Note: This chapter is vaguely based on/inspired by episode 23, with differences that don't end with Misty having stayed in Saffron.
27: Charmander vs. Gastly
Ash stared up at the tower, Pikachu mirroring his gaze, as they approached with Brock, the sun setting right by them. "Are you sure you want to go in now?" Brock said, attempting without success to see into the darkened windows.
"Yeah. They said the ghost types won't even show up during the day. Guess they're sleeping." Ash shrugged.
"Aren't they already in their eternal sleep?" Brock joked, leaning toward his younger friend.
Ash looked back at him humorlessly. "No, they just wake up at night."
Brock laughed to himself, looking at the windows. "I haven't seen many ghost types out there... One of my challengers brought one in once, and he beat me."
"I'm gonna get powerful like him, too," Ash said. "That way we'll win. It's time to train, let's practice. Get ready, Charmander!" Ash threw out Charmander's pokeball.
The fire type pokemon appeared, also staring at the tower. "Char," it called quietly, its expression serious.
"Charmander, we're gonna train with these ghost types," Ash explained. "Are you ready?"
"Charmander," Charmander called tentatively in response.
"Pika?" Pikachu questioned its fellow pokemon, standing by Ash's feet. Was Charmander upset about the loss? "Pikachu!" It shouldn't be, because Sabrina and her pokemon were incredibly powerful, beating even Pikachu itself.
"Char?" Charmander shrunk back before lunging toward Pikachu. "Charmander!" Just because Pikachu lost, didn't mean Charmander itself was bound to. "Char!" It stepped purposefully in front of the electric type pokemon.
"Pikachu..." Pikachu began irritably as Charmander's flame-tipped tail waved in its face, almost hitting its nose. "Pika, CHUU!" Pikachu used its thundershock attack on the pokemon that was starting to be irritating.
"Charmander!" the pokemon called as it fell down.
"Pika." Pikachu stepped past Charmander.
"Pikachu, what are you doing?" Ash demanded.
"Pika." Pikachu turned away with a satisfied expression on its face.
"I'm not sure exactly what's going on, but maybe they're confused about who's supposed to be leading the way," Brock suggested.
"Pikachu, Charmander has to train too. So just let it, okay? You stay by me and Charmander will fight the first ghost type. Let's go!" Ash pointed forward to direct his pokemon.
As the sun disappeared over the horizon, Charmander led the group forward. As they reached the building, Ash opened the door, tugging once before it budged. As it loudly creaked open, Charmander jumped in surprise. "Pikachu," Pikachu called with a grin, inviting Charmander to go ahead of them.
"Charmander!" Charmander called, shaking his head as it charged forward. The group entered the tower.
In the darkened tower, James and Meowth wore large, heavy goggles, while Jessie led the way with a flashlight, ekans slithering ahead of them as James and Meowth peered up, around, observing the area from every angle. James adjusted the dials on his goggles before he took them off, squinting and rubbing his eyes. "I don't think we'll find what we're looking for," he commented.
"We heard the rumors, but maybe you're right. After all, do ghosts really exist?" Jessie asked, shining the light all around the dusty room.
"I've never seen one," James said.
"We talked about them at Pokemon Tech, but they never had any," Jessie said.
"Your skeptical chatting is just a waste of time! Can it and let's catch some ghost types for the boss! He doesn't have any, so this'll make him happy with us," Meowth said.
"I thought he had all kinds of pokemon," Jessie said.
"Likely all pokemon types," James added, scratching his head.
"So, if he didn't have any," Jessie began, shining the light up to spotlight James.
"If he didn't have any, one might assume-" James continued.
"That we're just chasing ghosts," Jessie concluded before she and James giggled together.
"That's enough of that!" Meowth waved its paws up toward the humans. "Get doing what you should be! James, get those ghost scope goggles back on! Jessie, you also keep your eyes out and get ready to have your pokemon battle!"
"Someone's bossy today," Jessie commented.
"Am I messing up your casual stroll? Do you want to get back good with the boss, or what?!" Meowth spat back.
