For days the temperature had dropped, transitioning from fall into winter. The colourful leaves decayed into brown, though there was no sign of snowfall yet, the chilled wind and clouds overhead gave heavy signs that it would happen soon. A deep exhale let out a puff of steam as the heat met the cold. One may wonder why someone would choose to keep travelling with the threat of an incoming storm, for the weather looked just as bad as it was going to be. Shinso was one such traveller, too far from home and not close enough to the next town to make it before the storm.

Armed with a hoodie, the purple-haired boy fought against the wind. Despite the trees, the wind still blew strong against them. You would think that a forest would break the wind a little, but with the way the trees were moving, the wind was way harsher than what they were dealing with. Pokemon that would usually walk with him were hidden away within his backpack and Ralts in his hoodie with him, the only that walked with him was Gengar, Phantump and Zorua. The poor tiny pokemon had to fight against the wind, a single well-placed gust could probably blow them away. It was good that Gengar was there to keep that from happening, but they had to find shelter soon before the storm got worse.

As Shinso and his wind-battered pokemon made their way through the forest, a small flicker of light caught his attention. His attention turned to focus on that single ray of light that glinted off, what looked to be a fence gate, a big one. "Gengar," Shinso shouted to get his Pokémon's attention, a gate means someone lives here, right? As desperate as it made him feel, he would rather ask a stranger for a place to wait out the storm than try to brave it and get sick or lost.

He made his way to the fence, noticing that the gate was open and it was clear that the gate had once been locked closed by vines. Shinso had a bad feeling crawling up his spine... either that or the wind was sneaking up the back of his shirt. The man and his Pokemon made their way down the path from the gate, surprising enough, hidden behind a few trees, was a mansion. Two, maybe three floors high and huge. With all the trees in the way and plants that covered the building, it would have been surprisingly easy to miss.

Being this close to the house, it was painfully clear that no one lived here, but it was better than nothing. "Maybe it's nicer on the inside," he stated, looking to Gengar who had a worried look on her face. "Don't worry, we won't trespass for long, just until the storm is over." Shinso tried to comfort her but she still looked worried, perhaps something else was on her mind.

Regardless, they had to go in, the storm was getting too close and the wind was getting colder. As they entered the house, the door creaked loudly to announce their presence. The inside was just about as Shinso would imagine. Dark, cold, and empty, but that did not take away from how breathtaking it would be if it had been kept in mint condition. A single large stairwell split into two that lead up to the second floor, and the area around the door alone was as big as his house.

Now wasn't the time to gawk at how large the mansion was, instead he took off his backpack, allowing the Litwick and Mimikyu to get out and explore the area. Out from his sweater Ralts wiggled until he was free, with the help of Shinso, and hopped off to explore as well. As usual, the small Pokemon all walked in a group, having grown closer since meeting Shinso and travelling with him.

Gengar, on the other hand, remained close to Shinso as he too wandered away from the main room, toward one of the branching hallways. The hallway four doors, upon opening one, he could imagine each room was just as big as the last. Room by room he went off exploring, most of them were empty, one was filled with old furniture covered in sheets. That room honestly looked like it was part of a horror film, so Shinso skipped going inside to see what was inside.

There was one last door at the end of the hall, as he walked to it, he passed by a large window, sure enough, the storm had already begun. A heavy snowfall had started coming down outside, a fog that was growing thicker. He could tell it was going to get worse before it got better. At the rate he was going he would waste plenty of time just exploring around this mansion. As he opened the door, a scream of terror vibrated through the walls, startling Shinso so much he froze at the sound while his Gengar went onto the defensive.

As the door swung open, hitting the wall when nothing was there to stop it. As the shock wore off, Shinso was able to gather himself enough to realize there was someone else in here, and Gengar was about to go right at them. "Friend or foe?" Shinso asked as he entered the room to fully see who was there. It was another trainer from the look of his belt, it was strange how he wasn't carrying his Pokemon with him though. He had fallen on the ground, probably from the scare of the door opening or his Gengar, which he had one hand raised defensively while the other held an emolga.

