The Dragon Master: Chapter Four

	Whack! Someone was hitting me in the face to wake me up. Whack! I didn't 
feel like getting up anyway. Whack! It would be better for me to die than 
for them to get any information. Whack!
	"Wake up," said a soft voice. It was so familiar. It made me angry and 
calmed at the same time. "Wake up." Whack!
	"Stop," ordered the soft voice. I willed myself to open my eyes. I was 
looking into the dark hood of the teal-cloaked, lance wielding sorry excuse 
for a man that had killed Delilah.
	"AGGGGHHHH," I yelled as I tried to attack him. I found that I couldn't, as 
I was chained to a wall.
	"Bob," the soft voice instructed, "calm down."
	"You killed Delilah," I said with a tone of the utmost hatred for this man.
	"Yes, I admit it," he said in the same quiet voice. "I killed Delilah 
Largway."
	"But you're not getting punished," I said in a voice so quiet that only he 
could have heard it. "They think I killed her. I was framed."
	"Yes, you were," the cloaked figure admitted, "and I was the one that 
framed you. I put the cloak and the lance in your bag. But look what you've 
grown to be. To me, you're a rival Dragon Master. You must be disposed of. 
After I kill you, I will tell the police that you were accidentally killed 
when we apprehended you at Silver Cave. I will be let free, and you will be 
dead for the murder that you never committed. That's the real irony you see. 
It's a shame that she went so easily. One stab with my trusty lance and I 
knew that she wouldn't survive. She was weak."
	My mind was exploding with all of these thoughts, ideas, and plans to 
escape were going through my head until I finally couldn't take it anymore. 
I just couldn't...
	"AGGGGGGHHHHHH," I screamed as my eyes turned teal, then bright silver. My 
wings exploded from my back. I couldn't control myself and I took off. 
Before I did so, the teal-cloaked man got a taste of my hyper beam. I sent 
another one through the roof and I flew out towards Pallet Town.
	I crash-landed in Professor Oak's backyard. Ash, Misty, Brock, and my six 
dragon pokemon followed them.
	"It's Bob," Misty exclaimed.
	"Quick get him inside on the couch," Professor Oak said. After they found 
me, I started to get dizzy and I blacked out.
When I awoke, there was a wet cloth on my forehead and someone was sitting 
next to me. It was Misty.
	"Hey, you're awake," she said as she broke into a smile.
	"You left a crater in my backyard, Bob," Professor Oak said, though there 
was something different about his voice. "But the good thing is, is that 
you're alright." He said this hastily as Ash had started to look at him 
differently after that first comment that he made.
	"Something's not right," I said.
	"So you're not stupid after all, Bob," Professor Oak stated with a smirk on 
his face. Then he ripped off his clothes and there stood James, of Team 
Rocket. Jessie and Meowth came through the door at that precise time.
	"Prepare for trouble," Jessie said, starting their motto.
	"Better make that double," James said his line.
	"To protect the world from devastation," Jessie said.
	"To unite all peoples within our nation," James said.
	"To denounce the evils of truth and love," Jessie said.
	"To extend our reach to the stars above," James said.
	"Jessie," Jessie said.
	"James," James said.
	"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light," Jessie said.
	"Surrender now or prepare to fight," James said.
	"Meowth, that's right," Meowth said, finishing the motto.
	"That's all very nice," I said sarcastically, "but where's Professor Oak 
and why the heck are you here?"
	"That old coot doesn't matter," Jessie retorted, waving her hand aside. 
"But the reason we came here is to bring you to our boss."
	"You can't seriously mean that you're gonna..." I started.
	"Yes, right about now, too," James said. "Victreebel, go. Use your Sleep 
Powder." I tried to dodge, but the sleep powder hit me and I went right out. 
Ash, Misty, and Brock went out right away, too.
