"Romi, we've reached Lavender Town, the creepiest town in the Kanto region!" Juliana exclaims, pointing at the Pokémon Tower.

Romeria's hunched-over figure jerks up in excitement, "Awesome!" she yells, racing towards the Pokémon Tower.

Juliana smiles at her hyperness… I doubt she's really gotten used to it, even though they've been traveling together since they were both eleven. Romeria is the older girl by about six months, but she acts like an eight-year-old.

The Misdreavus floating by Romeria rolls her amber eyes. She's known her trainer since she started her journey, and has had plenty of time to get used to her weirdness. Me? Well, I don't personally know Romeria as well as everyone else, as Angel just sent me to Juliana one month ago. I know Juliana well; since she learned how to crawl.

Juliana beckons to me, "Hey, Teri, wanna little break?" she asks.

I shake my head, keeping my eyes on Romeria, who is still racing towards Pokémon Tower. She's a nut job, that Romi, but if Misery can deal with her, I guess I can too. Juliana used to be a nut job too, but I like to think that she mellowed out after she met Romeria. After all, there's only room in a traveling team for one nut job.

Juliana's different somehow, but I can't quite put my paw on it. Angel (who is Juliana's mom, by the way) looked crazy before, but she's okay now. When Romi first saw Juliana hugging me, she was all, "OMG! THAT EEVEE IS SO ADORABLE! WHERE DID YOU GET IT?"

I knew, from that moment, that Romeria was one of those crazy people I don't exactly agree with.

"Romi, don't go in, yet!" Juliana yells, picking me up and placing me on her shoulder, "We need to go to the Pokémon center!"

"Ah, who cares? I want a Ghastly and I want it now!" She grins, already halfway to the ghostly tower.

"I care…" Misery sighs, "I'm hungry… and remember, Blaire did faint earlier."

"See? I knew Misery was smart!" Juliana says, "You should start listening to her!"

Misery rolls her eyes again, "Took you that long?" she mumbles.

I wish I was smart like Misery, or good at battling like Blaire, or pretty like Miya. Nope. It's just me. Plain old Teri. Whoop-dee-doo.

Romi thinks about going to the Pokémon center a second time.

"Okaaaa-aaaay, fine!" she yells, "But then it's directly to Pokémon Tower!"

Personally, I think Pokémon Tower can wait. Angel always told me creepy stories about a decaying, undead human haunting the tower, looking for the people who buried it alive. It would give me shivers every time she shone a flashlight in her face and said, "And until then, it kills everything it sees, just like…" she would pause, "THIS!" and then Juliana's mother would leap in my face. I would tremble for a little while before she would pick me up and hug me.

"Don't ever go to Pokémon Tower," Angel would say, "I couldn't bear to lose you,"

But here I am, anyways. We're going to Pokémon tower, where ghost Pokémon live, ooh, and a decaying, undead human could possibly lurk. As Juliana and Romeria march towards the Pokémon center, I gulp. I wish we could just be at the Pokémon center for the stay at Lavender town. Why are we even here? Oh, right. Romeria wants a Ghastly, and she wants it now…

"Teri, you seem lost in thought. You okay?" Juliana asks.

I plead, "Can we please not go to Pokémon tower? You don't know what could be there! Angel told me about some decaying, undead human there, and I just really, really don't wanna be there."

Juliana says, "Teri, do you really ever believe what Mom tells you? She was probably just trying to scare you, as usual."

Romeria, who is dancing in front of the Pokémon center, shrieks, "Julianaaaa, hurry up!"

Misery purposely slows her float because she openly hates her trainer.

"You really think I'll speed up for you?" she growls.

I glance in Misery's direction, which is actually more 180º behind me, "That's not nice, Misery," I say.

Misery rolls her eyes at me and uses will-o-wisp at me.

"THAT'S NOT NICE MISERY!" Romeria scolds loudly.

The Misdreavus rolls her eyes once again, growling something incoherent. It sounds like toothbrushes.

"Scuz' me," a new voice says, slurring their words together, "I was jest wondering, huh huh, if yud like a battul…"

"Gotta heal Blaire, gotta heal Blaire…" Romeria mumbles, hopping from one foot to the other impatiently.

"Romi, go heal her," Juliana calls out, "This dude wants a battle."

Romeria nods, scarily serious, and goes into the center. She's getting in her battle mode. I've been on the receiving end of her battle mode and Blaire's blast burn… not fun.

