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[Pokémon] Choiced (T)

EthyG

Idk what to write here x3~~~
11
Posts
12
Years

prologue:

Being all-powerful means taking up the most boring job in the world.

Thankfully, being all-powerful also opens up a world of privileges to you; you could pen down lots of stupid laws and get everyone in the world to follow them. No marriage restrictions! No formality! No…I don't know, anything! Anything you want penned down as a law will instantly become a law, and anyone who stands in your way can be quickly subdued. Remember, you're all-powerful. You could start by threatening them with a Swords Dance, ready to blast them to a corner of the room with some really powerful attack, but normally, the Swords Dance is enough.

I've rarely gone past that Swords Dance. I guess it's because I'm standing in the position of a judge right now, and I'm on the side of the good people. The bad people are cowards; they will never try to fight back someone who is…well, all-powerful. Guess that's why I don't have to be in court every day. But that isn't a good thing; when I'm not in the court, I'd have to stay up high above the ground, watching every last soul down there. It's a boring job. So technically I could jump down and take every convict in the world to prison and the world would be a happier place, but where's the fun in that?

Anyway, even if I did punish every last criminal out there, what difference would it make? No one's heart would be altered, and more criminals would sprout up again. It's a pointless cycle. The most I could do is make the people afraid of me and subsequently prepare an uprising or something. Quick punishment just isn't the way out of this.

So what's the way to change hearts? The slowest but sexiest way out would be a strong source of positive influence. Rather, strong sources of positive influences, running across the world, inspiring everyone to become better people; to make them become more loyal to others, more compassionate to others, more patient with others…it's just so beautiful on paper.

…Right, I've gone off-topic a little.

Notice the word "rarely" from a few lines back? When I said that I had "rarely" whacked anyone with a Swords Dance boosted attack? Well, "rarely" is my way of saying "one time". Yes, there was this one time where three stupid convicts tried to attack me in court, and they got what they deserved; they were locked away in prison and sentenced to death the next day. Nifty.

But that story wasn't that simple; oh no, it wasn't. It involved three of the best criminals I had ever met. Three criminals who were chosen by me in their early days, destined for greatness. So yes, I saw potential in some criminals who were destined to die by attacking someone all-powerful. It was a stupid decision on their part.

I guess it was a stupid decision on my part too. I saw potential in criminals? Criminals who were destined to be executed by the law? I questioned my own intelligence for a while at that point of time.

Then, I realised that I was all-powerful. Unfortunately, I don't make bad choices. I would never make bad choices.

Only normal folk would make bad choices. And I had already realised long ago that it was these bad choices which ultimately caused their downfall. The previous judge in this glorious city was thrown off his position because he made some stupid choices. He tried to make the entire city a fortress, which would eventually be used to conquer the world. Yes, that judge could do that because he was, somewhat like me, close-to-all-powerful. Unfortunately, he didn't sit inside the sky, and I led a one-man resistance force against him, exiling the selfish soul from that city.

But upon becoming the judge of that city, promising to uphold justice and maintain peace, I realised that the citizens weren't the nicest of people. They were self-centered, disloyal and quick-tempered. There was a lot of violence, a lot of distrust, and a lot of hate spreading about. It was a horrible place, which I should have left to rot. But being all-powerful, I didn't do so.

I decided that the best way to get these people to be nice to each other was to reward those outstanding ones. Just like how you'd give candy to good kids who shut up during class and were kind to others. This candy, however, was power. Power, in the form of three legendary items.

Overnight, I crafted three items, which would be given to only the most virtuous of the citizens. I never gave them a name, but I did craft a band, a pair of specs, and a scarf. Each of these would increase one offensive stat upon wearing it; that's instant power. Who wouldn't want that?

The next day, I announced that I had crafted legendary items which would grant instant power. I then broke some hearts by saying that I'd only give them to the most virtuous forty-two citizens in the city. Yes, I liked that number a lot.

Suddenly, everyone wanted to become nice. There was a drastic change in atmosphere from that hour onwards; everyone wanted to become a Wielder.

I selected my forty-two Wielders one day. They were each chosen based on certain traits they had; the three traits which I had always found to be really important. Loyalty, Compassion, and Patience. The three qualities which you'd want to find in any person. I wanted them to be humbled by these.

The Wielders of the Power Band would be chosen based on their loyalty; only the most loyal citizens who served anyone but themselves with their lives would become Wielders of the Band.

The Wielders of the Energy Specs were those who were patient. Those who could always strike last and hold out their anger. Those who were really good listeners. They were all Wielders of the Specs.

And the Wielders of the Speed Scarf could only be the most compassionate ones. The ones who gave in to others and empathised. The ones who actually gave a damn about anyone other than themselves. Yes, those were…well, Scarfers. Wielders of the Scarf was just too weird.

Anyway, stuff happens, and suddenly all the Wielders start to abuse their powers. Peeps get obsessed with power so easily, you know? A movement starts, telling me to destroy all the legendary items, and try to find another way to squeeze virtues into these foolish minds. The solution seemed to be really simple: Destroy the items.

That's almost what I did.

I mean, if I were to retract this entire thing, that would mean that I had made a mistake. And I never make mistakes.

So I used some dirty tactics to confiscate those forty-two items. I then sat in the sky, patiently waiting to see anyone who I saw potential in. I'd find peeps from the weirdest of places; farms, rented rooms, and even in the river depths. But I decided to change my strategy this time; I'd only search out young, aspiring peeps who were virtuous in their own ways. I would then appear in front of them in a nice flash of light and give them their legendary item right there.

The young peeps would grow up with their legendary item; they'd be looked up to by other people, they'd stay the way they were, and they'd be strong sources of influence and inspiration. They'd not abuse their powers, because they would grow up with these powers, and subsequently learn how to control them.

Well, that was how it looked on paper.

But obviously I wasn't going to give everyone free power. I decided to give free power at a cost. That cost was something as symbolic as this entire story of mine.

It's a choice. One choice.

I put a little curse on those legendary items, such that once the items were wielded, the bearer only had a choice of one move. Once that move was selected, he wouldn't be able to use any other move until the battle was over, or if he was switched out. Yes, they would get their stat boost. They'd just get it at a price.

Eventually, the name "Wielders" got really stupid, and peeps adopted the term "Choicers" instead. Almost luckily, the Choicers, unlike the old Wielders, were truly great people. "Choice"-d to a single move every time in combat, they'd eventually become much better at making choices. They would grow up to make great decisions and inspire many people. I mean, they were selected because I saw potential in them. I never ever fail to see potential.

Anyway, the three criminals who were locked up in a cell, sentenced to death, spending their last night together weeping to each other on the floor…these were Choicers.

Frenzy, Ethereal and Crimson. I'll never forget their names.

Oh, and by the way, I never make mistakes, and I have never made any.



