Chapter 15: Let's Do Lunch

The Courier Club was busy as they entered and grabbed the last free table near back. Glancing around, it was easy to spot the small handful of Lavender Town natives, as most of the other couriers seemed to be either hanging onto various souvenirs from the festival or were talking so loudly that their comments about Lavender's strangeness made them stand out. A small handful were also wearing extra layers of clothing and shivered as the front door opened and closed, sending in gusts of wind and Autumn leaves.

As the two slid sat down in the rickety wooden chairs on either side of the old wooden table, Daniel scurried from behind the bar and hurriedly handed them both the small folded pieces of paper that passed for menus.

"Sorry," the said the proprietor, immediately scurrying away, "We're a bit busy today!"

Miranda laughed as Daniel nearly collided with his wife as she hurriedly ran in the opposite direction after clearing a table, the round platter of empty plastic cups she wielded being balanced precariously as she spun around once before heading towards the kitchen behind the bar.

"You're going to have to have more kids if this keeps up," the courier called out to them, causing Daniel's wife to make a warding sign in the air.

"Three's too many as is!" she exclaimed as the swinging door banged shut behind her and their youngest son ran out to quickly take care of the couriers seated at the bar.

"I take it it's not normally like this," commented Misty, finding herself nervously glancing at the mirror behind the bar, yet seeing no invisible ghosts reflected in its surface that instead showed an empty room.

Miranda shook her head; giving a short wave to a courier she couldn't recall the name of. "Nope. It's just the time of year," she explained, glancing at the menu and making a quick decision based off the limited selection, "Usually it's pretty err- Dead around here."

"That's bad," said Misty with a smile.

"Couldn't help it," Miranda chuckled, "It's the radiation leak from Nezumi's pokeball. It's starting to infect me with his sense of humor."

"I'll try to keep that in mind," Misty replied thoughtfully as she set down the menu in time to see a haggard looking Daniel standing beside their table with an almost lost expression in his hopeful eyes, "Oh! I'll just have the lunch special number one, please."

"Ah, thank you," he sighed, seeming relieved as he glowered at a table on the other side of the room, "You wouldn't believe what that couple from Viridian asked for! Yeesh! Don't these people know that you can't serve pikachus that in Lavender Town?"

"Number three's fine, thanks," added Miranda, taking Misty's hand as she shuddered at what Daniel had said.

"I mean, I know it's a delicacy out that way, but yeesh!" the proprietor continued, writing down the orders as he ranted.

"By the way, have you seen Zack?" the courier inquired, "I think he owes me lunch or something."

Daniel snickered as he glanced up from his notepad. "Naw," he said, seeming almost relieved, "the Dawn Sister 2 docked an hour ago, so he'll be off visitin' his mom, I'm afraid."

"The Dawn Sister 2?" Misty inquired as Daniel hurried off again as the door swung open.

"That'd be our 'flagship'," chuckled Miranda, rolling her eyes at how ridiculous it sounded to her ears, "we have three vessels all together, and they all do double duty during the height of fishing season. But the Dawn Sister 2 is the main one. Her captain's Zack's Mom Angela. She's okay, I guess, but I really didn't see her that much growing up because of all the traveling she does."

"Do I want to know what happened to the Dawn Sister 1?"

Miranda smiled. "That's one of those long Joshua stories," she replied, glancing at the unfamiliar figure that entered the Club and was even now glancing around pensively, "Hm. I guess he's off with his wife Nancy today."

"He was serious about that?" Misty laughed, and Miranda nodded vigorously.

"Yeah," she explained with a shrug, "people think he exaggerates, but I've traveled with him and I've had proof that most of his tales are indeed true."

Misty nodded, glancing suspiciously at the lost looking woman who walked cautiously past them before leaning over the bar to exchange a few quiet words with Daniel's son.

"She's come a long way," Miranda commented, tracking Misty's gaze to the somewhat broad shouldered female courier as she shook her head and turned away from the bar to face the room.

"Oh? How can you tell?" Misty inquired, trying not to make it look like she was staring at the newcomer.

Miranda pushed her glasses farther up her nose, making them shimmer in the poor lighting as she sized up the other courier. "Well," Miranda explained, tapping her chin thoughtfully as she tried to discern who the woman was looking for, "I could say that it's the fact that she's dressed a little more flamboyantly than you generally see up her in the frozen North, or the fact that you don't get too many people with dreadlocks up this way, but really, it's the Orange Islands Courier Crew badge on the shoulder of her coat."

