Chapter 68: Probing into cognizance

Early evening

Johto

Goldenrod City

The magnetic levitation train came to seamless stop in the underground station. Pneumatic doors hissed open and the crowds poured out in an orderly manner. Sapphire got off the plastic leather couches and together with her petite senior, hauled herself through throngs of people and stepped out on to the station platform. Electronic voices streamed in from all sides, directing passengers and providing information whilst e-boards winked with timetables and train routes. The duo made their way past the cloying underground air, located a flight of stairs and emerged into the watery light of the evening sun. Yellow took a moment to hitch her bag up her shoulders and admire the radio tower, the red skeleton of metal gleamed vividly against an orange tinted sky. Taking a deep breath, she motioned for Sapphire to follow her as they made for the nearest bus terminal. Their original destination, Violet city, also served as the home of Falkner, a flying type gym leader and the vice chief of the International Police. Repeated combings of the web and hacking into the International Police's servers failed to divulge Red's location and thus, the commanders decided to either wring information from the vice chief himself, or raid his office for the important documents. Staying in Violet or Goldenrod City would be tantamount to giving themselves away and the latter also housed the Police headquarters of Johto; the blonde viewed the skyscraper dwarfing the other buildings around it. A few flags fluttered from the mast set into the roof of the building and she tore her eyes off the menacing domicile and focused on the region map instead.

Azalea town, tucked into a cove sheltered by the Union cave to the right and the Ilex Forest to the left, seemed to be a perfectly safe town to stay in; the gym leader of the town, Bugsy, did not have any affiliations with the police and he was currently visiting Cherrygrove city. The hamlet also served as a stop between Violet and Goldenrod; confirming their new destination with a firm shake of her head, Yellow set off with Sapphire lazily trailing at her heels. On entering the bus, the brown haired junior squirmed uncomfortably and settled for staring outside the windows. Cityscape gave way to rolling green pastures, dotted with miltanks and mareep. As the station to the Ilex forest loomed closer and the dark canopy of trees stretched higher, the Kanto native sensed an increasing urgency in her co-worker's actions. The girl fisted with her shorts, pulled on her gloves and ran fingers through her hair, making it messier than a murkrow's nest. Finally, unable to ignore the way Saph's eyes skirted around nervously, the blonde spoke up and asked her a question.

"I was wondering senior Yellow..." the teen's words came out in a hurried rush as she glanced out the window, "...can we stay in the Ilex Forest instead of a hotel in Azalea Town? Ever since I was young, our family used to go camping and...Well, Papa stopped camping after Mama died, he spends his time immersed in fieldwork and I help him a lot, but we never stay together." Uttering a silent groan of misery, Sapphire forlornly watched as the bus rattled right past the station platform. The crude stage of wood grew smaller till the trees swallowed the scenery up. There goes her camping plan. Exhaling in a defeated manner, she leaned back on the lumpy seats and tucked her hair behind her ears. The healer gently smiled at her and pressed one pale hand against the Hoenn native's forearm and the girl eased the tension from her body.

"Of course we can stay there, I like camping as well and more often than not, I spend nights in the Viridian Forest." Yellow softly admitted and Sapphire giggled, "Since we missed the stop, we can take another bus...Or hike from Azalea town. Hmm, come to think of it, we don't have camping equipment." Her junior snorted and replied that they didn't need camping equipment and the blonde woman agreed. "I suppose so...After all we have been through, it's nice to take time off for healing." They lapsed into a comfortable silence and discreetly, Sapphire peeked at her senior. There wasn't a person in the organization that disliked Yellow for some reason. Everyone adored her and privately, youngster felt a bubble of jealously wafting around her head, the green eyed monster dissipated when the older female held out a lunch box packed with delicious sandwiches. Famished due to the constant travelling and infrequent break times, the wild trainer gladly grabbed a sandwich after wiping her grubby fingers on the back of her shorts. Yellow frowned disapprovingly at this but Sapphire smiled cheekily and after thanking her, bit into her food with obvious relish. Mood content and hunger satiated, the brown haired teenager reclined with her face squashed against the window and soon fell asleep with the purr of the bus' engine roaring pleasantly in her ears.

