Getting used to the new home wasn't as easy as Anya had first thought, the large building felt eerie with its emptiness.
Every morning as they went downstairs, the lab felt odd, like something was different each time.
Anya was worried about Faesol, she was having nightmares almost every night and couldn't sleep well during the nights. Most of the days Anya was on her typewriter or hanging around the sofa, while Faesol was sleeping next to her. Whenever she would start twitching in her sleep Anya was supposed to wake her up.
Even now, Anya was just quietly holding the sleeping Faesol. Faesol has been a wreck these days, the lack of proper sleep is taking a toll on her psyche, Anya found it difficult to watch as Faesol stumbled around.
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Another day another sleeping Faesol, Anya was singing in a low soothing voice. Trying to see if it helps Faesol to sleep better.
She found out that it actually worked, as long as she sang, Faesol kept sleeping peacefully and first time since moving she actually had some rest.
"This is quite worrying" said Samuel in a low voice, as to not disturb the sleeping Pokémon. Anya nodded, while humming a lullaby.
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Faesol had finally gained back some spring into her steps and was taking a walk around the backyard with Anya. She told Anya how the dream has been same, in the dream she was napping in a sunny spot inside the backyard, when waking up she found herself lost inside a maze of tall grass, she told her how she couldn't see the house anymore, how the grass kept growing taller, how one time she saw an odd being inside the nightmare and haven't seen it ever since. Her biggest problem was the lucidity of the dream, it felt real.
Anya thought over about what Faesol had told her, she has been mulling over different solutions, different actions she could take.
"What if, we slept at the Pokémon center tonight? Maybe a change of place could help" Anya suggested. "We just need to let Samuel know" she continued.
Faesol didn't see any reason to object.
A short exchange of paper and words between Samuel and Anya they were of to the nearest Pokémon center, which unfortunately happened to be in Viridian. Samuel cursed the league's stinginess about building facilities.
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A quick teleport later, they arrived in front of Viridian's Pokémon center, Samuel recalled his Alakazam soon after.
They went through the doors and suddenly an alarm started blaring out loud, The nurse at the counter released a small bipedal feline with a golden charm on its head and she shouted "Meowth, ghost alert! No one move!" the released Meowth didn't waste any time and produced a white light, which softly clung to all surfaces like a layer of fog.
Samuel's gaze hardened and her hand went to his Poké ball belt, no experienced trainer would leave it home without a good reason. His hand hovered around the balls, ready to release.
The alarm suddenly disappearing, in its place a low hiss of steam was heard nearby, Samuel turned his head to the origin of the sound, the light of the move didn't reach all the way to Faesol, but one could clearly see a through the fog, that a mass of blackish smoke with a hint of deep purple energies surrounded Faesol. The hissing was made by the contact between the white fog and the odd smoke.
The nurse stood still, her eyes scanning the surroundings looking for something. The hissing continued and the Meowth released another wave of white light, this time it was directed straight at Faesol, the hiss now undeniably louder. The Meowth sprang into action, it gave Faesol a quick slap, seconds later the hissing was gone and in place was an odd wind sound. Everything happened so fast, Anya had frozen in shock and could only spectate while Samuel let it all happen.
The smoke was swirled in a vortex and was absorbed by a piece of paper with odd ink diagrams and Kantonese characters.
A moment later everything quieted down and the nurse let out a breath of relief.
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"Hello and welcome to the Viridian Pokémon Center, how may I help you" the nurse said in a practiced cheery voice, acting as if nothing had just happened at all.
"This, explains a lot, how didn't I think of it myself" Samuel said in a realization. Anya stood next to Samuel and the now sleeping Faesol, she looked a Samuel and waved her hand around, asking him to elaborate.
"Well, you see, it seems like Faesol here, was haunted by a ghost Pokémon" he said
"A variant of Dream Eater, I think" he continued "The ghost type itself is quite peculiar and not much is known about them, Agatha being the expert on the subject, leagues ahead of anyone else."
"The thing is that, ghost Pokémon are finicky, they don't really play by the normal rules."
