PMD: The Dawn of Life

Chapter 16: Fear of the Reaper

"-ri! Azri!"

"Uunngghh…" I blinked my eyes open, feeling incredibly dizzy with a headache pounding my head. What the hell happened last night? "W-who is-"

"It's me, Azri. Espurr," The calm voice responded as my vision began to clear and I could visibly see the concerned psychic cat looking over me. Looking around, I realized I wasn't at the school anymore. I was at Espurr's house, lying in a bed, "I found you unconscious in front of the school. What were you doing there?"

"Before I answer that, what time is it?" I asked, still woozy from my experience last night. I tried to rise to glance out the window, but I got a sudden flash of nausea and was forced back down on the comfortable bed.

"It's dawn. No need to worry about Nuzleaf catching you out of the house," Espurr smiled lightly, reading my thoughts, "And if you're wondering, I always go out for a walk in the morning. It helps clear my head"

"Okay, okay, good to know…" I sighed as I stretched, feeling my bones crack. I just realized that Espurr's bed wasn't the normal bird's nest I was used to. It had a soft mattress and pillow with warm, but light covers. I wondered where she got it from, "Damn, this is going to be hard to explain. What happened felt like a dream but-"

"There were strange blue flames coming from the school and you went to investigate," Espurr cut me off and I sighed, getting tired of the cat's perception, "You saw wisps creeping up around Vice Principal Watchog before a giant shadowy beast scared him to practical death. All the while you were paralyzed with fear. Is that all?"

"Will you stop reading my mind and let me explain like a normal Pokemon?!" I growled, getting frustrated and Espurr's eyes went a little wide with surprise, "I don't appreciate you barging into my privacy, you know!"

"Ah! Sorry about that, Azri," Espurr apologized, looking guilty, "It's a bad habit of mine. Rest assured that I didn't go digging for anything secretive. Just very recent events"

"Sure…" I mumbled. I really hoped Espurr didn't find out about the incident with Attract. While I trusted the cat, it wasn't something I wanted anyone to know besides Eden. I was glad Espurr wasn't Pancham or Shelmet, "But yes, you're exactly right. I heard Watchog shriek before I blacked out"

"I see. I didn't check around the school after picking you up, so why don't we take a look?" Espurr offered me her hand, "If you're able to walk, that is. The shock from the situation must've been rattling to you"

"More than rattling. I feel like I'm going to throw up," I grumbled as I took Espurr's hand and guided myself off her bed, trying to get my bearings. The world still felt like it was spinning around me and the massive headache barely faded, but I could stand at least. Better to get home and onto my old bed before I bothered Espurr more, "Sleeping on the ground was a terrible idea"

"Luckily I found you before a wild Pokemon decided you were a good meal," Espurr smiled lightly as we walked outside her house, heading towards the school. The village was completely empty and silent, fitting for the early morning hours, "Has Nuzleaf ever told you not to go outside the house past curfew?"

"Uhh no. Nuzleaf's kind of a lax guy. I've never seen him act strict or enforce anything on me," I replied, "Not like the way Carracosta does to Eden"

"That's a high bar to surpass," Espurr laughed, "Carracosta's one of the gruffest and most stubborn villagers around"

"I can tell"

"Anyways, the reason why I bring it up is because parents often tell their children that wild Pokemon prowl around this area at night," Espurr explained as we crossed into the village square, turning towards the school gate, "And they'll snatch up any unsuspecting Pokemon for a quick snack"

"That sounds like a children's tale to keep kids in their houses"

"It is," Espurr nodded, "But who knows if it's true or not? Regardless, it's a good thing I found you quickly. You'd be rolling far off the wrong side of the bed"

"No kidding. I thought I would like it better, being a Grass type and all, but the hard ground is too uncomfortable," I groaned, "Especially after your comfortable bed. Where did you get it from?"

"All I know is that it was shipped from Lively Town. It was the last birthday gift I got from my parents before they disappeared," Espurr replied, her expression turning to a melancholic one.

"Wait, you live alone?"

