"Pokémon Tower"

"Old Man Fuji: You're trainers traveling here, right? By the way, whatever you do, don't go to the Pokémon Tower... there really are ghosts in there!"

"Old Man Fuji: A trainer came to my place before, but he was stubborn and insisted on going inside to take a look... Now we've lost contact."

"Old Man Fuji: Oh, his name seems to be... Midori-chan, do you know him?"

"What's wrong with green?"

The crimson voice rose instantly, filled with unbelievable anxiety.

As Xiao Chi turned around, he tried to rush out of the tower, but at the door, he bumped into a small, thin figure with a loud "bang".

That's a carala.

Unlike its counterparts, it did not wear a skull, but instead had a rather comical paper bag over its head, completely obscuring its face.

Although it stumbled from the impact, it quickly regained its balance, silently lowered its head, and walked into the shadows without even glancing at Little Red.

"Sigh, I was talking about Crimson..."

Bai Zhou sighed helplessly.

"Can you please not get so excited when you hear the word 'green'? Turquoise is turquoise, and little green is little green! They're game NPCs! Understand?"

Azure seized the opportunity and immediately let out a string of silvery laughter.

"Oh dear~ After all, Red and Green are a match made in heaven, a pair destined for each other~ This kind of reaction is perfectly normal!"

"Nonsense! Who said we were destined to be together? I just... I just misheard!"

Crimson forced herself to calm down, but her eyes couldn't help glancing at the strange paper bag-wearing Caracara that had disappeared into the shadows.

"So now you know why Pokémon has FireRed and LeafGreen as suffixes? Look, this is it."

"Top Ten Touching Figures of the Alliance! Best buddies are for life!"

"Azure: Don't mention it, I'm fishing, or I'll unleash a Gyarados to bite you."

"Having a brother you can trust to your heart's content is such a wonderful thing~"

"Strange, why is this carala wearing a paper bag on its head? Where's its skull?"

Seeing the barrage of comments spiraling out of control, Bai Zhou quickly resorted to diverting attention.

"Stop! Hold on! We need to get down to business!"

He controlled White to lead the way towards the towering Pokémon Tower.

"Let's go find the lost Little Green!"

The three arrived at the foot of the Pokémon Tower.

The tower soars into the clouds; even when you look up at the highest point, all you can see is a thick layer of leaden-gray clouds, with the spire completely hidden within them.

The tower was enveloped in dim light, and the surroundings were eerily quiet; even the wind had ceased to blow.

The stone tablet in front of the gate is inscribed with:

Pokémon Tower

May the souls of these Pokémon rest in peace here.

Push open the heavy wooden door and enter.

The lobby on the first floor was eerily empty, and the reception desk, which should have been staffed, was completely deserted.

The slightly cheerful background music started playing from nowhere, sounding particularly abrupt and eerie.

Climb up the creaking wooden stairs to the second floor.

The scene before me suddenly changed, with countless gray and white tombstones standing scattered in the dim light.

Each tombstone is engraved with a Pokémon image and name, silently telling the story of a once vibrant life.

At the top of the stairs, a woman dressed in a deep purple wizard's robe was squatting in front of a tombstone, nervously muttering to herself.

When I approached her, she didn't react at all, but I could hear her intermittent whispers.

"The strange psychic: The ghost... requires... the Silph Observation Mirror... to be seen... It's lingering... watching us..."

The cheerful background music seemed to get a little louder.

"Something's getting increasingly off in this tower?"

The crimson voice carried a hint of hesitation, which even his thick-skinned nature sensed was amiss.

"You weren't scared, were you? Hmph, keep going up the tower."

"Hmph! Scared already? Coward!"

Azure immediately switched to taunting mode, trying to cover up her guilty conscience.

"Let's continue upstairs!"

Climb up to the third floor.

My vision was instantly swallowed up by thick white fog.

Visibility dropped sharply, the screen became blurry, and only the outlines of nearby objects could be barely seen.

