The Loyal Ninetales

Continuing on their way to Mahogany Town, Ashlyn and her friends find themselves hiking through the mountainous regions of Johto. Suddenly a fog began to cover the area.

"Wow, this fog came in quickly." Brock said.

"Yeah, maybe we should stop." Misty suggested.

"Good idea." Ashlyn agreed.

At that moment a beautiful woman with a Ninetales beside her walked up to the group.

"Who are you?" Brock asked.

"Oh, my name is Lokoko." 'Lokoko' greeted.

"You are a vision of beauty! They call me Brock." Brock greeted in a poetic way.

"Why thank you. You shouldn't be walking in the mountains through the mist," Lokoko warned, "Stay with me until it clears."

"Wow! A dazzling beauty on the inside and outside!" Brock cheered.

Ninetales walked over to Brock and nuzzled against him. Brock was shocked, but then he petted her head.

"Are you sure you won't mind?" Volkner asked.

"Not at all." Lokoko assured them, "It's not far from here."

"That will be great thank you." Misty said.

Ashlyn remembered the episode that was about the lonely Ninetales. It saddened her whenever she thought about it. She knew that she and the others will have a hard time convincing Brock on this one.

Lokoko, guided the gang out of the mist. "Here we are." she said.

Suddenly, like magic, Lokoko's home appeared; it was a huge mansion. It looked like one of those ancient ones, but it was still in good condition.

"Wow, what a place!" Brock gasped.

"This is your home, Lokoko?" Misty asked, shocked.

Ashlyn felt that something was weird about how they suddenly ended up at a mansion that was still in pristine condition. She had a bad feeling about this place. But the Ninetales was what kept her on edge. Volkner had the exact same thoughts as Ashlyn.

"Welcome, ready?" Lokoko asked.

"Am I?" Brock blushed doopey, "Yes!"

Having no other choice, the gang followed Lokoko into the mansion.

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Lokoko led the gang to one of the big rooms of the mansion.

"This is such a beautiful old mansion." Misty commented, awed as they all sat at a table.

"Toge Toge!" Togepi chirped.

"I'm sure you're very hungry." Lokoko brought a bowl of fruit to them, "So I hope that this is enough."

"That looks great." Misty smiled.

"Rai." Tesla agreed.

"Yes, that's more than enough. Thank you." Brock said with a dopey smile and blushed.

Ninetales went up to Brock and kept on nuzzling him.

"Looks like you have a new friend, Brock." Misty teased.

"Yeah, she's so cute." Brock petted her.

"Raichu." Tesla smiled.

"Ninetales probably likes you a lot Brock. Its probably because you remind her of her owner." Lokoko said.

"Is the owner here?" Brock asked.

Lokoko shook her head sadly, "I'm afraid not. You see, the owner of Ninetales and this mansion went on a journey years ago and he hasn't come home since. There were other servants, apart from me, looking after the mansion, but they all left. So now it's only me and Ninetails staying here and we keep on waiting for the master to return."

The gang felt sorry for Lokoko and Ninetales.

"Since the mist won't clear up until morning, would you all like to spend the night here?" Lokoko offered.

"Considering the circumstances, I guess we have to." Volkner accepted the offer.

"I wouldn't mind staying here forever!" Brock declared.

Ashlyn, Volker, and Misty stared at him with disbelief. Lokoko giggled at Brock.

"Well, I'll prepare your rooms at once." Lokoko said and left the room with Ninetales.

Suddenly Misty noticed something; she was looking at a mirror, which was reflecting Ninetales. But Lokoko was standing next to Ninetales and she had no reflection. Misty started to feel creeped out. Ashlyn and Volkner noticed Misty's pale face and decided that they talked privately.

Ashlyn, Volkner, and Misty went into another hallway.

"Misty, what's wrong?" Ashlyn asked.

"You look like you saw a ghost." Volkner commented.

"I might as well have." Misty confessed.

