Mark relaxed in the seat, watching Nate hesitate to join him. Gesturing to the door, Nate whispered to him seriously. "There is nothing to say. I had a good time. But that is all it was. I can't stay." Mark kept his voice cool but just as seriously, he retorted back. "I'm not going to stop you from leaving. I just want to ask you something before you leave. Just hear me out... and I'll help you sneak out." Nate looked between him and the door, but with a heavy sigh he walked over to the booth. Dropping into the seat, he set Sean's ID bracelet on the table. Mark put his arms on the table, leaning on them as he whispered to Nate in one of his father's old speech tones. "I know I can't talk you out of this. You care a lot about Giovanni and nothing I say will feel like the truth. So, I'm not going to waste my breath. You'll care for him until he hurts you. I know you think he won't... but 'IF' he does... You need to be ready. You're smart. Have an escape plan. Think ahead of him. You know deep in your heart that something is wrong."

Nate looked away toward the door, grumbling out. "Don't lecture me. I'm sure you've known guys like him, but he isn't them. I know he comes off as an ass but it's just how he acts around people. It's all part of his act and it works to keep people in line." Mark tapped his fingertips quietly on the table, telling Nate without flinching. "I've never known guys like Giovanni. I'm relating to YOU." Nate's eyes drifted back to Mark slowly. Staring into his eyes, Mark informed him openly. "It's why I get along with you so well. You can't deny that. I know you can sense it." Nate didn't say anything. Mark shifted in the seat, telling him bluntly. "Want proof? Tell me if this sounds familiar. You felt lonely at home. Parents were distant or didn't support your talents. You started seeking people that did. Anything to release the stress and anxiety of hiding who you are. Or wanted to be. Drawn to the rush. Desperate to feel free from the shackles the world kept latching onto you as you got older. College. Job. Family. Each chain heavier. Each chain shorter." Nate straightened up slowly in the seat.

Mark resisted the urge to smirk. He was getting to him. Lifting his chin a little, he continued out to him. "You crave being adored... but are afraid of getting hurt. So, you shut everyone out. But the heart is cruel. It makes you crave more. Gives you hope where you know there is none. You want to keep your freedom. So, you date the bad boys. Guys that don't believe in commitment or rules. You tell your heart that they are good for you. Easy to leave. Just someone to kill time with. The thrill of being their secret lover or protected under their reputation. You feel untouchable." Nate curled his fingers into fists on the table. Mark didn't look away or blink as he added in a serious tone. "The heart is easy to fool. You tell it that the bad guys are good long enough and you start seeing things in them that just isn't there. Your heart starts believing that you can change them. Or that when he's alone with you he is someone else. That he's just afraid to show you his sweeter side... like you. The feeling gets so strong as the heart takes over and fills you with those lies YOU told it. Making your voice of reason lost in the background. But its always there whispering to you. Warning you. You see it... but you refuse to feel it. You want to believe the lies you created."

Nate swallowed, asking him in a low strained whisper. "Why are you telling me this?" Mark took a deep breath, then said as gently as he could. "Nate, I've been in your shoes. Trust me... This road doesn't end well. You don't want to be used... but you are letting him use you. Ask yourself what HE gets out of this. He's asking you for these favors... but has he ever given you anything you genuinely wanted in return? And more importantly... Have you EVER told him no? You ever wonder why you're afraid to say no? Because part of you knows the answer to that. And it's VERY important. You need to remember that voice. You're not his trophy. You've given him power over you. My advice is to take it back." Nate's jaw locked for a minute, before he leaned forward and asked him in a defensive whisper. "And how am I supposed to do that? Everything I have done. I did on my own. He has never forced me to do anything."

Mark inhaled slowly, retorting back bluntly. "Manipulation. The key to running any group of people. Make them think they have the will to say no... but never give them a reason to. It's funny... because I never thought about the way my Team manipulates me to hate the other Teams. Not until you mentioned how Mystic treated you... Obey or they break you." When Nate didn't say anything, Mark leaned closer to tell him in a low firm whisper. "How is Team Rocket any different? As you said. The people the world throws away have to go somewhere. Broken people look for a place to belong. They want to be believed in. But a gang is a gang. No matter what colors they wear. Only the leaders truly win in the end. So, tell me... Are you a pawn in Giovanni's game? Have you never doubted him? Or questioned him? He's rich and he's powerful... but a king never puts his life at risk... when he can make his pieces act for him." Mark reached out to touch Nate's hands, whispering to him in warm loving voice. "Be careful, Nate. If you give him Celebi or let him revive Mew... He may not need you anymore. And if you know him as well as you think you do... he might try to bury those secrets with you."

