The Diamond Dust Trials

Title: The Diamond Dust Trials
Author: Piplup_the_Penguin (naturalllyyyy xD)
Rating: PG (though this is subject to change later)
Summary: The land of Sinnoh harbors the dreams of many, though none so large as the aspirations of dynamic duo Lucas Diamond and Lewis Pearl. While the two lack guidance in most areas, they do know they want to be the best in their respective fields: Lucas with his contests and Lewis with his gyms. However, their journey goes awry when they meet up with the mysterious Dawn Berlitz, a frighteningly alluring yet altogether reclusive girl. All the more eager to unravel the enigma that she's presented herself to be, the two soon realize that not every puzzle is meant to be solved...

A/N: Alright, so I guess it goes without saying that this is my first fanfic in the Pokémon field. This is just something I'm doing for fun, which means that there is no set release date for chapters. It's just a sort of "I'll get to it when I get to it" thing. That said, comments and critiques would be most appreciated.


*Chapter Listing:*

Prologue: Mystery, thy Name is Dawn Berlitz
Chapter I: Enter Diamond and Pearl!




Cerulean blue eyes carefully scrutinized the work of Professor Rowan, searching for anything remotely relevant to the task she'd been assigned. Time was one thing she didn't have much of, and right now she had already wasted nearly fifteen minutes of it. The internal clock in her head sounded strangely in sync with her elevated heart rate as it ticked away the seconds remaining until her inevitable failure. A mistake at this point was not an option. She'd come too far to lose everything now.

If only she had an extra set of hands to help her shuffle through the various manila envelopes littering Rowan's desk. For a man of scholar, he sure knew nothing in regards to organization. Papers of all different subjects were strewn about the wooden surface, the inconsistencies doing nothing to expedite her mission. A paper on pokémon personalities here, one on battle strategies, there…She was sure she would go mad with frustration before the night ended.

Every report she'd thumbed through so far seemed too safe a topic. He must've been hiding the more important research somewhere else. Her eyes scoured the room, looking for some indication that something in it would be a good place for a hiding spot. Since there was nothing worthwhile in his office, perhaps the lab would hold something of more merit. She decided to relocate herself to the large room in the front of the building.

Pokéballs of all sorts lined the front wall, and the girl stopped to appreciate them for a moment. Out of the lot of them, only half were recognizable to her. She blamed her lack of knowledge on the low-tech nation from which she hailed though, as Kanto always seemed to be a bit slow when it came to new inventions. Maybe her sudden relocation to the Sinnoh region wasn't such a bad idea after all. But instead of dwelling on the thought, she moved on through the room, mentally berating herself for stopping to admire the view. Had she not been breaking-and-entering, she might've stayed a little longer and filched a few of the capture devices for herself. The dark pitch-colored one had seemed particularly intriguing to her.

The rest of the lab was not as pleasing on the eyes, she decided upon inspection. White seemed to be the main theme going, as most of the objects and furniture in the room were drenched in the color. Even in the dark it seemed to glow faintly, making it a bit easier to move around without crashing into things. In the center of the room sat a circular table of some sort, three red and white pokéballs adorning it. She relinquished the urge to go find out what was inside of them and moved onto the large computer screen gracing the western wall.

This was what she had been looking for, for where better to hide information than in a super computer? Granted her hacking skills were not quite up to snuff compared to others from her team, but she was still better than average when it came to drawing private information from the machines. She turned it on and waited for the main page to load. As she was doing this, she withdrew a headphone set from her bag and placed it over her ears, tapping on the attached microphone to make sure it worked.

"What's up?" came the groggy voice of her fellow employee. Knowing him, he'd been sleeping on the job…again…And by the grumpy tone adopted in his voice, he wasn't all that thrilled to be hearing from her.

"Listen," she said quietly, keeping her voice barely above a whisper as the screen in front of her lit up. She didn't know whether or not old Rowan had the room bugged, and she wasn't about to take her chances. "I'm in Rowan's lab right now, and I have reason to believe that the information we want is on his hard drive. Think you could help me hack into the system?" She typed in a few number and letter combinations, only to have a large red 'ACCESS DENIED' appear on the screen. "He has a pretty tricky firewall in place."

There was no answer for a moment, and the gravity of her actions was beginning to dawn on her. A cold sweat beaded on her forehead, tiny drops slowly trickling the length of her neck. She was running out of time…

"Alright, I'll help you. But you definitely owe me, you hear?"

"Affirmative." She couldn't help but release a small sigh of relief. Despite being a jerk most of the time, he could be surprisingly helpful when feeling generous. She was just grateful he was in a giving mood today.

