Lochnessshipping - Blog Posts

Tw: Drowning Death

Happy Halloween 🎃

Pokémon ghost story Part 3

    There are many things Nessa thought she would see in her life, some beautiful, some unexpected, some wacky and unexplainable… but never would Nessa have thought, that she would see a corpse… and not one… but two. Yet here she was… in Gloria’s hotel room that she was staying in for the month. Raihan sitting on the couch, still in shock and staring blankly off into space. Gloria was currently on the phone with Hop, telling him what happened. Hop was on the other side frantically yelling with worries, Nessa could hear him from here, and he wasn’t even on speakerphone. It was still better than when Gloria had called Victor to tell him. Her brother didn’t even give her a choice, he was coming over the second Marnie’s gym closed for the day. Guess that’s just regular brotherly protection.

    Nessa looked down at the small Pokémon bed, Kubfu was still crying with that damn doll in his arms. Gloria’s Pokémon were by the little teddy bear’s side, trying to comfort him. Flamey looked at Axel, Gloria’s Aegislash, as if looking for advice. Axel just gave him this Sawsbuck in the headlights look, telling Flamey that he was just as lost as him. He knows her, Nessa thought, he knows exactly who that doll belongs to, he knows exactly who murdered those two people… but how does he know her?! Nessa felt herself more on edge with each passing second. She thinks everyone in this room was.

    Gloria got off her call with Hop, she sunk into the couch cushions next to Nessa. She exhaled sharply and looked at her phone once more. Nessa could see over her shoulder she was texting Bede. The previous text showed Bede worrying about how Gloria was holding up after the incident, along with a photo of his Pokémon fooling around with each other, one of his subtle ways to try and cheer her up. Gloria gave a soft chuckle at the picture. Nessa tore her eyes away from the champion’s phone. Nessa needed to calm down, but she couldn’t, especially not with that doll in the same room as her.

    After a long, long, silence, Gloria broke the ice. “Nessa,” she said, “You drove by that lake, right? During the night of the gala.” Nessa bit her bottom lip as she quietly nodded. “Did you happen to… see anything… or… anyone?” Gloria looked at the water type gym leader, waiting for a response. Nessa looked up; a bit taken back by the question. Nessa looked at Raihan, who gestured her, “go for it”.

    Nessa cleared her throat. “W-well, yes actually,” she confessed, “there was this little girl I saw on the way home… I thought she was in trouble, so I pulled over. But when I tried to help, she vanished. It was freezing cold that night, yet she was dressed in – “

“In a blue summer dress with summer boots,” Gloria finished for her, shocking both gym leaders.

“H-how do you know that?” Nessa asked.

“Because I saw her… how she was floating above the water, right before she disappeared,” Gloria replied.

They were silent for a while once more after that. Until Gloria saw both Nessa and Raihan staring at Kubfu. “You think he knows who she is?” Gloria said.

“We know who she is,” Raihan spoke up, “she’s the little girl from the missing posters. She’s Gretchen Moya.”

“But that’s all we know,” Nessa said, “we don’t know anything else about her, but Kubfu…” She paused, looking at how Kubfu had seemed to fall asleep with the mossy Buneary in his arms. “He knows something… he must, otherwise, why else would he react to that plushy the way he did?”

“Yeah, I can feel it, I know he knows something,” Gloria paused, “… but I don’t know what.”

***

    Kubfu could hear them talking about him. He disliked it, but maybe it was better if they thought he was sleeping… or not, they wouldn’t be able to understand him even if he tried his best. They couldn’t even understand that Marill from the park, when he was trying to tell them that the bad human had taken his best friend. Kubfu smelled all the mud, dirt, and moldy moss on the plushy, but he didn’t care. Despite all the damage that the plushy had gone through, her scent was still etched into the fabric of the toy. It was still as comforting as it used to be.

    Kubfu felt soft yet firm paws stroke his head, he lifted his eyelid just enough to see who it was; Flamey with a concerned look. That’s sweet, but it still doesn’t change what I did… I don’t even know if I deserve any of this. He closed his eyes once more as he let her scent -along with all the grime- enter his nostrils once more. Kubfu didn’t focus or mind the dirt on the plushy, he only focused on the scent of his first savior. He became so focused on the calming scent and the comfortable head rubs that he felt his body succumb to sleep.

***

    Kubfu was lost! He wasn’t used to this environment! Why was it so cold? Wasn’t it supposed to be spring? Where was he? Kubfu forced himself through the bushes and just kept running. He didn’t know if those humans were still following him, but he didn’t want to take any chances. He couldn’t take any chances! He felt like he was running for hours, but eventually he found himself at a wooden fence with a loose board. Kubfu punched the board until it was opened wide enough for him to slip through.

    Kubfu felt his wounds sting as he fell into a bed of flowers that were almost bigger than him. When he looked up, he found himself in a garden of some kind. There were hydrangeas, daisies, sunflowers, and a rosebush. Kubfu was only thankful that he didn’t fall into that bush. Kubfu sneezed as the pollen got up his nose.

    “Huh?” A small voice squeaked. Kubfu froze, despite his mind telling him to run. “Aw! Hey there… how did you get in here? Woah!” Kubfu looked up as a small human with ebony hair pined with a white pokéball hairclip to keep it out of her blue and purple eyes. Those big eyes widened as she saw the condition this living teddy bear was in. Kubfu was frozen and felt too tired to run. He squeezed his eyes shut as he felt the tears welling up, this was it. All his cleverness that he used to escape from those humans that stole him from his home had been for nothing, he was so freaking tired, closing his eyes felt so good, maybe a nap would do him some good? Kubfu felt small soft hands cautiously rub the sides of his head, he opened his eyes to see this human, smiling gently as she quietly spoke. “Shh, it’s okay… you’re okay… I won’t hurt you, pinky promise.” Kubfu felt comfortable in this tiny human’s hands, and he didn’t know why, but for some reason, he believed her and her words.

    After a bit, he felt himself being picked up gently, and he didn’t try to fight or squirm. What was wrong with him? Did he have a death wish? Why wasn’t he fighting or flying? Kubfu was abruptly pulled from his thoughts as he felt cold water wash over him. “Raa!!” He squeaked. “Whoops! Is that too cold for you little guy?” The human girl said. Was she- was she trying to clean him? Why? Shouldn’t she be stuffing him into a pokéball or a cage right about now?

    Kubfu stared curiously into the human’s mismatched eyes. The girl smiled. “It’s okay, I’m you friend, my names Gretchen,” Gretchen spoke. She stroked the top of Kubfu’s head gently, Kubfu found himself nuzzling into the feeling. Gretchen giggled at the tiny Pokémon in her arms.

    The human who called herself Gretchen took him inside her home. Kubfu found himself devouring delicious foods. Sandwiches inside of Darumaka lunchboxes, fruit slices in the shape of Mudkip, Torchic, Hatenna, and many others. Kubfu doesn’t think he’s ever been this full in his life! Has he died and gone to heaven? He hasn’t had anything to eat since those humans kidnapped him from his home.

He looked over to the girl filling up a large pot with soapy water, she waited until he was finished with the final sandwich before picking him up and gently setting him inside the pot, it was far warmer than the water from the garden. Kubfu was warry, but this girl hasn’t tried to cause him any harm… yet. Still, that was more than he could say about the other humans he’s met. Gretchen took a warm hand towel and started rubbing the soapy water over other parts of his body.

    Once Gretchen seemed to have deemed him clean enough, she took him out and wrapped him in a towel, before grabbing a hairdryer and set it on the lowest setting. It was completely foreign to Kubfu, he tried swatting at the powerful air at first- causing Gretchen to giggle in amusement- before he eased into it as he felt his fur becoming softer and dryer.

