"Victor and Gloria continue toward Stow-on-Side, when they meet two scientists who argue about the true nature of Galar's prehistoric Pokémon. A conflict that led to an even bigger encounter. Our heroes managed to win out, and now they get closer to their destination…"
"The Art of Ghosts"
Victor and Gloria are walking through Route 6, with Gloria stretching her arms.
"We should be getting close to Stow-on-Side," Gloria says, as she lowers her arms.
"Yeah, but it's getting dark, perhaps we should camp out for the night," Victor suggests, looking up at the sky.
"Yeah, you're right," Gloria agrees. "I could really use a peaceful night sleep."
They then look ahead to see a light in the distance.
"What's that?" Victor asks, before he and Gloria look at each other.
Victor and Gloria come closer to see an Artist drawing in a sketchbook while sitting on a flat rock, as a Koffing floats next to him, with a lamp seating on its head.
"Koff?" Koffing turns slightly to the two Trainers.
Victor's Rotom Phone flies up, "Koffing, the Poison Gas Pokémon, It adores polluted air. Some claim that Koffing used to be more plentiful in the Galar region than they are now."
"Koffing, hold the light a little bit higher," the Artist says, continuing sketching and without looking away from ahead.
"Koff," Koffing floats up slightly.
Victor follows the light on a large mountain wall which shows huge statues of three Diglett, with pillars separating each of them, "What is this?"
"It's Stow-on-Side's Diglett statues…" The Artist explains, before he looks up at the two Trainers, before he jumps back. "When did you get here?!"
"We've been here for like five minutes," Gloria responds.
"Oh, sorry, I kinda get carried away when I'm working," the Artist gets up, with his sketchbook. "My name is Duncan, and this is Koffing, my assistant."
"Koff."
"I'm Gloria, and this is Victor," Gloria introduces them, before noticing Victor is looking at the statues. "Victor?"
"Oh, sorry, these statues are incredible," Victor says.
"Ah, yeah, aren't they just so inspiring," Duncan agrees. "The story that three Diglett lost their lives in a massive earthquake, when they focused on rescuing the original settlers of Stow-on-Side." He then holds up his sketchbook. "And looking at them just gets my creative juices flowing."
"That's... interesting…" Gloria responds.
"Well, Duncan, we're gonna camp out for the night, you're welcome to join us," Victor says.
Duncan looks over to him, "I got to say you two are very brave for camping out. What with the story of a ghost haunting this area."
"A ghost…?" Victor responds.
Behind Victor, Gloria holds up an arm, with a nervous smile, "Okay, let's get moving, there nothing like a nighttime stroll for two hours. Faster if we run."
Victor stands in front of Gloria, holding up his hands, "Gloria, we are too tired to walk all the way to Stow-on-Side, we need to rest. And I'm sure this ghost story is just that, a story. Nothing to worry about."
"Nothing to worry about…" Gloria says, as Victor walks pass, as she becomes covered in sweat. "Right…"
Nearby, unknown to any of them, a masked figure watches them from the top of a cliff.
Later on, Gloria is sleeping in her tent, next to Sobble. Her closed eyes seem to clench, before she suddenly jumps up and holds Sobble closely, waking it.
"Sobbl…" Sobble barely says.
Gloria releases Sobble, "I'm so sorry… I had a nightmare about ghosts…"
"Sobbl," Sobble tilts its head.
Gloria then looks over her shoulder, as she and Sobble see a blanket rises up. Gloria and Sobble look utterly terrified, as they hold onto each other.
The blanket turns around, revealing Orbeetle under it, as the Pokémon yawns, "Or… beet…"
"Sobbl…" Sobble breathes a sigh of relief, as Gloria blushes, looking embarrassed.
Outside Gloria's tent, next to Victor's tent, Sirfetch'd is standing guard, with its leek pointing straight up. Sirfetch'd's head lowers slightly, before it shakes its head, fighting back the sleep. After a few more seconds, Sirfetch'd's head lowers itself, falling asleep on its feet.
