Chapter 30
The hypnotic wavering of night swept itself across the skies hanging above a lone, sky
scraping building. At its foot stood a group, segregated into two sections: one group
consisting of a handful of trainers, lead by 'Gold', a previous champion of the Johto
league facing the buildings entrance. Opposite them waited the Rocket boss, holding a
lone, and extravagantly designed pokéball while resting his hand in his pristine suits
pocket. Craters and scorch marks littered the ground around them, shards of cracked and
shattered pokéball strewn on the floor, rain clouds above gathering in a thick gray cluster,
showering the ground lightly with tiny droplets of water.
"I have to thank you for letting me test drive me new 'toy'," the Rocket boss called. Gold
backed away slowly, the trainers behind him imitating his fearful actions. They remained
silent. "Not got much to say then?"
"…"
"Not to worry. This is hardly going on record." The boss grinned, evil smeared across his
smug expression. He turned towards the doors behind him, stepping far enough forward
to invite them to open. As he stepped inside, he paused, turning back towards the
resistance. "Next time, try not to make as much of a ruckus." The doors smoothly slid
closed.
Setijin, Winona and Lucia sat around a table in the S.S.Aqua's most prestigious café,
nursing their mugs of drinks while discussing their respective contests. The room was
lavishly decorated with thick, plush, deep green carpets, shimmering white wallpaper,
with finely carved wooden furniture arranged around the large room. At the far end was a
desk, with a series of tills and pastry display cases, a door less opening leading into the
kitchen behind it. The café itself was almost full, with many people gathered around
tables, the volume of their conversations low, each and every other persons voice
molding together into a low hum. Teacups clanked, the thick wooden trays carried by
waiters and waitresses clopped when they were rested, dropped or knocked against tables,
forks squeaked against greasy, food-laden plates, and the hiss of steam rang from the
kitchens.
"It's nice living the high life," sighed Lucia, circling her spoon in her throbbing hot mug
of exotic coffee. "Shame its only going to last for a few more hours."
"This is why we make the most of it. We're going to order the most extravagant thing on
the menu," burst Winona, almost knocking her chair to the floor as she bolted up. Setijin
leant forward, menu in hand, slowly turning it around for Winona to view its contents.
"$300…ok, perhaps we'll just stick with the cheap stuff."
"So, you didn't tell us how you did in your contest Winona," interrupted Lucia.
"Not too much to say really. I didn't win, but at least Graveler put up a good fight."
"What went wrong?"
"A Torkoal set of the sprinkler system…"
"I see."
"Anyway, I wish I could have seen Medicham in action!" remarked Lucia. "That sounded
like quite an event. By the sounds of things it seems to be popular story among the
passengers!" Setijin smiled weakly, before examining Medicham's premium ball, clasped
shut with small strips of congealing chocolate milkshake leaking from the center.
"I bet it is," he replied with an unconvinced murmur on his breath.
Drake sat in the head chair of the meeting room, the sky over Ever Grande city still clear
as ever, only tiny wisps of white cloud hovering high above. A scattering of trainers sat at
chairs, Glacia wandering into the room, bending over alongside Drake, whispering into
his ear.
"So what exactly did you do to Steven?" she asked.
"Why does everyone immediately assume I had something to do with Steven's injury?"
Drake erupted, slamming his hands down on the table. Glacia sighed as she turned away,
making her way towards her chair.
"Whatever…"
"I mean how was I supposed to know that by sitting in that exact position while trying to
grab the Television remote control with your feet would cause you to slip a disk?" he
added. The room fell silent, its occupants all staring towards Drake, one by one breaking
away their gaze. Glacia continued.
"…Anyway, down to business. As you have probably gathered from Drake's
contribution, that Steven is going to be out of action for a little while, so for now, in
Arc's absence, it looks like…Drake and I are in charge." She looked down at the table in
pity as Drake leapt out of his chair, his fists extended into the air.
"Yes! About time!" He looked around at the worried and confused expressions he
received in return, before huffing angrily, slumping back into his chair.
