He didn’t know why, but there was something rather… compelling with this particular request that had been fielded out for people to take. While it did involve going into the Burned Tower in Enju Ecruteak and looking for a girl who hadn’t gone home after being gone an entire evening, there was still something… he couldn’t help but place when it came to the tone of the requester, who was the daughter’s father.

…reminds me of something that happened back home… was all he thought of as he quickly agreed to take on the request; and at the same time was informed he’d be going with a companion—as the details did specify that there was a need for someone who could possibly see and talk with the spirits of dead people. He definitely had experience from Mount Pyre back home (although he did find that most of those who claimed that they could see the souls of people and Pokémon who’d gone on ahead were on the slightly older side), having gone there many times over the course of his…journey.

That time. Why does it still feel like it was yesterday… he continued to himself in the back of his mind as he eventually found himself climbing the short staircase that led up to the Burned Tower, which stood much shorter in comparison to its sister tower not too far away, but still within the city limits. No wonder the father’s worried, this place looks like it could collapse at any time despite it already being burned down… he pondered as he took a look at the contents of the messenger bag he’d packed along for the request.

He’d taken note that the young girl had most likely spent the night out in the cold (and was probably hungry, not to mention freezing) so he’d gone and picked up some sandwiches and a few bottles of water, all of which were now within the bag he had with him. His coat he could definitely spare for the trip back, since he figured, it was thick and heavy enough to keep their lost charge warm.

All too soon he’d reached the top of the steps and saw his companion—and was promptly surprised that he would be accompanied by someone who looked to be around his age, if not maybe slightly younger? Well, at least I’m not going into this alone… he mused privately as he raised a hand in greeting at the two who were waiting for him.

“Apologies for taking a bit, I picked up some food and water for your daughter,” he began, while mentally adding on to the sentence with, “…she’s definitely alive. Just have to believe. Hopefully nothing too bad happened while she spent the night out here by herself…” and then turning to his female companion.

“I’m Lars. Shall we get going? We wouldn’t want to keep him waiting too long,” he said to his companion by way of introduction before gesturing with a head tilt towards the clearly anxious father who looked like he was at his wits’ end.

Quickly taking note of his companion’s name, Zuri, he then followed her into the open-to-the-sky Burned Tower, his nose crinkling slightly at the smell of what he guessed was either damp or rotting wood. Definitely not a good sign, he thought to himself as he blinked in time to see a small hole near where he was headed. Making a note to avoid any of the holes that they would come across, he then watched as one of her companion Pokémon then went off to communicate with some of the little bright-yellow Bug-types that were skittering around here and there.

I only have Suijin, but he’s a complete derp face and I don’t know if having him out would be a good idea… he might cause more damage to the place, but more pairs of eyes are better than none… he thought to himself as he reached for a small shrunken-down marble and popped it to full size and watched as a flash of red light then shot out and transformed into a Marshtomp that landed on the sagging floorboards not too far from where he stood.

For once Sui wasn’t being stupid, in fact he looked more than a little nervous to be around such a place that was hopefully not in a state of collapse, what with so many wild ‘mons poking around. Lars then felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle, before he looked around him—was there something watching them from the shadows behind him? He couldn’t tell.

Ghost-types creep me out mostly. Except that one. Wonder how he is… he continued to ponder to himself as the Marshtomp also took a look behind his companion but finding nothing there. Lars couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being watched, though…

He then heard Zuri’s question and considered the options he had in front of him, but ultimately decided to tell her the reason why he’d taken the request in the first place.

“To be honest… something similar like this happened to me back where I come from… only it was with my youngest brother, and it was up on the slopes of Mount Pyre,” he began quietly. “You could say my sister was in the father’s position, and since there was nobody else to guard the house if she went out to search for him herself, I told her I’d do it,” he added as he kept his ears perked up for signs of anything that would stand out and catch them by surprise.

