Chapter 31

<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="mim27.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 27"><U>Chapter 27</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim28.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 28"><U>Chapter 28</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 29"><U>Chapter 29</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 30"><U>Chapter 30</U></A>   |   <B>Chapter 31</B>   |   <A HREF="mim32.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 32"><U>Chapter 32</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim33.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 33"><U>Chapter 33</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim34.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 34"><U>Chapter 34</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 35"><U>Chapter 35</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 36"><U>Chapter 36</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim37.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 37"><U>Chapter 37</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim38.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 38"><U>Chapter 38</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 39"><U>Chapter 39</U></A>   |   <A HREF="mim40.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 40"><U>Chapter 40</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 31</I></div> <div> <B>A Master in the Making: Chapter 31: Awakening</B></div> <bR> <div>     Destiny awoke, for a moment wondering where she was.  Then she remembered that she was in the Jade City Hospital, and what had happened.  Glancing over at the monitors beside the hospital bed, she saw to her dismay that the readings were the same as they had been for the last four days, ever since the malfunction with Mr. Elston's transporter had sent her friend into a coma.  "Come on, Zeth, you can't stay like this forever," she told the unconscious teen laying on the bed -- quietly, so she wouldn't disturb Florio, who had fallen asleep himself while still at Zeth's side.  "Please come back to us!"</div> <bR> <div>     Florio stirred, perhaps not as asleep as Destiny had thought.  The Ivysaur checked the monitors as well, then looked up at Destiny sadly, {Still nothing...  Destiny?  What happens if he never wakes up?  What will we do then?}</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny shook her head, "Don't think like that, Florio.  He'll come out of it.  He has to!"</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>     The world was in flames.  Everything was burning around Zeth as he ran for the exit to the burning building.  Destiny sprinted along just behind him.  Then the ceiling fell down at them.  Zeth dodged it, stumbling out the door into safety outside.  Destiny wasn't so lucky.  The burning rubble fell in front of her, blocking her passage and leaving her trapped in the building that was burning and falling apart around her.  Zeth spun around, trying to get back, but he felt hands pulling him back, trying to keep him from running back into the flames.</div> <bR> <div>     Shouting in horror, Zeth pulled away from the people holding him back, but he found that he was no longer outside a burning building.  Instead he found himself in a dark, damp Team Rocket cell, with no one else in sight.  "Just a dream," he told himself.  "A horrible dream."  <I>And all too realistic</I>, he thought, remembering the burning <I>Skylark</I>.</div> <bR> <div>     It had been two more days since he was captured by Team Rocket.  <I>Two days, since Destiny...</I>  Zeth bit his lip.  <I>I don't even want to think about it.  She can't be dead!</I>  Since then, he had been trapped inside this cell, awaiting whatever punishments the Rockets could think up.  Or perhaps the cell was the punishment.  Perhaps they had decided to leave him locked up inside of his prison for the rest of his life.  <I>That would be just like Kat and Duke</I>, Zeth decided.</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth would have just gone back to sleep, as there was really nothing else to do, but after that horrible dream, he wasn't sure he really wanted to.  These weird dreams were starting to get to him.  Just the previous night, he had dreamed that he had seen Lawrence III again, while somewhere in the distance, a huge yellow pokémon watched them.  Once he thought about it, that dream wasn't so much terrifying as it was bizarre, but it still disturbed him somehow.  Leaning back against the cold stone wall of his prison, Zeth stared at the door, wondering how long he could stay awake to avoid these dreams that plagued him...