Chapter 14
The entrance to Ever Grande City was a towering, thick yellow brick wall. The large automatic double doors were positioned directly in between a large set of stone columns, supporting the small ceiling block above them. Setijin and Arc stood side by side, brushing themselves off after the flight, Dragonite sitting down on the floor in front of them. Arc gently congratulated and thanked his pokémon, before returning it to its ball.
"Well, Setijin...welcome to Ever Grande City, and the pokémon league of Hoenn," Arc introduced. Setijin smiled emphatically.
Wow, its so much bigger than it looks on TV," he gawped, edging his head back until the tops of the walls became visible. Arc raised his arm in the direction of the doors, inviting Setijin in first.
"Come on inside," he offered. "We'll sort out a place for you to sleep for tonight, and then we can go off and do our own thing, ok?"
"Fine with me," Setijin replied, walking through the doors to the city of champions.
Lance of the Johto Elite four stepped backwards from his Dragonair as its opponent's pokémon pummeled it into the ground. Rain hurled itself to the floor around the battle, stray droplets dangling from the large leaves of the trees, their falls cushioned by the thick, lush grass. Dragonair lay on the floor, panting heavily as the opponent recalled his pokémon.
"The master of dragons, eh?" the man chuckled. "And to think, you haven't even met our real weapon yet!"
"You mean that wasn't..." Lance stammered.
"Oh no. This one is merely here to keep the likes of the pokémon league off my back. Trust me when I say, 'You haven't seen anything yet!'" The man stood, legs slightly apart and rigid, dressed in a dull black suit, tailored perfectly to his slender body, his center parted black hair dangling over his eyes in the rain. The mud of the ground had lightly scuffed and stained his slick black shoes, and the tips of his black trouser legs.
"So what is Team Rockets plan this time? Trying to take control of every pokémon again?" Lance asked on his knees, his now tattered cape dangling in the mud, returning his defeated Dragon. The rain remained heavy as the suited man bellowed sinisterly.
Arc used a key to open a door to a room, holding it open as Setijin stepped in to explore.
"Top of the range room here," Arc explained. "It has everything, TV, with pretty much every channel available, mini bar, bathroom facilities, big ol' bed, views of the forest around the city and the sea through one window, and a great shot of the stadium from this one," he said, pointing to the window to the right of the large and extravagant double bed, dressed in golden bed clothes. The walls were papered with detailed, but tasteful floral designs, the carpet was a thick, lush, royal blue, and the room was lit by the sun through the windows, and the single metal light fitting, hung from the ceiling, over a large table in the center of the room, made out of top quality wood, intricately carved, with a durable but fashionable pokéball table cloth slung over the top. The room was a pentagonal shape, one end leading to the entrance, two fitted with the windows, one housing a huge closet, full of bedding, coat hangers and a locker for safe keeping, the final face opening into the bathroom, containing Jacuzzi, toilet, shower, sink and all the usual features, with white walls and shimmering marble tiles arranged on the floor.
"This place looks so classy!" Setijin beamed.
"They are nice, aren't they?" Arc admired. "I might have to rent one of these out instead of my apartment downtown. This place even has mints on the pillows!" Setijin and Arc raced over to the bed, each grabbing a golden wrapped chocolate mint from the bed, promptly unwrapping them, and throwing them into their mouths. Both chewed before grinning in satisfaction.
"Theesh are good," Setijin fumbled.
"Sho shocolaty," Arc reviewed. They screwed up the packaging and binned it, as Arc made his way towards the door and bid farewell.
"I'll catch up with you later. You make yourself at home or explore the city for now. I'll give you a ring later," Arc said. Setijin sat back on his bed, before asking:
"Ring me on what?"
"You mean you don't have a pokénav?"
"No. I'm not a registered trainer."
"I suppose not. Ok, wait here. I'll be back in 5 minutes." Setijin nodded as Arc sped down the corridor. Setijin lay back, using his arms as a head rest, staring up at the ceiling.
"Cyndaquil," he sighed.
"Look at this Winona," Lucia called, as she pointed to a small plaque next to a small exhibit in the center. Winona wandered over to take a look. She started to read the text out loud.
