Disclaimer: I do not own nor am I affiliated with Pokémon or any of its parent companies. I am merely a humble storyteller. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy this journey with me.

Note: I am English, so some of the wording, spellings, and expressions will be those commonly used in England.

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Red! Lavender! Blue!

"And you said you're in Lavender Town, right, honey?"

"Yeah, mum, I did."

"You're already on the other side of Kanto. I'm so proud of how far you've come. Just don't bite off more than you can chew, okay? If you remember to not run off and do things without thinking, then not even the sky will be your limit."

Red grinned sheepishly in the glow of his mother's praises. It was amazing, wasn't it? You know, to have someone who would always be on your side, always be there cheering you on, but also there to bring you back down to earth if you tried to soar too high too quickly.

"You don't have to worry about that, mum," Red said. "Even if I wanted to, these guys here wouldn't let me."

His Pokémon team, who were sat around him also wanting to get a word in to Red's mother as they always did, cried out in their own Pokémon language, declaring they would indeed take care of their Trainer for her (Pikachu might have said something else and Lo only appeared confused at the whole situation).

"Aww, thank you all," she told them, her image on the screen smiling down at them. "I'm so glad my little boy has you as his friends."

"Mum," Red moaned, blushing. "I'm not a little boy anymore. I'm turning twelve soon."

"You'll always be my little boy to me," his mother said. "And you will try to make time to come home, won't you? Not even Leaf or Blue has returned for a visit yet, although I guess your journeys aren't something you can take a break from all willy-nilly."

"Don't worry, mum," Red said. "I've got to go back to Viridian to take on that Gym – I've heard rumours they've got a temp over there – and there's one on Cinnabar too, so I'll visit when I've got to take on those ones."

"Then, I look forward to that," Red's mother said, with another wide smile. However, what Red could not see was a hint of melancholy within that smile. "I suppose," she went on, "it's better that you're travelling Kanto than what your grandad wanted."

"Yeah," Red said. "Honestly, it was tempting to start my journey in Galar, but I don't have any regrets at all. If I did, I wouldn't have these guys with me." Red held out his arms and brought his team in a big hug, Pikachu having been caught in it too but resisting the temptation to give Red a shock in front of his mother. But when the call ended… "I mean, a fire bunny would've been cool, but I've got an awesome fire lizard instead."

Red beamed at Charmander, who smiled back unconvincingly.

Red and his mother spoke for a while longer before she had to leave to do 'mum stuff', whatever that was.

"Come on, everyone," Red said. "Let's go explore Lavender Town. Maybe we'll find a nice place to train as well."

That said, Red and his party left the Lavender Town Pokémon Centre, ready to explore the furthest east settlement in Kanto.

It was a tiny place, maybe marginally larger than Pallet. There was also a weird ambience to it, that made the hair on the back of Red's neck stand up on end. If you asked him, it almost felt as if this place had music constantly playing, an eerie melody that people would want to create scary stories and rumours about that would actually not be any good at all. Most of the buildings were only one floor cottages, although there was a tower Red could always catch sight of no matter where he went. People walked about with their Pokémon – a Drowzee here and a Machop there – but it was hard not to notice that most, if not all of them, appeared distressed.

"I wonder what's up with everyone?" Red whispered to his team. "Do you think something bad happened here?"

It was tempting to ask the Lavender Town inhabitants why they all were out of sorts, but would they even answer the questions of a boy who just popped up in their town? No, it was better to go about his day and not pester anyone.

He trekked past a few signs, giving them a quick glance:

Lavender Town, the noble home of those who sleep.

The new Silph Scope, make the visible invisible! Oops, sorry. It's make the invisible visible! That makes much more sense, doesn't it? Only at the Silph Corporation!

Does anyone know how to get Grimer slime out of the carpet? Yes, I spent money on this sign.

"There's not a lot to do, is there?" Red said to his team. "How about we check out that tower and then we find a place to train. We could even head back to Rock Tunnel for a couple of hours."

Within minutes, the tower stood before them. It seemed to reach into the sky, a building older than time, each window an eye that locked on to you and never broke its gaze, the doors a mouth that had eaten and eaten yet could never be satiated. An aura of rage, disgust, and fear radiated out from it like the heat from a nuclear reactor, but beneath those was a hint of something else, something both beautiful and pitiful.

