Lavender Town's lucky trio

After a night's rest, Caitlin was back to her lively self.

This girl was practically the poster child for carefree obliviousness.

To speed up their journey, Gary and Caitlin had not disembarked at Maiden's Gorge.

Instead, they had come straight to Lavender Town, the ghostly little town less than five kilometers from Saffron City!

Looking at the dilapidated streets, the fog that lingered even in daylight, and the Spirit Tower looming faintly in the distance, Gary could not help twitching at the corner of his mouth.

"This is a fucking ghost town! Why the hell does it still officially count as a town?!"

Floating behind Gary, Caitlin looked around and rubbed her hands excitedly. "This is so thrilling~ It looks even more like a haunted house than Brontosaurus's bedroom!"

Gary could barely hold back his urge to complain. "What the hell? Why would a girl's bedroom look like a haunted house?! And aren't psychics supposed to hate Ghost-type Pokémon? Why are you so excited?"

"Who says psychics don't like ghosts?" With her hands behind her back, Caitlin floated nimbly from side to side around Gary. "Fundamentally, a soul is a collection of spiritual energy. Psychic powers and Ghost types have always been closely intertwined~

"That's why I get along so well with Brontosaurus, the Ghost-type member of the Elite Four.

"But neither of us likes that gloomy guy Grimsley. He uses Dark types~"

Gary scratched his head in bewilderment. So the existence of Dark types had united Unova's Psychic-type and Ghost-type Elite Four members against a common enemy?

Still, that did fit the Pokémon League's style of choosing its Elite Four. Unova's four members specialized in Fighting, Dark, Psychic, and Ghost types!

Fighting beat Dark, Dark beat Psychic and Ghost, Psychic and Ghost hurt each other... and Ghost beat Fighting~

It was not entirely rigorous, but it did form a complete loop of sorts. This structure ensured that even if one member of the Elite Four went rogue, someone else could effectively counter them.

"Weren't you heading to Saffron City? Why did we take a detour here?" Caitlin asked curiously as she followed Gary.

As Gary walked through the thick fog toward the Spirit Tower in the center of town, he explained to Caitlin, "Gastly are Ghost-type Pokémon, and their evolutionary line has tremendous potential.

"And as a resting place for souls, Lavender Town happens to be their habitat."

The two arrived at the Spirit Tower's entrance, where eerie, cackling laughter rang out.

Caitlin looked at Gary. "Let's go in, then!"

Gary smiled and shook his head. "Not so fast. I don't want to suddenly trip, get hit by a chandelier, or have my soul fly out of my body. Come on out, Eevee~"

Holding Eevee in his arms, Gary nodded. "All set!"

"Oh~ I get it. Your Eevee knows Detect, doesn't it?" Caitlin said in realization.

"Exactly~ Let's go play with the Gastly." With Eevee in his arms, Gary pushed open the Spirit Tower's doors.

Whoosh~ A chilling draft blew over them. Dressed lightly, Caitlin could not help shivering. "Ghost types are cute too, but this temperature is hard to take."

"Haha, look on the bright side. You wouldn't need air conditioning in summer." Gary chuckled.

The two entered the Spirit Tower's first floor, which served as the tower's banquet hall and offered a wide, unobstructed view.

Gary looked at the crack-covered floor, seriously suspecting that one step could send him straight down into the basement.

The basement where Gastly and the others lived was packed with recreational equipment, televisions, and the like...

"Caitlin, could you use your psychic powers to float us across, straight to that door over there?" Gary pointed at the dining room door at the far end of the hall.

"Mm-hmm. No need to go to all that trouble." Caitlin raised her little hand and snapped her fingers.

Whoosh! Gary felt the ground vanish beneath his feet. When he landed again, he was already in the dining room.

A long table large enough to seat dozens was covered with a clean tablecloth, with exquisite tableware arranged neatly on top.

The large chandelier overhead gleamed magnificently. Caitlin was momentarily speechless. "It's so tidy here... Even cleaner than Brontosaurus's place..."

Gary could not help wondering whether the Haunter line had a talent for housework.

At the Spirit Tower's entrance, the space where Gary and Caitlin had just stood suddenly warped. A Gastly appeared with its tongue sticking out, hovering there in bewilderment.

Who were those two? Did they just vanish with a whoosh? Were they ghosts?

Aah!!! Gastly's eyes nearly popped out in terror!

"Gastly~" Wait a minute. I'm the ghost~ Never mind, then... Relieved, Gastly thought it over, then began giggling at its own silliness.

Hum~ A Gengar rose through the floor, picked up an enormous white paper fan, and delivered a basic attack straight to Gastly.

Smack!! The blow sent Gastly flying far away, its mouth and eyes knocked askew.

