Chapter 14

Vermilion City at their backs at long last, the pair of Pokémon Trainers continued on their journey, though not investigating too much into their next destination. In the Pokémon Center, they heard other Pokémon Trainer talking about heading north to a small port-side town called Maiden's Peak, though the reasoning was unknown. But, Ash and Brock figured there had to be some purpose of going there, so they decided to make that the next place that they would stop.

It certainly didn't take them long to get there, either, as they could soon see houses along the cliffside as they followed the ocean north. "Great! That must be Maiden's Peak! We'll be getting there soon!" Ash said optimistically, but Brock was dragging behind, his head hanging as he shuffled forward behind the younger boy.

"Ah, it wouldn't matter to me if I never got to another city again..." the Pokémon Breeder murmured. "I just wasted another summer."

"But we had a whole summer of adventures!" Ash argued lightly, the smile on his face falling as he stopped and turned to face his friend.

"For kids, summer means playing on the beach, splashing around and having fun. But for me... Summer means bathing suits! And girls to wear them!" He dramatically fell to his hands and knees, and this time Ash was thankful that no one was around to see this. "Now bikini season's over and I'll have wait another year to meet a girl!"

The black-haired Trainer stared at Brock, unsure of what to say to make him feel better, or if there was even anything that could make him feel better. But Brock picked himself back up luckily without any support from Ash, and the pair continued onward to the town.

Built at the edge of the land that met the ocean much like Vermilion City, there weren't many beaches there, but instead just drop-offs that led right into the ocean. It was an old town that seemed to have evolved from a village and the wooden houses seemed to speak with wisdom beyond Ash and Brock's years, but more modernized buildings showing both progression of age and time as it expanded outward to the town line. And just in the heart of it, they could see various booths and tall rides of many colors, and a smile drew Ash's mouth upward when he knew exactly what was happening and why everyone was gathering here.

"Cool! A festival!" Ash bubbled, watching as kids ran from a booth selling papier-mâché Pokémon masks to another one, this time a game instead of a shop. They clutched their backpack straps as they walked on the brick harbor, but Brock was still dragging his feet.

"I'll ride the Ferris Wheel all alone..." he sighed, and then suddenly perked his head up. "Who's that?" As Ash turned his head to look at his friend, the older teen jumped forward. "Woah! What a knockout!" He seemed to be looking in the direction of the pier that jutted out into the ocean, but a herd of people swept by them, trampling over Brock in their haste to get to the festival. When they both looked back, Brock crawling onto his hands and knees, there wasn't anyone on the docks at all. "Hey, she's gone..."

Ash frowned, noting that maybe Brock was getting delusional in his depression, and patted his friend's back with support. "Cheer up, Brock! We're at a festival!" he told him, and pushed at the Pokémon Breeder's back to get him to stand up and head towards the festival with him.

o 0 o

Ash couldn't wait to get out into the festivities, and didn't even have time to drop his stuff off at the Pokémon Center, only giving them enough time to put in for a room for the night. While the Pallet Town boy was either oblivious or ignoring his traveling companion's obvious depressive state as the older teen shuffled with his head permanently hanging, he did notice that Brock didn't flirt with Nurse Joy – something that Ash had never seen Brock pass up.

But, the Pokémon Trainer hoped silently that the festival would cheer up Brock, and once their room was confirmed, the black-haired boy dragged Brock out once again into the celebrations in the town square. Dancers and parades with floats and instruments seemed to be circling the festival grounds, and confetti fell like cherry blossoms as though part of nature itself. The first place Ash went to was a food place, of course, while his eyes marveled back and forth at the Summer's end festival. It was a holiday that was celebrated in some way or another all over Kanto; even Pallet Town had one of their own. But theirs was a small Hay Day compared to this.

As the deafening music blew threw their eardrums, Ash and Wartortle walked down the dirt road, each of them munching on a candied apple in hand. Originally, Ash had bought it for Brock, but the former Gym Leader was too down in the dumps to even eat. Just as a pair of showgirls walked by, wearing clothes and a headband that made them resemble flowers, Ash could only give a look of shock as Brock barely gave them a glance, only giving a sigh and stopping in place.

