Ash couldn’t breathe. He clenched his sweaty palms shut tightly, trying to control his viciously beating heart. Hearing the floorboards creak downstairs was fifty times worse than the tapping behind his wall. The fact that there was dead silence now was making Ash even more nervous. He was positive that he had heard it, but as much as he feared it, he wanted to hear it again, to make sure that he wasn’t going insane.

Maybe Mom’s sleepwalking, Ash thought, immediately shaking his head afterward. You idiot! She doesn’t sleepwalk!

With that thought firmly pushed out of his head, Ash was left to come up with a probable reason for the noise once again. He became more nervous by the minute, throwing around some possibilities, but dismissing them just as easily. There was no feasible incentive for the floorboard, only the fact that someone had to be down there stepping on it.

Quivering heavily, Ash had no choice but to pull his legs out of the sleeping bag. His curiosity was beginning to surpass his fear. He knew there was no way he’d be able to sleep unless he actually went down to assure himself that there was nothing. Hopefully there was nothing, that was.

Ash nervously ran a hand through his knotty hair as he stood. His eyes were adjusted to the dark, allowing him to make his way to the door effortlessly. Opening the door tediously and quietly, Ash poked his head out before leaving the room. Sure enough, the light in the hallway was off, and his mother’s door was closed. It wasn’t her for sure.

Shaking at the fact that his mother was as sound asleep as Misty and Brock, Ash gulped and tiptoed slowly down the hallway. He needed a light badly, using the walls as his guide through the dark house. He was being as quiet as he possibly could, taking each step carefully and lightly.

Ash reached the upstairs landing, and stood a safe distance from the stairwell. He didn’t feel like adding falling down the stairs to his list of worries. Standing with the stairs descending before him, Ash froze and listened. There was no sound coming from below. His living room was dark and quiescent. The only sound coming from it was the soft tick-tocking of the mantle piece clock above the fireplace.

Building up as much courage as he could, Ash began to make his way down the stairs. Fear rose in him rapidly like a thermometer rising on a hot day. Coming closer and closer to the living room was sending him into a state of terror. He had always hated his living room at night. It frightened him considerably when he was young, and he stayed as far away from it as possible. He had always imagined things lurking in the darkness, ready to pounce. Delia had kept a small night light in it as well as in other places of the house to help lead Ash to the bathroom if he needed, and Ash wished that they were there now. It was actually a little disappointing . . . it seemed that as soon as he had left on his Pokémon journey, his mom had completely rid the house of his childhood.

He stopped at the middle of the staircase, the dark engulfing him from all directions. He could barely see a foot in front of his face, yet he was as alert in the darkness as a Vileplume. Gripping onto the banister even more tightly, he scanned the room slowly, his eyes finding their way gradually to the kitchen entranceway. He was afraid of looking there, where he had heard the dreaded creaking of the floorboard. What if something was standing there now? Ash didn’t even know what he’d do.

Taking a deep breath, Ash looked over at the doorway. The moon was casting its bright rays through the kitchen windows, creating streaks along the floor. It illuminated the threshold of the kitchen, and Ash felt a wave of relief pass through him when he saw that nothing was there. Nothing. What a wonderful word that was.

Ash smiled awkwardly, licking his dry lips. His tensed body gradually relaxed as he stood on the stairway. Shifting his weight from one foot to another, the stairs let off a small creak, startling him for a second but then making him chuckle foolishly to himself. With one loud, comforting yawn, Ash decided that it was time for him to head back to bed, and rid his mind of the so-called creaking that he had heard. His eyes were drooping, and he lazily squinted them as he turned back upstairs.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something flash by the moonlight streak across the kitchen floor. Ash’s heart immediately skipped a beat, and his mouth dropped open in fear. He spun around in the direction of the kitchen, and his eyes darted around nervously.

Oh my God . . . Ash thought, finding his breathing starting to increase. The skip his heart had made was making itself up by beating even faster. Did I see that? Did I really see that?!

He didn’t want to find out. In a split second, Ash spun around towards the upstairs again, and bolted up without another hesitation. He didn’t get to far though. As soon as he collided into the soft barrier he let out a small yelp, too frightened to even create a scream. Sudden fear swept through his body at the speed of light, and he staggered backwards, almost falling down the stairs.

