Chapter 39

<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>   |   <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>   |   <B>Chapter 39</B>   |   <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 39</I></div> <div> <B>A Master in the Making: Chapter 39: It Isn't Whether You Win or Lose...</B></div> <bR> <div>     Zeth frowned as his vidphone started ringing.  He was half tempted to just turn it off, but then he decided it might be important.  Getting up from where he had been sitting on the floor, he took it from his pocket and turned it on.  There was no video, meaning that whoever was calling him was using a phone without that capability.  "Hello, Zeth Raltier here," Zeth said, wishing the call had come at a better time.</div> <bR> <div>     A moment later, Richard's voice answered him.  "Zeth, I've made a discovery.  Meet me at the hotel immediately!"</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth sighed, "Rich, I'm kind of busy here.  It'll have to wait."</div> <bR> <div>     "It can't wait.  I know who the saboteur is, and I need you to meet up with me right now!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Richard, I really can't..." Zeth started to talk again, but an audible click told him that Richard had already hung up.  Destiny, sitting nearby, had heard the short conversation and now was giving Zeth a questioning stare.  "What's with him?  If he found the guy who's been wrecking the games, he should just go to the police."</div> <bR> <div>     "I don't know," Zeth admitted.  "Seemed kind of strange to me, too." Zeth slipped the phone back into his pocket and shook his head, "I hope he's not in some kind of trouble."</div> <bR> <div>     "Do you think you should go?" Destiny asked.</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth shook his head, "No, I'm staying here.  Richard can take care of himself, and Kevin was with him.  They'll be fine.  I've got other priorities." That being said, Zeth resumed his former position on the room's floor, by a shallow box lined with soft towels.  Reaching into the box, Zeth gently rubbed the ears of the Eevee inside.  "How you doing, girl?"</div> <bR> <div>     Eva gave his hand a nudge with her nose.  {Pretty good,} she told him.</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth nodded and smiled.  "You're gonna be a great mom, you know that?"  Zeth have her one more pat on the head, then reached over to snag Teak by the scruff of his neck as the Jolteon walked past.  The poor Jolteon was so nervous that he was aimlessly pacing around the room, and it was starting to drive Zeth crazy as well.  "Hey, come on, sit down," Zeth told him, patting the floor beside him.  "Before you wear a hole in the carpet."</div> <bR> <div>     Teak gave him an embarrassed look, then settled down beside him.  "There... That's better," Zeth nodded his approval, his mind a thousand miles from the troubles of the Obsidian League.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>     For Richard Callegh, the League sabotage was foremost on his mind.  He and Kevin hurried back to the hotel as fast as possible.  Richard had originally intended to go to the pokémon center, where Zeth had said he was going, but Kevin had left his pokémon back at the hotel, and he had suggested that they get them first, in case Zeth tried to battle his way out.  Richard really didn't expect Zeth to give them trouble, but on the other hand, he hadn't expected him to be the person responsible for sabotaging the Obsidian games, either.  He didn't have any of his own pokémon anymore, so he had quickly agreed.</div> <bR> <div>     When they reached the hotel, however, they found something that neither of them had expected.  Police cars were parked in various places around the building, and some of the officers were trying to keep people from entering the building.  The two trainers managed to slip inside while one of the policemen was busy trying to convince another bystander not to enter.  They hurried upstairs to Kevin's room, Richard wondering aloud what was going on.</div> <bR> <div>     They found out a moment later, as they turned the hallway corner and found a trio of policemen standing outside Kevin's room, talking with Janice Patton.  Janice was obviously upset about something, talking loudly and waving around a black piece of fabric.  Richard and Kevin hurried over, Richard cutting into the conversation abruptly.  "What's going on here?" he demanded.