My Little Pokemon

by Alabenson

The Hauntering

“Dang it, just how far into the mountains is this road gonna take us?” Applejack said as she and Rarity continued to trudge up the steep mountain path.

“Celestia only knows, and we’ve been hiking for hours now,” Rarity groaned. “My poor feet are killing me, and its starting to get dark, too.”

“And fer all we know, Chrysalis and Sombra might still be chasin’ behind us,” Applejack added dourly. “Look, let’s get to the top of this next rise and see if we can spot someplace we can hunker down in until mornin’. Ah don’t much care fer the idea of stumblin’ around this path in the dark, we’d be liable to walk straight off a durn cliff.”

“Agreed. At this point I’d be happy to settle for a nice cave to sleep in.” As Rarity spoke, a distant rumble of thunder echoed in the air. “A nice, dry cave,” Rarity corrected herself as raindrops started to fall.

“Well, there ain’t nothin’ we can do about it fer now, at least this’ll make it harder fer those two to follow up,” Applejack said. As Applejack cleared the next rise in the path, however, her mood suddenly brightened considerably. “Rarity, get up here quick! Y’all ain’t gonna believe this!”

Hurrying to her friend’s side to see what was such cause for commotion, Rarity found herself looking down into a wide valley nestled within which were two buildings. The first was a massive Gothic mansion, which looked completely deserted. Next to it, and appearing far more welcoming, was a small Pokémon Center. “Oh thank Celestia!” Rarity exclaimed.

“Mah thoughts exactly. Ah can’t say the other place looks all that invitin’, but right now either place is a sight fer sore eyes,” Applejack said. With the wind and rain rapidly picking up, neither friend wanted to spend any more time out in the open then absolutely necessary, and so they quickly made their way into the valley.

Unfortunately, as they drew closer to the Pokémon Center it became increasingly apparent that the building was completely abandoned, and likely had been for some time. While the front door was mercifully unlocked, the interior was pitch dark. “Well, it’s still better than being out in the rain,” Rarity said as she stepped inside and activated her Pokédex’s flashlight function. The illumination offered little comfort, however, as the sight of the disheveled lobby made it all too clear that the center had likely been abandoned for a long time.

“As much as Ah hate to complain about a piece of good luck like findin’ this place, Ah still really wish this place was workin’,” Applejack said as she followed Rarity inside. “Mah Pokémon took one heck of a beatin’ fightin’ off Chrysalis and they could of used some help.”

“Mine didn’t fare much better against Sombra, I’m afraid,” Rarity said as she examined one of the lobby’s padded benches to see if it was clean enough to sit on. “Do you suppose there might be any medication left over in the storerooms here?”

“Ah doubt it, but it probably wouldn’t hurt to check anyway. It ain’t like we’ve got all that much to do while we wait out the storm,” Applejack replied. “Ah wonder why the hay they went to the trouble of buildin’ this place if they were just gonna abandon it like this?”

“Personally, I have to wonder why they went to the trouble of building it in the first place,” Rarity said. “I presume it must have something to do with the manor next door, but I can’t possibly fathom what the actual reason itself could be.”

“Beats the hay outta me. Ah’d figure anybody who’d want to live way out here probably wouldn’t be all that interested in havin’ company, so why the hay would they want a Pokémon Center next door? Ah mean, maybe the center opened first and they left ‘cause of it and that’s why the house is abandoned, but that still doesn’t explain why the center’s empty too or why it got built in the first place,” Applejack said.

“To be fair, this isn’t the first time we’ve found a center out in the middle of nowhere,” Rarity replied.

“Sure, but that was by a major road, so trainers would be goin’ by there all the time. But this place here’s way out in the middle of nowhere.” Rarity nodded her head as the two made their way into the back of the Pokémon Center to check its storerooms in hopes of finding something they could use. Unfortunately, as they had both predicted the shelves inside were completely bare, save for an accumulation of cobwebs and dust.

“In all fairness, now that I think about it I imagine even if there had been anything back here it would have likely been expired anyway,” Rarity said as they returned to the main lobby. “We’ll just have to make do with what we have in our backpacks for the time being. Thankfully we should still be stocked from out stopover in –” Rarity stopped short as the beam of her flashlight landed on the table in the middle of the Pokémon Center’s lobby. Neatly stacked on top of the table were two stacks of various medicines, each in front of one of the girl’s backpacks.

“Ah might be losin’ mah marbles a bit, but Ah’m pretty sure those weren’t there a minute ago,” Applejack said as she warily regarded the medicine. “Hello? Anybody there? If y’all are hidin’ would y’ mind comin’ out?”

