Chapter 12

<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> <A HREF="mim1.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 1"><U>Chapter 1</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 2"><U>Chapter 2</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 3"><U>Chapter 3</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 4"><U>Chapter 4</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 5"><U>Chapter 5</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 6"><U>Chapter 6</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim7.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 7"><U>Chapter 7</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim8.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 8"><U>Chapter 8</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim9.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 9"><U>Chapter 9</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim10.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 10"><U>Chapter 10</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim11.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 11"><U>Chapter 11</U></A>   |   <B>Chapter 12</B>   |   <A HREF="mim13.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 13"><U>Chapter 13</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim14.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 14"><U>Chapter 14</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 15"><U>Chapter 15</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 16"><U>Chapter 16</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 17"><U>Chapter 17</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" TITLE="http://members.fortunecity.com/zethralti"><U><B>My Fanfics</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://members.fortunecity.com/zethraltier/zrart/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://members.fortunecity.com/zethralti"><U><B>My Fanart</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://members.fortunecity.com/zethraltier/a-j/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://members.fortunecity.com/zethralti"><U><B>Authors A-J</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://members.fortunecity.com/zethraltier/k-z/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://members.fortunecity.com/zethralti"><U><B>Authors K-Z</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://members.fortunecity.com/zethraltier/art/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://members.fortunecity.com/zethralti"><U><B>Fanart List</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://members.fortunecity.com/zethraltier/ffsubmit.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://members.fortunecity.com/zethralti"><U><B>Submit a Fanfic</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://members.fortunecity.com/zethraltier/fanart_submit.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://members.fortunecity.com/zethralti"><U><B>Submit Fanart</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://pub46.ezboard.com/beeveesmb" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://pub46.ezboard.com/beeveesmb"><U><B>Message Board</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://members.fortunecity.com/zethraltier/links.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://members.fortunecity.com/zethralti"><U><B>Links</B></U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=380 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>Chapter 12</I></div> <div> <B>A Master in the Making: Chapter 12: Hook, Line, and Sinker</B></div> <div> Zeth looked out over Silver Bay, watching as the boat he had been hoping to catch disappeared into the distance. <I>Looks like I'll have to wait until tomorrow to go to Pearl City.</I> Disappointed, he turned back toward the small patch of buildings that made up Quartz Town. <I>Well, I might as well find something to do, since I'm going to be here for a while.</I></div> <div> An hour later, Zeth was back in the Quartz Town pokémon center with all his pokémon, feeling totally bored. There was nothing actually <B>wrong</B> with the town, but its small size meant that there was not very much of interest. <I>Still, it has a pokémon center, so it can't be that bad.. or can it?</I> Zeth looked down at Florio, "I wonder what the people who live here do for fun. I sure haven't seen anything interesting."</div> <div> The Ivysaur grinned, {That's because we're out in the middle of nowhere. The only reason this town is here is because they needed a port.}</div> <div> "Yeah.. Well, we could go swimming or something, since it's a pretty nice day. Anyone want to do that?" Talon, Sting, and Blaze shook their heads. "Oh.. yeah, I guess that wouldn't work too well."</div> <div> Blaze nodded, {Sorry, it's not that I can't swim. It's just that I dislike water.}</div> <div> "That's ok, Blaze. I'm not too interested in lava-swimming myself."