Night

Johto

Ilex Forest

Shafts of silver light permeated between gnarled trunks and cast shadowy illusions of the creatures inhabiting the forest. The ground splayed out before them, patches of white intermingling with grey and black, plants waved in a thin breeze, buckling under a half moon. The semi-circle suspended in the sky, struggled to be seen through dense foliage and uttering a grunt, Sapphire heaved her machete and hawked her way through a sea of branches and vines which roughly brushed against her bare arms. Behind her, Yellow followed at a slower pace, the wild girl carved a thick trail by breaking tree branches and stripping off bark. Ferns and smaller angiosperms were brutally crushed under her sneakers. Wiping a sheen of sweat from her brow, the blue eyed girl brought out a flask and drank a healthy amount of water, smacking her lips, she stood deadly still and heard the distant buzzing of angry insects. The hum faded and she continued her senseless slashing after glancing back and making sure Yellow followed. Despite the humid heat clinging to her skin, the night time forest provided a welcome retreat from her urban surroundings and the bitter chill of their new base. The plantation stretched out endlessly in all directions and her sharp vision picked out pokemon slinking along and keeping a watchful eye out for these intruding humans. The haunting hoots of noctowl echoed and re-echoed. Volbeat and illumise danced in the night air, their bodies pulsing akin to golden globules of light. Sparkling crimson eyes glared from the deep, their hostility outlined by a complimentary snarl and a flash of ivory canines. Talons scratching on bark alerted her to the presence of predatory birds.

None of these fazed the two females as they blissfully continued their night time stroll through the forest. Finally, the duo came to a clearing, laying down her backpack gratefully on the spongy grass, Sapphire cleared the area of woody plants and Yellow proceeded to gather the sticks for a fire. Toro popped out of his capsule with a shrieking growl and several birds flew away instantaneously, their wings temporarily blotting out the moon. A spark ignited into a roaring fire and soon, the two humans and blaziken had miniature flames dancing in their eyes. Retrieving several cans of max repel, Sapphire generously emptied them on the tree trunks lining the glade and tossed them with a satisfied huff. Marching back to Yellow, she helped the older female in laying out blankets and unravelling their sleeping bags. The sticky heat eventually evaporated into a crisp breeze and it skimmed past her skin, leaving her hairs standing on end. Grinning wildly, she smoothed out her blankets and unceremoniously plopped down on them. All around her, the undergrowth whispered, screamed and cried with the tongues of different pokemon. Sapphire inhaled deeply and the sickly saccharine smell of sweet scent drifted to her nose along with a faint whiff of something toxic. She looked up and admired the stars with a content sigh. When was the last time she spent a clean night like this? With the stars as a roof and a bed of springy grass to sleep on? Near her, the blonde strategy member kept on milling about, meticulously tending to the fire, waving off a few bugs that were brave enough to trespass and unpacking food along with other essentials. The Hoenn native observed her carefully and an uncharacteristic ache took root in her heart.

Yellow reminded her of her mother.

"This is nice, thank you for the suggesting that we spend the night in the Ilex forest Sapphire." The blonde nodded warmly and settled down on her sleeping bag. A long twig in her hands repeatedly stoked the fire and doused the clearing with a dry heat. Toro snuggled on her lap, the bulk of his upper body resting on Yellow's legs. One by one, the din resounding deep in the forest died down and stillness descended. The crackling of flames roared loudly in Yellow's ears and this sound was punctuated by the occasional buzz. She let go of her ponytail and it tumbled down into a silky mess. Running her fingers through her hair, she attempted to untangle it and jumped on feeling another pair of fingers winding through her strands. Green had a sneaky habit of doing this when she was asleep at her desk and the thought of him coerced a red flush on her cheeks as she imagined the jade eyed male being near her. Swallowing her fantasies, the hazel eyed woman half turned to see Sapphire combing her fingers through her hair, the teenager's face was masked with a pained emotion. Smiling at her, Yellow allowed her to do what she wanted; after all, being in the organization tore a person's consciousness in more than one ways.

"...Your hair is nice and soft..." Sapphire trailed off and the frozen expression on her face melted when her senior looked to the front, "no wonder Green likes to run his fingers through it." The Hoenn native grinned on seeing her senior's form stiffen due to embarrassment. "Rald to me about it...That midget is a pervert you know...You should be careful of him." Yellow nodded in agreement and laughed, the little giggle escaping her lips rung like bells in Saph's ears and reminded her of days gone by. "Why did you join this organization senior?" The azure eyed girl further questioned and her hands fell from the silken strands, she waited, her breath stilling as her companion replied, her tone delicate like fine glass. Yellow's reason for joining the Dex-criminals remained painfully simple, she ran after a man she admired and that caused her to be embroiled in the very heart of the criminal group. "Yeah...I kinda get your feeling 'cause I did the same. I run after Ruby and till today, he is one step ahead of me and staring me down." Her hands resumed the restless combing of her friend's hair and she absentmindedly divulged her inner contemplations, "I hate it when he refuses to battle because he shrieks about splitting a nail or ruining his skin, I know his reasons are more than that, possibly due to gym leader Norman constantly pushing him to become a better fighter. I wish we could all just spill our secrets to each other and get over with it! I mean how hard could it be?" Fuming internally, she caught the sound of her senior's mellow laughter and quieted down. "Stop laughing..." the girl sternly stated, "we hardly ever hang out together and here I am, telling you things I won't dare tell Ruby." A pause followed her words and in a tiny, childish voice she confessed: "You remind me of my mother senior Yellow, Mama was a very kind and gentle person."

