Veriqi does not own Pokémon as a franchise, just a copy of a game or two.

Follow and fav are the general way of telling me you enjoy this story. Review to give me the details.

Chapter 13 – Game of Cat and Mouse

by Veriqi

Lavender Heights was an ancient burial ground where people since centuries past had travelled to bury their dead. It sat upon a low mountaintop in the southern reaches of the Rock Mountains, out of the way of the big metropolitan area but still within a few days journey of most major cities. Lavender Town had been settled downhill later in history by groundskeepers and spiritual mediums who to this day made up a sizeable part of the population, and the cemetery itself was well-known as a place of great reverence across the eastern lands.

It was also infamous as the host of most if not all ghost-type pokémon in Kanto. It was the reason why Gary was so intent on visiting while Ash wanted to leave for the opposite end of the region.

His childhood friend had shared his plans with Ash, Misty and Brock as they reconvened at the PMC after their battle which had left a sour taste in Ash's mouth. Gary had proven that he as it was – and, as it always was – the better of the two of them. Gary was already ahead as a trainer, and at hearing he was going to widen that gap further made Ash feel the need to quicken his own pace. He could not let Gary get any sort of advantage upon those he already had in skill and knowledge.

Though, in hindsight... maybe he should have said it in a better way than 'hey, why don't we all go to the haunted shadowy place full of ghosts together?'

Either way, Misty and Brock had latched on to Ash's hasty suggestion and now they were all going. An Ash had no one to blame but himself. But Gary would hold it over him forever if he torchickened out now, and so he determinedly braced himself as they climbed the path to the cemetery gate.

Then...

"What do they mean 'closed for renovation'?"

An official-looking sign bearing the mark of the Pokémon League sat before them, right between the mighty stone columns of the Lavender Height's entrance gate. 'No trespassing' it read in blocky letters, along with the reason thereof – the source of Ash's outburst.

Gary patted Ash on the shoulder. "It means, Ashy-boy, that they are probably restoring the Pokémon Tower."

"That's a shame," Brock sighed. "We came all this way for nothing."

"Well, at least the view's great from here," Misty drawled. She turned to gaze over the wall of mist concealing what might have been a spectacular sight. "...if this wasn't ol' foggy Lavender Town, that is."

"I thought you liked it when the weather's wet like this?" Ash said.

"I do, but I vastly prefer being able to see, genius."

"Odd though that they'd feel the need to close the cemetery," Brock pondered aloud. "I know for a fact that the Pewter council would never restrict access to public gravesites. At least not without good cause."

"One better than spiffing up the place?" Gary wondered.

"Ghost infestation?" Brock suggested.

"That's common knowledge for Lavender and yet it doesn't stop anyone from coming here normally." He gave the sign a sceptic glance and strolled right past it. "That decides it then."

"Wait, Gary!" Ash blurted. "Didn't the sign say–"

"Don't tell me you've become such a stickler for the rules Ash," Gary gibed, turning to give him his trademark, cocky grin.

"I'm not!" Ash protested. "But it's the League!"

"Chillax! They won't mind me if I'll just hang around the premises for a while," Gary waved him off.

"Doesn't the whole 'no trespassing' thing imply that's exactly what they would have a problem with?" Misty pointed out.

"I'll be no trouble." Gary threw a cocky grin over the shoulder. "I'm just here to catch a ghost-type."

"He'd so deserve it if he got eaten by one," Ash muttered under his breath as the other trainer disappeared into the fog.

A minute of silence passed.

"Should we follow him?" Brock asked.

Ash grunted. "Prolly."

"...Eh, we're basically witnesses if not accomplices already," Misty sighed. "Let's go."

They quickly caught up with Gary – smiling smugly, of course – and continued towards the tower together. The mist moved in quiet waves around them, spindly trees and gravestones flickering in and out of view. The gravel crunched loudly beneath their shoes.

"You said the reason of this trip was to help you in the Saffron gym?" Brock spoke up.

"Yeah." Gary nodded. "I was having some trouble against the gym leader; figured a type advantage would help."

