The Dragon Master IV: Chapter Two

	I woke up, on the ground surrounded by a crowd of people and reporters. I 
looked up to see if the Radio Tower was still there, but it had been 
demolished by the blast. Luckily, nobody was injured, as no one was there.
	"Master Bob," one reporter said. "What brings you to Lavender Town?"
	"What happened to the Radio Tower," another asked.
	"Why were you unconscious," yet another reported asked me.
	"Go away, all of you," a familiar voice said. It was Bruno, the third of 
the Elite Four and the Master of Fighting. "Get out of here now, before I 
should use any force. Are you okay, Bob?" Bruno helped me to my feet, and I 
walked alongside of him. He led me to a car, and I got in, followed by him.
	"Thank you, Bruno," I said quietly. He looked at me, but I was staring off 
into space, ignoring that famous stare of his.
	"Duplica and Brock told me what happened," Bruno said. "I'm sorry. I know 
how much you loved Misty. And I-"
	"Love," I shouted, finally looking at him. "Not 'loved'. I still love her, 
and she is not gone yet. With God as my witness, I will find her, alive. And 
I will kill whoever took her from me. I will make sure of it, or die 
trying." Bruno shook his head.
	"Bob," Bruno said, looking at me with sympathy. "Can't you see? It's all a 
trap to kill you. Once you're dead, Misty will die too. And without you, the 
League will never be as strong as it is now. Bob, I know how you feel. You 
lost your adoption mother, and then your half-brother, and you don't want to 
lose anybody else."
	"YOU WILL NEVER KNOW HOW I FEEL," I erupted at Bruno. In turn he yelled 
back.
	"OR IS IT THAT YOU WILL NEVER KNOW WHAT I FEEL," Bruno shouted back. "I 
LOST MY WIFE, ALL BECAUSE OF THIS DAMN LEAGUE! SHE WAS ALL THAT EVER 
MATTERED! SO DON'T GO FEELING SORRY FOR YOURSELF BECAUSE YOU LOST YOUR 
FIANCE! GO OUT AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!" I was in shock. I suddenly felt a 
huge pang of guilt in my stomach.
	"I'm sorry, Bruno," I said. "I never knew. You're right. Sitting around and 
feeling sorry for myself won't do anything. It won't save anyone." I was 
even more shocked to see that Bruno was close to tears.
	"Bob," Bruno said, wiping away his tears. "Go out and save her. Every one 
of us has somebody else for us in this world. Misty is yours. Mine is gone. 
Life is funny sometimes, isn't it?"
	"Yeah it is," I said. I moved forward and hugged Bruno tight.
	"Go out and find your fiancé," Bruno said.
	"Driver," I said, pounding on the window. "Pull over."
	"Yes, sir," said the driver. The car slowed to a stop, and I got out, 
looked at Bruno one last time, and shut the door. The car accelerated, and 
drove out of sight. Out of nowhere, a piece of paper flew down and landed in 
front of me. The writing on it was awfully familiar. I picked it up, and it 
read:

Bob,
	You made it out. That surprised me. I mean, wow, I didn't think that you 
could live through that. You've survived numerous injuries, and you can add 
this one to your list.
	Anyway, I'm sure that you are still thoroughly pissed at me. But, now 
you're wondering 'Who could do this?' and 'Why would they do this?' The 
answer is simple enough: I want you dead. Three encounters with Lance, and 
you've survived them all. What is your secret? Perhaps it's that damn 
medallion. I know that that gives you the power greater than all other 
Masters combined. Quite the useful ally, isn't it? Now, down to business:
	Go to the Master's cemetery. I will be waiting for you there. Until then,

						The Man in the Black Trench Coat

	In anger, I ripped the paper up. Why would he be in the Master's Cemetery? 
I thought. If he was against the League, how could he have access there?
	"I don't have time for this," I said aloud, to no one in particular. "I 
have to save Misty." I threw off my cloak, called my wings, and flew off for 
Indigo Plateau. Perhaps Misty would be there, and I could catch him off 
guard. I rocketed along the plains, moving anything that was in my way. I 
felt like I was going faster than the speed of light. But I know that that 
was impossible. I also knew what wasn't impossible; that was finding Misty 
alive.
	I arrived, seeing the man in the black trench coat standing by a grave. I 
noticed which grave he was standing by. He was standing by my half-brother's 
grave. I landed down in fury, putting a dent in the ground.
	"Ah, you came," said the man.
