vestiges of moisture lining his eyes, he tried to shoulder past his companion and Dia promptly shoved a rice ball in his friend's mouth.
"Pearl...You promised me." Dia guided the blonde back into the crude room and sat him down on the bed, "you pro-mised that I could take care of you." The flame eyed individual mutely nodded, "and I'm trying to do my best Pearl. I know you are upset with me and I do confu-sing things all the time. I also promised myself not to keep sec-rets from you so..." Pearl didn't like the sound of what his friend wanted to say, "...I want to do this. I'm not good at anything apart from being a stooge and eating. Red told me that my pokemon are primed to defend and I can't even do my job properly." Chubby palms squashed a poffin in between them, "Are you mad Pearl?" the azure eyed boy clasped his comrade by the shoulder and questioned him.
Because you changed so much? Sure I'm mad! Why the hell not?
"Are you mad at me Pearl?" Diamond repeated again and leaned closer, he shook Pearl slightly.
"No...I'm not mad, honest." Pearl replied and rubbed his eyes, "it's just...You keep on surprising me with the amount of growing you did..."
Don't lie...
His consciousness admonished maliciously
Don't lie; you are angry because you can't boss him around anymore. Little Dia is dancing to his own tune.
"I'M NOT ANGRY AT ALL!" Pearl jumped up and blew steam, he exhaled some more then calmly turned to his friend... "I'm jealous actually," he admitted and scratched his head sheepishly, "because I had this naive dream that the two of us would stay with each other forever and nothing will add or subtract to our friendship." He plopped down on the lumpy mattress next to Diamond and noticed the worried look in his co-worker's eyes, "then Missy dropped into our life and thereafter, we were scouted by the Dex criminals...I'm...really happy for you Dia...But I also feel sad because our friendship isn't the same anymore. It feels like people are intruding on what's supposed to be ours only. And I hate seeing you do things on your own." Pearl finally confessed and slumped in the bed, the cushion creaked underneath his weight, "I feel like I have to make all the decisions for you...In a way, it's both saddening and uplifting to see you change. Say..."
"When we grow up, we are still doing the comedy duo thing on television right?" Diamond stuffed the mashed poffin into his mouth and grimaced at the taste, not his favourite.
"Of course you dummy." Pearl sniffed and wiped his nose on the striped sleeve. "No I'm not crying!" he waved Dia's concerns away, "I've got something in my eye!" The duo lapsed into a comforting silence and listened to the lament of the winds as it rushed outside. "Congratulations on being the new commander Diamond," the blonde added and gave his friend a wide smile, "When senior Green kicks the bucket, I'll volunteer as well." he added and grinned cheekily, "then we can both boss each other around!"
Looking around, his flame coloured irises alighted on Platinum who refused to blush when her designer dress steadily ballooned upwards. Her hair also lifted and gave a rather wonderful view of her delicate collarbones and slender neck. Blushing furiously, Pearl twisted his head the other way to see Dia hovering upside down next to him and his eyes also fixated on Platina who had her pale cheeks dusting pink as she pressed her dress down. Somewhere, Gold whistled and earned a kick for his efforts. The winds changed direction and he heard an odd whisper, instantly, gravity kicked into place and they plunged to the grassy ground with several loud thuds. Silver and Crystal fell on top of each other and whilst Gold fumed and waved his hands at the disgusted duo, Blue took the opportunity to tease them. The red head snorted indifferently and pushed his female friend off his person in a gentle manner and the third member of the Johto natives immediately rushed over the indigo haired woman and enveloped her into a hug. One by one the criminals stood up to properly ogle at the dimension they set foot in. Cyrus and his accomplice had long disappeared in the confusing depths of this nonsensical world.