"Sabrina's always been among the sharpest of us in battle, not to mention the sharpest looking." Brock grinned shamelessly. "Though on paper the most effective choice against her would be a dark-type."

Gary scoffed. "In Kanto? Good luck finding one. Johto's the place where they're at, and going there just for that is too much of a hassle. No, trust me – I've done my research. This is where to look for any psychic countermeasures."

"I thought gastly and their evolutions where the common species to be found around here."

"They are."

"Though the gastly family is part-poison and just as vulnerable towards psychic types as said psychic-types are to ghost..."

"A mutual advantage is still an advantage. It's just a matter of exploiting it." Gary jerked a thumb at himself. "Of course, since it's me, the chances are good that I'll find one of the rarer, non-poisonous ghosts said to be lurking around."

Ash rolled his eyes.

"When did you guys meet?"

Misty's sudden question made Ash blink. "Who?"

"You and Gary," she clarified. "You said you were childhood friends, but how come you know each other?"

"We grew up in the same town," Ash said, and that was pretty much it. Pallet Town was no big place and he knew practically every other local kid his age by name. "But we didn't actually become friends until school."

"Uh-huh," Misty hummed. "Why, though?"

"Why?"

"Yeah. Why, or, I mean–" She shook her head. "I mean, what made the two of you hit it off? Friends generally have the same interests and stuff, right? What did it for you guys?"

"Uh," Ash said slowly, "we both like pokémon...?"

"Jeez, that's specific."

"That's it!" That was what they had bonded over during school breaks; what had made Gary take him over to his grandfather's lab after their last bell. They had ventured past the town border time and again on journeys in the woods, at least up until the real thing... "And, well, I guess we both always wanted to be trainers. Like, as a career rather than as try-outs."

"Okay." She studied Gary, whom Brock had pulled into a discussion about breeding or something. "Y'know, he's charming and all, but... he's honestly a bit of a douche."

Ash snorted. "Yeah. Always has been."

"...it never bothers you?" Misty's voice was airy yet... weird. "I mean, I wouldn't know, but to me it feels like you'd at least be annoyed if someone were to constantly call you names, deride everything you do, hit you–"

"Uh, Gary never does that–" Ash began.

"–and just be in general like... I don't know... douchy." Misty continued unimpeded. "You never... resent that?"

Ash almost forgot to keep walking. His tongue dried up, words fleeing before they could even form. Still, her question hung between them.

He snuck a hasty glance at Gary, who lectured animatedly over something with Brock. He was fully absorbed.

"It does," Ash finally admitted. "He laughs when I mess up. He knows a lot of stuff and says it's all obvious, even though I think it's not. And he loves telling me when I've done something wrong. Sometimes, I really hate it.

"But." Ash swallowed. He needed Misty to understand this. "But when I do mess up, he always helps me to do it right instead. He explains it. Twice, if he has to, and in another way even if I don't get it by then. It..." It was more than most other people cared to do. "...it makes me think that at least he cares."

"I... I think I get it." Misty said. "He's still a douche though."

"He is," Ash agreed. "But that's Gary for you."

"Still your friend."

"Yeah."

Misty momentarily fell silent. Then, Pikachu shouted in alarm, drowning out her next sentence and sending Ash's full attention to his partner.

"What is it Pikachu?"

The mouse turned his head frantically, eyes searching among the branches.

"What has your pokémon in a fit?" Gary wondered from upfront. Brock looked faintly panicked.

"You saw something?" Ash asked.

The tense atmosphere lasted for a few more seconds. Then, Pikachu's ears lowered as he let out a confused whine.

"False alarm?" Ash ensured. "Well, this place is kinda spooky... sorry Misty, what was that?"

Misty sighed. "Nothing, Ash. Nothing at all."

Ash frowned but turned back to the road.

That was a close one. Luckily, he managed to hide fast enough when the pikachu somehow detected his presence – if only for a moment – and the humans had ruled it off as a fluke. He then waited until they were out of sensory range before he dared himself to relax again.

