The Dragon Master III: Chapter Ten

	I came out of the time portal, and landed on my feet. I gathered around my 
surroundings, and tried to figure out when I was. I then got a look at Lance 
flying towards what seemed like Indigo Plateau.
	"You'll never get me now," Lance laughed, flying full-speed towards the 
Palace of the Elite Four.
	"Don't say things that aren't true," I corrected him. I took flight once 
more, speeding after my arch-nemesis. I shot a Hyper Blast at Lance, 
narrowly missing him. He fired a Dragon Rage back at me, and I had to barrel 
roll out of the way. After twenty minutes of confusing fighting, Lance made 
it to the Palace, with me right on his tail. I looked at the calendar by the 
door, and it said that it was August 7, 2004. That was the day after the day 
that I had left in the first place! Lance charged into the door of my room, 
but he didn't care about the baby any more.
	"Stay back," he said, calling his lance, grabbing Misty and holding her 
hostage. She looked at me in fright.
	"Bob," Misty said to me fearfully. "What is going on here?" I didn't know 
how to respond to her. I could usually tell her anything.
	"Just stay calm," I said. "Because it's one hell of a long story." Lance 
tightened the grip on her.
	"It's a lose-lose situation, Bob," Lance pointed out. "You make a move, I 
kill her. You let me go, I kill you. What's it gonna be?" He had finally 
crossed the border from evil to insane.
	"Bob, don't worry about me," Misty said pleadingly. "Just save the world by 
saving yourself. Kill him!" I always listened to Misty. Always. But this 
time, I decided not to.
	"No," I said. "A life without you wouldn't be living at all. Lance, hit me 
with your best shot." I spread my arms apart and closed my eyes. 
Immediately, Lance dropped Misty and headed for me, lance headed directly 
for my heart. At the last second, I ducked, using my legs to propel Lance 
through the wall. I followed the hole he had made, and found him lying out 
on the grass. He got up and flew towards what seemed to be Goldenrod City, 
the most populated city in all of Johto and Kanto.
	"You will never defeat me," Lance yelled in insane rage. He shot Dragon 
Rage out of his feet to make him go faster. I followed suit, throwing off my 
cloak and taking flight. Lance got way ahead of me, and I lost him.
	"Look, it's the Pokemon League Champion!" People on the street were 
yelling.
	"Can I have your autograph?"
	"Oh my God, it's him! It's really him!" I landed away from the crowd of 
people, though they came storming towards me. I looked all over for Lance, 
ready to kill him at first sight. I saw a figure on top of the Goldenrod 
City Radio Tower, in a sweeping teal cloak, and he was holding his hands up 
to the sky. A teal ball mass of energy started to form in his hands, getting 
bigger and bigger, not stopping in its growth.
	"SHIT," I yelled, taking off for the top of the tower. My eyes turned 
silver, and I started to form a silver ball of energy in my hands, powerful 
enough to kill a Mysticman.
	"I WILL REMAIN SUPREME," Lance yelled over the sound of all the energy. "I 
WILL BE THE GREATEST POKEMON MASTER ALIVE! I WILL-"
	"Shut the hell up and fight me like a man," I yelled, cutting him off, and 
throwing the silver ball of energy at Lance, the ball of energy only about a 
foot in diameter. Lance retaliated by throwing his teal ball of energy at my 
silver one, his being over one hundred feet in diameter. The two masses of 
energy collided, the silver one sucked into the teal one. All of a sudden, 
the teal one erupted and exploded into nothingness. The masses of energy 
canceled each other out.
	"How the hell did that happen," Lance asked in both confusion and fury. I 
landed on the top of the tower, ten feet away from him, and looked him in 
the eye. Both of us had our cloaks on, and were staring each other down.