Little Red, who was walking at the front, bumped into several tombstones that were hidden in the fog.

"what!"

Azure suddenly let out a short scream, her voice distorted.

"Wait, wait! Look over there! In the fog! Isn't there... a shadow?!"

Bai Zhou wasn't frightened by the ghostly figure, but she was startled by her scream.

"Phew—calm down, Little Blue..."

Red mustered her courage and guided Little Red to grope in the direction she pointed.

As you get closer, the outline that emerges from the fog becomes clearer.

It turned out to be a Gastly floating in mid-air, making faces at them!

It emitted a strange "heh-heh" laugh, clearly trying to scare people.

"Oh, it's Gastly!"

Red was somewhat disappointed, so he controlled Little Red to let Pikachu teach the mischievous Gastly a lesson with a small electric shock.

Gastly disappeared into the mist with a "whoosh".

Continue upwards to the fourth floor.

The fog thickened, and one could only see things within three steps.

The density of tombstones has also increased dramatically, resembling a maze.

Just as the three were cautiously groping around, a broken, distorted voice, as if something was choking it, suddenly came from the depths of the thick fog.

"Quickly... get... out... of... this... place..."

"It's Little Green!"

Crimson confirmed it instantly, her tone resolute.

Before Bai Zhou and Bi Lan could even react, he controlled Xiao Chi to dash into the depths of the thick, impenetrable fog.

"etc!"

"Hello!"

Bai Zhou and Bi Lan's exclamations were left behind.

Immediately afterwards, there were the sounds of crimson commands, the whooshing sounds of Pokémon moves, and the muffled thuds of colliding energy.

The battle unfolded fiercely in the thick fog where the opponent was completely invisible.

No, the whole thing was shrouded in fog, the sound was distorted and warped, and he only managed to say less than five words!

How can you be 100% sure it's Little Green? Red, just how familiar are you with Little Green's voice?!

Bai Zhou inwardly cursed and, with his little tagalong Xiao Lan, rushed to provide support after hearing the sound.

Before they could reach the center of the battlefield, Crimson had already brought Little Crimson back.

He now had an unconscious person on his back.

It was none other than their formidable rival, Little Green.

"Teacher Salty Fish! I found Little Green! But he seems to be controlled by something!"

The crimson voice was filled with tension and excitement.

While unconscious, Xiao Lü's brows were furrowed, her body twitched slightly, and her lips moved as she struggled to utter a few broken syllables.

"Little Green: Up there...ghosts...it's not safe...they're controlling...me..."

Before he could finish speaking, his head lolled to the side, and he lost consciousness completely.

"Now that we've found Little Green, we have two choices."

Bai Zhou's voice calmed down as he presented the choice.

"First, we should immediately take him back to the Pokémon Center for treatment; second... we should continue upwards and see if there are any ghosts at the top of the tower?"

"Keep exploring!"

Crimson did not hesitate, his eyes burning with fighting spirit.

"I'd like to see what kind of monster dares to control Little Green!"

"No! We have to send it to the Pokémon Center!"

Bilan's voice was urgent but lacked confidence.

"Little Green... he's a major rival of ours! We absolutely cannot let anything happen to him!"

The little blue character remained stubbornly close to the little white character.

Seeing Bilan's "tsundere" yet obsequious follower behavior, Bai Zhou's playful side emerged, and he deliberately asked in a teasing tone:

"Little Blue, are you... scared? Too afraid to go any further?"

"H-How is this possible!"

Azure was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, instantly bristling with fur!

To prove her bravery, she controlled the Blue character to take two big steps forward, leaving the White character's "safe zone," and raised her voice:

"Let's go upstairs then! Who's afraid of who!"

A consensus was reached.

Xiao Chi carried the unconscious Xiao Lü on his back, and the four of them once again set off for the fifth floor.

It is also the last staircase below the top of the tower.