Jessie and James nodded in unison, going back to their previous tasks. As they took another step forward, Meowth shouted out in surprise. "It's there! It's one of them! It's-" Meowth tripped over its feet, shouting as it spun around, sliding in front of ekans. The snake pokemon crashed into it, calling out in surprise.
"What are you doing, Meowth?" Jessie asked irritably. Before it could respond, loud laughter echoed through the room. Jessie stood up straighter, scanning the area. "Ekans, get ready!" she shouted. James pulled her sleeve and pointed forward. Jessie paused, observing the indicated area before an apparition became apparent to her. "Ekans, wrap! There!" Jessie directed her pokemon.
"Ekans!" Ekans hissed as it found the apparition itself, wrapping itself around it. Eventually, a face appeared, a distorted distressed expression twisting, fading in and out of being recognizable.
"Good. Keep holding it," Jessie ordered, then threw the R-laden pokeball. It opened up, seeming to partially draw the apparition in before swinging open, hitting the ground and breaking into two pieces. Jessie swore. "This really is a piece of junk!" she shouted, throwing the now trash against the wall.
"Backup plan," James said, taking out the net he'd held ready at his side. He threw it over the apparition, but it went right through. The assumed ghost pokemon disappeared, leaving ekans in a coil, covered in the net.
"Ekans, return," Jessie shouted, bringing the pokemon back into its pokeball before she stamped once on the ground. "Why?" she demanded. Laughter again rang through the air, only further irritating her. "You think we're scared of ghosts?" she spoke to the air. "Go ahead and try and spook us, we'll just beat you in the end!" Jessie continued, only getting further laughter in response.
"You'd be lucky to be a part of Team Rocket! Who else cares about a bunch of spooks?!" Meowth said. As it spoke, the rug under their feet shifted slightly. They all wobbled, trying to keep their balance. Just as they did, the entire rug moved rapidly. The group shouted as they fell forward before hitting an invisible, pillowy buffer.
"At least they don't seem malicious," James said, adjusting his displaced goggles.
"They're just mocking us," Jessie concluded as she sat up.
"I think they were part of the rug... The ghost scope showed it lighting up when it moved," James informed, shivering as he spoke. "But I don't see them now," he added.
"Is that right? Now we know your trick, so don't try it again," Jessie said. As she spun around observing their surroundings, she shouted in surprise at a floating piece of tattered cloth came into her view. It dropped right afterward, the disembodied laughter again heard. "Come on, let's get serious! Go, Lickitung! You get ready too, James!" Jessie ordered as she released her pokemon.
"Right. Go, Weepinbell!" Weepinbell stood side-by-side with Lickitung as it was released.
Meowth, who had been flipped all the way on its face, got itself to its feet. "They can go right through anything, so we'll have to hope one of these experimental rocket pokeballs holds up. They're here and we'll find them. Let's go!"
The group moved on, Weepinbell hopping and leading the way before all as the humans and feline pokemon looked to each side and even behind themselves for signs of the ghost type pokemon. Weepinbell called out an alert, hopping in one place. As they all turned to it, flame shot its way. "Char!" the offending pokemon called.
"Weepinbell!" James called out in dismay, running forward and taking off his goggles to observe his friend.
"Hey... It's not a ghost type," Ash observed from behind Charmander.
"Pikachu." Pikachu saw a pokemon that might be just as funny. "Pikapika." It laughed as it saw Meowth trying to look its way with the heavy, awkwardly shaped goggles on its head. "Pika? Pika?" Pikachu widened its eyes to try and imitate how Meowth looked wearing the item.
"Wait..." Ash began as the recognition came over him. "It's you guys! Team Rocket!"
"What are you all doing here?" Brock asked, shining his own flashlight from one rocket to the next.
"Weepinbell, are you okay?" James ignored them, consoling his pokemon and spraying it with a potion.
"Why are we here? In this dirty, condemned tower?" Jessie asked, putting her hands out. "I wonder why we might be here! To catch the rumored rare ghost types, of course!"
"Oh." Ash suddenly seemed less concerned. "Do you have one? Want to battle?"
James glared at him, standing up and adjusting his goggles as his weepinbell stood up in recovery. "We don't have time for that."
