The four older kids had split up and searched different parts of the forest. They called for the little girl, begging her to come back to them. But as the afternoon turned into sunset, they began to feel desperate.

"ALICE!!! ALICE PLEASE!!! COME BACK!!!" Mokuba cried into the thicket. However, his shaky voice only echoed back. Mokuba fell to his knees.

"I'm sorry Alice... please.. come home...." Mokuba begged. Suddenly, there was a very loud, heart stopping scream. Mokuba's eyes widened as he recognized the scream.

"ALICE!!!" He screamed back. Mokuba got to his feet and ran as fast as he could. Alice was in trouble. He needed to save her. She needed him. And he needed her. As Mokuba continued to run, he could see Alice! He could make out her silhouette between the trees.

"Alice! I'm here!! Are you-" When Mokuba finally pushed through the thicket and the leaves, he was met with a horrible surprise. Alice was stone. Just like Ryoko. Mokuba froze in his place. Terror and fear built up in his soul. He didn't realize it at the time, but he was screaming. He was screaming so much that it scared the spirits wandering around nearby.

"ALICE!!! ALICE NO!!!" He screamed, while slowly and shakily walking towards the now seemingly lifeless sculpture of the little girl. Mokuba fell to his knees in front of the statue. Alice still had that loveable smile on her face. Mokuba cupped her face as he cried. His little sister was stone cold. Mokuba could feel himself becoming faint.

"Alice...." He mumbled before closing his eyes and succumbing to the darkness.

**********

Cody, Eri and Brad came running when they heard Mokuba screaming. They'd never say it out loud., but they feared the worst had happened. They were afraid that Mokuba, or even Alice too, were mere seconds away from losing their lives . When they did finally find Mokuba, their hearts dropped. Mokuba was found lying at Alice's feet. Eri gasped and put a hand over her mouth. Brad and Cody were speechless. Eri then choked out a sob.

"Alice..!" She gasped, stumbling over to the statue.

"No... what happened to you? What happened to Mokuba?!" She wept. Brad took a breath before turning to Cody. Cody held just as much shock as he did.

"Cody..." Cody snapped out of his trance and looked at Brad. Cody took a shaky breath before stepping forward. Brad trailed behind him. Cody knelt down and checked Mokuba's pulse.

"He's still alive. I guess the shock just knocked him out." Cody said as he looked at Alice's statue. As he studied the statue, he noticed the way she was positioned. Arms up, open hands, and a big smile.

"Do... Do you think that... Ryoko's spirit took her's...?" Cody suddenly asked. Eri and Brad looked at Cody like he was mad.

"What do you mean by that?! Why would Ryoko take Alice from us?!" Brad demanded angrily.

"Look at her! She had her hands in that grabbing motion and her arms up. Not only that, she's smiling! So she was familiar with whatever took her soul!" Cody said. Brad and Eri looked back and noticed the things that Cody pointed out.

"I-It still doesn't explain why it was Miss Ryoko!! What if it was just something-Something cute! You know Alice likes cute things!!" Brad said.

"It was just a thought!"

"Well it was a stupid one!!"

"I didn't see you come up with anything!"

"Stop fighting!!" The boys looked back at Eri. She was shaking, gripping her chest.

"P-Please!! Stop fighting!!" She begged. Both Cody and Brad looked away. They only looked at the floor.

"I'm sorry..." Brad muttered.

"I am too..." Cody sighed. The blonde boy then stood and hoisted Mokuba onto his back.

"You two carry the statue. We need to head back before it's too dark to see." Cody said. Brad and Eri nodded before picking up the statue and carrying it back to the treehouse.

**********

When they got back, Dark Magician was leaning on the trunk of the tree. It's like he was waiting for them. When he turned and saw them, he stood straight and walked over to them. His eyes widened as he saw Mokuba on Cody's back. His whole demeanor dropped when he saw Alice's statue. He shook the shock away before putting his staff down. He kneeled down and motioned for Eri and Brad to bring Alice to him. The two kids did as they were told and handed the statue over to the duel spirit. Dark Magician held the girl in his arms. It was so weird, seeing the child so still.

