*Nathan's POV*

It's so dark down here... How are we supposed to see anything, let alone find that Flareon?!

I take a deep breath, forcing just a little bit more of the charred air around me into my lungs, and take another few steps down the seemingly-endless downwards staircase. Risk seems to immediately sense my unrest and places a paw on my back, as if to steady me. I glance over at him, and he cracks a slight smile.

"Hey, no need to lose hope, now!" he chimes,

"We've only been walking for a few minutes. I'm sure we'll come across something soon enough- she couldn't have gotten that far in front of us with that injury from jumping down the crevasse..."

I could detect a slight hint of worry in his voice, but I know that he's trying to stay calm for my sake, so I force myself to hold my head and keep my eyes peeled.

As we reach the bottom of the initial stairway, the halls seem to metamorphose from a metallic frame to one of granite, as if the builders has simply run out of materials after only one stairway. However, just like the destroyed entrance, there are obvious signs of structural damage. Risk and I exchange another nervous glance, half-expecting the place to collapse at any moment, and continue to walk.

As we move further in, the air seems to grow mustier almost immediately, as if we've entered into a completely new world, where comfort is anything but the norm. The impact seems to be more dampened in this new "atmosphere," but that fact does nothing to preserve my rising nerves, which ache for more breathable air in my lungs.

Maybe they could have simply decided to save on building costs? Besides, it looks like the blast that obliterated the entrance didn't leave this area alone, either. It's a wonder that this place is still walkable... Or maybe the bomber just did a really good job...

I move my hand along the wall of the damaged passageway in front of us and shiver slightly. I know, by the coarse feeling, that it's some sort of granite amalgam. Yet, it is still quite cold to the touch- although I know the temperature drop is due to our being underground, it makes the entire decrepit place feel devoid of life, almost like a graveyard.

We turn another corridor and descend another darkened stairwell, straining my eyes to the point that they have to adjust to a dimly-lit torch, eerily glowing about halfway down this new hallway. Once it comes into focus through the dark haze to which I had almost grown accustomed, I can tell, already, that it's synthetic.

Probably why it's still burning. There's not a whole lot of air down here, which would usually be enough to snuff out any normal fire... Just what IS this place?

Risk looks up at the torch when we pass it, even more mystified as he passes it. He warily taps me on the leg with his paw to get my attention. But, before he can mutter anything more than a simple, "Don't you think that...?", I quickly put a finger to his mouth and point, with my other hand, down the corridor.

He follows my gaze and stifles a gasp. Past another few artificial torches, at the end of this corridor, I can see a large, fluffy tail- but only for a second, until it disappears around the granite walls.

Risk and I have the same idea, almost immediately, and begin running towards the sight. The both of us are determined to find Hestia and get out of here, alive.

There she is! That was definitely a Flareon's tail!

"Hestia! Hestia, calm down! I'm sure Sombra's fine!" I try to reassure her, to bring the hint of her tail back, but to no avail.

Time seems to move in slow-motion as the corridor quickly shrinks under my footsteps. My heart pounds in my chest, beating back the musty air, while one thought rings clear to me.

I need to get her back up to the surface. If her leg is allowed to internally bleed from an impact like that, I'm almost certain something's going to stop functioning. Come on, Nathan- it's do or die, literally.

I round the next corner almost immediately, and I can only just manage to see a hint of cream fluff, before it disappears through an open metal door. Before I can take another step towards it, the aperture quickly slams, locking with a loud click, seemingly on its own accord.

Risk is right behind me, just as concerned as I am upon seeing the "phantom door."

"Did that just..." he starts, and I finish his thought for him,

"Move on its own? I saw it, too."

"Something tells me that that door wasn't supposed to do that..." he muses, carefully moving over to the door in question and placing his paw on its frame before I can stop him.

"Wait! What if it's a..." I call to him, but it's in vain.

One nervous lump in my throat later, Risk pulls his paw away, holding it steady with his other, while he glances at it cautiously. In response, I quickly

"It's... That door is f...freezing...!" he shivers, clutching his paw.

Just with one glance, I know something's wrong- that metal door is definitely not that cold after this place had recently exploded, not to mention the warm Fire-type Flareon that had just sneaked into it only moments before.

Surely it can't be THAT cold? Right?

I follow suit and place my palm firmly on the metal door. Immediately, a cold chill runs up my arm, like I had just been stabbed with an icy needle.

