"Maybe Maiden could come along!" The Absol smiled. "Think you might be able to snag her pokeball without Cassius noticing? You did it before with Godfather, but if you get caught he might become even more moody."

((I win for shortest post, methinks.))

((I ph33r.))

"He'll be hitting 'the world would be better off if I just crawled into a corner and died' phase of his musings soon enough, I'd better not push my luck" replied Pandora, exaggerating a little. "Let's just go find Sidney and see what happens, if worst comes to worst we can always come back for Maiden."

"Okay. I'll show you where we live." She led the ghost up another spiral of stairs, coming out in the treetops again. "Hmm." She took the right bridge, then the left, then left again, and finally straight to one of the two-story houses. Sidney's house had a dark brown roof, and potted plants cluttered the front door, some growing delicious looking berries.

Ginger tapped on the door with a claw. No answer. She tapped on it again. Still nothing. "Um...I think it's locked. Maybe you could...you know..."

Pandora stuck one hand through the door, unlocking it from the other side, then pulled his hand back through, rematerialized, and turned the doorknob. "Dunno if breaking and entering is the best first impression, but it's hard to start any other way. After you" he said, gliding to the side to let the absol through.

"Hey, I live here too, you know. There's nothing wrong with breaking and entering your own house," she said as she strode inside. The living room appeared very well kept. The TV was turned on, the news playing. The anchor mentioned something about the upcoming festival in Fortree, then moved on to a thundstorm alert in Mauville.

"Cubo!" Taro ran up to them, looking delighted by the sight of them.

"Yep. She's here." She patted Taro on the head, then moved towards the hall. "Stay here and watch him. I'll see what she's up to."

The haunter blinked at Taro, turning his head around a full 360 degrees in an effort to keep the little creature amused. He wasn't sure why, but making faces and such at small children seemed to be a ghostly instinct. Of course, usually it involved scaring them, but with babies they were usually just intrigued.

Taro just blinked back at Pandora. Where was the Misdreavus? He liked her hair. This ghost didn't have any hair. But he didn't have any arms, so the Cubone glomped one of his hands. "Cubo!"

Ginger returned after a few minutes. "She writing in that book. No idea what about. But she doesn't really look mad. In fact, she looks almost apathetic." She made a face. "Follow. And bring the doll." She left the Haunter again, returning to Sidney's room.

Pandora carefully brought his hand up over his head, depositing the little cubone safely along his back and picking up the doll. "The added cuteness factor can't hurt, can it?" he said, following ginger. "I hope this works…"

"Absol? (Sidney?)" Ginger said quietly, pushing the door all the way open with her head. The room looked like plushie heaven. Plushies littered the bed, the dressers, and every corner of the room except for the one on the opposite end, where Ginger's bed resided.

Sidney was sitting on her bed amid her dolls, the old book spread open on her lap. She looked down and Ginger, not yet noticing Pandora. "Hey, Gin. I was wondering how long it would take you to get here."

"Absol? Abs absol sol absol abs. (Sidney? We brought you something.) Absol abs, absol. (Come in, Pandora.)"

The haunter slid soundlessly into the room, offering up the gengar plushie with one hand, while keeping the other floating near his head to help balance Taro. He smiled a little, trying to look apologetic and innocent.

"Pandora?" She seemed rendered speechless by this gesture. But she took the doll without a word, setting it among her other dolls. "Thank you," she muttered, and went back to writing.

Ginger just sat there, looking up at her trainer. What? That was it?! No tears. No smile. Nothing! "Let's just leave her alone for a bit," she told Pandora. "Cassius must be done exploring the tower by now."

Just then, there was the sound of the front door being opened. "Did we leave the door unlocked?" came a male's voice, obviously Sidney's father.

"Uh-oh."

"Her father or brother's not the type to beat intruders with large, pointed objects, is he?" asked Pandora, hearing the male voice and hiding a little behind Ginger. "Because I was only helping you get in, and as you said this is your home too."

((Oh, oops, my bad))

"Sure, I'll go to the top of the tower; I'm sure the view is amazing." Mike decided not to speak to Cassius for a while; he clearly wasn't in the mood to talk. Mike slowly walked towards the stiars of the tower.

"No, we'll be fine." Ginger walked out into the living room to greet Sidney's parents. "Absol," she said sweetly, trying to appear cute and innocent.

"Look! It's Ginger!" A blonde woman said, petting the Pokemon on the head. "How are you, sweety?"

