Part 4 : Veils of Shadow
Chapter 16 : Johto
Going downhill, it was far easier for them to make a good time, and by time the sun reached the summit of the mountains on its way down from the heavens, they could see the sparkling water of the great Orange Sea at the foot of the cliff that marked the end of Route 26 and the beginning of route 27
There was a small thicket of maple trees near the top of the cliff, and inside the thicket, there was a very small clearing. After watching the water for a while, awed by the beauty of nature yet again, they installed themselves in the grove for the night. They ate some of the bread and cheese they had carried with them from Pallet, and Gary pointed out that they should have taken more, as they would soon run out of food.
"I don't think that's going to be a problem." Misty replied, smiling.
"Think we can be in New Bark by tomorrow?" Gary replied, feeling a bit worried about the situation. They definitely did not need to go weak from lack of food.
"Yeah. We should be in New Bark tomorrow night." Richie calmly said, after again looking at his map.
Gary nodded. If that was the case, they would be able to start working on their luring Team Rocket very soon. Which in turn, meant that they would find out about the location of their headquarters just as soon. And once they did that...
A vicious grin appeared on his face. Once they did that, Team Rocket would pay for what they had done. He watched silently as the others pulled out their sleeping bag and arranged them on the ground in the small clearing, and then did the same with his. They all went in their bags, and fell asleep to the soothing sound of the sea breeze in the trees.
That night, just like the previous one, they had no problem sleeping, none of them. There were no nightmares, no somber memories to wake them up crying or yelling. Just simple, restful, healing sleep. And so the next morning when they woke up, they were all ready for their last day of walking through the silver mountains..
As the sun slowly rose, they continued paralleling the slightly downward track of Route 27, just like they had paralleled that of Route 26 the day before. The dark ribbon of asphalt stretched ahead of time. To one side, they could see the great cliffs then the sea, to the other, the tall mountains of the central Silver Range.
Shortly after noon, Ash caught a glimpse of a sparkle far away and right ahead, and he pointed it out to the rest of their group. Gary smiled as he saw for the first time the water of the Bay of Bark, far away in the distance. Yet, according to Richie, the simple fact that they could see it meant that they would reach it within a few hours. As far as Gary was concerned, that was only more good news.
"Unless something goes wrong, we'll be at New Bark in a few hours." He told them. "Tonight at the latest."
"Great!" Ash said, smiling, and his pikachu nodded from his place on Ash's shoulder.
"Civilization again..." Misty whispered with a smile. "Danea's place was good, but it wasn't really civilization..."
It didn't take them much effort. Each step they took brought them closer to the shiny waters of the bay, and they all walked as fast as they could. Yet the distance was great, and they reached the bay just in time to witness an amazing display of color as the sun sank slowly under the surface of the great bay.
The sky seemed to blush and burn as night and day met, orange, red, purple, pink and the last traces of blue joining together to draw an impressive sight. As the sun continued to lower, they looked at the bay again. It was large, so large that there was no way for them to see the other side.
"Next question: how are we going to get past that?" Gary asked them, suddenly realizing that the ferry that ran from one end of the bay to the other was on the other side, and would not come back until the next morning.
"Well, I have a Lap..." Ash started saying, then stopped as he reached for the pokeball he was after, not finding it. For a moment, he seemed to panic until remembrance appeared on his face. "That is to say, Misty has a Lapras...it could ferry us across the bay to Wakaba..." Ash suggested.
"Ash...are you sure you're alright?" Misty asked in mock concern, though Ash didn't seem to notice the mocking tone.
"Yeah... Why do you ask Misty?" Ash replied, oblivious to the tone of her question.
"You just said something intelligent, that's why I asked..." Misty said, grinning.
"Wha?" Ash replied, apparently lost. Gary smiled at the face his friend made.
Misty laughed, then sent out Lapras. The beautiful beast readily understood what they wanted, and carried them across the sizeable bay to New Bark town, swimming toward the sunset. As night settled in, the lights of the city appeared on the other side. With the moon high in the sky, they reached the shore, and all got off Lapras. Misty recalled the great creature, and they all stood on the shore for a while.
"Where do we go now?" Misty asked.
"My grandfather told me about one of his friend who lives around here. Sebastian Elm, another pokemon researcher. Maybe we should go see him?" Gary offered them in way of suggestion, and they immediately approved the idea.
The Elm laboratory was not hard to find, no harder to locate than his grandfather's in Pallet town, Gary reflected as they reached the door to the great building. He knocked on it twice, and a middle aged man opened the door.
"Hello...What do you want?" he asked them.
"Are you Professor Elm?" Gary asked, hoping that everything would go fine.
"Yes, I am...and you are? Wait...I think I know you...You are the grandson of my friend Samuel, right?" he asked suddenly.
Gary nodded quickly, smiling as he did so.
"Samuel told me you'd probably be coming around here sometime soon, and he told me about what you are up to. He also asked me to see if I could help you somehow." The man stated. "Though he had not much to offer as to suggestion of how I was to help." He added, his face troubled. "He also sent a package for you Gary." The professor added, as if suddenly remembering. He led them inside.
There, he handed Gary a long box-like package that was rather heavy. There was a letter with it, and Gary wondered again what it was that his grandfather was sending him. He opened the letter.
Gary, after you left I realized that you might have some use for this on your quest
that's why I am sending it to you. It has been in the family for a number of generation, and I know
you'll be able to make a good use of them. It is the Daisho - the set of sword, I know the word
is no longer common - that belonged to one of your ancestors. I thought you might have some use
for weapons, considering you are really fighting a war. Use them well!
He smiled and opened the box, revealing two perfectly balanced swords, one shorter than the other, both of them slightly curved and with a painstakingly crafted handle. The two blades seemed to be made of pure crystal rather than metal. He took them both in hand, and swung them a few time before taking the two scabbards, hooking them to his belt, and sliding the two blades in place. Meanwhile, the professor went to the phone, and dialed a number. As he hung down the phone shortly after, he turned toward them, and spoke again.
"Well, since I wasn't too sure how to help, and I know that you have yet to eat, I decided I might as well call for some pizza for all of us." He explained what he had been doing.
"Thank you professor!" Ash said, smiling.
After they ate the pizza, it was not too hard for any of them to find some sleep, and soon enough they were all deep in slumber, waiting for the next morning to come, and their quest to continue
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Brock stood beside the computer while Todd sat down on the chair, moving the mouse seemingly randomly, magnifying some details, clearing the picture, and generally doing a lot of other things Brock couldn't even begin to understand.
