Chapter 36

<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>   |   <A HREF="mim31.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chapter 31"><U>Chapter 31</U></A>   |   <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>   |   <B>Chapter 36</B>   |   <A 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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 36</I></div> <div> <B>A Master in the Making: Chapter 36: High Stakes</B></div> <bR> <div>     Nurse Joy was just about to close the pokémon center when Zeth, Richard, Destiny, and Alyssa rushed in.  "Hey, Nurse, we need some bandages," Zeth quickly explained.  "Alyssa got cut by a piece of glass."</div> <bR> <div>     The Nurse was about to protest, but then she saw the long gash on the girl's arm.  "That looks bad," she said, leading Alyssa back to the examination room, "We'll see if we can fix it up some."</div> <bR> <div>     As Nurse Joy and Alyssa went into the back, Richard showed the feathers he had collected to Zeth and Destiny.  "Look at these," he said, spreading them out like a fan, "I found all of them on Alyssa's balcony at the hotel.  I think whoever attacked her used some kind of bird pokémon to get into her room from outside."</div> <bR> <div>     "Those are big feathers," Destiny commented, as she took one of them and examined it.  "They've got to be from a big bird.  There's no Pidgey that have feathers like this."</div> <bR> <div>     "I agree," Richard said.  "I'm going to ask Nurse Joy about these feathers once she's done bandaging up Alyssa.  Maybe she'll have some idea what kind of pokémon they're from."</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth nodded, "I hope so.  I want to get to the bottom of this."  Zeth looked up at the center's clock.  "Well, I'll head back to the hotel, I guess.  Tell me if you find out anything."</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny said goodnight as well, and followed Zeth out, leaving Richard alone.  He went back to the examination room, where Nurse Joy was bandaging up Alyssa's arm.  "There, that should just about do it," Joy was saying.  "You can go back to the hotel now."</div> <bR> <div>     "Thanks, I'll take my pokémon and go," Alyssa said, hopping off the examination table.  "I'll see you later, Richard," she said as she left the room.  "I'm glad you came along when you did.  Tell your friends I said thanks."</div> <bR> <div>     "I will," Richard responded, then walked over to Nurse Joy.  "Hey, nurse, can you tell me what kind of feathers these are?"</div> <bR> <div>     The nurse took a quick glance at them, "I don't know...  I'm not a bird-watcher."</div> <bR> <div>     "It's important," Richard told her, holding out the feathers again.  "I think they're from a pokémon owned by someone that's trying to disrupt the League Games."</div> <bR> <div>     Joy sighed and took one of the brown feathers from Richard, "Okay, okay...  I'll take another look."  The nurse scanned the feather for a few moments, then shook her head, "I still don't know...  It's not from anything small.  It could be from a Noctowl or a Pidgeotto or maybe even a Farfetch'd.  I'm not very good at identifying feathers.  For all I know, they're a Dodrio's tailfeathers."</div> <bR> <div>     Richard shook his head, "No way are they from a Dodrio.  You think you could ask around, see if anyone else knows what they're from?"</div> <bR> <div>     "Very well," Joy agreed.  "For whatever good you think it will do..."</div> <bR> <div>     "Keep that feather," Richard said, turning to leave.  "I'll keep the rest.  I'll be back tomorrow.  You can tell me if you found out anything then."</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>     As he had said, Richard returned to the pokémon center the following morning, just before noon.  The pokémon center was as busy as he had expected it to be, with Nurse Joy running around, trying to take care of the first injured pokémon of the day's matches.  What was surprising, though, was how many of the pokémon appeared to be sick, rather than injured.  "Hey, Nurse Joy," he said, catching up to her as she moved to the side of a feverish Machop.  "Did you find anything out about that feather I gave you?"</div> <bR> <div>     Joy spared him a quick glance, then turned back to her patient.  "Oh, it's you again...  No, I haven't had time to do anything but tend to patients today.  I wouldn't let your pokémon out, if I were you.  There's some kind of epidemic going around.  I have at least three dozen sick pokémon already and more keep coming in."</div> <bR> <div>     "That's awful!" Richard exclaimed.  "Are they all from trainers in the games?"</div> <bR> <div>     Nurse Joy shook her head, "No.  There's a few from other trainers in the city, and I have three of my four Chanseys down as well.  It started right after you left last night.  I went back to check on the pokémon, and five of them were starting to feel nauseated and dizzy.  