Team Rocket Underground Base
Four Kilometres Northeast of Viridian City
Interrogation Room
June 20, 2063
Jessie, James and Meowth were all
feeling incredibly nervous. No. No they weren't feeling that way
at all. Nervousness was something you felt when you were facing
something moderately unpleasant. What they were feeling was terror,
cold, icy terror.
Jessie and James had been
handcuffed and dragged from their cell with sacks over their
heads. Right now, they were strapped into hard cushion-less metal
chairs under an ultra-powerful spotlight, the heat of which was
making sweat trickle down their faces, backs and sides from their
armpits. The high backs of the chairs included the sensor
headbands of a polygraph lie detector, which the guards had
fastened around their foreheads. Meowth had been released from
his Pokéball and had been chained by his wrists, ankles and neck
to a metal post, also under the spotlight.
Beyond the spotlight, the room was
pitch black. Jessie was shivering in terror and she heard James
start to whimper in fear.
"You are Agents Jessie Gibson
and James Morgan," a female voice called from the shadows in
the tone of a statement rather than a question.
"Who who's there?"
Jessie squeaked, trying to move her head enough to see around her
in the darkened interrogation room.
"Answer the question!"
the person shouted. "You are Agent Jessica Morrigan Gibson,
serial 885-421-733-JMG and Agent James North Morgan, serial
669-721-543-JNM. Yes or no?"
"Yes!" James almost shouted
in his terror.
"Good," the voice was
suddenly calmer. A woman in the red uniform of an Elite Rocket
walked partly into the light but she kept her face in the
shadows. Additionally, her uniform was spotless and of a totally
standardised type, making it impossible to identify her.
"That means you," and here the person nudged Meowth
with her boot, "must be Meowth number 00818; the famous
Talking Meowth. I always wanted to meet you!"
Meowth cowered away from the
person as best as he could with his limited freedom of movement
while chained up. "Uh charmed I'm sure," he
muttered, not sure whether the Red Rocket's interest in him was a
good thing or a bad thing.
"I am Agent Lilith of
Internal Investigations," the Red Rocket said,
"although you can call me 'Ma'am,'" she added with a
superior laugh.
"Ma'am, I don't know what
this is about, but this is all a terrible mistake," Jessie
blurted out. "We haven't done anything wrong!"
"Yes, that matches what The
Boss says about you," Lilith said with a humourless laugh.
"As to whether you do this is a mistake? Well that
remains to be seen."
"We want to co-operate,"
James said, sounding eager and honest. Jessie rolled her eyes,
but she knew that they had no choice but to co-operate.
"How wise, Agent
Morgan," Lilith remarked in a bored tone. The woman raised a
palm-top computer and looked at its display thoughtfully.
"Your most recent assignment was to acquire a Pikachu,
referred to in your orders as Item G190041, from a trainer named
Ash Ethan Ketchum."
"Yes yes Ma'am,"
James said weakly.
"Meowth! Is dis about what
happened to da Twoip?" Meowth asked.
Lilith continued as if Meowth
hadn't said anything at all. "Please describe the trainer to
me. Keep it literal and to the point. I don't want to
hear your opinion."
"Um he he's lucky
I suppose," Jessie offered. "He has managed to worm his
way out of the best traps we could devise! He"
Lilith was behind Jessie and
suddenly, her black-gloved hand slapped across the redheaded
woman's face, making her cry out. James shouted Jessie's name and
struggled uselessly against his restraints. "I said I didn't
want your opinion Agent Gibson! I don't want to hear your excuses
for you and your partners' incompetence either! Now tell me
about Ash Ketchum!"
"He he is an incredible
Trainer," Jessie said weakly, her face stinging from the
slap and her heart beating fast in terror. She knew that the next
blow Lilith threw at her could be from a cattle prod or a whip.
"I've never fought someone so completely in tune
with his Pokémon or so totally adaptable to any type. Electric,
fire, water, plant, psychic, ice, flying, poison all of the
types. He can do things with Pokémon like nothing I've ever seen
before."
"And he has improved over the
years, of course," Lilith said neutrally.
"Uh no, Ma'am,"
James said. Lilith walked behind the two terrified Rockets to
James' chair. She stood there, waiting for him to continue.
