Summary: The world grows ever more dangerous with every passing day on their journey. Will Larson and Hexy as well as their pokemon see another day?
Note: My longest chapter yet. Sorry if it's 'too' long. But I hope you guys enjoy it. Let me know what you think so far. Enjoy.
Of course I was right, because the moment we got there, the place was evil looking. From the outside, there were strangely lights on as seen through the windows, but every single window was broken, the wood decayed, and the old décor unsettled me alone.
Hexy held her hands together on the other hand, "Wow, it's beautiful. I bet there's lot of ghosts in there".
I was sick of ghosts, except for my own pokemon, at this point. "Yeah, fantastic. More ghosts means they can fuck with us more. At least we have Banette, Mimikyu and Frillish to oppose whatever is in there. Cause I sure as hell just want to get in and out. But...maybe the lights mean Ethan is or was here. It's probably a trick but maybe someone is living there. Either way let's get out of these woods. I hate the woods at night".
I put Giratina in the pokeball due to his size, but took out everyone but MissingNo. Hexy even brought out Sableye and Spiritomb. There was a big log blocking the entrance, so Mimikyu sliced it in half. Upon opening the doors, we entered the foyer, and unlike the outside it was pristine in here, which I already didn't like. Hexy pouted, "Aw, I was hoping it'd look more like the outside".
Suddenly, an old man in a suit and white gloves came down the fancy stairs, where there was a huge portrait of him hanging above. He gave a warm smile, yet it felt empty, "Welcome guests, to the chateau. Would you like to stay the night? If you are hungry, we can prepare a meal for you both and your pokemon".
I took a look around, "What do you mean, 'we'? There's literally no one else here. No staff, no nothing but a bunch of fancy rugs and lights".
Hexy's stomach growled and she touched it with her hands, "Honestly, I could eat. Even if it's ghost food".
The butler, or owner, laughed. "Ghost food? How imaginative. I assure you there are no spirits here. Come, let me show you the dining room".
I thought, 'might as well', and followed Hexy into the next room. He sat us down at a long table like it was Wayne Manor. This just made it feel like this would be our literal 'last supper'. There was already a bunch of food on the table, still steaming. The old man sat at the far end and awaited us to eat it, "Please. Enjoy".
Hexy shrugged and began to grab globs of food. As I took a bite, it remained on the fork and felt like air each time I tried to bite it. I tossed the fork onto the table, "Yep, figures".
I sat up abruptly, "Alright old man, if you're going to feed us dust, then how about I turn you to dust. Show your true self so we can get on with it. Better yet, tell me if you've seen a kid with a backwards cap and hoody".
He grinned evilly, "I've never seen a child with that description. But please, be my guest. Leave".
I raised an eyebrow, "You're going to just let us leave"?
He nodded his head, "If you won't accept my hospitality, then you both may attempt to leave as you please".
I turned to Hexy and took her hand, "Let's just get out of here then".
Walking towards the doors though, of course they were locked tight, with no keyhole or anything and now chained. I tried to pull it, and then the illusion came crashing down, along with some of the ceiling. Hexy got giddy, "Yes! Now this is what I was looking forward to". The butler came over to us again, standing at the center of the foyer and walking up the stairs.
He smirked, "I said you may 'attempt' to leave if you desire. But I'm afraid that's not going to happen. Your souls belong to the chateau now, and consequently, to Charon".
I blasted, "Who's Charon"?
He cracked his own neck, which blood spurting out. My mouth dropped, "FUCK"!
He continued to speak, but gargled, "You will see soon enough. In the meantime, enjoy your stay...and have fun with the other 'guests'. He melted into a purple liquid and then blood began to drip down the staircase towards us. Whether it was real or not, I didn't care anymore.
I asked Hexy, "Any ideas"?
She replied, "We can either try to break the door down, or we can explore this place to see if your friend really was here at some point".
I was on board, "Well, we have our companions to protect us so, I guess it shouldn't hurt. After all we've taken on a dusclops before, and I've fought a literal reality breaking computer chip. What do you think Charon is though"?
She was as clueless as me, "No idea. But if we bump into him or her, it shouldn't be too tough".
This place felt more like a mansion, and as we searched floor to floor, the place just seemed to get darker, with dimly lit candles and to the point where neither of my pokegirls or Mimikyu could see. I found myself grabbing at the air to hold one of my pokemon's hands.
