And here we are at the climax of the Pokemon Tower incident. Its taken a while, but at last we're at the end. Hope you've all enjoyed, and I hope you're looking forward to this. Without further ado, let's begin.
XXXX
"So this is it," Ash couldn't help but say as they reached the top floor. Unlike the other floors so far, this one didn't seem particularly altered.
"I'm probably going to regret this but…somehow I was expecting something more," Misty couldn't help but say.
"I want to argue but I can't deny it," Gary groaned a bit, as true enough, the floor they'd found themselves in seemed fairly normal all things considered. It was a rather sparsely filled room with a single row of tombstones. Definitely nothing special compared to the floors they'd seen so far.
"We should still exercise caution. She should be here," Mr. Fuji cautioned as he kept Cubone with him, making sure the little Pokemon didn't run off. Even if the spirit was the spirit of his mother, there was no guarantee she'd recognize him in her current state.
"Right," Ash, Misty, and Gary nodded, while Pikachu was very much on guard.
"You stay back. We'll see if we can't find her," Ash said as the three of them moved forward, cautiously looking around the area. At first things seemed quiet, but this was very much the 'too quiet' kind of situation you'd expect in a horror movie.
Nobody had to say anything, as true enough, the temperature took a downturn, and the familiar fog rolled in and gathered at the end of the room, becoming a large mass of fog.
"Here she comes," Misty gulped, as true enough from the fog, the gigantic phantom once again manifested.
Acting quickly, Gary took out the Silph Scope, and put it on. The Scope did its job, and the bright light emitted, which the phantom tried to fight against but inevitably it was overtaken, the disguise stripped away. What was revealed was indeed a Marowak, one who had been forced to shield her vision from the bright light. However, once she saw them clearly again…the look of absolute rage and hatred in her eyes was unmistakable as she let out a roar, a dark aura covering her body as the fog appeared again, gathering into her which made her start to grow while her body took on a darker tone.
"What's going on now?!" Gary gasped.
"If I had to guess? Another Horror Movie thing!" Misty said as all of them had to brace to keep from being blown back by the surge of force that Marowak was releasing now that she stood a good 8 feet tall.
Pikachu was having a vice grip on Ash's shoulder and shouted something in alarm.
"Yeah, we're in for it now," Ash agreed, because this…was definitely the source of all their troubles so far.
Marowak didn't waste any time, and swung her bone down on them. The group scattered immediately, the bone which was now larger than them crashing into the ground.
"Any ideas?!" Misty shouted.
"Just try and see what works!" Gary shouted back, grabbing one of his Pokeballs and throwing it forward, the Pokeball popping open to reveal a Wartortle, his starter Pokemon. "Hit her with your Water Gun!" he ordered.
Wartortle seemed surprised at the opponent they were facing, but didn't argue, firing his attack. The jet of water hit Marowak, and though for a moment the spirit seemed to flinch back from the attack, she immediately powered through, swinging her bone with enough force it hit Wartortle dead on and sent him flying back into his Trainer.
Gary gasped as he was bowled over by his own partner, both of them hitting the nearby wall, leaving both of them dazed.
Seeing the opening, Marowak reeled back, looking ready to do a Bonemerang which considering the size of her bone would have probably reduced both to a smear on the wall…or sent them flying through it and out of the tower.
Either way that was decidedly something Ash was NOT about to let happen. That was why he quickly called out Bulbasaur. "Vine Whip on that bone! Stop her!" he shouted.
Bulbasaur obeyed, lashing out with his Vine Whip and catching the bone before Marowak could throw it forward. The sudden interruption caused Marowak to pause, but one look at what was stopping her only made her ready to pull, which with her size…would pull Bulbasaur along too if Ash hadn't grabbed hold of Bulbasaur, bracing to keep them both on the ground.
Pikachu acted quickly, leaping forward and running up the vine, Iron Tail ready. He soon got to the end of the vine and leaped forward, slamming the Iron Tail against Marowak's face, landing one hit right between the eyes.
Marowak reeled back from the hit, allowing Bulbasaur to let go of her bone, while Misty had taken advantage of the opening to use Aqua Jet to get closer to Gary and help him and Wartortle get out of the spot they were in. "You okay?" Misty asked quickly.
"Yeah, just watch it. She hits hard," Gary said, shaking off the daze, same as Wartortle.
Back with Ash, Marowak had shifted her attention to him and his Pokemon, her bone glowing as she charged forward with a Bone Rush this time. The attack was fast, and with the range they were at, it would be near impossible to dodge. However, thinking quickly, Ash grabbed hold of Bulbasaur and Pikachu. "Hang on tight!" Ash said, right as the attack hit, causing an impact that kicked up a cloud of dust.