"I'll take Mokuba to bed." Cody said as he walked over to the ladder. Eri and Brad said nothing. Dark Magician silently sighed before floating away with the statue. Eri and Brad followed him as he made his way to Ryoko's statue. She was still standing there with a blank stare. Her statue was so different from Alice's. Dark Magician then puts the little statue next to the bigger one. Alice faced Ryoko. If they both weren't stone, it would have looked like Ryoko was going to give something to the small child. Eri sniffled and wiped her tears once again.

"Why did this have to happen?" She cried. Brad side hugged the albino girl. She looked up at the raven haired boy. He had a serious look on his face.

"Don't worry. We'll find a way to fix them both." He said softly. Dark Magician then stood to his full height and turned to the children. He pointed at the pair and then at the tree house. Brad nodded and turned around, Eri still under his arm.

"Come on, we need to sleep." Brad said as he led Eri back to the treehouse.

**********

"Haha! Stop that Drifloon!" Mokuba gasped and opened his eyes. He sat up and looked around. He was surrounded by fog.

"What...? Where am I?" He groaned as he stood. As he stood, his body felt slow and sluggish. Mokuba groaned as he walked, his movements were slow and heavy. It was like he was under water.

"Phantump! It's so cute!!!" The voice came again. Mokuba gasped and turned in the direction of the voice.

"Alice!" He gasped. Mokuba moved as fast as he could towards Alice's voice. When he finally found her, he saw her playing with a Drifloon. But this Drifloon was different. Instead of the usual purple and yellow accents, it was black with blue accents. As Alice laughed and giggled, Mokuba's attention went back to the brunette girl.

"Alice?" Alice turned around and faced Mokuba with confusion. She looked around, like she was trying to figure out where the voice came from.

"Mokie?!" She called into the fog. Suddenly, another little girl emerged from the fog. She giggled and laughed as she chased a phantump. Mokuba's eyes widened even more. The little girl running around looked just like Ryoko. Sapphire blue eyes, Midnight black hair, and limestone skin.

"Ryoko...?" This little girl stopped and stared directly at Mokuba. She looked surprised, or even scared to see him. When Mokuba tried to reach for her, the Drifloon came and took her hand. The little girl looked up at Drifloon and smiled. The ghostly pokemon then took Alice's hand. The two little girls smiled before turning and walking away with the pokemon.

"Wait! Come back!!" Mokuba shouted as he gave chase. Though, he was much too slow. His body ran in slow motion as Alice and Ryoko walked into the fog, almost too quick for him to give him a chance to catch up.

"No!!" Mokuba cried out. The phantump then came into view. It floated over to the 11 year old boy.

"Phantump tump!" it said with a happy tone. As Mokuba watched the little ghost, he noticed its Amber eyes.

**********

"Alice!" Mokuba gasped as he shot up in his bed. He panted and looked around. He then calmed down and hugged himself. He was lonely without Alice. Gods he missed her. There was then a knock on the door.

"C-come in..." He said, moving his hair out of his face. Eri walked into his room.

"Hey." She said softly. Mokuba tiredly looked at the albino girl.

"Hi." He muttered. Eri went and sat on the edge of his bed.

"I uh, I heard you call her name..." Eri said, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. Mokuba sighed and rubbed his face.

"I can't help it. I promised to protect her and... now look at her..." Mokuba quietly said, looking at his lap. Eri hesitated before scooting closer to Mokuba and placing her hands on his. Mokuba glances at Eri before glancing away.

"Of course you miss her. She was like your little sister! I don't know how you could not be upset about this ordeal!" Eri said, gripping his hands.

"But we'll find a way to help her! We have to!" Mokuba was silent for a bit. A thought suddenly crossed his mind.

"I wonder if this is what my brother felt when I left...." Mokuba whispered.

"What?" Mokuba looked up at Eri with glossy eyes.

