Disclaimer: Own nothing, I do not. Pokemon and all other references belong to their original creators, they do.


Chapter 12: Zapdos and Tunnels and Ghosts, Oh My!

"Ugh, there is absolutely nothing to do on this route."

Leaf was walking on a long, winding path going pass rocky terrain. It had been a few hours since she walked back to Cerulean from Vermilion and she was still making a rather long trek due to the occasional trainer battle and wild Pokemon encounter.

She was at least relieved that most of the debris and rubble had been cleared away as she walked through the city. She could have even swore that she saw members of the Elite Four heading into the Gym followed by a dull-eyed Misty, but she decided not to stay any longer in that city. She really didn't want people to ask her any questions or bring any attention to herself; just look ahead and move on, look ahead and move on.

She headed east and found herself traveling along Route 9, which provided tiresome twists and turns, with many small ledges to jump off. Leaf found herself going in circles at times and encountering many bothersome trainers along the way, including very creepy Hikers.

Leaf was unnerved by the bear-like men who would say disconcerting things, like "how they liked feisty kids like her" and "how the mountains were dangerous to go alone, that 'kids like her' just 'disappeared' all the time if under-prepared."

Why was no one keeping tabs on these huge, creepy men miles away from civilization coming in contact with children?

She was glad she held a type-advantage against their mainly Rock- and Ground-type, and didn't lose once to them.

But the worse part of this place, in her opinion, was that there was no new Pokemon for her to catch! How else was she supposed to build her undefeated army...err, complete the Pokedex without more Pokemon?

The sooner she got out of this rocky shithole, the better.

After a few minutes of wandering about, she managed to find herself facing a flowing canal on the other side. She had arrived at the next route; while there was still mountains looming over her, she was relieved to be out in an open space again with no ledges to jump over. She even found numerous Voltorb lounging about on the road and in the field which she mistook for random Pokeballs on the ground, something she found odd.

"How come there are so many of you guys just lying about out here?" Leaf said after she caught one of them in a Pokeball. "Well, no matter; let's head into the Pokemon Center and take a short rest before going into the Rock Tunnel."


After Leaf headed into the modest center station, she was shocked to discover not a pink-haired nurse, but instead a blue-haired one wearing a red apron and a small nurse's cap on her head.

"Hello, miss, would you like to heal your—"

"Who are you, and what have you done with Nurse Joy?" Leaf asked.

The woman behind the counter groaned. "Here we go again. Look, miss, there are only five Joy sisters stationed in Kanto; the rest are spread across the regions. Not every single nurse is one of those pink-haired weirdos. Did you honestly believe that?"

Leaf realized that she was acting a lot like Red probably would and decided to slap herself back to common sense.

Well, the true story of the Nurse Joy cloning program and the failed blue-haired not-Joys that resulted from this experiment, was a lot more complicated than that, but Leaf would never buy into that conspiracy theory. No matter how true it was.

"Right, right, sorry about that. It's been a long day. Yes, I would like you to heal my Pokemon."

As Leaf handed her team over to the eye-rolling Not-Joy nurse and was thinking about switching up her team, she heard a happy voice behind her say, "Hello there, Leaf. How've you been?"

She turned around to see a man in a lab coat and glasses waving at her with a friendly smile. She could have sworn she saw him before…

"Oh, um, hi…friend who I clearly remember meeting. I'm doing good, how are you?"

"…You don't remember me at all, do you?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I've met a lot of people on this journey and your face isn't all that remarkable," Leaf said with a shrug.

The man sighed. "I'm Professor Oak's assistant; I was there when you picked out your starter Pokemon."

Oh, that's where she knew him from. Yeah, he wasn't all that memorable.

Personally, I wonder how he managed to escape Professor Oak's death camp. Did you see the security on that lab? Mengele, eat your heart out.

"Anyways, I was asked by Professor Oak to meet you here and give you a present for all your hard work. Out of the three trainers who received Pokedexes, you have been the only one who has been actively collecting data."

Leaf felt herself swelling up with pride yet again at receiving praise for all her hard work. Her self-congratulations stopped when she asked the aide, "Wait a second, how did you know where I was going to be?"