His Pokémon paused, wary, looking up to their Trainer, silently asking him if they were to enter it.

Red stiffened. It was as if something was calling to him. But there was no voice he could hear. It was a non-existent voice that enticed him forward but also froze him to the spot.

Should he go inside? If he was not permitted to enter, then surely someone would tell him to leave, no harm no foul. And if he was allowed and something went wrong, then he and his Pokémon would work together to overcome it.

Taking a deep breath, Red stepped forward.

"Hey, Reddy!" a voice called out, one Red was certain this time he did register aurally. No prizes for guessing who it was.

Blue strode up to him, as smarmy as ever, Meowth keeping pace with the human's longer strides. Pikachu's eyes widened at the sight of the feline; Beedrill's tilted her head at it.

"What brings you here?" Blue asked, nodding at the tower. "Your Pokémon don't look dead."

"Dead?" Red repeated, the dread that had been filling him flushed out instantly.

"Yeah," Blue said. "What, don't you know?" He smirked condescendingly. "Poor Reddy, always lagging behind in every way."

Red scowled. "Well, if you're not going to explain, then you can just go away. I've got better things to do."

Yet, before he could march away, Blue pulled him back. "Hold on, Reddy. Don't go off sulking just yet. Don't worry, I'll explain it to you. Think of it as me gifting you some of my wisdom. Nice, right?"

Red continued scowling.

"Okay, this tower is called Pokémon Tower. So original, right? Just put 'Pokémon' or 'Poké' in front of anything and it's good, that's how it seems to work. But it's more than what you see in front of you: it's a cemetery for Pokémon. Huh, maybe calling it Pokémon Tower IS the way to go. I still don't know why it's called Pokémon Tower though. Why not Pokémon Cemetery? Honestly, when I first heard of it, I thought it was a place where you battle lots of Trainers before fighting the tower's boss."

"A cemetery?" Red said. He shivered. Maybe that explained why he felt as he did, although it did not explain why the Tower's mood was so strong.

"Yep," Blue said, slapping Red on the back. "Anyway, enough of that: how many Badges have you got so far? It's obviously not as much as me, but I'm curious."

"Three," Red said shortly.

Blue shrugged. "Decent for you, I suppose. One less than me though; I already got the Gym Badge from Celadon and backtracked here, you know, to get to Fuchsia for my next Badge."

"Good for you," Red muttered.

"Thanks," Blue said, as though winning Badges was as easy as scoring in an open net. "But I see you haven't advanced that much in terms of Pokémon, have you?" He jerked a thumb at Red's Pokémon. "Charmander's still a Charmander, you don't seem to have a Thunder Stone handy, and you still use a beginner's Bug-type." He shook his head. "I suppose it's nice your Cleffa evolved and… oh, what Pokémon is that?"

Blue's green pupils took in Lo, who shrunk and hid behind Red's leg.

"It's name's Lo, but I don't know what species it is," Red answered truthfully.

"Huh?" Blue said, rubbing his chin. "Looks weak though, so I don't know how much help it's going to be to you. Seriously, are you sure you want to try for all the Kanto Gym Badges. Your party doesn't seem to have what it takes."

"What?" Red growled. Pikachu, Beedrill, and Clefairy snapped at Blue; Lo stayed hidden; Charmander was close to tears.

"Don't get annoyed, Reddy," Blue said, grinning. "You can't blame me for thinking that. But anyway, I saw you wandering around Lavender Town and thought to myself 'Hey, maybe Reddy would like a battle?'. So, how about it?"

Red glanced at Pokémon Tower over his shoulders. It still whispered to him. But it would still be there while he battled. He was going to wipe that smug look off Blue's face.

"Fine, you're on," he said, and (three-fifths) of his Pokémon leapt up, ready and willing to fight.

There was no coin toss to see who would pick their Pokémon first. Where was the fun in that? The rivals sent forth their first combatants simultaneously: Clefairy versus Pidgeotto.

"I heard your Pidgeotto gave Misty a tough time," Red said.

"Gave the Celadon Gym Leader just as much hell," Blue said with a smirk.

Pidgeotto spread its wings and shrieked proudly.

"I'll get this party started," Blue said. "Pidgeotto, use Wing Attack."

Pidgeotto took to the air and swept towards Clefairy, striking it with its wings.