</div> <bR> <div>     "Richard!  Kevin!" Janice exclaimed.  "He was here - that guy that was causing all the trouble.  You'll never believe who it was!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Zeth Raltier," Richard growled, feeling even worse when he noted the look of shocked surprise on Janice's face.  So it was true...</div> <bR> <div>     "Yes, but how did you..."  Janice shook her head, "Never mind, it doesn't matter.  He stole your pokémon, Kevin!  I ran into him as he came out of your room and realized what was happening.  We fought each other, and I managed to pull his mask off," she held up the black fabric for their inspection as she continued, "but he managed to shove me away and escape.  I still don't believe it!  What could have caused him to want to do all this?"</div> <bR> <div>     Richard shook his head, "I don't know, but if his cover's been blown, we'd better find him fast!"  A sudden idea came to him and he turned to the nearest policeman.  "Officer!  Zeth has an airship.  We have to get to it before he flies right out of the city!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Do you know where it is?" the cop asked.</div> <bR> <div>     Richard shook his head, "He offered to take me on a ride once, but I was busy, so I never went."</div> <bR> <div>     "I did," Kevin admitted.  "I know where he was keeping it.  I just hope we're not too late.  Come on, I'll take you there!"</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>     The airship was still there when Kevin, Richard, and the local Officer Jenny arrived at the abandoned parking lot Zeth had been keeping it in.  Zeth, however, was nowhere in sight.  That seemed strange to Richard, and he said so.  "I'd have expected him to have taken the ship and be well away from here," he said.  "He could have been halfway to the Orange Islands by now."</div> <bR> <div>     Kevin shrugged, "Not really, but I agree that it was his best possibility of escape after being discovered.  I don't know why he wouldn't use it, unless there was something else he was planning to do first."</div> <bR> <div>     Jenny looked into the <I>Skylark</I>'s window, then popped open the door, "Here's something," she stated, reaching inside.</div> <bR> <div>     "He didn't lock the doors?" Richard asked in surprise.</div> <bR> <div>     "I don't think they <I>can</I> lock," Kevin told him.  "He said it was built by a friend of his as a sort of ferry between the ground and a bigger airship that couldn't land.  Wasn't meant to be used as a flying car."</div> <bR> <div>     "I know," Richard told him, coming over to see what Jenny had found.  "My dad helped build the thing.  I just didn't realize that it didn't have any security systems."</div> <bR> <div>     Jenny emerged from the interior of the airship, bearing a large blue feather, which she displayed to them, "I've never seen a feather so big."</div> <bR> <div>     "It's from an Articuno," Richard said, running his finger along the edge of it in admiration.  "It's beautiful..." Then his smile faded, "But it's not what we're here for.  We're wasting time."</div> <bR> <div>     "I also found these," Jenny said, half-climbing back into the <I>Skylark</I> to put the feather back and bring out six pokéballs.</div> <bR> <div>     Richard took one from her and threw it to the ground, then yelped in surprise as his Ledian emerged from the sphere.  "My pokémon!"  Grinning with delight, he returned the Ledian to it's pokéball and took the other five from Jenny.  "That's great!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Any more in there?" Kevin asked hopefully, and Richard suddenly felt guilty for his joy over having his own pokémon back.  Kevin's were still missing.</div> <bR> <div>     "I'm sorry, but it was just those," Jenny told him.</div> <bR> <div>     Richard put on a smile he hoped was reassuring and gave Kevin a friendly nudge in the side, "Hey, don't worry.  We find Zeth, we find your pokémon, right?"</div> <bR> <div>     "Yeah, I guess so."</div> <bR> <div>     "Then what are we hanging around here for?" Richard closed the door of the airship and clipped his pokéballs to his belt.  "Let's go find him!"</div> <bR> <div>     Jenny nodded in agreement, "I'll get some officers over here, in case he comes after we leave.  In the meantime, try to think of any other places he might be."</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>     Zeth waved cheerfully as Richard came hurtling through the doors of the pokémon center, wearing an expression of absolute shock on his face.  