My Little Pokemon Silver Spoon Version

Officer Jenny came back, along with other officers and they took our statements on everything that had happened. Officer Jenny assured us that the boat was under guard and the mystery substance that grew Tentacruel would be delivered safely to Professor Oak’s lab. Then we were escorted to the docks to take our ferry back to the mainland.

Almost everyone on Porta Vista was taking a ship somewhere but we got on the ferry heading for the town of Maiden’s Peak. I guess I should be grateful Ash woke me up in time for breakfast. I’m so glad to finally put yesterday behind us.

“You’re bigger than you were before.” Weiss remarked to Magikarp as we watched it splash in Misty’s kiddy pool. “Too big a change to just be age. A change in diet?”

“Magi-Magi-Magikarp-karp.” Magikarp happily splashed in his kiddy pool.

“You’ll never guess what I heard one of the other passengers say!” Misty was bouncing in place with excitement.

“What did they say?” I asked.

“There’s a big end of summer festival happening at Maiden’s Peak today!” She squealed. “There’ll be rides, games, all sorts of food stands, it’s going to be great!”

“Especially after yesterday. We deserve a chance to unwind and have fun!” Ash declared boldly.

“Yeah, have fun.” We all looked quizzically at Brock.

“Um, Brock, is there something wrong?” I half reached out.

“It’s the end of summer.” He moaned. “I can’t believe I didn’t realize it until now.”

“So? What’s the big deal?” Ash frowned in confusion.

“The big deal? The big deal!?” Brock grabbed him by the shoulders. “The big deal is that the end of summer means the end of bikini season!”

“Summer means bikinis and bikinis mean pretty girls to wear them! And I’ve just wasted another summer without getting a girlfriend!” He started off shaking Ash by the shoulders but slowly lost energy, falling to his knees in despair.

“Oh don’t be such a downer, Brock.” Misty huffed. “You’ll meet plenty of other girls over the year.”

“But…But…bikini season!” He whined.

“This…This is a teenage male thing…right?” I blinked slowly.

“If it is then I never want to grow up.” Ash muttered.

Weiss just laughed.

Now that would be a sight to see, Ash being as girl-crazy as Brock was turning out to be.

The last leg of the trip passed quickly. Soon we were all gathered by the rail straining our eyes to see the landmass coming into view.

“Oh, I see it! Maiden’s Peak!” Misty pointed to a jute of rock.

“And there’s the festival!” Ash grinned ear to ear.

The festival was amazing to see. Hundreds of stalls were set up with colorful banners and decorations. People were all over the place, laughing and smiling and eating foods I’d never seen before. Some of them were dressed in outfits I only saw in foreign comics. There were these big machines that I guessed were the rides.

“It looks like fun!” Misty gushed. “Let’s check it out!”

“I’ll ride the Ferris Wheel alone.” Brock sighed to himself.

I was so busy taking in all the sights with Ash and Misty that for a moment we completely lost track of Brock and Weiss. Brock was trampled by the other passengers disembarking the ferry, although he was alright if a bit out of it, while Weiss was standing off to the side.

“She was…the most beautiful…” He was slack jawed on the floor, staring at another pier.

“Who was?” Ash looked in the same direction as me.

“She vanished!” He groaned.

“C’mon Brock, forget about your fantasies and let’s have some fun!” Misty pulled him to his feet and dragged him towards the festival.

There were so many games and exhibits! The games had prizes! If I’d had the money to spare I would’ve tried to win a few. I saw a cute Bulbasaur plushie that I would’ve loved! Ash bought us some caramel candies to eat while we walked too.

“She was so beautiful.” Brock didn’t seem to be cheering up though. Whatever or whoever he’d seen before was still weighing heavily on his mind.

“Hey, you there!” An old woman in priestess garb came up behind Brock and leveled a magnifying glass at his face. “I can see it! A beautiful woman will lead you to a cruel fate!”

“Well I’m the most beautiful woman here but I’d never hurt Brock.” Misty fanned herself.

“What?” Weiss posed to the side, seemingly challenging Misty.

“I was talking about an elegant, young woman.” The priestess scoffed. “Not scrawny ragamuffins like you two.”

“Pfft! Scrawny!” Ash doubled over laughing.

“Why, you!” Misty seethed. Pikachu had to jump into my arms to avoid being pummeled along with Ash. Then Misty started carting both Brock and Ash away while Weiss’s eye twitched.

“Ah, well, that was certainly…something.” I coughed awkwardly. Looking back, I tried to find the old priestess in the crowd but she’d already disappeared.

