Chapter 12

Lavender Tower

-Griffin-

"What is going on?" Zoey threw the bathroom door open.

"For the love of Arceus, knock." I said.

I was only in some sweatpants and didn't have a shirt. I just got out of the shower and was changing when Zoey exploded into the room. I ran a hand through my wet hair.

"Why did you attack Kristoff?" She folded her arms.

"He's not what he seems." I said.

I mostly acted on instinct when I punched Kristoff. I didn't have a reason that wouldn't make me look stupid.

"He's a nice guy! Now what happened?"

"He was talking crap about Asher." That was the half truth.

"Really? He told me a different story."

"Did he now?"

"He me told that you were pissed off and you were going to do something stupid. He tried to stop you and calm you down but you attacked him."

"Do you really believe that?" I slammed my hand on the bathroom counter. "You believe some jerk that you just met instead of one of your only friends."

"I don't know who to believe, okay?"

"Asher told me what kind of guy he is."

"People change, Griffin!"

"Fine! Why don't you just go ahead and drool over him some more? Cause I don't want ya doing it here."

"You jerk! I don't drool over him! I thought we were going to the festival together but I'll just be taking Kristoff up on his offer and be going with him then."

"Awesome!" I started applauding. "Are you also gonna take him on a romantic adventure to stop the thieves that attacked our school."

"Maybe I will. Better then going with you idiots!" She spun on her heel and stormed off.

Guilt hit me like a freight train. I immediately became angry with myself. I kicked the bed frame of my bed. And flopped on the mattress with a sigh. Was I right to be angry at Zoey? I shouldn't have taken everything out on her. Maybe I can apologize to her tomorrow. Then again, she'll probably be with Kristoff which will make things worse for everyone.

"Dude," Liam spoke up,"just tell me what is going on with you. Your acting way different then you usually do."

"It's too complicated. I don't want to talk about it." I crawled under my covers.

I honestly didn't want to admit my crush on Zoey to Liam. Liam of all people.

"Whatever, good night." Liam mumbled as he shut the lights off and went to bed.

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I hadn't slept at all last night. I had too much on my mind. I thought about Asher and where he might be. I thought of my fight with Kristoff. And most of all, I thought about Zoey.

I rolled out of bed and got dressed into some jeans and a gray fleece. I stuck a sticky note onto Liam's forehead saying that I was going for a walk and I would be back soon.

I went out into the hallway and found Zoey's room. I knocked and waited. I wanted to apologize for last night. There was no answer. I knocked again. I waited awhile and still got no answer. She must be getting some breakfast. I checked a clock in the hallway. The time was 7:48. I walked down to the dining hall and didn't see her there.

"Must be with Kristoff," I muttered to myself.

I went outside and started to walk around. I released all of my Pokemon except Frogadier, didn't want to attract any attention. Kit slept on my shoulder and Nuz also hitched a ride on my shoulders. Umbreon and Hex were having a casual conversation as we strolled down the streets of Lavender Town.

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-Liam-

I can't believe Griffin ditched me again. The last time he went on a 'walk' he got in a fist fight with a Gym Leader. I walked down the neat rows of houses to find him. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a small Pokemon. The Pokemon's body was petite and brown. The Pokemon's face was covered by skull and it carried a bone. It was a Cubone. The Cubone looked sad and lonely. I bent down next to it.

"Hey, little guy." I said softly.

The Cubone went wide eyed and smacked me with its bone club. I howled in pain as the Pokemon scampered off.

"Don't worry, he's like that to everyone." A familiar voice said.

I turned around and saw Mr. Fuji.

"He's been like this since his mother died a few years ago. He doesn't trust people anymore." Mr. Fuji sighed.

"I know what he's going through. But if I can come back from it, he can too!" I ran in the direction of where the Cubone went.

"Wait! I have something to tell you! Don't go into the tower!" Mr. Fuji shouted.

I noticed the Ground-Type slipped into the entrance of what could only be Lavender Tower. But Mr. Fuji told me not to go in. What could possible happen?

