Chapter 16 A Chilling Curse
Ash and Serena are training their Pokemon in the park until they hear a large scream, they rush to the hallway and find Ren there. Serena asks, "Ren? What's wrong?"
Just then, they see him slumped against the wall, with tears in his eyes and still shaken, he says, "Ash...Serena...Gengar..."
"Gengar's back!" Ash and Serena say with surprise. Ash says, "That means..."
"Another chance! This time we'll catch it, for sure!" Serena says as they rush to find the Gengar. "Don't...leave...me..." Ren says while seeing Ash and Serena leaving.
As Ash and Serena search everywhere, Serena says, "Strange, the temperature should drop wherever Gengar is..."
Just then, they hear a scream from Chrysa, and they rush downstairs to the lab. Ash asks, "Chrysa, is that Gengar?"
Chrysa nods and says, "Yes..." Mimey then starts to do poses, "Chrysa is holding a lot of books, and you are holding a set of tea, and then Gengar appears, and you both crash at each other. You got soaked, and you tried to clean up the mess."
"That's what happened." Chrysa says.
"Let's find Gengar." Ash says as they hear Pikachu screaming as it floats into the air. "Pikachu!" Ash yells as he grabs the Pokemon, and then the Gengar appears, throwing stuff at Ash and Pikachu, who dodges at the last minute.
"Sylveon, use Moonblast!" Serena yells as the Pokemon fires the attack, causing Gengar to reveal itself. Gengar tries to use Shadow Ball, and Ash says, "Pikachu! Iron Tail!"
Pikachu slashes at the Shadow Ball, but Gengar keeps throwing Shadow Balls and Ash yells, "Cut it out! Okay!"
Just then, Gengar disappears, and Serena says, "Did it listen to Ash and run away?"
Professor Cerise and Ren come in and Cerise says, "Looks like it made another huge mess...Let's all clean it up."
However Gengar hasn't completely disappeared, rather it has now attached itself to Ash's shadow.
When they are cleaning, Ren asks, "Geez, what is that Gengar wants to do?" Chrysa asks, "Does it show up for some specific reason?"
Professor Cerise says, "Actually, the person who showed me this building told me this building was a haunted house."
Serena asks with horror, "A Haunted House? This place?"
Professor Cerise says, "He said that whenever people came by, there is poltergeist activity occur in this place. I am sure that Gengar was living here even back then."
"What? Why would you make a place like that into your Laboratory?" Ren asks.
"Well...I figured having things fall over, the electricity cut out and doors opening on their own would be fun." Professor Cerise rubs his head and says. "It always settled down quickly, so I figured it would be all right!"
Chrysa and Ren facepalm and Chrysa says, "That's our Professor..."
"Maybe Gengar gave up because its tricks didn't work on Professor Cerise." Serena says.
"Then why did it start causing trouble again?" Ash asks.
"That's a good question. First, Ren and Magnemite were attacked in the basement. Which means..." Serena looks at Ren, and he asks, "What? It's my fault?"
"That could be part of it, but..." Chrysa says. "There's us, Ash, Serena, and all the new Pokemon...it might not like that things have gotten so lively."
"Yeah, that's gotta be it!" Ren says.
Ash suddenly feels a chill down his arm, and Serena says with a scared tone, "What if you've been cursed by Gengar? It's still not entirely clear what Gengar is, but it might even curse its own trainer, gradually weaken them, until finally...!"
This causes Ash to be scared and Serena quickly covers her mouth, "Me and my mouth again..."
"That's just a hypothesis." Professor Cerise says.
"Y-yeah!" Ash says. "There is no..."
Just then, the chair breaks and Ash falls to the ground. "Ash?" Serena asks with horror.
"Just fine..." Ash gets back up, but he is looking pale. And suddenly, his vision is blurry as he tries to grab his cup of water, only to be grabbing a vase to drink it.
"Come on, Ash...what are you doing?" Serena is now very worried, and Ren yells, "He really is cursed! I knew it!"
"Ren, you are exaggerating." Ash says.
But things aren't going smoothly for Ash as he almost falls down the stairs, accidentally grabs Serena's skirt and she yells at him as a pervert. Ash tries to pour some cheese into his spaghetti, but it doesn't come out and eventually it ruins the spaghetti by suddenly coming out a whole bottle. In the lab, he is being tackled with the rest of the Tauros and other Pokemon.
"I really think something is going on here..." Serena says.
"Oh, come on, there's no curse!" Ash says.
"But Ash..." Serena says.
"I'm totally fine." Ash walks forward and he accidentally steps into a hole.
"It's no big deal!" Ash starts to scream in panic. "This will all go away with some physical activity!"
Then Ash and Pikachu rush out of the Cerise Laboratory to clear their heads. Gengar, who has attached itself to Ash's shadow, is inadvertently dragged along and begins to panic about leaving the Institute.
After a while, both Ash and Pikachu are feeling better from the run. Ash says, "Running sure helped, right? Pikachu?"
"You bet." Pikachu says.
But just as they round another corner, he bumps into a guy, knocking them both over.
"Ow...I'm sorry..." Ash says, and the boy says, "Hey, watch out!"
A girl comes to the boy and asks, "What's up? Are you still feeling cursed?"
"That was three years ago. I'm as lucky as it gets! There's no stupid curse." The boy says.
"Ash!" Serena rushes up to Ash, and they hear the boy says, "But it sure was awful back when it was around. I couldn't win any battles, and all my attempts at catching Pokemon failed...I'd fall down the stairs or lose things...I had bad luck with everything I did."
"That's hilarious! That's what we call a curse!" The girl laughs.
"That plague has left me! My luck's perfect now!"
