The ghosts' exaggerated touch caused Sidney fall back, screaming at the top of her voice. Ginger jumped about four feet into the air, and she darted behind a tree, cautiously peeking around the trunk and trembling uncontrollably. The female trainer recovered from the shock, jumping to her feet and taking on a fighting stance...but then she realized it was just Cassius' Haunter and Gengar. "What the?!"

"You jerks!" came a voice from behind the tree. Ginger was afriad to come out or the ghosts would see she was still shaking with fright.

Pandora and Godfather burst out laughing, the latter of the two rolling on the ground close to tears. Maiden chuckled a little too, relieved that nothing big had caught on fire, and even Cassius had to cover his mouth to prevent himself from laughing as much as the two pranksters.

Sidney was still very dazed from the scare, but her fearful expression shifted quickly to something else entirely. Her amber eyes seemed to widen in realization, the bewildered Blaziken beside her trying to read her facial features.

Cassius had turned about two shades more pale when Sidney first announced "ghost", and he took a deep, calming breath once the trainer ran off after the little thief. "Pandora, check the area for any other intruders" he said, checking his bag to see what was gone. "Make sure Sidney doesn't get lost, too. Haunter haunt haunter, haunter haunt haunter haunter (Cheeky little thing, stealing from the King of the Dead.)" Only a few candies and treats were gone, but the ghost trainer was decidedly miffed that the sableye had dared steal from him in the first place- reputations sure didn't travel the way they used to.

((Hehe. Sorry, I wasn't sure how a random ghost would treat Cassius, but the Sableye has no respect for anyone anyway, so I hope it doesn't affect the story much.))

"Sidney! No!" Ginger started to go after her, but stopped near the edge of the clearing. "Ghosts are bad! BAD! Are you listening?!" The jittery Absol sat down on her haunches for a moment, her mind racing as she tried to decide what to do. "I need to go after her. But I can't leave Mister Ghost here. But I also can't let Sidney get lost in the forest. The ghost will get her for sure."

The black and white Pokemon turned to Cassius. "It's decided. You're coming with me. I need to find Sidney and I can't leave you alone. Suzaku!" The Blaziken, who was staring off into the woods where his trainer had disappear, turned his face to Ginger. "It's too dark in there. We'll need your light. Besides, I'll feel better with you nearby," she admitted.

((It's not a problem- the ghosts in Hoenn definitely wouldn't recognize Cassius on sight, although most of 'em would know who he was if he introduced himself.))

Cassius sighed, but didn't really see a reason to argue. "Maiden, keep an eye on the fire please" he said, picking up his bag so no further uninvited dinner guests could help themselves. "Lead the way, Ginger" he said, staring into the rather dark forest, "but don't expect any sympathy if she decides to catch the little thief."

The Absol nodded, plunging into the spooky forest. Being a Pokemon of the night, she did fairly well navigating with what little moonlight penetrated the entwining branches overhead, her eyes aglow. Every now and then she'd cast nervous glances back, checking to see if the trainer was behaving himself. But as time passed, the trees grew denser, closer together, and soon the place was pitch black. "Uh, Suzaku. Little light?"

"Oh, right." He bunched his hands into fists, fire erupting from his wrists. Surprisingly, the area lit up just enough to see a slender figure a few yards away. "There you are!" Ginger grinned at her own luck, trotting up to her trainer.

"It went in there," Sidney said, pointing to a deep tunnel located under the roots of a giant tree. "But it's really dark in there." She bit her lip, wandering over to Cassius. "I want to catch it. I want a ghost Pokemon too."

"Pandora, see if you can grab that thief and pull him up" said Cassius, itching to do so himself but unable in his current form without things getting rather gory. "Sableyes have a hard time dematerializing- their dark element and their favorite food keep them rooted to this plane of existence. Chances are, he's still in there, and we've probably got him cornered."

Sidney twisted her sweaty hands, holding them up to her mouth. "Gin, when that Pokemon comes out...I want you to be ready to battle it. You're the best Pokemon for the job."

"Nuh-uh," the Absol stated, shaking her head again. "I refuse to have a ghost on the team. They're bad news." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "And did you see how he behaved? If he doesn't even respect the almighty Dead King guy over here..." She nodded in Cassius' direction. "...what makes you think he'll obey you?"

She felt Suzaku kick her rear from behind, a small yelp escaping her. "Do it because you're Sidney's best friend. Isn't that the only reason she needs?"

Pandora happily obliged, sticking one disembodied hand down the hole. Within a minute he had fished up the little ghost, tossing him a few feet from the hole so it couldn't run away. Cassius glared coldly at the sableye, wishing he could just give the ghost a frightening talking to and be done with it, but Sidney did want a ghost pokemon, and having a trainer would probably do the thief some good.

The little Pokemon rolled to his feet with a quiet growl, mismatched eyes focused on the group. The Sableye was now in a fighting spirit and it charged the trainers and their Pokemon. "Now, Ginger!" The Absol hesistated, then stepped up to take on the advancing demon.

But in a strange twist of events, the Sableye darted under her legs, winding its way around and lunging at Pandora, trying to Astonish the ghost Pokemon. It was the Haunter who dragged it out of its hole after all, so the Sableye decided his fight was with the undead intruder.

