Now in this chapter, Pikachu and his pals will be solving the case of the haunted castle.

Chapter 2

"What happened?" Luxray asked.

"The lights are out!" cried Krokorok. "I can't see!"

"Don't panic, folks," said Magmar. "This Charmander and I have fires on our tails."

Just then, a Dusknoir appeared over the table.

"It's a Dusknoir!" Luxray gasped.

"Oh, I knew this place is haunted!" cried Squirtle.

"I warn you to leave this castle," said Dusknoir. "If you do not leave by midnight, you will be trapped forever! Let this be a lesson to you all!"

Suddenly, smoke appeared and spread around the dining room, blinding the Pokémon. They cough and cough as Dusknoir disappeared with a cackle. The smoke cleared away shortly after, and the lights came back on. Everyone noticed that Feraligatr was gone.

"Hey, where's Feraligatr?" Krokorok asked.

They called out for Feraligatr. But they did not hear his voice.

"Oh, no," cried Charmander. "Dusknoir must've captured Feraligatr!"

"I knew it! The castle's haunted!" Squirtle cried, panicking. "We're gonna be next if we don't leave right now! I wanna go home!"

"Would you knock it off?" Bulbasaur asked. "This castle can't be haunted. There must be a reason."

Pikachu thought for a second and realized that solving the case might prove the castle isn't haunted. "Good idea," he said. "We can solve this case."

Squirtle turned white. "Are you crazy?! Solve the haunted castle case?!" he cried.

"This castle couldn't have been haunted," Bulbasaur said. "There must a culprit somewhere. We gotta figure out this case."

"Well, I want you guys to do me a favor."

"What's that?"

"Talk me out of it!" He ran to the door, but he was grabbed by Bulbasaur's Vine Whip, and he struggled. "No, let me go!"

"Squirtle, if we're gonna spend the night in this castle, we have to solve the case," said Charmander. "Think about heroic we'll be."

"But haunted places made me so scared!"

"You've been to the Haunted Zone back in PokéPark, you enjoyed it," said Pikachu.

"That's different!"

"Well, if you four can solve this case, be my guest," said Gliscor.

"We can do it," said Charmander. "Give us a chance."

"Solving the haunted castle is kind of dangerous," Krokorok said, "but we hope Feraligatr is okay."

"I'll go get some help," Typhlosion said. He got up and left the dining room.

"Why do we have to solve this case?" Squirtle whined. "This place is..."

"I don't care," Bulbasaur interrupted. "It is not haunted. We just have to figure it out."

"Okay, let's get going," said Pikachu. "We'll have to check upstairs."

When the four arrived at the stairway, Charmander held his tail as a candle and went up first, with the others following. With every step, the stairs creak.

"Sure looks dark upstairs," Pikachu said.

"Oooohh..." Squirtle shivered, "I hate to come in the dark."

"Boy, are you chicken," said Bulbasaur, going to tease Squirtle.

Squirtle glared at Bulbasaur. "Hey, I'm not chicken!"

"That's what you always said, and then what happens later? You freak out."

Squirtle screamed when lightning flashed through the window, and he hid behind a knight armor, shivering.

"See? That's just you."

"I don't like it!"

"All right, guys," said Pikachu as Charmander lit up a candle on a stool. "Charmander and I will check the bedrooms. You guys check the attic."

"The attic?" Squirtle asked. "But that's scary!"

"What's the matter, still chicken out?" Bulbasaur teased.

"Bulbasaur, you need this candle," said Charmander, handing the candle to Bulbasaur.

"Oh, quit teasing! I'm not scared!" Squirtle protested.

"Then come on," said Bulbasaur.

Bulbasaur went up the stairs to the attic, after he pick up Squirtle with Vine Whip.

"I don't wanna go!" wailed Squirtle.

"Oh, shut up," moaned Bulbasaur.

The two arrived at the attic, and it sure is dark. Except Bulbasaur had carried the candle Charmander had handed to him.

"Okay, there's nothing here," said Squirtle. "Let's go to bed." He walked down the stairs, but Bulbasaur grabs him with Vine Whip. "Help!"

