Crusaders of Dusk

by DarkFoxKit

Cut off from the life he knew, an Absol now must work his way and earn his right to return to the place he called home. Joining him is a timid Goomy who desires to become stronger and more respected. The two will face many challenges, learning to trust one another.

23. Chapter 23: Strange Doors

Traveling Master: *I was typing furiously on my keyboard, while occasionally looking at the time* We're late! We're very late! So very very late!

DarkFoxKit: I swear, if you say 'for a very important date', I will kick you.

Traveling Master: *I laugh a bit before going back to typing again* Glad you got that reference, but that doesn't change the fact that we are behind.

DarkFoxKit: It can't be helped. Besides, we even got lucky we finished one chapter with how rare we've been able to write lately.

Traveling Master: You're not wrong there, it's been frustrating dealing with my work schedule. Just when I thought we finally figured out a good schedule for us, my work decided to place me on a shift that makes it even more difficult for us to write!

DarkFoxKit: Just a fair warning to all of you readers, we may not be able to update every Friday due to TM's work schedule being a jerk. Also… looks like you've been working diligently on this chapter. Are you sure you want to upload it now while we're still writing it?

Traveling Master: *I pause to look at the time, then back to seeing how much we've done so far* Yeah, I mean, we were able to at least finish one chapter this week, and we don't know when the next update will be, depending on my schedule, so we should at least post this one. Plus, I'm sure we can finish before the readers finish the chapter. What's the worst that can happen?

DarkFoxKit: You should know by now to never ask that kind of question. Alright, let's see… *Starts typing something up herself* Perhaps… the next door they go into is…

Traveling Master: *I noticed the readers were still with us* Hey, you can't look at this part! Just start reading the chapter, you'll get to where we are later. Enjoy!

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Chapter 23: Strange Doors

Dust watched as the Dusknoir made his way to greet the Absol, grabbing a cup along the way. As he got closer and closer, Dust noted the Dusknoir had an air of superiority around him, but that paled in comparison with the pressure he was emanating. If it wasn't for all those years Dust had spent with his mother, he was sure he would've fled just like the other Ghost types. Even then, Dust couldn't help but feel the cold sweat run down his body as the Dusknoir finally reached their table.

"Apologies for my tardiness," The Dusknoir said with a bow. "Had I known you were coming tonight, I would've better prepared for the occasion. I am the owner of this establishment, you may call me Vlad."

Dust gulped before nodding at the Ghost Pokemon. "A pleasure to meet you, Vlad. Thank you for inviting us in the first place."

"The pleasure is all mine. I've heard many things about you and I've been dying to meet you," Vlad eerily said. "I do hope that you and your partner have been enjoying yourselves. The night is still young, and I hope that you two enjoy your visit even more."

Berry was disturbed by this Dusknoir, she didn't like the way he was looking at them. Mimi had been very quiet.

The Duskull and Sableye all spread out across the table, giving mischievous smiles as they looked at the Absol and Goomy.

"Perhaps we could bring you something special to eat, since it is a special occasion," Vlad stated.

"Uh, how very generous of you," Dusk chuckled nervously. "But we did have our fair share of something to eat and we don't want to-"

"Nonsense," Vlad interrupted Dust. "I insist, you are the honored guest tonight. Mimi, please go to the kitchen and prepare our special meal for our guests."

"Yes… Sir Vlad," Mimi answered and she turned to start moving past Dust, but she gave him a whisper. "When the lights go off, you take your partner and run for it. Do. Not. Eat. The. Food."

With that ominous warning, the Mimikyu headed away from the room. Berry decided to be smart and she hopped back onto Dust's back.

"How are you enjoying your stay so far?" Vlad asked with politeness in his tone.

"Well so far it has been an interesting sight," Dust admitted. "When I first heard that this mansion used to belong to humans, I was already excited to see what it would be like for myself. While a bit unfortunate that most of the paintings had either faded or were barely visible most likely due to time, I think it was still worth seeing some of the ones that were still intact. Tell me, I know that Ghosts normally live for quite a while, were you here when humans were?"

Vlad was taken back for a moment, not expecting to hear a question like that, but he quickly regained his composure before answering. "While that is an old memory, I do recount some experiences with them. Unfortunately it's been so long that it's rather difficult remembering them."

Berry remained quiet.

"So what about your little friend on your back? Can she speak?" Vlad asked.

Berry shivered a little on Dust's back.

"Uh, she can speak, but she's currently recovering. She may have eaten too much and ended up having an upset stomach," Dust covered for Berry.

"Well that's a shame to hear, but I promise after eating our special meal, you'll feel as good as new," Vlad said, keeping his eye on Berry, who was shivering more. "But in the meantime, I was hoping to learn more about you two and your reputations."

"Oh, and what have you heard so far?" Dust asked.

"That your soul was nearly taken to the afterlife by Giratina himself," The Dusknoir answered. "And that your partner saved you by bringing back a cure. I was wondering if you actually did meet with Giratina during that time, however, we Ghost types see Giratina as a deity after all."

Dust gulped as he felt a chill go down his spine. He never had told anyone about his encounter with Giratina. Everytime he tried to, he suddenly felt hesitant or reluctant, as though his instincts were telling him not to. So to suddenly hear Vlad call him out like that left him speechless.

"Aww, what's the matter, young Absol? Meowth got your tongue?" Vlad chuckled.

Thankfully, Dust was saved when Mimi came back in, carrying a large tray with her shadowy claw. She put the tray down on the table. Dust and Berry looked down to see whatever food was on the tray was glowing an ominous blue.

"Here is the special food," Mimi said as she slowly started to back away. "Please enjoy it."

"Dust… I don't like this…" Berry whispered to her partner.

Dust nodded, already feeling nauseous from just looking at the strange food. "Vlad, while we are grateful for your hospitality, I'm sorry to say but I think it's time for us to go. It's getting rather late and I'm sure the guild will start to wonder why we haven't returned yet."

Dust started to get up and walk away, just to bump into a group of Sableye and Duskull, blocking his path.

"Oh, after all the trouble we went through to prepare for your arrival, we insist you stay and enjoy your meal," Vlad ominously said.

The lightning flashed through the window, making the Ghost Pokemon around them seemingly far scarier than they appeared to be. Dust could feel Berry practically vibrating on his back. Then suddenly, the lights shut off, putting the room into darkness. While Ghost types normally didn't have any issues with seeing in the dark, it came unexpectedly, and with another flash of lightning, it blinded them.

"Hurry, this way!" Dust heard Mimi's voice.

Turning towards where Mimi shouted, Dust saw the Mimikyu at the end of the room, waving her shadowy claw to becken them. Wasting no time, Dust rushed towards her while all the other Ghosts were still recovering. As they reached Mimi, she led them through a door, making sure to close it once they were through.

"We don't have much time before they find us," Mimi warned. "But we have a little bit to have you two catch your breath."

"What… what was that… food?" Berry asked, trying to calm herself.

"You… probably don't want to know," Mimi answered. "But let's just say, if you did eat it, your bodies would… well… you would be shedding your bodies and become more like us in a way."

Berry stiffened at that. "It would've killed us!?"

"Shhh! I know you're freaking out, but it would be wise not to be loud right now," The Mimikyu warned. Both Dust and Berry nodded before Mimi continued. "Good. Now let's get you two out of here before it's too late."

"Too late for what?" Dust asked, but then other questions started rushing to his mind. "Also, why was Vlad trying to feed us that food in the first place? How did he even know about…"

Dust paused for a moment, looking back at Berry. Normally he'd be reluctant to even mention Giratina, but after Vlad had been the one to bring it up, that feeling was less noticeable now and he figured now would be the best time to bring it up himself.

"Giratina?" Berry frowned. "Is it true that you… met with the Pokemon Devil, Dust?"

"Not exactly the Devil, but think of him as death itself. He seemed rather annoyed by the fact that the majority of Pokemon believe that Yvelta is Death," Dust explained. "But besides the point, yes, I did meet with Giratina."

"Wait, who said anything about Death?" Berry asked. "I was talking about the Devil. You actually met him!? But why? I mean I knew you were close to death, but not enough to actually meet with Giratina himself! … Have you been a naughty Pokemon?"

"I mean I have done some questionable things in the past, like abandoning you during our first mission, but Giratina isn't the Devil, or at least I don't think he is. Maybe, I'm not entirely sure… But think of him more as the Grim Reaper," Dust tried explaining. "And actually it was because I was close to dying, close enough to elicit a visit from Giratina."

"Giratina is indeed the Grim Reaper, though he does have many servants that could be considered as Grim Reapers as well. They, more or less, take dying souls to Giratina if Giratina himself can't get to them because he's busy with another, like Lampent or Haunter," Mimi explained as she began to move to another door.

"Interesting, he never mentioned anything like that before. Then again, I guess I never really gave him the chance with all the other questions I was asking. Should've thought to ask him something like that," Dust remarked as he followed after Mimi.

Berry shook her head. "Wait… getting back on topic, what does this have to do with Vlad wanting us?"

"Well…" Mimi hesitated a little. "I… really shouldn't be telling you this, but… Vlad… was the original owner of this mansion. Come, follow me while we talk, I don't want to stay in the same place for too long knowing we're being hunted."

Dust had so many questions buzzing through his mind, but knew that now wouldn't be the time for that. Right now they had to get to safety, and following Mimi was their best bet. Plus, Dust had a feeling he'd get his answers very soon.

Berry made sure she was stuck to Dust's back as he followed the Mimikyu out another door. Mimi looked around for a moment, making sure the coast was clear, before she led them out into the corridor.

"This Strange Mansion was once owned by humans as I'm sure you figured out by now," Mimi said quietly. "Make sure you speak quietly, we don't want to alert any nearby Ghosts who are loyal to Vlad."

Dust and Berry nodded.

Mimi then continued. "When humans were still around back then, Vladimir Plas was the owner of this mansion. He was extremely wealthy by human standards, and this made him a powerful man. He owned a lot of rare Pokemon. He had servants working here, though he did allow them to have rooms to stay if they lived far away from the mansion. Some servants took to living here, even letting their children stay since the mansion could provide for them. Vladimir wasn't a bad or heartless man by any means. He was a kind hearted man who loved Pokemon. Most humans loved Pokemon. But… one day, tragedy struck. I… excuse me, the humans thought that it only hit them at the time, but it was happening all over the world. Some kind of strange powerful force swept the entire mansion. The humans suddenly…"

Mimi paused for a moment to open another door to let Dust go in before she followed.

