We continue with the adventures of Sylvia and the haunted mountain! Will she be able to find what she's looking for? Will she scare away the ghosts? We'll have to see what crazy antics our favorite agent of chaos gets up to!

JoshGamerV: Just her Shuppet? That would be far too boring and predictable.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Ignore that. It was a typo that I immediately corrected, lol. As for your question, who were you thinking? Sylvia certainly has a charisma about her that turns people a certain way, whether positive or negative, so it would depend on the person and how she interacts with them and under what circumstances.

KedharS: What new Sylvia? This is just Sylvia being Sylvia. Nothing about her is fundamentally different, I don't know what you mean "new".

Aquahaze675: Caelia would probably be pretty apathetic. Unless one of the ghosts turned off the lights, in which case… yeah. Caelia's pretty easy to scare if you know which buttons to push.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 552

Sylvia had no idea how long she'd been walking, but somehow she wasn't getting tired at all. It was like the atmosphere of the entire mountain was fueling her, getting her worked up and energized, ready to face whatever was in store.

So she was almost disappointed when she reached the top of the mountain and found there was nothing there but an abandoned graveyard circled by old trees and covered in a dense, eerie fog. Things had been winding up to a mysterious, spooky atmosphere for so long now, hhe had been hoping for an exciting climax! (the initial goal of finding the night flower was secondary at this point)

And now, well…

Now she was at some dumb graveyard, no flowers in sight.

Sylvia let out a sigh. This really was a boring and predictable ending after all. What a disappointment it had turned out to be.

"Well, I suppose I should start looking for that flower," Sylvia said. She couldn't help but smirk. To find the flower at the peak? Obvious. Or on the trail. No, the really exciting part was going to be finding it under some rock halfway down the mountain somewhere. As much as she wanted to help Dokukage's Nincada, it would have been a bit of a let-down to have this be too easy. She stretched, preparing to go take another look. But when she turned back, she saw that the path down the mountain had disappeared behind her.

Sylvia did a double-take, wiping her eyes. She needed to make sure it wasn't a mistake, that she hadn't overlooked the path due to the dense fog or something.

Yep, where there had once been a winding path down the mountain, now was just a wall of thick trees blocking her exit.

That thought made a wicked smile curl up Sylvia's lips. Her journey up the mountain had certainly been an odd one. That Shuppet with the confuse ray, then the sudden earthquake that seemed to, for some reason, not dislodge any boulders, not to mention the bizarre changes in the weather. And finally, that Mismagius appearing in the field of flowers, and the unearthly wail it had given out…

She hadn't experienced any oddities like that in the past few hours, so she began to wonder if they had just been coincidences, or maybe some wild pokemon doing what wild pokemon did. She didn't have much experience with pokemon, after all, and certainly little with Ghost types, even if she knew a lot about them on an intellectual level.

But now, now that she could see that the path down had been blocked? That was certainly no coincidence. No, something was playing a prank on her. Someone was intentionally messing with her, and that was making Sylvia feel all kinds of excited.

"Well? I'm waiting," she called out. "Are you going to come out and say hello?"

No one came to greet her. All that she saw was the way the fog grew thicker, reaching out to her like shadowy hands grasping desperately towards her. She scattered them with a wave of her arm, but they quickly reformed, reaching towards her again.

Next were the screams, loud shrieks that threatened to curdle her blood, mixed in with unearthly moans and warnings, "get out", "leave", "begone", all sorts of commands that Sylvia wasn't all that interested in. If someone was telling her to leave, that must mean that there was something worth staying for, and Sylvia was quite appreciative of the effort it took to hide it.

"I'm not going, you know, so you might as well stop," Sylvia called. "Come on, I'm a… moderately friendly and nice sort of girl, I'm not going to hurt you!"

Sylvia didn't think she could hurt whoever or whatever it was that was doing this, but she still wore that cocky, disarming grin. It wasn't like she was all that worried about herself, after all. Right now, what she was after was that flower. Besides that, well… Sylvia was as fresh as a newborn. It wasn't like she was particularly attached to her life as it were, was she? Murasaki Kanou's life, that had been… nope! No, she was much more interested in seeing what was going on with all this! As Sylvia looked around for her captor, she saw something weird about the fog. The way it moved… the shimmering ripples on the sky… no, it couldn't be, could it?

