Pokémon - The Journey Begins

Chapter 33: All for Nothing



Early the next morning, Matt lay flat on his bed in the Pokémon Center. Lizzie's bed had long since been empty, and Jordan was right beside him, in an attempt to wake him up. "Hey, Lizzie's first match with the Elite Four's starting in an hour. Aren't you coming?"

Matt turned to the other side in the bed. "No, I haven't slept well; I think I'll just stay here. Tell me how it goes later."

"You're not upset about losing still, are you? You finished second in your first complete competition; that's actually pretty impressive if you ask me. When I started out, I didn't even make it past my second match. Does that make you feel any better?"

"I'm not upset or anything, I'm just tired," Matt replied. "Just leave me be, I want to sleep a bit more."

"Matt, it's almost noon," Jordan begged. "She's going up against Hans; it should be a good battle. Are you sure you don't want to come? She'd really like to see you out there."

Matt shook around in his bed. "I saw the look she gave me when she beat me yesterday, I'm not in the mood to talking with anybody right now."

"Fine," Jordan replied, letting go a heavy sigh. "I'll see you later." With that, he left the bedroom, closing the door behind him.

After about another hour, Matt pushed back the covers and sat up straight in his bed. The only images being placed in his head were his Charmeleon collapsing on the Ditto, then falling flat on the battlefield. he quickly shook his head and took a look at the dresser. Matt blinked, noticing something there that he hadn't previously noticed. "That's funny, I don't remember that Pokéball being there."

Matt stood up and walked towards it, picking it up, noticing a small note attached to the bottom of it. He tore it off and read it outloud: "'I found you a little gift; it may prove useful in your long journey. Once again, thanks...'." Matt thought for a minute. "It couldn't have been Rachel...she doesn't know a thing about Pokémon."

Matt took the Pokédex from his backpack. He saw a blurred picture of a tall Pokémon with two, long red claws, and glaring eyes appear, but he had no idea what it was. He entered a few more commands, but that was all the information his Pokédex had. "It kind of looks like a Scyther, but I never thought that Scyther had an evolved form. I really don't know." He put the Pokéball into his backpack. "I'm not deserving of this Pokémon, though. I'll give it to Lizzie when she returns."

A few minutes after Matt changed his clothing, both Lizzie and Jordan walked into the room unexpectedly.

Matt looked at them both. "Hey, what's going on? Don't you have a match now?"

Lizzie shook her head. "It's cancelled."

"The match?" Matt asked, still exchanging glances between the two.

"The league. The rest of it is cancelled. One of Lilaine's Pokémon was stolen. She felt that the only way to make the thief pay is to make all the participants suffer by erasing all of their positions in the league," Jordan shook his head.

"WHAT?!" Matt exclaimed. "That's absolutely stupid! Why would she do that over some stolen Pokémon?! What if the person who stole it is long gone by now?!"

Lizzie shrugged. "I guess it's one way to make the thief return it. The person will get arrested, but at least all the stats will be restored."

"It's STILL stupid. All that hard work, thrown away because somebody decided to do something STUPID as steal one of her Pokémon!" Matt walked over and kicked the wall. "It makes me so angry!"

"She said that the Pokémon stolen was a Scizor." Jordan added.

Matt shot a look at Jordan. "What's a Scizor?"

"Well...it's mostly red...and it's the evolved form of a Scyther. Whoever stole it made a good choice, you can't find any Scizzor around here."

Matt quickly walked over to his backpack and pulled out the Pokéball which obtained the strange Pokémon image from before. "This has a Scizor inside. It can't be the one though, can it? It damn well better not be."

"Wait a minute, what are YOU doing with it?" Lizzie asked.

"I saw it on the dresser when I woke up, along with this note." Matt pulled out the note from his pocket and handed it to Lizzie, then to Jordan.

"Arrmun..." Jordan muttered. "Arrmun stole it. The idiot."

"Arrmun?!" Matt exclaimed. "Oh, GOD! Tell me this isn't happening! Lizzie should be battling the Elite Four!"

"We have to give it back. Hopefully our stats will be revived," Lizzie replied.

"Are you NUTS?! She'll suspect us, then we'll all lose our trainers' licenses! Damn it, this SUCKS!" Matt kicked the wall again. "What the hell are we supposed to do?!"

"Calm down, you'll make the other people around here uncomfortable," Jordan replied. "There's really nothing we can do."

Matt looked at both Jordan and Lizzie. "You're giving up? No, we can't give up. We have to do something about this. This isn't right. To any of us. Even the other trainers who managed to get so far. Something has to be done!"

"Matt, forget it. We've lost. All of them did. There are already some protestors out now, and knowing Lilaine, she's not going to stop until she gets her Pokémon back..." Jordan sighed. "We have until sunset to have it returned, or your stats are gone for good."

Matt shook his head. "It's still stupid..." he muttered, grabbing the Pokéball. "I'm going to take the fall. Lizzie deserves the chance to battle the Elite Four."

"No," Jordan walked up and grabbed the Pokéball. "I'll take the fall; both of you deserve to continue your journey."