"Man, you know that stuff." He told his friend at some point as the young man continued focusing on different parts of the pictures that had been taken by the few security cameras at the Oak laboratory during the raid. It had been Todd's idea, this using his imaging software to try to find some clues about the Rocket raid on the laboratory, and while they had not found any new element, they had managed to eliminate a number of possibilities. For example, they already knew for a fact that the three culprits were not the other rocket duo, Butch and Cassidy.
"Yeah, I use it a lot." He replied smiling. "Wait! I think I got something!" he finally said, focusing the view on a tiny point of the picture. "Those weren't Rocket." He stated, pointing at the fact that the red R, instead of being sewed to the uniform, appeared to be made of tape stuck there in a hurry.
"Crap." Brock swore. "Those were our only track." He added.
"I know. Looks like we'll have to look somewhere else..." Todd replied, no happier than Brock at what he had just found.
"Yeah...I think we should go to Viridian first. When Ash challenged the gym leader there, he fought against Jessie and James - they were assuming the role of gym leaders, and they had some of the leader's pokemon." Brock reflected, remembering his travels with Ash and Misty the year before.
"Guess that's a good idea." Todd nodded. "We'll go there, then."
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The doors of the Rocket headquarters were unguarded as Damian and Elayne stepped in, and that in itself was enough to make both of them extremely suspicious. They both drew one of their pokeball, ready to send the pokemon held inside.
They walked warily through the deserted halls, until they reached the door to Giovanni office. It was unguarded, and wide open, that they could see as they approached it from far away. They slowed down, both of them avoiding making any noise, and crept closer to the office. The steel walls seemed very much oppressive to the young man as they did, as if something terrible was happening.
As they neared the doors, they heard voices from inside the office. One was his father's, outraged. The other two, he had never heard, or maybe only a little, before, and could not identify. He took quick peek inside to see his father, faced by two masked Rocket members. In a pool of blood near Giovanni's feet, his favorite persian was on the ground, dead.
"You'll never be able to take control of Team Rocket." Giovanni snarled at them. "The others won't be fooled by any of your tricks." He added.
"Oh, really? We already convinced half of Team Rocket that you were turning mad, acting strangely." The man in the pair attacking his father said.
"And once we have you out, we'll just say you were the imposter, and that our "fake" one is the real Giovanni. And they'll all believe us, because you've been acting so much out of character recently." The woman said, and Damian was convinced that under her mask, she was grinning.
"What? What are you talking about?" Giovanni asked, sweat running down his face.
"Ordering to threaten to kill hostages to get to the pokemon of someone else, ordering people actually killed...that's not like you at all." The man stated, and Damian knew that he was smirking.
"I didn't do that!" Giovanni replied, panic appearing in his voice.
"Damian? I think we should get out now before they spot us..." Elayne whispered, her hand on his shoulder. "We'll come back later for your father" she added.
"Right...I guess you're right..." Damian answered, then followed her outside, still feeling very much like a traitor about leaving his father behind.
Chapter 17 : First Strike
They decided not to leave New Bark immediately, and instead to take some more time to rest before heading on their quest to lure Team Rocket out in the open. Those three days were indeed restful, visiting the various parks of the small town, talking with Professor Elm, and working on plans of how to make their presence felt, and of how to lure the criminals out in the open. They played, also, whether it be tickles fight, or simple pokemon battles. Gary and Ash fought three of those, one on each day. The first went to Gary and his Gyarados against Ash's Pidgeot, the second went to Ash when his Pikachu fought against Gary's Eevee, the third was a tie between Arcanine and Charizard.
But like all good things, their vacation in New Bark soon ended, and it was time again to head on the road, to fulfill their oath. Misty sighed as they turned away from the town, heading toward the unknown. Now that she as free of the nightmare, the oath they had taken didn't seem such a good idea...except that she did want to get back at them, both for the kidnapping, and for the murder of Duplica.
It took them two days, two long days on the road, to reach the next town. The land around them was fairly hilly, caught between the Silver Range to the east, the western half of the Moon Range to the north, and the Alph range to the west, in the Azalean peninsula. Great stretches of woods were everywhere, maples and pines mostly, but here and there there were some other trees, birch and oak appearing randomly.
While Cherrygrove, the first town they reached after leaving New Bark, was much larger than New Bark itself, it was a town that was way too quiet for it to be even an interesting stop. They barely took the time to rest the night in the local pokemon center, before deciding to go forward. All that they had heard indicated that Violet, the next town on the road they were following, was for the most part as large as Cherry Grove, but with much more activity - ancient ruins, a tower famous across the world for it's architecture, and many other things.
The road from Cherrygrove to Violet was just as hilly and hard as the road from New Bark to Cherrygrove had proven to be. Except that the distance was greater, so it took them even longer to reach the town. After five days of hard walking under the rainy clouds, they were still far from it. The storm had not broken yet, but they all knew it would soon. For the umpteen thousand time, Misty looked at the sky worriedly. If only they could reach Violet before the storm would break...but there seemed to be little chance of that.
And indeed, well they were still at the very least two days away from Violet, a violent storm broke. The wind howled through the trees, as drops of rain splattered on the ground all around them. The violent crash of thunder became a common companion as they looked for a place to spend the time until the storm abated.
Yet there didn't seem to be any shelter anywhere nearby. There were no houses in the empty countryside, and the hills were not the kind likely to have any caves in them. The only possible chance would be the part of the Silver Range that jutted out from the main bulk, like a mountain sticking out of a plain. It was not too far from them, barely an hour if they ran. Which, of course, is what they did. They reached it a few hours later, and once there, it was surprisingly easy to find a cave.
As the rain continued drumming on the flank of the great mountain they were in, Gary took some of the wood he had carried safely in his backpack - much to Misty's delight - and set up a small fire. They gathered around it, eager for the warmth of the fire to dry their sodden clothes. As the fire warmed her, Misty could not help but notice the puddle of water formed at her feet by the water dripping from her hair, and her clothes.
"If you guys can look elsewhere, I think I'll go change clothes." She said, blushing. The other quickly nodded, and went to look elsewhere, as she walked deeper in the cave to put on some clothes. Soon she was back with them, in dry clothes instead of the sodden rag she had worn before Well...not rag, really...but they felt like rag she corrected herself, a slight smile on her lips. The other guys quickly did the same as she had done, and soon they were all sitting around the fire in dry clothes, their hair still dripping wet, but outside that, much more comfortable than they had been.
