LOST SILVER ONE-SHOT


After winning all sixteen gym badges and beating the Elite Four and Champion, Gold decided to go back to Violet City and explore Bellsprout Tower in greater detail. He had heard rumors at the Plateau of a secret ladder in the Tower that led to a secret tunnel and he was dying to see it. He entered the tower, his faithful Typhlosion by his side. Gold wandered around aimlessly for hours, searching every nook and cranny of the tower. He had reached the top, finding no sign of secret ladders and passage ways. Disappointed, he leaned up against the swaying pillar, moving in sync with it as it moved. He shut his eyes and heard his Typhlosion whine softly. Gold ignored it at first, but as the whining got louder and louder, he opened his eyes, meeting Typhlosion's terrified gaze.
"What's wrong?" Gold asked. Typhlosion tore his gaze and looked up, growling at the ceiling. Gold glanced up and saw dust falling from the ceiling. His hand went instinctively to his belt, hand folding on a Pokeball. Suddenly, part of the ceilin caved, a swarm of Unown flooding into the tower. Typhlosion roared and Gold stood straight.
"Ty! Use flare blitz!" he commanded. Typhlosion howled and bent over, his fur ablaze. Gold's fingers curled around the Pokeball of his Ampharos, grabbing it and throwing it. The ball bounced and broke, shattering to pieces. Gold felt tears well up as he darted over, wondering where Ampharos had gone. Shaking his head, Gold stood and threw another ball, only to see it shatter once more.
"What-" he began, glancing over to Typhlosion. His loyal Pokemon couldn't fight off the thousands of Unown flying in and covering the walls. Gold backed up and gestured for Typhlosion to follow.
"Let's get outta here!" he cried. Typhlosion grunted and nodded, sprinting away from the Unown. They reached the ladder only to find Unown spewing up from the lower level. Gold stopped and ran the other way, feeling more and more helpless. Out of the corner if his eye, he could see the Unown swarm and follow him, much like an enraged Beedrill nest. His breathing hitched as he fixed his gaze on an impenetrable wall of Unown in front of him, hundreds more surrounding him and Typhlosion.
"What do you want?" Gold cried, fear in his voice. Six Unown separated themselves from the cluster and floated in front of his face. His knowledge of the Unown alphabet was small, but it was clear what they were spelling: "DONT GO". Gold cocked his head to the side in curiosity as the Unown left, the six lingering longer than the others, than leaving. Gold fingered his belt out of habbit and gasped; the two shattered Pokeballs were whole and on his belt once more.
"That was freaky," he murmured, leaning up against the pillar again. It wasn't moving. Before Gold could ponder it, the wood cracked and he fell through, Typlosion jumping in after him.
When Gold awoke, he heard small whimpers near him. He moaned and sat up, the light dim and the floor wet and cold. A small fire was flickering nearby and Gold stood, heading toward it.
"Typhlosion?" he asked, kneeling to find a Cyndaquil instead. Gold blinked as the Cyndaquil squealed in delight and sniffed his hand, its warm tongue licking him. Puzzled, Gold picked it up, familiarity flowing through his veins.
"You are Typhlosion!" he gasped, running a hand through its fur. The creature nodded and Gold felt a dog tag brush his hand. Gold gripped the cool metal and read "HURRY" in all capital letters.
"Hurry," he murmured, "Is that your name now?" Gold teased. To his surprise, the Cyndaquil nodded eagerly. Gold blinked.
"Oh," he said, confused. Still holding Hurry to his chest, he looked around and saw the wide, square pillar of the Bellsprout Tower. He approached it and noticed that it wasn't swaying. He also noticed that there were no doors or ladders. Gold ran fingers over his belt as he circled the square room, befuddled. Hurry was snuggled against his chest, whimpering again. Gold shushed it softly and peered into the dim light, discovering a ladder. He approached it and saw it only went down. Relief flooded through him. He could escape! As his hand reached out to grip the rung, his other five Pokemon escaped their Pokeballs, a bright light flooding the room. When Gold could open his eyes again, he saw that his whole team was replaced with Unown, spelled out to say "LEAVE". Gold blinked and shook his head. It was strange; his entire team was gone and replaced with Unown. Stranger still, the Pokemon that replaced his team were warning him about something. Of what, Gold didn't know, he just knew he had to leave, and fast.
"I know, I know," he told the Unown, recalling them into their Pokeballs. Hurry perched himself on Gold's shoulder, whimpering in his ear. Gold scratched Hurry's head soothingly, and the whimpers quieted, but didn't die completely. Gold began to climb the ladder, his Pokeballs hitting his hips. They were shaking, begging to be released. As he descended, light dimmed until it was gone all together. He also could hear a faint, eerie melody. Gold felt the ladder end and he stepped off into pitch blackness.
"Now what?" he said. Hurry began glowing and light began to flood the room, revealing a hallway.
"Wow!" Gold said, "You know flash! Cool!" Gold looked around and noticed the hallway, a cat-like smile breaking across his face.
