Hello everybody and welcome back! Into the thick of things we go, as I mentioned we got a solid little arc coming up with our two heroes. Really excited to get the gears rolling into this story, and hopefully. everyone is enjoying our little adventure.

Now, that being said, I do have some more news to share as well. I well be releasing a full eight(ish?) chapter fic on Halloween. Lagomorphshippng brought me to this site, and I wanted to commemorate my favorite holiday with a new Lagomorph story I had been working on with a little horror twist.

Yes, I will be writing a nice little creepy one for everyone to enjoy! My little one's birthday also happens to be the same week and I will be going away for the week, so we may have a little longer than usual delay for 'Try Again' as well.

I expect to have a few more chapters out beforehand, hopefully get a good chunk of this arc finished by then. I'm thinking this story may hit the 30-chapter mark, something I haven't ever done on this site before. If you want to see me do it, please please please, review/fav/follow, they really are more helpful than you know! Have a great fall everyone, enjoy a pumpkin latte or apple turnover or something, and I will see you all later!

Chapter 13

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Yo, Nolan, open up! Official Guild business!" Axl had already opened the door before he finished speaking, stepping into the building too nonchalantly. He had jiggled the knob a few teams before a third time let him open it like nothing.

Erin gasped at him, still standing outside. "You can't just barge into other Pokemon's houses!' She scolded him, still standing in the doorway.

Axl rolled his eyes. "Relax, I've known him for a couple years. He doesn't mind as long as I'm quiet during the day. So try not to make too much of a ruckus." He replied, smiling cheekily at her.

Erin glared at him but stepped inside nonetheless the spooky looking house inside. Admittedly, the inside was pretty neat, although it looked like no one had redesigned the place in about a hundred years. Red furniture decorated the inside of it, which set up the living room they had entered. A blue television sat out of place across from the couch. Meanwhile, a wooden pair of stairs with red carpeting was to their right, leading up to a dark second floor that gave an ominous feel to it.

Old, wooden floors creaked under her feet, giving a silent echo that reverberated across the house, making her cringe at the sound. Axl gave her a shushing motion, making his way down a hallway in front of him. Erin decided to hang back for a moment and let Axl grab his friend. In order to gaze at the house a little more.

She also noticed how cold it was inside for the first time, evident by her visible breath. Not a fan of the cold, she sweatdropped at the scout's choice of decorations. She couldn't help but wonder if an Ice type lived here.

"Oh, Arceus!' Oshawott had jumped out of the opposing room in alarm, chest thumping rapidly. His eyes were stretched wide in horror.

Erin rushed to his side in a heartbeat, helping him sit up and catch his breath. "What?! What?!" She asked, alarmed by his reaction. "Are you okay, Axl?" She couldn't help but feel even more tense with his demeanor changing so drastically.

Axl nodded slowly, pointing a finger down the hall. "I was just getting a snack from the kitchen." He started, holding up a pink box. "And all he has is beets. What type of friend do I have?"

Erin gave him an annoyed look before dropping him, letting him fall on his back. "You dummy!" She hissed dryly at the otter. "You nearly made me jump out of my skin! Didn't you say to be quiet?"

"Oh, I was just joking around, he's a super heavy sleeper during the day. You'd have to gather a horde of Exploud to make him even stir at this hour. You're so jumpy though, are you not a fan of the house?"

"It's like every horror movie I've ever seen." She replied flatly, crossing her arms as Axl was dragging himself back up.

"I think it's tasteful, I got to have a talk with his decorator at some point." He said. "It definitely helps Nolan and Iris feel more at home though, they say it reminds them of the inside of caves."

Erin could definitely understand why it would, shivering again at another icy chill that had breathed on them. Axl frowned as though something was bothering him and jumped up to his feet to help himself think better. Not showing any signs of being affected by the cold, Erin was jealous of the soft fur that she presumed was keeping the otter warmer than her.

"Usually not this freezing, though. We fixed that window months ago, I swear if Ripley jumped out of another, I'll clip his wings."

"So that's not normal?"

"The icy chill? Nah."

Erin rubbed her arms together, teeth starting to chatter. "Oh, wonderful."

"Relax, relax." He reassured her. "The only Pokemon allowed in here are those three and me. It's the one door in the entire region where anyone can just waltz in without a word and look at your stuff. Hell, if I didn't pick the lock, we'd have to break down the door to get in."

Erin opened her mouth to speak but stopped when she processed his words a little more. She raised an eyebrow at the otter who looked at her innocently.

"You broke in?" She wanted to be surprised, but at this point there wasn't anything Axl could do that would shock her.

Axl grinned triumphantly at her. "Yes ma'am, master pickpocket and lockpick if I do say so myself." He said with pride before looking sheepish. "For solely educational purposes, I swear."

Erin smiled slightly. "Of course." She said, bemused. "Well, where are any of them?" She asked, getting a little worried.