"The Pokedexes have trackers in them that lets us at Oak's lab know where you guys are. Another one of Oak's 'genius add-ons'."

Oh, I see. Professor Oak was tracking this assistant even now. He had not yet truly escaped from the Jigsaw-esque villain that was the Pokemon Professor.

Leaf decided she did not like the thought of old men knowing where her location was all the time, but figured she wouldn't press the issue. She then asked, "So, what is it you're going to give me?"

The aide pulled out two items from his briefcase; one was an HM disc and the other was a gray oval-shaped object.

"A rock? That's not a very impressive item. I'll take the HM if you please."

The assistant was a bit annoyed that she didn't allow him to explain the objects. "Now hold on a second. You get the choice of one of these items: the HM Flash, which can light up very dark caves, or the Everstone, which halts the evolution process for a Pokemon holding it."

Leaf pondered that carefully. If she hadn't seen a picture of the majestic Dragonair and its evolution; fat, stupid Dragonite; she would have wondered why such a stone was ever developed. Still, even with that horrible consequence looming over her head if she ever caught a Dragonair she had to choose, "…The HM, if you please."

The aide sighed and handed over the disc. "It doesn't have any other significance in a battle, so use this move wisely. HM's cannot be unlearned once they are taught."

Leaf nodded. She figured that since she was going into the Rock Tunnel that the HM would prove more helpful. She did not want to wander a dark cave with who-knows-what lurking about in there.

With that errand out of the way, the aide was about to head off as he put away the Everstone. "I hope you have a good journey and keep expanding the Pokedex. If you excuse me, I have to go to the Power Plant now."

"Wait, Power Plant?"

The aide looked at Leaf. "Yes, the old Kanto Power Plant is located a few miles down the canal here. It's been abandoned for a while now ever since Kanto started getting its power from Johto. The professor wanted me to fetch some Voltorb and Magnemite so he can invest in some electric-powered traps."

I would like you all to pause for a minute and think of the ramifications of an entire subcontinent having only one power plant. What was their plan if a tsunami or something took it out?

"So that means there are Pokemon living in the Power Plant?" Leaf asked, her eyes becoming mad at the mentioning of Pokemon to collect.

"Well, yes," the aide said, blissfully unaware of the manic thoughts that lurked behind Leaf's cute face. "Many Electric-type Pokemon feed off the excess energy of the area. Some people say that the place is haunted because the plant keeps running at night, but I am a skeptic. Among the Voltorb and Magnemite are Magneton, Electrode and an outbreak of Pikachu…"

Leaf grabbed the man's arm so tight that the flesh of his fingers turned bone white and said quickly, "Takemewithyou! If you don't take me, you'll be interfering with my—no, the professor's—research on collecting data! I need to go there!"

"Alright, alright, you little savage, I'll take you! Just let go of my arm; you're cutting off circulation!" The aide sighed. His mission was about to become even harder.


"Alright, I caught a Pikachu! I wonder what else I can find around here…" Leaf said as she picked up the ball containing her latest catch. The aide just ignored her as he salvaged usable gears and parts from scrap heaps.

Leaf had found the Power Plant to be a fascinating place and thought it was a shame that it was out of commission. The place was a good size with many tight corners, something that Leaf could see becoming a problem in a work environment with dangerous, highly electrical machinery. Regardless, she felt that this place was only collecting dust and letting good equipment go to waste.

She had managed to catch a few Pokemon during her exploration of the area; while running into many Voltorb, she also found a grey magnetic creature the Pokedex identified as a Magnemite and of course the adorable Pikachu she had wanted ever since seeing Surge's.

As she wandered a bit further, she caught something rolling away from the corner of her eye. It looked like a Pokeball, only it was bigger; it was more like a small boulder.

"Could that be an evolved Voltorb?" Leaf wondered aloud, though the aide was hardly listening. She then went after the rolling item and followed it to a section of the plant were it was completely dark and several yellow tape closed it off.

Leaf paid no mind to it, as her curiosity was way more in control than her common sense. As soon as she stepped over the tape and headed into the dim area, she heard the aide's footsteps behind her and a worried voice saying, "H-Hey, you can't go in there!"