I've had calls from trainers all night, telling me their pokémon are getting sick.  I'm starting to think I might have to quarantine the pokémon center!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Do you have any idea what it is?" Richard asked, following the nurse as she moved on to her next patient.</div> <bR> <div>     "I thought I did at first," Joy said.  "When the first pokémon here started to come down with it, I thought it was the effects of a pokémon poison, like Poisonpowder or Toxic.  All five of the original pokémon were owned by the same trainer, and I thought they might have come into contact with the poison before they came.  I treated them last night, and it seemed to work, but this morning, they're even worse off then before.  And there's too many other pokémon that are sick now."</div> <bR> <div>     "And poison wouldn't spread like a disease," Richard agreed.  As he spoke, a door to one of the other rooms in the pokémon center opened, and a Chansey staggered out, supported by a Vileplume so she wouldn't fall over.  "Uh-oh, looks like another one."</div> <bR> <div>     "That's my last Chansey!" Joy exclaimed.  "I had her keeping all the healthy pokémon out of the way so they wouldn't get sick."</div> <bR> <div>     Richard walked past the Chansey and looked through the door she had come through, "Looks like it's too late, Nurse."</div> <bR> <div>     Joy joined him by the door, and looked into the room, where at least ten more pokémon were moaning and staggering as they walked.  "No!  It's impossible!" the Nurse exclaimed.  "How can this happen?"</div> <bR> <div>     Richard pointed to a single pokémon in the midst of the sick ones, "That Muk's fine, and so was the Vileplume.  Both of them are poison types, and aren't usually affected by poison.  Is it possible you were right to begin with?"</div> <bR> <div>     "But how?  They'd have all had to be exposed to poison for that to be true.  What's the connection?"</div> <bR> <div>     Richard thought for a moment, "It has to be something in the center!  That'd be the only way the Chanseys could pick it up too!  And poison pokémon attacks are fast-acting, so they'd have had to have been exposed to it recently."</div> <bR> <div>     Joy nodded, "And it would have to be in a large amount for the pokémon to be as sick as they are.  But no humans have been affected by it yet..."</div> <bR> <div>     "The pokémon food!" Richard exclaimed.  "You said yourself that they were all feeling sick to the stomach!  Someone poisoned the pokéchow!"</div> <bR> <div>     The Nurse frowned, "I'd hate to think that someone did it on purpose, but I think you might be right.  But why would someone want to do something like that?"</div> <bR> <div>     "Someone's trying to ruin the League games," Richard said confidently.  "I don't know who it is, or why they're doing it, but if they're not stopped soon, the tournament will be ruined."</div> <bR> <div>     "It's already well on the way," Joy said unhappily.  "There's already been three trainers that have had to forfeit their matches because of this."  The nurse walked back to the storage room, Richard following close behind.  Pointing at the various containers of pokéchow on the shelves, she sighed, "Throw those out, will you?  Get rid of everything that's open.  I'll start giving the pokémon antidotes.</div> <bR> <div>     Richard nodded slowly and got to work.</div> <bR> <div>     A short while later, with the storeroom nearly emptied, Richard came back to the examination room, where Joy was still waiting on her many patients.  He held out his hand, "We were right.  While I was getting rid of everything, I found this spilled behind a box of food."  In the palm of his hand was a small pile of glistening green dust.</div> <bR> <div>     Joy recognized it immediately, "Poisonpowder."</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>     While Joy and Richard were busy searching for the cause of the pokémon sicknesses, Zeth was starting his third round match.  His opponent, a trainer named Corey, had just sent out a Corsola to fight Blaze, and already the little water type was showing its advantage.  It pummeled the Growlithe with a Bubblebeam attack, then turned his Flamethrower back at him with its Mirror Coat.  "Use Agility!" Zeth shouted, hoping the fire dog could last a while longer.</div> <bR> <div>     Blaze shot forward like a rocket, dodging back and forth to avoid the bubbles that the Corsola continued to fire at him.  Zeth grinned and called out another attack.  "Try Dragonbreath!"</div> <bR> <div>     The Growlithe blew out a steam of blue fire at the Corsola, which didn't manage to reflect it as it had his Flamethrower.  "And Iron Tail!" Zeth continued giving commands.  Blaze darted past the Corsola, his tail glowing white.  Before he passed it completely, he stopped and spun around, smacking the coral pokémon with his glowing tail.  