"[Which is why, we need specialized tools to deal with them]" said the Meowth from the counter waving a slip of glowing paper in front of him.
"I wish I had noticed sooner, this is quite embarrassing to say the least. I have quite a lot of experience in ghost energies due to Agatha..."
The nurse coughed. *ahem*. As if reminding that she was still here, the Meowth snickered.
"Oh, right, We were here to rent a room for the night, but it seems like our problem was half solved already" He said sheepishly while rubbing his neck.
"That Espeon over there" he said while pointing at the sleeping Faesol "She has had rough time sleeping ever since the move to our new home, initially I though it had something to do with the moving to a new unfamiliar place"
"That was until Anya, asked me to spend a night here and here we are"
"Well, I insist that you stay tonight in a room, it is late and it is better for the Espeon to not be exposed anymore. Or you must leave her to our care. The Meowth is to be near the afflicted for the next twelve or so hours to observe and prevent relapse."
"Thank you nurse, I'll have a chat with them. I'll inform you in a bit"
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Explaining the situation to Anya, who agreed to stay the night with Faesol at the Pokémon center while Samuel takes a look around the lab for any signs of the ghost Pokémon.
"Soo, what are you friend? I haven't seen your kind before" asked the Meowth on top of the desk.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
"My name is Anya, I am a Leavanny and this is Faesol" She introduced herself and Faesol who was sleeping on the bed.
"You aren't a normal Meowth either, Exorcist Meowths are cool and all that. Haven't seen any before" she continued
"Yea, I knew you get it, I'm from a special breed you see, all the way from Lav'nd'r or something nyaa" the Meowths accent started to go all over, his earlier professionalism long gone as he started grooming his fur.
"We can easily purrify a ghost or two ya know, these talismans you see here, are some special things ya know, things specicically made for busting some ghosts, sealing them away ya know, not fer good me thinks nyaa"
Anya sighed, this was going to be a long night.
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Meanwhile back at the laboratory, where Samuel was doing some searching around the premise, the huge backyard lined with forest's edge at the end, it would take hours to scour through. Samuel had promised to Anya to search for the disturbance, he released Alakazam, knowing full well its disadvantages against Ghost Pokémon. "Alakazam, sorry to make you do this, but there is a rampant Ghost Pokémon on the loose around our home, could you help me track it down."
The Alakazam scoffed, he was a Champion level Pokémon, some wild Ghosts shouldn't do anything against a Pokémon this strong. The Alakazam's pride would take a massive hit if he lost to a wild Pokémon such as this, he knew about Ghosts, having sparred against Agatha's Gengar multiple times.
An hour later and many psychic scans later the culprit has not been found, it was still hiding, the sun finally below the treeline casting the whole clearing in darkness.
Samuel felt that something was off, a weird feeling in his guts, something about the forest seemed strange. He saw something moving in the corner of his vision, he turned and tried to follow its movements, only for it to disappear behind the trees.
Alakazam also seemed to have seen something as he started moving into the woods, Samuel following after. The house can no longer be seen through the trees and the foliage, he finally caught a better look at the thing they were following, even if it only was seen as a black blurr.
The blurr moved around, always a bit out of view to identify it. Alakazam was alertly looking around, trying to keep track of the moving shadows.
A creepy snicker was heard and everything stopped, the trees, the blur and the Alakazam. Samuel found the current situation even more unsettling.
"Alakazam, What's wrong?"
Alakazam's head slowly turned around to look at Samuel, his back still towards Samuel, the head kept turning and turning, Samuel noticed something was definitely strange with Alakazam. An unpleasant crack later and Alakazam's head had snapped to full 180 degrees, its unblinking white eyes looking straight at Samuel's.
Warning bells rang inside Samuel's head, something was definitely wrong, he pressed the button to recall Alakazam, a flash later, another Alakazam appeared in front of him.
At this moment he knew, he had become a victim of the same ghost as Faesol had.
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"Morning, sleepyhead!" the Meowth said while nudging Anya.
"My shift is now over and I'm ready to have my cat nap" He said while yawning
Anya's eyes snapped open, she flustered a bit, she was supposed to stay awake with Meowth to watch over Faesol.
