You continue walking down the smog cloud-ridden halls of the hospital, occasionally encountering a few ghost type Pokémon you're actually familiar with. Gastly, Misdreavus, Duskull, you encounter a couple more Buhuud as well, Shuppet too, and on occasion, you also encounter a small lean shadowy fox-shaped creature that flees from you before you can even make the attempt to battle it.

You also notice a few open doors you can walk into. Some of them have the same Ghost Pokemon you've seen before, others have people who're in dire need of directions to the lobby, and they kindly give you a couple items as thanks. Nothing special is acquired, just a couple potions, a poke ball or two, maybe a revive, the very basic gifts. One of these rooms, however, you encounter the shadow fox again, and it runs through you, phasing through your body as it darts off in an unknown direction. You're about to go after it, until you see an item on the ground from where it stood.

You were familiar with this item, it was a Reaper Cloth, but you had very little idea on what this was doing in a hospital in the first place. You decide to pocket it in your bag and leave the room, making your way back to the confetti trail, continuing your search.

After several minutes, you've followed the confetti trail intently up a flight of stairs to the next floor, occasionally encountering more ghost Pokémon you've already encountered before, even seeing a couple new Pokemon like Phantump and Mimikyu, but aside from these encounters, you keep following the trail of confetti. The sooner you find Diane, the sooner you can get out of this nightmare of a hospital.

You follow the confetti trail to the end of the hall, only to notice that you've been led to one of the patients' doors. You slowly open the door, only to notice Diane trying to pull her Gumgew free from a tendril made of bones and ectoplasm, all while the sound of rattling bones echo out. You quickly rush over to Diane's side and help force the tendril to let her Pokémon go, only for the tendril to immediately relinquish its hold on the water type as you rush forward.

Before you can even make the attempt to fight it off, it quickly withdrawals itself into the ground, leaving no sign of forced entry, almost appearing as a physical ghostly apparition. You look back at Diane, who wipes a bead of sweat from her brow and smiles brightly. "Hey buddy! Thanks for the assistance! I wouldn't've been able to get Gummy out of that nasty ghost tendril's hold on my own. Gummy tried to hurt it with its moves, but it just wouldn't affect it, for some reason," You shrug your shoulders and nod your head, only to shift your gaze and look at her Gumgew closely, noticing that it didn't seem to be harmed, as far as you knew. Diane giggled and petted her Gumgew with care before setting it on top of her head. "Really, I appreciate the help, and thanks for taking an interest in Gummy, but he's tougher than he looks. It's gonna take a lot more than some spooky tentacle to spook the shorts off of Diane Pie!" Diane stated.

You explain to Diane that you were able to help a couple people escape the hospital while you lagged behind, and you also show her the Buhuud you let join your team. Diane is fairly impressed, though she's more enamored by the Buhuud that clung to your leg, seeming nervous of Diane's hyperactiveness. Almost as fast as she was ogling the ghost type you caught, she looked up at you with a nasty sneer, glaring at you irately. "Why didn't you tell me sooner that you had another Pokémon this whole time!? And such a cutie, to boot!~ Were ya holdin' out on me to get out of a battle!?" You try to explain to Diane that you just caught it a moment or so ago, but before Diane can try to say something, a cacophony of warped twisted sounds cry out. You both ready your poke balls as a dark lumbering shadow begins to creep out from where you came from. "Uh-oh... Well, that's my bad, I must've been too loud. Get ready, pal, this could get messy!" Diane exclaimed.

As the shadow lurks closer to the door, the Buhuud you caught gets in front of you and shines a blinding blue spotlight from its hood. You hear a couple yelps
cry out in terror, and the sound of someone falling to the floor. The spotlight fades away and Buhuud starts to get scared, retreating back into its poke ball for safety.

You and Diane walk out of the room and look to where you both came from, only to see two young boys sitting up on the floor, rubbing the back of their heads to ease the momentary feeling of pain. The first boy was rather round, short, had buck teeth and messy orange hair, with a black t-shirt with a strange skull graphic on the front. The second boy was a bit thinner, mildly taller, had green hair in a bowl-cut style, and wore a long-sleeved green cardigan.

