Hi all and welcome to Dragonsrule's Den! This oneshot is for my lovely reviewer X59, who requested to see some bonding between Ash and his cousin Ethan from my main Pokemon fic, When One Door Closes, Two More Open.

Now, this story is written in my When One Door Closes, Two More Open universe, but the only things you need to know to understand it are that in my story, Ash Ketchum and Ethan from HeartGold and SoulSilver are cousins in my fic and that my Ash is a little more timid, sensible, and mature(Sometimes) than canon Ash, while Ethan is wild and crazy and often his attitude rubs off on Ash when they're together. Also, in my AU, Ethan's father left while Ash's died when he was very young.

Also, I am taking reviewer requests for oneshots. The rules will be listed at the bottom of the page.

Now I'll stop babbling and get one with the actual story. Please review and let me know what you think! Reviews make me happy, give me new ideas, help me find the flaws or plotholes in my story, and keep me going.

Summary: After watching Spirit Hunters, Ash and Ethan sneak out and explore a supposedly haunted house. What will they find?

Rating: K+

Genre: Family/Friendship/Humor

Universe: Set in my When One Door Closes, Two More Open universe, about a year before the story starts. This oneshot can be read alone.

Warnings: None

The Mini Ghostbusters

Young Ash Ketchum was happily bouncing as the ferry approached Olivine City. Delia Ketchum smiled at her son's excitement. He had just turned nine and the only thing he had asked for his birthday was to go see his cousin, Ethan, in Johto. The two boys were very close, more like best friends or brothers than cousins, even though they could only see each other a few times a year. Delia couldn't resist the sweet request, arranging for one of her friends to watch her restaurant so she could take her son on a week long trip to Johto during Ash's spring break. She had surprised Ash with the ferry tickets and the news on his birthday and Ash had been over the moon about it.

As the boat pulled into the port, Ash happily raced for the dock, excited to meet his aunt and cousin who would be waiting for them. "Ash, slow down!" his mother called out to him.

He stopped short. "Sorry, mom." he said sheepishly, though he was still pretty eager to get going.

The two walked off the ferry, seeing Ethan and his mom waiting not far away. Ash ran up to his cousin. "Up high, Ash!" Ethan said, holding out his hand for a high five with a grin. Ash grinned back and quickly tried to high five him, only to have Ethan pull his hand away. "Too slow!" Ash laughed and held out his hand for a handshake and Ethan reached for it, only to have Ash pull his hand back behind his head before he could. Both boys burst out laughing.

Delia and Ethan's mom smiled at the scene. "It's really good to see you." Ethan's mom told him. Like their sons, the mothers were close friends, Ethan's mom, Elaine, was Ash's father's sister, and the two had been high school friends before Richard Ketchum and Delia started dating, with Elaine having been the one to introduce Delia to her brother. The two had been each other's rock when Ethan's father had left when Ethan was three and Richard had died in a car accident when Ash was five. Even when Elaine and her son moved to Johto to be near family, the two remained very close, exchanging letters weekly and Elaine and Ethan visiting every Christmas and in the summer whenever they could.

"It's good to be here." Delia said. She had really missed her friend and knew Ash had missed his cousin. He didn't really have any friends at school after his fall-out with Gary and she knew he had been lonely.

As they headed towards Elaine's car, the adults caught up as Ethan happily talked to Ash about everything they could do that week.

"…And Mom said we could go to the theme park sometime this week and I also got this new tent and since Mom said it's too cold to camp outside tonight, I set it up in the living room so we can have a campout right next to the TV. Which is more awesome anyway since there's a marathon of Spirit Hunters on tonight. We can watch it together."

Ash grinned. Spirit Hunters was one of his favorite shows, along with League battles and Professor Oak's Pokemon Talk. The ghost hunting show was exciting and had a lot of cool mysteries to it, and he absolutely loved watching it with Ethan in the dark where they could spook the heck out of themselves and each other. "That sounds awesome!"

Ethan smiled happily. "This is going to be a great week!"

….

Later that night, the two boys hung out in Ethan's tent on top of their sleeping bags watching the PAS(Paranormal Activity Specialist) team explore a haunted castle in Unova. It seemed to be the most haunted place the ghost hunters had ever encountered, with knocking on the walls, the team being tapped on their shoulders, their female member getting her hair pulled, and moans and voices that could be heard through EVP but not by the investigators that were there asking questions. Some tests were done for both natural causes and ghost Pokemon, both of which came up blank, concluding that this might be a genuine haunting.

