Day 14 of the Johto journey. Cloudy.
Reiji woke up at the inn and got ready to leave Ecruteak City. His next stop was the lake with the crystal, where he planned to deal with Zapdos's condition.
After feeding his Pokémon breakfast in batches, he checked out of the inn and boarded a bus headed for Mahogany Town. At least this way, he could take in the scenery along the road.
He also released Umbreon and kept it with him on the bus. If anything happened, Umbreon could protect him in plain sight.
"Umbreon, don't fall asleep. Stay sharp. If any stranger gets too close, warn me."
"Mmm." Umbreon looked around the bus. The passengers were all sitting in their seats, and it had already memorized their scents.
Reiji stroked Umbreon's smooth fur as he watched the road ahead. This route passed through a mountain called Mt. Mortar, home to one of Johto's largest cave systems. Plenty of Rock-type Pokémon lived there.
Mt. Mortar had one of Johto's largest cave systems, so the area was full of wild Pokémon: Diglett and Geodude in the rocky ground, Rattata and Zubat in the caves, and Magikarp, Goldeen, and other Water types in the rivers.
But the most interesting Pokémon in these mountains was a Ninetales.
Lokoko, the Ninetales fox spirit that had once trapped Ash, Misty, and Brock in an illusion in the anime. It had lived for two hundred years, could speak to humans, had powerful Psychic abilities, and was an expert with illusions.
Older Pokémon like that were practically spirits already. It reminded Reiji of the Gastly from Maiden's Peak, another illusion expert, and the Slowking from Shamouti Island.
That said, Reiji had no plan to get involved with Lokoko. Its master had lived two hundred years ago, and the animators had clearly reused Brock's design, which was why it had latched onto Ash's group in the first place. Reiji and the other passengers were just random people passing through. There was no reason for Ninetales to bother them.
He watched the scenery outside for a few hours before it started to get old. Even good scenery lost its charm if he stared at it for too long.
Once he felt sleepy, he told Umbreon to keep an eye on the strangers and not let anyone approach him. Then he leaned back in his seat and fell asleep.
Gengar was still in his shadow, so safety was not a real concern. Umbreon was only the guard people could see. If something serious happened, Gengar was the one that mattered.
After Reiji fell asleep, thick fog rolled in outside the bus windows, followed by a light drizzle. Umbreon glanced out once, then settled quietly in Reiji's arms and yawned.
What it did not know was that the bus had already left the mountain road and was heading into a valley deep inside Mt. Mortar. The driver had no idea his vision had been taken over by an illusion.
When the bus stopped, the half-asleep passengers were all confused. Then they stepped outside and realized they had not arrived at Mahogany Town at all.
They were deep in the mountains.
And in front of them stood an old mansion with lights glowing inside.
"Wait… don't tell me this is the Mt. Mortar horror story?"
Some of the passengers turned pale the moment they saw the grand-looking mansion. There had long been rumors about hikers vanishing on Mt. Mortar. Some disappeared for days. Some for a week. Then, somehow, they would return alive.
Whenever people asked what they had found in the mountains, the survivors usually refused to talk. Eventually, a few broke down and said there was a place in the mountains that could grant any wish. The price was that they came back thinner, weaker, and drained.
Once that rumor spread, more and more tourists came looking for it. Officer Jenny had no choice but to block the mountain paths to keep people from getting lost or dying out here.
Of course, warnings never stopped people who were determined to get themselves killed. The ones who slipped past the blockade all claimed they had found an old mansion in the mountains, but never in the same place twice.
Every one of them saw the mansion. Every one of them saw the Ninetales fox spirit that appeared with it. And every one of them had their wish granted inside.
In reality, they had only fallen into an illusion. After going days without food or water, of course they came out weak and thin.
Over time, the story turned into a full horror legend. Mt. Mortar was said to be home to a fox spirit that granted wishes. Anyone whose wish came true had to pay with their life, their soul drained away by Ninetales. That was why the survivors came back so weak.
If a person grew too greedy, the fox spirit would drain them dry and throw away the husk.
The truth was simpler. People stayed trapped in the illusion too long and starved to death.
Lokoko had probably tried to save some of them. But once people became addicted to the illusion, pulling them out was not easy. Wealth, luxury, beautiful women, delicious food, fast cars — things like that were harder to quit than cigarettes.
The longer they stayed inside, the more their senses drowned in pleasure, until their bodies finally broke down. Then they ended up as dried-out corpses and were tossed aside.
Lokoko was a Pokémon, not a human. Even after two hundred years, it was still a Pokémon. It did not share human values or human common sense, and it would not necessarily care whether those people lived or died.
As for the illusions themselves, they cost it almost nothing. For a two-hundred-year-old Ninetales, that bit of mental power was barely a drop in the bucket.
"You mean the Ninetales spirit?" a girl asked, swallowing hard. "The one that steals souls and dries people out?"
"It might not be that scary," a chubby young man said with a foolish grin. His face was round and soft with fat, and he wore circular glasses. "I heard the fox spirit can grant wishes. Any wish."
"Ugh, gross. If you want to stay, stay by yourself. I'm going back down the mountain."
The girl saw the fat young man lick his lips while looking her over and quickly moved away from him, urging the driver to leave.
Plenty of others wanted to go too: a family of three, elderly couples, other Trainers like Reiji, and passengers visiting relatives. Reiji got back on the bus with them. He had no interest in playing around with a fox's tricks.
The driver had probably been influenced by Ninetales's Psychic power. Reiji planned to have Gengar block its illusion control so they could reach Mahogany Town safely.
Click. Click.
The driver got back in, inserted the key, and turned it.
The engine would not start.
That was annoying.
"The bus won't start. If I can't fix it, we'll have to call a tow truck."