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It took three long days for the storm to abate, three long days during which they were trapped in the cave with nothing much to do. They waited, simply, trying to plan and rest as much as they could, while outside the crash of thunder filled the air, wind howled in fury, and the constant sound of rain falling on the ground continued.
"I wonder where is Team Rocket?" wondered Misty, as they waited. "It's not like them to leave us alone for days..."
"Well, maybe they are on vacation..." Ash commented, grinning. Unfortunately, Misty, already in a bad mood from the rain and the delay, did not catch his smile - and reacted accordingly.
"I DID NOT ASK FOR YOUR STUPID COMMENTS!" she yelled at the top of her lung, then stopped when she realized everyone was looking oddly at her. "Uh...sorry..." she added, grinning sheepishly.
Richie had to turn aside to avoid them seeing the small smile on his lips. Misty would have exploded at him if he had seen him smiling after she had made a fool of herself. The rain continued to fall, and as he looked outside and marveled at the way nature could be both beautiful and deadly at once. The same rain that seemed so beautiful from inside the cave would easily claim lives if it created floods or land slides.
It was on the third day that the rain finally abated, and that they were able to leave the cave and head for Violet City at last. As they walked outside under the still-heavy clouds, they couldn't help but feel that they would need luck to get to Violet before the rain broke out again.
Fortunately, this time their feelings were wrong, and in fact the on the second day, the sky was almost completely clear as they approached the shining buildings that made the city of Violet. The towering buildings of glass and concrete glittered in the afternoon sun, and birds flew over the town, singing as they did so.
__________________________
As they approached the city, Ash's eyes were drawn to an old-looking tower, with the slanted roof that was characteristic of the kind of construction found in the older areas of Johto and Kanto. It seemed to be a shrine or a temple of some sort, the kind of place people visited to worship the local spirits in the old days. At least that's what professor Oak had told him these places were used for.
"Hey, look at that tower..." Richie suddenly said. "Maybe we could go visit it. I heard about it, and it's quite famous. Chances are the rockets will have a few people around there, so if we make a show of looking for them..." He left it hanging.
"Not a bad idea." Gary nodded thoughtfully. His eyes were still as empty as they had been since the day they had left the mill a couple of weeks before.
"I don't..." Misty started, but was interrupted by Richie again.
"It would work well for what we are trying for." Richie smiled at them.
_________________________________
The great flying beast landed in front of the Viridian gym, and it's sole passenger jumped off its neck, his black cloak swirling in the strong wind that failed to affect his short dark hair. As he stood before the lair of his once-time rival Giovanni, Lance allowed himself a thin smile. Very little was as it seemed in Kanto. Team Rocket pretended to be a criminal organization that kidnapped and sold pokemon, but that, he knew, was only a cover. He had only a little idea of what the whole deal really was, but it was enough.
And just as Team Rocket was not what it seemed, neither was the position of the Kanto chief of state - Lance himself. The working arrangement he had reached with Giovanni was indeed a good thing, as it caused a dramatic increase in the numbers of thugs caught each years - those real bandits that where a threat, which would always be in on those "failed" Rocket plans that landed many members in prison for a long time.
Yes, the whole of Kanto would be surprised to hear about that...as surprised as he had been to hear about pokemon trainers being kidnapped by Team Rocket. Especially with one of them a gym leader and the other a well-known trainer. And far less surprised than how surprised he had been when he had learned that one of the trainers who had tried to rescue their friends had been shot and killed.
Something had definitely gone awry with Team Rocket, and he would talk to Giovanni and find out what it was. One of the gym guard at the entrance - who was at least sane enough not to wear any open sign of belonging to Team Rocket.
"What do you want?" the guard asked, looking at him, then blinking. "Oh! Sorry Lance-sama! I didn't recognize you right at first. Please come in. I assume you are here to see Giovanni-sama?" The man asked, realizing that this was no ordinary visitor coming for business or for a gym battle.
"Yes." Lance's answer was short and void of emotions.
They walked through the great hallways of the Viridian Pokemon Gym. Paintings hung from the walls, of the great rocket leaders and members past and present, though very few know that's what it was, as those were the Rocket members who had never been caught by the police, nor even suspected. And since they were all somehow related to the Viridian gym - which had a tradition of being in Rocket's hands - no one bothered to ask questions. Of course, those were the hallways of the "corporate" part of the gym - not the part that a normal trainer would see on his way to collecting a badge.
The guard stopped before a great oaken door that led to, Lance knew for having visited the place a few time, Giovanni's office. The door slowly swung open, and the two of them stepped inside.
"The Kanto president, sir." He announced in a meek voice. Among the rocket, attracting the wrath of Giovanni was a one-way trip to jail guaranteed - unless the man had other plans for you. Lance smiled slightly at the man who had in turn been childhood friend, teen years rival, early adulthood mortal enemy, and finally a good working partner, and a friend, though far from a close one. He was a few years older than Lance, and looking older than he was, a few months away from thirty-seven while Lance himself was only thirty-three, and looking much younger than he truly was, something that he and his sister had in common.
"Lance, old friend!" Giovanni smiled. "So good to see you!" he added, yet for some reason Lance suspected something was wrong. This did not sounds like his friend...not at all...
"Giovanni. I'm not here to have fun." Lance replied icily. "I've heard about what happened at Leman island. Would you care to explain? Kidnapping and murder are not covered by our deal." He added, his eyes as agate while he spoke.
"I know." Giovanni answered, a bitter tone to his voice. "It was the work of an impostor." He added, and his eyes seemed to be filled by betrayal...again something that Lance found highly suspect. Normally, betrayal and that kind of thing would have Giovanni hard, and his eyes would be just like Lance's were. Not hurt. This was not like Giovanni at all... "We caught him, but he managed to give a few fake orders...I believe the events at Leman Island were related to that." Giovanni added, this time with a note of sadness in his voice.
Yeah, right. As far as I can tell, the impostor, if there's any, is in front of me. Lance thought bitterly. Whoever was in charge of this masquerade really underestimated him. Still, he nodded lightly, knowing that taking action at this point would do no good.
"Thank you for your time Giovanni. I will call you again one of these days." He said casually, shaking the actor's hand, then left, walking back to the guard and then being escorted outside to fly his dragonite back to the league headquarters.
