There seems to be something wrong with these Pokémon

"Destroy?!"

Shuoya Ye couldn't believe his ears and repeated in disbelief.

Even an outsider like him knew how much historical significance the Pokémon Tower had for Lavender Town. How could it be destroyed just because of a woman's casual words?

"From your tone... I seem to hear resistance." The woman's low voice spoke without any ripples, like a piece of paper without any wrinkles. "Time is running out, but I am willing to tell you my story."

"I used to be very similar to you. We both worshiped devoutly and regularly cleaned the tower left by our ancestors together with the people of the town..."

Natural disasters and man-made disasters all go against one’s wishes.

Evely, who was supposed to be entering into a happy marriage, died before her wedding due to an accident.

During her lifetime, the Pokémon Tower was rejected by some townspeople, and many chose to close their eyes and no longer approach the ancient monument. Only a small number of townspeople were willing to make an appointment together and occasionally clean the place when they had free time.

I don't mean to say that the room should be cleaned to be bright and beautiful, but it's good enough as long as it doesn't look dirty.

Evely, dressed in coarse linen, held a feather duster in her hand. Her hands were stained with gray and black stains, but she was still smiling. She joked with the women around her like the bright morning sun, ended a busy day, and walked out of the tower slowly.

"Ouch, my waist." A woman pounded her lower back with her hands and shook her head from side to side. "I don't know why we put so much effort in this. We don't get any reward, and we are secretly laughed at by those people behind our backs."

"It's good to have peace of mind." Evely naturally lowered her right hand and shook it lightly, and some dust fell from the feather duster. "The things left by our ancestors must have their reasons. Even if we don't know, we shouldn't offend them in vain. We should just clean it according to the custom with awe."

"Hehe." The woman turned her head and narrowed her eyes, smiling maliciously, "Isn't it rumored that this place has always been haunted?"

"You believe this too?" Evely overlapped her middle finger and thumb, pointed at the head next to her and popped a brain bomb, "Pokémon, Pokémon. This world is so magical, and many rumors and unknown relics have been proven by modern science to be created and influenced by Pokémon. What is there to be afraid of?"

"Ouch, it hurts!"

The woman covered her red head, shrank back and muttered, "Okay, okay, you are a fearless iron lady. Even if Pokémon comes, they will be defeated by you. Of course you are not afraid."

"You're so talkative." Evely couldn't help but laugh at the woman's exaggerated performance. "That's enough. I'll have to go back tonight..."

The woman covered her forehead and looked sideways at Evely who had suddenly become silent. She saw that her pupils were slightly dilated, and she was staring blankly ahead with an expression that was almost a little surprised and a little shy.

The woman turned her neck and saw a spark in the dark forest not far away. Although it was not very bright, it illuminated the way ahead for the two of them like a beacon in a lost place.

The firelight got closer and closer, and Evely's expression became more and more stiff. Her hands hung down and clasped in front of her stomach, and the feather duster was secretly stuffed into the hands of a woman next to her at some point.

"Eveli..."

The firelight illuminated a small area of ​​vision ahead, and a tall man appeared in front of the two.

He was wearing a hat and holding an oil lamp in his hand, his eyes wandering around. His free hand rubbed the side of his trouser leg several times but couldn't find his trouser pocket. He had to lift it up and put it under his chin in an attempt to cover up his mistake, and coughed softly a few times.

"I... just happened to pass by here, so I thought I'd come over... to see you."

----

"Tomorrow is your wedding day, beautiful bride~"

"Stop being so funny, you have such a big mouth..." Evely's cheeks were slightly red as she walked on the path she had walked thousands of times and was already familiar with, "Don't have any distracting thoughts when cleaning the Pokémon Tower, otherwise it will be considered disrespectful."

"Yes, yes, dear Mama-san..." The woman lifted her long hair by her ear and complained as she walked on the muddy road with a broom in hand, "The weather is really bad. It rained heavily not long ago. This road is surprisingly difficult to walk on."

"Yes, and this heavy rain not only brought a lot of strange things, but also delayed our work." Evely sighed lightly, "The dry well that had long been abandoned at the foot of the mountain suddenly revived and had spring water. A deep crack appeared next to the house built on the mountain, and we missed the time to clean the Pokémon Tower..."

click-

"It seems to me that you only care about the last sentence, right?" The woman complained, "You are such a conservative old-fashioned person. It doesn't matter if it's a day earlier or a day later. It's good enough that you can clean it up. Why do you need to be so precise?"

"You don't have to believe it, but..."

"But you can't be disrespectful..." the woman interrupted with a long tone, "I'm going to get calluses on my ears if you keep saying it every day!"

"Well, if this tower really enshrines some unspeakable god, then if we respect and adore it so devoutly, won't it bless us with wealth and prosperity throughout our lives?"

The woman's eyes were shining as she fantasized about a bright future.

"Having money, a house, a husband, well-behaved children, and lifelong friends, isn't this the life of a dream?"

The woman thought of this and quickly put her hands together, lowered her head and prayed, "God bless me, God bless me, for our devout cleaning for you, let me enjoy the taste of my dream, and give me a tall and handsome man!"

Click——click——

Evely's steps suddenly paused and she stopped.

After the footsteps of the two men disappeared, the entire back mountain suddenly became silent, like a pool of stagnant water. There was no living thing except the barely audible prayer of the woman beside him.

Even the Pokémon that usually climbed on the branches were nowhere to be seen, as if they were the only two people left in the entire back mountain.

Evely's pupils trembled slightly and her legs shook uncontrollably.

No, something's wrong.

The inexplicable palpitations made her panic, and the blue sky suddenly lost its color and became as silent as the night.

Click-click-click-!

what sound? !

Evely raised her head suddenly and her pupils shrank.

Yellow soil from all over the mountains rolled down from above, carrying with it many fist-sized pieces of gravel, like a tsunami.

"run--!"

Evely screamed, grabbing the still dazed woman and turning her around.

----

This...where is this?

Pokémon Tower... Regular cleaning... The mountain...

collapse!

Evely suddenly opened her eyes, struggled to get up from the ground, and gasped for breath.

The pain of being suffocated by the mudslide still remains clear in her memory. Breathing seems to have become a luxury. Apart from the darkness in front of her eyes, there are only miserable screams in her ears.

“Evelyn——!”

【Eveli~】

"Who?!"

Evely bent her legs and moved backwards, asking in a trembling voice, "Where is this? Who are you?"

【here it is...】

A cloud of purple smoke appeared in front of Evely's eyes, and the unreal voice came from it.

[Pokémon Tower is also the resting place of the dead. ]

She raised her right hand and slowly covered her lips, her mind going blank.

The supernatural phenomena before her had destroyed her mind, and what made her even more desperate was the "dead" mentioned by the creature in front of her.

Am I...dead?

No, that’s not possible!

She is about to marry the one she loves, she will have a future that everyone envies, she...

I don’t want to die yet!

A tough face appeared in front of Evely. He was not handsome, but his silly actions always made her smile from the bottom of her heart.

The sudden pain of loss overwhelmed the panic caused by suffocation. Her right hand covered her chest, and the clothes she tightly grasped were wrinkled into a ball.

Evely thought she would burst into tears, but she found that she couldn't shed a single tear. She was like a dead body, having lost all ability to express emotions.

[All souls that come here are like this. I'm used to it.]

The lavender creature floating in the air twisted its body and continued, "You have seven days to sort out your thoughts and find out your regrets."

【By the way, let me introduce myself. 】

[I am Gastly, the leader of all the ghost-type Pokémon in this tower. You can also call me Boss.]