Chapter Text
The brothers stared at all of the graves on the first floor of the tower. So many dead pokemon. "Are all the floors like this?" Jake asked.
"Mr. Fuji!" They looked over and recognized one of the trainers who had helped fight the onix in the Rock Tunnel. He was there with his slowpoke, who was silently staring at one of the graves. "And the hero trainers from the Rock Tunnel." He walked over to them, looking somber. "Thank you again for your help in getting everyone past that giant onix. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to come here to visit my psyduck."
Jake looked past him at the grave that the slowpoke was staring at. "You came here to visit your pokemon?"
"Yes." The man turned and looked at the grave. "I traveled with my psyduck for a long time. And he and Slowpoke became such good friends. They could sit together for hours, silently conversing. But alas, pokemon don't live forever."
Jake felt his stomach tighten, and he turned to Charmeleon. He couldn't imagine any of his pokemon dying.
"We're sorry for your loss," said Andrew.
The man gave a small nod of appreciation. "Mr. Fuji, I really admire the work that you do here with orphaned pokemon."
"Thank you, son. And I give you my sincerest condolences."
Jake looked around, and saw that other trainers were glancing at Mr. Fuji as well. He was clearly well-known here.
They climbed up to the second floor of the tower. There were fewer trainers up here, but the room was still full of graves. "This is really sad," said Andrew somberly.
"Indeed it is," said Mr. Fuji. "But it also reminds us of our great legacy. We have been training and interacting with pokemon for generations, as evidenced by all of the graves in this tower." He turned to the brothers. "By training your pokemon, you are carrying on the legacy of all those who have come before you, and joining the great fabric of history of humans and pokemon."
The brothers stared at him. "Well, it's less depressing when you look at it this way, at least," said Andrew.
Jake looked around. "Hey, there's Gary." He was near the north wall of the floor, standing at one of the graves. The brothers walked over to him. "Gary?"
Gary turned and looked at them, a somber look on his face. "Hi, guys."
"Are you visiting a dead pokemon?"
Gary turned and looked back at the grave. "I'm visiting all of them, I suppose." He made a sweeping gesture at all of the graves in the room. "Some of these graves have been here for years, and the trainers who visited them are probably long gone."
"So, you're visiting all of the graves?" said Jake, wondering why he had been looking at just the one.
It was a moment before Gary nodded. Then he changed the subject. "I suppose Mr. Fuji has told you about the Rockets on the top floor. If you want to help us go after them, I'd like to test you first."
"Test us?"
"I will battle both of you at once. Are you up for it?"
"You bet. Ready, Charmeleon?"
Charmeleon stepped forward, and Wartortle stepped up beside it.
"Go, Shellder and Exeggcute!" Jake had never seen either of these pokemon before. He raised his eyebrows at the exeggcute, which appeared to be a cluster of eggs or seeds with faces on them, some of them cracked.
"Exeggcute, use Leech Seed on the wartortle! Shellder, Water Pulse on the charmeleon!"
"Charmeleon, use Ember on the exeggcute!"
"Wartortle, Rapid Spin to get those seeds off! Strike the exeggcute!" The exeggcute took a fair amount of damage from the dual strikes.
"Shellder, Water Pulse again! Exeggcute, Hypnosis!"
"Ember again!"
"Use Bite!" But Wartortle was put to sleep by the exeggcute's attack.
Charmeleon looked shaky after the second attack from the shellder. Jake replaced it with Pikachu, while Andrew recalled the sleeping Wartortle and sent out Machop.
"Pikachu, use Thundershock to finish off the shellder!"
"Exeggcute, Hypnosis on the pikachu!" Pikachu managed to just get off its attack before the exeggcute put it to sleep. The shellder went down.
"Machop, Karate Chop." Machop struck the Exeggcute for a critical hit, finishing it off. It turned to the brothers victoriously, puffing out its chest.
"Not bad," said Gary. From his pack, he pulled out a pair of awakenings, giving one to each of the brothers to wake up their sleeping pokemon.