    “There we go,” Gretchen smiled, turning off the hairdryer. She pulled a chair out from the dining room table, before using it to step on the kitchen counter, she grabbed the first aid kit from the top shelf. It was still a mystery to her why her parents left her home alone while they worked all day, yet they put the first aid kit completely out of reach for her. Gretchen pulled out one of the purple potions. “Okay, just so you know, this will sting a little, but just like daddy says; ‘when it hurts, that means it’s helping,’” Gretchen warned him. Oh, that’s what it was. For a moment, Kubfu thinks that he let his guard down for too long and got too comfortable with this human. Even if she wasn’t fully grown yet, she was still a human, and therefore, still just as dangerous.

    Kubfu squeezed his eyes shut, wondering just how much this will hurt. He felt something wet and cold spray mist across his body, causing his wounds to sting a little. The mist sprayed once, then twice, then twice more on his backside, the mist made his wounds sting a little, but it wasn’t painful. “There you go, all done!” Gretchen said cheerfully. Wait… that’s… that’s it? Kubfu opened his eyes and looked at her confusingly, that’s all? Gretchen grabbed a stuffed Buneary plushie, heading over to Kubfu. “Mama and Daddy will be home soon, I don’t know if they’ll allow me to keep you, but they don’t have to know,” Gretchen winked. Kubfu was a little confused, but he liked this human. He gave a smile back, “Raa!” he squeaked.

***

    Kubfu’s wounds have fully healed now, yet he still stayed. It turns out, Gretchen’s parents didn’t get home until late at night, they both worked full time jobs just to make ends meet. They left her notes on the fridge and left a lot of her favorite meals for her to heat up. But Gretchen didn’t seem to mind, especially now since she has a friend to play with. When her parents were home, it just meant that Kubfu would have to stay in Gretchen’s room until the early morning when they left for work.

    Today Kubfu and Gretchen, along with Bun-Bun (What Gretchen named her Buneary plush) were watching a bit of TV, and frankly, Kubfu’s mind was blown! There was this human man on the screen with a Charizard, fighting this other human man with a Duraludon. The man’s name was apparently Leon, and the man he was fighting was Raihan, they were in a Pokémon battle for this “Championship”, and they were down to one Pokémon each. The Charizard looked tired and beaten up, the same could be said about the opposing Duraludon. But as if the battle couldn’t get any more heated, both trainers returned their Pokémon to their pokéballs. Kubfu was confused at first, the battle wasn’t over yet, what were they doing?

    “OH! OH! Look! Look! Their about to do it! Dynamax time baby!” Gretchen said excitedly with stars in her eyes. Kubfu watched in wonderment as the pokéballs grew to the size of watermelons before his very eyes and when they threw the pokéballs behind them, the Pokémon not only looked different from before, but they were almost bigger than the stadium they were in! Kubfu’s eyes widened with wonder and amazement. How was that possible?! Fire and dragon aura filled the stadium and before he knew it, the Duraludon was defeated, and shrunk back to normal size before being returned to it’s pokéball.

    Gretchen soon grabbed Kubfu and started shaking him back and forth. “Did you see that?! Yet another victory! The champion keeps his title once again! Those two have been at each other for years! I can’t wait to see what will happen this season with all the new challengers! Maybe this will be the year where a challenger will get to dethrone the champion! Oh! I wish I was old enough to be the one to fight Leon!”

    Kubfu started feeling sick from how much she was shaking him, but he understood her excitement. Kubfu looked back to the screen, the crowd seemed to be cheering, the Charizard had shrunk back down, Leon was stroking him and seemed to be praising his partner. Kubfu had only seen toxic and even abusive relationships between trainers and their Pokémon, so to see someone care so much about them was a bit surprising to him. It’s almost like how Gretchen and I are, Kubfu thought. He paused at the thought… he never thought of himself as a tamed Pokémon. If he was going to be honest, he only ever thought about getting stronger, evolving, and staying wild forever. But being with Gretchen and watching the Pokémon and their trainers on the television… he glanced at Gretchen, she was wearing her favorite Milotic t-shirt with a navy-blue skirt. Maybe… I mean, she already takes care of him, and if he was honest, he probably trusts her more than he's ever trusted any other Pokémon.

    No, what was he thinking? But she’s not like other humans, if anything she was just a lonely little girl. No friends, no family to make time for her, it was just her and Bun-Bun against the world. But the duo had become a trio with Kubfu around.

   Kubfu’s attention was pulled back to the TV, Leon was shown doing some kind of pose, and before Kubfu could question what it was, Gretchen bounced up and down excitedly as she mimicked the champion’s moves. “It’s called the Charizard pose! It’s super iconic!” She spoke. The Charizard pose? Well, it looked fun! “Ra” Kubfu smiled. He mimicked along with her. “Hehe!” Gretchen giggled.

    Kubfu giggled, this really was a perfect moment. Maybe living with a human wouldn’t be so bad, after all; he’s never been able to get three meals a day with all the nutrients, he’s never had a warm soft bed, he’s never had someone tend to his wounds, he’s never had someone love him. He looked at the white pokéball in her hair once more… well… if Gretchen asks him… he won’t deny her. He might even be her first partner if she wants.

   As the commercials came on, the girl became silent. “Hey, Kubfu,” Gretchen said, “thanks. Thank you for being my best friend. I don’t really have many friends, and when I do, they always want something from me, or just use me as a dumping ground for their issues and they don’t really do the same for me.” She looked at Kubfu and picked him up, she held him high above, smiling. “Kubfu, I really want to help you get stronger, I want to go on adventures with you, I want you to become my first ever Pokémon partner, would you like that?” Kubfu thought for a moment that she could read his mind. Kubfu just simply stared at the girl who had saved his life just a month before. He didn’t know how to let her know just how much he wanted that, then he had an idea. “Raa!” He exclaimed, as he did, he did the same Charizard pose he saw the TV.

    Gretchen’s face lit up at the pose. “I knew it! You want to be with me too! Alright! Kubfu, I promise you that I’ll be with you and always take care of you forever,” she promised him, “let’s go to the championship together!” Sounded like a plan to him!

***

    Kubfu awoken to the smell of fresh curry floating through the apartment, surely that wasn’t Gloria’s cooking. Sure, her cooking was edible, but it wasn’t the greatest either. Kubfu rubbed his eyes as he looked down to see that Bun-Bun wasn’t with him. “Ra!” He cried. Where was Bun-Bun? Why wasn’t Bun-Bun here with him? She was here when he fell asleep!

    Nessa sat down in one of Gloria’s t-shirts. She decided to sleepover for the night, the police wanted to question her and Raihan about the bodies for the investigation. But if this would help solve the mystery of little Gretchen... She looked to see Gloria cooking bone and coconut curry while looking at the texts Bede had sent her. Nessa assumed that they were texts with recipes or cooking tips. Nessa will admit that she was a little scared to try Gloria’s cooking with how her Pokémon acted to it. Raihan was currently using Gloria’s shower, and Nessa could tell that he was just as messed up as she was from what they saw earlier that day. Nessa found a steaming hot coconut mixed with bone curry placed in front of her, it looked good. Nessa picked up a spoon. Looks okay, she thought, as she gave it a sniff. Smells okay. She took a bite. Tastes magnificent!

    Nessa suddenly chowed down, ever since Bede started teaching Gloria and Hop to cook, they have both improved greatly. Nessa looked at her Pokémon, she gave them a thumbs up, its safe to eat this time! That was all they needed to start eating. Nessa and Gloria have not really spoken a word since they all suspected Kubfu knew something about Gretchen. “Hey,” Raihan called, he came out of the hallway in boxers and no shirt, he was drying his hair with a towel.

“Raihan,” Nessa whispered, her face flushing bright pink, “Put some clothes on! We are not at home!” Raihan seemed to remember and grabbed his t-shirt.

"Eh, it’s okay,” Gloria said, “Victor tends to do that, even before he started to date Marnie, it used to drive Mom insane. And I had to share a room with that guy my whole life!” Nessa and Raihan chuckled.

    Raihan still put a shirt on anyway. Flamey seemed to be helping Gloria with the dishes, which was cute. “I didn’t know Pokémon could wash their own dishes,” Nessa smiled.