His smile to his friend faded when that look of surprise turned to one of outrage.  "There you are!" Richard pointed at him, and Zeth turned to look behind him, half-expecting the object of the other trainer's wrath to be someone behind him.</div> <bR> <div>     When he realized no one else was there, he spun back around to find Kevin and Officer Jenny had also come into the center, and neither of them looked very happy either.  "Rich, if this is about me not meeting you at the hotel, I can explain..."</div> <bR> <div>     "Oh, yes, you can explain a whole lot!" Richard snapped.</div> <bR> <div>     Jenny stepped forward, preventing any further outbursts from the furious trainer.  A set of handcuffs was in her hand and before Zeth could ask what they were for, they were snapped around his wrists.  "Zeth Raltier, you are under arrest.  You have the right to remain silent.  Anything you say --"</div> <bR> <div>     "Whoa!  Hold on a second here!" Zeth exclaimed, "What the heck is this all about?  Under arrest for what?"</div> <bR> <div>     "Like you don't know," Kevin retorted.</div> <bR> <div>     Jenny answered his question, "You are under arrest for theft, assault, poisoning..."</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth's jaw dropped, and he interrupted her again before she could finish, "You're kidding!  You mean you think...  You're accusing me of being the terrorist that's been disrupting the league games?  That's ridiculous!"</div> <bR> <div>     "We have more than enough proof," Richard informed him.  "My investigation showed you to be the only trainer with the pokémon to pull off everything that's been going on, and we found my pokéballs in your airship.  And to top it off, Janice saw you steal Kevin's pokémon this morning!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Yeah!" Kevin agreed, "So tell us what you did with them!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Excuse me," Nurse Joy's gentle voice silenced the conversation, making Zeth realize just how loud they had gotten.  "But at what time this morning did this young man steal the pokémon you say he did?"</div> <bR> <div>     "That was what... twenty or thirty minutes after he left us at the stadium?" Kevin said, thinking back.</div> <bR> <div>     "I came straight here after I got that call from Destiny," Zeth said defensively.</div> <bR> <div>     Joy nodded in agreement, "He's right.  He was here just a few minutes after his friend called him and he hasn't left since."</div> <bR> <div>     "He..." Richard blinked.  "Really?  But Janice said she saw your face!"</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth shook his head, "Impossible.  My Eevee was having kits.  I was right here."</div> <bR> <div>     "That means you either have a lookalike, or Janice was lying," Kevin pointed out.</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth frowned, "She did seem to have something for me, didn't she?  She kept insisting that she was going to beat me."</div> <bR> <div>     "I always thought she was a little obsessive about that," Richard agreed.  "I guess we'd better get back to the hotel and check her out."</div> <bR> <div>     "I just thought of something..." Zeth mentioned, "Rich, just after I got here, I got a phone call from you telling me to meet you at the hotel.  You never made that call, did you?"</div> <bR> <div>     "No," Richard confirmed Zeth's guess.  "I never called you."</div> <bR> <div>     "You - or rather, whoever it was that sounded like you - told me to meet you at the hotel immediately because you'd found out who was doing all of this.  Destiny heard it too, she can confirm it.  If it wasn't for Eva, I'd have been there right when Janice said I stole those pokémon."</div> <bR> <div>     "This whole thing was a setup!" Richard declared in disgust.  "We've been on the wrong trail the whole time!"</div> <bR> <div>     Kevin nodded grimly, "Let's go have a little talk with Janice Patton and see if we can't clear this up."</div> <bR> <div>     The door leading to the back of the pokémon center popped open and Destiny stuck her head out and glared at them, "Hey, keep it quiet out here, will you?  The new mom needs her rest." Her eyes fell upon the handcuffs Zeth was still wearing and she looked at them in confusion, "Uh, what's going on out here?"</div> <bR> <div>     "I'll explain later," Zeth told her, holding his wrists out to Officer Jenny, "Would you, uh..."