Pink, Day 30: Meet the parents.

Haunter knows Dream Eater!  Bye bye dreams!  You suck!  I win!  Wooooootttt!

I woke up all happy and refreshed.... mostly.  The Dream Eater worked all right but had some peculiar side effects.  I could see double and I was sure Purple was starting to look orange.  This was funny to me.

Lavender Town can be a depressing place for most people who aren't me (of course).  I grew up here and heard all the sob stories.  "My Voltorb used Explosion... and died."  "My Charmeleon took a bath... and died."  "My Geodude was playing in the rain... and died."  "My Rattata was jumping around near the edge of a cliff... and died."  "My Meowth was cold so I put it in the oven to warm it up, and for a while it was happy... then it died."

The most famous story was about some Marowak who lost their Cubone due to some Team Rocket Grunts... and died.  The difference was that Marowak started haunting people.  It was pretty cool for a while (in my opinion) then Cyan went and ruined it by capturing the Cubone.  I believe the Marowak is following Cyan even now.  Haunting his every step for the one chance to snatch her baby back.

Anyways, Purple and I made our way through the town until we reached the Tower.  We got in and was greeted by an old man.  He said we couldn't go pass as the spirits were restless and causing people harm.  At this point, Purple suggested we wait outside until it blew over.  What was his problem?  Was he afraid of ghosts?  Silly Purple.

I promised I would look after him and he agreed so long as he could have another sandwich.  I searched my bag and got one.  Purple snatched it from my hands and started eating.  When he finished, we began our trip through the Tower.  The old man wished us luck but I was certain we wouldn't need it.  I knew this place like the back of my hand... actually, for some reason, the back of my hand looked different.  OK, I knew this place like the back of my... nope, that's different too.  Well... well... I knew this place.  This place with the... and the... shut up.

So Purple and I were wandering in the place (let's ignore that little... forgetful moment there).  I was pretty much sure where I was going.  Well, it would've been easier had Purple not stop running from ghosts, claiming that we were simple meddling kids who couldn't fight such monsters.  I assured him we were fine.

Eventually (after getting lost a few times, maybe we were missing), we were challenged by some old lady holding a crystal ball.  She said her name was Mystic Meg and claimed my future was full of change and servitude.  Whatever that meant.

For some bizarre reason (and this was in relation to the forgetfulness I bet), I wasn't thinking straight sooooo... ended up throwing out Machamp first.  Whoops.  Ghost Pokémon... kind of good against fighting... whooooops.  Well, at least Growlithe and Vaporeon did a good job.  We won in the end.

The old lady was annoyed and said the challenge had only just begun, then she walked away, cackling as she left.  Old people.  They shouldn't be left unattended.

As we went, we bumped (quite literally, I didn't see them at first) into two more elderly ladies.  Both had ghost Pokémon and they did well against my own.  Purple lent me his Pokémon to battle and his Koff Koff and thing performed exceptionally.  The two women glared disapprovingly then skulked off, cackling as they disappeared from view.  Fun.

It was then when my parents appeared.  Both seemed ready to attack me with ghost powers (like the touch of death and making it cold - ghosts were really good at those things).  I had to explain to them that I was their daughter Pink and that my appearance was just an odd coincidence.  Why were my own parents unable to recognise me?  After some time, I presented Haunter as proof.  It worked for the most part but now rather than being intimidating, they were sad.  I asked what was wrong and they said nothing much, only congratulating me that Gastly was now Haunter.

Next, I introduced Purple, who gave some silly bow to them.  The courtesy earned him frowns then mild smiles.  Why were my parents so... dispirited (no pun intended, because that would be mean if I did something like that)?

Suddenly, there was a crash and a tall skeleton with a long beard jumped into the scene, threatening to tear our hearts out if we didn't run away (skeletons can talk it seems).  Purple followed his command but I remained.  I had grown up here, I wasn't afraid of monsters.

The skeleton said I had to give him all my Pokémon Dollars otherwise he would feast upon my heart.  I laughed and released my Haunter and Chansey (might as well use it) to beat the skeleton up.  After a struggle, the skeleton's head fell off.  Fell off!  I picked the skull up and inspected it.  To my disappointment, it was only a hat.    Awww...

I told my Pokémon to stop hurting him (as there were blood splatters on the floor at this point, and I didn't want to have to clean up anything).  The man (not skeleton) started crying.  "Why did you do this?  I was earning lots of money!  And... and... you ruined it!"

A few moments later, Purple came back accompanied by an Officer Jenny.  The Jenny smiled at me and I smiled back (why did I smile back?  I don't know and couldn't stop myself, weeeiiirrrddd...).  After that, Jenny arrested the man who cried some more.  "I was getting loads of money and I would've gotten away with it too if it weren't for these meddling kids!"

I watched as the Jenny escorted the man out then I turned back to where my parents were.  They were smiling now and said they were proud of me for fighting back and holding on.

Purple now believed I was Pink (or at least I think he believed) and so that was that.  I said goodbye to my parents and left the Tower.  Outside, I contemplated on what I could do next.  Cyan was rushing ahead of everyone even though the Pokémon League wasn't for a little while yet.  Still, if I wanted to be there in time, I would have to get a move on.  Next stop, Saffron City.

Hope to see you again soon.

Pink Joy