Risk grabs my freezing hand with his own cold paw, and we both look at eachother for a moment. Although the other doesn't know it, we've each figured out the source of the sudden chilling. Or, at least, I have a guess.

I've felt this before... but why can't I remember from where...?

"We need to get inside that door," Risk nods affirmatively,

"I have a bad feeling I know who's behind there. But, if it's really changed, I think it'll be interesting..."

Before I can ask for clarification, he holds out his paw to me, once again brandishing the compass he had earlier.

"Remember this?" he asks, and I nod.

"It was the one you said could point us to Riku, right?"

"Exactly. But I don't think I ever told you who made it. This was crafted by a Gengar. None other than the same one who Cursed Riku to change colors during the night."

Instantly, my face pales. I already know exactly what he's referencing, but Risk tried to uplift me on the matter.

"Like I said," he begins,

"That Pokemon left its life of evil a while ago- to figure out what it truly meant to be a Ghost. And it gave me this compass to prove that. I'd recognize that chill anywhere- it's got to be that Gengar!"

He closes his eyes for a moment, opening them again in an instant with a pained smile.

"That Aura definitely belongs to a Gengar. Meaning the Flareon isn't here... But perhaps it can help us look for her, too! Maybe that's why it's here."

I quickly agree with a subtle, "Yes," before Risk puts his paws on the metal obstruction, again, and announces his presence to the door, like it can hear him,

"Hey! Gengar, if that's you, can you open this..."

But he is quickly interrupted by a massive metallic screech from the door, and the both of us jump back in alarm.

"Name!" the door announces coldly, like it's developed a life of its own.

Steeling my nerves, I take one solemn look at the gray "wall" and command it to open.

"My name is Nathan- I'm here to find a Flareon that got lost in this Lab."

A few metallic whirrs emanate from the stannic blockade, before a bright red light flashes on its surface.

"ERROR," the artificial accompaniment chirps, mimicking my intonations perfectly,

"'Nathan' is not affiliated with Lysandre Labs. This door will remain closed. Thank you, and have a nice da..."

Before the voice can finish its farewell routine, another voice, one that sends a chill down my spine, interrupts it, coupled with a heinous laugh.

"Kekekekek! Just be quiet, would you?!"

The sound of wires being rent can be heard from the other side, and Risk's eyes take on the likeness of scared baby Eevee, a sight I've never been too fond of seeing. Sparks come from the door for a few seconds, before it slowly begins to open with an ear-splitting metallic scraping sound. Obviously, it isn't programmed to be forcefully overridden that way, and the frame isn't at all cooperative to the idea of such a task.

After a few seconds, the door screeches in forced compliance as it fully opens, exposing what looks to be some sort of storage room- nothing but large filing cabinets and desks line the small granite-floored area. I cautiously peer inside, Risk tentatively following a few steps behind me.

He really doesn't want to go in there... or at least I think he doesn't...

I give a gentle nod towards the Riolu, trying to silently console him that there's nothing inside to be afeared.

"Risk," I turn to him,

"We need to find Hestia, remember? There was a Flareon's tail that went into that room, so we've got to check it out. Besides, if we run into trouble, I've still got Voltflare to help us out."

I try to remain confident, offering any solutions to his fears that come to my mind.

"Trust me, there's nothing that's going to stop us from finding Hest..."

Before I can finish, Risk pales completely, and I instinctively turn around, fully expecting something behind me...

But the only response I get is a slightly-numbing feeling of cold- it's almost as if the entire room has cooled down a dozen degrees. Nervously, I continue into the room, as I begin to subconsciously shiver, and place my hand on one of the many polished filing cabinets, which, oddly, kicks up a small cloud of dust that blurs my vision for a second.

But... this place looks relatively new! Where did that... My eyes echo my thoughts, slowly darting across the seemingly-abandoned chamber, but nothing seems out of the ordinary.

Wait, Risk spoke about a Gengar, didn't he?

As Risk slowly takes a few steps into the room, I take a deep breath and, to his chagrin, direct my voice into the enigmatic filing cabinet.

"Hey, Gengar, whoever you are, we're here looking for a Flareon that came down here. Can you help?..."

I tense up instinctively, not exactly knowing what kind of answer I'm expecting from the sudden question, even if I do get one.