“They don’t usually, but Flamey has been a neat freak since he was a little Scorbunny, he actually learned from watching me and then tried to mimic me, guess he got fed up with my messy habits.”

    Nessa smiled, almost enough to forget about the horrific sight they saw earlier… almost… Nessa looked to the living room, not able to see Kubfu’s bed from here, but she could only assume that the Pokémon was still asleep. Gloria had taken the plushy from him while he slept, according to her; he was holding on to it tightly even while he slept. Nessa wonders if he met Gretchen while she was alive, or if he had watched her die… it would be a traumatic event for anyone. Nessa hopes Kubfu would understand, that plushy was evidence, the police said they would be here tomorrow morning to pick it up. Which was fine by Nessa, if she was going to be honest, she did not want to spend another second looking at that thing.

    Raihan sat next to Nessa, eating his coconut bone curry. Raihan never understood why everyone made such a big deal out of Gloria’s cooking, it didn’t taste at all bad to him. Nessa said that he would learn someday. Once the dishes were finished, Gloria finally dished up her own plate and sat down. “Thanks for the food, Glory,” Raihan said.

“It’s no trouble whatsoever,” Gloria responded.

    “Raa! Ra! Ra!” Kubfu squeaked loudly. Before anyone could look in his direction, the teddy bear Pokémon had hopped up on the table, not caring that there were plates below his feet. “Ah! Huh!?” The trio exclaimed. “Kubfu!” Gloria scolded. Kubfu paid his trainer no mind. Kubfu looked frantically around, she had to be around here somewhere! Where was she!? Kubfu’s breathe quickened, but no one seemed to notice. Only the Pokémon eating could make out what he was saying and panicking about. “Bun-Bun! Where’s Bun-Bun!?” Kubfu shouted in his Pokémon cry.

   “Cinder!” Cinderace got up and dashed to the laundry room. Axel tried to get Kubfu off the table but before he could, Kubfu hopped down and onto Tyr’s belly. Tyr, Gloria’s Tyranitar, looked at the tiny Pokémon with immense concern, this wasn’t like the Pokémon at all! “Kubfu! Come here!” Gloria stood up, Kubfu was bouncing everywhere with curry on his paws, he was making a giant mess! What was up with him?! Kubfu continued running around the apartment, looking around frantically.

    “Ra! Ra! Ra!” The tiny Pokémon continued to cry. “Kubfu! Stop! Come here now!” Gloria tried reaching for him. “RAA!!!” Kubfu shouted, his paws turned ablaze as he furiously glared at Gloria. Only when Gloria stepped back in fear did Kubfu come to his senses and realized that he almost used fire punch on his own trainer! Kubfu looked around, his teammates looking at him in concern and disbelief. Kubfu hiccupped and started to break down, he cried his little heart out.

    “Kubfu…” Gloria said softly, she cautiously reached out for him, and pulled him into a warm embrace. Kubfu sobbed his Pokémon cry futilely apologized over and over to his trainer. “Shh~ it’s okay, it’s okay,” Gloria whispered. “G- Gloria,” Nessa said softly, “has he- has he ever tried to do that before?” Gloria simply shook her head as she continued to comfort the crying Pokémon in her arms.

    What was Kubfu thinking?! He almost hurt his trainer, his friend! It was bad enough that he had that reminder that he failed once at protecting his last friend, but he almost directly failed once again! Kubfu just kept sobbing in his trainer’s arms, it wasn’t until Flamey made his presence known once again that he looked up from Gloria’s chest. Cinderace was holding Bun-Bun in his paws, looking overly concerned for his teammate. Kubfu’s eyes widened. There she was! Kubfu hopped out of Gloria’s arms and ran to Cinderace as he set Bun-Bun down, Kubfu hugged the toy with all his might, sobbing more than he was while he was in Gloria’s arms, it that were possible.

    Gloria, Nessa, Raihan, and their Pokémon could only look on as the Pokémon had found what he was searching for so frantically. Flamey kneeled and stroked the top of the sobbing Pokémon as he was reminded of that wretched day.

***

    They almost got him! If Kubfu hadn’t fought his way out of the pokéball, he would have been captured by the same people that had taken him away from his home in the first place! Kubfu wanted to go back to the garden! He dashed through the trees of Wyndon Park, he was just here with Gretchen having a picnic. “Oh, hey there you are Kubfu,” Gretchen said as she saw him fall out of the bushes. Gretchen’s smile faded however when she saw how scarred Kubfu was. “What’s wrong?” She asked concerned. Kubfu ran to her and hugged her tightly.

    Gretchen heard something, she looked at the crate she had brought for them to use as a picnic basket. Gretchen held Kubfu, wondering what had scarred him so bad. Gretchen gasped as she heard growling from the trees, as a Houndoom emerged from the bushes with a man wearing a creepy grin behind him. What the heck was a Houndoom doing in the Galar region? They didn’t come here, not unless someone had brought them from another region. Gretchen grabbed the crate and put Kubfu inside as she stood up.

    Kubfu peeked out of the crate, looking at the man that had tried to capture him. “Well, hello there little missy, ~” the man said, as if trying to start a pleasant conversation. Gretchen didn’t respond, she continued to eye him wearily. “What are you doing here? In a park? All alone?” The man bent over to meet Gretchen’s Hight. Gretchen took a step back, trying to send him her best glare. “I’m… I’m not alone, and I’m not supposed to talk to strangers,” she said. The man stood up straight, as the Houndoom stepped closer, growling louder. “Down boy,” the man told him, “it looks to me like your alone,”

    Gretchen glanced down at Kubfu. “I’m here with my partner Pokémon,” she said convincingly. The man threw his head back and laughed. “Well, I’m going to need your little partner Pokémon,” he said. Gretchen looked at him in disbelief. “Why should I even think about giving Kubfu to you?!” She shouted, “What do you want with him?!”

    The man’s smile faltered. “Just make this quick missy and give him to us,” he growled. “No! Never! Go away!” Gretchen said, as she dashed away. The Houndoom took this as his cue and chased after the little girl.

    Gretchen cradled the crate and ran as fast as her little legs could carry her. She didn’t even know how fast Houndooms could run or sprint, but she knew that she would never let them take Kubfu. Kubfu peaked out of the crate just enough to see where Gretchen was running to. Why was she heading to the bridge? That was still under construction. When they were on the bridge, Gretchen screamed as the Houndoom bit her sky-blue summer dress, she tripped and fell as she dropped the crate. Kubfu braced himself for the fall as he was launched out of the crate. “Oh finally,” the man from before said as he marched over to Kubfu. “Ra!” Kubfu squealed in fear, hiding in the crate once more. “This was starting to become tedious,” he said picking up the crate with the terrified Pokémon inside.

    Gretchen gasped as she saw the bad man pick up the crate with her friend inside. Gretchen had to think fast, she looked over to the side of the bridge, maybe she could push him over? Gretchen got up and sprinted towards the man. “Let. Him. GO!” She yelled pushing the man to the side, causing him to lose his balance, he dropped the crate containing Kubfu over the side and into the water! Kubfu screamed as his crate splashed into the water. “Kubfu!” Gretchen cried. That wasn't the plan at all!

    Gretchen was grabbed by her neck and lifted off the ground, she couldn’t breathe. “You little shit!” The man snarled, “I can’t go back empty handed, my best bet is if the team will pick him up at the end of the river!” He paused and glanced over to the side and looked back to Gretchen. “I wanted to be nice little missy; I really did… but you brought this on yourself.” As he said that, he marched over to the side of the bridge and hurled Gretchen over the side. Kubfu could do nothing but watch as his best friend plummeted into the water with a loud splash! “Wait! -” Gretchen screamed, her head sinking under the water as she flailed her arms frantically, “help! Please! I- I can’t swim!” Kubfu cried as the currents sent him further and further down the lake and towards the rapids, hearing Gretchen’s cries and pleas for someone to help her, praying to Arceus to save her. It wasn’t until Kubfu was sent down the rapids that he couldn’t hear her cries or begs anymore. As his crate floated down the rapids, he could only pray to Arceus that he would save his partner.