Meowth had only just gone on-duty when the humans had shown up at his post. The false warning signs went completely ignored – Meowth had to curse at the typical teenager behaviour – as they continued through the cemetery, and so he had shadowed them to figure out their motives. The hope was that they were just there to fool around among the graves or the like but no, they were by all evidence heading for the Pokémon Tower. Perfect.

He had just been about to leave and inform Zager when he had almost been discovered, and in the following commotion only one present party had heard what the girl had said. The boy and his pet had been distracted; the other humans were not part of the conversation at all. Only Meowth, who was following specifically to listen in, caught it.

'Do you think the same of us?'

What a shame the boy had not heard it. But that was hardly Meowth's problem.

He pushed off against the wooden perch and took off through the misty landscape. Good thing he knew a shorter route back to base – he needed to tell Zager of the intruders and figure out how to deal with them before they arrived.

"We're here," Brock stated.

They had been walking for almost twenty minutes by the time that they reached the cemetery peak. The path suddenly evened out and the trees gave way for an open space of paved cobblestone. The edges disappeared in the mist which seemed thicker than ever, huddled over the like summit like a woolly blanket. Yet despite their clouded vision, they could all spot the looming shadow ahead, rising from the middle of the plaza like a mountain made of shadow.

The Pokémon Tower was massive. Standing before it, Ash had to lean his head backwards to even see the top. The base was broader than an entire battlefield, though it grew slimmer the further up the eye travelled. Further details were hard to distinguish, but what might have been simple windows lined the walls like the embrasures of a castle in the otherwise featureless façade.

It looked like a fortress. A fortress guarding a border of another realm entirely.

"What do you know," Gary broke the awed silence that had enveloped them. "Not a soul to be seen."

"That doesn't even remotely mean the same thing as usual around here," Brock said, sounding pained.

"Well, I was referring to any restoration workers," Gary said blithely. "But hey, ghosts work too."

"No pokémon around here..." Ash said as he looked around, for once not terribly disappointed by the fact.

"Should we go in?" Misty asked tentatively. "See if there's any ghost-types inside?"

"Well, why turn back when we've come this far? Unless anyone feels like they've had enough...?"

Though said as if he asked their group as a whole, Ash clearly spotted the address in it. He gulped and met Gary's eyes straight on. "I'm with you all the way."

"Good to hear."

They moved closer. The empty windows stared down at as they climbed the steps, and Ash swore he could feel hidden eyes watching from behind the narrow openings. The front door was closed bu unlocked, though the inside was as dark as a pit.

"I'm starting to see why'd they had to close down the place..." Gary grumbled. "No lights? Really?"

"Anyone got torches? Please tell me we got torches now," Misty begged.

"Hang on, I did buy some first thing yesterday..."

Brock swiftly procured a torch for each of them from his bag. Ash fumbled as he tried turning it on, though he was too nervous to feel embarrassed about it when he saw the narrow spread of the light. He made some sweeping motions to compensate, letting the torch's light dart across the room – a simple entrance hall, free of any decoration or furniture. A few doors lined the walls, and a larger staircase to the right.

"Where are we heading?" Misty asked.

"Up was the plan," Gary said. "They say that's where the bigger and badder ghosts hang out, so that's where I'm going to look."

Ash gulped. "Do we have to...?"

"Definitely"

"Okay."

The stairs were steep but easy enough to climb. They found themselves in a hallway, irregularly lined by gateless portals and memorial stones between stout columns supporting the floors above. A few paces down, the path bent out of sight.

As they continued onwards, Ash's eyes darted nervously among the shadows. Four combined torches were enough to light up the way, but the darkness clung to the pillars and alcoves. The structured surroundings became natural cave and rock. The plates of remembered companions disappeared as uneven stalactites replaced them. The light flickered from Charmander's open flame rather than the electrical tool in his hand.

The space was tight. Cut off. His breath grew tighter, tension filling him in preparation for something unseen to jump him. Raw feelings resurfaced; fear, worry, regret...

It was like he had never left the caverns of the Rock Mountains after all.

Pikachu pushed closer against him. The agitation eased a little.

"This... this feels like being in an old castle," Misty murmured.