“Pikaaa.” Pikachu nodded in agreement.

We found ourselves following a crowd up towards Maiden’s Peak itself where a temple stood. An elderly priest was standing on the veranda with a covered painting.

“2,000 years ago there lived a maiden in this fair town!” He began. “Her lover was a soldier who sailed off to join the great war plaguing these lands in those days and she vowed to wait for him at the cliff until his triumphant return! She waited and waited, even after news of the war’s end reached the village she still waited, hoping to see his sails on the horizon!”

“She continued to wait, never leaving her spot. Legend says that in time her body turned to stone, the same as the cliff she stood on!” He reached for the cover. “And this is the maiden in question!” He ripped it away.

“It’s her!” Two voices cried out in shock. Brock was one of them.

James of Team Rocket was the other.

In sync, they staggered forward and started climbing the steps towards the painting. The priest had to physically bar their way to stop them.

“Do you have any idea what’s going on?” Misty leaned in to whisper to me. I numbly shook my head.

“Wait, you fools! This painting is over 2,000 years old and is removed from this shrine only once a year!” He yelled at them.

“The Maiden’s rock, where is it?” Brock demanded.

“Hmm? Why, it’s just over there, behind the temple.” The priest answered, looking a little confused.

I wanted to know what James was here for but he split off too fast and with Brock acting strange I decided it would be better to stick with my friends. Besides, I figured Team Rocket would pop up again sooner or later.

“So that’s it, Maiden’s Peak.” Brock gazed out towards the jute of stone that was the town’s claim to fame. It really did look like a woman was standing there.There seemed to be a red flower growing out of the side of her head.

“If she was my girlfriend I’d never let her out of my sight.” He sighed, leaning against the fence that lined the cliff side.

“A rock’s a rock, Brock.” Misty frowned. “Just forget about it. Let’s go have some fun at the festival.”

“Are you coming for dinner? It’s food, your favorite.” Weiss was either trying to coax Brock to come along with us or a dog that I didn’t see.

“You go, I’ll catch up in a bit.” He sat down without turning to face us.

We exchanged looks.

“You remember where we’re staying?” Ash asked, hesitantly adjusting his backpack.

“The Pokemon Center by the docks.” Brock recited immediately. “I’ll be back before curfew.”

“Is this more teenage guy stuff?” Ash wondered as we left Brock.

“I don’t know.” Misty shrugged. “Granted, most teenage guys I’ve met were always going ga-ga over my sisters so this isn’t too unusual, I guess.”

“Sarah, Weiss?” He looked at us.

Weiss just held up her hands and shrugged.

“I, uh, have no clue.” I shrugged helplessly. “I guess, if he’s not better by tomorrow, we could try to cheer him up?”

“Then that’s what we’ll do!” Ash nodded, determined. “But in the meantime, let’s enjoy the festival!”

And we did enjoy it. This might’ve been the most fun I’ve ever had since coming to this world. For a while I even forgot about Team Rocket! The only thing that would’ve made it better was if Brock had been there with us.

We rode rides, played a few games, and ate festival food. We had takoyaki, though only Weiss finished hers as the rest of us spat ours out after being reminded it was made from Tentacools. Or rather after I found out it was made from a living breathing creature.

And we rode the Ferris Wheel twice! The second time was after it got dark and all the paper lanterns got lit. Misty was right, it was definitely even better that way!

But it was getting late by then so we decided to call it a night and get to the Pokemon Center.

“Today was great, huh Pikachu?” Ash sat down on a bench.

“Pika Pikachu!” Pikachu rubbed his stomach, stuffed full with a caramel apple. I wasn’t sure caramel was good for pokemon but Pikachu looked happy enough.

“Hey guys, look at the time.” Misty pointed to the cuckoo clock on the wall. Ten minutes until eleven.

“Almost curfew.” Ash realized.

“I’ll check to see if Brock made it back ahead of us.” I stood and walked to the front register.

“Can I help you?” Nurse Joy smiled.

“Yes, ma’am.” I bowed politely. “We were wondering if our friend made it here ahead of us. His name is Brock Harrison.”

“Hm, Brock Harrison.” She worked on the computer, opening the registry of trainers staying at the Center that night. “I’m sorry, it doesn’t look like he’s here right now. We still have room available for you and your friends though. Is one room okay?”

“Oh, yes, that would be fine. We usually share a room.” I nodded, concealing my worry. I handed her my license briefly and then rejoined the others.

“He’s not here?” Misty guessed from the look on my face.

