Gardenia stood in front of the white picket fence, staring at the Old Chateau looming in front of her. She stared at the overgrown lawn, the dark door that swung in the slight breeze that crept through the forest, and the dust-covered windows. Something moved past one of the dusty windows and Gardenia shivered despite herself. She had followed something strange through the forest and wound up in front of the one place she would rather not be. However, she couldn't force herself to turn away from the building that the strange thing had led her to. Despite her fear of the building and its inhabitants, she was curious.
"Hi, Gardenia. What are you doing here?" Gardenia jumped and turned to see one of her old contenders walk forward, a bright mischievous smile on his face.
"Hello, Barry. I didn't hear you coming. How're you? I haven't seen you out here in a while," She asked.
"Not bad. I heard that there is a swarm of Slakoth's in the area and took a break from my trainng to come and investigate the claim. But, why are you here? I heard there are a few kinks left over in the gym's new changes," Barry asked he leaned against the white fence. Gardenia frowned as she remembered the problems with the new gym, how one trainer had broken his ankle while on the rotating flower petals and several incidents when the rotating flower petals didn't work. She had to fix the problems with the gym before another trainer got hurt and caught the attention of the news. Injuries in gyms were natural, when the pokemon moves accidentally hurt the trainer, but accidents from poor equipment would bring bad publicity.
"We're fixing the gym, don't you worry about that. I'm not needed to supervise the mechanics. I was out here training and I thought I saw something. It's doesn't really matter," Gardenia replied.
"Tell me, please? I promise I won't fine you," Barry asked.
"You can't fine me anyways. Why should I tell you?" Gardenia replied.
"Cause I'm awesome," Barry replied. Gardenia smiled at the boy's response.
"It wasn't anything grand or astonishing, I only saw a strange Budew while training and followed it here. However, it went inside that Chateau," Gardenia explained, pointing towards the old building.
"A strange Budew? Are you saying you say a shiny? That's so cool! I've never seen a shiny pokemon before. The professor said that shinys are ultra-rare, just seeing one is amazing enough!" Barry said excitedly, turning and staring at the building intensely.
"It was probably a trick of the light. We don't need to go in there," Gardenia exclaimed, glancing towards the house nervously before looking back at Barry. The boy stared at her in confusion before glancing at the building again. The smile on his face fell for a moment as he thought, but it quickly returned as he pushed away from the fence.
"Come on, Gardenia. You're not afraid of some silly ghosts, now are you?" Barry teased as he stepped past the fence and towards the large Chateau.
"C'mon, I'll help you search for that Budew. Maybe we can make the news or something like that? Wouldn't that be awesome. It'd be way cooler than the Red Gyarados over in Johto. Let's go in and find it," Barry said as he grabbed Gardenia's hand and started leading her towards the large ominous building.
"Barry, I don't..." Gardenia started.
"Don't worry, I'll be here to keep the ghosts away," Barry replied. Gardenia bit her lip as she grudgingly allowed him to pull her into the shadow of the Old Chateau.
"Wow! Look at this place! It might even be better than Faya's Villa. Did I call you about that? Faya got a villa over at that resort-thingy area. Man, it's awesome. It's quiet though, which is why I called all you guys. That place needs excitement. Maybe we can throw a surprise party or something like that. Did I call you about the villa," Barry chattered as he looked around the main hall.
"You called me about it, Barry," Gardenia replied, looking away so that she could hide her smile at the boy's antics. She looked around, noticing the footsteps from adventuring trainers on the dirty floor and the hand-prints on the dark statues. She stared at the statue for a moment only to turn away when she thought the statue's eyes glowed red. She bit her lip and stared at the floor, assuring herself that it was only her imagination.
"Come here, Budew, Budew. We just want to say hello. Come out here," Barry called. Gardenia turned and jumped as she noticed Bary racing away from her, dashing up the frail-looking stairs towards the second story.
"Hey! Barry, don't leave me alone in here! Come back!" She shouted as she ran after him. She dashed up the stairs, flinching and slowing momentarily with each menacing groan and creak from the old stairs, and found herself alone at the top of the stairs.
"Barry, where are you? This isn't funny," Gardenia called out nervously. She waited for Barry to call back or to pop out of the shadows with a wide grin on his face. However, he did not reappear.
