Pokémon - The Journey Begins

Chapter 30: Shameful Deceit



"Another drink, please!" Matt handed his empty glass to the waiter who politely took it and walked off.

Lizzie nearly choked on her drink upon hearing Matt's request. "Matt! That's your fifth one, and our meal hasn't even arrived yet!"

"So I'll be running to the bathroom in two hours, what's your point?" Matt asked.

"Nothing, it's just that you wouldn't want to fill up on a drink before your food even came here."

"How can you fill up on a drink?"

"It's always possible. I've had what you ordered before, and they literally fill your plate. Just relax already."

Matt looked around the restaurant. It indeed was fancy, as Lizzie picked it out. The walls were covered in delicate wallpaper, along with many fancy oil paintings. The room was filled with both chatter and classical music. The carpets were a bright red. "Nobody in here I recognize."

"There are at least two hunded Pokémon trainers in this area alone. I don't think we could find anybody here if we tried."

"Still, I'd like to see where Arrmun went. He did help me win that match after all."

The waiter appeared with yet another refill of Matt's drink, along with his, Lizzie's and Squirtle's meal. They both began to eat.

"Needs salt," Matt commented, grabbing the salt shaker and began to sprinkle it over his food.

"Salt?! When I had that, it was almost too salty!" Lizzie put a piece of her food in her mouth.

"Well, the one you had must have been deep-fried..." Matt replied while chewing.

"Can you swallow first? That's gross!"

Matt laughed. "Sorry...I didn't eat anything at all today."

They both continued to eat in silence. They could barely hear the music that was being played in the restaurant with the cause of the other customers who were talking amongst themselves. Matt leaned his head towards the television screen that was hooked up from the ceiling. He saw the statistics of those who had won that day.

"Excuse me..." one of the waiters spoke with a microphone, as the music was turned off and everybody stopped talking and looked towards him. "Thank you. It has come to my knowledge that we happen to be serving some of the people who had won this afternoon. Could Jen, Lewis, Paulene, Lizzie, Krystal and Matt please stand up?"

Matt and Lizzie stood up along with the other people in the restaurant.

"May we please give them a hand?" There was a loud applause for at least half a minute as both Matt and Lizzie blushed. "Thank you, and please enjoy your meal. There will be a draw for some free coupons in the front; those who have won today's matches and would like to participate, please meet near the east exit in five minutes. Thank you."

"Wow! Coupons! You want to go to it?" Lizzie asked.

"No, then my food will get cold."

"Fine. I'll go, then."

"You'll have to wait five minutes."

"I know that."

"Good. Eat."

Lizzie groaned. "Fine..." she muttered, and continued eating her meal.

"Squirtle..." Squirtle smiled upon finishing what was on his place.

After Lizzie had polished everything that was on her plate, she stood up along with the other Pokémon trainers. "You're the only one not going. Are you absolutely sure?"

Matt, finishing the last bite of his dinner, wiped his face with a napkin before facing Lizzie. "The chances of me coming here again before my coupon expires are slim."

"You could give it to me!"

"No thanks. You go ahead, good luck."

"Fine. Hold my purse. It has all of my Pokémon in there; don't lose it, all right?!"

"Fine yourself," Matt replied. "But if you don't return in ten minutes, I'm eating your dessert."

"Oh, knock it off..." Lizzie walked off with the others.

Matt began eating a slice of cheese cake, as he looked at his watch. "It's been a few minutes. It shouldn't have taken that long just for a few coupons." He shrugged and continued eating.

Afterwards he pushed the empty plate back and took in a deep breath. "Phew! I'm full now." He then suddenly jumped to his feet. "And I really need to go." He trusted Squirtle to guard Lizzie's purse, for he didn't want to to take it with him into the men's room. Afterwards, he walked quickly and entered it.

