The Ghost of Marowak, Chapter 9

Vermillion City was quite something at sunset, but at sunrise it was definitely something else. With all the drama at the gym the day before, I hadn't taken the time to look out at the ocean. The Pokemon Center, my home away from home, was sitting right on the docks, and the main entrance looked out towards the ocean. Even Vulpix was excited to see so much water, despite knowing it was her mortal enemy. But more of a sight was the massive ship pulling into the dock.

A large, white cruise ship, bigger than any ship I had ever seen in my life. On the deck were hundreds of people, all cheering and waving to the crowds on the dock. Written on the side of the ship was the name 'Anne'. I sat down by the Pokemon Center for a while, with Vulpix in my arms, watching as the ship docked, opened its doors, and let out hundreds of people from inside. Even if I were to win every single Pokemon battle in the world and save every penny, I probably could never afford a ticket on that ship.

After daydreaming of the luxuries onboard, I put Vulpix down and told her we'd be on our way. After building my bike, which drew plenty of attention from people getting off the S.S. Anne, I put Vulpix in her basket and took off. I heard people behind me admiring the bike, so I'm pretty sure the bike shop guy would be happy.

Route 11 wasn't a long stretch of road, and it was mostly overgrown with grass. I knew cutting through the grass would probably get me into a number of battles with wild Pokemon, but I honestly didn't feel like challenging trainers to fights. Much like any other road I'd been on, it was flooded with noise from trainers doing battle. From the tall grass, I watched a few.

A kid and his Raticate fighting an old guy and his Drowzee; a girl's Jigglypuff versus another kid's Zubat. I didn't want to get into any more battles, but at the same time, I wanted to show off Vulpix and my other critters. Eventually, I caved and challenged a girl trainer near Route 12. To my surprise, it was another familiar face.

"Rebecca, is that you?" I called out to the girl. She looked in my direction for a moment, then let out a painfully audible huff.

"Hello, Star. Didn't expect to see you here, not after you left with Gary Oak after Mt Moon." Rebecca stuck her nose out at me, passing me by and ignoring my challenge.

"He was just trying to help," I said, backing up on the bike to stay face to face.

"I'm sure he was also just trying to help when he bought you that nice new bike." David had been right, she was still a bit angry about Gary. Could she have a crush on him?

"Actually, this bike was a gift from the bike shop in Vermillion City," I corrected her. "I haven't seen Gary since Cerulean City."

"If you say so. Now, if you don't mind, Star, I have to be going." She looked like she had no intention of stopping, so I turned around on my bike and sped past her. This time, I blocked her path entirely.

"Rebecca, I challenge you to a Pokemon battle." This was something she wouldn't back out of, especially with the sore feelings she had pent up. She reached for a Pokeball.

"Fine, Star. Your challenge, your rules." The hostility radiating from her was almost painful.

"Two on two, no shift. Ready?"

Without even saying another word, she released her first Pokemon, Weepinbell. This would be an easy battle, I guessed. For the first time in a while, I sent out Vulpix.

"Weepinbell, Stun Spore!"

"Vulpix, Flamethrower!"

Rebecca must've known Weepinbell was a bad choice for a first Pokemon, so I didn't understand why she picked him. What's more, wasting time trying to slow Vulpix, when a single attack from her could end the battle. She was so angry at something, or at me, that she wasn't thinking straight. As expected, Weepinbell couldn't even get his Stun Spore attack out before Vulpix blasted him with flames. In one attack, Weepinbell was down. Rebecca called him back, reaching for another Pokeball.

"Are you even trying, Rebecca?" I asked, since she didn't seem to put much thought into the next ball she picked from her belt. Out came her second Pokemon, a Doduo.

"Doduo, Quick Attack!"

"Vulpix, Ember!"

I knew Doduo would probably stop Vulpix's attack, but I wanted the fires to get out into the air beforehand. She managed to spin around in place just fast enough to release a few, but Doduo came out of no where, tackling her into the ground. Fortunately, the fires landed on Doduo after his attack. The poor Pokemon was burned on the spot.

"Doduo, Peck!"

"Vulpix, Growl!"