"Doesn't look like they have one," Brock shined his flashlight on the two familiar active pokemon in his view. "You shouldn't let your guard down around them, Ash. We might know them a little better now, but they are still part of a criminal group that steals pokemon."
"I know, they just said they're catching their own right now, so it's fine. They aren't trying to take my pikachu," Ash said.
"That thought might be naïve," Brock said as the rockets chatted.
"What do you think?" Jessie asked in a whisper, peering down at Meowth as she took out one of the experimental pokeballs.
"Could we get it?" James asked in a low voice.
"We'd be lucky if these things hold one of these vapory chumps, forget Pikachu," Meowth whispered.
Jessie nodded, then stood up straight as she faced Ash, hands on her hips. "That's right, that little boy is completely correct. We don't want Pikachu at all, since it already has a trainer," she said.
James nodded with exaggeration. "We've learned our lesson from what happened on the St. Anne, and no longer steal from others at all," he continued the farce.
"Yeah. So we're here to catch stray ones for the boss since we're completely on the up and up now," Meowth added.
"So Team Rocket's good now? That's great!" Ash exclaimed.
"Pikachu?" Pikachu called dubiously.
"Right. We're just here the same as any other trainer, to catch pokemon for ourselves," Jessie concluded. "So stay out of our way!"
The rockets motioned for their pokemon to pass Ash's group on by. As James and Meowth put their goggles back on, Ash turned his head, then followed them. "Why are you wearing those things? Don't you want to see where you're going?" he asked.
"Are you talking about our state-of-the-art ghost scope goggles?" Meowth asked, pointing a claw to the device on its head.
"We can see better in the dark with these on, and any ghost type pokemon will appear lit up in our field of vision," James explained.
"You can see ghosts?" Ash said. He glanced back at his pokemon, then motioned for Charmander to get ahead in the hall with the rocket's pokemon. Pikachu followed by his feet as he ran forward to catch up with the rockets. "I've been looking around and haven't seen one."
Brock paused before he went along with them as well. "There might not even be any," he said.
"We've seen them already," James said.
"Really? You found them?" Ash grinned, clenching his fists.
"Perhaps you'd like us to help you get one," James suggested, stopping as he addressed the boy.
"No," Jessie answered for Ash, grabbing James's arm and pulling him away. "Just get away, shoo," she said, waving her hand to Ash before she stared over at James. "This brat doesn't want our help," she said.
"Why wouldn't I?!" Ash said. "If you've got a secret ghost detecting thing, and I've just been looking around... I want to see the ghosts too! So just show me!" Ash tried to step in front of Jessie as he spoke.
"I don't mind," James said, peering to Jessie, who just scowled.
"Jess, come on," Meowth began in a whisper. "This is our advantage. With Pikachu's fire power on our side, maybe we can really catch one of these ghostly things," it said, then continued as Jessie and James leaned down to hear better. "Or maybe we can just walk off with this brat's catch when he gets one."
"Fine," Jessie agreed, standing up straight as she turned and addressed the kid. "Don't expect too much, though. We might not even find any again."
"Alright! Come on, Pikachu, keep your eyes out," Ash said.
"Pika," Pikachu agreed, looking upward and around as Brock and Jessie's lights shined around.
"Charmander, you too! You're gonna get a real ghost battle soon," Ash said.
"Char... Mander," the pokemon called tentatively, but looked forward at attention as it walked next to the other pokemon, ready to battle.
Brock walked behind the group, eyeing the rockets warily. After a while, he asked a question. "Are you sure you guys really saw a ghost?"
"Of course. It thought it was really frightening, even though it wasn't," Jessie said, still keeping her attention focused on where the flashlight shone.
"I was frightened," James admitted.
"That's pathetic! Who needs to be scared of something dead!" Jessie chided.
"Oh." Brock stopped moving his flashlight around the various dusty corners as he processed the implications of what Jessie had said. "So, do you think ghost types are dead pokemon?"
"Our pokemon friends will still be here after they die?" James smiled as he glanced down at Weepinbell.
"Pikachu will become Ghostachu?" Ash suggested.
"Pika, CHU!" Pikachu hopped in front of Charmander playfully.
"Charmander." Charmander pushed past Pikachu, annoyed as it tried to concentrate on finding the ghost type for the possible battle.