</div> <div> "You should go check out the fishing area," Zeth turned around to where Nurse Joy had been typing on her computer. "It's down by the pier. There's a little blue building where you can rent a pole. You should try it if you have nothing else to do."</div> <div> "Thanks, Nurse Joy! Sounds like a great idea to me!"</div> <div> Zeth easily found the building and rented a pole from the old man there. A few minutes later, he was baiting his hook, while his pokémon started to build a sandcastle a couple meters away. Casting his line, he sat down and waited for a bite.</div> <div> He did not have to wait long. Five minutes later, something tugged at his line. Zeth jumped up and started reeling in his prize excitedly. "Hey, look, I got something!" The pokémon halted their construction of a tower and ran over to watch. Zeth was a bit surprised at how easy it was to reel in his catch, until he pulled it out of the water.</div> <div> Sting buzzed something that Zeth suspected was a laugh. {A Magikarp!? That's it?}</div> <div> Blaze sniffed the fish, then shook his head. {That thing is all bony. It doesn't even look good to eat.}</div> <div> Zeth grinned, "Well, if I raise it properly, then it will eventually evolve into a Gyarados, so it isn't that bad!"</div> <div> The Beedrill poked the fish with one pointy leg as Zeth grabbed a pokéball. {Sure it's not... Now we'll have the almighty Splash attack in case we ever need a puddle.} As Zeth reached out to take the fish off the hook, it suddenly jerked and twisted, managing to free itself from its predicament. It flopped to the ground, and bounced back into the water, disappearing within seconds.</div> <div> Zeth stared into the rippling water for a moment "Well, looks like I won't get that Gyarados after all."</div> <div> Sting nodded, {Nope, looks like your luck is still holding out.} The Beedrill "laughed" some more, while Zeth rolled his eyes and began baiting his hook again.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Jag Colson smiled at the Dragon member standing before him. "So, you've found one of the Rocket's secret bases?" The gang member nodded, and Jag's smile grew wider. "Good work. Now, get a team together. We're going to show them what it's like to be on our bad side."</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Two hours later, Zeth was still waiting for another bite. "Well, looks like that little Magikarp was all that was out there. Either that, or it told all it's friends to stay away." Realizing that no one was listening, he looked over at his pokémon, who were finding various ways to amuse themselves. Sting and Blaze were paying checkers in the sand, using some shells and rocks as the pieces. Eva and Florio were chasing each other through the shallow water farther down the shore, while Talon appeared to be sleeping in the sun.</div> <div> Tiring of their game, Florio and Eva ran over to check on Zeth. The Eevee sat down beside him and looked out at the water. {Still nothing, huh?} Zeth nodded, and the Eevee hopped into his lap. {So much for fishing.}</div> <div> Florio grinned, {I bet I could catch something!} The Ivysaur extended his vines and shot them far out into the water. {See? I have built in fishing line!}</div> <div> Zeth rolled his eyes. "Show off. How are you going to catch anything without bait?"</div> <div> {Simple! I'll just grab them when I feel them! Like I do now!} Zeth and Eva laughed as Florio pulled in a big clump of seaweed. {Oops, guess that wasn't a fish.} Embarrassed, he tossed his vines back into the water</div> <div> "Wonderful, I bow to your amazing skill." Zeth replied with more than a hint of sarcasm. "Now we can get all the seaweed we need."</div> <div> {You may laugh now, but I'll show you. Just watch me catch something!} The Ivysaur waved his vines around in the water a bit, feeling for fish. Zeth shook his head and began to reel in his line to check his bait. Florio suddenly stopped moving his vines. {Hey! I think I feel something!}</div> <div> "More seaweed? Just let it be."</div> <div> Florio shook his head, {No, it's something different. It's kinda hard and aaaaahh!} Whipping his vines back at high speed, the plant pokémon ran around in circles, yelling hysterically. At the end of one of his vines hung a Shellder, which was clamping as hard as possible. Hearing the commotion, Zeth's other pokémon all ended their activities to watch the hilarious scene.</div> <div> Trying to stop himself from laughing, Zeth pried at the Shellder, but the little clam was trying its best to hold on. Florio frantically started smashing it against the ground, and the stubborn pokémon finally released its hold on the unfortunate Ivysaur's vine. It flipped itself back towards the water, but Eva quickly scooped up a pawfull of sand and flung it into the Shellder's face. A few seconds and a pokéball later, it was all over.</div> <div> "Not bad, Florio, you really CAN fish!"</div> <div> The Ivysaur blew on his injured vine, giving Zeth a dirty look. {Go jump off the pier.