Chapter 20

"His mother, a Marowak, was killed by three men. Cubone would've been hurt as well if we hadn't arrived when we did."

The pain in Cubone's eyes made Leaf's heart clench. "How could they do that?"

"We don't know for sure what their motive was, but our guess is they wanted to sell their skulls on the black market. The owner of this house and founder of our organization, Mr. Fuji, went after them. It's been a few days and he hasn't come back."

"What do you mean he hasn't come back?"

"He's just disappeared," Zoe piped up. "Everyone's been searching for him, but there's no trace."

The memory played in Leaf's head like a video as she and Red flew back to Lavender Town. She couldn't help but feel a bit stupid. How had she not considered the highly likely possibility that this was all Team Rocket's doing? There was no way they weren't above killing Pokemon, especially when money was involved. If Mr. Fuji tried to stop them, then they were surely responsible for his disappearance as well. Leaf, fortunately, didn't get to find out what would've happened if Red lost to Giovanni, but she knew it wouldn't have been pretty.

Fearow landed in front of the Lavender Town Pokemon Center. Leaf rubbed the bird's neck before she and Red jumped off. "Thanks for flying the both of us."

Fearow cooed in response. Leaf returned her and looked up. The sky couldn't be any darker. Thick, black clouds covered the moon and stars. It was so late that nothing stirred except for the trees, gently rustled by a breeze. Leaf wished they could have arrived at Lavender Town much earlier. In fact, she was ready to go the moment she had her epiphany. But Red had insisted that they should rest first; it was close to 5AM and it probably wasn't wise to pull an all-nighter before confronting Team Rocket again. Besides, his Pokemon weren't fully healed yet. It was the latter reason that convinced Leaf to go to bed. She hadn't expected herself to be able to sleep, but she was out as soon as her head hit the pillow. When she woke, it was already dinner time.

The fastest way for them to return to Lavender Town was to fly on Fearow. Leaf had been anxious the whole flight. Anxious that she would slip off Fearow, since the one other time she'd flown on her had been rough. Anxious that Red would slip off Fearow, since he'd never flown on a Pokemon before. Anxious that Fearow wouldn't be able to carry both their weights. Anxious that Fearow would have trouble seeing through the oppressive darkness. Thankfully, none of Leaf's worries came to fruition and the vulture was able to safely reach the small town.

"Where do we go now?" Red asked.

Leaf felt her cheeks flush and was grateful for the lack of street lights. In her haste to get to Lavender Town, she hadn't thought about what they would do other than kick some Rocket ass. What did she expect? That there would be grunts sitting out here, twiddling their fingers, waiting for them? Her impulsiveness wouldn't be new to Red, but Leaf found she couldn't admit to it this time, especially not after seeing how he tackled the Game Corner.

Leaf looked around, now wishing that there were more street lights. Everything was a dark blur and she hadn't spent enough time in Lavender Town to be familiar with its layout. When her eyes eventually made out a tall shape, however, she knew instantly what the next step was.

Leaf pointed to it. "The Pokemon Tower."

"What?"

"We have to go to the Pokemon Tower."

"No, I got that. I meant, why?"

Leaf turned to face her friend. Red was standing in the Pokemon Center's faint light. She could see the bags under his eyes, the wrinkles on his shirt, his messy hair. "Did you hear how the tower is haunted?"

"Yeah and I didn't believe it."

"Well, it's true. I saw the ghost with my own eyes." Red stared at Leaf like she grew another head. She explained, "I wanted to see what was freaking everyone out. Near the top of the tower, there was this really creepy voice telling me to leave. Then I saw a smoke cloud with eyes and that was when I booked it. It wasn't even night time!"

Red was quiet for a moment, no doubt wondering if Leaf needed to be checked into a facility. But being the good friend he was, he replied, "You have some of the craziest stories. When I went to the tower, I saw Blue and he challenged me to a battle."

Leaf wanted to roll her eyes. Out of all the people in the world, of course Blue wouldn't have the decency to not battle in a graveyard. But there was a much more pressing matter at hand.

"My point is, something weird is going on up there. I can't help but think Team Rocket could be connected to it."

Red nodded. "It's definitely worth looking into. At the very least, I'll get to see a real ghost."

