"That's comforting. And no, I've never believed in them." Sidney was just trying to act brave. She wasn't about to tell Cassius about how she'd scream and hide under her blankets every time her father told her stories of Melville Town. About how countless men entered the haunted town and never came out. About how people still explored the mines, some finding skeletons instead of gems. These stories were usually followed by her father getting chewed out by her mother for frightening her. It was his stories that started Ginger's dislike of ghosts.

"So what about your Pokemon? Are they normal or...something else?"

((Edit: Added a bit more.))

Cassius smiled mysteriously. "All six of them are, I can assure you, very much dead. Pandora was born a pichu, you'll have to figure the others out for yourself." He paused for a moment, but threw caution to the wind and added "so ghost stories don't scare you then? You must not have heard any from Lavender town."

"Can't say I have. Like I said earlier, I was born in Fushia City...but, except for Celadon, I don't remember ever visiting any other cities before moving here." She bit her lip. "Can't say I've ever met anyone from Lavender either. You're the first." She paused. "Why? Got a few scary ghost stories up your sleeve?"

"You think I'd survive as a ghost trainer without a few up my sleeve?" he replied, almost boasting. "But if you've never met anyone from Lavender, it's no wonder you've never heard a decent ghost story- ours are by far the most frightening. After all, the King of the Dead lives in Lavender town. Figuratively speaking of course."

"King of the Dead?" Now Cassius had her interest. "Who's this 'King of the Dead?' And who'd want to be king of dead things anyway?" she added, probably ruining the mood. "Eh, sorry. You'll have to tell me the story." She looked ahead at the town in the distance. "What do you say we camp out here tonight? My legs are killing me and a campfire would sure add a nice touch." Sidney just couldn't imagine telling chilling tales over a lamp.

Cassius nodded. "Probably a good idea, it's getting hard to see the path." He pulled one of his six pokeballs off his belt, releasing his gengar. "Campout time, Godfather, you know the drill" he told the large ghost, who nodded and set off to help gather wood.

"The people of Lavender have warned trainers about the mansion on the outskirts of town for years, because it's home to a haunter so powerful that he can enter the mind of a human, and posses their soul" said Cassius, reaching to gather a little kindling himself. "He's called the King of the Dead, and I can assure you that he's no legend- as one unfortunate trainer found out some twenty years ago."

Lulu did her best to assist the giant Genger, trying to stay out of his way in case he accidentally stepped on her...and she wasn't in the mood to be Stomped tonight. Sidney took a seat on a rather large log, setting the snoring Cubone on the ground by her feet. "A powerful Haunter? So this trainer was planning on capturing him then?" She slapped her hand over her mouth. "Whoops. Uh, I'll try not to interrupt you too much. I'll admit I'm pretty bad about that."

"Something like that" said Cassius, starting the story. "One day, not all that long ago, a young trainer entered Lavender and heard about these legends. He didn't believe them, though- all he heard was 'powerful haunter', and that was enough for him. You see, this trainer was of a sort that's thankfully quite rare these days. He didn't think of pokemon as living beings, but rather as weapons he could use as he pleased. He wanted the haunter for his own, so he could use him to cheat- possessing the minds of gymleaders and opponents to win without the hassle of a fair fight.

"He treated his six pokemon horribly. He trained them until they fainted, yelled at them when they lost a battle, and starved them when they refused to obey a command. When he decided to enter the mansion, all of his pokemon were (quite rightfully) terrified, and they had to spend two days without food or water before they agreed to follow him."

Meanwhile, Godfather deposited several very large logs next to Cassius, who had been preparing a fire pit as he spoke. "flamethrower, please, but gently" he told Godfather, who nodded and blew a thin stream of fire into the kindling and small sticks his trainer had set up within the ring of stones.

Sidney found herself so engrossed in Cassius tale that she nearly jumped when Godfather started the fire. Fire? "Wait. Was he a Charizard?" That might explain his enormous size. Lulu dragged over the last of the sticks she collected, throwing them into the hungry fire. She then joined Sidney on the log.

