Chapter Nine: Gengar Style



Gladion's POV



It's a long enough trek through the darkening woods without this annoying dead weight trailing me around. I can tell just by looking at him that this Gary fellow isn't going to be much use of anything, but I'm stuck with him anyway. Yay me.



"So," he asks, "what's the deal with this Wes guy, anyway? Why'd he want a stone that turns folks into crazy werewolves?"



"Who knows? To sell it, probably. Burst Hearts go for a good deal of money on the black market. Wouldn't be the first time he's taken a five-fingered discount."



"And why do you keep him around again?"



I groan. "Because no one else will take him and I'm not just letting him run off without supervision. You know where we found him? In his own den of thieves, tied to a chair with his legs broken, because he got ticked off at the way things were being run and tried to blow up the place to kingdom come."



Gary winces. "How long ago was this?"



"About a month. Don't ask how we managed to fix his legs. Trade secret."



Gary clearly doesn't believe me. Well, I don't give a damn if he does. Makes my job easier.



"So, uh..." he asks, trying to process this. "What do you know about Team Rocket?"



"They're wicked. They steal Pokemon, exploit Pokemon, experiment on Pokemon, and are trying to take over the world. From what you've said, they've gone into kidnapping as well. Ilima and I are out to stop them before they do something really serious."



"Well, you're too late there," Gary growls. "They kidnapped everyone in Pallet Town. I couldn't save any of them."



That sounds like Team Rocket. "That's not good. If they want an entire town's worth of prisoners, they've got to be planning something nasty. Human experimentation? Psychic brainwashing? Feeding an enormous legendary?"



"You know what?" Gary snaps. "That's my sister and gramps in that group, so why don't you shut the hell up?"



His sister. I have a sister. I'd be devastated if any of that happened to her... "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. You're right, we need to stop Team Rocket before they do anything to your family."



I wonder why he doesn't mention his father or mother. Probably won't get anywhere asking him, though.



Then there's a crash.



Gary looks up and yells. The ground starts rumbling. I follow Gary's line of vision and suddenly find myself looking up at what's easily the biggest Gengar I've ever seen.



Almost on top of us.



Oh shit.



"Run!" I scream at Gary. "Run for your life!"



He does so. I follow.



---



Shu's POV



We've seen the Gengar as well. There's a rocky hollow here with a natural cave, and I think we'll be safe here for now. The ghost doesn't seem to have noticed us, anyway.



A number of wild Pokemon have already gathered in this cave. Some Ledyba, Spinarak, Hoothoot, a stray Pineco, and a few members of the Nido family. None of them want to battle; they're huddling in terror. Well, most of them. No one wants to huddle next to a Nidoran.



"Okay," I tell Hoopa about as calmly as I can muster. "We need a plan to get everybody back together. If you go through the woods and find the others, can you take them here through your rings?"



Hoopa nods. "H-Hoopa can't go through Hoopa's rings, but others can," she says. "H-Hoopa will help. But..."



"...but?" I ask.



"H-H-Hoopa is s-scared of Gengar," Hoopa admits. "H-Hoopa doesn't take g-ghosts well."



Understandable. It's a Warp/Ghost type after all, and Ghost is one of the few types super-effective on Warp types. So Hoopa has a double weakness to other ghosts. "Just stay in the shadows of the trees. Try to keep your rings from glinting in the light. Don't draw attention to yourself until you see our friends. Okay?"



"What if H-Hoopa sees Wes?"



"Bring him in here too. We've got to keep everyone safe and together so we can figure out just what the heck to do here."



Hoopa nods and floats off. I turn to the crowd of assembled Pokemon. "Ladies and gentle-mon! I want you all to be especially welcoming of our soon-to-arrive human guests while I distract the giant creepy Gengar away. You all okay with that?"



The N-Comm allows me to understand Pokemon. But I can tell from the looks on their faces that they don't quite understand my plan.



"Seriously?" Kachu asks. "YOU'RE going after the giant Gengar?"



"Yep!" I say.



"Won't it attack you?" Kachu says.



"Yeah, maybe, but I'll be in disguise." I pull out a mass of purple cloth from my bag. "Presenting the Inflatable Doppel-Gengar Blimp! Once inflated, this costume allows me to perfectly imitate a Gengar, right down to the creepy floating!"



"Don't Gengar float anymore?" a Pineco asks. "I thought their bodies were cursed or something."



Kachu just shakes her head. "This is a bad idea... a really bad idea..."