************************************
-Griffin-

"Where could Liam be?" I asked myself.

I went back to my room and saw that Liam was gone. I decided to look for him because I had nothing better to do.

I walked by where the festival was going to be held. I saw Zoey and Kristoff standing by a stall, chatting. Kristoff said something funny and Zoey laughed.

Maybe they saw Liam.

"Hey, have you seem Liam around? He left and I-"

"We don't know where your friend is! Arceus, can you not see that we are having a conversation?" Kristoff snapped.

"Uh, I can. Look, I want to apologize to both of you for-"

"We don't want your friggin' apologies! Just leave us alone, man! Your killing the mood. Now get lost!"

"Um, okay then." I said slowly.

Zoey was silent the entire time. She wouldn't even look at me. Had I made her that angry. This made me feel worse.

"Yeah, dude, just freaking leave!"

I shook my head and started to walk away.

"That's right!" Kristoff shouted. "Walk away!"

I've had enough of his crap. I turned around.

"Hey, Kristoff!" I yelled. "Make sure the cameras tonight get your good side tonight! Oh wait, you don't have any because I pounded them all to a pulp!"

Kit giggled and Nuz whooped and pumped his fist. Hex nudged me with a smile and Umbreon grinned at me proudly and gave me a nod. Kristoff said something to Zoey after that and I left.

I continued to walk around and look for Liam. I saw Mr. Fuji across the street. He was shaking his head and he looked very worried about something.

"Mr. Fuji, what's the matter?" I asked.

"Your-your friend, Liam, went into the tower!"

"So?"

"There's a reason why we hold the festival on this day. The spirits from the tower arise on this day. And some of the spirits aren't good ones and might see your friend as a threat! He's in grave danger!"

"I'll go find him!" I returned my Pokemon and ran across town to where the tower was.

I stopped at the foot of the ancient tower. The tower was a faded purple color and it looked extremely old. It must have stood here for almost a century, maybe more. I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around and saw Zoey.

"Oh, hey." I said.

"I heard about Liam. Are we going after him?"

"I'm going to try and find him. I'm sorry about last night. I didn't mean what I said."

"I'm still mad at you."

"Oh come on, what can I do to make it better?"

"I'll have to think about it," Zoey smiled slightly.

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"This place is super creepy!" Zoey groaned.

"I feel like I'm being watched." I glanced over my shoulder.

We were on the second floor of the tower. The head stones were old and faded. The place was dark and had an ominous feeling to it. Luckily, Zoey had a flashlight on her.

"Griffin, why do you hate Kristoff?" Zoey asked.

Great, lets talk more about Kristoff! Kristoff this, Kristoff that! I honestly don't want to talk about him.

"Where is he?" I asked my own question.

"Getting ready for the festival. That's why I came to help. Now, why do you hate him?"

"I've heard bad stuff about him."

"What kind of stuff?"

"Asher told me that he's a major player and just a complete jerk in general. I just didn't want him to hurt you that's all."

"One, I still don't believe you and two, since when do you care so much about me?"

"I always have!"

A sudden gust of wind blew behind me. A voice was whispering something I couldn't understand. I looked over to Zoey. A black mist hung behind her.

"Behind you!" I shouted.

I pulled her behind me. Piercing yellow eyes appeared on the black cloud. Then, the cloud flew towards me at a rapid speed.

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-Zoey-

The cloud darted straight into Griffin and disappeared. Griffin fell to his hands and knees. He started coughing up what looked like black smoke. I bent down next to him.

"Oh Arecus, what do I do? Griffin, what's the matter?" I asked frantically.

He looked up at me. His brown eyes were turning pitch black.

"Run!" He sputtered out. "Please, go now!"

He started thrashing about. I did what he said and ran to other side of the room. I glanced behind me and saw that Griffin was no longer there. I looked forward again and saw Griffin. I stopped in my tracks. Griffin eyes were now black and he had an evil smile on his face.

"Hello," He said in a voice that wasn't his own,"your friend will make a perfect puppet for me."

"Why-why are you doing this? Just leave him alone! We mean you know harm!" I said.

