"Thank you for coming to speak with me," Haruto Kannagi said to the other individual in his office. It was shortly after eleven at night. Almost every other resident of the shrine was in bed.

"No worries, Master Haruto," Priestess Satomi Kurusu chuckled. He was glad that she had answered his call to meet at this hour. "Good festival tonight, huh?"

He nodded. "That it was." Each one that the shrine hosted had been livelier than the last. Day by day, they were attracting more regular visitors. Some of whom had even expressed interest in serving the gods.

Satomi grinned. "Gotta say, knew your plan to branch out would work. But didn't think it'd work this nicely."

"It is, of course, only the first step."

"Every journey begins with one step. The next one's keeping the new worshipers."

Of course. But that was not what he wanted to discuss. He segued into that subject. "Prema did well tonight."

"That she did. She put all her doubts aside and focused on her role." She drummed rhythmically with her fingers on the side of the chair. "She's made of stronger stuff than she thinks."

It was promising, but did not dispel all of his doubts. Before he could get into them, Satomi brought it up herself.

"Lemme guess, called me in to talk about how she's been lately?"

"Yes."

"Well, sometimes, you get something in your head you have to talk about before you can sleep." She flashed a grin. "Got the gist of your motives here?"

He shook his head. "Only partially." While it was true that he needed to get it off his chest, it wasn't so urgent that he needed to right away. "It was more a matter of convenience to do it now."

Her eyebrows raised up for a moment, but she smiled. She understood, this was something for her ears alone. "Well, let's hear it."

The shrine's Master cut straight to the point. "This primarily regards Prema's second attempt at dealing with the spirit."

"Say no more," she said. "I know what to do if things go wrong."

Haruto smiled at the ever-reliable priestess. "Thank you, Satomi."

The expectation was that Prema would need more than one attempt. It was not unusual. But that Akari Schrader threw a wrench into their plans. Although they had contained the situation, they could no longer afford to let Prema fail. If it meant covering for her, there was no helping it. This next attempt had to succeed, at least as far as the public knew.

"Of course, we're gonna do everything to make sure I won't have to."

"Of course," he repeated. This was one of Prema's tasks. Suitable opportunities for them did not come easily. It was not only a matter of being worthy in the eyes of the public. She also needed to prove herself to the gods.

"Shame it has to be this way, though, huh?"

Haruto lowered his head. Painful memories began to resurface.

"Ah, sorry," she apologized, rubbing her hair. "I didn't mean why she's an only child, I was talking about the rest of your family."

He sighed. "I know you meant nothing by it, Satomi."

The Kannagi family had once been prominent, in no danger of being without a blood heir to the shrine. How greatly things had changed in the span of two generations. Some had split off into derivative faiths or left due to disputes. Others departed for their own reasons. Haruto himself felt responsible for alienating the few who remained. Then, it happened, leaving only himself and his daughter. He wondered what his ancestors thought of his actions. It was difficult to sense them and he could feel neither approval nor disapproval when he did.

They had plans in place, should the worst come to pass. Priest Warutsu's appointment as head of the original shrine was part of a trial run. Though the Kannagi Shrine would persevere even without Prema, it was not an avenue they preferred to go down. The Mitsutri Shrine was never the same after their family stepped back from leadership, even ignoring their actions. There were some family members Haruto had thought of reaching out to if need be. Whether they would accept was another question.

"Thank you for sticking with me, Satomi. Words cannot express my gratitude for all you've done, and have yet to do." The shrine was not lacking in the faithful, but rare were those like Satomi Kurusu who were truly devoted.

"You're quite welcome, Master Haruto. I am, after all, a humble servant of the Kannagi Shrine."

He tensed as the elderly woman bowed before him. Perhaps he was reading too much into it, but he wanted to clear things up. "Satomi, might I ask a question of you?"

She gestured almost flippantly with a flick of a hand. "Ask away, Master Haruto."

Haruto took a deep breath and prepared for the worst. "What are your honest thoughts on how I've been running the shrine the past decade?"

There it was. His greatest source of concern. While almost no one but his remaining family had left the shrine because of him, his decisions were ultimately responsible for this potential succession crisis. Haruto knew there were those who disagreed with his decisions, the biggest sticking point being his expansion. Some hid their discontent better than others. Even some who had supported it had questioned why he had not stayed at the original location, unswayed by his argument that his presence showed investment. Where did Priestess Satomi stand on the matter? She had never given him a clue, and her initial steely silence was unnerving.

"Well, Haruto." She was one of the few members of the shrine who he allowed to call him by simply his first name. Her frank tone made him sit up and take notice. "There is one thing you must remember. The Kannagi Shrine has always been about breaking new ground and paving new paths. It has been that way since its conception. The way I see it, the decisions you have been making lately are no different. Throughout the history of the shrine, there have been many Masters that simply served. Only a handful can say they made a difference. And as bitter a pill as it was for your present family to swallow, I am sure your ancestors are as proud of you as I am."

