***

Kelly had been sitting on her bench for hours, watching the sun arch across the sky.

And she was at a complete loss as to what to do.

She knew the best thing to do was to wait. She needed to wait until Jason's predicament went either way.

She sincerely hoped he'd be cleared. She didn't want to see anything bad happen to him. Though she still thought of him as a bit of a pain when it came to certain subjects, she'd come to find him as a pretty cool guy over the past couple of days. And she was also...

She shook her head fiercely. No, that can't be right. If I were to be attracted to someone, it wouldn't happen that fast.

Would it?

She shook her head again. No. It wouldn't.

She plucked a shrunken Ultra ball from her belt and inspected it. He said he was talking about me to Professor Oak. He was caught going to Oak's lab to talk about my curiosity, and whether he should tell me his secret.

It's my fault that he's caught up in this.

"Excuse me."

Kelly looked up from her inspection and saw a lanky, rather handsome young man walking up to her. He smiled. "Anyone sitting here?"

"Other than me, no," she answered.

"Well, then, mind if I sit?"

"No, go ahead."

He looked to be a few years older than her. He was wearing black jeans and a black T-shirt, and she could see that he was well-built for someone his age. He had short-cropped black hair and blazing electric blue eyes, as well as a short mustache and goatee. His skin was deeply tanned, and she could discern no tan line on his neck or arms.

Her eyes flashed toward his waist for just an instant, and she saw that he was sporting a filled capture ball belt. All of the capture balls were Ultra balls. She also caught the gold and silver glint of his watch. Rich boy.

The stranger stared out at the small town square. "Beautiful day," he commented.

"Yeah," she answered noncommittally.

The stranger grinned and turned to her. "What do you mean, 'yeah'? The sky's blue, with just the right amount of white clouds. The breeze is light, the temperature is pleasantly warm, the grass is full and green, and all you can say is 'yeah'?"

"Sorry. My mind's not really on the weather," she responded.

"So I can see. The outside of a Great ball mesmerizes you to that point, huh?"

She snorted and tucked the ball back into her belt. "I wasn't really thinking about the ball, either."

"Then what?" the stranger chuckled.

Kelly sighed. "I've got a friend in sort of a sticky situation with the police."

"Hmm. And I suppose you're waiting out here to see how it'll turn out, because they won't let you talk to this friend for more than five minutes each day, right?"

"Basically."

The stranger chuckled again. "Well, would you like someone to pass the time with? It might be a long wait. And I might like to hear about this friend of yours."

Kelly considered it for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, I could use a friend outside the jail right about now."

"Well, in that case, let's introduce ourselves."

She smiled and offered her hand. "I'm Kelly."

He grasped her hand firmly.

"I'm Daniel."

***

Jason was going out of his mind in his cell. By evening, he was nearly insane with boredom. Officer Jenny refused to sate him mentally, though she did bring in a three-course meal for dinner. He pounced on it immediately, since he was feeling famished as well.

As the last sunshine faded away, so did the last of the light in Jason's otherwise empty cell block.

And so did the last of his hope.

That was when he saw the glow.

He rolled over on the concrete slab and saw two harsh red lights floating right in the center of the cell.

And he grinned. "Gengar, those are the best things I've seen all day."

"Gengar." The rest of its body appeared, and it stood there, grinning at him.

Jason began to worry. It doesn't have my belt. "Gengar, where's the belt?"

It just stood there, grinning.

And then it took one step towards him.

"Officer!" he yelled. "Officer Jenny!"

Officer Jenny burst into the cell block and saw the Gengar standing there.

She glared at both of them. "So, it returns to its master hoping to free him, huh?"

"That's not my Gengar!" Jason shouted.

"What?"

"Get your Growlithe, now!"

The Gengar turned to her and grinned its awful grin at her.

Then, in an instant, it phased through the bars and rammed into the pit of Officer Jenny's stomach.

"Oof!"

Jenny flew back through the doorway. Jason heard a sharp crack, and knew she had been knocked out.

"Oh, man," he muttered. "I'm next!"