Shinso grimaced as he looked down at the other, it was hard to look at him because of the harsh yellow of his coat. "Friend! Friend! Friend!" the blond blurted out quickly as he raised his free hand in mercy. With that declaration out of the way, Gengar backed down. So that scream he heard belonged to a guy. He has some good vocals on him.

"I know this is a creepy house, but was that scream necessary?" Shinso asked as he approached and offered a hand to help the other. The hand was accepted and the blond got back to his feet, now that they were face to face, he noticed that this guy had a really strange black mark in his hair. Now was not the time to judge his choice in style.

"Yeah, it was actually, I thought you were some psycho killer coming back to get me!" The blond was obviously shaken for some reason, the physical shaking was probably the cold though.

"This place looks ancient, I don't think anyone would want to live here, mansion or not." Yeah, with the constant creaking of wood it was obvious the house was rotting away. He was nervous to go upstairs in fear he would fall right through the floor.

"I am pretty sure that's why I can't find my friends, you haven't seen anyone have you? I came in here with a redhead and a spiky-haired boy with a huge temper?" Shinso shook his head, he hadn't seen or heard anything in this house, at least until he came across this guy. The blond looked scared and worried at Shinso's answer. "Hey, maybe we could stick together, safety in numbers." he was pretty sure this guy was just scared to be alone.

That did bring up a question though if he did actually come here with friends, where did they go off to? Hopefully not out into the storm. The thought that what this guy said was true brought a spark of nervousness in his chest "Fine, have you searched the higher floors?" Shinso asked to which the other nodded.

"I've been looking for them for an hour. I have literally seen every inch of this building...you know… except for the basement." He tried not to show how scared that made him but Shinso wasn't quite convinced just yet.

"How do I know you aren't pulling my leg?" Shinso asked as he glared down at the blond. The glare was enough to elicit a nervous laugh from the other.

"Okay, okay, I didn't want to say anything because it sounds crazy!" the boy told him as he once again raised his hands in mercy "More than once I felt like I was being followed, shadows that move in the corner of my eyes, I feel like I am going insane here!" He explained to which Shinso just stared at him, into those golden eyes of his and saw true fear. Shinso believed him, whether it was just his eyes playing tricks on him or paranoia while being in a creepy house.

"I guess we are going to check out the basement then," Shinso told him with a blank expression, gesturing for Gengar to move on. "Do you know where the door is?" he asked, following right behind Gengar.

"Yeah, it's…." the blond paused looking around "No wait… it's…" He turned toward the hallway Shinso had just gone down, pausing again as he tried to remember where the door was. This kid wasn't too bright was he? "I think it's back down that hall," he gestured down the hall as Shinso and Gengar changed their direction to follow the blond down the hall. Hopefully, he was going in the right direction. "By the way, my name is Kaminari, yours?" he flipped himself around to walk backwards and face Shinso.

"Shinso." His expression remained neutral as they walked, but that didn't seem to bother Kaminari.

"Nice to meet ya, how did you end up way out here? There's an easier and quicker path to town, this is a bit out of the way." The boy spoke as he tucked his emolga safely in his jacket, he probably found it comforting to have company again after an hour of being alone.

He did a lot of listening, only really speaking two or three times in their conversation before they made it to the basement stairs. It was in a strange place, it must be a wine cellar since the door is located in the kitchen. Kaminari went to the door, slowly and quietly turning the doorknob and letting the door creek open.

The wind howling outside added to the creepy atmosphere that filled the room once the door was opened. Approaching, Shinso saw a black abyss where the light only reached down a few feet before it dissolved into pitch black. Okay, that was starting to creep him out too. "Bakugo? Kirishima?" Kaminari called down, apprehensive as he awaited anything at all. Not even an echo back.

Before the duo could even go exploring down the stairs, there was a shatter behind them. Shinso instinctively took a step back, spinning around to see what was going on. He didn't see much, just a shadow as he took a misstep. He heard Kaminari shout something, felt a tug on his sleeve, and down into the cellar they both plummeted.

