The Dragon Master IV: Chapter Ten

	"You traitor," Lorelei hissed. Still holding the gun at Giovanni, her eyes 
read pure anger.
	"Hey," Giovanni said, getting nervous. "Listen, Lorelei-"
	"Don't 'Listen, Lorelei' me, you son of a bitch," Lorelei spat in loathing. 
"Remember the last time you said 'Listen, Lorelei?' I do. It was when you 
tried to do the honorable thing and asked me to marry you. Thank God I said 
no. If I had said yes, this gun would be at my head!"
	"Lorelei, it's not what you think," Giovanni said.
	"Then what is it, you bastard," Lorelei demanded.
	"I knew nothing about this," Giovanni said, panicking now. I knew that he 
wouldn't shoot her, but she would shoot him. I pulled out the Grass Shard 
and tossed it to Erika.
	"Hold off those guards," I said.
	"Razor Leaf," Erika cried. Razor-sharp leaves shot out of the shard, 
hitting the guards. She had them under control. I ran up to my parents.
	"Both of you put your guns down," I ordered.
	"If I put my gun down, she'll shoot me," Giovanni said.
	"Will you," I asked Lorelei.
	"Yes," Lorelei replied without hesitation.
	"I'm truly sorry about this," I said. I twisted both their wrists, forcing 
them to drop their weapons. I picked both of them up, and holstered them in 
Giovanni and Lorelei's holsters.
	"Bob," Giovanni said. "What the hell?"
	"Let's go," I said. "We were caught. MOVE! MOVE!" I called to Erika, and 
she stopped holding off the guards so we could get through the gate.
	But we couldn't get there in time. They locked and barred the gate, waiting 
for us to get there so they could arrest us. I quickly pulled out the Ground 
Shard.
	"FISSURE," I cried. Leaping into the air, I did a flip and landed on the 
ground again. A crack in the ground raced towards the gate. The ground 
attack smashed into the gate with full force, blowing it right off its 
hinges. The guards fell to their feet at the impact, leaving it clear for us 
to get through. We ran through the gate, and didn't stop until we reached 
the Underground path that led to Lavender Town. We entered it, and found 
four other people sitting inside of it, all looking very distressed. We 
walked in, and they all brightened up.
	"Bob," Duplica exclaimed, coming up to me and throwing her arms around me. 
"Explain everything to me."
	"I'm lost, too," Erika said.
	"My death was faked," I said. "The new Pokemon League Champion just said 
that so he could have control of Kanto and Johto. After he kidnapped Misty, 
I confronted him many times to try and get her back. I met up with Koga and 
Aya. I was fighting Will and Lt. Surge and Will took my Mastery from me. We 
met up with Bruno, and he led us to Mahogany Town, where we joined forces 
with Jimmy and his Rebel team, and Giovanni and his Team Rocket. Ever since 
we've been freeing Masters. Once we free them all, we will take over the 
League. It'll be just like old times." I smiled. Erika seemed satisfied, but 
Duplica looked at me as if I was crazy.
	"Are you insane," Duplica asked. "The League's army is over five thousand 
strong!"
	"Koga, Bruno, and Aya have it all under control," I said. "I don't know 
how, but they have it. Believe me, Duplica, we will win this thing." She 
looked at me and tried to say something, but a sigh only came out. She 
looked at the others.
	"Bob," she said finally. "I don't know how we're going to pull this off. 
It's near impossible."
	"It was impossible to take on the League three years ago," I said. "But we 
did it then."
	"This is different," she said. "We had our Masteries back then. We had an 
edge. All that's gone now."
	"We have a different edge this time," I replied. "We're stronger, smarter, 
we have the advantage here."
	"Fine," she said. "I know how much Misty means to you, and I realize how 
much Kanto and Johto mean to you. I'll help."
	"That's all I ask," I said. "Should we get them prepped?"
	"Yes," Brock's uncle said. He turned to Erika and Duplica. "My name is 
Timothy. I will be providing you with the supplies you need to infiltrate 
the concentration camps." He handed them a pile of stuff and told them to go 
put it on. When they came back, they looked just like the League soldiers.