I set out the Inflatable Doppel-Gengar Blimp, pull out a helium pump, and then search a bit in my bag until I find a good black felt-tipped marker. "Observe!" I say proudly. "Before inflating, I shall scribble tribal lines all over the Inflatable Doppel-Gengar Blimp so as to properly emulate the giant Gengar's odd markings! Pretty neat, right?"



Kachu and Pineco look at each other. They roll their eyes. "Shu, listen to me," Kachu says. "Have I ever steered you wrong?"



I consider this. "Maybe? I guess that's open for debate."



"Okay," she says, "let's get specific. Have I ever steered you wrong when I told you that something was a very, very, VERY bad idea?"



"With three verys?" I ask. "I, uh, don't remember how many times you've used three verys."



"The Tangrowth Incident?"



"Oh, yes," I say, deflating a bit. "The first rule of the Tangrowth Incident is, we don't talk about the Tangrowth Incident."



"Which is why I cannot possibly overstress the fact that floating up to that giant Gengar in a helium-inflated giant Gengar suit is quite possibly a worse idea than the idea that led to the Tangrowth Incident."



"Kachu, listen. This won't be like the Tangrowth Incident. It'll be fine!"



"That's what you said before the Tangrowth Incident."



I groan. "Well, does anyone else have any better ideas?"



Nobody does. But that clearly doesn't make Kachu feel any better.



---



Terra's POV



"I have an idea," I whisper to Ilima. "Do you know which way the Gengar was coming from?"



Ilima points to a trail deeper into the forest. "That way, I believe..."



"Then we go that way."



"What? Why?"



"For starters, if Gengar just came from that way, it's unlikely to return anytime soon. Second, call me crazy, but I think I just might know how to stop this thing."



Ilima gives me a strange look, and I feel like I can hear gears turning in his head. After a short moment, he nods. "Lead the way, then."



We set off through the forest as fast as we dare; too much noise might attract Tall, Dark, and Fearsome. It keeps getting darker, so I let Benga out to try to light us a torch. His fire sneezes are actually pretty cute, if you're not directly in the path of them. Ouch. Eventually Ilima gives up and pulls a flashlight out of his pocket, which he really ought to have done to begin with.



Strangely enough, the fire doesn't really damage my hands much besides some first-degree burns and a coating of soot. Pokemon physics, I guess, or maybe it's just that it's only an Ember attack.



I recall Benga to his Poke Ball. I don't want him running into any wild Pokemon and possibly getting hurt.



Eventually the forest clears off a bit and we find ourselves in an ancient ruin. An ancient, ruined ruin. The front half of the temple is completely collapsed. The lack of patina on the broken surface reveals that this happened quite recently, and giant Gengar footprints still lie fresh in the dust. But any hope of finding the bell in those ruins is completely gone.



"Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no..." I stammer. "The bell! Where's the giant bell?"



"Giant bell?" Ilima asks, confused.



"The bell that holds the giant Jigglypuff!" I blurt out, realizing the moment I say it just how ridiculous it sounds.



Ilima stares at me, and I realize that I sound like I'm completely out of my mind. How on Earth could I ever explain to him that I saw the solution to all our problems in an anime episode?



Looking into his eyes, I sense the gears turning in his head again. Surprisingly, he nods. "All right then. We'll look for this giant bell."



I sniffle. "Really? Just like that?"



Ilima nods and points to a rock enclave a good distance from the temple. He smiles. "Does it look anything like that bell over there?"



Oh. D'oh. Been so long since I saw that episode, I kind of thought the bell was in the temple... "Yes! This should be it!"



I rush over to the bell, then pause. "I... I think someone's supposed to sing to the bell to get Jigglypuff out of it. Another Jigglypuff, perhaps?"



Ilima checks his pockets. "Do you have any Pokemon that can learn Sing?"



"Well, I do have a Sound-type, but..."



"Bring him out, then. Let's see how he goes."



I bring out Yoshi, quickly explaining what I want him to do. "You see, Yoshi, I need you to Sing to this bell. It's very, very important, so don't worry about doing a good job; just focus on the singing."



Yoshi considers this, puts his front paws against the rock, and starts to bellow.



Horribly.



Ilima covers his ears in pain. "That sounds like Disarming Voice, not Sing. We shouldn't be using a Sound-type attack around rock; that could cause it to crack and damage the bell. Sound is super-effective on Rock, you know, at least when the noise is loud enough to qualify as an attack."



I sigh, recalling Yoshi to his ball. "Well, any better ideas, Ilima?"



Ilima pauses, then reaches into his pockets and pulls out a flute. A small flute, made of pink crystal. "Well... let's see how well I can play this..."