Dawn of the Dead
Red awoke to the noise snoring the next morning. He wearily opened his eyes to see what was causing the noise. His Charmeleon curled up in a ball like a lazy cat was the first thing he saw.
Charmeleon was gently snoozing with a snot bubble coming out f his right nostril. He was also snoring which answered Red's original question. This caused Red to smile since he never heard of a Pokemon snoring.
Come to think of it, isn't there a move that has to do with Snoring? Red pondered. He pushed the subject out of his mind and put his brain to work by telling his body to move. His body was totally against getting up since he had hard time trying to push himself off the ground. His whole body was stiff from sleeping on the hard cave floor.
"That's the last time I'm sleeping without my sleeping bag inside a cave," Red bitterly said. He quietly returned his pokemon back into his pokeball, not wanting to wake him. He did forget that he was his only light source but it was still well lit in the cave. Red turned to source of light and saw it was exit to this maze of a cave.
I was sleeping right next to the exit the whole time, Red sighed.
Red walked outside and was greeted by the warm sunlight. He stood there for a moment to let his eyes get used to the bright light. Once he was able to completely open both of his eyes, Red began to walk down the dirt path. He had to slow down his pace since the path went down hill and one wrong step could send him rolling down the hill.
As he got closer to the bottom, a fog appeared that thicken with every step. The fog gave Red the chills and also gave the area an eerie feeling. It soon got so thick that Red could barely see his hand right in front of him. Red had to slow down to taking a step every few seconds since he didn't want to make the wrong move. This went for a few minutes until Red finally felt flat ground.
Red walked on the flat ground with more confidence and now only had to worry for objects that might get in his way.
The young boy looked to side to catch any glimpse of anything but only saw white fog in the way. He looked up and saw the fog was very high and blocked out the sun.
"I wonder how much further Lavender town is-" Red crashed into something hard before he could finish. He pulled himself from the hard surface and noticed it was wood. Taking a step back, Red realized he just slammed into a house.
How did I not notice it before ,Red thought going around the building. Well, I finally arrived at Lavender Town...I think.
More houses appeared in the fog which was much thinner in town. The fog was thin enough for Red to finally see the town he was in. No one was out yet making Red think that people here tend to wake up at a later time. Red couldn't recall if there was a Pokemon Center in this town and thought it wouldn't hurt to search for one.
He walked around the empty town in search for the facility and or at least a human being. He search went on for awhile before he gave up.
"I don't think there is a Pokemon Center here," Red muttered to himself. Right when Red gave up, a man in the distance appeared.
"Finally someone," Red said. He walked up to the man and saw he was turned around facing the backside of a house. He was wearing a green shirt with some dirty blue jeans and some sandals.
"Excuse sir," Red announced his presence, but didn't get a response. He grabbed the shoulder of the guy to get his attention.
"Ahhh!" Red screamed when he saw the man's face. Everything about the man's face was normal except for the eyes with no pupils and a wide, awkwardly opened mouth that seem quite impossible for a normal human being.
"Arrgh," groaned the man who sounded like he was in pain, taking a few staggering steps towards him.
Red took a few steps back and heard more groaning sounds from behind him. He looked back and saw more people emerge from the fog. Two men and a woman limped towards him. They looked quite normal except for their faces that were similar to the man from before.
"What's going on?" Red shouted in distress. He saw them get closer and went with his gut to run the hell out of there. He ran through some houses and came across a whole group of zombies. They all noticed him and began to follow him. Red ran from them as well and tried to find a good place to hide.
Red has never been so scared in his life. His heart jumped at every zombie he came across. The fog made it even harder to spot the zombies ahead of time. He soon stopped to catch his breathe in front of a large house. He calculated that he was somewhere in the middle of town and need to reach the outskirts fast.
Red heard more groaning from every direction. By the sounds, Red thought there were at least thirty of them. He turned to his left and saw a whole group of them less then three meters away. Red turned to his right to run but then saw another group coming from that direction.
I'm trap! Red thought in anguish. There was a house in front of him and behind him, so he couldn't go that direction.
"There is one other way to do in this kind of situation," Red said feeling his heart beat really fast. He grabbed a pokeball and threw it into the air.
Pikachu materialized in front of him and let out a huge yawn since he just awoken from his slumber. He rubbed his eyes as to see better in the foggy morning.
-"What's going on?"- Pikachu asked very confused in the situation. He noticed the weird walking people and turned around to face his trainer.
"Pikachu, I want you too Thunder Shock all of these dead people that have escaped from their graves to create havoc on the living!" Red shouted his command, getting worried as the zombies got close.
-"Undead people….Cool!"- Pikachu shouted, psyched about their appalling situation. He quickly charged up the energy in his cheeks ready to fire.
"Wait, don't attack!" shouted a voice to stop Red's pokemon attack.
Both guys turned around to see an old, bald man standing in the doorway of the house behind them.
"Come in quickly and I'll explain," the elderly man said.
Red hesitated at first but decided it was better to do so. "Pikachu, stop your move and let's go."
Pikachu absorbed the electricity back into his body to his discontent and ran into the house with Red closing the door after him.
"Let's go upstairs," the unknown man told Red. "Just in case the people outside break in to the house then we will be safe up stairs in the cellar."
Red just nodded and followed the old guy through his house that was in a mess. It looked like this guy had a lot kids because Red saw a bunch of toys lying around the house.
They went up the stairs and the man grabbed a string that was attached to the ceiling. Upon pulling the chord, a set of stairs slowly descended from the ceiling that nearly reached the floor.
"In here," he said going up the stairs. Pikachu scampered up the stairs thinking he should checked it out first before Red should enter.
Red took his first step on the wood testing its sturdiness. The stairs didn't budge so Red walked up the rest of the steps. He entered a well lit room that he perceived as the attic. The ceiling was really low and there were many boxes covered in dust scattered all around the room,
The old mad shut the entrance to the cellar with a rope that was attached the set of stairs. Once that was done he turned to Red, to speak to him. "Make yourself comfortable since we might be here for awhile," remarked the strange man.
"Wait, wait," Red said, trying to process what has happened so far. "First, off who are you? Second, why is this town infested by zombies?"
The man sighed as he took a seat in a wooden chair that must have placed here for storage.
"Well, if must know," he began,"I'm Mr. Fuji, a kind man who just likes to look after abandoned or orphaned pokemon in Lavender Town."