"Well… some humans suddenly turned into Pokemon, some humans ended up fusing into the body of another Pokemon that was near them and ran out of the mansion, while others… died. Most of the humans died actually from that force," Mimi sighed.

Dust had to stop to take this all in. Before humans were a mystery, almost all known information about them had been non existent. He had looked in the past for any resource, any book that might have any knowledge on humans, but the only thing that he could ever find was that they all suddenly vanished. To have someone to suddenly tell him such an important event among the human race was a bit too much for Dust.

"Hold on, so you're telling me that at some point, humans did exist, but then some world like event caused all of them to either become Pokemon or die?" Dust asked, feeling some doubt. "I'm sorry, but that's a pretty big claim you're making and I'm finding it rather difficult to believe. I mean… I want to believe, but part of me is having a hard time accepting it as truth."

"How do you know all this?" Berry questioned.

"I was there when it happened," Mimi answered. "As for whether you believe it or not, it doesn't matter to me. I needed to tell you this because it relates to why Vlad was trying to… 'kill' you two. You see, Vlad… well, like with you, Dust, he too was visited by Giratina upon death. Before Vlad was a Dusknoir, he was human, he was that Vladimir man. Vlad wanted to find a way to come back, to bring back the human race that was lost in that strange world event that, to this day, nobody could figure out what it was. Vlad felt it was more of some kind of curse then anything, a huge world event curse that made the human race go extinct. Giratina gave Vlad an answer. In order to bring back the human race, he would need to bring Giratina souls, strong, powerful souls that he himself gifted, or Arceus, or Mew, or any other Legendary Pokemon's blessings. I can't say I understand why that would help bring back the human race, but it was the only thing Vlad clung onto for thousands of years."

Mimi then sighed. "But… because Vlad died in this mansion, his soul is bound to it. Meaning he can't leave to go find these souls. The only thing he could do was to hear from someone on the outside about a Pokemon with a strong soul, then try to trick them into coming here. But as you can see, that hasn't been easy. After all these years, however, Vlad did figure out how to move the Strange Mansion from place to place, though it takes years for it to move. It was why the Strange Mansion wasn't seen around here until a few days ago."

Dust had remained silent as Mimi explained everything. At first he found it hard to believe, but the more he listened, the more he was convinced that the Mimikyu was telling the truth.

"So after hearing everything you had to say, I have to ask… Because of my encounter with Giratina, am I the first soul that Vlad had met?" Dust asked.

"No, you're not," Mimi answered. "There had been many souls before you, but rarely did a strong, blessed soul appear on the mansion's doorsteps. Despite this… Vlad did end up consuming their souls to take to Giratina, hoping to be a step closer to reviving the human race. This… well… Vlad was a kind hearted man, but after thousands of years of taking other's souls, and being trapped here, it starts to wear on one's psyche. One can only remain kind hearted for so long doing something like this before they break. I… I didn't want to see anymore souls getting consumed, even if it meant the revival of the human race and our freedom."

"What…? Wait… are you…?" Berry began to ask.

"But, there has been one Pokemon's soul that we could tell was not only powerful, but a blessed touched soul, they held a lot of resentment and hatred though, so much animosity and coldness, I couldn't stand to be near them…" Mimi shivered at the memory, stopping Berry from asking her question. After a couple seconds to repress the memory, Mimi continued. "That was the last time we had someone like that enter our mansion. Vlad was very upset at the missed opportunity, so finding out about you only made him more determined to have your soul."

"Is that why you invited us?" Dust asked.

"We wanted to meet with you… and…" Mimi sighed.

Because Mimi's real body was covered by the rag Pikachu doll, it was difficult to tell what her expression was, other than the two dotted eyes that were peeking from the Pikachu rag's torso. Though the head of the Pikachu rag did flop over a little.

"Originally, that was our intention, to invite you over so Vlad could bring your soul to Giratina," Mimi admitted. "But a lot of us wanted to actually talk to you first before Vlad did that, so we sent Vlad out for a while. While it's true he can't leave the mansion, he can still move outside around the garden area. We thought Vlad wouldn't be back for a while since he loves spending his time out in the garden. It was one of the few things he had left when he was human. When… when we got to talk to you two, we decided we liked you two, or at least I did. I… guess that's why I did what I did and helped you two get away. That and I don't want anymore souls consumed."

"Won't you get in trouble for helping us?" Berry asked.

Mimi stopped for a moment, as though in deep thought. "Yes, I will most likely be in trouble after what I've done. Even more so if you two manage to escape, but there's no going back now."

"Well, for what it's worth, thank you," Dust said.

"Can't you… leave?" Berry asked.

Mimi sighed. "Well…"

"There they are!" Someone shouted suddenly.

They gasped when they saw a Duskull looking at them and was alerting the others.

"Run!" Mimi shouted.

Mimi ran forward, with Dust and Berry following behind. The moment they started running, the other Ghost Pokemon started giving chase. Dust was glad Mimi was taking the lead, though was partially surprised by how fast the Mimikyu was moving. Mimi would lead them down one corredor, opening a door and entering a new room, hoping the other Ghosts would lose track of them.

"How much farther until we reach the exit?!" Dust shouted while running.

"Come on, into the Doorways of Confusion!" Mimi quickly said. "That's the best place to lose them! Just don't get lost yourself!"

"Why's it called Doorways of Confusion?" Berry asked, not liking the implications.

They soon came into a corridor that had several doors.

"Hurry, pick a door and keep moving!" Mimi shouted, seeing that they were starting to get surrounded by Duskull and Sableye.

Dust didn't know which one to pick, so he just chose one randomly, hoping it would lead to their escape. He reached for the door, opening it as soon as possible, expecting to see the outside. Instead he was met with a strange, rather embarrassing sight that caused him to blush. On the other side of the door was a bathroom with a shower, but that wasn't what made Dust blush. What made him blush was the sight of a Female Machamp singing in the shower, and what's worse was that Dust saw that she was completely naked. That was how Dust also knew she was female.

"P-pardon me, s-sorry to intrude!" Dust stuttered, trying to look away, but at the same time was too shocked to look away.

The Machamp stopped singing and turned, then she let out a scream when she saw Dust at her door, and jumped out of the shower ready to pulverize him with her four very big arms. "HOW DARE YOU! YOU PERVERT!"

"SHUT THE DOOR!" Berry screamed.

Dust quickly closed the door, followed by what could be heard as a hard slam against the door, but Dust seemed to hardly notice. He was too busy trying to purge that image from his mind, all while blushing more and more.

"Uh… q-quick, try another door!" Mimi quickly spoke up, having been a little shaken up by the image as well.

Dust reached for another door, hoping not to encounter a similar experience like last time. As he opened it, while he was glad there was no restroom this time, he was still shocked by what he saw. It looked like the outside, but somewhere completely different. It looked nice, but that wasn't what caught Dust off guard. Berry let out a gasp as well. This time they saw Mew herself cradling with a smaller blue Mew in her arms, indicating it was likely her baby. Mew blinked as she looked at them, surprised.

"Oh? Looks like I have some new playmates for my child~" Mew smiled.

"Shut the door! Shut the door! SHUT THE DOOR!" Mimi suddenly yelled.

Dust did just that, shut the door. The three blinked for a couple seconds, still recovering from the shock of seeing Mew with her child.

"Are all doors going to be like that?!" Dust finally asked.

"Unfortunately yes, unless we can find the right door. But it's always changing, not even Vlad knows which door is the right one that leads out of here," Mimi answered.

The other Ghosts looked to be confused themselves, despite Dust never going through any of the doors.

"When you open the door, you disappear," Mimi explained. "That's why they're having trouble keeping track of us."

"Then find another door quick before they see us again," Berry hissed. "Maybe we'll keep trying until we find the right door."

"Be warned, these doors could make you see things that will traumatize you," Mimi warned.

"There they are! Don't let them get away!" Sableye started to surround them, their claws ready to tear into their flesh.

"Hurry, open a door!" Mimi shouted.

Dust knew that he wouldn't be prepared for what was on the other side of these doors, but right now they didn't have much of a choice, so Dust grabbed the next door and opened it. This time there seem to be floating pieces of land, the sky looked a dark shade of green. Dust saw some figures floating in the distance, but couldn't tell what they were, but they somewhat reminded him of the Ghosts he and Berry had met earlier. Just then a figure flew by, only stopping because it had suddenly noticed Dust and the others. Dust was taken back, remembering the paintings of all the humans he had seen earlier, but he'd never expected to see one right in front of him. Though he was confused by the white hair, and the human seemed to be wearing some sort of black and white clothing, with the letter 'D' on the chest. There was also the fact the human's supposed legs were currently a single looking wispy tail that reminded Dust an awful lot of Chihiro's tail, or Phantom and Spooks' tails.

"What the…?" The maybe-human spoke up before it started flying towards them.

Mimi didn't even shout this time, she used her shadow claw to shut the door before the flying maybe-human could reach them.

"Okay, that was a human ghost," Mimi spoke up. "Or what human ghosts could've been like in another world."

Dust had questions and wanted answers. So he reached for the door again, only for Mimi to slap away his arm.

"Ow! What was that for?!" Dust asked as he held his arm.

"Don't ever open the same door," Mimi warned. "If you do, you'll end up stuck there with no way getting back!"

"Yeah, let's not do that," Berry shivered. "Try another door."

Dust nodded, now grateful for the warning. He opened the next door, revealing a empty gray room. But on closer look they noticed a lone figure in the center of the room. Clad in black clothing, the figure turning around, revealing some sort of skeleton head.

The skeleton figure began to speak in a language that Dust had never heard before in his life.

"✋︎■︎⧫︎ ︎❒︎ ︎⬧︎⧫︎ ︎■︎ ︎ ⬧︎◻︎ ︎ ︎ ︎❍︎ ︎■︎? ﾸﾎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎■︎❼︎⧫︎ ⧫︎ ︎ ︎■︎? ︎ ⬥︎□︎◆︎●︎ ︎ ⬧︎ ︎ ︎ □︎⧫︎ ︎ ︎❒︎⬧︎ ︎ ︎❒︎ ︎? ﾸﾎ"

"Uhhh…" Berry blinked.