Doduo rushed in for the attack, but Vulpix slowed him down a bit with her powerful, if adorable, roar. Doduo's peck still managed to hurt Vulpix, but not as much as it would have. The burns on Doduo's feathers must've been hurting it a lot, so I decided to end the battle quickly, for Doduo's sake.

"Vulpix, Tackle!"

Before Rebecca could order another attack, Vulpix crashed into the tired Doduo, knocking it to the ground for good. The battle was over.

Rebecca called back her Pokemon. She reached into her bag, and pulled out some money. I was about to tell her to keep it, but she shoved it into the basket of my bike. Without saying another word, she stormed off. I didn't get a good look at her face, but I think her eyes were watering up. I wouldn't see her again for a long, long time.

~o~

Route 12 certainly had its fair share of sights. Most of the route was actually a boardwalk, a bunch of bridges built over the ocean. Some of the road was actual land, but was on the other side of the boardwalk. It's a good thing, actually, since there was this giant, fat Pokemon sleeping on the side of the road. The Pokedex said it was a Snorlax, but I couldn't tell from where I was standing. The thought of waking it up to try and catch it crossed my mind, but when the Pokedex mentioned it ate huge amounts of food when it was awake, I decided against it. I didn't want to end up as its morning snack.

There were a few trainers sitting on the boardwalk, but none of them were interested in battling, for once. Most were fishermen, sitting on the edge by the water with their fishing rods in hand. Water Pokemon were the largest type group in the world, so most of the time a trainer would have one on their team. Since I didn't I figured now was as good a time as any to fish one out.

Of course, I didn't have a fishing rod, so I'd have to borrow one from one of the guys on the boardwalk. I looked around at a few of them, most dressed in the same way, with their red life jackets and caps. Was that the official get up for fishermen or something? Anyway, after a little while of looking around, I found one guy who was looking sadder than usual. Beside him was a bucket of bait, almost completely full.

"Excuse me," I said, pulling up next to him, "Can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Not having a good day fishing?" I asked with a smile.

"Why do you care?" Oh yeah, definitely not a good day.

"Um, I just wanted to ask," I said as I got off my bike. "If I could borrow your rod?"

"Feel like picking up a Magikarp for your team?"

"Not really, I'd like a different Pokemon." It didn't occur to me that it wouldn't exactly be up to me what bit the rod when the time came. Perhaps that silly slip-up is what warmed the fisherman up to me.

"Well, let me tell you, girl, when you're fishing, it's all about luck. Either you get nothing, like me, or you pick out a Magikarp. And let me tell you, they aren't the most useful fish on the team." The man offered me a seat by him, moving the bait can over. I took a seat by him, Vulpix sitting on his other side.

"But, there is a chance I pull out something else, right?" I knew all too well about Magikarp, and how lame a Pokemon they were.

"Oh sure," he said, pulling out a list from his jacket pocket. "Around here, you could pull out Horsea, Krabby, Goldeen, maybe even a Shellder, if you're really lucky."

"Anything else?"

"I've heard stories that sometime herds of rarer Pokemon come around here, like a Seel, or maybe even Dratini. But of course, that's almost a once in a lifetime pull."

He pulled up his rod, the bait on the end of the line all wet and soggy. No Pokemon would find that tasty at all. He dug around in the can for some fresh bait, pulling out a rather juicy looking piece. After he hooked it, he handed me the rod.

"By the way, I'm George."

"I'm Star. So, I just throw in the line, and wait?"

"That's the gist of it," George said, making sure I held onto the rod correctly. "And make sure you never let go of the rod."

"Just a question," I asked, "how much is this rod worth? Just in case I do lose it?"

"Let's worry about that later." He chuckled.

I would've preferred worrying about it now. I wanted a new Pokemon, and a water Pokemon, but fishing proved to be one of the most boring things I've ever done in my life. It was almost an hour of sitting there, staring at shadows in the water. George wasn't much for chat, and Vulpix just curled up next to me for a nap after a while. She deserved it, of course, but it still felt like a betrayal. If I was bored, she should be bored, too.

