The last few weeks of senior year should have been boring. Graduation approaching, tests almost done, teachers ignoring students because they were done with us, and the city humming in its usual, ghostly, weirdly comforting rhythm.
Charcadet perched on my shoulder, flicking its faint blue flame in lazy arcs. Ditto, ever the drama queen, wobbled behind me, reshaping itself into what looked like a small backpack accessory. The city felt… normal. Too normal.
Until it didn't.
The first sign was subtle. A low hum, barely audible, running through the fog hugging Noctopolis. Not electrical, not mechanical. Vibrations against my skin, faint enough to almost ignore — except I couldn't. Charcadet stiffened. Ditto shivered in its gelatinous way.
That was enough for me.
The fog thickened unnaturally, curling around lamp posts, drifting into alleys. Shadows stretched and twisted, taking shapes that didn't belong. Haunter slinked along rooftops, eyes glinting like cold fire. Misdreavus floated past, letting out that soft, piercing wail that always gave me chills. Something was wrong.
The alarm didn't help. Not the normal school alarm. This one screamed through the city, layered with faint static — a signal that no one outside the city core usually heard. Faculty members hurried through the courtyard, aura-projecting devices pulsing in their hands. League agents appeared at the edges of the academy, scanning the air for anomalous energy spikes. Everyone was on edge.
I wasn't waiting to see what happened.
"Charcadet, Ditto — let's move," I said, the words rougher than I expected. Charcadet leapt from my shoulder, flames licking faintly violet-blue, reacting to the city's energy. Ditto morphed into a small shield, bouncing slightly as if to say, "Yeah, I got this."
The streets outside were no longer familiar. Fog clung to the cobblestones, curling between cracks, concealing broken tiles and puddles. It twisted in unnatural arcs, ghost energy making it shimmer purple and silver. I could feel it pressing in — the city itself warping under whatever was happening.
And then I saw them.
The Pokémon. Everywhere. Haunter circling street lamps like a swarm of sinister lanterns. Phantump floating near corners, almost shy but twitching with energy. Drifloon bobbing past overhead, oblivious to the chaos. Even Banette crept between rubble, eyes following anything that moved.
And none of them were behaving normally. Their movements were jerky, erratic, sometimes hovering too close to walls or people.
I realized — this wasn't a simple surge.
This was an outbreak.
I had seen ghost-type energy spikes before, always in controlled experiments at the academy, but this was different. This was raw, unbridled, pulsing through the streets like a living thing. The fog vibrated with its own rhythm. And somewhere deep inside, I felt a pulse. Something… stronger.
"Stay close," I muttered to my Pokémon. Charcadet's tail flame licked my cheek, Ditto quivering at my side. Neither needed an explanation.
From the edge of the courtyard, the faculty were trying to corral students, projecting walls of aura and light. But it was futile. Ghost Pokémon twisted through the barriers as if they didn't exist. One Haunter passed through a shimmering forcefield, leaving a ripple in the protective aura like it had punched through water.
I ignored them. My attention was elsewhere.
A group of younger students screamed from the next street. Half of them had fallen behind — surrounded by a small swarm of Phantump and Misdreavus. The panic in their eyes hit me in the gut. No one else had noticed yet; the adults were busy forming perimeters and yelling into their communication devices. But I had a job.
"Charcadet, Ditto — now."
Charcadet's flames flared, violet edges sparking into arcs of heat that kept the wild ghosts at bay without harming them. Ditto reshaped into a lattice wall, blue and wobbly, keeping the more persistent spirits at a cautious distance. Together, we pushed forward.
The students were huddled near a collapsed vendor stall, faces pale. The fog wrapped around us like fingers, curling into the smallest gaps, moving independently. I reached them just as a drifting Phantump bumped against the group, startling one of the kids.
"Hold still! You're fine," I said, lowering my voice to a calm monotone. It had to be calm. Fear was the fastest way to make the fog feel alive.
I guided them step by step, moving through the twisted streets. Shadows leapt at the corners of my vision, but when I looked directly, nothing was there. Yet the pulse in the fog grew stronger. Deeper. Larger.
Something was watching.
I froze. Charcadet hissed softly, tail flame twitching. Ditto's body stiffened.
From the swirling fog, a shadow detached itself. It hovered silently, weightless. Its aura wasn't just ghostly — it was different, dense and distorted, folding the fog around it like a cloak.
I didn't see the eyes at first, only the grin. A wide, unnatural grin that could have belonged to any Gengar, but the feeling it radiated made me pause.
The fog trembled with its presence, and all the wild Pokémon froze in place, as if the air itself had ordered them to stop.
It wasn't attacking. Not yet. It was… observing.
I swallowed hard. "Charcadet… Ditto… be ready, but don't act."
Charcadet's tail flame flared a little brighter. Ditto quivered but didn't move. Somehow, they understood.
The shadow shifted slightly, and I glimpsed the color — not the usual purple of a Gengar. Darker, more like a clouded void, eyes flickering silver. My pulse quickened.
Whatever it was, it wasn't here to fight me.
But the city didn't care. Alarms blared, lights flared, and the fog pulsed like a heartbeat. From the edges of the street, League agents arrived, scanning with devices that projected walls of light and energy. The ghosts reacted — chaos reigniting, Haunter shrieking as a protective field forced it to change direction.
I didn't flinch. I just held my stance.
"Don't attack it," I whispered. "I can feel it… it's not malicious."
The shadow tilted its head, and for a moment, the fog's pulse slowed. A shiver ran up my spine. It wasn't just sentient. It was aware. Watching. Maybe even… waiting.
The young students huddled closer, looking at me like I had all the answers. I didn't. I had a better plan: lead them to safety first, then deal with the anomaly later.
"Follow me," I said. Step by step, I guided them through the cracked streets, the fog curling unnaturally but giving us just enough visibility. Ditto shifted continuously, blocking erratic Phantump and Misdreavus. Charcadet's flames licked faint protective circles around the kids, providing both light and a measure of control.
At last, we reached a relatively clear area. The students were safe for the moment. I crouched beside them, breathing hard, my eyes scanning the fog. And that's when I saw it again.
The shadow, hovering on the edge of visibility. Still silent. Still watching.
I felt it in my chest — the same pulse I'd sensed when the fog first thickened, stronger now, like it was anchored to the heart of the city. The hair on my neck stood on end. I didn't know what it wanted. But I knew one thing for certain: this was just the beginning.
Noctopolis had secrets, and for the first time, I wasn't just a bystander. I was involved.
I looked down at Charcadet and Ditto, both poised and alert. "All right," I said, voice low. "We survive this together. One step at a time."
The fog swirled, the shadows pulsing. The city held its breath. And somewhere in the haze, silver eyes glinted back at me.
I clenched my fists. Whatever this was… it would have to wait. I had people to save first.
And I had a feeling… it wasn't going to wait forever.