Chapter 66: Age of turbulence
Evening
Sinnoh
Veilstone
Twilight always brought a sense of foreboding along with it. The sun slipped behind the horizon which divided the earth and heavens. It went into hiding and left the world cowering and covered in shadows. When the four superintendents finally made up their minds to deport him to Ransei, he felt queer. Not exactly afraid, but a sense of profound loneliness, how would the rest of the Organization breach the imperial region and rescue him from there? Not even Professor Oak was allowed inside the highly guarded region without a special pass. And the police would keep an extra eye open for anyone entering or leaving the area. Truly Lack-2 thought through everything and he secretly admired the teenager's tenacity and determination to pull of such an elaborate plan. Ransei sat in the centre of the world, the cradle of humankind even though Sinnoh had been populated first. The landmass lied north east of Sinnoh and only imperial craft could get anywhere close to it. Today, when he rolled off his sparse mattress and fell on the grubby floor with a muffled thump, he looked up to see two guards eyeing him rather unpleasantly. At once, Red understood that they were not the normal Sinnoh region people; these personnel dressed in ancient garb and carried short swords. The bottom part of their faces had been obscured by a length of cloth emblazoned in some weird sign and their hands were hidden behind wide, bell shaped sleeves. With a snap, the gate to the dingy cell opened and before he could register their presences properly, one of them materialized in his face and pushed him back. When the ex-champion looked down at hands, the found them bound with thick, ornamental rope and a large, elaborate knot sat on top of the coils in teasing manner. They clasped him, stiff fingers dug into his shoulders and the two faceless men guided him out the cell with minimal force.
Outside of the perpetually gloomy cell, Red blinked against the harsh lights and smirked at Lack-2 who stood before him. Lt. Surge grabbed the ebony haired man by the chin, jerked it left and right and noted the faded scars on his skin. The man muttered about corrupt youth, trust and how unbelievable it was for a respected member of the public to give into crime. Pichu squeaked on seeing him and Lack-2 restrained it back inside a ball. Nodding to the posse of high ranking police members, one of the special guards produced a slim sheet of black cloth and wound it around Red's face and mouth, leaving his nose clear for breathing. Hands grabbed him and he went rigid when someone tore his jacket off effortlessly. They gripped his shirt and the crimson eyed man felt apprehensive...Were they going to strip him here? In front of two ladies and a brat? Thankfully, the hands simply patted him, pressing against his chest, stomach and right down to the awkward places and he shifted uncomfortably when the fingers traced around his neck and briefly put the slightest pressure on the hollow of his throat. With one hand, they could effortlessly strangle him and as they finished up their examination, he held his breath for as long as he could manage and only breathed weakly. Something sharp punctured him on the side of this throat, the tips of his fingers received the same treatment and he felt light headed and hazy. His head whirled and he imagined the world around him spinning in dizzying circles as well.
Then everything went black.
The two veiled men nodded to the International police members and hefted the unconscious form of Red on their padded shoulders. They regally brushed past the officers and Lack-2 moved after them. One of the men sharply rotated backwards and pinned him with a warning glare. His hand, decorated with a lethal yet intricately designed gauntlet, clenched in a subtle warning. The Unova native, instead of backing down, took off his visor and swept his mane of hair backwards. "I'm the one who put the request for this man to be deployed to Ransei, I have to come with you people and I already have a special pass from the Lord of Valora." Nonchalantly, he strapped the visor back to his forehead and followed them out to an armoured helicopter. Lack-2 smoothed the astonished expression from his face and climbed in the copter and to his utter revulsion, the duo strapped Execution's comatose leader in the seat next to him and climbed into a cockpit. The teenager watched impassively and wondered how they were going to fit a helmet over such elegant topknots. In tandem, the men undid their hair and slipped dull green helmets over their heads. The rotors rotated overhead and chopped the air in rhythmic beats. For a moment, the officer became deaf to everything around him and scooted away when the vehicle rose in the air and Red's body swung to the side. When they melted into the skyline of Sinnoh, the pilot looked back at him and flicked something. Lack-2 only had enough time to mutter an expletive before sinking into the safe lull of unconsciousness.
Soaring through a burnt orange and pink streaked sky, the helicopter did not fly far. After flying west and passing a couple of towns, cities and the mountain range, the airborne vehicle lowered and alighted on a helipad atop one of the numerous skyscrapers of Eterna city. They landed close to the airport and the two pilots climbed out of the cockpit and secured their unconscious passengers. Nimbly jumping out of their craft, they released two apricorn balls and two flying pokemon popped out. Boarding them, they expertly navigated all the way to the bustling airport and discreetly dropped right to the hangar, any airport official who wanted to voice their opposition on seeing two people fall out of the sky, wisely kept quiet after seeing them. The two looked around, beckoned an air traffic controller and showed them a picture. Bowing, the young man pointed to a direction and the guards set off with measured strides. Soon, they came across a small private plane. Nodding to person waiting for them, they slid open the door and found another steel door underneath. A fleeting smile graced the man's lips and he punched in a code, at once, a huge section of the plane unfolded and he dumped his load, Red, into an uncomfortable seat and strapped him down with steel reinforced cables. Valora's private jets were not designed with exorbitance in mind and everything had been reinforced with metal, locks and the most sophisticated security system. The plane itself was armoured and the numerous weapons were concealed under a luxurious facade. Inside, it boasted various types of metal and detectors, instead of leather upholstery and recliners, a gurney complete with hideous restraints rested at the back. After strapping the International police member to an unforgiving chair, the duo hopped back into the cockpit and this time prepped for a long distance journey.