Leaf paid no mind as she looked around the medium-sized area. It was hard to take in all the scenery, but she could make out several large generators at the far end along with a…with some kind of shadowy form.

"It's just a machine, Leaf, it can't hurt you…" Leaf told herself.

Leaf seemed to forget that she lived in a world inhabited by monsters, monsters that may or may not be able to take the form of machinery. Besides, did she even read creepypastas or watch horror movies? Monsters are always residing in abandoned places like this.

Really, the girl was just triggering death flags left and righ t.

As Leaf's eyes adjusted to the darkness, she heard the sound of something rolling on the tile floor. She turned around to see the large ball in front of the shadowy thing, a wicked smile on its face.

Leaf held up the Pokedex and its familiar robotic voice came out: "Electrode, the Ball Pokemon. It stores electrical energy inside its body. Even the slightest shock could trigger a huge explosion."

Leaf gulped and took a further step back. Perhaps coming into a small space with this Pokemon was not the best idea she had…

As she took cover behind the safety of a large machine, the aide stomped in and in a loud, accusatory voice, "Leaf, you are in big trouble, young lady! I—hey, is that a Pokeball?" and he reached out to grab the Electrode before Leaf had time to warn him.

She braced herself as the ball made a loud noise and a great force sent the aide flying into the wall, unconscious and his hair standing on end. She found it a miracle that he was still breathing.

At that moment, her attention from the man was taken away by the noise of electric sparks dancing from the other side of the room and horrible screeching that sounded like thunder. Peering from her hiding spot, her breath was taken away and her eyes took in the glorious beast before her.

It was a Flying-type avian, a large one with bright yellow feathers in jagged, messy plumage. It had dark rings around its narrow, angry eyes and its thin orange beak was open, producing the screeching.

"Zapdos, the Electric Pokemon. One of the legendary bird Pokémon. While it is flying, it makes crackling and snapping sounds."

Oneof the Great Birds of Kanto, in the flesh. Leaf could feel her heart racing and a mixture of awe, greed and fear fought for dominance in the young girl as her mind weighed the pros and cons of trying to catch this god.

You will go down in history for having caught and cataloged a legendary, Leaf!

Yeah, there's that, or I might be zapped to death!

Don't let this opportunity go! Don't—

Leaf was pulled out of her self-arguing when she heard a flapping of wings and then, just out of fucking nowhere, Zapdos was a foot away from her, its eyes leering into her own terrified ones.

Leaf realized that there was no way she was ready to take on this monster. She didn't have high-performance balls on hand, her Pokemon were not on the same level as this bird and she wouldn't doubt this legend saw her as nothing more than a Rattata that crawled into its home and would have no problem crushing it if she was going to bother it.

Leaf may have been proud and (at times, over) confident in herself, but she knew when it was time to back the fuck down.

"I-I am sorry to bother you, Zapdos, but…I'll be leaving now with my friend. We won't hurt you if you'll just let us leave."

The bird blinked, staring down the human child that stumbled into its nest. It thought about whether she would make a nice meal, decided that there wasn't enough meat on her anyways—there was a good amount of fat on her, though—and stepped away, its talons clacking on the ground as it went into its nest of gears and wires.

Leaf called out Feather, hands up in a sign of peace. The Pidgeotto squawked a bit in surprise at the bird watching her, but settled down when she was realized her master's life was at stake.

"Feather, go grab that nice man over there. We're going to leave our friend Zapdos alone now." Feather gave a nod of agreement and grabbed the injured aide with her feet, flapping up into the air.

Zapdos watched unmovingly before pointing at something with the tip of its wing. Leaf followed the point to see an emergency back exit right there. She sighed in relief at the convenient spot and proceeded to slowly make her way to it, bird and man in tow. Zapdos nestled back into comfort and pretended to close its eyes, keeping watch as the humans headed for the door.

However, as the human child headed outside, Zapdos caught her mumble, which she thought she was keeping to herself: "One day, I'll be back to catch that thing when I'm more prepared."

