Pandora smiled. "(It must be nice to not know exactly how powerful Cassius is. Ignorance is bliss, after all.)" He turned to watch the marowak leaving, not too concerned. "(He's probably just trying to get away from your yammering for awhile.)"

Cassius looked at the ground. "Mr. Fuji" he supplied, "he was a friend of mine. Helped to convince the Indigo league to let me run a gym here. He passed away soon after returning to Lavender." Cassius didn't usually replace the word "died" with something less severe, but Fuji had had a gentle death, peacefully of old age in his sleep, without any spirit lingering. He had done a lot of good in his time.

"The pokemon tower is pretty dangerous, these days. Ever since they tried to replace the old tower with a radio station, its attracted the most violent ghosts in the area. Most are newly dead, and very angry with the world- I go in once a week to try and keep the peace, but it's a tentative arrangement at best." It was hard to blame them, though; the outcry when humans had bulldozed their ancestral home and shrine in favor of a radio tower, of all things, had been deafening, and still some stupid humans had gone ahead with the plan, despite protests from the citizens, dead and living alike.

((Gah! Sorry for the late post. x_x;; ))

"(Y'know, with that mouth of yours...you're starting to sound like me.)" The darkling winked. "(Anyway, did you want to join them? I'll race you down the stairs.)"

"Passed...away...?" Sidney fell silent, her heart suddenly very heavy. Why she felt so sad all of a sudden, she couldn't explain. She thought back to when she had first met the old man. He had a gentle demeanor; almost grandfatherly. Maybe that's why her chest ached so. Mr. Fuji's death was like losing a beloved family member.

It was a few seconds before she built up the strength to speak again. "A radio station...on sacred ground?" The thought seem appalling. "That's ghastly!" The tower was home to hundreds of pokemon, both alive and dead. For humans to be so selfish as to tear it down...

Pandora put on his most sweet, innocent smile, which looked rather conniving.

Ginger made a face and stuck her tongue out at Pandora. But she took off at a run anyway, darting out the door and nearly knocking Taro over as she bounded down the stairs.

"Sure," she replied, still a little uneasy. "We can stop there before Michael and I head north through Rock Tunnel." Once again, she felt sad. After tonight, she didn't know when she'd be seeing Cassius again. After the Indigo League, she probably wouldn't be returning to Kanto for a long while. But one comforting thought was that Cassius, being dead, would always be around, hopefully.

It was frightfully quiet. Too quiet, Sidney noted. "Where's Ginger?" she finally asked, checking behind her for any signs of her partner. The absol never usually left her side.

Pandora counted to five, and then couldn't wait any longer. The shortest distance between two points being a straight line, he dove through the floorboard, angling his decent to come out at the door to garden, where he rematerialized and leaned up against the wall to wait for Ginger.

"Sounds good" said Cassius quietly. That was right, she'd be leaving tomorrow, along with Mike and Ginger and the others, and he'd be right back where he started. Maybe I can go see the indigo league tournament this year he thought to himself, but that was months away.

They had reached the center garden, the "grand hall" so to speak. It was large and circular, with paths leading off in several directions to other areas, and a once-grand marble fountain in the middle, now grey and covered in ivy, with only the barest trickle of water coming through. The air smelt of lavender; the town's flower was planted all along the paths, looking fresher and more alive than the other plants, releasing their scent into the cooling evening air.

"I think Ginger stayed back at the house, I haven't seen her since we started." He was pretty sure he knew why she'd stayed behind, but didn't want to discuss the pokemon's matchmaking plans; the situation was potentially awkward enough already.

"(Hey! No fair!)" Ginger finally emerged outside, looking extremely peeved when she saw Pandora waiting for her. "(Cheater!)" she screamed, firing off two aerial ace projectiles in an effort to startle the haunter--but she was aiming for the dead branch above him, and the wind easily sliced through the wood, the limb tumbling down onto the head of the ghost below.

"Did you hear that?" Sidney asked the other. She had heard several cries of 'absol', followed by a loud cracking sound. It didn't take a psychic pokemon to figure it out. "Oh, dear," she said with a sigh, before hastily jogging back.

"(I didn't cheat!)" Pandora barely managed to phase out again before the branch hit the air where he was floating. "(It's not MY fault you darklings can't phase in and out like we can.)" He stuck out his tongue and waved his arms around beside his head.

Cassius heard Pandora next, and although he couldn't make out the words, it sounded like an argument waiting to happen, and one or the other of them was breaking his garden. He hurried back alongside Sidney, picking up the last of Pandora's comment as they neared the scene of the fight.

"(You did too cheat!)" the absol snapped. "(You're not supposed to phase through walls. You're a cheater. C-H-E-A-ow, ow, ow! Not the blade, not the blade!)" Her trainer had grabbed her by the horn, dragging her off to the side.

"I take my eyes off you for a minute." The ninja shook her head. "Stick with me from now on."

"(Pan started it,)" Ginger said, sounding very much like a small child.