There was no telling how long both of them were laying at the bottom of the stairs, but when he finally awoke, the door at the top of the stairs was closed. Shinso tried to get up but he was weighed down by something, it had to be either Kaminari or his Gengar. No, it was Kaminari, his Gengar wasn't this heavy. He coughed a few times, there must be more dust in the air because of their fall. "Kaminari," he whispered, not really wanting to raise his voice in case they were not alone. There was no response. Shit, what if he was really hurt? It was a miracle that he was feeling alright, besides the obvious aching that would happen after falling down a flight of stairs.

Shinso did his best to gently shift the other off of him, having to feel his way around as there was not a speck of light down there. His hand found the boy's shoulder, keeping hold of it as he listened closely to his surroundings. They were at a severe disadvantage. "Gengar?" Shinso whispered, with no response he felt his stomach churn. The only reason Gengar wouldn't have followed him down here would be if there was something in this house that wasn't letting her.

The purple-haired boy was silent for a moment as he listened to Kaminari breathe, at least he was sure the other was alive. He had to think and think quickly. Something was in here, probably a Pokemon, and they were caught in its game. The worst-case being they were going to be its meal.

The sound of a glass bottle rolling and clinking against the wall brought Shinso out of his thoughts. They had no more time to lay there, whatever Pokemon that was in this mansion was not happy and it was coming. "Kaminari, you have to wake up," Shinso spoke steadily despite the fear he was feeling. He wasn't sure how they would get out of this, but whatever plan he had, shitty or not, was what they had to work with.

When Kaminari didn't move, Shinso slid his hand from Kaminari's shoulder to his face, he could feel the dirt coating from the ground "C'mon!" he hissed as he gave him a quick slap to the cheek, enough to jolt him awake. A startled gasp echoed, followed by coughing as Kaminari stirred finally. "Can you walk?"

"Shinso?" Kaminari asked as he gripped Shinso's hand that was planted firmly on his shoulder again "are we dead?" Holy shit, is that really the first thought that came to him?

"Focus! Can you walk?" Shinso repeated.

"Yeah, I think so-" before Kaminari could finish, Shinso had pulled him up already. "What-" again, his sentence was cut off, Shinso's hand covered the blond's mouth to keep him quiet. The other hand kept a firm hold on Kaminari's shoulder to make sure they didn't lose one another. Then there was silence, so quiet that the only noise Shinso could hear was his own heart beating. He was listening for anything to indicate where the enemy was. When he heard nothing, he nudged Kaminari, taking gentle steps to try and find a wall.

A sound echoed through the cellar, it sounded like sobbing coming from somewhere down here. Could it be one of Kaminari's friends? Kaminari didn't seem to move at all upon hearing the noise. "Maybe your friends are down here." He whispered as he removed his hand from the other's mouth. Kaminari didn't make a move.

"It...couldn't be." he muttered in reply "Unless something awful happened…" remarkably, his voice was almost too soft to hear. The sobbing soon turned into a horrible wail, Shinso tried not to be shaken by it, but it was terrifying. He can't imagine Kaminari is doing much better.

Following the wail, Shinso caught sight of red orbs floating at a distance. His mind raced for an answer before it even found one, he bolted for the orbs. If they were up against ghost type Pokemon, no matter which it was, this couldn't be good. Why was he running toward them? To startle the pokemon and make it leave. He trusted that he wouldn't run into anything if he followed a straight path toward the orbs, if he could see them, then nothing was in the way.

When he got too close to the orbs, the small light disappeared, and something horrible happened. A door closed. "Kaminari!" Shinso yelled as he slid to a stop, stumbling as he tried to find the wall. When he found the cold cement he followed it till his hand could feel the wood, old and rotten but still strong. He tried the doorknob but it was locked. "Kaminari!" he called again before hearing a terrified howl of a scream on the other side of the door.

Shinso slammed his shoulder into the door, trying his best to break it but it was too strong, must not be as rotten as he was hoping. Their best chance would have been together, but a split-second decision might have just ruined their chances. Was there something in there with him? Were they up against more than one pokemon? He hoped that Kaminari could deal with whatever was out there on his own, at least for a little while. He took a moment to look around the room...there was light. It was dim, but he could see it in the corner of the room. He steadily walked toward it to find a doorless path into another room. What kind of basement has multiple rooms?

