The ghost of a trainer.

Prema could only gasp lightly. No one in the shrine had even considered the possibility. If they had, they did not speak of it. She could tell from Nori's uncertain expression, tone, and even words that he felt it was speculation on his behalf.

But it fit. Konrad Guhl had perished alongside his partners. The spirits of both trainer and Pokemon remained in the warehouse, attacking others for reasons unknown. In spite of still not knowing their motivations, it would explain both the unidentifiable spirit and the sense of duty she felt from the phantoms. The only other mystery was why she felt that same feeling from Guhl.

"This explains almost everything." She had to lightly bow. Much as she wanted to express her elation, she contained it to modest appreciation. "I cannot thank you enough, Nori. You have provided the last piece of information I was missing. I feel more confident now that I know what I am dealing with."

He had given her far more than she was expecting. She would need to speak with Father and Priestess Satomi about it, but she was certain that they would agree with Nori's conclusions as well.

"It's like Volkner always told me, know your enemy!" He gave her a confident grin. "And you're welcome! I'm happy to help!" After a brief moment, he chuckled nervously and put a hand on the back of his head. "But since I know your enemy too, maybe I can help you even more?"

"Nori," she said simply, perhaps more sternly than intended.

"Come on!" he snapped, stamping a foot. "I don't mind the risk! Besides, you can't invite me, but there's nothing stopping me from going there on my own, is there?"

She smiled, getting to the point she was wanted to make before he cut in with fervor. "You have done more than enough already," she assured him. "And do not forget, you have your own duties. It would be unwise to be distracted from them."

"I'm not getting distracted!" he protested, though she could tell by how sharply he insisted that he knew otherwise. "I'm just trying to take some time off to think!"

For a moment, Prema looked only at Nori, a prickle behind her eyes. A mix of emotions came over her, but all positive. That was not the reply she had been expecting out of him. But it was one she could relate to, since she had effectively done the same. Albeit not to the same extent. She felt momentary tightness in her chest, but it was just confidence rising through.

She moved slightly closer and spoke gently, knowing exactly what to say to ease his doubts. "I understand if it is difficult. Yet it is all the more reason to focus your efforts on it. A break is acceptable, but you should not put it off for much longer. As commendable as it is to help others, your immediate goals moving forward should be on your own responsibilities."

Nori lowered his head and nodded reluctantly. It was evident from his hunched posture he was not confident about his ability to succeed, so she made a vow to him.

"I can promise to aid you however I can, after I have completed my task."

He looked up at her, eyes full of marvel and hope. She folded her hands. "Thanks," he said, his cheer returning. He clenched a fist, raising then lowering it. "But if I finish before you, I'm helping you no matter what you say!"

Prema stared at him, unable to prevent a little astonishment from slipping through. "Nori, do you believe you can reform another Pokemon in a matter of days?" she asked, pursing her lips. She did not mask her concern, leaning inward to express it. If he attempted to rush things, the only result would be more Pokemon – or people – getting injured.

"I won't know unless I try!" was his answer, a little uncertainty and self-deprecation in his tone. He shrugged, but kept a positive look. "I guess it's a race?"

Prema could only return his expression. "I believe I will win." Perhaps this was his way of trying to cheer her up and motivate her. She felt it only natural to return the favor.

He huffed away a small laugh. "Just don't get hurt, okay?" he asked her once again.

"I will not," she repeated. Yet, unlike the first time she had said this in their conversation, her confidence was not a facade. Now that she knew the nature and identity of this specter, Prema had no doubt that she would be able to emerge victorious.

Both of them were suddenly quiet. Prema did not know what to say next. She had already said thank you, and to say it again would be unusual. She was not good in personal social situations as these…

Nori shuffled his feet, somewhat unsure of himself as well. He was waiting for her to speak, and when she could not, he cleared his throat and asked, "Um, so how was the festival?" he casually asked, glancing over at the moon. "I know you guys hold some here."

She breathed a sigh of relief at the silence being broken. Although what he said made her involuntarily peer down. "I could not particularly enjoy it," she quietly confided to him. She supposed it was a combination of her emotional state and not being able to spend it with a friend as she had been expecting to.

"Sorry." He sighed, seeming to understand why. "If I remembered and wasn't busy with research, I would've come by. Almost forgot about the day, actually."

He would have come by? There were numerous layers of irony there, if that was indeed the case. "I suppose both of us could not enjoy it, then."

"I guess." Nori chuckled softly. "Maybe next time." Next time? She pondered, was he only talking without thinking as he sometimes did, or did he truly mean it?

Another curtain of silence drew over them. Prema wished she could speak more about the festival. But even if it had not gone by in a blur, Nori would likely have little to no interest in their shrine. The only thing she was certain of was that she had fulfilled her duties properly.

Nori spoke up again. "Well, guess that's it." He paused for the briefest of moments, before adding, "Good night, Prema."

"Sleep well, Nori." He had certainly earned some rest. "And be safe on your way back home."

"I will be." He tapped his pockets before turning to leave. He paused halfway, twisting around. "And…good luck."

She closed her eyes for a moment. "Thank you, Nori."

