Part LV: Following in her Shadow

Ash and Misty walked up the hill hand in hand on the small, unnamed, island that the cruise ship had stopped at enjoying the warm day. It was a week after Misty's win in the Chrysanthemum Town Contest and the cruise ship had made the first of two scheduled stops on its route before it reached Gardenia Town for the second Contest of the trip. They would reach Gardenia Town in 2 weeks' time at the rate in which the ship was going, well before the Contest scheduled to take place there.

The last week had been a relaxing for the young couple in the aftermath of Misty's fourth Contest victory. They had spent two days on Chrysanthemum Island as the ship exchanged passengers and resupplied for the next leg of its journey.

During that time they had enjoyed seeing the town, relaxing on the beach and just being with each other as they prepared for the next Contest. Ash had brought in his two Pokémon as soon as possible, as well as Porygon2 to complete his roster, and Misty already knew who she wanted to use in it so they were looking forward to the upcoming Contest.

However, before then the ship had a few stops to make on the way, it was a relaxing cruise after all. That first stop was today. The ship had docked in the one port in the one town on the small island and would stay there for 2 days before setting off for another week to reach the next island destination it had scheduled. Despite the island's small size, there was a reason for the stop. This was the mysterious stop of the cruise.

This was because it was said that the island was haunted or cursed, depending on who you asked. The locals had told them when Ash and Misty were having lunch at one of the few local seafood restaurants that many years ago a spiritual tower dedicated to Pokémon who had passed on had been erected on the hill that was the highest point on the island. However, at some point it had been broken by vandals or mother nature and was now haunted by an angry ghost type. None of them dared venture near it and the few visitors who did came back scared.

Misty was nervous about it seeing it but naturally Ash had wanted to investigate just as he had wanted to investigate anything that caught his eye and after lunch they had set off for the hill and the broken tower that was said to be there. It was about an hour long walk through a dark, overgrown, wood before they began to climb the hill itself, which was just as thick with trees.

The shade of the trees cast long shadows that only added to the suspense as they walked but it would be worth it in the end according to Ash. Misty was fine because she was with Ash so she had faith that it would all work out in the end but she couldn't help but feel like she was being watched as they reached the top of the hill.

It was as they reached the top of the hill that Misty realized why she was so nervous; she hadn't seen any Pokémon since leaving the town and even then, the only Pokémon had been water types or Pokémon known to dwell in towns. That was unnatural to say the least and made Misty feal uneasy.

It wasn't normal for there not to be any Pokémon in a wooded environment like this one. The last time they'd experienced something like this it had been in the Pokémon Tower back in Lavender Town. This felt different however, older, more sinister in a way that Misty couldn't quite place. It was as Misty was thinking that that she saw the rubble strew across the top of the hill.

It was clearly old, the stones worn so much by the weather that Misty couldn't make out the markings on them and they covered in weeds and vines. They were scattered all around the hilltop and the base of what had been the broken tower. Misty figured that it had once been about 10 to 15 feet tall but now stood a little under 4 feet. The air was quiet and still around it. Misty didn't feel good about the area, not good at all.

"What happened here?" Misty asked, her voice nothing but a whisper on the light breeze as she shivered slightly and it wasn't from cold as it was a warm day. "Something doesn't feel right."

"I don't know." Ash said his voice just as low as Misty's as he let go of her hand, something she realized that she needed in that moment, and approached the stump of the tower. "It looks like it was broken by something long ago but I can't tell if it was natural or not, the stones are too worn for that."

"Well the air feels wrong up her." Misty said as Piplup nodded from her head where he was now clutching her beanie, he didn't like it here and wanted to leave, something was off, this was not a place for Pokémon and he didn't want to find out why that was. "I can see why they say its haunted, nothing feels alive, but what was that about a ghost type being here. I haven't seen a Pokémon since getting here."

