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Starting in Saffron // A Gray Journey

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Julian returned the stare that the magneton delivered to him. Somehow, he could tell it was a different kind of stare than the one that he had gotten when they had first met. There was less hostility, or that's the vibe he got. No sparks, for one thing. Without notice, as if nothing had happened, it broke it's gaze and floated off after it's trainer.

"See you." Julian said. Lash whispered suddenly.

<We probably won't. She's most likely headed for Lavender, and we're on our way to Celadon.>

"Yeah.." Julian mused. "Well, let's go. I can see the underground path from here."

They waited for about 10 minutes until Julian's leg began to feel better, and they headed off. As they got close, they could see the actual building itself... but it wasn't as Julian had remembered it. It was tagged up, the windows broken. Liquour bottles surrounded the area. Bikes were parked outside, and several bikers were outside, talking loudly, and drinking heavily. Julian stopped cold. Lash nudged him.

<Don't even think about it. Just go. Just go past them...> Julian nodded, his voice captivated by fear.

<We can't take another beating like that.>

Julian walked on, looking dead ahead, not daring to even glance at the thugs laughing and drinking heavily.

"Guess we're not going to Celadon." Julian muttered softly. "Might as well head to Lavender. Karen went there, right?"

Lash nodded. <I guess so. I dunno, mate. Maybe we shouldn't be following her like that. She doesn't seem the kind of girl to find stalkers flattering..>

"Oh, come off it. We can't go back, anyway. Those dudes are coming out now. We might as well just wait, and head to Lavender, then head down south along the docks to Fuschia in the morning. Both you and Ash are in no condition to go anywhere for a little while, anyway." Julian reasoned.

Lash nodded in agreement, but abruptly looked slyly at Julian.

<I bet you just want to follow that girl, huh?>

"No. Don't even start with me." Julian snapped. "We probably won't even run into her anyway. I bet she's going straight to Pokemon tower. Her pokemon aren't hurt; she just came from Saffron's Pokemon Center." he declared, matter-of-factly.

<Suuuuuure.> Lash quipped, a smug grin creeping across his furry face.

"Oh, just shut upwill you?" Julian aimed a playful blow at the pokemon, which he dodged. Lash stuck his tongue out at Julian, who grabbed his pokeball, and returned the pokemon to his capsule, clipping it back to his belt. He walked on in silence toward the ghost town... Lavender.
 
<I dislike walking. Carry me!> Silver looked down at his Eevee, who was clearly faking exaustion. He let a little smile out and laughed.

<Ha ha, no.> Silver stopped laughing suddenly Eevee stared up at him with big, round eyes. They seemed to glisten in the sun. Silver had seen this plenty of times before, but played along.

<Would you like me to let you sit on my head, and fan you with my hands?> Eevee nodded and wagged it's tail, but Silver laughed again.

<No. Now stop doing that, or you really won't make it to Lavender Town.> Eevee stopped dead in it's tracks and turned a shade paler than normal. Lavender Town was famous for Ghost-type Pokemon and the dead, a fact not unknown to Eevee.

<Why?!> Silver shrugged and walked along, ignoring the bikers running passed him.

<Well, if these are Pokemon contests, we need a Ghost. Yunno, to add a little spook to the team.> Eevee ran up beside Silver and stared straight ahead, not bothering to pester him any farther. The path seemed endless, as did the silence. Silver decided to break it.

<Wanna ride on my head?> Silver smiled and looked down, but Eevee continued to stare forward.

<No...I'm good...> Silver wondered if ghosts were really THAT scary. Just mentioning them had shut Eevee up, so they must be pretty frightening. The only other thing that had accomplished that feat was Houndour's paw in Eevee's mouth. Shaking his head, Silver focused more on where they were going, and less on Eevee's mental state.
 
"I'd like to heal my pokemon please." Karen said, handing Nursy Joy four pokeballs, keeping her luxury ball secure around her neck.

"Okay, wait just a minute." She replied, handing the pokeballs to a Chansey, who hopped off to heal the pokemon. Karen sat- bored in the lobby, watching with amusement at the celebrating trainer, whom she'd traded a newly caught Meowth for the Murkrow. In other words, the fourth pokeball. The meowth had been an easy catch, with Hitmonlee itching to exercise or do something before he became useless in the pokemon tower.

But it'd had been even better when a lass who was extremely disappointed with the ugly Murkrow she'd gotten waltzed into the pokemon center, Karen herself complaining about the weak and useless meowth she'd just caught. It was a fast and easy trade, and Karen took no time in getting to know the girly trainer. Murkrow would need a nickname though. It would be much easier to name then Hitmonlee or Hitmontop. Glint. That'd be good. And it didn't take very long for Nurse Joy to hand Karen back her pokeballs.