Leaf smiled. She couldn't be happier to have Red with her right now.

Red had released Charmeleon to slice a window open, but they found that the Pokemon Tower's doors were unlocked. There was no one at the front desk and there didn't seem to be any guards. Leaf needed no explanation for this total lack of security. The Pokemon Tower was creepy in the day. At night, it felt like the setting of a horror movie. It was eerily quiet and the only light they had was the flame on Charmeleon's tail, which was barely able to penetrate the darkness. Leaf's entire body was tense as they walked up the stairs, prepared for something––a ghost or a zombie or some other creature––to leap out of the shadows.

They reached the second floor, where the first set of graves were, and Leaf immediately felt a chill, even though it wasn't actually colder.

"I can't wait to get out of here," Leaf said softly. Speaking any louder seemed to be asking for trouble.

"This was your idea, remember?" Red teased.

"I know, but still."

"This is where I battled Blue." Red gestured towards the right side of the floor. "He basically challenged me as soon as he laid eyes on me."

"What an ass. Please tell me you won."

"I did win."

Thinking of Blue losing helped ease Leaf's anxiety, but only a little bit. Whoever designed the layout of the Pokemon Tower must've been on drugs because there wasn't a straight, clear path to the next flight of stairs. The graves were grouped into clusters of different sizes and shapes. It was easy to get around them in the daytime but with barely any light, they had to be careful not to trip on any. After what seemed like years, they reached the stairs. Leaf stifled a sigh. Only four more floors to go.

As soon as Leaf stepped onto the stairs, she felt a finger tap on her shoulder. She was about to ask Red what was up when she realized something: Red was right in front of her.

Leaf whirled around, nearly falling in the process. She saw nothing.

"You alright?" Red asked.

Leaf swallowed. "Y-Yeah. Just thought I felt something. I think I was imagining it."

But her heartbeat refused to slow down as they went up to the third floor. The finger tap felt too real. How could she have imagined it? Was she really that scared? If that were the case, Leaf didn't feel much better about it.

The graves on the third floor, Leaf remembered, were mostly arranged into one big square. They weren't going to be too hard to get around. Leaf took a deep breath as they walked towards the left. Come on, you can do this. There's nothing to be afraid o––

Leaf's heart halted as arms wrapped tightly around her waist. A scream escaped her mouth as she flailed violently around. Just as fast, the arms released her and she fell backwards. She shut her eyes as she braced for impact, hoping her head wouldn't hit a tombstone. It didn't. In fact, none of her body hit anything. Leaf opened her eyes.

During her struggle, she'd somewhat registered Red and Charmeleon looking back, eyes wide. Red's mouth had opened to say something, but whatever it was, Leaf wouldn't find out. His lips were frozen into an O as he stared up at Leaf.

Up.

Leaf swung her arms, kicked her legs, feeling nothing but air.

Red recovered from his shock first. "Leaf? Why are you floating?"

Leaf's nerves were creeping back in. "Uh, I…don't know. I––"

A high-pitched cackle from behind cut her off. With her limbs starting to feel like jello, she slowly turned her head around and saw, poking out of the darkness, a pair of large white eyes and an equally large pink smile.

Leaf yelped and without thinking, swatted at the face with her hand. It cackled again as her hand glided through nothing. This time, she noticed a tooth on each side of the mouth.

"Is that what I think it is?" Red asked.

Leaf felt herself begin to fall and soon enough, her feet landed gently onto the floor. Hoping to redeem herself for what must've been a pathetic sight, she said as boldly as she could, "Show us who you are."

The face drew in closer. Now in range of Charmeleon's light, Leaf could see the face was attached to a black sphere. Surrounding it was a purple haze that smelled faintly sweet. Leaf had an idea on what it was and pulled out the Pokedex to confirm it.

Gastly, the Gas Pokemon. Almost invisible, this gaseous Pokemon cloaks the target and puts it to sleep without notice.

The Gastly let out a squeal, as if thrilled to hear about itself.

"You're a ghost-type Pokemon," Leaf said in awe. Whatever fear she felt earlier was gone now. Ghost-type Pokemon were extremely rare. She'd heard stories of people getting pranked by them at night, but the only trainer she knew of who actually wielded them was Agatha of the Elite Four.

