Episode 10: On the Road to Celadon City
I did plenty of training, and my team is getting even better. Here's the scoop:
Nidoking L. 30
Thrash
Horn Attack
Thunderbolt
Double Kick
Pikachu L. 28
Slam
Thundershock
Thunder Wave
Swift
Pidgeotto L. 29
Gust
Quick Attack
Sand Attack
Whirlwind
Parasect L. 28
Scratch
Stun Spore
Leech Life
Cut
Weepinbell L.21
Vine Whip
Wrap
Poison Powder
Sleep Powder
I bet you're wondering where the Weepinbell came from, hmm? While I was training in the grass outside Vermilion City, I decided I should probably capture a Bellsprout before too long. So I headed north. An hour later, I had arrived in Cerulean City. I quickly headed up Route 24 and arrived at a grassy region in about 15 minutes. I hunted around and was almost instantly attacked by a wild Bellsprout. Pikachu's Thundershock didn't knock it out, so I captured it with a Pokéball. Then I started training. That's how I got my Weepinbell. All of that took place several hours ago. It's about 5 o'clock now. Michael, Sabrina, and I are all headed for Diglett's Cave. I plan on going back to Route 2 to get Flash, the fifth hidden machine, from one of Prof. Oak's assistants. Once we get back, we planned on spending one more night at Michael's place and then go on from there.
"So, do either of you two have a Diglett?" I asked, looking at Michael and Sabrina.
"No, I never got around to catchin' one… I suppose I should while we're in here, though," Michael replied with a shrug.
"No," Sabrina said.
I had read up on Diglett's cave before, and knew it wouldn't be long before we got attacked by Digletts. The thought of catching a new Pokémon always sounds like fun to me, but I hate caves. I trudged along across the sand grit of the cave, keeping in stride with Michael and Sabrina. The next moment, a Diglett attacked.
"He's mine!" I announced, grabbing Weepinbell's Pokéball. "Weepinbell, go!" I threw the ball and Weepinbell popped out with a burst of light. "Weepinbell, Sleep Powder!" Weepinbell spun around and shook out Sleep Powder, but it didn't affect Diglett. The wild Diglett used Dig. Great. I figured I might as well waste a PP for Poison Powder. Of course, it didn't affect the submerged Diglett. The Diglett came up from the ground and hit for a normal amount of damage. I commanded Weepinbell to use Sleep Powder again, but this time it actually worked! With Diglett asleep, I began using Wrap. We traded blows for a little bit, and I finally managed to sufficiently weaken the Diglett. However, Weepinbell was still using Wrap. The Diglett used Scratch, and Weepinbell used Wrap and accidentally K.O.'d the Diglett.
"Darn! I didn't capture it!" I exclaimed, swiping my fist.
Michael laughed. I gave him a look and recalled Weepinbell without a word. We resumed marching through the cave. After a few more moments, we arrived on Route 2.
"Let's head south, everybody. There's a house in the distance," I said, pointing to the housetop.
"Ok," Michael said, following. Sabrina followed without a word. We walked into the house and inside there was a scientist sitting in a chair and a kid in the back playing a Gameboy. As a Pokémon trainer, I naturally walked up to the kid in the back first.
"I'm looking for Abra! Wanna' trade one for Mr. Mime?" he said enthusiastically.
I looked at him for a second and thought.
"Um… I don't have an Abra," I said.
"Awww! Oh well…" he replied with much disappointment. I resisted giving him a strange look. Why did he want an Abra so badly, of all Pokémon? I supposed that it didn't matter. I went up to the scientist dude.
"A fainted Pokémon can't fight, but it can still use moves like Cut!" he said, and with that, he turned back to staring at the wall. I blinked for a few seconds, wondering what his problem was. I shrugged it off. No wonder no one ever came to Route 2. The three of us left and proceeded south. We came to a small tree and Parasect Cut it down. In front of us was a large building. We walked in and there were two people in it: some random dude and one of Prof. Oak's assistants. Bingo! I ran over to him.
"Can I have the Flash HM?" I demanded quickly.
"If you have caught ten Pokémon, you can have it," he said.
"Well look all ready!" I said, thrusting my Pokédex at him. He looked through it quickly.
"All right then! Here's HM 05!" he said, handing me the HM.
"Thanks a ton!" I said quickly. Right before I ran off, I got that feeling. Something was telling me to head further south. Because this sense had proven itself before, I figured I should go ahead and head south some more. So I did. I left and Michael and Sabrina trudged on behind me. We jumped a ledge and there was an item on the ground. Michael ran over to it quickly and grabbed it.
