The Dragon Master II: Chapter Six I exploded a hole in the ceiling, creating a place for everybody to get out. I grabbed the kid and his Porygon2, Misty following me. There were several ambulances waiting to pick up the survivors of the explosion. Nurse Joy and all of the others had evacuated and were being transported to Violet City. The kid with his Porygon2 was all right once he was awoken. As for Misty and I, we had minor injuries, mainly because we tried to deflect the blast from hitting anybody else. "We have to get out of here," I told Misty. "Lance will not win. I will not let him." "Lance can't win," Misty exasperatedly explained to me. "He's dead. There is no way in hell that he can win." "I think that he can," I replied. "Something just doesn't add up. I don't know enough about this John Flargini guy yet. Why now? Why not a year ago?" "We'll just have to find that out later," Misty said. "We will collect those Shards and we will defeat Flargini. I promise." "Let's go," I said. I didn't want to agree with her, because that would mean that I was wrong. "Lance is behind this. I know he is. I just can't prove it yet. We're going to get the Dark Shard." I generated my wings and Misty grabbed a hold of me. I took off, as it was getting dark. We had to get there before Flargini did. We landed at the entrance to Dark Cave about an hour before sunset. We entered the cave, but it was dark in there. "How are we going to light this up," I asked Misty. "Let me cover that," Misty told me. "Togetic, go. Use your Flash." Her evolved flying form of Togepi came out of her blue pokeball in a flash of blue light. Her pokemon complied and the entire cave lit up for us to continue on. We were walking for about a half an hour when Togetic's Flash fell out. It got dark in there faster than the speed of light. "Misty," I whispered through the darkness. "Where are you? I can't see a thing." There was no answer. I wondered if Togetic was still in there with me. "Togetic, use Flash." I saw a faint glow about three feet from my face. It turned out that somebody had dropped a blanket that was darker than the shadows itself over Togetic. The "shadow" blanket smothered Togetic's Flash. I wondered how it got there when I realized that Misty was gone. I ran ahead, Togetic following me. I stopped suddenly, as I saw Flargini ahead, talking to a figure in a blue Master's cloak. It looked like...but no...it couldn't be... "Misty," I wondered out loud. Both cloaked figures looked at me. The one in the blue cloak looked like Misty, but why would she be talking to Flargini? I wouldn't know just then, as she ran away as Flargini came to confront me. "Ah, murderer," Flargini said as strode towards me in his dark purple cloak with stars and moons on it. "You have come to collect the Dark Shard. That will not happen, as the door will not appear before sunset. And you will be dead by then." He came at me with a katana created from...uh...nothing, really. It just formed in his hands. I generated my own weapon of choice and counterattacked him. It had to be about ten minutes to sunset, so if I could keep him busy for that long, I could get the Shard, find Misty, and get the hell out of here. I did a flip in the air, and landed behind Flargini. I sliced right through his neck, decapitating him, his limp body falling over, dead...or not. There was a bright flash of light and Flargini was standing there once more, with his katana, all body parts intact, ready to continue our duel. There was an unholy light that appeared behind us, as the door shifted into its visible form. I was still slashing and parrying with Flargini, when he just tumbled over, unconscious. Misty appeared behind him, holding a big rock which she had knocked him out with. "Good timing," I said as Flargini's body teleported away back to who knows where. I decided not to talk to her about me seeing a blue-cloaked figure talking with Flargini. "We have to open this door so we can get the Dark Shard." I went up to the door, and as usual, there was a riddle: This test is much harder than all the others combined, As you may not survive it. It is more of a maze than anything, Be careful that you don't get bit. "I don't like the sound of that," Misty said. "Whatever lies behind that door, it can't be good." "Most likely," I agreed. "But we have to retrieve the Dark Shard." "What does it mean, get bit," Misty asked, ignoring my last statement. "I'm guessing that there is most likely Zubats and Golbats in there," I replied coolly. "Oh, great," Misty replied sarcastically. "Now we have to die, just to get a stupid little rock." "We don't have time for this," I said. "If you're coming, then come. If not, stay out here and complain to that stalactite over there." I pushed the button under the clue and walked into what seemed like a black abyss. "Fine," Misty said. "I'm coming with you. The only reason I'm coming is because