Chapter 113: Pokemon Tower

Enjoy a three pack.

Power stones please?

*

Bidding Celadon City farewell for now, Serena, Lillie and I made our way to the underground passageway that went straight underground thru Saffron City, landing on the outskirts of Lavender Town, on Route 7.

There were a couple biker gangs roaming about. They seemed interested in our arrival and prompted a couple Pokemon battles. Both Serena and Lillie wiped the floor on them, ands seeing how one sided it was for them, they couldn't help but retreat on their motorbikes, granting us a safe passage through Route 7. There wasn't anything notable on this route to catch, either. Besides your common Rattata, Oddish and Bellsprout in the grass, every so often a wild Growlithe or Vulpix would show up.

There were Mankey in this grass as well, but catching one did not interest us at this time, even though it was one of the few fighting types in Kanto. Looking back to how Ash's Primeape behaved, yeah no thank you. He can deal with Primeape's anger issues like he did in the anime. I bet several hats were sacked off in the process, haha!

Once we came across the grass's clearing which revealed a hidden garden of sorts between tall trees, we soon arrived at Lavender Town's west entrance. However, the closer we got, it appeared fog started rolling in, making our view somewhat obscure. Serena frowned seeing fog suddenly start rolling in around us.

"Weird, it isn't every day fog like this rolls in. Also what is that huge bleak tower in the distance? It seems...so peaceful, for some reason.", Serena said with concern as she looked onward, spotting a huge tower with fog shifting in and out of it further into the distance in Lavender Town.

"If I recall...That's the Pokemon Tower, isn't it?", Lillie questioned, tilting her head a bit.

"You're right on the dot, Lillie. What you two see is the Pokemon Tower. When a Pokemon passes away, their Trainer brings them here to lay them to rest, or so the story goes. This fog makes this Tower both eerie yet peaceful in appearance at the same time. I am sure many of its deceased Pokemon are peacefully at rest right now.", I said, answering Serena and Lillie.

"So that's what this is tower is for...I do know Pokemon do pass away. It does bring sadness to their Trainer, but I guess this place can give some sense of closure, huh?", Serena said in wonder.

"You can look at it that way.", Lillie said in agreement as she nodded her head. "For me who couldn't even touch Pokemon in the past, I've already grown so attached to Snowy. It would sadden me greatly if I were to lose her...", Lillie said, containing a hint of sadness in her voice. Hearing Lillie say that, I placed my head on her head and ruffled her hair a bit. Feeling this, Lillie smiled as she enjoyed my warmth.

"You two want to go pay your respects to the fallen?", I decided to ask.

"Yeah! I know Pokemon live differently from us, but the least we can do is pay a visit to the Pokemon Tower to give our prayers.", Serena said, nodding her head.

"It is also the site to where the ghost Pokemon are right? I am sure there are many graves in there, so the energy surrounding them must certainly attract those Pokemon.", Lillie continued to ask.

"That's what they say. We'll likely see the Gengar line there, but I am curious to see if we will see ghost Pokemon from other regions lingering there as well.", I responded to Lillie.

"Shall we make our way to the Pokemon Center then? Look, we are pretty close to the main street now, and its not too far away on the left side.", Serena said, pointing her finger out ahead of her. As we traced her gaze, sure enough, we spotted Lavender Town's Pokemon Center.

Seeing the Pokemon Center now in our view, we decided to continue walking, and entered Lavender Town. It wasn't as big as a city like Celadon was, and most of the buildings was possible to reach on foot. There were not many people out and about either, likely due to the constant fog around. When we saw someone walk out, they tended to their own business, only to shortly vanish after, acting as if they weren't there in the first place.

We paid this no mind for now, and entered the Pokemon Center.

"Oh? It's rare to get visitors here in Lavender.", Nurse Joy's voice said, calling out to us.

"So it is a Nurse Joy after all.", I said seeing Nurse Joy greet us. "We just encountered one of your cousins a couple days ago.", I continued to say.

"Oh my. You three must be Trainers then. Trainers don't come by here too often, seeing as this town is one that slumbers. They tend to just pass right through and make their way to the south.", Nurse Joy said, placing her hand on her face.

"You must be referring to the Pokemon Tower right, Nurse Joy? That is pretty much the main reason why we've come here.", Serena explained our end.

"The Pokemon tower, huh? I hear that recently it's been crawling around with one of those.", A voice said, calling out to us. "You know, a ghost.", The voice continued to say. Hearing this voice of a man, we turned around, only to see a couple chattering not too far away from us. The man could be seen looking at us now as he spoke that.

"A ghost? You mean ghost Pokemon, right?", I asked the man. Surprisingly, he shook his head, denying me.

"Not that. I mean an actual ghost. Like a spirit.", The man said, containing a hint of fear in his voice.

"A spirit...in the Pokemon Tower?", Lillie asked, confused.

"Yeah. It's sighting has already been confirmed by many who visit the Pokemon Tower.", The man said, nodding his head.

Strange, for an actual spirit to appear...They aren't Pokemon. If he is referring to a spirit, then he must be referring to those actual ghosts that appeared in my past life. This man couldn't be referring to...that? Is he?

Wondering that to myself, Serena continued to speak.

"Is what you say true?", Serena asked. "That a spirit is lingering in the Pokemon Tower?", Serena continued to ask. After Serena asked that, the light brown haired man nodded his head in acknowledgement.

"Yeah. I've personally not seen it, but everyone who has, has confirmed the same thing.", The man said, answering Serena. "I haven't seen you three here before. Are you three interested in visiting the Pokemon Tower?", The man continued to ask us.

"We do have plans to enter it to pay our respects to the dead. Are you going to give us a warning?", I decided to ask.

"Well Lavender Town is famous for its cemetery inside the Pokemon Tower, many people to offer their prayers there.", The man said, answering me.

"The cemetery sure is inside the Pokemon Tower.", The girl said, speaking for the first time who was next to the man. After saying that, the girl approached one of the nearby windows, only to look out and see the Pokemon Tower in the distance. "When a Pokemon passes away, their Trainer carries them there.", The girl continued to say.

"So it is like that.", Lillie said, nodding her head. "People from all over Kanto must come here to bury them, right?", Lillie decided to ask.

"That's right.", The man said, arriving at the girl's side again.

"About that ghost you mentioned earlier though...", Serena began to say. "Is it actually a Pokemon?", Serena asked in wonder.

"That's right. A spirit of a Pokemon who has passed away has been spotted, more than once might I add.", The man answered.

"There's no way actual spirits exist though, right?", The girl said, revealing a nervous laughter. Hearing that caused us to chuckle as well. As Serena, Lillie and I looked at each other for a moment, we suddenly heard the couple turn quiet.

Unexpectedly, when we turned our heads to look at them again, the couple was no longer there. They had completely vanished, as if they were never there in the first place. Both Serena's and Lillie's eyes turned wide in shock seeing the two no longer there.

"Itsuki...", Lillie uttered, as she clung onto my shirt for a bit with her hand.

"...For now, why don't we check in with Nurse Joy? We only have plans to spend one night here after we do our business in the Pokemon tower.", I uttered softly myself.

"Right...", Serena said, nodding her head as she gulped a bit nervously.

After Serena said that, the three of us turned around to face the counter.

And yet, Nurse Joy's figure had completely vanished, not leaving a single trace behind at the counter.