The sounds of the environment completely died out from Sapphire's ears. Even the air seemed to stop blowing when the woman got up, turned around and engulfed her in a tender embrace.

Something wet and salty cascaded down her cheeks.

"I never cried when Mama died...I couldn't. When I saw Papa hanging on to her and sobbing I had to be strong for him."

Her voice talked of its own accord; she didn't remember saying those words out aloud.

More wet and salty tears traced a line on her lips and dripped down.

The hug became suffocating and unbearable, she couldn't breathe; couldn't speak and yet at the same time, she felt safe.

So safe.

Like a sheltered child in her mother's arms.

Sapphire wailed like a wounded animal and a chorus of howls erupted around her and drifted off into the recesses of the night. The forest shifted, the winds picked up and played a sad whistle in tune with her bubbling emotions. Yellow held her tightly, murmuring words of comfort whilst Toro prowled around the two females, his ears perked and feathers ruffled from a mixture of fear and anxiety. It never saw its master cry like this and the scene before him unsettled the fire type. At long last, his human quieted down and sobbed her way into unconsciousness. The Kanto native wiped her tears repeatedly and witnessed as her junior delved into slumber. Hopefully the next time Sapphire wakes up, she will forge ahead with one less burden in her heart.

Mid-morning

Sinnoh

Jubilife City

The headlines, black ink on white posters, gnawed on her mind like acid. Platinum forcefully steered her smouldering gaze away from the enticing posters, they served to irritate her, sensational words whipping the reader and public into a frenzy over nothing. The Berlitz family has been suspected to have ties with the Dex-criminals...So what? The nobles of Ransei have their hands puppeteering several dastardly plans and no one bats an eyelid. Spying the worrying gaze on her companion's face, she gave Whi-2 a stiff smile and marched without looking back. They didn't need to scour for any more information, the sheer hate for the Dex criminals, both from the police and the public, came in tangible waves. Even though people most likely did not have the faintest idea of her identity, she felt their eyes on her, judging, leering and trying to figure her personality. Platinum didn't know herself so how could others unravel her or know of her never ending struggle to pose as the perfect heiress of the Berlitz family? Behind her, the Unovian viewed her surroundings with an amiable smile. Whi-2 had morphed from a shy girl to a frightening spy. The girl's expression showed an easy and carefree attitude despite her inner turmoil. A vein of admiration surfaced in the noble's jumbled thoughts, her list of admired people had expanded to include all her friends in the Organization.

Suddenly, she is struck by a thought.

"We should split up." Platinum flatly declared and pretended not to notice the betrayed look in her comrade's eyes. "The Berlitz family is in the centre of a huge scandal," the girl pointed to the placards, "and I will return to my parents and get to the bottom of this. Please understand that I am only trying to find a source of information. We have a good idea of what the public thinks of us...we are trash...Scum." Whi-2 flinched on hearing such crude words from her normally poised senior. "My family archives have information not found anywhere else in the Poke-verse...I will come back with something valuable. Meanwhile...Please continue the investigation without me." The brown haired teen said nothing, only an angry flicker of her azure irises leaked her feelings. Nodding silently, she managed a sunny grin and guilt churned in the heiress's stomach, making her queasy. "I apologize once again, however this search of ours is futile. Let me escort you back to base and I shall leave from there."

Whi-2 kicked at a discarded snack wrapper as it tumbled in a breeze, "No thank you," she grit out politely, "I'm fully capable of taking care of myself. You can leave senior, I understand that being a noble must be pretty hard on you. Take care of yourself." It might be Platina's imagination but the noble discerned a pitying undertone lacing her junior's voice. "I'll conduct my own investigations and don't worry about people trying to harm me; I'll kick them where it hurts." The Unova native cheerfully waved, walked away with a bounce in her step and hollered, "I'll be back home later so tell the others not to worry about me."

And she was gone, one of the many casually dressed girls in the crowd.

The Sinnoh native blinked, tried to process the strange turn of events and eventually gave up. When you had co-workers as flamboyant as Ruby and sombre as Silver, one tended to accept anything thrown at them. Taking a moment to compose herself, she smoothed out the wrinkles in her pale pink wrap dress and neatly arranged the strands of her hair so it would frame her face perfectly. Adapting a strict posture, she strode to the nearest shuttle service and sought to take the next available tram to Sandgem Town. Although she could call her parents and they would gladly send an armoured vehicle to pick her up, Platina found that taking public transportation would enable her to sort out her crowding ponderations and she welcomed the prospect of emptying her head from rampant contemplations.

