CHAPTER 7

Through an open door way, Frost saw a young man struggling to reconnect power cords to a sort of machine. Frost guessed the machine was what helped keep the power from overcharging Cyndaquil looked around at the many cords and pipes weaving through the building.

"Excuse me sir, could you tell me where the gym leader is?" Frost asked. He must have startled the man, because he quickly turned around and shocked himself. At first, Frost was taken back by the man's physique, he had a red 'R' on his shoulder, and lots of cut and bruises. His voice however, was more appealing, and did not seem to fit his appearance.

"Grace? She's the gym leader here, but she's out. We've had problems with the gym. I'm afraid were closed for the time being," He apologized. He set down a sort of frequency monitor and shook Frosts hand.

"What's wrong? Why is the gym closed?" Frost asked impatiently. No gym has ever been closed before, and Frost was not about to forsake the Pokémon League.

"Well, not that it's any of your business, but someone has been tampering with our equipment. This generator here as you can see, absorbs the electricity emanated from the Pokémon, and uses it to power the mainframe," He pointed to the machine and walked out of the room.

"So this powers the gym?" Frost asked, still confused by the technician's technobabble.

"Actually, the mainframe brings power to over half the city, this place is more than a gym, it also acts as a power plant of sorts. Electricity is powerful as are Pokémon. Having and utilizing both is beneficial to all the people in Camwell," He pointed to the mainframe.

Within the walls, the rooms and halls were simply riddled with wires and cords and tubes. Frost had to be careful not to trip and accidently pull them out. He followed the technician out of the gym, and he locked the door. "I'm sorry you could not challenge the leader, but the gym is not safe to use for the mean time," He said.

"Have you any idea when Grace will return?" Frost looked at the technician, who checked his watch.

"Sometime tomorrow, after my co-workers and I repair this gym. Unfortunately, that may take some time. Before that can happen, I must notify the police of this. Perhaps they will up the security," With that, the technician was off. Frost stood there, and wondered why the gym was being targeted by vandals, as if there was something valuable inside.

Left standing there, Frost and Cyndaquil decided to pass the time and explore. He knew he didn't want to wind up in a similar incident to the one he had experienced in Terreburg. He and Cyndaquil wandered around town for a while, looking for something to do, before he remembered Megans contest. "Cyndaquil, we have to go see Megan compete, we promised," Cyndaquil nodded and climbed up on his shoulder and with that, they were off. Together, they stopped by a the Camwell Mall, which was famous in the region. Much like the Goldenrod City Mall, or the Celadon Department store, it was jam packed with shoppers.

On the first floor, they had trouble walking around, let alone find any nice stores to go to. As they went up the stairs to find the TM department. "Cyndaquil, would you like to learn a new move?" Cyndaquil shrugged, indifferent to Frosts proposal. Frost picked up a TM off the shelf and saw it was labeled Thunder Punch. According to his Pokédex, Cyndaquil was not compatible.

Of course they found moves he could use, such as Façade, Attract, and Swagger, but none of these piqued Cyndaquil interest, so they decided to not purchase any. Up they went through the crowded department stores from medicines and trainers' equipment, to foods and battle drugs, (prescriptions and over the counter if you wish to know.) People from all over the region would come to shop at this mall. Not that there was a lack of marts across the land, but this mall in particular, was much larger, and had more selections as a result.

After a few mindless hours of shopping for nothing, they decided to leave and get some lunch. Frost began to wonder what Megan was up to at this point. Well, while she and Clefairy were exploring the town as well. "Clefairy, do you think I will be accepted into the contest?" She looked down to Clefairy who was walking beside her. Clefairy nodded, not really interested in contests.

While the hour grew late, both children had very oddly not met up. However, they met up at the Pokémon Center at about eight o' clock. Megan was continuously checking her Pokédex waiting for the notification the secretary had told her about. Of course Frost, being a boy and all, could not get her girlish obsession with contests. He knew it was more manly to focus on the title of Pokémon Master.

"What kind of skills can you expect to obtain from entering a contest?" Frost asked. He then took a bite of some food that Nurse Joy had given them. Megan fed some to Ralts and Linoone. "Being a Pokémon Master has a lot more potential,"

"I don't have to be a Pokémon Master to enjoy working with Pokémon. Besides, you have our dreams and I have mine," Megan grunted, irritated by Frosts remarks. She however, decided to take the high road, and go back to playing with Clefairy. Cyndaquil was at that point, talking to Ralts and Linoone. Of course it was in their own Pokémon language, which is just their names.

Scientists have wondered why they say it repeatedly, and somehow communicate with different species. Very odd to say the least. Well whatever the reason or science behind it, they could communicate. The topic of their conversation however, remained unknown. As Frost and Megan could not speak their language they could only guess what they were saying. Perhaps they were discussing the intricacies of a Hydro Pump attack. Or maybe the commonalities between Seaking and Lumineon.