the stalactite won't talk to me." She then let out Togetic and made it use its Flash ability. "That's not helping much, is it," I asked Misty. "They really went all-out to hide these Shards, didn't they?" We walked in there for about a half an hour, when we came to a huge hole. It had to be about twenty feet in diameter. "What are we going to do now," Misty asked me. "I don't know," I said. "But don't worry, we'll figure something out." The Dark Shard was in the blackness; I just knew it. I had to take a chance. I jumped into the black void as Misty screamed. Amazingly, I didn't fall. I was just standing there, like I was standing a black carpet. I continued to walk farther away from Misty. I ran into something. It had to be the podium. I put my hand on the top and felt around. I found something that seemed to be the same shape of the Dark Shard. I grabbed it and started to back away. The ground below me seemed to wriggle beneath my feet. I started to run back towards Misty, when it just disappeared all together. I tried to call my wings, but the wouldn't come. I was just falling towards the black abyss. "Bob, wake up. Wake up, dammit." I heard a voice above me. It was Ash. "Ash," I asked, "what are you doing here?" "Misty called and said that you were trapped in the Dark Shrine," Ash explained. "So I came in here, as I am a Dark Master, and came down here to get you. But..." He trailed off. "But what," I asked him. Something wasn't right. "We can't get out of here," Ash hurriedly said. "We'll have to look for a different way out than the way that we came." "Perhaps the Dark Shard can help us," I suggested. "I mean, if the Shards amplify the powers of a Master, you take it." I handed him the black piece of the Medallion. "Um...ok," Ash said as he took the shard from me. "Let's try this." He held out the Dark Shard to the wall and a black beam, darker than night shot out of it and hit the wall. A hole appeared and it opened to the outside. "That worked," I said. "Give me the Shard back." He handed me the Shard and I held it to the reconstructed part of the medallion. It locked together with it and wouldn't come back off. "We have to go," I told Ash. "Where did you say Misty was?" "Actually," Ash said, "I didn't. But she's in a safe house in New Bark Town. She said to send you over there as soon as possible." "Ok," I said. "I'm going." To walked out of the exit that the Dark Shard had created and pulled out the PokeGear that I had received when I had started my training. It said that I was on Route 29. It was only a short distance to New Bark Town. I decided to walk so I would not create a disturbance. Ash went off to the Palace of the Elite Four to tell Karen, Bruno, Koga, and Will of the status of the medallion. As I walked into New Bark Town, I realized that I didn't know where the safe house was. I decided to ask Mrs. Elm, Professor Elm Jr.'s wife. "Mrs. Elm," I asked as I walked into their house. "Hello, I need to ask you something." She came out as she heard my voice. "Bob," Mrs. Elm said in surprise. "What are you doing here." I pulled out the medallion. "Ash said that Misty was in a safe house in New Bark Town," I explained. "The problem is, I don't know where the safe house is." "I see," Mrs. Elm said. "Let's come have a look see at the Town Map on the wall over here." I wondered what good that possibly could do, but she pressed a combination of cities, routes, and landmarks. I remembered the combination. It was Union Cave, Olivine City, Route 46, Lake of Rage, Blackthorn City, Route 36, and Mt. Silver. A hatch then opened under the map and there was a button. Mrs. Elm pushed it and walked downstairs. I followed her and it seemed that one of her basement walls had swung forward to reveal a small living space. Inside was Misty. "Bob," Misty exclaimed as she ran out and hugged me. "I was so worried. I didn't know what happened. Oh, I'm so glad that you're-" "I'm fine," I cut her off. "Also, I retrieved the Dark Shard. We only have twelve more Shards to find and collect. We're a third done with this." I then kissed her on the lips. Mrs. Elm must have been feeling awkward, as she escaped upstairs as soon as Misty came out and hugged me. "Where's the location of the next Shard," Misty asked me. "Well," I started. "There are no more Shards that we can find in Johto, for the moment. So we'll have to try our luck in Kanto." "It's going to feel good to be home," Misty said as we walked off to Route 29 so I could take off without any staring. "You realize that you cannot talk to your sisters about the Shards," I said. "Besides, we have a couple of choices for the Shards that we want to get." "What are they," Misty asked curiously. "Well," I began, "we can get the Thunder Shard, though I'm not sure if it would be in Vermillion City or the Power Plant. So we would be better off going for the Fire, Water, Grass, Poison, Rock, or Change