Finding herself seated in front of Giovanni's office wasn't really on her list of places to be right now but, he had the knowledge and tools to easily help them out.

  A secretary sat in a work desk typing away on a old school computer and taking notes, filling forms and placing them into a folder. Every now and then she called out a name and motioned the said person to enter the room next to her.

  Faesol, was taking a nap next to Anya and at the seat over to her right was a young fidgeting boy and his father, the boy took glances at Anya every now and then, they both were finely dressed in suits.

  Anya noticed the constant glancing and gave the boy a small wave along with a smile, excited the boy waved back.

  "Dad, what is that Pokémon?" he asked his father

  "Son, I don't know every Pokémon in existence" he said without a glance towards Anya.

  "It has to be a Bug type or Grass type or maybe even both" he exclaimed

  "I want one" he continued

  "We talked about this already, me and your mother will get you a Pokémon when you turn 10"

  Interrupting their conversation the secretary stood up and called out "Next up, ms Anya?"

  "No last name" she grumbled "Anyone named Anya here?" she said as she looked around the room.

  Anya stood up from the bench and said.

  "[Faesol, let's go]". As she waved at the secretary, it took her a while to register that ms Anya was the yellow green Pokémon in a white dress.

  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Giovanni sat at the office table his hands clasped together, a pile of paper sat nicely at the corner of the desk and folder or two stood upright on the other side, hiding a small computer terminal behind them, his Persian was lounging next to him.

  Anya entered the room along with Faesol, he had been surprised that she had somehow arranged a meeting between them herself and has been brooding on the potential conversations and implications.

  It had taken him a while to set up a proper communication between the two. An extra table was set up on the side, where a modified typewriter sat, Giovanni had it made in advance as he had been expecting a conversation between the two at some point.

  "Please, take a seat" Giovanni said while gesturing to the extra table with the typewriter. Even the chair was made to accommodate Anya's body. The chair's backrest was in the shape that looks like the letter 'C'.

  Anya took her seat, her body relaxing when she leaned backwards, something she was not really able to do before as her abdomen usually got in the way. The backrest was a bit flimsy and got bent a bit while she put her weight to it.

  "I have tried to prepare in advance, the chair too is a prototype. For us to have a conversation at some point." His more professional attitude a stark contrast to how Samuel handles things. "So, what can I help you with"

  ------------------------------------------------

  Giovanni sat on his desk, reading a piece of paper that was written by Anya and delivered by Faesol. Giovanni was still fascinated by Anya and her ability to fluidly use the typewriter, that kind of things were still out of the norm, even for him.

  He read on the paper that Samuel was supposed to come pick them up yesterday and they were worried that something might have happened to him.

  There was also a messy line about ghosts and what not, the messy line gave the text a feeling of urgency.

  The next paper soon arrived in front of him, they were asking for a transportation to Pallet along with a more clear explanation of the situation at hand.

  He stood up from his desk and walked behind Anya. "So, let me get this straight. Professor Oak left you at the Pokémon Center overnight due to, a ghost haunting the Espeon and he was supposed to pick you up yesterday?" to which Anya nodded. "And now, you would like to get to the lab to look for the supposedly missing professor" Anya nodded again. Giovanni paced around the room for a while, thinking.

  "I'll help you get to Pallet, in exchange" he said, his gaze hardening on Anya. "We will have a private chat later, I have heard that you do business and I'm curious enough to not let a this chance to find out more slip away".

  -------------------------------------------------------

  They had soon been teleported into an alley somewhere around Pallet by a pair of Hypno who instantly teleported away afterwards.

  "Now, to find Samuel" said Anya to Faesol as she took a bearing of their location. The area looked familiar to her, it seems like they were moved to the town square.

  Moving towards the lab mostly unhindered, some ladies Anya knew from the housewife group greeted her, but didn't dally for too long.

  --------------------------------------------------------

  Giovanni sat back into his chair, his hand went down on his left side, to scratch the head of Persian, who leaned against the offered hand. Giovanni was soon deep in thought, he thought about Anya, the odd Pokémon and her odd mannerism flashed by his mind. He wasn't sure if this was just a species trait or was it specifically because it was her specifically that he has interacted with that it felt so off.

  He opened a drawer on his right, revealing a corded phone hidden inside, he slowly dialed a number and the call soon connected.

