Kanto Journies (PG)

[DarkCharlie]

Episode 013. Lightning Strikes

"Danny?" Ray whispered to his friend. They had entered a cave, but were not alone. What seemed like hundreds of red lights shone around the room at them.

"Oh for heavens sake! Both of you!" Charlie moaned, standing up. "Just look!" she cried, turning on her black torch.

The beam of light that shone from the torch in Charlie's left hand flashed around the cave. The small, beady and sharp red eyes belonged only to a pack of tiny yellow Pikachu, Pokemon with adorable crimson cheeks and tails in the shape of lightning bolts.

From out of the blackness came a person; The Pikachu's trainer, she assumed. As he came closer, she saw that he was not much older than Ray. The young man of about 16 had floppy brown hair and blue eyes. His skin was as white as Charlie's and he wore a pair of weather-beaten jeans and a vivid orange coat. To her surprise, he smiled.

"Hi," said the boy nervously. "Err… Did you want to stay in my cave?"

"That'd be great," smiled Charlie. "I'm Charlie, this is Ray and this is Danny," she introduced them, pointing to each of them in turn. "Are all these Pikachu yours?"

"Well, I'm a Pokemon Ranger; I take care of all the wild Pikachu here. They're really strong, so we get a lot of people around just wanting to take the Pikachu. What they don't know though, is that this area is a Pokemon reserve. I'm Zane by the way. Nice to meet you," explained Zane.

"So, err… can we stay here for the night?" Charlie asked nervously.

"Sure!" smiled Zane. "I'm sure the Pikachu won't mind."

Charlie sat down and breathed a sigh of relief. The Pikachu took quite well to having a group of strangers around, considering they were wild Pokemon.

"Two of the Pikachu are mine, I'll introduce you to them if you want," Zane said, as though determined to keep the conversation going. "Sparx! Pikachu!" he called, while Charlie opened her Pokedex.

"Pikachu, the Lightning Mouse Pokemon. When several of these Pokemon gather, their electricity could build and cause lightning storms."

"Oh hi Sparx," Zane greeted one of his two Pikachu. "Have you seen Pika anywhere?"

Sparx shook its head.

"Pika? Pikachu!" Zane called.

"Pika! Come out! Please?" cried Charlie.

"It's no use," Zane sighed, sitting down on a rock and shaking his head, so that his floppy brown hair hung from his pale head. "Pikachu's gone. There's no hope now, the tide's in, she'll have been washed away with the sand… My little Pika…" Tears dripped from Zane's eyes.

"I'll go look for your Pika," Charlie offered. "I'll be fine, I can swim."

"We'll go too, right Ray?" Danny added. Ray nodded.

"You three are such a great help, but Danny," Zane thanked, "you'd better stay here. You can't exactly swim with your arm like that, can you?" He had noticed Danny's broken left arm, which Danny had almost forgotten about himself.

"Yeah, well, I'll stay with Zane," decided Danny, a little downhearted.

Charlie and Ray smiled as they lowered themselves out of the cave in the cliff. They looked at each other.

"I really think Danny would have hated this," Charlie admitted, breaking the silence. "I don't even think he can swim well."

Then it dawned on them. They were two teenagers, and they had to search the whole sea for a Pikachu, 1'4" in height. The chances of actually finding her… Charlie gulped at the thought. Ray, climbing down the cliff to her left, was looking equally sick. What had they let themselves in for? Zane would probably go nuts if they came back without his beloved Pika.

Without realising it, they came to a halt at the bottom of the cliff, their feet immersed in freezing water, the night air with a temperature of 6c. They looked around. It was cold, so biting cold with not a single breeze in the air. Charlie's limp brown hair hung down her back in a lifeless ponytail. Her older friend looked scared, not tough and brave.

Ray turned to Charlie and said, "Well, we'd better get going then," his throat dry with fear. They walked onwards into the sea, having removed their shoes. The water was up to Ray's shoulders when a white flash shot across the sky. Charlie screamed. They were in water! In a lightning storm! Far out at sea, the bolt of lightning hit a tiny island and shattered most of it to pieces. The danger of what they were doing was immense. Charlie could not believe that, a minute ago in the cave, she was prepared to go, but now, she had just realised that she was putting her young life at risk; a thought that scared her to death.