Misty sighed; shaking her head as the woman suddenly appeared at their table. "Excuse me," she asked, her accent putting a stop to any speculation that she might not be from the Orange Islands, "I've just been transferred here, and I was supposed to get in touch with one of our bosses..." The southern courier's voice trailed off as a look of sudden panic entered her pale blue eyes and she quickly searched the pockets of the heavy Winter coat she wore. "Oh yeah," she said at last, reading from the scrap of paper she'd found, "Robert Kozlovski."

Both Misty and Miranda tried not to laugh as the woman pulled out a rolled up pile of transfer papers. "Yeah, not a problem," said Miranda in amusement as she handed off her cell phone, "It's the number three on the speed dial, Miss... ?"

"Oh! Anna," the transferred courier replied as she fumbled with the phone for a moment, "Sorry, but it was a long trip."

"Were you on the Dawn Sister 2, by any chance?" Misty inquired as Daniel finally returned with her club sandwich and Miranda's jalapeno grilled cheese sandwich.

Anna nodded. "I'm afraid so," she chuckled, brushing back several of her thick, light brown dreadlocks so the phone could find her ear, "Kinda ironic in a way. Seeing as I transferred out here to avoid traveling over the water all the time."

"That must be hard to avoid down South," commented Misty, yanking out the toothpicks.

Anna shrugged. "Well, some people manage to," she explained as the phone on the other end rang several times, "but wanderlust isn't such a good thing in the Orange Islands if you get seasick all the time. Oh, uh, hello? Mr. Kozlovski?"

"She's lucky," Misty teased, casting Miranda's lunch choice a short lived look of alarm, "Looks like she missed Zack."

Miranda smiled up at her, trying unsuccessfully to look disapproving. "Now, now," she said with a chuckle as Anna handed her back her phone.

"Um, do either of you know a courier named Zachary Evans?" she inquired hopefully, looking from Misty to Miranda; "Apparently I'm going to be assisting him until I get the geography down. Oh, by the way, you have another call."

Miranda tried to keep from laughing again as she switched lines.

"Actually, he's probably with the Captain of the ship you just left," explained Misty helpfully, "She's his Mother."

Anna sighed heavily. "I'm really having the worst of luck today," she said rhetorically, "Oh, and I never caught your names?"

Misty smiled apologetically, glancing at Miranda who had plugged her other ear with her index finger and was glaring thoughtfully at her plate as she spoke quietly to the person on the other end. "Sorry about that," she said, quickly taking care of the introductions.

"No problem," assured Anna as Miranda hung up the phone and muttered an apology, "So, I guess I'll be seeing you both around then?"

"If you're hanging around with Zack, it's inevitable," explained Miranda with an amused grin, "Just be careful. He can be a real handful."

"I'll keep than in mind," laughed Anna, quickly saying her goodbyes before hurrying out of the Club to catch Zack at the docks.

"So who was it?" Misty inquired, returning to her meal.

"Oh, it was Aunt Laurna," Miranda explained warily, shaking her head as she spoke and seeming distracted, "She wants me to head over there early before you get there. Apparently she needs my help with a few things. Mostly with Wraith, I think."

"She wants to put on a good show then?"

Miranda nodded, trying to push down the mild annoyance she felt at having to rush lunch before abandoning her beloved in a strange town. "It's her first challenge, so I can't really blame her," she explained with a shrug, "So, are you nervous?"

Misty glanced down at the other half of her club sandwich, her stomach tightening into a knot as the moment of her challenge drew closer. "Yeah," she admitted quietly so that only Miranda would hear, "And I don't know if I like the idea of going into this pretty much alone. I'm still not totally comfortable with ghosts. But so long as they're yours and a Laurna's I guess it'll be alright."

Their hands met across the table, and Miranda squeezed Misty's reassuringly. "Just remember what I told you," she said, "try not to be afraid."

"Any advice concerning the ghosts she's using?" inquired Misty hopefully, causing Miranda to look thoughtful for a moment.

"Well," the courier explained, "As I recall, Viper's kinda solemn for a ghost. He's almost the opposite of Wraith I guess. I don't really know anything about that gastly she picked up last year... Nightfall I think she called him? And Nox, well, I know she likes 'studying' humanity, but I don't really think that'll make much of a difference."

"Well I suppose that's something," Misty replied, her tone betraying her combination of nervousness and annoyance at Laurna's insistence that Miranda leave early, "I'll just do my best, and even if I loose, I only need eight badges, right?"

Miranda nodded. "And if worst comes to worse, I can always give you any of mine that you didn't win."

Misty shook her head. "No, that'd be too much like cheating," she sighed warily, "Besides, when I have something to prove I'm nearly unstoppable!"

"Glad to hear it," Miranda laughed, barely tasting her food as she tried to hurry her meal.

"But it's nice of you to offer, though," continued her beloved, wondering if she'd had room to finish her own, "It's good to know that you're on my side."