    Kubfu somehow fell asleep in that crate, waiting for it to hit land. Although, it wasn’t until one morning he found someone opening his crate on the beach. He found a little boy with blonde hair, blue earphones, and a pink sweater opening it. His name was Hyde, he was with his father, Mustard, who took him in and trained him. But nothing could stop him from thinking about Gretchen. He didn’t think he would ever meet another human like Mustard or Gretchen. That was until a trainer named Gloria came to Mustard’s dojo and took him away from the island. He joined her team, got stronger, and was treated like family. It almost felt like he was with Gretchen once again.

    Kubfu never gave up hope that he would see Gretchen again, there were plenty of people at the park that day, surely someone heard her cries and came to help. Kubfu looked at the crowds during his battles, thinking he would see her cheering on, or she was watching the matches from home on the TV! Watching him and cheering him on just like she would do while watching Leon’s matches. When Kubfu and his teammates defeated the undefeatable champion Leon, he could only imagine Gretchen when he sees her again. He did it! He defeated Leon! Even though that was something he and Gretchen promised to do together, he could only imagine how proud she must be for him.

    Kubfu had so much hope that the day would come where he would see her again… but any and all hope he had was shot down and terminated the second he saw Bun-Bun. Bun-Bun was covered with moss and debris. Gretchen would never ever go anywhere without Bun-Bun, she carried her around everywhere. So, the fact that Bun-Bun was here… and not at the house, in the same spot that they had their picnic together all those months ago… Gretchen was… she was…………… dead…

    Which was why Kubfu didn’t want to let go; he spent all this time thinking that she was safe and at the house, when really, no one had come to save her, no one had heard her cries, no one had found her body, no one knew the truth about what had happened to Gretchen Moya. Not even her parents must know that their little girl will never return home.

***

    So, here he was now, hugging Bun-Bun as tightly as he could, like how he wishes he could’ve held Gretchen instead. He didn’t want to let go… not ever again. Bun-Bun was all he had left of Gretchen, he didn’t care if her parents wanted it back, they were never even there! He didn’t care what the human authorities would do if he didn’t give them Bun-Bun. He didn’t want to let go… not ever again.

Okay I promise this is going to come out very soon

*sniff* *sniff*

Kubfu remembered someone dear to him that day… someone who had tried to protect him and keep him safe, someone who had saved him all those months ago… but he was too weak when it came to giving her same protection that she had given him.

His trainer and her friends know that he knows something they don’t know what… How does Kubfu know this violent apparition? What is his past? How did someone so loving, caring, and protective become this terrifying thing?

Stay Tuned for Pokemon Ghost Story Part 3!

I can’t fricking believe that it took me so long to get motivated and inspired to finish up my Pokémon ghost story. I mean the whole reason I even started it was when I was wanting to read a scary story involving Pokémon, especially with the amount of ghosts you encounter in the video games. I mean, in my opinion the options for ghost stories in the Pokémon world are endless! Yet I have not seen one single story for it! So I just said, “fuck it! I’ll do it myself!” And here we are! But after meeting someone who claimed to have been a fan of my stories irl, I decided to give them what they wanted with the story, so I’ll finish up chapter 3 and hopefully you guys like it!

I guess the reason was, I wasn’t okay mentally and that caused me to abandon a lot of projects, but I don’t want Gretchen to be one of those, so I’m going to finish up. Hope you all have a good day!

*sniff* *sniff*

Kubfu remembered someone dear to him that day… someone who had tried to protect him and keep him safe, someone who had saved him all those months ago… but he was too weak when it came to giving her same protection that she had given him.

His trainer and her friends know that he knows something they don’t know what… How does Kubfu know this violent apparition? What is his past? How did someone so loving, caring, and protective become this terrifying thing?

Stay Tuned for Pokemon Ghost Story Part 3!

I feel like the people in my Pokémon ghost story are out of character. This was a hard one for me to write because I personally have never been in a relationship before so romance has always been super hard for me to write. Hope you guys enjoyed it anyways

Pokémon Ghost Story Part 2

Nessa stepped out of the bathroom stall, and looked in the mirror. She was in a fancy silky pale blue kimono, with cyan seaweed and coral, along with some blue sand dollars. Nessa was in one of the Wyndon park’s public bathrooms, getting ready for another shoot, this time to be on the posters for the upcoming annual Pokémon festival. Nessa felt herself smile, despite her uneasy feeling. She looked very pretty.

Nessa jumped as yet another light flickers above her, ever since the Gala, and since she saw the missing poster; Nessa jumped at almost every little thing every time she’s in Wyndon. She felt her pulse going down as the rational part of her mind calmed her down. There was a knock on the door outside. “Babe!” Raihan's voice called through the door, “you alright?” Nessa put her traditional festival clogs on as she answered. “Yeah! Everything’s fine! Tell them I’ll be out in a second!” Nessa remembered that day, in the Wyndon Stadium locker rooms.

***

“Ness, you do realize how this sounds right?” Raihan said to his girlfriend. “Yes! Yes! I know, you probably think there’s something wrong with me but-“

“Babe, this is why I told you I should’ve been the one driving-“

“You, were far too gone to be driving! Or should I tell you about all of the… things you said you wanted to do when we got home?” Nessa muttered, her cheeks flushing quite a bit, remembering the things Raihan said that made her body become hot. Arceus damn! There’s that shit-eating grin of his again.

“Hmm… I don’t know, maybe you could-“

“Or when you ended up breaking a few of the tables with Piers and almost got us thrown out… and according to the papers you also tried to bench-press the chocolate fountain, while I was in the bathroom.” Raihan immediately shut his mouth after that. Nessa continued, “And apparently had a shouting match with a mop and a broom about-“

“Okay, yeah, we don’t need to talk about that, I see your point. But Ness,” Raihan said, his face becoming serious again, “a little ghost girl, without any eyes? And more importantly, you almost crashed! You could’ve gotten hurt, or worse; Killed!”

“That’s exactly why I’m still shaken up from that, but Raihan, please! I need you to trust me when I say; I saw a ghost!” Nessa persisted. Raihan crossed his arms and looked at Nessa, like he wanted to believe her, but at the same time; the rational part of his mind was telling him the same thing it told Nessa. “I’m not crazy, Raihan!” Nessa exclaimed. “I never said you were,” Raihan said, “babe, I believe you, I believe what you saw, but you also have to take into consideration about what could’ve actually happened. Like the ice on the road and the frost on your window, could’ve just been some ice type Pokémon, there’s a whole bunch of them just outside of Wyndon,” he paused, “and then there’s the alcohol, it could’ve been messing with your mind and make you see things.”

Nessa had enough of hearing that, whether she was the one telling herself in her mind or from another person. She grabbed Raihan by the arm and marched over to the locker’s bulletin board, there was yet another one of those missing posters, just like the one outside. “I’ve been telling myself that for the last week and a half, Raihan. But my rationality was thrown out the window when I saw this,” Nessa pointed to the poster of Gretchen, “That’s her… that’s the little girl I saw on the side of the road, and in my car… I thought that she was just a hallucination as well, but when I saw this out in the front of the stadium… well this is just proof.” Raihan looked at Nessa, then at the poster, then back to her. “And,” Nessa jumped in, just as Raihan opened his mouth to speak, “I wouldn’t have hallucinated her, because this is the first time that I’ve seen her, with her eyes and not as pale as she was that night.”

There was a long silence… and then Nessa started to get worried. Remembering her last relationship, whenever she lost her last boyfriend after an argument. He wasn’t that good of a guy, Nessa knows that now, but it still kind of hurt whenever he dumped her. There were some rumors being spread about Nessa being in a romantic relationship with one of the male photographers from one of her shoots, her last boyfriend freaked out about it and accused her of cheating on him, even when Nessa only told the truth by saying there was nothing going on between them, he was set on calling her a liar.