The Gastly squealed again and somersaulted in the air.

"This isn't the ghost everyone is so afraid of, right?" Red asked.

"No, the ghost I saw was much scarier," Leaf said. "It spoke to me and smelled like rotten eggs, but much worse."

Red sighed. "I was hoping you wouldn't say that."

"I know. We'll have to keep going," Leaf replied, glancing at him with a sympathetic smile. She looked back at the Gastly. "But you freaked me out with those tricks of yours. That wasn't very nice of you."

The Gastly stuck out a long pink tongue. In a strange way, it was kind of cute.

"We have to go now," Leaf said. "There's something important we need to do. It was nice meeting you, Gastly."

The Gastly cackled and faded into the darkness. Leaf half-expected it to pop out and give them a jumpscare, but nothing happened.

"Alright, let's go."

They made it to the fourth floor and Leaf wondered how she was able to run through so fast before without tripping a million times. The fourth floor was the most eccentric one. The graves were scattered around as if someone had picked them up and dropped them like marbles. It felt like they were going through a maze with all the turns and doubt on whether they were actually getting closer to the stairs.

"Yikes, I almost walked right into this grave," Leaf said at one point.

"This place is a hazard," Red said. "And that's not even taking into account the ghost Pokemon." Suddenly, he took Leaf's hand. "We have to stick close to each other."

Leaf couldn't have been more thankful for the darkness. She wasn't sure how her face looked, but it felt as warm as her hand did in Red's. Her heart was racing again.

This was not the first time she and Red held hands. They did it all the time as kids when crossing the street, as preteens when their gym class had a dance unit. During those times, Leaf didn't think twice about holding Red's hand. It seemed like such a normal thing to do with a close friend. For some reason, holding Red's hand now didn't feel normal, even though it was a perfectly logical thing to do. Leaf wondered if the Gastly was pulling another prank on her.

There was a faint blue light trickling in at the top of the stairs to the fifth floor and Leaf could hear humming. When they reached the fifth floor, Leaf felt a mixture of awe and terror. The same white-robed, cult-looking women were sitting there, holding hands and humming a song Leaf had never heard of before. They formed a circle around a glowing blue pattern on the floor. What the pattern was, Leaf couldn't tell, nor did she want to get close enough to find out. To her relief, Red shared her sentiment. They moved to the next flight of stairs quickly. The pattern, at least, shone brightly enough that they could see pretty clearly.

Leaf knew they had arrived at the sixth floor because she felt the same odd chill, same stiffness in her legs as last time. She wanted to say to Red, this is it. This is where we'll see the ghost. But she couldn't find her voice. She clutched Red's hand tighter, beads of sweat beginning to roll down the side of her face.

Leaf didn't need to see how close they were to the stairs because she could smell it, the foulest stench in the world. She heard Red gag.

Go away.

That same hoarse voice. Leaf felt Red tense.

Go away.

That same purple haze began to appear, yellow eyes glaring at them with infinite disgust.

Be gone, intruder!

Charmeleon immediately launched a Flamethrower at the ghost. The fire shot straight through it. Though the ghost was physically unaffected, it did not appreciate being attacked. It let out an ear-splitting cry and rushed at Charmeleon. Charmeleon's roar of pain made Leaf jump.

"Fuck," Red said and let go of Leaf. He shrugged off his backpack. "You go through and see if there's something we can use. I'll try to battle this thing."

As Red began shouting commands, Leaf rummaged desperately through his backpack, trying her hardest to focus on finding something useful instead of watching the battle. Since Charmeleon was jumping around, his flame moved around like a stage light. Her eyes barely had any time to process the backpack's contents properly. Eventually, Red sent out Pikachu––she heard him squeak in surprise at his opponent––and the light from the PokeBall was enough for Leaf to see healing items, a map, and the binoculars they found at Giovanni's office.

Leaf didn't know what possessed her. Maybe it was the fact the binoculars once belonged to the leader of Team Rocket that she knew there was something special about them. Maybe it was the helplessness of their situation. Leaf hadn't seen every moment of the battle, but for the first time, she knew Red was struggling: none of Charmeleon or Pikachu's attacks seemed to be landing while the ghost's attacks would land and seemingly deal a decent amount of damage. At some point, it looked like Red even tried throwing a PokeBall at the ghost, though it simply flew to the side.

