"A horror show is coming to Brood City," Willis said as we ate at a nearby Burger King. "I wonder what it's for?"
"I think you're supposed to go through this sort of building at night. It's Halloween come early or something like that," Lizzie said. "It's three dollars per person to get in."
"When we were in the orphanage they took us here once," I said. I put the newspaper article down and went back to eating my sandwich. "I'm sure our Pokemon would like to see it also."
"Hey, maybe I should get my Charmander out of the PC," Lizzie said.
I nodded. "Great idea." I took a box of fries out of the bag. "Hey, look. A Ratatta!"
Lizzie sat up. A purple rat ran through the park. Lizzie sat her bag on the bench. "I've gotta catch a new Pokemon! I choose you, Butterfree!" Lizzie through Butterfree's Pokeball. The pink butterfly waited for instructions. "Butterfree, catch that Ratatta in a Gust attack." Butterfree flapped its wings hard and the Ratatta flew high into the air. "Now add in a Stun Spore, Butterfree." The gust attack turned into a bunch of golden spores. They landed on Ratatta. Ratatta cried out in pain, but didn't move. All it could do was use a Growl attack, but Butterfree didn't seem scared at all. It rammed into Ratatta with a Tackle Attack.
"Lizzie, throw a Pokeball," Willis said.
"I don't have anymore," Lizzie said. As she said that, a Pokeball flew forward and hit Ratatta. Ratatta was sucked into the ball. It only shook once and then PING!
"Hey!" I yelled. I turned to who had thrown the Pokeball. A girl with a black ponytail walked up to us.
"Finders keepers," she said. "That makes six Pokemon for me."
Lizzie was angry. "That was MY Ratatta."
"You said you didn't have anymore Pokeballs. That was my opportunity. I'm Cassandra, the best Jr. Trainer in the world. I collect normal Pokemon. So now I have a Hoothoot, Pidgey, Jigglypuff, Wigglytuff, Tauros, and Ratatta."
"But--," Lizzie started.
"You couldn't have caught it anyway. You don't have any balls. POKEBALLS I mean."
"I don't have any -- never mind," Lizzie said shaking her head. "I guess you're right."
Cassandra smiled. "I knew you'd see it my way. Hey, do you want to have a battle tonight? We can have it here in the park. At midnight."
Willis's eyes got wide. "No, Lizzie! It's an old curse. On Friday the Thirteenth, Broods come to Lowton Park. Broods are evil Pokemon. The living dead. Don't do it."
Lizzie wasn't listening to Willis. She was just listening to her gut. She nodded her head. "I will fight you tonight, Cassandra. Three Pokemon each tonight. At midnight, right here. So, I accept your challenge."
Lizzie turned around. I gave her a high five. Willis just stood there with a frightened look on his face. He pulled his jacket off and tied it around his waist. The sun shined in our eyes. Lizzie and Cassandra just stared at each other.
"So, you want to withdraw your Charmander?" Prof. Oak asked Lizzie over the Picture Phone.
"Yes, Professor. And we would like to have our Poke'dex's rated."
She slid the Poke'dex into the little slot on the picture phone PC. She slid mine in right after it. Prof. Oak typed something on his computer. "Okay. Poke'dex completion level for Lizzie is... 38 Pokemon seen and 6 Pokemon owned."
"Six?" Lizzie asked. "All I have are Charmander, Butterfree Sudowoodo and Marill."
"Yes, but each time a Pokemon evolves, that counts as a new Pokemon. So Caterpie to Metapod to Butterfree is three Pokemon."
"Cool," I said. "Mine next, right Professor?"
Oak nodded. He typed in something and then he cleared his throat. "Woody, your Poke'dex completion level is 39 Pokemon seen and 6 Pokemon owned."
"Hey! He only has five," Lizzie said.
"Not quite," Prof. Oak says. "He caught a Weedle. Apparently, you guys were asleep when he did so."
I smiled at Lizzie. She sighed. "Well, at least there are a whole lot of festivals in this city. I might as well have some fun before I fight Cassandra."
We went to a bunch of huts. Out of nowhere a huge man plowed into me. I was bumped to the ground. He stepped on my hand. My broken hand. I screamed in pain and lifted my hand up to me. The cast was still okay, but my hand was burning. I glanced up at the man. He quickly pulled me to my feet. "You okay, lad? Sorry. I tripped and plowed right into you. Hi, I'm Derrick. A Hiker."
