"GET OUT... GET OUT..." came a low, echoing voice, seeming to resonate from the spectral Marowak's skull.
"Send out a Pokémon, one of you," Missingno. advised them. "As long as I'm blocking its frightening illusions, they won't be too scared to attack."
"Got it," nodded Orange as he tossed a Poké Ball. "I choose you, Q!"
In a flash of light, Orange's Q materialized. "Kyuuuu," it sang softly as it hovered in midair, right between Orange and the Marowak ghost.
The dead Marowak made the first move, zooming furiously through the air. She then swung the bloodstained bone gripped in her right hand and smacked Q with it. The Deep Sea Pokémon reeled from the Bone Club, but seemed relatively unhurt.
"Come on, Q," urged Orange. "Fight back with Double Kick!"
"Kyu kyu kyu kyuuuuu," replied Q as a pair of blocky feet sprouted out of its sides, one foot protruding from each side. Q then spun around in midair and charged at Marowak, kicking at it repeatedly. Marowak grunted as it was slammed by the Fighting-type move, and seemed to involuntarily let go of its bone. As the bone soared through the air and made an abrupt u-turn, however, Red began to suspect that this was an attack.
"Q, look out for the Bonemerang!" Orange shouted in alarm, but it was too late- the bone slammed into Q, and the Deep Sea Pokémon fell to the floor. Though it was able to get back into the air, it did so very unsteadily. Marowak wasn't finished, however; Orange only got as far as "Use BubbleBe-" before the deceased Marowak slammed its cracked, bloodstained skull into Q's body. The Headbutt attack was too much for the Water/Psychic-type to handle, and Q fainted on the spot.
"My turn," Violet stated as Orange withdrew Q. She threw a Poké Ball of her own and called out, "Migraine, go!"
The ball opened up, and Violet's Psyduck made its appearance, clutching its head as usual. "Psyduck psy," it said as it looked up at the ghostly Marowak, and then proceeded to slowly back up.
"Come on, Migraine," said Violet. "Hit it with your Water Gun attack!"
"Psy! Psy aye aye aye aye aye aye!" Migraine replied as it unleashed a stream of water from its mouth. Marowak deflected the attack by holding the bone in front of it and spinning it around rapidly, diffusing the stream and sending the water flying in every direction.
"Don't give up, Migraine!" Violet encouraged her Psyduck. "Try Submission!"
"Psy! Duck!" grunted Migraine as it lunged at the Marowak and wrestled the surprisingly solid specter to the floor. Marowak was caught off-guard and for a moment could do nothing as the headache-prone Water-type wrestled with it. When the Psyduck let go, Marowak floated back into the air, looking rather worn, but still able to fight. Migraine wasn't looking so hot either, the recoil damage from the Submission attack clearly presenting itself. Marowak then threw its bone forcefully towards Migraine.
"Migraine, deflect it with your head!" Violet ordered.
"Smart move," Orange remarked approvingly.
Migraine ducked down, putting its head in the path of the bone. However, a purple light appeared to flash in Marowak's eye sockets for a second, and the bone swerved almost comically in midair, missing Migraine's head completely. Before anyone could react to this, the bone returned, striking the Psyduck right in the back, knocking it to the floor.
"Oh, come on, that was cheating!" Violet protested.
Marowak then dove down and swiftly delivered a Headbutt attack, sending Migraine skidding backwards, where it stopped at Violet's feet, unconscious.
"Migraine!" Violet exclaimed in concern.
"Let me try," Red offered, as he threw a Poké Ball. "Go, Raticate!"
In a flash of light, Red's Raticate materialized, front teeth bared as usual as it glared at its deceased opponent.
Marowak made the first move as she dove in for a Headbutt attack, streaking down towards Raticate.
"Raticate! Water Gun!" Red ordered.
"Raaaati... caaaaaaaaaaaaate!" Raticate screeched as it unleashed a forceful stream of water from its mouth, striking the Ground-type directly. This slowed the Ground-type considerably until she pulled out of the Headbutt attack, just to evade the Water Gun.
"OK, Raticate, use your Quick Attack now!" Red commanded.