Several pairs of interested eyes followed a lone figure down the sidewalk. The girl looked cute, with her long chocolate hair styled to two buns on either side of her head. Crystalline irises were shaded by a visor and her sneakers made little noises as she dragged them down the pavement. Whi-2 let out an irritated exhale and glanced at her surroundings, glassy shop fronts reflected her shadowy image back and her eyes veered to the news...the Police put up a reward for anyone with information on a member of the Dex criminals. For a moment, the offer became tempting; she could easily sell them and go back to her old life. The picture of a smirking Lack-2 and Hugh popped up in her mind and she gritted her teeth furiously. Traitors, her so-called childhood friend were betrayers and this sent an incensed throb of fury coursing through her veins. She won't be like them, the teenager promised herself, she would rise above both of them and keep true to the Organization she currently called home. Her members, unique in their quirks and personality, were kind and brilliant people. Shrugging, she continued her aimless walk down the streets and abruptly turned to find a blonde haired rich kid trailing her. Perfect, the Unovian rolled her eyes, now she had one more problem to add to her plate. The dude smiled at her suavely, running a hand through short cropped hair and she caught the glint of several rings adorning slim fingers. He had an air of carelessness, a teenager rebelling against his parents if the thick silver chains choking his neck were any indication.

"Are you lost?" He asked and she looked up to be ensnared by a pair of forest green eyes, "I don't suppose you are from Sinnoh, because we don't have girls with features as fine as yours." Blonde dude flashed a brilliant smile and the sun mirrored off his polished teeth, "Wanna hang out together?" he finished and only the slight fiddle of his fingers let slip the nervousness he felt. Whi-2 found herself comparing the stranger with Gold, give a few years to this kid and he'll put the amber eyed senior's flirting skills to shame. Smiling coyly, she noted the fervid gleam in his eyes and urged the desire to kick him. Stepping a bit to the side, he swept his hand around and indicated to his friends, a group of teenagers much like her. The females had mixed reactions, some of them grinned and greeted whilst a few others snorted and sneered.

She missed her old life.

Maybe...

If she could forget about them and just mingle in the crowd. Fade out from view.

From the radar then perhaps could she start anew?

Highly unlikely. Blue would find her. As much as she loved the woman, the beautiful leader of Constellate was a luxray in mareep's clothing. And if that lady found her, they would show no mercy.

"Sure I'd like to hang out with you," Whi-2 grinned, "but first, what do you think about the Dex Criminals?" Her question made the others flinch, however, the one standing before her cocked his head to one side and feigned interest.

"I think they are cool..." he dismissively waved his hand and lightly grabbed her arm, "come on, let's hit the game corner together." Whi-2 let herself be dragged and intently studied their expressions. No good, she concluded, these young people were too immersed in life to care about the environment around them. The world could fall apart for all they cared. Fashion trends, social media, games, money and food were more important. She and her rich kid escort lagged behind the rest of the group as they traversed down shady alleys permeated with the smell of rubbish overflowing from dumpsters. In a smooth move, she twisted out of his loose grasp and instead of following his friends, he hobbled after her. "What are you doing?" he voiced exasperatedly and gestured to his crew, "didn't they make you feel welcome?" A silver of worry passed his glassy irises and she felt slightly remorseful for doing this to an unsuspecting individual.

"No...It's not that...Umm I'm not sure if I should tell you this..." Whi-2 trailed off and her eyes flickered around in a show of worry, her hands gripped the pleated skirt and scrunched up the clothing in a bunch. Calmly, he placed his hand over hers and smiled comfortingly.

"You can tell me whatever you like..." the teenager paused, "does this have something to do with the Dex Criminals?" She nodded, "well...they are an erratic bunch, my dad follows the news zealously and he forces me to keep up with current affairs. Apparently, those people are a group with Pokedexes who uses their prowess and skills for criminal activities rather than contributing to society. Pfft, I think they are cool; seriously, they are forcing everyone into a wakeup call. Secretly, I wouldn't mind joining them but I hear that they don't recruit people in a normal way. The moment someone, somewhere in the world gets a Pokedex, they are automatically kidnapped. Like a secret cult huh?" The boy talked animatedly and Whi-2 understood not everyone hated the Dex Criminals, according to her Organization's actions; the public either loved them, or viewed them as dirt. "What do you think about them?" he asked and leaned dangerously close, "do you agree with me or..."

"My sister has been kidnapped by them...I think they are the bane of the Poke-verse" The Unovian flatly replied and scrutinized him, his face tightened indiscernibly, pale skin pulling over his shapely jaw. A second later he relaxed and the previous tension from his face vanished.

"I guess...They are abominable people...But not all criminals are as deplorable as we think...maybe they have their reasons. I don't know. But they are human aren't they?"

They are human aren't they?