The shorter boy rubbed his head, groaning in pain. "Ow!! T-That smarts! I'm starting to think ghost types are tougher than I thought." The boy said frantically.

The taller boy shook his head, seeming dazed by the fall. "Tell me about it, man. But, I did say we should've gotten stronger before going in... these ghost Pokémon are throwing us around like skipping stones." The other boy remarked.

You were confused as to who these boys were, but Diane was less than thrilled. "Shells!? Shears?! What are you two doing in here!?" Diane exclaimed angrily, causing the boys' eyes to widen as they quickly got back up on their feet.

"W-We were tryin' to help get rid ah the problem in the hospital, m-ma'am!" Shells stuttered, terrified of the anger in Diane's tone.

Shears dusted off his shirt and quickly nodded his head. "Y-Yeah! We heard there was trouble at the hospital, so we wanted to prove that we were ready to train Pokémon of our own!" Shears explained defensively.

You could see that Diane was not happy in the slightest, and knew what she had to do. "Okay, clearly you two haven't learned your lessons yet about diving head first into trouble. Come along, you two, I'm escorting you out of here and taking you both back to your mothers, clearly a new punishment needs to be concocted," Diane walked up to both of the boys and grabbed them both by their ears, causing them to wince. Diane looks back at you with a cheery smile and winks in your direction. "Hey, I hate to spring this on ya, but I can trust ya to deal with this whole situation on your own, right pal? Ya made it this far, and your Pokémon seem to be a bit stronger with all of these ghost types lookin' for a challenge. Don't worry, as soon as I've gotten these two escorted home, I'll try to be back before your first major battle, just head up another floor, I'll bet that's where the cause of all this is right now," Diane walked towards the flight of stairs, pulling Shears and Shells by their ears as they whined. "Get the lead out and get to moving, you two! Be lucky it wasn't a Gengar that found ya!" Diane exclaimed furiously.

As the three of them went down the flight of stairs, you were once again alone. You look down at your Poke Balls, wondering if you should capture any of the other ghost types you've encountered so far, but it's not like you have a lot of diversity for your team, and not for a lack of trying. You tried to catch that Purrloin earlier, but that didn't work out in your favor, but then again, having two Pokémon is better than having none at all.

On the one hand, you're technically not alone, but on the other hand, you know your Pokémon are not prepared enough for whatever's waiting for you on the next floor, but you have to do this. If somehow this is all your fault, you owe it to these people to fix this. You ready Shrubunny's Poke Ball, and walk through the halls, filled with a newfound sense of strength, and ready yourself for a real battle. This won't turn out like the battle back in the lab, this won't be like your battle with the Purrloin.

This may be a worse situation for you, considering your Pokémon haven't had that much battle experience until now, but you have to try... Besides, you ain't got anything better to do, might as well fight whatever eldritch creature is causing all the smog and ghosts to appear, and if you survive, the bragging rights you'll have are gonna be legendary.

You let Shrubunny and Buhuud out of their poke balls and let them wander around with you, encountering a few more ghost Pokémon, helping a couple more trapped people out of the building and finding a couple more items before finally making your way to the next staircase.

As you ascend the steps to the next floor, you and your Pokémon can feel an immense spiritual pressure the moment you step to the next floor. The cloud of smog seems to have gotten thicker, but among the smog clouds, you can see the visible outline of a dark shadowy figure. They were tall, and despite their physical appearance being so covered in shadows, you could tell that they were a grown man... the only issue was that was the only thing you could tell. Everything else about them was a bundle of questions, and you had no answers for any of them.

The shadowed man had its gaze fixated on you, and seemed to suddenly summon a Poke Ball shaped object with just a snap of their fingers, and aimed it at you, clearly demanding for a battle to begin. You hesitate, but the shadow man seems to immediately pick up on it, and gestures his free hand to the clouds of smog, almost signaling that battling him is the only way to get rid of the smog, and likely by vice versa, the ghost Pokémon that are wandering the halls.

You take a deep breath and steady your nerves, readying your starter Pokémon's ball and ready yourself for the fight to begin. You can't tell, but the shadowed man is grinning from ear to ear as it readies its own Poke Ball.

XXX⏺⏺⏺

??? wants to fight!