	The next thing I know, I am sitting in an interrogating room, someone was 
spraying water in my face. It looked like a Rocket Grunt. I decided to use a 
twister on him to knock him out so I could get myself out of here. The 
twister worked perfectly, but then another Grunt came in with a Magneton 
right after I had freed myself from my bonds.
	"He's getting away! Magneton, use Thunder Wave," Said the 2nd Rocket Grunt. 
I wasn't quick enough and the thunder wave hit me full blast. I fell to the 
ground and watched helplessly as the Rocket Grunt tied me back to my chair.
	"The boss told me that I couldn't use any damaging attacks one you," the 
bitter Rocket Grunt said to me, "otherwise, you'd already be dead, you 
Master scum." Then he spit on my face. 	"The boss will be with you shortly." 
After about 15 minutes, a man came in with a Persian. He sat down in the 
chair across from me. His face was in the shadows, so I couldn't tell who he 
was.
	"Ah, Giovanni," I said though gritted teeth, because the paralysis hadn't 
worn off yet. "What is the pleasure of having the criminal mastermind behind 
Team Rocket in front of me?"
	"Can't a father spend time talking to his son," Giovanni asked innocently. 
He finally admitted to me that he was my father. I already knew that, of 
course, thanks to the birth records that I had found in the abandoned 
orphanage. But what about...
	"Your mother," Giovanni said in a tone of remorse, "I suppose you are 
wondering whatever had happened to her. Well, let me tell you. After they 
had kicked her out of the Elite Four, and had replaced her with Will, she 
went pretty much insane. Where she went, nobody knows, but that was three 
years ago, and everybody has forgotten all about it. That is, everyone 
except me. But you are wondering how Lorelei, the Ice trainer of the Elite 
Four, and I, the Viridian City Ground gym leader, the leader of Team Rocket, 
got together and had you. Well, we dated in high school for about 3 years, 
but at the beginning of our senior year, Lorelei happened to get pregnant 
with you. We didn't know what to do, but we weren't going to get married, as 
we had talked to both of our sets of parents about it, and they wouldn't let 
us. Lorelei didn't want to disobey her father, who wouldn't let her have an 
abortion. He's the only reason that you're here. After you were born, we 
went into Cherrygrove City in Johto and gave you up for adoption. Our strict 
orders were that you were never to be told who your real parents were. After 
high school, Lorelei went to audition for the Elite Four and they let her 
in. Graduation was the last I saw or heard from her directly."
	"So why contact me now," I queried Giovanni, my father because the 
paralysis had worn off. "I mean...if you didn't want me to know all of this 
stuff, why are you telling me now?"
	"I know that you are on the run from the law and the League," Giovanni 
answered. "I am also. So why can't we run together?"
	"Are you suggesting that we do commit crimes together," I asked unbelieving 
of my father.
	"Yes," Giovanni simply said. "With my Rockets, and your newly discovered 
powers over the Mastery of Dragons, we could take over the League and make 
it our own."
	"No," I said.
	"What did you say to me," my father asked with a dangerous tone in his 
voice.
	"No," I repeated. "I will not slaughter innocent people to clear my name. I 
will clear my name by myself." I knew that he wasn't happy with me, and he 
would most likely dispose of me himself. But I had a plan. I had been 
working on the binds that had me confined to my chair. I had a little 
twister ripping the binds apart as he explained what had happened.
	"Fine, if you don't want to be the vice president of Team Rocket," Giovanni 
said as he pulled out a gun, "then you don't even deserve to be my son at 
all." Just as he fired, I ducked under the table, and sent a twister at his 
legs. That made him trip and fall down. He hit his head against the wall and 
was knocked out. As I ran out of the interrogation room door, more Rocket 
Grunts tried to stop me. Tried. I just sent a twister at all of them and 
knocked them out. As I rounded the corner, I ran into Misty.
	"Agh," I said as we both fell down. "We have to stop meeting like this."
	"Save the wisecracks for later," Misty said with a slight smile on her 
face. "But we have to get out of here...NOW!" We met some more Rocket Grunts 
coming towards us. I was just about to knock them out, but Misty dragged me 
away. After running through the twisted tunnels dug underneath the Viridian 
City Gym, Misty had told me, we had finally hit a dead end.