His words echoed around her head as the boy slumped to the ground, his biker jacket grazing against the rough brick face of the building. Putting the Taser away in a hidden pocket, she crouched down to the handsome figure and unzipped his jacket. The dull metallic colour of a gun commanded her attention and she slipped her fingers into an inside pocket and pulled out several snippets of paper. A grim smile formed on her lips. Rich kid served as a lower ranking member of the police and obviously had a good idea of who he picked up. It's a shame though, instead of arresting her on sight, he had the sense to try and cajole her into giving herself in. Shredding his papers, which included a picture of Blue, a blurred mug shot of her, and a portrait of Platina; she threw them over his fallen form like confetti and ducked out of the alleyway.

Her explorations were done and she had a piece of advice for her friends.

Trust no one, not even the random, good looking stranger offering to befriend you.

Late afternoon

Valora

Imperial Palace interrogation room

A grip nestled in his ebony locks and tightened comfortably. It was a sweet sort of pain, tugging him back to his teenage memories when Pika used to wake him up by snatching his hair. Who else did that? He pondered, Misty, once, when she yelled at him for being so irresponsible; Gold, who would keep on shaking him till he groaned and woke up; Diamond and Black...Heck, Green as well when the older man needed to prove a point. The mellow ache on his scalp intensified, his skin protesting against the rough treatment. Soon, a fiery pain radiated from the crown of his head as a person snatched a fistful of raven hair and viciously yanked his head back. Red heard his neck snap and he gasped in pain. His head tingled unpleasantly and he wanted to reach up and massage the numbness away. Unfortunately, his hands remained bound with a special brand of Ransei's ornamental rope. He wore a loose fitting shirt and pants, standard wear for the criminals of Ransei and draft blew about his legs, flapping the excess fabric hanging limply on his form.

"Speak." A guttural voice spilled from the guard currently fisting his hair, "we complied with your request, your pokemon have been treated back to perfect health and due to their rather daring nature, we kept them safe inside premier capsules." Crimson irises shifted apathetically and disregarded the lower ranked noble's rumblings. The ex-champion noted a few more sentries posted at the entrance of a lavishly decorated interrogation room. Huge porcelain vases displayed exotic plants...No doubt poisonous by the looks of their vividly coloured flowers. A silk screen separated the room vertically into two asymmetrical halves and last night, the room had been empty save for himself and his escorts. This time, Red sensed the presence of someone and through the miniscule spaces of the dyed threads; he could pick out the pompous form of a bulky warlord. "Speak!" The voice grated on his ears and he languidly gaped at the guard and flashed him a mocking smile.

It earned him a hard slap against his jaw. He tasted blood, filling his mouth with the sharp tint of iron.

"You will not get a word out of him if you keep on doing that Tenkai." A masked man slinked out from behind the screen and levelled a look at the prisoner. "His tenacity is admirable, two days without sleep and only the barest article of food and he still has the energy to sneer." Hanzo, a ninja in the service of the Warlord, slammed a flat palm on Red's chest. The criminal's breath stilled and his heart slowed down. A searing agony spread from the left point of his chest and rolled down his entire body. He broke out in a sweat, saw stars gallivanting around the room and he found it difficult to breath. His heart squeezed in terrible grip and moments later, he doubled over and threw up blood, coughing and gagging for breath. "If he still does not talk...we may have to kill him." Not caring if his hands got soaked by blood and saliva, he warrior reached for Red's chin and snapped it up. "Tell me...Where are the rest of your comrades?" Hanzo hoarsely questioned and positioned another palm over his victim's rapidly beating heart. He could taste the man's fear.

"I don't know."

"I don't know."

I don't know.

Hanzo's eyes widened in disbelief. For the past two days, despite the treatment he received, the prisoner kept on repeating the same sentence over and over again. I don't know where they went, I don't know what they are doing and I sure don't know their objectives if I'm holed up in this fancy dump! The scarlet eyed convict vehemently swore and said. The ninja curbed the impulse to form a fist and smash it against Red's chest. A well-executed touch of death would put the man out his misery with minimal effort and blood spillage. After all, his arteries and veins would rupture inside the body. Curling his hand, Hanzo drew it away and disappeared. Red blinked, not quite believing his eyes and saw a shadow collapsing on the tatami mat. Must be the creepy ninja and his equally terror instilling pokemon. Sighing, he crumpled forward and drowned out the roar of blood filling his ears. Fatigue overcame him and he welcomed the idea of a nice sleep in his stark bed back in the dingy cell. The moment he shut his eyes, a scalding bucket of water poured over his head which was followed by a pail of ice cold water. His senses screeched and petered into numbness. Blinking the excess moisture out of his eyes, he straightened up.

And his vision obscured with the form of a hulking man mountain.