The man exhaled. He had always worried if Satomi stayed on only out of loyalty, and to hear her approval was a relief. He was about to express his gratitude when there came a sudden knock at the door.

"Master Haruto Kannagi!" came a voice just loud enough to be heard. The man used the most formal form of his name.

"What is it, Monk Naito?" A man of great devotion, one who had earned his title by his willingness to serve as a night watch. The Kannagis had a long tradition of respecting sensible sacrifice, and being willing to give up life at normal hours to protect the shrine was one such thing.

"I apologize for the intrusion, but we have a situation outside." He sounded more frustrated than concerned.

"What kind of situation?" he pressed the guard. "And why did it involve leaving your station?"

"That Nori Carino character's at the gate. He's insisting to see Lady Kannagi and refusing to leave. What should we do?"

Haruto crossed his arms. While he had many virtues, Naito struggled with his anger. He had to grow as a person if he wished to attain the title of Priest in the future.

The head of the shrine didn't even need to glance at Satomi. She asked the question that he would have asked. "So why's he asking to see her?"

Naito was silent for a second. Likely thrown off by Satomi answering. "He claimed," the guard spat with utter disbelief, "That it's important to what Lady Kannagi is doing. He demanded to see either of you if he couldn't see Lady Kannagi."

"Seems reasonable enough," the elderly woman spoke more quietly and threw up her arms. She turned on her heels and almost leaned over his desk. "Well? Whaddaya say? Tell him to come back in the morning? Let him through? Or just throw'em out? Up to you, Chief."

Haruto took a moment to consider the situation and the circumstances. Nori Carino, the Pokemon Rehabilitator. Prema's first real friend. A passionate individual who could be discourteous, yet was also forthright. He would have known better than to ask to meet this late, yet did so regardless. The question was why? Haruto guessed it was something Carino felt he needed to say as soon as possible.

Haruto gave his answer. "We will allow this. Satomi, go see if Prema is awake. If she is not, I will speak with him and see what it is about." Carino was claiming he had something important to tell Prema, and Haruto was inclined to believe that it was the case. If it was not, however…

A wry smile fell upon Satomi, as though she had expected his reply. "Consider it done."

"And, thank you once more." Her reassurance meant a lot. He would have liked to speak with her for longer, such as about the situation with Ms. Yaznik. But it couldn't be helped.

"Anytime." She opened the door and strutted out, giving a wave to the dumbstruck guard outside.

"But Master Haruto Kannagi…" Monk Naito began to say, trailing off partway. "This boy is–"

He raised a palm to silence the man. "This is the decision I have made. Go tell him either myself or Prema will be out to join him shortly." He gave a stern frown, and added, "And do so respectfully." He had no illusions about who was being disrespectful to whom.

The man bowed. "Y-yes, Master Haruto Kannagi." He closed the door and hurried off.

Haruto leaned back as he was left in solitude. He supposed another reason for allowing this was to avoid hypocrisy. After all, he had called Satomi here so late. There was a difference in how the Pokemon Rehabilitator was being tactless about it, yet that was part of the reason Haruto why could not dislike him. He sort of reminded him of…well. That was ultimately unimportant at the moment, and again, something he wanted to avoid thinking about.

It was the dead of night, and Prema could not sleep. Her stomach was churning, her head was spinning, and she couldn't not stop thinking about things.

The Tsukimi celebrations had gone well. She managed to perform her duties to the fullest in spite of being unable to personally enjoy the festival. The cloud of her failure did not appear to have a significantly negative impact on matters. Yet she could not help but wonder if it had dissuaded some individuals who otherwise would have attended. After all, who would want to pledge upon a shrine whose heir was inept? At least the visitors were none the wiser about her weak emotional state.

Though the time spent with her faithful companions had done much to ease her anxiety, it was far from a panacea. She supposed it was merely a temporary distraction. Her second encounter with the spirit loomed, getting closer with each passing second, and even with Taiyoko's insight, Prema was uncertain how it would play out.

She was the sole successor to the Kannagi Shrine. Prema believed that was the only reason she was given a second chance. Such an egregious failing could never be overlooked otherwise, in spite of it being the norm to restore lost honor where believed capable. Priestess Satomi's statement was likely only indicative of the situation the shrine was in. Its only heir was woefully unprepared for simple evil spirits. Any competent shrine maiden would have no problem exorcising them. Was all her work these past fifteen years truly for naught? What would happen if she continued to prove an incapable head of the shrine?

"Knock, knock."

"Ah!" Prema nearly jumped out of bed. What was Priest Satomi doing here? "Yes?"

