Moira couldn't think. She felt completely numb as she rushed past the confused onlookers. The sounds of the people and Pok émon and cars around her went distant and dull as she barreled through. She couldn't stay put, she needed space, the buildings around her seemed to grow taller and taller, their shadows darker and more overwhelming as the reality of what Amber just did set in.

Her mind went back to a map of the region she'd seen back at the Pok émon Center. Route 6 passed through a greener, more forested area. Compared to the arid, rocky, dusty landscapes she'd seen the past few towns she decided a change of scenery might help her clear her head.

Dashing out of city limits, she didn't stop when she reached the tall grass. A wild Rufflet eyed her curiously as she darted past at full speed. That's when she spotted the forest.

Halfway down Route 6 was a river, which flowed down south until it hit the ocean. Route 6 itself passed over a stone bridge to the other side. Trees sprung up by the river for about half a mile, stretching all the way up and down the river.

Perfect, a place I can be alone for a while, she thought as she ran through the trees. If nothing else, there's no cell service out here, I can avoid the inevitable, at least for a while…

"Hey, what's the hurry?"

Moira yelped as she tripped, the sudden voice distracting her and sending her crashing to the dirt. As she tried getting to her feet, she suddenly realized how tired she was after her run. As she started panting, her vision cleared as she saw a hand reached down to help her up. Moira's gaze followed the arm and she was surprised to see Lennoa there, Gallade not too far away.

"L-Lennoa?" she asked, taking her hand and letting herself be pulled up. "What're ye doing out here?"

"Training," she said simply. "Gotta keep Gallade's skills sharp, after all," she said, gesturing off to the side towards an unconscious Machoke that looked like it had a very bad day. "What about you?"

Moira began to tear up again. "I… I lost."

Lennoa nodded in understanding. "Yeah, her Gliscor's pretty nasty. From what I heard, Amelia could've moved up in the circuit, but she wanted to stay near the bottom so she'd give that wake-up call to any trainers who thought they could coast by on type advantage. But there's more going on, isn't there?" She asked. "Something else happened? I don't think you'd be this upset over just a loss."

"...I don't wanna talk about it." Moira looked back up at Lennoa and, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed something she hadn't before. In the distance was a cabin, the wood dark and looking slightly decayed, with broken windows and a dark blue rusted roof. "...What's that over yonder?"

Gallade looked back at the cabin while Lennoa didn't turn away from Moira. "That's the Haunted Cabin. It used to belong to the architect of the bridge and his family, but after the bridge was finished the family disappeared. Since then, a lot of Ghost Pokémon have been living there."

Moira looked at the cabin, taking a step towards it. Indeed, the area around the old decrepit house seemed to radiate an aura of darkness.

"I think I oughta do some trainin' of my own. All my Pokémon are fighters, so a tricky Ghost-type would be a big help to the team." Moira took another step in that direction before Lennoa put a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"I wouldn't recommend it," she warned. "There's one Pokémon in particular that feeds off of negative emotion. And I'm worried about what'll happen if you go in there in your current headspace."

Moira shook her head. "I have to. I have tae prove I'm not weak. That I'm not just- just an overemotional joke!" With that she turned tail and ran towards the house.

Lennoa sighed and shook her head, knowing that there really wasn't anything she could do to dissuade her.


"Which way did she go?" Oliver asked, having set Ralts down on the ground. They had followed Moira to roughly the city limits but lost track of her. Oliver suggested having Ralts try and find her. As an empath, Ralts might be able to sense Moira's negativity and follow it, like a Stoutland tracking a scent. Meanwhile, Cassandra was looking around at her surroundings, looking a little antsy, which concerned Scarlet somewhat.

As Ralts stood, trying to track it down, Scarlet looked between her and Oliver. "You sure this is going to work?"

"It's all we really got," Oliver said. "But we have to do something . With all the wild Pokémon out here, I'm worried something might happen to her. I'm… I'm really worried."

Scarlet opted to say nothing, letting Oliver continue his train of thought.

