The main room of the mansion was a large living room by the looks of it with a large grand staircase in the middle, which had stairs leading up to both sides of the second floor. Most of the furniture in the main room was either toppled over or just covered in a thick layer of dust. He sneezed from all the dust, causing even more of it to fly up into the air. "It's kind of stale in here. With all these broken windows, you think the air wouldn't suck so much."

He smiled. It wouldn't be Homika without her grumbling. He walked over to a nearby light switch and flipped it but nothing came on. "Drat, it's going to be tough to move around without any light in here."

"Don't you have a Raichu?"

"Rai has trouble controlling his electrical power, remember? If he tries to provide us with light, he might end up burning down half the mansion! Maybe Bolt can help—"

Before he could summon the little mite, Homika had grabbed his hand. He looked over at her and she wore a worried look on her face. "No."

"But he could really help us—"

"No."

He removed her hand from his. "Homika, I know you hate him but do you have any better solutions? Like do you have a flashlight we could use or a torch? Maybe an electric Pokemon of your own?"

"Well…no but—"

"Then we have to depend on him. I already explained that Rai wouldn't be able to do it so Bolt is next up."

She looked away, her arms folded across her chest. "Fine, fine!"

He grabbed the Pokeball holding Bolt but before he could summon him, some hot wax fell from above and landed on his hand. He cried out in pain, dropping the Pokeball. Before he could get to it, it rolled on the floor for a little before falling through some broken planks in the floor. He ran over to where it had fallen through and got down closer to the floor to get a better look. "Darn it, I'm sorry Bolt! Ugh, I can't even see where it fell!"

He looked at the hot wax on his hand and brushed it off. He went back to looking for where the Pokeball might have fell but again, it was too dark to see. He couldn't tell if it had even fallen to the floor below or if it had fallen somewhere else. He looked at Homika, who was staring up at the ceiling. "Where did that wax come from?"

"Homika, we have to go downstairs!"

"How are we going to go down there when we don't have any light to get us down there? We don't even know the layout of this dump!"

He got to his feet. "I know but we need to rescue Bolt. I don't want to leave without him!"

"And what if you can't find him?"

He looked down at the floor. "I'm gonna feel real bad about that. What kind of trainer am I if I just lost a Pokemon like that?"

"Ethan…st-stop being such a worrywart! If you think you're a bad trainer because you lost a Pokemon to a freak accident…you aren't a bad trainer, at all!"

He smiled. "I know, I just can't help but worry about my Pokemon."

She shook her head. "For someone who's accomplished so much, you sure like to worry."

He shrugged. "I guess it's something I do best. I just—"

"I know, I know how big your heart is," she said. She pursed her lips and looked down at the floor. "But really, how are we going to get down there?"

He walked past her and began to move toward a darkened hallway. He stopped at the bottom of the staircase and leaned against it. "Guess we're just going to have to explore the place for ourselves."

She groaned. "I was hoping we wouldn't have to do that."

They walked down the long and narrow hallway, mainly in silence. He didn't feel like talking, as he wanted to listen for any strange sounds or cries. They hadn't found any but he knew there had to be some Pokemon around, perhaps some new ghosts he wasn't aware of. And they still had to find any evidence of what Team Rocket was up to. The walls of the hallway were lined with portraits of various people, maybe members of Team Rocket? Each time he checked a room, he found nothing but some over turned furniture, if that. They came to the end of the hallway, where some stairs leading down led. "Finally! Now we're getting somewhere!"

"Ethan."

He looked up at her and noticed how tense she looked. She hadn't unfolded her arms one bit, had worn a frown the whole time and hadn't even let out a complaint or grumble. "What's up Homika? You can relax—"

"Relax? Relax? How am I supposed to relax? You've been completely quiet the whole time!"

"I wanted to see if I could hear anything. Can't hear anything when I'm talking a mile a minute, right? You didn't have to come along though. I know how much you hate this."

She grabbed him by the collar. "You know what happens to people who go into places like this alone? They end up dead, cationic or worse!"

"You've been watching one too many horror movies."

"So you're saying I shouldn't be concerned? That I should just go sit outside, chill and not care what happens to you? Because that's what it sounds like you're trying to say? You're in an old mansion that was wrecked pretty good by a mad Pokemon, what happens if you fall down and hurt yourself?"