Cassius grinned. "That's two down, four to go for you. Godfather got his size- and his temper- from his former life as a charizard." Godfather growled a little at his trainer's comment, but he couldn't really argue with it. Getting up carefully, he chose a large rock and sat down to listen to the story.

"Where was I? Ah, yes, his pokemon went two days without food or water before they were hungry enough to follow him.

"The trainer, however, had no such caution, he marched straight into the mansion the moment he saw it. 'Come out you stupid ghost!' he called 'You don't scare me for a minute!'

"A short silence followed, and then every single door and window in the mansion locked its self shut.

"The trainer panicked- he was trapped! Frantically, he tried to escape, but to no avail. Day after day he tried to find a way out, but the mansion was sealed off tight. He tried to scream for help, but the townspeople hadn't known there was a human going into the mansion, and they thought it was just a trick of the ghost.

"A pokemon, like any other living creature, needs food to survive. The trainer's pokemon begged him to share what little food he had with him, but he refused. Eventually, one by one, his pokemon died, but not before they received a midnight visit from the King of the Dead himself, and struck a deal with him. Hmm, I wonder if I packed any marshmallows…"

The last sentence was not part of the story, just Cassius realizing he was a little hungry. He'd eaten most of his food at breakfast, but when he left home he'd figured it just wasn't right for a ghost trainer who knew so many excellent ghost stories to travel around without proper campfire supplies. He took off his bag, fishing through to the bottom before he pulled out a rather squished bag of marshmallows. "Ah, there we are. Better let them poof out a bit before trying to roast them, though."

Mmm, marshmallows. Sidney had almost forgotten that she hadn't eaten since lunchtime...and that was several hours ago. "Well, while the rest are poofing...I'm going to go ahead and dig in. I'm starved." She removed a single, mangled marshmallow and took the long, thin stick that her polite Medicham had gotten up to fetch for her. "Thanks, Lu." She stuck the treat on the end and held it above the fire, careful not to let it come in contact with the actual flames.

"Suit yourself, but I'll wait until the puff a little" said Cassius. "While I wait, I think I'd just mentioned that the trainer's six pokemon had struck a deal with the King of the Dead."

"The trainer lasted for two more days, after all his pokemon had passed on. Just when he was on the brink of dying from starvation, he heard a voice.

"'For years you have denied your pokemon food, care and love. You have worked them to the point of exhaustion, and spared no expense on your own comfort. Now, see what they have to say about this!' called the voice." Cassius, telling the story, took on a dramatic, booming voice of his own. "As he spoke, more ghosts began to enter the room- the spirits of the trainer's former pokemon.

"'You killed us! You killed us!' they cried together. Although they spoke in the pokemon language, the trainer knew perfectly well what they were saying.

"'This can't be real! It's a dream! A dream!' the trainer replied, still refusing to believe in his own cruelty.

'No,' corrected the voice," and here Cassius lowered his own voice to a chilling whisper, "'a nightmare.'

"With that, the King of the Dead swooped down and dove into the trainer's body. He sealed the trainer's mind and soul away, and controlled the body as if it were his own. The ghosts of the trainer's former pokemon moved in around him, and the mansion's doors unlocked again.

"But do you know how I'm so certain the story is true? The King of the Dead still haunts that trainer to this very day, and he still lives in Lavender. For the most part, he's quite harmless, content to stay in his mansion and leave the humans to their lives. But sometimes, when the will to travel grips him, he leaves his mansion, wandering the world in search of cruel trainers like the one whose body he still possesses. So be warned, all those who seek strength through such abuse, for sooner or later the Ghost of Lavender town will have his revenge."

Cassius was dead silent after that, letting the story hang in the air and sink in and resisting the urge to take a now poofy marshmallow, since it would no doubt ruin the mood. He wondered if telling the story had been such a good idea- he'd been caught using a pokemon attack earlier, he spoke the haunter language, and he came from Lavender, if his travel companions put two and two and two together, they could come up with some very frightening results and then he'd be stuck without a guide. On the other hand, humans were very good at rationalizing that sort of thing away, and it was worth the risk for the chance to tell a good story.

