Chapter 25 – Fog

Arthur awoke to an empty room. It took him a moment to realize where he was exactly. Everything was still, the only noise being the soft hum of the air cooling unit somewhere in the building pumping the breeze throughout the centre.

As he stood up, Arthur noticed a note placed on the table by the window of their small rented out room.

Arthur,

I've taken the Pokemon down to get some food and allow them to get ready for the day. I wanted to
let you sleep a bit more. Get ready, then come down. I'll meet you in the cafeteria here at the centre.

Lyra

Arthur smiled at his friends thoughtfulness. This was the first time in a while that Arthur actually felt fully refreshed. His mind was more at ease now, thanks to Argyra's intervention the night before. And today he would take on Morty's gym. It wasn't going to be an easy battle. Morty was one of the most feared trainers in both Kanto and Johto. It wasn't because he was overly powerful, not like Clair or Blue, but rather, his strategy. He used his ghost types natural affinity for moving through solid objects as defence and counted on causing nightmares and hallucinations to obtain victory. That is what made him such a feared trainer.

Arthur took his time getting ready. His watch read 9:45am by the time he had left the room and headed down to meet up with his team. The temperature outside was quite warm for Ecruteak, but Arthur was dressed in a pair of black dress shoes, dark jeans and a royal blue button down shirt. This was somewhat covered by his black dress vest, but the colours still made his eye's really stand out. Walking down, he found Lyra exactly where she said she would be, surrounded by both his and her Pokemon.

"So what's the plan this time?" Blaze asked as Arthur sat down.

"What I can't even get a bite to eat first?"

"I already ate, so let's hear it."

"Blaze it's like this... shut up." His fiery friend started laughing while both Delphin and Syrio looked on confused. Lyra smiled as well though she couldn't understand half the conversation.

"Good sleep?" she asked, handing him some food. Eggs, bacon and toast were on the plate, and a glass of apple juice to wash it all down.

"It was. And thanks for letting me sleep in a bit. You didn't have to you know."

"I know but it seemed rude to wake you."

"Well thank you." Arthur noticed Blaze hungrily eyeing up his bacon. "If you touch any of this, I'm sending you back to the lab and battling the gym without you" Arthur told his partner. Blaze feigned a look of mock hurt.

"You wouldn't!" Arthur just shook his head laughing. Arthur ate his meal in relative silence watching his Pokemon prep themselves, and Lyra brush her Venonat. While Arthur watched he sat thinking about his strategy. Spirits were difficult to fight, and Morty was an expert. He wasn't quite as old as some of the Elite Four members who specialized in ghosts, but Arthur knew Morty was among the best ghost trainers out there.

"Alright guys, lets head outside" Arthur said once he was finished and cleaned up. His team followed him out back to the gardens behind the centre. It was quiet here at this time in the morning. The change in vibe and activity was nice here in Ecruteak. Where Goldenrod was bustling and busy, Ecruteak was old and quiet. There was almost a reverence here, something old and powerful, mixed with the newer and youthful. It was, Arthur reflected, an excellent place to sit down and take stock. There were also plenty of ghosts living here, the perfect place to raise a ghost-type gym.

"Syrio, Delphin, you're both new to the team, but you've made some huge strides. I may have to call upon you both to help out in today's battle. It's going to be a tough fight I'm sure." Arthur started out.

"What are we going up against?" Syrio asked. His usual michevious side had given way to a more serious tone, something that told Arthur the bug was ready to fight.

"Morty is a ghost-type gym leader. So he'll be using Pokemon who aren't easy to track, nor hit. That said, I believe you guys have the skills to overcome this problem. Blaze, you're going to run point, while Lucky, I'm going to use you as backup."

"What about me?" Muscle piped in. She looked ready to go for sure, but Arthur was pained by the decision he was going to have to make.

"I'm really sorry Muscle, but there's an aspect of ghost types which makes them immune to both fighting and normal-type moves."

"So?"

"So it means that none of your moves will have an effect on any of Morty's Pokemon." The poor fighting Pokemon looked devastated. She wasn't sure how to handle the news that there was a threat out there she was unable to fight.

