When he was sure the palace was asleep, Kosaburo got out of bed. He rolled up his trousers, put his double-sided shirt inside-out, found his comb in the dark and parted his hair in the centre. He took a scarf from his pocket and put it around his face. Even if someone saw him now, it was unlikely they'd identify him as Kosaburo.
He wasn't certain that tonight was the night, but it was the most probable time. He sneaked out of the guest bedroom and made his way downstairs.
He heard footsteps. He moved back up just out of sight. He looked down. It was a guard on his rounds of the ground floor. When the guard was no longer a threat, he descended down two flights to the underground level.
He was exceedingly annoyed with the king. No amount of bargaining would budge him on giving even one trained monster to Viridian. Well, a little bit of spiteful revenge was another reason for helping Pewter and Pallet, whatever their plans.
Kosaburo continued silently along the passageway. Enough light was coming from the lamp ahead for the monsterkeeper's guardsman to see him. He pulled out a hollow tube made from a reed and loaded it with a dart.
He moved closer to the guard and put the reed to his mouth. The guard noticed the movement and turned to look.
Too late. The dart struck him in the neck and he went down. The plants in Viridian Forest held many useful secrets. The extract that was on that dart would keep the guard out of action until morning.
He pulled out some cords that he had wrapped around his waist. They were strips of tauros hide, wound into cords and cured into the toughest type of rope known to the Valley. The ropes were not very long, but they were long enough to tie the monster cages shut. He tied two cords on each cage, knotting each one two or three times. Even with the sharpest sword, it would take several minutes to open each cage.
He went to leave, but had another idea. He bent down and fished the keys to the cages from the unconscious guard's belt. He threw them out of arm's reach in one of the cages.
Kosaburo retrieved his dart and left.
♦
After sundown, the city went dark and quiet. They found an alley between two rows of shops that would remain deserted. They lay down next to each other to keep warm. While they slept, Brock, Timmy and Gary each took a turn keeping watch. Pikachu looked so comfortable curled up on Ash's stomach that not even Gary had the heart to disturb either of them.
Around midnight, Gary woke the others and they made their way through the deserted streets to the palace. There were two guards posted at the palace door at the far end of the courtyard. Following the outside of the courtyard wall, Ash, Pikachu and Gary followed the east side of the courtyard while Brock and Timmy took the west. They sneaked as far as the palace building at the end of the courtyard. Ash and Timmy were assisted over the wall by their respective partner.
Keeping their backs to the palace wall, Ash and Timmy sneaked along, barely outside the guards' field of view. It helped that the only source of light was the lamp over the door. However, it made it difficult for Ash and Timmy to see each other.
Ash crept closer and closer to his target. At last he could make out Timmy's shape in the darkness. He paused until Timmy was within range, signalled, and closed his distance to the guards.
Timmy's footstep made a noise. Both guards turned towards him.
"Halt!" said the guard closest to Timmy, drawing his sword. Timmy froze.
Ash moved in. He chopped the other guard on the neck. He pulled him back by the shoulders and kneed him in the back of the head. Ash caught him to avoid the noise of him hitting the ground and lowered him gently.
The first guard turned around to see what had happened. Big mistake. Timmy threw a right roundhouse kick to his neck. That dazed him enough for Ash to come and punch him in the jaw. Timmy closed in and elbowed him on the back of the head. They lowered his unconscious form to the ground.
They relieved the guards of their weapons. Meanwhile Brock and Gary climbed over the wall and ran up, with Pikachu at Gary's heels. Brock and Gary each claimed a sword. They used them to cut strips from the men's uniforms, with which they bound their hands and feet and gagged their mouths. They dragged each of the guards to opposite ends of the courtyard and ran back to the main door. So far everything went exactly to plan.
Ash half-opened one of the doors and walked in. There were two more guards at the far end of the vestibule outside a further set of double doors on the north side of the chamber. On the east and west were other doors and staircases leading to other levels. There were lamps distributed here and there.
"I am the Masked Master," Ash declared, "and I challenge you to a duel for the hand of Princess Misty."
The guards exchanged blank looks.
"Hey, how did you get in?" said one of the men and began to approach.
"There was no-one to stop me," replied Ash, shrugging. "Go see for yourself," he said, stretching an arm towards the exit.
"Watch him, Harry," said the guard as he walked towards the door.
Ash waited until the guard was close to him. With a swift movemnt, he stretched out his foot. The guard went sprawling.
"Hey!" said the guard called Harry, and advanced towards Ash.
"Leave him to me," said the other guard, getting up. "I'll teach you." He reached for his sword.
Ash waited until the right moment and swung his leg with a flick, knocking the sword out of the guard's hand. He followed with a side kick to the stomach to slow him down, brought his leg down and kicked the sword out of reach.
"Now!" said Ash.
The others barged in, Gary and Brock holding the guard near the door at bay with their swords. The guard called Harry, who was almost upon Ash, halted and made a quick about face.
"No you don't!" said Ash, and tackled him. He could not allow him to escape.
Timmy ran up to help Ash. They hauled the man up and took turns striking him until he was out cold. Timmy took his sword.
"Tell us how to get to Misty," Brock demanded of the other guard. He did not reply, so Gary poked him in the stomach with the point of the sword. Blood seeped onto his uniform.
"Alright. You go up those steps, then up one more flight to the tower. Follow the corridor to the end."
"All it takes is one of us to come back to kill you," said Gary.
"It's the truth." Brock raised the butt of his sword and began to bring it down. "But you'll never get past the—" Brock's sword knocked him unconscious before he could finish the sentence.
"Oops," said Brock, "I hope that wasn't too important."
"We'll find out," said Gary. "Come on, let's go."
They tied up the guards in the same way as before. Brock then led them up the first flight, sword at the ready. It was dark, so Timmy went back down and removed a lamp from the wall. Bringing the lamp up the steps, they saw another flight, a narrower set, running perpendicularly to the one they had just climbed. They took it. It led to a short corridor, at the end of which was a door.
They followed it. The walls were rough stone, not polished like the other walls they had seen. There was a barred window on one side. Ash noticed how some of the stones had been blackened, as if they had been underneath a lamp. He pondered how it were possible.
"If Misty's here, how come there's no-one guarding her?" whispered Gary.
"Can we trust that guard?" said Timmy. "This could be a trap."
"No," said Brock, "but it's our only lead."
At the end of the corridor, Brock slowly opened the door. Sword in front, he stepped inside. It was not completely dark. He took a little time figuring out what he could see. Slower than before, he crept out with exaggerated gentleness.
"Shh!" he said. He bent his head down and brought his free hand to his forehead. "We've failed."