"Yeah, it does," Ash agreed quietly. He might have visited an old ruin with his mother when he was younger, but he could not remember clearly. "Why does it feel so...?"

"Prisonlike?"

"...I was going for something like 'glum', but that works."

"It's because it was built during a period of frequent war," Brock said solemnly. "Not only was there a need for somewhere to bury the fallen pokémon, but also a place to retreat to and defend from in times of crisis. Thus, they built both in one."

"I see," Gary filled in. "This place is a castle and not just a mausoleum."

"What's a 'mass-o-lee-uhm'?" Ash said.

"A spruced-up tomb, basically," Gary promptly explained, "or a real grand one at any rate. And if there's a place deserving to be called that, it would be the biggest mass tomb in the eastern hemisphere."

"Actually, a mausoleum is technically not a tomb in itself but a building or monument containing a tomb," Brock corrected.

"Semantics!"

"It was also as built as a monument to the gods," Brock continued. "This location is considered sacred by ancient faiths. The belief was that the spirits of the pokémon would bless their owners and continue to protect them even after death if their remains were given a proper burial."

"I didn't know you were this knowledgeable about local traditions, Brock," Misty said. "You secretly a believer?"

"...My mother was. She taught me much of the more... spiritual sides in life."

"Oh."

Ash felt a hard clod grind within his gut.

"It's okay," Brock murmured serenely. "No one in the family is pious by any means, but... she did inspire something in us all. It made us better than we would've been otherwise, I think."

Gary looked awkward, and Ash suddenly remembered that mothers were a bit of a touchy subject.

"Uh, so, d'you know why there are so many corridors around here?" He spoke up hurriedly, latching on to the first thing he could think of. "Are we even going the right way?"

Brock did not seem affected by the sudden change of topic. "Not for a fact, but since we're still on the lower floors, I'd guess they would be for storage and to confuse attackers in the case of a siege.

"I heard downtown that the tower has a lot of diverting paths," Gary volunteered, though noticably subdued. "The passageways twist, turn and cross each other so much the tower's interior could be considered a maze."

"That reassures me so much," Misty deadpanned.

"Either way, this place is big," Brock commented. "Shouldn't we have reached the stairs by now?"

"Now that you say it, we have been walking for a long while." Gary said, then paused. "Heh, what do you know. There it is."

The second-to-third-floor stairs came into view at the end of the hall, which widened into a larger room. Numerous doors opened into dark tunnels along the walls, leaving no place for memorials.

None of that was the odd thing. The odd thing was that there were two lights on either side of the stairs and the hallway they had come from, bathing the room in a gloomy but serviceable dusk.

"Wait, why's there only power at this level...?" Gary said.

A thud sounded from above.

Ash stopped. "Did you hear that?"

"Really, Ashy-boy? I knew you were scared, but aren't making up sounds a bit–"

A clear, screeching noise cut through. The stiffening off everybody in the room told Ash that this time, they all heard it.

"...far. You know what, nevermind."

"Is it a ghost?" Ash asked with dread. Light pats echoed down the stairs, drawing all their focus. A small shape moved at the top of the stairs, which they saw when it came into view was...

"A meowth?" Brock said. Now that they thought of it, the noises did resemble those of a cat.

"What's it doing here?" Gary wondered.

The Meowth meowed and scampered towards them on all four. Ash stepped forward to meet them and kneeled down with an extended hand. "Hi there, buddy. What in the world are you doing in a place–"

"–like this?"

Pikachu had been on edge since their group had entered the gravesite. It had nothing to do with the cemetery or even the weird board which apparently meant that they were not supposed to enter – rather, it was a certain feeling about the place. It was different from the mark of a Legend but similar in the way it caused wariness in those that went near it. None of the humans seemed aware, but Pikachu suspected that if any of his teammates were to leave their poké balls, they would feel it too.

Yet, it was the meowth's appearance which really sent his hackles raising. He did not know what it was, the thing that made him so on guard. Maybe it was the trepidation getting to him. Maybe it was the annoyance of the earlier battle where he had not been able to participate. Maybe it was his trainer's fear which steeled his own resolve and instinct to protect.

