While Zane was busy debating between Fallarbor Town and Lavaridge Town, something major happened at the school.
Three students had gone missing in Petalburg Woods.
"What happened?" Rika asked, her face grave as she rushed to the scene.
"Leo said there was a haunted mansion in the forest," one of the boys explained, his face pale with terror. "He took us to go explore it. Everything was fine on the way there, but... but when we turned around, he and the others were just... gone..." He was so scared he could barely get the words out clearly.
Tsuyoshi, who had arrived a bit earlier, filled in the gaps. "Six boys went into the forest after school to prove they weren't cowards. Only three came back out. The other three vanished without a trace."
Rika was speechless. "Did you hear any strange noises when they disappeared?" she asked.
The boy shook his head, his eyes wide with fear. "They just disappeared, suddenly. The three of them were walking behind us. When we looked back, there was nothing there."
"What do we do?" Tsuyoshi asked.
Missing students was no small matter, and the forest at night was incredibly dangerous. Rika took a deep breath. "Report this to Officer Jenny. In the meantime, we'll organize a search party with any teachers who can battle."
By the time Zane heard about it, the teachers were already forming their own search and rescue teams. Hearing the words "mansion" and "haunted," a strange expression crossed his face.
Petalburg Woods... a haunted mansion... Isn't that a plot point from the Pokémon Emerald rom-hack, Light Platinum?
That event wasn't in the original games; it was a custom story added by the rom-hack's creator. The reason the mansion was "haunted" was that it was filled with a massive population of Ghost-type Pokémon.
With that thought, Zane found the Officer Jenny in charge of the case. "This might not be a simple missing persons case," he told her. "There's a chance Ghost-type Pokémon are involved."
The officer looked at him, surprised. "What are you doing here?"
Zane just stared. "..." He immediately realized this was the same Officer Jenny who had registered his identity.
"I work here," he explained. Now was obviously not the time for small talk. He reported his theory, and the officer's expression immediately became serious.
"Thank you for the information," she said. "We'll keep that in mind."
Unfortunately, the intel didn't help. In fact, it only made things worse. Several more officers with their Growlithe, along with a few teachers, also went missing after entering the woods.
"What do we do, what do we do..." A different Officer Jenny paced back and forth anxiously. Each police station only had a limited number of Growlithe. The officers who had gone in had lost contact, along with their Pokémon. Now, the remaining officers had no way to track them by scent.
If this mansion really exists, it can't have just appeared overnight, Zane thought. "Have you ever had any similar missing persons cases before?" he asked.
"Of course," the officer replied. "People go missing in the forest every year. Some are attacked by wild Pokémon, some get lost... wait, are you saying those cases are related to this?"
"...I didn't say that. And those are two different things." But thinking about it, people going missing was probably a normal occurrence in this world. A weak trainer who pissed off a powerful Pokémon in the wild would be wiped out. Or they might run into an evil organization and get kidnapped to work in a coal mine, like Blue and Silver in the Pokémon Adventures manga, who were abducted by the Masked Man as children.
He sighed. "I might be able to help you."
"What?" The officer looked at him, stunned.
The other anxious teachers and the parents of the missing children all turned to look at him as well. A man in a business suit rushed over. A missing son was a devastating blow for any parent. He forgot all sense of decorum, grabbed Zane's hand, and begged, "Please, I'm begging you, save my Cheng! If you can do it, I'll give you anything you want!"
Zane pulled his hand away. "First of all, calm down. I'll do everything I can to help." He remembered one of the missing boys. A lively boy from his other class who loved strong Pokémon like Onix. The father's words seemed to calm him down slightly.
Zane thought for a moment, then turned back to the waiting Officer Jenny. "But I can't guarantee this method will work."
The officer frowned. "It doesn't matter. At this point, we have to try anything."
Zane nodded. He went back to his dorm and retrieved the orb that sealed the Gengar's soul.
"What's this...?" The officer was startled as the Gengar suddenly floated out of the orb.
"My partner, Gengar," Zane said simply.
The Gengar gave the surrounding people a cold look, then whispered to Zane, "I can help, but you'll have to do one more thing for me!"
"...What do you want?"
"I'll tell you when I think of it."
"No killing, no arson. I can buy you a gift."
The Gengar muttered under its breath, "I wasn't going to ask you to do that. Why do you always think the worst of me?"
"...Because apart from you, every other Ghost Pokémon's M.O. is scaring and kidnapping humans," Zane retorted. And some of them even suck out your life force.
"They are them, and I am me!" the Gengar huffed.
"Alright, alright, my cute little Gengar," Zane said, placating it. "So, can you help with this or not?"
Hearing the nickname, the Gengar blushed again. "I can. If it's like you say, just take me there. I can help you find the real path."
Hearing this, everyone present let out a collective sigh of relief.
As the Gengar's current "master," Zane naturally had to go along. But he never did dangerous things alone. At his strong insistence, Officer Jenny organized a large squad of officers, all with well-trained Pokémon, to enter the forest with them.
Protected in the middle of a dozen Officer Jennys, Zane felt an unprecedented sense of security.
"This is where they disappeared," one of the teachers who had come along said.
The Gengar looked around, then pointed to a large tree. "There."
The officer was confused. "There's no path there."
"Some Ghost-types have the ability to deceive human vision," Zane explained. "What you see isn't necessarily what's real."
Seeing is not believing. In horror movie terms, this was the Pokémon version of being trapped in a supernatural maze.
Hearing this, one of the officers walked over to the tree and reached out a hand. As expected, her arm passed right through it.
A look of joy appeared on her face. "It's true!"
The captain of the squad, a senior Officer Jenny, waved her hand forward. "Let's move out!"