It had been a mostly quiet night. There had been the quiet thrum of Nimbasa's usual nightlife, now mixed in with the newly emerging crime wave.
Still Elesa's night had been mostly quiet. She had come home from dinner with her (former) gym trainers an hour or two ago and was moving around her stylish apartment getting ready to call it a night.
Her Ampharos was lounging on the couch, resting her head on the couch's arm. She chuckled and scratched the mon's head.
"Ready to call it a night, Flossy?" The Pokemon let out a content bleat and she smiled.
There was a knock on her door at that moment.
"Well there goes that," She muttered and approached the door, looking curiously through her apartment door's peephole at the person on the other side.
Of course, Courtney would do it. She had gotten the email from one of their only sources of information, and, if she didn't follow it, she would be absolutely blamed if they had their power taken away.
She stood in front of the entrance to new Mauville, with thirty grunts at her side. The grunts were arranged in a serious formation, proving at how much more adept they were compared to the grunts that were given the spots on the team a few years ago. Courtney smiled when she thought about this, knowing how much more powerful this made her team.
Her Ninetales was in front of her, with the sun glowing when it hit its yellow fur. It was ready to unleash a powerful Flamethrower whenever Courtney gave the word, as she prepared for the resistance. She had gotten word that others had received the message, but she knew that she had to hold the ground at her home fort. She let out a deep sigh, before waiting patiently, until she saw a ripple in the calm water.
Courtney looked up, and saw someone, before seeing who it was. "Oh, isn't it funny to find you here?"
It wasn't very often that Dawn felt comfortable returning to Twinleaf Town and her mother. She knew that Team Galactic had no reason to pick a fight with her at the moment, but they were still keeping their eye on her, and she hated the idea of them invading her mother's privacy. But with the reemergence of Lucas, she needed to head home and take a chance on Barry showing up for once.
The return from Sunyshore was long and time consuming. She was finally reaching Eterna when the rain hit out of nowhere.
"Ugh, I don't have time for this," she complained, wrapping her sweatshirt tighter around her and lifting the hood over her head. It was getting dark, and she knew there was little chance of her being willing to continue on in both the dark and the thunderstorm she could tell was approaching.
Dawn groaned and checked her Poketch for the nearest PokeCenter, rushing in as soon as she found it. She sat in one of the waiting chairs, shivering from the cold.
"Awesome," she murmured, ringing her hair to get out the water.
As of late it seemed that keeping a low profile, in light of recent events, was becoming increasingly difficult. Typically, Phoebe was never one to complain about attention (it was always well-known and never doubted that she eagerly encouraged it)--however, there came a point where enough was simply enough. That point, she thought, had been passed weeks ago.
Having connections to the Red and Blue orbs in Hoenn put her in a tight enough position as it was, but being a member of the Elite only made things so much worse. They might not have been so bad, really, if not for the Champion's frankly remarkable dedication to public stupidity. Wallace had always had a talent for assuming the spotlight wherever he went, but there was a time and place, and a full-scale overhaul of the system to make way for an eco-terrorist dictatorship was not one of those times. His vocal attempts to spark insurrection were doing nothing, save making things more difficult for his League.
A quiet sigh accessorized the small, pouting frown she wore only in private, even now. She sat cross-legged atop the head of a large Drifblim, doing its best to remain discreet during its flight; trips to visit her grandparents in their current hiding place with the Orbs were becoming harder and harder to make, and detection was something she wasn't willing to risk. Someone had to deliver them supplies and food, however, and thus far Phoebe had failed to trust anyone else with knowledge of their location.
The return trips were the hardest. It was simple enough to slip out of her home in Lilycove late at night and be sure she lost any potential following eyes, but returning subtly wasn't much of an option after vanishing without a trace for at least a day's time. The physical act of leaving her grandparents alone on a remote island cave failed to make things any easier. She missed them. She missed their little cottage on Mt. Pyre. She missed things being normal, and safe.
They landed on the far edge of Lilycove, hidden from the city by the towering cliffs and nestled quietly into a long, empty stretch of beach. Drifblim was returned to their PokéBall, and Phoebe ran a petite hand through her tussled, windswept black hair before she began the long walk back towards her home in the city.
