The Ketchum Curse ch.10- Of Jigglypuff and Cilan

Walking through the woods; I noticed some fallen branches and thought it must be where Charizard had fallen, the clearing we passed five minutes later had looked very familiar.

Dawn tried to get us all to sing songs as we walked. Misty and May decided to join in and Iris couldn't stop laughing at Cilan's exasperated face. Max and Ritchie were trying to block it out by searching for Pokemon while Brock and I went ahead.

Max tried to catch a Mankey, but it failed. In the end, we barely managed to snatch his glasses back from the Mankey before it disappeared into the trees.

He did manage to catch a Spearow. It was a tough battle for Treecko, but the grass Pokemon managed to defeat the bird.

We headed to the Pokemon Center, Mt. Moon was very close but we needed to rest up a little.

"Hello, kids!" Nurse Joy said.

Brock was about to speak when Max grabbed his ear.

"Don't even think about it." The younger boy said.

Nurse Joy pretended not to notice. "So, are you on your way to compete in the tournament?" She asked.

"Yeah, the Indigo Plateau awaits!" Max said.

"What about the world tournaments?"

We stared at Nurse Joy in confusion.

"World tournament?" I asked.

"You haven't heard it? It was announced this morning, actually."

We shook our heads.

Nurse Joy smiled. "Well, I'll tell you." She said. "There's two big tournaments happening this year. One is for trainer competitions and one is for coordinators. Both are very huge as they involve more than just regional competitions."

"Wow that sounds awesome!" Max said.

"Yeah, where's it taking place?" I asked.

"The first tournament happens right here in Kanto. Of course you must have eight gym badges first, so you might want to hurry." Max blushed. Nurse Joy continued. "Four regions are participating in this event. They are: Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh. I believe Unova has declined the offer to participate as well as a few other places."

"When is the tournament?" Ritchie asked.

"Sign ups for the tournament are in two months, but the official tournament date is yet to be announced. The second round takes place in Johto, the third in Hoenn, and finally the World Championships take place in Sinnoh. The same goes for the Top Coordinator tournament. You would be named the Top Coordinator of the World."

Dawn and May squealed happily.

"Have the rules been announced?" Cilan asked.

"Not yet, but we're expecting them to release the rules in about two weeks. I'm sure there are standard rules such as using six Pokemon. I think there might be double battles in the first tournament if there's a big turnout. I believe that the regional champions will also be present as well as a mysterious person who was the champion of Kanto and Johto."

"I thought Lance was the Champion?" I said.

"Yes, but the original Champion didn't want his position and left so Lance keeps the official title." Nurse Joy said. "That's quite sad because I heard he is an amazing trainer."

"If we have double battles, we can team up." I said, turning to my friends. "This is going to be so awesome!"

"I agree!" Cilan said. "And I'm in! I'd love to battle."

"Yeah, me too!" Iris said.

"This is going to be wicked!" Max said.

"It sounds so amazing!" Misty said.

"Contests!" May and Dawn cheered.

"Are you okay, Ritchie?" Brock asked.

Ritchie tried to hide his sad face with a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine." He said.

"I wish you could come." I said.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be watching though so you try your best!" He said. "I'll cheer for all of you guys in battles and contests. Seriously, I'll be alright."

Nurse Joy allowed us to stay the night, but Max wanted to wake us up early so we could get going as soon as possible.

…

It took us a few days to trek through Mt. Moon. Dawn wanted to catch a Clefairy and Max wanted a Paras.

There was an incident with Cilan and a couple of Geodudes. We're not sure if he stepped on them or tripped over one, but two Geodudes started chasing after him. Luckily, May's Glaceon and Iris's Emolga managed to stop them.

Dawn didn't get to catch her Clefairy, but she did find a little Jigglypuff.

Misty, Brock, Ritchie, and I asked her if she was sure she wanted a Jigglypuff.

Dawn held the small pink Pokemon out. It looked tired and weak.

"Jiggly?" Jigglypuff looked around.

"Hi, want to be part of my team?" Dawn asked.

"Jiggly." Jigglypuff smiled.

Brock examined the round pokemon. He discovered small scratches and bruises on Jigglypuff and that it seemed very malnourished.

