Hello everybody! Sorry I have not been updating, I have just been doing a lot of things. I do intend to get back in gear, because after this little (filler) thing here (which I am dividing into two chapters) I have something special in mind! Yaaaaaaaaay! Because of this, I will make the chapter short, but not horribly short. (Lol thats what I tried to do) I should probably get started now. Here we go!

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(Pachirisu's POV)

"Life is so unfair..." I sat on top of Crystal's head, wondering why on earth today had to be so flipping hot. Ash won his gym badge at Casellia City, so we are on our way to the next town over. "It really is..." Axew said in agreement. "Our trainers also seem to agree..." Pikachu pointed out from Ash's shoulder. "Where's a good rainstorm to cool things off when you need one?" Ash pointed out. This caused me to get slightly annoyed. Why do I suddenly feel like the sky is about to open up? I thought, when suddenly Iris stopped walking. "A south wind... and the scent of water... we are getting rain for sure." She stated. So it is not just my randomness? "You really think so?" Crystal stated. "So where are the clouds? If it rains a drop, I'll walk on my hands!" Ash stated. "Why do I get the feeling you would be stupid enough to do that?" Crystal replied. I giggled at the thought of Ash standing on his hands. It seemed so funny, I hardly noticed the thunder when it came. "I called it! I knew it would start!" I said confidently. "See? Told you." Iris said with me. That was when the storm got really bad. Everybody started running like crazy. "We have to get out of this!" Cilan said. "YEE-HAW!" I said, happy. "Seriously?" Pikachu asked. "Yup!" Crystal was a bit less happy. "Ash Ketchum, you could have wished for a lake or something!" "Geez, I'm sorry! Give me a break!" An argument was just about to break out, right when Iris mentioned something. "Look, what's that?" "A house! Lets head over there!" Cilan said almost instantly. Not MY first choice, but definitely shelter from the storm.

(Crystal's POV)

Once we made it, it seemed more like a mansion than anything. It seemed very fancy, but more eerie than anything. Of course that does not stop Ash from trying to get in. "Hello?" He said, knocking on the door. "Anyone in there?" Cilan and Iris were also desperate, but I had some doubts. "Hello? Anyone home?" "May we come in please?" I finally decided I should help, and tried not to sound like a scared little girl. "Excuse me? Is anybody there?" Cilan noticed, however, and put his hand on my shoulder to help me relax a little bit. I could not help but smile. It was just so sweet! Ash knocked on the door once more and it opened slowly, with nobody there. Okay, creeped out once again. It seemed pretty fancy, with red carpets and lots of decorations, but no real shelter from the lightning that flashed outside. I slowly started having flashbacks of the Yamask in Nacarene Museum, and shuddered. Pachirisu put a paw to my neck and smiled at me, saying that it is going to be okay. I smiled back, hoping I can actually believe that.

Everybody walked into the room, hoping for someone to make it to the room. "Hello? Anyone there?" Ash asked again. "We need shelter until it stops raining!" Cilan helped out. "If you wouldn't mind..." Iris said. "Please? Anyone?" I asked, hoping that somebody would come in and save me from my fear. "I guess there is nobody home. Sorry Crystal." Cilan said, making my final hope of safety sink like a rock. "It's fine, I guess..."

(Meowth's POV)

"There's the twerp. I didn't expect him to be here." Jess stated. "Nor did I." James agreed. "And of course, it is after finding an out of the way spot for our super secret hideout." That small piece of info really sank into me deep. So. Not. Good. "Perfect. And we just got communications up and running." I said, with a hint of sarcasm in my voice. "I'm afraid this turn of events could ruin the whole thing." Jessie said, frowning nervously. We all sighed. I tried to sound annoyed, but deep down I knew that I was really tired. Whatever. I have no time to rest right now. That was when Jessie came up with a plan. "How about we catch Pikachu first and then chase the twerps out of the mansion!" "Sounds perfect!" I agreed. "But we can't leave out that Pachirisu either." "Of course, we could leave the assignment up to the Litwick." James said. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that when we came, we found 4 candle Pokemon called Litwick that do exactly as Yamask said. It is just perfect! As James gave orders to Yamask, I could not help but feel another tiny wave of sleepiness come over me. I was fine before I reached the mansion. Why is this happening now? I tried to ignore it and act perfectly normal as I watched the Litwick set out to do their job.

(Crystal's POV)

"This place looks deserted!" We had all set out to look for anybody who lived in the mansion, but no luck. "You're right, but we have to stay until the rain stops. We can explain things later." I could not help but flinch at this. "Are you sure we should not find another place to take shelter?" I asked. Suddenly, the doors closed, preventing that from becoming an option. "Never mind...?" I said, shivering slightly. Suddenly, I felt a pair of hands grab mine and I gasped slightly. "Don't worry, it will be okay." Cilan said. I blushed a light shade of pink, but smiled at this. Yeah, it was probably a blast of wind or something like that. Nothing weird at all. I just hoped that was right.