"Ha! That's a bunch of crap." Meowth said, hopping up as they continued to walk through the hall. "There'd be ghost types everywhere if that happened. The pokemon I've seen die never turned into any kind of ghost thing."
"Oh." James frowned. "So pokemon do die."
"Of course! We're not invincible," Meowth said. It paused as it saw a brief glow on the coming door, then kept walking.
"So, are these ghosts we're seeing not actual pokemon? They may just be the ghosts of humans," James suggested.
"You all piss off anyone that died recently?" Meowth asked.
"I don't know anyone that died," Ash said.
"My grandparents when I was younger... But I can't imagine them hanging around a place like this," Brock said with a laugh.
"Well, there was my grandfather, but I doubt he'd start haunting me after a few decades. What about you, Jessie?" James asked, poking the woman's shoulder.
Jessie closed her eyes and sighed, her flashlight pointed down just a moment before she pulled herself up again. "Any dead people trying to haunt me would instantly dissipate in the radiance of the happy life I'm living without them," she said.
"I see," James replied, turning his attention to where the possible ghosts might be. "Of course they would."
"How do you make them do that?" Ash asked.
"It just means no one's haunting me, got it!" Jessie declared hotly, staring back at Ash. Ash and Brock shouted as they saw her. "What is it?" she demanded.
"Your eyes!" Ash rudely pointed right at her face.
"You're crying blood," Brock informed.
"I'm not crying at all," Jessie muttered. "Right, James?" she said. Turning to her friend, she saw a similarly shocked expression on his face.
"Does it hurt?" James asked.
Jessie shined her flashlight to her face as she took out her compact, confirming the sight of some kind of red liquid. She took out a tissue and wiped it off the best she could. "Is that the best you can do?" Jessie demanded as she finished, shining her flashlight in every corner of that hallway. "Ruining my makeup with a bad cliché? I'm so scared," she scoffed.
"Jessie," James said tentatively.
Jessie realized the man had been tightly gripping onto her arm. "What?"
"Let's just leave, please! It's cold, I'm tired, and I've had enough! I don't want to get haunted!" James whined.
"Oh, no you don't! Keep looking, James!" Meowth ordered, swatting at the man's leg.
"Hm." Brock looked at his watch. "It's past midnight, but the temperature's pretty comfortable." It was midsummer after all. The evening temperature drop was welcomed. "If James is in a cold spot... Are you right by a ghost?"
"Where? Where?" James panicked, looking from side to side as he gripped tighter to Jessie's arm. He let out a long shout.
"Can you cut it out?" Jessie asked, shaking him off.
"No, there! There! They're there!" James shouted, pointing to the door they'd just passed.
"Huh?" Jessie looked at where James pointed before she hugged onto him tightly. In front of them were two very clear apparitions, one round, the other with a sharper shape. "Ghos- Ghost!" Jessie shouted.
Ash and Brock turned their heads in unison toward the directed area. Ash grinned, pushing back his cap. "Alright! Let's go, Charmander! Time to battle!"
"There's two of them," Brock pointed out. "Gastly and Haunter."
"I guess I'll have to use another pokemon too," Ash said.
"Pikachu, you've got it, right?" Meowth asked with a grin.
"Go, Bulbasaur!" Ash threw out a different pokeball instead.
"Hey, what about your star player over here?" Meowth demanded, patting Pikachu's back.
"Pikachu..." Pikachu sighed. It didn't need to battle every time Ash wanted to. It was a relief not to, actually.
"Bulbasaur, leech seed! Charmander, leer!" Ash ordered.
Bulbasaur performed the technique, its attempted leech seed falling on the ground as the haunter appeared and disappeared. "Bulba?" Bulbasaur called in dismay. At the same time, Charmander attempted to glare down the opponents. "Bulbasaur," Bulbasaur called out to it. Charmander nodded. The fire type really was giving off a nervous energy, while Bulbasaur was always so cool and collected, even having failed its attack. Charmander took a step forward, again attempting to intimidate the two ghost types. They both laughed, then disappeared.
"Charmander?" Charmander called in confusion before they appeared in front of it, tongue out, causing it to jump up in fright. The two wild pokemon then laughed again.