"These rock was discovered in the seas south of Pacifilog town, and was found to contain DNA of an unknown pokémon, unlike any on the planet as of now. Whether this DNA is ancient, or the rock is an actual pokémon is still very much undecided." Winona read getting more and more fascinated with each word. "Wow, this is quite spectacular!"
"It is. Like those pokémon that were resurrected from fossils found in the desert and over in Kanto. But the odd thing is that the display case looks like it should have two items inside. And how the plaque reads, 'These rock'. There is either a very bad speller in this place, or something has gone missing," Lucia denominated.
"Perhaps this is the pokémon team rocket were talking about," Winona suggested. "They may have taken this rock, and are planning on finding a way to revive it!"
"Its possible, but its not necessarily the actual story."
"Yeah, I guess that might be a bit of a guess, but we should at least ask someone who works here about it."
"Are you sure that's really necessary?" Lucia asked.
"Recently, you've been acting very odd when the prospect of Team Rocket comes into conversation. Is there something you'd like to tell me?" Winona inquired in frustration. Lucia recoiled in shock and nervousness, before looking down the floor.
"Its my parents. I know they work for a group, but they've never told me whom, or what they get up to. And the way they are acting over the journey so far...well...I think they might be members of Team Rocket."
"Oh...I'm sorry I probed like that," Winona apologized. Tears started to form in Lucia's eyes before she tried to force them back.
"No, no. You were right to ask. It was probably much better to get this off my chest sooner rather than later." Winona stepped up to her side and comforted Lucia, wrapping her left arm around Lucia's back, resting her hand on her shoulder.
"Still don't want to ask about the rocks?"
"No. I say we find out the story behind them," Lucia replied, with a new edge of determination in her voice.
"And by going into this menu, and hitting that option there, you can organize the pokémon in your box wherever you are," Arc explained to Setijin, both sitting on the bed, Setijin holding his new pokénav while Arc tutored and slowly indicated each point of information on the screen as he came to it. "Thanks a heap Arc!" Setijin exclaimed, flipping shut his new toy, and using the strap to wrap it around his wrist.
"I've already stored a few numbers in there: Mine, Winona's, the pokémon center here etc."
"Excellent. So, we going back to the original plan then?" Setijin asked. Arc nodded.
"Yup. I'll go and finish arranging things back at the HQ, while you explore. You have access to everywhere in the City, so make the most of things. There's a lot to do here!"
"And the room? How much will it cost?"
"Oh nothing. It's all on the house. Just don't go and destroy it," Arc joked. He chirpily left the room, Setijin leaping off of the bed and darting over to the closet as the main door closed. Setijin gently slid the closet door open, providing him with a small crack to talk through.
"Did you hear that? No destroying things. If we do, I have to pay, and you wont be getting any more treats from the pokémart, understand?" he calmly relayed into the darkness.
"Cham, Medicham," the voice from inside responded. Setijin fully opened the door and let Medicham out. Setijin waited as nothing happened, until Medicham leapt out over his head, and charged towards the mini bar. Setijin slammed the closet shut and ran off after him, tackling him to the floor before he could reach the refrigerator. Setijin lay on top of his pokémon as it tried to struggle out from underneath him.
"Guess who's not going to be getting any candy tonight then?" Medicham stopped struggling and slammed its hands down on the floor in frustration, resting its head on the floor in a sulk.
"Night had fallen over the city. The lights of the shops and stadium had been flicked on, illuminating all around them, the glow rippling through the windows of the large, but empty meeting room, furnished with a long, varnished table in the center, with simple metal framed, cushioned chairs arranged around it, the thin gray carpet lit from the track lights hung high above. Pot plants were placed in the corners; each opposite end of the room home to big wooded double doors. Arc, Steve and a gabble of elite trainers sat around, discussing the situation at hand.
"Well, one of the worst case scenarios has begun to play itself out," Steven started. "We got word from Johto earlier that Lance himself had encountered the apparent leader of the new uprising while scouting the area with other elite trainers from the area. This 'leader' was reported to have used some very powerful pokémon, the squad headed by Team Rockets old genetics project, which they commandeered over 10 years ago..." The room bustled with muttering, Arc whispering to Phoebe whom sat next to him, as Steven attempted to reclaim the attention of the room.
