Episode 28: Paranormal Inactivity

An airplane flies through the sky. On the outside, it appears peaceful, and nothing special, but it's different on the inside. In the cockpit, the pilot seems to be extremely nervous and on-edge. He shouts into his communicator, "Status report! What's going on now!?"

A voice responds frantically, "We still don't know sir. We've just lost contact with three more crewmen, and most of the passengers are gone."

The pilot shakes his head in disbelief. "No one has seen what this thing is yet? I need to know what we're up against!"

"No sir, anyone who makes contact with it is gone before they can report in. We must have picked it up when we stopped in Hoenn."

The pilot slams his fist angrily on the console in front of him. Suddenly, an odd, almost musical, noise can be heard. The pilot says, "Wait…I hear something."

"Sir, before we would lose crewmen, they always reported hearing a strange noise first! It's heading towards you!"

"No! If it gets to me, the plane will crash!"

"Judging by that path its taking, it must be getting to you via the cargo hold! Sir, you have to eject the cargo!"

The pilot nods. "Agreed." He frantically looks over the console in front of him. He then slams a fist down on a big red button.

On the bottom side of the plane, a hatch opens up and several crates hurdle towards the ground.


Ash is on the videophone at a Pokémon Center. Victory at last! Ash is now riding on his recent victory from his rematch against Atmos City Gym Leader Skyler. What comes next for our heroes? Let's find out.

On the other end of the phone is Professor Oak. He is saying, "Congratulations Ash! Winning in a completely new style of battle is a great challenge."

Ash informs, "Not to mention my Apprentichick evolved into a Falcoknight!"

Falcoknight flies into view. "Fallllllllcoknight!"

Professor Oak nods happily. "And I'm sure that was a wonderful experience for both of you. By the way, do you happen to know where you're going next?"

Ash shakes his head. "No, not yet."

"Good, because I have a suggestion. Northeast of Atmos City there's a mountain range known as the Starstreak Mountains. I'm actually going to be heading there for some joint research with Professor Pine soon. Why don't you come on up? The closest gym to you would be in Starcore City, and the Starstreaks are a little out of the way, but I've heard rumors that a Legendary Pokémon lives in them."

Ash's eyes widen. "A Legendary Pokémon?" He nods excitedly. "You can count me in. We'll be there."

The professor smiles. "I'm glad to hear it. Alright, I'll meet you there."

"See you then Professor."

"Bye Ash." Oak hangs up.

Ash looks up to Pikachu and asks, "Sounds fun, doesn't it? We get to see the Professor again, and maybe even a Legendary Pokémon."

Pikachu nods in agreement. "Pika."

"Alright, let's go catch up with Brock and Brenda." He runs out of the Pokémon Center. After running through the city, he makes it to Ariel's balloon. Brenda is standing a few feet away watching Brock and Arial. Ash starts to ask, "What's going-"


But is cut off by Brenda holding her hand up. She then raises five fingers and prepares a countdown. Brock is on his knees, sobbing, in front of Arial. He's sobbing, "Oh sweet Arial, it may almost be time for us to part for good, but know this, I'll never forget you!" Suddenly, just as Brenda's countdown hits zero, Meteorfight appears and uppercuts Brock. He now shouts as flies through the air, "I'll never forget that either!" Brenda and Ash laugh.

Arial walks over to them and asks, "Alright, you ready to leave yet?"

Ash nods. "You bet. Our next stop is the Starstreak Mountains."

Brock suddenly appears next to him and asks, "The Starstreak Mountains, really? How come?"

"Because Professor Oak is going to be there, and he says we might be able to see a Legendary Pokémon."

Arial says, "Ah, you're talking about the Cosmic Guardian."

Ash asks, "What's that?"

"Oh it's nothing, just an old myth of Tenno. Supposedly across the region there live three Cosmic Guardian Pokémon. They are servants of the Cosmic Architect's, and said to be made out of the same material that Meteoric Shards are made of." She shrugs. "That's just a myth though. I wouldn't put too much faith into it."

Ash responds, "Well we have to go and see for ourselves."

Arial nods. "Of course. Now come on, let's get you out of here." Everyone climbs into her balloon.