"I'm so so so sorry Meowth, I fell asleep" she said embarrassed.
"No Problemo" he said while jumping down from the countertop, he jumped again and expertly opened the door.
"I'm off then, nighty nights" with that he left the room and Anya went to the bathroom.
Soon after the sun had just risen and was casting its early rays through the rooms window. The light hit the red gem on Faesol's head causing it to shine nicely, the Espeon sleepily opened her eyes, she looked around, finding the immediate surroundings unfamiliar with no one she knew nearby, she jolted up and looked around alarmingly, her eyes found solace in Anya who was just exiting the bathroom.
"Oh, hi Faesol, How are you feeling?" she asked.
"I haven't slept so well in days, ohhhh does it feel good" she moaned out while stretching.
"We are at the Pokémon Center, Samuel should be here in a few hours, he told to get us around noon" Anya said
"There is food available downstairs, I think we should go eat" she suggested
"Sounds good, I'm starving" said Faesol
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The nurse downstairs greeted, them both and got in high spirits as she saw Faesol making a fast recovery, she then guided them to the cafeteria side and told the lunch lady manning the counter to feed the two Pokémon.
The lunch lady gave Faesol some Magikarp paste and then she looked at Anya, she didn't know her species and she cautiously asked her.
"I am sorry, I do not recognize nor know what your species prefers to eat, hold on for a moment" she took out a small booklet. A quick glance at the plain green cover, Anya noticed the text was written in Kantonese along with a number 3 and had no way of knowing what exactly it was about.
"Ahh, here we are. Leavanny." she said while looking between the book and Anya "Mostly vegetarian, are capable of eating meat to some extent" Anya was baffled, it was a some kind of Pokédex, she felt odd, being the target of an appraisal. Somehow, she wasn't really surprised, she lived with a professor, who else could easily note down something like that.
A moment later Anya had a healthy dose of salad in front of her.
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Hour went by as Anya and Faesol were both observing some trainers battling and training their Pokémon at the Training yard next to the Pokémon Center. Anya got some curious looks every now and then but the attention she was garnering has lessened considerably.
She even was greeted by some familiar faces amongst the trainers, 'perks of being the only known example of her species' she mused.
They were watching a heated battle between a young trainer's Nidoran and an older well dressed man's Rattata. Initially the battle was supposed to favor the Nidoran, but the old man's years of experience showed its proficiency as the Rattata being faster kept the Nidoran at distance, harassing it with fast attacks and punishing mistakes. The Nidoran chasing after the Rattata, trying to poke it with its sharp horn after every nimble dodge, the Nidoran was hit by a single swipe of claws.
Anya noticed that the old man was actually leading the whole fight, not to win, but to subtly make the young trainer think and learn. Her eyes met with the old man's, the man gave her a wink along with a good natured smile.
Unfortunately the young trainer found the answer a bit too late as Nidoran was already extremely tired from dashing after the Rattata. The match ended soon after and both of the trainers met in the middle a handshake and few words later the show was over.
"I think we should head back, Samuel might already be there" Said Anya to which Faesol agreed.
Soon back inside, Anya saw the young trainer from earlier sitting around the Pokémon Center lounge, but no Samuel was seen.
The nurse on the counter saw them and shook her head, implying that Samuel hasn't yet arrived. Taking a seat next to the entrance, Anya sitting on the edge sideways as her abdomen got in the way and Faesol laying down near Anya's feet.
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"Any minute now" Anya said for the umpteenth time.
Every time the doors opened, Anya perked up, only to be disappointed that it wasn't Samuel who came in.
Frustration was slowly building up inside her, she sighed trying to clear her mind.
Hours passed and Anya was starting to get a bad feeling, that something has definitely happened to Samuel.
It was getting dark, even the nurse told them to go rest in the room as they did their shift change, the nurse on night duty will inform Samuel where to find them.
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Morning came, after a breakfast at the cafeteria, Anya decided that it was time to do something. Either walk back to Pallet or figure out how to make a phone call, she couldn't stay idle any longer, one day of just waiting had been enough.