“Sui, take the rear guard, will you?” he asked his Marshtomp, still unable to place the prickly feeling he was picking up on. He could…sense, somehow, that there was something around that was watching them; but when he’d turn around to take a look and try and catch whatever was watching them, the strange feeling would temporarily disappear…before returning in full force.

That definitely doesn’t sit too well with me… at least with Sui on rearguard, I’d at least have some warning before whatever’s watching us from the shadows comes out and makes its presence known… he thought to himself as he rubbed his hand behind his neck in an attempt to calm himself down. “It does, which is why I immediately took this request… we’re on a rescue mission here,” he began quietly as he continued to walk around the sagging floor—being careful not to fall into more holes that he’d spotted as they headed deeper into the place.

As he listened to Zuri’s explanation on her special ability, he filed the information away (and would look over it later) before asking, “How difficult is it to live with something like that, being able to pick up on emotions much like a Ralts can…?” all the while keeping his ears peeled just in case something came sneaking up on them.

All too soon, the little feline ‘mon that was in his companion’s arms earlier eventually returned, and he looked up to what remained standing of the tower—was it safe to go up there? If he had a Flying-type with him he could definitely send it to scout ahead, but at the moment he didn’t have one as of yet so this was going to be a bit more complicated to actually do.

“I see a staircase leading up over there,” he eventually pointed out, squinting ahead and spotting the outline of a set of steps that led up to the next floor. “Although I can’t guarantee the structural integrity of it if we both went up at the same time… I can go ahead for a bit and take a peek and see if the next floor’s safe for both of us to continue searching. How’s that sound?” he asked Zuri a few moments later.

They’d eventually arrived at the staircase, and it was here Lars looked down at Suijin. “Keep an eye around her, okay? If you see anything, let me know right away,” before receiving a nod from the dual-type and coming to join his friend’s female companion at the base of the stairwell he began to slowly climb.

Taking note of the holes and rickety-sounding steps he’d lightly treaded on, he listened as Zuri explained the finer points of her ability. Man, that really must’ve… sucked, he thought to himself, carefully testing some of the other higher steps by applying some pressure on them. Despite the smell of mold, he found that they were reasonably steady, and once he’d managed to poke his head up to see the next story above, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle before taking a quick look around and heading back down, being careful as he picked his way down.

“The steps are a little rickety, and there’re some places that’re rotted through. But it held my weight up reasonably well, so I’m pretty certain we can both manage this. But we have to be careful coming down, I don’t know how long it’ll hold up,” he said once he’d found his way down and eventually dusted his hands off behind him. “Did you see anything, Sui?” he asked the Marshtomp, who shook his head but still looked around rather nervously.

“So… the reason why I came along on this is… asides from being familiar to what I’d experienced back home on Mount Pyre chasing my younger brother down, he’d… he actually went to visit our mother’s grave there, quite similar to what we’re doing out here right now,” he began as he looked up at the staircase that led to the next floor.

“I had to cut my journey short when I got a message from my sister that he’d gone missing on the mountain, and if I was anywhere nearby, to bring him back. What we weren’t expecting was that he’d actually gone to Pyre and gotten himself lost up there, and he’d lost his own Pokémon companion in the process too,” he continued a few moments later, now rubbing his hands together. Was the wind chilly, or was that something watching them again from the shadows…?

He couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling as he looked around again, paying particular attention to a shadowy patch that was half-buried in darkness. He then blinked hard, before looking back up at the staircase again. “Shall we get climbing, then?” he asked Zuri a few moments later.

“Let’s get moving, and fast,” he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. The prickly feeling refused to go away—and even his Marshtomp approached them while looking over at the same place where even Zuri was looking right now. He stood guard as she mounted the stairs first, before looking around and letting Suijin go up right after her.

“Sui, be careful of the holes. You’ll see them as you go,” he remarked as he kept his eyes on the corner where the creepy feeling was coming from. He knew that the longer they stayed in here, the worse the chances of them getting snuck up on increased. Once his Marshtomp had finally made it to the top, Suijin then stuck his head down and then waved one of its limbs at his companion. “Alright, I’m coming,” he said as he retraced the steps he’d taken earlier before finding himself up on the next floor.

