Finally, I have reached Lavender town - a small settlement with the only one notable sight – the so-called Pokemon tower. Right at the moment I entered the territory of this town I began to feel something bad in it. Something started to ring quietly in my ear, making me a little mad. I don`t like this place already.
People talk quite a lot about Lavender town, call it cursed and haunted. Some accidents are known when people were lost in the tower forever, and some actually committed suicide here. I could agree, the atmosphere in this place is really straining, but I guess all that`s just the jokes of ghost-type pokemon. Stupid jokes of stupid ghost-type pokemon. I`ve heard they love to scoff people.
Before now this town was considered a special place for burying dead pokemon, and I guess this placement was chosen for a reason. Souls of the deceased pokemon turn into other pokemon, get some sort of… reincarnation as a new ethereal being. But now the upper levels of the tower are filled with older graves and completely abandoned, with scary troubled ghosts that have already left the body but haven`t transformed yet flying around. Some people are scared of such things, but those who have enough courage and will to trouble the dead can enter the Tower and catch a ghost-type pokemon…
The stories sound horrifying and exciting at the same time. I haven`t seen ghost pokemon before, so meeting one could be a very nice experience, and catching one would be just great. Although if Douchebag wants to do this – I can`t let him have the victory over me here too.
And – who knows – maybe the ghosts differ from usual pokemon. Maybe they can actually talk, or… at least, can be taught to talk. I`m not sure if someone tried this before, but I definitely should.
I passed a couple of dark streets and found the place where Pokemon Center actually was. This was too easy as it was much higher that most of other buildings in this town.
At first I noticed the black old garage not far from the PC. Considering this is the one garage on the whole street, this must be the place where poachers made their deals with Team Rocket. I will visit Pokemon Center to leave Dumpling for treatment and then search the place.
As I entered inside the PC, the first thing I noticed was Douchebag talking with someone by the phone. Loud foul language filling the walls of building meant that the dialogue isn`t going as he expected.
I approached him from behind and waited until he hangs up in rage and turns back to me.
"Boo!" I scared him.
"Oh, get the hell outta here!" He replied to this actually pitiful attempt of mine. "I have enough problems without you."
"Do you know about karma?"
He just silently passed near me and headed to the exit. I just shrugged and headed to the nurse behind the counter.
"Welcome to PokeCenter!" She welcomed me. At least someone is in good mood right now "Would you like me to heal your pokemon back to perfect health?"
"Yes, of course." I handed her over the hot pokeball of Dumpling. "And also I want to stay here for one night. Do you have a room?"
"I am sorry, all rooms are occupied." Nurse replied with a very sorry tone. "But we can hook you to the guy that has just left. He is in a doubled room."
Staying for night with Douchebag? Damn this is awful. But, at least, we won`t cross each other at night. At night I`ll go to the Lavender tower and try to catch a ghost-type pokemon. I can have a rest in my room while Douchebag is dealing with his problems in the day. Maybe he won`t even know who is his roommate.
"Okay, fine. 150 pd, as always?" I agreed to her offer.
"As always, sir. Will you pay now?"
"Yes, yes…" I took some coins from my pocket and gave them to nurse in exchange for key from my room.
"Thank you and enjoy your stay!"
Yeah, right. Like at home. Together with Douchebag. In a room filled with his damn douchebagy aura. No, thanks, I will not enjoy it.
I put the key in my greatcoat and headed to the exit. Now I can spend some time of searching the garage. Maybe after that I`ll try to find that strange old man from Route 12. Heading street 15… I still remember the address. I`ll see if the time remains for him.
But the suspicious garage comes the first! Large black and very old garage where criminal things are going…
Seems like old abandoned building that no one cares about in the middle of the main street is a very good coverage for different criminal lairs and activities, just like the Black Market in Cerulean City. The most surprising thing is that this actually works, and neither the police nor someone else actually finds this. Well, except for Misty, but this girl explored the whole north part of Kanto together with our gang, so I`m not surprised that she knows everything about her native city.
What`s more strange – she didn`t do anything about it yet. I didn`t think about it before… She didn`t tell the police, didn`t uncover the whole thing, didn`t even take her whole bunch of powerful gym pokemon to destroy the place. I could expect this from her.
So… I approached the garage and checked its doors. Of course, they are closed. They are pretty heavy and don`t actually look as old as the whole construction. The lock seems to be inside the door, so there`s no any way of getting inside. Someone was opening the garage for hunters and Team Rocket. Someone local…
"So, you actually came."