Instead, I felt some kind of liquid ooze. Pulling my hand back, I found it covered in a black tar or blood. I called out, "Who is it"?
Hexy answered my call, "What? What's wrong"?
I showed her my hand, as the light mysteriously lit again, "This".
She took a look at the stuff, "It's black like tar, but sticky like blood. Never seen the stuff before, even among all the ghost and dark types I've encountered over the years".
I reminded her, "Well...something grabbed my hand and rubbed the stuff on. I'm paranoid now as to what, given what you just said. Grrr, I knew coming here was a bad idea".
Hexy took my face and rather than hypnotizing me, she just kept her soft, but clammy, purple french tipped, pale hands there. "Calm down. See me? Just keep this demeanor. From my experiences around 'normal' people, ghost types take enjoyment out of fear. So if you don't fear them, they will usually not persue".
I smiled with half closed eyes, "Breathes. Okay, I'll try".
Heading up another floor and a flight of stairs, they creaked, presumably being the same boards for hundreds of years. Upstairs, now the 3rd floor, we found another sight I didn't like one bit. The hallway was straight out of a Silent Hill game, as it was seemingly endless. Old styled lights lined the ceiling but just seemingly stopped in the distance, of which was complete blackness.
I tried opening a door but it was locked, and trying again and again, it seemed all of them were. I looked to Hexy, "Should we keep going forward"?
Before she could reply, we both heard a distorted cry of a pokemon. We could hear it in our heads, "….". It hardly sounded like anything, but me and her felt it in our heads. I called out into the distance, "Who's there"?
Out of the darkness like a shade or shadow, walked a mangled gardevoir. Its hair was dark purple as was the sleeves of its outfit. The dress was dirtied and the leg and chest skin were gangrene. The mouth was fanged and it had no eyes, just black holes. Then, it 'emotion sensing horn' or, a heart as I always thought it was, was missing which left a gaping hole through the chest out the back like a bullet wound.
The gape, and even the eye holes oozed a black bloody, tar substance like the one I found on my hand when the lights went out. The gardevoir's three fingered hands were covered in the stuff at the fingertips. Nothing but silence as it once again said nothing but it's eerie cry, "….".
I called out sternly this time, "Tell us what you are, you damned monster"!
The gardevoir spoke in our minds properly this time. It bellowed in an ominous voice, "...Charon…". It was raspy and gave an after effect of my ears feeling like worms were crawling through them. Unlike every other gardevoir I've ever encountered, this one was scary rather than beautiful, and gave the impression of cold and ominous, rather than warm and inviting.
Hexy spoke up, "What do you want with us? Are you the one who locked us in"?
It finally spoke properly again, but in a single word, "...Come…".
Beckoning us, it retreated back into the dark it came from. I shook my head rapidly at Hexy, "No way in this literal hell I'm following that thing. He looked about as evil as evil could be".
She did agree, but didn't agree to walking away. "We should follow him. If he tries something, we end him. Otherwise though, we can't just stay here forever, as much as I'd like to. Besides, that must be the Charon the butler illusion talked about".
She had a point, "Okay, I see what you mean. Let's go then".
Stepping into the blackness, we both heard a giggle. The lights lit up on their own as usual and we could actually see. But below my feet, I saw a slip of paper with writing on it and picked it up without much thought. "Hey Hexy, listen to this. 'Som...hing so pecu...r shoul...make off...ith the mot'. Sounds like gibberish".
She took the note, "It's probably just missing letters. I think it says, 'Something so peculiar should make off with the motor'.
I restated, "Like I said, gibberish. What motor"?
Then, a glowing blue spirit in a Victorian styled dress appeared behind us as we heard a little girl's voice. "Aw..you had to go and read it". We stared at the apparition and she repeated the same phrase twice, "Aw…". Her face was pale white, she had blue eyes, blood running down from her eyes, red lipstick and runny eye shadow. She also carried a buneary doll, "Aw…".
Just as quickly as she showed up, she transformed into a demonic entitiy as she said, "Aw...my dear". Her black hair turned messy white, her tongue grew longer than Gene Simmons' and her skin turned purple like a haunter but with a glossy glitter added to it. Her mouth grew into a wide grin with sharpedo type teeth and her eyes became pure red with no pupils and black ringed irises.