Sidney was watching Cassius, almost as if expecting more...but her flaming marshmallow brought her out of her trance. "Wah!" She hastily blew it out. Whew. Close one. Then got back on topic.

"That's a great story! I had chills the whole time--but, uh..." The trainer went silent. "Do you tell that story to every newcomer who challenges you in Lavender? Because it really does fits you. I mean, you're a ghost trainer...and you have to scare the people somehow...right?"

It was hard to imagine that everything Cassius told her was true...and that the person sitting before her was the corrupted victim in the story, playing host to a powerful Pokemon.

But what if Cassius really was just trying to scare her? Sidney knew how gulible she could be sometimes. There was no way it could be true. Haunters don't just take control of a person's body, leave home, and ask young trainers where the nearest town is.

Sidney gave a nervous laugh...then, "Aiiieeeee!" She screamed, hearing the cry of a Pokemon of the night. A wild Mightyena probably. Yeah, that's it.

((Edit: I need to leave now. -wave-))

Somewhere in the back of Cassius' mind, he could hear a small, frightened voice cry out. "It's true, it's true, get me out of here! Save me from this freak, oh please somebody help me!"

Of course, no one else could hear the trainer's pleas, and Cassius had gotten pretty used to them, so he just smiled and answered Sidney's question. "Trust me, my gym is frightening enough on its own- I don't need ghost stories to scare my challengers." He sort of avoided the real point of the question, but even if she was suspicious the story had definitely been worthwhile- the looks on his audiences' faces were simply priceless! Satisfied that Sidney had been more than a touch frightened by the story, and pretty sure the mood had worn off, he reached for a marshmallow.

((I'd better head off to bed, it's past midnight here and I've got a huge presentation tomorrow morning.))

((Thanks for waiting for me >.<!))

Meanwhile, Michael had already eaten supper as did his Pokemon, and set up his sleeping bag for the night. He returned all of his Pokemon, except for Static; for some reason, he wanted to stay out. Usually, he went to sleep quickly, but something was bothering him.

"That story...it was just creepy, but...what if that guy was him? He knew the entire story right down to every last detail, like it happened to him...plus that would explain how he used Night Shade...but it just can't be. But it has to be...I just don't know.

After thinking that over several times, he finally fell asleep, with Static sleeping right next to him.

((Sorry ^.^; But I did include your character as there during the story ))

Cassius got out his own sleeping bag, which was haunter-purple in colour, and set up a fair ways away from the fire. The gengar decided to keep watch- his trainer did need a fair bit of sleep in human form, and Godfather hadn

((Should we skip ahead to next morning?))

((Sure, sounds good.))

Cassius was awake before the sun, quietly heading a few meters away from the campsite to stretch and prepare for the day. Six hours of sleep were more than enough for him, the equivalent of eight or nine for a normal human, so he was wide awake when he began his exercise routine.

Godfather decided to join his trainer in his usual training routine. Cassius had to admit it was a bit of a relief Pandora was confined to his pokeball- no human could compete with a haunter when it came to flexibility.

The young girl didn't hear Cassius get up. She was having pleasant dreams about riding through a winter forest on a fluffy, white dragon. Suddenly, one of the balls on her waist jiggled a bit, then unlocked, expelling the Absol.

Ginger looked around the campfire. Ah-hah! Just as she thought. The ghost trainer was missing. The dark Pokemon sniffed around, her little nose hovering less than an inch off the ground, and eventually came upon his footprints. "We'll just see what this little game of yours is." She started to follow the tracks when Lulu's voice caught her off guard.

"I know what you're thinking," she said.

"That doesn't surprise me, Miss Psychic," the Absol replied sarcastically.

"Why don't you leave him alone? He hasn't given you any reason not to trust him yet."

"Oh? And his using a Pokemon move doesn't make you suspicious? You heard the story he told last night. He's a Haunter, not a human. I bet he's planning on eating Sidney's soul or something horrible like that."

"But--"

"Listen, if he's just a normal trainer then I won't say another mean thing about him, okay? Buuut...if he's a ghost, then you have to help me prove it to Sidney."