The first Pokémon the shadowed man sent out was a Gastly. You let your Shrubunny hop into battle, all while the smog gets thicker. You watch as Shrubunny slowly tire out the Gastly with its constant hopping around, as well as using its Razor Leaf attack in tandem. After a few minutes of watching this happen, you start to notice that your starter's grass type attack isn't affecting the Gastly all that much, which confuses you greatly.

Shrubunny is a bit confused as to how the Gastly is still standing, barely even damaged by its onslaught, but Gastly simply tries to land a Lick on your Pokémon. Shrubunny dodges the attack and manages to try and Headbutt it. You expect the attack to fail and see Shrubunny pass through the Gastly, but Gastly suddenly feels the attack land, and it seems to be quite the devastating blow, terrifying the ghost type as it tries to use Bite in retaliation.

Shrubunny barely manages to hop out of the way, with one of its ears getting nicked by the ghost type's attack. Shrubunny flinches from the pain for a moment, but couldn't move in time as it gets licked by the Gastly, doing a rather surprising amount of damage, yet Shrubunny is still standing, but is barely hanging on.

Thinking carefully, you swap Shrubunny out for your Buhuud, and you decide to hit it hard as Buhuud Headbutts it, doing more than enough damage to knock it out. The shadowed man calls Gastly back to its Poke Ball, clearly a bit ticked, but at the same time, it seems genuinely excited.

Without a moment of hesitation, the second Pokémon the shadowed man sends out is a Phantump. You try your best to command your Buhuud to fight, but the Pokémon is clearly on the verge of another breakdown, retreating into its Poke Ball, leaving your starter to take on the ghoulish ghost and grass type.

You manage to squeak by in this battle using the potions you found in the hospital rooms, but it becomes rather obvious to you that the type effectiveness has been switched around. You brace yourself for any sudden surprises as your Shrubunny continues to fight the Phantump. With a couple more headbutts, Phantump is finally defeated and is recalled by the shadowed man.

The shadowed man starts to get agitated, and yet, it also seems to be getting more and more excited. The third and final Pokémon it sends out is a Duskull, though it's obvious that so far, this fight is rather hard to follow for you. You might be a newly appointed trainer, but even you knew that normal types typically aren't capable of doing any damage to ghost types, as well as vice versa, something wasn't right here.

As you use a couple potions to heal your Buhuud, the Duskull proves to be far more difficult to handle. You're not sure why, but you could tell there was clearly something this shadowed figure wanted out of this fight. Your Pokémon are hurting quite a fair bit, but you do eventually manage to take down the surprisingly resilient Duskull.

With the battle just barely won, you look around, expecting the smog to fade away and disappear, but it would seem that the shadowed figure wasn't done with you yet. Without any hesitation, it threw out one last Pokémon, revealing unto you, an unfair and unheard of opponent of obvious strength.

It looked like a melted mass of colors and textures, like it was covered in a shroud of violet static and broken scarlet pixels. The unfathomably uncomfortable collection of red eyes staring at you from the static was almost stomach churning, like looking at this unregistered atrocity against all that is natural was making you terminally sick to your stomach. You didn't think this would be how you go, cheated out of a fair victory and exterminated by some unknown freak of nature.

You couldn't move, and neither could your Pokémon. You were too scared, fear had left you paralyzed; this was the end for you, and the creature intended to take you out, all while the shadowed man seemed pleased with himself. Before the creature could attack, however, the entire floor was suddenly lit up like Christmas morning. The horrid abomination disappeared as the lights seemed to ward it off, and the shadowed man seemed to have disappeared as well.

You feel the terror and fear relinquish its tight vice grip on you and fall to your knees, trying to get your breath. Your Pokémon return to their Poke Balls as Diane, Redheart and Jackson come onto the scene, trying to get you back onto your feet. "Whoa there, partner! Let us help ya up, you look paler than a Glastrier in a blizzard, and your Pokémon look pretty beat; What in tarnation happened up here?" Jackson asked.