	"It's time to end this," I said. "Too many innocent people have been slain 
for your corrupt purpose, Lance. You shall be the final one." I snapped my 
fingers, and a tornado appeared above us. Lance and I undid the fastening on 
our cloaks at the same time, forcing them to be pulled up into the twister 
that I had created. The tornado ceased, and each of us called our weapons of 
choice. I called my teal katana, but I was surprised to see that the hilt of 
my sword had turned silver. I dismissed it, as Lance was calling his weapon 
of choice, his lance, like his name. We ran at each other, stabbing and 
blocking, slicing and parrying.
	"He who lives by the sword," Lance grunted, keeping his balance and keeping 
up the fight. "Dies by the sword." I looked at him and smirked, jumping over 
him so I ended up behind him. Lance whipped around, and we continued 
fighting.
	"Then He who lives by the lance," I said. "Must die by the lance." I caught 
his lance in an upswing with my katana, bringing the tip of the lance to his 
heart, not piercing anything. I did a roundhouse kick, using the butt end of 
the lance as a nail, and my foot as a hammer. The lance traveled right 
through Lance's heart, and I just stood there, with him choking a little 
bit. He fell over, blood leaking from his chest. He looked me in the eyes, 
and I did him.
	"You know," Lance choked, blood starting to dribble out of his mouth. "When 
we were young, I saved your life. If it had not been for me choosing you for 
Delilah to adopt, you would be living out on the streets." He coughed, 
spitting out more blood.
	"Yes, you were good back then," I admitted. "And I respected you. But 
somewhere along the line, you became power hungry. Because of that, you 
became evil. Pure evil. I doubt that there is anybody on this earth more 
evil than you. And I am glad that you'll die soon. Because then, you won't 
be my responsibility any more. I won't have to stop you from taking over the 
League or the world. Sure, you may have saved my life, but how many people 
have you killed over the years? How many were you close to? How many was I 
closed to? You have crossed the line between evil and insane, Lance. you 
started that trek when you killed Delilah. Now, this is her final revenge." 
I sliced the tip of my katana across Lance's neck, killing him instantly. I 
turned around, ready to go back to the Palace of the Elite Four, when I was 
stopped by an old woman in a light lavender cloak. Agatha.
	"So, you've foiled Lance three times," she said, looked at Lance's body 
with no regret. "And now I suppose that you want to finish me off. I guess 
that would be only fair, but before you do, let me tell you one thing." I 
looked at her cautiously, not sure what was going on.
	"What are you up to," I asked her, but she just ignored, me and continued 
to talk to me.
	"The one thing that I have to say to you is," Agatha said, "I will fight 
back, and I will take you down with me." She called a ghostly blade, and 
charged at me. I tried to block with my katana, but the two weapons just 
went right through one another.
	"What the hell," I asked in confusion, backing away from her.
	"That's right," she said. "Your katana cannot even affect me." I had to 
think fast. I looked at her, and back flipped away.
	"Outrage," I said, as my fists broke out in teal flames. I charged towards 
Agatha, and punched the flat of her ghostly blade, knocking it out of her 
hands. I continued to punch at her, each of my shots hitting her. She 
couldn't fight back, and I would kill her soon. She only had one chance to 
take me down. I called my katana, and forced it through her chest.
	"Destiny Bond," Agatha screamed directly before my weapon impaled her. She 
fell down, a pool of blood surrounding her. But there was a circle of shadow 
around my feet, and I knew what was coming. There was a sharp pain in my 
chest, and blood started to drip out of it. I fell down, my eyes adverting 
to a short, old man wearing a forest cloak. I felt my mind slip away from 
consciousness...
	"Will he be okay?"
	"I'm not sure that we were able to bring him back. His body went into shock 
after I found him. All that we can do now is wait."
	"Bob, please wake up. For the love of God, wake up." I recognized that 
voice. It was Misty's. My eyes opened up immediately. I shot up in a sitting 
position, but went back right away due to pain in my chest.
	"He's alive," Misty screamed, throwing her arms around my neck. I felt some 
pain, and I started to tug at her sleeve.
