Chapter 2

sVergil, Cole and Misty travel up to route 24, aiming to reach Bill's house and check on him, and determine the problem with the storage system. However, they ruun into trouble on the way. While Misty expected to see a few cursed pokemon at best, they now encounter lots of them. In the middle of the chaos, Vergil spots a pokemon egg in the forest and runs after it, as a cursed pokemon is about to crush it. Barely able to save the egg and escape unharmed, Misty scolds him and he shows her the egg. Misty realises it is an Eevee egg, and allows him to keep it, knowing that he will be great with an Eevee for his first pokemon. After they travel a little more, they first find Bill's grandfather, who says lots of cursed pokemon have appeared. All of them continue to Bill's house, only to find out that the further they traveled north, the more infested the area was. When they reached Bill's house, it was already up in flames. As Misty fought the cursed pokemon outside, Vergil and Cole entered the burning house and brought Bill out. Heavily injured and burned, he informed Misty that the electrical grid was overloaded. He says the whole storing system has to be down in the whole Kanto, and pokemon stored are now inaccessible. Misty is shocked at the revelation, and says she has to go check at the power plant immediatelly after leaving Bill at the pokecenter.

## Chapter 2

As we continue walking north, we are now outside Pokemon Tech. This marvelous building is a school for pokemon trainers. I hate this place. When I became ten years old, my mother decided to send me here, instead of letting me travel the world. Six years later, I still don't like this choice, one that was done without my consent. When she was my age, my mother, my father and uncle Brock began their journey together. Misty doesn't talk about the past very much. The thoughts of my father still hurt. How could they not? One time though, she told me a few things, after I desperately wanted to find out more about him. Mother told me about the day she met him, when he stole her bike to take Pikachu to the pokemon center. When she followed him there, the bike was completely destroyed. And thus began ther journey, which would make them best friends at first, and eventually lovers. I wanted to learn so many things, and although misty talked for hours, she only reached up to the point where their roads split up. It was after the Silver Conference, back when my dad was but a rookie trainer. It was then my mother realised her feelings for him were more than 'friendly". I still remember th sadness she talked with though. And although I still want to learn more about my father, on that day I promised I would never ask again. My mom is a strong and young woman, and the past shouldn't keep her back. I get why she made me go to that school though. It was close to home, and I guess she couldn't lose me on top of losing my father. More importantly though, she feared of the cursed pokemon. I was mad at her for a long time, but now I appreciate everything Misty has done for me. The tuition in pokemon tech was very expensive, yet she worked hard and provided for me. Although she wanted me to be safe, she didn't want me to miss out on anything that she lived through. You see, once you graduate Pokemon Tech, you can enter the kanto league championship without the need of the badges. My mom also promised me that during this year, I will get my first pokemon, on the grounds that I collect money for a pokeball and catch it myself. I can be patient, therefore i will wait for the perfect opportunity. With the money I saved the previous year, I already have two pokeballs.

Lost in my thoughts, I have forgotten Cole and Mom walking right besides me. I am interrupted though by a couple of cursed pokemon appearing from inside some bushes. A grotesque form of what appears to have been a gloom, as well as a houndour cut through some vines and appear right in front of us. Acting instantly, my mother throws a pokeball in the air, and from a glowing red light, Starmie materializes on the short grass. "Use hydro pump", misty orders, as Starmie spins rapidly while water comes out of its five limbs. Houndour takes a major hit and is thrown back, seemingly unable to stand. Gloom is hit by the pressure of the hyro pump and thrown on the ground, but it survives the hit. The next second, petals come out of Gloom's flower, and hit starmie head on. "Use psychic", Misty instructs once more. A purple beam comes out of Starmie's central crystal, hitting gloom and tearing it to shreds. Black and purple goo and leaves spread everywhere, while houndour's lifeless corpse lies on the side of the road, where it was thrown. "Sorry about this. That's why I didn't want you to come", I can hear a faint sound. It looks as if my mother's voice comes frm the background, as if I am not there at the moment. Could I be shocked from what I just witnessed? This feeling is weird. But it doesn't seem to be about me. I can only focus on one thing, coming from within the thick grass the two cursed pokemon just came from. Without thinking, like I was drawn to something, I entered the tall grass.