"Indeed. For several years now actually," The psychic cat nodded, "But enough about that. We're at the school"

I took my eyes off Espurr and scanned the schoolyard, looking towards Farfetch'd's chalkboard, where I saw the mysterious beast attack Watchog. There, Audino stood over the vice principal's body, her head leaning down to Watchog's face as if she was listening to his breathing.

"Audino!" I called as me and Espurr arrived on the scene. The nurse's eyes went wide with surprise upon seeing us, "What happened here? Is Watchog-"

"Not dead. He's still breathing," Audino rose and shook her head, "But he's been unconscious for hours now. What happened to him last night?"

"I can tell you what happened," I said and explained what I saw last night, with Espurr interjecting every once in a while to fix my spotty memory. Audino was left flabbergasted after that.

"There are rumors going around of ghost sightings here in the school. So you're saying they're real?" Audino repeated, "And that they attacked Watchog and you?"

"Yep. I saw it with my own eyes"

"Mm, that's worrying. But the ghosts only scared you two. No actual harm was done," Audino stroked her chin carefully, "Regardless, we should try to avoid the school at night from now on. I'll inform the rest of the villagers once noon hits"

"What about the vice principal?" Espurr asked.

"Let's take him back to his house. I tried lifting him earlier, but I wasn't strong enough," Audino winced, "You two can help me, right?"

"No problem for me. Just lead the way," Espurr began glowing with an astral pink light and stretched her hand towards Watchog, who began glowing with a faint aura as well. Raising her hand over her head, Espurr raised Watchog off the ground with telekinesis, "I can't hold onto him for long, so let's make this quick, alright?"

"Yes. Let's hurry!" Audino nodded and the three of us dashed out of the school and headed towards the end of the village, where Watchog, Espurr and Audino's houses rested. I never ventured out to this area before, so it was a new sight. The rest of the school kid's houses were probably around this place too, "What were you two doing this early in the morning anyways?"

"I was out for a walk. I simply found Azri unconscious by the school gate and brought her home to rest," Espurr answered, "What about you, Audino?"

"I realized that I forgot something in my office at the school, so I went by to retrieve it. That's when I happened upon Watchog," Audino explained as we reached the vice principal's house, which was a wooden cottage surrounded by dark, overhanging trees, "Come to think of it, I heard a scream last night, so that must've been him"

"It was. I'm surprised it took so long for anyone to realize it," I grumbled, "Espurr only found me at daybreak, several hours after the incident"

"Sorry Azri. I was too deep asleep to recognize the problem," Audino apologized, "And I'm sure the other villagers were too. I'm just glad you weren't seriously harmed"

"Yeah aside from having my heart leap out of my throat in fear," I muttered as Espurr thrust out her other hand, unlocking Watchog's door instantly. The amount of things this cat could do was insane. We went inside and Espurr set the vice principal down on his bed before dispelling the psychic hold, "That should do it"

"Yes. I'll watch over him for the time being to see if his condition changes or if he wakes up," Audino nodded, "You two should get home and have some rest. Especially you Azri, given what happened last night"

"I'm all too eager," I sighed before turning to Espurr, who was panting hard. Despite her powers, the effort must've been hard on her, "Thanks for finding me, Espurr"

"N-no problem. Phew…" The psychic cat replied between ragged breaths, "As much as I want to continue my walk, I think I need to sleep too. The telekinesis and lockpicking… took a damn lot…"

Out of nowhere, Espurr fell backwards and I quickly caught her, noticing the cat's eyes rapidly starting to droop.

"S-sorry Azri. Just so… sleepy…" Espurr yawned before relenting and closing her eyes, snoozing in my arms, "Zzzz…."

"Oh for goodness sake. Couldn't even stay awake long enough to get back home," I muttered in exasperation as Audino quietly laughed, "I guess I have to cart you back. Sleep well, princess"

Leaving Watchog's house, it didn't take long before I reached Espurr's residence. The door was thankfully still unlocked, so I took the sleeping cat inside and set her down back on her bed, tucking her in nicely. I wish I had blankets and a pillow like that.