"As for now, the only new point of action is stepping up security around here. We
recently received word that 'Gold' of the Johto league's attempts at nullifying the
Rocket's threats to the world's safety were a failure. The odd thing is that this campaign
had apparently being going on for a good few months, resulting in the uncovering of the
Rocket's HQ. It seems only typical that we get told this now, and Gold and his party go
missing before any specific information can be relayed to anyone."
"Trust Gold, the arrogant little…" Drake intervened.
"Drake!" Glacia snapped. "Continuing, this shows us that the threat of the Rocket's is
more real than ever right now, and this is why we are stepping up security around Hoenn.
Trainers have already been sent out to accompany Arc to Kanto, many have been
stationed in Johto, and those of you that remain here are to be assigned to specific areas
around our region. Each of you will be sent to towns and cities, with full support from the
local Gym leaders, in exception to Fortree town where we still await a replacement. The
fact that the Rocket's already seem to have so much power under their belt is hardly
comforting, so we need to make sure that everything here stays as secure as possible. We
can beat the rockets, providing we keep their influence from spreading any further…" she
breathed deeply, before adding; "any contributions?"
"Steven would be happy if you all sent him cards," Drake retorted blandly, watching as
Glacia scowled back at his comment. "Ok, and flowers. He likes flowers."
"Preparations are set sir. When shall we begin?"
"Soon. Make sure everything is absolutely perfect before leaping out into the fray. If
what we are told is true, these might pose a problem, but providing you have everything
as it should be, then you wont have a problem, ok?"
"Yes sir. And civilians?"
"Try to avoid casualties for now…let nature do the dirty work. Consider yourself the
catalyst. The chopper will be there in fifteen minutes. Miss it, miss out as it were."
"Very good sir."
"Oh, one last thing."
"Yes sir?"
"You're not my butler."
"Sir?"
"Forget it. Good luck!"
"Right sir."
"No hope…no hope…" The mobile phone clicked off.
"How long now?" asked Lucia. Winona leant backwards in her stool, against the hard
black metal backrest.
"About another hour."
"…how about now?"
"This better not be a pattern emerging," Winona sighed, turning to Setijin, resting his
head in arms, his chin brushing against the table, staring blankly at the cold drink
swirling around in the saucer placed in front of him.
"Looking at liquid in saucers reminds me of those monster movies…you know, when
something big starts walking down the street outside and they start rippling," he quietly
explained. Winona folded her arms, leaning closer to him over the table.
"Is it rippling now?"
"…No. All is calm." Finishing, the group turned their heads, the roof in the center of the
room crashing down in a spectacular display of smoke, splinters and twisted metal
rafters. Screams echoed around, people darting away in sheer panic from the scene of
impact. Chairs cluttered over, glasses, cups, mugs, plates and ornaments crashed to the
ground, witnesses turning back around once at a safe distance. In the center of the room
sat an Electrode, perfectly balanced in the center of the rubble. It hummed its name,
before straining violently, shuddering with force. The audience watched, dumfounded, as
the orb shaped pokémon emanated a dim white.
"Electrode!"
It erupted in a catastrophic explosion, the blast smashing nigh on every pain of glass on
the ship, the shockwaves churning up wooden flooring, walls and all manner of objects or
structures that got in its way. People were thrown to the floor, the initial area of the blast
just falling short of those nearest to it. Clouds of dust, smoke, steam, debris and more
were hurtled into the air, the very hull of the ship cracking, the chips and splits extending
like a river from the front to the back. A man dressed in silver uniform, with a thick black
cap, black eyeliner, gloves and boots, and a thick black cape like sleeve extending down
his right arm dropped through the hole in the roof. Chunks of shattered wood cracked gut
wrenchingly under his feet as he stretched up, turning towards Setijin, fixing his eyes on
his through the falling smokescreen.
"Setijin?" he inquired, his voice extraordinarily deep and gruff, strands of his long black
hair flopping out from underneath his Team Rocket like cap.
"Y…yes," Setijin stammered nervously. The encircling onlookers spread and parted as
the man slowly made his way forwards, dropping his head, the whites of his eyes heaving
as he sinisterly looked up at Setijin.
"You just made my job a lot easier," the man scowled, slowly removing a pokéball from
his belt.
