Episode 5: The Tell-Tale Ghosts

[Tokia Hiruma-Yasukah]

Tokia was dancing on air. Finally out of the musty city of Sezoro, she and her Pokemon could stretch their wings - limbs - arms - whatever - and take in the sweet, perfumed, grassy air.

Turd Ferguson would have none of Tokia's jovialness. He floated above her, bored out of his skull. Haruka toddled beside Tokia's legs, feeling her happiness. And Wentz, always the comic character, grinned widely and began barking at the sun.

Tokia turned to her teammates, Jerran Daymore, Brendan Rellin, and Roxy Bridgetson. She wasn't sure what she expected to see on their faces.

"Aren't you glad we get to move on, finally?" Tokia cried.

[Brendan Rellin]

Brendan followed close behind Tokia and her strangely happy Pokemon. The sun was setting quickly and him and Tokia had lots of catching up to do. He watched as Tokia danced around the field with her Pokemon. They all seemed to be enjoying the evening. Suddenly the air began to fill with fog. Of course it didn't seem to bother Tokia at first but Brendan had the spooks sometimes when fog arrived.

The sun wasn't completely set just yet but the moon was out. He was no way in condition to feel happy like his friend. That was when she spoke to him.

"Aren't you glad we get to move on, finally?" Tokia cried.

Brendan glared at Tokia is suspicion. She knew he hated the fog. Especially when dark was near. He stared at her blankly with Charmander to his side.

"Yeah, but the fact that fog is in mid-air is making me have second thoughts!" he exclaimed in reply.

He had the fear of ghosts ever since he was seven years-old. A few ghost Pokemon popped into his room and scared him when he woke up to go the bathroom. He had literally wet his pants that night. He never once wanted to see fog, ghosts or illusions. One of the reasons he never wants to go to the desert. He looked around. He could only see Tokia, Jerran, Roxy and Charmander's flame. Oh how he dreaded this night.

[Jerran Daymore]

Jerran had his new pokemon and off they went again. He took so much care for his pokemons and suddenly the mist came on. How terrible is that. Jerran wasn't scared, he did like fog. His Bonsly was cheerful and Chatot was on his right shoulder. Almost if she was his eyes. He then looked around as he could see everyone until he saw a shadow.

"Uhm Tokia, Brendan do you see that shadow over there?"Jerran asked. He could see something but he didn't know what it was and what it did so that would be a problem. Chatot then started to cry out loud. "DANGER DANGER."Chatot called. "Sssh Chatot or you will make the ghosts up and alive and you know Brendan doesn't like it, I can tell it from his face."Jerran said. Bonsly looked to him as he wanted his bottle again. He then grabbed the bottle and feed Bonsly again.

[Roxann Bridgetson]

The sun was just starting to settle into its cradle between the boughs of the trees. The underbellies of the clouds were painted in magenta, orange and yellow. A slight fog was rolling in, sluggishly clinging to the foliage.

Roxy stretched her arms over her head, glad to be out of that cramped city once and for all. Her new-found acquaintance, Tokia, was exceptionally giddy about it: prancing about like a yearling ponyta. Her ralts floated along by her side, soaking up its trainer's happiness. Wentz jumped and zigged and zagged, all the while barking at the sun. Jericho joined in, barking and chasing after the zigzagoon.

"Aren't you glad we get to move on?" Tokia yelled from somewhere through the mist.

"Yeah, but the fact that fog is in mid-air is making me have second thoughts!" Though she couldn't see him, Roxy could feel the waves of apprehension rolling off Brendan. Tsh, is he afraid of the fog? Baby. Jerran's chatot, the annoying little thing that she was, began to cry out.

"Oh. My. God you guys." Roxy folded her arms behind her head. "It's just fog; seriously. The only ones bothered are Bren and Jerry's dumb bird."

[Brendan Rellin]

"It's just fog; seriously. The only ones bothered are Bren and Jerry's dumb bird." Brendan heard Roxy cry from the other side.

Brendan frowned in disappointment. She should've known better. Than again nobody knew about his horror with ghosts except for Tokia. Brendan shook the fear off him long enough to give out a yell. "You'll be freaking out when you're the one who runs into a tree branch or something because of stupid fog!" Brendan cried. Bitch! Brendan was mad. Though the thought of one of them running smack into a tree branch was pretty funny.