"Uh-huh…" Mimi blinked as well, looking just as clueless as Dust felt.

Dust didn't even bother saying anything. He just closed the door, just as confused as the others. While he would've liked to take a moment to ponder over what he just saw, he knew they didn't have the time for that, so he already went for the next door.

"Please be the exit!" Dust shouted just before opening the next door.

When Dust opened the door, he saw the outside and was hopeful for a moment, but that quickly went away as he took more notice of this new world. Despite it apparently being the middle of the day, the sky looked bleak and gray. On the horizon he saw many ruined buildings, the wind was blowing hard, giving a chill to the air. But what disturbed Dust most was the silence, as though there was hardly any life in this world. Dust was about to close the door when something caught his attention. In the distance he saw another Absol, with it's back turned to them. Somehow it must have sensed them, for it suddenly turned, facing them. The moment Dust saw the Absol, a chill went down his spine. Despite never seeing this Absol before, Dust recognized those eyes. Those mismatched eyes that were just like his. Except when he saw the Absol's eyes, it was like staring into an empty abyss.

The Absol seemed to recognize Dust too and started walking towards the trio. "You shouldn't be here."

Dust couldn't look away, his body frozen with fear as the Absol started making his way towards them, getting closer and closer with each step. Suddenly he felt something wet hit the backside of his head, drawing his attention away from the oncoming Absol. Dust turned and saw that it was Berry who had just used Water Gun.

"Close the door!" Berry shouted.

Dust complied and did so, but just before he did, he caught one last glimpse of the Absol. He had apparently stopped and was only staring. For a brief moment, just before shutting the door completely, Dust thought he saw remorse in his eyes. After closing the door, a part of Dust wanted to open it once more, to meet this Absol, but he recalled Mimi's warning and thought better of it.

"Who was that Absol…?" Dust asked.

"It's… probably best you never find out," Mimi said softly.

"Maybe… we should try to focus on finding the right door and getting away. The ghosts may be getting confused, but they're starting to group up," Berry spoke up.

Indeed, the Duskull and Sableye were starting to group together, looking ready to strike the second they saw them.

"Noted," Dust nodded.

"Okay, from now one, no matter what strange thing is on the other side, if it isn't the exit, close the door. We don't have that much time," Mimi advised.

Dust and Berry nodded before Dust opened another door. This one was a young human man wearing a green long sleeve shirt, white gloves, a green hat with the letter 'L' at the top of it, blue overalls, and brown shoes. He was also wearing some kind of red vacuum cleaner on his back. The man looked at them, and they looked at him. The man screamed as he flashed his light in their faces. Dust quickly closed it and moved on to the next door.

Dust opened the next door. This one had a red cat-like creature that looked like it could be a Pokemon, but it wasn't any Pokemon Dust had ever seen. This cat had two tails that had green flames at the tip.

"Nya? Hey! Did you steal my choco bar!? Taste my Paws of Fury!"

Dust slammed the door in the cat's face.

The Absol went to the next one. This door showed a human boy talking to a strange orange creature that looked like it could be related to the Charmander line.

"I know the first watch can be pretty boring, Tai, but-" The 'Charmander' stopped and looked at them.

The human boy looked back at the 'Charmander' was looking at. "What kind of Digimon are they, Agumon?"

"I… don't think I've ever seen Digimon like them before," The creature called 'Agumon' answered in confusion.

Dust closed the door again, and headed to the other one. On the other side was some sort of bar, Dust saw a human sitting next to a Pikachu wearing a detective hat holding a mug.

"I keep telling you, I can quit coffee whenever I want. I just choose to drink it," The Pikachu said before noticing Dust and the others. "Um, excuse me, do you mind? We are kinda having a private discussion here."

Dust wasted no second closing the door. "Okay, I think we might be getting closer, that one had a Pokemon and didn't seem like they wanted to attack us. In fact, I feel the next door will be the one we are searching for!"

"Let's hope you're right," Berry sighed.

As soon as Dust opened the next door, he saw a huge, white empty room, with a Chameleon wearing a pair of glasses and some sort of black furred fox creature with green eyes. It almost looked similar to a Zorua, except the fur was different and it didn't have any red fur.

"Okay, so we have Dust open the door and just for laughs and giggles, he ends up seeing us," The Charmeleon suggested. "What do you think, DF?"

"I think that would be hilarious, but I do have a question. If we have Dust see us, wouldn't he, Berry, and Mimi be here right now?" The not-Zorua fox kit asked.

"Highly doubt it, this is a story we are talking about. I doubt Dust, Berry or Mimi would suddenly appear through some random door," The Charmeleon laughed.

"Umm… then were you expecting an Absol with a Goomy on its back, and a Mimikyu company today?" The fox kit asked, looking at Dust.

"What?" The Charmeleon turned to where the fox kit was looking and was surprised to see Dust. "WHAT?!"

Dust was blinking in confusion. "Uh… hello? How do you know our names? Have we met? I feel like we've met."

"You can't be here! You're not supposed to be here! How are you even here in the first place?!" The Charmeleon shouted, getting up as he started walking towards Dust and the others.

The fox kit began to type on the keyboard with her paws, then suddenly the door closed.

"Uhhhh… what was that about? Did the door just close on its own?" Berry blinked.

"I'm still trying to figure out how they knew us in the first place!" Dust replied.

"No time! The others are getting closer!" Mimi pointed out, showing that the other Ghost Pokemon were getting closer, despite them being momentarily invisible.

"Hurry, get to the other door, we must be getting closer to the right one!" Berry quickly said.

Dust ran to the next door, he gave a silent prayer to whatever deity existed out there, and opened the door. Dust blinked when he thought he was looking at a mirror, only the reflection looked a little older and more mature. But it was definitely Dust, he had the same mismatched blue and red eyes, and he didn't seem so different like that other Absol, Dust could tell this was him. And yet, there was something off besides the older and more mature looking version of him. It looked like the reflection was outside somewhere. And the reflection didn't have Berry on its back.

Both Dust and the Absol tilted their heads, both visibly confused by what they were seeing. Just as Dust looked behind him to see if Berry was still there, the other Absol did the same. When they turned to face each once more, Dust was expecting to see the same confused expression that he had, but instead the Absol was now smiling, causing Dust even more confusion.

"Ahhh, now that takes me back," The Absol said. "I still sometimes miss the way her slime would go down my back. Really refreshing on a hot day too."

Dust and Berry stared at the Absol, who had the exact same voice as Dust had.

"What…?" Berry asked. "Is this some kind of joke? Dust, is that a twin brother you never told us about?"

"Heh, not exactly," The other Absol chuckled. "Come Dust, you're smart, I know you are. Figure it out."

As Dust continued staring at this Absol, the dots started connecting in his mind, and a single idea had started to form. "Are you…-"

Before Dust could finish that sentence, a large figure towered over the Absol from behind. Berry immediately stiffened in fear, Dust's own eyes widened as well, but the other Absol didn't seem alarmed at all, not even when thick light green goo started to fall on his head and back.

The Absol looked up, wiping the slime away from part of his head to prevent it from covering the frontal area. "Though I supposed her slime will always be there. Best enjoy it now, it's gonna be getting everywhere later."

"What are you looking at?" The large Pokemon from behind the Absol asked.

The voice sounded familiar, but older and more mature sounding. Dust's eyes widened again, but for a different reason.

Then the large Pokemon picked up the other Absol with its arms, and with seeming ease. "Aww, that's adorable. It looks like they found that door in the Strange Mansion. I can't believe how much has changed since then."

"Hey! I know you like hugging a lot, but I just washed off the slime from last time. You left me covered in a pile of slime!" The Absol shouted, trying to break free from the Goodra, but in vain.

Berry nearly fell off of Dust's back in relief.

"Oh Mew, I thought we were going to witness that Goodra eating the other Absol," Berry sighed in relief. "I think one traumatic experience with a Goodra is enough for a lifetime…"

"Oh, that's right. You still had that whole fear back then," The Absol commented.

"What? Why are you making it sound like you've experienced all this with me or somethin-" Berry stopped as she looked at the Goodra that had the very Dust-like Absol in her arms.

The Goodra herself was also wearing a very familiar red scarf on her neck.

"... Close the door, Dust," Berry whispered.

"But what if they are actually our-" Dust tried to say, only for Berry to suddenly jump off his back, and tackled the door shut.

"They are not… they are NOT! They never will be!" Berry quickly said, looking at Dust. "Because if they are, then… then… that would mean… You replaced me with that Goodra!"

"What?! If you are talking about that wild Goodra you encounter back then, you know I would never do that!" Dust reasoned. "Berry, you are my partner, and you know that's not gonna change."

"Then maybe that door just showed us an alternate universe, not the future!" Berry quickly said.

"It… is possible. Every door we've seen so far showed us different worlds," Mimi agreed, mostly because she wanted Berry to calm down so they could keep moving. "Nobody knows if what the doors are showing is even real or just some form of hallucinations."

Dust wanted to further talk about what they had just seen, but the look on Berry's face said otherwise. And time wasn't on their side, so Dust decided to forget about the moment for now, instead focusing on the next door.

"Well if we saw different versions of our… I mean, of myself, then that must mean we are getting close," Dust said, trying to sound optimistic.

They could see the other ghosts were closing in on them, so Dust picked Berry up and put her back on his back before he and Mimi rushed to the next door.

"I know you two are here!" They heard Vlad's voice booming in the room. "Mimi, I am disappointed in you. Why are you helping them knowing that they are the key to our freedom?"

Mimi didn't answer, instead she brought her shadowy claw in front of her body, making a quiet like gesture. Dust and Berry understood that Mimi wanted them to stay silent, knowing that Vlad would most likely find them if they made too much noise. Dust went for the next door, hoping to be the last as he opened it.

To Dust's surprise, he saw what looked like that ghost human again, only this one appeared to be a little different. His eyes were purple as opposed to the green they were earlier, he still had snow white hair, he still had white on his clothing, but instead of black, he had dark blue, and the 'D' was changed to an 'A'. The ghost human didn't seem very surprised to see them like the last one was, however, instead, he just gave them an eye roll before he pointed at a door behind them. Then, without saying anything, the ghost boy grabbed onto the doorknob and closed the door.