Next morning
Ransei
Valora
A fortress.
Red woke up when one of the guards jammed a sickly sweet object into his mouth. The man stirred, moaned and to their surprise, ate it up and gagged. The imperial escorts decided to save their laughter for later...when there were no witnesses. They repeated the procedure with Lack-2 and the youngster acted in a textbook manner. He woke up, eyelids fluttering open so wide they got a good view of the whites of his eyes, doubled over and inelegantly spat out the chemical laden sweets in his mouth, therefore he glared heatedly at the retainers and wiped his lips. Red looked around while Lack-2 amused the guards and his crimson irises landed on the gate of the castle they wheeled him to. He had no idea of how he came here, he suspected the convoys put him to sleep and after reaching Ransei, transferred him to a wheelchair and wheeled him to this place. His arms were still bound, but they did not care to shackle him to the chair. Getting up slowly, he got a bearing of the place. Behind him the landscape stretched out with uniform bleakness, little houses and buildings all appeared like military barracks with their metal walls and chain-link fences. Even the very ground they walked on had metallic slats hammered over the earth. In front of him, stood the thickest, most decorative blast doors he had the pleasure of laying his eyes on and beyond it, wide pipes, gears and indented disks formed a sophisticated tangle up an escarpment and fed into an Imperial and futuristic palace. Red focused his attention on the gates again and marvelled at it. In the middle of the heavy iron doors, a symbol, similar to the one stamped on the cloth masks of his escorts, had been engraved, golden hinges gleamed brightly amongst the dull metal blue and he looked up to see a sheet of fluorescent blue illuminating the top part of the gate.
Execution's commander craned his neck and the castle loomed up.
A fortress, his mind agreed.
An inescapable, security heaped fortress with a door that could probably survive Arceus's wrath. And the castle didn't look too easy either. Towering turrets of dull grey and brown painted metal cast shadows over the rooftop of the pagoda; the walls of the castle were stouter and more solid than the average military base.
Probably because they had metal lining them.
What's the use of an electrified fence when the walls were too high and slippery to climb?
"...Nice place you have there!" Red joked in an effort to reduce the fathomless despair he felt, "it's very...Secure." A jab to the stomach warned him to be quiet and he wheezed and nodded understandingly. The two guards positioned themselves and the former criminal hoped they wouldn't blindfold him this time. He needed to see the interior of the castle should an opportunity to escape arise. Escape, his mind snorted. Good luck. The escorts gave him a push and he strode up the stone steps leading to the awe-inspiring gate. Using his gauntlet, the Ransei native rapped sharply and the entrance bombinated. Red shuddered and the whole ground shook violently as the blast doors slid apart to reveal a mechanical hell. He stood there, unable to articulate the sheer fear he felt as a mini earthquake rattled the teeth in his skulls. Finally, the vibration stopped and another jab to the small of his back reminded him to walk. Suddenly, the ex-champion tried to make himself small on passing through a procession of people and steel type pokemon tethered to leashes. He spied a dozen or so steelix grinning toothily at him, their owners grinned too and Red could imagine what they thought. His ears caught sneers and whispering of 'commoner' and 'low-born', the people of this noble country were disgusted to allow a criminal in their lands...And a commoner on top of that. Head hanging low, he posed the perfect picture of a depressed individual. Underneath the curtain of his sable bangs, his eyes darted about calculatingly and he made sure to remember the camouflaged entrance situated at the base of the hill on which the castle sat. A gear whirred and the rock face slid apart to reveal a cavern.
The inside was dark and it stretched upwards endlessly; kling, klang and klingklang populated the shaft and whirred about noisily. A simple elevator waited for them and Red obediently stepped on the platform and moved up to make space for Lack-2 and the two guards, one of them punched a button set into the rickety structure; the stage rocketed up with frightening speeds and Red swallowed in an effort to keep his meagre breakfast down. With a crackle unbefitting a royal elevator, it came to a juddering stop and one of the men grabbed him and deposited him to an earthen ledge. Red looked up and gasped; thick pipes wove over each other and plugged into a sheet of black metal lining the roof of the domed shaft. He opened his mouth in order to ask a question and Lack-2 gestured him to face forward. Another inconspicuous door glided apart and spat the band out into the basement of the palace. A metal works unfolded before Red's eyes and he peered at the various forges and ovens blackened by fire. Rows of metallic tables contained sophisticated equipment, mirrors reflected grim, sweat drenched faces hammering away on an exquisite vase or tempering an imperial weapon and lasers winked across, slicing great sheets of black, grey or white metal in square sheets where a magnetic crane would lift them up and deposit them neatly into stacks with an ear-splitting clang. None of the workers spoke as the guards guided him through a confusing maze of tables, worn out expressions and the dim glows of dying embers competing against the equally subdued glows of overhead arc lamps.
