Tate's POV

Something was off, I could clearly tell. While I wasn't the best of the psychics, I could sense this kind of disturbance. There was something of malevolent about that stone, something so ancient and so evil that it could almost burn me just by existing. Even our guide duskull, a ghost, was obviously uneasy near it.

Be careful Summer's soft voice echoed in my head. I shot my solrock a surprised glance. Summer never spoke unless the situation was serious. That cleared any doubts.

"Liza." I whispered, nudging her. "Let's leave this place. It's trouble." She didn't seem to hear me, though. It seemed like she was listening to something.

It was then that I heard the voice.

It started as faint whispers in my head and I initially dismissed it as one of the ghosts behind us. But then I realised they were speaking in my language.

"Free me

Help me

Please

You will be rewarded

All your dreams

Free me

Just

Break the stone"

That voice was persuasive, seductive. It was as if every word offered me endless prizes and joys, every sentence bringing me closer to the strange stone. I just needed to break it. What could go wrong? I would be rewarded...

Sir! Don't let it take you over!

I felt Summer's usually serene conscience aggressively breaking into my mind. The solrock destroyed the hypnotic effect of the voice, wiping it away completely. As soon as I returned to my senses, he left as abruptly as he came.

"Whoa..." I shook my head, blinking rapidly. "Thank you, partner." I tapped the solrock, who nudged me in response. I looked over at Liza and gasped.

Moonlight wasn't having nearly as much success in snapping her from the trance. Liza kept advancing towards the stone, a look of determination and desire in her face. The voice was too strong for her.

I noticed a purple fog flowing from the stone, quickly encircling my sister. The ghost, or whatever that thing was, seemed to be blocking Moonlight's attempts to lift Liza with Psychic. By this point, she was standing right before the stone, extending her arms to pick it up.

"Liza, no!" I screamed, rushing forwards. She didn't even look at me. The purple fog reacted, though, and immediately lashed forwards. To my shock, something physical struck me in the chest and whipped me away. I was knocked off the plateau and Summer barely caught me. "Duskull, what's going on?!"

"The Alpha will be set free." The duskull murmured, tilting his head-like body in a way I assumed meant confusion. "But...there's something weird about that."

I couldn't question him, as in that moment Liza grabbed the stone and lifted it with a strength I never imagined she had. She took a moment staring at it with dreamy eyes, probably seduced by the promises the voice made. She then grit her teeth and screamed defiantly, lifting it over her head.

"I free you!"

And then she tossed it violently to the floor.

The strange stone shattered into dozens of pieces as it crashed into the floor, making a horrifying sound that resembled a twisted laugh.

In the middle of the wreckage, a small purple orb hovered. It emanated unbealiavable power, so much I could clearly feel the energy trying to tear through me from my position many meters away.

"Oh, no..." The duskull murmured nervously next to me. "No...not that way..."

Liza was standing pathetically in front of the orb, blinking rapidly and stumbling. She had a look of astonishment in her face, as if she couldn't tell how she had gotten there. "T-Tate? W-what's happening...?"

What happened afterwards will haunt me forever.

The orb sprang from its spot towards Liza, hitting her chest and disappearing into her. My sister screeched in pure horror, and I could only join her as she was overtaken by a bright purple light. Liza collapsed to the floor, convulsing, wheezing, screaming, the light now as a concentrated line tracing through her veins.

Another light, a white one, was suddenly expelled from her chest at high speed, straight into the stone's remains. It braked abruptly once it was in the very middle of the debris and, right before my eyes, the stone reformed around it, encasing whatever was that light in its ominous core.

"LIZA!" I rushed to my sister's side and knelt by her, desperate. "Liza!" I tried to flip her over, to check for injuries or any clue of what the heck was going on. But as I touched her skin, I recoiled from a burn in my fingers."L-Liza?"

I tried to use our link to reach her. We still had to refine it in order to properly communicate, but we could still get our emotions across.

However, the conscience I felt was entirely different from Liza's. In horror, I backed away as her body twitched and raised to its feet.

"What's going on?!" I tried to extend my hand again, but two ghostly arms quickly held my waist and dragged me away.

"I'm sorry, lad." It was the duskull. "This wasn't supposed to go like that..."

"Like what?" I gulped, quickly looking back at him before returning my gaze to Liza. My eyes widened.

When Liza's eyes opened, they were glowing in a deep, ghostly green. Her mouth cracked a horrible smirk, revealing the same light inside. The purple fog from before was swirling all around her.

"Free at last." Liza-no, the creature that took Liza over laughed with a twisted masculine voice. It clenched its fists, smirking at me. "I shall thank you and your foolish sister, mortal, for nobody has ventured into Mount Pyre during nighttime for a long while."

"W-who are you?!" I squealed, backing away more. Summer and Moonlight positioned themselves between me and the monster, though both were as puzzled as me. "What have you done to my sister?!"

"I suppose you deserve to know." The creature conceded, taking a confident step forwards and causing the surrounding ghosts to back away. "I am called Spiritomb. I am the Prince of Death. The Herald of Doom."

