Damn, this was a long chapter. Partly because of my adding so much crap in it! Regardless, all of it I like and don't think completely useless!

~~**XIV**~~

Night at the Nacrene Museum

Gwen couldn't hold in her excitement at finally reaching Nacrene City. Second Badge, here I come! But first she couldn't help but admire all the colorful buildings. All of them had some sort of painted mark on them of many different colors and styles.

Iris noticed it too. "Look at all those cool buildings!"

"They're actually unused warehouses," Cilan explained, "which the city leases to artists. And because of that, Nacrene City is known as the City of Art!"

Gwen turned to admire the beautiful work. Her mother would love this city!

"Wow!" Iris exclaimed. "There's beautiful art everywhere you look!" Gwen nodded at that.

"The city is also admired for its style, so it's the City of Admiration, too!" Cilan added.

Only a couple moments more and Gwen returned to the task at hand. "Well, now we make for the Gym so I can have my battle!" she said, turning ot him.

"Pikachu!" he cheered from on Gwen's shoulder.

Cilan smiled. "The city's museum just happens to be the site of the Nacrene Gym!"

Gwen felt her brow knot. A Gym within a Museum? Just like the Striaton Gym being a restaurant. Odd how the Unova Gyms were set up. But to each their own. "Sounds intriguing! Let's go now!"

"Pika!"

It was a couple more turns of colorful warehouses and buildings before the trio made it to the museum. And the doors were shut with a sign on them. "It's closed!" Gwen exclaimed. "No way!"

Pikachu was taken off as well. "Pika pika!"

Gwen growled. "I wanna challenge the Nacrene Gym right now! Is anybody here?!" There was no answer, so she pounded on the door. "Hello!" She twisted the door knobs. Locked. "Dang it!" She kicked the door for good measure.

"Hang on, Gwen," Cilan soothed. "Look at this poster."

"It looks like there's supposed to be a secret artifacts exhibit," Iris said.

"Not so secret anymore," Gwen drawled without looking at it. Oh, the weird use of the word secret. If something is to be displayed or exhibited it was no longer a secret. Uncovered would have been the better adjective.

"And looking at the dates, it's supposed to be today," Cilan stated. "But it doesn't make any sense that it would be closed."

Gwen glared down at the door, turning to knobs again and trying another knock. Still nothing. But suddenly a pitched male scream sounded from behind the doors. "Huh?"

"Pika!"

Gwen stepped away just in time before the doors slammed open and a man burst out, collapsing on his knees just outside. But if the museum was closed, what was he doing inside? Did he work here?

Cilan knelt down next to him. "Sir, are you alright?!"

The man didn't look up at him, but pointed back inside the museum. "In there! It's horrible!"

The three looked inside too see a plain old hallway. Nothing was there. Iris noted it as well. "Is there something wrong with the hallway?" she inquired.

He shook his head. "No, it's fine. But the Dome Fossil was chasing me!"

Gwen's eyes widened. "A Dome Fossil? Really?" She'd heard of them. They contained the replica and DNA of Kabuto. She'd never seen one other than a picture, but still.

"It was chasing you?" Iris repeated.

Cilan took another peek down the hallway. "But I don't see a thing."

The man shuddered. "It's there, all right!"

Gwen turned to her friends. "Let's check it out, then."

The three made their way inside, Pikachu hopping off Gwen's shoulder and pressing faster. Just inside were a bunch of showcases and to their right Pikachu turned to make for one of the stands. Atop was the Dome Fossil. Gwen could see the bare outline of what would be Kabuto's shell.

"The Dome Fossil is right over here," Cilan called.

The man peeked his head out from the corner. "But how? It was just chasing me a minute ago!"

Cilan turned to him, interested and sympathetic. "Fill us in, please. And don't leave out any details."

The man blinked. "Uh..sure."

The four sat just outside the museum at one of the white patio tables as the man began his story. "We were behind in preparations for the secret artifacts exhibit," he started. Gwen had to bite her tongue to not point out the secret part, but she did. "So when the artifacts finally arrived last night, the workers and I were rushing to put together the displays. By the time we finished, it was very late. I was alone, doing the final check of the artifacts, when suddenly..." he trailed off, shuddering at what had to be a horrible memory. "As I made my way towards the light switch, I heard them: footsteps coming towards me from behind. Things were starting to get a bit scary, when I suddenly heard a cry. Scared out of my wits, I went to bring the workers back with me and we searched the whole museum, but we didn't find anything out of the ordinary. So, since out patron safety comes first, we decided to postpone the exhibit. After the workers left, I decided to stay and search the museum one last time..." his voice then cracked.