"Hurry, we found the secret tunnel!" he cried happily.
"Cynda..." Hurry said softly, not as thrilled as Gold. Gold started down the hallway, the melody getting louder. Assuming his Pokegear radio switched on in his fall, he grabbed it and blinked. The Pokegear was a blank, black screen, not even the map working.
"Weird," he muttered, stuffing it back into his backpack.
Gold walked for thirty minutes, every twenty steps or so the light getting dimmer. He was sweating slightly, but couldn't decide if it was out of excitement or fear. After thirty minutes, the light was very dim, and Gold could barely make out a sign. Curious, Gold approached it, reading, "TURN BACK NOW".
As he read it, the floor disappeared under him and he fell, himself and Hurry screaming the whole way down. When he hit the floor, Gold found himself in another pitch black room. He stood, Hurry's whimpers faint.
"Use flash, Hurry," he said. Hurry glowed and light filled the room. Gold smiled, and turned to Hurry, who was slipping off his shoulder.
"Hurry!" Gold cried, catching the Cyndaquil before he hit the floor. Hurry's breathing was quick and labored, and Gold dug in his pack for a potion. He couldn't find any.
"I had some," he said, sitting up, "I bought some in Violet City!" Gold felt tears well up in his eyes as Hurry's breathing stopped.
"Hurry? Hurry! Wake up!" he cried, shaking him. The Cyndaquil didn't stir. Suddenly, his Pokemon escaped again, six Unown surrounding him. He squinted and read "HE DIED". Gold let the tears fall, not caring how five Unown became six. After crying for awhile, Gold stood and looked around. He was in a six by three room with no doors, only small holes in the grey brick walls. Gold looked through one, the Unown still behind him, and was shocked to find hundreds of gravestones surrounding the walls.
"Am I in the Lost Tower?" he asked, remembering the shrine in Lavender Town for dead Pokemon. That wasn't possible, though. He was in Bellsprout Tower, or so he thought. Gold backed away from the hole and saw the Unown, still in their formation. Yet something had changed; instead of white centers, the Unown were colored blood red. Gold's heart began to beat harder and faster as the Unown stared at him. Gold backed up until he hit the wall, and felt an invisible force grabbing his hands.
"W-what's going on?" Gold gasped, fear flowing through him as the force on his hands became tugging, then pulling. His arms were on fire, ligaments being torn.
"Stop!" Gold cried, tears of fear and pain in his eyes. He looked to the Unown, his eyes pleading.
"Help me! Please!" Gold screamed as his the pulling became greater, the pain almost unbearable. Suddenly, the pulling stopped, a throbbing in his shoulders. Gold reached over to feel his belt, but his arm didn't respond. Sweating and heart racing, Gold glanced over and saw blood flowing where is arm should be. His breathing became shallow, panicked as he looked over and saw his other arm was gone too. Tears and sweat flowed down his face, a breeze blowing. Gold shivered and choked back a sob. He looked up and saw the Unown were gone. He was alone, trapped in a place he didn't know. He didn't bother looking at his belt, he didn't care if he had any Pokemon with him anymore. It didn't matter. He was going to bleed to death in this room alone.
"I'm so cold," he cried. Tears flowing. Blood soaking. Body convulsing. Gold slumped down, defeated. As he sat and cried, the floor became soft and he began to sink. Without his arms, he couldn't stop himself from sinking again. As Gold fell, he noticed his body become pale white, almost like he was a ghost.
He hit the ground and felt an ankle snap. He managed to get up and look around, tears still falling. He was back in Bellsprout Tower, the pillar still not moving. He looked into the reflective, deep red wood and saw his tears looked like blood. Gold looked down at his shirt and saw droplets of blood, staining it. Once again, his Pokeballs shook and released the Pokemon within, five Unown and a shiny Celebi, who was missing an arm, leg, wing and eye. Its other eye was crying blood, just like Gold's. The Unown were now arranged to spell "DYING". Gold felt his heart skip a beat as he read the message, the centers of the Unown still blood red. As Gold took a step on his broken ankle, he felt the shattered bone pierce his skin and the warm blood flow. He winced and continued, noticing the dark wood was turning blood red, matching the color of his injured limb. The Unown were gone, and the shiny Celebi was now on his shoulder, whimpering just as Hurry had. Gold kept walking, and walking, his feet bleeding into his shoes, leaking and blending in with the blood red floor. His skin was still pale white, his shoulders and legs still bleeding. That's all he could do, walk and bleed, the Celebi on his shoulder.
After what felt hours, Gold came across a line of people, all facing the pillar, all pure white like him. Gold hurried over to the first person in the line.
"Hello, can you help me?" Gold begged. The person, a man, had no eyes, and didn't speak back. Gold gasped and backed away, glancing over to the next person. They didn't have eyes either. Gold limped away as fast as he could, trying to escape the cold, lifeless stares of eyeless people.
