Distracted By A Side-Quest

You go to leave Lavender Town via the west exit, deciding it would make the most sense to once again see if Saffron City has opened its gates, and then head onto Celadon if it hasn't, where Bill had said you could get a rare pokémon from his grandfather. However, just as you and Misty are about to leave the sleepy town, a voice calls out to you. "Hold on! You're trainers aren't you?" Oh great... Expecting to see a male trainer wanting to challenge you, you're surprised when you turn around to instead see a frail-looking bald old man on the doorstep of a house, with no noticeable pokéballs on him, looking at you both with a **** expression on his face. With the exception of the Pokémon Center nurse, he's the first person you've seen since arriving here. "Please," he says, in a thin, reedy voice, "you have to help me..."

You look at Misty, who nods to you, clearly agreeing that you should at least hear the man out; you're not really sure why you feel this way, but you know you'd feel guilty if you just continued on your journey without even bothering to see what was wrong with him. You both walk over to the man. "I'm Amber from Pallet Town," you say, hesitantly. "And this is..." you pause and look at your friend, not sure if she wants you to give out her name given who she is, but she gives you another nod and you continue. "This is Misty, from the Cerulean City Gym. How can we help you?"

"A Gym Leader!" the old man's eyes light up. "Oh, this is wonderful news!" He seems to get a little too excited, and starts coughing for a few moments before catching his breath. "Forgive me... my name is Mr. Fuji. If you wish, please come inside my house and I can tell you properly about... my situation..." He beckons you inside, and you exchange a hesitant glance with Misty, before the two of you follow him. The house is small but has a quaint charm; you see a photo on a shelf of Mr. Fuji and a pretty, raven-haired girl of about your age, who you assume must be a relative of his. Fuji gestures to you and Misty to take seats at his small dining table, and you do so.

"So, uh... what's up?" you ask awkwardly.

"I... it's a long story," Fuji says. "I... don't really know where to begin..."

"The beginning is usually best, right?" suggests Misty.

If the old man registers her bratty sarcasm then he doesn't acknowledge it, instead giving her a nod. "Yes, yes, that makes sense. Um... well, it all started a few days ago. In the Pokémon Tower..."

You're not sure if it's in your head, but you feel the air grow slightly chillier at the mention of the ominous cemetery. Oh no... I don't like where this is going.

Fuji is oblivious to your discomfort, and continues. "The townspeople noticed one day that the young women who tend to the graves had not come out of the tower in a long time, and we began to grow worried. There are ghost pokémon that live there, you see. Largely they are not something to be concerned with, but... there is record of a story, long ago, where they grew in power and strength enough to take over the whole town. Only by sealing them inside the tower were the ghosts able to be contained..."

Now you really don't like where this is going, but Misty rolls her eyes. "C'mon! That's just a dumb story! As if a bunch of Gastly could take over a town!"

"Y-yes, of course..." Fuji says, not looking so sure. "But nevertheless, it is a fact that those women had not been seen in some time. Now, this town is... quiet, as I imagine you've noticed. We do not have a Pokémon Gym or anything else to attract trainers of any skill to visit here often, and the residents of the town are largely old retired folks like me. Lavender's strongest trainer was a young girl named Leaf, but she left town a few weeks ago, saying something about going to a protest in Saffron City." Saffron City? Huh... Guess she won't be coming back anytime soon if that stays closed...

"So, with her gone, we really had no options as far as investigating the tower was concerned," the old man continues. "We went to the police, of course, the tiny **** we have here, but they insisted that containing wild pokémon such as the tower ghosts was an issue for the Pokémon League to deal with, and refused to get involved. So then we tried contacting the leaders of nearby gyms, but..." He sighs. "We haven't been able to get through to Sabrina of Saffron City, or to Erika of Celadon. Janine of Fuchsia wanted nothing to do with us, and as for the women in Cerulean, well..." He looks like he is beginning a rant of epic proportions, before he remembers who Misty is. "Well... they were wonderfully nice, of course, but-"

"Don't," says Misty, cutting him off. "My sisters are bitches. It's fine."