"Man, what a downpour!" Ash said. We had all sat down and listened to the pouring rain. "See? I told you this would happen!" Iris stated, besting herself before Ash. "With your natural senses I'm not surprised." Cilan said. "Axew xew!" Axew said putting his hands on his hips. "I am glad to have you with us, Iris. Sure, I didn't believe you at first, but I won't make that mistake again!" I said, petting Pachirisu. "I guess we were wrong, weren't we Pikachu?" Ash said. Why do I know where this is going? "So I'm keeping my promise!" Ash said. "Pikachu!" and with that, the duo picked themselves up and did a handstand. "You don't have to do that, really." Iris said with a 'You have to be kidding me' look on her face. "Wow, what a kid!" "Hey, Pachirisu looked like she called it!" I told her. When suddenly, all the windows opened, causing Ash to fall on the floor. "Lesson learned yet?" I asked him. "Hey, shut up!" "The wind's really picked up!" Cilan said, going back to the window issue. I got up to close the window again. "There. Much better!" I said. Until the windows opened again. "Okay what the hey?" Ash asked. Suddenly, a small table with a vase on it began to shake, and start moving. Fortunately nobody was harmed, but Pachirisu had to shove Cilan out of the way in order for it to not make contact with him. "Thanks for the help." He said. Pachirisu gave a sigh of relief, and a 'No Problem!' squeak.

"Are you guys okay?" I asked, running over. "What is going on?" Ash simply asked. "Welcome to my world Ash." I said. "This place is scary! We should have left when we had the chance!" "Am I the only one who feels like we are being watched?" Iris asked. "No, Iris. I do. too." I said, slightly annoyed. "By who?" Ash asked. "I'm not sure." Iris responded. Cilan however, was not convinced. "Oh come on! That was just wind!" "Could the wind move something like that?" Iris asked. I could easily tell that Cilan knew she had a point, but that quickly became nothing to us. "Oooooh..." Ash said, getting up, looking a bit scared. "Pika pika..." Pikachu agreed. The moment Cilan looked over, he seemed scared, too. I eventually heard clacking and clanging behind me. "Judging by the looks and your faces, it looks like you both got hit by Confuse Ray!" Iris said. "Should I turn around yet...?" I asked. "Iris... Crystal... behind you!" Was all Ash could say, and the moment I turned around, I regretted it. A crazy thing, made out of a bunch of different items in the mansion, was walking down the stairs. If it were not so creepy, I would have been fine nearly getting attacked by the umbrella it was wielding! But I was running away as fast as I could. "We have to get out of heeeere!" I screamed. As if on cue, a large set of drawers blocked the doorway. "We can't get get out here!" Cilan said, but it was too late to change directions because it was about to attack. Right then and there. As if on cue, Pachirisu and Pikachu both leaped into the air, with a duel attack of thunderbolt and discharge, causing the abomination to clatter to the floor.

I was lucky to have made it out alive. But for a moment I thought it would be impossible to escape. And it was just my luck that I landed right next to Cilan, who sighed in relief. everything seemed perfect until the head of the thing landed right next to us. And with that, Cilan took off running even though the exit was blocked. I would have tried to help out, but I was suddenly exhausted. I could not move from that spot. Pachirisu, in an attempt to be helpful and pretty confident that nobody lived in the mansion, destroyed the creepy head and helped me up. "Thanks buddy. I owe you one." I said, gratefully. "Chupah, Chewpai." It seemed to notice what happened to me. "I'm fine, really. Probably just some rain side effects."

(Meowth's POV)

"Strange. They blocked off the exit." Jessie said. "I don't get it. We said catch Pikachu and chase off the twerps!" "That's not what they did! What's going on?" James asked, seeming tired as well. So I'm not the only one. "The Litwick didn't understand. I will go tell Yamask again." I said. Why are they making me do this? I guess that since I am a Pokemon it makes sense, but still! Guess I will have to deal with it. I just wish I knew how to fix this...

(Crystal's POV)

"Alright, what is up with this place?" Ash asked again. "Any theories, Crystal?" Iris tried asking. "No. The minute i came up with something I got so tired all of the sudden..." I said. "It makes no sense!" "This table is fully set and ready..." Cilan pointed out. "Which means someone must be here!" Iris finished. Right after, the small bell on the table rang and our chairs lifted up right into the air. I struggled to stay in my seat as thee chairs flew everywhere. It would be what some consider a horrible nightmare, and what others consider a haunted mansion ride. I was stuck in between. I was a little nervous when a bunch of forks and plates were aimed at us, but the chairs dodged it just fine. We landed in a room with what appeared to be body-less costumes. The next thing I knew, I was holding onto a fancy dress for my life as I spun around, and got thrown straight to the ground. I felt a little dizzy, but mostly exhausted. I don't know why I feel this way, but it can't be good. I slowly turned my head around to see a group of candle-like Pokemon making an appearance under a piece of clothing. "Hey wait a moment!" Ash said, and promptly began chasing them around the mansion. The Pokemon have something to do with my condition, I am sure of it. I thought to myself and slowly got up, trying to follow as best as I could. Eventually, one of them tripped and fell over, and lets just say that Ash was as mad as a Snorlax who was rudely awakened from it's nap.