"I'm Edward. But my friends just call me Woody," I said. I held my hand in my free hand.
"Sorry 'bout dat. I don't know what I can do for ya, little feller. Hey, can I suggest that yer to go inta one of these here huts? There are really good contests an' junk in there. This here hut is for fire Pokemon. The hut with the red on it. The other ones, I don't know. Me and my Charmeleon entered the fire contest. They hold a new one every hour, I reckon. You should enter. That is if ya have any fire types."
Willis, Lizzie and I walked into the fire hut. There were trainers sitting down with fire Pokemon next to them, bragging. Lizzie and I took a seat next to a set of twins named May and Amy. One had a Vulpix and the other had a Ninetales.
"Hi," May said to me. "The contest starts in 5 minutes. What Pokemon do you guys have?"
"I have my Quilava," I said. "And Lizzie here has her Charmander. Hey, Lizzie. Where did Willis get off to?"
Before Lizzie couldn't answer a bell rang. "Okay, ladies and gentle man. It is time for the fire contest."
A loud cheer echoed through the small hut. "There are 12 of you," the announcer said. "We will take away two people each round until there are two people left. Those two people will be the winners. The winners will receive portable televisions. The televisions have over 600 channels. Over 500 in color."
Everyone clapped. "Okay. The first round is a target practice. Your fire Pokemon will shoot at a target and the judges will grade you on your excellence. Begin."
One girl had her Ponyta use an Ember on the target. It hit the side and the board spun around. One judge held up a 5 and the other two held up a 3.
Twin Amy had her Ninetales use a Flame Wheel. The attack hit the target on the bottom and the target flipped over. All of the judges held up a 6. Twin May had her Vulpix use Ember and the Ember hit right in the middle. The target fell.
One judge held up an 8. One held up a 9 and one held up a 10. A boy with blue hair (flashy) had his Growlithe use Flamethrower. It hit near the middle, but not quite. Two judges held up a 8 and 1 held up a 7.
Some more people went, until I was up. "Okay, Quilava, aim a Swirl Flame, right for the middle."
Quilava unleashed a flame from its mouth. It swirled around and then went right through the target's middle.
I got a 9 and two judges held up a 10.
It was Lizzie's turn. I smiled at her, intimidatingly as she had Charmander use Ember. It hit the target's middle, and she got the same score.
The contest wore down until it was just Lizzie, May, Amy, and I. "Okay, we will take a five minute break before we announce the two winners and the two runners up," the announcer said. Lizzie and I stepped outside.
"I think the twins have a pretty good chance," I said to Lizzie. "But we might come out with the victory. You'll never know."
Lizzie smiled. "Those twins are cute -- and tough. I know what I'm going to right after the contest. We're going to challenge them to a Pokemon team contest!"
"Oh, Liz," I muttered. "Why are you so competitive all of a sudden?"
Lizzie glared at me. "I was always competitive! I just didn't show it until now."
"Why did you just start to show it now?" I asked. "Did someone say something to you. "Did someone touch you in an inappropriate way?"
Lizzie sighed and looked up at me. She got to her feet and stared me right in the eye.
"Woody. I could never beat you in a Pokemon battle. I have rarely won Pokemon matches. I've won about four or five and I've been in at least ten. Woody, you are undefeated. You've been in about twenty matches. If I could beat you, do you know what that could do for me?"
"Lizzie, I--" I started. A bell sounded. We had to get back in the hut. We went inside where the judges were carrying to trophies and two bags. The bags must have contained the portable televisions.
"Okay, the two winners will be announced right away," the judge said. He cleared his throat and looked at a card. "The winners are... Woody Redstreak and Lizzie."
There was some clapping and some groans. Some cheers and some sighs. We walked up the stairs and took our trophies and portable TV's. We shook the judges hands.
We walked out of the hut with our stuff in hand, after putting our portable TV's in our backpacks. We went back to the PC. "Hi, Professor," we said.
"Hello, Lizzie. Hello, Edward... er... Woody. What can I do for you?"
"We don't have any room to carry these trophies, and we were wondering if we could send them over to you. And I would like to Withdraw Charmander now."
Prof. Oak nodded. "Can do. Okay, place the trophies in that glass case over there, close the lid and press the red button twice. In exchange for the trophies, I will send you your Charmander. Woody, would you like your Weedle?"
"No, Professor," I said. "I already have Scyther and I only want one type of each Pokemon on my team."