	"Get away from there," I said, both my teeth and my fists clenched.
	"Temper, temper," the man said, waving his finger. "That's something that 
you should really learn how to control. If you lose it, you lose your 
fiancé." I backed down, remembering why I was doing this in the first place.
	"What do you want," I asked hopelessly. "I have little to offer."
	"You killed your own brother," the man said, ignoring my question. Now that 
I had realized it, he wasn't that tall. He was shorter than me.
	"I didn't know," I said, looking down to the ground. "Had I known that John 
was my brother, his blood would have never been shed." The man gasped.
	"You fell remorse for Flargini," the man said, astonished. "He took over 
the League! He would have killed you, given the chance."
	"He was also in the blind," I said. "He knew nothing of me, and I of him. 
He thought me a murderer, though I am not sure why."
	"I know," the man said, obviously smiling behind the shadows that his hat 
had given him. "But do you?"
	"Of course," I said, losing track of my purpose without knowing it.
	"The late Master Lance informed him that," the man started. "But do you 
really want to know?"
	"I told you," I said. "I WANT TO KNOW!"
	"Have it your way," the man said. "Master Lance told him that you killed 
his mother, Josie Flargini." I dropped my mouth in shock.
	"I didn't," I said. "It was Lance. He did it. He knows it. I know it. Josie 
died seventeen years ago. How could I have killed her?"
	"You've forgotten so soon," the man laughed. "Remember that little trip 
back in time? Lance went back to kill you, so you followed him. You ended up 
killing him, sending him back to hell once more."
	"I remember," I said, recalling the incident. "But he deserved it, and that 
is in the past, and it shall forever remain in the past. Now is the present, 
and we shall concentrate on the present. Where is Misty?"
	"Evidently not here," said the man in the black trench coat, shrugging. 
"But if you knew where she was, then I wouldn't have the power over you that 
I have now." He again smiled obviously.
	"What do you want," I asked again.
	"Your life," the man said, clenching his fist. "I want you to die, and go 
to hell, to experienced what my master, Lance, has experienced. I want your 
very existence wiped off the face of the planet!"
	"That's impossible," I said. "With all the Mysticmen gone, you can't travel 
back through time to erase me. You may kill me, but somebody will remember 
me. And that person shall stand up to you, and they shall defeat you in an 
array of pain and agony for both you, and Lance!"
	"If you say so," said the man. "But let us have one little skirmish." He 
called a slightly curved black sword out of nowhere. I retaliated, calling 
my teal katana, with its silver hilt. We looked at each other, one waiting 
for the other to strike first. We struck simultaneously, our swords 
clashing. He aimed for my neck, I countered, taking out his legs with a 
floored roundhouse kick. He fell to the ground, but flipped right up again. 
I had tried to strike then, but he was too fast. I advanced on him, ready to 
kill. The man fell to the ground, his sword flying out of his hand.
	"Time for you to die," I said, my katana at his throat. In panic, he pulled 
out the remote from his pocket.
	"Not so fast," the man said. "I still hold her life in my hands. If I die, 
this goes off anyway. So, is it worth it?" I thought for a moment, and then 
dropped my sword to the ground, making it disappear.
	"Damn you," I cursed under my breath. "What do you want now?" The man got 
up, dusted himself off with his hands, and looked at me.
	"I already told you," the man said. "I want you dead. Now, Ground Master!" 
A huge rumble came from behind me. I turned around, and saw none other than 
my father, Giovanni, standing there, after the small earthquake he had 
caused.
	"Why hello, son," Giovanni said menacingly, his brown eyes staring deeply 
into me. "I was informed that someone was trying to kill you, so naturally, 
I wanted to help." He smiled again, this time, removing his hood.
	"You're behind Misty's kidnapping," I said in rage. "WHY?" He looked at me, 
nonplussed.
	"No, I'm not," my father said. "I am just the 'right-hand' man. Remember, 
you cannot do anything to either of us. If you do..." He moved his finger 
swiftly across his throat.
	"You wouldn't," I said in fury.
	"Of course I wouldn't," Giovanni said. "He would." Giovanni pointed to the 
man in the black trench coat, who obviously smiled and waved at me. The man 
started to speak again.
	"So, Giovanni," the man said. "What shall we have him do?"
	"Give me my Gym back, for starters," Giovanni said, with his fist clenched.
