Pokémon: Masters
Chapter Five – Unheeded Warnings
"Mind if I have a look?" Tracey asked Dr. Eve.
"Go ahead," she replied as she stepped out from in front of the engraving.
He quickly made a sketch of the engraving.
"Any idea what it means?" he asked as he was finishing the drawing.
Eve leaned in closer to the engraving. "It's older than most of the cravings in other parts of the city," she said as she studied the foreign language. "I think it says: None may enter but Destiny."
She turned to the Pokémon Watcher. He arrived a few days ago to deliver the book she had given to Ash. The results of the testing did verify the book was older than Pokémopolis, but its date was also before the earliest Destiny legends. She had managed to translate portions of it, but some parts were dialects she did not recognize.
"There's something unusual about this word," she said as she traced her figures across the word.
"What's so unusual?" Tracey asked.
"Well," she replied. "It's the word for 'Destiny.' Nothing strange there, but it's in a male form. Normally it's female."
"Maybe it's a mistake," Tracey shrugged.
"Possibly," she agreed. "We can find out more information when we get inside."
Tracey gulped. "What about the warning?"
"Don't worry about that," Eve laughed. "Many of these old ruins have stuff like that."
She looked at the concerned look on Tracey's face. "Still," she continued, "we'll be careful."
She pulled out a hammer and chisel and slowly clipped the mortar away from the engraving. Once it was removed, Tracey used a crowbar to enlarge the hole so they could slip through. Before entering the opening, Eve shined a flashlight inside.
"See," she told Tracey. "There's nothing to worry about."
They then entered the dark chamber.
"Care to explain yourself?" Rob asked his younger brother Jake.
"I knew Butch and Cassidy couldn't win the gym with the pokémon I gave them," he told his older brother.
"Now why did you do that?" Matt demanded.
Jake glared at his brothers. "Why should Team Rocket be running a gym?"
"It was Father's pleasure," Shane replied before the others could speak, "but I had my own uses for it."
"Like what?" Jake demanded.
"It would've been our foothold into the Pokémon League," Shane informed his younger brothers. "Now, we have little influence inside the league."
Shane stepped closer to his brother. "Team Rocket is under my control now," he told him. "That means, you are under my control."
Jake glared at him. Rob and Matt might fear Shane, but he had his own plans. "Yes, sir," he snarled.
"Good," Shane replied as he turned to his other brothers. "We have more pressing issues than the gym to consider."
Rob nodded. "Many of the high ranked members of Team Rocket were arrested with Dad," he informed his brothers. "The rest were in deep cover assignments so I have no means of contacting them."
Matt smiled. "I know of three we could bust out," he smiled.
His three older brothers looked at him. Being the youngest, Matt was more of a lackey than one of the Rocket Brothers. "Go on," Jake replied.
"Three members were arrest about two months before Dad," he told them, "but their trial was only a few days ago."
"So how does that help us?" Rob asked.
"They're being transferred to the maximum security prison on Cinnabar Island," he continued. "We could hit the transport and bust them out."
Shane thought about that. "Who are they?"
"Scott and his team," Matt smiled. "The TR Psychics."
Tracey was shining his flashlight around the chamber. On the walls were several carving of ancient pokémon.
"Aerodactyl, Omanyt, Kabuto…" he said as he listed the ones he recognized. "What is this place?"
"Look over here," Eve replied. "These images are of more recent pokémon. Only, they are in their lower evolutionary states."
While sketching the carvings on his pad, Tracey thought he heard something moving behind them. Glancing other his shoulder, he did not see anything but shadows.
"I believe I finally found it," Dr. Eve said as she approached the center of the chamber.
"What is this place?" Tracey asked as he heard movement behind him again.
"The temple of Destiny," she answered.
Suddenly, a pair of bright red lights appeared in the darkness.
"What's that?" Tracey shouted.
The light from outside the opening was beginning to fade. Tracey and Eve turned around and saw the door was resealing itself.
"We got to get out of here," he said as he grabbed the young archeologist's hand.
Before he could make to the narrowing hole, something very heavy hit him on the back of the head. He fell to ground and heard Eve scream before he passed out.
"Where to now, Ash?" Brock asked the younger boy.
"I thought that maybe we could see if Dr. Eve will let me see that book again," he replied as they walked down the path.
