Young Writers Society

Hayden | Mount Ember

The first thought that entered Hayden's mind upon hearing Montel speak was: Wait, what?

Hayden had to be pushed forward into the group— he thought it was Kristine who did it, but maybe it was Jason— as he was more than a bit shocked at being singled out. Again. Thankfully those few stumbled steps were enough to get him out where he thought he needed to be.

Apparently not, as Montel beckoned him forward. Hayden took the required steps towards the chief and the Legendary pokemon. Kaze squirmed, forcing Hayden to put him down. The fox pokemon cautiously went up to Moltres, not quite daring to sniff him directly.

The legendary pokemon bent its head to be beat-to-nose with the Vulpix. It was then Hayden noticed something odd about its eyes. But he knew pulling out a pokedex would be a Bad Idea.

After a few moments, Moltres opened its mouth and let a cloud of blue-white, glowing gas flow over Kaze. Hayden's eyes widened as Kaze was completely covered by the legendary's breath. He didn't seem to be hurt by the gas— if anything, he looked frozen in awe. Or shock. Hayden hoped it was the former.

As the cloud dissipated, Kaze shook out his fur and seemed to be back to normal. Even the dark patches on his fur from the hexes were gone.

Hayden look back at Montel, who nodded. The trainer looked back to Kaze.

"Wilowhisp," he said a bit too quietly.

Kaze still heard. He lifted his head and let out a plume of blue-white flame straight up into the air. The light generated from the blast was bright enough to illuminate the whole area, almost outshining Moltres' flames in the process. The crowd burst into cheers, bringing a smile out of pokemon and trainer.

When the display was finished, Hayden crouched down and let Kaze run to him. As the crowd kept cheering and chanting, Moltres having taken to the air once again, Hayden stood and hoisted the fox pokemon onto his shoulder as another reward.

"Don't get used to this," he muttered to just Kaze.

A rather crestfallen "Vul-pix" was his only answer.

Sinclair | One Island

Sin, Jason and Kristine watched in awe.

"Hayden just got a gift from a legendary Pokémon," Kristine said flatly.

"Who'd've thought?" Sin said, feeling rather faint.

"Piiiika," agreed Lumichu.

The applause abated as Hayden began his difficult journey back over the uneven ground towards them, a rather stunned Kaze in his arms.

"Um. Congratulations," said Jason and the others agreed. Sin offered him a traditional yet warm handshake as he considered appropriate for the occasion. Kristine just went and hugged him. Girls, Sinclair snorted to himself.

Speaking of girls, or at the very least, girly men, Montel was making his way over to them. "I hope you will join us in our celebrations tonight before you depart."

Sin glanced at Jason who shrugged and looked at Hayden, who was smiling, clearly oblivious, and the other two looked at Kristine who said, "Well, the next boat isn't until the morning," which really meant that they didn't have a choice and thus the situation was resolved and Sin drew a long breath in.

The villagers seemed to be arranging a party or a parade or... something. The adults were passing around a fiery red liquid that they were throwing back but when offered some, although Jason looked more than interested, Sinclair declined on behalf of the whole group.

"So what do you reckon we do now?" he asked, watching the villagers. The men with the drums seemed to be starting up again, while everybody else was gathered around a huge pile of wood and fuel. Sin thought he knew what was about to happen and he was right when one of the firebreathers shot a stream of red flames into the heart of the heap, and it exploded into life and colour.

"I think there's going to be dancing," Kristine said in a girlish way. Sin had been taught ballroom dancing but like any good eleven year old boy, he didn't enjoy it.

"Count me out," Sin muttered.

Then the pretty girl trainer from the gym was dancing with a guy wearing nothing but a loincloth, a bowtie and a fez. Sin and Jason both stood up a little straighter, and Jason said, "I think I'm going to dance. Kristine, care to join me?"

Kristine snorted.

"Why don't we all just dance together?" Hayden spoke for the first time since the whole Moltres incident, nodding towards the group of people their own age whose dance seemed to consist of a bit of a melee of kids and Pokémon.

"Sounds good," Sin said, wanting to get a little closer to the Trainer-Girl and also size up Bowtie-Man. He beckoned to Cade and went over to the fire with the others.

"But Hayden," Jason said, "You sure you don't want to dance with Moltres? I think it's got a bit of a thing for you..."

---

The dawn was smoky and early on Mount Ember and Sin woke up feeling tired, his head still spinning from the night before. He was exhausted, but it was a good exhaustion. He appeared to have been using Cade as a pillow, but the puppy Pokémon was still growling in his sleep.

Kristine was already up with Peach flitting around her head and, like Sin, Hayden was sitting up rather blearily. Jason was still snoring.

"Oi." Kristine toed him. "Get up. The plane leaves at noon."

"Noon's ages away," Jason muttered rolling over.

"Yes, but we have to get the boat and then we have to go through airport security. Get up."

They complied- Jason with a little more resistance than the other boys, and found breakfast off one of the smiling village woman. Her smile displayed three teeth. The Trainer Girl had had perfect teeth, Sin thought wistfully. They nibbled on their breakfast- Ophelia and Lumichu getting more than their fair share, when all of a sudden Jason let out a groan that must have woken the whole village.

"We have to climb all the way back down and up again, don't we?" he said.

They did indeed. Sin coaxed Cade back into his Pokéball while Julius hopped into his rather happily and they began the descent. Thankfully, though it was still stifling, going down was easier than going up and they seemed to get to the beach in half the time it had taken otherwise. The boat was already waiting for them, with a new driver. Kristine stared unashamedly.

"Look at your friends. Now back at me. Now back to your friends now, back to me," he said. "I'm on a Ponyta."

He was, indeed, on a Ponyta. "How does he not get burnt?" Sin muttered to himself. Kristine was unashamedly in love.

Sin put Cade back in a Pokéball and took Julius and Noah out instead who loved skimming across the top of the water. Sin loved it too, but now all he wanted to do was sleep...

---

Only to be woken by an irate and flustered Kristine. "Come on, we'll be late, we'll be late-"

"We wouldn't have been so late if you hadn't distracted the driver so much," Jason grumbled, grabbing his bag. One Island airport was tiny.

"Are you sure there's security?" Hayden asked.

"Of course there is, when I flew to Hoenn it took, like, a year to get through it all and we were flying first class," Sin said.

They went inside and a nice lady told them how much the tickets would be. They paid. Then they got on the plane.

Sin and Kristine avoided I-told-you-so looks from Hayden (who had been rather more smug than usual since the legendary-Pokémon-singling-him-out business) and Jason who was just not a morning person.

It was a little sea plane and when they got on they discovered they were to be the only passengers. "It's not a very common journey. You're all trainers?" asked the pilot.

"I want to be the very best," Jason said eagerly.

"Like no one ever was," Sin agreed.

"Well, you teach me and I'll teach you, kiddos," said the pilot. "Ever wondered how a plane gets flown?"

He spent the first half of the short journey explaining all the buttons and levers to the four. Lumichu nearly landed the plane in the middle of the water from crawling across the dashboard, whereas Peach kept banging against the door indicating he wanted to go outside. Sin resisted making another dig at Kristine about her undisciplined team. She was working on it, he supposed.

Two Island came into sight, a pretty little place with white beaches. "Not a whole lot like One Island, but it's a lively spot," said the Pilot. "The boat races are on this week, so there's a big crowd in from all over Kanto for those."

"Boat races?" asked Sin. He had been yachting since he was four.

"Oh yeah. Big tourist attraction. Can't say I know much about them. Hang on, now, I'm landing."

The seaplane skimmed the water again and they all jumped out and waved goodbye to the captain.

"I'm sure I'll see you kids around!" he said, before steering the seaplane back into the airport, leaving them standing on the beach.

"Well, then. What should we do here?" Jason asked, looking around to see if there was anyone worth fighting, but people and Pokémon alike were sunbathing.

"There's a very famous market, we should check it out," Kristine said and Sin agreed. He let his whole team out for a breather. He was a little worried that Julius would embarrass him, but his headache seemed to have him subdued. More than subdued, he had his wings over his head as if trying to shut it out.

"Do you think there's something we can get for Julius?" he asked, concerned. Noah poked the Psyduck.

"Squiiir," he said knowledgeably.

"Only one way to find out, I suppose," Hayden said. Sin offered Julius a hand and the Psyduck took it like a sad toddler and they set off to explore Two Island.

Useless filler? Of course!

Kristine | Two Island

Boon's BIG Boat Race

It's that time again! Sign-up to join the quarterly boat race of the Island! Race to the Lighthouse and back for your chance to win a grand prize of

ARE YOU GAME?

Where: Two Island Dock
What: Yourself! You may bring your own boat or rent one upon arrival.
Who: Anyone!
When: This weekend at 14:00!

"Oh, wow!" Kristine breathed, standing in front of the giant poster inside the Pokemon Center. "1000 dollars! You could buy a smoothie with that."

Sin scoffed. He was sitting casually at the lounge area with the rest of the gang, taking a well-earned break from the events of One Island as well as give Julius a rest. Psyduck lay in the corner of the couch, curled up against Sin's side. Noah sat on the short table, watching the psyduck carefully as if suspecting something to happen at any moment. Pikachu hopped out of Kristine's arms and up onto the back of the couch with Peach.

"I'm sure the boat race isn't even worth 10 dollars," Sinclair said dully.

"A smoothie is... but why do you say that?" Kristine asked, walking back over. It took lots of side-stepping and agility to dodge the mass of pokemon around the aching Psyduck. But she eventually fell into place next to Hayden, causing the couch cushion to bounce.

Sin's brow cocked as she fell, but continued anyway, "Boat racing is as familiar as training Pokemon."

"So you're a complete amateur," Jason put in. He was lounging back in his chair, feet propped up on the table and eyes staring aimlessly at the ceiling.

"I didn't know you boat raced!" Kristine put in before Sin's thoughts could be voiced through his scowl.

"Psy..."

Everyone looked to the Psyduck, whose fetal position only tightened more. Kristine's heart was completely stolen, hurrying as best she could over to the Psyduck. "Is there really nothing we can do for him?"

"We can check the Pokemart again," Sin muttered. "The only thing I found was that Miracle Cure though."

"Oh, I'm sure money isn't an issue with you," Jason remarked.

"More like I've never tried it," Sin said coldly. "There are medicines back home that I know are effective, but for some reason, the Pokemart here doesn't have them.

"It was expensive," Kristine muttered. "...Maybe that indicates it works?"

"Or it's a scam, most likely."

"1000 dollars would pay for it," Hayden piped up.

Everyone, even Jason, looked at each other before their eyes landed on Sinclair. Sin's brow lifted again. "Seriously?"

"It would pay for the medicine--"

"I can pay for the medicine," Sin snapped at Kristine. He seemed to regret that immediately, but Kristine knew what he meant.

"Go pay for it then, moneybags," Jason dared.

"I shouldn't have to flash my wallet to prove I can pay these things," Sin said. "Just because I have money doesn't mean I'm going to buy some shmo's drugs off a foreign island."

"Sin, stop." Kristine looked at Sin with a saddened expression, and Sin leaned back into the couch when he noticed Psyduck was disturbed from his apparent slumber. He stared up at Sinclair with such a miserable look that sent Sinclair back into the groove of his couch with a sigh. "Maybe you should try the boat race? It could take your mind of things anyway. And if you win, you can look into using Dr Bernstein's Miracle Cure."

She wasn't sure if Sin would actually take the bait. He tended to be way more critical about these things, but Psyduck's next moan only shook him further -- well, shook as in he cast a quick worried glance Julius' way in hopes that no one would notice.

"You could also get me a smoothie, but I'll pretend I never said that."

Sin relaxed slightly at her tease, but Jason saw right through that. "It's not worth it if you gotta buy her a smoothie."

"Psyduck..."

"Pika pi?" Lumichu bounded down next to the Psyduck and nudged him gently. "Pika?"

Julius shook his head, cowering further. "Psy."

