Disclaimer: Some awesome Japanese guy owns pokemon (I'm fairly sure). I'm not Japanese. I'm not a guy. Though I am fairly awesome, if I do say so myself.
Spirits of the Past
Part 7: The Final Confrontation
They were nearly running in their rush to get to Cynthia. Out of the room, through the hallway, and down the grand staircase Gardenia and Evan went, Gardenia in worry for Cynthia and Evan in a hurry to save the two possessed humans in the building, as well as the spirit of the little girl. They encountered no one on the way down, which was quite a relief to Gardenia, though only as a passing thought. Right now, her mind was focused only on Cynthia. The two had been good friends for a long time; though Cynthia seemed to constantly have things she needed to do, she would always make time if Gardenia wanted to talk. Of course, Cynthia was friendly with all the other gym leaders as well, but to Gardenia it seemed that the two of them had a special bond as compared to the others.
When they arrived in the dining room, they carefully picked there way across the debris that covered the right side of the room and made their way to Cynthia. Evan took a quick check of the fallen pokemon, to make sure that Jenna's pokemon wouldn't start attacking , but all of them were out cold. Gardenia made her way to Cynthia, and dragged her out of the debris. Evan winced.
"You shouldn't be moving her... if she is really injured, you could be making it worse."
Gardenia ignored him, staying focused on her task. As soon as she was clear of the rubble, she gently lowered Cynthia down onto her back. With a frantic eye, she glanced over Cynthia.
"I... I don't think any important bones are broken... Her right arm seems fractured in several places, and her left leg also looks broken. But other than that..." Gardenia let out a gasp. "She's got a scratch on her head! That in itself isn't that bad, but.... What if she has a concussion? We've got to get her medical attention!"
Evan bent down to examine Cynthia. He grabbed her wrist, feeling for a pulse.
"Her heartbeat is weak, but she'll live for a time. As I said, we don't have time for this! Now where does she keep her pokeballs?"
Gardenia was angry, but she hid it well. She knew that she wasn't going to win the argument. Reaching into one of the pockets in the long, stylish black coat that Cynthia always wore, Gardenia pulled out three pokeballs. Without saying a word to Evan, she let the pokemon out. One was a roserade, the pokemon whom the grass gym leader was most familiar with. Another was a gastrodon, of the variety that was pink rather than green. The last one was a ghost that Gardenia really knew nothing about, though she did remember Cynthia mentioning that it was something called a spiritomb.
Gardenia waited for a moment to see if Evan would say anything to the pokemon. This gave the pokemon time to see their trainer, and rush over to her side. Gardenia continued waiting to say anything for a moment longer, and then realized that Evan was leaving dealing with the pokemon up to her. He, of course, was not a battler and was also less acquainted with Cynthia's pokemon.
Gardenia, not knowing any better way to get the attention of the pokemon, gave a little cough. They turned, with murder in their eyes. Gardenia saw that they were blaming her, and quickly took a step back.
"No! I didn't do this! Roserade, you know me! I wouldn't do this to Cynthia!" The pokemon still looked angry, but they seemed to go with what Gardenia was saying. They stayed where they were, waiting for Gardenia to explain. Gardenia, understanding this, continued.
"Well, you see, Cynthia... uhh... well, it's a long story. But we have to get who did this to her! But I'm not strong enough to beat him - er, maybe I mean her... I don't know!" Gardenia was working herself into a fluster now, but she knew what she wanted to get across to the pokemon. "Will two of you come with me so we can defeat the one who did this, while the other remains here and watches over Cynthia?" Roserade stepped forward quietly. It was a sort of strong, silent type, much different than Gardenia's own roselia, who loved to be the center of attention. Gastrodon, too, crawled forward, giving a strange sort of gurgling cry. Spiritomb, whether it had wanted to be or not, was the one left with the job of guarding the unconscious champion.
Gardenia gave a small smile, but it was weak and lacked any sort of conviction. "Thanks. You'll have to listen to me if we do any battling, okay?" Both nodded their heads before returning to their pokeballs, which Gardenia still held in her hands.