"Ghosts in the village… I doubt the school is the only place they're haunting. Simply not going to the school at night wouldn't be enough," I whispered as I turned my back on the sleeping Espurr, taking a quick scan of her house. It was a simple wooden lodging similar to Watchog's, with a kitchen, a desk and several bookshelves around. Nothing compared to Eden's house, but more stocked than Nuzleaf's for sure. Definitely enough for one Pokemon, "They'll come for us in our own houses eventually and we'll need to fight them off. But how…?"

I didn't exactly know type advantages like the back of my hand, but I knew that hitting or trying to slash at ghosts with Leaf Blade probably wasn't going to work. Plus, the ghosts formed themselves as blue flames. They could probably toast me to ashes if they wanted to. They almost did when I was forced to witness them scaring Watchog.

"I'll ask Eden about it when I see him today. He probably knows," I decided before I headed towards the exit. Before I left however, I spotted a picture frame sitting on Espurr's desk by the door, which was littered with books, pictures and utensils. The cat must've been an artist on the side, "Hm?"

Inspecting the picture further, I saw that it was a family picture. Espurr, a Meowstic and a Grumpig were sitting under a tree, having a picnic. I wonder what happened to this family that disappeared overnight. While Espurr's demeanor suggested maturity and wisdom, she was still technically a child. What could've happened to her parents that caused her to live alone?

"Azri, you should be leaving. The village is waking up soon…" Espurr whispered in my head and I yelped in surprise, tearing my eyes away from the portrait. I swore the Espurr depicted in the photo spoke to me before I remembered Espurr was psychic. But she was asleep…?

"Espurr…?" I turned behind me and the psychic cat was still soundly asleep. I guess it wasn't surprising Espurr could communicate while asleep, but it was jarring still, "Thanks for the heads up. Sweet dreams, kitty"

"Mm… thanks…" Espurr's voice murmured in my head again before I left her house, closing the door behind me. I sighed, feeling sleepy myself. Kecleon and several other shop owners were beginning to open up for business, so I knew I had to get home before Nuzleaf noticed my absence. While he wasn't Carracosta, I knew he wouldn't be happy with me sneaking out.

"Let's crawl back in through my window. Nuzleaf would definitely notice me opening the door," I thought to myself before setting off on my path back home. It didn't take long and I managed to get back in without a hitch. My door was still closed too, indicating Nuzleaf never noticed me leaving to begin with. Good. I didn't need more problems, "Man, this is going to be a doozy to explain to Eden. I hope it goes away soon…"

Before long, exhaustion overtook me and I fell asleep in the morning daylight, but nightmares of the ghosts that horrified Watchog began to plague me…

…

Eden's POV

"Azri! You up yet?" I called after I finished breakfast and headed outside. It was late morning now, so I assumed Azri would be up and out by now. Was she still angry from yesterday? "Azri!"

"Eden, you know you can just knock, right?" Nuzleaf groaned as he opened the door to his residence, "Rather than shouting like a maniac and disturbing our sleep"

"It's late morning by now. Shouldn't you guys be awake?" I asked and Nuzleaf frowned in disapproval, "But nevermind that. Is Azri up? We have plenty of things to do today!"

"Why don't you see for yourself? Her door hasn't opened yet, so I'm assuming she's still asleep," Nuzleaf replied, inviting me in, "She's never slept in this hard before, so I wonder if anything happened to her"

"She had a hard day yesterday. I'm sure she explained it to you when she arrived home"

"Yes, she definitely did…" Nuzleaf had a distant look in his eyes. I was referring to the incident with Attract, but I suspected what Nuzleaf was thinking about was something entirely different, "Anyways, go and see what's up. Don't be too loud though"

"Gotcha," I nodded and approached Azri's bedroom, opposite of Nuzleaf's. Pushing open the door gently, I saw the Snivy snoozing in her bed, bathed in sunlight. There was nothing else in the room save for two windows, her dungeon bag and a wash basin. What an empty place, "Azri? You awake?"