"Wait a minute," Jessie relaxed her grip on James as they observed the battle. "I recognize these two, the pokemon species. Aren't they poison types?"
"They are," Brock confirmed.
"And then they died?" James suggested.
"It's a dual typing," Brock explained.
"I remember now," James said, calming from his previous panic. "We did learn about that. All of the pokemon classified as ghost types - gastly, haunter-"
"And gengar," Jessie finished, shaking her head. "They're all dual poison type."
"And part of the same evolutionary line," James added.
"Since we never got to see them, it didn't sink in. There was so much to remember. But now we know they are just pokemon, so they can be caught," Jessie declared, meeting eyes with James, who nodded in response.
"I didn't know Team Rocket expected you to learn much about pokemon," Brock said. "That improves my opinion of your group... Slightly."
The rockets didn't comment as they stepped forward, pointing toward the more evolved ghost type. "Go, Lickitung! Lick!" Jessie ordered.
"Go, Weepinbell! Vine whip!" James shouted.
"You're battling? Okay." Though briefly miffed, Ash soon adjusted. "Bulbasaur, step back! Charmander, flame thrower!"
As the rockets' pokemon attacked Haunter, Charmander got ready with its most powerful attack. "Bulbasaur," its teammate called out encouragement from the sideline.
Charmander stayed focused. "Char!" Charmander spat out fire toward Gastly, whose eyes grew wide before growing in size, then exploding in a show before the ghost type reappeared, intact, giggling. "Charmander!" it called in annoyance. Why wasn't the other pokemon taking this battle seriously? Its opponent just giggled more in response.
"Don't let it get you down, Charmander," Ash said. "Wait, wait." Ash held up his hand to stop, seeing the ghost type had flickered away, possibly being unable to be hit by the attack. "Now! Flamethrower!" he shouted.
Charmander powered up its attack, but wasn't able to begin it before Gastly completed its own, its large tongue licking Charmander across the face. As Charmander shivered and froze, Gastly faded before reappearing nearby, giggling.
Meanwhile, Lickitung licked Haunter, the rocket pokemon's eyes widening in a disturbed expression after completing the attack. Weepinbell then completed its own attack, Haunter taking a direct hit from the vine whip. The corners of haunter's mouth pointed down in what seemed an over-exaggerated fashion. It put its appendages up as it moved backward, seeming to fall though it still floated in midair.
"Alright!" Meowth cheered. "We're getting it! Keep going, you two!"
"Lickitung, stomp!" Jessie shouted. Her pokemon jumped up, going right through Haunter. "That attack's too obvious," Jessie muttered.
"Weepinbell, again! Vine whip!" James shouted. His pokemon landed the hit as Haunter again appeared. Haunter's eyes went large as it moved back and forth with each hit.
"That should be enough," Jessie said as she took out the Team Rocket branded pokeball. "Just be caught already!" she shouted as she threw it. Haunter was briefly drawn in before it broke into two pieces again, Haunter giggling as it held both parts in its hands. "Are you kidding me?!" Jessie shouted.
Ash kept a close eye on its opponent on the other side of the room. "You can do it, Charmander," he said. "Just... Get ready."
"Char!" Charmander agreed, starting to power up the flame thrower attack. It focused its eyes on Gastly as the ghost type faded in and out of view.
"Now!" Ash shouted as their opponent appeared right in front of Charmander. The moment it heard its trainer's direction, Charmander began the flamethrower attack, enveloping the ghost type. "Yes! You did it! Great job, Charmander!" Ash cheered.
Meowth glanced from the battle that Ash was having over to their own failed catch. "Jessie, you've got two pokeballs left, right?" it said.
"That's it," Jessie confirmed.
"That's enough for these two. We're gonna get them both. Keep battling," Meowth directed. As its human allies shouted orders for the pokemon, it smirked at Haunter. "You think you can mess around with us? You're gonna join Team Rocket, like it or not!" Haunter stuck its tongue out at Meowth as it winked its eye. "What a joker," Meowth muttered, then shuddered in surprise as it saw the shape coming up from the floor. Eyes appeared as it seemed to rise up, then a chorus of giggles echoed through the room. "Another one," Meowth realized. "Your buddies are-" Meowth stopped as it heard the humans around it.
