Greetings, everyone. Mgunnels3 here, and welcome back to A Promise Kept Ash's Johto Journey. Before we begin, I will say that Ash's Pokemon from Hoenn will still be on his team in the sequel. As for the requests captures, I looked at them, and I will say that Aron and Tranpinch is a good choices. Sadly, Serviper will still be Jessie's Pokemon and "rival" to Ash's Zangoose though I do have plans for that when that comes out. With that said, let's get this Chapter going, shall we?
Chapter 27: Phasmophobia
"Human Speech"
"Pokemon Speech"
We join our heroes as they arrive in a town with many psychic types either as partners or guarding the town, as Slowbro was very curious about this.
"Wow, this is weird given that we saw a few Alakazam outside of town watching us coming in. Are we sure that this is Len town, Brock?" Ash asked Brock as he looked at the guidebook, only to be interrupted by someone.
"This is indeed Len town, young man, and don't worry. They are here to protect the town," A young man with purple hair said, who looked like a magician of sorts with his glasses and a Greenish bird beside him, which Ash scanned, and it was a Psychic/Flying-type name Xatu.
"Hey, I know you. Your Will from the Elite Four," Casey said out loud. The group was surprised by this as they met one of the new members of the joint Elite Four that Kanto and Johto had.
"Ah, you have heard of me, young miss," Will bowed to the group. "As your friend here has stated, yes, my name is Will, this is my partner Xatu, and Len town is my hometown we are here visiting," Will said to the group.
"Nice to meet you all as well. I don't foresee any trouble coming from you four, so it's a pleasure," Xatu said to the group before turning to Slowbro, who was amazed by meeting another Psychic-type. "Relax, you can talk to me like a normal Pokemon. I don't like the popularity minus my trainer's new status," Xatu said as Slowbro nodded.
"I see you, too, have a Psychic-type in the form of a Slowbro. I'd taken that he belongs to one of you?" Will said to the group, which pointed to Ash.
"Yeah, he's mine. He joined our team back when the drought in Azalea town ended. His Psychic capabilities are stronger than you think," Ash answered his question as Will nodded to this. Will showed the group around town as they noticed many psychic types ranging from the Abra line to Xatu and its evolution line.
"You mentioned that they're protecting the town? Protecting the town from what, I might ask?" Misty asked Will, who understood that the group was interested in this. But before he could speak, someone called out for his name.
"Big brother, your back?" A young female with blue hair in pigtails ran over to the group, and a Giraffe looking Pokemon with what looked to be two heads next to her.
"Ah, Cherry, it's good to see you again. Yes, I'm back for a few days," Will said to his little sister as Brock tried to do his usual thing, only to be almost bitten by the said Pokemon.
"Do that again, and I won't hesitate to do that for real," the young fawn Pokemon said as Brock needed to take the hint about girls with Pokemon next to them.
"Sorry about that. Girafarig here is very protective of me, and she isn't the type to trust others other than my family and me," Cherry said to the group, who nodded in understanding as Ash looked up Girafarig and found out that it was a Psychic/Normal type.
"Cherry here is trying not only to want to participate in the league, but her main goal is to study Psychic types and learn it from Saffron City given that there is a gym that helps teach students now about them," Will explained to the group.
"The only problem is getting in sync with Girafarig here and nervousness as well," Cherry said to the group. "That and Girafarig here is only a year old. She has barely gotten used to using psychic moves," Cherry said.
"That is understandable, given that many Psychic types at a young age don't learn it until at least a year or so," Slowbro said telepathically, catching Will and Cherry off guard.
"Yeah. Remember what I said about Slowbro having strong psychic capabilities? You are seeing the extent of it then again. He is the descendant of the one who saved Azalea town from drought. You can see why," Ash explained to Will and Cherry, who now understood this.
You can tell Cherry that while I may not be as strong at using Psychic-type moves, I am willing to be there for her to fulfill her dreams, and it's not in sync with me that is the trouble. It's just that I do not have much battle experience but would love to train with her if she keeps focusing and does not jump to conclusions," Girafarig said to Slowbro, not knowing that he was translating her own words as if she was speaking human speech.
"Is that really why we are having trouble because I am not letting you give it your all?" Cherry said as Girafarig realized that she had heard the entire thing and nodded.
"Just put your faith in me, Cherry. We'll work together, that is for sure," Girafarig said to Cherry, who nodded, still wondering how that was possible.
"My Psychic capabilities have grown stronger the longer I've been out of my ball. This should still help you for now, and maybe when I am not with you when we leave?" Slowbro said to Cherry and Girafarig, who were surprised but nodded.
The group noticed that one Girafarig watching the group acted very strange and looked more hiding behind things.
"Her again, I don't know what it is, but that Girafarig is wild. She seems to be hiding here in the village and not traveling or taking part in guard duty for the town," Cherry said to the group.
"No, please, anything but that. I don't like being outside the town where it's safe from the scary ghost-types," the young Girafarig fawn said, hiding behind the building as Ash walked over to the young Girafarig, who was even more scared.
