Chrolie City is where Ichigo's next gym battle is, but something has been happening before they arrived there. An alarm went off near the power plant. Officer Jenny and her men hurried to it, but when they got there. they saw the whole plant was decorated in flowers.
"Not again." Officer Jenny said. She had a look around and spotted someone...or something. All she could see was the shadow of someone holding and umbrella and was walking away from the crime. "It's the ghost again!"
You're just a kid on a quest
To be the best of the best
Someday your destined for power and glory
You know you're up to the test
There's only one way to tell this story
Be a hero
Be a hero
All the power is at your command
Face your fears and show you're a hero
The future of the world is in your hands
Pokémon
(Ichigo's voice) Ghost of Chrolie
"Ichigo! There it is just up ahead!" Orihime said. They all ran down the beach and could see their destination just ahead by a cliff.
"There it is! Chrolie City!" Ichigo said as he was glad to see it.
Our heroes have finally arrived in Chrolie City so that Ichigo can have his third gym battle, but none of them aware of the horrors that await them just inside the city.
Not wanting to wait around, Ichigo went straight for the gym. When they arrived where the gym is suppose to be, they were a little surprised to see it was clock tower.
"Are you sure this is the gym?" Ichigo asked.
"Chrolie City is known for it's famous clock tower." Rukia said as she looked over a guide of Chrolie City. "The amazing part of what makes this clock tower known is that the gym is right inside."
"Uh... Is that suppose to be on the tower?" Orihime said. All of them looked up and saw something weird. It looked like a drawing of a face right on the clock.
"I don't think it is." Chad said.
"That's vandalism!" Rukia said as she found it disrespectful. "This clock is a historical landmark. Who would do something like that?" It did seem rather weird to them.
"Is there something I can help you with?" All of them were met with a well-dressed man with dark hair and mustache. He also had a strap over his right eye. He actually looked a little creepy.
"Uh... Hi." Ichigo said. "I came here to challenge the gym."
"I see. My name is Kutsuzawa. I happen to be the gym leader. However, I'm afraid I am not able to have any gym battles at the moment."
"You can't? Why?" Ichigo asked.
"There's been a problem happening in Chrolie City." Kutsuzawa said. "It's been causing some anxiety in the public. Not even Officer Jenny can figure this out."
"What are you talking about? What's the problem?" Rukia said.
"Chrolie City is being haunted by a ghost." Kutsuzawa said.
"A ghost?!" They all said as they were all shocked to hear such a thing.
"Yes, a ghost." Kutsuzawa said. "I'm afraid until this ghost nonsense is stopped, I won't be able to have any battle. I took it upon myself to solve this strange case and do what I can to help my fair city."
"But what makes you think it's a ghost?" Rukia asked. "What exactly has been going on?"
"You see an example of that for yourself." Kutsuzawa said as he looked up to the clock. "A series of pranks have been going on around the whole city. Everyone is confused as to what is causing this because there have been no signs of breaking in or seeing who is really doing all of this. I'm sorry, but I can't do anything about our battle at the moment." Kutsuzawa left things at that as he simply walked away. Hearing about a ghost pulling pranks like that is certainly strange. Since Ichigo couldn't have a gym battle, they all just walked around the city.
"An actual ghost in this city... That sounds scary." Orihime said.
"No way. I'm not buying it." Ichigo said. "There's got to be something else going on."
"Well, there isn't anything we can do. You want to find another gym?" Chad asked.
"No way. Not after we came all this way." Ichigo said. "You know, I say we try and figure out this whole thing with the ghost ourselves. Kutsuzawa said he can't battle until something is done. I say we help solve it."
"But we're not ghost detectives." Chad said.
"Hold on. It's not really a bad idea." Rukia said. "Kutsuzawa said the city is a nervous-wreck because of this ghost. Maybe we should help out."
"Us being mystery solvers?" Orihime said as she seemed to find it as a fun idea. "Let's do it! We can carry magnify glasses, set up traps, but we're going to need a van and a talking pokemon." Orihime seemed to be having fun with the idea, but the others thought she was acting a little weird.
"Traps, a van, and talking pokemon? As if something like that would ever happen." Ichigo said. Putting the silly idea aside, the four of them asked around the city and tried learning more about the ghost. They tried gathering all the clues that they could in hopes of figuring this out.
...
Later
After gathering clues, they all regrouped at a café and to share what they learned.
"Let's compare notes." Rukia said.
"Okay. I learned that all nineteen incidents happened at night." Ichigo said. "The reason people say it's a ghost because no one saw who did it or signs of breaking in just like Kutsuzawa said."