"Then where are these Pokemon you take care off?" Red questioned him further, not really buying it.
Mr. Fuji got up from his sitting position. "Please don't frighten them since they are very shy," Mr. Fuji told Red who nodded. ""Come out here my little darlings."
Red searched the area but didn't see a single pokemon until he came upon a small stack of boxes. A little pink head poked out of the box and observed Red with small black dots for eyes. The small pokemon stepped out from her hiding place. She had a pink star-shaped body with two large brown ears on its side.
She looked to Mr. Fuji who gave her nod and cautiously approached Red. She stopped before the young trainer and jumped on to Red.
-"Friend, Friend!"- Clefa gleefully squealed.
Red caught Clefa in his arms and smiled back at her. He looked back towards the stack of boxes and more pokemon had emerged from their hiding place. A Cubone, Pidgey and Rattata were next to run up to Red. Cubone hopped onto his leg and Rattata clung onto the other leg. Red was taken by surprise the Pidgey who landed on his face. He wasn't expecting it and so fell backwards.
More baby pokemon began to swarm over his body. Pikachu laughed at the sight but stopped when he saw a few small pokemon noticed his presence.
-"Uhh…I got to go,"- Pikachu weakly muttered turning around to hide but a Vulpix was already waiting for him. She pounced on him while more pokemon came over to him and began to pull his fur.
-"I rather-be with the dead people outside,"- Pikachu whined as he was being thrown around like a rag doll by a bunch of kids.
"They aren't really shy," Red said, finally having the chance to get up. They all left to go torture poor Pikachu.
"Well, they usually don't get along with most people but it seems they loved you from the start. You must have a special gift to easily befriend Pokemon," Mr. Fuji remarked.
"Yeah," Red agreed, watching the pokemon play with his pokemon. He then turned back to the old man for more serious business. "So, when did this Zombie Apocalypse start?"
"Zombies?" Mr. Fuji repeated. "Oh no, they aren't zombies by any means."
"Then what happened here?" Red asked.
"Well, I'm not sure what happen but do have theory that it has to do with this fog," Mr. Fuji responded.
The fog, Red thought, well, now that I think about it, I did feel a bit weird when I enter the fog.
"When, did this fog appear?" Red questioned him further.
"It started…yesterday morning," he answered. "But it seemed like the fog was coming form the Pokemon Tower. The Pokemon Tower is a building in the Far East side of this town and it's the place where we lay our deceased pokemon to rest in peace. I went out for a morning walk yesterday and I saw the tower in the distance emitting a strange fog. People started acting strange and soon they fell under some curse and turned into mindless people who attack anyone that isn't one of them. That is why I have to hide up here."
In his mind Red had no doubt that he knew what the whole cause of this strange happening was. He had to go to the Pokemon Tower to find out what's going on and possibly put an end to this.
"I'll go to Pokemon Tower," Red told Mr. Fuji.
"Are you sure, boy? It could be very dangerous," Mr. Fuji warned Red.
"Mr. Fuji, my name is Red. A Pokemon Trainer that has a dream to become one of the best," Red announced. "I will not let a little fog get in my way and I'll bring an end to this curse."
A happy twinkle flashed in Mr. Fuji's eye. "I see… well I won't be stopping you, but you can't just go running to the Pokemon Tower with all those brainwashed people."
Yeah, those zombified people will be a problem, Red thought.
He searched the room as if he would find a way out. That's when he came across the window that he didn't notice before. Even though it was daytime, no sunlight shined through due to the thick fog blocking the sun and making it look like it was still nighttime.
"I could go through the window and get on top of the houses," Red suggested pointing to the fogged up window.
Mr. Fuji looked at the glass as he thought for awhile. "The houses are pretty close here so I don't see why not," the old man agreed. "Matter a fact, if you follow this row of houses you will go straight to the Pokemon Tower."
"Great! Lets not waste time," Red said, quickly taking out a pokeball to recall Pikachu back into. He jumped over the boxes and made his way to the window. He unlatched it and grabbed the bottom. He pulled up with all his strength and it took awhile for it to become loosen enough to move. Once it budged, it smoothly slid up.
Cold air entered room once it was fully opened. Red looked out but didn't sqauwk because of the fog. He looked down and saw it was pretty far down but luckily no zombie in sight.
Red stood up and placed his first foot on the window sill. It felt sturdy enough so Red placed all of his weight on it as he grabbed the top of the window and placed his second foot on the window. He then carefully ducked and went through the opening, his hands still grabbing the inside. He then quickly transition his hands from the inside to the outside of the window, holding for dear life.
The young teen looked up and saw that the tiled roof was in his reach. He first released his grip with one hand and reached up to grab the edge of the roof. He took a deep breather before grabbing the edge with his other hand. Now he had to pull himself up using only his upper body strength.
Red didn't have much body muscle but he had faith the strength he had now was enough. With one swift motion, Red jumped and pulled himself up. He struggled as he brought his body, feeling nervous with not platform underneath. He swung his right leg to the top of the building and managed to get it on top of the roof. He now had enough leverage to pull his entire body onto the the slanted tiled-roof.
"Good luck, boy!" shouted Mr. Fuji. "We are counting o n you." The sound of the window sliding shut soon resonates afterwards.
Red sighed as he climbed the roof. Luckily for him, the roof tiles were rough enough for him to get a good foothold and the roof wasn't too steep. He reached the high point of the house and pulled himself onto the top. He balanced his body along the spine of the house and took a gander at the world around him. The fog did limit his view below but when he looked up at the sky, he could see through the thin fog the bright sun. It was still pretty low so it was still around morning.
If I ever want the sun to light up the streets of this town, I need to head out to Lavender Town, Red determinedly thought. But this fog is a real pain in the butt...I know! Red grabbed the pokeball from his belt tossed it into the air.
A sleepy Pidgeotto appeared in front of him, lazily looking around mot minding the fog much.
"Pidgeotto, I need you to clear the fog for me with your Gust attack," Ref ordered regaining his balance after losing it for a moment.
-"Uhh...sure,"- Pidgeotto yawned. He turned to where Red was facing and began to flap his wings. He generated a strong gust of are that easily pushed the fog away without putting up a fight.