~
choiced
the PC edition

~

Rated T

~ violence, but no blood
~ swearing, but nothing that falls under the swear filter; you'll understand why
~ reference to alcohol intoxication, but nothing of the side effects of it
~ seduction/sexy talk, but nothing actually happens

~~~


(coming soon: author's note)


chapter list:
Banded
Scarfed
Imperfect




 
Last edited:

EthyG

Idk what to write here x3~~~
11
Posts
12
Years


chapter one: banded

The evening twilight was beautiful. The sun had set just a few minutes ago, and the clouds started to disappear into the darkness, one by one. In a few minutes or so, the clouds would be no more, as the sky swallowed every last one of them up into its dark, haunting embrace. And this was happening at an astonishingly fast rate today, as if a bomb of darkness had been detonated in the sky.

A Luxray was hiding in the bushes; the bushes just had to spring up where the village probably wouldn't bother about it too much, giving him the perfect vantage point, as he peered through the leaves and branches, finding the perfect time to strike.

There was a buzz coming from his pocket; it was his communicator. The Luxray picked it up.

"Hey, Frenzy. Frenzy, you there?" a deep voice pulsated softly through the speaker.

"No, I'm not," he replied, slowly and stately, keeping his volume down.

"Goo- I mean…wait, what?"

"Get to the point," he mumbled.

"Right…I'm just here to wish you good luck," the guy at the calling end said.

Frenzy chuckled, fangs glimmering in the twilight. "You're sending me into a Normal village, and you expect me to go down?"

"No, it's not tha-"

Suddenly, the silence was broken by a robotic voice, echoing through the village.
"INTRUDER ALERT!! EVERYONE TO ARMS NOW!!"

Frenzy looked over his shoulder and saw a Watchog. A lame, pathetic, guard Watchog. With those weird gleaming eyes which could give anyone nightmares.

"GET OUT OF HERE NOW," it said, monotonously, just like a robot.

Frenzy smiled slyly at the furry critter, causing it to seemingly cringe in fear.

"I guess you're supposed to run now," he said calmly. Then, with a sly smile, he continued, "Or I'll touch you."

The Watchog stepped backward, eyes still wide open.
And all of a sudden, they closed, and the Watchog took off.
"HELP ME! I DON'T WANT TO GET HURT!"

Frenzy watched the frightened Watchog take off into oblivion; it bashed through the crowd of Pokemon surrounding him, crying for mercy. And suddenly, a high-pitched, slightly painful voice sounded.

"You scared my big brother away!"

Frenzy looked towards the voice to see a young Patrat, who was in the middle of a potential battlefield for no apparent reason. He glared at it.

"Oh, you want to be touched as well?"

However, the reply that it gave was ground-breaking; it changed lives that night, and altered fates.

"Come at me, furball! Everyone, attack!!"

There was an eerie silence. No one stepped forward.

Frenzy laughed loudly, his voice rumbling through the fields.
"You're all pathetic! I'd love to have more of this, but I think I'm going to see Togekiss now."

And the trigger was pulled; the Watchogs readied their Hypnosis attacks, the Stoutlands readied the Returns, and the Raticates opened their mouth really big, possibly trying to do an attack.

Frenzy kept his smile going. He turned a full 360, and watched how the fighters were simply rooted to their positions; no one was ready to move into action. They were in a battling stance, but that was about it; they weren't moving. And the little Patrat had left somewhere, possibly to cry in any other bedroom.

He dug into his pocket slowly and took out a piece of white cloth, which was stained by splotches of red and blue.

"This, my friends, is a Choice Band. It gives me a choice of only a single move, but in return, I'm granted extra Attack," Frenzy said, almost sarcastically. He grinned, brandishing his fangs and watching the fighters shudder in fear. "Now, any contenders are welcomed into the rink."

There were no contenders. Frenzy heard someone in the crowd sigh, claiming that they should have taken him down before the Band came into play; too late for that, though.

"Well, I'd like to see Togekiss now," Frenzy requested politely.

"NO!" the fighters said in unison. It was so perfectly timed that they could have been in some cheering squad; they would have been much better off at a place where they didn't work to get creamed.

"Well, that's a shame."

Frenzy got into a battling stance. The red and blue stains of the Choice Band illuminated with brilliant energy, indicating that he had already selected his move.

"There's no use stalling now, attack!"

It was that high-pitched, painful voice again. The Patrat had returned for more carnage. Its presence in the battlefield was something which puzzled Frenzy greatly, but he simply laughed it off.

"Well, look who's back."

"Shut up!" it defiantly shouted, glaring at him with those gaping, creepy eyes. It then turned to the fighters. "What are you waiting for? Attack!"

This time, they did. They actually attacked. This caught Frenzy off slightly.

The Watchogs fired rays of sleep-inducing pulses, the Stoutlands charged forth cloaked in white energy, and the Raticates…were doing something. They definitely weren't attacking, but they were doing some weird dances that passed as attacks to Frenzy.

Frenzy sighed as he crouched, stockpiling energy. "You all asked for it…"
The Choice Band gleamed with a brighter light, and the light quickly enveloped him, sinking into him.

Suddenly, there was a violent outburst of light, as Frenzy exploded in a magnificent blue aura. The Hypnosis beams were shaken to submission, and the Stoutlands stopped dead in their tracks. The Raticates continued to do the weird dances, unaffected by the light in any way; then again, they never actually contributed to anything at all here.

"Superpower!"
Frenzy sprung forth, releasing all the stored energy in one gigantic expulsion as he dashed past every fighter on the battlefield, landing swift blows on each of them. There were cries, moans, and shrieks. And almost as quick as it started off, the energy dissipated and Frenzy returned to his original spot, panting. The Superpower attack decimated every man standing, and they all lay on the ground, drained of their energy. They would get up once they had regained their strength, but for now, they had to stay dead for a little while.

Victorious, Frenzy strutted towards the tent located at the center of the village. That tent contained integral information that Frenzy needed to strike it rich; and at the same time, to finish the contract that he had accepted.

However, he didn't get to enter the tent just yet; Togekiss had come out herself to face up to him.

"What is it that you want?" the Togekiss asked, already holding tears in her eyes.

"Don't play with me. What does everyone come here for?" Frenzy stood up straight, sternly staring at the clearly terrified Togekiss.

Togekiss' eyes opened wide just like a Patrat, and then she fell on her knees, grasping on to Frenzy's legs.

"Please, have mercy on us! We've been the victims of too many raids now!" she cried out to Frenzy, tears flowing out of her crystal eyes.

"Why not just hand over some of that gold you have and get this entire thing over and done with?" Frenzy said, sternly.

"But…b-but…" Togekiss looked up at Frenzy, before continuing to bawl.

Frenzy shook her off, and put on a concerned tone. "Aww, what's wrong?"

"We…we don't have any more of it! It's all gone, okay?! It's all gone!"

Frenzy stood stuck on the spot for a few moments. Then he flipped open his communicator, to realize that he never actually turned it off. Silently, he spoke into it.

"So, they don't have it."

"I know, I've heard everything. You never actually turned this thing off, you know?"

Togekiss stared at him. She must have heard the conversation.

"I recommend that you quieten down a lit-"

"Trash must be discarded."

Togekiss seemed to stop in motion for a second. She then fell to the floor, clutching on Frenzy's legs again. "No. No, you can't do that. No, don't do that!"

Frenzy shoved her aside. "Hang on a sec, I still don't know what I'm supposed to do!"


"Well, he wants you to destroy the village! Don't do that!"

Frenzy smiled. "Oh, thanks for the tip."

He slowly waltzed into Togekiss' place, ready to construct destructive stuff. Togekiss clutched on to him, crying out words of anguish, but they didn't sink into him.

Frenzy looked around the place, and saw plenty of materials to construct what he needed to construct. It was this huge clutter of equipment which a slightly primitive village required, along with some high-tech stuff which anyone couldn't do without. It all looked really good. However, something else caught his eye; maybe he didn't need to construct anything at all.

"Wow, I'd love to live here," he said, monotonously.

"How can you be so ruthless! Don't you feel anything going wrong in there?! Don't you feel anything?!!" Togekiss wailed, clutching tighter.

Frenzy rigged open a length of a pipe, and some gas started flowing out of it.

"Hmm, it's hydrogen. Interesting. Wonder why you chose to power your entire village on hydrogen."

"Stop this! Please! I don't wish to hurt you!"

The Choice Band suddenly glowed, and Togekiss was silenced.

"Unfortunately, I don't wish to hurt you either."

Togekiss looked away from Frenzy, sniffing. Frenzy walked to the other corner of the room, and he grabbed a box of matchsticks; the only other piece of equipment which he needed for this extremely simple experiment.

"Understand that hydrogen is extremely flammable; remember those chemistry lessons?"

Togekiss suddenly turned around, in sudden realization.

"No! You can't do that! It'll destroy the entire village!!"

Suddenly, she was back down, clutching to Frenzy's legs once again.

"No, please! Have mercy on us!"

"And why should I have mercy on you?"

Togekiss was silent for a moment. She took a while to string her words together; it was lucky that Frenzy didn't throw the match just yet.

"You're a Choicer," she said, tears suddenly receding.

"And so?" Frenzy questioned playfully, before realizing that he had just been led into a trap. There was a sudden change of tone. "No, don't get to this."

"You were chosen by Arceus, because he found talent in you. But you're wasting all this talent away through stupid actions like this. Tell me, why are you doing this?"

Frenzy was silenced. That was something that didn't happen a lot.

"You're bringing me through one of those cliché Clefairy-tales, eh? Doesn't work, I'm sorry." Frenzy laughed, pleased at his decent comeback, and he slashed the match across the floor, starting a beautiful orange fire. "Now, it's about time you gave me that gold."

Togekiss fell to the floor again. Then, she made a faint smile, admitting defeat.

"Well, there's nothing that I can do, right?"

Frenzy raised an eyebrow, then asked again, "Where's the gold?"

Togekiss mumbled, "It's all gone."

Frenzy lowered his head for a while, deep in thought.

He sighed. "Well, if you can give me one good reason as to why to keep this village," he said, then glared at Togekiss. "I might decide to keep it."

Togekiss dipped her head. "I've got nothing."

"What a shame."

Frenzy walked closer to the hydrogen supply, threatening to toss the match in. Suddenly, a high-pitched, painful voice – rather, the high-pitched painful voice came through the doors.

"No! Don't destroy my home!"

Frenzy hung his head down for a second. Then, he dramatically swished it around, and with anger burning in him, he shouted, "I'm tired of you, you pesky little thing! Get out of her-"

"And watch my village burn? I don't think so," the Patrat interrupted.

Frenzy's Choice Band glowed.

"Get out of here," he snarled.

Togekiss jumped up in shock. "No," she squealed. "You can't hurt the Patrat! You can't!"

"Well, tell it to shut up, then!"

The Patrat folded its tiny arms.

"Why should I? You're the one threatening to destroy our village!"

Frenzy was now fuming mad. That Patrat had started burning into his nerves.

"Wild Charge!"

Frenzy made a ferocious roar, cloaking himself with electricity. He made a graceful half-turn, spreading the electricity throughout his body, and it formed an almost surreal yellow veil around him.

The Patrat smiled.

"Tackle!"

The Patrat ran straight ahead towards Frenzy - the attack looked really sloppy in comparison to the Wild Charge.

"Hyarrgh!"

Frenzy charged ahead, watching the Patrat charge towards him from the other side.

And then he realised; why was he attacking the Patrat? Wasn't his objective to get gold or something? How did this Patrat have anything to do with it?

Suddenly, Frenzy slowed down. Losing velocity meant that the electricity couldn't stay around him; it dind't. The electricity was expelled outwards, straight towards the Patrat.

"AAARRRGGHHHH!!! NOOOOO!!!"

The poor little critter was electrocuted.

Frenzy ran towards the fainted Patrat, sparks still running throughout his body. "No, what have I done?! What have I done?!!"

He tapped on the fainted Patrat, and it did not move. The attack didn't finish it off completely, but it did deal too much damage for the underlevelled Patrat to handle. It was going to stay dead for a while.

"No…why?"


The Communicator rang.

"Frenzy, what are you doi-"

"Shut up! Just shut up!"

The Communicator was smashed in Frenzy's firm, and getting firmer, grip.

Togekiss walked slowly towards Frenzy.

"I hope you're happy now. You can now destroy this vi-"

"No! Just get out of here!! Get out!!!" Frenzy snarled at Togekiss, eyes already reflecting light.

