Episode 3: Flashbacks and Showdowns

At the Volcano Arena, all that could be seen was a gigantic blimp, with people in grey boarding it.
"Where's James?" Sam asked. Kate simply shrugged.
"He must be on the balloon. He can't have travelled far if he didn't."
"Are you saying that we go straight into the lion's den?"
"I'm not suggesting that without reason. If we go there, not only can we rescue James, we can also learn information on why the Black League wants to go to the Paciftic City League. You know I don't rush into things without a good reason. Now are we going on or not?" but Sam stopped .
"I've just remembered it."
"Oh, no Sam not now! Save it for later, OK?"
"I can't help it. It's just that this was in a similar situation, wasn't it?" Kate sighed.
"Sam, I wish you'd just get over it. After all, it's been 7 years. Get a hold of yourself, alright?"
"No Kate. I can't help it. Think about it. This is practically the same thing that happened with them, wasn't it? I know I don't believe in Deja Vu, but it seems the same..."
"Fine then, I'll go on, and I'll come back alive and well with James. For goodness sake, do you really think that these were exactly the same circumstances? Gotta go now. Bye!" She snuck into the blimp. Then the incedent that Sam had remembered flashed in front of him.

+Sam, Suzie and the boy crawled slowly up to the landing area. They were all silent as they heard the steady sound of the blimp's engine. The boy looked up. He had blonde hair and dark green eyes. His body was lean and fit, but other than that, Sam knew nothing of him. He knew a lot about Suzie however. She had long brown hair with hazel eyes to match, and he was her best friend. The boy was silent, then he gave a slight nod to Suzie and Sam. They crept up to the Blimp ever so slowly, until they were 12 metres away from it. Suzie shivered slightly, but Sam didn't make a sound, he was too scared. The boy gestured, and they managed to sneak onto the blimp. There, they crept into a vacant room and locked the door. Suddenly Suzie was back to her normal talkative self.
"Well mister," she said. "Start talking. You've lead us here for no apparent reason, and I want to know why."
"My name is...I...I'm sorry, but I can't tell you. My codename is Cloudzan. I work for the Makard Corporation. This is why I've brought you here. The Makard corporation on the outside seems like a friendly enough company, but actually, they are trying to take over the Paciftic City League. As you know, there is an inpenetrable shield guarding the league, so that in order to get there, you must have eight badges. This is what the Makard Corporation is doing. They are trying to get badges so that they can enter the league. But League rules say that you cannot get a badge without being within the age limit of 10-19. None of the Makard Corporation is in that age group, and so we...I mean they have to find people within that age group."
"You're not suggesting that we do that, are you?" Sam asked.
"That's exactly what we...I mean I don't want you to do. So we'll have to go into the Photon room so that we can disable their tracking lasers."
"But why take us?"
"You are the only capable people in Dragonroot. You must come." He then lead Sam and Suzie outside. Sam was suspicious. He kept pretending that he used the wrong words. Could he be in the Makard Corporation? Without thinking, he headbutted Cloudzan in the stomach and ran.
"HEY STOP!" the man yelled. "SECURITY! GRAB THEM!" Sam managed to make it outside and rushed off. He was safe, for now. Just then, the Blimp started to rise. He thought that the Makard Corporation wanted him? Then he heard screams. Something wasn't right. He was starting to worry, when suddenly the Blimp exploded.
"SUZIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"+

Sam wiped that thought from his mind. The blimp had already sailed out of his view. There was nothing to worry about now, so he headed off to Alcove town.