Juliana mumbles, "No, I was telling you to… okay, that's fine too."

I glance at the opponent, and nearly jump out of my skin. The human- no, more like thing, has pale, almost green skin that is only hanging onto the bone by mere ligaments. Its hair is a sickly brown that hangs over its eyes and ears, and it has posture that resembles a bridge. A loose, red, flannel, checkered shirt dangles over its bones and bell bottom jeans, riddled in holes, cover its feet, "woah… Teri, if you liked your Pokéball, I'd make you go in," Juliana whispers to me, pulling me into her arms.

"I sed," the thing mutters again, "D'ya wanna battul?"

"Yes, but my friend wants to battle first," Juliana says quietly.

When Juliana starts talking either too loud or too soft, you can tell that she's worked up over something. The thing shakes its head so hard that I'm scared it'll pop out of its socket, "No, no, I wunt tuh battul yu. And yur Eevee," he says, sounding out each word like a foreign language.

"Um, sorry, but Teri doesn't battle," Juliana says, even more quiet this time.

Juliana's arms around me tighten and I start to squirm, trying to loosen Juliana's grip.

"I HEALED BLAIRE!" Romi's loud voice slices through the quiet Lavender town air like a sharp talon.

"Romi, I don't know whether I should battle anymore," Juliana sighs, "I don't want Teri to get hurt."

I breathe a sigh of relief, "Thank you!"

"I'll battle, then!" she says, reverting back to battle mode. It's almost like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde… another scary story Angel told me… with Romeria. She's normally crazy and very, very idiotic, but when she's battling she's tactical and dead serious.

Romeria twists her cap backwards. She normally wears a black-and-white ballcap and a striped tank top, but when she's somewhere fancy, like the Battle Chateau in her home region of Kalos, she wears a black dress and white fedora.

"Blaire, I choose you!" she hurls Blaire's pokéball into the air. Blaire, a menacing Charizard, roars and shoots fire into the air as if to prove her strength.

"Heh. Heh," the creepy person chuckles, "I chus you, Missingno!"

The pokéball pops open to reveal… nothing. Blaire cocks her head and looks at Romeria, confused. Then it hits her. Literally. An invisible force bowls her over, probably a rollout or tackle. Juliana takes out her foldable laptop and types in Missingno.

"Hey, Romi, get this!" she yells, reading from her computer, "Apparently Missingno is a pokémon, but it's not!"

"What?" Romeria shrieks in dismay.

Blaire struggles to stay in the air as the invisible pokémon-thing keeps attacking her. Finally, she catches hold on the pokémon and they both tumble to the ground. Well, I don't know whether the creepy guy's pokémon fell, but I'm pretty sure.

Romi screams, "Blaire, use… no… yes! MEGA EVOLVE!"

She punches the rainbow button on her Mega Ring, and then light streams out of it, and a pink rock forms around Blaire and then she explodes out of it in her Mega Charizard Y form.

The creepy dude jerks his head up and down in a nod (even his nodding is creepy…), then yells, "Missingno, evolve!"

Juliana squeaks, "What? Missingno can't… unless he just named it Missingno…"

Wow! Just Romi's luck! The creepy dude really did only name his pokemon Missingno! It's actually the mysterious 'M. I watch as the invisible pokemon turns into glowing white light, and then a recognizable form. It's a Kangaskhan, but different. It looks more angry and fierce. If anyone can win this battle, it's got to be Blaire, the awesome level 60-ish fire dragon. If not Blaire, then I don't think this mysterious Kangaskhan can be beaten at all. Juliana starts snapping her fingers and pulling at the hem of her pink skirt. Juliana usually wears a pink skirt, pink crop top, and random hat when she's out exploring. When she's doing important battles somewhere fancy, she likes to wear a black dress, almost identical to the one that Romeria wears, a white fedora with black metal pins, and use a white strappy bag, "Juliana?" I ask quietly, keeping my eyes on the ongoing battle, "What will happen to Blaire if Romeria loses?"

"She won't lose," Juliana says, in full confidence of her friend, "Though she might be a total idiot, but she doesn't lose easily."

"How are you so sure?" I ask nervously as Blaire uses blast burn.

"I'm not," she says.

Juliana is still a nut job, isn't she? I guess not as much, but I still don't understand the girl.

The battle rages on. 'M only really gets more angry after being solarbeamed. The two dragonesque beings seem evenly matched, and I think it surprises Blaire. She's used to being the dominant force on the battlefield.