“Applejack, I realize this might seem like a patently ridiculous theory, but do you think a ghost might have provided those?” Rarity said nervously.

“A ghost? Rarity, have y’all spit yer bit or somethin’? Y’all know there ain’t no such thing as ghosts,” Applejack said.

“Applejack, darling, in case you’ve forgotten we’ve been transformed into a pair of hairless apes whilst stranded in another world. Said world is filled with strange creatures with bizarre powers who fight each other for reasons I still don’t entirely understand. Furthermore, we are right at this moment hiding from a pair of villains who have somehow followed us to this world, one of whom I’m fairly certain was previously dead. For the time being, I feel a little flexibility with regards to what I believe may or may not be real is called for,” Rarity replied.

“Alright, alright, Ah see yer point,” Applejack conceded. “But, who the hay ever heard of a ghost that snuck around leavin’ medicine out fer folks?”

“A pleasantly helpful one? Perhaps it’s the ghost of a former nurse who haunts the center and tries to help the living ?” Rarity suggested hopefully. “In any event, I can’t say I see much benefit in looking a gift horse in the mouth, as the saying goes.”

“Ah hear what yer sayin’, and Ah don’t rightly disagree with y’all. That all said, Ah think it’d be fer the best if we stick together tonight. Somethin’ about his place definitely gives me the willies somethin’ fierce.”

*********

An hour or so later, Rarity was feeling considerably more positive about her and Applejack’s situation. Not only had Applejack succeeded in activating the center’s emergency lighting, but the center’s water heater was still working as well. Rarity had been quick to take advantage of this latter fact by taking a long, hot shower while Applejack made yet another attempt to locate whoever had left them the medications downstairs.

“I am never going to take being able to take a hot shower for granted ever again,” Rarity said as she wiped some of the condensation from the bathroom mirror. “I may even finally get around to redoing the master bathroom at Carousel Boutique when we get back to Equestria. I’ve been thinking about it for ages, but I think its time I finally got around to it.” As Rarity spoke her reflection nodded in agreement. “It’s just far too easy to…keep…procrastinating…” Rarity’s sentence slowly trailed off as she watched her reflection giggle and wave cheerfully at her. “I was just in the shower for too long, that’s it. With all the heat and humidity combined with what I went through in the graveyard my mind must be playing tricks on me. I’m just going to close my eyes and when I open them back up it will just be my normal reflection.” Rarity promptly shot her eyes as tightly as she could and took a deep breath to settle her nerves.

When Rarity opened her eyes again, her reflection was sporting a hideous rictus grin as it looked back at her with bulging, bloodshot eyes. As Rarity watched in horrified fascination her reflection jerked its head violently forward, causing its eyes to come tumbling out of their sockets into its hands. By the time the reflection started juggling the disembodied eyes Rarity’s mind finally caught up with what was happening, prompting her to flee the bathroom while screaming in terror. Tearing through the halls as fast as her legs could carry her, Rarity rushed into the bedroom she and Applejack had left their things in slammed the door behind her.

“What was – that couldn’t have – dear Celestia this place really is haunted!” Rarity gasped out. “I have to get dressed and then find Applejack so we can –” As Rarity turned around, she was treated to the sight of two of her outfits waltzing together in midair. Faced with yet another paranormal display, Rarity reacted in the only way her fear-wearied mind would allow, by collapsing to the ground in a dead faint.

*********

“Alright, whoever y’all are, ghost or no ghost Ah mean to find y’all and get to the bottom of what’s been goin’ on here,” Applejack said, more to herself than anyone else as she moved through the Pokémon Center’s ground floor. While Rarity seemed confident that whoever, or whatever, had left the medications for them was benevolent, at least enough to take advantage of the center’s shower facilities, Applejack wasn’t quite as trusting. “Somethin’ about this whole business seems off. Ah don’t care what Rarity says, Ah’m not buyin’ that this place is haunted quite yet, and that means somebody else is in here with us.”

As Applejack continued to wander down the hallways of the abandoned Pokémon Center, an unexplainable chill ran down her spine. A split second later, Applejack heard footsteps echo in the halls behind her along with the sound of a young girl giggling.

“Who the hay’s there?” Applejack yelled as she spun around to the sight of an empty hallway. “Hello? Are y’all the one who left us that medicine? ‘Cause if y’all are, Ah would like to thank y’all fer that, and Ah’d like to know if Ah could answer a few questions.”

As Applejack pondered where the noises she heard could have come from, her request was answered by the sounds of yet more footsteps and giggling, this time coming from further down the hallway she had been investigating. Turning around once again, however, Applejack found herself again staring at an empty hallway.

