BZRich64
The Mustachioed Machamp
- 146
- Posts
- 11
- Years
- Gresham, Oregon, U.S.A.
- Seen Jun 8, 2021
Chapter 97
Spoiler:
?I?m getting tired.? Charmander whined. ?It feels like we?ve been walking forever.?
?Oh, come on. It?s only been a few hours.? Squirtle pointed out. ?And we should be nearly there anyway.?
?Should be?? Charmander moaned.
The group of Charmander, Squirtle, Bulbasaur and Zoroark continued on their way to Cerulean City in relative silence until Bulbasaur decided to chip in.
?It probably would be a good idea for us to take a break. Especially since you two spent practically all night training. It?s only natural that you should be feeling fatigued after all this.?
?Time waits for no ?mon!? Squirtle stopped walking and pointed dramatically into the air.
?Well who made you leader?? Bulbasaur asked sarcastically.
?I did!? Squirtle proclaimed, apparently ignoring the sarcasm.
?You?re not our leader.? Bulbasaur said. ?I?m much more qualified than you are, since I used to care for all of the Pok?mon back at the Hidden Village.?
?You seem to forget that I used to be the leader of the Squirtle Squad. I?d say that makes me more qualified.?
?Don?t be ridicules. Besides, Charmander?s the reason we?re all together to begin with, so if anything he should lead us.?
?Yeah!? Charmander agreed.
Squirtle laughed. ?But it was my idea for us to challenge the Gyms, so I should be leader.?
?What about Zoroark?? Bulbasaur added. ?Since she?s the one masquerading as our trainer, maybe she should be our leader.?
?Don?t drag me into this.? Said Zoroark.
?Can we talk about this later?? Asked Charmander. ?I just want to take a nap.?
?Oh, fine.? Squirtle relented.
* * *
?Well you two have certainly had an interesting time.? Bill said after Red and Yellow finished telling him about all of their adventures since they first met him back at his lighthouse, which felt like it had been a long time ago. ?I?m afraid that I haven?t had nearly as an exciting time as you have. But I did have quite the eventful day today.?
?Really?? Red asked quizzically. ?What could have happened to you since we saw you this morning??
?Well, after you left the Pok?mon Center I went back to trying to find out what was wrong with PC there. As it turned out, a couple of Porygon had somehow managed to find its way into the system and they had taken up residence there, which is what was causing the problems. My fiddling around trying to find out what was wrong woke the Porygon up and made one of them angry, which then somehow managed to zap me into the computer as well.?
?Whoa!? Yellow gasped in amazement. And then what happened??
?Well, it took me a while to get the hand of being in cyber space. Before now I didn?t even know it was possible for anything other than a Porygon to even exist in data from like that. In fact, I?m still not sure who it really happened. Anyway, so the other Porygon turned out to be quite friendly and helped me get my bearings straight and then track down the first one to try and get it under control. I ended up managing to hack into some code to catch both of the Porygon in digitalized Pok?balls and then had them bring me back into the physical world. It was right after that when the nurse there at the Pok?mon Center told me that I had an incoming call, which turned out to be from you guys.?
?Do you still have the Porygon?? An intrigued Red asked.
?Yeah, right here.? Bill pulled out two Pok?balls and held them up. ?I was going to give them to the Rocket Game Corner, since they give them out as prizes there and these two probably escaped from there anyway. But if what you said about Team Rocket being behind them, then I definitely don?t want to be handing these two off to them. And it does make sense that Team Rocket would be in control of the Rocket Game Corner. It?s right in the name and everything.?
?So what are you going to do with them??
?Well, I guess I?ll keep the friendly one for myself to help with my studies. I?m not sure about the other one, though. It probably won?t listen to a word I tell it. Then again, I suppose you can have it if you want. You should have enough badges by this point that it will listen to you.?
?Really?? Red asked.
?Of course.? Bill held out one of the Pok?balls to Red, who accepted it graciously. ?What are friends for, after all??
?Thank you. I?ll try to keep good care of him.?
?That?s all I can ask for. By the way, we should probably go to the local Department of Pok?mon Training before they close up for the day, so that we can go get that Trainer?s Permit for Yellow.?
?I?d forget all about that.? Red said as he put Porygon?s Pok?ball with his others. ?Let?s get going.?
* * *
Gary looked up at the imposing statue that stood before him. He knew that he had never seen this statue or the man that it depicted before and yet it was so familiar to him. This was definitely the statue from his dream, but how? And Why? His thoughts were interrupted, however, when the torches hung up on the walls and support pillars scattered around the room suddenly lit up, engulfing the room in their light.