	"Ready," I asked them. They both nodded. Brock turned to his uncle.
	"Uncle," he said. "Meet us in Pallet Town next with some more supplies." 
Timothy nodded, and we walked out of the underground path. Lorelei was 
eyeing Giovanni suspiciously, and it was then that I remembered.
	"What did go on in Saffron City between you two," I asked suddenly.
	"It was nothing," Giovanni said.
	"You got us caught," Lorelei retaliated. "You see, he tried to call you on 
his radio to inform you that there was no ex-Master in the Gym. But, his 
radio was set on frequency nine. The League heard him, and somebody fired a 
shot at me. I assumed it him, and put the gun to his forehead. He pulled his 
out, too. That's when you found us."
	"Next, time, Giovanni," I said. "Be more careful. You could've gotten us 
all killed." Giovanni was furious at Lorelei, and I could tell it in his 
eyes.
	"Let's keep on moving," Jimmy said to break the silence. I pushed on, and 
the others followed.
	We reached the gate the Celadon City, and numerous guards stopped us. They 
searched us, and demanded out ID. We fed them the same story that we told 
the Saffron City guards. They took it in, and let us through.
	"Where do we go now," Jimmy asked.
	"I don't know," I said. "The only place where one could hide and ex-Master 
would be the Gym in this town. No major companies. Just the Gym here."
	"The game corner," Giovanni blurted out. "I used it as a base while in Team 
Rocket."
	"Good," I said. "You, Lorelei, Duplica, and I will check that out. Jimmy, 
Brock, and Erika will check the Gym. This is Erika's hometown, after all. 
Plus, it is her Gym."
	"Right," Jimmy said. Giovanni and Lorelei were extremely mad, but didn't 
say anything. We split up, and my group headed directly for the Game Corner. 
I walked up to the door, but it was locked.
	"Damn," I cursed quietly. I looked for a lock to pick with my skeleton key. 
But there wasn't a doorknob. Instead, there was a keycard slot. I slid my 
skeleton keycard through it, and the door popped open. The four of us walked 
right in and locked the door behind us. Giovanni led the way.
	"Over here," he motioned with his hand. He ripped down a poster from the 
wall, and a fingerprint analyzer was there.
	"Who's fingerprints does it take," I asked.
	"Mine," Giovanni said. "It used to just be a switch, but that damn Ash 
Ketchum found it and flushed me out. So I had to resort to this." He put his 
fingers on the slots, and a door opened that led to a staircase. The four of 
us walked down the staircase, and came to a labyrinth of moving tiles.
	"What the hell did you have this here for," I asked him.
	"Protection," he said, shrugging. "Follow me." He stepped on a tile, and 
was rocketed left. I did the same, and ended up right behind him. Lorelei 
and Duplica followed suit. We zoomed around on the tiles for some time, 
until we came to an elevator. Giovanni looked lost.
	"What's the matter," Lorelei asked.
	"This is a fingerprint scanner," he said. "Last time I was here, it was a 
retina scan. This won't take my fingerprints."
	"Then let's see who's it does take," I said. I pulled out my fingerprint 
scanner, and shined the light on the single slot. The machine in my hand 
beeped, and a slipcover fell out of the bottom. I stuck it on my finger, and 
placed it in the slot.
	"Access granted," the machine beeped. The doors shot open, and the four of 
us walked in. Giovanni pressed B4 on the keypad.
	"This will take us down to my office," he explained. "That's the highest 
security room in the place." The elevator moved downwards, and when we 
reached the bottom floor, the doors sprang open. Four guards were standing 
guard at the door to Giovanni's office, and they started to fire at us. We 
ducked behind the walls, and pulled out some weapons of our own.
	"Why are they firing at us," I yelled to Giovanni.
	"They are most likely ordered to shoot anyone that comes down here," 
Giovanni shouted back. I pulled out my handgun, and shot four times and hit 
a person. I heard him scream. I didn't like to kill people like that. We 
finished off the guards, and ran up to the door to Giovanni's office.
