Chapter 63, everyone! Let's examine the aftermath of this mess, shall we?
What James is doing is an actual thing you can do, and a hobby many people enjoy, although his results stem from what you read when you examine the gravestones in the video game Don't Starve. I did find on a Tumblr post once that someone shared their fudge recipe on their tombstone once, and one of the reblogger's opinions is Meowth's here as well.
On a fun note: there's such a thing as frequencies too low for humans to actually hear but which they can still pick up—these low-frequency sounds can cause the heeby-jeebies and are usually credited with feelings of unease and being haunted. As such, I headcanon that Darkrai roars make use of these frequencies.
LongNightDragon, Hashirama 1710, frostxd60, Dragonkeeper10, Kayuri Igrimakeon Pax, akeiser45, Chryssal, RJMeta, Vulaan Kulaas, epantoja521, talesfanjmf, Urdeadnotbigsurprise, Juuultje, Cyan Quartz, DOOT76, RedEyesInferno, and AverageHiveMind, thanks for the reviews! Stay awesome, my friends.
AverageHiveMind, thanks for the review and welcome back! :D Also just need to let you know that your review gives me life I thoroughly enjoyed reading through it. X'D
Pokémon © Game Freak; Nintendo
And now, for something completely different:
In other news, a band of researchers have announced that they will be removing Ghost Pokémon from houses for a small fee. These so-called "Ghostbusters" have developed a new scientific method that captures the Ghost types with minimal damage to the surroundings. It is unclear what the researchers do once they capture the Ghost types, although when questioned in a recent interview, one researcher simply said: "For science!"
The party was very subdued upon leaving the Pokémon Tower.
Ash had, after Darkrai had defeated all the ghosts, found Pikachu, who had not stopped trembling even though they were gone from the tower and heading back down main street. Misty hadn't stopped trembling either—Brock was having to hold her in a sort of walking hug, something Ash noticed she didn't complain about.
There was one thing Ash did want to complain about—but in light of the tower, he didn't exactly feel like giving it voice.
"So," he said finally, when they were a good hundred yards from the building—the others jumped at him breaking the silence. "How about we get our stuff and just leave?"
Brock glanced around, considered his wristwatch. "We'd be travelling through prime ghost country in the middle of the night—are you sure that's a good idea?"
"I'm d-d-definitely not sleeping t-t-tonight," Misty said, teeth chattering.
"And I don't think I want to stay here any longer than I have to," Ash said, hugging Pikachu close and trying to ignore the prickling feeling on his neck—he didn't want to look back, if he did he might see a ghost coming to kill him, and he had had enough of those already.
Brock did glance back.
"I don't see how we'd be any better travelling at night than we would be staying at the hotel," Brock said slowly. "Saying that, first light we're leaving. Also, we're leaving if, during any time we're at the hotel, we start to suspect we're starring in The Distortion Zone. Fair enough?"
Ash and Misty both nodded, tight-lipped. That was fine by the both of them.
Jessie, James, and Meowth had—after a long and drawn-out debate that involved pulling out every ghost story they had ever heard of—opted to not go into the Pokémon Tower after the twerps.
"It's a closed space wid ghosts you can't exactly hit," Meowth pointed out finally. "I'd rather not."
"Fraidy-Meowth," Jessie teased.
"Oh yeah? I don't see you clamorin' ta run in dere!"
"Yes, well, I'm smarter than that," Jessie sniffed, before turning to see what James was up to. "James, what are you doing?"
"Charcoal rubbings," James said, holding a piece of paper to a gravestone before rubbing a chunk of charcoal against it. "You can do it to read the gravestones when they get too weathered to read otherwise."
"And you want to do that why?"
"It seems like the thing to do," James said, standing and squinting at the piece of paper—it was a moonless night, and more fog was rolling in from off of Route 12.
"So what does it say?" Meowth asked.
"Um…."
"It didn't work, did it?" Jessie asked.
"No, it did, I just—I can't imagine someone wanting their tombstone to say butter, milk, eggs…."
"Maybe dey left a recipe," Meowth suggested. "Probably one dey said they'd only share over dere dead body."
"Seems like the way to do it," Jessie mused.
"Let me try another one," James said, rubbing a different tombstone before standing up and reading the paper—
And then leaping back, alarmed. "T-that's MY name!"