"Why are so interested in that book?" Brock asked. "It's not like you could understand it."
Ash let out a nervous laugh. He never fully explained the whole Destiny thing to Brock and Misty. He still did not understand it all. That was the reason that he wanted the book.
"I thought maybe she could tell me more about Destiny," he replied.
Brock shrugged it off. He was getting a chance to spend time with a pretty girl.
Ash sighed when Brock stopped questioning him. He hoped Misty would not start on him. His dream never came true.
"Ash, why are being so secretive again?" she asked.
"There are some things that I just can't tell you," he replied. "At least, not yet."
Misty sighed. Her boyfriend had been acting weird since he woke up from a nightmare last night, and it worried her.
"Ash, please tell me what's wrong," she told him.
Ash lowered his head. "I'm sorry," he said, "but I don't understand it all."
Misty thought about another tactic that usually worked. "Just because you're the new Destiny, doesn't mean you have shut out your friends!" she shouted at him hoping he yell back what was wrong.
"Why can't you see that I have to do this alone!" he snapped back.
His remark shocked Misty. This was the first time he snapped back angry at her since they started seeing each other. She turned and walked ahead to where Brock and Pikachu were.
"Wait, Misty," Ash called. She ignored him as she started to talk with Brock.
"Great going," Ash chided himself. "Now you've gone and made her mad."
When they arrived at Dr. Eve's camp, her assistants were running around calling out her name. Ash managed to catch one who was running to check forest for her.
He explained that she and Tracey went into a section ruins that they had recently uncovered yesterday but never returned.
"Have you checked in the ruins yet?" Ash asked.
"Yes, you idiot," the assistant snapped. "That was the first placed we checked."
"Sorry," Ash replied.
"I don't got time for this," the assistant said as he ran off into the forest.
"Touchy, wasn't he," Ash remarked.
"You would be too if Misty just disappeared," Brock replied.
"Pika," Pikachu agreed.
Ash felt his chest getting warm. He looked down and saw he medallion glowing. "It's doing that glowing thing again," he said to himself.
He looked at the ruins of the ancient city. "Come on," he told them as he ran into the ruins.
"Wait for us, Ash," Misty called after him.
Inside the ruins, they followed the cables for the lights until they reached the end of the tunnel.
"Dead end," Brock sighed.
Ash looked at the engraving on the wall. "Maybe not," he said as he knelt down to get a better look. He noticed that the pokéball medallion was glowing even brighter.
"Ash?" Misty asked.
He looked at the engraving. None may enter but Destiny, he thought. But I'm Destiny.
He stepped away from the wall and pulled out a pokéball. "Charizard, I choose you," he said as he threw the pokéball to the ground.
"Ash, what are you doing?" Misty asked.
"Making a way in," he replied. "Charizard, blast a hole through that wall."
Charizard roared and blasted the wall. When the hole was big enough for them to enter, Ash recalled the pokémon since it was too large to enter the hole.
"Ash, why did you do that?" Misty asked.
Ash walked in. "I had to," he answered.
Misty, Brock, and Pikachu looked at each other. "He's acting really weird," Brock said to the others.
They pulled out some flashlights from their backpacks and followed him in.
Ash saw two people lying on the floor of the chamber when he stepped in.
"Tracey, Dr. Eve!" he cried as he ran to them.
He shook Tracey until he heard a moan. "Something got me from behind," he said as he opened his eyes.
"Just stay still," Ash said as he checked Eve.
When Brock and Misty entered the chamber, they ran over to their friends. "Are you okay?" Brock asked as Tracey tried to sit up.
"Yeah," Tracey replied with a moan. "I just got one bad headache."
"What happened?" Misty asked.
Two red lights answered her question. Ash jumped in between his friends and the glowing lights.
"I am…" he stopped. Somehow, Ash Ketchum did not fit the end of that sentence anymore.
"I am Destiny," he finished.
The two red lights drew closer, leaving the shadows. A large Marowak stood before him.
"Destiny," it replied. "I have waited a long time for this."
It raised its bone into the air. It began to glow and sent out a burst of light, blinding Ash. When his sight returned, he saw his friends were gone and the chamber was lit by several torches.
"Who are you?" a voice cried out from behind him.
He turned around and saw a man dressed as a priest holding a staff in his hands.
"I don't think I'm in Kansas anymore," Ash said as he raised his hands.