"That's not entirely true." Chad said. "Some of the people I talked to did see something. They saw a shadow of a woman carrying an umbrella. Whoever is behind this is clearly a woman, but they think it's a ghost because she disappears before anyone can see who it is."
"That's not what I heard. They say it's a ghost because she is one." Orihime said. "I heard that years ago, this woman got into a terrible accident. They also say she wanted revenge on the city because she was a noblewoman who claimed she wasn't treated with the respect she deserved and swore in her last moments that she would have her justice."
"Sounds like she was an obnoxious snob." Ichigo said.
"There's more. Another reason they believe it's a ghost is because something has gone missing." Rukia said. "In a few of those instances, something disappeared without a trace. That something was...pokemon."
"Pokemon?!" Ichigo said as that didn't sound good at all.
"In a few incidents, some people's pokemon have just disappeared. They're all worried they might be gone forever." Rukia said.
"That's awful." Chad said. "It seems like the only part we haven't figured out is why anyone would do this."
"Good point, Chad." Orihime said. "If it's not a ghost, why would anyone do something like this in the first place."
"The only way we're going to figure that part out is if we ask the person behind all this directly." Rukia said. "Which means, we'll have to wait until it's night. We also have to figure out where they're going to strike next." They have an idea. Let's hope that they succeed.
...
The Pokemon Center
Ichigo and the others head back to the pokemon center. They waited for the ghost to show themselves, but Ichigo was getting rather impatient. It was just about night, but nothing was going on.
"We can't just wait around. Haven't you found out where this ghost is going next?" Ichigo asked.
"No. I'm trying to look for a pattern." Rukia said as she was looking over all the evidence they had.
"We can't just wait around. By the time something happens, it could be too late." Ichigo said. "I'm going out and see if I can find this ghost myself." Ichigo went on ahead and went out with Absol following.
"Ichigo, wait!" Orihime said. She didn't want him to go alone, so she followed.
"Should we go too?" Chad asked Rukia.
"Wait. I think I have something." Rukia said as she was starting to see something in the evidence.
...
Ichigo and Orihime
Ichigo and Orihime went looking for the ghost themselves, but Orihime was rather nervous. She clutched his back as they walked through the streets.
"Orihime, if you're scared, you don't have to be here." Ichigo said.
"No. I'll be fine." Orihime said as she tried being brave. "Besides, I don't want you to face this icky ghost alone."
"We should be okay as long we keep our guard up." Ichigo said as they kept searching.
"Absol!" Absol spotted something. They looked down the street and saw a shadow move through the streets.
"Hey! Wait!" Ichigo said as they hurried after the shadow. "Someone's there, it might be the ghost." They hurried around the corner, but saw no one. "There's got to be someone here." They kept their eyes open. Absol was the first to spot something as it growled.
"Ichigo, look!" Orihime said. They looked down the road and saw a shadow of a woman holding an umbrella.
"We found the ghost!" Ichigo said as he almost couldn't believe it. "Absol, in case there's some truth to those pokemon disappearing, you stay close to me."
"Absol." Absol was ready for anything now. The ghost turned away from them and moved further down the street.
"Hey, you! Stop!" Ichigo called. They hurried after the ghost, but they crashed right into Officer Jenny and Kutsuzawa.
"What are you two doing here?" Officer Jenny asked.
"You're the folks from earlier. What's going on?" Kutsuzawa said.
"It's the ghost! We saw her!" Ichigo said.
"The ghost!" Officer Jenny said.
"So she is here!" Kutsuzawa said.
"There she is!" Orihime said as she spotted her. They all saw the ghost move further down an alleyway.
"Stop in the name of the law!" Officer Jenny called out as they all hurried after her, but when they went through, they saw it ended.
"Where'd she go?!" Ichigo said.
"It's a dead end. She must be around here somewhere." Kutsuzawa said. They all looked around for her, but they heard something shut behind them. They looked and saw it was a gate with it locked. "It appears we've been tricked."
"Whoever's doing this clearly doesn't want us to get in their way." Ichigo said. He tried to get the gate open, but it was sealed tight. Just then, they heard an explosion and saw smoke. "Where is that?!"
"Oh no! I think that's the pokemon center!" Officer Jenny said.
"Rukia and Chad are there!" Orihime said out of fear that her friends are in trouble.
"Absol, blast the gate with Psycho Cut and get us out of here!" Ichigo said.
"Absol!" Absol used the attack and smashed the gate open. Once they were all out, they hurried as fast as they could to bust a ghost.
...
The Pokemon Center
Everyone was evacuating the center while they could. Meanwhile, in the back of the center, someone dressed fancy with a cane and perfectly combed brown hair stood and watched in delight.