"Don't panic," Jessie said—having leaped back as well from his startled outburst. "There's lots of guys out there named James—"
"Not with my last name!"
"Maybe you're named after an ancestor?"
James clutched his chest. "H-have I been a ghost this whole time? You—you guys would tell me, right?"
"James, I've seen you look in a mirror enough times to tell you that you aren't a ghost."
"I don't know," Meowth said, pondering. "Ghost Pokémon don't exactly follow the don't show up in mirrors rule—come ta tink of it, dey don't really follow any human ghost rules at all."
"Meowth, you're not helping—"
Screams ripped out of the tower.
The three of them were quickly gripping each other, eyes locked on the tower. "W-w-what was that!?" James eeked out.
"W-well, th-that was s-someone s-s-screaming," Jessie tried—
And then an angry bellow, of a frequency so low and carrying that Meowth wouldn't have been surprised if it had woken up people on Cinnabar.
"A-a-and that?" James asked.
"That—that w-was the sound of us s-skedaddling," Jessie suggested.
"I love that plan," Meowth said, fur standing on end.
They ran for the direction the town was supposed to be in—but the fog had rolled in fully, thick as Muk slime—they couldn't see to get away. No moon, no stars—Meowth had no way of knowing how long they knocked about the forest near the tower before they stopped, gulping in air.
"It's no use," Jessie gasped. "We have to wait until the fog clears."
"B-but by then the ghosts will have got us!" James protested.
"I don't tink so," Meowth said, thinking. "Dat roar—I bet you anything dat was dat Darkrai."
"What makes you say that?" Jessie asked.
"Well, have you ever heard him make any sort of noise besides human talk? We ain't never heard him vocalize like Pokémon do—and it seems to fit him, I tink."
"Or it could have been a really big ghost," James suggested.
Jessie rounded on him. "How many times do I have to tell you? There are—"
"You."
Meowth turned—yelped in alarm before jumping up and latching onto James' chest, Jessie already on James' shoulders at the sight of at least a dozen Gengar standing there, even more Haunter and Gastly floating around them.
"You said something about Darkrai," the lead Gengar said. "Why?"
"Uh—" Meowth noised—oh boy—angry ghosts were nothing to mess with—think, Meowth, think—
"Before you answer," the lead Gengar said, eyes glowing. "Know that we will do you ill if you lie."
They yelped as the forest vanished, realized they were in a room surrounded by tombstones—these ghosts—these ghosts had tricked them right into the tower!
"We're—we're trying ta catch it," Meowth managed to get out. "We've been chasing it all over Kanto—" Wait—the angry faces, the narrowed eyes…."It attacked you, didn't it? Dat's what dat roar was. We've been running into a lot of Pokémon it's attacked."
"It killed some of our number."
Killed—oh boy, that was…that was very serious.
"What did it say?" James hissed to Meowth, hugging him to his chest.
"Said the Darkrai killed some of 'em," Meowth hissed back. Then, louder: "That's why we, Team Rocket, have been trying to catch dis ting—to stop it from hurting anyone."
"Team Rocket?"
Some of the Gengar parted to let a Marowak pass, one with dark translucent skin showing its skeleton.
"I know of Team Rocket," it said, eyeing them with nothing short of pure venom. "You are why my child is an orphan."
Ulk—and this is why you never went to a graveyard at midnight.
"Not us," Meowth protested, one paw to his chest. "Dere's some people who use our good name ta do bad—it's bad enough we gotta try ta catch dat ting with inferior numbers, but people getting the wrong impression of us? For shame."
Jessie and James managed to have enough good sense not to tell him nice save—the ghosts would undoubtedly hear. As it was, the ghosts seemed to be having a quiet conversation just among themselves, if the way their eyes all went blank was any indication.
"We have decided," the lead Gengar said, pupils returning. "To join your ranks."
"Uh, thank you?" Meowth said, unsure if this was a good thing.
The Marowak snorted, turned and headed back through the ranks.
"She has not," the lead Gengar clarified. "But we—we do not care if you do good or ill. What we care about is that some of our number were utterly destroyed." It pointed a claw up to where something was dripping through the ceiling. "That is all that remains of my siblings, and I will not have this go unpunished. So for good or for ill, we are with you."