</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>     Two shadowy figures watched Destiny from just outside the hospital room's half-open door.  One motioned the other to follow him a short distance away.  "Looks like the boy has something wrong with him."</div> <bR> <div>     "Yes," the other agreed.  "I thought the girl said that he wouldn't wake up.  Now what do we do?"</div> <bR> <div>     The first figure considered this, "Hmm...  Maybe we can do something to help...  Yeah!  I think we can!"</div> <bR> <div>     The other smiled, "Good!  Tell me what we can do!"</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>     Destiny felt a hand on her shoulder, and heard a voice from behind her, "Hey, can we help?"</div> <bR> <div>     "I don't see how you can," Destiny said, turning around.</div> <bR> <div>     Then she yelped as she saw the two figures in the room.  The one looked at the other and sighed, "She's still not happy to see us, Fright."</div> <bR> <div>     "And we even came to help, too," Fright the Misdreavus grumbled.  "Some thanks we get."</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny stared at them in utter horror, "How did the two of you get here?"  Without letting them answer, she continued, "There's no way that you could possibly have gotten here!  The Linkway's closed!"</div> <bR> <div>     Fright looked confused, "What's a Linkway?"</div> <bR> <div>     "Never mind that.  How did you get here?" Destiny demanded again.</div> <bR> <div>     "We followed you, of course," Spook the Haunter told her.  "We saw you leaving that black building thing and we decided to follow you.  We were invisible, though, so you couldn't see us."</div> <bR> <div>     Fright nodded, "Yeah, we didn't want to let that big pokémon you met in the tunnel see us either.  We knew that he liked to Psychic things."</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny shook her head, "I don't believe it..."</div> <bR> <div>     Florio looked up at the two ghosts, {Destiny, who are these pokémon, and what are they talking about?}</div> <bR> <div>     "They're from the mirror world, Florio," Destiny explained.  "They were a nuisance there, and they just had to follow us when we came back and be a nuisance here too."</div> <bR> <div>     The Ivysaur nodded, {I see...  Shall I throw them out of here?}</div> <bR> <div>     Spook glared at Florio, "No, you shouldn't."</div> <bR> <div>     "Yeah," Fright agreed.  "Don't you want our help?"</div> <bR> <div>     "Not especially, no," Destiny told them.</div> <bR> <div>     "Not even if we can wake your friend up?" Fright asked.</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny blinked, "What?  How can you do that?"</div> <bR> <div>     "It's easy!" Spook bragged.  "We're ghost pokémon!  We can do nightmares, remember?  We can make someone who's sleeping think something that isn't real."</div> <bR> <div>     "All we have to do is change that a little and make him think he's supposed to wake up," Fright finished.</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny thought about that for a moment, "You know, under any other circumstances, I'd tell you to get lost, but that actually sounds like a pretty good idea."</div> <bR> <div>     "Of course it is!" Fright exclaimed.  "Spook thought it up, so it has to be good!"</div> <bR> <div>     "It has to be a fluke, you mean," Destiny grumbled.  "Okay, if you're absolutely sure about this, then go ahead and try it out..."</div> <bR> <div>     {Are you sure about this, Destiny?} Florio asked, watching the ghosts suspiciously.  {Are they trustworthy?}</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny shrugged, "Well, they always do what they say they're going to, at least."</div> <bR> <div>     {Why does that not make me feel any better?}</div> <bR> <div>     "Because they're a pair of lunatics, that's why."</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>     Zeth could hear the sounds of his door being unlocked, but he knew it would just be the guard, delivering his scanty meal -- or else finally getting around to torturing him in some other way.  The door to Zeth's cell swung open, letting the light from the outside hall spill into the dismal room.  Zeth covered his eyes at the sudden brightness.  But it was not the guard that he had expected.  "Niko?  How did you...?"</div> <bR> <div>     Niko held up a key, "Meow meowth meow!"</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth grinned, "You swiped the key, huh?"  