The Dragon Master III: Chapter Seven I woke up the next morning, realizing my next opponent was the reason that I am here. If it weren't for Agatha, the Ghost Master, and the third of the Elite Four at this point in time, Lance would still be dead, and I wouldn't be here trying to defeat her so I can talk to Tony Marchello, the Leader of the Elite Four. I was lying in bed for about ten minutes when Josie opened the door. "Bob," she asked. "Are you awake?" "I am now," I replied, getting out of bed and materializing a teal cutoff T-shirt along with some teal pants, finally adding my cloak. "What's the matter?" "Um...there's someone to see you," Josie said, looking uncomfortable. I looked at Josie with a peculiar expression. What's going on, I thought. "Okay, I'll go and see them, then," I said. I walked out into the PokeCenter, and it was tremendously busy with people. How was I supposed to know who I was supposed to see? "Over here," a hoarse voice said. It was a little man, not a midget, just old and hunched over. He was wearing a forest cloak, so that I couldn't see his face. "Um...okay," I said and I walked over to him. He looked at me, or at least I though he did. I couldn't tell with that cloak on. There was a certain familiar quality about this man. Though I couldn't quite put my finger on it. "Sit," the man said, pointing to a table. I sat down on the bench, and he sat down opposite me. "I know why you are here." I looked at him, dumbfounded. What was he talking about? "If you're so sure about why I'm here, then why don't you tell me," I asked. "Because I'm not really sure anymore." I could hear the man sigh, and then he continued to talk. "You are here to defeat the Evil One," the man continued. "But I believe that you call him by a different name...Lance." The man shuddered. "Yes, Lance is evil," I said. "But he's not the Evil One." The man looked at me inquisitively. "How do you know if he is the Evil One or not," the man asked. "You don't know who his father is..." "You're right," I admitted. "I don't. But I do know Delilah, and she's good enough to cancel out any evil." "Or so you thought," the strange man whispered. "Lance is evil enough to be considered a threat, is he not?" "Of course he's a threat," I said. What was he getting at, I asked myself. "What I am getting at," the man said. My jaw dropped. "Yes, I read your thoughts. But we don't have time for that. What I am getting at is that I can help you defeat Lance. I know how to defeat him. It is the same as defeating any other Evil One." "How do I know that I can trust you," I asked him. "I don't even know who you are." "Once the Evil One has been disposed of," the strange man said. "That is when you shall know who I am and see my face. Do we have a deal?" He held out his hand to me. I hesitated. I wasn't sure if this could actually make defeating Lance, or "The Evil One," as that man had called him, actually go any faster. I then realized that I didn't have a choice. "Fine," I said, as I took his hand and shook it. Though I couldn't see his face, I knew that he was smiling. Why he was though, I didn't know. "Excellent," the man said. "As you were running out of time. right about now." The loudspeaker sounded. "Would the challenger please proceed to the arena to face Agatha, the Ghost Master and third of the Elite Four," the loudspeaker sounded. "I'll see you in the arena," the man said. I watched him walk out of the PokeCenter and into the crowd. I didn't want to lose sight of him. But I blinked, and he was gone. "What did he want," Josie asked as she snuck up behind me. I kind of jumped, which made her look oddly at me. "Are you okay?" "Yes, Josie, I'm fine," I said. "But I have to get to the stadium to beat Agatha." without letting her say another word, I ran out of the PokeCenter and to the arena, where I would become one step closer to defeating Lance, evidently "The Evil One." I walked into the stadium, and everybody stopped talking. You could literally drop a pin, and everybody would notice. I called my teal cloak, letting it drape around me. Agatha was already standing there, her light lavender cloak sweeping around her in the wind. My eyes glowed silver, all because of my rage. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't even be here, fighting Lance, for she raised him from the dead, forcing me to fight him once more. I heard numerous gasps from the crowd, all of them astonished at my silver eyes. But they did not know how powerful I was. I had only shown them a fraction of my power, as any more, and I would be considered dangerous. Agatha was looking at me in fear, not knowing what to do. Finally, someone broke the silence. "Are you ready to battle, then," Agatha asked. "Or are you not through intimidating me?" I softly chuckled, not knowing that I was looking crazy, with my eyes still silver, and me laughing softly. "Yes, I'm ready," I replied as I stopped laughing. "Now, send out your first pokemon." I was getting kind of scared, as none of my pokemon were that good against ghost pokemon. "Good," Agatha replied. "Go, Gengar!" Agatha threw out a pokeball, light lavender in color, with her being a Ghost Master. In a blast of light lavender energy, her fully evolved ghost/poison type pokemon came out of its pokeball, its eyes flashing evilly. Gengar was smiling devilishly, looking forward to the battle. "I choose you," I called. "Flare!" I had figured that with Gengar's poison type, Earthquake would work well. "Gengar, use Thunder," Agatha yelled. This surprised me. With over ten thousand volts of energy blasting their way to Flare, I froze. I didn't know what to do. But, I had to do something, otherwise Flare would get shocked. "Flare, Fly," I yelled. Flare flew up high, dodging the electric attack. Agatha swore, angry at the missed attempt. Flare came down fast, charging at Gengar. "Gengar," Agatha yelled. "Transparency!" With that command, Gengar's form faded, leaving a Gengar that you could see through. Flare came through to attack, but went right though Gengar! Flare landed on his feet, behind Gengar. "Flare, Earthquake," I yelled, using my only chance against Gengar. Agatha, however, commanded nothing. Her Gengar didn't move as well. Flare took both of his fists high into the air, and then he slammed them down hard on the ground. The people in the stands, as well as the announcer, felt the quake that was created by Flare. The Gengar, however, was unaffected. I did not know what to do. Physical attacks wouldn't work on Gengar. I had to attack with special based attacks. And I think I knew what to use. "Gengar," Agatha yelled. "Night Shade!" The moon blocked out the sun, and Gengar prepared to use one of its most powerful ghost attacks. I, on the other hand, knew how to stop it. "Flare, Sunny Day," I shouted. With that, the moon moved out of the way of the sun, rendering Gengar's attack useless. "Now, Flare, Flamethrower!" Flare inhaled deeply, and then he let out a burst of flame, hotter than that of on the sun itself. The flames engulfed Gengar, serving three purposes: it damaged Gengar greatly, burned Gengar slightly, and destroyed the transparency action that was previously used. "No, Gengar, use Ice Punch," Agatha screamed in panic. I knew how I was going to defeat that Gengar. "Flare," I commanded. "Earthquake!" Gengar sprinted at Flare with its icy fist, not seeing the attack that would soon take place. Flare shoved his fists into the ground as hard as he could, sending a wave through the ground and straight to Gengar. Gengar was damaged heavily by its weakness, and it fell over, knocked out. The crowd cheered madly. I calmed down, now that I had demolished her first pokemon, and my eyes turned back to normal with a blink. "Gengar, return," Agatha quietly said as a thin beam of light lavender light shot out, engulfed Gengar, and brought it back into its pokeball. She seemed to be thinking carefully about her next move. I could see it in her eyes. Then, she appeared to have come up with a decision. "Flare, be ready for anything," I cautioned my Charizard. "Go, Misdreavus," Agatha yelled out, releasing the only pure ghost type pokemon known to exist. Misdreavus exploded out of the light lavender pokeball in a flash of light lavender light, ready to go for battle. "Flare, Dragonbreath," I shouted at my pokemon. Flare let out a powerful dragon technique, engulfing Misdreavus. When Misdreavus was released, it had not seemed to be damaged at all. "Misdreavus," Agatha yelled. "Mean Look!" Misdreavus stared at Flare, looking him dead in the eye. "What the hell," I exclaimed, not sure what Agatha was doing. Agatha continued with her strategy, smiling fiendishly. "Misdreavus," Agatha screamed at her pokemon. "Perish Song!" At her command, Misdreavus started to sing. The song was a haunting melody, carrying to Flare. "What does that do," I screamed at my opponent. She just looked at me, and then she started to explain. "In precisely three minutes," Agatha explained as her Misdreavus stopped singing, "both Misdreavus and your Charizard will faint." "Not if I can help it," I said. "Flare return!" I held out Flare's teal pokeball, expecting