</div> <bR> <div>     "I guess I'd better," she replied, removing the restraints.  "We'll save these for the person that deserves them."</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>     Janice threw her backpack over her shoulder and was just reaching for the doorknob when it suddenly turned on its own.  She stepped back as Zeth pushed the door the rest of the way open and stood in the doorway, blocking her from leaving her hotel room.  "I hope you don't mind us barging in here like this," he stated in a voice that indicated he really didn't care what she thought.</div> <bR> <div>     Standing just behind him, Officer Jenny showed her police badge, "We'd like you to answer a few questions."</div> <bR> <div>     Janice stumbled backwards, then pointed accusingly at Zeth, "What's he doing here, Officer?  Why haven't you arrested him?"</div> <bR> <div>     "Because he hasn't done anything," Kevin said, pushing past Jenny and Zeth to get into the room.  "We're all here because we want to hear your story of how Zeth stole my pokémon.  And this time, we'd really like it if you could explain how he did that while he was still at the pokémon center."</div> <bR> <div>     Janice shook her head, "I don't know what you're talking about!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Someone's gone through an awful lot of trouble to frame me," Zeth said, staring at her intently.  "I can only assume it's all been planned out for a while.  But this time they messed up and didn't check to see that I was where I was supposed to be.  I have an alibi.  Now the big question is: Who's setting me up, and why?  We're hoping you can shed a little light on that."</div> <bR> <div>     Janice glanced back and forth at them in silence, with an expression that said she didn't know what they were talking about.  "Perhaps we can talk about this down at the station," Jenny finally suggested.</div> <bR> <div>     "Fine, though I don't know what good it's going to do," Janice nodded, staring icily back at Zeth, with all the indications that she didn't believe a word he was saying.  "If he's not responsible, then who is?  Someone else who looks like him?  I know what I saw!"</div> <bR> <div>     "We'll sort this out," Jenny assured her, "Now, if you'll come with us."</div> <bR> <div>     Janice nodded once and walked toward them, giving Zeth another distrustful look.  Zeth moved aside to let her pass, and a moment later found himself hurtling into Officer Jenny.  The two of them fell heavily to the ground as Janice proceeded to slam Kevin into the wall.  Then she went down as well, tackled by Richard, who had been waiting in the hall.  She slipped out of his grasp and picked up a table lamp, breaking it across his back.  Jenny was trying to get out from under Zeth, who suddenly realized he was still on top of her and jumped to his feet just in time to duck the room's telephone, which Janice had hurled at his head.</div> <bR> <div>     "Sorry, Zeth Raltier," she said, a wicked grin spreading across her face.  "I thought I had you, but once again you managed to slip away."</div> <bR> <div>     Her voice was suddenly different than it had been.  Zeth recognized it immediately and was shocked that he hadn't caught on sooner.  "Danielle Mason!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Took you long enough," she mocked him.  "Of course, I am a master of disguise, so it's understandable.  I suppose you've won this time, but don't worry, I plan to make up for it eventually."  She hurled down a small sphere, which exploded into an inky smoke that obscured their view of her.  Out in the cloud, she was still talking, "Oh, and by the way, I'll take good care of your pokémon, Kevin!"</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth ran toward the sound of her voice, hoping to grab her before she slipped past them.  He ended up tripping over a chair and falling just short of the balcony door, which he heard slamming shut in front of him.  He jumped up again, ignoring a sharp pain in his shin, and reached the door, able to see Danielle just beyond.  She waved to him, then jumped off the balcony, a cord trailing after her.  Zeth shoved the door open, but when he got outside, all he found was the cord, swinging wildly from her descent.  She had escaped.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>     "Unfortunately, no one has yet been able to find Danielle Mason, or any of her Dragon associates..."