But I don't have to wait for long; almost immediately, a loud laugh, mirroring the one from before, echoes throughout the entire room.

"Kekekekek! Well, look who it is! Risk, it's certainly been a while."

As if on cue, a rounded, purple Pokemon that bears a slight resemblance to a grinning balloon appears out of thin air, relaxing on top of the cabinet, seemingly without a care in the world. I turn to the Riolu behind me, and he looks at the Pokemon with a myriad of mixed feelings.

Risk said that this particular Gengar Cursed Riku... Didn't he? But "That Pokemon left its life of evil a while ago- to figure out what it truly meant to be a Ghost. And it gave me this compass to prove that."... So it shouldn't be hostile... right?

"'A while'..." Risk looks down, and the Gengar sighs.

"What? Why the glum face?! I thought you'd be far happier to see your old pal from way back when..."

Something tells me that it would have continued, had Risk not interrupted the Ghost with a slow wave of his paw. I could see the anguish in the Riolu's eyes as he talked.

"Gengar, please... We've got a Flareon to find..."

His voice wavers slightly, but Risk slowly regains his composure and confidence as he talks,

"And I know you're having fun with that door, but we need your help to find her."

The purple apparition makes a big show of loudly sighing, and I take a step back.

Something tells me that there's more that transpired between these two than meets the eye... But if something happens, Voltflare can probably help us out. Riku, as well, but I just don't think it'd be a good idea to re-introduce him to that Gengar. Especially if what Risk said is still fresh in the Shaymin's mind. He did say that Riku's memory was erased when he was possessed like a puppet. But if Riku remembers the pain of that Curse... It could possibly restore his memory of that moment. And I definitely do not want to put him through that again...

"Kekek! What happened to you? You were always so headstrong, and now you're just being a killjoy!" the Gengar laughs,

"Besides, this place really isn't even my cup of tea. I was just looking for the library, when I stumbled upon a Flareon, probably the same one that you're looking for..."

Risk opens his mouth to speak, but a large toothy grin crosses the Gengar's face as it continues,

"Here's the deal. If you help me find the library, I'll show you where I saw that Flareon. And I've got something else that I need to teach you, afterwards. Just a little something that'll make your life easier."

The Riolu doesn't immediately respond, obviously considering the matter. I could see the dilemma written plainly across his face, and I'm thinking the same thing.

If we find the library, first, who's to say Hestia hasn't injured herself further, or worse...

Risk spares a quick glance back at me, and it's all he needs to reaffirm his own suspicious.

"Gengar... Please, can we find the Flareon, first?" he half-pleads, half-commands the Ghost Pokemon,

"She's gravely injured, and if we don't get to her before something else does, who knows what'll happen to her! But I promise, when we find her, we'll find the library down here and bring you to it."

Risk holds out his paw to the Gengar, to seal his revision of their agreement, which prompts it to laugh loudly again,

"Kekekek! There's the Risk I was waiting to see again! But I'm in no hurry- I'll take you up on that."

And with that, the Gengar quickly stretches out its shadowy hand and grabs Risk's paw- friend and ex-foe had been united, for at least as long as it would take to find Hestia.

Both Pokemon turn their heads back to me, and Risk smiles. I don't exactly know what to say in response. Since the slight bit of anxiety I had had for Risk's dealing with the Ghost is still dissipating, I add the first thing that comes to my mind to the conversation,

"Well, now that that's settled, can you lead us to Hestia?"

"Kekekek!" the Ghost Pokemon chortles,

"Well, aren't we antsy? Right this way. I'll show you where I last saw her, but I make no guarantees that she's still there."

And with that, it leaps off the cabinet it had been stretched out on, before walking out of the wrenched-open door, motioning for the two of us to follow.

Well, this Gengar's definitely something else... But why can't I shake the feeling that I've seen it, before? I don't exactly know. One thing's for certain, though- as long as we find Hestia before her time tolls, we should be able to get to the bottom of all this. If she's right about Sombra being, finding that Flareon will turn this whole thing on its head!

I take one last look at the inside of the office-like room, before departing after the Gengar with Risk.

...

...

...

Three sets of footsteps slowly echo through the decrepit complex as we walk- of me, of Risk, and of our newest ally, Gengar. Neither Risk, nor I have any idea what's going through the Ghost's head, but we don't need to find out.

