Wow this story's been on hiatus way too long. Okay. This chapter's short and a little shaky, but it sets me up for whatever I decide to do next. I'll try and get it back up and running.
Reaper, Death of Spirit, observed the hourglass curiously. The wood frame had darkened until it was almost black, and the sand had become an incandescent purple. The top bulb was long since empty, but what sand there was swirled in the bottom, a miniature sandstorm.
It was unprecedented. It had never happened. In the history of the Pokémon world, many had cheated Death. Some had laughed in their faces. A select few had even managed to come back to life, some more than once. But this was simply unheard of.
He was dead. He was alive. He was both. He was neither. None of them could explain it.
Reaper set the glass down on its shelf and sighed. Where is he now?
Two Duskull faded into view. One was white, and his mask had no teeth and only one hole for the eye. The other was red and had no mask at all. The white one spoke.
We don't know. He's been everywhere the past few months, and he-
The other picked up the sentence. -is impossible to detect except with conventional senses. Sight, hearing…
That kind of thing.
Reaper drummed his fingers against his scythe and turned back to the hourglass. There was a flash of lightning among the swirling sands.
At the summit of Mt. Pyre, a tall man in a black cloak was digging. The fog obscured the sun, shrouding the island in twilight even at noon. He still wore sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat.
The old man watching him found that suspicious. Of course, anyone carrying a shovel into a graveyard was instantly suspect, and the fact that he was, at this moment, digging up a grave was cause for concern as well.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" the old man shouted.
The stranger stood up straight. Even standing in a foot-deep ditch, the old man had to look up to see the glasses.
"I am digging." He paused. "Perhaps you'd like to help?"
"Help? Help? No, I don't want to help!"
"Pity. I'd get done so much faster, right Wisp?" The stranger kicked at an odd-looking lantern that was sitting at his feet. It did not respond.
The old caretaker pulled the shovel from the stranger's arms. There was a curious sound, but he was too angry to acknowledge it. "Listen, you! This is grave robbing! That's illegal, that is! This is a place of respect and mourning, not a blasted flea market! What's wrong with you?"
"Well at the moment, you've torn my arm off."
There was a skeletal arm clinging to the shovel. The old man stared for a second before dropping it, jumping away and shrieking rather like a small girl.
The bones released the tool and clattered towards the tall man. They vanished under his pant legs and a moment later his coat sleeve regained its shape.
The tall man tipped his hat. "My apologies, sir. I assure you that I have a very good reason for digging up this grave. This poor Milotic was buried here, but her mate is buried in Lavender Town, over in Kanto. I'm attempting to reunite them, forever in the grave, as in the afterlife. And Milotic bones are substantially easier to transport than Gyarados bones."
The old man forced himself to calm down. He was a grave keeper. He'd seen plenty of weird things, but this ranked in the Top 5. "W-Why?" he managed.
"Oh, well, they're smaller. They have much more vertebrae, but Milotic are rather lightweight compared to Gyarados. Then there's the fact that-"
"I mean, why are you doing all that?"
The stranger paused again. His concealed face made it hard to tell, but he seemed faintly amused. "She asked me to, of course."
The grave keeper turned away and covered his face, moaning. Get a grip. Crazies come up here all the time. Remember Team Magma? He turned back.
They were gone. The stranger and his lantern had vanished, and the grave was empty. The old man sprinted over. No, not quite empty…
He pulled the slip of paper out of the hole and read it.
It said: Xavier von Castel, Dead Man Walking.
Xavier stamped the dirt down hard. "Mr. Fuji certainly was cooperative, wasn't he Wisp?"
Yeah, well, you were standing right there with a bag of bones slung over your shoulder.
Xavier glared at the Lampent. "I told you already, I didn't know about that tear in the bag."
Sure, sure. Wisp snickered. But man, the look on his face when her skull fell out… priceless!
"Yes, how droll."
So what now?
"I need to rest now. It's been several days since I last slept, and I'm beginning to fatigue."
Alright. Where to?
They set up camp in the woods. As always, the forest around them was utterly silent. Xavier had a disquieting effect on wild Pokémon.
The skeleton had unwrapped his skull. "Wisp, I agree with you that the new hat looks good, and it matches your helmet thing nicely, but it tends to get in the way of this process."
Wisp shrugged.
Xavier pulled off said hat and waved a hand. Five green Dusk Balls floated out and circled him for a moment. A flick of his wrist sent them flying, releasing their occupants.
A Sableye, Golette, Driftloon, Rotom, and Gastly formed from the beam of darkness. The Golette immediately grabbed the Driftloon's strings to keep her from blowing away, and the Sableye clambered onto Xavier's shoulder.
"Get settled everyone! Tommorow we return to Unova."
What? I thought we were going to see Saffron! the Sableye whined.
"Sorry Ruby, but I'm afraid not."
The Rotom, Gremlin, piped up. Why not? I'd wipe the floor with that Gym! Heheheh!
"No. We've only got two Gym badges, and We'll have to face Lenora at some point. I'd rather do it now and get it over with. I'm fairly certain Gym leaders build their teams based on how many badges you have, and I'd rather not face her at her strongest."
Six expectant faces watched him.
"…and also Sabrina scares me."
Again, sorry it's short. I don't know much paranormal stuff. Any suggestions, I'd love to hear.