He frowned. "Well Pitch is here with me—"

"And if Pitch gets hurt? Listen, I said I hated this place but if you think I'm just going to let you go in here alone, you're nuts! Got that? You're a complete idiot if you think I'm letting you explore it alone, my fear of old and abandoned places be da****!"

He looked at her for a few, a little stunned by her outburst but also feeling a bit happy that she was willing to stick with him, even going into a place like this. "Well thanks, I appreciate it."

She let go of his collar and looked away. "Besides, what am I going to do out there anyway? Sit and be bored?"

He began to walk down the stairs. "Well you could just come up with some songs for that pop album. Think up some real cheesy ones. I bet if you gave it some thought, you could—"

"I've been alone most of my life, I'm not in the mood to be left alone to my thoughts…again."

He took another step but it suddenly gave way and he tumbled down the stairs, landing flat on his back on the hard concrete. Pitch fluttered down to him with a concerned chirp but he laughed it off. "It's okay, I've taken worst falls before. It really is a wreck here."

"Duh!" Homika said from the top of the stairs. He began to get to his feet and noticed light trickling in from all above. Whatever had happened here must have been big. He could only imagine the fight that had gone down when that Pokemon had gotten loose. He got to his feet and glanced at Pitch.

"You see anything, like that Pokeball?"

Pitch shook his head and flew on ahead. Pitch had sharp eyes but in a poorly lit place like this, he'd need some help. He took out the Pokeball holding Rai but just before he could summon him, he heard some wood snap and suddenly Homika collided into him, knocking him off his feet and causing him to drop the Pokeball. He watched helplessly as it rolled for a few before dropping off into another hole into the darkness. Was there another floor beneath this one even? "Darn it, not Rai too!"

"What? What do you mean?"

He got to his feet and looked down at her. "When you bumped into me, I dropped the Pokeball with him and now it fell into a hole somewhere."

Her mouth fell open as she got to her feet. She grabbed one of her arms and looked away. "I-I'm sorry. I was clumsy…ugh. I didn't expect that stupid step to just break like that! I hate this place! Can't we just leave this dump!"?

He smiled and held a finger to her nose. "Not yet! We've got to find out what Team Rocket is up to."

"We already know that!"

"But the more we know, the better."

They heard a low growl coming from the darkness and he spun around. He tried to see where the sound was coming from but with limited lighting, it made it tough. He whistled for Pitch and the little bird flew back their way. "Good boy Pitch. Can you see where that growling sound came from?"

"Ethan, look in front of you!"

"Huh, what?" He asked. He looked down and saw a small blue four-legged Pokemon approach. It looked a bit like a small brontosaurus and even had the long beck but it had thick black fur, which covered its eyes and most of its head. It even had some thick black fur on its back too. It walked forward a bit more and roared at them. Pitch fluttered down to him and let out an angry series of chirps at it. "What is it?"

"That's a Deino, it's a dark dragon type. It's native to Unova. They can't see real well thanks to that fur on its head so they tend to be real clumsy and just bite everything."

The Deino lunged forward trying to bite Pitch but he fluttered out of the way. Pitch flew up into the air and dove at Deino, knocking him down with a single attack. The little dragon got to its feet and let out a roar in a random direction, which happened to be toward him and Homika since he couldn't see a thing. It stuck its head up into the air, probably trying to sniff Pitch out but Pitch only responded by dive bombing at him again and smacking him to the ground. "This is kind of an unfair fight. Seems like all these dragon types seem pretty wimpy as babies but when they grow up…"

"That describes it pretty well. They do grow up into being absolute terrors. I'm not sure it'd be a good Pokemon for you."

"Huh? Why not?"

She leaned against him. "Why? Deino grows up into a pretty powerful Pokemon but your strategy never seemed to revolve around having the strongest Pokemon, just whatever wacky strategy you could use to win instead."

He smiled. "Well, what's wrong with changing it up just a tad? I can still use my wacky little tactics but back it up with some pretty strong Pokemon too?"

"Well…I guess but you better reserve a spot for a Poison Pokemon! Because once we're out of this place, I'm gonna find you a Poison Pokemon. I think I even have one in mind already!"

