Vindicator

Part 1

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Jason Creight awoke in Room 108 of the Lavender Town Inn.

It took him a few moments to assess exactly where he was; the fog of sleep insisted on clouding his vision for several moments after opening his eyes. As he moved his head about, he suddenly got an eyeful of sunlight through the crack in the blinds, from which he ducked almost instantly while mumbling an oath under his breath. He swore to himself he would never again let the front desk of this or any other motel assign him an east-facing room.

His eyes landed on the other bed in the room. In it was Kelly Shields, who was wide awake and scribbling notes on a pad of paper. The sheets were bunched up around her legs, but they looked like they had been arranged just so. Jason suspected she must have been awake for a fair amount of time longer than himself.

He still wasn't quite sure what to make of her. She'd looked so peaceful the night before, when she'd been asleep. Gone had been the scowl that seemed to otherwise perpetually adorn her features behind those glasses, replaced with the sweet nothingness of a good night's sleep. In fact, he'd found himself almost entranced by the blankness of her expression – as long as she had a perfectly straight face, Jason found himself even willing to admit she was fairly attractive.

He pressed his lips together in a thin line and blew a breath out through his nose. The look on her face now implied intense concentration on whatever she was writing down. Likely as not, he thought, it's going to be notes on how her Pokémon are doing and what she did to train them yesterday through to last night. And she doesn't even need to turn those notes in for another four days. You could call that dedication or insanity... either way, it's pretty impressive.

He wouldn’t have used the word “impressive” to define her behavior in Rock Tunnel, however – she’d stuck close to her Ponyta and jumped at the slightest noise from unseen sources. Clearly she had not been at all comfortable there, leading Jason to wonder just how much of her needling of him could just as easily be applicable to her. Maybe that’s why she’s been riding me so bad, she’s guilty of not doing her part, same as me, but she can’t admit it, so she goes all-out on me to compensate.

Jason, meantime, had taken full advantage of the fact that both his Beedrill and Pikachu were able to learn Flash, and swapped them back and forth to give each other the rest he knew they deserved after lending their light. After consideration, he’d even taught the move to Paras, whose Grass-Type abilities provided a distinct advantage over Geodudes and even Onixes – one of which, Jason was able to capture. The catch had not endeared him to her, or at least not by any measure he was able to see, but he decided it was one less Pokémon she could accuse him of not capturing.

From the sight of her profile, he could see her right eyebrow rise up. “Sleep well?” she asked, without looking away from her work.

“Well as could be expected,” he answered, pressing a hand to the side of his neck – he felt at least one bone pop underneath the heel of his palm and let out a reactive groan.

“‘Well as could be expected’? That’s a lame answer.” She scratched out a line of text on her notepad. “When’s the last time you slept in a bed?”

“Been a while, and that’s the point. I was getting used to the ground. I could sleep flat there.”

“You could’ve just thrown the pillows on the floor.”

“And you care because...?”

“You snore. I’d be asleep right now if you didn’t.” She cast a quick glance at him. “It’s a good thing you don’t snore when lying down flat or that cave would be way more alive than it already is.”

“Lucky for you, I guess.” He pushed himself up and sought out the clock – it read 7:53 am. “You didn’t want to throw something at my head to get me to stop snoring?”

“Of course I wanted to, I just didn’t think it’d be very humane. And yes–” She held up a hand to stop him from retorting. “–I do actually know what being humane is about and how to behave that way.”

“Good news for me, then.”

“Better believe it.” She clicked her pen shut and set her notepad aside, then folded her hands in her lap and looked to him. “So what’s on your agenda for today?”

“We haven’t had a chance yet to check out Pokémon Tower,” he answered, “so that’s gonna be my agenda.”

“That’s it, just Pokémon Tower?”

He sat up in bed and arched an eyebrow at her. “You probably know even better than me what sorts of ghosts we’re liable to find in there, you think that deserves an ‘only’ to it?”