The hypnotic wavering of night swept itself across the skies hanging above a lone, sky
scraping building. At its foot stood a group, segregated into two sections: one group
consisting of a handful of trainers, lead by 'Gold', a previous champion of the Johto
league facing the buildings entrance. Opposite them waited the Rocket boss, holding a
lone, and extravagantly designed pokéball while resting his hand in his pristine suits
pocket. Craters and scorch marks littered the ground around them, shards of cracked and
shattered pokéball strewn on the floor, rain clouds above gathering in a thick gray cluster,
showering the ground lightly with tiny droplets of water.
"I have to thank you for letting me test drive me new 'toy'," the Rocket boss called. Gold
backed away slowly, the trainers behind him imitating his fearful actions. They remained
silent. "Not got much to say then?"
"…"
"Not to worry. This is hardly going on record." The boss grinned, evil smeared across his
smug expression. He turned towards the doors behind him, stepping far enough forward
to invite them to open. As he stepped inside, he paused, turning back towards the
resistance. "Next time, try not to make as much of a ruckus." The doors smoothly slid
closed.
Setijin, Winona and Lucia sat around a table in the S.S.Aqua's most prestigious café,
nursing their mugs of drinks while discussing their respective contests. The room was
lavishly decorated with thick, plush, deep green carpets, shimmering white wallpaper,
with finely carved wooden furniture arranged around the large room. At the far end was a
desk, with a series of tills and pastry display cases, a door less opening leading into the
kitchen behind it. The café itself was almost full, with many people gathered around
tables, the volume of their conversations low, each and every other persons voice
molding together into a low hum. Teacups clanked, the thick wooden trays carried by
waiters and waitresses clopped when they were rested, dropped or knocked against tables,
forks squeaked against greasy, food-laden plates, and the hiss of steam rang from the
kitchens.
"It's nice living the high life," sighed Lucia, circling her spoon in her throbbing hot mug
of exotic coffee. "Shame its only going to last for a few more hours."
"This is why we make the most of it. We're going to order the most extravagant thing on
the menu," burst Winona, almost knocking her chair to the floor as she bolted up. Setijin
leant forward, menu in hand, slowly turning it around for Winona to view its contents.
"$300…ok, perhaps we'll just stick with the cheap stuff."
"So, you didn't tell us how you did in your contest Winona," interrupted Lucia.
"Not too much to say really. I didn't win, but at least Graveler put up a good fight."
"What went wrong?"
"A Torkoal set of the sprinkler system…"
"I see."
"Anyway, I wish I could have seen Medicham in action!" remarked Lucia. "That sounded
like quite an event. By the sounds of things it seems to be popular story among the
passengers!" Setijin smiled weakly, before examining Medicham's premium ball, clasped
shut with small strips of congealing chocolate milkshake leaking from the center.
"I bet it is," he replied with an unconvinced murmur on his breath.
Drake sat in the head chair of the meeting room, the sky over Ever Grande city still clear
as ever, only tiny wisps of white cloud hovering high above. A scattering of trainers sat at
chairs, Glacia wandering into the room, bending over alongside Drake, whispering into
his ear.
"So what exactly did you do to Steven?" she asked.
"Why does everyone immediately assume I had something to do with Steven's injury?"
Drake erupted, slamming his hands down on the table. Glacia sighed as she turned away,
making her way towards her chair.
"Whatever…"
"I mean how was I supposed to know that by sitting in that exact position while trying to
grab the Television remote control with your feet would cause you to slip a disk?" he
added. The room fell silent, its occupants all staring towards Drake, one by one breaking
away their gaze. Glacia continued.
"…Anyway, down to business. As you have probably gathered from Drake's
contribution, that Steven is going to be out of action for a little while, so for now, in
Arc's absence, it looks like…Drake and I are in charge." She looked down at the table in
pity as Drake leapt out of his chair, his fists extended into the air.
"Yes! About time!" He looked around at the worried and confused expressions he
received in return, before huffing angrily, slumping back into his chair.
