A week had passed since Brayden and Trace fought their way out of Rock Tunnel. Now they were in Lavender Town, a small village in eastern Kanto, having arrived there hours after the fact.

Somehow, Brayden's right arm had barely managed to avoid breaking when the enraged Primeape had attacked him. However, it still needed time to heal, and after it was put in a sling, the boys stayed in the town.

Nevertheless, Trace knew there was more to this staying put than just a wounded arm. Brayden was still sulking from Primeape's departure. And Trace couldn't blame him. He, too, had been emotionally hurt by everything that had transpired that day. The brutish Machamp, the sadistic Loki, Brayden's eruption of emotions, Mankey's evolution into Primeape and subsequent loss of control were difficult for him to deal with.

Trace had called Professor Oak the morning after and explained everything, leading to the Professor deciding to hold off on whatever he had wanted them to do at Lavender Town until Brayden was back on his feet. But a full week later, and our hero was still not himself.

All of their Pokémon remained outside their Poké Balls throughout the day, eager to do something to help Brayden feel better. Oddish practically never left his side. She would even sleep on one of the pillows on Brayden's bed every night, and would cheerfully greet him in the morning. Brayden would always return her smile and insist that he was alright, but it was clear to everyone that was not true.

This morning, Trace resolved to call Professor Oak again, hopeful that he would have a solution.

"Good morning, Trace! Is…Brayden alright? I still haven't heard from him," Oak said quietly.

Trace sadly shook his head.

"His arm is healing well, but he's still really bummed out. Our Pokémon have tried really hard to cheer him up, but nothing really seems to work. What should we do?"

"What Brayden is going through right now is something only he can come to terms with. All we can do is keep reminding him he still has all of us behind him." Oak said calmly.

Trace sighed. He truly wished he could do more. Brayden had already done so much for him. He had to do something for his friend in return. But what…?

"Hey, Professor, what was that thing you wanted us to do when we got here?" Trace asked. "Maybe I could do it while Brayden recovers."

Oak began to sweat nervously.

"Er, you might not like it."

"C'mon! Tell me! I'm so bored holed up in here, Professor! I wanna DO something again! Maybe it'll help Brayden!" Trace insisted.

Oak sighed deeply.

"All right then. Have you heard anything about a Marowak ghost haunting Pokémon Tower?"

Trace's face went white, and he began shivering.

"D-d-did you just say…GHOST?!"

Later, outside Pokémon Tower…

"Professor Oak said that a Marowak that Team Rocket killed last year haunted the place until Red calmed her spirit by beating Team Rocket. But now, it's come back, and he wants us to find out why! B-but…"

Trace looked up at the tower, shivering with fear again.

"I'm scared of ghosts! Why do we have to do this?"

"Char Charmeleon!"

Pikachu gave them both a small jolt of electricity, snapping them out of their panic.

"Pika. Pikachu!" Pikachu said sternly.

Trace scratched the side of his head and smiled sheepishly.

"Riiiiight. Gotta keep fighting the good fight so we can snap Brayden out of his funk. Heh heh heh…"

After climbing up the steps and heading inside, he noticed that nobody was there, except for a single elderly woman. She glared at Trace, as if he had said something foolish to her.

"You should not be here. Leave while you still can, boy," she said.

Trace gulped.

"I'd love to, but I can't. I'm on an important mission for Professor Oak. Can you tell me about a Marowak ghost..?"

The old woman's eyes narrowed when Trace said 'Professor Oak'.

"There is no Marowak phantom of any sort here. However, the spirits of the departed appear to be agitated for some reason," she explained.

"Only a truly brave Trainer can possibly hope to calm them. You don't seem to bear such courage, child."

Trace felt a rush of embarrassment run through him, but pushed it aside. He HAD to be brave for his friend!

"I… don't care what you think! I'm not afraid of those ghosts! In fact, I'll go find them right now and send them away!" Trace shouted forcefully as he sprinted past the woman and up the stairs.

"Hmmmm…" the old woman mused.

As Trace ran up through the many floors of the Pokémon graveyard, an eerie fog formed and rapidly thickened with each room. When he reached the seventh floor, he came to a halt.