I turned around and met a strange old man from Route 12. He didn`t change his clothes, but I noticed a bits of dirt and some green stuff on his wrists.
"Do you know why I`m here?" I carefully asked him.
"Yes. Follow me."
The old man looked around and quickly headed behind the garage. I looked around too and followed him. He led me to the backyard behind the garage and approached another door, a usual one. Old man took out the key, opened this door and entered, asking me to follow him inside. Curiosity overwhelmed me, and I stepped inside the strange building.
Well, it looked strange just from the outside. Inside it was just a usual garage – except that it looked empty. I noticed a couple of tear trails on the floor, clearly visible among the dust and dirt. Some broken wood crates were lying in the corner, covered with a thick layer of dust. Two long tables were standing near the wall, and they actually had some fresh prints in the dust. But something was not right here… I didn`t smell dust that was actually everywhere. I smelled… powder!
I know that all grass-type pokemon emit some sort of aroma, whether it is horrible like Vileplume`s or fragrant like Bellossom`s. It is always recognizable.
They were here. A bunch of quiet stinky half-poison grass-type pokemon was here.
"How do you know about this place?" I suddenly turned to the old man and asked him. He looked suspicious back then on Route 12, but now his behavior is far more than just suspicious. He definitely knows something.
"I`m surprised that you know about this place." He looked away from me, at the crates. "Actually, this is what I wanted to ask you about."
"The illegal trade of wild grass pokemon?"
"Yes. I live here and watch over the local pokemon. I take care of them, so appearance of such… activities just unacceptable." He turned back to me. "But how do YOU know about this place?"
"I hunted the poachers near Cerulean City. They told me about this point… This will help me find Team Rocket."
"What do you need from these damn criminals?" This old man looked like he doesn`t like Team Rocket very much. This acquaintance could be more useful to me than I think.
"I`ll tell you. After you tell me your name. Mine is Vengeance, for example." I gave him my hand and he shook it.
"Call me Mr. Fuji."
"Okay, Mr. Fuji… They robbed me. They attacked me, took my car, bit me and left me dying in the middle of route. Is this enough for me to hate them?"
Old man sadly looked under his feet. Maybe there is something connecting him to Team Rocket too, something bad in the past. I guess, they hurt him too. They hurt many people.
"Can you find them?" He asked and shook his head in the direction of crates. "The pokemon they stole?"
"This why I`m here, actually." I answered. "I want to find the forest pokemon and the way to Team Rocket. But… You did knew about me coming, right? You did found me on Route 12 for a reason?"
"You`re right. There are two special pokemon among these wild ones. I wish them to be back and safe. I heard some rumors that some new trainer is investigating something on Route 3, and then suddenly some hunters being caught. I hoped you have the skills to investigate this too."
"Let me guess… YOU blocked the bridge with your Snorlax. To get me for this?"
"You`re a smart young man, I can see it." Mr. Fuji said with smile. "I really need you to find those pokemon, and fast. The last shipment was taken two days ago. I saw a truck coming in and out. I don`t know where did they take them, but maybe somewhere here lies the answer?"
This is just great. There are already rumors about my investigations! And old men tries to catch me with blocking the entire routes! So much for staying in shadows. I bet Leaf is somehow connected to these rumors, she is the first person to know about my investigation. And the last person from the knowing ones that I would trust to.
"Okay, Mr. Fuji, I`ll take care of it. Not just for you, but also for Harry." I took scratched pokeball from my shoulder belt and released Weepinbell outside.
"Oh, my!" Old man crouched before him and looked closer. "Isn`t it… the renegade Bellsprout from Route 24? The scar is so familiar…"
"Yep, that`s him. He wants to find other pokemon more than anything. I promised him to find his friends… And deal with Team Rocket so this won`t happen again. Too bad we are late. Two days ago we could catch the deliver."
Harry angrily looked at me and menacingly spread his leaves.
"All right, all right! I know, we should have gone there first. But don`t worry, we will got them."
I looked around the room trying to find some clues.
"The hunters said Team Rocket agent leaves a note with their task for them and then money for the accomplished quest. Hunters saw him just once – a man in a grey greatcoat. If Rockets have taken the pokemon, they must have left money for them. I don`t see it anywhere."