"And that's when we ran into you," Cilan stated, putting everything together.

Gwen let out a small whistle. "Strange things can happen," she murmured. "And I've had my fair share."

Pikachu nodded. "Pika." He understood too.

"It's gotta be a curse!" Iris exclaimed.

The other three gasped. "A curse?!" Gwen repeated.

"There's no doubt in my mind that an angry spirit of some sort has put a terrible curse on this museum and that's that!" Iris stated.

The man flinched in fear. "Huh? You think it's a curse!?"

Axew shuddered and hid into Iris's hair and even Pikachu shivered slightly. "You see?" Iris gestured to the Pokemon. "Even Axew and Pikachu know it's true. And bad things will happen if we don't do something now!"

Cilan chuckled in amusement. "Don't overreact," he stated. "There's a rational explanation for this. It's simply a misunderstanding, that's all."

Iris glared. "A misunderstanding?!"

Cilan nodded. "I'm sure science has the key," he said. "Scientific perspective is what we need."

Iris stomped up from her chair. "Oh yeah!? Then figure it out by scientific perspective! You'll see just how scientific ideas are mere excuses for what you don't want to accept!"

Cilan leaned back into his chair. "And you'll explain everything with paranoid gestures rather than figuring them out with your own logic."

Iris growled, her attention turning to Gwen. Cilan even peeked at her. She raised her hands at both of them. "Hey, keep me out of this," she said. "I'm neutral here." Quite frankly, she didn't care which one was true, except that there was apparently something happening in that museum. The only answer was to discover what.

"So, what are you saying?" the man asked.

Iris turned to him. "I'm saying that I'll find out why a spirit would cast a curse on your museum! I guarantee it!"

"And I'll find out what's really going on with science," Cilan stated. "The scientific method's the smart way to go."

"And then I can get around to my Gym Battle when we're done," Gwen finished.

The man's eyes widened slightly at that. "You're a challenger?"

Gwen nodded. "We came here so I could challenge the Gym Leader and win my badge."

He nodded. "Well, either way, you would have to wait as Lenora isn't here right now," he said.

"Lenora?" Gwen inquired.

The man stood up. "My apologies. I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Hawes, co-curator of the museum. And when I refer to Lenora, I meant my wife. She's also the Nacrene Gym Leader."

"Wow," Gwen said. It wasn't often that she heard Gym Leaders being married. Sure it wasn't odd, but not as common now that she thought of it. "I'm Gwen," she introduced, "and this is my partner, Pikachu."

Her partner stood up on the table. "Pika pikachu!"

Iris introduced herself as well. "My name's Iris."

Cilan stood up as well, bowing slightly as he usually did. "And I'm Cilan-Pokemon Connoisseur. May we have a look around the museum, if you don't mind?"

Hawes started for a moment before answering. "Yes, of course."

They headed back inside the museum. "Let me give you a quick tour," Hawes offered. "Follow me." He went back to the Dome Fossil stand, seemingly forgetting that it had apparently chased after him not ten minutes ago. "It's thought that Kabuto, the Shellfish Pokemon, were living on our beaches as far back as three million years ago!"

Gwen nodded. "I've heard of a few of the fossilized Pokemon, like Omanite and even Aerodactyl, but are there others?" she asked.

Hawes nodded. "While I can't give that much detail on it, there are a handful of other Pokemon of different species that we've found as fossils. But I believe that those can't possibly cover all the Pokemon that lived during those times."

Gwen smiled despite the unfortunate thought. Just how many different types of Pokemon were there that would never be discovered and understood?

The group moved on, notably Iris who made for the big skeletal structure in the middle of the room. "Wow! Is that a Dragonite?" she exclaimed.

Axew stared admirably at the model. "Yew!"

Hawes nodded. "This is quite impressive. It's a skeletal model of a Dragonite. It just so happens that it's the largest Dragonite skeletal model in the world!"