None of us screamed, but we glared angrily back at the revenant. I listened to what Hexy had told me and took a stand, "We're not afraid of you! We've already handled an evil ghost girl, so bring it on"!
She giggled in a now evil way, that turned into a cackle. Having pretty much all ghost types, me and Hexy commanded our friends, "Mimikyu, use Shadow Punch. Frillish, use Shadow Ball, and Banette, use Shadow Sneak". Hexy followed up with, "Sableye, use Shadow Claw. Spiritomb, use Dark Pulse".
With all the attacking at once, the spirit was clawed, shot at and knocked back by the pokemon. She dropped her doll which dissipated into the ground. She angrily hissed and screamed out, but then, Charon appeared.
He floated over and took her by the arm, and spoke in a full sentence that echoed within our heads, "...It is your...time…". The revenant screamed again, but this time in agony it seemed as she was vanquished into a black mist that was absorbed into a black portal Charon had summoned.
The portal disappeared as quickly as it came. Once the evil spirit was gone, Charon looked over at us with his black eyes. Floating over to us, he hovered there while our pokemon prepared for battle. Surprisingly enough he actually spoke to us in another full sentence. His darkened voice spoke in our heads again, "...Will you...help...me…"?
I looked to Hexy and our pokemon for opinions. I found the courage to ask, "Help you with what"?
He reached out his black, bloodied hand, "...I drag souls...to hell…".
Hexy asked him cautiously, "What kind of spirits"?
He answered, "...Evil kinds…will you...help..."?
Thinking it over, we eventually agreed, "Fine Charon. But don't pull anything. If we help you, you get us out of here".
Black blood dripped out of his chest hole, "...That is...my goal…".
He led us into one of the many master bedrooms, while I asked him a very basic question. "What the hell happened to you"?
Charon indulged me, "...Abandoned...by owner...tossed aside. Found...new purpose...collect souls…".
Just talking to him made me get goosebumps. Inside of the room, the candles lit up and the lights turned on dimly. Looking above us, there were gastlies' flying all over. Like bats, they swarmed us and one hovered into my face with its gaseous and poisonous mist. I fell to my knees coughing, "Cough, God…". I shooed it away and batted at the rest.
Hexy and our friends fended them off, while then a Shadow Claw swipe came up and slashed a group of gastlies. The black claw belonged to Charon, whom them opened up his fanged maw to absorb the gaseous pokemon. I called this out, "How does a gardevoir have Shadow Claw"?
After absorbing the ghost type, he admitted, "...I too...am a ghost type...as well as fairy...and psychic…".
Hexy and I were shocked, "A triple type"?
Moving that point aside, me and Hexy gave orders to some of our pokemon, while the rest fought off the gastlies on their own. "Mimikyu. Shadow Ball". He gladly obeyed, 'Kyu'. Hexy commanded Sableye to do Dark Pulse.
After each gastly was defeated, Charon absorbed it; to which we didn't know what happened afterwards. I slapped Hexy a high-five, "We did it".
Charon was quick to burst our bubble, "...No...just the first wave…".
Sure enough, a gang of haunters and a couple of gengars appeared, angered that their evil brethren were taken. Charon announced, "...Help me...defeat these ghost types...and we are done…".
It was chaos, between all the ghost types heading against our own, and Charon even using his arsenal of ghost attacks. I felt a haunter lick across my face, laughing before Shadow Punching my shivering body into a wall. Seeing this, Frillish flew over and created a Shadow Ball, that she proceeded to shove down his throat.
Gengar used its own Shadow Punch, targeting Hexy. Seeing this, I ran over and shoved her out of the way, taking the shadow arm punching me again. Spiritomb used Dark Pulse to take out some haunters as well as the gengar in retribution. I managed to pick myself up, and Hexy ran over to me, "Are you alright"?
I rubbed my back, "I'll live. Glad you're okay". I called out to Charon, "Speed it up"!
The gardevoir outstretched his claws and grabbed handfuls of haunters to absorb, including the ones beaten by Frillish, Mimikyu, Banette, Spiritomb and Sableye. After all was said and done, just one gengar was left. Taking a look around, he tried to flee, by phasing through the door. I gave chase, "Oh no you don't, you bastard".
Heading out into the long hall, I chased the ghost type through the corridors, until it went into another room. It seemed he was gone, but I knew better, "Make it easy on yourself. Get out here and accept your penance...it's only a matter of time before Charon does...whatever he does. You're the last one".