Islands hovered against a Prussian blue background. Waterfalls tumbled down either sideways or upside down. The sky happened to be a patchwork of many different shades of blue and black. Some of them had stars twinkling in the depths and they faded off into nothingness. Something huge and black flew above their heads and the humans all snapped their heads upwards to see a large landmass whizzing across the space. There seemed to be no platforms, floating elevators nor any warp panels and Emerald, ignoring the sharp warnings uttered by his members, stepped forward and off the edge of the islet they huddled on. The moment he lifted his other feet, he fell and Ruby, Sapphire and Crystal gasped in tandem and ran to the edge, screaming and shouting his name. They found the miniscule blonde waving at them from a small platform of rock and to their unceasing astonishment; the plane lifted and moved off in the direction the blonde pointed. Nodding to each other, the rest followed Emerald's example and soon forgot their fear of this bizarre space. Diamond and Pearl juggled food items amongst them and when Green told them to keep it down, the blonde sent the procession of berries and pastries circling around his commander's head. And Oak did not appreciate the way the pesky woman sniggered at him.
The waterfalls, they found out, either contained corrosive acid, venom, pure water or some sort of healing sap. Very few could actually be called waterfalls and to the delight of more than a few members of the Dex-criminals, they had to traverse one which flowed sideways. Thankfully, this one contained water and the juniors gleefully surfed on the horizontal surface before Silver droned that it was the same experience as surfing on an ocean. The novelty wore off at once. As far as anyone could see, none of the landmasses in the distorted pocket were large enough to support a city and there little continents sustained no oceans, just puddles of questionable liquid. Whipping out a pair of binoculars, Blue peered into them whilst the rest of the members decided to rest. All around her, the pocket dimension remained the same. Distant pinpricks of light twinkled teasingly out of reach and she wondered what those were. Surprisingly, the distortion world did not have a sun yet it bathed with light and warmth. No clouds in the sky either and the moment she contemplated this factoid, a procession of fluffy white clouds sailed past them. Sapphire, Pearl, Gold and Diamond launched themselves up and went chasing after the puffs and thereafter quickly retreated when Constellate's commander harshly ordered them to come back.
They remained stuck in this world.
"...I'm bored." Emerald declared as the Dex criminals hiked down the trail of yet another little island. No mountains, no seas and strange plants grew everywhere. Retrieving a personally manufactured miniature telescope from his pockets, the blonde put his eye to it and found his view blocked by a sheer strait of rock. Shuffling backwards, he ignored the petty squabbles his team mates concocted and looked for a sign of life. He didn't understand how a dimension devoid of any sun, could be warm enough to sustain light and what did the atmosphere consist of? Surely it had the same composition as the one in the Poke-verse because if the gaseous ratios were different, they would've been dead and decayed skeletons a long time already. In the distant, he caught two figures rapidly speeding away from them. Cyrus and Charon resolved to put much distance between them and the Dex criminals and even if they earned their freedom in a totally peculiar dimension, they would rather stay here than work under Blue's stringent orders. Rald shrugged his shoulders and decided to let them go...They might not survive in this place anyway. Screwing his eye to the ornate eyepiece, he panned the telescope and found a continent floating in the endless space. "Guys..." he called and lowered the equipment, however, the rest were either too busy prattling, or ignoring the locutions diction as his superior would've termed it. "Hey guys!" the midget technician spoke louder and eventually screeched, "HEY LISTEN!" The ramblings stopped and he pointed in the direction of the hovering continent, "I found a place big enough to support a city...At least it looks like it. We should check it out."
Unknown time
Unknown place
Black city.
To their greatest astonishment, the Dex criminals followed Rald's directions and alighted on one of the several rocky platforms orbiting a giant landmass. It appeared too big to be natural and the isle looked like it had been scooped out of a bigger portion, the bottom part tapered like an upside down mountain. They also spied absurdly thick black chains biting into the base of the landscape and these restraints stretched downwards and vanished into the gloomy depths of the distortion world. What they anchored to, no one knew. Unlike the other islands in this world, this land mass didn't float or move. It stayed marginally still and only the chains rattled when a particularly strong gale of wind swept past. On the surface, many pairs of eyes reflected an ancient city. Everything atop the continent had been constructed out of an onyx stone which glowed eerily with blue highlights. Black City, White's thoughts echoed as she gazed at the towering skyscrapers with their gleaming glass and cyan blue lights. The houses were black, the pavements and roads were alternately toned in grey and different shades of black. And there were no vegetation to break the monotonous colours of black and highlight blue. It looked futuristic and at the same time, dismally ancient.