“There’s still time.” Ash pointed out, though I’d eaten five minutes getting us registered for the evening.

But five minutes passed without Brock showing up and the shields descended over the door.

“It’s curfew time! The light’s will be going out in ten minutes!” Nurse Joy informed us.

“But our friend’s still out there! Let me go out and find him, please!” Ash pleaded.

“I’m sorry, but it’s officially past curfew.” Nurse Joy said sternly. “That means the doors stay locked until morning.” She softened a little. “I’m sure your friend will be fine.”

We didn’t have much of an option. We retired to our room and tried to get some sleep. The others took a while to drift off so I could write this.

Brock, I hope you’re okay.

The next morning we were up bright and early. As soon as the doors opened we were running back to the temple and Maiden’s Rock to start searching.

“His bag’s still here!” Misty gasped. Brock’s bag was left abandoned by the fence, the same place we’d seen it yesterday.

“Brock! Brock, where are you?” Ash yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth.

“James! James, you’d better come out right now!” Another, frustratingly familiar, voice called out.

We circled around the temple and by the doors we found two thirds of Team Rocket, Jessie and Meowth.

“Yuck.” Jessie stuck up her nose at us.

“Double yuck.” Ash stuck out his tongue. “What are you guys doing here? Are you looking for someone too?” He asked pointedly, staring at the space James would normally stand.

“Hmph, twerps like you should mind their own business.” Jessie sniffed. Then, she struck a pose, filling me with an emotion I can only identify as aggravation.

“Prepare for trouble!” For the second line her voice deepened. “And make it double!” Back to high. “To protect the world from devastation! To unite all peoples within our nation! To denounce the evils of truth and love!”

“To ExTeNd OuR rEaCh To ThE sTaRs AbOvE!” Came a warbling voice.

For a second we were all frozen, then Jessie rallied herself and continued.

“Jessie!” She cried, brushing her hair away from her ears.

“JaMeS!” Slowly, we all turned towards the temple. I tiptoed up the steps towards the door.

“Team Rocket, blasting off at the speed of light!” Jessie followed me, equally cautious.

“SuRrEnDeR nOw Or PrEpArE tO fIgHt!” We threw the doors open and jumped back out of the way as James and Brock fell through.

“Brock!” “James!” We took our respective friends and tried to rouse them.

Brock’s skin was clammy and cool to the touch. His eyes weren’t tracking movement, or at least not tracking movement the rest of us could see. He was awake but not aware.

“So beautiful…” He sighed. “I want…to be with…you.”

“He’s delirious.” Misty cringed.

“Looks like James is too.” Ash commented, looking over at where Team Rocket was trying to slap some sense into their teammate. “Right. Pikachu,”

“Pika?” Pikachu looked inquisitively up at him.

“Thundershock both of them.” Ash ordered. The rest of us quickly dumped our friends and jumped out of range.

“CHUU!” Just in time it seemed.

Brock sat up.

“Uh, who am I? I am Brock.” Brock nodded to himself.

“So it is exactly as I predicted.” My nerves must’ve already been shot for the day because I nearly jumped a foot in the air. The old priestess from yesterday was back, leaning on her cane as she approached us and inspected the two teenage men we were crowded around.

Huh, you know, this is the first time I’ve realized that Jessie and James are around the same age as Brock. They’re maybe, what? A year or so older? Sixteen or seventeen and already criminals.

Moving on.

“Every year this happens.” She tutted, using her cane to lift James’ chin for inspection. “Every year she lures in hapless young men and does this to them.”

“She? Someone did this to them?” Misty asked.

“Yes, there’s no mistaking it!” The priestess clucked her tongue. “This is the work of the Maiden’s ghost!”

“The, uh, the what?” I schooled my expression to keep from gaping. Ghosts. We get to deal with ghosts now.

Are they real in this world? Do some humans just linger after death? I’m not sure what to believe and today’s events really don’t help matters.

“Every year for 2,000 years the ghost of the Maiden makes herself known.” The priestess began to explain, moving past us to enter the temple. “She longs for the return of her soldier and so she lures in young men. She sucks up their life energy and leaves them babbling and confused here in this temple.”

“Even so, she’s so beautiful I’d give her my very soul if that is what she desired.” Brock sighed, lovesick.

“EEK! Not me!” James shivered. “I don’t want to get my soul sucked out!”

“If you wish to keep the Maiden’s touch off you, then you will need these.” She opened a chest and pulled out a pack of talismans.

“Do they really work?” Misty was the first to step forward.

“They do, but there is one small problem.” The priestess fanned herself with them.