Without a second thought he turned to his firry lizard Pokemon which he could only see the tip of his tail. Not hesitating he called to his Charmander hoping that he'd be able to hear him. "Charmander can you send out any embers in the sky to light the sky? Long enough for us to view where we're at." Charmander nodded and called out to Brendan which was pretty satisfying to him.

Charmander gave a high jump as he could and spouted a blast of ember attacks in the sky. Brendan saw a bit of something ahead of him but couldn't make out the scenery. Charmander tried again but it still couldn't be seen clearly. Brendan turned to Roxy. "We need more fire power!" Hoping that Roxy would use Jericho's ember to help them out.

[Roxann Bridgetson]

"You'll be freaking out when you're the one who runs into a tree branch or something because of stupid fog!" Roxy smirked. Pissing off Brendan was always entertaining.

He said something to his charmander and the fire-lizard tried to light the area with a couple ember attacks, but the little balls of fire fell out of existence before they did much good. "We need more fire power!" Brendan turned and looked at the girl expectantly. Roxy whistled, and her puppy pokémon immediately abandoned the zizagoon and loped back to his trainer. He barked happily and jumped into her waiting arms.

"This fog's giving Bren the heebie-jeebies, and as hilarious as it is, he makes a point about not seeing where we're going." She spoke only loud enough for her growlithe to hear. "Help Charmander out, will ya?"

Jericho's belly swelled with fire - Roxy could feel the residual heat on her arms. With a mighty puff, he showered the sky with little floating embers. Even combined with Charmander's it wasn't that much light, but it would do until the moon rose. Shadows flickered in and out of existence between the trees, adding to the creepy, mystical effect of the fog.

"Happy now, Bren?" She cocked her head to gaze at him through lowered lids and a smug grin.

[Tokia Hiruma-Yasukah]

The flame wasn't enough to light much, but hopefully the fog would calm Brendan down a little. Tokia glanced at him and saw what Roxy couldn't: the pale face, the shaking palms. Tokia knew that fog-filled dens like this were breeding grounds for Bren's greatest fear.

The fog was unnaturally thick, Tokia had to admit. She'd never been through fog as dense as this, and evidently, neither had Turd Ferguson, who was taking a tremendous amount of energy to get through the blanketing mist. Haruka gripped Tokia's pant leg, while Wentz tried to breathe fire like Jericho.

"Wentz, you can't breathe fire," Tokia told the Pokemon with a giggle, focusing on Turd's predicament.

"Turd, what's going on up there?"

Turd let out a screech to try and break up the fog. It barely worked. Tokia sighed.

"...This is some deep fog," Tokia murmured. "Unnatural. This isn't fog created by Nature. This is, like..." She gulped, daring to say it. "Ghost Pokemon fog."

[Jerran Daymore]

Soon as Bonsly saw what was happening, the baby Pokemon used its copycat technique to copy the embers. The baby shot embers everywhere. Lucky enough nothing caught on fire. Jerran sighed and stared at his rock Pokemon. Shaking his head and patting the baby on the head he looked around.

"Nothing's in sight."

Looking around all he saw was fog, fog and more fog. This was outrageous. Why was there so much fog? Seriously? Jerran followed the others close behind. As they moved on Jerran felt something slide across the back of his neck. A bit freaked Jerran turned around but nothing was there. Sighing he turned and continued to walk. Again he felt a slight rub on his neck. Now he was scared.


"Who's there?" He called out.

[Brendan Rellin]

"Happy now, Bren?" Roxy asked.

Bren smiled considering Roxy and Jericho tried to help out with the lighting of flames. Charmander called out to Jericho as if to say thank you. Though Bren wasn't sure if that was what Charmander meant at all. Brendan sighed and called back out to Roxy to reply though it was hard to see her.

"Actually yeah I am. Problem is, still can't see anything." He replied a little horrified.

Brendan suddenly heard Tokia speak about the fog.

"...This is some deep fog, unnatural. This isn't fog created by Nature. This is, like..." She gulped. "Ghost Pokemon-fog."