“What in tarnation?” After a few moments of staring into the gloom of the hallway, Applejack caught a glimpse of what looked like a small girl in a dress flitting down a side hall. “There y’all are! Now just stay put, Ah just wanna talk to y’all.” Applejack’s words seemingly fell on deaf ears, however, as when she turned the corner the girl had disappeared behind all she found was yet another empty hallway, this one terminating in a dead end. “Dagnabbit, Ah could of sworn Ah saw someone run back here. Now where the hay did that little girl run off to?” Applejack made her way down the hallway and tried opening some of the doors leading off of it, only to find them all securely locked. “Alright, Applejack, just stay calm and think about this fer a second. Y’all know y’ saw someone run down here and it ain’t like they could’ve just vanished or nothin’. Ah guess she could’ve ducked into one of these rooms and lock it behind her, but Ah feel like Ah’d have heard her do that.”

As Applejack stood there pondering where the mysterious girl might have gone, however, a bloodcurdling scream echoed out from upstairs.

“Rarity! Aw hay, what now?” Her pursuit momentarily forgotten, Applejack raced back through the center until she reached the room she and Rarity had been sharing. The door to the room was wide open and several of Rarity’s outfits lay crumpled on the floor, but there was no sigh of Rarity herself anywhere. “Dang it, what the hay is wrong with this place? Rarity? RARITY?” Applejack continued to call out to her friend with mounting panic until she finally drove her fist into the wall in frustration. “Why the hay did Ah have to go off like that and leave Rarity all alone up here? If Ah’d been here then maybe Ah could’ve – what in tarnation?” As Applejack blinked back her tears, she noticed several flakes of plaster drifting away from where her fist had collided with the wall, exposing a fine seam. “Now just what the hay do we have here? Looks like this goes from the top of the bunk beds all the way down to the floor. If Ah didn’t know any better, Ah’d say this looks like…some kind of secret passage! That must be where Rarity’s gone, and that’s probably how that little girl disappeared. There must’ve been somethin’ like this back in that hallway. Hmph, ‘haunted’ mah orange patootie, Ah knew there was a rational explanation fer all this. Once Ah get this thing open Ah should be able to find Rarity and then whoever’s behind all this is gonna have some explainin’ to do!”

Applejack spent the next several minutes searching all over the bed and nearby wall. Eventually, Applejack located a hidden latch beneath the bed which caused the entire bed and part of the wall itself to swing outward, revealing a hidden passageway leading down into the darkness. “Now we’re getting’ somewhere. Ah’m willin’ to bet Ah’m either gonna find Rarity at the end of this, or at least whoever took her. Either way, Ah’m gettin’ some answers as to just what the hay is up with this crazy place.” The hidden passage led to a spiral staircase which wound its way down to what Applejack guessed, going by its depth, was an underground passage of some kind. The passage itself was cramped and pitch dark, forcing Applejack to move slowly as she made her way through it, but eventually she reached a wooden panel at the tunnel’s end.

“Huh,” Applejack said as she knocked on the panel a few times, producing a deep, hollow sound. “Feels like this here’s a door or somethin’. Ah’m guessin’ Ah just need to give it a good shove…” With a grunt, Applejack placed her shoulder against the wood and pushed as hard as she could. At first the panel resisted her efforts, but after a few moments it suddenly swung open, causing Applejack to stumble forward and fall to the floor of the room beyond.

“Take this, you reprehensible – Applejack?” Looking up, Applejack found herself looking at Rarity who was standing above her dressed in an ornate ballgown and holding a fireplace poker as if she were about to bring it down on Applejack’s head.

“Yeah, it’s me! It’s me!” Applejack cried out while shielding her head. “Ah heard y’all scream and came lookin’ fer y’. What the hay happened? And what in Celestia’s name are y’all wearin’?”

“Oh, you mean this? I’m not really sure, to be honest, I had it on when I woke up after fainting. Lovely, isn’t it? It’s not one of mine, admittedly, and maroon usually isn’t my color, but the gold accents really do set off my hair.” Rarity paused as she felt Applejack’s gaze boring into her. “But that’s not quite what you’re asking, is it? The truth is, I saw a ghost!”

“A ghost?” Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, a ghost! It was awful, it made these horrific images appear in the bathroom mirror and then when I ran to our room I saw even more ghosts haunting my outfits. That’s when I fainted, and when I woke up I was here in this dress.” Rarity said.