Miranda swallowed quickly, her unpleasant expression evidence that she wasn't chewing enough. "It couldn't be any other way, my love," she replied, giving her watch a quick glance, "Curses, I'd better hurry."

"Will I see you there?" Misty asked as Miranda greedily devoured the last stray jalapeno.

The courier shrugged in reply. "I hope so," she said with a mouthful before giving Misty a hug and accepting a kiss on the cheek before hurrying off to do her Aunt's bidding...

The sky above had clouded over in the last few hours, its bleak, overcast appearance only adding to the haunted look Laurna's lab and gym seemed to be cultivating.

The house was set upon a small hill, with a driveway of broken pavement that led away from the purple cobblestones of Azathoth Avenue, up to the front porch of the modest looking Victorian style home. Beyond the rusting iron gates, which swung open of their own accord as Misty approached, before slamming shut again as she crossed the threshold, the driveway past through what was once a sprawling front yard garden, but was now almost as overgrown with weeds as the Lilcamp's greenhouse.

As Misty walked up the broken path, wary of the small, glowing red eyes that stared out at her from the underbrush, she reminded herself that the Lavender Gym was just another Gym. The ghosts that dwelt within weren't wild. They were Laurna's, and they wouldn't hurt her beyond a good scare.

"I wish Laurna hadn't have asked Miranda to head up here ahead of me," she muttered, stopping once she reached the dilapidated front porch and looked up at the windows on the second floor, shivering as the curtains parted in one of them, revealing only darkness beyond, "If she wanted to borrow Wraith so badly, I'm sure he'd be willing to listen to her. Laurna IS the world's premiere ecto- parazoologist after all."

But her own words did little to comfort her as Misty heard the front door creek open loudly, diverting her attention from the seemingly empty upstairs window. "Hello?" called Misty, cursing inwardly as her voice quavered, and nearly bolting as a tall dark figure slowly materialized in the doorway.

Its features were hidden within the confines of a black hooded robe that was so dark that no light seemed to reflect off of it. The hand that the figure then held out to Misty, however, made her thankful that she couldn't see its face.

The trainer gulped, staring at the skeletal hand as the over six foot tall grim sentinel waited with the patience of the inanimate, barring Misty's passage into the Lavender Gym.

"Wha-!" Misty began before chastising herself for forgetting as she lifted the bottom of her jacket and dug the two coins Professor Laurna had given her out of the back pocket of her jeans, "I should have known...

The figure waited silently. It's presence a nonjudgmental, neutral barrier as Misty collected her courage and stepped up onto the porch. "Is- Is this what you want?" she inquired, the floorboards creaking beneath her feet.

The figure said nothing, its hand held out; palm upturned and waiting, forever if necessary for its payment for passage into the house. "H-here you go then," the trainer stammered, reaching out a shaking hand and letting the copper coins drop ominously into the guardian's skeletal hand.

Misty then leaped back, suppressing a yelp as the long bony fingers clamped shut around the coins with the snap of old dry bones before the guardian became a guide, turning its back on the trainer and gliding silently into the house.

Misty gulped down her fear, wishing Miranda could have accompanied her to the Gym, but thankful at least for the quick meal they'd shared at the Courier Club.

"Well fine then," she told the figure as it practically floated away from her, "If this is the worst this gym has to offer, then I can handle it!"

Misty stepped boldly across the threshold onto the thin, faded red carpet that lead down a long hallway that seemed reminiscent of the Lilcamp residence. However, the house had a conspicuous lack of doors leading from the hallway. The only visible portals being a set double doors at the far end. And the lack of windows made Misty wonder where the eerie light was emanating from as she followed the grim specter, only now noticing the quiet sounds behind the walls.

At first she tried to ignore them, paying attention instead to the sound of her own footsteps, sounding heavy in comparison to the silent passage of her guide. But as time passed, and the hallway seemed to stretch on forever, the quiet, muffled sounds began to remind Misty of her journey down Route 8.

She could hear the sounds of quiet crying, peculiar scratching noises that sounded as though unknowable things in the walls where trying to break free. And not even the creaking of the floorboards seemed to drown out the sound of whispered voices just on the edge of hearing. Voices whose tones were muffled, yet Misty could just barely make out certain words and phrases.

"This place..." they whispered darkly, "Not for you..."

"... Must not be awakened!" came another, more urgently.

"... dispose of her..." insisted another, sending chills down Misty's spine as she simply closed her eyes and gritted her teeth.

'It's just to scare me, it's just to scare me, ' she repeated over and over again until the voices faded and Misty opened her eyes to see something new upon the walls.

