The Dragon Master IV: Chapter Six

	All of the energy in the middle of the room turned silver, and it shot out 
of the roof! At that instant, the Unown took off. A great wind came upon us, 
and the Elemental Warriors of the Unown had flown off. They were out of 
sight. Aya immediately ran to Koga, shifting Grace as she went. Dave, on the 
other hand, came over to me.
	"You okay," Dave asked, helping me to my feet. I felt dizzy, and rubbed my 
head. I looked at the Dragon Shard, and it fell out of its slot, along with 
the other shards, forcing the doors to close.
	"I'm fine," I replied, moving over to pick up the shards. I collected them 
and put them in my pouch. I looked at the hole the power had made, 
wondering.
	"What do you think that they're going to do," Koga asked, joining me in 
looking up.
	"Only God knows," I said, before turning around and walking to the door.
	"Psst," someone whispered from above us.
	"What was that," Dave asked, turning around in all directions.
	"Up here," that same person said again. The four of us looked up, and one 
of my old allies was there, standing in all his glory...Bruno. He threw us a 
rope down, and I grabbed it to climb up. When I reached the top, he hugged 
me.
	"Good to see you, too, Bruno," I choked out, patting the giant gingerly on 
the back.
	"It's so good to know that you're not dead," Bruno exclaimed, finally 
letting me go.
	"You've lost your Fighting Mastery, haven't you," I asked my old friend.
	"Alas, yes, I have, Bob," Bruno sighed.
	"But how did you escape," I wondered aloud.
	"That part was easy," he said. "Finding you was the hard part. Anyway, it 
went something like this: They took us Masters and made us vote to stay or 
go. I, like Aya and Koga, chose to leave. But, they didn't let us leave. I 
was locked in a cell, with no security. Whenever they gave me food in a 
bowl, I used the bowl to dig myself out. I had nothing else to do, so it 
killed two birds with one stone." I looked at my friend in amazement.
	"But how did you find me," I asked.
	"Well, I wondered around for a week before I knew that I was getting 
close," Bruno said. "I heard gunshots, so I figured that I could help out 
some Rebels that were fighting against the League. But when I got there, you 
had already gone...along with all the League troopers. So I wandered onto 
Route 36, and saw this huge explosion! I saw the Unown scatter to the four 
corners of Kanto and Johto. After they had fled, I saw eighteen lights fly 
out."
	"The Elemental Warriors of the Unown," I said.
	"Evidently," Bruno shrugged. "So I came over to check it out. Turns out 
that it was you. I knew that you couldn't stop from getting into a fight, 
Mastery or not."
	"Well, I do have the Elemental Shards," I said.
	"Yeah," Bruno said. He jerked his thumb towards Dave and leaned into my 
ear. "Who's this guy?" Dave seemed kind of offended.
	"Bruno, this is Dave," I introduced them. "Dave, this is Bruno, the 
ex-Fighting Master." They shook hands suspiciously.
	"What's our next move," Bruno asked, now ignoring Dave's existence once 
more.
	"We're heading to Olivine City," I said. "That's where Dave lives. After 
that, we'll have to save Misty."
	"What do you mean, 'Rebels,'" Koga eyed Bruno suspiciously.
	"The people that escaped the League," Bruno said. "An underground 
resistance force has been set up already. There are about five hundred."
	"But there are five thousand League soldiers," Aya burst out.
	"They don't plan to go on a full-scale attack," Bruno said, gesturing his 
hands. "They plan a sneak attack to kill the new Pokemon League Champion."
	"We need to locate them," I said.
	"Just to let you know," Bruno said as we started walking towards Ecruteak 
City. "The Rebels are in conjunction with Team Rocket."
	"WHAT," Koga, Aya, Dave, and I asked at once.
	"Yes," Bruno said. "I don't like it any more than you do. But right now, we 
need them. You know we do." I thought it over carefully. Bruno was right, I 
thought. We do need them. But, if Giovanni is working with the League, then 
he can't possibly be working with Team Rocket.
	"I'm in," I said, shaking Bruno's hand.
	"Too bad it won't be that easy," Bruno said. "I haven't been able to locate 
them yet."
	"Let's go," I said, taking the lead and walking towards Ecruteak City. The 
six of us walked in the secluded trees, where the shadows could hide us. It 
wasn't necessary, mostly because there were no guards in sight. We reached 
the city, and there was an unusual business about it. It seemed that the 
villagers were sick of house arrest and they were coming out. The guards had 
no chance against them, and I wasn't sure which side to help.