"Raaaaaticate!" replied the Normal-type as it darted forward at blinding speeds, and leapt into the air- at which point Marowak swung its bone like a baseball bat, sending Raticate flying in the opposite direction, crashing to the floor. Before Red could react, Marowak swooped down and delivered another Headbutt, this one decidedly more successful than the last, as it sent Raticate skidding across the floor, coming to rest at Red's feet, knocked out.
"Now what?" Orange asked nervously as Red recalled Raticate.
"GET OUT... GET OUT... BEGONE... INTRUDERS..." came the low, echoing voice once again. Though clearly unnerved by this, Red, Orange, and Violet simultaneously each readied a Poké Ball... and then Missingno. floated forwards, hovering between Marowak and the trio.
"I believe it's my turn, now," Missingno. said. "Red, you command me."
"Why Red?" Orange asked.
"I feel this would be a good learning experience for him," replied Missingno. "His first opportunity to battle using a Pokémon native to Tanko, such as myself. Red, your Pokédex should provide you a list of my moves."
Red consulted his Pokédex, and his eyes widened as he scrolled through the screen. "This... This is a lot of attacks," he remarked weakly.
"I've been around," Missingno. replied modestly. "Longer than most of my kind. I pick things up along the way. Attacks, attacks, more attacks... the power of human speech... That sort of thing."
"Well, OK, then," Red said with a trace of uncertainty in his voice as he continued to scroll through the sizable list of Missingno.'s moves. "Um... OK, Missingno., use your Water Gun attack."
"Let's get this party started," Missingno. replied as it blasted a stream of water from its mouth, which Marowak had to swoop down to evade before throwing its bone at Missingno.
"Missingno., try your Double Team attack!" Red called out as the Bonemerang flew ever closer. In response, illusory copies of Missingno.'s ghostly form materialized out of thin air, the clones surrounding the Marowak ghost. The Bonemerang passed through what was obviously a Double Team copy, right where Missingno. had been seconds before, as the clone vanished as the attack hit. Marowak caught its bone, and glanced around in all directions, trying to identify the real Missingno.
"Now's your chance, Red," hissed Orange.
"Missingno.! Petal Dance now!" Red ordered.
"I'm on it," came the reply as Missingno., and all of its copies, proceeded to spin around in place. Then, a large quantity of pink flower petals materialized seemingly out of nowhere, surrounding all the Missingno., and then suddenly flew at Marowak, the floral assault coming from all directions. Marowak gave a creepy, echoing groan as the Grass-type attack met its mark. Once the Missingno. all stopped spinning, they looked rather dizzy.
"...Whoa..." Missingno. said in a dazed voice. "That... wild move... Whooo... Yeesh... I... I aim for the one in... in the middle, right?"
"Missingno. is confused," Violet remarked. "Petal Dance will do that to you."
"I figured it'd be enough to take Marowak out," Red sighed. Just then, Marowak charged one of the Missingno. with a Headbutt attack, but merely passed through another copy.
"Missingno., use your Ice Punch!" Red commanded.
"Punch... Ice... Got it, boss..." mumbled Missingno. as a sizable chunk of frost formed over its right fist. Missingno. raised the fist high... and brought it down on its own head, as its copies all mimicked this action. Orange facepalmed.
"It hurt itself in its confusion," Red said.
"Yeah, you think?" snapped Orange.
"Wha... Whoa!" Missingno. exclaimed suddenly, its voice no longer sounding dazed. "OK, I'm good now. We're good."
"Looks like that Ice Punch did one good thing," Violet remarked. "Snapped Missingno. right out of it."
"Sorry about that," Missingno. said as Marowak took a swipe with her bone, wiping out another Double Team clone. "Petal Dance always leaves me reeling for a while."
"It's fine, as long as you're OK," said Red. "Now use Ice Punch, OK?"
"Will do," agreed Missingno. as its fist charged up with ice once again. This time, Missingno. plowed the icy fist right into the Marowak's stomach, and the ghostly Ground-type fell to the floor, where she seemed to be struggling to rise into the air.
"Should we finish it?" Red asked, noting the specter's pitiful condition.
"She'll only get angrier if we leave her like this," responded Missingno.
Red nodded. "Then use your Hyper Beam."