"Cool! An HP Up!" he announced, looking at it. He quickly administered it to one of his Pokémon. I sweat-dropped and ran farther south. I jumped another ledge and found something far better. It was another one of those Moon Stones! I remembered finding one in Mt. Moon, and now I had another one. It was cool, but I had no idea what it was for. Oh well.
"I got a Moon Stone, Michael!" I said, waving it in his face. He gave me a look similar to the one I had given him when he laughed at me for knocking out Diglett. I stuffed the Moon Stone in my backpack. We all headed back to Vermilion City and went back to Michael's house. We then proceeded to stay there for the night.
The next morning I woke up slowly. I showered and went downstairs.
"Yo people, good morning…" I said to Michael, Sabrina, and Aunt Terry. We sat down and ate breakfast. Boy, that was probably the one thing I enjoyed at Michael's house the most. Aunt Terry made the best breakfast in the world. There was always a stack of pancakes in the center of the table, accompanied by an assortment of fruits or nuts and plenty of syrups. She gave us pulp-free orange juice (the best kind) and milk and finished it off with bacon and eggs—any style you wanted. Dang. That was a really good breakfast. But anyway, after breakfast we packed up our stuff and headed out. Michael and his mom exchanged their somewhat brief good-byes (which Michael spent mostly blushing as his mom said random embarrassing things), and we were off. We headed directly north to cross the underground passage back to Cerulean City. From Cerulean City, we headed north and around east to get to Route 9. If there was one thing I knew about Route 9, it was that it led to Route 10. Now Route 10 in itself was not so scary (in fact it was rather pointless because it was so small), but instead the fact that Rock Tunnel was in the middle of the two Routes made all the difference. The Pokémon of Rock Tunnel aren't particularly strong or rare or difficult, but the main problem with it is that it's pitch-black. That's right; you can't see anything in it. But that's where my genius came in- I had Flash. Heh. The only other thing was a matter of deciding to whom I would to teach the move. I quickly decided it would be Pikachu and gave him the HM. I deleted Thunder Wave for it, but that was okay because he wouldn't be using that move in Rock Tunnel too much anyway. I headed towards the first female Junior trainer and initiated battle. We fought briefly, and I completely sacked her Pokémon. I jumped down the next ledge and grabbed a TM 30, which was randomly lying on the ground. I fought a Hiker, followed by two male Junior trainers, a Youngster, another Hiker, and one last female Junior trainer. Of course, I had to heal some between battles, but it was pretty easy. Anyway, I made my way to the Pokémon Center in front of the Rock Tunnel and healed my Pokémon. I knew it was time for the Rock Tunnel. I turned to Michael and Sabrina, who had fought the rest of the trainers on the route. Michael said, "What?" and Sabrina continued staring off into space. I shrugged and figured they were ready to go. As soon as I rounded the small bush to make my way into Rock Tunnel I was stopped by no one other than an annoying Jr. Trainer. It wasn't so much that it was going to be a difficult fight as it was that this meant I had to go heal again before I could continue into Rock Tunnel. I fought with the Jr. Trainer but upon turning to return to the Pokémon Center I noticed that Michael and Sabrina were nowhere to be found. I hollered for them but got no response. Shrugging, I ran into Rock Tunnel and instantly was bombarded by the unbroken blackness. All I could see was small reflections of light off the walls. Other than that, it was black. I laughed and commanded Pikachu to use Flash. He did so and suddenly it was light again. I audibly thanked God and headed left, where I saw an opening in the rock walls. I got stopped by a trainer and fought. I continued progressing through Rock Tunnel, hollering for Sabrina and Michael the whole time. I climbed down a ladder and entered the basement floor of Rock Tunnel. Still no sign of them. I furrowed my brow. I was almost getting worried, but I reminded myself that this was just how Michael acted. The only problem with my logic was that this did not seem like typical Sabrina behavior. More trainers stopped me here and there, but I still could not manage to find Michael or Sabrina. I climbed up another ladder and reemerged into the top floor of Rock Tunnel. I fought another Hiker and turned left. I hugged against a wall because I saw a Pokémaniac standing against another wall. I did my best to slide around the corner, but I thought he saw me anyway. I turned and suddenly a person appeared in my face and shouted, "Boo!" I jumped back and quickly realized it was Michael. I sweat-dropped and shoved him.
"You jerk! You scared the crap out of me!" I said. He continued laughing at my fright. I rolled my eyes. "And where the heck is Sabrina?" I demanded.
He looked at me and said, "What? You can't see her?" I gave him a strange look and he pointed at the wall in front of me. I gave him a double-shot, and he shrugged and raised his eyebrows innocently. I furrowed my brow and looked harder again. I couldn't see anything. After carefully studying the wall, I thought I saw the outline of a person, but it felt like my eyes were just playing tricks on me. Suddenly out of the wall Sabrina stepped into plain sight. I quickly gave her a double-shot too and blinked rapidly.