"Alright, fine." Everyone's heads looked up, even the pokemon, when Sin made his exclamation. "I'll do it. I'll enter the boat race, wipe the floors, and get the medicine. It looked somewhat official anyway." Everyone started cheering and talking their excitement. "Then we'd have some extra cash for spending later on."

Jason smirked. "The lack of ATMs convince you?"

Sin didn't say anything as he was immediately squashed beneath a pile of Pokemon, Julius at its center with a relieved yet weak, "Psyyyy."

Jason | Two Island

Jason tucked his hands behind his head and squinted as he tilted his neck back. Two Island was bright. And by bright, he meant--...well, really dang bright. They were walking on the sandy roads that were the veins of Two Island’s town. It was so small and rural...and reminded Jason of a sort of beach-y farm.

And that reminded him of David.

That kid sure did have big words back in Viridian City--especially after losing his first battle to Jason. He smirked. Yeah, he wasn’t a threat. Especially now that Jason had Durden on his team. Jason wondered, though, if that black-headed kid had managed to train his Pokemon better.

What if he had even evolved his Pokemon?

Jason stopped as the others kept walking through the sand, Lumichu doing little mousey cartwheels through the streets.

Jason hadn’t even evolved one of his Pokemon. What if he was falling behind? Jason didn’t like that idea. Not. One. Bit.

“I’m evolving my Pokemon!” He announced to the others who’d walked on and left him.

He looked around himself, seeing a man holding melons smiling at him. Jason slowly faked a smile and inched away, suddenly taking off after his friends. When he caught up, Lumichu ran up his side and sat on his hat. “I’m going to evolve my Pokemon,” he repeated, this time with less dignity.

“That doesn’t really seem like something that’s in your control,” Sin said, his hands out in front of him as if clutched to a steering wheel. Noah was riding on his shoulder making motor noises.

“Why can’t it be?” he asked indignantly, “You and Hayden can evolve your Pokemon just by throwing a rock at them!” He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes, jerking his head away. “Besides, Krabby and Waut are powerful enough now that they’re probably just about to sneeze evolution!”

“I hope I’m not allergic,” pondered Kristine. Hayden laughed behind her.

“They’ll evolve when they’re ready, I think.” Hayden licked his thumb and ran it down Meowth’s left ear where he had a sort of cowlick going on. The cat mrow’d in a displeased reply and stretched a paw towards Kristine’s bag, grabbing for food. “You hungry, boy?” Meowth looked up at him and nodded, licking his lips eagerly.

“I am too,” Kristine added. “The last time I ate was that little pack of peanuts that the pilot had in his lunchbox. I figured there would be more.”

“He only gave them to you after you asked three times.”

Kristine smiled sweetly in reply, picking Lumichu off of Jason’s head and holding him snugly in her arms. “Sometimes,” she said, “you have to go after what you really want in life!”

“Like peanuts?”

“Like peanuts!”

“Or,” Jason said, grinning and holding out an arm to stop the others, “like evolution!” He pointed at a building not far down the sandy road made of blue sea wood. The sign hanging over its door was big and proud...and in the shape of a huge Krabby.

__ __ __

“Welcome to Joe’s Krabby Shack.” The hostess was tall and blonde and tanned and drop-dead gorgeous and curvy and blonde and-- Jason wiped drool from the side of his mouth while the others watched him. “How may I help you?”

“What...exactly...do you do here?” Sinclair asked, not sure whether it was a restaurant or Pokemon shop.

“Well, that’s a question we get very often here at Joe’s Krabby Shack!” She pulled out an index card and began reading. “Here at Joe’s Krabby Shack, we are dedicated to meeting your every neat--I mean need with fine service and a fine smile. Smile here. Whether you’re looking for fine seafood dining or a rousing marine battle, Joe’s Krabby Shack is sure to provide fine entertainment for the whole family! Motion towards dining area. May I seat you?”

There were no words.

“I’ll take that as a pretty big YES!” She flashed pearly white teeth and took out four Krabby-shaped bibs. “Follow me!”

__ __ __ __

“Hayden, I promise you it’s not a Krabby.”

The boy poked the red lobster claw with his fork. He half expected it to poke back. “So it’s just a lobster?”

“Just a lobster.”

Despite Hayden’s hesitation, Jason had dug into his food like a boss, spilling melted butter and lobster meat on the table and into his lap. Kristine looked on with interest.

“Is this how you plan on evolving your Pokemon?” she asked, giggling.

Jason paused with a string of meat hanging from his teeth, watching Kristine, confused. After a moment, he cleared his mouth and wiped off his face and stood up, tossing down his bib as a pile of lobster meat rolled off his lap. “You’re right, Kristine.” He turned his head to a pool in the next room. “I’ll only get my team stronger by battling and training...and that’s what I’m gonna do!”

“But Hayden hasn’t even eaten yet.” Sinclair didn’t seem pleased with his plan, and gave Jason a scowl. Hayden wrestled with the claw, trying to pry it open with his own hands. Sinclair didn’t take his eyes off of Jason, but grabbed the shell cracker and split the red armor into fragments.

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

“Fine!” Kristine pipped, taking a sip of her water.

__ __ __ __

“You little dudes want to rent a boat?” Blond hair. Blue eyes. No shirt. Slow, dumb accent.

Jason narrowed his eyes. Kristine melted.

“Weren’t you...didn’t we...”

“I get asked this, like, a lot, so I know what you’re getting at,” he said, nodding.

“Oh, so you’re Sam’s twin brother or something?”

“Sam? Nah, bro. I get asked if I’m, like, Morgan Freeman.”

Sin peered at his name tag and narrowed his eyes. “I see.” It was ridiculous. Hey brah, my name’s Slam!

“So, can we rent a boat or not?”

“Do you have boating permits or, like, a Purge Badge?”

Even Lumichu grinned. The gang slammed their four Purge Badges on the counter and smirked at the clerk as he eyed them warily. Slowly, fearfully nodding, he signed a slip and placed it on the counter.

“Your boat will be The Magikarp. You can’t miss it out on the dock near the end. I call her lil’ red. Make sure you’re here at, like, 14 o’clock for the big race.”

I know NOTHING about boats. You'd think living on a tiny island, but, there you go. Nada.
Sinclair-Two Island

"It's... not very... big..."

'Not very big' was an understatement, but Sinclair bit his tongue at Hayden's statement. He was right of course. It wasn't 'very big' not was it 'big' nor 'generous' nor 'moderate' nor even 'small.'

It was absolutely tiny. Sin suddenly felt homesick, remembering his father's yacht with its feather bed cabins and the chef- even if the appetisers were never very appetising (why did adults like paste so much?) at least he made good desserts. And, on hot days, a mean raspberry smoothie.

"I don't see how we're all going to fit into it," Kristine said doubtfully and Sin whirled around, coming out of his smoothie-centred reverie.

"Wait, you're all coming?"

"Would you rather we were your cheerleaders on the sidelines?" Jason asked.

Sinclair opted not to ask if he had ever seen Gary Oak battle. "It's just... I don't know if there'll be room."

"There should be," Kristine said, attempting to approximate distance. "If I sit here and Lumichu sits on my lap and Hayden sits there and Jason can sit there-"

"I won't fit there, for I am strong and manly," he said, puffing up his chest in an effort to imitate Sam or Slam or possibly Morgan Freeman.

"You'll fit fine," Sin said. "But we can't have all our teams out. I need to keep Julius out in case he gets worse- but he's a Water Type, so maybe he'll feel better- but I can't watch him-"

"I'll watch him," offered Hayden. "I'll keep Ophelia out, she likes the sea, but Salem can stay in his Pokéball. Kaze won't want to stay out."

"And neither will Cade," Sin said. "Noah will be my first mate though. He's good with boats."

"No kidding," said Hayden, eyeing Noah's cap.

"And I'll keep Gumbo out! Maybe he'll even evolve!" Jason said.

Sin bit his tongue, again.

He demanded the others put on lifejackets. Jason complained that they didn't look kick-butt enough but Sin was already worried about having three friends plus some rather excitable Pokémon on board.

"You... will keep a tight hold on Lumichu, won't you?" he checked with Kristine.

"I can't believe you would think otherwise! Do you want to make that two smoothies?"

"Do you think The Magikarp will evolve into The Gyrados?" Jason asked hopefully.

"Not for another ten years," Hayden said promptly. Jason turned on him.

"How would you know?"

"Because The Gyrados is over there," he pointed to halfway down the dock where a huge, bright turquoise speedboat sat bobbing in the water. On board were a group of bikini and swim-short clad young adults who were all very tall and brown with very blonde hair who were dancing and drinking drinks that looked suspiciously like raspberry smoothies.

"Why do you say ten years, Hayden?" Sin asked, transfixed by this vision of girls- ignoring the boys interspersed among them of course.

"Because I'm hoping that in ten years we evolve into the people on board."

"ATTENTION, BOON ISLAND! THE BOAT RACE IS ABOUT TO BEGIN, MAAAAN! IF YOU DUDES WANT TO MAKE YOUR WAY OVER TO THE STARTING LINE, WE'VE GOT TEN MINUTES TO GO!"

"Okay. Okay. You can do this. Okay," Sin said.

"Squir-tle!" Noah agreed beside him.

"Are you psyching yourself up-" Jason began before Hayden elbowed him in the ribs.

He turned the boat on. At least The Magikarp's engine sounded healthy, and steered her over to where The Gyrados and the other competitors were waiting. The people on the Gyrados began laughing when they saw them.

"Hey, look, look at these kids! Cindee, come look, Mindee, over here!"

"Oh my gawd, Candee, not so loud!"

Sin gritted his teeth, looking at the course set out before them. He could do this in his sleep. He could, he could, he could-

BOOM!

Off went the starting gun, and off went the Gyrados and the rest of the boats. The Magikarp hummed along happily to herself.

"Come on, Sin, hurry up, we're losing!" said Jason helpfully.

"I'm well aware of that- but she won't- Noah, can you see, is anything wrong?"

"Yeah, you're not going fast enough, that's what's wrong!" shouted Jason.

But try as he might, Sin couldn't get the Magikarp to go any faster than a pleasant walking pace. The others were already approaching the first buoy.

"Psyyyy-duck," said Julius from Hayden's lap. Sin looked back at his Psyduck, the stupid cross-eyed creature and thought that if he was going to help him, then he needed to win this race.

"It just needs... a little bit of energy..." he said, opening the hatch to look at the engine running.

"Pika?" Lumichu's ears perked up.

Kristine met his eye. "Well, why not?"

"I'm pretty sure it's against the rules-"

"Who's going to see?" asked Jason. "Be a rebel for once!"

Sin bit his lip, and looked at Psyduck. "Okay. Come on, Lumichu. Help a guy out."

"Pika... Pika... CHU!" he said, touching the engine with his tail-

And they were off. They passed The Gyrados within minutes, and the others were cheering where they were sitting on the back ledge.

Then, Mindee, Cindee and Candee began to chant, "Sin, Sin, he's our man, if he can't do it, no one ca-"

Okay, maybe that particular part was in Sin's head. But still.

"We're going to win!" shouted Kristine, looking back. "You've passed them all, Sin!"

Thanks to your Pokémon, he thought grimly, annoyed that he couldn't have done it himself.

They were rounding the last buoy, Sin grinning to himself as they did so when suddenly there was a commotion from behind. "OPHELIA!" he heard Hayden shout.

"What's happened?" he asked Noah, then turned to see everybody else looking around the back of the boat.

"She fell in!" Hayden said, his voice sounding like he was about to choke. "She just looked over the edge and then you swerved around the buoy and-"

Sin glanced at the approaching competition, then at his friends, and then at Noah, who inclined his head gravely. He pulled on the wheel, spun the boat around in the water.

"Keep an eye out!" he said and the others did so, each bent over one edge of the boat.

"I see her!" Jason shouted and over his ledge a small figure, bobbing up and down in a Pokémon issue lifejacket could be seen. Hayden grabbed a Pokéball and used it to pull the Cubone out of the water.

"Thanks, Sin."