"S-Spiritomb? Y-you are real?!" I squeaked, my eyes widened in fear. I had heard tales about the Spiritomb. Everyone had.

The Spiritomb had once been a powerful clan composed of 108 warriors. Despite their extremely low numbers for an army, the warriors could decimate entire kingdoms all by themselves. Ruthless and outright cruel, barely any ever survived a confront with the Spiritomb Clan to tell the tale. According to the legend, the havoc caused by them eventually would have called the attention of the gods themselves. Enraged, they would have brutally slaughtered all 108 warriors. Their spirits would then have been cursed for eternity by being merged into one single, hideous beast and trapped inside the Odd Keystone, an unbreakable coffin. The truth about their fate was never actually known, but the beast was apparently there, in front of me, possessing my twin sister.

I hate legends.

"Oh, I see you have heard my about me." Spiritomb smirked widely. "I was trapped in the Odd Keystone centuries ago. I tell you, young man, that is a horrible place to be. The boredom and lack of proper movement could drive anyone to madness. But of course a little rock wouldn't trap the Spiritomb Clan forever, yeah? Your sister very kindly set me free...by taking my place."

"WHAT?" I stared at the stone, or Odd Keystone, as it had been called. I remembered the white light orb that had been imprisoned in there. "She's in there?!"

"Yes. I have tried to escape on my own, but turns out too much power was put into this stupid cage. The Keystone needs a desgraced soul to curse upon and nothing can change that." Spiritomb grinned, lifting its hand. To my further astonishment, if that was even possible, purple flames appeared on its palm, which I recognized as Will-O-Wisp. "Good, I can still do that. Now, I need some practice with this new body. I hope you will offer me a good challenge."

I barely had time to dodge the ghostly fireball before Summer and Moonlight sent a Psychic wall to try and lift Spiritomb, who cackled as it harmlessly went through its body. It then summoned two Shadow Balls and hurled them at both psychics. The subsequent explosion knocked them into a mausoleum. "Weak."

A second Will-O-Wisp came towards me, and I couldn't dodge it this time. Though the impact never came, as the duskull tackled me into the nearest shadow and the world disapeared beneath us. For a moment I could only see darkness as I sunk into that strange realm, before a pull on my back brought me a few meters from where I had been standing. As sickening as the experience had been, I somehow stood my ground.

"What's wrong with you?!" I snapped at Spiritomb, stomping on the floor. "Why do you want our deaths so badly?!

"Oh, young man. I thought it was obvious." The monster cackled maniacly. That didn't feel right in my sister's body... "I get POWER. Every soul that composes me enhances my power further and further. I used to be more than one entity, you see. But they cursed us all together into a shadow of what we once were, a parasite stuck to a rock." It had now taken on a bitter tone. "But this shall change. I will gather more energy. I will find a way to dispose of your pathetic sister's body and split back into the glorious Spiritomb Clan. And then this damned world shall feel our wrath once more!"

The Spirtomb Clan coming back to terrorize the planet...

All because of our curiosity...

"You lied to me, you dirty specter!" The duskull hissed furiously at the entity, floating forwards. "You never mentioned anything about stealing someone's body! You never mentioned anything about going on a killing spree!" In his fit of anger, the skully ghost formed a Shadow Ball between hands and launched it at full force towards Spiritomb. The orb of darkness exploded right at Liza's face, sending the current occupiant tumbling back to a wall. The horde of ghosts screeched in bewilderment.

"Duskull!" I shouted, watching in horror. That explosion should have caused major burns to Liza's face. Maybe completely ruined it. Maybe in such a state she couldn't ever be healed should she ever return to her proper body.

But to my shock, and relief, Spiritomb regained balance within seconds. Aside from looking slightly charred, Liza's face was completely intact.

"Shadow Ball. That is your attempt to stop me. A Shadow Ball." Spiritomb scowled, shaking its head slowly, arms crossed. "I expected more from an old crook like you. As for lying to you, of course I did. There is no such thing as honor between ghosts. Any phantom knows that!."

The duskull flinched at those words, backing away slightly. "Alpha...I won't let you void these three as well."

"Very well, I will void four." Spiritomb smirked as it watched Summer and Moonlight flanking me. It then turned to stare at its fellow ghosts. "But as your very generous Alpha, I will let my dearest minions draw the first drip of blood. Pick wisely."

The sight of a howling horde of ghosts storming towards me and three innocent pokemon-actually two, the duskull was pretty much responsible for this-finally had me realise that perharps running might not be a bad idea.

Unfortunately, I still needed the Odd Keystone in my hands if Liza was really in there. And Spiritomb was in the way.

"Summer! Moonlight! The stone!" I shouted through the screeches before being knocked over by one of the jewel eyed things. The little monster hissed at me as I desperately tried to keep it away from my face, its claws sinking into my skin.

A well aimed Shadow Ball sent it flying away as the duskull fought to reach me through a horde of ghostly bugs. They looked ridiculously fragile, each falling motionlessly and disappearing everytime it was struck by a move. I didn't take long watching before looking for Summer.