A few minutes later, Matt walked out, and didn't see Lizzie on her seat. "Okay, something weird's going on." He beckoned for Squirtle to come to him. He placed Lizzie purse in his backpack, rested Squirtle in his arms and walked down to where they were holding the draw.

Matt looked around. "This has to be the spot. Or else they would be outside.. He walked down the hall a bit more, and saw two people dressed in all black enter one room. Matt dashed to the door and tried to open it. "It's locked."

Matt walked down the hall and saw several clothing sets hanging on a rack. He looked at them. "Team Rocket uniforms?! Don't tell me this coupon thing was all a scam. That means...geez! Let's see, which one of these would fit me...?"

Matt stuffed his clothes in his bag and put on a Team Rocket uniform which barely fit; it was far too loose, but it was the tighest one Matt could find. "Sorry, Zeni, you're going to have to go inside the Pokéball. You're not going to fit inside the backpack..."

Squirtle jumped out of Matt's hands and backed towards a wall.

"Don't be stubborn. All of my other Pokémon are resting in their Pokéballs, and I don't think it would hurt to put you inside it just this once. Come on, you've been wandering freely for the last several months, and you remember my agreement. You go back when you have to." Matt pulled out a Pokéball.

"Squirtle, squirtle! Squirtle!"

"Look, this is important. Something's fishy here. I promise I'll let you out after, all right? You're going to have to start staying in here; it's becoming very inconvenient for both of us if you stay out of your Pokéball all the time. It's dangerous. Now come on."

Squirtle stood still.

"Good. I'll make it up to you, I'm sorry." Matt drew Squirtle inside the Pokéball and placed it in his backpack. "What have I done...? No, now's not the time to feel guilty. This is far more important than some ridiculous dispute."

Matt stood up and looked at his disguise. "Ugh, this makes me look anti-everything...and I can't believe how obvious they're making this." Matt put on a pair of sunglasses as he walked down the hall and knocked on the door.

A large, sinister man opened it and gave Matt an angry look. I hope I haven't been busted out already, Matt thought.

"Where have you been?! We've been waiting for nearly ten minutes here!"

Matt's heart skipped a beat, and tried to play along by deepening his voice's pitch. "Uh...sorry. It was hard to get here; security gave me a hassle."

"Blast those fools. And where's Jansen? How come he's not with you?!"

"Um...I haven't heard from him at all today, sir."

"Well, that might make things run a lot slower. Come in anyway, we really need help sorting these Pokéballs."

Matt slowly walked in with his backpack slung over his one shoulder. He had forgotten he had brought it with him. "Hey, you!" somebody shouted, as Matt jumped. "Are those the supplies we need?"

"Um, no, sir. They're just my clothes from earlier. I had to change as quickly as possible."

"Very well. You can pick up your bag later. Just leave it there," he pointed to a place in the corner.

"No thanks, I'd rather keep it with me."

"Very well. Come, watch these guys." Matt was lead into a bright room, where the member left, closing the door behind him.

Matt looked around. It was covered wall to wall seeing some of the Pokémon trainers crying, along with Lizzie's face buried in her hands sitting all alone in the corner. He sighed. "So it was all a scam."

Everybody looked at Matt as he took off his sunglasses. "Team Rocket's still going strong."

"Matt!" Lizzie cried out. "How did you get in?!"

"These people must be extremely stupid. They think I'm a guard or something..."

Lizzie ran towards Matt. "It was awful; they took all of their Pokémon! We need to get them back! And, where's my purse?!"

"It's in my bag." Matt pulled the purse from his backpack and handed it over to Lizzie. He looked at all the other trainers who watched him attentively. "Don't worry, we'll get you all out of here..."

One girl wiped away her tears. "Oh, don't be ridiculous, Team Rocket can't be stopped..."

The kid sitting next to her nodded. "Seriously, man. I've dealt with Team Rocket before, and quite honestly, this is the tamest they've ever gotten. I've heard of them killing people. I'm just happy to be alive."

