Chapter 3

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=100 BGCOLOR="#CCCCFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="14800640egdysm.jpg"> <div> <B>Dark Reflection (Beginning):</B>  <A HREF="dr_pro.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Prologue"><U>Prologue</U></A>   |   <A HREF="dr1.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 1"><U>Chapter 1</U></A>   |   <A HREF="dr2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 2"><U>Chapter 2</U></A>   |   <B>Chapter 3</B>   |   <A HREF="dr4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 4"><U>Chapter 4</U></A>   |   <A HREF="dr5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 5"><U>Chapter 5</U></A></div> <div> <B>A Master in the Making:  </B><A HREF="mim18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 18"><U>Chapter 18</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 19"><U>Chapter 19</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 20"><U>Chapter 20</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 21"><U>Chapter 21</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 22"><U>Chapter 22</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 23"><U>Chapter 23</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 24"><U>Chapter 24</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id734.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 25"><U>Chapter 25</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 26"><U>Chapter 26</U></A></div> <div> <B>Dark Reflection:  </B><A HREF="dr6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 6"><U>Chapter 6</U></A>   |   <A HREF="dr7.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 7"><U>Chapter 7</U></A>   |   <A HREF="dr8.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 8"><U>Chapter 8</U></A>   |   <A HREF="dr9.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 9"><U>Chapter 9</U></A>   |   <A HREF="dr10.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 10"><U>Chapter 10</U></A>   |   <A HREF="dr11.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 11"><U>Chapter 11</U></A>   |   <A HREF="dr12.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 12"><U>Chapter 12</U></A>   |   <A HREF="dr13.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 13"><U>Chapter 13</U></A>   |   <A HREF="dr14.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 14"><U>Chapter 14</U></A></div> <div> <B>Dark Reflection (Finale): </B><A HREF="dr15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 15"><U>Chapter 15</U></A>   |   <A HREF="dr16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 16"><U>Chapter 16</U></A>   |   <A HREF="dr_epi.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Epilogue"><U>Epilogue</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#000066" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <A HREF="http://members.fortunecity.com/zethraltier/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://members.fortunecity.com/zethralti"><U><B>Home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://members.fortunecity.com/zethraltier/oldnews.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://members.fortunecity.com/zethralti"><U><B>Old News</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://members.fortunecity.com/zethraltier/zrfic/" TARGET="_top" 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don't seem to like realism anymore."</div> <bR> <div>     "I think they're just too lazy to care, when they can sell something like this... thing... to a museum for some exorbitant price.  Now that painting of a Dragonair back in that other room -- <B>that</B> was art!"</div> <bR> <div>     "I know that there are people who would disagree with you, Zeth, but I'm not one of them.  Let's go check out that huge collection of fossils that they're always advertising here."  Reading the guide map, Richard led Zeth out of the room, heading for the nearest stairway.</div> <bR> <div>     The two teens never noticed the figure who tailed them up the steps, mostly because of the practice that the tracker had at eluding notice.  ShadowWalker hung back behind the Aerodactyl exhibit, glancing up at the fossilized bones for a moment.  He had always admired that particular species of pokémon, recognizing a fellow predator when he saw one.  He hoped one day that he could find a live one, so he could capture it and train it.  Chances of that were slim, though, since the creatures were nearly extinct.  In fact, only about three sightings had been reported in the last five years, and of those three sightings, only one had been captured on film.</div> <bR> <div>     The mercenary gave a quick glance to make sure his target had not moved, fingering his Umbreon's pokéball.  His teleporter pad had been totally destroyed, and the new one he ordered had not yet arrived, so he would have to think up a new way to catch Zeth.  That was fine though -- he still had plenty of time to come up with something while his soon-to-be victim wandered around unaware of him.</div> <bR> <bR> <div>     Zeth leaned against a glass case, looking in at the old Omanyte fossil inside.  Suddenly an amazingly loud alarm bell rang out.  Zeth jumped back, wondering if he had somehow triggered it, when someone bowled into him.  Both of them fell down, but the person who had run into Zeth quickly jumped to his feet, grabbed the large bag he had dropped, then shot downstairs to the art gallery.  "What was that about?"  Zeth asked, rubbing a spot on his knee that had hit the ground hard.</div> <bR> <div>     Richard helped him up, "Those three guys had big sacks full of something and they ran out of here like greased lightning!  I think they've stolen something!"</div> <bR> <div>     "What?  Then what are we waiting here for!  