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Just as Luther had guessed, beings from the spirit world were like younger siblings to Ghost-type Pokémon, easily overpowered and dismissed by stronger Ghost-types without much effort.
Most Ghost-types have a strong attachment to the living world. Their reaction to uninvited intruders from the spirit realm is simple: Eliminate them.
Gengar, however, hadn't been so lucky. This mischievous ghost had stumbled upon two rifts to the spirit world while haunting the mansion.
Normally, the barriers separating worlds are incredibly stable. Only a few special Pokémon can naturally traverse between realms. For most, breaching the divide is impossible, and even if it were somehow attempted, the cost would be immense.
Gengar had no idea how the rifts appeared. From what little he remembered, other Ghost-types had once mentioned that immense, unstable energy fluctuations between dimensions could cause such tears. Under ordinary circumstances, the worlds remain completely sealed off, not even a pinhole should exist, let alone gaping rifts.
One of the innate abilities shared by Ghost-type and Psychic-type Pokémon is the capacity to detect and mend these rifts.
But deep within Hearthome Forest, Gengar had found himself completely alone. There were no Psychic-types, no fellow Ghost-types. Only him, left anxiously watching over the unstable rifts with no way to close them.
He'd even considered destroying the rifts outright with brute force, but he feared such reckless action might cause even greater damage, or make things worse.
Thankfully, Dusknoir and Mai's Gengar had arrived. Working together, the three Ghost-types were finally able to seal the rifts with precision.
Even so, Gengar couldn't shake his nerves. He fired off a barrage of ghostly moves at the now-sealed locations, until Dusknoir calmly grabbed him with one massive hand and told him to stop wrecking the house. Only then did Gengar calm down, with a grin creeping onto his face.
Now sprawled across a battered old sofa, the wild Gengar looked more relaxed than ever.
"So, that creepy butler illusion, that was your doing, wasn't it?" Mai's Gengar had found a corner to sit in. "You made him appear just to scare people off? Or were you actually trying to protect them?"
"Protect?" The wild Gengar scoffed. "Why would I protect humans? I was just bored. Toying with them was fun, and I wasn't about to let that spirit have free reign. If she didn't keep escaping into those rifts right before I could grab her, I wouldn't have needed you two at all!"
"Say that again?"
Dusknoir's massive hand pressed down heavily on Gengar's head.
"Wait, wait, wait, I was wrong, big bro! Without you, I never could've handled this!"
Mai's Gengar narrowed his eyes. "Then explain why those two girls were still able to make it upstairs."
"Hey, listen," Gengar defended. "I've been battling that spirit here for nearly ten years. Sometimes things slip through the cracks. That Chansey messed up my 'Hypnosis', and as for that orange-haired woman… who knew she could run so fast?"
"Enough." Mai's Gengar stood. "I need to wake my Trainer up. Why did you cast 'Hypnosis' on all of them when you went upstairs?"
The wild Gengar sighed. "Illusions can mess with the mind. Better they sleep than get themselves hurt by seeing something they shouldn't."
"Let them rest," Dusknoir interjected, stopping Mai's Gengar with a raised arm.
"Why?" Mai's Gengar asked.
"There's still something I need to prepare."
Dusknoir never wasted words. Once he'd spoken, he turned toward the wild Gengar.
"Have you seen a Breloom?"
Without hesitation, Gengar led Dusknoir to the dining room. A Breloom lay curled beside the fireplace, a soft blue crescent marking visible on its chest.
"Tried scaring her off," Gengar muttered. "She wouldn't budge. So I had to put her down for a nap… Wait, don't tell me she's your friend?"
Dusknoir floated closer, gently lifting the Breloom and confirming her identity. This was the Pokémon his master had been looking for tonight.
Just as he turned to leave, Breloom stirred slightly, blinking as she began to wake.
Before her eyes could fully open, Dusknoir's massive fist came down, gently but firmly, knocking her back into peaceful sleep. Satisfied, he cradled her and floated past the slack-jawed wild Gengar.
Soon, Gardenia, Mai, Luther, and the girl with Chansey had all been carried to the hall and laid gently on the sofas. The wild Gengar hovered nearby, clearly itching to rouse them, until Dusknoir raised one red-glowing eye.
The look was enough to make Gengar flinch.
"Hold up," Dusknoir said. "I need your help with one last thing."
"Anything, big bro! What do you need?"
"I need you to let us beat you up… then you run away. Fast."
Gengar's mouth fell open.
"…Huh?"
He didn't need to ask if Dusknoir was joking. The flames gathering around Dusknoir's clenched fist gave him the answer.
"Hey! I didn't even do anything wrong! Why do I have to be the fall guy again?!"
"I know," Dusknoir said calmly.
"You know, and you still want to hit me?!"
"There needs to be a reasonable explanation."
"Then tell them about the spirit world!"
"They won't understand."
Gengar opened his mouth to argue, then stopped.
'…Yeah. Now that he thought about it, that was probably true.'
There was no escaping it this time.
Dusknoir paused for a moment, as if realizing he had forgotten something. After a brief hesitation, he added a quiet apology.
Mai's Gengar moved quickly, waking the four humans from their slumber. Meanwhile, Dusknoir's 'Fire Punch' slammed into the wild Gengar, and Mai's Gengar followed up with a Shadow Ball, sending it crashing toward him.
The wild Gengar, overwhelmed by the combined assault, screamed in pain before darting out of the hall, desperately fleeing through the door.
Mai was the first to understand what had just happened. She rushed forward to embrace her Gengar, looking him over with concern.
"Is it really Gengar again?" She asked, trying to make sense of the situation.
Luther, watching the retreating figure, sighed deeply. Though something still felt off, the fact that Mai's Gengar had singled out the wild Gengar made it clear who was causing the trouble in the mansion.
Urban legends are linked to these spirits, he thought to himself.
Gardenia woke up in a cold sweat, her mind racing. She vividly recalled rushing into the mansion and suddenly finding herself surrounded by unusual Grass-type Pokémon, their eyes gleaming with mischief as they chased after her.
As she ran, those Pokémon had vanished, only to be replaced by a bizarre sea of televisions, each one flickering to life in a way that felt more fitting for an electronics store than a mansion.
At first, the screens showed ordinary programs, but as Gardenia drew closer, they all shifted to static. The unsettling noise filled the air, and when she looked back, slender pale hands began to emerge from the screens. Then, long, shiny black hair cascaded from the screens, flowing like a waterfall...
Gardenia ran frantically through the house, but the televisions seemed to follow her, appearing everywhere she turned.
Shaken from her nightmare, Gardenia blinked and then noticed something soft beside her. She looked down to see Breloom lying next to her, motionless and dazed.
The blue crescent mark on Breloom's chest was unmistakable.
Gardenia's heart skipped a beat. With a loud shout of excitement, she quickly reached for her Poké Ball and captured Breloom effortlessly.
As she rubbed the Poké Ball against her face in sheer joy, a little drool escaped her lips.
Luther could only stare in disbelief, thinking, Is this even possible?
Why was Breloom here?
Could it be that the wild Gengar had knocked it over when it entered the mansion, and Gardenia had just happened to stumble upon it? Either way, her luck seemed too good to be true, or perhaps Mai's mysterious "lucky buff" had something to do with it.
(End of Chapter)