"Maybe the Rockets heard about the capture of hunters and so didn`t pay at all this time?" Mr. Fuji asked.
"Possible. But this place is too opened… I wouldn`t leave money or instructions here. There must be another room!"
We started to look around. Small windows right under the ceiling gave us some sunlight, but they could not highlight the room normally.
"Do you have any flashlight?" I asked Mr. Fuji.
"Unfortunately, no."
Okay then, we have to find another way. And immediately in my eyesight appeared none other than Harry.
"You know what, Harry? I think I need your help." The pokemon questionably looked at me. "You`re going to learn Flash now."
He looked at me with a misunderstanding.
"You need to go back to Pokemon Center if you want to teach him something." Mr. Fuji reminded me.
"Don`t worry, we have our own tricks. Harry, come back for a bit…" I beamed Weepinbell back to his pokeball and took the Bill`s TM Case from my greatcoat.
"What is that?" Mr. Fuji interested.
"Our trick." I put Harry`s pokeball inside the hole in device and it automatically fixed it.
I have already downloaded the HM Flash inside this device when I was riding with Douchebag, so the screen quickly turned on and welcomed me. I quickly found the position of "learning moves" and selected my Harry and an HM Flash.
Now a very hard decision stands before me… The strange rules of nature let pokemon know just four moves at once, so I actually have to rewrite part of his memory. Which move I should replace?
Vine whip is a very good move for now and almost the only move that damages at once. Excluded.
Wrap move proved itself to be quite useful, especially in combinations. I`m not ready to let it go.
So, the choice stands between Stun spore and Sleep powder… Both of them are status moves and can be useful in different situations. But, I guess, I still didn`t use Sleep powder that much. It is a very risky move – it may not work, and even if it works, the opponent may wake up right the next second. Stun spore is much more reliable, I guess.
I chose Sleep powder.
Harry forgot the Sleep powder…
Harry learned Flash!
Great! Now this will help us a lot in battles and investigations. I closed the device and grabbed Harry`s pokeball.
"Okay, come on out!"
I released my Weepinbell outside and checked him. Seems like the memory rewriting doesn`t affect his appearance.
"Are you okay? Do you remember me?" I was a bit worried about any side-effects of this process, but Harry looked fine, outside and inside. Still the same grumpy and mistrustful look.
Mr. Fuji seemed to be excited by this invention. He came closer to look at it.
"It`s so small… And it actually worked?" He asked in surprise.
"We`ll see." I turned to Harry. "Use Flash!"
My pokemon tensed and suddenly started to shine very brightly. This was actually blinding light, but after some seconds it weakened so we could not worry for our eyes. Still it was enough to light the whole room.
Sometimes the darkness covers horrible things you would never want to see. When the light comes, all that can be seen. Pieces of dirt covered with something like purple blood, parts of cut rotten Oddish leaves, even a small root of Bellsprout body.
The sight was actually the worst. These monsters treat pokemon like nothing! I don`t even want to know what happened here so Rocket cut the pieces of pokemon body. Maybe leaves will grow again, but the pain remains forever.
"Oh my god…" Mr. Fuji said shockingly.
Harry tensed even more. He suddenly turned back to me and started to scream in anger. He is right; we could save his brotherhood from such fate if we headed here first.
"I am sorry, all right? I am sorry!" I tried to apologize, but this didn`t seem to work at all. "But look – they may hurt pokemon, but don`t kill them! Team Rocket may be some crazy bastards, but they don`t kill pokemon for fun. Mr. Fuji saw trucks taking them away, so they may be alive!"
"That`s right, we might have the chance to save them." The old man supported me. "But we don`t have any idea where do they take them."
I looked around once more. In the pile of trash hiding in the corners could be the switch to another room or basement. I`m sure of it. I would vote for the basement as I also noticed before some strangely set tablets on the floor.
And I was right about that.
Behind one of the broken crates I noticed a small dirty button. It blended with the surroundings pretty well, so you will never find it if you don`t know what to look for.
I approached it and moved the trash blocking the button. Yep, a usual button, covered with a good layer of dirt to hide it. But you can`t hide anything from me, especially buttons to secret rooms.
And, of course, as I pressed it, a silent grinding sounded from below. The floor between the tear trails started to move and opened a passage to the basement.
Harry was the first to jump down, and we had to follow him.
Basement looked suspiciously empty too. Just a lone table with a note. Nothing more – just the solid concrete. Scary place, I have to admit.