Regardless, there it was, a second room. Inside there was a broken window, the glass pane lay scattered across the floor in pieces. The snow had poured in through the opening, it almost looked as though someone dug a hole through snow to get out. Upon further inspection, it looked like more than one person had been inside the room. There was an abandoned red coat, scarf, and an orange coat, awful enough droplets of blood as well. The blood spots were brown so it had been a while since they were here, whoever they were here got out through that window. He had to guess it was Kaminari's friends.

Shinso couldn't leave the mansion to get help. Not yet… doesn't mean he can't use this to his advantage.

It was extremely difficult, and it was a very tight fit, but Shinso was able to ease himself through the basement window, and out into the snow. It was crazy that within, maybe an hour, the snow had piled up so high, and there was no sign it was stopping yet.

He trudged through the snow around to the front of the house, frantically opening the door, he bolted inside. "Gengar!" Shinso yelled as loud as he could, she had to be somewhere in here. He made his way quickly toward the kitchen, hoping that he could open the cellar door and lure Kaminari with the light that came through, as little as that was. With all the snow, dark clouds, and dusk approaching, there wasn't all that much light to use, but it was better than nothing.

Shinso was stopped dead in his tracks when he came face to face with one massive Dusclops, an unhappy Dusclops. He hoped Kaminari hadn't run into this thing down there. Shinso took a step back… then another, slow and steady. He could feel the vibrations of the Pokemon's deep roar in his chest, and at that moment Shinso felt he understood. These Pokemon were angry that they trespassed, and angry Pokemon attack, if he was unlucky, they were hungry for a snack. Without a Pokemon to defend yourself, you were just a food source like everything else. He was not going to die here.

As darkness settled more upon the house, Shinso saw no other choice but to run. As angry as that Pokemon was, if it were to catch him, it was over. He couldn't die like that. He spun around, bolting back down the hall before he found his path blocked… the red orbs… the wails. Of course, there was a Misdreavus here, probably feeding off of them this whole time, but the Honedge was a surprise.

His path… was blocked. Thuds on the ground told shinso that the Dusclops was on his way through the double doors that lead to the kitchen, maybe he should have closed those doors. Despite how the look on his face said he was more irritated than not, it was really fear that was swirling in his chest. This. Was. It. He went toward Honedge and he was going to be sliced and diced and drained, go back and there was a Dusclops ready to send him into the void.

…

…

"Ampharos, Light it up!" a booming voice yelled, and the entire building lit up like a beacon in the fog. No doubt, the strong light could be seen from all around the forest, that is what an Ampharos does best.

When the light had faded, the ghost type Pokemon had fled from the bright light, and Shinso was blind as fuck. It took a few moments but when he was able to see again, he saw Kaminari… a supercharged static shock waiting to happen, perched upon his shoulder was his Emolga. He wore a large grin as he walked up to Shinso "I'm glad I made it in time!" he told him, Shinso moving out of the way before Kaminari could touch him. He wasn't taking any chances on that shock.

Shinso was also glad he had made it before anything bad happened too, but a few questions came to him. Earlier he had no Pokemon, where did he find his? As he got closer, annoyance was clear on his face "Why did you scream bloody murder down there?" The annoyance was really just because he was worried Kaminari was dead.

The blond nervously chuckled, "You had run off, doors were slamming, and something touched me. Turns out there are nice Pokemon here, a little Mimikyu showed me a huge stash of pokeballs. Took me a minute to find one of mine." he pointed out. Mimikyu, could it be his Mimikyu? The question was answered when Mimikyu made an appearance and ran right to Shinso. "Wait, is that your Pokemon?"

He ignored Kaminari's question as he picked up the small Pokemon, feeling his pockets for his Pokeball… one of those Pokemon must have taken it off him while he was distracted. He was worried about them, but they couldn't stay in that mansion any longer, it was more dangerous than the storm outside. "We should go get help," he stated, heading to the door "We can come back when the sun rises or something."

