Once again, I do not own Scooby Doo or Pokémon. Please do not sue me.
It was absolute chaos. The Scooby gang was trapped in the eye of a storm of wind and flames as objects from around the room were flung around with Psychic. Velma and Fred dodge a pair of vases while Shaggy and Scooby hit the floor to avoid getting clotheslined by a lamp.
"Like, we're done for!" Shaggy cries out, trembling hands over his head. "There's nowhere to run!" The malefic maelstrom whips up some more as the ghosts surrounding them maintain a look of pure wicked glee as they assail the terrified teenagers, losing themselves in the frenzy of their own mayhem.
"Not yet we aren't!" Fred yells out over the bedlam. "Everyone, on my signal, make a run for the door!" Everyone looked toward the door Fred was pointing at to the east of them. "NOW!" The gang made a mad dash for the door. The swarm of spooks reacts almost immediately, raising the power of Ominous Wind to its maximum. Despite that, Fred, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby manage to reach the door with some struggle.
Daphne was right behind them when a stray seat cushion from the couch struck her square in the stomach with enough force to send her flying to the opposite end of the room, her back slamming right into a large cabinet with a sharp thud. "Daphne!" Fred yelled. He and Velma moved to grab their friend but had to dodge a stray Will-o-Wisp at the last second. Daphne was struggling to get up off the floor while trying to get the air back into her lungs. However, the force of her collision with the cabinet caused it to teeter off balance, rocking it back before it lurched forward and began to topple over.
"DAPHNE!" the group of friends screamed. They all began to rush over to her but were too far away to make it in time. Time seems to slow down for a moment, as they seemingly can only watch as their friend gets flattened. They were so focused on her that they barely noticed something rush past their heads in a turquoise blur. Daphne looks up and gasps, still unable to move. She closes her eyes and holds her arms over her head to brace herself for the impact. But it never comes. Daring to peak, she slowly lowers her arms and looks up at her unexpected savior.
"Miiiiiiisssssss," it groans as the cabinet and drawers are held in place mid-fall. Misdreavus floated above her head, its red eyes tinged with a light blue aura as it uses Psychic to place the cabinet back into place.
Both sides came to a halt. Fred, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby-Doo watch in surprise as one of the apparitions that was threatening them just a minute ago has just now seemingly protected one of their own, while the other ghosts have snapped out of their self-induced frenzy as they watched their friend save the human. The storm created by Ominous Wind began to weaken. Misdreavus turns to its friends with a look of aggravation on its face. "What are you guys doing?! We're supposed to scare them, not kill them! What would she think if we actually hurt someone?"
The gang couldn't understand a single thing the small ghost was saying, but whatever was said seemed to have an impact on its fellow spirits. They winced in shock, as some of them looked around the room as if just realizing what they were doing. For a solid minute, everyone just froze; even Scooby and Shaggy, despite wanting to run away more than anyone else, waited in anticipation of what would happen next. Suddenly, the spell was broken; the ghostly storm petered out, and the flung around objects were placed back to where they belonged. The ghosts give one last look to the kids, with a face they were not familiar with on any kind of ghosts or monsters they've encountered before, as one by one they left. Some turned and phased through the walls, floor, and ceiling while others just seemingly faded out of existence. Daphne looks up again from her position on the floor. Misdreavus stares back with an expression that looked almost...apologetic? as it too began to fade away, leaving behind a group of four confused teens and an equally confused dog.
Everyone is silent as they stand around the living room, expecting the ghosts to pop up again at any moment. But the stony silence remains, as it seems they really have left for the time being. The gang rushes over to Daphne to see if she is alright.
"Daphne, are you hurt anywhere?" Fred asks.
Feeling herself over, she looks up at her friends. "Aside from having the wind knocked out of me, I'm alright." Scooby licks her face, glad to see his friend is safe. "Alright, alright, Scooby, I'm glad you're okay too."
"Well, that's great to hear. Daphne's alright, Scooby's alright, we're all alright. Hey, let's all stay alright while we get the heck out of here before that gruesome group comes back." Shaggy speaks quickly, head still on a swivel.
"Right, Ret's Ro." Scooby says with his paw pointed over his shoulder to the door.
"Come on guys, there's no way we can leave now," Velma says.
"Let's agree to disagree." Shaggy retorts.
"I will say though, I don't know how they did it, but those ghosts were pretty impressive, even if they were phonies," Velma says.
"I don't know Velma; those ghosts didn't seem very phony to me," Daphne says, slowly getting up with Fred's help.
Fred points to his shoe. "Yeah, and I've got the singed shoe to prove it."
