I should have known something was wrong the moment I stepped foot into that town. People cast me sideways glances, as if afraid to look directly at me. When I tried to walk over and talk to someone, they all but shrieked and bolted away.

Squirtle was acting strange, too. He kept his head down, as if expecting an attack at any minute. I'd never seen him like that before; he was docile, not skeptical.

But despite the warning signs, I didn't leave. I was here for a reason, after all, and that was to catch some local Pokemon. It's not like I was some big-shot trainer from far away, not by any means. I lived in a town that consisted of four or so houses and got my first Pokemon- Squritle- from a mishap at the lake nearby. That's a story for another day, though.

Finally, sick of the way the townspeople were treating me, I waltzed right into the PokeMart, up to the desk, and requested to buy a few PokeBalls. It was a long moment before the man at the counter replied, but when he did, it was with a nervous laugh.

"We thought you were a ghost."

"You're joking," I stated it more than asked, but when I looked at him, I saw no trace of humor. He seemed… completely serious.

"Your hair is white, you're certainly pale, and most of your clothes are white," he tried to explain, "even your hands are in white gloves, though I see now that they're fingerless. We thought you might have been… well, never mind," his reluctance to continue puzzled me, but something told me better than to push the subject. "In any case, welcome to Lavender Town! Sorry you weren't given a proper greeting sooner. What brings a trainer like you out here?"

"I heard I could catch a Ghost-type Pokemon here," I chuckled, though it came out more nervously than I'd meant, "Always wanted to see a Ghastly or Haunter."

"Those won't be the only 'ghosts' you'll see here if you aren't careful," it felt as if he'd tried to say it in good nature, but… his words felt like a warning. As if to change the subject, he quickly added, "So, what's your name?"

"Lynn," I answered a little to quickly, "and this is Squirtle." Hearing his name, my Pokemon glanced up at me. He looked concerned. A thought entered my mind then, and after a moment of thinking it over (and a curious glance from the man behind the counter), I asked, "Do you have a library here, or a place with computers?"

"No, we don't," the man replied, clearly a little confused about the question, "But, I'll tell you what. You can borrow my laptop for a bit if you stay right here in the PokeMart. You seem like a good kid. What are you looking up, anyways?"

"Just some Pokemon I don't have in my PokeDex yet," I lied. He smiled, as if satisfied with that answer, but his smile vanished quickly. Was he looking at me? No, it was as if he was looking at something… behind me. I turned around to look. I could see out the window from here. It looked like a nice day, sunny, and the breeze ruffled the grass just slightly.

"Here," his words snapped me out of my trance, making me jump. He was holding out his laptop to me.

"Thanks, I really appreciate this," my reply was hasty, but I was starting to feel a bit uneasy about this place. Was it just my imagination?

Probably. I did tend to think to into things at times. The man was likely just trying to scare me; after all, I'd heard Lavender Town was a spooky place at times. It was more likely that the locals all played an elaborate prank on travelers than there actually being any truth to the stories I'd heard.

There were a couple chairs near the counter. I sat down in one, and Squirtle hopped up into the other. He didn't look at me, though it seemed he was looking at something. Opening up the laptop, I got onto the internet and started looking for old news reports about Lavender Town. Whether I was being paranoid or not didn't matter. Better safe than sorry.

The following articles came up:

POKEMON PSYCHICS- POSSESED?!

STRANGE GOINGS-ONS, WHAT'S INSIDE THE POKEMON TOWER?

GHOST-TYPES PLAYING PRANKS? MAYBE NOT.

I was starting to get a little freaked out as I read through these articles, but they all seemed rather old. Strange images, grainy and blurry, showed people and Pokemon alike, supposedly 'under the effect' of the thing that was 'haunting' the Pokemon Tower. My nerves eased, however, when I saw the next article:

TOWER MYSTERY SOLVED!

The mystery of the strange and frightening happenings at the Pokemon Tower has been solved! Apparently, due to the nature of the Pokemon Tower, Ghost-Type Pokemon found it to be a suitable home. Their nature and behavior alone seemed to be the cause of all the creepy things happening, from the illusions of actual ghosts to the so-called 'possession' of various Pokemon Psychics that worked in the tower.

That was all I needed to hear. I couldn't help but chuckle to myself. How dumb of me to actually be bothered by some of these stories! Clearly, it was all the work of the Ghost-Type Pokemon that I'd already known were here.

But, then again… the man at the counter still acted rather oddly. I went to ask Squirtle what he thought, hoping to get a laugh out of him, or at least a shrug telling me "You're silly, do you really believe this?" but neither came. Squirtle still wasn't looking at me. His eyes were glued to the window.