The orange haired girl sighed as the delivery boy ran off. Why do I have to hold onto this for Professor Sycamore? Of all places, why does a package of starters have to be delivered here, where I have to be in charge of it?

Gardenia opened the box and a smile came in her face as she saw what was in the five pokéballs.

Five grass type starters. Maybe this won't be so bad after all, she thought. In their capsules, a bulbsaur, chikorita, treeko, turtwig, and a snivy were each sleeping quietly. A sigh escaped her. They're so cute when they're sleeping...

She took the box and placed it under a sunny window. It would make the young pokémon so much more comfortable. Gardenia watched them for a few moments more, then turned on her heel, her green cape swished behind her. She flicked out her own poke ball, releasing a green pokemon holding a blue and a pink rose in each hand respectively.

~Roserade!~  The pokémon immediately hopped up to high five the orange head.

"Want to help me with that bonsai spruce that Erika gave me?"

~Rose!~

The two left the room to retrieve the plant. Meanwhile, the young starters remained by the window.

At least for a moment.

Seconds after they left the room, five grass types burst out of their capsules with a shower of red beams.

~Snive!~

~Bulba, bulbs!~

~Chiki!~

~Treeco!~

~Twig!~

One by one, the starters popped out. Seeing no one else in the room, they exchanged glances with each other and grinned. Bulbasaur, Chikorita, and Snivy launched vines against the door's handle and yanked with all their might, ripping it open.

Gardenia and Roserade couldn't arrange the bonsai right for some reason. She got up to see if she had some small shears in case those would help. As she dug through a drawer, she saw several small shadows creep behind her. Rapidly, she spun quickly and was face to face with the starters. "You guys...?" She bent down to pick up Turtwig, but he crawled away. Then he and the entire group took off outside through a door that Gardenia had stupidly left open.

"Roserade!!!" Her partner came to her side within seconds. "The starters escaped! Help me find them!" They went outside, but saw no sign of them. Roserade called his Trainer over suddenly to show her fresh, tiny indentations in the grass. Leading straight into Eterna Forest. Blood drained from her face.

"No..." she whispered in fear. Of all places they may have ran off to, it had to be the forest. One which was haunted.

Roserade laid an arm on his mistress. ~Rose...~

She stiffened. "You know what? We need to get those grass types. They're only babies; they could get hurt..." Her dual type nodded. "Lead the way, Roserade!" The two hurried into the forest.

The footprints became harder and harder to see the deeper into Eterna Forest they went. It was getting darker too. They'd seen no trace of the young pokémon...

"Are you sure you know your way through here?" Gardenia asked suddenly. For a moment, Roserade froze. And shook his head. The orangette stared at him, jaw dropped.

"You... don't know where we are...?" The dark trees seemed even more threatening to girl then. "Arceus! How could you?! You know I'm terrified of the ghosts here!"

He gave her a reprimanding glare. "I'm not paranoid! There are ghosts here!"

He groaned and stalked off.

"Roserade! Wait up!" She cried, not eager to be left behind. She tried following him, but for a while, it seemed like they were just walking in circles until Roserade completely left her sight. Great, we're lost.

Gardenia finally caught up, and she saw the starters. But Roserade was haunched over them protectively. What in the world...?  She soon saw what Roserade was shielding them from.

Nearly a dozen ghost pokémon had swarmed around Roserade and the other grass types. Though having slight difficulty, he managed to hold the Haunters and Ghastlys off.

Crackle.

Gardenia whipped her head towards the sound. What she saw made her worst fears come true.

Several angry shades of the dead faced her. In other words, human ghosts. Their faces met and Gardenia's eyes widened in fear.

The ghosts flew at Gardenia, swirling in a vortex. Her hands flew up towards her face as a feeble attempt of protection as she did the only thing she could think of at the moment. Run.
~*~
The ghost Pokémon kept coming for some weird reason. Roserade was doing his best to protect both himself and the starters. He'd lost track of his Trainer, and he was currently preoccupied. He could only hope that Gardenia was okay.

His heart stopped when a single scream cut through the woods. He'd know that voice anywhere. Gardenia! He fired off a Safeguard shield to protect the younglings as he ran to the sound. His trainer needed him!
~*~
Gardenia's body contorted with fear as the ghosts continued to assault her.

"That's right! Shudder in fear the way we did!"

"You think you know fear?! Let us show you a true nightmare!"

"Weakling. You begin shaking before we have even touched you!" An invisible force smacked the girl's face. And again. And again. Another force shook the earth beneath her and threw her off her feet, causing another scream to erupt from her.

Roserade arrived as a humanoid dark blur slammed what appeared to be a fist, into his mistress's stomach. He launched himself angrily at the shade. Nobody hurt his mistress and got away with it. Razor sharp blades formed over the blooms in each of his hands as he prepared to strike.

Just before he could make the hit though, the ghost deflected his hit and smacked him down.