	"Now, now, my good friend," the man said. "There will be plenty of time for 
that when he's dead. But what shall we demand?" I had had enough of this. My 
eyes turned bright silver, and my cloak dissolved into thin air. My wings 
exploded from my back, and I took off into the sky. A beam of dark energy 
shot back into the sky after me. It nearly missed my wing.
	"He's getting away," Giovanni yelled.
	"You'll never win," cried the man in the black trench coat. "I have your 
fiancé!" I still flew away. I had to think of a plan to save the love of my 
life, my reason for waking up: Misty.
	I sat on the Goldenrod City Radio Tower for some time, just thinking, about 
what I had to do next. But there was nothing that I could do. I turned on my 
radio to try and soothe my nerves. Whenever I did, it seemed that I could 
think clearer. I changed it to a station, and I couldn't believe my ears.
	"From this point on," said a voice on the radio that sounded like the man 
in the black coat. "All Gyms will be closed, and all Pokemon Masters shall 
be transported to Indigo Plateau at once. Everyone who is not a Master shall 
be placed under house arrest until the situation is solved. There will be 
guards patrolling every city in both Kanto and Johto, to enforce the house 
arrest. This shall take place at 6 o'clock tonight."
	"What happened to Master Bob Shepardson," a reporter asked the man in the 
black trench coat.
	"He was killed suddenly," the man said. "No more information will given out 
as of now. Get home now. All people found on the street shall be either 
gunned down or taken into custody. That depends on the mood of the guards." 
The radio went dead. All the power seemed to shut down. I looked at my 
watch. It was 5:57 P.M. It was too late. He had won. I had lost. For the 
first time in my life, I had lost.
	Something jarred me from my thoughts. My cell phone was ringing in my 
cloak! But only people within the League knew that number. I opened it, and 
put my face to the machine.
	"Hello," I said, unsure of what was going to be on the other side of the 
conversation.
	"Hello, Bob," said a man. It was the man in the black trench coat. "I'm 
sure that you have hear that radio broadcast. That was me speaking the 
nation. You should just turn yourself in. If you don't, you will be killed 
at first sight by the guards. If you come to me, I will allow you and your 
fiancé to be together, and get married."
	"How do I know that she's still alive," I asked into the phone.
	"I'll let her say for herself," the man said. I heard the phone moving, and 
being put to a different ear.
	"Don't do anything he says, Bob," Misty's voice came through the phone. 
"It's all a trap! I know it is! Don't-" She was cut off.
	"Be here in a week," the man said. "Or she will die. There is no doubt 
about it. Goodbye." The phone clicked, and the conversation was over.
	"DAMMIT," I cursed at the man, though he wasn't there. "I WILL DEFEAT YOU!" 
I fell to my knees, and started to sob. There was no time for this, I 
thought. I had to do something about it. Quickly, I ran down the trapdoor on 
top of the radio tower. I snuck to the bathroom, and there was a make-up kit 
there. I uttered a thank you prayer, and inspected the kit. Inside, there 
happened to be a bottle of hair dye, teal in color. I shook it up, and 
searched through the other contents of the kit. There were also different 
colored contacts, a hat, a red shirt with an emblem of a pokeball on it, and 
a pair of jeans. I quickly put all the clothes on, put the green-tinted 
contacts in my eyes, and started to work on my hair. I dumped some teal hair 
dye in my head, and rubbed it in. Soon, my hair was a teal color, way 
different than my brown hair. I put on the baseball cap, and looked at 
myself in the mirror. I looked totally different. Nobody would ever find me 
in this disguise. I looked at all my old clothes, and I bundled them in a 
heap. I called teal fire to my hands, and threw it at the pile of clothes. 
My old garments burst into flames, and I was fully disguised.
	I poked my head out of the door of the restroom, and walked out 
confidently. I had barely walked two feet when I heard a shotgun cock and 
someone yell.
	"Get on the ground, now," a guard yelled. "Do it! If you don't want to be 
shot, you'll do it! Hands behind your head! Nothing funny!" Slowly, I put my 
hands on my head, and laid on the ground, face first. The guard came up 
behind me, and searched me. I heard a Human Elemental Detector activate, and 
was pointed toward my head. Nothing beeped. Not a single thing. He ordered 
me to get up, so I did.
	"What's the matter, sir," I asked very calmly and politely.
	"I don't like that tone," cried the guard. "You're not a Master, so you're 
going to be taken to a center where we put the people wandering around the 
street." He handcuffed me, and walked me over to the basement of the 
Goldenrod City Radio Tower. I was going to be locked in...
-                                         End of Chapter Two                 
                        -