AN: I don't own Danny Phantom or Pokémon.
Yawning, Haunter cracked open their eyes and saw sap and wood. Lazily, they drifted to the edge of the arboreal bed the Ghost-type had claimed. The sky was painted in the hours of twilight and getting brighter: dawn approached. Pulling its head back in, they decided a few more minutes couldn't hurt.
Then a bell rang.
Oh, right.
Remembering they were at the school building, Haunter poked their head just barely out of the tree. A few students milled about before the start of classes. The trio of friends wasn't seen, though a few of the self-centered ones were. Cautiously, Haunter remembered to drop from the visible spectrum and float over to see if there was anyone not over-inflated on their own egos. While floating over the nearby field with two large two-pronged fork-like structures at either end, a swirl of green and black appeared low to the ground. A portal! A way home? Before the ghost-type could even conceive of bolting for the potential way back, a dark shape flew out and the portal closed behind it. The shape looked around before vanishing entirely.
Haunter wasn't sure what they saw, but they knew they may as well keep an eye out. Maybe Danny Phantom may show up and deal with it as handily as they did with the Box Ghost. With caution in mind, Haunter flew invisibly for the entrance of the building to keep an eye on the teens and an eye out for any potential trouble.
Well isn't this dandy. Not a single sign of trouble and all the regulars were in. Though there were times Haunter wanted to intercede on that muscle-bound blonde jock's rampage, though it seemed that Human Danny always stepped in... and took the brunt of it. Haunter could not help but wince each individual incident this poor child ended up getting punched in the gut, stuffed in a locker, or humiliated in some other way. Wasn't there an elder? Someone who cared or could do something? Seems like there was neither, yet the Human Danny seemed to be quite durable, looking pained during the accosting, and bored and annoyed right after the bully leaves. After some invisible patrolling, Haunter saw the dark shape in the halls again! It's laughing was quiet, yet they thought they heard a "Dree dree dree!" as it floated by. Haunter noticed that it flew to a storeroom. After taking note, they then flew off to find a human they knew could fight it.
Though when they flew off to find the angry Val, she wasn't found in any of the classrooms, though after peaking through the roof of the building, the ghost-type saw a woman in black and red high-tech battle armor. She was on a matching hoverboard that split down the middle halfway making it look like she was riding a large, handle-less tuning fork. She was staring at a holographic display that was projected above her wrist when something she saw made her turn around. Toward Haunter. Luckily she was up a way and therefore looking up and down. Before she could lock eyes with Haunter -invisibility or no-, they had phased back into the building.
Different human. Got it.
After some searching and Val returning to class, Haunter saw Jazz again. Maybe? After all, she did admit her parents were ghost hunters. Quickly, the pokémon flew to her with its invisibility still up and lightly tapped her, avoiding to poke her with their claw.
"Huh?" Jazz, clearly confused starts looking around. The halls were finally thinning out, so Haunter tapped again, hoping that she didn't think it was a fellow teen.
"Uh... Haunter?" Jazz inquired. A long tap, a quick tap, and two more long taps. Y.
After a moment of silence, Jazz quietly spoke up, "I'm guessing yes. Follow me." She then briskly walked over to a room that was labeled Councilor, though once the door was open, Haunter could see that it was abandoned. Jazz spoke up again, "I'll keeps the lights off, the window in the door should give us enough light. Ms Spectra," the name was stated with clear distaste, "was considered pretty creepy so students mostly steer clear. Just let me-" She then began struggling with her messenger bag that she carried with her today before drawing out a strange device. It had a couple of dials for adjustments, a screen that displayed wavelengths of some kind, and a strange, coiling antenna. It had a few bulbs on it that probably lit up for some unknown purpose. This handheld device was about as long as a remote and yet about three to four times as wide.
"Haunt haunter haunt?"
"What is that thing? Fear me."
"It works! Kind of." Upon hearing the translation the machine gave. Haunter could only deadpan with distaste at the offending contraption. They did not say 'Fear me' at all. Where did it get that? Perhaps that is what Jazz meant by it kind of working.
"Haunter haunter haunt haunter?"
"Does it always use that tagline? Fear me."
Haunter once again deadpanned at the device once again. That would be a yes.
"I need to get Tucker to look at this, but it should be good for now. So, what did you want to tell me, Haunter?"
Doing its best to ignore the rude tagline, the pokémon then went into an explanation. First, how it got here and where from, what it was, and why it liked to hang around her. Jazz blushed a bit, though grew serious at Haunter's next sentence.
"Haunt haunt haunter haunter haunter haunt haunt haunter haunt. Haunter haunt haunter haunt haunt haunt. Haunter haunt haunter haunt haunter!"
"But then I saw another pokémon come through a portal. Didn't get a good look at them. However, they are hiding in school! Fear me."
"Okay, that is cause for concern. How are we going to deal with it? I mean, I don't want to bother Danny, he already has too much to deal with..." Jazz trailed off, both human and pokémon lost in thought. Jazz then perked up and snapped her fingers. "I have an idea!"
