Chapter 39

Suddenly, Greta fell on the floor. She could not tell what it was, but she felt a great pain on her chest. Once her knees touched the floor, her eyes closed. At that moment, Greta felt like there was no point in trying, struggling, fighting. She only wanted to let everything go. She did not want to carry the burden that life had brought to her. All she wanted was not to exist to begin with. Once her chest covered the floor and her head turned to right, she opened her eyes with a great bother only to see Hadley crying her name, running to her. Greta wanted to respond, wanted to tell Hadley to calm down, except she could not. No matter how hard she tried, she could not speak.

At the same time, Lily screamed by pulling back her feet from the water in the room. Greta saw Hadley running to her, Lily responding to the water almost in a slow motion. Hadley, who at the moment was holding Greta from her shoulders, turned to Lily. Greta felt Hadley’s hair slapping Greta’s soft face. Suddenly, Hadley let go of Greta and let him fall on the floor, she ran to her friend who had an intense fear in her eyes.

“What a mysterious world we live in…” Greta thought. “We fight for things we want, yet we all have miserable lives that are not even worth trying…”

Hadley grabbed Lily’s weak body that was as flat as the wall that it lied on. “What is wrong, Lily?” Hadley asked, almost screaming. Lily put her hands on her ears. “I can’t… I…” She was in such a heavy shock that she was unable to speak at all. Greta felt a warm feeling inside which wanted her to hold her hand and tell her everything would be alright. She only managed to look her, however.

“You are safe!” Hadley assured her. “Calm down and talk to me, Lily. What just happened?”

Lily did not move a muscle. “Teresa and Eusine are locked in a room. They are in danger.” She softly said while tears dropped from her eyes. “I don’t think they can be saved.”

The last words hit Greta’s brain like a bullet. For a brief moment, Greta lost her concept of truth. She could not separate the truth and the imagination. But then, she realised the seriousness of Lily’s spoken words. She gained strength from her elbows and attempted to stand up. Once she stood up and loaded all the balance on her legs, she could not pull herself together and fell on the floor again. Once she let herself lie down there, she screamed as loud as she could, calling Eusine’s name from her heart.

It took only seconds Redwald to come to the tiny, wet room after Greta’s repetitive screams. Redwald was shocked in the moment of seeing Hadley holding Lily while Lily looked like traumatised and Greta lying on the floor, doing nothing but screaming their dear friend’s name with tears all around her face. Redwald grabbed Greta like Hadley grabbed Lily. “What is going on?” He asked. Hadley looked like she did not even have any idea where to begin.

Soon after, Lily got calm again. Hadley bended Starmie’s dimension and brought it to their dimension to the headquarters by Starmie’s Teleport. Mr. Macdonald and everyone else in the room gathered in the meeting room to discuss what happened. Redwald did not exactly know what happened, and he had to wait until everyone gathered. Greta was furious and broken. She wanted to speak thousands of words, yet she could only look at Mr. Macdonald with anger in her eyes. Lily was as silent as ever. The shock she felt right before took decades from her lifespan. Hadley was rather nervous. Her hands were barely shaking. Starmie was also in the room, but it only stood on the edge of the wall. Mr. Macdonald was the last person to come in the room. He quickly sat on his chair and waited for an explanation.

“Lily tragically sensed Teresa and Eusine being put in an isolated room in the headquarters, sir.” Hadley said. “They don’t have a chance to escape as it looks.”

“I told you.” Greta said. Her sound was telling more than her words. She lifted her head and looked at Mr. Macdonald in the eye. Only the dark shade of red and swelling of her eyes with tears beneath were seen on Greta’s tiny face. Mr. Macdonald felt the guilt. He stopped making eye contact with Greta. He turned to Hadley. “We have no choice but to attack to save our friends, then.” He said.

“I was just thinking the same, sir.” Hadley responded. “If we team up with some members of our coven, Starmie can teleport us all as it knows the location of the coven now.”

Mr. Macdonald looked thoughtful. “Yes, please.” He said. “Twenty people plus us should be enough.”

“Redwald, make sure your Pokémon are well-rested and fine to attack.” Greta said. “So will I.”

“Are you coming as well?” Mr. Macdonald asked, only before he wished he did not. Greta looked at him so baleful that even her eyes were almost closed. “Of course we are coming.” She said despisingly. “Eusine means more to us than a member of your coven means to you, Mr. Macdonald!” She pronounced his name so emphatic that it was belittling the name.