"No way. You were not standing there," I said, shaking my head. Of course, she didn't respond, but instead her eyes glowed a little bit purple. I hated it when she did that. It kind of creeped me out but made me feel weird…in a strange, almost good way at the same time. I gave Sabrina a weird look and shoved my hands in my pockets quickly. I cleared my throat vocally and said, "Well, um, let's go." I proceeded forward but was instantly stopped by the Pokémaniac I had forgotten to try and avoid in all the confusion with Michael and Sabrina. I had to fight his Slowpoke. Fortunately Weepinbell's Vine Whip had been doing me well against those Slowpokes, so I won easily. After that battle I climbed back down some stairs to the basement level and continued proceeding through the tunnel. I fought three more battles and was out of the tunnel. The moment I stepped into daylight I stretched my arms out, breathed in deeply, and yelled, "THANK YOU GOD!" Michael laughed at me. I narrowed my eyes at him. Fortunately we were not far from Lavender Town, which meant we weren't far from Celadon City, either. I went left around the rock wall in front of me and headed toward Lavender Town. I narrowly avoided another trainer and jumped a small ledge to enter into Lavender Town. I made a beeline for the Pokémon Center. I healed all my Pokémon and sat down on one of the benches inside the Pokémon Center. Michael collapsed next to me and Sabrina sat on the floor in front of us. Michael instantly sat up and slapped me on the back.
"Zachi, you know men should let women have a seat. It's proper etiquette," Michael said facetiously.
I narrowed my eyes at him and said, "Yeah, Michael, that's why you should get off your lazy butt and let Sabrina have your seat instead…" At that he turned to facing the wall with his arms crossed. I shrugged and sighed with relief. Before I knew what was happening, Sabrina got up and started trying to sit down right between Michael and me. The both of us leapt up, cringing. I then sweat-dropped and realized she knew what she had to do now to get us to give up our seats. I walked out of the Pokémon Center and looked out at Lavender Town. I wondered where Timothy was and if he had gotten any more badges. The place had an eerie mist around it. A light haze—lavender in color, of course—hung around the whole town. The air was stale, and there was nobody outside his/her home. I spaced out for a moment, taking in the strange scenery of the place, and then walked towards the Pokémart. I went inside, the bell dinging behind me as it always did, and walked up to the counter after grabbing some items to buy. I placed the stuff on the counter when a strange-looking item on the shelf behind the counter caught my eye. It was like a Pokéball, but instead of being red and white, it was blue and white!
"What's that item right there?" I asked the cashier, who was pale with beady black eyes, as I pointed at the strange ball.
"That's a Great Ball," he replied flatly.
I resisted giving him a strange look and said, "How much are they?"
"Five-hundred yen."
"Hmm…give me three of them." He grabbed three all in one hand and set them on the counter.
"Your total comes to 3,600 yen." I tossed the money on the counter and scooped up the items, putting them in my backpack.
"Thanks," I said casually and walked out. He didn't say anything to me. I stepped back outside into the eerie air. Something huge caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. I turned to look. It was Pokémon Tower. My eyes narrowed as I looked it up and down. The foundation of it was rock, and the first floor was built into the rock, but it extended for several stories upward after that. The eerie lavender haze seemed particularly thick the higher towards the top of the tower to the point that I couldn't see the top floor. The door into the first floor seemed ominous—it was made of a dark, unpolished oak and had a massive iron door handle. I nervously pursed my lips and moved them about as I examined it. There was basically nothing else to this place. I wondered why on earth anybody would want to live here, but then I remembered that practically nobody did. Michael and Sabrina came out of a house a ways off and started making their way toward me. I snapped out of thinking about Pokémon Tower and walked towards them.
"Hey Zachi, we just came out of the official Pokémon fan club's Lavender Town headquarters!" Michael announced with enthusiasm.
"Ooo..kaaay…?" I puzzledly asked, groping the air for more.
"All right, you ready to tackle Pokémon Tower?" he asked, nodding towards it.
I grinned excitedly. "I thought you'd never ask," I said, giving a slightly cocky grin. Sabrina followed us towards it without a word. Michael beat me to the door and opened it. The hinges didn't squeak or anything. The inside was lit with halogen bulbs whose glare was kind of blinding compared to the dimness of the natural light outside. The receptionist glumly greeted us with "Welcome to Pokémon Tower," and that was it. I nervously faked a smile and greeting, and Michael gave her a passive wave. Sabrina didn't say or do anything, except I think she looked at the woman. Michael and I looked around the first floor, which was basically empty. There was a woman quietly sobbing against the wall in the corner. I guess they really did bury dead Pokémon here. I couldn't imagine being buried…in a building. That would just be strange to me. The trio of us walked solemnly and a little quaintly up the flight of steps that lead to the second floor.