"Magical Leaf," Red called.

Clefairy fired off its usual glowing green leaves, and they pursued the soaring Pidgeotto until they caught up with it. Nevertheless, Pidgeotto squawked and landed in front of its Trainer, looking no worse for wear.

Red gritted his teeth. Clefairy only had one damaging move, and it did hardly anything to Pidgeotto. Clefairy could not take it down with a not very effective move. Maybe substituting it was the better option? Or maybe they could use a few status techniques to soften it for whomever would follow her…

"Clefairy, use Flash!"

"Wing Attack again, Pidgeotto!"

Clefairy illuminated herself in a blinding glow as Pidgeotto soared at her, wings outstretched. And yes, blinding is a good word to describe such a technique, isn't it? You know, considering what it does and all. Except, Pidgeotto eyes did not shut in pain, its attack was not stalled, nor did its attack miss; its wings once again cuffed Clefairy, knocking her onto her back. At its Trainer's command, the avian Pokémon came back for round two.

"Ah, Clefairy!" Red shouted. "Use Flash again!"

And Clefairy did. But it might as well have done nothing for Pidgeotto rammed its wings into the fairy, harder than it had hitherto. Clefairy winced as she rose laboriously to her feet. A quick Life Dew gave her some energy back.

"What's happening?" Red demanded to know of Blue. "How come your Pidgeotto's not affected by Flash?"

"Who knows?" Blue said, flashing Red a knowing smile.

Fortunately for Red, his Pokédex was not as mean to him:

Pidgeotto can have the Ability Keen Eye. Their accuracy cannot be lowered and an opponent raising their evasion against them will have no effect.

"You couldn't have told me that?" Red said.

"Nah. Not as fun for me. Besides, I taught you about the Pokémon Tower. That's more than enough for you."

Well, this was just great. Absolutely marvellous. Two attacks were not handy against the bird Pokémon at all. It looked like it was time for Pikachu to –

Blue shouted something and Pidgeotto sped forward like a blur, jabbing Clefairy with its beak. As Clefairy reeled, it came back around and performed another Quick Attack, launching the Fairy-type forwards.

"Stop spacing out, Reddy," Blue said, giving him a cocky wink. "You can check your Pokédex later. Focus on the battle or I'll win before you know it."

Pikachu kicked Red to add to Blue's message. The rest of his Pokémon called out to Clefairy, cheering for her, ushering her on. Clefairy beamed back at them before setting her sights back on Pidgeotto.

Fine. A different strategy, then.

Another Wing Attack was imminent. Well then, how about another status move instead?

"Use Charm."

As Pidgeotto prepared its attack, Clefairy winked and cooed at it. But was Pidgeotto unaffected by it like with Flash?

As it glided at Clefairy with its wings outstretched, it was abruptly struck by how cute the fairy was, and its body seemed to become heavier. Wing Attack connected yet again, however, Clefairy was much more comfortable withstanding it, and for good measure countered with a Magical Leaf.

"Aw geez," Blue moaned. "Whatever. Pidgeotto, U-turn."

A subtle green glow surrounded Pidgeotto, and it rushed at Clefairy and jabbed it with its beak, doing negligible damage. Red was about to gloat about how weak that attack was when Pidgeotto dematerialised and disappeared into its Poké Ball, replaced instantaneously by another Pokémon. All without Blue doing or saying anything else.

"What?" Red said, jaw hitting the ground. "What the… wait. U-turn? U-turn. Hey, that's a move that let's you switch out, isn't it?"

"Maybe."

The new Pokémon was one Red had encountered before: a Vulpix.

"Shocked you're not using your Raticate," Red said.

"Meh, it did all it needed to do," Blue said with careless shrug. "There's loads more Pokémon I've got that I'd rather use now."

"You… you just discarded it like that?" Red said, disgusted.

"I didn't discard it," Blue said."I substituted it and keep it in my Pokémon Box. It's still around. It's not like I released it or buried in Pokémon Tower. Come on, Reddy, grow up. To be the very best like no one ever was you must make sacrifices. Raticate can't keep up."

Red harrumphed but refused to push it. Despite how much his stomach churned, it did make sense in a way. But thinking of Raticate just sat there, doing nothing, unappreciated by his Trainer…

"Clefairy, Magical Leaf!"