"Ghastly~" A Haunter appeared beside Gengar, and the two pranksters doubled over with laughter again.

"Gengar~" Gengar pointed toward the dining room. Haunter nodded, and the two turned transparent again and floated over.

Caitlin sat on the dining table, swinging her little feet and rocking happily back and forth. "Young Master Mao, how are you going to call the Gastly out? It's been ages and they still haven't played any pranks. How boring~"

Gary flashed a mischievous grin and took out a ball-not a Poké Ball, but the kind of toy Eevee and Growlithe usually played with.

"Watch this~ Here goes!" Aiming toward the door, Gary threw a textbook fastball straight through.

"Vee!!" Eevee's eyes sparkled, its little legs kicking as it prepared to leap after it.

But suddenly, the space ahead distorted strangely, and Eevee's toy ball hung suspended in midair.

"Hehehe~ Ptooey!" Rolling its eyes, a Haunter stuck a hand down its throat and spat out the ball.

Seeing the wet ball on the floor, with even a strand of purple venom clinging to it, Eevee flew into a rage!

"Vee!" Its fur bristling, Eevee leaped up and fired a Shadow Ball at Haunter in midair!

"Ｏ(≧▽≦)Ｏ Heeheehee~" Thinking Eevee was playing with it, Haunter flickered and vanished again.

At the same time, the entire room suddenly began swaying from side to side, and the tableware flew into the air.

In a corner, Gengar covered its mouth and snickered. Scaring people was simply too much fun.

Aside from a few exceptionally vicious examples, such as Mimikyu with its Disguise, Spiritomb, and Trickster Dream Mismagius, these spiritual Pokémon that had lived for centuries generally did not hurt people at random.

The Gastly line in particular was the funniest of the bunch. They were the huskies of the ghost world: they loved scaring people and wrecking houses, thought in bizarre ways, and could not stand loneliness.

Although there were occasional cases of them hurting people when provoked, this line really was among the Ghost-type Pokémon least hostile toward humans. They were known as cute, sweet, airheaded ghosts...

Suddenly feeling playful, Caitlin's eyes shone bright blue. An ocean of psychic power immediately seized the entire dining table and its tableware, returning everything quietly to its original place, perfectly still.

Gengar froze mid-gesture, its arms and legs still flailing.

Gengar: ("▔□▔)? "Gengar?" Um... This has never failed before...

Watching Caitlin tease Gengar, Gary grinned too and clapped his hands. "Eevee, use Detect~ Show yourselves, lucky trio~"

Swish~ Two red beams swept from Eevee's eyes. Throughout the room, Gastly and Haunter, who had been pulling at their faces to make faces from a distance, instantly lost their hiding places.

Gengar crouched in a corner, drawing circles on the floor. The prank it had always been best at had actually failed~

Seeing Gary and Caitlin staring straight at them, the Gastly trio suddenly realized what had happened.

Oh crap, they spotted us!!

Haunter flew frantically around the room, grabbing Gastly as it prepared to make a quick getaway.

Gengar turned its head and found Eevee watching it with a very "friendly" gaze.

Chomp! Without the slightest hesitation, the little one used Bite, sinking its teeth straight into Gengar's backside.

"〒▽〒 Gengar!!" Gengar immediately ran all over the room in pain, dragging a determined Eevee behind its backside.

The carefree Gastly and Haunter actually still had time to stop and laugh at Gengar...

Taking advantage of the opening, Gary used Appraisal. Of the three Pokémon in the Gastly line, two were elite-level and one was Elite Four-level.

Sure enough, this Gengar's talent was far greater, allowing it to evolve naturally all the way into Gengar.

"All right, Eevee, let its backside go." Gary beckoned to Gengar.

Somewhat puzzled, Gengar nevertheless obediently dragged Eevee over to Gary.

"Don't be nervous. We did come here hoping to catch a Ghost-type Pokémon, but I don't want to fight you." Gary peeled Eevee off Gengar's backside.

Caitlin sat to one side, watching Gary's actions with interest.

After Gary saved Gengar, the ghosts realized that neither he nor Caitlin meant them any harm. The two even seemed pretty fun, so the trio gathered around with interest.

Gary took out some Pokémon Food and gave each ghost a portion, then clapped his hands. "It's still early. Take us to your Secret Base to play for a while. I think we can talk."

Hearing that Gary wanted to play with them, the three lively ghosts immediately flew around the room in delight, then tugged Gary and Caitlin toward the basement.

Caitlin looked curiously at Gary. He nodded gently. "It's fine. Their Secret Base is a lot of fun. Relax."

Caitlin tilted her head, then lay straight across Gengar's head. Carrying Caitlin atop its plump body, Gengar grinned with its big front teeth and happily led the way.