Dark Shadows Part 14->On da' Road again.

It had been two days since Mantis had been bombarding me with Element Stones, and we'd been keeping up a fairly good pace in that amount of time. Mantis caught only one new Pokemon, an Abra, as she claimed she had a perfect team in mind and wasn't about to change that plan. I was a little less picky, but I had my standards. I picked up a Rattata to cover where Drowsee fell short, because once it learned Hyperfang it wasn't all that bad. It had been pretty simple to catch, Drowsee had used Hypnosis then Pound. I was pretty pleased with my two pokemon. We were a team.

The road in front of us was a dirt path running through a feild on the way to Lavender Town. I wanted to go because there was a guy who helped you pick out cool nicknames. Mantis had her own reasons, mainly ones named Haunter and Gastly.

"You know," I told my sibling as we walked, "I think I'll name all my pokemon 'Self'."

Mantis looked at me quizicly, as was not uncommon. I still dragged around the Element Stones with us, we could always sell a few on occassion. Leaf Stones didn't seem to sell all that well, so I would convieniently "loose" a few every now and again to make my life easier. Mantis thought this was left over hyperactivity from when I'd been exposed to the Fire Stone, but we didn't know for sure.

"Why would you do that?"

"Because then my enemies wouldn't know if I was sending out myself or my Pokemon," I explained, "Besides, it'd be fun. Of course then the Pokemon might get confused, but.."

"Shh," my sibling slapped her hand across my mouth, shutting me up. Following her pointing finger, I looked.

A Sandshrew lay in the middle of the path, snoring. It looked kind of chubby even for a Sandshrew and didn't appear to be waking up anytime soon. I grinned and pushed Mantis's hand away, throwing Drowsee's pokeball onto the ground. "Drowsee, let's get us a Sandshrew!"

Drowsee rolled out of his Pokeball and Body Slammed the sleeping Sandshrew. It awoke in a grouchy mood and started to scratch Drowsee's face. I squealed and called Drowsee back. "Rattata, go!"

Mantis smacked me upside my head. "Idiot! I wanted you to sneak around it, don't battle it!"

"Rrrrrrrrattata!!" screamed the vicious little rat as it leapt into Sandshrew's face. I ignored Mantis's warning and urged my pokemon onward.

"Rattata, Quick Attack it!"

"Rat!" Rattata charged the Sandshrew, slamming into it headfirst. Sandshrew fell back, stunned for a minute. To my amazement, it turned tail and started kicking up sand. The air was soon clogged with dust. Mantis and I were coughing drasticly.

"Rattata, come back!" I called Rattata back and stood coughing, trying to decide my next move. I sent out Drowsee again. "Drowsee, use Hypnosis!"

Of course Drowsee kept missing, but that wasn't what I wanted. I shoved his pokeball into Mantis's hands. "Quick, clone that!"

My sibling shrugged, thinking I was an idiot, but took the time to do like I asked. She handed me the clone pokeball and the original. I called Drowsee back and stood still, waiting for the dust to clear.

The dust drifted away across the road and I stood with my hands twitching on the pokeball. Sandshrew stood cowboy-like down the street from me, his tiny paws danceing at his sides, ready to scratch me. It was like something out of a Western. The day was silent.

I made the first move, tackleing the Sandshrew as hard I could. Sandshrew jumped aside and I kicked up dust when I landed, sending it up in a cloud. I jumped up, looking around me for Sandshrew. I spun and caught a glimpse from teh corner of my eye. Sandshrew was making a get-away through the grass! "Oh no you don't!" I cried, throwing the pokeball behind my back. It hit Sandshrew in the back of the head as he ran and he was sucked inside.

Rather then stand and wait for the Pokeball to settle, i ran and grabbed it in my hands, holding it shut with all my might. "You are not getting out," I said through gritted teeth. As if the Sandshrew understood, the pokeball stopped quivering and the red nexus turned white. I threw it high in the air. "Yeah! That's three, oh yeah! Yeah baby!!"

Mantis shook her head and laughed. "You're bizzare."

I tossed the pokeball back on the ground to let Sandshew out. It came out with a resigned look on its face. It turned away from me, angry.

"Hey, don't be a sourshrew. You lost." I got on my knees and held out a peice of a bannana to it. The Sandshrew turned and sniffed it, then gobbled it down and smiled. I laughed. "Guess the way to a Sandshrew is through its stomach, huh?" I held the pokeball back out to it. "Well, i just wanted to make peace with you. Time to get back inside."

