Touko felt a little better that she'd worn a sweater; the breeze from the door felt like there was a lone ice cube slugging sliding down her back. "I don't understand how he can come here every day." The ghost type in her arms giggled. She looked up at her trainer and her stitches were at their limit. Touko rolled her eyes, knowing her Pokémon was excited to go in. "Don't do anything crazy in there, okay?" Annabelle nodded fervently.
The teen stooped into the doorway, due to a stone at the base. The sunlight stretched as far as it could into the room. A counter could be seen on her right, a computer in the corner, tiled floors, a couple of fake plants, and a small window with little light shining through the crusted glass. Touko leaned the giggling Annabelle on her left arm and grabbed her Pokédex. She pushed the buttons to her get to her team's page and found she'd forgotten to teach Gregor Flash. With the doll still on her arm, she dug her hand into her bag. She put it in the sunlight, and didn't find the appropriate tm.
"Shit." She fished around for another item, and felt the handle. After a click, the flashlight beamed white light. Her hand felt around again, and they felt a few batteries. Sigh. "Good," she pulled her hand out of her purse and shifted the impatient Pokémon into her arms and flashlight in her right hand. "Let's do this."
Annabelle clapped. Touko could feel a layer of dust from each step on the tiles, and could see footprints. The prints weren't just a pair of feet; it was a pair of feet traveling the same path over and over again. Touko presumed they were Mr. Fuji's. The furthest wall had two signs on it. They'd somehow stay screwed in the wall despite the damage to the rest of the building.
"Perk Up Pokémon with Mellow Sounds of the Poké Flute. The Poké Flute broadcast is only available around the Kanto region. Try to tune in around the upper area of the radio!" read the first. The next sign hung next to a paint-chipped elevator gave directions to the rest of the building. "1F Reception; 2F Sales; 3F Personnel; 4F Production; 5F Director's Office." Touko was more than a little apprehensive to the elevator, but knew with the lack of stairs that was the only way Mr. Fuji could make it anywhere else.
But to her right, she could see a booth. The trainer pointed her flashlight at the booth, and could see a screen of broken glass. The table in the booth had two microphones and some papers. Walking in the booth, Touko could see a few papers left on it. They read "August 8th, 2008: The New Start for Lavender Tower; Grand Radio Tower Opening." Skimming the titles over, she could see several of them were scripts.
August 8, 2009.
"Ben: This is your DJ Ben!"
After sweeping some papers to the side, Touko found more,
December 10, 2009.
"Ben: Today is Thurday Pokémon's Music is the Sinnoh sound that carries a hint of Sinnoh Region atmosphere. The Sinnoh music, the sound of the great land to the north, might just lure a bunch of Pokémon to follow you! And to address what some of you have been calling and writing about, the sounds you hear during the music will be taken care of as soon as we add some things to the booth that will keep the noise from outside the tower, outside. Thank you for your patience, and enjoy!"
There was a sticky note attached to the script, reading, "Address the noises people have been complaining about but do NOT mention the protesters.
-Director Kouman.
Later down the script was something handwritten clearly last minute at the space at the bottom of the page.
"Mary: We're reaching out to all you Pokémon fans out there! But sadly, we have said our goodbyes to Professor Oak who has left the station for personal needs. We are sad to see him go and wish to see him again."
March 13, 2010.
"Narrator: Good evening, Kanto. Here at the radio station we have bad news. One of our managers, and one of the founders of the radio tower, has passed away. He fell from one of the windows on the third floor at 3:00 this afternoon. He was pronounced dead at 3:01 by the medical personal. The police are here for investigation. We doubt this incident was like the radio tower crisis in Johto, with all the police here to prevent that from happening again. No guests are allowed beyond the first floor, and we were all background checked before being hired. All employees here should have a clean record.
We will be closing the establishment at the end of tonight and will end the show early. But, there is hope. Our director is talking to the sheriff about possibly reopening the tower in the future, once we are certain this was an accident and the family has had time to grieve. We thank you for understanding, and please enjoy the music playing the remainder of the hour."
June 5, 2010
"Narrator: Good morning Kanto! Today is the grand reopening of the Kanto Radio Tower! Today, and the rest of this week, we will be playing your requests in honor of the grand reopening, so feel free to call in and ask us to play us your favourite song! Enough with the intro, now let's enjoy our beloved music once again!"
June 6, 2010
"Narrator: Wow! We have received a lot of calls regarding the songs, and we have been quite pleased for the most part. There has been a suspicious prank caller calling all hours of the day and night, and if you do not stop, we will track down your phone number and pursue legal action. Mischief aside, today will be playing the Marching song. We keep marching on!"
June 7, 2010
"Narrator: Hi! Before we begin, we would like to address some things before we begin our day. Whoever has been prank calling us is being warned: we have taken action in tracking your number and will be fined. This is unacceptable and we warn that you stop. Now that we have that out of the way, we will be playing the Poke Flute, to help all of you fall asleep like a Snorlax in the middle of the road. Enjoy!
June 8, 2010
"Narrator: Hello listeners. The Mary Show (formerly known as the 'Mary and Oak Show') has been canceled due to an accident. Mary is at the nearby ER due to an electrical shock due to some cut wires that were laid on the fourth floor. She is in critical condition, and we are searching for a replacement for her post now. We hope for one by tomorrow morning, and our employers are more than happy to interview any one wanting the job. The rest of us here are leaving early for safety reasons, and once again police will stop by. We expect to be back per usual tomorrow though, so do not despair. I leave you with one last song, requested from a number from Viridian; the national anthem of Kanto.
June 9, 2010
"Narrator: Good morning Kanto! To update you all, the prank calls have continued on, and despite our efforts we have not been able to track down the phone number. These calls distress the staff, so please, if you are the caller, we warn you to stop. The song you all hear at 12 p.m. is unknown; all we know is that it is high pitched and has caused headaches, to even seizures for some of the staff here. If you have any information on whom played this song may be, please contact us immediately. On another note, Mary from the Mary Show, passed away this morning at 7:03 a.m. We are all deeply saddened with the loss, but due to Boss's orders, we will not take another day off. The investigators have ruled it to be an accident, and the person responsible for leaving the wires out, we do not know. The investigation did not leave any clues about it.
June 10, 2010
"Narrator: Hello. Today I must inform you all of this morning's events. The director of the Pokemon Radio Tower, has died. He was pushed out of his window on the fifth floor of the building. The police are up there as we speak, and the sheriff is proposing the establishment be closed down for good. We are all struck by the loss of our leader here, and ask that Mary and Director Kouman remain in your thoughts. Resident of Lavender and founder of the Volunteer House, Mr. Fuji, has made a statement asking that once everything is done, that he be able to slowly move the graves of the Pokemon back to the tower. He said it would help rebuilding the community here in Lavender Town, and hopefully the channellers would return to help with the process.
"We ask for your support through this and the remaining staff here will be applying for jobs as soon as possible. It is almost twelve now, so I will not talk any further and will shut down the signals so that the song will not play again today. It has been a pleasure to serve you all."
Touko gently put the papers back down on the desk, frantically thinking about turning back or continuing. Mr. Fuji could know where N is, but was it worth the risk? The trainer held her plush Pokemon tighter, not sure what to do. A couple of deaths could have been freak accidents, and maybe a rogue employee wanted to get even for some reason. But there was a reason not many people came here now, why so many trainers went out of their way to avoid this town.
But the red elevator was waiting, waiting for her.
She stepped out of the booth, walked to the gateway to hell presumably, and pressed the button.