"It will be something that isn't pleasant, that much I can tell." Ash said as he saw an odd light brown stone with strange markings on it sitting on the edge of the broken tower, naturally he reached out for it and instantly Misty had a bad feeling in her gut as Ash's hand extended towards the stone. "I wonder what this is, it doesn't look like it belongs here."

"Ash, I don't think…" Misty began but groaned as Ash picked up the strange stone and all hell broke loose just as Misty knew it would.

There was an angry, ghostly, wail and the rock began to glow with an eerie pink light, the sound coming from deep within the stone it seemed. Instantly Ash dropped it, backed away and proceeded to trip over some the rubble and fell on his ass, Pikachu yelping as he was thrown off Ash and began to roll down the hill behind them.

Instantly Ash turned and began looking for Pikachu, leaving Misty alone as the now floating stone turned to her. She had a feeling she'd seen something like this before and that was confirmed when a pink light shot out of the stone and formed a spinning pink wheel with flashing green orbs spinning in it as well that seemed to almost hypnotize her. A green face was in the center of the projected wheel with a jagged mouth and swirled eyes.

It laughed maniacally as it looked at Misty, who had someone fallen on her backside as she'd backed away from the Pokémon, as it slowly floating towards her. She groaned as she recognized the Pokémon, there was a clear reason why the area was haunted, it was being haunted by a Spiritomb.

The angry, aggressive, ghost and dark type was one that Misty had tangled with once before back in Sinnoh when she and Ash had been there and accidentally knocked over a tower similar to this one. It was a strong Pokémon that had been tough to deal with the last time and Misty doubted it would be any easier today. It did explained why there were no Pokémon near the mountain, the Spiritomb likely scared them off with its presence.

Now it was bearing down on Misty ready to scare her off as well, something she was willing to listen to. However, before Misty could act, Piplup leapt off her head and squared off against it trembling slightly in its presence. The Spiritomb looked at Piplup as if he was nothing to it but her starter stood his ground and Misty set herself as she got back to her feet. She wouldn't run from this Pokémon; she would fight it just like Ash would.

"Alright Piplup, let's beat this and see what happens." Misty said with a slight tremor in her voice. "Hit it with Ice Beam."

"Piplup!" Piplup yelled as he sent the blast of ice out of his beak.

Spiritomb just laughed as it moved to the side and avoided the attack with ease, the ice freezing on the remains of the tower behind it. Spiritomb responded by sending out a black colored attack that had a horrible tinge to it. It slammed into Piplup blasting him back and causing him to flinch, his whole body shaking at the side effect. Misty had no idea what it was but clearly it had done some damage and Piplup couldn't respond meaning that Spiritomb had another attack and it was already lined up.

Suddenly Spiritomb wailed in pain and looked like it had just taken damage. Misty had no idea what that was about but a second later Piplup wailed in pain and fell over and onto his side. He wasn't out but he was clearly hurt and might not be able to attack after whatever it was that Spiritomb had hit him with. Misty had no idea what that move was but she had a feeling it was a ghost type one.

"Come on Piplup, I know you can do it." Misty said encouragingly to her starter. "Protect me with Hydro Pump!"

"Piplup." Piplup said with pain in his voice as he opened his mouth and a blast of water shot out, he would always protect his Misty while there was still fight in him.

However as he attacked, Spiritomb vanished, weird keystone thing and all, and the attack just sailed over the broken tower and into the woods on the other side of the hill. Misty and Piplup, who had just gotten up, looked around, eyes wide with fear.

Then Piplup wailed in pain again and faceplanted on the ground before he slowly got up again. Whatever the attack he'd been hit with earlier must have some health reducing effect but Misty had no idea what it was.

As she was trying to figure what the earlier move was, Spiritomb reappeared and slammed into Piplup from behind, driving him into the ground again before floating up and turning to cackle at Misty. Piplup lay on the ground with swirls for eyes clearly out of the battle. Misty gritted her teeth as she pulled out a Poke Ball to continue the fight. She was going to take down this Pokémon if it was the last thing she did. No one did that to her Piplup and got away with it.