The Gengar entered the cell block again and turned to Jason.

It bolted into the air...

And was blasted back by a multicolored beam of psychic energy.

Another Gengar floated through the window bars of Jason's cell. It was glaring at its downed twin.

And it was carrying Jason's belt over its shoulder.

Jason breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "Man, am I glad to see you, Gengar."

"Gengar." It nodded, then grabbed Jason by his hand and pulled him straight toward the wall.

Both of them phased right through it and into the open night.

Jason blew out his breath. No time to lose; I've gotta get out of here!

But then he realized that if that Gengar had been after him...

It might have been the one that attacked Sam!

"Gengar," he said, "go get your evil twin in there."

"Gengar?"

Jason tapped the side of his head.

Gengar understood, raced through the wall, and came back through it again with its opponent in hand.

The other Gengar wrestled itself free of its "brother" and tried to get away.

"Gengar, give me the belt," Jason quickly ordered. Gengar obeyed, and Jason enlarged an Ultra ball and threw it. "Go, Mr. Mime!"

Out popped a goofy-looking mime-like Pokémon. Jason could only wonder at the mentality of a human who would imitate this kind of Pokémon, but at the moment, he didn't have the time. "Quick, don't let that Gengar get away! Use Barrier and box it in!"

Jason's Mr. Mime quickly conjured a transparent barrier directly in the enemy Gengar's path. It bounced against the obstruction; Mr. Mime used the distraction to conjure a pair of barriers on either side of its opponent, and then another one directly over it.

"Okay, Gengar, aim a Psybeam straight into the opening," Jason ordered.

Another glowing multicolored beam of energy erupted from Jason's Gengar and struck its target dead center.

The enemy Gengar stood for a moment, then fell back to the ground. It didn't rise again.

Jason sighed. "Okay, Gengar, let's take it to the Pokémon center. They'll put it into a secure cell. Unlike mine. Let's go get Officer Jenny, too."

***

Jason stood over Professor Oak. The man looked frail, somehow, which didn't look very dignified to Jason; Oak had been a strong influence on him in the past two years.

And now, here he lay, dying of a curse. A curse which, hopefully, would be lifted soon.

But he would always bear the marks of that curse.

Because of the intense physical and mental trauma Oak had suffered from the attack and the curse, his hair had lost all of its pigment. He would have white hair for the rest of his life.

Jason blamed himself for the entire ordeal. If I had kept my nose out of my brother's business, none of this would ever have happened. Why did I ever listen to those trainers?

Jason's name had not been cleared yet, but as far as Officer Jenny was concerned, Jason's Gengar had saved both their lives, and she believed that exonerated it. He had spoken to her a while ago.

"Now," she'd said, "we need to heal Professor Oak and find out who that Gengar belongs to. I'll have Nurse Joy use some of her psychic Pokémon to... convince it to help us."

"Do we know what kind of attack that Gengar used yet?" Jason had asked.

"No. It's unlike anything I've ever seen before. Whatever the attack was, I'm positive that the Gengar didn't learn it naturally. No attack I've seen could have that kind of effect on a human."

And Jason began to wonder where Kelly was during all this.

***

Kelly forced her eyes open, and found that she was in a dark room. Her joints felt stiff, and she realized she was sitting up.

When she tried to stand, however, she found that her ankles had been bound to the chair she was sitting in. She tried to shift her wrists around, to find that they were likewise tied to the chair.

"Hey!" she shouted. "Help! Somebody help!"

"You don't have to yell," said a low voice, directly in front of her. "I'm right here."

"You're not the one I'm yelling for," she answered, and she spat blindly, hoping to hit her captor's face. "Help!"

Daniel clamped his hand over her mouth. "I'm not interested in letting you go right now, Kelly. Your so-called friend and I have a serious score to settle. And we're going to settle it. And you're going to stay here and keep quiet."

He removed his hand and replaced it with a strip of tape, effectively keeping her silent.

Kelly didn't understand what was going on, other than it seemed like everyone had it in for Jason. All she knew was that one moment, she was telling Daniel details about their meeting, arrival into Pallet Town, and Jason, and then she had awakened here, wherever this was.