"What does that mean?" Ritchie asked.

"It means Jigglypuff needs more food." Max said.

"I know that. I meant, does this mean Jigglypuff was abandoned?"

"Good question." Misty said.

"What's the diagnosis, Doc Brock?" I said.

Brock smiled slightly. "This Jigglypuff is very scared. See?" He reached a hand towards Jigglypuff. The Pokemon whimpered and buried its face in Dawn's shirt.

"Pika Pikachu."

"Jiggly puff…Jiggly Jiggly puff…puff…"

Pikachu looked sad. "Pika, Pikapi, Pi chu."

"Does that mean Ritchie's right?" I asked.

Pikachu nodded.

"Alright, Dawn. You should keep Jigglypuff." May said. "Look how cute it is!"

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Iris asked.

"This Jigglypuff is male." Brock said.

"How did you know that?" Cilan said. "As a connoisseur, I have a distinct ability to detect Pokemon genders by the way they act and look. But you knew by a glance."

"Funny enough, it's the exact way I determined that." Brock said. "Plus the fact that male Jigglypuff are more likely to venture into caves to forage for food if there's nothing else."

"Wow." Cilan said.

"Yay! Jigglypuff is mine, he's so cute-"

"Hold on, Dawn." I said. "You should battle Jigglypuff first."

"I agree." Misty said.

May, Iris, Max, and Cilan gasped.

"What?" I asked. Ritchie and Brock were snickering and Dawn had a surprised look.

"It's not often that you and Misty agree with each other." Brock said.

"That's not true. I've agreed with Misty tons of times!" I said.

"No we haven't!" Misty said.

"Yeah we have!"

"No we haven't!"

"Wow. You're disagreeing on whether you've agreed...wow, just…wow." Iris said.

I blushed sheepishly. "Can we just move on?"

Dawn brought out Piplup. Jigglypuff looked weak, but determined.

"Piplup, bubblebeam!"

The blue Pokemon shot out a stream of bubbles. Jigglypuff couldn't react in time and was knocked out.

"Should I still catch him?" Dawn asked.

"Pika! Pi Pikachu?" Pikachu said loudly.

"Pip Piplup lup."

"Ji…" Jigglypuff said weakly.

Pikachu and Piplup nodded.

Dawn tossed a Pokeball. We saw a smile on Jigglypuff's face as he was consumed by a red light. The Pokeball wiggled a couple of times before stopping.

"Yay! I caught Jigglypuff!" Dawn cheered.

"Piplup!" Piplup cheered along.

"Huh? Wait, what's going on?"

The Pokeball began to vanish.

"No, wait! Jigglypuff!"

"Dawn, don't worry." I said. "I got scared when that happened to me. You see, you're only allowed to have six Pokemon in your party at a time."

"So, it went to Professor Rowan?"

"It went into the PC system." Brock said. "Basically, when you get to the nearest Pokemon Center, they'll have it in your PC box. No one knows exactly how or why this happens, Bill and his associates are secretive about exactly how the system works. Once you get to the Pokemon Center, you get to choose if you want to trade the Pokemon out for one in your party or if you want to send it to the region's professor. I'm assuming you'd want to send your Pokemon to Professor Rowan."

"I think you can send Pokemon to Professor Oak too." Ritchie said. "I have a couple of Pokemon at Professor Elm's and I've left some at Professor Oak's before. I don't think it matters, but if you want faster and easier service, I think you should send it to the one in the current region."

"And only the trainer who owns that Pokemon is allowed to access the box with their Pokemon in it." Misty added. "For example, if May and Cilan caught a seventh Pokemon then it would be in the PC system. Even though they caught the Pokemon at the same time, May wouldn't be allowed to do anything with Cilan's PC box and Cilan wouldn't be able to do anything with May's. So, you're safe."

"I learned this recently." Brock said. "If you have a Pokemon in there for more than twenty-four hours, it'll be sent to the Professor of that region. So, if we don't get to Cerulean by this time tomorrow, Jigglypuff will be sent to Professor Oak's. Either way, it's perfectly fine."

"Hey, does anyone else hear that?" I asked. A drumming noise sounded really close.

"What?"

YOU! I KNOW WHAT YOU DID!

"I didn't do anything!"