Red could finally see the next house that wasn't to far away. He began at a slow pace and began to pick up speed. Once he reached the end of the roof, he examined the distance. It was only three feet wide, not a long distance but if he failed, he will have to endue a twenty feet fall.
Red soon worked up the courage to continue and bent his knee. He jumped over the distance with no problem but his landing was quite rough. He nearly fell to one side of the next house's roof but managed to regain his balance.
Red looked into the distance and saw the Pokemon tower was in the distance and also in his direction. Got to keep going since I have a long way to go, Red thought.
Pidgeotto blew the last of the fog and Red saw he was at the end of the road. He looked at the end of the house.
"What are the odds of a large wagon full of hay?" Red said out loud, when he peered over the edge of the roof. A cart was pilled with bales of hay. Red didn't even need to think about this and just jumped into the wagon.
The soft straw broke his fall and he quickly jumped off the hay stacks. He landed on the ground with a thud, and bent his knees to absorb the shock. He quickly scanned the area for any brainwashed people.
He didn't see anything because of the stupid fog but groans confirmed that there were a few close. "Quick Pidgeotto, blow the fog away to make a path," Red hastily ordered pointing a finger in the direction of his destination. His flying pokemon did so and a stone path was revealed. Red didn't even question the path and ran towards it. His feet pounded against the old path as he ran away from the town, away from the Zombies that could still have a taste for his flesh.
He saw the Pokemon Tower within site. The prevented from seeing the whole building but he had enough fog cleared to see front door of the tall stone building. The wooden door was now Red's new goal as he ran up to it.
Red opened the oak door as fast he could and nearly jumped into the tower. He grabbed the cold metal handle and slammed the door shut. The slamming of the door echoed throughout the hollow room.
"Managed to escape the zombies," Red sighed in relief. He then felt a hand grab his shoulder causing the teen to jump in surprise.
"Ahhh!" Red screamed as he turned around to catch a glimpse of the person who grabbed him. A flapping Pidgeotto was the only thing he saw in the room which made him realize it was his bird pokemon who tried to land on his shoulder.
-"Well, if didn't want me to rest on your shoulder, you could have just told me. Not scream like a maniac,"- Pidgeotto irritably muttered.
Red didn't know what his pokemon said but he could tell that he was annoyed. "I'm sorry Pidgeotto. I just thought your claw was a hand," Red tried to explain, feeling his racing heart slow down after the small scare.
Pidgeotto mummer something under his breathe and landed on Red's shoulder.
Red put his mind ease and took a look at his surroundings.
He was surrounded by large cobblestone blocks that formed the walls. The room was totally bare giving the place a cold scary look. Res shuddered as he felt the ominous aura in the building. Fog was also in the area but Red didn't freak out. The fog was low in the ground, reaching up his knees. The dense fog didn't let him see anything past his knee but it felt like he was stepping on grass.
Well, this is a graveyard sort off place for pokemon, so it makes sense that there will be dirt in here, Red reasoned himself. Oddly enough, he didn't feel quite scare now that he has Pidgeotto on his shoulder. Probably because he knew that he had someone watch his back. Red smiled when he saw his Pidgeotto turn back to check if someone was behind them.
This might not be that bad, Red thought to soon. His foot struck something concrete hard as he walked to the flight of stairs.
"Oww!" was what Red shouted as he felt pain surge through his right foot. He nearly lost balance but managed to catch himself.
"What the hell was that?" Red thought out loud. He placed a hand in front of him as he reached to the area that his foot struck. His hand touched something hard and cold. It felt like concrete as he felt around some more.
"Pidgeotto, try to blow wind to clear the fog," Red ordered, pointing to the place. Pidgeotto obliged and flapped on of his wing. This sent a small gust wind that quickly blew away the fog.
Red eyes nearly fell when he saw what is was. In front of him was a cemetery block that marked the place where a deceased Pokemon was resting.
"Dodrio, an incredible Flying Pokemon that couldn't fly but died in an attempt to do so. Its necks snapped when it jumped from a house but landed incorrectly. Rest In Peace." where the words engraved on the concrete slab.
Red was creeped out by the fact that he was standing on top of a dead pokemon's body.
He immediately jumped off the grave and trod away from it.
Well, at least I should be glad that there aren't any zombie Pokemon Red thought to himself. He continued walking but froze to a sound he heard. The sounds stopped for moment then continued.
Red turned around to find the source if the noise. It sounded as if something was digging dirt.
"Where is that coming from?" Red asked out loud so his Pokemon could know what was going on.
Pidgeotto cocked his head as he listened to the noise. -"Sounds like it's coming from over there,"- he said, holding up a wing in the direction.
Red turned but only saw the tombstone. He was about shrugged off the noise until he saw the dirt move. He clenched his muscles as he tried not to move.
Red held his breathe as he saw something break the earth in front of the tombstone. Out of the hole poked two heads.
Both heads where small, round and brown. Each head where covered in matted feathers and had a long bird beak. The only thing odd of the creature was its disfigured neck with a head with only one eye and a empty socket!
Red wanted scream but no sound came pit of his throat. Pidgeotto had the same shocked expression as his trainer. They both saw the creature hopped out of the hole.
It landed on two long lanky legs with a toe missing on each one. It had one large ball of fluffy feathers that was connected to the limbs and long necks that connected the heads.
-"Get out!"- Shrilled the strange creature, taking a step towards them.
Res felt the hairs on his arms stand when he heard the high pitched cry. Red didn't stand around to see what was going to happen next. He gain controlled of his body and told his legs to move. He fled towards the stone stairs and ran up them without looking back.
He stairs led him to the next floor of the building. The room looked exactly like the on before only that the fog this floor was less dense and you could actually see the tombstones scattered around the room. Though, seeing the tombstones didn't make him feel any better.
The dirt in front of some tombstones began to stir. Red's heart was beating really fasten when he saw movement. He was about sprint through the cemetery but something grabbed his foot as he was about run.
"What the hell?" Red looked down and saw that a small blue hand poked out of the ground had a tight grip around his ankle. The young trainer began to panic as the arm tried to pull him down.
Red with one mighty yank set himself free. Well, sort of. The hand was still grabbing his ankle even though it wasn't attached anymore.
Red shook off the limb by shaking his leg to weaken the grip of it. Once it was off, Red faced the graveyard that now had undead pokemon riding from the ground.