"What you mean?" Ashlyn asked.

"You won't believe this, but Lokoko didn't have a reflection in the mirror." Misty said, nervously

"Are you sure?" Volkner asked.

"Yes." Misty replied.

"I must admit this, ever since we met Lokoko and first stepped into this mansion, I've been feeling a strange energy from both Lokoko and Ninetales." Ashlyn admitted.

"What are you thinking, Ashlyn?" Volkner questioned.

"I have a weird feeling that Lokoko and this mansion are not real and I think that there's something odd about that Ninetales." Ashlyn answered.

"What shall we do?" Misty asked.

"We need to find out about Ninetales and her owner." Ashlyn replied.

Volkner and Misty agreed with Ashlyn.

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Ashlyn, Volkner and Misty began to search some rooms for any clues. They searched rooms away from where Lokoko, Brock and Ninetales were; that way they wouldn't realize what they were doing. So far they found nothing about Ninetales except old books and other old things. Just then Volkner opened the door of another room and the three were surprised at what they saw.

"That painting on the wall." Volkner said.

The painting was a portrait of Ninetales and a man, who looked exactly like Brock.

"That's Brock!" Misty gasped.

"And he's with Ninetales." Ashlyn added.

"But that man looks like Brock." Volkner pointed out.

"That man must be Ninetales's owner and Master of the house." Misty realized.

Ashlyn noticed two things on a desk in front of the portrait. There was a diary and a green and white sort of Pokéball.

"Hey this is one of the very old fashioned Pokéballs, what they used hundreds of years ago. Prof Oak once showed me what very old Pokéballs looked like." Ashlyn picked it up to examine it. "That's weird." she said.

"What's weird?" Misty asked.

"I feel a strange strong power coming from this Pokéball." Ashlyn answered.

Volkner picked up the diary to read what it said. "This diary is about Ninetales and it talks about when the owner went on a journey."

Suddenly his eyes widened at what he read, "No way, the date of this is two hundred years ago."

"No way!" Misty said, shocked.

Volkner nodded, "If this was two hundred years ago, then that means the owner should be dead by now."

"It also means that Lokoko is actually dead too," Ashlyn added, "but Ninetales wouldn't be dead though. Ninetales can live up to a thousand years old, which means Ninetales is over two hundred years old now."

"What can we do? I mean since Brock resembles the master, it means Ninetails thinks Brock is her owner, and it also means that he might be in trouble." Misty pointed out.

"That's definitely a problem." Volkner agreed.

"We need to get out of here, but one thing first." Ashlyn released Moriko from her Pokéball and explained what was going on.

"Moriko, we need you to go to the time of when the owner of Ninetales was still alive and find out what happened to him, that way we can prove to Ninetales that her owner is dead."

"(Leave it to me Ashlyn.)"' Moriko said before she vanished into the past.

"While Moriko is getting information, we will help Brock." Ashlyn said.

"We better be careful though. Ninetales might be very strong since it's over two hundred years old." Volkner warned.

"True, but we have no choice." Ashlyn stated.

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When Ashlyn, Volkner, and Misty went to look for Brock, they found him outside with Lokoko and Ninetales. Brock looked like that he was in a trance. Ashlyn sent out Feraligatr.

"Water Gun!" Ashlyn ordered.

Ninetales sensed the attack and dodged the attack. Brock somehow managed to break from his trance. The water gun headed straight towards Lokoko.

"Watch out, Lokoko!" Brock called out.

Unexpectedly, the water gun went straight through, which freaked out Brock. Then Ninetales threw a Flamethrower attack at the others.

"Water Gun, Feraligatr!" Ashlyn called out.

Feraligatr shot a beam of water towards Ninetales which caused it to cry out in pain.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Brock asked with disbelief.

Misty gasped with a pale face.

"Brock, look at Lokoko." Volkner ordered.

Brock looked at Lokoko and saw that she was disappearing. Suddenly the mansion changed from new to very disrepair.

