"How far are we from Floraroma Town exactly?" Lyssa asked with a sigh.
Kori pressed a few buttons on her electronic map and groaned in frustration. "It's not working. This map isn't showing anything."
"Does that mean we're lost?" Diana asked. She was nervously wringing her hands on her skirt.
Chimchar felt something wet hit her on the forehead. "Chim?" She looked up at the sky. Soon, more droplets hit her and everyone else. It was freaking raining. "Chim!"
Kori quickly put away the map. "Just great!" She, Lyssa and Diana ran, hoping to find shelter from the rain. Chimchar could feel her tail evaporating because of the rain. "Chim..." Oshawott seemed to not be as bothered by the rain's surprised appearance. But he's a water- type, so he didn't count.
"Where are we running to?" Diana asked.
"I don't care." Kori put Chimchar in her sweat jacket, wishing she had thought to pack an umbrella. "As long as it's somewhere out of this rain, I'm good." Chimchar nodded in agreement.
They kept running, hoping to find shelter quickly.
"Hey!" A voice called. "Over hear!" Definitely male.
"Where did that voice come from?" Oshawott jumped off of Kori's shoulder. "Oshawott?"
"Osha!"
Kori watched as Oshawott pointed to the left before quickly running into the bush. "Oshawott come back!" Kori turned towards her friends. "Let's follow him!" Kori ran without checking to see if they were following.
"Wait up!" Lyssa ran, adjusting her glasses to clear her vision. Diana ran after her, not wanting to get left behind.
"Over here!" The voice called again. Kori and the other girls were getting closer to the voice. Kori could see Oshawott and a man waving them over. Kori was happy to see that they were standing in what looked like a large house. Large enough to keep them shielded from the ran.
The three girls ran into the house and the man closed the door behind them. "Thank you," Kori said to the stranger. "We really needed to get out of that storm. I'm Kori, pleased to meet you." She pointed to her pokémon. "This is my partners, Chimchar."
Chimchar waved. "Chim."
"And you met Oshawott."
Oshawott struck a pose. "Osha wott."
"My name is Lyssa." Lyssa was wiping her glasses clean.
"And my name is Diana."
"Hello to all of you," the man said. Kori could hear that his voice had an accent. He had very long, blond hair. "My name is Robert."
Kori put Chimchar on the floor and dried her with a towel from her bag. "Is this your house Robert."
Robert shook his head. "It is not. Judging from everything I've seen inside, I would say this house was abandoned."
Kori looked around. This area they were all standing in seemed dark and dusty. Diana tried to turn on a lamp nearby, but to no avail. It seemed that Robert was correct to think the place was abandoned.
"We should all go into the closest room we can find," Lyssa said. She looked at Robert. "We still have a lot of berries to eat. You can join us if you want Robert." They all walked deeper into the house, hoping to find a proper sitting area to assemble in. None of them noticed the pair of eyes that looked at them, studying and planning.
"So you're a pokémon coordinator Robert?" Diana asked excitedly. "Have you won any ribbons yet? And can I see them?"
Robert laughed, his eyes lighted up with amusement. "Yes, I've won two ribbons so far." He pulled out an orange ribbon case. Inside were two beautiful ribbons.
"They're so pretty..." Diana couldn't seem to take her eyes off of them.
"You're too kind," Robert said smoothly. "So what of all of you?" He gestured to them. "What ambitions are you trying to make a reality."
"I'm competing in the Sinnoh League," Kori answered. "Chimchar and Oshawott are going to help me get there. Aren't you guys?"
Both pokémon jumped in their seats.
"Chimchar!"
Oshawott!"
Lyssa gestured to herself. "I'm a pokémon photographer. I focus more on pokémon battles though."
Robert smiled. So far, these young people seem very ambitious. They are both trying for their dreams. He studied the silent Diana. "What about you Diana? What is your dream?"
Diana looked at her pecha berry, as if she could find the answer there. "I'm not really sure," Diana answered glumly. "I tried battling the gyms, but it didn't feel right..."
