Here it is, the next chapter! Enjoy! "....It's Him?!"said a familiar voice "I know,"said a second familiar voice. "It's as I feared. He has returned." I opened my eyes to find that I had left the fortress and was lying in a bed. My body felt like jelly and my vision was blurred. I could see a few figures in front of me, but I couldn't determan who they were. One of them spoke. "Geovannie just recently found out that he had a son,"It was the same familiar voice. A male voice. "The council tried to keep the information secret for the longest time, but now it is too late." "What do you mean?"Asked a different voice, this time a female's. "Geovannie has discovered his power and unearthed it,"the male voice replied. "There is no telling how powerful he has become." "But he couldn't touch Ash?"asked a different voice. "No,"replied the male voice. "The powers forbid it." "We must tell him." "I believe he already knows, and will be bursting with questions when he awakens,"said the voice. "And we will answer all of them. It's time for him to know his power, but for now, let him rest." --------------------- The night felt like a lifetime to pass. Each horrible image after the next flowing through me. The whole sad, injustification of the truth crawling throughout my mind. How could this be? Why did mom never tell me? Who am I? What am I? Morning at last. I felt my mind slip into conciousness once more. The room was bathed in sunlight. I could barely see through the light. "Where am I?"I asked hazily. "You're home in Pallet,"said that familiar voice. The light cleared and my eyes focused. I was in my old room, only it was quite different to the room I left when I first started my journey. Pikachu was sleeping next to me. I saw sitting in a chair next to me was- "Zach!"I exclaimed. "Yes,"he smiled, smoking an erbal pipe. "And you have no idea how lucky you are to be here right now." "John!"I said, suddenly remembering. "What happened? Is he all right?" "He'll be all right,"said Zach. "He gave us quite a scare." It suddenly hit me. "Him! Geovannie! It was him all along!" Zach's face fell. "Yes,"he said. "I knew we would have to tell you sooner or later." "Why were you keeping this from me?"I demanded. "Why was Mom?" "Well,"said Zach. "Get dressed. I think it's time you learned the truth." -------------------- I hopped out of bed and quickly threw my clothes on. It felt weird being back in my old clothes, having to wear my kimono for weeks. It was also so weird being back home. I forgot how good it smelled. Like a freshly cooked pie. I loved it. Pikachu hopped up onto my shoulder and we walked out of the room I hurried down the stairs(as fast as I possibly could, on account that my whole body was sore). Everyone was in the living room. Zach was on the couch smoking his pipe, Max, May, and Richie were next to him. Todd was in the rocking chair, Professer Oak and Brock were standing, both facing the fire place. Gary was leaning against The wall. Professer Oak turned and exclaimed,"Ash!" Everybody turned and hurried tward me. "Are you all right,"demanded May, tears in her eyes. "'Course he is,"said Richie. "He's taken worse beatings." "You gave us quite a scare,"said Oak. "We didn't know what happend,"Brock put in. "How long have I been out?"I asked. "Three days,"said a voice from behind me. Gennin just appeared from the kitchen, with my Mom at his side. "Ash!"Mom exclaimed. She looked like she couldn't decide whether to hug me or to pound me, wich I'm thankful she didn't, because I'm sure my body wouldn't take it. "Hi, Mom,"I said awkwardly. It's been about six months since I've last seen her, and it shows, too. Her hair is grayer, and her face more worn, but still looked as young as ever. "You must have questions,"Gennin said. I had more questions than I could count, but wich one to stat with? Gennin seemed to answer for me. "Geovannie is the Dragon of the west." "Why was he after me?"I asked. "Honey,"said Mom, sitting down in the chair. "I knew someday this would happen. You've always been a special boy, and I knew your powers wouln't stay dormant for long. Neither would your father's,"she finished sadly. "Father,"I said, it all coming back to me. "Why didn't you tell me?" "Honey, listen to me,"said Mom. "We thought your father had died. This was before you were born, so you wouldn't know about it.. Zach had come back telling me the news, and I was devistated. But your father appeared at our home a month later, as alive as ever." "I once told you that I worked with your father, remember?"said Zach. "Years ago, the council delt with the crisis of the Black Dragon. Your father and I were the last defense. Your father delt the finishing blow right before he died. But his sacrifice led to his curse." "Curse,"I asked. "Yes,"said Gennin. "He was reborn into that being. When the entity dies, the curse spreads to the one that delt it's demise. Meaning, your