"I haven't forgotten. I have a spot reserved for a Poison and a Steel Pokemon—"

"Yea but don't you already…"

She stopped short when they noticed the Deino walk over to him and began to sniff him. Pitch flew down next to him, casting a careful eye toward the little dragon. If he even thought about taking a nibble, Pitch would respond. "What is he doing."?

"If he bites, you should kick him."

"I don't think that's necessary Mika. He doesn't seem like he wants to bite me."

He bent down to get a better look at the dragon. It ignored him and Pitch and continued to sniff him like an over curious puppy. "Did you just call me Mika?" She asked after what seemed like an eternity.

"What's wrong? You don't like it?"

"Huh? Ahh, I-I never said that! I just didn't give you permission to give me a silly nickname like that!"

He shook his head, amused by her response. "Okay…"

"But…if it's from you, I guess I don't mind."

He shook his head again and Pitch chirped at him. He looked over at the little bird and chuckled. "Really, he wants to come along?"

The Deino looked up at him, tongue hanging out of his mouth and wagging his tail like a pleased puppy. "Well…I think it would be cool if he wants to join us—"

"What?"

He and Pitch looked at her. Her eyes were as wide as saucers. "What is it?"

"Do you know what that Pokemon is?"

He cocked an eyebrow. "You already told me, remember? You said he was a dark dragon type and that he grew up into a killer."

She let out a frustrated sigh. "You make it sound so simple but Deino grow up into a vicious three headed dragon. They are some of the meanest and nastiest Pokemon around! They get so bad that they're sometimes banned from competitions because they're so mean."

"Yea but I'm a good trainer—"

"You think that's all it takes? Being a good trainer?"

He got to his feet and faced her. "Yes. I've known plenty of Pokemon that usually have a violent nature. And they were raised by trainers who loved them, cared for them and they turned out to be great Pokemon."

She stared at him without saying anything so he turned his attention back to the little dragon. "Maybe he will have a little mean streak but I don't think you can just avoid Pokemon just because their line is known as being mean or vicious. If that were so, I'm sure they would have outlawed a bunch of Pokemon already."

"You're like a f***ing Care Bear," she said under her breath but since he was standing pretty close, he heard it loud and clear.

"And you're our lovable Grumpy Bear."

She blushed, her face turning bright red when she realized he had heard her insult him. He began to take out a Pokeball that would hold the little dragon and felt her touch his shoulder. "Ethan, I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to insult you like that. Well I mean…I did but it wasn't supposed to come out—"

"It's okay, you think I'm naïve and—"

"I do…but…I mean, I'm still getting used to how you look at things. I poke fun at someone like you because I don't understand how he or she can look at the world like that. It drives me up a wall when it seems like you're spewing messages of sunshine, rainbows, love and friendship. It's like do you really believe all of that and then I see you do so…do I have to keep babbling like a f***ing idiot or do you understand what I'm getting at?"

Pitch let out an amused chirp. "Yes, I think I do now."

"At least say you accept my apology! I'm going to feel like a jerk until then."

He laughed. "Okay, I accept it."

She sighed. "So that aside, what are you going to call him? He looks like a dog the way he acts."

He nodded as he pet him on the head. "Yea but I can't give him a dog's name. He looks like he could be called Sam. I think I'll call him that."

Some more hot wax fell near where he stood and he looked up to see where it came from. "You know, that's the second time that's happened. I think we're better off leaving this place."

"We've barely explored it."

She folded her arms. "Yea but I think I know where that wax is coming from and if this place is crawling with those Pokemon, we are better off leaving."

"What do you mean?"

"They are Ghost and fire Pokemon called Litwick and while they look like harmless candles that seem willing to help lost travelers, they actually only wish to lead you to the Ghost World."

Pitch let out a terrified chirp at that. "Ghost World?"

"Yea, the Ghost World. A place where ghosts and dead people live. The Litwick love to take you there, while they suck away at your life in the meantime."

"I think I might try catching one."

"You didn't listen to a word I just said, did you?"

"And if we catch it, maybe it could tell us more about what happened. I'm sure some of the Pokemon that were here could tell us something," he said. He looked over at Sam. "Do you know anything about what happened here?"