Nessa’s worry clouds her brain, until she wonders. What if I lose Raihan over this? Nessa felt a warm hand clasp hers. She looked up at Raihan. “Babe, I’m not one for believing in ghosts…” he said, “but I do believe you. Your my girlfriend, I don’t think you would have any reason to make up something like this. I wanted to know what was going on with you and now I do, so, don’t worry… I don’t think you’re crazy.”

***

Nessa smiled small at the memory, glad that her worries were for nothing. Speaking of Gretchen… that’s kind of the reason Raihan was here today at the shoot. Even after their talk, Raihan could still notice that Nessa was avoiding Wyndon like the plague, so he offered to close down his gym for the day and be with Nessa for her shoot. “This way so the ghosts don’t get you!” He said outside, draping his arm over her shoulders giving her a half hug. It’s nice that Raihan was here, even if you can’t do anything about ghosts, (as far as Nessa knew) she felt safer knowing Raihan was there for her.

Nessa came out of the bathroom, as the lead photographer, ushered her over to her make-up artist. It was a busy day, people and Pokémon alike were running around, trying to get ready for the shoot, and looking for wild Pokémon to take part in the shoot. Raihan sat over near the snacks for the employees, feeding his Goodra as he watched his girlfriend from afar. “Alright! Everyone get in position! We’re starting now!” The lead photographer shouted.

***

The day went by fair, the shoot was going well, and no little ghost girl in sight. Nessa posed with some of the studios Pokémon, like the editor’s cute little Mudkip, the Make-up artist’s Surskit, and even the studio’s Inteleon. Nessa could not stop laughing when Raihan’s Goodra decided to steal the spotlight and photobomb Nessa with a wild Dewpider. “Ha! Ha!” Raihan laughed, “he’s always liked you. Guess you’ve been held back long enough, huh buddy?”

“Goo!” Goodra exclaimed as he hugged Nessa. The couple, along with most of the staff, laughed as the Pokémon couldn’t help but be affectionate. Raihan was forced to return Goodra to his Pokéball- after the photographers got a few more shots of him with Nessa, of course- to avoid any more interruptions with the shoot.

Lunch rolled around, finally. Nessa and Raihan took a walk near the docks. “You look super-hot in that kimono you know,” Raihan complimented, wrapping his arm around her. “Thanks…… what do you want?” Nessa said, knowing Raihan, this may lead to something… “What? I can’t compliment my girlfriend?” Raihan said, as he trailed his hand down lower to her ass, all the while wearing that dumb, smug, smirk that Nessa still can’t decide if she loves or hates. “I know you Raihan, and if you try anything while we are at this shoot, I swear to Arceus!” Nessa pointed at him, as Raihan held his hands up and off of her ass. “Alright jeez!” He said, laughing.

“Ugh! Just keep it in your pants, is it really that hard?” Nessa asked, rolling her eyes.

“I think you know the answer to that,” Raihan said, as he grabs her from behind.

Nessa felt her face flush as Raihan’s lips kissed her neck, trailing up to her jaw. “Raihan!” Nessa swore as she pushed him off, ignoring the part of her that wanted him to continue. Arceus! He drives me crazy! Nessa was about to remind Raihan that they were still at a photoshoot and she didn’t want any marks to draw people’s attention, when she felt the bottom of her kimono being tugged.

Nessa looked down to her feet to see a little Marill. Oh hey! Isn’t this the one from the last time I was here? “Marill!” The Marill cried in delight from getting her attention. “Hey! I remember you!” Nessa said, as she bent down to scoop the little ball up. The Marill pressed itself against her upper chest and snuggled into her, purring in delight. “Hahaha!” Raihan laughed, “water-types really do adore you, don’t they?” Nessa looked up from the little Marill that was making itself comfy in her arms, and smiled.

“Nessa?!” They heard the photographers call. “Well, sounds like it’s time to get back to work,” Nessa stated. She looked down to the Marill in her arms, wondering if this is going to be a repeat of last time; where after Nessa picked the little guy up, he didn’t want to let go of her and ended up clinging to her leg until it got hungry enough to go look for food.

Nessa chuckled at the thought, and tried to put him down. But all of the sudden, Marill started to shout it’s Pokémon cry, and flailed it’s little arms as it wore a panicked expression on its face. “What the-?” Raihan stared at the panicked Pokémon. “Huh? What is it? What’s wrong?” Nessa asked them. What the Frostless? We were having a good time just a moment ago and now he’s acting like he just remembered something important. The Pokémon jumped out of Nessa’s arms and onto the dock, tugging at the bottom of her kimono, before scurrying to land and stopping just as its feet hit the dirt. “Marill! Mar! Rill! Rill!” Marill cried as it hopped up and down.

Nessa inched forward, holding up the bottom of her Kimono slightly so she didn’t trip. Once Nessa reached the end of the dock, the little ball scurried further, stopping and turning around to jump up and down, shouting it’s Pokémon cry once more at the couple. Does it… does it want us to follow? Nessa exchanged a confused and slightly worried glance with Raihan, both thinking the same thing.

All of the sudden, there was a blast of fire coming from somewhere in the trees! Nessa and Raihan jumped back as the explosion subsided. The Marill shouted more frantic, “Rill! Rill! Rill!” as it scurried towards the location of the explosion. Without a word, Raihan ran forward, scooping the little Marill up as he headed off towards the explosion. “Raihan!” Nessa shouted, worried, “wait!” She ran after her boyfriend and got her pokéballs ready. Wondering how what was supposed to be a day of photoshoots, ended up like this.

***

When Nessa arrived at the scene, the first thing to greet her was no one other than the Galar champion herself, with her Cinderace, Flamey, fighting some stranger with a red R on his chest. Now I get it. That explosion must’ve been Flamey’s Pyro Ball.

“Flamey! Watch out!” Glory cried out to her partner. Flamey didn’t get the message in time as he was hit with the R stranger’s Weezing’s toxic sludge. “Scor!” The rabbit Pokémon cried out in pain.

“Flamey!” Glory cried to her partner in concern. Flamey looked at Glory and gave her a reassuring smile.

“C-Cinder…” Flamey winced, poisoned from the move, but still able to fight.

“Ah, thank Arceus,” she sighed in relief.

“Hey!” Raihan shouted, making both his and Nessa’s presence known. The battle paused as both teams looked at the pair. “What is going on? Gloria? Who is this guy?” Raihan asked, keeping his eyes on the stranger. “That guy took a girl’s purse,” Gloria stated, pointing at her opponent, “but unlike most crooks, he left the money alone, but when we returned it to the kid, her Pokémon inside were gone.”

Nessa looked to the man in the R. His sleek turquoise hair shined in the sun as he growled. Nessa felt rage boiling inside of her, if there was one thing she hated in this world; it was Pokémon thieves! Nessa got the pokéball containing Drednaw inside as she stepped forward, but Gloria held her hand out, stopping her. “No need,” Gloria said, returning Flamey to his pokéball and took another out. “Hattie let’s go!” Gloria’s Hatterene emerged from her pokéball, looking a bit grumpy, like she was just woken up from a nap. “Hattie use Psychic!” Gloria ordered. Hattie did as instruct, as she was muttering something in her Pokémon cry. If anyone could speak Pokémon, they could take a swing at guessing what Hattie says most of the time after meeting Gloria’s sassy Pokémon, she was probably saying something like, “what a pain,” or “bringing me out only for battle.” The opposing Weezing fainted with the final blow.

The R stranger returned his Weezing as he quickly turned around and attempted to make a run for it. Oh no you don’t!Nessa thought, as she threw her pokéball to land in front of the stranger. Out came Drednaw blocking his path. “Drednaw don’t let him through!” Nessa ordered. Drednaw growled as the R stranger backed away from it, which, Nessa doesn’t blame him.