Jake wasn't pleased that it had taken them four pokemon to beat two of Gary's, but he shook that thought away. "Now, let's take down Team Rocket!" He looked around for Mr. Fuji, and found him standing near the center of the floor. Across from him was what appeared to be a dense, purple mist. "What is that?"
"Uh oh," said Gary.
The mist condensed, until a large ball of shadow was floating in the center of it. A face emerged from the shadow.
"It's a gastly," said Gary.
"That thing is a pokemon?" asked Andrew. They ran over to Mr. Fuji.
"You should not be here." From the far side of the gastly, a woman in strange clothing approached. "You must leave."
"We're here to fight Team Rocket," said Jake.
"You cannot. You must go."
"We're not leaving," said Andrew. "Machop, use Karate Chop."
Machop leapt at the strange pokemon, and went right through it. It landed on the other side, and turned, frowning. It swung a fist towards the gastly, and watched as the punch disappeared into the shadow, striking nothing. It withdrew its hand, then turned to Andrew, looking vexed.
"Fighting-type and normal-type moves don't work on ghost-type pokemon," said Gary.
The gastly turned to Machop. Then an oversized tongue emerged from its face, licking the humanoid pokemon. Machop cringed and fell over, then struggled to get up. It was paralyzed.
"Pikachu, Thundershock," said Jake. Pikachu sent a bolt of lightning at the gastly. The face disappeared for a moment, and sparks laced through the shadow. Then the face reemerged.
"Confuse Ray." It was the woman who spoke, but the words sounded quiet and breathy, as though she hadn't actually intended to use her voice. The gastly stared at Pikachu, and strange shadows appeared between them. The shadows danced for a moment, and then flew towards the electric mouse pokemon, disappearing just before they reached it. It frowned, and then looked around in confusion.
Jake withdrew Pikachu and sent out Charmeleon. "Ember!" Charmeleon sent a fireball at the gastly. Again, the face disappeared, and small flames could be seen dancing in the shadow for a moment before going out. Then the face reemerged.
"You must leave," the woman said. "Now!"
"No!" said Jake.
"Night Shade," she breathed. The face disappeared, and the shadow abruptly expanded towards Charmeleon. The fire pokemon was knocked backwards, as though it had been blown over by a strong gust of wind.
"Ember!" Jake ordered again. Charmeleon sent another fireball at the ghost pokemon. The face vanished, and the flames danced. This time, however, the face didn't reemerge. The shadow disseminated, until it was once again merely purple mist.
The woman was silent for a moment. Mr. Fuji stepped forward, right through the mist that had been the gastly.
"Your pokemon will not survive the coming battle," said the woman.
"No more pokemon will die here because of Team Rocket," said Mr. Fuji. He stepped past her, and Gary and Andrew followed. Jake hesitated for a moment. The woman's words felt like a weight upon his gut. However, he ran past her and followed the others up to the third floor.
There were scatterings of purple mist all over the floor here, and more women in strange clothing. "You should leave," said the nearest one. "Your pokemon will not survive."
Andrew sent out Wartortle, looking around at the mist. Jake stayed close to Charmeleon.
A gastly emerged from its mist and approached them. "Water Pulse," said Andrew. The gastly responded with a Night Shade attack, after which Wartortle defeated it.
They continued across the floor. Each time they neared one of the women, a gastly would appear and attack them. Wartortle and Charmeleon managed to fend them off.
On the fourth floor, the mist was everywhere. Jake looked around anxiously, fearing that a gastly could attack them at any moment. They progressed slowly, but managed to reach the stairs.
On the fifth floor, the mist felt thicker and darker. There was a decidedly sinister feeling in the air. They progressed across the floor as before, until they encountered a denser, darker mist. It condensed into a shadow far larger than any gastly they had fought thus far. The edges of the shadow were jagged. Then a pair of hands emerged from the shadow, and floated in front of it.
"It's a haunter," said Gary, "the evolved form of Gastly."
"What an aptly named pokemon," said Andrew, taking a step back. "Water Pulse!"
The haunter responded with a Confuse Ray. Andrew recalled Wartortle and sent out Kadabra. The psychic pokemon's eyes widened when it saw its opponent, and it took a step back. Then its eyes glowed, and it reached forward with its spoon. The haunter gasped audibly, and dissipated.
