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Ch. 5 The Zephyr's Curse

The next morning, they all got up and had a wonderful breakfast thanks to the newly acquired berries from the farm that were delivered that morning.

And after their adventure on the farm, not only Mightyena was sitting a little taller at the table. Grookey was smiling easily, even laughing along with Electrike and the Bite Pokemon as they conversed. He still ducked his head and blushed when any mention was made of his show of bravery, but it was plain to see that incident had given him at least a little more confidence in himself.

After breakfast, they all said good bye to Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny who both thanked them again for their help in saving the town and solving the mystery.

Justin waved good bye as they all walked on together meeting Raikou on the outskirts waiting to join them. "Shall we be off then?" he asked, "And Electrike, have you done any training with your father in the past?"

"Some, yeah." Electrike looked over to the human after greeting Raikou with a nuzzle. "He's taught me a few moves, and stuff to defend myself."

"Can't ever be too careful." Raikou nodded, then grinned. "And don't let his size fool you, the tyke here can pack a real punch when he wants to."

"Daaad, I'm not a tyke anymore. I've got a trainer now and everything. "Electrike huffed, but still smiled and giggled when the larger 'mon dipped down to nuzzle him in return.

"I know, kid, I know." The Thunder Pokemon chuckled, then looked to Justin. "Anyway, yeah, I'm ready to head out whenever you guys are."

"Well, Nurse Joy said the next gym should be just down the path and right by the river," said Justin, "Maybe I can earn my first badge there."

"Well then, what're we waiting for?" Electrike yipped in excitement. "Let's go!"

"Yeah!" Mightyena grinned, his tail wagging. "Not gonna become stronger just standing here, are we?"

"Mmhm." Even Grookey nodded in agreement from atop the Bite Pokemon's back.

"Then let's get going," said Justin as he mounted Suicune patting his lover's neck.

Once Electrike, Mightyena, and Grookey were recalled into their balls, the group set off, Raikou and Suicune dashing down the road together with Justin atop the latter's back. The Thunder and Aurora Pokémon seemed to enjoy running side-by-side, one occasionally glancing over and giving the other a smirk while pulling ahead.

It didn't take them any time at all to reach their destination as they distracted one another, the time seemingly passing in the blink of an eye. However, that distraction kept them from noticing what was going on ahead of them.

A human and floatzel running down the road together in a blind panic, a Litten clinging tightly to the latter's shoulders with its forelegs "RUN AWAY, RUN AWAY!"

"Wha-?" Raikou looked ahead just in time to catch sight of the trio, his eyes widening in surprise. Suicune was able to veer off in time, but the Thunder Pokémon was not; with a grunt of mixed pain and confusion, he and the human slammed into one another, both man and Pokémon sent tumbling end over end.

"Woah..." The young man groaned, staring up at the sky as he found himself suddenly on his back. "Anyone get the number of that bus…?"

Justin gasped as he and Suicune rushed over. The human jumped down to rush over to the other teen. “Are you okay?" he asked as he helped the long haired boy sit up, “What in the world were you running away from anyway?"

"Uh..." The long-haired young man blinked, and then his eyes widened. "Oh, yeah!" He grabbed onto Justin's shoulders. "Don't go that way, dude. There's a ghost!"

"A... ghost...?" Suicune, who was in the middle of helping Raikou to his feet, blinked. "Another one?"

"Blake!" Justin and the other young man -- Blake -- looked over to see the floatzel and litten rushing over, the latter jumping into Blake's arms while the former stopped at his trainer's side. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" The floatzel poked and prodded at the young man.

"Hey, hey, chill, dudes." Blake seemed to immediately forget his panic again, stroking the litten's back while giving the floatzel a few reassuring pats. "Took gnarlier spills than that out on the waves. I'm fine."

"You're not from the Kanto region, are you?" asked Justin, "Judging how you're dressed for the beach and with your Litten, I'd say you're from the Alolan Region, right?"

