บท 90: Ghost Stories

"Well that was fun~!" May declared as we exited the Pokemon Center the next morning.

"Yeah, the look on his face was priceless!" Dawn added.

"I don't know... Wasn't that a little mean?" Joy asked worriedly.

"Not at all." I immediately replied.

"If the two of them just wanted to be a lovey-dovey couple, albeit a nauseating couple, then yes. It would have. But, they decided to go out of their way to be excessively obnoxious and insult those around them. They have no one to blame but themselves for choosing the wrong person to insult." I explained.

"Well I certainly don't feel bad for them." Misty stated.

Currently we were on our way out of the Pokemon Center after I had given Juliet a few more rounds of intense 'loving', we had showered, and ate breakfast.

Juliet however was still out like a light after I wore her ragged last night, and then went again a few more times this morning. I'd left her all curled up nice and cozy in bed for Romeo to tend to, after making her pass out the second time.

If they stayed together after this, then they truly loved one another more than any other couple I'd ever heard of.

But enough about them.

As we were getting prepared to leave, I sensed several auras approaching us from the north that matched those of our Pokemon that we were waiting for.

"Well it's about time." I stated, since Lucario and the others still hadn't arrived despite it already being morning.

"Oh?" I uttered when I felt something different about two of the approaching auras, before the entire group emerged from the brush.

Charmeleon, Tauros, Combusken and Lucario were all the same, albeit tired. But, standing in front of the group to the left was a nearly four foot tall quadruped with thick and shaggy black and grey fur. To the right of it was another quadruped that stood half a foot taller than the other, with sleek black fur that had white bone-like ridges on its back and ankles. Matching the ridges was a skull-like pattern on its chest, and the pair of horns protruding from the top of its head that curved backwards.

"Look at you two!" I exclaimed at the sight of them, to which my newly evolved Mightyena and Houndoom puff their chests out proudly.

"Yeah, I decided to have us take a detour to fight some wild Pokemon on the way here. A few battles in, and both of them managed to evolve." Lucario explained while I scratched the two of them under their chins.

They must've really enjoyed it if the sound of their hind feet thumping against the ground was any indicator.

""...""

Even as I was gushing over my newly evolved Pokemon alongside Joy and Misty, both Dawn and May were silent as they slowly shuffled away from Houndoom.

"Well, that makes three Pokemon of mine that evolved last night." I commented.

"Oh? Who's the third?" Lucario asked, to which I tossed out the Pokeball.

"Nido!" Nidorino cried as he appeared, before a second Pokeball on my belt also opened of its own accord.

"Nida nida~!" Nidorina declared as she too appeared, and hugged Nidorino affectionately.

"Impressive." Lucario commented as he looked Nidorino up and down, probably examining both his newly evolved body and aura.

The poison type Pokemon puffed his own chest out this time as he tried to make himself look larger and more intimidating, a task made infinitely more difficult with Nidorina fawning all over him.

"So what now?" Lucario asked after we finished going over what happened last night. Naturally, I 'glossed' over some details.

"Now we head southwest to skirt around Thunder Ridge, before turning back eastwards to find a place near Lavender Town to camp." I replied.

"Why not just reach the town tonight?" Misty asked.

"I don't want to risk tipping Team Rocket off that we're in town, and you have to admit that we ARE a pretty conspicuous group."

As I said that the girls and looked around at one another.

One guy traveling with four beautiful women, an incredibly rare Lucario, especially in the Kanto region, a Tropius from Hoenn, AND an alpha Pidgeot.

Nah, we'd blend right in.

In all honesty, the last time Team Rocket had been expecting us we ended up getting our asses kicked by a legendary. Even if Mewtwo wasn't with them anymore, I was NOT eager for a possible repeat experience.

With our plan laid out, we all quickly prepared to leave as May and Dawn mounted Tropius, and Misty and Joy joined me on Pidgeot. After I promised him no shenanigans this time.

Meanwhile Lucario decided to be the tester for riding on Vespiquen's back, since she SHOULD be large enough to fly on at over eight feet tall.

Together we all took on a V formation with Pidgeot in the front, while Tropius and Vespiquen followed on either side.

