Episode 121: Thriller Fight

It's a dark and stormy night in a shadowy swamp. Several Zubat scatter as something frightens them from their roost. It's Brenda. She's rushing through the swamp, doing her best to shield something in her arms from the rain.

She makes it to a tent and ducks in, where she finds Ash and Brock taking shelter from the rain. They look up to her with surprise. She simply responds, "It's time." From her arms she produces her egg in an incubator. It's sporadically flashing white.

Tonight our heroes are taking refuge from a storm in the middle of a trek across a swamp, all in the name of making it to their next destination, Ort City, for Brenda's next Pokémon Contest. And it would seem that something is about to happen at an inopportune time.

Brenda asks with panic, "What should we do? There's no way we'll get it to a Pokémon Center before it hatches."

Brock is already standing up and says, "You don't need to worry. You forget that, not only am I Pokémon doctor now, I used to be a Pokémon breeder. Your egg is in good hands."

Brenda still looks nervous. "Okay…" She looks around. "What should I do?"

Brock smiles reassuringly at her. "Don't worry. Just stand back and I'll handle everything." He takes the incubator from her and sets it on a folding table. Then he removes the glass casing from the incubator.

As it flashes again, Ash asks excitedly, "What do you think it's going to hatch into? Maybe it will be something super rare like a Bagon or a Larvitar."

Brenda shakes her head. "I don't care what it hatches into. Whatever it is, I'm going to love and care for it.

Brock is carefully inspecting the egg. "It's a good thing you got this to me. It's going to hatch any second now."

On cue, the egg begins to glow intensely. Brenda holds her breath in anticipation. Ash cheers, "This is so exciting!"

The egg bursts open to reveal a small Pokémon standing on the table. It looks like a young wolf with cute body proportions that stands on all fours. It's colored mostly black and green. It seems to have various bits of plants growing off its body in various places. Most notably, its tail doubles as a stem surrounded by a dark purple tower of flowers.

It looks around questioningly and asks, "Lup?"

While Brenda takes in the sight of the new Pokémon, Ash takes out his Pokédex to find out what it is. It says, "Lupine, the Flower Wolf Pokémon, and a Grass-Type. Lupine live in small packs which watch over fields of flowers. A special type of lichen that reacts to moonlight also grows in these fields and will often begin to grow on Lupine. Evolves into Lichenthrope with a Moon Stone."

Brenda finally announces, "Lupine, welcome to the family."

"Lup lup?" It tilts its head curiously.

Brenda smiles at it. "I know, you need to meet the rest of the family." She pulls out all her Pokéballs and lets out the Pokémon. Kappaqueous, Glitterfly, Rabbolt, Frostcicle, and Wispirit all appear. Brenda says to them, "Guys, this is Lupine, the newest member of our family."

The Pokémon all give greetings in their own ways.

Brenda looks to Lupine and says, "And Lupine, this is Kappaqueous, Glitterfly, Rabbolt, Frostcicle, and… Hey? Where'd Wispirit go?" Her eyes widen as she realizes where it is. "Oh no, not now. Please not now."

Wispirit suddenly appears behind Lupine and shouts, "Wisp!"

Lupine starts to make loud noises.

Brenda scolds, "Wispirit, you just went and made the baby cry! How could you do-" She suddenly cuts herself off as she realizes something. "Wait… that's not crying, that's laughter…" She looks to Lupine to see it laughing with joy.

"Lup lup lup lup lup!"

Wispirit joins in. "Wisp wisp wisp wisp wisp!"

Ash says, "Go figure, Lupine thinks that was fun."

Brenda comments, "I can't imagine why, but it beats the alternative."

Brock steps forward and says, "Alright, if you don't mind, I should run a basic check-up." He pulls a stethoscope out of his bag.

Brenda steps back. "Yes, of course."

Brock holds the stethoscope out and prepares to use it, but Lupine starts to cry, this time for real. "Luuuuuup!"

Brenda sighs. "This is what you're afraid of?"

But Wispirit takes action and floats over to Lupine. It sticks out its tongue and makes a goofy scary face.

This turns Lupine's tears into laughter. Brock shrugs and goes back to work while Wispirit distracts Lupine.

After several observations, Brock declares, "As far as I can tell with my limited equipment, Lupine is completely healthy. However, I would feel better if we could get it to a Pokémon Center as soon as possible to make sure."