"It's a Litwick!" Cilan explained, once he got a look at the strange Pokemon. "A Litwick?" Ash asked, and took a look at his Pokedex. 'Litwick, the candle Pokemon. Litwick appear to be guiding the way for people by illuminating areas that are darkened, but aRe-' and with that, the Pokeex glitched out, and tuned off. "Wow, that's so weird!" Ash said, putting his Pokedex away. "Whatever..." I was not convinced that was it. There had to be more to it than that. Cilan seemed somewhat impressed by how the Litwick made everything work perfectly, and Iris was annoyed at his enthusiasm, while I was just plain creeped out. We all started asking Litwick questions, but it didn't seem to understand a word we were saying. We eventually went to find the other Litwick, and found ourselves in a long hallway, when a strangely familiar mask appeared in front of us. "It's a Yamask?" I asked out loud, but right after it disappeared and I heard another voice. "So I want you to chase the twerps out on the double..." "It's Meowth!" Iris identified almost instantly. But the moment we found him, he ran away, and when we went to find him, he had disappeared down another long hallway. "What could Team Rocket be up to?" Cilan asked. "No good, I'm sure!" Iris said. That was when I got an idea. "Let's split up and look for either them, or a clue." "Right!" Everybody agreed. We all ran off our separate ways. I just hope nothing happens until we come back together!

"So, what do you think?" While conducting this little 'search', I was ranting out all of my life problems to Pachirisu. Considering my recent exhaustion, I needed the support from my little buddy. Its hard enough dealing with ghost Pokemon as it is! 'I wonder how Cilan is coping with all of this... He has been really good at trying to help me ever since we ran into this place! Does he get something out of it, or is he just being a friend....?' As if reading my thoughts, Pachirisu gave me a look. "What's that for?" "Chu pai..." she responded. "What? Shut up! Stop being like Shauna!" I quickly retaliated. However, no response came. That was when I realized Pachirisu was missing. "NO! I'm sorry I said you were like Shauna just come baaaaaack!" Right at that moment, I got a piercing headache. "P-Pachirisu?"

"Pachirisu? Where did you go? Hey?" I hate this mansion, I hate this mansion, I want to leave, I want to leave... I could barely even think with how exhausted I was. However, as if on cue, one of my Pokeballs opened. "Huh?" The minute the small bundle formed in front of me, a pair of green eyes darted back and forth, as if looking for the sorry soul who threw a snowball at them too hard. Purrloin let itself out of its Pokeball to help me. "Purr...loin?" I asked, too confused to even comprehend the moment. Not paying full attention to my confusion, she sniffed the air and slowly walked in a specific direction. Is she hunting for something? "Hey, whats going on?" At that moment, Purrloin leaped in the air, dodging a Shadow Ball, while countering with one of her own. "Purrloin? Wait, hold on..." As I began to focus, I saw Purrloin glaring at a specific Pokemon. Litwick. I quickly tried checking my Pokedex while it was distracted. 'Litwick, the candle Pokemon. Litwick appear to be guiding the way for people by illuminating areas that are darkened, but are actually leading people to the ghost world. Along the way, they drain the energy out of humans.' That's when it clicked. Litwick can drain the life force out of a person. Litwick sure was draining, draining ME! That would be the one reason Purrloin summoned itself out of its Pokeball! Litwick probably knew right away, because the minute it saw me, it flinched. "Oh, confuse us so you can have an advantage. I see how it is. Purrloin, Dark Claw!" Sharing in my anger, Purrloin charged straight for the candle demon, claws stretched out in black energy. Litwick let out a scream of terror, before bolting down the hall. "Get back here!" I screamed, but the moment I tried to run after it, I slipped as a byproduct of my own exhaustion. Purrloin skidded to a stop and looked back to make sure I was okay. "Don't worry about me. Go and take Litwick down!" Purrloin was unamused. She walked straight back to me, and offered a hand to help pull me up. I smiled, but quickly rejected. "I appreciate it, but I will be fine." It was when I saw the glint in the cat's eyes that I knew. She saw me as more than a trainer, or any ally. She saw me as a true friend. "But we found one piece of the puzzle together, so now, we are finishing together!" Purrloin nodded, and with that, we set off to warn the others.