Redheart seemed to scowl at the question. "You'd have to ask the royal guard, and see how they react. All they cared about was Kenjin's Pokémon, and basically tried to leave the moment they got it, all while good people were still trapped inside," Redheart looked to you and her scowl seemed to lessen. "Words can't describe how thankful I am that you saved these people, as well as my job. As a token of appreciation, I'll let you take a free souvenir of whatever you choose from our gift shop." Redheart thanked, bowing her head.

Diane smiled and laughed. "Ya see, buddy? You were able to beat that shadow man no problem! Didn't need my help at all!~" You give Diane an unamused expression and tell her what happened after you beat him, which surprised the three women greatly. "WHAAAT!? He had another Pokémon on him, and tried to take you out with it!?! What a low-down dirty cheater!!" Diane roared out in a fury, stamping her foot on the ground as steam started to literally pour out of her ears.

Jackson sighed and looked around the floor for a moment, as if she were looking for any sign of your opponent. "If'n he was here, he's long gone now, like a Fossil Pokémon before it became a... well, a fossil," You look over to where he was standing, noticing some kind of glimmering object catching the light of the hospital bulbs. You walk over and examine it, seeing that it was some kind of stone-like object. It felt like it could crumble in your hands, yet it felt hard like a rock. What threw you off the most was the fact that it smelled incredibly sweet, as well as having a pattern of some kind of fairy insignia. You aren't sure what this is, but you decide to pocket it in your bag for later. "Well, regardless of who and or what that slick shifty son of a Salandit was doin' here, it's stopped in its tracks like a train carryin' precious cargo." Jackson commented.

You nod your head and follow the three women down the stairs, glad that the smog was now cleared from the hospital, and also for the proper bit of battle experience. You let a small smile form on your face, all the while a couple sparkles begin to spark and shimmer around your hands, but only for a moment.

As the hospital returns to its usual working hours, and every person and Pokémon admitted to the place has been accounted for, along with its workers, Redheart heals your Pokémon back to full strength, and you, Diane and Jackson walk out of the front door, satisfied and relieved that the hectic issues are over. "Can't say I'm not impressed, partner. You stood yer ground like a Kangaskhan protectin' its youth, and it nearly got ya killed in the process," Jackson stopped moving and faced both you and Diane, crossing her arms as she seemed a bit irate, and in dire need for answers. "I'm hopin' one of ya can give me an explanation as to what exactly was happenin' here, so start talkin'." Jackson stated.

Diane took a deep breath and started to speak. "I wanted to introduce myself to our friend here and have a battle to welcome him to Ponville Town, but he only had one Pokémon, and it wasn't very strong. Earlier today, Redheart tasked me to bring him back to the hospital to settle a sudden infestation of ghost Pokémon, and I figured it'd be a good way for him to get stronger, which I was right about, by the way," Diane stops and takes another deep breath as she continues talking. "By the time we got back to the hospital, we saw that the royal guard was there, and only seemed to care about their friend's Poke Ball and seemed real eager to leave things as they were, so me and our good buddy ol' pal right here decided to bust some ghosts and save the people and Pokémon trapped inside!" Diane took one more deep breath of air, and resumed talking again. "Also, Shears and Shells were trying to get into more trouble by sneaking into the place without Pokémon of their own, so I had to let him take care of his first boss battle while I escorted those two trouble makers home." Diane explained with a smile.

Jackson's mouth hung open agape, a look of sheer confusion on her face as she tried to let the information sink into her brain. Jackson took her hat off and scratched her head as she shook her head. A small smirk forms on her lips and a chuckle escapes her. "Ah guess somethings never change, huh, Pinkie?" Diane smiled and brought Jackson into a tight hug. You smile, but you notice a familiar face approaching from behind them. Diane lets Jackson go, and the both of them turn around, only to be surprised, knowing they were face-to-face with Professor Nocturna. "P-Professor Nocturna! I see ya finally decided to step out of your lab again. Is there anything we can help ya with?" Jackson asked.

Nocturna sighed. "I just heard about the situation at the hospital and came to help as soon as possible... but judging by how you three are just now leaving, I'll assume I was a bit too late to assist. If only miss Carmilla and mister Andrew didn't take up so much of my time with such a pointless waste of my time, would've been here much sooner," Nocturna looks at you and smiles. "My assistant, you seem to have gotten yourself wrapped up in a bit of excitement today, didn't you? Anything to report?" Nocturna asked.