	"Just get to Route 37, Bob," Koga said, pushing me forward.
	"These guards are gonna die," I whispered back.
	"So, they're League guards," Koga whispered, more fiercely. "They are the 
enemy."
	"Go ahead," I said. "I'm gonna help them."
	"NO," Koga half-yelled, half whispered. I had sprinted out of the bushes, 
and pulling the shards out of my pouch.
	"SHOW THE LEAGUE WHO'S IN CHARGE," one of the protesters yelled. Most of 
them were carrying weapons, and they outnumbered the guards twenty to one. I 
may not have my Mastery, I thought. But I still remember the ninja skills 
that Koga taught me. I stuck the shards back in my pouch, and flipped in 
front of the guards, both surprising and stopped the mob.
	"If you want to kill them," I said. "Be my guest. But you'll have to go 
through me first." The mob didn't know what to do. The guards were already 
half-beaten, and they wanted to finish the job.
	"GET OUT OF THE FUCKING WAY," another member of the mob yelled.
	"Make me," I said, intimidating some of them.
	"GET HIM," yet another yelled. They all charged at me, and I drew my katana 
and a shard.
	"PSYWAVE," I cried, holding the Psychic Shard into the sky. Waves shot out 
of it to all directions, and the mob clapped their hands to their ears.
	"What the fuck," a guard whispered silently.
	"Fire Shard of the Elemental Medallion," I said. "FIRESTORM!" Fiery hail 
fell from the sky, forcing people to run back inside their houses. The 
guards were in awe at what just happened. Finally, the commanding officer 
built up the nerve to speak.
	"Thank you," he said. "How can we ever repay you?"
	"Forget that you ever saw me," I replied politely. "Forget about the mob. 
Forget that I saved you. Forget everything you saw from the point that you 
walked into Ecruteak City."
	"B-B-By what order," one of the privates dared to say.
	"By the order of the Pokemon League Champion," I said. I then ran off onto 
Route 37, but I could still hear their voices...
	"That was Bob Shepardson!"
	"Yes, it was...but no one will ever know..."
	"But-"
	"I don't know about you, private, but I didn't see anybody since I walked 
into Ecruteak City! What I see, you see, and what I don't see, you don't 
see. Is that clear?"
	"Yes, sir." I smiled. The officer had done what I told him to do. I caught 
up with the rest of the gang halfway to the MooMoo Farm.
	"How did it go," Aya asked.
	"Nobody ever saw me," I said mysteriously, and then took the lead spot as 
normal. I thought about what all had happened...Will turning against 
me...the Elemental Warriors of the Unown being freed...the Unown being freed 
and going after the Legendary Dogs, which I had also freed...and the most 
important thing that has happened...Misty being kidnapped. Something caught 
my eye. Whatever it was, it was shining in the bushes. It looked metallic.
	"What is that," Dave asked us all. I went over to inspect it. It was a 
camera...a Polaroid camera. There was a packet of pictures lying beside it. 
Not knowing what was inside it, I opened the packet. There were eighteen 
photos in there, along with the negatives. The first ones just seemed to be 
pictures of Ratatta, Spearow, and other common pokemon. But the last picture 
bothered me. It was a picture of a fireball, and a figure in the middle. It 
sort of looked like a bird. Koga was looking over my shoulder to see the 
pictures.
	"How did it escape," Koga gasped, eyes wide open at the picture.
	"How did what get out," Dave asked, also leaning in.
	"Ho-oh," Koga said, still very quiet.
	"Check the date on the picture," Aya commanded. I did as she ordered, and 
flipped it over.
	"It was taken an hour ago," I said. She gasped, and nearly fainted. Bruno 
caught her, and set her back up.
	"I thought that Ho-oh needed the Legendary Dogs to get out," Bruno thought 
carefully.
	"And as far as we know, the dogs are also secure," Koga said, hand on his 
chin. I was getting nervous, but I had to tell them.
	"The dogs are free," I said, wringing my hands.
	"WHAT," Koga, Aya, and Bruno all asked together in rage.
	"Huh," Dave asked, hopelessly lost.
	"I accidentally set them free," I said quickly.
	"When," Koga asked, arms folded and eyes full of fury.