	"O crap," I said. "We're trapped, and Rocket Grunts are coming from every 
direction. There's no way out of here." The Rocket Grunts started to release 
their pokemon.
	"Dugtrio, Fissure," one of them yelled as their triplet mole pokemon sent a 
One-Hit Knock Out directly for us. As the attack zigzagged directly for us, 
I suddenly had an idea.
	"Misty, hold on to me," I ordered her.
	"Fine, but why," she asked me as she obediently grabbed on to me.
	"You'll see," I assured her as I aimed my hands upward. "Hyper Beam!" At my 
command, hyper beam blasted from my hands and shot a hole through the roof. 
It was only a short ten feet to the surface.
	"Misty, climb," I yelled as the fissure came speedily closer. "I'll follow 
you." She started to climb up, and I got up through the hole as the fissure 
hit the dead end. We finally got back up to the surface right when Ash and 
Brock came out of the door to the Viridian Gym.
	"Bob," Ash asked me in shock. "What happened to you?"
	"I'll explain everything later," I said. "My father might be after me now."
	"Your father," Brock asked questioningly, "Who is he?"
	"I'll explain everything when we get back to Professor Oak's place," I 
ended in a tone of finality. Then we took off for Pallet Town. Professor Oak 
was waiting there for us when we arrived.
	"Ah," Professor Oak exclaimed as I degenerated my cloak away. "You must be 
Bob. Come over here so I may examine you." I obeyed him and lied down on his 
table. He started to scan me with some sort of device. Beep beep beep beep, 
the machine went.
	"What does that mean," I wondered out loud.
	"It means that you indeed possess the power over the Dragon Mastery," he 
answered. "Now your body is changing at an abnormal rate, in abnormal ways."
	"Really," I asked sarcastically.
	"Indeed," he retorted, not catching my sarcasm. "Have you been able to 
control your powers lately?"
	"Yeah," I said, "but I can could control them a couple a days ago."
	"I see," Professor started to explain. "Your condition is not unlike many 
others that have been reported. Certain trainers, mostly with only one type 
of pokemon, have developed a Mastery over that specific type. But, the 
League comes and investigates, then the trainer is discovered missing a few 
days later."
	"So," I began, "the League comes, takes these 'Masters' away, and does what 
with them?"
	"As to that, I have no idea," Professor Oak explained. "They could be 
killing them, torturing them, or even training them to work as an army."
	"I have to go," I said suddenly. Then I ran out the door. Misty, Ash, and 
Brock followed me.
	"Where are we going," Ash called.
	"To find more Masters," I yelled back. We snuck around to Diglett's Cave. 
When we got inside the tunnel, I turned to the other three and asked them a 
question.
	"Ok, out of all gym leaders, who is the least connected to the League," I 
asked them.
	"Sabrina, Erika, me, and Brock," Misty listed. "But you would have to tell 
Sabrina and Erika what the League is up to. Then they would secretly break 
off. As for the Johto Gym leaders, I wouldn't know."
	"Not many of them do hold allegiance to the League," I said to them. 
"Falkner, Bugsy, Whitney, Morty, and Jasmine will come with us. But as for 
Clair, she's Lance's cousin and won't break off. Chuck is constantly worked 
to be one of the Elite Four. Pryce won't want to leave Mahogany Town."
	"But Brock and Misty aren't even Masters," Ash stated. "So we only have Bob 
for sure, Sabrina, Erika, Falkner, Bugsy, Whitney, Morty, and Jasmine if 
they're masters."
	"I know," I said quietly. "This doesn't look good. But we always have to 
try."
	"AGGHH," Brock screamed in pain. "AGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!" His body was 
changing, his flesh hardening, turning the color of rock. After he was done, 
his entire body had turned to stone, yet he was still moving and breathing.
