I love waiting rooms. If there is a greater impetus for just sitting down and getting some work done, I haven't found it. Case and point, today is Tuesday, not Friday. But I digress, the last chapter ended pretty well as I intended. Giving the events of the story enough time to breathe, yet not having the story last two hundred something chapters has been my greatest challenge thus far. I don't know if this will be a challenge, but I should be able to make this work.
The town Red and company found that they had arrived in Lavender Town, the closest city to the Rock Tunnel. Lavender Town was a macabre place, its largest building a gigantic cemetery tower nestled against the mountain in the north corner of town. While there was a solemn air to the town, it didn't seem depressing or oppressive.
Before going anywhere they had to check out their new Pokémon. Their starters snapped into existence in a flash of white light. Blue's Wartortle had evolved into Blastoise, a powerful bipedal turtle with a pair of retractable cannons on the shell on his back. Blue was suitably impressed by his partner's size and power. Green's Ivysaur, now Venusaur, didn't look as radically different as the others other than the flower on his back finally blooming into an impressive rafflesia-like flower and an overall size increase. He did grow an impressive set of pointed teeth and warts on his face, giving him an impressive countenance. Charmeleon changed perhaps the most, changing back to orange in color and taking on the overall appearance of a dragon. He wasn't Onix-size, but he was still a bit taller than Red. Not many Pokémon could boast such size.
Red looked over the newly registered name in his Pokédex. "Charizard…" he said with subtle pride as his Pokémon spread his new wings.
"Mine's obviously the best," Blue boasted abruptly, earning an eye roll from the others. "Still, yours are pretty okay."
"High praise coming from you," Green replied sarcastically. Blue seemed to miss the tone, but it didn't matter. The three recalled their Pokémon and began planning what to do next.
Seeing as the "Pokémon Tower" cemetery was the only real thing of interest on the area, Red wanted to check it out. Blue was content to just rush to the next city with a Gym but, he was overruled by his companion's curiosity. Red and Green expected Blue to just run off on his own like he usually did, but he decided to stick around at least for a little while.
Outside a girl about their age, perhaps the one who had almost challenged them the night before hailed them as they made their way to the tower. "Do you believe in ghosts?"
"Well," Green started, "there is a Pokémon type called 'Ghost', but I don't really think…"
"No," Red said in a brisk but non rude tone.
"I guess you're right. That white hand on your shoulder isn't real…" Red instinctively turned his head, but there was nothing there.
The tower seemed to have an unnatural sense of foreboding that the rest of the town didn't seem to have. Immediately inside the door, the three were immediately bombarded with the sight of grief, morning, and acceptance. While it was sad to hear the results of the fate all living things shared, the lobby of the tower wasn't the most depressing place in the world. For all the people who cried for their lost Pokémon, still others found peace in laying their companions to rest.
Of course Red and the others weren't here to see people morn their dead Pokémon. Pokémon Tower was a unique place in Kanto, it was the only place in the region where you could find Ghost-Type Pokémon. Little was known about the Ghost Pokémon, and Red in particular was looking forward to changing that. Because the Pokédex didn't have any information on the Ghost Pokémon, even what they looked like, the group had no idea what to expect as they made their way through the lobby toward the haunted part of the tower. The second floor had nobody on it. No people, no Pokémon. Just lines upon lines of gravestones.
Not that any of them would have admitted it, but it made them all nervous. To break the tension, Blue chuckled at Red, "Hey Red. Your Pokémon don't look dead. I can make 'em faint, though!" Red drew a Pokéball in response.
"You are not having a Pokémon Battle here!" Green scolded them both. "Honestly, do you have any idea how disrespectful that is?!"
The boys moped in response, but acquiesced. "Killjoy…" Blue grumbled as they continued.
There was a distinct lack of Ghost Pokémon on the first floor, or any kind of Pokémon at all. The first sign of life was an old woman in white guarding the stairway to the next floor. "Stay away," she warned, "The ghosts here are restless."
"We can take care of a few spooky Pokémon," Blue assured the woman as he brushed past her.
Green was a bit more polite, "Sorry about my friend, but we do know what we're doing."
Red gave a quick bow as he passed as well. The three disappeared up the tower. The woman watched them disappear into the darkness above and grinned. If the second floor felt empty, the third floor seemed oppressive with all the energy in it. There was definitely something on this floor and Red got the feeling he was being watched right away.
A few steps in and the trio jumped in fear. Some kind of blackish-purple blob with arms and a smirking face jumped out from cracks on the floor and flew at them. They were shoved over by the passing being ghost, trying to keep track of the creature.
"T-that looks like a 'Ghost Pokémon' to me," Green said, drawing a Pokéball and sending out her Farfetch'd. "Ch'ding, Fury Attack!" Ch'ding was ready to comply until he saw his opponent. The moment the ghost took a sideways glance at Ch'ding, the duck froze on the spot. "C-Ch'ding! What's wrong?!"
"I'll handle it!" Blue declared, managing to hide the quiver in his voice surprisingly well before throwing a Pokéball. Unfortunately, another ghost popped out of the ground and smacked the Pokéball to the ground. To Blue's shock, his Pokémon stayed in its ball. "What the heck?!"
Red was about to call his Abra to join the fight when a woman in robes similar to the ones the woman on the second floor wore. "Give… Me… Blood…!"
Red tripped over himself to throw his Pokéball in her direction, "Wah! Abra, Shock Wave!" The attack hit the woman, shocking her in a spectacular fashion. After getting back up, the woman pulled a Pokéball from the sleeve of her robe. "You're a trainer?!"
"We can't fight these things!" Green complained as the woman's Pokéball produced a gas ball with a fang filled smile and menacing eyes. This one seemed like the others even if it was shaped a little different, but Abra didn't back down. In fact, it started glowing. Abra grew into a Kadabra, looking almost exactly like Blue's.
"About time!" Blue scoffed, "Now you think your late bloomer can help us out here?"
"Kadabra, Psychic!" As ordered, Kadabra launched a blast of telekinetic waves at the spooky Ghastly, knocking it and its trainer away. Red turned to help his friends when he noticed something odd about the ghosts. They seemed to move like the Ghastly Pokémon did. And now that he was looking closely, the edges had the same smoky border. "They're disguised Pokémon!" Red gasped.
"That makes me feel better," Green admitted as she and Ch'ding backed up, "But our Pokémon can't see through the illusion! Look!" Green pointed at Kadabra and it was frozen in fear at the sight of the fake ghost.
More ghosts started appearing and gathering, pushing the three trainers and their terrified Pokémon back toward the staircase. "I hate to say it, but we have to leave," Blue said. Red and Green nodded and recalled their Pokémon. Green and Blue rushed down the nearby stairs, but Red lingered a moment to eye down the approaching ghosts.
"I'm coming back," he promised before following his friends.
This might have made a good Halloween chapter, but since when did I have timing. Incidentally, I almost forgot both getting a good look at the starters' final forms AND the oh-so-famous "White Hand" line. Thank goodness for the ease of editing on computer documents!