From there, he took her through the basic steps until the login was cracked and she had access to all of Rowan's precious files. A small smirk curved up the corners of her lips as she scanned through the documents, with several series of folders leading her to the file that her team was interested in. "I think I've found it."

"Good, now burn it to a floppy disc and get the hell out of there. I'll see you when you get back to headquarters." The communication device went silent, and she knew that he'd resumed his nap. Still, she obeyed his orders and began to copy the information with a disc from her bag. As it loaded, she briefly perused the document. Although she wasn't technically authorized to view its contents, she was still rather curious. It wasn't like there was anyone around to tell her otherwise, either.

Most of the information was dodgy at best, the only thing of particular interest being a blurry image that was attached to it. She could just barely make out the forms of what appeared to be three pokémon, though she couldn't be certain as to what they really were. The image was in too poor shape to tell. However, there were three words on the bottom. But the names "Uxie" "Mesprit" and "Azelf" meant nothing to her. She'd keep them in her memory though, just in case she got a chance to research them later.

With the disc bearing the necessary information, she removed it and placed it carefully into her bag. It was time to leave, so she pulled on the confining black mask she'd worn earlier and made her way back toward the exit. A tiny chirp stopped her in her tracks. She turned around, and was face to face with a tiny blue pokémon, its expression indignant. It seemed the little bird didn't like having a thief in its home. The girl rolled her eyes. Of all the luck…

"Piplup!" it squawked, wings resting on its hips. Something about the look in its eye made her think it wasn't going to let her leave without a fight. And the premonition proved true when a shot bubbles was aimed directly at her. Years of experience were the only things that enabled her to evade the attack, but the Piplup's stubborn nature seemed enough to test even the most qualified of her team. It shot several more streams of attacks at her, until the room was filled with the blue-tinted spheres. There had to be a way for her to get rid of the pesky penguin.

Her gaze drifted over to the center of the room, and it was there that she found her answer. The Piplup must've come from one of the pokéballs on the table. All she had to do was get it back inside. Sure enough, one was partially unhinged, indicating that it was vacant. She grabbed hold of it and held it out in front of her. She wasn't a trainer, so she wasn't completely sure if she was doing the right thing, but she'd seen enough trainers in her lifetime to know that a red beam of light was necessary to return a pokémon to its ball. It was clear that fortune was on her side when just that occurred, and the Piplup was absorbed in light.

Reluctant to return to its makeshift cage, the Piplup shot out a final blast of bubbles, this time aimed at the computer. It was powerful enough to make the machine spark from contact, and soon enough tiny flames were licking up the screen she'd so recently stolen information from. The smoke alone was enough to set the alarm off, and she knew then that she was in deep trouble if she didn't high-tail it out of there. She stuffed the pokéball into her bag and retraced her steps through the lab until she reached the exit.

The cool evening air sent a shiver up her spine, but did nothing to slow her escape. She could hear the faint echo of sirens in the distance, meaning it wouldn't be long until the Sandgem police force showed up at the lab, eager to see who or what had set the alarm off. She could only hope she'd left as little trace of herself as possible.

She found solace in an alleyway a little while later, her breathing labored from all the exertion she'd displayed in running the whole way. She pealed back the mask, thankful to have it off so that she could breathe easier. She put it back in her bag and in turn drew out several articles of clothing. It was now time for phase two she decided as she stripped down and exchanged her dark espionage-wear for something a little more suitable for a girl her age. It was a little cold for a tank top, but she'd forgotten to pack anything less permeable. The pink scarf she'd thought to bring would suffice her thermal needs, anyway, so she loosely tied it around her neck.

On the whole, her new outfit seemed altogether ridiculous. From the black sleeveless shirt, to the bubblegum pink skirt, right down to the matching boots. Had it been up to her, her clothing would have mirrored the same dark look as her work uniform, but the boss had assured her that such garb would draw too much attention to her. And that was the last thing she wanted now that the police force was looking for her. So with an anguished sigh she clipped two golden barrettes into her obsidian colored hair and donned a white ski hat. At least the look would get her breakfast and board over at the pokémon center. No one would dare accuse the epitome of teenage innocence of committing a heinous crime.

And for the most part, the act worked. She was accepted into the center by a vibrant Nurse Joy, who seemed too preoccupied with all the blaring sirens to take much notice of her. "It's a pleasure to have you here…" She trailed off, realizing she didn't know the name of the young girl before her.