"There must be some trick to it. Perhaps hidden projectors around the room? That would explain how they were able to phase through walls and disappear like that." Velma responds, already beginning to canvas every nook and cranny of the room expecting to find some kind of clue that could reassure her friends (and herself).
"Like, I'm ready to make my own disappearing act in a second," Shaggy says.
"Re roo," Scooby says.
"Guys, I know you're scared, but so far we haven't found anything that could indicate where the will is or what those ghosts were. We have to keep searching," Fred says.
Daphne looks back up at the space where Misdreavus vanished, her mind still lingering on her ghostly savior. "...These ghosts here are definitely pretty strange, aren't they?" Everyone turns to Daphne. "I mean, they had us completely trapped, no way out. But instead of catching us, they just left on their own. Not only that, one of them even protected me from getting turned into a pancake. That's never happened with any of the monsters we encountered before now. They had us scared for sure, but if they really wanted to hurt us, they would've by now, don't you think?"
"Maybe they weren't hungry and wanted to save us for later as a midnight snack," Shaggy answers. "And while I'm always up for a snack myself, I am not looking to become one."
"Ret's ro rack ro the riner."
"Couldn't agree more, Scooby old pal."
"No guys, we can't. We told the mayor we'd do everything we could to solve this case and find Agatha's will, and that's what we're going to do." Velma admonishes them.
"Great, then let's split up again. You guys can stay here, while me and Scooby will investigate the diner again. And nothing you say is gonna stop us." Shaggy and Scooby turn to leave. He has his hand on the door when Daphne speaks up.
"Would you guys stick around for a Scooby Snack?" she asks, falling back on their classic bribe.
However, the duo remains unperturbed. "ooooh, no, not this time. It's gonna take a lot more than just a handful of snacks to change our minds this time."
Fred and the girls exchange looks. "How about a box of Scooby Snacks?" Daphne holds out the box.
The two stands at the door, arms crossed and backs turned, though they are beginning to waver. "Ruh uh," Scooby answers, finally turning to his friends. "Rhis rime, rit's roing to rost you."
Fred and the girls lead the way while Shaggy and Scooby follow close behind, each happily munching on their own box of Scooby Snacks. Fortunately, they were able to find another set of candles stashed away in a drawer, and after Fred carefully checked to see they didn't have faces, they lit them and proceeded down the dark hallways.
"So has anyone managed to find anything so far?" Fred starts.
"Well, when I got dragged away, I somehow ended up in an office that seemed to belong to Agatha's scientist husband. Aside from his own research, he did have some notes on the hauntings around this town with his own theories attached, but based on what I read through I don't think any of it will be of use regarding this mystery." Velma says.
"Samuel's office, right?" Everyone looks at Daphne. "I just remembered; When I first got caught by those creeps, I somehow ended up in Agatha's old bedroom. The only thing I could find there were these old photographs of her and her husband. Though one of them was pretty weird." She reaches into her pocket. "When I was being chased by those two ghosts from earlier, I forgot I had this on me still."
The gang gathers around her as she holds up the old photo for all to see. "It is rather strange," Velma starts. "What could these distortions be?"
"Not only that but check this out," Daphne reveals the note on the back.
"Samuel and Agatha with 'extended family'." Fred reads aloud.
"Rextended ramily?" Scooby questions.
"What does that mean?" Shaggy asks.
"I'm not sure, but if you look closely, you can kind of make out some silhouettes in there. Any of them seem familiar?" Daphne says.
"Like, this is getting really freaky," Shaggy says.
"This mystery seems to get stranger and stranger," Velma says as she opens a door at the end of the hall.
The gang enters and finds themselves in another office, though this time without the blackboards and scientific notes.
"This must be Agatha's work office. This is perfect! Alright gang, spread out and search for clues." Fred tells everyone.
The teens investigate the room. Fred and Shaggy search the bookshelves, while Daphne and Velma search around the desk and inside the drawers. "Anything yet?"
"Doesn't seem like it. No sign of anything that looks like a will in here." Velma answers despondently.
Meanwhile, Scooby is searching the floor, putting his nose to work. He is at the corner of the rug when he gets a snootful of dust.
"Rah, Raaah, RACHOOO!"
Scooby sneezes loudly with enough force to blow away the corner of the rug, revealing a small object hidden beneath.
"Looks like you managed to find a clue there, Scooby!" Velma says, patting him on the head.
"Great work, buddy!" Shaggy praises him. Scooby just gives his trademark chuckle.