Ash, Brock, and Brenda have set off on the road again. It is getting late and the sun is setting. Brenda says, "I suppose we should begin looking for a place to camp for the night."

Brock shakes his head. "No, that shouldn't be necessary. According to the Pokéssistant, there's a small village not too far from here. We should be able to get a room there."

Ash adds, "And maybe some food, I'm starving."

Brock states, "It should be just up ahead." They walk through some trees, and sure enough they enter a village. However, something seems wrong. It may be a small town, but even for that it seems strangely empty.

They walk through the village's abandoned streets. Brenda looks around and says, "This is wrong. This village has been abandoned."

Ash calls out, "Hello! Is anybody there!?" Other than an echo, there is no reply.

Brock asks, "What could have happened here?"

Brenda looks a little spooked. "It's a little scary actually." She shivers. "What if something bad happened here…? What if this is a ghost town and it's haunted…?"

Ash seems to almost believe her, as he appears slightly frightened now. Despite that, he says, "D…don't b…be ridiculous, gh…ghosts don't exist."

Suddenly a shrieking noise can be heard. Ash and Brenda both shout, "Ghost!"

However, it is not a ghost. A boy runs in shouting, "Get out of my town you monster!" He suddenly skids to a stop and says, "Wait, you aren't a monster."

Brenda says, "And you aren't a ghost."

The boy, who is about Ash's age, and wearing a blue t-shirt and tan shorts, says mockingly, "Ghosts? You actually think there are ghosts here?"

Brock points out, "You're the one who thought we were monsters."

The boy suddenly remembers his panic. "That's because there is a monster in this town! It all started earlier today. Several people from the village went missing. A search party was sent out, but they went missing too. Slowly, little by little, more of the villagers began to disappear. I was one of the last people left. I barely escaped it. Now I am the last."

Brock says, "Settle down, I'm sure there's a logical explanation to this. Have you actually seen this monster?" The boy nods. "And what does it look like?"

"It may not be that big, but it's horrifying. It has no definite shape, it constantly changes, it's pitch black, as if it's made from the shadows themselves. It hides in the shadows and then attacks. Once it does, there's no fighting it. Your one warning is a musical tone that can be heard, after that, there's no hope." He starts to cry. "Oh please, you have to help me. This monster has all my friends and family. It needs to be stopped."

Ash, Brock, and Brenda look to each other and nod. Ash says, "Don't worry, we'll help you out. What's your name?"

The boy sniffles and answers, "I'm Todd…"

Ash then comforts, "Don't worry Todd, we'll find this so called monster and find your friends."

Brock says, "Come on, let's go search the outskirts of the town."

Hiding behind a nearby building is Team Rocket. James says, "So…the twerps are on a monster hunt. Sounds interesting."

Meowth shakes his head. "Nah, it sounds silly. There's no such thing as monsters."

Jessie states, "Unless you count The Boss when he's angry."

Meowth continues, "It's probably just some giant Pokémon or something."

Jessie and James ask, "Giant Pokémon?" They imagine a crowd of powerful Pokémon such as Salamence, Tyranitar, and Charizard, but giant versions. They both exclaim, "The Boss would love those!"

Meowth nods. "Then I guess it's time for a monster hunt of our own." They all smile deviously.


Who's that Pokémon!?

A Pokémon that is said to live in a world on the reverse side of ours. It appears in an ancient cemetery.


It's now nighttime. Ash, Brock, Brenda, and Todd walk cautiously through the forest. Todd beckons them forward and says, "It's not far from here that the first group went missing from."

Brock asks, "Did anything of note happen before the first attack?"

Todd nods. "Yeah, the group that disappeared was investigating something that fell out of the sky."

Brenda says, "I'll bet that's where the monster came from."

Brock points out, "Assuming it is a monster."

Todd says, "The crash site of whatever it was that fell should be somewhere around here." He suddenly points forward. "Over there, that's it!"

They all run forward. Ahead of them is the wreckage of several wooden crates, apparently the same ones that were seen falling from the plane. Brock observes the wreckage. He bends over one of the wrecked boxes. It seems to be covered in some sort of black sludge. He asks, "What's this?"

Todd says, "That's residue left from the monster! It's what it's made from."