Suddenly a howling noise causes Sirfetch'd to jump away, "Sir, Fetch!" It then looks left to right, with its leek aimed outward.
At that moment, Gloria comes out of her tent, startling Sirfetch'd, "What's going on?"
As Gloria looks around, Sirfetch'd sighs, with its shield holding wing against its chest.
Gloria looks to the side to see Duncan and Koffing in front of the statues.
Gloria approaches the Artist, "Duncan, why are you still drawing so late?"
"I just can't fall asleep," Duncan says, without stop sketching. "I just kept on thinking about these statues." He looks up at them. "They are both beautiful and lonely."
Gloria looks up at the statues, "How can statues be lonely?"
Suddenly sand starts to fly up around the three, and starts to circle them, with Gloria screams.
At that moment, Sirfetch'd runs past the tents, with Sobble and Orbeetle coming out of Gloria's tent, as Victor, Scorbunny, Pikachu, Corvisquire, and Toxel come out of his tent, "Gloria!"
"Sobbl!" Sobble shoots a blast of water from its mouth.
"Or, beet!" Orbeetle fires a ray from its head.
The blast of water and ray hits the spinning sand, seemingly has no effect on it, as Sirfetch'd runs up and strikes at it with its leek, with even less result, "Sir! Fetch!"
Victor stops running, "Scorbunny, Ember, Pikachu, Thunder Shock, Toxel, Nuzzle, Corvisquire, Fury Attack!"
"Scor!" Scorbunny shoots a series of small fireballs from its mouth.
"Pika! Chu!" Pikachu shoots a blast of electricity from its body.
"Toxe!" Toxel rubs its cheeks, before shooting a blast of electricity from its body.
"Squir!" Corvisquire flies forward, and strikes forward with its beak.
All four attacks blow into the sides of the spinning sand, before the sand quickly replaces any missing portion, and then finishes forming a large sand twister.
Inside the sand twister, Gloria takes a step to Duncan and Koffing, as they also look around, "Is this the work of that ghost?"
"Ah, who knew it's real," Duncan says.
"You the one who acted like it's real!" Gloria yells, as Koffing floats up.
"Koff!" Koffing splits a glob of sludge at the sand twister, which mixes in with the sand, giving it a slight purple texture.
"How is that helping?!" Gloria complains.
"Is this thing shrinking?" Duncan asks, as Koffing floats back to him and Gloria.
"It is!" Gloria realizes, as the three stand together.
Suddenly, a Gengar floats out of the ground, grabs Gloria, Duncan, and Koffing, before floats back into the ground with them, as Gloria screams, just before the sand twister collapses in on itself.
"Gloria!" Victor calls out, as he and the Pokémon look on, horrify.
Suddenly Gengar rises out of the ground, holding onto Gloria, Duncan, and Koffing, before letting go, "Gar."
"Are you okay?" Victor runs over alongside Sobble, Orbeetle, and Sirfetch'd.
"I… I think so…" Gloria responds, before she turns to see Gengar standing right next to her.
"Gar."
Gloria screams and then hides behind Victor, who looks at the Pokémon, "It's a Gengar."
Gloria's Rotom Phone flies up, "Gengar, the Shadow Pokémon, On the night of a full moon, if shadows move on their own and laugh, it must be Gengar's doing."
"And you wonder why I don't like ghosts," Gloria says, as her Rotom Phone flies over to her and watches her.
"Gengar won't hurt you," a kid wearing a mask walks over.
Victor looks over to him, "Wait, are you Allister, the Stow-on-Side Gym Leader?"
"That's right... this is my partner, Gengar," Allister responds.
"Gar," Gengar floats over to Allister.
Allister tilts his head slightly, before pointing up at Victor, "I remember you… from the opening ceremony… you were very nervous…"
"Yeah…" Victor blushes, before noticing Allister is looking at Gloria, as she hides behind Victor. "Oh, Gloria's afraid of ghosts.
"I'm not afraid, ghosts just scare me… a lot," Gloria explains.
