((Time skip back to the campsite?))

"Good idea," Sidney said, still lying on the grass. "Someone help me up?" Suzaku wandered over, offering his hand. She took it and he dragged her up onto her feet. "Thanks."

"What time is it anyway?" the Absol asked. "I'll be furious if it's already morning."

"Gonzo?" Sidney called.

The Ninjask buzzed up to her. "Yesyesyes?"

"Fly ahead and let Maiden know we're coming, please."

"Rogerrogerroger!" he said with a quick salute, shooting off into the sky.

"The rest of you, you did very good. But it's time to return to your pokeballs and rest."

((Time skip sounds good, sure.))

((I just posted, so it's up to you or Sneaky_Sneasel.))

((Gryphflame, she has mad time-skipping skillz.))

Maiden was waiting anxiously at the edge of the campsite as the group arrived back. She'd tended to the fire while they were gone, and even set up sleeping bags from the stuff they'd left behind. "The fast buggy one told me what happened- is Pandora alright?" she asked Cassius immediately, sounding very worried.

"He's alright, just a little drained from his possession- I'm sure he can tell you the whole story in the morning" replied Cassius.

((Speaking of time, I will return shortly- foof.

Edit: Nevermind, I shall find foof later.))

((Actually, I have to "foof". I'm eatng dinner soon, and I highly doubt I'll have any time after that. Please, and I'm begging both of you, please don't get too far without me!))

Suzaku gently set Michael down on his sleeping bag, and then carefully tucked him in.

"Aww, how sweet," Ginger said using her best baby tone. "Are you going to kiss him good night too?"

"Shh! He's sleeping," he told her.

"Tsk. Fine."

"So tired." Sidney yawned, sitting back down where she was when Cassius started his ghost story. Now she felt like she had just lived through one herself.

Cassius muttered a quick thank you to Maiden for setting the beds up, then found his sleeping bag and lay down. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow, without so much as a thought to putting out the fire or making sure someone was awake to keep watch.

"I'll keep watch tonight" said Maiden quietly, "and wake you all up if those ghosts come back."

Sidney thanked Suzaku and Gonzo for their services before returning them to their pokeballs. Ginger curled up beside her trainer, asleep in a matter of seconds. But the ninja didn't go to her sleeping bag. She dug through her belongings, searching for something, and she found it. She removed a old, tattered book. It was so large that it must've taken up half of her bag. She also took out a pen and a CD player, putting the headphones over her ears and flipping open the ancient book. She then proceeded to scribble, probably jotting down what all had occured that day...or who knows what.

((Time skip. I might poof soon. Got arting and animating to do. ^_~))

Cassius didn't wake up early the next morning as he usually did. When the sun started to peek through the trees, he was still sleeping soundly, and Maiden just didn't have the heart to wake him. She did, however, dig through his bag, fixing herself a quick breakfast and laying out a few bitter-tasting healing herbs for her trainer's benefit.

((Wee, looks like I got enough time for 1 or 2 posts!))

Mike just woke up himself, and said a quick good morning to Maiden before digging through his backpack for a large amount of assorted Berries for breakfast.

"Morning, gentlemen," Sidney said with a smile, stuffing the book out of sight. Had she been writing all night? "I see you slept late. But at least we're all in one piece. No unexpected ambushes."

Ginger yawned, rolling onto her back and stretching her legs straight into the air. "Do I smell breakfast?" She sniffed the air, turning back over onto her stomach. "Smells...interesting. What is it?"

The sunlight, combined with the noise of the others, finally awakened Cassius. For a moment, he tried to ignore where he was and that he should be getting up and moving on, but then he remembered he was supposed to be the responsible one now, and finally dragged himself out of bed. "Thank you, Maiden" he said, finding the herbal breakfast she'd left for him. They were too bitter even for a ghost, but he bit into a reddish-orange root anyways.

Mike quickly let all of his Pokemon out, and gave each one a pair of Berries. "Yeah, that'll be a ghost story for the ages; The Story of the Psycho Ghosts Who Sacirifice For No Good Reason." A pause, "Ok, so that was a lame title, but still..."

Lighthouse slowly walked over to Ginger, "Well, I didn't get the chance to say it before, so thank you."