“I know of Ghost-Type Pokémon ‘in there’,” she said, drawing quotation marks in the air with her fingers. “But actual ghosts, I think, would be fairly hard to come by.”

“You would think that if you hadn’t heard the tale I heard.” He climbed out of the bed and sought out his backpack for a set of clothing. “According to at least a few people around here, there’s an angry ghost of a Kangaskhan in that tower. I wanna check it out.”

“An angry ghost of a Kangaskhan?” She attempted to restrain a snicker, only to have it emit as a truncated snort. “Who’d you get this from?”

“Kid I ran into on Route 10, said he got it from a friend of his in this town.”

“A real friend or an imaginary one?”

Jason rolled his eyes. “Look, I’m just curious, and what’s it gonna hurt to go up there and take a look around? We’re gonna be finding a bunch of Ghost-Types up there anyway, right?”

“Supposedly, but really only a couple of species. Records say the tower’s full of Gastlys, maybe a Haunter or two. And they’re fairly hard to catch, especially with the team you’ve got.” Kelly gestured at his trainer’s belt. “Even your Gyarados is gonna find decent opposition. The best Pokémon you’ve got to battle them are your Sandshrew, Geodude, Onix–”

“Gyarados can beat ‘em out of the ground if they decide to play shadow.”

“Only against the likes of Gastly and friends, and Earthquake isn’t going to solve every problem you have. Besides, that tower will topple over the moment you try it in there,” she warned. “Gyarados isn’t the one you want to beat Ghost-Types. You’d be better off with Dark-Types, but at last count, you didn’t have any.”

“And I’m not likely to encounter any native to Kanto, but Gyarados also knows Bite, and Spearow knows Pursuit.” Jason shrugged. “Getting the first Ghost-Type is always gonna be the hardest. They’re vulnerable to each other, so that’s something. Anyway, the whole point is to just go up there and see what the deal is. If there is an angry Kangaskhan spirit up there, that should give the professor something really juicy to report on. If there isn’t, then there’s still a bunch of Gastlys and maybe a Haunter or two we can spend time trying to capture. Either way, today’s gonna be a good day.”

“If you say so.” She threw her covers aside and climbed out of bed. “I suppose we’d better get ready to go, then. We don’t want to miss check-out time.”

Jason’s eyes flickered to the clock again. The time had barely budged two minutes. “Which isn’t until eleven.”

“Right. Get packing.”

—

The first thing that struck Jason about Pokémon Tower was how decadent it looked. Its construction was clearly from another century and restoration efforts to the building appeared to be a constant. It was built into a mound of earth that one couldn’t quite call a hill, but was certainly more than just a roll in the plain. The material he’d read about it indicated the mound was in fact a burial ground for trained Pokémon, and was itself not a natural structure, let alone the spire standing atop it now. Burial markers from as long ago as an estimated five hundred years still lurked in display cases within the “first floor” – that was to say, the mound itself.

As he and Kelly stepped through the portal to the interior, Jason couldn’t help muttering under his breath, “Mausoleum’s a better word.”

Straight ahead, there was a sanctuary that bore several pews, many of which were occupied by silent mourners. Some patrons apparently preferred to stand rather than sit, and they were milling about behind the pews, speaking quietly with each other; Jason thought it reasonable to assume they themselves were not there to mourn, but to accompany those who were. The room was round, and on its right-most bulge, there was a staircase that led up, presumably into the tower above. Immediately to the right of the entryway, however, there was a large space bracketed by countertops and private office space, where several well-dressed people were milling about, filing paperwork and counseling people who were obviously aggrieved. Jason restrained a scowl trying to work its way to the surface of his expression – turning any part of the burial ground into office space struck him as offensive, and the only reason for his restraint was the opportunity provided for counseling. Still, this isn’t a funeral home for people. They can get counseling at offices in maybe more appropriate places than this. This place is a breeding ground for Ghost-Type Pokémon.

“People are in danger here.”

Jason glanced at Kelly and raised his eyebrows at that utterance. “Pardon?”