Mark felt Nate's hands flex uneasily. Lifting a hand to cup his cheek, he looked into his eyes and quickly told him before Nate's walls came back up. "What did he do to your Ex, Nate? Will he do the same to you?" Nate tensed, swatting Mark's hands off him as he shot up from the seat to put space between them. Mark stayed seated but stared after Nate with a concerned expression. Nate took a few shaky breaths, telling him without looking into his eyes. "I have to go." Nate quickly tried to snatch the bracelet off the table, but Mark put his hand over it. Nate froze, his fingers curling back before touching his hand. Taking the bracelet, Mark got to his feet slowly, whispering to him lightly. "I'll take you down. Sean will need this back." Nate nodded without word. Mark slipped on his clothes from last night and walked him out. A silence hung between them as they walked out to the elevator. Mark used the bracelet to take them down to the first floor. Stepping out of the elevator, Mark told Nate coolly. "Nate. I have no reason to lie to you. He is using you. If you don't believe me. Ask him about his engagement to Ariana."

Nate turned to stare at him with hurt eyes. Mark hated hurting him like this... but he wished someone had hurt himself early on. With one last look, Nate turned on his heels to go to the counter to retrieve his pokemon. Mark started to turn and go back into the elevator, when he noticed Pryce. Pryce was standing by the front door, staring outside the glass doors. Mark walked up behind him, following his eyes. Outside the rain was falling heavier than last night. The sun had not yet risen over the horizon, but the sea was restlessly crashing against the shore. The storm had not let up. Mark was going to ask him where he had been, but Pryce told him without looking at him. "We have to find a way to free Lugia. This storm isn't natural. I can feel it... and so can the pokemon." Mark moved closer to get a better look and his blood turned cold. There were water pokemon on the beach that were staring out at the waves with frightened or concerned looks. Mark glanced at the pokemon in the Café and saw that a few were staring out the windows like they were entranced by something. Specifically, the ones most effected were the water types.

Pryce slowly turned to face Mark, uttering out grimly. "I'm sorry that I left you three. I lost you in all the confusion... but you need to see something." Pryce took his arm, leading him out into the pouring rain. Within seconds, Mark was soaked to the bone. Pryce practically dragged him out to the docks. Mark tried to resist him a bit. He wasn't the biggest fan of getting closer to the crashing waves along the shore. Pryce let him go before they reached the sand, pointing down the beach where police officers and pokemon doctors were racing around in the rain. With every wave that crashed across the beach, it washed ashore injured water pokemon. The ones most effected were Omanytes and Omastars. The officers were trying to keep people from the beach, while the doctors rushed to help as many pokemon as they could. Mark couldn't believe his eyes. The injured just kept coming. Pryce put a hand on his shoulder, telling him over the rush of falling rain. "We have to find the others. A storm is brewing beneath the ocean. This is only going to get worse. We need to act."

Mark shrugged, asking back. "What can we do? No one will believe that some space pokemon possessed Lugia. And even if they did... How would we even fight it?" Pryce gave him a shrug in return, answering honestly. "I don't know... but there is a legend in my time that I haven't thought about until it came to me last night..." Mark waited patiently, as Pryce collected himself enough to tell him. "During the Great War in my time... It was said that the seas rose and flooded the coasts. Killing millions of pokemon in a storm unlike any other... While farther inland, the land was plagued with droughts." Mark brushed his wet bangs from his eyes, asking a bit annoyed. "Ok? So, you believe Lugia is going to cause a flood if we don't do something?" Pryce grabbed Mark's arms firmly, almost yelling into his face. "No! Listen to me! Lugia is the heart of the sea. The harmony of it. If Lugia remains restless and lost... He'll wake Kyogre! The wraith of the ocean! If Kyogre wakes; he will flood the earth until it wakes Groudon from his ancient slumber!"