Lizzie grabbed the Pokéball. "Let's just have it transported somewhere. That way we'll hope she'll find it."

Matt shook her head. "There's no way we'd be able to do it without getting caught. There's security increased everywhere."

Lizzie sighed. "Then...I guess that's it, then. It was a good run."

Matt groaned. "All for nothing. At least a hundred trainers gave their all for no cause whatsoever..."

"Surprised?" a figure asked, jumping through the open Pokémon Center's window.

Matt snarled. "Arrmun, you creep! Do you have any idea what you've just done?!"

"I gave you a little gift; I was hoping you'd be grateful...looks like I was way off there, as usual." Arrmun replied, putting his hands in his pocket.

"You just made all of our hard work pointless! Our efforts were nothing! What were you thinking?!"

Lizzie stepped in front of Matt. "I don't always agree with Matt's socializing methods, but what you did was wrong. All of the trainers who put their best effors to get somewhere in this league were completely wasted. Why did you do that?"

"To shut down a secret operation running in the Pokémon Master's residence," Arrmun muttered. "She and I go way back."

"Just wait a second..." Jordan stepped forward. "How do YOU know Lilaine?"

"Her real name is Irene, to be exact," Arrmun replied. "She was an ex-Team Rocket member. She stole that Pokémon from Giovanni and recently has been in communication to some other group."

"Team Rocket?!" Jordan exclaimed. "My suspicions were right!"

Arrmun nodded. "Yes...I had no idea she would do something so ridiculous as to completely shut down the league because of a stolen Pokémon that she herself had originally stolen."

Matt took the Pokéball from Jordan and shoved it into Arrmun's hand. "This has to be stopped now. If you give it back to her now, our stats will return."

Arrmun dropped it on the floor. "She doesn't deserve such Pokémon. Only you three are worth of handling its powers. Besides, she's about to be arrested anyway."

"Did you have to do it THIS way?! Look at the mess you made! The stats of several trainers are now gone because of this! They all deserve to tell their family and friends that what happened here counts, not something that was erased because somebody stole a Pokémon." Matt clenched a fist in his hand. "Do you know how many weeks were put into this--no, how many months we've waited just for this opportunity?! I want it to be a known fact that I finished second at the Indigo Pokémon League championships!"

Arrmun shot an angry look at Matt. "Young one, you need to learn to control your tongue. This is to bring her out into the open. I knew she would react somehow, and by doing this, the police were able to retrieve some evidence about her through the radars. She's up to something, and we're going to go and figure that out once we go after her later today."

"Hey!" Jordan called to all of them, as they all turned to face them. "Couldn't this have waited until after?! This happened right in the middle of a very important match here!"

"How do we know that she'll still be around after the Pokémon League is completed? Regardless, I had to act one way in order to bring her out into the open. What you don't realize is that she is a very dangerous criminal. Unfortunately, your vaulable statistics may have to go to waste," Arrmun explained. "Regardless, I double-checked to make sure. Your statistics will not be lost. Back-up files of the originals are made daily, so I was absolutely certain what I was doing before I moved out."

"I can't believe I'm hearing this. I don't want to hear anymore; I'm going to pack my things and go eat somewhere." Matt walked towards the dresser and opened it, unpacking some clothing.

Jordan continued to look at Arrmun. "You couldn't pick a worse time to do something as a raid during the battles. I don't care if it wasn't unavoidable, you obviously didn't think about this one too well. Now, take that Pokémon and get out." Jordan turned around and left the room. Lizzie looked at Arrmun for a second, then followed Jordan out.

Matt placed his clothes in his backpack and zipped it up. He then slung it over his shoulders and looked at Arrmun. "It makes me wonder if you're actually doing this for everyone else, or just for yourself. I hope you realize how many lives you've completely ruined today." Matt fastened his Pokéball belt and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Arrmun stood in complete silence for the next few seconds. He then looked at the Pokéball that was on the carpeted floor. He sighed as he turned around and looked out the window, watching trainers walk by, talking about the incident. "Unfortunately, I had no other choice. It was either your statistics, or allowing the vile woman roam free."

Arrmun picked up the Pokéball and looked at it. "Regardless, there's no point in feeling regret now. If we're going to shut her down, we might as well do it now."

* * *

"You FIEND!" Lilaine exclaimed, reaching for the Pokéball.

Arrmun held his hand back. "How can I be certain that you'll restore the stats once I return this to you?"

Lilaine grunted. "I really don't care whether their stats are returned or not, the thing is, you stole my Pokémon!"

"Why are you complaining? This wasn't even yours in the first place," Arrmun teased.

Lilaine let out a yell. "Stop this insanity! I want my Pokémon back!"

Arrmun chuckled. "I think not," he snapped his fingers as suddenly many police officers entered the room completely armed.

"Hands up, Team Rocket!" one of the officers exclaimed, holding up their weapons.

"I don't believe you're doing this! You brought the police just to make sure I would be returning the stats?!" Lilaine frowned. "You are the lowest of low."

"Oh, really?" Arrmun asked, as he went to the kitchen counter, pulling out a strangely designed communication device. "And what's this? A new cell phone?"