Charlie thought of Danny and Zane in the cave. It was not a cosy little dorm in a Pokemon Centre, but a cave halfway up a cliff in a tiny village with a crime rate that was sky high, but she wished that she could at least be in the cave. It seemed luxurious compared to how she felt now.

"Pikachu!" she cried, as another bolt of lightning flattened another island. She was on the verge of turning back, and she could tell that Ray was thinking along the same lines by the look of pure terror upon his bronzed face. However, they knew that they could not turn back, no matter how much they wanted to. They had made a promise to Zane, now they had to keep it.

 

[DarkCharlie]

Episode 014. Pikachu! Where are you?

Amidst in the vast sea, Charlie Whitmore and Ray Gibson hung onto each other for their lives. They were trapped; trapped, in a thunderstorm off the coast of North Cape. They feared for their lives. Charlie asked herself why in the world she had offered to risk her life for a trainer's Pikachu. She felt she would give up anything to be up the cliff in the cave with Danny and Zane.

"Come on Ray, we've gotta' start searching if you want to get back!" Charlie insisted, punching her older friend in a friendly manner. "The sooner we find Pika, the sooner we get back."

She kicked off from the sandy carpet and swam ferociously, trying to drag Ray along. Ray grabbed her hand and ripped it from his flaming red shirt collar.

"I can swim, you know!" he snapped.

"Sorry," Charlie whispered.

They swam on in silence for 10 minutes. During that time, there had been no more lightning flashes, but the deep grey clouds overhead were roaring.

Out and out they swam, both wishing that they didn't have to, but they swam out into the icy sea until North Cape was so far away that it looked like a tiny toy town. They passed the little islands that the lightning had blown to smithereens; Charlie hoped and hoped that Pikachu had not being destroyed with them.

"Let's go back," Ray finally decided when they could no longer see the village. She had wished that he would soon give up, as she could no longer feel any sensation in her legs.

They swam back; with each minute the village seemed to grow in size, until they were eventually back on the shore. Up the cliff they climbed. It seemed much harder than it did earlier. Her thick khaki jeans were soaked through, Ray's biker clothes were also drenched.

They were about to pull themselves back into the cave, dreading the look on Zane's face. Then, Charlie saw something that made her want to climb to the village; a flash; over in a second. She ignored Ray and climbed rapidly to the top of the jagged cliff.

"Pika!" she cried.

"Pika!" something cried back.

A little yellow creature ran into her arms from the village. It was Pika! She had found her!

"Hey! Come up here guys!" Charlie called down the cliff. Ray was looking up at her, his bright red hair standing out against the darkness of the sea. Zane rushed up the cliff, Sparx on his shoulder. Danny also clambered up the cliff as quickly as his broken arm would allow him. Ray called Charlie back down.

"Why?" she shouted.

"Do you want frostbite or not?" he cried. She could see his point. She had to get changed out of her heavy khaki's. With no feeling in her limbs, Charlie backed down the rock face into the cavern. She pulled her spare clothes; a pair of black jogging bottoms and a white vest, and changed in the opposite corner to Ray.

As soon as she had dressed, she followed Ray (wearing a pair of jeans and an orange t-shirt) to the village. There, Danny and Zane were with Pikachu. The others rushed up to join them; then they heard an explosion in the cave. She knew right away that it was Team Rocket up to no good.

Back in the cavern, Sam was grabbing the Pikachu and passing them to Max, outside, who took them down into their Land Rover.

"Max! Drive!" Sam called upon seeing the trainers. Max drove. He had at least a third of the Pokemon in his vehicle.

"Thundershock, everyone!" cried Zane immediately. At once, all the Pikachu that were left squealed. Their tiny crimson cheeks sparked. Sam got the full blast of the massive electric shock, tumbling down the sea cliff into the Land Rover. Max drove rapidly.

"Pika-CHUUUU!" squealed the Pikachu. Their huge electric shock exploded the cavern. The surge powered down the damp cliffs into the sea. The vast waters sparked neon yellow, and Max and Sam's dark green truck was destroyed in a flash.