Well, after an hour of sitting there, I pulled up the line. The bait had been ruined by the water, so George removed it for a fresh piece. Before he reached into the can, I asked if I could pick it out this time. It was all very slimy, but I knew that I wouldn't be able to catch a Pokemon unless I put the full effort into every step of the process. Call it a silly, childish belief, if you will. After a moment of digging around in the can, I picked a smaller piece of bait. It certainly didn't look half as tasty as most of the other pieces. Still, I had a good feeling.

George was about to take it and hook it for me, but once again I asked to do it myself. He made mention of how poorly a job I did, and that if a Pokemon didn't bite in five minutes, it'd probably fall right off the hook. I told him it was okay, that I had a good feeling about it all. And of course, I wouldn't be saying all this unless this was the moment when I'd actually get around to catching a Pokemon!

Two minutes later, I felt a tug on the rod. I stood up and started pulling on the rod. George started to panic and tell me I was doing it wrong, to reel in the Pokemon instead of trying to yank the line out of the water. I tried my best to do as he said, but if I let go of the rod with one hand, it would probably fly out of my hands. Whatever I had caught was fighting back hard. After a few seconds of struggling with the rod, George stepped in to help, coming around behind me and helping me reel in the Pokemon. It was at that moment that the Pokemon pulled back much harder than either one of us anticipated.

I didn't let go of the rod, obviously. I didn't want to pay for it, and it was a sort of instinctive reaction to the whole situation. So instead, the Pokemon pulled ME into the water. George tried to grab hold of my ankles, and instead just fell back on the boardwalk with my shoes in his hands. I was tempted to let go of the rod when I hit the water, since it was surprisingly cold, but I just held on tighter still. I was never able to open my eyes underwater, so I just prayed as I was dragged along underwater that the Pokemon wouldn't end up being a Gyrados and eat me whole. After a few seconds, I felt myself slow down.

I was running out of breath, so I started kicking my legs around, trying to force my body back to the surface. Yet I didn't let go of the rod. Whether or not the Pokemon got away, I wasn't going to be paying for that thing. I ended up letting go of the rod with one hand so I could reach the surface faster. After taking a number of deep breaths on top, I took a look around. Whatever the Pokemon was, it had led me all the way to the north end of Route 12, right outside Lavender Town. Of all the luck!

I pulled on the rod, trying to find out what happened to line. As if I wasn't lucky enough already, on the other end of the line was a Dratini, exhausted from dragging me along the ocean. It was much closer to the ground near Lavender, so I assumed he had been struggling so much to break free that he didn't see the wall ahead and crashed head first into it. I climbed out of the water as quickly as possible, since I didn't know how to swim. Thankfully, Dratini hadn't left me out in the middle of the ocean or something, otherwise who knows what would've happened. I made sure to bring along the knocked out Dratini, as well as the fishing rod.

Coming up from Route 12 was George and Vulpix on my bike. I was amazed the small thing could actually hold him, but I guess that just further proved the bike shop guy's ability to make bikes.

"Wow! You're alright!"

"Yeah," I said, shivering a bit. "I'm okay. Pass me a Pokeball there, would you?"

George dug around inside my bag, eventually coming across an empty Pokeball. With it in hand, I walked over to the Dratini on the ground, and tapped it with the ball. The Pokemon was sucked into the ball, and captured in seconds. Afterwards, I handed George his rod back.

"I'm sorry about that," I said, though not really sure why I was apologizing.

"Don't be, I'm not only amazed you held onto the rod, but survived that wild ride! And to catch a Dratini, too? You must be the luckiest girl in the world!"

"I try," I said, rubbing my arms to try and warm up. "Thanks again for the rod."

"Here, let me help!" George pulled a small towel out of his own bag, throwing it over my shoulders. It wasn't helping much, but at least most of the breeze wasn't hitting my chest anymore. Mom always said that's what got you sick.

"If you want I can walk you into town."

"It's okay, George. I think you should head back to the boardwalk," I said, walking into town. "Maybe my luck rubbed off on that rod of yours."