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"Whew. That was a close call." Butch muttered as he pulled off the mask he had been using for the whole meeting. "I had no real idea that the two were actually friend..." he muttered under his breath as Cassidy appeared from a nearby room.
"Closer than you would believe Butch. Hypno did some mind-reading on him while you were talking. He know you aren't the real Giovanni." She told him, and Butch felt like cursing. All this work and sweating, all the stress he had had to take, and it had not been enough?
"Guess that means we'll have to...dispose of him then." He said with a bleak smile.
"Definitely." Cassidy added, a vicious smile on her otherwise beautiful face. "Though I don't think he's going to go running around talking about an impostor leading Team Rocket." She added with a wicked smile on her face. "Not the kind of thing a chief of state is supposed to know."
Chapter 18 : Rising Flame
The bright morning sun rose slowly over the still asleep city of Violet as the birds woke up and started their daily chirping. As the celestial disk rose up above the land, bringing light to a world once flooded by darkness, Ash and his friend slowly woke up, rising from their bed in the two bedroom they occupied in one of the city's best hotel.
It was a day like the previous one. The sky was clear, and no cloud could be seen for a thousand miles in any direction - east, west, south or north. From the window of their room near the top of the hotel, at the end of an hallway, Ash could look through window that would let him see south, east, and west. The view was clear for many mile, aside for the bulk of the building they had seen the day before, that one Sprout tower as he had heard the inhabitants call it.
The view, in fact, was not only clear but absolutely stunning. Beyond the tow to the east vast expanse of forest could be seen, then the stark outline of the outstretched western arm of the Silver range, with the impressive bulk of Mount Silver itself visible in the distance, standing nearly twice as tall as any of the surrounding mountains. To the west, the vision was completely different, that of a great rolling plain for a start, with some patches of wood, then another grey wall rising against the horizon, the Alph mountains, famous for the ancients ruins that were found in them. Between the city and the plain, the Ecruteak river ran, its waters sparkling as the light of the sun hit them, as well as the great bridge that allowed one to cross it. As he turned to the south, he could follow the water of the river, as it joined with the great blue expense of the Gulf of Azalea, which shone fiercely under the fires of the sun. It was really a splendid sight to behold, and Ash noticed that his friends seemed to agree, as they joined him one by one as they rose.
They went down to the hall of the hotel, and then to the small restaurant that was part of it. They quickly ate the breakfast that was included with the price of the room - eggs and bacons, with some juice, and then walked outside, toward Sprout Tower.
It barely took them a few minutes to reach it, at the speed they were walking at. They were all eager to finish what they had begun, and if they could lure Team Rocket out in the open, there was always the off chance of capturing one of them and getting him or her to admit the location of their headquarters. That would work pretty effectively, Ash had to admit to himself. And getting one of them to admit would be enormously satisfying, in a certain sense, after all that they had been put through.
Surprisingly, seeing as it was a quite famous location, the general vicinity of the tower seemed rather deserted, in fact completely empty. They walked closer to the door, and on Gary's suggestion decided to do the visiting that they all itched to do now, instead of later, so that they would all be ready to lure Team Rocket later in the day, when people would come around to visiting the tower.
The great wooden door of the ancient tower swung open easily as Richie pushed them, and they had no problem at all entering. The first floor of the tall, ancient tower was just as empty as the vicinity had been, and they could not find even a trace of a single living soul, despite extensive searching of the first floor. Surprised that there were not even monks around there to take care of the old building, Ash watched around, a little confused.
"I thought there would at least be some people in there..." he muttered.
"So did I." Richie agreed, and his eyes were painted with unvoiced suspicions. "Something's wrong here." He added.
"You think the Rockets might already be here?" Gary questioned him. Ash shuddered at the thought. The last time he had blundered in a rocket outpost...
"Might be. Doesn't...feel...like it, though." Richie answered, somehow unable to voice his thought in a clearer way, or so it seemed to Ash at least.
"Well, Rocket or not, if there's a chance it might be them, we might as well get at it and find out." Misty stated, apparently bored with the talking.
"Right." Gary nodded, letting no emotions in his voice, but moving his hand to the handle of one of the swords his grandfather had sent him. As he did so, his eyes became dim for a while, as if he was completely lost in thought. Ash wondered at what was happening to his friend, not sure if it was good, bad or neither. Then, barely a minute after it had started, and has suddenly as it had begun, the strange spell seemed to end, and Gary was back to normal. Ash shrugged it off, as he realized his friend had reasons enough to be upset by mentions of Team Rocket. They had, after all, killed the girl he loved.
They slowly climbed up the stair to the second floor, careful to avoid making noise, knowing that if they did too much noise, whoever it was that waited for them upstairs would hear them coming and have some nasty surprises waiting.
The second floor was, after a thorough search, revealed as equally empty, yet while on it Ash felt a magnifying of the sense of being watched he had felt while on the first floor, as if the eyes that had watched him back there had been joined by more.
And yet more eyes joined the ones from the first and second floors as he reached the third floor. Apparently, he was not the only one feeling the eyes, as he could see Gary tightening his grip on the blade of the longer of the two curved swords.
Yet, to their surprise, the third and final floor that was so high above ground because of the height of each floor was just as empty as the other two had been. Empty, with not a single trace of anyone visiting it for days before.
"I just don't get it." Richie confessed. "This is starting to sound really fishy...remind me of those old tales of secret passages." He shook his head slightly. "We got to really think...where is everyone?" he asked them.
"I don't have the slightest idea Richie." Misty answered. "This sounds so...eerie..." she said. "Maybe we should get out..."
Ash slowly ran his hand along the carved wood that mad the border of one of the windows. Outside, the world was clam, and everyone seemed to ignore the general vicinity. No one was coming close to the tower, except for a few kids playing around in the lawn of an house nearby, the closest living souls that he could see.
"I'd feel safer if we were outside." Gary said suddenly, in a voice not his own, as his eyes took that blank look they had had when he had first put his hand on the sword a few minutes earlier outside.
"Gary?" Richie asked, staring in surprise.
"What happened?" he asked, his eyes snapping back to reality as suddenly as they had earlier.
"Forget it." Richie said simply, as he looked at all of them. "I don't know about you all, but I think we should wait a little longer before leaving. Either someone will come and explain everything, or else we'll find some clue as to what's up here..." he countered the point that Gary had made without knowing he was making it.
"I...I think you're right Richie." Ash finally stated, torn between the very bad feeling he was having about the whole thing, and the need to know more about the current mystery.
