Pokémon: Masters
Chapter Eighteen – Midnight
Giovanni stared up the mountain in front of him. He tried to remember what so important about this particular mountain, but all he could recall was what the shadow told him. He had to reach the top.
"Soon," he said as he began to climb. "Soon it ends."
Misty lay by the pool at their hotel in Saffron, working on her tan. After Ash's battle with the younger Rockets, all that was left were Rob, the only true trainer of the four, and Shane, the oldest and coldest of the four. Ash had defeated Rob once in the league, but could he repeat it?
"Hey, Misty!" Ash called.
She looked over and smiled. "What is it?" she asked.
"I was wondering if you like to go out for lunch," he replied. "Sabrina told me of a terrific place near her gym."
"Sure," Misty answered as she shielded from the sun with her hand. "Just pick me up at my room in about an hour."
"All right," Ash said as he sat down in a lounge chair next her.
"Was there something else?" she asked.
"I just talked with Rob," he replied. "We have our match setup for this afternoon. He told me Shane will challenge me in his own time."
"That's good," she sighed happily. "One more step to be done with this whole thing."
"Yeah," he continued. He began to chuckle. "You know, I really can't imagine how we're going to live without Team Rocket. It took weeks before I got over the fact Jessie and James weren't after Pikachu. Now, no Team Rocket at all."
Misty smiled at her boyfriend.
"I better go take a shower," she told him. "Give me an hour."
"Yes, ma'am," Ash replied.
Misty giggled as they walked back up to their rooms.
"Clefairy!" the pink pokémon shouted at the human.
"Out of my way," Giovanni snapped as he slapped the pokémon away. "I have no time for you worthless rejects."
"Cle cle fairy!" it shouted back.
"Know your master," Giovanni replied as a gust of wind knocked the pokémon into the side of cave. The clefairy did not rise once it fell to the ground.
Giovanni smirked as he continued through the cave.
"Misty, have you thought about what we're going to do after this?" Ash asked as the waiter brought their meal.
"I figured you go back to Pallet, and I talk my sisters in letting me stay there," she replied.
"I got a scholarship to Pokémon Technical when I won the Championship," Ash told her. "I was thinking about enrolling."
"That's wonderful," Misty congratulated. "It's close enough to Cerulean, so I could stay home."
Ash smiled. If he stayed in Pallet or took the scholarship, they could still be together.
"What are you going to study?" she asked.
"I was think about taking a gym leader course," he replied. "Maybe a few medical courses."
"Dr. Ketchum," Misty laughed. "Stranger things have happened."
Ash frowned at her.
"I'm just kidding," Misty apologized while trying not to laugh, "but I wonder how Brock would react if he went into a Pokémon Center and found you instead of Nurse Joy."
"He probably propose to me before he realized it," Ash laughed. "You know how bad his eyesight is."
"Well, whatever you do," Misty said as she forked a piece of her salad, "I'll always be happy to just be with you."
"Thanks, Myst," Ash replied.
"You ready for our rematch?" Ash called to Rob.
"Ready and waiting," he replied. "Go, Poliwrath!"
"Ha, we can take him easily, Pikachu," Ash laughed.
"Pikachu," the pokémon agreed as he jumped in front of his opponent.
"Ash, don't get cocky," Misty told him. "Poliwrath is still a very powerful pokémon."
"Don't worry, Misty," Ash replied as he stared at the pokémon. "I won't lose."
"We'll see about that," Rob commented. "Poliwrath, bubblebeam."
"Pikachu, take care those bubbles with thunderwave," Ash countered.
The two attacks did manage to cancel each other out, but the force of the explosion created knock both to the ground. Poliwrath managed to get back up quicker than Pikachu and charged the smaller pokémon.
"Quick, Pikachu," Ash cried, "agility."
Pikachu swiftly dodge Poliwrath's tackle and confused the slower pokémon by circling around it.
"Now, thunderbolt," Ash commanded.
Pikachu electrocuted the water pokémon with his thunderbolt but only managed to stun it.
"Shake it off, Poliwrath," Rob told the pokémon. "We can still beat them."
"I don't think so," Ash interrupted. "Thunder!"
"Pii-kaa-chuuuu!" Pikachu cried as he unleashed the most powerful of electric attacks. Poliwrath let out a slight moan as it collapsed on the gym floor.
"Pikachu is the winner," Sabrina called. "Victory to Ash."
"All right," Ash cried as he picked up Pikachu and tossed him in the air.
"Ka," Pikachu laughed as his trainer caught him.
"You did great," Rob said as he recalled his fallen pokémon.
Ash walked up to Rob. "You did a good job," Rob congratulated him. "I should've remember your primary pokémon was an electrical type."
"I was just glad you didn't use Quagsire again," Ash replied.
Misty ran up and hugged Ash by the neck. "You did great," she told him.
"You sound surprised," Ash replied.
"I knew you could when," Misty laughed. "'Cause like I said before, I don't date losers."
"Looks like you got your hands full," Sabrina laughed at the couple. "How about we leave you two alone for a little while."
Misty and Ash blushed while Rob, Sabrina, and her parents laughed at their discomfort.