Dust wasn't sure what just happened, but he decided to look behind him at the door the ghost human had pointed at earlier, seeing how it appeared differently than all the other doors they had previously opened. It was unfortunate that the ghost human had already closed the door, Dust would've liked to give him thanks for helping them out. Without wasting another second, Dust went to the door, his instincts telling him that this was the door they were searching for. When he opened it, he wasn't entirely sure of what he saw, but Mimi gave him a nod of conformation before entering the room. Trusting the Mimikyu, Dust followed shortly after, closing the door behind him.

Dust saw that the room they were in looked like a child's room. There was a small bed with bedsheets that had little Pikachu on it. There were dusty shelves of toys, mostly Pokemon plushies, posters of cute Pokemon like Skitty, Vulpix, Eevee, and Lillipup. There appeared to be a TV as well, but it looked to be broken, and dusty, like someone hadn't touched it in years. The wall looked to be peeling and faded, the floor had a giant rug in the shape of a Pikachu's face. Dust couldn't help but notice a few Pichu and Pikachu plushies on the bed as well.

"Team Night Tide, welcome to my room," Mimi spoke up.

"Was not expecting to end up in your room," Dust noted. "I see that you…um… have a collection of dolls and such. I assume you are rather fond of Pikachu?"

Mimi's eyes suddenly turned into yellow stars, which startled Dust and Berry. "Fond of Pikachu? Fond of that little yellow rodent!? There's a reason why I'm wearing this Pikachu rag over my body, and it isn't for a happy reason! Why does Pikachu get all the love while I just get scrutiny!?"

"I-I didn't mean any o-offense!" Dust stuttered, realizing he must've mentioned a rather sensitive topic. "I was merely assuming, that's all."

"Please don't be mad!" Berry spoke up.

Suddenly Mimi started laughing, leaving Dust and Berry dumbfounded. "You should see the looks on your faces!"

"Wah… was this another prank?" Berry frowned.

"Yeah, sorry, I couldn't help myself. Mimikyu are usually known for wanting to dress like Pikachu to be loved. As a result though, many tend to really despise the Pikachu species due to jealousy. I'm more of a special case though," Mimi explained. "I'm not wearing this Pikachu rag because I'm jealous or want love, but because I literally can't remove it from my body."

"Unable too?" Dust excitingly asked. "Now this raises many questions. For starters-"

"I think I understand," Berry spoke up, interrupting the Absol. "When you talked about freedom, and how Vlad was disappointed in you… you were a human who lived here before the big event thing happened, weren't you?"

"You're correct, little Goomy," Mimi answered. "I was a human, specifically a young human child at the time when it happened. Which is why my room looks like it was meant for a child. I was cuddling with one of my favorite Pikachu plushies. Pikachu was one of my favorite Pokemon. I was hoping to get one for a pet one day. But when that… event happened, I had died. Not only that, but my spirit merged with the Pikachu plushy I was cuddling with, which had turned me into a Mimikyu. It's probably also the reason why I'm the only Mimikyu in this Strange Mansion. Which means I'm not only bound to this mansion, like Vlad is, but I'm also bound to this Pikachu rag I'm wearing."

"Interesting," Dust said at first, only to get nudged by Berry. "Oh, and by that I'm also sorry to hear about your situation. I can't imagine the idea of being trapped for so long. But isn't there any way to free you? One that doesn't include my soul?"

"Maybe. I had been doing some research. There wasn't a lot I could do here after all. However, I did manage to learn how to cross into the spirit world after being a ghost for so long, I've managed to talk to other spirits and Ghost type Pokemon, trying to gather as much information as I could about our… unique situation, or as I prefer to call it; our curse," Mimi stated. "The alternative way to free us is to destroy the Strange Mansion. Destroying what is keeping us bound could free us… however, there's also a chance it could destroy us instead. The Strange Mansion is also not easy to destroy. It's a ghost itself in a way. Any damages done to the Strange Mansion gets repaired in less than an hour. I suppose the best way to destroy it is to burn it down, but that is risky since we'll be trapped in the mansion while it burns. Unless you're half Fire type, us Ghost types are not immune to being burned dead."

"Hmm, to many unknown variables," Dust mumbled to himself. "If we could possibly learn more, perhaps we could find a safe solution that will minimize the risk of harming the Ghost Pokemon trapped here, while also breaking this curse. Mimi, is there anywhere in this mansion that might contain any source of information on the history of this mansion? A library? Blueprints? Anything?"

Mimi was actually quite shocked to hear this. "You don't have to help us, especially after almost having your soul taken from you. You two just need to escape, there's no reason for you two to get further involved."

"True, it would be the most logical solution. But you forget one thing, we are Crusaders!" Dust exclaimed. "If there's a chance to help, no matter how small, then you'll be expecting us to try our best and help those in need."

"But we're not even truly Pokemon, why would you want to help us?" Mimi asked.

"It doesn't matter if you're a Pokemon or human or something else entirely. You're still beings who need help, and that's enough for us," Berry answered. "Besides, knowing Dust, he'll be asking you millions of questions about humans and their culture once he's able to successfully free you."

"All the more reason to help you!" Dust added. "So, will you help us to help free you and the others?"

Mimi didn't answer at first, instead she turned away from Dust and Berry. For a moment she was trembling and Dust thought that she might have been crying, but suddenly the Mimikyu started to laugh out loud, catching both Dust and Berry off guard.

Mimi finally stopped laughing, facing Dust and Berry once more. "Man, you two are always surprising. Never would've thought any Pokemon would risk their own lives just to help a group of cursed Ghosts. Alright, I'll help."

"So do you have any ideas on what we could do to help free you from this curse?" Berry asked.

"Well, destroying the Strange Mansion is an option, but it's not a guaranteed one, and it's also dangerous for us," Mimi said. "I suppose your best and safest bet is to try to make another deal with Giratina, preferably one that doesn't include sacrificing souls. I was never really on board with that plan, but I was getting desperate when we decided to invite you two here. I'm just… glad that I was able to stop it before it was too late though. Let's hope that it's still not too late."

"How would we be able to make a deal with Giratina?" Berry asked with a frown before she looked at Dust. "You said you've met with Giratina, right? Can't you get a hold of him again or something?"

Dust shook his head. "Even if I could contact him, I have no idea how to do it in the first place," But then a thought crossed his mind as he recalled the events with the Snubbull. "Actually... there was this one time, when Brody was under the influence of Attract. It happened just before he was about to deal the finishing blow, before my ability had somehow activated. Before all that, I heard a voice, saying something about how it noticed the situation I was in and offered to help. I wasn't too sure what it meant back then, too many things were happening at once, but I think that might've been Giratina communicating with me."

"That's not surprising. Giratina is known to be the Grim Reaper of Pokemon, so it's not likely you will hear him unless you're about to die," Mimi stated.

Berry paled. "I… would rather you don't almost kill yourself again, Dust. I think there's only so many times I can watch you almost die before I completely lose it and you actually do die for good."

"Well if we could somehow contact Giratina, there might be a chance I won't have to give a deal, since I've already met with him before," Dust suggested.

"Perhaps it would be best if you figure out how to get into contact with Giratina back at your guild where it's safe. While my room is a safe haven for me, it won't stop Vlad from coming in here for long," Mimi warned. "I would rather get you two to safety first before you try to figure out any plans of setting us free. You don't need to be here specifically to try to talk to Giratina after all."

"That's a good idea. Maybe our guildmaster might know something, since she is a Ghost type herself too," Berry remarked.

Dust nodded. "I agree, she seems to have quite the extensive knowledge, and something tells me she might even know about my... encounter with Giratina."

"I wish you luck with it. But for now, we should leave. We need to get you two out of here and quickly as possible," Mimi said. "I can already sense Vlad is trying to make his way in here."

Mimi didn't bother to check outside this time, she just opened her door and hurried out. Dust quickly followed her with Berry clinging onto his back. As soon as they were out in the corridor, however, it was empty and quiet. No signs of Vlad or his Duskull and Sableye anywhere.

"I don't like this," Mimi stated. "I think Vlad is setting up an ambush for us."

"Berry, can't you sense them?" Dust asked his partner.

"No, I can't sense ghosts! You try sensing them, you're a Dark type after all, and an Absol! It's your job to sense the supernatural!" Berry replied back, trying not to freak out.

"Actually Absol has a sort of sixth sense of knowing when danger is nearby. Doesn't really apply to sensing the supernatural or any Ghosts for the matter," Dust corrected before gulping as he started to tremble a bit. "But doesn't mean my instincts aren't going crazy. I may not be that experienced when it comes to sensing oncoming danger, but right now, it's screaming, telling me to run."

"You two, be ready for a battle in case my hunch is right," Mimi warned.

Berry was shivering, she was scared. Dust remembered the last time they fought with a Ghost type, it nearly drained him dry.

Come on Dust, it won't do no good if we are all too afraid to move. For once start acting like a Dark type. Remember what truly terrifies you! Dust thought to himself as he pictured a mental image of his mother just as she's about to give him punishment. As he focused more and more, he started to tremble less and less. That's right, compared to her, this is nothing.

Dust was finally able to stop shaking, using his past experiences with his mother as a source of courage to draw from. Turning towards Berry, he gave her a reassuring smile. "Berry, don't worry. We'll definitely get out of here. You have my word."

"How… how do you know?" Berry asked.

"We've dealt with worse," Dust said. "I know it seems bad now, but we've survived worse, Berry."

This got the Goomy to stop trembling as she recalled that time she went into a dangerous dungeon on her own, facing a powerful dragon she had no chance of winning while also trying to protect her brother. Compared to that, here, she had Dust with her, and a friendly Mimikyu who was willing to help them. She didn't have to be the brave one, or the strong one this time. While the Dusknoir may be powerful, she and Dust had gotten more powerful since they joined the Unity Guild. They had a chance here, unlike when Berry was facing the Goodra.

"You're right… you're right…" Berry took a deep breath and let it out. "We… we have a chance here."

Mimi looked at the doors that would lead to the exit. "Well, you two, better get your items organized and your battle plan ready. If Vlad decides to surround us when we head for the door, we need to be ready."

"Are you going to be fighting with us too?" Berry asked.

"I may have to," Mimi answered in a soft tone. "If it means saving you two and getting our freedom without needing to sacrifice anyone, I'm willing to take it, even if it means turning against my own… kin."

Dust closed his eyes for a moment, hoping to reach that familiar feeling, to be able to somehow activate his ability just like during his sparring match with Berry. But as he focused, he couldn't sense that sensation anywhere. He tried harder, but to no avail.

