A New Journey
Chapter 6- Spirit Shrine

XXX

At a Pokémon Center, Gary Oak was in the cafeteria while Nurse Joy healed his Pokémon, but his mind was somewhere else entirely. He was still thinking about that boy, Blue. He would swear Blue was Ash's spitting image, except for those red eyes, but why had that young boy reacted so strangely when he accidentally called him Ash? Gary sighed as he reached into his pocket and pulled out two halves of a broken Poké Ball.

He still remembered the fight he'd had with Ash over the old Poké Ball before they accidentally broke it in two like it was yesterday. Since then, they'd decided to keep the two separate pieces for themselves, but after Ash's untimely death, Brock gave him Ash's piece, which Gary kept as a memento of his deceased friend.

Gary sighed as he shoved the pieces back in his pocket and drank some coffee. The young researcher blinked when he saw a photo in the newspaper; it was May. He hadn't seen the coordinator since she'd gone to Johto. According to the news article, Unova was finally having its first Pokémon Contest; the most popular coordinators from around the world were gathering at Nimbasa City to help kick the Contest off, and by sheer coincidence, Gary was on his way to Nimbasa City, as well. Gary thought for a moment; this could be a good opportunity to talk to May, especially since they hadn't seen each other in quite a long time. Then, he heard the signal; his Pokémon were already healed. Time to hit the road again.

XXX

In Pinwheel Forest, Hugh sighed as he looked at his second badge in his badge case. He was happy to have gotten his second badge and even managed to evolve some members of his Pokémon team in the process, but deep down, he still didn't feel that he'd become strong enough to deal with Team Plasma. The last time he faced them, he'd needed Roxie's help. The Gym Leader of Virbank City could be very poisonous when she wanted to be.

Hugh started to think about that guy he met at Floccesy Ranch and the way he dealt with that Plasma Grunt. From what the Herdier- yes, Hugh was able to understand Pokémon language- had said, that mysterious boy's Aura had been filled with rage and an intent to kill, and that was what he'd used to leave the Wacthog they were battling paralyzed with fear. How that guy had managed to do that was still up to speculation.

"Team Plasma... I will never forgive those guys," Hugh muttered darkly.

Then, he heard a noise. He turned around and saw the bushes moving, and suddenly, a small goat-like Pokémon emerged from the bushes and tackled Hugh right in the stomach. Hugh groaned in pain as he fell to his knees, while the goat-like Pokémon began hopping merrily around Hugh, oblivious of the pain she had just caused for the poor, young Trainer.

"Skiddo, no!" shouted a voice.

Hught looked up and saw a young man running towards him. It was Gary.

"Oh, Arceus. I am so sorry! Are you alright?"

"What do you think?!" Hugh snapped, still holding his sore stomach. "And what is that thing?!"

With some difficulty, Hugh took his Pokédex from his pocket and pointed it at the goat-like Pokémon, but to his surprise, it couldn't find any available data on the strange Pokémon.

"Sorry, but I don't think you'll find any data about Skiddo here," Gary said to Hugh. "By the way, my name's Gary."

"Hugh," he replied, still in pain.

After that, Gary and Hugh decided to set up camp together. Once they'd gotten everything prepared for the night, Gary set to work cooking something while Skiddo enjoyed some Pokémon food. Hugh, meanwhile, was resting his back against a tree and still holding his stomach, though he was already feeling a lot less pain than he had initially after Skiddo's unexpected Tackle.

"Sorry about Skiddo here," Gary said, embarrassed, as he looked at Skiddo. "She's still young and has a bad habit of tackling people, but she only does it because she wants to read people's feelings. She did that to me, too, when we first met," Gary said as he offered a bowl of warm soup to Hugh.

"She wants to read people's feelings?" Hugh repeated, confused.

"That's right. This Pokémon is from the Kalos region. They say that Skiddo typically have a gentle nature and are said to be the first Pokémon to live alongside humans. Because of this relationship, Skiddo don't mind carrying people or supplies on their back; in fact, they've developed the ability to read the feelings of their riders through the grip on their horns. Well, in this case, Skiddo's just helping me carry my supplies, since I have trouble carrying my things because I only have one arm. My grandpa gave her to me before I came to Unova."