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Misty sighed, not voicing her opinions about the idea of staying there as they looked around for more clues. Truth to be told, she mostly agreed with the mysterious voice that had taken control of Gary for a moment. But Ash and Richie had decided not to go, and for once she didn't feel like arguing with Ash over something that did not matter that much.
She walked around for a while, trying to keep her mind focused her mind focused on looking for clues, yet strangely unable to do so. The air of the upper floor was getting warmer rapidly...in fact far too fast for it to be just the natural increase in heat outside. Almost as if...
"Smoke!" Gary suddenly yelled, pointing at the entrance of the stairway that lead to the second floor. Thick volutes of grey, dark smoke were coming out, clear testimony of the fire that surely raged in the lower levels.
"We have to get out!" Ash shouted.
"Yeah, but how?" Richie asked. "The lower levels are burning, and we only have your pidgeot to fly us around...not to mention those windows looked very solid to me.
"Well...I guess we don't have much of a choice, do we?" Gary asked. "If we stay up here, we'll get roasted alive. If we try going down, there's a chance that we'll make it..." he told them quietly. There was no fear in his voice, as if he was welcoming the opportunity of dying.
Gary in the lead, they started going down the stairway. He held a pokeball in his hand, ready to throw it, though Misty had no idea what was the pokemon inside. Richie and Ash went in just after, and she herself decided to go last. Fortunately, while there was smoke in the stairwell, smoke that made their eyes dry and forced them to hold their breath for as long as they could. As they reached the second floor, they stopped for a brief moment to look around them. One of the hallways lead to the stairway, and that one seemed clear, luckily. The one that lead to the other side, however, was filled with a fiery red glow, and the crackling noise coming from that side made it more than clear that the fire was that way - at least some of it. The smoke from that side moved along the hallway, and up the stairwell. They rapidly cleared the vicinity of the stairs' door, toward the other, less smoke-filled hallway that lead toward the first floor stairs.
The stairs were surprisingly clear of smoke as they walked down them, or rather ran down them. However, as they reached the lowest floor, a disheartening sight appeared. The fire was in two different hallways, and coming closer with each passing second to reaching the hallway that lead outside. They ran as fast as they could, still in the same order that they had been earlier.
Gary went first, using his arms to shield his face, then Ash and Richie doing the same, racing as fast as they could.
And then, just as Misty was about to make it too, disaster struck. One of the supporting beam overhead, its support weakened by the fire and by age, crashed between her and the door. She recoiled as the flame grew, blocking her only path of escape, and desperately watched as the others turned to see her slowly rising to her feet as the fire came closer to her on each side. She rapidly called out her Seadra to extinguish the flame, but even that seemed to do nothing as the fire did not even sizzle where the water struck it, as if some outside will was powering it and commanding it to ignore the water.
She felt her life slowly drained away from her by the heat, she was weakening with each passing second. She recalled Seadra and threw hew pokeball through the wall of flame to Ash, Gary and Richie still frozen on the other side.
"Get out!" she tried to yell, though the coughing sound from the smoke that was starting to get to her prevented her from really making any meaningful noise. "Run!" she added, though she was already choking.
At that moment, a chunk of wood, or some other such fell from the roof, at least as far as she could guess in the two seconds of consciousness she had after the whatever it was hit her behind the head. She fell to the ground.
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Ash felt himself pulled toward the door as his eyes remained locked on Misty, struggling to find a way out on the other side of the wall of fire. He struggled as best as he could, but Gary's grip was too strong. And then, they were out of the tower, and Misty was out of his sight...
And unless they got extremely lucky, out of his life forever as well...And somehow, despite all the taunting, all the fighting, despite how they had behaved toward each other for all of the two years they had been travelling together...
Despite that, he just couldn't even begin to imagine the days ahead without Misty at his side. Silently, he prayed for a miracle that would save her, would allow him to keep the girl who had been his best friend for the last two years at his side.
And then, with a sinister noise, a loud, cracking kind of noise, the tower fell down. It collapsed on itself, as the flames roared, even brighter than before. And as the tower collapsed, crushing Misty if she was still alive and Ash's last feeble hope that she would somehow survive, he collapsed also, falling on the ground, and weeping.
Besides him, looking at the tower, Gary seemed to be filled with a deep inner rage. "Duplica...and now Misty. When will it end?" he murmured, so softly that Ash barely heard him.
Chapter 19 : Misty's Funeral
Ash was weeping; hot, damp droplet of waters running down his cheeks then falling on the rocky shore, then slowly flowing down in a small trickle toward the lake in front of him. The exact same thing he had been doing without stop, even when eating or trying to sleep, ever since the flames had destroyed the ancient sprout tower, taking Misty with them. At the moment the collapsing tower had ended any hope that Misty would ever come back, Ash had felt as if the most important part of his life was being torn away from him. Torn away from his own soul by the uncaring hand of fate, and never to be recovered even if he was to live a hundred thousand years.
It was only as the crashing tower had taken her forever away that he hard realized just how much the young red-hair had meant to him, to his well being. How much of an essential part of his own life she had become, as if they had been two side of the same soul rather than two separate soul. Now, of course, it was much too late to realize that, and even more so, it was too late to tell her. They would never get to talk together again, not in a million years. He was condemned, just like Gary. Except that in Gary's case, it was even worst- in his case, it had been love. For Ash, all it had been was a very strong friendship, one that he had thought would last forever. Or was it worst? Somehow, to Ash, it seemed like there was no pain that could compare to the one he was feeling inside him at that very moment.
The pain of loosing the one person that had meant so much to him. Though he had other friends - Gary and Richie among them, as well as Brock and Tracey - they somehow just weren't the same thing. Misty was Misty, the one friend that he really could not loose, the one friend that he would not go on without. And of course, as fate's cruel ways would have it, she was the one friend he had lost to uncaring destiny.
A slight rustling sound in the grass barely audible over the noise of his weeping was his only warning that someone was coming. He turned to face the concerned face of Gary, who seemed really worried about him - something Ash could understand, in a way. Gary had lost as much, if not more that he had lost, or so Ash's logic told him. And Ash was the only one who welcomed the young man as a true friend, instead of seeing him as an arrogant braggart. And with only one friend in a world that had turned against him, Gary certainly had reasons enough to be worried when that friend seemed on the verge of giving up entirely on life.
He sat down besides him without a word, simply putting an hand on his shoulder in a comforting gesture for a while. Ash continued weeping, letting his tears fall on the rock to cascade down to the lake. The sparkling water shone as the sun stood high in the sky...