"Uh, guys?" Zane asked nervously, after looking outside to see the others hanging onto the edge of the cave from their fingertips.

He dashed to them and pulled them up into his rocky home. There they sat, panting and out of breath; their joints ached with every step they took. Charlie and Ray collapsed. The golden sun was now rising from beyond the sea. Charlie knew that that was the busiest night of her life; an experience that she was not at all willing to repeat.

"Pika!" cried the Pikachu that she had rescued, bounding up to her, full of energy.

"Hi Pika," she puffed as Zane's young Pikachu sat on her lap. She petted her gently behind her ears.

"Pika," she sighed.

"She says sorry," Zane explained. "I know it's not her fault. I think she got caught in the tidal waves earlier. "I should have kept my eyes on her."

Zane suddenly seemed interested in his neon orange pocket.

"I'm sorry I caused you all this trouble," he apologised, still not able to look Charlie or Ray in the eye. "You must hate me."

For a split second, Charlie considered screaming at Zane, but what would it solve? Nothing.

"You're okay, Zane. It's over with," Ray said.

"Yeah. We're safe now. There's nothing to worry about," Charlie agreed.

"Hey, Charlie," Zane began, "Pika seems to like you, don't you think?"

Charlie thought for a moment. It was true. Pika did seem to like her.

"Well, I think Pika would like to travel with you," Zane suggested, "What do you think?"

"I think whatever Pika wants is fine," Charlie said, heaving her heavy black rucksack off her back. She pulled out a red packet of 'Chow' Pokemon food and a Pokeball. Pika ate eagerly, Charlie smiling proudly. She had saved this Pokemon's life. Even though they met atop the cliff in the village, Pika had probably been far away. She didn't think she would leave her trainer for a day of her own accord.

Pika finished munching. Charlie held out her hand containing the Pokeball. Pika eagerly pressed the small white button in the centre of the ball and was sucked inside in a red flash.

"So why do you think Pika wanted to come with us?" Charlie asked curiously.

"Wouldn't you trust someone who saved your life?" Zane smiled, before waving the trainers farewell.

Charlie knew where she was going instantaneously: Cerulean City Gym!

 

[Matt Silver]

Great updates. Those Rockets are idiots.

 

[DarkCharlie]

Thanks! Hope you keep reading! These are all the Episodes that I have wrote at the moment. lol. The Rockets are idiots, yes, and around Vermillion City time, I plan for them to get a lot more idiotic.... Why? Sorry, I'm making you keep reading! lol. They're not even a millionth as thick as Jessie and James though...

 

[DarkCharlie]

Episode 015. Cerulean Splashdown!

Having left North Cape with Zane?s old friend Pika, she couldn?t help but feel slightly guilty. She didn?t know why she hadn?t just told Zane to keep his Pikachu. He wasn?t a bad guy, but she just couldn?t see why Pika had so eagerly left its trainer to come with her, Danny and Ray, people who Pika had known only for a week; a week that seemed to last forever.

Charlie and her friends cycled back to Cerulean City in a much shorter time than it had took to get to North Cape, but the grassy plains dotted with pine trees now sloped downhill. Plus, they didn?t have the disturbance of Ray?s old team mates; the bikers, bothering them.

They passed through Route 25 in less than half a day. The golden sun shone over the horizon of Cerulean City, which was not a big city. Their mountain bikes sped along a dirt path. They were almost there! At sunset, they arrived in the city.

Charlie immediately headed for the gym, but was crestfallen when she arrived.

?Closed!? she read aloud and angrily. ?Now where do we go??

?Pokemon Centre, where else?? Danny said simply.

They had always stayed in the Pokemon Centre while in a city, but just around the block, they noticed a sign on the azure double doors.

?Closed,? he muttered. ?It?s not usually closed at weekends, the Pokemon Centre, is it??

?No,? Ray replied, confused. ?Only at night, but then we?d already be in.?

?Well, we thought you?d know. You?ve been here for a year,? Danny admitted.

?And it?s only, what, 7:50,? Charlie added, checking her wristwatch on her right arm. ?Strange??