Togekiss smiled, and sighed. "You're not a violent person, are you?"

Frenzy fell to the floor, right beside the Patrat.

Togekiss continued, "You never wanted to destroy this village, right?"

Frenzy let a tear touch the floor. Then, he got up and glared at Togekiss; somewhat like a kid after a spanking.

After a little period of silence, he nodded.

Togekiss now made a nice, sweet smile. "Know what the Choice Band symbolizes?"

Frenzy shook his head.

"Loyalty."

Frenzy stood silent for a moment. He took a look at the Patrat, then mumbled, "I don't deserve it."

Frenzy undid the knot at the end of the Choice Band, and he threw it on the floor. Suddenly, as if there was a miracle, the Patrat got up.

"Ow…what was that?"

Frenzy smiled. "You're up!"

The Patrat looked at Frenzy with bleary eyes, and it suddenly jumped back. "No! Don't touch me! Please don't touch me!"

Frenzy retained his smile and calmly said, "No, I'm not touching you or your village."

He picked up the Choice Band from the floor, and handed it to the Patrat.

"This is for your courage, your initiative, and most importantly…"

Frenzy smiled at Togekiss, and winked.

"Loyalty."

The Patrat's eyes gleamed. Then, after a moment of thought, it asked Frenzy, "But what will you do now?"

Frenzy sighed. "I don't know."

"Turn yourself in?" Togekiss suggested.

Frenzy smiled. "Yeah, that's a good start."

"I'll ask them to lighten your sentence."

"Yeah…thanks for that, really. Thanks."

Frenzy was about to leave, but Togekiss stopped him.

"You know, hydrogen isn't flammable to standard flames; it's only flammable to Will-o-wisps. You actually thought that you could get away with that?" Togekiss said, posing seductively.

Frenzy laughed – it was a more cheerful laugh. "I tried."

Maybe loyalty's about choosing who to be loyal to. Maybe choosing correctly for a change would give him an opportunity to redeem his life.

Maybe it was time to choose his path correctly.

A star emerged in the sky, and it was followed by many others. They gleamed beautifully in the dark night.

 

EthyG

Idk what to write here x3~~~
11
Posts
12
Years

chapter two: scarfed


"Ethy, wake up! Wake up!"

"Urgh…what?"

"The cops are coming! Quick! Run!"

The Glaceon's eyes sprung right open. "What?!"

Suddenly, in sudden realization, she shook her head, cheekily grinning.

"Hey, you're just trying to wake me up for training or something, right? Don't use the cop excuse a-"

"No, the cops are REALLY here!"

She raised an eyebrow, then looked out of the window; there was a Dusclops in the local police uniform knocking on their door.

"You meant the "cop" – as in, singular, right?" she said, yawning and stretching a little.

"What do we do, Ethy?"

She thought for a moment. Then, she said, "Don't tell him about this, kay? Keep him asleep for a while…" With a seductive smile, she continued, "Would you please?"

"Erm…yes! I will, I will!"

Watching the panicking Lilligant evacuating her room and heading for her husband's room, she slowly and stately headed for the door.

The cop at the door, however, was running out of patience.

"Hurry up, Plutonium! I know that you're in there!"

She opened the door.

"Look, if this is some guy coming to sell stuff…I'm taking everything, kay?" she said in a calm and gentle tone.

Suddenly, she looked up at the cop.

"Oh, a cop? Heya! Welcome to my place!" she said, smiling widely.

The Dusclops was stunned. This girl didn't look like a criminal.

"Right…I think we have the wrong house…erm…" the Dusclops said in a low-pitched drone. "May I have your name, miss?"

"Oh, it's Ethereal."

"Right…" the Dusclops scratched his head, then took down the name on his notebook. "Dang, that's a beautiful name."

"Say what?" Ethereal questioned.

The Dusclops swiftly shook his head, clearing those naughty thoughts.

"Nothing, Miss Ethereal. Sorry for…erm…"

The Dusclops blushed. Ethereal giggled.

"Ethy would do. It's what my friends call me."

"Oh…right. Sorry for that, Ethy."

At this point of time, the Dusclops had probably already forgotten why he was at this house. But bad guys always had to be extra careful.

"Hey, you seem awfully tired…do you want a pick-me-up?" Ethereal offered.

"Excuse me?" the Dusclops said, suddenly knocked out of his trance. "…sorry, I meant that I'm fine."

"Well…" Ethereal sighed, then stretched somewhere behind the door for an Energy Root. She handed it over to the Dusclops, and continued, "You need it."

The Dusclops sighed, then gratefully accepted the Energy Root.

"Thanks, Ethy. I really owe you one. I've been searching for this Plutonium character for a really long time now; I don't even know what Pokemon she is! Magnezone gives us ridiculous jobs…" the Dusclops said.

Toying with the little cop just a little bit wouldn't hurt too much.

"Well…I know that Plutonium character…and I'll give you a hint."

The Dusclops started listening more carefully.

"She's a Glaceon," Ethereal said, winking at the Dusclops.

The Dusclops nodded, and took it down. "Thanks, really appreciate it. Goodness, someone's tarnishing the Glaceon line, eh?"

Ethereal kept quiet about it. In any other situation, that would have been an insult. Firing an attack at the cop would be a bad idea, however, so she held back.

Then, he looked at Ethereal, pleased, and said, "Well, thanks for the all your help! I'll be going now."

The Dusclops disappeared into the horizon.

Ethereal shut the door, and turned around to see her husband staring at her.

"Oh, Lilly, how could you?"

The Garchomp glared at her. "You tried to ask that Lilligant to keep me asleep again?"

Ethereal scratched her head. "Eh, more or less."

"You…lied to a cop again?"

"Well…" Ethereal thought about it for a while. "I didn't tell any lies."

"I presume you made him feel good?"

"I gave him an Energy Root, hope you don't mind that."

The Garchomp smiled and opened his arms wide. "Aww, come here, you golden-hearted idiot!"

Ethereal jumped into his arms. "Love ya, Sharky."

"Love you too, Angel."

~

"So, anything up today?"

"Nope, nothing much. Just waiting for some calls."

"Aww, how sad," Ethereal sighed. "I really wanted to beat people up today."

Ethereal peered out of the window, and saw a beautiful forest; the view was magnificent from five floors up. It was slightly ironic; a criminal hideout in a mansion in the middle of a forest. Sometimes, looking at a forest would help one feel a sense of calm. Or something.

She turned around to see her husband putting down the phone. Instantly, she got excited.

"Oh, finally! Finally!"

"Yep. Today, we go for Magnezone of the Pokemon Central Police Force."

It was called revenge killing, but simply labeled "torture" by the common folk. It involved going up to a person and torturing him until something was acquired. It paid off really well.

"Hey, it's the big guy who gave the poor Dusclops such a hard time."

"Well, let's go for him."

Ethereal nodded. Then, she realised that they were going to torture the head of the local police department. That wasn't going to be too easy.

"How are we supposed to do that, anyway?"

"Don't worry, he's taking a day off."

"Hmm. Right, let's call the gang."

Ethereal turned around and headed for the lift. Her husband stopped her with a playful smile, and asked, "Are you forgetting something?"

Ethereal gulped.

"I think I can do without it."

He laughed. "That's what you always say. And most of the time, in the end, you use it anyway."

Ethereal hung her head down for a few seconds. Then, she turned around.

"I just…don't like using it."

She walked closer to him.

"Look, hubby. I've told you lots of times…but when I use the Choice Scarf, I get nasty. And I really don't like getting nasty…" she admitted.

"Ethy…"

They fell into each other's arms.

"Sharky, why did I have to be the Choicer?"

"Ask Arceus, gal. Ask Arceus."

They grasped each other tighter.

~

Magnezone lived in a cottage far away from the city. Some Pokemon wondered what it actually did in the cottage, but they all tended to perceive it as a huge network of wires and computers.

The fact that it was far away from the city was good enough to make it easy prey for revenge killing. Oh, and he was living alone too, making it an even simpler task.

Ethereal and her husband hid in the bushes right beside the little hut.

Ethereal sighed; the waiting part wasn't particularly enjoyable.

"Hey, Sharky," she said really softly.

"What, Angel?" he replied.

"You know…I…don't really wanna be in this criminal business anymore."

His eyes widened.

"What makes you think that, Angel?" he said, stroking Ethereal on her back.

Ethereal pushed his hand away. "It's just that…" she cut her sentence off, then giggled. "Arceus, what's wrong with me?"

She leapt on him, cheekily grinning.

"Heh, that's the spirit…"

Suddenly, his face darkened, and he signaled Ethereal to get ready. She reluctantly climbed down from the Garchomp's back and got into her battle stance.

The Magnezone was walking back from Pokemon Square with a bag strapped on one of its magnets. It was, hopefully, completely unaware of their presence.

And the next moment, he was frozen to the floor by a perfectly-timed Ice Beam.

"AARGH. WHAT?" the metallic, muffled voice echoed through the air.

"Shhh…hush, baby," Ethereal said, before firing another Ice Beam at the same area. "You'll make my husband really angry."

She smiled, proudly swaggering towards the Magnezone.

"Oh, and just so you know…" she said, then walked right beside the Magnezone and whispered, "He knows Earthquake."

The Magnezone's eye flashed red, indicating fear. The plan was working out too well. The eye then started blinking red, and it slowly returned to its natural colour. Yep, this was a courageous one.

"I BET YOUR HUSBAND DOESN'T EVEN EXIST."

Garchomp emerged from the bushes. Instantly, the eye flashed red again.

"So," he said, calmly, "Tell me about this…new invention."

The metallic blob was now trembling; or perhaps, vibrating. In any way, it was downright frightened to the core.

"I'LL NEVER TELL YOU ANYTHING!" it buzzed, voice trembling – wavering, rather – slightly.

"Oh…a pity," Ethereal said, shaking her head. "Sharky! Come over!"

Garchomp walked slowly towards the Magnezone.

"So," he said, "I guess you want to take an Earthquake in the face, right?"

"NO!!" it screeched, before pausing dramatically. "WAIT, THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE. EARTHQUAKE IS MEANT TO WORK ON THE GROUND."

"No one said that I had to use it on the ground…" he casually said, brandishing his left claw at the big hunk of steel, letting it illuminate with energy; that energy would normally be thrown at the ground, causing a tremor – that's the Earthquake. But in times like these, it was okay to be slightly creative.

"WHOA," it droned. "THAT MUST BE AGAINST THE LAW OR SOMETHING…"

Garchomp's eyes widened.

"What?"

"NEVER MIND. IT WAS MEANT TO BE A JOKE. IT DIDN'T WORK, SORRY."

Garchomp's eyes now burned with rage.

"Earthquake!"

"No, honey, don't!"

Too late. Garchomp slammed his claw straight into the Magnezone, and it tore right through it, causing it to disappear into the air. It was a Substitute.

"WHAT?!"

"HIDDEN POWER."

Magnezone suddenly appeared from the bushes behind us, and flung spheres of concentrated energy towards Ethereal and Garchomp. But the spheres simply passed by Ethereal; in the split second which they slid across her face, she felt the icy energy within them. The Hidden Power was Ice-typed.

The spheres of energy smashed into Garchomp, downing him in one clean shot.

"No! Sharky!" Ethereal shrieked, then ran towards her husband. He was knocked unconscious by the blast. Her heart stopped for a second, and the silence was broken by Magnezone's voice.

"I'D RECOMMEND YOU TO TURN BOTH OF YOU IN NOW, PLUTONIUM."

"It's Ethereal!" Ethereal snapped, swishing her body towards Magnezone, gracefully showing off the icy braids.

"CHANGING YOUR NAME DOESN'T CHANGE YOUR RECORD, GIRL."

Ethereal glared at Magnezone for a few hard seconds.

"You know what? You're not getting away with this."

She took out her Choice Scarf and wrapped it around her neck. As she made the final knot, securing it, the Scarf glowed with a mystical cyan aura.

"I'll give you one last chance!" she gnarled. "I know you pack Revives somewhere; get me one of those, and I might hit softer."

"WHAT? PLUTONIUM, YOU'RE SO STUPID WHEN YOU'RE ANGRY."

That was pretty true. It didn't sink too well on Ethereal though.

"Eat dirt, you piece of junk! Hidden Power!"

Ethereal channeled her rage into several spheres of energy, and it collected around her. The spheres soon got so dense that they sank to the ground; it was a Ground typed Hidden Power.

One swish of her body, and the spheres headed towards Magnezone.

"SUBSTITUTE!"

Magnezone poofed away – literally, leaving behind a decoy, which was smashed into bits by the Hidden Power.

"YOU CAN'T KILL ME, I'M SORRY. THUN-"

"Hidden Power!"

Suddenly, Ethereal launched another Hidden Power, quickly recovering from the previous attack. It came so fast that Magnezone had no other choice but to go with another defensive measure.

"SUBSTITUTE!"

Magnezone disappeared again, leaving behind a decoy. It was once again shredded into bits.

"YOU'RE FAST."

"Hidden Power!"

"WHAT?!"

This one came a lot faster than Magnezone had time to prepare for. The spheres of energy were already heading towards it, coming at an extremely high velocity.

"NO!"

Suddenly, the spheres stopped dead in their tracks. Ethereal had stopped the attack. The spheres of energy stood stuck in the ground around Magnezone, threatening to slam into it if any movement was made.