The water. It had been Misty's element, her home, to a certain extent. The place she wanted to understand, to master, to be part of.
With a sob, he curled up on the ground, wishing that death would somehow come right there, right then, to end the hell his life had become.
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Gary sighed sadly as he watched his best and last friend curl up, as if he was waiting for death. As far as Gary knew, the relationship between Ash and Misty had been nothing more than friendship, yet Ash's reaction certainly seemed to indicate otherwise, as if they had been closer to being in love than to being friends.
Yet, everyone who knew them agreed that they had just been friends, that they were not boyfriend and girlfriend. But then, how could he explain that Ash reacted in a stronger way to Misty's death that he had reacted to Duplica's?
"You loved her, didn't you." He asked of his suffering friend, watching him with pity in his eyes. To see someone like Ash, who was, after all, a nice person, suffering like this...
Ash slowly turned his face toward him, his eyes tear-filled. For a long moment, he didn't answer, as if searching within himself for the truth.
"I...I'm not sure...I...never really thought about it that way..." he started, talking through his sobbing. "I think...maybe...I think I loved her." He finally admitted, confirming what Gary had thought. "I never told her...and now...she's...she..." he stopped talking and curled up again, weeping even more. Gary sighed. Now at least he knew why it was hitting Ash so hard. It had been more than friendship, and far from helping, the fact that the love had never been let out in the open was actually making things harder.
The week since Misty had died had been a long one, a too long one, and far from making things easier, the passage of each day brought Ash closer to the edge of despair. Gary felt so powerless as he watched his friend plummeting down the dark abyss of depression. He barely slept, and when he did, only for a few hours of fitful sleep, barely ate, and when he actually could be convinced to eat, he would only take a few tiny bite of bread, then let the remnants in his plate and go away to weep. He very obviously no longer cared about life, which in turn was hitting Gary very hard.
And it was not Ash alone, far from it. His pokemon seemed to be reacting much the same way, pikachu first of all, but the others also, even his big bully of a Charizard. Richie was taking care of them, but keeping them all from doing anything rash was like trying to keep the babies in a nursery from fighting each others over a toy. Of course, the fact that their trainer had apparently forgotten all about them certainly didn't help them to deal with the crisis, as he seemed no longer to care if they were even alive or dead.
With a weary sigh, he put his hand on Ash's shoulder again, resolute to give another try at cheering him up, even if it was almost certainly doomed to fail.
"Ash...I know just how hard this is" he started, as the pain of Duplica's death struck him again, "but you just can't give up..." he added, his voice pleading.
"Why not?" Ash asked bitterly, the sadness apparently turning in some form of resentment, at least party. But it was still very much present, both as sadness and as resentment. "No matter what we do, we always die" he added sighing fatalistically. "If you're lucky you get to go first, before those you love. If not, then you get to see all your friends go away..." the sad answer came. "I don't think I care much for the idea of being last to leave." He said, slowly shaking his head, staring at the lake.
"Ash...I thought you were the kind who kept their promise, remember?" Gary said desperately as he knew he was fighting a loosing battle.
"So?" Ash asked blankly.
"You swore to hunt down and destroy Team Rocket. Are you going to go back on that oath?" Gary asked bitterly, a bit of anger in his voice. He was not really angry at Ash, but rather trying to get Ash angry so that he would react.
"I don't care..." Ash replied, infinite sadness in his voice, showing Gary just how much his last attempt had failed.
Without a word, the young man rose, and headed back toward the hotel, clearly putting an end to the chat. Gary sighed as he watched his friend walking away, and could only hope Ash would have the courage to face life long enough for them to defeat Team Rocket.
And then...once they are done for...once that's done, then we'll both be free to die.
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Brock sighed sadly once again as the sounds of the flight attendant voice of the great jet woke him up suddenly. Around him, Sabrina, Erica, Lily, Violet and Daisy were talking while Todd was waking up from a few hours of sleep they had decided to take upon leaving the Cerulean airport bound for the Goldenrod airport.
For a brief moment, as he looked at the five beautiful girl, he almost thought that he had to be in heaven, then had a weary, extremely sad sighs as the harsh reality came back to him. I'm not the one in heaven...that's Misty he reflected sadly. She's gone and she isn't coming back he sighed sadly yet again.
"Ladies and Gentleman, please fasten your seatbelts, we are beginning our final approach to the Goldenrod Airport." The voice of the flight attendant said, maybe the same message that had woken him and Todd up a few seconds earlier. He quickly did so, then resumed his thinking. Misty had not been as close to him as she had been to Ash, of course, but she had been a good friends all the same, despite her tendency to prevent him from talking with girls. She and Ash had made an odd but efficient pair, and he could only imagine how much her death had hurt Ash. Yet another sigh escaped her lips. Life was so unfair.
As soon as they got off the airplane and past the customs agents with their luggage, Erica lead them to one of the car rental stands in the airport, and started talking quickly to the man there. After a few hours of her fast talking and negotiating, they were all in a car heading for Violet city, with the young woman driving.
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Ash looked out of the window, feeling empty, looking at a world that had once been so colorful and finding only the darkest shades of gray and black, the gloom of despair and the shadow of death. It was already the time for the funeral, as all of those who were supposed to come had reached Violet, and were ready. The Professor Oak was there, as well as Misty's sisters, Ash's mother, and many others they had met or helped in their travels. Misty's status as a gym leader had even convinced some more important persons to join the ceremony, in the form of a representative of the Kanto elite 4, an old woman with gray hair and a riddled face, walking with a stick to support her.
And just as Misty had been so special, her funeral would be far from usual. That came first from the fact that there was no body to bury or incinerate - as it had already been incinerated. Instead of a coffin with the body inside, what they would have would be a silver jar filled with ashes from the burned tower. It was, they all agreed, the best that could be done since no traces of her body remained. And because Misty had been so close to water, because it had been as an home to her, instead of setting the jar safely away after the funeral, it's content would be emptied in the waters of the gulf of Azalea from the bridge of the ship where the ceremony would take place.
But somehow, even the special care that was being taken for her did nothing for Ash. According to everyone he had heard, things like that showed to the most stricken ones that they weren't alone in mourning the one who had passed away, but in Ash's case it did nothing of the sort. It only made the pain of the loss deeper, more acute, ever harder to resist.