Missingno. nodded back, then turned around and opened its mouth wide, creating an orb of brilliant golden energy within. Then, a beam of the same kind of energy exploded forth from the orb, slamming into the Marowak ghost, and plowing it into the floor. When the beam vanished, however, so did the ghost!
"What the-" began Orange, but he was cut short as the Marowak ghost rematerialized before them, floating in midair- though now her eyes were visible, and her bone hung limply from her hand at her side. She gazed at the trio plus Missingno. for a few seconds, then bowed her head and floated upwards, her form looking more and more transparent, until it vanished completely before it reached the ceiling. A silence followed this occurrence.
"...So," Orange said at length, "does that mean that she-"
"She has passed on," nodded Missingno. "The Marowak's spirit has departed to the afterlife."
A brief silence followed this statement. Indeed, even the atmosphere in the tunnel was starting to feel a little lighter.
"So what now?" asked Red.
Just then, they could hear a commotion coming from the floor below them- minor arguments breaking out, in which the words "...no, we are Team Error, damn it, we have no use for the rest of the Cubone!" could be clearly heard.
"That answer your question?" said Orange as he started down the stairs.
"Best of luck to you all," Missingno. stated. "I will not follow- should those fools learn that my kind can be found in this place, it will only strengthen their resolve. Besides, I have complete confidence in the three of you." After saying this, Missingno. disappeared into thin air while Red and Violet followed Orange down the stairs.
"OK, you Team Error slimeballs!" Orange exclaimed as he reached the bottom of the stairs. "Surrender now or prepare to fight!"
In response, half a dozen men in purple and orange outfits slowly turned to face Orange, who was swiftly accompanied by Red and Violet.
"Hey!" exclaimed one of the grunts suddenly. "Aren't they those meddling kids that screwed with our plans at Moon Canyon?!"
"They are!" another grunt confirmed. "Hey, I owe you three a good thrashing! The boss took that failure out of our salaries!"
"Yeah, yeah, whine about it to someone who cares," said Orange. "Now stop going after those Cubone, and let go all the Pokémon you're stealing!"
"It ain't stealing, they're wild Pokémon!" one of the grunts objected.
"It is if you don't use Poké Balls to catch them," retorted Violet.
"Which brings us back to the whole salary problem-"
"OK, OK, we get it," Red interrupted. "Just back off before we force you to!"
"Heh," sneered a grunt as he took a Poké Ball off his belt and enlarged it to its full size. "He says that like he actually expects us to listen to him."
"Oh, I didn't expect you to listen," Red replied as he too readied a Poké Ball. "I just didn't want to waste my Pokémon's time against you clowns if I didn't have to. Doduo!" he shouted as he threw the ball.
"Tombstone!" yelled Violet as she also threw a ball.
"Go, Nidoking!" exclaimed Orange as he launched another Poké Ball.
The balls opened up, and in triple flashes of light, there appeared Red's Doduo, Violet's h Poké, and Orange's Nidoking. Several of the grunts let out low hisses at the sight of Doduo and Nidoking, but all six of them readied Poké Balls of their own, one for each grunt, and they threw them all at once. Bright light filled the chamber, momentarily blinding everyone present, and once it faded, there were three .4, an LM4, a pPkMnp, and an 'M, all hovering between the trio's Pokémon and the Team Error grunts (except for LM4, who sat on the concrete floor).
"OK, so that's how we're doing it, then?" Violet asked as she took another Poké Ball and held it up, with Red and Orange mirroring this action (except they took theirs off their belts, whereas Violet extracted hers from her fanny pack). "OK, then. Chompy, go get them!"
"Charmeleon, go!" Red shouted.
"I choose you, Q!" exclaimed Orange.
Three more flashes of light, and another trio of Pokémon appeared- their starter Pokémon; Orange's Q, Red's Charmeleon, and Chompy, Violet's Weepinbell.
"Attack!" the grunts shouted as one.
"Use TM28!" three of the grunts yelled simultaneously.
"LM4, Rolling Kick!"
"pPkMnp, use Sludge!"
"'M, Water Gun now!"
"Chompy! Razor Leaf attack now!" Violet called. "And Tombstone, use HM02- take your pick of any of your opponents!"
