That's the Spirit! - Chapter 11

[The Black Keep]

Jazz Fenton was, to her frequent embarrassment, her parents’ child.

Sure, she didn’t share their sheer, overwhelming, horrifyingly intense enthusiasm for ghosts, but she planned on going into the sciences. She was intelligent, logical (thanks Mom), driven (thanks Dad), and most importantly: when she had a goal, she put everything she had towards achieving it.

Her parents actually had a greater quantity of positive traits than negative… it’s just the negative traits were so much--anyway.

Jazz was dressed in her hazmat and entering the Portal for the second time, but this time she had more of a plan. Her equipment included her suit, of course, the prototype for the Fenton Ghost Detector, a small ecto-pistol in case she needed to defend herself, and a portable welder that her parents had modified to run off their artificial ectoplasm. She didn’t know what Dad’s crazy name for the thing was, all she knew was that it was integral for imbuing a lot of their tech with the stuff.

She had a theory, see. The dragon’s mirror only responded to it, but was it something unique to it or could any ghost do it? And if any ghost did it, could she activate it if she had a source of ectoplasm?

When Jazz left the Portal, she looked around to make sure the coast was clear. She froze for a moment when she spotted the stone slab ghost perched in one of the windows looking out. Luckily, it only had an eye on one side, so as long as she was quiet she’d be fine.

Stepping carefully, she slowly made her way to the mirrors. She gave it a try just touching it, but of course that didn’t work. With a glance at the slab, she took the welder off her belt and raised it. She looked again. She turned it on.

The sound it made was tiny, but it still made her wince and watch the slab like a hawk. It shifted on its resting spot, pivoting slightly, but when nothing else happened she turned her attention back to the mirror. The welder was not the most elegant of tools for this; she didn’t actually want to cut the mirror. So she held the ectoplasmic sparks close…

…closer…

…closer…

…A mote of energy popped off the end of the welder, and landed on the glass. It hissed, just barely audible, and then the reflection distorted.

Jazz stifled a gasp. The glass shimmered, then glowed white and black and opened up. Like suddenly she was looking at a tunnel, but also a flat surface at the same time.

“Show--Show me Danny,” she whispered, thinking as hard as she could about her brother. What he looked like. What he sounded like. Where was he?

The image in the mirror flickered, fading in like it emerged from a fog. An island chain.

Jazz put a hand over the glass, but hesitated before touching it. It almost looked like she could fall right in. “Where is he?”

The image wobbled. The POV moved, like it was looking out from a flying object.

She touched the frame of the mirror, and suddenly sound poured into the room. Strong winds, shifting seas, the buzz of… drone rotors? Was this attached to a camera drone? How?

Something slammed into the ground behind her, and Jazz jumped, dropping the welder which flipped off the instant it left her hand. She twisted, stumbling back and almost falling into the mirror--but no, the slab caught her with shadowy fingers wrapped around her waist.

“Rue, rue, riga rune…”

Jazz blinked. “What?”

The painted face wasn’t able to emote, but its single eye narrowed. “Ruuuuune.”

“I d-don’t underst--omigosh what’s that?!” She screamed, pointing towards the window.

The stone slab didn’t even hesitate. It turned its entire body and took what looked like a combat stance, prepared to guard the Portal from invaders. When it saw nothing unusual, it turned back to face her, confused, only to see she wasn’t there.

“Sorry! Gotta go!”

The slab turned in time to see her jump through the Portal, and she was home free.

------------------------------

She landed back in her basement with a roll, and pulled her hood back to let her hair free. She laughed in relief, glad to be safe, amazed that her theory was correct! Incredible!

“Ha!” Jazz said. “I was right!”

“Right about what?”

Jazz’s grin turned brittle, and she slowly turned to see the basement occupied. Danny’s friends were holding tools for her parents while they built was looked like a cage around a black motorcycle. “Oh. Hey.”

Maddie squinted. “Jasmine Fenton. Were you exploring the Ghost Zone again? What did we tell you last time?!”

