The Dragon Master II: Chapter Three

It must have been an hour later when I woke up, caked with mud. I looked for 
the shrine, but there was no shrine. All that was left of it was splintered 
wood all over the place. Misty was lying, unconscious, beside me. I shook 
her to wake her up, but it did no good.
	"Misty," I said. "Wake up." I brushed her hair out of her face. I picked 
her up in my arms and ran towards Azalea Town. When I reached there, I 
received much attention. Everybody was crowding around Misty and me.
	"Is there anything that we can do for you, Mr. Shepardson," a elderly man 
asked.
	"Yeah," I replied. "You people can get out of my way before I have to force 
you." They all backed away when I had said that. they must have thought that 
I was crazy. I was. I was crazy about Misty and wanted the best for her. I 
ran towards the Gym. I hoped that Bugsy was there. He was the only person in 
this town that I could trust.
	"Bugsy," I yelled when I entered the Gym. "Are you here? I need help. 
Misty's hurt." At this, Bugsy came flying towards us on a pair of bug wings.
	"Get her to the PokeCenter," Bugsy said, understanding the seriousness of 
the situation. "Nurse Joy will take good care of her."
	"O my goodness," Nurse Joy exclaimed as we walked into the PokeCenter. "Set 
her on the gurney." I set her down and I wheeled her to where Nurse Joy 
directed me. Bugsy and I were left outside of the x-ray room while Misty got 
x-rayed.
	"Who did this," Bugsy asked me.
	"Flargini," I responded. This wasn't just against the League anymore. This 
was just against me.  This time, it was personal.
	"What are you going to do," Bugsy asked me.
	"I don't know," I replied. I knew what I was going to do. I was going to 
kill Flargini. As I had done Lance. It was a wonder how much killing was 
involved with being the Pokemon League Champion. Killing is the last thing 
that I had ever wanted to do, yet, it's part of my job. I got up and started 
to go outside.
	"Where are you going," Bugsy asked me.
	"Insane," I replied with a smile. He smiled too. "But geographically, after 
Flargini." I walked outside the door and a piece of paper fell down into my 
hands. It read:

Dearest Bob,
	It is time that we meet. I will be on the Lake of Rage tonight at midnight. 
Come meet me there. I have some information that will be useful for you. I 
am the only one that you can trust. Meet me there, and I will explain many 
things to you. Come alone. Mysticmen have many powers, such as the ability 
to teleport away from danger if they are asleep or unconscious. Do watch 
yourself, Bob.