Sam looked around a bit and then crawled off toward the darkness. Ethan followed after him, even with the lack of light. His head bumped up against the ceiling after a while so he bent down a bit. Sam led him by a bunch of roars and growls, which had him pushing through some boxes and crates. Up ahead, he saw a crack of light, which grew a bit bigger when Sam slipped through. He crawled through the small door and found himself in an old lab. The lights flicked on and off as he got to his feet and dusted himself off. The walls of the lab were covered in blood, though he wasn't sure if it was the blood of humans or Pokemon. Many of the tables were overturned or destroyed. The machines in the back were smashed up pretty good as well. He noticed some papers on the ground and picked them up.

"This place is creepy. Let's find what we need and get out."

"I'm with you. I don't want to spend any more time than we have to."

He scanned the papers he had in hand but from what he read, there wasn't much there of interest. He put them away just to be on the safe side. He looked down and saw Sam walk over to him with some papers in his mouth. He chuckled and bent down to take them, while petting him on the head. "You're pretty helpful, aren't you?"

"He's such a dork. Just like his owner."

"H-hey!"

"That wasn't an insult you know? It probably sounds like an insult but it's not."

He shook his head and looked over the papers Sam had brought over. They had a picture of a huge dragon like Pokemon. It wasn't in color but from the notes on the paper, it looked to be primarily blue. It had a long neck and a fearsome looking face, with teeth the size of his hand. On its back were six large wings, with claws on the tip of each of them. It had a tail the size of a tree and legs that were as big as barrels. "I think we might have found something."

She walked over and he showed them to her. "So they call it…what is it called?"

"Not sure. I don't see a name for it on here. It's a water, dragon and steel type. That's a petty formidable type right there. Water and dragon are pretty strong types and steel is great for defense."

She leaned in closer to look. "So this is the ultimate Pokemon they wanted to create? It looks pretty fearsome."

He nodded. "It is. Well now we know what they created. I think. I guess we won't know until they show up with it."

"They disgust me! I can't wait until we run into those losers again, I'm gonna smash them with my electric guitar this time and you aren't going to stop me!"

He was about to say something when he thought he heard something above. He looked up at the roof. "Huh, did you hear something?"

"No. I didn't hear a thing."

He walked past her, continuing to look up at the ceiling. It sounded like the floor above was creaking like usual but it seemed to get a bit louder, like something above was about to fall through. Dust and nails began to fall down in the middle of the room and Homika suddenly grabbed him and yanked him back, just as part of the ceiling caved in. Dust filled the room and he coughed a bit and waved his hand to clear the air a bit. "Augh, what was that? I hate this stupid place! Why are we still here anyways? If we wait around any longer, this whole place will cave in on us!"

As the dust began to clear, he could see something, big, long and shiny in front of them. It moved around and he saw that it was a Steelix. As it raised its head to let out a roar, his eyes grew wide. "Rusty…what are you doing here?"

"Rusty? Who names their Steelix, Rusty? That's the stupidest name I've ever heard!"

He glared at her. "It's a cool name, what are you talking about?"

"Ethan, are you in here?" Said a familiar voice. As the dust cleared some more, he could see Jasmine walking over to them, with bit of a limp. He smiled but that soon turned into a frown when he noticed she was a bit hobbled.

"Jas—I mean Maple, what happened to you? Why are you here and did you hurt yourself when you fell through?"

She smiled at him. "Yea, I was a bit clumsy. I guess I should have kept Rusty in his ball but he wanted to be out and—"

"You idiot! You could have gotten us killed! Don't you realize how heavy a Steelix is? Or the fact that this place is one good stiff breeze from toppling over? And here you go, walking around with one of the heaviest Pokemon around like a dumb***! You must have known we would be here or otherwise you would have never shown so why were you so careless? You—"

"Hold up, calm down. It was an accident; we've already had several of those. I fell down some stairs because a step broke. I lost a couple of Pokemon because something gave way or…something!"

Homika didn't seem to have heard him because she still stared daggers in Maple's direction. "You're d*** lucky you just hurt your little ankle! It could have been much worse! You're f***ing lucky Ethan is here or else—"

"That's enough! We really don't have time for these arguments! Look, we came here to see if we could learn any more about what Team Rocket was doing and it looks like we got our answer—"

"You did?"