“What sort of problem?” Jessie sneered suspiciously.

“They don’t come cheap.” The priestess moved to the side and revealed a cash register behind her.

A funny thing to note: Discord was giving me a biweekly stipend. How that worked, I did not know and did not wish to know. How much was it? Just barely enough to pay for half of the talismans while Ash paid for the other half. And since the Priestess was having a two for one deal Team Rocket got the free talismans.

Those talismans were not cheap.

We plastered a bunch of them to Brock himself and then used the rest of the pack to cover the temple, focusing mainly on the doors and walls. Team Rocket did the same with James. Once that was done all that was left to do was wait for nightfall.

“Man, I wish we could go back to the festival.” Misty sighed regretfully. “I know it goes on for three days but I wanted to ride the rides again.”

“I want to eat more festival food.” Ash mumbled. Our stomachs all rumbled in agreement.

“Ha! That just goes to show how childish you twerps are!” Jessie snickered. “We members of Team Rocket are much more disciplined than—!” The rest of her sentence was cut off when her own stomach rumbled.

“I’ll cook.” Weiss started searching through Brock’s bag.

“Wait, you can cook?” Ash’s eyes bugged out of his head.

“I can help.” I eagerly volunteered. I may not be as good a cook as the Apples but I atleast did not burn juice.

“Wait, that isn’t necessary.” Weiss waved me off, eyes just as wide as Ash’s.

“I insist. I like cooking.” I took the cooler out of her hands and opened it.

…

“What…what is this red, pink stuff?” I was starting to feel a bit queasy although I didn’t know why.

“That’s…that’s meat.” Weiss slowly and gently took the cooler out of my hands.

…

“Oh.” I just stared at the ground where the cooler was.

…

I stood up, walked to the door, opened it, stepped outside and closed the door behind me.

I don’t know how long I was outside for. Actually, Weiss came outside to check on me and suggested that I tell Ash, Misty and Brock that I didn’t eat meat, after we dealt with the ghost. She then had me go back to the festival to get more food and stop by the Pokemon Center to inform Nurse Joy that we would be staying at a friend's house for the night and wouldn’t be returning for the evening. So, I guess I was outside till lunch.

When I got back to the temple Ash was taking a nap, Misty had a novel out, Weiss was on her Pokegear and Team Rocket were huddled in a corner.

The priestess told us the Maiden’s Ghost usually began to act at midnight. It felt like forever before the sun set. Midnight came and we were all waiting.

The wind picked up, shrieking and howling like it was something alive. A scraping sound like claws on wood reached us, like the Maiden’s ghost was trying to get in. Brock and James shifted between trance-like and aware. Sometimes one or the other would get up and shamble towards the door and we’d have to dogpile them.

My arms were covered in goosebumps and the hairs on my neck stood on end. Ash and Misty were both looking a little wild eyed long before two A.M. came around while Weiss looked bored, as if she had done this before. Pikachu’s cheek pouches kept sparking whenever the wind picked up and I saw Meowth drop to all fours and bristle more than once.

“Gosh, I’m tired.” Misty yawned. She pinched her own cheeks to wake herself up. “I hope morning comes soon. What time is it?”

“4:50.” Weiss answered immediately.

“Sun comes up at, what? About 6:00?” I rubbed my arms, trying to get the goosebumps to go down.

“Sun comes up early at this time of year.” The priestess nodded. She hadn’t moved since dinner, sitting in a meditative pose at the temple altar. I admired her discipline but I couldn’t even begin to imagine how stiff she had to be.

“Nnng. An hour?” Misty whined.

I didn’t even know I was asleep until I was suddenly awake. The wind howled! The whole temple shook with it and we could hear paper tearing as the talismans were ripped off.

We didn’t even have time to climb to our feet before the doors suddenly burst open. A pale silhouette floated a foot in the air and she reached out a hand towards the guys. Another blast of wind knocked their talismans off too.

“My love.” We all shook. Her voice was sweet but echoey. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

“Yes.” Brock began levitating. “I’m here now.”

“AAAAIIIIIEEEE! I don’t wanna go! I don’t wanna go!” James tried to grab something to slow himself down.

“Brock, hang on!” Ash tried to grab Brock by the leg. The ghost sent another blast of wind to knock him off his feet first.

“Wait! Leave him alone! He’s not your lover!” I screamed, scrambling to follow them outside. They were heading towards the cliff!

“You will not interfere.” The Maiden frowned.

BANG!