Zapdos let out a deep throaty chuckle, confident as its power as it leaned back into its throne of metal and plastic. He slowly closed his eyes and the space went back to black silence as its wings' light faded.


"Alright, well, that was…yeah, definitely not going back there until I'm subsequently more prepared," Leaf said, sighing and stretching her arms as her team looked at her in concern. She had just proceeded to drop off the aide at the Pokemon Center for treatment.

While he would live, the nurse said that he may have some head trauma and would probably forget what happened at the plant. Leaf considered this a good thing; she didn't want that guy to spread around the news of freakin' Zapdos living in the Power Plant before she could catch it. She said to the nurse to tell him that he upset a bunch of Electrode (technically true) and got knocked out before Leaf carried him back.

What can I say? She was a competitive girl at heart, the conniving minx.

"Now that that's out of the way, I have a few quick things to do before heading off into the Rock Tunnel."

She turned to her new team member, the Pikachu she caught in the plant and named (rather appropriately) Electra, whom she replaced Walker with. "You're going to light our way through the tunnel, so you'll be stuck with this move for a while. You ready for this, Electra?"

"Pika pii!" Electra nodded cutely and jumped up, excited to be out of that death trap of a place and going to see new sights. Leaf nearly died of cuteness as she stuck the HM disc into the Pokedex and taught the Pikachu new move. "Alright, all set there. Now then, Cyan, come here."

Cyan's nose twitched as she walked over to her trainer. Leaf rummaged through her bag and pulled out the Moon Stone she had been carrying around. "I've been saving this for a right time. The Pokedex said this rock will contribute to your evolution, so let's see what will happen when it touches you."

She held out the Moon Stone to her Nidorina gingerly and preferring not to touch the Pokemon herself. Cyan sniffed the object and sneezed a bit due to feeling a strange tingling inside her when she got near it.

"Nii!" she cried before nuzzled it happily. As soon as she touched it, she was engulfed in the white light that Leaf grew accustomed to whenever her Pokemon changed and as it disappeared, she saw not the little blue Pokemon but now a creature about a foot taller than Leaf with a dark blue skin color, light brown chest plates and lower torso. Her tail had grown large and thick and her forearms had developed past the stubby short mass into long, firm arms. Her ruby eyes were now earthy brown, her spikes were no longer as prominent; there was only one on her oval ears and the only spikes raced down her back.

"Wow, Cyan, you look great. Too bad I still can't really hug you," Leaf muttered the last part under her breath as she took a look at her Pokedex: "Nidoqueen, the Drill Pokemon. Its hard scales provide strong protection. It uses its hefty bulk to execute powerful moves.

Notice: Cyan wants to learn Body Slam, but cannot learn more than four moves. Would you like it to forget a move to learn Body Slam?"

Leaf clicked the buttons and taught her new Nidoqueen the move. Cyan clapped and went in for a hug. The girl eased back in a "wait a second, crazy affectionate Pokemon" gesture and carefully hugged the Pokemon, making sure to avoid the spikes. Bloom, Hazel, Feather and Electra made cries for their friend's evolution, though Banana just pounded the ground with her fists. Fuck all this group bonding shit, she wanted to go through this tunnel already!

"Well, I'm glad you're happy, Cyan. Now then, let's head into the Rock Tunnel and get to Lavender Town!"

The Pokemon agreed and they went through the alcove that led into the tunnel.

Leaf noticed right away how dark the tunnel was; the only light coming from the entrance. She turned to Electra and ordered her to use Flash. As soon as the Pikachu used her power, part of the cave became illuminated from the glow of the mouse Pokemon's body.

The trek through the cave was difficult even with a light source. It wasn't so bad; she found a few valuable items on the ground and was able to catch a gray little humanoid called Machop and even an Onix. Still she felt like she was back in Mt. Moon as she repeatedly descended into a lower level a few times. I really need to invest in buying a map, she thought as she ran into another dead end. Yet again.

She was in that tunnel for five hours, all the while having a shitty time tripping over annoyed Geodude, getting dirt and grime all over her, running into creepy hikers who hadn't seen a busty young girl in quite some time and even stumbling upon a cult.

Yes, a fucking cult.

