The Lonely Gengar

"Hello Ash," Professor Oak greeted over the Rotom Phone the following morning.

"Hey Professor, what's up?" Ash questioned as Professor Oak rarely called without reason.

"I have a favor to ask, you don't even have to go out of your way to do so as it's right there in Vermillion City. You see a wild Gengar has taken up residence in my good friend Professor Cerise's lab, startling both his daughter and Yamper along with scaring off potential new trainers. We need you to go deal with it."

"A wild Gengar?!" Ash's eyes lit up. Ever since he was ten years old, he'd wanted a Haunter or Gengar but unfortunately the Haunter he befriended chose Sabrina over him so that never came to fruition. "I'll head right over there!"

"So this is the place?" Ash asked while looking at a large building with quite the fancy texture to it, it really stood out in comparison to the other Professor's labs as most were basic buildings with yards that allowed the stored Pokémon to roam freely while this one had a large glass dome that seemed to serve such a need instead. The dome likely served as a deterrent for thieves as this was a heavily populated city.

"According to the map app, yes." Zach pocketed his Rotom Phone before approaching the doorbell. "Let's head inside."

"Just a second!" An older voice could be heard from the other side, the door opened seconds later to reveal a man in his late thirties with sleep deprived eyes behind his glasses. The man uttered out a yawn. "I apologize... I didn't get much sleep as Gengar kept disturbing my assistants and daughter throughout the night."

"GAR!" A voice cried out across the lab causing several Pokémon to cry out in response as they began racing towards the door.

"Yamp!"

"Yamper!" Zach excitedly exclaimed upon spotting the corgi racing towards them. "I've always wanted one!"

"Scor!"

"Scorbunny?" Zach glanced at his shoulder, thinking she'd gotten out of her ball again only to get knocked off his feet as a male Scorbunny raced between his legs and shot out the door!

"Sob!"

"Grook!" The other two starters ran out after the Scorbunny, all of them seeming to be terrified of something.

"Ow!" Zach rubbed his head as Riolu helped him to his feet. "I must have hit my head pretty hard, I could swear that Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur looked just like Scorbunny, Sobble and Grookey."

"You didn't imagine it, that was Grookey, Scorbunny and Sobble." Cerise sighed out. "I still have plenty of Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charmander available for newcomers but I'm worried for those three. They can't fend for themselves."

"I'll go fetch them for you, not like I can do much against a Gengar anyways." Zach laughed while giving Ash a wave. "Good luck with it! Come on Riolu, let's go!"

"Rio!" The two closed the door behind them so none of the Kanto starters would run out.

"So what part of the lab has Gengar been frequenting?" Ash asked as Cerise guided them further into the lab.

"It's been roaming all over the place, nearly impossible to guess where it'll go next. However I've noticed it appears to go wherever people are, I've let my two assistants take the day off and sent them to the local spa while my wife took our son to the amusement park. My daughter's at school so it's just us and the Pokémon." Cerise led the pair to the domed enclosure where several Kanto starters could be seen.

Everything appeared to be peaceful for a moment until Gengar suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"Gengar!" Gengar cried out, gleefully grinning towards Ash and Professor Cerise before sticking his tongue out at them while uttering out gleeful laughter. "Gar gar!"

"Gengar!" Ash grabbed his Rotom Phone, scanning Gengar's level before thrusting out his arm.

"Alright Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

"Pika...chuuu!" Pikachu's cheeks sparked before firing out a powerful load of electricity that fired across the lab, giving Gengar a good electrical shock!

"G-Gengar!" Gengar frantically cried out, tears flowing from his eyes as the electricity flowed through him. Ash noticed the tears and immediately realized his mistake, the Haunter and Gengar he knew had caused pranks and laughed at terrified trainers but all they really wanted was a friend. It was likely that this was a similar case and all Gengar wanted was a friend. "Gengar!" Gengar immediately flew off crying after the attack ended.

"Gengar wait, come back!" Ash immediately raced from the lab, filled with guilt over hurting Gengar's feelings.

"Grook, Grookey!" The Grookey taunted Zach by repeatedly leaping out of reach whenever he'd try grabbing him. "Grookey, Grook!" The Grookey stuck out his tongue while slapping it's rear as Zach and Riolu began getting agitated.