She turned to him. “All the Ghost-Type Pokémon here. Most Ghost-Types are known for causing trouble and mischief, and not all of it is safe. People come here to grieve, but look at those offices there.” She gestured and scoffed. “They’re in danger and they don’t even realize how stupid they’re being.”

A half-smile crossed his face. “Yeah. But they’ll learn, eventually.”

“Think so?”

“Probably get driven out.” Jason swept his arm in a broad gesture at the sanctuary directly ahead. “They’ll wait until this area’s packed with people, to the point they just can’t stand having another one just walk in here. And they won’t be able to help themselves. They’ll want to cause trouble, and that’ll be their perfect opportunity. Then you won’t see a single soul in here for a long time after, I mean a long time after.”

“Sure of that, kid?”

Jason and Kelly both turned back to the right, where a young blonde woman of perhaps twenty-five was leaning on the countertop with both elbows and aiming an impish grin at them. “People can be pretty smart, you know.”

“No, they can’t,” Kelly countered. “A single person can be smart. People are stupid. Intelligence and common sense completely disappear in groups of a dozen or more. It’s diffusion of responsibility and accountability run amok. And I think he’s right, eventually the ghosts upstairs are going to come down and make people pay for invading their home.”

“A home that was built by those people in the first place?” A healthy dose of skepticism tainted the other woman’s tone.

Jason stepped forward. “Built by people, built for Pokémon. We don’t have to turn this place into the World Church of Suffering Trainers to honor their memory.”

“Exactly,” Kelly chimed in. “What’s the purpose of the place? A final resting place for the Pokémon that trainers cherished. For them.”

“Except you two are saying it all by yourselves,” the woman replied. “The trainers were the ones that cherished them, they were the ones that brought the Pokémon here. Shouldn’t it stand to reason that the trainers then be allowed to linger so that they can grieve, spend a few more moments with their Pokémon before leaving them behind?”

“The Pokémon have already left their trainers behind,” said Jason. “I’m not saying I think trainers should just, you know, dump the body and leave, but just look at that sanctuary.” He gestured at the pews – several of them were filled out with people. “How many of them actually lost their Pokémon within, say, the last three days?”

“About half,” the woman answered. “And when a trainer passes away, nobody drives off the Pokémon grieving over their graves.”

“That’s because people don’t like to cause mischief in a cemetery,” Kelly responded. “There are Gastlys and Haunters upstairs, plus if some sources are to be believed–” and here she shot a momentary look at Jason “–an angry spirit of some kind. Do you really think none of them would be interested in toying with a graveyard that’s overpopulated with the living?”

The small smirk on the woman’s face had not yet gone away. “So what do you two think we should do instead?”

Jason and Kelly exchanged glances. He was the first to answer. “Well, I suppose if people want to grieve... maybe set up a place where they can do that without having to worry about the Pokémon upstairs. Like an actual church or sanctuary. Whatever they believe in, I’ll bet praying over a grave and praying in a church would have about the same effect in the end.”

“Yeah, and don’t have offices in here,” Kelly supplemented. “You can set up a place for that, too. Just being near where your Pokémon is buried would probably only excite and depress you in a way counselors can’t really help treat. Of course people should be allowed to keep visiting, but only to visit.”

“And what about wandering trainers, like yourselves?”

“Crowd control,” Jason answered promptly. “We can occupy the ghosts upstairs and keep their attention where it should be... harmless mischief.”

“Mmm. And as for these so-called ‘angry spirits’, what do you propose to do about them?”

Kelly frowned. “You’re mocking us.”

“Not at all. In point of fact, you’re right about those. The Ghost-Types upstairs have been known to get whipped up into a frenzy. They won’t become cohesive, they just turn into one huge cloud of fog and harass anyone who visits. We let trainers go up there for, as you say, ‘crowd control’, but not that many feel like going back up after that experience.”

“And it’s because of angry spirits?” Jason asked.