Leaf ran into them standing around a small fire in part of the tunnel's dead ends. They were wearing orange and red cloaks and disguised their faces with Flareon masks. It looked like they were holding yellow stones, which Leaf recognized as Fire Stones, and the leader was holding a dead Pidgeot in his hands.

Leaf was about to turn and run off when she was spotted by the leader. All Flareon masks were on her as the leader said pleasantly, "Hello, child. Have you come to seek enlightenment from the Fiery Prophet?"

Leaf would have found this entire ceremony a crock of Ponyta shit if it weren't for the isolated setting and the fact this guy was holding a knife in the other hand. She had seen a real god with her own eyes, so anything else was hardly worthy of her praise, let alone a Flareon, no matter how cute it was.

"Yeah, no. I'm just lost...so I'm going to go now. Bye." Before Leaf could leave, the leader caught sight of her Eevee, who was walking by her side at the worst possible moment.

"Ah, you have one of the Chosen Ones. Come, give it to us to evolve!"

"…No. Go fuck yourselves."

With that, Leaf scooped up Hazel and dashed as fast as she could, pursued by cloaked figures chanting, "Evolve! Evolve!" and holding up their stones.

She managed to lose them by hiding behind a large boulder. As soon as they were out of sight, she looked at Hazel and said, "Geez, I didn't know how many nutjobs were in Kanto! I will be the one to decide what you turn into, not some delusional freakshow crowd."

"Vui, vee!" Hazel said, nuzzling affectionately into Leaf's chest. She was just so happy to have a trainer to protect and love her, unlike tat creep Bill who kept her locked up in a glass case all day. She just…felt so…happy…

With a sudden flash of light, Leaf fell to the ground on her bum, holding a weird purple feline with a split-ended tail, dark eyes and a red gem jutting from her forehead.

"Purrr," Hazel said as she continued nuzzling into Leaf's chest in content. Leaf could only blink in utter confusion.

"Geez, I need a break."


The girl continued onward and luckily managed to find her way to the brightly lit exit after more stumbling around. As soon as she got to the next town, she was buying a map. Seriously, she had no idea why she didn't get one sooner.

As far as Hazel's new form was concerned, Leaf was frustrated that the data did not immediately show up on the Pokedex, only giving her small bits of info: "Espeon, the Sun Pokemon. Data unknown at this time."

"Then how'd you know its name?!" she said through gritted teeth. She had gathered that Hazel was now a Psychic-type, since she learned Confusion and had "ESP" in her name. She send a message to Oak about this, hoping she would get a reply soon.

Yeah, a quick reply from Oak will only happen when Pikachu flew. Oh wait…

The sun was casting late shadows from the trees and Leaf read on the Pokedex clock that it was going on five o'clock in the afternoon.

"Well, I can see a tower just ahead of me. That must be Lavender Town. I'll stop there for the night." She darted ahead, taking out the trainers that challenged her. Most looked pretty out of it and when Leaf asked a shivering man in a Charmander hoodie what the problem was, he said quickly, "Yo, man, don't go to Lavender Town. I nearly got attacked by this white hand…just stay away!"

Leaf rolled her eyes. She was way too old for silly ghost stories; this creep was just trying to spook her or something.

"Yeah, nice story, bro, but I'm sure I'll be fine if any hands try to touch me. Later."

As she walked off to the town, the man shook his head at her and muttered, "You'll be sorry…you'll see, you'll be sorry."


The first thing Leaf noticed about Lavender Town was the PA system.

God was it annoying, playing this stupid, discordant music throughout. Many of the townspeople looked visibly disturbed by it while a few children were on the ground writhing in what appeared to be seizures. Geez, someone should shut this crap off and get those kids medical attention, she thought, doing her best to tune out the music.

Leaf quickly located the Pokemon Center by the northern entrance that she came in from, which was the only other building besides the Mart to the south that didn't have a purple thatched roof. Across from the Center was a large gray and bronze tower…and heading into that tower, much to Leaf's concern and curiosity, were people dressed in black uniforms with whips at their sides.

"Tsk, what are Rockets doing in this sleepy town?" she said to herself before entering the Center, figuring it was best to ignore that business for now.