"Hey, hey, it's okay. I won't hurt you. Tell me, what is going on? How you were talking, it sounds like you are more scared of ghost Pokemon than leaving the town itself?" Ash said as Cherry, now showing that she stuck her foot in her mouth by saying that earlier.
"You, you can understand me. I thought it was just that Slowbro who was," Girafarig said as Ash petted the young fawn who nayed at this, liking the feel of his hand on her mane.
"Yes, my friends and I can understand you, but why don't you tell me what is going on," Ash said nicely to the young fawn of a Girafarig, who was calmed down enough to talk and looked up to Ash and nodded at this.
"The truth is I've been afraid of ghost-type Pokemon ever since I was born," Girafarig explained to Ash as Slowbro used his Psychic capabilities for the young fawn similar to Cherry's Girafarig. "I was a happy and proud Pokemon, but one night, while I was playing around and exploring, I. I, "Girafarig, shiver upon trying to remember what happened.
"Hey, take it slow and speak when you feel ready?" Misty said calmly, more concerned about her who recovered from all this.
"I believe the ghost Pokemon Gengar was being mean and trying to harm me. I don't know why. All I know is that many ghost Pokemon in the area have issues with Psychic types, and after hearing about what this town is known, I felt safe. Just mentioning ghost Pokemon makes my fur stand out," Girafarig fawn said. "I am trying to face my fears of taking on ghost Pokemon, but I am not strong enough. I fear that if I try to meet one or face one that, they will be mean, I may be a normal part type, but that doesn't mean that something will happen differently," Girafarig fawn said she was more in tears and shivers at this which Ash held his hand out to the young fawn wiping a tear from her eyes.
"I know said Gengar she is talking about, but he's not one of the Ghosts Pokemon causing trouble. He's the reason, until the past few days, the Ghost Pokemon were no longer attacking the town," Cherry said, which perked her ears upon hearing this. "All I know is that he is making sure that no more attacks would happen because all we know is that these attacks are meaningless and end up with no reason. Gengar made sure that those won't happen again; however, as of late, there's been one attack on the town yesterday," Cherry said, only to be interrupted by sirens of another attack.
"Again, what is going on?" Cherry said as they noticed an explosion outside of town. "What was that? That didn't happen last time the ghost Pokemon attacked," Cherry said, as many Psychic types scrambled to protect the town Girafarig was now scared and hiding behind Ash, who petted her neck mane.
"We should go and see what changed. I mean, Gengar shouldn't turn his back on the town after keeping his promise not to attack the town again?" Ash suggested to the group, who was thinking the same thing, and headed off to the explosion.
When they arrived, they noticed that many of the Ghosts Pokemon were acting strange more than usual and were not showing signs of being reasoned with. Haunter, a Misdrevous, and Gengar Cherry mentioned before. However, Ash noticed that they were under hypnosis.
"Ugh, why here and why these ghost Pokemon?" Ash said to himself as Slowbro and Will noticed something was wrong with Ash, given by Ash's expression.
"Ash, snap out of it. We can deal with whatever it is later," Will said to Ash, who nodded. This was what Professor Oak was telling him. He shouldn't let stuff like this get to him, as the Ghost Pokemon disappeared only to start attacking the group.
"Man, this is a problem. They are using their illusion capabilities to hide," Brock said as Shadow Balls and Nightshade attacks were launched at the group Xatu jumped in front of the group and used Psychic to fizzle the moves out. The previous Girafarig was still hiding behind the group, now scared but knew she could help the group. Ash noticed this as Girafarig's eyes glowed and sent out what looked like a beam that wasn't a Psybeam that spotted the group of Ghost Pokemon revealing them.
"That's Foresight. It's a move that allows not only to reveal ghost Pokemon from their hiding place but allows Normal-type moves to hit them," Will said as Girafarig was panting from using it.
"Pikachu used Quick Attack, and then Thunder tried to snap them out of it," Ash commanded Pikachu, who charged at one of the Ghost types.
"Girafarig uses takedown as well to help Pikachu out," Cherry commanded her Pokemon as the two Pokemon launched their attacks that managed to do the trick.
Gengar managed to get up only to notice that two Pokeballs were sent towards the other two ghost Pokemon and caught them. As a burst of laughter came from the trees nearby, it was Noctowl.
"So much for that plan, I was trying to break the peace of this town so I can swoop in and capture the wild Psychic types, but it seems like you twerps just had to ruin things again," Noctowl said as two Pokeballs were floated to him.
"Pikachu use Thunderbolt try to help snap him out of it," Ash commanded Pikachu, who said moved towards Noctowl, which hit him but didn't snap him out of it but did destroy the Pokeballs that Haunter and Misdrevous were in, releasing them.
"Well, well, and here I was thinking that you wouldn't attack me given what you were mentioning, human, but you won't beat me that easily," Noctowl said and used what looked like a Psychic attack, but it wasn't the case as it sent Ash and Pikachu up and tossed them to the tree's hard. Ash was struggling to get up.
"As I said before, human, my psychic capabilities have been modified and moved past most psychic type carries you are familiar with," Noctowl turned, knowing that Ash had won today. "This isn't over humans. You may have won today, but this isn't the last you will see of me," Noctowl flew off empty-handed.