Shards." "Why the Change," Misty asked. "Because Duplica is the only Change Master to ever exist," I told her. "So what better place to look for it than her home?" "Maybe the Celadon MegaPokeMart carries it," Misty suggested in a smart-ass tone. "Maybe they have the rest of the Shards, too," I said in mock excitement. "Besides, we're out of sight from New Bark Town. It's all right to take flight." Even as we took flight, we still argued about which Shard to locate and retrieve. We finally compromised and decided that we would go and get the Rock Shard, followed by the Water Shard. When we landed in Pewter City, we noticed that there was a bit of a panic going on. We tried to ask some locals what was going on, but they wouldn't say, they just ran away, screaming their heads off. "What's going on," I asked as I pulled a man into the air. He couldn't say anything, because he was so scared. All he could do was point in the direction of the Town Center. I walked up to the Town Center, but there was nothing there except a note. It read: Bob, You might have noticed that there is something of a panic going on in Pewter City. They have been going on like this for days, and me just sitting here in the Town Center, laughing my head off at these weak mortals. I am making them see an image of a huge monster that is destroying the city as you read. You must know the feeling. Anyway, you just don't seem to die, do you? My rockets didn't stop you, or Lance's PC bomb. Nothing can stop you from annihilating me. Ah, where does the time go? I filled this letter with gibberish just so I could have time to kill you. By the time you reach the postscript, you will be dead or dying. Anyway, stay tuned, murderer. Mysticman John Flargini P.S. duck "What does he mean," Misty asked, "'duck'? I don't get-" "He means 'DUCK'," I yelled as I threw Misty and myself down to the ground as a rocket ripped through the Town Center. If we would have stayed up a millisecond later, it would have hit us. "That son of a bitch," Misty cursed as we got up through the rubble. "He wrote that note just do he could catch us off guard." "I know," I said. "But the most that we can do is collect the Rock Shard. Let's go talk to Brock." We walked through the mass of screaming people towards Brock's Gym, hoping that he would be in there today. In there he was, beating the crap out of a punching bag with his stony fists. "Uh...Brock," I tentatively said as I walked up to him. "We were-" "Looking for the Rock Shard," Brock finished for me. "It is not here. I have checked personally everywhere. The only place that I haven't checked would have to be Mount Moon. That will save you some time, I do hope." "Thanks, Brock," I said as I walked out of his Gym. "Sure," he replied, still beating upon the punching bag, though it was strewn all over the ground in a big mess, all of the stuffing out of it. "That was quick," I said to Misty in an undertone as we left the Gym. "Wonder why he's been checking all of the places around Pewter City. I mean that this Shard business resides only in you, Ash, the Elite Four, and me. How does Brock know?" "I'm not sure," Misty admitted. "But in the meantime, we have to find the Rock Shard." We stopped talking and walked through the screaming villagers of Pewter City towards Mount Moon. When we reached Mount Moon, there were many rocks in front of the entrance, as though no one wanted us to enter. I hyper beamed them out of the way and sent out Flare. He lit up the cave tremendously. We continued to walk through the cave, as we weren't sure where the Rock Shard would be. "Let's take this passage over here," I suggested as a changed direction towards a path that had not been there previously in all my trips to Kanto. "I've never seen it before." "Okay, then," Misty shrugged, following me down the narrow passage. When we reached the end, we had realized that we were out of Mount Moon in a clearing filled with wild pokemon. There were mainly Nidorino, Nidorina, Clefairy and Jigglypuff, along with some Nidoran, both male and female, baby Cleffa and baby Igglybuff. Out in the middle of the clearing, there was a huge, clear rock with a brown dot in the center. I walked closer to inspect it. The Rock Shard was inside the Moon Stone! I charged a hyper beam and shot it at the Moon Stone. There wasn't even a dent in it. I charged up for the most powerful attack that a pokemon could use. "HYPER BLAST," I yelled, and shot it at the Moon Stone. A beam came forth from my hands and was about to hit the rock, when a Clefairy jumped on top of it and used a reflect attack, which deflected the beam. The Clefairy then evolved into a Clefable! All of the other pokemon went up and touched the Moon Stone. Soon, Nidoking, Nidoqueen, Wigglytuff and Clefable surrounded us. They all started to wiggle their fingers as if they were going to attack. They were about to use Metronome! - End of Chapter Six -