Brock looks at the sludge skeptically. He says, "I think it might be best if we fan out to look for anything else that could give us a hint about this monster." Everyone does so.

Off in the distance, Team Rocket is snooping. Meowth says, "If that's monster slime, we must be getting close to this Pokémon."

James theorizes, "Maybe it's some sort of giant, black Muk."

Jessie plugs her nose and says, "Eww, it better not be, or else I'm not touching it." She leans down to observe something on the ground.

Meanwhile, James and Meowth walk forward a little way. James asks, "How do we plan on catching this giant Pokémon?"

Meowth tells him, "Don't worry about it. Once we figure out what the Pokémon is, I'll figure out the perfect plan to catch it. First, we just need to catch a glimpse of it."

Jessie is now obscured by some trees. Off in the distance, she's still curiously looking around her. She sees something move. She looks up towards it. All she can see is rustling leaves, and something black moving through them. A muffled musical tone can be heard. A drop of black sludge falls in front of Jessie. She screams.

James and Meowth hear Jessie scream. They look to each other in panic, as Jessie's screams suddenly stop. They then run away screaming.

Meanwhile, Ash, Brock, Brenda, and Todd have also heard Jessie's screams. Brenda, sounding horrified, asks, "Guys…what was that…?"

Todd, sounding even more scared, says, "It's the monster…it's coming to finish me off…"

Brock shakes his head. "No, that was someone screaming." He then calls out, "Hello! Is anybody out there!?"

Ash asks, "Brock, do you really think it's the best idea to alert anything that might be out there?"

Before he can answer, two more screaming voices can be heard. Everyone looks towards the source. Meowth and James are running towards them. James shouts, "Help us twerps!"

Meowth shouts, "The monster has Jessie!"

Ash, Brock, and Brenda exclaim in surprise, "Team Rocket!?"

James and Meowth are absolutely terrified. James breaks down and begs, "Oh please twerps, I know we've down a lot of awful things to you in the past, but this is serious! You need to help us!"

Todd, as terrified as ever, asks, "You saw the monster?"

Meowth shakes his head. "No, we didn't see it, but it got Jessie."

Brenda says, "I don't see why we should help you." James and Meowth look dumbfounded at her. They're speechless.

Brock says, "Now wait a second, if Jessie really was taken, they can show us where they last saw Jessie, and maybe that will lead us to the monster."

Meowth and James break down in relief. Meowth says, "Oh thank you, thank you so much."

James says, "I always knew you were the nice twerp." Brock looks at them, almost with disgust.

Ash asks, "So where did you last see Jessie?"

James asks with horror, "Are you sure you want to go there, where the monster was?"

Todd sneaks in, "I'm with him."

Brock says, "If we want to find Jessie and all the other missing people, then we have to find the monster. Now come on, show us where you last saw her." James and Meowth reluctantly nod.


It's Giratina!


James and Meowth have brought them to the last known location of Jessie. Brock bends over to observe the drop of sludge that fell in front of Jessie. Ash notices it and says, "Hey, it's the sludge again."

Brock nods. He looks around some more. After a few moments of observation, he says, "I think we should all fan out. That way we can cover more ground. If anyone sees any hints of the monster, call for the others."

James, Meowth, and Todd all huddle together in fear. Todd asks, "Are you sure that's the best course of action? What is it just picks us off one by one that way?"

Brock says, "We'll split into groups of two, so that no one is left alone. Todd, you can go with Ash, James and Meowth can stay together, and Brenda can come with me." Everyone nods, and heads off in different directions.

Brock and Brenda stay in the immediate area, while everyone else leaves. Brenda asks, "Do you have any ideas of what this could be Brock?"

Brock shakes his head. "Not yet. I want to keep on investigating this area for more clues first." He seems to notice something on the ground. "Something like that."

"What is it?"

Brock points to marks on the floor. It seems to be some sort of trail leading into the woods. "These marks. It looks like something…or rather someone was dragged away from here."

"You think the monster dragged Jessie away?"

Brock nods. "So if we follow this trail, it could possibly lead us to the alleged monster."

"Let's go then."


Ash and Todd slowly wander through the woods. Todd seems super jumpy, and leaps in fright at the slightest movement or rustle. Todd asks, "What are we even looking for?"