"Sweet." Karen smirked, clipping the pokeballs back onto her belt "Let's go then."

<'Yes, let us play in the haunted house.'> Splice sparked in a bored voice.

"Oh get over it Alakazam, you're the one who's going to fight anyway." Karen snapped, as she reached the entrance quite fast and quite easily. It wasn't as though it was very far from the pokemon center. Pushing the doors open, a fog engulfed her, a misty, and mysterious one that sent Splice back into his pokeball. She saw plenty of channelers, walking around and paying respects to dead pokemon, all of who's graves were marked by a little tombstone or something of the sort. Alakazam popped out as they reached the third level, where the pokemon started to appear. He looked bored, calm, and placid as he pointed out a clawed purple hand on Karen's shoulder, with no body to claim for it's own.

Without a command, the psychic pokemon lifted up one of it's spoons, and the handle bent over, a haunter appearing and brushing away an invisible attack. It stuck it's tongue out and floated swiftly over to Alakazam, dragging the pink tongue over Alakazam's face. Dripping with drool, Alakazam was incredibly peeved as a psychic attack brought the Haunter down to earth. But that wasn't all, the Haunter refused to stay inside the pokeball, floating out of it each time until Karen got pissed, and tossed an ultra ball at it.

"I hate ghost pokemon." She commented to Alakazam as she picked up the low-level Haunter.

Alakazam said nothing, wiping off spit and drool.
 
Lavender Town was no different than he had pictured it in his mind. Although it was his neighboring town, Julian had never been there. He barely ever left the town for anything but baseball - and since Lavender didn't have a team, it was never on his agenda. In fact, he seemed to remember facing the same teams over and over again. Pewter, Cerulean, Fuschia, and once Vermillion - but they were so pathetic, they never challenged the Slayers again.

It was quiet. Very quiet. It was small, quiet, and... boring. Julian yawned as he meandered through the town, waiting for Ash's wounds to be healed up. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Karen heading into the Pokemon Tower, but didn't pursue. He had no reason to, really. She was cute, but... that didn't necisarrily mean that he was in any way attracted to her..

Stupid Lash. He thought to himself. He eventually made his way back to the Pokemon Center, and retrieved his Pokemon. He stepped outside, taking in a deep breath of air, and closing his eyes. When he opened them, he looked down the path towards Saffron. Empty..

He looked up at the sun. It was starting to set. What time was it? Maybe 4 o'clock. He checked his watch. 4:28.

"Well, I'd better get a room back in the Pokemon Center. I didn't know it was getting this late." he mused to himself.

Stepping back into the cheerful, happy enviornment of the Pokemon Center, the smell of clean once more filled his nostrils. After filling out the hotel form, he recieved his key, and headed for his room, where he collapsed on his bed. His leg still throbbed. The whole day, it had been hurting. It was a bit of a walk from Saffron to Lavender. It was lucky he didn't run into any wild pokemon.

The hotel room was rather nice. It had a queen size bed for the trainer, and several smaller compartments for pokemon. Of course, no pokemon above a certain size were allowed out in the actual hotel room - there was a yard with a pond behind this particular center. At the one in Saffron, they just had to stay in their pokeballs. However, all of his pokemon were rather small, and fit snuggly into their respective beds. All of his pokemon were exhausted, save for Splash, who had not done anything all day, and was aching for something to do. So, bading his resting pokemon good-night, Julian and Splash headed back out into the small town, the sun slowly setting behind their backs.
 
((No editing needed, you're in.))

Gray had left his house that morning, washed, freshly dressed and well fed. He had eaten an enormous breakfast, both cooked and non-cooked, and was stopped only by his father to have a conversation about how his sister was getting on in the gym and how well he was doing on getting all of the league badges. When he had finsihed he had quickly said goodbye and left, stopping shortly afterwards to consider where he was actually going to go. Fushia City would be an ideal place to visit, seeing as he would be able to get another badge, and he would be able to stop off at Lavender Town to see if his brother was still working at the Pokemon Tower. Gray released Chu from his pokeball and kneeled down so he could jump up onto his shoulder.

"I guess i should start heading for Fuschia. Stop off at Lavender on the way, maybe see Oku. What do you think?"

"Pi! Chu." <Sounds great>

"Well that's settles it then. To Lavender town first, stop for the night maybe 'cause by the time we get there it'll be late, see Oku, then on to Fushia. No point going to Vermillion now if we can't catch the boat, and after Fushia we can go on to Cinnabar Island."

