I've done horror/ghost stories before, but here's my first attempt at a Pokemon one. Hope y'all enjoy.
Eterna Forest, a natural maze with numerous trees so thick and closely bundled together they allow only traces of the brightest sunlight to filter through. The forest had always been a trying trek to all, but the most familiar with it. Thankfully, decades and decades ago a talented Pokemon Trainer decided to build a home in that forest, to provide rest to those who may become lost and grant them directions to their destination. She had originally hailed from Eterna City and chose to retire to her home, but in her twilight years city life had become too noisy and so she purchased the land in the forest and had her chateau built, inviting her family to live with her so they may be together in her final years. Her and her family spent their time in peace giving aid to those who would become lost in the forest and even giving lessons and advice to new and novice trainers that would pass by.
Her name was Ava Gilroy, but was changed to Ava Gilroy-O'Cahill when she married. Her husband passed only a few years before she had the chateau constructed and when she felt her time coming she left it to her son Calum and his family along with her precious Luxray, Luca.
The years had passed and Calum and his wife Nevaeh had three children, their oldest a daughter named Erin who was off on her own journey wanting to become champion of the Sinnoh Pokemon League, a dream shared by hundreds of other children across the region. Their second daughter Alice who was still enrolled at Jubilife City's Trainer School and their youngest, a son named Theo. Despite the ever rolling passage of time, the family continued their tradition of aiding travelers that asked through the forest, but one night they were the ones that required aid.
Calum and Nevaeh were returning from Eterna City along with their children Alice who was now ten years old and Theo who had just turned seven. Erin, their seventeen year-old daughter had sent them a message that she was finally coming home from her travels. Nevaeh wanted to have a grand dinner to celebrate their daughter's triumphant return knowing with her grandmother's talent in her blood that she would have defeated the League easily, sadly what should have been a day for celebration was quickly dismantled by their son's behavior. His eighth birthday being in a few days he wanted the attention to be on him instead of his big sister and had thrown more than a couple of tantrums during their day, turning what should have been a short outing into an exhausting one.
Theo's normally blue eyes were surrounded in red and his cheeks flushed from his childish screaming and complaining, his red hair in a tousled mess as they entered the forest to return home. Calum finally fed up with his son's behavior had stopped scolding him, his words a bit harsh, but his patience had been used up and he was already deprived of sleep due to recurring nightmares. Running a hand through his own russet hair he apologized to his son, but reminded him to behave properly and to be patient, his birthday would arrive before he knew it.
Theo went quiet, but another childish rage was building inside him. Calum turned to his wife, meeting her vibrant emerald eyes and apologized to her as well as their daughter Alice. Nevaeh knew her husband was not one to lose his temper so easily, his nightmares had gotten to the point they required the aid of their butler's Gallade to help him sleep, but even under the effects of hypnosis the nightmares continued. Despite their frequency Calum could never remember details of the dreams, only that he would awaken to a cold sweat and chills inside his body. They continued on their way home in silence and Alice, feeling sorry for her little brother, fell in step next to him and offered her favorite doll to him hoping to cheer him up. The gesture had the opposite effect, Theo quickly turned to his sister, seizing her doll and hurling it into the trees and down a steep hill.
Alice cried and tried to run after it, but her mother quickly grabbed her arm to stop her, knowing beyond that tree line was a steep drop that would lead to serious injury or worse. Hearing their daughter call out her doll's name over and over Calum had enough and told his son his birthday was postponed until he not only learned to behave, but apologized to his sister and her doll was found. Alice's cries echoed in the midday darkness of the forest stirring many of its denizens, the cries of various pokemon calling back unsure of what the abrupt noise was over. Nevaeh tugged Alice back into her arms trying to calm her, promising they would look for her doll tomorrow, but for now it was too dark and too dangerous to search for it.
Now having to drag two crying kids back home along with arm fulls of groceries the O'Cahill's were beyond exhausted when they returned home, thankfully Rory their butler was more than happy to take over for them. He had already begun prepping the kitchen for the family meal and had begun to decorate for Erin's grand homecoming. Watching Calum order Theo to his room and Nevaeh carry a still sobbing Alice to hers Rory inquired what the trouble was over and if he could assist. With a heavy heave of his chest Calum vented to his friend the details of the past several hours.
Rory, ever prompt suggested a drink to settle his nerves walking to the nearby cabinet and returning with a whiskey glass for Calum offering it to him with a slight bow. By evening's twilight Rory had finished and Erin had returned home gasping at the decorations that brightly greeted her before her mother and father rushed to her side along with her little sister who had finally stopped crying, but had been silent since. Theo was still in his room sleeping after wearing himself out. Erin sensing how sad her baby sister was swiftly picked her up, brushing a strand of Alice's red hair from her eyes before hugging her tight and asking what she was sad about. Upon hearing how her brother threw away the doll Erin gave her sister, the very doll she herself had as a child sent a stream of hurt and anger through her.
