Part 33

Tsugi Academy

Basement

Blake smirked as he looked into a small room through the one way window. He could see the occupant, and they couldn't see him.

Gary rested in the left corner of the room, his wrists and ankles cuffed together. When Spruce received the full report about the battle against Gary, the junior that was in possession of three Legendary Pokemon was detained and thrown into this detention room to hold him until the authorities arrived at the Tsugi Academy to take him.

Since Blake had bugged Spruce's office, he was aware of the call Spruce had made the Johto League, informing them that he had found the three Legendary Pokemon that had disappeared roughly a year ago. By this time tomorrow someone from the Johto Elite Four would be arriving at the Tsugi Academy to collect the Legendary Pokemon that had been confiscated by Spruce and Gary to place him in prison.

But by then, Blake would be gone.

"It's my win Gary." Blake said quietly as he shoved his hands in his pocket. "And now, all I have to do is collect what I came here for."

Blake turned away from the window, beginning to head toward the staircase that would take him up to the exit. He couldn't help but chuckle. It was almost time for the curtains to close.

Ash rested on his bottom, his back against the wall of Paul's room. His vision was unfocused as he tried to grasp the situation at hand.

Paul then looked toward Drew who was leaning against a wall like Jimmy, although he was hunched over, struggling to take in the information he had just read.

Brock drew in a sharp breath before crumpling up the paper he was holding.

"This is…impossible." Ash finally spoke, breaking the silence that had been present for the half an hour they had spent reading through the pages. Ash's vision became focused again.

"This is…unreal." Brock added as he straightened up, looking around at the others. Drew then pounded the wall with one of his fists before he rose up from the ground, giving everyone a dark glare.

"This, bastard." Drew hissed. "He planned everything bad that happened to us!"

Drew was seething now. He had gone as far as to attack the people who had harmed May earlier in the year, but now he found out that there was someone who was manipulating the attackers only rekindled the anger from long ago. Unfortunately, there was no one in the room that could think rationally at this point.

"Blake is clearly out of his mind!" Drew roared. "If I had known he was this insane, I would have never became friends with him! Something like this is unforgivable!"

"For once, I agree with Drew." Paul stated before he looked toward Jimmy. "Did you know Blake was like this Jimmy?"

Jimmy perked up at this, looking up toward Paul. He shrugged, as if he didn't know the answer.

"Back when we were in Goldenrod City, he certainly wasn't a normal guy. Great battler, that was for sure. But Blake was never, right in the head." Jimmy began. "It never really bothered me, but I guess I was never aware of how much he was really doing whenever he wasn't with me."

"He was doing a helluva a lot of stuff while you weren't looking." Drew said sharply.

"Drew, calm down." Brock said, placing a hand on Drew's shoulder which resulted in the green haired teen pulling away from him.

"Don't even try the peacekeeper routine Brock. He knew you were going to get hit by a car in Sinnoh and he didn't say anything about it!" Drew hissed at Brock which instantly silenced the senior. "He knew that Gary was not only the driver of that car, but he knew that Gary was trying to kill you during our battle with him too! He knew that Ash would try to kill himself in Pallet Town but he sent him there anyway, and he knew that Conway was aiming to take Dawn from Ash. Hell, he that everything behind the whole Misty fiasco from day one! And worst of all, he planned for May to be hurt!"

Drew took in several deep breathes, unable to calm down. His anger had crossed the boiling point.

"Someone like this…" Ash began, gaining everyone's attention after he broke the silence. "Shouldn't be allowed to live."

Jimmy's gaze shifted to Ash, giving him a sharp stare.

"What?" Brock exclaimed. Hearing a line like that from Ash of all people was surely a reason for concern.

"He's too dangerous. Not just to people around him, but to himself." Ash continued as he rose up from the floor, standing in front of the open window where the setting sun behind him left him a nothing more than a dark silhouette to the rest of the people in the room. "I've had enough of this guy messing with my friends."