Robert nodded. "I can understand. Have you ever considered becoming a pokémon coordinator?"
Diana looked thoughtful. "You mean, perform in contests? I've never actually thought about it before." Diana never even thought it was an option before. Her twin was a pokémon trainer, her father had been a trainer in his younger years, even her older brother that she looked up to was a pokémon trainer. Always took the gym challenge, but never becoming coordinators.
"Why not?" Kori asked. "You might enjoy it if you give it a try." Lyssa nodded in agreement.
Oshawott and Chimchar voiced their own agreements. Chimchar was going to say something else, when she noticed something- a figure? Something in the doorway. "Chim?" Chimchar had no idea what it was, but she wanted to find out, She left her seat without anyone noticing and walked out of the sitting room, hoping to catch the figure; maybe it would want to be friends.
"How about a demonstration?" Robert asked, taking out a pokéball.
"A demonstration?" Diana asked.
Kori smiled. "I think it's a good idea." Diana looked very confused, so she quickly explained. "A demonstration of what pokémon contests are about, then you might like it. It's a good idea, like watching a real pokémon contest."
Diana looked like she understood. "Okay then."
Robert nodded. "Good." He threw the pokéball in his hand. "Go Milotic!"
The long, shape appeared. The beautiful pokémon wrapped its blue tail around itself. Even its cry was beautiful. "Mi!" Diana couldn't get her eyes off of it. I'm going to raise a Milotic too, she told herself determinedly. Some day she would.
"Osha..." Oshawott called in awe. He could easily call this other pokémon the most beautiful pokémon he had ever seen.
Lyssa and Kori were just as awed. "Whoa..." Kori slowly pulled out her pokédex.
Milotic- the Tender pokémon. Its lovely scales are described as rainbow colored. They change color depending on the viewing angle.
"So beautiful," Diana whispered. She could tell that Robert has taken really good care of his Milotic.
"Now Milotic," Robert called. "Use Water Pulse."
"Mi." Milotic opened its mouth, where a blue ball of water was formed perfectly.
Robert pointed up. "In the air!" Milotic released the Water Pulse into the air. The attack was thrown up. Eventually, the blast stopped going up and quickly started to fall back down.
Robert seemed to be paying close attention to how fast it was falling. He smiled. "Use Iron Tail Milotic."
"Mi," it said in concentration. Kori definitely recognized the glow of Milotic's tail. Once Milotic seemed to enough power concentrated in its tail, it hit the Water Pulse, causing the ball of water to lose its shape and become like a mist of water.
"Osha?" Oshawott didn't understand and why Milotic did that. He turned to ask Chimchar, hoping to get an answer, but she wasn't there. He quickly looked around but Oshawott couldn't see Chimchar anywhere.
Time for the finale, Robert thought to himself. "Now use Safeguard." Milotic used the move. It was surrounded by a green light, creating a nice contrast with the blue of the water that hit Milotic's body.
"Whoa..." The girls said in awe. Diana began to clap.
"That was beautiful!" Diana yelled.
"Thank you," Robert said. "I'm glad that you appreciated it."
"So what do you think of contests?" Lyssa asked Diana.
Kori waited to hear Diana's answer, but she felt something continuously tap on her arm. Kori saw it was Oshawott, who seemed really agitated about something. "What's the matter Oshawott?"
"Osha! Osha!" Oshawott kept gesturing behind himself. Kori looked and realized that Chimchar wasn't in the chair next to Oshawott.
"Aah!" Kori yelled, jumped out of her seat so fast that the chair feel over. She looked panicky and quickly scanned the room. Everyone else definitely noticed.
"What is the matter?" Lyssa asked.
"Chimchar's gone!" Kori yelled. She jogged over to the opened door. "She must have left the room."