a thin beam of teal light to fly out of it and return Flare to its pokeball. But nothing happened. I couldn't figure out why. Flare wouldn't come back to his pokeball. "Ha ha ha ha ha ha," Agatha burst out laughing. "Because of Mean Look, you can't return him as long as Misdreavus is out of its pokeball, conscious." She then burst out in laughter again. The crowd was in awe for about ten seconds, and then, they also burst into laughter. I had to show them all. "Flare, mix Flamethrower and Dragonbreath into one attack," I yelled. "Then launch it, and follow up with an Earthquake!" Flare somehow followed my orders, and everybody stopped laughing. Flare let out a mix of fire and dragon energy, it sailing towards Misdreavus. He then pounded the ground with his fists, all three attacks zooming towards the enemy. "You'll never get your Charizard free from Mean Look," Agatha exclaimed, still laughing. I looked at her in hate. I knew what my only chance was. "Flare, follow up with Fly," I screamed. Flare launched himself in the air, and dived back down towards Misdreavus. The three barreling attacks nailed Misdreavus one after the other, taking it to the point of fainting. However, Misdreavus remained consciousness. Flare came down right after the attacks hit Misdreavus, and slammed it into the ground. Misdreavus blinked once, and then it fainted. I fumbled with Flare's pokeball, trying to get him returned. "Dammit you," Agatha cursed aloud. I continued to fumble around with Flare's pokeball, finally getting it into my hands. "Flare, return," I shouted in panic. A thin beam of teal light shot out of the pokeball that usually contains Flare. Flare waited for the beam of light to come and engulf it, when he just fell over. The three minutes was up. The beam of light consumed Flare, and brought him back into his pokeball, fainted. "I told you," Agatha said, shaking her head at me. "I told you that ghost pokemon were nearly undefeatable. But you didn't believe me." I looked at her, wondering how she could think this. I was still winning. "The keyword there is 'nearly,'" I said. "You're still not beating me. And you won't. Send out your pokemon." "So be it," Agatha said, grabbing a pokeball out of her cloak. "Go, Umbreon!" I was amazed. How could she use an Umbreon? She was a Ghost Master. Umbreon was a dark pokemon. "What the hell, Agatha," I swore. "You can't use that. That Umbreon is a dark type, not a ghost type." "As long as he knows a ghost move, he is perfectly legal," Agatha reached down and scratched Umbreon behind its ears. "So, now it's your turn to pick a pokemon." I thought carefully about this. Any wrong move, and I was beaten. "Go, Scarlet," I yelled, throwing out a teal pokeball on the field. The ball exploded in a flash of teal light, releasing my red Gyarados out onto the field. "Scarlet, Surf!" Water rose up from behind Scarlet, and it all rushed towards Umbreon. "Umbreon, Shadow Ball," Agatha yelled at her battling pokemon. Umbreon's eyes turned light lavender, and it opened up its mouth. From its mouth shot out a ball darker than Umbreon's fur. The Shadow Ball split the Surf in two, both halves missing the intended target. "Dammit that Umbreon," I cursed loudly. "Scarlet, Ice Beam, now!" Scarlet opened its mouth and let loose a beam of ice, headed directly at Umbreon faster than a car. "Umbreon, do something," Agatha pleaded with her pokemon. Umbreon, however, didn't know what to do, so the Ice Beam hit it full on, ramming the dark type pokemon into the wall. "Outrage," I called. Scarlet's eyes turned teal, and it blew teal fire at the Umbreon, still lying on the ground. Umbreon screamed in pain, but then it got right back up again. "Umbreon, Toxic," Agatha yelled. It looked like Umbreon had just spit at Scarlet, but then I realized that the saliva was pure poison. Scarlet would faint soon. "Scarlet, use Rage," Scarlet's eyes went from teal to red faster than anything that you've ever seen. Scarlet rampaged towards Umbreon, getting ready to attack. Scarlet hit Umbreon head on, ramming Umbreon into the wall once more. Scarlet hit Umbreon with his tail repeatedly, and then he let out an unordered Hyper Blast. After the brutal beating, Umbreon just lay there on the ground, unmoving. "NO," Agatha yelled. "How can this be? How can you have defeated Umbreon?" I just smirked at her, waiting for her to send out her next pokemon. "Are you ready," I asked her silently. She looked at me in hatred, obviously thinking of what pokemon that she would use next. She only had two choices. "Go, Crobat," Agatha