"We...aren't the first ones to try and tamper with the distortion world." The organizer spoke up and everyone turned to face her, "I've read about this place...I can't believe it actually exists!" White gained an animated sparkle into her eye and Musha crooned from its perch on top of her peak cap. "Years ago, I researched on a background for a film the movie studio asked me to direct and I came across this whilst divulging in ancient myths. Black City...Wow..."
"Black City?" As in a city named after Black?" Gold piped up discourteously and received several scowls from his peers, "right, I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to make a joke...I think it's rather nice to have an ancient city in his name...If we decide to develop this place, let's keep the same name. Black City has nice ring to it."
They lapsed into silence and Pearl noticed Platina's porcelain visage scrunch up delicately. She seemed to be bothered by something so he spoke up: "Is there anything wrong missy?" Diamond stopped gorging on his berries and offered the half bitten ones to his Lax; the creature gobbled them up delightfully.
She swept her inky irises over the town one more time before replying, "It is considered taboo to meddle with dimensions belonging to deity monsters and yet there is evidence of someone doing it." Silver questioned if she had an idea of this 'someone' tinkering with the distortion world and the noble looked up and answered, "Apart from the nobles of Ransei, I can't think of anyone." A short, terse silence passed and she continued, "the reason they make it taboo for the others is because they want to monopolize everything. In ancient times, they crowned themselves as the sovereign of the Poke-verse and as time passed, the different regions rebelled and gained their freedom. The nobles of Ransei still influence the course and history of the world and I believe this is an archaic project they dabbled in..."
"You don't believe...you know." Blue quietly pointed out and the girl hung her head, "I suppose the Berlitz family owns the records of how this place had been built. It's fine Platina." the brown haired woman tossed her hair and smiled, "you didn't have to tell us this and we all have secrets we cannot tell." The heiress dipped her head gratefully and stiffly stared ahead. She knew of Black City and all its secrets, she knew that her lineage had been responsible for constructing this small, vacant city as a means to assert their supremacy over the entire Poke-world. Unfortunately, an interprovincial war broke out with the neighbouring factions and the project had been abandoned and forgotten. When the main family split and a faction of them fled to Mainland Sinnoh, they stole the records and buried them in a crypt constructed in an Island off Sinnoh. She read her family's history, they hailed from Nixtorm and the Berlitz family had maintained ties with the main branch. "Come on, let's go and explore this mysterious Black City!" Blue's cheerful tone forced Platina out of her ponderings and they group hopped and partially floated their way to the morbid town. There seemed to be no difference if viewed up close. The environment remained miserably silent and not a single patch of green grass nor a tree could be seen. Towers and single units of black buildings stretched in every way. To their delight, Ruby and Sapphire stumbled upon a fully functional Pokemon centre. The ancient machines hummed, groaned and sputtered to life.
"How do you suppose they made this thing?" Green questioned and rubbed his fingers against the ebony glass, "do the ancient texts say anything? Is it due to their influence that the distortion world can accommodate humans?" the queries kept on coming and Platinum listened to them before structuring a reply, "...the biological makeup of humans and pokemon are different, they can survive in harsh environments which could be rather hazardous to human health. So I presume Giratina did not create this human friendly atmosphere, it didn't need to and it can't, the only one capable of such a feat is Rayquaza...What do you think?" Oak queried further and she beheld her senior crouch down and run his hands along the tourmaline surfaces of the domiciles. The technology used in here were antediluvian, she spied a machine which handled apricorn balls instead of pokeballs and an acupuncture table used to treat pokemon living out of capsules. Clearly they were Ransei's influence, till today, the nobles preferred to treat their pokemon using natural methods rather than stuffing them into a ball and letting digital healers doing the work.