"Then we should look for Chimchar," Robert advised. He returned Milotic to its pokéball. "If we spread out, we may find Chimchar in no time." Everyone nodded in agreement. Oshawott and the others got up from their seats. They all left the room. Lyssa and Diana went down one hallway while Kori, with Oshawott on her shoulder and Robert went in the opposite direction. Both parties promised to come back to the room if they found anything.
Chimchar was now getting very nervous as she turned another corner. She has been searching for what seemed like a long time. Now she was beginning to think she was mistaken. Maybe she hadn't really seen anyone at all.
She wanted to go back to the sitting room, it was where everyone else was after all. But she couldn't remember where it was. This house was bigger than she thought. She was about to turn again when something made her stop. Chimchar looked around. She seemed to have walked into someone's old bedroom. It was dusty, obviously no one has slept in it for a long time. Chimchar decided to look around. She was lost anyway and maybe Kori was looking for her. It was better if she stayed in one place. With that last thought, Chimchar decided to look around.
She saw something that caught her interest. Chimchar decided to jump on a desk to get a closer look at the object that piqued her curiously.
It looked like a picture. It was too dusty to know for sure though. Chimchar wiped the years did grime off its surface. "Char?"
It looked like a boy holding a pokémon? Chimchar was sure she had never seen pokémon like than before...
Behind Chimchar, something watched from inside the bedroom closet. The presence's eyes watched the oblivious pokémon ominously. It slowly got out of the closet, making the closet open more with a loud creak.
"CHIMCHAR!" Chimchar jumped, startled by the sound. She quickly turned towards the closet, but it was quiet and she couldn't see anything. Chimchar turned back to the photograph, thinking to herself that she was overreacting. She never saw the ghostly figure walk closer to her. She didn't notice the figure until it jumped behind her. When Chimchar noticed the shadow that fell over her, she turned towards it.
Never really saw it coming.
"Chimchar," Lyssa called out. "Where are you?" Diana's Shinx created a light by collecting electricity in his tail.
"This is so creepy..." Diana shivered. She made sure to stick close to Shinx to have light.
"Yeah," Lyssa whispered in agreement. It felt like something was in the shadows ready to jump out and come after them. Something wasn't right. Not right at all. "But we need to keep looking."
So both girls kept looking. Unaware of the beady eyes that followed.
Robert led the way with his flashlight. It reminded Kori that she should stock up on those as soon as she reached Floraroma Town.
Oshawott looked behind himself from Kori's shoulder. "Osha?"
Kori noticed Oshawott's strange behavior. "What's the matter?"
Oshawott didn't answer. He was so sure he heard something. Could it have been Chimchar?
"Oshawott."
Oshawott looked at his trainer. She looked nervous. What?
"I've been calling you for a while. Everything alight?"
Oshawott nodded. It was probably nothing.
"Kori," Robert whispered. "There's nothing down this hallway except for a door. What do you want to do?"
"Let's open it," Kori said without hesitation. "Chimchar could be in there."
Robert nodded and opened the door, stepping to the side. "Ladies first."
Kori shrugged before walking inside. She was quickly followed by Robert. Robert's flashlight quickly illuminated the surroundings. Bookcases, desk in the center of the room; it was definitely an office. Kori quickly walked over to the desk. She felt for the chair before sitting down. She put her hands on the desk and felt something... paper? A book of some kind? "Robert," she called. "Can you bring the light please?"
Robert walked towards the desk and handed Kori the flashlight. "What is it?"
Kori pointed the flashlight towards the desk. It was a journal. And old one, judging by the amount of dust. "This journal," she said to Robert, "is opened. It looks like it could be the last thing that was written in it."
Robert looked over her shoulder. "What does it say?"
Kori held the journal. The writing was faded with age on the yellow pages. It would be hard to read, but she could try.
"Master Lucas has finally succumbed to his illness," Kori read. "It will finally be time be he passes. The doctor says that nothing else can be done."
"Lucas has always been a very sickly child; ever since the day he was born, he had always been prone to illness. I have watched for nine years as his young body continually failed him. I am still surprised that he managed to survive his strong, able bodied father, who passed one year prior. Wonders never cease."