Sandshrew sniffed the pokeball and turned away again. I groaned. "Oh cheeze and rice. You're not one of those weirdos who won't stay in pokeballs, are you?"

Mantis figured it out before me, of course. "That's a clone of Drowsee's pokeball, Soshika. He wants his own."

"Oh." I minimized the pokeball and put it in my pocket. "Okay then. We're going to Lavender Town, Sandshrew. You can stay out until then. Then I'll buy you a pokeball all your own, okay?"

Sandshrew chuckled and gave me a thumbs-up. At least I had a good relationship with my pokemon, i thought.

"Well," Mantis pulled free Abra's pokeball and let it open on the ground. "So long as you've got your newest pokemon out, why shouldn't I try to bond with Abra a bit?"

Abra emerged from his Pokeball with a yawn. The little pokemon's eyes were squinted against the sun and unlike most Abras, his skin was black, not gold. I thought his nickname should be Nightshade, but Mantis hadn't decided yet. Abra saluted tiredly like a little military officer and stood to attention before Mantis. Mantis returned the salute, oddly enough. My head started to hurt and I guessed they were carrying on a telepathic conversation. I shrugged and looked at Sandshrew.

"Let's go, Pokemon Tower awaits!" Mantis exclaimed. Abra squealed happily and levetated next to my sib. Sandshrew chattered at me and started walking after them. I had to run to catch up.

Part 15->A very stupid fire trainer.

Lavender Town was already a pretty depressing place, and seeing someone standing outside the Tower sobbing uncontrollably didn't help matters much. Mantis wisely started walking, rather then levitateing. We already freaked people out enough.

My sibling and I approuched the crying trainer with confused looks on our face. I tapped her on the shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"He's dead he's dead waaaaaahhhhhhh!" sobbed the girl. She didn't even look at us, just threw herself against Mantis and continued carrying on.

"Who's dead?"

"My Charmander! I lost a battle and he wouldn't get up. He's dead!!" The girl sniffled. "That's the nineth Charmander that's happened too! Why do they always die?"

"Umm..." I almost laughed, but didn't. I held it inside. "Did you take it to the pokecenter to wake it up?"

The girl glared at me and started to run off. "Don't toy with me!" she called back. Mantis shook her head.

"Idiot."

"Yeah," I stated. Then, realizeing something, I ran inside the Tower. "An Idiot whose fainted Charmander is gonna be burried alive!"

"Hmmm..." I heard Mantis ruminateing behind me. "A ghost Charmander...that would be something."

Part 16->Pokemon Tower!!!

Inside the Tower it was very silent. I raced up to the receptionist and pounded the desk. Sandshrew, whom I'd almost forgotten about, caught up with me and jumped on the desk.

The receptionist looked a little surprised. "May I help you?"

"Yeah, there's a Charmander who just got brought in here who isn't dead yet." I told her flat out. If they didn't understand that, the people must be made of bricks. Sandshrew emphisized my point by scratching the counter.

"Oh my!" The woman tried as fast as she could to bring up the data on her computer. "Third floor, one of the mourners is bound to know where. Take the stairs!"

"Thanks," I yelled over my shoulder, raceing towards teh steps. Mantis appeared in front of me, Teleporting no doubt.

"You're gonna need my help if you're trying to get a live pokemon out of here still living!" she laughed. Abra Teleported next to her, clicking his heels in mid-air as if to report.

I nodded and saluted to Abra. Picking up Sandshrew, i dashed up the first flight of steps.

The first floor was almost empty and I raced through it as fast as I could carrying a fat Sandshrew. I started panting under his weight and i muttered under my breath; "I should call you Jabba the Shrew."

As I raced across the second floor, Mantis and Abra at my back, something floated in front of me. I couldn't see it, but i knew it was there. I squealed in alarm. Mantis flew in front of me. "It's a ghost," she announced. "We'll handle it."

The ghost let iself materialize to the point where I could see it was the orb-shaped Gastly. Mantis knew ghost pokemon, i hoped.

Surpriseingly, Mantis sent out Clefairy. I found myself stareing at it and wondering if there wasn't some fanatic Clefairy cult somewhere in the world that ate these things. At least this Clefairy seemed a bit logical. It stood on the floor before Gastly quite calmly. "Cle," it stated.

"Gas?" Gastly seemed momentarily confused, but came back in an instant with a Lick. Clefairy wasn't affected, and came back with a Tackle that sent it straight through the Gastly and onto the floor. Gastly took total advantage and hypnotised it.

