Ghosts of the Garden (1)

We entered the tower and noticed the young woman we had followed was no longer around. Winter stood close to me and felt...panicked. Victini flew beside me and their ears wiggled a bit, trying to listen for sounds.

"I think...we should leave. I'm not getting a good feeling from this place." Winter said and turned around only to see the doors shut on their own. She squeaked and hugged me tightly then heard the laughter of multiple people.

I looked ahead and noticed the young woman appear in front of us. "This is just like...the Strange House in Unova. The girl we see in front of us...is dead and we fell right for her trap."

"Smart Trainer..." The young woman said then turned around to look at us. "We are dead. The Sanction Garden is our cemetery. We are the Ghosts of the Garden, but we can help you all get back to New Locasa City...if you manage to win at my game.."

"Before we get into that, let's start with Introductions. My name is Atlas. This is-"

"She shouldn't have to know my name! She's creepy! She's a ghost!" Winter squeaked in terror.

"My name is...Saichi." The young woman spoke.

"Now about this little game you want us to play." I said.

"The game is to reach the top floor where there will be a key to the entrance of a cave that connects from here all the way to the sewers of New Locasa City. I will be at the top floor...waiting for you to battle me." Saichi said.

"And if we lose?" I asked.

"If you fail to complete this game...you will be stuck here for eternity and join me and my friends." She said then five ghosts appeared behind her.

"A-Are they dead also?" Winter asked.

"Yes." Saichi said. "To reach the top floor, you must defeat them in a battle. If you lose at least once, it's over."

Winter gripped my jacket sleeve tightly and tears formed in her eyes. "I don't want to be here anymore.."

"If we want to get out of here, we have to fight our way out. You're with me Winter, I won't let anything happen to you." I said then looked ahead and noticed the ghosts were gone and all who remained was Saichi.

"I will be waiting for you." She said then faded away with her Pokemon.

I looked at Winter and noticed how scared she looked then looked at Victini. Victini looked around and didn't feel like they were at home. Sanction Garden was nothing like Liberty Garden. We decided to press forward and walk up the first flight of stairs and walked into a floor with more rooms. Winter didn't want to split up so she followed me into a room which was a library.

I looked around and the library looked as if it was ruined for years, covered in spider webs and Spinaraks and Ariados. Winter never liked the spider pokemon much so she was even more terrified. She sent out her Fennekin as she walked around with me since Fennekin did have a type advantage against them. One Ariados watched us from the shadows and jumped out at us, but Victini flew over and tackled it away.

I looked at the Ariados and noticed it's body was black and the legs were a blood red. It had a red symbol on her abdomen and it shined brightly. The Ariados looked more like a black widow. "A Mythic Pokemon."

"Why did it have to be an Ariados?" Winter whined.

I pointed my phone at the Ariados and scanned it.

[Pokemon: Ariados (Black Widow Forme)

Gender: Female

Type: Dark/Bug

Ability: Raging Poison

Morale: High (Increased Chance of Causing Poison Effect)

Status Condition: None

Moves: Poison Jab, Swords Dance, Lunge, Night Slash, Toxic, Poisonous Thrash, Leech Life, X-Scissor, Deadly Bite]

[Ariados Black Widow Forme can only be Female.]

[Raging Poison: Ariados (Black Widow Forme) Signature Ability; If hit, the Pokemon releases poisonous webs from its body and spreads it across the battlefield and boosts its attack. If attacking, each successful hit boosts the chances of Poison Effect. If the target is poisoned, all moves deal twice the amount of damage.]

[Poisonous Thrash: Ariados (Black Widow Forme) Signature Move; If the target is poisoned, the move deals twice the damage and causes the poison effect to become worse for the target.]

[Deadly Bite: Ariados (Black Widow Forme) Signature Move; The pokemon bites their target for high crit rate and can either cause Paralysis, Poison, or Burn. If target is Poisoned/Paralyzed/Burned, the move deals double damage.]

The Ariados dashed toward us and shot poisonous webs at us. I grabbed Winter's arm and pulled her with me as I dodged the webs. This Ariados was out for a kill against us and our Pokemon.