It was enough to bring a broad smile to his face. He pivoted around and set out with a puffed chest. Prema watched until he was out of sight before reentering the shrine.

"You two get along well," said Priestess Satomi as she stepped into the commons area. The elderly woman standing near the door shrugged when Prema glanced at her. "Sorry for eavesdropping."

"It is all right." Prema would have been more concerned if she had not kept watch. After all, Monk Naito was disinterested and barely paying attention. She wondered if that was worth a reprimand. "How much did you hear?"

"Mostly just your small talk. But it sounds like he found something big after all. You'll have to show me what he found tomorrow." She paused and tapped an ear. "But are you sure you don't want him coming with us? We can actually arrange that."

It was news to Prema, yet she reaffirmed her decision. "No. I believe the risks and negatives outweigh what we stand to gain. After all, you will be present next time."

She was expecting a grin and enthusiastic agreement, so it was it was a surprise for Prema when the old priestess frowned. "I suppose so," she replied with a shrug.

"Priestess Satomi?"

"Your mind's made up." She patted her on the shoulder. "Now work to see it through. I know you have what it takes."

Prema slowly nodded. Although her elderly mentor seemed to harbor doubts about her decision, they did not seem to be critical. She returned to her quarters and had no trouble falling asleep.


"A trainer's ghost?"

Prema had only seen Priestess Satomi so stunned twice before. The first time she could not remember the context behind, and the second time was when the Silph building in Kanto was taken over. They say that the older and wiser you get, the fewer things surprise you. It made sense, because you would have seen more. Yet this revelation had caught even her off-guard.

"Have a look at Nori's research," she said, offering up the binder in which she had placed the sheets of paper in for organization and safekeeping. "I believe you will agree with me how much sense it makes."

She reached into her reticule to retrieve her reading glasses from their case. Prema watched as her mentor's expression turned from confusion to realization, and from there into marvel, followed by delight.

It concluded with a cackle. "I knew that boy was full of surprises, but I never thought he'd be the one to blow this open! I don't know how we didn't see this one coming ourselves!" She clapped her hands together. "It all makes sense when you connect the dots. That's the advantage of having a fresh set of eyes with an open mind."

Her father was just as surprised as Priestess Satomi when she spoke to him about it. He stoically hid his emotions, yet Prema could tell from the rest of his body language that he was as grateful as she was.

"So, Konrad Guhl, eh?" Priestess Satomi mused, more to herself than to anyone in particular.

It made Prema wonder. "Have you ever had to deal with the ghost of a trainer before, Priestess Satomi?"

"A few times, yes," she said with a lively nod. "They are no different from any other spirit, even if they still have their Pokemon with them. But!" With that, she clapped her hands and raised a finger. "The big difference between them and Pokemon spirits?"

"It is that you can communicate more easily with some of them," Prema answered. "Not just with words, but in understanding." As much as they shared the world and lived together, people and Pokemon had different cultures. There were human customs and concepts that a Pokemon would not understand without study or long-term exposure. Of course, the opposite was also true.

Come to think of it, the spirit had addressed her as a priestess. She had initially thought little of it. It was not impossible for a wild Pokemon to know who she was; her family was prominent and helped lay the groundwork for modern relations between humanity and Pokemon. But the spirit had also mocked her, perceiving her as hiding behind her followers. That sort of grasp on religion was something only a human or a Pokemon who spent time around humans would know.

"Exactly!" Priestess Satomi let out a chuckle. "Nobody considered the obvious up till now."

"We had been working under a false assumption made by others." It was sometimes easy to miss things because of accepting prior accounts and not exploring alternate avenues. "I suspect that stemmed from a combination of most not knowing the nature of human spirits and the powers he seemed to exhibit."

There could be any number of explanations behind the spirit's abilities. It was not impossible that he had acquired them in death, yet it could well be theatrics. Prema had yet to lay eyes on that Dusclops, after all.

One thing was clear. "We will have to completely alter our preparations."

"Will we?"

Prema was uncertain what to make of the two-word question. "Will we not have to account for facing a human?"

"Ohoho." Priestess Satomi wagged a finger. "Regardless of who commands this trio of ghostly Pokemon, the goal in dealing with them and their trainer remains the same. Besides, you have soothed some human spirits in the past, yes?"

"Yes."

"It will be a little different, but not as different as you might think."

"Yes. Forgive me."

"Oh, think nothing of it, Lady Kannagi. It's not every medium that gets the chance to deal with a vengeful trainer's spirit!" She laughed.

Yes. It was evident from how seldom they were mentioned during her studies. Spirits could linger on in the world for a multitude of reasons and were capable of interacting with the physical plane. It was by no means an unknown phenomenon. For instance, there was a recorded incident of a Marowak spirit haunting the Pokemon Tower in Kanto three years back. There were human ghosts in the Old Chateau, although the public at large was not privy to that information. And at least one Ghost-type expert had captured the spirit of a Pokemon.

"The question we must ask, then, is the motivations this trainer has." While it would be possible to simply ask Guhl, any conclusions they could draw beforehand would be beneficial.