When the priest, after a long speech, invited Misty's friend to go forward and speak, Ash did not, knowing his throat would not let him say a thing.. He remained seated, tears still running down his cheeks, watching the world around him that had lost all meaning. As the tears came, so did memories of Misty and their days together. Her red hair that was so beautiful when she would let it loose on her shoulders. Her sparkling aqua eyes. Even when she had been angry with him, even when she had made his life impossible, he had never wanted for her to be gone from his life forever. He had only wanted to have her at his side as a friend as long as possible. She had been a very close, very trusted friend. Maybe one day she would have become more than a friend.... The admittance had came strangely enough, a simple realization when Gary had suggested it might be so...many others had made the same suggestion before, but it was only now that Misty was dead that he realized how true it was on his side.
Each of Misty's sisters, all of them with a few tears running down their cheeks, in turn talked about the young red-hair, how she had shaped their lives and transformed them forever. Brock, Richie and Todd added their comments, and they too were weeping, though some of them had barely known her for a short while before she had died. As the day died in a fiery wave of colors to the west over the Alph mountains, the jar was opened and its content released in the water.
And Ash wished that he did not have his loyalties to his friends keeping him apart from following Misty, and ending the pain once and for all.
Chapter 20 : Shadow Awakened
A faint, slightly chilly breeze stirred the still dark green leaves of the great trees around the great cliffs that dominated the gulf of Azalea. Though elsewhere in the world autumn had already begun to make its touch felt and to bring the crimson and the gold to the trees, the region if Violet was still largely unaffected. Here and there, there were a few traces of red and gold in some of the trees, but with those few exceptions, the region was still very green. Yet the birds, the pidgey first, the others later, had already started their flight south toward the orange islands or even further down, where they would spend the winter.
The light of the noon sun bathed the area with a bright, almost aggressive glow. But standing where he was, on the top of one of the cliff that dominated the gulf, Ash did not notice any of that, nor did he notice the shout of his friends looking for him. His eyes were still fixed on the exact spot where the content of the jar had been slowly released in the warm water, taking the one girl he had been in love with forever away. He had never realized how much he had loved her until that very moment where she had died, but now…
Now there was no denying it, as he had realized during the funeral. He had been in love with Misty, very much so. And now, the young woman was forever gone, and whatever remained of her was either in the ashes of the Sprout Tower, scattered by the winds days ago, or else at the bottom of the gulf, deeper than he had ever seen..
He wept, each of his warm, damp tear trailing down in the gulf below and falling beneath the waves to an eternal end, as they became one with the salty waters that sparkled under the shining sun. Again, he wished that he could just put behind him all of his ties to the world and jump, to join Misty in death. But he just couldn't do that…he had his friends who needed him, Gary especially. He had an oath to fulfill, even though bringing down Team Rocket seemed such an hollow, empty goal now. There would be nothing to gain by doing that, save for the lengthening of his suffering. But there was no way around it – he would do whatever he could to keep that promise.
He stared one last time at the empty waters, emotions welling up inside him.
"I'll finish them Misty. I'll finish them, and then, I'll come back here. And we'll be together." He whispered slowly.
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Standing under the shadows of the tall trees now far from the edge of the cliff, Todd, Gary, Richie and Brock watched worriedly. It was very obvious to all of them what Ash was considering, and it was just as obvious to Gary at least that they couldn't afford to let that happen.
He had already lost his girlfriend, and there was no way he would loose his best friend as well. As he slowly took a step forward to go talk to Ash, he heard the sound of walking behind him, and turned to face a policeman, one of those who were in charge of the investigation related to the fire in Sprout Tower.
"Ah! There you are. I've been looking for you. We've found new information, and I thought I could inform you of what we found out." He told them.
"Oh? What is it?" Gary asked curiously.
"It wasn't a normal fire. But with the help of a person who assist the police from time to time, we've been able to find out more about what exactly it was." He started to explain. "It was a psychic fire. I don't understand the details exactly, but basically, a psychic fire is just as destructive as a real one, but since it is entirely coming from the strength of the mind creating it, it can't be put out." He added. "Which is why your friend's water pokemon didn't help at all, and why the firemen were unable to help." The man concluded.
"Wait!" Richie said. "Does that mean you know for sure that it wasn't an accident?" he asked, his eyes suddenly filled with cold fire.
"Well, yes. Someone did this. So basically your friend was murdered." He added, his face bleak. "I've heard what you done with Team Rocket…please try not to be too rash, ok?" he added.
"We'll see about that." Gary replied coldly, before running to Ash to tell him.
"So what she was murdered?" he asked in the tone of someone who did not care.
"Well, ever heard of revenge?" Gary shot back, more than a little irritated at his friend attitude. Didn't he realize that after loosing Misty, note of them wanted to loose him?
"Yeah. But it won't bring back Misty." Was the answer, delivered in a sad tone of voice. "I'll go with you guys to finish the Rocket, and if they happen to be behind that murder, or if we ran in those who did that in the way, we'll deal with them too. But once we're done with Team Rocket, I'm coming back here. And I'm going to join Misty at that point." His friend added bleakly. Gary stood unmoving, knowing there was nothing to say or do, and hoping that something would happen during their hunt that would keep Ash alive.
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Much further north, close to mount Mortar, the city of Ecruteak stood between the Rage river and the Ecruteak Lake. It was a sizable city, and an ancient one, with many traditional buildings as well as the new ones. The city was, and had been for years, a meeting point between three of the most important road of the land of Johto. And even before those road had been built, its location marked it as a major crossroad, as one almost had to go by way of Ecruteak to move from the region of Mahogany to that of the great Olivine plains to the west, or to Violet and Goldenrold to the south. Now, route 38 lead through the vast plains of Olivine to the great seaport that gave its name to the plains. To the east, route 42 ran along the various mountains lake that formed along the waterfalls of the Rage river, which had been so named after those waterfalls, and through areas of undeveloped woodland before reaching Mahogany and further east the Ice Pass and Blackthorn beyond. To the south, Route 37 ran along the hills between mount ??? and the Alph mountains, before splitting in the two branchs of Route 36 that lead east to Violet and West to Goldenrod.
The mysteriously garbed young woman came in the town from the east, entering the ancient part of the city by the Blackthorn gate. The garb hide much about her, outside the fact that she was obviously human, and probably female, though even that could not be sure. The garb was black, covering her entire body, shining a bit, not like leather under the sun, but rather almost like metal would shine, as if the strange black material was more akin to iron than to leather or silk. A ninja-like mask covered the lower part of her face, all that was under the eyes, while the hood of a long black cloak seeming made of the same material as everything else she wore kept all eyes away from seeing anything more about her eyes than the mysterious reddish glow in them. She walked down the streets toward the central plaza of the town, and somehow as she did so, the many citizens of the town found themselves drawn to follow her, though none could tell why.