The Center was much like the other centers, though there weren't as many people as usual. At the counter was a nurse with rather long, black hair covering a portion of her face. Leaf found this a little more than unnerving, but hey, she needed to heal her Pokemon.

And it wasn't the first time she ran into weirdo nurses anyways.

"Hello, nurse…whatever your name is. I'm here to heal my Pokemon."

"…" No response from the nurse as she took the balls and did the routine of healing them in the machine. She then handed them back to Leaf quietly.

"Uh, thank you. So, what's up with the Rocket members heading into that tower? What's in that tower?"

"…" No response again as the woman continued to stare straight ahead. Leaf was thoroughly uncomfortable, but managed to keep up a polite façade up as she headed for the door. "A-Alright then, you have a nice day, ma'am."

"…Thank…you…"

Leaf immediately spun around in shock from hearing the croaky voice. But when she looked back, there was no one standing at the counter. In fact, it looked like no one had been there at all.

"…" Leaf could feel her eyebrow twitch (which she was dreading was becoming a habit). She had no time for this crazy bullshit. She was already dealing with a lot on her plate; she didn't want to add paranormal activity to the mess.

As she walked outside, her attention was drawn back to that tower. She walked a bit closer and a sudden chill ran down her spine. Well, it is late in the day, so it might be a bit colder, she rationalized in her mind.

"Excuse me, miss?"

Leaf turned and looked down to see that the one to address her was a little girl wearing a frilly black dress and holding a creepy black doll with yellow eyes and a grotesque smile on its face.

"Oh, yes; can I help you, little girl?" she asked.

"Tell me something…do you believe in ghosts?"

Leaf let out a laugh, though found it was somewhat hysterical. "Of course not; don't be ridiculous. Sure, there are Ghost-type Pokemon, but to believe in ghosts in this day and age…"

The child smiled happily. "Hehehee, I guess you're right, miss. It must be my imagination then…that white hand on your shoulder…"

Leaf felt that chill running down her spine and for a second thought that there was something touching her. She spun around and touched her shoulders.

Nothing. There was absolutely nothing behind her or a hand touching her shoulders. She let out a relieved chuckle and turned back to the girl…only to find no one there.

In Leaf's recollections of these events she notes that she did not scream like the little girl she was and run away with tears running down her face. Certainly not.

When she finally collected herself from her definitely-not-crying state, she found herself out of breath by a "Volunteer House for Abandoned Pokemon." Now while Leaf did not care for volunteer work in the slightest right now, the word "Pokemon" always drew her in like an online porn subscription. Maybe there would be a nice old person inside that would tell her all about this crazy town and why Rockets were going into a tower in the first place.

At this point in her journey, she was expecting only weird things. And what she got when entering the building was pretty dang weird.

It was nice homey place with several toys and cots scattered around the room. There were even two kids playing with some Pokemon in the corner of the room.

However, what damaged this peaceful scenery was the presence of priestesses armed to the teeth with decorated staffs, prayer beads and ofuda. Some were muttering chants under their breath as they rubbed the beads. Talking to them was a kindly old man who was holding a flute in his hands.

"U-Um…hello there." Yep, Leaf had definitely entered Crazytown; there was no going back at this point, so she might as well just go with it until they tried to kill her.

The old man turned to her and smiled. "Oh, hello, young lady. Are you a traveler?"

"Y-Yes, my name is Leaf. Um, what's…going on here, a Buddhist training camp?"

One of the priestesses suddenly sprinkled water on Leaf and clapped her hands. "We were preparing to enter the Pokemon Tower and calm its angry spirits. A great sin has been committed inside the holy ground and the ghosts are outraged."

"…Ghosts?"

The old man nodded. "You look quite confused, miss. My name is Mr. Fuji; I am Lavender Town's village head and I run the volunteer house. The Pokemon Tower is a sacred place where the dead are laid to rest. There are people who have greatly upset that balance."

"Team Rocket, you mean?"