"What just happened?" asked Jake.
"Psychic pokemon don't like ghosts," Mr. Fuji explained. "Normally, the ghost type is their major weakness. However, because Gastly and Haunter are also poison-type pokemon, Kadabra still has an advantage because it can attack faster with its own super-effective powers."
"Excellent," said Andrew.
Jake glanced at Charmeleon, who was now looking around impatiently. "You'll get the next one."
They climbed up to the sixth floor, and heard an awful shrieking noise. Immediately, they were greeted by three gastlies. Charmeleon only got to take down one, as Kadabra made quick work of the other two.
"Well, well, what have we here?" Three men in Team Rocket outfits were standing in front of a staircase on the southern side of the floor. "Mr. Fuji, come to tell us off again for taking care of that poor Marowak?"
Mr. Fuji strode over to them. "This time, you're leaving before I do."
The men exchanged a glance, and then the one closest to Mr. Fuji shrugged. "If you insist." Abruptly, he lunged forward and grabbed the old man, pulling him back to the stairs.
Suddenly, there was a blinding flash of light, and then the room was plunged into darkness. A pair of giant, white, pupil-less eyes appeared. A vicious, terrifying scream was heard.
"Another ghost pokemon?" Andrew asked.
"No," said Gary, "that's no pokemon."
"LEAVE!" a loud voice demanded.
Kadabra returned to its pokeball. Charmeleon backed away towards the stairs they had come up.
"What is it then?" asked Andrew. He tried to step forward, but the shadows seemed to push him back.
The pair of eyes dissolved into a single light. The light floated in the middle of the darkness. "Leave!" It demanded again.
"That is a ghost," said Gary. "A real ghost." There was both fear and wonder in his voice.
The Rockets turned and fled up the stairs, pulling Mr. Fuji with them. The brothers tried to run after them, but the shadows continued to push them back.
"Charmeleon, use Ember!" shouted Jake. Charmeleon merely stared at the ghost. After a moment, it returned to its pokeball.
"Let's get out of here," said Gary. "We'll come back for him." He fled down the stairs, and the brothers followed. The women and their ghost pokemon left them alone as they continued back down the tower.
When they arrived back on the first floor, they found Ash and his pikachu. "You saw it, didn't you?" asked Ash, looking at all their faces.
"You were right," said Gary. "I was sure you were messing with me."
"We have to find the Silph Scope," said Ash. "It will enable us to see and interact with the ghost."
"That would probably be at Silph Co.," said Gary, "which the Rockets control right now."
"Sabrina says otherwise."
"Sabrina?"
"Not long after I realized I needed it, Sabrina sent Misty a psychic message. I guess Sabrina is checking in on us to see how close we are to freeing her."
"That's... a little creepy. But sounds like Sabrina. What did she tell Misty?"
"She said the Silph Scope is no longer in Saffron. Some Silph products were moved to a secret base hidden beneath Celadon City."
"And she knows that by... Let me guess, she went and pulled that information straight out of some poor Rocket grunt's head."
"Probably."
"You know, once we free her, I'm going to have a chat with her about privacy."
Ash shrugged. "I'm sure she's just doing what she can to help."
"Why did Sabrina communicate with Misty rather than you?" Andrew asked.
"I don't know. Maybe because she knows Misty better."
"I don't suppose she managed to glean where in Celadon City this secret base is?" Gary asked.
"She didn't say."
Gary sighed emphatically. "Of course." Then he raised his voice. "Hey, Sabrina, if you're listening, where is this hidden base?"
Ash and the brothers stared at him. As did many of the trainers standing at the graves nearby.
"I guess she's not listening right now," Gary said after a moment, ignoring all of the looks he was getting. "So, we're off to Celadon City. I take it you two are coming along?" He glanced at Andrew.
Jake frowned, feeling like he was the one who should be getting this question. It was his journey, after all.
"You know it," said Andrew.
"Alright," said Ash. "We'll leave first thing tomorrow. Get some rest." He turned and left the tower, with his pikachu bouncing along beside him.