Junior Dorms

Basement

Blake let out a soft chuckle as he stood in an open space in the basement, finding that it was surprisingly chilly down here even though summer was approaching. Although it was easy for him to conclude that the four people surrounding him were contributing to the odd atmosphere in the room.

They all held shinning metal baseball bats, and wore glares that Blake was willing to applaud for. But he couldn't right now. All of their animosity was directed toward them.

Jimmy wasn't within his field of vision, but Blake was sure that he was somewhere in the basement.

None of them had spoken since he had arrived, although Blake expected as much. They wanted to kill him, but it seemed as though they were still contemplating the idea.

"So my secret is out, huh?" Blake asked the group, looking around at each of them. But none of them responded for a period of time, then Drew banged the floor with his bat.

"Yeah, it is." He replied. "And we'd all like to know what the hell you are."

This gained a laugh from Blake. A short one. Then his expression hardened.

"There's quite a few words to describe someone like me." Blake began, giving them a smile they had not seen for some time. The twisted smirk he wore earlier in the year. "Control freak, a manipulative bastard, mastermind. Do me a favor and pick one!"

Drew snapped. Blake's casual speech alone with his smile had driven him over the edge.

"Raah!" Drew jumped at Blake, swinging his bat toward Blake's neck, but Blake had foreseen his attack. Although this didn't stop him from grimacing from the pain of feeling a metal object slamming against his forearm which he had used to block Drew's attack. Drew wasn't finished though. With his remaining hand, he socked Blake in the stomach, forcing him to hunch over as he backed away from Drew.

Drew then took this as opportunity to kick Blake, succeeding in knocking him to the ground. Blake grunted as he hit the floor, expecting Drew to continue his assault, but nothing happened.

Blake opened his eyes, expecting to see Drew looming over him but instead it was Ash. The raven haired boy grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, hoisting him up into the air where Ash made sure that they were face to face. He was silent for a moment. They he drew in a breath of air.

"You psycho." Ash stated before he threw Blake to the floor again. After hitting the floor, Blake looked up at Ash and felt a chill run down his spine.

He really had to give Ash credit for having what had to be the more dangerous glare he had ever seen. The shadow cast by his bangs left only his eyes visible in the darkness, surrounding Ash in a threatening aura.

"How can you sleep at night knowing that you are responsible for all of the crap that went down around us?" Ash asked as he pointed his bat at Blake, causing the freshman's expression to crack into another smile.

"It's pretty easy actually." Blake replied, successfully angering Ash as well. Ash lashed out at Blake his right foot, landing a hard kick to the side of Blake's head which sent him sliding away on his side. Ash remained where he was standing as Blake came to a stop with a groan. That kick had really hurt.

Ignoring the pain, Blake propped himself up on one elbow before he noticed a pair of feet in front of him. Looking up, he found Paul looking down at him. This caused Blake to smirk.

"How could you so something like this to us?" Paul asked. "I thought we could trust you. You went as far as to help us get stronger so that we could beat Gary and save the senior class, but in the end you were just toying with us!"

Blake was impressed. When he had first met Paul, he found a boy who was selfishly pursuing his own goals with only his brother in mind. Now Paul's only concern was for his friends. And it was clear that Paul was only concerned about them since Blake had never aimed to make him suffer. Not once.

"So what if I was. Is it wrong for me to have a little fun?" Blake asked as he sat up. Paul began to grind his teeth together, then he swung his bat at Blake, hitting him across the face. It looked as though Blake didn't even see what had hit him as he fell backward.

"I'll never understand how any of us came to trust you." Paul spat at him, raising his bat once again. But a hand on his wrist prevented him from dropping the bat down on Blake's body for a second blow. Paul's turned around to find Brock behind him. Paul gave Brock a small nod before stepping away, allowing Brock to step toward Blake was holding his jaw from the hit he had taken.

"Why?" Brock asked as Blake sat up.