The gym leader turned to Evan. Her fear was not gone - in fact, due to how much this butler ghost had done, she was more afraid than ever - but she knew that they had to keep on moving if she wanted to save Cynthia, and that was enough to give her courage, at least for the moment.
"So what do we need to do now? How are we supposed to get those ghosts out of Mia and Jenna?"
Evan seemed to ponder something before replying. "Do you remember what that little girl said? She said she wouldn't pass on without her dad. If we can get the father's spirit to pass on, then hopefully her spirit will leave as well. And while I think the butler's spirit would continue existing in this world if he was the one who managed to get rid of the girl, I think his spirit will disappear if we manage to get the girl to pass on, since he will be unable to complete his original purpose. So we have to find the father's spirit. It has to be here somewhere..."
"What about the creepy statue?" suggested Gardenia, just barely suppressing a shiver.
Evan seemed to brighten somewhat. "There's an idea. Come on, we'll need to check it out." Since they were already in the dining room, it took less than a minute to make their way to the statue. Gardenia stood a little ways away from it, equally tense due to its proximity and the chances of Jenna and her last pokemon coming along. Evan closed his eyes and ran his hands over the statue, ignoring the glare that seemed to come from the strange stone creature's eyes. After about a minute, he opened his eyes and turned back toward Gardenia.
"I... I don't believe this is the father's ghost. It feels... feminine to me, but I can't be certain. I'd like to look in to it more, just in case, but I don't think we have time. Our best bet is to keep on looking and hope that we find a spirit that is without a doubt the girl's deceased father. If we take time here and this turns out not to be the right ghost, the chances of us having the time to find the right ghost dwindle to almost nothing." Gardenia nodded. She had no idea whatsoever how he could tell if a spirit was a guy or a girl, and could therefore had no call on what they should or shouldn't do. Evan walked quickly towards the left set of stairs with Gardenia following close behind. About halfway up the grand staircase, the stairs began to shudder, making loud cracking sounds. Gardenia rushed over to the edge and grabbed the railing, trying to keep a hold of something solid should the center of the stairs collapse.
"Tu." Natu said blankly.
"Shoot! I've already said we don't have time for this!" Evan seemed unconcerned by the tremblings of the stairs beneath him as he began to dig into his pack. "Gardenia, call out that Roserade. We need it with us." Only now he seemed to catch sight of Gardenia, who was holding onto the railing as if her life depended on it, as she thought it did.
"You can let go of that. It's all an illusion, made by some more gastly. Just get out that Roserade so I can give it this." He said harshly, pulling out another cleanse tag that was looped onto a string. Gardenia, unconvinced, kept a tight hold of the railing with one hand as she reached into a pocket and pulled out Roserade's pokeball. When the grass pokemon came out, it quickly went to a battle ready position, as if to combat whatever thing was shaking the stairs. Evan approached, and Gardenia managed to tell the Roserade to let him put the cleanse tag on. As soon as it was dangling from Roserade's neck, the stairs appeared to stop shaking and all went back to as it was before. Gardenia released the railing, thankful that the whole set of stairs had not collapsed. Whatever Evan said, the illusion had seemed real enough to her.
Evan glared at her, seemingly still angry about the delay. "We don't have time to wait around here. Come on." Without another word, he turned and took the steps two at a time, expecting Gardenia and the Roserade to follow. The two glanced at each other before hurrying up behind him, trying to catch up. By the time they had gone through the door at the center of overhanging balcony, Evan was already heading into a room to the right, in between the one at the very end where the floor had collapsed and the room in the center they had been in when Mia had ran past.
"Natu!" The moment Evan was in, the natu let out its alert.
"This is it!" whispered Evan said as Gardenia and Roserade entered the room behind him. He walked forward, more slowly than before, straight towards a portait hanging on the opposite wall of the room. Though faded with age, the subject was easy enough to distinguish. The painting depicted a skinny, middle aged man wearing an old fashioned suit and tie. In one hand he held an ornate cane. His expression was serious, but not unkind. Gardenia hung back at the doorway, knowing that she wanted to avoid any contact with the ghost. As Evan placed his hand upon the painting and closed his eyes, Gardenia looked around nervously. She didn't want to be taken by surprise if Jenna still had one pokemon left.