Under everyone's stare, the driver got out to check the bus. He tried again several times, but the engine still refused to turn over. The whole situation became awkward fast.
Reiji knew Lokoko was behind it. A two-hundred-year-old fox with powerful mental strength and at least Elite Four-tier power could handle a busload of ordinary people easily. Making a bus stall was nothing.
In fact, the bus had not stalled at all. The driver had already started it. But under the illusion, everyone saw and heard a bus that refused to start.
Everyone except Reiji.
"That can't be right. Let me try."
One father refused to believe it and climbed into the driver's seat himself. After several failed attempts, his frustration grew. His child was with him. He absolutely could not spend the night out here.
Drip. Drip.
At that moment, the drizzle suddenly turned into heavy rain. Everyone rushed back onto the bus to hide from it.
Terrible timing.
Creeeak.
While everyone else sheltered from the rain, the chubby young man from earlier did the opposite. Still caught up in his fantasies, he walked to the mansion's eaves and pushed open the red gate.
The old wooden door groaned as it opened. The moment he saw that it could open, he hurried inside, excitement all over his face.
Inside stood a blue-haired girl in a kimono, ready to receive him.
"There's someone in there? Is that the fox spirit? She doesn't look like one. She just looks like a little girl."
The people on the bus held their breath when the mansion gate opened. Then they saw the fat young man walk in willingly, be greeted warmly, and follow the girl deeper inside. Nothing seemed wrong.
But when the short-haired girl looked toward the bus, a chill ran through them. Some were so frightened they did not dare meet her eyes.
The girl was not looking at those ordinary passengers.
Her attention was on Reiji, the one person her illusion had not affected from the start.
"Awooo…"
The sky darkened.
Green, hungry eyes appeared in the forest around the bus, one pair after another.
Predators of the woods.
A pack of wolves.
"Damn it. Wolves. The bus might not hold if they attack."
A middle-aged man stared at the green eyes in the forest. They looked like predators staring down prey.
He could not sit still anymore. The sky was getting darker. Wolves surrounded them. Behind them was that black doorway and a horror story none of them wanted to test.
The choice was simple: be torn apart by wolves, or risk the mansion.
In the end, he chose the mansion. At least the wolves did not dare approach it, which meant it was probably safer than staying out here.
The man made the decision quickly, took his wife and child, and ran toward the mansion. Once he moved, the others followed. One by one, people got off the bus and fled inside.
Given the choice between being ripped apart now and maybe getting drained by the fox spirit later, everyone knew which one bought them more time.
What they failed to understand was that if even the wolves refused to approach the mansion, then whatever was inside was probably worse than the wolves.
From start to finish, Reiji sat on the bus and watched the whole performance.
Not everything was fake. The rain was probably Rain Dance, and the "wolves" were actually Mightyena driven over by Ninetales. The point was to force the passengers into the mansion.
The only fake part was the mansion itself. It was not as grand as everyone saw. There was no bright red gate, no high walls, no rich old estate. In reality, it was a ruined mansion that had been weathering away for two hundred years.
Once everyone else had gone inside, Reiji could only sigh.
He really did not want to get involved with this fox, but apparently the fox spirit had decided to bait him anyway and had dragged the whole bus into it.
He got off the bus and had Gengar release just a little bit of pressure. The Mightyena in the forest tucked their tails and fled at once. They were pathetic. Not one of them dared bare its teeth.
Reiji was about to step through the gate and see what the fox wanted, but the gate suddenly slammed shut.
Clearly, he was not welcome.
Lokoko must have sensed Gengar's Elite Four-tier aura. It did not want him inside. He was the one variable in this entire group.
"Ninetales, if you don't want this place wrecked, come out and talk."
Reiji called toward the gate. He knew Ninetales could hear him, but it ignored him.
Apparently, it did not care much about the mansion.
"I know where your master is."
The red gate flew open at once. A blast of wind rushed out, and a Ninetales appeared in the doorway, along with the illusion of the blue-haired girl in a kimono.
This Ninetales could use telepathy and create illusions to speak with humans.
A two-hundred-year-old Ninetales really was something.
"Human, you're strong. You saw through my illusion, so I had no intention of receiving you." Lokoko's expression was cold. "But you mentioned my master. I hope you're not lying."
She missed him.
She had missed him for two hundred years.
"Look at this mansion. Two hundred years ago, your master must have come from a powerful local family. If you go to the local library and check the historical records, you should be able to find out what happened to him. But…"
Reiji did not finish.
In this world, human lifespans were still roughly around a hundred years. Two hundred years had passed. Lokoko's master was almost certainly gone.
"I know." Lokoko leaned weakly against the gate. "I know."
She had known for a long time. She had simply refused to admit it.
"Yeah, I figured you must have realized that already." Reiji thought of Brock. "But I know where your master's descendant is."
Lokoko's dim eyes lit up again.
Even if she could not see her master, she still wanted to see his descendant.
"You know where his descendant is?"
"Does this person look like him? His name is Brock."
Reiji searched through his backpack and pulled out a Kanto magazine with Gym information. He found the Pewter Gym page and showed her Brock's photo.
"Brock? Master? Brock…" The moment Lokoko saw Brock's face, her mental power surged out of control.
She was too excited.
"You need to calm down. Do you want me to take you to him, or do you want to go on your own?"
Under Gengar's protection, Reiji yawned, put the magazine away, and slipped it back into his bag. Lokoko's outburst could not hurt him.
He had no intention of catching this fox spirit. Its heart had already flown straight to Brock. At most, he could talk it into helping him as a temporary fighter, then hand its Poké Ball to Brock when he returned to the Orange Archipelago and met him.
Right now, Brock should be at Professor Ivy's lab on Valencia Island, south of Mikan Island and not far from it.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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