</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth glared at the pokémon center's television set, set to LeagueTV as usual, "They're not going to find her," he said with absolute certainty to his three companions.  "She's probably halfway across Obsidia by now."</div> <bR> <div>     "Was she the one you told me about?" Destiny asked him.  "From Dragon Island?"</div> <bR> <div>     "Yeah, she was," Zeth confirmed.  Then, to stall any questions from Richard and Kevin, he explained further.  "She's the current leader of the Dragons.  Last I knew, she'd been captured by the Rockets, but then the two gangs joined up, so she must have made a deal with them.  When I ran into her, she managed to steal all my pokémon, and then eventually blackmailed me into joining the Dragons.  I managed to turn the tables and escape, but it wasn't easy.  If she's still after me, I don't look forward to running into her again."</div> <bR> <div>     "And you have Team Rocket after you too," Destiny reminded him.  "And that guy Shadow-whatever."</div> <bR> <div>     "ShadowWalker."</div> <bR> <div>     "Yeah, him," Destiny shook her head, "So basically, you have a lot of nasty people after you."</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth shrugged, "Keeps life interesting.  But speaking of nasty, I still can't get over how Danielle poisoned her own pokémon.  It made everyone look at her like a victim, when she was really the one behind it all.  And she abused her own pokémon to do it!  If that isn't evil, I don't know what is."</div> <bR> <div>     "I have just one more question, Zeth," Destiny said.  "She got away with Kevin's pokémon, so what's going to happen to the final match of the games between the two of you?  I know that's the last thing you want to talk about, but isn't it supposed to be in an hour or so, after all the challenge matches?"</div> <bR> <div>     Kevin winced, then nodded, "Yeah, it is.  And we're still having it, even though I don't really want to, just because it's the final match and everyone's waiting to see it.  But I'm stuck with just my backup team, and they aren't quite as good as my primary team."</div> <bR> <div>     There was an uncomfortable silence, as no one could think of anything to say to encourage their friend.  Zeth knew what it was like to lose his pokémon, and it really wasn't something that you could just talk away.  "Hang in there, Kev," he finally said, avoiding any reassurances that Kevin would get his pokémon back.  It wasn't likely, and they both knew it.  "Hang in there..."</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>     When the final match came, an hour later, Zeth could easily tell that Kevin wasn't his usual self.  He was trying to appear interested in the upcoming battle, but his heart just wasn't in it.  Zeth felt bad going into a match against him when he was like this, but Kevin had insisted that "the show must go on."  Kevin was in the green box, and as such, should have sent out his pokémon first, but Zeth picked a pokéball and threw it into the arena before him.  "Aqua, I choose you!"</div> <bR> <div>     The Cloyster appeared in a flash of light, and was soon joined by Kevin's Pikachu, a cheeky little mouse that Zeth had seen in some of Kevin's practice battles.  "Blitz, start off with a Thunderbolt attack," Kevin called.</div> <bR> <div>     "Protect," Zeth ordered.  Aqua slammed his shell shut with a loud clacking sound, the lightning flickering around him, but doing no real damage.  "Now Blizzard!"</div> <bR> <div>     Blitz was caught up in the icy blast that the Cloyster sent his way, but it retaliated with a second Thunderbolt, this time catching Aqua with his shell open.  Although the clam pokémon got a powerful shock, he still managed to teleport away before another blast of electricity hit him.  Reappearing behind the Pikachu, Aqua knocked Blitz over with an Ice Beam.  Zeth thought that the Pikachu wouldn't be able to fight after that, but the mouse surprised him by recovering from the attack and retaliating with a Swift attack that slipped past Aqua's defenses and knocked the Cloyster out.  As the Pikachu did a cute (and somewhat obnoxious) victory dance, Zeth called his pokémon back.</div> <bR> <div>     That had been a good start to the match, Zeth had to admit, but even though Aqua was defeated, Blitz wasn't much better off.  Kevin sent the pokémon a halfhearted smile, "Good job, Blitz.  Return."  