Slipping out of the room, he followed the Meowth down the hall, "You know, I usually don't condone stealing, but this time, I'll make an exception."  Niko led him to a room further down the hall, and pointed one paw at the door.  "What's in here?" Zeth asked, opening the door.</div> <bR> <div>     It was some kind of storage room, filled with mostly junk.  As Zeth glanced around the room, wondering why they had stopped here, he suddenly spotted his backpack, thrown onto a pile of pipes.  Grabbing the pack, he unzipped the pockets and looked inside.  His Fire Stone and Moon Stone were gone, as well as his phone, pokéballs, and medicine.  He did find his pokédex, though, stuffed into one of the pockets.  Apparently the Rockets didn't especially want that device.</div> <bR> <div>     It was useful to Zeth, though.  Turning on the translation program, he clipped the pokédex to his belt.  "All right, where now?" he asked Niko, shouldering his backpack.</div> <bR> <div>     {This way!} The Meowth said, running down the hall again.  {If we hurry, we can get out before the Rockets realize you're gone!}</div> <bR> <div>     "How's you escape, anyway?"  Zeth asked as he followed.  "I thought the Rockets would have given you to one of their agents by now."</div> <bR> <div>     {They did,} Niko told him.  {But she definitely won't win any points for intelligence.  She thought I was a nice cute kitty, and expected me to stay in her room while she was gone.}  The Meowth grinned, {Like I'm that crazy!}</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth peeked around a corner, "Still clear.  Any idea where the other pokémon are?"</div> <bR> <div>     {No, sorry.}</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth frowned, "We're not going to be able to search this whole base for them.  I tried that on Dragon Island and it ended in disaster.  We'd better hope we can find them soon, or we'll have to escape without them."</div> <bR> <div>     {But we can't just leave them here!} Niko protested.</div> <bR> <div>     "We'll find out where we are and get the police in here," Zeth told the cat pokémon.  "With luck, they'll get Florio and the rest out before the Rockets can take them somewhere else."  They reached an open door, leading into a large circular room and Zeth glanced around the inside.  "Nothing, yet again."</div> <bR> <div>     {I barely saw anyone on the way down to your cell,} the Meowth mentioned, glancing around the room, {Maybe they're understaffed.}</div> <bR> <div>     "Maybe," Zeth agreed.  He took a few steps into the room, heading for a door on the other side.  Then he stopped, "Or maybe it's a --"  The door behind them slammed shut, and the other door flew open, revealing Kat, Duke, and two Rocket guards.  "trap..." Zeth finished unhappily.</div> <bR> <div>     "Hardly a trap, Raltier," Kat called.  "We had you to begin with.  But we did think it was best to take care of you ourselves after our surveillance cameras showed that you were out of your cell."</div> <bR> <div>     "Well, you're not putting me back in it!" Zeth glanced at Niko, "What do you think?  Six against two.  Can we take them?"</div> <bR> <div>     {We can try!} The Meowth launched himself at the Rockets, Zeth following close behind.  Before they reached the gang members, Kat and Duke both threw down pokéballs, releasing their Scyther and Magneton.</div> <bR> <div>     "Magneton, stop them with Sonicboom" Duke ordered.  The magnet pokémon pummeled Zeth and Niko back with a deafening sonic blast, then paused as Kat's Scyther flashed toward them, swinging its scythes dangerously.  Zeth grabbed Niko, dodging the bug pokémon's blades, then, as the Scyther swung for his head, he ducked and threw the Meowth in its face.  Niko dug in with his claws as Zeth dodged a wild swing and grabbed onto the distracted Scyther's back.</div> <bR> <div>     Then Duke's Magnemite blasted all three of them with a Thunderbolt attack.  Zeth, Niko, and Kat's Scyther all fell to the ground from the attack, stunned.  Kat glared at Duke for a moment, then rolled her eyes.  "Well, at least that worked.  Return, Scyther."  As the bug pokémon was pulled back into its pokéball, Kat smiled evilly at Zeth.  "You're lucky that Scyther got beat up, Raltier.  Otherwise, I'd have him sharpen his blades on you."  Kat motioned to the four Rocket guards.  "Drag him back to his cell.  The Meowth too.  Let's see how tough the two of them are after a few days without food!"</div> <bR> <div>     Still weak from the Magneton's attack, neither Zeth nor Niko had the energy to stop the Rockets from hauling them back to the cell.  