Once Nessa slipped and almost went into the lake a while back, which wouldn’t have been a big deal, she could swim incredibly well. But from what Nessa assumed was on instinct, Drednaw bit her arm to hold her up and it pierced right through the flesh, tissue, and crunched the bone to where Nessa went almost two months and a half for it to repair itself. And that was after the doctors had performed surgery to take the shattered bone shards out of her arm.

“Duraludon!” Raihan called, throwing a pokéball behind the thief, as Raihan’s partner emerged. Gloria stepped forward with a determined expression on her face. She was about a foot away from the stranger, when she grasped the front of his shirt and pulled him down to her face. “Give. Them. Back.” She growled, holding out the hand that wasn’t occupied. With a groan, the thief took three pokéball out-with one being a heal ball- and placed it in the champion’s hand.

“Marill!” Marill cried out, reminding everyone of its presence.

“What?” Raihan asked it.

The Marill started repeating it’s Pokémon cry out all the while glaring at the thief. Gloria looked back to him, then to the Marill, then back to him once more. “You didn’t just steal these did you?” Gloria asked him, holding up the stolen pokéballs in her hands. The thief didn’t say anything. To help, Raihan’s Duraludon gave a low growl as it towered over the stranger. “Yeah… good luck getting anything out of me… I’m not gonna sell them out,” he said, his voice being raspy and unsettling. “Them?” Nessa questioned, “there’s more of you?” The thug stayed quiet, while he looked towards Nessa’s direction and smiled, creepily. “Hey! She asked you a question!” Raihan voiced up. Still no response, but he didn’t stop smiling at her, knowing something she didn’t. Are we really going to have to call everyone over here?

***

The sun was setting as the police shoved the thief into the back of the police car as his Herdier partner barked at him. “Well, someday this turned out to be, huh?” Raihan said, still holding the Marill. Marill was looking around aimlessly and looking gloomy. Nessa had changed out of her kimono and into a sunny tank top and a denim skirt. The other Gym leaders had arrived to check the place out and try to find the “others” this thief was talking about.

“Who was that guy anyways?” Nessa asked Raihan. He tore his attention away from the sad little Pokémon in his hands. “You don’t know?” Raihan questioned, Nessa shrugged, “that R on his shirt was a dead giveaway… that guy was a part of Team Rocket…” Nessa felt worry creep its way up her body. Those guys steal Pokémon… and are known for their crazy experiments as well… if those guys were here…

“Miss Nessa? Mr. Raihan?” A small voice called, snapping her out of her thoughts. Nessa looked up to see a women and a little girl who seemed to be in junior high holding a small Skitty in her arms, a Rookidee perched on her head, and floating by her side was a Flabébé on a red flower. “Yes?” Nessa acknowledged. The little girl held her Skitty closer to her chest as Nessa could hear it purr louder. “The champion told me you two helped get my Pokémon back, and I just wanted to say…” Nessa could see tears welling up in the child’s eyes. “Thank you so much! I was so scarred I was never going to see them again!” She smiled at them as Flabébé floated closer to her trainer, attempting to comfort her. Nessa smiled back, “Your welcome, they’re alright, right?” She held a hand out to the Skitty as it pawed lazily at the hand. The little girl nodded affirmingly. Raihan smiled as he patted her head, before pulling away when the Rookidee attempted to peck at his hand. The mother of the child smiled and nodded at them mouthing the simple words, “thank you”.

“AAAAAAHH!!!”

The whole park seemed to go silent at the sound of the bloodcurdling scream that echoed in the air. Nessa quickly scanned around, counting her staff members and the gym leaders around her, breathing a sigh of relief when there was no one she knew missing. The Skitty in the little girl’s arms began looking in a certain part of the trees and begun to hiss at that certain spot. The Rookidee held its wings out, as if it were to sense something was about to come out and he would have to take care of it. The girl’s Flabébé only floated closer to its trainer, attempting to hide behind her, as it- along with its flower- started trembling. “Mom,” the little girl looked up at her mother, who held her close, “w-what was that?”

There was a long silence, nothing but police attempting to create a game plan of what to do, and who’s scream that was. “Kubfu!” Gloria called after the little, karate teddy bear. “Rill! Rill! Rill! Mari! Marill!” Marill wrestled out of Raihan’s grasp and headed off with the Gloria’s Kubfu… in the direction of the scream. “Marill! Wait!” Nessa called out, giving chase and running after the two Pokémon. “Ness! Babe!” Raihan exclaimed, getting up and following her.

Nessa found it pretty difficult to follow two things so small. It was actually pretty amusing in a way, she’s pretty sure that Kubfu even stopped to pick the Marill up when he felt like he was going too slow. Nessa stumbled over a stump or two as wind blew her hair into her face. Nessa wasn’t even sure where she was going anymore, just as so long as she didn’t lose the two. “Nessa!” She heard Gloria’s voice call from behind. “Ness wait up!” Raihan called after his girlfriend.

Nessa could see the lake as she could see they were running out of forests to run through. Nessa saw the two stop, and so, she stopped. Nessa greedily gulped as much air as she could into her lungs, before looking up… only to wish that she hadn’t…

On the ground near the water, was two bodies… dead bodies… one was male, the other was female. They had the same turquoise hair as the man they had just arrested, wearing the same clothing as well… their mouths were split opened and the male was missing his lower jaw. The female’s body had cuts and scrapes and scratches all over her body, with her right arm all mangled and twisted. The male’s neck was twisted almost all the way around, with a hole through his chest where the R should have been on his jacket.

Their pokéballs were laying there, like whoever had committed this crime had ransacked them after they died. The pokéball were just lying there on the ground untouched, the way they were arranged almost made it seem like it was left like some kind of gift… some extremely fucked up gift.

Nessa couldn’t breathe… she felt her breathe stop, despite the fact that she still didn’t have enough air in her lungs from sprinting for as long as she has. The smell was so putrid, Nessa covered her mouth to prevent herself from vomiting up whatever was in her stomach. Her eyes watered at the stench.

She looked down at the two Pokémon who were frozen in their tracks, staring at the gruesome corpses in front of them. Marill hid behind Kubfu, whimpering and trembling in fear, while Kubfu tried to act tough and brave, but Nessa could see how he quivered. “Hrk!” Nessa appalled at both the sight and smell. The two Pokémon looked back, noticing she was there for the first time. And almost immediately, both ran to hug her legs, and hide their faces away from the two corpses.

Nessa suddenly heard short breaths behind her. She turned around only to see her boyfriend and the young champion wearing a similar horrified expression that she was wearing. Nessa looked back to the murder scene, just as another chilly wind blew in her face, spreading the horrible smell.

“Raa!” Kubfu squeaked. Nessa looked down as she saw the small Teddy Bear leave her ankle and ran over to far right of the two dead bodies. Nessa felt her heart stop, as she felt more tears welling up in her eyes from fear. There, under a tree with branches that hung low enough for you to climb on and hang over the water… was a well-loved Buneary plushy. Except it was far more worn than it was when Gretchen had it in her arms that night. This plushy looked to be out here for what looked like months. Nessa thinks she could even see moss growing on some parts of the doll. Kubfu stared for a long time at the doll. “Ra… Raa…” he cried softly, as if he was looking at someone that was once dear to him, lifeless. Kubfu suddenly embraced the doll hugging it tightly, obviously not planning on letting go of it.

As the sun set; Nessa looked back looked out to the lake in front of her, normally it would calm her down, but this time it only spread more fear. Especially since she knew who was responsible for this. Nessa felt her heart pulse as she saw who was above the water… far out in the lake… was Gretchen Moya… with the same brown boots, and sky blue summer dress, with a Buneary plushy that looked to be in better condition than the one that Kubfu was hugging under the tree… floating above the water. Gretchen looked at Nessa for a long while. Nessa didn’t even breathe as the child’s gaze was fixed on her. And then… from where Nessa could see… the child waved at her, with a smile almost as creepy as the man from earlier gave her. Then with a gust of wind, Gretchen vanished into thin air.