"Come along, dear," Sabrina's mom told her daughter. "I think you embarrassed them enough for now."
As Sabrina left the other to take care of some gym business, she noticed something strange about the clouds. Earlier it had been a clear sky, but now it was filled with dark storm clouds.
"Something wrong?" her father asked.
"Yes," she replied. "Something is terribly wrong."
Shane looked out the window of his penthouse office. The Silph Co. Tower was the tallest building in Saffron, and he enjoyed looking down on the people below. He heard the door open and closed.
"How did it go?" he asked.
"I lost," Rob answered.
"I see," Shane emotionless replied. "A storm is coming."
"I thought we were supposed to have to clear skies for the next few days," Rob said as he joined his older brother at the window.
"That's the problem with the future," Shane told his brother. "It's never quite as you would expected."
Rob looked at his brother with a solemn face. Shane sometimes confused him with sayings like that. He figured it was just Shane trying to appear wiser, but it was at times like this that it seriously unnerved him.
"Would you deliver a message to Ketchum?" Shane told his brother as more of a command than a question. "I will battle him in front of this tower around midnight."
"Why so late?" Rob asked.
"I have my reasons," Shane said as he looked up at the storm clouds.
Ash was pacing in his room with Brock and Tracey. He had received the message from Rob and was waiting until it was time. So far, he still had an hour to go.
"I don't like this," Ash told them. "Something doesn't feel right."
"Is something wrong?" Brock asked.
"I just heard Giovanni broke out," he informed them. "I feel like he's coming here."
"What?!" Brock and Tracey shouted. "Do the Rockets know?"
"I think so," he told them, "but I haven't told Misty yet. I didn't want to worry her."
"Ash, we have to tell her," Brock replied. "He could come here looking for you two."
"I know," Ash sighed. "I'll tell her tomorrow morning."
"Ketchum," Shane greeted Ash and his friends. Behind him stood his three younger brothers.
"Let's finish this," Ash said as he pulled a pokéball off his belt.
"I couldn't agree more," Shane replied.
Giovanni had finally reached his destination. A name appeared in his head as pulled him self over the top of the hole. Moon, the mountain was called Mt. Moon. He surveyed what could have been the ruins of ancient shrine, but like most things, it was not important. Finishing his mission was his all.
The voice within was growing louder. He knew that it must leave his body, but he missed the pleasure it gave him.
It is time, the shadow said as its red eyes glowed in the darkness. Break the seal and read the scroll. Then my followers will be released from their prisons.
Giovanni pulled the scroll out of his pocket. A faded ribbon was tied around it with a clay pokéball seal. Pulling one end of the ribbon away from the seal, the scroll unrolled in his hands. He began to recite the words written while the storm brewed:
"From the flames of hate,"
On Cinnabar Island, Blaine sighed as another tourist attraction was being built. He missed the old days when trainers came here to gain the volcanobadge.
Suddenly, the volcano erupted, filling the sky with flames.
"What the…?" he commented as steaks of red light flew away from the volcano.
"Quick, we need to evacuate," Officer Jenny cried. "That volcano is ready to destroy the whole island."
Blaine did not heed Jenny or any of the others. He just stared as the lava edged towards the town.
"And the chill of despair,"
The snow-capped mountains of north of Cerulean quickly became engulfed in a blizzard. Seal and Dewgong quickly tried to find cover from the storm, but many were caught in a twister of ice and snow. Throughout the storm, they heard laughter.
"From the stones of fear,"
Earthquakes rocked Pewter as a the ground ripped in two.
"Everybody over here," Flint called to his children. He was extremely worried. Pewter had never had an earthquake before.
"Dad," one of the younger ones cried, "I'm scared."
"Don't worry," he tried to comfort the little one. "We'll be just find."
'Now if someone could just convince me,' he thought.
"And the breath of death,"
Outside of Pallet, Pidgey and Spearows glared at each, waiting for the other to make the first move. Suddenly, several glowing lights appeared trees surrounding them.
"Spear?" one of the birds questioned.
Suddenly, a third flock, a black flock, attacked both the flocks of Pidgey and Spearow but flew off after a moment. One Fearow glared at the retreating flock and turned his attention to its own.
"Of darkness, the children of the night,"
Outside of Stone Town, the keeper of a Evee Ranch got out of bed when all the pokémon began howling.
"Quiet!" he shouted at them. He heard several growls in return.
He looked in the pens where several little innocent, brown pokémon should have been. Instead, there were growling shadows. Suddenly, one of the pen gates opened and then another. Soon all the pens were opened.
The rancher ran back inside and bolted the doors. He ran into a corner and cowered there until the footsteps he had heard stopped.
"Come, and show evil's might."
"I choose wahhh…" Ash cried as a wind knocked him down.
"What's going on here?" Shane demanded as he tried to remaining standing.
"I think we should go inside," Rob suggested. "Look's like a storm's coming."
"No, the storm is here," a voice replied.
The eight of them looked at the man addressing them.
"Giovanni," Ash snarled.
"More than that," Giovanni said as several red eyes appeared behind him. "I am much more than that."