Whatever the reason was, Leaf decided to try something. She lifted the binoculars up, pointed them at the ghost, and peered through them. The ghost didn't stay in her vision very long before dodging another Thunderbolt and Flamethrower, but she saw enough.

"Red, stop!" Leaf blurted out.

"Stop what?"

"Stop attacking the ghost."

Red looked flabbergasted. "What? Why?"

"Just do as I say."

Red hesitated but called Charmeleon and Pikachu back. Leaf could sense everyone's confusion, even the ghost's, as she stepped forward.

"I know who you are," Leaf said, her voice thick with emotion. "You're Marowak. Cubone's mother."

In the binoculars, Leaf saw a brown, dinosaur-like Pokemon with a skull head. It held a bone in one of its small hands. It looked a lot like the orphaned Pokemon at the Pokemon House, except with a narrower snout and eyes that made it look older.

She pressed on, "I met your baby recently. He's being taken care of by some truly kind people. He misses you. Everyone is so sorry about what happened to the both of you."

The ghost stared at Leaf, its expression unreadable. After a moment, it shut its eyes and then opened them.

Leaf realized first that the smell was gone. The haze and eyes faded away soon after. Then, the chill disappeared.

Leaf almost didn't notice Red at her side. "What was all that?"

Leaf wiped her eyes. She also hadn't noticed there were tears in them. "Those binoculars we found earlier. I think they're meant for seeing ghosts. That ghost was a victim of Team Rocket."

Red said nothing for a moment. "I'm not even sure where to begin." He gestured towards the stairs. "We'll reconvene after we see what's on the top floor. I wonder why the ghost chose to stick around the bottom of these stairs."

Leaf took a deep breath. "I guess we'll find out."

They walked up the stairs to the seventh floor.

"What exactly is Mr. Fuji like?" Leaf asked Peter as he worked on a jungle gym.

Peter set his hammer aside and contemplated Leaf's question for a moment. "He's the kindest, most gentle man you'll ever meet. I've known him ever since I was a kid and I've never seen him raise his voice at someone. He's got a soft spot for Pokemon, of course. That's why he founded this place. He wishes for all Pokemon to be happy."

Leaf believed Peter. You had to be a pretty good person to dedicate your life to helping Pokemon. Plus, she saw a photo of Mr. Fuji in the house and his appearance matched Peter's description. He was a small, bald, elderly man. His smile was as warm as the sun.

Leaf saw no such smile on Mr. Fuji now. Instead, a white cloth was wrapped around the old man's mouth. His hands and feet were tied to the chair he sat on. He was at the end of the seventh floor, positioned between two stone statues. Leaf couldn't see what was behind him, but she guessed it was a shrine. Light was coming from it. A group of golden tombstones that covered the entire left and right side of the floor formed a clear, straight path to him.

Mr. Fuji's eyes widened when he saw them. He struggled in his chair, making muffled cries. Leaf and Red started running to him when all of sudden, they were shrouded in black smoke.

As Leaf coughed into her arm, eyes and throat stinging, she heard snarls and screeches, followed by Pikachu and Charmeleon launching a Thunderbolt and Flamethrower respectively. It didn't seem like they were successful, because the battle continued on. Leaf grabbed Fearow's PokeBall and sent the vulture out.

"Use your wings to blow the smoke away," Leaf rasped.

With a caw, Fearow flew around, forcefully flapping her wings. The smoke was cleared and Leaf saw that their opponents were a Golbat, Drowzee, and Raticate. But only for a second, because the floor was soon filled with smoke again.

"Someone's using Smoke Screen," Red coughed beside her. "Get Fearow to clear the smoke again and try to see where it's coming from."

Leaf nodded. She remembered one of the Cerulean Gym Trainers used this move. It was basically impossible to see what was going on through the smoke. Judging from the occasional groans Pikachu and Charmeleon made, their foes were trained to battle in this scenario. Fearow cleared the smoke and Leaf kept her eyes peeled.