Redwald and Greta left the room to grab their Poké Balls, while the members of the coven left the room to do their jobs. Greta pushed all the buttons on her Poké Balls. Respectively Nidoran, Butterfree, Paras, Bulbasaur and Foudre came out to appear on the floor. Greta looked at them in the eye once. She was so shaken that her Pokémon felt worried about her. She pulled herself together quickly. “Today, what we do is all about our beloved friend Eusine.” She said. “He is now in danger, and I will be on my way to save him. In the meantime, I may need your help. This is not only dangerous, but also, I can’t guarantee you that you won’t get any harm… But this is a risk we have to take for Eusine…”

She took a moment to breathe. “Remember the person we are talking about, Eusine… He is the one who has been feeding us with his delicious food… Will you be ready to save him if I need your help?”

Nidoran stepped forward and cried determinedly. Butterfree and Paras joined her right after. Bulbasaur, although not as determined as the other three, expressed her willingness as well. Foudre, the one Pokémon of whose respect Greta never thought she gained, noncommittally made some noises. Greta hugged all of them at once. “Let’s save him, shall we?” She said softly, letting her tears go down her Pokémon. Something unexpected hit Greta right after. Foudre was actually hugging Greta back, something she would never do. Greta felt more motivated to go all the way with the support of her team. She stepped back. “Please be careful and rest in your balls.” She said, as she called each one back in their Poké Balls, leaving Nidoran to the last. But Nidoran did not go in the Poké Ball just like that. She stepped forward and nuzzled her head on Greta’s leg. Greta kneeled down. “We have begun this journey together, the two of us. I will make sure the two of us to see the end, Nidoran. Don’t you ever doubt that…” She said, still crying. Nidoran nuzzled her head on Greta’s face after. “Thank you, Nidoran. Now, have a good rest in your Poké Ball.” She said, as she pushed the button. The Pokémon was grabbed back in the Poké Ball, as Greta stood up and walked out of the room.

When she got back to the room in which everyone was standing, she found Redwald right away and stood beside him. Then, she counted the people in the room. There were her, Redwald, Hadley and Mr. Macdonald that she knew of. It was not surprising that Lily was not one of them. She would be against Lily joining either way. But she was sure that Lily was keeping their trace in another room with some water. There were also five to seven students in the room. Greta tried to count three times, but each time, she lost counting as the students were quite like each other with the same uniform and height.

Soon later, Mr. Macdonald stood up and spoke with his loud sound. “Here we gathered here to save two beloved members of our coven, one of which is all of you are familiar with; Teresa. Our loved Teresa sneaked in Purple Town’s headquarters with our friend Eusine. We just recently received the information that the two are kept in a locked room. We won’t disappoint them. We will get there and save our friends.”

The students cheered all at once for Teresa and the man whom they didn’t know about. Greta was carefully watching Hadley. She closed her eyes and seemingly concentrated on her “thing”. Suddenly, Greta felt like the ground was going down, but she stood still. She felt dizzy and held on Redwald’s shoulder, while she could not keep her eyes open anymore, since it made her want to vomit. The place where Greta assumed it to be nothing, but pure darkness was so cold that Greta wanted to scream for a brief moment, until she found herself standing on the solid ground again.

“Open your eyes…” Redwald said softly. Greta doubtfully opened her eyes just to see herself standing in front of a steel door. That was the entrance to the headquarters. She smiled unpleasantly. She was filled with anger and vindication on the inside. Mr. Macdonald, the old man, looked at everyone and pushed the door. As soon as Greta saw the inside, she felt irritated. She got goose bumps. The hallway was full of students walking up and down. The dark walls made it look like that was the place after death. Soon after, she spotted a boy who was shouting.

“The intruders have arrived!” He shouted back to the hallway. The youngest students ran around and rushed to ignore any damage. Some “experienced” students preferred to stand and fight. “I got this.” One of the boys said. A girl stood beside him. “I will give you a hand.” She said.

“Bring on!” Mr. Macdonald shouted at them. Greta would not imagine seeing him that furious. But Hadley put her hand on Mr. Macdonald’s shoulder right away. “Let us deal with this, sir.” She said. “Redwald and I… You and Greta go and find Teresa and Eusine, wherever they are.”

“Not unless we let you pass through.” The boy said. He already grabbed his Poké Ball. “Gastly, go!” He yelled, as he threw the ball, pushing the button on it. The girl did not waste any second. “Come out, Koffing!” She yelled, as she pushed the button on it as well.