Mantis called it back quickly and sent out Abra. She turned to me to explain quickly. "They only put you to sleep so they can use Dream Eater. Clefairy was bait and Gastly took it." In her hands, she began to quickly clone a pokeball. "Abra, psychic."

Abra charged up as the Dream Eater Mantis had expected missed and blasted the Gastly onto the floor. Struck by the wave of Psy-energy in the room, i fell back and hit my head, something which almost konked me out. Sandshrew patted my face to wake me up.

My vision edged on black as i saw Mantis's pokeball smack Gastly square on the fore-head and suck him inside. As my eyes cleared, I was able to clearly see Mantis walk over and pick up the pokeball. She bounced it on her hand with a smug grin. "That's five outta six. One more and i've got what i want."

Abra seemed somewhat tuckered out but was still ready to go as ever. Jabba pushed the back of my head, making me sit up. I knew i would feel horrid in a few moments, pyschic attacks just didn't mix well with me. I stood up and tried to pretend i wasn't feeling as bad as i was. Mantis had what she wanted, sure, but i still needed to find that Charmander! I picked up Jabba the Shrew and nodded towards my sib. "Let's keep going."

Mantis clipped the clone pokeball to her belt and levetated about three feet off the ground. "I had no intention of turning back."

We raced up the steps through pokemon tower, looking for someone to tell me where the grave was. When we hit the third floor, Mantis went nuts. Okay, she didn't really go nuts but she started yelling and pointing. I followed her hand, but couldn't see anything but what looked like a cloud of dust. Slowly and much to my surprise, the dust moved towards us. As it passed near me, i felt the fur on my back raise up. "Another ghost!"

"Not just any ghost!" Mantis crowed triumphantly. "It's a Huanter! Hypno, go!" slightly more excited this time, Hypno's pokeball hit the floor hard from Mantis's toss and nearly shattered apart. Hypno morphed out and growled at the Huanter.

Haunter materialized, and grinned hugely. It obviously thought this was funny. "Haunt huant haunter!"

"Hypno, use confusion! Weaken it up!" Mantis was pretty charged, my headache was getting worse as she let of spontanious shocks of psy-energy. On top of that, Hypno's confusion attack sent me reeling again, nearly making me loose the lunch of semi-bruised bannanas i'd been eating the past few weeks.

Haunter didn't seem to care. It turned and fled, laughing hystaricly. Mantis recalled Hypno and gave chase on foot. What could i do? I ran after her, Jabba on my tail.

The chase wound around the gravestones of the third floor and past some pretty upset people leaning over graves. I didn't have time to read them. Mantis was yelling pretty loud, destroying much of the peace several of these pokemon were hoping to rest in. "Slow down, damn you! I'm gonna catch you already!"

"Why don't you just attack at a distance?" I suggested, hoping this chase wouldn't leave the third floor and that it would end soon. That charmander was in a lot of trouble, i knew it.

Mantis might have replied if she hadnt' stopped short. I nearly slammed into her, and i knew from the sudden pressing pain in my back legs that Jabba had hit me. Peeking over my sib's shoulder, i saw what she was looking at.

A man stood in our way. Actually he probobly wasn't much older then me, i'm pretty sure. He was dressed in black from head to toe, and that counted his black hair and black eyes that swam constantly like pools of ink. He looked wholely evil, and while Mantis and Jabba seemed to want to retreat, i didn't. It took me a minute to realize, i'd never encounted the feeling before, but i was attracted to his evil. I was, i guess, if the term applied to half pokemon half people, in love!

The Haunter hovered over the dark man's shoulder, chuckleing. Maybe it belonged to him, maybe he just knew it. I wasn't sure. He extended a gloved hand to us, which i took and shook. He grinned, but it was a demon grin, the kind predetor gives prey. Still, i kinda liked it.

"Permit me to introduce myself," the dark man said. He spoke to all of us, but he gazed entirely at me. This isn't a vain thing, he stared straight into my eyes which seemed to stab my mind harshly. What was he, a telepath? "My name is Josh."

Part 17->Josh's Challenge.

"Josh?" Mantis sneered, she'd pulled herself together and was ready to fight. "What kinda name is Josh for a Ghost trainer?"

Josh smiled, the demon smile again, and motioned to Haunter. "I wouldn't expect you to be the one asking questions, considering you are on my section of the tower." he shrugged. "Besides, it's as good a name as any. On the few occasions where i need to use it, it works."

