Plusle, Minun, Electrabuzz, and Magmortar

It was New Years Eve and there seemed to be celebrations everywhere. In Ecruteak alone, there were at least eight parties going on, some by invitation only. But the one held below Bell Tower was open to anyone who came by. There were dozens of colorful paper lanterns, lots of good things to snack on, cheerful music playing, and many activities to join. However, the tower itself was closed off to the visitors, guarded by two local monks.

Pokemon were allowed to wander the party too. Unfortunately, that meant that their trainer was showing off her prized Snubbull and gushing over other people's fancy and dressed up Pokemon. Pan the Plusle and Mina the Minun found themselves looking for something to do on their own. "Well I suppose she's just excited about her new capture," Mina said, rubbing her blue-tipped ears. "We'll still be important to her."

"I wish I could tell her not to give me a girly ribbon to wear," Pan grumbled, tugging at a red ribbon around his neck; it had a bow behind his head. "We could have swapped colors."

"I guess," Mina said, touching her blue ribbon. "Want to try telling her?"

He shook his head. "Nah, humans never understand us Pokemon. Anyhow… hey, look at that!" He hopped off into the crowd.

"Pan!" Mina ran off after her friend. Weaving around the feet of other humans, she added, "Don't get in trouble!"

"I won't," he said, stopping by a tree. There was a Pokemon sleeping there, one that was much larger then they were. It was a bright yellow feline with jagged black stripes across his body. Unlike most of the other Pokemon, he wasn't dressed up for the occasion. "Man, how is he sleeping through this noise?" Pan poked at the larger Pokemon's side.

"Maybe he's really tired," Mina said quietly to him. She tugged at his pink-tipped tail. "So we should leave him be."

"Huh, no, I ain't sleeping," the other Pokemon grumbled, opening his eyes briefly. "Just resting my eyes." He looked over at the crowd. "Oh, has it started already?" He yawned and stretched his arms out, nearly knocking the Plusle over in the process.

"The party started over an hour ago," Pan told him. "Hopefully it can keep going, cause clouds have moved in. We don't want to get rained out. Hey mister, what are you? Why aren't you dressed up?"

"Clouds, huh?" He looked up through the leafless trees. "I live here, so I don't have to be all showy. I'm an Electrabuzz, by the way; call me Buzzard. I have an important duty." He grinned, showing sharp teeth. "Clouds… hah! Hey squirts, want to race me to the top of the tower?"

"The top of the tower?" Pan asked, sounding interested.

"See you there!" Buzzard then jumped up and dashed over to Bell Tower with incredible speed. He opened up a window to enter the building, then vanished inside.

"Oh man, we couldn't beat him," the Plusle said, twitching his ears. "Even with a head start. Hey, let's go in."

"What?" Mina asked, worried. "But nobody's supposed to go inside there. I mean, maybe if he really does have an important duty…"

He shrugged. "What else are we gonna do? Besides, they never open the doors, so when else are we going to get a chance to look around inside? Maybe we can find something nice too."

The Minun put her paw to her chin. "Well, you're right in that we probably won't get in any other time… it could be interesting inside."

"So let's go!" Pan bounded off towards the open window. After a second's hesitation, Mina followed after. No one noticed them going in.

Inside, they were reminded of Sprout Tower's interior. This place looked much the same, with wooden floors, a large swaying pillar, and wooden ladders. The differences were remarkable, though. Instead of statues of Bellsprout, there were beautiful statues of a strange bird Pokemon. The same Pokemon was on painted silhouettes on the walls. After admiring one of the statues, Pan and Mina went to the ladder and hopped up the steps to get to the next level.

And Bell Tower was much taller than Sprout Tower. There were Rattatas scavenging around, as well as the occasional Gastly in the shadows. Being small and nimble, the two were able to avoid most of the resident Pokemon. They could not avoid one Pokemon, though. He was even larger than the Electrabuzz, with brilliant orange and red feathers covering his bulky body. A large burlap sack was by his side, one that seemed nearly as big as him. But they had seen one like him before, a Magmortar. And that made him a very powerful Pokemon indeed, one they didn't want to fight.

Pan stopped briefly, then indicated to Mina that they should try sneaking by. She nodded; that's what she was thinking too. With the Magmortar sitting there, they should be able to dash for the next ladder if need be. However, his ears pricked up and the Magmortar looked to them. "What are you two doing skulking about?" he asked gruffly.