After the yelp, he began to breathe loudly and soundly, hyperventilating in terror. The darkness around him surrounded him ominously, disallowing him to see what he had bumped into. He lost his cool at that moment, and his hands flew up protectively and instinctively to his chest. Oh God he wished he had a light. He wished he could see. What was going on . . .

"Ash! Ash, calm down!" Ash suddenly felt the hands of his mother grip him tightly on the shoulders, holding him from accidentally falling down the stairs. "It’s me!"

Breathing precariously, it took Ash a few good seconds to realize that it was only Delia. It was still dark around them, and Ash shakily made out the vague outline of his mom. "M-m-mom? What . . . oh, man . . ."

Delia didn’t like the way Ash was acting, and in a flash she rushed up a few steps to snap the hallway light on. The brightness assaulted Ash’s eyes maliciously, and his hands flew up to them immediately.

"Ash, are you all right? What’s the matter?" Delia asked of him nervously, her voice shaking. Ash’s bumping into her was not easy on her nerves, either, but right now her only concern was for her son. It was only when she heard his small yap did she realize it was him, which is why she had remained calm.

Ash brought his hands away from his face to reveal a blurry vision of Delia before him. The light was still not good to him, but he squinted just enough to look into the worried face of his mother. His eyes then instantly fell to the baseball bat she held in her hand.

Delia followed his eyes to it, and she let out a small chuckle. She lifted the bat up, and breathed out softly. "When you live alone, you gotta know how to protect yourself." She smiled at Ash, who was still breathing noticeably. "Didn’t mean to scare you, sweetie."

Ash didn’t say anything. His eyes fell to the floor and he rubbed his face. "Oh my God, Mom . . ."

"What’s the matter? Are you okay or what? You scared the daylights out of me," said Delia, now displaying her shocked expression. Ash looked up at her. Her hair was a mess and her eyes were red with sleeplessness.

"Nothing," Ash answered groggily. "I just -- nothing. I’m okay."

Delia cocked her head. "Are you sure? You look really pale." She reached out to feel his forehead for fever. "Do you feel all right?"

"I said I’m fine!" Ash replied. His voice was still shaking, and Delia noticed this. "I just wanna go back to bed, okay?"

"Well, why’d ya get up?" his mother inquired. She looked concerned now. "Hmm?"

Ash just wished he could get back to his bed. He didn’t want to tell Delia why he was really awake. Oh yeah, Mom, I came down cause I heard the ghost again! And this time, I actually saw it, too! Ash shuddered at the thought. He couldn’t tell her that, knowing she wouldn’t be pleased with being woken up for that. She had already become fed up numerous times when he was younger, when he woke her at ungodly hours of the night because he saw a spooky shadow.

His sleepiness and deep thought caused him to not respond for a while. Delia was becoming more worried by the minute.

"Ash, what’s going on?" she asked, her voice rising in anxiety. "Why are you up?"

"No reason," Ash said softly. He tried to pass her to get back upstairs, but she stopped him.

"Tell me what’s the matter!" his mother demanded, her sudden harsh tone making him tremble. "You’re scaring me!"

Ash knew that it was solely her worry that was making her sound upset, and he understood that. But he couldn’t tell her why . . . he had to make something up and fast. "I had to go to the bathroom," he said quickly.

Delia gave him an absurd look. "In the pitch black?"

"Well . . . yeah," Ash replied, his eyes flipping nervously. "What’s wrong with that?"

Delia just stared at him. "Ash, we have lights in this house. They’re there to help you get through the dark. Why didn’t you put the light on?"

Because you can’t see ghosts in light . . . "I dunno." Smart answer there, Ash!

"Then why did you tell me that you came down for no reason?" Delia said, shrugging, looking suspiciously at her son. "C’mon! I don’t like being woken up in the middle of the night thinking there’s someone in the house! Why are you sneaking around?"

Ash went to say something back at her again, but he stopped himself abruptly. Taking a deep breath, he shook his head and looked down at his feet. Throwing a quick glance up at his mom, he found her staring at him sternly and worriedly, awaiting his answer.

"I . . . I came down ‘cause . . . because I heard something," Ash mumbled. "I heard something walking around down here." The whole thing came out sluggishly and dragged out. Ash had barely moved his lips when he had spoken the sentence.