Hugh couldn't help but stare at the weird Pokémon wagging her tail happily as Gary petted her head. He was curious as to why Gary had only one arm. Had he lost his left arm because of some accident?

Later that night Hugh, Gary, and Skiddo were sleeping in their camp. It was very peaceful until Skiddo woke up to a plethora of strange noises and opened her eyes to find a very strange mist surrounding them. She shivered in fear and quickly dove under Gary's blankets for protection, waking him up.

"What the… Skiddo?"

At the sound of Gary's voice, Hugh finally woke up and asked what was happening, but before Gary could reply, the young Trainer's entire body suddenly levitated out from his sleeping bag, pulled by some invisible force. Gary and Skiddo could only stare at the floating Trainer in fearful awe until whatever force had been holding Hugh up released him, sending him plummeting back to the ground to land on his butt.

"What the heck is going on?"

"It could be…" Gary thought before he took a Poké Ball from his belt. "Noctowl, come out!"

From the Poké Ball emerged a beautiful, unusually colored Noctowl. This shiny Noctowl used to be Ash's; after Ash's death, some of his old Pokémon had accepted Gary to be their new Trainer.

"Noctowl, use Foresight!"

"(Right!)"

Noctowl used Foresight, causing the mist to disappear and reveal its true source- a Gengar, a Haunter, and a Gastly, all with mischievous smiles on their faces. Gary groaned; the last thing he wanted was to deal with mischief-making ghost Pokémon.

The ghostly trio smirked as Haunter's hand glowed. Gary and Hugh blinked in confusion as Gary's pieces of the old Poké Ball lifted out of his pocket and floated into Haunter's hand. Haunter smiled as he and the other two ghosts turned to float away.

"Hey, give that back!" Gary shouted furiously, chasing after the ghosts with Noctowl and Skiddo not far behind.

Hugh stared after Gary as he chased the ghost trio, unaware that a fourth ghost Pokémon was present until he heard it cackle its own name and turned to see a Misdreavus with a golden locket around her neck. She stuck her tongue out at the bewildered young Trainer before flying off in the same direction that the other three ghosts had taken.

"You little…. Give back my locket!" Hugh yelled angrily.

The humans and Pokémon chased after the thieves until they arrived at a small shrine hidden within the forest. Gary returned Noctowl back to his Poké Ball as he, Hugh, and Skiddo entered the shrine to look for the thieves.

"Good evening, young Trainers," a creepy voice greeted.

The trio yelped as they turned around and saw an old lady wearing a miko outfit. She was holding an oil lamp in her hand, its pale, sickly yellow light making her look creepier as it cast her face in disturbing shadows.

"G-Good evening, madam," Gary said, being the first to recover.

"What are young Trainers like yourselves doing in my shrine at such an hour?" the old miko asked.

Hugh proceeded to explain about the ghost Pokémon that had stolen their items. The old miko nodded as he told the story, understanding their situation. She turned around and called for the ghosts. The ghosts appeared, and they seemed very terrified of the old lady.

"What did I tell you four about stealing spiritual items?" she asked with a polite smile, but the smiling only scared the ghost Pokémon even more. "Would you be so kind as to return them now, please?"

"(Yes, Ma'am!)" The ghost Pokémon shouted as they quickly returned their belongings before making a hasty retreat.

Hugh and Gary just stood there with blank looks on their faces for a few seconds before Skiddo broke the silence.

"( She's scary…)" the small goat-like Pokémon whimpered as she went to hide behind Gary.

"My apologies, boys," the old miko said. "Those Pokémon have a terrible habit of taking spiritual items from people and bringing them here."

Gary was confused as he looked at the broken Poké Ball in his hand. What did she mean by "spiritual items?" Gary yelped as he looked up to find the old miko standing directly in front of him, her face less than a hair's breadth away from his as she looked him right in eyes, as though she was trying to see into his soul.