“I’m sorry--”

“Stop leaving us behind!” Jack bellowed. “I want to see the ghost world too!”

“No, Jack, we told her not to go without us!”

Jack blinked. “Isn’t that what I said?”

“The context is different?”

“How so?”

Jazz sighed while her parents bickered. “Yes, Mom, I know. Sorry Dad. What are you guys up to?”

-------------------------------

[Hau’oli Island]

“What do you think, guys?” Danny asked, holding one shirt in front of him, then the other. “Black on white, or white on black?”

Gastly and Zorua grinned, while Rowlet stuck out its tongue.

Danny frowned. “What, you don’t like it?” He snapped his fingers. “Zorua, turn into me.”

Catching on, Zorua complied, and Danny looked himself over. The Mossdeep Space Center shirt, the denim shorts, how usually red sneakers. He handed the shirts over, and Zorua tried the white one on first. Danny had decided, partially as a joke, to go all-in on the tourist look and get himself a floral shirt. Owing to the fact that the handful of dollars he’d gotten from what few battles he’d done amounted to… not much, he made do with the cheap Alola shirts that were all just basically palette swaps of the same flower pattern.

Zorua looked down at ‘his’ outfit and see-sawed his hand. “Zo-zo.”

“You’re right, it blends in with the undershirt.” Danny passed him the black one instead, and liked the way that looked a lot better. “Yeah, this’ll do. Think I should get some sandals.”

“Rowl!”

“Yeah, maybe I shou--ow, okay!” Danny laughed as he shielded his head from Rowlet’s peck. “Okay, I get it! Just the shirt!”

“Hmph.”

Danny walked out of the store wearing his latest purchase, and sighed at the feeling of the sun on his skin. He was really starting to get used to the climate. Fresh air, nice and warm, Alola really was a paradise.

“Yo yo yo!”

Danny blinked as someone started playing way-too-loud music on a boombox. He cast about for the source, and eventually found it on the nearby beach. “What in the…? Are you seeing this?”

“Zor.” Zorua looked as lost as him, but Gastly and Rowlet rolled their eyes.

Two guys, teenagers like Danny, in identical outfits that included a beanie and a bandanna, were aggressively ‘dancing’ next to the lifeguard tower. It looked more like flailing to Danny. They weren’t even in time with the music. The lifeguard was attempting to ignore them, looking out over the water with a constipated expression.

“Guess what?”

“Wut?”

“I said guess what!”

“WUT!”

“Uh-huh, that’s right.”

“Yeah!”

“Team Skull in the house, yo!”

“Yo!”

As he watched, Danny’s expression slowly transformed to match the lifeguard. “Oh, wow…”

“Hey, Danny! Nice shirt!” Hau came up, holding a pastry in each hand. “Got you one!”

“Thanks.” Danny took the roll-looking thing without looking away from the trainwreck on the beach. He took a bite and blinked. “Oh wow, is this pineapple?”

“Pinap Berry, but yeah! They’re malasadas!” He tore a piece off and handed it to Pichu on his shoulder. Danny took a cue from that and passed some to his own Pokémon. Zorua in particular seemed to like it. “So what’s going on here?” Hau asked.

“Some… guys…” Danny said, trying to be diplomatic. He settled for waving in their direction.

Hau looked over and winced. “Oh, those guys. That’s Team Skull.”

“Well that’s not an ominous name at all,” Danny said flatly. “Are they trouble?”

Hau took a huge bite of his snack and spoke with his mouth full. “Mostly they’re just annoying, but they can be a problem sometimes. Sometimes they steal Pokémon, but most of the time they just take them somewhere and let them go to make their way back to their trainer.”

Danny frowned, and went back to watch the Skull guys. Now that he knew the name, he guessed they looked kinda skeleton-themed. “Are they… trying to be street performers?” he asked, noticing the bucket between them in front of the boombox.