Another hiss of a door later, they emerged into a hallway. Beams, lacquered in crimson and decorated with silk banners disappeared behind him as his feet pattered over polished wooden tiles. Red spied many paper doors, each one identical to the last and made a great effort in order to keep his head low. Everything leapt up to him, dazzling him beyond words. Intricate metal partitions, lasered to perfection, stood side by side against silk screen counterparts. An elaborate chandelier fought with traditional paper lanterns in a show of which fixture could cast more light. Women, mute and clad in simple robes, briefly glanced at him and quickly looked away when he met their eyes, despite the sheer size of the castle, he could not hear a single noise out of place. The entire palace seemed to be soundless and only the muffled thumps of his walking assured him that he was not deaf, the guards glided along the floor and simply nodded to anyone who came across. Trying to remember the corridors proved to be a harrowing matter since each and every one they came across, appeared exactly the same. Instead of panicking, he calmed down and raked the environment for small details. Green would've been proud to know that his best friend was thinking for once.
Bonsai...a tiny tree in ornamental flower pot peeked out from an alcove in one corridor.
The previous one had silk screens with swanna in flight.
This one had metallic lace lining the decorative trim on the floor. He had to strain his eyes to see it, but the effort paid off.
The final corridor had black iron brackets set into wooden panels and beams. A sheet of coloured rice paper shielded the flames and threw ghostly shadows across the floor and ceilings. Abruptly, the bright and lavish corridor ended to give way to a shiny girder and a metallic corridor. Here everything turned modern and surgical. Cells, reinforced with blue highlighted material, winked in the gloomy interior and without a word, the duo pushed him inside one and shut the door with a deafening peal. The noise reverberated in the ex-champion's ears long after Lack-2 and the two men left. Sighing, he crouched down on the bare floor and thought, repeating the observations in his head in order not to forget. Hope still burned a bright flame in his chest; he will get out of here, no matter what.
No matter what.
A sad chuckle escaped his lips and he tried to wriggle his raw hands out of the rope. The thick coils did not move an inch; however, he sported new rope burns on his wrists, a glance around the cell revealed a toilet and thankfully, a shower hidden behind a steel screen; a bed bolted to the side of metal inlaid walls and a basin in the middle of nowhere. A mirror mirrored his sulky reflection back at him and on inspecting it closely; he noticed a tiny camera hidden in one of the ornate screws. Curling his hands into double fists, he smashed the device and heard an alarm blare deep within the castle. Good. He needed someone to untie his hands; he had urgent business coming up.
Nature called and demanded he answer promptly.
To his dismay, a platoon of imperial guards did not pour inside the corridor. Red spent a few good minutes hopping around the cell, cursing and eventually resorting to gnaw through the thick rope. He gave up a few moments later and simply sat pitifully in one corner of the dungeon, viewing the monotonous scenery through the shiny bars of his cage. His hands swelled up, his shirt was dirty and reeked with sweat whilst his hair had matted into thick locks which itched intolerably. The shower beckoned him and briefly he thought of kicking off his shoes and standing under the faucet with his clothes on. Bit by bit, he realized that these four walls represented his current home and his life would be nothing more than eating, sleeping, feeling miserable and providing the occasional entertainment to his wardens. The crimson eyed man looked forlornly down at his waist and tried to imagine Pika's irritated face glaring at him through the clear dome of a pokeball. Nothing. No Pika, no Saur, no friends or partners. He only had his depressing thoughts for company.
No Red...don't think too deeply about it, your job isn't to think, you leave that to Green and Blue, right now, look for a way to get out. You are not staying in this Mew forsaken place forever. Crossing his legs, he noted the dirt stain on his jeans and spared another moment internally pitying himself, he wondered what the rest of his friends did, could he dare hope that they tried to rescue him? The mere thought sent a fresh wave of determination coursing through his otherwise fatigued body and he searched for an indent or a ventilation shaft big enough to slip through. There were two shafts, so small; his hands wouldn't be able to go through properly. A miniscule window let in light and like any normal jail cell, it had horizontal bars running across its length. Undeterred, Red painfully heaved himself up, the tips of his shoes barely grazing the floor and gasped on seeing the outside, even if he could somehow squeeze through the window, a sheer drop to a metal paved ground awaited him. He'd just be a disfigured, rusty splat on the shiny floor and it could take cleaners weeks to find his corpse. The Kanto native shuddered and moved away from the window, a sharp pain travelled down his abdomen and he felt like bursting. He groaned, rolled up into a ball and after the paroxysm passed, straightened out again and prayed that he won't leak. On hearing the sound of growing footsteps, his head snapped up and screwing up every ounce of dignity he could muster, Red sauntered to the bars and uninterestedly surveyed the guards.