"Ash!" Misty and Gary shouted in alarm. However, when the smoke cleared, Marowak looked at what she'd hit…and was confused when she saw a doll where she'd struck. The moment of confusion left her open as a figure reappeared behind her and fired a Dark Pulse which hit her square in the back.
Marowak roared in a mix of pain and anger as the force sent her stumbling forward. "Don't talk, hit her now!" Ash shouted, and that was all the prompting Misty and Gary needed as they joined in, Misty calling out Starmie to help and Wartortle hit Marowak with Water Gun to further weaken the spirit, the group once again quite thankful that death hadn't removed the conventional weaknesses that all of them had.
However, even with the moves pelting her, Marowak pushed back, her anger spurring her forward. "She's not going down!" Ash gasped at the sight.
Gary was looking around furiously, thinking of what they could do. He hated not being able to help but as it was he knew he'd get in the way of this tactic. That was when he saw Bulbasaur who was still out. "Ash, have Bulbasaur use Leech Seed! It might be a long shot, but it might work!"
Ash blinked, but saw where Gary was going. "Alright! Bulbasaur, you heard him!"
Bulbasaur nodded and fired off several Leech Seeds, having the common sense to guess that one might not be enough. Marowak was too busy fending off the attacks pelting her with the seeds. The seeds soon sprouted and started wrapping around her, starting to drain her energy on top of her having to face off the combined attacks.
Marowak thrashed as she tried to keep pushing but little by little the onslaught took effect, especially as Ash called out Squirtle to help with the attacks. Eventually it became too much and the combined force of the attacks pushed Marowak back, leaving her to slam into the nearest wall.
The group stopped their attacks when the impact kicked up a cloud of dust. "Did we get her?" Gary asked, even as they remained on guard. The Pokemon were likewise all on guard as well, Pikachu in particular was glaring at the dust cloud with a tense posture, his fur standing on end. After what they'd seen so far today, there was no way he was going to believe this was it.
True enough, the dust soon cleared, and out lumbered Marowak, looking a bit worse for wear but the anger in her eyes hadn't dissipated in the slightest. If anything, they'd only intensified. The moment the dust cleared, her glare intensified and she roared as the dark aura around her strengthened, the fog rolling in again, and actually absorbing into the aura, seemingly feeding it as the aura burned with greater intensity.
This in turn generated a force that had everyone bracing lest they get blown away. "I think we only made her angrier!" Misty gulped.
"Anyone got any ideas other than trying to fight?" Ash gulped.
The silence he got was very worrying indeed.
Marowak wasn't planning on letting them make any new ideas as she swung her bone, this time releasing a shockwave for lack of better terms fueled by her now much greater aura, which slammed into all of them, sending them flying back and hitting the walls, leaving them to slide to the ground with groans.
"Since when were we living in a video game?" Gary groaned. "This feels like a 'phase 2' or something."
"And here we were desperate enough with 'phase 1'," Misty groaned. Oh sure they weren't exactly in a bind earlier, but that was more because they were attacking with the intent of NOT giving her a chance.
Now though it seemed that was out of the question, as Marowak roared, turning her bone into less of a club and more of a staff which she spun around, creating bursts of the dark aura which was basically tearing up the floor they were on. Thankfully not to the point they were missing sections of the floor, but still to the point they had to evade quickly, running and dodging as the attacks fired wildly.
"Stop it Marowak!" Ash shouted as he fired another Dark Pulse at Marowak. The attack hit and while it showed some effect, Marowak quickly shrugged it off and threw her bone right at him, forcing Pikachu to quickly jump forward and using an Iron Tail aided by Bulbasaur's Vine Whip and Squirtle's Water Gun, managed to deflect the attack, though not before the backlash sent all three flying back, Ash quickly doing his best to catch them before they hit something.
"Okay this is going to need more help!" Gary growled, grabbing another of his Pokeballs and calling out an Exeggutor. "Exeggutor, use Bullet Seed!"
Exeggutor obeyed and fired the rapid blast of seeds at Marowak. The seeds were fast and managed to land several hits on Marowak, which while damaging, also served to anger her again as she shifted her attention, aiming another Bonemerang at them…until she was doused with water from her side.
Misty had quickly moved and ordered another barrage of Water Gun, which further annoyed Marowak, causing her to shift her attention. However, this move made Ash and Gary realize something. Namely that while Marowak was strong…it seemed she really was acting purely on impulses.
As such, the moment Marowak turned to try and attack Misty and her team, Ash opened fire with another Dark Pulse. "Over here!" he shouted.
Marowak turned to face him…only to be met with something impacting and exploding at her unprotected side. "No, over here!" Gary shouted as he and his Pokemon had shifted their positions, Exeggutor this time using Seed Bomb taking full advantage of Marowak's distraction. This strategy while simple quickly proved effective as Marowak was stuck turning left and right trying to home in on a single target…only for the other two to take advantage of her shifted attention to attack, during which the initial target would shift their position. Suffice to say she was getting increasingly confused and enraged.