"That's all I can read," Kori turned around to face Robert. "What does this all mean?"
"Sounds like a child was dying from some sort of disease. Lucas was probably the owner of this house judging by that entry. The writer must have been a servant or an employee of some kind."
"Osha?" Oshawott jumped on to the desk to get a better look at the journal. What does any of this have to do with Chimchar?
"I agree," Kori said. "Lucas was a young boy and probably had no other family left by the time he died. Poor kid. But we still need to find Chimchar." Kori got up from the chair.
Oshawott jumped, trying to get back on Kori's shoulder. When he was about to land, a blue light began to surround his body. Oshawott had no control when he levitated in the air.
"What?" Kori yelled, shocked. "What's happening."
Oshawott didn't know, but he wished he did when his body flew backwards. "Osha!" Oshawott cried.
"Oshawott!" Kori and Robert ran after Oshawott, towards the door. When Oshawott flew out of the office, the door slammed in from of Kori and Robert. The younger trainer yelled and struggled with the doorknob, but no matter how hard she and Robert struggled, it wouldn't budge.
"What the hell is going on!" Kori yelled as she kicked the door in frustration. Now instead of one, she lost two pokémon.
Chimchar opened her eyes. "Char?" What happened? She didn't remember... wait. It was coming back to her now. She got up from the nice blanket she had been laying on.
At that moment, her new friend was climbing the ladder to get up into the attic. Chimchar could hear a familiar cry follow shortly after that.
"Osha!" Oshawott continued to struggle as it was being forced into the attic. Chimchar watched as her new friend set Oshawott down on the floor, gently. She rushed over the upset pokémon to make sure he was alright. When she was sure he hadn't been hurt, she turned to her friend, making sure he got a good lecture.
"Chim chim char chim," she said, pointing her finger at him. Oshawott took a look at the strange pokémon.
Her friend looked very apologetic. "Wick... lit." He really didn't mean to scare anyone. He just wanted to have fun.
Oshawott calmed down after he got a good look at he poké-napper. "Osha?: What pokémon is that? Whatever it is, he doesn't know. But it looked friendly. Oshawott smiled. "Osha."
The other pokémon seemed to have cheered up. "Litwick." The pokémon walked over to what could be described as a mini stage and took a bow.
Chimchar pulled the confused Oshawott in front of the stage and took a seat. This was going to be great.
The little pokémon threw a Flamethrower from its mouth and into the air above. The pokémon's eyes flashed blue, as did the Flamethrower. The pokémon's new attach made the fire move stop. The the flame started to circle around in the air. After a while, the finale came. The pokémon's eyes glowed pink and the rest of his body was covered in a purple light. Suddenly, multiple purple rings came out of the pokémon's extended arms and towards the flamethrower, cutting the fire attack to pretty, red and purple ribbons. The pokémon struck a pose. "Lit wick."
Chimchar and Oshawott immediately started clapping. "Chimchar!"
"Oshawott!" It was really a good performance. Definitely looked like something in a contest they have seen.
"Litwick," the strange pokémon jumped off the mini stage and in front of the seated pokémon. "Wick."
Oshawott eventually stopped clapping. "Oshawott? Wott?" This pokémon seemed very nice and all, but why was it living in such a creepy looking house?
The pokémon looked down in sadness, remembering the events that led to his present situation. He spoke his story, beginning two years in the past. A man had found his egg and taken it to this house. The pokémon remembered that it had been a very long trip. When he had hatched, a young boy had been there to greet him. The boy's name was Lucas and he had been the pokémon's first friend. Lucas' father was always traveling and was hardly ever home, so the boy was in need of a friend as well. They had done everything with each other since then. They had played and laughed together. The had little performances, like the one he had done a few short moments ago, for the staff. Lucas wanted to be a pokémon coordinator...