He finally reached the end of the long hallway, his legs throbbing wildly. Gold turned the corner and on the end of the pillar was a boy, around Gold's age, a Pikachu on his shoulder.  To Gold's horror, the boy had no color what so ever; he was completely transparent.  Gold timidly approached him, and if he still had arms, they would be stretched out to touch him, beg for help. Before Gold could talk, the boy lifted his head and stared into Gold's bloody eyes, Gold seeing right through the boy's transparent face. Gold backed up, and the boy followed.
"What do you want?" Gold managed to say in a hoarse whisper. The boy reached out his arm with the Pikachu on it and the yellow mouse hoped off, Celebi sliding off Gold's own shoulder and landing with a soft thump on to the red wood floor. The Pikachu glanced up, and met Gold's eyes. Its eyes were full of tears. Gold didn't know what moves the Celebi knew, but didn't have to as the Celebi acted on its own accord. As Pikachu moved, Celebi braced itself, waiting for Pikachu's attack. Pikachu moaned a little and it's body convulsed, and Gold knew that Pikachu had used curse, a move he wasn't even sure that Pikachu could learn and use. Celebi raised its bloody head, and uttered a foul sound; the tale-tell notes of the perish song move melody. Gold realized that now both Pokemon would faint in three turns, but that offered no hope of escape. He knew he would die down here, making it odd that this nameless, transparent boy would even want to battle.
Nevertheless, the battle continued, Pikachu now used flail, a move that did little damage to Celebi. Once again, Celebi used parish song, but of course it didn't change anything; the Pokemon would both faint in three turns regardless. Now that both had taken a move, the perish count fell to two, and Pikachu made its move. To Gold's astonishment, it used frustration, yet another move he thought Pikachu couldn't learn. This move did considerable damage to Celebi, its screams loud and painful, making Gold wince. When Pikachu was done, the blood dripping from Celebi's eye was flowing harder, it's breathing labored. Instead of using perish song again, Celebi took a deep breath and regained its energy while physically draining Pikachu's in a fluid motion Gold recognized as the move pain split. Once it was over, Pikachu had literally shared in Celebi's pain, both painting and whimpering. The perish count fell to one and the battle continued. Pikachu glared at Celebi menacingly, using the move mean look, preventing Celebi from escaping. A breeze blew as the move took effect, whispering, "Celebi cannot escape now," into Gold's ear. He shivered, but continued looking at the battle before him. Celebi made a coughing noise and fell over defeated, before its perish count reached zero.
"What the-" Gold began, getting cut off as Pikachu approached Celebi, tears flowing from its eyes. It knelt down and touched it, red ribbons exploding from the point of touch. The ribbons intertwined around Celebi's one arm and the arm Pikachu was touching Celebi with, in a fashion Gold recognized as the move destiny bond. Before Pikachu fainted, he looked up at Gold, tears running down its face and a sentence etched upon its forehead: "Celebi has DIED". Gold gasped as both Pikachu and Celebi disappeared, the other boy looking up. An invisible force took hold of Gold, and he was forced to watch as what he assumed was the same force holding him grabbed the other boy and decapitated him. Gold screamed as the transparent body gushed blood, and he saw no more.
When Gold awoke, he saw the ceiling of his room back in New Bark Town, he smiled slightly and sat up, and looked around. The first thing he noticed was that his body was now completely transparent,  his arms were still missing and trickling, his leg still wounded. He got up, his Pokeballs opening once more, revealing six shiny Unown, spelling out, "NO MORE". Gold began to sweat as he stood up, leaving the room. He limped down the stairs and looked around for his mother.
"Mom! Mom, help!" He cried, the bloody tears still falling. She was nowhere to be found. Gold left the house finding not grass, but pitch black. He tried to turn, but an invisible force stopped him. He tried the other side, but the same thing happened. He tried going back to his house, but it was locked. The Unown were gone, and he stepped forward, his leg dragging behind him limply. After a lot of walking, he saw a distant figure at the end to the path, and he hurried toward it, ignoring the pain in his leg.
"Hey! Hey you!" he called as he got closer. The boy turned and Gold saw his own face, but he didn't have eyes. Gold fell backward, and the boy crouched down, facing him.
"Goodbye forever..." he whispered, a demented smile splitting his eyeless face. Gold stopped breathing for a moment and time stood still as he looked at himself, his double still smiling. The boy stepped away and vanished, a dark shadow in his place. Gold felt his body seize up in a bind, one he had seen a Gengar use on his Typhlosion in the elite four. It was nightmare, a horrifying move that he hated using on other Pokemon. It affected the mind forcing Pokemon to have and live through terrible nightmares. Before he could react, he felt his legs being ripped off, the warm blood gushing everywhere. He screamed and the figure was gone and Gold felt himself spinning and sinking, falling once again into blackness.
Gold landed and heard his back break. He coughed up blood and turned his head to find himself back in the small room surrounded by tombstones. Six Unown appeared, and Gold watched as they arranged themselves to say, "IM DEAD". Gold blinked and felt his wind pipe constrict. He struggled for breath and as the Unown surrounded him, he shut his eyes and saw no more.



R. I. P.