One of the children, who was holding a brown creature wearing a skull helmet, suddenly cried out angrily, "They're bad people! They went in there and started killing all the Marowak and Cubone for their skulls! Poor little Cubone lost his mommy…"

"Ruu…" the baby Cubone cried, hugging its femur club. Pointing her Pokedex at the creature revealed one of the saddest entries that Leaf had ever read: "Cubone, the Lonely Pokemon. It wears the skull of its deceased mother. Its cries echo inside the skull and come out as a sad melody."

Like holy shit; this entire Pokemon's existence was to pine for its dead mom and wears her skull to honor her. What kind of demented being conceived this type of creature in the first place?

Mr. Fuji nodded his head and added, "Both the Ghost Pokemon who live there and the spirits have taken strange forms and are causing havoc in the Tower's upper floors. For the safety of the residents and the Rocket members, I am leading the priestesses up there to calm the spirits and convince the poachers to leave."

"Yeah, um, that's noble and all, but Team Rocket isn't known for listening to reason from others. I think their leader makes poor recruitment choices," Leaf said. Well, Giovanni isn't entirely to blame for the idiocy of his grunts, but he should take charge every now and then.

"I did not say "convince them to leave peacefully, now did I?" Fuji said with a mischievous wink. Leaf couldn't help but snort. For an elderly man, he sure had balls. Wrinkly old ones nonetheless, but still.

One of the priestesses then spoke up. "We still have a few stragglers up there, Fuji-san. A young boy with the colorful name is still grieving at the headstone. He is even reciting Buddhist and Latin chants."

Wait, "colorful name"? Leaf thought "Excuse me, ma'am? His name wouldn't happen to be Blue, would it?"

The woman looked surprised. "You must be a psychic to guess correctly, young miss! That is his name, indeed."

Leaf let out a sigh. She might as well go see what that boy was up to if he was speaking in tongues. If he was possessed by a ghost, she was punching him in the face and peacing the fuck out, friendship be damned.


"Ge-wa di-yi nyur-d u dag La-ma sang-gyä."

The first thing that anyone would notice upon walking into the Pokemon Tower was the ominous chanting echoing off the walls of the indoor cemetery. "Drub-gy ur-nä Dro-wa chig-kyang ma-lü-pa De-yi sa-la go-pa-shog!"

"He was trying to confront one of the Rocket members and he sent his Raticate to Hyper Fang him in the leg. The man stabbed the Pokemon in the neck with a knife before fleeing up the stairs to the upper floors. The poor boy's been in shock ever since," Fuji said, shaking his head.

Leaf stared at Blue who was dressed in a white robe and kneeling in front of the grave, clapping his hands and muttering chants under his breath. She felt sorry for him for losing his Pokemon, even if it was just a dirty Raticate and not a complete loss. Nobody should have to witness a bunch of jackasses killing the Pokemon they took time into raising and loving.

On the other hand, grief does funny things to people. Leaf remembered how her Aunt Grace completely snapped when her beloved Rapidash had to be shot when it broke its leg and later that day her husband took off with a bunch of hookers and a kilo of cocaine, never to be seen again. Leaf really did not want a repeat of that incident nor did she want another Red on her hands, especially from someone as cool and level-headed as Blue.

"J ang-ch ub sem-ch og rin-po-ch e Ma-kye-pa nam kye-gyur-chig." Her hopes were dashed when he lifted up a tub of water he had near him and proceeded to dump the entire thing on himself, the deluge of water leaking onto the floor behind him and scattering the offerings left at other graves. "Kye-pa nyam-pa me-pa-yang G ong-nä g ong-d u p el-war shog!"

Not only was she dealing with a possibly cracked Blue, but Leaf looked behind her at the spiritual battle going on behind her.

Priestesses were screaming prayers and swinging their staffs around purple mist balls, which seemed to laugh at them. The balls, which Leaf (reluctantly) admitted were ghosts, would harass the women by lifting their hakama skirts, pouring buckets of water over their heads and even outright possessing them and forcing them to do ridiculous or lewd tasks.

Mr. Fuji had managed to break ahead by playing a flute to soothe them before he dashed to the next level. Most of the priestesses weren't as lucky.