He then moved onto another stand display. "Now, take a look at this." He gestured to a ashy grey-black rock. It wasn't quite rounded or in a diamond shape, but that was as close a description to give it. It had several darker pockmarks all over it. "This is a meteorite."

"You mean from space?" Gwen exclaimed.

Hawes nodded. "Yes, which also means it should possess some kind of cosmic energy, as well."

"This makes me think of Moon Stones," Gwen commented. "They, of course, came from the moon. And the Pokemon Clefairy was said to have come from the moon as well."

"Really?" Iris gasped.

"What a delicious notion," Cilan added.

"Indeed," Hawes nodded. "But this stone is no Moon Stone, unfortunately. We haven't quite figured out all of its properties yet. We're still researching. But for now, we have enough facts about it to display it here. And it's always exciting when we do discover more about it. Moving on." He made his way to still suits of armor. "These suits of armor were once worn in the Unova Region," he continued.

"Wait, you mean people used to be Knights?" Gwen inquired.

"Yes!" It was Iris who answered this time. "While it's undoubtedly common to think of Dragon Trainers as Knights, Pokemon of all Types were the companion of Knights. In fact, the Village of Dragons, where I'm from, used to be a kingdom! I used to play in the ruins all the time as a kid!" Wow. So cool!

Gwen turned to another display. "What's that?" she asked. She went over to the flat display of what looked like a sarcophagus.

The three came up behind her. "The artifacts here were found in a ruin," Hawes explained. "And researchers have said Cofagrigus is known to appear in these types of ruins."

Gwen felt her brow knot. "Cofagrigus?"

"It's that Pokemon's name," Cilan stated. "Is this a real specimen?" he asked Hawes. Gwen hoped not. And calling it specimen just didn't feel right.

"No," Hawes said and Gwen breathed easier. He stepped up onto the display. "It's a replica." He opened up the sarcophagus to show just empty boarding.

"It's certainly well done," Cilan complimented. "I couldn't even tell."

Hawes beamed. "Well, that is the idea."

From beside Gwen, Iris hummed. "What is it?" Gwen asked her.

"It's about the curse," she muttered. "This has something to do with it, I know it!"

Gwen took that lightly and didn't say anything, unlike Cilan. "Why do you think so?" he inquired. At least he wasn't openly mocking her.

Iris clenched her fists. "It's my sixth sense! That's how I know!"

He crossed his arms and smirked. "Which means you have no evidence, so it's only a hunch."

Gwen shook her head at the two of them and moved on to another display. "Hawes, what's this?"

"It's a Yamask mask," he answered, coming to her side. "Yamask also frequently appear in ruins."

"Intriguing," Cilan stated.

Gwen looked down at the Pokemon on the lower picture. It was a dark grey with what looked like arms and a line to hold the mask like the one on display. "What a weird Pokemon," she mumbled.

Pikachu nodded wit her. "Pika."

"Well, the mask is another replica," Hawes noted.

Iris was staring at the mask intently. "I've got a bad feeling about this. Something..."

"Another one of your hunches," Cilan goaded.

"Here we go again," Gwen muttered.

Instead of turning toward Cilan, Iris addressed her. "Well Gwen, you must have an opinion about this."

Gwen turned to them, slowly looking from Iris to Cilan. "You want to know my opinion?" she asked. Iris nodded and Cilan looked at least interested. "Really?"

"Yes! Come on!" Iris pressed.

Gwen nodded slowly. "You're both annoying me," she deadpanned.

Iris groaned. "You are such a little kid!"

Gwen wasn't even phased. "Yeah, I'm such a kid for being annoyed with your childish squabble."

"But you must have your own viewpoint," Cilan prodded. "You can say it, even if it's nothing but superstition."

Gwen quirked her brow at him. There he went again making the bait, but she wan't going to take it. She wasn't even mildly interested. "Fine. I believe that the supernatural and scientific perspectives can both be used to figure out a problem like this. They don't have to war against each other. I work with my logic and I can accept things that can't be logically solved. Now this is all I'm saying about it. Period!"

She turned and followed Hawes down the tour, coming up at a large library. The floor to ceiling cases were neatly crammed full of research and encyclopedia books. It was definitely its own wonder. While Gwen enjoyed books, she found that she had so very little incentive to read them during her travels. But every once in a while, she managed to snag a interesting bargain novel to read. In fact, she should still have her Gligar spy novel.