"Oh no… I can't see a thing! Is this the… ghost's doing?" Trace wondered fearfully.

Suddenly, a sinister voice echoed across the room.

"MY CHILD…WHERE IS HE…?"

"WAH! Wh-who's there?" Trace shouted.

Charmeleon held his Trainer's leg and began quivering in fear.

Unshaken, Pikachu scanned the area, cheeks crackling, ready for a fight.

The mist swirled into an ethereal mass before their eyes. It resembled a Ghost-type Pokémon called Haunter, with a large disembodied head and two floating hands, but the "eyes" lacked pupils, and they and the mouth were glowing yellow.

"RETURN HIM TO ME!" the phantom bellowed. The entire tower seemed to shake violently.

Trace and Charmeleon screamed in horror!

Pikachu nearly fell over backwards, but stood his ground.

"P-P-Pikachu! Thunderbolt!" Trace blurted out.

"PIKACHU!"

The Mouse Pokémon squeezed his cheeks and let loose a large electric blast, but the ghost was not affected in the slightest. It smiled maliciously, then outstretched its hands.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a number of smaller ghosts appeared and slowly closed in on the young boy and two Pokémon.

Trace looked around frantically, and finally spotted the stairs.

"THERE'S THE STAIRS, GUYS! HURRY!"

Trace grabbed Charmeleon by the arm and was off like a shot, Pikachu a few steps behind him.

As they got closer, more ghosts appeared near it, intending to block their path.

But Pikachu wasn't going to let the fiends take his friends. Not in a million years!

The electric Mouse charged up a Quick Attack, jumped, then threw a Mega Punch at his Trainer's back.

"WAAAAAAA!" Trace yelped as he flew head over heels towards the stairs, still holding tightly to Charmeleon's arm. They both landed roughly on the floor at the top of the steps.

"P-Pikachu! Why did you—"

"PIKA! CHU PIKACHU!" Pikachu shouted urgently as the ghosts surrounded him.

Pikachu had sacrificed himself to help them escape!

Trace couldn't bear the thought of leaving his good friend behind, but there was nothing he could do now. Pikachu hated staying inside his Poké Ball for any reason, and the ball's signal wouldn't be able to reach him now anyway.

With tears falling from their eyes, Trace and Charmeleon ran back downstairs, never looking back.

Back at the Pokémon Center…

Brayden wistfully stared out the window. He had not stopped thinking about Primeape the entire week, though it pained him to do so.

"Primeape…why did you do this? Was I too hard on you? I'm really sorry for acting like that. Sorry for making you fight that Machamp. Please, come back…"

Oddish walked over and nuzzled Brayden's leg, prompting him to look down at her. She was smiling brightly at him.

"Oddish Odd!" she said cheerfully.

Brayden smiled back.

"Even after what we went through, you're staying positive. I'm glad to have your company, Oddish." Brayden said.

"Odd!" the Weed Pokémon nodded.

Brayden looked around the room and was surprised to see that the only other one in the room was Trace's Poliwhirl, who was just waking up from a nap.

"Where's everyone else?" Brayden asked out loud.

Poliwhirl simply shrugged.

Brayden got up from his chair and stepped outside the room.

"Trace? Wartortle? Charmeleon? Pidgeotto? Electrode? Butterfree?" Brayden called out.

Anxiety and panic descending, he ran towards the reception area, Poliwhirl right behind him. Oddish hobbled after them.

At the end of the hall, Brayden heard a familiar voice speaking to the nurse.

"Are these Brayden's Pokémon?"

"No doubt about it. These little darlings have been here for a week, keeping him company. Haven't been in their Poké Balls since we treated them!" the nurse replied.

"Hello, Wartortle! I haven't seen you since you were that cute little Squirtle!" the familiar voice said, apparently to Wartortle.

"Wartortle!" Wartortle gleefully replied.

"Is that…?" Brayden whispered as he stepped out into the room.

There, at the front desk, surrounded by his other four Pokémon, stood Brayden's mother.

"Mom!" Brayden exclaimed as he ran to her.

While Trace suffers an unexpected separation, Brayden has an expected reunion! What has brought Denise all this way? And what will happen to Pikachu?! Find out in Chapter 24!