Right now, all that matters is that Hestia's still alive by the time we find her...

More doors and stairwells, which seem to spring up out of complete nothingness, continue to appear in the torch-lit darkness like ominous voids, each looking less human and more metallic than the last, if that's even possible by this point. Some of the titles written on each door, escape me- all except for one, at least, which read "Testing 001."

The next few doors just increase in number and intensity- "Testing 002," "Testing 003"... The numbers continue to rise, and I swear that I can see blood under one of the signs, although I don't make a note about it to anyone but myself. Nevertheless, the Gengar continues to walk, until, all of a sudden, Risk closes his eyes and whispers,

"Her Aura... I think we're getting close. But I don't think she's alone..."

"Kekekek! Looks like someone's as astute as..." Gengar begins to quip, until Risk holds a paw to its massive grin to quiet the Ghost. He turns to me, giving me a silent nod of acknowledgement, and the two of us slow our paces to practically a crawl. The Gengar seems to understand this, at once, effortlessly disappearing into the shadows cast by a nearby torch, its final gesture being an upside-down "L" with one of its shadowy hands.

I don't even need to guess the meaning of the hand-sign. Without hesitation, I point out the direction we need to head next to the Riolu, and he agrees. He focuses on the back wall, only about fifty feet or so in front of us.

All we need to do is walk around this hallway, and to the right, and we'll find her. At least, that's what I'm getting out of it...

And that's when an ear-piercing scream rips through the eerie silence of the area, like a gale tearing a tree from its roots, rendering my thoughts null and void.

"No...! Get away from me!"

Risk's ears perk up, immediately, and the two of us quickly sprint down the rest of the hallway, practically crashing into the back wall as we hurriedly follow the resulting path to the right.

Immediately in front of us is a scene that could have given any Voltflare nightmares for weeks if he sees it. Plastered against one wall of the room is the unmistakeable auburn visage of a Flareon, who I can immediately tell is Hestia, eyes pleading and shot. She looks quite tired, as if she'd been thoroughly exhausted from struggling with something.

My eyes scan the entire area, but I don't see anything out of the ordinary, besides a large puddle of water on the other side of the room, partially concealed by a shadow of darkness. I don't particularly think of it- naturally, water would coagulate at such a low altitude under the ground- but Risk just continued to look at it as if he couldn't believe what he's seeing.

"That water... it has an Aura! It's... Is it alive?!" the Riolu gasps.

I take a few steps towards the Flareon, and even call her by name, but she doesn't seem to notice me. She, too, is completely transfixed on the puddle of water.

Am I just completely missing something here? Or...

"Risk, you said it was alive, right?" I slowly whisper the words, as if I could somehow "wake" this mysterious conglomeration on the tiled floor.

The Riolu turns to me and makes a quick movement in front of his neck with his paw.

"Something tells me it's going to..." is all he gets to say before the water suddenly surges forward towards Hestia and me, pounding Risk out of the way in its wake. Before I can tell what's even happening, the liquid quickly grabs onto the Flareon's leg and pulls her into it, like it's trying to engulf her.
Immediately, adrenaline surges through my veins, and all my senses revert to overdrive.

"Get off her!" I shout, instinctively leaping into the water- onto the Flame Pokemon- and protecting her with my entire body spread over the top of her. Water seems to rush past me as the wind is knocked out of me, but I hold my ground, while Risk slowly recovers from the surprise hit. He looks like he'd hit his head on the way back because he's staggering slightly.

To my surprise, the "sentient" water seems dislike my sudden maneuver, releasing Hestia and I from its miry grip and retreating through a few cracks in the walls of the room. I watch it disappear with a look of horror, each rivet enacting more mystery on my gaze- although I don't seem to notice the small metal device being carried with the torrent, I had seen enough to know not to mess with it.

Hestia shivers violently under me, but I don't move- I'm still suspicious that whatever-it-is could come back at any moment.

"What... what was that?!"

My only response is Risk holding his palm to the floor for a few seconds.

"I... I can't tell," he finally buckles,

"But I don't think it's friendly... It's retreating for now. At least I hope so..."

His reassurement gives me a slight bit of comfort, and I slowly move myself away from my position on top of the Flareon. I know that I hadn't been crushing her, but I can't say that it would have been all that comfortable for the Pokemon.

