"I'm alive...?"

Opening her eyes blearily, her surroundings slowly faded into view. She had apparently woken up in some sort of tent.

Surprised as she was, more pressing matters suddenly came to mind. Like, how had she survived the previous night?

Hearing a rustling sound from her left, she turned her head to be greeted by her second surprise of the day. A strange man was sleeping in the sleeping bag beside her.

"I wasn't expecting that if I'm being totally honest..."

After poking the man's cheek gently, and receiving no reaction whatsoever, Charlotte slowly began to realize that this was the man who she had bumped into the night before. The reason she was alive now probably had something to do with him.

"Interesting..." She grinned mischievously as she snuggled in a little closer to her mysterious savior.

About ten minutes later, Zenea slowly roused into consciousness.

"What the hell happened?" His head was a little sore, immediately suspecting a hangover to be the cause, but none of the other symptoms were there. He just had a strange headache.

His pain was quickly replaced with horror and fear as he suddenly heard a satisfied, feminine moan coming from his right. Then he quickly realized somebody was snuggled into him and gently blowing on his ear.
Turning his head gently, his eyes met with a mostly nude Charlotte, barely covered by the tiny excuse of cloth he called a sleeping bag. With a flirtatious grin, she fluttered her eyelashes with an irresistible cuteness.

"Last night was amazing!"

He would never forget that this was the day that all of his Pokémon had unanimously decided that he had the most feminine scream in the world.

The Pokémon sleeping outside woke up in a startled panic. Not a second later, his tent was invaded by all who could fit, and he found himself making excuses to an incredibly pissed-off Pikachu.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?"

"Aria, I can explain...-" A small, but incredibly angry sounding Thunderbolt narrowly missed his face, tearing a small hole into the tent's fabric, singeing it with a sizzling whisper.

"Nothing can really explain why you're in bed with a naked girl who had basically died for a minute yesterday-..."

"I died for a minute!? WHAT!?"

"I can see a nipple!" Several female screams followed Nora's hormonal outburst. It was some time before order was restored to the chaotic party. The aftermath was not pretty.

...

"So what happened to us exactly?"

Both Charlotte and Zenea were gently cradling their heads with one hand whilst trying to wolf down some hastily made food with the other. The reason being that they now both had some strange headache, which had Jirachi and Celebi incredibly worried, which did nothing to alleviate their worries.

"We believe... You two may have been cursed." Celebi looked at the two young trainers as though they were about to drop-dead any second. Zenea immediately began to choke, with Charlotte looking dumbfounded as a piece of food hung out of her mouth. It would have been funny to watch if the two weren't currently thinking about imminent death.

"Are you joking!? What do you mean, we're cursed!?" Zenea had turned deathly pale. He had never been a big fan of scary stories as a child, and he had been absolutely terrified of the potential powers of curses. It was the reason why he'd never teach the move to a ghost Pokémon, if he had ever caught one.

"Well, the good news is that we stopped the curse spreading, so it's effects should be minimal..." Jirachi's input was a little reassuring.

"Well that doesn't sound too bad-"

"We think..."

Grabbing the Wish Pokémon by the head, Charlotte looked ready to punch him.

"What in the name of all that lies before Arceus do you mean 'you think'!?" She growled, her eyes looking terrifying.

"W-well..." Celebi looked ready to cry. "We've never seen a curse like this before. We're not sure what its actually capable of, except for its current observable effects."

"And what are these current effects?"

"Well..."

"Here, let me demonstrate!" Jirachi wiggled out of Charlotte's grip, and gave her a knock on the head.

"Ow, what the hell did you do that for!?"

"Why- " Zenea was holding his head, wide-eyed in shock, in the exact same spot Charlotte got hit. "-did that hurt me too?"

"That's what we know about the curse at the moment. You can both feel each others pain."

It took a moment for that to fully sink in. Charlotte and Zenea both glanced at each other, shock and disbelief clouding their eyes.

"How do we... get rid of the curse?" Charlotte nervously stuttered out. Jirachi looked thoughtful, looking at Celebi.

"I think the only way we'll fix this mess is to find the original caster. That's how it usually goes, right?" Celebi nodded in agreement.

"Curses are powerful. Or rather, this particular type of curse, known only as a 'Hex', can only be controlled by a powerful psychic. We need to find the caster to have any hope of setting you both free."

"And the good news is-" Jirachi jumped onto Zenea's head. "We know that we can sense the same kind of psychic energy coming from Lilycove."

The group had been heading towards Lilycove anyway, which would have meant good news. Except that the reason Zenea had been heading to the seaside town wasn't an altogether pleasant one.

And as much as he wanted to deny it, his gut was telling him that these events were connected.

"What concerns me though, is how did you end up in this mess?" Celebi turned to Charlotte, with an expression close to pity fluttering across the Pokémon's expression.

"Not only did you get attacked last night by a rampaging Pokémon, you somehow ended up cursed. And a Pokémon going berserk would likely have a reason to be losing control of its senses. What can you remember?"

Holding her aching head, Charlotte tried to remember the events of the previous night. She could see flames and a burning forest in her mind's eye.