"Be careful…" the receptionist casually remarked as we walked up to the second floor.
I took the last couple of steps up the stairs and emerged on the second floor. There were tombstones on top of the tile, as odd as it sounds, and I watched as people sobbed over the graves of their lost Pokémon. Talk about being caught up in the past. I took a step forward and saw a strange old lady in a corner meditating. She had Pokéballs around her waist sash and seemed very intense. I wearily stepped forward and stopped once more as a noise swept past me. I suddenly got cold and looked back at Michael and Sabrina, who had both been silent the whole time. Sabrina's eyes were glowing an intensely bright purple. I swallowed harshly. I got the feeling she didn't do that often, plus it made that condemnable funny feeling come back! Adrenaline flared in my chest when she did that…made me feel rather odd. I thought about it for a split second as a cold wind blew by us all (except nobody's hair was blowing in it) and started thinking that she looked really interesting...wait, no…attractive? Hot? I couldn't decide. There was something about the passion in those glowing eyes that just sort of enraptured me.
I quickly broke the very brief trance she had sent me into feeling very strangely, but nevertheless my focus was torn as a black apparition began to appear in front of the three of us.
"What the heck!" Michael exclaimed, reaching for his Pokéballs. He pulled out Nidorino's Pokéball and tossed it on the ground. "Nidorino, go!" Nidorino popped out of the Pokéball with a fierce cry but then saw the apparition and froze, stiff up. It began to tremor and retreated as the black shadow moved in. "Nidorino, use Poison Sting! What's wrong with you?"
I turned to Michael, my fear beginning to build, and grabbed him by the shoulders and looked him in the face. "He's too scared to fight! Let's the get the heck out of here!"
"Nidorino's not 'too scared to fight'," he retorted mockingly. "Nidorino, come on, attack!" Nidorino continued to cower away. I scoffed at Michael's stubbornness and turned on my heel, making a run. The black apparition leaped (if apparitions can do so) and attacked Nidorino, sending him head over heels into the wall. The adrenaline flared in my chest as I feared for my life, but I stopped and frantically motioned towards Michael, who was urging Nidorino to get up and fight.
"Come on! What the crap are you waiting for! Let's go!" I continued to motion frantically. Sabrina casually and slowly turned around and exited towards the stairs. Michael gave a grunt of frustration and recalled Nidorino, running to join Sabrina and me. "Now come on, let's go!" I said, shoving him along the stairs and running quickly.
"I'm going to get that stupid ghost! Just you watch Zachi; he's going to be dead!" Michael growled, shoving the door of Pokémon Tower open as we stepped back into the eerie mist of Lavender Town.
Heaving a sigh of exhaustion and relief, I commented, "He's a ghost; he's all ready dead…"
"Maybe you should heal Nidorino at the Pokémon Center, Michael. He's paralyzed."
Michael and I both looked at Sabrina slightly strangely. It was the first time she had actually spoken in a while.
"Uh… all right. I guess that would be a good idea…" Michael stammered out, a little dumbfounded at her perceptiveness. I figured it came natural for a psychic to know that. The three of us walked to the Pokémon Center, and Michael gave the nurse his Pokéballs for healing.
"Well thank God we made it out of there alive!" I said, heaving another sigh, raising my hands, and looking to the ceiling.
"I'll second that," Michael chimed. Sabrina nodded a little. The nurse handed Michael back his Pokéballs, and he placed each one back on his belt. I watched him do so, and it occurred to me that Sabrina had no belt designed for Pokéballs, but her Pokéballs stayed at her waist anyway.
"Sabrina, how do you keep your Pokéballs at your waist?" I asked, pointing at them.
"That's my own little talent," she passively replied. I figured she was referring to psychic powers. I never really figured psychics could tap into their powers constantly. I guess you learn something new everyday. My thoughts drifted back to Pokémon Tower and the situation we had been in just minutes ago. I wondered why Nidorino had just frozen in terror and also if there were any way to circumvent that problem. I figured I'd find a way. In the meantime, it was off to Celadon City for the Rainbow Badge and a fight with Erika, the local authority on Grass-types. Pidgeotto and Parasect were going to be rather useful in that battle.
"Well Zachi? Where do you suppose we go next?" Michael asked, leaning on my shoulder and looking at me.
"Celadon City, of course," I said with a laugh. I shoved him off me and made my way to the door. I paused and turned back to him. "I'll race ya' to the underground passage," I said with a grin.
"You're on!" He devilishly returned the grin. I took off running out the door, and he ran after me. Sabrina followed quietly.
►To Be Continued…