"She was the most beautiful girl I've ever seen..." he grumbled sadly, and both Ash and Wartortle stopped in place with their mouths hanging open.

"Hey, you there!" a shrilly voice called from behind them, and Brock perked up for the first time since the docks and whipped around.

"Are you the-" he began excitedly, but when he looked down at his feet, he saw an old hag clutching a wooden walking stick, and let out a cry and fell onto his back from how close the old, short woman was. "You're not that beautiful-"

"Who's not beautiful?!" the old woman exclaimed, revealing only few teeth in her mouth. Reaching underneath her purple shawl that basically covered her whole body from how short she was, she retrieved a magnifying glass and held it up to one of Brock's eyes. "Beware, not of an old beauty like me, but a beautiful young woman, or you'll meet a cruel fate!" Instantly, Brock backed up, but got onto his knees.

"Ah! That girl on the rock! I have to meet her!" Brock replied. "The beautiful woman... a cruel fate... the cruelest fate would be never to see her again."

"You have been warned!" the woman said gravelly, and disappeared into the crowd as quickly as she showed up.

"What was that all about?" Ash questioned aloud, looking down at his Wartortle.

"Tortle war," the Water-type replied to its Trainer with a shrug.

"It was about the girl of my dreams, Ash!" Brock suddenly exclaimed, jumping up with a newfound energy and fire burning in his eyes. "It means she's here! I have to find her!"

"B-Brock! Wait up!" Ash called as the teen rushed forward, and hurried after him so he wouldn't lose his friend.

o 0 o

For an hour, Ash and Wartortle followed Brock around and around the festival, looking for the girl that Brock had supposedly seen on the docks upon their arrival. Though Ash had tried to remember if he had seen a girl on there as well, he admitted to not paying too much attention to Brock and only to the festival, which was interrupted by the group of tourists trampling Brock. So while Ash couldn't say for sure that there wasn't a girl there, he also couldn't say there was.

With each passing minute of searching, Brock scanned the face of every woman and young girl, and his hopes seemed to be draining by each one that passed his gaze. Eventually, after their fourth time around the festival grounds with absolutely no luck, Ash was starting to get fed up, shown by exchanging looks with his Wartortle who also seemed to be feeling the same thing.

Coming around a fifth time, Ash saw a crowd of people gathering by an old wooden shack that seemed to have been thrown through from the past at the cliff's edge, its one-story fixture barely seen over the heads of the crowd. The trees from the woods backdrop at its back showed it was right at the end of the town as well. "C'mon Brock, let's go see what's going on over there," Ash suggested.

"But the girl-" Brock tried to protest sadly, but Ash cut him off.

"I need a break, Brock! You've been searching forever." Brock didn't agree or disagree verbally, so Ash took the initiative and headed towards the gathering. There were more taller adults in the back of the crowd, so the smaller Pokémon Trainer parted through the people, pushing through the swarm to make his way to the front to be able to see. Luckily, he had just made it as it was beginning.

"Welcome," a monk wearing traditional golden robes and a long, round hat on his head greeted them. "To celebrate the Summer's End Festival, we will now display the Shrine of the Maiden's greatest treasure!" He held his arms out wide, and beside him was something square that had a sheet over it to conceal it from view. "For two thousand years, this painting has hung within the Shrine of the Maiden. Once each year, it is removed from the shrine and displayed to the public during this festival!" He reached forth and clutched the cloth delicately in his wrinkled hands. "As I unveil the painting, please gaze with reverence."

He tore the sheet from the painting, and Ash gasped at the beauty of it. It was an oil painting of black and white, featuring a young woman with long, waist-length hair. She was looking towards the crowd with haunting, sad eyes that were just captivating, and this was only accentuated further by the way she folded her hands in front of her body, as if pleading despite the small smile that curled her lips. Behind her, a wave was crashing up, and the wind from it was throwing her hair around. It was truly a work of art, and almost looked like a photograph from how detailed it was.

"But, it can't be..." Ash heard Brock speak up beside him, and this was the first indication that Brock had followed him despite the hesitation earlier. As the boy's brown eyes glanced over at Brock, the spiky-haired teen stepped forward slowly, as if in a trance. "She's so incredibly beautiful!" He continued forward like a zombie, even going as far as stepping up the wooden steps, but the monk grabbed the younger boy's face and pushed him back.