"Hm?" Blake looked up to Justin, and then grinned. "Right on, dude. Here, lemme get myself picked up so we can do a meet-in-greet, yeah?" He got to his feet, brushing himself off, and turned the Litten around in his arms. "I'm Blake, and this here's Crash 'n Blaze." He nodded to his floatzel, who smiled and lifted a paw in greeting, and then the Litten, who looked from Justin to Suicune to Raikou and back again. "Came over here to Kanto to see what the whole gym sitch over here is like, but that gym over there, man..." He shook his head

"I see." Raikou stepped forward and did his best to give Blake a four-legged version of a bow. "Well, then, I'm sorry for giving you that kind of greeting, then, human."

Blake stared silently at Raikou for a moment, then looked to Justin. "Dude, I think that bump might've knocked something loose. Could'a sworn your, uh... your Pokémon there just talked."

"Raikou's not mine... Suicune here's my boyfriend," said Justin snuggling up to Suicune and then summoned the others, "And here's the rest of my team: Grookey, Mightyena and Electrike."

"Boyfriend?" Again, Blake blinked, but Justin noticed a bit of a blush on the other young man's cheeks. He cleared his throat and nodded. "Well, good to meet you and all your little guys, dude! Got one more on my team, but, uh... bringin' him out on land would be problematic."

"You mean he's a water type?" asked Justin and looked to Suicune, "Maybe we could provide a pool or something... That is if Mightyena doesn't mind a little extra digging exercise."

"Sure!" Mightyena barked in confirmation. "Leave it to me!"

"You'd do that?" Blake chuckled. "Thanks, dude. I know Crunch'd really appreciate it."

"It's no trouble at all, really." Suicune gave the other young human a nod and a brief smile.

"...Seriously, dude, are they talkin', or am I just hearin' things?" While Blake looked to Justin, confused, Raikou and Suicune shared a look and a brief laugh.

"We're not exactly... your bog-standard Pokémon." Suicune stretched himself. "Let us get that pool for... Crunch... dug, and then we can elaborate, yes?"

"Uh..." Blake could only nod. "Sounds cool, dude..."

Soon, Mightyena was digging over time but he was tired out and wanted to quit. "I'll give you six extra oran berries for supper," said Justin but when Mightyena remained sitting, the boy sighed, "Alright, a dozen berries." That's when Mightyena continued his work and sure enough, they had made themselves a pool big enough to be a pond.

"Need any help filling it up?" Blake's floatzel -- Crash -- moved up beside Suicune as the Aurora Pokémon readied himself to fill up the pond. "Doesn't feel right just sitting on my tail and letting you guys do all the work."

"It's appreciated, to be sure." Suicune nodded. "But please, consider this an apology for my brother running over your trainer earlier. It's no trouble at all."

"Mm, alright. If you're sure..."

Suicune focused, and with a single Surf, managed to fill the entire pond with fresh, clean water in a single moment. He chuckled, glanced to Crash, and tipped the floatzel a wink. "I'm sure."

"Now that we're here, I'm sure we could all use a cool off from all that work," said Justin and looked to Blake, "So, wanna show your whole team now?"

"Ah, yeah!" Blake nodded with a grin. Then he tossed the one Pokéball he'd been keeping on his belt. "Come on out 'n meet our new pals, Crunch!"

With a flash of red light, a shape dropped into the pool, swimming around under the surface for a bit. Then a pointed fin broke the surface, followed by a toothy maw framed by a pair of glaring red eyes.

"I-is..." Grookey gulped. "Is that a... S-S-Sharpedo...?"

The Sharpedo's gaze focused on the grass monkey, then moved to Raikou and Suicune, before turning to Justin, Mightyena, and Electrike. Then...

"Heya!" Crunch bobbed in the water. "Good to meet you! I'm Crunch, like Blakey said. Did I hear someone mention taking a dip? Don't be shy, come on in -- the water's fine!" He dived down a bit and then hopped up. "Seriously, did you fill this pool, Crash? It feels really, really good! Nice and cool!"

Crash chuckled. "Nah, nah, that was our new friend here Suicune." He nodded to the Aurora Pokémon, who gave Crunch a nod in return.

"Oh, cool, well, thank you! Like I said, it feels really nice~!"

"You don't know much about Legendary types, do you?" asked Justin to Crunch, "But you're welcome." Soon, everyone was in the water... Even Grookey joined in when Justin offered to hold his hand and Crash offered him a ride.