"Commoner...I heard our Lord allowed him in here." Whispered one guard sensationally
"Don't be daft!" Hissed another, "he must be an illegitimate child of one of the warlords. Perhaps the man dwelled outside of Ransei and after growing up, posed a threat, our Lord would never allow a commoner in here!"
"Why don't we take a look?"
"That is not allowed, do not break the rules."
"You say that and yet you follow me..." the first man turned and gave his partner a haughty look, "and it seems like the rest of the castle and one of the visiting warlords is interested as well." The escorts bowed and hid their faces behind bell shaped sleeves. Red craned his neck and grimaced on seeing a short, gaudily dressed man enter the gloomy corridor. His bulk jiggled behind expanses of fine mauve silk and his face had been painted a ghostly shade of white. Atop a balding head, the man wore a long hat and on entering the metal lined corridor, the warlord snapped his fan shut and thrust the edge of it underneath the prisoner's face. He spoke some words in a high pitched voice and after snapping his head to the left, Red hissed and retreated further in his cell. This isn't a zoo and he wasn't an animal to be ogled at. More whispers and muted mutterings floated to his ears and he glowered back. Two retainers of the pasty faced warlord, pleaded with the noble to return. His posse left and before the corridor could empty out of all people, the blood eyed man stepped forward again and one of the guards involuntarily jumped at his presence. A delighted tingle ran down the convict's spine, so the nobles of Ransei were afraid of him as much as he was terrified of them. The guard's olive tinted irises grew hard and he brushed his heavily ornamented scabbard in a warning. Red held his arms up and begged him to cut the ropes, instead of complying, the warden sneered and arrogantly folded his arms across his chest. If the prisoner wanted to his bindings to be off, the commoner best start grovelling on the floor. Swallowing his dignity, the ex-champion started to crouch when his ears picked out a familiar sound.
"Do you want my autograph?" Red straightened up and leered, he smirked widely at the dark flush on the man's face, "I'm pretty famous no? A commoner from Kanto who has been given the green light to stay in Ransei's prestigious jail cells...What do they do when you commit a crime?" The smirk grew wider with each passing second, "I'm pretty sure they don't offer you a place here am I right? Because this area is for top ranking criminals only..." The man blinked and glanced behind, with one fluid movement, he drew his sword and pointed it at Red, "I wouldn't do that if I were you...As from now...I'm worth more than you and both you and your warlord knows it..." Execution's ex-commander barely finished his sentence when the imperial guard turned around and uttered a horrible screech, the sounds gurgled and eventually died in his throat.
Another area:
In a highly secured room, Pika shifted inside its ball and uncurled itself from a restless sleep. Beady eyes blinked slowly and forced itself open. The electric mouse felt agitated and contemplated on electrocuting its master for such an unpleasant experience. Pikachu had never experienced such fatigue, his limbs were numb and the mere act of shuffling around inside the pokeball brought on a wave of nausea and pain. Shifting irritably, the mouse looked up. It rubbed its eyes, discharged itself and peered upwards again. Instead of seeing the shapely angle of Red's jaw and a mop of jet black hair stuffed underneath a peak cap, the rodent witnessed a milky film obscuring the glass dome of the pokeball and beyond that, abysmal darkness. Using flash, he lit up the surroundings marginally and saw boxes, crates, glass tubes and cages. For a moment, he wondered if its master had accidentally left him inside the legendary Pokemon holding cell...however, Pika noted the glass cages were a bit too small to house mythical pokemon. Moreover, Red never used such a weird pokeball. The electric mouse pressed its face against the glass and witnessed Saur sleepily shuffling about in the next ball. Suddenly, he remembered the events, his human was captured by some scarier humans and Pika, along with the others, were kept separate lest they try to help the master escape. The rodent snorted and licked it's fluffed up fur down. Meticulously, it cleaned itself and ruminated on unpleasant thoughts. Tail stiffening and cheeks sparking with electricity, Pika let loose a miniature thunder in the ball, resolving to fry the plastic casing and dissolve the glass. All its pent up rage let erupted and in a moment freedom will be his.
The thunderstorm ricocheted around the curved confines and streamed back into Pika who absorbed it and stored it in his cheeks and tail. It looked up and to its alarm, noted the milky dome turn whiter. The electric type breathed heavily. How? Not even an ultra-ball could contain a thunder of such magnitude so why? For the next several moments, the mouse unleashed torrents of electricity in hopes of rupturing the ball. Nothing happened and the top of the ball turned opaque with each attack till Pika could see the outside no more. This wasn't a master ball; a master ball had additional locks on top of the dome which completely sealed off any form of escape. This capsule felt weird and heavy, suddenly the rodent felt very afraid and squeaked itself to breathlessness. It panted and stared up at a white curved plane obscuring its vision.