"Wait, that's a stupid question. She's asleep," I thought, kicking myself mentally, "I don't want to wake her up, but we have jobs to do so…"

I approached Azri slowly and raised my paw over her head. Mother used to rub my head or scratch my ears as a way of waking me up, so I was going to try it on Azri. Obviously with her lack of ears, I had to do the former. I wonder how she even heard things to begin with. Gently, I settled my soft paw over Azri's head and began slowly rocking it back and forth, rousing her awake.

"Mm hmm… who is even-" Azri murmured softly and I smiled, finding the tone cute. It was a steep contrast to the usual sharpness Azri's voice adopted. I rocked her head a little before and Azri's eyes opened, focusing on me, "Eden?! What are you doing here?"

"Ah, Azri! You're awake now!" I withdrew my paw quickly, embarrassment settling in. I was too focused on the thought of petting Azri before realizing she might not appreciate me touching her, "I uhm… came in because it's late morning. We got expeditions to do"

"O-oh okay… but why did you wake me with your paw instead of your voice?"

"You were sleeping so peacefully that I didn't want to abruptly disturb you," I confessed, "You looked to be in such happy bliss"

"Ah. I suppose you aren't wrong…" Azri rubbed her eyes before stretching a little, "Nightmares plagued me all night, so I must've dozed off in the morning unintentionally"

"What were you dreaming about?" I asked and Azri winced, glancing out the window towards the school. The back of my mind reminded me of Pancham's rumor about the ghosts at night and I was worried this was about them, "Azri?"

"Okay, this is gonna be a hurdle. You ready?"

"Sure? I'm not sure what you're being so ominous about but-" I replied, but Azri tapped her hand over my mouth for silence.

"Ghosts"

"G-ghosts?!" I repeated with a gasp. So the rumors were true. Of course they damn were. My luck was never good with stuff I hated, "W-what about them?!"

"Ghosts are in the village. I spotted them at the school at night time. They scared Watchog to near death," Azri explained darkly, "And they got me too. Espurr found me in the morning unconscious in front of the school gate"

"W-what did they look like? What did they say?" I asked, a little frantic. Pancham mentioned how I can identify them and I wanted to make sure it was the real deal.

"Blue wisps of flame and when I approached the gate, they chanted, "So hot…"," Azri said and I gasped again. It was exactly like the rumor went. So the school really was haunted! "They also said "Gaze upon the death of your peer" before evolving into this gigantic, shadowy monster form and roaring. The last thing I heard was Watchog's scream before I blacked out myself"

"Stop it! I don't want to hear anymore!" I cried, covering my ears, "I've heard enough. I really, really hate ghost stories!"

"It's not a story if it's real though"

"Exactly! Now I never want to go to the school again…" I whimpered, "What if they start coming after us in our houses? None of us are saf-"

Out of nowhere, Azri slapped her hand over my mouth again, silencing me.

"Let's not go down that road. Let's assume the ghosts can only haunt the school and nothing else," The Snivy insisted, "For your sake. You look really rattled from this tale"

"I am," I whimpered once Azri released my mouth, "Horror stories terrify me, especially one called "Blacephawise" where this explosive clown attacks children and burns them to nothing but bones!"

"Given this world, I wouldn't be surprised if something like that existed…" Azri mumbled, but I didn't hear that.

"And when I think of these ghosts, I believe all the other horrors I've read exist too!" I wailed, "M-maybe we should call off the expeditions for today. Take a break"

"We already took a break yesterday after the battle against Salamence," Azri reasoned, "We can't let our clients down. Let's go anyways"

"But Azri-"

"Eden, staying home under your covers is just going to make you more paranoid. You'll start leaping at every shadow," Azri put her hands on my shoulders, "Going out will keep your mind off this situation. So let's head out"

"Oh alright…"

…

Much later, once nightfall came, Audino and Farfetch'd were patrolling the empty school yard, looking for the ghosts. Watchog still hasn't risen from his slumber, so Audino couldn't get a second word on what exactly happened. While Azri wasn't a liar, Audino would sooner believe Watchog hit his head and suffered a concussion than ghosts actually appearing in the school.