"Are you getting a cold shell? There's nothing to be afraid of," said Bulbasaur.

"Me, having a cold shell? No way."

"Well then, get going."

The two walked in and looked around. They see creepy spiders in spider webs and cobwebs everywhere.

"Oh, look at this attic," Bulbasaur said. "It's so dusty. I'm disappointed the maids hadn't done any dusting for ages."

Squirtle sweeper his hand on a chest, and dust flew everywhere. Some went into Bulbasaur's nose, and he sneezed.

"Hey! Watch where you're dusting!" Bulbasaur yelled.

"Sorry. It really is dusty."

"Never mind that. Look around for the clues!"

"Nothing to it, Bulbasaur. I'm on it."

Squirtle looked at the bookcase and searched from shelf to shelf. Then he saw a dusty book with a paw print on it. "Looks like someone didn't dust this book," he said. He swept the dust off the book, but the paw print was still there.

Bulbasaur approached the bookcase and saw the paw print Squirtle found. "Say, is that a clue?" he asked.

"I don't know, I just found it."

Bulbasaur looked for something to take a picture. He found an old camera on a table, picked it up with Vine Whip, shook and blew some dust off, and took a picture of it. He was surprise the camera still had film in it after it's been left behind.

"Wow. I'm glad the camera still works," Bulbasaur grinned. "I can't wait to show this clue to Pikachu."

As soon as Bulbasaur walked, Squirtle saw Dusknoir appearing behind him, and his eyes widen. "Behind you!" he cried. He used his Water Gun attack to hit Dusknoir, but Dusknoir quickly vanished for Water Gun to hit Bulbasaur, which caused him to drop the camera, and the water pushed him straight to the wall with a thud.

Bulbasaur sputtered angrily and glared at Squirtle. "You did that on purpose, you clumsy idiot!" he yelled.

"But I just saw Dusknoir!" Squirtle said. "He was right behind you!"

"A likely story. Come here!"

Bulbasaur chased Squirtle around the attic to attack him with Vine Whip.

"Ow, ow, ow! Stop whipping me!" Squirtle cried.

The whipping stopped when the two saw Dusknoir appearing in front of them, and they screamed.

"Dusknoir!" cried Squirtle.

"Run!" cried Bulbasaur.

The two ran as fast as they could, but Dusknoir stopped them with Psychic attack, as they were floated off the ground.

"Wh-wh-what are you gonna do to us?" Squirtle gulped.

Dusknoir did not reply, but he took them to an empty chest, opened it and forced the two in before closing the lid and locking it. He cackled evilly and left. Bulbasaur and Squirtle banged on the lid, calling for help. They called and called, but it was useless. It was until they finally stop screaming.

"Oh, we're goners," said Squirtle. "Now do you believe in haunted castles?"

"Don't quit, Squirtle," said Bulbasaur. "You just never know whenever help may arrived."

"Well, I wanna get outta here, now!" He resumed banging on the lid. "Somebody help! Help!" He stopped when he heard footsteps coming closer to the chest. "Oh, no! We're doomed!"

The two heard a click, and the lid opened to reveal Charmander and Pikachu.

"Charmander, Pikachu! You're here!" Squirtle smiled. "Yay!" He hugged Charmander, hugged Pikachu, and then hugged Bulbasaur. "We're alive!"

Bulbasaur growled and hit Squirtle with Vine Whip.

"Did you guys find any clues?" Pikachu asked.

"We found one," said Bulbasaur. "There's this book with a paw print on it."

"I thought it was just dust, except when I dusted it, the paw print is still there," said Squirtle.

Charmander found the book Squirtle had found, and he looked at the paw print. "It looked like someone's paw was painted," he said.

"Paint? But why would someone leave paint on a book?" Squirtle asked.

"I don't know, but this is the clue we found."

"Well, come on, guys, the game's afoot," said Pikachu. "We gotta solve this case and prove that this castle is not haunted."

They had found the first clue. Now they'll have to find the other clues to solve the case.