"You didn't think I was going to leave her behind, did you?" he asked. "Now. To win this race."

The Gyrados and the Magikarp were nearly level. Sin gritted his teeth and accelerated as much as he could. it was bad for the engine- but who cared? It wasn't his boat!

"Come on," said Cindee/Mindee/Candee. "We can't lose to those kids!"

"Can... and.... WILL!" Sin shouted as the flag was waved and he knew, without a doubt, that the Magikarp was ahead.

"Yes!" he shouted and the others rushed forward to envelope him in a Pokémon and human hug/mosh for a second time that day.

"AND THE WINNER IS THE NEW LI'L DUDE SINCLAIR AAAAAUDLEY IN THE MAGIKARP! YOU GO LI'L RED! AND AUDLEY, DUDE, YOU JUST WON ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS!"

Julius smiled and said "Psyduck?"

"Squirtle," Noah confirmed.

They began disembarking and Kristine nudged Sin. "You owe me that smoothie, don't forget."

"Do you know, I might even have one myself," Sin said. "After we buy that medicine."

Kristine | Two Island

Kristine squealed for the fifteenth time, twirling Lumichu in her arms, then squeezing him into an eighteenth hug for good measure -- no, the pikachu was most certainly not counting. The little mouse continued to squirm out of her grasp, making little "Pi... ka... chu... " noises. Peach was not afraid to taunt him, flying around them with a lot more enthusiasm than he usually had. Lumichu's cheeks sparkled irritably.

"I can't wait for smoothies," Kristine sang, staring dreamily at an infinite selection of imaginary fruity beverages. Lumichu took this calm opportunity to pop himself out of her grasp and--

--right into Jason's side.

"Hey, c'mon!" he said gruffly, making some sort of skip around the mouse pokemon who was now hiding his head beneath his paws, afraid to get stepped on.

Jason muttered to himself and continued walking with the group. Lumichu's ears popped up as he slowly raised his head and watched him walk off without a fight. "Piiika... CHU?!" He jumped to the side on all fours to find a pokeball where he once stood.

"Hm? Lumichu?" Kristine turned, the rest of the group slowly following suit.

The mouse pokemon sniffed it then, out of pure curiosity and innocence of course, prodded the button.

"Krab...by?"

"Pika?"

He blinked. "Krab! Krabkrabkrrrabby!" Gumbo bounded from side to side, clicking his claws and celebrating his brief amount of freedom with a, uh... pikachu.

"Dude, Kristine," Jason sighed, snatching the pokeball and sending Gumbo back inside. "Control the pikachu, will you?"

"Why would I tell Lumichu off for releasing your krabby?" Kristine giggled, snatching up her mouse pokemon.

"Gratz, little dudes!" A huge crowd ran toward them, including some paparazzi and led by good ol' Morgan Freeman. Or, wait. Slam. Kristine's laughter grew at about ten times its normal volume when her eyes landed on the stuffed, life-sized snorlax being carried by a group of bikini girls behind him. The boys' eyes were also transfixed, though most likely, that was not due to the enormous snorlax.

The girls giggled and laughed excitedly, shoving the snorlax between them and Sinclair in a huge hug. Kristine saw his face turn bright red, but Jason and Hayden only seemed a bit jealous.

"You won Boon's BIG boat race!" Slam announced. "You get, like... this awesome snorlax! Smile for the camera!" Forcing everyone together caused a massive amount of grunting, shoving, and piling before the photo was finally taken. Lumichu pounced back onto the ground off of Jason's head.

"Where's the money?" Jason blurted after shooting Lumichu another glare.

"What...?" The guy had to think for a long moment, that dumb expression on his face. The lightbulb finally seemed to flicker on. "Oh, right! The cash. Uh... Oh, yeah. It's right here!" He patted his pockets for the money, the confused expression back on his face. He even cast looks toward the three girls and the crowd. "Where... How much was it?"

"One thousand," Sin said monotonously before the fuming Jason could say anything.

"Woah. That's a lot."

This was hurting even Kristine now, and not just her abs due to the laughter.

"Oh, wait! I remember now!" Slam bent over and took off his sandal, revealing a ruffled, sandy envelope. Kristine put her hand to her mouth, the giggles finally dispersed completely. Ophelia cowered behind Hayden's leg as the dude handed Sinclair that delicious check. "Sorry, I di'n' have any pockets or whatever."

Sin considered turning it down, that the snorlax was humiliating enough, but Jason jabbed him harshly in the back. He took the check by the corner between thumb and index finger. "Thanks. A lot."

"Grats, little dudes. Lil' red doesn't usually run like that for just anybody!"

Everyone had no words to say. Slam bid farewell and left the awkward silence behind, the crowd following excitedly to their original destinations. Sinclair was frozen to the spot, still holding out that envelope a distance away from himself. The other three crowded around him, Kristine having to peer around the snorlax as well. Lumichu reached out to sniff and immediately recoiled into the furthest corner of Kristine's arms.

"That medicine better work miracles," Sin finally said.

"My smoothie better be good," Kristine replied.

"I better get another lobster for this," Jason said.

"Is that a fungus...?"

Everyone stepped back further, even Sin (who also dropped let go of the six foot snorlax), at Hayden's question.

"It doesn't need to be sanitized first, right?" Kristine asked weakly.

"The medicine was a thousand dollars, right?" Jason said.

"Seven hundred."

"I'm so glad Hayden's here to back us up."

Sinclair sighed. "Alright, let's just... go spend it already." He didn't really know what to do with the envelope, not wanting to carry it in his own bag. So he did the most reasonable thing to do -- "Get out your bulbasaur."

Kristine's brow raised so high, it hid beneath the red hair flying into her face from the breeze. "You're recruiting Berry's help for this one."

"I'm recruiting Berry's help for this one."

Kristine sighed, smiled, and shook her head, but she pulled out the pokeball anyway. "Bulba bulba! Bulbasaur--" Berry recoiled instantly at the sight of the rumpled check in Sin's hands, coming ever so slowly toward him. "Bulbaaa..." His vines appeared and hid his nose.

"C'mon, Berry," Sinclair said, exasperatedly. He held it out further, but Berry was way too clever. He risked removing a vine whip and, with quick succession, yanked the snorlax right in front of Sinclair, causing him to trip right on top of the stuffed pokemon. He grunted and sighed. Jason enjoyed it immensely, however.

"Outsmarted by a bulbasaur!"

THONK!

" 'Felia, c'mon!" Jason growled, jumping on one leg to ease the bruise on the other. Lumichu decided to dance around his hopping just to make things more difficult. Peach took the opportunity to steal Lumichu's spot on Kristine's shoulder.

Sinclair sighed again. "This is ridiculous. Kristine?"

"I'm not making Berry carry that," Kristine said, giggling. "If you can't carry it, why should he?"

He tried really hard to keep his temper in check. "Look at your bulbasaur. Now look at me. Look at your bulbasaur. Now back at me... I'm on a snorlax."

----

Berry gave in eventually, but only because he was promised a pokesmoothie afterward. The check was held a great distance away from the entire group, definitely attracting attention but easily clearing the way to the pokemart. Sinclair had to steal some of Kristine's new hand sanitizer, hogging quite a bit to get off Slam's foot odor.

When they arrived at the pokemart, no one was really there. Only a couple others were observing the shelves. One of them, an older guy, was peering at the very bottle they needed. The gang all split up, retrieving most of the pokemon back into their balls. Lumichu, Berry, Ophelia, and Snorlax were the only ones remaining, Berry still holding out that envelope. Lumichu and Ophelia were both crawling over the snorlax by the door, feeling very protective of Sinclair's new prized junglegym. They all made their final rounds around the shop.

Kristine was the closest to the man, though that was sort of on purpose. Near the Dr Bernstein's Miracle Cure was also a collection of berries. Nick had mentioned those Lumichu Berries or something back at the festival, so Kristine had secretly been keeping an eye out. She never ran by any though, and even if she did, she knew they were way out of her budget range, and there was no way she could ask Sinclair to help her out.

"Hm, this might work," the old man muttered to himself. Kristine's eyes shot up. She couldn't see over the shelves to find out if he was walking away, but she waltzed over anyhow. Sinclair had beaten her to the punch though, removing a bottle of Dr Bernstein's Miracle Cure from the unaccompanied shelf. There were three bottles left, including the one in Sin's hand.

"What do you think?" Kristine asked quietly, reading the back with him. "You think it'll work?"

"No," Sinclair said bluntly, "but I entered that race for some medicine, and if this is the best they got, then fine. I'll get it."

"Look at the ingredients..." Kristine said. "There's a whole bunch of berries and herbs in here."

"Doesn't mean anything," he said. Kristine bit her lip. "Alright, let's get out of here. You finished?" She nodded, and the two left for the counter with their new bottle of Miracle Cure. Jason and Hayden arrived as well. The cashier peered at them suspiciously as he scanned the bottle. "P750, kids."

"Berry," Kristine cooed, but the bulbasaur was already on it, instantly shoving the check into the cashier's face. The guy stepped back, wrinkling his nose. Kristine smiled weakly.

"What have you kids--"

"Just -- take it," Sinclair said, taking a deep breath to control his temper yet again.

The cashier pursed his lips, but he did it anyway, tearing open that envelope as if it had never been camping out in Slam's sandal all day. A check of a thousand dollars slid out, and the cashier worked his magic to ring out the appropriate amount of change. Sinclair made the transaction as quickly as he could before dashing out of the shop. He seemed disappointed to find Kristine had remembered to bring the snorlax.

Sin parked himself on a bench. "I'm not lugging that thing around Kanto," he said bluntly, opening the bottle and sniffing the medicine. "You can toss it into the sea as far as I'm concerned."

"The pokemon seem to enjoy it though," Kristine said, giggling as Lumichu tumbled across the snorlax's belly. "And besides, it's my bargaining chip for that smoothie."

Sinclair muttered to himself, but pulled out Julius from his pokeball anyhow. "Psyduuuck..." the pokemon moaned, plopping himself right on the ground. He curled into a ball, hiding his head from all the noise and pain.

"Julius, come here," Sin said, picking him up and placing the psyduck in his lap. "We got some new medicine that might help your headache."

"Psy...?" Sinclair held out the bottle for the pokemon to sniff. Surprising to Sinclair, the psyduck seemed rather pleased by the smell, reaching out for the bottle, but Sinclair kept it out of reach. "Psy?"

"What's wrong?" Kristine asked.

"He likes it."

"...yay?"

"Everyone knows the medicine that works tastes awful," Jason said. Kristine looked at him, but Jason was absolutely serious when he said this. It only made her laugh.

Sinclair poured some of the medicine out into the cup. It was a liquid, an orange color, and looked exactly like a smoothie. It made Kristine's mouth water a bit. Julius' wings wrapped around Sin's hands which held the cup, and Sin helped the psyduck drink down the Miracle Cure without causing a mess. Everyone watched with suspense. Even Lumichu stopped messing around, Ophelia's bone frozen in mid-air as if she was prepared for another THONKing.

"Psyduck..." Julius smacked his beak together a few times.

Sinclair bottled up the medicine then tossed it into his bag. "We'll have to see if that works then," he said. "It'll take a minute to kick in, I'm sure."

"Smoothie time!"

"I'm not lugging that thing to the smoothie shop," Sinclair said, standing up and setting Julius on his feet. "Just dump it. Seriously."

They saw Lumichu protest with a "Pika!" He stood upright on his two feet atop the snorlax's belly, going off on a pika-rant just for Sinclair. Judging by Ophelia's Thonk! Lumichu threw in some colorful language in his speech.

Strangely enough, instead of a bounce, the pikachu squeaked from a thump! He slid off the snorlax, rubbing his bottom. Ophelia tapped the snorlax's belly a few times to find the thump.

"What was that?" Kristine asked needlessly. Sinclair and Jason both crouched by the snorlax, knocking and listening to the thump. "There's something inside the snorlax?"

"Gumbo, claw this thing apart," Jason said, hurling out his krabby.

"You too, Peach."

"Go on, Cade."