Greta quickly grabbed her Pokédex to scan the Pokémon.

Hadley grabbed her Poké Ball. “Kadabra, I need you!” She said. As she pushed the button on it, it opened up and let Kadabra out of it. A yellow Pokémon with great moustache appeared holding a spoon. Redwald scanned him.

“Whoa, Nellie!” Redwald responded. He did not want to stand close by to that enormous Pokémon, but he did not have much choice. He quickly grabbed the Poké Ball he desired and pushed the button on it, letting the Pokémon residing inside come out. It was none other than his Poliwag appearing beside Kadabra.

“Kadabra, use Reflect!” Hadley ordered. She seemed like she had no intention of wasting her time. Kadabra moved his arms like he was following a ritual dance. Seconds later, a vision of glass wall reflected only for seconds around Kadabra and Poliwag.

“What was that just now?” Greta asked. Mr. Macdonald was watching the battle proudly. Greta wondered if Mr. Macdonald helped Hadley improve that technique. “Reflect decreases the attack power coming from the foe even only for a while.”

“Gastly, use Lick on Kadabra!” The boy ordered. The gas Pokémon opened its gas mouth. An unexpectedly long tongue of his extended through other side of the hallway until it reached to Kadabra. The Pokémon licked Kadabra from his body to his face. The cold, wet tongue creeped Kadabra out for a second. Unlike what she expected, Kadabra did not move.

“What is wrong with Kadabra?” She asked. Mr. Macdonald responded humbly. “Lick is a move that paralyzes the foe.” He nodded after. “But why didn’t Hadley do anything, then?” Greta asked. None of this made sense to her. Mr. Macdonald smiled. “Because, my dear, Kadabra’s ability Synchronize reflects the status to the foe. In order words, now, Gastly is paralyzed, too.” Greta was fascinated by the world of Pokémon once again.

“Koffing, use Sludge!” The girl ordered. Koffing opened his mouth with the creepy smile on his face and sprayed a sludge out of it. The sludge hit Poliwag who attempted to do nothing. He was affected.

“Poliwag, use Water Gun on Koffing!” Redwald ordered. Poliwag jumped and fired a body of water out of the spiral on his body. The Water Gun hit Koffing on his eyes. The floating Pokémon stumbled for a second, but he pulled his balance back in seconds.

“Gastly, use Hypnosis!” The boy ordered. Gastly’s eyes began to glow in pink. Hadley knew she wasn’t supposed to let Gastly use that move. “Kadabra, Disable!” She ordered. Kadabra held his spoon higher, stared at Gastly and glowed his eyes as well. Greta watched the whole thing nervously. Kadabra sleeping would ruin many things. Seconds later, she spotted Gastly’s eyes returning to normal, while Kadabra’s were still glowing. It took a few seconds before Greta understood what was going on. Kadabra disabled Gastly’s Hypnosis before he actually used it. Greta relieved a little.

“I can’t believe this!” The girl raged in anger. “Koffing, use Smokescreen!” She ordered. Koffing levitated higher and rolled around so fast that he only looked like a small, purple ball rolling in the air. Soon later, he emitted a black smoke all around the hallway. Now, things were much harder to see through.

“Night Shade, Gastly!” That was the sound of the boy, screaming. Gastly came through the smoke with the creepy smile on his face just like Koffing’s. Suddenly, Greta felt something that she couldn’t help. She didn’t look at anywhere but straight in the eye of Gastly. She didn’t realise how, but all of a sudden, the hallway got lost in pure darkness. There was only the source of the light, Gastly, and that was all. Greta moved her arms to hold on something. She finally touched something which she assumed was Mr. Macdonald’s arm. Soon later, the darkness disappeared and Gastly reappeared in the smoke. Kadabra was affected by Night Shade.

“Hold on, Kadabra! We can pull this thing off!” Hadley motivated her Pokémon. Kadabra was holding his knees, trying to pull himself together. “Don’t let Gastly go, use Psychic!” She ordered right away. Kadabra suddenly stood up and raised his spoon. He put it toward Gastly and used Psychic on him. Gastly suddenly began to float backwards. That was Kadabra doing. Gastly turned around and looked at Kadabra with a shock on his face. Kadabra hit the gas Pokémon on the floor so hard that it was super effected.