Taro had finally made it down the stairs and immediately rushed over to his mother's side. Sidney leaned down and scratched the back of his neck as the dinosaur hugged her leg. "Ah, I'm real sorry about this," she apologized, looking up at the other trainer.

"It's quite alright" replied Cassius, as Pandora stuck his tongue out further and rolled his eyes around at Ginger. "Pandora should know better than to fight in the garden."

"(Hah, take that you stupid dar-what?!)" Pandora glared at Cassius, who glared back. The elder haunter one, and Pandora looked at the ground. "(Ginger started it, y'know.)" he muttered, depressed.

Taro turned away from his mother so that he was facing both Ginger and Pandora. "(Grow up,)" he said, narrowing his eyes. "(Both of you.)" So the marowak could speak.

"(Whaaat? Pan really did start it!)" Ginger tried her best to sound innocent. "(He's always picking on me 'cause he's dead and I'm not.)" But Taro ignored her. "(Argh! No one ever believes me!)"

"It's starting to get dark." Sidney was having difficulty seeing the others, save their eyes--and she suddenly felt like the oddball out, since everyone but her were night noctowls.

"(You, Pan, know exactly how the garden gets when it's this dark- you ruined a very good opportunity for me there.)" Pandora looked chastened by this. If he'd known his trainer had been trying to frighten Sidney, he wouldn't have interrupted. "You're right, Sidney, we should probably head back in, if Ginger wants her fight." He was a little sad to be inside on such a lovely night, but also eager to get out of his human body for awhile.

"(You're not too bright, are you?)" Ginger said, addressing Cassius. "(You know how Sidney gets when she's scared. Certain people end up flipped onto their back.)" She laughed a little. "(You remember that, don't you? Oh, was that classic! The great King of the Dead, bested by a human girl!)" A sigh. "(If only I had a camera...)" It was best she didn't, or she'd no doubt begin blackmailing the poor ghost.

"Thank you for the garden tour, Cassius. It's very lovely." The ninja then turned her attention back down to the dinosaur pokemon, who still appeared sleepy. "Taro, it's time you returned." The marowak nodded drowsily, and Sidney sucked him back into his pokeball. "Come on, Gin."

"(Alright, let's do this!)" The absol couldn't wait another minute.

"(You couldn't use one if you did- no opposable thumbs)" he replied, holding the door for the group. "(And I can handle my own, as you're about to find out.)" Pandora cast him a quick warning look. "Ah, right, I should change first" he said. "Sidney, I should warn you about... well, this" he rolled up one of his sleeved, revealing a rather gruesome sight.

It looked as if a half-foot long section of his arm had been cut out, the ends somehow sealed so they didn't bleed, just showed perfectly lively cross sections of a human wrist. Blood still seemed to be pumping, although it was anyone's guess where exactly it went in between arm and hand.

Sidney actually stumbled back a bit, not knowing what to say. She was frightened, as could easily be read by her eyes, which suddenly grew twice their normal size. For Cassius to suddenly whip back his sleeve and show her...show her what? A severed arm with a disembodied hand? "W-what?" she stuttered. "What...happened? What's happening to you?"

"(Ew! That's just...ew! Put it away! Now!)" Ginger stared at the ghastly sight, half tempted to go up and stick her paw through the empty space.

He rolled his sleeve back again, the arm looking as good as new, although once one knew it was there, one could see a slight sag of his sleeves at the wrist. "It's just a side effect of long-term possession, my haunter DNA keeps trying to override the human DNA. It'll go away once I leave, and take about a month to grow back. Just means I need to leave once a month or so, so nothing more serious happens." It had never really bothered him- arms seemed so unnecessary and unnatural, anyways.

"(Then let's get this over with, shall we.)" The absol rubbed her paws together, grinning at Cassius. "(So...can I have mallet duty this time? I'm a natural when it comes to...disasters. Muahaha!)" She attempted an evil cackle, which didn't even begin to compare to that of the two haunters. Still, she did sound rather scary.

"You're not going to do the whole bound and knocked unconscious thing, are you?" Sidney asked Cassius after she had gone through the door. She was still trying to forget what she had just seen, but it was already imprinted in her memory.

"Sort of. I use an injection from a human hospital now, it's much safer than a mallet for long term, repeated use." Nurse Joy from the Lavender pokemon center had helped him in explaining to the hospital why a haunter needed to be trained to knock a gymleader unconscious once a month. It was an awkward situation, but it worked.

Cassius opened yet another secret door, this one leading to a new flight of stairs, heading downwards and spiraling. "The dungeon's just down there, make yourselves at home" he said, apparently quite oblivious to the oddness of the request. "I'll be with you in a minute. Pan, could you run and grab the stuff, then make sure Mike knows we're starting?" The haunter nodded and dashed off, again going right through the walls, and Cassius started up the stairs to the rooms.