The other remaining trainers nodded in agreement.

"Will you knock it off?! They stole something precious. Something that belonged to you! They shouldn't have the right to take that privilege of Pokémon training away from you! We are going to get your Pokémon back, and turn away these creeps!" Lizzie lectured.

A member stormed into the room. "Hey! Keep them quiet, will ya?!"

Matt smirked. "I think not..."

"Hey...you're that other trainer! Men, come here, quickly!"

As two members scrambled to dash in the room, Matt pulled out a Pokéball. "I've had enough of this crap; Charmeleon, slow them down!"

Charmeleon sprang out, ready to battle. "Char..."

"Quickly, give me a Pokéball!" one of the members turned back, shouting.

"Oh? I think not. Charmeleon, use your Flamethrower," Matt calmly commanded.

Charmeleon took in a breath, and unleashed a stream of scorching flames, causing Team Rocket to run out of the room in terror, screaming.

"Are you kidding me?!" Matt shouted. "What a bunch of pansies; they won't even stay back to fight?" Matt called Charmeleon back inside its Pokéball. "All right, everybody out; I need to get out of this horrible outfit."

Later after Matt changed back into his regular clothes, and the other remaining trainers received their Pokémon, Matt pulled out a small mechanical device, and placed it over one of the several machines in the room.

"Hey, Matt, what's that?" Lizzie asked.

"A bomb...it'll completely destroy this room."

"Where did you get a bomb?!"

"I found it in the corner of the other room." Matt entered a couple of commands on it. "This seems simple enough to activate."

"You even know how to activate bombs? For crying out loud," Lizzie muttered. She then turned around. "All right everybody, we need to get out." She pushed everybody out of the room and back into the hall of the restaurant. She walked back in and turned around. "Okay, let's go."

Matt put back on his backpack exited the room with Lizzie. After getting to a safe distance, he started to quietly count. "Three...two...one..." There was then a slight rumble in the entire building as smoke began to appear from the bottom of the closed door.

Lizzie gave a look at Matt. "Since when did you learn how to use a bomb?"

"Ever since we've been in that prison."

"Do you realize that Team Rocket could now send even more of its troops out here? You could have just increased the danger around here for everyone!"

Matt shook his head. "You see, I thought that at first, but then I figured that they would only think that because nobody would have the guts to stand up to them. And after hearing about Arrmun's operations, I decided to put this to the test. Add a little bit more fear to their souls."

Lizzie shook her head. "How much longer are you going to keep doing this?"

"It was payback." Matt grinned. "And I plan to pay them back in full eventually."

Lizzie's face fell. "Come on, let's go back to the registration desk; we need to figure out who we're battling tomorrow."

* * *

"On the Ice Field, it will be Matt versus...Randy. Your battle will be at 11:30am; good luck."

"11:30?! That's a bit early..." Matt commented.

"Oh come on, that's not too bad. All you have to do is set an alarm, that's all," Lizzie replied.

Matt snarled. "I guess."

Lizzie then frowned. "Still no word from Jordan. I don't know where he could be; I hope he didn't forget."

"A guy like him? That's unlikely. I'm sure that he'll be here. We just have to be patient."

"I really do hope he comes tomorrow. Because if we both lose, and he's never around to watch, then." she sighed. "Forget it, let's just go to bed."

Upon returning to their rooms at the Pokémon Center, both Matt and Lizzie crawled straight into bed, and drifted into a dream. They both slept well that night, for they have won both their first round matches, and have become more comfortable with the situation that surrounded them.

The next morning, sky was clear; the air was cool and crisp, and not many people were wandering around the streets at this hour. However, at this time of year, not everybody is always asleep at this time.

A girl with long brown hair, in a short black skirt with a matching blouse and long, black leather boots was smirking at the entrance to the Pokémon Center. "Thought you could hide from me after all these years, could you? Well, it's time for a little payback...."



TO BE CONTINUED.