"So, who's whining now?"

"I WAS NEVER WHIN-"

Magnezone looked at Ethereal's angry image. Maybe it wasn't the best time for stupid jokes.

"ME."

"I want my Revive! Now!"

"I CAN'T MOVE WITH THE HIDDEN POWER SURROUNDING ME."

"Right. I'll just finish you, then!"

It was then that Garchomp decided to wake up. Maybe the Hidden Power didn't completely take him out.

"Whoa, Angel."

Ethereal turned around, a smile running across her face.

"Sharky! You're back!"

She ran towards Garchomp, throwing her Choice Scarf on the ground.

But what Garchomp did didn't just surprise her; it changed her.

He slashed her with his strong scythes, and flung her to the side.

"Argh! Sharky, what are you doin-"

Ethereal had a flask pointed at her. It was an ordinary flask, made out of some weird metals which insulated heat really well, but Ethereal already knew what was inside it. Her heart sank.

"Don't move," Garchomp said, sternly.

"But…b-but…" Ethereal stammered, tears already forming. "No, Sharky, what are you doing?!"

"Shut up!" Garchomp yelled, holding the flask closer. "Or I'll open this pathetic little flask and send you back to prison again!"

"WAIT, YOU WERE IN PRISON BEFORE?" Magnezone interjected. "HOW COME I DON'T KNOW ABO-"

"You shut up too!" Garchomp turned around, snarling at Magnezone.

Ethereal looked up at Gachomp, eyes glimmering in the morning sunlight. Then, she covered her eyes and looked away, as a tear made contact with the ground.

"All this while, all you wanted was the Scarf, right?"

"Indeed," Garchomp replied. He calmly picked up the Choice Scarf from the floor, and he strapped it around his neck.

"But why?!" Ethereal wailed. "I've given you my love and support all these years, and you give me this?!"

"Look, Angel. There's some stuff that you need to understand. You see, I'd do so much more with this Scarf than you would ever do in your entire life. I could easily walk up to the strongest Pokemon in the universe and down them with this Scarf. Meanwhile, you're wasting the Scarf by being completely useless!"

Ethereal gasped. Then, she lowered her head for a moment.

After that moment, she tilted her head up, revealing eyes which were burning with rage.

"Take this! Ice Beam!"

Garchomp shrieked. He quickly released the contents of the flask, shocking Ethereal until her Ice Beam was completely dispelled.

"No! NO!"

A Fire Blast exploded out of the flask, engulfing Ethereal in brilliant orange fire. The fire raged on, charring the ground beside her.

And then it subsided. Ethereal was unharmed, but she was only physically unharmed – she was a special Glaceon who was immune to fire. Emotionally though, she was struck too hard for a quick recovery; her anger dissipated instantly, and she hung her head down in despair.

"Oops. Wrong flask," Garchomp said, carrying a bounce in his voice.

Ethereal remained silent.

Garchomp grinned, and looked far into the horizon.

"Next time we meet, I'll bring the right flask. You better watch out. Don't come back looking for your Scarf, as you'll never get it back."

He strolled off, leaving Ethereal behind.

Ethereal was heartbroken; she had devoted her life and given up too much for Garchomp, only to be backstabbed by him. She slumped down to the ground, tears oozing out of her eyes; she felt too hopeless to bawl.

"HEY PLUTON- I MEAN, ETHEREAL. COULD YOU GET ME OUT OF THIS?" Magnezone said, disrupting the atmosphere slightly.

Ethereal looked at Magnezone. She slowly got up, walked closer to him, and in a flash, she absorbed all the spheres of Hidden Power back into her.

"You're welcome," she mumbled.

"LOOK…I'M SORRY."

"Don't be, robot. Go ahead and arrest me."

"NO, I CAN'T…I CA-"

"ARREST ME!" Ethereal shouted, before slamming her head to the ground, crying her soul out.

Magnezone decided that it was best to remain silent. He binded Ethereal's front legs together with Thunder Waves, doing the same thing with the back, and he phoned a Kirlia to come over and teleport them to the prison. Ethereal remained silent throughout all of it.

 

EthyG

Idk what to write here x3~~~
11
Posts
12
Years

chapter three: imperfect

Magnezone bashed into the police office, dropping Ethereal onto the floor, releasing the Thunder Waves which bound her.

"Sir, that's not too safe, don't you feel?" the receptionist Audino asked.

"NO," he droned. "IT'S PERFECTLY…SAFE…"

His voice made a swift diminuendo before it disappeared to nothing. He dipped his head, then flung his police beret to the ground.

"Erm…sir? That's a sign of…"

"DISRESPECT? WELL, FORGIVE ME FOR THAT. I CAN'T DO THIS JOB ANYMORE."

Ethereal gasped. "No! Don't! I'm sorry, please don't resign!"

Magnezone sighed. "IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT."

"How isn't this my fault?!" Ethereal cried out, tears already flooding out of her eyes.

"WHOA, DON'T CRY, DON'T CRY…" Magnezone floated over, hovering over Ethereal and covering her with one of his magnets.

Ethereal leaned her head on the magnet, pouring her compassion on it. "Please don't resign, I'll help you get whatever you lost back!"

"I HAVEN'T LOST ANYTHING BIG, GIRL. I'VE JUST LOST MY DRIVE FOR THIS."

"And it's all my fault! I'm sorry for threatening you at HP-point! I'm sorry for freezing you to the ground! I'm-"

"HUSH, GIRL," he buzzed calmly, patting Ethereal on her back. "YOU KNOW, I WISH EVERY CON WERE LIKE YOU."

Ethereal stopped sobbing. She looked at Magnezone with teary eyes.

"KNOW WHY GARCHOMP AND YOU ARE ON OUR WANTED LIST, BUT YOU'RE NEVER TRACKED DOWN?"

"Just today, I had a Dusclops outside my house."

"PARDON HIM, PLEASE. HE'S NEW AND HE'S JUST TRYING TO SPEED UP HIS PROMOTION."

Ethereal chuckled weakly, but it was so forced that she ended up feeling more melancholic than happy.

"ANYWAY, YOU KNOW WHAT THE VICTIMS OF YOUR REVENGE KILLS REPORT TO US?"

Ethereal shook her head.

"THEY SAY THAT THEY'VE BEEN TORTURED, BUT THEY'VE NEVER BEEN LEFT FOR DEAD."

"I…try to help them…recover…sometimes," Ethereal stuttered, almost in embarrassment.

"ALL THE TIME, ACTUALLY. AND THAT'S WHY GARCHOMP RANKS SO MUCH HIGHER THAN YOU ON OUR WANTED LIST."

Ethereal made a faint giggle, then quickly returned to her depressed state.

"IF WE TOOK DOWN GARCHOMP, YOU WOULDN'T CARRY ON, RIGHT?"

Ethereal paused, then shook her head.

"IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT, KAY?"

"…Thank you, Officer."

"I'LL TAKE MY LEAVE NOW."

Magnezone went out of the office, leaving the Audino slightly dumbfounded.

"Well, that was abrupt," he said. He looked down at Ethereal. "Erm…I'll call in Crimson."

"You don't need to," a voice echoed through the corridors. It was Crimson, the Typhlosion.

"Inspector!" the Audino exclaimed. "Did you see all of that?"

"Yep! I sure did!" Crimson said, bouncing up and down. "Cameras exist!"

He was a rather hyperactive one. Some wondered how he rose up the ranks until he was one rank below the Chief, but Ethereal knew that he was so good with interrogations that he could squeeze out truths from lies.

He turned over to Ethereal. "So, Ethy. Welcome back to our amazing police office! How long has it been? Five years?"

Ethereal kept quiet.

"Dang, something on?"

"I'll confess everything later. Just take me inside first, if you'd please."

"Not very flirty today, are you?"

"No."

"Whoa, a one-word answer. That's…not you." Crimson said, voice dipping. "Come on in."

Suddenly, a Luxray bashed through the front door, denting it slightly.

"Alright!" he said, panting. "How do I turn myself in?"

~

"Just sit down and relax, I'll get you peeps some water."

"I'm not thirsty, it's okay," Ethereal said.

Frenzy looked at Ethereal, sticking out his tongue and panting. He had just been through a run.

"…Actually, just get some water. Thanks, sugar."

Crimson smiled and walked away.

As the door of the interrogation room slammed shut, there was an awkward moment of silence. The two convicts stared at each other from time to time, but they never initiated a conversation. After about five minutes, it became clear that Crimson wasn't going to appear very soon.

"So, how did you end up in here?" Frenzy asked. His low-pitched voice echoed in the room.

"Long story," Ethereal said, before her voice faded away and a tear formed at her eyes. She swiftly swiped it away. "Sorry, it's not the nicest of stories."

"It's good," Frenzy said. "I won't rub it into you."

There was another moment of silence.

Ethereal sighed. She was going to have to let it out on somebody.

"Hey, you ever lost a…well, a lover before?"

"I'm not the relationship kind of guy."

"Well," Ethereal said. "I'm okay with that. I guess I won't…involve you in any of this…"

Her voice softened until it was a mere squeak.

"I really wish that I could help…but I really can't give any relationship advice," Frenzy mumbled.

"It's okay, furball. It's okay."

Suddenly, a Volcarona slammed the door open. She waltzed into the room, wings fluttering at such a speed that the noise generated was slightly annoying.

"I'm taking over Crimson here," she said. Her voice was scratchy and sounded malicious in itself. "So there's no more rainbows and sunshine for all of you."

Ethereal got up from her chair. "Um…sorry…" she looked on the Volcarona's police beret, affirming her rank. "…Inspector," she said, punctuating the word clearly, then continued, "But could you bring Crimson back? It's painful trying to explain the entire story again…"

"Shut up, crybaby! Get back to your seat!"

Ethereal's eyes widened, but she listened to the command and did as she was told. Frenzy, however, wasn't too happy with Volcarona's display.

"Hey, this gal over here is just feeling a little vulnerable now, got a problem with that?!" he sprung out of his seat and shouted at Volcarona.

Volcarona was shocked. "Don't get aggressive against me!"

"I haven't even gotten aggressive yet," Frenzy grinned, then roared.

Ethereal grabbed Frenzy. "No, furball, don't do this…"

Volcarona laughed loudly; how she did it was kinda mystical, since she didn't have a mouth. Speaking was already something awkward, but laughing? That was really off-the-top.

"I bet you don't even know the name of that girl, right?" she taunted.

"Well!" Frenzy was about to come up with a witty response, but he really didn't know her name.

"Ethereal," Ethereal said.

"Frenzy here, sup. Beautiful name you've got there."

Ethereal made a faint smile.

"Okay, you've had your reunion! Perfect! Now tell me why you're here in the police office right now!" Volcarona shouted.

"Could we all sit down first? We can't talk when we're all ready to fight and stuff…"

Volcarona was fuming mad now. Ethereal was now giggling, tears around her eyes starting to evaporate, and on the verge of exploding into laughter.

"Fiery Dance!"

Volcarona cloaked itself in fire, and the flames spun around her, projecting outwards. In any other place, this would have melted metal. Thankfully, the interrogation room was already proofed against the seventeen elements.

"Whoa! Don't attack us!" Frenzy shouted.

"Hang on, sugar," Ethereal said, springing out of her seat. "I've got this one."

She jumped in front of Frenzy, absorbing the impact of the Fiery Dance. Frenzy was stunned; he was being protected from a Fire-typed move by an Ice-type. Volcarona was pretty ticked off too, for the same reason.

"How did you do that?" Frenzy asked.

"Eh, I'm fireproof. Curses from Chandelures. Very complicated stuff. Can't explain it."

"Wow, that just makes you so much more beautiful."

Ethereal squealed. She swished around a hundred and eighty degrees, showing off, taking a glimpse at Frenzy's stunned face in the meantime.

"I like you already," she commented. There was a now a seductive smile on her face.

Meanwhile, Volcarona was charging up from another attack. Their conversation had given her the time to finish the charging, and he released the attack, ending the conversation abruptly.

"Bug Buzz!"

"Blizzard."

Volcarona emitted a high-pitched, painful cry, reminding Frenzy of someone who changed his life.

Ethereal's attack came more slowly; she started by releasing a blast of cold air around her, freezing the moisture in the air and creating glimmering shards of pure ice. The frost surrounding her quickly solidified too, forming even more beautiful shards of ice. With one single flick of her head, the shards of ice started dispersing all over, hitting everything possible, except her partner.

The Bug Buzz attack was stopped cold by the shards of ice. Literally.

The other shards of ice suddenly turned themselves towards Volcarona; the degree of perfection of the attack was off the charts. They shot towards Volcarona at an extremely high velocity.

And suddenly, before they hit her, Ethereal stopped the attack. The shards of ice froze under the heat emitted by the flaming bug.

"What?! Why did you stop it?" Frenzy said.

"It's illegal to attack a police officer," she sighed, then looked at Volcarona. "But it's not illegal for a police officer to attack us."

"Yes indeed, crybaby. Bite it and go on."

Volcarona flew out of the room, forgetting to close the door behind her.

Ethereal helped her with that; she closed the door, then walked back to her seat. She looked at Frenzy for a split second, then burst into laughter.

"Hahaha! It's a waste that you're not with more girls, really! You're really good at this!" she said, bowling over with laughter.

Frenzy simply kept his cool, giving Ethereal a grin which let one of his fangs show.

"I'll take that as a compliment," he said, stately.