Grookey seemed a lot more confident on Crash's back, even smiling and laughing as the floatzel got into a brief race with Crunch, the two darting around the pool while Blake and Justin watched. And indeed, despite his appearance, Crunch seemed overjoyed to share the water with everyone, chattering away to Suicune, Electrike, and Raikou while swimming around.

"So... What's this about a ghost earlier?" asked Justin looking to a shirtless, muscular Blake next to him.

"Hm?" Blake looked over; indeed, he was pretty well-built, assumedly from surfing in Alola, as he'd mentioned to Justin while they were settling into the water together. And though he had some scarring on his sun-tanned chest and torso -- the result of having an affectionate Sharpedo on the team, he'd said with a laugh while Crunch had moved in for a brief cuddle -- he was quite the handsome young man. "Oh, right! The ghost at the gym..."

"Wait... There's a ghost at a gym?" asked Justin, "You mean the Gym Leader deals with ghost types?" "No," said Blaze coming over, "That Gym Leader IS the ghost! The ghost of Henry Zephyr, the original founder of the gym."

"Yeah. Apparently, the old dude kicked it like a year or so ago, and ever since the place has been haunted. Local word's that it's been real bad lately, to the point people can barely even step foot in there." Blake scratched at his cheek. "We... kind of didn't believe them, but after the things we saw in there..."

"What things?" asked Justin as everyone gathered round to listen. "Well, there used to be a Gym Leader there," said Crash, "But the ghost has made it so bad that they might have to sell it to some local real estate company." "They can't do that," said Justin shocked, "I think it's high time we took a look ourselves. What do you guys think?" He looked to Suicune, Raikou and the others.

"I suppose we have become errant ghost-hunters." Suicune chuckled and nodded. "Why not?"

"We'll kick this ghost's butt, just like we did with the ones at the berry farm." Electrike barked in excitement, while Mightyena and even Grookey nodded in agreement.

Blake sighed heavily, then looked to his team with a sheepish grin. "What do you think, guys? You wanna help Justin and his team with some ghost hunting?"

"Sure!" Crash nodded with a broad smile.

"Yeah." Blaze nodded, then ducked his head with a smile. "I like them, they're nice. So..."

"Well, I don't know if there's an actual ghost, but it sure does sound like quite the mystery," said Justin, "Lead the way, Blake." When the surfer trainer had summoned Crunch back into his ball along with Crash and Blaze, Justin hung back to Raikou and whispered, "You think he's your type?"

"Hm? Wha?" Raikou blinked, as though only just noticing Justin had been talking; the Thunder Pokemon's eyes had remained on Blake all throughout their time in the pool, and he'd been staying uncharacteristically quiet ever since the surfer had stripped off his shirt. When he saw the look on Justin's face, however, he began to blush. "Uh, I dunno what you're talking about."

"Don't play dumb with me," chuckled Justin, "I know a smitten Pokémon when I see one. And your brother can sense your emotions too." He patted Raikou's head. "Once we solve this haunted gym mystery, then we'll discuss you and Blake."

When they arrived, there was a young lady talking to a well dressed man who had a Persian by his side. The woman had a Machoke by her side and a Lucario. "I told you before that the gym is not for sale," she said. "Fine," growled the man, "But you have two days to find someone to battle or train or else I'm taking over." He got into his car and drove away. A young man came up with a Gallade by his side. "Hi," called Justin as he came up.

"Hm?" The young woman turned, catching sight of Justin, Blake, and their teams as they approached. "Oh, hello! Are you guys trainers?"

The Gallade stared at Blake for a long moment, and then turned to the young man by the woman's side as its eyes briefly flashed. The young man's brow furrowed, and he looked from Blake to the Pokémon and back again.

"Yes, I'm Justin and this is Blake," he said, "We heard that you had a ghost problem at your gym." "You mean my ancestor," said the girl grimly. "Your ancestor?" asked Justin confused as they were all invited inside.

"The old gym leader, Henry Zephyr." The girl's companion spoke up. "I'm Frank Wade, one of the trainers here at the gym. And this is Jenny, the gym leader." He looked to Blake. "And... you're the guy who broke in just a while ago, aren't you?"

"Uh..." Blake sheepishly rubbed a hand on the back of his head. "Sorry, dude. I heard about the ghost and wanted to check it for myself, but no one was around to let me in."