?Well, I guess we?ll have to camp out,? said Ray briskly.

?What. Now?? asked Danny, shocked. ?Right here??

?No,? Ray laughed. ?We?ll come up to my old base by the cliff.?

?But the bikers??? Charlie began.

?Will have left by now,? Ray finished. ?Come on guys.?

Under a blanket of glimmering stars, Ray only had to touch the door of his old gang?s cabin to knock it down; inside the unkempt room were four wooden beds and nothing more. Charlie assumed that Joel, Sam and Billy had taken the rest of their belongings, or maybe this was all they ever had.

Charlie clambered into one of the four uncomfortable beds. She laid thinking for a while. She remembered how, in North Cape, she would have given anything for a bed. To her right, Ray and Danny stayed up late into the night chatting about Pokemon as friends do. Gazing up through the cracked ceiling of the tiny log cabin to a patch of moonlit sky, Charlie?s mind bubbled with questions eager to be answered: Would she be good enough to win at this Gym? She hadn?t passed Brock?s Gym the first time; in fact, she was terrible. Who was the leader? Brock was friendly enough, but what about this time? She knew nothing of the Cerulean Gym. She could always ask Ray?

Ray awoke first the following morning, having being the first to sleep. Charlie, whose mind had been awake all night, was shattered when her friends dragged her out of bed at 9:00.

Later in the day after breakfast (egg and toast) and after they left the camp, walking down the dry, sandy, dirt path back to the city, Charlie still knew nothing.

?Hey, Ray,? she began, wandering down the winding trail, her long, sandy brown hair shimmering in the sun, ?Do you know anything about the Gym here??

Ray grunted.

?Sorry,? Charlie stammered. ?I just thought you?d be the best person to ask, with being stuck here all year,? she mumbled on, embarrassed by her own question. Ray had stayed in Route 24 in the cabin near the chasm. She?d just thought that, maybe, on one of his frequent absences from the camp, he had been to the city.

?Why didn?t you sneak off and live in the city?? she asked. It was a question that she had wanted to know the answer to since she?d met him. He was stronger than his gang, the youngest, too.

?We always left our stuff at the base. Anyway, you?ve never seen Joel when he?s angry,? Ray replied darkly.

Midday had been and gone as Charlie opened the door to the large, Cerulean Gym. It had a glistening white dome shaped roof, and a large sculpture of a Dewgong rested above the entrance.

Inside, however, the Gym was nothing like Pewter Gym. Cerulean Gym was more like a pool. Stands stood around the pool, and there, walking along the azure corridor lined with glass tanks full of water were three beautiful, older girls. One had hair the shade of a deep, sharp violet. Another?s hair glistened pink and the third was blond. Their wavy locks shone in the bright lights surrounding them.

?Excuse me,? Charlie said bravely. ?I?ve come for a Gym Battle.?

?Brilliant!? smiled the girl with the neon pink hair; her teeth sparkled as she flashed her best grin.

?But Lily, you?ve like, never battled!? protested her violet headed older sister.

?Everyone needs practice,? insisted Lily. ?Weren?t you just saying that Seel?s totally tired??

Lily?s sister sighed. Something about their accents made Charlie want to scream, but she resisted the urge.

?One on one,? Lily announced. Charlie echoed her.

In her pink swimsuit, Lily happily climbed onto a cobalt blue foam mat at the side of the Olympic-sized pool. Charlie uneasily removed her trainers and stood firmly on the opposing cherry red mat.

?Begin!? commanded Violet, refereeing from the sidelines.

?I choose Goldeen!? Lily announced, releasing a white fish Pokemon with orange, frilly fins and a sharp horn on its head.

?Goldeen, the Goldfish Pokemon,? reported Charlie?s Pokedex from her back pocket. ?Its billowing fins have earned it the nickname ?The Water Queen?.?

?Pikachu, you?re my best shot,? Charlie said bravely to the red and white orb containing Zane?s old friend Pika. ?Go!?

 

[Silver Sol]

I like this a lot. probably one of the best on PC (Though there's not many on PC). I like the charas and the pokemon in it. great description too. Are any characters based off real people?

 

[DarkCharlie]

Really? Not that many people like it...

