The Dragon Master III: Chapter Five I walked up to Lorelei, with Josie up in the crowd, holding "Robbie". She looked very shocked when she saw me. "What are you doing here," Lorelei asked me. "Where's my son?" "For now," I said, "He is in the best of care. But, I have to battle you. I must talk to the Leader of the Elite Four. The only way to get to him is to go through you. I'm sorry, Lorelei, but I must defeat you now." "Very well," Lorelei said. "But I must warn you, I'm better than I look." There was a mist of ice, and a sparkly light blue cloak covered her. "If you want to play it that way," I said. My eyes glowed teal, and a teal cloak covered me. Both of our hoods covered our heads. We simultaneously removed them. There were many gasps from the crowd. I even heard Josie gasp. "You never told me that you were a Pokemon Master," Lorelei said, though she had a toneless voice. "And a Dragon Master at that." "Let's go," I said. "I have to talk to Marchello." "And why is that," Lorelei said, an ice-blue pokeball clutched in her fist, the same color of her cloak. "It's to help your son," I said. "But as the first of the Elite Four, you must use all of your power against me." "I know," Lorelei said. "Go Dewgong! Get ready for a thunder type." Her sea lion pokemon popped out of its ice-blue pokeball in a flash of ice-blue light. "Go Scarlet," I yelled, as my red Gyarados came out of its teal pokeball in a flash of teal light. "Are you ready," Lorelei asked. "Because I have to use all of my power against you." "The real question is, Lorelei," I replied, "Are you ready? Scarlet, use your Flamethrower!" "Dewgong," Lorelei yelled. "Block with Surf!" The water that came from Dewgong doused out the fire. "Argh," I said to myself. How could I damage it? Alas, I didn't have time to figure that out. Lorelei was attacking again. "Dewgong," Lorelei yelled. "Attack with Ice Beam!" A beam of pure blue energy shot from her pokemon. I had to think fast, otherwise Scarlet would get hit. "Scarlet, Surf," I yelled. I finally had a plan. It was going to work, too. The two attacks collided, leaving a wall of ice separating the two pokemon. The crowd that was on my side of the arena could see what I was planning, while the other half of the crowd was left in wonder. The people in the crowd that couldn't see were asking questions. "What's he doing?" "Do you think he'll win?" "He is a Dragon Master, after all." "Yeah, and that's weak against ice." "But where did he get that Red Gyarados?" "I wish I knew. That's sure an unnatural pokemon." "Dewgong, head butt," I heard Lorelei yell from the other side of the wall. Good, I thought. My plan was working. Now all I had to do was wait for some cracks to appear in the ice wall. Yes, I thought, there were some. "Scarlet," I yelled. "Hyper Blast, now!" A thin beam of white light shot from Scarlet's mouth. Right when it reached the wall, Dewgong came barreling though the ice, ramming into the Hyper Blast. At impact, the attack erupted, blowing Dewgong back and breaking the wall that was behind Lorelei. "Dewgong, no," she yelled as a thin beam a ice blue light escaped from Dewgong's pokeball and called it back in. Her mouth was open in shock. I was just standing there, with my arms folded, not even looking surprised. The people in the crowd started to talk again. "He knocked out her Dewgong." "He's pretty good." "That's enough," Lorelei yelled. "Now you will lose. Go, Cloyster!" Her bivalve pokemon shot out of its ice blue pokeball in a flash of teal light. I had to find some way to defeat it. "Scarlet, use Ice Beam," I yelled. "Cloyster, Withdraw," Lorelei yelled. Before the Ice Beam could hit it, Cloyster tucked back into its shell and just absorbed the attack. "How is that possible," I exclaimed. "Easy," Lorelei said. "Cloyster, Spike Cannon!" Hundreds of thousands of spikes shot directly at Scarlet. They all nailed him before I could do anything. Scarlet was struggling to stay conscious. "Scarlet, try to stay conscious and use Flamethrower," I commanded my red Gyarados. Before it could do anything, however, Cloyster struck again. "Cloyster, use your Blizzard and finish him off," Lorelei yelled. Cloyster opened its shell wide, and loads of ice flew out of it. They all surrounded Scarlet, and when it cleared, Scarlet was frozen solid in a block of ice. "Outrage," I said as my fists erupted in teal flames. I started to get Scarlet out of there. When he was completely out, I recalled him with a thin line of teal energy from his pokeball. "You have only four pokemon left," Lorelei said softly. I then remembered that this was a five-on-five battle. I had to choose wisely. Wait, I thought, Flare is strong against ice! "Go, Flare," I yelled as my Charizard erupted from its teal pokeball in a flash of teal light. "You made a bad move," Lorelei said. "Cloyster, Surf!" I'm an idiot, I thought. I had no other choice. "Flare, Earthquake," I commanded. Flare slammed both of his fists onto the ground just right to make the tidal wave of water split in two. They both missed him, and the crowd and Lorelei were both shocked. "Impressive," Lorelei said. "You just might beat our leader. Anyway, Cloyster, Ice Beam!" Once again, a beam of ice shot out of Cloyster's shell and was headed directly for Flare. "Flare, Fly," I commanded. Flare flew up high and dodged the Ice Beam with ease. "Now, Flare, use your Dragonbreath!" Flare shot