"If this journey becomes a story, maybe that's what we should title it." Sidney seemed to find this funny and started laughing. "But at least it has a happy ending, unlike the story where the King of the Dead possesses the young man."

"I dunno. According to Cassius, that dude was pretty evil." Ginger knew that Sidney didn't understand the Pokemon language, so why did she bother. "So maybe it was a happy ending. Still a depressing tale though."

The Absol then looked up at Lighthouse. "Hey, no problem. Sorry for making fun of you veggie fetish. But you know that you have to be my slave now, right?" She stuck out her tongue to show her playful nature.

"I think I agree with Ginger, there. The King of the Dead had a pretty good reason for possessing the trainer and staying there- no pokemon would confine themselves to a human body for no reason at all" said Cassius quietly. Inside, he felt quite guilty. I'll tell them when we reach Fortree, but if I told them now it would just make them frightened about traveling with me, and there's only one road from here to Fortree.

"Right, after you called me "stupid" as well, no thanks.", Lighthouse grinned.

Mike laughed at this as well, "I didn't think it would be such a good title, but hey. I'm just glad the Curse attack doesn't affect humans."


((I'll be gone for the rest of today, so don't post too much, PLEASE!))

"And Perish Song too. I was wondering why Ginger bothered to trade for Lighthouse. It was because you were human and already unconcious." She rolled up her sleeping bag, which was unused. "How's Pandora?" she asked the gym leader. "He seemed really drained last night."

"If Michael's up and about, Pandora should be fine too" said Cassius, taking the haunter's pokeball from his belt and pressing the release button. Pandora was, indeed, looking pretty cheerful, having had an excellent night's rest since his possession.

((Time skip.))

The sun was positioned directly overhead, which could only mean it was midday. They had long left ghost country, now surrounded by sweeping hills and long grass. Sidney paused on top of a river bridge, lifting a hand to shield the light from her eyes so she could squint into the distance. "I see it!" she told the others, looking back. She pointed. "See? It's the top of trees. That's Fortree City. We're almost there."

Ginger sniffed the ground, moving ahead of the others. "This place...smells..." She gasped. "Oh, my gosh! This is my old romphing ground!" She laughed out loud. "I don't believe it!" The Absol dove into a gathering of grass, rolling around playfully. Sidney couldn't help but smile.

"Hey, check this out!" Ginger came out with something grasped in her teeth. She set it down on the ground before the other trainers and their Pokemon. "Remember that rock I told you that looked like a Pikachu head?" The rock was almost round, except for two pointed 'ears' projecting out of one side. "See? A Pikachu!"

Cassius was a little lost in thought, and barely registered that Ginger was being cheerful. "I think I can almost see the temple from here- it's pretty tall" he said, pointing out a green roof visible even above the treetops. "It's still under construction in some places, but it's open to visitors now, or it will be tomorrow for the festival."

"It's been so long since I've decided to visit that I don't think they had even started contruction when I was here last." The building was surrounded by trees, so she tried to imagine what the rest of it must look like, but it was near impossible to tell. "So what are you thinking about?" she asked Cassius. "You seem very...distracted. Excited about the festival and all?"

Ginger went to retrieve the Gengar plushie that had fallen off while she was messing around. She then came back and grabbed her rock, carrying it with her.

"Ah, something like that" said Cassius. "There… there's something I need to tell you and Michael when we get to Fortree. Ginger already knows about it, but it's not fair for me to keep it from the humans, even after Brutus showed up and… well, just don't let me forget."

Pandora, who had been tagging along outside his pokeball, rolled his eyes. "Jeez, always with the guilt trips. You're a ghost, you're supposed to be the subject of horror stories everywhere, and you're starting to sound like someone out of a bad soap opera."

"Hmm." Sidney wrinkled her brow, wondering what Cassius could be talking about. She decided to change the subject. "Don't forget you promised to help me out with my Tyranitar. We'll have to make another stop at the center. Then we'll swing by my parents' place so I can drop off some stuff. Knowing them, they probably won't be there. They get involved in everything that goes on in the city, and I'm sure the tower is no exception."

"Hey, make Sidney upset and feel the wrath of The Claw." Ginger lifted her paw, displaying a single claw for Cassius. "You've already had one close encounter with The Claw and his brothers. Don't push your luck. As you can see, I've given up on the idea that you're evil. You proved that after helping us out back at the cave."