Later that night, they were fast asleep when Cyndaquil and Clefairy got itchy feet and decided to explore. With Ralts and Linoone joining them, they set out to enjoy the night. Linoone was smelling around the yard in front of the center for something. Ralts went to smell for it too. They found nothing, but they forgot about it, and roamed the streets. They passed by a nightclub and were intrigued to go inside.

Immediately, they were bombarded with bright lights and loud music. Looking around they could see lots of people in a rainbow of dresses and tuxedos. Cyndaquil looked back at the window and saw a sign saying Pokémon welcome, but only could see a Gastrodon and a Vespiqueen dancing. As the rogue Pokémon went further in to the club, a burlesque dancer approached them and offered each of them a piece of streusel.

Something inside Cyndaquil told him not to eat it. His instincts told him to leave, but he ignored it and ate the streusel. Immediately a feeling of joy came over him and his friends. Ralts and Clefairy were dancing, and Linoone and Cyndaquil were sitting at the bar. A waitress passed by and offered them some more cakes, and they took it without question. After eating several, they became very dizzy and struggled to stand.

Clefairy and Ralts were eating it too. Swinging and jiving to the jazz bands tunes, the crowd was large and very loud. As they took a rest, they decided to say hi to the Vespiqueen and Gastrodon, but they were nowhere to be found. So instead they sat down with Cyndaquil and Linoone. Soon, another waitress offered them their special cakes, and they ate more and more.

As Cyndaquil took a bite, his instincts warned him to spit it out, but he did not know why. These cakes were delicious, they made him drowsy yes, but how could something so sweet be bad? Still, waitresses and waiters came by every few minutes or so to offer them more. Clefairy, Linoone and Ralts were eating them left and right. Clefairy began to feel sick, so one of the waitresses escorted her to the restroom.

Cyndaquil set the cake down and encouraged Ralts and Linoone to do the same. Still, they were offered the cakes left and right. Why did these people insist upon offering them the cakes? Not once did they offer it to the crowd. Slowly however, he began to feel nauseous and drowsy, as did Ralts and Linoone. Too tired to move, the Pokémon quickly fell into a deep sleep.

Frost woke up that night, not able to sleep very well. He looked around for Cyndaquil, but could not find him, so he grabbed his bag and went outside. Megan could use some sleep after all, he thought. She didn't need to worry. He pulled out Metapods Pokéball and called her out. "Metapod, I need your help," he said. "Cyndaquil and Clefairy are gone and I need your help to find them,"

Metapod couldn't move very well, but he knew Pidgey would be even less helpful. "Can you track their scent or something?" Metapod nodded and began to smell the air, he turned and pointed downtown. So Frost ran out after the missing Pokémon. Metapod led him down the streets right to the nightclub.

Frost stepped inside, and looked around for them. "Are you sure they came here?" He asked, Metapod nodded and the two began to search. One of the many waitresses offered Metapod a cake, Frost declined, and the waitress went off. She said something to another waiter and they both looked at Frost. Inside the club, there was no sign of any Pokémon. Metapod still insisted that they were in here very recently, their scent was still fresh. Frost trusted Metapods judgement and approached one of the waiters. "Excuse me sir, have you seen a Cyndaquil or a Clefairy?"

"Haven't seen them," He said, then went off to a backroom. Frost immediately began to sense that something was wrong. He had eyes on him the entire time, waiters, burlesque dancers, all staff. Metapod turned and pointed to a back room. Frost snuck in, not knowing staff members were right behind him. In complete contrast to the bright colors and music in the front, there was no light, no singing.

Frost could only guess it was a storage room. With further investigation, he heard noises coming from a closet. Inside, were cages with Pokémon. Vespiqueen, and Gastrodon. Elekid, and Carnivine to name a few. What were all these Pokémon doing in cages, in a night club? Frost looked through the cages and eventually came across Cyndaquil and the others.

"Cyndaquil, are you okay?" He asked. Cyndaquil was struggling to stand up, he had been drugged. Frost struggled to open the cages, eventually, he managed to free him and all of the others. "Okay, we need to get out of here, warn the police of what's happening," With the aid of over a dozen Pokémon at his back, they struggled to find a way out.

Before he could however, he bumped in to a waiter. "What do you think you are doing back here?" He asked sternly, keeping his eye on all of the Pokémon. "These Pokémon don't belong to you," Frost looked to the band of Pokémon behind him, then back to the waiter. "You had best get out of here, before you bite off more than you can chew," He warned.

"These Pokémon don't belong to you either, what do you want with them?" Frost demanded.

"My business here is no concern of yours, so get going, or there'll be trouble." He stood his ground, soon, two more waitresses came to help. "This is your last warning," Frost was cornered, he had no way to get out.

