8

I awake with a start, the man in my dream still fresh in my memory. Having a dream like that after all this has to mean something… I think, but just get up and alert the girl to my consciousness. We pack up our things and head straight into town, my pain completely gone and feeling like a new man. I look at my pokétech and switch to the analogue watch, preferring an old style of watch to numbers. Inside the town, there are fewer buildings than viridian, and fewer tall ones at that also. We go around town, looking for a good restaurant to eat in when I notice the town's gym. I ignore it, thinking the last thing I want right now is for my eevee to get weakened or get myself caught up in getting a badge.

While walking, we tend to keep quiet, Serena and I not bothering to mention what happened at the forest. I know I felt uncomfortable, I think to myself, but if she had gone through with it, I don't think I would have minded… I beam at my own thoughts. I decide to break this awful silence while walking around town aimlessly by asking Serena a question, who is past Sakura on my right side.

"Serena, what is that on your shirt?" I ask, sincerely wondering what it was.

"Oh this old thing? This is a panda." She answers bluntly.

It doesn't help me to understand. "A… panda? Is that a name for a pokémon or what?"

"It is a species of pokémon. Have you seen a spinda before?"

I nod.

"Well, it's similar to that, but more of a bear. A lot bigger and a LOT cuter!" She starts giggling again. I look at her oddly, and Sakura completely ignores her, looking at the town map, looking for a good restaurant.

"A bear? Like ursaring or something?"

She nods. "Yeah, but not as tall. It lives on tropical islands and places like that. OH MY GOSH I think they are just so cute! They haven't really been proven to exist, but many have been sighted, and described like what is on my shirt…"

"And your hair?" I ask, meaning to interrupt.

"Yes," she says, laughing a little, "Like my hair. The ears and limbs are all black and most of their body is white. Oh, I love them so much." She huddles up, as if ready to explode with excitement. "I want to be the first one to prove they exist!"

I give her a blank look. "So why are you traveling with us? We won't get you far. And you saw what was wrong with me. What if you get involved?"

She smiles at me. "My eevee can still help out you know. I want to see if I can find some clues, not just wander aimlessly. Besides," She looks at me with a cute face, "I like company."

I start to blush when Sakura says, completely oblivious to our entire conversation, "Hey, I think I found a good place. It has seafood and everything."

My ears perk up. Finally, real food! Enough of these berries or spit roasted rattata, which actually was kind of good… "Is there beef?"

"The chef calls himself a 'Jack of all trades' when it comes to cooking, according to the short, 3 sentence description. Yep, good miltank from Johto too."

Serena nods and says with excitement, "I LOVE SEAFOOD! Especially Magikarp!"

Sakura agrees. "Yep. Now… it's called… oh lord…"

I raise an eyebrow. "What?"

"It's named… the 'Pewter Plate.'" She answers dryly.

Serena laughs. "WOW that name sucks."

"I'm not complaining." I say. "Good food eh? Let's hurry!" With that, we all run down the street and turn a left, reaching the restaurant.

-----

I grab an after dinner mint and toss it, wrapper and all into my mouth, popping out the mint and spitting out the wrapper from my mouth. My plate is barren, cheeseburger and all, already eaten. Sakura is chatting with a waiter, and Serena has a few more bites of her magikarp to eat.

The restaurant is amazing. The floor is a deep maroon carpet, looking completely spotless and stainless, an amazing feat for a restaurant. The tables are all made of maple wood, and are covered in a nice, dark red table clothes. Most plates are round and basically white, but the napkins are an odd dark blue, which somehow mingles with the table clothes to almost look like a royal dining table. Tall candles sit in the middle of each table, and the silverware almost looks truly silver. The restaurant is completely packed as well. Each table is full of at least 3 people, and we had to wait almost 20 minutes for an open table. When we got our menus, Serena and I were floored by the prices, but Sakura ensured that with her high pay check, being a ranger and all, she could easily cover it. We both nodded and with great enthusiasm, described what we wanted for dinner.

The food was great. I had ordered a cheeseburger, and the other two ordered a magikarp, but I forget how they wanted it. Now it is after dinner, and we are about ready to receive the check, when a pokéball pops off my waist and ninetails appears before us on the side of the table.

Sakura is taken aback. "When did you get a ninetails?!"

Abby gives her a look. This pathetic one saved you, no?

"Can it Abby!" I say. I turn to Sakura. "This is that ninetails that Jenny sent for me, the one that cursed me. I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys about it."

Sakura just blinks, and asks, "Well, what does she want then? And I heard what you said about me!" She blurts out at the end at Abby.

I'm here to warn you. For all I know, you might not have let me out until tomorrow. Says Abby, via telepathy still. You must know, from that pain this morning, what you are in for.

I nod.

It'll get worse. But that is the last thing you wanted to hear. So I'm going to save you some trouble. Tomorrow, go back to our last campsite, and I'll show you a short cut to Lavender Town.

I give her a look. "Why am I going to trust you? YOU CURSED ME!" I scream. The people in the restaurant all turn to me, but I don't care.

Huh, you sure are a smart one. Raizu Kawashima, I am a pokémon. You are a human. Humans have a general greater intelligence than pokémon, so we listen. You know how to use our abilities to advantageous means so great, we could never hope to achieve them ourselves. To say that I, commanded by Officer Jenny, am the one to blame for your curse, is selfish and ignorant. I am here because she felt deep regret…

I stop her. "Felt?"

You were on the phone when it happened. I was beside her in fact, as I had not left yet. The curse affects either one or two people, as choice by the ninetails when her tails' are pulled. It can be dealt equally to two people, if they are both touching the ninetails, or each other when one grabs a tail, but for a distance, the one grabbing the tail gets the full brunt of the curse, and the person standing away is affected, but only a little by comparison. She felt deep regret about her actions, letting her own hate that has built up for years for pokémon abusers envelope her. I came in good spirits, hoping I can help my former master right one wrong she has done upon the world.

Serena was now wide eyed with attention, and Sakura was as well. I was a wrong, just some little tool for Jenny, and she hated that so much…

"Alright." I say. "I'll trust you, for now."

Abby nods. Then hurry. We must leave as soon as possible. We don't want you… getting hit by that curse when we are in the cave.

I nod, and decide that now is a good time to do something I have been putting off ever since I left. We pay quickly, and leave, my eevee and Abby following by our sides. We all pretty much run down to the campsite, and I summarize what has happened to me to Serena, and Sakura about the phone.

When we are all going to sleep, I pull out a notebook from my backpack. I suppose now is as good a time to start a journal, I think. If I don't live through this, I'm sure someone can learn a bit about me from this. And with those thoughts, I begin writing all the events that have happened to me from the morning I woke up, 'till the whole adventure was over.