"Well, better you than that pompous idiot Fletcher." Jenny snorted. "He's out of his mind if he thinks I'd sell my family's gym, curse or no curse."

"A curse?" asked Justin surprised and looked to Blake after hearing about the break in, "Maybe you should tell us the whole story about how this all started."

"Alright." Jenny sighed and nodded, gesturing for Justin and Blake to follow. Then she and Frank led the pair through the battling arena and down a hallway to the gym leader's office.

There they found a large desk with a massive portrait of a scowling old man behind it.

"That's him, Granddaddy Hank himself." Jenny snorted, glaring at the portrait as she made her way around the desk to sit down. Frank grabbed a few chairs for Justin and Blake, setting them down in front of the desk. "He built this gym with his own two hands, to hear him tell of it, and remained undefeated for years. At least, until my mom came along and challenged him for the right to marry my dad. He was so angry about the loss that he cursed his own family name, swearing that no battles would take place in his gym unless a Zephyr could win."

"Well that seems highly unreasonable," said Justin, "And besides, losing means you can learn from your mistakes so as to become a better person. After all, what's a battle without winning or losing? It'll just be endless and if you always win, you won't be able to learn anything."

"Tell that to old Henry," Jenny jabbed a thumb over her shoulder at the portrait. "Anyway, he kicked it and my dad took over the gym, and then dad retired a few months ago and I took over. That's about when the hauntings started." She scowled. "Guess he doesn't consider me a Zephyr..."

Frank gave the pair an apologetic look. "After her parents married, Henry Zephyr kind of... estranged himself from the family."

"Well, perhaps we can change that," said Justin, "Blake, you were wanting to challenge the gym leader right? Well, here's your chance. Plus, I want to meet this so-called ghost."

"Yeah!" Blake grinned, then looked over to Jenny and Frank with a sheepish smile. "Sorry again about the break-in, dudes. I really did just wanna check out the ghost sitch and all."

"Well, no harm, no foul. And..." Jenny's brow furrowed. "You'd actually be doing me a big favor."

"Yeah, we kinda overheard that... Fletcher dude while we were walking up." Blake nodded.

"And we'd be honored to help you become ghost free," said Justin.

A little while later, Blake and Jenny were on the battle arena with Frank being the referee.

"Alright!" Frank nodded to both of the fighters, “We'll have a two-on-two battle. Switching out is permitted, but once a Pokémon faints, they're out of the fight. The last one standing will be the winner, unless your opponent forfeits." He looked to Blake. "Challenger, send out your first Pokémon!"

"It's all you, Blaze!" The litten hopped out of Blake's arms, readying himself.

But just as Jenny was about to send out her Pokémon, the lights began flickering until they all went out and then appeared a glowing green man with tattered clothes and glowing red eyes. "How dare you set foot into this gym!" he roared, "You shall all pay with your lives!" Grookey let out a scream as he made a run for the door.

The scowl returned to Jenny's face as she stepped forward. "Why are you doing this?! Can't you just rest in peace like a grandpa who isn't a self-absorbed prick?!" She sent out the Pokémon whose ball she had grabbed, a Medicham.

"You are not worthy of the title of gym leader... Nor are you worthy to be called a Zephyr!" snarled the ghost as he thrust his hand forward and the Medicham was sent back against the wall knocking it out cold. The ghost cackled evilly as Justin ran to Jenny's side. "We have to get out of here!" he yelled as seats flew out of the stands and began swirling around the cackling ghost along with many other things that nearly hit the group. "DUCK!" yelled Raikou as he bounded to Blake and pinned him against the ground just as a big score board fell off the wall and swooped down towards the two nearly missing them.

Blake grunted, then looked up at Raikou, panting -- and blushing a bit when he noticed the position they were in. “Th-thanks..."

Raikou nodded, looking right back into the human's eyes. "A-any time…"

Justin was helping Jenny with Medicham when the ghost picked up Frank and vanished cackling with everything falling down. "Frank!" gasped Jenny. "Leave this gym, or else these two challengers will be next!" cackled the ghost's voice. Grookey was hiding behind a trashcan when he peeked out. "We'll be happy to go," he whimpered.

Raikou moved away, allowing Blake to get up. The human was quick to look around, finding Blaze -- a little shaken, himself, but unhurt. Together, the three made their way over to Justin and Jenny. "Are you guys okay?"