My solrock was bravely fighting off the ghosts with Flamethrower and Psychic while shielding Moonlight. She was desperately trying to move the Odd Keystone with Liza, but an amused Spiritomb blocked every attempt simply by staying in the way. I could have ordered an attack to at least move it or slap that infuriating grin off, but I couldn't bring myself to harm Liza, no matter how durable her body had become.

Both looked injured and exhausted. After a Flash from Summer blinded the attackers, Moonlight finally spoke. Go! Save yourselves! I will try and help her!

As much as I hated the idea, it was indeed a lost battle. Powerful as they were, my three helpers couldn't take on a horde of ghosts for much longer. I was almost immediately proven correct.

A blur appeared behind her and I barely had time to shout her name before one of the doll monsters struck the powerful lunatone with Shadow Claw, bringing her down to the ground. She screamed in pain and surprise, unable to move as the doll pinned her.

"NO!" I jumped at the pokemon to try and stop it, but I simply went through it. Cackling wildly, the creature shot me a sadistic smirk and swatted me away before raising its arm and bringing down a devastating Knock Off directly into Moonlight's eye.

A lunatone's eyes are located laterally in its head, crimson little pearls that serve as the last line of defense ro reach the pokemon's insides. In contrast to the rest of the body, however, a lunatone's eye is a relatively fragile organ. It is able to withstand shockwaves caused by impacts across the body, but if attacked directly it may break and expose a vital spot: the brain.

That is usually not a big issue; lunatone's thick skull leaves little of its eyes exposed, and they are rarely targeted in a battle, as warned to trainers who face one. Liza once had to spend a week treating a crack Moonlight had received in her eye during a battle after a challenger's vigoroth scraped it. It had been an accident, and the boy took extra care in his rematch not to repeat the same mistake.

In this case, however, the supereffective Knock Off had been aimed directly into Moonlight's eyes, with clear intention to kill. The crimson orb was crushed under the impact and her brain, jabbed. Moonlight screeched in agony, thrashing wildly against her aggressor. It was futile, however; a second Knock Off hit her brain square, squashing the organ, rupturing veins. The meteorite pokemon immediately went limp.

"MOONLIGHT!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. The doll monster was scorched by a direct blast from Summer's Flamethrower and disappeared in the shadows with a deafening screech, but the damage was done. I knelt down and tightly embraced the lifeless body of my sister's lunatone, tears dripping down on her hard skin. She hadn't been nearly as close to me as Summer was. I still considered Moonlight a close friend, however. Ontop of that, she was pretty much Liza's other half.

Two halves. Both lost.

"Excellent performance, I must admit. You really got some nerve after all." Spiritomb chuckled, clapping. "The banette responsible for this shall be rewarded later on. Now, for the other three..." It was cut by a sudden fit of coughing. It was so intense, so agonizing that its minions looked back at their leader in confusion as it leaned against a wall for support.

Sir, we have to go now. It's our chance! Summer mentally poked me, urging me towards the exit. Part of me knew he was right. We couldn't defeat the Spiritomb. It pained me to leave Liza, though. I couldn't betray her like that! Not after what they had done to Moonlight!

"Duskull." I called lowly. The skully ghost glanced at me with its shifting eye. "Would you be able to track me down from a distance?" Upon his nod, I continued. "Take the stone. Bring it to me. No matter what you do, don't let them have my sister."

Summer didn't wait for a reply. Tapping on his last forces, the solrock lifted me and the deceased Moonlight in the air with Psychic and propelled us towards the edge of the mountain.

And we fell.

I could hear Spiritomb's raspy voice shouting to his minions growing lower and lower through the air currents as I waited for the fateful impact when I felt myself deaccelerating. Looking down, I was surprised to find the motorboat we had arrived with right beneath me. Summer carefully deposited me and Moonlight on the floor before I ran to start the engine.

Summer managed to unleash another Flamethrower and one final Flash to keep the pursuing ghosts at bay before I managed to get the boat out of the docks. As I briefly glanced behind me, they had stopped at the shore and didn't advance further, much to my relief. If they were scared of the water or of leaving their territory, I couldn't tell.

Summer collapsed on the boat, snapping me back to reality. I quickly recalled him to his pokeball to stagnate his condition until I could find a pokemon center, leaving me alone with a dead lunatone.

I would heal Summer and make a proper funeral for Moonlight once I reached land. I would then find a way back to Mt. Pyre once I was prepared.

I would avenge Moonlight.

I would confine Spiritomb in its coffin once again.

And I would save my sister.

Author's note:

Second chapter, longer than the first. Now that we have a character with some importance over the others, I changed to first person so I can develop his personality better. I shall alternate points of view between protagonists (don't worry, they will be clearly defined soon) as the story goes.

Possibly confusing terms such as 'phantom' or 'voiding' will be explained in due time, just like our dearest duskull's lore.

twilightwrites: thank you for your kind words, I appreciate them. I am aware about the abrupt ending (terribly placed cliffhanger...) and will try to avoid it in the future. As for your question, Tate and Liza are apprentices here, though that just means that they are too young or inexperienced to be officially in charge of an important gym like Mossdeep's. They do take challengers and hand badges over, they just don't have the political powers of a gym leader.

Be sure to leave your reviews. Constructive criticism always helps.