"Ash, stop! That's my grandma!" Brock said.
"What are you doing? Charmander, keep going!" Ash shouted at his pokemon as Brock tried to get his pokeball.
"Papa?" James said, staring at the scene on the other side. "What- why are you- Weepinbell, stop! Return!" James took out his own pokeball and returned the grass type.
"Oh, brother," Meowth muttered. It didn't take a genius to figure out their trick. "Jessie," it said, seeing its other human companion standing still, hopefully unaffected as Ash was. "Hurry up and-"
"You can't be back now," Jessie muttered, also seeming to talk to someone that wasn't even there.
Meowth swore, batting at Jessie's leg to get her attention. "Jess, I don't know what you see, but-"
"Meowth?" Jessie peered down toward the pokemon before back at the scene. "Yeah. I know it's not real," she assured. Meowth sighed in relief before it shouted in dismay as Jessie returned Lickitung. But she just threw out her other pokeball. "Go, Ekans! Acid attack!" Jessie shouted as the pokemon appeared. Ekans sprayed out the attack on both Gastly and the partially appeared pokemon, which sank back into the floor. "Now, you're done!" she continued, throwing out the pokeball, then smiling as Haunter was drawn in. She walked over to where the other battle was, Charmander completing its flamethrower attack. As Gastly came into view, cringing, Jessie threw the last pokeball, which also brought in the ghost type pokemon. "We're done!" she declared in exhaustion.
"Papa?" James looked around. "He wasn't really here, was he?"
"Of course not!" Jessie chided. "You think you're gonna see some old guy that died years ago here and now?!"
"Oh, yeah." Brock scratched his head, trying to force a smile. "Sorry, Ash."
Ash only looked at the pokeball on the ground. "I think Charmander won," he said.
"I guess we won," Jessie said, reaching down for the Team Rocket branded pokeball. As she picked it up, it burst open, the separate halves shattering as they hit the ground. "Really?!" Jessie shrieked. Right after she did, the other pokeball also exploded open on the ground. "These pokeball knockoffs really are pieces of junk! We had them! We really did!"
As Jessie shouted at the loss, Gastly and Haunter again appeared in front of Charmander. "We didn't win yet!" Ash realized. "Let's go, Charmander! Flamethrower! Bulbasaur, you help too! Vine whip!"
"Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur called as it ran back into battle. Both pokemon completed the ordered attacks, and then Gastly and Haunter frowned, fading out of sight.
"Good job," Ash said, confusion taking over. "Um... Are those pokemon okay?" he asked, turning to Brock.
"Becoming incorporeal seems to be an ability of ghost types," Brock informed.
"So... They are?" Ash asked, looking around before he noticed the state of his pokemon. Charmander curled its head down, clenching its jaw. "Charmander, are you okay?!" Ash asked, running to the pokemon's side. As he kneeled down, Charmander started to glow. "Charmander?" Ash stared, closing his eyes as the pokemon glowed even brighter. As he opened them, a brand new pokemon stood in front of him. "Char- Charmeleon!" Ash shouted happily, giving the pokemon a hug.
"Char," Charmeleon called in its own surprise.
"You did it! You worked hard, and you evolved!" Ash declared, smiling as he met Charmeleon's eyes.
"Bulbasaur," Bulbasaur called its congratulations.
"Pikachu," Pikachu echoed the sentiments.
"Char," Charmeleon called, side-eyeing Pikachu with a self-satisfied grin.
"Pikachu?" Pikachu tilted its head. Charmeleon had just declared it evolved, but there was more to its message, implying this brought it closer to winning against the electric type. Did Ash's fire type really see them as rivals, or in some kind of competition? Pikachu fought a laugh. It didn't think about itself and Ash's other pokemon that way at all.
As Ash and his pokemon celebrated, Jessie and James sat on the ground, lamenting their wasted efforts. "The pokeballs Mondo gave us are broken to bits, and the net won't work on something that can disappear from existence at will," James whined.
Jessie couldn't even feel annoyed at her partner's overly pitiful attitude. "Staying up late's bad for the skin, and for what?" she said.