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read it, not many people will as it's currently 15 Chapters long...

Charlie is actually a self-inserted person of myself. I think I've pulled that off quite well, though, as you're usually told not to do self-inserts. Danny, Ray and the others are just figments of my imagination.

 

[DarkCharlie]

((I finally overcame my massive writer's block and managed to put this together...))


Episode 016. Pandemonium at the Pokemon Centre

"Goldeen, use Water Gun attack!" called Lily, a Cerulean Gym Leader and one third of the Sensational Sisters. The Olympic sized swimming pool reflected the light that shone through the glass roof of the Gym.

Balancing on the opposite red foam float stood Charlie: a twelve-year-old trainer competing to earn her second Pokemon League Badge.

Lily's goldfish Pokemon opened it's tiny, rosebud lips and sprayed a jet of foam over Charlie's Pikachu, standing on one of many small floats in the area. As an electric Pokemon, Pikachu braced itself for the weak blast; it wasn't hurt. Pikachu stumbled backwards, making the float wobble dangerously.

"Thundershock, now!" shouted Charlie.

Her Pokemon's fluorescent red cheeks glowed with electricity.

"PIKACHUUUU!" it cried, producing a mass electric shock. Lily gasped as Charlie smiled. Pikachu was an amazing Pokemon, so why did Zane want to give it away? Sparks circled the small Pikachu; one soared across the Gym and electrocuted Goldeen. Goldeen jumped out of the pool and the shock hit the horn on its forehead. Goldeen cried out.

Goldeen was struck by the first thin bolt, but dodged sharply to avoid the second. It plummeted into the water, causing a huge splash.

"Goldeen, are you alright?" Lily asked. When Goldeen surfaced, she commanded a Horn Attack.

Pikachu didn't expect the attack to happen so quickly; Goldeen shot like a speeding bullet out of the water. Its sharp horn hit Pikachu squarely in the stomach. Pikachu cried as it fell into the water.

"PIK- hey!" realised Charlie, "use Thundershock in the water!"

Pikachu pushed its head out of the water, those little yellow ears sticking up and alert.

"CHU!" it cried, relinquishing a huge surge of power around the gym. The foam mats blocked the shock from reaching Charlie and Lily. The azure pool conducted the shock, multiplying it before it struck Goldeen.

Goldeen floated to the surface, belly up. Lily gasped. She'd lost, Charlie had won. Lily hopped off the blue float with ease. Charlie lay down and tried to pull herself to the side, but falling in accidentally. She had always been a good swimmer, though. She pulled herself out of the pool and quickly changed into her spare clothes in the changing room before departing the gym.

Her baggy black jogging bottoms keeping her warm, she walked out of the Gym. The cold air beat her bare arms and face, and her long hair dripped down her white vest, but she was happy.

Charlie held her Cerulean blue Cascade Badge above her head; it glinted in the autumn sun. She headed towards the Pokemon Centre, surely it would be open by now; it was past midday.

Charlie read out loud the sign on the Pokemon Centre's door:

"Closed! That's just typical!"

She stared, as if willing Nurse Joy to appear and open the Centre for her, but it did not happen, however, there was definitely somebody in there.

"Now you fool, I said go in there!" shouted an angry male voice, Charlie thought she knew who it belonged to.

A second someone yelled back, "Now look what you've done! They know we're here!"

"If you two actually shut up and did some work for once…"

Rooted to the spot, the trainers awaited Max or Sam to burst through the door at them, but when the door opened, a complete stranger faced them.

"If you knew what's best for you you'd clear off!" shouted the girl, slamming the door behind her, her long brunette hair blowing in the wind. She wore the same uniform as Max and Sam: red trainers, black trousers and a red top with a black letter 'R'. Team Rocket, it couldn't mean anything too bad, but at the moment, Charlie wasn't quite sure. Locking up the Pokemon Centre in broad daylight would take some serious guts.

"Why should we clear off? We want to use the Pokemon Centre!" Charlie yelled back.

The woman smiled, "Then I'll just have to make you get out of the way like good little children. Zubat, go!"