With that, they both left the house, led by the Ampharos whose tail flashed like a lighthouse, bright but not blindingly so. While continuing on their path for a few minutes they started hearing people, a good sign of the town they were trying to find. Sure enough, there was a small group of people out there with flashlights and Pokemon… a search team?

"Kirishima!" Kaminari yelled as he ran over to a redhead that walked with the party. So they really did get out through the basement and went to get help. "Where's Bakugo?" he asked frantically before Kirishima gave him a smile.

"He's fine, a little bump on the head so I convinced him to stay behind. Are you okay?" Kirishima asked, a little Growlithe at his side getting excited to see Kaminari again. They must have found the stash of pokeballs or better had kept a good eye on their Pokemon so they hadn't been separated, to begin with. Shinso found himself silently observing for a moment until he accidentally made eye contact with Kirishima and turned away. It was obvious he hadn't expected someone else to be wandering out here as well, or to have gotten caught in the mansion. Thankfully he didn't ask any questions just yet

From there on, everything was fine. They went back to the mansion with reinforcements to return everyone's Pokemon, Shinso found his Gengar and the rest of his baby team, and everyone was escorted back into town safely. They didn't find any traces of the ghost Pokemon that had been in the mansion, they might have been scared off, though Shinso had a good feeling that was not the case.

As Shinso sat in the warm Pokemon centre, his Gengar at his side playing with the small Pokemon he had come to call his own, he felt an emptiness. He was back to travelling on his own in the aftermath of everything that had happened in the mansion, but something just felt wrong now. Purple eyes gazed toward Gengar as he thought, he had lived with just Pokemon as company for years, why the sudden change? Did he actually want human interaction more than he thought?

With a sigh, he rested his head on his palm, knowing that he wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight. As if insomnia wasn't bad as is. He closed his eyes as he leaned forward onto the table, even just a few minutes would help him feel better. Not too long after he did so, just as he felt he might get a few minutes, something hit his back. "I'm not in the mood to play right now," he spoke in a mumble, thinking that one of his Pokemon wanted him to join in on their fun.

That stopped when he felt something crawling up his back and onto his shoulder, his eyes opened and slowly moved to look at what it was. It was an Emolga, wait...didn't Kaminari have one of those? "Where did you come from?" he asked, lifting his head from the table. Before he even had the chance to look around, the blond that saved his life had taken a seat next to him.

"What brings you here?" he asked, taking the emolga from his shoulder and setting it down at his table. The small critter jumped and glided down to interact with the other Pokemon, gleeful chirps could be heard as a new friend joined in.

"You're here, aren't you?" Kaminari asked with an amused smile. For a minute Shinso couldn't find a way to reply, but the other was already on top of that. "I wanted to find you before you left town." Kaminari admitted "After all, what if you need saving again?" he tried to joke, but Shinso didn't take it like that.

"Right, I forgot to thank you for that. Thanks for saving my life, you can leave now," he stated as he stood up, gathering his stuff. He wasn't sure where he was going to go during a storm, at night, but he was still going. Maybe there was a little inn somewhere near.

"I… it was a joke, I came here because I like you, plus we did just survive an attack by terrifying ghost Pokemon together. I thought maybe we could travel together for a while. Go south for winter, hit the beaches by summer." Shinso had gotten a little defensive at first, but now he was just confused.

"What about your friends?" Shinso asked.

"They'll meet up with me in the summer. You know, when we make it further south." Kaminari answered, repeating his travel plans that included Shinso.

"You are talking like we are already a team," Shinso stated with a blank stare.

"It's too late to get rid of me, unless you have no heart and want me to travel there all on my lonesome" Kaminari faked a pout that Shinso had to look away from. An unreadable look crossed his face as he pulled his backpack onto his shoulders.

"Not like I had travel plans anyway," he muttered, Kaminari celebrating the fact they became a team, jumping up from the table and looping an arm around Shinso's neck, pulling him down a bit.

"We are going to have a great time!" the blond told him "There are a few places that we just have to go see-" As Kaminari went on with talking about his plans, soon taking the lead as he spoke about all sorts of plans, though Shinso had a bad habit barely listening when people went on long tangents. He just let Kaminari talk and wondered how long it would take till he wore himself out.