Alcove town was a quiet place next to the Bluebell crossroads, where people could access a variety of different places. But Sam had something else on his mind. What happened to the blimp Kate was on? How did Suzie's blimp explode? He went to the library to find out. At first, he was tempted to type in "Makard Blimp" into the search engine, but something told him not to, so he typed in Blimp accidents. Only 1 site appeared, so Sam clicked on it. To his surprise, when he looked down the site, he saw a link saying "Makard Blimp inforamtion". Excited, Sam clicked on it , but found out that he needed a password. To compensate, he clicked on "How did Blimps crash?" There were no words on it, instead, a voice box appeared. Sam clicked on it.
"Blimps." said the voice. "Blimps crash for various reasons. 1. They run out of fuel. 2. Some one sabotages the Blimp. 3...." suddenly the computer turned off. The lights flickered in the library. There was a smash, and a Makard Member came in. To Sam's shock, it was Cloudzan.
"Long time no see, kid," he said. "Now, where's Kate?"
"Why should I tell you?" Sam retorted.
"Ahhh, so you're not gonna tell me? Tell ya what. Beat me and I'll tell you the password for that Blimp thing. Lose, and you tell me where Kate is. Deal?"
"Deal. GO ESPEON!"
"GO UMBREON!" An Umbreon flashed out of Cloudzan's pokeball, while Eevee emerged out of Sam's.
"You called your Eevee an Espeon?"
"Yep. Like it?"
"Umbreon, use Moon horn!"
"ESPEON! USUAL TACTIC!" In a matter of seconds the match was over. Cloudzan was stunned.
"H...HUH? I LOST?" He glared at Sam. "Oh, fine, the password is Torozar." Then Cloudzan left. Sam went back to the computer and re-booted it. He accessed the site he had been on before, and typed in the password. He entered the site! And even better, it had a map of where the Makard Blimp that Kate and James were on and where it was headed. Its location was Petal Gardens. Sam then looked at the previous Blimps and found the one he and Suzie were on. He read the information on the screen.
"BLIMP 106: CODENAME SKY CLOUD. MISSION: DISRUPT MAIN FRAME COMPUTER IN PACIFTIC CITY LEAGUE, AND CAPTURE CHILDREN, THEN INSERT COMPUTER CHIPS. FAILURE DUE TO HYDROGEN LEAK. MEMBERS ON BOARD ALIVE SUBJECTS...SCANNING...........3 SUBJECTS ALIVE. NAMES: SUZIE, TYHO AND CLOUDZAN. LOCATIONS: TYHO COASTWATCH TOWN, HEADED TO OCEAN UNDERGROUND. CLOUDZAN ROCKY UNDERGROUND, HEADED TO OCEAN UNDERGROUND. SUZIE PETAL GARDENS, HEADED TO N/A. WOULD YOU LIKE DATA ON LATEST BLIMP?" Sam clicked yes. Now he was getting somewhere! "BLIMP 111: CODENAME ROKET. MISSION: TAKE CONTROL OF PETAL GARDENS AND CREATE BASE, AS WELL AS RE-CAPTURE SUZIE. FAILURE N/A. MEMBERS ON BOARD ALIVE SUBJECTS...SCANNING.........600,000 SUBJECTS ALIVE. WOULD YOU LIKE TO CONTINUE?" Sam clicked no. So they were after Suzie? He'd have to stop them. He went to the main menu, and saw a link saying "NEW MISSION" flashing. He clicked on it. Once again the typing flew across the screen.
"NEW MISSION CODENAME: CLOUD BURST. ATTENTION ALL MAKARD MEMBERS. WOULD ALL MEMBERS SAVE THE ONES ON MISSIONS 21-F AND 27-F REPORT TO COASTWATCH TOWN. MEMBERS MUST BE THERE BY 16:00. WOULD YOU LIKE TO VIEW OTHER MISSIONS?" Sam clicked yes. A list of messages flashed up on the screen. He tried clicking on 21-F but he needed another password, so he clicked on 27-F.
"MISSION 27-F. REPORT TO SECRET BASE FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTION. ANY MEMBERS UNAWARE OF BASE LOCATION, CLICK HERE." Sam clicked there. Suddenly, a metallic voice filled the room.
"USER HAS CLICKED ON SECURITY LINK. ALL MAKARD MEMBERS KNOW THE LOCATION OF THE SECRET BASE. CAPTURE SQUAD ARRIVING."
"Aww dang." said Sam. He rushed off. So Makard had a secret base? Suzie was alive? Makard had to be found out. Or was there a greater force behind it...? Sam stopped. Maybe Makard was the puppet. But who was pulling the strings?
"I have to get to Petal Gardens. Get some answers." said Sam, then he ran off.

Suzie was scared. Makard had found her...again? Why did she have to make friends with people who go and tell everyone everything? She wished she could see Sam before she got caught, tell him about the ray. Then she looked behind her. Caverok Falls! She could climb into the cave and get to Coastwatch, or better yet, to the sky port. And if she died, they couldn't use her! She took a running jump, and fell off. Then she panicked. She didn't want to die. Suddenly a tentacle grabbed her leg. She gulped. Was this Makard? She started planning her breakout while the tentacle drew her up.

Sam arrived at Petal Gardens to see the blimp landing. Makard would come off and grab Suzie. Would that be enough time for Kate and James to escape?
"Time to go into the Lion's Den," said Sam aloud.
"Aww, isn't that cute for a kid? But what makes you think you'll get there?" Sam spun round. A Makard member was holding a gun right in Suzie's face. "Now kid, are you gonna attempt any funny stuff, or do I have to kill the girl?"
"You wouldn't kill her, you need her for your plan!" yelled Sam. The man simply pulled the trigger, and fired. Suzie slumped to the floor. He faced Sam. "We don't need her. Just one of the kids was nessesary. Now, do I have to send Tyho, or are you com..." just then there was a massive explosion. Sam ducked as high winds flew past him, knocking the Makard member on the floor. Sam got up and ran. Thank goodness for that explosion. But where did it come from? He looked round, then stopped. The blimp was lying in flames. Sam shook his head. Kate and James had to be alive. He rushed up to the blimp, and the first thing he saw was Kate and James's dead bodies. He fell to his knees, tears pouring down his face. Sam felt a gun prod against his back.
"Get up. Don't try no funny stuff." it was the Makard member. Sam shook his head. The Makard member shook his head...and fired.