With an additional vulpix, all their pokemon went on a pokefiesta, tearing their new toy with such excitement and energy. The group hadn't thought of the entire mess they were now responsible for -- stuffing was flying everywhere -- but the snorlax was eventually open enough to where everyone withdrew their pokemon without even telling them to stop. Just to prevent anymore litter. Kristine asked Berry and Lumichu to help with the clean up, and even Ophelia joined in on the fun, while the gang observed the item.

An egg.

"That's an egg."

Hayden's observation couldn't have been more accurate. Nor could more words really have been said. Everyone was astonished at the find. Sinclair picked it up and delicately turned it around in his hands. "This is an actual pokemon... egg."

"Whose is it?"

Jason's question was the hot topic of smoothiebreak. Berry, Lumichu, and Ophelia all enjoyed their own smoothies for helping with the mess, stuffing still being found in their coats, while the four kids sat in an awkward silence, thinking up answers to Jason's question. Sinclair had won it, but Kristine had been lugging that thing around like it was her baby.

Who knew?

Katya, Now Known as Katychu | Cerulean City

“ACHUU!”

For a while back there, Katya seemed to have gotten over her cold. But now it was back with a vengeance, and every sneeze sounded like a trumpet call. Nick had, of course, officially declared that her name was to be “Katychu” from now on--to which she retaliated by snatching a couple of Pokeballs from his pack--which he wasn’t aware of. Oh, he’d miss them soon enough.

She peered around. David seemed more than ruffled by his recent (harrowing, by his account) experience, but Katya wasn’t impressed. In fact, she wished she’d experienced it herself. Eve was busy feeding her Pokemon while Art was incessantly tapping the buttons on his PokeNav, creating a really loud noise once in a while that made the entire group turn around and stare at him.

Nick had taken to the back of the group, his hair slicked back by the windy ride on Dragonair and an Oddish in his arms that kept singing the same two notes again and again. Just a cute-but-quickly-becoming-annoying Odd--Ish! Odd--Ish! as they walked through Cerulean.

“ACHUU!” Sniffle. “Vat--what are we doing, again?”

David stopped Katya by the shoulders and turned her around, bringing her face-to-face with the family of Dragons tailing them through the city streets.

“Oh,” she sniffled, “right.”

“Hopefully Mayor-and-Apparently-Doctor-As-Well Galveston can heal their mother.”

“And if not, I’m sure we can pick up some of that Miracle Cure I saw back at the market.” David laughed and winked at Nick. “Pure genius, that stuff.”

Nick walked on, muttering something about highway robbery while petting Oddish’s leaves. Katya took a step back and mumbled something about “fresh air”, but she had leaned over towards the Oddish. Nick stared at her. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing.”

“Sure doesn’t look like nothing to me.” He looked even more suspicious, if that was possible. “You’re not getting your hands on Daisy, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“Nothing like that.” With a twinge of guilt Katya remembered the Pokeballs hidden away in her backpack. Some of this seemed to appear on her face, as Nick nodded to himself and put a very respectable distance between himself and her. It was then that Art’s PokeNav suddenly beeped up with a loud noise.

“I found it!” he claimed. The entire group simply stared at him. “What? I was looking for a map of the city.”

“It sure was noisy.” Eve mumbled. “Between you and Katya, I don’t know who was noisier.”

“Hey!” The thief in question sniffled at Eve. “I do not do it on purpose, you know. ACHUU!”

Eve winced and drew back, turning her attention back to David. “So where exactly are we going, again?”

“I...don’t know, really,” he admitted, scratching his head sheepishly. “I was kind of thinking the city hall, maybe? You know, to see Galveston?” Eve shook her head in despair, and Katya didn’t blame her.

Nick was pointing at something. “Hey, look!”

The hero of the day--or so David seemed to think--was striding across the street, his Blastoise following him. He seemed to be in quite the hurry, and Katya was about to suggest that they follow him and see what he was up to, until David opened his big mouth. “Galveston!”

The man turned around, immediately noticing the Dragonair family floating around the group. He looked perplexed and alarmed at the same time. “Are they your Pokemon? Why in the name of Staryu are they so hurt?” He advanced towards one, only to have it dodge away skittishly.

“Well--”

“They--”

David and Art stared at each other. “You go on.”

“No, you.”

“I insist.”

David sighed, dejected, and turned to Galveston, sucking in air through his teeth. “Soooo...there was this poacher--”

“--a really mean poacher!”

“--right, a really mean poacher. And he had, I guess, captured this big Dragonair...” David turned around, pointing to the blue dragon towering over them. Katya sneezed vehemently at him, and David wiped his cheek of the germs. “And, uh, captured the other three--”

“A mama and her babies,” Eve added, her voice almost teary.

“And he,” David coughed, struggling with the heavy story, “skinned their scales.”

“It vas horrible.” Katya added.

The mama Dragonair cooed sadly, wrapping her tail around her baby Dratini.

“So,” Nick interjected, “we blew the poacher away--”

“--literally--”

“--and rescued the dragons. And the lake somehow returned to normal.”

The gang all nodded together at once.

Galveston raised an eyebrow and turned to look at Blastoise over his shoulder, who shrugged. As he pulled out a Pokeball from his belt and returned Blastoise, he hummed to himself, “That’s awful. We’ll get them to my Clinic at once.”

__ __ __ __

It had taken the rest of the afternoon for Galveston to care for the dragons. Admittedly, he hadn’t helped cure one before, but with some sort of aquatic therapy--at least that’s what his nurses had described it as--the dragons were able to shed the layer of destroyed skin. Most of the others had fallen asleep through the evening, but just after midnight, a yawning Galveston came from the therapy room to where they were lounging.

“I have very good news,” he said, smiling with his hands clasped together. “They’ve all recovered completely, and we’ve made contact with your father,” he nodded to Eve, “and have made arrangements to have them shipped to his care facility in Johto immediately.”

David sat up on his elbows and squinted through bleary eyes. “So...we win?” He yawned and rubbed his eyes, brushing his long hair to the side.

“Well...yes, I suppose you did!” Galveston looked around the room at their sleepy expressions and slowly nodded. “I suppose you all need rest. Especially if you’re going to try and challenge the gym leader tomorrow.”

“Do you have a cure for colds?” Katya sniffled, her red eyes swimming with sleep and maybe a little petulance. “If I haff--have--to challenge the gym leader like this...” Here she stole a glance at Nick. He looked as tired as the others--and still oblivious to the fact that some of his Pokemon were missing. The Oddish snored on his lap. “I do not...know if I ca-an.”

Galveston reached into his coat pocket and pulled out an orange bottle. “Drink it,” he said curtly, and looked at his watch. “You can all rest here tonight. I’m sure the Pokecenter isn’t taking new guests this late.” He scratched the stubble on his chin and looked at them all. “And I’ll have it arranged for you all to see the gym leader in the morning for a round of battles.”

David did a fist pump in the air, and then dropped his hand to his side.

“Rooms are down the hall. Sleep well.”

Jason | Two Island (Boon Town)

“Where in Boon are you going, Jason?!” Sinclair tugged against the egg in Kristine’s hands and she tugged back, keeping them conjoined at the egg as the group walked through the sandy streets.

“Where does it look like I’m headed? We’re gonna hit up the lighthouse since we have more time to kill.”

“What do you think’s in the lighthouse?” Hayden stepped up beside Jason to look ahead into the distance where the eerie lighthouse could be seen through the ocean fog. Ophelia squirmed in Hayden’s arms, not wanting to go back into the waters.

“Well, given that it looks 1. old and 2. abandoned, there are absolutely-definitely-positively strong Pokemon just waiting to be caught. Besides, everyone could use some training.” He took out a Pokeball and Waut appeared, standing on his shoulders. “Isn’t that right, Waut?”

“ELE!” The little yellow Pokemon did a fist pump in the air and grinned.

“Jason,” Kristine pipped, letting go of the egg to get a closer look at Elekid, “where did you even get such a rare Pokemon?”

“My class took a field trip to the power plant up near Lavender Town one weekend. I snuck off from the group because I wanted to see if Zapdos was anywhere around since it likes to feed off electricity.” He grinned, looking up at Elekid. “And then I found this little guy tangled up in some live wires, taking a nap.”

“Live wires?”

“Yep! Had spiky hair for a month!”

Lumichu grinned as sparks flew from his cheeks. “Piii...”

Kristine put a finger to his mousey lips as Jason continued his story. Pikachu melted, dejected, and fell into her arms.

“But he woke up, and apparently his family had left him behind.” Elekid turned to the group and made a huge pouty face, cupping his hands together with a pitiful, theatrical Ellie... “Sooo I took him back with me and got a Pokeball, and we’ve been pals ever since.”

Ophelia didn’t seem too convinced. She narrowed her eyes inside the skull on her head and wagged her bone club at Elekid like she was saying I’m the boss. Elekid gave her a wary gaze and turned back, plopping down on Jason’s shoulders. “Ele!” He pointed forward and Jason nodded.

“We’re going to the lighthouse, yeah.”

Lumichu yawned and twitched his tail, firing off an accidental shock into Elekid’s backside, making him twitch and scratch at his bottom. The little yellow mouse cackled with little squeaky Pi Pi Pis.

__ __ __ __

“Stell...Stiletto? Stello...”

Sin sighed. “Stella’s Lighthouse,” he moaned, and reached up on his toes to brush off the brine and rust from the old sign, revealing the old English letters.

The entire structure seemed to jut out of the sea like an ancient dragon, something powerful and menacing that wasn’t meant to be crossed. Despite it being a lighthouse, the entire presence almost sucked light away from its surroundings, leaving everything in a perpetual seaward fog. Nothing but the sound of crashing waves and marine Pokemon could be heard here.

Jason peered towards the peak of the lighthouse where three towers grew from one, an imposing trinity of architectural permanence that would take anyone’s breath away.

“Wow,” Kristine said, fetching the egg from Sinclair, “this lighthouse must be old.”

“Y’think?!” Jason and Waut shook their heads in unison as Jason tried to tackle the door open. The old metal beast didn’t budge an inch.

“Perhaps it works mechanically,” Sinclair mused. He knelt and peered between the two doors, seeing nothing but eerie darkness inside with small ringlets of light from the porthole windows.

“Maybe these ball things have something to do with it.” Hayden was standing in front of a large glass sphere with a coiled filament inside. Beneath the ball was a half-sphere that looked like it belonged on an electric chair. “There are two of ‘em. One here, and one on the other side.” He pointed to the other side of the door where its twin hung.

“So if the doors work mechanically...”

“...then these two coils should work like a lock?”

“If that’s the case, then...” Jason picked up Elekid and sat him on the ground beneath the tungsten sphere. “Put Lumichu on the other, Kristine.”

She shivered as the heavy mist covered her skin, but sat Lumichu down beneath the weird hat thing and gave him a small smile. “You just do what you do best!”

Hayden and the others stepped back from the door, peering up to where the two coils met above the door in a large sphere. Kristine swallowed the lump in her throat as the waves crashed behind them.

“Ready?”

“Ele!”

“Pika...”

“Shockwave!”

There was this enormous flash of brilliant white light as the two Pokemon released their power--a glow inside the spheres as the shocks filled the coils. The air around them filled with static as the orb above the door slowly grew blinding, and a flash of light preceded a creaking heave of metal as the doors opened wide, releasing a gasp of stale air into the thick fog.

Jason was the first to step in alongside Waut. Footsteps echoed inside, and the ailing stench of unbreathed, unrecycled air filled his nose. Jason squinted into the darkness, nearly afraid to step too far into the unknown grounds. The floor was stone--solid stone that was slick from ages of moist air.

“Kristine...”

“Oh it,” she insisted, and released Berry onto the dark floor. She assumed he was there, at least, as he let out a very quiet Bulba... without being able to see. “Berry, can you use Flash, please?”

“Saur.” There was a quiet moment before a soft green glow emanated from the tiny Pokemon’s bulb, firing out dozens of luminescent seeds into the room. The beads of light stuck to the walls, providing just enough light to see faint images.