We've got to stop them!"  Zeth ran down the stairs after the thieves.  It was fairly easy to find the criminals.  They had stopped to pull some of the paintings off the wall as they went past, giving Zeth the time to catch up.  Zeth reached for a pokéball, then realized that he already holding something in his hand.  Shoving it into a pocket, he grabbed two pokéballs and threw them down.  "Florio, Talon, I choose you!"</div> <bR> <div>     As the pokéballs opened, Zeth heard a voice behind him.  "Sorry kid, but you're the one in trouble."  He spun around to see two women, both with a big red "R" on the front of their black uniforms.  Taking a quick glance back, he could see that the three men were also from Team Rocket.  <I>So much for stopping them.  Five against one is not going to go very well for me...</I></div> <bR> <div>    "Leave these two to me!"  Zeth looked up to see Richard and his Sandshrew coming down the stairs behind the two female Rockets.  "Sandshrew, Swift attack!"  The shrew tossed dozens of tiny stars at the two opposing criminals, pinning them to the wall.  As they reached for their own pokéballs, Zeth nodded to his friend, then ran after the last three Rockets, who were trying to escape through the corridor that held all the sculptures.</div> <bR> <div>     Florio quickly managed to snag the legs of the rearmost of them, but one of the other two dropped a smoke canister, covering their escape.  When the smoke cleared, the two had vanished, leaving behind their companion, who Florio quickly wrapped up.</div> <bR> <div>     "Excellent job, young man,"  Zeth turned, then jumped back in shock at seeing his nemesis, ShadowWalker.  "You and your friend managed to stop three out of five of the Rocket's thugs.  Now you have me to face, though, and I promise you that I won't be so easy to beat."</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>     Sani and Destiny flew around Stormy Peak for the sixth time, still finding nothing.  "It's no use," Sani complained, "There's just nothing here."  She set them down at the base of the mountain, scowling back up at it.  "Well, now where do we look?  I have no clue where we could search next."</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny frowned, "Offhand, I can't think of a good place to go.  We need some more information, cause what we got is way too little."</div> <bR> <div>     Sani nodded, "Yeah, a map would be nice, or perhaps a list of local legends.  Anything to give us an idea of where to look."</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny considered that for a moment.  "Local legends?  Hmm... I bet we could find a lot about that kind of thing at the Topaz Museum.  They're supposed to have all kinds of stuff from old ruins and stuff.  Maybe they'll have information we can use!"</div> <bR> <div>     Sani smiled, "Sounds good to me!  Would you rather I wait outside the city, or do you think I should hide in your backpack?"</div> <bR> <div>     "The backpack, definitely.  I might find something you should see."  Destiny proceeded to dump the contents of her pack out onto the ground.  "There's nothing living out here that I've seen, so this stuff should be safe for a little while.  Come on, let's go."</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>     Eva slammed back into the wall as ShadowWalker's Umbreon hit her with a third Faint Attack.  Too weak to get back up, she just stayed on the ground, as the Umbreon turned to attack Blaze.  Farther down the hall, Talon crowed victoriously as he finished off the Ariados, only to squawk in pain as ShadowWalker's Houndour flamed him.  Zeth quickly recalled Talon and Eva, sending out Sting and Aqua in their place.</div> <bR> <div>     "Graveler, smash that Beedrill!" the mercenary commanded, throwing another pokéball.  "And you, Houndour, show that Shellder the power of darkness!"  The Graveler instantly rammed Sting into a wall, then jerked back as a flurry of Razor Leaves from Florio smashed into it.  The Ivysaur was unable to rush into the fight because of the Rocket he was holding, but he was ready to fire off a burst of sharp leaves at anything that came too close, especially a rock-type like the Graveler.</div> <bR> <div>     That also gave Sting a good opportunity to escape the grasp of the rocky menace, slamming into the Umbreon with a Twinneedle attack.  Blaze quickly joined the Beedrill, blowing a stream of fire in the dark fox's face.  The Umbreon bit at Blaze's leg, but missed as Blaze and Sting both jumped away to escape the Graveler as it rolled toward them.  It missed Zeth's pokémon, but smashed right into the Umbreon, knocking it's own teammate out of the fight.  Zeth almost felt sorry for the poor dark-type.</div> <bR> <div>     Aqua was having a much harder fight than Zeth would expect, however.  The Houndour was extremely quick, darting past the blasts of Ice and Water that the Shellder fired off.  It quickly grabbed the clam and flung it into the wall, then jumped toward Florio, blowing a wave of fire at the grass-type.  Florio had no choice but to drop his capture and dive out of the way.  The Rocket climbed to his feet and ran full speed down the corridor, trying to escape.  Florio ran after him, managing to snag one foot again and send him toppling over.</div> <bR> <div>     In the meantime, the Graveler had managed to grab onto Sting, smashing her down with one rocky fist.  Blaze spat a wheel of flames at the Graveler, trying to get its attention, but was not having much success.  Noticing the Houndour attacking Florio again, Zeth rushed after the fire dog, grabbing it and throwing it into the wall as hard as he could.  Before the Houndour could turn to burn him, Zeth gave it a good strong punch in the jaw, knocking it senseless.  