((Time skip?))

((Yup.))

"Wow. It's a much livelier place than I remembered." Indeed, people cluttered the streets of Melville Town, most on their way to work in the mines. The place still lived up to its spooky standards. Some of the houses looked old and disheveled, and a small one was barred off by an iron fence with a sign that read 'Haunted House, do not enter'. Sidney spotted a single store selling ghost pokedolls in its glass window. She was tempted to buy the large Gengar one, just to show off to her travel companions, but she remembered from past experiences that boys didn't care for such things. Her last doll, which was a Pichu, had had its head ripped off by one. "There's the Pokecenter up ahead and to the left," she instructed.

Cassius couldn't help but look longingly at the haunted house, and he spared a cute little haunter doll in a window a second glance too. The whole town made him feel right at home, and he was so busy trying to take in all the sights that he almost missed the pokemon center when the found it. "Oh my, they sell fresh nightshade in the grocery store. I've never found that outside a specialty shop before!" he gasped, making a mental note to do some serious shopping before they left.

Sidney's Absol stayed close to the trainers. This place made her feel as nervous as a Persian in a room full of rockingchairs.

The trainer was tickled by how much interest Cassius showed in the town. She had yet to see him this excited about anything during their time together.

Sidney stepped through the automatic doors, Ginger trailing behind. The Absol paused to look back at Cassius, before following her trainer inside.

The ghost trainer tried his best to maintain his usual calm, mysterious, spooky air about him, but with the delicious smells of bitter ghost pokemon cuisine wafting in from the restaurant next to the center, it was difficult for him to keep his mind on the task at hand. "Fortree isn't too much further, is it?" he asked, trying to sound disinterested as he handed Nurse Joy his six pokeballs. "I'm sure we could stick around for lunch before moving on and still make it in time for the festival."

"Sounds like a plan," Sidney replied, distracted with the computer consol that was the high-tech Pokemon Storage System. She had already returned Taro and Lulu to their pokeballs, and Ginger sat patiently at her feet, trying to see the screen from her angle. "Fortree isn't very far at all," the trainer said, storing a few Pokemon. "Probably another day's travel. But I think my Pokemon are sick of berries anyway," she added, attatching the new lineup of Pokemon to her belt.

"Excellent!" said Cassius, just a little too quickly. "Pandora and the others would simply die if they missed a dining opportunity like this." The rather frightening laugh he gave when he realized the pun in this somewhat restored his usual spooky attitude, although the kid-in-a-candy-store shine in his eyes remained. "I need to stock up on travel supplies too" he added, picking up his pokemon again from the quick electronic healing machine. "The miners must use ghost pokemon to help them explore the old tunnels safely- that would explain why this place is so well suited to ghost trainers."

Ginger stared at Cassius like he had gone completely bonkers, but chose to keep her trap shut...for now. Start smarting off now and she'd be grounded to her pokeball for a week for sure.

"I need to purchase some things as well. I used up my last Revive on Ginger...and berry substitutes for that are hard to find." The young girl turned to Cassius. "Aren't Sableyes native to mines and caverns? They have those big, gem-like eyes after all."

"Yup, that's where they find their favorite food- gemstones. Its an expensive diet for a pokemon, but luckily they can survive on common stones and quarts, with the occasional treat. They're also fond of the usual ghost delicacies- deadly nightshade, monkshood root, poison hemlock, marshmallows- that sort of thing" replied Cassius, his mouth watering a little at the thought.

"Well, I've never tasted any of those except for mashmallows...and I know those are delicious. So if ghost Pokemon like them, I guess it wouldn't hurt for me to try some." She walked around Cassius, heading towards the door. "But maybe I'll be safe and let you order for me."

"The other three are, ah, an acquired taste" he admitted, "and you have to build up a resistance to the poisons in them. I'm sure they serve human food around here too, though." Cassius followed her out the door, looking across the street at the pokemart and grocery store. "I'm all out of revives, and I used my last potion this morning- I guess that should be our first stop before lunch."