"Blaire, flamethrower, quick!" Romi yells. Her jaw is clenched and sweat trickles down her temple. Her gray eyes are trained on the battlefield, where Blaire, looking identical to her trainer, exhaustedly shoots a white-hot band of flames from her mouth. The mysterious Kangaskhan looks no different when receiving the attack. Juliana and I both look at each other, and then back at the battle, where 'M suddenly slides to the ground, defeated.

"We… did it, Blaire," Romi says, grinning and pushing a loose strand of hair out of her face. Blaire nods and shoots a weak ember into the sky.

"Hey… good battle," she turns to her opponent, but he has already vanished.

"Huh," Juliana comments, "Weird," she turns to her friend and holds her hand out for a high-five.

"Hey, great job," I say, and Misery snorts.

Romeria slaps Juliana's outstretched hand and recalls Blaire to her Pokéball.

"Alright, let's go heal Blaire again and check out pokemon tower," she demands, fast-walking to the Pokémon center already. Juliana and Misery exchange eye-rolls and hurry to catch up to her. I race to keep in step with the two.

"So, Misery, excited to see your ghostly compatriots?" Juliana asks.

Misery rolls her eyes, and I am forced to pipe in, "Did you know that your eyes are a muscle, Misery? And if you exercise your muscles they grow bigger?"

"Great Arceus, not again," Misery directs a will-o-wisp to me, which I dodge easily.

We step through the grand doors of the pokemon center, where Romi is already waiting with all her pokemon out. There's poor Blaire, being rubbed by Romi, there's Bushido and Katana, the twin swords with so much synchronization that they morphed into one Doublade, there's Tanya the Leafeon, there's Dusk the Noivern, and there's Tobe the Greninja. All are looking pretty happy.

"Hey, Juliana, do you mind taking care of everyone while I go change?" Romi tosses a few berries to Juliana.

"Sure, no prob," Juliana responds, so Romeria slings her bag around her shoulder and trots off to the changing room. Juliana feeds Blaire an oran berry and lets all her pokemon out of their confined spaces. Flare the Flareon stretches out his legs, one by one, and starts nuzzling Juliana's bag for some food. There's Sparks, her serious Luxio, Aria the Snivy (don't ask me why it's Aria. Juliana's just a nut job), Miya the Gardevoir, and Odette the Swanna, who has pretty weird fashion tastes (almost as weird as Romeria's).

Speaking of weird fashion tastes, Romeria bursts out of the changing room, sporting a black tank top, a red fedora with a black metal pin, black high-tops and… oh, great Arceus, why?! She is wearing gray pants with black stripes running up the sides.

"Your fashion sense is terrible," Juliana comments mildly.

"You're just jealous of my amazing taste in pants," Romi retorts, sticking out her tongue.

"Romeria Ellory Grace," Misery demands, "I am your faithful charge and I will not, under any circumstances, have you go out in public wearing that pair of pants,"

"Lalalalala…. I'm not listening…." Romi covers her ears and sings. Misery is forced to roll her eyes again, and I reply, "Misery, did you know your eyes are a muscle?"

"Enough!" Misery belts out a quick perish song.

"And if you exercise your muscles…" I continue, but I black out before I get to finish the phrase.

I wake up to white. White walls, white floors, white sheets, white everything. It makes me dizzy for a second. I grimace, remembering the aftereffects of Misery's perish song. She's done this to me twice before, and each time has brought on a sickening wave of vertigo. I curl up on the itchy pokemon center cot to wait for the world to stop spinning.

When it finally does, I am picked up by a Chansey. It attempts to tell me something, but I cut it off and say, "Bring me back to my trainer,"

It nods and scurries off with me in its clutches. We race down a pristine white corridor, through a pair of sliding doors at the end, and into the waiting room. Romeria, Tanya, Misery, Sparks, Aria, and Juliana are there, playing a game of chess. Romeria has only her king left, while Juliana has all of her pieces, but when she sees me, my trainer stands up so fast that she knocks over the chessboard.

"Man, why'd you do that?" Romeria pouts, still wearing her atrocious pants, "I was winning, too!"

Juliana ignores her, "Hey, Teri, are you feeling alright?"

I nod and leap on top of her hat. She thanks the Chansey that brought me here, who scuttles off in search of another sick pokemon.

"So, now that our chess game is ruined, how about a battle?" Romi suggests, "Teri can battle Misery,"

"No," I say.

