Chapter 14
It was the middle of the night when Hina arrived in Lavender Town. As much as she did not want to go to the haunted Pokémon Tower at night, she knew she could not lose anymore time. It had been a while since she had seen Konan, who had probably already won a Marsh Badge and possibly other badges as well. This was far from the only anxiety plaguing Hina, though, as she continued to worry about her parents and Lee, especially after what she had seen in Saffron City.
First I'll capture a Gastly at the Pokémon Tower, thought Hina, then I'll go to a Pokémon Center, call my parents to see if everything's okay, and get a hotel for the night. If my parents don't respond, I'll have to contact the Pokémon Rescue Force.
Planning to make her run through the Pokémon Tower brief, Hina set down her backpack and pulled out a binocular-like device with the words "Silph Scope" printed on the top. Afterwards, she made her way toward the skyscraper in the northeastern corner of the town, which stood out among all the shorter buildings in the small city. The closer Hina got to the tower, the tenser she grew. The tower looked especially uninviting in the dark. Nevertheless, Hina knew what she had to do, and so without a second thought, she rushed in through the double doors.
Once inside, the tower no longer seemed unpleasant. The first floor consisted of a single room with several tombstones memorializing trainers' Pokémon who had passed away. Though somewhat depressing at first, the room had a certain charm to it once Hina began to observe the gifts, pictures, and flowers that decorated the tombs. These Pokémon were certainly loved and Hina wanted her own Pokémon to know that same kind of love.
Hina found it strange that the reception desk was unoccupied. If the tower was closed for the night, why would the front door have been unlocked? Nevertheless, Hina looked around the room through her Silph Scope for any signs of the paranormal, but she saw nothing. Removing the Silph Scope from her eyes, Hina saw a staircase leading up and a door leading to a downstairs staircase. She was not sure which way to go to find Ghost Pokémon, so she decided to try the basement first. Growing even more timid as time passed, wishing to get the initial scare of seeing a ghost out of the way, Hina slowly made her way through the door to the downward staircase. The stairs did not go down very far as Hina immediately came upon a large metal cage. As Hina gazed through the bars on the front of the cage, she was shocked by what she found.
"Lee!" she shouted, catching the attention of the green Fighting-type Pokémon, who had been sulking in the corner of the cage until he heard the familiar, friendly voice.
"Hina?" he said confused. "How did you find me here?"
"I just kind of stumbled upon you by accident. How did you get here?"
"I was captured by Team Rocket. Is this their lair?"
"Not as far as I know. This is the Pokémon Tower in Lavender Town. Although now that I think about it, Team Rocket has been known to operate here. This is where my father rescued Cubone from being put to death, just like he did for you."
"He might as well have just left me to die back then. He was only prolonging the inevitable."
"You're not going to die here, Lee! I'm going to break you out, just like my father did!" With that, Hina pulled out a Poké Ball.
"You say that you are going to free me, but you are no different than Team Rocket. You plan to put me in that Poké Ball, don't you? It does not matter as I am a prisoner either way."
"You don't have to go in a Poké Ball if you don't want to," replied Hina as she tossed the Poké Ball, thus releasing Dugtrio. "I'm just going to break you out and then you're free to do whatever you want. Dugtrio, dig a hole for Lee to get out of his cage!"
"Trio trio trio!" the three-headed mole responded as it burrowed underground and created a hole in Lee's cage. Lee stared reluctantly at the hole, then at Hina, who seemed sincere enough about freeing him, but Lee still did not fully trust her. Nevertheless, Lee sighed deeply, stepped into the hole, and made his way to the other side.
"And that's it. You're free to leave if you want," said Hina as she withdrew Dugtrio and walked up the stairs. "The exit is upstairs. I won't be following you out though. I'm going to the upper floors."
Lee did not say a word. He just followed Hina up the stairs, unsure of whether or not he could trust her. She seemed nice enough, but she still kept Pokémon inside of Poké Balls to call at her convenience. Perhaps she was just naïve and was only doing what she was raised to believe was right. After all, she was only a child.