Gengar is angry to hear this and recalls that it was abandoned by the same boy three years ago. Its Trainer promised to return, though Gengar was left at the abandoned site that later became the Cerise Laboratory. Gengar became angry as time passed and it was still waiting for its Trainer to return. It deliberately scared off potential buyers of the building with its antics.
"I swear...I never should have caught that miserable Gengar!" The boy says.
This causes Ash and Serena to get angry at the boy, and Gengar makes its presence known.
"Gengar?" Ash and Serena exclaim and the Gengar just launches a Shadow Ball at its former Trainer, narrowly missing him.
"W-what? No way!" The girl says.
"Stop it, Gengar, that's your trainer, right?" Ash asks.
Gengar just keeps throwing Shadow Balls, and Ash says, "Pikachu! Electro Web!"
Gengar is furious that Pikachu is blocking the attacks, "Out of my way!" He yells.
"Gengar! You have to calm down!" Ash says. Serena turns to the boy and says, "That Gengar was yours, right? You should listen to..."
But Gengar prepares to lash its former Trainer with a large Shadow Ball. "Stay away! Nothing but trouble comes my way when you're around!" The boy yells. "I've had enough of you!"
This causes the two trainers to be angry and Ash yells, "You're so mean!"
"Shut up!" The boy says as he starts to run away with his girlfriend.
"Gengar..." Ash says to the Pokemon, who is furious as it disappears. Serena says, "Being abandoned by its trainer must've been shocking."
Ash and Pikachu decide to rush to find the Gengar, with Serena and Scorbunny following behind him. After searching for a while, they notice that Team Rocket is using machines to capture the Gengar.
"Sylveon! Fairy Wind!" Serena yells as the wind crashes at Team Rocket's machine, breaking the capsule and frees Gengar.
"Are you okay? Gengar?" Ash asks. And Team Rocket exclaim, "It's the Twerp and the Twerpette!"
"Team Rocket, what are you up to this time?" Serena asks with irritation.
"We were so close..." Jessie says with the same tone as Serena. Ash turns to Gengar and asks, "Gengar, will you help me battle them?"
Pikachu and Sylveon are asking the same question, and he is hesitating. "Never mind what your old trainer said...I need you right now!" Ash says.
Gengar is touched by how Ash and Serena are caring for him. Then Jessie yells, "Hey! Don't just carry on like we're not here! That Gengar belongs to us!"
Meowth says, "Yeah! Besides! That Gengar doesn't trust humans anymore!"
Ash and Serena ignore them and Serena says, "You don't have to trust us right away. We trust you!"
Gengar smiles and he says, "Fine. I'll help you out."
Then they are now facing Team Rocket and Team Rocket decides to call on their own support. Pelipper flies by and delivers the Rocket Prize Master. With a turn of the machine, Jessie and James receive a Dusclops and a Banette.
"Dusclops and Banette...it seems like we will need to save those two as well." Ash says.
"We will need to use Dark Type Pokemon, and Scraggy is a good choice." Ash says as he sends out the Dark Type Pokemon. Serena says, "Are you ready? Gengar?" Gengar also nods.
"We'll take that Scraggy as well! Use Shadow Sneak!" Jessie says as Banette is aiming for Scraggy. "Dodge it and then use Head Smash!" Ash yells.
Scraggy manages to hit the Pokemon, but it also takes damage from recoil, and Dusclops uses the chance to fire Ice Punch at Scraggy, causing it to freeze. Gengar fires off a Shadow Ball at its ally, freeing Scraggy off the ice. Serena says, "Thanks, Gengar!"
"Use Shock Wave!" Jessie yells as it goes for Gengar, but Gengar dodges.
Both Banette and Dusclops use Night Shade, though Gengar manages to hold the two Night Shade attacks with its Night Shade and eventually overpowers the two Pokemon.
"Gengar! Ice punch!" Serena yells, and Gengar vanishes to deliver the Ice Punch on the Pokemon, then vanish again to take the Pokeballs off Team Rocket's hand.
"Scraggy! Beat Up!" Ash yells, and it hits Team Rocket as they are sending flying again.
"It goes well at first." Jessie says.
"I thought it didn't trust humans!" James adds.
"We've been tricked!" Meowth says.
"We're blasting off again!" Then they yell in unison as they disappear.
"Nice work, Gengar." Serena says. "You did a great job."
"Yeah, now let's get back to the institute..." Ash suddenly feels pain and then he falls fainted, Gengar catches him in time and the others are worried.
Later, Ash wakes up to find himself in his dorm room. Serena says, "Are you okay? Ash? You had a fever."
"I'm sorry..." Ash says.
"Well, I should apologize for chalking it up to Gengar's curse as well." Serena sighs.
"Wait, where is Gengar?" Ash asks as he tries to jump up from his bed, and they see an apple on the bed.
"Is it...worried about you?" Serena asks.
Just then, a Pokeball is hit on Ash's head, and Serena says, "It means that Gengar wants us to catch it."
"Is that so? Gengar?" Ash asks, and the Pokemon materializes in front of them. "Welcome to the team. Gengar."
Ash tosses the Pokeball at Gengar, and then it is captured. Then he sends back out, and Gengar disappears again and makes apple rain down on Ash.
"It's probably telling you to eat those and get better fast, Ash." Serena smiles.
"I guess so." Ash says as he picks an apple to eat, "Wow, this is delicious. Do you want some? Pikachu?"
Pikachu nods as he starts to eat one of the apples as well. Meanwhile, Gengar is standing on the Institute's tall spire and happily enjoying an apple.
Here is a new chapter, and this chapter is when Ash captures his Gengar. I hope you like this chapter.
New Pokemon: Banette, Dusclops, Gengar