Zeth waited for him to send his next pokémon out, choosing Blaze as soon as he saw it was a Weepinbell.</div> <bR> <div>     "Blaze, Flamethrower!" He ordered, nodding in satisfaction as the fire dog sprayed fire over the Weepinbell.  The plant-type fell to the ground, still alight, and at a second command from Zeth, Blaze smothered the flames to prevent unnecessary injury to the other pokémon.  It was obvious that the Weepinbell was out of the fight, almost as quickly as it had entered.  Kevin sent out a Dugtrio to replace it.</div> <bR> <div>     This one proved to be more of a challenge, using its Magnitude attack to knock Blaze off his feet, then whipping a barrage of sand at the Growlithe.  Blaze spewed flames at the mole pokémon, but the sand affected his aim, causing the fire to completely miss its target.  Undaunted, the Growlithe hurled himself at the Dugtrio and grabbed it in his jaws, spraying fire through his teeth as he bit down on it.</div> <bR> <div>     Then he was thrown aside as an Earthquake attack shook the ground around him.  The Dugtrio, a blackened patch of fur covering one head, growled in anger and charged forward.  The way the mole pokémon plowed through the ground with ease would have been fascinating, had Zeth not been more interested in how it tossed Blaze across the field when it slammed into him.  Wincing, Zeth recalled his Growlithe.</div> <bR> <div>     "Florio, it's your turn," Zeth called out, releasing his Ivysaur onto the field.  On an order from Kevin, the Dugtrio immediately rushed forward to try a Body Slam.  Zeth didn't order Florio to dodge it, choosing a different strategy instead, "Grab it, Florio!"</div> <bR> <div>     The mole slammed into the Ivysaur, but Florio had braced for the impact and proceeded to quickly wrap up the Dugtrio in his vines, pummeling it with a flurry of Razor Leaves when he'd tangled it up to his satisfaction.  Then, he finished it off with a light puff of Sleep Powder and released it so Kevin could recall it.</div> <bR> <div>     "Go, Crash!" Kevin called, releasing a Gligar as his fourth pokémon.  Florio waved a vine at it cheerfully, then did a Gligarman pose, lifting his front left leg and holding his vines out to the sides, as if they were Gligar wings.  Zeth buried his face in his hand in embarrassment.  Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Destiny giggling at the Ivysaur's antics.</div> <bR> <div>     "Come on, Florio," he called, "Get serious!  Razor Leaf!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Crash, Quick Attack!" Kevin ordered.  The Gligar, unimpressed by Florio's display, shot towards the Ivysaur in a blur, swishing past a hasty flurry of leaves to smash into the grass-type.  Florio, a look of surprise on his face, whipped a vine at the flying scorpion, but the Gligar was already soaring away.</div> <bR> <div>     "Try again, Florio!"  This time, the Razor Leaves caught the Gligar across the wing, sending it into a downward spiral.  It pulled out of the dive just before hitting the ground and vanished, reappearing a moment later as it smacked into Florio again with a Faint Attack.</div> <bR> <div>     Crash didn't fly away this time, following the newest order from Kevin.  Its claws glowed brightly and in a quick motion, it raised them up and then brought them slamming down on the Ivysaur's head.  Florio fell to the Guillotine attack, forcing Zeth to pick his own fourth pokémon.</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth chose Talon, sure that the fierce Fearow could beat the Gligar with little problem.  "Talon, Drill Peck!" he commanded, grinning in satisfaction as the bird rocketed toward the flying scorpion.  Crash tried to dodge away, but Talon was more agile than he was, catching the Gligar in his claws to deliver a sharp jab with his beak.</div> <bR> <div>     But the blow glanced aside as Crash used Harden, and before Talon could get another blow in, the Gligar lashed out, forcing the Fearow to release him or get slashed up.  Talon chose to let go, and the scorpion spun away from him.  Crash went though an elaborate set of evasive maneuvers to stay ahead of the Fearow, then flipped around to attack.  Then, finding nothing, the Gligar hovered in the air for a moment, looking confused.</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth grinned, as he had ordered Talon to charge up a Sky Attack instead of following the Gligar.  Crash's wild dodging had provided the Fearow with more than enough time to prepare, and as the scorpion hovered in place, Talon unleashed the attack.  