"Zubat, the Bat Pokemon, capable of flying safely in dark places, it discharges ultrasonic cries to check for any obstacles."

The blue and purple bat flew around its trainer's head happily.

"If it's a battle you want," Charlie warned, "Pika, I choose you! Thundershock now!"

Pika's cheeks sparked, the woman laughed. Mocking me? Charlie thought. I'll show her what we can do.

Pika zapped electricity at Zubat, charring it and sending it down. The woman plainly had not much interest in the battle. Charlie stood staring at the paved road embarrassed. It was made worse by the fact that a crowd had gathered around to see the cause of the mayhem. Among them, Officer Jenny drove to where Charlie and her friends were standing on her blue police bike.

"What in the world is going on here?" she raged. Charlie was more embarrassed than she can ever remember being in her life, but one look at the woman Charlie battled and Jenny seemed to know that this was serious.

"Morrissey! What are you doing here?" ordered Jenny. Jenny's Pokemon jumped out of the side-car of her bike.

"Growlithe, the Puppy Pokemon, Friendly and loyal, but also jealously protective of its territory. Carelessly approaching it may result in a bite."

"Okay, okay… god…" moaned Lucy Morrissey. "We'll just go, okay?"

"No," insisted Jenny, "Growlithe, use your-"

Two young men broke down the Pokemon Centre door in their Land Rover. As they pushed through the crowd, Lucy jumped in alongside them. Jenny shook her head, looking at the ground.

"Let's go inside," Danny suggested, breaking the silence.

The Pokemon Centre seemed as it should until they reached the back room; Pokeballs were all over the floor and some were broken, but the most shocking thing of all they found in the cellar…

 

[DarkCharlie]

Episode 017. The Illumise Illusion

They burst into the dark and gloomy cellar, much unlike the rest of the Pokemon Centre to find a single chair facing the back wall. And tied to the chair was… a dummy!? Had the captive broke free just in time to report Team Rocket to the police? They all hoped that it had happened, for not one of them would ever be happy to see their dirty, slimy faces again. The captive must have been smart, for not anyone could outwit this scheme. Team Rocket were definitely improving, though no one was keen to admit it.

Waiting on the knee of the dummy was a letter. Charlie carefully opened it and read aloud the handwriting:

I don't know what you're up to for certain, but I can guess. I know Team Rocket and I know that you will probably be stealing Pokemon. I have used this time to escape and I intend to report you to the Cerulean Police Force as soon as possible.
- Joy

She looked at the others. What was happening to Joy now? Where was she?

Wandering through the grasslands on the outskirts of Cerulean City and into the mass of trees covering Route 5, Charlie moaned. The sun overhead was blazing like, well, the sun. The trio collapsed onto the ground and scavenged around in their bags to find just a droplet of water; no such luck. They were dried out like the drooping daises that sat next to them on the plain.

"Who's up for going back to Cerulean City?" Ray asked desperately, taking of his shirt to reveal his black vest. He lay back on the grass, apparently not wanting to say another word for dehydration.

Next to him, Danny raised his hand. He had rolled up the sleeves of his navy and white long sleeved top. "And this is supposed to be October!" he moaned.

"Oh come on guys!" Charlie begged; her khaki trousers rolled up to her knees. She stood. "Face the facts; it'll take just as long to get back to Cerulean as it will to get to Vermillion," she continued, shoving her map of the Kanto region into the boys' faces. They could never be as strong-willed as her, well, Ray could sometimes, but the heat was getting the better of her too, she had to admit.

Ray sighed. He knew that she was right, but didn't want to move, and was safe to say that Danny Jones agreed. Somehow, he managed to find in him the strength to get to his feet, his black biker boots caked in mud.

Sweat dripping from her reddened face, Charlie's grey eyes fixed on a spot in the distance. Without warning, she grabbed her rucksack and ran. Charmander followed her, and then came Danny, Ray and the other Pokemon. Shroomish hopped along in front with Charmander, giving an angry scowl.

"Charl', you're mad!" Ray sighed. "There's only Pokemon here, why? Why… are we… here?"

"Look!" she cried, pointing into the distance. "A pool. Look, over there…" she turned them around to face the same direction, and pointed vividly to a spot in the distance where blue insect Pokemon were gathering.