"Not that I think she's a bad trainer, she's got more experience than me, but she's really upset after what happened, and oh geez she probably thinks I hate her because of the video, I could never hate her! I just really, really like her and I don't want anything bad to-"

"Wait, hold up," Scarlet chimed in. "You… said you like her?"

Oliver blushed, realizing he said that out loud. "Um… yeah."

"Like… you LIKE like her?"

Oliver nodded, a little embarrassed.

"Does she know?"

"N-no, I never told her."

"Well why not?" Scarlet pressed.

"Why are you asking me this now?"

"It's not like we have anything else to do until Ralts picks up her signal."

"True…" Oliver sighed and put his hands in his pockets. "You know I haven't had very many friends. Amber was always way more popular than me, and she always picked on me so no one else wanted to be around me. Aside from you of course."

"But Moira is the first friend your age you've had," Scarlet caught on.

"Exactly. And I don't want to ruin it. What if I tell her how I feel, and she doesn't like me back? It'll make things really awkward between us, and… and I don't want to lose another friend, okay?"

Scarlet frowned, wanting to tell him that no, Moira wouldn't stop being his friend just because of that, but before the words had left her mouth, Ralts jolted. The Psychic Pokémon pointed in the direction of the Route 6 forest. Oliver nodded, let Ralts back in the backpack, and took off running, as did Scarlet and Cassandra.

Just as they reached the first tree, they slowed to a stop upon seeing Lennoa there. She and Gallade seemed to be on their way out when they spotted the approaching trainer and former trainer.

"Oh, you guys! Perfect timing!" Lennoa called. "I was just about to go back to look for you. I would've called, but, you know, no service out here."

"Have you seen Moira?" Oliver asked.

"Yep. Ran into the Haunted Cabin to do some training," she said, which made Scarlet's eyes widen.

"Wait, the Haunted Cabin? The same one where that architect and his family disappeared?"

"That's the one."

Oliver readjusted his glasses. "All right. We're going in after her."

"Me and Gallade will come with you," Lennoa agreed. "Between the three of us, I'd say-"

"Whoa whoa, wait a moment. I'm sorry," Scarlet interrupted. "But I'm not a trainer anymore. Me and Cassandra just came to- Cassandra come back! " she wailed as the Dark-type ran off into the woods towards the cabin.

"Sorry," Lennoa shrugged. "Guess the choice has been made for you."

"What if she gets hurt?" Scarlet protested.

"Scarlet, she's a Dark-type," Oliver pointed out. "She's got a natural advantage over Ghost-types, she'll be all right. Come on, we gotta find Moira!"


"Wooloo, use Wild Charge!" Moira yelled. Wooloo surrounded herself in electricity, the crackling light piercing the darkness and temporarily blinding the Duskull right before the wooly ball of lightning collided with it head-on. The Duskull was immediately flung backwards and landed on the ground before it disappeared.

"Good work, lass," Moira said with a subdued tone of voice. The training had been going well for Drizzile and Wooloo, but Nidorino and Tyrogue were just out of luck. Poison and Fighting moves were pretty much useless against Ghosts, so there wasn't a chance for her weakest team member and recently-evolved newcomer to power up.

Moira was standing in a hallway with windows on her left and doors on her right. The wood wasn't particularly rotten or decayed, but with the light fixtures not working and the shadows of the forest around it, it had a spooky atmosphere nonetheless, especially with the rooms deeper inside the cabin pitch-black.

She sighed, wishing she'd thought this through better. She was about to withdraw Wooloo when she heard a rustling noise behind her. Moira couldn't see anything, so instead she walked up to the room that she thought it came from. She peered inside.

It was a small child's bedroom. It seemed to have the one functioning lightbulb in the entire cabin, although it was definitely on its last legs with all the flickering. Inside the room was a bed that hadn't been made in a long time, with all sorts of Pokémon-related stickers on the wall, and a wooden desk with a ton of paper strewn about on it. Each one seemed to have a doodle of Pokémon on it.

Moira looked over at them out of curiosity. She flipped through them, wondering how old the child was. Four? Five? What happened to them? Were they a boy or-

She paused, her skin going pale.

There were two drawings that weren't Pokémon.

