There seems to be something wrong with these Pokémon

"Is it because you got up too early? I always feel like you don't look very energetic."

Sakura walked slowly, not afraid of not being able to see in the foggy forest. Instead, she had time to care about the boy who was always yawning behind her.

"In fact, we don't necessarily have to set out today. If we are really not in good spirits, we can return to Jinhuang City and rest for another day. There is no need to rush."

"No." Xiao Ye shook his head, his silver-gray hair draped over his forehead, making him look a little decadent.

"Now that we've left Golden City, it's too late to talk about this, right?" Xiao Ye dragged his heavy steps sleepily and continued, "Besides, it was me who suggested going to Ziyuan Town to take a look, and the time was also set in advance. No matter what, I can't let you down."

"Is last night's nightmare...better?"

"..."

Xiao Ye lowered her head and whispered, "I've almost forgotten it. It's no big deal."

To be precise, from the moment he woke up, the dream receded like the ebbing tide, leaving him no time even for a second to hold on to it.

But the throbbing brain and sticky back after waking up were enough to prove that it was definitely a nightmare that frightened him beyond words.

"By the way, we are going to Lavender Town, which is marked by ghost-type Pokémon..."

Sakura's body trembled violently, and the half of her face that turned back twitched slightly.

"Will last night's nightmare indicate something to us? Ghosts, spirits, etc., we can't be so lucky to always encounter them, right?"

"Do you still believe this?"

Xiao Ye listened to the girl's jokes and tried his best to act enthusiastic, trying not to let yesterday's nightmare affect today's happy journey.

"Most of the ghosts in folk legends are the thoughts of the dead who remain in the world. Think about it from another perspective. If you really encounter ghosts blocking the road, they may just be asking for help from kind people passing by, hoping to fulfill their last wish."

"Well, it seems that those ghosts that were originally ferocious suddenly become pitiful."

Sakura nodded as if it was a matter of fact, and agreed, "But it would be better if they could ask for help from others in a gentle way, and not suddenly appear in front of us when there is a disagreement."

As soon as she finished speaking, Sakura's steps suddenly stopped, her whole body shook violently, and her voice trembled.

"Just like..."

But Xiaoye didn't notice Xiaoying's movements and continued to move forward.

"Maybe it's because it's so rare to see someone like that in a thousand years, so you're too excited to notice these little details?"

"For example, for example..." Sakura's voice trembled even more, almost squeezing out word by word from between her teeth, "For example, this is the case!!"

A scream loud enough to burst the eardrums pierced through the clouds, and Xiaoye, who was slow to react, suddenly raised his head.

I saw a ball of light purple gas suspended in the air, and the woman who appeared in it had a pale face and blood-colored lips that were stiffly raised.

She seemed to be holding a rough hemp rope in her hand, with many strands of it falling off.

She just floated in the air, raised the rope in her hand towards the two frightened people in front of her, made a strange movement, and then melted into the fog like a drop of water, disappearing without a trace.

It was at this moment that the girl, who was finally able to take a deep breath, seemed to have seen something. She took a big step back with a distorted expression.

"Anything else?!"

Xiaoye came back to his senses and stood with Xiaoying, turning his head and asked.

"There's a cliff ahead..."

Sakura pounded her chest in fear, not daring to imagine what would happen if she continued walking on without the ghost's warning in the dense fog that made it hard to see...

"Cliff?" Xiao Ye was startled by the word the girl uttered. He quickly took out the map in his bag and squinted at it.

"That's not right. If we follow our route, we shouldn't pass through the forest and come to the east..."

Xiao Ye's words were stuck in the middle when a flash of lightning suddenly struck his mind and he remembered some overlooked details.

"Xiaoying, were you leading the way just now?"

“Ehhhhhhhh?!”

Sakura looked extremely innocent, her eyes full of shock as she said, "Aren't you the one leading the way? I saw that you didn't say anything to stop me so I just walked forward?"

The two of them stared at each other for a long time through the thin, almost invisible fog, and they both saw confusion in each other's eyes.

Who is leading the way along the way?

"Ahhh, never mind!"

Xiaoying scratched her hair randomly, grabbed Xiaoye's hand and ran in one direction.

"Let's get out of this forest! There really is a ghost!!!"

----

Shion Town is a very famous town in Kanto and even in the entire continent.

However, this "fame" did not bring about the more prosperous economy of the small town, but instead made it more depressed.

The closer you get to Ziyuan Town, the more you can feel its desolation.