She heard a doorknob twist, and then a small amount of light leaked into the room she was stuck in. Daniel stood in the doorway for a moment, as if he were savoring his encounter with Jason. Then she saw his mustache turn upward.

"I'll have my revenge, squirt. You can count on it." He glanced at Kelly. "But first, some collateral damage."

He left and locked the door behind him.

***

Jason was walking the shadier areas of Pallet Town, not quite sure what to do with himself. All he could do was wait for Nurse Joy's Pokémon to do their job, and for Professor Oak to heal.

As he passed by Mrs. Ketchum's house, he saw a dark figure approach the same house, apparently oblivious to Jason's presence there. Jason stopped walking and watched the stranger from the shade of the dense trees behind him.

The stranger muttered some unintelligible words, then flicked his forearm upward. There came a flash of light, and then a neon energy bolt that Jason recognized all too well as coming from a capture ball.

The bolt materialized as a Charizard.

Jason felt a brief pang of envy; he had a Charmeleon, but it had chosen not to evolve for the time being, and Jason didn't want to push it, though he desperately wanted a Charizard.

But what he saw next caused his eyes to widen in horror.

The Charizard lifted into the air on its powerful wings and began blasting the Ketchums' house with blazing fire.

Jason's reaction was immediate. He pulled the one Poké ball he had from his belt, enlarged it, and threw it. "Gyarados, get out here!"

Gyarados appeared and didn't wait for Jason's orders. It assessed the situation in a split-second: an innocent family was in danger because of a psychotic trainer and his deranged Pokémon, and that family would be lost if instant action wasn't taken.

Gyarados blasted three Hydro Pump shots straight toward the flying Charizard.

The first shot missed.

The other two didn't.

The Charizard roared in defiance, but the damage had been done; it crashed to the ground, rumbling the ground beneath Jason's feet and knocking its trainer over.

Jason strode up to the trainer. "Now," he said, "who in their right mind would do a thing like that, huh? Got some problem with the residents?"

"Man," the trainer grunted, "you really, seriously did not want to do that. You really didn't."

"Well, I didn't. My Gyarados did." Jason looked back at Gyarados, who was using another Hydro Pump to beat back the remaining flames on the roof.

The figure stood up. "Same difference. You've got some issues, man, some serious issues. I'm here to put 'em to rest. And to put you to rest. Permanently."

"Really? And you went off to burn a house just to get my attention, is that it?"

Even though the figure was shrouded by darkness, Jason could see the sides of his face widen. He was smiling. "You're the only one I want."

Jason spread his arms wide. "Well, you got me. Now what?"

"Now we finish what you started."

The figure stepped into the light of his Charizard's tail.

Jason's eyes widened and he gaped.

Gyarados roared.

Daniel nodded. "Yeah, you remember me, don't you, Gyarados?" He turned his malice-filled eyes to Jason. "Obviously, I don't need to ask you."

Jason was still shocked into paralysis, with the exception of his legs, which felt as if they were becoming jelly.

He was looking straight into the face of his estranged brother.

Daniel grinned. "I thought you'd be happy to see a relative, squirt. So I dropped in to say hi. Met a couple good friends of yours along the way. That coot Professor Oak, for one."

Jason's expression turned from cold horror to burning hatred. "It was your Gengar."

"Wow! He's catching on!" Daniel exclaimed. "Before long, you'll be learning long division! Of course it was my Gengar! I decided it was time for you to pay the piper. And I heard you were around."

"What did you do to him?"

Daniel giggled maliciously. "What someone should have done to the old fart a long time ago. He'll be devastated for the rest of his short life. His days are over, buddy boy. And so are yours. And let me tell you something else; being on Giovanni's payroll isn't a bad bonus, either."

Devastated...

"And I met another friend of yours," Daniel continued. "She's great company, when she's not siding with the enemy."

Jason glared at his brother. "What did you do with Kelly?"