Mark blinked blankly. He didn't even know who Kyogre and Groudon were. He was talking nonsense. Pryce groaned loudly, snapping out. "Ugh! Don't you know anything about your history? You know what. There is no time. Just believe me when I say that this is catastrophically bad! We need to save Lugia now! We can't afford to wait! This is how the war begins!" Mark shook his head, starting to turn away from him, when he noticed people surrounding Articuno's frozen fountain in the center of town. Pryce turned to look for himself, both of them staring in awe along with a few Mystic members. The locals were dressed in colorful straw outfits in the colors of the four legendary birds. Their painted clay masks made to reflect the faces of Articuno, Moltres, Zapdos, and Lugia. The adults gathered around in a circle around the fountain. Some of the adults carried a leather drum that they began to beat on to the steady beat of the heavy rain. A few carried a strange ocarina that looked like a white shell with a yellow coral shell at its end.

One man started to play a beautiful melody and was soon followed by the harmonized voices of the others. As they sang and played, they danced around the fountain. Their movements in complete unison with those around them. They moved with a flowing grace that was both relaxing and beautiful to watch. Their bare feet patted the wet stones beneath their feet to the beats of the soft but powerful drums. The local children were dressed down from the adults, but they danced with them like they had practiced this for years. Mark overheard a few Mystic members asking over the growing sound of their playing. "What the hell are they doing?" From somewhere nearby, someone answered in awe. "They are trying to call Lugia to stop the storm." Another Mystic asked aloud with a nervousness in her voice. "Do they know something we don't?" Pryce put a hand on Mark's shoulder, telling him aloud. "Do you hear that?" Mark listened closely and between the heavy raindrops, he heard the same song coming from the distance. The locals in the other towns were doing the same thing.

A powerful feeling welled up in Mark's chest. He didn't know whether it was the song, or the fact that the locals were more united than the teams that inhabited the island. All he understood was that around them, the pokemon were beginning to sing in harmony with the humans. There was power to it. Ancient but not forgotten to them. Mark almost felt like crying as he watched them all, completely transfixed by them. From behind him, a Mystic woman gasped out. "Look!" All the Mystic members and tourists turned to look out at the ocean. The song was carrying across the ocean to the islands, where the jewels were starting to glow brightly like stars in the early morning. As the dawn rose on the horizon, Mark watched a shadow rise from each of the islands in unison. Their wings spread out in a dark silhouette. Sparks shot off one. Fire rippled off another. While a misty cold swirled around the last. For a moment, they hovered in the air as the dawn rose to show the legendary birds in all their miraculous glory of colors.

Mark wondered what was going to happen. What would the locals think if Lugia didn't answer them? Or worse... what would they think if he did and wasn't the Lugia they remembered? The song started to fade out, causing the locals to fall silent and still as their eyes turned to the ocean's horizon. The rain continued to fall heavily, and the waves continued to crash against the shores, but everything else fell into an eerie silence. Then from Lightning Island, Zapdos's cry rang out over the sea. From the dark cloudy sky, lightning began to flash over Lightning island as Zapdos began circling territorially. Articuno let out a similar cry, circling his own island as snow began to fall between the heavy droplets of rain around his island. Moltres began to circle his own, bursts of molten flames shooting from his mouth in his agitation. A loud 'BANG' of thunder made everyone jump before a local woman stated out in a panic. "Elder! Something is wrong! Lugia didn't show! The song alone wasn't strong enough! We need the jewels!"

Mark whirled around as did many Mystics. The Mystics began to yell at the locals that the jewels didn't belong to them. While the locals spoke of the traditions of their ancestors. Their fighting grew louder between them, when Mark spotted a familiar local in the crowd. Rushing over to him, Mark asked him curiously. "Tobias! What's going on?" Tobias turned to face him, almost shouting over the crowd of people. "The pokemon are acting strange. The Shaman... my mother senses something is wrong with Lugia. In the past, the song worked to heal Lugia because we had the three jewels to put into Lugia's shrine when we played... but the Teams have them now. If Lugia is sick... Then the sea will become sick." Mark's heart leapt as he said. "The song heals Lugia?!" Tobias nodded, but told him firmly. "Yes. But without the power from the island itself to aid in the song... It's not working. Why? Do you know what's wrong?" Mark didn't answer, he looked back to Pryce who was thinking the same thing.

For a split second, Mark had a rush of hope. However, as he thought about the jewels, his mind drifted to Nate and Giovanni. Instantly, his heart sank. If Giovanni had seen the jewels... Gasping, Mark uttered out in a panic. "Nate!" Shoving his way through the crowd, he rushed back into the Pokestop hoping that Nate was still there, but he wasn't. Nate was gone. To Be Continued...