Ash comments, "You said it's not too far to Ort City, maybe we can get it there."

Brock nods. "Yeah. I was hoping to avoid walking in the dark and rain by setting up camp here, but I would feel much safer if we could get there tonight."

Brenda declares, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's pack up and go."

Ash, Brock, and Brenda arrive in a small and sleepy settlement. Some old-looking buildings are built on the patches of dry land the rise out of the swamp, others are built on floating platforms. For a city in the Tenno Region, this place looks awfully old-fashioned and small.

Brenda clutches Lupine in her arms. She says, "Wow, I never thought I'd see such a small city on Tenno Major."

Brock explains, "Since it's in the middle of swamp, and just about as far away as you can get from anything notable, especially Kanaveral City, Ort City hasn't grown nearly as much as other Tenno cities."

Ash asks, "Guys, have you noticed anything… odd…?"

Brenda nods. "Now that you mention it, where are all the people? No one's here. There's not even any lights on in the houses."

Brock looks around. "Something's wrong here… Let's find the Pokémon Center, maybe Nurse Joy can tell us what happened."

They do find the Pokémon Center, but it too has all its lights out. Ash says in disbelief, "But Pokémon Centers never close!"

Brenda takes a step back and huddles Lupine close to her. "I don't like this. Something is very wrong here."

There's a sudden loud noise behind Brenda. Brenda leaps around and yelps in terror, only to find out the noise was created by a Noctowl taking off from a nearby tree.

While this scared Brenda half to death, Lupine is joyously clapping. "Lupine lup!"

Brenda looks down at Lupine with disbelief. "You really are something else, aren't you?"

Then a voice says, "The child clearly enjoys a fright."

The sudden appearance of the voice startles Brenda and pleases Lupine. Everyone looks around to see a young girl standing behind them. Despite the weather, she wears a simple white blouse and skirt. Her light-brown hair is done as two pigtails.

Lupine leaps out from Brenda's arms and runs over to the girl excitedly. The girl chuckles and pats Lupine's head.

Once Brenda realizes it's just a girl, she says, "Oh, thank goodness, someone else is here."

Brock asks, "Do you know what happened here? Where is everyone?"

The girl sighs. "Everyone has left the town because it's haunted."

Ash questions, "Haunted?"

The girl nods. "A few weeks ago, strange sightings began to occur in and around the Spirit Tower." She points to the town's most notable a landmark, a tall and ancient stone tower. "These sightings became more and more aggressive. Every time someone saw it, it made the same demands. It wanted people to leave this town. Eventually someone was even hurt. Since the Spirit Tower is where Pokémon are put to rest, everyone knows it must be ghosts. They tried to hire a group of professional ghost hunters, but they went into the Spirit Tower and never returned. Everyone was forced to realize that they had no choice but to leave and hope the ghost would leave on its own accord as well."

Brenda shakes her head in disbelief. "Ghosts? Why do we always have to encounter ghosts? The sleeping ghost, the giant ghost, the pirate ghost, the ghost forest, the bakery ghost!"

Ash points out, "Well, that would have actually been Jigglypuff, Team Rocket, Abyssoul, and Wispirit. You got me on that bakery one though…"

Brock asks, "Are you absolutely certain it's ghosts?"

The girl nods. "I've seen the ghost with my own eyes. It's a creature straight out of nightmares…"

Brock adds, "And if everyone else is gone, why are you still here?"

The girl sighs again. "Because I can't leave yet. I need to take care of something here." She looks up to them. "But maybe you guys can help me."

Ash asks, "How can we help?"

"I need to see the ghost. I need to be face-to-face with it. I think I can stop it."

Brenda picks Lupine back up as she asks, "But how? And what could we do to help?"

"Part of the problem is that ever since the ghost appeared, it's gotten all the Ghost Pokémon that live in the tower super riled up. It makes it impossible to climb the tower to where the ghost lives. Since you're Pokémon trainers, maybe you could help me get past the Ghost Pokémon."

Ash declares, "Just leave it to us. We'll get you past them."

Brenda's eyes widen. "We'll what!? Are you saying we're going to purposefully go into an area haunted by a ghost!? Why would we do that?"

Ash responds, "Because it's the right thing to do. These people need our help if they're ever going to return home. How could we not help?"