"Quiet down all of you!" Drake ordered, leaning back in his seat, his rugged boots now resting on the table. Steven glanced at him in thanks.
"Thank you. Now, this is a big problem. I'm sure you've all heard the stories, and the chances are, they are all too true. The even bigger problem is that Team Rocket is still making claims of a legendary pokémon now, or soon to be under their command. If this mystery creature falls under the 'soon to be under command' category, then we are at a big advantage, and luckily for us, this seems like the most likely outcome: If the Rockets had access to any pokémon of mythology, we'd know about it. Or at least we'd like to think so." Arc stood up to take the floor.
"It is now our job to keep Hoenn as safe as possible. The Gym Leaders of Hoenn and ourselves must now watch and gather the best of the trainers available to help protect us against, and investigate the activities of Team Rocket. I shall be traveling over to the west coast of Johto for a short while, accompanying Winona of Fortree Gym, and two other trainers, both of which show a lot of potential." Arc sat back into his chair, finishing, "I hope that said group will be all we need."
Setijin wandered up the bustling streets, crowded with pokémon trainers, spectators and simple bystanders, all commuting through and around the enormous pokémon stadium in the center. The spotlights aura fizzled away into the deep blue night sky, now free of the cloud, which had plagued the day, shops and all other manner of tall building fencing the plateau traversing up to the doorway. Setijin looked in awe, while Medicham weaved and dodged the unaware peoples whom shoved past each other in their journeys around the city.
"What do you think Medicham," Setijin began, "shall we go in?" Medicham grunted as yet another person pushed past, knocking him to the floor. Setijin turned to see his pokémon winding back its fist, ready to lunge, only halted by Setijin grabbing him away from his target.
"Medicham!"
"Calm down! We'll go inside, and we might find someone to battle and vent out your anger." Medicham pouted, causing Setijin to sigh. "Fine, 'and once we've battled, you can have some ice cream'. Is that what you want to hear?" Medicham smiled with glee, before shooting off towards the stadium entrance, Setijin attempting to follow once more.
The entrance to Ever Grande City was a towering, thick yellow brick wall. The large automatic double doors were positioned directly in between a large set of stone columns, supporting the small ceiling block above them. Setijin and Arc stood side by side, brushing themselves off after the flight, Dragonite sitting down on the floor in front of them. Arc gently congratulated and thanked his pokémon, before returning it to its ball.
"Well, Setijin...welcome to Ever Grande City, and the pokémon league of Hoenn," Arc introduced. Setijin smiled emphatically.
Wow, its so much bigger than it looks on TV," he gawped, edging his head back until the tops of the walls became visible. Arc raised his arm in the direction of the doors, inviting Setijin in first.
"Come on inside," he offered. "We'll sort out a place for you to sleep for tonight, and then we can go off and do our own thing, ok?"
"Fine with me," Setijin replied, walking through the doors to the city of champions.
Lance of the Johto Elite four stepped backwards from his Dragonair as its opponent's pokémon pummeled it into the ground. Rain hurled itself to the floor around the battle, stray droplets dangling from the large leaves of the trees, their falls cushioned by the thick, lush grass. Dragonair lay on the floor, panting heavily as the opponent recalled his pokémon.
"The master of dragons, eh?" the man chuckled. "And to think, you haven't even met our real weapon yet!"
"You mean that wasn't..." Lance stammered.
"Oh no. This one is merely here to keep the likes of the pokémon league off my back. Trust me when I say, 'You haven't seen anything yet!'" The man stood, legs slightly apart and rigid, dressed in a dull black suit, tailored perfectly to his slender body, his center parted black hair dangling over his eyes in the rain. The mud of the ground had lightly scuffed and stained his slick black shoes, and the tips of his black trouser legs.
"So what is Team Rockets plan this time? Trying to take control of every pokémon again?" Lance asked on his knees, his now tattered cape dangling in the mud, returning his defeated Dragon. The rain remained heavy as the suited man bellowed sinisterly.
Arc used a key to open a door to a room, holding it open as Setijin stepped in to explore.