Lilaine took a few more feet back. "Put that down, that's for emergencies only!"

"What emergencies? Reporting to your new headquarters? This secret organization is going down," Arrmun stated. "All of the stats are being restored, and you're going down, Black Rocket..."

Lilaine took a few steps back. "H...how did you know?! What did you do?!"

Arrmun smirked. "It's quite simple, really. I knew you would react once this Pokémon was taken, so you used your communication device to contact your headquarters. The police were able to track down where it was coming from, and we now know where you contacted."

Lilaine took a few more steps back, beginning to shake. "I can't believe I got careless, but it's really your loss here, Arrmun."

"Silence, on the floor!" the other officer commanded. Lilaine was violently tossed down on the floor and her arms forced behind her back as the officer placed handcuffs on her.

"How is it my loss? All that's left are a few more Team Rocket Headquarters, and then we'll be starting in on your new gang. Now, the only thing that's left is to restore all of the stats," Arrmun was about to leave the room.

Lilaine let out a laugh. "Try all you might, but they're deleted for good. All of them. You really thought that I would have them restored?! It serves you right for taking that Pokémon from me in the first place! Now all of the other trainers have to suffer because of your stupidity!"

Arrmun quickly shot a look at Lilaine. "There were several back-up files for them; there's no way you could have deleted all of them."

"She must be a master hacker," one of the officers muttered.

"Don't you think I know that?!" Arrmun grunted. "If she's serious, then it appears those files really ARE gone for good. Well, that's unfortunate."

* * *

"So that's it then...? She already deleted them anyway?" Matt asked. He sighed. "I don't understand. If he was able to shut them down, why would he take that Pokémon? It makes absolutely no sense to me."

"Something must have happened on the inside. I don't think we'll ever understand it." Lizzie groaned.

Jordan watched as the sun set from the entrance of the Pokémon Center. He turned around to face them. "Come on, let's go get some rest; we'll see what we can do about it in the morning."

* * *

The next morning, after a long two hour ceremony, the trainers who participated had received trophies just for simply participating in the Pokémon League. The president of the Pokémon League made a speech to reassure that the incident would never occur again. However, Lizzie did as a matter of fact receive her first place trophy, as everybody knew that she was the rightful victor of the Pokémon League. It was a large, glowing golden image of a strange bird Pokémon, one that Matt had never seen before. It wasn't one of the Legendary Birds; it made him wonder.

After a few hours when they were all dressed and ready to go, Matt, Lizzie and Jordan were facing each other outside the Pokémon Center.

"I need to go back home to think about where I'm going for my next journey. Will you stop by at my place before you go back to Cerulean?" Matt asked.

Lizzie nodded. "I'd love to stay, but only for a day; I have to go home too, you know."

Matt smiled, turning his attention to Jordan. "So, you got your place back as the Elite Four?"

"That's right," Jordan smiled. "It'll be hard trying to clean up after what happened. I'll try to see if I can get you both in someday to battle all of us; you both deserve a chance, even if all of your stats for this league were completely erased." He smiled again. "I'll try to stay in the closest contact possible, all right?"

"You'd better..." Lizzie giggled.

"Hey, be careful. At Lilaine's arrest yesterday, there were reports of a new gang called Black Rocket appearing. Nobody knows much about them yet, but make sure to stay on your toes, all right?"

The three of them went their separate ways. Jordan walking on the route back towards the stadium, which was virtually empty the rest of the year. It was often used where the Elite Four held their meetings on the very top floor. Matt and Lizzie on the other hand returned to Viridian City, and began walking back down Route 1 to return to Pallet Town.

Matt continued shaking his head. "It's just so stupid...you deserved that chance"

"Hey, nobody knew that this was going to happen. Next time, everyone will know better." She smiled. "At least I got my trophy. They all know that I finished first, and you second."

"I still can't believe it though. They were up with a high class hacker, deleting all back-up files. I'm just so ticked that Arrmun could do such a thing like steal her Pokémon. I mean, of course she's going to react!" Matt sighed.

"Hey, if he didn't act, she wouldn't have gotten caught. Either way, something had to be done about it..."

"I guess you're right," Matt replied, shaking his head again. "It's still a really stupid thing to be allowed to happen, but it would probably be best to just let it go."

"That's right. Jordan DID say he'd try to get us in to battle the Elite Four someday. So I guess where we finished doesn't really matter to the public. What was important was that we were able to get a lot of fighting experience." She stretched her arms. "Well then, we'll just have to start thinking to where we'll be going next."

The morning sun was shining as brightly as it ever has as Matt and Lizzie continued to walk down the long, dirt path of Route 1 to Pallet Town, unsure of which road their long journey would next be taken. They were mostly silent along the way, mostly in deep thought. Both in optimism after getting as far as they did during their first complete competition; and in disappointment, wondering if the world would ever believe that they had gotten as far as they did. Regardless what was on their minds, they would keep walking.



END OF FIRST SAGA.

(The story continues in its second saga: "The Final Journey in Fenyuu." Be sure to read that!)