"Illumise?" Danny snorted. "That's all there s here, Charl'. Nothing, see?"

Charlie ignored them and dashed off into the distance accompanied by her three Pokemon; Charmander, Shroomish and Pikachu. She wasn't going mad, was she?

A pool glistened in the middle of the forest, reflecting the strong sunlight. The Illumise swarmed around the pool.

As Charlie bent down to get water from the pond, someone else came running. A boy of about 10, red in the face, his blond hair dripping in sweat, he reached to drink from the pool, but the water was untouchable. If he was having the same mirage as Charlie, then… was it Danny and Ray who were going mad? Either way, she couldn't drink the water.

The way the water shimmered looked so realistic, she must have spent an hour at least trying to convince her friends that they were the ones losing their minds. Above the treetops was a huge power plant, smoke puffing from it like there was no tomorrow. "See Charl, it's the smoke fumes. Admit it," insisted Danny.

Charlie didn't answer. Instead, she looked up at the grey building. A man was staring at them from one of the higher windows, or could he see the pond too? As soon as she saw him, he disappeared. Was he and illusion too? The same man appeared out of the wood to them. She knew he was real, as they could all see him, or showed some sign of someone else around them at the least. Bend him ran a young woman in pink. Joy! The captive from the Pokemon Centre in Cerulean!

"Joy!" cried Ray, "How… How did you escape?"

"There's no time for that now," Joy said sternly, not wanting to discuss the matter at the moment. "Can any of you see this pond?" she asked, gesturing to the pond which only Charlie and the young boy could apparently see. "People here say this is a curse," she warned them. "I don't know the full story, but people say it's a curse. The curse of the Illumise, it's called."

"Curses aren't real!" Charlie snorted. "Yeah, right!"

"Listen!" Ray hushed. "I've heard of the curse of the Illumise before, it's real!" Charlie was stunned. Sure, she'd read about curses herself, but not for one second had she believed them.

"Look," cried Joy urgently, "You've got to get going back to Cerulean City, now!"

 

[DarkCharlie]

Episode 018. The Curse of the Illumise

Legs pounding the ground like an earthquake. That was how it must have seemed for the poor Pokemon of Route 5 having to witness the curse of the Illumise. Five people ran so quickly that they looked like multicoloured streaks.

Danny; a streak of blue, with his Poliwag gushing lukewarm foam from its cherry lips keeping the closing wall around them open dashed like bullets. He jumped headfirst through the circular gap in the unseen barrier and called the other four after him. Poliwag was the last through the wall. Its attack faded and the dome closed up behind them.

Collapsing onto the heated ground, Danny tugged the white sling off his arm. He didn't need it now, and it was difficult for him to run too. He took a swig from a bottle of ice cold water given to him by Nurse Joy. He turned to one of his two best friends, Ray Gibson, with flaming red hair like the heat of that October day.

"Want a drink?" he asked. But the grave look on Ray's face told him that something was wrong.

"Charlie," he mouthed, looking around frantically for the 12-year-old girl. "CHARLIE!" Ray shouted, startling everyone in the vicinity. He stared long and hard at the people surrounding him; Nurse Joy, a ten-year-old Pokemon Trainer, a worker at the local power plant. The looks of distress on their faces told him that they were not fakes, and were sorry that his friend had gone. They couldn't have trapped her, it was a curse and it was true! What was he thinking? Of course they couldn't have trapped her. He knew about the curse, he knew about it and so did they.

Ray bashed his knuckles on the invisible wall. Suddenly, the air around them froze. It was no longer the heated October day, but a frozen wasteland.

"HELP!" screamed a muffled voice.

Ray's tear-filled eyes sharpened. The voice was a familiar, female voice; that of Charlie.

"CHARLIE!" he cried. "OVER HERE!" If his voice was audible through the curse, maybe she would come to him and he could try to help. Ray shivered in the sudden cold.

Danny stood, careful not to bash his arm. He looked through the barrier. It looked just the same on the inside as it did on the outside. No Charlie anywhere. The only difference was it seemed to be growing steadily warmer inside.