"Then again, Watchog showed no signs of injury when I inspected him, so something else must've caused him to faint. Perhaps blood," Audino murmured to herself, "Watchog was always squeamish around that"

Audino took a look around the classroom area, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. No rise in temperature, no sudden appearance of blue flames, no nothing. All that she heard in the air was crickets echoing in the woods. Maybe Azri was sleepwalking last night and what she saw was the result of an extremely active imagination. Then again, Espurr, the strongest psychic in the village, confirmed them to not be memories of a dream so maybe…

"Urk, this is maddening. I should check in with Farfetch'd," Audino muttered and headed back to the main office, where the duck was inspecting around. In his wing was a torch that cast eerie shadows across the walls of the building, "Found anything?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary. I can't fathom what happened to Watchog and Azri last night," Farfetch'd muttered, "Maybe something scared Watchog last night when he was doing his rounds. He's quite the scaredy cat, you know"

"Indeed. The one time he spotted me treating a patient who lost their arm…" Audino giggled a little, "He nearly collapsed from shock right then and there. Mayhaps he spotted a wild Pokemon feeding on a corpse and fainted"

"That probably happened," Farfetch'd nodded in agreement, "But that doesn't explain Azri. You said she and Espurr claimed the… g-ghost sightings to be real, right?"

"Yes"

"Hogwash! They're just children, Audino," Farfetch'd exclaimed, "Azri's imagination probably ran wild last night"

"Hmm… are you just saying that because you're afraid of ghosts, Farfetch'd?"

"What?! Absolutely not!" Farfetch'd screeched, waving his torch around, "I-I'm not afraid of ghosts! Why would you ask that?"

"Oh, I don't know. Just entertaining the possibility that what Azri saw matches the rumors going around the village lately," Audino replied meekly and Farfetch'd furrowed his eyebrows, confused.

"What rumors?"

"Wow, you live under a rock, Farfetch'd," Audino remarked, impressed, "You know, the ones about the blue flames appearing here at night, chanting "It's so hot…". Those rumors"

"Wha? I've never heard of that before!" Farfetch'd cried, "I've teached here for years and never in my life have I seen a blue flame! Who even spread that rumor?"

"I don't know. What matters is that what Azri saw last night matches with the rumor"

"Bah! She probably came to the school on a dare and her head did the rest of the work," Farfetch'd grumbled, "You know how kids are"

"Mm perhaps so," Audino shrugged, "Anyways, if there's nothing else to see, then I suppose we're done for the night"

"So hot…"

"Hm? Did you say something, Farfetch'd?" Audino asked the duck, confused. Farfetch'd looked equally astonished.

"I thought you said something! It was the barest whisper in the wind…" Farfetch'd frowned, "Maybe something's going on outside. I'll take a look"

"Be careful," Audino said meekly and Farfetch'd left the office, leaving her alone, "Hm, I guess it was rude for me to tease him like that. Still, seeing his reaction was good fun. What a good doctor I am"

"So hot…"

"Huh?" Audino looked around herself. Again, the same whisper in the wind called to her, but she couldn't figure out what they were saying, "Hey, is it just me or is the temperature rising around here…?"

"So hot… so very hot…" The voice whispered again, "Audino…"

"H-huh?"

"Audino… gaze upon the death of your peer… Audino…" The voice droned on, "gAZe uPon thEiR dOOM, AuDInO! GAZE!"

"GRRRROOOOOOO!" An ear piercing roar ripped through the air and Farfetch'd's terrified scream was the last thing Audino heard before she blacked out.

"GYAAAAAAAHHHH!"

The ghosts claim another victim.

Our team:

- Azri, Snivy: Paranormal Survivor

Level 17

Abilities: Overgrow and Contrary

Moves: Leaf Blade, Vine Whip, Twister and Attract

- Eden, Fennekin: Spiritual Terror

Level 16

Abilities: Blaze and Magician

Moves: Flame Burst, Psywave, Psybeam and Ember