	"Two years ago," I said, looking down. "They were in front of the door to 
the Ghost Shard. I stepped on the platform, and they came to life. There was 
no way around it." Dave tried to enter the conversation.
	"Is Ho-oh free a bad thing," Dave asked. Koga looked at him with his own 
patented stare.
	"A very bad thing," Koga said through gritted teeth. "Now that it is free, 
it will find Lugia to destroy it. Good thing nobody knows where Lugia is."
	"Wrong again," I said. "I know where Lugia is. I came upon it when I was 
trying to save my younger form from Lance."
	"Was it mad," Koga asked, madder than a Primeape that just was beat up.
	"About as mad as you are now," I said, backing down.
	"This is not good," Koga said. "Dammit, Bob. If they see each other, then 
they will fight until the other dies. Number one, they will destroy all of 
civilization. Number two, they will kill each other off. They are one of a 
kind! This could be disastrous." He put his hand on his head and turned 
away.
	"We have to stay on the task at hand," Bruno said. "Let's get to the MooMoo 
Farm before dark. Guards patrol the routes at night." As Bruno was the 
biggest one us there, we couldn't argue with him. The six of us picked up 
our pace to a run, and it was ten minutes before we reached the MooMoo Farm. 
I silently tapped on the door.
	"Go away," said a man from inside. "We don't want any trouble."
	"Sir, this is Master Koga, the second of the Elite Four," Koga whispered. 
"Please let us in. We have Bob Shepardson with us." Immediately, the lock 
clicked open, and the door swung forward. Arms grabbed us and pulled us in. 
Before we knew it, we were seated at the table, cups of coffee in front of 
us.
	"So what brings you all the way out here," the man said.
	"Running from the law again," I said. "We need your protection...again."
	"Yes, I remember," the man said. "You were pretty beat up when you arrived 
the first time. And I never did get to thank you for the work force that you 
sent over here."
	"It was nothing," I said. "They needed work, I needed to repay an old 
friend. Two birds with one stone." I smiled, and so did everybody else.
	"The new Pokemon League Champion said that you were dead," said the man's 
wife, just starting a conversation.
	"People say a lot of things," I said. "This man kidnapped my fiancé. Then, 
he sent me on a wild goose chase so he could quietly take over the League."
	"Didn't the Masters resist," the farmer asked.
	"Unfortunately, they didn't have the chance," I said. "Their Masteries were 
taken from them before they could fight back."
	"I understand," the farmer said. "Well, make yourselves comfortable, and 
we'll hide you below the cellar."
	"Below the cellar," Dave asked, confused.
	"Yes, it's where we hide personal possessions that we don't want found," 
the farmer's wife said. "I'll take you down there." She got up, and we all 
followed her. She went into the food cellar, and reached into a box. I 
looked in it, and she pulled a lever. The wall moved, and a staircase was 
revealed. Dave's mouth dropped open, and we walked down. She pulled the 
lever again, and the door closed.
	"Fire Shard of the Elemental Medallion," I said. "Ember." A small flame 
hovered above the shard, and it lit our way. The staircase went down about 
twenty more feet, and then a fireplace lit up. We were in a room that had 
ten cots in it, so we each sat down on one.
	"Good night," Bruno said, turning over and falling asleep. I looked up into 
the ceiling for hours, until I finally fell asleep. I was so exhausted, I 
started to dream...
	I was in the Palace of the Elite Four, in my room, all alone. I saw someone 
standing by the door run. I followed, and they were running down to the 
dungeons. They went down, and I lost them. I looked in each of the cells, 
looking for them. In the cells, I saw all of the other ex-Masters that had 
stayed with me, and I had left behind. I saw Darla, Erika, Brock, and all 
the others. They weren't doing well. I heard a door slam, and looked over to 
the end of the corridor. It was the maximum-security cell...Misty's. I ran 
over to the cell and opened the door. The man in the black trench coat was 
standing over her, his hands black with energy. He touched her head, and she 
stopped breathing. I screamed, and ran towards him. He called his katana, 
rammed it through my stomach. I looked down, blood pouring out of the wound 
that he had created. I was falling over on the ground when-
	"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO," I shouted, sitting up in my cot. Koga came over to me, 
and so did Dave, though Bruno did not even wake up.
