DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ash Ketchum, Brock, Misty, the other lame girls who were introduced into the anime to replace Misty, pikachu, eevee, togepi, or any other thing associated with pokemon. Unless you count my over one thousand pokemon cards, my pokemon games, and my numerous pokemon figurines. Oh, and my Jamaican Pikachu doll. I guess if you count those, then I own quite a bit of pokemon. But all in all... you get what I mean... or at least I hope you get what I mean.

Spirits of the Past

Part 4: The Need to Fight

If Jenna hadn't been frightened before, she was now. Before now, she had always thought that the scariest moment of her life would always be when she faced Palkia at Spear Pillar. The sheer might of the legendary pokemon had frightened her, and every now and then still gave her nightmares. That kind of power was something that was seen once in a lifetime at most, and Jenna the fact that the fate of the world had rested on her subduing it... Whenever she recalled it, she wondered how she possibly could have done it without passing out. It was the kind of experience that was both awe-inspiring and traumatizing, and not the kind of situation she'd want to be put in again.

But this was different.

Here, in this seemingly abandoned house, she didn't know what she was up against. At the very least, when she had fought Palkia, Jenna had known exactly what Palkia was, and that the only thing she had to worry about was its power. Now, she was facing the unknown. She had no idea what this entity could do, whether it was powerful or weak, and most importantly, if it wanted to harm her. She didn't know how to fight it, or if it even could be fought. She didn't want to meet whatever it was again, in case it was truly a power to be reckoned with.

And yet... She nonetheless felt a sort of urge to find out what it was. It reminded her of how she had acted during her journey. Whenever there was trouble or danger, she would poke her nose into other people's business. Sometimes it was out of pure curiosity. But most of the time... Most of the time it was like now: an unexplainable urge to be exactly where the action is and to do something to affect it, no matter how possibly dangerous it might be. She couldn't explain it with words, but she knew that - despite her fears - there was nothing she wanted better to do than follow that ghost and find out what was going on. And even more so than that, she felt that she needed to prove she was more powerful than this new force, just as she had felt compelled to beat the Pokemon League, Team Galactic, and the legendary Palkia. She knew she would regret it if she backed out now - her pride in her own power wouldn't possibly let her do such a thing. Somewhere in the back of her mind, that little voice called instinct started screaming at her not to go on with this.

Jenna had stopped listening to that voice long ago.

"Well, lets keep on looking for that girl." Jenna said, pushing away her fears. Now that she had actually seen this ghost, more fear had come. But with that fear came almost a confirmation to Jenna's mind that there was something that she could put herself against in this house, which gave her courage to go on. Now that she knew that this wasn't all just a search for a lost little girl, it seemed as if her trip to the decrepit mansion had a purpose. With renewed determination, she turned to the left and took a few steps, pausing and glancing back for a few moments to see if the others were coming.

"If that's where the ghost went, then there's no way I'm ever going to enter that room!" Gardenia said. Gardenia wasn't the only one who was concerned about the ghost - Jenna could detect the tiniest of hint of worry in Evan's eyes, though he concealed it well.

"Gardenia," said Cynthia softly, "we need to keep on moving. If little Mia has been out here for as long as you say, it's our top priority to find her - no matter the obstacle." Gardenia said nothing, but her demeanor told Cynthia that she was staying put.

"I suppose you don't have to come with us into the room." Said Evan in a flat voice. Gardenia perked up. "You could always just wait out here for us - all alone."

Gardenia groaned, realizing her predicament. "Fine, I'll go with you - just don't make me walk in the very back or the very front!" Cynthia nodded, then gestured for Gardenia to walk in front of her. Gardenia took a tentative step forward, and Jenna took that as her cue to start moving. She could hear Evan following closely behind her, followed by Gardenia and Cynthia. It seemed as if their footsteps were gunshots in the quiet of the gigantic dining room. Though Jenna no longer cared if they were heard or not by ghosts, Gardenia half flinched every time a loose piece of tile made a particularly loud noise beneath her feet.

Soon enough, Jenna reached the open doorway to the room, which she went through without another moment's hesitation. Evan was right behind her.

"Natu." said the bird pokemon. Evan nodded, partially to himself, and said, "We think the spirit is still in here, but it's concealing itself. Of course, it may not be in here at all - but my gut is telling me otherwise, and I learned long ago that it's normally right."

Behind them, Gardenia barely peeked into the large kitchen, and said meekly, "Okay, she's not in here. Let's keep moving."

