There was silence in Mt. Pyre. The area had been recently closed down to the public due to numerous sights of ghosts lurking about the graves and scaring visitors. It was yet to be known if they meant any harm, but the authorities had decided on the safest option, much to the dismay of the deceased people's families.
The mountain was located in the middle of the ocean, the closest city being Mossdeep. It was close enough to be reached by sailing for some hours, but the recent events caused by Team Magma had left Hoenn in a critical financial crisis.
As such, the mountain was yet to receive effective guarding twenty four hours a day, which meant it was still possible to break in during certain nights.
"L-Liza, come on!" Squealed the high pitched masculine voice at the entrance. The boy was a pityful sight, shivering wildly under his thin clothes while looking fearfully around. The presence of his solrock right behind him didn't seem to calm him. "We aren't supposed to be here!"
"Naaah, Tate, stop being so boring!" The girl, Liza, giggled happily as she nudged her twin brother. "Life isn't fun without risks! Besides, these are just pokemon! I'm sure they wouldn't hurt us!"
"T-they are ghosts! You can never tell what a ghost is up to!" Tate protested, shifting closer to his always stoick solrock. He looked back every now and then to make sure their boat was still where they had left it. That seemed to amuse Liza.
"It's our chance to learn something about them, dummy. You're always so happy about researching new pokemon and a few shady guys scare you like that? Man up, bro!" She taunted, turning to her lunatone. "Moonlight, could you please open the gates with Psychic?" The meteorite pokemon rocked slightly in understanding, its eyes glowing.
The two large gates leading into the building slid open with a horrible screech, startling both of the young gym leader apprentices. The gates revealed a large concrete complex filled with gravestones, though the moon's poor lighting made it impossible to read the scriptures or check the pictures.
"Summer, use Flash." Tate murmured. The solrock floated into the building and its body began glowing brightly, illuminating the surroundings.
"Well thought." Liza praised, carefully stepping after Summer, Tate and Moonlight following hesitantly. "Hello? Anyone? Ghosts?"
No response aside from the echo of her voice.
"Nobody's here, great!" Tate hopped animately, grabbing his sister's hand and trying to drag her out. "Come on, Liza, let's go back! Papa will find out!"
"No!" Liza stomped stubbornly on the floor, freeing her hand from Tate's grip. "I wanna see what's in here! Besides, we are gym leaders, we are supposed to take care of trouble should it happen!"
"We are apprentices!" Tate shouted in exasperation. "Papa can take care of any-"
His sister was already running upstairs with Moonlight.
"You gotta be kidding me." He murmured, running after her with Summer on his tail.
The second floor was much like the first, except for the graves' placement. Liza ran straight past it to the third floor, leaving a breathless Tate pathetically trying to keep up.
But as Summer flew by the stairs and its Flash briefly lit the graves, he was sure he had seen something moving.
Once boy and pokemon finally reached the third floor, they found a snickering Liza with her back turned to another large gate.
"What took you so long?" She taunted as Moonlight pushed the gate open with Psychic, causing fresh air from outside to flush into the building. "C'mon, let's go check the summit. Maybe the ghosts like to take some air sometimes."
Even Liza had to admit that the external graveyard was quite unsettling. The patches of grass constantly moved under the wind, causing both siblings to jump from time to time. The wind blew through cracks in the mausoleums and produced an unnerving, continuous howl that seemed to grow louder and louder as the twins stepped up to the summit.
Maybe this hadn't been a good idea, after all...
"Houdy, houdy!" A cheerful voice exclaimed as a grey blur popped out of the shadows, coming to hover right before Tate and Liza's eyes.
"OH GOODNESS!" He screeched, jumping and landing on his back a few meters away. A startled Summer quickly put itself in the way and blasted the ghost with fire.
The pokemon simply melted back into the shadows to avoid the Flamethrower, laughing as it reappeared at a respecful distance from the solrock. "My, my, that's a scared one."
The ghost had a peculiar appearence, as it was to be expected. It looked like a floating head covered in a tattered grey cloak, sporting a skull-like face. The pokemon seemed to be hollow, a single bright red eyeball glowing inside that void and lazily shifting between eye sockets.
"Jeez!" Liza shouted, though in delight. She hopped excitedly towards the ghost, Moonlight floating right above should the newcomer attack. "What kind of pokemon are you? What moves do you know? How many of you are there? How can you talk?"
"Heeeeeeey!" The ghost protested, chuckling lightly as it stared the girl up and down. "I am allowed to answer the first question. I am what you call a duskull."
"That's so cooool! Tate, it's a ghost! A real one! Can I catch you?" Liza pleaded with a delighted expression, calling over Moonlight for a battle.
The duskull produced two stubby arms from its sides to raise its hands defensively. "Hold your ponyta, lass. I came to request your assistance. We can talk that over later."
"Assistance? For what?" Tate asked, eyes narrowed.
"My master. He is in trouble and the rest of us are unable to help him. Care to follow, kiddies?" Duskull asked with a friendly tone as it began floating further towards the summit, the twins tailing after it.
As the duskull led Tate and Liza up to the summit, it was clear that it was not the only ghost in the surroundings. More curious creatures began to take shape from the shadowy mausoleums.
They came in many forms. Most seemed to wear a rag over their heads, usually together with doll-like creatures. Many odd bugs floated motionlessly by the shadows, flanked by a couple of humanoid felines with jewel eyes. There were some other duskull as well, together with a few cyclop-like ghosts.
They spoke in a strange language, though the stares given to the twins made it clear that they were the subject. With their psychic abilities, they could feel curiosity, malice, fear and even pity among the crowd.
"Duskull...w-what's going on?" Tate asked, looking nervously around at the ghostly crowd. "Will they hurt us?"The duskull chuckled, sinking into a shadow to reform beside Tate. "No worries, buddy. You kids just have to help our Alpha and I'll make sure you leave unscathed."
It sounded genuinely willing to defend them, which helped calming Tate.
They finally stopped at a small stone plateau at the very top of the mountain, where a strange rock carved all over by scriptures lay.
"I have brought them, Alpha." The duskull spoke to the stone, fear visible in its voice. "They can help you."