"This is so cool. They might have actually gotten a real haunting this time rather than ghost Pokemon pulling pranks." Ethan said as he took a bite of microwaved S'more.

Ash nodded. "It would be so awesome to explore a haunted house and get proof of a real ghost. I wish we could do that."

Ethan grinned as an idea hit him. "Maybe we can!"

Ash was about to ask him what he meant by that when their moms walked into the room. "Okay, boys, it's ten o' clock. Time for bed." Delia told them.

"Aww, can't we watch a few more episodes?" Ethan pleaded.

"No, you can't. You boys need your sleep. We have lots to do tomorrow." Elaine said and turned off the TV.

The boys grumbled a little but climbed into their sleeping bags. Once Delia and Elaine had gone upstairs, Ash turned to Ethan. "What'd you mean?" he whispered. "There's no haunted places near us."

"Actually, there is." Ethan said with a grin. "There's an old abandoned house a few doors down from us and everyone says it's haunted. They all call it the Terror House. Apparently an old miser died there and he still remains, trying to guard his hidden treasure. People have tried to find it, but they've been scared off each and every time. Bobby Evans from school was triple dog dared to go in it at midnight by some of the other guys a few days ago and he ran out screaming, saying there's a ghost in there and it threw things at him and told him to get out."

"That might be neat to check out." Ash mused. "Maybe we could go there tomorrow."

"No. We should go tonight!" Ethan suggested. "Ghosts are more likely to show up at night. Bobby went in at midnight and that's when he saw the ghost."

"Ethan, our moms would kill us if we snuck out of the house this late!" Ash protested.

"Not if they don't catch us." Ethan whispered. "You know how quiet we can be. Remember when we snuck out last year to play midnight hide and seek? They never even woke up. Now we need some flashlights….and I'll get my digital camera so we can get photos and videos. Maybe we can prove there's a real live ghost there, and if we don't, I can prove to the guys at school that we were brave enough to go into the Terror House." He rummaged through the drawers and cabinets very quietly and got out two flashlights and his digital camera. "We don't have an EVP like the ghost hunters on the show, but this will have to do. Ready to go?" He was already putting on his red and white jacket and his black and yellow ball cap.

"Ethan, are you sure this is a good idea?" Ash asked, though he did really want to go.

"Of course! We can be real ghostbusters, just like the ones on TV!" Ethan said, excited. "It'll be fun! Now, are you coming or not?" He gave his cousin the puppy dog eyes.

Ash sighed and gave in. He did really want to see that house after all…. "Fine, fine. I'll get my jacket…"

…..

"How'd I let you talk me into this again?" Ash grumbled a few minutes later as the boys walked down the deserted path towards the Terror House. Their flashlights cast spooky shadows on the dirt path and surrounding grass, and the rustling of the grass and the cracking of tree limbs filled the air with eerie sounds, making Ash slightly rethink his decision to follow his crazy cousin on this late night quest, even though the logical part of his brain knew that it was just some small nocturnal wild Pokemon.

"Because you wanted to just as much as I did." Ethan said with a grin, but did jump when a Hoothoot hooted from a nearby tree, looking sheepish afterwards. "And because you know it's going to be spooky and fun."

They soon arrived at the Terror House, a dingy, abandoned house with peeling paint and cracked windows, but thankfully no structural instabilities. Ash went and knocked on the door. Much to his surprise, the door swung open slightly. "What the-"

"Bobby might have left it unlocked when he ran out and no one cared enough to lock it up again. Or...the ghosts are welcoming us! Let's go in!" Ethan told him, grabbing his cousin's hand and pulling him inside.

"Yeah, follow the plot of the horror movie we watched last year." Ash mumbled but followed his cousin in, looking around curiously. There was a badly scratched end table and an empty coat rack in the entryway, both covered in a layer of dust.

"Whoever's haunting the house, we're not here to take your treasure or anything that doesn't belong to us! We just want to meet you!" Ash called out and Ethan looked at him strangely. "What? I want to meet a ghost, not make one ticked off at us."