As she was glancing about, she noticed two shimmering areas in the air, not unlike how the air above a fire seems to waver with the heat. One was to the left side of the room, the other to the right. Her palms sweated as her mind immediately jumped to the only conclusion that made sense to her now fear-driven mind: ghosts.
"Umm... Evan..." Evan remained unmoved, apparently meditating deeply on the painting before him. One hand still remained on the canvas, and his eyes were still loosely shut. Gardenia knew it was important not to disturb him, and so shut her mouth, willing the wavering patches to disappear. That is, until she saw the glowing red eyes that occupied the top half of the shimmers.
"Evan!" She said, this time with more urgency. "There are ghosts in here!" She was already halfway out the door, her body partially hidden by the doorframe. Roserade stood in a battle stance, ready to help Gardenia if something were to attack. Evan jerked out of his trance and whipped around, ready to confront whatever foe there may be. However, instead of getting rid of the ghosts as Gardenia expected, he scowled.
"Those are just some gengar. They're able to get closer because their higher level than the gastly from before. But they can't do anything as long as we've got the cleanse tag on Roserade. Now please, I need to concentrate." Gardenia stayed silent, satisfied with his answer, if not exactly comfortable with having two ghosts in the room - even if they were pokemon. She remained where she was, with her head just barely peeking into the room. She didn't want to be any closer to ghosts than she had to. Roserade, for her part, fired off some sleep powder at the two gengar. neither were hit, but both seemed to leave. For the moment, at least.
It was just then that Gardenia heard a strange sound down the hallway to her left, as well as the cry of a pokemon. She turned her head, barely having time to comprehend the sight in front of her before a blast of fire jetted towards her. She managed to get inside the room before it hit, but felt the fiery air woosh past the doorway immediately behind her. Though he had been concentrating, Evan snapped out of his meditation and turned around to see Gardenia, eyes wide with fear of what nearly happened to her.
"I-I-It's Jenna! She's using a n-ninetails!" gasped Gardenia. She heard the tap of Jenna's feet as she walked quickly down the hall towards the room they were in. Gardenia backed up from the door and stumbled over to where Evan was standing, while Roserade prepared itself for a battle.
Evan turned to Gardenia, whispering urgently. "Listen! I need you to hold her off. I'll send this spir-" He broke off suddenly as the fox pokemon walked into the room and sat calmly a bit in front of the doorway. Evan silently let out a pair of chimecho from their pokeballs, then turned back to the painting, closed his eyes, and began to mumble a chant of some sort. The chimecho stationed themselves on either side of him, and began to give off bell-like peals in unison. Gardenia, preparing for the worst, sent out Cynthia's gastrodon. It would be a better match against a ninetails than a roserade.
It was to this scene - Evan with his back turned, two chimecho chiming eerily, and Gardenia with Roserade and Gastrodon - that Jenna walked into. She stood right behind the ninetails, looking questioningly at Evan.
Jenna smiled a bit, as if amused at the people and pokemon before her. "What are you doing? Trying to delay the -" Jenna's face contorted with rage as the ghost inside her realized what was happening. "Stop! That fool scientist deserves to rot inside that painting. Stop your chanting!" Evan squeezed his eyes tighter, but other than that, showed no sign of having heard.
Jenna's face grew even more wrathful at being ignored. "Amber! Use flamethrower on that man!"
"Gastrodon, use water gun to stop the flamethrower!" Gardenia shouted. The two attacks colided in midair, causing the air to fill with steam. Gardenia could barely see through the thick vapor, and the only thing she could identify clearly was the sound of the constant chiming from behind her.
Jenna's voice now rang out from the other side of the room. "Amber, use fire blast where you were aiming before!"