The guards didn't bother to take away Zeth's backpack this time, but they probably knew there was nothing left in it that could be of help to their prisoners.  Shoving Zeth inside the tiny room and then hurling in Niko after him, the Rockets slammed the door shut and locked it once again.</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth rose to his feet, reaching one hand out to the wall to steady himself.  "Well, that didn't work.  What do we do now?"</div> <bR> <div>     {I don't know,} the Meowth admitted.  {At least we're no worse off than we were before.}</div> <bR> <div>     "Yeah, we are.  You're in here instead of out there."</div> <bR> <div>     There was an unfamiliar voice from behind them, "That's okay.  Out there isn't really better than in here, anyway." Turning around, Zeth found himself face to face with a Misdreavus.  A Haunter floated through the wall behind her.</div> <bR> <div>     "Yeah, out there's really the same as in here.  It's all in your head," the Haunter agreed.</div> <bR> <div>     "All in my head, huh?" Zeth said.  "Well, my head thinks that it's better to be outside of a cell than inside one, and I'm inclined to listen to my head."</div> <bR> <div>     The Misdreavus nodded, "Exactly!  And that's the problem!"  She turned to her companion, "You were right, Spook, this isn't going to be hard at all!  He already understands!"</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth blinked, "Okay, who are you, what are you doing here, and what in the world are you talking about?"</div> <bR> <div>     Niko nodded, {Yeah, you're making no sense!}</div> <bR> <div>     The Haunter frowned, "He doesn't understand..."</div> <bR> <div>     "No, I guess not," the Misdreavus sighed.  "Well, I guess we'll have to start at the beginning, then.  I'm Fright, that's Spook, and we're here to wake you up!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Huh?" Zeth glanced at Niko, who just gave him a confused look.  "Wake me up when?"</div> <bR> <div>     "Now!" said both ghosts in unison.</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth shook his head, "I'm sure you both have some idea what you're talking about, but you've lost me."</div> <bR> <div>     "Your friend sent us," Fright explained.  "We're supposed to come and bring you back."</div> <bR> <div>     {What friend?} Niko cut in.</div> <bR> <div>     "That girl," Spook said.  "Dusty, or whatever her name is.  The one who used to be with the Mew!"</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth stared open-jawed at the ghosts and took a step back, "You're telling me that Destiny sent you back to get me and take me to her?"</div> <bR> <div>     Niko looked up at Zeth, worried, {Can they really do that?}</div> <bR> <div>     "I don't know!  They're ghost-types, who knows?!"  Zeth turned back to the ghosts.  "If Destiny really sent you, then go back and tell her that I'm not ready to die yet.  I'm sure she'll understand."</div> <bR> <div>     Now the two ghosts looked confused.  "What do you mean?" asked Spook.  "We didn't say anything about dying.  We're just here to help you!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Yeah, that's right!" Fright agreed.  "We're here to wake you up, yes we are.  You're not really awake, you know.  We're just inside your dreams."</div> <bR> <div>     {You're saying that we're all just a figment of Zeth's imaginations?} Niko asked.  {That's ludicrous!}</div> <bR> <div>     "We're not figments!" Fright protested.  "We're Spook and Fright, and Zeth's friend sent us in here to get him.  You're the figment!</div> <bR> <div>     "He seems real enough to me," Zeth commented.</div> <bR> <div>     "Well, maybe that's because you want him to be real to you," the Misdreavus grumbled.  "He's not really there, any more than this whole place is."</div> <bR> <div>     "This cell seems pretty real too," Zeth added.  "And if Niko's real to me because I want him to be, why would this place be real?  Do you think I like being trapped in here?"</div> <bR> <div>      Spook opened his mouth to say something, then stopped.  He glanced at Fright, with an irritated look on his face, then turned back to Zeth.  "I don't know how it all works!  I just know that this is all fake.  Look, I'll prove it!"  The Haunter turned to the door of the cell and waved a hand.  A dark purple beam lanced out from the ghost, hitting the door and shattering it into hundreds of tiny pieces which all seemed to melt away.  "There, I made the door go away.  Now you have to believe that you're dreaming."</div> <bR> <div>     "So you used some kind of ghost attack to destroy the door.  That doesn't prove anything."  Zeth stepped out into the hall, Niko following him.  "Thanks for getting me out of there, though.  I'd stay and try to convince you that you're both out of your minds, but I have more important things to do, and I suspect that I would never get anywhere anyway."  Turning away, Zeth and Niko dashed down the hall, leaving the ghosts behind.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>      Destiny tapped her fingers impatiently as the two ghosts hovered over Zeth's comatose body.  They had already been doing whatever they were doing for a good twenty minutes, and Destiny was starting to get nervous.  Neither of the ghosts had moved in all that time.  Suddenly, Fright stirred, and looked over at Destiny.</div> <bR> <div>     "Well?" Destiny asked.  "What's happening?"</div> <bR> <div>      "This is kind of harder than we thought," Fright admitted.  "It took us a while to figure out where we were at first, and then we had a worse problem.  Yep, much worse.  He doesn't want to wake up.  He doesn't believe that he's really asleep."</div> <bR> <div>     "So do something!  You said you could do nightmares -- give him a bunch of dreams he can't possibly believe are real!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Hey, that's a good idea," Fright closed her eyes, going back into Zeth's mind.  "I'll tell Spook about that."</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>     Zeth made his way back to the big room, this time getting through it without running into the Rockets, "I bet they didn't expect us to escape again so soon," Zeth said, as he and Niko hurried down the hall beyond the circular room.</div> <bR> <div>     Then the floor dropped out from under him, and he was falling.  He stopped in midair, for some reason, in a black expanse, with weird glowing spheres of light hovering around him.  From the distance, he heard a growling sound, and then a huge dragon-like face appeared a distance away.  The face started moving toward him, slowly at first, then faster, starting to glow as it approached.</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth didn't know how, but he somehow was able to run from the monster, even though there didn't seem to be a floor.  He glanced back, only to see the huge creature, now its entire body visible, nearly on top of him.  Zeth tripped, though there was nothing around for him to stumble on, and the dragon lunged at him, ready to tear him to shreds...</div> <bR> <div>     ...And then the dragon vanished in a puff of smoke, and the black void faded away to reveal the inside of the Rocket base once more.  Niko was standing beside him, giving him a puzzled look.  {What?  Why did we stop?}</div> <bR> <div>     "Something happened..." Zeth said.</div> <bR> <div>     "Of course something happened!" Zeth heard Spook's voice behind him.  He turned around to find the two ghosts there.  "Like we told you, this is your dream.  What just happened was a nightmare that we created."</div> <bR> <div>     "A nightmare?"</div> <bR> <div>     Fright nodded, "Yeah.  We want to prove that this is all fake."  Fright gestured, and the hall once again disappeared.  This time, Zeth found that they were in a strange square room with holes in the walls.  He was about to ask what that was about when something emerged from the holes.</div> <bR> <div>     It was spears, or something similar -- sharp metal points at the end of long metal poles.  They jutted out of the wall nearly two feet, then the walls started to close in on them.  "This isn't funny," Zeth told the ghosts.  "I'm not in the mood to play games.  I have to get out of this base, and rescue my pokémon if at all possible.  I don't have time for these illusions!"</div> <bR> <div>     "They're not illusions, they're nightmares," Spook told him.  "Illusions are harmless.  Nightmares are too, but they feel real while they last.  Go ahead, try to get out of the room.  You won't be able to, because I'm controlling the nightmare.  If it was an illusion, you could walk right through it."</div> <bR> <div>     As the spears slowly closed in, Zeth walked over and touched one.  It cut his hand.  He stepped back, wiping away the trickle of blood from the shallow wound.  "So it hurts me.  But I still don't believe you.  A talented psychic might be able to convince me that I hurt myself when I really haven't.  I wouldn't be surprised if that was in your range of skills."  Zeth looked back at the incoming spears.  "I'm not going along with this trick.  Get out of here and stop bothering me!"  The two ghosts vanished with a flash of light, and the room dissolved back into the Rocket base once again.