"That does it, Metapod!" Zach swiftly called out Metapod before picking the cocoon up, holding him towards Grookey as if he were a weapon. "String Shot!" He shouted out.

"Pod." The silky string quickly wrapped around Grookey, ensnaring him.

"Grook!" Grookey frowned as Zach carried him back to Cerise's lab where the male Scorbunny was already waiting on the other side of the door, Zach having found him before the other two.

"That leaves Sobble... who could be pretty much anywhere." Zach sighed out. "Well let's get started." The two raced back towards the city as the sky began to turn to dusk.

Not far off from where Zach and Riolu were heading, Cerise's daughter could be seen leaving school. She appeared to be the same age range as Ash and Zach but was visibly lacking a Pokémon partner. Unlike her father she never had any desire for a career that involved Pokémon, so she continued taking normal classes for a regular career. Though she'd never given it much thought she'd figured it'd come to her eventually.

"Evoi!" The girl turned upon hearing a cry, noticing a weakened Eevee that stared up at her with a hungry expression.

"Hello there," Chloe cast a quick look around but nobody was in sight, she reached into her bag and withdrew a rice cake which she held out to the Eevee. "Here you go."

"Evoi!" Eevee hungrily ate up the cake before giving her hand an affectionate nuzzle.

"You're welcome," Chloe giggled, glancing around once more before picking Eevee up. "Come on, I'll take you back to my dad's. He'll know what to do with you."

"Evoi!" Eevee affectionately cried out, nuzzling her as they walked before suddenly going quiet as a gust of wind picked up.

"Mandi!" A vulture Pokémon cried out as it swooped down upon her.

"Ah!" Chloe quickly ducked, the Mandibuzz's talons just narrowly missing her.

"Mandi!" The Mandibuzz swiftly turned around for a second go.

"What the heck is that thing?!" Chloe cried out while picking up speed, hoping to outrun it as fighting definitely wasn't an option.

"Dar!" A Darmanitan slammed into the ground in front of her, giving her an intimidating look as two figures walked out.

"Give up that there Eevee and you won't get hurt, girly." The elder of the two brothers spoke with a thick southern Unova accent.

"That's right, we got nothin' against you. That Eevee is who we're after." The younger pointed at the Eevee.

"T-Team Rocket!" Chloe shivered upon noticing the insignia on their uniforms, no doubt whatever they had in mind for the Eevee wasn't in the species best interest.

"That's right, I'm Cleetus and that's Ler-"

"Why did you go and say our names?! She can report us and get this added onto our record!" Leroy slapped the back of his brother's head.

"Oops, sorry Leroy!" Cleetus rubbed the back of his head.

"Whatever, we'll scare her into not blabbing. Darmanitan use Hammer Arm!" Darmanitan's fist glowed bright white as he raised it up, preparing to bring it crashing down upon Chloe's head. Chloe flinched and closed her eyes while trying to shield Eevee who was shivering, she felt as if something was shivering on her back but that was just Eevee's tail.

"Aura Sphere!" Chloe opened her eyes and saw the jackal pup firing out a sphere of aura that knocked Darmanitan away right before it could make impact.

"You okay?" Chloe turned and blushed lightly upon noticing a trainer her age extending a hand to her, she eagerly took hold of it and nodded her head.

"Y-Yeah, I'm okay." She softly spoke. "He's so brave."

"Good, I'll handle these two." Chloe watched as the trainer didn't appear to be the least bit concerned that Darmanitan was at a higher skill level than he was.

"Mandi!" Mandibuzz swooped down and landed beside Darmanitan as the two Rocket members flashed a cocky smirk.

"Scorbunny use Ember!" Zach directed towards Mandibuzz. "Riolu use Aura Sphere!"

"Rioooo!" Riolu clamped his paws together as aura began to form between them. "Riooo!" Rio cried out as he fired the blast towards Darmanitan while Scorbunny fired a flurry of flames at Mandibuzz.

The two sinister Pokémon grunted out before shaking off the attack.

"Hammer Arm!"