"Of course it is, tiger! Of course it is!" Ethereal chirped. She had apparently already left Garchomp back in the past. "Gawsh, hope I'm roomed with you."

"We're in a prison, Ethy. They're called 'cells'."

Ethereal bowled over with laughter once again, her remaining tears spilling out of her eyes.

"Oh, we'll have so many great moments in our cell!" she said, still laughing.

Frenzy remained silent, slightly taken aback by that statement.

Ethereal stopped laughing. "Okay, was that a little too much?"

Suddenly, Crimson opened the door of the interrogation room, carrying a tray with a jug of water and some wine glasses on it.

"Sorry I took so long! Got caught up with a Teddiursa who was selling candy! Okay, no questions asked! Carry on!" he said, scratching his head.

He took a glimpse at the two convicts, and saw that Frenzy was bearing a faint smile on his face, and Ethereal had just gone through a fit of laughter. It warmed his heart.

"So, I'm presuming that we can go on with our interrogation now?"

"Yes, Inspector," Frenzy said.

"Eh," Ethereal interjected. "Before this, I just wanna call for a room- or rather, a cell, with Frenzy over here. Hope that's fine."

Frenzy nodded his head in agreement.

"It's good, really!" Crimson said, smiling. "Just be really honest during the interrogation, kay?"

"Oh, I'll confess everything. It'll be so detailed that you could write a story on this."

The two of them confessed every last detail of their last mission.

~

"Have a good time in prison!"

"Thanks, we will!"

The door was slammed shut, and the guards took the two convicts to their cell. They weren't even chained; Crimson knew that they had no intentions of escaping.

Crimson walked down the corridor, back to his office desk. On the way, he met the Volcarona. She was the only officer in the entire department who was also given the rank of Inspector.

He decided that it was necessary to talk to her.

"Hey, Inspector, may I have a few words with you?" Crimson said, removing all the informality in his normal speaking tone, creating one that sounded more professional.

"Sure," she said, much more politely than the way she talked to the convicts.

"You know Rocky, I saw what you did in the interrogation room. I was standing at the other side of it and looking through the window. I was actually supposed to see if they would do anything suspicious, but I saw something else."

Rocky blushed, possibly at how Crimson articulated her name in his formal tone; it sounded unnatural. "Forgive me for that, Crimson. They pushed my buttons a little."

"If I remember correctly, you attacked them. Ethereal mentioned a law about us being allowed to attack the convicts, and how it can't happen vice versa. It stands, but it shouldn't be abused."

Rocky's temper flared. "Are you saying that I'm abusing the law?!"

Crimson kept quiet, allowing her to cool down.

She eventually did. "Sorry for that."

"Look, you're a great officer. I just think that you could stick with your field duties. You're much better at those."

"You know really well that the rank of Chief can only be obtained by the lazy Slakoths who stay indoors all the time, right?"

Ouch. That hurt.

"Let's try to remain formal, shall we?"

"Why bother? There's no one listening, right?!"

"Office code of conduct. Let's try to follow it."

Rocky glared at Crimson. Crimson simply remained rooted to his spot, with an emotionless expression.

"You're really stuck-up, know that?"

"I get that a lot, yes."

He didn't really get it a lot. In fact, it was the first time someone called him "stuck-up", since he was always modest and ready to get down to the lower-ranked officers' level. Sometimes, he even tried to scrap his superiority when with the convicts.

"Well, it'll really suck if someone who can't take their job seriously ends up a Chief, right?"

"Yep. So true."

Volcarona strutted off, calling her party and getting ready for more field duties.

Crimson sighed. Sometimes, he wished that he could fight back. He felt a little tinge of anger burning inside him, but he swallowed it down.

"Hey, Inspector!"

Crimson turned around, and saw his secretary. It was a Skiploom, and her name was Noisy. Yes, Noisy. She was one of those ex-convicts who started serving for the law after their jail term. Noisy had worked with Crimson for about five years already; her first case, ironically, was when Ethereal got arrested for the first time.

She supposedly got her name by her annoying methods of assault. She'd plant Leech Seeds on a person and hide behind Substitutes until the foes were drained of all their energy. It was a merciless way to eliminate a foe, and some of them complained that it was annoying, therefore the name. She wasn't a very noisy poke, though.

"Afternoon, Noisy," he said, saluting.

"Afternoon, Inspector," Noisy said, saluting in response to Crimson.

"What are you doing here?"

Noisy sighed.

"Could we get out of this station for a while? I want to bring up some…issues."

"Right, we shall, then."

~

It was not until they stepped out of the facility when Noisy's true personality was shown.

"Right, finally! FINALLY!!"

"Yep, finally indeed!"

Noisy stopped shouting as she saw the smile return to Crimson's face.

"Come, let's get a drink or something."

Crimson thought about it for a second. A drink could be a great mistake.

"Nah, let's just talk over here. I need to go finish that interrogation transcript."

"Well, I've done it already!" Noisy said, making a jump which left her suspended in air. "Don't worry about that part!"

Crimson grinned. "Wow, you're the best, Noisy."

~

"Right, here's your Hyper Potion and Casteliacone!"

"Thanks, Purple Guy!"

Noisy took her Casteliacone with two hands, smiling at the really friendly Salamence. Crimson grabbed the glass of Hyper Potion.

The owner of this humble café was a Salamence who used to be in the police force. He rose to a rather high rank, before he decided that there was no place for the officers to chill out around the office. He therefore created a solution to that, and was earning so much more money that some of the policemen wished that they had become Purple Guy's staff when they had a chance.

Crimson slid the glass over to Noisy. "Want some?"

"No, it's okay," Noisy replied. "I'm going to try to cut down on the alcohol."

She took a huge bite of the Casteliacone as Crimson took his glass back and sipped from it.

"Wonder why they call it a 'Casteliacone'," the Skiploom said, out of complete randomness. "Maybe it's a cone from some weird city called Castelia or something."

Crimson was too busy drinking from his glass. Noisy sighed.

"Anyway, we didn't come here to talk about food."

Crimson put down his glass. "Yeah?"

"It's about…"

"Rocky?"

Noisy nodded.

"There's nothing wrong with her," Crimson said, taking another sip from his glass.

"What are you talking about? She insulted you quite a few times there, don't you know?"

"Eh, doesn't hurt me too much."

Noisy raised an eyebrow.

"Are you drunk?"

"Not yet."

"Right."

She sighed again.

"I'm just worried that she ends up Chief. I'd never be able to stay in the force if there's some horrible leader barking orders at me. I'd probably just quit or something."

Crimson put down his glass.

"Your point being?"

"You can't let Rocky be the Chief! It'll mark the end of the force!"

Crimson laughed. "You're speculating a lot, and that's normally not such a good thing!" he said with a little quiver in his voice, signalling that he was a little drunk already.

"Someday, you should teach her a lesson!"

"Nah, that day's never coming!" Crimson said, taking another sip from his glass.

"I mean, you never thought of fighting back? That's just a little…I don't know."

Crimson gulped down the entire glass of Hyper Potion. His head was now swaying in a circle.

He raised one of his hands, and muttered, "Patience."

Immediately after saying that, his head slammed onto the bar table.

Noisy sighed. "Purple! I need your help here!"

Purple Guy walked over to Noisy and collected Crimson's glass. He chuckled at the sight of Crimson, and his image slightly resembled one of those stereotypical evil villains.

"I see that my buddy has tipped over again."

"Yes, he has! Do you have one of those quick detoxifiers or whatever-you-call-those?"

Purple Guy winked. "I'm right at it."

He reached down and took out a bottle of Full Heal. Normally, these would be mixed with a Hyper Potion to remove the high alcohol content in the Hyper Potion, but on their own, they were able to snap a drunken poke out of his trance really quickly.

"Heh, Noisy, you know something about Crimson?" he asked as he opened the cap of the bottle.

"I guess I should know enough about him to guess what you're talking about. You two were partners once, right?"

The Salamence smiled. "More than that, actually." He poured the Full Heal into a wine glass, and continued, "He was so much more than a partner."

Noisy was visibly confused. "Wait, explain that for me, would you?"

"Heh, he always had this habit of swallowing his anger, then finding a way to dispel it. He never released his anger on anyone." Purple Guy dropped some ice cubes into the glass, and gave it a swirl. "I, however, had this habit of lunging out at anyone who ticked me off. I guess I was a little bit of a disgrace to him."

He served the glass of Full Heal.

"But yeah, after a while of being his partner, I eventually picked up his ways, and I guess that's why I make friends much more easily now, eh?"

Noisy laughed. "I can see that; you're a bartender now! You must have, what, a hundred girls?"

The Salamence was stuck frozen to the spot, hand still clutching on the glass of Full Heal.

"Erm…ignore what I said," Noisy said.

"Yeah…sometimes I wondered why I wasn't chosen by Arceus to wield a Choice item. Remember the time where me and Crimson were interrogating that Glaceon-girl?"

"Ethereal? Yeah, she's back in prison."

Purple Guy's eyes widened. "Oh, a shame. She was one of the nicest convicts I ever met. She was also stunningly be-"

He quickly shook any weird thoughts off.

"Anyway, that girl was a Choicer. I loved to ask myself why she was chosen instead of me; and then I realised that the Choice items weren't just weapons made for destruction."

Noisy nodded her head in strong approval.

"You know the tale behind Choice, right?"

Noisy shook her head.

"Well, Arceus chooses certain pokes to wield Choice Items. But he only chooses them based on certain qualities which they possess. And the Choicers are destined to inspire others, rather than cause destruction with their extra power."

"Inspire?" Noisy asked. That was something new.

"Yep, inspire. And I think Crimson's the prime example of a strong source of positive influence," he said, slotting a slice of lemon to the glass of Full Heal as a garnish.

"And the Choice Specs which Crimson treasures so much," he added, "They represent patience."

Noisy nodded her head, keeping silent as she fed the Full Heal into Crimson's mouth. He slowly came to his senses.

"Urgh…what?"

"You got drunk. Very drunk. Better get some sleep, pal," Purple Guy said.

"Right…" Crimson said wearily. "See you tomorrow, Noisy. Thanks for the drink, Purple!"

"See you too Crimson! Rest well!"

The two of them watched Crimson walk towards the horizon.

"Yep, the Hyper Potion isn't meant to go down one's throat," Purple Guy commented. "Poor soul."

Noisy nodded her head, showing a distinct sad face. Suddenly, an idea struck her. She asked Purple Guy, "Hey, I've got a treasure too…it's not a Choice item, but it's close."

"Well, I'd be happy to give you more children's stories."

She took out a lump of pink ore. Purple Guy recognised it instantly.

"So Purple, what does this represent?" Noisy asked, almost innocently.

Purple Guy sniggered and gave a rather shallow answer.

"Oh, it just means that you have much more to achieve, and you're finding an excuse to not achieve it."


 

EthyG

Idk what to write here x3~~~
11
Posts
12
Years
hey peeps; literary critique or anything of that sort is super-appreciated ^^. just wanna know if other peeps like this stuff or not~


chapter four: intimidated

*warning: there's the use of (the equivalent of) the F word, and there's a little allusion to seduction somewhere in there, so viewer discretion is advised.

Noisy walked down the aisles of the police office, greeting each officer at their respective table. She made her way to the table which was enclosed in four glass walls; this was Crimson's table.

Stepping inside the room, she saw so many things which she had seen so many times; some of them hadn't moved since the last time she stepped in. There was a huge poster of the ranks in the force, thrown onto the floor and left untouched, a picture of every officer in the force, captioned "My Family", and a huge basket of candy. Yes, candy. The only other thing, not named alcohol, which turned his gears of life.

Noisy hovered over the table – something which the Hoppip evolutionary line was made to do, and went for the phone. Having Crimson break off from work early wasn't an unfamiliar sight, but Noisy knew that Rocky was the sole cause of it. It seemed as if every conversation Rocky and Crimson had would be one which involved throwing insults at Crimson, leaving him at a rather vulnerable state.

Noisy dialed the six numbers which were already familiar to her.

"Hello Chief? Yeah, Crimson's gone and knocked himself out agai-" Noisy paused in the middle of her sentence. Strange. Magnezone would have said something interesting by now. "Excuse me, is there anyone there?"

Of course there wasn't. Magnezone had abruptly retired.