Ash shrugs. "I don't really know."

Todd then asks, "You don't seem that scared, how come?"

Ash shrugs again. "I suppose it's because I can trust Pikachu and my other Pokémon to protect me." He looks to Todd. "And don't worry, as long as Pikachu and I are here, nothing will touch you."

Todd responds dubiously, "If you say so…"

Suddenly, they hear something rustle behind them. Todd leaps up and shouts, "It's the monster!"

Ash, maybe more scared than he's admitting to, quickly shouts, "Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu leaps off of Ash's shoulders and attacks the bushes while in midair. "Pikaaaaaaaa chuuuuuuuuu!"

The electric attack hits the bushes, and two shouts of pain are heard. James and Meowth roll out from behind the bush, looking singed from the attack. James asks, "Hey, what gives? I thought we were working together."

Meowth adds, "Yeah that hurt."

Todd is absolutely relieved to see it isn't the monster. Ash asks, "Team Rocket!? What are you doing here!?"

Meowth asks, "What does it look like we're doing here?"

"But you were supposed to go off in a different direction."

James responds, "And we did, our direction just happened be just behind yours…so we wouldn't have to be alone…"

Ash sighs. "Fine, you two can tag along with us."

James and Meowth cheer.


Brock and Brenda continue to follow the trail. Brenda is starting to get a little scared herself. Brock still appears unaffected though. He says, "Judging by the fact that this monster couldn't have dragged a human body so far in such a short time, it can't be much further now."

Brenda nods, "I hope so. The sooner we get to the bottom of this, the better."

Brock points forward. "Hey, what's that?"

Brock is pointing towards a large rock formation. Brenda says, "Hey, it looks like some sort of stage or something."

"Maybe we should check it out. It looks like the trail leads there." They run towards the rocks and look around. "The trail seems to lead around to the other side, let's go there."

They run around to the front of the rocks. They both come to a dead stop as soon as they see what awaits them. Littering the floor in front of them are countless limp bodies. Due to the angle of the scene, we can't see any of them well. Brenda screams.

Brock looks around, and suddenly seems to have a realization. "Hey, I've seen this before!"

Just then, a musical tone can be heard. Brenda and Brock's bodies fall limp and unconscious.


Brenda's screams can be heard. Ash exclaims, "That was Brenda! She and Brock must have found the monster!"

Todd asks, "What do we do!?"

Meowth shouts, "We run the other way, that's what we do!"

Ash shakes his head. "No, we need to go help them. Come on!" He runs off the direction they heard the screams. Todd follows close behind, and Team Rocket reluctantly follows.

As they get closer, Ash asserts, "Don't worry, we'll save everyone. The villagers…and Jessie."

Meowth and James look to each other. James says to Meowth, "Look at the Twerp. Jessie is our best friend, and yet we keep on trying to run away. The Twerp is determined to save her, even if they are enemies."

Meowth nods in agreement. "We're just pathetic and worthless, that Twerp is a hero."

Ash suddenly skids to a stop. He asks, "Do any of you hear that?" Everyone else stops to listen.

Todd cries, "Oh no, it's that musical noise again! The monster is here!"

Ash asserts, "We have to get out of here before it gets us too!"

Todd shouts, "There's no way we can outrun it!"

Meowth and James look to each other and nod, knowing what they have to do. Meowth says, "Listen here Twerp, James and I are going to stay here as decoys, let the monster get us. You go and help your friends."

Ash is stunned. "What?"

James asserts, "Go, there isn't much time! Just save Jessie too!"

Ash nods. "Thank you." He turns to Todd and nods. They run off.

James and Meowth face towards the direction of the noise. Meowth declares defiantly, "Prepare for trouble you evil creature!"

James shouts, "Make it double, it's time for the main feature!"

"To protect the world from disappearance!"

"To unite all against you in interference!"

"To denounce the evils of the unknown!"

"To extend our reach, despite what we've been shown!"

At this point, they begin to sound drowsy. "Meowth…!"

"James…!"

"Team Rocket blasts off…" Meowth falls to the floor.

"Surrender now or…" James also falls.