The woman sighed. “Every once in a while, we’ll have a Pokémon arrive here who died some manner of tragic and terrible death. We perform the burial rites with them, same as with any other. But then we get claims from trainers and psychics who visit the upper levels that ghosts of the same sort as the recently-passed Pokémon are appearing and harassing them.”

“Like?”

“Well, three years ago someone claimed to see a ghostly Rapidash, setting the entire level he found it on ablaze. Of course, there was no fire damage to show for it. We’ve had others but that one was most memorable for me. I just started working here when it happened. The boy swore up and down that was what he saw.”

“I guess the Rapidash died from something tragic?” Jason inquired.

“Yes, she died from the flood of a breaking dam. She was bringing her trainer across a bridge on top of the dam at the time. The trainer was a little girl. She got her ankle caught in one of the stirrups on her saddle, couldn’t break free. They both died. Her parents buried her in the human graveyard outside town, brought the Rapidash here.”

Kelly frowned at the woman. “How can you be so matter-of-fact about it? Doesn’t it bother you when things like that happen?”

“Hey, I feel, same as you,” she responded, “but things like that do happen, and I’ve got no control over it. All I can do is try to give the deceased some dignity in a proper burial and help survivors let go so they can keep living their lives.”

Jason pointed further down the set of counters. “Not much dignity in that,” he said.

Kelly and the woman followed the direction of his gesture – at the far end of the counter space, there was a small kiosk set up where signs hung that declared Spell Tags For Sale! Weaken Ghosts When Your Pokémon Holds One! A well-dressed man was leaning on the countertop with an eager look on his face as he gazed about the sanctuary.

The woman scoffed. “Him,” she said scornfully. She turned back to the two trainers. “You know, I’d be happy to get rid of him. That setup is an eyesore and I don’t think it honors the dead, but he brings us revenue. This place is non-profit and his is the most steady source of income we get. We have more trainers than mourners coming here, and they all want an edge up on Ghost-Type Pokémon.” She scoffed again. “Some of them have even heard the story about the Rapidash, want to see if they can actually catch a ghost.”

“Think they can?” Jason asked.

“Well, who knows, but my vote is no. I think anybody who goes up there for that is chasing shadows. Besides, even the channelers who go up there haven’t so much as heard a whinny for a couple years now. I’m guessing whatever was there is long gone by now.”

“Channelers?”

“Mystics and psychics who like trying to ‘contact the other side’. They think Ghost-Types are their best chance at that, so they go up where there’s a lot of them and ‘commune’. I think it’s a load of hogwash, myself, but so long as they come back down safe and sound, it’s not really my business.”

Jason glanced at Kelly, who had started moving toward the kiosk. Inwardly, he snickered. If she plans to give that guy half the earful she usually gives me, he’s in for it. He was less interested in throwing himself into that fire, however, and so he turned back to the woman and directed a single nod to her. “Thanks.”

“No problem. Good luck up there.”

He moved away from the counters and towards the entry to the stairway, intrigued by the tale of the ghostly Rapidash. If there’s any truth to it, then maybe there’s truth to the Kangaskhan story, too. But before he could even begin to ascend, a shrill female voice cried out from behind him. “Don’t go up there!”

Startled, he stopped in his tracks and turned around. All eyes in the sanctuary, whose silence had been pierced by the call, were now on a young raven-haired girl of no more than thirteen, wrapped in a loose purple robe and wearing a frightened expression. Had Jason actually seen her round eyes before the outburst, he suspected he would have seen a silent plea of similar nature.

Kelly, who had only just begun to inspect the tchotchke-decorated kiosk, was also caught unawares by the outcry, and she snickered when she saw who had elicited the girl’s shout. “Think you need to pay the toll first, Jason,” she quipped.

“Seriously, don’t go up there,” the girl said again, eyes locked on Jason. “You don’t want to make her mad.”

“Make who mad?” Jason asked.

One of the other patrons who was standing just beyond the pews – a young man who did not appear to be a trainer – made a face. “Carly here thinks there’s some sort of angry spirit up there,” he offered. “She’s been yelling at everyone who tries to go up. Kinda disruptive, don’t you think, Carly? People are praying in here.”