"Point taken." Ethan said as they walked into the living room of the house, their flashlights lighting up a moth-eaten and damaged couch and chair, a dusty coffee table, and a bookshelf with a few dusty, beaten up tomes in it.

Suddenly, there was a rustling behind them. "Did-Did you hear something?" Ash asked nervously.

Ethan nodded. "Y-Yeah." He quickly shined the flashlight behind them and caught a glimpse of something disappearing into the shadows. "Please tell me you saw that..." He quickly snapped a photo, trying to catch whatever it was in it.

"I did." Ash told him shakily. "It could have been a Rattata or something though. It is an old house after all..."

THUMP!

Ash and Ethan quickly turned at the sound and pointed their flashlights towards it. A book lay on the floor, having tumbled from the shelf. The boys looked up slowly to see what made the book fall, Ethan snapping a photo very quickly at the same time. Their eyes widened as they saw two big red glowing eyes staring at them.

"AHHHHH!" they understandably screamed and ran down the hallway. The eyes watched them go and the curious, confused Hoothoot the eyes belonged to quietly followed them.

...

The boys ran into the room furthest down the hallway and quickly shut the door, panting heavily. "You think we lost it?" Ethan asked breathlessly.

"I don't see any red eyes anywhere, so I think we did." Ash said as he looked around. "And do you realize we both did that stupid horror movie cliche of running deeper into the haunted house rather than out of it?"

Ethan sighed. "I know. I know."

They pointed their flashlights around the room, revealing an old study/library. It seemed like this room had been untouched for a long time with old books still on the library shelves and a desk with papers, an open book, pencils and pens, and a reading lamp with a broken bulb in it. Ethan put his digital camera on the "video" setting, wanting to record all this as Ash held his flashlight to give them more light.

Curious, both boys went to check out the book and papers on the desk when the pages of the book suddenly began to flip rapidly and papers began flying off the desk. Ash and Ethan backed up, frightened.

"M-Maybe it's just the wind." Ash stammered.

Ethan's eyes were as wide as dinner plates. "What wind? The windows are closed..."

Books suddenly startled tumbling off the shelves and both boys whirled in that direction, Ethan pointing his camera towards the shelves as Ash pointed his flashlight there. Nothing could be seen, yet the books were still dropping from the shelves in a straight line like something was pulling them out.

"Who-Who's there?" Ash asked, frightened, before remembering that was not a good question to ask in a haunted house.

An ominious cackling filled the air, making both boys tremble in fear and the papers on the desks came flying at them as books tumbled off the shelves faster. A dark, sinister voice filled the room. "Get out...Get out!"

"AHHHHHH!" Both boys scrambled to flee the room, colliding with each other in their rush to get to the door, falling on the floor, and getting back up again as the ominous laughter continued and books now started to go flying across the room. Ash got the door open and pulled Ethan safely out, but both stopped short as they saw the red eyes staring at them again from outside the door. Both boys screamed in pure terror and Ethan fell back, but Ash grabbed his cousin and pulled him up, half dragging him up the hallway, through the living room, and out the door of the house.

...

Ash and Ethan ran all the way back home, but remembered they had to be quiet and crept into their house, heading back to the living room and their tent and sleeping bags. Thankfully, their moms were still asleep and hadn't noticed they were gone.

"That was the single scariest and coolest thing I've ever done." Ethan said once both boys had caught their breath and calmed down enough to keep their hearts from racing. "I can't believe we saw a real ghost! And even though I almost peed my pants, I still got it all on video! Let's check it out! The guys at school will never believe this! We might want to edit out our screams of terror though..."

The video was still running, so Ethan stopped it, put his camera on charge, and started the video from the beginning. They watched the papers start to go flying when Ash noticed something. "Hey, what's that?"

"What?" Ethan asked, squinting.

"That purplish, blackish blur right there by the desk." Ash said, pointing it out. "And there it is again by the bookshelves. Pause it." Ethan did and the cousins looked closely at the picture. They saw a translucent purplish shape with visible eyes and arms as well as a gaseous body. "Hey, that looks like a Haunter!"

"Yeah, you're right." Ethan replied. "I wonder..." He started the video again and a few more shapes came into frame which looked like a second Haunter and a Gastly. "Aww...It was just ghost Pokemon messing with us..." Ethan groaned. "And we didn't even have Poke Balls with us, nor do we have our trainer's licenses yet, so I couldn't catch one!" Ethan absolutely loved ghost Pokemon and he had always wanted one.