"Our library is filled with additional artifacts information," Hawes explained. "Visitors are encouraged to study as much as they like!"

"Now, this is what I call full service!" Cilan exclaimed.

"And so," Hawes continued. "This is the end of our tour." His expression became serious and full of worry. "Now tell me, did you find anything strange?"

Cilan spoke first. "Well, everything seems to be quite normal as far as I can tell."

"But something doesn't feel quite right," Iris motioned. "I can't put my finger on it."

"Well," Gwen spoke up. "The paranormal loves the night, so we might have to wait. Meanwhile, I need some food."

Iris glared at her. "Will you stop! This is serious!"

"Yeah, so is my stomach," Gwen replied. "And again, we'll probably have to wait for the night, so why not make some lunch."

"Gwen has a point," Cilan said. "About the night thing, at least." He turned to Hawes. "Would it be okay if we slept here in the museum tonight?"

Hawes's eyes widened. He surely wasn't expecting that. "Huh?! Sleep in the museum?"

Cilan nodded. "Right. That would allow us to keep an eye out for any paranormal activities that occur."

Iris agreed as well. "Yes! There's no doubt angry spirits are definitely more active at night. It would be a great way to find out what's causing the curse."

Hawes hesitated. "Well, you all may be kids, but you're sure courageous. I'm quite impressed!"

Gwen held out her hand to Iris without even looking at her. "Don't even go there." Iris grinned but said nothing.

When nighttime rolled around, the four of them spread out their sleeping bags on the floor of the museum, just outside the hallway. Hawes joined them, insisting that he couldn't leave the three of them alone here with a good conscious.

Gwen sat with her Egg incubator cradled in her lap. "I can't wait to see what kind of Pokemon hatches," she murmured gently. Gwen had had two Pokemon Eggs before, the first hatching into an Eevee, and the second a Smoochum. Would the Egg hatch to a baby Pokemon such as Smoochum, or just any other breeding Pokemon like Eevee? There were endless possibilities inside that little Egg. Either way, Gwen's excitement remained. Slowly, gently, she placed the incubator back in her bag, but not before fishing out her book. Having thought about the book, Gwen felt the rush to reread Gligar Spies once again.

"Are you sure you'll be alright here?" Hawes asked them.

Gwen nodded, tucking herself into her bag. "Sure, we do this all the time!"

Hawes doesn't look quite convinced, or perhaps safe. "But what if we start to hear voices? And things start moving on their own?" The poor man was beginning to scare himself.

Iris gave him a reassuring smile. "Then that'll be our cue to spring into action!"

"And then we'll have the chance to solve this mystery, smooth as silk," Cilan added.

Hawes went over to turn off the lights, leaving the only source available coming from Gwen's small flashlight. She propped it on her shoulder to shine on her book, also propping her head up on her scarf so she could read comfortably. She removed her glasses and set the book mere inches from her nose and started reading. Gwen often found it odd that she felt more comfortable reading without her glasses despite having the book basically shoved in her face, but she digressed.

The others, even Hawes, slowly drifted off to sleep while Gwen quietly flipped page after page. Sometimes she absentmindedly stroked Pikachu where he rested on her belly. Oh how she forgot just how much she loved this book about a Gligar trained from his beginnings to be a thief and coming to realize the Pokemon he worked for was deeply rooted in evil and immorality. And the suspense of all the burgling scenes! From start to finish, each of them gave the clear picture of the stakes, high or low, and each was so well written! And to think this gem was found in a bargain bin for practically a steal of a price!

Gwen was just passing the hundred and fifty page mark, where Gilgar was entering a burglary only to be purposefully framed, oh how it always gave her a chill to read about how devious the villain was. Spine chilling.

Wait...

Gwen paused in her reading to notice that her arms started getting goosebumps. It was getting cooler in here, and something gave Gwen a squirming sensation. She waited a few minutes, deciding if it was something really happening or just some weird sense. Perhaps reading a suspense book at a time like this one was a bad idea. Bookmarking her page, she concentrated for a few more minutes before shoving on her glasses, leaning over and nudging Iris's shoulder. "Iris! Wake up!"

She groaned as her eyes opened. "Huh? Gwen, what is it?" She certainly seemed irritated about being woken up, but Gwen would be hypocritical in blaming her.

