Kanto

The group had decided to forgo their original plan of splitting up and stuck together as they went behind the tower. They walked through the misty graveyard instead and Gastly looked around a little perturbed, it was quieter than normal. While ghost Pokemon stay quite to later jump out of their hiding places and do a jump scare, it didn't mean the other Pokemon did the same. Gastly looked at some of the newer graves and gave a sigh, the new graves were only a few weeks old.

Ash, "Wait."

Brock, "What's wrong?"

Ash got down looking at the shadow and spoke in a soft voice, "Hello there, it's okay, we are not going to hurt you. Can you tell us what happened here? We just arrived here, you see and we don't know what is going on."

Gastly looked at the two, -They are young.-

The two Pokemon looked at each other then looked at the Gastly floating besides Ash before coming out of the shadows. It was a Phantump and a Banette which stood infront of the Phantump as if protecting them. Ash held his hands up to show that he meant no harm as the two moved around him curiously poking and sniffing. Phantump soon gave a cry of delight as they made themselves comfortable on Ash's lap, and promptly fell asleep. Ash cradled the little ghost type making Banette relax seeing Ash not doing anything to his friend.

Gastly, -Little one, can you tell me what happened?-

Banette seeing his friend asleep told their tale, "Ban ban nette banette ban. Banette ban ban nette banette."

Gastly's face was grim, -I see, thank you for telling me.-

Jessilina asked softly, "What did they say?"

Misty looked at the little one cradled in Ash's arms, "We are not going to like it, are we?"

Gastly shook his head, -No you are not, good call in putting him to sleep, Ash. They do not need to remember their horrible death.-

Brock paled at the implications, "Oh no!"

Jameson looked aggrieved, "Don't tell me!"

Gastly nodded grimly, -This little one was a young boy and this young ghost here was the toy with him. They were paying a visit to their family graves when they were attacked by humans and killed brutally. Banette here was born first and tried to help his friend out like I do but this child's death was so violent it was not possible for him to move on.-

Ash hugged the little ghost closer, "And Banette helped him to possess a wood stump becoming a Phantump..... I'm so sorry little one."

Misty looked at Banette sadly, "You are a good friend, Banette."

Banette looked away shrugging, "Nette."

Ash, "Are they still here?"

Banette, "Ne?"

Ash, "The people who killed him, are they still here?"

Banette nodded and pointed towards the tower, "Ban!"

Gastly was furious, -They took over my late trainer's tower. Those insolent little!-

Lucario, -Calm down elder! We will not let them get away with this.-

Gastly's eyes were red with anger, -No absolutely not, the tower was built by my old trainer to be a safe haven for ghost types everywhere. How dare they!-

Jameson, "You had a trainer? I thought you were wild."

Gastly took a deep breath, -My dear trainer, she passed away a hundred years ago.-

Jessilina looked at the ghost type sadly, "So the rumours are true that Pokemon live longer than humans."

Misty, "I'm sorry."

Gastly calmed down, -Stay here, I will go and scout a bit to see if the coast is clear or not.-

Ash, "Alright, we'll stay here, but I request you take either Jameson or Jessilina with you, please. If someone notices you especially a psychic, then one of them can help you escape or may be both of them."

Jessilina, "I'll let you know I'm very good at sneaking around without being caught, especially around those idiots. Done it before and I can do it again!"

Gastly looked at her amused, -Is that so? Very well come along.-

Ash watched them leave, "Be careful, you guys!"

Jameson waved, "We got disguises don't worry."

Jessilina, "How will we approach the tower? The ghostly fog hid us in the graveyard, however once we leave the graveyard, we'll be exposed."

Gastly smirked, -Leave that to me, I didn't come as far as I did without learning a few tricks.-

Misty didn't hear anything else as they disappeared into the fog, "I think I'll call my sisters and give them a heads up on what is going on."

Ash nodded, "I'll call Red and Blue as well, Red told me they had a meeting today, it should have been over by now."

Misty walked a bit further before calling the gym, "Hi Daisy, yeah, I'm fine..... About that I'm at Lavender town and stuff happened. You see... "

Brock called his home, Ash could see he was a bit shaken, "Hey Forest, how are you all? I'm fine, just thought I would call..."

Ash sighed leaning against Lucario who held him, "Hey Red!"

Red, "Ash? What's wrong, you look exhausted?"

Ash, "I feel emotionally drained, I won't deny it, we took a detour to Lavender town because of a request a friend made."