He looked over at Maple and smiled. "You betcha!"

"I'm surprised. I thought he was just talking nonsense. So you two were able to get the truth out of him?"

"Well it was more like Ms Bad Cop here was able to get the information out of him. I don't think I would have had as much luck," he said. "On that note, why are you here?"

"I'm so sorry but I was doing a little more detective work on Team Rocket when I overheard a rumor that some Team Rocket goons were going to ambush you in the mansion. I believe they must have talked to that man and got him to tell them about you two."

"Ambush us?"

She sighed as she sat down on Rusty's back and rubbed her ankle. "Basically they were going to bring this whole place down on you."

Homika laughed and folded her arms. "You really are an idiot. Why would they bring the place down on us? That would kill us both and I'm darn sure that Giovanni wants Ethan alive so he can defeat him himself. Why would they give up such a huge reward just to—"

"I wonder if it's just like that other Team Rocket member we battled. The one who tried to sabotage your concert? He was mainly in it for revenge."

She looked at him. "You think they'd let revenge get in the way of a huge reward?"

"Hey, it's possible. I probably ruined quite a few lives when I helped take them down. I may have earned more enemies than I realized."

"Sounds like you're believing her hook line and sinker."

He ignored her and looked over at Maple. "So when you heard that, you decided to check it out."

"Yes and I did run into a few of them trying to set up some explosives to bring the place down. They were no match for my team and me so they ran off. Rusty smashed up their explosives and that was that. I thought about going back but I guess I was worried about you…I mean you guys so I decided to check it out."

He smiled. "Well thanks for all your help. That would have been a nasty surprise for us!"

"You're welcome. Oh and I also learned that Team Rocket planned to crash Homika's next concert with their new ultimate Pokemon."

"My concert? Why there?"

"Think of all the free publicity! It's supposed to be the biggest concert Unova has seen and I bet they would love for everyone to see their new power. It would instill a lot of fear in people and that is what they would want."

"Multiple gym leaders will be there. Maybe even some of the Elite Four. That would be the last place to try and show up! They would get trounced in no time! Why would you show up with your new toy when there are so many people around in one place who could beat you? I'm sorry but that's bull****."

She was not going to believe Maple at all or even give her a bit of credit, was she? "I know that but what if he showed up and trounced everyone? I bet that is what he's planning on."

Homika stared at the ceiling. "So what are you saying?"

Maple looked away. "That…we should cancel the concert?"

"Have you lost your f***ing mind? Cancel the biggest concert Unova has ever seen? No way! I want to be there front and center when they try to crash the party, so everyone can watch them get trounced!"

"But think about all those people that could get hurt! Not everyone has Pokemon strong enough to—"

"No."

He, Pitch and Sam exchanged hopeless looks with each other. "But—"

"I'm not canceling the concert and that's final!"

"Homika, it might be—"

She turned and glared at him. "Why are you taking her side on everything? It's like everything she says is gospel truth!"

"Well some of what she says makes a lot of sense—"

"Sense? Sense?"

"Homika, just calm down. We can discuss—"

"We aren't discussing anything! She's basically giving off her crack theories—"

"Crack theories? Now hold on Homika! She's been helping us out every step of the way. She's just as focused as we are about stopping Team Rocket. We wouldn't be where we are if it wasn't for—"

She poked a finger in his face. "Just like I said! You've pretty much taken her side on everything and won't even let me present my case!"

"Well you haven't exactly let her state everything before you interrupt—"

"Shut up! Like I said, I see how it is. If you guys love each other so much, why don't you two just sodder off and work together! See if I care!"

"Now hold on just a min—"

"Just leave me alone! I don't even want to see you at my concert!"

That went well. After she had left, he sat down on an overturned table and looked over the papers a little more. "Well…that went about as well as I thought."

"Ethan I'm sorry—"

"Please don't apologize," he said. He got up. "No use staying here, right? We need to get out of here and get ready for Team Rocket, whenever they show up."

"But she told you not to show up to the concert!"