A smoking hole appeared in her midsection and the guys dropped. We barely caught Brock before he went over the edge and James had to save himself by grabbing the ledge. When I looked over my shoulder I saw Jessie with a…

“When and where did she get a rocket launcher?” Weiss wondered out loud.

“Women like you make me sick.” She declared haughtily. “Always whining and complaining, needing a man in your life. I would’ve waved him off with a see ya later! There are plenty of fish in the sea!”

“You will cease interfering.” The Maiden repaired the hole and glared at us.

The forest shook and shuddered. Every leaf rustled and from between the trees came a steady stream of what looked like lost souls. Laughing, crying, screaming in rage and denial.

“Ah! What are those?” Misty screamed. We put our backs to Ash, watching the phantoms surround us.

“They’re not like any pokemon I’ve ever seen!” Ash protested, shakily bringing his pokedex out.

I pulled out my pokedex too, hoping that I wasn’t looking at human souls. I didn’t expect what happened next though.

“No pokemon detected. Searching, searching.” The pokedex hummed. Distracted from his fear, Ash started waving it slowly side to side. Finally, he pointed the camera at the Maiden. “Pokemon identified! Gastly: The Poison/Ghost pokemon. This pokemon and its evolutionary line are the only ones known with its unique typing.”

Oh good, we weren’t dealing with ghosts. We were dealing with a ghost type pokemon.

“Well.” She, he, revealed his true form. “I suppose the fun had to come to an end sooner or later. Yes, I am indeed a pokemon. I sometimes appear as a Maiden.” He turned into the Maiden again, then became the old priestess. “Or the mysterious old woman! But!” He took his true form again. “I am always and forever awfully Gastly!” He cackled, spreading his dark purple cloud further.

That could create really good illusions and has been putting men in trances and luring them for years. How was that any better!?

“Well, a pokemon is a lot easier to handle than a ghost.” Ash reasoned. “Pikachu, give him a Thunderbolt!” He provided his arm as a springboard for Pikachu to launch himself from.

“For a mouse, a mousetrap!” Gastly became a comically oversized mousetrap.

That began to chase Pikachu as Pikachu ran around like a headless chicken.

Meowth and even Team Rocket joined in…with predictable results.

Ghastly turned into a giant ball for Meowth to play with, Ekans was scared by a mongoose and Koffing was scared off by a…mongoose wearing a gas mask…huh.

Ash then sent out Charmander who was then chased by a fire extinguisher.

Ok, that made sense since a fire extinguisher could be deadly to Charmander.

“Grr! Squirtle, Bulbasaur, attack together!” Ash must’ve had the idea that Gastly couldn’t scare them both at once.

Unfortunately, he was wrong about that. Gastly could create their evolved forms, Blastoise and a Venusaur, both at once. He could also fuse them together. I wish I had a camera for that! In fact, I’m making a note of it. The very next time I’ve got the extra money I’m buying a camera! It’ll provide great evidence for everypony else when I get back.

Misty then tried to scare Ghastly off with a cross, garlic, a stake, and a hammer. Huh, I did not know vamponies were a thing here, or rather vampires as Ghastly stated he wasn’t one.

We didn’t get to try that strategy though, as the first rays of sunlight reached over the horizon.

“Gah! How I hate sunlight!” Gastly pinched his eyes closed and slunk back into the shadows. “Well, it seems our time is up. Until next year!” His voice and his form both faded from view.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Brock sat up.

“You’re back to normal?” Misty checked.

“Normal? What do you mean?” He took a look around, giving a brief double take to the Maiden’s Rock. “Ah! Now I remember! I was hypnotized by a ghost pokemon!”

“I was hypnotized too!” James wailed, grabbing Jessie by the leg.

“Quit your crying! The ghost is gone now!” She scolded him, shaking him off.

“So, we did it?” Ash blinked. “We won?”

“I…” I hesitated. “I don’t know if it was a win, but it is over.”

“So…” He blinked slower. “Does that mean we can sleep now?”

We all paused to think this over. Pikachu came to a conclusion first and quite happily flopped onto his back and started snoring.

I’m not really sure when Team Rocket took their leave. We just grabbed our bags from the temple and found a shady spot in the forest to nap in. We didn’t get up until noon and by then we’d restored enough energy to gladly participate in the final day of the festival.

And with Brock there it was even better than before. The festival committee was even loaning out robes called yukata for people to wear for the final night. We got a little boat with a candle and sent it drifting out on the tide then changed clothes and danced! It was kind of fun to dress up! Even Ash liked how Misty looked in her yukata with her hair down.

All in all, a good day.