Warlord Tokugawa Ieyasu, his muscle laden chest made wider by pleats of decorative armour, studied Red like an interesting specimen. The latter, instead of being awed by the man's presence, wondered about his dubious fashion sense and inwardly heard Blue clucking her tongue in scorn. An elaborate war helmet sat proudly on top of the man's head. The top of the head gear spanned a meter off the helmet, in a shape of a tempered sword whilst the rest of Ieyasu consisted of a wall of muscle hidden behind strips of blue, gold and silver sheets of metal. A royal blue cape and sash softened the overall metal man appearance and on spying the man's dark eyes, the ex-commander saw a tingle of fatherly warmth swirling in the depths. His aggron, wearing a collar of diamond studded gold, shuffled after him and Red nearly wet himself with fear. The metallic monster hammered a primordial fear in him the first day when it singlehandedly sent his entire team tethering on the brink of extinction, since then, he couldn't look at the iron armour beast in the eye. Everything Red was ever afraid of surfaced on seeing the monster and it drove him to the edge of unconsciousness.

"You are unwilling to talk boy..." The warlord's rich tones bounced against the rice paper doors and walls. To him, Red was a boy, a naughty child who needed to be punished. "This is quite a predicament you landed yourself into. A champion, well loved by the public. If you wanted to do underhanded deeds, make sure you put a shield on your sins and pay your retainers well." Ieyasu leaned closer, leather straps and armour plates groaning against his bulging thews. "You have to understand that I am sacrificing my pride to allow a commoner in our prison cells. Nonetheless...Since we have accepted the proposition of the police, we are tasked with drawing information out from you. However, you are not making our work easy. From the firm look in your eyes, I presume you shall not divulge any information. Physical force has been futile so we shall resort to other, less attractive ways." The way Ieyasu expressed his next phase of torture, made a criminal look forward to whatever heinous treatment they nobles might have in store. The fighter squirmed, defiance shining in his scarlet irises as the warlord pulled away and marched out of the sliding doors with the detestable aggron following him like a loyal puppy.

The Kanto native exhaled.

No matter what they threw at him, he could take it, take it and emerge stronger than ever.

He had to do this.

Red imagined Pika, Saur and his friends cheering and jeering him on. It brought a semblance of comfort. He delved into the rhapsodized escape of his mind and let his conscious skip around blissfully imagined fantasies. He wondered about Misty and his heart fluttered in his chest, did she know about his capture. Did the red head play a piece in getting him here? Funnily, the thought didn't make him angry; it was her job after all. Wriggling on the hard, wooden chair, he worked some feeling into his stiff legs and slumped as far as his bound hands allowed him. Time to take a nap before the next person tries their luck with him. Tucking his head towards his chest, he heard the faint, dismissive snort of Tenkai. The guard wanted to jab the prisoner awake when the man simply rolled over and snored moments after the current session. Guarding a commoner proved to be a menial task and every day, the other members gossiped about him. Shaking off his anger, he kept a hawkish watch on the ex-champion, so far, the male did not entertain any thoughts of escaping but it never hurt to be cautious.

The next time he woke, the room felt a lot colder. Jerking upwards, he saw the lamps and brackets devoid of flames and none of the guards were in the room. A brief bout of confusion overtook Red and he craned his neck to catch a glimpse of someone.

"Looking for me?"

A cruel voice sent shivers down Red's spine and he sat up straight on feeling three sharp prongs graze his throat. Where did the weapon come from? He couldn't see anyone in front of him. And why were the surroundings so dark? A feeling of restlessness seized him along with the growing pressure on his throat. The pain grew to intolerable proportions and it hurt to breath. Suddenly, his vision shattered. The traditional styled room broke and revealed stained tiles and a filthy cell. Opposite him, a body hung limply about a meter off the ground. The corpse swung listlessly, its neck clamped securely by a steel brace and chained to an overhead girder. Crimson eyes trailed up the unfortunate man's dirty garb and stopped cold at his head. A head full of ebony locks fell over partially open, lifeless eyes. A dribble of dried blood ran down chapped lips. Glassy, scarlet eyes stared back at him.

Red screamed and kicked backwards. He was looking at his corpse which swung silently mere meters in front of him.

He kept on screeching till a hard slap brought him back to reality.