"Wott? Oshawott," the water pokémon interrupted. This pokémon and Lucas sounded like the best of friends, but where was Lucas now?
"Chim!" Chimchar said to Oshawott, scolding him for his rudeness. She then patted the other pokémon, hoping to comfort him. "Char chim chimchar." The other pokémon could just stop telling the story if he wanted to.
He shook his head, causing the flame on their to move with it. "Litwick." It wanted to continue. So it did.
Lucas had been very sick for a long time. He remembered when he was newly hatched, Lucas could barely walk without breathing heavily or having a coughing fit. As the years past, Lucas became so weak, that he couldn't walk anymore. Lucas needed a wheelchair. It made Litwick practice harder to make him happier. Even then, they both planned on competing in contests, winning ribbons and then the Grand Festival.
But their dream ended. Reality began to set. He noticed one day, that Lucas seemed even weaker, more tired than usual; couldn't move from his bed for that whole week. The house staff would look at the child sadly, like they knew something terrible would happen. Looking back, it all made sense now.
Flashback
Lucas held him in his arms, like he usually did. The pokémon had to lower the flame on his head. He remembered the last time he looked at Lucas' face. He was smiling at him.
"Litwick?"
"I love you." It made the pokémon smile. "You're my best friend."
The pokémon was beaming. He stood up in his excitement. "Litwick."
"And someday," Lucas said, "everyone else is going to see how great you are." Lucas went into a coughing fit. "Once you... perform in Contests... everyone will see."
The pokémon tilted his head to display his confusion. "Wick?" Me? We'll perform in Contests together... right? Lucas never said just me before; always we.
Lucas looked at the standing pokémon and patted the spot on the bed next to him. "Let's go to sleep." The pokémon nodded. He laid down next to his best friend and closed his eyes. He was lulled to sleep by Lucas' heart.
"Wick wick litwick," the pokémon said. He had woken up and his friend didn't get up. He tried to wake Lucas, but he stayed so still. At some point, he noticed that Lucas was really cold and his heart wasn't making any of those sounds. Litwick didn't really understand at the time, but he knew that Lucas wasn't going to wake up to play with him. The staff took Lucas away and they were all crying.
Not too long after that, the staff began to leave the house; one by one until he was the only one. He hadn't left since.
"Osha..." Oshawott did his best to hold his tears in. He didn't know much about death, having never known anyone to die, but he knew something was wrong when someone didn't wake up again. He couldn't imagine what he would do if Kori just went to sleep and never woke up again. How that happened, he didn't understand.
Chimchar wasn't doing a good job either. She cried and cried. "Chim..." The mysterious pokémon waited until they were both done.
Eventually both pokémon stopped crying and blushed in embarrassment. The pokémon in front of them was the one who lived through all of that; his life had been completely changed. He was the one who lost his best friend and yet, they were the ones who were crying. There had to be something they could do for him.
Chimchar didn't want to leave him in this house by himself. He would be all alone again. Who knows when someone else would visit this house again. Her eyes widened and she smiled. Chimchar had a great idea. "Char char," she said to her friend. She really thought he should come with them.
The other pokémon tilted his head to the side. "Lit?"
"Chim char chimchar char." Chimchar explained that Diana was considering becoming a coordinator. They could compete in Contests together.
"Lit?" Chimchar stopped smiling. Her friend didn't look happy. He kept shaking his head. He looked like he was panicking. Chimchar and Oshawott were becoming concerned.
"Wick!" His eyes glowed blue. Chimchar and Oshawott were hurled into the air . Both were scared out of their wits as they were being forcefully thrown around.
Kori and Robert finally managed to open that door and were about to look for Kori's missing pokémon.
At that moment, pictures hanging on the walls began to levitate and hit them. Kori and Robert had to run and dodged them.
"What's happening" Kori yelled. She ducked when some wooden ornament flew by.
"I don't know," Robert yelled. "But it's not safe here. We have to go back and find the others."
Kori nodded and they both ran back to the sitting room.