"Hestia..." I sigh, both grateful and relieved that we had gotten to her before that "water" had done the same,

"Are you hurt at all?"

"Well," she pauses, the same look of terror from earlier still plastered on her face,

"I still haven't found Sombra... So, yes."

Not what I meant, but she has a point. We do still desperately need to find this 'Sombra' to make sense of this entire enigma, don't we...?

Before I can conjure another thought, a large purple shadow slowly materializes on one of the walls, and the rounded Ghost from earlier, Gengar, calmly steps out of the granite, like the solid barricade is just another door to it.

Hestia instinctively attempts to back up out of fear, but only succeeds in pinning herself, sprawled against my left leg. I look over at the newly-arrived Pokemon and sigh, letting the Flareon curl herself defensively around my pants.

It's like she thinks that this Gengar's going to hurt her. Maybe she's just too traumatized after... whatever that was, tried to kill her.

"Well, would you look at that!" the purple Pokemon cackles,

"Told you I'd show you where that Flareon was! Now, without further adieu, I'd like you to show me to that library..."

Before Gengar can finish, Risk gives it a curious glance, his eyes darting from it, to me, and back again. He nods, knowing what's coming next. Although he can clearly sense the Flareon's unrest, he's not the type of Pokemon that would break a promise, especially not to a Ghost. He instinctively lowers one of his paws to the ground, but I'm not quite sure why, yet.

Nevertheless, I slowly kneel down, scooping the Flareon into my arms. She's incredibly hot to the touch (perhaps dangerously so), slightly crisping the palms of my hands, but I can only assume it's because she's still frightened. I can feel her heavy breathing pulse through my arms, and I try to calm her down with a gentle smile. It seems to work, at least for the most part.

"You'll be safe, now. Don't worry- whatever that was isn't going to grab you anytime soon..."

Almost instantly, I regret my words, as a new wave of tremors wracks the Flareon, and she continues to shiver much more violently in my arms. The Gengar watches the spectacle with a mixture of boredom and interest on its face, a combination I didn't exactly think possible until now.

"Hey, I know you're having fun with your new fluffy pal and all, but a deal's a deal. The library...?" it begins to nitpick, and I silently sigh to myself.

Something tells me that it really doesn't want to wait for Hestia to calm down... But it's right. We did promise to find that library.

"Right," I affirm, standing up with Hestia- the less-charred of my two hands still stroking her head while the other takes the full brunt of the heat required to hold her tender frame,

"The real question is, where would it be... This place is just one massive maze..."

Then, without warning, Risk holds up a paw, and I cease my train of thought, not wanting to interrupt whatever he had just found. I hadn't noticed, completely absorbed in tending to Hestia, that the Riolu's ears had perked up slightly more than usual.

"There's something close by..." he begins to say. A slight look of horror crosses my face, as I begin to think about that water returning again, and he shakes his head, already guessing why I'm suddenly so worried.

"Not that thing, Nathan. Something else's Aura. I can't quite make out exactly what it is, but it's coming from a floor above us... And it feels ... Friendly...?"

Before he can say another word, however, the perkiness fades, and a confused expression shows through Risk's eyes, quickly replaced with a pale face and fear.

"It's gone? Doesn't mean that whatever Pokemon had that Aura just... Follow me! We need to figure out where that came from!"

And the Riolu takes off back the way we had come quicker than I can stop him. The Gengar laughs heartily,

"Kekekek! He's still quite impulsive. Best to follow him before he gets himself hurt- with luck you'll find my destination along the way."

Well, it's not wrong... is the last thing I can think before I take off after Risk, as quickly as I can without harming either myself or Hestia, in tow, while the purple Ghost casually floats through the air behind my footsteps' echo on the granite tiling of this place...

...

...

...

"Risk!" I shout, only just after reaching the floor he had specified, earlier. Although I don't get a response, I can just barely see the tip of his pointed blue tail darting into a room on the other end of the hall. Mysteriously, the red metal door that would have stopped him is already open, but I don't give it as much attention as I probably should.

So, Risk said that there was an Aura, earlier... and it came from there, I assume. Well, he wasn't wrong about the water that surprised us. Perhaps there's something else here, too?

I glance down at my two Pokeballs, containing Voltflare and Riku, silently wondering if I'd have to fight whatever had been previously in that room, before dismissing my doubts and carefully sprinting down the corridor with my arms held tightly around Hestia for her protection.