"You'll get one soon." Ash comforted him.

"Not for a year and six months." Ethan sighed as he was a little over six months younger than Ash. Ash silently vowed to get him one and surprise him with it for his tenth birthday.

Ash then remembered something else. "Wait. Those three ghosts couldn't have done everything! What about those red eyes we saw before we even went into the study and on the way out?"

"Yeah, you're right! I think I got a picture of that too!" Ethan exclaimed, switching to the pictures he had taken before the video. "Okay, wall, ceiling...Wait, here it is!" Ethan stopped at that picture which revealed...

A blurry photo of a confused looking Hoothoot sitting on the bookshelf.

"And we ran from a Hoothoot." Ash sighed. "Wow, do I feel stupid..."

"Yeah, me too. Definitely not showing this to the kids at school." Ethan mumbled.

"We'll see a real ghost eventually." Ash reassured him. "I still have Lavender Tower and you have Sprout Tower to go to, and they're supposed to be really haunted by both ghost Pokemon and ghost ghosts."

Ethan perked up a little. "Yeah, you're right. And you'd better get Lavender Tower on tape for me! I want to see it!"

"I will." Ash promised as the two lay down on their sleeping bags. All was quiet for a few minutes until Ash suddenly sat up. "Ethan?"

"Yes?" he mumbled sleepily.

"If everything there was ghost Pokemon, who told us to get out? Pokemon can't speak English."

Ethan's eyes widened as he sat up and both boys stared at each other.

...

Meanwhile back at the Terror House, the two Haunter and the Gastly were laughing at the epic prank they had played on the two boys that came to visit.

"Don't you guys think that was a little mean?" the Hoothoot asked, worried about the two boys.

"No, they wanted to see a ghost, so we gave them one. Or three." one of the Haunter said with a laugh.

"Yeah, that'll be the highlight of their week. Humans love to scare themselves silly." the second Haunter reassured her.

"And it keeps the legend of this house alive."the Gastly said in perfect English. "And protects old man Thornby's greatest treasure. It's just too bad they had to leave before I could show them my most epic act."He used his illusions to form a scary old man with empty eye sockets, a flowing white beard, and a skeletal body.

"You never did tell us how you did that." the first Haunter said.

The Gastly went back to his normal form and grinned. "Trade secret. Now I've got to go back to Maiden's Peak. The tourist season is coming and I need to make sure no one forgets the Maiden Of Maiden's Peak."

"Good luck. And don't be a stranger, you hear?" the Hoothoot told him, nuzzling him.

"Yeah, we'll miss you, buddy." the first Haunter said, giving him a quick hug.

"Scare a lot of people for us." the second Haunter added.

"I will. Goodbye." Gastly said and flew off, his friends waving goodbye.

He then looked back to the attic of the Terror house, where a ghostly old man was smiling at him. He smiled back. Rest peacefully, Old Man Thornby. Your treasure will remain safe and your legend will remain alive forever.

I hope all of you enjoyed this fic and little Ash and Ethan! I also had the Gastly from Maiden's Peak make a cameo because I loved the episode, but unfortunately, it was pointless to my main story and I had to leave it out.

Also, if PAS(Paranormal Activity Specialists) is actually a real ghost hunting team, I do not own them. I also do not own Pokemon or a blatant ripoff of Ghost Hunters.

If anyone would like to send a suggestion for a oneshot for me to write, here are the rules.

1.) This is a T rated story, so don't ask me to write smut for it.

2.) I will take requests for both game and anime oneshots, but I actually stopped watching the anime itself halfway through Diamond and Pearl, and while I do know some things about Serena and Iris, and have filled in the blanks with Bulbapedia and with other fanfictions, I may not know enough about either of these girls to write Amourshipping or Ash/Iris. So depending on the request, I may or may not be able to write it.

RECOMMENDED READS: If you enjoy Pokemon action/crime stories, I would highly recommend Phantoms Lurking by Boss Salamence and Champion Of Nightmares and Shadows Of War by Rebelrabbit. All three are incredibly action packed and have great plotlines and OCs. Unfortunately, none of these stories have got the amount of reviews or notice they deserve for how great the quality of their stories are, so if you like action/crime stories and you have the chance, please check them out and leave these guys a review!