Jake and Serena woke up late the next morning to surprisingly bright and blue skies. The sound of bird Pokémon chirping could be heard outside the window and wild Pokémon were running through the Parfum gardens again.

"Good morning," Jake said with a yawn as he extended his arms in the air stretching. "Sleep well last night?" Jake laughed as he looked down at the fancy bed designed for royalty they had slept on last night.

"Better than I've ever slept in my life," Serena said. "Seriously, how much do you think this bed even costs?"

Jake got up and looked out the window to see that the outside had been greatly flooded from the storm, but the palace's staff had already begun cleaning the garden to its original state.

Jake and Serena showered and got ready for their big day. They headed downstairs, surprised to find that a buffet-style brunch was being served to the palace's overnight visitors. They grabbed a quick brunch and then headed out the palace front doors to Route 6, thanking Count Hamilton for his hospitality on the way out.

There was a straight path leading south from the palace. Trees aligned the walkway on each side creating a canopy of tree branches and leaves that hung overhead. Light shone through the openings illuminating the walkway. Jake looked on either side of the path as they walked and saw that the fields outside the garden had been completely flooded.

"Hey!" Serena said excitedly pointing forward. "Isn't that Ty?"

"Yeah, I guess it––" Jake was interrupted as Serena dashed excitedly toward Ty, waving her arms to get his attention.

"Hey! Ty! Behind you! It's us!" She shouted.

Ty turned around and stopped uncomfortably in his tracks at Serena's outburst. Squirtle jumped from his shoulder and ran into Serena's arms, happy to see his new friend again.

"Uhh, what's going on?"

Serena caught up with Ty and then shoved him slightly so that he was now walking along the path with her. "Heading to Lumiose City with you. I mean, that's where you're going, right?" Ty nodded, taken aback by Serena's pushiness. Serena turned back and gestured for Jake to follow. "Come one Jake!" Jake ran ahead and caught up with the two, walking between Serena and Ty toward Camphrier Town.

The sun was setting by the time the trio reached Camphrier Town, and none of them had eaten since brunch at that palace that morning. The three of them stopped at a café for dinner and then headed to the PokeCenter to book a room for the night. The three of them spent the next few hours talking about their upcoming journey before finally heading to bed.

Jake laid in bed restless. He tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. There was too much on his mind. Tomorrow, Jake would be receiving his very first Pokémon ever, and officially begin his journey as a Pokémon trainer. Since he was young, Jake always dreamed of being a Pokémon trainer. If he had had it his way, Jake would have left the house at ten years old to start his journey, but money was tight in his family, and he thought it best to leave at a later age, saving money to get his journey started.

Unable to sleep, Jake quietly got out of bed, slipped some clothes on and headed outside. He sat on the porch steps of the PokeCenter, gazing at the moon, dreaming of his journey.

The PokeCenter doors opened behind Jake. Startled, he turned around to see Ty. "Something wrong?" Ty asked, sitting down next to Jake.

"Nahh. Just thinking," Jake said calmly.

"About?..." Ty said, raising his eyebrows as he pried for more.

"I dunno, I guess I'm just kind of nervous to be getting my first Pokémon tomorrow. I've dreamed of doing this forever, but now I'm just starting to question myself"

Ty smiled and put his arm around Jake. "Don't do that," he said. "You've already made it this far. I mean, I know it's not a huge feat, but you travelled from Ambrette Town to Camphrier Town without a Pokémon. Once you get your starter, things will only get easier from there."

Jake smiled and rested his head on Ty's shoulder. Ty held him closer and the two sat in silence, staring up at the moon. Kricketots could be heard chirping from the nearby bushes, Hoothoot were cooing in the trees and the faint cry of a Murkrow sounded in the distance. The cries of nocturnal Pokémon came to an abrupt stop, being replaced moments later by a deep rumbling in the distance.

"Another storm?" Jake asked.

"No," Ty said listening intently. "I think it…a minor tremor."

Jake heard a loud clang and turned to see a shadowy figure bolting toward the northern end of the town.

"Did you see that?!" Jake asked jumping to his feet.

"No, what was it?" Ty asked. Jake took off in pursuit of the figure and Ty followed after.

"Jake! Wait! I don't have Squirtle with me!"

The silhouette was much slower than the two, and as they got closer, Jake could make out the figure was a man in a suit of armor, running directly at Camphrier Town's Shabboneau Castle.

"Hey! Stop!" Jake shouted.

The man in armor ignored, and ran directly into the castle's doors, but instead of opening them, he ran directly through them, as if he was transparent.

"Huh?" Jake and Ty stopped dead in their tracks, confused at what they just saw. Ty walked to the castle doors and tried opening them. "They're locked," he said nervously.

"Did we just see a…ghost?" Jake asked.

Ty frowned. "I'm not really sure what we just saw, but I think we should get out of here."

The two ran back to the PokeCenter and crawled into their beds. Exhausted, Jake had no problems falling to sleep.

***

"Where were you guys last night?" Serena asked early the next morning after waking them up. "I woke up from the tremors and you two were gone. What happened?"

Jake and Ty told the story of the ghostly encounter to Serena, who was very interested in the story. "I'm gonna ask Nurse Joy if she's heard anything about this armored man," she said.

Serena bolted out of the hotel room and down the hall toward the center's lobby. "Serena, slow down!" they shouted chasing after her.

"Nurse Joy! Nurse Joy!" she shouted, throwing herself to lean over the PokeCenter counter.

"Yes dear?" Nurse Joy asked with a smile.

"Well, my friends were outside last night when the tremor happened and—" Nurse Joy interrupted.

"Oh, are your friends ok?" Nurse Joy asked with a concerned tone in her voice.

Jake and Ty walked up. "Yes, we're fine but—" Joy interrupted Jake.

"Yeah, it's been strange lately," Joy said. "Tremors have been occurring more and more frequently in this area, and storms have only been getting
more violent. I'm sorry I don't really have any more information on last night's tremor."

The trio paused for a second. It was true that Kalos had been experiencing a lot more natural disasters lately.

"Yeah that's strange, but what Serena is trying to tell you as that after the tremor, we saw something odd," Jake said.

Joy's expression suddenly turned to a more serious one. "What was it?" she asked.

"Well, we saw a man in a suit of armor, and he ran through the doors into Shabboneau Castle.

Joy took a second to think before responding. "You know, you're not the first ones to tell me that story," she said.

"Huh?" Ty said.

"Lately townsfolk and travellers alike have been sharing tales of a mysterious man in a knight's suit of armor roaming the streets at night," Nurse Joy said. "The general consensus is that it's some sort of apparition."

"How long has this been going on for?" Ty asked.

"Come to think of it, I'd say the sightings started around the same time that these tremors have," Joy responded.

"You know what?" Ty said. "I think what we saw really must have been a ghost."

"Creepy," Serena said.

"Yeah, anyway, let's head to Lumiose City. We're supposed to be at the lab at 4 to pick up our Pokémon," Jake said.

The trio left and then made their way onto Route 5 toward Lumiose City.