As the world begins to look brighter for our heroes, Ash and Misty, they come across Lavender Town. Home of the Ghost Pokemon.

"Ash, this is the one town I was hoping we wouldn't go through." Misty admitted, having lurked behind several steps the entire way through the town.

"Gary says there's a Ghost badge with my name on it here. We have to find the gym."

"But you don't even have any Pokemon that can take on Ghost types. You're outmatched."

Ash thought about it. He could always switch his Pokemon out at a terminal... but he didn't want to do a whole lot of that until he made it to the League. It was time for his current Pokemon to train and grow.

"Riolu!" Riolu was chasing Pikachu around while the group walked. It's playful nature reminded Ash of a lot of the Pokemon he'd caught over the years. He'd never been the kind of trainer to force them to work all day and night. All work and no play made for a boring adventure.

"Pika!" Riolu grabbed onto Pikachu's tail, receiving a zap for the effort.

"Rio..."

"You gotta be careful buddy. Pikachu loves to play with you but grabbing onto his tail can hurt him." Ash said, gingerly picking up Riolu.

"Riolu!" Riolu jumped on top of Ash's head and then began to bounce from his head to Misty's to low tree branches.

"Hahahaha." Misty laughed.

Ash kept an eye on Riolu while he played, even though Pikachu was keeping on its tail pretty well.

Ash and Misty finally reached the edge of Lavender Town.

"Hm. I didn't see the gym anywhere." Ash admitted.

"Maybe it was in the tower... or hidden like on Cinnabar?" Misty suggested.

A movement in the grass was sensed by Riolu.

"Rio?" Riolu spun around, searching for the disturbance.

"Pika?"

Riolu ran over to Ash and jumped on his shoulder.

"Rio, Rio, Rio! Riolu!"

"What's wrong buddy?" Ash asked, looking at the Pokemon on his shoulder.

"RIOLU!" Riolu pointed towards the grass.

"There's nothing there buddy." Ash said.

"RIO!"

"Okay... okay. I'll check it out." Ash stepped towards the bush and felt a shiver down his spine.

"Ash be careful."

Ash ignored Misty's warning and looked behind the bush.

"Just like I thought. Nothing there." Ash sighed.

"Rio."

"It's okay..."

A dark shape appeared behind Misty.

"Misty watch out!"

Riolu leaped off Ash's shoulder with incredible speed and kicked down the figure with an expert move.

"Riolu!"

"Great job buddy. What was that?" Ash wondered.

The figure got back up, and pounced on Riolu.

Pikachu leaped into action, delivering an Iron Tail attack squarely.

The figure grabbed Pikachu's tail and threw the electric Pokemon.

"Pikachu!" Ash called out, "Riolu return!" Riolu was unwillingly forced back into the Pokeball. "Growlithe, let's go."

"Growlithe!" The puppy Pokemon barked.

"Flamethrower!"

"Grrroooowwwwl!"

The attack met a dark ball of energy in a small explosion.

"Fire spin!"

The small figure was quickly surrounded by a wall of fire.

"Run!" Misty said, scooping up the injured Pikachu and running towards Ash and Growlithe.

Ash grabbed Growlithe, even though the Pokemon was a hundred times faster than him, and started running.

"Growl..." Ash and Misty skidded to a stop, interrupted by a floating figure.

"Ghastly." Ash remembered, having seen this specific Ghost type once or twice before.

Behind them, Gengar reappeared.

"Gengar!"

"Ghastly!"

Ash let Growlithe down, not confident that Growlithe could take on the Ghost types.

"Dewgong, come out." Ash said, releasing his watery friend.

"Dewgong!"

Ash wasn't sure whether to start the battle or avoid it.

"Aurora Beam; Flamethrower."

His two Pokemon's attacks collided with the Ghost types, doing damage but not as much as he would've liked.

"Enough!"

Ash spun around and saw someone behind Gengar, who spun around to watch the trainer.

"Gengar, Ghastly, return!" The figure was revealed to be a dark skinned, bald man with a beard, "Sorry about that fellas. The Ghosts 'round here like to stir up havoc when I'm not watching."

"No problem. Do you know where a Pokemon Center is?" Misty asked, gesturing to Pikachu.

"Nearest one would be in Saffron City." The man confessed, "But I have a small clinic nearby. Come along."

Ash and Misty followed him to a small building near Lavender Tower.

The man did some work and gave Pikachu some medicine. In no time Pikachu was chipper as could be.

"Thank you." Ash said to the man.

The man nodded, releasing his Ghost Pokemon.

"Now what did I tell you two about terrorizing visitors?"

"Gengar..."

"Ghastly..."

"Ever since their brother left a few years back, they just started acting up in strange ways. I thought catching them and having them battle would help them gain some kind of discipline. But they only behave on the battlefield."

"Was their brother Haunter?" Misty asked.

Ash took a knee and looked at Gengar and Ghastly.

He could see visions all of a sudden. He was flying... holding Misty... then...

He blinked and fell backward.

"Geng geng geng." Gengar and Ghastly laughed.

"You know these Pokemon?" The man asked.

Ash nodded, rubbing his rear.

"We met back on my first journey in the Indigo League. Almost five years ago."

"These two and Haunter captured Ash and Pikachu in a ghost-like state. They scared me half-to-death... I mean us."

"And you're the ones Haunter left with?"

Ash nodded, "But he decided to stay in Saffron city with the Gym Leader Sabrina to make her laugh... which is something all three of them love to do."