Lyssa froze as the couch came towards her at a fast pace.
"Swift!" An incoming of stars came towards the couch, smashing it to smithereens. Diana ran over to Lyssa and grabbed her hand. "Come on!" They started running, remembering to dodge every piece of furniture that came in site.
"But where are we going?" Lyssa asked.
"Back to that parlor," Diana yelled. I just hope that the others will think to do the same. Another chair flew by. "Thundershock Shinx!"
"Shinx!" Shinx released the blue colored electricity. More stuff came flying.
"Corsola go!" Lyssa said as she released her pokémon. "Use Water Gun!' The water pokémon attacked, hitting some incoming dishes.
Diana threw another pokéball. "Turtwig use Razor Leaf!"
"Tur!" Turtwig managed to hit some flying toys. The girls, followed by their pokémon, ran down the hall.
"Char!" Chimchar flew to the left.
"Osha!" Oshawott flew to the right. The pokémon that was responsible for this stood just below them. Chimchar bumped into a flying, wooden box. Oshawott got hit by a wooden Ponyta. Oshawott opened his mouth and hit the other pokémon with a good scald, making its mark.
The pokémon below let out a cry in agony. It seemed to end when he mercifully blacked out.
Lyssa and Diana, along with their pokémon, made it back to the room and quickly slammed the door. They leaned against it, breathing heavily and sweaty. Robert calmly walked over to them. "So I take it you all encountered flying objects as well?"
Lyssa tiredly nodded. She returned Corsola it its pokéball. Diana did the same thing with her two pokémon. "Yeah," Diana wheezed, "but it stopped now."
Robert nodded. He had noticed that same thing when Kori and he entered the room. Things seemed to have calmed down for now. He sighed and turned towards Kori, who had been seated and silent, even when her friends entered.
Lyssa finally noticed Kori. Her friends looked totally distraught. She got up from the floor and walked towards her. "What's wrong?" she asked. "And where's Oshawott?"
Kori flinched at the question. "He's... he's... g-gone too..."
Lyssa immediately felt sorry. She knew how much Kori cared for her pokémon; this had to be hard for her. "We'll find them."
"But how!" Kori yelled as she got up from her seat. "Me and Robert checked our side and upstairs to be sure before all that weird stuff started happening!" Robert nodded in agreement. "We didn't find them! And we looked in every room up there! And still nothing!"
"Now calm down," Lyssa said. Kori immediately snapped.
"Don't tell me to calm down!"
"Kori," Robert stated sternly. "I know that you're worried about your pokémon, but this won't help them."
Kori immediately calmed. Guilt began to set in. "I'm sorry..."
Lyssa held up a hand and shrugged. "I understand. I'd be the same way if they were my pokémon too."
"Now we should probably go back out and search," Robert said.
"But where?" Kori asked. "We checked our side of the house, as well as the upstairs."
"Me and Diana checked our side of the house and the basement," Lyssa pointed out. "The basement was big, but Chimchar and Oshawott definitely weren't there."
"Then maybe someone took them outside of the house?" Robert suggested.
Diana raised a hand. "Um... guys-"
"You mean like a kidnapping?" Kori asked, panicked. "But then they could be gone by now!"
"Guys-"
"We'll find them," Lyssa added comfortingly. "We'll just-"
"GUYS!" All eyes turned to Diana, wondering what she was so worked up about.
"Did anyone check the attic?"
They all looked at her dumbly. "The attic...?" Kori asked. "There wasn't an attic."
Diana raised one eyebrow. "In a house like this? There is definitely an attic." Diana opened the door. "We should go find it, now that everything is so calm."
The other three shared a look amongst themselves. They didn't have any better ideas, and Diana seemed so confident. They all left the room to search for the attic.
He slowly opened his eyes. What happened? He thought to himself. He remembered pain and now he was confused. The other pokémon he met were standing over him. The fire one looked at him with concern, while the water one looked angry. He was so confused. "Wick?"
