let your mind wander . open

[CRYSTAL]

Fingers danced across the bark of a tree lazily as Crystal stood on the outskirts of Ecruteak. Crystalline eyes flicked around the town, the least damaged out of all of Johto. Ecruteak's solid foundations and engineering had definitely kept it from falling the way some of the region had during the earthquakes, but even with those traits it was still hovering on the edge of destruction.

It'd only been a month or so since the pokedex holder had moved out of her home in Violet city to Ecruteak. Her things were all out of their boxes and neatly organised around her small home, but she felt comfortable and at peace there. Perhaps a move had been what she needed.

Emerald's death had been a huge blow to the capturer. Sheer force of will kept her from going insane and giving up all her work. But Professor Oak, injured as he may have been, had encouraged her to throw herself into her research and throw herself she had. Gaze drifted down to the grass beneath her, where a pile of books were scattered. All on legendary Pokemon, all desperate to see what could be done.

Crystal bit her lip tenderly as she leant against the trunk of the tree. She had stood up to stretch her legs and clear her head, tales and stories spinning in her mind about how she might be able to call the legendary beasts, how she might enlist the aide of Ho-Oh and Lugia. She would never want to hold them - and all she wanted to do was give Arceus back the freedom it deserved.

A god Pokemon should not be held captive.

But how could she help?

{I say open but only open-ish. She's not in the mood to battle so none of that. xD}

[Deleted]

Ecruteak gave Blue the jeebies. There was something about it, something unexplainable, that just scared her. Perhaps it had been the fact that Ho-Oh once made the Bell Tower its home, or that there were so many Ghost-Pokemon, but she just didn't like it the way she liked some other cities. With a sense of urgency in the back of her mind, Blue's pace was brisk as she began to move toward the exit of the town, half-expecting to get jumped by a ghost, or worse, Ho-Oh, though she knew that both were .

Nonetheless, Blue had wanted to check out the damage. She'd been planning on eventually reaching all of the cities in Johto, helping out with the wreckage here and there, taking an inventory on what the Knights had done. Blue was doing well to redirect her rage, training new Pokemon, traveling, but there was going to come a time when she came across a Knight and accidentally slugged him in the face. Besides, the people of the Pokemon world needed someone to stick up for them, help them. In these months, Blue hadn't seen a single Dex Holder in her travels, meaning they were all either dead or just lazy. Blue brooded in her thoughts as she walked, noting the minimal damage to the old town. They were lucky here, she told herself, a small sense of satisfaction welling up inside her. The Knights weren't completely victorious.

Well, that was that, right? She'd come, checked the place out, and now she was able to lea -- wait, was that Crystal? Squinting, her eyes bore into the face of the woman who couldn't have been more than 30 yards away. The last she'd seen her, Blue had proceeded to kick her ass in battle, but looking at her now, just, wow. Blue was older than her, right?

"Crystal!" she called, her eyes glued to Crystal's feet, which were surrounded by books. Silently, she stalked over, a small smile spread across her face. While it wasn't Red or Green, at least it was someone she recognized. "My oh my, someone's been busy." she cooed, her eyes looking down at the scattered books. "I'm glad to see you're okay." She was better off than Emerald, at least.

[CRYSTAL]

Fingers gripped at the bark of the tree holding her up, running her thumbs over the callous surface as she pondered her next move. Like Blue, she should probably have begun to consider finding the other dex holders. Surely they were all doing their own work towards defeating these Knights, but perhaps they weren't and needed a push from the smart ones in the group. And by smart ones, of course she meant the ladies. Sometimes Green, Gold, Silver and Red could be dense. Talented trainers they may be, but the girls definitely were the brains behind them.

The thought of teaming up with Suicune and making an effort was ripe in Crystal's mind, but she wondered if they banded the whole of the dex holders together as they had before, that perhaps something better might come of it. Sh would have to get them all involved, including the others from the other regions she was less familiar with (even if she'd caught all the Pokemon in them) and was pondering asking Oak for phone numbers when she glanced over at the sound of her voice.

"Blue!" Well, that saved one phone call, that was for sure. A tired smile crossed the younger woman's face as her friend drew near. The books were spared a glance and a short laugh before she nodded, "You know me, always working even when there isn't work to be done," She mumbled, before smiling softly at Blue. "I'm glad to see you're all right too. I must admit, since hearing about Emerald I've been worried about everyone more and more."

She straightened her back to look at the older girl, more than just a little relieved to see that she was alive and well. "I've moved here recently, this has been my new favourite place to work here in Ecruteak. I came to get closer to the towers, if I'm honest. It's nice that it's been spared the worst of the damage. I passed through Goldenrod when we were moving up here.. that poor city."

[Deleted]

Crystal always seemed to be more mature than Blue was, despite her advantage in age. Ever since they'd met all those years ago, Crystal had always been the more serious one. She was focused and busy and she didn't waste time like Blue did. Blue, on the other hand, spent more of her time trying to siphon money from people and creating cerberus-bird monsters to destroy the world.

...clearly they had both come a long way.

Blue chuckled at the woman's first remark, nodding her head. "Oh, I know." she mused. Her chipper, joking disposition shifted at the thought of Emerald. Poor boy. While the two of them were never very close, not nearly as close as Crystal was to him, Blue owed him everything. All of the Kanto Dex Holders did. "It's just such a shame what happened to him. I've been having trouble gripping it myself, you must have been a wreck." she was prying, yes, but perhaps it was better to talk about it now rather than later. She didn't want to bring up the others.