Pandora winced at the blow, but the level difference between the pair was enough that the attack didn't do him too much harm. Cassius opened his mouth to tell Pandora to attack back, but he paused. It certainly wouldn't be fair if he weakened the sableye and Sidney caught him, after all. He thought for a moment, then took Pandora's pokeball and tossed it to Sidney. "I think the little thief is dead set on fighting Pan, but you're the one who wants to catch him. Do you mind taking orders from another trainer for this fight, Pandora?"

The haunter grinned, "looks like we get to be teammates for a bit here, Ginger" he said, turning to Sidney and waiting for instructions.

Ginger's head drooped. "This just gets better and better, doesn't it?" was her sarcastic remark.

Sidney caught the pokeball, looking down at the device. Her? Battle with a gym leader's Pokemon? The same Pokemon that took out her Absol? She gave Cassius a grateful smile. "Sure thing!"

"Absol, absol sol?! (Sidney, what now?!)" Ginger begged, her shimmering eyes following the dark ghost as it basically ran circles around her and Pandora.

"Use Rain Dance, Gin." The Pokemon obeyed, performing a dance different from the Swords Dance she used during their last battle. Sidney couldn't see the sky from their location, but she could hear the rumble of thunder, then the dampness of a light drizzle. The trainer didn't know all of Pandora's attacks, but she went with her gut feelings. "Pan, Thunder attack!"

The gymleader smiled- the human had good instincts. Pandora raised one hand to the sky, calling forth a rapid series of thunderbolt attacks. The rainstorm above made it an easy matter to manipulate the electric energy, aiming accurately even against such a speedy little opponent.

The Sableye let out a high-pitched screech as it was nearly fried by Pandora's electric attacks. Sidney was afriad that maybe she had done an overkill, but the ghost Pokemon twitched a bit, doing its best to get back up.

"Great job, Pan!" She didn't realize the Haunter's true power, even though she had battled against him once before. But there was one final move she wanted Pandora to use to guarantee a successful capture. "Hypnosis!" she commanded the ghost.

Pandora grinned, and his eyes turned dark. Violet purple swirls spun in his eyes in a mesmerizing rhythm, and they glowed faintly in the minimal light as he locked eyes with the little ghost.

The exhausted Sableye conked out immediately, its large, sparkling eyes losing their lively glow. It just laid there on the ground, snoring silently. Sidney fetched an empty ball from her bag, tossing it at the snoozing Pokemon. It bounced off its head, the Pokemon grunting before being sucked into the machine. The ball jiggled slightly, then clicked to signal it was locked, disappearing as it was sent to Sidney's storage box.

"Yes! Yes! We did it!" the trainer cheered, jumping into the air several times.

"Woo hoo," said Ginger unenthusiastically.

"I'm so happy!" She threw her arms around Cassius' neck, giving him a tight hug. "Thank yooou!" And then the insight of her actions finally hit her. "Uh, whoops," she said with an uneasy laugh, releasing the other trainer. "Sorry about that. Here's Pandora's pokeball back."

Cassius took the pokeball back wordlessly as Pandora snickered. "We'd better get back to the camp- Maiden will be wondering where we are, and it's getting late. Congratulations on your new pokemon" he said, peering through the darkness at the faint light of the campfire in the distance.

"I still have to name him," she informed Cassius while walking back, Suzaku keeping the path lit for them. Ginger trailed behind, wincing as a few drops of rain fell on her nose. This was the only reason why she hated that move. Why hadn't Sidney taught her Sunny Day to reverse the effects? But this made her worry about the fire. Hopefully, it was strong enough to survive the gentle rain.

"I'd suggest 'Thief', but if you're going to try and train him out of that it might not be helpful" said Cassius, still a little miffed by the newly captured ghost's previous pilfering. As they approached the camp, it became apparent Maiden had enlisted Godfather's help in keeping the fire lit, and despite the drizzle (which she seemed to be enjoying) it was burning brightly.

perhaps my thread idea wasn't that bad after all

(See poll in Fanworks section)

"Congrats on catching that Sableye, Sidney.", Mike said, trying to sound enthusiastic about it, but it really made no big difference to him. Right now, he was worried about Lighthouse, who had been gone for an abnomal amonut of time.

"Well, I have an entire day to decide on a name."

Ginger wandered over to Maiden. "We caught the little creep," she told the other Pokemon. "I guess someone has to teach that guy a lesson."

"Oh, I'm sorry about the rain," Sidney appologized, bowing slightly. "I should've taken the fire into consideration. I wasn't thinking."

"That's wonderful to hear" said Maiden, "and the rain is very lovely too" she seemed sort of dazed, and Pandora floated a little closer to her, wondering if he should ask what was wrong. The Misdreavus turned away a little, staring off into the woods. "The… the thunder trainer's large pokemon has not been back in some time" she muttered by way of explanation. Pandora turned his head down, but didn't press the matter.

"It should die down in a moment anyways" said Cassius just as the rain slowed to a mere trickle. "And it worked very well in the fight, so no harm done."

((I have to leave in a few minutes, and I won't be back for several hours, dunno if I'll be able to play much tonight ))

Mike sighed; "Lighthouse is really starting to worry me, I'm going to go look for him; I hope nothing bad has happened to him...". And with that, he got up from the ground, and set off in the woods in the same direction Lighthouse had taken earlier.