~o~

As always, Nurse Joy was more than willing to help not only my Pokemon, but me as well. And yes, I know each Joy is actually a different person, but for some reason they're always so friendly, and I can't help but forget they aren't the same. Either way, the Pokemon Center proved to be much more than a center for just Pokemon, as I was able to take a shower and dry off all inside a private room in the building. Sometimes I'd feel bad, going the cheap route and not staying at hotels on my travels, but this was just so much more comfortable!

Once I was downstairs, my Pokemon were ready to go. Since Lavender Town didn't have any gym to visit, I figured I'd just keep moving, and take the train to Celadon City before it got dark. Sadly, that plan was ruined. Once I arrived at the station, it was closed already, the next train leaving at nine the next morning. Stuck in Lavender for the night, I made my way back to the center. It was then that I noticed the unusually tall tower on the other end of town. Ever curious, I walked to the entrance and let myself in.

"Welcome to the Pokemon Tower, dear. Have you come in mourning?" The woman at the entrance spoke in a hoarse voice, like she hadn't used it in a long time.

"Actually, I'm just passing through. What is this place?" All around me were people in tears.

"The Pokemon Tower, a place where people come to let their beloved Pokemon rest eternally. It is, in short, a graveyard for deceased Pokemon."

Suddenly, I didn't want to be there anymore. I was a firm believer in ghosts, that they existed and could, on occasion, hurt the living. If dead Pokemon were buried in this tower, then ghosts of those Pokemon would probably go out and attack me as well.

"You're welcome to look around, dear. Say a silent prayer for those Pokemon that have passed on."

"O-Of course." Thanks to my big mouth, I was now stuck in that tower for at least another few minutes to offer a prayer. I looked down at Vulpix, but she didn't seem the least bit alert. If she didn't sense anything bad around, then maybe there was nothing to be afraid of after all.

I walked around the first floor for a while, mostly listening in on people's conversations. Most were here because a Pokemon of theirs had died, and were just there to say their final farewells. With every conversation I heard, I looked down at Vulpix, dreading the day I'd have to come here to bury her. If that day ever came to pass, that is. I was still at that stage in life where you don't think you'll ever die, neither will those around you. At that moment, I heard some noise coming from a higher floor. It was a noise I recognized all too well.

"Ma'am," I asked the woman at the entrance, "is there battling allowed in this tower?"

"There is no official allowance of the matter, but sometimes trainers are attacked by vengeful spirits. Pokemon trainers are cautioned before ascending to a higher floor. I believe a young man went upstairs earlier, and hasn't come down."

Ghost type Pokemon. This was the only place in the entire region to catch one, I'd later learn. I didn't catch one on that trip, but all the same I decided to follow the noise upstairs. Once we were on the second floor, Vulpix was on full alert. There were spirits around us now. Where there were no tombstones on the first floor, up here the floor was covered in them, all memorials to dead Pokemon. The noise came from higher up, so I told Vulpix to follow me as I went up another floor. There was no one on this floor either, so I kept moving up.

Finally, on the fourth floor, I saw another familiar face. It was Gary Oak, and he was fighting some large Pokemon on the other side of the floor. His Nidorino was having trouble, so I ran up to his side with Vulpix.

"Star! What are you doing here?" He said in shock.

"I'm here to help! Vulpix, Ember!"

Vulpix spun around, raining down flames on the Pokemon. In the meantime, I pulled out my Pokedex, trying to identify it. Shockingly, the Pokedex said it couldn't ID the Pokemon. I looked back at Vulpix, who was backing away from the Pokemon, just like Gary's Nidorino.

"We can't beat it. No matter what we do, it just doesn't stop. We have to run!"

We both turned around to flee, but waiting for us was another ghostly apparition. Unlike the strange one now at our rear, this one I could ID off the bat as a Gastly. Vulpix was paralyzed with a sudden fear, while Gary's Nidorino stepped forward.

"Nidorino, use Roar!"

The purple critter let out a deafening howl, which caused even Vulpix to jump into my arms. The Gastly didn't flinch, however, and closed in on Nidorino with its tongue exposed.

"Nidorino, dodge and use Poison Sting!"