The surrounding green plants have long been withered, the bungalows built around them also have many old traces, and the cracks on the wall tiles are shocking to look at.

The drooping branches of many dead trees nearby look like pairs of arms, beckoning visitors like demons.

"I finally understand why Lavender Town has such a bad reputation."

Sakura hugged herself and rubbed her shoulders, trying her best not to look at the dead branches on both sides that were almost touching her body, and stared straight at the road below her feet.

"No wonder so few people come here to travel even though Golden City and Ziyuan Town are so close. With this kind of environment, anyone who comes here will have nightmares, right?"

"But the Pokémon Tower here seems to be somewhat famous."

Xiao Ye flipped through the introduction about Ziyuan Town in his hand and read out the words on it.

"The Pokémon Tower was built hundreds of years ago. People at that time seemed to be afraid of or surrendered to something that they could not understand, so they built this tower to suppress some bad things."

"Things that are incomprehensible...?" Sakura shuddered, "Isn't that...ghosts, spirits, or something like that?"

Xiaoye folded up the booklet he got from the Pokémon Center in Golden City and put it away, then looked around at the unique scenery.

"The Fengwuzhi doesn't go into detail about this. Maybe even the locals don't know why their ancestors built this tower?" Xiaoye said, "After all, it's been a long time since then. This fear has long been lost in the long river of history. Today, the Pokémon Tower has become the home of many ghost Pokémon, but..."

“But that was only once.”

A deep male voice took over, the sound was disembodied, like a wisp of smoke.

"The ghost-type Pokémon living in the Pokémon Tower are gradually disappearing, and the entire Lavender Town is like a dead town, lifeless."

Xiaoye looked around the moment the sound appeared, and soon saw a black figure behind a dead tree.

He made a gesture to Sakura, and they both looked at the black shadow and nodded in tacit understanding.

Afterwards, the two of them lowered their footsteps and slowly approached that direction.

"The people who live here don't like those evil ghost Pokémon. They are greedy and often come to the town to cause trouble and steal the private belongings of the townspeople and tourists and take them for themselves."

"So the townspeople just drove them out?"

The man's body suddenly stiffened, and the small piece of paper in his hand trembled and fell to the ground.

Xiao Ye bent down to pick up the small note that fell at her feet, found the place the man mentioned and continued reading.

"Therefore, for the sake of the town's economy and prosperity, the mayor, Mr. Shen Qiyou, has decided to demolish the Pokémon Tower after the Bon Festival next week, completely changing the current situation where the town is feared by the outside world...?"

"W-Who are you?!"

"Ah? Tear down the Pokémon Tower!" Sakura leaned over to look at the words on the note and exclaimed, "How can this be possible? The Pokémon Tower is obviously the home of ghost-type Pokémon. They have lived here for hundreds of years. How can the Pokémon's home be demolished just because of the selfish desires of the townspeople?"

"Besides, the Pokémon Tower is also considered a historical site in Lavender Town. If it is demolished just like that, perhaps after a few hundred years, the most core part of Lavender Town's history will be missing."

The two outsiders started chattering in front of the man, completely ignoring his inquiry.

This made the man clench his fists, with veins on his forehead becoming increasingly visible, but he still forced himself to ask in a calm tone.

"Well, who are you two?"

"Oh, we are Pokémon trainers, just passing through Lavender Town." Sakura was the first to raise her head and introduced herself to them.

"My name is Fujino Ying, and this is Shuo Gu Ye. We just left Jinhuang City not long ago and wanted to visit the famous Ziyuan Town."

"Please give me more advice."

Xiao Ye nodded as a simple greeting.

“You mean…” The man’s breathing tightened for a moment for some reason, and his panting became noticeably louder. “Are you…tourists?!”

"Uh, should it be considered as such?"

Sakura covered her ears, looking at the crazy man who suddenly got excited and yelled in confusion, and said, "After all, Ziyuan Town is a famous tourist attraction. It would be a pity to miss it just because of its bad reputation."

"Yes, yes!" The man suppressed his excitement and agreed with a flattering smile, "Shion Town is definitely the most hospitable town in the Kanto region. If you miss it just because of some rumors, it will definitely be one of your regrets in this life!"

After saying this, the man no longer cared about his previous anger from being startled, and half bent down and made a "please" gesture.

"Then allow me to serve as your temporary tour guide for the two distinguished guests, and let them experience an extraordinary and wonderful journey in Ziyuan Town!"