a mini-flamethrower from the sky, but only from the dragon element. Cloyster was trying to hop away, but with the handicap of having a shell, it was impossible. The Dragonbreath hit him full and he was near fainting. "Cloyster, try using your Withdraw," Lorelei said as she tried to save her water/ice pokemon. "Flare, you can't hurt it with elemental attacks," I yelled at him. "Hold out your fists in front of you, Fly down at super-high speed, and use Earthquake!" According to my orders, Flare flew down as fast as he could and just nailed the ground as hard as he possibly could. It had felt like the entire stadium was falling apart. Everybody was holding his or her breath, waiting to see if Cloyster was still conscious or not. Finally, Cloyster opened its shell, and it had fainted. I let out a sigh of relief, the crowd cheered, and Flare let out a victory Flamethower. Lorelei, however, looked disappointed as she recalled her Cloyster. Relentlessly, she pulled out another pokeball and threw it out on the stadium. "Go, Slowking," she yelled. As a different evolution of Slowpoke appeared, Flare looked kind of scared. "It's okay, Flare," I reassured him. "Use Dragonbreath!" Flare opened his mouth wide, and a dragon attack came out. It hit Slowking full blast, but it seemed that it didn't even affect him. "Slow...king," Slowking said, not even acting damaged. "Slowking, Disable," Lorelei yelled. With a blast of psychic energy, Flare was fully paralyzed. "CHARIZA-" Flare yelled before he was cut off by the Disable attack. "Now, recall him, or face the consequences," Lorelei said. I looked into Flare's eyes, and he told me without words that he wouldn't give up. If he wanted to continue, I thought in my mind. "Never," I yelled back. "It's your choice," Lorelei said in a tone of finality. "Slowking, Psychic!" The psychic energy was so powerful, I could see it. It was usually supposed to be invisible. I could see the pain in Flare's eyes. I couldn't bear it. I had to do something- "STOP," I yelled. Immediately, Slowking dropped Flare and stopped attacking. I ran up to Flare to make sure that he was all right. "Flare, are you okay," I said as I kneeled at his side. I heard him grunt in a tone of unsatisfaction. "Char," he said weakly. It had meant that he was mad that I had stopped the battle. "Flare, please don't be angry," I pleaded with my Charizard. "It was just for the best for you. You did awesomely. Does a nice, long rest sound good?" Flare nodded his head, and I returned him to his pokeball. With a teal beam of light, Flare was called back into his pokeball. I looked at Lorelei with no mercy. I would have to send out the big guns pretty soon. "Do you concede," Lorelei asked me with her hands on her hips. She looked at me, waiting for my answer. I grabbed a pokeball from out of my cloak. "Go, Dragonight," I yelled as one of my Dragonites came out of its teal pokeball in a flash of teal light. "Whatever," Lorelei said. "It's your funeral. Slowking, Ice Beam!" "Dragonight, melt that ice with Flamethrower," I shouted. The fire and ice zoomed closer and closer together. When they finally hit, it was fire that overwhelmed the ice and it happened to burn Slowking. "Slowking, Psychic," Lorelei yelled. It started to send the psychic waves towards Dragonight. "Dragonight, counterattack with Thunder," I retaliated. The Thunder shattered the Psychic and the psychic waves ceased. The electricity went fast towards Slowking. With Slowking being slow, it was hit fully with the Thunder attack. Slowking fell to the ground, struggled to get up, and collapsed once more. "No, Slowking," Lorelei yelled as the crowd cheered. It had seemed that they were now on my side, rooting for me to win. "Good job, Dragonight," I said as he held his head up high and released a Hyper Beam into the sky. "I choose you, Jynx," Lorelei yelled as yet another psychic type came out in a flash of ice blue light. "Dragonight, watch out for its ice attacks, okay," I told Dragonight. He nodded. "Ice is weak to fire, so use your Flamethrower!" At my command, Dragonight inhaled once, and then he let out a burst of flame. Jynx, being surprisingly fast, dodged the Flamethrower. "Jynx, use your PsyBlizzard," Lorelei commanded. "What the hell is a PsyBlizzard," I wondered out loud. But my question was soon to be answered. And I would not like it. Jynx blew so much ice at Dragonight, that it was very hard to dodge it. Instinctively, Dragonight flew up high, expecting the Blizzard to miss. Alas, Jynx glowed purple, and the Blizzard followed Dragonight! The attack was speeding up, and it eventually caught up with Dragonight. It hit him from behind and covered his wings. He couldn't fly, and he fell back to earth with a crash. I ran over to him, and his eyes were closed. He had fainted. "Had enough yet," Lorelei asked. "Dragonight, return," I told my pokemon. I then turned to Lorelei. "I will beat you. I still have two pokemon left. And I choose you, Aeroy!" My ancient rock/flying Aerodactyl came out in a flash of teal light, ready for battle. "AERO," Aeroy yelled, ready to use whatever attack that I commanded. "Aerodactyls are supposed to be extinct," Lorelei gasped. "How on earth did you come to possess one?" "Let's just say that they're not extinct," I said. "Aeroy, Ancientpower!" The rocks started to fly. They were all swirling around Jynx. I had Jynx right where I wanted it. "Jynx, do