POKEMON HAUNTED FOREST

Chapter Two

Flora had regained consciousness about halfway to the Pokemon Center. She showed her gratitude to Steel for carrying her that far by kicking and yelling, "Put me down!" Steel set her down on her feet, wishing he dared just drop her on the ground. But then she'd probably kill him.

"Had a nice little rest?" Cloud asked Flora, giving her another of his weird, lopsided grins.

Flora folded her arms and turned her back on him. "I'm not speaking to you, Cloud!"

Cloud continued to smile. "But you are speaking to me, isn't she, Steel?"

"Don't put me in the middle of your argument, guys," Steel said, wondering exactly why he hung out with either of them.

"The two of you have become so sensitive lately," Cloud said. "So high strung. You should both learn to relax like Gastly and I do."

"Gastly!" the ghost Pokemon said, making the motion of nodding.

"If we're high strung, you can't blame us," Fiona muttered.

A few years ago, the three of them had been inseparable. But then one day a bully had dared Cloud to go to an old abandoned house at night that was believed to be haunted. The next morning Cloud had shown up with an odd look in his eyes, a strange expression on his face…and Gastly. He had never been the same ever since. Flora and Steel had continued to be his friend, but it hadn't been easy. Cloud had picked up a huge interest in the supernatural at that time. He read nothing but horror comics, then switched to horror novels. He only wanted to see monster movies. The walls of his room were covered with vampires and werewolves and other strange creatures.

And always Gastly was there, following him around, grinning strangely, scaring off the other kids until only Flora and Steel would still have anything to do with Cloud at all.

This was obvious when they reached the Pokemon center. Kids there to get their first Pokemon smiled at Fiona and Steel but backed away when they saw Cloud, even though Gastly had vanished into his shadow before they'd reached the door.

"Good morning, everyone," a smiling woman in a lab suit said. "I'm Doctor Yew, and I'll be answering any questions any of you have before you start on your Pokemon journey."

"When can we get our Pokemon?" one boy yelled.

"Patience, please," Dr. Yew said. "Everyone will get a Pokemon before they leave here. Please raise your hand if you have a question."

Cloud raised his hand. The doctor called on him. "First, I don't need a Pokemon, since I already have one," he said. "But that's not my question. I only wanted to make it clear that I'm here because my friends asked me to come."

"That's very nice of you, young man," Dr. Yew said. "And where is your Pokemon?"

"Right here," Cloud said, as Gastly appeared in front of her.

"Gastly!"

Dr. Yew jumped. "Ahh! Ghost Pokemon!" She backed away a little, sweat dropping. "Uh…that's…very nice…young man…"

"Yes, I can see how happy you are to meet him," Cloud said, smirking. "But my question is, do you feel there are very many types of Pokemon that haven't been discovered yet? Such as more ghosts?"

"Well, anything is possible," Dr. Yew said, watching Gastly carefully. "Every so often a new type of Pokemon is discovered. There was a time when only one hundred and fifty were known. That's grown to more than three times that number."

"But finding new species would be unlikely if you went places most trainers go, like to different gyms, wouldn't it?" Cloud asked.

"Yes, that's true," Dr. Yew said, moving further away from Gastly. "The best way to find new Pokemon is to go where most trainers haven't."

Cloud nodded. "I thought so," he said.

The doctor did her best to ignore Cloud and Gastly after that as she talked about Pokemon. Finally came the moment the others were all waiting for, getting their own starter monster.

Flora jumped up and down so much it looked like she was about to wet herself when the doctor gave her her Pokemon. She pressed the button on the pokeball. A small green and white creature appeared. "Ralts!"

"Yay!" Flora cried, picking it up and spinning it around and around. "I love her! She's so cute!" When she let go it fell over dizzy.

Steel's Pokemon was a magnemite. It flew around him and attached itself to his watch. "Cool!" he said.

Finally they left the Poke Center and started walking towards the road out of town. When they reached the forest, Cloud turned and started walking into it.

"Hey!" Flora cried. "Where are you going? That's not the way to the next town!"

"Those woods are pretty wild, Cloud," Steel said.

"You heard what that doctor said," Cloud told them. "We're not going to find rare and unusual Pokemon going where lots of other trainers have already gone."

Flora looked around. "But I heard the forest is…haunted."

Cloud grinned. "That makes it even more interesting," he said.

Flora folded her arms. "I'm not going!" she said.

Cloud shrugged. "Fine," he told her. "You win your gym battles and get your badges. Gastly and I don't need any help, do we, Gastly?"

"Gastly!" the ghost Pokemon said. They went on through the woods.

Flora and Steel looked at each other. Then Flora said, "I hate this!" She started following Cloud. Steel side and followed her.

And so the three friends and their Pokemon entered the forest that was supposed to be haunted.

And it was.