"Haunter haunt haunt haunter."
"I don't like this idea. Fear me."
After a quick rundown of the plan and armed with the knowledge of Haunter's move set -and turning the translation device down to a lower volume-, Jazz had managed to convince the gaseous pokémon to follow her to the storage room Haunter had seen the mysterious ghost hide away in. She says convince, Haunter says forced into a high-tech thermos. Upon being released, Jazz and Haunter have hidden behind a stack of overturned boxes from Haunters previous battle. Over at the far side, the ghost seemed to be experimenting with possession of inanimate objects. It would float over and phase into a box or crate or one of its contents, make it dance around, laugh, then phase out and laugh some more.
"Okay," Jazz whispered, "on my count, you jump out that and use Shadow Ball! Haunter then nodded, stealing its resolve. "Okay, one,"
The ghost twirled.
"two,"
It danced a tad.
"THREE!"
It froze in place as Jazz jumped out from her hiding spot and pointed at the shadowy apparition, "Now, Haunter, hit it with Shadow Ball!"
The specter froze and whirled around, eyes wide.
"Misdrevious?!"
"A trainer? Fear me."
Haunter ignored the insulting device and phased through the crates that were obstructing its view of its opponent. Haunter moved to used Shadow Ball, spitting the soccer ball-sized orb at the intended target. Their aim was true, hitting quite hard causing the new ghost to cry out in pain. Once the shadows disappeared, Haunter saw that this was indeed a pokémon, a Misdrevious. They were a purple-blue in color appearing like a head on a handkerchief. Their eyes were simple, black dots on a white expanse like Haunter's own were. Their head wisped out making it look like they had swept-back hair, where if it was subjected to gravity would fall below their jawline, fading into a light pink color.
And they were mad.
"Haunter."
"Uh-oh. Fear me."
Haunter whirled around to glare at the infuriating machine once again. "Look out!" Jazz called out in warning to the gaseous pokémon, however, her warning was too late. Misdrevious had bolted forward and shouted, "DREA!" making a dreadful face, causing Haunter to shriek, just a little bit. To say that Haunter was ASTONISHED would be an understatement. Needless to say, the battle was on in earnest.
"Okay, Haunter, shake it off! You've got this! Use Sucker Punch!" Haunter raised a claw ever so slightly, curling it into a fist. Misdrevious's eyes then began to glow, telling of an attack. In a panicky motion, Haunter shot forward themselves and swung out their fist as fast as they could-!
MISDREVIOUS avoided the attack!
Their eyes still glowing Misdrevious then surged the pink-purple energy forward that had been building. The resulting beam collided into Haunter's forehead! It was super-effective! Haunter listed in the air and threatened to drop, its vision spinning. However, they could hear a voice calling out to them. Struggling to remain floating, they focused on the voice. Hang in... can do it... believe... you got this... Wait, Jazz? Haunter shook their head and hung in there. They couldn't FAINT and leave this pokémon to her. That wouldn't be fair! This was a pokémon battle! A ghost-type no less! They had to stay up! Blast that Psychic-type move. It was hard to think. They had to stay in the fight. They had to stay to keep her happy, to make her smile. Not just to stay fed, no. They would never forgive themselves if they were the reason she was sad! Shaking their head, they floated just a bit higher to stay in, nearly missing the command for a Poison Jab. Quickly, and with hardly a thought, Haunter concentrated to bring most of their toxin to their left claw, causing it to glow a faint red aura gathering all three digits to a point and thrusting forward aiming for her forehead. The strike rang true, Misdrevious listing and looking a bit worse for wear. The toxin luckily would wear off. Regrettably, the opposing pokémon looked to still be in the fight, struggling to stay afloat, but nowhere near as badly as Haunter.
However, it did not faint. Rather, there was a faint pop, a strange sucking sound and a bright vortex of light that suddenly drew not just Misdrevious in, but Haunter as well!
"HAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNT!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Fear me."
"DRRREEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Fear me."
Both pokémon were then sucked into the strange thermos, trapped! It felt cramped, yet they didn't feel too close to where they had to back away to stare/glare at each other. Their attention was drawn to the outside when they heard the human responsible for their entrapment call to them, "Oops! I'm so sorry, Haunter! I didn't mean to get you caught in the Fenton Thermos, too! Oh man, Danny's NEVER going to let me live this down, either!" Haunter couldn't help but feel sorry for her, though they would be lying if they weren't amused by her last statement. Their attention returned to the Misdrevious they shared their confinement with. Before Haunter could comment, Misdrevious interceded.
"Misdre dre dre drevious, dre drevious misdrevious drevious dre dre drevious."
Just because she caught us, doesn't mean that I'll like you.
"Haunter haunt haunt haunter," came the reply.
I never said you have to.
The tension seemed to lessen as all grievances were instantly aired in two sentences. The container they were in rattled and stalled repeatedly. Each jostle seemed to weaken Misdrevious ever so slightly. Haunter glanced at them with an apologetic look.