"That's what I was wondering. All of their scout gear was strewn out in the living room, so that means everyone is home. Usually, Ripley would have latched on to my face now or something." Erin looked back and sure enough saw two satchels with various stones and berries thrown messily out of it on the ground.

A wave of worry washed over her suddenly. "You don't think something bad happened, do you?" She asked.

"I mean, either something grabbed them or there was something really good on the TV." He said.

Erin grabbed his arm. "Axl, this IS weird. First Karl disappears, and now we come to a scouting house that's completely empty? You don't think this could be connected, do you?"

Crossing his arms, he examined the satchels on the ground. "Not impossible I suppose. The best thing to do would be to split up and search for them in the house. It's possible that Nolan is still asleep."

Worried, Erin nodded. "Right…I hope they're okay."

Axl, much less worried, heaved a sigh. "Unbelievable, this is just my luck." He said loudly, patting Erin on the shoulder in sympathy. "I can't believe they'd leave me to search the entire first and second floor for them while Erin goes into their creepy basement I'm afraid of."

Erin froze in comedic shock. "Wait, repeat what you said?" The color drained from her face as Axl had already started walking.

He waved her off. "The door's on the other side of the stairs, brave soldier. I'll complete the daunting tasks of exploring two whole floors." He told her, sounding exhausted from the whole ordeal.

"I SAID REPEAT WHAT YOU SAID!?" She cried loudly, but it was in vain as the otter once again had disappeared into the dark hallway he had entered moments earlier. Erin was only left to watch helplessly as he vanished, leaving her alone in the quiet house.

Breathing in slowly in order to not lose her mind at the events transpiring, she looked around in uncertainty. She had watched way too many horror movies in her life to be left alone in a house like this. Nightmare on Professor Elm's Street…. The Beautifly…. Mr. Mime's From Outer Space….

She shuddered, despaired by her surroundings but moving her feet nonetheless. Now that she was a Justice Guild member, she didn't have time to be spooked by childish movies. Her guild and, more importantly, Karl were depending on her to get this mission done no matter what...

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Axl whistled loudly, appearing nonchalant as he walked his way around the house with his hearing on high alert. As relaxed as he appeared, his thoughts betrayed a much higher processing level of concentration to his surroundings.

Something is definitely up; they would've been at the door immediately if they were home. But they also wouldn't leave without any of their gear. The three of them are more paranoid than Ma….

Something weird is going on.

His trek on the first floor proved to be unsuccessful as he didn't see any trace of his three friends, each room he checked almost looking emptier than the next. Even Nolan's bedroom contained no trace of his friend, adding to Axl's confusion. The stairs creaked loudly under his light feet, making him even more suspicious that maybe no one was home as he reached the top.

The second floor was a little colder than downstairs and a light breeze told Axl that a window was most likely open, or broken, in one of the rooms of the floor. If he remembered correctly, this floor contained four rooms with Ripley's study being the closest to the top of the stairway.

Deciding that was as good as any place to start, he opened the door closest to him and entered a small room filled with stuffed bookshelves. Axl noted the fireplace that was lit in the back wall, separating two of the bookshelves. A rocking chair rested on the far-left side while a messy desk was stationed opposite of it. Meanwhile, a table with a weird purple plant in a vase was situated in the same corner.

If the fire is still lit, it must mean that Ripley should be here at the very least…

The lights were out and multiple flicks of the switch next to the door didn't fix the issue. He scratched his head in confusion at the conflicting pieces of evidence that supported one theory or the other. Maybe Erin was right?

He was ready to walk out when he scanned the bookshelves and latched his eyes on a light purple book that looked very out of place among the dark black and brown spines that lined the wall. Grinning to himself, he headed into the dark room with his eyes set on the discreet novel that stuck out.

I remember Ripley mentioning he had a secret room in the house. Can't believe he made such a cliche one, I expected a lot better.

He had to stretch his small frame a little bit to reach it but was able to grab hold of the bottom of the spine with his paw. Giving it a pull, he stepped back as he expected the bookshelf to swing open.

…

…

But nothing happened!

He sweatdropped at himself, a little relieved at the fact the room wasn't placed in such an obvious spot. Even more disappointed, though, as it meant he had no lead to go on now. Sighing in defeat, he glanced at the book in his paw to saturate his curiosity of the different book.

The History of Beets

"Ah, fair enough." He said out loud, needing to break the silence for his own sanity. His curiosity wasn't quite fulfilled yet and he decided to open the book as he found himself a little more interested.

What he wasn't expecting was to find the book to be hollowed out on the inside with a squashed up Zubat inside.

The Zubat screamed at the sudden visitor. "GAH!"

He wasn't the only one spooked, however, as Axl let out a shrill shriek and threw the book across the room, landing Zubat side first into the wall before sliding down slowly for a painfully long time.

Stunned for a moment, panic overtook Axl. "Oh crap! Nolan, are you okay, dude?" He ran to the book and picked it up, finding his friend now looking like he had a concussion.