Like their mother, Erin promised her sister to help look for it in the morning since it was currently too dark and with another tight hug and a kiss to Alice's forehead Erin set her down and left for her bedroom to change for dinner. Dinner was a bit strained thanks to Theo's behavior, but his absence eventually allowed them to begin talking, Nevaeh being the first to ask their daughter how it felt to challenge the Pokemon League. Erin answered as honestly as possible, the victory road was as challenging as they said it was, but the anticipation, the anxiety, the excitement of standing before the League's gate had gotten to her. She had lost, defeated by the first of the Elite Four, her first pokemon, her Dodrio was taken out in one hit and soon after so was her Murkrow and Rapidash. She had barely managed to defeat half the team of the first Elite Four member with only her Crobat left, and while they tried to tough it out it proved to be too much and in the end she lost. She was defeated, but not disheartened, she and her team would become stronger and challenge them again, a notion that brought a smile to her parent's faces.
Dinner had ended and the family spent some time together before it was time to turn in, saying their good night's Calum and Nevaeh returned to their bedroom along with Rory and his Gallade so the pokemon could use its hypnosis to help him sleep, meanwhile Erin took Alice to her room to spend time and play with her until she fell asleep as well. Stopping by Theo's room, Erin peeked in to see her brother still sleeping and resolved to speak with him in the morning, but for now she returned to her room. Setting the pokeballs that contained her friends and teammates at her side she pulled her blanket over them and herself, ever since she caught her first pokemon a simple Zubat as a child she snuggled close to them when she prepared for bed, now that she was older and her pokemon evolved they were too big to all fit into a bed, but she still kept their pokeballs close and always told them how much she loved them before bed.
When morning came Calum and Nevaeh searched for Alice's doll while Erin stayed behind to talk to her little brother who had calmed down, but was still being stubborn, eventually saying some hurtful words about both of his sisters and the stuffed trash Alice called a doll. At a loss and unsure how to handle her kid brother Erin just walked away to check on Alice and after several hours their parents came home explaining that they were unable to find their daughter's doll. Later on Erin and Rory agreed to go out and search before dusk set in, but even they were unable to find it. The day had passed and soon the remainder of the week, Calum and Nevaeh wanted to buy a new one, but Alice refused and Erin had as well, that doll was special to her when she was a kid and she gave it to Alice before she left on her own pokemon journey, they needed to find it. A week turned to two and true to his word Calum refused Theo his birthday party until the doll was found and he apologized to Alice which only made the child act up even more.
One night, after three weeks Calum and Nevaeh bought a new doll, the same one Alice had, but over a couple of days made it look worn out and aged, trying to make it look as close to the one their daughter lost and when they tried to give it to her, Alice wasn't fooled. Refusing the new doll and crying for her old one Alice ran to her room, closing and locking the door behind her, staining her bedsheets with her tears for hours. Alice woke up to a knock at her door, Rory softly calling to her to let her know dinner was ready, but Alice only stared out her window at the darkness that surrounded her home. She couldn't go another day without her, so she grabbed the flashlight from her nightstand drawer, opened her window and climbed out, running into the forest to search for her doll.
She knew the path to the city and followed it, remembering exactly where her brother threw it away and when she reached that spot she cautiously approached the hill and looked down, her flashlight only revealing so far in the dense foliage. Scared of the darkness and silence around her Alice began trembling, too scared to move she called out her doll's name, but the only response was more silence. Creeping closer to the edge she startled a pokemon hiding in a nearby bush and when it leapt out to flee it scared her, causing her to slip.
Unable to stop herself Alice fell down the hill, her clothes ripping against the shrubbery, the ground and occasional rock scratching her, but thankfully her momentum slowed enough to prevent serious injury when she collided with a tree that finally stopped her fall. Whimpering and crying from the pain, barely able to see she looked around until she spotted the light from her flashlight only a little farther down the hill. Slowly putting her legs out first as if going down a playground slide Alice slid down the hill and quickly seized her flashlight looking around to determine where she was. With nothing that looked familiar she quickly became scared and began to panic, whimpering for her mommy and daddy and her big sister, but her cries were silenced when she heard movement.
The leaves rustled and a strange wind blew through the dense thicket before something round with what looked like strings hanging from it drifted out from the trees and closer to her. Turning her flashlight to it, she saw a purple balloon with two strings hanging from each side ending with yellow hearts. Wondering how a balloon ended up here she reached out her hand and grabbed one of the hearts at the end of its strings, that's when the balloon turned around to face her. A yellow X across the center of its face and two tiny, beady, black eyes gazed at her before it made a strange sound and began floating away and Alice felt her feet leave the ground. The Drifloon was trying to pull her away, feeling her feet leave the ground Alice screamed and let go of the pokemon, stumbling and falling to the ground, crawling backwards away from it as it turned back and approached her again.
Quickly turning around Alice got up and ran, tripping several times as she fled only to get up and keep running, terrified by the pokemon that tried to fly away with her. Her aimless running only got her more lost than she already was and as she screamed for her family, for her mother, her father, her sister the pokemon of the forest stirred. Bugs buzzed, birds chirped and others growled before all went silent when the wind began blowing again. Alice backed herself against a tree, crying and shaking as she looked around as the air began feeling cold.