I approached the table and looked at the note. It wasn`t covered with dust as everything around, so it must have been here for a couple of days maximum. The content of this note shocked me a lot.
"The last shipment is sent to Celadon base. Operations are closed for now. Payment is delayed. A.E."
"Oh my god!" That`s all I could say now.
"What`s there?" Mr. Fuji quickly ran to me and looked at the note. "So… It`s Celadon City, right?"
"Right?" I started to remember that Celadon City has a recruitment base of Team Rocket. This note also leads me there…
"Wait a second! Celadon City has a gym… Grass-type gym!" Old man suddenly shouted.
"Oh… This is not a coincidence. Grass-type gym is connected to stealing grass-type pokemon! This madness actually makes sense now." I turned to my Harry. "Well, pal, the time has come to visit some bad guys in that damn city." Weepinbell just curled his leaves like hands and showed me his readiness.
"Let`s leave this wretched place." Mr. Fuji headed to the ladder and started to climb up. I was holding the note in my hand, thinking.
"You know what? I think, this note wasn`t purposed for hunters." I faced old man. "They stopped the operations exactly because of the hunters being caught. The note is for someone else… Someone that have to come here. And we came before him."
"Who do you think this could be?"
"I don`t know. Looks like they have not one agent… But at least two!"
I decided to put the note back to the table exactly in the place where it was. I don`t want to leave trails of our presence here. Harry was still shining brightly, staring at me. I returned him back to pokeball and headed to the ladder too.
"Maybe, you will find answers in Celadon City, young man."
"Maybe, maybe…" I turned my head back to the dark basement. Something`s not right here. Something bothered my mind, and I couldn`t understand, what exactly. Celadon will give me the answers to this.
We closed the basement with the same button and then left the garage. Mr. Fuji shook the dust off from himself and turned to me.
"Well, Vengeance, I hope you will find these pokemon."
"Oh, I feel I can find much more than just pokemon there. At least, now two of my trails connect together. This is definitely not a coincidence."
"Then good luck to you, young man. I would like to help you, but my pokemon need my care. I can`t leave my job."
"Don`t worry, old man. We can handle this. There`s one thing I want to do before departure… Visiting a Pokemon tower."
My words shocked Mr. Fuji a lot more than I expected.
"Why would you need that?" He questioned.
"To catch a ghost-type pokemon, of course! This addition to my team will help me deal with Team Rocket in Celadon City."
Mr. Fuji unsurely looked away from me.
"I don`t think this is a good idea… But you`re a skilled guy if you manage to deal with a whole poachers team. Maybe, you can handle both ghost pokemon and Team Rocket."
"Well, I have to try. There`s much more behind it… Well, never mind. I`ll do my best, Mr. Fuji. Good luck."
"Good luck, young man, and take care."
He shook my hand and slowly directed away from the garage. I looked again at this dark building. The images of people actually hurting pokemon flooded my head. Horrible images…
I hit myself in the forehead to snap out of it. There`s no time for sick imagination. Not right now, at least.
The rest of day I tried to spent in my room in PokeCenter, but the rest was really uneasy. I couldn`t even sleep when I understand that I`m just delaying time. Time when a bunch of wild pokemon is riding a truck to Celadon City, where… I don`t know what happens to them there, but definitely not something good. Not sure that they can use wounded pokemon in gyms.
So I didn`t waste the time anymore. I headed to the park and trained my pokemon a bit more. If the battle in grass-type gym awaits for me, Dumpling, Reaper and Moment can be a very good choice to rely on. Especially on Dumpling – my best and strongest pokemon.
When the evening came, I returned to Pokemon Center. And what a coincidence – Douchebag was there, sitting in the hall. Waiting for someone.
"Where the heck have you been, idiot?" He shouted at my approach. Seems like he was waiting for me. "You were in Pokemon tower, right?"
"No. But I`m going to."
He jumped from the couch and quickly headed to the exit.
"Come on! At least try to be ahead of me just once!" He arrogantly shouted to me and waved his hand.
"What an idiot…" I said to myself and followed him outside. I knew something like that could happen, so I didn`t overdrive my pokemon too much during the training. We can handle the dangers of Lavender town.
So we left the PC and together headed to the largest, darkest and actually the scariest building in the town. Maybe, in the whole region.
The building that everyone talks silently about.
The Pokemon tower.