The Medicham sighed, blinking up at the sky. "Do I have a choice?"

"No, you don't. Now follow me!"

Cassius kept himself in fairly good shape- a healthy body made for a healthy soul, which meant less headaches and dizziness when he had to resort to pokemon attacks. The repetitive exercises were like meditation to him, relaxing and calming. He didn't even notice the sun rising behind him, which shone through the trees and highlighted the purple in his hair, which had looked almost black by firelight.

Godfather, however, was a little more aware of his surroundings. He listened closely, warily guarding his trainer and friend from whatever lurked in the light.

"Slower, Gin! Slower!" Lulu called after the Absol. "My legs aren't as long as yours. And I'm not good at running in the dark like you...even if it is daybreak."

Ginger, who was running, came to an abrupt halt. The Medicham crashed into her fellow Pokemon and they both went tumbling into some bushes. Lulu untangled herself from the other body, spitting a few leaves out of her mouth. "Why did you--?"

"Shh!" She put her paw over the Medicham's mouth. "I think I see them." Ginger moved past her, slinking her way under the brush, careful not to tread on any twigs. She came to a stop, watching the trainer and his Pokemon through an opening in the branches.

"What are they doing?" Lulu asked quietly, coming up behind her.

Ginger made a face. "They're just...standing there."

The ghostly trainer did, indeed, pause in his exercises to stand for a moment. He looked about, suddenly acutely aware of his environment. Godfather growled, looking around suspiciously.

"Haunt haunter haunt, haunter (I think I'm clear, Godfather)" said Cassius calmly, sitting down. "Haunt haunter? (Spot for me?)"

The gengar nodded, continuing to watch the woods for any signs of intrusion as Cassius closed his eyes. He took several deep breaths, then began to fade. It was a very faint sort of translucency, so little that it could well have been no more than a trick of the light, but Cassius in his human form had to work quite hard to keep it up, the stress of the exercise showing on his face.

Ginger's eyes widened, nearly growing twice their size. "Holy--!"

"What? What's going on?" Lulu asked in an hushed voice.

"H-he's...he's..." She couldn't find the right word for it. "He's...going into ghost mode."

"Really? Let me see?" Lulu pushed Ginger out of the way, causing the Absol to scowl at her. She squinted, trying to see as best she could with the minimal amount of light. "You were right. He's is a ghost."

"Aren't I always? Hurry, we've gotta get Sidney and show her."

But someone unexpected decided to pop up. "Cubo?" Standing between the two was baby Taro. Both Pokemon had to restrain themselves from letting out loud gasps.

"Taro," she Absol hissed. "What are you doing here?"

"He must've followed us."

"Cubo cubo!" he cheered.

"Shh!"

Taro tried to find out what the two older Pokemon were so interested in, but he wasn't tall enough to see out. So he crawled out from under the bush, wandering up to Cassius' leg.

"Taro, get back here," Lulu said, ready to dive after him.

"No." Ginger bit down on her foot, dragging her back. "Don't let yourself be seen."

The gengar growled, and Cassius' eyes snapped open, glowing faintly in the dim light. He looked down at the cubone, then turned towards a faint sound from the bushes. "Keep them there, Godfather" he hissed in the pokemon language, getting to his feet and returning to the physical plain. Godfather glared at the bushes, giving all three of them an exceedingly Mean Look.

He picked up the little ground pokemon very carefully, then got to his feet and walked towards the bushes. "Show yourselves, please- if you want to find something out, try asking before you resort to evesdropping" he said calmly, still speaking in pokemon-speak.

Both female Pokemon panicked. Should they run? They definitely didn't trust the purple-haired trainer enough to come out. But he had Taro. What would he do to the poor baby if they decided to leave him alone? Then Ginger was struck with an idea.

Before Lulu knew what was happening, the Absol had pushed her out into the open. She stood there akwardly, staring at the ghastly sight that was Cassius. She heard Ginger's voice behind her. "Abs-absol absol abs-absol. Absol abs. (No one else is here. Just me.)" Lu rolled her eyes. Her friend could be so stupid sometimes.