"There might have been an element of luck in it at
the very beginning," James continued, "but he has
always been a superb trainer. All that has happened over the
years is that his skills have become more polished and the power
and number of Pokémon he has available have increased."
There was a long silence.
"What were your whereabouts on the night of 11th to 12th of
June 2063?" Lilith asked.
"We we were flying a
standard surveillance patrol over the Viridian Forest, sector
Viridian Alpha 5, in our balloon, registry number WGH-67,"
James said. He realised that the more complete and accurate the
answers he gave, the less pain he would be likely to suffer.
"We were on station until 0100 hours zulu, when Team White
Zeta, relieved us."
"What are the names of the
agents making up Team White Zeta?"
Jessie didn't think this was
relevant, and she was still a bit angry about the earlier slap
that Lilith had given her. "Bonnie Roberts and Clyde Amano,
dear." Jessie snapped "Look, is this relevant? What the
hell is this about anyway?" Jessie, motivated by fear and
anger, started to shout. "We haven't done anything
wrong! We demand to see The Boss! We demand
to know what this investigation is about AIEEE!"
This time, Lilith's slap rocked Jessie's entire body and nearly
knocked her chair over. Jessie saw stars and tasted blood in her
mouth. At first, she could only feel the pain, then she realised
something cold and plastic was being held lightly under her chin.
She could feel it humming with power. A shock prod, and one set
at a very high power level too. Jessie tensed. She knew what
being electrocuted was like, and she didn't have any desire to
experience it right now.
"I wouldn't stop co-operating
if I were you, Agent Gibson," Lilith said in a deadly level
voice. Jessie swallowed and, much to her frustration, felt tears
running down her cheeks.
"Leave her alone!" James
cried. "We're co-operating for God's sake!"
There was a long pause before
Lilith spoke. "Are you co-operating, Agent Gibson?" she
asked in a dangerous tone of voice.
"Y yes"
Jessie gasped around her desire to start sobbing. "Yes, I
am."
"That is good to hear. I
would hate to have to beat that pretty face of yours into a pulp
just to make you talk." Lilith withdrew the shock prod and
stepped back into the darkness. "Now, I think I am right in
saying that you know Ash Ethan Ketchum well."
"Yes," Jessie and James
replied simultaneously.
"Very well. What was the
first contact you had with the subject, and what was the date of
that contact?"
"May 5, 2060. James and I
were raiding Viridian City Pokémon Center on a standard
acquisition sweep..."
"I've read your mission
report," Lilith interrupted. "Tell me what happened
from the moment you first encountered Mr. Ketchum."
Viridian City Pokémon Center
May 5, 2060
"Hey, you can't steal those
Pokémon!" Pokémon Nurse Joy Anderson screamed at the trio
of thieves that had just invaded the Center.
"Who did say that we
can't?" Jessie asked. She felt pity for that nurse that
thought that she could stop them with outraged words.
"Lickatung, open the door of the safe." The
dinosaur-like Pokémon with the absurd long tongue lashed out at
the Pokéball safe with a Lick Slap attack and shattered the
armoured door like it was made of glass.
"Oh no you don't!"
shouted another voice. Suddenly, a flatbed hand truck came racing
down the corridor with a bit of metal in the brakes, jamming them
off.
"What? Cover!"
Jessie shouted. The two humans got out of the way just in time,
but Lickatung was too slow and was knocked down the corridor, his
eyes swirling and dazed.
Jessie, James and Meowth
immediately looked for the source of the attack. The smoke from
their grenades had now dissipated, revealing a 10 year-old boy
with a fire extinguisher slung over his shoulder. What caught
Jessie and James's attention was the boy's condition. His arms
were in special orthopaedical devices, which gave the impression
that he had cyborg arms. The whites of his eyes were blue.
They had never seen somebody with such... strange
eyes...
"Okay, "Alien
Eyes", who do you think that you are?" Jessie
screamed at him.
"My name is Ash Ketchum, and
I won't let you steal those sick Pokémon!" The
boy's vehemence surprised them.
"A pity," James sneered.
"Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do about it!
Koffing, use Skull Bash on that twerp!"
The poison-type Pokémon charged,
but before he could get close, Ash swept the nozzle of his fire
extinguisher around and pressed the firing stud. The pressurised
water jet blew the surprised Koffing back a dozen metres.