I put the trophies in the glass case and pressed the red button twice. Oak took a Pokeball out of a cabinet and placed it in another glass case. He pressed a button that I couldn't see and both glass cases glowed white. Before I realized it the trophies were on Prof. Oak's desk and a Pokeball was in our glass case. Lizzie took the ball out. "The Pokeball is here, Professor Oak."
Oak nodded and then all of a sudden his doorbell rang. "I'm sorry. I have to go," he said. "But there is something that I want you guys to have. Press the button on the glass box again, please." We pressed the button and two cel phones appeared. "My number is installed in those phones," he said. "Take them and call me if anything comes up. I won about 20 of them when I entered a contest. I have to get rid of them anyway."
"Thanks, Professor Oak," Lizzie and I said in unison. Lizzie looked down at Charmander's Pokeball and smiled. "Charmander, come on out." She opened the Pokeball and a red lizard with a flame on the tip of his tail appeared.
"Char, char," he said.
"Hi, Charmander. Remember me?"
Charmander nodded. "Charmander, Char."
Lizzie smiled and hugged her Pokemon. "Did Prof. Oak treat you nicely?"
Charmander nodded again. While he and Lizzie were busy "communicating" the twins came into the Pokemon Center. "Hey, you two. How about we have a battle?"
Lizzie grinned. "YES! I was about to come and challenge you guys."
"Okay, how about Charmander and Pikachu against any of your two Pokemon?" I asked.
May and Amy nodded. "We heard that you were going to challenge our cousin, Cassandra
tonight in a Pokemon match. Is it true?"
Lizzie nodded. "But right now, we should be focusing on our battle. Two of our Pokemon and two of your Pokemon against each other at the same time. The first person to have both members of their team knocked out will be declared a LOSER."
I glanced at Lizzie. I had never seen her act this way before. She was rude and snobby. Before we left the center, Willis rushed in with a ribbon around Chikorita's head. It was green and had pictures of leaves on it.
"Chikorita, Gloom and I won the Grass Pokemon contest. We beat two other trainers and won this ribbon -- and three tickets on the SS Lightning.
"Cool," I said. "What is the SS Lightning?"
Willis looked at the tickets. "It is a ship in Koregee City -- about seventeen or eighteen miles from here. Trainers go on it to get to Redspike Town. Redspike Town is where you can get your fourth badge. The ship sails in two weeks from now."
"My fourth badge?" I asked. "I get my third one -- the Smash Badge in Beige City, right?"
He nodded. "Let's have our match," Lizzie said. "Willis, you can be the ref. Let's go!"
We stood in the middle of the park. Lizzie and I stood together about thirty feet away from the twins. "Charmander, I choose you!" Lizzie cried, throwing a Pokeball. Charmander emerged.
"Pikachu, you'll be Charmander's partner," I said.
"Vulpix, Poliwag, we choose you!" May and Amy said together. A Pokeball and a Great Ball hit the ground. Vulpix came out of the Great Ball and Poliwag came out of the Pokeball.
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt," I commanded. Pikachu shocked Poliwag. He prepared to do it again, but Vulpix used an Ember. That stopped Pikachu. Pikachu Tackled Vulpix.
Charmander used a Slash attack on Poliwag. Poliwag fell to the ground and then Lizzie's Charmander prepared to use a Flamethrower, but Poliwag used Water Gun. That sent Charmander flying high into the air. Poliwag used so much force that it almost collapsed. Charmander struggled to get up.
"Pikachu, Thundershock," I said. Pikachu shot a bolt of electricity high into the air. It vanished into the sky and two lightning bolts ripped through the air. One hit Poliwag and another hit Vulpix. Poliwag staggered around and Vulpix charged it with a Quick Attack. That knocked Poliwag to the ground, unconscious.
"Vulpix, Flamethrower on Pikachu!" May yelled. Vulpix used a huge flamethrower that knocked out Pikachu. Pikachu fell to the ground knocked out.
"Pikachu, return," I ordered. Pikachu limped back to me and collapsed.
"Come on, Charmander!" Lizzie paraded. "Use Headbutt." Charmander used a Headbutt on Vulpix. It hit Vulpix hard in the side. Vulpix tried to use a Bite attack.
"MEGA PUNCH!" Lizzie cried. Charmander's fist glowed white and it beamed Vulpix in the face. Vulpix just fainted. Lizzie smiled, sadistically. "Good job, Charmander. Now that was ruthless aggression."