Through the main room, there was a staircase that wound around the side into the next floor. The entire room was a dark purple stone, textured as if built by ancients. Chains hung from the ceiling where there had once been lights, and a large crater was blown into the far side of the room, giving way to what Jason guessed to be the basement. There was only one sound: the whispering of a dark wind.

Kristine clutched the egg into her arms, but Sinclair nudged her, holding out his bag. They stowed the egg as Jason took a closer look around. “There aren’t any Pokemon here,” he murmured.

“Maybe on the higher floors, there’ll be somethi--”

“What kind of Pokemon would even live here?”

“Iunno.” He turned, looking at the hole in the floor. “I bet there’s something powerful down there. Something that would make me a champion if I could catch it.”

Sinclair took a step forward, peering over into the vast depth with a curious eye. “I doubt any of us will appreciate going down there,” he quipped. “There seems to be no way in--or out.” He brushed away something on his shoulder. “Kristine, stop it. The egg is fine where it is.”

“Stop what?” she asked from across the room.

Sinclair turned, narrowing his eyes. “Mmhm. Right. I won’t fall victim to your silly Pikachu games. I know you touched my shoulder, somehow.”

Hayden laughed, holding Ophelia tightly. “Someone’s spooked, eh Sin?” He stopped laughing, though, when something started laughing with him.

His expression melted into a grave stare of fear as he clutched Ophelia tighter. “Uh...uh, guys...”

“M-maybe we should go, Jason.” Kristine looked at him as he put a foot on the stairwell. She nudged closer to the doors before there was a lounge crack--and the doors were closed.

Kristine screamed.

Berry’s flash seeds fell from the wall.

The lights were gone, and something hit the floor with a thud.

Art of War | Cerulean Gym

“It’s going to be nice to be able to actually witness the Gym battles this time,” Art said brightly. “Back in Pewter, I was stuck in the lobby with that soldier fella. Good Voltorb Flip player.”
“You’re a strategic kinda guy, Art,” Nick grinned. “Any favourites for the Gym challenge?”
“Let’s see,” Art popped open his Poketch, on which he’d made a thorough list of all of the group’s teams. “You’re in a good position with Day, thanks to her type advantage, and Rose’s singing will greatly complement that. Both of Eve’s Pokemon resist water and can heal themselves. Dave... well, he lacks a type advantage - Vash certainly won’t last long in this arena - so Dax and Kee are his best options. As for Kat -”
“Katya.”
“- she doesn’t have any particular strengths or weaknesses here, as far as I can tell.”

“Meester Wall-of-Text,” Katya continued, sniffling, “we are here. So kindly zeep eet.”
She was right. The Cerulean Gym stood impressively before them. Without another word, David stepped in front of the glass doors, which opened with as little noise as the group was making.
What met them took them entirely by surprise. Having expected to see a large arena with a scoreboard suspended above, perhaps with water cascading down the sides of the walls to highlight the water motif, the group were shocked to find instead an Olympic-sized swimming pool full of bikini-clad girls playing volleyball.
“... Huh.” Art muttered, opening his PokeNav again. “Did we enter the right building?”

One of the girls noticed the group awkwardly standing by the doors.
“Hey,” she called, climbing out of the pool and flicking her hair from side to side, “are you here to challenge the Gym?”
No one responded. Art was still staring at his PokeNav, David still seemed to be taking in the Gym’s surprising interior, Nick’s eyes were glued to the girl’s hair as it shimmered in the light streaming through the glass ceiling and Katya had chosen a rather inopportune moment to have another sneezing fit. Finally Eve, giving Nick a rather dirty look, spoke up.
“Um, yes. Are - are you the leader?”

The girl turned to her fellows in the pool. “Take five, ladies,” she announced before returning her attention to Eve.
“No, I’m not the leader here,” she said, stepping forward and brandishing a Poke Ball. “But I am your first opponent. Who’s going to challenge me first?”
The group looked at one another.
“Well, I intend to save my energy for the battle with the leader,” said Nick.
“Me too,” David added.
“I think we were all planning that,” Eve muttered, scratching her head.
“Well, it’s gotta be someone,” the bikini girl said. “How about you, the one in the Cossack costume?”
“Kkkkostume!?”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake! I’ll do it!” Art exclaimed impatiently, flinging two Poke Balls to the ground - Ess and Cass emerged, quickly joined by Lex as it hovered down from its usual position above Art’s head. His opponent giggled.
“Ready, Neutron?” she called, flinging two Poke Balls of her own towards him. “Two-on-two battle, winner take all.”
“Whatron?”
“Art, she’s trying to psyche you out! Concentrate!” Nick shouted.
“Right, right!” Art said through gritted teeth, completely unfamiliar with the entire concept of being in a proper battle. Instinctively, he hit the voice button on his Pokedex. It first scanned the seahorse-like Pokemon in the pool:

Horsea
Species: Dragon Pokemon
Type: Water
If it senses any danger, it will vigorously spray water or a special type of ink from its mouth. The ink appears to be for shooting down bugs.

… followed by the orange one that looked remarkably like his own Paras:

Krabby
Species: River Crab Pokemon
Type: Water
Its pincers are not only powerful weapons, they are used for balance when walking sideways. If a pincer falls off, a new, stronger pincer grows back in its place.

“Very well.” Art stroked his chin. “Ess - into the water, and use Leer followed by Withdraw. Cass, give Krabby your specialty.”
The Omanyte slithered forwards and with a splash dropped into the pool. The Paras shook itself from left to right as a familiar orange fog filled the air (Art adjusting his scarf to cover his mouth and nose). Krabby seized up, its sidelong march cut short.
“Now, use Fury Swipes!” Art commanded. “Hit that enemy crab hard and fast, before it has a chance to Harden its shell!”
Cass brandished her claws and went to town on Krabby’s underbelly.
“Yeah!” Nick cheered. “Hit its weak spot for massive damage!”

His cheer was interrupted by something emerging from the water. Ess flew into the air, face covered in some kind of sticky black substance, closely followed by the angry Horsea.
“Oh, Great Balls... Ess, uh, Constrict it!” Art shouted desperately, caught completely off guard. Ess’s tentacles shot out at top speed and, without fail, missed the Horsea entirely.
“Omanyte’s blinded by the ink...” Eve groaned under her breath.

“Horsea,” Bikinia called (yes, that is her name now) “use BubbleBeam on Paras!”
Art seemed to relax at this command, though for the life of them the rest of the group couldn’t figure out why.
“And Krabby, if you can,” Bikinia continued, “belt that Omanyte back to the stone age with Crabhammer!”
“Ess, I want you to counter that -” Art commanded, “with Rollout!”

Cass seemed completely unfazed by the flurry of bubbles surrounding her. Ess began spinning into a blue blur ball as the Krabby loomed closer with its glowing pincer. Art was vaguely reminded of the Sega Genesis he had as a child as the Krabby bounced right off Ess and landed several metres away, unconscious.
“Cass, finish this! Leech Life!” Art exclaimed triumphantly. Cass’s mushrooms began glowing; next second, Horsea wailed as its energy was completely sapped from it, and fell backwards into the water.

“Ess, Cass, you were both magnificent,” Art praised as he held up their Poke Balls. He turned to the Magnemite behind him. “Sorry, Lex, but I had to give the newcomers some attention.” Lex clicked in response as Art faced Bikinia again.
“Would you be so kind as to direct us to the Gym Leader?”

From here on out, any post that exceeds 2000 words will warrant two points. Three if it's 3000 words. That said, I did this in two hours! 8D

David | Cerulean Gym

“Well,” Bikinia said at the end of a long hallway, “here you go.” She stopped and put one hand on her hip, looking at the large archway in front of them. “The gym leader should be waiting for you down there.”

“Down...?” Nick walked forward and peered through the archway. It was an enormous stadium-sized room that was dug into the blue stone. Waterfalls covered the seats and gathered in a large moat around the battlefield. There were, of course, statues of Staryu everywhere.

“Wow...” David and Eve stepped forward together and took a step into the stadium, their footsteps echoing all through the room. “This place is incredible,” David said.

Katya, at this point, had taken the scarf around her neck and put it around her nose and mouth to keep her face warm. “Eet ees freezing een here.” She had somehow gotten mittens that were too big for her. They reminded David of his own mittens, somehow.

“Alright,” Bikinia cheered, “have a good battle!” And she flipped a lever, locking them in the stadium by a cast-iron flank of bars.

“Well.” David stroked one of the bars, almost unsure if it was real. “I guess we’re locked in for the ride.”

“I’m sure the gym leader here isn’t too tough.” Art was still proud after his earlier victory, and was checking another device of his--a fame checker. “All that’s registered in the reviews for the leader are little emoticons. See? There’s even one with an ’LOL Did not see that coming!’ So I’m sure we’re fine.”

“I guess,” Eve murmured. She and David led the group down the blue stairwell into the arena basin where the battlefield was. Blinding stadium lights flooded the room.

“I thought you’d never get here!” It was a familiar voice--deep, authoritative, and definitely male.

The gang turned to the other side of the field where stood no other than Dr. Mayor Apparently-Gym-Leader-Too Galveston Winters.

“Oh, come on!” David slung his palm into his face and looked away, shaking his head. Eve laughed, Nick just stared at him, Art added him to the fame checker, and Katya sneezed.

“You can’t be that surprised!” he called out, laughing. He took his place at the other end of the field and held out his arms. “This outfit just arrived today from my friend Wallace in Hoenn--” It was white and flowy, and reminded David of ocean foam. “--what do you think?”

“It’s lovely,” Nick deadpanned, and took out a Pokeball. “Now let’s fight!”

“Right, right!” Galveston walked to the wall and flipped a switch, letting loose a flood of rain from the ceiling. “Now since there are five of you, and since we’re on a tight schedule to check out the Staryu Well, let’s start with a double battle!”

The gang, soaking wet by now, looked at one another. Eve and David nodded to one another through their long hair plastered to their faces, and Katya just glared at Galveston for making it rain. “Oh, he vill pay for zees--CHOO!”

“Alright! First team, let’s roll!”

Eve and David took out Pokeballs, throwing them onto the field together. With a roar and a squeal, Tina and Dax flashed onto the field. Galveston nodded and took out two Pokeballs, grinning as he called them out. “Time to fight! Wartortle! Vaporeon!”

The two Pokemon rolled out onto the field with practiced grace. David wiped the hair from his face as his Pokedex talked to him over the rain.

Wartortle
Species: Shellfish Pokemon
Type: Water
The evolved form of Squirtle, Wartortle often hides in water to stalk unwary prey. For fast swimming, it moves its ears to maintain balance. Wartortle’s large tail is covered with rich, thick fur that deepens in color with age. The scratches on its shell are evidence of this Pokemon’s toughness in battle.

Vaporeon
Species: Bubble Jet Pokemon
Type: Water
One of Eevee’s many evolved forms. Its body's cellular structure is similar to the molecular composition of water. It can melt invisibly in water.

“Alright.”

“A turtle and a mermaid.”

“I call the turtle.”

“You always get the turtle.”

“Vaporeon! Aurora Beam that Dratini!”

“Oh heck no! Dratini! Turn it back at her with twister!”

“Dax, tackle that turtle!”

“Tackle right back, Wartortle. Show him some dexterity.”

The two beasts collided head-first in the middle of the field while beams of ice and green wind soared overhead. Tina and Vaporeon were matched shot-for-shot as they duked it out over element control.

David glanced into the colliding beams and got an idea. “Dax! Hook Wartortle and give him a toss!”

Nidorino charged head-first into Wartortle, snagged his shell by the shoulder, and slung him into the air--and into the colliding beams of energy. To the ground he fell, KO’d. Galveston brought him back to his Pokeball and turned his attention to Vaporeon. “Show them the power of the ocean! Surf Attack, and then Waterfall!”

Vaporeon dashed forwards and vanished, leaving a blast of splashing sounds where she had once stood. The waterfalls around the arena began to surge, plunging the pokemon on the battlefield underwater. Galveston clapped his hands as spouts of water began bursting from the tide, sending Tina and Dax into the air.