?What?s going on?? Gary asked, though he knew he would get no answer. His Growlithe stopped breathing fire since there was no need for it now and brushed up against Gary?s leg, whimpering loudly. Gary bent down to his knees and put his hand reassuringly on the Puppy Pok?mon?s back. ?It?ll be okay, boy. I?ll make sure that nothing happens to you.?
Gary recalled Growlithe into his Pok?ball and stood back up, staring at the statue again. It depicted a large, intimidating man with a thick beard sitting in a massive throne. He wore old fashioned robes and a hat with a beaded necklace hanging around the color of the robes. His right hand rested on his knee while the left hand held a staff of some kind.
?Why does this guy look so familiar?? Gary wondered. After staring at the statue for a little longer he turned around to head back the way he came, hoping to find some sort of exit that he had missed earlier. However, as soon as he turned around, his attention was drawn to a huge mural painted across the wall above the exit.
The brightly painted image contrasted heavily with the dull brown of everything else in the room, making it stand out even more than it would have. An image of a bird Pok?mon shrouded in rainbows looked down from the clouded heavens upon a stormy see, underneath which was a silver bird looking back up at the rainbow one. The two looked as if they were somehow locked in combat even though there was nothing in the mural to suggest they were even fighting.
?What is this place?? Gary asked again. After a moment he looked back down to the entranceway and started moving forward. He knew that he needed to flee this place as soon as possible and walked as quickly as he could. Just as he reached the exit, however, he suddenly found himself pulled away from it by some invisible force, pushing him back into the large chamber. He tried to leave again, more desperately this time, but again he was pulled back into the chamber. Gary then turned back to the statue and yelled. ?What do you want from me??
Gary suddenly found his attention shifted to the small throne sitting between the large stone feet of the statue. It was as if the mysterious force keeping him there was telling him to sit down on the seat of the throne.
?No!? Gary shouted. ?I?m not doing it!?
Gary started walking towards the throne, against his will. His legs were somehow moving of their own accord.
?I don?t want to sit down!?
Gary started walking faster. He tried to stop but it was no use.
?Nidoqueen! Smash that chair!?
Nidoqueen?s Pok?ball lit up as if she was emerging from it, but nothing happened. Whatever force was dragging him to the stone throne was also preventing his Pok?mon from leaving there Pok?balls. Gary had seen this kind of reaction once before, back at the Lavender Tower.
?There?s a ghost here.? He muttered in horror as he stepped in front of the throne. ?That?s what?s doing this.?
?Oh, come on. It?s only been a few hours.? Squirtle pointed out. ?And we should be nearly there anyway.?
?Should be?? Charmander moaned.
The group of Charmander, Squirtle, Bulbasaur and Zoroark continued on their way to Cerulean City in relative silence until Bulbasaur decided to chip in.
?It probably would be a good idea for us to take a break. Especially since you two spent practically all night training. It?s only natural that you should be feeling fatigued after all this.?
?Time waits for no ?mon!? Squirtle stopped walking and pointed dramatically into the air.
?Well who made you leader?? Bulbasaur asked sarcastically.
?I did!? Squirtle proclaimed, apparently ignoring the sarcasm.
?You?re not our leader.? Bulbasaur said. ?I?m much more qualified than you are, since I used to care for all of the Pok?mon back at the Hidden Village.?
?You seem to forget that I used to be the leader of the Squirtle Squad. I?d say that makes me more qualified.?
?Don?t be ridicules. Besides, Charmander?s the reason we?re all together to begin with, so if anything he should lead us.?
?Yeah!? Charmander agreed.
Squirtle laughed. ?But it was my idea for us to challenge the Gyms, so I should be leader.?
?What about Zoroark?? Bulbasaur added. ?Since she?s the one masquerading as our trainer, maybe she should be our leader.?
?Don?t drag me into this.? Said Zoroark.
?Can we talk about this later?? Asked Charmander. ?I just want to take a nap.?
?Oh, fine.? Squirtle relented.
* * *
?Well you two have certainly had an interesting time.? Bill said after Red and Yellow finished telling him about all of their adventures since they first met him back at his lighthouse, which felt like it had been a long time ago. ?I?m afraid that I haven?t had nearly as an exciting time as you have. But I did have quite the eventful day today.?
?Really?? Red asked quizzically. ?What could have happened to you since we saw you this morning??
?Well, after you left the Pok?mon Center I went back to trying to find out what was wrong with PC there. As it turned out, a couple of Porygon had somehow managed to find its way into the system and they had taken up residence there, which is what was causing the problems. My fiddling around trying to find out what was wrong woke the Porygon up and made one of them angry, which then somehow managed to zap me into the computer as well.?
