The Palto Adventures

Part 11.5: Order of the Dragons
(Guest Starring Yui Kinomoto as Yui)

Bethany walked in quickly, unclasping her emerald green cape from her shoulders and throwing it over her chair. She scooted herself forward and hurriedly got back up.

“ Forgive me mistress, I had a crisis that couldn’t be avoided. “ She said, bowing.

“ You are forgiven. “ A kind voice said from the center chair.

Bethany sat back down and rolled the chair into the shadows. All of the members were cloaked. Only when they stepped into the beam of light directly in front of them were their faces seen. Besides that, they were invisible to each other. A blue-haired woman placed both hands hard against the table and pushed herself up. She scowled at Bethany.

“ How dare you come late! “ She yelled.
“ You’ve wasted our time and interrupted an important discussion. “

“ Claire! “ A man said, nearly jumping out of his seat.
“ Calm down. “

The man in question has wearing a black jumpsuit with red down the middle. The ends of his sleeves and his boots were red as well. He had shocking red hair jotting from his head, and back behind him. He kept a straight face as he spoke.

“ Bethany apologized, so let it go. “

“ You’re such a goody-goody, Lance! “ Claire said before sitting.
“ Someone with so little compulsiveness doesn’t deserve to be Vice-President. “

“ Claire… “ The woman in the middle spoke.
“ Lance is Vice President of this committee because he doesn’t just jump in to things. “

A man stood up on the side of Claire. He had a red vest on, with orange stripes on the front. Beneath that was a black shirt, and sitting over it was a shiny pokeball on a necklace. He had black gloves on, and navy blue pants. He also had jet-black hair that protruded backwards, but no so much as Lance’s. He adjusted the collar of the vest up, and spoke.

“ Well, I’m pleased to meet you, Bethany. “ He said.
“ My name is Drake, and I’m a new member. “

Bethany smiled and so did he. Claire twisted her face into a frown once more and she slunk back into the shadows.

“ Thank you for calming everything down a bit, Drake. “ The woman said happily.

“ Excuse me, Mistress? “ Another man said.
“ May I address the committee? “

The Mistress of the Dragons straitened up in her chair and waved a hand across the air. The man stepped up in to the light. He had a large amount of olive green hair across left eye, and he had a long, black trench coat draping over his whole body. The shirt under it was a faded orange, and his pants were blue jeans. He cleared his throat.

“ My name is Rod, and most of you have never heard of me. “
“ I come from an island south-west of Kanto. “

He pulled a map out his pocket and placed it over a circular plate in the center of the jade-green table. It lit up a moment later, and displayed the map on the wall.

“ This is my island. “ He said.
“ It is very small, but there’s a big problem there that I need to attend to. “

Lance began to rise.

“ Please, wait Lance. “ He said, putting his hand up.
“ This is quiet an ordeal, and I wouldn’t want you volunteering until you knew the dangers. “

Lance began to sit down again.

“ An organization known as The Great Rockets, a separate branch of Team Rocket, has appeared on my little paradise, and I have no choice but to temporarily leave my post in this committee and go help my people. “

Lance shot back up again.

“ As a member of the Palto Association of Team Rocket Abolishment ( PATRA ), I too will aide Rod in the elimination of these fiends. “ Lance said boldly.

“ Alright… “ The Mistress said.
“ Lance and Rod, together I’m certain you can find and eliminate this growing threat. “

“ Thank you, Mistress. “ Rod said.

“ Thank you, Mistress. “ Lance said.

They both bowed and Lance left behind Rod, gathering his red cloak and clasping it to his shoulders. He waved to every person as he left.

“ Oh, before I forget… “ Lance started.
“ I elect that Claire take my place as Vice-President while I’m gone. “

Claire slid forward, her mouth open wide.

“ You know… “
“ Just so this place is a little more spontaneous. “ He laughed.

“ All in favor? “ The Mistress asked.

“ Aye. “ Drake said.

“ Aye. “ Bethany said, reluctantly.

“ Aye. “ Rod said from the middle of the hall.

“ Aye. “ The Mistress said.

“ I don’t know what to… “ Claire started to say.

The sound of footsteps interrupted her mid-sentence. A man came down the hall, past Rod and Lance, both who had their mouths gaping open.

“ I thought you were… “ Rod stammered.

He had a red shirt on with a collar that reached as high as his squared chin. Below that shirt, a black under-shirt peaked out. He had brown pants on, dirty and covered in stains. The most prominent feature in his attire, however was the long, flowing, purple cape. It trailed behind him like a bride’s train. He turned on his heels, and unclasped it, letting it swirl gracefully over the back of a dusty chair. He sat down quickly and spoke up.

“ Trent? “ The Mistress said, stunned.

“ Yes, it is I. “ Trent said.
“ Why do you speak so questionably? “

“ Because… “ She said.
“ You’re dead. “

Trent, rubbed his face up and down in frustration. He took his face out of his hands and stared at the place where she sat.

“ I am not, but I should be… “ He said.
“ Where is Narashite Ryuujin? “

The Mistress sat back against the chair and took a deep breath. This whole day had been very eventful. She looked over to him.

“ She’s gone on something of a pilgrimage. “ She said.
“ She said that she needed to find her spirituality again. “

“ Well contact her. “ He said sternly.

Claire was shakily walking to Trent. He looked up and ran into her waiting arms. She hugged him with all her might.

“ I thought I’d lost you. “ She cried.
“ Narashite said that you’d been killed while you were training. “

Trent started to cry too and clutched her.