A chuckle escaped her elderly mentor's mouth. "Guess you're awake after all. You've got a visitor, Lady Kannagi."

She sat up properly. "At this hour?" she pondered, staring vacantly at the door. Her mind raced with the possibilities.

"At this late hour!" she verified. "Nori Carino's here, way past both your bedtimes, heh. Says it's important, related to your task."

Nori, her closest friend. Ordinarily, his presence was a pleasant comfort to Prema, for he was the one person who never judged her for her status. She was unsure if she wanted to accept. Both due to the time, and not wanting him to see her in her current condition.

"I…" She stuttered. "Should I?"

"If you don't want to, that's fine."

Nori was here with something important. Prema's better judgment took over. Why it had to be now was what intrigued her. Her only guess was that it was an attempt to avoid the day guards. Whatever the case, there was still a part of her that wanted to see him regardless.

"I will," she said, rising from the futon. "Tell him I will see him shortly."

A chuckle. "I'm sure he'll be happy to hear that."

He would be. She had to make herself look presentable first, starting with changing into her robe. As she did so, something occurred to the green-haired girl. She mentally rehearsed what to say if it was what she suspected: that he wanted to accompany her. No doubt, he was going to be unhappy with her answer. She needed to prepare herself for his response.

Nori was standing outside near the door leading in, wearing a jacket and his backpack. He perked up immediately upon seeing her. She nodded at Monk Naito and dismissed him before turning to her friend.

"Prema!" he said. "Um, good…evening, I guess."

"Good evening, Nori," she said as Monk Naito moved towards the torii. "What did you wish to speak to me about this late?" She was curious as to why Father and Priestess Satomi permitted this. Did they know what this important thing was?

He tapped his left foot. "Well, I'll just get right to it. This is about the thing you're doing at the warehouse. I wanted to help you out."

Prema frowned. It was what she thought after all. "Nori," she told him firmly. She needed to shut down this idea as soon as possible. "If you wish to accompany me, I must refuse."

"That's not what I came here for!" he shouted. Realizing his tone, he turned away and pressed his index fingers together. "Um, I mean, sorry. But if you want me to, I will!"

As much as she was flattered by the offer, she had to force herself to shake her head. "Nori, I…" She exhaled. "I cannot."

His fists lightly tightened. "Why not?" he asked curiously.

"You do not belong to our shrine," she explained. She felt a crushing tightness in her throat as she elaborated, "You cannot accompany us on business." It was best to give a simple justification.

"Forget your rules! Prema, I, well. I just…" Jittering, he glanced back and forth. He huffed, nearly a snivel. "I'm worried you'll get hurt, okay?!"

"I will not," she said, standing tall yet needing to swallow her doubts. It was a facade he might see through, but she put it on regardless. She followed up with a wholly truthful statement. "I myself do not want to risk another friend getting injured."

With that, he spun on his heels and began to walk away. For a few fleeting moments, Prema feared she had made an irreconcilable mistake. Her legs tingled and her throat closed up. She thought she was prepared, but she was not.

Until Nori stopped, buried his head in his hands, and shook his head. "Never mind, never mind then. It was just a thought. I have something to show you that's related, that's really what I came here for."

She froze. He only wanted to show her something? She had jumped to a false conclusion. Prema knew it, she was not in a good state of mind. She pressed a hand to her chest, trying to steady her heartbeat. "Do you mean something related to the spirits at the warehouse?" she asked for confirmation.

He nodded slowly. "Yeah," he said, wiping a tear from his left eye. "It took a while to dig up, but I think you need to see this."

The young official reached into his bag and pulled out a stack of papers. After smoothing out the creases, he shuffled beside her. He retrieved a miniature flashlight from his pocket and shone it on the pages as he passed them over.

[center][/center]

Nori thought back to what led to this. He got some help from his best friend back in Sunyshore. Her connections let him do the research he needed to help Prema and sate his own curiosity about the incident. One of the things Arumi had done was help him meet with her aunt. He brought what he had already found to her, with the hope she could fill in the blanks.

"Konrad Guhl. Aged 21," said Akari Schrader. He kept his opinion on what she'd done to himself. "Passed away in November 2014, along with his three of his Pokemon. Crushed underneath a stack of crates that collapsed on him." She was reading over some news articles. "That was the first attack."

"The first of many," the young official chimed in. She gave him a wry smirk. "It was also the only fatal one."

"The next attack took place in January 2015."

"Wait, I wanted to talk about that first attack first." He knew the gist of the second one anyway. A homeless person and his Houndour got attacked when taking shelter there. "What can you tell me about it?"

"It went largely unreported, at the family's request." Akari shook her head dismissively. As if the very notion of keeping news quiet was absurd. "What I do know is they launched a wrongful death suit behind the scenes, blaming the owners and construction company."