"Agile Approach!" James
called as Jessie recalled the stunned Lickatung. He looked at
Meowth who nodded and, keeping low, ran behind the boy, looking
to hit him from behind. Ash was completely wrapped up with
keeping Koffing away from him, but he had realised that someone
might try and get behind him. He had given his baseball bat to
that annoying girl did she say that her name was 'Misty?'
He had told her to watch his rear. He didn't expect her to be of
much use, and he really hadn't expected what happened
next.
"Ash! Watch out! Staryu!
Shuriken attack!"
"Starya!" shouted the
starfish-like water-type as it twirled through the air and struck
Meowth over the head, sending him tumbling back along the
corridor to his two human partners.
"Meowth! Now you've gone too
far, twerp," James shouted. "Koffing, use Smog
Blast!"
Koffing spat out a cloud of toxic
smoke that swept forward and covered Ash and Misty.
"Ash!" Misty coughed, "aim the extinguisher at the
floor!" Ash was confused for a second, but he quickly
understood. He soaked the floor in front of the Team Rocket
terrorists. "Now, Staryu, use Ice Beam!" Misty cried.
Jessie, James and Meowth tried to
charge towards the two twerps, but the floor had turned to an ice
rink. All three of them tumbled onto their backsides. Meowth could
have kept his balance by extending his claws and using them as
ice cleats, but he was a bit too surprised by this sudden change
in fortunes to think of that.
"Let's go!" Ash coughed,
leading Misty and her Pokémon back towards the entrance atrium.
"Come *cough* come back
here!" Jessie shouted. Koffing's poison cloud had spread to
cover them too.
"Go Weepingbell!" James
coughed, tossing his other Pokéball behind him to an ice-free
stretch of floor. His plant-type materialised. "Shatter the
ice with your vine whips, Weepingbell!" The plant-type
complied and the three Rockets were able to stagger to their
feet.
"I am going to eviscerate
that twerp for what he did to my Lickatung," Jessie snarled,
releasing her Ekans as James recalled Weepingbell. They all ran
towards the atrium.
They ran in to see Ash, Misty and
Nurse Joy standing by a scorched and battered bicycle. There were
no sign of other Pokémon, but the twerps had their Staryu and a
Pikachu, which had a rejuvenation headband attached to its' head.
Not much, but The Boss would appreciate some results on
the night. "Okay, Koffing," James shouted, "use
Smokescreen to choke 'em!"
Koffing darted forward but,
suddenly, with a chorus of 'Pika! Pika! Pika!' a storm of
Pikachus jumped out from behind a wall and unleashed a massive
combined electric shock which fried Koffing mid-air. The deflated
poison-type dropped limply to the floor and landed with a loud
'splat.'
"Koffing No!"
James cried out uselessly. He recalled his friend at once.
"Okay, twerps, now you'll get what's coming to you! Go
Weepingbell! Use Razor Leaf!" Weepingbell materialised again
and unleashed a hail of razor-sharp leaves that made the Pikachus
reel back in pain and surprise. The little Pokémon, trained for
maintenance duties rather than to battle, fled from the atrium.
"Ha! That's done it!"
Jessie shouted. "Go on, Ekans, use Venom Bite on those
twerps!"
"Weepingbell, bind that
Staryu and that Pikachu with your vine whips!"
As Ekans and Weepingbell charged,
the injured Pikachu jumped from arms of the boy with the alien
eyes into the front basket of the wrecked bike. He attached the
two charging cables on the rejuvenating headpiece to the dynamo
on the bike. "Pika-pi!" he called urgently.
"Pika-pika-kachu-chu-pi-pi-chu!"
"Huh?" Ash said.
"What's that Pikachu? Oh! I get it! You want more
Pika-power?"
"Pi!" the Pikachu
replied, giving the boy a victory sign. The boy jumped on the
bike and pedalled for all he was worth. The bike's headlamp shone
brightly, as did the Pikachu. "Pika Pika Pika
CHU!" The Thunder-shock enveloped Ekans and Weepingbell, who
were only yards from their targets. They were blown back into
their trainers, who were consumed by the ultra-power
Thunder-shock attack too. Screaming in agony, Jessie, James,
Meowth, Weepingbell and Ekans were launched through the hole that
they had blown in the ceiling to make their entrance and
vanished into the cold Viridian night sky.