"Top of the range room here," Arc explained. "It has everything, TV, with pretty much every channel available, mini bar, bathroom facilities, big ol' bed, views of the forest around the city and the sea through one window, and a great shot of the stadium from this one," he said, pointing to the window to the right of the large and extravagant double bed, dressed in golden bed clothes. The walls were papered with detailed, but tasteful floral designs, the carpet was a thick, lush, royal blue, and the room was lit by the sun through the windows, and the single metal light fitting, hung from the ceiling, over a large table in the center of the room, made out of top quality wood, intricately carved, with a durable but fashionable pokéball table cloth slung over the top. The room was a pentagonal shape, one end leading to the entrance, two fitted with the windows, one housing a huge closet, full of bedding, coat hangers and a locker for safe keeping, the final face opening into the bathroom, containing Jacuzzi, toilet, shower, sink and all the usual features, with white walls and shimmering marble tiles arranged on the floor.
"This place looks so classy!" Setijin beamed.
"They are nice, aren't they?" Arc admired. "I might have to rent one of these out instead of my apartment downtown. This place even has mints on the pillows!" Setijin and Arc raced over to the bed, each grabbing a golden wrapped chocolate mint from the bed, promptly unwrapping them, and throwing them into their mouths. Both chewed before grinning in satisfaction.
"Theesh are good," Setijin fumbled.
"Sho shocolaty," Arc reviewed. They screwed up the packaging and binned it, as Arc made his way towards the door and bid farewell.
"I'll catch up with you later. You make yourself at home or explore the city for now. I'll give you a ring later," Arc said. Setijin sat back on his bed, before asking:
"Ring me on what?"
"You mean you don't have a pokénav?"
"No. I'm not a registered trainer."
"I suppose not. Ok, wait here. I'll be back in 5 minutes." Setijin nodded as Arc sped down the corridor. Setijin lay back, using his arms as a head rest, staring up at the ceiling.
"Cyndaquil," he sighed.
"Look at this Winona," Lucia called, as she pointed to a small plaque next to a small exhibit in the center. Winona wandered over to take a look. She started to read the text out loud.
"These rock was discovered in the seas south of Pacifilog town, and was found to contain DNA of an unknown pokémon, unlike any on the planet as of now. Whether this DNA is ancient, or the rock is an actual pokémon is still very much undecided." Winona read getting more and more fascinated with each word. "Wow, this is quite spectacular!"
"It is. Like those pokémon that were resurrected from fossils found in the desert and over in Kanto. But the odd thing is that the display case looks like it should have two items inside. And how the plaque reads, 'These rock'. There is either a very bad speller in this place, or something has gone missing," Lucia denominated.
"Perhaps this is the pokémon team rocket were talking about," Winona suggested. "They may have taken this rock, and are planning on finding a way to revive it!"
"Its possible, but its not necessarily the actual story."
"Yeah, I guess that might be a bit of a guess, but we should at least ask someone who works here about it."
"Are you sure that's really necessary?" Lucia asked.
"Recently, you've been acting very odd when the prospect of Team Rocket comes into conversation. Is there something you'd like to tell me?" Winona inquired in frustration. Lucia recoiled in shock and nervousness, before looking down the floor.
"Its my parents. I know they work for a group, but they've never told me whom, or what they get up to. And the way they are acting over the journey so far...well...I think they might be members of Team Rocket."
"Oh...I'm sorry I probed like that," Winona apologized. Tears started to form in Lucia's eyes before she tried to force them back.
"No, no. You were right to ask. It was probably much better to get this off my chest sooner rather than later." Winona stepped up to her side and comforted Lucia, wrapping her left arm around Lucia's back, resting her hand on her shoulder.
"Still don't want to ask about the rocks?"
"No. I say we find out the story behind them," Lucia replied, with a new edge of determination in her voice.
"And by going into this menu, and hitting that option there, you can organize the pokémon in your box wherever you are," Arc explained to Setijin, both sitting on the bed, Setijin holding his new pokénav while Arc tutored and slowly indicated each point of information on the screen as he came to it. "Thanks a heap Arc!" Setijin exclaimed, flipping shut his new toy, and using the strap to wrap it around his wrist.
