Author's note: Thank you anyone who took the time to review. I will try my best to make longer and better chapters from now on. Thank you again.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, the characters, storyline, or whatever else I forgot. Thank you.
Chapter 2: The test of courage
I was just about to get some sleep when Rythmi started talking, "Hey, you're not asleep yet, right. Okay good. C'mon, let's sneak out for a while."
I didn't like the idea of this. I may not be perfect, but I always try to play by the rules. And the rules specifically state not to go sneaking around after lights out. So I was even more shocked to see how many kids were out here. About eight or nine kids were standing around a table with sly looks on their faces.
"Keep it down but yay!" They all screamed and jumped. If this was their idea of keeping it down, I really didn't want to know what loud was. Anyways, Rythmi explained to me what was going on.
"We have this thing for new students. It's a test of courage. Just consider it like an initiation ceremony, okay. The rules are simple. Four of us hid our stylers in four of the rooms. When you've found them all, take them to the basement, and come back up here." I nodded, and she continued. "It's not safe to go alone, so we have this rule, the person seated next to the initiate has to go too. That means you Keith."
"Aw, do I have to?" Keith whined, and I dragged him down the stairs. If I had to do this, might as well make it quick. We heard a cry that sounded like a pokémon's. Keith must have jumped at least five feet into the air, and I just stood there. He did know it was just a bidoof right? I sort-of hoped not. If he was scared of a bidoof, then he was even more afraid then I am!
He then turned to me. "You… you were scared too right?"
I just shook my head and pointed to the bidoof. I then gave him a look that said 'really dude?' Then it clicked in my head, he was afraid of the dark and ghosts! I figure I can't fault him for that though, mostly because I am as well.
Anyways, we continued on our way to Miss April's room. I wanted to start there because it was the place that felt the safest. Now that was a mistake.
The second I walked in there, I heard two zubat screeching. Then ones' supersonic hit me. I felt dizzy and began walking in circles until I hit a wall. Ouch.
When I finally stopped seeing stars, I saw Keith standing over me, with a worried look on his face. I blushed. He was really cute.
"Uh sorry! Gosh, even our own classroom is scary at night!" He said as he jumped backward. I gave him a smile to let him know that I was fine, and everything else was okay.
"O-okay, so we have a hint for each room. This rooms' hint is… What wasn't here in the daytime?"
I looked around. Scattered around the room were about five crates, similar to the ones we used for target practice. 'Holy Arceus!' I thought, 'How did they manage to get this many crates in here behind I and the teachers backs! I guess some things are best left unsaid, or in this case, unknown.'
I ran back outside, totally and completely ignoring the "no running in the hallways" rule. I captured a bidoof and rushed back into the classroom.
I quickly found a crate that seemed different from the others, so I asked bidoof to crush the crate. I smiled and waved goodbye as the bidoof left, probably to try to scare another unsuspecting soul in the hallway.
Keith and I went back into the hallway. I captured the bidoof again just in case I needed it. I also captured a zubat for the same reason.
Then we went into Mr. Kincaid's room. Now this was going to be fun.
"Let's see, the hint for this room is… follow your nose."
I looked at him. I mean, really Keith, "Follow your nose?" Then again, with all that hairspray… That's it, the hairspray! Mr. Kincaid always stood in the corner, which was where the hairspray was strongest. So the styler had to be in the corner.
I managed to avoid the zubat in this classroom, and found the styler up on a high shelf. We left the classroom and continued onwards to the library.
"M-man, even the library's creepy at night. Um, anyways, the hint for this room is… crush the crates." Keith shuddered. He really is afraid of the dark. Or is it ghosts? I guess either one is still a reasonable fear. Can fear be reasonable? I mean, once in a while, fear can be rational, but can it be reasonable. So much for not getting philosophical. Oops.
Um yeah…. Anyways, I asked bidoof to crush the crate, and he happily complied. I then found another bidoof in the classroom, and crushed the second crate. I smiled and turned to Keith.
"Good," he said, "Now there's only one room left. That room would be… the staff room. C'mon, hurry up. I don't have all day, or night actually. Though if you keep being so slow…" Keith stopped. I had left and was already in the staff room.
"Okay, okay, I get the point. The hint for this room is… the styler we hid here doesn't stay still. You understand, right?"
I nodded. I saw a pichu running around nervously. They must've given pichu the styler.
I captured pichu and took the styler from it. I turned to Keith.
"Now we go to the basement. Hurry up, will you?"
We left the staff room and proceeded to the basement. The second I stepped downstairs, I felt this confusing feeling. Where was I? My head felt so dizzy.
"Kate, are you okay? Kate!"
I saw everything go pitch-black. It was so dark. I could just barely hear a voice calling for me, but I couldn't respond.
(Keith's P.O.V, basement.)
"Kate, are you okay? Kate!" I felt so helpless. I couldn't do anything but watch her faint. It was strange too. I didn't feel anything, but this weird look crossed her face, almost as though she could sense something I couldn't.
Suddenly I heard a cry. Four gastly came out from the walls and attacked.
"Capture on!" I yelled as I began my capture. I have to admit, ghost pokémon are particularly difficult to capture. The way they fade in and out of view… it drives me crazy! I finally completed the capture. 'Weird though,' I pondered, 'gastly don't usually attack like that. It's almost as though they were under some kind of control…'
Just as I was about to open the door, it burst open on its own. Mr. Kincaid came out with a livid expression. "What are you doing here? Get out of here now!"
I picked up an unconscious Kate and ran. I only stopped when I got up to the area outside the dorms. Kate seemed to be coming around, so I put her down.
Rythmi looked worried.
"What happened?" She asked. "You were supposed to make sure nothing happened to her, idiot!"
I took a step back. Rythmi was really scary.
"Hey Kate," She began, "Come on with me. We can talk more tomorrow, okay? For now, you and I need some rest. Keith here will clean up." She shot me a look that said, 'you better or else' and I sure wasn't willing to mess with that.
Once I finally finished cleaning up, I found I still couldn't get to sleep. Something was bothering me. Something like why Kate and those gastly were all acting so strange. Still, I suspect tomorrow will have a lot of answers. It may be a hunch, but I still couldn't shake the feeling. The feeling that tomorrow would be one interesting day…
Authors note: Thank you for reading this far! I hope you like it. Please review, and thank you so much!