"Haunter haunt haunt. Haunter haunt haunter haunter."
Sorry about that. I was just following orders."
"Misdrevious. Misdre dre drevious dre misdrevious."
It's okay. I would have hated you if you hadn't.
Haunter and Misdrevious rode the rest of the trip to wherever the heck they were going in relative peace, Haunter feeling more comfortable with the strange pokémon right next to them. They weren't sure, but they hoped that Misdrevious would eventually feel the same way towards them. After all, battling made pokémon and their trainers grow closer, why not the same for pokémon and their fellows?
After what felt like forever, though really just a whole school day, they were finally heading to their next destination, and perhaps the final one for the day due to the duration. Misdrevious had fainted for a while during classes due to the POISON, only just recently waking up from FAINTING. A long trip of jostling, rustling, and frantic muttering told the duo they were heading to a destination a fair distance away from the school building. Muffled rustling and chattering of four voices perked both pokémon up, allowing them to steel themselves for whatever was to occur next. A twist and a whoosh later, two pokémon were deposited into the center of a lab. Haunter recognized it as the lab they entered in when returning to the living realm, although bereft of the two adult humans they had encountered their first time there. However, there were four teens they did know forming a loose semi-circle around them: Sam, Tucker, Jazz, and Human Danny. Misdrevious was confused at their new surroundings. Haunter had noticed that Tucker was fiddling with the infernal translator, deep focus etched into their features ever so off-set by their tongue sticking out of the corner of their mouth. Sam held a lightly suspicious look, fiddling with a silver bracelet that had a deep-dish satellite that fit its one-inch width across her wrist. Jazz held worry on her features as she scooped up the gaseous pokémon as best she could and frantically inspected Haunter to determine if they had received any additional damage. Human Danny laughed at the exchanged and examined Misdrevious with far more caution and trepidation. In his hand, he held a strange device. The name was obscured by the appendage that held it, though it looked to be a thick tube no larger than a fat pen with a little satellite on top and a squeeze trigger that when pressed, caused the device to mist from the satellite. Danny spent some time spraying Misdrevious then turned to Haunter and after getting Jazz to calm down, sprayed them next.
The effects were as noticeable and immediate. Haunter's form seemed less frayed and wispy, more colorful, and less tired. What was that, a super potion?! Max potion!? They examined the results with a pleased look and grinned at Jazz. She seemed that she was about to speak when Human Danny interjected, "Look, I'm sure you said you were sorry, but Haunter's fine, see? No need to spazz out, Jazz." The older teen could only then shoot a hasty glare that spoke of a friendly sibling rivalry that rarely ever showed, seeing as how under-used that looked appeared on her face. Returning to her normal happy attitude, "Well, I'm just glad you were okay. I wasn't totally sure, but I was hoping that the Thermos prevented your injuries from being agitated further."
"Misdrevious dre," was the bitter yet muttered reply from the beaded pokémon. The lack of an effeminate digital voice caused Haunter's gaze to fall upon Tucker, still toying around with the translator. They floated closer, much to the annoyance, yet allowance, of Sam. Tucker's attention was briefly diverted to acknowledge the pokémon before returning to their work.
"Oh, hey. Just trying to get this stupid machine to stop saying, 'Fear me' after every translation. Man, it's annoying." After a few moments of work, Tucker then started and snapped their attention to Haunter, then to Misdrevious then back. Haunter stared back.
"Haunt?" - "What?" Haunter and Sam managed to state simultaneously. Tucker gaped like a Magikarp, the Carp pokémon, out of the water. Finally, he cried out, "How did I only just now notice?!"
"What, that it's only a head with claws?" Sam asked sardonically. Tucker gave an upset look at her before retorting, "No, that these are pokémon! Like from the video game! Or TV show, or whatever!" His face adopted awe at by the end of the last phrase. Hold up, video game? TV show? Why would Haunter be from there? Wouldn't they know about it? Or would they? Oh well, what's it matter? It's real to them.
Sam remained unimpressed, "Uh, Tuck, in case you didn't notice, they're ghosts, they set off Danny's ghost sense. Why would they be Pokemon? Maybe they're just ghosts from the ghost zone that look a lot like them?" She had her hands on her hips, largely unimpressed with his deduction.
"I don't know, Sam, maybe Tucker's right," Danny interceded, "after all, the Ghost Zone is called the Infinite Realms for a reason. Maybe they just ended up here from another world because of a natural portal or something or another," he trailed off, seemingly not fully convinced by his own theory. Sam, on the other hand, was still frustrated.
"But they're both here. In two days. Each! How would that be possible!?"
Almost as if in response, there was an ethereal rumble, both low and high pitched, which resonated through the lab. All eyes turned to the Fenton Portal, still closed and locked.
AN: For more info on this story and others, please check out my blog. Info for it in my bio. Warning! Spoilers in bio!