</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth picked up Niko and continued down the hall, "Now, back to business."</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>     Fright and Spook both gasped and instinctively jerked back from Zeth's unconscious form.  Destiny jumped out of her seat as the two ghosts stared at each other with horrified expressions.  "What?  What did you do?"</div> <bR> <div>     "He kicked us out!" Spook exclaimed in disbelief.  "He threw us right out of his mind and shattered the nightmare we were using!"</div> <bR> <div>     "How'd he do that?" Fright asked her companion.  "No one's ever done that to us before!  He can't have done it!  It's just wrong, yes it is!"</div> <bR> <div>     "So you can't wake him up?" Destiny asked in dismay.</div> <bR> <div>     "We didn't say that," Fright remarked, sounding insulted.  "We just said that he threw us out.  We'll just have to go back in and try something else."</div> <bR> <div>      Spook nodded, "Yeah, and this time it's no more wimpy stuff.  We're going to have to do things the rough way!"</div> <bR> <div>      Destiny sighed as the ghosts went back to work, "I don't know if I really want to know what the 'rough way' is..."</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>     As Zeth ran down the corridor, someone flew out of one of the adjoining rooms, knocking him to the ground.  Zeth shoved the person off of him and jumped to his feet, realizing a moment later that Niko was no longer in his arms.  "Looking for this, boy?" his assailant asked him, holding up the Meowth.</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth glared at the person who had attacked him, "ShadowWalker!  So you're here too!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Of course I'm here.  After the Rockets managed to capture you, I needed a new assignment.  The Rockets offered me another job."</div> <bR> <div>     "So why attack me?  I haven't even made it out of the base yet.  I'm sure I'm not on your list of targets again so soon."</div> <bR> <div>     "But you will be if you make it out.  All I have to do is tie you up and imprison you outside the base for a few days, until the Rockets restore the bounty on you."  The mercenary sounded pleased at that idea.</div> <bR> <div>     "Nice for you, but I'm not going along with that!" Zeth growled.</div> <bR> <div>     ShadowWalker held up Niko by the scruff of the neck and gave him a shake, "You have no choice in the matter -- not if you want your pokémon to survive."</div> <bR> <div>     "What a nasty person!"  Fright appeared behind ShadowWalker, who jumped to the side and grabbed a pokéball, expecting an attack.  The Misdreavus didn't move.  "Why would you ever want to dream up such a mean man?"</div> <bR> <div>     Spook appeared beside Fright, a frown on his face, "It doesn't matter, Fright.  We'll get rid of him."  The Haunter fired off a dark purple beam at ShadowWalker, disintegrating the mercenary and causing Niko to suddenly fall to the ground.  "There, that's better!"</div> <bR> <div>     {What did you do to him?} the Meowth asked incredulously.</div> <bR> <div>     The Haunter grinned, "I ate him!"</div> <bR> <div>     "What?!" Zeth stepped back from the ghosts.  "You killed him?"</div> <bR> <div>     "No, he ate him," Fright corrected him.  "That guy was just another dream, yes he was.  We're going to stop all these dreams, though.  Watch!"  Fright repeated the purple beam attack that her companion had used, this time hitting the wall of the hallway.  The wall vanished, leaving a large hole that led to another room.</div> <bR> <div>     "Come on," Spook said, grabbing Zeth hand and pulling him through the hole.  "We're not going to stay in here any more."  They continued in a straight line, vaporizing anything that stood in the way.  At one point, a dozen Rockets assaulted them at once.  The ghosts made them disappear as well.</div> <bR> <div>     "You know, this is getting very disturbing," Zeth remarked, as they entered another room.  "The two of you are very destructive.  I'm going to have to remember to avoid ghost pokémon from now on."</div> <bR> <div>     Spook ignored him, blasting another hole in the wall, this time leading outside the base completely.  Zeth stepped to the hole, "Hey it's about time we got --" Zeth stopped as he looked out the hole, which revealed the base to be high in the mountains.  There was only a short ledge outside, followed by a sheer drop.  "Uh, that doesn't help much."</div> <bR> <div>     Fright peered down at the ground far below.  "You'd die if you fell down there, I guess."