	"Uh...Misty," I choked, not able to get much air. "Could you please let go 
of me?" Right away, she let go, but I could still she the urge in her eyes 
to hug me. I looked to the other side of me, and I saw Erika, along with the 
strange man that I had met back in time in the PokeCenter.
	"Ah, you do remember me," the man said. "I have been waiting sixteen years 
for this, and now I finally get to meet Bob Shepardson. Please let me 
introduce myself. I am Robert Shepardson. I believe that you know my 
daughter, Lorelei, as she is your mother, therefore making me your 
grandfather." He removed the hood of his forest cloak, and my jaw dropped. 
It was my grandfather! He had saved my life! Lorelei walked in the door, and 
gasped at the sight of her father.
	"Dad," she asked in bewilderment. "Mom told me that you were dead!" He 
smiled, and looked at her.
	"Actually," he said. "I was just presumed dead overseas. But I am here to 
see my grandson, and I have waited sixteen years for this moment. But I 
suppose that I could spend some time with my only daughter." Him and Lorelei 
walked out the door, and he was two feet shorter than she was.
	"If you guys don't mind," I said. "I would like to get some rest."  
Everybody walked out but Misty, whom I kissed first, and then she walked 
out.
	I woke up the next morning, and Will prepared a portal for me to take 
"Robbie" back to his original time: one week after I had taken him. I went 
through the portal, and came out at the Cherrygrove City Orphanage. I went 
up to the receptionist with the baby in my arms.
	"Um, hello, I would like to put this baby up for adoption," I said.
	"Well, are you the father," the receptionist asked.
	"No," I said. "But I am here in place of the parents. They couldn't be here 
at the moment. Hey, why did you think I was the father?"
	"You and him look exactly alike," she commented.
	"Um...right," I said. "Anyway, the parents names are Giovanni and Lorelei."
	"Okay," she said, typing away on her typewriter. "Now, if you would just 
give me the baby, I'll put him back with the others, and you can go. But, 
just out of curiosity, what relation are you to this baby or their parents?"
	"The mother and I are just really good friends," I half-lied. "Other than 
that, no relation." She took the baby out of my arms, and I couldn't help 
feeling sorry, because it had to spend two years in a complete hellhole.
	"Okay, one last thing, and then you can go," the receptionist said, coming 
back. "What is his name?"
	"His name is Robert Shepardson," I said.
	"Okay, you can go now," she said, smiling. "And we'll take care of Robert."
	"Please call him Bob," I said, making sure that my name wouldn't change to 
Robert or anything. "And could you please call the mother at 555-3471. Tell 
her that her son has arrived, and he is in the best of condition. Also, 
please tell her that Bob sends his gratitude."
	"Sure," she said. "But will he ever know his parents?"
	"He will find out on his own," I said. "And from his father. But don't tell 
him anything."
	"Sure thing," she said. "And thank you for choosing Cherrygrove City 
Orphanage."
	"Good luck, Bob," I said, strolling out, and leaving the year 1988 without 
a trace. I walked back into the portal and to my own year. Will patted me on 
the back, but I just continued and walked out the door.
	I took a stroll out to the Masters' Cemetery. I went way in back, and 
looked at Lance's grave, since his body had been replaced there once more.
	"This time, Lance," I said to nobody in particular. "Stay dead." I walked 
back into the main cemetery, where many other Masters were buried. I stopped 
by John Flargini's grave, as I had him relocated, since he was indeed my 
half-brother. I walked over to the gate, took off my cloak, called my wings, 
and flew to New Bark Town, for only one reason.
	I landed in the cemetery, calling my cloak. I walked through the numerous 
gravestones, and I finally found the one that I was looking for. This grave 
had only been here for two years, and I have only visited it once. It was 
Delilah's. I generated a teal rose from my hand, and placed it on the grave, 
as the first one was long gone. I then fell to my knees, and said nothing.