father was next. "In the story,"Gennin continued. "A man filled with greed, lust and vanity saught out to gain the one thing he didn't have: power. He went to the great orical and it granted him a wish of power, transforming him into the Black Dragon. But with that power, comes a price. For the orical warned him that his heir would come in the end of all odds and destroy him, but the cold dragon took no heed. "Years later,"Gennin continued. "The dragon had a son. He did not know it, but the Babe was born with the destiny to destroy his father and claim his throne. When he did, the son became the new Black Dragon. But the dragon knew that if he had any offspring, they would be a threat to him, so he made sure that he had no children at all." "But he was wrong in that plan,"said Zach. "The curse does not spread through bloodline, but through death. That is how the heir became the dragon, though he did not see it. "But legend grew of a new bearer,"Zach continued. "One who alone can abolish the curse completely. The Red Dragon of the East. But it was a mere legend, so we dismissed it, and your father and I were given the honor of confronting the Dragon. I was nearly killed, but your father saved my life by giving his. He vanquished the monster, and fell. But the man who appeared on your doorstep was not the man I knew. It was something else. Something evil." "Geovannie had changed,"Gennin stepped in. "He became cold, severe. He belittled his students for what he perceived to be their weaknesses, fought violently with his classmates, and killed without thought. We knew that he had become what we feared, and we had to act, but he vanished before we could council with him." "Years later we found him,"said Zach. "He was hiding in the northern mountain region on the orange islands. We saw our chance. I fought with him. It was wrong. It felt as if I was fighting my brother. It was horrible. In the end, our fight had caused the caves to shake and to collapse. We were buried, your father was severly wounded, but I was able to Blast out way out of the rubble and take him back to the temple for treatment. "But he had damaged his memory in the collapse,"Zach continued We thought it was permenant. "We had no choice but to seal off his connection to his past. He would no longer remember his training, his powers, or....his family." I heard Mom sniffle. She had tears in her eyes. "We decided we would wait until you were older to tell you,"she said, avoiding my eyes. "We didn't know how you would take it." "But what we didn't think of was you runnning into him on multiple occasions,"said Gennin. "When we last heard about Giovannie's actions he had started a band of theives that became the widly known criminal organization we know today. This made us ever the more cautious. We knew the time was soon to come." This was strange. It all made perfect sense. This is why I never knew about Dad. This is why I never saw him. This is why they never told me. "But what suprised us the most was you,"continued Gennin. "When you were born, you possesed an extraordinary power. It was strange, because it was as if your father had been born, and not you. It was incredible. You seemed to posses....his power. A great gift that worried us. We were not sure what it would do to you, so we came to the conclusion that your power should lay dormant untill you turned sixteen. But unfortunatly that power came through sooner than we thought. We had to research this. "I spent the last four years pouring over the temple's archives,"Gennin continued. "Until I finally came across some valuble information; The Red Dragon." "In the story, the Dragon killed his father and became the new Black Dragon,"Zach picked up. "That part was left out. As was this: Before the Dragon was killed, He placed a curse on his son, and the whole world. Anyone to kill the Black Dragon would become him. But while the Red Dragon was not able to stop the cruse, he was able to leave a last line of protection; passed down in the line, the destiny of the child will change. That child is you. You know what this means?" I paused, trying to take this all in. This is it. This is my destiny. I'm now passed the point of no return. I truly am....the Dragon of the east. "Yes,"I said finally. Zach nodded. Then he looked at the door and back to me, a smile grew on his face. "We'll think more on this later,"He said, walking over to the door. "This is your first time home in a long time. You should enjoy yourself." I stared at him incredulously. This isn't something that you can just forget and not worry about just like that. But Zach's smile didn't fade. "Don't worry,"he said. "I know someone who can help." He opened the door. Standing there, looking as if she was about to knock. My eyes widened. It's...It's.. "Hi,"said Misty. I'm glad you read it. Check back in soon, for the final chapter! Until then, Keep a stick on the ice!