“Could be,” Hau shrugged. “Anyway, Gramps told Captain Ilima about you coming, so we should--”

The lifeguard suddenly blew his whistle and jumped off the tower, sprinting towards the water. Or, he tried, but he slipped on the Skulls’ beach towel, which had been set up too close to the tower. Danny craned his neck.

“Rowlet, is someone in trouble?”

Rowlet flew up to get a better look and trilled an affirmative.

The lifeguard tried to get up, but the Team Skull guys had taken offense at having their setup messed with and were dancing at him.

Danny vaulted the handrails down to the beach, landing on the sand and sprinting over. “Gastly, Zorua, get those guys out of the way!”

The Skull grunts looked up as he shouted, and the green-haired on yelped as Zorua body-checked him. Gastly appeared behind the other one and licked him, locking up his joints and making him fall over.

Path unobstructed, the lifeguard booked it for the swimmer in trouble, not giving the grunts a second thought.

Green hair got to his feet in a rage. “Yo, what the heck man?!”

Danny glared at them, getting a closer look. The green-haired guy was as short as Danny and kinda chubby. Not enough to be called fat, but definitely a little heavy-set. The orange-haired guy, already staggering to his feet, had dark skin and stood tall. He was more fit than the other guy, but not quite able to be called muscular.

Orange-hair shook the paralysis off stomped his foot. “Not cool, dude! We’re just out here trying to make a buck and you gotta drive off our audience?”

“Are you serious?” Danny asked, incredulous. “He’s kinda busy right now!”

“Pfft, yeah? Doing what?”

“Yeah, doing what?” Green sneered.

Danny just pointed, and they looked to see the lifeguard walking out of the surf carrying a small girl in his arms. It looked like her inner tube had busted while she was out in the deeper water. She looked fine, just scared, so he set her down and helped calm her down.

Orange watched with a troubled look, but it was gone when he turned back to Danny. “So what? The kid’s fine.”

“Yeah, because the lifeguard got to her!” Danny snapped. “And you were trying to stop him!”

“Hey, you tryin’ to accuse us a’ something?” Orange demanded. “You better watch who you’re stepping against, bro, cuz Team Skull runs right over scrubs like you!”

And then--Danny rubbed his eyes because he couldn’t believe it--they started striking poses.

“You’re dealing with Broseph!” Orange shouted.

“And Yoma!” Green-hair finished.

“The worst of the worst! Baddest of the bad!”

“We STINK!”

“We’re the--what do you mean, we stink?!” Orange said, smacking the hat off Green’s head.

“I mean, uh--” Yoma stammered. “We…’re elite?”

“Better.”

Danny mouthed ‘Broseph’ to himself, dumbfounded, but they just kept going.

“We’re Team Skull’s best dancers! Break a leg, baby!”

“Sometimes we break other peoples’!”

“Wha--Yoma! Shut up!”

“Sorry, Bro…”

Danny held up a hand. “Please, stop talking. You’re the best dancers in Team Skull?”

“That’s right!”

“Yeah!”

“...Just how bad are the others, then?”

Broseph’s eye twitched. “Oh, so you think you can make fun of us, huh?”

“No one makes fun of us!”

Danny and his Pokémon shared a helpless sort of look. “I don’t think I have to, you guys are doing all the work for me.”

“That’s it! Go, Buizel!”

“Spinarak, yo!”

The grunts’ Pokémon appeared, a green spider and an orange… Danny wasn’t sure, his gut said otter but the name said weasel, while the tails said fox. He guessed it didn’t matter.

“Hey, no fair!” Hau jogged up behind them. “Alright, two on two, let’s go! I got your back, Danny!”

“What’s this?” Broseph sneered. “Need a twerp to come to your rescue, string bean?”

Danny rolled his eyes. It was hard to feel insulted by someone this… over-the-top. “Rowlet.”

“Rowlet!” Hau agreed. Both owls flew down opposite the Skull Grunts’ partners.