“Ah’ve got a few questions about that, but Ah guess the first one would have to be where the hay is ‘here’ exactly, anyway?” Applejack said. Taking a moment to finally look around the room itself, Applejack saw that they were standing in a fancy but old-fashioned drawling room with a single door leading out of it.

“The door is locked tight, I tried it as soon as I woke up,” Rarity said as she noticed Applejack looking at the door.

“Well, that’s no big deal, we can just go back through the way Ah took to –” A load thunk followed by an ominous click cut Applejack off midsentence. Both Applejack and Rarity promptly spun around to see that the wall panel concealing the secret entrance had swung shut, leaving no visible trace of its existence. “Gah! Ah hate this place!” Applejack yelled in frustration before taking out one of her Poké Balls. “Alright, if this funhouse wants to play dirty then Ah’ve a mind to oblige. Ah was hopin’ to let Aron rest a bit longer, but Ah reckon he won’t have any trouble knockin’ down a door or two.”

“Applejack, I’m not entirely certain that’s such a wise idea. I have to imagine that whoever owns this place would take a dim view to our knocking down doors willy-nilly,” Rarity cautioned.

“Well they should of thought of that before lockin’ us in this durn funhouse, then! Ah aim to get the hay outta here and unless that door over there just suddenly opens up on its own –” Once again, Applejack found herself interrupted mid-sentence, this time by the creak of the room’s door as it swung open. “Y’know, Ah can’t think of too many things more frustratin’ than getting exactly what y’all want and still feelin’ like yer bein’ hornswoggled.”

“Well, ‘hornswoggled’ or not we don’t have very many options at the moment,” Rarity said.

“Ah hear what y’all’re sayin’. Let’s just hope this leads us someplace that ain’t tryin’ to drive us batty.” Rarity nodded in agreement as the two stepped into a windowless hallway with numerous doors leading off it on either side. Oddly, the walls of the hallway were lined with almost cloyingly cheerful paintings of clowns, parties and other subjects Pinkie Pie would doubtlessly have approved of. “Y’know, it probably says somethin’ about this place that these things might actually make everythin’ even creepier,” Applejack said as she looked at one painting depicting a clown juggling pies.

“Look on the bright side, Applejack, it could be far worse. At the moment I’ll happily take a bit of forced whimsy over the macabre. In the meantime, why don’t you help me see if any of these other doors are unlocked? Surely one of them must lead to a way out of this place,” Rarity said.

“Sounds like a plan. Here, why don’t Ah check the doors on this side of the hallway and y’all can –” Applejack had only looked away from the painting for a single moment, but when she looked back the image had changed. The pies the clown had previously been juggling had now fallen all over the ground, with one having even landed on the clown’s upturned face. “Ah’m just gonna pretend Ah didn’t see that and focus on gettin’ the hay out of here. It’s just some sort of trick paintin’, it doesn’t mean a dang thing. Heck, if Pinkie or Rainbow were here they’d probably be able to tell me how prank like that’d work.” Applejack continued to mutter to herself as she hastened to the nearest door and opened it, revealing a room lined floor to ceiling with rows of porcelain dolls. As Applejack stood in the doorway, all of the dolls slowly turned their heads in unison towards her, prompting Applejack to slam the door shut. “Nope!”

“A-Any luck on your side so far?” Looking over to her friend, Applejack could see Rarity with her back against a door, as if trying to hold it shut.

“Not yet, but it ain’t like they can all be horrible, right?” Applejack replied with one of the lease convincing laughs she had ever uttered while moving to the next door down. Opening it revealed a small parlor, in the center of which was a round table set with a full tea service. Unfortunately, seated at the table were a pair of skeletons, who were going through the motions of pouring and drinking tea. As Applejack watched, one of the skeletons turned towards the open door and gestured for her to join them, prompting her to quickly close the door again. “Rarity, please, fer the love of Celestia, tell me y’all’ve found somethin’, anythin’, that’ll help us get the hay out of here.”

“There’s nothing in here,” Rarity replied in a strangely dazed tone.

“At this point an empty room sounds like an improvement,” Applejack said. “Still, it ain’t gonna help us get out of here, either, so –”

“No, you don’t understand,” Rarity said sounding increasingly distressed. “There’s nothing in here.”