"Gust!" Darmanitan brought his fist down upon Riolu while Mandibuzz swept Scorbunny off her feet with Gust.

"Riooo!"

"Scor!" The two Pokémon cried out as the attacks knocked them back.

"Riolu use Force Palm, Scorbunny use Double Kick but this time focus on Darmanitan!" Riolu thrusted out his palms, slamming them against Darmanitan while Scorbunny repeatedly kicked him. Darmanitan grunted out before retaliating with a swift punch while Mandibuzz pecked at Scorbunny.

"Scor!" Scorbunny instantly dropped to the floor, her eyes reduced to swirls.

"Huh?" Zach looked towards Scorbunny before returning her to her ball. "I'm sorry Scorbunny, I thought you were healthy enough for at least two more attacks. Good job."

Riolu leered at the two Pokémon while getting into a combat stance.

"Okay Riolu, it's all up to you." He wasn't risking Metapod getting hurt since this wasn't an official battle. "Use Aura Sphere!"

Riolu fired off another sphere of aura, knocking Darmanitan back but it still wasn't enough to finish the job.

Leroy and Cleetus laughed out. "Hammer Arm!"

"Sky Attack!"

The two Pokémon charged at Riolu, Mandibuzz crashing her body against him while Darmanitan slammed his fists down against his head. Riolu dropped to his knees, uttering out a pained growl. Zach grabbed hold of Chloe's hand once more. "I think we're going to have to just run for it, Riolu let's-"

"Rio!" Riolu sprang back to his feet and growled out as he locked eyes with the two Pokémon. He motioned towards the two while casting a look towards his trainer.

"A-Alright Riolu, I trust your judgement. Use Aura Sphere!" Riolu clamped his paws together, uttering out a loud cry as the aura sphere formed between them. This attack was much larger than the previous attacks however as Riolu fully utilized the bond he shared with his trainer.

"Woah!" Chloe gasped out, her eyes widened as the powerful aura attack swept across the field before exploding against Mandibuzz and Darmanitan. The two Pokémon were sent crashing into their trainers, sending them all falling down the nearby hillside and out of view as they went flying down into Vermillion Park.

"R-Rio..." Riolu breathed out, smiling out at his trainer who looked down at him with pride.

"Good work Riolu," Zach praised.

"Rio!"

"T-Thanks for saving me." Chloe shivered while offering a warm smile. "The name's Chloe, Chloe Cerise!"

"Cerise?" Zach tilted his head. "You must be related to the Professor then!"

Chloe flinched, disliking it whenever people brought that up. "Y-Yeah, I am."

"I see, I'm Zach by the way." He held his hand out to Chloe. "We should probably get out of here before they come back for your Eevee."

"It's not mine, I'm not even a trainer!" Chloe exclaimed.

"Eevoi!" Zach noticed Eevee snuggle closer to Chloe and smirked.

"If you say so, well they definitely appear to want it so I'm taking you back to the lab where it's safe." Zach cast a quick look around. "You didn't happen to see a Sobble around? I offered to find him for your father but I can't find him anywhere."

"No I can't say I-"

"Sob." Sobble climbed onto Chloe's shoulder and gave Zach a light wave while offering an appreciative smile, apparently Sobble had found Chloe shortly before Team Rocket did and kept himself hidden.

"Well I'm glad we've got that settled, let's head back to the lab then." Chloe nodded and stayed close to Zach, casting nervous glances behind her as they headed for Professor Cerise's lab.

"Gengar?!"

"Pikapi?!" Ash and Pikachu called out as they walked around the city, wandering where Gengar had gotten off to. Hours had passed since Gengar fled but there was no sign of the Ghost Pokémon. Ash's stomach rumbled out and he was about to call the search off to get some food when he couldn't help but overhear a conversation.

"Babe!" A trainer raced out to a girl with a boastful expression. "I've grown way stronger since you broke up with me, I even ditched that worthless Gengar!" The trainer held up his Rotom Phone. "I've beaten three World Champion trainers so far and pretty effortlessly too! So will you take me back?! Pretty please?!" The trainer begged while displaying quite the pathetic look.