"Oh, um, we're just exploring," Mina said, crouching down closer to the floor.

"Yeah, Buzzard challenged us to a race, although there's no way we're going to win," Pan admitted. "But we want to see the top too."

"Hmph, so that explains that." He shook his head. "Don't worry, I wouldn't hurt you if you're not looking for a fight. I've got enough work as it is lugging this thing to the top." He patted the burlap sack.

Now that he seemed friendly, or at least not malicious, Mina hopped over closer. He did look tired. "Why're you doing that, Mr. Magmortar?"

"My trainer asked me too, although he couldn't come in himself. I had to sneak in here in the middle of the day myself. There should just be one more level, and then we're at the roof. The weight's making my arms ache, though."

Pan pricked his ears and stood up. "I'd imagine. Hey, we can help you feel better if you want. We're trained therapeutic electricians."

"Really?" he asked skeptically.

"Oh yes," Mina said. "We use our powers to help our trainer every day. She wouldn't be able to travel otherwise. It doesn't hurt; it's just a little tingly at first."

"Hmm." He considered it, then nodded. "All right, if it would help me reach the top. I want to do this too."

"We need to see your arms," she said. Once he held them down, the Plusle and Minun checked over him. It seemed like it was as he said, his muscles aching due to the heavy load. They could find the important points of his nervous system, as their innate electrical sense could feel even those minute points of power. With those found, they applied small sparks of electricity to those points, giving his energy a fresh boost.

After working on both arms, Pan said, "Okay, that should do it. How're you feeling now?"

The Magmortar rubbed one arm, then smiled. "Oddly refreshed. I should be fine now; thank you, small ones. You may call me Magnar."

"That's a nice name," the Minun said, smiling back. "I'm Mina, and this is Pan. Well let's get going to the top before it's too late!"

"Right!" Pan agreed, then bounded over to the ladder.

Magnar got up, picked up his heavy sack, then followed them up the stairs. But at the next level, Pan and Mina found themselves facing a group of four Rattatas. The purple rodents seemed annoyed, grumbling at something. "Why does he always have to… hey, you! What do you think you're doing here?"

"Um, we're just exploring," Mina said. "We're not going to make trouble, honest."

The Rattattas laughed or sneered. "Oh yeah?" the one said, coming a step closer. "Well this is our floor, and we don't let intruders off lightly. You're gonna wish you never set foot in here!"

Behind them, there was a heavy thump as the burlap sack was tossed up onto the floor. The Magmortar then appeared through the ladder hole. Holding on with one hand, he adjusted the other until it looked as though he had a small cannon in place of his lower arm. "Hey," he said, looking calmly towards the Rattata group. "I can burn you to the bone in one shot. Feeling lucky, punk?"

That stopped their laughs. "He's with us," Mina said, standing up with more confidence.

"Oh, er, is that right?" The Rattata backed down. "Uh, in that case, I hope you like your visit. Um, leave us be, please." They then scattered off into holes along the floor.

Pan chuckled, then looked back to their companion. "Hey, thanks Magnar. That was cool."

"No problem," he said, coming up fully and picking up his sack again. Then he dropped his voice so only they could hear, "Not that I would really shoot fireballs inside. I might torch the place by accident and I wouldn't want that to happen."

"Of course not," Mina said. "So the next level is the roof… I'm excited!"

Pan laughed again. "And you're the one who didn't want to come in here."

"Well I hope that we aren't going to get in trouble," she added.

Past the next ladder, the Pokemon came to the rooftop of Bell Tower. It was an incredible place, with a staircase leading up to a large platform. A blue roof sloped down, then showed off a magnificent view of the land around them. While it was dark, Pan and Mina could make out a forest around the city below. There was one yellow light to the southeast that might have been the top of Sprout Tower, and a set of red lights that topped the Radio Tower to the southwest. And further southwest, the sweeping line of the Olivine lighthouse reached out even this far north. And in the center of the platform, there was a tall golden tower, topped with a yellow light of its own.

And up on the golden tower, Buzzard the Electrabuzz was hanging on by just two paws, searching the sky. He looked down and grinned at them. "Hey squirts! You're much too slow to race me. I've been waiting forever to see you again."

"We didn't take that long!" Pan insisted, jumping up.