"Let's just get out of here. We'll figure out something later," Meowth said.
"Bye, Team Rocket," Ash said, glancing over his shoulder as the rocket group walked to the exit. "Come on, guys," he said as he turned back to his pokemon. "We're all taking a turn to battle!"
As the rockets almost reached the door, the rug again shifted under their feet and they fell down, buffered by an invisible pokemon. Apparently the way they fell was comical, as Gastly and Gengar laughed loudly as they appeared. "What's with you guys?" Meowth said. "Don't you want powerful trainers? You should be happy to be a part of Team Rocket."
"Gengar!" Gengar called. They were happy enough with all of the visitors they received here.
"Is it really that fun to mess with humans?" Meowth asked.
"Gengar!"
"Gastly!"
"Huh." Meowth stared at the two ghost type pokemon thoughtfully as it took in their message. They believed they only existed because humans wanted ghosts to exist. And they only showed humans what they wanted to see.
"The trick wasn't funny the first time, but you can't cure low brow humor," Jessie said, calmly opening the front door to the tower. "James, Meowth, let's go get some sleep."
"Right!" Meowth said, following her out.
In the dim twilight, Brock finished writing the message on the side of the lantern. He took some time to think about who the message was for. As he looked out on the dark horizon at the other participants of the festival, he was surprised to see a familiar face. Approaching her, he also saw James sitting down, writing his own message on the side of a lantern. "Oh, look, the big twerp," Jessie said.
"Hey," Brock said.
"Where's your pal?" Meowth asked, only visible next to James from the flickering fire nearby.
"Ash? You know him, training," Brock said. "But I'd been thinking of my grandmother since yesterday, so I thought I'd write a message for her. I really miss her." He'd actually thought of her quite a bit over the years. She definitely would have helped after his parents had left, but she'd passed a few years before. She had taught Brock some things about cooking before then.
"The same for me," James said. "For my grandfather... He died when I was very young, and I didn't really understand it then. I just got upset when it was explained to me, so I don't think I ever properly honored him. Not that I knew him well."
"I'm sure he'd understand," Brock said.
"Here's one for you, Jessie," James said, handing the paper lantern to her.
"Huh?" Jessie put up her hands. "What makes you think I need one? It wasn't like I got caught up in memories like the two of you."
"You did see someone, right? You were talking, anyway," Meowth said.
"It's not like I wanted to see her or anything!" Jessie spat. "She can just go and find her way to the other side without me. She never needed my help before to do that, why would now be any different. So I won't be needing that." James nodded and put the lantern down on the sand.
Brock soon finished his own message, and they went to the water's edge, floating the objects out to sea, the light of the near full moon shining down on them. As the festival seemed to be coming to a close, he glanced to the rockets, another thought in mind. "It's good Team Rocket's trying to catch their own pokemon now," he said to the group. "I think you'll be a lot less objectionable, trying to find power without bothering other trainers."
"What do you know," Jessie said, putting a lantern in the water after the two of them had after all, a simple message of "bye" printed on it.
Brock shrugged. Though he still hoped for the best, he didn't actually trust them at all. He hadn't wanted to make a scene right then and there, but he had reported seeing them to the local police earlier that day. The officer wasn't in sight at the moment, but he might mention they were here to her if he saw her. "Take care," he said, honestly wishing them well before he walked away.
Jessie paid no attention to the kid, just staring out across the water as the lone lantern floated separately from the others. "Were you thinking of someone?" James asked.
"N-No," Jessie insisted. "I just didn't feel like leaving any trash out here."
"Of course," James said.
"I also don't feel like staying out all night again. Let's just go," Jessie said.
Jessie and James turned and left. Meowth paused for a moment, admiring the nearly completely round moon before looking down at the lantern by itself. Hadn't that ghost type said that they only showed humans what they wanted to see? Well, pokemon had been known to be wrong before. After the moment of consideration, Meowth sprinted after its friends.
End notes: Is it too soon to tag Miyamoto? [on ao3] Maybe, but I'm doing so anyway. Just know her inclusion extends beyond the allusions in this chapter.
Next chapter: Ash vs. Sabrina