Yoma frowned. “Man, wait a min--”

“Buizel, Aqua Jet!”

Danny pointed. “Rowlet, fly up over it!”

But at the same time, Hau said, “Rowlet, to the left!”, which resulted in the two owls getting their orders confused and bumping into each other, and keeping them right where they were for the sea-weasel to come rocketing in surrounded by water.

“Ha! Uh-huh, yeah!” Broseph went into his stupid dance again, and Danny grit his teeth.

“Use Razor Leaf!”

Yoma pumped his fist. “String Shot, yeah!”

Danny’s Rowlet waved a wing, but it was Hau’s Rowlet that fired a Leafage, making Danny’s stop, confused. The less-dense foliage let the String Shot through  without cutting it up, and Danny’s owl got wrapped in spider silk, to its frustration. One wing got bound to its side, so it was forced to fall to the ground and walk. It finally fired that Razor Leaf though, and while Spinarak took it without much fuss, Buizel yelped in pain with each leaf that hit it.

“Water Gun!”

“Astonish!” Hau responded, taking the initiative this time. His Rowlet swooped down and kicked the Buizel from behind just as it was taking a breath, making it choke on the water it was bringing up.

“Rowlet, use Peck on that spider!” Danny called. Nothing went wrong on Danny’s end this time; though being grounded made it more awkward, the little owl successfully managed to land a hit on Spinarak before it could dodge. The spider folded like a wet tissue under assault, and Yoma returned it with a grumble.

“Yoma, no!” Broseph shouted. He struck a pose. “Bubble!”

Buizel took a deep breath, then frowned and looked back at him, confused. “Bui?”

“What do you mean you don’t--I mean Sonic Boom!”

Buizel jolted, startled, and did a flip with its tails glowing. Twin slashes of energy lanced out, and each hit a Rowlet, making them wince. Thankfully, it also cut up the silk around Danny’s, so it took to flight again.

“Crap!”

“Alright!” Hau cheered. “Danny, let’s wrap this up!”

He nodded. “Rowlet! Razor Leaf!”

“Leafage!”

Buizel tried to dodge, but it didn’t work. It got thrown back directly into Broseph’s chest, and made a pitiful mewling sound.

Broseph returned it with a growl. “You punks! We won’t forget this!”

“You’ll pay!” Yoma shouted.

And then they turned tail and ran. There was a smattering of polite applause from the beachgoers.

Danny turned to Gastly, who had been off to the side, watching with Zorua, and asked. “Did all that just happen?”

“Yeah, they can be like that,” Hau said, folding his arms. “Still, blocking the lifeguard is so not cool, man.”

“You’re telling me,” said the lifeguard, returning to his tower. “Thanks for dealing with those thugs, kids. I should have run them off earlier, but I didn’t expect them to make that much of a nuisance of themselves.”

“No problem. Is the girl okay?” Danny asked.

The lifeguard smiled. “She’s fine, she was just swimming with a Corsola and its horn popped her floatie. She was startled more than anything.”

“Good, that’s good.”

The lifeguard squinted, leaning forward. “Hey, are you on your island challenge?”

Danny looked down, where the Trial Amulet was sticking out of his shorts. “Oh! I forgot.” He took it out and pinned it to his new shirt’s breast pocket. “There. I meant to put it there earlier, but,” he gestured vaguely after where the Grunts had gone.

“Well, you’re off to a great start,” he said.

“Yeah!” Hau agreed. “Helping people out is what a journey’s all about!”

“Well put,” a new voice responded.

Danny and Hau turned to see someone… dressed inappropriately for the beach, with white pants and a sweater vest. And pink hair.

“Captain Ilima,” the lifeguard nodded, before climbing the tower again.

“Hey, good to see you again!” Hau said happily.

“When you didn’t show up at the Western Pokémon Center, I went looking for you myself. I’m glad to see it wasn’t because you were slacking off,” they said, looking at Danny with a smirk.