"Keep it up! She has to go down eventually!" Ash shouted as Squirtle fired another Water Gun, with Pikachu assisting with a Swift attack.
The others didn't argue. They kept piling on the pressure while doing everything they could to keep Marowak off balance, even as she started to thrash around, sending waves of energy which they just barely evaded several times, something they were glad for as the force was enough to tear holes through the walls and bits of the ceiling, letting moonlight flow into the tower.
Even so they didn't dwell on that, not wanting to think what would have happened if those had hit. Instead they kept up the pressure, backing Marowak into a corner once again. Marowak snarled and roared as she tried to fight, feeling her anger grow as she tried to keep fighting, and the angrier she got, the more the fog seemed to start to roll in, starting to seep into her body as she pushed against the attacks pelting her and eventually something had to give. That something came when she let out a roar that wasn't just deafening, it straight up shook the room they were in, the shockwaves hitting everyone and sending them flying back and crashing into the walls and a few gravestones.
"What was that?" Misty groaned as they all pulled themselves back up, their bodies feeling quite sore, but they knew they couldn't afford to stay down for long. However, once they were seeing straight again…
"...we're in BIG trouble, aren't we?" Gary gulped, as Marowak had changed again. Now she looked more like a phantom again, while still keeping the silhouette of a Marowak overall. She let out another roar that this time sounded like it was mixed in with a haunting wail that made their fur and/or scales stand on end.
Despite that the group's instincts quickly kicked in and they resumed their attacks, even Gary and Pikachu joined in this time even if their attacks probably wouldn't have done much. The attacks flew, and though they made contact, Marowak only briefly recoiled, before with another roar, she swung her bone in retaliation. This time the blast of energy that was released was strong enough that it completely overpowered the various attacks and with the way she swung her bone…well…this next one was unavoidable.
Everyone could barely give an 'Oh crap' before they braced and felt the counter attack hit them dead on, sending them flying back, and crashing into either the walls or the gravestones that were still standing at this point, the force this time leaving them stunned, and thus fully open as Marowak looked ready to finish this fight without mercy.
However, fortune hadn't abandoned them yet. "Marowak, please stop!" came Mr. Fuji's voice as all the fighting had made him unable to stay out of harm's way, especially with how he saw the teenagers and their Pokemon strewn around the room. "I know you are angry, your end was unjust, but you can't exact your revenge on those who have nothing to do with it!" he tried to reason. At that moment too, Cubone struggled and got out of Mr. Fuji's arms, running towards the gigantic creature that was his mother's soul.
Cubone cried out, calling to his mother. Marowak looked at him and for a brief moment Mr. Fuji thought he saw recognition in her eyes. However, as she did, her eyes darkened again, and suddenly it seemed like she was in pain, fighting against something. She clutched her head, thrashing around a little, the fog appearing around her, seemingly trying to flow into her again. This seemed to cause Marowak to stop, before raising her bone, seemingly to strike Cubone, but Cubone continued to call to her. The bone came down, as if Marowak couldn't recognize her own child much to everyone's horror, but before the bone hit, two things moved quickly, getting between the bone and Cubone, a crash being heard as the bone came down, but the two figures had just BARELY managed to stop it.
Pikachu shouted in alarm as the figures revealed to be Ash and Mr. Fuji, both having reacted the moment they saw what Marowak was about to do, the younger Pokemorph being able to cover the distance in time to help the older Pokemorph stop Marowak. Both of them were forced onto their knees, some blood dripping down as the force had caused some damage, Cubone looking up in shock at what just happened.
The moment what happened sank in, a few tears fell from Cubone's eyes as he kept shouting for his mother, not wanting to believe she'd been lost into this…THING. Marowak saw this, and between the surprise at the sudden development, and the tears from Cubone, something in her started to stir.
"Marowak, you must come to your senses!" Mr. Fuji pleaded. "Please stop, you're hurting Cubone!" he shouted as Cubone continued to call for his mother. The more he did, the more it was clearly starting to affect Marowak. However, even as there was an effect, it seemed as if she was caught between the realization that was her child…and this desire to destroy everything that seemed to grip her.
Pikachu on the other hand processed what happened…and he glared. It was clear to him Marowak wasn't coming to her senses, so it seemed to him she needed a good slap in the face to get her head back on straight.
And he had just the perfect one with how much charge he'd been conserving.
"Maybe this won't hurt you… but it'll feel pretty good!" He shouted, running ahead with his cheeks sparking, jumping up high as lightning crackled over his fur, before he reached the apex of his jump and drew on everything he had in his voltage wells "THUNDER!" he roared out as a MASSIVE blast of electrical power slammed out from him and right into Marowak, actually sending her skidding back quite a few feet.