You explain to the professor what happened since you left her lab with Shrubunny. The fight with a wild Purrloin, meeting Diane, the royal guards, the battle with the shadow man, and you introduce the professor to your newly captured Buhuud, who now clings to your leg out of fear when it's not battling. Nocturna writes down everything you say, though you notice she seems to pause at the mention of the royal guards and the shadow man. Aside from that, Prof. Nocturna seems rather pleased and satisfied with the report.

Nocturna clears her throat. "Seems to me that you still have a lot to learn about Pokémon battling, as well as how to catch them. You've grown a bit stronger, I can appreciate that, but you have a lot left to learn. Hmm... it seems a bit too soon, since you'll be starting your job as my assistant in a month and a half from now, but I believe you'd benefit with getting some experience as a trainer first before becoming my research assistant," Nocturna reached into her labcoat pocket and held up a small red jewelry box, the Poke Ball insignia was on the top of the lid, shining and glinting in the light of the sunset. The professor walks up to you and hooks it up to one of the belt notches on your pants. "This is the official Eqtrot region Badge case. Pokémon trainers who undergo the gym challenge are required to have these on hand to store the badges they have earned by beating Gym Leaders. Ponville Town has two gyms, one is unofficial and is more so used for training specific attributes and helping your Pokémon learn new moves, while the other has various gym trainers who will test you to see if you're ready to face their leader." Nocturna explained.

Jackson nodded her head, placing her stetson back on her head. "If it's any consolation, I'd recommend gettin' a bit stronger before challengin' the gym. You got plenty stronger already, but you should get a couple more Pokémon on yer team. Trust me, what I'm tellin' you is the honest truth." Jackson stated with a chuckle.

Diane giggled as she pulled a Poke Ball out of her hair and aimed it at you. "Yeah, and speaking of getting stronger, I'm still owed a battle!" Your eyes widen as Diane sends out her Gumgew, but then Diane suddenly gets a swift smack to the back of the head by Jackson. "Oww!!! What was that for, Jackie!?" Diane cried out.

Jackson glared at the girl and pointed towards Nocturna. "We're in the middle of talkin' with the professor, ya know! Ya clearly got ruder when we all split like the original dragon, land sakes, Diane!" Jackson reprimanded.

You raise an eyebrow at Jackson, curious by what she meant, but Diane shyly put the Poke Ball back in her hair and bowed her head at the professor. "S-Sorry! I-I was just... really excited, t-that's all!" Diane apologized.

Nocturna smiled and rested a hand on Diane's head. "Apologies aren't necessary, I'm quite curious to see how my new soon-to-be research assistant can hold himself up in a battle, now that he has experience. Diane, if you're that eager for a battle, am I right to assume his Pokémon have been healed up?" Diane looked up and nodded her head. Nocturna smiled and cleared her throat. "Then it's settled. Before he challenges either gym, lets see him take on a trainer or two that can fight fair. Diane, you'll fight him first, then miss Jackson can fight him after, give him some proper coaching on how to battle." Nocturna explained.

You just got out of a very dangerous fight, and now you're about to face two more battles. You sigh and ready a Poke Ball, all while Diane grins widely and sends out her Gumgew.

Author's Note

Current Team

SHRUBUNNY ♂
Lv. 10

This Pokémon has a Hardy nature, and is a bit quick tempered.

Ability:
Overgrow

Moves:
Scratch
Razor Leaf
Needle Brush
Headbutt

BUHUUD
Lv. 9

This Pokémon has a Quiet nature, and is highly curious.

Ability:
Haunting Helper

Moves:
Headbutt
Lick
Baby-Doll Eyes
Hypnosis

+6,300$

You obtained x1 Reaper Cloth!

You obtained x1 Sweet Rock!

You obtained a Badge Case!

Your current status with Jackson just reached the Good Acquaintance rank.

Your current status with Diane just reached the Strangers rank.

Your current status with Professor Nocturna remains unchanged.

Really wanted to show-off how strange things can get in this chapter. If anyone has any questions, direct them to the comment section and I'll try to answer them to the best of my abilities without giving out spoilers.