Ash and Todd continue to run. They stop for a moment to catch their breath. Ash says, "Alright, I can't hear it anymore. We're safe for now." He looks around and notices the same rock formation that Brock and Brenda found. He asks, "Hey, what's that?"

Todd looks up and answers, "We call it Stadium Rock. It's a rock formation that works as a natural stage for performances."

"We should check it out. It's in the direction that we heard Brenda from." They begin to move towards the rock, but then something can be heard. It's the same noise from before.

Todd panics. "Oh no! It's found us!" A drip of black sludge falls in front of them. Todd screams. "No! I can't be taken by the monster! No!"

Ash commands, "Todd, get behind me!" Todd takes no time listening. Ash points up in the tree branches where the sludge fell. "Pikachu, Thunderbolt right there!"

"Pikaaaaaa chuuuuuu!" Pikachu unleashes its attack.

The noise stops, and something falls from the trees. It's surprisingly small and somewhat round in shape, but mostly amorphous in form. It seems to be made out of the same black sludge. It begins to walk towards them. Todd screams again.

"Thunderbolt again Pikachu!" Pikachu tries again, but it doesn't seem to have any effect. Ash is not deterred. He pulls out a Pokéball. "If electricity isn't going to work, let's try water! Go Dashilisk! Use Scald!" Dashilisk appears and immediately begins its attack. The stream of water grazes the top left of the monster. A patch of pink skin in revealed. Ash's eyes go wide. "Dashilisk, Scald again, dead center!" Dashilisk attacks again. The black sludge is completely removed from body, revealing a pink, round Pokémon. Ash exclaims, "That's no monster, it's a Jigglypuff!"

The Jigglypuff appears pleased to have the sludge removed from its body. It celebrates by pulling out a microphone.

Ash and Pikachu appear even more surprised. Ash exclaims, "And that's not just any Jigglypuff!"

Jigglypuff sings, "Jiggg ga lyyy puff jiggg ga lyyy ee puff." Ash, Pikachu, Dashilisk, and Todd all fall asleep. Jigglypuff finishes its song realizing that they have fallen asleep. It puffs up angrily. It then pulls the head off of its microphone, revealing a marker. After holding it up to the sky, it begins to draw all over their faces.


It seems to be morning time now. Ash, Todd, Pikachu, and Dashilisk have been deposited among the collection of bodies at Stadium Rock. Brock, Brenda, Jessie, James, and Meowth are also there. It can now be seen that everyone here is asleep, and has there face covered with graffiti. Everyone begins to wake up at once. Ash stretches and says, "That was a great night's sleep." He suddenly remembers what happened before he went to sleep, and looks around frantically. He sees confused villagers waking up all over. He sees Brock and runs over to him. "Brock, it's not a monster!"

Brock, who has comedic eyes drawn over his, making them appear to be opened, nods. "Yeah, it's Jigglypuff, isn't it?"

Ash nods. "Yeah, how'd you figure it out?"

Brock beckons around them. "I found this and recognized the artist right away."

Brenda, also now awake, asks, "You've seen this before?"

Ash nods. "Yeah, back in Kanto this Jigglypuff started to follow us around. It really wanted to be a star, and sing for everyone. However, being a Jigglypuff, its singing puts people to sleep. In anger it would draw all over their faces."

Todd asks, "What was going on here then?"

Brock responds, "I don't know how it got here, but that wreckage we saw seemed to have been ejected from an airplane. Jigglypuff probably fell with the crates. One of the crates contained a shipment of tar that covered Jigglypuff when it broke."

Brenda then says, "Alright, just one last question. Why'd it bring us all here?"

As if to answer the question, Jigglypuff steps onto the rocks. After happily seeing all that are there, it begins to sing.

Brock, beginning to sound drowsy, answers, "Now it has a captive audience…" He falls asleep again, as does everyone else.

The Narrator laughs. So it looks like what everyone thought was a monster, actually turned out to be an old acquaintance. What an odd place the world can be. Jigglypuff continues to sing. The Narrator yawns heavily. He struggles with drowsiness to say, Stay tuned… He trails off and begins to snore.

Jigglypuff realizes that everyone has fallen to sleep. It puffs up and leaps at the screen with its marker.

To Be Continued…