From her other side, Cilan woke up as well. "What's wrong?"

She looked to both of them. "Have you two noticed that it's dropped about ten degrees in here? Not only that but..the silence in here is deafening."

Cilan looked at her for several moments. "Have you slept at all?" he asked.

Gwen blinked. "No, but..." Of course he'd bring up her staying up to read. He wanted her to say that she'd only read a little bit and then went to sleep, but of course she got carried away. "That's not the point!"

"The point is your body is telling you to sleep," he told her, almost like a child. "Now get some."

Gwen rolled her eyes and made to retort, but Iris spoke up first. "What's going on?!"

Gwen and Cilan looked to see a dark grey fog begin to mist over them. It made Gwen shiver as well as the hairs on the back of her neck stand.

Hawes then woke up, more like sat up. He must be a light sleeper, or uncomfortable in this situation. "You're up. Is something wrong?" He turned with them to see the fog and shrieked. "That fog! What in the world could it be?!"

Iris rose from her sleeping bag. "I'm telling you that angry spirit is about to do something bad!" she exclaimed.

Cilan shook his head. "Of course not. The air conditioning must've broken down." Gwen had to give him a bit of credit. That did seem like the closest explanation. Though did it simply break down, or not, or perhaps was something done to it? But she didn't get to voice her opinion as a clanking sound of metal echoed through the hallway. "Hear that?" she murmured. "What is it?"

Through the fog came the shape of one of the suits of armor walking down the hall. Hawes shrieked in pure terror. "A ghost!" Poor man.

Iris turned to Cilan. "Alright! Where's the scientific explanation, Cilan?" Gwen wanted to know too.

"Easy," he stated, a knowing smirk on his face. "It's the poltergeist phenomenon, which refers to things that move, but due to the vibrations of ultra low frequency sound waves."

Gwen didn't get it. "That would make the armor perhaps fall over, not walk into another room!" Not only that, but it took out its sword and aimed it at the four of them. "How about that?!" she shrilled.

He waved it off. "It's possible that someone is manipulating its arms with strings."

Iris scoffed. "And where is this puppet master? Last I recall, we're the only ones here! And it's a large suit of armor!"

Gwen didn't quite care about the details, except that a suit of armor was bent on attacking them. And that was not about to happen! "Pikachu, Quick Attack!" Making a full-speed charge, Pikachu rammed into the suit of armor, causing it to shatter into pieces. Gwen then looked closely at it. There were no signs of any strings or anything else that would visibly tell that the suit was function through someone's control. But it wasn't long before it was rising and putting itself back together.

"That's curious," Cilan stated, in no state of real shock. He wasn't giving any scientific explanation, and Gwen was actually kind of glad.

Instead, she ordered Pikachu to attack again with Volt Tackle. This time when the suit fell to the ground, a bluish-purple flame spawning from it.

"Is that a ghostly aura?!" Hawes gasped.

"It's just an electrical discharge," Cilan explained. "Nothing more. People often mistake phenomena like that for ghosts."

The flame floated toward Gwen, making her flinch. "Man! That thing's hot!" The waves of heat tickled against her arms and face. They then moved on to chase Hawes around the room. Gwen pulled out Oshawott's Pokeball. "Go Oshawott! Water Gun!" Oshawott burst out of his Pokeball and immediately sprayed a stream of water toward the flame, simmering it out.

And just after that, the helmet from the suit of armor rose into the air. Gwen turned to Cilan. "Explain this!" she dared to ask.

"A charge in the magnetic field is reacting with the metal in the armor, causing it to float," he said. And he was still convinced?

The helmet too chased after Hawes. "Pikachu, Iron Tail!" His tail glimmering grey, Pikachu struck down the helmet, causing it to crash to the floor.

"Thank you," Hawes said, visibly relieved.

"First the fire, and then the helmet," Iris said, stepping up. "I think the angry spirit is after you, Hawes."

The man looked even more horrified. "Huh?! M-me?! I don't think I've done anything that would cause someone to get so mad!"

Gwen didn't know either, but she did know that something - or perhaps someone - was after Hawes. Iris's statement did make sense.

A splatter on Gwen's nose made her flinch as she looked up to see as it began..."Raining...?" she muttered.

"There's something wrong with the sprinklers," Cilan answered immediately.