There was a loud clacking sound as the blow connected, then Blaze tried to jump away.</div> <bR> <div>     However, the Corsola was spun around by the attack, turning it just enough that Blaze was lined up for its Bubblebeam attack.  It shot off a round of the explosive bubbles, knocking the Growlithe off his feet.</div> <bR> <div>     That was it for Blaze.  He tried to scramble up, but the Corsola used a Spike Cannon attack, knocking him out.  Zeth grabbed Florio's pokéball with one hand, while returning Blaze with his other.  "Great job, Blaze, now Florio'll take care of it!"  He threw the Ivysaur's pokéball out onto the field.  "Start off with Vine Whip, Florio!"</div> <bR> <div>     The Ivysaur extended his vines, thrusting them towards the Corsola with lightning speed.  Instead of dodging, the coral pokémon used Harden, shining brightly as Florio's vines smacked across its body.  The attack prevented much of the damage that would have been done to it, but it didn't stop Florio from wrapping his vines around it and dragging it closer.</div> <bR> <div>     "Razor Leaf!" Zeth commanded.  This time, even though the Corsola tried once again to harden, the grass attack was too much for it to take.  The coral pokémon squeaked once and stopped struggling, still conscious, but unable to battle further.</div> <bR> <div>     Corey returned the pokémon to its pokéball and chose a second, then hesitated a moment and switched it for a different pokémon.  Zeth thought he had an idea of which pokémon the boy was choosing between.  During the earlier rounds, he had seen Corey with an amazingly fast Rapidash and a powerful Scizor, both of which would likely give Florio the fight of his life.</div> <bR> <div>     Expecting one of those excellent pokémon he had seen earlier, Zeth was shocked to see Corey not send either out, but instead release an Octillery.  "What?  Florio, Solarbeam!"  He wasn't sure what trick Corey had up his sleeve, but there had to be some reason that he chose a pokémon with a type disadvantage over his two pokémon that could have really caused havoc with Zeth's team.</div> <bR> <div>     As Florio charged up his energy for a devastating solar blast, Corey ordered the Octillery to use an Ice Beam attack.  Too busy soaking up sunlight to dodge, Florio took the full blast, ice forming on his leaves and weighing him down.  The Ivysaur shook off the icicles, then fired off the Solarbeam, which only brushed the Octillery as it dodged out of the way.</div> <bR> <div>     The jet pokémon fired off its special attack, Octazooka, sending a powerful spray of inky black water at Florio.  The Ivysaur dodged it, but some of it splattered him in the face and threw off the aim of a flurry of Razor Leaves he fired off at the same time.  "Get closer, Florio!" Zeth called out.  "Body Slam!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Octillery, Psybeam!"  Florio, running full tilt toward the Octillery, was unable to dodge, but the attack hardly slowed him down.  He slammed into the jet pokémon, knocking it over.  Zeth started to call out for a Vine Whip attack, but Florio was already using a Razor Leaf attack.  The attack finished off the Octillery, leaving Corey with only one more pokémon.</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth decided he would choose the Scizor if he was Corey.  The steel bug would quickly finish off Florio, who was panting hard from fighting his last two opponents.  Across from him, in the other box, Corey held up a pokéball, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and threw it into the field.  Zeth nearly fell out of the trainer box in shock that was probably greater then his surprise at the Octillery.  It was still no Rapidash or Scizor.  It wasn't even an adult pokémon.  It was a Wynaut, the pre-evolution of Wobbuffet and not a pokémon that Zeth would ever have sent into a match like this.</div> <bR> <div>     He had to remind himself that Wobbuffets could battle well, despite their lack of offensive attacks, but what about a Wynaut?  To him it made no sense.  He paused, uncertain on how to proceed.  He expected some kind of trap, but he knew that unless he actually hit the other pokémon, it could do no damage to his Ivysaur.  "Florio... Uh...  Grab it with Vine Whip," he said.</div> <bR> <div>     Florio shuffled towards the Wynaut, extending his vines to ensnare the little blue pokémon.  The Wynaut was surprisingly fast, though, dodging away from the vines before they came too close.  Florio probably wouldn't have had any trouble grabbing the Wynaut if he hadn't already been through two other battles, but he was too tired to keep up at that point.  Zeth wasn't quite ready to recall him, though.  "Use Sweet Scent!"</div> <bR> <div>     In response, Florio emitted a heady fragrance that quickly filled the area.  It was quite potent, and instantly caused a desire to linger and smell the wonderful scent.  Zeth knew its powers and could shake off the sensation.  