It's quiet -- much too quiet. Quieter than it's been these last few days and Caitlin, for the life of her, cannot figure out why. She's been lounging in her suite at the Elite Four, awaiting tasks from Colress that just haven't come. Her visions haven't shown her anything new in terms of leaders making a move or the resistance moving forward with their revolution plans quite yet. She enjoys it, of course, as it reminds her of simpler times; but is wary all at once. The most peaceful calms often come before deadly storms, after all.
Caitlin feels the gentle touch from a breeze through a cracked, elegantly draped window and decides to take a walk around the property. Being out in the open does not worry her. Not only is she perfectly capable of protecting herself, but her questionable affiliations provide her with additional benefits.
She doesn't waste time and, with Musharna at her side, proceeds out into the refreshing air of this summer evening. Taking slow strides, she breathes in its sweetness and -- maybe -- even cracks the slightest of smiles as she feels a ray from the sunset hit her face. Caitlin cannot recall the last time she could take a moment from her day to do nothing but stroll around the Elite Four's grounds. Her schedule usually consists of challengers, public appearances, aiding her region's dictator, and sleeping. She always tries to sleep more than anything else. Everyone knows not to disturb her when she's sleeping.
A crackle and footsteps from a nearby wood make Caitlin extremely alert; eyes narrowed and bright, head sharply turned toward the noises. It's a human, she knows it.
"Come out," Caitlin demands, her soft voice a perfect mask for her alliance. "There is no use hiding from me."
Going back to Hoenn won't be soon enough. Courtney huffed, eyeing down the buildings of Saffron City. She absolutely hated Kanto, especially with its problems with technology. Quite frankly, Courtney preferred the more natural landscape of Hoenn, as opposed to the mechanized look of Kanto. It looked ugly, and Courtney had to hold her tongue's bad comments, lest she wanted to be noticed.
Where is that scout supposed to be? Courtney crossed her arms, waiting in front of the Silph Corporation Building, in the center of the city. Under Maxie's orders, she was supposed to meet a scout from one of the teams at Saffron City. Of course, with Kanto people being generally unpunctual, she wasn't quite surprised.
The Magma Admin knew that she would draw attention to herself, considering that she wore her uniform in the presence of the Kanto people of Saffron City. However, this would make it easier for her scout to see her, so that they would discuss plans of action against the growing resistance. Courtney knew that the leaders wouldn't talk about it, so as not to draw any news towards it, but she knew better; if the threat was not contained, Maxie's plans and ambitions would perish.
Suddenly, she saw a person in the crowd, and Courtney squinted to get a better look at them. She stepped closer to the person, feeling as if they recognized them.
"Hello." That was the word that Courtney said, as she didn't know how else to greet the person.
The quiet woman found herself gazing into the waters of Lake Valor. It had been several hours since she’d been interrogated. The air was thin, and an eerie silence basked in her presence. Just enough to make her already timid self feel like the only person there. A shortness of breath, she thought. Her anxiety has the best of her now. So many things had just happened, and even a genius like her could not compute the complex situation before her. The champion sat down on the side of a path which faced the lakefront. Pausing for a moment, she starts to look into the vast water again. What if something bad had happened to her friends? She stared at her phone hesitantly. Maybe she would get in trouble for trying to contact them. Unsure of her now, limited actions, she put it away and lied to herself that they were fine. Something else was bugging her, though, she couldn’t quite figure out what it was.
Cynthia lies down, and her long, blonde hair pools around her. Surprisingly she never really had time to appreciate nature, although she did admire it greatly. Even with that, she was not the kind to be so easy with letting her clothing get dirty, but now she could care less about her clothes. She doesn’t want to deal with what she was really worried about. Even being a productive leader, she just can’t find it in herself to face it. How could team Galactic have control? They actually seem really threatening now, and she knows better than to oppose them without knowing what was happening. She needed to talk to someone trustworthy. Cynthia sighed while nervously tapping her fingers on the ground. Looking back, she could tell there was someone nearby. "Hmm, I wonder who this could be..."