"Dawn," she said, an odd smile contorting her pretty features. "My name is Dawn Berlitz."

"Come on dude, you've got to see this—we're here!"

Lucas Diamond had never been a morning person, and after a whole night's worth of traveling by Ponyta from his native town of Twinleaf to its more suburban counterpart, Sandgem, this fact had not changed. He awoke with a sigh, rubbing at his tired brown eyes as he let out a yawn.

On the Ponyta next to him sat Lewis Pearl, his best friend—or, more fittingly—his partner in crime. There was a lopsided grin on his face as he peered over at Lucas, and he hardly seemed affected by the uncomfortable sleep they'd had to ride through last night. Actually, Lucas doubted Lewis had slept at all. There was a constant aura of exuberance forever emanating from the blond, making it seem like he was on a constant sugar rush.

"Look at the lights!" Lewis exclaimed, "The signs!" His grin broadened, fully displaying his pearly white teeth. "I can't believe we're finally here!" By the way he was leaning over the creature, it seemed like he was going to jump down from the pokémon and run the last few meters.

"I guess it's nice…" Lucas agreed, lacking the enthusiasm of his best friend. Sure he was excited about getting his first pokémon, but he wasn't about to explode from anticipation. He would leave that part to Lewis. Still…he couldn't help but feel anxious, too. What if the pokémon he picked didn't like him? Or worse—what if he was a terrible trainer? Becoming a coordinator had been a dream for as long as he could remember. If he failed at that, what was he supposed to do then?

"Come on, Diamond," Lewis jeered, "Quit your moping…or being tired…or whatever it is that's causing that look on your face." He laughed, gripping onto the rent-a-Ponyta's reigns and giving them a tug. A little perturbed, the Ponyta let out a snort, but sped up anyway, much to Lewis's satisfaction. In a few short gallops, he was already putting distance between himself and Lucas. "Catch me if you can!"

Not to be outdone, Lucas perked up at this, following the blond and his Ponyta suite. They darted up ahead, eager to catch up to the others. Maybe this journey wouldn't be so bad after all…


"We're lost." All of Lucas's previous optimism faded with this statement, as he sent an irritated glance over to Lewis. They had already dropped the rent-a-Ponytas off at the Sandgem station, and were now in search of Professor Rowan's lab. Neither of them having ever traveled through the city before, and neither possessing a high enough I.Q. to discern a map, they were currently facing a serious problem.

"We can't be lost," Lewis quickly responded, though there was doubt in his tone. He tugged absently at his green scarf before taking the map from Lucas's reluctant hands. "I mean, we've followed the directions so far…We've at least got to be close to the place." He unfolded the map, turning it in different directions as if it might just blurt out where to go if he positioned it just so. Lucas wasn't buying it, and it was made apparent by the skeptical look in his eyes.

"Does this look like a pokémon laboratory to you?" Lucas said, gesturing behind him at the large building there. "Because to me, it looks more like a ramen stand. And last time I checked, they don't serve pokémon at a ramen stand!" His voice had grown louder by now, his frustration surfacing. A few people in line stared back at him with bemused expressions, but he paid them no attention. He was far too preoccupied with the fact that they were lost.

Lewis smiled then, a plan forming in his mind. He strolled over to the ramen stand, finding a place in line. Lucas followed him, more confused than ever. "Exactly what are you doing?" he asked when they reached the counter.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Lewis countered coolly, a smug look assuming his features. "I'm buying ramen, of course." Lucas nearly fell over at that, his jaw dropping to floor.

"What do you mean you're buying ramen?!" Lucas exclaimed. "What do you think you're going to pay for it with—your charming personality? We have no money, remember?" He gave Lewis a good smack on the head, causing the blond to groan as he rubbed the tender spot.

"I forgot about that part…" Lewis mumbled, his previous complacency dissolving into a wounded look. "I guess I'll just ask the guy for directions, then." He turned back to the cashier and got down to business.

As Lewis busied himself with the clerk, Lucas glanced around the area, his eyes falling on a poster adorning the side of the building. He perused it for a moment, taking in the large bold letters that spelled out "WANTED." A blurry image of a masked figure was located beneath the word, but it was next to impossible to figure out what sort of person was behind it. But before Lucas could further muse on the subject, Lewis returned with the trademark grin pulling up his lips.

Minutes later, Lewis and Lucas were back on track, with a cup of steaming ramen in hand. It seemed charming personality could pay for some things—the cashier had been completely taken in by Lewis's "woe is me, I'm lost" performance. Lucas had been appalled by the whole situation, but that wasn't really an issue right now. What mattered was that they now knew where they were headed, and wouldn't go hungry.