Part of him wanted to feel offended, but he didn’t sense any kind of admonishment at all. “Uh… Sorry?”

Ilima’s eyes twinkled. “Don’t worry about it. How can I be upset when you were helping someone?” Their expression darkened just slightly. “Or dealing with Team Skull, those layabouts.”

“Are they that big a deal?” Danny asked, scratching his head.

“They wish. Now!” Ilima continued with a clap. “I was about to challenge you to a battle myself, but your Rowlets look a little worse for wear. Let’s away to the Pokémon Center first, okay?”

“No argument from me,” Danny agreed.

Hau grinned. “Let’s go!”

Mini-Chapter: Nicknames

[Hau’oli Pokémon Center West]

“Okay, guys, before we go out, I want ask about nicknames,” Danny said, sitting in the Center’s lounge. His Pokémon stood on the table in front of him.

Danny pointed at Rowlet. “That battle with Hau was a mess, I think you can agree. We were both calling out ‘Rowlet!’ and I think it confused you both.”

Rowlet huffed, looking annoyed.

“Right. And I’m starting to get the impression that Hau’s going to be sticking with us for a while. That kind of thing might happen again. And I want to avoid that. So, nicknames. What do you think of them?”

Rowlet looked uncertain, while Zorua just looked bored. The little fox yawned and curled up to take a nap.

“I guess you don’t care either way, huh?” Danny asked, ruffling Zorua’s fur. “Alright, we can put a pin in it for you. What about you, Gastly?”

The smoke ball nodded with a grin. “Gas, gas!”

Danny grinned back and snapped his fingers. “Good! Because you’re the one I already had an idea for, Rick.”

Gastly blinked, smile dropping. “...Ly?”

“Trust me, it’s hilarious. Once I get back home I’ll show you, but--” and Danny proceeded to explain the concept of Rickrolling to his pet ghost. By the end of it Gastly was chortling. “So what do you think?”

Rick nodded, accepting the name happily, so Danny turned to Rowlet. The owl looked less enthused than before after hearing the origins of Rick’s name.

“Rrrrowlet…”

“So, what do you think of the name James Rowle--ow!”

Rowlet Pecked him, looking cross.

“What? What’s the problem?”

Zorua opened one eye and looked at Rick. Both of them burst into giggles while Rowlet turned its beak up at him. The fox stood up and stretched, then walked over and tapped the owl’s leafy bowtie, turning it pink.

Danny stared for an embarrassing number of seconds before it clicked. “...You’re a girl?”

“Rowl.”

“Oh. Sorry.” Danny rubbed the bump forming on his forehead. “I guess I didn’t ask. Uh, are you guys--?”

Zorua turned his red fur tufts blue, and Rick stuck out a blue tongue.

“Okay, good. Note to self, make sure to ask that question first next time.” He hummed, rubbing his chin. “...Let’s see… That kind of ruins all my ideas. Jamie? No, that doesn’t…” Danny shrugged. “How do you feel about Robin?”

Rowlet looked unimpressed. She put a wing on her chest and said, “Owl.”

“I know you’re an owl, but it’s still a bird. And it’s named after a famous archer. The guy in question was, well, a guy, but it’s a girl’s name too.”

Rowlet tilted her head inquisitively. “Let?”

“Yeah, see, Robin Hood is a legendary thief or something. I remember, he once fired an arrow straight up into the air, then hit it with another arrow to alter its path to fall back down and hit a bullseye,” Danny recited from a half-remembered childhood movie.

Rowlet looked impressed and trilled. Robin it was.

“Great!” He looked at Zorua. “What about you?”

The fox shook his head. “Zo.”

“No?”

“Zo.”

“Any reason why?”

Zorua rolled his eyes.

“Just not interested?”

He nodded, and that was that.

“Well, alright. But you can always change your mind later.” Danny stood up. “Glad we got that settled. Now, let’s not keep Hau and Ilima waiting. First trial! Let’s go!”

“Zor!/Gas!/Rowl!”