The Wynaut, however, stood there mesmerized by the sweet smell.  Florio quickly had it in his vines, held too tight to escape.  He gave Zeth a questioning glance, wordlessly asking for his next orders.  "Sleep Powder," Zeth said simply.</div> <bR> <div>     The Wynaut realized what was coming and started shouting and struggling, but he was wrapped up too tightly.  Florio quickly positioned it above his bud and puffed out a small cloud of powder.  The Wynaut yelled some more, coughing in the glistening cloud before finally succumbing to its effects.  It was perhaps the easiest end Zeth had ever had to a match.  The referee called out Zeth's victory as Zeth recalled Florio and walked down from the trainer's box.</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny met him at the bottom, chuckling.  "What's so funny?" he asked cheerfully.</div> <bR> <div>     "It's too bad you can't understand pokémon," she told him with a grin.  "That Wynaut was hilarious!  It was yelling and screaming that it didn't want to take a nap up until Florio finally put it to sleep!"</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth laughed at that, "Poor thing.  It didn't stand a chance."  </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>     When Zeth went to the pokémon center to check in Blaze and Florio, he wasn't surprised to find Richard there, as they had all spent a good deal of time at the center over the last few days.  "You wouldn't believe the battle I just had," Zeth said to him, as he handed his pokéballs to Nurse Joy.  "He sent out an Octillery and a Wynaut to battle Florio!"</div> <bR> <div>     "I heard," Richard said flatly.</div> <bR> <div>     "You did?"  Zeth looked at Richard in confusion, noticing that his friend looked rather disgusted.  Zeth wondered if he had done something wrong.  "Hey, what's the matter?  You wanted a Wynaut to beat me?"</div> <bR> <div>     Richard shook his head, "It's not you.  It's Corey.  You know why he used those pokémon against you, instead of his best ones?"</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth shrugged, "Uh, no, not really.  I thought maybe he was trying to show off or something."</div> <bR> <div>     "No one with brains shows off like that at a League Match, Zeth.  Those were the last three pokémon he had that were still able to battle.  All the rest of them were here, along with the forty or so other pokémon that had been poisoned since last night."</div> <bR> <div>     "What?" Zeth blinked in surprise.  "Poisoned!?  Who's been poisoning pokémon?"</div> <bR> <div>     "We don't know," Richard explained.  "Probably the same person who's responsible for everything else that's happened.  Whoever it was put poison in the center's pokémon food last night.  I've been here for an hour, helping Joy with all the sick pokémon.  Most of them should be fine in a while, but it's already disrupted the games, as you've seen firsthand."</div> <bR> <div>     "I had no idea," Zeth said, shocked by this revelation.  "I thought...  I mean..."  The trainer stumbled over his words.  "I have to go find Corey," he finally said.  "I should talk to him."</div> <bR> <div>     "He's in the back, with his pokémon, which are, incidentally, almost well enough to battle again now that we've given them an antidote for the poison."</div> <bR> <div>     "Now that's a crude joke," Zeth growled, as he headed to the back of the pokémon center.  "I'll catch up with you later."</div> <bR> <div>     As Zeth walked to the back of the center, Richard turned to find Alyssa Trance entering the center.  "Hey, Alyssa!" he called to her.  "How's the arm?"</div> <bR> <div>     "Better than my pokémon," she complained.  "Where's Nurse Joy?  Was she able to figure out what was wrong with them?"</div> <bR> <div>     "Ah, of course..." Richard realized.  "You brought them here after your match this morning."</div> <bR> <div>     "Yeah," Alyssa confirmed, "And then she called and told me they were all sick.  You know anything about that?"</div> <bR> <div>     Richard sighed, "Yeah, unfortunately, I do.  But don't worry, they're getting better.  Let me tell you what happened..."</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>     Richard was starting to get tired of explaining the situation by the time Kevin came to the center to find them.  Thankfully, he had already heard of the poisonings before he came, making it unnecessary to reiterate.  "This is outrageous!" Kevin exclaimed.  "We've got to find out who's doing stuff like this, and stop them from destroying the games!"</div> <bR> <div>     "I agree," Zeth said.  "This time they've gone too far."</div> <bR> <div>     "Forget this time," Alyssa growled.  "They went too far when they tied me up and stuck me in the closet!  We need to figure out who's behind this and stop them!"</div> <bR> <div>     "I've tried talking to the Chanseys to see if any of them knew if someone was near the storeroom," Destiny mentioned.  