Gray stood up and headed for the gate to Lavender Town. There were a few beat-up looking bikers there, but Gray wasn't suprised. Violence was expected in a town the size of Saffron. He passed them without so much as a second glance and headed through the gate, but as he passed, a man in a black outfit passed him.

Just like the guy from outside the pokemon centre. Who the hell is he?

Gray watched him as he passed and then pushed him out of his mind, focusing on getting to Lavender Town. It would be about a day's walk, maybe longer if he took it slow, but he didn't really care. There was still at least three months until the pokemon league started applications, and that was more than enough time for him to get the remaining badges. Grey spent the rest of the day walking the route from Saffron to Lavender, battling the odd trainer here and there. He lost once, to a rather skilled female trainer who already owned all eight of her badges. Gray quickly made friends with the girl, and found out that she was heading for Saffron and then Celadon to do some shopping. Both performed the usual ritual of promising to fight each other in the league, and passed on their way, probably never to see each other again.

By 4:31 on his watch, Gray had reached the outskirts of Lavender and much sooner than he had expected. He headed for the pokemon centre straight away, hoping for it not to be busy. The whole place was practically empty, with but two trainers standing in one corner of the lobby, one with a Nidoran and the other a girl with a Meowth whom she seemed very pleased with. If he had been 1 minute earlier he would have seen a familiar face requesting a room in the centre, but as luck would have it Gray missed him entirely. His pokemon were healed quickly, but Gray decided to head for the tower first of all. It was only a short walk and the town was deserted. The few houses were darkly covered in shadow and the weather was bad, beginning to turn very stormy, possibly even worse than it had been in Saffron the night before. Gray began to get the feeling that the storm was following him, but dismissed the feeling as stupid. If he had been 1 minute later he would have seen the same familiar face, but again, luck was strange with Gray.

Gray entered the tower with Chu on his shoulder, and they walked into the strange mist that instantly sent shivers all over Chu's body. All of the pokeballs along Gray's belt to vibrate and shake violently, and Gray had to hold them all before they would stop. He bundled them into his pockets, which bulged with the tiny spheres, and continued on with Chu now huddled into the crook of his arm still shivering. For a moment Gray thought he saw a girl he had seen in Saffron also making her way through the maze of a tower, but ignored the figure, human or not. As he turned round a corner he came face-to-face with a Haunter, who began to make faces with it's extremley long tongue. Chu immediatley jumped down and sent a small jolt of electricity at the ghost pokemon. The Haunter howled and cackled as it flew upwards and away into the dark foggy mist.

"Nice work Chu. Ghost is good against Psychic, i think. Would've helped me yesterday then against Kotoko. Oh well, no point getting hung up over old battles. I wonder if Oku is in here. Probably at the top or something, stupid a*s."

"Pichuuuuuuuu." <It's cold in here. Scary.>

"Yeah. Well you know you're safe. Electric attacks work against ghost."

"Chu! Pi pi pi chu!" <Yeah, i'll knock 'em out if they try anything!"

Gray laughed and continued forward, eventually finding the stairs. He climbed them easily, although steep, and quickly got to the next floor, which was just as foggy, if not more. He tried to wave his hands to blow it away, but it just coiled around his wrists and hands like a snake of smoke and settled again when he stopped.

"Guess that doesn't work then."
 
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"Let go of me you little- ow!" Karen squealed as a possessed channeler grabbed onto her arm, eyes rolling back and showing the pure whites that contrasted with her dark hair.

"Powerful pokemon mean nothing if their trainer knows nothing of how to use them," The possessed channeler moaned, "Heed this saying well."

Karen would hear no more of it, as she yanked her arm out of the channeler's grasp and reached the second level, where no possessed channelers roamed. Thank goodness. She sighed, rolling her eyes as she mimicked the channeler, and grumbled, "I hate those tourist attracters."

<'Feeling grumpy aren't we?'> Splice asked from his pokeball, as Karen descended the stairs and passed the receptionist. Also a channeler. Ugh, Karen would never look at a channeler the same again. She hated having her fortune told, it was always the same. Something about her misusing her power or something. Sure, she wasn't exactly the brightest bulb in the room, but she was definitely the strongest one.