"Why what?" Blake asked in return.

"Why would you do such horrible things to everyone in this school? You were the one who caused all of these problems during the Winter Dance, during School Spirit Week. You were responsible for it all." Brock began.

"What's it to ya?" Blake asked as he rose to his feet, looking up at Brock who was doing his best to remain calm.

"Do you have any idea how many students were injured because of you?" Brock asked.

"Four hundred and twenty seven were injured. One was killed." Blake stated in a casual manner. This seemed to strike several nerves among the people that were present.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" Ash roared as he dashed at Blake, ready to attack. Fortunately for Blake, Brock stepped into Ash's path, holding him back.

"Ash! Back off!" Brock barked at him as Paul pulled him back. Ash became silent after this, moving back as Brock returned his gaze to Blake. "You caused so much suffering, you created so much hatred. How can you act so casual about it?"

"It beats getting run over by a car."

Brock looked down, taking a moment to let this information settle in. So Blake really did know. Brock's head snapped upward as he raised his fist to attack, but Ash had beat it to him. A fierce roundhouse to Blake's face had sent him stumbling backward, but Blake remained strong to stop himself from falling over.

"So you knew Brock was going to get hit by a car." Ash exclaimed as he began walking toward Blake.

"I knew a lot more than that. I knew everything that was going on around here." Blake said as he looked up at the ceiling, outstretching both his arms while doing his best to ignoring the throbbing pain from his head and jaw. "It became too easy to make all of you move according to my plans once I was able to understand each of you. And now that I'm finished with you, I can show you this!"

Everyone stopped their advance on Blake as he pulled a small book out of his back pocket that had been rolled up. He then tossed it to Brock who caught it, looking down at it with a confused expression. Brock then flipped it over to read the title on the front.

"'Their Dilemma?'" Brock said, reading the title out loud. "What is it?"

"A book." Blake stated. "About you guys, illustrating how all of your dark qualities were brought out and manipulated by me to get a few things done around here."

Brock hurled the book to the floor and stepped on it with one foot, taking a few moments to grind it against the floor.

"I've heard enough of this!" Ash shouted.

"I was wondering when you'd snap, killer." Blake stated with a crooked smile. Ash roared as he pounded the ground with his bat before rushing at Blake, followed closely by Drew, Paul and Brock.

Blake didn't even try to defend himself as they hammered away at him with their bats. Kicked him mercilessly until he was beaten to a pulp. But they didn't stop. Blake had been laughing out loud as they beat him, until Ash finally dropped his bat onto Blake's skull. After the first hit Blake became silent. After three more hits his body became completely still.

It was a bloody mess that rested on the floor in front of the four guys as they drew in several deep breaths to steady their breathing. Their hearts were pounding throughout the one-sided fight. Sweat was pouring down their faces as they looked as the body in front of them.

Ash, Drew and Brock stared at the scene in disgust, struggling to believe what they had just done. Drew's knees buckled, resulting in him falling to his hands and knees. He felt sick to his stomach. Brock and Ash quickly looked away, throwing their bats to the side. The three of them couldn't stand to be in this room anymore.

They left in a hurry, rushing up the staircase, leaving Paul behind.

Paul dropped his bat, the clang of the metal sounding throughout the room. Paul then turned away from the body that rested on its stomach. He then looked around for a few moments before spotting the book that Blake had pulled out. Collecting the object from the floor, Paul then proceeded to leave.

An eerie silence fell over the room as the two remaining people remained silence. Blake for obvious reasons. Jimmy because he was still accepting the fact that his friend had been killed.

Hidden behind a stack of crates was Jimmy, holding onto one sheet of paper with trembling hands. Tears were flowing down his cheeks as he read the paper one last time.

This will probably be my last entry to this catalog.

I can tell that Paul is becoming suspicious since he's so independent, I'm sure he'll venture into my room at some point and discover the truth.