Brendan shrieked and made a noise in his mouth through his teeth like an "Nnnggh" sound hearing the word "Ghost Pokemon-fog". That scared him more than anything. Really? Did it have to be ghosts? Brendan really had the idea to go back and wait until morning. This traveling at night did not seem like a good idea at all.

"Who's there?"

Brendan heard Jerran call out behind him. Looking around puzzled, Brendan didn't see anyone else. Then again, would he really? Suddenly Brendan heard Charmander squeal and jump into his arms. Brendan gulped and looked around. Something must've frightened the fire lizard. Brendan looked around and stood still waiting for the surprise. Someone was probably pulling a prank on them.

Bren held Charmander close to him as he could. Charmander was his defensive Pokemon and something scary or bad was going to happen. He hated to admit he was the biggest frightened person when it came to ghosts. Suddenly he felt a tingle on the back of his neck as if someone or something was rubbing against it. This was enough for him to freak and run.

"THIS PLACE IS HAUNTED. I'M GETTING OUT OF HERE!" He cried as he ran.

He could of sworn he heard someone shout back to him "You don't even know where you're going", but that didn't stop him. Brendan ran as fast as he could with Charmander to his side screaming along with him. When he opened his eyes, ahead of him he could make out a heavy-set woman standing in front of a light.

"Quickly in here!" She called out.

Brendan was the first one inside with Charmander not even looking back to see if everyone else made it inside. He panted and breathed heavily. He was out of breath. Charmander coughed and laid upon Brendan's leg tiredly. Brendan looked around. Where was everyone else? Brendan stood up straight and stared out the window.

"I'll be back. The others are still out there." He said.

"Hurry!"

Brendan ran out the door. Charmander stood there keeping his tail lit so Brendan could find his way back. Hopefully the others were still okay.

[Roxann Bridgetson]

"Actually, yeah, I am." Brendan replied. "'Problem is, 'still can't see anything."

"This is some deep fog," Tokia murmured. "Unnatural. This isn't fog created by Nature. This is, like..." She gulped, daring to say it. "Ghost pokémon fog."

Brendan screamed in a most immasculate manner, causing both Roxy and her growlithe to cringe. "Jeez!" She muttered under her breath. "He is the most wimpy, babyish, frightened..."

"Who's there?" Now Jerran was starting to get uneasy.

"This place is haunted! I'm getting out of here!" Roxy heard Brendan yelling as he booked it past her.

"You don't even know where you're going!" She called in the direction his form dissipated. "Jeez, why do I feel like this more like babysitting than traveling with friends? Come on Jericho, let's go find him."

So what if this was ghost-pokémon created fog? They were just like every other pokémon. It was like being scared of a caterpie or a sandshrew. Besides, they all had pokémon with them, it wasn't as if they were defenseless. Roxy felt something breathe against the back of her neck. She quickly clamped a hand back there and snarled.

"If was Jerry or Tokia, I will beat them until they resembled an abused ditto." Her growlithe barked, as if to agree.

[Tokia Hiruma-Yasukah]

Mass panic was the order of the day, apparently. Tokia knew better than to let ridiculous fears get to her, like Brendan seemed to love doing, but was also smart enough to realize that Roxy brought up a valid point when she spoke of something breathing down her neck.

Tokia turned to look at Roxy, and noticed a tall figure behind her.

Now THIS... this was a good reason to scream. So Tokia did. Turd Ferguson flew in front of her, ready to protect her from the scary, shadowy figure. Tokia knew it was too tall to be Jerran, and Brendan was off running around like a constipated weiner dog.

"Who ARE YOU?!" Tokia screamed. Turd, for good measure, sent a sonic wave at the figure.

The figure, hit in the face, reeled and fell to the ground. Tokia put her hands to her mouth.

"What was that? What WAS THAT?!" Tokia cried.

[Jerran Daymore]

Jerran looked up as he heard Brendan screaming. Obviously he was a little to scared. Then Jerran heard that Roxy thought that it was him or Tokia that was playing a big joke on her. "Sorry Roxy, but this time it wasn't me and it wasn't Tokia. So it must be someone else." Jerran said.