"Stay back!" he warned, his frown covered by his bushy gray mustache. "The woman in this painting perished over two thousand years ago!"

"Two thousand years?" Brock repeated, now stepping back, but still sounding as though he were hypnotized.

"She was in love with a brave and handsome young man, but he left her and sailed away to fight in a war. She vowed to wait for him as he set sail until he was completely out of view. And she did wait for a very long time, hoping to see his ship on the horizon. But her true love never returned to that place again. Still, she waited and waited, never moving from that spot, until finally her body was turned into stone just like the cliff upon which she stood. 'Til this day, she waits for her love to return."

"Just tell me, where's this rock?" Brock pleaded, and the elder put his hands up defensively, as if Brock would attack him if he didn't answer soon.

"Maiden's Rock is not far from this shrine," he explained.

As the crowd dispersed, the monk directed Brock around to the cliff at the back of the shrine, and Ash followed close behind, not wanting to lose his friend. With a nod in Ash's direction, the monk stepped away. The cliff was fenced off where the cliff had eroded with time, but some distance out, another rock rose up from the ocean. The rock was indeed in the shape of the beautiful young girl from the painting, though her back faced them. It was quite a beautiful sight with the scene of the sunset at the ocean in the distance. "So, that's Maiden Rock..." Brock murmured. "It's the most beautiful rock I've ever seen!" Ash looked at Brock with a wild expression, unsure of what to say, but Brock didn't even seem to know he was there. "If she were my girlfriend, I'd make sure she was never out of my sight!" Letting the straps of his backpack slip down his shoulders, he dropped it to the ground, and then crossed his legs and planted himself beside it.

"Brock, what are you doing?" Ash asked.

"I just want to look at it for a little bit longer," Brock answered. "C'mon, you said you needed a break." Ash frowned down at his Wartortle once again, but the Pokémon Trainer shrugged, and put his backpack on the ground as well.

And there they stood until nightfall, when the moon was starting to rise into the air and the stars were beginning to dot the sky. "No matter how long you wait here, a rock is a rock, Brock," Ash finally said. He had since returned Wartortle to its Poké Ball, not wanting the Pokémon to be trapped in boredom as he was. "Let's go back to the festival."

"Why don't you go back; I want to stay here a little bit longer," Brock suggested, not even breaking eye contact from the rock.

Ash seemed hesitant, but was tired of standing around in the middle of nowhere, and picked up his backpack. "You remember where we're staying tonight, right?"

"The Pokémon Center near the port," Brock answered, and then as if reading Ash's thoughts, assured him, "I'll make it back by curfew." Ash said nothing, and stared at Brock with a mask of worry on his face as he hesitated putting the backpack back onto his shoulders. "Don't worry about me; I'll be okay." This didn't quell the nerves in Ash's chest, but he knew there was no getting Brock to move, so he went off with the Shrine of the Maiden at his back.

o 0 o

Try as he might, the black-haired boy could not enjoy himself at the festival. Not only was he having a hard time doing it by himself, but even with his Wartortle by his side, Ash still couldn't help but have his mind wander to Brock. Eventually, Ash decided he would go to the Pokémon Center and wait for his friend there. Maybe if Brock got back early enough, he would be in a better mood and want to partake in the nighttime festival events.

But as the clock hands spun around and around, Ash got increasingly more worried when Brock wasn't in their room nor the lobby. And so he waited with the front door in sight for any sight he could for his traveling companion. But eventually, the clock above the nurse's station struck 11 o'clock, and a mechanical Pidgey came out from the top, flapping its artificial wings. "11 o'clock! Curfew time! Curfew time!" it chanted, and Ash stared up at it with worry clear on his face. He frowned, and looked at the glass doors, when a mechanical hum started to sound from the top. The metal gate was slowly starting to come down; with curfew on them, now no one was permitted to come in. Hearing the gate lowering, Ash jumped to his feet and tried to make his way to the door before it could fully drop.

"Wait! I'll go out and look for him!" he called, but was jerked backwards by the tug of his collar, and the firm voice of Nurse Joy reeled him in.