Ash watched them go, not knowing
yet that, for the very first time, Team Rocket had blasted
off!
Team Rocket Underground Base
Four Kilometres Northeast of Viridian City
Interrogation Room
June 20, 2063
Her face invisible in the
darkness, neither Jessie, James nor Meowth saw Lilith smile
broadly at their recollections. "So, that was the first time
that Ketchum wiped the floor with you!" she exclaimed.
"The first time of many!"
Jessie and James looked at each
other in a kind of sick, demoralising nausea... They couldn't
deny that Lilith's summary was right.
"Meowth dat's
right," Meowth said at last.
"Now," Lilith said,
referring to her palm-top again, "I want to discuss your own
training. Agent Morgan, you have a level-3 marksman's
qualification"
After more three hours of
interrogation, they were taken from the room and released from
custody. Alone in the darkness, the Red Rocket lit a cigarette. There
is no way that those two could have attacked the kid,
she thought to herself. They love him too much. But then if
it wasn't them, who was it?
Viridian City Earth Gym
Gym Leader Office
June 20, 2063
Later, the Leader of the Earth
Gym, Giovanni Carpenter, looked at the young red-uniformed woman
before him. "So, you do not believe that they are
involved."
"No," Lilith said
emotionlessly. "Agents Gibson and Morgan were engaged in a
routine patrol over Viridian Forest at the time of the first
incident. The GPS locator beacon on their balloon confirms their
location for the entire time. Their Pokémon are all accounted
for too, and they confirm their Trainers' story."
The Boss of Team Rocket exhaled
slowly, controlling his feelings of rage. "I still can't
believe that Team Rocket is being accused of being behind
this," Giovanni growled. He looked at the copy of the Viridian
City Chronicle on his desk again. The headline screamed:
'Team Rocket Suspected of Assault on League Trainer'. Giovanni
sat back and ran his hand through his gelled-back dyed black
hair. "As if we would wasted three rounds of Tox-8
ammunition on that aberration!" Lilith cocked
her head. She couldn't tell if Giovanni's scorn was directed at
the accusation or at Ash Ketchum.
"And we didn't, sir?"
Lilith asked.
"What?"
"We didn't 'waste ammunition'
on Trainer Ketchum, sir?"
Giovanni got up and walked over
the tall woman with long black hair. He looked directly into her
eyes. "What do you mean by that, Agent Lilith?" he
asked in a dangerously calm tone of voice.
Agent Lilith was not frightened by
Giovanni's look. Unlike most other Rockets, she was not afraid of
him. She knew she could take him easily if he wanted a
fight. "I mean that if the Security Police decides to check,
they will discover that, directly or not, the Ketchum clan has
been a thorn in Team Rocket's side for a number of decades, sir.
They would be justified in concluding that it was an attempt on
our part to either end their line by killing the child, or just
to extract revenge."
"Do you think that I ordered
our agents to kill that crippled boy?" Giovanni asked, with
a voice cold enough to freeze the fires of hell itself.
"I don't know," Lilith
replied casually as if she were asking for the time. "Did
you order it, sir?"
"No, I did not,"
Giovanni shouted. "I'm sorry to disappoint you!"
"Thank you, sir," Lilith
sneered. "That is a great reassurance to me."
Giovanni needed all his
self-control to stop himself from beating the arrogant Red Rocket
until she begged for mercy. If she weren't one of Team Rocket's
most competent Agents, he would have punished her attitude
problem a long time ago.
"Get out of here!" he
snarled. "You still have a Global Championship to win!"
"Yes, sir." Lilith
turned around and walked casually and confidently out of The
Boss's office. When she reached her private locker room in the
Gym, she stripped off her red uniform and put on her black
leather body armour. Amanda Blackstone emerged, ready to meet her
destiny as the world's greatest Pokémon Trainer.
Pokémon Global League Stadium
Indigo Plateau
June 20, 2063
That night, the last battle of
2063 Global League Championship was taking place.
"Ow oh God,"
Amanda groaned as she sized up the wreckage in the middle of the
arena. "Nice try, Golem! Return!" There was a flash of
red and Golem was sucked into his Pokéball.
