Chapter 12 – Let the Finals Begin
PLUMA ISLAND
Hidden deep down within the Pluma Island, Team Tenebris was aware of all that was happening at the Indigo Plateau and the Elite Four Tournament. Their mission was to get to Lance, so the leader known as The "lady" sent her best men to find clues of Elite Four's champion, although she was also worried about another person… a certain boy.
"Ketchum" said the lady "I surely made a mistake letting you go to the Tournament"
"Why do you say so my lady? It was not your fault. The boy is… complicated" said Myers "Lance and the three girls are confusing his mind"
"And that's why I shouldn't have let him go to the Tournament" said the Lady "I knew he would get a little difficult to control"
"To be honest my lady…" said Myers "You never let him go… he escaped"
"He escaped before I finish my ritual" said the Lady "And still, I did nothing to get him back"
"We all thought he would follow your orders without question" said Myers
"But he didn't" she said "Anyway, has anyone seen him yet?"
"Not yet my Lady" said a third voice coming from behind Myers and The Lady
"Mascaro, you've returned" said The Lady "Please tell me all news from Indigo Plateau"
"I just returned to inform that I have completed your request" said Mascaro
"So…. Costa…?" asked The Lady
"No more my Lady" said Mascaro "But I am a little worried about what he may have informed to the girl"
"She is not a problem Mascaro" said The Lady "At least…. Not yet"
"What will happen when they start being a problem?" asked Mascaro
"Isn't that obvious Mascaro?" asked Myers "They will have the same end of Costa"
"However…" said The Lady "If Ketchum appears, do not let him have contact with those girls. They are the key to his sanity"
"Yes my Lady" said Mascaro "I shall return to Indigo Plateau"
"Yes Mascaro" said The Lady "Thank you for your good work. Keep us informed to everything"
"As you wish my Lady" said Mascaro turning away and leaving the room
"Although the good work Mascaro's been doing… I feel a little worried my Lady" said Myers
"Tell me more Myers" said The Lady
"Now that we lost Willfer and Costa, Team Tenebris is summed up on the three of us" said Mascaro "Well… four if we count the boy… but he is a question mark"
"You shall no worry Myers" said The Lady "We are more than enough to run Team Tenebris. Do not lose faith on us"
"Never My Lady" said Myers "It was just an observation"
"Do never let such ridiculous feelings disturb your mind Myers" said The Lady "Doubt is the key to failure"
"I apologize my Lady" said Myers "It will never happen again"
"Yes, it will" said The Lady "Just hope not to happen in the wrong moment"
INDIGO PLATEAU – ELITE FOUR HEADQUARTER
"Lance" said Lorelei looking to her boss
"Yes Lorelei" said Lance
"It seems that last night another Tenebris member ran into one of the girls" said Lorelei
"Is she okay?" asked Lance not seeming to really care
"Yes" Lorelei answered
"What about this Tenebris member guy?" asked Lance "Have you arrested him?"
"No" answered Lorelei
"Why not?" Lance asked
"He was killed" said Lorelei finally getting Lance's attention
"Killed?" he asked surprised
"We found his body inside a lake" said Lorelei "He was drowned"
"The girl did that?" asked Lance
"Of course not Lance" answered Lorelei "We think he was killed by one of his own"
"Well…this is a surprise" said Lance "So now they are killing. I never thought The Lady would get to this point"
"She must be very desperate" said Lorelei "Or he gave some important information to the girl"
"If that's true…" said Lance "…The girls are in danger"
"What do you want me to do?" asked Lorelei
"Even though Dawn, May and Serena now have information about Team Tenebris… Their target is still me" said Lance "Just keep doing the same and keep an eye on them"
"As you wish Lance" said Lorelei "One more thing Boss…"
"Yes Lorelei" said Lance
"Maybe… maybe the girls should know the truth about Ash" said Lorelei
Lance looked at Lorelei angrily
"I thought we had talked about that already Lorelei" said Lance
"Yes we had" said Lorelei "But the girls are here looking for him. They are going so far because of Ash. It is just not fair"
"I AM THE ONE WHO DECIDES WHAT IS FAIR AN WHAT IS NOT LORELEI" shouted Lance
Lorelei looked down ashamed
"I… I am sorry Lance" said Lorelei "I didn't mean to go against your words"
Lance got calmed down and looked around to see if there were other people around, but there weren't
"I am sorry too Lorelei" said Lance "I shouldn't have lost control"
"I know you blame yourself for him" said Lorelei
"He wasn't supposed to be there" said Lance "It was supposed to be me"
"If they had taken you Lance… Who knows how the world would be right now" said Lorelei
"This is not an excuse Lorelei" said Lance "He wasn't ready to go through all that. That's why I am the one who must get him back"
"If you say so" said Lorelei "I'm with you"
"Thank you Lorelei" said Lance "Now go get ready. The finals are about to start"
Lorelei agreed with her head, turned away and left the room, heading to the stadium
"Ash…" said Lance crying "I am sorry for what's happening right now. But I will set you free. I promise"
THE STADIUM
Today was the first day of finals. The ten best trainers who ended up the preliminaries in first place in each group were about to fight each other until one left to be called champion and face Lance at the Grand Final. It was simple, the number 1 trainer, who ended the preliminaries with the higher score, was facing the number 10. The number 2 was facing number 9, number 3 was facing number 8 and so on. Ten people, five battles and only five trainers would remain at the end of the day.