"Hold it!" she blurted, and he sheepishly turned his head to look at the stern-faced nurse. "Don't you realize it's your bedtime?"

"Yes, but..."

"Staying up late is bad for your skin, and it makes you irritable and it ruins your appetite!" she scolded with a finger wag of the free hand that wasn't holding him in place. "I won't allow it!" Ash slowly turned his head back and saw just in time as the metal gate hit the floor, and there it would stay locked until morning. "Now get to bed, this instant!"

o 0 o

It was a long, sleepless night of worry for Ash. Sleep just wasn't coming naturally, as there was too much anxiety in Ash's mind to allow him to drift off. He kept wondering if Brock would be okay. He had been acting so strange ever since they drew close to the town. Brock was always weird about girls, but never this weird.

Ash tossed and turned all night, until eventually, the first hint of sunlight forced him out of bed, and he quickly dressed and headed down to the lobby. As soon as the gate went up, Ash rushed outside, and headed straight for the direction of the Shrine of the Maiden where he had left his friend.

The sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon line when he arrived, and while he could see Maiden's Rock rising from the ocean's surface, Brock was nowhere to be seen. "Brock! Hey, Brock!" Ash hollered with his hands around his mouth. But no response came. "Hey, Brock!" The Pokémon Breeder was nowhere to be found, and Ash and his Wartortle wandered around the shrine, looking for any type of clue to where Brock had disappeared to. But not even his backpack was around.

"Wartoorrr!" Wartortle cried, its furry ears twitching in an attempt to listen for the older teen.

Just as Ash took in an intake of breath to call out Brock's name once again, the doors to the shrine suddenly flew open, and Ash whipped around in surprise at the sudden movement. As he turned, a figure stumbled out from the patio and collapsed onto the grass by Ash's feet. The figure was none other than Brock. He seemed to be stuck in a stupor, and had a strange look on his face and was murmuring nonsense quietly to himself. "Brock?! What happened?!" When Brock didn't respond, the Pokémon Trainer got down onto his knees and hoisted his friend up into a sitting position. "Pull yourself together!"

"So everything turned out just as I predicted!" a shrill voice spoke up, and Ash looked up.

"It's the old woman..!" the black-haired boy muttered, seeing the purple-cloaked hag from the day before who had warned Brock approaching the pair.

"Obviously, this young man has seen the Ghost of the Maiden," she said matter-of-factually with a knowing smile on her face, showing what few teeth she had left in her mouth.

"Ghost of the Maiden?" Ash repeated, and looked down at Brock who began to mutter in his arms.

"I love her I love her I love herrrr." A blob of drool pooled at the corner of his mouth, and he began to moan and stare at the sky with a weird grin on his face.

"He's possessed!" Ash exclaimed, and stepped back and looked at Wartortle with his eyebrows coming together. "Wartortle!"

"War... tor..." Wartortle began, pulling in air, and gurgling as it shot a Water Gun at Brock. The blast of water hit him in the face, and finally, when the attack stopped, Brock's hair was sunk from moisture, but the weird look on his face had disappeared and he looked around as if he had just woken up in a strange place.

"Uh, who am I? I am Brock. Mhmm." He nodded as his memories came flooding back, and Ash smiled and swung his fist in victory.

"Brock's back!" the boy cheered. Shaking the water from his head, Brock looked at Ash and Wartortle as if it was the first time he had seen them in a while.

"What are you guys doing here?" he asked.

"What I should be asking is what happened to you? I waited all night for you, Brock!"

"You did? I don't remember..." Brock frowned as he looked at the ground. "All I remember is seeing the girl on the pier and walking around the festival looking for her..."

"I'm not surprised," the old woman interrupted, walking between Ash and Brock, and up the wooden stairs to the Shrine of the Maiden. "He's fallen under her hypnotic spell." Ash and Brock exchanged looks of confusion, and followed the hag into the shrine where she was up on an elevated altar at the back of it where a fire was burning in an urn, warming up the old, wooden building. "All men who pass this way fall under her spell. It's always the same story, over and over."