"Of course you do! That's all what humans do! They hurt and betray their Pokemon!"

"Not all humans are like that!"

"Yes they are! This tower is full of Pokemon that have been abused and left to die by their trainers! Is that not enough proof? I had three trainers in my life time. All of them were terrible people. Then, I was granted the sweet release of death. No more abuse, no more betrayal, no more pain! But humans still must pay for what they've done to their Pokemon. Starting with you!"

He lunged at me. The Pokeballs on my belt snapped up. Jolteon, Shinx, and Zebstrika formed a protective circle around me.

"You would sacrifice yourself for this human?" The spirit couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Zebstrika!"

"Jolt! Jolteon!"

"Shinx! Shinx!"

"Your all fools!" He spat. "Can't you see she doesn't care for you! She's using you as shield right now!"

"Zebstrika! Zeb! Zebstrika!"

"What do you mean you protect each other?"

"He means that we look out for each other. We're family." I said, stroking Zebstrika. "Now let my friend go!"

"Your friend is gone! Nothing left of him remains!"

"I refuse to believe that! Griffin if your still in there, fight through this!"

Griffin's eyes flashed brown and he threw his hands on his head. He screamed out in pain. Griffin's Pokeballs opened up and his Pokemon came out. It's almost as if they felt he was in pain.

Griffin's head thrashed around.

"Nuzleaf! Nuz!"

"Ab, Absol! Absol!"

"Zorua!"

"Frog! Frog! Frogadier!"

"Umbreon! Umbreon!"

His Pokemon shouted words of encouragement. Griffin turned his back on us. He continued to scream in pain. Then, he opened up his mouth and the spirit that possessed him flew out. The black cloud glared at me and disappeared into thin air.

"Griffin, are you okay?" I slowly approached him.

He didn't answer me. He still had his back turned towards us. He suddenly fell to his knees. I ran up to him and wrapped my arms around his chest to keep him from falling.

"Griffin?"

There was no answer. I tightened my grip on him.

"Griffin?" I started to tear up.

All of our Pokemon walked up to us with sad faces. Tears started to roll down my face. He was gone. I buried my face in his shoulder and cried.

"Uh, Zoey." A voice said.

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-Griffin-

Zoey looked up from my shoulder. Her face was marked with tears. Her face lit up and she smiled.

"I thought I lost you!" She hugged me harder.

My face became extremely red. I had no idea why Zoey was embracing me from behind.

"I'm still here. I'm-I'm still here." I said.

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-Liam-

I looked around the series of headstones and saw no sign of the Cubone.

"Cuuuboooone!" I heard him cry out.

I ran to the source of the cry. Behind a headstone, I saw a giant hole. There was one weak floor board about to break in the middle. The Cubone was on the floorboard. He looked extremely scared.

"Hey, I'm hear." I bent down next to the hole.

The Cubone backed away.

"There's no reason to be scared of me. I don't want to hurt you. Look, I know what your going through. I know what it's like to have the people you love most die. And you become so angry an scared all the time. And you get to the point where you don't trust anyone anymore. But you'll soon find out that your not alone. And you start to trust and love people again. And you'll come back to the light side of the world. All it takes is to start trusting someone again."

The floorboard creaked and started to break. The Cubone looked at me and was unsure of what to do. The floorboard snapped in half and the Cubone leapt into my arms. The Cubone clung to me.

"It's okay, it's okay." I repeated as I patted the Cubone.

What I said to the Cubone was true. I missed my parents everyday. I was so angry and scared all the time. But my aunt and uncle, Griffin, and my Pokemon brought me back. They brought me back to the light.

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Author note: *Crying* All the feels! *Sniffles*...... So yeah, pretty emotional chapter. And it was all filler! Don't worry, the plot will pick up again and everything won't be a complete tear fest. I was thinking about starting another book but I'm not sure if I'll be able to handle it, seeing as I haven't been typing on Demon Slayer. I also want to thank you all for the support and the votes and the follows! I do this all for you guys (ShadowTrainer) and you guys are just awesome!

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