	"What's the matter," Dave asked in wonder. I shook my head, and looked down 
in my hand. The Psychic Shard was in it, though I cannot remember grabbing 
it.
	"I just had a bad dream, that's all," I lied. It was not just a bad dream, 
it was a disturbing dream. Koga was also looking at my hand.
	"I think that it was a premonition," Koga said, catching everyone off guard 
when he said that.
	"I think you're just overtired, brother," Aya said, watching Grace sleep.
	"He has the Psychic Shard in his hand," Koga said. "I think that, 
subconsciously, he got the shard, and then used its psychic powers to access 
the future. Bob, what did you see?" I swallowed and tried to remember.
	"I was in the Palace of the Elite Four," I said. "I chased someone down to 
the dungeons. They went into Misty's cell. It turned out to be the man in 
the black trench coat. Anyway, he used his Dark Mastery to kill Misty. He 
turned, saw me, drew his katana, and killed me. That's when I woke up."
	"If this is a premonition," Dave begun. "Then we won't win. That guy will, 
and terror will spread across all of Kanto and Johto."
	"If there's one thing I know about time travel," I said. "It's that you can 
change the future. I've done it before, and I'm gonna do it again. Let's go. 
It's already morning." At that moment, Bruno woke up and the door to the 
secret chamber opened.
	"MORNING," the farmer's wife called down. Slowly, we all got ready. Koga, 
Aya, and I threw on our forest cloaks. Koga and I also picked up our 
katanas, attaching them to out belts.
	"Let's go," I said. Koga nodded, as did Bruno. We were let out of the 
cellar, and thanked the farmer on the way out.
	"Anytime," the farmer replied. "Just do one thing for me: return to power." 
He smiled, shook my hand, and we went off. Near noon, we had to stop and 
take a break in the trees, hidden from view. Suddenly, I just realized 
something.
	"Koga," I asked. "What happened to all the Elemental Warriors of the 
Unown?" Koga shook his head.
	"I didn't want to trouble you with this," he replied sadly. "As you already 
have enough on your plate. But we have to find them, and place the shards in 
those slots on their belts..."
	"And if we don't," I asked apprehensively.
	"They will wreak havoc upon Kanto and Johto," Koga sighed. I looked down at 
my feet, not knowing what to say. Finally, I figured it out.
	"Let's just continue," I said, taking charge and walking on. The others 
packed up their things and continued. Around the bend was something we had 
not expected...
	"Holy shit," Dave breathed. In front of us was what looked like a 
concentration camp. Doubled electric gates were in front of us, with 
watchtowers all around. I knew exactly what to do.
	"Dig," I whispered as I pulled out the Ground Shard. I started to spin 
rapidly, and I just kept going deeper. Everyone jumped in the hole after me, 
and we came out near a small house.
	"Get in," Koga whispered to us, and we all hurried through the door. I 
tucked the Ground Shard away, and then I heard someone speak.
	"Dave," a woman's voice exclaimed from the corner of the darkened room. A 
figure stirred in the corner, and moved closer.
	"Joan," Dave said in disbelief. A woman moved out of the shadows. She was 
beautiful, but her face was scarred and bruised, as were her arms and legs.
	"Who's that," Aya asked Dave. Dave didn't answer. He just moved towards 
her, and they embraced.
	"I thought you were dead," the woman said.
	"I thought you were dead when I saw those gates," Dave said. "Everybody, 
this is my wife, Joan. Joan, this is Bob Shepardson, and some of his 
allies."
	"I thought you were dead," Joan gasped.
	"I get that a lot," I shrugged. "What is going on here, though?" Joan 
looked away, as if she was trying to remember.
	"It was about three days ago," she said, still looking away. "That man in 
his black coat came, and ordered everybody inside. Of course, some resisted, 
but he just killed them...with vengeance. He killed them almost as if he was 
mad at something. I've been in here ever since, no food, no water...but the 
guards come in here to beat me. Oh, Dave..." She started to weep bitterly. 
She collapsed, but Dave caught her. All of a sudden, we heard the marching 
of boots, and a light shown into the house.
	"COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP," someone over a blow horn called. "PUT YOUR 
WEAPONS ON THE GROUND, NOW!"
	"Oh, shit," I said. "DUCK!" I hit the ground, as did everyone else. Bullets 
riddled the front wall. I had to think of some way to get out of this...I 
was only mortal...
-                                         End of Chapter Six                 
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