Knowing this was a place of respect, Ash removed his hat and placed it with his backpack at the front of the entrance before sitting down with Brock at his back, and the woman continued, craning her neck back at them. "We find them here, acting like zombies with the life sucked out of them, babbling like idiots." She turned around, locking eyes with Brock and frowned. "It's the work of that Maiden's ghost, still waiting for her young soldier to return. It's just as I warned you."

"So what? Who cares as long as I can be with her..." he stated blankly, and Ash heard the tone in his voice and waved his hand in front of the Pokémon Breeder's face, only for him not to react.

"O-oh, he isn't cured!" Ash exclaimed, stumbling backwards.

"There is only one thing we can do," the old woman said, which grabbed Ash's attention as she grinned hungrily and pulled out a stack of papers from underneath her shawl. "We have stickers." Walking forward, she jabbed the paper onto Brock's forehead, and the sticker – featuring a series of strange symbols written on the front – clung to his face. "These are anti-ghost stickers." She stood back on the altar and folded her hands behind her hunched back. "However..."

"What's the catch?" Ash questioned, and the woman replaced the stickers with a metal box that she placed on the ground, and opened it up, revealing a wide variety of Pokédollars.

"I can't just give these away for free," she told him, rubbing the pads of her index finger and thumb together, and Ash fell to the floor. That had been an answer he wasn't expecting, for some reason.

Some time later, and spending most of the money he had on him, Ash now had a large stack of the anti-ghost stickers she was selling, and was now pasting the talismans all over the perimeter of the shrine. "Oh well," he sighed, dragging the side of his fist along the front of the paper to make it stick to the door. "If it's the only thing that'll help..." While he was outside pasting stickers everywhere he could, Brock was sitting inside, still in a stupor, with Wartortle standing next to him with a small stack of talismans in its own hands, sticking Brock head to toe with the paper seals.

They continued to place the stickers all over the perimeter of the old shrine until they had finally run out. "Now what?" Ash questioned the old woman after closing the door to the inside of the shrine and sealing it shut with his last sticker across the opening.

"Now, we wait."

o 0 o

It seemed to be forever by the time that nightfall came, and finally, the full moon was high enough to illuminate the inside of the shrine without the need of the burning fire at the altar. With the old hag facing the fire, burning mythical incense that Ash also paid for to ward away the spirit, Brock sat cross-legged behind her, still trapped in his blank-faced stupor. Unfortunately the stickers had done nothing for that.

Crouching by the side of the altar, Ash peered around the corner with his Wartortle beside him, just in case. He wasn't sure the Water Pokémon could do anything for the situation if they were actually dealing with a ghost, but it was nice to have someone else there. "This better work..." Ash murmured quietly as the wind rattled the old foundation outside.

Unlike the strong ocean breeze before, Ash noticed when this one didn't fade away, and instead, the wind seemed to intensify, almost shaking the shrine and threatening to pull it off its hinges. The sound of the stickers outside tearing from the strong breeze made Ash's heart and wallet drop, but he barely had any time to react before the old cloaked woman turned around. "She's here!"

The wooden doors were thrown open, and the talismans they had stuck to seal the inside of the door as well ripped as easily as, well, paper, and a strong gust blew inside, throwing around the stickers off Brock's body as well as any that remained inside. Ash and Wartortle let out a cry as the pair were threatened to be blown against the wall, but easily stayed put, and before Ash was forced to close his eyes from the intensity of the wind, he thought he saw the outline of a young woman with long waist-length hair shimmering in the moonlight.

When the wind had finally died down and Ash opened his eyes with his back on the floor, he could hear movement above as Brock shifted positions. "It's you!" Ash heard his friend say.

"I've been waiting for you..." The woman's haunting voice echoed through the shrine as if she were throwing her voice down a cave.

"Yes, and I've been waiting, too."

"I've wanted to meet you," the female ghost droned, her voice sending chills into Ash's bone marrow.

"And I, you!" As Ash picked himself up, he looked up just in time to see Brock lift off the ground, still cross-legged, and floated through the air.