He began to toss objects at me from across the room in his evil laugh, "Geng, gar, gar genga. Laughing".
At last, the others caught up, including Charon. The gengar froze with fear, which was a nice bit of karma, and attempted to flee again, but was swiftly caught by the gardevoir. He looked him right in the red eyes with his own black ones, "...No...escape…".
We had filled our end of the bargain, "Okay Charon. Now what"?
He motioned us to follow him again, and he teleported us all to the foyer even. "Whoa, that was disorienting", I commented. Hexy agreed, "I don't think I've ever done that either".
Charon then released all of the gastlies, gengars and haunters we had caught, and as if they were possessed themselves, formed a circle around him. Without warning he stated out loud, "...Now...for the song…".
I had a feeling I knew what he meant, "Guys, cover your ears".
We all did so, though we could hear a little of it; the Perish Song. It was as distorted as his usual 'voice' and even more threatening sounding than Celebi's from what I remembered. The portal opened below him, and willingly the ghost types went into it...to hell...the real one presumably.
After said and done, Charon stared at the both of us. I demanded, "Okay Charon, a deal's a deal. You said you would get us out of here".
He agreed, "...That..is my goal…", he repeated, before summoning the portal again. "...It is time...for you two...to go".
I couldn't say I was surprised, "You said you collect evil spirits".
He corrected me, "...Yes...and...all spirits…".
I threatened him, not that it'd do any difference, "You'll send us to hell over my dead body".
He responded regrettably, "...If...I must…".
Hexy told me one of her visions, "If we lose, we'll burn in hell forever. I might be into the macabre, but even I don't want that".
I reassured her, "Don't you worry. I'll end Charon before that happens".
Hexy called out Spiritomb, and me, Banette. "Now, use Dark Pulse", she cried. Spiritomb obeyed and blasted a wave of dark energy around and at Charon. But upon being hit, he didn't even the flinch. The gardevoir was unscathed. Hexy was as confused as me, "How? A ghost type should've taken at least some injuries from that".
Charon darted for Spiritomb and despite not being solid, he grabbed the pokemon, "...108 spirits...bound for their misdeeds...it is time for your suffering…". He opened up his fanged mouth and used Draining Kiss, but without the kissing part; instead a black mist sucked in the pink misty pokemon including the green soul balls that make it up. Like a vacuum, Spiritomb was sucked up and gone forever. All that was left was the keystone Charon left to fall to the ground.
I saw Hexy's mouth drop as she fell to her knees, "SPIRITOMB"!
I ordered Banette, "Use Curse".
She manifested herself a large nail and jabbed herself in the plushy chest with it. Charon then shot a Shadow Ball at her, but she managed to dodge it. After that dodge, the effect of the curse seemed to take affect...only it didn't. Once again, even though the curse was summoned and he had the mist around him after his turn, he was still fine. "What the hell? How are you still here"?
Charon explained himself, "...I have no life...you cannot beat...what cannot be hurt…".
Upon hearing that, I had an idea. "I'd hate to use it again so quickly, but this calls for it. MissingNo, come on out. Banette, Frillish and Mimikyu, return".
Hexy returned Sableye to also protect him. MissingNo beeped, ready for a fight. Charon flew up to the computer chip and attempted Draining Kiss again, but instead nothing happened and in turn the gardevoir was blasted back. "Can't drain what doesn't have a soul".
MissingNo used its ghost form and used Lick, but of course it neither hurt or paralyzed him. Charon became impatient, "...This must end now…"!
I countered confidently, "Yes…it does. MissingNo, use Distort". It briefly became its normal form to do so before returning to ghost form. The chateau became a violet hue like the sky, and the skylight that poured in became pure black as the world changed due to the move.
Charon used Moonblast, absorbing the energy from the satellite into a very large shadow ball type attack. MissingNo was hit by it but mostly seemed fine. "MissingNo, use Shadow Punch". Sure enough, my idea worked, because as soon as the claws hit Charon, his black blood began seeping onto the floor more. He was vulnerable now.
He put a hand to his chest hole, "...How…"?
Because of my unique pokemon, that's how. As far as I know, this thing isn't of this world. But either way, now you can be beat". He was now angered and determined to drag us both to hell.