"That means Sidney must be here! Sidney!" her father shouted, a tall man where she got her black hair.

Pandora hung back in the room, turning half translucent and wondering whether or not to sink into one of the walls. On the other hand, if I stay here maybe I can get them to talk about Cass he thought, drifting about but staying visible near the doorway.

Sidney sighed, setting her book down and walking past Pandora. She wasn't exactly in the mood to socialize, but she hadn't seen her parents in ages either. "Yes, I'm here," she said, stepping out of the hall.

"We hoped you would be here to celebrate the opening of the tower with us," her mother said, giving her a hug.

"We heard the gym leader from Lavender has just arrived. We're thinking about going to meet him."

"Wanna come? You can tell us about what all you've been up to. Catch any new Pokemon?"

"New Pokemon? Eh..." Sidney wasn't sure how to respond. "Not really. And I think I'll stay here. You go see Cass--I mean, the gym leader and tell me how it goes."

"Absol abs, absol. Abs absol. (Come on, Pandora. It's safe.)"

Pandora looked back at Sidney with an apologetic expression, then followed Ginger. He hoped Cassius would have snapped out of his evil mood by the time Sidney's parents arrived, or at least by the time the festival began. He was probably already feeling better, really- the worst of his dark stints was usually rather brief.

Sidney's father looked up, spotting Pandora drifting towards him. "W-wait. Who's this?"

"Is that the gym leader's Pokemon?" her mother asked. "And what is he doing with your baby Cubone on his head?"

"Him? Uh..." Sidney bit her lip. "No, he's mine. I caught him while outside Melville Town. His name is...uh...Bob!"

Ginger snickered. What a name!

((Whoops. I never saw Sneaky_Sneasel's post. x_x;;; ))

"This is the same trainer who's angry with Cass for lying about being a ghost, right?" asked Pandora, sticking his tongue out at Sidney. She might have gotten him to play along had she used his real name, but there was no way on earth he was going to answer to "Bob" until he met up with Cassius again.

Mike slowly walked up the stairs, stsrting to get slightly fatigued. "I didn't realize the tower was so tall. Oh well. Maybe my Pokemon would want to see the top of the tower also." In 6 similar flashes of light, out popped all his electric Pokemon, closely following their trainer.

"Did you know that the gym leader's specialty is ghost Pokemon?" her mother asked her. "I'm sure he'll be happy to meet Bob here."

Ginger was laughing uncontrollably now. It was too much!

"I'm not going."

Her father looked disappointed. "Yes you are, and you're going to tell us about what you've been doing the past few weeks."

Sidney took a deep breath, but didn't argue. "Fine. Let's go."

"Hmm, 'wonder how Cassie's going to take this one" muttered Pandora. "And I still haven't paid you back for that shadow ball, Ginger, so you might want to keep quiet unless you want the power of a thousand lightning storms brought down upon you. Or, y'know, a bad rash from a nightshade attack- both can be painful."

((Time jump.))

Winona stood on the top of the tower. "See?" she said, pointing down. "It's a pleasant view. Everyone will love to come up here and look down at all the people." The haunted forest where Sidney, Cassius, and Michael had braved could be seen in the distance.

----------

Sidney followed her parents back to the temple, trying her best to hide behind them. She was starting to feel guilty for reacting the way she did. Cassius wasn't a bad guy. But he did lie to her, which wasn't a very nice gesture in her book.

"Deja vu," Ginger said to the ghost Pokemon, smiling. "Why do I get the feeling I've been here before?"

Taro was still riding atop Pandora's head, loving the feeling of floating. It was almost like riding a magic carpet, and he flailed his arms happily.

Cassius leaned a little on the railing of the lookout floor, keeping most of his weight on the floor in case the railing wasn't secure. He knew he should apologize to Sidney, but what exactly was he supposed to say- "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you I was a two hundred year old ghost possessing the body of a heartless fiend, can we still be friends?"

Meanwhile, Pandora kept both hands close to his head, in case Taro started to slip. "This place seems bigger this time, somehow" he muttered. "I hope Cass doesn't expect me to help with the purification ritual thing."

"Hey, look. There's Cassius." Ginger pointed up at the purple haired trainer, accompanied by the extravagantly dressed Fortree gym leader. "I wonder if he can see us," she said, waving up at him. Of course, she didn't really expect him to return the friendly greeting, even if he did notice them below.

"I think I'll...do some shopping at the Pokemart," Sidney mumbled, trying to find any excuse to leave. She wasn't ready to confront Cassius this soon.