"We stopped to help Mr. Magnar," Mina added, looking over as the Magmortar came up the stairs to the platform. "He wanted to see the top too."

After giving a shrug, Buzzard hopped down. "Eh, the more, the merrier. So long as you don't mean to harm the tower itself, I like the company."

"I'll be careful," Magnar said, setting his sack down before looking over the edge. "Which way would the plaza below be, where the party is?"

"Um," the Electrabuzz jumped down onto the roof and peered over the edge. Then he pointed towards the corner to the right of the stairway. "Over that way. Why do you ask?"

He nodded, then opened up his sack. Pan hopped over as he spoke, to investigate. "My trainer wants to try getting Ho-oh's attention in a certain way. I doubt it will actually work, but it's going to be a lot of fun." He smiled as he pulled out a white object that seemed like a soda can. "Certainly worth the effort to come up here." He reformed his cannon arm, then placed the object inside. After aiming over the crowd and at the sky, he fired it.

Moments later, there was a sharp noise, somewhere between a pop and a blast. A shower of orange and yellow sparkles appeared in the cloudy sky in the shape of a large orb. They glittered and fell, then disappeared.

"Oooo, nice fireworks," Mina said, hopping over to the edge of the platform with the rest.

"So long as you don't burn the tower down, I'm fine with that," Buzzard said. "I'm one of the Bell Tower Pokemon guardians, you know."

"I'll be careful," Magnar said, pulling out another fireworks shell to load it. "I've been doing this for several years now." He shot off another orb firework, this time in red and pink.

"What do you do as a guardian?" Pan asked, looking up to Buzzard.

In response, he grinned. "I come up here anytime there might be a storm and protect the tower from lightning strikes. That's how the last tower burned down, because a lightning bolt struck it just right. Or just wrong, I guess. I'm making sure it doesn't happen again, especially not before Ho-oh returns."

"Ho-oh?" Mina asked. "Is that the pretty bird Pokemon all the statues show?"

Buzzard nodded. "Sure is. Lots of people have tried to call the legendary sky guardian down, but I haven't seen it in person. And you're right; I don't think firing off explosives from the top of the tower will get Ho-oh to come. But it is a nice change of pace."

Magnar shrugged. "Who am I to say no to fireworks? Anyhow, how are you protecting the tower from lightning strikes? Don't you Electrics attract lightning? Especially from the tallest place around, like this tower."

"I got hit by lightning once," Pan said. "And it was awesome."

"I've been hit at least five dozen times," Buzzard boasted. "All on top of this place, no less. Yeah, I call the lightning down; sometimes I even insult the clouds to get them all worked up too. But if the lightning strikes me, it doesn't hurt me and I divert it from the tower. I swore that I'd never let Bell Tower get struck by lightning while I was alive, and so far, I've kept my oath perfectly."

"That's great," Mina said, smiling.

Pan hopped onto the ledge. "Hey, you think if we make enough festive noise, with the party, and the fireworks, and even more, then that Ho-oh might come?" He clapped his paws together, sending off a small orb of sparks that mimicked the larger fireworks. "Make 'em awesome, Magnar!"

The Magmortar chuckled. "It couldn't hurt to try," he said.

Mina got up with him, making sparkling pom-poms to match her friend's. "Yeah, let's make up a cheer to welcome Ho-oh! Wheee!" She spun around.

"We're calling in the new year, so it's a new chance to show off your might!" Pan added, hopping over Mina and clashing his pom-poms into hers to make a larger crack and sparkle.

"Aw yeah, this is gonna be awesome, squirts!" Buzzard cheered along.

They never did see Ho-oh that night. But the four did put on a spectacular light show which was much appreciated by the crowds below them.

…

Plusle Emerald entry: It has a trait of cheering on its fellow Pokemon. By shorting out the electricity it releases from its paws, it creates pom-poms for cheering.

Minun Emerald entry: At a meeting of Pokemon academics, it was announced that simultaneous exposure to electricity from a Plusle and Minun will promote circulation and boost vitality.

Emerald entry: When a storm approaches, it competes with others to scale heights that are likely to be stricken by lightning. Some towns use Electabuzz in place of lightning rods.

Magmortar HG/SS entry: It blasts fireballs of over 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit out of its arms. Its breath also sears and sizzles.

Posted for New Years Eve of 2010. Onward to 2011!