"You suffered a terrible loss, didn't you?"

Gary's eyes widened in shock. How did she know that? Hugh was curious as to what the old miko meant by "loss," while Skiddo looked sad, as if she knew what the old miko meant.

"And so did you, young one," the miko continued, looking at Hugh. "Both of you have lost something very valuable to you, and now you're each on a journey to find it again."

Hugh's eyes widened in surprise at the old lady's words. Ever since he'd started his Pokémon journey, he'd wanted to face Team Plasma and bring Purrloin back to his sister, since he was a gift from his late grandfather.

Gary lowered his head, shadowing his eyes beneath his mahogany bangs. He clenched his hand into a fist as he remembered Ash's last moments.

"Ash… my best friend is dead…" he whispered darkly. "You can't bring the dead back to life."

"Yes, I know, dear," the old miko replied sympathetically. She grabbed his chin to make him look at her before she continued, "but human souls can be reborn countless times, either as humans again, as nature spirits, or even as Pokémon."

Gary's eyes went wide in shock when she mentioned this, and for some reason, an image of that red-eyed boy suddenly formed in his mind. He remembered his grandfather telling him once that some Pokémon had the ability to disguise themselves as humans. Could that boy be a Pokémon in disguise? For a moment, Gary became lost in thought as he went through a mental checklist of all the known Pokémon who might be able to do something like that, but he was brought back to reality as the old woman placed a bracelet around his wrist.

"Take this, dear. It will help you with your journey," she said, reading the confusion on his face. Then, she lifted a small bell and placed it in the palm of Hugh's hand. "And this item will help you out, young one."

Hugh looked at the item in his hand. It was a Soothe Bell. How exactly would this help him find his sister's Pokémon?

"It's already late, my dears. Why don't you sleep here tonight? Its's a long journey to Nimbasa City. You might find what you are looking for there, but it won't do you much good to search in the dark."

Though Skiddo protested, Hugh and Gary decided to accept the miko's hospitality, so long as those crazy ghost Pokémon didn't try anything with them again.

XXX

The next morning, Skiddo was the first to wake up. She looked around and quickly noticed they were not in the shrine anymore; in fact, the shrine was nowhere to be found, as if it was never there in the first place.

"(Wake up!)" The little goat-like Pokémon cried out as she gave Gary a headbutt.

"Ouch! Skiddo! How many times do I have to tell you not to wake me up like that?" Gary groaned in pain, but the pain soon gave way to confusion when he noticed they were not in the shrine anymore.

Hugh woke up from Gary's yelp, and within moments, he, too, had realized that the shrine was nowhere to be seen. Both young boys shared a confused glance. Had all that they'd gone through the previous night been nothing more than a dream? Gary felt inclined to say yes until he noticed that the bracelet the miko had given to him the night before was still on his wrist. Then, he remember what the miko said to them:

"But human souls can be reborn countless times, either as humans again, as nature spirits, or even as Pokémon."

Then, Gary remembered that red-eyed boy again. He couldn't deny that something about him had felt very familiar to him. Could he be connected to Ash somehow? The old miko had said that human souls could be reborn as Pokémon, but... Was it possible...? Could that boy actually be...?

"Hugh, can you help me put my things in the bags on Skiddo?" Gary asked, a determined spark lighting up his eyes. "I want to arrive at Nimbasa City as soon as possible."

XXX

Meanwhile, in an undisclosed location, a scientist was in the front of a computer, talking to someone else on the screen.

"I take it everything is ready?" The mysterious figure asked.

"Yes," the scientist answered. "We will take the machine to Nimbasa City. I am sure the Contest Festival will get us some very interesting data, sir."

"Do not fail me, Colress."

With that, the mysterious figure disconnected the call. The scientist named Colress smirked.

"Oh, I do not plan to fail, Lord Ghetsis."

To be continued

A/N: That's the end of chapter 6. I hope you have liked this one. Sorry people, no Blue and Green in there, but I promise there will be a lot of action in the next chapters. Please, do not forget to review the chapter.

I want to thank to Flock o' Seagulls for beat- editing.