In my haste to hurry into the chamber after Risk, though, I don't notice the faded sign affixed to the darkened walls, clearly reading "Library." Fortunately, the Gengar, still moving through the air behind me, pans its eyes to the words and cackles.

"Kekekek! We're here!" it announces loudly, just as I head inside after Risk.

...

Almost immediately, I'm dumbfounded by just how large this new area, which Gengar had hinted to be the library, actually is. Wooden shelves line the walls like the Venomoth gather to an open flame at night, and I can't help but marvel at the expansive length of titles kept here. Part of me almost wants to sit down and explore just a few of the books here, but I know that's out of the question, at least for now.

Maybe Voltflare and I could come back, when this is all over. I think he would enjoy listening to me read some more. It's been a long since we went to Canalave, anyway...

Yet, at the same time, I can tell that it's meant to be compact. Instead of multiple floors of smaller shelves like the library of which I'm thinking, this monolith of carpentry seems to be one massive cluster of shelves, featuring every shape and size of shelf imaginable, all connected by a maze of ligneous circuitry.

"Risk?!" I instinctively call out, but it doesn't take me long to notice the Riolu- stopped in front of a small gap in one of the infinite rows. He turns to meet my gaze and shakes his head.

"This is where it came from... I'm sure of it!" he sighs dejectedly.

More to ease my own nerves, I set Hestia down on the ground, who immediately wraps around my right foot and spills warmth into me, and place my hand in the opening, feeling each and every part of the crevasse. I even peruse a few of the surrounding books, but all I get is a face-full of dust each and every time I turn a page. Nothing more seems to be present inside the books or the crack.

"They're... Blank?!" I can't help but leaf through a few more books, each returning the same result. A slight bit of paranoia runs through me each time I find another empty page, like I'm torn between relief and shock over the mystery.

"But why are they..." I start to voice my thought, until the same unforgettable laugh echoes from behind me.

"Kekekek!" the Gengar chortles, effortlessly appearing from the shadowed cobwebs on the other side of the room with a large red book in its hand, before casting it aside and sighs,

"I'm not even surprised at this point. I knew it wouldn't be this easy to take this place... This library seems to be Cursed- like someone doesn't want us reading its contents."

"Cursed?! Risk, who had been listening intently for any sign of movement his Aura-reading couldn't detect, immediately stands straighter than arrow when he hears the word. I had already talked with him enough to know that he isn't the most receptive whenever "Curse" is used.

The Gengar cackles, another hearty "Kekekek!"

"Oh, you're worried about Curses, are you?"

It shifts through the air over to Risk, placing a large purple arm on his shoulder. The Riolu's entire body shudders when it begins to smile gleefully,

"Poor guy. I've got a solution to your problem. Remember how I said I wanted to teach you a little something?"

Risk nods nervously, and the Gengar points its shadow hand toward a wall of books on the other side of the room, as if showing him something that nobody but it could see.

I don't find it all that hard to believe that Risk is deathly afraid of Ghosts, at least to a point. I mean, even the "friendlier" ones cause him to clam up like that. It's just like Voltflare and Dragonites- maybe Risk will "recover" from that fear a bit, too, at least while I'm here.

"Risk, I'm going to teach you how to use Shadow Claw!"

An uneasy expression crosses Risk's face, and the Ghost turns to me.

"I'd prefer it if you left for the time being. I don't exactly want to agitate Risk and further than I'm about to do..."

At this, Risk immediately leaps forward, breaking free from the Gengar's presence and turning defensively to face it.

"Just what are you trying to pull?! I thought that you said you were done being evil!"

In response, the Gengar puffs out it's shadowed chest in outrage. In my arms, Hestia's ears fold back, and her tremors return- this time fearing the angry Ghost.

"Come now! Do you really think I'm going to hurt you?! If you really were worried about Curses, you'd have noticed the one that's crawling inside you right now!"

The Riolu in question seems to be taken aback, mulling through the implications of the question, until his face finally pales after a few seconds.

"You don't mean..." he begins to gasp, looking down at his left paw.

The Gengar grins, knowing that he'd gotten through to Risk. What he's referring to, I have no idea, but Risk grows more and more white in the face by the second.

He's mortally terrified of whatever this Gengar seems to know so much about... Maybe I should... No, it's better not to ask. If he wants to tell me, he will.