Red counted six in total of zombie pokemon, including the one that grabbed his foot.
Red grabbed all of his pokeballs and threw them in the air. His full team appeared on the graveyard at same time and each one had a confused look plastered on their faces.
"They are dead pokemon that had come back to live and I need you guys to re-kill them," Red filled the rest in.
-"It seems to me that Red really likes to get himself in really dangerous situations,"- Charmeleon muttered to his teammates as he saw a Pysduck waddled towards him. It was missing enough flesh that its rib cage could be seen with the naked eye. It was also missing its lower beak.
-"It's like he makes an effort to go through every thorn bush in this region,"- Nidorino remarked, disgusted by the rotting Nidorina staggering his way. -"and I never thought that I would ever be grossed out by a Nidorina in life."- He wanted to keep his distance and attacked the dead pokemon by creating a rock slide.
Large chunks of rocks squashed the Nidorino, probably increasing the large bump on her head.
Pidgeotto attacked the pokemon that grabbed Red's ankle before. It was small Machop that had many bruises all over his and most notable, a muscular arm that was barely hanging with strings of tendons.
An Air Cutter attack slashed his body and caused his body to turn into gray dust. Pidgeotto was startled by the event buy relaxed since he didn't have to look at the poor pokemon's miserable condition.
Charmeleon burned the Psyduck to dust with a Flamethrower. Eevee tackled a Rattata that barely had any fur and no tail. Pikachu shocked his Zubat foe that couldn't fly due to having no wings.
Res turned to the last pokemon which was rather large compared to the rest if the zombies. It was still covered in yellow fur with a black lightning bolt on its stomach. It stared at the group with pure white eyes and extended it damaged arms. Cuts and scratches decorated the rest of his body.
Red took out his Pokedex in hopes of getting more info on this pokemon.
"No info available on this pokemon," the pokedex said in a monotone voice.
Well, its looks like the pokedex can't get info on dead pokemon, Red sighed.
The pokemon roared before firing an electric attack at the group. Everyone jumped out of the way to avoid the attack. Gible was the only who didn't move and took the electric attack head on. He harmlessly absorbed the attack and natural transferred the electricity into the ground.
-"Teehee, that tickled,"- Gible giggled. He then unexpectedly fired a Dragon Rage at his foe. The dragon-type move annihilated the zombie and collapse into a heap of dust.
Red breathed out a sigh of relief. He was losing it when he saw the dead pokemon but calmed down when he saw that they could be taken care off.
"Okay guys off to the next floor," Red ordered, not wanting stick around to see what else is going to pop out of the ground. He ran with his group to the other side of the room where the stairs were placed. He ran up the stone steps not missing a beat.
Red groaned when he reached the end of the stairs. Six more zombie Pokemon awaited him on the next floor.
This time it was two battered up Pikachus with broken bone sticking of their sides. A terrifying Jigglypuff with its eyes sunken into its skull and a broken maker in hand. A small, green spider-like pokemon had three branches impaled into its body. A Poliwag stood tall even though didn't have a mouth and a large hole in its stomach that showed emptiness. Finally, a skeleton of what Red perceived as a Marowak, stood on top a tombstone.
-"Get out, get out, get out,"- the zombies chanted.
Red ignored the gruesome sight, and noticed they were all clustered together.
"Charmeleon and Gible, combine your Dragon Rage attacks to destroy the undead pokemon," Red ordered.
Gible and Charmeleon jumped in front and fired their Dragon Rage attack from their gaping jaws. The raging flames engulfed the enemies and immediately burned them to crisps.
A few managed to escape the wrath of the attack. The skeleton dashed towards the group with its bone club raised. Pikachu intercepted the foe with a well placed Iron Tail. The powerful blow broke the skeleton into pieces and sent the skull flying through the air. It landed in front of Red who didn't flinch.
-"You have been warned,"- the decapitated skeleton hissed before turning into dry dust.
The two beaten up Pikachus charged at the group and fired a combined Thunder Bolt that was aimed at Red. The assault never met its as target because Gible jumped to absorbed the electricity and perfectly landed on the ground. Meanwhile, Charmeleon retaliated with a Flamethrower that annihilated the wide open Pikachus.
Red felt relieve when he saw the last of their opponents fall.
"Great job, guys" Red praised his pokemon.
-"Umm...I don't think we are done guys,"- Nidorino gulped after seeing more graveyard dirt stir.
"Guys, run to the stairs!"Red shouted seeing that more zombie pokemon were about to surfaced.
The gang broke into run as they made their way to through the foggy indoor cemetery.
Charmeleon slashed at a rotting Weedle that got in his say. His sharp claws easily sliced him half and sent bug guts spilling. Some of it got on him but to his relief, it turned into harmless dust.
Nidorino pounced at the butterfly pokemon that flew towards his trainer. A well placed Horn Attack demolished the frail opponent. He skillfully landed and was ready to fire a Poison Sting at a disfigured orange crab-like pokemon.
Red ran with his eyes set on the set stairs. He absentmindedly kicked the head of a Kakuna that was barely emerging from the ground. He didn't realize that he killed a pokemon and kept going. He almost crashed into the stone wall before taking the stairs. The next floor was similar to the last floor.
-"How many stupid zombies are there?"- Pikachu rhetorically asked, watching more graves stir.
The new dead pokemon were easy to kill but that didn't settle the fact they were still very gruesome looking. Red's pokemon felt sick to their stomachs when they faces each new foe and felt more disturbed when it was one of their own kind. Despite the ill feelings, the gang pushed on, fighting hordes of zombies on each floor. The more they descended, the trickier they became.
Red felt relaxed when he arrived at the eighth floor. The fog was less thick in this level and there was only three tombstones placed directly in the middle.
This must be were the newly deceased pokemon are buried, Red thought. He looked straight across the room and saw the set of stairs. The flight of stairs looked the same as the rest of the stair in this building but these set didn't have any fog flowing through it.
-"Ugh... these better be the last batch,"- Pidgeotto grumbled, stretching his tired wings.
