When they were six years old, Gary dared Ash to spend the night in the woods, claiming they were haunted. He'd intended to scare him by pretending to be a ghost, but both boys ran home in a cold sweat when a real Gastly had popped out of nowhere.
Six years later, Ash dragged Gary through the Old Chateau after finding out there was a rare Pokemon lurking in a TV set there.
"I just don't want you to get your hopes up," a reluctant Gary claimed. "It might not even be real, those notes could be a trap or even a story someone was writing."
"It's gotta be real!" Ash argued. "Those notes can't be fake, Professor Rowan wouldn't lie about something like that!"
"Whoever wrote them could be tricking Professor Rowan as well," Gary said. Ash smirked.
"You're not scared, are you?"
"Of course not! I just-"
Suddenly, there was a strange burst of light followed by an eerie cry. A bolt of blue and orange plasma shot across the room, grinned at the scared-stiff boys and disappeared as suddenly as it came.
"...Ash?"
"Yeah?"
"You can let go of me now," Gary stammered.
"Sorry." Ash loosened his grip on Gary's arm. "So the notes were real after all. Too bad it disappeared before I could get its data on my Pokedex."
"Maybe next time," Gary said. "So that's the mysterious Rotom, huh?" A pause. "...and yeah, I guess I was a little scared."
"Not me!" Ash boasted. More silence. "Okay, maybe I was too," he admitted. "Let's go, we'll have to come back another night."
They left the Chateau, clasping each other's hands as they made their way out of the forest.