Charmander walked up to Lizzie. Lizzie glared at Charmander. "What are you waiting for? Finish Vulpix off!"
May was kneeling beside Vulpix. She rubbed its head. Vulpix was groaning in pain. "Lizzie, no!" I cried. I was trying to tend to Pikachu. I laid Pikachu on my backpack and ran over to Lizzie.
Charmander was about to use Flamethrower on May and Vulpix.
"Lizzie, stop!" May pleaded.
"Do it, Charmander," Lizzie ordered.
May screamed. Amy gasped. I dove in front of May and Vulpix. The fire burned through my shirt and scorched my skin. I fell hard on my elbows and knees. I yelled out. Lizzie gasped and ran over to me, kneeling beside me. Lizzie lifted up my shirt. There was a huge red scorch on my ribs. Charmander looked like he was about to cry.
"Charmander, Char man." It looked sadly at the ground. Lizzie smiled. "It's not your fault Charmander. It was my fault. I shouldn't have,"
Lizzie paused. She turned around. Cassandra was staring at her. Cassandra smiled evilly. "Lizzie, I didn't think you had it in you. Little Miss Goody-goody is now a very bad girl."
"How did you?--" Lizzie started.
"When we shook hands this morning, to prepare for a battle I slipped a mind controlling device on your hand. This device slips into your skin and sound waves rush through your blood to your brain, and I talk into this monitor. I make you do anything and say anything I want."
The twins were frightened. "How could you do something like that?" Lizzie demanded. A tear trickled down her cheek. "You made me hurt my best friend. My other friend, Willis won't even come near me now! Two innocent girls are afraid of me and my Charmander will probably hate me. You've really ruined my day! You may have ruined my year, maybe even my life! But I'm not going to stand for this. Right here, right now. Our Pokemon against each other. Three Pokemon each, one at a time. If I win, you have to turn yourself into the police. But if I lose, I will give you all of my money and I'll let you use your mind control device on me."
"No!" I cried. "Don't do it. You can't."
Lizzie ignored me and walked up to Cassandra. They both took Pokeballs from their pockets. "I choose you, Jigglypuff!" Cassandra called. She threw a Pokeball and a little pink balloon shaped Pokemon popped out.
"Jiggly," it chirped.
"Go, Sudowoodo!" Lizzie yelled. She threw Sudowoodo's Pokeball high into the air and the treelike Rock Pokemon came out of the red and white ball in a stance, ready to fight.
"Jigglypuff, use your Pound!" Cassandra ordered. Jigglypuff pounced on Sudowoodo. Sudowoodo wasn't affected very badly. It easily pushed Jigglypuff off of him. Jigglypuff rolled backwards. The sun started to go on so the lights in the park flashed on.
"Sudowoodo, Rock Smash," Lizzie said. Sudowoodo raised its arms into the air and a small boulder came out of the ground and hit Jigglypuff. The rock smashed and Jigglypuff stumbled around, dazed.
"Jigglypuff, quick, use a Lullaby!"
Jigglypuff cleared her throat and prepared to sing. "Jigglypuff, Jiggly, Lilly puff."
"Sudowoodo, use a Mega Kick and don't listen to Jigglypuff! If you do you might fall asleep," Lizzie instructed her Pokemon. Sudowoodo kicked Jigglypuff in the side of the head. Jigglypuff squeaked as it had to stop singing. It was hit hard and it rubbed the side of its head. She puffed up really big and got an angry look on her face.
"Hah! This is perfect. Jigglypuff, use a Flying Tackle!" Cassandra yelled. Jigglypuff rose into the air and then came down at incredible speed, nailing Sudowoodo. Sudowoodo looked kind of dazed. "Jigglypuff, finish Sudowoodo off with a Pound!"
Jigglypuff pounced on Sudowoodo again. Sudowoodo this time was quicker. It wasn't really dazed, it was playing around. Sudowoodo moved out of the way and Jigglypuff crashed into the ground. She then bounced across the grass. "Sudowoodo, Low Kick!"
Sudowoodo slid across the ground and kicked Jigglypuff in the back. Jigglypuff was knocked out.
"Jigglypuff, return. Your Sudowoodo is good, Lizzie. But it isn't as good as Ratatta! I've raised it all day. It's beaten dozens of trainers. Ratatta, show Lizzie what you can do!"
