Blue wandered the bleak path towards Mr. Fuji's house. Growlithe was snuffling nervously ahead of him, apparently just as put off as he was about the demure town. The sooner he could leave the better.
Growlithe paused as it entered Mr. Fuji's yard, and whimpered.
"What is it?" Blue murmured.
It shuffled its paws uncomfortably.
Was it doubting that it should stay at the Pokemon House?
"Look, you heard what that nurse said." Blue mumbled. "If your trainer's looking for you, they'll probably check here."
Growlithe tucked its tail in between its legs and nudged Blue with its head.
"Do you want your trainer to find you or not?"
It whined and hid behind Blue's legs, shoving him closer to Mr. Fuji's house. Blue sighed, and reached out to knock on the door. He paused at the sound of a familiar voice.
"Excuse me, the Pokemon Tower…what happened there?"
Red's voice came faintly from inside the house. He'd caught up with Red! Blue held his breath as he listened as unfamiliar voices explained that Team Rocket had taken over the Pokemon Tower, and that Mr. Fuji had left to try to convince them to leave. A woman then exclaimed that a ghost appeared shortly after Team Rocket had!
"Interesting…" Blue whispered to himself.
He'd dealt with Team Rocket before, and had learned that though they were threatening, they seemed to be outsmarted without difficulty. Had no one else tried to rid the Pokemon Tower of the criminals? And as for the ghost...it was likely a story fabricated by Team Rocket to keep people out.
"Hey, let's all go together and rescue Mr. Fuji!" a young girl's voice cried out above the rest.
Not a bad idea. Blue thought to himself. Why hadn't the citizens of Lavender Town tried that in the first place? It was simple enough, and together they would likely stand a better chance against the petty thieves.
Several others argued against the girl's idea, and Blue rolled his eyes as Red piped in.
"I'll go!"
Of course. It was just like Red to be the hero. Last time, his brash ideas led Team Rocket right to Erika!
Blue peeked his head through the door, and listened as Red exclaimed with confidence that he could rid Lavender Town of Team Rocket. Blue pictured Celadon Gym engulfed in flames. If Red challenged Team Rocket again, the Pokemon House could be next! He glanced down at Growlithe. It may be up to him to take out Team Rocket. Then they wouldn't be able to trace the idea back to the people at Mr. Fuji's! All he had to do was pretend that he didn't know they were there. He could be some punk kid sneaking in after hearing a ghost story…
That was it!
"Now I see." Blue murmured to himself, smiling as he thought of what this could mean. "If I go to the Pokemon Tower now and get rid of Team Rocket before Red does…I'll be the hero."
He'd had no recognition after what happened in Celadon City, so the idea seemed quite appealing. All he had to do was pull it off.
Blue glanced around and slipped towards the Pokemon Tower, but Growlithe barked after him.
"Right." He muttered. "Look, you can stay here at the Pokemon House or you can follow me to the tower."
It growled and sat back, its thick fur bristling.
"Alright, alright." Blue groaned. "I'll get you checked in."
Once Growlithe was checked into the Pokemon House, Blue marched his way into the Pokemon Tower. The sun was setting as he made his way back down the path. He glanced back at Growlithe, who sat at the door watching him. It whined and howled, and Blue had to turn away. He was going to miss Growlithe. He made no sound as he crept towards the tower, and long shadows engulfed the town as the sun disappeared behind the mountains.
The moon hung low in the sky when Blue finally made it to his destination. He carefully managed to climb through a window and into the building. A soft, silver light filtered through the windows of the first floor, but it was pitch black in the upper levels, and Blue had to strain his eyes to see farther then the glow of his flashlight. Blue shuddered. Had it been so cold when he arrived…?
He jammed one hand into his pocket. He was being silly. It was unnervingly quiet, but there did not appear to be anything supernatural about the place. Blue muttered to himself to boost his confidence. He refused to give into the same tricks the people at the Pokemon house had. There was no ghost. Just a story made up by Team Rocket to scare people away!
"The genius Blue will finally reveal Team Rocket's sneaky tricks, and kick them out for good! Soon I may hold a special place in the history of Lavender Town…" he chuckled as he braced himself to climb another flight of stairs.
He reached level 6, but there was still no sign of Team Rocket, or any ghosts.
"Is Team Rocket even up here, anyway?" Blue mused. "Everybody talks about ghosts in this place but there's nothing here…"
Blue paused, suddenly feeling spooked. Something wasn't right.
At the other end of the floor, he could see a shadow forming by the staircase. He waited to see who was casting it, but there was no sign of anyone.
"What is that…?" Blue whispered.
The shadow grew suddenly, and a sound like a gust of wind rattled throughout the room.
"GET OUT! LEAVE THIS PLACE!"
Blue shivered and turned away, hurrying for the flight of stairs behind him. He felt himself let out a scream, but all he could here was the sound of his heart pounding in his ears. Blue realized too late that he had dropped his flashlight and flung himself into the darkness. Which way was he going? He stumbled and scuffed his knee at one point, but he didn't stop. Not until he collided with someone else in the darkness.
"Blue!" Red exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
Blue stepped back, breathless.
"I…I saw a g-g-ghost!" Blue stammered.
"GET OUT!"
The voice echoed around them, as fog began to roll through the room. Blue wanted to hide, but he stood frozen in place.
"LEAVE THIS PLACE!"
The shadow zoomed towards Blue and Red, and they stumbled backwards.