As usual, the graves of the three pokemon caved in and climbed out a zombie. First, it was a humanoid, muscular pokemon with dull, gray skin and had a ripped up belt with a broken buckle around it hips. It looked quite normal except for the fact that it was missing its head! The second one was a large, stoutly pokemon that stood on two sturdy legs. It was covered in a layer of a thick, gray hide that resembled boulders in mountains and had a thick head on its shoulder with a broken horn protruding from its snout. The last one was a long serpent-like pokemon with blue skin and some white skin on its underside that stretches to the end of its tell. Small, white ears that resembled small wings framed its head and a horn protruded from it head. It would have been an elegant pokemon if didn't have all that black grim all over its body.
"Charmeleon, finish them off with Flamethrower," Red tiredly ordered.
Charmeleon walked to the front and took a deep breathe before firing his attack. The gray skinned pokemon jumped in front and slightly turned its body so its shoulder was facing Charmeleon. In the process it also revealed his back side which was missing a hunk of meat and you could see its thick spine.
The flames struck its shoulder, and the dead pokemon stood there to take the attack. Charmeleon seized the flames and waited for his for his foe to turn to dust. That didn't happen as the zombie returned to its normal position.
Hmm...so these zombies are going to take more hit before they go down, Red theorized.
-"That it I have enough of this,"- Pikachu crankily said. He sprinted at the gray beast and ignored his trainer's cries to stop.
The lumbering zombie took aim at the mouse with its glowing fist. Pikachu fired a Thunder Shock at his foe but the electricity unexpectedly curved and went straight to the guy's horn. It harmlessly shocked the zombie and transferred the energy to the ground.
Ground-Type huh, Pikachu realized. He speed up and had jumped over when his enemy swung his glowing fist. He dodged the attack as the zombie slammed his fist into the ground, creating a small crater. He flipped in midair and decided to his foe with an Iron Tail.
A metallic sheen took over his lightning bolt tail and he brought it down onto the ground-type's head. The blow was so strong that the sound of a skull cracking could be heard through out the room.
Pikachu's foe turned to dust before him and he fell into that pile of dirt.
"Pidgeotto, provide cover for Pikachu," Red ordered seeing the headless pokemon approach Pikachu.
Pidgeotto responded with an Air Cutter attack. The attack stopped the dead pokemon to fall back. If the pokemon had a head, it will probably be glaring at Pidgeotto who was flying towards him.
Charmeleon acted on his accord as he blocked a Dragon Rage attack from the serpent-like pokemon with his own Dragon Rage.
"Pikachu Thunder Shock the blue serpent and Pidgeotto, Aerial Ace it." Red shouted his commands.
Pikachu shocked of the debris from his fur coat, and swiftly fired a Thunder Shock. The creature stopped his attack to try to endure the Electric attack but with the Dragon Rage, it couldn't handle it. The creature soon turned into the gray powder that they turn into.
Pidgeotto avoided the Karate Chop from his enemy by disappearing with his Aerial Ace. He reappeared behind his headless foe strike behind him. The muscular pokemon burst into dust with the attack, signifying the end of the battle.
"I really hope that they were the last zombies we will ever have to face," Red said to his team, waiting fro Pikachu and Pidgeotto to join him. "Those are the remains of the deceased pokemon and no one should be using them for their own gain." Red gritted his teeth and faced the stairs.
Red and his team steadily ascended the fog-less set of stairs. The careful trainer looked ahead to see if he can see what was ahead. He didn't see anything until his reached to the top. He nearly fell down when he saw the people at the top but contained his shock. Jumping back would cause him to tumble back down the stairs and that will definitely be painful.
Red watched the two people in front of were too busy notice him because they were focusing their attention on the wall in front of them. They were wearing the all too familiar white sweater with the strange, blue spikes protruding from the back. The one on the left head their hood on so it was impossible to tell who it was but the one on the right had their hood off to reveal long, bleach blonde hair, with streaks of red and blue highlights, that reached to her shoulders. Instead of the usual khaki pants that Red was accustomed to seeing with the uniform, the woman (he assumed it was a woman) had on a khaki skirt. The skirt reached to the middle of her thigh.
Red quickly diverted his attention to the rest of the room. He kept and eye for any more zombie pokemon but noticed that this room didn't have any tombstones like the rooms before. There wasn't anything worth notable in the room.
Red decided to take advantage of the fact that he hasn't been noticed yet. He figured that he could surround them with his pokemon and force them to surrender.
With his Pokemon team, he walked towards the two Kuraisora members. Red was thankful for the grass in the room since the plants didn't make any noise when they were stepped on them as oppose to harder surfaces.
He walked a few more steps while trying to stay quiet. His stealthy approach was stopped by a purple ball of shadow matter. The sphere strike the area in front Red and the small explosion after the impact was strong enough to knock him onto his back.
Red coughed as the smoke entered his lungs. He quickly scanned the area around to find who was responsible for the surprise attack. His pokemon also became alert as they tried to figure out the origin of the attack.
"Did you really think that we wouldn't have noticed you?" a male voice asked in a mocking tone.
"You should never drop your guard, even when you think you have the advantage," the female warned. Red caught a glimpse of the woman's fair skin face and one of her hazel colored eyes when she slightly tilted her head to see the intruder. "Or you might get killed, little boy." The corner of her lips formed into a mischievous smirk.
Red's eyes widen and quickly switched his gaze to the area that he was attacked. The patch of grass the Shadow Ball hit was replaced with a small crater with streams of smoke flowing out of it.
That could have been me, Red thought shocked. He immediately got onto his feet and scanned the room again as if he expected another surprise assault.
"I'm quite surprised that he was able to resist the effects of you Zombifying Gas," the woman remarked going back to the wall in front of her. "Or is it because the great Illusionist Trainer of Kuraisora is losing his touch." She playfully mocked.
"Well, it's not my Pokemon that are performing the move but a bunch of weak Ghastlys of this tower," the man retaliated in a somewhat pleased tone. "So it's not as powerful as my own, Electra darling." Electra rolled her eyes and accepted the excuse.
"Still, he won't be a problem as long as we have our own minions," the Illusionist Trainer assured his companion. "Gengar, bring forth those Ghaslys to fight this kid."
Red's Pokemon all took a stance in front Red as they were all willing to protect their trainer at all costs. They all looked in different directions to find where their foe will appear.
-"There he is!"- Eevee shouted being the first to spot the purple pokemon emerging from the wall.
Everyone turned their heads as well as Red and saw Gengar floated out of the cobblestone wall. He floated from the wall to the front of the pack.