He, Pitch and Sam shared a look before he laughed. "I don't care how angry she gets. If Team Rocket is going to show up, we have to be ready for them. And now that we might know what kind of Pokemon it is, that will help us out."

She got on her feet and winced as she tried to walk. "Ouch, I guess I should have been more careful. We'll have to ride on Rusty to get out of here."

"Wait, I want to see if I can find my Pokemon. I lost a couple of them in here and I want to see if I can find them."

"I'll help," she said before laughing a bit. "Or I'll limp around and give you moral support. What Pokemon did you lose?"

"Rai and Bolt. Bolt is a new one. He's a Joltik I caught."

She smiled and looked over at Pitch. "So is this cute bird you're new sidekick until you find Wiggler again?"

He pet Pitch's head. "Yea, Pitch. He's a bit braver than Wiggler but I'm not sure he knows his limits. And this is Sam, we just met but he wanted to tag along so I figured, why not? Then there's Dodger. He and Pitch don't get along very well. Oh yea and I did end up catching a steel Pokemon, just for you! I…just need to use him."

"You didn't have to do that but I'm glad you did."

Even with Sam's sharp nose, after a couple of hours, they still didn't find the Pokeballs with Rai and Bolt. He sat down atop a box and shook his head. "I can't believe I lost them. That was so careless."

"It was an accident. You already told me how it happened. It doesn't make you a bad trainer because of that."

He smiled. "I know, I know. I just feel so responsible for them. Especially Rai, he's the only Pokemon I have from my original party. I still haven't been able to find the others."

Maple nodded. "They'll be fine, I know it. And you've already got a pretty good group already. You just need two more and you'll be set!"

She suddenly cried out and he looked over at her. She wiped off some hot wax from her hand and he frowned. "Again? She was right, we are being followed."

"Followed? Followed by what?"

He looked up at the ceiling. "A Pokemon called Litwick. It looks like a candle and lives in places like this. Homika said it appears to help lost travelers but only intends to lead them into the Ghost World."

"It almost sounds like a crazy ghost story."

He looked at Pitch. "Hey, go check up there and see if you can find our little stalker."

Sam let out a little roar and suddenly fired off a small fireball at the ceiling above their heads. It burned away some of the floor and something floated down to the ground. It was in fact a small chubby little candle. It had a small purple flame atop its head and some of the wax covered part of its face, with only a single yellow eye peering at them. Pitch chirped angrily in its direction as he bent down to it. "So this is it?"

"So you're the one who's been following us."

"Uh, Ethan. Umm, we've got company."

He looked up and saw a whole army of Litwick floating above the hole Sam had made in the ceiling. This was gonna be fun. "Good think we have your steel Pokemon with us."

"Yea but aren't they part fire?"

"And Dodger is part water. And Pitch is a normal Pokemon so their ghost attacks can't work on him. And Sam is part dark."

She nodded. Several of the Litwick floated down closer to them and began to cast fireballs down on Rusty, who had positioned himself between them and the army of Litwick like a barrier. He let out a roar as the fireballs pelted his steel hide and she looked over at Ethan. He took out the Pokeball holding Dodger and summoned him. "Dodger, get those little ghosts off Rusty!"

Dodger let out an overjoyed quack and took to the skies. He pelted the little ghosts with water and each time he knocked out a flame, a Litwick vanished. Too bad for each one that disappeared, another one appeared in its place. Pitch took to the skies as well, avoiding their fireballs and hitting them with his signature dive bomb attack. Sam was forced to watch and he seemed pretty annoyed by it. "How many of these little ghosts are there?"

"This mansion must have been full of them! It's getting pretty annoying."

"Yes but I've noticed…that quite a few of them are just hanging back and not attacking. What's up with that?"

He watched for a bit and noticed what she was talking about. There was about ten or fifteen of Litwick hanging in the back not even trying to attack but just floating there. He then began to notice feeling a little fatigued. He yawned and then remembered what Homika had said about them. "I think I know."

"What? What is it?"

"Homika told me that they like to suck the life energy out of people—"

"They what?"

"I guess that's another way of dragging us into the Ghost World."

She yawned. "Now I'm feeling a bit tired. We've got to end this soon or else we're in big trouble!"