The girl gave him a look of disgust and waved him off. "Get away from me loser, I dumped you because of how you treated your Pokémon."

"What?! But babe-" Ash clenched his fists, realizing that Gengar was abandoned by that trainer. He was tempted to teach him a lesson by challenging him to a fight but that temptation faded when he caught sight of Gengar's reflection in a nearby window.

"Gengar...?" Ash turned around.

"Gar..." Tears flowed from Gengar's eyes as he realized his trainer had broken his word, he'd had no intention of coming back to him. "Gengar..."

"Gengar," Ash slowly approached Gengar while extending his hand to the Ghost type. "I'm sorry about earlier, we thought you were terrorizing the lab. We didn't realize that you were lonely and seeking out a friend. We'd love to be your friends if you're willing to give us a second chance?"

Gengar stared at Ash's hand for a moment before wiping the tears away as he gave off a light nod.

"Okay then!" Ash grinned while reaching for an empty ball. "Welcome to the team, Gengar!"

"Gengar, Gengar!" The Ghost excitedly cried before gasping out as a vacuum sucked him up, transporting him into a box that was attached to the end of the hose.

"Hahaha,"

"Not you three again," Ash groaned as Jessie, James and Meowth could be seen on the street.

"Prepare for Trouble!"

"And make it double!"

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all people within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"And James!"

"Team Rocket, blasting off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth, that's right!"

"Wobbuffet!" The blue blob burst out to pose alongside his trainer.

"Give Gengar back!" Ash shouted out.

"Only if you trade us Pikachu." Meowth taunted.

"Never going to happen!"

"Well then it looks like you're in for a fight, go Seviper!" Jessie cried out as she threw forward a ball.

"You too, Inkay!"

"Inkay!" The squid cried out as it burst out alongside the snake Pokémon.

"Poison Fang!"

"Psybeam!" The two Pokémon fired off their respective attacks, Seviper lunging at Pikachu to bite down on him while Inkay fired off a beam of colorful energy. Pikachu uttered out a faint grunt as he was pushed back before shaking himself off as he looked towards the trio with a sly smirk.

"Use Thunderbolt!"

"Pikachuuuuu!" Pikachu's cheeks sparked as he sent a load of electricity flying towards Seviper and Inkay, giving them an electrical shock which flowed towards the vacuum device causing it to explode and free Gengar!

"Gengar!" Gengar cheerfully cried out. His eyes lit purple as a purple outline formed around Team Rocket and their Pokémon. Gengar then hoisted up his fingers as he sent them flying off into the sky.

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" The trio cried out in unison.

"Wobbuffet!" They disappeared over the horizon, indicating it'd be some time before they return.

Gengar landed down in front of Ash and offered him an appreciative smile before holding out his hand. "Gengar."

"That was quite the powerful Psychic attack, Gengar." Ash praised. "I take it you enjoy battling?"

Gengar nodded in response.

"Well Pikachu and I are working towards becoming Pokémon World Champions and we'd be honored if you'd join us." Gengar swiftly nodded, reaching out to tap one of Ash's Pokeballs which was quick to absorb him into it. The ball shook upon Ash's belt before chiming out to signal the capture.

"Gengar the Shadow Pokémon, hiding in people's shadows at night, it absorbs their heat. The chill it causes makes the victims shake."

"Welcome to the team, Gengar. We look forward to battling alongside you!"

"Pikachu!"

"Hm," Professor Cerise scratched the bottom of his chin while looking over his computer monitors. "It appears that something happened to this Eevee, an experiment perhaps or something else entirely. I'm not sure." Cerise withdrew a Water Stone and held out towards Eevee.

Eevee uttered out an enthusiastic cry, giving the stone a tap but nothing happened.

"Whoa!" Zach exclaimed.

"It didn't evolve?! That doesn't make sense." Ash gazed at the unaffected Eevee with confusion.

"If it was natural perhaps, but based on her shy behavior I'm assuming that she was put under an experiment of some sort." Cerise theorized as Eevee drew back upon him trying to pet her. "She approached Chloe because she was hungry and doesn't show fear towards Zach as he protected her and Chloe, but she fears the two of us."