“… Gretchen,” Nessa whispered, “what’ve you done?”

Part 3????

Sneak peek of part 2???

Nessa is at another shoot and getting ready in one of the park’s public bathrooms. She’s supposed to be modeling as advertisement for the upcoming pokemon festival… and the location happens to be near her almost crash scene… will this shoot go off without incident? Or will some unwanted guests ruin Nessa’s day?

Pokémon Ghost Story

Nessa sat her glass of champagne down, and glanced over to the new champion. It looked like Gloria was trying to keep a fight between Bede and Hop from breaking out… again. Nessa found herself smiling, wondering if those two will ever be on good terms with each other, probably never. Although… despite the fact that Bede and Hop don’t get along, they both tend to come to a truce when it comes to Gloria. Hop’s reason was just for typical childhood best friend protection, but Bede’s… well, it was almost like watching a hallmark movie in person.

Opal was sitting at the same table as Bede, watching with the same amused look. He is doing far better though, Nessa thought, ever since Opal took him under her wing, and after that man was put away, he seems so much happier now. Nessa personally didn’t know Bede too well… but even during their short encounter during the gym challenge, she could tell there was some kind of inner demons he was dealing with. It was bugging her for quite some time, and now she’s just grateful that Bede has finally found someone he could consider family.

Bede flinched and looked away as a blush flushed across his face when Gloria cutely hugged him. Nessa’s grin grew wider at the sight. She totally ships them.

“Hey Nessie!~” Of course… she barely had any room to talk when it came to romance. Raihan snuck yet another selfie with his girlfriend. “Raihan! No more pictures tonight, please!” She complained, although a part of her was smiling in amusement. This was what? The eighth? The eleventh picture now? Nessa loved modeling and all, but now it was starting to get annoying, especially since it was all just going to end up on Raihan’s blog anyways.

“What? I can’t take pictures to show the people of Galar what a beauty my girlfriend is?” Raihan said with a grin.

“Not when you’ve been doing it for the entire night,” Nessa did her best not to stare, but Arceus damn! It wasn’t often she got to see Raihan in something other than his regular hoodie and gym clothes. Raihan should honestly consider wearing a suit more often. Raihan looked over to the trio Nessa was eyeing earlier; Bede, Hop, and Glory had all sat down with Ms. Opal and it seemed like the tension was resolved between Hop and Bede… for now, anyways.

“Me and Gordie got $50 on those two getting together by the end of the season,” Raihan stated smirking.

Nessa tore her eyes away from them and looked back to him, a little taken aback, but not surprised. “You guys bet on this?”

“Yeah why? Is that wrong?” He asked cheekily, chuckling as she rolled her eyes at him, “Hey, him and Pierce did the same thing with us and now look!” That she couldn’t deny, even if they’ve only been dating for several months now.

“You act like we’ve been together for a few years, when it’s only been a couple of months,” Nessa sighed.

She should’ve guessed what was going to come out of his mouth next after seeing that shit-eating grin of his. “Hey it seems a couple of months is enough for our little ‘after parties’ if last night was anything to go by.”

Nessa nearly spat out her drink as fluster and embarrassment quickly made its presence be known on her face. “RAIHAN!” She hissed. She swatted at his arm as he laughed almost loud enough to catch people’s attention at the charity gala.

Why did she decide to date the one person who drove her crazy half of the time again? “I really hate you sometimes,” she grumbled.

“Nah! That’s not true! You love me, and you know it,” Raihan said.

“Shut up, Raihan!”

“Make me why don’t ya?”

Nessa responded by a short, soft kiss on the lips. Despite that cocky attitude Raihan liked to display, a kiss or two seemed to be enough to shut him up… for now.

Before Raihan could take yet another photo of them, (this time Nessa was willing) a slow dance song was played. “Hey, wanna have one last dance before this party ends?” Raihan asked holding out his hand. Nessa finished her glass off and took his offer. They were joined on the dancefloor by a couple of other pairs, two of them being; Victor and Marnie, and Sonia and the former champion himself, Leon. Nessa rested her head on Raihan’s chest, letting herself fall into the rhythm and movement of the dance. This night was perfect, everyone here together after months of nonstop work as gym leaders or research, what could happen?

***

And as the party ended… wouldn’t you know it? All of the Sky Taxies were full! Raihan wanted Nessa to take his place on the Taxi, but Nessa had brought her rental car for them to arrive in anyways, so she sent Raihan off, promising to drive safely. Safer than Raihan anyways, he drank far too much tonight to be driving in her stead.

As Nessa got situated in the driver’s seat, she finally noticed Alister sitting right outside her window. “AH! Oh! Hoo!” Nessa jumped. How does he do that every single TIME?! “Um… Hi- Hi Nessa,” Alister stuttered as Nessa rolled down her window.

“Hey, Alister, you scared me there… again,” Nessa laughed weakly, still coming down from her shock.

“S-s-sorry, but- but I had to tell you something,” Alister said.

“What’s up?”

Alister played with his hands for a bit, stuttering and trying to let the words come out. Nessa, like the rest of the gym leaders, knew Alister struggled socially, so she was patient with him. “I- um- I- I’ve been- I’ve been feeling something strange… near a certain area of Wyndon… and it-it’s probably nothing… but uh… I wasn’t going to bring it up to anyone because they were all taking the sky taxies… but uhm- be careful? Please?” Alister asked.

Nessa found it a bit odd… what certain spot was Alister talking about? Where was this specific spot? What was it that made him feel uneasy? One by one, questions were floating through her head. “Okay, thank you Alister, you be careful going home too alright?” She said reassuringly. Alister nodded and waved goodnight.

***

The drive to the hotel Nessa and Raihan booked was a long one. It was currently 1:17 am, Nessa was tired and felt her eyelids were getting heavy with each passing second. Maybe this was a bad idea, maybe she should’ve just waited for one of the Taxi’s to come back. But she was already more than half ways there, not much further.

As Nessa drove in the dark, she felt uneasy as she drove underneath one of the many bridges of Wyndon. Nessa shivered as all of the sudden it was freezing cold. She looked at her thermostat, it was 41 C, Weird… it was just 77 a moment ago… Nessa didn’t think anything of it, and simply turned it back to what it was before.

The drive was more unsettling as Nessa discovered there were fewer and fewer cars on the road with her, and before the water type gym leader could realize it… she was the only one at the next stoplight. Nessa didn’t know if it was her paranoia or if this was the certain road Alister told her not to go down, but the chills never stopped, and now she could feel as if someone was following her, but when Nessa looked in her rear view mirrors, she was the only one on the roads as of right now. Nessa left one hand on the steering wheel, and placed the other on her purse. If anything did go wrong… at least she’d have Drednaw and the others to back her up.

As Nessa felt she was being a bit exaggerative, she focused herself, knowing she would hear from Raihan later if he caught wind that she was scarred. Nessa looked at her GPS, only two blocks away from the hotel. Nessa smiled in relief as this would all be over soon. Nessa felt herself beginning to relax as she drove by the lake, she once did a shoot for, she remembered the Pokémon there well, the sweet little Poliwag, the kind Lapris, and the cute little Marill that basically stuck to her leg for the whole shoot. Nessa smiled, that was also the lake where she used to go with her father as a child.

Nessa pulled herself out of her thoughts, before she got distracted by memory lane. She was almost there, just a little bit more. As Nessa drove under yet another bridge, she saw something that made her slow down… there was a child… alone… on the side of the road… and at freaking 1:55 in the morning! Nessa slowed down, staring, until she came to a complete stop… this didn’t seem right. The child was alone, no adult in sight, wearing a sky blue dress that reached down to her knees, and it was 44 degrees outside!