At the opposite end of the arena,
Lance Silver, looking impossibly smug and confident, casually
stroked his Aerodactyl's head. "Well done, Quetzal," he
said. "So much for her 'unstoppable force,' hmm?"
Quetzal, a Master's Pokémon, was
pretty smart and she got the joke. [Maybe she'll learn from
this,] the fossil/dragon-type suggested.
Amanda looked at the scoreboard
and it told her everything she needed to know. On Lance's side of
the board there were still two green lights and there was only
one red light left on her side of the board. She had to
somehow beat two of the dragon-type specialist's Pokémon with
just her one remaining Pokémon. Fortunately, she had kept her
best to last. She pulled a grey-and-white Super-type Pokéball
off her belt. She held it up, kissed it, and threw it forward.
"It's up to you, Nightmare," she called. "Give me
your best!"
"GENGAR!" Nightmare, her
most powerful Pokémon, a level-85 Gengar bellowed as he
materialised at Amanda's end of the starting circle.
Lance saw the evolved ghost-type
and frowned thoughtfully. "Don't give him a chance to
attack, Quetzal, use Ancientpower!"
Quetzal roared and launched a
massive earth-energy wave across the arena at Nightmare. The
ghost-type was taken completely by surprise and was blown
backwards into the safety shield over Amanda's dais. "Ow!"
Amanda winced, feeling Nightmare's pain and amazement through her
empathic link with her Pokémon.
Lance didn't say anything. He
pointed at the stunned Nightmare with the fore and middle finger
of his right hand. Quetzal flashed forward, his huge wings
beating the air as he lined up for a Take Down attack.
"Teleport!" Amanda
shouted. Nightmare flared with a dim grey-green light and
vanished, leaving a surprised Quetzal to collide with her dais.
The impact was strong enough to throw the young master trainer
off of her feet and crack the safety shield from top to bottom.
As the stunned Quetzal staggered
to her feet, Nightmare materialised on the centre mark. "Use
Sleep Wave!" Amanda shouted. A psychic attack washed out
from Nightmare's glowing green eyes and knocked the Aerodactyl
unconscious. "Now use Dream Stealer," Amanda continued,
smiling in a way that made Kimberly Steeleyon's skin crawl. The
girl enjoyed inflicting pain too much for the Grand
Master's liking.
At last, she got the right
name for her Gengar: Nightmare. It fits this entire bad joke!
she thought, disgusted with the fact that this battle was taking
place.
The psychic attack sucked the
energy out of the Aerodactyl's body in an instant, making it
collapse into a healing coma. Lance recalled his beaten Pokémon
and released his own last choice, his Dragonite.
"It couldn't be closer,
ladies and gentlemen," the television announcer was
babbling. "Both Trainers have only one Pokémon left as
we go to the last bout. The prize on offer is nothing less than
this year's Global League!"
"This makes me feel sick,"
Lt. Robert Surge hissed angrily in the sullen silence of the
Master's Box. His Raichu looked up and stroked his hand, trying
to calm him down. "Ash Ketchum is in hospital Hell he
might be dying right now and still the League Games
continue."
"I'm sorry about the
boy," Giovanni Carpenter remarked in a clinically detached
tone in between sips of his martini. "I truly am sorry, but
we can't cancel the games just because a demented cripple
is determined to kill himself on League time."
Surge looked at the Earth Gym
Leader for a long moment. Various possibilities occurred to the
leader of Vermilion City's Storm Gym. These ranged from soberly
reminding his colleague that the full council of the League had
voted to reject his concerns about Ash Ketchum's mental health,
all the way up to simply massaging the smug man's face with his
knuckles. "I have to get out of here," he announced.
"I need some air before I do something stupid."
Sabrina Bowman grinned and winked
as Surge stormed out of the box. "I think Giovanni needs to
be taught a little lesson," she whispered to Erika Valerian.
"Sabrina, don't try to choke
him again, please," the Rainbow Gym Leader pleaded. "I
mean, I don't want that you go to jail for assault because you
taught him a lesson." The younger woman simply smiled and
reached out with her mind.
Giovanni raised his martini to his
lips when suddenly, without any warning, his glass suddenly
shattered, sending his drink all over his suit. "What the
damn it!" he hissed. He heard Sabrina's laugh and swore
that, one day (when he got Mewtwo back), he would make that
psychic bitch pay for every indignity she had inflicted
on him.