Brenda sighs. "I hate it when you're right."

The girl is pleased. "Thank you so much. My name is Melony, what's yours?"

Ash introduces, "I'm Ash, and this is Pikachu."

Brenda adds, "I'm Brenda, and you've already met Lupine."

And Brock finishes, "My name's Brock."

Melony nods. "Ash, Brenda, Brock. Okay. Come on, I'll show you to the Spirit Tower."

Who's That Pokémon!?

The pumpkin body is inhabited by a spirit trapped in this world. As the sun sets, it becomes restless and active.

Ash and the others find themselves at the foot of the massive tower. With how low the fog and mist are, the top of the tower isn't even visible. Melony explains, "This tower is a monument to the Pokémon friends we've lost. Their spirits are said to dwell here while they prepare for their trip to the afterlife."

The description sends shivers down Brenda's spine, but Lupine looks up to the tower with intense interest. Brenda groans. "Are we really going to go in the place with a ghost on purpose…?"

Ash shrugs. "Stay out here by yourself if you want. But Melony did say the ghost attacks weren't limited to inside the tower."

Brenda's eyes widen. "On second thought, there's strength in numbers. We'll be fine…" She adds meekly, "I hope…"

Lupine twists around and licks her on the cheek as if to reassure her.

Brenda looks down to it and strokes its head. "Why am I being reassured by a baby born a few hours ago? This is so backwards…"

With bated breath, the group steps into the tower's main entrance. The inside looks just as old and dilapidated as the outside. Almost as soon as they step inside, a rock is hurled across the room from an unseen source. An ominous voice announces, "Get out! Get out! You don't belong here!"

Brenda leaps up and shouts, "Ghost!" The others recoil as well, not knowing what to make of this terrifying moment.

But Lupine doesn't seem to care. It leaps out from Brenda's arms and begins to sniff the ground.

Brenda shouts, "Lupine, no!" But she's too terrified to go after it.

Lupine follows a scent up to where the rock was thrown from, then its nose starts to glow. It yips, "Lup lup! Lup lup!"

Above Lupine, a form appears. It's a Pokémon. The Pokémon's body is long and ornate, similar in appearance to a pharaoh's sarcophagus, but instead of being made to look like a human form, it is insectoid, resembling a beetle. Six legs come out from the bottom of the body, the front two of which end in what looks to be a crook and flail. The sarcophagus' lid is split down the middle and splayed outwards, similar to a beetle's carapace when it flies. Two ornate wings of spectral energy extend out from within the open sarcophagus.

Brock shouts, "Lupine used Odor Sleuth, and revealed that the ghost was actually a Pokémon!"

Brenda steps forward. "Okay then, a Pokémon I can deal with. Let's fight Ghost-Types with Ghost-Types! Go, Wispirit!"

Wispirit appears and cackles, "Wisp wisp wisp wisp!"

Lupine runs over to greet its friend.

Ash adds, "And Pikachu will help too!"

"Chu!"

Brenda orders, "Use Flame Burst!"

And Ash shouts, "Thunderbolt!"

Fire and electricity are launched at the Ghost Pokémon, but it vanishes before they can hit.

Melony shouts urgently, "This is where it comes back with friends!"

As she predicts, the Pokémon quickly reappears, this time with a Yamask and a Scartouche flanking it. All three Pokémon attack at once with Shadow Ball.

Ash reassures Melony, "Don't worry, we can still handle this. Pikachu, counter with Iron Tail!"

"Chu, pika!" Pikachu leaps at the incoming projectiles and slashes them in half with its tail.

Brenda shouts, "Let's try scaring them! Use Rain of Terror!"

"Wiiiiiiiisp!" Wispirit attacks, causing a downpour of dark shadows. These shadows impact all three Ghost Pokémon. Not having expected significant resistance, the Pokémon flee.

Brenda cheers, "Yeah, take that, you fake ghosts!"

Ash asks, "What in the world was that Pokémon?" For an answer, he consults the Pokédex.

"Scarcophagus, the Spirit Vessel Pokémon and a Bug and Ghost Combo-Type. It is said that inside its hollow body is a portal to the spirit world. Ancient pharaohs would have their remains placed inside of one to ensure passage to the afterlife. Evolves from Scarabti at level 35."