I was hoping I might've been able to use it by now, but looks like I'll need more practice in the future... If there is one. Dust quickly shook his head, trying to get rid of any doubts in his mind. No! Don't think that. Even if I can't use my ability, we still have a chance to escape.

"Mimi, thank you for helping us. You have already risked so much just by helping us get this far, we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you," Dust said.

"Thank me after we get you two out of here," Mimi replied. "Do you think you're ready?"

"Dust, what items did you bring?" Berry asked.

Dust looked at Berry, giving her a smile as he showed her the contents inside the bag. "A few Oran Berries and Apples. We should be able to hold on our own with these."

Berry could see a Totter Orb, a Sleep Seed, and a Blast Seed as well, but she figured Dust didn't want to say he had those due to the possibility of being watched. They didn't bring a lot of items with them, mostly due to the fact they didn't know they'd be going into battle.

"Alright…" Berry took another breath and let it out. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

"Then let's head for the exit," Mimi said.

The three of them slowly and cautiously made their way towards the doors that lead outside of the Strange Mansion. However, just as Mimi had suspected, it was suddenly blocked by a dark shield. Then Sableye and Duskull suddenly appeared around them.

"Mimi, I'm disappointed in you," Vlad said as he slowly floated down from the ceiling. "We're close to regaining our freedom from this prison of a mansion, and reviving the human race that was lost thousands of years ago. And yet… you chose to throw away all of that because you felt a bit of sympathy for these two Pokemon who couldn't possibly understand our plight."

"It's called having a heart, Vladimir," Mimi spoke up boldly. "While I want to leave the Strange Mansion as much as everyone else here, I'm not willing to throw my heart away to do so. I will retain whatever humanity I have left in this ghost-like body, even if it means being trapped here for eternity."

"You are free to do whatever you wish, my dear child," Vlad spoke with condescendence. "But not everyone here shares your heart. Everyone wishes for their freedom, and yet you get to decide their fate? Very selfish that you wish to keep everyone trapped here along with you, just for the sake of keeping your humanity. We have none! Ever since that day we've been cursed with these bodies, forever trapped within this mansion. So I will only say this once. Bring the Absol to me, and all will be forgiven."

Dust and Berry remained silent. They couldn't afford Mimi to turn on them now, especially since she was part Fairy type herself. Even with their new moves, Mimi would be difficult to take down if she decided to fight against them. But it would also hurt to have her turn against them since she had been helping them throughout the ordeal.

Mimi turned to Dust and Berry. "Team Night Tide… You told me that once you leave here, you will find a way to free us from this mansion and our binds to Giratina. And I believe that. I will put my faith in the two of you."

Dust and Berry smiled at Mimi, grateful for her faith in them. But suddenly Vlad bursted out laughing. "You honestly believe these two find a way to break our curse? Giratina had already told us how to break this curse. Bring those whose souls have been blessed by the Legendary Pokemon themselves. Right in front of us, not only has he been blessed, but it was by Giratina himself. This has been a curse on us for thousands of years, Mimi, your child-like ideals will not break it. So let go of your childish ways, Mimi, it's time you grew up and understand that your actions have consequences."

"I'm thousands of years old, Vlad, I'm no longer that same child who died thousands of years ago," Mimi hissed. "Unlike you, however, I didn't go down a dark path by making a deal with the Pokemon most considered as the devil. I have hope that there are better ways to free us, even if it means relying on outside help that isn't Girainta!"

All the Ghosts gasped and for a moment Vlad had dropped his composure. "Sacrilege! Don't you dare tarnish the name of Giratina. He is a deity who has given us a chance to free ourselves of this curse. I have been patient, hoping you would end this childish ruse, but no more. You leave me no choice. Get them!"

The Sableye and Duskull all let out a bone chilling laugh as they readied themselves for battle. The Sableye's gem-like eyes sparkled with delight.

With that, the battle for their souls had begun. Dust immediately fired his Ice Beam, hitting a few Duskull and Sableye, freezing them solid. The others quickly jumped out of the way and started charging towards them. But before they could reach Dust, Mimi slashed at them, using Shadow Claw and knocking them back. With her extended shadowy claw, it was easy for Mimi to slash multiple other Ghost types at once. Unfortunately, Sableye, being part Dark type, resisted the Shadow Claw better than the Duskull did.

Berry shot out a Dragon Breath attack at an incoming Sableye that was about to use Fury Swipes on Dust's head, pushing it back. But despite her best efforts, she was soon tackled off of Dust by another Sableye.

"There's too many to keep track of!" Berry called out before a Duskull floated over her, its glowing light inside its skull glowed brighter. "Oh no…"

Mimi suddenly sunk into the shadows and grabbed onto Berry before the Duskull's glowing eye could completely flash itself in front of Berry, dragging the Goomy away before coming back up from the shadows.

"Be careful, you don't want to get caught up in the Duskull's Confuse Ray," Mimi warned.

Another Sableye jumped at Mimi, summoning silver gem-like energy around it. Mimi looked at the Sableye for a second before she suddenly summoned the same silver gem-like energy around her. Both Power Gem attacks cancelled each other out.

"These Sableye are tricky, they're part Dark type, meaning my Ghost type attacks would only do neutral damage," Mimi muttered.

"Me and Berry don't know any effective moves against them either," Dust added, but then a thought came to mind. "Wait, Mimikyu are part Fairy. Mimi, use your Fairy attacks on them!"

"Uh, yeah, about that…" Mimi frowned. "I… don't have any."

"What? What do you mean you don't have any?" Berry frowned.

"Excuse me, I don't exactly train myself to fight here!" Mimi grumbled. "It takes a strong Mimikyu to learn a Fairy type attack!"

While they were yelling, more Sableye and Duskull began to surround them. Mimi paled when she saw blue fire beginning to surround the Duskull.

"Will-O-Wisp… Dust, Berry, do either of you have a move or an item that can affect all enemies in a room? If you do, I suggest you use it now!" Mimi warned.

Dust grinned as he reached inside his bag. "As a matter of fact, we actually do!" Dust reached for the Totter Orb, throwing it at the group of Ghost Pokemon that were preparing Will-O-Wisp.

"Watch out!" Vlad shouted, but it was too late.

The orb shattered in front of them, causing a momentary flash of light. All the Ghost Pokemon caught in the blast were now stumbling, trying to regain their balance while others had either tripped or bumped into one another. Those who were still preparing Will-O-Wisp couldn't stop now and ended up launching the fire attack on each other. This caused the other Duskull or Sableye that were hit by the Will-O-Wisp to get burned.

Vlad, however, either wasn't affected by the Totter Orb's effects or recovered much quicker than the others. In his frustration at seeing his Ghost army being confused, he flew at Dust, Berry, and Mimi. He pulled back an arm, coating his fist with electricity, then he punched Dust hard in the chest, sending him back a few feet while being shocked by the electricity.

"That should keep him down for the time being," Vlad said, noticing that Dust hadn't gotten up. "Now time to deal with his partner, and a traitor."

Vlad then fades into the shadows while giving a low chuckle. Mimi, knowing what Vlad was trying to do, went into the shadows herself to try to get to him before he got to Berry. Berry, not being able to see where Vlad would pop up, quickly hopped over to Dust. She looked him over before she reached into his bag to take something out.

Both Mimi and Vlad came out of the wall that was close to Berry and Dust, Mimi had her Shadow Claw against Vlad's Shadow Punch. The Mimikyu's claw holding back against the fist covered with ghostly energy. Both Pokemon fell to the ground, letting go of each other's'hands'.

"For someone who claimed to not have trained to battle, you sure do put up an annoying fight," Vlad hissed.

Berry looked at the Ghost types. Seeing her chance to attack, Berry shot out a Dragon Breath attack at Vlad's back.

Vlad shouted in pain before he turned to face Berry. "It's always one nuisance after the other!"

Vlad charged at Berry once more, but instead of using Shadow Punch like last time, this time his arm was covered in ice as he prepared to use Ice Punch.

"Berry!" Mimi shouted in alarm before she quickly went into the shadows to use Shadow Sneak in order to move past Vlad quickly and pop up in front of the surprised Goomy.

"Mimi!?" Berry yelled in shock.

Vlad brought out his icy fist, hitting Mimi's Pikachu's rag head with his Ice Punch. Mimi was thrown back a little, but she used her claws to dig into the floor, stopping herself from being thrown back too far.

"Mimi, are you okay?" Berry asked in concern, seeing the Pikachu rag's head now limping on the ground.

Mimi, on the other hand, seemed perfectly fine even if the rag she was wearing looked to have broken a little. "I'm fine, he didn't damage me, just my Pikachu costume. It'll fix itself after a while."

"A very fine ability," Vlad admitted. "But we both know it will take time for you to be able to use it again, and I highly doubt you'll be so lucky a second time."

A Sableye, who had snapped out of the confusion earlier than the others, went over to Berry and Mimi. The Sableye's gem-like eyes sparked at Berry for a second, making Berry shake her head. She tried to fire a Dragon Breath at the Sableye, but nothing came out of her mouth.

"Wah…? What happened to my Dragon Breath?" Berry asked.

"It must've used Disable on you." Mimi frowned. "This isn't good, the others are starting to snap out of their confusion."

"What!? That means I can't use Dragon Breath anymore?" Berry gasped.

"It's temporary, but I'm not sure how long you'll be unable to use it," Mimi explained.

The other Ghost types were starting to snap out of confusion and were starting to surround Berry, Mimi, and the still down Absol.

Vlad started clapping slowly. "A valiant effort, but try as you may, eventually you will lose. How about saving yourself the trouble and just surrender. All I truly want is the Absol, give him up now and I'll let you go."

Berry slithered in front of Dust protectively. "Never!"

Berry took a deep breath before spitting out a purple ball of sludge at Vlad's face, causing the sticky poison to stick to his eye.

Vlad screamed as he tried wiping the poison substance from his eye. "You had your chance! Finish them!"

Vlad was close to Berry and Dust as the other Ghost types began to float towards them. Berry moved back before Mimi suddenly got in front.

"Oh? Who will you be finishing off?" Mimi asked sweetly before there were suddenly hundreds of her all over the place.

The other Ghost Pokemon were surprised and confused as to how Mimi managed to duplicate herself. All the copies suddenly launched out their shadow claws at the other ghosts, making them take cover from the attack.