"Traitor. The people of Eterna Village worked side by side with your kind. Simple lives we led, yes, but at least they were good and honest!" The shade snarled at the girl crumpled against the grass. "She shouldn't be here. That orange hair... She carries the blood of Natane...!" Roserade widened his eyes. Natane was a minor criminal from one of Sinnoh's legendary wars... as well as Gardenia's ancestor. It was a fact her family kept hidden, as they weren't proud of it. Were these ghosts... the ones Natane cut down?

Arceus, they want revenge...!

Somehow, Roserade's Safeguard collapsed that moment, leaving the starters prone to attack. As the Ghastly crept closer, four of the five starters huddled together out of fear. The fifth, Turtwig, finally took notice of Gardenia and Roserade's situation. The only thought present in his mind was to help them. So the tiny turtle pokémon rushed towards the ghost. The spirit simply slapped him away.

"You too? Pathetic." Gardenia regained consciousness to see Turtwig throw himself at the ghost once more, just to be slammed down. Despite the pain, Gardenia made herself crawl forward in time to catch the turtle. Beside her, Roserade had collapsed. The four little grass types were holding their own, but for how much longer? Gardenia held the exhausted pokémon in her arms. More blows from the ghosts brought the girl to her knees. Dirt, blood, and tears tainted her face.

"I'm sorry...." she whispered, even though it wasn't her fault her ancestor had murdered the villagers who once lived here. The largest ghost laughed harshly.

"It's too late for sorry. Natane took everything from us!" He roared. "Our homes, our families, our lives...! This is justice. No, no amount if sacrifices can quench our revenge! He stole everything from us!" The other spirits went silent. "Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, there was a girl with white hair like moonlight, and eyes like sapphires. She tended our crops with the rest of us, but she was beloved by us all. We all loved her..." His voice choked. "She was only a child...! A sweet, innocent child! And yet Natane killed her! He knew this, so he murdered her first, in front of us all at the Chateau! Her blood will forever stain our memories of that place!" Rage glowed in their eyes. "There us no way to avenge us all. Our suffering won't have been in vain if we can avenge an innocent child though!" Spiritual hands went around Gardenia's throat. She gasped at the sudden lack of oxygen. The spirit of a woman came closer.
"Our strife isn't with you. A life for a life though. Natane killed one of ours, so we are entitled to the blood of his kin." Pressure tightened around the girl's neck. Spots danced in her field of vision. The other four pokémon could do nothing but watch. Turtwig made a final attempt to save her by slapping with his vines, but he was thrown aside. Even Roserade who was strong, was exhausted and powerless to save his mistress. And that was a pokémon's worst failure.

Gardenia had already given up. She was never going to see her family and friends and pokémon again. Roserade, take care of the others.... The spirits squeezed her throat tighter.

"STOP!!!!!!" Roserade made out the figure of a slightly translucent little girl. White hair fell to her shoulders. Tears fell from her blue eyes. "No more," she whispered. "Don't hurt her."

"But Natane's blood runs through her veins! A life for a life!" They shouted. The girl only shook her head and glanced at Gardenia unconscious with sympathy.

"No amount of deaths will undo what Natane did five hundred years ago. She shouldn't have to pay the price of his sin..." She glared at the others. "Let her go. She's innocent."

"So were you! Your death must be avenged!"

"No, it doesn't. Kill her, and how are we any better than Natane?" The ghosts didn't know how to respond. The little girl sighed. "This has gone on long enough. We need to move on. I don't wanna be avenged. Not now, not ever. So just let her go home." The other ghosts reluctantly moved away from Gardenia until no force was upon her throat. She was still alive, but barely. She'd recover though.

The little girl waved her hand over Gardenia. "She won't remember this when she wakes up. It's for the best." She eyed the pokémon and called them. "Take her home." Roserade accepted his trainer's form gently without hesitation. The younger pokémon trailed behind the poison dual type as they returned to the Eterna City Gym. It took much longer than they wanted to though, because let's face it: they were lost.
~*~
Gardenia woke up on the couch when someone knocked on her front door. A man with dark blue hair and a bit of stubble was outside when she answered. "Hello?"

"Hello. I was told that five grass type pokémon were here. I am Professor Augustine Sycamore of Kalos." Gardenia nodded.

"Gardenia Natane. I'm the gym leader of this city," she explained. This must be the guy she had to give the starters to. "They're right back here. Come on in," she offerred.

"Thank you."

Five pokéballs sat silently in the original window. They were exhausted from the events that now only thy knew of, other than Roserade. Professor Sycamore took the box from Gardenia carefully. 

"Thanks for watching them. I hope they weren't any trouble," he apologized. Gardenia laughed quietly.

"Not at all. I love grass types!" The professor only laughed.

"Perhaps you could see some of Kalos's grass types if you ever visit. We have some very interesting species there, including several grass-ghost types." This made Gardenia feel weak in the knees for some reason, but she said nothing. Once Professor Sycamore left, she turned to Roserade, who had been standing by the door during the exchange.

"Hey Roserade? I think either my allergies are acting up, or I'm coming down with a cold. My throat hurts."

Roserade only shook his head to himself. She had no idea. Which was totally fine with him.
**********