Melony points out, "Sadly, those aren't the only ones. There will be more as we climb the tower."

Brock says, "I think with Lupine using Odor Sleuth, we should be able to detect most of them before they can cause too much harm."

Brenda picks Lupine back up. "Imagine that. Not even on the team for a day, and you're already proving useful. Good for you."

"Lup lup!"

What they don't notice as they press forward is that a strange vortex of wavy colors has opened in the air behind them. Through this hole in reality, a monstrous eye watches them.

It's Pumpkaboo!

After climbing to a new floor in the tower, Brock states, "Okay Melony, since we're helping you, I think it's time you told us a little more. Why is it that you're still here while everyone else in town isn't?"

Melony sighs, obviously having hoped to avoid the topic. "You see, it's because of a dear friend of mine. I grew up with a Muttnik. It was my best friend. We spent every day together, doing everything together."

She has a flashback to her as an even younger girl, running through the mud with a Muttnik chasing behind her. She shouts, "You can't catch me!"

Muttnik barks back at her, "Mutt mutt!"

It leaps at her and knocks her into the mud, covering the both of them in a thick coat of mud. Both of them stare at each other silently, then burst out in shared laughter.

The flashback ends and Melony continues, "We were inseparable… until that day…"

In another flashback, Melony, now at the same age is she is currently, is balancing her way across a tree root emerging from the swamp. Her fun is cut short when she suddenly looses footing. She shouts in fear, "Aaaaah!" As she tumbles into the swampy water beneath. Once in the water, she frantically flails around in an attempt to keep her head above water, but the muddy water is too hard for her to swim in. She shouts, "Someone! Help me!"

Muttnik comes rushing in, and without any concern for itself, leaps in after Melony.

Melony shouts, "No, you'll get stuck too, Muttnik!"

Muttnik, possibly for the first time in its life, doesn't listen to Melony. It does its best to swim at towards her, but even it struggles in the bog. It attempts to extend its helmet, but the thick mud makes it too difficult.

Melony shouts, "Muttnik!"

Muttnik continues on towards Melony with all its strength. The flashback abruptly ends with the sound of Muttnik howling in terror.

Brenda gasps.

Melony hangs her head, overwhelmed by the memories. She begins to sob. "Muttnik sacrificed itself trying to save me." She sobs into her arm.

Brock kneels down to her level and puts his hands on her shoulders. "I'm sorry I had to ask, Melony."

She shakes her head. "No… it's not your fault…" She looks up to Brock. "The reason I can't leave is because this is where Muttnik is. I can't leave it behind."

Brock nods. "I understand."

Lupine leaps from Brenda's arms and runs over to Melony to comfort her. It nuzzles against her leg. Melony is too distraught to notice it.

In an attempt to cheer her up, Ash declares, "And don't you worry. Now that you've told us that story, we're only going to try that much harder to stop this ghost. You won't have to leave your friend behind, I swear."

Melony dries her eyes with her sleeve and looks over the three of them. "Thank you." She sobs some more. "Thank you so much. I-"

She suddenly cut off of a deep, guttural screech. Pieces of rock and debris all around the room lift into the air.

Brenda begins to panic. "Please tell me it's the Ghost Pokémon again…"

Lupine seems happy, though. "Lupine!"

A phantom voice shouts, "Get out! Leave!" The rocks and debris begin to soar across the room, hurled by an unknown source.

Brenda shouts in terror, "Lupine, use Odor Sleuth, please!"

Lupine leaps forward and sniffs around but finds no scent. "Lup?"

Brenda freezes up, realizing what this means. "Oh no…"

Ash shouts, "How about you show yourself, ghost!"

There's another guttural screech, and a vague, mostly transparent, shadowy silhouette appears in front of them. "Leave! Leave!"

Ash, not showing any fear he may be feeling, shouts back, "We won't leave until you do! You need to stop terrorizing this town!"

One giant piece of ruble is lifted off the ground, it now floats above the ghost, ready to be thrown. "Leave!" The boulder is thrown.

Everyone's eyes widen. They don't have enough time to get out of the way. But Melony, acting on instinct, leaps between the rubble and the others, holding her arms wide out. She shouts, "Stop this!"

Inches from hitting Melony, the rubble stops in midair. After several moments of floating, the rubble drops harmlessly straight down. The ghost vanishes.