something," Lorelei pleaded. But Jynx couldn't do anything. If it moved a single muscle, even to attack, it would be hit. "Aeroy, Fire Blast," I commanded. If there was one thing that I had learned from my experiences in this arena, it's that these rocks do not mix well with fire. Aeroy let out a star of flame, heading right for Jynx. When it reached Jynx, there was a huge explosion, Aeroy flew up high, and only Jynx was hurt. After all of the dust had cleared, Jynx was lying there, on the ground. Lorelei returned Jynx with a thin ice blue beam of light form its pokeball. "You've seen the power of this pokemon before," Lorelei said, with tears in her eyes. "Then, it was working with you. Now, it shall be working against you! Go, Lapras!" Her huge, water/ice transport pokemon came out of its pokeball and landed on the ground with a thud. "Oh, shit," I said. "I completely forgot about Lapras." "'Oh, shit' is right," Lorelei said. "Now you shall see the true power of ice pokemon! Lapras, Icy Wind!" Lapras started to blow. I wrapped my cloak around me for warmth, though it was summer, and the sun was shining. Aeroy was also getting cold. "Aeroy, Fire Blast to melt that wind," I yelled. Aeroy complied, but when the star of fire escaped from his mouth, mixed with the Icy Wind, it froze solid into ice itself! The ice kept on coming, then it turned into a full-scale blizzard! Aeroy finally just collapsed on the ground, expelling smoke from the leftover Fire Blast as he did so. Now, the crowd was cheering for Lorelei! "Way to go, Lorelei!" "You're the freaking bomb!" "Only one more, Lorelei!" And she was just standing there, smiling at everything that had happened. I returned Aeroy with a thin teal beam of light. "I still have one more pokemon, Lorelei," I said. "Unfortunately for you, he is my strongest." The smile faded slightly from her face. "Whatever it is, it can't stand up to Lapras," Lorelei retorted, though the smile was still fading. "Go, Puff," I yelled, though the crowd was laughing at me. I would show them. I would show them all. "With a name like Puff, it will lose for sure," Lorelei said. Quietly, I started to recite something that I had only said once before: when I had got Puff in the first place. "Puff the magic Dragonite," I recited softly, "lives in its ball. Then I will let it out and Hyper Blast I call!" After I shouted the last part of the poem, Puff inhaled I little bit, and then he released a thin beam of energy, smaller than that of a pokeball's. It was headed directly for Lapras, but since it was out of water, Lapras couldn't move at all! One inch from the Lapras, the thin beam erupted into a full-scale blast! It was at least ten times larger than a Hyper Beam, and about twenty times more powerful. "LAPRA-" Lapras screamed before it took too much damage, and immediately fainted. "NO," I heard Lorelei yell. When the dust had cleared, only Puff was left conscious, though taking a little bit of damage from the feedback. Lorelei fell to her knees, and called back her fainted pokemon. I walked up to her, and she stood up. "Are you okay," I asked her, as I saw a tear in her eye. Instead of standing up and just walking away, she stood up slowly and put her arms around me. "Take care of Bob," she said, crying on my shoulder. She stood there, and would not let go until I promised her that I would. "I will, Lorelei," I said. It sounded weird calling her "Lorelei," as I had just gotten used to calling her "mom." "Do you promise," she asked me, with tears in hers eyes. I could tell because my cloak was getting very wet. "I promise," I said. Then I added something so soft, that she couldn't even hear me. "I love you, mom." We then parted and went our separate ways. She went back to the palace, and I went back to the PokeCenter, where I met up with Josie. "You won," she yelled, and threw her arms around me without squashing "Robbie." She then handed the baby to me, and I just thought about how I had defeated Lorelei that easy at the end. This was her first battle as the first of the Elite Four. And I had beaten my own mother. "I gotta go to bed," I said. "I have to get up and fight Bruno tomorrow." I went to bed, and I set "Robbie" down in the crib that Nurse Joy had supplied for me. I lied down on my bed, and I turned off the lights. Josie came in, and she sat down beside me. "Are you okay," Josie asked. I just continued to stare up at the ceiling. She looked in my eyes, and I looked back into hers. We both lent it, and we kissed. Than I remembered that this was not my time, and I couldn't stay here, so I pulled away. "Josie, I can't do this," I said. She looked at me with reproachful eyes. "Why not," Josie asked. "Because I already have a girlfriend," I replied. "And why isn't she here with you," she asked, persisting. "I had to leave her behind," I said. "I also promised her that I would come back. I always go through with my promises. Always." "I wish that my guy was that sweet," Josie said. "But I respect that, so I won't ever do anything that could jeopardize your relationship with your girlfriend." "Thanks, Josie," I said. "Now, let's get some sleep." She went and got on her bed, and I went on my separate bed. Tomorrow I had to fight Bruno. But, I can't beat the Leader of the Elite Four, or I'll be the League Champion, and then I'll change the course of history. Tomorrow is another day... - End of Chapter Five -