Pokemon Heroes: Sinnoh Saga [Book 1]

Chapter 44: Route 209, The Two Towers

"The Two Towers. That's what we called it. Hey, we were dumb kids, don't judge us too harshly. Sounds like a fantasy epic, huh? That's what I thought too. Anyway, when Cynthia said she didn't want to spoil too much she was right. If she had told us what was in store, I can tell you Lyss would have made us skip both the Hallowed Tower and the Lost Tower. The Hallowed Tower was supposedly a place of worship for the people of Solaceon Town after they came down from Mt. Coronet and founded a settlement where the town is now located. It fell apart, but in the past few hundred years was rebuilt in the form of a massive obelisk-shaped tower called the Lost Tower; that's now a graveyard to dead Pokémon. Spooky right? Yeah, well, it got spookier."

Sam, Niya, Jeremy and Alyssandra sat around the campfire.

Jeremy's Pikachu sat resting on Jeremy's lap, while the rest of the group's Pokémon were huddled nearby as well. Everyone had eaten and now the only sound was the crackling of the fire and chirping of crickets and Kricketot.

Everyone sat, listening intently to Alyssandra's scary story.

"They say in the Johto Region, in Ecruteak City, there was once a little girl named Eiko who had just moved into a new house," began Alyssandra, using a tone of voice that made this harmless little girl seem spooky, "Shortly after moving in, Eiko made a new best friend. Her name was Ari, but Ari wasn't what she seemed, because Ari was invisible. The two girls grew very, very close, and would always play together in the family's yard. One day, while Eiko and Ari were trying to plant flowers, Ari warned Roxanne not to plant any under the old oak tree in the corner of Roxanne's backyard. Apparently, that's where Ari's daddy was sleeping."

Pikachu felt a shiver run up his spine, and the story hadn't even progressed that far. The small Pokémon immediately ran up Jeremy's leg and jumped into the space between his shirt and his jacket. Pikachu poked his head out of the collar of the jacket, his ears hitting Jeremy in the face.

Jeremy simply chuckled as his Pokémon attempted to get warmer and hide from the already creepy Ari.

"The next day, Eiko brought Ari to school for show and tell; but her teacher Mrs. Sato wasn't happy with that. She yelled at Eiko and hurt Ari's feelings. When Eiko tried to explain to her teacher that Ari was upset, Mrs. Sato told the girl that Ari wasn't real, and was just a figment of her overactive imagination. Ari got so upset, that she hid the chalk eraser," continued Alyssandra.

"A few days later, during the weekend, Eiko had a birthday party. She was turning nine and invited her friends to come over and celebrate with her. But because of Ari, Eiko became known as the 'Weird Ghost Girl' all because she still had an imaginary friend. Eiko was upset at first, until Ari told her that people had come to the door and left gifts on the porch but didn't stay. This made Eiko feel a bit better, and she spent the rest of the day playing with her new toys and Ari."

"After the weekend, Eiko, having forgotten about no one coming to her birthday party, with Ari having done her best to make it all better, Eiko returned to school. That day however, everything was different. Her regular teacher, Mrs. Sato was absent, and replaced by a temporary substitute, Ms. Inoue. Ms. Inoue was, in Eiko's opinion, much nicer than Mrs. Sato, letting the kids have snack time after diary time. When Eiko's classmate, Jonathan, stole her pencil case, Ms. Inoue did her best to look everywhere for it, but couldn't find it and made Jonathan give Eiko his pencils for the time being."

"Ms. Inoue and Roxanne talked a lot after that, and Roxanne told her teacher about Ari. Ms. Inoue, though she couldn't see Ari, introduced herself, and told Eiko that she believed Ari was real. From then on, Roxanne wished with all of her heart that Ms. Inoue could stay her teacher."