Before we could react, he let out his trump card; Perish Song. In his distorted voice, he sang the song of death, meaning if we don't beat him now, we'll all be condemned. "MissingNo, Dark Pulse, now"!
The shockwave sent back Charon into the air and injured, though he quickly recovered. Instead of a counterattack though, he once again sang his Perish Song. I had to step it up, "MissingNo. Barrage of Shadow Balls". He created then tossed the projectiles at the floating gardevoir, managing to hit every shot with enough precision.
Charon let out an ear piercing yowl, then used Perish Song a third time, which at this point he was bleeding out of his eyes and chest profusely. From what Ethan told me, I could assume if this didn't kill us, it'd definitely kill him. So, I banked on what I could, took a deep breath, and gave MissingNo one more command.
"MissingNo, use Distort AGAIN"! I had no idea what'd happen if he did it again in the same battle, but it was a gamble. Charon's 'life' or what was there, was completely siphoned by MissingNo, causing his defeat. But all around us, the chateau began to crack and pixelate like an old video game.
I looked over at Hexy, and her face was distorted and her arms twisted. Looking down at my hands, they were mangled and broken. It felt like we already went to hell...but not quite. Charon fell to the ground, beaten, and the black portal he summons, rose up and began to suck him in. Burning arms rose up and grabbed him by the dress.
He began trying to fight off the hands, but more and more took hold of him and ragged him down inside. He took one last distorted cry, "…..", and his head exploded from the Perish Song overuse. His body was then dragged completely down into the portal and just like that, he was gone for good as the portal shut.
I returned MissingNo to its pokeball, and the wolrd around us seemed to get back to normal. Hexy was a little out of it, but she saw what happened. I was happy we were all safe, but she was still sad. "Spiritomb", she lamented in an actual emotional voice.
I hugged her, "I'm sorry. I'm sure that hurt. I wish...I wish I could say he's in a better place but…". I looked down to see the keystone, "Here. There's this".
She accepted it. "At least you'll have something to remember him, er them, by", I tried to comfort her.
Hexy wiped a tear, "It's something. Thank you...for killing that demon".
I then wondered what the next step would be, "Again, no more leads. We're just left in this shitty old chateau. Well...at least we should be able to leave now".
Heading back into the foyer, we managed to break down the door that seemingly no longer had a spell on it. It was still pitch black outside. As we walked outside, I was bitter. "Hey Hexy"?
She responded, "Yeah"?
I gave my blunt opinion, "We should burn this place to the ground".
Her eyes widened, as she probably wouldn't have expected me to say that, "Really"?
I nodded my head, "The whole place is evil. Plus, no one should go through what we just did. Are you in"?
She agreed, "Okay, let's do it".
Taking the log we slashed when we arrived, we made a fire with it, then took a stick or two and set fire to the place. For a few minutes we stood at a distance watching as it was engulfed. Neither of us said anything.
My face was expressionless as I watched the fire get bigger. I was so numb, I didn't even notice Hexy was holding my hand to probably try to comfort me. After we had seen enough, Hexy had come up with our next destination, "How about we go to Canaclave City? It's not that far, and there could be a chance your friend was there due to the gyms and pokemon centers".
She might've been right. Besides, we had no other place to go, "Okay. Let's head there, I guess".
As we headed back into the woods and en route, Hexy paused me for a moment, "Hey, hold up a second". She took out a piece of dirty dress and a piece of black statue, then handed them to me.
I asked her, "What are these"?
She told me about them, "Mementos. A piece of that dusclops we encountered that was left behind, and a piece of Charon's dress the hands didn't take. I thought holding onto them could be significant".
I accepted the objects and put them into my backpack, "Thanks. I'll keep them just to remember our accomplishments".
Before I said anymore though, behind the burning chateau, I saw more shiny unowns behind the trees. A 'U' and an 'R'. "Hey, do you see that"?
I pointed and she actually saw them this time, "More unowns"?
I explained, "Back in Turnback Cave, I swore I saw some eyeing us as we left. What do they want"?
Hexy took some initiative, "Let's go over there and find out".
Running over, the mysterious pokemon both vanished into a shifting portal and were gone just like that. "Guess we won't be finding out", she put bluntly".
"Well, whatever they are after, I don't think we should stick around. Let's be cautious around them from now on, just in case". Hexy agreed with me, and on that note, we left through the woods and towards the route to Canaclave City.