	"Go, Puff," I said, letting out a teal pokeball. My starting Dragonite 
exploded from its pokeball.
	"DRAAA," Puff cried.
	"I know it's been a while," I told him. "But I've been busy. Hyper Blast 
that door away." Puff sucked in energy, and fired a tiny beam at the door. 
Right before the shot reached the door, it exploded into a massive beam. The 
door was blown was off of its hinges. We ran in, and waited for the smoke to 
clear. Inside of the room was Whitney, the ex-Normal Master.
	"Bob," she asked in disbelief. "What are you doing here? I thought you 
were-"
	"I know," I replied, getting tired of hearing that. "But you have to get 
out of here." I ran up to her chair, and cut off the bindings. I gave her 
something to change into, and Giovanni and I left the room. When Whitney was 
done, her, Lorelei, and Duplica came out.
	"Where do we go from here," Lorelei asked me.
	"Well," Giovanni started. "We go-"
	"I was asking Bob, you bastard," Lorelei cut him off coldly. "Bob, where 
are we going?"
	"We have to rendezvous with the others on Cycling Road," I said. "Our 
double-agent inside the League made it so a vehicle will take us down to 
Fucshia City. After we're through there, we'll head to Cinnabar Island, and 
then to the League." They all nodded, and we walked into the elevator and 
out of the game corner. I turned on my radio to frequency ten, and talked to 
Jimmy.
	"Where are you guys now," Jimmy asked.
	"We're just leaving the game corner with Whitney," I replied. "Where are 
you?"
	"Waiting on Cycling Road with Darla Blaine," Jimmy answered.
	"Good," I said. "Over and out." I turned off my radio, and the five of us 
walked out of Celadon City without a problem. After we were out of hearing 
distance of the guards, Whitney turned to me.
	"I think something's up," she said. "That was too easy."
	"It will get harder," I said. "We will face many more challenges before we 
win this thing." We entered Cycling Road, and Jimmy, Brock, Erika, and Darla 
were waiting there in a Jeep. Jimmy motioned me to him.
	"I've already briefed her," he whispered in my ear. "What about Whitney?"
	"Done," I said. "Let's get moving." I slapped the side of the Jeep, and it 
started. I hopped in the back of the other Jeep with everyone else, and we 
started moving, too.
	"How long is this ride going to take," Duplica asked me.
	"About five hours," I replied. "We'll get there around midnight." Nobody 
complained.
	"It'll feel weird to be going back," Duplica thought out loud. "I haven't 
been back since I left with you three years ago. I wonder how my home is, 
and how my friends are..."
	"No offense, Duplica," Whitney said. "But I'll bet that your 'friends' 
forgot about you the moment they found out that you were a Pokemon Master. 
Mine did. I never came out until Bob told me to help him. It was the only 
way..."
	"None taken," Duplica asked. "But here's to hoping..." We were all sleep 
deprived, and decided to sleep. I fell into a sound sleep, a kind of sleep 
that I had not had since before Delilah was killed. It was bliss...
	I was awoken with a jolt from the Jeep stopping. It was dark out, and I 
poked everyone else awake. They all awoke with a start, and we hopped out of 
the Jeep. I went to talk to the driver.
	"You can go back now," I said. "We won't be needing your assistance 
anymore."
	"Yes, sir," the driver said. He radioed his comrade, and they left. The 
nine of us walked into the deserted Fuchsia City, and made our way to the 
coastline. Usually there would be fishermen here, fishing their hearts out. 
But there were none. They had all been taken to the concentration camps. I 
looked up into the moon, and remembered the times that Misty and I spent 
here.
	All of a sudden, a huge ball of fire appeared in the sky. It caught the 
attention of everyone in the group.
	"What the hell," Giovanni swore. After the ball of fire dissipated, 
electricity fired from the opposite direction. It lit up the sky, and I saw 
two figures that I hoped I would never have to encounter.
	"Lugia and Ho-oh," I said quietly. "They're going to destroy each 
other...along with the world..."
-                                         End of Chapter Ten                 
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