He heard a little roar and noticed Sam had crawled onto Rusty and had crawled all the way up to his head. He jumped high into the air and bit down on one of the Litwick, taking it to the ground with him. When he was satisfied that he had done enough damage, he crawled back up onto Rusty and went for another Litwick. Maple took out another Pokeball and summoned Empoleon. The penguin turned his attention to the army of ghosts and began to spray them down with bursts of water. Between him and Dodger, they began to thin out the crowd of ghosts quite a bit.

It took a bit longer than he would have liked but they soon turned back the army of Litwick. Only one Litwick remained, probably the one that had been following them all this time. He couldn't really tell since he was finding it a bit tough to keep his eyes open. He slumped against a wall and sat down. "Well…that was fun. Good job guys, you did a great job."

She slumped down next to him and yawned. "Now…what? I'm exhausted and so is poor Rusty. He can't get us out of here. And what about if they come back?"

He yawned and looked over at his trio. Neither of them looked all that tired, especially Dodger. "Hey will you guys keep watch until we wake up?"

"Fall asleep here?"

He laughed. "You have any better ideas? Otherwise we might trip and fall somewhere because we're half awake."

"Well…I guess I don't. I really don't want to be splashed in the face with ice cold water so I suppose we can just take a little nap," she said as she yawned and rested her head on his shoulder.

The next time he woke up, they were outside of the mansion. He stretched out his arms and yawned. He felt something cold against his back and turned to see Rusty lying behind them. He looked over at Maple, who was still asleep. He got to his feet and noticed his three Pokemon nearby, all fast asleep. He walked over to them but Pitch awoke as he approached and as soon as he saw him walking about, he flew up to his shoulder and took his usual perch. He pet him on the head and Pitch let out a happy chirp, waking up the other two as well. Pitch let him know that while a few more Litwick had come around, they were able to chase them off with ease. Sam let out a happy roar, eager for another fight but that would have to wait. "Well good job you guys. And thank you Pitch and Dodger for not trying to kill each other while I was in dreamland."

He turned and saw Maple awake. "Oh…Ethan, wait, what are we doing out here?"

Rusty let out a roar and she laughed. "I guess he must have recovered and got us out of there. I don't mind, that place gives me the creeps."

"Guess that's the last time you decide to explore an abandoned building, right?"

He folded his arms. "Nah but I'm going to avoid them if I know Litwick are going to be there. I much prefer other ghosts compared to them."

"You've never had a ghost on your team before, have you?"

He shook his head. "I've always wanted to have a Gengar. Maybe someday I will. Don't think there's any room on my team for one now. I got Pitch, Dodger, Sam and that Escavalier that I need to use. Then I need to save a spot for a poison Pokemon and then…hmmm."

Pitch let out a terrified chirp and he looked up to see a single Litwick appear on Rusty's back near Maple. She noticed it and got up in a flash and hurried over to him. The Litwick hopped off Rusty's back and floated over to them, while Rusty growled at it. "Why is he out here? He's outnumbered pretty badly."

Pitch flew down to it and the Litwick waved its tiny arms at him and seemed to be communicating…somehow. Sam and Dodger walked over, just in case the ghost candle did anything funny but it'd have to be pretty stupid to try anything. After awhile, Pitch looked up at them and chirped. "What did he say?" Maple asked.

"This Litwick was the one following us throughout the mansion…and he wants to come along too."

"Are you sure about that? What if it tries to suck away your life while you're sleeping?"

He frowned. "Yea but he'd be in his Pokeball anyway. Maybe if he promises not to cause trouble, he could tag along."

She grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around. "A-are you serious? Don't you remember what just happened to us? We were almost killed by that army of ghosts. And now you're thinking about letting one into your party?"

"But from what Pitch told me, this Litwick seemed pretty lonely. He didn't even join in on the attack with the other Litwick because he didn't want to. Not all of them are bad, I'm sure under my training he'll turn out fine. Right?"

Her mouth fell open for a bit and then she smiled. "You're right. You have been a pretty good trainer. I think he'll turn out all right, only because you'll be his trainer."

"Thanks," he said. He directed his attention to Pitch. "Well I suppose he can come along. I'm gonna count on you guys to help keep him in line!"