It should have caught Blue by surprise, but he was not considered a prodigy for nothing; he had Vulpix burn the leaves into ash with a spherical white flame.

No, if Clefairy could not do much to Pidgeotto, then she sure as heck was not going to touch Vulpix. She had fought well.

He held out her Poké Ball to return her, only to lurch back as an intense heat blasted him in the face. From that tiny vulpine creature, a small, cutesy thing that looked more a cuddly toy than an intense fighter, came forth a fiery vortex that engulfed Clefairy.

"Clefairy, return!" Red screamed.

However, Clefairy did not return. For some inane reason, the fiery vortex would not allow her to leave, claiming her for itself. It permitted her screams of pain to drift over to the ears of Red and his team.

Beedrill buzzed anxiously, barely resisting from flying onto the field; Lo held tight to Red's ankle and hid away from the flames; Pikachu gritted his teeth; Charmander, however, gazed at the flames, enamoured.

"Life Dew!" Red screamed. "Come on, Life Dew!"

Clefairy heard her Trainer. She tried to perform the technique. Unfortunately, the heat was so intense it evaporated the watery sphere in the blink of an eye. Even more unfortunate was that the Fire-type attack was continually harming Clefairy.

"I think Fire Spin's done enough, Vulpix," Blue said. "End it with Flame Burst."

Poor Clefairy. Whilst still surrounded by the Fire Spin, Vulpix fired from its mouth another white fireball that exploded upon impact, raining loose embers everywhere; Red and his party jumped back to avoid being sprayed by them.

The flames died and the heat subsided, and the cool evening Lavender air kissed their faces. And face down on the ground was an unconscious Clefairy.

Red's Pokémon, to their credit, continued to deliver words of praise to Clefairy as Red recalled her to her Poké Ball, although Charmander could still not tear his gaze away from the spectacular fire show performed by the dazzling Vulpix.

"One-nil to me, Reddy," Blue said. "Sort of like how we started our previous battle."

"Except this time, we're going to turn this around and win," Red retorted. "Pikachu, you're up. Show them what for."

Pikachu darted forth, humming with electricity.

A Shock Wave and Flame Burst started the battle and cancelled each other out, followed by a Rock Smash blocking a Quick Attack.

"Confuse Ray," Blue ordered.

For a second, Red was taken back to the ancient times of when he fought against Proton and his Zubat at Mt. Moon. Oh, that blasted attack!

The same ethereal crimson orbs that gave Beedrill such a terrible time when she was a Kakuna coasted through the air, essences of psychological power that craved to take over someone's psyche and send them to temporary insanity.

The orbs connected with Pikachu. Actually, to be more accurate, the orbs connected with a Pikachu for multiple clones of him appeared, grinning sardonically at the Vulpix, who turned back to its Trainer, wordlessly asking him what the next course of action was for it to take.

"Just use Flame Burst on the middle one," Blue said.

Vulpix did exactly that, shooting off a white sphere that erased the centre Pikachu, one of the clones. However, upon exterminating the mirage, embers like before sprayed upon the other Pikachu, vanishing all but one, the real deal who winced as the embers sprinkled down on him.

"Nuts," Red muttered.

Nuts was right because a Fire Spin arrived next, rushing to greet this new friend and give him a great, big hug, this cyclone of flame. Pikachu squealed as he, too, found himself experiencing the oh so pleasant experience Clefairy did.

Beedrill buzzed encouragement to Pikachu, holding her stingers aloft and cheering him on, as Charmander was caught between rallying behind his friend and studying the Fire-type technique. Lo peeked from behind his hiding spot.

What was Red to do now? What could he tell Pikachu to do to get him out of this situation? He had to think outside the box. He had to…

"Pikachu!" Red shouted. "Use Zippy Zap! Break through!"

Despite the pain and discomfort, Pikachu heard and heeded his Trainer's command. Groaning, straining, he got down on all fours, crackling with galvanic power, and he burst through the fiery tornado, wisps of flame still holding onto him. Vulpix's eyes could barely widen before the speedy rodent rammed himself into it, the imminent critical hit merely rubbing salt into its wounds.

The battle was now tied.

"Awesome work, buddy!" Red whooped, punching his fist into the air. "I knew you had enough power to just run straight through that Fire Spin."

Pikachu acknowledged his praise with a brusque nod.