Red examined the pokemon and came to a conclusion that it was Ghost-type due to its earlier strange entrance. It was five feet tall and slightly floated above ground as his short legs didn't touch the ground. He glares at the group with its red menacing eyes but his big toothy grin didn't help him in intimidating Red's pokemon.
Red took out his Pokedex to see if it will give him any helpful information.
"Gengar: the Shadow Pokemon. To steal the life of its target, it slips into the prey's shadow and silently waits for an opportunity."
-"Come out here my Ghostly buddies,"- Gengar ordered and snapped his fingers.
Moments later, black spheres began to appear around spheres emitted purple smoke that didn't stray to far from the core. Faces soon formed on the black cores. Every sphere now had two eyes and a grinning mouth.
Red chose one of them to aim the Pokedex's camera at.
"Ghastly: the Gas Pokemon. Gastly is largely composed of gaseous matter. When exposed to a strong wind, the gaseous body quickly dwindles away. Groups of this Pokémon cluster under the eaves of houses to escape the ravages of wind."
-"Take care of these kiddies,"- Gengar chuckled and disappeared by going through the floor.
After Gengar left, the ghost pokemon all began to surround Red and his pokemon.
3..4..6! There are six Ghastlys so this won't be that bad, Red optimistically thought.
"Everyone choose one Ghastly and attack it with any of your long range attacks," Red ordered fully knowing that close combat will be futile against this type of opponent.
-"Got you covered,"- Charmeleon said, launching an Ember attack at the nearest Ghastly. The weak fire attack grazed the ghost pokemon but still did substantial damage.
The ghost pokemon here are pretty weak, Red thought as he saw a Ghastly nearly fall to a few Poison Stings from Nidorino. He did a quick scan of his whole field and each pokemon was easily handling their foe, all except for Eevee.
Eevee didn't even have any range moves, leaving her to use her physical set. She seemed aggravated as she kept going through Ghastly's body when she tried to Tackle him.
-"Haha, you can't touch me,"- Ghastly mocked, sticking out his extremely long tongue. The normal-type growled as her opponent made his preposterous faces.
"Eevee, come back. This battle isn't really for you and let someone else take care of him," Red told his Pokemon.
-"What? Bu-but I can battle him,"- Eevee whimpered, lowering her ears in depression.
-"You can't hit me,"- Ghastly annoyingly said, floating around her as he continues to mock her.
Eevee clenched her eyes as she couldn't take Ghastly's stupid face anymore. She tried to block out the ghost pokemon's voice but her long ears caught every irritating word he said.
-Why can't I hit him!- Eevee screamed in her mind. She then suddenly snapped.
-"You will pay!"- Eevee shouted. A small, purple sphere appeared in front of her snout. The ball some began to grow in size as an ominous energy merged with the spinning sphere.
Ghastly stopped to watch what she was doing. Ghastly gasped when he realized that she was performing the Shadow Ball technique.
-"Take this!"- Eevee furiously cried as she launched her attack. The surprised Ghastly took the attack head on. He instantly fell when the shadow energy exploded. Ghastly had a dazed look as he faded into the ground below, letting out one last giggle.
-"I did it,"- Eevee rejoiced turning around to face her Trainer. She noticed that her teammates were also staring at her but she cared more about her trainer's surprised expression.
-"She sure has a lot of anger inside of her,"- Nidorino remarked flabbergasted. Makes me think she will have a bitchy attitude when she gets older Nidorino shuddered.
"Alright, now it's you guys' turn," Red boldly declared.
"Well, well this kid is stronger than you thought," Electra mocked her partner.
Her partner scoffed. "He is nothing special. Any average trainer could have easily beaten those pathetic ghost pokemon," the man said.
He turned around to fully face Red. For the first time his light violet eyes got a good look at Red. His cold stare caused Red to shudder as he felt cold chills go down his spine.
"Guess we will have to deal with this nuisance," he coldly stated, pulling his white hood off in one swift move of his pale hand. His whole head was finally freed from the clothing and it didn't make Red feel any better.
His messy black hair swayed after the removing of the hood and settled to frame the outside of his pale face. The hair was long enough to cover the few piercings he had on both of his ears.
"I guess so but this better not take long," Electra spun around. Her smug smile looked more intimidating with the two black, small triangles that protruded from her bottom lip. She brought a small hand to fix her silky hair.
"A little boy like you should be taught a lesson," she said in gently yet menacing tone. "And I'll be the one to do so." she growled in her last sentence, her colorful hair falling into place. The top right of her face was concealed by her hair, having only one eye to glare at Red.
Red sensed the hate in her sentence and prepared himself for a battle.
" Vladimir, honey, how bout we demolish him with our Golbat and Jolteon combo," Electra suggested but sounded more like a command.
Vladimir shrugged. "Sure, if you want to end it already," Vladimir replied in a bored tone.
Electra rolled her eyes. "I know you like to toy with your opponents but now is not the time to waste more time," Electra sternly said.
"Well, I wasn't the one who decided to check all the other floors instead of going to the top like we were suppose to," Vladimir responded with a smirk.
"Humph." Electra turned away from her partner and crossed her arms. "I just wanted to check just in case it was hidden in the others floors. I really don't want to fail our part of the mission..." Her voice strayed at the end.
Vladimir gave his partner a small smile, to which Red thought it looked weird on him. He placed an assuring hand on Electra's shoulder showing his concern.
"I know you meant well," Vladimir gently said. "And you looked cute when your frustrated," he whispered to her but Red still picked it up.
A smile shone on Electra's face but she quickly placed a hand over her mouth. She turned around to face Vladimir and looked into his violet eyes.
"I really want to change this world," she gently spoke, putting a hand to her partner's face getting lost into his eyes.
"And so do I, my darling" he replied. He placed a hand on Electra's face and bent down as he went for kiss.
"Umm...guys? I'm still here," Red sheepishly interrupted. Vladimir and Electra's lips touched when Red spoke.
The couple immediately separated, looking quite annoyed by the rude interruption.
"Fine then little boy. I'll beat you to pulp," Electra declared, as grabbed a small pokeball from her belt. She enlarged the sphere and lobbed it into the air. The pokeball snapped open and fired a red laser that took form.
Vladimir did the same to reveal his next pokemon. A large bat that Red was all too familiar with, appeared. Golbat landed next to a yellow dig-like pokemon.