</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth nodded, "That's an understatement.  I'd do more than just die.  I'd splatter all over the rocks!"</div> <bR> <div>     Spook floated above Zeth's shoulder to get a better look.  "Yeah, you would."  Then, reaching behind Zeth's back, the Haunter shoved him over the edge, sending Zeth plunging into the abyss.</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth saw the ground rushing up at him and barely had time to scream before he smashed into the rocks.  But just as he was about to hit, he stopped in the air.  "Hey, no fair!" Fright shouted down at him.  "You ruined the demonstration!"</div> <bR> <div>     Then Zeth realized that she wasn't yelling at him, but at a purple-white pokémon floating above him.  "Sani!  You saved me!"</div> <bR> <div>     The Mew smiled, "Hey, what are friends for?"</div> <bR> <div>     Fright floated down and glared at Sani.  "Even in dreams you have to show up and bug us.  It's not right, Spook.  It's just bad!"</div> <bR> <div>     The Haunter joined them as well, dragging Niko along, "Nah, it's not that bad this time.  This time it's good.  Here, watch!"  Spook pointed a finger at Sani, "How did you know where we were, and how did you even know to come here?"</div> <bR> <div>     Sani looked puzzled, "What do you mean?  I didn't know you were here or anything.  I just noticed that this building had been built here, and I was wondering what it was, so I was investigating.  Then I saw Zeth falling and grabbed him."</div> <bR> <div>     "And who are we?" Spook asked, indicating himself and Fright.</div> <bR> <div>     "I don't know.  I've never seen you before."</div> <bR> <div>     Fright flew forwards, "That's a lie!  If you were the real Sani Mew, you'd know who we are!  We know who you are!  You're a friend of that girl, and the two of you were trying to find those round glass balls so you could stop Team Rocket, and you even fought a big flying rock pokémon to get one!"</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth interrupted, "Hold on a minute.  You know about that?!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Of course we do," Spook told him proudly.  "We were there."</div> <bR> <div>     "If you were there, then how did you end up getting here?  It should have been impossible."</div> <bR> <div>     "We followed you back," the Haunter said dismissively, looking back to Sani.  "That's not important right now, though.  Now we can show you proof that you're dreaming!"  The ghost addressed the Mew, "So, if you're really Sani Mew, tell us...  Which pokémon actually managed to beat that Rock Demon after you and the Clefairies got beat up?  What's your daddy's name?  How old are you?!"  Spook grinned, "Go on, tell us the answers, if you're really real!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Hey, I don't have to submit to this interrogation," Sani retorted.  "Where'd you find these two pests, Zeth?"</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth frowned, "No, wait.  I'll humor them this one time.  Answer their questions...  How old are you, anyway?"</div> <bR> <div>     The Mew smiled at him, "You know, it's impolite to ask a girl her age."</div> <bR> <div>     "It's impolite to evade questions.  What are your parents names?"</div> <bR> <div>     Now Sani looked a little annoyed, "Zeth, what's gotten into you?  Why do you need to know that?"</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth shook his head, a disgusted look on his face.  "They're right...  The whole time, they were right!  You're just some dream of mine!  You don't know your parents names because no one ever told me their names.  You don't know your age since I don't know it!  Heck, I couldn't even guess at your age, since I have no idea how long Mews' lifespans are!  For all I know, you could be two, twenty, or two hundred!"</div> <bR> <div>     "I don't think she's two hundred," Fright remarked.</div> <bR> <div>     "Not now," Zeth told the ghost.  "This whole place really is just a dream.  And you're not real, Sani.  And these mountains aren't real either."  Zeth looked around, "I think it's time for you to go."  As he said that, the landscape and Sani both faded away, leaving behind an empty blackness.  Zeth glanced down at Niko, the only remaining part of his dream world.  "And I guess you aren't really there, either," he said sadly.</div> <bR> <div>     "Don't leave me, Zeth," the Meowth said, the translator unnecessary now.  "Please don't go away and leave me here!"</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth knelt down beside the dream pokémon, "I have to, Niko.  