"So what were they trying to do?" Zach questioned. "I mean if you don't want to evolve Eevee, you can just use an Everstone. They're pretty cheap, no need to go the extra mile to experiment on it."

"Exactly," Cerise nodded while looking Eevee over. "Unfortunately, I don't know what their goal was and I have no way of doing further testing on Eevee without risking her harm. I think it best she gets raised by a proper trainer who'll look after her."

Chloe held Eevee towards Zach who swiftly shook his head while motioning towards Eevee who was reaching out for Chloe. "She chose you."

"Y-You chose me? But I'm not even a trainer!" Chloe exclaimed with visible shock.

"It's never too late to change or figure out a goal in life." Chloe thought for a moment, envisioning a boring life as a nurse or clerk before picturing a life where she left on an adventure and traveled the world with her new partner.

Chloe cast a look towards Zach. "Is there more to being a Pokémon trainer than challenging Gyms?"

"Yeah, you could be a Coordinator."

"Or a Breeder or Connoisseur." Ash added.

"The heck is a Pokémon Connoisseur?" Zach asked before shrugging, figuring he'd find out later.

"M-Maybe I could be a Coordinator, what do you think?" Chloe looked down at Eevee who was looking up at her with complete adoration.

"Eevoi!" She swiftly nodded in response while Cerise held a ball to Chloe.

"Go on, she's yours now." Chloe took the ball and gently tapped it against Eevee's head. The ball opened up, absorbing Eevee in a bright red beam of light before instantly chiming out to indicate the capture complete.

"A-Alright, I look forward to adventuring with you Eevee!" Chloe smiled down at the ball.

"You think she can travel with us? I'm worried those two will come after her again." Zach spoke while displaying genuine concern.

"Go ahead and ask her," Ash gave a nod of approval, figuring it better to come from Zach as he was closer to Chloe.

"Chloe, would you like to join us on our adventure? We're traveling the world for the World Championship, but we'll be visiting Galar fairly often so I can take on the Gym Challenge. You could take on Contests there, or anywhere honestly." Zach shrugged while extending a hand to her.

Chloe smiled at him before taking hold of his hand. "Of course, I'd love to travel with you!"

"Sweet, well make sure you get plenty of sleep! We're catching the Magnet Train early tomorrow so we can pay Pallet Town a visit." The train didn't stop at Pallet Town but Viridian City was close enough. "Let's go Riolu, we need to get some rest too."

"Rio!"

"Sob!" Sobble leaped across the lab, landing directly in front of Zach. The water lizard began shivering from anxiety while nervously pointing towards his belt. "S-Sobble..."

"Wait-You want to come with us?!" Zach shot Cerise a quick look to make sure that it was okay.

"You saved Chloe, it's the least I can do." Cerise laughed while giving a nod of approval as he tossed Sobble's ball to him.

Zach flashed Sobble a smile as he returned the lizard to his ball. "Welcome to the team, Sobble. I promise to take good care of you!"

"You lost her?!" Petrel slammed his fists against the desk as Leroy and Cleetus cowered.

"It wasn't our fault!"

"Yeah it was-"

"Silence." Petrel hissed. "You're just lucky that we have another experiment here or you'd really get it!" Petrel pulled the blanket off the desk, revealing a caged Eevee that quickly changed before a Jolteon, Vaporeon and Flareon before reverting back to Eevee. "Now get lost, I don't have the power to banish you from Team Rocket but I sure can banish you from my operation. Now get!"

"Sonia?" Cerise picked up the phone later that night, revealing the image of an attractive orange haired woman with teal green eyes. Various heart shaped hair clips could be seen within her hair.

"Professor Cerise, this is an emergency. My gran accidentally sent you the wrong Sobble to give away, he's far too anxious around trainers so he's been a resident here for quite some time as it stops him from being able to bond with new trainers. I've got a different Sobble right here that I'll send you in exchange for that one-"

"No need, Sonia! Sobble actually found a home just a few minutes ago!" Cerise enthusiastically spoke.

"Oh?" Sonia was intrigued. "If you don't mind, who was this trainer?"

Marnie is still joining up, it'll be when they return to Galar