The first had a couple crudely-drawn people on it. One of them was much shorter, with a blue t-shirt and a notable frowny face. The larger of the two looked very angry, with big scribbled eyebrows and a wide mouth with fangs, who seemed to be yelling. In one hand, the larger doodle man was holding a bottle.

Moira felt a shiver travel up her entire body.

She turned her attention to the second drawing. Calling it a drawing was a bit generous, since the paper's contents were just a single big splotch of black. Just drawn in seemingly at random, not in any particular shape, just one big angry scribbly mass of black.

...from which a pair of glowing yellow eyes suddenly opened.

Moira yelped and dropped the paper, falling back and landing hard on the floor. The paper didn't fall to the ground. Rather, it seemed to rise as though blown into the air by an unfelt gust of wind. The black mass on the paper coalesced into a watery, 3-dimensional shape, still pitch-black, before forming into a vaguely humanoid form with its arms, head, and torso coming out of the paper, still with those glowing yellow eyes.


INKOUL

Doodle Pokémon

Ghost

Its body is made out of ink, so during the day it hides on paper and disguises itself as a child's drawing. It grows stronger and more unstable if it's around someone filled with negative thoughts.


"Wooloo! W-Wild Charge!" she stammered. She was unfamiliar with this particular Pokémon- it was native to Allanza after all- and she figured it might be a Water-type given its liquid body.

Unfortunately, it was not. The hit connected, electricity sparking as the paper was blown back. While a little singed, and while Inkoul had retreated back into it, the paper soon returned to the air and the Pokémon popped out of it. It shot its hand out, and suddenly an inky blackness began to spread from a spot on the ground beneath it, enveloping the entire floor. Moira backed away but couldn't escape it, finding herself rooted to the floor as the wet blackness reached her feet.

What move is this? It looks like it roots Pokémon to the ground if they stand in this ink…

Wooloo, unfortunately, only had physical moves to rely on, and with its hooves stuck to the ground, there wasn't much it could do as Inkoul used Night Slash to cut through Wooloo's coat.

Moira pulled out her Pokéball and withdrew Wooloo. To her relief, the ink didn't stop Pokémon from being pulled into their balls. She switched Wooloo out for Drizzile, who immediately found himself stuck in the ink as well.

"Try using Water Gun on the ink!" she said, hoping Drizzile could free himself. Drizzile nodded and fired a burst of water at the ground, but it didn't wash away the blackness. Whatever this was, it wouldn't be washed away so easily.

"Fine, then. Use Water Pulse on that Ghost there!"

But before Drizzile could do so, Inkoul responded by glowing a bit and releasing rings of spectral light. Moira's eyes widened as she recognized the move as Hypnosis. And, rooted to the spot as he was, Drizzile couldn't avoid it, falling asleep immediately.

Moira cursed loudly, withdrawing Drizzile. Pulling out another ball, she sent out Tyrogue, hoping to at least stall.

"Tyrogue, use Protect!" she cried as Inkoul let out Ominous Wind. It was deflected by Tyrogue's defense, which thankfully shielded Moira as well.

That worked, at least, but the only attacks Tyrogue has are Fighting-type! Why didn't I bring Lennoa in here with me?

"Keep up yer guard, Tyrogue!" she called, hoping her stalling would hold out long enough.


"This place sure is spooky," Lennoa said.

"Let's just find Moira and Cassandra and get out," Scarlet said.

"Agreed. Let's split up," Lennoa suggested.

"You sure that's a good idea?" Oliver asked. "Scarlet doesn't have any Pokémon on her."

"Good point…"

The three of them walked into the first room they saw, the only light coming in through the far window. The kitchen, it looked like. Moira obviously wasn't in here. As they passed through, Oliver cringed as he felt something break underneath him. He looked down and saw an empty, broken glass bottle.

He looked around and saw a number of similar bottles, as well as a few broken plates… and knives.

Lots and lots of knives.

He shivered. "Let's keep moving, guys. This place gives me the willies."

"Agreed."

Just then, they heard a clatter coming from a room down the hall. "That must be her!" They ran down to investigate and arrived just in time to see Moira rooted to the ground by some weird black substance, as well as Tyrogue being taken down with Ominous Wind.