The attack surprised everyone who saw it, as did its effects. Marowak did indeed look like she'd been slapped in the face…yet that turned out to be just what they needed as her eyes gained a look of clarity in them right as the fog that had merged with her seemed to separate from her body, turning it back to normal albeit still enlarged. She looked towards Cubone and this time the recognition was clear in her eyes. However, before she could move towards her child, the fog came back, as if trying to merge with her again. She shouted in protest, trying to stop the fog, but it pushed on.
"What's going on?!" Ash gasped as he and Mr. Fuji painfully got to their feet, both ignoring the injuries they'd sustained from blocking Marowak's strike in favor of what was going on in front of them.
"The fog…it seems to be trying to force her back into that form again!" Mr. Fuji shouted in alarm.
"Not happening! Pikachu!" Ash shouted, looking at Pikachu who nodded.
"I've had enough of you!" Pikachu growled as he let loose a powerful shock again, but unlike before this one didn't seem to have any real effect.
"Why didn't that work?" Misty gasped.
"I think its because the first one didn't really work in the sense of doing damage," Gary frowned, racking his brains quickly. "We need something to stop that fog. If its made of negative emotions generated by restless spirits, then maybe if we counter it with something…"
"What are we supposed to use to do that?!" Ash and Misty shot back more out of stress than of anger.
"Maybe if we had a powerful positive force, like a powerful Fairy-type move," Gary said half frantically.
"But we don't-!" Misty started…only for her bag to open up a bit as something came out along with the sound of a Pokeball popping open, the light soon revealing to be Clefairy. "Clefairy?! Wait, its too dangerous for you to be out!" Misty gasped. Even if she'd had Clefairy for some time now she wouldn't deny she hadn't quite trained Clefairy quite as much as her other Pokemon.
However Clefairy smiled at her reassuringly before hopping over to one of the spots where moonlight was streaming into the tower. Once she was in the moonlight, Clefairy started to glow as she absorbed the moonlight, before she raised a hand, the light forming into an orb that was quickly growing larger.
"Since when did Clefairy know Moonblast?!" Ash gasped in surprise, and Misty couldn't answer as Clefairy pointed the orb forward and fired it at Marowak, the attack flying through the air and hitting Marowak and the fog dead on, causing a powerful burst of light as Marowak was pushed back while the fog was forcefully dissipated. Marowak soon slammed against the nearby wall again (how the wall hadn't caved in by now they weren't questioning). She let out a small groan as she pulled herself out of the indent she'd made, glaring at them again, but stopped as Cubone ran up to her, and hugged her on the leg. Looking down at her child, her eyes immediately softened as the last of the fog dissipated and with it, Marowak started to shrink down returning to her normal size. When she was back to her normal size, she looked at her child, Cubone embracing her as mother and son were reunited.
The moment that happened, a feeling of calm seemed to spread through the room, as if something was lifting from the tower. Marowak continued to embrace her child, even as her body started to glow, Cubone looking at her in surprise, before a look of sad understanding came over him…right as she vanished.
"That was…" Gary started.
"Now that she could see her child one last time, Marowak is finally at peace. She's finally moved on," Mr. Fuji said solemnly as despite everything, Cubone looked down, clearly crying.
Seeing that Ash went over to the little Pokemon, Pikachu going with him as both of them consoled the grieving orphan. Neither of them said anything, but Cubone appreciated what they were doing all the same.
The others present looked sadly as well at the reminder that all this started from a tragedy that shouldn't have happened. Even so… "Does this mean its over?" Misty asked sadly.
"Yes, its over," Mr. Fuji said solemnly as they continued to watch Ash and Pikachu console the grieving Pokemon.
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And with that, the Pokemon Tower incident has been brought to a close. It was a hard fight, but ultimately it was finished before it could have gotten worse. Hope you all found the conclusion satisfying, and look forward to the next chapters to come.
Lastly, after a long absence, here is another Retold File.
File No. 11: Law Enforcement
Law Enforcement in the world is fairly simple. Immediate street level crimes and incidents are usually under the jurisdiction of the Police Forces, of which there is usually one per City and/or Town, though there are exceptions as some City Police Forces may cover for the City they are based in as well as smaller nearby towns. Each Police Force has at least one Officer Jenny as the family has basically been police officers for generations. Police Forces are usually able to handle most incidents, but for more dangerous situations, SWAT Teams exist, and at the worst scenario, the Regional Military may deploy forces to handle abnormal situations that are well beyond the Police Force's capabilities.
Situations outside of Cities and Towns are sometimes handled by the Police Force of the nearest town or sometimes handled by other organizations such as the Pokemon Rangers. Additionally, while not considered part of the Police Force, local Gym Leaders are known to assist in the safe keeping of the City and/or Town that they live in.