"If I had to hazard a guess?" Priestess Satomi leaned in. "You're going to end up battling him."

Prema folded her hands. "Why do you believe that?"

"Oh, call it an old maid's instinct."

"Priestess Satomi?"

"Prepare for any possibility, Lady Kannagi." She winked, not giving a clear answer as she rose. "Come! Training awaits. Tomorrow's battle is won during today's practice!"

Prema was already preparing for potential conflict, though she had not believed it inevitable. Why was Priestess Satomi so sure things would come to blows? Evidently, she had realized something Prema had not, and was leaving it for her to deduce. It would become clear with time and thought.


Nariya leaned back on the uncomfortable hospital bed. She was so tall that her feet dangled over the edge if she didn't tuck them in. Moreover, the fluorescent lighting irritated her eyes whenever she looked straight up. But physical comfort was the least of her concerns.

A classmate of hers once compared being in the hospital to being in prison. Nariya found it a weird thing to say, especially since how could they know what it's like to be in prison, but now she fully understood what they meant. You couldn't leave your room at all without permission, you ate what they wanted and when they told you, you did what they told you, and if the doctors wanted to walk in and run a test you had to let them. Sure, it was nice and quiet, but it didn't make up for not being allowed any freedom. At least they told her exactly what had happened to her: bruising, a mild concussion, and possible spiritual damage. She hated it when people were vague about important stuff. Her imagination always ran wild whenever that happened.

It had only been three days, and she was already starting to get frustrated with the place. Her mom had managed to talk them into discharging her tomorrow. Thank the gods, since she wasn't sure if she could survive a day longer. She could go home and see her parents and read her favorite books and watch her favorite TV shows and rest when she wanted.

She glanced at the wall clock, the display of which read 6:04. Her dinner would be arriving in one minute. Eight, noon, and six, at roughly five minutes past the top of the hour. It was like clockwork.

Sure enough, the nurse came in on the dot, wheeling a cart. She was a tall woman with indigo hair and eyes to match. "Here you go," the nurse said. Nariya was bad at remembering names. "Enjoy."

"Thank you."

She was always polite about it, even if she hated the food. It wasn't bad, but there was stuff she disliked in it. Every meal came with a serving of rice, except it was all white. Nariya hated white rice, she preferred brown rice. She barely ate any of it as a result. The fruits and vegetables were always nice. The poultry was good, but the other meat wasn't. This was yakitori, thankfully. Beverages were usually just spring water or juice – milk in the morning – which was fine by her. There was a serving of Figy sauce too, which she pushed to the far corner of the tray.

She managed to finish the fruit, most of the meat, and ate just a bit of rice. She gently pushed the cart away, although kept the water by her bedside. Collection would come an hour later.

Vapid and monotonous were the two words Nariya would use to describe her time at the hospital. There was nothing to do. At least she was tired enough to sleep for most of the day yesterday, a side effect of the concussion. But today just stunk. Her mom had brought over her homework and unread library books, which Nariya had finished in record time. She even impressed herself, since she was never very fast at such things. Had it not been for the fact that she was about to get out of here, she might have asked for a dictionary. She loved to read those and learn new words.

About twenty minutes later, there was a sudden knock on the door. Even though it was a gentle tap, it still made her jump.

Dr. Whitman stepped into the room. At least he had a nametag, so that made it easy to remember his name. "Ms. Yaznik?"

She didn't answer. It was a little overwhelming to see him here so suddenly. She'd finished dinner, sure, but it was weird for him to come walking in all of a sudden before the food cart was supposed to get collected!

"It's all right, I just came to give you some papers," he assured. "They have information on what you'll have to be aware of and watch out for after you're discharged."

He placed a stapled-together set of pages and a small pamphlet on her bedside table. The former seemed to contain general recovery information. The latter was a children's guide to concussions, which she found mildly offending. She wasn't a kid, she was sixteen years old! She didn't have the courage to say anything about it, though.

"If you have persistent headaches or start to have really bad nightmares, check back in right away."

Nariya nodded. She never really got headaches; the concussion didn't count because it was her head physically aching. As for the latter issue, the doctors had told her that Ghost Pokemon attacks could have long-term effects on humans. It explained why she sometimes heard that voice again on Saturday, though she'd been fine since.

The doctor suddenly knelt by her bedside. "Are you sure you want to leave?" he asked, tilting his head downward. "We want to keep you in here for the rest of the week to monitor you and run some extra tests, just to be safe."

She shook her head. "No, I…I want to…go home." She thanked the gods her mom was willing to help get her out of here.

"All right." The doctor didn't press the issue, to her relief. He stood and walked away.

The moment he was gone, Nariya felt her muscles relaxing. She was no good at socializing with people she didn't really know, even when they were nice.

Nariya wondered how Prema was doing. She hadn't been able to speak with her after what happened, although Nori had indicated she had tried to visit her. Would her mom even let them see each other again? And what about the spirit she was exorcising? She heard the news it hadn't gone well. So Prema was probably going to have to try and do it again, right? But would it end up the same way? If she kept failing, what would happen to her? She could only cross her fingers and pray things worked out.