"This has been rather enjoyable."
"Hey, you!" He turned around and was met with Ichigo and the others.
"How did they get out? I thought I locked that gate." The man said.
"What do you think you're doing?" Officer Jenny said.
"I'm betting he's really the ghost." Ichigo said.
"I highly doubt that." Kutsuzawa said. "He isn't a woman and he doesn't have an umbrella on him, but he might have a partner in crime."
"I don't know how you all got here, but I'm not letting you all get in the way." The man said as he tapped his cane against the ground. When he did, a Lampent appeared over his head and a Runerigus stood in front as he twirled his cane to his shoulder.
"Who are those pokemon?" Orihime asked.
"A Lampent and Runerigus." Kutsuzawa said.
"Hey, look at that!" Ichigo said as he pointed to the man's shadow and it looked similar to a woman. "When his pokemon stand the way they are, his shadow looks like a woman! He must be one the one behind all this ghost!"
"Very perceptive of you. It's been a while since someone caught on to Gabriel the Mysterious."
"Gabriel the Mysterious?" Ichigo questioned as he never heard of him.
"I've heard of you!" Officer Jenny said. "You're a wanted criminal from the Galar region! You're known for stealing pokemon!"
"It all makes sense now." They all looked behind Gabriel and spotted Rukia and Chad. "Everything is starting to make sense now." Rukia said.
"What do you mean?" Gabriel asked.
"I marked down when and where all the incidents happened. I noticed a pattern in them." Rukia said. "There were nineteen incidents, but only three were serious. Every fifth sight was a part of the city was important: the police station, power plant, and the bank. The police station's communication lines were turned around with the system being ruined. The bank had viral videos uploaded to conceal a virus for you to take all the money. Finally, decorating the power plant with flowers while damaging the equipment inside. The other pranks were just that to throw us off the trail. Having those pokemon on your side made it easier to make it look like no human did it. As for the missing pokemon, I'm guessing your a pokemon thief that stole them. All of it leading up to this big moment. You want all the pokemon that are inside."
"Brilliant deduction for a novice detective." Gabriel said. Looks like they finally uncovered the source of Chrolie's ghost. "However, I didn't come this far just to have it ruined. Looks like we're doing this the hard way. Lampent, Flamethrower! Runerigus, Will-o-wisp!" He unleashed both his pokemon as they unleashed the fire attacks. Everyone moved out of the way, but those two were persistent.
"That does it." Ichigo said as he got ready for a battle.
"Wait." Kutsuzawa said as he took out a pokeball. "Let me. The reason I got involved was because ghost pokemon are my specialty. You fight a ghost with a ghost. Please come out, Chandelure!" He called out his pokemon as it floated out.
"Chandelure!"
"What's that?" Orihime asked.
"Chandelure, the evolved form of Lampent." Officer Jenny said.
"You might have a Chandelure, but it's one against two." Gabriel said as they were ready for a battle.
"Yes, but you are the one that's outmatched. Watch and see. Chandelure, please use Hex." Kutsuzawa said. Chandelure's eyes glowed an ominous color. When that happened, Gabriel and his pokemon felt a dark power come over them and sent all three of them flying into a wall and knocked them out.
"Unreal! He took them out in just one shot!" Ichigo said as he couldn't believe the power. Officer Jenny took the chance and placed the cuffs around Gabriel.
"Your under arrest." Officer Jenny said as the mystery of Chrolie's ghost comes to a close.
...
The Next Day
"Everyone will rest a lot easier now that there is no ghost." Kutsuzawa said. Now that the sun is coming out and Gabriel has been arrested, Kutsuzawa was speaking with Ichigo and his friends. "I thank you all for your assistance and bravery in trying to stop this madness. Officer Jenny is also making sure everything he stole is being returned to their proper owners."
"That's good to hear." Orihime said.
"It was an elaborate plan and he almost got away with it if we hadn't meddled." Rukia joked.
"By the way, Ichigo. You came for a gym battle, right? I'll be glad to give you one now." Kutsuzawa said.
"Great. Better be ready, Absol. This will be a tough one." Ichigo said.
"Absol."
Now that the mystery of Chrolie City's ghost has been solved, Ichigo can now have his gym battle. Kutsuzawa seems like a tricky opponent. What kind of battle can we expect out of this? Stay tune to find out.
To Be Continued...
Pokemon Question: Okay, all you future trainers. The answer to the last question was...Joltik! Joltik can feed off the electricity of other pokemon. Here's the next question. What pokemon is known as the Bully of the Sea?