"Shuppet!" A cry called out and Misty almost dropped her Poke Ball in pure shock as a small, dark blue, Pokémon shot out of a shadow in the trees and put itself between Misty and the now surprised looking Spiritomb. "Shuppet!"

Suddenly a powerful, dazzling flash of light burst forth from Shuppet blinding Misty for a second as she shielded her eyes from it and causing Spiritomb to wail in pain followed by a loud thud. Lowering her arm and blinked rapidly until her vision returned Misty saw a strange sight in front of her.

Floating at eye level, still staring at where the Spiritomb had just been was, of all Pokémon, a Shuppet. It was floating there protectively in front of Misty, its skirt thing swirling around it, as it glared down at a now motionless stone that was on the grass in front of the tower. Whatever move Shuppet had used it had been powerful enough to take down Spiritomb and knock it out, at least that's what Misty thought it had done.

Misty wasn't sure what made her do what she did next, she just knew in her gut that it was the right thing to do. She removed her bag from her shoulder, pulled out an empty Poke Ball and threw it. However, Misty wasn't aiming at the Shuppet, she was aiming at the now unconscious Spiritomb.

The ball hit the stone that was its base and bounced up before opening and capturing Spiritomb in a flash of red light. The ball then fell to the grass and vibrated violently while the button in the center flashed red once, twice, thrice, and then clicked.

Misty blinked as her jaw fell open in utter shock at the successful capture. That shock increased as the ball flashed for a moment before shrinking and vanishing into thin air on its own accord. She had no idea what had just happened other than the fact that she had just captured a Spiritomb. The air suddenly felt freer and warmer somehow. It was less heavy, less malevolent with the Spiritomb gone.

"What, what just happened?" Misty asked as she recovered from her shock but was still confused as the Shuppet turned around to face her, a wide smile on its face, a sight that Misty realized was familiar to here. "And why is a Shuppet suddenly here?"

"Well you caught a Pokémon, not sure what it was though." Ash said causing Misty to jump as he approached carrying dirty Pikachu who looked grumpy at rolling down a hill but was otherwise fine. "I came back to see that much though how you beat it I don't know as I only saw the capture part. Not sure why a Shuppet is here though."

"There is a lot to parse for sure." Misty said as the Shuppet flew down to a still passed out Piplup drawing their attention to him and Ash set down Pikachu so that they could both come and help Misty's starter. "But first I need to tend to Piplup. Ash, why did the Poke Ball I use to catch Spiritomb suddenly vanish."

"So it was a Spiritomb, that is actually the most logical Pokémon to have been here. As for the ball vanishing, that is normal." Ash said as he joined Misty and helped get out the necessary berries to revive and heal Piplup. "You have a full roster of 6 Pokémon right now so you can't carry anymore on you. When that happens, any new catches are instantly sent back to where your store your Pokémon so it will be sent to Professor Oak. He'll see it, scan the ball and begin to assimilate Spiritomb after recovering from his surprise, I think."

"Ok that explains that then." Misty said as Piplup came too under her care and gratefully accepted a berry to regain his strength and health. "I think we should call him from the ship when we return though to make sure he's ok. You are right, he'll be in for a surprise with that Pokémon."

"Yes he will be." Ash agreed with a nod. "Why did you catch it?"

"I don't really know if I'm being honest." Misty said still confused at her own actions. "It just felt right I guess. I was speaking with Emily the day after the Chrysanthemum Contest and I said I wanted to start trying to catch more Pokémon that aren't ones I would usually catch so I guess my subconscious decided to act and catch Spiritomb."

"That makes some sense, I guess." Ash said. "It certainly isn't the kinda Pokémon anyone would associate with you."