What sort of pokeball was this?
"Premier Ball sir...Those aren't for sale unless you have a special permit." Pika remembered a shopkeeper informing Red when the latter peered at the pristine white balls, "those capsules are very expensive and function akin to master balls..." the memory faded and the rodent curled up in the ball and rocked to and fro in a pitiful manner. The tiny hope of breaking the ball apart with brute force died out like a fickle flame and the miniscule electric type started by pressing its paws around the confines of the ball. There should be some crack...An invisible fissure hidden somewhere inside this ball and if he could just find it, Pika would send a thin trail of sparks and trigger the releasing mechanism. Crouching, it sniffed and prodded the ball, scraping the cushion pads off and shredding it. Underneath, the plastic casing felt cold to the touch and to his delight, a multitude of rough grooves and slots pressed against its pads. With a delighted squeak, Pika balanced itself on its tail and focused its concentration. It fed a dribble of electricity in the fine cracks and guided them down to the inner circuitry of the ball. With a muted pop, the milky dome popped open with a hiss and ejected Pika out. The rodent tumbled on the table and shocked the open capsule for good measure.
Hopping across the table, pikachu pressed its paw against the switches of five capsules and released Saur and the other monsters from their premier balls. Thankfully, none of them shrieked up a cacophony and in the dark they plotted to get Red out of whatever confinement these strange people put him in. Vee's forehead jewel glowed and the feline padded down, the heavy doors to the room opened up effortlessly before her and after erecting an illusionary barrier around the rest of her comrades, the band of beasts quietly traversed down the unfamiliar corridors.
Late afternoon
Sinnoh
Base of Mount Coronet
"We are-"
"The Red Rescue Team!" Dia cheerfully piped up in the middle of Green's lecture. The rest of the organization, crowded around a makeshift fireplace in the main chamber, dissolved into explosive fits of laughter and the cave echoed their snorts and gleeful shouts. Rubbing his temples and giving the waving boy a loathed look, the older male allowed the commotion to die down before continuing with his words. Taking Platina's suggestion, he decided to finally rally the departments together and search for Red. However, they were at a loss, for one, the Dex Criminals had no idea of where Red might be and he had a feeling that Gold, if not constantly supervised, will end up folding to his irrational ideas and going after the crimson eyed leader by himself. The ebony haired male's irises danced with a mischievous spark and he actively participated in their meetings with great vigour. As Dia and Pearl ended an impromptu skit, Oak slammed his hand on the flimsy whiteboard they purchased at the local department store and inwardly cursed when it splintered underneath his palm.
"Now..." he voiced lowly, "if everyone could listen and co-operate-"
"Then you won't end up like that whiteboard!" Pearl hollered and a wave of giggles broke out. "Sir, please continue..." the blonde squeaked and shrunk under his superior's furious stare. Strategy's leader exhaled a few times. He waited for a pin drop silence and listened to the crackling of the logs spitting in the fire place. The heat emanating from the fire made the room warm and cosy and he saw the flames cast capering shadows on the cavern's bare walls.
"Before we become the Red rescue team...we first have to gather information and GOLD! Shut up and listen to me!" The individual in question didn't shrink like Pearl, instead, he clenched his fists and Green spied the faint traces of a bluish bruise snaking down the adolescent's neck and disappearing beneath a deep cut collar. "As I mentioned before, we have to gather information, we don't know where Red is and if that wretched brat is sensible, he will deploy Red to a place we cannot reach so easily. Or they might be hiding him right underneath our noses. At the moment, we don't have a television so acquiring information on the outside happenings will have to be done manually. Hopefully, we will be able to get a flat screen soon...And no, you can't use it to play video games Pearl." Oak hissed under his breath and pinned his underling with a glare, the blonde feigned innocence and looked the other way, "Most of us will be split up however, it's imperative that some of us remain at base." Green ignored the furious hushed mutterings wafting from the group seated before him. Sapphire, her blue eyes shining like chips of ice, huffed and irritably jerked her head away in complete defiance. For a moment, Strategy's commander felt a great weight descend on his shoulders; Execution's remaining members were not pleased with someone else commanding them. In a surprising turn of events, Dia secured his position as a commander, but all the boy did was eat, create comedic performances with his best friend and occasionally stare off into the distance. The triumvirate formation they operated in lacked a corner stone and the remaining pebbles simply rolled off in different directions. "Sapphire..." the girl perked on hearing her name and zeroed in on him like a predator, "you and Yellow will go to Johto, I want you to tail Falkner and find out where they might be keeping your commander. At once, her eyes lighted up and the sharp edge melted into gratitude. She smiled, bowed a thanks and scooted next to Yellow.