Maybe it was that the Meowth had spoken without actually speaking.

Either way, that small bump in his wariness was the only reason he saw the flash of claws in time. It was why, when Meowth suddenly lunged for Ash's midsection, that Pikachu was ready to intervene; Iron Tail shielding his vulnerable trainer against a swipe of razor-sharp Fury Swipes.

"Woah-!"

"Don't touch him!"

The meowth backflipped and landed lightly on his paws. His head rose, revealing narrowed, feline eyes which zeroed in on Pikachu as he took a ready position in front of the group.

"Drat." the meowth said. "You just had to get in de way, huh?"

"Did... that meowth just talk? Like a human?!" Ash exclaimed, bafflement mirroring Pikachu's own.

"You'd like me to repeat myself?" the cat drawled.

"Well, he sure did sass at you," Gary noted.

"...since when can pokémon do that?" Misty said.

"Y'mean talkin'? Since... what, ever? Though I obviously ain't your avarage 'mon." Meowth's gaze slid across their group, then fell back on Pikachu in a half-lidded look of distain. "I don't dance to the pipe of a human taskmaster, for one."

Pikachu bristled. "Why'd you attack my trainer?"

"You'd like to know dat, wouldn't you?" Meowth sneered like only a cat could.

Pikachu let off a few sparks but winced as his cheeks tightened unpleasantly. Right, no electricity. "If you came looking for a fight, then you should know that I don't play nice."

"Typical battlers. It's always about fighting with the lot of you," Meowth sighed, shaking his head. He raised his paws in a condolatory shrug, almost theatrical and overwhelmingly human in its execution. "But to answer your question... no, I'm not interested in fighting, as you put it. I just wanted this shiny thing."

He made a quick motion, and suddenly his paw was not as empty anymore. Behind Pikachu, Ash cursed as he discovered the empty slot on his belt.

"Oh, you think I was aiming for you?" Meowth grinned widely, fingers toying with the poké ball in his grip. "Trust me – if I really wanted to harm him, the mouse here wouldn't have been able to stop me."

Pikachu stared at the 'ball. He did not know whose it was – frankly, he had no idea how Ash could tell any of them apart – but he knew that what it held was a teammate whom had fallen into the literal claws of an enemy. A teammate likely unaware of any goings-on outside, especially how they had been taken like a trophy to be flaunted against their own friends. And by an insolent crook of a 'mon no less.

Pikachu looked back at the cat's infuriatingly smug expression, and he tightly roped in his electricity even as his anger ramped.

"Hey! That's mine!" Ash barked.

"You lippy little–!" Misty bit out.

"Don't worry Ash," Gary said coldly. "He's not going to keep that for long."

"Can't you see we're having a conversation here?" Meowth snarked.

Both Ash and Pikachu decided that was enough.

"Quick Attack!"

"Gladly!"

"...Twerps." The scratch cat neatly sidestepped the attack with a springy step. Pikachu snarled and turned to follow but recoiled as something hard beaned him in the head, effectively dispersing the attack as it knocked him on his rear. He rubbed at the sore spot, eyes finding what Meowth had hit him with as it rolled to a stop by his foot.

A coin?

"You want this back?" Pikachu looked up to find Meowth standing by one of the portals, poké ball held like a tempting lure. "Then come and get it!"

He disappeared into the tunnel. Pikachu scrambled to his feet, Ash almost passing him before he could push of and get any speed.

"Give that back!"

"Stop!"

"Ash! Wait!"

"Don't run off! You could get lost–"

Brock, Misty and Gary's calls died out as turns and twists left thick stone walls to drown out their voices. Pikachu listened for the light pats of pawed feet in front, chasing what hints of Meowth's flight he could follow. Easier to hear was the steady sprinting behind him of his trainer, struggling to keep pace but continuing still when others might have given up.

They would stop until they had freed their teammate.