On Pidgeot we had Joy riding in the middle while Misty and I rode on either side of her, due to her fear of heights. But even then she was keeping her head down and was shaking like a leaf.

"So which one do you want?" Misty suddenly asked.

"Huh?" I replied with confusion.

"You mention to my dad how you wanted to get a ghost type Pokemon while we were in Lavender town. Which one?" Misty asked, and Joy poked her head up a little at our voices.

"Well.... There's a few different ghost type Pokemon that I'd like to have, but chances are I'll be lucky if I managed to get a Gastly...." I answered with resignation.

"Why is that? Are ghost type Pokemon really that rare?" Joy asked me.

"Oh yeah. Kanto doesn't have any living ghost type Pokemon, and possession types are rare to find outside of Lavender town."

"There's different types of ghost Pokemon?" Misty asked with surprise.

"Not necessarily. It's just scientific classifications." I replied, before explaining in detail,

"Living type ghost Pokemon are those that exist as a species, like Misdreavus or Sableye. They may be ghost types, but they are still 'alive' and are capable of breeding, while they can only be found in their respective regions.

"Possession type ghost Pokemon are spirits that possessed and fused with inanimate objects. They can be found all over the world so long as the objects they inhabit are in the region, which also makes them the most numerous. Gastly, Banette, Litwick and Yamask all fall under this category. Pokemon like Greavard are also categorized under this one, since it's considered to originate from canine Pokemon that died.

"Then theres the third and rarest type of ghost Pokemon, the cursed type. The only one I know of that belongs to this type is Spiritomb, a collection of spirits that come together to form an entity so powerful and malicious that they are often sealed away. The only person I know of that has managed to train one is the current Champion of Sinnoh, Cynthia."

By this point I had the undivided attention of the two girls, while I could also feel Pidgeot listening intently as well.

"Which ones do you want someday?" Misty asked curiously.

"Well a Gastly wouldn't be too bad if I'm honest. They're part of the possession group since they form when a spirit possesses a mass of noxious gas, and their final form is a Gengar. A Sableye or Duskull wouldn't be bad either, but I wouldn't be able to find one of those without going to Hoenn. Of course, the one I REALLY want is a Spiritomb!"

"Leave it to you to go after the worst one possible..." Misty groaned while Joy looked at me with wide eyes. She was so absorbed in our conversation, that she apparently forgot that we were currently flying.

I continued talking about the different ghost type Pokemon that there were to keep Joy distracted as we flew, and she also shared some of her own experiences with them at the Pewter Pokemon Center.

As we flew we entered a ragged and mountainous region, devoid of any greenery but the occasional shrub. We did however see numerous rock type Pokemon scattered everywhere. Onix, Graveler, and Rhyhorn, as well as several fighting type Pokemon that were training like Mankey, Primeape and Machoke. I'm pretty sure I even saw a Kangaskhan at one point.

We kept flying until we got a decent distance away from Thunder Ridge, and turned ourselves back eastward to head towards Lavender town.

Even then, it took us until well after noon before we got close enough to town that I decided to find a place to set up camp. Naturally, even amongst the mountain crags, we made sure to find a location where there was a stream.

After landing we quickly set up camp before calling out our Pokemon to spend the rest of the day training. Even Joy called out both her Chansey and Ditto to have the latter prepare for tomorrow as well.

Meanwhile I made sure to cycle through all of my Pokemon, preparing each and every one in case I needed their help tomorrow. There was no way I was going into tomorrow unprepared.

***

As dusk settled on a certain town, a somber mood settled alongside it. Of course, that was nothing unusual considering the massive tower that dwarfed every other building in town.

However the mood was particularly somber around a certain building with a sign outside that read 'Pokemon House'.

Inside was a collection of Pokemon that had been abandoned or orphaned, and the people who helped look after them. But every single one was gathered around a bed worriedly, and none were as worried or saddened as the two who were closest to it.

"Is it finally time....old friend?" An old man asked the figure on the bed.

"Cue...." Uttered the small brown Pokemon beside the bed worriedly, before a paw reached down from the bed to comfort it. It's movements were weak and sluggish though.