}</div> <bR> <bR> <div> At Florio's insistence, Zeth and company went back to the pokémon center. Nurse Joy gently rubbed something on the tip of the Ivysaur's vine, as the rest of the group gathered around to examine Zeth's catch. However, when the Shellder appeared, it immediately tried to clamp onto Eva's fluffy tail. The little Eevee jumped back with a yelp, smacking the clam aside with one paw. The Shellder immediately went after Blaze, who barely managed to duck an ice beam. Jumping in, Zeth managed to hold the bivalve closed, although he nearly got his fingers pinched in the process. From the other side of the room, Florio mumbled something about insane clams.</div> <div> Zeth tried to calm the pokémon, struggling to keep his fingers from being pinched or frozen. "It's ok! You don't have to be afraid of us. We're not going to hurt you. Just calm down and I'll let go of you!" The Shellder struggled for a few more seconds before giving up. Zeth gently set it down, and took a step back. "There, that's better. You don't have to fight us."</div> <div> The clam opened its shell enough to peek out at the crowd surrounding it. It said something, but the sound was too muffled for the translator to make out. Zeth started to ask it to repeat itself, but the Shellder popped open and interrupted him in midsentence. {I said, what do you want with me? Why did you attack me?}</div> <div> Florio trotted over and waved his injured vine at the Shellder, {If I remember, you're the one who clamped onto me first!}</div> <div> {You were poking me!}</div> <div> {I was fishing!}</div> <div> {Then you needed a good pinch!}</div> <div> Zeth stepped between the two pokémon, "Ok, you two, enough fighting."</div> <div> Florio nodded and sat down, jumping up again a second later. {Hey, he's sticking his tongue out at me!}</div> <div> Zeth rolled his eyes, "Florio, Shellders always do that. He's not making fun of you. Really.. you two are going to have to learn to get along, since you're going to be spending a lot of time together."</div> <div> The Shellder clacked his shell for attention. {What do you mean, we're going to spend time together? As soon as you're finished staring at me, I'm going back to the sea!}</div> <div> Sting laughed, {Sorry, kid, it doesn't work that way. Zeth caught you, so you're his now. Don't worry though, he's nice.}</div> <div> {What?! But I don't want to go with you!} The Shellder sounded close to panic.</div> <div> Zeth cut in, "It's ok, Sting. I can handle this." He looked down at the little clam, smiling kindly. "Like Sting said, I'm nice. I want all my pokémon to be happy, even if it means they would rather go free then stay with me. On the other hand, I can't release every pokémon I the moment I get them, just because they didn't want to be caught. If I did that, I would probably lose all my pokémon. So I suggest a compromise. You come with us until we reach Pearl City. After that, you can decide if you would rather stay with us or be released."</div> <div> The Shellder thought it over for a moment, then clacked his shell. {Ok, that sounds fair to me. I'll come with you to Pearl City, but don't expect me to change my mind. I don't really want to go with you.}</div> <div> "I understand. All I ask is that you give me a chance. Talk with the other pokémon some; get to know them. It'll make me feel a lot better when you make your decision."</div> <div> Florio nodded and scooped up the clam with his vines, heading towards the back of the center, where Nurse Joy was preparing a meal for the pokémon. {Yeah, come on, I'll tell you all kinds of juicy stuff about Zeth over dinner!}</div> <div> Zeth shook his head, "Why does that not sound like a good thing?"</div> <bR> <div> Zeth gazed at the <I>Golden Star</I>, a medium-sized boat, ironically painted silver with a blue stripe. Noticing a middle-aged man come out of the boat's cabin, Zeth waved and called him over, "Hello! Is this the ferry to Pearl City?"</div> <div> The man on the <I>Golden Star</I> looked down at Zeth, "Yes, it is. I'm Mike, the captain of this little boat. Do you want me to take you there?"</div> <div> Zeth nodded, "Yeah, I do. When are you leaving?"</div> <div> Mike stepped out onto the dock. "Well, we can go as soon as my other passenger comes. He'll be here any minute."</div> <div> "Ok, I'm not in a hurry or anything. My name's Zeth. I'm pleased to meet you, Mike."</div> <div> "You're a pokémon trainer, aren't you?" Zeth nodded, and Mike smiled. "So was I, when I was younger. I ferry a lot of trainers across Silver Bay, so I get to see a lot of pokémon. Would you mind showing me yours on the way over? I've always loved to see all the different kinds that people have." </div> <div> Zeth grinned, "Of course! I'll take any chance I can get to show off my pokémon!"</div> <div> The ferry captain laughed, "That sounds just like my attitude, thirty years ago!" He pointed over Zeth's shoulder. "Oh, look, here's my other passenger now."