Almost as if he had a vision into the future, Delia’s facial reaction fit Ash’s prediction perfectly. She gave him this undeniable face of shock and anger that made Ash flinch considerably.

"Is that what this is all about?!" she shouted as loudly as she could above a whisper. She didn’t want to wake Misty and Brock. "Ash! I am not in the mood for this now!"

Ash gulped nervously and sweatdropped. "But I really did."

Delia huffed angrily, making Ash shudder. She shook her finger fiercely at her son. "All right, this is the final straw! I don’t want to hear another word about this ghost stuff! This is it!"

Ash silently shook from his mother’s berating, cowering slightly. He lowered his eyes shamefully. He had expected this.

"For the final time, this house is not haunted!" she continued rigidly. "And I don’t need you walking around in the dark in the middle of the night! You hear me?!"

"Yes, but . . ."

"But nothing!" she yelled, coming up to him to intimidate him with her size. But surprisingly to her, Ash looked up at her and dared to continue.

"But I saw it!" Ash exclaimed, quickly enough to get his word in. "Mom, I saw something over there by the kitchen!" He pointed his shaking finger towards the kitchen. His voice suddenly became wobbly in fear, both from the shadow he’d seen and his mother’s sudden anger. "I’m not lying to you!"

"You’ve already lied to me once tonight about the bathroom!" she exclaimed, reaching out and grasping Ash firmly by the ear. Ash cringed painfully as she dragged him up the stairs.

"Ash, I’m tired and I have a lot to do tomorrow!" she said, stopping herself and giving his ear a brutal yank. "So you’d better get to bed and cut this nonsense out! Understand, young man?!"

Ash’s eyes watered, and he clenched them shut as heated pain took over his ear. "Oww! Okay, okay . . . ," he muttered. He wanted to break free of his mom’s grip, but he knew that any movement he made would cause her to just squeeze harder. "Please lemme go! I’m sorry!"

Delia released her grip and Ash staggered forward. He turned around and looked sadly at her, rubbing his sore ear.

Delia glared at him sternly. "I don’t want to hear one more thing about ghosts! Not one!"

"All right," Ash mumbled despondently. "You won’t."

Delia nodded once and pointed toward his room. "Now get to bed. I don’t want to hear another peep from you."

"Okay," Ash said inaudibly, making his way slowly to his room. Ash lowered his head dispiritedly, and entered his room, closing his door softly behind him. Dejectedly, he climbed into his sleeping bag and lay down, careful not to lie on his ear. It numbed dully, but it wasn’t the only thing on Ash’s mind. He thought about what he had seen, wondering if it was truly real or just a trick of his tired eyes. His preoccupation was soon succumbed by weariness, and he felt his eyelids drooping sleepily.

Delia took a deep breath, picked up the baseball bat, and headed back to her room. She couldn’t believe that she was up at this time of night. She wondered what had suddenly gotten into Ash lately. He had never acted this way. Sure, he had been scared of things before, but never to the extent of tiptoeing his way through the dark house only to scare her out of her wits.

Sighing, she closed the door to her room and rested her back against it. The darkness was a whole lot better on her eyes, and sleepiness kicked in once again. Rubbing her aching temples, she headed back to her warm bed. She couldn’t say that she didn’t believe in ghosts totally. Perhaps they existed in those weird places like abandoned prisons and cemeteries, but not in her house. They had no reason to be. And it was the fact that Ash was making such a big deal about it that really upset her. She thought she brought him up not to believe in that baloney. Maybe it was the upcoming Pokémon League that was getting to him. In any case, tomorrow, she realized, she’d have to have a talk with Ash.

Before reaching her bed, though, she heard walking outside her room once again. It was soft, but still perceptible, and in an instant, Delia became infuriated again. She stamped over to the door and flung it open angrily.

"Ash, if that’s you again, you’re gonna get it!" she roared, flipping the switch on inside of her room. The light swiftly illuminated most of the hallway, only for Delia to reveal a very wide-eyed Misty frozen before her. The young girl trembled at Delia’s homicidal look.

"I’m sorry," Misty apologized softly and nervously. "I didn’t mean . . ."

"Oh my God, no, honey, no . . . it’s okay," Delia reassured her immediately. "I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you like that! I’m so sorry."