A bright wave of energy shot toward the Gligar, hurling him backwards through the air.  Crash fell from the sky, too stunned to recover, and Kevin returned him before he could hit the ground.</div> <bR> <div>     The Gligar was replaced with a Vulpix, the fire fox opening up with a Confuse Ray that Talon avoided with a quick spin.  Completing the maneuver, the Fearow dove towards the Vulpix, hitting it dead on with a mirrored Confuse Ray.  The Vulpix stumbled slightly as he whipped past it, but was otherwise unaffected.  It growled and sent a spinning cyclone of fire blazing toward its airborne attacker.</div> <bR> <div>     "Agility!" Zeth called out as the fire roared towards the Fearow.  Talon heard him just in time and dodged the attack with an amazing burst of speed.  He kept up the pace, twirling through the air in a random pattern as he once again came in for an attack.  "Now Drill Peck!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Fire Blast!" Kevin shouted to his pokémon.  The fire fox spouted out a huge blast of flame, right into the Fearow's path.  Talon hit it straight on, and flashed out the other side of the flames, his feathers ablaze.  A second later, he slammed into the Vulpix, both pokémon rolling and bouncing along the field from the impact.  Zeth had a sudden flashback of the battle in Emerald City, where Talon had broken his wing and nearly gotten killed from a landing like that.  He gripped the railing of the trainer box, anxiously waiting to see the results of this attack.</div> <bR> <div>     Then the Fearow lifted his head and gave a weak but triumphant call and Zeth released a breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding in.  Talon would be just fine, and knowing him, he was probably perfectly happy to go out with a bang like that, especially since he'd knocked out the Vulpix in the process.  "Nice job, Talon," Zeth said, returning the Fearow to his pokéball.</div> <bR> <div>     Kevin was down to his last new pokémon.  He still had Blitz, but Zeth knew the Pikachu couldn't really do any more, so this last pokémon would finish the match.  Kevin held up his last pokéball and looked at it for a second before throwing it out.</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth looked at Kevin's pokémon, a Smeargle, wondering for a moment what kind of attacks it knew.  With its Sketch attack, it could learn any attack known, so there was no way to tell what it could do.  "Well, Teak, you can do this one!  Finish this off so we can get out of here and go see your kids, okay?"  At the mention of his newborn kits, Teak turned and shouted back an emphatic reply that Zeth could understand even without his translator on.</div> <bR> <div>     "Yeah, that's right," Zeth laughed.  "Go on, start off with a Thunderbolt attack!" The Jolteon still had trouble with anything stronger than a Thundershock, but Zeth was sure he could handle it.  And he was right.  Teak unleashed a fabulous blast of electricity right on target.  All that work at improving his control was really starting to pay off.</div> <bR> <div>     Kevin shouted his orders over the roar of thunder, and the Smeargle retaliated with a Sludge Bomb attack, splattering vile poison all over Teak.  The Jolteon shook himself off and pawed at the remaining ooze on his fur, and Zeth called out to him quickly, "Teak, use Shadow Ball.  We'll clean you up in a few minutes!"</div> <bR> <div>     "Sketch it!" Kevin told his own pokémon as Teak flung a sphere of dark energy at the Smeargle.  The painter pokémon didn't even move out of the way, the attack knocking it off its feet.  It slowly got up again, and Zeth knew it wouldn't take much more.  "Try it out!" Kevin commanded. "Shadow Ball!"</div> <bR> <div>     Teak scrambled away from the Smeargle's copied attack, managing to dodge the first sphere it attacked him with but accidentally turning straight into a second.  The Jolteon tripped and fell, firing off a random spray of Pin Missiles in the painter pokémon's general direction.  A few of the needle-shots hit, but the majority went wide.  Teak leapt to his feet to try again, this time with the more accurate Swift attack.  The shining stars flashed through a storm of Razor Leaves from the Smeargle, both attacks weakening the other before hitting their intended targets.  Teak withstood the attack.  The Smeargle did not.</div> <bR> <div>     "Yes!" Zeth shouted in victory.  