"I knew it. Everything was an illusion." Ashlyn said.

"We got to get out of here!" Misty decided in a panic.

"Nine!" Ninetales yelled.

The group turned around and saw Ninetales with a very angry expression.

Ninetales began to get angry and started to attack the gang with Flamethrower. Ashlyn, Volkner, and Misty led Brock and Ninetales to the room where they found the portrait, the Pokéball and the diary. Brock was surprised to see the portrait of the man, who looked like him.

"Look at this painting, Brock." Ashlyn said.

"Wow! That handsome guy looks alot like me!" Brock commented with surprised.

"Brock, this is a painting of that Ninetales's owner!" Misty stated.

"Nine." Ninetales came into the room.

"Wait Ninetales, Brock isn't your owner!" Ashlyn pleaded.

"We just read your owner's diary. He died 200 years ago, right?" Volkner added.

"200?!" Brock exclaimed and turned to the painting, "Hold on! That means the guy...huh?" He noticed the diary and Pokéball on the desk.

Ninetales's eye glowed red as her tails spread out. Then Lokoko appeared.

Ashlyn, Volkner, and Misty gasped.

"Lokoko!" Misty gasped.

"We want Brock NOW!" Lokoko demanded, angrily.

"Lokoko, we all know that this mansion is all an illusion created by Ninetales." Misty stated.

Ninetales growled at the gang.

"Feraligatr, use Water Gun!" Ashlyn ordered.

Ninetales dodged the attack and its eyes glowed red as Feraligatr was outline red as well. He panicked as he was lifted into the air.

Ashlyn quickly took out a Pokéball, "Feraligatr return!"

Feraligatr returned to his Pokéball.

Somehow knowing that Ninetales might attack them, Brock held up the Pokéball in front of him, "Ninetales, Return!"

Ninetales stared at Brock with nostalgic and Ninetales accepted as the beam hit her and she was put back in her Pokéball.

Lokoko appeared in front of them.

"Lokoko!" Brock gasped.

"I have waited 200 years for Ninetales to return to its master's Pokéball. Thank you. Thank you so much, Brock." Lokoko thanked Brock.

"You're a ghost aren't you, Lokoko?" Ashlyn asked.

"Yes I am," Lokoko replied.

"A ghost huh?" Brock's head slumped down.

"The truth is I died a long time ago and I stayed with Ninetales to wait for the master to return." Lokoko admitted.

"What exactly happened?" Volkner questioned.

"I shall explain." Lokoko said.

"Wait a second." Brock released Ninetales.

"Ninetales." Ninetales smiled.

"Why did you let out Ninetales?" Misty asked.

"Ninetales deserves to listen to know as well." Brock reasoned.

The story was that two hundred years ago, before the owner of Ninetales went on his journey, he said to the staff and Ninetales that he would return within one month. But a month went and the owner didn't return. Months and years went by and the owner still didn't return. As the years passed the servants died of old age, and Ninetales was left all alone at the mansion. Lokoko died too, but her spirit stayed behind so that Ninetales wouldn't be alone. After a hundred years passed, Ninetales felt that her owner wouldn't be alive anymore so she tried to leave the mansion to start a new life somewhere else. But for some reason a strange power was keeping Ninetales trapped within the mansion, and she couldn't leave. So Ninetales stayed alone in the mansion for two hundred years. The gang felt sorry for Ninetales.

"It must be because of that strange Pokéball's power that Ninetales knows the Psychic move." Ashlyn realized.

"One hundred and fifty years more passed and as Ninetales was waiting, she started to realize that she had gained mysterious powers." Lokoko explained.

"That's two hundred years of loneliness." Misty realized.

"I remember reading about the energy that's stored in all Ninetales and how it can last for over a thousand years." Brock remembered.