She had come down to the center a little while after Zeth, having wondered what was taking him so long.  "None of them remembered anything."</div> <bR> <div>     "What?" Alyssa interrupted.  "Talked to the Chanseys?  How?"</div> <bR> <div>     "She can understand poké-speak," Zeth informed the other trainer.</div> <bR> <div>     "Impossible!" she said, shaking her head.  "No one's been able to figure out how to speak to pokémon."</div> <bR> <div>     "So how come I have a translator in my pokédex?" Zeth argued.  "Someone had to program it."</div> <bR> <div>     "Well, I heard it was done by an Alakazam that got fed up with people that couldn't learn how understand it."</div> <bR> <div>     Richard cut in before the two could argue any further.  "This isn't the time, guys.  Besides, Zeth is right.  I've seen Destiny talk to pokémon before.  I'm sure she'd show you that she can do it sometime.  Sometime later!" he added, emphasizing the "later" part.</div> <bR> <div>     "Yeah...  So all we know for certain is that it happened after you left the pokémon center last night?" Kevin asked.</div> <bR> <div>     "No," Richard disagreed.  "The first cases happened right after we left.  Nurse Joy said that those pokémon had come in just before us, and Chansey was getting them food while we were there.  The food had to have been poisoned before we went to the center, probably just before or after he tied up Alyssa."</div> <bR> <div>     "That makes sense," Alyssa agreed.  "Or else he just sent a pokémon to do that part.  He didn't necessarily have to do it himself."</div> <bR> <div>     "That's true," Zeth said, considering that explanation.  "Or he could have had a partner.  If he's from the Rockets or the Dragons, that's pretty likely.  They usually work as teams."</div> <bR> <div>     "This isn't getting us anywhere," Kevin complained.  "We know <B>someone</B> did it, but we don't know who.  We know <B>how</B> they did it, but we don't know why.  It could be anyone as far as we know!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Not really," Destiny disagreed.  "So far, it's all been centered around the league matches in general, not any person in particular.  That indicates that it's some kind of plot against the league games in general, and not a grudge against a particular person."</div> <bR> <div>     "Then how do you explain what happened to me?" Alyssa asked.  "Whoever it is doesn't seem to like me very much."</div> <bR> <div>     "You're not the only one who was attacked," Kevin told her.  "I've talked to another trainer that got beat up by that masked guy and his Jolteon in a back alley.  "He was pretty spooked.  Said he thinks that it's getting too dangerous to stay in the tournament.  Last I heard, he forfeited his match and left town."</div> <bR> <div>     "So maybe it's a contestant, determined to win by getting rid of all the competition?" Richard suggested.</div> <bR> <div>     "One heck of a way to do it..." Kevin muttered.  "I don't know...  It'd be kind of risky, considering that it would be kind of obvious if everyone but one person was affected by this stuff.</div> <bR> <div>     "What if it's not a contestant?" Zeth proposed.  "What if it's someone that has something against the league.  Maybe someone that was disqualified from participating?  Could it be revenge for getting blocked?"</div> <bR> <div>     "Maybe that's it," Destiny agreed.  "We should check out that idea.  It might just be the answer!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Or it could be Team Rocket," Zeth reminded her.  "They've been up to something strange lately.  Remember how they had Lucy's Kecleon, but let her go instead of stealing her?  Maybe all this is a cover for whatever they're really doing!"</div> <bR> <div>     "So much speculation, and so few facts," Kevin complained.  "We need some more clues."</div> <bR> <div>     "Definitely," Richard said.  "From this point on, we'd all better keep our eyes open."</div> <bR> <div>     "And be extra careful," Zeth added.  "We should all stick together whenever we can.  That way, we'll be more likely to be able to handle any sticky situations that come up.  If someone's going to jump me without warning, I'd like to have some backup."</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny nodded, "That's a good idea.  We'll have to make sure to warn Janice, too.  We wouldn't want something to happen to her either."</div> <bR> <div>     "Yeah, it'd be too bad if she never got her chance to go one on one with me," Zeth chuckled.  "She's looking forward to it so much."</div> <bR> <div>     "So that's all we're going to do?" Alyssa asked in disappointment.  "Just watch out for ourselves until something else happens?  Doesn't sound like much of a plan."</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth shrugged, "It's all we've got right now."</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>