...

Running through the forest, the young trainer was panting heavily, clearly exhausted. Her left upper arm was bruised and bloody, and she clutched onto it as she ran.
Roar's followed close behind as the huge Pokémon stomped behind her, clearly out of its mind. She wasn't even sure what it was. All she knew is that if she stopped now, she'd probably make a decent enough meal for it.

"Mimikyu!" The Poké Ball in her good arm's hand exploded with light, and the ghost Pokémon appeared, flying behind her as the two ran from the angry, terrifying sounds behind them.

"Mimikyu, shoot a Shadow Ball behind us, try and slow it down!" The Pokémon cried in acknowledgement, and she heard the little Pokémon fire off the powerful dark move into the darkness. A loud roar told her the attack had been on target. But another, more angered roar told her it hadn't done much to stop the beast.

A tree branch whipped into her already injured arm as she continued running for her life, causing her to stumble. Losing her footing, she tripped onto the ground, landing on her back. Grunting in pain, she looked towards the darkness. She could barely see the angered Pokémon behind her, but it was tearing down trees in its path.
A flash of green light illuminated the forest as something whizzed overhead. Looking up to the night sky, Charlotte saw the cause of the beast's anger.

"Mortissa!" Screaming towards the sky, Charlotte stood up and started to run again, chasing after her antagonist. She caught sight of it again, and now she was sure it was who she thought it was.

Mortissa, the rogue, albino Haunter. The ghost Pokémon had been tormenting the young trainer endlessly.
From what she had heard, the ghost Pokémon was actually possessed by the spirit of a young girl who had died in a mansion. Not believing the stories, but fascinated by the dark mystery, Charlotte had been foolish enough to sneak into the mansion, and had angered the spirits resting there. A week later, she had still been on the run.

The bloodthirsty ghost had somehow entranced another Pokémon to go after her, and if her problems hadn't been serious enough...

The ghost Pokémon opened its mouth, spewing a fiery jet of hot flame. The flames erupted into a circle around her, stopping her from moving any further.

"Flamethrower!? From a ghost Pokémon!?" Charlotte screeched as she looked around for an exit. There was a small gap in the flames, and she took the chance to run through. Now she had a fire-breathing ghost on top of whatever else was chasing after her.

Two could play with fire though.

"Mimikyu, mimic Mortissa's flamethrower!" Her Pokémon copied Mortissa's flame and fired it straight back. Embers lit up the night sky as falling leaves were burned to a crisp, whilst shadows danced around the trees. Mortissa had dodged the attack and had zoomed off ahead, landing not far from Charlotte's position.

Suddenly, Mortissa's form began to change. Similar to watching a Ditto transform into another Pokémon, except a lot more ghostly, Mortissa's Haunter form began to morph into that of a young girl, wearing a old-fashioned, gothic-style dress. It was hard to make out the little girl's face, but her eyes glowed crimson in the darkness. Those eyes were filled with bloodlust and anger.

"So you're the little girl..." Charlotte whispered. "The one who died..."

The girl opened her mouth, looking as though she was about to speak. But before she could say a word, the beast chasing them before had almost caught up, letting loose another terrifying roar into the night.

Clenching her teeth in anger, the girl began to draw in the air with her finger, leaving behind a green trail of ghostly, glowing vapor, just like ink. Charlotte couldn't read what she was writing at all.

But it looked ominous. As she finished drawing what looked like a demonic pentagram with an inscription, the girl glared at Charlotte as the pentagram began to glow fiercely.
Charlotte herself began to glow with the same green light, and her body was suddenly wracked with pain.

To those who claim to love that which is most precious.
For that which claims to be invincible chivalry.
And to the one who spoke naught but falsehoods to those joined together by blood.
May this hex steal everything you have ever cherished and loved.

After her words echoed around the forest, the girl had vanished into thin air. The green light surrounding Charlotte had vanished, but she could still feel the searing pain in her memory as she leaned onto the ground for support, panting heavily.

"What... did she do to me?" She breathed. But she wasn't allowed much more time to rest. The Pokémon chasing them earlier had finally caught up, and was swinging a giant limb towards her.
In the blink of an eye, Mimikyu had dove in front of the paw and knocked it out of the way, taking the brunt of the attack. Bruised and severely damaged, Mimikyu could no longer move.

"You need... to run!" Mimikyu breathed her words as Charlotte returned her into a Poké ball. Not wasting anytime, she took the advice, and ran like hell, dodging another swipe from what looked like an out-of-control Ursaring. The giant bear Pokémon began to chase her once again, but the fire in the forest had gotten out of control, impeding the bear's path.

Leaving the insanity-driven Pokémon behind, Charlotte kept running, dodging trees, flames and hoping to see an exit out of the hell that surrounded her.

A tree branch, weakened by the flames, snapped under its own weight, hurtling to the ground. Before she had any time to react, the branch caught her head-on, scraping her face and scouring her left arm.
But the worst injury was a thinner part of the branch that had penetrated her lower back, protruding through just a shade away from her stomach. Her luck had finally run out.