"Wh-when I took Miss Ryoko's hand... I didn't think of my brother, I only thought about me! I never thought about how my brother would feel about me leaving! And now I'm feeling the same thing he did! Alice is gone and she might never come back!" Mokuba ranted his thoughts. Eri listened to everything he had to say. Once he was done, she gripped his hands tighter.

"I don't know how to help you Mokuba. But I do know that we are here to help you. And we can get her back! Once we bring Alice back, you can make up with her too." Eri said, pulling a Mokuba into a hug. Mokuba was surprised by the sudden hug, but hugged back anyway. He sniffled and leaned into the smaller girl. That hug is just what he needed. As Mokuba and Eri sat there in a comfortable silence, he remembered his dream.

"Drifloon..." he muttered. Eri hummed and shifted her head to look at him.

"What?" Mokuba quickly stood and left the room. Eri shook the shock and followed after him.

"Where are you going? What did you say earlier?" Eri asked as she kept up with the 11 year old. Mokuba made his way to the library. Once there, he began to look frantically through the books from the farthest corner of this new world. Eri followed and watched for a minute before speaking up.

"Mokuba what are-"

"Where's the Pokémon dictionary?" He suddenly asked. Eri arched her brow.

"Pokémon dictionary? Mokuba turned to her.

"The thing that tells the reader about a specific Pokémon! Like the legend behind it or something about the way it lives." Eri watched a little longer as Mokuba frantically looked.

"You know that it's in Cody's room right?" Mokuba stopped trashing the library and turned to Eri.

"It is?"

"Yes, it is. But we can't go wake Cody until you fix this library." Eri said, gesturing to the mess Mokuba had created. Mokuba looked around and sheepishly chuckled. So the two quickly cleaned the library before quickly making their way to Cody's room. Mokuba then knocked on the door. He kept knocking till Cody came to the door.

"Mokuba? Do you know what time it is?" He tiredly yawned.

"No. But I need the Pokémon dictionary." Mokuba said.

"For what?" Cody asked, letting the two in. Mokuba went over to Cody's desk and saw the book. He began to frantically flip through it.

"What number was Drifloon again?" He asked as he flipped through it.

"425." Cody said, not skipping a beat. Mokuba flipped to the chapter and quickly scanned through the pages.

"Here it is!!" He said, lifting the book and showing it to the other two.

"Drifloon takes the hands of children and takes their souls to the afterlife! But since the spirit realm is merged with these other worlds, there's no other dimension for them to go!"

"So Alice's soul is still here?!" Eri quickly asked. Mokuba nodded. He then flipped to another page.

"And since her soul was taken in a forest," he showed Cody and Eri the page about the Phantump.

"Alice's soul was turned into a phantump! The soul of a child who died in a forest!" Mokuba said enthusiastically. Cody lowered the book to look the long haired boy in the eye.

"What makes you think it was a Drifloon that took her soul?" He asked. Mokuba closed the book and held it under his arm.

"Because! I had a dream about it! Alice was playing with a Drifloon! And then another little girl ran by with a phantump! Then the Drifloon took both of their hands and they walked away!!" Mokuba explained. Cody and Eri looked at each other.

"Another little girl?" Eri asked. Mokuba nodded.

"Yeah! But this kid looked like Miss Ryoko. It was kinda weird." Cody's eyes widened slightly.

"Maybe Miss Ryoko's soul took the form of a child and is now wandering around with the same Drifloon! That would explain her pose when her soul was removed!" Cody theorized. Mokuba nodded.

"Yeah! Then we'd be getting both Alice and Miss Ryoko back!!" Eri said.

"Then what are we waiting for! Let's go!" Before Mokuba could run out the door, Cody grabbed his arm.

"Hold on Mokuba. We need to figure out where to even find a Drifloon. Let alone a Drifloon with a Phantump." Cody said.

"What do you mean? Can't we just-"

"No, they live in different environments." Brad suddenly said, making the other three jump.

"Gods Brad! How long have you been there?!" Eri gasped, a hand over her chest. The boy shrugged his shoulders.