They were lined with portraits. Actual painted renditions of people as opposed to the framed photographs Miranda's house had. At first, most of the pictures were of men and women Misty didn't recognize. Some looked like farmers or fisherman, and some appeared to be the miners who still went into the Lavender Mountains to seek their fortunes. But soon, Misty began to recognize people. Faces she'd seen at the market place. Merchants and locals out doing their shopping. She even recognized a few from the Courier Club. Zack, Joshua, the bartender Misty couldn't recall the name of. And then, there was Miranda, Frank, and even Bob and Vivian, placed across from each other as Misty neared an impressive set of dark oaken doors.

"Miri's grandfather must have made these," she commented thoughtfully as the figure stepped aside and Misty could make out the intricately carved design of a looming haunter, staring down at her malevolently as she looked into its eyes.

"Hey," inquired Misty, a thought suddenly striking her as she glanced up at her guide, trying not to shiver as she noticed the sudden aura of cold that surrounded it, "shouldn't there be a picture of Laurna somewhere around here as well? You seem to have everyone else in Lavender Town."

The figure raised its bony hand again and pointed over Misty shoulder, giving her an unnerving feeling as their auras overlapped. With a shiver, the trainer turned around and found herself face to face with a portrait of Professor Laurna. The woman's eyes were staring right back at her, smiling mischievously as Misty noticed something that she hadn't before.

The trainer's eyes widened as she backed away from the portrait, only then seeing how it seemed to age slowly as she watched. Misty then hazarded a glance at the other pictures, finding Miranda's almost instantly and suddenly seeing her lover as a very old woman.

"What is this?!" she demanded, turning to where her guide had been, only to find that it had vanished from sight and that the wooden doors were opening, sliding into the walls with an impressive rumbling.

As the door split in two, Misty's eyes were bombarded by a blast of brilliant white light. The dimness of the hallway now seemed like night in comparison to the room beyond. The candle lit crystal chandelier, half covered in cobwebs glowed brightly, its light reflected off the white marble of the expansive floor beneath it. At the far end of the room, a wide staircase lead up to the second floor, and a wide balcony encircled the room with long thin windows above the line of closed doors the walkway lead to.

"Welcome," came an amused voice that echoed throughout the ballroom, yet seemed to come from nowhere at all, "To the Lavender Gym!"

Behind her, the doors slammed shut, causing Misty to jump; yet she refused to look back. Even as her heart thudded in her chest, and her pulse raced in her ears, the trainer knew better. Instead, she watched as a figure materialized, seemingly out of nothing at the top of the wide staircase.

"Gym Leader Laurna, I presume?" Misty said formally, almost not recognizing the woman in the long, dark flowing gown she wore.

"Indeed," Laurna chuckled, reaching back and fanning out her uncharacteristically unbound hair, letting her graying black locks fall down the back of her equally black gown, "Are you ready for your challenge then?"

"Yes I am," Misty replied, her stomach turning nervously as Laurna made her way down the stairs, her gown billowing out like a ghost as the silver pendant she worse sparkled in the candlelight.

"Tell me, something then," the Gym Leader inquired, idly fondling the talisman as descended the last step, "Are you afraid, Misty?"

The trainer met Laurna's gaze with all the confidence she could muster. "Only fools don't feel fear," she replied, holding her head high even as she clenched her fists, "Courage is simply the ability to overcome it. Nothing more."

"Miri would be proud," commented the Gym Leader with an approving smile and a nod, "Now then. Shall we begin?"

Outside the room, in the hall, a haunter materialized as his illusions dissolved around him and his trainer appeared from behind the shield of invisibility.

"I am," Miranda mused, reaching out to scratch Wraith under the chin affectionately, smiling as she pressed her ear to the door and listened, "Even if you don't win. I'll still be proud of you, my love..."

Laurna held her hand forth dramatically. Between four of her fingers she held three black and gray pokeballs that slowly levitated into the air, expanding as Misty watched.

"Behold my legion of the undying!" Laurna announced with equal melodrama, her voice echoing in the emptiness of the room as the orbs popped open with a trio of sharp hisses, "Nightfall, my latest acquisition. Nox, who was but a gastly when I first met her in the Tower. And of course, my dearest, oldest friend, Viper."

The three ghosts that materialized above her were in of themselves and example of the trinity of ghost-type evolution. Nightfall was a reasonably small male ghastly who seemed to be the quietest of the trio, looking on with what appeared to be a thoughtfulness that implied he was plotting. Nox, however, seemed to be the most playful of the three. She was a haunter who when she looked at the dress Laurna was wearing laughed in what Misty could have sworn was an ironic way. Viper, however, had evolved quickly as far as ghosts were concerned. He floated beside his mistress as a gengar. His stubby arms were folded across his chest as his feet hovered a few feet off the floor, and the wide toothy grin that was characteristic of his kind seemed somehow solemn, respectful of Laurna.