"Brock!" Ash exclaimed, and rushed after him as he floated with his head upside-down through the open doorway and disappear around the corner. Ash and Wartortle pursued his the Pokémon Breeder, and his breath almost left him when he saw floating some distance away with her back towards the ocean, the see-through silhouette of the girl from the painting. He had no time to react, however, as the Ghost of the Maiden floated over the wooden fence blocking people from falling to the ocean far below, and continued towards the rock in her resemblance. Brock continued after her, floating with a strange look on his face as though he were floating on a cloud of bliss. "Grab him!" Ash called, his breath hitching in his throat as Brock proceeded to float over the wooden posts. Reaching him just in time, the Pokémon Trainer managed to successfully grab one leg while Wartortle grabbed the other, standing on one of the horizontal posts to reach the teen's appendage.

"War tooorr!"

"Hey, let me go!" Brock cried in protest, lifting his head up and changing his face for the first time since this had all started this morning. Though there was nothing to support him in the air, Ash and Wartortle tugged but it was almost as if Brock were being pulled by a fishing line; they could tug him some distance, but couldn't pull him completely to safety.

Finally, Ash had had enough, and on a whim, looked at Wartortle when they failed to pull him. "That's it! Wartortle, Water Gun!" he ordered, gesturing up to the Ghost of the Maiden. Wartortle jumped back, letting go of Brock, and blasted a jet of water up at the ghost. The Water Gun passed through her, but a look of surprise crossed her face, and her midsection disappeared and rippled like something had fallen into a body of water. Instantly, Ash could feel the invisible reigns loosen on Brock, and with a final tug, Brock tumbled to the ground in a heap. "Brock!" Ash's happiness was short-lived when the chilly air around him seemed to intensify, and he looked back up to see the Ghost of the Maiden glaring down at him.

"I've been waiting. You cannot interfere!" she said sternly, and her hair began to rise as an intense purple wind blew from her, throwing Ash's hair and jacket around as it rushed past him. A chilling laugh from behind him grabbed his attention, and he turned around to see a collection of see-through skulls had emerged from the bushes nearby, cackling hauntingly as they stretched out from the branches.

"That's not any Pokémon I know!" Ash said, trying to mask the shaking of his voice as he retrieved his Pokédex from his jacket pocket and scanned the specters in front of him.

"No Pokémon entry found," Dexter told him.

"They're not Pokémon?!" the Pokémon Trainer exclaimed, this time unable to hide the fear in his voice. The skulls all screamed as they shot at him and Wartortle one at a time, rushing past and around him. The boy flinched backwards, stumbling backwards until his back hit the fence behind him, and his Pokédex lit up as it faced the other direction.

"Still searching..." As the skeleton heads floated around and around, screaming and cackling, Ash pointed his Pokédex around in many different directions until finally, he looked at the Ghost of the Maiden floating with her arms out, controlling the skulls she had summoned, and he hesitated before pointing the Pokédex's lens at her. "Pokémon entry found." And the screen changed to feature a Pokémon with no arms and limbs, but instead was a black orb with eyes and a wide mouth that had purple gas spinning around it. "Gastly, a Ghost Pokémon. It is usually invisible. Its specialty is Hypnosis."

"Gastly?!" Ash exclaimed, peeling his eyes away from the screen and up at the maiden. "You're really a Pokémon?!"

"So you finally figured it out?" the Maiden said, an eerie smile spreading on her face while the skulls cackled and orbited around her. "Sometimes I'm the ghost of the two-thousand year old maiden..." The cackling specters enveloped her, and when they disappeared, the purple-cloaked hag was floating in the air, sneering down at them while clutching her walking stick. "And sometimes, I'm the mysterious old woman. But no matter what the disguise, I'll always be..." The woman turned into purple smoke, and rushed past Ash and Brock, who had finally sat up, and both of them watched as the smog condensed together, and the Pokémon that was featured on Ash's Pokédex screen appeared, giving them a toothy sneer. "...awfully Gastly..."

"Well, Gastly, time for a battle!" Ash declared. If this was indeed a Pokémon and not an actual ghost, then it could be fought like any other Pokémon. Pulling out a Poké Ball, Ash pressed the silver button to make it larger, and threw it forward. "Krabby!" The ball burst open, and after the flash of light faded, Ash's puny Crab Pokémon appeared in front of Brock, snapping its claws and gurgling.

