GoggleMaster01- Yea, I think a lot of people in Pokemon are really evil- the professors, Scott, most of the Gym Leaders and Elite Four. These guys were no exception- Mysterial's official art looks quite suspicious, no? The true nature of Poketopia is revealed now! But, as it turns out, not everyone will be as bad as they seem. Who is with Terrell and Marina and who's against them? You'll have to read on.

POEMON STILL DOES NOT BELONG TO ME, I WISH IT DID, GIVE ME IT FOR MY BIRTHDAY! (just kidding)

Chapter 6

The first day at their Colosseums revealed the true nature of Poketopia. Both of them will learn what they have to fight for.

"Holy crap!" Terrell had no clue where he was, but he liked it. Mostly because it was a big metal thing floating in the center of a volcano. He was standing on a metal bridge with a metal fence on each side that led to this other metal thing shaped like a circle. Four round machines stood at the corners of the circle, which seemed to be the arena. It looked just like a real volcano. Then, Terrell looked around more. All around the perimeter, there were orbs spitting out lava.

Terrell groaned. The volcano was fake. He stuck his hand through the fence and put it in the lava. A warm tingling sensation crept up his arm. Terrell smiled. Somehow, they got real lava. And Terrell liked real lava.

He was about to jump in when he remembered that Marina had warned him not to do anything Groudon related.

But wait!, he told himself. There was nobody here! Who was going to bust him?He could do what he wanted until people showed up. Terrell climbed over the fence and jumped right into the lava, an action that would burn a mere mortal to cinders, but, to Terrell, was the same as jumping into a public pool.

Terrell swam around his Colosseum for a bit, curiously checking everything out. He noticed large cables connecting the arena to the volcano. Looking up, he noticed the sky was grey with smog. After swimming around for a bit longer, Terrell got out of the lava onto the arena and shook himself off. His Groudon helmet glowed a faint orange color for a second, then dimmed and returned to its ruby red state.

Suddenly, a small platform rose out of the center of the Poke Ball in the arena. Attached to the platform was a TV screen. And Master Joe's face appeared on the screen.

Marina was sure the door had killed her, because she was in heaven.

She was in some kind of ancient ruin overlooking the ocean. There was a waterfall, as the name promised, surrounded by lush green trees. Water poured into a canal that surrounded the Colosseum. And then, Marina saw something that shattered her paradise.

In the center of the arena floor was a large glowing blue gem. But that's not what bugged Marina. It was the flotsam and jetsam SURROUNDING the gem. It looked like some kind of painted, chipped up stone. And it was ALL OVER the soft green grass.

"Okay, these rocks or whatever they are have got to go," Marina said. She wanted to push the mess into the sea, but then thought again. Pokemon might swallow these sharp rocks and die. Marina loved Water Pokemon, and with good reason, so she decided not to do that. So, what was she going to do-

"I have an idea!" Marina sat among the stones and got to work. After a good thirty minutes of using her hands and her water, Marina had arranged a beautiful pattern on the floor around the gem. It was green and brown and Marina thought it went with the blue gem nicely.

Suddenly, the blue gem opened up, and out came a platform with a TV screen. A face was beginning to form, but Marina already knew who it was.

"Master Joe!" she cried.

"Welcome to Magma Colosseum, Terrell," Master Joe said. "Do you like it here?"

"Love it!" Terrell almost squealed.

"Good, because during the day, this is where you will be spending your time," Joe went on. "Now, the standard procedure for your Colosseum is this. Trainers will fight each other in a round-robin match. Each Pokemon that did not faint is one point. The Trainer with the most points will face you. If he wins, he will be given a prize. But, if you defeat him," here, Joe laughed malevolently, "If you defeat him, there will be no reason for him to be a Trainer any longer and he must give his Pokemon to you!"

That nearly knocked Terrell on his butt. Stealing Pokemon? To Terrell, Pokemon were friends. He didn't really understand Pokemon training. He sort of got it, but to Terrell, they were still just friends. He couldn't think of stealing people's friends.

"You are to take those Pokemon and deposit their Poke Balls to me and the other Masters," Joe continued. "To do so, you must push the red button on the Poke Ball and open up that hole." Terrell looked around. He did see a big red button next to the hole. "The floor will open, and you can put the balls in. Press the red button again to seal the hole. Do not fail to remember to seal the hole. The Trainers do not know a losing battle against the Colosseum Leader is their last. And you are not to tell them that. Doing so will result in severe punishment. Now, leave the battlefield. Wait by the door you entered through, and come in when there is only one Trainer left. Work long and hard, and you will one day join us as a Master."

Joe cut the power and his TV went back into the hole, which closed. Terrell's head swam. He wouldn't steal. He'd lose on purpose if he had to, but he'd never take away people's friends.

"It's not true. It's not true," Marina told herself.

Joe had just announced that she must fight the opponent Trainers in five separate one on one battles. The first one to win three wins the game. If Marina won, the loser would have to surrender their Pokemon, which she had to deposit inside the gem by pressing a special button. And, she was not to tell her opponents any of this.

Marina sighed and hopped in the pond at the bottom of the waterfall to stay out of sight. She formed a bubble around herself to stay comfortable. Before long, the muffled noises of clashing Pokemon could be heard outside.

Marina buried her hands in her face. She would have to steal from one of those contenders. Her mother, Kyogre, had always told her it was wrong to steal. But, Poketopia was saying it was part of the plan.

Marina loved her mother.