"Charmeleon, hit pPkMnp with your Flamethrower!" shouted Red. "Doduo, go in there with a Skull Bash!"
"Nidoking, a Rolling Kick!" ordered Orange. "Q, use your Confusion attack!"
The melee ensued. The trio of .4 zipped forward and promptly exploded, though this did not deter Doduo, who leapt forward, smashing its heads into two of the .4, sending them flying right into a wall. Though they were both still conscious, they flew forward rather shakily now. The third .4, meanwhile, was looking slightly paler as it slowly descended to the ground, cluing Violet in on who Tombstone chose as the target of its HM02 attack.
Chompy, Violet's Weepinbell, moved next, swinging its leaves wildly and sending razor-edged foliage flying at its adversaries- the LM4 that sprouted a foot and was currently spinning its way towards Charmeleon took the brunt of the Grass-type move, and crashed to the floor. Charmeleon grinned its appreciation of this, then blasted a stream of fire from its mouth, colliding with pPkMnp's Sludge attack.
In the air, 'M was moving around, trying to strike down Nidoking with Water Gun, but the Poison/Ground-type was moving too quickly, trying to take out its adversary with a Rolling Kick. 'M was evading these kicks with ease, and the two appeared to be at a stalemate. Then, a ray of blue light struck 'M in the back, causing the Shoreline Pokémon to shriek in pain. This also had the added effect of distracting it as Nidoking plowed its foot into the Bird/Normal-type, sending it crashing down to the floor.
While the fight was unquestionably going well for the good guys, Team Error was by no means ready to give in yet. Two of the .4 were still able to fight, though clearly lacking most of their usual energy, and Charmeleon and pPkMnp were still matching Flamethrower with Sludge.
"OK, Charmeleon!" Red exclaimed. "Slash attack now!"
"Char!" growled Charmeleon as it stopped its Flamethrower, leapt out of the way of the Sludge attack, and took a vicious swipe at the Fortress Pokémon with the now-glowing claws on its right hand. In spite of the Poison-type's formidable Defense, it fell to the floor as the attack landed, and moved no more. Then, Chompy leapt into the air, grabbed one of the .4 with its leaves, and forcefully threw it down to the floor before expertly landing next to it.
"Cool," Orange remarked as the Weepinbell looked rather pleased with itself. "What was that move?"
"That was a Slam attack," Violet replied, a grin creeping up her face. "Chompy's learned Slam!"
"Bell bell Weepinbell," Chompy added proudly.
"Gah!" one of the grunts exclaimed. "Enough of this! .4, take them all out! TM09 now!"
"No you don't!" Violet exclaimed. "Chompy! Razor Leaf!"
"Charmeleon! Flamethrower!" Red called out.
"Q! BubbleBeam!" shouted Orange.
Their orders, alas, came far too late, as the grunt's .4 let off a catastrophic explosion, blasting everyone backwards. As Violet hit the floor with a thud, she felt something fall out of her still-open fanny pack, but in the dust cloud the explosion caused, she couldn't see what it was. For a moment, all was still and quiet. Red, Orange, and Violet slowly climbed to their feet, each of them checking for injuries and thankfully finding none. The dust was far from settling, though, and they were all concerned for their Pokémon. And then, suddenly, rays of bright yellow light started shining through the dust cloud.
"Wait... What- I think one of our Pokémon is evolving," Red stated as he squinted, trying to see the evolving Pokémon through the dust. This squinting was made unnecessary, however, as the dust finally started to settle, revealing not one, but two glowing figures, changing shape and size. Before Violet could conduct a quick headcount of the present Pokemon to determine which ones were evolving, the glowing stopped, revealing the pair of newly evolved Pokémon. One was an upside-down yellow bell with a pair of leaves that seemed to function as arms. A large leaf sat atop the mouthlike opening, though did not hide the four vicious fangs it now sported. From the stem of the leaf sprouted a thick, brown vine. The other one was a majestic orange dragon with large wings, and a roaring fire on the tip of its tail. The former screeched menacingly while the latter roared triumphantly.
"Chompy?!" Violet exclaimed. "So it was the Leaf Stone that fell out of my fanny pack!"