"No it is not." Misty said as she thought on her actions and realized there was a little more to them. "Though I also think it needed to leave this place and catching it was the best way to do so. It was angry and vengeful living here and I am sure it had something to do with the broken tower. I'll recall it for Mamoswine after the next Contest and see how it feels but I think it's like how you explained your Muk to me. Angry where it was but much better after being caught."

"I see well Professor Oak will be able to tell us more for sure as he will want to study it." Ash said. "That at least explains why you caught it. If it can be trained, and I don't doubt you can do train it, it will make a great Pokémon to your rotation."

"I hope I can because it will be very useful I feel." Misty said as Piplup stirred and looked around so she looked down at her starter and cooed to him to cheer him up. "You were so brave Piplup, you jumped in to fend off that Spiritomb without hesitation despite how it made us feel but it got you in the end. You weakened it though and this Shuppet here came to help finish it so it won't bother us again. Do you want a poffin?"

"Piplup." Piplup said with a nod of agreement, he was brave and he had tried to protect his trainer from that mean Pokémon, he deserved all the treats for it though why that fun Shuppet from that tower where they'd met Gengar was here was beyond him so he asked it as much. "Piplup?"

"Shuppet." Shuppet said with a happy smile as Misty pulled out her poffin case and looked at her expectantly clearly after a poffin as well. "Shup, Shuppet."

"You want one as well?" Misty asked Shuppet with confusion as she gave Piplup one.

"Shuppet." Shuppet said with an enthusiastic nod as if it had tasted Misty's poffins before. "Shup, Shuppet, shup, Shuppet."

"Ok here you go, you deserve one for saving me." Misty said with a smile as she fed Shuppet who was suddenly very happy and began nuzzling her hand. "Why did you save me by the way?"

"Shuppet." Shuppet said still happy and nodded at Misty's poffins and then herself as it continued to nuzzle her so she gave it another one. "Shup, shup, Shuppet."

"It is odd to see a Shuppet here and no other Pokémon other than that Spiritomb." Ash said thinking as he looked at it. "I don't think it was here for long, that Spiritomb must have been the cause for there being no Pokémon in the area. Plus it came out right at the perfect moment to save you as if it was waiting for the right time to show itself. That is very strange behavior for a Shuppet which isn't a common Pokémon in these parts to begin with."

"Yeah, it is." Misty said as she looked at the happy Shuppet who was now playing with Pikachu and Piplup in a familiar manner, a manner that Misty was certain she had seen somewhere before. "For some reason I feel like I have seen this Shuppet before."

"The only Shuppet we've seen on this journey was the one in Lavender Town that was in the Pokémon Tower." Ash said remembering that Shuppet and how it had helped them. "But that couldn't be right, that was months ago and on the other side of Kanto plus we've been to Hoenn and back in that time."

"But that was the first and only time I have ever met one and as you said, they're rare in Kanto." Misty pointed out and looked at Shuppet happily playing with Piplup and Pikachu, well no harm in asking it. "Shuppet, did we meet before back in that tower where you showed us Gengar and we got to play together a little."

"Shuppet." Shuppet said with a happy nod confirming it to Misty and causing hers and Ash's mouths to fall open in shock. "Shup, Shuppet, shup."

"Have, have you been following us since then?" Misty asked amazed.

"Shuppet." Shuppet nodded again smiling at her.

"Watching us from the shadows?" Misty continued and Shuppet nodded again. "What about when we left the region?"

"Shuppet?" Shuppet asked a little confused at her question.

"The plane that we flew on." Misty said unsure how to describe it to a Pokémon. "And then we were in a greenhouse with several other people and their Pokémon."

"Shup, Shuppet." Shuppet said with a nod, he knew what she was saying, she was referring to that weird metal thing that he'd been under her seat so as to not lose her. "Shuppet, shup, Shuppet."

"It's followed us since Lavender Town." Misty said amazed looking at Ash who was slightly less shocked but still surprised at what Shuppet had done. "I've never heard of a Pokémon doing that."