"I put her somewhere safe," Daniel responded, growing impatient. "No one to cheer either of us on, kid. Just you and me."

Jason's eyes blazed. "You want to do this? Here? Now?"

"Yeah!" Daniel shouted.

"All right, then! Let's do it!" Jason yelled.

And he threw his other five occupied capture balls.

One by one, five of his strongest Pokémon emerged.

Gengar.

Magneton.

Venusaur.

Mr. Mime.

And Porygon.

All of these, plus Gyarados, took position around Daniel.

It was Daniel's turn to widen his eyes.

He reached for his four occupied Ultra balls.

But before he could pluck them from his belt, Gengar and Mr. Mime concerted their efforts and psychically ripped all of them clear of Daniel's grasp.

Daniel turned to his Charizard. "Charizard, get up and fight!"

"Magneton," Jason called, "Thunder Wave!"

The floating Pokémon known as Magneton spun around and fired a blast of paralytic electricity toward Charizard.

The shock struck its target with precision accuracy. Charizard's nerves were shorted out, and it hit the ground again.

Daniel stared hopelessly at his downed Pokémon.

"You're out of options, Daniel," said Jason. "You surrender?"

Daniel screamed incoherently and bolted straight toward Jason.

"Venusaur!" Jason shouted.

A dozen vine whips lashed out in Jason's defense and caught Daniel in their grasp before he even got close to his younger brother.

Jason walked up to Daniel as the older Creight struggled against Venusaur's vine whips.

He approached until he was almost nose to nose with his estranged brother.

"I'll only ask this once, and then I'll turn you over to my Gengar," Jason said, in a very low, menacing tone. "What did you do with Kelly?"

Daniel spat.

A Mr. Mime Barrier, however, splashed it before it even got a centimeter past Daniel's mouth.

"You see," Jason continued, "my Gengar isn't really happy about yours trying to place the blame on it. Yours is in custody now; it won't be coming back to you. Which means you're the only one left for my Gengar to play with."

Jason's expression hardened. "I've seen Gengar shred some Pokémon minds to pieces. And since you're decidedly lower on the evolutionary ladder than Pokémon, I'd wager heavily that it can do the same to you."

Daniel's insane grin returned. "You shred my mind and you won't get any information out of me."

"Never said I was planning to let Gengar do anything of the sort," Jason responded. "I'm just saying it's capable. And if it's capable of shredding your mind, it's capable of simply taking the information from you."

He turned to Gengar. "Go ahead."

Gengar floated up to eye level with Daniel, and its eyes turned red.

Daniel began to shudder.

He grunted.

Then he cried out, and his head slumped.

Gengar's eyes turned white again, and it landed.

"Did you get it?" Jason asked.

Gengar nodded. "Gengar!"

Jason turned to Venusaur. "Go take Daniel to the police station and tell Officer Jenny's Growlithe what happened. Make sure you've got him in a secure grip; we don't want him getting loose. He's got a lot to answer for."

"Saur." Venusaur lumbered off in the direction of the station.

Jason pulled out four capture balls. "Mr. Mime, Porygon, Gyarados, and Magneton, return!"

After the balls had returned to his belt, Jason looked down to Gengar. "Let's go find Kelly."

***

When Kelly first heard the banging on the door, she had been half-asleep and thought she'd imagined it.

When the doorknob started to click back and forth, she realized she hadn't. She cried out; muffled by the tape, but apparently audible, because the next thing she heard was, "Kelly! Thank God, you're alive! Hang on, we'll get you out of there!"

A moment later, Kelly heard the awful rending of metal, and the door fell inward.

"Gengar, return!" Jason said, and Gengar was sucked back into its Great ball. He raced into the room, hit the light switch, and found Kelly bound to a chair that had been toppled.

"Oh, man," he muttered, as he sat on his heels and ripped the tape from Kelly's mouth.

Her instant reaction was to gasp for air. As she tried to catch her breath, she panted out, "Guy I met... name's Daniel... used Pokémon... knocked me out.. found myself here... has it in for you..."

"Yeah, I know." Jason pulled out his pocketknife and slashed the tape from her wrists and ankles. "It's all been taken care of."