I can't stay here any more."</div> <bR> <div>     "But why not?" the cat pleaded.  "You can stay here forever with me, and we can do anything we want!  You can become a pokémon master, and I'll be your best pokémon, and your best friend!  And you can beat the Rockets, and save Blaze's family, and travel with Destiny, and everything.  How could you leave all that behind?  How can you leave me behind?</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth shook his head, "Don't worry, my friend.  I'll never leave you.  You're all a part of me, you know -- everyone, and everything here.  As long as I'm alive, you'll always be here, in my dreams."  Zeth picked up the Meowth and gave him a hug.  "Goodbye, Niko.  If there was one part of my dreams that I could take with me, it would be you."</div> <bR> <div>     As Zeth set the Meowth down, the cat pokémon faded away.  Zeth stared at the spot he had been, then turned to Spook and Fright, "Time to go.  Which way is out?"</div> <bR> <div>     Fright smiled, "You know how to leave, yes you do."</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth nodded, "Yeah, I guess I do.  See you back in the real world."</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>     As Zeth stirred, Destiny jumped to her feet, shoving aside her chair, "Zeth!  Are you okay?  Can you hear me?"</div> <bR> <div>     The teen's eyelids flickered, then opened.  "Uhh," Zeth groaned, "Figures I'd have a headache when I woke up."</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny sat down on the edge of the bed, "Hey, it's still an improvement."</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth nodded groggily, "Yeah, you're right.  How long have I been out, anyway?"</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny glanced up at a clock on the room's wall, "Well, I guess this is early morning of the fifth day.  You've been out since you went through Mr. Elston's transporter.  I tried to get in touch with your parents, but they weren't home.  Florio said they were on their annual vacation."</div> <bR> <div>     "That's fine," Zeth told her, "At least we didn't have to worry them.  It all worked out all right in the end, thanks to your friends here," Zeth nodded at the two ghosts, who were still hovering at the foot of the bed.  "They managed to convince me that I was dreaming, though I definitely didn't give them an easy time."</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny frowned, glancing at Spook and Fright, "My friends...  Wouldn't be my first choice of words, but I guess you're right in a way."  She pointed a finger at the spectral pokémon.  "Maybe I'll forgive you two for that Treasure Hunt game now."</div> <bR> <div>     Spook smiled, "That was a fun game, and you were good at it.  Want to play something else?"</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny glared at the Haunter, "No, I don't.  I want to stay right here until Zeth gets better."</div> <bR> <div>     "Oh, okay."  Spook turned to Fright, "What about you?"</div> <bR> <div>     The Misdreavus nodded rapidly, "Yeah!  Let's go play a game, Spook!  I know what we can do, too!  We were good here, so let's play Superhero!  We can go save people and stuff!"</div> <bR> <div>     "That sounds fun, Fright," the Haunter agreed, "Let's do it!"  Without bothering to say goodbye to Zeth or Destiny, the two ghosts shot through the wall, disappearing from sight.</div> <bR> <div>     "Are they always like that?" Zeth asked, staring at the blank wall for a moment, before turning back to his friends.</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny shrugged, "No, they're usually worse.  Trust me, we'd probably be better off if we didn't run into them again."  Zeth nodded, then yawned.  "I guess I should leave and let you rest up some."</div> <bR> <div>     "I've been sleeping five days," Zeth remarked with a chuckle, "How much more rest do I need?"</div> <bR> <div>     "That wasn't real sleep, though.  Besides, you look like you couldn't even manage to stand."  Destiny slid off the edge of the bed, "I'll tell one of the nurses that you're awake."</div> <bR> <div>     "Okay, that's a good idea.  I'll just stay here and sleep then.  This time I plan to wake up, though."</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny grinned, "You'd better, Zeth Raltier!"</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth watched her quietly close the door behind her, then closed his eyes, and let the weariness that he felt overcome him.  He quickly fell into a peaceful, wonderfully dreamless sleep.</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>