"We're alright," said Justin, "But now we know there's something definitely going on here. And we're going to get to the bottom of it." Jenny looked surprised. "So, you're not afraid of my grandfather's ghost?" she asked. "Are you kidding?" asked Justin, "We don't scare that easily." "I do," whimpered Grookey when Justin knelt down and picked him up stroking the grass monkey's back.

"These dudes have dealt with stuff like this before. And I'm not gonna back down from something like this either, 'specially if he's kidnapping dudes." Blake nodded with a grin to Jenny. From his arms, Blaze looked over and gave Grookey a reassuring nod and smile.

"I think we'd stand a better chance if we search the gym for clues," said Justin, "Suicune and the rest of my team will search the offices. Blake, you and Raikou check out the battle arena."

Raikou nodded, though Justin could see a little bit of a blush under the fur on the big cat's cheeks. Blake, meanwhile, gave Justin a grin and a thumbs-up. "Sounds like a plan, captain!"

Soon, they all split up. Justin and Suicune walked down the hall with Mightyena and Electrike sniffing around while Grookey clung to Justin. "Grookey? Are you feeling okay?" asked the young trainer as he stroked the grass monkey's back.

"I-I'm okay." The grass monkey nodded, but still kept his gaze downcast. "Just keeping on the lookout for the... the..." He gulped. "The gh-gh-ghost..."

"Hey, don't worry." Mightyena looked up at his fellow team member. "We've dealt with this stuff before, like Blake said. It'll be alright!"

"Yeah!" Electrike nodded, barking.

"And you're much braver than you think," said Justin seeing that Grookey was still scared and kissed the top of his head, "Just know that we'll always be here for you."

That made the grass monkey relax; he even gave Justin a small smile and a nod.

Electrike perked up, sniffing the air. "Hey... I think I smell that guy the ghost took!"

"Really?" asked Justin as they looked behind a trashcan to find an old sock, "Phew! It may not be him but it probably belongs to him."

He looked up to see a door with the letters "Henry Zephyr". "This must be Old man Zephyr's office," said Justin as he opened the door and coughed as a cloud of dust stirred up.

"Indeed." Suicune nodded, and the other Pokémon followed the human into the room.

It looked like it hadn't been entered in years; there was dust everywhere, and the faint smell of mold lingering in the air.

Justin looked around and saw a picture frame with Henry with a young boy and a Riolu. "This must be Jenny's father," said Justin and looked down further on the desk to see a recently cleaned book. He picked it up and flipped through the pages. "It's a diary," he said as he looked through the last entry and gasped, "This is definitely a clue for later."

Meanwhile, Raikou and Blake were walking down the hall with Blaze and Crash by their side. "So, what brought you here to this region?" asked the Thunder Pokémon.

The human shrugged with a broad, carefree grin. "Just wanted to get away from home for a while, you know? Head out and see the world and... all that."

"Mmhm." Crash nodded. "Did the island challenge this past summer, and, well... Blaze wanted to see what it was like in other regions. So here we are."

"It's been really fun!" Blaze's tail flicked merrily as he trotted along between the floatzel and the human.

But then they could hear a moan coming from all around them. Suddenly, a light green glow appeared from behind and there stood the ghost with his red eyes glowing brightly. "LEAVE NOW!" he roared making Blake and his Pokémon scream in fright before making a run for it.

"Ah, man, not this again...!"

"Blake!" Raikou trotted at the human's side, keeping pace with the sprinting young man. "Grab Blaze and hop on my back! You too, Crash!"

"Huh...?!"

"Quickly!"

"R-right...!" Blaze ducked down to grab up the yowling Litten, then grabbed onto Raikou's mane to haul himself onto the Thunder Pokemon's back. Crash made a leap for it, his trainer catching him as well.

But then the ghost was catching up cackling as he chased them down the halls and then in and out of several office doors.

Raikou stayed ahead of the pursuing specter, dodging and weaving through the corridors. Crash clung tight to the Thunder Pokemon, and Blake clung to him, Raikou, and Blaze.

They kept on running till they bumped into Justin and Suicune. "What's going on, guys?" he asked as he sat up, but then the ghost appeared before them. "This is your last warning!" it said, "Leave now or be doomed!" With that, it disappeared.