"I have." Ash said. "Two in fact."

"You have?" Misty asked confused. "Which ones?"

"Well you know one, Krookodile." Ash said surprising Misty, she did not recall how he'd gotten his ground and dark type. "I met him when he was a Sandile before I even met Cilan in Unova. It was shortly after I had left Nuvema Town at some spa place I think. He then followed Pikachu and me all over Unova for months. He kept showed up a few times, even evolved into a Krokorok in front of us, all to challenge Pikachu to a rematch. When he finally got his way and lost, despite being a ground type, he was upset and didn't know what to do with himself so I asked him to join me and he happily agreed."

"Now I remember you telling me something like that." Misty said as the memory of Ash's Krookodile's odd story came back to her. "And the other one?"

"A really, really, annoying wild Jigglypuff." Ash said with a shudder of pure fear that shocked Misty. "I still have the nightmares about that particular Pokémon, probably more so than any other one I have met on my journeys and that's including the army of Beedrills I've pissed off over the years, and that really angry Fearow."

"A Jigglypuff, really?" Misty asked unable to control her laughter. "How are you terrified of a Jigglypuff, they're so cute and cuddly."

"You don't know this Jigglypuff." Ash said seriously and Misty was going to continue laughing but was taken aback by the genuine fear in Ash's eyes as he spoke of a Jigglypuff. "We first ran across it in Kanto and Dawn wanted to catch it because it was cute at the time. However it couldn't sing and was upset. Then, after some Team Rocket related shenanigans, we agreed to help it and Brock restored its voice. Then it sang for us."

"That sounds sweet though." Misty said, she trusted Ash's fear but it was still hard to understand. "Don't Jigglypuffs have beautiful voices?"

"By sing I mean it actually used Sing." Ash said and suddenly Misty understood more. "And that Jigglypuff's Sing is really powerful. We all fell asleep within seconds and it drew on us for that."

"Drew on you?" Misty asked confused. "I don't get it."

"As in literally drew on us, with a permanent marker that is in the microphone it always carries with it so that it can sing for any crowd, it's a really narcissistic Pokémon and will sing on any stage it sees." Ash explained. "For years it kept showing up as if it was following us as wherever we went. We first ran into in Kanto but it followed us to the Orange Islands, then Johto and even Hoenn. It just kept showing up and as soon as it did we knew what would happen no matter how hard we tried to avoid it. I last saw it in Hoenn and thankfully not since. I'll be happy never seeing another Jigglypuff ever again."

"I see, I guess that makes sense if you had so many run ins with it." Misty said still confused as to why Ash would be afraid of a Jigglypuff but she'd seen so much with him that she gave him the benefit of the doubt, they could discuss his fear of a Jigglypuff later. "I still don't really get it."

"Just hope you never do." Ash said seriously. "If I see that Jigglypuff again I'm running as fast as I can in the opposite direction."

"Ok, I'll trust you on this." Misty said before deciding to drop it and return to addressing Shuppet and its sudden presence her on a nameless island off the coast of Kanto. "So Shuppet, back to you following me."

"Shuppet." Shuppet said with a happy nod. "Shup, Shuppet."

"And saw everything I've done since then?" Misty asked. "All the Contests, Ash's battles, everything we've been up to?"

"Shuppet." Shuppet said happily and nodding again causing Misty to blush at the more adult things her and Ash had done in that time that they might not have had as much privacy in as they would have liked. "Shuppet, shup, Shuppet."

Shuppet had indeed seen everything that the nice girl, Misty as her mate called her, had done. She had been fun, sweet and had really tasty treats in the Tower for him to enjoy that he had to follow her. It turned out that he made the right call to follow her as she was very interesting, as was her mate but he preferred Misty because she was who had played with him and made the treats.

He had watched her tenderly care for her mate when he was sick showing how caring she was, though human mating confused him when he'd seen it. He'd also watched her in that weird but amazing competition where she lost to her mate, he cried at that because Misty should have won had Dratini not evolved.

