EDITOR'S NOTE: "I wrote more of this chapter than usual. Not all of it, but I've loved Lavender Town since I was a little girl playing Blue. My brother knows this, so he wrote some lines he wanted and let me loose. All plot deviations were agreed on before we started the story. I hope you can forgive us."

"The tower?" the nurse looked surprised. "Your Pokémon aren't dying. They're perfectly fine."

"The tower's a graveyard?" Red had the same expression that she did. "Is that why the town is on the map?"

"Unfortunately so," the nurse said as she handed Red his Pokémon and took Leaf's away for healing. "You didn't know this? Where do you come from?"

"Pallet Town."

"That would explain it, then."

The nurse didn't speak anymore. She merely did her job and waved them out, silently hoping that whatever had gotten into Lavender Tower lately would leave these travelers alone.

She could not expect that the travelers would not leave the tower alone.

When our heroes entered the tower, they were immediately reminded of the children's monster movies that had inspired Leaf to claim she was a witch in the first place. Red had always been more fascinated with the talking skeletons, but whenever he saw a blur of purple move from the corner of his eye, he wondered if attempting to get magical powers was a better idea.

As uncomfortable as he was in this place, Leaf looked even worse. She was pale and jumpy, as if her magic was telling her to turn around. "You can go back to the Pokémon Center," Red suggested, but she shook her head.

"How am I going to command the undead to do my bidding if I run in fear of spirits?" she challenged, and Red didn't suggest it again.

But there was always that thought at the back of his mind, telling him that this was a bad idea.

In hindsight, he should have listened to it.

The first floor of the building had nothing of real interest. The purple blurs never let them get a good look, but they stayed in the distance, and the people on the first floor were regular trainers mourning their departed Pokémon friends.

On the second floor, things got real.

The blurs still didn't attack, but they did dart in front of the siblings, and every now and then one would give them half a glimpse of a face. Occasionally, one would cackle maniacally. Most often, the silence spoke for itself.

Of course, things had to get even worse for poor Red. Blue was here, too. His Charmeleon was standing by his side, looking around in the hope of finding something.

"This is lame," Blue said, not noticing his former friends right behind him. "I thought I'd find some Ghost-types here. Instead, I'm getting nothing."

"Because even Ghost-types think you're a waste of time," Red interrupted, and Blue turned around, barely suppressing a scream.

"Oh," he said, trying to pretend it hadn't scared him. "It's you guys. What brings you here? Your Pokémon don't look dead."

"They're not. What are you doing here? You look way more dead than Charmeleon."

"I'm ghost hunting, you idiot." Blue gestured around at the tombstones. "This is the perfect place for Ghost-types to hang around. But I'm not finding any! Sometimes I think I see one, but then I focus and it's gone! How am I supposed to complete my Pokedex without one?"

"You don't need to complete your Pokedex on your first trip through Kanto," Leaf pointed out. Blue looked away from Red to focus on her, and for a second, he was almost worried. Of course, she noticed this, and smiled innocently. "Yes, I am loving it here," she lied. "It's perfect for my spooky evil spells. Maybe I'll teach Diana, when she's old enough to be an apprentice."

Blue prepared to run. Charmeleon stopped him. "If you do," he said slowly, "I will spray you with water until you melt." Leaf shrugged. Blue turned back to Red. "Well? What about a battle?"

"Better idea." Red grinned maniacally and stepped closer. "A battle of willpower. You explore this place with us. First one to scream loses."

Blue, who had pulled out a Pokeball, lowered it. "The Usual Punishment?" They heard the capital letters in his voice.

"Don't," Leaf ordered. She knew the Usual Punishment, and it was not something she ever wanted to witness again.

"The Usual Punishment," Red agreed, despite Leaf facepalming.

Blue called Charmeleon back to save room in the group. "You're on! Prepare to eat your words, Red! You're going down!" He laughed. "Literally."

As the trio continued their exploration, the Usual Punishment became more difficult to ignore. It wasn't due to sudden appearances of Ghost-type Pokémon, though Red hoped that the purple blurs were just a Gastly or two playing tricks. The main difficulty came from the other people.

They were mostly women, all of various ages, and no two were obviously related. However, every one of them was too pale to be healthy, moved in the same unnerving way that a Mr. Mime did, and did not speak to any of the others.