At that moment Moriko turned up. "(I saw what happened to your owner, Ninetales. He was about to return home from his journey, but he suddenly got struck by an illness and died from it. That's why he never returned, the sudden illness prevented him from doing that.)" She explained.

Ninetales started to cry from hearing the news.

"Oh Ninetales." Brock said, sadly.

Suddenly a net came over Ninetales and was pulled into the air as Lokoko disappeared. The gang gasped and looked up to see Team Rocket's balloon above them.

"Team Rocket!" The gang gasped.

"Prepare for trouble after what we've been eating." Jessie started.

"And make it double with this special greeting." James added.

"Meganium, use Razor Leaf on that net!" Ashlyn let out Meganium.

"Meg!" Meganium appeared and summoned her attack, cutting the net into pieces which released Ninetales.

"Alright Ninetales!" Brock cheered.

"Nine!" Ninetales smiled.

"Hey Brock, how about Tesla and Ninetales send these guys off?" Ashlyn grinned.

Brock grinned, "I couldn't agree more."

"Tesla, Thunderbolt!" Ashlyn called out.

"Ninetales, Flamethrower!" Brock called out.

Tesla and Ninetales launched their two attack at Team Rocket's balloon which caused it to explode and sent them higher in the air.

"I wish we didn't have to blast off on an empty stomach." James whined.

"We ate leaves." Jessie pointed out.

"I thought fiber was filling." Meowth added.

The trio sighed.

"Wobba!" Wobbuffet saluted.

"Team Rocket's blasting off again." They said before they disappeared into the sky.

Brock walked over to Ninetales and stroked her head. "Ninetales, I've decided to be your new owner."

Everyone became surprised with what Brock said.

"I'll never be able to replace your old owner, but I promised that I'll take care of you." Ninetales jumped on Brock to hug him.

"It seems Ninetales accepts Brock's offer." Ashlyn smiled.

"I'm happy to hear that," Lokoko agreed, "Ninetales has been very lonely ever since the servants died years ago, so she should have a new owner. And no one else apart from you Brock should be her new owner."

Just then Misty had a thought. "Hang on," she said, "since the Pokéball is keeping Ninetales trapped here, we might have trouble with leaving the mansion."

Then Ashlyn had an idea. "Why don't we break it? I mean if we break it, it will lose all connection with Ninetales."

"Then Ninetales will be free at last." Volkner said.

So Brock smashed the Pokéball onto the ground and the pokeball went into a million pieces. Then Brock caught Ninetales into a normal Pokéball. As soon as Brock captured Ninetales, the Lokoko started to disappear.

"I can finally rest in peace now. Goodbye and thank you." She disappeared into the afterlife.

"The master and Lokoko won't have to worry about Ninetales anymore because I will take care of Ninetales till the day I die." Brock promised.

"It makes me wonder who will look after my Ninetales when I'm gone." Ashlyn pondered.

"Well I'm sure it will be a nice trainer." Volkner assured.

"I agreed." Misty agreed.

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Now that the fog had cleared, it was now safe for the gang to continue on their way to Mahogany Town. And Brock was happy to have a Ninetales in tow.

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Pokémon Caught: Heracross (M), Furret (F), Stantler (F), Meganium (F), Typhlosion (M), Togetic (F), Feraligatr (M), Steelix (M), Ampharos (F), Girafarig (F), Misdreavus (F), Inteleon (M), Rillaboom (M), Shiny Greninja (Genji)(M), Shiny Chestnaught (Cybele)(F), Kommo-o (M), Goodra (Nessy)(F), Meowstic (Orin)(M), Meowstic (Bella)(F), Thievul (F), Gothitelle (F), Rapidash (F), Houndoom (M), Shiny Noctowl (M), Zeraora (Raiden)(M), Alolan Raichu (Nariko)(F), Marshadow (M), Murkrow (M), Elekid (F), Celebi (Moriko)(F), Shiny Corsola (Coraline)(F), Ho-Oh (Aveline)(F), Phanpy (Tantor)(M)