But that couldn't be right. Gwen glanced around the ceiling as the drizzle died down. "There are no sprinklers in here, Cilan," she told him.

Taking off her glasses and wiping them clear, Gwen and the others heard a sort of sobbing noise. "Crying?"

"Those are the same sounds I heard last night!" Hawes choked out.

"It does sound like crying," Iris said. "The spirit must be so sad."

Cilan shook his head. "No. The crying is actually low frequency sound waves, which are causing something to squeak."

If so many different things weren't all happening in this moment, Gwen might have believed him that time. But they weren't. "I'm checking it out. Oshawott, return." She returned her little Pokemon with no protest and made her way down the hall.

She searched around the displays and came to the Yamask mask, which had lines of water coming down from its eyes...just like it was crying. "The mask is crying?" What did the mask have to do with this?

"What appears to be tears are, in reality, condensation and nothing more," Cilan stated.

"In only two straight lines down its eyes?" Gwen questioned. "Never knew condensation could be so precise."

The mask then lifted up and began banging itself against the glass. Even with what seemed like a forceful pull, the glass didn't break.

"The angry spirit is inside that mask!" Iris cried.

"Wrong!" Cilan argued. "It's merely attracted to something, like the positive and negative pulls of a magnet."

"And what is it being attracted to?" Gwen stated as she was standing right in front of it. "I'm hardly magnet material."

The mask stopped moving and an odd, dry clinking sound resounded behind them. They turned to see the Dragonite Skeleton rising just like the suit of armor had.

"Angry spirit!" Iris called. "What grieves you? Please tell us!"

"Stop!" Cilan snapped. "It's simply a change in the magnetic field." His face deflated. "I don't even believe me anymore."

Gwen nodded. "Yeah, I stopped quite a while ago."

The skeleton moved for the glass display and slammed into it, trying to break the glass. Remarkably, it still held up.

Cilan called out Pansage. "Use Bullet Seed!" Pansage leapt up and shot dozens of seeds at the Skeleton, making it crumble and fall to the floor. A hurt, garbled cry came as it did.

"Was that the angry spirit?" Iris wondered, noticing the cry just as Gwen had.

Cilan didn't bother with anymore scientific explanations. Instead, he turned towards Hawes. "Is the display alright? What about the mask?"

Hawes nodded. "Let me check." He pulled out a key card and swiped it at the lock mechanism next to the display, opening the glass window. The mask rose again and went straight for Cilan, gluing itself it his face.

"Cilan!" Gwen cried, making for him to pull the mask off. Iris helped her, but neither were able to remove it. Cilan, for some reason, pushed Gwen and Iris away from him. "What's happened to you?" Gwen called.

"And now..." Cilan said in a voice that was not his. "I shall punish you!" Cilan's arms rose and somehow the bluish-purple fire balls shoot from his hands toward Iris and Gwen.

"What's happened to him?!" Gwen shrieked.

"Cilan's been taken over by the angry spirit!" Iris called.

"What?! Why?" Gwen cried.

Iris bit her lip. "I think it's because Cilan denied the angry spirit was real in the first place!" Gwen swallowed thickly as Iris stepped hesitantly towards Cilan. "Spirit, listen to me!" she pleaded. "You must talk to us now! Please, tell us why you're angry!"

"You locked it away!"

Gwen's eyes widened. The mask.

The spirit confirmed it. "The mask is precious to me!"

"That Yamask mask is the real deal alright," came a cool, feminine voice. Gwen turned to see a lovely dark-skinned woman at the hallway, her hands on her hips and coolly peering at Cilan wearing the mask.

"Hi dear," Hawes sighed, obviously relieved. "You couldn't have picked a better time to come home!"

"'Hi dear'?" Gwen repeated, momentarily confused. "You must be Lenora!"

She nodded before looking to her husband. "So, tell me, Hawes. Where did you get that mask anyway?"

Hawes put his finger to his chin, thinking back. "The mask..." he muttered, "let me see...Last night, when we were loading in the artifacts, I found the mask on the ground. I had only ordered a replica of Cofagrigus, so I assumed they sent this Yamask mask as a kind of...thank you gift...but a replica as well."

Lenora glared at him. "You know better than that!" she scolded.

Hawes rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I should have," he muttered.