Brains over brawn is what her dad always said. But, he was usually talking about his muscle's a little more then his intellect anyway. Glint, the new party member, sat on Karen's shoulder, staring around imperiously from underneath his little hat. He made twitches, showing he was tempted to just fly off Karen's shoulder and steal whatever shiny thing had just caught his eye, but never really went through with it. The gloomy and rather creepy town of Lavender took a toll on all of her pokemon, as they all felt lazy and bored within minutes of being out of their pokeballs. Sitting in the room she'd just rented, with Glint staring at passing Lass's, mainly at their jewlery then their self-proclaimed beauty, Hitmonlee and Hitmontop lay bored as they kicked each other with limited energy. Even Karen felt a little dull as she looked out at the gloomy skies. Would it rain everywhere she went?
 
Splash began to bore after roughly 10 minutes. There was absolutely nothing to do in Lavender. It wasn't a big enough town to go anywhere, no parks, or anything. Just quaint little houses, all gray with the same monotony. Every house was the same shade, the same shape, even the people looked the same. Like zombies. All walking around, with no emotion. When the bell at the top of Pokemon tower rang, they all cringed, and looked away. The feeling of being in a controlled enviornment began to spook Julian. Splash felt it too, drawing closer to Julian as they began to walk just a bit faster towards the pokemon center where the rest of his friends were stationed.

The muggy air seemed to try to drive them out of the city, ever willing him to leave the balance. Somehow, he felt as if being there caused a ripple to disrupt a perfect balance of fear and emotionlessness. Maybe that's why not a lot of people went to Lavender town.

"Ugh, the sooner we get out of this place, the better." he mumbled to Splash, who quietly quacked in agreement. They looked up at the tower. Julian silently wondered if Karen was still in there.

"She wanted to catch a Haunter, right?" he wondered out loud. Splash looked confused.

"You know, that girl. Karen." Splash shrugged, and continued walking. Julian sighed.

"Let's go back to the Pokemon Center, yeah? It's starting to get dark. Almost 5:30." Splash moodily nodded in agreement. "Bach." He mumbled.

They checked in at the front desk, and headed back for the room. Julian laid Splash down to sleep, and laid down on the bed himself, staring at the ceiling. A million things ran through his mind.

"What if the bikers come back?

Where do we go next? What if I'm not strong enough to beat Jeanette? Should we go to Cinnabar?"



None of these things he had the answer to. After 20 minutes of fruitless attempts at sleep, he sat up. The pokemon center was a fair size, if he wandered around, maybe he could find something to eat, or maybe just a place to sit.

"I need to get out of this room. Too musty." He grumbled, quietly sneaking out into the carpeted hallway. All the hotel rooms were in this hallway. There were only about 10 of them, but most people didn't stay overnight much, anyway. Looking to his right, he saw down the boring gray hallway, a door that lead to room 1. To his left, he saw a small circular rest area, with chairs, a table, and a vending machine or two. If you looked past this area, more hotel rooms lined the walls, finally ending with room 10, the brass number barely visible in the dim light.

Julian slowly made his way down to the rest area, and collapsed in a heap. Behind him lay a window that looked out into the Pokemon park where a rhyhorn and a kangaskhan lazily laid around. In front of him, a door leading into the main pokemon center, and the pokemon trading rooms. He sighed, and looked up at the ceiling, the fan slowly rotating, just as emotionless and dull as everything else in the town.
 
Karen stood from her spot on the bed and stared out the murky windows. But her eyes weren't looking at the gray houses they were fixed on. She could somehow see the memories of meeting an old man, and talking about fire pokemon, and the volcano on that island. He was surely dead by now, for when Karen met him, he was already barely able to leave his lab. Perhap's he'd still be around though. He was one of the few adults Karen actually treated like an adult. His intellect, power, and skill with pokemon and just about everything else awed her. He was by far her idol, minus the white hair and wrinkles.

Blaine, a man she met when she found her way into the Cinnabar Gym. A boy, reckless and wild, was already going under teaching, to run the Gym, whether he became gym leader or not. His name had been Tsuaka, and Blaine had told Karen all about that special little boy. Of course, he'd also told her the bad details, about how he had a fiery temper and no regard for his elders, like Karen herself. She remembered that Alakazam had been just an Abra then, and was still sleeping at every free moment.

"Judging someone by their actions and their appearance is the worst thing someone can do in a battle. For once Abra learns or evolves, he will be the strongest partner a trainer could wish for." He'd said "Pokemon are not tools in life, but your companions, loyal, and trusting of you. If you treat them with kindness, you will recieve the same in return."

Karen scoffed, and Alakazam opened one eye from his meditative stance.

<'I hate memories. They're so mushy.'> Splice said monotone from his resting spot in the corner.

"I love them. They're so mushy." Karen smirked, and hoped that once she reached Cinnabar, Blaine would be more then just a tombstone in the ground. Knowing that crazy man, he'd definetly want to be burned to ashes, the thought probably thrilling.
 