It will probably be on the same day we beat Gary, so that means by the next day all of the guys will know. And I was just starting to enjoy it here too. But I guess life sucks that way sometimes.

I'm really proud of Paul to be honest. He was pretty self centered when I first met him, focused only on his own goals. But now it looks like he's finally starting to get along with the guys more. And once he finds out what's really going on, he'll definitely tell the other guys. It's proof that he's finally started caring for them.

And then once all of them know, all hell is going to break loose. They'll kill me. I know its coming. I mean, how would anyone react if they found out that someone was running their life and making it as crappy as possible.

Studying human tendencies all these years has really paid off. Creating this script would've been impossible otherwise. Especially with so many unique guys to work with.

Ash Ketchum. The guy who requires support from his friends in order to show his true strength.

Brock Slate. The guy who lacks confidence himself, so he holds himself back.

Dawn Berlitz. The girl who cares for others more than herself.

If only I could stay around for a little but longer. Or just laugh with them one more time. That would be enough. But like I said, life sucks that way.

It was nice seeing Jimmy again. We had a lot of time to catch up and fight together again. Although Jimmy has gone soft since he came to the Tsugi Academy. But I guess he chose to grow up and get serious about Pokemon unlike me. Plus he's got a girlfriend to think about. I'm happy for him.

I don't regret anything I've done. It may have seemed wrong in the eyes of many, but I know what I was doing was right. Hopefully some day they will realize it to.

Jimmy crumpled up the paper and shoved it in his pocket. Blake knew he was going to die. And Jimmy didn't do anything to stop this. He couldn't.

He had gotten so close to Blake, and yet he couldn't convince himself to stop them. Ash was right, Blake was way too dangerous to be allowed to live. Someone like him could send the world up in smoke if he grew up to be an influential person.

'This for the safety of everyone I love.' Jimmy continued to repeat to himself as he walked the gory scene, exiting the basement like the rest of the guys.

Tsugi Campus

"I'm officially a senior!" May exclaimed happily as Dawn gave her a hug.

"Trust me, its going to be the best year you'll have here." Holly said. "It can get pretty hectic coming down to the end, but you'll enjoy it a lot more than your junior year."

"I hope so. There's no way I could do that again." May said in an exasperated tone before she looked toward Dawn. "So good luck Dawn."

The blunette gave May a playful shove. Dawn was now a junior, and was in for the most rigorous year at the Tsugi Academy.

"So Holly, do you have any idea what college you're going-" May asked before she gave a yelp of surprise when two arms suddenly closed up around her torso. "Drew!"

Dawn and Holly then found themselves being crushed in a hug by their respective boyfriend who were keeping their faces hidden. But the guys were unable to contain their sadness. They began to cry as they held their girlfriends.

"What's wrong Ash?" Dawn asked as Ash placed one hand on the back of her head, pulling her in further.

When you find someone you love, someone to support you. Hold onto them. Tightly.

Ash refused to let go of Dawn as she continued to question him, but to no avail.

Off Campus

It had been about an hour since Paul had left the basement, and now he was in solitude, with a small fire going in front of him.

He had taken the time to gather every piece of writing Blake had done from his room before taking it off campus. He was going to burn all of it. The world didn't need to know what went though his mind. Nor did it need too know what they had just done to Blake.

Throwing in several sheets of paper every couple of minutes, Paul continued to reflect on what he had done since Blake's appearance.

He had actually trained and battled with other people. This was something he had never done before. Not until Blake showed up. He had never laughed out loud with the guys until this year. He had never showed any kind of concern for their personal matters until this year.

And he was happy that he had done all of these things this year. All the stress from Reggie's death had decreased significantly from the moment Paul started to become friendlier with the people who actually cared about him. It made the entire year worthwhile.

Dropping in other set of papers, Paul the decided to take a peek into the book Blake had written. He had talked about it on several occasions, so it had to be something worth checking out.