Brock asks, "What was that!? Why did it stop?"

Melony sighs a breath of relief. "Maybe it didn't want to actually hurt anyone."

Brenda doesn't believe her for a second. "Really? The giant rock thrown at us could have fooled me." She recollects Lupine, who once again seems to have nothing but joy from the situation.

Ash steps forward to pat Brenda on the back. "Don't worry, Brenda. We'll make it out of here."

Brenda shakes her head in dismay. "I'm beginning to doubt that more and more."

Then the room begins to shake violently. The roof above them suddenly collapses, causing rubble to tumble down and create a wall with Ash and Brenda on one side and Brock and Melony on the other.

The dust from the collapse leaves everyone in a coughing fit. Once he recovers, Brock shouts, "Ash, Brenda, are you two okay!?"

Ash shouts back, "Yeah! I think we're fine!"

Melony looks around. "This isn't good. The stairs to the next floor are on the other side."

Ash shouts back, "Yeah, we can see them from here."

Brock asks, "Melony, is there any other way up?"

Melony thinks. "Not normally… but I think I might have an idea."

Brock nods. "Good. Ash, you and Brenda should move on the normal way. Melony and I will take her alternate path. We'll meet up on the next floor."

Ash responds, "Sounds good! See you on the other side!"

He and Brenda can be heard running off.

Meanwhile, Melony leads Brock somewhere else. From above, the three Ghost Pokémon from earlier float, focusing on Melony as she runs off.

Ash and Brenda make it to the next floor, but immediately stop. Floating in front of them is four people and Pokémon wearing gray jumpsuits with vacuum cleaner-like backpacks. They seem to be imprisoned in an orb of energy.

Brenda exclaims, "Those must be the ghost hunters that Melony mentioned!"

Ash realizes, "They're not just any ghost hunters! It's Team Rocket!"

A closer look reveals that it's Jessie, James, Meowth, and Wobbuffet floating in the orb. Jessie looks up and shouts, "It's the twerps! We're saved!"

James cries, "I never thought I'd be so happy to see a twerp in my life!"

Meowth agrees, "And what a happy day it is!"

Wobbuffet adds, "Wobbuffet!"

Ash runs over to them. "What happened to you?"

Jessie explains, "We thought we could make an easy buck by getting rid of the ghost…"

A look of terror crosses James' face as he remembers what happens. "But we were wrong. Dead wrong…"

Meowth, who's been floating upside down, demands, "Now, could you get us out of here already!? I don't know which way is up and which is down anymore!"

Ash ponders what to do. "Well, I guess that Pikachu could try to use Thunderbolt to break you out…"

All at once, Team Rocket insists, "Yes! Do it!"

Ash shrugs. "Alright. Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

"Pikaaaaaaa chuuuuuuu!" Pikachu zaps the orb, causing it to blow up. Team Rocket is ejected and sent flying out a window.

They shout in utter joy, "Finally! We're blasting off again!"

Ash looks around. "If the ghost had Team Rocket imprisoned here, it can't be too far away."

Brenda checks the room cautiously. "I'll ask one last time. Are we sure this is what we want to do?"

Ash ignores her as he continues to search.

Then the guttural screech of the ghost is heard again.

Lupine leaps from Brenda's arms to run towards the source, but Brenda grabs it and pulls it back. "No, not this time."

The amorphous form from before appears once again and there's another, even louder, screech. The room begins to shake and rumble, then reality itself seems to crumble around Ash and Brenda.

Brenda shouts, "Ah! What's going on!?"

The floor, roof, and walls of the room fade away, leaving Ash and Brenda floating in a void of swirling dark colors, similar to what was seen through the vortex from earlier. Lupine looks very happy to be here.

Ash, starting show some fear himself, looks around. He realizes, "This is your world, isn't it? This is the spirit world."

His question is answered when the ghost begins to take actual form. It becomes a swirling mass of dark purple shadows with a sinister maw and piercing red eyes that match the one that was watching them earlier. It sounds an ear-piercing shriek.

Ash pulls out a Pokéball. "I guess the only way out is to fight."

Brock and Melony stand at a window. Brock shakes his head in disapproval. "This isn't really what I meant when I asked for another way."

Melony points out the window and says, "Climbing up the outside of the tower is the only way forward. We won't make it up otherwise. We have no other choice. We need to do this."

