The Misdreavus Menace

Chapter Three — The Scary Dare

The same night, somewhere near the outskirts of Pewter City, stood a group of five boys. They were standing outside a cave in a steep rocky hillside. The ground was stoney, the hillside bare. There were few trees to block the illuminating glow of streetlights from a nearby road leading out of the town. Though none of the boys was over eleven years of age, the lights were casting long, irregular shadows on the uneven terrain. The light, however, did not reach very far into the cave.

The boys stood in two groups facing each other.

"Here's the dare," said John, the tallest boy in one group of three. He was the eleven year-old, very solid, with straight, short, dark blonde hair and a squarish but pleasant face, "You go into that cave far enough so we can't see you, and stay there for ten minutes."

"I hope you remembered to bring a torch," said John's brother, Philip, who was two years his younger. He had similar hair, though he wore it longer, which, along with a more rounded face gave him a much cuter look.

"You'll need it to see the ghosts," added Andrew, who was more commonly known as Drag, since his plump form, mousey hair and poutish face tended to remind other kids of a Dragonite. He was not much younger than John, but was noticeably shorter.

The other group of two consisted of the two boys we met earlier. Travis was ten, as solid as John and nearly as tall, with thick dark hair parted at the side. His friend Matthew was a younger ten, shorter, with short brown hair which he hardly ever bothered to comb. When Matthew heard Philip's remark about a torch, he nervously checked his pocket to make sure he hadn't forgotten his flashlight.

"I don't believe in ghosts," said Travis.

"You will after you've been in there," replied Drag. "We've seen them."

"That's why if you get lost in there," said John.

"we're not coming to get you," finished Phil.

"Maybe they're ghost Pokémon," suggested Matthew.

"Huh-uh, Matt," replied Phil. "They're not Gastly,"

"and they're not Haunter," continued Drag.

"and they're not Gengar," said John. "They're ghosts. And if you stay there for ten minutes, in return, I'll give you this Weedle. Think how much fun you can have with that."

John took a Poké ball out of his pocket. It was unusually coloured, black and yellow instead of the more customary red and white, with a small white winged icon reminiscent of a Butterfree.

As he held out the Poké ball in his outstretched hand towards Matt and Trav, Matt remembered his experience of a few weeks ago and cringed.

"What? You're not scared of my puny little Weedle, are you?" mocked John.

"Har, har!" jeered Travis. Pointing towards John's pants, he retorted, "Who'd be scared of a puny little thing like that?"

Matt, Phil and Drag all snickered in unison.

"Huh!?" exclaimed John blankly. Then his face reddened from both embarrasment and rage as he realized what Travis meant.

"Listen, Trav," he spoke angrily. "I'm not gonna sit around here all night. You go into the cave for ten minutes by my watch, and I'll give you my W-... I'll give you the Weedle in this Poké ball. Agreed?"

"Agreed," replied Travis calmly, still smirking.

Matt looked at Trav in the face, trying not to look worried. He didn't really want to go through with this, but on the other hand, he didn't want anyone—certainly not Travis—think that he was a coward.

"One thing, I just remembered," John mentioned. "When you're finished with the Weedle, I want the Poké ball back."

"Huh!? Why?" asked Matt.

"It's my dad's. I gotta give it back."

Phil took a closer look at it. "Hey," he exclaimed, "you took one of dad's Bug balls! You're gonna cop—"

"Shut up," John interrupted him. "OK, you two," he said turning back to Travis and Matthew. "Let's see how scared you are when you come running back out."

The five boys gathered at the entrance of the cave. Matthew pulled out his flashlight as he followed Travis inside.

"Careful," advised Travis, "the floor's bumpy."

"Don't let the Diglett bite," Drag called out after them as the daring duo slowly proceeded into the darkness and disappeared from view.