“ Mistress… “ Trent said, wiping his face.
“ I have reason to believe that my death was a fabricated incident. “

“ What proof do you have, other then you’re standing here? “

“ It is my belief that Neo Team Rocket has taken control of Narashite Ryuujin’s mind, and made her try and kill me. She lied about the whole thing and disappeared to work with them… “

“ T-That’s not possible… “ Lance stuttered.
“ With the one of the earth’s greatest trainer at their disposal, Neo Team Rocket will surely bring the world to its knees. “

“ Claire… “ Trent whispered.
“ I love you, but I have to find her and get her back. “

“ You can’t leave again… “ She said, weeping.

“ Bethany, Drake, and Claire. You will all travel to the Black Mountains on the Sacred Peninsula to look for clues to this unraveling mystery. “ The Mistress said.

“ I will search for Narashite. “ Trent said.

“ Yes, that would be best. “ The Mistress said.

“ What about Rod and me? “ Lance asked.

“ I want you to take care of The Great Rockets. The others will be fine. “

Lance ran down the hall and into a small hanger. He mounted his Dragonite, which was a few feet taller then him, and was about to take off when Claire called him back.

“ Lance, your daughter is on the phone. “
“ She sounds like she really wants to talk to you. “


“ How, this line is secure!? “

“ I guess they forwarded it specially from the plateau. “ She said, shrugging.

Lance tried to sound normal as he picked up the receiver.

* “ Yes? ” He said.

“ Hi, Dad! ” Yui blared happily.

He pulled the phone away from his ear and blinked.

“ What’s up? Do you want to come home already? ” He asked.
“ Are you already annoyed with Koji? ”

“ No, not at all! ” She said.
“ Well… yes, I’m annoyed with him but when am I not? ”

Lance laughed. He pulled at his collar and watched Rod pace around.

“ Go on. What is it? ”

“ I want to start training! ” She announced straightforwardly.
“ I actually want to be outside for a change instead of being locked in the Plateau all the time…”

“ Yui, we discussed this… ” Lance said, his tone changing from buddy-buddy to serious.
“ If anyone ever finds out whom you are… the Rockets, for example… ”

“ How will they find out? ” She asked.
“ Nobody has ever seen me. Whenever you battle, I’m on the sidelines. I’ve never been on TV. They wouldn’t find me out unless I told them. ”

“ You have been seen on TV before with me… ” Lance said.
“ I’m very worried that someone will want to hurt you just to get to me. I don’t want you endangered like that. ”

“Nobody will know.” She pleaded.
“ Please let me go. I really want this! ”

“ Yui… I can tell this is really what you want. I’ll have your Pokedex brought to you immediately. ”

“ REALLY?!? ” Yui exclaimed.
“ Thank you, Dad!! Thank you so much!! ”

“ No problem,” He said.
“Stay there. I’ll bring your Pokedex over now… Chikorita’s not a problem since it’s already registered to you. ”

“ Yay!! I love you, Dad! You’re the best! ” She said.
“ Bye! ”

Lane hung up and gave the phone to Claire, who brought it back to the central chamber. Rod looked at Lance.

“ You have a daughter Lance? “

“ Yes, my daughter Yui, and a son, Koji. “
“ They’re the most important things in my life. “

“ Then why do you run around like this? “
“ You should be with them. “

“ I know, but they know I have other responsibilities too. “ He sighed.
“ I have to stop by Professor Oak’s lab on the way, and pick up some things. “

“ Alright. “ Rod said.

They both took off out of the room. Trent followed, mounting his Dragonite as well. As he began to leave, he swept up Claire, who had just come in, and kissed her.

“ I promise I’ll come back. “ He said.

“ Then prove it… “ Claire said, shedding more tears.

He softly kicked Dragonite in the side, and it exploded out of the doorway. Claire waved goodbye, wiping tears from her face. Bethany patted her on the back.

“ Come on, we have to be strong. “ She said.


Claire jumped on her Dragonair, while Drake and Bethany got on their Dragonites. Drake and Bethany flew away, and Claire looked back down the hall. The Mistress was still in her seat.

“ I hope this isn’t the last time I see you, Mistress. “

She ordered her Dragonair to go, and its ears flapped open to reveal wings. It took off into the clouds.

“ Goodbye… “ The Mistress of the Dragons said.
“ I wish all of you luck. “

She walked to a phone and picked up the receiver. She dialed a number quickly and without hesitation. The other line rang twice, and then picked up.

“ Hello? “ A voice said.

“ Hello, my name is Anastasia… “ She said softly.
“ Is a boy by the name of Kazuki registered aboard the S.S. Hydro? “

“ Mam, uh, Anastasia was it? “
“ I’m afraid we can’t divulge that information to anyone at this point. “

“ What are you talking about? “ She said.

“ The ferry sank only an hour or so ago. “ The man said.
“ We don’t have a list of survivors as of yet. “

“ How did it sink!? “ She said loudly.

“ The cause was sabotage. “ He said shakily. “
“ Some nut in a purple cloak threw a Voltorb into the engine room. “

“ Oh my… “
“ Thank you anyway. “

She hung the phone up and sat back down in her chair.

“ So Narashite Ryuujin has more powers working for her then Trent knew
about. “ She said.

She picked up a glass of water and sipped it.

“ If she and Neo Team Rocket are trying to get to Kazuki, all hope is lost. “
“ It looks like I’m coming out of retirement. “ She chuckled.

She took a white cloak from the back of her chair and clasped it on. She buckled a belt to her waist. All six slots were Master balls. She smirked and walked down the hall.

“ She is under their control, and can apparently change her appearance. “

She released her Aerodactyl from her pokeball. It roared and scratched the ground, kicking up dust. She got on its back.

“ Keep doing what you’re doing to stay alive Kazuki. “ She said.
“ We really need you… “