“I--I can’t watch!” Eve put her arm up over her face as Tina and Dax were beaten up by the aquatic attacks. David ground his teeth together.

“Dax...poison...uh--poison the water!”

Nidorino let out a howl as its spikes began to bleed a deep indigo ink into the water--an ink that spread all around, staining Vaporeon a dark purple. The attacks suddenly stopped, the pokemon plunging into the water along with Vaporeon.

Eve peeked from behind her arm and bit down on her lip, recalling what the big Dragons had done to the water at the lake.

“Tina! DRAGON RAGE!”

The Dratini flew from the depths with eyes glowing, a loud howl clamouring through the stadium. The dark water began to twist, curl beneath Dratini’s power, and all hurled into one enormous sphere above the stadium--above Vaporeon, who was badly poisoned.

Everyone, even Galveston, stood back and watched in Awe as the violet sphere turned, planetary, and didn’t lose a drop. Dax struggled to his feet, backing away from the immense attack with wide eyes.

“NOW!”

Dratini let out a powerful wail and sent the bomb crashing into Vaporeon, not dispersing a drop, but lunging each ounce of power into her body.

When the dark water cleared into the drains, Vaporeon was down without a question. Tina, panting, coiled on the ground for a nap.

“Wow...”

“That. Was. Fantastic.” Galveston clapped again and recalled Vaporeon as David and Eve did the same for their Pokemon.

“Now that my moat’s poisoned, I guess you’re next, Katya?”

She groaned and glared at him, stepping forward without a word. She took out a Pokeball as Galveston released his own onto the field.

A Staryu.

“Dayfid?”

“On it.” He clicked his Pokedex and is beeped.

Staryu
Species: Star-Shape Pokemon
Type: Water
Staryu is an enigmatic Pokemon that has the unique ability to regenerate its body as long as its center core remains in-tact. At night, this Core flashes with the same tempo of a human heartbeat.

“Eenteresting. Koral, I choose jhoo.”

With that signature flash, Abra appeared, sleeping, on the battlefield. And even though it was snoozing quietly, legs crossed meditatively, David couldn’t help but feel a charge of power in the air.

“Staryu, acquaint Miss Katya’s Abra with your Water Gun attack!”

Staryu flexed its pinnacles and let out a quick HYA before shooting a blast of water from its top point. Abra teleported out of the way, above Staryu, and raised a closed eyebrow at Katya.

“Oh jeez, Koral ees leestening to me! Finally, we are a teeem!” She clapped her hands together just as Staryu shot another blast of water upwards, nicking Abra in the tail before it could teleport away. Frustrated, it held out a hand and pinched two fingers together, stopping Staryu in his tracks. “Koral’s using diable!”

The star pokemon struggled against the blue force around it, but gave up as Koral teleported behind it, releasing it from its grasp.

“Ah-bra--” it called out, before blasting Staryu across the field with a Confusion attack. It was then that the gang all gasped--as Koral began brimming with white light.

“Katya--I think...I think Abra’s evolving!”

“Abra--” Another flash of light blined the gang and Galveston together. “--Kadabra!”

Koral stood on two feet, narrow-eyed and bushy-tailed, and held out an arm, bringing Staryu closer to it through the air. With a snicker, Kadabra began juggling it in the air without using his hands, enraging Staryu.

“Koral! Feeneesh thees guy off!”

Kadabra held out the spoon in its hand and bent it in half with its mind, bringing Staryu to the ground, its core flashing.

“Staryu, return.” Galveston didn’t seem as pleased with that battle, but grinned as if he had something up his sleeve. “You’ve got a mighty fine Psychic on your hands. Let’s see if you can handle mine.” He tossed a Pokeball onto the field and out came a larger, purple version of Staryu.

“Dayfid, eef you weel?”

“On it,” and he clicked his Pokedex.

Starmie
Species: Mysterious Pokemon
Type: Water and Psychic
Starmie, the Mysterious Pokemon, is thought to communicate using the Core Organ in the center of its body. This Core may flash any color in the known spectrum. It travels swiftly through water by spinning its body like the propeller of a ship.

“So you’ve gone and evolved on me.” She nodded. “I veel steek vith Kadabra--CHOO!”

“Very well. Starmie, Water Pulse!”

The purple star shook, generating ten rings of water from its points. The core in the center of its body turned blue, and it blew the rings out around Kadabra in cadence. Kadabra stretched its arms out, discoursing the ringlets of water around him. They all expanded and POP’d with a hollow echo. Koral wagged its finger at Starmie and snickered. “Ka-da-brahahaha.”

“Fine then, if you want to be snarky--Starmie, give him a Psyshock!”

Starmie’s core turned a violent pink as it flew back into the air, generating a brilliant beam of pink light.

“Kadabra, counter with Psybeam!”

Kadabra held out his hands and plunged out a plume of psychic energy as well; the two blasts collided over the arena floor and filled the stadium with the sound of reverberating energy. It sounded to David like singing, almost. The power of two super-powered minds colliding at once, converging at an impasse and struggling to overtake one another.

David found himself moving backwards without his own control, forced by the power of the two Pokemon. And as he covered his eyes with his arm, the power detonated, blasting them all against the stairs.

“I think we can call that a win for you,” coughed Galveston as he returned to his feet. Both Starmie and Kadabra were exhausted, drained from the battle. Katya recalled Koral and pressed her lips to the Pokeball. “And who’s next?”

“That, uh,” Nick stammered, walking forwards to the arena where the water was still standing from the power of the psychics, “that’d be me.”

“Then let’s finish this!” Galveston took out a Pokeball and threw Squirtle onto the field. Nick poked his chest out with a bit of confidence. He’d expected something much more fierce for his battle, but he wasn’t about to complain.

“Alright, then I choose Daisy!” Oddish bounced from his shoulder and hobbled onto the field, splashing through the puddles of water before they could float away.

“Squirtle, water gun.”

“Daisy, give him a big dose of sleep powder, please?”

Daisy danced around the water gun, hopping over it like a jump rope as she neared Squirtle, shaking her leaves as she ran. She hopped on his shell and did a quick shimmy, getting more than enough in his nose to knock him out. The Squirtle dropped to the floor, snoozing happily.

“And now, let’s try a cute little Mega Drain!”

Daisy squealed in glee as she bent over and kissed Squirtle on the turtle lips, sucking out his energy without a fight. Squirtle was out for the match.

“Well! That was...quite simple!” Nick cheered as Daisy hopped back into his arms, eyes shimmering happily at her victory. “You are the most fantastic flower in all the fields!”

“Odd! Odd!” She cheered.

But Galveston wasn’t cheering. “We’re not done yet, kiddo.”

David bit his lip and looked at Eve. “I was afraid of this.”

“He wouldn’t--”

“--he is.”

“I have another Pokemon, remember?”

Nick turned to the others with sunken eyes. “Guys...he’s not gonna use him, is he?”

“It’s...not against the rules, I’m afraid.” Art tilted his lips to the side and waited.

“Let’s roll, Blastoise.”

Galveston released his final Pokemon onto the field with a shake of the ground. The enormous tortoise growled, neck reared for a heavy bout.

“You know, he’s never been defeated! Not even as a little bitty Squirtle.”

Nick swallowed a lump in his throat and shakily held out a Pokeball. “I promise you won’t get hurt,” he whispered, and threw Eve out onto the field. The Caterpie was coiled up in a nap, but woke up when she felt the rain on her skin. And then she looked up with wide, pitiful Caterpie eyes, and turned tail, hauling it back to Nick’s feet.

“Cater--cater caterpie! Caterpiiiiiie!” She cried and nudged at his leg, glubbing on his shoes.

“Blaaaaast!”

Nick furrowed his brow and shook his head. “It’s not worth it,” he said, and held out his Pokeball. “I won’t make you fight that monster.”

He looked up and shook his head at Galveston. “You’ll get no fight from me against Blastoise. I won’t risk injuring my friends!”

Galveston smiled and shut off the rain, recalling Blastoise before walking out onto the field to meet the gang. “Then that means that you understand what I’ve taught you while we’ve been together, yes?”

“What, that Pokemon Health is more important than Pokemon fame?”

“Well, yes! That’s it, exactly. Very succinct, Art.”

He beamed.

“Now...since I will award all the competitors with badges, let’s get healed up and head into the Staryu Well.”

Nick | The Staryu Fountains

“Woah...”

Nick’s voice echoed strangely in the sanctum’s interior. He felt like he was in a basin -- gleaming metal surfaces covered most of the chamber -- and the path they took was slippy even though it was fairly dry.

The floor curved upwards, first into walls and then ceiling, ahead to a narrow channel in the centre of the room: presumably that was where the water to the fountain went. The only exceptions were three floodgates that barred emergency exits to the East, North and West. At the very centre, in the only remaining pool of water, were the Staryu.

Galveston was the first to reach them.

“Still the same,” he sighed, shaking his head. “Even the aqua-therapy hasn’t had any effect.”

“What’s the matter with them?” asked Eve. “I’ve never seen a Staryu so... still.”

“We still have no idea what’s the matter with them,” said Galveston. “We’ve tried everything we know, short of that experimental Miracle Cure.” Fortunately, Nick was too entranced by the Pokémon to pay attention. “In fact I’d have it down here in a shot, if it wasn’t so goddam expensive.”

Art clicked his tongue, though whether it was to do with his personal stance on Dr. Bernstein’s pharmaceutical practices or the confusing readings beeping from his Pokédex was anyone’s guess.

“Still,” continued Galveston, “you five are actually more familiar with the problem than most. Or should I say, one of you is.”

“What on earth do you mean?”

“One of us?”

“Vat--I mean--what are you saying?”

As if answering her question directly, the closest Staryu to Katya sneezed, violently. It reminded Nick of a fighting Pokémon he had seen once -- a kind of karate-chop HYA, followed immediately by a earsplitting CHOO. The sound reverberated around the metal room.

“Katya,” said David cautiously, “I think you’ve got Staryu Flu!”

“And, what’s more,” said Galveston, always having more to say, “you’re the only human that’s contracted this ‘Staryu Flu’. It’s almost as if you haven’t got the same natural immunities as the rest of us.” He considered this for a moment. “Where did you say you were from again?”

Nick ignored the others’ exchanges and concentrated on the Pokémon. He dipped his hands in the water and watched as the Staryu responded -- weakly, groggily. From Nick’s brief examination of the karate-sneeze residue it seemed like they were fighting the disease after all. Perhaps they just needed a bit of a boost...

“Vell--well it’s not that far away, actually--”

“I’ve got an idea!” Nick said, ending the terribly interesting discussion of Katya’s heritage. “But I can’t do it on my own...”

David was beside him immediately. “What do you need, Nick?”

Nick grinned at his best friend. “A lot of water,” he said.

--

“Are we ready?” Nick asked. Daisy, perched on his shoulder, gave a squeal and (luckily) remembered she couldn’t fall on her back right now. Nick took that to be an affirmative.

“Ready,” called David, his Poliwag wriggled forwards and bubbled the same sentiment.

Eve nodded as well.

Galveston and Blastoise were the last to reply. “I am ready,” he said, “but I’m still not convinced this will work.”

Nick knew that feeling as the simultaneous sweat and shiver he felt on his back. “Me neither,” he said. “But you’ve gotta try, right?”

Nick opened the packet of Liechi berries and tasted the first one to check. He felt the telltale bite of spice and sweetness run across his tongue -- these ones were still relatively fresh. If it worked, he thought, it would work in a big way...

“Whenever you’re ready, guys,” he said, getting ready to throw the berries into the mix. It was all about the timing. All about the timing.

“Kiwi -- Water Gun!”

“Ellie -- Water Sport!”

“Blastoise -- Hydro Pump!”

Water swept round the concave walls of the chamber, splashing and crashing against the sides as it filled the room with fresh clear liquid. Nick was soaked straight away from the spray. He ran, with a terrified Oddish clinging on for dear life, towards the Staryu in the centre. He crushed the rest of the berries in his hand flinging them, juices and all, to the injured Pokémon.