“Explosion!” A scream was heard. That was not a warning by someone but simply an order by the girl who owned Koffing. “Not so fast!” Redwald responded. “Poliwag, use Double Slap!” He ordered. Poliwag ran toward the smoke and soon after the sound of slaps echoed through the hallway. Poliwag flinched Koffing successfully. “Well done, Poliwag!” Redwald shouted out.

“Come with me.” Mr. Macdonald said. Greta took her eyes off the battle and turned to Mr. Macdonald. “They are so focused on the battle that no one will realise we are passing through. Come with me.” He was likely right. She suddenly remembered Eusine and the potential danger he could be in. She nodded and dedicated her security on Mr. Macdonald to follow him behind. Mr. Macdonald got to the corner of the hallway. He ran toward the smoke right next to the wall. Greta followed him right behind. She realized Koffing rolled around and threw something on either Poliwag or Kadabra again. The Sludge move caused a horrible stink that time. She wondered if Koffing emitted what he ate before. Seconds later, they passed the two trainers and arrived at the other half of the hallway which led to stairs on both sides.

“I told you, didn’t I?” Mr. Macdonald said. Greta smiled gently. Although, she then needed to know which way to take to find Eusine and Teresa. She wondered if they were still alright wherever they were. She checked the two sides of the hallway. Both were leading to same looking white stairs. She wanted to ask Mr. Macdonald what he thought and turned her head only to see him talking to a girl. She curiously walked closer to them.

“Was it you who tattled us?” Mr. Macdonald asked. He was so angry that the saliva was sprinkled while he talked. The girl was frightened. It didn’t look like she was frightened by Mr. Macdonald himself but the situation itself. “Because of you, two people might be dead! Why did you do that, Emma? Why?”

Emma fell on her knees and started crying. She put her hands on her ears, stared at the floor and cried loudly. “So…” Greta thought. “…that is the spy who informed on Eusine and Teresa…”

Greta felt an urge of punching the girl on the face for risking Eusine’s life after all. How did she even manage to get all the information, she thought. But would it really matter? In the end, she is here, safe, but Eusine is who knows where, probably injured. Then again, why was she crying down there? Was she feeling regret in her heart? Greta was lost in her own thoughts. Mr. Macdonald’s sudden move awakened her. He held the girl from her shoulders and lifted high. She was no longer falling, but still staring at the floor.

“I always believed in you.” Mr. Macdonald said. “I was even against the council decision which agreed on expelling you. I see now what a big mistake I’ve made…”

She cried even louder then. Greta pulled herself back from hurting her. She put her hand on Mr. Macdonald’s shoulder. “We have to find Eusine and Teresa as soon as possible.” She reminded humbly. Mr. Macdonald nodded. Greta felt awkward for being so gentle. Until the moment she entered Purple Town headquarters, she was full of anger that she could destroy anything standing on her way. But now, she felt so delicate and abstaining that she did not even bother to hurt the girl that caused everything.

“Which way should we take?” She asked, looking at both sides. Emma stopped crying. “Follow the right hallway and go down the stairs.” She said. “Teresa and the other guy are kept in one of those rooms.”

Mr. Macdonald didn’t say anything. He and Greta ran the hallway and went downstairs. Greta found herself on another hallway. This hallway, unlike the ones upstairs, was very white and grey. It reminded of her Professor Oak’s laboratory. He had the hallways always white and grey to make it look more like a lab. The problem was bigger, though. All the doors were closed and locked. Greta would have needed a key to open each door and check inside.

Just as she thought that, she heard a scream. Greta and Mr. Macdonald looked at each other at the same time. Greta suspected that it was Teresa’s voice. Mr. Macdonald was probably sure it was, because he did not waste any second and started walking through the hallway, checking each door. Greta fell behind and followed him.

Mr. Macdonald suddenly stood. He turned to his right and pushed the door very harshly. Upon opening, he and Greta saw a woman with a yellow Pokémon. The Pokémon was shaking his pendulum. Teresa was the one lost in it. Eusine was only standing on the edge, his hands and arms were tied.

As soon as the woman turned her back, Greta already pushed on the button of one of her Poké Balls. Seconds later only, Paras appeared.

“Hypno, let go of her.” The woman said. Hypno stopped hypnotising the poor girl. “Paras, Slash!” Greta ordered. Paras’s nails glowed bright and grew bigger in seconds, as he ran toward Hypno and used Slash on his face. Hypno put his hands on his big nose which was smarting in pain.