"Dang it," Noisy cursed, as she put the phone down.

But just as she put the phone down, it rang again. The little display screen on the phone showed the Chief table's number. Noisy instantly picked it up.

"Good evening, Chief!" she said cheerfully.

There was no response.

"Erm…good evening, Chief?"

There was still no response. But it was from the Chief's table, so it must have meant something. In any case, she'd have to report that Crimson was taking leave.

"Inspector Crimson has…just drank past his limits. Again. Yep, nothing new."

Suddenly, the receiving end was dropped, and Noisy was left really confused.

~​

"Play time, cons! Get out there to the field now!"

Recreation time. Some convicts thought of it as an opportunity to escape, since the field was in the open; if you wanted to escape, you could just call a ride over, climb over a puny fence, and you'd be out. Then came the bigger problem; A signal would sound and there'd be a police battalion strolling over to intercept you, and you'd be thrown into an isolated cell for a while. And isolated cells were really boring; you wouldn't want to end up there.

Ethereal and Frenzy were having a nice long chat, albeit a slightly one-sided one, when the gate opened and they were forced to suspend their conversation for a while. The convicts lined up in a single file and walked out into the field.

"Remember the golden rule, cons! If you attack anyone else, be it officer or con, you will be sent into isolation!"

Frenzy gnarled. "Poocheyena."

"Whoa, fluffball," Ethereal said. "If they caught you cursing, they'd do something."

"What?"

"Well, I don't know. I don't wanna try either."

The two of them walked out into the recreation area.

"So, where are you headed for?" Frenzy asked.

Ethereal cheekily chuckled. "Wherever you're going," she said.

"…I don't really know where I'm going. You know what? I'm going to go back and catch some sleep."

"Oh. All good. I'll go practice some Blizza-"

She caught sight of something which didn't please her too much.

"Hang on, furball. Let me settle this."

She dashed over to a corner, leaving Frenzy behind.

Frenzy shrugged his shoulders and followed Ethereal to that corner.

~​

"Excuse me, peep," Ethereal said, sternly.

A Rhyperior was having a nice time keeping a Porygon-Z in the air, and the poor creature didn't feel like fighting back. Apparently, the guards were asleep right now.

He put the Porygon-Z down, tilting his head downwards to make eye contact with Ethereal.

"Whoa, who's talking big here?"

"I suggest you put that guy down now."

The Rhyperior turned his head to Frenzy, and Frenzy jumped slightly at his intimidating gaze.

"Erm…yes! Put that guy down!" he said, out of no particular reason.

The Rhyperior laughed.

"Your boy?" he asked Ethereal.

"What are you talking about?" Ethereal replied, gnarling.

"You've chosen a lousy boy this time, you know?"

Ethereal looked at Frenzy. Frenzy shrugged his shoulders, saying, "I'm okay with that" in the most casual manner possible.

Ethereal swung her head back, and was now glaring at Rhyperior again.

"You know, Plutonium," the Rhyperior said. "I remember you so well."

"It's Ethereal, damn you. And I think you should really spend your time on something more productive."

Frenzy tapped Ethereal. "I thought…we weren't supposed to swear or something?"

"'Damn' isn't a bad word."

The Rhyperior turned around, and showed off the two golden stubs on both of his arms. Ethereal reclined in shock.

"Bubblegum?!"

"Yes, you radioactive Jynx. Big Bubblegum is back."

Ethereal growled. "What did you just call me?!"

The Rhyperior stomped on the floor, grinning maliciously. "Radioactive. Jynx."

Ethereal stood stuck at her position for a few seconds. Then, she snarled at Bubblegum, a thick icy mist suddenly forming around her.

"You muk-king hunk of junk! Taste my-"

"Ethy?"

Frenzy was already crouching; he was probably slightly intimidated by Ethereal's rage.

"You…can't say that 'Muk' isn't a bad word…" he stuttered, then continued, "…especially in that context…right?"

"Shut up, furball!" she snapped.

Suddenly, the anger seemed to dissipate. The icy mist around her faded.

"I…I didn't mean that…" she muttered.

"Well, I'll get busy having fun with this little toy then! Have fun crying in your cell!" Bubblegum said, laughing.

Frenzy stood in his battling stance. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Ethy's a lot stronger than you thi-"

No, she wasn't. She was already in tears. She let her tears fall freely, subsequently letting her words fly freely as well.

"Is your heart made out of stone or something?! Do you actually think about anyone before you do Muk-king anything?!" She blared at Bubblegum.

Frenzy turned around, looking at the guard. He was asleep. Thank Arceus.

"You don't actually give a damn, right?! Well, have fun getting stuck in prison, you tyrant!"

Ethereal swung her head, and a shard of ice suddenly flew outwards, striking Bubblegum in his right cheek; it smashed with a heavy impact, blasting so hard that Bubblegum's head was, almost literally, slapped to the left.

She turned the full turn and headed for her cell at full speed, tears freezing the ground as she ran.

Frenzy looked backwards, and saw that Ethereal had already disappeared out of the field.

"Well, congratulations, you Muk. You just pissed her off," Frenzy said, sternly.

"So what? All you did was be a little Purrloin through it all."

Frenzy chuckled. Suddenly, his eyes flashed, and he let out a roar so loud that the field was silenced for a second. It was his Intimidate coming into effect; he'd only pull it off when it was actually necessary. Now was one of those times.

The guard was instantly woken up, but he quickly returned to sleep. Yes, the city police force contained some rather lazy workers. Perhaps it was just because the guard happened to be a Snorlax. He was only useful when awake, but that didn't happen too often.

Bubblegum shielded his face in fear. "W-whoa, take it easy!"

Frenzy grinned, letting his fangs protrude outwards.

"Who's the Purrloin now?"

"W-what?! Not m-me, I'm not s-s-scared!!" Bubblegum stuttered.

A crowd was now gathering around the two, or rather, three of them. The poor Porygon-Z never said anything through the entire event; then again, the Porygon evolutionary line never spoke. They could transmit their thoughts to machines and stuff, but that was about all.

Bubblegum looked around, and he cringed in fear. Blatant, blunt fear.

"Argh…Rock Wrecker!!!"

Bubblegum channeled energy through his two arms, and a stone formed out of pure energy was conjured up in between those arms. He threw the stone towards Frenzy at a high speed.

"Superpower!"

Frenzy cloaked one of his paws in energy, and with one clean attack, the Rock Wrecker was smashed.

"W-what?! Impossible!"

"You're too scared to give your best, right?"

Bubblegum panted heavily from the Rock Wrecker attack; it drained so much of his energy that it became necessary to try to recharge it. Through his panting, everyone saw that he was shivering. From fear.

He was so much more than intimidated.

Frenzy grinned maliciously, causing Bubblegum to jump slightly. Then, he shut his eyes for a moment, letting the lust of battle drain out of him.

"Well, I'll go comfort my Ethy now," he said, calm once again.

Suddenly, voices shot out from the crowd.

"Wait, Ethy's back?"

"Arceus, Ethy!"

"Gawsh, gotta meet her!"

~​

A bunch of cons followed Frenzy inside to his cell; Ethereal was busy hiding at a corner. Hopefully, she was done with her tears.

The cell door opened, drawing Ethereal's attention to Frenzy. She took a glimpse at the cons behind Frenzy.

"Furball," she said, a slight stutter in her voice. "Why did you bring these peeps in?"

"I mentioned your name."

"Sweet Arceus."

Ethereal got up, and Frenzy walked up to her. The other cons stayed outside the cell; they would receive bad stuff from that sleeping Snorlax, in some way or another, if they went in. Prisoners weren't allowed into each others' cells, for obvious reasons.

"So, you feeling better?"

"I guess so."

"Don't worry, I schooled that Rhyperior."

Ethereal's eyes widened. Then, they returned to slits.

"No, you shouldn't have…it was my fault."

"How was this your fault?"

"Well…I'm a sensitive poke. Forgive me for that."

Frenzy patted Ethereal.

"You're a Scarfer, remember? Compassion?"

Ethereal smiled. "Yeah, guess so."

They hugged each other, as the cons sighed. Suddenly, a thought struck Frenzy.

"Wait…that thing which Bubblegum called you…Jynx, was it?"

"Radioactive Jynx. Radioactive is a reference to my old name, Plutonium. I changed it after big Hydra suggested it that night."

"Who's Hydra?"

Frenzy turned around to see that one of the cons was a Hydreigon. He was waving his hands wildly.

Ethereal then continued, "Jynx is a reference to-"

"No, wait. Wait a second. Don't tell me."

Frenzy looked back.

The cons who followed him were all guys.

He rolled his eyes, a strange feeling creeping up to him.

"Oh my..."

"Well, that's actually how I got out of prison the first time," Ethereal said, shamelessly. "They expelled me."

~​

Crimson was called into the prison for some emergency case. A Rhyperior named Bubblegum was whacking away at his cell wall, apparently crying; something that seemed uncharacteristic of a prisoner. The psychiatrist of the prison got a little too scared – intimidated, rather, to try to talk to that Rhyperior. Crimson functioned as a psychiatrist very rarely, because he was nowhere as good as the one they had, but unlike her, he could fight back in the event where the prisoners got violent.

The very few times where Crimson took the role of psychiatrist involved him scaring – intimidating, rather, the prisoners so much that they didn't even try to fight back. The first thing you'd see from him was the Choice Specs; taking an Eruption with that in play wasn't easy. For those who resisted the Eruption, there were always other slightly less painful ways to get slammed.

When Crimson appeared in front of Bubblegum's cell, he found the huge creature using his huge arms to slam on the impenetrable walls, the impenetrable ceiling, and even himself. It was a hilarious scene, but the atmosphere in the prison just didn't allow that kind of humour. Bubblegum never realised that he was being watched until Crimson knocked on the door.

Bubblegum hastily turned around, revealing a pool of tears in that little corner he was standing at; literally, a pool of tears.

"Oh My Arceus," Crimson said, a little too loudly.

Bubblegum sighed, trying to hold back his tears. Crimson noticed how he was shaking, possibly in fear.

"Great…you've…seen me in this state…"

Crimson was slightly shocked. Normally, the prisoners who he had to council would be reeling in fear because they didn't want to get attacked by him, but this time, the intimidating job was already done.

Bubblegum whacked himself right in the face; Crimson wondered if he even felt anything from that, but it became apparent that he didn't.

"I-I-I…don't even know what…I'm…saying…"

Crimson's heart softened. This guy was afraid.

Almost instinctively, he reached for his head, took off the pair of Choice Specs, returning it to a pocket in his uniform where the Specs stayed most of the time.

"Alright, buddy. I'm clean. I'm not going to hit you."

He then turned off his fire, practically removing his source of power and preventing him from using any attacks.

Bubblegum sniffed, soaking up a tear. He deftly walked to the door and opened it for Crimson.

Crimson politely walked in.

"Right peep, I'm going to need you to be extremely ho-"

The Rhyperior was already starting to reel in fear.

He couldn't do this the same way he was taught to do these conversations.

"Tell you what, let's sit first, kay? Get on your bed."

Bubblegum did as he was told, then realised that Crimson had nowhere to sit.

"Crimson…I m-mean…" he looked at Crimson's beret, then continued, "I-Inspector…you'll stand?"

Crimson smiled. "Nope, I'll sit."

He sat on the floor, giving Bubblegum a little shock. He stammered for a while, trying to talk, but ended up bursting into tears. Just like a little Purrloin in some ways.

"Whoa man, hold yourself. Hold…" Crimson said, standing up and patting Bubblegum on the back.

"I don't get it! I don't Muk-king get it! What's wrong with you Choicers?! Why is it that you're so amazing?!"

The Snorlax turned his head towards Bubblegum's cell at the sound of the word "Muk", but saw an Inspector there. He decided to leave the dirty work to the Inspector.

Crimson gave the Rhyperior another pat.

"Shh…stay cool."

"You're just like Ethy and her boy! I don't get it!"

Crimson's eyes widened. "Ethy and her boy" must have done something. Something that made this guy in tears and confined to his cell.

"Please, if it helps, explain."

Bubblegum looked at Crimson, who was now sitting beside him, teary-eyed.

He took a few deep breaths, and calmed himself down. Crimson saw a faint smile appearing.

"Ethy's a crybaby. She gets hurt so easily that it's annoying."

Crimson wanted to challenge him, but there was no lie in that; Ethereal was a little viscous.

"Ethy's boy is dumb. He just doesn't know how to act properly in front of people."

That one didn't really make sense.

"Wait, justify the 'dumb' part."

"When I told Ethy that she chose a lousy boy, he said, 'I'm okay with that'. What's his problem?"

"Oh, it's his way of being sarcastic."