Oshawott growled in anger. Chimchar had to try to calm him down. "Oshawott osha!" Oshawott exclaimed in anger. That pokémon had just treated him and Chimchar like rag dolls- he better remember that.
The mysterious pokémon became apologetic. "Lit litwick," he said quickly, bowing. He hadn't meant to harm them. He just... he didn't understand why he did it; he just couldn't leave.
At that moment, he heard something.
"Shinx shinx." Shinx pointed his tail up at the ceiling.
"Wait," Diana said, pointing up. It looked like some sort of door on the ceiling. "I think I see the attic door. It must be something have to pull down to get in."
Robert walked over to the door. He pulled a string that was connected to the door and stairs came down. Silently, they walked up the stairs.
The mysterious pokémon was scared. Chimchar tried to calm him .
But it wasn't working. He could see those people climbing up the stairs and he felt nothing but dread. It only became worse when they started talk "ing.
"Chimchar! Oshawott!" The one who spoke came closer. The water one immediately jumped into the human's arms. He felt himself tense.
At some point, they all seemed to notice the new pokémon's presence.
"It's a Litwick," Kori answered, pulling out her pokédex.
Litwick- the Candle Pokémon. Litwick shines a light that absorbs the life energy of people and pokémon, which becomes the fuel that it burns.
"But why is it here?" Diana asked.
Robert shrugged. "It must have been forgotten after the family of this house all died."
Forgotten, Litwick thought. I can't be forgotten again. He shot a Flamethrower out of his mouth.
The humans all dodged out ht the way of the attack. They all jumped behind some boxes to avoid any more attacks.
"You're going down!" Kori yelled.
"Osha!"
"Kori wait," Robert pleaded, grabbing her arm.
"What is it Robert?" Kori asked. The scene was pure chaos at this point. Another Flamethrower had collided with the boxes. Surprisingly, they didn't burn. Oshawott put out some stray fires with his Scald. Chimchar was trying to talk some sense to Litwick, but it didn't seem to be working Litwick wouldn't stop attacking.
"I think I can stop all of this in a way that no one is harmed," Robert continued. "I just need to do this."
The girls silently debated amongst themselves. The only plan they had was to battle Litwick. They had no problem with a more peaceful solution. Kori just wanted Chimchar to not get hurt. They nodded their assent.
Robert got out from behind the boxes and thew his pokéball. "Milotic use Captivate." The girls and Oshawott watched from behind the boxes.
"Mi!" Milotic jumped in front of Litwick and released a bunch of pink hearts that floated towards him.
"Lit?" Litwick began to feel calm. Chimchar and he looked at the other pokémon, wondering what would happen next.
"Now use Iron Tail!" Milotic used its glowing tail to hit the hearts, causing them to explode into pink sparkles. Everyone watching were all wondering the same thing: what were they up to?
Now finish with Safeguard!" Milotic began to glow green. It created such a beautiful contrast between the pink sparkles and green color of the Safeguard. It also made everyone realize just how beautiful Milotic's scales were.
"Litwick..." Litwick was completely mesmerized by the show. It made him remember all of the dreams he shared with Lucas. Lucas. "Litwick."
Litwick used Will-o-Wisp. Everyone watched in fascination as he controlled it with Psychic, causing the little blue flames to dance around in a circle. Suddenly everyone began seeing faces in the flames. Ghoulish and grotesque faces that seemed to be laughing maliciously as they continued to dance so fast, all of the faces seemed to blend into one. No one looked away from the show.
Eventually the dance ended and the flaming faces were extinguished. Everyone stayed silent at first; no one knew what they were supposed to do in this situation.
Suddenly everyone, except for Milotic, were startled by the sound of clapping. Litwick seemed to flinch at the the sound. Chimchar clapped as well.
Everyone watched as Robert smiled as he stopped clapping. Litwick watched as Robert came closer and knelt to Litwick's level.
"That was a spectacular performance Litwick," Robert said sincerely. "Worthy of a contest appeal."
