Mission #9

Jackson stepped off the train and onto a platform constructed from stone. The air around him was humid and he could hear the sound of waves crashing against rock nearby. He had just arrived in Rivertide, the ocean front city. His noctowl/mightyena fusion, Atlas, was standing at his side. The pokemon sniffed the air, immediately noticing the strong smell of the salty water.

The trainer adjusted his backpack before he began to walk with Atlas following behind him. He had just recently received word that there was a “haunted” house in Rivertide that was scaring nearby residents away and giving them nightmares. Jackson wasn’t exactly sure how much he believed this, thinking it was likely just the work of some pesky ghost pokemon. If so, he definitely thought the residents were overreacting. However, the community had put up a reward in hopes that a trainer would check the situation out. Fake haunting or not Jackson figured it was easy money.

The pair had to walk down the city streets for sometime until they reached the residential area. Jackson occasionally referenced his electronic map, now able to see the supposedly haunted house in the distance. The neighborhood around them was unusually quiet, especially on such a nice day. Typically he would expect to see kids and people outside playing, but there was no one in sight.

Jackson stopped as he neared the house’s front gate, taking a moment to look it over. He thought the word “house” might be misleading. It was more of a mansion than anything. There was even a large amount of land that separated it from the other houses, a winding stone path leading towards it. It certainly looked creepy with its dark walls and pointy roof. It was also clear from the state of the building that it hadn’t been inhabited for quite some time. The structure was in poor shape and most of the windows had been boarded up.

“Let’s start with the outside, I guess.” The trainer said to his pokemon. He pushed open a creaky metal gate and stepped onto the property. With a normal house investigating a yard probably wouldn’t have been a very big task, but this mansion had a large amount of land that stretched in every direction.

Before Jackson started to go any further he took out two pokeballs and then tossed them out in front of him. From one appeared a light gray shieldon/duskull fusion named Marrow. He had a flat white head and glowing red eyes. From the other pokemon came a delta ghost turtwig, Shadow, with a  purple body and black mist marking.

Jackson quickly explained what was going on to the two pokemon. He thought the pair of ghost type pokemon might be able to help with the investigation. Though, they would also need to be very careful. If the “haunting” was the result of ghost pokemon then their moves would do extra damage to Marrow and Shadow. This left any potential battling to Atlas, since his dark type moves would be extra effective against any enemy ghost pokemon.

The trainer began to follow the path leading up towards the house, his footsteps making a soft sound as he walked. The three pokemon were on high alert as they followed but so far nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. As they neared the house Jackson began to see that there was a large garden in the back. He followed the path as it went around the side of the house and towards this garden.

The first thing he noticed was the tall shrubbery that spanned over part of the garden. Even though he was pretty tall the bushes easily towered over him. The fact that it was such a large amount of space also intrigued Jackson.

As the trainer moved forward to investigate he saw a narrow hallway cutting into the bushes, which seemed like the only entrance. He stepped forward just enough to get a look and then stepped back out. “I think it might be a maze.” Jackson said as he scratched his head and looked towards his pokemon.

“Well… I guess we should go in.” The trainer said, looking back at it with a bit of nervousness. There was no way of knowing what could be in the maze. Maybe traps… or very angry pokemon. There was also the potential that they could get lost, especially seeing as Jackson didn’t currently have any flying pokemon with him. In hindsight he was thinking that was a poor decision. 

Atlas took the lead as the group entered the maze, sniffing at the dirt beneath them. The noctyena wasn’t really picking up anything of note but continued to sniff the air and environment as they walked. Marrow and Shadow weren’t exactly as helpful as they walked behind Jackson, a bit of a bounce in their gait.

As Jackson rounded a corner he could see that a very long hallway in front of them. Other corridors extended in all directions from this hallway and the trainer was starting to think that he may have underestimated the size of this maze. He back tracked for a moment to look back at where they had come from, but noticing something rather concerning. He couldn’t see the entrance where they came in.

The trainer had to weave through Shadow and Marrow as he went back towards the entrance. Once he got there he found that sure enough the entrance was now gone. “Okay… that’s weird. And now we’re trapped.” He said as he looked towards his pokemon, who didn’t seem as phased by this. “Guess we just have to keep going.”

Jackson then went back around the corner and to the long corridor, not exactly sure where they should go. Atlas still didn’t seem to pick up any noticeable scents so the trainer just decided to pick one at random that they then walked down it. The trainer looked back for a moment after they walked forward, checking that the way back was still open. He was starting to seriously consider his dismissal of the house being haunted. Something certainly wasn’t right here.