</div> <div> The man Mike was referring to stopped and glanced at Zeth for a moment. Strangely enough, he was wearing a jacket, even though it was a hot day. "Another passenger?" he asked.</div> <div> "Yeah, I'm Zeth. I'm heading for Pearl City too." </div> <div> The man nodded and stepped into the boat. "Come on, let's go." he ordered impatiently.</div> <div> Mike shrugged as Zeth gave him a questioning look. "Hey, he's paying too, so we'll just have to put up with him."</div> <bR> <div> Ten minutes into the trip, Zeth let his pokémon out for the captain. Complimenting Zeth on his pokémon, Mike attempted to get his other passenger to show him any pokémon he might have. Finally, after ten more minutes of constant pestering from both Mike and Zeth, the man tossed one pokéball to the deck. "Fine, look at this one if you want." The ball popped open to reveal a gorgeous Ninetales. Blaze immediately ran over and started a conversation with the fox, as Mike and Zeth both commented that the pokémon was amazing.</div> <div> Running back over to Zeth, Blaze barked something and ran towards the cabin, obviously wanting Zeth to follow him. Excusing himself from the conversation, Zeth followed after the Growlithe. Turning his pokédex's translator back on, Zeth asked the dog what he was so anxious to tell him.</div> <div> {Zeth, you won't believe this, but I know that Ninetales! She was one of my best friends back at Mount Ruby, before Team Rocket stole her!}</div> <div> Zeth's jaw dropped, "What?! That means that our fellow passenger is from Team Rocket! We might be in big trouble!"</div> <div> The Growlithe peeked out the door at the Rocket, who was showing Mike another of his pokémon. {Yeah, I know. If he's a Rocket, he'll want to steal all of us! What do we do?}</div> <div> Zeth thought for a moment, then smiled and started digging into his backpack. "I think I have an idea. Get the others."</div> <bR> <div> The plan was simple, but a little odd. If the Rocket decided not to cause trouble, Zeth would have Talon keep an eye on him, while he warned Pearl City's Officer Jenny. If he DID want to be a problem, Zeth had a little surprise for him.</div> <div> Zeth stepped out of the cabin, waving to Mike, who was attempting conversation with the suspected Rocket. It looked like his efforts were being wasted, though. The man simply ignored him, glancing at his watch. Frowning, he reached for a pokéball and tossed it to the deck. "Fine, here's another one for you to look at." As the figure appeared, the man suddenly called out, "Tangela, Bind!" A surprised Mike was immediately ensnared in a tangle of constricting vines.</div> <div> Zeth jumped back, smacking away a vine. "Hey, cut it out!"</div> <div> The man laughed, "I'll do as I please, kid. I'm from Team Rocket!" At this, he pulled off his jacket to reveal a black shirt with a large letter 'R' across the front. "Now, if you don't follow my instructions exactly, I'll have Tangela squeeze the life out of the captain. First, I want all your pokéballs." Zeth reluctantly pulled the red-and-white spheres off of his belt and handed them to the Tangela's waiting vine. It handed them to the Rocket, along with three pokéballs it had confiscated from Mike.</div> <div> "Good. Now grab that inflatable raft over there." Zeth pulled the raft and its oars out from under the bench seat they were shoved under. "Leave the oars, you're not going to need them on your little trip."</div> <div> Zeth blinked, "Trip? You mean you're going to leave us out in the middle of the sea with no oars? But how will we get back to land?"</div> <div> The Rocket laughed evilly, "That's your problem." He motioned to the Tangela, which immediately tossed Mike overboard. Zeth backed away, holding onto the deflated raft. "Go on, jump, or I'll have Tangela throw you in too." Glaring at the villain, Zeth jumped overboard into the cool water.</div> <div> Watching the boat continue on its course, Zeth inflated the raft and helped Mike to climb aboard. The captain smacked the side of the raft in frustration. "I can't believe it. Robbed and thrown off my own boat!" He noticed Zeth was watching him and added, "Sorry, Zeth. He took all of your pokémon too. I wish I could get them back for you, but there's nothing we can do now."</div> <div> Zeth smiled happily, "Yes there is! That guy was the sloppiest Rocket I've ever seen. He didn't even take my backpack away!" Reaching into his pack, he pulled out his video phone and six blue-and-white pokéballs. "Blaze figured out that he was a Rocket just a few minutes before he pulled his little stunt. I figured that since he wasn't paying much attention to me, that I could just switch my pokémon with some empty pokéballs. Good thing he didn't notice that I gave him red balls instead of blue!" Zeth tossed the phone to Mike while he opened four of the pokéballs. "Call the police. Tell them what happened." As Talon, Sting, Florio, and the Shellder appeared, Zeth started giving orders. "Ok, Talon, follow that boat, but stay out of sight. I need to know where it's going."