Gengar and Ghastly started laughing uncontrollably again.

"Hey, you said you're in the Pokemon League?"

Ash nodded, "I was actually looking for the gym here when we came across Gengar. You wouldn't know where it is do you?"

He nodded, pulling a book off his shelf and revealing a very Scooby-Doo hiding place.

"It's underground because ghosts like dark places"

Ash and Misty followed the man tentatively down the staircase. At one point Ghastly appeared in front of them and they screamed, grabbing each other.

"That's not very nice." Ash complained, forgetting to let go of Misty.

"Um... Ash."

Ash backed off and followed the man again.

When they reached the bottom, a huge battlefield was suspended by chains.

"What's your name kid?" The man asked from the other side of the floor.

"Ash Ketchum."

"The match between Ash Ketchum and the gym leader, Mark, is now underway. Each trainer will use one and only one Pokemon, with a time limit of three minutes."

"Time limit?" Ash asked.

"If a gym leader chooses to set a time limit, the challenger has to beat them within that limit or lose the match." Misty told him, "Be careful Ash."

Ash had to think fast if he was going to win this one.

"Growlithe, I choose you!"

"Go, Gengar!"

Growlithe started to growl, ready to battle.

The bell rang.

"Agility!"

Growlithe started running around, its speed rising sharply as it moved.

"Gengar, use dark pulse!"

The attack missed, colliding with a chain and rocking the stadium.

"Flamethrower!"

"Growl!"

Gengar leapt away.

"Shadow ball!"

The dark attack missed Growlithe by inches.

"Growlithe!"

"Fire spin!"

"Rain dance!"

"What?" Ash asked, watching rain crash down on the flames that surrounded Gengar.

The fire was smoldered in seconds.

"Two minutes remaining..." Ash muttered, "I gotta do something."

"Hyper Beam!"

Growlithe was not fast enough to avoid this attack, and he crashed, sliding towards the side of the field.

"Growlithe!" Ash yelled, wanting to run to his friend, but not wanting to count him out either.

"Growwwwl." Growlithe got up and bared his teeth.

"Gengar!"

"Gengar... use Shadow Ball!"

"Growlithe, fire blast!"

The two attacks clashed, leaving Gengar confused... where had Growlithe gone?

"He's behind you!"

"Fire blast!"

Gengar took the full force of the attack from behind, sending Gengar tumbling down the field towards Ash.

"Sixty seconds left..." Mark whispered to himself, "Hold on Gengar!"

"Growlithe tackle attack!"

'A break.' Mark thought to himself, 'this kid has to be an idiot to use a normal type move on a Ghost Pokemon.'

Gengar did not dodge, but let Growlithe pass through him.

Growlithe skidded to a stop feet away and summoned his energy.

"Fire blast!"

Mark's smile disappeared faster than Gengar flew across the field.

Mark nodded approvingly and recalled Gengar, signaling that the match was over.

"We did it!" Ash yelled, running to Growlithe and letting the puppy cover him in kisses.

"That was definitely an interesting battle Ash. I never considered using a normal move like Tackle to get close to a Ghost. Did you train your Growlithe to do that?"

"Not exactly," Ash admitted, "But I trusted him to know what i was thinking."

"That's the sign of a great Pokemon trainer." Mark told him, "And as a symbol of your victory here in Lavender Town, I present you this Ghost badge."

Ash took it gratefully and tried to contain his excitement.

"Ash has always been the kind of trainer to try different things on the fly. It's what makes him an interesting battler." Misty said.

"Yep, your boyfriend sure knows how to battle Pokemon. I'll be watching for you when you make it to the Pokemon League. Good luck Ash."

"Thanks." Ash said, shaking Mark's hands.

Mark bent down and patted Growlithe's snout, "And you too Growlithe.'"

Growlithe licked his hand and barked happily.

Ash and Misty were about halfway to Saffron city when Misty realized what Mark had said, "your boyfriend."

Misty looked at Ash and thought about her little crush on him. It had always been there. But she never even hinted at it (that she was aware). Ash had always been just a guy, not really a boyfriend... just a boy and a friend.

But seeing how much he'd changed over the years made her think about all the sacrifices he'd made for the good of others. He had literally risked his life for the Pokemon several times... so many times she thought she'd had lost him.

When they camped that night, Misty found herself humming to a song.

"What's that song you keep humming? It sounds great."

Misty realized what she'd been doing and set down her bowl, "Um... just a little kids melody. Nothing major."

Ash nodded and curled up in his sleeping bag, "Good night."

"Good night Ash... sweet dreams." When Misty was sure he'd fallen asleep, she began to sing the words to the melody she'd hummed earlier.

"Out here in the quiet of the night... beneath the stars... and moon.

We both know we've got something on our minds... we won't admit.

But it's true.

You look at me."

Misty looked at Ash, cuddled up by Riolu, Growlithe, and Pikachu.

She smiled, he was so loving when it came to his Pokemon.

"I look away...

I wanna tell you what I'm feeling

But I don't know how to start

I wanna tell you but now I'm afraid

That you might break my heart

Oh why should,

anything so easy ever be so hard to do?

I want to tell you what I'm feeling and to say that..."

Ash turned over in his bag, still holding Riolu like a teddy bear.

"I love you." Misty whispered in song.

She stepped over to him and pulled the sleeping bag over him some more, as it had fallen a smidge. She kissed his cheeck lightly and went to go get some sleep herself.