"I've yet to see Goldenrod, but I heard it was awful. Those damn Knights...you should have been there at Vermillion, oh my god..." her voice trailed off, the echoing sounds of screams filling her head. The attack was so methodical, so planned that it frightened her. It made her wonder what other terrible things they could come up with, and it was something she'd remember everyday for the rest of her life. Of course, she'd found out what else the Knights could do.

"Wait, you said the towers?" What the hell did Crystal want with those?

[CRYSTAL]

The talk of Emerald instantly caused her already tired face to collapse - Crystal had been a carer for the boy when he had been young. He had been one of her good friends and she had cared for him deeply - even if he hadn't really been that much younger than her. She sighed, "I don't even know how to act now that he's gone. It's... really hard." She mumbled, running a hand briefly through her bangs. It was hard to think that he was gone. She as glad that everyone else was alive but that didn't change the fact that one of her good friends was dead.

"I was a wreck. For a few days I didn't move. I laid in bed just wondering why. Afterwards I got up and started working again because that's what you have to do, but I still feel like a part of me is missing." She sighed, finding herself getting choked up just thinking about it. She had been able to believe in him, it was important.

"I would prepare yourself. The devastation was awful. There are a lot of memorials and most of the buildings are flattened... I almost wish I had been in Vermillion or a place like Goldenrod so that I could have helped. I just feel like I was so useless." Crystal looked back up at her friend and nodded. "But I don't want to be useless anymore."

A slight spark alighted in the crystalline eyes of the younger girl as she was questioned. "You're one of the few people I could tell, Blue. I'm going to get the legendary beasts on our side again. But I don't want to just chance it, our battle against the mask of ice just risked that too much. I want to go hard, I want them to understand. I'm going to dedicate myself to proving to them that we're worthy, that we can be trusted.. I want Suicune, Raikou and Entei to know that I mean them or the world no harm. I think we need to start in the place of their beginnings. Morty is even helping me out. Chasing them down is one thing, getting their help is another."

Crys had no doubt in her mind that Blue was an all right person to tell about this plan. Blue had been involved in the bad before and she was as good as they came now. She would never doubt her loyalty to the dex holders. Never.

[Deleted]

Well, at least it was out of the way. Crystal's face went from bad to worse in a matter of seconds, causing Blue to sigh. Maybe she shouldn't have mentioned it. Maybe she should have put it off until Crystal was in a better state of mind. She just felt so bad for her, the was feeling bittersweet that she couldn't relate to the poor girl. Emerald was a great kid, and it was evident that he was greatly missed.

"I'm so sorry..." she trailed, pulling the younger woman into a tight hug. Blue stood, arms wrapped around her, for a few moments before letting go. Crystal was quick to change the topic. Blue quietly thanked her.

"You did not want to be at Vermillion. It was chaos. Everything fell apart in instants. The Knights jumped out of the crowd, bombs went off, there wasn't even time to think, or, or, or to breath." she muttered, eyes widened as she relived it silently. "There was nothing I could do but get out of there." Was it bad that she didn't stay? Blue wondered if she'd have really been much of a help to those people. Again, she counted the deaths in her party alone, and mourned for those lost. These were no longer days of triumph in the regions.

After she trailed off, Blue listened to Crystal speak of the legendary dogs. "It looks like you have this all figured out." Blue replied humorously. Crystal was a responsible girl, but it wasn't going to be an easy task, that she knew all too well. "And you're sure about this? I mean, I've danced with this devil before...things can get out of hand. I didn't exactly have the right intentions but...I just want to be sure that you're doing this for the right reasons." The question wasn't about trust, but more about dedication. The last thing she wanted was for Crystal to give it up for money, not that Crystal was anything like Blue.

(ooc: you don't mind that i just improvise with what happened at Vermillion? if anything i said doesn't match up with what you think, PM me.)

[CRYSTAL]

Crystal sensed that as little as she wanted to talk about Emerald, Blue had no urge to talk about the horrors of Vermillion. Obviously her poor friend had been in the thick of the destruction and that made Crystal wonder how she had been affected, but she did not want to ask and bring up painful thoughts and memories. All those wounds were too fresh, all those happenings too recent. Neither of them could face their pain yet, but perhaps in time they would be able to find solace in one another's offerings of friendship.

Crystal hugged her friend gently back for those few moments that they shared their sorrows. But they both knew they had to move forward, there were things that needed to be done and matters that needed to be discussed - standing there crying over their losses may be something they could do now and then, but Crys herself wasn't ready for it. Not yet.

"I'm glad you made it out, Blue." It was a simple phrase to end the talk of the horrors. Because she was truly glad that her friend had been spared. Not everyone's loved ones had made it out of the bombings in Vermillion alive. It was terrifying to even contemplate the death toll.

"I have a plan, that's all I can say for sure. I don't think I could ever say everything is figured out but I know what I have to try to do, and I know that I have to give myself to the task as much as I can." Crystal buried a hand in her hair, letting out a soft sigh of irritation. She didn't know where they were going from here, she didn't know if her plan would work. All she could do was hope, after all, and that, at least, was something she had in spades.

"I want to free Arceus. I want Pokemon and people to live in peace again, for us all to be back to the way we were. I don't want this 'new world order' cause the old one was fine to me. We were happy."

Crystal looked up at Blue, a small smile on her lips. Just enough to let the older girl know that she meant business. "I don't want them to be mine. I just want their help. They believe in a good world, just like we do."