Hmm, that was an idea. Controlling Arceus, if he could just find a way to locate it, would take a Red Chain approximately 5 times stronger than one of the ones he had used for Dialga and Palkia. That sounded reasonable enough. With the Lake Trio recaptured, the extraction of the crystals would take... ten years. No, that calculation had to be off, it only took a few hours last time. What could be... oh, right, it would be a longer process partially due to the fact that the lake guardians had been used a few years ago. Still, maybe...
No, that would be too predictable, Cyrus needed to go with something completely new. Maybe controlling a legendary wasn't the way to go, but rather draining its power into himself? Cyrus began researching that for a bit, and it seemed that only a god could handle that much power inside of it, so that one was a catch-22. Unless there was some sort of process that could gradually allow him to take that much power... wait, wouldn't that take years, though? He'd be dead by then, and the Pokemon he was draining power from would surely break free even sooner than that. Unless...
Okay, there was that headache again. Maybe it was time to stop and continue this planning later... nah. This was the first time in a week that Cyrus finally was getting to working on his plans and not his duties ruling Sinnoh, he'd be an idiot not to take this chance while everyone else was presumably sleeping.
Cyrus pulled out a bottle of painkiller pills labeled "maximum strength" from his desk, shook a few out, and took them with a small bottle of his custom-tailored energy drink. That should be enough to deal with the headache, now to get back to work.
However, as Cyrus continued trying to work, it just got harder and harder to concentrate. Odd, because Cyrus had never had that problem before. The pills didn't seem to be working, either, for once, the headache was even worse than it had been before. Cyrus could also swear he heard somebody talking, but that was ridiculous, the long hallway outside of Cyrus' office should be empty except for a patrolling grunt, and the window to the outside world was shut tight. Maybe Cyrus really did need a break. He saved his notes and shut off the computer he was using.
It was rather cold outside, especially considering the time of year, but Cyrus didn't mind. It had been hot and stuffy indoors ever since Cyrus had moved buildings, since he hadn't had time to contact his subordinates to put in better air conditioning units. To be honest, he really didn't have time for much anymore, as even his plan to remake the universe had been put on hold by his new duties.
Cyrus stepped into the alleyway, his hand on his Honchkrow's Pokeball should anybody try to attack him. However, there seemed to be nobody there, either. More peculiar than that, Cyrus could finally tell what the voices were saying, or at least catch a few words.
"...gone back on your promise ... watching you ... lied to the wrong... can't escape!"
It was at this moment that Cyrus finally realized that the voices weren't really coming from an outside source, but rather from inside his own head. What was going on? What were the voices even telling him? He concentrated harder on listening.
"...know where you are ... shouldn't have done that ... not listening ... Cyrus!"
It was at that moment that Cyrus detected what looked like movement out of the corner of his eye. Spinning around, he found himself staring into the glowing red eyes of a figure seemingly crouched in the back of the alleyway.
"Whatever you are, get over here, or I'll go over there and drag you out myself." Cyrus now pulled Honchkrow's Pokeball off of his belt, and walked closer to the red-eyed thing in the alleyway. Whether it had to do with the voices he was hearing or not, Cyrus was going to get to the bottom of what was going on and that was final.
However, as he neared the thing, the shape of it seemed to change and become smaller, and the red eyes stopped glowing. Upon finally approaching it, Cyrus found himself staring at a Ratatta no larger than his shoe perched upon a trash bin and frozen in place.
Cyrus put Honchkrow's Pokeball back on his belt and shooed the rat off the bin, sending it running out of the alleyway the way Cyrus had come in. Hmm, maybe the thing he had seen was hiding it the trash bin? Cyrus decided to check, as he wasn't yet wanting to believe that he had gone mad, even if the evidence was seemingly piling up to that conclusion.
Carefully poking around in the garbage bin revealed nothing but trash, so Cyrus slowly let the conclusion sink in. He was going insane.
...Or was he? It was true, he hadn't slept in far too long, maybe that was the reason for the hallucinations? It couldn't just be the fact that he had been to the Distortion World doing this, or it would have effected him before. That was it, Cyrus was going to go back inside and get some sleep.
Before he could get out of the alleyway, however, he once again caught a figure out of the corner of his eye, but this time he was quite sure that it wasn't a hallucination or a Pokemon.
"Who's there?" Cyrus turned around to face towards the figure, icy stare now fixed on the approaching form.