"Teri on Blaire?"

"NO,"

"Teri on Tanya?"

"Sure," Juliana answers before I can say 'NO' again, "It'll be good experience for Teri. She might even evolve,"

"Okay. Tanya, are you ready?" Romeria asks.

Tanya growls at me.

"I take that as a yes," Tanya nods promptly, and we walk towards the battlefield.

I stand on the battlefield, shivering in the cold Lavender town air. I have the feeling that I'm being watched, but Romeria yells, "Tanya, use leaf blade!"

And with that, I begin being pummeled by Tanya's sharp leaves. Though I've probably been in the world longer than Tanya, I have much less battling experience and I don't really know any moves at all. Juliana yells, "Teri, use take down!"

I look at her with disbelief and annoyance. She seriously doesn't know what moves I know?

Both trainers are interrupted by a pleasant chime. They look towards the door, where Nurse Joy stands, holding a tray of pokeballs. Romi instantly barrels towards her and scoops up her three pokeballs. Juliana takes her leisurely time to walk across the field and up the five porch steps.

"Hey, Juliana, Blaire is better!" Romi sings, "Now we can go to Pokémon Tower!"

I shudder in remembrance of the creepy being we came across earlier, "Hey guys, can I just wait here?"

"Teri, you're not scared of a few gastlies, are you?" Juliana says, retrieving her pokeballs.

"No, but there's a undead thing in there!" I retort, "And I just really, really, really do not want to be eaten alive,"

"That was just one of Mom's tall tales," Juliana clips her pokeballs to her belt, "You'll be fine,"

And with that, we set off to the Pokémon Tower, where I'm absolutely positive that we'll meet our doom.

When we got to Pokémon Tower, I couldn't stop shivering. The chill in the air is more noticeable, and mist pours out of the tower like it's crying. And with my great imagination, it's not hard to think that the Pokémon Tower is alive. Juliana, who's hugging me tight, has goose bumps on her arms, and she whistles (pretty badly… she can't whistle), "Woah, Romi, are you sure we have to get a gastly here?"

Romeria answers from the third floor, "Are you kidding?! This place is awesome!"

Misery, from all the way up there, rolls her eyes at her trainer (and yes, since she's worked her eyes out so much, I can see them from all the way down here), "I think I'll join a horde of gastlies here. Much better than hanging out with a trainer wearing those."

Misery gestures at Romeria's pants with her head, and Romeria replies, "You're just jealous of my amazing taste in pants."

Juliana rolls her own eyes, and I almost lecture her about the consequences of eye-rolling, but then she speeds up a flight of stairs and I have to use quick- attack to keep up with her. By the time she stops fast-walking, we are only fifteen flights of stairs behind Romi.

"When will that idiot find a gastly that she likes?" Juliana whines, "is she looking for a stupid shiny?"

From fifteen flights of stairs up, Romeria's voice cries, "Yes, Juliana, I am looking for a 'stupid shiny'!"

Juliana wails, "WE'RE GOING TO BE HERE FOREVERRRR!"

I suggest, "If you're looking for a shiny, why don't we get out an oddish? Like Kahoo?"

"Hey, you actually have some brains in your head!" Misery says in mock surprise.

"Hey, Romi, do you have an oddish?" Juliana yells up to Romeria.

"Nope!" comes the reply.

"Nincompoop," Juliana grumbles.

Juliana and I keep fast-walking/quick attacking up the stairs until we're about two floors from the top. Romeria has stopped talking (for once) and Juliana stops and leans her hands on her knees.

"I need to get in shape," she jokes, panting, "Odette, think you can carry us the last few floors?"

Odette comes out of her pokeball in all her feathered greatness. Juliana swings her right leg over the bird, and I leap with the last of my energy on top of her hat. Odette flaps her powerful wings and we take off, zooming up the final staircases. Romeria is waiting at the top, munching on a sandwich.

"Took you that long," she says, with her mouth full of mashed sandwich.

"Hey, unlike you, superwoman, I need to hit the P90X once in a while," Juliana replies, returning Odette.

"Okay, let's find my…" Romi says, stopping cold as she turns around. Staring at us with hollow eyes is a zombie.

"You're here…" it groans, dragging itself forward with bloodless hands.

"Am I the only one freaked out by this?" Romeria says, still watching the undead human.

"Nope," Juliana says quietly.