She wasn't going to betray her mother.

Suddenly, a plan popped into her head. Joe had said to deposit the Poke Balls. Marina hadn't had much experience with these Poke Ball things, but she assumed they had to get in there somehow. Meaning before they got in, the balls were empty. If she won, she'd ask the Trainer for empty Poke Balls and give those to Mysterial instead.

After all, who was going to know the difference?

Terrell hung out in the lava, waiting for his cue. Suddenly, the noise of battling Pokemon died down. There was a lone little boy left. He was only about seven with brownish hair and green eyes. His shirt was striped with red, blue and green, and, like all little boys in the Pokemon World, he was wearing shorts. At his side was a single Pokemon, a Turtwig.

Terrell knew of all the Pokemon because virtually every Pokemon lived on the island, except for the Legendary Pokemon he'd heard about in stories. He knew of a place in the forest where a colony of wild Grass Pokemon lived, Turtwig included.

The little boy danced around, then picked up Turtwig and held it in his arms. "We beat everybody!" he said.

Suddenly a voice rung out. It had been calling out play by plays for battles the whole time. Terrell didn't know where it came from, but he'd gotten used to it since its first call, which had scared the crap out of him.

"The Blue Corner wins again! With the most points, the Blue Corner will now challenge the Colosseum Leader!"

"That's me," Terrell said as he heaved himself nervously out of the lava and ran down the metal bridge to the door. He'd left his backpack near the door. Terrell got out the six Poke Balls and rushed down the bridge to the arena.

The little boy stopped celebrating when Terrell showed up. He put Turtwig down and drew back. Terrell blinked in confusion. Then, it hit him. The boy must have seen Terrell climb out of the lava, or at least his claws. He must have thought Terrell was some kind of monster.

"The new Colosseum Leader takes the Red Corner," went the invisible voice. "I wonder how he'll do in battle."

"Look, you need to lose, kid. On purpose. Get out of here," Terrell warned. The kid was terrified. "I don't want to hurt you or Turtwig," he explained. "I'm really tough. I-I don't want to hurt you-"

"Both Trainers are planning their next move," went the invisible voice.

"I don't care! Me and Turtwig fought really hard to get here!" the boy said. "I'm ready for anything."

Terrell covered his face. This kid was more stubborn than he was. "Okay, if that's what you want," Terrell said, picking up a Poke Ball at random. "I warned ya!" Terrell threw the Ball. Chrameleon came out, the same Pokemon he'd used to beat Test. "Charmeleon, roast them!" Terrell's own voice was drowned out by his thinking to himself over and over.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry..."

"I'm sorry," Marina said to the girl she'd just beaten with her new Marill. The girl, a blonde Marina's age with startled blue eyes and a defeated Skitty, crumpled to the floor and looked up at her. "What are you going to do?" she asked quietly.

Well, Marina could just have snatched that Skitty. "The rules say I have to take that Skitty-" Marina began.

"No, not my Skitty!" The girl bent over Skitty and started to cry. "Please, anything but. She was a kit of my mother's Delcatty. She's all I have left of her. Please-"

"I didn't finish," Marina said sternly. "The rules of Poketopia say that if you lose against a Colosseum Leader, you must give them your Pokemon, but that doesn't mean I'm actually going to take Skitty away. I didn't know I had to steal when I signed up for this, and I don't WANT to steal. I grew up in a place where I always had Pokemon with me. They were my best friends. I wouldn't want to take your best friend away from you. But rules are rules, so I'm required to do it. However, I think I can play a trick on the Poketopia Masters, as long as you have an empty Poke Ball handy-"

The defeated girl dug into her purse and produced a red and white ball. Marina threw the ball. It opened, but nothing came out.

"I'll take it," Marina said. "Now go. Get Skitty out of here as fast as you can."

"Bless your heart," the girl said, picking up Skitty. "Come on, Skitty. Let's go home," she told the catlike Pokemon, who began to purr.

At day's end, each twin had fought three Trainers. Terrell beat two of his Trainers. One of them was the Turtwig boy. He sent both away quickly and didn't steal their Pokemon. Marina had better luck. The other two Trainers she fought defeated her, so she didn't have to see them holding their defeated Pokemon and crying.

The twins had dinner in the same room that they had breakfast. They told Dusty and Taylor what hell they'd gone through- the pain they felt in their hearts and the pain in their opponents.

"I was the same way," Dusty said. "The pain'll pass, don't worry. It's part of Mysterial's plan. He calls it the Cause. He says if we do it, we play our part in making a better world." Dusty sighed and held Taylor in his arms. "But, it's heartbreaking sometimes. Some of these guys are really close to their Pokemon. To see the big truck take all those Pokemon at the end of the day is sad sometimes, but-"

"Truck?" Marina asked. "What truck?"

"You must have left too early," Dusty said. "This huge truck comes to take all the Poke Balls to Stargazer Colosseum. If you go out into the city, the man hub of all the Trainers competing here, you can see them everywhere. There's copters too for some of the hard to reach spots."

It was true that the twins had probably left too early. They wanted to get out of there as soon as they were done with their shifts.

"It's very sad sometimes," Taylor said. "But, Mysterial says the world is a sad place. He says if we do this, we can make it a happier place."

Terrell and Marina were confused. The looks on the faces of those people, the wounded Pokemon, the pain in the twin's own hearts. How was this making the world a better place?

GoggleMaster01- ...(pant pant pant) There. All four chapters, done. And please review. I'm desperate.