Suddenly, the Dragonite skeleton rose back together and prepared for an attack. Lenora hardened her gaze. "Now that's more than enough!" she commanded.

"Get out!" the spirit shouted, commanding the skeleton to strike for Lenora.

The Gym Leader reached for her Pokeball. "If that's the way you want it! Go Watchog!" From her Pokeball came a slim brown Pokemon, its body a mass of stripes that, when using the move Flash, glowed with a bright light. Gwen took out her PokeDex. Watchog, the Lookout Pokemon, and the evolved form of Patrat. Watchog's body contains luminescent compounds, which allows its eyes and stripes to glow. In Flash's attack, the Dragonite skeleton dropped back to the floor.

"Yamask, why don't you come out and show yourself?" Lenora commanded firmly.

The yellow mask peeled itself from Cilan's face and he slumped over. Gwen quickly went over to him, placing a hand on his arm as he seemed to shrug off some sort of headache or similar sort. "Are you alright?"

He looked up at her, confused. "I'm fine. What happened?"

Her gaze followed the mask as it settled in the air where a black figure with red eyes unveiled itself. Yamask. Gwen raised her 'Dex up to it as well. Yamask, the Spirit Pokemon. Yamask is a Ghost-Type Pokemon that wanders the ruins of ancient civilizations.

"Of course!" Lenora exclaimed. "Yamask must've been hiding in the artifacts. That's how it ended up here! But then, it accidentally dropped its mask." She then turned to Hawes. "You thought the mask was a replica and made the mistake of putting it in that display case But when Yamask saw it locked away, it assumed you had stolen it!"

Gwen pieced it all together. "So, it was Yamask who, in his anger, did all of this. Yamask used Psychic to move the fossil, suit, and skeleton, Haze to make the fog, Rain Dance for the drizzle, and the ghostly aura was Will-O-Wisp." She glanced at Cilan. "A logical solution," then to Iris, "to that of an angry Ghost-Type Pokemon. See? I was right. Science and supernatural!"

"You could say-" Cilan started.

"No!" Both Iris and Gwen snapped at him. Frankly, his scientific ideas were pretty far off the mark.

Hawes stood beside his wife, in front of Yamask. "Yamask, I truly regret my mistake caused you to much grief. I'm sorry. I beg you to forgive me!"

Lenora smiled gently. "I apologize, too. Please forgive us."

Yamask nodded. "Ya ya."

Lenora beamed. "Wonderful! Thank you!"

Yamask headed for the museum entrance, the rest following him. "Leaving already?" Lenora inquired once they got outside.

Yamask nodded again. "Ya."

"Well, you're welcome to visit us anytime!" Hawes offered.

"Ya ya!" It was up in the air as Yamask nodded and flew off into the dark sky.

The others waved. "Bye Yamask!" Iris called. "Take care."

Gwen made to give her own wishes when a large yawn overtook her. What time was it anyway? Guessing by the dimness, as well as the heavily scattered lamps, it was well past midnight.

From beside her, Cilan chuckled. "Looks like you could use a good night's rest," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Especially if you want a Gym Battle!"

"I see," Lenora said, approaching her. "So you came to challenge my Gym?"

Gwen nodded heartily despite her coming weariness. "I'm Gwen, from Kanto. And I'd love to challenge you to a Gym battle!"

She smiled. "Excellent. I'm always curious about Trainers' battling styles. I'm looking forward to seeing yours. But he is right that you should get a good night's rest and come back here in the morning."

Gwen nodded. "Great!"

Pikachu did the same. "Pika pika!"

Well, since they already had their things set up in the museum, and it would be a bit of a walk to the Pokemon Center, Lenora allowed them to remain in the museum, though they moved to the staff's center of the library for more privacy. As soon as Gwen rested her head, she began drifting off. But there was one thing she needed to say. "I'm glad you're not possessed anymore, Cilan."

"What?"

But it was too late as Gwen already drifted off.

About the Pokemon Knight thing, I really just thought it was a cool idea. And of course, it could lend itself to the mythos of the Episode Zorua and the Legend of the Pokemon Knight! Love that episode! And I don't know if the Village of Dragons was once a kingdom or if any city in Unova was, but again it's a fun idea to play around with! That, and harkening back to Pokemon:Conquest. I ADORE that game!

Again, just a fun idea to play around with!