Red, "Lavender town is under lock down, how did you get in? And is that a Phantump?"

Ash nodded sniffling making Lucario hold him tight, "You may want to put murder of a child to the list of offenses made by the people who are causing trouble here. He was barely nine years old."

Red's eyes hardened before they softened, "Ash, I get you were requested to help out, but you don't need to alright. Take care of yourself first, okay? You don't want to do something you will hate yourself for if you go confront them in the emotional state you are in. One of the Kanto Elites are in the area I believe, go find them and tell them what you all discovered."

Ash nodded trying not to cry, "I will, I just, I think it's just dawning on me what happened."

Red hmmed, "It is never easy dealing with the darker side of being a trainer. It'll try and try to break you. The best thing you can do is pick yourself up and keep going."

Ash calmed down, "Speaking from experience?"

Red, "Yes, actually."

Ash, "I'll do what you said, after the others return. They are talking to their own families right now and Jessilina and Jameson went to scout the area with Gastly."

Red, "I heard about what you did at the Isle of Maiden's Peak. Well done, baby bro, your first quest as a trainer and you managed to complete it without any trouble."

Ash smiled, "I had help from someone who knew the place."

Red, "I'll send someone to help over, as soon as possible. Make sure you don't get involved in this, these people are not playing around."

Ash nodded, "I understand Red, I will not get involved unless they attack me first... What the?"

Red, "What's wrong?"

Ash got up facing the tower, "The fog is clearing and there's something wrong going on. The tower.... I can hear battles, don't tell me the two of them started battling."

Red, "Ash be careful. I will try to get there as fast as possible."

Ash nodded, "Okay, see you!"

Banette pulled at his pants, "Ban nette ban?"

Ash, "I don't know what is going on buddy, but whatever happens stay close to me okay?"

Banette nodded after a bit, "Nette."

Misty, "Ash, do you hear that?"

Brock, "We need to get cover, the mist is clearing up, that should not happen not in an area for Ghost type Pokemon."

Ash held Phantump close, "Psychic Pokemon, this is the work of a Psychic Pokemon."

Phantump woke up, "Phantump?"

Ash smiled at the little one as they started to move to get cover, "Don't worry, nothing will happen to you, I promise."

Phantump smiled and snuggled more, "Phan!"

Ash, "Let's go and see if we can find Agatha, she's an Elite, maybe she can help."

Agatha, "You called me, child chosen by Gastly."

Brock, "Gaaaaaah!"

Misty, "Asdfghkkll, you scared us!"

Ash jumped before nodding, "My friends went to scout the tower that was built by Gastly's late trainer. They have not returned yet, in fact I think they started battling."

Agatha looked at the two ghost types clinging on to Ash, "What about these two?"

Ash looked at them sadly, "This Phantump was born a few days ago, Banette has been protecting him as much as he could. I just couldn't leave them on their own, they are too young."

Agatha's eyes widened a fraction before returning back to normal, "I see, you kids stay here, I won't guarantee you will not get involved in the battle. All I'll say, do not hold back, if you do, he will not be the only one of his kind floating around."

Misty nodded gulping, "Understood."

Brock paled, "Yes ma'am!"

Ash, "We will not hold back, that's a promise."

Agatha nodded before releasing her infamous Gengar and entering the ghost tower. Misty and Brock nodded before releasing their strongest Pokemon which were Starmie, Cloyster, Butterfree, Onix and Golem. Ash released his Milotic and Primape who looked around curiously and Lucario explained their situation. They felt a cold gust of wind hit them as the battle inside the tower continued uninterrupted.

They heard a voice, "Well well well, what do we have here?"

Misty, "Who are you?"

Grunt one, "We are Team Rocket girly."

Grunt two leered at Milotic and Lucario, "And you have some very fascinating Pokemon."

Ash stood infront of them, "Get your eyes off my Pokemon, you sicko."

Brock, "Get lost, we don't want you here."

Misty, "Yeah, we know what you did, you murderers!"

Grunt two, "How rude and disrespectful! Let's go Tyranitar"

Grunt one, "We'll show you how to respect your betters! Let's go Pangoro. We'll take all three of you on."

Ash bent down and gave Phantump to Banette, "Stay behind me, okay?"

Banette nodded, "Ban!"

Ash, "We'll take you on!"

Grunt one, "Night slash!"

Grunt two, "Fire fang!"

Brock, "Onix Rock throw!"

Ash, "Milotic use confusion on rock throw and hit them."