Again, the Pokemon showed amazingly dexterity as it deftly dodged the incoming attack from Gastly and retaliated in short order. It wasn't much of a hit on the ghostly Pokemon, but enough to cause it to vanish into thin air for the moment. That would be our sign to escape.

Gary withdrew his Nidorino and grabbed my hand, leading me back to the stairs. I looked back at the mysterious ghost Pokemon, which unlike the Gastly Gary had just fought off, didn't look anything like a ghost. Whatever it was, it wasn't a normal ghost Pokemon.

Once we were back on the first floor, Gary finally let go of my hand. I put Vulpix back down on the floor, where she scratched behind her ear for a while.

"Gary, what was that?" I asked, catching my breath.

"I think it was a ghost, but not an ordinary ghost Pokemon." He pulled out his own Pokedex, trying to find more information on it. The woman at the entrance approached us.

"So, you came face to face with Marowak, children?"

"Marowak? That may have been what it looked like, but it sure wasn't a real Marowak!" Gary snapped shut his Pokedex. The woman chuckled.

"That's because that Marowak is the spirit of the real thing. She died protecting her Cubone son from some villains that stormed the tower a few weeks ago. They made off with the Cubone, and since then her spirit has returned to haunt the fourth floor of the tower."

"Sounds awful fishy, to me," said Gary, crossing his arms.

"Is that normal?" I asked.

"Not in the least," said the woman, shaking her head slowly. "Deceased Pokemon may eventually be reborn as ghost Pokemon, but sometimes, in rare cases, Pokemon return as the kind of Pokemon they were in life. Marowak is one of those rare cases."

"So, are we just supposed to stay out of the tower, then?" Gary looked back at the stairs, eager to take another shot at the Pokemon that beat him.

"Yes, child. Until the Marowak has come to terms with her loss, she will haunt the Pokemon Tower. I'd recommend you not return, you may not escape so easily next time."

~o~

I followed Gary outside, where the sun was starting to set. He stared at his Nidorino's Pokeball for a while, not saying a word. Vulpix rubbed up against my leg, so I picked her up in my arms. Finally, Gary turned to face me.

"Well, that was a fun little side trip, right?"

"I guess," I said, confused at his attitude about everything that had just happened. "Where are you going now?"

"South. Headed to Fuchsia City. You?"

"Fuchsia? Aren't you going to pick up any badges from the cities around here?"

"Already did!" Gary pulled out his trainer card, showing me five badges all neatly arranged on the opposite side of the card. I recognized three of them, so I guessed the other two were from Celadon and Saffron.

"How did you get into Saffron City? I heard it was closed off."

"The guard on the east entrance, from Celadon," Gary said, leaning in closer so that no one else could hear. "He'll let you in if you give him something specific."

"Something?"

"In Celadon, there's this huge shopping mall. Pick up a bottle of Seafoam Spring Water, it'll be sure to quench his thirst!"

"Oh, I see," I said to him. He gave me that same cocky smile he always has on before turning north for a moment.

"I'll let you in on one other little secret, Star. If you want, you can head north from here, and follow the river a bit."

"Why?"

"There's this old abandoned power plant along river's edge, near the exit of the Rock Tunnel. You'll need to cross the river with a Pokemon or your own swimming prowess, but if you can get there, you'll find the plant." Gary fished around for something in his pocket, then produced a bright yellow feather.

"Wow, what is it?" I asked, taking the feather in my hand. It was hot to the touch, but not immediately. The longer I held onto it, the hotter it got. I handed it back to Gary before it burned my fingers.

"A Pokemon feather, though I don't know what kind dropped it. I think it might be an ultra rare Pokemon, but I couldn't find it myself. Maybe you'll have better luck? Well, smell ya later, Star! Can't be wasting any time sleeping when there's more badges to collect!"

Just like that, Gary left Lavender Town. It wasn't enough that he left me standing in the middle of Lavender Town, but now with the temptation to go off-course to investigate a potentially rare Pokemon in some power plant. Though I was fixated on pushing forward in my quest for the gym badges to catch up to Deneb, I had to go see for myself.

After all, exploration is one of the main reasons you become a trainer in the first place!