Noticing Florio's look of surprise, Zeth shrugged.  "All's fair in love and war."</div> <bR> <div>     Suddenly, Zeth heard a yelp from behind him.  He turned in time to see the Graveler fling Blaze into the ugly sculpture he had been examining earlier, shattering it into pieces.  The fire dog got to his feet, limping back toward his rocky foe.  Zeth noticed that Sting was lying in a heap on the ground, along with Aqua.  He quickly returned them to their pokéballs, calling encouragement to Blaze.</div> <bR> <div>     Unfortunately, Blaze did not have the strength to finish off the Graveler.  It grabbed another sculpture and hurled it at the injured fire dog, flinging him to the ground.  Satisfied that he would not be able to fight anymore, the Graveler stomped back to ShadowWalker.  "You're pokémon are defeated, Zeth.  Now don't make this any harder than it has to be."  The mercenary pulled out his handcuffs, walking toward Zeth.  "Surrender easily and I'll send your pokémon back to your home so the Rockets can't use them.  Surely you would like that better than the alternative."</div> <bR> <div>     "I think not!  Florio, now!"  Zeth stepped out of the way, just as Florio unleashed a Solarbeam that he had been charging.  It smashed into the Graveler, throwing him to the ground, shaking the floor. </div> <bR> <div>     ShadowWalker raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Very well, we'll do things the hard way...  Go, Skarmory!"  Light glinted off the bird's silver wings as it stood at attention, awaiting an order.  "Go ahead and finish off that Ivysaur.  Use Steel Wing!"  The bird took off, flying at the Ivysaur at high speed.  Florio ducked, taking the brunt of the attack across his back.  From behind him, Zeth heard the captured Rocket muttering to himself, probably something about being in the middle of a battle.  He had no time to pay attention to the prisoner's ramblings though, as the Skarmory dove at them.  Zeth threw himself to the floor, dodging the steel bird, which slammed into Florio instead, throwing him back and making him lose his captive.</div> <bR> <div>     This time the Rocket didn't run.  Instead, he released an Electabuzz and a Forretress, sending them to attack Florio as well.  The Electabuzz shot Thunderbolts at the grass-type, while the Forretress covered the floor beneath him with Spikes.  Florio ducked a Thunderbolt, only to step on one of the Spikes and jump in pain, getting hit by another Steel Wing attack from the Skarmory while he was distracted.  The Ivysaur fell to the ground, unconscious and bleeding from a light cut on his forehead.</div> <bR> <div>     The three pokémon surrounded Zeth, as ShadowWalker laughed wickedly.  "That was quite an interesting match.  I salute you.  Now, you're mine!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Not this time!"  The three pokémon suddenly flew backwards, slamming into the wall.  Surprised, the Forretress exploded, knocking out the other two pokémon.  Zeth looked for the source of the voice, and found that a teenage girl had come up one of the corridors, followed by Topaz City's Officer Jenny and her Growlithe.</div> <bR> <div>     "You two are under arrest!" Jenny declared, pointing at ShadowWalker and the Rocket.  "Go get them, Growlithe!"</div> <bR> <div>     ShadowWalker glared,  "Sorry, but I can't allow that."  He gave Zeth a quick glance.  "We will meet again; and next time, I will win."  The mercenary threw down a small canister that exploded in a flash of light and smoke.  Zeth coughed in the gas, trying to spot his enemy, but it was no use.  When the cloud of smoke faded, the mysterious man and his Skarmory was gone, leaving the Rocket behind.  Jenny quickly handcuffed the unhappy thief, leading him out the door.</div> <bR> <div>     Before she left, she turned back to Zeth, "I believe the museum's curator would like to have a word with you, and I'd like to know what happened too.  Would you meet me back at the front desk in five minutes?"</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth nodded, then picked his way through the broken shards of destroyed sculptures, returning Florio and Blaze to their pokéballs.  "Hang on," he murmured to them, "We'll get to a pokémon center soon."  He suddenly noticed that the girl who had come in with Officer Jenny was still watching him.  "Thanks for the help back there.  If it wasn't for you, I might have ended up as Team Rocket's newest prize."</div> <bR> <div>     The girl smiled, "Saving you was no problem at all.  I just wish that the Rockets hadn't torn apart the museum.  I needed to do some research, and now I'm not likely to get a chance."</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth looked at the chaos around him, "Yeah, they might not let you look around with the place in this kind of shape."  He extended his hand. "Anyway, I'm Zeth, and I'm glad for the rescue.  If I can help at any way in your research, I'd be very happy."</div> <bR> <div>     The girl shook his hand, "I'm Destiny.  You wouldn't know anything about ancient legends by any chance, would you?"</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth shook his head, "Not any of the legends around here, if that's what you mean.  I'm from Valencia Island, so I don't know that much about Obsidia."</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny shook her head, "Too bad, cause my research is really important."</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth thought for a moment.  "Well, Officer Jenny said that the curator would want to speak with me, so maybe you could come with me to see him.  He'd probably know lots about legends and stuff."