yelled, throwing out a light lavender pokeball onto the field. It exploded into the form of a huge Crobat, larger than the average size for one. This one, however, looked different than the one shown in my teal PokeDex; it looked like it had been beefed up with steroids. "Scarlet, blast it from the sky with Ice Beam," I yelled. Scarlet was about to let loose a beam of ice, when Agatha ordered Crobat to attack. "Crobat, Confuse Ray," she ordered. Crobat's eyes turned blacker than black, staring into Scarlet. Scarlet let out a powerful Ice Beam, and it curved right back and hit Scarlet. Scarlet was badly damaged. "Scarlet, pull yourself out of it," I commanded. I didn't know what to do. Scarlet was on the verge of fainting. "Flamethrower!" Scarlet sent out a flurry of flames, and they engulfed Crobat with ease. When Crobat was released from the attack, it appeared to only be slightly damaged. "Crobat," Agatha ordered the final blow. "Giga Drain!" Crobat swooped down on Scarlet, and started to suck out all the energy from him, restoring his health back to full. There was nothing I could do to save Scarlet. All I could do was just stand here while Scarlet was getting knocked out. After about ten seconds, Scarlet dropped to the ground, knocked out, while Crobat zoomed around in the skies, brimming with energy. "Scarlet, return," I said, shooting a thin beam of teal light out of Scarlet's pokeball, swallowing him up and bringing him back into his pokeball. I had to think of something to defeat that Crobat. "Nice job, Crobat," Agatha congratulated her pokemon. "Now get ready for his next one." I had to make a wise decision, otherwise I would just waste a pokemon that could be useful against her other one. I had it! "I choose you, Dragon," I roared, letting its teal pokeball fly out onto the field. The ball exploded in a flash of teal light, releasing Dragon from its pokeball. "DRAAAAAA," Dragon cried, letting Crobat know that it shouldn't mess with him. Crobat looked unimpressed, not showing any emotion. Dragon looked enraged at something. At what, I had no idea. Dragon was looking up towards the top row of the arena. I followed his line of sight, and met with a teal cloaked figure with his arms folded. The figure saw me looking at him, held up his middle finger at me, and ran out of the stadium. "Dammit, Lance," I cursed underneath my breath. "You little bastard." My mind was drifting, and Agatha saw that. She used that to her advantage. "Crobat, Wing Attack," Agatha yelled at her pokemon. Crobat zoomed forward incredibly fast, but Dragon was quicker. Dragonite was the fastest flying pokemon in existence after all. "Dragon," I commanded. "Thunder Drill!" The horn on Dragon's head started to spin and cackle with electricity. Dragon charged at Crobat, Crobat coming at full speed. One of their attacks would succeed, but the other one would fail. Crobat and Dragon were coming ever so closer, and they finally collided. There was a huge explosion of electricity, as Dragon had followed up with a Thunder after contact. His horn, however, was still boring into Crobat's body, Crobat trying not to give in to the immense pain. Crobat could not keep it up, so Crobat just stopped fighting back. The crowd gasped. "Oh my God, it's a One Hit Knock Out!" "I didn't think that the challenger could beat Crobat, Pokemon Master or not!" "This 'Dragon Master' created all these attacks? Whoa, he's good." "He may have beaten Gengar, Misdreavus, Umbreon and Crobat, but let's see if he's a match for her last pokemon." "Crobat, return," Agatha said, recalling her fainted poison pokemon with a light lavender beam of light. "I didn't want it to come down to this, but go Gengar!" Agatha opened a pokeball, releasing a bunch of light lavender energy. This energy transformed into yet another Gengar, except this one looked like it was a higher level. "Dragon, Hailstorm," I shouted at my Dragonite. Dragon summoned a storm to help him win. Hail came down from the clouds, all of them striking Gengar. But Gengar still had a smirk on its face. It didn't even look cold. "Gengar, Metronome," Agatha said. Gengar moved its fingers to use Metronome. Then, Gengar stopped. It's fingers stopped moving. Gengar looked up into the sky, and the clouds that Dragon had formed were swirling. Gengar was using Twister! The tornado came down powerfully, making my cloak swirl around me. The dragon attack came down and sucked up Dragon, and then throwing him out into the wall, breaking it. "Dragon, no," I yelled at my fallen companion. I pulled his pokeball out of my cloak and returned