"Ch-Charizard..." Red murmured, awestruck by the sight.
"Chompy and Charmeleon evolved!" Orange exclaimed as Red and Violet dug out their Pokédexes and pointed them at their newly evolved starters.
"Victreebel, the Flycatcher Pokémon, and the evolved form of Weepinbell," droned Violet's Pokédex. "Though rumored to live in colonies deep in the jungle, nobody who has gone to investigate has returned to confirm this. Anything it swallows is digested within a day."
"Charizard, the Flame Pokémon, and the evolved form of Charmeleon," said Red's Pokédex. "Spits fire hot enough to melt boulders. Has been known to accidentally start forest fires."
The Team Error grunts exchanged slightly panicked glances as every single one of them withdrew their unconscious Pokémon. Orange withdrew Nidoking, as he had not been lucky enough to escape the blast unscathed, but Charizard and Chompy both looked ready and raring to fight, along with Q.
"...We should go," one of the grunts said meekly.
"Not so fast," Violet grinned. "You guys aren't going anywhere until you let every single Pokémon you got in cages go free. And those Cubone skulls? Don't even think about taking those with you."
"And what if we don't want to?" one of the grunts asked defiantly before being slapped upside the head by one of his colleagues.
"Don't want to? OK," shrugged Red. "Charizard, use your Flamethro-"
"OK, OK, we'll do it, yeesh!" the grunt snapped.
Red, Violet, and Orange oversaw the grunts as they grudgingly unlocked each and every cage lining the walls, letting all the h Poké trapped within go free. The Victreebel frisked them, checking their pockets with its vine and retrieving countless Cubone skulls. There were no Cubone anywhere around, skull-less or otherwise, however, so the skulls merely piled up on the floor next to Chompy. Once the grunts had all grudgingly filed up the stairs, Red noticed the figure of an old man, kneeling before a tombstone at the far end of the room.
"Hey," Red called out to the man. "Excuse me, who are you?"
Slowly, the man lifted his head, stood up, and turned to face the trio. "Ah," he said. "Forgive me, I haven't introduced myself. You can call me Mr. Ujif. I must commend the three of you for forcing those Team Error folks to leave this place. I came here to pray for Marowak's spirit... it seems that she is finally at peace."
"And the Cubone-" began Orange, but Mr. Ujif bowed his head somberly.
"The ones whose skulls were stolen, they did not survive," he said quietly. "I buried them myself- Team Error had no objections to this, all they cared for were the skulls. I have not yet filled in the graves, so I can add the skulls now... I think you three should head out. Go to the Pokémon Center and get some rest, it has likely been a trying day for you."
"I'll say," Orange replied. "All this has been a lot to handle... Ghosts, and everything..."
"Tell you what, stop by my house tomorrow morning," Mr. Ujif offered. "I will be able to thank you all properly then."
"Sure," Violet responded. "OK, c'mon, let's go, you two."
The ascent back up Pokémon Tunnel was far easier than the descent. No possessed Channelers barred their path, no unruly ghosts tried to tangle with them, and the atmosphere, while still noticeably somber, was definitely lighter than it had been before. Once they were back outside, it took the group all of seven minutes to locate the Pokémon Center- as it transpired, it was right down the street, and they had in fact walked right past it, which Violet and Orange were quick to blame on each other. After they had all eaten a good dinner and healed their Pokémon, night had fallen. The trio were just getting ready to go to sleep on the bunk beds provided by the room they had taken for the night.
"OK, so what's the plan for tomorrow?" Red asked.
"After we visit Mr. Ujif, I'm thinking we head right for Nodacel City," said Orange. "If we start early, the Gym Leader should be able to get in a battle with at least one of us tomorrow."
"That's a pretty long walk," Violet remarked. "You sure we'll have enough time tomorrow?"
"Sure I'm sure," Orange said confidently. "With me leading the way, what could go wrong? Don't answer that," he added sternly as Violet opened her mouth. Chuckling at this exchange, Red popped his earplugs into his ears and dozed off to sleep, though he was so tired out by the day's events that he doubted that even Orange's cacophonous snoring would be sufficient to wake him.