Jenna rolled her eyes. Inside, her heart was pounding - with fear or anticipation or a mixture of the two she wasn't sure. But on the outside, she definitely wanted to make sure that she kept her outward demeanor.

"Don't act so frightened - whatever it is can't hurt us." Jenna said. In all truth, she was hoping that the ghost would reveal itself - she wanted to try to challenge it, and see if she could beat it. She guessed that perhaps Sandy couldn't do much against a ghost, but she guessed that her Golduck, Silver, would be able to use his psychic powers in some way to beat back the spirit. And that possibility gave her the boldness to want to face it.

At Jenna's comment, Evan's face turned grave. "Don't underestimate spirits. While some are truly harmless, others - like this one - can be dangerous. If you can't understand this, then you can leave the search to us. I won't let you stay in here and endanger yourself with that kind of mentality."

Despite Evan's good intentions, this really enraged Jenna. Here she was, psyched to beat whatever entity this was, and Evan had the audacity to imply that she couldn't fight it! Not only that, he was going to make her leave the Chateau like a disobedient child! Even if she was young compared to him and the others, she was not going to let herself be treated like a little kid. She had her heart set on battling the entity, and Evan's comment only made her all the more determined.

"Oh yeah?" asked Jenna in an impertinent tone. "What's it going to do? Float through me? I'm sooo scared." Cynthia, who had just walked in through the doorway, began to say something. Jenna cut her off, and continued, "I bet that that ghost couldn't even lay one of his non-existant fingers on me. In fact, I dare him to even try touching me.

"Do you hear that!" she yelled to the empty kitchen, her impudent tirade reaching its height. "I dare you to just try and do something to me, Ghost! Just -" Jenna was cut off as Evan's hand clasped over her mouth. He had just recovered from his initial shock at her outburst, and had regained enough sense to know he had to shut her up. She screamed into his hand and attempted to bite him, but his hand was strong and steady - her mouth could not break free. She kept on struggling, trying to punch him or get his hand away, but Cynthia came over and grabbed her hands, keeping her from doing even this. Nonetheless, she kept fighting.

"Jenna, stop this!" Cythia commanded. "Be reasonable! I've never seen you act like this!" Jenna was too outraged. She continued rebelling against her captors, doing her best to release herself. The three were so occupied that only Gardenia, who was still at the door, noticed when the temperature of the room dropped dramatically. She let out a small scream, and clutched the decaying doorway as hard as she could.

"Natu!" said the psychic bird urgently from where it was still perched on Evan's head, but Evan appeared not to hear.

"Evan..." Gardenia said, in a very squeaky voice. He didn't hear. She started to say his name again, this time louder, but it was already too late.

Suddenly, Jenna's struggling stopped. Evan immediately let go of her and, realizing something was wrong, called out a Girafarig from one of his pokeballs. Cynthia let go as well, and Jenna seemed to sway in place, as if about to fall over. Her eyes were half closed and had a glazed look to them. Her hands were clenched at her sides. Inside her mind, a fierce battle was taking place. An alien presence had somehow entered her mind and was taking control of her body, and her will was doing all it could to fight it off. It seemed as if her consciousness and the intruder's consciousness were wrestling with each other, both fighting earnestly to get the advantage. But Jenna didn't stand a chance. Whatever this was was bigger, stronger, and much more focused than Jenna's will could handle. A blackness seemed to come upon her awareness like a wet blanket, and just before she lost consciousness, she managed to let out a last thought.

Why is this happening to me?

Inside her mind, a rich, masculine, and cruel-sounding voice answered, Because you invited me. And with that last answer, her mind blacked out.

Thank you for reading part 4 of my story! Unless you just skipped to this little ending blurb, in which case, Shame on you! Anyway, I find this the part where it starts to get really suspenseful. I still hope anyone sho is reading this story is liking it. Yet again, I'll send out my plea for anyone who wants to talk about pokemon (and read some other awesome fanfics as well as join pokemon RPs) to please join 104. com! It's a great site, and since I don't know anyone in real life I can promote it to, you guys are my only hope! Please join!

Also, please review! I've really been trying to improve my writing so that I could one day perhaps get a real book published, but I can't improve without criticism! Whether you absolutely hate or totally love something about my writing, I really would like to know! I got a comment on my last chapter (when I posted it on another site) that I needed to show more of Jenna's character here, which I tried to do. I need to know what you guys (and girls) think!