“Confusion!” The girl ordered. Hypno took his pendulum again and began to shake it. Greta stepped forward to prevent it. “Stun Spore!” She ordered. Paras closed his eyes and shook his mushrooms. They emitted spores all around, some of which stuck on Hypno’s skin. Hypno poorly attempted to get rid of all the spores, except they paralyzed his body as well as his hands now. He fell on the ground, dropping his pendulum. He stood motionless.

The girl screamed in anger. “How dare you interfere my job?!” She yelled. She raised her hands and ran on Greta to hurt her. Greta covered her face with her arms and turned her head to her right with closed eyes. She expected the moment in which the woman hit her. She even heard a hitting sound. But she felt no pain. Was wherever she hit on Greta’s body numbing?

She slowly lowered her arms and opened her eyes to see what was happening. The woman was lying on the floor, fainted. Mr. Macdonald was standing on top of her. Did that old man fainted a young and energetic woman? Greta looked at the scene in shock. “How could you…”

Mr. Macdonald did not let her speak. “I am a young myself, also.” He said. If he wasn’t speaking with his wrinkled face and grey hair, Greta could almost believe it. “You are a great man, Mr. Macdonald!” She enjoyed the moment for a brief second. But then, she came to the real world when Eusine tossed his tied body. Greta quickly ran to Eusine and tried to untie the ropes, but they were too tough. “Paras, use Slash!” She quickly ordered. Paras gently came to Eusine and used Slash on the ropes on his arms and legs. Eusine was set free again. After he untied the cloth on his mouth, he could speak again.

“Listen to me… Hypno used the Deadly Curse on Teresa. He absorbed Teresa’s life energy. I think… I think… If she can hold on a bit longer, I can save her… But first, I have to go and find my and her Poké Balls to save our Pokémon…”

“You go, young man.” Mr. Macdonald said. “Greta and I will take care of our Teresa.”

Greta wanted to go with Eusine. He spoke so fast that Greta did not even have time to hug Eusine. She dreamed of that moment ever since she found out Eusine was in danger. And now, he was about to leave the room to face, and hopefully endure, other dangers out there without her. Greta had hard times not standing up and telling him not to go without her. But that was not the time to be emotional, she thought. She only nodded what Eusine and Mr. Macdonald said and did as they told. Eusine thanked Greta and Mr. Macdonald before he ran off the room.

Greta fell on her knees and held Teresa’s hand. Her skin was so cold. Teresa was fainted but she looked like a dead person, which creeped Greta out. “What is the Deadly Curse, Mr. Macdonald?” Greta asked despite of fearing of the answer.

“This is, my little, unfortunately the one thing Ghost-type and Psychic-type Pokémon have in common…” Mr. Macdonald answered. “Deadly Curse is what takes away one’s all life energy until the end. This is a horrible and painful way to die, even though it doesn’t look like it. A normal death only stops the heart and give physical pain. Deadly Curse first takes away one’s hopes and dreams, makes them believe that nothing will make the future any better. After that, it takes all the love and happiness in one’s. They believe that they can never be truly happy again. That is a greater pain than one can get physically. It is not even over yet. They believe that they will have to live in that constant darkness forever. They beg to die, not feel a thing inside. There, the Deadly Curse goes to the third stage. They give a great physical pain to the person. I assume the scream we heard happened at that moment. But Teresa was not aware at the moment what she was doing. Her mind was busy with much deeper things. Eventually, the great pain reaches to such high level that the person just passes out. Believe me, Greta, there is no more painful death than dying with Deadly Curse…”

Greta stepped back, was shocked of what she heard. She wished such thing never existed, no creature ever died that way. No matter how bad they could be, they would never deserve to die like that…

Greta held Teresa’s hand. She flushed her head next to Teresa’s. The tear coming down Greta’s eyes dropped on Teresa’s dark cheek. “Hold on, Teresa. Eusine will come to save you… Just hold on a little longer… You and your Pokémon will leave this place. You will find happiness with them. You have to believe me and hold on, Teresa. I am begging you, do that…”

Humans

 * Redwald Walker
 * Greta Parker
 * Eusine Hunter
 * Professor Oak (mentioned)
 * Hadley
 * Lily
 * Emma
 * Students of Dawn's Hope
 * Students of Purple Town

Pokémon

 * Hadley's Kadabra
 * A student's Gastly
 * A stundet's Koffing
 * A student's Hypno
 * Hadley's Kadabra
 * A student's Gastly
 * A stundet's Koffing
 * A student's Hypno
 * A stundet's Koffing
 * A student's Hypno