The Litwick began to wave his arms about again and he again looked toward Pitch. This time Sam spoke up, in his own way with a series of roars and growls. Pitch was able to translate as usual and his face lit up. "Wait, he knows where those Pokeballs are? Really?"

"It could be a trick. I'm still wary of Litwick after that episode."

He laughed. "You're kind of like Homika when you say that but you've always been more of the cautious one compared to me," he said before looking back at the Litwick. "If you know where they are, can you find them for us?"

The Litwick floated up into the air and back toward the mansion. He followed it but only as far as the door to the mansion. Sure they had chased away all those Litwick but for such a big mansion, more of them could be lurking in there and he wasn't about to face them head on, again. Sam walked up the door and roared at the open doorway. Suddenly a bunch of Litwick appeared in the doorway and they both jumped back in surprise. He almost tripped and fell but felt Maple catch him from behind. "Careful, we can't have you getting hurt when we still have Team Rocket to deal with."

"You're a lot stronger than you let on," he said as he got his bearings.

She gave him a playful poke in the side. "Of course silly. Have you forgotten what gym I run?"

"How could I forget? I'm sure Rusty would crush me if I did."

She rolled her eyes. "He may look mean but he doesn't have a mean bone in his body. He's very cuddly."

Pitch let out a snarky chirp and she shot him a look. Pitch looked at him with a sympathetic look but he shook his head. "Don't give me that look. You were the one who said it. I swear, you're about as bad as Wiggler."

Just thinking about Wiggler again made his shake his head and look away. He kicked at the dirt. "I shouldn't have left him there."

"You're talking about Wiggler…aren't you? Ethan, if you had stayed behind, you would have gotten captured and that's the last thing we need. Do you know what Giovanni would have done to you if he finally had you?"

"Well…"

She stomped her foot into the dirt. "Don't even think about it! I don't want to think about it. If you had been captured…"

"Oh I'm sure Homika would have gone out in a blaze…er haze of poison fury first. Maybe me and Wiggler could have escaped while everyone was trying to recover—"

"Who cares about her?" Maple asked under her breath.

"Huh?"

She smiled at him. "Nothing!"

Pitch began to say something but she shot him another murderous look and the little bird went silent. That made him even more a bit curious as to what she said but something told him he was probably better off not knowing. The look on Pitch's face didn't help matters.

"So what do you think about—" he began to ask but Pitch just shot him a look that said he should probably choose a different subject so he just let his thoughts trail off. She looked at him.

"Huh, what were you about to ask?"

"Oh, nothing really important."

She smiled. "Liar but I'm sure it was important and you'll just bring it up later."

A few minutes later, the Litwick floated out of the mansion and presented two Pokeballs. When it set them down, it accidently summoned the two occupants, Rai and Bolt. Bolt hitched a ride on Rai's back while the little Raichu scurried over to him. Just as he bent down to greet them, Rai stopped and unleashed a huge bolt of lightning off to the side, causing everyone but Ethan to jump in surprise. He reached over and pet him on the head. "Good to see you again you two! I thought I had lost you. I'm getting real sick of losing Pokemon now."

Bolt hopped off Rai's back and looked at him with a pleased expression. Maple bent down next to him and reached out to Bolt. "So this is Bolt. He's so…tiny."

"Tiny but he's strong. He helped us defeat a legendary Pokemon."

"He…what?"

Ethan laughed. "Yea, it was when Skyla, Homika and me took on Archer. He had his Houndoom and Thundurus, a legendary Pokemon from Unova. While Rai, Dodger and Pitch kept them distracted along with the other Pokemon, Rai attached himself to Thundurus and began to drain away all his electrical power. Risky strategy but it worked, Thundurus skipped town and Houndoom was already defeated so Archer had to leave."

"Wow, that's amazing."

"It's just…now what do I do? I've got seven Pokemon and I still need to make room for a Poison Pokemon. How am I gonna give them all the love and attention they need?"

He felt her put her hand on his shoulder. He looked over at her and she smiled at him. "If anyone can do it, you can."

He laughed. "Thanks. Well now that the whole crew is together, I guess we better get to Castelia City. We can't let Team Rocket get away with their plans, again."