"I'll let my mom know that you're okay," Hina continued, interrupting Lee's train of thought. "I'm sure she'll understand if you choose not to return home."
Lee slowly walked towards the door. As he placed his hand on the handle, he sighed and looked back at Hina, who was making her way toward the upward staircase. He then darted across the room and caught up with Hina, following her up the stairs. Upon arriving on the second floor, Hina looked at Lee in confusion.
"Did you change your mind?"
"I am not sure what to believe. A part of me still wants to believe that you and your parents are good people. The only time in my life I was ever happy was when I was training with your mom. Therefore, all I ask is that you take me back to Ayako-sensei. I wish to give her one last chance. However, I still do not approve of the way you all imprison your Pokémon and force them to battle and do chores for you. I may still leave even once I am reunited with Ayako-sensei."
"What happened at the tournament anyway, Lee? Are my parents okay?"
"Last time I saw them, they were. I do not know how much time has transpired since then, but I believe it was several hours ago at least."
"On a lighter note, did you win the tournament?"
"I guess you could say that. However, there was this one Pokémon who was not a part of the tournament whom I could not defeat or even lay a finger on."
"Was it one of Team Rocket's Pokémon?"
"Yes. In spite of all my training, I was completely powerless against him. He is the one who brought me here."
"We should probably get out of here before he returns. But first, I have to capture a certain kind of Pokémon that I can only find here."
Lee clenched his fists. "That is typical. I refuse to assist you in any way."
"I'm not asking for your help. Besides, I don't think you could help me here even if you wanted to. As a Fighting type, you would be at a major disadvantage."
"Why is that?"
"I'm searching for a Ghost Pokémon to use against Sabrina's Psychic Pokémon."
Lee's body stiffened as his knees began to tremble. "G-g-ghost? Did you just say that you are after a Ghost Pokémon?"
"That's right," Hina nodded as she began looking around the room through her Silph Scope. "This tower is haunted. Ghost Pokémon tend to stay invisible, though, so I can't see them without this device, the Silph Scope."
"You mean I cannot… see them?"
"You should be able to, actually," replied Hina as she temporarily removed the Silph Scope from her face and looked at Lee. "I believe Hitmonlees have a move called Foresight or something like that, which enables them to see Ghost Pokémon."
"Of course! Foresight!" Lee began to focus his energy into his eyes. Not a lot seemed to have changed for Lee until he looked in the distance behind Hina and saw a purple ghost with two dismembered hands floating towards Hina. "Ghost!" Lee shouted in panic as he pointed behind Hina. Hina quickly turned around and put on her Silph Scope as Haunted floated upward through the ceiling.
"I don't see a ghost," she said as she scouted the entire room with her Silph Scope.
"Well I did!" Lee replied, trembling more than before. "It is gone now though!"
"Which way did it go?"
Lee pointed his trembling hand upward.
"Through the ceiling? Let's follow it then!" With that, Hina ran for the upward staircase on the other end of the room.
"You can follow it if you want! I am leaving right now!"
"Are you afraid of ghosts, Lee?" Hina giggled.
Lee blushed. "O-of course not! I just… do not wish to watch as you enslave yet another innocent Pokémon! I will be waiting outside!"
"Whatever you say," Hina replied sarcastically. "Just watch out for Team Rocket. You never know when they'll return."
With that, Hina headed up the stairs to the third floor. As Lee turned around to head back down the previous flight of stairs, he came face-to-face with the Ghost Pokémon from before, who was blocking his path. Lee stopped and stared at the ghost in a stunned silence. After a few seconds, the ghost made a silly face, its tongue hanging out its mouth as its eyes bulging outward in a cartoon fashion. Lee screamed as he ran towards the other stairwell after Hina.
"Hina! He is down here now!"
"Haunt haunt haunt haunt!" the ghost laughed as it watched Lee scurry up the stairs.
"Lee? What's the matter?" Hina asked, once again removing the Silph Scope from her face and looking at the cowardly Fighting Pokémon as he ran up the stairs behind her.