"As for now, the only new point of action is stepping up security around here. We
recently received word that 'Gold' of the Johto league's attempts at nullifying the
Rocket's threats to the world's safety were a failure. The odd thing is that this campaign
had apparently being going on for a good few months, resulting in the uncovering of the
Rocket's HQ. It seems only typical that we get told this now, and Gold and his party go
missing before any specific information can be relayed to anyone."
"Trust Gold, the arrogant little…" Drake intervened.
"Drake!" Glacia snapped. "Continuing, this shows us that the threat of the Rocket's is
more real than ever right now, and this is why we are stepping up security around Hoenn.
Trainers have already been sent out to accompany Arc to Kanto, many have been
stationed in Johto, and those of you that remain here are to be assigned to specific areas
around our region. Each of you will be sent to towns and cities, with full support from the
local Gym leaders, in exception to Fortree town where we still await a replacement. The
fact that the Rocket's already seem to have so much power under their belt is hardly
comforting, so we need to make sure that everything here stays as secure as possible. We
can beat the rockets, providing we keep their influence from spreading any further…" she
breathed deeply, before adding; "any contributions?"
"Steven would be happy if you all sent him cards," Drake retorted blandly, watching as
Glacia scowled back at his comment. "Ok, and flowers. He likes flowers."
"Preparations are set sir. When shall we begin?"
"Soon. Make sure everything is absolutely perfect before leaping out into the fray. If
what we are told is true, these might pose a problem, but providing you have everything
as it should be, then you wont have a problem, ok?"
"Yes sir. And civilians?"
"Try to avoid casualties for now…let nature do the dirty work. Consider yourself the
catalyst. The chopper will be there in fifteen minutes. Miss it, miss out as it were."
"Very good sir."
"Oh, one last thing."
"Yes sir?"
"You're not my butler."
"Sir?"
"Forget it. Good luck!"
"Right sir."
"No hope…no hope…" The mobile phone clicked off.
"How long now?" asked Lucia. Winona leant backwards in her stool, against the hard
black metal backrest.
"About another hour."
"…how about now?"
"This better not be a pattern emerging," Winona sighed, turning to Setijin, resting his
head in arms, his chin brushing against the table, staring blankly at the cold drink
swirling around in the saucer placed in front of him.
"Looking at liquid in saucers reminds me of those monster movies…you know, when
something big starts walking down the street outside and they start rippling," he quietly
explained. Winona folded her arms, leaning closer to him over the table.
"Is it rippling now?"
"…No. All is calm." Finishing, the group turned their heads, the roof in the center of the
room crashing down in a spectacular display of smoke, splinters and twisted metal
rafters. Screams echoed around, people darting away in sheer panic from the scene of
impact. Chairs cluttered over, glasses, cups, mugs, plates and ornaments crashed to the
ground, witnesses turning back around once at a safe distance. In the center of the room
sat an Electrode, perfectly balanced in the center of the rubble. It hummed its name,
before straining violently, shuddering with force. The audience watched, dumfounded, as
the orb shaped pokémon emanated a dim white.
"Electrode!"
It erupted in a catastrophic explosion, the blast smashing nigh on every pain of glass on
the ship, the shockwaves churning up wooden flooring, walls and all manner of objects or
structures that got in its way. People were thrown to the floor, the initial area of the blast
just falling short of those nearest to it. Clouds of dust, smoke, steam, debris and more
were hurtled into the air, the very hull of the ship cracking, the chips and splits extending
like a river from the front to the back. A man dressed in silver uniform, with a thick black
cap, black eyeliner, gloves and boots, and a thick black cape like sleeve extending down
his right arm dropped through the hole in the roof. Chunks of shattered wood cracked gut
wrenchingly under his feet as he stretched up, turning towards Setijin, fixing his eyes on
his through the falling smokescreen.
"Setijin?" he inquired, his voice extraordinarily deep and gruff, strands of his long black
hair flopping out from underneath his Team Rocket like cap.
"Y…yes," Setijin stammered nervously. The encircling onlookers spread and parted as
the man slowly made his way forwards, dropping his head, the whites of his eyes heaving
as he sinisterly looked up at Setijin.
"You just made my job a lot easier," the man scowled, slowly removing a pokéball from
his belt.