“Dang it, Rarity just what in tarnation are y’all on about?” Applejack said. As soon as she turned to face her friend, however, Applejack immediately saw what had Rarity so upset. Beyond the door Rarity had opened was a black void of infinite nothingness, stretching out into infinity in every direction. “Y’know what? Ah’m just gonna close this here door and we’re gonna forget we ever saw this.” As Applejack quietly guided Rarity away from the void and closed the door she maintained as calm a demeanor as possible so as not to upset her friend any further. When Applejack looked up, however, Applejack saw that the clown painting from earlier had changed yet again, its pie-covered subject now seemingly staring directly at her. In an instant, Applejack felt her composure nap as she let out a wild scream of frustration. “Ah can’t take it anymore! This place is drivin’ me out of mah durn mind! Ah’d rather spend a durn moon locked up in another one of Discord’s mazes than spend one more minute here!”

By the time Applejack was finished she was breathing heavily, and Rarity gave her a few moments to catch her breath before replying. “There now, feel any better now that you’ve let all that out?”

“Yeah, a little,” Applejack said as she took a deep breath. “Not gonna lie, though, Ah’m a little surprised y’all ain’t freakin’ out at all this too.”

“To be fair, if you weren’t, then I would,” Rarity admitted. “That said, panicking and breaking down aren’t going to help our situation in the slightest.”

“Yer right. We need to just keep cool and figure out a way out of this place. Ah think its safe to say these doors are a bust, but maybe there’s an exit at the end of this hallway.” Even as Applejack spoke, an eerie blue light, like some sort of ghostly candle, flickered into being at the far end of the hallway.

“Applejack…” Rarity said nervously.

“Ah see it, Rarity, and Ah mean to give it a piece of mah mind,” Applejack said as she started marching down the hall towards the light. “Alright y’ little varmint, y’all’ve had me and mah friend runnin’ silly all night long and Ah’ve had just about all Ah can take.” Rarity was forced to chase after her friend as Applejack broke into a run after the light, which always seemed to remain just far enough away to keep either friend from getting a clear view of it. Eventually, however, the light reached the far end of the hallway, illuminating a large set of double doors which it promptly vanished inside of. “Oh no y’all don’t, y’all ain’t gettin’ away from me that easy,” Applejack growled as she charged ahead and threw open the doors. Beyond the doors lay a massive, cavernous dining room with rows of columns along its sides. “Alright, where the hay are y’all? Come on out and stop hidin’ fer ponies sake!”

“Very well, I suppose we do you owe the two of you something of an apology,” a male voice with what Rarity would have described as a Trottingham accent said.

“Who the hay said that? Get out here and talk to us face to face!” Applejack demanded. As soon as Applejack spoke, however, a purplish cloud roughly shaped like an inverted triangle and sporting a sinister-looking face appeared in front of her.

“If I may be permitted to introduce myself, I am Wraithsworth, the butler of Chateau Fantome. I sincerely hope that your visit here hasn’t been too distressing. The chateau’s residents do have a tendency to become rather rambunctious, and while their pranks are meant to be in good fun I’m afraid they sometimes take things a bit too far.”

Rarity and Applejack stood staring at Wraithsworth in mute shock for several seconds as their minds struggled to catch up with what was happening, with Applejack being the first to recover. “Yer a Pokémon?”

“Yes, yes I am, as are the other present residents of the chateau,” Wraithsworth replied as numerous shapes began flitting about amid the shadows of the room’s ceiling. “The Chateau Fantome is a haven to Ghost-type Pokémon such as myself, you see. A place where we’re free to cavort and make merry amongst like-minded friends.”

“Ah, I see,” Rarity said as she began slowly inching her way to the side. “Well, there was no harm done in the end and we’d hate to be any more of a bother than we already have so if you’ll just excuse use we’ll be on our way.”

“Oh now, we couldn’t possibly turn the two of you out, not at this time of night and in weather like this,” Wraithsworth countered as he deftly interposed himself between Rarity and the exit, a peal of thunder punctuating his statement. “And besides, we of the Chateau haven’t had guests in oh so long you absolutely must star and rest for just a bit longer. I’m certain you’ll find our hospitality going forward will be…to die for.” The assembled Ghost Pokémon looking on all burst into hideous peals of screeching laughter at this last comment. “I’m sorry, that was just a touch of ghost humor there.”

“Aheheh, well we’re mighty appreciative of that and all, but mah friend’s right, we really should skedaddle before too long,” Applejack said.

“Nonsense, I won’t hear another word of it,” Wraithsworth replied holding up a disembodied purple hand. “You simple must stay here with us. We insist.”

Comments

[KnightMysterio]

Ghosty wanting you to stay. That's rarely a good thing.

[Xanderfox]

I could see some Excentric Noble Lady collect lots of Ghost pokemon and them never leavling thier dead mistress's home. Then the ghosts seeing Rarity looks like her and deciding to "Keep her", would explain the dress.

[Rhino23]

When’s the next chapter out