Meowth gulped hard, not looking forward to escorting a bunch of ghosts to the nearest Team Rocket hideout.
At least it wasn't too far to go….
"And we leave at once," the lead Gengar said.
And then they got the joy of leading a troupe of ghosts through a forest at midnight.
They left first thing in the morning, heading for Saffron.
"So you just train and hope to overpower her that way," Misty suggested, scanning the fog and the blurry shapes surrounding them.
"Yeah," Ash noised, feeling deflated.
"Don't feel bad Ash—you didn't want any of those stinky ghosts anyway."
"Maybe wait until we're farther away to call them stinky ghosts," Brock suggested.
Misty eeped in alarm. "Aha, right."
"I can't believe it," Ash moaned. "I mean, I expected them to try to scare us, but…."
"But that was low," Brock said. "And I still haven't seen Darkrai anywhere."
"Knowing him, he's probably still giving those ghosts a what-for."
"I have concerns," Misty said, rubbing her arms. "More than I usually do about him."
"Yeah, but—"
"Pi!" Pikachu noised, suddenly alert, paw on Ash's mouth to stop him from talking. Ash watched his ears twitch before straining to hear himself—someone was singing and laughing and carrying on.
"This early in the morning?" Misty wondered.
"Or it's late for them," Brock suggested.
Ash perked up instantly—maybe this was his chance to catch a Ghost Pokémon finally!
"Ash, don't!" Misty started, reaching out and snagging his vest before he could go too far. "What if it's a trap?"
"It's almost full sun—they're not as strong then," Ash argued, worming his way free to sneak up on the source of the sound. Closer, closer….
His foot connected with a low rock. He looked down, expecting to see a wall or a Geodude—
Instead, he saw a little weathered grave marker.
Look around, saw more—"Uh…we did leave the town, right?"
"We did," Brock said, looking at the graveyard. "I wonder if this is a personal graveyard for the people in town."
"But why not use the tower?" Misty asked.
Brock considered. "Because it's for trainers first and foremost—casual Pokémon owners might not be allowed to bury their dead there."
"How do we uh, how do we know these aren't…people graves?"
Brock peered at the nearest one. "Size, firstly…and I don't think there are very many people named 'Fido.'"
"So it's a pet cemetery," Ash said.
"Oooh man," Misty moaned, grabbing Brock and burying her face in his shoulder. "I heard of that one."
"Sometimes I wonder about Stephen Kingler," Brock said.
The giggling hadn't ceased. "Come on, before they stop," Ash said, heading further in.
"Ash, it could be a trap," Brock said, following.
"I said that already," Misty said.
"It bears repeating."
"Yeah, but—hey!" Ash exclaimed, jumping back from the clod of mud that had narrowly missed him. The fog shifted—
To reveal several Gastly, a couple of Haunter, and one Gengar, the latter three with dirt clods in their paws—they froze, staring at the humans, clod of dirt slipping from the Gengar's prepped paw.
"Uh, hi," Ash tried, waving. "I was wondering if any of you wanted to travel with me? I'm a Pokémon trainer, and—"
One of the Gastly blew a raspberry before whisking away. Several others—as well as one of the Haunter—did as well, until only one representative of the three different stages remained.
"…I don't suppose one of you want to travel with me," Ash tried.
The Gengar scratched at its chin, feigning pensiveness but not looking like it was going to say yes. The Haunter was in a similar pose, making long drawn-out humming noises.
The Gastly looked thoughtful.
"I'm going on my badge run," Ash offered. "It'd be a great way to get stronger."
That made the Gastly perk up—chatter something at the other two before floating over to him.
"Um…is this a yes?" Ash asked, leaning back a little bit. "You want to travel with us?"
"Gas!" it said, bobbing up and down—looked at the others, who waved at it before fading away. Looked back at Ash, who had pulled out a Pokéball. Considered it….
Bumped against the button on the front, disappeared in a flash of red light.
Ash waited until the little ping before turning to the others. "What do you think, celebrate now or later?"
"Wait until you're not dancing on someone's grave," Brock counseled. "But good news: we got what we came for."
"And get to travel with a ghost," Misty sighed. "Great."
It was—it meant the whole visit to Lavender Town wasn't a wash.
Now if only it didn't come with all that added trauma.