</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>     "Yes, as a matter of fact, I do know of some local legends." The curator remarked.  "What kind of legends are you interested in?"  The curator was quite an old man, who had shown them into his office after hearing what had happened.  After listening to Zeth's story about what had happened with the Rockets, he had given Destiny a chance to ask him her question.</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny gently set her backpack down on the chair beside her, then sat down herself.  "Well, I need to know about any references you know of to eight mystical Orbs, a secret temple in the Granite Mountains, or flying guardians.  Zeth looked over at Destiny with a strange expression on his face, probably wondering how any of that went together.</div> <bR> <div>     The curator thought for a moment, "Well, unfortunately, I can't say that I've heard of anything like that.  The only temple I've heard of that's anywhere nearby is the temple ruins over on Crystal Island."</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth stood up suddenly.  "Crystal Island?  I never saw any ruins when I was there."</div> <bR> <div>     The curator shrugged, "You must have been on the wrong side of the island then, because the ruins are quite large.  Come to think of it, there was some kind of bird pokémon carving on the stones, although I don't remember what pokémon it was.  I'm sorry I can't tell you anything more, but it's been so long since I was over there."</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny smiled, "That's ok, I think you've told me enough.  I'll just be on my way."</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth waved to her, "Well, I hope you find what you're looking for."  Just then he remembered something.  "Hey, speaking of finding things, I picked up something when the one Rocket slammed into me."  Zeth reached into his pocket and pulled out the object he had grabbed.  Destiny, who was picking up her backpack, suddenly gasped and dropped it.  The pack hit the floor with a loud squeak, but Destiny did not notice.</div> <bR> <div>     "I don't believe it!" she exclaimed, taking the artifact from Zeth.  "It's the third piece of the pendant!"  Zeth started to ask here what she meant, but stopped when Destiny pulled her pendant off her neck and snapped it onto the piece he had found.  It fit perfectly.</div> <bR> <div>     The curator leaned over and examined the completed pendant.  "Hmm, that's odd.  I don't think I've ever seen that piece before.  I suppose you can have it, since it seems to go to your necklace."</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny thanked the old man, grabbed her backpack again, and started to leave, then stopped suddenly.  "Wait... The legend said that the holder of the third piece would help me." She turned back to Zeth.  "You were the one who found it, so you must be the one in the legend!"</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth stared at her, "What legend?  What are you talking about?"</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny grabbed him by the arm and pulled him out the door,  "Come on...  This is going to take some explaining..."</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>     "So let me get this straight," Zeth said, taking another look at the strange pair before him.  After they had left the museum, he had said farewell to Richard, who actually knew Destiny because they were both from Garnet Town.  Leaving Zeth's pokémon at the pokémon center, Destiny had then introduced him to Sani, who was quite unhappy at being dropped while she was hiding in Destiny's backpack during their time in the museum.  However, she quickly regained her cheerful mood once Destiny explained her reasons for being so excited.  Then, as Destiny proceeded to tell Zeth all she knew about their quest, Sani flew back to Stormy Peak for their supplies.  Now the Mew was back, and Zeth was still trying to make sense out of this new development.  He pointed at Sani, then at Destiny.  "You're a Mew, and you're her friend, and you're both looking for eight mysterious Orbs to save an alternate version of our planet where Team Rocket has taken over?"</div> <bR> <div>     Sani nodded, "Yeah, that's about it.  So are you going to help us or not?"</div> <bR> <div>     "Of course I'll help.  I still owe Destiny for that save back in Topaz City, and I'd have to be crazy not to help a Mew when asked.  But what do you need me to do?"</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny shook her head, "We're not sure yet, but maybe we can figure that out on the way to Crystal Island.  Will you at least come with us that far?  Sani can always fly you back to wherever you need to go."</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth nodded.  "Ok, I'll go with you.  But first, would you mind getting me back to the pokémon center?  I think my pokémon won't be happy with me if I leave them there."</div> <bR> <div>     Sani giggled, "No problem.  I've already picked them up for you!"  The Mew pulled six blue-and-white spheres out of the backpack she had just refilled and handed them to Zeth.  As he snapped them back onto his belt, he suddenly found himself rising into the air again, along with Destiny and Sani.  "Next stop: Crystal Island!"</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>     ShadowWalker cursed his luck.  It had been five hours since the mayhem at the museum, and somehow that Zeth kid had managed to disappear yet again, just after he had left the Topaz Pokémon Center.  Well, he would not be able to hide forever.  Someday soon, ShadowWalker would catch up with him, and when that time came, Zeth would get what was coming to him.</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>