Outside, Surge dropped to his
haunches and lowered his head, trying to restrain his instinct to
be sick. Raichu ran up to him and rubbed his face supportively
with his head.
"Uh Gym Leader, are you
okay?" a young voice asked.
Surge looked up. "Ash?"
he asked in surprise. Then he realised that the boy with the
Pikachu on his shoulder wasn't Ash Ketchum, it was Richie
Trenton. "What are you doing back here, son?" Surge
asked, trying to keep his voice gruff and neutral.
"Oh, I uh was
looking for the toilets on this level," Richie lied. In
truth, he couldn't watch the farce going on in the arena either.
Suddenly, his frustration and anger boiled over. "It doesn't
seem fair that Amanda can fight for the Championship when Ash
can't do anything to press his own challenge," Richie almost
shouted, not knowing why he was saying it. "The Global
League is tied and if Ash can't fight Lance and then go onto the
tie-breaker with Amanda, then she can't really be League
Champion. Can she?"
Surge nodded, his powerful face
twisted with anger. "Unfortunately she can," Surge
growled. "I know the reasons for doing this are good,
son," he said, "but that doesn't make me feel
any better. I just want to shower for an hour and soak in a bath
for a day. I need to get the stench of hypocrisy off of my
hide."
"What hypocrisy is that,
Robert?" asked a firm feminine voice.
Surge and Richie jumped and turned
at once. Kimberly Steeleyon was standing at the entrance to the
Masters' Box. "Grand Master!" Richie blurted, uncertain
whether he should kneel on one knee before Kimberly (as Trainer Protocol
demanded) or just run.
"The hypocrisy that allows
the woman who probably put Ash Ketchum in hospital to fight for
the Championship," Surge snapped, facing his Master without
a hint of fear. "Since when do we allow assassins
to be League Trainers, Kim?"
Kimberly Steeleyon sighed.
"Robert, there is no proof that Amanda did anything.
And without solid proof, you know that I can't call the
Games off."
Richie decided to enter the
discussion. "With all due respect, Grand Master, I think
that what you are doing is a mistake!" Kimberly looked at
Richie in surprise. "Since that the Global League is tied,
Amanda can't fight for the Global Championship! It is
just... wrong!"
"I agree with you!"
Kimberly snapped. "Hell, don't you think that if it was my
decision I wouldn't have cancelled this mess? My hands
are tied by that damn lawsuit!" She didn't notice that she
said far too much.
Richie was taken aback by the
anger radiating from the Grand Master in waves. Lawsuit? What
did she mean by that? he asked himself.
Kimberly turned back to Surge.
"As for you, Storm Gym Leader, I expect more from you than
childish petulance. You are a Gym Leader and a veteran
of the two World Hydro-wars. If you can't keep control,
then who can?"
Surge stepped forward. The former
UN commando loomed over the Grand Master like a storm cloud, but
the older woman's personality more than made up for her lack in
stature. "War, despite its' horrors, still goes by certain
rules," Surge growled. "You don't reward spies or
traitors. You shoot them." He continued before Kimberly
could reply. "Come on, who else would want to do that to
that kid, Kim?" Surge asked. "Apart from those who fear
his talents, Ash Ketchum doesn't have an enemy in the world!"
Then, in a shocking act of disrespect, he turned his back to the
Grand Master and looked at Richie. "Richie, I need to get
out of here," he announced. "I need time to think and
weigh up my options. Would you like to come and train with me on
the Practice Field?" Richie nodded, although Sparky, his
Pikachu, was a little worried about going up against Surge's
infamous Raichu.
Kimberly sucked in a deep breath
as she watched the Gym Leader and the Global League Trainer
walking down the corridor together. "I wish that I could
walk away from this like you, Robert..." she murmured.
"I wasn't aware that Trainer
Blackstone was considered such an prime suspect by the Gym
Leaders." Kimberly jumped. Detective Jenny Wigand was behind
her. She had been searching for a toilet, and, instead, had found
an interesting clue
"Detective Wigand,"
Kimberly said quietly, "what I told the Lieutenant is true.