Cole's Point Of View:

I like action a lot. I am obsessed with pokemon and battling, and I feel like I'm suffocating in Cerulean. But the sight of the two dead pokemon in front of me, is definitely not a pleasant one. Not that I feel sorry for them. They killed my parents, and all of them deserve to die. Vergil, on the other hand, doesn't seem to take it well. He has snapped. "Vergil", I tell him as I snap a finger in front of his eyes. But he seems to be lost. Actually, he seems to be focused. Somewhere outside the road, behind the tall grass. With a leap, he enters the tall grass from where the two cursed pokemon came out. Misty runs after him, and so do I. What is he thinking? There could be dozens more in there like the ones we fought just now. The vegetation is very dense in here, as grass is caught between my shoes and almost makes me stumble, while the low brances of the trees reach my face. I can barely see Misty running in front of me, and I hope she can see Vergil. A couple minutes later, we reach a small opening, only to see a much worse sight than the two cursed pokemon.

Vergil's point of view:

I don't know what it is that draws me at this spot, but there is definitely something there. My shoes are now muddy and wet, my hands are scratched from thorns and branches, but i can finally see an opening. My mother and Cole are chasing after me, but I can't wait for them. When I reach the opening, a sight even worse than the two dead pokemon comes to light. It appears to be a pokemon nest, holding many eggs inside it. The eggs are smashed, while small unborn pokemon are scattered everywhere. Their species is beyond recognition anymore, but a little further from the nest there are a couple dead cursed oddish. Looking closely inside the nest, momentarily suppressing the disgust I feel from the death and gore around it, I see a bloodied Espeon. It makes a small sound, but its insides are ripped out, and the pokemon is now but a mass of blood and viscerabarely recognisable from the rest of the nest. Behind me, I can hear Cole puking on a corner, and Misty telling me to come back. Her voice is still faint though. As the bloodied pokemon lies its head backwards, I can feel it taking its final breath. It is then that the world around me returns to normal.

Misty's Point Of View:

Few are the things I have seen something as brutal as what lies in front of me. And for the kids to see it too; that's just awful. Cole is already looking the other way, puking what he had for breakfast. Vergil on the other hand, he still seems to be lost. He is focused on the dying Espeon in front of him. Maybe it called out to him psychically. That would explain how he found the place, and why he didn't have any contact with us. "Come on, don't look at this", I say as he seems to come around. He takes a step back in shock and sits on the ground, his hands and legs desperately trying to push away from the scene. I take a quick look on what remains of the family. There must have been at least a dozen of eggs here, and Espeon stood its ground to protect them. These oddish laying dead didn't stand a chance, but it had to be houndour that overpowered it, as it looks like from the bites and claw wounds, as well as the burns. "*I'm sorry we weren't here sooner*", I thought to myself, feeling sorry for the poor pokemon.

"Come on guys", I say as I turn to the boys, "there is nothing left here". As they stand up to leave, Vergil turns around and sinks his hands in the bloody mass.

"There has to be a reason Espeon called out to me", Vergil states, confirming my theory that Espeon called out to him. A few seconds later, he pulls out an egg, dipped in blood and guts, but that seems to be intact. "Houndour must have missed this one", Vergil says as a smile forms on his lips, an ironic picture, him being happy, even for a moment, while the rest of himself is stained with blood and mud.

Vergil's point of view:

It has been about half an hour since I found he egg, and it is raining for a while. By now, all three of us are soaking wet, but at least most of the blood has been cleaned off the egg and myself, save for my clothes. Cole has been silent the entire time, and just follows along, visibly shocked.

Cole's point of view:

This world is worse than what I imagined it to be. I feel like I will never eat again. *Just keep walking Cole, don't let your feet abandon you now*. But the cold, oh god the cold. Is it the rain, or is it the shock? Maybe both. Hell, it's probably the shock mostly. We are almost there at least. Misty says Bill's house is close to the lighthouse, which seems to come closer with every step. Once we climb this small hill, the house should appear right in front of us. But something is already visible from here. Misty notices too, and runs up the hill. A few minutes later, we are all on top of it, and Bill's house is right ahead of us. What we saw earlier was smoke though. From a fire coming from Bill's house.