Blue and Green simultaneously sighed, one pending disaster alleviated.
Throughout their strategizing, Diamond keenly observed the other two and chewed thoughtfully on energy herbs. The juices of the leaves were bitter and unpleasant to the tongue. Swallowing them down forcefully and taking a swig of water to wash away the lingering taste, he reached for Green's discarded whiteboard marker and started writing on the splintered fragments of the board. The rest of the members observed him with bated breath and the squeaking of the marker intermingled with crackling fire and the mournful lament of the wind as it whistled outside the mountain. He finished with his words and as Oak tried deciphering his terrible handwriting; the Sinnoh native turned and explained himself. "Ms Blue, can I ask Platina and Whi-2 to roam around Sinnoh? We have to find out about the Dex criminal's status am-ongst the public and if the comm-otion we caused several weeks earlier died down... If the police are still searching for us, we have to lay low for a while longer." Surprised by his sudden insight, Blue brushed her chocolate brown hair back, nodded and smiled at him, he returned the gesture with a fleeting grin of his own and continued, "then...I want seniors Gold, Green, Blue and Silver to go to Unova." Here the boy stopped and fumbled nervously with the woollen muffler wreathed around his neck. The words uttered by Dia all evoked different reactions; Gold showed a mouthful of teeth and gave him a thumbs up whilst Silver ignored his friend and preferred to look at his sister. Oak stopped trying to read Dia's words and spun around, with both his brows arched in confusion; Blue instinctively folded her arms over her chest and cocked her head to the side. Diamond caught the two eldest commanders share a fleeting look. He tried to read the atmosphere between them, unfortunately for him; they operated on a wholly different level.
A silence, punctuated by snippets of muted conversation, hung over the group. Diamond resorted to gorging on his muffins and Pearl fiercely gesticulated at the crumbs falling on the padded jacket. Aimlessly, the black haired teen brushed it off and resumed staring off into space. Perhaps the other commanders didn't like the way he voiced his opinions without consulting them first. A seed of trepidation rooted in his mind and he crammed the pastry in his mouth and swallowed his morbid ponderings along with it. If they did not like his proposition, they could simply voice it out aloud and together, create a better one.
"What about you Diamond? Don't you want to rescue Red?" The brown haired commander's question halted his rampant thoughts for a moment and he saw pity reflected in the glassy pools of her eyes. "I'm sure you miss him very much, we understand if you want to go and look for him."
The neophyte commander shook his head and rolled up his sleeves, "I can't..." he admitted and Blue leaned closer to hear his brittle tones, "I won't be able to help...I'll only be a hinde-rance." He paused as his co-worker gently clasped his shoulders. "Exec-ution executes plans and is the public image of the Dex-criminals...we excel in attack that's why our calling card image is a picture of two crossed swords." The azure eyed teen screwed his eyes shut and recalled the previous commander's words. "Execution is the department responsible for attacking...however, from today, we will be defending as well. I'm a fortress. I'm staying behind to defend this home...so that those who stay in it are safe...and the ones who are away on missions can have a safe place to return to." The muted chatter in the room came to a hushed stop and the entire organization stared at Diamond. Constellate's leader nodded in understanding and hugged him tightly. He caught a whiff of perfume, something sweet and gentle and it reminded him of his mother. "I want to stay behind" He softly added, "and I'm sure Gold and Green will appreciate looking for him more than me."
Untangling from her embrace with Diamond, the brown haired woman smiled at him one more time, straightened up and faced the underlings, some tried to supress their astonished expressions and off to the edge, she saw White and Whi-2 huddle closer underneath a shared blanket. "Diamond is right; we need someone to stay here and keep this base safe...I'm sure he will do more than an adequate job." The professor's critical irises bored into the indolent boy a few minutes longer, eventually, he accepted the proposition with a wry shake of his head and Blue continued with her speech, "now as Diamond proposed, I want Platinum and Whi-2 to roam around mainland Sinnoh. It would be in your best interest to go in disguise and your task is to gather intelligence about our standing. Find out if the police and the public are still talking about us and see where that takes you. We are all strained and overworked so if you want to take a day off and simply rest, you are allowed to do so. As always, safety is the priority, if you feel threatened, return to base immediately." The two nodded and Whi-2 tentatively crawled over to Platinum's position, the noble merely acknowledged her with a tiny nod of her head. "By the way..." The Kanto native brusquely stated, "who agrees that Green's fashion sense is evolving?" A single sentence was all it took for the congregated group to fixate their inquisitive gaze at him. Fighting down the urge to hide, he deliberately pulled the olive tinted, fur lined jacket closer to his body and put up the hood.