"My hypnotic powers can also work on Pokémon too, including little crustaceans," Gastly said, and floated high into the air. "You stop a crab..." The purple gas around Gastly intensified, and surrounded its black core for just an instant, and when it faded, a metal square box was floating in its place, and its front cover was opening and closing like a monster ready to eat its prey. "...with a crab trap!" It floated after Krabby, and the Crab Pokémon scuttled away in fright, frothing at the mouth as the trap threatened to swallow it whole.

Pulling out Krabby's Poké Ball, Ash recalled the Water-type back inside, and replaced it with another Poké Ball. Twisting his cap back, he threw the ball forward. "Your turn now! Charmander, I choose you!"

The Poké Ball burst open in midair, and Charmander appeared with a smile. "Char, char!" Instantly, Gastly floated back, turning to its original shape and gave a toothy grin at Charmander.

"Well now..." he stated, and another pop sounded as smoke appeared around his body again. This time, what formed was a fire extinguisher, and it pointed its hose at Charmander. "Here's something for you, squirt!" Floating through the air, the nozzle soon began to spray foam at Charmander, who rushed away while clutching its tail in horror so the agent wouldn't hit the flame and put it out. As quickly as Charmander had been sent out, Ash pointed its Poké Ball at it, and recalled the Fire-type Pokémon into its Poké Ball, and seeing the retreat, Gastly changed back. "Now who should I defeat?"

This time, Ash's lips peeled back from his teeth in anger, and he retrieveda Poké Ball from his belt and looked down at Wartortle beside him. "Wartortle! Bulbasaur!" He threw the red and white sphere forward, and Wartortle, hearing its name called, rushed out onto the battlefield. "Attack together!" Stopping beside the waterfall of energy, Wartortle assumed a battle stance, and Bulbasaur formed from the energy beside it.

"Bulba!"

"Wartortle!"

Gastly could only laugh at the pair. "What a nuisance!" it scoffed, floating into the air as its smoke intensified and began to spin around and around. "This is easy!" The gas disappeared quickly, and two giant Pokémon stomped down, shaking the ground with each step. One was a large blue turtle Pokémon with two cannons sticking out of its back, and the other was the same color, albeit a few shades lighter, that walked on all four legs. Like Bulbasaur, it had a plant growing on its back, but it was much more mature and was the shape of a large flower at the top of a palm tree. "Here are Bulbasaur's and Wartortle's evolved forms, Venusaur and Blastoise." The two Pokémon glared down at the smaller Pokémon, and their opponents both seemed to be sweating buckets as they looked up at the intense Pokémon.

Just then, the two Pokémon came together, Venusaur standing on its hind legs so it was the same height as Blastoise, and the pair began to wave their arms wildly in the air. "And just for fun, I'll combine them into one super Pokémon!" They joined their left and right hand, respectfully, and a bright light shone from their touch. When the light had faded, the giant Pokémon that had resulted from the merger looked even larger than ever, and for the most part, it still looked like Blastoise, but the plant growing on Venusaur's back now sprouted from the back of Blastoise's shell. "To make Venustoise! Try that on for size!"

Wartortle and Bulbasaur let out cries of horror and quickly retreated back to its Trainer as the shadow of the massive Pokémon enveloped them, and Ash recalled them into their Poké Balls, feeling a sense of dread wash over him like the waves below. "We lose..." Ash murmured. "It's just too strong!"

Gastly appeared once again with the Grass and Water Pokémon gone, and it smirked at Ash. But suddenly, the bells from the church further down the cliff's edge began to sound, cutting through the silence of the night, and Gastly's face scrunched together, as if the sound were hurting it. "Huh? What's happening?"

"I may not be a vampire, but I hate sunlight!" Gastly answered, its whole body quivering in the air. "It's time for me to go until the next festival." Slowly, the Ghost-type Pokémon began to fade away from view. "Don't forget the Ghost of the Maiden; she and the old lady will return next year, too..." And just as the Gas Pokémon disappeared, the sun started to peak out over the ocean in the distance, lightening the black sky with pinks and light blues. A strange air hung in the air as Ash and Brock watched the sun rise, unsure of what had just occurred. But whatever it was, it was certainly beyond this world.

o 0 o

After catching up on much-needed sleep from staying up all night, the pair of Trainers came out just in time for the boat-lighting event at the edge of town. Nurse Joy had told them all about it when they came down from their room, and offered to take them to it.