"Victini! Flare Blitz!" I commanded.

Victini cried out and cloaked themselves in deep red flames then lunged themselves at Ariados. Ariados dodged the move and let out a pained hiss as Victini circled around and struck her with their Flare Blitz.

Fennekin looked back at Winter and awaited her commands. Winter looked at Fennekin terrified and looked at me. She looked at Victini and Ariados battling it out. She was too scared to even speak.

Ariados dashed to Victini and her legs began to shine purple. Victini surrounded their hands with lightning energy and flew to Ariados. It was a Night Slash vs Thunder Punch. The two clashed and Victini held their own against the Mythic Pokemon and their Myth Boosted Attack. Victini dodged Ariados's next slash and punched her face, sending it crashing through a bookshelf.

Saichi watched the battle with great interest from her mirror as she held her Mimikyu in her arms. "Victini.."

Ariados was now enraged and her body released poisonous webs from her abdomen then her attack was boosted. She let out a call and an army of Spinarak and normal Ariados came to her beck and call.

"Winter!" I yelled.

Winter snapped out of her trance and looked at me quickly. She noticed the serious look on my face and her lip quivered.

"This is life or dead now. We have no time to be afraid or give up! We're getting out of this tower! We're getting out of Sanction Garden and I can't do it without you! Lily can't fight this battle and Ronin is still tired! I know you're scared...trust me I am too.." I said and looked at the army of Pokemon. "But...we can get through this. Together."

Winter stared at me then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She exhaled and calmed her nerves then looked at the army of Pokemon. 'He's right. I can't keep letting him do all the fighting! I am a trainer as well and I will help him!'

"Fennekin! Use Ember!" Winter commanded.

Fennekin let out a determined cry and charged up a large ball of flame then fired it at the Pokemon. The fireball hit a few of the Spinarak and normal Ariados then caused an explosion. Victini looked back at Fennekin and Fennekin nodded at them.

Fennekin and Victini rushed into battle together and began to overpower the Spinarak and normal Ariados with their type advantage. One by one the Pokemon retreated, leaving only the Black Widow Forme Ariados left.

"This is it, it's just you left!" I bellowed.

Ariados looked at us and a red aura began to form around her body. She let out a menacing battle cry and the red aura surrounding her grew more powerful.

"A Guardian Pokemon.." I said.

"Guardian Pokemon?" Winter asked.

"Guardian Pokemon are Pokemon that have more stamina, offensive and defensive abilities than the normal Pokemon. They are also protectors of secret items that can be obtained after defeating them. That means because she's a Guardian, we've stumbled upon something special." I explained.

"I-I see. So she's more of a threat than we initially thought..." Winter said.

"But it's a two against one! We got this! Victini! Charge at her!" I commanded.

"Fenny, support Victory with Ember!" Winter commanded.

Victini flew toward Ariados at high speeds and Fennekin ran behind them shooting waves of tiny fire balls at Ariados. Victini copied Ariados's stat changes with Psych Up and then went in with a Flare Blitz. Ariados blocked the attack with her front legs then pushed Victini back. She dodged the fireballs and rushed toward Victini at high speeds then her leg shined purple. She began slashing at Victini rapidly then knocked them away with a powerful slash. Victini cried out and crashed through a bookshelf.

Fennekin stopped running and looked surprised as Ariados was already in front of her. Ariados made a scary face, causing Fennekin to cower before her presence then Ariados struck her with a barrage of Poison Jabs then knocked her away.

"Fenny!" Winter cried out and ran to catch her.

Victini grunted softly as they got up. They were weakened and fell onto one knee. Ariados made her way over to Victini and stared at them menacingly.

"Victory..!" I said then ran over to them.

Ariados planned on dealing the final blow on Victini. I yelled Victini's name. If I lost even this battle it would be all over for me...for Winter...for all of us!

"Victory!" I yelled.

Victini opened their eyes and let out a loud cry then a bright orange flame aura surged powerfully around their body. Ariados looked surprised and slid backwards from the pure force of Victini's power.