Oliver leapt into action, pulling out a Pokéball. "Go Sableye! Use Feint Attack!"

The jewel-eyed ghost popped out and immediately leapt into the room.

Moira's eyes widened. "No, if you step in that stuff, yre won't be able to-"

But Moira's protests went unheard, as Sableye was already halfway across the room, surrounded with an eerie purple aura as it struck Inkoul from behind.

"...Ah. Nevermind."

As Inkoul was thrown across the room, the black inky mass dissipated, and Moira collapsed to her knees. "Phew… That was… intense..."

As she knelt there, catching her breath, the piece of paper blew out the door into the hall, one again as though the wind was blowing it. Moira stood up and watched it blow down the hall, but first turned her attention to Oliver and suddenly, it came flooding back to her why she was here in the first place. Oliver opened his mouth to say something but was cut off.

"Ye saw the video… ye saw what I'm really like." Moira said, starting to tear up a little. "D-don't ye hate me? Why did ye come after me?"

"Because you're my friend," Oliver said without hesitation. And that was all the answer she needed.

She walked forward and wrapped Oliver in a tight hug, burying her head in his shoulder, a weight lifted, if only a bit. The video was still out there, that hadn't changed. But at least she wouldn't have to be alone again.

"Oh, there you are, Cassandra!" Scarlet said suddenly, interrupting their moment. Moira separated from the hug to face her, not noticing Oliver's slight blush. "You need to stop running off like that."

Lennoa smiled. "Well, Moira's safe and we found your Absol. Let's get back to town."

"Before we do…" Moira asked. "Scarlet, you have your Pokédex, right? What was that?"

Scarlet pulled up her app and opened it up to Inkoul's entry. "Here it is. Never seen one in person before, though."

Moira read through it, her expression slowly morphing into a smirk. "Well…" she said, handing Scarlet her phone back. "I know what I'm gonna catch next."


The paper slid down the hall, remaining on the floor. The white paper stood out against the worn-out carpet and the dark wallpaper. Inkoul hadn't taken much damage during the fight, but it had exerted itself trying to break Tyrogue's guard. It did eventually, but now it needed to rest.

"Drizzile! Water Pulse!"

Rest it wasn't going to get, it seemed, as a ring of water barreled down the hallway and washed over the paper, soaking it and weakening Inkoul. Inkoul floated back up and mustered another Ominous Wind.

The Water-type braced himself, allowing the wind to hit him. However, it wasn't as strong as the one that had earlier been used against Tyrogue.

Disoriented from the attack, Inkoul tried to withdraw, but it instead floated right into a wall, the piece of paper falling to the floor, presenting Moira with the opportunity she needed.

Pulling out a Pokéball, she tossed it at Inkoul, the Pokéball drawing it into itself and snapping shut. It landed on the ground, shaking once… twice… three times…

Moira held her breath as she watched the Pokéball do its work.

*Click*

With a sigh of relief and some subdued cheering from Oliver and Lennoa, Moira walked forward to pick up her new catch. Scarlet took out her Pokédex and began to scan the now captured Inkoul, obtaining some new data.

"Nice job on that catch," Lennoa congratulated. "So.. you want to head back into town now?"

"Aye," Moira nodded, sighing as she put away the Pokéball. "I guess it's high time I faced the music…"

"I'm sure it won't be that bad," Oliver said. "And if it is… we'll be right there with you."

"...Thank ye."

The group left the cabin and started back on the road to Arryline. Moira's mind wandered as she tried to distract herself from her humiliation, and she remembered what Lennoa told her, about how Oliver had a crush on her. She still didn't know how reliable Lennoa's powers would be, but after today...

She really hoped it was true


Sorry I took so long with this chapter. I haven't had the motivation to write this Pokémon story for a while, but I really want to get through it. There are parts later in the story I'm really excited to share, but the problem is in getting there. Hopefully, after my MHA fanfic, my writing skills have improved slightly.

And in case you're curious, Inkoul's signature move is called Inky Terrain. It makes it so all grounded Pokémon cannot dodge attacks and increases the power of Ghost-type moves.