Pokemon:

Secret of the Journal

Chapter 1

Day at the Movies

"I was storming White City one day, in the dark and stormy month of May. I was taken by surprise, by a really skinny guy, then Officer Jenny took me away!"

"Hey, Giovanni! Shut up!"

"Yeah, you've been singin' ever since they brought you in!"

The inmates were restless. After the new prisoner, Giovanni, had been brought in, they had been all riled up. Giovanni had been the leader of a large gang that had overtaken Goldenrod City and all the rest of Johto.

"So, Giovanni, how'd they get ya?"

"Well, I had the entire country and an army of genetically-enhanced Pokemon at my disposal. But I got greedy. I wanted more. I wanted the capital: White City. So we moved out of Goldenrod and charged towards White. When we got there, this kid that had been causing problems for me since the beginning had put together an army of his own. They charged us, and he confronted me. Then he made me feel responsible for everything that had happened. I was, but I don't know why he got to me. Anyway, I surrendered and they sent me here."

"What were the charges?"

"Illegal experiments on Pokemon, terrorism, and murder."

"Who'd ya kill?"

"Some girl. I used her to get at that kid, Jim, then she escaped and was caught in the blast of the Radio Tower. She didn't survive."

"Wow. You blew up the Tower?"

"Yeah. Only because Jim was in it. Then the girl pushed him out a window and died instead."

* * *

My name is Jim. I saved the world.

But I thought that was all over. I thought I could go back to school, hang out with my friends, go on the new trip in a couple months.

Boy was I wrong.

It was a new school year at EPA. I had made some new friends. All the people I had met before had gone home, except for those that were already at the school, and those that lived in White City. Anyway, you've already met the new ones from the other campus.

One Friday afternoon, after school, Goliath and I were heading for the movie theater to meet some other friends. Shadow was running by my side as we pedaled our Bikes. A Pidgeotto flew next to Goliath.

I saw the theater and pedaled harder. The big guy wasn't even trying, and he was beating me! I sighed and just tried to keep up with him.

I saw Philip and the visiting Bryan standing in line for tickets, saving us spots. I stopped and chained my bike to the rack. I took my place behind Bryan and saw a red-haired girl standing with him. She was kind of short, with long red hair.

"Who's this?" I asked.

The Vermillion City Police Chief sighed. "My sister, Tyler. She came with me to White, and then insisted on coming to the movie."

"That's okay," said Goliath. "Where's Courtney?"

"I dunno. She should have been here by now," said Phil. I noticed a strange gold object hanging around his neck. I didn't ask.

"D'you think we should wait for her?" I asked.

Goliath began to say yeah, when my phone rang. I pulled up the antenna on my Pokegear and said, "Excuse me," as I walked off to hear.

"Hello?"

"Jim, it's Courtney."

"Howdy, ma'am."

"Cut it out with the hick thing!"

"Okay, okay, sorry. What's up?"

"I won't make it. There's this crazy traffic jam on Main Street and we're not movin'."

"That's okay. You want us to wait for you?"

"No, I'll just see it next week with Carol."

"Okay, see you tomorrow at school."

"All right. Bye." There was a click, and she hung up.

I closed my Gear and returned to the line, which was pretty close to the ticket counter.

"That was Courtney. She can't make it."

"Oh, well. Hey, watch it, Pidge!" said Goliath, who had been pecked by his bird.

"One for X-Mon, please," said Jessica's cousin, who had reached the front.

"Five dollars." Philip handed him the five and grabbed his ticket.

Bryan was next. "Two for X-Mon."

"Ten bucks." The cop took five from his sister and handed that plus his to the guy behind the window.

I stepped up. "One Student and one Pokemon for the X-Mon."

"Student ID?"

I pulled out my Pokedex and showed him my ID.

"Jim Hawkwind? The Jim Hawkwind?!?"

"Uh…yeah…"

"Wow! Can I have your autograph?"

"Can I have my tickets?"

He grabbed the only thing that I could write on, a styrofoam cup of PokeFizz, and I signed it. He handed me the two tickets.

I walked into the theater. There was a large crowd for the opening day of The Uncanny X-Mon: The Movie. Phil was a huge fan, and I wanted to go anyway, so we all had decided to go opening day.

A girl behind a little booth took my tickets and ripped off the stubs. She handed them back to me and told me that the room was on my right past the candy counter.

I began to walk past the long lines leading up to the popcorn and soda when Houndour growled and pulled on his leash. "Shadow, no, you want a snack?" I asked. The dog-like Pokemon nodded.

"Oh, all right. But something small. How about a popcorn?" I got in line and waited until I got to the front. There, I bought a $4.75 bag of popcorn and almost used up the last of that day's spending money. Since I had saved White, the city had given me a large reward. I only got a small percentage of it each day, and that day's was gone.

I made my way to the room on the right, which was labeled "X-Mon." I saw the others, who had saved two seats for me and my dog. I sat down and waited for the movie to begin.

I leaned over to Philip and asked, "What's with the artifact thingy?"

"I dunno. It was a puzzle I bought at the game shop, and I solved it. Now I just hang it around my neck. It's cool, huh?"

"Yeah." It was a golden pyramid, with an eye engraved on one side. "It's kinda weird, though."

"Uh huh. Shh, the movie's starting!"

The first preview was for The Incredible Muk, some guy who turned into a giant purple hunk of goo when he got mad.

After three more annoying previews, the movie started. It was about Pokemon whose powers had gotten out of hand, and went to a special school to train for it. Then this crazed Magneton tried to take over the world, and they had to stop him.

Right before the climax, the film stopped and the manager ran out in front of the screen. "I'm sorry to interrupt your film viewing, but there is some unknown… thing heading this way. We have been asked to evacuate the area. The thing is destroying buildings and cars. We will accept your ticket stubs as rain checks after this is cleared up."

Everyone began to panic. "Please do not panic!" the manager tried to say, but nobody listened. I ran out to the sidewalk to see what was going on. All I could see were explosions in bright blue.

I had only seen that shade of blue once before. Only in a tunnel dug deep under the earth. That glow saved my life and my friends' lives. That glow came from somebody who I believed was dead…