Kelly moved shakily out of the chair she'd been bound to for hours, and stood with Jason's help.

She hugged him tightly, and tears streamed down her face. "I was so scared..."

"Don't worry," he whispered. "It's all over now."

***

The next morning, Jason awoke to the sight of the sun, burning red against his eyelids. He opened his eyes, and found that somehow, he'd spent the night with Kelly sleeping in his embrace. He looked around, having temporarily forgotten where he was.

Apparently, they were back in their room at Professor Oak's lab. And though there were two beds in the room, Kelly had somehow ended up in Jason's lap.

And that was how they'd fallen asleep.

He knew that there was no avoiding it. He was going to have to tell her, and he was going to have to do it today. They were both too deep into it now for him to hold it back any longer.

They'd both undergone considerable debriefing at the police station the previous night. Jason had refused to say anything about his feud with Daniel beyond, "There was a lot of bad blood between us." That was fine with the police; they put it down as an emotional breakdown.

They'd also "convinced" Daniel's Gengar to cooperate with authorities and had it reverse its curse on Professor Oak. Oak was being nurtured back to health, but he wouldn't be up and about for a while, yet.

Jason hadn't visited Oak, and he wasn't planning to. He felt too ashamed, because he'd pulled Oak into the entire mess. His only consolation was that his brother was being brought to justice.

He felt Kelly breathing, felt her stomach push forward and then pull back against his arms. He looked at her as if he'd seen her for the first time, but in a new light.

There had been girls on Tangelo Island, but while he was living there, those girls and he had been of an age that didn't quite appreciate the opposite sex just yet. The older girls, the teenage ones, might have glanced once or twice in his direction, claiming how cute they thought he was. But he knew that they were either being kind, or were sucking up to him because of his heritage.

And now he was older. And here was a girl that had chosen to travel with him, probably against her better judgment as well as his own. She wanted to know about him, and that was something that was both gratifying and dangerous for him. He was glad that someone else cared enough to try to know him; on the other hand, he didn't like thinking about it, and he didn't think he'd like talking about it much, either. And there was always the possibility that somehow, it might leak.

But I have to do it, he thought. And I will.

Today.

***

Their only stop before leaving Pallet Town was the lab. Jason wanted to change his team, and so he did. He returned his Gengar, Porygon, Magneton, Mr. Mime, and Venusaur to the lab. That done, he took Lapras, Cloyster, Staryu, Vaporeon, and Raichu. Raichu was meant for any encounters with hostile water-types they might encounter on their way to Cinnabar.

When they reached the shoreline, Jason pulled out Gyarados' Poké ball. "Let's get this show on the water, Gyarados."

Gyarados appeared in the water and offered its back to Jason and Kelly. Jason got on without hesitation, but Kelly was a different matter.

Jason turned. "Something wrong, Kelly?"

She looked reluctant. "Not to insult your Gyarados or anything, but I'm not sure if I can quite trust a Pokémon that's been generally accepted the 'atrocious' Pokémon. I'd prefer to ride a Pokémon that's not known for atrocities, thanks."

Jason shrugged. "Not a problem." He pulled out an Ultra ball and threw it. "Come on out, Lapras!"

Jason's Lapras sprang into existence a moment later. Kelly looked relieved as she climbed onto its domed back.

"Okay, if everyone's ready, let's go," said Jason. "Cinnabar, ho!"

***

After nearly four hours at sea, Kelly felt her stomach getting a little queasy.

This was no secret to Jason; he could see her turning a light shade of green.

"Hey, Kelly," he said, "if you need to blow, go ahead, but please be kind enough not to do it on Lapras, since it hasn't done anything to you."

She half-smiled, but it quickly disappeared. She leaned over the left side of Lapras' back, and Jason could hear her making retching noises.

"Man, Gyarados, I'm glad I don't live in that water, whatever's going in," he muttered. "Bet the fish and Shellders are having a great time with that."

And then, Jason saw the blue domes floating ahead.

"Oh, no," he moaned.