</div> <div> The Spearow took to the skies, and Zeth turned to the remaining pokémon. "Here's what we're going to do. Shellder, I'm going to need your help here. I want you to sit up front and freeze the water ahead of us. Sting and Talon will use their wings like a fan to blow us along, and Florio will use his vines to push us down the ice." We're going to follow that Rocket back to his base, and we need to go as fast as possible. Any questions?"</div> <div> None of the pokémon asked anything, so they waited for a few minutes, until Talon flew back. {Ok, Zeth, he's veered off course, heading for a small island near here.}</div> <div> Mike handed the phone back to Zeth. "I told the police what we're doing. That's Crystal Island. I know exactly where it is. Let's go!" The four pokémon began freezing, flapping, and pushing. The lightweight raft quickly gained momentum, shooting across the sea at high speed, while everyone held on as well as they could. Florio grabbed onto the Shellder with a vine when a jolt threatened to fling the clam overboard. After fifteen minutes of whipping along at suicidal speeds, they reached the island. Talon and Sting quickly turned around and blew a gust of wind in the opposite direction, slowing the raft down. However, it was not quite enough. Hitting the beach, humans and pokémon alike flew into the soft sand.</div> <div> Zeth rubbed his head, "Well, that was fun. We'll have to do it again sometime."</div> <div> Florio picked himself up, groaning. {Yeah, and then we can go bungee jumping without a cord, right after that.}</div> <div> "Quit complaining, we have a job to do." Zeth looked down at his pokémon, "Now that we're here, we need to find their base. If we're careful and if there aren't too many Rockets, we can capture each of them one by one, until we have them all."</div> <div> {How are we going to watch that many captives at once?} the Ivysaur asked.</div> <div> Zeth grinned, reaching into his backpack again. "Two words: duct tape. Never leave home without it!"</div> <bR> <div> The first Rocket never saw it coming. One second, he was trudging through the woods and grumbling about how boring guard duty was, the next he was totally wrapped up in Florio's vines. The Ivysaur reeled him in and held him up against a tree. Quickly wrapping him up in duct tape, Zeth nodded to Florio. "Good job, now we only have about twenty to go."</div> <div> The two other guards were just as simple. Obviously, security was not a major concern for these Rockets. <I>Good for us; bad for them</I>. Zeth stared down at the base, which was built into the hillside so it could not be spotted by air. Mike took one look and shook his head, "How are we going to get in there? There's Rockets everywhere!"</div> <div> Both of them jumped at a voice behind them, "Oh, getting in won't be much of a problem." They whirled around to find that they were surrounded by six Rockets. "Getting out alive will be the real challenge."</div> <div> "Not if I have anything to say about it! Battle time, everyone!" Zeth's pokémon leaped into action, blasting the gangsters with everything they had and causing a great deal of chaos. They were not very successful, however. The Rockets just attacked with all of their pokémon, easily defeating Zeth's pokémon, which were outnumbered six to one.</div> <div> "Vileplumes, stun spore!" Zeth jumped back, pulling Mike along with him in an attempt to escape the upcoming attack. He was quite surprised by what happened next. Instead of hitting them, the shimmering cloud surrounded the Rockets, leaving them unable to move. The pokémon nearest them fared just as badly, leaving only a few of them in fighting condition. Those remaining quickly surrendered, since their trainers were unable to give them orders. Zeth and Mike stared as eight more people appeared, stepping out from behind the trees and bushes. One of them walked toward them, flanked by three Vileplumes. He frowned at Zeth, "Well, you don't look like Team Rocket members. Who are you, and why are you here?"</div> <div> Zeth pointed down at the Rocket base, then at Mike, "Team Rocket stole our boat and his pokémon. We're trying to get them back."</div> <div> The man nodded and walked over to his comrades, discussing something with them in a whisper. Turning back, he waved Zeth over. "We're from the Dragons, a rival gang. Usually, we'd steal your pokémon just like the Rockets; but under these circumstances, I'll make you a deal. We're here to take out that base. If you help us, we'll let you get your boat and pokémon back. Otherwise, we'll just take your pokémon and leave you here with the Rockets."</div> <div> "I think I prefer the first option."</div> <div> "I knew you would." The man waved to his companions. "Come on , it's time to blow that base!"