"Gar," Gengar flies over to Gloria. "Gar."
Gloria screams slightly as she backs away.
"Sir, Fetch!' Sirfetch'd jumps ahead and strikes down its leek, but it just goes through Gengar.
After a short pause, Sirfetch'd swings its leek repeatedly through Gengar, who just laughs.
"Or, beet," Orbeetle flies to in front of Sirfetch'd, who stops swinging its leek. "Or, beet, or, beet."
Suddenly a howling noise draws the entire group's attention, before they look ahead to see sand flying through the air and forms a sand twister which starts to move toward them.
"We're not getting stuck in another sandstorm," Victor says, before he holds out a hand. "Corvisquire, fly at full speed and use Fury Attack!"
"Squir! Squir!" Corvisquire flies at the sand twister, with its beak glowing, flying back and forth through the sand twister, before it finally dispels.
Gloria falls down onto her butt and sighs, before she looks over to the side to see Duncan, on one knee, as he quickly draws on his sketchbook, "How could you be sketching at a time like this?"
"I can't help it," Duncan starts. "This ghostly present is just so beautiful."
Allister looks over to Duncan, continuing to draw.
Suddenly the ground shakes violently, as everyone tries to remain stable, and parts of the ground breaks apart.
"Squir!" Corvisquire looks around, before it flies down.
"Toxe," Toxel has trouble remaining on its feet, when Corvisquire flies past and picks Toxel up in its talons. Toxel happily looks up at its friend, "Toxe."
"Or, beet," Orbeetle flies up, as Sobble and Pikachu are lifts up by psychic energy.
"Sobbl…" Sobble sweatdrops.
"Pika!" Pikachu happily says.
"Scor!" Scorbunny jumps around the breaking ground and into Victor's arms, before he tries to walk around.
Allister hops onto the broken piece of ground, as the part of ground he was on sinks.
"Koff," Koffing rises up, with Duncan lying on top of it, before he starts to sketch again.
Gloria tries to move around, before the shaking causes her to fall face first, with Sirfetch'd dives to catch her, but something speeds pass, grabbing Gloria, as Sirfetch'd falls onto the ground, "Sir, Fetch…"
Gloria notices Gengar is carrying her in her arms, before she starts to scream and waves her arms, "Put me down! Put me down! Put me down!"
"Gar…" Gengar sighs, before it flies low over the ground, having stopped shaking, and drops her, with Gloria falling down onto her butt.
After Gengar flies away, Gloria bows, "I'm so sorry."
Duncan, still lying on Koffing, continues to sketch, before the sketchbook slips out of his hand, with Duncan unable to catch it.
The sketchbook falls onto the ground next to Allister, who turns to see the sketchbook opened to a sketch of the three Diglett statues, but without the pillars.
After looking at the sketch for a few more seconds, Allister softly responds, "That's it."
Victor looks around before he sees something seemingly invisible skimming across the ground toward him, blowing up sand as it goes.
"Wait a minute," Victor looks down slightly. "Everything that happened. It could all have been caused by Ground-type moves." He looks back ahead. "Could the ghost be one of the three Diglett that lost its life?"
The invisible force continues to skim toward Victor, when Scorbunny, Pikachu, Corvisquire, and Toxel step out in front of him, to protect their Trainer. Suddenly Gengar raises up out of the ground in front of them, and holds out its arms, before the invisible force comes to a stop. Gengar is holding its back, as a generic ghost seems to blink in and out.
"You're close, but it's not one of three Diglett…" Allister approaches. "It's a Dugtrio."
The generic ghost stops blinking out, then reshapes into a ghostly Dugtrio.
"Dugtrio?" Gloria's surprised. "Can actual ghosts evolve?"
"No… the story of what actually happened must've gotten twisted around and altered…" Allister theroizes. "Instead of a single Dugtrio losing its life… people believed it was three Diglett…"
"Then, why is Dugtrio attacking us?" Victor asks, before looking at the ghost Dugtrio, keeping on trying to push itself past Gengar.