"It would've been funny if they tried to sue the ghost. How would they even collect if they won?" He paused, realizing the possible implications. "Is that what you call a cover-up?"

"I guess you could see it as one if you really wanted." The woman shrugged. "Both parties wanted it kept quiet. Even my contacts couldn't tell me much. A lot of it went on behind closed doors with the lawyers. The two sides reached a settlement on February 17th. The owners resold the property to recoup their losses."

Nori nodded. "Per the law, property owners are responsible for any wild Pokemon activity on their land. They can and have been sued for attacks that happen there." He knew facts like that from his studies.

"It's bait for frivolous lawsuits," Akari dismissed.

True. The law was just vague enough in that regard. Although most judges knew better than to enforce it that way. That said, the fact that the ghosts were still there didn't make the previous owners and the new ones look good.

"Frankly," the reporter remarked. "I'm not surprised it took the city this long to do anything. They could brush off trespassing youths and bums getting attacked, but not those workers." Yes, there were several attacks, but none as high-profile as the last two.

Was she trying to get proof the ghosts were there? "Is that why you decided to spy on…I mean, stake the place out?"

Akari smiled shamelessly. "That, and be the first one to report on the exorcism. I wasn't expecting to get a story like that out of it, though."

Nori's lip curled. He wanted to rip into her, but knew it'd be dumb. Besides, he heard others already were anyway for her methodology and bystander syndrome. He got back on subject. "What else can you tell me about the first accident? Anything about Mr. Guhl?" He was thinking maybe there was some sort of pattern to the attacks.

"I dug into his background when there was nothing better to find out," the reporter replied. "He was working at a construction firm to save up enough money for a trip to Europe, likely to see his family's home region. He took a less-is-more approach to Pokemon training. He never went on a journey, but people at the battle spots said he'd stated his eventual intent to. His best Pokemon was his Sinnohian Zoroark, but he was also known for his Crobat and Dusclops. Those were his only three–"

"Wait." He'd heard that before. "A Zoroark, a Crobat, and a Dusclops?"

"Yes," she confirmed. "Some speculate he was taking inspiration from Agatha of the Kanto Elite Four. Namely, with the Ghost and Poison types. Like I was saying, him having only three instead of at least six got him some attention."

She went on, somehow not seeing the connection. Which worked for Nori, since she'd probably complicate things by pushing out another article. But those were the three Pokemon in the warehouse! They were his Pokemon!

[center][/center]

Zoroark, Crobat, Dusclops. Prema closed her eyes. Normally, when a Poke Ball is destroyed, the Pokemon within is released as a fail-safe. This was also implemented to bypass irreparable opening mechanisms. But in cases such as crushing where the energy – and thus the Pokemon's physical form – has nowhere to go, the Pokemon can pass on as a result.

There was other information there, such as how the rumors of the warehouse being haunted began and all the known attacks. Some of it appeared to be Nori's own thoughts. But the information on the Pokemon and their trainer was noted as the most important.

"This is very illuminating," she mused. Could the phantoms indeed be the Pokemon of a deceased trainer? Taiyoko had mentioned the unlikelihood of those three species uniting in the wild. Sharing a trainer in their former life would be a possible connection.

"I had to get some help and really search for this." Nori had calmed like she had. At least, he was as calm as he normally was. "They sort of buried it."

"I see," she remarked. There could be any number of reasons as to why the information was hard to find. The family wanting privacy, for example. "If this is true, it would explain many things."

Still, there were other unknown variables, such as their motivations or the incongruous emotions she felt coming from the ghosts. She also had yet to see the Dusclops. Prema did believe the case he presented was the most likely possibility. But she could not take it as 100% factual yet.

"Did you see the guy's name, too?" he asked, pointing to it on the article.

Although uncertain of the significance, she nonetheless repeated it aloud. "Konrad Guhl. What of it?"

He shook his head. "Not like gull. It's properly pronounced like ghoul."

It was like a flash of light had blinded her, yet opened her eyes to reality as the glare faded. "Guhl…" she repeated, the realization sinking in. "Is that what Nariya was saying?"

"Yeah, the construction guy said it too." Yes, he was the one who found them after the attack. "And Nariya told me she heard it shouted in her head. So that's what I'm thinking it is."

It could have been a coincidence that the spirits were of the same species. But their victims saying the trainer's name? Nariya hearing it in her mind? That erased all doubt, even with the unanswered questions. "So they are his Pokemon."

"Not just them."

Prema could admit to being mystified. "Nori, is there something else?"

Nori put his hands on his hips. He stood up straight, although his eyes flicked away for a second as he spoke. "Well, I'm not sure if this is how ghosts and spirits and stuff really work. I don't even know if this will help you or make a difference. But I think given all these things, you might be dealing with a trainer's ghost."