"Gastrodon! Block it again!" More steam filled the room, though Gardenia could tell that the attacks hadn't toally cancelled each other out. She heard a cry from the ninetails on the other side of the room and realized it must have been hit. Then she felt searing pain on her right arm as flames burned through the cloth of her sleeve. The ninetails had sent out a flamethrower in quickly after the fire blast, but had misaimed because of the water attack that had hit it. Her eyes watered witht he pain, and she bit her lip to keep herself from crying out.
Trying to ignore the pain of the burnt skin, Gardenia shouted blindly into the steam. "Ninetails! Do you really want to do this? We can help your trainer, but you have to stop attacking us!" Gardenia was rewarded with a mis-aimed fire blast, this time burning the bare skin of her right leg. She cried out as she collapsed, shocked by the attack and unable to keep weight on her leg. But she knew she couldn't just sit there for long. The steam was beginning to clear, and now she could see a few feet in front of her.
Jenna's laugh - a cruel, harsh sound, due to the ghost controlling it - rang out through the room. "Amber is smarter than all of this girl's other pokemon! She knows exactly what she wants: power. She doesn't care if her trainer is possessed or not, as long as she can become more powerful."
Gardenia took this short rant as an opportunity to attack. "Hydro Pump, Gastrodon!" With the steam clearing, Gastrodon had a much better idea of where to aim. The jet of water shot from it's mouth, towards where Jenna had been talking. There was still enough steam that Gardenia couldn't tell what happened to the ninetails, but she did hear a shout from Jenna as she was propelled backwards, into the hallway. Finally, the steam cleared. Amber was standing off to one side of the room, having apparently dodged the attack. Jenna was struggling to her feet in the hallway, having been slammed up against the far wall. She staggered into the room and glared at the ninetails.
"Why are you just standing there? Use psychic!" Jenna ordered. The fox's eyes glowed red as the gastrodon was raised into the air, unable to do anything about it.
Since when can fire pokemon use psychic? Gardenia thought. She was just about to order Roserade forward to attack when several things happened at once. Gastrodon was dropped fromt he air. It landed heavily, but neither it nor the floor seemed too damaged. Next to her, Gardenia heard the chiming stop and saw Evan turn his back to the wall and slide to a sitting position on the wall, breathing heavily. Amber turned gracefully towards Jenna, staring at her intently.
"What are you doing? Attack them!" Jenna shouted. "Use flame-" Jenna stopped midword, and her face suddenly became disfigured with anger and pain. But only for a moment. Then her face became expressionless as her eyes fluttered closed and she passed out, her ninetails coming forward to break the fall. Amber gently lowered her trainer to the ground, then sat calmly by her side.
Gardenia looked around, first at Evan, then at the ninetails and Jenna, and then back to Evan. Obviously, something had happened.
"What's going on? What did you do?" She asked Evan.
Evan let his breathing slow a bit more before replying.
"It's over. It's finally over."
Well, I'll have an epilogue after this, and maybe a straight-forward explanation of my theory on the events of The Old Chateau in the game, but other than that, this is finished. I'd like to thank Murkrowfeather and GirlWaterShaman for being the only two people who have reviewed this so far. I'm glad to know that you like it! Also, though he won't see it, thanks to waveguidesquirtle, who I think is the only one reading this at the forum I wrote it for and was inspired by, poketto[dot]proboards104[dot]com.
Also, brief summary on Amber - she is the main villain in the RP I have going at the poketto forum, which is entitled "the Price of Power." (waveguidesquirtle is the only other one who posts in that, other than myself) Her name just comes from the word ember, which is a fire pokemon attack as well as a word that just makes me think of fire. I love ninetails with a passion. They're so beautiful... and mine are usually delectably evil, as well. If you can tell by the ending, Amber (for this fanfic, perhaps not for the RP) is not totally uncaring, but she wasn't an idiot - she had enough psychic ability to know that her trainer was possessed, and that it wouldn't do her trainer any good if she didn't obey. Though she is power hungry, she retains some loyalty to Jenna for making her as powerful as she currently is.
Anyway, thanks again for reading, please stick around for the epilogue!