"I've already stored a few numbers in there: Mine, Winona's, the pokémon center here etc."
"Excellent. So, we going back to the original plan then?" Setijin asked. Arc nodded.
"Yup. I'll go and finish arranging things back at the HQ, while you explore. You have access to everywhere in the City, so make the most of things. There's a lot to do here!"
"And the room? How much will it cost?"
"Oh nothing. It's all on the house. Just don't go and destroy it," Arc joked. He chirpily left the room, Setijin leaping off of the bed and darting over to the closet as the main door closed. Setijin gently slid the closet door open, providing him with a small crack to talk through.
"Did you hear that? No destroying things. If we do, I have to pay, and you wont be getting any more treats from the pokémart, understand?" he calmly relayed into the darkness.
"Cham, Medicham," the voice from inside responded. Setijin fully opened the door and let Medicham out. Setijin waited as nothing happened, until Medicham leapt out over his head, and charged towards the mini bar. Setijin slammed the closet shut and ran off after him, tackling him to the floor before he could reach the refrigerator. Setijin lay on top of his pokémon as it tried to struggle out from underneath him.
"Guess who's not going to be getting any candy tonight then?" Medicham stopped struggling and slammed its hands down on the floor in frustration, resting its head on the floor in a sulk.
"Night had fallen over the city. The lights of the shops and stadium had been flicked on, illuminating all around them, the glow rippling through the windows of the large, but empty meeting room, furnished with a long, varnished table in the center, with simple metal framed, cushioned chairs arranged around it, the thin gray carpet lit from the track lights hung high above. Pot plants were placed in the corners; each opposite end of the room home to big wooded double doors. Arc, Steve and a gabble of elite trainers sat around, discussing the situation at hand.
"Well, one of the worst case scenarios has begun to play itself out," Steven started. "We got word from Johto earlier that Lance himself had encountered the apparent leader of the new uprising while scouting the area with other elite trainers from the area. This 'leader' was reported to have used some very powerful pokémon, the squad headed by Team Rockets old genetics project, which they commandeered over 10 years ago..." The room bustled with muttering, Arc whispering to Phoebe whom sat next to him, as Steven attempted to reclaim the attention of the room.
"Quiet down all of you!" Drake ordered, leaning back in his seat, his rugged boots now resting on the table. Steven glanced at him in thanks.
"Thank you. Now, this is a big problem. I'm sure you've all heard the stories, and the chances are, they are all too true. The even bigger problem is that Team Rocket is still making claims of a legendary pokémon now, or soon to be under their command. If this mystery creature falls under the 'soon to be under command' category, then we are at a big advantage, and luckily for us, this seems like the most likely outcome: If the Rockets had access to any pokémon of mythology, we'd know about it. Or at least we'd like to think so." Arc stood up to take the floor.
"It is now our job to keep Hoenn as safe as possible. The Gym Leaders of Hoenn and ourselves must now watch and gather the best of the trainers available to help protect us against, and investigate the activities of Team Rocket. I shall be traveling over to the west coast of Johto for a short while, accompanying Winona of Fortree Gym, and two other trainers, both of which show a lot of potential." Arc sat back into his chair, finishing, "I hope that said group will be all we need."
Setijin wandered up the bustling streets, crowded with pokémon trainers, spectators and simple bystanders, all commuting through and around the enormous pokémon stadium in the center. The spotlights aura fizzled away into the deep blue night sky, now free of the cloud, which had plagued the day, shops and all other manner of tall building fencing the plateau traversing up to the doorway. Setijin looked in awe, while Medicham weaved and dodged the unaware peoples whom shoved past each other in their journeys around the city.
"What do you think Medicham," Setijin began, "shall we go in?" Medicham grunted as yet another person pushed past, knocking him to the floor. Setijin turned to see his pokémon winding back its fist, ready to lunge, only halted by Setijin grabbing him away from his target.
"Medicham!"
"Calm down! We'll go inside, and we might find someone to battle and vent out your anger." Medicham pouted, causing Setijin to sigh. "Fine, 'and once we've battled, you can have some ice cream'. Is that what you want to hear?" Medicham smiled with glee, before shooting off towards the stadium entrance, Setijin attempting to follow once more.