"The theory is the same...However the steps are different. In order to not draw attention to their risqué ventures, the Nixtorm family captured a single legendary at any given time and released them in here. This city has been painstakingly constructed in one of Ransei's provinces and then teleported here using a teleportation ring. The ring consisted of psychic type pokemon arranged in a circle according to their levels; the higher levelled pokemon superimposed the lower levelled ones and thus created a portal which penetrated into the distortion world." Green nodded in understanding and got up; he brushed his cargo pants free of fine black dust. "The material making up this city is known as meteoric iron and it is native to Ransei. It is a mineral similar to the ones making up moonstones, evolutionary pieces and Arceus' plates. I'm not sure why they chose such gothic looking architecture...But it imparts a futuristic sense." Oak nodded in agreement, "As you know, evolutionary stones never degrade, no matter how much time passes so it makes sense to construct the city out of it. For unknown reasons, the family abandoned the project and thus this mass still floats here."
One by one, the voyaging groups of duos and trios returned to the centre of the city and stood near a terminal. Green unloaded the backpack from his shoulders and regarded the expectant faces peering back at him.
Suddenly, he felt intimidated.
All around him, the universe stretched into vast, fathomless depths and even with high magnification devices; they could not perceive a way out. He didn't know how to get out of here. Staying in the reverse would be tantamount to suicide. They would be reduced to fine particles of dust should they accidentally get in the way of a warring mythical pokemon. He wished Red were here to spout some nonsense or offer some helpful advice, at least having his best friend near him would distract his mind from waltzing with cynical thoughts. In the periphery of his vision, he observed Constellate's commander give him a gentle smile and squeeze his arm comfortingly, she mouthed a few words and he nodded weakly. They had to do this...the organization ventured too far for one of their superiors to get cold feet and back out.
He could do this.
No. He must do this.
Ruby stepped back with his team mates when Green ordered them too. The huddled against each other and watched cautiously as the spiky haired leader, along with Blue, emptied the sack on the black paved ground and pick a purple capsule up. Crimson irises caught a glimpse of the creature within...Kyogre. He briefly shut his eyes as images of his paralyzed father flashed in his brain. A calloused hand found its way to his own and he instinctively tightened his willowy fingers against Sapphire's short ones. The girl looked at him with uncertainty hazing her lazuline irises and he resisted the urge to pull her close and bury his face in her neck. Pinching himself, the ebony haired teenager merely smiled consolingly in return and gasped silently when the sea monster popped out. Scizor, charizard X, mega blastoise and a ditto leered at the legendary water type. The creature belched a mouth full of water, ogled at them impassively and dove off into the blue darkness. Releasing a breath they didn't know they held, the two commanders grinned shakily and wrung out water from their clothes. Blue picked up another capsule and freed the tepid creature within the glass and metal confines. Cresselia materialized and at the exact moment, a large, full moon decorated the uneven canopy of a sky.
"Look!" Crystal exclaimed and involuntarily clutched Silver and Gold closer to her, "it's working!" With renewed confidence, they let go of more pokemon and to their astonishment, none of them harmed a hair on their heads. Perhaps they understood that they are in the realm of a much stronger, a much greater existence than their own. The unfettered pokemon dove off into the unknown depths and vanished from view. A newly transpired moon poured argent light over their sable surroundings and made the area more mysterious and frightening. By the time the last pokemon, Groudon, was released; the floating island stopped their aimless hovering and began to converge into bigger masses.
And then.
Diamond's Pokeball ruptured. The lord of the titans lifted an obelisk-esque arm and a thick golden chain, reminiscent of the ones tying Black City down, erupted from its fist and dug into the base of the nearest islet. With a vicious tug, Regigigas pulled the mass closer and it collided with Black City's rocky platform. An earthquake originated from the point of collision and Gold rushed to Diamond and Pearl and pulled them away from the legendary golem. The earlier sense of security shattered when Kyogre and Groudon emerged seemingly out of nowhere and conducted an elemental battle between themselves. Worst of all, a different looking Rayquaza observed them placidly. Oak took one look at the serpentine monster, at its jaw and the glowing tendrils streaming behind it and knew the mythical being regressed into its primordial form.