After that he continued to follow them and had watched her mate battle a bunch of grass types and win in the end, that had been cool. After that and seeing that odd normal type that her mate received from a really crazy human, he had followed them to a whole new place on a flying metal tube.

There he had seen Misty meet up with more friends in a different greenhouse to the one she'd been in with that grass type human. It was there that Misty's Eevee had evolved into an Espeon, an evolution that required trust and love to achieve showing just how close she was with her Pokémon.

He had then watched her enter prepare and enter another, larger, Contest as they were called and loved watching every moment of it. It was amazing, beautiful, especially Misty, and a wonderful experience.

Not only that but Misty had won it! Misty had beaten many people, including her mate to get back at him for his earlier win, and a few women who Shuppet suspected wanted to mate with Misty's mate but she showed them who the alpha female was thus proving her strength to her mate. The emotional talks with those females weren't something Shuppet understood but humans were odd creatures so he chalked it up to that.

After that Contest, Misty and her mate had gotten back in that tube thing, naturally with Shuppet under her seat again, and returned to a new city but Shuppet could tell they were back in the region he'd hatched and had met Misty and here mate in. There they'd met another human was their friend it seemed, one who cared for sick and injured Pokémon and made them better so Misty had good friends.

He kept an eye on Misty as she cheered for her mate in another long, multi Pokémon, battle, this time against a bunch of angry looking poison types. Well they weren't all primary poison types, that was clear from that Tentacruel that had showed up, but that was the only common type between those 6 Pokémon. That had been destructive and not graceful like his Misty was but her mate clearly loved it so he could enjoy it because Misty did.

Then came the trip out on the water. He had kept an eye on them and had naturally joined them on the ship as they called it. It was a giant metal thing that somehow floated on the water in a way that Shuppet couldn't understand.

Whatever it was, it was interesting and he kept watching Misty. He almost intervened when some humans tried to steal his friends Pikachu and Piplup but Misty and her mate handled them easily as he expected so he continued to keep a low profile. He'd done the same at their stops at various random islands.

He was then able to watch Misty win another Contest that was shorter than the one in the other region but like the one she'd lost to her mate in. This time she won over a girl who seemed to be Misty's friend, she did look familiar to Shuppet, and had done so convincingly by blending power and grace only further adding to his amazement with Misty.

Course he had then followed them back to the ship and to this island. He had continued to intend to just observe them until he had felt its presence. He didn't know what the Pokémon was other than that it was both a ghost and dark type, a dangerous combo that shouldn't have any weaknesses in terms of types that Shuppet knew of. It was a vengeful, malevolent spirit but only because it was stuck here. It wasn't anymore and he was certain that Misty's capture of it had freed it of its hate.

Shuppet had known the moment that he had felt that ghost type, a Spiritomb as it was called, that he would be showing himself today. It was a powerful Pokémon that easily outclassed Piplup, especially after it had used Curse on the poor Penguin Pokémon which ensured Piplup's defeat before Piplup knew he was beaten.

However that Curse attack had weakened Spiritomb and Shuppet knew that he could attack it and win. As soon as it became clear that it would attack Misty after beating Piplup, he had leapt in to protect her. This was the moment he was waiting for, the moment to reveal himself and save the human he'd grown attached too as he'd watched her over the last few months.

That was why he had flown out and attacked. He knew the attack he had to use to win. He didn't know why he had to use it. All he knew was that it was called Dazzling Gleam. He had used it because something deep inside him told him that it would work and knock the Spiritomb out so that Misty could save it the way her mate had saved Gengar when they had first met.

The really strange thing to Shuppet was that as far as he knew, the attack he had just used was a normal type attack, a type that didn't work on ghost types like himself or Spiritomb. It was something that Misty exploited beautifully when she beat her mate's Gengar in their rematch. Yet it had been super effective against Spiritomb and knocked it out in seconds. Shuppet didn't question it though as he had saved Misty and could play with her again, hopefully permanently but only if she asked him to stay.