"He's also a little bit of a freak; that's about all he said while I was talking to Ethy," he paused, then continued with a more sarcastic tone, "other than the times he was insisting that she had to follow the rules."

Yep, that qualified for a freak.

"And you…" he said, sighing, "…you're a police officer. But you don't act like one."

Crimson blushed slightly. "Yes, I have trouble taking things seriously at times."

"Well, you admitted it."

There was a dramatic pause. Then, Crimson decided that he had to speak.

"You know, you shouldn't critici-"

Bubblegum smiled. "I was getting to that part."

"Wow, am I that predictable?"

"Yes. Yes you are."

Crimson laughed.

Bubblegum paused for a second, then said,

"Ethy is a sweetie. She cares so much for others, even if they don't mean anything to her. Just now, I was…bullying this Porygon-Z. She stepped in to help. I've seen her five years ago, but that Z wasn't there was she first came in. She didn't know that guy. And yet she tried to talk back to me."

Bubblegum then chuckled, continuing, "I guess that's why she has the boys on her side. A beautiful girl isn't too hard to come across, but one like her…is impossible to find anywhere else. Sure, she's a bit of a Jynx, but with a heart like that, no one cares."

Crimson nodded.

"Her boy is a freak, but he's got so much self-control under all of that. He acted so dumb, until I got Ethereal running. That was when he stepped in. He knew when to step in. That, and he controlled his rage so well, and it only came out when Ethy started crying. It's as if he's Ethy's pet. It's the Band. Only a wielder of the Band carries fierce loyalty like that."

Crimson nodded again.

"And you. Sure, you're a bit of a joke, and I've heard Volcarona talking about you so many times. That's why I never really looked up to you…until today. I never believed that you could be a Choicer, but I've just seen it. You stood through my harsh words and stupid actions. You never tried to lunge out at me for criticising you, and being a jerk in general."

Crimson raised an eyebrow. "Whoa, you were testing me?"

"Not really. I was a little…unstable. So yeah, apologies, Inspector."

"No sweat."

Bubblegum chuckled. "I guess only some people get to be Choicers. And yeah."

Crimson smiled. "Yeah. Guess so."

He thought for a while, then tried to speak, but got interrupted before he could start.

"You're going to ask how I know about this Choice stuff, right?"

Crimson laughed. It was true.

"Yeah, figured," Bubblegum said. "You're like a kid in many ways; that's a good thing, I guess."

He continued, "Prisoners aren't dumb."

~​

When Crimson appeared in front of Ethereal and Frenzy's cell, the door was instantly opened, and the two convicts welcomed him in with open arms.

The first thing Frenzy said was, "You just talked to that Rhyperior, right?"

"How did you know?"

"It's in your face. You've got this twitchy expression which shows how you're impressed at something; my best guess would be that Rhyperior told you the story."

Crimson rolled his eyes.

Ethereal chuckled, "You're predictable. I like it."

Crimson blushed. "Erm…thanks?" he said, scratching his head.

He quickly gathered his thoughts.

"Anyway, your trial is tomorrow. Wishing you good luck."

Ethereal nodded, then asked, "Are we going together? I wanna go together."

Frenzy shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, I guess it's okay, since you've got to know each other so well and stuff…"

"Yay! Thanks, dragon!"

Crimson smiled widely and shut the cell doors. He walked back to his office with a spring in his step, and got Noisy to call Judge Arceus, asking him for permission to let the two convicts trial together.

The Judge agreed instantly; he was pretty agreeable to stupid ideas like this.

Noisy never told him about the strange call that morning, as she thought that it wasn't important enough.

Crimson walked home on time for the first time in a long while. Volcarona must have taken leave for the day; it felt much better without her.




once again, reviews/critiques are appreciated <3
 

EthyG

Idk what to write here x3~~~
11
Posts
12
Years



chapter five: spec'd

It was past midnight.

Ethereal tossed about on the floor, unable to sleep. She looked up at Frenzy, who was having a nice rest on the bed. One of the disadvantages of sharing a one-man bunk.

Ethereal sighed.

"Hey, sparky, you still awake?"

Frenzy didn't reply. Of course he didn't reply; he was asleep.

"Arceus, you're just shutting up when I need someone to talk to the most? Sad."

Ethereal chuckled to no one in particular. "You know, we sh-"

"Okay, okay, I'm awake."

Frenzy made a flip, and was now staring at Ethereal like a weakened Poocheyena; he looked emotionlessly into her soul.

Ethereal quickly took her words back. "I…didn't mean that! I really didn't!"

"What are you talking about?" Frenzy said lazily. "You didn't say anything…"

"I…said something…about…" Ethereal thought for a moment. "I forgot," she continued, suddenly speaking in her normal tone.

"You scared about that trial?"

"Yeah…I'm scared. I'm really scared."

"Why be scared?"

"Don't know. I just don't wanna go out there and look stupid or something."

Frenzy laughed quietly.

"You're not afraid of staying in prison forever? You're only scared of looking stupid?"

Ethereal shut her eyes, grinning. "Not with you here."

Frenzy widened his eyes.

"That's…touching, I guess."

"Yeah, if there was a way to stay in prison with you forever, I'm good."

Frenzy went into deep thought.

"I know. We could just instantly surrender!"

Ethereal raised an eyelid. "I don't get."

"We'll tell the lawyer not to defend us, then tell Arceus that we're willing to accept the charges."

"What if we're charged to stay away from each other?"

"Do you even know what a charge is?"

Ethereal shrugged her shoulders. Frenzy rolled his eyes.

Then Ethereal giggled. "Actually," she said seductively, "I do know what a charge is."

"Wow, a revelation?"

"Not that, whatever it is…" she stood up, swishing her head gracefully, letting her braids fly freely in the air. Her cyan body glimmered even through the darkness of the night, and her eyes stood out like two sapphires.

Frenzy stared in awe, jaw dropping, almost uncontrollably.

"…a charge is…" she continued, "Something that you are. A perk-me-up, something you can't do without…"

She took a few steps forward, flamboyantly strutting towards Frenzy.

"Without my charge, I'm…powerless."

Frenzy's jaw was still hanging down. He quickly retracted it.

"Wow…I just realised how beautiful you are."

Ethereal blushed, retracting her head a little. "Oh…"

"Your modesty is amazing," he said, smiling.

"Aww! You're such a sweetie!" Ethereal squealed.

"Who are you calling a sweetie?"

Ethereal's heart dropped. She hopped in exhilaration, causing Frenzy to burst into laughter.

"Arceus, you're so cute."

Ethereal blushed even more. She was speechless; she couldn't do anything other than stay stuck and wait for more flattery.

"You're a great friend," Frenzy said, smiling widely.

Suddenly, Ethereal's heart stopped. She stared blankly into Frenzy for a few seconds, removing Frenzy's smile, replacing it with a face of concern. She felt herself warm up, and her face crimsoned to the hue of a Leppa Berry as she quickly turned around and took swift steps back into her spot on the floor.

"Ethy…you okay?"

Ethereal was snapped out of her embarrassment. She quickly turned to Frenzy, giggling a little, as she said, "I'm done for the night. Thanks, kitty."

"You just have a huge arsenal of names to call me, right? It's cute."

The word "cute" didn't have the same effect on her as it would have normally had. She nodded, face quickly flushing into a blush, as she turned her head back and lay it down on the floor.

~


Ethereal woke up really late the next day. She woke up with lots of smiles and her normal level of energy. Then she saw Frenzy looking down on her from the bed. Instantly, she reminisced the previous night and her smile disappeared. Her face turned red and she tried not to look directly at Frenzy.

Frenzy got off his bed and stood beside Ethereal, who was still sprawling about on the floor.

"Ethy, if you need something, just ask me."

Ethereal chuckled weakly, and looked at Frenzy in the eye.

"I'm…embarrassed," she confessed.

"Why?"

Ethereal opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out, and her face warmed up significantly; enough for Frenzy to feel it.

"Something I wouldn't understand?" he said, chuckling.

Ethereal nodded her head. She was filled with embarrassment; rejection hurts. She just couldn't keep eye contact with Frenzy anymore. Everytime she looked at him, she'd get that heat rush, and it'll feel pretty bad.

She stayed quiet, giving her companion nothing but nods and shakes, until they were moved into the courtroom. The conversations were truly one-sided now; except that it went the other way.

~


"So, you still nervous?"

Ethereal turned her head slowly, smiling and nodding.

Frenzy decided that it was time to dig out the reason. A breakdown in communication during a court would be catastrophic, especially when Ethereal could possibly destroy his plan…if it even was a plan.

"Hey Ethy, don't worry, I've asked the lawyer to get out already."

"Heh…thanks."

Frenzy chuckled, then quickly changed his tone.

"Right, you better come clean."

Ethereal jumped a little. "W-What?"

"What the hell is going on with you? What's there to be embarrassed about anyway?"

Ethereal's eyes widened, and her mouth hung in a passive state. She quickly snapped out of that attack and stuttered, "You know…last night?"

"What about last night?" Frenzy asked, sternly.

Ethereal blushed again.

"Stop blushing, seriously."

"I…I can't. I just can't."

"I don't even get what there is to be embarrassed about."

"You just don't understand love, right?!"

Frenzy's eyes furrowed. A little fire started burning inside him, and he didn't feel like putting it out any time soon.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?"

Ethereal was about to make a fast comeback, but she retracted her words even faster.

"I shouldn't have said that! I'm sorry! Don't-"

"Ethy, seriously?"

The two convicts turned around. It was Crimson.

"What's going on here, peeps?"

Ethereal turned her head away in shame. Frenzy didn't.

"We had a bit of a fight," he grumbled.

"Whoa, it's not good to have a fight right now! You need to work together for this, man!" Crimson said, slightly shocked at how a beautiful relationship had deteriorated into a fight this quickly.

"Tell that to her."

Crimson focused his eyes at Ethereal.

Ethereal innocently looked up at Crimson.

Crimson instantly realised the situation. He burst into laughter, then slapped Ethereal on her back so hard that she fell right off her seat, falling face-first onto the floor.

"Rejected?" he said, cheerfully.

Ethereal's face turned red again. She nodded, still on the floor.

"Being less of a Jynx would really help, don't'cha think?" Crimson asked, oblivious to her emotions.

Ethereal didn't seem to take offense to that. She nodded.

Suddenly, there was a flash of bright light coming from the front. It was Arceus; he was about to enter.

Everyone in the courtroom stood up, staying in attention.

Through the flash of light, Arceus emerged like a beacon of hope through the solemnness in the courtroom. He stepped into his position, dispersing the light behind him and splashing it all about the room. The light shot in beautiful beams of radiance, as the entire room was illuminated for a few seconds.

Then the light wore off, and Arceus smiled widely.

"Yes, I should enter Contests. Thank you very much."

Some of the pokes in the crowd rolled their eyes. Others slapped themselves in the face.

~


Arceus was the only judge in the entire city, and while he was a bit of a joker at times, no one dared to oppose him. Even though he seemed to act a little stupid all the time, the pokes knew that he was powerful enough to take out any Pokemon who tried to attack him at the speed of light, and any other Pokemon would be blasted with some other attack which would take them out in a less painful way.

And when the pokes resisted both those attacks, he would change types through a nice stash of plates which were stored in a nice transparent case under the judge table, and there would be another set of attacks coming. Basically, he was so versatile that he was unstoppable. Literally.

So someone who was all-powerful like him could afford to scrap formality a little.

"So," he said, with his grand, deep voice echoing through the room, "Let's get this case on."

He slammed the judge hammer for no particular reason. He did it a few times, seemingly finding amusement in doing so.

"Anyway!" he said after he was done with his playtime. "Who wants to go first? Is it the prosecutors or the defendants?" he sang, in a nice folk-ish tune.

Frenzy raised his hand.

"Right, the Luxray over there, go ahead and talk!" he chirped.

Frenzy solemnly walked up, not saying a word. He got into the podium, ready to make his speech.

"All yours, man," Arceus said, now significantly more solemnly.

"Thanks, Your Honour," he said, clearing his throat. "So, we're not going to defend ourselves."

Arceus' eyes widened. "Say what?"

"What charges do we have against us?"

"Wait. I'm not interested in that part. Why in the world would you want to face prosecution?"

"Well…let's just say…a change of heart."

Arceus nodded. "Well, this court session is going to end early, I guess! Any requests on your part?"

Frenzy was about to say "No", but he thought for a second, then said, "Well," he looked at Ethereal, pointed at her, then continued, "I'd do perfectly fine without that Poocheyena over there."