The Golbat's eyes were shining a ray of light into Pikachu's face. Pikachu wobbled backwards with a dazed expression. Nearby, the Raticate chomped down on Charmeleon's tail while the poor fire lizard was also getting punched by the Drowzee.

The smoke returned quickly, but Leaf saw its source. It came from behind the statue to Mr. Fuji's right.

"Fearow, go to the right statue!"

Soon, there was a groan and the smoke was gone again, revealing a Koffing that Fearow was tossing around with her wings.

"Aerial Ace!"

Fearow slashed the Koffing and the purple gasball fell to the floor.

"Good job," Red said, but Leaf could tell he was distracted. Pikachu was still confused, getting knocked around by the Golbat and Raticate, while Charmeleon was floating in the air, moving wherever the Drowzee's finger directed him to.

Leaf placed a hand on Red's shoulder. "Return your Pokemon. I can handle them."

Red gazed at her with concern. "Are you sure?"

Leaf nodded vigorously. "You fought all those grunts at the hideout. Give me this one battle."

Red hesitated, but returned his Pokemon. As he stepped back, Leaf took a deep breath and sent out Ivysaur and Vulpix.

"Fearow, use Aerial Ace on the Golbat! Ivysaur, use Razor Leaf on the Drowzee! Vulpix, use Ember on the Raticate!"

Fearow lunged for the Golbat. Though she was fast, the Golbat was as well. The two flying Pokemon parried each other in the air. The Drowzee pointed a finger at the razor leaves, stopping them. Leaf could see the strain in Ivysaur's eyes as he tried to push his leaves forward, the strain in the Drowzee's glowing blue eyes as it tried to push the leaves back. Vulpix's Ember missed and the fox and rat began to wrestle.

This wasn't exactly what Leaf hoped for. She'd somewhat expected a movie moment where she'd take down the Pokemon in one shot. But that's alright. She'll win this battle. As Leaf wracked her brain for a strategy, something dawned on her: where were these Pokemons' trainers?

Leaf sent out Psyduck, who predictably looked around in confusion. "Use Water Gun on the Drowzee!"

From their angle, the Water Gun knocked the Drowzee to the left, out of the way of the no longer frozen razor leaves.

"Ivysaur, move your vines through the tombstones!"

Ivysaur swung his vines around. Leaf couldn't help but smile when she heard yelps as the vines made contact. Two Team Rocket grunts jumped from behind the tombstones. There you are.

But this bit of excitement was short-lived, cut off by Fearow's screech. Leaf's gaze darted towards the vulture and she saw the Golbat's fangs had latched onto her wing. The Golbat released Fearow and she fell to the ground, convulsing.

"Fearow's been poisoned!" Red exclaimed.

Leaf quickly returned Fearow. The moment Fearow was fully in her PokeBall, Leaf heard a slam. The Drowzee, which Leaf realized was using Confusion, was throwing Psyduck onto various tombstones with a waggle of its finger. When Psyduck's eyes rolled back, Leaf returned him.

There was a loud whimper. The Raticate had pinned down Vulpix and sunken its giant teeth into her neck.

"Vulpix, use Ember!" But Vulpix couldn't angle her mouth towards the Raticate. "Ivysaur, use Razor Leaf on the Raticate!"

"Golbat, use Air Cutter!" The Golbat flapped its wings. Silver gusts of wind sliced through Ivysaur's leaves.

Mind spinning, Leaf returned Vulpix. What should she do now? If Ivysaur had trouble facing one of these Pokemon, how was he going to face all three? She didn't have any other Pokemon who could aid him.

Then, Leaf remembered that she'd recently added someone to her team.

Like Psyduck, Dratini took a moment to examine his surroundings. But unlike Psyduck, who regarded everything with indifference at best, Dratini squealed and slithered behind a tombstone.

"It's OK, Dratini!" Leaf said, painfully aware that the Golbat, Drowzee, and Raticate were now ganging up on Ivysaur. "The battle will be over soon if you help. Please, we need your help."

Dratini stared at Leaf. He must've sensed her desperation because after a moment, he began to come out of his hiding spot.