Nessa wondered if she should call someone first, but out of fear of the little girl running off, she rolled down her window. “Hey, honey?! Kid!” She called out, with no response, “Sweetie! Kid!” Nessa tried again, louder this time, there was again… no response. This time, Nessa blew the horn… nothing… not even a flinch, the girl’s back was still turned away from her. Nessa was a little creeped out, no response or even a reaction. As creeped out as she was… this little girl could need help. Nessa unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car; she was just going to go to the little girl herself. As Nessa closed her door, she looked to where the little girl was… or rather… would’ve been. The little girl was gone.

What in Garentina’s dimension? Nessa found herself worrying now… where did she go? Or was it just her mind playing tricks on her? It was almost 2 in the morning, and she was exhausted. After spending 12 minutes or so calling out for the little girl, there was no one in sight. Nessa chalked it up to her own imagination, blamed her tiredness, and went back to her car, although she still couldn’t shake the worry she felt for the child.

Nessa was only one block away from the hotel, and thought the rest of the way would go without incident. But then came the frost that grew on her windshield way too suddenly, as the streetlamps flickered. It was freezing! Nessa could now see her own breathe in her car! The frost grew and covered the windows and her mirrors. Nessa stopped breathing as she heard a raggedy breath, and looked over to the passenger seat.

There she was… there was the little girl… only now that Nessa could see her face… she wish she didn’t. The girl’s skin was paler than Alister’s, her eyes were empty sockets, and her black wavy hair was all in her face. She wore a sky blue dress with some summer boots, and held a well-loved Buneary plushy in her lap. She just stared at Nessa with those blank eyes of hers.

Nessa saw her in her passenger seat, she screamed as she swerved across the road, hitting the breaks as hard as she could while steering away from crashing. Nessa knew you were supposed to just go with the car, and take your feet off the brakes until your tires touched the roads again, but she did it entirely on instinct! Nessa screamed full voice as she screwed her eyes closed, hoping that her incident in this car would be painless as long as it was over already!

Nessa felt her car stop abruptly as she was finally on the road again instead of ice… her eyes cautiously opened to the size of saucers, taking in shallow breathes as she greedily sucked in air. Nessa cautiously, slowly, and shakingly took her hands off of the steering wheel, still coming down from the shock of her near death experience. When Nessa finally came down from her shock, she patted her entire body, making sure she was still here and alive. She gasped as she remembered her Pokémon, only to breathe a sigh of relief when she saw they were still in their poke balls undamaged in her purse safe and sound.

Nessa didn’t see any frost covering her windows, no streetlights flickering, and when she looked over to the passenger’s seat… there was no girl or her Buneary plushy anywhere to be seen. What in the name of Kyogre just happened?! Nessa knew she should’ve gotten out of the car, maybe she should just walk the rest of the way to the hotel? She should’ve just drove past the little girl… or was that little girl even there to begin with?

Nessa touched the sides of her temples, starting to contemplate if this was all just in her head… maybe she just drank too much, even though she only had two glasses of champagne and wine tonight, but still… maybe this was all just a hallucination… even if she knew that couldn’t be it, because she felt her tires slip off of the road and onto the ice, but this was the only reasonable explanation she could come up with. Nessa thought about what she should do or should’ve done… but in the end her body acted for her and she resumed her driving the rest of the way to the hotel.

***

It’s been a week and a half since the almost crash scene. Sometimes Nessa wonders what would’ve happened if she had crashed, what would be in the papers? “Famous model and water type gym leader died in fiery car crash” or “Water type gym leader Nessa hospitalized from crash.” Or worse; what would’ve happened to her Pokémon? Nessa shuddered at the thought of anything terrible happening to her beloved Pokémon.

Nessa had decided not to tell Raihan or the other gym leaders about her almost near death experience, just chalking it all up to hallucinations from the alcohol and wine. Nessa had contemplated whether she should tell Alister about the little girl or what she assumed was the spot in Wyndon that made him feel so uneasy. But ultimately decided against it. Nessa wasn’t sure why she didn’t tell her boyfriend or the rest of her fellow gym leaders, maybe out of fear of being told what she’s been telling herself for the past week. But the more time that pasts, the more she is convinced that maybe it wasn’t a hallucination.

Nessa was pulled back to the present when Raihan tapped her leg. “Helloooo?~ Galar to Nessa! You alright?” Raihan asked. Nessa looked at the two other people she was in the flying taxi with; Bea and Milo. “Oh… um… yeah… sorry I guess I just… spaced out for a bit there,” she said. Raihan looked at his girlfriend with a concerned look. “Yeah, ya know, you’ve been doing that a lot lately…” he stated, obviously wanting to know what was up.

“I have not!” Nessa said stubbornly.

“Actually, Raihan has a point,” Bea joined in, “ever since the Gala, you’ve been acting… weird… almost as if you’re not fully here…”

Nessa looked to Milo, who nodded in agreement with Bea’s statement while wearing a concerned look as well. She cringed and mentally scolded at herself for making it that obvious. There was silence for a beat of wings or two, before finally Raihan placed his hand on top of Nessa’s. “Babe,” he said, “something had to have happened on your way back to the hotel that night, you haven’t been yourself since then, and honestly; everyone inside this league can see it… we just want to know what’s going on.” Nessa looked away for a moment, slightly reminded of why she fell for Raihan in the first place. Raihan rubbed his thumb on the back of her hand slightly, waiting for her response. Just as Nessa opened her mouth to speak, the taxi landed with a thud!

“All ashore let’s go ashore!” The taxi man called down laughing. They had arrived at the Wyndon stadium. Nessa looked out her window, one by one, other flying taxi’s that contained the other gym leaders from across Galar had shown up for the start of this year’s season. Nessa looked back to Raihan, who is still looking at her with those pleading eyes of his. Nessa felt a twinge of guilt inside her for making Raihan, one of the most carefree people she knows, worry like this. “Meet me in the lockers after the matches and I’ll tell you,” Nessa said, jumping out of the taxi quickly. Nessa quickly speeding past Bede helping Opal out of the taxi with Gloria and the former steel type gym leader, Peony, inside.

As Nessa was about to go into the stadium, something caught her eye on the bulletin board outside. This board normally contained battle information and battle schedules, but today there was something different. It seemed to be a missing person poster, with contact information and everything. Nessa stepped closer to see who was missing and… felt her heart drop and heard her heart pounding in her ears.

It was the little girl… from the night at the Gala. Only this time she had eyes… beautiful heterochromia eyes, with her right being a pale purple and her other being ice blue. In the photo, the child was cuddling the Buneary plushy that she held in her lap that night, she wore a lavender top with a Milotic on it and blue shorts, with a premier ball clip in her hair to keep the bangs out of her eyes. At the top of the poster read in bright red bold letters:

MISSING!

Gretchen Moya

It’s kind of funny, the sun was out, and if you let it’s warm rays wrap around you… you will feel so warm and fuzzy, but even with the sun out… Nessa felt just as cold as she did that night in the car. She took two little steps backwards, away from the photo… this… this just confirmed… what she saw that night… was no hallucination. Nessa felt the color drain from her face as her breath picked up speed. She didn’t notice some of the gym leaders had stopped to look at her. “Nessa? NESSA!” BONK!

“OW!” Nessa was pulled back to reality once more when Opal had whacked her with her umbrella.

“Ms. Opal!” Bede protested, “terribly sorry Nessa, you can’t take her anywhere.”

“Maybe I should’ve whacked you with this!” Opal threatened holding up her umbrella once more.

“Never mind those two, but Ness… honey? Are you alright?” Melony stepped forward with a concerned look plastered on her face.

“Yeah, you look like you just saw a ghost,” Gordie joined his mother.

Nessa didn’t speak… couldn’t speak… but she should’ve… it would’ve been better than what she did next. Nessa simply turned away from her fellow gym leaders, from her friends, and walked into the stadium to get ready for the day’s matches, leaving the others outside confused and concerned.

Part 2???

I will go down with the ships that are in this! (For real, HOW is Nessa x raihan so underrated???)

Sneak peek of a new story... a Pokémon Ghost story…coming soon