"Chimchar," Chimchar said in agreement. Litwick turned to face her. "Litwick?'
"I am a coordinator," Robert explained. "My pokémon and I do perform in Contests. I do it to show everyone how special my pokémon are."
"Mi," Milotic seemed to say in agreement.
Diana looked over at Robert from behind the boxes thoughtfully, as she remembered the choice she faced earlier. To perform to show the audience how special her pokémon were. Could she see herself doing that as a coordinator?
Litwick thought back to the last thing Lucas had said to him. "... everyone will see..." Was that what he meant? Lucas wanted people to know he was special.
"I can understand why you took Chimchar and Oshawott. I'm sure it can get pretty lonely in this house by yourself."
Litwick nodded. It did get pretty lonely.
Kori, Lyssa and Diana slowly walked towards Litwick. They stood right next to Robert. Oshawott was in Kori's arms.
"I can understand that," Robert repeated. He motioned to Kori. "But your friends have to go back with their trainer."
"Litwick!" The dual fire and ghost- type looked so scared and sad. His eyes were downcast and his shoulders sagged. He would be alone again...
"But that doesn't mean you'll be left alone." Robert pulled out an empty pokéball.
Litwick looked at Robert questioningly. "Lit?"
"I think that you're amazing." Robert held up the pokéball. "And I would be honored if you were to join Milotic and I to perform in contests."
"Lit..." Litwick thought again about his last memory of Lucas. He wondered if he would want him to do this. At that moment, his friend Chimchar tapped on his shoulder.
"Char chim chimchar chim char char." Follow my dreams? Make friends along the way? But what about our friendship. Saying goodbye was hard.
"Litwick wick?" Litwick turned to face Chimchar.
Chimchar just smiled. "Chimchar chimchar chim," She began gesturing with her hands towards him. We would always be friends? We would see each other again? Litwick liked that. While following his dream. Litwick made a decision.
"Litwick."
Chimchar nodded sadly. "Chim."
With that said, Litwick turned around the face the human who promised to help him follow his dream. All Litwick felt was himself, being pulled in with a ball of light as he was captured.
Kori and Oshawott ran for Chimchar. Diana watched the scene and nodded. She made her decision as well.
"I'm going to do it." Lyssa stared at the other girl, waiting for an explanation. "I want to do that. Make the audience happy. Show everyone how great my pokémon are... as a coordinator."
Lyssa nodded her head and smiled. "That's great. You should make your premiere in Floraroma Town."
Diana was confused. "What? But I haven't practiced for it."
Lyssa shrugged. "Think of it as a trial run. Do it to see how it feels. It'll be good practice."
Diana just nodded. She, Lyssa and Robert just watched as Kori tried to comfort Chimchar. Seemed like a lot of people lost something, Diana thought bleakly. But we did gain something as well.
Kori's Pokemon
1. CHIMCHAR (female): (EMBER, SCRATCH, IRON TAIL, TAUNT, FLAME WHEEL)
2. SWABLU (male): (SING, FURY ATTACK, STEEL WING)
3. OSHATWOTT (male): (SCALD, AIR SLASH, RAZOR SHELL)
4. CHERRIM (female): (MAGICAL LEAF, PETAL DANCE, SUNNY DAY)
Lyssa's Pokemon
1. CORSOLA (female): (WATER GUN, ROCK BLAST, BUBBLE)
2. BIDOOF (male): (MOVES UNKNOWN)
Diana's Pokemon
1. TURTWIG (male): (RAZOR LEAF, EARTH POWER)
2. SHINX (male): (SWIFT, TACKLE, THUNDERSHOCK, SCARY FACE, SPARK)
The friends
Robert's Pokemon
1. MILOTIC (male): (WATER PULSE, IRON TAIL, SAFEGUARD, CAPTIVATE)
2. LITWICK (male): (FLAMETHROWER, PSYCHIC, NIGHTSHADE, WILL-O-WISP)