"Ugh… Where… where am I?"
Conway, who had just been pulled back by Dusknoir, finally came to his senses after that eerie little girl vanished. His head still spinning, he glanced to his side—only to be horrified by the sight of a towering cliff that dropped into a bottomless abyss.
Even more chilling was the lingering coldness in the air, as if that sinister presence hadn't quite dispersed. It made his skin crawl.
"Aaah! Why am I here? Wait, that eerie little girl—wasn't she supposed to be my teammate?! Aaah! A G-G-Ghost!"
Conway suddenly caught sight of Dusknoir beside him. With yellow and gray accents on its body and that glowing red eye, especially in the gloom of the cliffside, it was nothing short of terrifying.
Just as he finished speaking, Conway passed out again from sheer fright.
"Huuuh?"
Dusknoir tilted its head in confusion, not expecting this kind of reaction. It awkwardly hovered down, trying to wake him up.
That was when Gengar arrived—followed closely by Darkrai, Ash, Dawn, and Anabel.
"What are you doing!?"
Dawn, who had once teamed up with Conway in the tag battle back in Hearthome City, immediately recognized him. Seeing Conway unconscious and Dusknoir looming over him, she instinctively shouted in alarm.
Dusknoir, realizing they had misunderstood, shook its head frantically in denial.
"Dawn, wait! You've got it wrong," Ash quickly intervened. "Dusknoir was helping Conway —it wasn't hurting him. Let's hear what it has to say."
Dusknoir, who had originally been planning to leave, stopped and began explaining itself. Anabel interpreted its words for everyone.
Conway, who had just regained consciousness again, listened carefully.
Only now did he realize… the teammate he thought he had been traveling with was something else entirely—something unclean, unnatural. Something… ghostly.
He looked at Dusknoir with deep gratitude.
Dusknoir sheepishly scratched the back of its head.
But then—Dusknoir suddenly turned toward a direction in the forest. Its eye narrowed. It let out a few warning sounds before bolting off at full speed.
"It's sensed something again!" Ash exclaimed. "That eerie girl must've reappeared. Gengar, you felt it too, didn't you?"
Gengar nodded, then flew off like a shadow into the woods. Ash and the others wasted no time chasing after it.
Deep in the forest…
A Shinx stood motionless, its eyes dull and lifeless.
Standing before it was that pale, short-haired girl—her skin white as death, her laughter sharp and bone-chilling. She waved toward Shinx, beckoning it forward.
Beyond the girl, a dark cave loomed. It was gaping wide, its pitch-black interior like a demon's maw that devoured all light.
"Hehehe… come on… come play…"
Shinx remained completely unaware of the danger.
This Shinx belonged to a student named Angie, who had also attended Professor Rowan's lecture. Angie was a Pokémon Caretaker.
Right now, she was panicking—her Shinx had vanished.
Following its trail, she eventually arrived at the mountaintop ruins.
These ruins had been under repair, but after a construction accident, work had been halted. No one had returned since.
When Angie got there, she finally spotted her Shinx—being led toward the cave by that same creepy little girl.
"Shinx! What are you doing here? And who is that girl?!"
Angie looked straight at her.
But the girl didn't respond. Instead, she stepped right up to the cave's edge.
Suddenly, a powerful pulling force erupted from within!
Shinx, lightweight as it was, was yanked toward the abyss!
Angie lunged forward, catching it just in time—but the pull was now dragging her in too.
It felt like the very mountain was trying to swallow her whole.
Angie was terrified.
"Huaaa!"
A figure suddenly swooped down from the sky—Dusknoir!
It grabbed Angie and stabbed its roots deep into the ground, anchoring them in place, refusing to be dragged in.
"Hehehe… come on now… let's all play…"
The girl slowly opened her eyes.
They were blood red—like pools of thick, dripping blood. Monstrous. Deranged.
"Huuuuuh!"
Dusknoir snarled and whipped around—launching a Shadow Ball straight at her!
BOOM!
The Shadow Ball struck the girl head-on, blasting her backward—right into the black cave behind her.
The pull stopped immediately.
Ash and the others finally caught up.
"Angie! Are you alright?"
Conway recognized her right away. Both had been attending the same lecture.
"I—I'm okay… that thing was terrifying… my Shinx, it was acting all weird too, but the moment that girl disappeared, it snapped out of it…"
She glanced fearfully at the cave, her body trembling.
She was just a young girl—being scared like this was only natural.
Dawn and Anabel huddled behind Ash, both of them too afraid to look directly at the cave.
Piplup, meanwhile, strutted right up to the entrance.
"Piplup! Pipipi~!"
It puffed up its tiny chest, trying to act brave. See, Dawn? There's nothing to be afraid of. Everything's fine. Leave it to me.
"Pikachu! Pika!"
But Pikachu frowned. Ash had already shown serious concern about this cave, and Pikachu could feel it too—there was something wrong about this place. Something dark. Something ancient.
Piplup didn't sense it. It simply wasn't strong enough.
Pikachu rushed forward, trying to pull Piplup back.
And that was when it happened.
A sudden change!
Whoooosh—!
Without warning, the previously dormant cave surged with energy—unleashing a pulling force even stronger than before!
Colors swirled at the cave's entrance—five, six, maybe more, like the shifting surface of some monstrous, sentient liquid.
Then—she appeared again.
The pale eerie little girl reemerged—her hands stretched out from the darkness. She grabbed Piplup in an instant—yanking it violently toward the cave!
"Pika!!"
Pikachu jumped forward, clutching onto Piplup, trying to stop it. But the force was too strong!
"Piplup!"
Dawn's fear shattered the moment she saw her partner in danger. Forgetting everything else, she sprinted forward, grabbing hold of Piplup's other flipper!
But stopping wasn't so easy.
In a heartbeat—Piplup was halfway through the entrance.
Dawn's hands were already being pulled inside!
Anabel, seeing this, didn't hesitate—her bond with Dawn too strong. She ran after her friend and latched on.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The vortex raged.
And just like that—Piplup, Pikachu, Dawn, and Anabel were all swallowed whole by the cave!
"Kukukuku… come and play… kukukuku…"
From deep within the darkness, came the sound of bones cracking—grating, grinding, hideous.
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T/N:
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