						Your Mother,
							Lorelei, The Ice Master

	I folded up the piece of paper and stuck it inside my cloak. I was going to 
go to Mahogany Town and wait for my mother. I called my wings and took off, 
headed for Mahogany Town.
It was about 11:00 p.m. before I got there. I walked up to the Lake of Rage 
alone, because I did not want to attract any attention. I called my cloak 
and put the hood up, to disguise me. I looked around for someone, but I saw 
no one. Perhaps this was all a set up just to lure me here for Flargini to 
capture me. I looked out on to the lake. There was a boat out there. When 
she had said that she would be on the lake, she really meant it.
	"Scarlet, Surf," I whispered as I hopped on my red gyarados. Swiftly and 
silently, Scarlet surfed me out there to the boat. There was a woman wearing 
a light blue Masters cloak standing on it.
	"Hello, son," Lorelei said as she removed her hood.
	"Hello, mother," I replied. It felt strange, calling someone mother. "You 
wanted to tell me something?"
	"Yes I did," she said. "Do you remember the double agent inside the 
League?"
	"Yeah," I said. "But I have no idea who it is."
	"All that I know is that they are angry about Lance's death," Lorelei 
continued. "They are so angry about it, that they want you dead. It has to 
be someone inside the League, and very close to both you and Lance. They are 
a Master, too. Can you think of anyone like that?"
	"That could be almost anybody," I said. I was telling the truth. I didn't 
want her to know too much about the League. She hadn't been in my life very 
long. "Any of the Elite Four or the Gym Leaders."
	"I see," she said. "This person is more likely to be related to Lance, or 
have been in a relationship with him."
	"Clair was his cousin," I remembered, "and she was technically my cousin, 
too. She always came down from Blackthorn City. But it could be anybody. I 
am not gonna take any chances."
	"That's understandable," she agreed. "But there may be one person that can 
help you above anybody else."
	"Who's that," I wondered out loud.
	"Delilah's father," Lorelei replied. "He is the guardian of all dragon 
pokemon. He is the reason that Clair and Lance are Dragon Masters."
	"But couldn't he be a suspect," I asked.
	"No," Lorelei answered. "He was happy that you killed Lance. He wasn't too 
happy with his grandson after he found out what he had done to his only 
daughter. Grandson or not, he wanted Lance dead. He will help you, no matter 
what. He is your grandfather, too, you know. Well, kind of anyway."
	"I will meet with him," I declared. "But first I have some questions for 
you. I only hope that you will answer them with the most complete truth 
ever."
	"I will," she said.
	"Who is my grandfather, from your side," I asked.
	"Alas," she said, "the first thing that you ask me I cannot answer. I have 
my reasons. Please forgive me. You will find that out when it is time."
	"When will that be," I asked. "I need to know."
		"I will tell you when you are ready," she said. "It is time for you to go. 
Grandfather Largway will be in Dragon's Den. There are many dragon trainers 
in there that are willing to battle anybody but a Master. So wear your cloak 
at all times. This will keep them away from battling you. Do you 
understand?"
	"Grandfather Largway," I asked, puzzled. "Delilah's last name was Largway. 
That must mean that she never married."
	"That is correct," Lorelei said. "But it is time for you to go. Goodbye, my 
son." She then did a back flip off the boat and dived into the water. I sent 
out Scarlet and surfed to shore.
	Once I got to shore, I immediately called my wings and flew towards 
Blackthorn City. I figured that I could make it there by morning if I flew 
through the night. I reached there about nine-o'clock that morning. I sent 
out Scarlet and we surfed behind Clair's Gym to Dragon's Den. I called my 
cloak as Lorelei had instructed me to. The only reason I did that was so 
trainers wouldn't battle me, as I was a Master. I continued through Dragon's 
Den, even as the dragon trainers inside looked at me as I passed.
	"That's the Pokemon League Champion," one of them whispered.
	"Yeah," another said. "He's the one that killed Lance." I was getting sick 
of this.
	"Quiet," I ordered them. "If you don't know the whole story, then keep your 
mouths shut. Or I will not allow you to use dragon pokemon. I do have that 
power, you know." That shut them up. They quickly walked away before I could 
do anything. When I reached the shrine, Delilah's father came out and 
greeted me.
	"Ah, Bob," he said. "What brings the Master of Dragons, the Pokemon League 
Champion here, to our humble place of dragon training?"
	"Grandfather," I said, "you don't have to do this. Technically, you rank 
higher than me." I had always called him grandfather because he was the 
closest thing that I had ever had to one.
	"Fine," he conceded. "But what brings you here, my grandson?" he had always 
called me grandson just as I called him grandfather.
	"I have a problem," I started. "My mother-"
	"Lorelei," he exclaimed in bewilderment. "She contacted you?"
	"Yes," I replied. "Is that a bad thing?"
	"No," he said, though he looked troubled. "That's wonderful, but I had 
always hoped that you would still think of Delilah as your mother."
	"I do, Grandfather," I said. "She has been keeping touch with me since I 
took over the League. How did you know that Lorelei was my mother?"
	"I kept a copy of your files when you were adopted," he said. "It was 
policy, as I was your appointed guardian if something happened to Delilah. 
But I don't have to worry about that, as you're living in the Palace of the 
Elite Four. But when your position gets taken-"
	"I won't lose," I said. "Anyway, Lorelei told me to come to you. She said 
that you knew the one way to defeat a mysticman."
	"A mysticman," he asked. "What's his name?"
	"John Flargini," I replied. "He's that red-haired kid that battled me. Do 
you remember him?"
	"Yes," he said. "And I also know how to defeat a mysticman. Let me tell you 
a story. There was once a medallion. It had the powers to defeat any 
mysticman. But a group of mysticmen gathered together to destroy the 
medallion. They couldn't really destroy it, but they could break it into 18 
pieces; no more, no less. Now, each of these pieces represents an element. 
This group of mysticmen hid the pieces. No one has found them to this day. 
That was over a hundred years ago. Find the 18 pieces, boy, and put them 
together. That will be the key to defeating Flargini. One of the pecies is 
hidden right here in Dragon's Den. It is the dragon shard. It is not very 
big, about the size of a coin. It is down, underneath the waters. It is so 
far down, that that is the reason that nobody has found it. But you must go 
get it, my grandson. Good luck." Then he went back inside the shrine.
	I dived into the water off the shore. Grandfather was right; it was deep. I 
kept on swimming downwards. But I would never make it in one breath. 
Luckily, I knew of some air pockets from my many swims as a child. I quickly 
found one. I surfaced into the air pocket and let out Puff from his teal 
pokeball in a flash of teal light. I would have let out Scarlet, but there 
were many dragon pokemon down here that only Puff could protect me from, as 
he was my strongest. We dived down once more, and I grabbed on to his tail. 
He speedily got us down to the bottom. I motioned to him and told him that 
we were going this way. There was a wild Dragonair to my left. I raised my 
hand and my eyes turned teal. It understood and went away. I came to a steel 
door, and there were some codes in it looked like Unown writing. It read:

There is a puzzle that you must solve,
To enter these chambers within.
If you are wrong, you die.
But if you are right, you win.

	That pretty much freaked me out. I turned to the puzzle underneath the 
Unown writing. It was more of a brainteaser than anything. The question was:


What is the one thing that dragons fear most?
Seems pretty simple doesn't it?
But yet it is not as many have perished.
For the right answer, it was not thought of it.

	I looked at Puff and he shrugged his shoulders. There were three answers 
under it. They were:

Me
Myself
Or I

	That confused me to no end. Thoughts were burning in my head. I'm not 
scared of Me, but I am scared of Myself, because I am not sure what I am 
capable of. But the third choice is not what it seems. I, what does that 
stand for? I thoughts of all the elements that begun with i. Ice! That was 
it! It meant ice! At least, I hoped. I pushed the third choice. The ground 
started to shake from my feet. Either it was working, or we would be dead 
soon. A crack appeared in the middle of the solid door. It then slid back 
into the walls, allowing us to enter. There was a mist in where the door 
once was. I saw the dragon piece of the medallion sitting on a podium in the 
middle of a well-lit room. There was only one thing to do. I ran right 
through the door, Puff following me. There was no water in the room. The 
mist must have been holding back the water somehow. I didn't have time to 
find out. I caught my breath, grabbed the piece of the medallion and stuffed 
it in my cloak. I ran outside of the room, where Mysticman John Flargini was 
standing there, in a bubble that didn't allow water to get through, waiting 
for me.
	"Ah, Bob," Flargini said. "So you have decided to put the medallion 
together to defeat me." He then sent icy sparks that froze a cage around me. 
"See you later, Bob. Well, then again, I'll never see you again." He laughed 
and went towards the surface, leaving me down in the waters of the deep, in 
a cage that I couldn't get out of, my six teal pokeballs lying just inches 
out of my reach. I was trapped and running out of air...
-                                         End of Chapter Three               
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