"Oh well," Blue said, sighing dramatically. "At least I got to test Vulpix out a bit more. It did decently in Celadon, but it did better here. I could see it helping at the Pokémon League." He sent out this third team member. "I just caught this one, so we'll see what it can do."

Red studied the new Pokémon, allowing his Pokédex to this time automatically record its data while hanging off his belt:

Exeggcute a dual Grass and Psychic-type Pokémon. The heads attract each other and spin around. There must be six heads for it to maintain balance.

What was the best way to describe this Pokémon? Well, it was quite simple really. More than simple, truthfully. Super simple would be better. The word 'super' always makes thing a lot more… super, doesn't it? Funny how that works out. Anyway, Exeggcute was a Pokémon that consisted of six heads that looked like cracked eggs with faces. Yes. Just that. That's it. That's all that Pokémon looks like. Let's carry on, shall we?

"Pikachu, Shock Wave," Red said, testing the waters.

The six faces of Exeggcute merely groaned in slight discomfort, sort of like hitting your funny bone, which is not a bone by the way, but a nerve. Science is amazing!

A Grass and Psychic-type. Like when Clefairy went up against Pidgeotto and Vulpix, Pikachu had nothing to use against Exeggcute, although Zippy Zap could possibly make up for the not every effective typing.

He had to recall Pikachu Red thought to himself, simultaneously telling Pikachu to avoid a shining, egg-shaped projectile that blew up upon crashing into the ground.

Pikachu barely dodged another Egg Bomb with Zippy Zap, and Red called him back to his side.

"You did well," Red said. "Take a bit of a break now. I might need you later."

The electric rodent plopped down, breathing heavily, silently thankful for the rest.

"We're going to go with type advantage now," Red said. "Beedrill, I choose you."

The giant bee flew to meet Exeggcute, brandishing her stingers hostilely. Exeggcute looked to its Trainer and Meowth, the latter of whom rolled his eyes. The six faces of Exeggcute chuckled and turned back to its opponent.

"All right," Red said. "Let's end this quickly. Beedrill… Twineedle."

"Confusion, Exeggcute," came the jovial response.

"Huh?"

Beedrill's target swiftly changed from Exeggcute to the ground as she was flung into it with the invisible hands of the Grass-type's psychic power.

"Ah! Beedrill, no!" Red screeched.

Beedrill tried to push herself up, fighting back against the force of Exeggcute's psyche, muscles working overtime to get the job done.

"Yes!" Blue exclaimed. "Did you forget Psychic-type moves are super effective on Poison-types? Why did you think I kept Exeggcute in? Now, Exeggcute, hit it with Barrage while its down!"

From the midst of the Exeggcute heads, black spheres formed, each the size of an orange. They were launched upwards, like an army's archers who would fire a volley of arrows, gravity adding to the amount of damage they would do to their enemies.

They thumped into Beedrill, the final one hurting her more than the others after striking her head. Yet, she did not fall. No, she had taken a lot worse than this. Still, from what she had witnessed so far, Blue's Pokémon were a notch above the rest. And she would not forget her battles against his Pinsir and Wartortle either.

"Do you want to throw in the towel, Reddy?" Blue asked, green eyes dancing impishly.

"We both know the answer to that, don't we?" Red said.

"Aw. I was hoping you would recognise how far behind me you are," Blue said. "Guess you're still a slow learner. Fine, I'll continue to beat down on you and your Pokémon."

An Egg Bomb found Beedrill, but she pushed through and hit each of the Exeggcute heads with a ferocious Fury Attack. However, a subsequent Poison Jab had its damage mitigated by a transparent purple forcefield that cloaked Exeggcute like a duvet, allowing it to take another Poison Jab. A Confusion ended the Beedrill onslaught, hurling her back over to Red.

"Reflect," Red grumbled. Great. Beedrill only knew physical techniques, meaning Reflect had effectively crippled her, at least until it faded away.

Or they could set up a Focus Energy. Critical hits bypassed defensive moves, didn't they? But would Blue give Red a chance to get one off? It was doubtful.

Or could they simply use Twineedle? It was doubly super effective against Exeggcute after all.

But what about Confusion? The only reason they got close before was because Blue had Exeggcute use Egg Bomb. Confusion would keep them at arm's length.