"Your floor? Pokemon tower is public property, buster!" Mantis was leaning forward, four feet off the ground, and growling. Jabba did the same, without levetation of course.

The air around Josh started to shimmer, and Mantis was sent backwards with a psy-attack. My head nearly split, and i grabbed it, crying in pain. The psy-energy blast quickly stopped. Josh crossed his arms and glared. "Do you want to challenge that?"

Mantis, panting, pulled herself up. My ears were ringing, but my eyes were wide in confusion. Human telepaths weren't supposed to have that kinda power! "What are you?"

Josh just smiled, but he seemed calmer now. The air around him had stopped shaking.

"What do you want?" Mantis demanded.

Josh laughed, again, it was evilish. Not that i minded. It sounded kinda cool to me. "I was just going to ask you two that. Not many trainers come up this far, the second level has the same pokemon as the third and fourth and fifth." he narrowed his dark eyes. the black inside seemed to streatch out across the whites, like it needed to morph and cover maximum space or something. "So what are you doing?"

"Someone burried a live charmander," I blurted out. "I need to rescue it."

Josh raised and eyebrow and indicated towards Mantis. "And her?"

"Just along for the joyride," Mantis hissed.

Josh aparently thought this funny and laughed. Abruptly, he turned back to me. "I'll give you a chance. I'll tell you where the charmander is. If you can race my ghosts out of the tower and win, you get to keep it. If not, it's mine. Alive or dead, it makes no difference to me. It's just one way is less of a hassle."

The way he worded it was kinda creepy but i got the point. I nodded in agreement. "Show me."

Part 18-> The race for Charmander!

Josh lead us around the third floor until we got to a fresh grave. He toed the dirt with his boot. "It's here," he said simply.

Jabba started to dig without my needing to urge him. Soon, the orange muzzle of a charmander poked through. I yanked it the rest of the way free. The Charmander was in pretty bad shape, his tail was almost out and he seemed quite beat. He needed help. Fast.

Josh's eyes seemed to soften a minute at seeing the Charmander, but they returned to their paranormal state in a second. Maybe he has a soft spot for pokemon, i wondered. If he had, he didn't leave it exposed very long. "Okay, here's the rules. You can't use any pokemon to battle. I suppose in your case that would mean you can't battle either. Your sister will have to meet you at the steps, she's not allowed to teleport the charmander. You need to use your brain. If my Gastlys can delay you more then three minutes, the Charmander's mine. You get out of the Tower in that time, and it's yours. That's it." The air around Josh shook again, and he blinked out of existance. He'd Teleported, i'd guessed. His voice floated back. "I'll meet you at the exit, hopefully."

Mantis too, soon teleported. I called Jabba back to his pokeball, something he objected to but didn't have any choice in. I picked up the Charmander and started running.

Back on Cinnibar, I'd been more of a distance runner then a speed runner, but figureing i only had a few minutes to spare i let my feet fly. I jumped down the first flight of steps, landing hard and sending a jolt up my legs that shook me right into t he brain. I put the pain and dizzyness into a holding area and kept going.

It didn't take long for Josh's Gastlys to find me. They closed in on all sides, getting in my way and obscureing my vision but never attacking. Eventaully i just closed my eyes and ran. Never again, i thought to myself as i hit a tombstone head on. I had to open my eyes again to find my way around it, but with all the gastlys it was like driving a car in a rainstorm with no whipers. Still, i kept at it. I could hear Charmander under my arm crying in alarm whenever a Gastly passed by him, but he was too weak to battle. I had to save it, i thought as i threw myself down the second set of steps and into the first floor. I tripped as i landed adn got the wind knocked out of me. air kept away from my lungs, thanks to the Gastlys, but i staggered through the first floor as best i could. I knew i couldn't go long at any pace without air, but i had to.

Josh would let the Charmander die if i didn't help it. It might have seemed cruel, but it made sense. He was a ghost trainer. What use would he have for a fire pokemon?

I could tell people didn't see me. I didn't understand this, until it occured to me that the very Gastlys that were soffocateing me were also hiding me from plain veiw. Charmander wailed, he was getting worse. I tried to step up my pace, but my limbs were starting to feel numb. My throat contracted tightly, trying to pull in air, but the Gastlys weren't letting me have any.