Thankfully the spirits were leaving Blue and Leaf alone, though a few cheeky ones flipped up her skirt a few times and knock her hat off. Leaf just treated them like flies and shoed them away; not like she could do anything anyways. Her Pokemon were too scared to fight and how can you fight something without a corporeal form?

"Umm, Blue?" She put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, I'm really sorry about your Raticate…what was his name again?"

"Fang," Blue said with a sigh before crossing himself and bowing with his head to the ground. "He was a good Raticate, always trying his best. I won't forgive Team Rocket for this."

"Well, it's kind of dangerous here at the moment. I'm going to the Pokemon Center to spend the night before heading to Celadon tomorrow. You want to come?"

"No thanks, I'm staying here some more. Hey, can you do me a favor, you know, as a good friend?" he asked while whipping out a gigantic bottle of sake which he proceeded to pour onto the grave.

"Umm, sure, what is it?" Leaf asked while barely resisting the urge to hold her nose. Blue had obviously bought the cheapest bottle of sake they had at the front desk, and it smelled like a mixture of moldy rice and gasoline.

"Those Rocket guys were complaining about a Silph Scope being delayed in Celadon City and that they needed it to battle the ghosts." Blue paused to take a swig of the ghastly mixture in his hand. "If you can, I want you to get it and send it to me. I don't think that old man is going to beat them."

Leaf knew the chances of getting a Silph Scope were low. She'd probably have to tangle with Team Rocket and get into crazy situations. But Blue just looked so sad sitting at that grave drenched in water and buzzed off cheap sake.

"Well, what are friends for? Sure, I'll send it to you once I get ahold of it. I promise."

Blue smiled at her. "Thanks, Leaf. You're a good friend. If it was Red, he'd just laugh at me and call me a pussy."

Leaf stood up, ignoring a Jigglypuff skull being thrown at her head. "Don't do anything crazy while you're here."

"Don't worry, I won't." Blue then proceeded to pour another bucket of water over his head and muttered every psalm he knew, blissfully ignoring the supernatural chaos going on around him.

As Leaf was walking out she could hear Blue rambling as the cheap alcohol was obviously starting to effect his poor, 14-year-old constitution, "Oh, Fangy. I rehmemba when yous was jus' a little ratatatata... rataaata... fucking word..."


Leaf's Team

Bloom – Level 27

Ivysaur, Female

-Razor Leaf

-Leech Seed

-Ingrain

-Vine Whip

Ability: Overgrow

Feather – Level 26

Pidgeotto, Female

-Tackle

-Sand-Attack

-Gust

-Quick Attack

Ability: Keen Eye

Banana – Level 26

Mankey, Female

-Seismic Toss

-Leer

-Low Kick

-Karate Chop

Ability: Vital Spirit

Cyan – Level 26

Nidoqueen

-Body Slam

-Earthquake

-Poison Sting

-Bite

Ability: Poison Point

Hazel – Level 26

Espeon, Female

-Tackle

-Tail Whip

-Quick Attack

-Confusion

Ability: Synchronize

Electra – Level 25

Pikachu, Female

-Flash

-Slam

-ThunderShock

-Double Team

Ability: Static


Walker – Sandslash – Level 24

Hemlock/Hem – Nidoran? - Level 7

Papilia – Butterfree – Level 15

Munchie – Rattata – Level 8

Castrato – Jigglypuff - Level 15

Apis – Beedrill – Level 15

Flappy – Zubat – Level 9

Granite – Geodude – Level8

Fungii – Paras – Level 5

Severus – Ekans – Level 10

Mystique – Abra – Level11

Daisy – Bellsprout – Level 14

Herb – Oddish – Level 13

Buggy – Venonat – Level 13

Felix – Meowth – Level 12

Dokuro – Clefairy – Level 15

Dux – Farfetch'd – Level 10

Talia – Drowzee – Level 13

Doug – Diglett – Level 20

Sparks – Voltorb – Level 16

Electra – Pikachu – Level 24

Tesla –Magnemite –Level 22

Buff – Machop – Level 16

Boulder – Onix – Level 15


On the next chapter/episode/update of "Pokemon Misadventures": Stay tuned for Red's rampant abuse of wild Pokemon and insane ninja girls!