"Well, you heard the man," said Gary. "See you in the morning." He exited as well.
Jake frowned at Andrew. "What?" Andrew asked, seeing the look.
"Why are you deciding where we're going all of a sudden?"
Andrew raised his eyebrows. "Do you not want to go to Celadon City?"
"I do, but it should be my decision."
Andrew frowned for a moment. "Alright. Let's head over to the pokemon center."
They went and healed their pokemon, then got a room for the night. "We should call Mom," said Andrew. "It's been three days again." He activated the phone function and called home.
"Hello, boys. Dare I ask what happened now?"
"We saw a ghost," said Jake. "A real ghost."
Their mother's eyes widened. "Really?"
"Yes. But we had already fought a bunch of ghost pokemon, so it wasn't that scary."
"Well, that's good. And I suppose a ghost can't hurt you."
"Did you talk to the company that operates the S.S. Anne?" Andrew asked.
"Andrew, I told you not to worry about that. I'm taking care of it."
Andrew sighed. "Alright. We met up with Ash and Gary here in Lavender Town. We're all going to travel to Celadon City tomorrow."
"That's wonderful. I'm glad you're traveling with friends. Remember to be safe around Saffron."
"We will, Mom."
"Alright, boys. Thank you for calling. Good night."
"Good night."
She hung up, and Andrew put his pokegear away. "She brings up a good point. Celadon City is on the far side of Saffron. How are we going to get there?"
Jake shrugged, until an excellent thought occurred to him. "Maybe Ash and Gary will let us fly with them."
"Do you think they're going to fly? Would we even be allowed to go with them that way?" He glanced at Pidgeotto. "They would need large flying pokemon for that."
"Well, their main pokemon are probably all fully evolved, so they could be pretty big."
"Still..." Andrew was silent for a moment. "Well, we'll find out what they're planning tomorrow."
* * *
Andrew awoke with a start. He shook his head, trying to clear the nightmare from his mind.
"Nightmare?" He looked over to see that Jake was also awake, although he was still lying in his bed sleepily.
"Yeah," Andrew replied, lying back down. "You too?"
Jake nodded and rolled over, trying to fall back asleep. Andrew looked over towards the window. The light outside was still dim. Mankey, as usual, was standing just below the window, awaiting the morning.
Andrew lay back, trying to fall back asleep. This was hardly unexpected after their encounter with the ghost the previous evening.
Failing to fall back asleep, he sighed and got out of bed, walking over to the window. "Really?" Jake muttered sleepily, apparently unable to fall back asleep himself. "Go back to sleep."
"I tried."
Jake was silent for a moment. "Yeah, me too." He sat up, rubbing his eyes.
Mankey perked up upon seeing its trainer sit up, and did its little jig. Jake looked over at the pokemon, then shook his head. "Yeah, you're excited for an early start, aren't you? That makes one of us."
Andrew chuckled, and recalled his pokemon. "Let's do some training on Route 8. Then we'll come back here and meet Ash and Gary at a reasonable hour."
Jake stared at him for a moment, as if resisting the very idea of being up this early, even if he couldn't fall back asleep. "Fine."
They left the pokemon center and got on their bicycles, riding out onto Route 8. It was quiet, and there were few trainers around to battle this early.
Then they heard a noise that sounded like engines. Riding onward to investigate, they found a pair of bikers on motorcycles riding in circles around a vulpix. The pokemon looked terrified.
"Hey, leave it alone!" Jake shouted.
The bikers stopped circling the pokemon and turned to the brothers in surprise. "Oh yeah, what are you going to do about it?"
The vulpix quickly dashed over to the brothers, seeking protection behind Andrew. He was careful not to let the bicycle inch backwards as they faced the bikers.
"We'll battle you if we have to!" said Jake.
The bikers chuckled. "Oh? A pokemon battle?" They exchanged a glance. "Well, maybe we're not interested in a pokemon battle right now."
Andrew had a sudden bad feeling about where this was going.
"Don't hide behind your pokemon. Come at us!" Then they revved their engines and started charging towards the brothers.