"I will… find out…" Allister places a hand out, seemingly touching the ghost Dugtrio. After a few moments pass, with everyone watching, Allister continues. "Dugtrio is angry… worried about being forgotten… It already started, when people who knew it either passed away or moved away…"
"The thought of being completely forgotten is so horrible," Gloria says.
"Trio…" Dugtrio gets angry.
"You must remain calm…" Allister says.
"Trio… Trio!" The ghost Dugtrio calls out, as a blast of ghostly wind pushes away from its body.
Allister is knocked far back, with his head thrown back, as his mask is thrown off and snapped in two.
"Allister!" Victor calls out, as Gengar flies pass him to its Trainer.
"Trio!"
"Scor!" Scorbunny jumps at the ghost.
"Trio!" Dugtrio calls out, as a large piece of the ground is pulled and blown apart, knocking back Scorbunny.
Victor tries to shield himself with his arms, as Corvisquire is knocked back by the rocks, with Pikachu pushing Toxel out of the way.
"There's got to be something we can do," Gloria wonders, before she looks over to Duncan sketching in his sketchbook. "That's it!"
Scorbunny, Corvisquire, Pikachu, and Toxel are knocked back, with Victor knees down next to them, as he watches the ghost Dugtrio.
Suddenly, Gloria stands between her friends and the ghost Dugtrio, while holding up the sketchbook.
"Gloria!" Victor calls out.
"Trio!" The ghost Dugtrio starts moving toward her.
Victor's Pokémon starts to get up, as Sobble, Orbeetle, and Sirfetch'd are starting to run past them.
Gloria dugs her feet into the ground and breathes in deeply, before she starts yelling, "Dugtrio! No one will ever forget you! Not anymore!"
"Trio!"
Gloria holds out the sketchbook.
"Trio!" The ghost Dugtrio is getting within inches of Gloria, when it comes to a sudden stop, and sees the sketch of Allister reaching out to the ghost Dugtrio. "Trio…"
Ghost Dugtrio starts to back up.
At that moment, Allister, wearing his mask, and Gengar, walks over, "Dugtrio, I promise, as Stow-on-Side's Gym Leader, I'll make sure no one in Stow-on-Side, will forget the brave Dugtrio who gave its life here."
"Trio…" the ghost Dugtrio's eyes tear up some, before it happily responds. "Trio." It starts to fade away. "Trio."
It fades away completely.
"What happened to it?" Gloria asks, as Duncan walks up to her.
"Dugtrio is at rest… it's able to properly move on," Allister says.
"Congratulates Gloria," Victor says, as Gloria hands the sketchbook back to Duncan. "You were able to face your fears like that wild Silicobra we met up with a while ago."
Unknown to them, behind a nearby boulder, the wild Silicobra is coiled up as it sleeps, and Gloria responds, "I wouldn't say that."
Victor looks over to the Gym Leader, "Allister, I'm glad you're okay. Although, I thought your mask was broken."
Victor and Gloria look several feet away, where they see Allister's mask lying on the ground, split in two.
"Hum, how many of those masks do you own?" Gloria asks.
"One hundred," Allister, before he glances over his shoulder for a second. "Ninety-nine."
"Right," Gloria says, as she and Victor sweat drops.
"Victor, Gloria, I want to offer my thanks for your help in calming Dugtrio," Allister says. "Also, I'm looking forward to our gym battle, Victor… I will go ahead and schedule a match for tomorrow."
"Great," Victor smiles. "I'm looking for it, sir, hum, Allister."
Duncan is drawing in his sketchbook, "This is perfect. Something to be remembered." Duncan is drawing Victor and Allister shaking hands. "I'll call it, 'Destined Face-off'."
"A spooky encounter with an actual ghost left our heroes with a deeper understanding of a Pokémon's feelings, even from beyond the grave. But now, Victor has to get ready. His fourth Gym Battle is coming up. Will he succeed against Allister and his Ghost-types?"
"Find out, as the journey continues…"