him to it. I had to think. I only had two more pokemon to use. The crowd was talking again. I could hear every single one of them. "This is getting close." "Do you think he'll win? Agatha's Gengar is practically unbeatable." "Come on, Bob, you can do it." That voice sounded so familiar. I whipped around, and I realized that it was Josie, sitting right behind me in the stands. "Josie," I asked. "How did you get there? Your seat was way up there at the top." She shifted "Robbie" and looked at me. "I couldn't see," she explained. "Plus, you looked like you need some help. That Gengar may be powerful, but its speed is pitiful. If you can outrun it, there's a good chance that you can damage it greatly. Do you get what I'm saying?" "Uh...not really," I admitted. She slapped her free hand to her forehead and looked at me like I was some kind of idiot. "Okay, use Aeroy first," she said. "Then follow up with Puff if it doesn't work." I decided that she was right. But if I didn't hurry, I would be disqualified anyway. "Go Aeroy," I shouted, releasing my Aerodactyl in a flash of teal light. "Now, use Rock Bomb!" Aeroy started spitting huge rocks at Gengar. Upon contact, they exploded, showering Gengar in a flurry of exploding rocks. When all the dust had cleared, Gengar was left standing, waiting from orders from Agatha. "Gengar, use Ultra Drain," Gengar's master shouted at it. Gengar's eyes glowed green, and a beam of green light shot at Aeroy. Aeroy was immediately drained of tons of energy, all of that energy transferred to Gengar. Aeroy looked weak. He looked very weak. "Aeroy, Tremors," I shouted. Aeroy rammed down on the ground repeatedly, making tons of earthquakes. Gengar was rattled, while being damaged greatly. Aeroy just need a couple more attacks to knock it out. Aeroy however, was running out of energy fast, so I had to strike again before she did. "Gengar, Thunderpunch," Agatha yelled at her pokemon to attack. Gengar charged forward, with its fist charged with electricity. Gengar swung repeatedly at Aeroy, finally connecting one in Aeroy's chest. Aeroy howled out in pain from its weakness. Gengar then followed up with a Thunderbolt, frying Aeroy to a crisp. Aeroy collapsed to the ground, not getting back up. In anguish, I recalled Aeroy back to his pokeball. "Aeroy, return," I said. Willingly, Aeroy was sucked back into his pokeball. I only had one choice now, and I knew who it was going to be. I pulled a pokeball off my belt. "Why don't you just give up now," Agatha asked. "You evidently can't beat Gengar." I started back at her, looking at how short she was compared to me. I was letting her beat me? No, I had to rise above this. "You're my last hope, Puff," I said. "So go out there and make me proud!" I whipped his pokeball out onto the field, it erupted into a flash of teal light, and Puff was left standing there, ready to show what he was made of. "Another Dragonite," Agatha asked suspiciously. "There has to be some kind of rule permitting you to have more than one pokemon that is the same species." "No, I checked," I said. "But you and your Gengar had better be ready for a good beating. Mostly because Puff and I have been together for six years. We've trained in all kinds of towns, and against all kinds of different trainers. We are faithful to each other, and that will never change. Now, are you ready to continue?" She looked at me, speechless. "Yes, I am ready," she said, getting over her speechlessness. "And so is Gengar. Gengar, use Metronome!" Once again, Gengar used Metronome. Everybody in the stadium held his or her breath, waiting to see which attack would Gengar would come up with. "GEN...GAR," Gengar shouted, releasing a huge ball of electricity at Puff. Gengar had pulled off a Zap Cannon. If that hit Puff, he would be paralyzed and unable to battle any longer. I had to do something. "Puff, Fly," Puff took off, letting the Zap Cannon pass harmlessly by him. Puff came down and rammed Gengar into the ground, damaging Gengar greatly because of his low defense. "Gengar, Ice Punch it while its in close," Agatha yelled at her pokemon, which was being crushed by Puff. An icy fist was rammed into Puff's stomach, forcing him to get off Gengar. Puff was damaged greatly by that attack, as he had a 4x weakness to ice. Puff and Gengar were staring it down, each waiting for the other to attack. It was Puff that was to attack first. "Puff, Icy Wind," I shouted at Puff. Gengar ran forwards to use another Ice Punch. Puff used his weather-controlling abilities to create a wind that not only caused damage, but it