"Looking for me?" The ear curling tone belonged to another man currently jamming a three pronged hand guard against Red's throat. Breathing, the ex-champion sniffed like a child and tensed, he had an impeccable view of the warden's muscles, knitting tightly against each other beneath a flimsy fishnet shirt. Several belts, looping over his waist, shoulders and arms, contained an array of short knives, throwing stars, spear heads and a sword. An ornamented forehead protector pushed back a wild mane of blood red hair and the ninja warrior's deathly pale face had red streaks decorating it. "Kotaro." The man curtly introduced himself, "Ieyasu called me to extract information out of you since...You refuse to give into the palace guard's inadequate treatment. I don't blame you." His leathery voice ghosted like a dead man's whisper over Red's ears and the criminal shivered from fright. How could so many things in this region scare him senseless? "Don't worry, even though zoroark played a lovely trick on you. It won't be enough to force you to spit something out. First of all tell me..." Kotaro eased his deadly hand guard away from Red's sweating neck and queried whilst the latter swallowed rapidly in an effort to keep his nausea in check, "how did it feel to see your dead body hanging in front of you? Gruesome isn't it?" A sadistic smile wound its way to the Warlord's lips when instead of replying, the prisoner did the only thing he could do in this type of situation. The commoner doubled over and threw up all over the polished wooden floor, his body convulsing painfully. Walking behind him carefully, the ninja grabbed the victim's sweaty hair and yanked his head up. "Do you know about manas dunking?" Trembling in his grasp, the scarlet eyed man shook his head in a negative, "Ho...It's a method where one person delves into the mind of another." Sharp nails scratched against Red's scalp, "the procedure is outlawed in every other region except this one due to its drastic side effects. However you don't have to worry. My zoroark and I will make sure to keep your mind in barely capable state once we are done."

Please don't...

Red wanted to speak but found that he couldn't move his tongue. His sense numbed, folding on each other as a series of bizarre and fear provoking images flashed in his head. A child dragged out, bloody and screaming. A boy abandoned by his parents. The same boy digging a grave for himself next to his deceased parents. Planes roaring overhead, dropping missiles and exploding the earth apart as clods of dirt sprayed up and formed a screen against the sky. An infant crying in the severed arms of his dead mother. A champion sitting alone in a lavishly decorated room and sobbing himself to unconsciousness.

The Kanto native's head lolled over to one side as Kotaro dug into his memories. Due to his recent fright, all his experiences and emotions were starkly divided and neatly stacked instead of being tangled and embroiled with each other. The temporary groupings won't last long as the neural network will attempt to restructure the brain into a normal functioning state. The Warlord worked fast, smiling as the man before him gave up information and secrets he'd rather carry to his grave. Finally, he chanced upon the information they all looked for. The Dex-criminals...An interesting group of people whom the prisoner held in high regard, they were his makeshift family and after separating his raw emotions from the particular memory, the ninja brought it to the surface in order to study it. A cavern set in the bowels of Mount Coronet in Sinnoh, apparently, they hid there for the time being. However, when Kotaro expanded the memory for reference, he found himself entering the dilapidated cave.

And found it empty.

Save for the floor strewn with severed limbs of the people dear to Red, both from his past and the present.

Night

Ransei

Dragnor

So young

Nobunaga, ornate smoking pipe set between thin lips stared impassively at the officer speaking to him from a digital screen. Russet tinted irises, rimmed with fatigue, droned on and on about the Dex-Criminals. His words mingled with the sharp snores of the three headed hydreigon slumbering on the Warlord's lap. The dragon master caught snippets of what the teenager said; the boy talked about a band dangerous criminals collecting legendary pokemon in a desperate and sure attempt to recreate a world in the dimension of Giratina's distorted universe. Lady Noh, sitting demurely next to her husband, noted the startled look in his charcoal black eyes when the boy mentioned the goals of the Dex-criminals. With practiced grace, he removed the black wooded pipe from his lips, tapped it into a crystal ash holder set on the low table in front of him and resumed smoking, teeth grinding furiously over the pipe.

"Kotaro...Warlord of Yaksha and the best interrogator in Ransei, could not elicit any information from him." Nobunaga accepted the cup of wine from his wife and tossed it back in one gulp. "The manas dunking procedure did not work on this prisoner you asked us to detain. We found false memories amongst his real ones and it is implied that he conjured them up whilst unconscious. Tell me officer Lack-2...Just who is this man?" Lack-2 reeled backwards; manas dunking didn't work on Red? He questioned and the Warlord shook his head, "It did...This Red of yours gave us a very interesting perspective on the Civil war of Kanto which took place almost twenty years ago. In any case, it did not reveal the location of his comrades. They supposedly hid in a cave situated at the base of Mount Coronet...However, the information he supplied is discreditable, the people inhabiting the cave are all dead. I understand this Red never entered this cave himself so why does he have memories of its interior?"

"Possibly false ones he created in order to comfort himself..." The copper haired youth murmured distractedly and glanced down at the file in his hands. "I asked you not to use the manas dunking procedure on him...It is a practise detrimental to the human mind...How is he?"

The warlord shifted, black silk rustling against each other as he adjusted his posture. Hydreigon grunted and resumed its sleep. "You seem concerned," slanted eyes crinkled in delight on seeing the teenager's face twitch subtly, "he can speak, although his words slur together and day by day, his motor functions are improving. As for his memory, it remains fully intact. Do not worry; your prized prisoner is not going to end up a blubbering mess like the boy you experimented on in Unova."