"That's going on." Blake turned from where the ghost had disappeared to Justin and Suicune. "Hope you guys had some more luck than we did, cuz I don't think that dude's gonna give up the ghost easily."

"Pun not intended?" Crash brushed himself off, and helped Blaze to right himself as well.

"...Do what now?" Blake just blinked, looking at the floatzel in confusion.

"Don't worry about it."

"Well, we found this diary," said Justin as he flipped through the pages, "Apparently Henry was feeling regretful for having abandoned his own family and it's said that he had his will hidden somewhere around this gym. The last entry says 'If you find the heart to face me, then you can find the will'." Justin hummed in thought. "Sounds like a riddle," he said.

Blake hummed in thought, brow furrowed. "Sounds to me like we just gotta kick old Henry-dude's non-corporeal ass to get the will."

With a quiet chuckle, Crash shook his head. "I... don't think it'd be that simple."

"'Face me'... Could it be talking about the portrait?" asked Justin.

"Perhaps." Suicune's brow furrowed."

"Um..." Grookey spoke up, looking at the others hesitantly. “Wh- when that Jenny lady took us to her office, her desk chair was facing away from the picture, right? Maybe if we, you know... t-turn it around...?"

"Grookey... You're a genius!" said Justin as he picked up the grass monkey, "Come on, let's go!"

The group made their way back towards Jenny's office, keeping an eye out for the ghost of Henry all the while; Raikou and Suicune on either side of Blake and Justin, shielding the humans and the other Pokémon from any potential threats.

At last, they arrived and started to investigate the portrait. They turned the chair to face it, but nothing happened. Justin then grabbed a stool to step up to the portrait. "Wait a minute," he said leaning closer, "These eyes are hollow." He slid two fingers in and pulled on something that felt like a latch as the picture frame swung open to reveal a small compartment. They opened the small door to find a roll of parchment. They pulled it out and set it on the desk. "This is it," said Justin as he opened it and looked at the top, "This is Henry Zephyr's last will and testament. This is what the ghost must have been after."

"Wait..." Blake furrowed his brow. "If that ghost is that Henry dude, then why would he be going after the will? Wouldn't he already know where it was?"

"Because that's not the real Henry Zephyr," said Justin, "What we need now is a trap. A ghost trap."

"If it's the deed this 'ghost' wants, then perhaps it's the deed that will draw him in," Suicune hummed. "Although we'll need someone to hold onto it…"

Then all eyes turned to Blake. The young surfer gulped and was about to protest when Raikou offered him a comforting nuzzle.

Finally, Blake sighed; with a bit of heat in his cheeks, he reached to scratch Raikou's jaw, which got a purr from the Thunder Pokemon. "Alright, alright, I guess I'll do it." He looked to Justin, then Suicune, then Raikou, then the other Pokémon; at last, he nodded. "So, guys... what's the plan?"

"Well, we'll need to lure him out with another battle," said Justin, "Now when the battle's taking place and when the ghost shows up, we can blind him by using a very bright fire attack. Blaze? Think you can handle that?" The Litten nodded. "Then once the ghost is blinded, Crash will use aqua jet to hurdle him into a puddle of water," continued Justin, "Then Electrike electrocutes the water, shocks the ghost, and we have him."

"Sounds like a plan, Capitan." Blake gave Justin a thumbs up. "Yeah! Let's get that ghost!" Electrike yipped in excitement, making Crash and Raikou let out soft, indulgent chuckles.

They told Jenny the plan and she agreed. "But we still need someone to be the referee," she said. "I'll do it," said Justin and then turned to the other Pokémon, "Okay guys, this is it. Blaze, get in position with Blake. Crash and Electrike, you know what to do."

All three Pokémon nodded, the Litten jumping into Blake's arms while Crash led Electrike off. Soon enough, everyone was in position and ready to put the plan into action.

"Alright, challenger, have you got your Pokémon ready?" called Justin as they were about to begin the battle.

"Ready!" Blake nodded, then looked down to the Litten. "Let's do this, Blaze!"

"Mm!" Blaze nodded as well and leapt out of his trainers arms onto the arena.