Already the water was ankle deep, but Nick wasn’t finished just yet.

“It’s time to show them real aqua-therapy,” he yelled over the roar of the water. “Daisy -- Sweet Scent!”

The Oddish clung bravely to his shoulder, letting the attack drift over the group of Staryu. After a moment or two it looked like it was taking effect -- all that was left was to watch.

“Is that enough water yet?”

That would be David, his voice still clear about Blastoise’s Hydro Pump. Nick turned and gestured for them to carry on -- he didn’t trust his voice to carry so far. A small squeal from just beside his ear reminded him of Daisy. The water was getting high, nearly up to his knees now, so Nick returned her to the safety of her Pokéball.

“You’d better get back, Nick,” shouted Galveston. “The whole chamber’s going to flood soon.”

Nick knew exactly where he didn’t want to be when that happened.

“Just a minute,” he mumbled, more to himself than the others. He was still watching the Staryu and, if he was correct, the treatment was working.

A couple of the larger ones had started moving. They span through the water like aquatic ninja stars, showing none of their earlier weakness or grogginess. The red gems at their centre flashed and, before his excitement had properly set it, some of the others began to join them. As the Liechi berries took effect, their attacks grew stronger and they began to use Water Gun moves as well.

Soon the air was full of Water Gunning Staryu, and Galveston had the sense to call off the team’s water attacks. This therapy was self-perpetuating, and they had started the wave rolling now.

“I don’t believe what I’m seeing...”

“Go Nick!”

“Zat was quite impressive.”

Nick started to wade back to the group. He’d got this right, at least -- nothing could knock his confidence now.

HYA!

He felt a strong current tugging at his legs and stumbled, arms flailing for balance. The water level was still rising, even with his friends out of the equation. Perhaps I gave them too many berries, he thought.

“Nick, get out of there!”

He heard the sound of his friends releasing Pokémon, but something inside told him it was already too late. A wave crashed into his back and pushed him over into the rising water. He splashed to the surface, but another wave was hot on the heels of the first and pushed him down again.

“David--what are you doing?”

There was a clang and the current changed again. This time a ferocious riptide pulled him backwards, down towards one of the floodgates, away from his friends.

“Nick!”

Nick was struggling to breathe, gasping at what air he could, and all he could to was hold out one hand against the tide in the hope that someone might reach him.

But that only happens in films, Nick thought, as yet another wave pushed him under. This time there was no chance for a breath and, as his attempts to fight the current faded, Nick felt the water sweep him out, under, and away.

Hayden | Two Island Lighthouse

Hayden hated the dark. So his automatic reaction was to get Kaze using Sunny Day.

Sunlight filled the room, slightly brighter than the glow sees before, and refracting in odd ways in certain places, that seemed to be shifting. Hayden felt the most heat, having Kaze, now resembling a very large, furry, glow bug, near his leg. A bonus was getting the air a bit less stale from the dark.

"Of course, now Noah's attacks won't work as well," Sin muttered as he watched the fire move take effect.

"Oh, be quiet!" Kristine snapped, still shaken from the sudden lights out and laughter. "Wait, where's Jason?"

For once, it seems, Kristine wasn't asking that about him. But Hayden was a bit too worried to actually dwell on the thought. He'd known coming here was a Bad Idea. Even 'Felia agreed.

The group wildly looked around, eyes eventually resting on what had made the thump in the first place.

Jason was laying on the floor, Waut already trying to wake him up and almost too shocked to say anything past a few quiet "ele"s.

Kristine shrieked again, quickly followed by an incredibly high pitched "JASON!" She quickly went to his side, followed by Hayden and finally Sin. The latter pulling out his pokedex as he knelt beside their unconscious team mate.

"Ghost energy..." he said quietly.

Kristine looked at him. "You mean, there are ghosts in here?!"

Sin nodded. "At least, ghost pokemon."

Hayden was suddenly looking around. "Can it tell what just happened?"

"No, Kaze's Sunny Day is—" Sin squinted at the screen, reading it carefully. "It says here, 'Destiny Bond'."

"What's it do?" Kristine asked, voice not yet lost that panicked, worried note.

Sin glanced at Jason again. "Both the target and the user faint, according to this."

Hayden looked around more. "So we have a fainted ghost pokemon around here somewhere?"

"Looks it..." Sin said quietly, stuffing his 'dex away.

Kristine shook Jason's shoulder again. "So he'll wake up soon, right?"

Hayden couldn't see a single fainted ghost around the room. "Unless another ghost pokemon came in and took care of both of them. And now, Jason's a ghost."

He was beginning to wonder why he'd read That book. He was getting far too many creeped out thoughts at what could be happening where they couldn't see. And Kaze's Sunny Day was fading.

"'Felia, think you could do it?" he said quietly, not wanting to wear out one pokemon for light.

She nodded, having been around Kaze long enough to have some idea. Her glow wasn't as strong and was more white than orange thanks to the bones she carried around, but it was light.

"Cade can do it next," Sin said, picking up on what Hayden was doing. Hayden nodded in reply.

"So, what do we do now?" Kristine said, now less focused on Jason and more on the surrounding, and the shadows that seemed to be increasing.

"I guess..." Sin began, "that we should look for any other ghosts that might cause trouble."

Hayden looked at him like he was crazy. His pokemon, however, were looking just a bit too excited. Even Salem's pokeball was shifting.

Outnumbered again.

Sinclair- Stella's Lighthouse, Two Island

Sinclair had watched many television shows on his widescreen about ghosts and read everything his twenty seven volume Oak's Bulbapedia had concerning ghost Pokémon. Truthfully he was more concerned with training elemental types, but he couldn't help but be intrigued by them. Who wouldn't be?

"So we're going to go and explore a big dark and probably haunted tower while leaving our friend unconscious on the floor with no protection?" Hayden asked.

"That seems like an excellent idea," Sin said eagerly. "I mean, the place can't actually be haunted."

"I think it can," Hayden said quietly. "I read about it. The lighthouse keeper's daughter Stella lived here about fifty years ago. She was out on the headland one stormy night and she was never seen again."

"Oooh-woooooo," Sin said, making wavy hand motions behind Kristine's head.

"What was that? Slam, save me!" Kristine shouted spinning around. "Oh. It's you."

Sin grinned. "Let's go hunt some ghosts." He took Julius and Noah out of their Pokéballs. Strength in numbers and everything.

Julius did not like the look of this lighthouse and hid behind his wings.

"Are you coming, blondie?" Sin demanded. Julius shook his head.

"Squirtle," Noah said exasperated and held out an arm to Julius. Julius took it gratefully.

"So this Stella girl. Did she have Pokémon?" Kristine asked, looking around her nervously as they went, in the light of Sunny Day, towards the staircase.

"They say she had the strongest team of ghost Pokémon in the world."

"Go figure," Kristine muttered. "Creepy dead girl with creepy dead ghost Pokémon- can ghost Pokémon die?"

"... I don't know," Sin said. Oak's Bulbapedia had been rather sparse on that particular subject. "Anyway. Up we go."

Up the spiral staircase they went. It was cold in the tower and Sin put a hand on Cade's neck to warm it up. He wasn't scared of ghosts. Of course he wasn't-

The staircase opened up into a kitchen. A kitchen. In a lighthouse. It was a weird shape due to the old fashioned weights that span the light hanging down the middle- the table had been curved. There were no modern amenities, just one stove that looked as if it hadn't been used in, well, fifty years. There was dust everywhere.

But the creepy thing was, the table had been set. Knives, forks, plates, side plates, water glass wine glass, candlesticks, serving spoons and silver covered dishes. It was as if Sin's butler from home had been here- though poor Crebbins would probably have gone mad at the sight of a curved table.

"Um. What?" Kristine asked blankly. "Were they expecting guests?"

"Who's they?" Hayden asked nervously.

Kristine grabbed a frying pan off the top of the stove and shoved it into Hayden's hands. "You may need to protect yourself," she said and took a saucepan for herself. Sinclair took a candlestick off the table and leant down to Cade. Cade obligingly lit the candle.

"That was smart," said Kristine.

"Now we don't need Sunny Day," Sin said.

"But Sunny Day lights the whole place up!" Hayden said.

"We're in a creepy haunted tower. There are supposed to be dark corners. Otherwise what's the fun?" Sin asked. "Also." He looked at the other two with their cooking utensils in hand. "You do realise that a) we have Pokémon and b) if they're ghosts they're not going to be phased by a frying pan."

"Everyone's phased of frying pans," Kristine said stubbornly. Sin rolled his eyes at Cade.

"'Lithe," Cade said, rolling his in return.

"Come on, you lot," he said, attempting to inspire his friends- not to mention his other two Pokémon who were hiding behind the stair rail. He raised his arms. "We're Pokémon trainers! We travel the world! We face ghosts when others will not! We-"

"Stay in the kitchen when the kitchen gets hot?" Kristine said. "Sin- look!"

Sin had set the tablecloth on fire.

"Water gun, Noah!" Noah stepped forwards and shot a spray of water at the burning tablecloth. Sin blew out the candle and said, "I suppose Sunny Day isn't that bad a way of lighting the place- Cade?"

Cade sighed and lit the room up again.

"How boring-" Sin said and immediately regretted it because all of a sudden there was a Ghastly right behind Kristine's head.

"Gnrrrrh," Sin said, pointing. Kristine spun round, saucepan in hand.

"I can't see anything! Where is it, oh my goodness what if it's inside me? GET IT OUT-"

"Cade- Tackle!" Sin shouted.

"Sin!" Kristine shouted from the floor underneath the Growlithe. "What was that for?"

"You said the Ghastly was inside you!"

"No- it's here!" Hayden shouted, pointing to the Ghastly in another corner. "Kaze- Quick attack, now!"

The Vulpix jumped forward eagerly but the Ghastly vanished again.

Sin was shaking. He tried to stop shaking. He couldn't.

"M-maybe we should go," Hayden said.

"I think so too!" Kristine said. "Let's go, let's go-"

Sin refused to give in. He refused. He was in a haunted lighthouse- how often did you get a chance like this? And Ghastly wasn't scary- no, not at all- not at all- he grabbed the frying pan off Hayden.

"You two can go back, but I'm going upstairs," he said with all the courage he could muster.

He could hear the other two discussing it.

"What if he gets killed? We'll never be able to live with the guilt!" Kristine said.

"But what if we get killed?" Hayden asked.

Sin continued upstairs. Surely there couldn't be anything up there- besides, Ghastlys weren't scary-

but Gengars were.

Without being asked Cade lit up the next floor with Sunny Day and Sin screamed. He didn't mean to. But he did. Like a little girl. The Gengar was holding one of the knives off the table. Sin held out the frying pan. The Gengar held out the knife.

"I'll have you know this is the strangest thing I've ever done- wait. You're a Pokémon. Noah! Rapid Spin!"

The Squirtle let go of Julius' hand- who complained with a "PSY!" and drew into his shell, going spinning around the room.

"DUCK!" Julius shouted and Cade and Sin obeyed.

Noah hit the Gengar square in the face.

The Gengar's mean look vanished. It turned into a normal look. Then a rather sad look. Then a miserable look. Then the Gengar began to cry and disappeared.

"Um," said Sin. The room he was in, now he was looking around. Was pink. A sort of rosy pink, with unicorn motifs on the walls. There was a canopied bed, a rocking horse, a toy chest that was open and spilling out with little girl's dress up heels, building blocks, old-fashioned dolls, all beautifully kept with their hair curled and their dresses neat and tidy.

"Sin?" asked Kristine from downstairs. "Are you still alive?"

"I think so," Sin said. "I think I found Creepy-Ghost-Girl-Stella's old bedroom."

The other two and their Pokémon cautiously came up the stairs.

"This is really creepy. Why is it in such good condition?" Hayden asked.

"Because obviously there's a real ghost here and not just ghost Pokémon," Kristine said. "Oh my gosh what if it tries to kill us?"