Gray was on the third floor when the bell rang. The whole tower boomed and echoed with the ringing sound of the bell, and it tortured Gray and Chu. Both covered their ears and Gray ran to the nearest set of stairs, leading upwards, but not climbing them. The floor vibrated with the sound, but Gray was sure that outisde the bell wasn't nearly as bad as it was in here. The foggy mist seemed to boost the sound by at least ten times it's normal volume, and Gray was desperatley hoping he would be able to hear after he ringing stopped. When it finally did, his ears were perfectly fine. There were no after effects of the horrific sound, and Chu appeared to be fine as well.

"How can the people here stand that sound? No wonder they're all stupid and numb. I hope Oku's not like that."

gray swallowed hard, and dreaded even the thought of his older brother being turned into some deafened emotionless zombie. Gray had seen the people of the town as he had come in, and the channelors in here were worse. He was sure that it wasn't normal, and the town seemed so...dead. He climbed the stairs onto the next level of the tower, and knew that he wasn't far from the top. He could see a large opening in the ceiling and just one floor up the bottom of the large blackened bronze bell that hung from the top. It was still vibrating madly, but making no sound at all.

"Chuuuuu." <Weird>

"You said it. Let's go."

They continued across the significantly smaller room to the other side where the stairs spiralled upwards to the last floor. Gray climbed them slowly, wondering whether he actually wanted to see his brother or not.
 
(Sorry guys...I'd like to drop off from this roleplay >__> I suppose I've missed too much ^^;; But goodluck in continuing it!)
 
(OOC: Internet's down. I'm reduced to rping at Starbucks... XD Wow, I'm a loser. This won't be long, but hopefully, this'll get things moving.)

IC: Sleep came slowly to Julian. The gray monotony of the room, and the whole town seemed to drive him into a rusty slumber - something that irked him a bit. As he dreamt, he began to sweat, and suddenly awoke with a yelp, one that echoed through the gray halls of the Pokemon Center.

What had startled him was a Haunter, slowly muching on his chewy dreams. He screamed, and swatted at it with his free hand. The other hand reached for the wall closest to him. With a quick flip of his finger, the lights roared on, and the ghost Pokemon retreated with a wail. Seeing disgruntled patrons stumbling out of their rooms in their night apparal made Julian realize how loud he must have shrieked. Even his pokemon walked down the hall, tired expressions on their faces.

"We need to leave this city.. creeps the hell out of me. Let's head to Fuschia. It's gotta be almost morning by now. We'll eat, and then be out of here."

He mumbled, still shaking from the horrible pokemon's facial expression as it feasted on his dream.
 
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OOC: Look on the bright side...There's coffee. As for me, I am working on my RPing skills at another site that demands more. I don't want to drop out of here, but hold my posts for a while.
 
(((Well i have exams right now. Important exams that i hate. Like French. Anyways, it makes it difficult for me to get on that often, as i am revising, so i won't be posting that much either. Anyways, the rest of you who are still continuing, feel free to carry on without me and the others. No point in making others wait.))
 
OOC:I'll edit this post eventually with an IC, hopefully today, but I've got a chapter of my story to finish. I'm also trying to figure out what's goin' on with other stuffz on here, but otherwise I'm RPing somewhere else as well. Sorry for the wait! XP

IC:No matter how much she'd tried and tried to convince Glint that it was probably a crazy idiot who was thinking much too perverted thoughts in the middle of the night, the murkrow was convinced the scream had come from some kind of spirit or vengeful soul. And so, without much choice, Karen and the rest of the crew were forced to either leave Lavender, or endure the crazy pokemon's squawking, day and night, and by translation of Splice, it was irked that the group was still in Lavender.

Karen sighed as she stepped over the edge of Lavender, toward the water route where she would head back to Vermillion- Lt. Surge would probably want word of her being around before long, otherwise Karen guessed, there would be an entire group of soldiers after her hide to bring her back to Cinnabar- just to show her dad that his precious daughter was still alive. Besides, capturing pokemon was first on her mind at the moment, and she hadn't looked around Vermillion for very long, eager to move on to the fighting dojo. Glint on the other hand, was quite satisfied with himself, turning loops and skimming the water, happy to be out of Lavender.

Glint's trainer on the other hand, scanned the smooth blue waters for any pokemon, while Splice did the same- just with three eyes. Karen folded her arms in annoyance. There was no way she'd be able to catch a pokemon without a fishing rod. Perhaps she'd lend one from that Guru just beyond the entrance to Vermillion, and backtrack…
 
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