	"Bob," a voice asked questioningly behind me. I knew who it was, but I 
didn't make a sound. It was Misty. I heard her move closer to me, and she 
knelt down beside me, putting her arms around me.
	"Hey, Misty," I said. I was focusing on the headstone, reading the date of 
her death: August 1st, 2002. That was the day that this all started. I still 
needed closure from that. Though I wasn't sure if I would ever have closure 
from that particular death.
	"How long are you going to stay there, Bob," Misty asked, her arms still 
tight around me.
	"I think that I'm done," I lied, though I got up anyway. Misty followed 
suit, and we walked out of the cemetery, and I flew back towards Indigo 
Plateau, holding Misty in my arms. I didn't want to let her go. I would 
never let her go.
	I went onto a cliff that overlooked the water, with just Misty and me. I 
had my teal cloak on with my hood up. I was expecting somebody else, though. 
Hopefully, they would show up. I heard footsteps behind me, though I did not 
turn around. I knew that it was Giovanni, the father of both John Flargini 
and me.
	"Hello, Giovanni," I said coldly. He stopped in his tracks, and I felt the 
stare of him.
	"Would it kill you to call me 'Dad' for once," he asked angrily. I scoffed. 
He was never my father.
	"You are not my father," I told him. I turned around slowly, removing my 
hood as I did so. "We have discussed this many times. But now, we have 
something different to talk about."
	"And what would that be," Giovanni asked, kind of nervous.
	"You cheating on Lorelei," I said. Misty gasped. "Not only did you cheat on 
her, but you also fathered another son during that same time when you were 
with Lorelei, and she was pregnant with me. You never saw that son, nor will 
you ever...for he is dead. His name was John Flargini. More commonly known 
as Mysticman John Flargini. Because of this, I am imposing a penalty on you. 
Your Gym in Viridian City shall be taken away from you, and given to the 
woman that once loved you: Lorelei Shepardson.
	"You have no proof," Giovanni said. I just stood there, smirking at my 
so-called "father." I pulled out a tape recorder that I had hidden in my 
cloak at Josie's funeral.
	"Actually, you told me yourself," I said. "But you did not know that you 
were actually talking to me." I pressed "Play" on the tape recorder, and a 
voice that sounded like Giovanni's sixteen years ago.
	"Tell me one thing. Did you have a child with this woman?"
	"Well, we did. Though I didn't stick around during the pregnancy nor the 
delivery."
	"You cheated on Lorelei. You fooled around behind her back. She trusted 
you. But you betrayed her."
	"What are you gonna do about it?"
	"Stop," Giovanni cried. "Yes, I admit it. But now, I have the utmost regret 
about that incident. I'm very sorry to both you and Lorelei."
	"You damn well better be," said a voice from behind him. It was Lorelei. He 
whipped around, and she slapped him as hard as she could with her hand. She 
had slapped him so hard, he fell to the ground.
	"Yes, as for your punishment," I continued, though as nothing had happened, 
and Giovanni wasn't lying on the ground. "Your Gym in Viridian City shall be 
removed from your custody, and given to Lorelei, one of the victims of this. 
There were four victims of this incident, Giovanni, Lorelei, Josie and John 
Flargini, whom now are both dead, and lastly, me. Lorelei, do you accept the 
Gym as your own?"
	"With the utmost pleasure," she said, looking at Giovanni with hatred. she 
turned to me. "But what did John Flargini have to do with this? And who is 
Josie Flargini?"
	"She was the 'other' woman," I said. "I met her in the past, though she had 
no idea that she was the 'other' woman. She was killed by Lance at the 
Championship battle between Tony Marchello and I. I'm sure that you remember 
that, Lorelei."
	"Yes I do," she said. "And John Flargini was their son."
	"Yes, Mom," I said. She nearly broke into tears, and she came over to hug 
me. I hugged her back, and she let go after about a minute.