But before they could begin, the lights flickered and there stood the ghost cackling. "I warned you!" he growled, "Now you're doomed!" "Now!" yelled Justin covering his eyes as Blaze prepared to use his brightest attack ever.

Blaze concentrated, and the yowled out, "Sunny Day!" Immediately, there was a flare of bright, harsh sunlight, which caused the ghost to yell and cover its eyes; completely unaware of Crash powering up an Aqua Jet.

"Take this!" The powerful burst of water slammed into the ghost's side, both knocking it down and drenching it. "Alright, it's all you, kiddo!"

Electrike barked, and then howled, sending a Thunder Shock at the wet ghost.

The ghost screamed in pain before fainting onto the ground groaning. Just then, Officer Jenny came in. "What's going on here?" she said.

"Hi, Mom," said Jenny as she came up to the officer. Both Justin and Blake looked to the gym leader. "Mom?" they both asked. "Oh, didn't I tell you? My mother, Officer Jenny was the one who battled my grandfather," she said.

"Well, this guy is definitely not your grandfather," said Justin as he pulled the mask off to reveal...

"Frank Wade!" she gasped.

"It struck me as suspicious when Frank mentioned that Blake was the first one to come into the gym but Blake said that the only one he saw was the ghost of Henry Zephyr."

"But we were all there when Frank was taken," said Jenny.

"Simple," said Justin as he took a Pokéball from Frank's side and opened it to reveal Frank's Gallade dressed up as the ghost, "He wore small speakers to appear like he was the one talking and used psychic attacks to destroy the gym."

"But why did he do it?" asked Officer Jenny.

"That we can answer too," said Justin as he held up the journal and the will, "In the last entry it said that Henry felt regret after sending his own son away and wished that he could reconnect with the only family he ever had. And in the will, he offered an apology to his remaining family and offered the entire gym to Jenny. So all in all, there never was a curse."

"I was so close..." Frank glowered at everyone present -- but somehow couldn't bring himself to look at Jenny. "Just a little more of playing old Hank, and some help from that dumbass Fletcher, and I could've convinced Jenny to hand the gym over to me. No more hauntings, no more standing on the sidelines... I could've been a gym leader myself! And hey, little Miss Zephyr could've been nice and happy knowing the gym was in good hands..." A snort. "And I would've gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling idiots and your stupid Pokémon!"

"Well, where you're going, you'll have plenty of time to see how far your actions will cost you," said Officer Jenny as she slapped the cuffs on Frank and led him away. "Well, seeing as we solved the case, can we help you clean up the gym?" asked Justin, "As I understand it, Blake still hasn't gotten his battle in yet. But first there's one more thing." He walked over to Raikou and whispered, "Well, what do you think?"

Raikou nodded. "I like him." He let that hang in the air for a moment, and then cleared his throat while glancing away. "I mean... he's a good person. And Electrike seems to like him, Crash, and Blaze. And, well..."

"Hm?" Blake looked over. "What'cha two talking about?"

Justin nodded. "Blake, would you like to become Raikou's trainer? You must understand that you don't have to battle to win him. But you must promise to always be there for him as he will be there for you. Always cherish each and every moment you share with him just as you do your own team. Will you allow him to accept you?" he asked.

Blake blinked. A bit of a blush rose to his cheeks as he looked to Raikou, and then away. "Wow, dude. I mean... I'm honored. If you wanna join up with the squad, then sure! We'd be happy to have you!"

Raikou grinned and nodded. "Of course! I'm looking forward to seeing more of what you can do." A pause. "On the, uh... in battles, I mean. Yes."

"Now, hold up a ball and let him come to you," said Justin as he Blake had a ball in his hand and held it up for Raikou to approach on his own.

And indeed, as soon as Blake held up the ball, Raikou moved up and touched his snout to it. With a flash of light, he disappeared into it; then there was a single shake, and a click.

RAIKOU WAS CAUGHT!

"Now, Raikou can be part of your family and your life as Suicune is," said Justin as he snuggled his feral mate.

Blake nodded, releasing Raikou again; as soon as he did, the Thunder Pokémon moved forward to give the human a lick on the cheek. "Heh, thanks, dude..."

Justin smiled as he watched Raikou nuzzle and lick his new human. "Now, come on, everyone," he said, "We've got a gym to clean up."