"What about me? Can I fight?" Boo asked. Arthur was in a dilemma with Boo. Technically she was strong against her own type. But on the flip side, she was also weak against ghost type moves. And not knowing many strong ghost moves herself, Boo was at a serious disadvantage.

"I'm not sure yet Boo. While you can attack effectively, so can they. We'll have to see how the battle goes." Arthur looked around. He knew his team was ready. The wild card was how far Morty was willing to push this battle. Because if Arthur knew anything about Morty, it was the fact that he was searching for something more than Arthur knew and it would make him dangerous.

The doors to the gym opened into darkness. It was like the warmth of the day had been sucked away. Lyra shivered involuntarily beside Arthur as he walked in. The gym attendant Stan was there, and even he looked uneasy. Arthur nodded to him as he entered.

"Arthur, good to see you here. Are you ready? Morty isn't an easy customer. His spirits are powerful."

"So are my teams" Arthur replied. The attendant nodded.

"In case you weren't aware, Morty uses Ghost types. Normal and fighting attacks won't damage them. And normally ghosts are only weak against themselves or dark types."

"So I've heard. Thank you."

"Lyra, the viewing area is just over this way" Stan said directing Lyra behind him. He turned back to Arthur to tell him one last thing about this gym. "Be careful walking here. There is a hidden pathway, and the only way to get to Morty is to walk the path of spirits. You'll have to battle a few wizened graces to face Morty himself. Be careful." Arthur took a deep breath then stepped forward. Lyra watch fearfully as her friend walked away.

"Arthur, good luck!" she called out. Something about this gym gave Lyra the creeps. Her friend however looked back at Lyra and gave her his token wink and smirk. At least one of them wasn't worried.

Arthur walked onto the path, his Pokemon safely kept in their Pokeballs. He would have preferred to keep Blaze out for some extra light, but he wasn't overly worried. The strange presence of ghosts seemed to be everywhere, and the mists covering the floor gave a haunted feeling to the gym. Confidently though, Arthur walked forward towards the first underling. His next badge wasn't far away.

Lyra

Lyra walked to the viewing area. When she got there, she felt even more scared then before. Down below, Morty stood with his eyes closed and hands clasped behind his back. He looked completely at ease here in this misty and haunted gym. In fact the fog and mists surrounding the gym leader caused his legs to look ghostly and as if he was floating as well as the white blended with the swirling smoke. The shadows around him seemed blacker than anywhere else in the gym hiding parts of his upper body with was covered in a black shirt and purple scarf, and the minimal light kept part of his features in the dark adding to the foreboding nature. Lyra wasn't sure how Arthur was going to handle this gym.

"Lyra?" Lyra looked around as she heard her name. A little ways down the viewing area Lyra had failed to notice a couple other spectators, one of them being the Kimono girl Naoko whom Arthur and Lyra had helped back in the Ilex forest.

"Naoko? Hi! What are you doing here?"

"I heard Morty was facing a rather strong opponent today and decided to come and watch. I take it his opponent will be Arthur?"

"Yeah. He's hoping to get his fourth badge today."

"Well then, it looks like Morty will have his hands full not the other way around." Lyra was confused by that statement but didn't pursue it. There was something about the Kimono girls that seemed unsettling to Lyra. Like they were keeping a secret no one else knew about. "Oh how rude of me, but I should introduce you to my sister, Miki." Lyra nodded her head politely. She was about to continue the conversation when she heard another voice.

Morty's voice carried through the fog and gym as if magnified and quieted all at once. Lyra could hear him just as if he was standing beside her.

"So good of you to come here to this historic city. Pokemon have long since been revered here in Ecruteak. Prophecies state that a rainbow-hued Pokemon will descend from the skies to meet a truly powerful trainer. I believe those tales, and thus I have trained my entire life."

Lyra looked over. Morty had paused for a moment, and another person had arrived to watch the match. Eusine came to sit over by Lyra and the two Kimono girls.

"Has the match started yet?" he asked as he sat.

"No we are still waiting for the challenger to arrive" Miki said.