"So that means ghosts really do exist?" Red squeaked.
He looked frightened!
"Come on Red, let's run away!" Blue urged, but Red looked irritated at the suggestion.
"No." Red growled. "You run if you want to, but I can't…I can't run away!"
Red was so melodramatic. Blue glanced down the hallway. Besides, Team Rocket was still somewhere in the tower! He remembered why he came here, and tried to swallow his fear. Red could distract the ghost while Blue fought Team Rocket! Blue realized, and he snuck back up the stairs as Red's Charmeleon leaped into action.
Without a flashlight he couldn't see an inch from his nose, but perhaps he could be stealthier. He felt his way up the stairs, careful to be quiet. He could here footsteps in the floor above him now, and he tiptoed slowly around each corner. Suddenly a light shone brightly in front of him.
"Hey you! What are you doing here?" the man in front of him demanded.
Blue squinted his eyes, and was able to see a red "R" on the shirt of the man. Team Rocket!
He smiled and sent Wartortle into action.
Wartorle leaped at the Team Rocket grunt with a battle cry, and the grunt turned and ran up the stairs.
"Oh no you don't!" Blue panted, sprinting after him.
Wartortle was hot on his heels as he stumbled onto the next floor. They were surrounded by grunts. He counted two Koffings, three Grimer, a Drowsy, and a Ratticate. This would be a piece of cake.
"Wartortle, rapid spin!" Blue cried, and Wartortle spun and bounced off of both Koffings.
The Koffings fell to the ground and the 3 Grimer slid up to Wartortle.
"Rapid spin again!"
Wartortle spun, but the Grimer merely stretched and spread themselves out.
"Right. Try water gun!"
It nodded and sprayed the Grimer with water. The pressure of Wartortle's water gun washed the Grimer against the wall, and they squiggled to the ground. The Drowsy and Ratticate were up next.
"You're outta luck, kid!" a tall grunt taunted.
Blue smirked. If only the grunt knew who he was up against!
"Wartortle! You know what to do! Use your bubble beam and rapid spin!" Blue commanded.
Wartortle nodded and whirled into action, blasting Drowsy and Ratticate with a burst of bubbles. The vortex of bubbles blasted back at the two Pokemon, sending them flying.
"Quick!" Blue heard one of the grunts yell. "He's a strong trainer. Grab the Silph Scope and we'll get out of here!"
The grunts called their Pokemon back, but Blue and Wartortle got in their way. Wartortle sprayed the grunts back, and a strange goggle looking device dropped to the floor. Blue picked it up to examine it.
"The Silph Scope!" one grunt cried.
Blue paced over with Wortortle at his side.
"What does it do?" Blue demanded.
At first the grunt looked as if he wouldn't talk, but Wortortle growled threateningly.
"It's a piece of technology that helps to identify unknown ghost Pokemon!" the grunt gulped.
Blue whirled around.
"Come on Wortortle! We gotta take this to Red!"
The two left the grunts in a dizzy heap. Blue hurried back down the stairs, calling Wortorle back into its Pokeball. He flew around the corner, and saw Red facing the ghost.
"Red!" Blue hollered. "Use this!"
Blue hurled the Silph Scope towards Red, who reached up and caught it.
"What is this?" Red inquired.
"You'll know when you use it." Blue called back.
He held his breath as Red placed the goggles over his eyes. Hopefully this would work…
"Marowak!" Red gasped.
Blue sighed and sat back. His legs were trembling, but he was relieved to hear some recognition in Red's voice. A Cubone and a young girl came running up the stairs. The Cubone embraced the ghost, and Red called his Charmeleon back. Blue watched on for a few moments, Cubone was going to be sad for a while, but everything would eventually be okay with Mr. Fuji's help.
Blue thought back to Growlithe. Growlithe was having a difficult time with its owner abandoning it, and he still didn't feel like it would be right to leave Growlithe waiting at the Pokemon House for its trainer to come back.
Blue rose to his feet, watching as the ghost of Marowak drifted peacefully away from the baby Cubone.
"Well, no need to get involved at this point." He murmured to himself. "I guess I'll just leave the rest to Red."
He needed to get back to Growlithe.
Blue battled a few more grunts on the way out, but for the most part the rest of the tower was abandoned. He slipped out the window he'd come in through, and trotted down the path back to the Pokemon House.
The lights of the Pokemon House put off a soft glow, and Blue could see the faint outline of Growlithe's silhouette of the front porch.
"Growlithe!" Blue called, and he heard Growlithe bark back at him.
It bounded down off of the porch and nearly knocked Blue over, wagging its tail intently the entire time. Blue bent down and let the Pokemon lick his face.
"Hey buddy." Blue greeted. "Did you miss me?"
The Growlithe nuzzled up to Blue, and he lifted it up and took it inside the Pokemon House. A man was waiting by the door.
"Is this your Growlithe?" the man inquired.
"If it doesn't have a home, I'd be more than happy to take it." Blue explained. "I checked it into the Pokemon House earlier today, but I don't think its trainer is coming back for it."
The man frowned.
"Growlithe are very loyal." The man commented. "It waited on the porch for you this entire time. I think it would be good for you to take this Growlithe."
Blue set the Growlithe down. It gazed up at him happily.
"Do you think its trainer will come back for it though?" Blue asked.
The man smiled.
"I think its trainer has come back for it." He stated. "Would you like to give a nickname to your new Growlithe?"