Should he substitute Beedrill? No, of course not! What kind of silly idea was that? They would push through. It was just a Confusion attack, not some legendary move that would annihilate any enemy that came its way.

"Beedrill!" Red called. "Use Twineedle! Go right through anything they throw at you!"

Blue clucked his tongue. "Pity. You know what to do, Exeggcute."

Exeggcute did know what to do. And Exeggcute tried. And Exeggcute failed.

The imperceptible hands of its psychic power found Beedrill and tried to ground her again. It lowered her slightly, but nothing more than that. With her Trainer's confidence and trust, Beedrill rammed one of her stingers into half of the glowing purple egg things and did the same to the rest. They all wobbled and toppled over, gone the same way as Vulpix.

Blue stared in disbelief. Yet, he recovered quickly.

"Wow, you took out two of my Pokémon this time," he said. "Granted, like I said, I just caught one of them, but good for you anyway! This battle's far from over though."

With unnecessary flourish, Blue pointed towards Red and Beedrill. "Go get them, Meowth."

Meowth swaggered forward, Exeggcute's transparent purple coat now protecting it, seemingly without a care in the world. Considering it was a feline, that might have been the case.

Red grinned. He was in the lead now. No way he was losing it. And a Poison Jab was the perfect way to start things off.

"Fake out," Blue said.

The glow of vicious pinkish-purple formed instantly on Beedrill's stingers and disappeared just as quickly as Meowth clapped its paws together, releasing a potent air pressure that jerked Beedrill's head back, stunning it. And if that was not bad enough, Beedrill was then blasted in the thorax by a handful of coins, which is a weird attack by any stretch of the word.

"You can keep those after we're done," Blue said. "I'll be taking more from you anyway."

"Fury Attack," Red said, ignoring the jibe.

"Fury Swipes," Blue said.

Beedrill's stingers and Meowth's claws clanged off one another as they parried and countered and dodged, unable to land the blow they wanted.

Pay Day saved Meowth from a direct Poison Jab and Twineedle barely blocked Bite, neither of the opponents giving an inch. Until, that is, one of the flurries from Beedrill's Fury Attack got through, striking Meowth squarely in the tummy, moments before the Reflect vanished completely. Meowth hissed and glared at Beedrill, its slit-like eyes making Vulpix's Fire Spin feel like Lorelei's Jynx's Blizzard.

"Good work, Beedrill," Red said. "And Reflect's worn off. You've got this."

Yes, Beedrill did have it. Well, she would have had it. If only she had not taken that much damage from Exeggcute, if only Meowth did not have a sneaky attack like Fake Out, then she would have had enough energy to possibly outlast and finish off her foe. But she did not. She was barely keeping up with the feline now, in desperate need of a healing item or two. Red was blind to this. Blue had twenty-twenty vision.

"Get in close and use Fury Swipes," he said.

"Use Fury Attack," came the counter method.

Instead of stingers and claws coming together like the swords of warriors long gone, there was instead a Meowth that evaded each of Beedrill's strikes before raking its claws several times across Beedrill's thorax. Beedrill's wings beat slower and slower until she dropped to the ground, and then they stopped completely, save for a tic or two.

Red's second Pokémon had been defeated.

"Squared things up again, didn't I?" Blue bragged. "I bet you thought I was going to bring back out Pidgeotto, didn't you? I bet you didn't expect Meowth to be a powerhouse."

Meowth stared at its nails, as though in love with the weapons that were capable of being pedicured.

"You sure got me there, Blue," Red said, granting Beedrill the safety of her Poké Ball. "But I'm not done yet. I'm still got Pikachu, Lo, and Charmander."

Charmander perked his head up hopefully and wagged his tail.

"You haven't even got a full team of six," Blue pointed out. "Oh well, who cares? Just send out your next one and –"

"Aaaaaaargh! Someone, please help!"

Red and Blue jumped and swivelled around. From the Pokémon Tower in the distance, a girl came running, hitching up her skirt to prevent herself from tripping over. It worked quite well until she fell flat on her face between the two Pallet natives stumbling over a loose cobble.

Red ran to her side and helped her up, Blue looking on in quiet bemusement.

"Are you all right?" Red asked the girl, who seemed to have a year on him and Blue.

The girl clawed at the front of Red's t-shirt, her lips trembling, her pupils dilated, her face stark white. "Please. You must help."