	"Well," she said. "I guess that I'm moving to Viridian City."
	"Yeah, and send all of the underlings of Giovanni away, unless they decide 
to become your ice underlings," I said.
	"Thank you so much," she said, hugging me one last time, and walking off to 
get ready. She kicked Giovanni in the crotch one last time, and said, 
"Hopefully, that will make you sterile, so you can't do this to anybody ever 
again." She walked off to the Palace of the Elite Four, and she disappeared. 
Giovanni got up slowly, and also walked away.
	"You did the right thing," Misty reassured me, because I wasn't sure. I 
walked over to the edge of the cliff overlooking the water. Misty held on to 
my arm tight.
	"I am not a leader of men," I said, shaking my head.
	"Whether you know it or not, you are," Misty said. "You will continue to 
be, and everybody will always look at you like a leader. You know that, 
too." I turned and smiled at my girlfriend, and I kissed her on the lips 
gently. Something caught my vision out of the corner of my eye. It was a man 
in a black cloak, charging at the both of us. He had a Pikachu on his 
shoulder. It was Ash. But he was angry; he was full of rage. He drew his 
black katana, and I drew my teal one with a silver hilt. I pushed Misty to 
safety, while Ash charged at me.
	"What the hell are you doing, Ash," I asked in bewilderment, as our swords 
started to clash.
	"I love Misty," Ash yelled. "And I will do anything to have her." He sliced 
at my neck, though I blocked it with my own sword.
	"Ash, you don't want to do this," I warned him.
	"Yes I do," he said. "I will kill you for her!"
	"No you won't," I cried. Our swords hit, and they each flew in a different 
direction. Ash backed away, as he had no weapon. Neither did I, so we would 
have to battle hand-to-hand.
	"DARK THUNDER," Ash yelled, sending a black bolt of lightening at me. I 
back flipped away from it, the electric/dark attack missing me.
	"Fighting Shard of the Elemental Medallion," I cried. "Cross Chop!" My body 
glowed maroon, though my eyes were still silver. I ran forward, and my hands 
preformed a Cross Chop on Ash, though it missed. I retreated, and we were 
back in a fighting position.
	"Shadow Blast," Ash yelled.
	"Hyper Blast," I shouted. Two equal beams of energy shot out, one white, 
and one dark. Right when they reached each other, they each exploded into a 
huge ball of energy. The impact of the blast forced me to dig my boots into 
the ground, and Ash did the same.
	"Dark Night," Ash yelled, forcing the moon to cover the sun, creating an 
artificial night.
	"Hidden Power: Dragon," I shouted. Miniscule balls of teal energy zoomed 
around my head in a circle, going faster and getting bigger as they went.
	"Hidden Power: Dark," Ash yelled. Balls of black energy went around his 
head, exactly like me, save they were black. When the Hidden Powers were 
fully charged, they both fired. Ash got nailed by one of mine in his chest, 
and he hit me in the shoulder, causing it to burn a little bit.
	"We have to stop this, Ash," I pleaded, holding my shoulder to stop the 
bleeding.
	"Over my dead body," he said. "Electric Shadow!" A ball of black energy 
crackling with electricity shot from his hand, headed directly for me. I 
jumped out of the way, though I heard somebody scream behind me. It was 
Misty!
	"Misty," I shouted, watching her fall off the cliff. She had been hit by 
Ash's attack. I threw off my cloak, and jumped off the edge to save her. She 
was unconscious. I called my wings, and I flapped them to make me go faster. 
She was going to die on those jagged rocks if I didn't get there in time. I 
had to save her. Inches from the rocks, I grabbed her, and leveled out as 
fast as I could. Misty came to, and she looked at me in the eyes.
	"Bob, you saved me," she said. I flew back up onto the cliff, where I saw 
Brock keeping Ash at bay. Ash was gripped tightly in Brock's stone body, out 
cold.