?Whoa!? Yellow gasped in amazement. And then what happened??
?Well, it took me a while to get the hand of being in cyber space. Before now I didn?t even know it was possible for anything other than a Porygon to even exist in data from like that. In fact, I?m still not sure who it really happened. Anyway, so the other Porygon turned out to be quite friendly and helped me get my bearings straight and then track down the first one to try and get it under control. I ended up managing to hack into some code to catch both of the Porygon in digitalized Pok?balls and then had them bring me back into the physical world. It was right after that when the nurse there at the Pok?mon Center told me that I had an incoming call, which turned out to be from you guys.?
?Do you still have the Porygon?? An intrigued Red asked.
?Yeah, right here.? Bill pulled out two Pok?balls and held them up. ?I was going to give them to the Rocket Game Corner, since they give them out as prizes there and these two probably escaped from there anyway. But if what you said about Team Rocket being behind them, then I definitely don?t want to be handing these two off to them. And it does make sense that Team Rocket would be in control of the Rocket Game Corner. It?s right in the name and everything.?
?So what are you going to do with them??
?Well, I guess I?ll keep the friendly one for myself to help with my studies. I?m not sure about the other one, though. It probably won?t listen to a word I tell it. Then again, I suppose you can have it if you want. You should have enough badges by this point that it will listen to you.?
?Really?? Red asked.
?Of course.? Bill held out one of the Pok?balls to Red, who accepted it graciously. ?What are friends for, after all??
?Thank you. I?ll try to keep good care of him.?
?That?s all I can ask for. By the way, we should probably go to the local Department of Pok?mon Training before they close up for the day, so that we can go get that Trainer?s Permit for Yellow.?
?I?d forget all about that.? Red said as he put Porygon?s Pok?ball with his others. ?Let?s get going.?
* * *
Gary looked up at the imposing statue that stood before him. He knew that he had never seen this statue or the man that it depicted before and yet it was so familiar to him. This was definitely the statue from his dream, but how? And Why? His thoughts were interrupted, however, when the torches hung up on the walls and support pillars scattered around the room suddenly lit up, engulfing the room in their light.
?What?s going on?? Gary asked, though he knew he would get no answer. His Growlithe stopped breathing fire since there was no need for it now and brushed up against Gary?s leg, whimpering loudly. Gary bent down to his knees and put his hand reassuringly on the Puppy Pok?mon?s back. ?It?ll be okay, boy. I?ll make sure that nothing happens to you.?
Gary recalled Growlithe into his Pok?ball and stood back up, staring at the statue again. It depicted a large, intimidating man with a thick beard sitting in a massive throne. He wore old fashioned robes and a hat with a beaded necklace hanging around the color of the robes. His right hand rested on his knee while the left hand held a staff of some kind.
?Why does this guy look so familiar?? Gary wondered. After staring at the statue for a little longer he turned around to head back the way he came, hoping to find some sort of exit that he had missed earlier. However, as soon as he turned around, his attention was drawn to a huge mural painted across the wall above the exit.
The brightly painted image contrasted heavily with the dull brown of everything else in the room, making it stand out even more than it would have. An image of a bird Pok?mon shrouded in rainbows looked down from the clouded heavens upon a stormy see, underneath which was a silver bird looking back up at the rainbow one. The two looked as if they were somehow locked in combat even though there was nothing in the mural to suggest they were even fighting.
?What is this place?? Gary asked again. After a moment he looked back down to the entranceway and started moving forward. He knew that he needed to flee this place as soon as possible and walked as quickly as he could. Just as he reached the exit, however, he suddenly found himself pulled away from it by some invisible force, pushing him back into the large chamber. He tried to leave again, more desperately this time, but again he was pulled back into the chamber. Gary then turned back to the statue and yelled. ?What do you want from me??
Gary suddenly found his attention shifted to the small throne sitting between the large stone feet of the statue. It was as if the mysterious force keeping him there was telling him to sit down on the seat of the throne.
?No!? Gary shouted. ?I?m not doing it!?
Gary started walking towards the throne, against his will. His legs were somehow moving of their own accord.
?I don?t want to sit down!?
Gary started walking faster. He tried to stop but it was no use.
?Nidoqueen! Smash that chair!?
Nidoqueen?s Pok?ball lit up as if she was emerging from it, but nothing happened. Whatever force was dragging him to the stone throne was also preventing his Pok?mon from leaving there Pok?balls. Gary had seen this kind of reaction once before, back at the Lavender Tower.
?There?s a ghost here.? He muttered in horror as he stepped in front of the throne. ?That?s what?s doing this.?