"I'm glad you got my message." Lyra looked from Eusine who was catching his breath having run in and the Kimono girls.

"What are you talking about? Why are you all so anxious to see this particular gym match?" Lyra asked. Eusine looked to the Kimono girls for an answer.

"Because we believe Morty is mistaken" Naoko answered.

"What do you mean?"

"He believes he is the chosen trainer. The one to summon Ho-oh from the skies and harness the power of the legends of old. Ecruteak has long since been a place of reverence, and the old stories are more fact than fiction here still."

"Morty and I spent much of our time studying these stories" Eusine said jumping in. He was looking down to his friend standing on the battlefield. "But I fear he's started to become obsessed about the wrong things. Legends don't look for power, but for something else. Something similar to what your friend Arthur has. You saw the reaction Suicune had at the Burned Tower. I fear Morty may believe that defeating Arthur will give him the power to summon the legendary bird down from the skies. And he will stop at nothing to achieve his goal." Lyra listened to all this, and looked down. Morty had finally opened his violet eyes to watch the approaching figure through the fog. The look within them filled Lyra with a sense of fear which she had never known. This wasn't just a regular gym battle anymore and Arthur wasn't even aware of it.

"Arceus..." she whispered. Three heads beside her nodded in agreement.

Arthur

Arthur heard Morty start to speak as he defeated the channelers withing the gym. He walked slowly to the battlefield and faced the gym leader. Morty almost appeared to be floating, and his violet eyes were filled with desire and eagerness. Here was a man who thought his goals were near.

"My training has allowed me the vision to see what others cannot! I have seen the shadow of a person in front of Ho-oh and I know it is me! Your defeat will bring me to the level I need in order to accomplish everything I have desired!" Arthur's eyes turned from staring into the oceans depths to a steel surface. Now he understood what was riding on this battle.

"Morty I came here to defeat you. And I'm not leaving this place without a badge." A small smirk crossed the leaders face.

"Then let us begin." Another figure stepped forward, the referee.

"This will be a four on four match. The first person to make all their opponents Pokemon faint will be the winner. Only the challenger may substitute Pokemon. Trainers ready? Begin!"

"Ghastly let us start!" Morty released his first Pokemon, the ethereal ball of gas. The ghost was grinning and looked ready to fight.

"Blaze, you're up!" Arthur released the Volcano Pokemon onto the battlefield. "Let's kick things off with Ember!" Blaze's form was partially obscured by the mists but the fire on his head and back was clearing an area. With a growl, Blaze unleashed his small fire attack, the shimmering waves of heat cutting through the fog to where the Ghastly floated. Just as the attack was about to hit however, the ghost seemed to diffuse away, leaving no trace as to where it might be.

"What the..." Blaze said confused. Arthur frowned. None of the previous encounters with spirits had ever begun with having his opponent evaporate.

"Blaze stay calm" Arthur said quietly. Morty was just smiling.

"Having troubles already? Most people start to think about giving up at this point."

"Most people aren't me" Arthur replied. "Blaze, on your four. Blast away!" Arthur watch as his friend adjusted his aim and sent forth more fire. This time the attack struck true taking down the small ghost. That wiped the smirk off Morty's face.

"How...?"

"Even ghosts have a tell. You just have to know what to look for." Arthur didn't feel the need to enlighten Morty with the knowledge that Arthur too trained a Ghastly. After having noticed Ghastly's afflicting the surrounding environment enough while battling, Arthur had clued in to the abnormal mist movement where the ghost had been travelling.

"Well then, let's see how you handle my Gengar!"

Lucky

Lucky was ready. He trusted Arthur explicitly. There was no questioning his loyalty to his friend and father. All that could not quite suppress the shiver which ran through Lucky's body as Arthur brought him out against the gym leader's next ghost. Lucky was more attuned to emotions than the other Pokemon on Arthur's team. As such, he could tell that there was more to this battle than previous ones based off the feelings Arthur was giving off. Lucky could sense suspicion, unease, caution, but also determination, a belief in Lucky and the rest of the team and confidence. That was one aspect about Arthur that drew Lucky to his trainer more than anything else. No matter the situation, Arthur was always confident in himself and his team. He knew he could deal with any situation through his way. Now it was Lucky's turn to finally earn Arthur a badge.