"I'm trapped…" it groans, "And I'm lonely… so very lonely…"

"What are you?" Misery shrieks, hiding behind her trainer.

"I was Buried Alive," the being stretches its mouth in the impression of a smile, "Won't you join me?"

"Juliana, run," Romeria says, refusing to lose her calm. She slowly takes a pokeball off her belt and chucks it at the zombie. Blaire pops out in a blazing inferno.

"A battle…" Buried Alive moans, throwing a pokeball of his own. A gengar pops out, boring holes in me with its piercing red gaze.

"Blaire, use steel wing," Romeria commands. Her entire happy-go-lucky personality has melted away, like wax from a candle. Blaire complies, and the ghost pokemon faints instantly. Romeria has no time for celebration, as Buried Alive sends out a Muk next. One steel wing from Blaire and it's down, too.

"Huh. I'm beginning to think Romi may actually win this one," Juliana says.

Buried Alive grins again and takes his jolly old time drawing the pokeball from inside his ribcage.

"White Hand," he announces, finally throwing the pokeball. A translucent white hand pops out, dripping with dark blood. The flesh is peeling back from bleached bone, and tendons dangle from the severed wrist.

"Weird," Romi shrugs, "Blaire, take it down with flamethrower!"

"Brutal," Buried Alive commands. The White Hand flickers and then vanishes, making Blaire's fire attack hit a nearby wall. Blaire looks around for her opponent, confused, and then blood spurts from a vein in her neck. Her eyes roll back in her head and she slumps to the ground, dead.

"Blaire, return," Romeria says, her face suddenly ashen. She tosses the pokeball belonging to Bushido and Katana, and they both pop out.

"Bushido, Katana, use sacred sword," Romeria says. They comply, but a Brutal attack from the White Hand proves to be too much for the two to handle. The next one out is Tanya, who easily falls to a Brutal. Tobe manages to land a few Water Shurikens, but he is taken out as well. Dusk puts up a pretty good fight but eventually faints from a Brutal. The last pokemon is Misery.

"Misery, sing your perish song!" Romi cries.

Misery sings a few bars, and it makes my spine tingle with familiarity.

"Fist attack," Buried Alive mutters, and the White Hand balls into a fist and punches at Misery.

"Pain Split!" Misery conducts a stream of white energy into herself.

"Fist attack,"

"Will-o-wisp!"

Buried Alive grins, knowing that his perish count is down to one, and says, "White Hand, use Brutal,"

The hand disappears and Misery looks around, uncertain. Suddenly, every pearl around her neck shatters into dozens of sharp red shards. Misery screams in pain, and suddenly she is bleeding heavily, gushing her life force out onto the floor. Buried Alive looks on in obvious satisfaction as she twitches twice and is still altogether.

"No…" Romi falls to her knees.

"Yes…" Buried Alive chuckles, "Fresh… meat…."

It's Romeria's turn to scream in pain as the undead zombie launches himself at her face. Romi instinctively shields herself with her arm, watching, petrified, as Buried Alive latches on to her forearm. She pushes him away, but not before he has taken a good section of flesh out of her arm.

"Juliana!" she screams, "Why didn't you listen?! Run!"

Juliana remains rooted to the spot, listening to the agonizing screams coming from Romeria. I force myself to look away. The screams continue for some time, but then fade into gurgling, coming from Romi, and maniacal laughter, coming from Buried Alive.

Juliana has her eyes closed. They are closed for a moment longer after Romeria leaves this world for the next. Tears stream from her eyes and when she opens them, I see that they're blazing with anger, "Battle me, too, Buried Alive, you FREAK!" she screams, taking out Miya's pokéball.

Buried Alive chuckles in his creepy way, pulling Gengar's pokéball out again. Juliana frowns, asking, "shouldn't Gengar and Muk have fainted?"

"He's a monster, Juliana, don't battle him!" I say.

"He killed Romi," she argues, steely calm.

Juliana gestures at Romeria's corpse, grotesquely dissected by Buried Alive, and I look at Misery's fading body, dissolving slowly, slowly into shadow.

"We do have to battle him," I admit.

As Buried Alive sends out Gengar, Juliana sends out Miya. Miya does a quick pirouette (she's been obsessed with ballet ever since we left Sinnoh) and blinks innocently at the evil in front of her.

"Miya, quick! Use Dazzling Gleam!" Juliana orders, her voice still tense with agony and despair.

The Gengar faints immediately. This time, Buried Alive skips the Muk and goes to White Hand, "fresh meaat…" he groans.