There is no proof that Amanda Blackstone has done anything. Hell,
she was in a match when Ash was first assaulted. She has about
fifty thousand people to back up her alibi!"
"Despite what you might read
in Agatha Christie novels, Ms. Steeleyon, attacks of this kind
are rarely carried out by the person who wants the victim dead.
There are plenty of specialists for hire these days, you know.
Now, excuse me." Jenny turned around and walked down the
corridor after Lt. Surge and Richie. Kimberly sagged, suddenly
feeling every day of her fifty-five years.
Back in the arena, the fight was
turning into a hyper-kinetic confrontation that had the crowd on
their feet to a man, roaring their approval. Dragonite was in the
air, circling the stadium at full speed while Nightmare hovered
about thirty feet above the centre mark, his species' usual
sadistic smirk absent. "Ice Storm!" Lance roared.
"Use Psy Beam,
Nightmare," Amanda shouted.
The energy of the two attacks
collided head-on. Then, something amazing happened. The energy
from the interaction of the two attacks didn't dissipate. Instead
it grew in size and power, taking on a bird-like shape which rose
over the arena. There was a massive 'boom' and a huge blue-white
bird the size of a small aircraft appeared right over the centre
mark of the arena.
"Articuno?" Kimberly
gasped, feeling the same amazement that the other Gym Leaders all
felt.
Viridian City General Hospital
Room 745
June 20, 2063
Delilah and Misty looked in
amazement when the Legendary Bird appeared in the middle of the
battle. They where watching the Pokémon League Channel, which
was broadcasting the last battle of the Global League.
"But what is Articuno
doing there?" a weak voice asked.
Both women look on amazement when
realised what had happened: Ash had recovered consciousness. What
they don't see was the ice-blue flash of light that appeared in
Ash's eyes at the moment that the Legendary Bird appeared.
Pokémon Global League Stadium
Indigo Plateau
June 20, 2063
The Titan of Ice hovered over the
Arena for a moment, staring at the Masters' Box for a long
moment, before flying away into the night. Everybody in the
stadium was struck speechless as the sonic boom from the
Legendary Bird's departure echoed across the city. Even Nightmare
and Lance's Dragonite stopped their battle.
This is my chance! Amanda
thought. "Nightmare, use Night Shade!" The ghost-type
shot forward, emitting a modified Terror-attack that could
disable a weaker Pokémon from its' combined poison and psychic
effects on the Dragonite. The Flying Pokémon was struck in full
by it, falling in the ground. Now, Amanda decided to use the
Gengar's secret weapon. "Now, use Curse!"
As Dragonite staggered to his
feet, he lost his footing and fell to his side, tangling a wing
under him in the process. The wing, fragile even in such a large
animal, broke, making the dragon bellow in agony. Lance winced.
Curse was a strange Attack. Basically it gave its' victim
concentrated bad luck.
"Now, use Psy Beam!"
Amanda shouted, pointing at Dragonite. The focussed psychic
energy bolt slammed into Dragonite, blowing him over onto his
back. The water dragon lay there unmoving for a long moment
before an Umpire rushed over.
"Dragonite cannot
continue!" the man called. "Bout to Amanda Blackstone
and Gengar. Match: Blackstone!"
The crowd went berserk. The roar
of approval swelled around Amanda, making her feel light-headed.
Nightmare swooped over to his Trainer and hugged her against him.
Amanda shivered at the sub-zero touch of the ghost-type, but that
didn't make her sense of triumph any less. I win again! My
hat trick! Amanda thought ecstatically. "You were great
Nightmare! You really are the best!"
[Of course I am,] the Gengar
responded with a broad grin.
"BLACK-STONE!
BLACK-STONE!" the crowd was chanting over and over again.
In the Masters' Box, Luana Scanlon
looked on in horror. My God, don't they care what is
happening here? What this 'victory' means? the Kumquat
Island Gym Leader thought, aghast.
Amanda recalled Nightmare and
walked out into the middle of the arena, grinning like a giddy
Mankey, waving to the crowd and pumping her arms in triumph.
She passed by Lance who was
checking over his stunned Dragonite. "Good job, kid,"
the dragon-type specialist said in a discreet murmur. "Don't
spread this about," he continued, "but I'm glad that it
was you who won it this year, no matter how much I hate
your Gym Leader."