"Skitty, Skitty, come and play. Play with me all night and day," A young girl's voice rang along the corridor. Gardenia nervously followed the voice to the last room, recognizing the song as a children's song taught during school. She reached the last room of the hallway and looked in. A small girl sat in the center of the room, her brown hair spilling from her once-tight ponytail and her pretty dress stained from something red.
"H-hello?" Gardenia stammered. The girl turned around and glared at her, a thin frown on her plump young face.
"Go away," The girl hissed.
"Why are you doing here? It's not safe to play here," Gardenia asked as she stepped into the room. The girl's frown turned into a scowl as she shook her head.
"This is my home. I don't like you. Go away," The girl replied.
"I won't leave a child in here..." Gardenia started before she thought she felt something funny. The air seemed suddenly heavier, almost like she was submerged in water. Her lungs started burning as she tried taking deep breaths to calm herself.
"Too late," The girl hissed in annoyance as Gardenia clutched at her chest, gasping. Gardenia stared at the child before her vision was obscured by what she assumed was dark couds. She reached out around her desperately, touching the mist in hopes of driving it away. She heard a loud crash and only realized when her side burst into pain that it had been her collapsing. She reached for her pokeballs, desperate to stop the pain. Fingers fumbled over the release buttons, unable to find the buttons. After what she assumed was several minutes, she gave up on searching for the pokeballs and tried focusing on breathing. She lost her concentration on that too as the mist darkened and soothed her from her desperate attempt to breathe and into unconsciousness.
The next thing Gardenia could remember was being blasted by cold air. The air crashed against her front, pushing her into the ground beneath her. She squeezed her eyes shut and waitied for the wind to go away. After a few seconds, the harsh wind stopped.
"Whoa, take it easy! I asked for you to fan her, not send her flying away!" She heard someone say in annoyance. She blearily opened her eyes and blinked back tears at the bright light. For a few seconds, she saw leaves high above her, dancing with the wind, before Barry's face blocked her view.
"Are you okay? I'm sorry I left you alone," Barry stammered. She stared up at him, trying to think clearly, before a question came to mind.
"What was..." Gardenia asked weakly as she tried sitting up. Barry quickly helped her to a sitting position, making sure she could sit up on her own before sitting down beside her.
"I tried having my Staraptor fan you, you know, to see if it would help you or something. He was stronger than expected, of course. He nearly blew you out of the forest," Bary replied with a laugh, only to earn a sharp annoyed peck from his listening Staraptor. Barry laughed as he playfully swatted away a second peck. The pokemon glared at its master before it turned to her and stared. She smiled weakly at the pokemon, hoping to assure it that she wasn't mad. The pokemon chirped as she smiled and began preening its feathers, ignoring his master's laugh entirely.
"Where are we, Barry?" Gardenia asked
"Just outside the old house. That was a nasty Gastly you ran into. They never tried doing that to me. Maybe it's because I'm too awesome," Barry said. The staraptor aimed another peck at its master, who avoided it.
"Where's the girl?" Gardenia asked, glancing at the Old Chateau worriedly.
"What girl? I didn't see a girl in there," Barry replied in confusion.
"But, there was a girl in there. She was in the same room I was in," Gardenia said, glancing between the house and Barry in confusion.
"Well, she's not there now. She must have left just before I found you. Here, you dropped this inside the house. I'll go and see if I can get help. You could be hurt more than I can help with. Staraptor, stay here until I return," Barry yelled as he handed over a pokeball and stood up. The pokemon chirped its response as the boy dashed away before it turned away and began scanning the surrounding forest. Gardenia sighed before looking at the pokeball he had given her. She checked her belt, all three of her pokemon were still safely secured on the belt. She frowned before pressing the release button and letting go of the pokeball. The pokeball landed beside her and burst open, allowing the pokemon out of the ball. She stared at the pokemon as it looked around and noticed her.
"Budew!" It chirped cheerfully as it hopped into her lap. She continued to stare at it, noticing how different it looked up close.
"Oh, Barry," She laughed as the shiny pokemon cuddled against her chest. She wrapped an arm around the grass pokemon and waited for Barry to return.