Chaos erupted everywhere. The distortion world sported rips and tears. Darkrai and Cresselia brawled with each other and at times, ominous black clouds obscured the silver disk hanging in the sky. Black City shuddered as the titans slammed more and more pieces of land into it, constructing some sort of continental jigsaw. Cold and hot winds blew, gravity strengthened and gave up altogether. Flowers and trees sprouted only to wilt and die of their own accord or be consumed by Groudon's fiery inferno.
In the midst of them all, a huddle of people pressed closer to each other and gaped at their uncanny environment. The lacerations in the fabric of the world widened.
Widened.
Till one could view the Poke-verse through huge gashes. Silver glimpsed the snow-capped mountains of Sinnoh on one side and the twinkling lights of Kalos' numerous metropoles through the other.
A blackish-grey mass oozed out of the cracks.
They chattered, pushed and shoved.
Spiralling in through the rends.
And the creators of Arceus descended on the distortion world with fury.
Arc 3:
I cannot undo
What I have done;
I can't un-sing
A song that's sung
And the saddest thing
About my regret
I can't forgive me
And you can't forget
End
A/N: I have to confess, Black City both intrigued and creeped me out for some reason, anyway, last chapter of Arc 3 which is tied to the first chapter of this Arc, feel free to read the two of them together for better clarity. Did not expect Diamond to become the new commander? Heh, lovely twist of events no? At Guest 1: Frozen together and tossed in the sea…Wow, that's…well, at least Lack-2 got payback in this story since Colress got tossed in the sea :P Strong sense of justice can sometimes blind a person and in some cases, outweigh their own empathy for others so they end up like Lack-2. Just think about war veterans…their sense of justice prompts them to fight for their country and they come back wishing they never went in the first place. L-2 is unaware of the finer details, so is W-2 (if you recall, she went with Blue) At Silver: People hate to take responsibility huh? Che, thanks for reminding me. Found a new survival tip :) Red unnerving the guards during interrogation? Heh. Your half-baked theory 1 is way more plausible than theory two. Authorities can't legally use the memory trick? Says who? Lol, look forward to the interrogation process though. At AceTrainerLeaf: Yep, they planted L-2 because the only way to get to them is via infiltration, very thorough no? Police and intelligence can be extremely cunning when they need to. Red grinning is just a way to unnerve L-2, who is understandably hated by the ex-leader. Red's deployment to Ransei happens in the 2nd chapter of Arc 4 so look forward to that. At Green: Whoa! The almighty Green! Pretty sure that you are wallowing in despair, but hold on, your friend will come back…eventually.
At Jack54311: Yep, Gold is obviously sad/angry about the whole affair. As for L-2's changes, read on to find out. L-2 does have other pokemon and Red is counting on his merry gang of idiots to bust him out. Of course he is confident. At sakurafox1218: I read about Black getting sucked into the white stone when I did some research. Felt like someone punched me in the gut. Will L-2 be discharged from the Police? Heh. Pibo is too young to comprehend the events around him, and if you noticed, L-2 always stuffs him out of sight when things get rough. I'm sorry, I don't know anything about the X/Y chapters, I haven't played the game and therefore did not read the manga due to possible spoilers. At Guest 2: Hi, it's going fine, just too much rain. I do think the pokemon take on characteristics of their current owners (Pika is an example and that chapter in the manga when Red and Green switch their pokemon also alludes to this fact). Perhaps the personality of the human rubs off on the creatures, seems like the most plausible theory to me. As for the champions, I like to think that some of them are bred for this purpose…like Cynthia and Iris for example. Others undergo heavy training and make it up their through sheer will (Red and Alder comes to mind). At Guest 3: Ahahaha, your scenarios were really funny. Dia and Blue holding a mass cooking class is something I'd very much like to see…unfortunately it doesn't happen in this fic. Someone…please make it happen, I'll give you cookies/cake/pizza/granadillas. Thanks for making me laugh :D At Guest 4: Green is a genius, he probably re-configured the Pokedexes in order to store additional information.
Once again, much thanks for all those who read and reviews. Virtual chocolates and cakes to all of you. Keep on reading and reviewing. The last arc is coming up, till then.