“I wouldn’t be shouting if there was a sign up or something,” the girl shot back.

“Why don’t you just stand in front of the stairs, then, just tell people to turn back and wave a magic wand at them?”

“Don’t make fun!”

“Whoa, whoa,” Jason interjected, holding both hands up to silence the two bickering parties. Then he pointed at the girl. “You’re Carly?”

She nodded vigorously. “She gets mad whenever someone goes up there. Especially boys. Girls, not as much, but you can still feel it. The air gets cold, and you can feel her paws and tail pass by. Sometimes even her breath!”

“You’re talking about the Kangaskhan, right?”

She blinked in surprise – the first time Jason had seen her eyes close since setting his gaze on her. “Yeah! You know about her?”

He nodded. “I’ve heard about her. Well, I should say I heard what you had to say about her, from Herman the Pokémaniac.”

“You know Herman?” Her expression brightened considerably, and she actually adopted a fond smile. “He... he talked about me?”

No wonder he believes this girl – she’s taken a shine to him. “Yeah, he did,” Jason confirmed. “It’s because of what he told me you said that I want to go up there.” He chucked a thumb at the stairs. “I want to see her.”

“But...” Carly blanched. “But she’ll get mad! She could hurt you!”

Jason moved closer to her so that their conversation could be held more quietly. He gestured at his capture ball belt. “I’m a Pokémon trainer, Carly. I’m always facing the risk of getting hurt, every day,” he said, trying to include a reassuring note to his voice. “I can handle an angry Kangaskhan.”

“Not this one!” she burst out. “She’s a ghost! She can’t get hurt, but she can hurt you, and anyone else that goes up there who makes her angry!”

Jason held his hands up again. “Okay, okay, just calm down,” he said. He gestured to a nearby pew. “Let’s sit down, huh?”

She instantly scurried to the bench and sat, but didn’t even wait for him to do the same before she started talking again, just as hurried and excited. “The only thing that can slow her down are other ghosts, like Gastly. I have one, he keeps me safe.”

“How?”

“I...” She hesitated. “I-I’m not sure. He just calms her down. I guess he tells her I’m not a threat. If I’m upstairs and someone else comes, she’ll get mad, but Gastly blinds her to me so she doesn’t attack me.”

“What does she want?”

“I don’t know. She’s just... really sad, and angry. When she gets really mad, you can even see her. The fog up there, that purple fog, it just sort of becomes her. Trainers try to attack her and she just beats up all of their Pokémon, sometimes even knocks the trainers down the stairs!”

“Then someone needs to go up there to calm her down, so she’s not a danger to other people, don’t you think?”Jason asked, keeping his voice level and calm. “Maybe even find out why she’s doing what she’s doing.”

“You’re just gonna go up there and ask her?” Carly’s eyes had grown to the size of dinner plates again.

Jason shrugged. “If that’s what it takes. I came here to catch a Gastly, maybe after I get one it can help me communicate with her.”

“Don’t you need a psychic Pokémon for that?”

Jason gestured at her. “You tell me. Psychics are weak to ghosts and you have your own Gastly to protect you from her. If she’s as bad as you say, I’ll need to make sure the risk is small, won’t I?”

“A Gastly can only blind her, it can’t stop her,” she clarified. “I tried a Night Shade attack once. The attack didn’t do anything to her.”

“Well, Kangaskhans are considered in the registry to be Normal-Type Pokémon, they’re not affected by ghosts,” Jason reasoned.

The girl clenched her hands tightly together. “Yeah, but she’s a ghost, too, and Ghost-Type Pokémon can hurt each other real bad. I don’t understand it. But Gastly can at least hide me and that’s good enough.” She pouted up at him after a moment. “What’re you gonna do?”

He raised his eyebrows and looked up at the staircase. “I’m gonna go do something stupid. It’s what I do best.”

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© Matt Morwell, 2011