Chapter 17

Setijin lay on his hotel bed, still wearing his black shirt, but now

donning a pair of thin

gray shorts. He groaned uncomfortably as he turned to his side,

crumbling the bed sheets

behind him. The morning light ripped through the thin lace curtains,

gracing the room

with the suns legacies.

At the foot of the bed sat Setijin's jacket, his rucksack, and a

premium ball. The ball leant

to one side; the slit in between top and bottom clasped an empty

chocolate bar wrapper,

the remains of a battle the night before between Setijin, Medicham and

the mini-bar.

Setijin moaned wearily as he clawed his way out of bed.

"Too...tired..."

Lucia and Winona wandered around their room, preparing themselves for

the day ahead.

Winona sat back down on her bed, as she shuffled through her bag,

rested on her knees

while Lucia flicked on the television.

"So, what do you thinks happening over in Ever Grande City with Arc and

Setijin?"

Lucia asked. Winona grunted undecidedly.

"Who knows...anything on TV?" Winona replied. Lucia proceeded to flick

through the

channels, until stumbling across a news channel, with a female reporter

sitting in the

center of the shot at a desk, arranging her papers, while a small image

box in the top right

hand of the screen displayed a large logo: an 'R'.

"Team Rocket!" Lucia exclaimed. Both leaned forward intently as the

news article

unfolded.

"An attack on a pokémon breeding center in Johto yesterday night

resulted in the injury

of three patrons, and the theft of more than a dozen specially trained

pokémon. Details of

the attack are inexact as of now, but the perpetrators are believed to

be the infamous

Team Rocket; the terrorist organization that was apparently quashed

more than 10 years

ago. The motives are too, still unknown," she droned. The girls

watched, their eyes

wedged open with shock at the information, hands covering their mouths.

"They're not waiting around at all anymore," Winona examined. She

removed her

pokénav, and began to input Arc's number, stopping only to observe the

final news

article.

"And finally sports news," she started, reading a list of football and

basketball scores,

before reaching pokémon sports. "Also last night, Ever Grande City saw

the opening

round of the Novice trainer tournament, which shocked when a

replacement entry was

drafted into the proceedings at the very last minute. Ever Grande

stadium was home to

some very dramatic battles, the winners of their first round pairings

were trainers

Lysander of Rustboro, Errol of Lavaridge, Jake of Oldale and Setijin of

Fortree." Winona

and Lucia smiled at the news.

"Setijin's been busy!" Winona chuckled.

"Wow! Already in a tournament!" Lucia giggled.

"If today's matches are anything compared to last nights, then Ever

Grande City is going

to be a very dramatic place!" the reporter finished. Lucia turned the

volume of the

television down, inviting Winona to begin her phone call.

The rain hacked down to he ground in Olivine City, the lighthouse

almost buzzing with

the droplets of water slamming themselves into its hard rock thighs.

The small police

station at the edge of town was causing a lot of commotion, upon

noticing their sidewall

crumbled into a pile of rubble on the floor to the side of it. Over the

rubble ran the Rocket

member, looking up to see an all black helicopter, with the trademark

'R' emblazoned

onto the flanks. A rope ladder rolled down, wetly slapping the floor,

the rocket member

leaping on, clasping his way up towards the machine, as police officers

piled out of the

building.

"So long!" the rocket member called down, the police officers below

shouting back up at

him. The helicopter ascended high above the city, leaning forwards,

pushing itself to the

east, blanketed by the rain.

"Well, until we get over to Johto, there will be nothing we can do, so

we'll just have to

hang tight. We'll be back at Mossdeep late tomorrow," Arc discussed

over his pokénav to

with Winona on the other end.

"So how's Setijin?"

"I honestly don't know. He's still asleep, but by the sounds of his

room last night after

the stadium, he was kept awake by something for a good few hours."

Winona on the

other end appeared to chuckle, the distortion muffling her voice.

"The signals surprisingly bad considering that you are in the pinnacle

of Hoenn..."

Winona replied.

"Yeah, it is pretty awful. Well, I'm going to find Setijin. Talk again

later!"

"Sure. Bye!" Arc flipped his nav shut and pocketed it, back in the

meeting room, the TV

still suspended down. Arc gently closed the door behind him, the view

of Ever Grande

through the windows quiet, the only activity being the rain clouds

forming above,

steadily sprinkling their water down on the earth.

Noon had descended on Ever Grande. Setijin and Arc walked down the

streets of the

City, making their way back towards the stadium. Setijin still seemed

remarkably tired,

Arc full of his usual perky aplomb. The streets dragged uphill, the

stadium rising up over

the horizon as they neared the top.

"So, you all geared up for your next round?" Arc asked. Setijin, with

his eyes half shut

replied:

"As I'll ever be."

"Cheer up. You're in the Semi finals of a pokémon tournament!"

"I know. Tired...Medicham..."

"Ah. What happened then? I heard a lot of noise last night."

"Tried to break into Mini bar. Chocolate. Too long to explain. So

tired!" he mumbled.

"Well, not to worry. Any plans on tactics for today's match?"

"I guess I'll probably use Gyarados. I don't know what to expect from

Jake, so best be on

the safe side," he replied.