Lucky eyed up his opponent. The Gengar towered over Lucky, but that was not the intimidating part. No it was the grin spread across the ghost type's face and the evil look that was given off. The mists surrounding the two combatants gave this battle an ethereal feel to the happiness Pokmeon.

From somewhere beyond the fog, Lucky heard the command for a Sucker Punch, but the voice was filled with longing and the slightest hint of anger. There was something off about whom they were battling, but Lucky couldn't worry about that right now. He needed to find where the ghost was coming from, seeing as soon as the command had been called out, the shadow Pokemon had disappeared.

"Lucky don't try to attack but rather, use Yawn!" The Togetic sat down and started to yawn wide. As suddenly as the Gengar had disappeared, it appeared right off to the side of Lucky. It looked incredibly confused as to why an opponent would not even try to fight back but rather just look sleepy.

"What are you playing at?" Morty said.

"I'm not just going to give you a free attack. That's why I choose Lucky here. Your ghost type moves won't have an effect."

"We'll just have to see about that! I can still put you to sleep! Gengar Hypnosis!" Lucky vaguely heard Arthur call out to get away from Gengar, but there was just something alluring about the ghost which was pulling Lucky into a drowsy state. He could almost just fall asleep, when suddenly Gengar not Lucky toppled over asleep. Whatever the ghost was exuding to put Lucky to sleep was gone and the winged Pokemon fluttered higher to shake the effects of Hypnosis off.

Lucky looked over at his trainer who was visibly wearing his relief. Morty on the other hand looked furious. It was almost like he had never had his Pokemon put to sleep before.

"Lucky time to deal out some damage. Extrasensory!" Now Arthur was really getting into the battle. Lucky could feel the rising excitement in his trainer along with the much more muted incredulity and shock coming from Morty. Lucky drew upon the power within himself and pushed it out to psychically feel out his opponent lying on the field. Then he unleashed the sensory overload upon Gengar causing the ghost to shiver and spasm. The effect was almost hard to watch, but it ended quickly, and with Gengar near fainting.

Lyra

"Arthur is really giving Morty a hard time" Eusine commented. Lyra glanced sideways at the man. He was, in some ways, much the same as the two battling down below. He made his desire plain for all to see and chased his dream stubbornly. But Morty had been drawn to Arthur in a much different way.

"Yes he is the first challenger to stop Morty's Gengar in some time" Naoko said. Everyone was watching so intently Lyra was surprised they were all still breathing. She felt like she had been holding her breath the entire time. Morty's rising anger and desire were almost palpable. Arthur on the other hand was keeping it cool, but the look of determination told Lyra he knew what was really at stake. And it was clear that no Pokemon was giving an inch.

The group in the stands watched as Arthur's Togetic took down the opposing Gengar. Morty was now down to two Pokemon.

"Arthur still hasn't seen the worst of what Morty can do" Miki said quietly. Naoko and Eusine nodded, the later frowning. Lyra felt the cold tendrils of dread creep in to her mind.

Arthur

Arthur returned Lucky as Morty sent out a Haunter next. He was starting to feel better and more elated as if Haunter was next up, then there was a good chance that Arthur and Lucky had defeated the most powerful opponent Morty could throw at them. So Arthur brought Blaze back out.

"Alright Blaze, same drill as before."

"You should never underestimate a gym leader. You may think you have this in the bag but we're far from over!" Morty said. Arthur noticed the same burning desire still lighting up Morty's eyes.

"Blaze hit it with a Flame Wheel!" Blaze immediately threw himself into a ball of fire which charged up to hit the Haunter. Much to Arthur's astonishment however, the Haunter accepted the attack wincing as it still took some damage and felt the heat and burns of the fire encasing Blaze. It was too late to realize what Morty had planned.

"People always make this mistake. You just assumed you'd defeated me. Well now we change the rules!" Arthur watched helplessly as the spirit put Blaze into a deep sleep. It floated up a bit and dropped the unconscious fire type, who landed hard on the battlefield floor.