"Ash, you okay?" Casey asked Ash, who was hurt by all of this. He managed to save the Pokemon but now see's what Team Rocket did to him and nods at Casey's question. "What is going on with that Noctowl? It sounded like you know him, Ash?" Casey asked Ash and the others as Ash sighed.
Ash explained everything he knew about Noctowl and what happened to him, well, what he knows, including that this isn't the first time they have run into him.
"Ash, this isn't your fault, and it seems like his own hypnosis might be what is causing him to act like this if he didn't snap out of it from a Thunderbolt, and that Extrasensory isn't a known move here in Johto," Will said to Ash who wasn't aware of the move that Will said. "All I know of is that attack from a fellow Elite Four member in another region called Sinnoh, but right now, we should check on the two Pokemon."
Ash and the others went to where the two Pokemon were out cold. Gengar was worried about them, as did Girafarig, as Gengar recognized the little fawn but was more concerned about the other Pokemon before talking to Girafarig. Soon after, the two Pokemon woke up wondering what had happened, noticed the humans apologized, and ran off scared.
"I'll have to explain everything," Gengar said. Not like he wasn't going to speak anyway about what happened. "Look, this wasn't supposed to happen. We were going to try and cope with the humans, and those two were ready to do so, but suddenly we noticed the Noctowl, and everything else after that was a blur," Gengar explained before crossing his arms. "All I know is that many of the ghost Pokemon in the area have gone missing, and we were in the middle of it."
"Noctowl's hypnosis is stronger than before, and now enough to cause this? What is Team Rocket after?" Ash said to Gengar.
"I remember one thing that Noctowl mentioned is that we will be rewarded by getting stronger if we do this. It's as if whatever they did to him is what we would receive," Gengar said, not sure what Noctowl meant by that.
"Right now, Team Rocket won't pull this stunt again, as shown with the Miltank farm in Goldenrod. So I think the town is safe now," Misty said as Cherry and Will sighed at this Ash noticed that Gengar floated over to Girafarig not to be menacing.
"Hey, don't worry about me. I remember you, and I wasn't going to harm you back then?" Gengar said to Girafarig, who strolled towards Gengar. "Like you and that other Girafarig, I'm just a kid and just wanted to have fun? I know you are scared of me, but I'm sure you can resolve something."
"But you attacked me? I was frightened by that situation," Girafarig whined as Gengar sighed.
"Look, I will admit that I went a bit too far. I may like pranks, but I would never harm someone as young as me. That is why I wanted to end all these issues with the Ghost types and the town and try to make peace with you," Gengar said.
"I think I can trust you? I'm still afraid of ghost Pokemon, but this is a start," Girafarig said, nuzzling Gengar, who smiled at this.
The day was coming to a close. Gengar was made a member of the town even after all that. Ash and the others were ready to head off. Cherry looked like she was prepared to head off.
"So Cherry, are you doing what I think you are doing?" Misty said as Cherry nodded at this.
"I thought it through after all that. I will head to Saffron City to take classes to be a Psychic-type master, and one day I will be taking on the league, but right now, one step at a time," Cherry said as Girafarig nayed at this.
"I think that is a good idea though sadly, Sabrina is out of town at the moment. Probably by the time you get enrolled and all that, she'll return," Will said as Cherry nodded at this and hugged her brother before taking off.
Ash and the others were about to leave, but the Girafarig from before trotted over to Ash. "Hey, girl? What is wrong with not wanting to say goodbye?" Ash asked the young fawn, who nodded at this and looked like she would ask him something. Given how things have been with his last few captures, Ash knew where this was going. "You want to join my team, don't you?" Ash said.
"Yes, I do. I want to get stronger and overcome this fear of mine, and to do that is to get stronger with you, Ash?" Girafarig said to Ash, who nodded at this.
"This isn't a bad idea, Ash, and given that the next gym you are about to take part in just so happens to be a Ghost-type gym, I think she could be of use to you," Will said to Ash, who was surprised by hearing that but nodded at this as did Girafarig who still have that shiver upon hearing that word.
Ash pulled out a Pokeball, tapped Girafarig, and caught her without hassle, as she wasn't sent back to the ranch, given that Ash had one more slot left open then.
"I'm hoping to see you someday at the league, Ash, maybe as a challenger of the Elite Four. Until then, I wish you all a farewell," Will said as the group left Len town and headed to the city with the supposed grass-type tournament.
With Len's town now safe again, a new trainer going to meet her goal, and a new teammate, the Journey to be a Pokemon master has just begun as the Journey continues.
Stay tuned.
Done and done, man. This was fun to write. I changed a few things about the episode like Will being introduced and Cherry's goal being taken care of. As for Girafarig, that was a capture requested by DarkVaporeon 23, it was tough to write about that phobia, but I managed to get it done. Speaking of requests, regarding the two mentioned at the beginning, Aron and Tranpinch, I would like the requester to either mention in the review what you want personality-wise and why they want to join Ash and gender-wise. I have something planned for Tranpinch, but I would love to hear what you have planned or want them to have either pm me or write in the review. Remember, I love talking with my readers, and guest readers are hard to do so. That said, the grass tournament is next. Catch you all next time.