"I have another proposition." The Unovian's words hitched ever so slightly on remembering Hugh, "there is a woman he is fond of, a Kanto native by the name of Misty. She is the gym leader of Cerulean City and briefly helped him during his quest to become the champion. Apart from the Dex-criminals, she is the only one he might possibly open up to." Nobunaga's eyes widened in scorn on hearing Lack-2's words, commoners are such gullible fools. "I would like her to be allowed into Ransei in an effort to crack him. She is of noble descent like the Berlitz family and her genealogy is traced to the aristocrats of Fontaine. Unfortunately, her ancestors have severed any ties they have to Ransei and thus, in your books, she is merely a commoner. I ask you to please reconsider my words. It is highly imperative we find out where the rest are hidden. I don't know where they went; the commanders only divulged this information to the people directly under them." Dragnor's Warlord nodded his consent and Lack-2's gratitude fell on deaf ears. Sitting on a decorated niche, out of the sight of prying eyes, the dark dragon stone gleamed dully in placid lantern light. Nobunaga's fingers itched to caress the stone in order to coax the dragon out of it, sensing his thoughts, his wife carried the sphere down and he fell over it like a starved child.

"Creating a new universe..." he uttered to himself, "is a taboo practise our ancestors dabbled in a long time ago. I wonder if Black City still floats, fastened to its spot by chains fashioned out from the essences of the elemental titans. Noh..." the woman leaned closer to him, "we may have to put an end to this upstarts if they dare succeed in what they want to do. Send Kotaro a letter and tell him to bring this commoner in. Hopefully she may be able draw their whereabouts from this prisoner." She dipped her head in agreement, pressed her fingers gently against his shoulders and muttered words of assurance. "I understand," The warlord breathed, "However the balance must be preserved...you cannot create a world within the pocket dimension and I'm still waiting for Zekrom to wake. Together," his voice dropped to a husky murmur, "we shall unite Ransei under one rule. You will help me won't you?"

Noh didn't reply, she turned her face away from her husband.

She refused to see the crazed look in his tourmaline irises.

A/N: People, I'm apologizing for my tardy updates, exams are the bane of my existence, secondly, the story is turning darker and hopefully it's not going to stop anyone from reading. Much thanks to all those who read and reviewed (virtual cup of coffee to you) and leave a review to tell me what you think of this chapter.

At sakurafox1218 playing honestly, Gold? I do not know what you speak of, check the scene again, Gold is cheating 101%. I agree with you though, Poor Lack-2. At Guest 1: Gold's character growth huh? I'm glad you liked it because he is quite devious and basically likes to goof off and do things for fun. Nice to see him doing something good for a change (even if the methods weren't). At Jack54311: Responsibly irresponsible? *files away for later use* Platina does need to loosen up, she and Whi-2 could be great friends (at least I think so). At AceTrainerLeaf : Cornflakes for breakfast? Man, I wish I could eat those once in a while. Heh, escape is so not going to come easy, revel in the anticipation! You have a nice day too and fix yourself a sandwich for breakfast one of these days, a grilled cheese and tomato one. *And now I'm hungry* At Guest 2: Green and Yellow will probably stare at each other's eyes and out of the window whilst thinking how awesome the other is. Sounds romantic to me, I feel that those two won't need much words to convey what they feel for each other, which is lovely because love is felt, not said.

Whoa! I just pulled some Confucius wisdom right there!

At Guest 3: I like torturing all of my characters, and the readers like reading about them :D The others are not allowed to go out, due to the police searching for them high and low. Green is very well known amongst intellectual communities and Platina…whelp, forgot about her. As for the pyjama party thing, I reckon Ruby would join them and feel at home. At Eevee: Goeie dag :) (Good day in Afrikaans) Life is handing me lemons and I hate sugar so I can't make lemonade. In short, it's both cruel and fun :P Mindy is fine and she says hi to you as well. Something that made me smile huh? Well, tonight my sister was blasting this k-pop song on her laptop whilst I was studying for practicals (thanks Mindy) and my mother happens to mishear the lyrics as something that's rather obscene in our language and she yells at Mindy to change the song. My stomach cramped because I was laughing so hard. The funny part was that Mindy kept on correcting her and mom just says the wrong stuff. At Guest 4: I still, honestly think that Blue and Green are nothing more than friends. Your ideas are fantastic though and interesting to read. Blue does notice what other people wear, it's just that teasing Green is much fun than teasing Red or her brother. Plot twist? Heh, there is a different type of plot twist waiting for you :P Obviously Blue is really kind, I mean, she had the heart to rescue Silver from his confinement when she herself was trapped as well.