Sidney looked back to watch Cassius as he left them, then continued down the spiral steps. "I have to admit," Sidney told her pokemon friend, "this...is a little creepy..."

"(See what happens when you don't think?)" Ginger derided. She then began immitating Sidney, using her best high and squeaky voice and moving her paws around in a very human-like manner. "('Oh, I just can't wait to spend a night in a haunted mansion. It'll be so wonderful. I can't think of anything better than sharing a house with an evil garden, hundreds of ghosts, and an armless freak of nature.')" She blew a raspberry. "(Not!)"

It's a good thing Ginger's trainer didn't understand pokemon speak, or the ninja would have probably dropkicked her into the nearest stone wall. But eventually, they reached the bottom level, the dank scent of dungeon mildew invading their nostrils. "(Y'know, this is kinda cool,)" the absol admitted, sniffing the ground. "(I've never seen a real dungeon before, much less been in one. The stench though...)" She wrinkled her nose. "(The stench I could do without.)"

((Sneak- apologies for doing a bunch of stuff without ya, here. There's some stuff Flannery and I have plotted to get Cassius to come along on the trip to rock tunnel, where Mike'll get a much bigger role. Also, a reminder to both of ye that I'll be leaving tomorrow for New York for four days, so I won't be able to RP ))

Pandora dashed about, collecting other members of Cassius' main team and grabbing his supplies kit. He popped in on Mike's room for a moment, told his pokemon that Ginger's battle was about to start and they'd best get downstairs, same stairway they'd come up.

Cassius had fewer preparations. He changed, dabbed the gruesome ends of his hands and arms with antiseptic, and headed right back down the stairs. Even with the eerie atmosphere, glowing eyes, and disembodied hands, there was something decidedly un-creepy about a ghost wearing a plain t-shirt and old jeans.

((Won't be able to RP?! What about that cool telekinetic posting ability you were bragging about? Ah, well. Have a blast in NYC and tell us all about it when you get back! ))

"(Oh, look at these.)" Ginger noticed a pair of iron shackles dangling from one of the nearby walls. And there wasn't just one, but several, spaced out every few feet.

"(Hey, Sidney. Check this out.)" She slipped her paws through either cuff, facing the human girl. "(Why don't we do a bit of role-playing. I'm the poor, wrongly accused slave, and you're the cruel, cold-hearted master.)"

She pretended to struggle against the chains, thrashing wildly. "(Nooo!)" she sobbed. "(Please don't whip me again! I didn't eat the berry! It was--hey there, ghosty. Lookin' good.)" Ginger had just noticed Cassius. "(You actually look normal for once. Well, if you ignore the lack of appendages.)" She laughed, then pulled away from the wall...but the chains prevented her from getting very far. "(Aiiieeeee! I'm stuck!)" she cried, this time struggling for real.

Cassius glared coldly at Ginger. "Not funny" he said. For obvious reasons, the ghost trainer didn't find the subject of trainers torturing their pokemon at all amusing. "Pandora is bringing the keys, he'll be here in a minute or two, and it's your own fault for playing around with the dungeon equipment." He crossed his arms, feeling weird without long sleeves.

The absol made a face, but found it best she didn't come back with some snide comment or risk the ghost leaving her to rot in his dungeon. And that also meant no fight later. The place suddenly didn't feel like so much fun anymore. "(I was just playing, y'know...)" What a stiff.

Sidney still couldn't stand to look at Cassius' arms, so she focused on his face instead. "I'm still worried about you," she told him, biting her lip. "How many times have you done this exactly?"

He paused to think, and count. "About eight, I think. Don't worry, though, it's quite safe." He smiled, and didn't seem particularly worried as he started to examine the other shackles, those that weren't occupied by irate absols.

One set that came up to his shoulders or so looked particularly well cared for, polished and without the rust that the others all seemed to have acquired. He slipped one hand in by passing the shackle through the missing part of his arm, which was indeed completely gone and not just invisible.

"(Howdy.)" Ginger looked over at her new neighbor, grinning. "(Whoa! Hey, do I have to watch this?)" She wasn't sure she wanted to see what sort of proceedure the ghost used to contain his human host while he left. But then again, she had never met the real Cassius. Well, Cassius in his own body.

"Still, be careful," Sidney sighed, still feeling slightly tense about the whole matter.

"I will be." Cassius' face may have been a little pinker than usual, or maybe it was just the reflection from his eyes. Pandora appeared as the trainer finished locking himself in, staring at Ginger.

"(Whoa, what did she <I>do</I>?)" he asked, at a loss for what terrible deed had caused Cassius to actually lock her up.

"(She locked herself in)" replied Cassius. Pandora, of course, burst out laughing. "Unlock her, Pan. We're supposed to be having a battle, remember?"

"(Right, right. I guess it'll be even more fun to watch you beat her to a pulp)" he conceded, putting down a white case with a red medical cross next to Cassius, and floating over to Ginger with a key. "(You owe me for this, darkling)" he said, opening the shackles.