Misty, "Starmie, shield protect Onix and Milotic, Butterfree use psybeam."

Grunt one, "Smack down."

Ash, "Point blank dragon pulse!"

Brock, "Support that with another rock throw."

Grunt two, "You little, Hyperbeam!"

Misty, "Cloyster, Starmie combine icicle shard and thunder wave!"

The five of them battled each other without holding back and both sides Pokemon were getting exhausted. The two grunts were pissed off and one of them took out a gun and pointed at them.

Grunt two, "Well, if we can't beat you, we'll kill you."

Phantump started to shake, "Phannnnn!"

Brock scowled, "You were the ones who killed that child."

Grunt one, "Which child? I lost count!"

Misty was disgusted, "Surf, full power straight at him!"

Ash was blank faced, "Milotic, hydro pump straight at her. Lucario double shadow ball at the collar on Tyranitar and Pangoro, Primape rock slide on Pangoro. It's the same collars from Viridian, if we break it we will not have to fight them."

Brock, "Onix sand tomb on Pangoro don't let him escape. Golem earthquake under Tyranitar. Don't let up till those collars are off."

The two grunts spluttered as they were attacked while the Pokemon were busy trying to defend themselves. The two powerful Dark Types shook their heads as they looked around themselves confused by the new environment, once the mind controllers were taken off. Lucario used his aura to quickly explain what was going on getting disturbed and angry looks from them. They turned on the two behind them and attacked them till they were unable to move but nonetheless still alive. Lucario explained even death is not enough of a punishment for the two to make up for what they had done according to the two dark Pokemon.

Ash nodded, "Well then let's make sure they stay alive long enough to be punished properly. Brock help me check their injuries, we cannot let them die till they made up for their sins."

Brock, "Yeah."

Misty took out a steel bowl and calling her other Pokemon, "Give me some water you guys. I'll start a fire to boil it."

They worked in tandem and bandaged the two up, as much as they could, they couldn't do anything about the broken bones except set them straight. Once that was done Misty and Ash promptly ran towards the bushes and dry heaved their empty stomachs. This was a bit too much more than they were used to handling, Brock followed suit after a while when the adrenaline calmed down.

Gastly, -Ash!-

Jessilina, "Misty!"

Jameson, "Brock!"

Ash looked up, "Gastly, thank goodness you guys are back."

Misty looked at Jessilina before running to hug her, "I'm so happy you're back alive."

Brock waved at Jameson, "I hope you had better luck than us. We found out who killed the little boy."

Jameson looked at the two grunts who were being watched by glaring Pokemon, "It's them, isn't it?"

Ash nodded as Phantump slowly made himself comfortable on his lap, "Yes."

Ash absentmindedly explained what happened to them and Jessilina, Jameson and Gastly listen quietly. Ash talked feeling detached from the situation, he had not expected to confront a bunch of child murderers when he had agreed to come here and help out. He knew it would take a long time before he would be able to return to Lavender town after this mess.

Ash looked at Phantump and his eyes softened, 'Actually I don't regret it. I would do it again despite knowing how bad it would turn out.'

Agatha approached them, "Youngsters, I thank you for your help today. Especially in apprehending some of the grunts and killers."

Ash, "They'll be punished right?"

Agatha nodded, "Of course child and it looks like the two little ones attached themselves to you."

Ash nodded looking at the two sleeping ghost types, "Yeah, I think I got attached too actually, not under the best circumstances but yes, we are attached."

Agatha, "Just remember, they are not humans anymore and don't remember anything from their past. They are newborns and need to relearn everything."

Ash, "I know they are their own person, and I'll take good care of them, I promise."

Agatha nodded, "You lot are needed to debrief on what happened here."

Brock sighed, "Well let's get it over with."

Misty stood up as well, "Yeah! Jessilina and Jameson should be done which means it's our turn now."

Ash nodded and went towards the office the league had set up in Lavender town after giving the two ghost Pokemon to Lucario, when it was his turn. He gave his statement starting from when they reached Lavender town to learning about the lock down to trying to help Gastly out as they requested their help in the first place. Finding out about the murder and making a plan to scout out the place while avoiding direct confrontation which went down hill fast when they were confronted by the grunts. Ash gave as much details as he could about the battles from fighting the two dark type Pokemon to destroying the collars that were being used to control them. Tyranitar and Pangoro were relocated to their territory and the group decided to spend the night and leave the next day. Ash held Phantump and Banette walked beside him, he would catch them after his battle with Sabrina was over.