Groaning, he pulled himself out of the book. "It's cool, I get it." He said, dizzily. "I'm not letting you live down the scream though."

Axl looked away, scratching the side of the head. "Weird place for a nap, don't you think?"

Nolan furrowed his brow and bopped Axl on the head with his wing. "Wasn't exactly my first choice for a bed, idiot!" He hissed, an accent popping out in him. "Thank Arceus you found me when you did. I thought I was going to be stuck in there forever. I'll never forgive Ripley for leaving that just laying around."

Axl glanced at the book on the ground, which was visible to be fake now, just a hollowed-out box. "What's it for?"

Nolan shrugged. "A key to his secret room or something, I don't know what goes through his head." He shook his head quickly to break off the off-subject topic. "That's not important, we have to save Iris!"

Looking a little more serious now, Axl cocked his head. "What even happened?"

"Ghosts, man." When Axl looked skeptical, he spoke a little angrier. "It's true! They snuck in here, took over my house and kidnapped the three of us. They stuffed Ripley and I in these ridiculous spots just for laughs and giggles. Look what they did to my boy!" He pointed his wing to the weird plant Axl had noticed, with him now recognizing it as Ripley's tail, limp in defeat.

Axl had to stifle a laugh. "I mean, it is a little funny. I thought Ripley forgot to water his cactus or something." He said, earning another bop from Nolan.

"Will you take this seriously for once. I don't know where Iris is, and we're dealing with-" He gasped loudly and shrunk back in fear suddenly.

"Uh, you good?" He asked, unaware of the two large, shadowy figures with opened mouths of sharp teeth and glowing red eyes racing their hands out to grab him from behind…

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

That blue jerk

Erin was grumbling to herself as she stared around in the room around her. The stairs downward had led to a wide, empty room with a few random items scattered around. While considerably very easy to assume was as empty as it seemed, she decided to walk around in order to make sure she wasn't missing anything at all.

Besides, the more she focused her mind on the task of finding Karl, the easier it was to remain calm and steady about the basement's ominous vibe.

She couldn't buy fully into the idea that Karl was simply out playing longer than he should have been. Whether it be intuition or the anxiety of Thorn being in the area, something told her that it was a more serious matter.

Her heart dropped as she thought about the scouts that appeared to be missing. The gear had looked scattered as though it had been dropped suddenly, making her wonder if the house wasn't maybe as safe as Axl claimed it to be.

Thinking logically, if something did happen and the Pokemon did get kidnapped or hurt, she ran her mind through some of the bounty posters that Guildmaster Finnegan had made her go through. Thorn was certainly out of the equation, as he most likely would've destroyed the whole house if he handled it his normal way.

The only other high-level threats she could remember was an Octillery named Gurbo, and a house far from the water seemed unlikely given his criminal history. Besides, most of the crimes he committed were usually followed up with antagonizing towards the Mystery Guilds and police, never the Justice Guild though.

Meanwhile, he most logical one she could remember was a four-star level Scrafty, but according to his poster, he was last spotted in Citrine City, making it unlikely he'd make such a long trip.

Meaning, if foul play was involved, it was most likely a newer criminal…or perhaps one from Amethyst City? The border was very close by, after all.

Erin's throat tightened as she remembered that the Guildmaster was on a trip to Amethyst City to talk to their Guildmaster for assistance. Meaning, he was an easily walkable distance away from discovering she had betrayed his orders.

Gulping in fear, she thought about calling him and confessing everything that was happening. The threat of kicking her out of the guild seemed very real and scary to her. Besides, she had Axl with her, so maybe he wouldn't be too mad, right?

Or was she in too deep now?

She glanced at a mirror perched on the wall directly across from her, sighing at her small and diminutive figure. She was powerful for being a stage one type and knew she could handle a fight with a low-level threat but her confidence had taken numerous hits lately and doubt clouded her mind about the mission at hand. Could she really do this?

Something flickered in the mirror, and she squinted her eyes in the dark to make out what it was. Staring herself in the eyes, she walked closer to the mirror, trying to catch what she saw. It darkened again, and Erin had to snap her head around to make sure nothing was casting the shadow.

Seeing nothing but an empty room, she turned back to the mirror. The room was dark enough as it was, but gray light was dimly fighting its way into the darkness through tiny windows that line the top of the walls.

Staring more intensely at the mirror, she narrowed her eyes as she thought she saw another shadow flicker past it. She placed a hand on it. And that's when the jaw of her reflection dropped to a gaping hole, its eyes popping out and head doing a sickening turn in a soundless wail.

She fell backwards as her heart stopped and flipped, her own mouth opening to let out a scream of absolute terror. She never got it off though, as a Gengar suddenly emerged from the mirror, adding to her horror.

He placed a ghastly hand over her mouth and nose, stopping any noise or breath from escaping from her. Placing a finger over his terrifying grin, Erin wished more than anything that the Guildmaster was here now.