Their tireless pursuit led them deeper among the tunnelling network. Nothing but the mechanical light wielded by Ash lit their way, yet as they ran the contours around them grew more pronounced. Corners popped against opposing walls and brickwork grew more pronounced. Before long, the themselves were glowing like bonfires within blocks of ice.

Pikachu barely had any time to wonder at this strange phenomenon before he realised Meowth's footsteps had subsided.

He slowed by a junction and sat down to listen. Ash also halted when he saw Pikachu stopping, leaving no disturbances – or, at least that was how it was supposed to work. Pikachu could not hear anything beyond a few paces, regardless of how he strained his ears. The sounds he could hear were funky and disjointed, backed by some static noise unlike anything else.

It was not just the sound either. Now that Pikachu looked, he saw that the light that was everywhere lacked something essential. He could not for the life of him decide what the colour was, but the tinge... there was something wrong with it, and it pervaded every cranny. It was eerily reminiscent of the false world created by the inside of the poké ball.

He started to get the idea that something was very wrong.

"Pikachu?"

Pikachu flinched. Right, Ash was here too – how could he forget that?

This strange place was messing his perception.

He set off again. The walls twisted around him, and when he turned the corner it felt like he had barely taken a step. Were it not for the memory he had of just doing it, he might as well not have moved at all.

Where were they going?

...Was this not the same junction as before?

"...Pikachu?"

Ash sounded nervous. Pikachu had the better senses; he had to figure this out.

He looked around. Actually, what way did they come from? All paths looked the same and unnaturally so. They did not look like they were made of stone shaped by human hands – they were too ordinary, too perfect. Like an idealised picture or imitation. And over it all lay that strange glow.

Where in the world were they?

Was this all even real?

...Where was the way back?

"I can answer that."

Pikachu shouted in surprise – he would deny to his last breath that he shrieked – as a voice spoke right behind his ear, and he turned with bared fangs towards whatever had given him the scare. A gastly bobbed merrily before him, mouth grinning widely beneath the over-blown eyes too big to fit on its gaseous body. The grin grew wider still as the ghost noticed Pikachu's wary gaze.

His trainer whimpered something that sounded like '...ghost...'.

"Heed my words, mortal," the gastly intoned. "I bring you words from the other side."

Pikachu blinked. Ash looked ready to faint.

Then the gastly keeled over, as much as that was possible for a single head. He giggled uproariously, "...I've always wanted to say that!"

Pikachu was more than a little lost. "Uhm..."

"No no, I know, sorry..." the gastly visibly tried to compose himself. "Give me a minute, I just have to..."

The snickering ghost took a few more moments to get it out of his system. If he was trying to disarm them, it was working – even Ash looked less terrified at the display.

"Hah... all right," the gastly said, finally calming down with one last sniff. "Hi. I'm Gastly, also a gastly. It's convenient like that. Resident spook and professional haunter-to-be. So, who're you?"

"...Pikachu?"

"You don't know? That's a bummer. Wait!" Gastly turned on the spot – literally; his face rotated around his central body mass – towards Ash. "Hey, you look like a trainer. Is this pokémon here named 'Pikachu' by chance? I don't wanna assume."

Ash clearly did not understand the ghost and just stared. "Uhm...?"

"You don't know either? You have to sort that problem out." Gastly went back to Pikachu, completely ignoring the bewildered looks. "I'm just gonna go ahead and call you Pikachu, capisce? Before anyone goes all PC on me and flips out over it, honestly..."

Pikachu carefully enquired, "Did you... read my mind?"

Gastly blinked. "I did what now?"

"Back then, you responded to what I was thinking," Pikachu persisted. "Like you knew."

"Uh, no I didn't. I just said something random."

"Okay? Then why..." he trailed off.

"I just figured it'd have a good chance of freaking you out."

Pikachu had the sudden itch to blast him full of volts. "...What do you want?"

"I could ask you the same," Gastly said, face rocking from side to side. "People aren't supposed to visit these parts of the tower. They all usually go for the top floors where the newer graves are. Well, they used to, 'til the dark pants-guys showed up."

"The what?"

"The dark pants-guys."

"...I heard what you said the first time."

"Then why ask about it?"