"The Ghost Pokémon from before… he is… downstairs again!"
"Are you sure?" asked Hina. "I didn't see him anywhere on this floor. I didn't know Ghost Pokémon were so elusive."
As Hina spoke, Lee watched in terror as the ghost rose from the floor behind Hina and slowly approached her, a look of malice in his face as he raised his hands up to grab her.
"Look out!" Lee shouted as he pushed Hina out of the way and swung several kicks at the Ghost Pokémon, each of which went through their target, having no effect whatsoever.
"Oww…" Hina muttered as she stood back up and looked through her Silph Scope at the seemingly empty space in front of Lee that he had been kicking at. At last, she spotted the Ghost Pokémon Lee was talking about. Hina's heart jumped in fright, which she tried to cover with excitement. "It's a Haunter! I was just hoping for a Gastly, but if I can capture its evolved form, that would be even better!"
"Haunter!" the Pokémon turned visible, at which point Hina was able to put away the Silph Scope. She then pulled out one of her Poké Balls.
"It's no use, Lee! Your attacks won't work on him! Let one of my Pokémon handle this!"
Lee growled in frustration. It is just as Gallade said. No matter how hard I try, there are certain Pokémon I just cannot beat. Psychic Pokémon are among them, and so are Ghost Pokémon.
Haunter began drooling senselessly as he floated towards Lee. Lee became paralyzed in fear as Haunter licked Lee affectionately, much to Hina's surprise.
"I don't know if that was an attack or a display of affection," she said, her arm trembling as she hesitated to throw her Poké Ball. "Either way, it's a good thing you have the Limber ability or else you'd be paralyzed now."
Despite Hina's reassuring words, Lee screamed loudly as he ran behind Hina. "Hurry up and send one of your Pokémon after him!"
Hina nodded as she finally tossed the Poké Ball she had previously pulled out. "Pidgeotto, I choose you!" From out of the ball emerged Hina's red-crested pigeon Pokémon. "Pidgeotto is part Normal type, so he should be resistant to Ghost attacks. Pidgeotto, use your Gust attack!"
"Pidgeoh-joh-joh-joh!" the bird cawed as it flapped its wings rapidly, created a small tornado, which blew towards Haunter.
"Haunter!" the Ghost Pokémon shouted in terror as it was swept away in the whirlwind and sent careening into the wall. Haunter slid down the wall in a slow and comical fashion as its pupils began to roll around in its eyes while small, tweeting Pidgeottos flew in circles above his head. Sweat rolled down the heads of Lee, Hina, and Pidgeotto at the cartoony antics of Haunter.
"That's a strange way for him to utilize his witchcraft," Hina commented.
Haunter shook his head and darted towards Pidgeotto, who had no time to react. However, he floated through the bird and through its trainer as well, striking Lee instead. Hina turned around quickly to see if Lee was all right, but he did not seem to be injured. However, Haunted had seemed to disappear.
"Are you all right, Lee?" asked Hina as she pulled out her Silph Scope again.
Suddenly, Lee's eyes began to droop as his face during red. Lee began wobbling back and forth, hardly able to keep his balance, as he attempted to take on a Karate fighting pose.
"Who are you?!" he asked almost drunkenly.
"Excuse me?" Hina arched an eyebrow.
"I asked you first, you jerk!"
"Lee, what the heck is wrong with you?!"
"He's been possessed," a feminine voice answered. Hina looked towards the stairwell from which she entered the room to see Makoto yet again.
"Makoto? What are you doing here? I wasn't expecting you to come here!"
"Let's just say I got a little worried about you," Makoto replied. "I don't think I gave you a fair enough warning about how dangerous Ghost Pokémon are. And sure enough, your Hitmonlee has been possessed. You must not have known that Fighting Pokémon are useless against Ghost Pokémon."
"I-I knew that!" Hina defended. "I wasn't using Hitmonlee against Haunter! He was just out of his Poké Ball and Haunter went after him!"