Juliana's anger flares, "Miya, use Dazzling Gleam again!"

"White Hand, use Brutal!"

As the White Hand disappears, Miya's Dazzling Gleam flashes, but it misses. Suddenly, a crack resounds in the air and Miya's neck is snapped.

"Miya!" Juliana shrieks, lunging at her Gardevoir.

Miya's eyes are blank and lifeless; Juliana cries, returning Miya to her pokéball. She sends out Odette, "Odette, use fly!" she yells.

"Fist attack," Buried Alive says.

Odette flies into the air, gracefully dodging the evil hand. Buried Alive orders, "Okay, White Hand. Use Brutal."

"Odette!" Juliana yells, "fly away, now!"

Odette makes a feeble attempt to dive towards the staircase, but the White Hand is too fast, and her skull is crushed by a Brutal. Odette's eyes are blank, as well. Dead forever. Tears fall out of Juliana's eyes as she sends out her pokémon one by one. Aria faints to a fist attack, and Sparks's body is still crushed, underneath a pillar. Eventually, Flare is the second to last pokémon in her party, including me. Juliana murmurs some words of encouragement to Flare as he trembles by her side, "Flare, I believe in you," she says sadly, "I promise you, I love you."

Flare sniffs hopelessly as Buried Alive orders his White Hand to use Fist attack.

"Flare, use Lava plume!" Juliana shouts.

As Flare shoots lava from the ground, White hand forges his way out of the flames and beats Flare to lowest HP. Flare looks at Juliana sadly, starting to tear, "It's okay, Flare," Juliana lies. "You're doing great."

Buried Alive laughs maniacally, making Juliana's tears pour out even faster. I shout to Flare, "Flare, be careful!"

Flare's tears fall out of his eyes, falling to the floor as Buried Alive orders White Hand to use Brutal. Flare growls at his fate bravely, but halfway through, he gasps, a gaping hole appearing in his left side. He stumbles, his glowing eyes smoldering. Taking another shaking breath, he looks towards Juliana and falls, still snarling at the face of death.

Juliana races towards Flare's cooling body, "Flare…" she cries.

White hand reappears, clutching an organ from Flare's body - his heart.

"Fresh… meat?" Buried Alive half asks, half moans.

Juliana stands, still holding Flare's bleeding body, "Teri," she sobs, "run."

"No, Juliana, I was sent from you mother to protect you! You run!" I insist.

"Teri, don't argue with me," Juliana says, throwing my pokéball onto the floor. "Take it, Teri. Run for me. Run for Romi and Misery and Flare. Run for everyone."

I grasp my pokéball in my mouth and sprint towards the stairs, but before I go down, I take one glance back at Juliana.

"Come at me, you murderer," she growls, pulling a black shard from her belt.

Buried Alive ignores Juliana and comes at me instead, "Teri!" Juliana yells, "I told you to run!"

Suddenly her yell turns into a shriek of terror as the decaying body turns towards her, head creepily dangling to one side, "Nobody… leaves," Buried Alive says maliciously.

Juliana closes her eyes for a second, only to open them to take a stab at Buried Alive with her shard. It makes contact, but does almost no damage. The bladelike shard goes straight through, but Buried Alive keeps coming towards her. As Buried Alive grabs her arm, she pulls like mad, but it seems like the decaying zombie is stronger than he lets on. Her efforts are futile. Buried Alive pulls her arm to his mouth and he rips a good piece of red flesh and muscle off of her bone. Juliana shrieks in pain and horror of seeing her own blood, which pours down her arm, and I know that there is no hope for Juliana anymore. Nevertheless, the girl hisses at Buried Alive, "I will have revenge one day. You count on that. And when it happens, which I swear it will, you better remember me, zombie."

He answers by taking another chunk of flesh off of her arm, ending with another horrible scream. I dash away from the scene, taking the stairs by threes. Juliana's earsplitting screams echo throughout the tower, and I feel guilty. What will Angel do to me when I get back? Buried Alive chuckles maliciously, and I force my legs to propel me forward to stop them from turning around and getting me eaten. When I finally reach the bottom, Juliana has stopped screaming and the only sound bouncing around the tower is, "Fresh…. meat…."

I race into the sunlight and towards the safety of the Pokémon center. Before stepping through the familiar sliding doors, I look back.

For a second, I think that the Pokémon Tower is weeping madly, but then I realize that it's only me.