Professor Rowan's lab was impossible to miss, which only added to Lucas's frustration. How they could have overlooked the large building at the entrance to the town was a mystery of him. A Murkrow in the morning was less conspicuous than that monstrous building. They approached the sliding glass doors, their anticipation growing when they automatically pealed back and granted them access to the main desk area.

"Hello," an elderly man said, and by his white lab coat and the fact that no one else was in the room, the boys assumed him to be the professor. "What can I help you with?"

Being the more outgoing of the two, Lewis stepped forward. "We're here to receive our pokémon, sir," he announced, all bright eyes and cordial smiles. "I take it you're Professor Rowan?"

"That I am, my boy," Rowan concurred, a smile evident beneath his bushy moustache. "And I'd be glad to take you into the lab sector to get you your pokémon."

"That'd be great!" Lewis said, as he and Lucas followed behind.

"Don't be put off by the mess, now. I don't know if you've heard yet, but there was break-in last night. The criminal even managed to steal one of the pokémon in the process, so if either of you were planning on choosing Piplup, you might have to wait awhile."

Lucas's thoughts drifted back to the poster at the ramen shop. Sandgem didn't strike him as a very crime-infested town, so the masked figure must've been the one who had broken in. He didn't mention anything on the subject though, as he didn't want to ruin this life moment with conversations about thieves. Lewis however, vocalized his outrage. "That's awful! Did they catch who was responsible?"

Professor Rowan sounded disturbed as he responded. "I'm afraid not. But the police are not stopping until they find the culprit." This was somewhat comforting, Lucas decided, as they made their way into a room of white. The professor approached a pedestal with two pokéballs atop it. "The remaining pokémon are Turtwig and Chimchar." He released both of them then in an eruption of light, and when it cleared, two pokémon were visible: one, a tiny green turtle with a jaw too large for its petit body, and the other an orange monkey with its hair done up like a flame. The Chimchar blinked, before letting out a pleased sort of growl. The Turtwig just sort of sat there, yawning, as if unaware of the fact that its potential trainer was in the room. It didn't seem like it was all that eager to please anyone.

"That Chimchar's awesome!" Lewis said, walking over to the pokémon and reaching down to pet it. The pokémon responded by spitting a baby flame at him, again emitting an amused growl. Lewis coughed up some smoke, though he didn't seem put off by the monkey. In actuality, he seemed all the more endeared by it.

"We'll make the best team, won't we?" he enthused, his expression radiant despite his soot-covered face. The Chimchar nodded its head, equally happy with the prospect of becoming Lewis's partner. How was Lucas supposed to break the news to them that he wanted the Chimchar, too? After all, the Turtwig was completely boring, not to mention lazy. It just sat there doing nothing. If Lucas did pursue his dream and become a coordinator, how would he wow the judges with such a boring pokémon?

But, like always, no one bothered to care what Lucas thought. Before he could even protest the decision, Lewis was already holding Chimchar's pokéball, a confident look in his eyes. There was no way that Lucas was going to say anything now. Resignedly, he walked over and grabbed Turtwig's pokéball. The red and white sphere felt heavy in his hand, as though he were assuming a burden far bigger than what he could manage. And maybe he was.

"I guess it's settled then," Lewis said, satisfied. "I'll take Chimchar and Lucas has got Turtwig." He nodded over to the pokéball in Lucas's hand. "You two are a perfect match, if I do say so myself. You're both so alike."

This didn't make matters better for Lucas. If anything, it darkened his already pitch-black mood. He merely nodded begrudgingly and withdrew the turtle. Lewis did the same. Rowan fetched them some pokédexes afterward, informing them of their task to find various types of pokémon. Lewis was thrilled to hear about the adventure, but Lucas was still moping about the fact that he'd got grouped with the lamer pokémon. When Rowan finished, they said their thanks and took off down the road, en route to the next city, Jubilife.

"This is unbelievably cool," Lewis noted as they walked along the grassy path. "I can't wait to battle someone, especially a gym leader!" He continued to blither on about his aspirations while Lucas paid little attention to him. After spending so much time with the boy, Lucas had learned how to properly tune him out.

But he couldn't tune out the sudden scream from up ahead. He glanced over at Lewis, and by the look of alarm he found there, he could tell that he had heard it, too.

"Never a dull moment with us, eh?" Lewis said, grinning at the prospect of a new adventure.

"You got that right, buddy," Lucas concurred, nodding, and together they darted forward to find out what was going on.