"Well, whatever the case, the only way to exorcise a ghost is to beat it out!" Makoto pulled out and tossed a Poké Ball. "Go, Marowak!"
As the ball landed and opened, a Pokémon similar to Cubone, only larger, appeared in a flash of white light. Marowak glared at Lee and growled as it held out its bone club as if to challenge him.
"You wanna tussle, tough guy?" shouted Lee. "I will—I will fight you… after I take a quick nap!" Suddenly, Lee fell onto his back, closed his eyes, and began snoring.
"Strange," said Makoto. "I've never known a Pokémon to talk, even while possessed. No matter though. Marowak, use Bone Club!"
"Marowak!" the Ground Pokémon shouted as it ran towards Lee, holding its bone up high. As Marowak swung his bone downward at Lee's head, the snoozing Pokémon turned in his sleep, still snoring, causing the bone to miss by only a few inches. Marowak tried once again to hit Lee on the head, but Lee turned in the other direction, also just in time to barely dodge the attack. Frustrated, Marowak began trying repeatedly to hit Lee with his bone only for Lee to keep turning back and forth. Finally, Lee caught the bone between his feet, kicked it out of Marowak's hands, and leapt to his feet.
"You stupid jerk! Can't ya see I'm tryin' ta take a nap here?!"
Much to Marowak's confusion, Lee jumped onto his hands and began kicking wildly at Marowak as Lee walked towards him with his arms. Finally, Lee jumped forward and hit Marowak in the jaw with a powerful Mega Kick. Even with its skull helmet, Marowak was knocked out by the blow.
"He's stronger than I imagined," said Makoto as she withdrew Marowak and switched to another Poké Ball. "Let's try this one! Gengar, go!" Makoto tossed the ball, and out of it emerged a purple Ghost and Poison Pokémon with evil red eyes and a giant grin.
"Gengar? You have a fully evolved Ghost Pokémon?" asked Hina.
"Gengar is the reason I beat Sabrina so easily," replied Makoto. "There's no doubt in my mind that he can drive that Haunter out of your Pokémon's mind! Gengar, use Hypnosis now!"
"Gengar gengar!" the Pokémon laughed as its eyes began to glow white.
"Whudder you starin' at? Didn't your mudder ever teach you any manners?!" Lee locked eyes with Gengar and was caught in a hypnotic state. "Okay, back to that nap I was taking…" With that, Lee collapsed again, snoring even more loudly than before.
"Now use Dream Eater!" Makoto ordered.
"Dream Eater? Isn't that dangerous?" asked Hina.
"Perhaps," Makoto replied with a laugh. "But hey, it'll get that ghost out of him!"
"Gengar gengar gengar!" Gengar cackled as he flew into the sleeping Hitmonlee's body and disappeared.
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"Where am I?" Lee wondered as he looked around himself, seeing nothing but complete darkness. Suddenly, light began to show beneath his feed and it expanded outward in a circle until the area around him became visible. He stood in the middle of a coliseum, with millions of people and Pokémon in the crowd cheering for him. "I am a star! They love me!" Lee struck a few fighting poses. He was not sure why he was being cheered on, but he was a hero in these people's eyes, and that was all that mattered to him for the time.
Suddenly, Gallade entered the arena, wearing the same smug grin that irritated Lee to no end. Lee growled at Gallade as he charged at him, feet flying. Gallade dodged each kick as if he could predict Lee's every movement. Gallade's fist then became engulfed in ice as he punched Lee in the stomach. The Ice Punch was so devastating that Lee became completely frozen, trapped in the humiliating position of cringing in pain. Through the ice, he could still hear the boos of the crowd that had moments ago been cheering for him. Gallade laughed and walked out of the arena. Ayako then walked up to Lee, an angry look on her face.
"I can't believe you lost so easily!" she said. "You're useless! You've let me down for the last time! I want nothing more to do with you! Goodbye forever!"
With that, Ayako turned her back on Lee and walked out of the stadium. To Lee, Ayako's words were even colder than the ice that engulfed his body. A frozen tear glistened in Lee's eye as the crowd began to chuck trash at him, their boos and hisses continuing.