Fred bends down and picks up the item. "It looks like some kind of pin." Fred holds it up to reveal a strange-looking pin shaped like a vertical line cut in half diagonally, the top half sliding out of place.
"Something about this shape seems familiar, but I'm not sure where I've seen it," Daphne says.
Fred turns toward the door pocketing the pin. "For now, let's hold on to it and keep looking around."
The gang continues to search the manor until they find themselves in another large guest room. All has been silent since the last encounter with the ghosts, though the sense that they were being watched had not faded.
"Man, I'm beat. I don't think we're gonna be finding any more clues at this point. Guess it's time to head out and grab a late-night meal." Shaggy says.
"Reah," Scooby says.
"Nice try you two, but not just yet; we still haven't figured out where the will or the ghosts have gone. Who knows, maybe they were the ones who hid Agatha's will. Finding them may just be the break in the case we need." Fred answers.
"Like, I don't know where they went, and I don't wanna find out. Besides, what would a group of ghosts want with a will?" Shaggy asks.
"That's what we have to find out," Fred says.
Scooby looks around the room some more until he stops at the large bookshelf, his sensitive ears picking up sounds from behind. "Ruys, rover rere."
"What's up Scooby? Did you find something?" Daphne asks
"Rounds, rehind the rookcase," Scooby replies
"You're saying you heard something behind the bookcase?" Shaggy repeats. Scooby nods his head.
"It must be a hidden door. I bet one of these books must be the trigger to open it. Start pulling books, gang. I'll bet that's where the ghosts have been hiding out this whole time." Fred tells his friends as they begin searching the shelf.
"Like, that's great Scoob, but why couldn't you find something more useful, like a plate full of burgers and hot dogs?"
"Rorry, Raggy." Scooby chuckles.
Fred, Daphne, and Velma are pulling out the books but can't seem to find the trigger. "Well, doesn't seem like we'll be able to get in after all," Shaggy says, leaning on a stone bust of a gargoyle. It begins to topple over until he catches it, and the head flips open, revealing a red button. He accidentally presses the button, allowing the bookshelf to part down the center and reveal a hidden hallway. "Like, me and my big mouth."
"Great job you two! You figured out how to open it." Daphne praises them.
"Yeah, all in a day's work." Shaggy answers sarcastically.
They proceed down the old stone hallway, lit by old flickering lightbulbs until they reach the end of the hallway and a single wooden door. The noise had gotten louder, the gang recognizing them as the voices belonging to the ghosts.
"Alright everyone, shush. We don't want them to know we're here." Fred whispers.
"Don't have to tell me twice." Shaggy whispers back.
The gang creaks the door open slightly, and one by one peeks inside. They look in and see a large, brightly painted playroom, strewn with toys and games, even a small slide and swing set. In the center of the room were the 10 ghosts from earlier, who seemed to be deep in conversation enough not to notice the meddling kids.
"Guys, we have to stop. We took things too far out there. Anymore and we really would've hurt those humans, or worse. She wouldn't want that of us." Misdreavus said, concerned about just how close they came to crossing the line tonight.
Gengar, who acted as the unofficial leader of the group, listened to her with arms crossed "I get what you're saying, Mis, but we can't just stop. The humans and their pet are still here despite all our attempts to scare them off. We must do what we must to protect this place." Gengar stated matter-of-factly.
Banette angrily steps in. "Yeah! We can't just let them do whatever they feel like! This is our home! We can't just let them destroy it!"
"Maybe we could dial things back a little bit. After everything we put them through tonight, just one more push and those humans will be running the hills anyways." Litwick jumps in, trying to play peacemaker.
Duskull looks less than certain of this. "How? We gave some of our best out there. If that hasn't scared them off, what will?"
"Speak for yourself, I got plenty of tricks left up my sleeve." Haunter brags.
"You don't have sleeves though." Gastly points out jokingly.
"Hahaha! Good one!" Haunter guffaws.
Meanwhile, the gang continued to listen from the outside, looks of confusion etched on their faces.
"Like, can anyone understand what they're saying?" Shaggy whispers.
"Rot a rord" Scooby whispers
"What kind of language is that? They each just keep repeating the same word over and over again." Daphne asks, her eyes focusing on the ghost that saved her, a strange feeling settling over her, different from the fear she experienced prior.
"We're not gonna learn anything new like this," Velma says.
"No kidding. Like, what the heck is a 'Gengar' or a 'Misdreavus'?" Shaggy questions
"We'll just have to wait until they leave. That should give us enough time to set up a trap." Fred says, the gears in his mind already turning on how to capture the ghosts.
"Fred, how do you plan to trap them when they can just phase out of it?" Velma deadpans.