[Victini's Victory Star Ability has awakened!]

Victini stood up and their eyes shined brightly. Fennekin looked around herself and noticed her body was outlined with an orange glow.

Saichi's eyes slightly lit up as she even felt Victini's power. "Such...Mythical Power.."

Fennekin felt empowered, and hopped out of Winter's arms. She let out a determined cry and a flame aura surrounded her body. She was Blaze Boosted and Victory Star Boosted.

"Victini..." I said then smiled and looked at Ariados. "Let's finish this battle!"

"Yeah!" Winter nodded. She even felt the effects of Victini's Victory Star Ability.

"Finish this with Flare Blitz!" I bellowed.

"Fennekin! Use Ember!" Winter bellowed.

Ariados's body was cloaked in Poisonous Energy and she dashed toward us. Victini cloaked themselves in a powerful fire like aura and flew toward Ariados at high speeds. Fennekin charged up a massive fireball and fired it at Ariados. Victini caught the Ember in their hand then bellowed. Ariados fired a massive poisonous web at Victini but the flames Victini exerted incinerated the webs with ease then they slammed into Ariados and pressed the fireball against her then a massive explosion happened.

I grunted and covered my face from the high winds as did Winter. Fennekin grunted and used her nails to keep herself grounded. Saichi watched with excitement and her eyes shined. The smoke cleared and Victini was standing victorious. I looked at Victini and watched their body glow beautifully. Ariados laid on the ground, she was finally defeated.

[You can catch Ariados! Take this chance to catch it now!]

I looked at my phone then took out a Pokeball and threw it at the Ariados. The button on the pokeball hit Ariados and opened then turned her body into red energy, entering inside the pokeball. The pokeball wiggled once then a chime sounded off, letting me know I caught Ariados. I smiled then walked to the pokeball and picked it up then looked at it.

"We beat her and caught her!" I said then Victini flew up happily. All their energy had disappeared and they landed on my head.

Fennekin let out a celebratory cry and her body began shining a light blue color. Winter looked at Fennekin and watched her evolutionary process. Fennekin began evolving and evolved into a Braixen!

"Fenny!" Winter said excitedly.

[Braixen is trying to learn Psybeam, Flamethrower, Ally Switch, and Fire Punch!]

"Fennekin finally evolved, seems like that battle was all she needed to evolve." I said.

Winter nodded and smiled. "We're even stronger now."

I smiled then looked around. I noticed a book on the ground that wasn't affected by the flames of the battle. I walked towards it and picked it up. "Story of Sanction Garden." I said then walked back to Winter.

I opened the book and we began to read it together, learning more about the history of Sanction Garden. It used to be a very colorful and happy island until Team Myth came and ruined everything for their hunt for a Mythical Pokemon that resided here. The Mythcial Pokemon was named Naosis. The next page showed a picture of the Pokemon.

Naosis was a giant bird like creature with a white body, four multicolored wings, and a gold halo above their head. It was called the Sanctuary Pokemon as any being around it would be safe. The next page had the information of Naosis on it.

[Pokemon: Naosis

Gender: Unknown

Type: Dragon/Fairy

Ability: Iridescent Protection

Morale: ???

Status Condition: None

Moves: Unknown]

[Iridescent Protection: Naosis Signature Ability; This ability sets up a protection field that allows the Pokemon and allies to be immune to all moves that aren't super effective against it and prevents opponents from lowering any stats. This field also makes Naosis and allies immune to all status effects until the protection field disappears after ten minutes. The field boosts the power of Dragon and Fairy type moves and Naosis's Signature Move.]

"It looks like Team Myth was able to successfully capture Naosis...and without their protection...they were able to lay waste on this island killing everyone on the island on their 'No Witnesses' motive." I said.

"This caused the spirits to be vengeful, but Saichi wants to help us get out but only if we successfully beat her game." Winter said.

"I wonder...where is Naosis now? If Team Myth has one of the most powerful Mythical Pokemon in their arsenal...what is their true goal? What are they truly after other than Legendary Pokemon?" I asked.

To Be Continued....