"I didn't–" Pikachu sighed. "What I meant was – who are they?"

"Oh, some real uppity snobs. You know the type who walks past your table and takes a bite out your food 'cause they can?" Gastly made a face. "That type. They came here with all their 'balls and boxes and started bossing everyone around like they owned the place. Stopped all the nice aunties from coming to say hi, too."

Pikachu only listened with half an ear. While these 'dark pants-guys' did not sound nice, they hardly seemed relevant to their current situation. "Look, I don't have time for this. There's someone I have to find, so if you feel the need to rant–"

Pikachu almost discharged on reflex as Gastly zoomed right up in his face. "But I didn't get to tell you 'bout how fun they're to tease! Especially the cat!"

"You mean Meowth?"

"The one with paws for hands? With whiskers, with fangs, with coins upon his bangs?"

"...Well, I guess."

"That's him!" Gastly declared, triumphantly. "He's newer, but he works with the dark pants-guys though he doesn't wear 'em himself. He usually hangs around outside but he comes back every now and then to sleep. Doesn't do much else, really."

"He tried to hurt my trainer and stole my teammate's poké ball," Pikachu said bluntly.

"Oh. That's rough." The ghost sobered by a little. "Then I guess he's the one you're looking for?"

"Yeah. Him and our other friends, I guess."

"Well, then you're in the entirely wrong place. This place is... how do they say? 'From where the living may not return'?"

"What?!"

"Kidding!" Gastly laughed. "Still, this is kind of the, uh, backstage area. Only personnel of the haunted tower, if you get what I mean. But it's no problem if you've got a guide!" He spun in the air. "And lucky for you, you've got me!"

"Okay?"

"Yes-kay! I'll show you the way back, no prob!"

"That's... great." Pikachu was not really liking this ghost, but he had little options as it was.

"Uh... Pikachu?"

"Oh, right." He turned to his trainer, whose obliviousness he felt pretty envious of right in that moment. "Gastly here has offered to show the way for us... I think."

"That's great!" Ash said. "Thank you, Gastly!"

"No prob!" Gastly darted over their heads, hovering down before one of the passages. "I don't know where those you want are, but we should run into them sooner or later, right?"

Pikachu was not convinced by that argument. "Right."

"Come on then!" Gastly called and promptly went right through the wall.

He popped out again after a few moments, apparently having realised why neither Pikachu nor Ash was following. "Sorry. I forget you people can't do that. Take two – come on then!"

He took off down the corridor, Pikachu and Ash right on his smoky trail. When it eventually split, Gastly chose one without pause and the rest of them followed. He did the same with the next as well as the one after that and the one thereafter...

Through it all they followed, bound to the apparent whim of a scatter-brained smokestack. Pikachu despaired. What if their self-proclaimed guide was just picking paths at random? What if there actually was no way out of this madness where all roads led back to the beginning?

Why had he chosen to listen to a ghost, a notorious trickster, on their home turf?

Yet despite his doubts, the luminous glow of the walls soon started to fade, leaving them in darker hallways where their steps actually seemed to carry them somewhere. Heart jumping for joy, Pikachu cheered that they were out of whatever place they had been and back in the real world again.

Which still was very dark.

He was so learning Flash when he got the chance.

Gastly more or less bounced from wall to wall, shouting non-sequiturs as he veered around the pillars like a mad balloon in a gale. "Down the hall and to the left, the entrance is right between platform nine and ten!" his ghostly chatter flowed over them. "Mind the head!"

Pikachu discovered the last comment was in fact not meant for his trainer but for him as he rounded the corner and ran face-first into a sudden wall. A threshold? Why was it there, and why was it so tall?

Only, it turned out to not be a threshold at all. He pulled back to see rows of stone steps climbing each other towards the next floor, and as he turned around, he spotted the familiar hall of many doors before him.

Where they back at the stairs? Already?

Ash slid to a stop behind him, breath heaving as he took in their surroundings. "Wait- this is- where's Misty and Brock-? And Gary?"

"They followed us, didn't you hear?" Pikachu told him.