The title page was plain and simply, and the back of the book was blank. It was thick, probably three hundred pages give or take. Opening to the first page, Paul found that it was blank. So he turned to the next page. This one was blank too. He then skipped ahead several pages and found that this one was also blank.

Paul raised an eyebrow as he flipped through the entire book. None of the pages had any print. There wasn't a single word written inside. It was just three hundred blank pages. Not a word was written beyond the cover. There was no synopsis of the story. It was empty.

"Wait a second…If he never wrote the book, then why did he do all of this?" Paul asked himself as he threw the paper into the flames, watching as the book was swallowed up by the fire.

Junior Dorms

Basement

The body resting on the floor in a small clearing began to glow, turning into a bright white light. This continued for a period of time, but when the light died down, a pink blob remained on the floor. This blob then began to move, receding to its normal size as it revealed that it had been covering another body that matched the features of Blake's perfectly.

The small pink creature proved to be incredibly small in size and statue, but its body that should've been pink alone was covered with several dark purple bruises. The body it had been shielding then groaned before rising up, looking back at the small Pokemon that had been covering him.

"You have no idea how sorry I am about this Ditto." He said as he scooped up the small Pokemon, bringing it close to his body.

"Ditto." It replied weakly.

"I promise nothing like this will happen to you again." He continued, placing a soft kiss on the Pokemon before placing it on his shoulder. He then pulled out his Pokegear from the belt around his waist, entering ten digits to make a call.

The phone rung for nearly two minutes before the person at the other end of the line picked up.

"This is Agent Joker reporting in." He said as he gave his Ditto a small massage with his knuckles, trying to help the invertebrate relax a bit.

"Joker? I thought you were dead." An old voice exclaimed on the other end.

"Dead, how could you come to that conclusion?"

"Well you didn't send us a single report in nearly a year. We assumed that the worst happened to you."

"Well you'd be surprised what a bunch of high schoolers would do."

"So...was your mission successful?"

"What else would you expect?" He asked, looking down at the three Poke-balls he had strapped to the belt around his waist. All three of them we black, with either a red, blue or yellow star on it. "Suicune, Raikou and Entei have been liberated."

"I still can't believe it was nothing more than a teenager that managed to steal these Pokemon from Silph's Co." The older voice muttered. "Hopefully this will buy us some more time to figure out what's going on with the League."

"I hope so too."

"Care to explain why you didn't contact us for almost year?"

"Well I couldn't give any in-progress reports. This mission required my attention one hundred percent of the time. Besides, when I did contact you guys I came with some big news didn't I?"

"Well there's that. Anyway, I take it you'll be returning to base?"

"Yup. Send a pick up for me. I'll be at the south beaches of the Tsugi Island."

"Alright, I'll give the order."

"And I'll see you back at the base."

"It's good to have you back Joker."

And the curtains drop on this story. It's over and done. That was it. Were you expecting this?

So, any thoughts, concerns, conclusions, please tell me!

Who is Blake? I'll leave that up to you guys to decide. And just in reply to a review I got, between the two Blake's I have in my two fics, there's no connection whatsoever. The Blake I used in this fic was the original design for him, the one in my other Pokemon fic is the modified version.

As for me, I suppose now it would be appropriate to go on a rant about something. Strangely enough, I've got nothing to say this time. Go figure.

Fortunately, I have a second rant prepared.

Sequel. That magic word. There will be one. Although I will be taking a break for sometime to straighten out all the details for it. It could be anywhere between two to five months. That might be a bit of exaggeration, but I will be taking a break. The most I can say about this fic is that it now surrounds the actual Pokemon world with Ash's time in the professional circuit. Stuff like the college and professional circuit I had been mentioning throughout the story but I never explained it purely for the sequel. So that's about it. I feel like I've become a better writer throughout the year I spent working on this fic, and I'm really happy that I can finally label it as completed. :D

So, I'd like to thank all of you for reading this fic. All of your reviews are accepted with gratitude, and I'm extremely happy that this story got such a good following. Thank you all very much!