Then one woman saw Red (though he wasn't sure how, with her solid black eyes) and rushed forward, and Red had to bite his tongue to keep himself from screaming as she spoke in a low, scratchy voice that sounded like it hadn't spoken in years:

"Get out."

Red didn't have time to think before she released her Pokémon. All he could do was fight back with Diglett.

He won, obviously. The woman looked surprised for a moment, before she fell right to the floor. Leaf squeaked and Blue looked horrified, but Red got down to look for breathing.

"We're good," he promised when he noticed the woman's chest move. "She's not dead."

"So…" Leaf cleared her throat, trying to prevent her voice from shaking. "She fainted because she lost a battle?"

"Looks like it," Red agreed.

"And she didn't even pay you your prize money." Blue wasn't speaking with his usual condescending tone, more trying to keep calm than attempting to convince his temporary teammates to rob some unconscious old lady. "What a jerk, right?"

"We're jerks, too. We're leaving her here. We'll come back later."

Leaf took a deep breath, then let it out. "I need to know what's really going on, guys. There's too much I don't know. I don't know how magic works, or else I'd get better results. I don't even know my big brother's real name."

"It's –" Red started, but Leaf talked over him.

"But I know that this isn't normal. People her age have usually been trainers for years, which means she's probably lost a battle at some point."

"I haven't lost yet," Red pointed out.

Blue glared at him, as if Red had been the only person he'd ever lost to. "It's coming, don't worry."

Leaf felt her fingernails digging into her palms, and she focused on uncurling her fists one finger at a time. "I want to stay and figure out how this place can actually be haunted."

Red opened his mouth to object, preparing an argument about Ghost-type Pokémon. The woman had used them, after all. But then he stopped himself. Ghost-type Pokémon didn't possess people. Not often, anyway. Maybe they would for a prank, or to make a point. He didn't have one, so he wouldn't know.

"You're the one with the magic and the super-observation," he decided. "If you say it's haunted, then it's haunted. But do you know how to banish a ghost?"

Leaf paused, thinking it over. "I might need time," she said. "I haven't seen any ghost-banishing movies since I was a kid."

"You're a kid now."

"I meant, like, six!" She slapped his shoulder, and he decided that her putting her fear aside was proof that the ghost didn't want them to actually get hurt.

Blue looked around at everyone else, and tried not to think about this. "So we're going to knock out every person here?"

"Do you have a better idea?"

"We run away and survive."

He knew as he said it that they wouldn't let him do it. Still, he followed them anyway, and he wasn't sure if it was to keep his old friends alive or watch his rival lose a bet.

The three of them took turns freeing the channelers from the angry spirits. Every time, without fail, they panicked and had to check to make sure that no one was dead.

Still, despite the screaming (not from Red and Blue, and Leaf would deny the obvious if asked) and the horror movie antics, they fought their way through the tower.

Then it got worse.

The purple blurs, which Red confirmed that both of his companions also saw, still left them alone. Every now and then, one would get closer, but never more than a few feet. They agreed that they were all Ghost-types and left the blurs alone, too.

This theory was thrown completely out the window when they reached the last set of stairs. Red could tell it was the last set of stairs because it was blocked off by one of those same purple blurs. It was a move straight out of a video game – they'd entered an area too soon, and now they were going to be forced to backtrack. It didn't have to be a problem. But it was.

You see, the purple blur that blocked the trio's path had eyes.

And a mouth.

And a skull.

A Gastly didn't have a skull. But the skull wasn't human, and it didn't belong to any Pokémon that Red had registered in his Pokedex.

Blue, on the other hand…

"Is that a Marowak?"

Red was about to take a second look, but the ghost, or whatever it was, screamed, startling him into taking several steps back. Blue bit his tongue, hard, and wondered if that weird taste was blood or just his imagination. Leaf started shaking.

"What do you want?"

The ghost put a hand on her shoulder, and she almost screamed. Then Red saw his sister's eyes turn black, just like the channelers, and she spun around, the ghost using her as a puppet to communicate.

"The girl can stay," it said slowly, as if talking was something entirely new to it. Or at least, speaking Leaf's language. "You intruders must go."

Red went for Ralph's ball, but the ghost dropped its puppet and jumped forward.

Red and Blue screamed in unison.