Jerran tried to look to Tokia as she started to hit the person with some supersonic from her zubat. Jerran headed to Tokia and the body and looked to it. "You hit something. Wonder what it was."
Why don't we have people that think first? Jerran thought. His Bonsly playing in his arms as he smiled. "It is all going to be okay Bonsly." Jerran said.

[Brendan Rellin]

Brendan ran as fast as he could to get the others. The quicker, the better. He wanted out of this fog as much as possible. Who knew this fog was this bad. Brendan stopped long enough to catch his breath. He had no idea where Roxy, Tokia or Jerran were. He couldn't see them at all. Brendan continued to run once he caught his breath. Suddenly Bren could hear Roxy screaming. This was perfect! She was close by.

Before he could call out, Brendan was smacked in the face by a sonic wave that sent him rocketing to the ground. Brendan was in serious pain and now confused about everything. Brendan only caught his dizziness when he heard Charmander calling from the house. Brendan stood up and could get a glimpse of Tokia in front of him.

"Tokia, we need to go! There's a house just down the road." Brendan called. "Roxy, Jerran, I'll come for you guys and take you to the house."

Suddenly Brendan felt a nudge against his leg. Charmander was standing next to him. Well at least he was here.

"Charmander, lead Tokia to the house. I'll grab Jerran and Roxy."

As Charmander grabbed Tokia by the hand, Brendan ran and was easily able to find Jerran and Roxy. At last they'd get out of this terrible ordeal. Brendan pushed Jerran in front of him and kept Roxy by his side so they wouldn't get lost. Seeing the light ahead of them Brendan shoved Jerran and Roxy into the house. Brendan then saw Charmander and Tokia coming up from way yonder.

"Here. Put these on." The old lady handed them all blankets to wrap around.

He had to admit, it was pretty chilly. As Brendan waited by the door he spotted a Vaporeon sitting on a couch in the room behind them. That must mean that the old lady, herself, was a Pokemon trainer too.

"C'mon Tokia!"

((Sorry if I god-modded. Had to get this thing going a lot faster haha. Right now anyone can post))

[Roxann Bridgetson]

Speak of Tokia, Roxy's ears were soon ripped apart by a scream of hers. Great, are we all going to lose our minds? Jericho cringed in her arms. Something fell to the ground not far from where the red-headed girl was standing. She spooked back, nearly running into Jerran. Her growlithe snarled. The figure slowly got to its feet and approached Tokia.

"Tokia, we need to go!" It was only Brendan. "There's a house just down the road. Roxy, Jerran, I'll come for you guys and take you to the house."

"Why is Tokia more important than us?" Roxy snorted.

Bren debated with himself for a moment, then sent Tokia off with the small figure by his side. From the faint orange flow it made, she guessed it was Charmander. Brendan came into view. He grabbed Jerran and shouldered him in front, pushing rather roughly. Roxy switched Jericho to her right and locked arms with the blonde boy, determined not to be left behind. Brendan hurried them through the mist up to a small cabin. Are we going to room with strange people again? A heavy-set elderly women was standing in the doorway, as if she expected them.

Brendan jostled Jerran and Roxy into the house. The old woman offered them blankets to keep warm. Roxy freed her arm from Jerran's to accept it, though she wasn't really all that cold with Jericho pressed against her. She let the blanket hang limp in her hand.

"Sorry for barging in like this, ma'am. We'd probably be on our way if Bren over there wasn't so freaking scared of ghosts."

[Tokia Hiruma-Yasukah]

Tokia closed the door behind her, breathing heavily and unsure about what had just happened. Brendan had dragged her into some odd person's house, and Roxanne seemed irritated about Brendan's protecting her over everyone else. To be honest, Tokia didn't understand why Brendan had done that. All she knew was that Turd Ferguson was circling over her head, trying to recover its lost senses.

Tokia looked around the plain cabin. Log walls and floor, with blankets - blankets? A kindly old woman was offering her a blue blanket. Tokia accepted and sat down on the ground by the door, feeling like she should keep out of the others' way. Especially considering that Brendan had singled her out. She felt totally uncomfortable with that.

"Brendan isn't scared of ghosts," Tokia corrected in a low voice. "Just Ghost-type Pokemon. I'm sorry, Ma'am, if we've caused you any trouble."