Suddenly, Ivysaur tumbled by them, crashing into the wall near the stairs. The sight and sound made Dratini flinch. He curled into a ball, shaking.

Leaf's heart sank. No matter how much help she needed, she couldn't force Dratini to fight. She returned him and turned back to the battle.

Ivysaur was tougher than anyone she'd ever met. He was already charging at his foes again, firing a Razor Leaf. The Drowzee stopped it with Confusion.

"Charmeleon, Flamethrower!"

From the tombstones on the right, a Flamethrower shot out and slammed into the Raticate, who barreled into the Drowzee. The two grunts dived to the side as the Pokemon and fire crashed into where they originally stood.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

While Leaf was struggling, she hadn't noticed Red sneak off towards the tombstones. She saw him now, crouched down behind one. Pikachu jumped from his shoulder and electrocuted the Golbat with a powerful bolt of lightning.

Red glanced at Leaf. She wasn't sure whether he had intended to say something or simply check on her. But his eyes suddenly widened in horror and he cried, "Behind you!"

The next event happened in slow-motion. Leaf turned around and saw a third Team Rocket grunt coming to her, hands outstretched, ready to grab her. Then, she saw purple, her nose filled with a slight sweetness. There was a cry and the purple was gone; the grunt was now holding a silver rod. Just when it clicked for Leaf that the Gastly, who hadn't stopped following them even after saying goodbye, was trying to protect her, the grunt swung at the ghost Pokemon again.

"No!" Leaf reached out, about to grab the grunt, but Gastly reacted first. Darkness swirled around the ghost and the grunt's arm stopped mid-swing. After a pause, the grunt screamed and fled.

"Gastly, thank you!" Leaf exclaimed as the ghost cackled. "I think you just saved my life. What did you even do to the grunt?"

Gastly continued to cackle. Its cackle grew louder and louder until its body began to glow white. It stretched and when the light faded, Leaf saw that whatever Gastly evolved into had spiky protrusions on its sides and two hands that weren't attached to its body. It stuck its tongue at her.

Haunter. Because of its ability to slip through walls, it is said to be from another dimension.

Leaf put away the Pokedex and smiled at Haunter. "I can't believe you followed us up here."

Red! Leaf whirled around. He was removing the cloth from Mr. Fuji's mouth. Charmeleon tore the rope from his hands and feet with his fangs. The two grunts and their Pokemon were nowhere to be seen.

When Leaf approached them, Red explained, "They took off while you were with…?"

"Haunter."

Mr. Fuji shakily stood. Leaf and Red each took an arm. "Thank you so much." His voice was frail, but his smile was warm. "What are your names?"

"I'm Leaf. He's Red. You're Mr. Fuji, right? What happened to you?"

"Those men killed a Pokemon. I went after them to confront them and they held me hostage here. No one's come because the Pokemon's ghost was haunting the floor below us. I think it was trying to seek revenge, but this floor was blessed by a priestess many years ago. Dark spirits cannot exist here."

Well, that answered Red's question from earlier. Leaf didn't believe in magic, but there wasn't another explanation. Then again, she didn't believe in ghosts before. "We know about Marowak. Her spirit has calmed, I think."

"Ah, that makes me happy to hear. May she rest in peace."

Leaf had a nagging feeling. "Why were they holding you hostage?"

Mr. Fuji didn't answer. Instead, he said, "That Pokemon seems quite fond of you."

Haunter was hovering by Leaf's shoulder with a grin. Leaf smiled back. This was a familiar scene.

"Would you like to be with me, Haunter?" When Haunter cackled and did a backflip, Leaf tossed a PokeBall at it. The PokeBall clicked quickly.

"Can you please do me a favor?" Mr. Fuji asked. "Take me to my home, the Pokemon House. It's not far from the tower."

Leaf and Red obeyed. When they reached the fifth floor, she saw that the robed women were no longer around.

Hi everyone! I can't believe we're at chapter 20 already. This was a big one of course, many major developments: calming of Marowak's spirit (did anyone else play LGPE and cry during that cutscene btw?), Mr. Fuji's rescue (mostly done by Red, sorry Leaf), and Leaf getting 6th team member! Would love to hear y'alls thoughts on this chap.

Thanks so much again for following. See you soon!