"Why would it?" Sin asked. "Looks like all it's been doing is playing with dolls." He drew in a deep breath, remembered he was supposed to be brave. "Let's go up to the top!"

"Creepy tower full of ghost Pokémon and apparently a real ghost?" Hayden asked, his voice curiously high-pitched. "And you want to go up to the top where there's lots of glass and a giant bulb that will burn your eyes out if you look too closely at it?"

"Maybe we should go back and check on Jason," Kristine mused.

"Squirtle?" Noah asked Julius, who looked back at the turtle Pokémon and said, with all the bravery he could muster,

"Duck."

"Let's go up," Sin said, not wanting to be outshone by a Psyduck. "Just for a few minutes. Then I promise we'll go down and check on Jason."

Kristine | Stella's Lighthouse

Kristine fingered Peach's ball, instinct telling her to just release her old-time and most-trusted friend. This lighthouse was not normal. At all. It completely freaked her out. But what good was Peach against a ghost pokemon?

Well, honestly, she didn't really know the answer. She could guess that his chances of surviving such a fight would be pretty low though. Her pikachu perched on her shoulder instead, much like Peach did in that protective and ready-to-defend-Kristine way, but unfortunately, Lumichu just wasn't Peach; so the comfort wasn't quite as great. Peach didn't enjoy the indoors though anyway, so altogether, the pidgey was probably best where he was.

"Bulba?"

Kristine looked down at Berry who meandered up the stairs after everyone. Her amusement was light, still hindered much by her fear. "Sure taking your time, aren't you? Berry! Oh, goodness..."

She ran straight to the bulbasaur's side when he finally made it to the top. A kitchen bowl (well, strainer) was strapped to his leg, the handle perfectly fit around the ankle. She delicately lifted the bowl and as well as Berry's leg, trying so hard to ignore the painful "Saur!" that squeaked in retaliation.

"Here," Sinclair offered, kneeling next to her. "Let me do it. Then you can smack me if I hurt him more."

Kristine shook her head; she didn't have the heart to laugh or even smile at that. But Sinclair didn't think of it. He pulled her away, with Hayden's help, and took her spot next to the bowl.

"Pika." Lumichu walked up to the whimpering bulbasaur and patted him on the head. "Pika pi."

"Bulba -- SAUR." The bulbasaur hid his face beneath his hands as Sinclair pulled the bowl off his foot, hiding the obvious pain that came with it. Kristine wrapped her arms around her bulbasaur, muttering some words in hopes of reassuring him. Hayden told Kaze to use Sunny Day again to help out.

"There you go, buddy," Sin said, tossing the strainer aside.

"Bulba!" Berry crawled straight into Kristine's lap without even looking back at his leg. Kristine can see the bruised ankle though, how it dangled off her lap with aimless wriggling as if to shake off the pain.

"Thank you, Sin," Kristine said softly, still cradling her bulbasaur. She turned back to her bulbasaur to whisper those encouraging words some more -- if only to reassure herself more than the bulbasaur. "I'm so sorry, Berry. I should've known you weren't keeping up. You can rest in your pokeball until we get you to a Pokecenter, alright?"

"Saaaur." He dug his face into her chest one last time for that departing and loving hug he so loved to get. Kristine then pulled out his pokeball and sent him inside.

"DUCK!"

Everyone ducked.

"Duck psy! Psyduck!"

They looked up to find Julius marching triumphantly around them, the strainer placed on his head like a helmet. Noah jumped up and down, waving his arms. "Squir squirtle!" He followed the psyduck in the march. Lumichu soon jumped in, then 'Felia -- until finally all the released Pokemon are doing some sort of conga line complete with chants and new battlewear from the surrounding toys.

Cue three huge anime sweatdrops.

"Alright, upstairs we go," Sinclair said, standing up and brushing himself off. Kristine and Hayden followed suit, though Julius was already on his way toward the doorway.

"Psy! Psy!"

"Squir! Squir!"

"Pika pi!"

"Cubone!"

"VulPIX!

"Growl!"

"EleKIIID!"

THONK!

"PIKA PI."

Sweatdrop. Sweatdrop. Sweatdrop.

"Alright, let's just... keep going," Sinclair said, leading the way across the pink room. Kaze's Sunny Day was now fully worn off, so the pink room wasn't as bright anymore. Darkness fell once again, and Kristine found herself as paranoid as before.

The conga line danced right up to the door when --

"HOLY--"

Sinclair jumped back into Kristine who rammed back into Hayden who stumbled and fell into a pile of stuffed animals and dolls. Kristine tripped over Hayden's flailing legs and fell back on top of him as well as an extra doll, whose plastic hand nailed her perfectly between the shoulder blades. Sin was the only one who managed to catch himself.

Kristine jumped. There was a cold brush on her shoulder, she thought, but it must've just been paranoia getting to her. Hayden noticed but didn't really pay it any mind, too distracted looking for what could have freaked Sin out so badly.

"What is it?" Kristine asked, her voice shaking. She slowly stood up, looking around the pink room, but nothing else was there that she could see. She helped Hayden up to his feet as Sin checked out the room further. The pokemon all stopped their commotion, watching Sinclair. "Sin, what did you see?"

Sin shook his head, but the fear still lingered in his eyes. "Nothing, I guess."

They stood in silence for a minute.

"DUCK."

Kristine and Hayden flinched in the south direction toward the floor, but Sin cast him a quick look, knowing better to pay more attention to who says that. Julius waddled toward the back of their line, looking a bit distant before scratching his head.

"He's got a headache?" Kristine squeaked.

"He hasn't had one this entire time," Hayden pointed out, a bit breathless.

"He must've seen the -- GOOD G--"

Kristine shrieked, shaking violently, her hold on Hayden's arm tightening with surprising strength.

"Haaaunter."

In the center of the pink room of unicorn goodness floated a purple pokemon. All three of them were frozen to the spot, Kristine finally letting go of Hayden but taking steps back to get away from it.

"Psy! Psyduck!"

Sinclair shook himself awake, straightened his shirt once again, and pulled out his pokedex.

Haunter
Species: Gas Pokemon
Type: Ghost and Poison
Haunter can slip through any obstacle. It lurks inside walls to keep an eye on its foes and tap shoulders with a gaseous hand; its touch causes endless shuddering. It licks with its gaseous tongue to steal the victim’s life force.

"Life force?" Kristine repeated. "Endless sh-shuddering?" Her voice was way more high-pitched than anyone could have imagined it could physically reach.

Sinclair looked back up at the haunter... who faded right before his eyes.

Hayden was quiet as usual, but he wasn't as afraid as Kristine was. He cast a weak smile in Kristine's direction before walking up next to Sinclair. "Where did it go?"

Sin shook his head.

Kristine breathed, putting a hand to her forehead. Sinclair turned around. "You have never freaked out this much before."

"I know, I know." She gulped, wrapping her arms around herself, assuming the shivering was just because she was cold. "I'm sorry, I just..." She breathed deeply in and out, in and out but it didn't last long. Her head started to spin, throbbing painfully, but of course the Kristine-way was to just smile it off; and she did just that, making some manic grin that obviously didn't do anything to Sin except concern him more (or freak him out). She could hear a distant "Pika!" somewhere, and before she knew it, she felt what she could only assume to be Sinclair and Hayden dragging her onto the bed.

She could barely make out Sin's words, and it took her a long time to piece together what she caught into, "Haunter must've tapped her shoulder." It didn't really register what that meant, but before she knew it, Sinclair was shoving a water bottle into her face. She shook her head. She didn't want a drink. Her entire body was shaking, but she didn't notice it anymore.

This bed was extremely comfortable.

"Kristine... with me... Kri... " She felt Sinclair shake her and what she assumed was Lumichu prodding her. She didn't like it. She wished they all just left her alone to sleep. Just for a little bit anyway.

Where's Hayden? she wanted to ask. Peach, help, she wanted to beg. But all she could say was, "No..." and shake her head. Her chest ached. So badly.

"Haaaunter..." There was a deep-voiced cackle to accompany that.

Jason Apparently | Stella’s Tower, Or Maybe The Ghost World. Who The Heck Knows

“So you just float around here.”

“We just float around here and drink tea.”

“Right, right.” Jason put his chin on the palm of his hand and crossed his legs, looking out over the ocean. He glanced to the side as a tea cup and saucer floated to him.

“Would you like one lump of sugar, or two?”

“Uh, can you measure that in energy drinks?”

“Oh dear, I’m afraid not.” She was a girl--that much Jason knew. She had curly blonde hair that was perfect, almost like a doll’s. And she was wearing a blue dress with frills and lace and all sorts of girly stuff that Jason figured had come out of his little sister’s dream world. She was seated on a see-through table on top of the lighthouse as the seabreezze rolled through the curves in her dress.

“Stella, how long am I gonna be a ghost?”

“Until Murtle sees fit otherwise, I suppose.” She took a sip of her tea and giggled. “It’s not like I’m complaining, though! I haven’t had company in fifty years; much less a cute boy like you.”

Jason arched an eyebrow and looked down at her, suddenly realizing how far from the lighthouse roof he’d floated already. He sprawled out his arms and legs and began swimming through the air, getting a face full of sea fog before wading down beside Stella. “So you’ve been a ghost for fifty years, huh? What’s it been like?”

“It’s not easy, I can tell you that.” She nodded and took a sip of tea, placing her saucer on the table. “Every day I have to set the table and clean up my toys for when my daddy will get home. And every day, they get messed up again; and I’m telling you, whoever messes up my things sure can get creative about it.”

“Huh...” Jason looked at his hands and feet, seeing nearly straight through them. It reminded him of standing in front of a screen projector during a movie when you were only visible by shadow. “And what about my friends? What if Murtle finds them?”

Stella giggled again. “Oh, she’s already found them, silly!” She stood and the table and chairs disappeared along with the tea. She held out her hand for Jason to take. “And I think she’s about to bring another one to us! We should go greet her before she gets lonely.”

“She!” Jason dove down through the roof and through the floor in the next room, floating down into the dimly-lit bedroom where his friends and a buttload of Pokemon were gathered around Kristine...and there were nearly two of her. “Jeez, I can hardly handle one Kristine--now Murtle’s making two?!”

Stella floated down next to him and shook her head, laughing at him. “You’re silly. She’s just separating Spirit Girl-Whom-You-Know from Physical Girl-Whom-You-Know.”

“Then why’s she look so cold?” Jason actually seemed to care. Man, being dead brought out the best in him.

“I guess Murtle either doesn’t like her...or wanted to play a bit.” Stella hummed, placing a hand on her chin while watching. “Or maybe your friend is just more full of life than you!”

Jason growled under his breath. “Where’s Murtle?! I’ll knock her out myself!”

Stella giggled. “Sounds like you like her!”

“I DO NOT!” he roared.

“That means y’do, of course.” Stella stepped on the floor and walked across the room, picking up a doll and placing it in Kristine’s arms. The boys froze, watching the moving toy with enormous eyes.

“Uh, Stella...You might wanna watch out for Cu--”

THONK!

The doll flew across the room, breaking into all its pieces as it hit the wall. Stella didn’t seem pleased. “Maybe Murtle should bring Cubone here next so I can teach her some manners about playing with dolls!”

“J-J-Jason.” Kristine was stammering, her teeth literally chattering so loud that Jason could hear them.

“Jason?” Sinclair asked, touching Kristine’s shaking arm, “where is he?”

“W-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-with-h-h-h-h--h-h g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-girl-l-l-l-l” She shivered. “D-d-d-d-d-d-dolls-s-s-s-ssssss.”

Hayden raised an eyebrow and shook his head. “Perhaps what we’re looking for is in the top floor,” he said. “That Haunter must be doing this.”

Sinclair nodded and looked to the Pokemon. “Lumichu, Noah: stay here with Kristine and keep her...alive? I guess. Keep her alive!”

“Wait,” Jason said to Stella, “Murtle is Haunter, isn’t she...” He looked around, seeing no Stella. “Oh jeez.”