Freezing that night underneath Danny's tiny tent slept five people. Ray shivered as he thought of Charlie. It felt as if his black sleeping bag had been filled with ice, and it was hard to believe that, in the morning, he would have done anything for that to be the case. Now, however… Charlie… Where was she? Was she alright? Was she worrying about them?

CRASH!

Ray awoke with a start and jumped out of the tent alertly. Danny stayed snoring for as long as Ray would allow him. The other three got up with him. The clear dome which covered Charlie faded away.

"RAY!" she screamed. "DANNY! HELP!"

Ray, Danny and the others came rushing to her aid at the pond illusion that she could no longer see. She panicked frantically before telling them what had happened. "It's a trap," she whispered. "My Pokemon are gone and I don't know where they are or anything!" she sobbed into Ray's shoulder. He hugged her friendlily while he looked around for any signs of intruders.

"Poliwag, Poochyena," Danny ordered. "If you find anyone suspicious, come back immediately and tell me. Go!"

Ray released his Magmar to search, but all the trainers could do was wait. The morning dragged on under a sea of cloud, the Pokemon still searching. Rain doused their clothes, the weather freezing and their Pokemon gone.

"Yena!" growled Danny Jones' Poochyena in the middle of the dark, damp and dreary afternoon. They got to their feet abruptly, after having nothing to do all morning, it was a relief.

The trainers, Joy and the worker followed Poochyena through the trees oak trees and shrubs and into a clearing where Magmar towered over two men in black, Poliwag cowering behind the flaming Pokemon. Charlie recognised the two men in black. Their uniforms emblazoned with a red letter 'R', it was a certainty that it was a Team Rocket trap.

A third figure in black jumped out from behind the shrubs unexpectedly. A female figure that had came to rescue Max and Sam.

"Best one yet guys!" congratulated their female team mate. "Just take them back to the boss and we'll be rich and respected members…"

"You wish," muttered Danny under his breath. The three sharp pairs of eyes glanced in the trainers' direction. "What happened? What did you do to my friend?"

A sickly smile spread across the woman's face. "You really don't want to know, little boy."

"I do. I think we all do," he insisted.

"Well," began Max, smirking. He trailed off into mumbled ramblings. "RUN!"

"You cowards! You're even afraid to battle me!" shouted Danny.

"We'd rather be rich cowards!" called Max over his shoulder as the three of them raced into the distant city of Cerulean.

Charlie sighed as she sat down. "I'll never get my Pokemon back now…"

All the others could do was look at her with grave faces. She felt a warm hand on her shoulder.

"It's now or never Charl'. Come on," insisted Ray, tugging at her olive coloured top. "Let's go."

 

[Schizophrenic Charmander]

Wow. Just finished all eighteen chapters. Well, first of all, I've got to congratulate you. Most trainer fan fictions don't get this far at all. I certainly admire your determination. It isn't just battles upon battles either, you've broken up the gym battles with many sub-plots, and it was all very good to read. I like how you've tied in Ray and Danny, lots of the chapters have been really brilliant. I really liked when Ray came in and Pewter city - so far, I think they've been your best chapters. It is all very good - but, there are a few nitpicks. For instance, in a lot of chapters there is a weird grammar mistake, there is a question mark instead of certain punctuation marks - did you copy it from Microsoft Word? Fixing that might make more people start reading it, since I almost stopped reading because of that.

Oh, and in Episode 009, Joy asks how the gym battle went, and you put "Danny was shocked. He was prepared for a screaming fit" - could you explain why he was shocked and prepared for a screaming fit, because I didn't quite understand.

And there are a couple of continuity errors. You seem to skip ahead quite a bit, forcing the reader to read very carefully so that they can follow the plotline. Like the instance in that cave where the Pikachu are - the story only details them being there for one night, but in chapter 15 you put "She didn't know why she hadn't just told Zane to keep his Pikachu. He wasn't a bad guy, but she just couldn't see why Pika had so eagerly left its trainer to come with her, Danny and Ray, people who Pika had known only for a week; a week that seemed to last forever", - this makes no sense.

Except for those errors though, it's a very good story, and I'll certainly keep reading!