In the Masters' Box, Giovanni had
jumped to his feet with a roar of glee when Dragonite went down
for the last time. "Yeah! Well done!" he shouted.
"Great job, Amanda!"
There was a silence in the box
that roused his ire. The only other person who was applauding was
Kimberly Steeleyon, but her face was drawn and expressionless.
She was simply doing her duty as Grand Master, nothing else. The
other Gym Leaders and Master Trainers were sitting there quietly,
their faces unreadable. Luana Scanlon was actually crying
silently. "What is wrong with you?" Giovanni snapped at
the other Gym Leaders. "We have a champion! And, if you
don't mind me saying so, a far better one for the League than a
suicidal genetic aberration!" He directed that last comment
at Sabrina, who seethed silently.
There was a long pause.
"Well, I'm going to greet our new champion," he
growled. "Will you join me Grand Master?"
"Since that I don't have a
choice I suppose I must," Kimberly said quietly.
Giovanni offered her his arm, obviously intending to escort her
onto the dais outside. "Don't push it Carpenter," she
snapped. "I don't need your help to walk!"
Kimberly Steeleyon stormed out of the Masters' Box, feeling like
a traitor to the League that had been her life for her entire
conscious existence. A few tears were stubbornly rolling down her
face.
Giovanni shot one last look around
the assembled Gym Leaders, contempt lighting his face. "I
can't believe that you actually thought that Ketchum stood
a chance," he sneered.
"I think this is a dark day
for the League and Pokémon Trainers everywhere," Gary
Holden, the Leader of the Coral Eye Gym from the Orange League
said quietly. He rose and walked towards the exit. In total
silence the other fifteen Orange League Gym Leaders rose and
followed him.
"Where are you going?"
Giovanni asked in some surprise.
Gary stopped at the entrance to
the box and turned to face him, his expression filled with anger.
"You tied Ms. Steeleyon's hands this time, Giovanni!"
he snapped. "Don't think that this is the end of this
matter, though!" Gary closed his eyes and tried to get
control of himself. All the Gym Leaders knew about the lawsuit
that prevented the Grand Master from cancelling the games.
"Perhaps it is time for the
Orange League to decide whether it still wishes to associate with
a League that allows such an injustice to occur," Drake
Highway, Pummelo Island Gym Leader and Main Master of Orange
League, added, his voice cold and level.
"Maybe the Johto League needs
to consider that question as well," Whitney Miller added,
standing up too. The other Johto Gym Leaders joined her in an
exodus from the Masters' Box.
"And the Indigo League's
annual meeting isn't so far off, Giovanni," Sabrina Bowman
added darkly, rising to her feet. "You might want to
consider whether it is in the Earth Gym's best interests to
support this tainted victory."
Giovanni watched in amazement as
all the Gym Leaders from the core Kanto gyms, that were the heart
and soul of the League, stood and left before the new champion
could be crowned....
Viridian City General Hospital
Room 745
June 20, 2063
Ash, Misty and Delilah are
watching the TV in his hospital room. Dr. Ben Gough and Dr.
Brenda Wiggins were examining Ash. Dr. Wiggins wanted to make
doubly sure that there was no neurological damage to her patient,
and Dr. Gough was monitoring Ash for a subtler and less obvious
sort of injury. Paul Andrews, a reporter from the Pokémon League
Channel was interviewing Giovanni after Amanda's victory.
"...I think that Trainer
Blackstone is exactly the sort of champion the League
needs," Giovanni said, his face beaming with
satisfaction. "As much as I admire Trainer Ketchum's
strength of will and fortitude in progressing so far despite his
disability, I really don't think that a person with his
special needs will ever be equal to the highest levels of League
competition, let alone be capable of becoming a Pokémon Master"
Suddenly a TV remote control
struck Giovanni square in the middle of the face. The tube
imploded with a loud 'bang.'
Delilah opened her mouth in
surprise and looked at Misty, who was bright red and fuming
angrily.
"Misty what?"
Ash asked, sweatdropping.
"Sorry, Ash," Misty
spat, "I saw a cockroach on the screen!"
Now she has anger
management issues, Ben told himself, making a mental note never
to get in between Misty Williams and someone she didn't like...
To be Continued... Chapter 11
coming soon!
What did you think? Read and
Review! :-)