"You have guts kid, and that's admirable, tell you what, if you beat me in a battle, we'll let you go," He pulled out a Pokéball. Frost stepped forward, and Cyndaquil with him. "Zubat, let's go!" Zubat emerged from his ball and took flight. Cyndaquil stepped carefully, keeping his eye on the Zubat. "Zubat, use your supersonic attack!" He commanded. Zubat let out a pulsating shriek, and Cyndaquil began to feel dizzy.

"Cyndaquil, use your tackle attack," Cyndaquil looked at Frost, then back to Zubat. He took a step back and ran head on into the wall. Frost groaned, and the waiter laughed. Cyndaquil hurt himself in his confusion.

"Zubat, get him with a wing attack!" Zubat shot down and beat Cyndaquil wildly with its wings before retreating back again. Still dazed and confused, Cyndaquil was struggling to see where he was.

"Cyndaquil, you have to snap out of it!" Frost cried, he did not want to lose, let alone lose to a group of thugs. Cyndaquil was also still affected by the drugs put in those cakes, and he had downed quantities of it. Still, Cyndaquil tried his best to overcome the supersonic attack, and struggled to stay standing.

"Cyndaquil, you feeling alright?" He asked, Cyndaquil looked at him and nodded. "Good, then use your ember attack," Cyndaquil spat a patch of ice at the Zubat, and Zubat fell. The waiter and his gang were left completely stupefied. He recalled Zubat, and the other goons stepped forward. "You said I could go if I beat you," Frost said.

"I lied," The waiter smirked. Quickly, the waitresses grabbed him. They should have gone after the Pokémon instead, because a Vigoroth and a Roselia began whacking them. Eventually, all the Pokémon got involved. Clefairy began to wave her fingers in a clock like fashion, Frost had guessed she was using the move Metronome.

All the thugs could do was wait for something bad to happen, and it did. When Clefairy set her arms down, she opened her mouth. From inside her maw, a glowing light took shape. It grew and grew until a powerful beam was ejected from the mouth, laying waste to the storage room. With that, Frost and the other Pokémon ran for the exit.

Through the club, the dancer and patrons were screaming and running, while all of the bar tenders, waitresses, and cooks, were throwing Pokéballs left and right to try and stop them. Cyndaquil and the army of Pokémon behind him, put down enemy after enemy. Gulpin, Ekans, Trapinch, each one was quickly dealt with.

After they escaped the night club, Frost led the Pokémon back to the Pokémon center to hide. Nurse Joy was baffled that so many Pokémon came in. "Where did you find these Pokémon?" She asked.

"Listen" Frost panted, "We need to call the police, I was at a night club, and the workers were…drugging Pokémon, then storing them in cages," Frost pointed to the Pokémon behind him.

"I'll call the police immediately," She said, she picked up the phone and called. Soon enough, the police were around the night club, and went in to investigate. Officer Jenny took one of the Growlithe and investigated. Inside, the club looked absolutely unassuming and normal. In the back, Growlithe sniffed out several cages and bits of ice. She did not find any staff, she figured they must have cleared out.

"Thank you for the information, we will keep an eye out for any more suspicious activity," She stated, then got back in the car and returned to the station. Frost had returned to the center with Joy. The next morning, Megan was unaware of what had unfolded the night before. Nurse Joy had done a scan of each of the Pokémon and traced them to their original trainers, Ralts and Linoone were placed back into their Pokéballs.

"I wonder if I got my notification yet," Megan reached into her bag and checked her Pokédex. In the message system, she found a notification from the contest and she had in fact been accepted. Immediately she stood up and started to sing and dance. "I did it! I did it! I'm in!" Frost was pleased that she was admitted, but still could not see the use of contests, even though the Pokémon League is in and of itself, a contest.

Still, Megan was his friend, and he supported her. After all, she deserved some success too. After eating Breakfast, Frost and Megan were once again exploring the town. Frost was eager to see if the gym was re-opened and so they scurried over there a fast s they could. Megan had not yet been to this gym, and heard from Frost about the technical issues.

At the front door, there was a young beautiful woman. She was unlocking the door, and went in. Frost and Megan followed close behind as they stepped inside. "Excuse me," Frost called out. "Are you by any chance the gym leader of this uh, gym?" He asked. The woman looked at him and smiled.

"Yes, my name is Grace, nice to meet you. Uh, and you are?" She shook his hand.

"My name is Frost, I was wondering if I could battle you for a chance at the gym badge," He pulled out and showed her the Pokédex. "I came by yesterday, but you were not here, your technician said that there were problems with the system,"

Grace looked at him worried and confused. "My technician told you that?" She asked, Frost could tell she was worried about something.

"Is there a problem, he said you would be back tomorrow," Frost said, he hoped he had not offended her.

"Frost, my gym is operated by my Pokémon. I have no technician,"

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