Ethereal gasped. She felt tears welling up already, but for some reason, anger seemed to take priority here.

"Poocheyena? Poocheyena?! Hey, who's the Poocheyena?!" she blared, stepping out of her seat assertively.

"You don't think that you're a Poocheyena?! Just look at yourself!" he shouted back.

Crimson pulled Ethereal back to her seat, but Ethereal shook his grasp off.

"You're the one who sleeps on the Muk-king bed at night, okay?!"

"It's not my fault that you're a Muk-king Purrloin!"

Arceus took a step back, tapping the hammer softly, mumbling, "Erm…order?"

They didn't listen. They probably didn't hear him anyway.

"Whoa, scrap your Muk-king pride before you talk to me, you Poocheyena!"

"Maybe you should grow a Wepear Berry somewhere, you piece of Trubbish!"

A Garbordor sitting somewhere in the stands walked out of the courtroom.

Crimson quickly tried to pull Ethereal back, saying, "Hey, come on, there's no space for hate here!"

Ethereal shook off his grip again. She stared at Frenzy, anger burning inside her. A majestic cyan mist was already forming around her.

"Oh, that just crosses the limit."

"Well, whack at me all you like, Purrloin!"

Arceus whimpered, "Erm…if you don't give me order…erm…I'll do a Swords Dance?"

"Muk-king Muk! Blizzard!"

"Wild Charge!"

Crimson decided that it was time to call it.

"Stop it, you two!" he shouted, running into the range of both attacks.

They stopped their attacks and looked at Crimson.

"Frenzy, I suggest that you get back into your seat."

"I'm not sitting beside her."

Crimson put on his Choice Specs. Sternly, he said, "Don't test me."

Frenzy growled, about to try to intimidate Crimson into submission, but he didn't ever perform an action without thinking ahead. Crimson wouldn't be affected by the Intimidate. Any attack he performed would be counter-acted by even Crimson's weakest attack, now that the Specs were already in play.

"..Y-Yeah! Get back to your seat now!" Arceus said, though Frenzy would have done it even without his words.

Frenzy bowed to Arceus, then returned to his seat, right beside Ethereal. They didn't speak, and they never made eye contact with each other, as Crimson took the podium.

"Your Honour, can we just pretend that this never happened?"

"How can I pretend that it didn't happen if it happened?"

"I mean, nothing happened in here anyway, right?"

"Hmm…I guess you have a point."

Suddenly, there was a scratchy, unpleasant voice from the crowd. It was Rocky. How did she even get here?

"Your Honour, I would like to say something," she said.

"Right, go ahead and take the podium!"

Rocky fluttered towards the front, and Crimson hopped off the podium, returning to his seat.

She went up to the podium, and the first person she looked at wasn't the Judge; it was Crimson.

"That guy is never going to be a Chief. He's assisting two convicts in their court case."

Crimson stood up. "Your Honour, this isn't even rela-"

"Shut up, Crimson! Let your fellow Inspector speak," Arceus said. Crimson grumbled.

"Your Honour, would you allow me to play a recording of a phone call from two days ago?"

Arceus was a little confused. A moment of thought caused him to realise what Rocky was trying to pull off.

Sternly, he said, "That's not related. Unless it has something to do with the defendants, it's not related. And if it's not related, I'll have you charged for corruption. You're obviously trying to use this opportunity to mark down one of your fellow officers," he cleared his throat, and continued, "So prove me wrong, or you're pretty screwed."

Rocky grinned maliciously. "Obviously it's related."

She clicked a button somewhere, and a voice recording was played through every speaker in the courtroom.

"Hello Chief? Yeah, Crimson's gone and knocked himself out agai-"

Crimson instantly recognized that voice, and was instantly stupefied. He glared at Rocky, as she laughed vindictively.

"Excuse me, is there anyone there?" the recording continued.

Suddenly, there was a voice from the crowd.

"Your Honour! I object to this!"

It was Noisy.

"This clearly is-"

"You're in no position to speak, Skiploom," Arceus said.

Noisy grunted. She then hung her head down and walked out of the courtroom.

"Dang it," the recording continued. It stopped abruptly, but a new one replaced it. "Good evening, Chief!"

Crimson clenched his fist, and shouted, "Rocky, what is this?!"

The recording played on, "Erm…good evening, Chief?" as Rocky smiled widely, saying, "Magnezone retired because of you. He never liked pokes who couldn't take their jobs seriously, you know?"

Crimson suddenly flared up; it wasn't something normal. His limits were broken; he stood up from his chair, kicking it so hard that it made a 180 in the air before it crashed onto the floor and broke.

"Your Honour!" he shouted. "This is clearly corruption!"

Suddenly, the last line in the recording was played.

"Inspector Crimson has…just drank past his limits. Again. Yep, nothing new."

Arceus was instantly taken aback by that line. "So that's the reason why you've been going home early all this while? You've been drinking?"

"No, Your Honour, you don't understand!! It's Rocky's fault!"

"Sorry Crimson, you know the police rules, don't you?"

He gnarled at Rocky, roaring so loud that even Frenzy jumped. It wasn't an Intimidate by any chance, but it was close.

"Rocky! You'll pay for this!"

His fire suddenly burned much brighter, the heat from it radiated anger, in its most destructive form. His eyes flashed, and suddenly, his entire body was ignited.

"Crimson, don't do this…" Arceus sighed. He then closed his eyes, in hopelessness. He silently conjured up two swords, formed out of pure energy, and the swords revolved around him as he absorbed that energy up, and his body flashed with white light.

Ethereal ran up to Crimson, tearing, "No! Don't do this! This case isn't about you!"

Frenzy mirrored her, suddenly falling to his knees beside Ethereal. "Don't do it, Inspector! Don't!"

Rocky laughed. "Crimson, you're a wimp, really."

"You know what?! You're the reason why I've been taking those Hyper Potions! You've been trying to pull me off this position ever since I was promoted! And I've been too patient with you!"

His Choice Specs flashed. The fire on his back burned even brighter, and the heat radiated now burned the ground under him.

"What are you going to do about it?" Rocky taunted.

Crimson gnashed his teeth, and shouted at the top of his voice, "ERUPTION!"

"No! Don't!" Ethereal cried, running ahead to take the attack for Rocky, possibly saving Crimson's life in doing so.

But Frenzy pulled her back. "Not worth it," he said, solemnly. He then looked at Arceus, and his eyes flashed as he made the loudest roar he could ever pull off. The entire courtroom was silenced, and Arceus stopped his attack.

"How did you…"

"I predicted. But Your Honour, this case is about the two of us! Please keep Crimson out of it!"

Ethereal stood beside Frenzy, getting on her knees.

"You Honour, forgive him, please!"

Arceus closed his eyes, pulling off another Swords Dance, as he said, "I'm sorry."

"No, don't! I don't want to fight you, Your Honour!" Ethereal shouted.

But Crimson's attack had already activated. The fire he concentrated was released in one burning, scorching pillar of fire, accentuated in power by the Choice Specs. The four corners of the courtroom were all illuminated by a magnificent burst of light, released from the pillar of fire. The fire shot upwards with amazing velocity, smashing through the ceiling, fuelled by Crimson's rage.

"No!" Frenzy and Ethereal cried in unison. They quickly both got to their knees.

"You Honour, mercy him, please!"

"What she said, your Honour! Give him mercy!"

Arceus sighed. He did another Swords Dance, then mumbled three lines from a famous poem,

"…forbid me to hate;
forbid me to curse my enemies and swear no forgiveness;
forbid me to be possessed by violence and vengeance…"

His eyes flashed. "Extremespeed!"

"No! Blizzard!"

"Wild Charge!"

Ethereal made a swift energy burst, much faster than any Blizzard she had done before. The shards of Blizzard were now surrounding her, waiting for Arceus to smash through them and blast her.

But thankfully, Frenzy was there too.

The Wild Charge came quickly too; he leapt up, collecting the shards of Blizzard around him as he smashed into Arceus, trying his best to hold the ExtremeSpeed back.

"Your..H-Honour! Mercy Crimson!! …Argh!" Frenzy said, struggling to keep his attack up.

Suddenly, the pillar of fire smashed through the ceiling, this time on top of Rocky. It crashed downwards with so much power that the ground was already burning, and Rocky felt the heat sinking into her, even before the attack hit.

"Protect!"

Rocky tried to get a Protect up, but it was too late. The Eruption attack blasted through the Protect and incinerated her, scorching her through and pinning her to the floor with heat.

Arceus grunted. "Sorry, man. I'm sorry. Hyaaahh!!"

The ExtremeSpeed penetrated the Blizzard barrier, and dispersed the Wild Charge, as Arceus slammed into the three Choicers at the same time with a force which no one else could exert, sending each of them flying to different corners in the room.

The three Choicers were knocked out at the same time.

~


"How…how did we even get here?" Ethereal said weakly, tears dripping from her eyes.

"We fought Arceus. We belong here," Frenzy said, still calm.

Crimson found himself locked into the same cell as two convicts, bound by a collar, which restricted the use of all his attacks. His Choice Specs were gone, and he didn't want to think of where they went. The highest, or second-highest-ranked police officer was now in the ranks of convicts.

"I…I'm sorry, guys. I'm sorry," he muttered.

Ethereal chuckled, tears still dripping. "Well, before we go, does anyone want to…do it? You're both Fields, right? Yeah…le-"

Ethereal realised that the other Choicers weren't too amused.

"Alright! I'm sorry! I thought that it'd lighten the mood or something! I'm sorry!"

She burst into tears, and found Frenzy crouching beside here. Crimson was still stuck at his corner of the room, filled with remorse.

"Ethy…there's…something I need to say."

Ethereal stopped crying. She shook her head, saying, "No, I should go first. Not you. It wasn't your fault."

"It's my fault! It's not any of yours!" Crimson shouted, banging his head against the wall.

"No, hothead…it's not your problem. I would have done the same."

"You're not me. You wouldn't have done the same."

Frenzy sighed. "I think we all know what got us here."

The other two Choicers looked at him.

"Hatred."

There was an uncanny silence, before Ethereal decided to break it.

"Let's reconcile while we can. I guess I'll go in peace then."

"Right."

"Yeah…that's fine."

Ethereal looked at Frenzy.

"I'm sorry for saying all those nasty things to you in the court…it was my fault that the entire fight started. I didn't mean them…I was just…angry."

She turned to Crimson.

"I got you here. It would never have happened if we never met. Sorry, man. Sorry…"

She fell to the floor and burst into tears. Crimson walked beside her and lay down on the floor beside her.

"Ethy…I'm the reason why you're in here. And you too, Frenzy. It was my fault. You're right. It was hatred. If I just had another second of patience, I'd…keep everything out. I'm sorry."

Crimson let his tears freely flow.

Frenzy stood at his position, unwilling to move.

Crimson looked at him, and mumbled, "Scrap your pride. You're dead tomorrow, remember?"

Frenzy squeezed his eyes shut. He shook in guilt, and tears oozed out of his eyes as well.

"I'm…I'm sorry, both of you! Argh! This…"

"Hey furball…it's the last night of your life. Just let it out. It helps."

Frenzy lay down beside the two Choicers.

"I'm sorry, Ethy! I shouldn't have pushed your buttons! I just…wanted to make you angry so bad…I don't even know why…"

He sniffed, wiping his tears, then continued,

"And you, Crimson…You saved our lives and made the two of us happy, and I'm repaying you with this…I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"Not your fault, man," Crimson said, shutting his eyes.

"It's all of our fault…" Ethereal said.

"Yeah, I'm good with that."

The three of them closed their eyes together.

Suddenly, there was a clang on the bars. The three of them woke up in unison.

"Noisy?"

Noisy put her hand over her mouth, telling them to shut up. From the flower on her head, she retrieved four keys.

"Right, go!"

Suddenly, a Kirlia, a Floatzel and a Sandslash, all wearing their police berets, appeared from the darkness behind Noisy. They took one key each.

"Noisy! What are you doing?!" Crimson said, softly.

"What? Do you want to die as a convict?" she replied.

She opened the cell door, as she planted a Leech Seed with perfect precision on the prison alarm. It didn't go off.

The three police officers unlocked the three convicts' collars with their respective keys.

"…Thanks."

"Yeah, thanks."

"Thanks to you, especially, Noisy."

Noisy whispered, "No, it's partially my fault too. Anyway, we need you to break the prison walls. Then the plan is complete."

"What?! These walls are unbreakable, you know?"

Suddenly, the Leech Seed fell off the alarm, and it went off with a loud, annoying sound. An announcement came over the PA:

"Squad A, get to Isolation Cell 1 now!"

It was Rocky's voice.

~






Once again, literary critique or anything of that sort is super-appreciated x3!
 
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