The gears screeched to a halt. "Uhhhhhm...right, I forgot about that. I'm sure we can figure something out."
Before Velma could point out the invalidity of that thought, Scooby started to sniffle as more dust got up his nose. "Rah...raaah..."
Shaggy quickly covers Scooby's nose with his finger and keeps him from sneezing. Scooby's face relaxes as he feels the sneeze go away, and everyone takes a silent sigh of relief. That could've been disastro-
"RAAAACHOOOO!"
The force of Scooby's sneeze blows the door wide open, revealing Mystery Inc to the ghosts. Both parties silently stare at each other trying to process this turn of events. The ghosts recover first, adopting a defensive stance and a fierce gaze to match, any sign of previous mirth gone.
"Like, sorry to bother you guys, we were just looking for the exit." Shaggy chuckles nervously. "No need to help, we'll just find it ourselves!" He turns on his heels and books it back down the hall.
"Rye rye!" Scooby follows Shaggy right on his heels.
"Let's get out of here guys!" Fred shouts as he and Velma turn to run. However, all four come to a halt when they realize a certain redhead was still standing at the foot of the door.
"Daphne, what are you doing?! We have got to go!" Velma
Daphne says nothing and does something no one expected; she steps into the room and walks calmly to the ghosts!
"Daphne! That is, like, the exact opposite of going!" Shaggy shouts.
The gang of ghosts is equally confused, wondering why this human hasn't run away in fear like her friends had. Daphne walks right up to the group until she is face to face with Misdreavus.
"Hi there." She smiles, trying to hide her nervousness. Truth be told, she was just as scared as her friends were, but some deeper gut instinct told her she was not in any real danger from the spirits in front of her, especially this one. "You're the one that saved me back then, right? I just wanted to say thank you for that."
"Mis?" Misdreavus cocks her head.
"I don't really know why you guys are doing all this, trying so hard to scare everyone, but after what happened back in the living room, I don't think you and your friends are really as bad as everyone makes you out to be. So how about it, maybe we can talk this out?"
Misdreavus and the others, ghosts, humans, and dogs alike, were surprised by Daphne's proposal. Nothing like this has ever happened before, so understandably both sides were at a loss for what to do next. Misdreavus continued to stare back at Daphne with discerning eyes, trying to figure out if the human before her really meant everything she said. After a minute of silent evaluation, Misdreavus decides to take a leap of faith.
"Misdreavus!" It smiles, nodding its head in acceptance before turning to its friends. "Guys, I think we can trust these humans. Let's hear them out."
"For real?" Gastly asked in confusion.
"Are you kidding me?! What basis do you have for that?" Shuppet angrily interjected.
Misdreavus looked back to Mystery Inc, then returning its gaze to Shuppet. "It's just a feeling I have."
"Bah!" Lampent brushes Misdreavus off. "You expect us to trust a bunch of humans on a gut feeling?"
"Gen, what should we do?" Chandelure asked, turning to Gengar.
Gengar pondered this for a second, looking between its concerned companions, Misdreavus, and the group of nervous humans, red eyes lingering on the latter, before reaching a conclusion. "...I trust Mis. If she feels good about them, we can too. We'll hear them out, but don't drop your guard."
Everyone nodded in agreement, trusting Gengar's judgement. "Right!"
The group of ghosts seemed to relax a bit, Misdreavus turning back to Daphne and giving a nod of approval.
"Alright guys, you can come in, I think we got things settled for now," Daphne calls out to her friends, who just stare back in utter disbelief.
"What just happened?" Velma finally asked, recovering her voice first.
"I have no idea, but who knows? This may be for the best. It certainly beats getting chased around the mansion again at least." Fred answers
Fred and Velma slowly walk back toward the room and join Daphne. Scooby and Shaggy just share a look with each other.
"Man, if I knew we'd be hanging out having a heart-to-heart with haunts, I'd have asked for two boxes of Scooby Snacks instead of just one." Shaggy sighs in defeat.
"Rake rhat three."
Against their better judgment, Shaggy and Scooby step forward and join their friends inside the playroom.
And that completes chapter 3. So just to clarify, when Misdreavus and the other ghost Pokémon speak with each other, everyone else just hears them talk in Poké-speech like from the dub. Even Scooby can not understand them since they are not actually animals. I briefly considered writing the ghost's conversation in Poké-speech, but that got annoying fast. Not to mention having the conversation translated I feel gives a bit more of a window into their personalities. Once again, thank you for reading and feel free to drop a review. I'll see you guys next time. Peace out.