  ---------------------------------------------------------

  Anya and Faesol had arrived at the lab, they found the place eerily quiet. They started scouring through the place, no signs of Samuel were found inside the building.

  "Where has he gone?" Anya said out loud as they reached the backyard, her body tensing on the implications. Had she been wrong all this time, that this wasn't the version of the world she knew about.

  Faesol, sensing the change in Anya's mental state was about to say something, but before she could something brushed at the edge of her psychic senses. Her body tensed and her eyes focused on the edge of the forest.

  Anya too noticing that something was off, she saw Faesol staring somewhere and followed her gaze. They both saw a silhouette standing at the edge of the forest, its face obscured by the shade.

  "That doesn't look like Samuel" Anya said out loud

  "It doesn't feel like him at all" Faesol confirmed

  "Should we like, follow him? I didn't think this through" Anya said while shaking her head

  "Thinking is the half the battle, hye hye hye" said another voice nearby Anya couldn't place.

  Taken by a surprise a shadow near her rose and two figures appeared out of nowhere, one they both recognized as Agatha.

  Accompanying Agatha was a purple, bit stocky bipedal figure with a toothy grin showing.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  The Gengar in question soon disappeared underneath Agatha.

  The women looked composed, her eyes instantly flicked towards the edge of the forest. The figure had disappeared from the edge, Agatha kept her eyes on the forest for a moment before giving Anya and Faesol a quick glance.

  "You should have informed me, even that fool of a Professor should know not to mess with ghosts" She told them with an annoyed sigh.

  "Do you know, how surprised I was when Giovanni gave me a call, telling me that Samuel's Pokémon told him that Samuel might have some trouble with ghosts."

  "Back on to the subject at hand, Gengar here has confirmed that there is indeed a large amount of spiritual energies in the air and they seem to be coming deeper inside the forest" She said while pointing towards the forest's edge.

  "I'll be heading inside, you can come with or stay here if you wish." She said while taking a deep breath afterwards and took her first step forward.

  "[So, what should we do]" asked Faesol

  "[I think it is better to follow her, I feel like it is safer with her]" Anya said while taking a step after Agatha.

  ---------------------------------------------------------------

  Inside the forest, a step or two behind Agatha, who seems to be following something. Light from the sun was barely coming through the thick foliage and the air was getting cooler a tell tale sign of ghost activity if the stories were to be believed.

  Faesol was edging closer to Anya, close enough to actually hinder her movements, causing Anya to stumble every now and then. As she was about to ask her to watch out where she was going, she noticed Faesol being deeply unsettled, her fur standing up.

  "[Fiif, everything okay?]" she asked her, a hint of worry in her words.

  "[Y-yes]" she stammered "[Everything is fine]"

  "We are here" Agatha proclaimed while stopping next to an old red gateway, barely withstanding the accumulation of years. Beyond the gates was a small one room building.

  "Let's see" said Agatha while slowly moving towards the run down structure. Carefully taking her steps. "This one is very, very old" she said in a low voice. "Lost shrines like this one has been abandoned for decades at the very least and most of the time an errant ghost finds and haunts the place." She paused for a moment and took a glance at Anya.

  "Trust me on this, it is how I find most of my stronger ghosts"

  "Something about these forgotten and lost shrines attract and bolster the ghosts, I have been studying them for years. My latest hypothesis is that -" Agatha's voice was interrupted by a loud crack followed by a cackle coming from inside the shrine itself. Agatha's ghosts erupted from under her in a display of a spiraling mass of flickering energies.

  Another surge of energy released from the shrine, these in turn danced around the whole area giving an oppressive feeling. The main culprit still out of sight.

  Anya barely managed to stay upright as the pressure kept pushing her down, Faesol crumbled under the pressure and curled into a small ball, trying to be as small as she could.

  Agatha on the other hand showed no adverse reaction to these ghostly energies and instead looked as if empowered by such forces, her posture bettering, gaining a few extra centimeters of height, her glare grew sharper and more focused.

  Their breaths came out as white steam, the temperature seemed like it had dropped below zero as a layer of frost was gathering on the blades of grass, reflecting the purple lights of the ghostly energies.

  It would have seen like a magical scene straight out of a fairytale if not for the sinister aura emanating around the shrine and Agatha, clashing together in a vortex of purple hues.