stopped Gengar from advancing any closer. Gengar was driving its legs as fast as it could possibly go, but I wasn't gaining any ground. In fact, it was losing ground. "Gengar, do something," Agatha pleaded with her ghost pokemon. I had to finish it now; otherwise I wouldn't be able to beat it at all. "Puff, Energy Ball: Ghost," I shouted. Puff called energy to his mouth, a light lavender in color. All this time, Puff's Icy Wind was still going. Puff stopped the Icy Wind, as he needed to save his energy for his Energy Ball. Gengar ran forward, still in its Ice Punch attack. They were twenty yards apart. If either of them took any more damage, they would faint. They were fifteen yards apart. Puff's Energy Ball was bigger than a basketball. Gengar was still charging. Ten yards apart. Gengar called his other fist to perform a mighty double-fisted Ice Punch on Puff. Five yards apart. Puff's attack was larger than ten feet in diameter. Four feet. Three feet. Two feet. One foot. "PUFF, NOW," I shouted. There was a huge explosion of light lavender energy and ice shards. Everybody in the arena shielded his or her eyes because it was so bright. Dust flew everywhere, making it impossible to see anything that was going on in the arena. "GENGAR," Agatha yelled, hoping that she had finally beat me. I called a twister to suck up all the dust. When it had all cleared, we saw that Gengar was lying there on the ground, fainted, while Puff was still standing, a little wobbly maybe, but standing all the same. "THE CHALLENGER HAS WON," the announcer finally said. At hearing that, Puff smiled, and then fainted, falling face first on the ground. I ran out onto the field to see if my pokemon was all right. "Puff, are you okay," I asked. Puff opened his eyes weakly, and then he grunted. I understood him perfectly, though. "You just want to rest," I asked. He nodded his head. "Okay. You deserve it. You were awesome, Puff. I couldn't have asked for a better pokemon than you. Return." A thin beam of light escaped from Puff's pokeball, bringing him back into it to rest. I put his pokeball in my cloak, and walked out of the stadium, amid all the cheering going on. Josie caught up with me outside. "I never knew that anyone could be that good," she gasped. "How long did it take you to come to that level?" I looked at her exasperatedly, and smiled weakly. "Six whole years," I said. "And my, they've gone by so fast. It feels like I haven't accomplished anything at all. But yet, I've done a lot in a short period of time." I motioned to take "Robbie" from Josie. She handed him to me, and I looked at him. He really bore no resemblance to me. Even though he was me, I must've changed a lot in sixteen years. Josie and I made it to the PokeCenter. She went straight to bed, but I stayed up, sitting on top of the roof of the PokeCenter. I was thinking about what I had done, and what I will be doing in the future. "You're so lucky," I said to "Robbie." "You don't to worry about a single thing until you're ten. Boy, I miss those times. But, it couldn't have lasted forever, and I had to move on. Savor these moments, because you'll wish that you had them back when you're doing what I'm doing now. Saving the world...again. It's amazing how many times I have been called to service the League in the short time that I've been alive. I've experienced many things in my life, some of them great, some of them bad. But remember, always think about others first. And care about your pokemon. They care about you, too. Always treat them with the same respect that you would treat Delilah with. Cherish the moments you have with not only your pokemon, but your friends and family. For just like that, they're gone." I snapped my fingers once. "Yeah, Bob, you'll have a lot of fun in the next sixteen years. Never feel like you're second best to anyone else. For you are hope in a hopeless world. You were, are, and forever shall be a hero to these people." I noticed then that "Robbie" was asleep. I went back into the PokeCenter to put him back in his bed. After I had done that, I came out onto the roof again. And I just sat there; looking at the stars and thinking about lots of things. The thing that I was thinking about most was Misty and how I missed her. I sat up on that roof for a long time that night. Just thinking about how I was almost done with my quest. Once I beat Marchello tomorrow, I would finally get some allies to kill Lance...once and for all. And then I could go back to the future, and hug and kiss Misty once again. Oh, how I missed her... - End of Chapter Seven -