Fuji sighs with relief. "Well, uh... I wouldn't use quite that term, but... yes," he says. He seems to take a deep breath, looking over at the photo on the shelf before continuing. "So, we had no real way of making sure those poor women in the tower were ok," he says. "So then, my..." He looks down at the floor. "My granddaughter, Paige, she... she'd got her training license a week or so ago, and decided that she and her Machop were going to go and sort things out. She took three of her friends, really the only other trainers in Lavender Town: a young man named Glenn, and Ellie and Anne, the twins from next door. And... they went into the tower." Tears start to well up in his eyes. "And... none of them have been seen for four days..."

He looks up at you, and you really don't know what to say to comfort him. This is awful... The worst is yet to come though. "I asked another traveling trainer for help. Blue, he said his name was, from Pallet Town like you, Amber. Looked fairly capable, and I said I'd pay him for his assistance. I gave him half of the money up-front, to show I had it, you know, but he... he just pocketed it and then headed back through Rock Tunnel towards Cerulean. Said he needed to go home for some reason, I don't know. I don't believe a word of it; he just wanted whatever money he could get out of me, he didn't care about my granddaughter or any of the others..."

That fucking asshole... you seethe with anger at your rival. How fucking low can he get?

Fuji grabs Misty's hands suddenly, and clutches them in his own, the girl recoiling slightly in her chair on instinct. "So now you have to help me," he beseeches. "Please, you're... you're my only chance of getting her out of there..."

You know what you have to do. Your trepidation towards the tower is all gone now, replaced with a desire to be a better person than your scumbag neighbour from back home. "We'll do it," you say, speaking for you and Misty both. "We'll bring those people back home."

About half an hour later, you and Misty walk through the creaking doors of Pokémon Tower, stepping into the cemetery feeling incredibly uneasy. "Doesn't... seem to be anything on this first floor, at least..." you say, looking around. The dank room you're in is fairly vast, but contains nothing of interest besides rows and rows of graves. A staircase leads up to the next floor of the tower, and another, less used set of stairs leads to a basement of some kind. "Don't want to go down there if I can avoid it..." you mutter, and start walking in the direction of the stairs that lead upwards.

"Are you sure about this, Amber?" Misty says, following behind you cautiously. "We could just go for help, you know?"

"Fuji said he already tried that, remember? Besides, we'll be fine." The words are for your benefit as much as Misty's. "You heard Fuji; his granddaughter had a Machop. That was never going to work against ghost-types. We've got your Houndour that's super-effective against them, and a bunch of other strong team members besides. They're only wild pokémon, it's not like we're dealing with-"

You stop in your tracks suddenly, whirling around. You feel like something just touched you on the shoulder, but when you look there's nothing. "You... you ok, Amber?" Misty asks, looking at you with concern in her green eyes.

"Y-yeah," you say, not really believing it. "Yeah, I'm-" your voice dies in your throat as purple gas descends from the ceiling above you, creating a dense cloud of translucent smoke around you. You hurriedly go to reach for one of your pokéballs, but find that your hand won't move, as if it's not listening to your brain's commands.

"Amber! Amber, what's happening?!" Misty stammers, taking a couple of steps back from you and reaching for a pokéball of her own. But she doesn't realise what's behind her. You recognise the man instantly; his lab coat had been less torn when you had encountered him in Mt. Moon, and he hadn't been limping then like he is now, but there's no mistaking him as Miguel, the scientist from Team Rocket. You go to scream for Misty to look out, but your mouth doesn't move, something in this damn gas preventing you from doing anything besides standing there frozen like a statue. Miguel grabs Misty's waist from behind, and the girl screams before he muffles her by placing his other hand over her mouth. She struggles against him desperately, but he's too strong, and manages to drag her off down the basement staircase as your vision starts to fade. You desperately try to fight to stay conscious, but it's no good, and you feel yourself passing out...