"Alright Morty, let's see how you like this then! Syrio you're up!" Arthur recalled his starter and brought out Syrio. The bug immediately sized up his opponent.

"What are you grinning about spiky?" the giant mantis said.

"Just imagining what your darkest fear is" the ghost replied in a whisper.

"Haunter use Hypnosis again!"

"Syrio don't watch it! Use your speed and keep moving!" Syrio responded at once becoming a blur only able to be seen by the parting mists.

"Haunter just keep it up!" Morty yelled. Arthur realized that his strategy depended on putting the opponent to sleep now. They had stepped outside the confines of typical straight up attacking in battle, to a more subtle way of inducing pain and achieving victory. If Arthur didn't make a move now, Syrio would just tire himself out and make an easy target for the waiting Haunter.

"Syrio quick, move in for False Swipe!" The blur changed direction cutting in hard. Arthur was hoping he would draw in his opponent to attack. Unfortunately Morty was not so easily swayed by an easy target. Syrio tore right through Haunter, but in that brief instant before attack, Haunter's Hypnotic powers struck Syrio. The mantis collapsed.

"Now Haunter, use Dream Eater!" The ghost moved in and opened its mouth wide while passing through the Scyther's prone body. Arthur could only watch in horror as an inky substance followed the spirit away from Sycther. He also noted that the Haunters scared and burned hands from Blaze's Flame Wheel strike were healed up after the attack.

"Now add on Nightmare!" Haunter's grin widened, if that was possible, and placed either hand on the sides of Syrio's head. The effects were immediate. Syrio cried out and convulsed. Now Morty was showing the true power of ghost Pokemon. They didn't need to attack to win. They just put horror into their opponents. As Arthur looked on at his terrified Pokemon, he understood why Morty sent challengers fleeing in fear.

"Do you see my power now? You cannot hope to defeat me!" Morty cried. Arthur steeled himself.

"Morty do you really think you can scare me into submission? It doesn't work that way. I came here to win, and that's what I'm going to do. Syrio return!" Arthur raised the ball and recalled his Pokemon.

"Arthur you cannot win. I am the chosen one to call upon the legendary Ho-oh!"

"And what if you're wrong? You say you're this chosen person from prophecy, yet all I see is a gym leader. Why have you not achieved any greater power? Why am I the person you need to defeat? Are you sure you even understand at all?"

"You don't know anything. I have seen the visions, and I know I am right! This power will be mine!"

"Have it your way then. Lucky come back out and finish this!" Arthur sent back out the smallest member of his team. The Togetic was ready. "You'll need to get through Lucky to get your 'power' Morty. And I'm telling you right now, that's not going to happen!"

"Haunter use Hypnosis!"

"Lucky, counter it with Extrasensory!" Lucky started glowing, along with the Haunter. The ghosts Hypnosis attack was cut off mid way as it fell to the excruciating overload of nerves that Lucky assaulted. Morty looked shocked. He had assumed, based off Arthur's look of fear and pain while his Scyther was on the field, that he had won. By getting into his opponents heads, Morty was able to play off self-doubt and afflict images of horror, scaring most trainers who dared face him. Arthur somehow was able to completely ignore it however; almost as if he didn't believe in Morty's true power. Morty sent out his last Pokemon, another Haunter.

"Alright Lucky. It's time to wrap this up."

"Use Sucker Punch!"

"Metronome!" Haunter disappeared into the mists, and Lucky started waving its hands back and forth, until a small blue glow happened around them. Arthur could feel the battle coming down to this one attack. If this gamble paid off, then Arthur would win. Haunter snuck up on Togetic and landed its blow, but backed off immediately as Lucky started to glow.

Arthur's team:
Blaze (Quilava) - lv. 30
Boo (Ghastly) - lv. 24
Lucky (Togetic) - lv. 26
Muscle (Machop) - lv. 25
Delphin (Eevee) - lv. 25
Syrio (Scyther) - lv. 26

I decided to break this gym battle up into two chapters after realizing how long it was getting. Hope your enjoying it, and please let me know if you like the differing points of view and thoughts that we get to see.