"What's the matter?" Red asked. The Pokémon Tower watched them menacingly, and he shivered. "Does it… does it involve the Tower?" Why did he ask that?

"Hey, Reddy, I thought we were battling?" Blue piped up.

"Yes," the girl said, ignoring Blue. "Things haven't been right since Team Rocket arrived and –"

"Team Rocket's here?" Red said hollowly. "They're in town this very moment?"

"They're in the Tower this very moment," the girl said. "None of us realised it – I can't believe we were so blind – but apparently they've been here for a while, taking Cubone skulls."

Red caught Blue's eye; his rival's jaw twitched.

"Have they taken over the entire Tower?" Red pressed. "Has anyone gone to try and fight them?"

The girl shook her head. "No one's gone to fight them, but my grandfather has gone to try and reason with them. He's been gone since yesterday, which I why I had to go there today."

"Did Team Rocket try to do something to you? Is that why you ran out?"

"They did nothing to me."

"Seriously?"

"Yes." The girl rose to her feet, holding onto Red for support. "There's something going on in that Tower now. I don't know what, but when I went inside, it was as if all the warmth had been stripped away, all good feelings extinguished, as if something so angry, in so much pain wanted me out."

The girl's voice lowered to a whisper. Blue inched forward. "Usually, there are a lot Channelers – people who try to commune with the spirit world – going about their business, lovely people always eager for a chat. Well, they're still there, but… different."

"Different?" Blue said, stepping forward. "Different in what way?"

The girl clenched her fists and mumbled something incoherently, barely parting her lips, as though embarrassed by what she was saying.

"What was that?"

"I believe they are possessed."

For a few impossible seconds, time seemed to stop; the chilly breeze that blew was snuffed out, sound ceased to exist, and the shadows seemed to grow, enclosing the children in a dark world of their own. The illusion was broken, however, when Blue burst out laughing.

"What?" he chortled, doubled over. "Possessed? You sure you haven't been watching too many horror movies? Did you hear that, Reddy? Possessed!"

"I know how it sounds," the girl said hotly. "But it's the truth. Their eyes, they're just… blank. It's nothing but sclera. And they can scarcely form sentences and they look like they struggle to move. They just shuffle everywhere. Will you STOP laughing?"

"Blue, shut up," Red said. "Listen, er… what was your name again?"

"Reina."

"Nice to meet you, Reina. I'm Red and that guy's Blue. Anyway, I need to know, is it just the Channelers? What about Team Rocket? You said they're still there."

Reina wrapped her arms around herself, and Red found himself placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I saw a few of them in the same state. There's something in the Tower, and it's doing this. It's even affecting the Ghost-type Pokémon. They… don't fully appear. They're blurry, you wouldn't be able identify them. I can, but that's only because I… well, let's just say I have Channeler blood running in my veins. That simplifies things."

"Okay," Red said. He glared at Pokémon Tower, at the hidden, horrific things it contained. Team Rocket just could not give him a break, could they? But Reina's grandfather was in there and innocent people were in trouble. Common sense told him it was a task far beyond him, but his spirit shouted it down, screaming that he had already experienced so many events already, why should this be any harder? "Reina, I'm going in there."

"You're what?" Reina gasped.

"Yeah, you're what?" Blue said, frowning.

"I said I'm going in," Red said. "I'll do as much as I can to help. But if it gets too much, then I'm running. That's as much as I'm going to do."

"Red…" Reina said. She flung her arms around him and nestled her face into his chest. "Thank you so much."

After Reina went home, assuring Red she would phone the police (although she did not seem convinced anyone they would send would be able to do anything against the might of Team Rocket or forces she could hardly explain), the latter hitched up his rucksack and had a stare down with the Tower.

"I assume you're not coming along, then?" Red said to Blue.

Blue snorted. "No chance. Why put myself at risk when it doesn't involve me? Yet again, you've given yourself extra responsibility for no good reason."

"You're not curious about what Reina told us?"

"The Channelers and Rockets probably had seizures or something," Blue said, waving his hand dismissively. "There's always a reasonable explanation for everything."

"Fine," Red said, returning Charmander and Lo to their Poké Balls. "Suit yourself. Sorry we couldn't finish our battle."

"The result was obvious anyway."

Thus, the rivals went their separate ways. Pikachu and Meowth saluted each other before following their respective Trainers.