As the Ghosts were all distracted with the copies of Mimi, Vlad had managed to wipe away some of the sludge that was stuck in his eyes. While it still stung, he was able to see all the Mimis holding back the other Ghosts, but his attention turned towards Berry and Dust. Becoming irritated, he readied another Ice Punch and rushed towards Berry. Vlad was so focused on Berry that he didn't notice Dust getting up until the Absol faced him.

Dust knew he had only a few seconds before Vlad noticed. His body was slightly numb from the Thunder Punch he received earlier, but thanks to his past experience with electric Pokemon, he was able to recover quickly. Instead of joining back into the fight, an idea had come across his mind. He had taken the Blast Seed and consumed it, but instead of letting out the sudden burst of energy in his mouth, he decided to hold it in as long as possible until the right moment.. It felt as if the insides of his mouth were on fire, his body sweating from holding it inside for a while now. He barely could hold it in, but with Vlad currently distracted, Dust saw this was the perfect opportunity to release his attack.

Just as Vlad was about to land his attack on Berry, Dust had opened his mouth, releasing all the pent up energy inside. Time seemed to slow down for Vlad, only having a second to realize what Dust was about to do, but could do nothing to stop it. The blast of exploding fire sent Vlad flying backwards towards the doors that were blocked by the barrier. The force of the collision caused the barrier to shatter. Everyone else was knocked back by the sheer force of the attack, even Dust and Berry flew back a few feet from the blast. Heavy smoke covered the area, blocking everyone's vision.

Dust ears were ringing, he tried calling out to Berry in front of him, but couldn't even hear his own voice.

Vlad was yelling something. While the Blast Seed and shattering the barrier on the door seemed to have hurt the Dusknoir pretty badly, he was still floating and conscious. Dust couldn't hear what he was saying, but he knew he was yelling at the other Ghosts to do something.

Berry looked to be disorientated herself, she turned to Dust, surprised to see him conscious. Mimi sank into the shadows, her illusionary copies of herself disappearing. Suddenly, there were bright purple flames around them. Dust could see Litwik, Lampent, and Chandalure coming into the room. They were all looking at them hungrily.

When Dust could hear again, he could hear Vlad laughing. "That's right! Take the Absol and Goomy's souls!"

Mimi came up from the shadows in front of Dust and Berry. "I'm sorry. You must escape."

Mimi grabbed both Dust and Berry with her claws. Her claws were digging into Dust's fur. Dust knew Mimi meant no harm though, she had to act fast, and gripping onto them tightly was the best way to execute her plan. The Mimikyu jumped towards Vlad and the door. Vlad looked up at the incoming Mimikyu, shocked as he could see underneath her Pikachu cloth, a couple of red eyes glowing a crimson red and yellow at him. Mimi threw Dust and Berry at the door, just as two of her claws grabbed onto Vlad and pulled him under her Pikachu cloth. The Pikachu cloth had expanded to accommodate for Vlad's size.

"Both of you get out of here, now!" Mimi shouted as there was a lot of struggling going on under her Pikachu cloth.

Dust's mind was telling him to go, that this was their only chance of escaping, but his body wasn't moving. He knew that Mimi wouldn't be able to hold Vlad for long, and that they should escape, but the thought of leaving her behind now made him hesitate. He looked back at Berry and saw how worried she was about Mimi. Dust wanted to turn back and help Mimi, but he knew that this was going to be a losing battle.

Unfortunately, Dust and Berry hesitated too long, Vlad managed to escape out of Mimi's cloth, and was launching himself at the two of them. With his fists covered in both shadow and ice, Vlad punched Vlad and Berry at the same time. Both Berry and Dust hit the ground hard. Dust's satchel opened up, causing a few Oran Berries to roll out. Dust tried to grab one of the Oran Berries, but the Litwik nearby burned up the berries quickly, ensuring Dust and Berry wouldn't be able to recover from their injuries.

"You will not escape," The Litwick hissed menacingly.

Berry weakly looked up, seeing Vlad hovering over the Absol. Dust tried to move, but then four Sableye pinned him down, each holding down one of his limbs.

"Can't have you running on us now. Chandelure, begin the process!" Vlad called down one of the Chandelure as they floated towards Dust.

"No… stop it, Vlad, think about what you're doing. Your past self would be horrified at what you're doing right now," Mimi begged, struggling to move from the floor. Her struggle with Vlad had left her weakened.

Dust felt something hot trying to invade his very being at the Chandelure's purple flame burned bright in front of him. It began to let out a hum of some kind as it started to burn his soul.

Berry began to pull out a seed from her scarf, having taken it out from Dust's bag earlier.

"What I do is for the benefit of everyone here. I've worked too hard, too long to stop now. And I know my past self would approve," Vlad said before his expression softened for a moment as he turned to face Mimi. "Despite your action tonight, when all this is over and we are finally free, I'll still forgive you. So instead of dismay, you should be rejoicing."

Berry looked down at the seed in her antenna. She had been hoping to save it for the Dusknoir, but with how Dust was crying out in pain and agony, she didn't think she could wait any longer.

"Let him go!" Berry yelled before she threw the seed at the humming Chandelure.

The seed, as soon as it touched the Chandelure, broke suddenly and released a puff of pink smoke all over the Chandelure. The Chandelure stopped humming suddenly, then fell to the floor, its yellow eyes closed, seeming to be asleep.

"Someone hold her down!" Vlad shouted as he saw what Berry had done. A Duskull and Saleye pounced on Berry before she could move, holding her in place. "Looks like I have to be the one to finish the job. Young Absol, I do apologize in advance. If you thought you felt pain now, then this will be Distortion World for you."

As Vlad floated towards Dust, he summoned a big rusty nail. Dust instantly recognized what Vlad was planning on using, having read about the move once before. Dust struggled even harder, trying to break free from the Sableye that held him down, but to no avail.

Vlad then held open his arms, while holding the rusty nail above his head. "Giratina! Long ago you have tasked us to bring unto you souls that have been blessed by those of higher Power, in return you promise to break this curse that was placed upon us. We have diligently followed your command all these years, and now we bring unto you this final offering. This Absol has been blessed by you, and through fate has come to us. We understand this is a blessing from you, a chance to finally break our curse. With this final act, I offer his soul unto you!"

With that Vlad thrust the nail against his body, feeling immense pain. Dust felt something stab his very soul, his very being felt the long rusty nail go through as Vlad continued to press it against his own body. Dust screamed out loud, the pain he felt earlier from Chandelure was nothing compared to this. But despite all his screaming, Vlad continued to press the nail against his body.

"Worry not, young Absol," Vlad managed to say through his own pain. "Once the nail is completely in, your suffering shall be over."

"STOP IT! LET HIM GO!" Berry screamed out in a fit of rage.

A sudden downpour began to flood the mansion, causing all the Litwick, Lampent, and conscious Chandelure to fly away from the room. Berry then shot out powerful gushes of water at the Ghosts around her, practically drowning them each. She didn't stop shooting out water from her mouth. The water turned condensed and powerful before they began to emit rings of water and waves. Some of the Ghosts that were hit by the water attack became confused.

Vlad stopped for a moment as he was taken by surprise by the Goomy's sudden powerful water attacks. The sudden downpour in the mansion, the flooding, and the powerful water attacks pushing back his ghost army was not something he suspected happening from this supposed weak Pokemon.

"Impressive," Vlad acknowledged. "I was planning on keeping your soul for myself, but I think Giratina would appreciate it if I offered your soul as a gift to him."

Vlad lifted Berry up with Curse, intending to use another nail. Berry glared heatedly at the Dusknoir. Despite being in Vlad's hold, however, the Goomy was able to open her mouth. Vlad could see a blue orb being condensed in her mouth.

"No, stop! Right now!" Vlad commanded.

Berry let out a cry as she shot out the powerful blue Dragon Breath attack at Vlad. The attack engulfed Vlad's body, forcing him to let go of the Goomy. Unfortunately for Berry, her outburst had a time limit. After unleashing her Dragon Breath, she felt completely exhausted and her body slumped down on the flooded ground. Berry saw Vlad's body on the ground and was hoping that he would stay down. A few seconds passed by and Berry started to think that she had succeeded but a chilling laughter shattered what little hope she had left.

"A valiant effort, but in the end it was all for nothing," Vlad slowly got up, wincing from the pain, but still able to move. He then started floating towards Berry while summoning a rusty nail, raising it as he prepared to finish the job. "But this night has run its course, and I think it's time to end it."

Vlad was about to thrust the nail when a voice suddenly boomed through the room, causing him to stop.

"Enough!" A voice shouted.

The air had suddenly grown colder, Berry was able to see her own breath from the sudden drop in temperature. She felt a new presence in the room, one that was exerting so much pressure that it was causing her so tremble. At first she thought it might have been another ally of Vlad, but when she looked at the Dusknoir, she saw that he too was trembling.

A familiar white figure stood up and walked towards Vlad. Vlad turned around, and was shocked to see Dust had just walked over to him despite the Curse. Berry was surprised too, but she felt too weak to speak.

"How? Who or what are you?" Vlad started to ask, causing Dust to grin.

"Really Vlad? After putting so much dedication to your sacrifice you don't recognize the very being you were performing for in the first place?" Dust asked as he continued to exert his pressure.

Realization dawned upon Vlad and he promptly fell to the ground in a bowing position. "Please forgive me, I never would have imagined to be visited by you. Had I known that you'd be coming I would have better prepared-"

"Silence!" Dust shouted, causing Vlad to immediately cease talking.

Dust's eyes were glowing an unnatural red. He was not himself at the moment. This Absol, whoever he was, looked around the room before finally resting his eyes on Berry. Berry, despite not being able to move, did slide back a little when not-Dust's eyes were on her.

"Vlad, have someone tend to the Goomy's injuries. I wish to speak with her later," The Absol commanded.

"Y-yes, Lord Giratina!" Vlad quickly said with a bow.

When Vlad looked around to find someone to heal Berry, he saw only the wet Mimikyu was still here. The other Ghosts had either been knocked unconscious or fled the room. Mimi managed to get back up, using her claws to push the head of her Pikachu cloth back up as well.

"Mimi! Quick, tend to the Goomy!" Vlad hastily said, not wanting to keep the Absol waiting any longer.

"Yes, of course," Mimi sighed in relief, glad that Vlad was not attacking them anymore.