The nap had done Brock good, but he still seemed somewhat melancholic. He wasn't acting the way he was while under the Hypnosis attack from Gastly, so they didn't have to worry about that. Instead, he seemed to be reeling from the events that occurred the last two days.

Nurse Joy was kind enough to give Ash her own boat since he had no money to pay for his own, and the paper lantern that surrounded the candle inside featuring palm trees. They joined many others who were lighting the same boats, some featuring objects while others featured Pokémon. Officer Jenny was supervising the event to make sure nothing went wrong, and Brock opted to stand up with her from the top of the hill, both her and him looking at Maiden's Rock which was visible from where they were.

Retrieving a lighter from her pocket, Nurse Joy lit the wick of the candle and Ash set it afloat across the water, where it was picked up by some waves and dragged out to sea where it joined the many other glowing orbs of light created from the other boats. "At the end of every summer, the visitors send out these tiny boats. Each one with a candle to help light the way for any wandering spirits who can't find their way back home," Ash heard Officer Jenny explain to Brock. It was truly a beautiful sight, as the dots of light lit up the ocean like stars on the night sky above, or fireflies in the trees. Either way, with this, they could put the horrifying, supernatural experience behind them, and continue on with their journey.

But not before ending the night with the last party of the night of the festival. Invited by Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy, they told him where the townsfolk would be gathering to one last party of dancing and fireworks before the end of the festival. Ash agreed to go, but Brock declined.

"No, I think I want to stay here," Brock stated, a haunting repeat of what had happened the night before, and Ash hesitated instantly as memories reared up in his head, but this time, Brock turned around and smiled at him. "Don't worry, Ash. Gastly is gone. I'm not in a trance." This assurance made Ash sigh with relief, and Brock continued. "I just don't feel much like partying. I need to catch up on sleep. But you go and enjoy yourself."

Ash gave his friend a nod, and within a few hours, he was all dressed up in a turquoise kimono provided to him from Nurse Joy, and in the midst of a huge celebration. The area in the town square was lit up by paper lanterns hanging from string lights, and live music was playing on top of a large wooden tower in the center of it all. Everyone here was dressed in kimonos as well, and mingling with others if they weren't dancing to the music.

Off to the side, Ash was leaning against a signpost, looking down at the screen of his Pokédex with Gastly's picture featured on the screen, researching more into it. He had never seen a Pokémon do what that Pokémon could do, and it was one of the most powerful and mysterious Pokémon he had met yet. "A Ghost Pokémon... Gastly..."

"Wartor..." Wartortle muttered beside him. It too had been fitted with a kimono, featuring blue cloth that had bubbles trailing down both the sleeves and the feet.

"This is no time for being by yourself, young man," a stern voice grabbed his attention, and he looked up to see the hardened face of the Maiden's Peak Nurse Joy glaring at him. It was quite odd seeing the Pokémon nurse in something other than her nurse's uniform, as she was donned in indigo cloth with nothing on top of her pink hair. Instantly, Ash tensed up as he was expecting another scolding from the nurse, but instead, her face melted into a sweet look, and she held a hand out to the black-haired boy. "Come on, let's dance."

A traditional song came on, and Ash nodded, taking the woman's hand as she led him out to the tower where other people were gathering and orbiting around as well. All of them facing the same direction, they began to dance in sync with each other in time with the song in an old awa odori style of dancing.

One more night of vacation wouldn't hurt them.

-end-

Ash:

Party:

Wartortle (Poké Ball)

Moves: Tackle, Dig, Water Gun, Bite

Pidgey (Poké Ball)

Moves: Gust, Sand-Attack, Whirlwind, Wing Attack

Bulbasaur (Poké Ball)

Moves: Tackle, Vine Whip

Charmander (Poké Ball)

Moves: Flamethrower

Krabby (Poké Ball)

Moves: ViceGrip

Badges:

Boulder Badge

Cascade Badge

Thunder Badge

Brock:

Party:

Onix (Poké Ball)

Moves: Tackle, Bind, Dig

Geodude (Poké Ball)

Moves: Seismic Toss, Tackle

Zubat (Poké Ball)

Moves: Whirlwind, Supersonic