"Seems like a good enough plan. Well, we better get you signed in and

warmed up!" Arc

sped Setijin up slightly by resting his hand on Setijin's back,

ushering him towards the

entrance of the stadium. The crowds for the match later in the

afternoon were already

gathering. The rain was still clattering down, much less

enthusiastically than earlier, and

the air was much more musky than the day before. The pair began the

usual process of

informing the front desk of their arrival, and making their way around

to the waiting and

training rooms.

"What time does his match start?" Winona called to Lucia, who was

currently washing in

the bathroom.

"I think it starts in about an hour," she called back over the sound of

running water,

cascading into the bathtub.

"Well, I'm going to head over to the market to pick up some supplies,

ok?" Winona

returned, picking herself up of the bed.

"Sure thing!"

Winona wandered out the front of the hotel, after gathering her things,

and started

towards the pokémart, sat near the center of the island, the weather

clear, but the skies

dull, the rain from Ever Grande making its way over to Mossdeep at a

steady pace. As

she approached the market, a shadowy figure was seen cautiously

entering the pokémon

center. Out of curiosity, Winona followed, arming herself with a

pokéball if her theories

were correct.

Setijin leaned up against the wall holding the bench he sat on, half

asleep as his pokémon

ran around the gym equipment, along with Lysander and Errol's victor

pokémon from the

previous round. Arc stood outside by the swimming pool in which

Setijin's Gyarados and

his young Goldeen and Magikarp splashed playfully in. The water rippled

sweetly with

each leap breaking the surface of the pool, the little strips of

sunlight streaming through

leaving shattered shards of illumination in the pool.

Back inside, Nincanda and Errol's Heracross scampered through an

archway at the end of

the room, leading into a specially themed area: with a large tree in

the center, the walls

and ceiling made out of thick glass, much like that found in a

greenhouse. The room itself

was small, but enough to keep the pokémon using it happy. Parts of the

tree had been

hollowed out, to provide tunnels for the pokémon to play in, the bark

on the trunk thick

and chipped, straggling up to the tip, where both chunky and spindly

branches sagged off,

drooping their fan like leaves almost to the ground. Nincanda and

Heracross clambered

up the side while the rest remained in the gym.

Umbreon bound around each room, circling the swimming pool, bursting

back indoors,

weaving his way around the gym equipment before turning back to do it

all again.

Medicham and Machop pummeled their punching bags, Machop beginning to

show signs

of fatigue, Medicham still going strong.

"So, you're up against Jake later then?" Lysander asked. Setijin

shuffled, grunting as he

awoke.

"Uh, yeah. Any idea what kind of pokémon he uses?" he replied.

"Not too sure. He seems to have a healthy mixture on him," Errol

explained. "What are

you going to use?"

"I might go with my Gyarados." As Setijin finished, he glanced through

the glassed wall

out to the pool. Gyarados sat curled up to fit in. He had his vicious

jaw rested on the

edge, looking considerably miserable. Setijin felt his heart wrench at

the sight of this,

only pulled away by Lysander and Errol's continued conversation.

"You're Medicham is really energetic!" Lysander exclaimed, as

Medicham's punches

grew more furious and more frequent, only to halt out of boredom, and

wander over to

the tree. He grabbed a small stone, and hurled it into one of the

openings, charging back

into the other room as the sound of Nincanda buzzing in anger inside

kicked in.

"Don't I know about it," Setijin sighed, dropping his head back down,

holding it up with

both his hands rested on his knees.

Drake and Steven dodged and squeezed their way through the scores of

spectators to

reach their seats, each carrying a tray with a plastic drinks container

and a selection of

cardboard cups of food, including burgers and fries, sprinkled with

salt and tomato sauce.

Both sat down with relief upon reaching their seats.

"That was a bit too much work if you ask me," Steven breathed deeply.

"But you're right,

the atmosphere is much better down here. The executive boxes are just

so cramped." As

he finished, a large, shirtless man crammed himself in-between the arm

rests of his seat,

his bare gut rippling vulgarly. Steven nervously removed his arm from

that side of the

seat and shuffled himself to one side.

"The foods a lot better too," Drake commented, already stuffing his

face with the pot of

fries in his hand. Steven shuddered as the stadiums speakers burst into

life, the announcer

on the other end igniting his typical routine.

"Well, we better be off now," Lysander and Errol informed Setijin,

rising to their feet,

and shaking hands before leaving the room, making their way towards the

tunnel. Setijin

clambered up; calling all his pokémon back to their balls, bar Gyarados

whom was still

outside with Arc and the others.

"I better be going now," Arc told him. He returned his pokémon to their

balls. "Good

luck with the match. He watched Setijin who in turn was looking at

Gyarados, stroking

its scaly back ridges. Arc rested on hand on Setijin's shoulders,

finishing, "I know you'll

do the right thing." Although not confirming the meaning of this,

Setijin felt he knew. He

returned Gyarados and walked through the waiting room, where the sounds

of the crowd

swept in again, as Lysander and Errol could be seen at the end of the

tunnel, walking onto

the field. Round 2 of the tournament had begun.