Mimi went over to the exhausted Berry. While Mimi may not be a healing Pokemon, she had a long time to practice medicine in her afterlife as a Mimikyu. She scooped up what was left of the Oran Berries that the Litwick burned. There were bits of Oran Berry juice mixed with water. She used that to rub against Berry's gooey skin, letting the Oran Berry juices help heal the Goomy's wounds.

Though Berry still felt tired, she was able to at least sit up easier. "Thanks, Mimi…"

"No problem, just take it easy right now. I'm not sure if we are exactly out of trouble yet," Mimi warned.

Vlad was still stiffly bowing to the Absol, who walked over to Berry after Mimi finished up healing her. Mimi moved away, seeing how 'Dust' wanted to talk to Berry, though she was a bit wary of who had taken over Dust's body.

"I was wondering when we would meet, while unexpected, I have been curious what Dust's partner would be like. You may have heard of me, most likely from Dust or a few others. I am Giratina," Giratina spoke through Dust.

Berry looked at Dust. While it wouldn't have been easy for someone to just believe someone they knew was possessed by another, it was very clear this wasn't Dust right now. He had such a powerful presence that Dust himself couldn't even compare as he was now. And the glowing red eyes also indicated he was definitely not Dust. But Berry didn't expect it to be Giratina of all Pokemon.

"S-so… Vlad succeeded… in summoning you… to take Dust's soul?" Berry asked softly, sounding worried and heartbroken.

Giratina groaned as he shook his head. "Far from it. I've already had warned the Absol to be more careful, and already he's almost gotten himself killed...again. I'm not here to take Dust's soul but to help with the current situation."

"But why, my lord?!" Vlad asked only to receive a glare from Giratina.

The Absol turned towards Vlad as his expression softened. "Vlad, I had given you a chance to help yourself and the others, but instead you only caused much suffering."

"W-what do you mean?" Vlad asked. "We've been doing what you told us to do all those years ago. Bring forth powerful souls, ones who have been blessed by the Legendary Pokemon themselves,"

Giratina shook his head once more before replying. "You had misunderstood. At the time I tasked you to bring forth those with human souls, human souls are what's needed to rebuild the lost human race. But because of your misunderstanding, you caused suffering for many others as you and the residence here continued to feed your greed and selfish desires."

"Then why show up now? Why not come before and correct us?" Vlad asked.

"I could not interfere. You had chosen this path and I could not change it. That is until this Absol and his partner had shown up." Giratina explained. "I had blessed this Absol, giving him a part of me to help him survive."

Giratina then turned back to Berry, giving her his full attention.

"And I'm sure you have other questions that are on your mind," Giratina said before groaning once more. "But if they are anything like Dust's, I swear to Arceus that… Just ask any questions that are appropriate and I'll answer where I can. While amusing as it was last time, I would rather not go through that again."

Berry couldn't help but imagine Dust asking Giratina all sorts of trivial questions. While she did have a lot, there were only a few she really wanted to ask right now. "Is Dust going to be okay?"

"Yes, he'll be fine, though most likely unconscious once I return," Giratina answered.

Berry sighed in relief at that, before she decided to ask her next question. "Are the Ghost Pokemon… the spirits of the humans in this mansion still going to be trapped here?"

"Yes. I had told them what they needed to do in order to be free," Giratina answered.

"But… is it possible to free them? Do they have to be trapped here until they gather those human souls? They can't leave the mansion, how could they gather souls?" Berry asked. "It… really isn't fair to them. They were only living like we were when they suddenly died in this mansion."

Giratina noticed Berry's disappointment and took a moment to look around the room once more. "...You do make a fair point. Now that I'm here, I think it's time I did something about this mansion."

At first Berry thought that she had convinced Giratina and that he would break the curse. But suddenly the entire mansion started to shake.

"They have caused suffering for others and themselves. So I will end their suffering by destroying this mansion taking each ghost here to the afterlife," Giratina explained.

"P-please, wait!" Mimi squeaked.

"No, stop! Don't do that, please! At least let Mimi go free, she did nothing wrong. She was only a little girl!" Berry quickly spoke up.

Giratina didn't appear to be listening, however, which made Berry do something she never thought she would do to someone like Giratina. She sprayed him with a water move, it wasn't quite Water Gun however, it was more like a gush of a watery ball that exploded in Giratina's face.

The mansion suddenly stopped shaking and Giratina turned his attention towards Berry, giving her a questioning glare. "You have guts, I'll give you that. So you say the Mimikyu should go free, for doing nothing wrong? Tell me, had she helped all those other Pokemon that were sacrificed before you two came? Did she play a hand in sacrificing others? Even if she did nothing, that would mean she just watched as others suffered. So I'll ask again, why should I let one prisoner free, when she is just as guilty as the rest?"

"If they have all sinned, then can't you have them redeem themselves? Make up for their sins? They have been trapped here for… many years. They were desperate. At least give them a chance, is all I ask. Give them a chance to earn back their freedom and make up for what they had done wrong," Berry bowed her head and begged. "Please, Girainta?"

"Very well," Giratina, through Dust's body, gave an unsettling grin. Then with a booming voice, he addressed all the residents within the mansion. "Those of you who used to be humans, who's souls still bind them to their past, the task I have given you is still in effect. Those who bring me a human soul shall be free from this curse! So who among you will make the sacrifice for freedom? Vlad, will you sacrifice yourself and others, that the rest may be free?"

The other Ghost Pokemon that were living in the mansion all appeared at once. Many of them had been observing that battle while invisible, neither battling with Vlad, nor helping Team Night Tide. They were all looking at each other nervously. None of them wanted to give up their soul while everyone else got to go free.

Vlad began to answer when Mimi suddenly spoke up. "Sacrifice me! Everyone had been waiting a long time to leave this mansion. I almost took away that chance from them. If anyone should be sacrificed, it should be me. Maybe then they can remember what it was like to have a heart."

"So you are willing to sacrifice your soul, when you are this close to freedom?" Giratina asked, watching the Mimikyu closely.

"All you need is one human soul and everyone goes free, right?" Mimi asked. "While I don't want to give up my soul, I've lived far longer than any human ever had in their lifetime. If giving you my soul will free everyone here, then I'm ready to sacrifice myself. I don't want to see everyone sacrificing their own hearts just for a chance of freedom."

Giratina stared at Mimi for a minute now, taking in everything the Mimikyu said. He gave a nod before he walked up to Mimi. "So be it."

Giratina raised Dust's right foreleg as it gave an eerie glow. The other Ghost Pokemon could only watch in suspense. Some were saddened that Mimi would be sacrificed, but most were more glad to almost be free. But suddenly, just as Giratina was about to touch Mimi, the glow disappeared from his arm as he placed his paw on top of Mimi's head, giving her a gentle pat, or at least the head of her Pikachu costume.

"Perhaps not all human souls are greedy," Giratina said as he smiled. "Young Mimikyu, after all these years you were able to retain what remained of your pure heart. If you were able to achieve such a thing, then perhaps there is still hope for them even now."

Mimi gave a confused look at Giratina under her Pikachu cloth. "Aren't you… going to take my soul?"

Giratina shook his head. "I was never planning on taking anyones' soul. Honestly I was expecting no one to offer themselves as a sacrifice. Humans have always been a greedy, selfish race. Even now, the damages they have done are burned into my memory. But then you readily offer yourself with no hesitation. Mimi, because of your selfless decisions, I will free you from this curse."

Everyone was shocked to hear this. Giratina had Dust's eyes glow and Mimi's body glowed red. A purple aura surrounded Mimi for a moment, before it condensed itself into a dark ball, then the dark ball shattered, leaving Mimi's body in a yellow light before it faded.

"So… I'm actually free…?" Mimi said, almost as if she couldn't believe it herself.

"Yes, you are free to leave this mansion whenever you wish," Giratina confirmed.

"W-wait… what about the others?" Mimi asked.

After seeing what just happened to Mimi, all the other Ghosts started surrounding Giratina, all speaking at the same time, begging to be free, some saying that they were about to offer themselves, others saying that they were willing to do anything to be free. Giratina caused Dust's eyes to give a fierce glow as he glared at each of them, forcing them to be silent and backing away from Giratina.

"Do you think I don't know the intentions of your heart?" Giratina questioned. "As I said, I had expected none of you to offer yourselves as a sacrifice, I sensed all the fear, doubt, and selfishness within. Had it not been for Mimi and Berry, I would've proceeded to drag you all to the Distortion World!"

"T-then… what do you plan to do with us, Lord Giratina?" Vlad spoke up, fearing what the answer might be.

"As I mentioned before, everyone has sinned, and I cannot look past that. But to punish you all without the chance to redeem yourself would be far more crueler than what you all have experienced so far. So I will have everyone work for me as they, to make up for all the suffering and sins they have committed. And once they have proven themselves worthy, then they shall truly be free."

"Work for you? You mean… like those other Ghost types who bring in the dead?" A Litwick asked.

"But how can we do that if we're bound to this mansion?" A Sableye questioned.

Giratina's eyes glowed for a moment, causing the whole mansion to shake, but only for a short moment. "I have weakened the hold of this curse on you. You will be able to leave the Mansion and do my bidding, but that doesn't mean you are entirely free. The curse will force you to return to the mansion, no matter how far you go. But the more you redeem yourselves, prove to me how worthy you can be, the longer you may be able to leave the mansion, until you are completely free."

All the Ghost Pokemon agreed to Giratina's terms. As long as they had a chance of being free, they didn't care how long it would take, they at least had hope now. Vlad floated over to Berry and Mimi before giving a bow of his head.

"Mimi… Goomy… Thank you both for this chance. I shouldn't have tried to sacrifice the Absol and the Goomy. Lord Giratina, I cannot thank you enough for this chance to allow us to redeem ourselves, and gain a chance for freedom," Vlad said.

"Unfortunately Vlad, I have other plans for you," Giratina spoke up, catching the Dusknoir's attention. "I remember first meeting you, and I actually had high hopes for you when I had originally given you this task. But then I saw how quickly your heart had succumbed to greed. Your sins are too great for you to redeem yourself on your own."

Vlad, although he lacked a facial feature, Berry could easily tell became extremely glum and troubled. "So… I have fallen too far to ever be free?"