While the prickly feeling up here wasn’t as bad as it was on the floor below, he squinted into the darkness—while his eyes had somewhat adjusted to the dim light permeating the area, the strange feeling he was picking up on still put him on edge. Seeing an Electric-type fire off an attack at nothing in particular, he then realized that it was to check if there was something up ahead.

“How far in is she,” he asked her a few moments later as he squinted as best as he could manage—and while he could pick out faint shapes in the dark, the rest of the place was shrouded in pretty much pitch.

This is the reason why I need a Fire-type at least… he thought to himself, before looking down at his Marshtomp. “Sui, stay close to us. Let us know if anything sneaks up behind us,” he muttered to the Marshtomp, before hearing a grunt in confirmation. “Let’s go. But quietly,” he added, this time to Zuri—the floor above gave him much more creepy vibes than that prickly feeling down below…

While he only had one Pokémon on him at the moment, the strange prickly feeling wouldn’t stop bothering him the deeper they progressed through the place, the more the darkness…seemed to press down upon them. While the Marshtomp didn’t find it as bothersome (and was surprised but relieved to see that he was joined by another Pokemon with the rear guard), even he was on edge due to the creepy dank feeling of the place.

Lars made sure to keep Zuri within sight—for some reason the deeper they went into the place; the more unsettling things became. Like, he couldn’t exactly define what was wrong—just that being around so many Ghost-types really unnerved him. Even if I did have him back home, he was really the only one I could tolerate having around. I don’t know why they all creep me out so much… he thought to himself as he kept an eye on his companion as they made their way through the area.

The floorboards creaked and shuddered underneath them, so trying to slip through the place as quietly as possible was literally rendered moot at that point. He could feel the prickly, unnerving sensation settling around him; the fine hairs on his arms were standing up and he didn’t realize it until he rubbed his arms a few moments later.

Eventually, they’d reach the opposite end of the room near an overturned desk. It was here Zuri began to softly call out for the young girl, and he stood guard near her, accompanying the Marshtomp and the other feline Pokémon that was beside his Suijin. He thought he could hear a muffled sobbing from behind said desk, like the owner didn’t want to be found.

“Your father’s worried about you,” Lars began softly, after Zuri called out for the young girl. “He’s waiting for you to come home, he’s down outside the tower,” he added a few moments later.

Lars didn’t know if she could actually ‘see’ the spectre of the child’s mother, but there was something that struck a chord within the young girl. Eventually, a pair of arms reached out from behind the desk (with some sniffling) and he quickly crouched down and picked her up, before holding her close to him.

“Just hold on to me, okay?” he said softly, before standing up and looking around…and then the weird prickly feeling intensified. He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck suddenly stand up again; but it was nothing compared to what Zuri could probably pick up on.

“Go on ahead,” he said in Zuri’s direction, before looking down at his Marshtomp, who then nodded and shifted into a battle-ready stance. “Sui, you know what to do just in case things get too wild. Attack only when they provoke you, don’t rush into this recklessly. I know you want to do crazy stuff but now’s not the time. Got that?” he said in his Pokémon’s direction, who perked up at being mentioned, but deflated slightly at what Lars told him.

Nonetheless, the Marshtomp kept an eye out on the eyes that he could now see—which were getting to be too many for its liking. Growling softly, as he really didn’t want to lash out unless it was absolutely necessary, the dual-type kept an eye out on the rear as he then looked back in the direction they’d come from. “Let’s make this quick,” he muttered to himself, before looking at the young girl he was hanging onto.

“If it gets too scary, you can hide in my coat. Don’t worry about the ghosts, okay? We’re here to get you out safely,” he whispered reassuringly in the young girl’s ear, before casting another look around the place. The prickly sensation was getting worse by the second, and the longer they stayed here, the worse things could become.