  A loud clap sounded, dispelling most of the pressure that has been building. Anya snapped out of the daze she had been unknowingly subjected to, her head snapped towards Agatha, the originator of the clap, her hands still joined together. Agatha calmly spoke out loud "Gengar, flush it out" Another Gengar rose from underneath her, slowly rising from her shadow sneering to no one in particular.

  The Gengar bounced forward, nearing the shrine in a single motion, intending to breach the opposing ghost's premise. The jump looked quite comical as the Gengar slowly crossed the distance, the defending energies hindering its movements, its hands still stretched outwards and reaching for something.

  Now all aware of their surroundings, Faesol and Anya both alerted to the action steeled themselves and prepared for anything that might be thrown at their way.

  Arriving at the entrance of the shrine, the Gengar's sneer turned into a smirk. Purplish energy started to converge on both of its hands, condensing into a solid looking purple spheres. Then, a blink later the door opened and a ball of purple energy flew out of the shrine. Gengar has been ready for it, the whole thing a show, a bait for the enemy as a round blue shield manifested in front of it.

  The Protect easily blocking the attack and the Gengar's smirk twisted into an off putting grin, it had located its target. In Anya's eyes the Gengar had disappeared suddenly after, the floating energies started swirling around faster, more aggressively as both sides of energies met in the air. Some kind of otherworldly conflict was happening between the two types of energies.

  At first glance it looked like they were evenly matched, but after a while it was clear that Agatha's side was the stronger one. The opposing energies slowly started dimming, growing more and more transparent, even Agatha was waving a fan of yellow talismans on each hand around her in a controlled and practiced movements, while chanting something that Anya couldn't directly make out of, it was then that she noticed that something was muffling the sounds around the whole area.

  She could not hear the rustling of the trees or the whistling of the wind, only the occasional booms of conflicting energies resounded around. Taking a look at Faesol next to her, the Espeon was concentrating on something as the red gem on her forehead was glistening with the sign of accumulating of psychic energies.

  Another clap and something flew out of the shrine, a vase of some kind. It flew towards Agatha, who with a flick of her wrist threw a set of talismans at the paper, each of them neatly stuck on the vase as if someone had glued them on. The Gengar still outside snatched the vase out of the air. An audible sizzle pierced the silence as the vase started to smoke.

  The whole scene was similar to the one that happened at the Pokémon Center, but instead of Faesol releasing smoke, it was the vase which was releasing a thick smoke.

  Agatha, not standing idle had dashed forward and slapped the vase with another two sets of yellow talismans, the smoke coming from the vase intensified until it suddenly just stopped and the whole area returned to normal with the energies dissipating.

  "Hmmpf, shame" Agatha spat out, obviously disappointed in something.

  "Oh, hey" a familiar voice came from the shrine, Samuel came out stumbling a bit, Agatha's Gengar acting as a makeshift support.

  "I knew this one seemed familiar" Samuel said as he tried to stand upright and the Gengar gave him a laugh as he fell forward without a support.

  Agatha rushed to Samuel's aid, even Anya and Faesol decided to join up with them, there was a loud slap as Agatha brutishly slapped Samuel in the cheek with a talisman, which stuck on him.

  "Why did you do that for?" he said

  "Ow, ow, ow, hot hot hot" Samuel whined as the talisman suddenly heated up and releasing some black smoke. A long minute later, the Samuel stopped smoking and the talisman just fell off.

  Then another slap resounded as Agatha gave Samuel another slap.

  "You should know not to go after wild ghosts alone" she said angry tones in her voice.

  "Your Pokémon" she said as she motioned at Anya and Faesol "Went to Giovanni for help".

  Not letting Samuel get a turn to talk she continued "And looking at your condition and the strength of the spirit, you got lucky, a day or two later, disabled for life or worse, Death"

  "But thank the gods, you are alive and well" the anger mellowed towards the end of the sentence, leaving a soft relieved smile on her face as she gave Samuel a hug.

  Samuel who was still confused by the sudden slap on his face let it all happen and rubbed his cheek on one hand and the other held Agatha.

  For Anya, the interaction between the two of them made her wonder if there was something more than friendship between them at some point in time or not.

  Giving Faesol a look, she saw the feline staring at the two of them intensely with her gem glowing red, something had caught her attention psychically.

  The moment ended soon after and Agatha let go of Samuel, her eyes met Anya's and a blush rose on her pale cheeks.

  "We should head back" said Samuel soon after, none of them opposed the idea.