She spoke at last, her voice definitely adding weight to the theory that she was female, though even with that some remained doubtful.
"I am Shadow." She told them in an odd voice. "I" she continued, and the glow in her eyes increased. "have been sent to hunt" she told them, and they all wondered what it was that she was hunting. "My prey" she continued, about to answer that question, "Is this one." She completed, revealing a picture of a young man in blue jeans with a black shirt and a blue vest, as well as a pokemon league hat. Somehow, even those farther from the center of the plaza could see every detail of the picture. "Those who will stand against me," she added, her voice low and threatening, "will die and suffer. And those who will help me...they will have their lives." She added darkly.
"Oh, great..." one of the witness replied, shaking his head. "like I was going to be afraid of a guy who read too many ninja stories." He said scornfully, looking at the creature in disgust.
Shadow did not even reply with words, but rather took immediate action. Her eyes glowed again, and the offender rose in the air, his back arching almost to the point of breaking, surrounded by a strange red glow that matched the one in the mysterious figure's eyes..
"Aaaaaaahhhh!" the man screamed as the pain of having his back brought to a point so near to destruction came in him. "Please..." he added, his voice loaded with suffering. "I… under…stand...I won't…oppose you...I'll cooperate..." he begged through the pain.
"I don't doubt that…I'd have used you for an example, but you're so disliked around here from the reaction of your comrades that it would be pointless." Shadow said bleakly. "I'll have to do something more… convincing to get full cooperation." She added.
She looked around at the city, her eyes still glowing with the same unholy fire that had been brought to bear against them more than once. A sudden rumbling sound filled the air, and all around them, the houses started to crumble and fall down in dust, shattered by power beyond understanding. It barely took over a minute for the centuries-old town that had withstood the passage of eons to fall down in ruins, shattered by the astounding power of the creature. Yet, despite the widespread destruction of the buildings, nothing else was affected. The pokemon looked around in surprise, as if they had not idea what had just happened, and the trees where still standing as proudly as they had stood before the storm, except that no there were no buildings to rivalize with them in height.
"You've just seen what I can do. And what I can do with your houses, I can do to your families as well. Make your choice, and don't make the mistake of opposing me." She told them before leaving the town. "Spread the word of what happened here. Those who'll oppose me will die."
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Two days of hard wakling had taken Gary and his companions to the crossroad where route 36 and route 37 met, on the way to the city of Goldenrod, where Brock and Todd would hope in a plane back to Kanto, while Ash, Richie and Gary would try out a new rocket-luring plan. As they reached the exact point where the two roads met, they heard the sound of a car behind them, a car that braked suddenly as the driver saw them walking in the road. She started to come out of the car, about to yell at them, then her face changed completely.
"Hey! Aren't you those trainers who asked me for help back in the mountains?" she asked, her white hair flowing behind her as a smile appeared on her eighteen-years old face.
Gary nodded. "That's us. Though…"
"I know. I've heard about your friend. More than heard in fact, and that's why I was in the vicinity in the first place. I was helping the police with the investigation." She told them, then explained as she realized they were all surprised by the revelation. "They asks me for help when they think there might be something psychic involved."
"Really?" Gary asked in surprise. "But…"
"But you wonder why they'd ask me? Well, aside from the fact that I am the most powerful psychic west of the Silver Range, and probably a match for Sabrina who claim the title in Kanto, no reasons, really." She said with a brief smile.
"I guess that makes sense…but…aren't you a bit young?" Richie questioned, and Brock nodded.
"Yeah…just how old are you?" he asked, then blushed as he began to realize the question was not really polite.
"Weren't you ever told that it was impolite to ask that of a lady?" she said, a grin on her face. "Though I admit that with my look, it's a legitimate question." She smiled. "I'm twenty-nine. Everyone in my family look much younger than they are." She said with a mysterious smile. "And all the girls in my family have those silver-white hair. All of my father's sister had them, and so did their father's sister. So do my daughter, for that matter." She smiled, and Gary could only imagine that she was thinking about her daughter, though he wondered for a brief moment where she had been when they had visited her home a few weeks earlier.
"Where are you going now? You seem to be done in Violet, since you are leaving…" Todd asked suddenly.
"Going to Enju..." she replied, and her face became that of someone who was facing darkness eternal. "Something terrible happened and the police asked me to come and help since I'm probably the one best suited to deal with what happened..." she added, and looked at them.
"But what happened?" asked Richie, a touch of curiosity. "Unless you think it doesn't concern us or some such." He quickly added.
"It concerns Ash very much." She replied without a trace of a smile. "A strange person appeared there, and threatened to kill everyone if they didn't help her to hunt down Ash." She explained. "And when they laughed at her her, she just destroyed the whole town. No one died, but every building was destroyed."
"That sounds like that "Shadow" or whatever is a powerful psychic…Do you think you can deal with her?" Gary asked worriedly, knowing that if Danea could not stop Shadow, no one would protect them and Ash.
"I think so. I could probably have pulled off the destruction of the town had I wanted to, but it's not the kind of things I like to do." She replied, a bleak smile on her face.
"That's saying something...You said this "Shadow" is after Ash?" Gary asked again, not sure he really believed it.
"Well, that's what it tells everyone...your friend would be much better hiding...soon everyone in the world will want to capture him to give him to this Shadow..." she told them, noticing Ash was further away and not listening to what they were saying.
She was silent for a long moment then looked at her watch.
"Oh my god! If I want to reach Enju today, I'd better go..."She told them, then headed for her car.
"Wait! I think we'll go along if you don't mind." Gary suddenly told. "If that thing want Ash, well, we're concerned..." he explained. "Anyway, I suppose the police would like to talk with him, and there's hardly anything I would consider a more efficient defense in case Shadow catch up with us than someone like you or Sabrina." He added.
"Okay then." She smiled. "You made a good point there." She added. "Just make sure that nobody in town recognize Ash...As I understand the mayor was last planning to offer a reward for his capture and as soon as he get him, turn him over to Shadow..." she explained, her voice taking a slight tone of disgust as she spoke of the man's plans.
Gary nodded once, and they all jumped in her car as it sped north toward Ecruteak.