"No, I... I guess I was too focused on Meowth," Ash said, eyes running over the black-holed openings. Pikachu could not tell which of them they had initially left through, less where their friends had gone. "Where did Gastly go?"

"Hey, peeps?" their ghostly guide came drifting down from above. "I think there's someone close by. Someone that's a not-ghost."

He bobbed in the air, nodding towards the ceiling.

"Really?" Pikachu tentatively reached out with his own senses, but barely felt anything before his nerves seized up again. "Mudcakes! My electrical sense is all thrown out of whack – I can barely tell you guys are standing right beside me."

"You won't take my word for it?"

"I'd rather not, frankly."

"Fine, be that way. But! They're the only one close by, so that'd be the given place to look, right?"

Pikachu frowned and turned to Ash. His trainer stared upwards, eyebrows furrowed in thought.

"Misty and Brock can take care of themselves. And Gary is strong." Ash was not one to mumble, so it had to be a reassurance for Pikachu. His trainer's eyes found his, steadfast determination set in his jaw. "Our teammate's the one who needs us right now."

Pikachu could hear the declaration in his words, and his heart soared.

"...So, is that a yes?"

He was really not liking this ghost. "It is."

"Great! Then we're climbing! Well, you will – I'll just float since that's less effort but... anyway! Up we go!"

The stairs were not made with pokémon in mind – and this was supposedly the Pokémon Tower, what a riot – but Pikachu persevered. The third floor looked much like the second, but with far less doors along the visible hallway than the one below.

It was lit, though.

"There! That wasn't so hard now, was it?" Gastly moved down the hall backwards, faving them as he talked. "Now, come on! They're practically 'round the cor–" He cut himself off, twisting to the side. "Uh, hey? Why're you hidin–"

There was a flash of momentum, sinister darkness tearing through the air. Gastly went flying overhead with a warbling cry and tumbled through a wall. Pikachu looked back in time to see Meowth slip out from a shadowed recess, dark-type energy fading from his claws.

"Sweet revenge..." he purred.

"Meowth!" both Pikachu and Ash shouted – each in their different tongues, but their opponent was fluent in both.

The scratch cat glanced at them, his mouth twisting something between a smirk or a grimace. "Pheh. Didn't expect ya to catch up dis quick."

"Give me back my pokémon!" Ash demanded.

"De fine resident of dis 'ball is his own bein', twerp." Meowth leaned against a pillar and twisted his finger, the stolen poké ball appearing on his extended claw. It spun so fast it was little but a red and white blur. "I'd let him argue his case, but I'm guessing ya already got him converted."

"If you don't give him back, then we will just take him back!" Pikachu threatened. Meowth caught the poké ball with a smack, eyes narrowing.

"Spare me de one-liners." He righted himself and stretched his arms like he had just woken up – fluid as a cat, rigid like a human. "I was planning on leading you on a merry chase. Now I see you're too stubborn to be fooled by it."

He sunk down in a wide battle stance, 'ball gone and claws drawn. His expression grew the most blatantly hostile Pikachu had seen until then, and like a subtle evolution, the cat suddenly looked far more dangerous.

"So," Meowth said, "instead – how about you prove you can live up to you lip, prey?"

End of Chapter

[AN]: I gathered that the readers thought the last chapter was boring. For that you're getting a cliffie.

I'm steadily creating my own take on these characters. Misty is more self-conscious and doubtful; Brock's relation with his parents is very different; Ash has an ingrained feeling of inadequacy, and Gary... well, he has some issues. Not to mention Meowth.

(If anybody is worried about religion getting brought into this fic, know that it plays no big role. It's simply a part of the world that is referenced from time to time.)

The Pokémon Tower is, like many other locations in this story, a merge between anime and games. It uses a similar look and floor plan to the one in R/B/Y and their remakes but is located outside the town itself. The interior though is more like a cross between the Ruins of Alph and Cerulean Cape than the layout I was going for. Oh well.

And with that, this slightly-delayed Halloween instalment draws to a close. Good news is that I'm already making good progress on the next chapter, so stay tuned for that!

Until next time.