Still gasping, i fell to my knees, my legs giving way. The muscles in my arms loosened and i dropped Charmander, who rolled across the floor and lay in an unmoving heap. I tried to drag myself towards him, but i was edged on blacking out, and all it took was that one movement before darkness caught me.

part 19-> Not like him

Unconciousness is a strange thing. It's like walking through a dream land, where you know it isn't a dream because all the sensations are too real...yet you still see the surroundings as one. Your mind fills in where your eyes leave out. You don't really see what's going on, only visualize. When you start to come back it seems like you've gone blind, sight doesn't return very quickly and even when it does, it takes a while to come into colour again. You sense things around you before anything else.

That's how i knew Mantis was shaking me. She came into focus in a grainy grayscale, mostly blacks. It took a minute before she returned to her whiteish-blueish sheen. Over her shoulder i could see trees. I was outside, but i hadn't run there. I must have been carried. "You okay?" my sib asked.

I sat up, looking around me for Charmander. I couldn't find him anywhere. The race charged back into my mind clearly and i sat up. "What happened? What was my time?"

Mantis shrugged. "Josh found you in the lobby, he seemed pretty apologetic about it but didn't say much. Said nothing, in fact. I get the feeling he isn't all evil, though he acts it."

"Where's Charmander?" I demanded. I was starting to get the feeling i'd lost the race, as Mantis kept avoiding mentioning it at all.

"Josh has him-"

"Josh!" I was up in a minute, moaning. "Oh no!"

Mantis pushed me back, glareing me in the eye. "Easy. He said to meet him at the pokecenter. I'd trust him for now, if i were you."

It wasn't that i didn't trust him, i thought, just that i didn't want to see a Charmander capable of living die. I doubted Josh would outright kill it, more likely just set it somewhere and let it perish. He certainly hadn't been willing to dig it up himself. He's not the killer, i decided, just the soul collector. I nodded to mantis. "Right. Let's go."

We traveled the short distance to the pokecenter, where Josh materialized out of the shadows quite literally, the Haunter and about six Gastlys hanging back behind him. He looked me up and down strangely, in a way that seemed to be asking if i was alright. He didn't say it though.

"You lost the race," he told me simply.

"I know."

"The Charmander by rights is mine." steping farther out of the shadows, he looked me deeper in the eyes. "But i believe had my Gastlys not asphixiated you, you would've made it. You navigated the floors like you knew them, you had the way through the grave-maze memorized. It was really something to watch, even with your eyes closed you mostly knew your way around. I'm very impressed."

I snorted, half wanting to tell him how his impressions weren't saving the charmander's life, they were killing it. But i didn't. "Thanks," i growled.

"I should keep the Charmander, but i won't," he told me quite suddenly. "I'm not sure why, but you were pretty fanatical about saving it. You can have it." reaching down one hand, pulled a pokeball from his pocket, pried my fingers apart and deposited it in my hand.

I gaped. "Why...Why are you doing this?"

He shook his head. "I told you, i don't know. but the Charmander's yours now."

Looking down at the pokeball, i realized this was an increadably kind thing he'd done. I just held the pokeball in my hand, looking at it. "Is there anything i can do?"

Josh smiled, somewhat elusively. "Not for me, no. Nothing."

"Then come with us!" I blurted out. Mantis didn't seem to object, although she didn't condone it either. She stood by and said nothing.

The Ghost trainer laughed aloud, turning back into the shadows and waving a hand behind him. "I can't go with you. There are few places for me. One is here. The others are secrets no living person can figure out.

A stray thought dawned on me, something i'd heard a long time ago. Pokemon Tower was built in the middle of a massive feild, flattening a forest and a pond in the process. Some of the rarest pokemon around had lived there, and although the specieses were cultivated and were pretty common now, the place was still just a ledgend. Charmander Feild, Bulbasaur Forest and Squirtle Pond. My heart jumped, startled. "Josh," I asked his retreating form, "What are you?"

Almost completely obsucred by shadows, Josh turned to look over his shoulder at me. "Just a guardian if anyone feels like taking a trip to the past."

I ran into the shadows after him, but by the time i'd gotten there he was gone. I whirled about myself, looking for him, but couldn't find him anyplace. I called his name aloud but there wasn't any answer.

Mantis clapped a hand on my shoulder. "We're not like him, sib. No one is. It's best to let lost souls wander." dropping her paw she turned and began to walk towards the market, away from me. "You'll see him again."

I watched my sibling for a moment, then stared at the Charmander's pokeball. Tapping the nexus, i let the injured pokemon free. Shivering, it looked up at me. I picked it up and cradled it in my arms, prepareing to take it inside. "You're mine," i told it. "And so neither of us forgets who saved your life, your name is Josh from hereon in."

The charmander didn't say anything, it'd fallen asleep against me.