The purple rat came out of the ball and immediately Tackled Sudowoodo. Sudowoodo caught Ratatta, however and tossed it high into the air. Ratatta hit a tree branch. He then fell at least fifteen feet and landed hard on the ground.
"Rock Throw!" Lizzie ordered. Three rocks hit Ratatta and it fainted.
"WHAT?!" Cassandra cried. "How in the ffffffffff ... how in the heck did Ratatta get knocked out so quickly?"
"I guess it just did," I said. I held my side. It was still hurting and stinging from the huge burn.
"Fine. Ratatta return. It's time for my secret weapon. I choose you, Wigglytuff!"
A bigger version of Jigglypuff came out of the Pokeball. "Wiggly, Wiggly," the Pokemon said.
"Sudowoodo! You can make it three in a row. Come on you can do it! Hit Wigglytuff with a Low Kick!"
Sudowoodo slid across the ground and aimed a kick at Wigglytuff. Wigglytuff easily jumped over Sudowoodo and came around. "Wigglytuff, use Doubleslap." Wigglytuff spun around on one foot and slapped Sudowoodo over and over. "Okay, it's time for a Lullaby attack!"
Wigglytuff sang a high pitched song. Sudowoodo began to shut his eyes and then eventually fell to his side, asleep. Lizzie returned Sudowoodo to its ball. It was sucked in. Lizzie turned around and nodded to Marill. Marill nodded back and raced onto the field. Marill used a Bubblebeam.
Wigglytuff used a Take Down. Marill fell on her back. "Body Slam!" Cassandra ordered to her Wigglytuff. Wigglytuff attempted to jump on top of Marill.
"Marill shoot a Water Gun up in the air," Lizzie said. Marill shot a blast of water into the air. Wigglytuff went flipping through the air. Wigglytuff fell on her stomach. Marill then used a Headbutt on Wigglytuff's back. Wigglytuff again fell down.
"Good job, Marill. You might win! Hit a Doubleslap." Marill slapped Wigglytuff over and over. It looked like Marill would win, but Wigglytuff charged at Marill with a Tackle. Marill was plowed into the ground. Marill tried to get up, but couldn't.
"Marill, return." Marill returned to her Pokeball. Lizzie smiled and handed the Pokeball to me. She looked down at the ground. "Charmander. You can do it."
Charmander nodded. It walked at Wigglytuff with an angry look on his face. "Use your Slash!" Lizzie ordered. Charmander slashed Wigglytuff in the face. Wigglytuff seemed more angry than hurt.
"Wigglytuff, Take Down attack," Cassandra said. Wigglytuff jumped up to attack Charmander. Charmander just simply moved out of the way, however and then used an Ember on Wigglytuff. Wigglytuff shook the attack off and used Pound.
"Wigglytuff, keep using Pound," Cassandra said. Wigglytuff pounded Charmander on the face about three times before Charmander used Skull Bash. "Wigglytuff, use Leer." Wigglytuff's eyes glowed yellow.
"Charmander, don't look into Wigglytuff's eyes." Wigglytuff walked up to Charmander and slapped him across the face. Charmander turned its head. Wigglytuff laughed. So did Cassandra. This made Charmander angry. Its eyes glowed white and its tail flame got huge.
"What's happening to Charmander?" demanded Lizzie.
"Charmander is learning its Rage attack!" Willis replied excitedly.
Charmander shot out a huge flame of fire. The flame of fire washed over Wigglytuff. Wigglytuff was burned to a crisp. It gasped and coughed up smoke. Charmander then used Flamethrower. Wigglytuff fainted.
"Yes!" Lizzie cried. Charmander jumped up and slapped Lizzie a high five.
Cassandra was angry. "I don't think so! Tauros, Gore them!" She threw a Safari Ball and Tauros popped out, charging at us!
I took out Lapras's Pokeball. "Lapras, use Water Gun!" I ordered. Lapras shot out a huge beam of water. Tauros flew into Wigglytuff, and Wigglytuff flew into Cassandra. The three went flying into the air and eventually were out of sight as they went flying through the air.
"Hah! You showed her," Willis said to Lizzie and I. Lizzie smiled at Charmander.
"You know, Charmander. I plan on keeping you for a very long time." She bent down and hugged her Pokemon.
Little did we know, that lurking behind the bushes, a powerful force was watching us. Spying on us. Watching our every move. That force was... A tiny pink Pokemon looked up. "Mew," it chirped. It used Teleport and vanished into the air.
TO BE CONTINUED...