Across the field, Kevin returned the Smeargle to its pokéball and turned away, walking down the steps of the trainer box without another word.  By all rights, he could have sent his Pikachu back out, but both of them knew it would be pointless.  His departure acknowledged his defeat.  Zeth felt a wave of shock hit him as the spectators began to cheer.  He'd won...  He'd actually won the entire league games!</div> <bR> <div>     But at what cost?  Richard hadn't been able to battle him.  Kevin had been forced to use his secondary team.  Yes, he had won, but it didn't feel like a true victory, not like it was meant to.  He turned away from the field, walking down the steps from his trainer box with a blank look on his face.  It was all so overwhelming.  Reporters swarmed him, and he suddenly found Destiny at his side, though he wasn't sure how she'd gotten there.</div> <bR> <div>     He was barraged by questions about how he felt about winning, what he'd thought of the battle.  He pushed through the crowd, answering the only way he could.  "It was... unexpected..."</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>     The next hour was a blur to him, as he attended the awards ceremony and did his best to dodge reporters.  He was at the same time overjoyed and feeling terrible.  He wanted to find Kevin and talk to him, but the other trainer was nowhere to be found.  Finally he managed to escape the mayhem and return to the pokémon center with Destiny.  His pokémon were already there, having been sent back just after the battle.</div> <bR> <div>     Richard and Kevin were also waiting for him there.  "Am I ever glad to see you two..." Zeth said, letting himself fall into a chair.  "Who'd have ever thought that winning could be so... extreme?"</div> <bR> <div>     "You mean all the people pressing you for attention?" Richard asked him.</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth grinned weakly, "Yeah, something like that.  I thought I was gonna pass out or something.  I still can't believe I made it all the way through the League!"  He looked down at the trophy in his arms and shook his head, "I feel like I don't really deserve this, after all that happened.  I went through the games practically unscathed, while everyone else suffered.  I feel like I cheated someone else out of the victory they should have had."</div> <bR> <div>     Kevin shook his head, "No, you didn't, Zeth.  You deserved this as much as anyone.  We'll have other matches -- real ones, with no interference.  Maybe next time someone else will win.  It's not really important anyway.  Stopping Danielle Mason and the Dragons, helping out your friends, trying to make the world a better place -- that's what's important.  Face it, the League games are just what they're called: Games.  They're fun, but life's about more than games."</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth nodded slowly, "Yeah...  You're right." He gave the trophy in his lap another long look, then smiled again.  "I guess it's not so bad, winning.  Pretty nice trophy, at least."</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny chuckled, "Yes it is."</div> <bR> <div>     "I guess I can force myself to keep on living, even though I won."  Zeth was satisfied to see grins starting to appear on everyone else's faces.  "I can always lose to you next time, right?"</div> <bR> <div>     "That's the spirit!" Richard declared, giving Zeth a friendly smack on the shoulder.  "We'll bear the awful burden of victory for you next time!"</div> <bR> <div>     Zeth broke out laughing, "Good, good..."  He got up and headed for the back of the center, motioning for them to follow him.  "Speaking of important things, you two never got to really see my Eevee's kits, did you?  Come on, I'll show them to you.  They're so cute!"</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny followed after him, "Just be quiet, or mom will get mad."</div> <bR> <div>     "Yeah, yeah, we know," Zeth assured her.  "We'll be so quiet, you wouldn't know we're there." With that, he pushed open the door to the main hallway and immediately bumped into a Chansey bearing a bowl of pokémon chow.  The bowl clattered to the floor loudly and the kibble went everywhere.</div> <bR> <div>     Destiny shot Zeth a mock-accusing look as he bent down to help the Chansey clean up the mess, "Quiet, huh?"</div> <bR> <div>     "Don't even start..."</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>