</div> <div> Their combined forces easily managed to capture the rest of the Team Rocket base. By the time they finished, Zeth's pokémon were totally worn out. Even the Shellder had done his best to help, although Zeth had to carry him most of the time. Now, all that was left was to collect their pokémon, then find their boat in the Rocket's secret dock. Zeth stared down at the pile of pokéballs the Dragons had dumped on the floor. "Any idea which ones are yours?" he asked Mike. The ferry captain shook his head.</div> <div> Blaze barked happily, {Leave that to me!} The Growlithe searched through the pokéballs one by one, sniffing at them for a second, then passing it up, and switching to the next one. Every now and then, he would stop and roll a ball away from the pile. After finding five balls, he stepped away from the pile, {That's it, Zeth. I found all three of Mike's pokéballs, and two pokémon from Mount Ruby.}</div> <div> "Ok, Blaze, thanks." Zeth tossed the two Mt. Ruby pokéballs in his backpack, while Mike picked up his three. Zeth walked over to a large bin of unused pokéballs and took a half-dozen of them, to replace the ones he had lost. "Well, I'm set. Are you ready to go, Mike?"</div> <div> "Yeah, lets get out of here." Zeth recalled all his pokémon for some well-deserved rest, then followed Mike over to the waiting Dragon leader, who led them down a flight of stairs to the Rocket's underground dock. Mike smacked the switch, and light poured into the dark room as the doors opened, revealing their stolen boat. Five minutes later, they were speeding away at top speed, as an explosion lit up the sky behind them.</div> <div> Zeth shook his head, "Wow.. they weren't kidding when they said they were going to take out that base. It's totally gone now."</div> <div> Mike frowned, "Yeah, it is. I just hope the Dragons don't just throw those Rockets into the sea or something."</div> <div> "They said they were going to drop them off in the nearest jail cell. We'll just have to take their word, unless you want to go back and argue about it. They'd probably just take your pokémon if you did that."</div> <div> "Yeah, guess we'll just have to let them take care of it."</div> <div> Zeth reached for a pokéball, "That reminds me. I have something else to take care of." Tossing it to the deck, Zeth watched as his Shellder appeared. "Hello, Shellder, you did a great job back there. I just wanted to say thank you for all that you did."</div> <div> The Shellder stared up at Zeth, {I was just doing my job like everyone else. You should thank them too.}</div> <div> Zeth sat down beside the Shellder, "I will, but I wanted to talk to you first. Have you made up your mind about what you're going to do when we reach Pearl City? If you still want to go back, I'll ask Mike to take you back to Quartz Town."</div> <div> The clam was quiet for a moment, {Well, actually, I forgot all about that while we were battling those Rockets. But I think I've made up my mind. I'm going to stay with you, Zeth. You battled those Rockets to save some pokémon that you've never even seen for a person you barely know, although you would have lost all your pokémon if you didn't win. Now I can be sure that if I ever need help, you'll be there for me.}</div> <div> Zeth patted the Shellder on the top of his shell, "I'm glad you've decided to stay. It's good to have you on the team. Now we need to find you a name, cause calling you Shellder all the time is a little boring and unoriginal. What do you think about Aqua?"</div> <div> {Sounds good to me!}</div> <bR> <div> Duke dodged the clipboard that flew at him as he entered the room. "Bad news?"</div> <div> Kat blushed, then resumed her dark expression. "Sorry, I didn't mean to throw that at you. This is just such a rotten day. Did you see the news yet?"</div> <div> Duke shook his head, "No, I've been supervising the construction of that little project we've been working on. That's moving along very nicely."</div> <div> "Good, it's about time something went right." Kat pointed to a newspaper that was scattered around the corner of the room, another victim of her wrath. "It's on the front page, wherever that is." Duke scanned through the paper as she continued. "The Dragons blew up our secret base on Crystal Island. Twenty-six of our members were captured and delivered to the police in Pearl City. Not only that, look who else showed up!"</div> <div> Duke found the page, and frowned, "It's that kid, the one that crashed our plane and messed up our heist at Mount Ruby."</div> <div> Kat nodded. "Keep that picture, I'm going to pin it to my dart board. Anyway, now we have two problems. The Dragons want to show us they mean business, and that kid is ruining our plans yet again. We need to have a discussion on the Dragon issue later, but the kid should be a lot easier to take care of. I've already sent out word to everyone that they should watch for him. Wherever he goes, our agents will follow."</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>