"Ash, what are you talking about?"

"Ash?"

"He's fainting!"

"Catch him!"

"Don't worry, buddy. I got you."

Blurred faces looked at me, and then everything was dark.

…

Pain. So much pain. I felt like I was moving, but my legs weren't doing anything.

Why am I in pain?

Because the name of Ketchum has angered me.

The name of- what? What do you mean?

Are you stupid, Ketchum?

I've been told I'm rash, but I'm not stupid.

Then why don't you know?

Because no one told my mom or me what happened. In fact, I don't think my dad even knows.

I don't want to bother explaining it to you.

Then why are you contacting me?

Foolish boy! Do you think the other would let you die?

YOU'RE TRYING TO KILL ME?!

I'm trying to punish you…but you're too far away…

Heck no! If you're trying to kill me, I'm staying as far away as possible.

Suit yourself, human.

AHA! You're not human, are you? Are you a Pokemon? Are you Arceus?

That is an insult, boy! Arceus would never do anything of the sort. I am not Arceus.

Who are you?

Must you incessantly ask questions?

If it means I know what's going on, then yes. Why are you trying to kill me?

Were you not listening? I said I must punish you.

Why? What did I do?

…

I opened my eyes slightly. We were still in Mt. Moon. I was being carried by Brock while Ritchie carried Brock's backpack.

"Brock?"

The group stopped and brought me to the cave floor.

"Ash, are you alright?" Cilan asked.

"I remember this time…" I said. "There's something out there that's trying to kill me. It's not human, but it's furious. It said some 'other' thing was preventing me from dying…but the voice wants me gone… 'the name of Ketchum has angered me' that's what it said."

"What does that mean?" Max asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine." I said. "I keep thinking that I know the answer, but I don't. How is that voice contacting me?"

"Telepathy?" May suggested.

"Whatever it is, we'll get through it together." Dawn said.

"Yeah!" Iris and Ritchie said.

"We're almost out of Mt. Moon. Do you think you can make it?" Misty asked.

"Don't know."

I eventually made it with the help of my friends. We tried to keep going as if we hadn't been interrupted.

…

We arrived in Cerulean very late at night. Misty let us into the gym, saying that we could stay there for the night.

We were hoping for a peaceful day the next morning, but we were wrong.

Having arrived without preparation, we had to have makeshift beds around the gym pool. Dawn, Iris, and May were able to stay in Misty's room for the night and had easy access to the bathroom. The guys weren't so lucky.

In case you are not aware, the gym has a shower room for when the Sensational Sisters were finished with their practice or show or whatever. Yes, I said 'a' shower room. They had never planned on inviting any guys in the group so there was only one shower/toilet room. There was a bathroom in the gym across from the shower rooms. There were signs that said 'shower room' and 'restroom' on the doors. The Sisters typically get up at six in the morning and are hitting the showers by six-ten because they take at least another hour and fifty minutes for makeup and hair.

So, what was the problem?

Well, when you're someone from an entirely different region, you get lost. You also don't have a great sense of direction nor are your eyeballs functioning at one hundred percent capacity at six in the morning. So, at six in the morning with bleary eyes and wandering through a nearly dark gym, all you're thinking is 'thank goodness the pool is covered'; yeah, there was an incident with Psyduck at three in the morning one time…trust me, you'd be grateful. Where was I? Oh yeah, with no sense of direction, barely being able to see in the dark after having just woken up, you may accidentally wander into the wrong room.

Still not seeing the problem?

Let me explain. If you're a guy who is one of three owners of a restaurant and a very precise bladder, you tend to follow a routine. Even having traveled away from the restaurant for a year, you still have that routine feeling and search for a bathroom before you need to get ready for the work day. Although the work day consisted of gym battles, talking about Dragon types, avoiding Team Rocket, you know, the usual; the sense of the morning routine was still there. And it is rather unfortunate when your routine clashes badly with someone else's, and in this case, three girls who are related to Misty.

And this is where our green haired friend landed himself in trouble.

"EEEK!"

"WHO ARE YOU?"

"I'm Cil-"

"GET OUT! PERVERT!"

The rest of us were barely awake at the last yell.

"Wait! Let me explain!"

"GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT!"