	"What the hell happened," Brock asked me. I degenerated my wings, and 
looked at Brock.
	"Ash went insane," I replied. "He tried to kill me to get Misty. He said 
'If I can't have her, nobody can.'"
	"Ash has loved Misty for some time, you know," Brock said, looking at his 
friend in his arms. "Before any of us met you, as a matter in fact. But he 
couldn't tell her. I urged him to, but he never did, until all of it built 
up into anger for you."
	"I had no idea," I said softly. "Let's take these two back into the Palace, 
and let's put Ash in the Pysch Ward for now." Brock nodded, and we walked in 
the building that I called home.
	I laid Misty down on a bed in the hospital wing, and Brock put Ash on a bed 
on a bed in a padded room in the Psych Ward. The doctor came in, took a look 
at Misty, and came back out.
	"She's going to be all right," the doctor said. I breathed a sigh of 
relief. "Ash, on the other hand, is suffering from depression. He tells me 
that it tears him up to see you with her. This is just a case of heartbreak. 
You and him will have to work it out." At that moment, Ash came out of the 
room, and looked me in the eye.
	"I should've never done that," he apologized. "I'll leave you two alone. 
But remember this, Bob. If you mistreat her in any way, I will kill you."
	"Ash, you know that I am deeply in love with Misty," I said. "I would do 
anything to protect her. I jumped off a cliff to save her today. I think 
that that shows you my love for her."
	"Yeah, according to you," Ash said. He brushed past me and walked from the 
room. I went into Misty's room, and she was sitting up, waiting for me to 
come in.
	"Bob, what is going on with Ash," she asked me. I sadly looked her in the 
eyes, and sat down on the edge of her bed.
	"Ash loves you," I said, not knowing what to say or do next. "He may love 
you, but I love you a thousand times more than anybody ever could." I leaned 
down and kissed her on the lips.
	"Ash loves me," Misty asked. "For how long?"
	"Long before that fateful day when I met you," I said, doing my best to 
look her in the eyes, though she was looking down at the ground.
	"Ash never did know when to say anything," she said scornfully. "I did love 
him, too. But not anymore. He had his chance. Now and forever, I love you." 
We kissed again.
	"Let's go," I suggested. She got up, and so did I. We walked out onto the 
cliff that we had experienced that battle on not too long ago. We sat down 
on the edge, and watched the ocean. There was a beautiful sunset there, and 
we just sat there, staring at it.
	"Bob, I love you," Misty said, leaning in to me. I looked at those ocean 
blue eyes of hers, and I started to lean in too.
	"I love you, Misty," I said. "I will never stop loving you. You are the sun 
in my sky. You are my reason for waking up in the morning. You are the only 
thing that matters to me. The only thing." We kissed, and the both of us 
felt complete. When we were done, she leaned against my shoulder, and I 
looked up into the sky. The clouds were beautiful, mixing in the red and the 
pink and the orange of the sunset. I felt the wind breeze across us, and 
knew that we were not alone. There was a presence that I had felt ever since 
Delilah died. I had a feeling that it was her.
	I wasn't sure what was in Misty's and my future, but I knew that we would 
face it together, as we had faced many things together. We sat there for a 
long time, in silence, not saying anything to each other. What we were doing 
was enough; just sitting there with one another. I couldn't think of 
anything that I would like more than just being with Misty for the rest of 
my life.
	I looked into her eyes, and she into mine. Our faces slowly went towards 
each other, getting closer to one another. Our lips touched gently, and I 
knew that she was my true love. I couldn't explain it, but she was the one 
for me. I felt her hand slip into mine, and our fingers intertwined.
	In the distance, as we kissed, the sun started to change. The sun was 
flaring out in different colors than normal. It started to glow teal and 
blue, as a sign that Misty and I were meant to be together. Forever.
-                                         End of Chapter Ten                 
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-                                 End of The Dragon Master III               
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