Sylvia knelt down and picked up a pebble from the ground. She flung it at the overgrowth of trees hampering her path, expecting the rock to bounce off one of them harmlessly.

She was kind of right. The rock certainly bounced off what it hit, it just happened to be that what it hit wasn't one of the trees, but the air itself.

What happened next could only be described as seeing the ripple of a stone tossed into a pond, but over the surface of a dark forest. The ripples spread out and the trees looked warped and distorted for a moment before snapping back into place.

"Well, what's this?" Sylvia asked, walking closer to the forest. She ignored the way the fog thickened, the howling ghosts in her ears warning her to stay away. Whatever it was that was trying to scare her, well, they would just have to wait for her to get ready to play being scare. What she was caring more about at the moment was this rather interesting phenomenon right before her eyes. Was it an illusion of some kind? That had to have been it. She was standing right at the edge of some illusory world, and reality must have been right past…

Sylvia's hand touched something hard and solid. She was pressing against a tree trunk, but that was no tree trunk she felt, it was a little too smooth. And when she touched it, it sent out more ripples, like someone pushing against satin. Sylvia slid her hand along the… whatever it was, and found that it didn't curve with the image, no, she continue to run from tree to tree with no lines.

A television screen, or a projector! That's what this reminded her of! It was playing the image of a spooky forest back to her, but really all it was was a smooth screen!

Next, Sylvia tried knocking on it. More ripples, larger and more frantic, but no signs of the wall breaking down.

After half a dozen more tests like that, Sylvia began to get bored. Yes, the screen with the still forest on it was interesting, but she had expended all the excitement she had built up. Walking around the edges of the graveyard she had found that she was trapped in a box. Every direction out of the cemetery was blocked by a wall, she was totally trapped.

And worse, she was bored out of her mind. Looking around, the fog began to get denser, and was taking on a darker shade, as though shadows were mixing into it as well.

Sylvia turned back towards the center of the graveyard and squinted, trying to make out a shadowy figure that she could catch glimpses of appearing through the dark fog. As she did, she realized something odd. How was everything so clear? It shouldn't be possible for her to see anything through the darkness, there were no stars in the sky and it was a new moon. She raised her head, mentally slapping herself for her carelessness! She had studied the walls, but not the ceiling! Sneaking a peek, she gasped, caught off-guard for the first time.

Startled as she was, her eyes bugged out and her lips curled up in shock, excited. Massive eyeballs were filling the ceiling, staring at her and glowing bright red, blinking all around as they studied her. Her smile widened and she looked around, realizing that the light of the eyes had lit up the entire graveyard now, bathing it in a dim, eerie red glow.

"Fun trick!" Sylvia called. "What is this?"

The fog gathered together even thicker, and the brighter it lit up, the more clearly Sylvia could make out the massive shape behind it, a legless body with large arms reaching out at her through the fog. And then it broke free, letting out a low, eerie moan, its body glowing with a dark aura.

"Dusknoir…" The pokemon rasped, beckoning Sylvia closer. Sylvia shrugged, not really caring all that much. She wasn't frightened of the thing. She approached, the Dusknoir pausing, flinching a little, as if it hadn't expected her to do that.

"Sorry, I'm not one for the screaming 'aaaaah, ghost!', I'm not that sort of girl," Sylvia shrugged. "So, a Dusknoir! Interesting! I guess… oh, what's that?"

Behind the Dusknoir, the doors of a large mausoleum in the graveyard creaked open, and in their center the space began to swirl and warp, a massive hole ripping itself open in the air. Sylvia felt a tug pulling her towards the hole, and could see the shadows and darkness swirling around it as well, tendrils of darkness reaching out to her in order to pull her into the abyss in front of her.

As Sylvia felt it drag her closer, she actually leaned in, curious. The Dusknoir hovered above the portal, staring down at her in silence, his single red eye glowing fiercely as she was drawn closer and closer to the portal.

Sylvia thought back on everything she had read about Dusknoir. Professor Lunark's information on that pokemon had been extensively detailed, considering all the myths gathered about it.