Electra's pokemon was covered in yellow fur with a white collar made out of bristly hair. He stood on four slender legs with three toes on each foot. He observed his opponents through his large black eyes.
-"Ready to pull off another excellent win?"- Jolteon asked his partner with a cocky smile.
Golbat took a look at Red's pokemon. He smirked when Red's Eevee cringed at his glare. -"Of course I am,"- he answered.
"Okay, Gible and Pikachu. You guys are up," Red ordered the two to get the type advantage. He knew that his opponents were part of Kuraisora but they didn't seem to fight dirty unlike Team Rocket.
"Well, let's what your made of," Electra said getting hyped up. "Jolteon, start off with a Shadow Ball."
Jolteon quickly opened his jaws and formed a dark sphere of shadow matter. Once it reached its max size, he reared his head back and shot his intended foes. Red's two Pokemon didn't even have time to breathe when the Shadow Ball struck both of them. The ball exploded on impact with enough power to blast away Pikachu and Gible from each other.
Red tried to comprehend at what happened. That Jolteon is very fast! Red widely thought. I didn't even had a counter strategy ready when Jolteon already finished its attack.
-"Ugh.. that was some speedy movement,"- Pikachu coughed, getting back up. -"I barely blinked when he had enough energy to complete the Shadow Ball."-
"I don't think your pokemon are going to be able to keep up with my Jolteon," Electra poked fun at Red's pokemon.
Red held his tongue not wanting to lose his emotions. Doing so will distract his thoughts and won't be able to think of a strategy.
Well, I see that pokemon is quite fast which will be a big problem I got to find way to limit his movements, Red pondered. While he thought of a strategy, his pokemon regrouped to battle.
Red thought an idea to limit Jolteon's movement but needed to get him in position first.
"Pikachu, quick Thunder Shock Golbat."
"Jolteon, go cover Golbat and take the blow," Electra ordered.
Pikachu fired off his attack but Jolteon hopped in front of the grounded Golbat. The electric move struck Jolteon and absorbed the electric move with no harm.
Red smirked at this. "Gible, now Sand Tomb," Red called out.
Gible scooped up sand from the dirt floor and swung his head to fire the sand. Jolteon was still in the process of charging up and couldn't dodge the flying particles. The dirt spun around him encasing him in a small, vicious dust tornado.
"He got you there," Vladimir commented with a smirk. "He found a way to limit Jolteon's speed. Now you can't abuse his speed for a while."
"Thanks for letting me know," Electra sarcastically replied.
"This wouldn't have happen if you would have you Golbat join the battle then just stand there like a sitting Psyduck."
"Well, you know how I battle," Vladimir blankly replied. "I like for my opponent to attack first. Since you're in a tight corner, I'll join in. Let's go with our Dart Cloud Combo." Electra nodded and didn't need to call out a command since her Pokemon already knew what to do.
A combo? Red thought bewildered. Got to prepare myself for it. It's got to be an attack that can be launched at a distance.
"Pikachu, Thunder Shock to counter and Gible, Dragon Rage to do so," Red hastily ordered.
Golbat's mouth opened it mouth so wide, Red thought it broke its jaw. He fired many purple glowing needles that Red identified as Poison Sting. The white around Jolteon's collar glowed a bright white color and from it yellow glowing darts were fired. Both pokemon fired at the same time with no signal or order to do so their attacks aligned with each other to create a volley of needles.
Pikachu and Gible didn't stand around to admire how sync their enemies were and each fired their respective attacks.
Pikachu's Thunder Shock managed shock part of the incoming needles, frying them to crisps. Gible fired his blue flames that stuck the rest of the darts, burning them to dust. A few needles manages to escape the onslaught but Red's pokemon easily sidestepped them.
Vladimir frowned when he saw their combo failed. "I'll just have to go in for kill," Vladimir said.
"Your Golbat is going to get fried by that little mouse," Electra warned her boyfriend, feeling slightly helpless.
"Don't worry," he reassured Electra. "The worst he can do is Thunder Shock which is a pretty electric weak move."
-"Well, come here and get some,"- Pikachu growled, charging up electricity.
"Golbat, go in for a Poison Fang," Vladimir ordered. Golbat flapped its wings and took off.
"Pikachu, you know the drill and Gible, you go underground and try to hit Jolteon with Dig," Red anxiously ordered. This might be the battle that I actually defeat two Kuriasora members Red thought excitedly.
While Pikachu waited for his foe to get into range for his attack, Gible dove into the fertile soil.
"Don't go to far underground," Red warned Gible.
Pikachu unleashed his Thunder Shock on the Bat Pokemon when he was in reach. Golbat stopped for moment as he was struck but was able to endure the weak attack and kept on flying towards the electric mouse.
Pikachu seize his attack when he saw Golbat get closer. He couldn't run away and just stuck his arm in defense when Golbat opened his large mouth. He sunk his large two fangs into Pikachu's right arm.
Pikachu cried in agony as he felt venom enter his body through Golbat's hollow fangs.
"Pikachu!" Red shouted in concern. "Pikachu, you got to get him off with another Thunder Shock!"
Pikachu began to feel dizzy as the venom began to do its work. He still manages to here Red's words which made him concentrate.
-"Take this... Bat Boy!"- Pikachu cried, charging up large amounts of electricity in his red cheeks. He looked into his opponent's small eyes before he discharged the energy he built up.
Golbat braced himself for the attack but he wasn't prepared for what came next. The shock was much stronger than the one before. He immediately released his grip on Pikachu and staggered backwards.
Even after feeling some pressure lift from his arm, Pikachu continued to fire the rest of the electricity stored up in his small body.
To Red, Pikachu's Thunder Shock seemed different to him. He noticed streaks of white lightning spark from his body which normally didn't appeared in a normal all yellow Thunder Shock.
It's got to be Thunder Bolt, Red concluded. He saw Golbat fall onto his back soon after Pikachu stopped his attack. Pikachu was panting when he was done. It looked like he was about to fall at anytime due to fatigue and the poison.
-"I showed you,"- Pikachu weakly said, looking at his fallen foe. He then fell forward, having used up most of his energy for his previous move and now had little energy to sustain himself.
Red returned Pikachu back into his Pokeball since he didn't want the poison to get any worse. He saw Vladimir do the same with his Golbat.
"I told you to he was going to get fried," Electra sneered.