Giratina shook his head once more. "I never said that. I only said that on your own, you would not be able to redeem yourself. The curse of this Mansion has a strong hold on you, even with my intervention you would still not be able to go to the outside world. That is why I will be taking you with me."

"You'll be taking me with you… back to the Distortion World?" Vlad questioned.

Giratina nodded. "Not as a prisoner or to be tortured. But to assist me there. Too long have I worked alone, perhaps having someone else there will help lighten the load. If you are willing? This won't be an easy task, you may come to regret this decision, but it is the only way to earn your freedom. So do you accept my offer?"

"Whatever it would take to earn my freedom, I will do what I must, Lord Giratina," Vlad promised with conviction. "Even if it will take me another century or longer, I will do it."

"I had a feeling you would say that," Giratina said before turning his attention to Berry. "Does that satisfy you now?"

Berry gave a bow of her head. "Yes… thank you very much for this, Giratina. I'm very happy that you were willing to give them all another chance."

"Not that we don't appreciate it… but why did you beg Lord Giratina to help us after all we've done to you?" A Sableye asked.

"Because I'm a Crusader, a Crusader's job is to help other Pokemon, even if they were human before. What kind of Crusader would I be if I didn't at least try to help you?" Berry answered with a sheepish smile.

"A hypocrite," Giratina said, catching Berry's attention once more. "But so far neither you or Dust have seemed to disappoint, so I have no reason to think that. Berry, our time grows short and I'll have to return soon, if you have no more questions, then I will be on my way."

"Oh… I do have a few questions. Like… how are you able to take over Dust's body?" Berry asked. "Couldn't you have come here yourself to talk to these Ghosts?"

"I am not allowed to interfere with the living, unless it deals with one's death. When Dust had almost died last time, I had given a part of my soul into his, otherwise Dust would not have survived, even with the cure you had brought. You see, the soul, while strong and powerful, can also be fragile," Giratina explained. "Those who almost died the first time but survive have their souls somewhat shaken, or partially cracked. No one is ever truly the same after their first time. But if they were to almost die a second time, their souls would be too damaged, having already gone through the process before. If by chance they are able to survive, I give them a part of my soul, to help their's become stable enough to survive."

Berry frowned. "What… would happen if the soul almost dies a third time?"

"You're witnessing it right now," Giratina said. "The soul is no longer able to hold itself together, the only part that is left is me. If I had shown up a second later, Dust's soul would have truly been lost. While weakened, he will recover. Which is why I want you to pass on this warning to him once he recovers. I had already told him that I would only help once, back when he was fighting against that Lucario, this time he was cutting it really close. I won't be able to intervene next time, if I do, Dust would be no more and there will be nothing I can do to stop it."

Berry frowned more at hearing that. "I… understand. Thank you for the warning."

Giratina smiled at Goomy. "Don't fret, young dragon, your friend is still growing, as are you. I've already seen signs of the gift I left him growing, and with you by his side, I can see him being far safer than if he was left on his own. But alas, our time is short. Any longer and I'm afraid Dust's soul will be no more. I do look forward to meeting you again, Berry. I sense many things in your future, both great and dangerous things. You'll come to learn many things about yourself, many that you might regret learning."

Before Berry could even ask what Giratina meant, he turned away and walked towards Vlad. Raising a claw, Giratina opened up a black shadow portal.

"I'll be expecting you soon, Vlad," Giratina said as Vlad bowed in return. He then addressed everyone. "As for everyone else, I will contact you later in the future with details of your jobs. Until then, au revoir!"

"Giratina… I just wanted to say… while the human race may not have always been the best of examples, there were humans who had pure hearts and got along with Pokemon. Stories of heroes and human Trainers who work alongside their Pokemon," Mimi said softly. "I hope one day you'll be able to see that kind of harmony again between human and Pokemon."

At first, Giratina doesn't reply as he stared at Mimi. But then he gives a small smile to the Mimikyu. "Perhaps one day...one day."

With that Giratina releases one final pulse of energy, causing everyone to cover their eyes. Once it had passed, they all sensed that Giratina was no longer their, his presence gone from them. Dust, who had been standing only seconds ago, collapsed on the ground.

"Dust!" Berry quickly slithered over to him, and was relieved to see he was breathing.

"He looks like he is just sleeping," Mimi noted after making her way towards Dust's side. "Though I'm not surprised, I'm sure any one of us would go unconscious after having a deity take control of our bodies then later leaving."

"I don't know how long he'll be unconscious for… but I need to take him back to the guild," Berry sighed.

Berry tried to push the unconscious Absol to the door, but he was pretty heavy for her. Mimi came closer before she released two of her claws and carefully picked up Dust with ease. Berry blinked in surprise.

"Well… I guess we'll see if I can actually leave the mansion now," Mimi said before she looked at the other Ghosts. "I hope to see you all again soon on the other side."

All the Ghosts waved goodbye to Mimi, saying they hope she'll be able to enjoy her freedom for them until they earn their freedom themselves. They also thanked Berry for helping them out. Berry was blushing as they were leaving the mansion, hearing the Ghosts thanking them.

"The Carriage we took is just over there," Berry pointed with her antenna.

The Houndoom and Mighyene were there, waiting. They were likely chatting with each other while they were waiting.

"Oh, look who's back. Looks like the Absol might've had too much fun at the party~" Houndoom chuckled, seeing that Dust was being carried by the Mimikyu.

"Oh, looks like they made a new friend too. You have to share the details with us," Mightyena added, curious what kind of night they had.

Mimi looked around, rather surprised that she was able to be outside of the mansion. She then moved towards the Carriage, and gently put Dust down into it before pulling her arms under the Pikachu cloth. Berry looked over at Mimi.

"Thanks, you know, for helping us out," Berry said in a grateful tone. "You know… if you'd like, maybe you could join up with us? Be a Crusader, maybe learn more about the world while helping Pokemon out?"

Mimi shook her head before answering Berry. "For now, no. I am eternally grateful for what you and Dust did and I would love to join you two. But right now I want to see the world on my own, see what I've been missing out. But I promise when we see each other again, I'll join you then."

Berry gave a small smile. "I understand. I hope you'll be able to have a great time re-experiencing the world again after being trapped for so long. You know where Unity Guild is, right? It's in White Leaf Town not far from here. If you're looking for us, we are Team Night Tide."

"I won't forget the name!" Mimi then gave Berry a quick hug with her shadowy arms. "I look forward to seeing you guys again."

Berry smiled as she gave Mimi, or at least her Pikachu costume, a hug as well with her antennae. "I look forward to seeing you again too, and I'm sure Dust would as well. Be safe out there, Mimi, there's a reason why Crusaders exist after all."

"Of course," Mimi chuckled. "You just make sure you take care of that partner of yours."

Berry chuckled sheepishly. "I'll do the best I can to keep that knucklehead safe."

---

ChloeTheKitsune: DarkFoxKit: As always, you'll just have to read to find out.

Greatest Guy: Traveling Master: Well considering that Ghost tend to live for a long time, I think they need something to do to liven up their spirits.

Chihiro: Ha! Good one, and he's right. One perk for living so long is that we ghosts know how to party. And I will never forget when Dust was going all around acting all adorable. I don't know how Roxy was able to convince him to do it, but it was Absolutely a sight to see!

Traveling Master: Okay, I think that's enough puns for now. Don't know if Dust will do something like that again in the future, but who knows?

FoxyKhai0209: DarkFoxKit: We'll let the chapter itself answer that question about Dusknoir. And yeah, Ghost types tend to be pretty dang dangerous when you see their Pokedex entries. Kinda makes you wonder why they have children going out, capturing these creatures.

I… don't really have much to say on the paranormal activities. Ghosts are creepy, in real life and in fiction. *Shrugs* Just be careful, you never know if they might be hostile or not.

Lunar Kisses: DarkFoxKit: Mario references? Or did you mean Luigi's Mansion's references? It is an inspiration of Luigi's Mansion, but I don't think we made a lot of actual references to it.

Crystal Lovely: Traveling Master: Yup, it was pretty lucky that the Kecleon shop had those two moves, while unwise for Dust to spend it all, in the end it will come in handy in their future battles. And as Dust has mentioned before, while he isn't fully experienced in the ability to sense oncoming danger, he's been getting used to it more and more. Having an ability like that can also be very useful.

Lucy Zodiac: Traveling Master: Only time will tell, though as the story progresses, previous questions will be answered. So maybe your question may be answered in this chapter, or maybe in another. Only time will tell.

Ocean Rose: DarkFoxKit: Yeah, the Strange Mansion is a bit like the Strange House. That house was creepy, though I still find the Old Chateau from Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum to be creepier.

Star Ophiuchus: DarkFoxKit: We're technically living in the same country, but Traveling Master, as his name implies, travels a lot.

Peppermint Heart: Traveling Master: Heh, Ghost Pokemon sure have come a long way since Generation 1. I especially like how they made a Ghost Dragon for Sword and Shield, Dreepy is now up there with my other favorite Pokemon.

Velvet Love: DarkFoxKit: Berry is usually pretty timid, and not to mention the little scare prank Mimi did when they first walked in made her faint a little. Don't worry though, Berry can be brave when the situation calls for it.

Guest: DarkFoxKit: Yamask and Phantump are, to my knowledge, the only Ghost Pokemon confirmed in canon that they are indeed reincarnations of humans, or rather, spirits of humans who died. We won't say much more than that though.

Jewel moonstone: Traveling Master: Dusk, who is this Dusk you speak of? XD Joking aside, yes, I think if we were in Dust and Berry's situation, we would all be running too.

Moonshadow: DarkFoxKit: Yeah, I used to play Luigi's Mansion all the time when I first got it and the GameCube as a kid.

Shining Specter: Traveling Master: Good question, but like I mentioned before, you might find out this chapter, or some other, only time will tell.

Astral Haze: DarkFoxKit: Heh, I think most everyone does, wanting to be a Pokemon, have adventures with the Explorers or whoever they are in the Mystery Dungeon series. Though it's not all fun and games, you would have to put yourself in danger to save other Pokemon. There's also a strong possibility you could get seriously hurt or even die.

Traveling Master: There are always going to be pros and cons to being part of a story, but that's the best part about making stories. You are essentially creating your own world, filled with all your ideas, characters, and creation. You are basically putting a part of yourself into the story. That's the great thing about Fanfiction, the stories and ideas are limitless, so it's always interesting to see what other worlds others have created.