"That's incredible." Misty said amazed as she finally came to terms with the little ghost type's dedication to her. "All because of me?"

"Shuppet." Shuppet said happily with another nod and Misty knew what she had to do, it was clear that Shuppet wanted this and if she was honest so did she after what Shuppet had just done for her.

"Do you want to join me?" Misty asked Shuppet smiling at the Puppet Pokémon as she spoke. "Become one of my Pokémon, like with that Spiritomb, only this time you chose to be mine, I won't force it if you don't want."

"Shuppet!" Shuppet exclaimed happily as he vigorously nodded his head at Misty's words, it was just what he wanted. "Shup, Shuppet, shup, shup, Shuppet."

"Ok good." Misty said still smiling as she pulled another empty Poke Ball from her bag before she remembered what had happened to Spiritomb after she had caught it. "Now Shuppet, I must warn you, I already have 6 Pokémon on me right now, something you probably know so you won't be on me right away."

"Shuppet?" Shuppet asked sounding a little confused so Misty elaborated for it.

"When I catch you, as you saw with that Spiritomb, the ball will disappear after." Misty explained. "You will be sent back to Professor Oak's ranch where I have my other Pokémon stored, well other than my Ambipom who's in training with someone else. However, there is a transport machine on the ship so I can recall you to my side by sending one of my current team back to the ranch, which I will do as soon as we get back to the ship. Is that ok with you?"

"Shuppet." Shuppet said with a nod looking keenly at the Poke Ball in Misty's hand.

He wasn't sure about all the technical stuff Misty was saying but he knew the ball would disappear, he'd seen it happen to Spiritomb so it would probably happen to him as well. However, Misty had promised to bring him back and he trusted her to do so. He would be by her side soon enough, maybe even get to compete in a Contest with her, he really wanted that.

"Ok great, here goes." Misty said as she held out the Poke Ball to Shuppet. "When you're ready, hit the button in the center of the ball."

"Shuppet." Shuppet said happily as he headbutted the button and was sucked into the ball.

It shook and flashed in Misty's hand a few times before chiming to signify her second capture of the day. Then it shrunk and vanished from her hand as Ash watched in amazement. Misty just smiled at him and stood up; she didn't have a ball to celebrate with but she could still do a pose with two empty balls that she pulled from her bag to show it.

"Alright, I just caught a Spiritomb and a Shuppet." Misty said striking her capture pose as Piplup celebrated by her side.

"Well done." Ash said as he picked Pikachu up while Misty scooped Piplup up. "Shall we return to the ship so that you can recall both of them."

"I think it will be just Shuppet for now." Misty said as they began to head down to the ship, Ash taking her hand as they made their way slowly down the hill. "I want Professor Oak to assess Spiritomb first before I recall it though I will ask for it soon."

"Sounds good." Ash said with a smile. "See, I told you that it was worth coming up here."

"Yes it was." Misty said with a smile back at Ash, he had been right after all. "Yes it was."

She was still smiling as they made their way back to the ship. Misty still couldn't believe that Shuppet had followed her all the way to Hoenn and back and had suddenly showed up to save her when she needed it the most, it was amazing.

She had a feeling that Shuppet was going to become one of her top Pokémon in time, once they'd trained together for a while. The Spiritomb was a spur of the moment thing but she was glad about that one as well, it would be a good challenge and a strong Pokémon when it was ready to be used.

All in all it was another interesting day on her adventure in Kanto but then again she was with Ash Ketchum, if it wasn't interesting then something was going horrible wrong. After today, Misty couldn't wait to see what the future held in store for them, it was going to a great adventure that was certain of that. Just another one in the many Misty had had and would have with Ash. All that was left to answer was what would that next adventure be?