"This morning?" She looked at Cassius with an expression of concern on her face. "What happened? Did Godfather injure himself training?" It was hard to imagine a tough Pokemon like that getting an injury bad enough to be treated with a potion.

Ginger managed to keep a straight face. Honestly, she didn't feel bad at all about hurting Cassius. Maybe if she annoyed him enough he'd leave them all alone.

"But I don't really know a lot about the ghost types. Hey!" Her eyes lit up. "Maybe I'll get lucky and find a ghost Pokemon. I don't have one on my team yet."

Cassius steered clear of her first question, not quite sure how he could explain using a pokemon potion on his own wounds. "If you don't find one around here, the new shrine in Fortree should be a magnet to pokemon spirits- you can certainly find one somewhere. No team can really be complete without one, after all." He looked pointedly at Ginger as he said that, stretching his formerly injured hand out.

Ginger stopped, shaking her head furiously. "What's wrong, girl?" Sidney asked, perplexed by her friend's odd behavior.

"Abs-absol absol abs-absol absol abs! (We are not having a ghost Pokemon on the team!)"

Sidney frowned. "Bad idea?" The Absol just sighed, moving ahead of the pair. The sooner they found a store or a restaurant, the better. She didn't feel comfortable out in the open.

"I think she'd need awhile to warm up to an undead teammate" said Cassius, severely understating her complaints. "Has she always been this way with ghost pokemon?" he asked, looking a little worried.

"Yes, actually," she answered matter-of-factly. "But I don't know where it came from. Must of started before she joined my family.

Ginger meandered to the Pokemart, picking a rather soft spot to sit down and wait for the two trainer. "Absol abs-absol absol abs. (Hurry up, you guys.) Abs-absol abs. (Stock up already.)"

((Need to leave early again tonight.))

((I'm s'posed to be going to bed early tonight, so that works out ))

"We're coming" said Cassius, talking to Ginger. He ran a little to catch up to the dark pokemon, entering the shop with a cautious eye on her in case she decided to pounce or something.

The store was, indeed, well stocked in supplies for ghost pokemon and their trainers, as well as the usual potions and revivers. Cassius gathered the requisite supplies first, then turned his attention to the food supplies.

((I keep missing too much >.<!))

Mike bought several supplies as well, since he was getting low on those. He finally saw Cassius and Sidney, "Thanks for waitintg for me guys."

Sidney, who had been scanning the isles, spotted Michael and wandered up to him. "Sorry," she said with an uneasy laugh. "We couldn't find you, so we figured we'd meet up with you here eventually."

After the trainers had entered the store, Ginger, surprisingly, did not choose to follow Sidney. The suspcious Absol was tailing Cassius instead. "Yeah, that's right," she said with a nasty grin. "I've got my eye on you, ghost. Better watch your back or I'll show Sidney what you really are."

She stopped, looking at a small, purple bottle on the second shelf. "Oh, what's this? It must be poison! Sure you don't want to buy any? Maybe you could slip some into Sidney's food when she's not looking!"

"That's a potion, you dolt, and I

"Well, alright.", he said. "I got my supplies, you have yours, and I'm assuming Cassius has his?", he asked. "Cuz, I'm ready to get to Fortree."

"We're going to be staying here for lunch" said Cassius, overhearing Mike's comments. "We'll have plenty of time to get to Fortree before the festival, anyways, and the local specialties smell absolutely delicious." He had filled a small shopping basket with potions, a few revives, and a rather large selection of poisonous ghost treats and food.

"Oh, alrighty then; lunch it is.", Mike agreed, not wanting to agrrivate him in any way. "I'm staring to get hungry anyway."

"Pfft! Well, I hope you choke on it. All of you." She stuck her tongue out at Cassius, then went to go join Sidney.

"But some of the stuff is poisonous...or so Cassius has told me," Sidney told Michael, snagging a few Pokemon candies and a large Gengar plushie, similar to the one she saw on the way in. If she couldn't get a ghost Pokemon of her own, a doll was the next best thing. She could just add it to her collection once they reached Fortree.