	"So much for Brock not being a Master," Misty stated faintly. 
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Now Misty was yelling out in pain. All of a sudden, she 
just liquefied and turned into a puddle of water. The water started to seep 
into the ground.
	"Misty," Ash yelled. He stared at the wet ground in shock, but an even 
bigger shock came next. Water droplets came from all over and came together 
in a big ball. After that was done, the ball of water transformed itself 
into Misty's solid form. When she was back in her solid form, she just fell 
back and fainted. It took her three hours to re-awaken. After she did, Ash 
looked kind of disappointed.
	"So now, I'm the only one that's not a Master," Ash stated grumpily. "How 
come my body isn't changing?"
	"O shut up, Ash," Misty said. "Going through all of this pain is not a 
picnic."
	"She's right, Ash," I agreed. "Shut up. We have to get to Saffron City 
without anybody noticing. We'll take the Digett's Cave and head to Lavender 
Town. Then, we'll head over to Saffron City.
	"But what about the guards at the entrance," Misty asked, sounding a little 
worried, "I mean, won't they arrest us because we're Masters?"
	"Only if we go in wearing are cloaks," I replied. "Which we won't. We'll 
have to go in wearing our regular clothes." I concentrated on a pair of teal 
jeans, a teal shirt, and a teal cap. My eyes glowed teal, and the clothes 
that I envisioned took place on my body.
	"Brock, try to change your body back into flesh," I added, because he was 
still in rock form. "If you don't the guards will know that you're a Rock 
Master."
	"I don't know how," Brock whined.
	"Just concentrate on your original form," I reassured him. He closed his 
eyes. Then he abruptly opened them again! They were glowing brown. His rock 
skin was changing back into flesh. When he looked back up at us, he was 
changed back to normal.
	"Good," I said. "Let's go." We started to walk through Digglet's Cave. It 
took us an hour, but we finally got through the cave. When we came out of 
the cave, we saw Vermillion City in the distance. Something was going on. 
There were League helicopters flying all over the town.
	"We have to hurry up and get to Sabrina," I told the others. "If we don't 
we'll al be killed." They didn't need telling twice.
As we ran toward Silence Bridge, a helicopter spotted us and started to tail 
us. Then it started to fire machine guns. We had to dodge them all. Brock 
just turned into rock and let the bullets hit him while he was running. They 
didn't do any damage, after all. I took flight and whipped around behind the 
helicopter. I fired a hyper beam from my hands into the propellers. The 
helicopter went crashing down. It was going to fall on Misty! I dived down 
towards her and grabbed her out of the way before it fell on her. I set her 
down, recalled my wings, and re continued to run towards Lavender Town.
Before I had hit the helicopter, however, it looked like it had called for 
backup. Three more choppers were coming after us. We were almost to the 
bridge. There were fishermen on the bridge! We couldn't risk hurting them.
	"Jump off the bridge," I shouted to my companions.
	"Why," Ash asked, still running.
	"We've got more company," I yelled pointing to the backup.
	"Aren't we the popular bunch today," Brock said sarcastically. When we got 
to the edge of the bridge, we all dived off. But Brock hadn't changed from 
his rock form yet...SPLASH. I immediately tried to find Brock. He was back 
in his human form, however, he was trapped underneath a piece of the bridge 
that he had caught with his foot when he jumped off. We couldn't get them 
out of there. Something was coming. It was huge. It was a League sub. Brock 
motioned for us to leave him, but we motioned that we wouldn't. The sub 
fired a huge torpedo at us. We were all running out of breath, except Misty, 
because her newfound Mastery allowed her to breathe underwater. The torpedo 
was headed directly for Misty, but I dived in front of her, shielding her 
from the torpedo as it came closer to us. I grabbed her and we swam away. 
Yet, the torpedo followed us. The League sub sent out some more and they 
locked on to us, too. Whatever way that we turned, there was a torpedo in 
our face. We were trapped...
-                                         End of Chapter Four                
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