Blood shot from her injuries, and the weight of the tree pulled her down to the ground. Flames and searing pain once again surrounded her. Her eyes began to water from the agony as she screamed towards the heavens. It was unbearable, like someone had taken a white-hot poker and thrust it through her abdomen, after stroking her face and arm with it.

Coughing wildly, more dark-colored blood began spewing from her mouth as she tried freeing herself from the natural weapon. With what remaining strength she had, she broke the part of the branch that had speared her lower torso and tried to stand up, with difficulty.

As she stumbled through the forest, leaving the fires behind, she realized she had lost far too much blood. Her vision was spinning, her head was a foggy mess, and her injuries were going numb. After stumbling against a tree to throw up some more blood, she tried walking on, very much aware that she was more than likely going to die here.

Grinning painfully, she saw a sparkling light ahead of her.

"That damn ghost actually got me... Heheh..."

The sparkling light looked like more flames, but she could vaguely make out some figures standing next to it.

"I wonder... if that's anyone... friendly... " She coughed and spluttered as she stumbled closer to the blurry scene.

"I don't... think I can... sur- *cough* -vive... anymore... bad stuff... tonight..."

The closer she got, the more relieved she was. It sounded like a young trainer, and his Pokémon.

"It's someone... just like *cough*... me..."

After a few, very wobbly steps, she had managed to clear the forest into the young man's little enclosure. From what her eyes were telling her, he was about the same age as her, maybe a little older. He had long, dark brown... or was it black hair? She couldn't tell. Her strength was completely lost. All she remembered was his bright, red eyes, looking at her in shock as she collapsed to the ground.

"Guys! Get... first aid kit... grab my- ...kéNav... call for help!" She couldn't hear properly anymore. Her senses were slowly draining away as she lost contact with the world around her.

This must be what dying was like.

She could vaguely feel herself being picked up, and the young man's face rushed into view through the black fog that was creeping around her vision.

"What the hell happened to you?" His voice was tinny, as though it was coming from very far away.

"...wild Pokémon... out of... control... you feel... warm..." Her whole body lurched, and she felt that searing pain come back one last time, before her sense of touch and pain completely left her. All she felt now was cold and numb, except for where the man was holding her. A small warmth that was strangely comforting.

If she could at least leave him with a name, something to remember her by, she could probably live on.

As a memory.

"H-hey, you gotta relax. Try not to talk..." She could tell from the sound of his panicked voice that she must look horrific. Her injuries had basically killed her after all.

"...my... na...*cough* name..."

"H-hey...!"

"...C-charlotte..." She tried reaching a hand towards his face. The effort seemed herculean now that she could barely move, but she needed to feel him, to make sure he was still there. Blood dripped down his cheek as she touched him gently.

"...please don't... please don't forget... me..."

As she breathed her last, her world turned dark. The pain was gone, but then so was everything else.

She couldn't see anything.
She couldn't hear anything.
She couldn't feel anything.

Just darkness, everywhere. Forever.

If she still had control over her face, she wanted to crack out one last, sad little smile.

"I wonder... if he'll remember me?"

...

The campsite had been silent for an awkwardly long period of time. Charlotte looked around at the Pokémon, confused and bewildered at the silence.

"So... That was last night's big adventure! Teehee!" She tried to break the ice by bringing some smiles to the conversation, but the small Minun wasn't having it.

"Don't teehee me, you DIED! If it wasn't for the lottery-winning luck that two legendary Pokémon were around and you just happened to stumble into where we were, you'd be ghost-kill right now!"

"And living in the moment is a bad thing? I know I died, but then, by the kindness of everyone here, I survived to tell the tale. And more than anything, I know what I need to do now..." Staring at the floor, twiddling her fingers, Charlotte suddenly looked really nervous.

"I need... to face Mortissa. One more time!"

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?" The small electric Pokémon had jumped on top of Charlotte, pushing her down as he stood firmly on her chest. "The creepy ghost girl who doubles as a psychotic Haunter basically got you killed last night, and now you're saying you want to go find her!?"

"Yeah, but...-"

"Stuff your 'buts'! It's been god knows how long since I got to feel boobs like these, and I will literally do anything to stop you walking into death so I can continue to enjoy them!" Nora's feet gently tapped Charlotte's bosom as he talked. The molested in question giggled as she lay on the ground.

"Aren't you a pervy little thing? But before you continue to assault me, you might want to take a look at that particularly angry looking Plusle behind you." The color had never drained out of Nora's face so fast. Stepping gently off Charlotte's breasts, the terrified Minun gently put his hands into the air as a form of surrender and proceeded to look around.

The pure look of rage he had faced when he had finally dared to look Faye in the eyes had haunted his dreams for weeks afterwards.

...

"So we can both feel each other's pain... I guess we gotta be careful from now on." Zenea grumbled, not overly confident in himself. He was far too clumsy to ever promise he'd be a hundred percent okay.

"I'm sure I can trust you to take care of yourself." Charlotte had a seemingly dark grin on her face. "But there's something I should probably let you know."

"Around about tomorrow, my time of the month begins. And I get the cramps pretty bad."

"You're joking..."

The long road to Lilycove was fraught with dread and worry.


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