"Oh! That's right!" Sylvia gasped in realization. "Dusknoir have the duty of ferrying souls to the spirit world! That's right! They capture souls in that large mouth on their belly, and drag them through a portal to the world of ghosts and spirits, where they belong!"

Sylvia glanced up at the Dusknoir and pointed at the portal in front of her, which was only growing in size and power.

"…And I'm guessing that's the portal to the spirit world?"

"Dusknoir!" The pokemon boomed, raising his hands up towards the massive eyeballs above, his body rumbling like he was laughing maniacally.

Sylvia was rather nonplussed. Normally, when someone was under the impression that they were going to be dragged away to the netherworld, their inclination might be kicking and screaming and begging "no please don't take me, no!"

Sylvia was… not that sort of normal someone.

"The spirit world," she murmured, licking her lips. It couldn't be, could it? Perhaps this is why… I felt such little joy and excitement in this world of humans and pokemon…

Sylvia turned to look up at the Dusknoir, excitement burgeoning across her face.

"Is that really the spirit world? Seriously? You mean to tell me, that I could really go there, if I wanted? Right now?" Her heart was pounding! Finally! All her life, Murasaki Kanou had seen this world as something empty and meaningless, devoid of the joy and excitement that everyone else seemed to be finding in it. And when she died and was reborn as Sylvia Driscoll, she had sought out adventure and excitement, to color her Murasaki Kanou's boring world in all sorts of exciting hues, to give her new life a little flare, as she did all the things she wanted…

And now, "excitement" wasn't just in front of her, it was opening up its doors and welcoming her in! She couldn't believe her luck!

"All this time I knew there was something wrong with me, like I didn't belong," Sylvia breathed, taking a step forward. She wasn't resisting the tug, or even just apathetic to it. She was ready to dive headfirst into that abyss! "But now I see why… I was right! I didn't belong here, not in this world! No, it's that… yes, what wonders await me…"

Sylvia glanced up at the Dusknoir, confused why the mouth on its belly was dropped open so wide it was practically touching the grass. If she hadn't known better, she would have thought it was shock! But she was too grateful to pay it any mind.

All other thoughts had left her. She wasn't even concerned about Dokukage and his Nincada at this point. It was sad, but Sylvia cared a hell of a lot more about Sylvia and what she wanted than ninja boy and his bugs. Maybe she'd send him a basket of berries from the other side as an apology, that would be nice of her.

"Thank you, Dusknoir!" Sylvia called. "I don't know what awaits for me in this next world… but I look forward to experiencing it for myself!"

She took another step forward, and then another, and another! She was practically running towards the portal, ready to throw herself into the glorious new life- or afterlife? –That awaited her on the other side.

"Dusknoir…" Dusknoir sighed, and slapped his palm against his face. He had tried. He had really tried. He had done it all, the sealed barrier, the fog and the moans, the creepy glowing eyes, all the tricks he had to frighten away human trespassers.

…Hell, he had opened a portal to the spirit world, and that still wasn't enough to make this human let out even a yelp of fright!

With a resigned groan, Dusknoir snapped his fingers and the doors to the mausoleum slammed shut, the portal shattering and the wind dying down, Sylvia nearly tripping over the lack of a pull on her carrying her forward anymore.

"Huh? What?" Sylvia caught herself on a headstone to avoid faceplanting, looking around in confusion at the cemetery, returned to normal now where it had been a hellscape portal to damnation only moments before. The strange walls were gone, the path having been restored, and the evil eyes and dark fog passing away.

"Hey, come on!" Sylvia shouted in disappointment, turning to the dejected Dusknoir. She was NOT amused. She stomped over to the distraught ghost pokemon, her face twisted in anger as she confronted him. "Now, you listen here, buster!"

"Dusknoir?" Dusknoir looked up, thoroughly confused. He didn't have the energy to question why this human was even talking to him. He had tried to scare her, shown her horrible things that would (and had, many times in the past!) make brave men piss their pants and run as fast as they could, crying to their mommies. And now she was… yelling at him?