I take a few steps back from the ghastly exchange, still tightly clutching the Flareon I had since come to protect to my chest. If anything, it'd give her some sort of condolence- I don't even have to think that she's terrified if even I'm unnerved by the conversation.

"What Dusknoir did... That purple energy..."

"Exactly! That Ghostly energy implanted in your paw- it yearns to be let out, and it never stops growing... And if you fail to heed that, eventually, it's going to overtake you when you least expect it. Consider what I'm about to teach you 'Ghostly exercise.'"

Some of the fear on the Riolu's face begins to disappear as I continue to watch the situation unfold from afar- although the Gengar had told me to leave, it doesn't seem to mind me as long as Hestia and I keep our distance. Risk doesn't say a word in response, so the Ghost gleefully follows up his statement by tapping him on the head.

"Now you need to stand perfectly still for me. I'm going to possess you, but you must not fight back, or I can't get myself situated at the epicenter of your paw," it continues to instruct as if this is just a common occurrence for it. One look at Risk, however, tells me otherwise, like the two are dealing with an unnatural yet necessary evil. He obediently stands rigidly, and within a few seconds, the purple Ghost steps over Risk's body and completely disappears, like it was never there at all. He turns to me, but his voice is slightly changed- as if both his and the Gengar's voice are outputting from the same vocal chords,

"And Nathan, don't say a word. Make sure your Flareon friend is quiet. I need to get Risk's body used to this, and I don't want someone messing with my concentration- it could be very bad if this isn't perfect."

Almost immediately, a look of terror affixes his face, and he closes his eyes in pain. The Riolu crumples to the ground and, without warning, three large purple nails begin to slowly creep out of Risk's left paw, bringing a slight scraping sound with them as they each rear their ugly head. Hestia begins to whimper, and I quickly stifle her with a calm hand over her mouth, hoping against all odds that she would stay silent. The second I see the first bits of Shadow Claw, peeking out of Risk's paw, I hold my tongue with every bit of my willpower- something in me desperately wants to free Risk from whatever is doing this to him, but the Gengar's warning echoes in my head, telling me to let it handle the situation, and I continue to watch in unabashed silence.

Risk slowly stands up, moving his left paw and its new entourage, obviously testing the limits of what he could do with this Shadow Claw. He doesn't seem to be in pain, at least for the moment, and he takes a few nervous steps forward towards me.

Then, as quickly as it had appeared, the three nails retreat back into Risk's paw, and he throws himself to the floor in pain, groaning upon impact. Seconds later, the Gengar reappears behind him, its shadowed hand once again on the Riolu's shoulder.

"Good show!" the Pokemon cackles,

"Not bad for your first time tapping into that."

Risk exchanges a nervous glance with me as it continues to talk, moving its grinning mouth dangerously close to his ears and whispering,

"But you need to be incredibly careful. While possessing an enormous amount of power, without the help of a disciplined Ghost like myself, you will lose control of it. As the power of your Shadow Claw grows as long as you leave it sheltered inside your paw, it becomes harder and harder to actually keep it at bay..."

It takes a step back and laughs, knowing that it had Risk 'right where it wanted him,' "Kekekek! Hey, here's a thought! Since nobody can actually get into this library's information, I'll make you a deal. I'll stay with you guys and keep Risk's little power at bay until you all finish what you're working on. But only in return for helping me overpower that seal before two days have passed. And once it's gone, I'm gone, too. I know, it sounds a little a harsh, but I'm a Ghost- I drive a hard bargain! So, what do you say...?"

The Gengar leaps over Risk and extends its violet visage towards me, this time.

Does it want me to shake on it? Well, if it's to protect Risk...

The Riolu in question nods in approval, and I extend my hand to the Ghost Pokemon, who shakes it without a second thought.

"Kekekek! Makes me happy to see that you both know how to bargain!"

Although the Gengar's words still chill me, the reassurance of not having to worry about my friend's "newfound" power brings a smile to my face.

"Welcome to the team, then, Gengar. At least for now. Come on, everyone," I direct, leaving the room with the others tagging along and Hestia still in my arms, reversing my echoing steps through the refined, dim maze of corridors,

"We've got a lot to catch you up on so you can help us effectively. But first, the International Police is expecting us back up on the surface."

...

...

...