"I wouldn't be mocking if I were you," Vladimir replied, pointing a finger to her trapped Jolteon.
"Watch me deal with this without your help," Electra retorted. "Jolteon, endure the Sand Tomb and jump when you feel the slightest movement under your feet."
-"I got to endure it,"- Jolteon muttered to himself, tensing his muscles as the vicious sand scrapped his body little by little. He ignored the pain and concentrated on feeling movement underground through the soles of his paws.
Now! Jolteon leaped straight into the air when felt the ground underneath him move.
"Now, Iron Tail the little squirt," Electra commanded.
Jolteon's tail took on a metallic sheen as his ground-type foe began to emerge from the ground. He grimaced as the sand blew stronger due to him moving through it. He flipped over as gravity took over his body.
Gible jumped out from underneath but wasn't prepared for the incoming Iron Tail. The tail was brought down onto his forehead which felt like being hit by metal hammer.
Jolteon flipped back onto his feet after the strong blow. The Sand Tomb died down to his relief and shook his body to get rid of any sand that got caught in his fur.
Gible stumbled backwards, clutching his throbbing head in pain. He staggered his way to his trainer and tried to shake off the damage.
He glared at his Electric foe, who simply smirked at his misery. Although, he wasn't one to easily lose his temper, he just lost it there.
-"I'll make you pay for that,"- Gible hissed with a menacing look.
Whoa something is different with Gible, Red thought. He saw him turn back and saw the fiery determination in his eyes. Red noticed he was waiting for his next command.
"Alright Gible, lets show them your real dragon power," Red proclaimed. "Give it your best Dragon Rage!"
Gible took a moment to summon enough energy and tried to tap into his inner dragon strength. Once he had enough energy, Gible opened his mouth to expel the large stream of flames.
Jolteon's reflexes were quick to react. He swiftly rolled to his left side but felt a few of the flames singed his right flank.
Vladimir and Electra were behind Jolteon thus the shockwave were aimed at them as well.
"Get out of the way!" Vladimir shouted. He grabbed Electra's wrist and pulled her out of the way. The shockwave hit the solid stone wall, creating a huge explosion. The blast caused the couple to lose their balance and fall into the cemetery grounds.
-"Such power,"- Charmeleon remarked awestruck. He noticed that Gible's Dragon Rage was much stronger than his own.
Vladimir and Electra coughed at they stood up. Vladimir's clothes were more dirty than Electra's since he took most of blow of hitting the ground.
"Are you okay, Electra?" Vladimir quickly asked, checking her for any serious injury.
"Yes, I'm fine darling," Electra quietly replied, feeling good to know that boyfriend was there to protect her.
"I'm going to kill that kid," Vladimir dangerously muttered.
Electra looked back to where they were standing. The smoke was starting clear out and she gasped with what was left behind.
"Vladimir, look." Electra pulled on Vladimir's sleeve to get his attention. She pointed back to where they were.
Vladimir at first didn't see anything but once the smoke began to thin, he saw that his opponent's blast destroyed the wall that had riddle they were reading. He was going throw a fit until he saw that the hole in the wall lead to another room.
Another room? Vladimir thought bewildered. Could it be... that the riddle was put their to mislead us? There was only one way to find out. He held onto his girlfriend's wrist he walked into the chamber.
Red saw them go into the room that was recently discovered. Red was about to go after him but Jolteon jumped in his way with an intimating snarl.
"I'll take care of you," Red boldly said. "Gible, Sand Tomb him."
-"Oh no you don't!"- Jolteon shouted as he quickly ran up to Gible and smacked him across the face with an Iron Tail. He sent Gible skidding across the room.
The sounds of a battle restarting reached Electra's ear. She knew that her pokemon could handle the kid for now and focused on the task on hand.
Electra's shoes met stone floor instead of the usual grass and dirt. The room wasn't quite spacious but it was more than enough room for two adults and a marble podium that stood in the middle.
On top of the simple yet elegant podium, was the thing that the duo have been searching for.
"Looks like you were right about the Aura Guardian being a sneaky bastard," Vladimir smirked, grabbing the glowing crystal orb that lay on the flat platform. He felt a slight shock as he his bare skin touched the cold surface of the crystal.
"I told you he might mislead us," Electra playfully said. "Now, its time to move to the second part of our mission." Her partner nodded in agreement and followed her out of the secret room.
Red's Charmeleon was engaged in a battle with Electra's Jolteon when the duo walked out. Red caught a glimpse of the crystal that was in Vladimir's hand.
Another Crystal Orb, Red exclaimed. How many are of them? Having found out the true nature of the duos' objection, Res knew he had to stop them at all costs.
Charmeleon last Flamethrower burned Jolteon's right flank and the hot flames knock him out.
"Well, now what should do about him?" Electra asked her partner as she recalled Jolteon.
"Our organization's policy is to kill all witnesses," Vladimir quietly said. "But without him, we would have never figured out that the Lightning Crystal was hidden behind the wall..." Vladimir drifted off as he thought if he should exterminate Red.
"I feel like owe him even though he nearly killed us," Vladimir concluded his decision. "Gengar, put this kid and Pokemon to sleep with Hypnosis!"
"No way am I going to let you guys out of here with that item," Red boldly declared.
"You should be glad that I'm letting live in the first place," Vladimir rudely replied. "Under normal circumstances I would have to kill you on the spot and take your pokemon."
Red sweated when he heard that he would have been killed.
-"There is no way in hell I'm going to let you kill my trainer,"- Charmeleon snarled. His mean demeanor was cut short by a Gengar that floated from the ground underneath.
-"Night, night,"- he mischievously said, firing hypnotic waves at Charmeleon that made him sleepy. Charmeleon soon succumbed to the move and feel backwards asleep.
Gengar chuckled and quickly disappeared underground. He reappeared in front of the rest of Red's pokemon who also feel under his spell.
Damn, I'm defenseless, Red thought as he saw his last pokemon fall asleep.
"Well, we are off and don't worry about the townspeople," Vladimir told to Red. "They will soon return to their original state."
Before he knew it, Gengar shot out of the ground in front of Red. His red eyes stared into Red's brown eyes as he hit him with his hypnosis.
The world began to fade as Red felt tiredness take over his body. He felt like he had over mountain and needed to rest after the long trek. He saw Vladimir and Electra taking their leave before the world went black.
