The Golden Throne

Virmisst

"Sorry, the person you have called is unavailable. Please leave a message after the beep,"

"Honey, it's me again. Are you safe? Did you get the messages I sent you earlier? I'm watching the news now and it says that they've lost radio contact with your ship. Please, please call back," Hilbert's mother spoke as she stifled whimper.  "I hope it's just a minor communication error. Be safe. I love you," she finally said before closing her Xtransceiver.

She switched the device off and watched the television anxiously. It was all over the news. The S.S Supremacy had vanished in an ocean far in the south after an unprecedented freak storm. The sound of her heart thumping was so loud that she mistook it for the knocking on her door.

She opened the door and saw an overwrought Professor Juniper, Cheren and Bianca.

"We," Prof. Juniper's voice wavered, "heard the news. Mrs. Black, we'll be flying to Castelia City right now. There's an office there where we can get an official report on the disappearance. You must come along."

They each mounted a flying Pokemon and flew off towards the metropolitan city. At Castelia, they were greeted by Alder who was anxiously awaiting their arrival. Alder led them to the front of the Castelia News Tower where all the latest news was processed before being officially released to the public. The entrance to the building was packed with people demanding to know what happened to the S.S Supremacy; doubtless many of them had family on board. They were being held off by security guards who were assigned to stop the crowd from rampaging into the place.

With Mrs. Black, Cheren, Bianca and the Professor behind, Alder led them to the front entrance. Respectfully, the people made way for the Champion to pass. Mrs. Black saw the sympathetic look on their faces as they glimpsed her following behind.

"May we enter?" Alder asked the security guards.

"Of course sir! Err... just take the elevator and head for the 26th floor," the security guard gulped.

Finally, they reached their destination. "Any news?" Alder asked as he walked into the Newsroom. Behind him, Prof. Juniper was holding Mrs. Black by her shoulders, telling her to be strong.

"We've just received satellite data from where their ship went missing, but our meteorologists are reviewing the data again cause' it just doesn't make sense. Seems like a category four cyclone formed out of nowhere and hit them when we lost all radio contact." the Chief Editor said.

"Oh my," Bianca gasped. Mrs. Black began to whimper, and Prof. Juniper could be heard comforting the distraught woman in vain.

"But have hope," the Editor said. "A storm that size appearing so suddenly just isn't natural. It shouldn't happen. That's why the meteorology team is reviewing the data again cause' it might just be a data error. There could be a number of factors that might affect an accurate reading."

"Does the United Regions know about this?" Alder muttered, almost in a whisper. The shock of the news had shaken him, and he mustered all his will to hold on to his usual hopeful optimism. 

"Yes, they do. They've just put together a search team to rescue any survivors. For now, all we can do is wait and pray."