And for this first day of finals, all ten trainers were all together at the main Stadium to hear the words of Lorelei
"Trainers" said Lorelei to all "Congratulations for being here. This means you ten are the best trainers of all regions. And now we start the finals"
Lorelei looked to each one of them individually until she reach the three girls she wanted to see. Lorelei walked down the platform she was on, passed through all trainers and stopped in front of Serena Dawn and May, making all other trainers to look confusedly at them.
"Congratulations to you three" said Lorelei "I never doubted of you"
The three girls looked at each other and then blushed when realized everybody was staring at them
"I shouldn't be telling you this…" said Lorelei lowing her voice so only the three would listen "…but I believe one of you will get to the Grand Final. He is close to you"
The girls looked at each other without understand exactly who was close to them. Was it Lance? Or maybe Ash?
"Lorelei…" said May but getting interrupted
"Not now girl" said Lorelei getting back to the plank "So you all know how this will work right?"
"Yes" all answered
"The battles are already set up" said Lorelei "The first battle will be our best trainer so far May Maple against Lucia Bacchi"
"May, you are the best of all" said Serena congratulating her
"I really didn't expect that" said May blushing
"You are not fooling anyone girl" said Dawn "We know you are happy"
"Of course I am" said May smiling
"The second battle will be Dawn against Bergson Junior" said Lorelei
"You see Dawn" said May "You were the second best"
"Just for little" said Dawn
"You deserved too Dawn" said Serena
"The third battle will be Wilson Nunes against Serena" said Lorelei
"Well…." Said May "You were the third…"
"…worst" finished Serena
"Don't be mad Serena" said Dawn "You showed an amazing comeback after losing the firsts battle"
"Dawn's right" said May "If they think it will be easy to defeat you, they are completely wrong"
"Thanks" said Serena not very happy
After a couple of minutes all battles were set and ready to start
"Pay attention you all" said Lorelei "All five battles will take place together in just 15 minutes. So do not leave the Stadium and get ready for your battles"
"Wait a minute" asked Dawn "All together?"
"That's right" said Lorelei "We are dividing the Stadium in five small arenas and all battles will occur at the same time"
"Don't worry" said Serena "We'll do just fine"
"Serena's right Dawn" said May "We three are going to the next battles"
"I guess you are right" said Dawn "Let's do it"
"One more thing to all of you" said Lorelei "This will be a one-o-one Pokémon Battle"
"What?" said Dawn "What does that mean?"
"It means each trainer will use just one Pokémon in Battle" said May
"Just one?" asked Serena "Why?"
"Because we want to see if you are ready for the everyday adversities" said Lorelei "It is easy to plan a strategy if you have six different Pokémon. But what if you have just one? That's what we want to see from you. So choose wisely. You have 15 minutes"
"I am going to use Delphox" said Serena "She is both fire and psychic. It is my best Pokémon"
"Good choice" said May "I will use Venusaur. I already have a strategy for him"
"So I will use Mamoswine" said Dawn "We've been practicing some good strategies as well"
"So we are done" said Serena "Let's go for it"
OUTSIDE THE STADIUM
Mascaro from Team Tenebris was back at Indigo Plateau and walking around saw many people moving around the Stadium
"Hurry, let's go" Mascaro heard a man next to him saying to a friend "The finals are about to start"
"So the finals are about to start" said Mascaro "I don't have to worry about it"
"Are you sure you don't?" said a voice from behind him
Mascaro turned back and saw a man in a long black coat and hood covering his face standing up right behind him
"So there you are" said Mascaro "It's been a while since I last saw you"
"And why would you like to see me?" asked the man
"Me? No reason" answered Mascaro "But The Lady… she is kind of worried about you"
"You can tell The Lady I am fine" said the man "And I will complete my mission"
"You have no mission" said Mascaro "You came here without permission"
"And yet nobody came looking for me to take me back" the man said
"You know we are here for another reason" said Mascaro
"Of course. Lance" said the man "I've heard about him"
"What do you know about Lance?" asked Mascaro
"The same as everybody" he answered "He is the Elite Four Champion and somehow he is very valuable to The Lady"
"Is that all?" asked Mascaro
"Yes" he answered "Why? Are there other thing to know?"
"No. That's all" Mascaro said "You've been missing these last days. Where have you been?"
"I don't quite remember everything. There are flashes of memory in my head" he answered
"It seems he is under control now" Mascaro thought "Maybe I could finally use him to help me"
"WOW! That was an amazing battle" said a voice coming from the megaphones around the city which were narrating the Tournament Battles alive "With an amazing performing of Delphox, Serena wins the third battle of the day"
"Se…Serena?" said the man putting his hand into his head
"Oh no" said Mascaro
"Serena…Serena…SERENA!" shout the man in pain
"Hold on" said Mascaro trying to contain him "Look at me. You don't know Serena. She is not important to you. Focus on Team Tenebris"
"Let go off me" the man said "LEAVE ME ALONE"
The man pushed Mascaro away making him fell into the ground and ran away into the woods. In a matter of seconds he had vanished from Mascaro's view
"Damn it" said Mascaro "Just when I find him….that happens"
"IT'S INCREDIBLE HOW THE THREE FRIENDS MAY, DAWN AND SERENA WON THEIR BATTLES AND ARE GOING AHEAD TO THE NEXT BATTLES" the narrator kept saying through the megaphones
"Maybe…Maybe Costa was right" said Mascaro "Those girls will be a problem. A real problem"
Mascaro looked at the direction his team member ran away and realized…
"He will not be able to be part of Team Tenebris while those girls are around" Mascaro said "So… I must get rid of them. And it must be now"
Mascaro looked to the Stadium where the battles were taking place and started walking into it and getting his Poke balls ready
"At least… There will be a good audience" he thought smiling