"Daisy bought it for me and it's quite warm...Enough about my clothing choice, we have matters to attend to. I've just checked the schedules for the S.S Spiral and it leaves for Unova every evening." Green looked up from his palm top and scribbled the times down on the fractured board, "shall we all leave together?" he asked and saw several people nod their head slowly. "Then it's settled, tomorrow morning, Yellow and Saph will leave for Johto via plane...make sure to book your tickets online. Blue, Silver, Gold and I will leave in the afternoon and arrive at Canalave city by the evening, we shall take the cruiser and it'll deposit us to Unova the day after tomorrow and we can start our missions then. Lastly, Platinum and Whi-2...It will be risky for you to come with us, so I suggest you leave in the evening and as Blue suggested, take your time and return to base at once should you feel threatened. Emerald," the blonde looked up from his handheld console and discreetly stowed it away on seeing his superior eye the video gaming device with blatant scorn. "Set up a private network so that all the field members can communicate with each other. Diamond will supervise you and you are to report to him at all times. I'm enforcing a new rule...You are to update your situation back to base every single day. Write up a report and send it to Emerald; I want no excuses." The spiky haired male thrust his hands deep inside the pockets and tucked his chin in the upturned collar. "Any questions?" he asked after seeing some members shift uneasily.
Gold's arm shot up in the air. "Yeah...Why in Ho-oh's name am I on your team?" he queried with incredulity lacing his voice, "Gimme Silver or Crys and I'm fine on working with them. I feel a bit uncomfortable working with you."
"Possibly because I'll be keeping an eye on your actions every step of the way?"
"Yep...I'm scared you might peep on me when I'm showering...Knowing how obsessed you are with your rules and all." The Johto native's tone turned flat and humourless, "you won't let me do what I want. And if I sneak out, I'm sure you'll haul me back and forbid me from ever stepping a foot outside again." Amber and jade eyes bored into each other and came to an understanding. The older man dipped his head and intoned that Gold could do whatever he wanted; the latter showed scepticism at his words but accepted the offer. "Fine, I get to do what I want and you simply look after me. I promise not to do anything naughty." At his words, Silver and Crystal involuntarily snorted and exchanged disbelieving glances, their best friend didn't jibe in return, he merely stared at the grey carpet lining the floor and rubbed his finger on it. Golden irises clouded with ponderous thoughts and for a moment, they darkened with despair. The ebony haired man blinked and reached for his friend's hands, he wrapped his own around theirs and leaned dispiritedly against Crystal. Every time he thought about Red, a hole opened up in his chest and he felt a sharp throb of worry and pain. He tried desperately not to think about Lack-2, however the image of the boy, with a sunny and slightly roughish grin, would pervade his dreams and on most nights, he woke up whimpering and drenched in a cold sweat. This current predicament they were in was all due to his negligence of disciplining Lack-2 properly and letting the boy get his way. In the darkest depth of the night, when the surroundings shone like black ink, the ebony haired man reasoned with himself that Lack-2 did not belong with the Dex-criminals in the first place. He only integrated himself in order to capture one of them. Gold knew all this yet his mind kept on screaming: It's your fault.
It's your fault...
Yes...He whispered and allowed the morbid thoughts to swirl in his head and caress him...It's my fault Red is gone.
Late morning
Ransei
In the corridors of Valora Palace
A group of six beasts shuffled forward cautiously and hid themselves underneath a shroud of invisibility. The environment around them remained deadly quiet and in the distance, Pika picked up obscure sounds. Aero did not like the way it had to slink across the ground, its talons scraped the polished wood and left ugly scratches on the otherwise oiled floor. Vee, who guided the disgruntled band of beasts, sensed the air around with her fur. The pink coat fluffed up and warned her of minute changes in the air. Stealthily, the pokemon crept forward and at one point, venusaur stopped and wriggled two limp vines in the air.
Plants are drawn to sunlight and they boast an acute sensitivity. They will find a way to reach their target no matter what obstacles they might face. Vegetation have been known to split rock, to grow from crevices of stone and even sprout thorns and vines to keep intruders at bay. At this particular moment, Saur wriggled its tentacles in the air and Vee hissed when it went past the reflecting screen she put up. Although the saurian monster did not boast clairvoyance like the psychic type, or acute sense like its other counterparts, it had a shrewd sensitivity to Red's presence and desperately sought to find the area where its master most likely might be. The vines lowered and snaked across the floor to the side, it met with a sheer wall of metal and wood, Saur retracted the tendrils, stiffened them to a bark like hardness and shot them out again. It punctured through the partitions and broke them down partially. Pika and Vee screeched in tandem whilst Poli leapt over the barrier and helped in breaking the walls down. Disregarding the two furious monsters, Saur ambled its way through the neat sized whole and continued in destroying the structures in a robotic manner. Pikachu and espeon gave up and meekly followed them. The psychic type lowered the barrier and erected an ominous sphere instead. Any humans who tried to get close to them will be overwhelmed by a feeling of dread and instinctively head the opposite way.