"What?" asked Kelly, having finished her business.

"See those up ahead?" Jason pointed to the domes.

"Yeah. Blue bubbles with red jewels... in... oh, no," she said, realizing now what they were.

It was a flotilla of Tentacruel.

"Gyarados, can we get around them?" Jason asked.

Gyarados shook its massive head.

"Then I guess we'll just have to go through them," he said. He turned to Kelly and Lapras. "Lapras, keep yourself and Kelly at a safe distance. I'm going to try and clear a path for us."

"Why not just have Lapras use Ice Beam?" Kelly asked, even as Lapras came to a stop in the water.

"That would only work if Lapras knew Ice Beam," Jason answered. "For now, we'll have to go the weakness route."

Then he pulled Raichu's Poké ball from his belt. "Come on out, Raichu!"

Jason's Raichu appeared in midair and splashed into the water.

The Tentacruel turned.

Raichu surfaced, confused but not panicked. It looked to its trainer.

"Raichu, we need you to clear those unfriendly Tentacruel up ahead," Jason said. "think you can do it?"

"Rai!"

"Good. Now, I need you to time this precisely. When I give the order, I need you out of the water so you don't shock us in the process. Gyarados, when I tell Raichu to attack, I need you out of the water, too."

"What about us?" asked Kelly.

"You should be all right, but if you want, you can jump as well."

"Fine."

Jason turned back to Raichu. "Ready?"

"Rai!"

"Okay." Jason took a deep breath.

One... two... three!

"Raichu, Thunderbolt attack!"

Raichu ducked down under the water, then swam straight back up and launched itself out of the sea.

Gyarados launched out at the same moment.

And that was when the Tentacruel fired their Supersonic blasts.

Bombarded with a piercing screech, Raichu and Gyarados both came crashing back into the water at ninety degree angles. Jason cried out as he fell off Gyarados' back and into the water.

And Raichu finally attacked...

Submerged.

***

Kelly saw everything. She even felt a bit of the shock pulse through her, and her heart went out to Lapras, who stiffened in pain.

But she was horrified when she realized that Jason was in the water.

"Jason!" she screamed.

Lapras cried out in unison.

"Get us over there, Lapras! Right now!" Kelly shouted.

The transport Pokémon pumped its powerful fins and pushed them over to the site Gyarados had landed.

Kelly dived in, uncaring of the danger.

She saw Gyarados floating, unconscious, just a yard below the surface.

And Jason...

Jason was floating upward.

Limp and facedown.

Kelly pushed her way down to him and slung her arms around his waist. She kicked as hard as she could to return to the surface.

When she finally breached, she gasped for air and turned Jason over in the water.

He gurgled up water.

His eyes opened a crack.

"Get... Gyarados..." he muttered. "Raichu..."

She grabbed Gyarados' and Raichu's Poké balls and went back down. She touched Gyarados' ball to its scales, and the ball automatically opened and sucked Gyarados inside.

She surfaced for air, and found Raichu trying to swim away.

"Raichu, return!" she called, her words activating the ball's automated response system. It sent out its energy vacuum and caught Raichu.

She then shrank the balls, stuck them in Jason's belt, and called, "Lapras!"

Lapras floated over to her, grabbed Jason with its mouth, and hoisted him onto its back.

Kelly climbed on. "Take us back to Pallet Town, quickly!"

She bent over Jason and shook him.

"Don't you die on me, Jason," she muttered. "You stay alive, you hear me?"

He couldn't hear her. He had passed out from the pain.

Her fingers pressed against the side of his neck, checking for a pulse. Then they hovered over his open mouth, checking for breath.

She could find neither.

"Jason!" she shouted. "Don't you dare die on me, Jason!"

She bent over him and began performing CPR on him, her mind totally bent on saving his life.

After what seemed an eternity of breathing into him and pumping his chest, he gurgled up more water and gasped for air.

Kelly sat back against Lapras' neck, pulled Jason's body into her lap, and held him there.

She knew his life was on the line.

But for the moment...

Jason Creight breathed on.