Brock looks out the window into the rain and recoils once he sees how high up they are. He shakes his head in disbelief.

Melony says, "I'll go first." Before Brock can object any further, she leaps out and grabs ahold of the tower's rough exterior. She starts to climb.

Brock groans. "Well, at least we're already in a graveyard…" He begins to climb as well.

As they climb, the spooky voice shouts, "Go back! Leave! Get out! You don't belong here!"

While this causes Brock to freeze, Melony shouts back at it, "No! I do belong here! This is where I'm needed! We're going to keep going, and there's nothing you can do to stop us!"

The voice simply shouts again, "Get out! Leave this place!"

Melony only picks up the pace of her climbing. Brock doesn't look so happy with this, but he climbs on as well.

Then Scarcophagus, Scartouche, and Yamask appear above Melony, blocking her way. Scarcophagus shouts, "Copha!"

Melony shakes her head. "No! You have to let me pass! I need to get to the next floor! I'm the only one who can stop it!"

"Scarcopha!"

Melony shakes her head again. "I understand that you don't want me here! But you shouldn't want it here either! I can get it to leave, then I'll leave too! I promise! All I need to do is get it to leave, then I can happily leave as well!"

Scarcophagus looks intrigued. "Copha?"

Melony nods. "Yes. I know I can do it. Then you have my word that I'll never return here."

Scarcophagus seems to consider her offer. Then nods. It looks to Scartouche and Yamask to say, "Cophagus." The Ghost Pokémon all float aside.

Melony nods at them in appreciation. "Thank you. You won't regret this, I swear." She resumes her climb.

Brock is baffled. "That's not how I expected that to go down…" He looks down. "On second thought, maybe that was the wrong choice of words."

Ash throws his Pokéball, sending out Eagladiator. Eagladiator is confused by its surroundings. "Gladiator?"

Ash states, "Eagladiator, we're going to need your ability to move without ground for this one!"

Eagladiator decides not question things any further. "Glaaaaadiator!"

Brenda throws a Pokéball too. "I guess we should do as they do in the ghost world. Go, Wispirit!"

Wispirit appears and looks around in awe. It seems very excited to be here. "Wisp!"

Ash orders, "Okay Eagladiator, get that ghost with Talon Grapple!"

Eagladiator dives down at the ghostly form and thrusts a talon at it, but ends up tumbling right through it. The ghost screeches in anger.

Brenda says through her fear, "I guess physical attacks won't work on a ghost. Wispirit, try using Pyromancy."

"Wiiiiisp!" Wispirit summons orbs of fire that dance around the ghost, but before they can be launched in an attack, the ghost screeches, which causes the fire to scatter and dissipate.

Ash says, "Brenda, let's try that again, but this time Eagladiator and I will keep its attention! Eagladiator, dive in for some close combat!"

Eagladiator flies in close to the ghost. The ghost creates a tendril of shadows which it attempts to use to swat Eagladiator away, but Ash shouts, "Aerial Maneuvers!" Eagladiator disappears in a burst of speed, only to reappear on the opposite of the ghost. The ghost attempts to turn around to swat at it again, but Eagladiator avoids the attack once more. This keeps up.

Brenda says, "Okay Wispirit, try Pyromancy again while its focus is on Eagladiator!"

"Wiiiiispirit!" Once more orbs of fire are produced around the ghost. And while the ghost is distracted with trying to grab Eagladiator, the fire orbs are successfully launched at it.

Upon being hit, the ghost shrieks its loudest yet, causing physical shockwaves to burst outwards from it. As these shockwaves pass over Eagladiator and Wispirit, they become immediately frozen with terror. A shadow tendril manages to grab the frozen Eagladiator and hurl it at Wispirit. With both Pokémon at the same place, the ghost begins to charge for some sort of energy discharge attack.

Ash shouts, "Eagladiator! You have to move!"

"You too, Wispirit!"

But the Pokémon continue to be paralyzed by their own fear, unable to respond to the outside world in any way.

The ghost prepares to launch its massive burst of shadowy energy, and just when all hope is lost for Ash and Brenda's Pokémon, Melony shouts, "Muttnik! You have to stop!"

Ash gasps. "What!?"

Melony and Brock propel into sight. Melony places herself between the Pokémon and the ghost, just like she did on the earlier floor.