"Been up since I heard the library getting trashed. And I've heard enough to know that we're gonna go ghost hunting." Brad said. Cody turned to the younger two in the room. His brow was arched as if silently demanding an explanation.

"Hey! It wasn't me! Mokuba was trashing the room looking for the book!" Eri huffed.

"But we cleaned it up! I promise!" Mokuba quickly added. Cody sighed before checking the time.

"We have three hours till the sun rises. So we better get searching." Cody said as he went to get ready. The other kids quickly went to get changed as well.

**********

The kids calmly walked through the forest. Cody held up a holo map, showing them the way.

"So, how are we going to figure out the environmental problem?" Brad asked with a yawn, still tired from the past days events.

"Drifloon like to spend their time around humid and damper places. And Phantumps live in forests. So, if we find lakes surrounded by forests, that would be the most likely place for us to find both a Phantump and a Drifloon in the same place." Cody explained. Brad hummed in thought.

"So, how are we supposed to know which Phantump is Alice?" Brad then asked, looking over at Mokuba.

"Amber eyes." Mokuba said as he closed his eyes and thought.

"The phantump in my dream had amber eyes. Like Alice's." Mokuba said, opening his eyes again.

"Any other specific details?" Eri asked. Mokuba thought before shaking his head.

"Not that I can remember. But we'll know it's Alice when we see her." Mokuba said hopefully.

"We're here at the first lake. Let's get searching." The four kids split up and called for Alice. There were plenty of Drifloon, but there weren't many Phantump.

"Maybe she's not here." Cody said as all the kids regrouped.

"Then we should move onto the next lake!" Mokuba said.

"We have about two hours till the sun rises. So we'll have to be quick." Cody said. The kids spent those two hours searching through all 5 lakes. But the Drifloon and Phantump were nowhere to be found. Mokuba sighed as he sat on the floor.

"Are you positive there are no more lakes?" He asked. Cody nodded.

"There are no lakes for miles. And most of those aren't even surrounded by forests." Cody said, checking his scanner. Mokuba sighed and pulled his knees to his chest. Could his dream have been wrong? Soon, the sun came up, and a thick fog rolled in with it. When Mokuba raised his head, he could barely see anything in front of him.

"Whoa. Where did the fog come from?" He muttered as he stood.

"Hey guys! Where are you?!" Mokuba called into the cloud. But he didn't get a response.

"Come on guys! This isn't funny!" He called again.

"Phantump." Mokuba gasped and turned around. There was the amber-eyed Phantump.

"Alice...?" Mokuba softly whispered. The Phantump smiled and flew up to Mokuba.

"Phantump! Phantump tump!" It cheered as it happily hugged Mokuba. Mokuba smiled and returned to hug.

"Alice! Oh gods, I thought I lost you!" Mokuba cried. Alice giggled before escaping Mokuba's hold.

"Phantump! Phantump!" She called, turning to the fog and quickly floating away.

"H-Hey! Wait!" Mokuba shouted as he chased after the pokemon. This time, he was able to keep up with the little spirit. When he finally found her again, she was with the black and blue Drifloon. Mokuba froze as he watched Alice fly all over the Drifloon.

"Loon Drifloon." It happily trilled as it nuzzled Alice. Alice let out a happy sound. She seemed to adore this crazy Drifloon.

"Alice-" As the 11 year old reached for the two ghost pokemon, Alice suddenly absorbed something that came out of Drifloon. The Drifloon then went back to its normal coloration before quickly floating away. Mokuba stood there confused.

"A-Alice...?" Alice turned to Mokuba with a smile. Her left eye had suddenly turned sapphire blue.

"Phantump!" She cheered as she floated towards Mokuba. His eyes widened.

"Wh-what...? What was-" Alice then cuddled up in Mokuba's arms.

"Phantump." She yawned as she fell asleep in his arms. Mokuba paused before taking out a pokeball and carefully tapping Alice with it. The pokeball absorbed the little girl's spirit. The button flickered for a bit before popping sparks. Mokuba had caught Alice's soul. He smiled as he held the pokeball.

"Don't worry Alice. We'll get you back into your body. I promise."