"You don't just do something like that, you know! Promise a girl a good time and then not be able to get it up before the big finish!" Sylvia scowled. She jammed her finger into the pokemon's chest, passing right through him. "I was so hopeful, you know! I really thought that maybe, just maybe, you would have been able to take me there! You got my hopes up for nothing, I hope you know that, Dusknoir! That's not a nice thing to do!"

"Dusknoir…" Dusknoir hung his head in… shame? He was feeling ashamed? That didn't make sense. What did he have to be ashamed of, not killing this human? Hell, she was a human! Why was he even so defensive in the first place? He should just push her aside and-

Dusknoir raised his head and saw the look in the girl's eye, and for the first time in the countless centuries he had existed began to wonder if Ghost type pokemon were actually just as mortal as their non-Ghost counterparts.

He decided not to press his luck.

"Dusknoir…" Dusknoir bent over and made an approximation of a dogeza of contrition, a bizarre sight considering its spectral body. But it was the only gesture he could really make to convey his… apologies? For not dragging her to the spirit world? Again, he wasn't really sure he understood what was going on. He had spent so many years scaring humans, but right now he was completely lost.

In fact, he was starting to question if this thing in front of him was even a human to begin with.

"There, that's more like it," Sylvia purred, her expressing softening. She knelt down and patted him on the head. "Honestly though, thank you. Even if it wasn't as exciting as a ticket to the spirit world… that little show you put on was quite an amazing sight. I've never seen something that excited me that much in my entire life! So thanks."

"Dusknoir…?" Dusknoir glanced up at her, tilting his head to the side. The way this girl spoke, the way she acted… he couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something about it made him feel like he was drawn to her.

"Now, if you're really sorry, here's what you can do to make it up to me!" Sylvia chirped, straightening up. She set down her bag on the damp grass and dug out a book, opening it and turning it to the ghost pokemon, who was still kowtowing in front of her, not sure if he could risk floating upright again and incurring her wrath.

"See, I'm looking for a special flower that I heard grows in this area," Sylvia explained. "It's called the night flower. It looks just like this. Do you know where it is?"

Dusknoir, of course, knew those flowers very well, and where they could be found. He nodded his head eagerly.

"Oh! You do?!" Sylvia asked, her eyes brightening. "Can you help me find it?"

"Dusknoir," Dusknoir said, rising up. He raised his hands to his mouth and roared "DUSKNOIR!"

Sylvia looked around as the forest began to yell, and four more Ghost type pokemon quickly assembled in front of Dusknoir.

"Oh! Shuppet! And you're that Mismagius!" Sylvia gasped, the two ghosts turning a little pale and looking away from her, their faces stricken with terror. Having seen the lord of the mountain brought to heel by a human girl, they began kindly deferring to her, with a mixture of reverence and fear. It was odd for them to be the ones afraid.

Dusknoir explained the situation to the ghosts and they all nodded, eager to bid this human goodbye. All they needed to do was gather some flowers?! Well, they would shower her in flowers if it got her to leave their mountain alone.

And indeed, they weren't gone more than ten minutes before they all came back, carrying flowers in all manner of ways. Bundled in tentacles, held in hands, even some levitated by psychic powers, and they dropped them all in a mountain at Sylvia's feet.

"…Thanks a bunch, but I only need three," Sylvia chirped, reaching down and picking the flowers up out of the pile, giving a wink to the ghosts, who all sighed in relief. There was something odd about the girl. Her atmosphere was unnerving, certainly, and they wanted her to go, but at the same time, they ghosts looked at each other and could feel the uncertainty in the atmosphere around them as they watched her depart back down the mountain.

This was the first human they had met who hadn't run screaming in terror from them, after all. It was almost like she had genuinely enjoyed hanging out with them. It made no sense, but still… part of them wondered if she should really leave or not. If she would accept them. But to have them want that… they didn't understand why. Maybe what Dusknoir had seen in her, they were all starting to see in her, as well.

"Oh! I'll be back tomorrow, so make sure to show me even more exciting things, guys!" Sylvia turned and called out to them, waving at the ghosts.

…No, no. She needed to be GONE. Now. They never wanted to see this annoyance again.

Aww, Sylvia made some new ghost friends! …Well, "friends" is kind of a stretch. But I guess they're the closest thing to friends she could develop.