A chill down her spine made her turn around and she was greeted by a small fluttering round figure with a skull-like face and a single red eye behind it. Screaming again Alice turned to run only to be greeted by another and then a third. Wildly swinging her flashlight at the Duskulls to ward them off Alice ran the first chance she got, deeper into the woods, deeper into darkness.
She ran until her legs gave out, unable to go any further, but fear kept her crawling and crying until she felt another gust of eerie wind followed by a chilling cold. Terrified she shined her light in the direction of the cold feeling and finally saw it, her doll tattered, but in one piece. With renewed determination she got to her feet and ran to it, scooping it into her arms and hugging it close, crying into it desperately wishing to go home, but that's when she felt it move.
The doll moved in her arms and when she gazed at it she watched its head turn and its eyes glow red, a zipper had replaced the doll's mouth and its hair grew longer before merging into a single limb like ponytail. Fearful once again Alice quickly dropped the doll and backed away watching as it hovered into the air at eye level with her surrounded by a dark aura. Watching it approach her and feeling her back meet a ledge too high for her to climb over and nowhere to run Alice clenched her eyes shut and cried out once more, her prayers finally answered as a dazzling flash of light illuminated the area and the Banette was blown away.
Opening her eyes Alice saw her sister's Gardevoir standing before her, a soft glare in its eyes as it looked where the possessed doll once was. Alice ran to her sister's pokemon and hugged her crying to go home, begging and the Gardevoir raised its arm to pat her head before sensing danger and grabbing her, lunging to the side before a wave of dark energy flew by them. The pokemon turned doll returned and with the look in its eyes was determined to get Alice.
Gardevoir stood between them, under orders from Erin to find Alice and keep her safe while the rest of the family spread out to look and the battle began. Gardevoir attacked first and the possessed doll pokemon dodged and countered. Thanks to Erin's training Gardevoir was able to get the upper hand and landed a critical hit on Banette knocking it to the ground and seeing her doll's expression of pain Alice couldn't help, but run to her dropping to her knees next to her. Looking at the damage to her favorite doll she was conflicted between her fear and her sadness and guilt. The Banette reached its arm up to her which Alice mimicked hoping to take its hand, but Gardevoir intervened when it sensed the danger, pushing Alice out of the way and taking the hit addling her mind.
Looking around Gardevoir struggled to tell friend from foe leaving her open to the attacks of Banette's allies. The Drifloon and Duskulls appeared slowly surrounding Gardevoir and attacking at once draining her energy until the pokemon fell to its knees and in a last desperate attempt unleashed a wave of psychic energy to defeat her enemies, but while the ghosts fled for cover once Duskull remained targeting Gardevoir with a move of its own, and when it fell in defeat its sinister energy dragged Gardevoir down with it in a shared demise. With the last of her energy Gardevoir looked to Alive and weakly pointed gesturing for her to flee, but before she could Alice was seized by Drifloon again and held in place as Banette returned and the remaining two Duskulls made sure Gardevoir couldn't get back up.
Erin returned to the family chateau having agreed with her parents to return there after a few hours to give updates, but neither her mother or father had returned yet. Feeling something off in the air she felt it through the bond she shared with her, her Gardevoir fell in battle against something. Her first instinct was to run and use her potions to heal her, but what about her sister, she had to find Alice. That's when she heard the doors to her family home burst open and with a blast of energy Rory's Gallade was thrown from the front steps sliding across the ground, defeated.
Rushing to his side she shook him in an attempt to wake him, but stopped when she heard her brother Theo screaming. Looking to his bedroom window she saw a Drifloon carrying him away as he kicked and screamed. Calling out her brother's name Erin reached for one of her pokeballs and prepared to throw it only to feel something cold grab her wrist. Her entire body froze as she was forced to drop the pokeball that contained her Crobat and the entity that held her revealed itself, a Haunter. With her free hand she reached for her belt, but the ghost's hypnosis quickly stopped her and when it released her she dropped to her knees and then her hands watching as the pokemon flew into the home. Drowsy and struggling to move footsteps drew her attention to something approaching from behind the trees, her sister.
Alice, scratched and bruised, her clothing torn and wet from crying limped closer to her. Erin tried to say something, but the hypnosis made it impossible. Hearing Alice's strained voice as she got closer filled Erin with pain at the knowledge she was unable to protect her sister, but at least she made it back home, now they just had to get somewhere safe.
But those thoughts and feelings were quickly replaced when she heard her sister tell her to join them. Alice slowly raised her head, her face shadowed by darkness, but Erin saw the smirk on her sister's face before her eyes flashed red.
Fear and denial over took Erin before her eyes grew too heavy to stay open, her last feeling a sensation of being carried through the cold air.
Twenty years had passed and Calum and Nevaeh could no longer bear what had happened, their children vanishing without a trace and unable to wake Rory from his sleep. Having lost everything they both lost all hope and wasted away into despair until there was nothing left of the family that once lived there except a house that had given way to time, now it was just called the Old Chateau and mysteries and rumors surrounded its existence leaving many too afraid to even approach its gate, but there are some who swear on certain nights there see a little girl in a window playing with an old doll.