They continued bulldozing their way through a straight line. Venusaur's whole body tingled as they passed through beautifully decorated corridors. Close. Very close, it could feel Red, fatigued and in despairing need of the toilet, talk with a guard.
The lesser noble didn't see it coming but Red sure did. He heard the indiscernible thwacking of Saur's vines as his team of monsters got closer. A swell of confidence bloomed in his chest and he outright pressed his grinning face against the bars and taunted the man. Too late the guard noticed green shoots curl painfully around his throat; he sputtered something obscene and fell to the floor. Brick by brick, a section of the steel lined corridor fell apart and he smiled at his monsters. Pika squeaked pitifully and jumped up in the air in order to reach him. Hands still bound and his needs forgotten, Red held his arms out in order to receive his little partner.
All he received was a splatter of neon yellow blood across his cheeks and the bars of the cell. The ebony haired man blinked in confusion and horror on seeing a heavily armoured aggron punching the life out of Vee. Gold tipped spikes skewered into Poli and Red found himself screaming and begging for mercy. The site of the mega-evolved aggron whaling on his monsters unnerved him. His legs grew weak as the thick tail of the iron monster smashed the giant flower off Saur's back. One pokemon...It took only one pokemon to demolish his prized team and he couldn't stop screeching at the monster to stop. Crimson eyes darted left and right in order to find its trainer and the ex-champion saw no one ordering the pokemon. Finally, the aggron brutally flung his limp, bloodied poliwrath and the fighting type banged hard against the wall. The iron armour pokemon shifted and aimed one yellow tinted spike at him. Red kept on screaming till his throat became raw; he shuffled deeper in the cell and sank to his knees.
This wasn't happening...
This was not happening.
His team, consisting of the most well trained and powerful monsters across the five regions, did not get clobbered into a comatose state by a single pokemon. Red's mind refused to believe it and his eyes grew wide when the aggron curled its blood soaked claws around a shiny bar. Emerald blood...must be Saur's, his conscious supplied and he still looked at his beasts for a sign that one of them might miraculously wake up and show the iron plated pokemon a piece of hell. Alas, none of them moved, not even a twitch and the Kanto native started hyperventilating. Impossible, no one can damage his partners to this extent. An illusion...this was an illusion.
He kept mumbling to himself and staring at the semi-lifeless bodies. The attacks came so brutally fast, none of his beasts had time to retaliate.
"Stand down Aggron..." a baritone voice commanded from the shadows, "and return...you have no business here and Lord Ieyasu wants you by his side." The aggron stopped trying to tear off the bar and shuffled out of sight. Red wanted to see the speaker however he was exhausted.
"No...this isn't happening to me..." he kept on muttering whilst scarlet irises remained fixed on the bodies of his unmoving pokemon.
A/N: Much gratitude to UTOPIAN ANGEL for alerting the story, hopefully it keeps on being an intriguing story to read. Gold can't get a break from Green and poor Red just witnessed his prized team getting mauled. Review what you think people. And thanks to all those who read and reviewed, virtual chocolates for you. At Eevee :D Ahahahaha, despite what I wrote on my bio, I'm actually a very lazy person, but, shh, you never heard that. How is everything by your side? And yes, I'm trying to be happy and I hope you are too. Oh yes, Merry Christmas. At Silver: Unown expelled foreign bodies and gave the Dexters memory loss to chew on. As you can see, his messing with the officials didn't go very well, although…you can wait and see how things turn out. Merry Christmas to you too, hope you stuffed yourself full of chocolate! At Jack54311: Secrets huh? Keep on wondering :D Dia is probably trying his best to be a fitting commander, but yeah, he thinks that the others might not be so appreciative of him. At AceTrainerLeaf: You could always say hi and tell me what you had for breakfast (I'm kidding). Red going insane? Heh, watch what happens.
At Guest 1: I kept on reading and re-reading your reviews when studying became a bit overwhelming. My sister kept on telling me to shut up because I was laughing so much. :D Wheew, thanks for the summaries, I hope you can continue to do them if you have time because they are seriously hilarious. Which is nice because this story just gets darker. I hope it doesn't turn away the readers though. Somehow, I picture the scenes perfectly. Bald Green and Gold cracking jokes that Yellow likes his hair better than him. Pfft :'D At Guest 2: (Or 1?) I googled some facts up and apparently Green is the tallest Dex Holder, followed by Red and then Silver. Yellow is pretty short but the shortest is of course Emerald. I think the pokeball sort of tames them in order to listen to whoever caught it and yes, I do think Pokemon rage, some of them will not listen to you (like in the games, if you do not have enough badges and the mons are over levelled) but let's not go to the mauling to death shall we? I do think pokemon families miss each other, but their primary cause of concern is their trainers. I also believe that close companions of a trainer can influence their pokemon, like when Green's haughty and (don't touch me mortal) type pokemon eventually becomes friendly when they spent time with Red, whereas Red's pokemon take on Green's I-am-better-than-thou attitude.