Brenda asks in shock, "Did she say Muttnik!?"

Melony's appearance seems to have made the ghost hesitate, but it still continues to prepare its attack. Melony shouts, "Muttnik, I know how you feel! You're angry at this place! It put you and me in danger! You don't want anyone to live in Ort City so that what happened to you doesn't happen to anyone else! I understand! But this isn't the way!"

The ghost hesitates more, the energy gathering around it begins to dissipate. It lets out a confused version of its shriek.

Melony continues, "This town is where people chose to live. It's their home! It was our home! You can't force people out from their home! They know the danger, they decided to live with it! Please Muttnik, put an end to all of this! Rest in peace! Go back to the world where you belong, this isn't the place for you anymore. You don't belong here…" Tears are falling across her cheeks as she says this.

Rather than shriek, the ghost responds with a confused, "Mutt…?"

"Please, all I want to know is that you're at peace. I can't leave here myself until I know that! For my sake, stop this madness!"

The ghost begins to violently vibrate. There's the loudest, most ear-piercing shriek from it yet, when suddenly everything in sight explodes into a blinding light.

When the light subsides, Ash and the others are back in the regular world. And instead of a ghost, a Muttnik stands in front of them.

Melony shouts tearfully, "Muttnik!" She leaps at the Pokémon spirit and hugs it.

The Pokémon barks back to her happily, "Mutt mutt!"

She strokes its head and says, "Thank you, Muttnik. Thank you for everything you've done for me. I'm so sorry that I caused this mess. I don't expect you to ever forgive me."

Muttnik proves she's wrong by licking her face.

"Oh, Muttnik…"

Brenda says, "Wow, so the ghost was actually the spirit of Muttnik the entire time."

Brock explains, "It's said that spirits with unfinished business can't move on to the next life until they settle it. I guess Muttnik felt it was its job to make sure no one else met with the same fate it did."

Ash smiles at Melony and Muttnik. "I'm just glad that the two of them are getting a chance to say goodbye."

Then the three Ghost Pokémon appear with a portal back to the spirit world floating behind them. Scarcophagus announces, "Copha."

Brock comments, "And I guess all those Ghost Pokémon wanted was for Muttnik to complete its unfinished business so they could guide it to the spirit world."

Muttnik looks back to them and nods. It gets up and walks over to them. Alongside the Ghost Pokémon it walks towards the portal, but just before entering, it stops to take another look at Melony.

Melony nods at it, saying, "Don't worry, we'll meet again."

Muttnik nods back, and continues on, disappearing into the portal.

Melony gets up as she dries the tears from eyes. She says to Ash, Brock, and Brenda, "Thank you. Thank you all so much. I don't know if I would have had the strength to do that on my own."

Ash smiles, "No worries. That's what friends are for."

Lupine rushes over to Melony and nuzzles her again. Melony chuckles and leans down to pet it. "Yes, it was good meeting you too, little one. May we meet again."

Brenda asks, "Wait, are you going somewhere?"

Melony nods. "Yes, I made a promise that I would leave and not return. Now that Muttnik has moved on, I can do the same. This is goodbye." Abruptly, she gets up, and runs out of the room.

Brenda shouts, "Hey, wait! We need to say goodbye too!" She runs after Melony, but can't find her in the next room. She sighs. "What's up with that?"

Brock explains, "Melony needed to move on. Being here was too painful for her. I can understand not wanting to stay here any longer than necessary."

Brenda sighs. "Still, it would have been nice to say goodbye first." She shakes her head. "Oh well. At least we can get out of this spooky tower already."

Ash chuckles. "Come on, let's go."

They make their way back out.

Even the saddest stories can have a happy ending. Fortunately, today the sad story of Melony and Muttnik was able to end on a positive note. And now that our heroes have made it to Ort City, Brenda's upcoming Pokémon Contest is sure to bring another positive note. Stay tuned.

Ash, Brock, and Brenda have made it back out of the tower. The rain has stopped, and the Sun is rising off in the distance, casting a warm glow across the land. As they walk through a graveyard that surrounds the tower, two gravestones are of note. The first says, "Muttnik, Loyal Until the Very End." The Second says, "Melony, Beloved Daughter and Friend, Taken Before her Time." The dirt covering both grave sites is still fresh.

To Be Continued…