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After a few moments, Haunter emerged from Lee's body and flew away in a panic. Soon after, Gengar also emerged, cackling insanely as always.
"There, your Pokémon is free," said Makoto.
"Haunter is getting away though!" replied Hina as she withdrew her Pidgeotto and began to pursue Haunter. "I have to capture it so I can use it against Sabrina!"
"Not so fast," Makoto said in an almost sinister voice, which sent chills down Hina's spine. "It's your turn!"
Gengar floated in front of Hina, who became paralyzed in fear. "Wh-what do you mean it's my turn?"
"Gengar, Hypnosis and Dream Eater combination again!" shouted Makoto.
Gengar locked eyes with Hina, whose eyes turned completely white as she, too, fell comatose into her own nightmarish realm.
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"I finally have all eight badges!" Hina said proudly as she gazed over the Boulder, Cascade, Thunder, Rainbow, Soul, Marsh, Volcano, and Earth Badges. "Now I can finally face the Elite Four and have a shot at becoming Pokémon League champion!"
"You're too late!" an irritatingly familiar voice called out. Hina turned around to see Konan. "I've already defeated the Elite Four and become Pokémon League champion! As always, you were just a step behind me! Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to Johto to compete in their Pokémon League!"
"Wait a second!" shouted Hina as Konan began to walk away. Konan stopped in her tracks and glanced back at Hina impatiently. "I challenge you for your title for your title of Pokémon League champion!"
"Very well," replied Konan as the environment around them began to change into that of a Pokémon stadium.
Hina did not question why her surroundings changed or why she could not recall ever obtaining all eight badges. She just pulled out a Poké Ball and summoned Squirtle.
"Still using that old thing?" Konan taunted. "It hasn't even evolved yet! Go, Raichu!" Konan released Raichu from its Poké Ball. Raichu towered over Squirtle even moreso than it logically should have, as if Raichu were an elephant and Squirtle were an insect. "Body Slam now!"
"Raichu!" the Electric Pokémon shouted in a very low-pitched voice as it slammed its giant body down on the puny Squirtle.
"Squirtle, no!" Hina cried at the sight of her companion being squashed by such a massive opponent.
"Squirt…le…" Squirtle moaned to Hina after Raichu stood back up. Suddenly, Squirtle began to speak English. "How could you let this happen to me, Hina? I always protected you."
Suddenly, Hina's other Pokémon emerged from their Poké Balls.
"You let us down," said Pidgeotto.
"There's no way we're going to fight for a pathetic trainer like you anymore," Oddish added.
"Come on, everyone, let's get out of here," said Ditto.
"Once a failure, always a failure," said Dugtrio.
With that, Oddish and Ditto helped prop Squirtle onto Pidgeotto's back and all five Pokémon departed the premises. Meanwhile, Konan and Raichu laughed as the crowd cheered for Konan, paparazzi snapping photos of her, camera crews surrounding her and holding out microphones, asking for interviews and writing on small notepads. Hina turned away from the horrible sight only to see her parents looking down on her in disappointment.
"I'm very disappointed in you, Hina," said Isamu. "You've brought shame to our family. We're hereby disowning you as our daughter."
"Daughter?" asked Ayako. "What daughter? I don't have a daughter!"
Without another word, Isamu and Ayako also began to walk out of the stadium behind Hina's Pokémon. The crowd began chucking trash at Hina as she fell to her knees and began to cry.
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"Those two should be out cold for a while," laughed Makoto as she tossed the unconscious Hina and Lee into a dank room on the top floor of the Pokémon Tower. "Everything is coming together as planned. When Isamu and Ayako find out that we have their daughter and the talking Hitmonlee, they'll rush thoughtlessly into my trap!"
"Gengar gengar!" Gengar began to laugh maniacally along with Makoto. Covering the floor beneath Hina and Lee were strange symbols and hexagrams, pentagrams, circles, and triangles.