Misty was still speechless and motionless, startled considerably by Delia’s sudden outburst. She unintentionally backed herself into the wall.

"Oh, Misty, I thought you were Ash," Delia chuckled, feeling terribly sorry for scaring Misty straight. She walked over to her and gave her a hug. "I’m so sorry. What’s the matter?"

Misty stumbled over her words, her heart beating rapidly. She managed a nervous smile. "I --I have to go to the bathroom."

"Okay," Delia replied, letting Misty go. "Go, dear. I’m so sorry."

Catching her breath, Misty nodded. "It -- it’s all right."

Delia watched as Misty made her way slowly down the stairs to the bathroom below. She slumped against the wall and ran a hand through her hair. She needed sleep badly. But most importantly, she needed to get these kids back out on the road.

"Ash! Ash, wake up!"

Ash could hear the blurry voice of Misty echoing as he groggily woke up, the bright sunlight rushing to his eyes. He could feel her nudging him lightly.

"Hmmmm . . . what?" he asked sleepily, yawning soundly. He flipped over on his back to see Misty smiling down at him.

"Will you get up already?" she asked, letting out a small chuckle. "C’mon, breakfast is ready!"

Ash rubbed his eyes and yawned again. Misty gave him a push and stood up, continuing to look down at the boy. It was going to take a moment for him to fully awaken, but Misty didn’t mind. She always thought Ash waking up was somewhat amusing.

"Uh, what time is it?" Ash moaned.

"Uh, it’s like ten o’clock," Misty retorted, copying Ash’s sleepy garble.

Ash’s eyes shot open. "It’s ten already?!"

Misty nodded, giving him a sly grin. "Yeah. You were out like a light, so me and Brock went downstairs for a while."

"Where’s Pikachu?" Ash asked, looking around for his absent Pokémon.

"Downstairs, too," Misty smiled. "You outslept everyone today."

Ash scratched his head and kicked his sleeping bag away from him. He was sweating from the heat of being inside of it, which clearly meant that the day was going to be even warmer. Misty watched with a grin on her face as Ash struggled to rise on his feet for the first time, wobbling a little from the remaining sleepiness in his body.

When he stood, he glanced at Misty. Misty cocked her head confusingly when she noticed how oddly he was looking.

"What’s the matter?" she asked.

Ash yawned, letting his tongue flop out lazily and humorously. "Nothing," he replied apathetically. "Is my mom down there?"

Misty gave him a weird look. "Yeah . . ."

Ash nodded matter-of-factly and rolled his eyes. Sliding on his slippers, he headed for the hall.

"Why do you ask that?" Misty asked confusingly, starting after him.

Ash stopped and turned to her, shrugging. "I dunno, I kinda got her mad last night. I don’t know if she’s still mad at me today."

"Last night?" Misty asked. "About what?"

Ash fell silent for a moment and looking into his friend’s eyes. Quickly glancing to make sure no one was coming down the hall or into his room, he looked at her seriously and lowered his head. She lowered hers in order to get down to his level.

"I’ll tell ya later, okay?" he whispered. "After Mom leaves."

He lifted his head back up and Misty glared at him absurdly. "What the heck are you talking about?!"

"Shhh!" Ash ordered, bringing his finger up to his pursed lips. "Just shush! I’ll tell you and Brock later."

Misty was still giving him the strange look, and Ash smiled to reassure her it was nothing.

"First, I gotta make up with my mom," he said, and at that, spun around and left the room, leaving a completely baffled Misty in his wake. She followed shortly after, though.

Ash shuffled down the stairs but slowed at he neared the kitchen. He wanted to make sure that everything between him and Delia was going to be okay. He never liked it when she left for work angry with him. Besides, it was his fault and he knew he was the one who was going to have to apologize.

"Pika pi!" Pikachu exclaimed, rushing to Ash.

Ash giggled and stroked Pikachu’s head. "Hey buddy. Good morning to you, too."

"So, you’re finally up," Brock laughed. He was seated at the table, a half-empty plate of eggs in front of him. "What were ya doing, dreaming about the Pokémon League?"

Ash smiled ambiguously. "Yeah."

Ash could feel his mother’s presence in back of him, and he turned slowly around to see her standing there with a plate of eggs in her hand. In the next second, Ash’s face fell sadly and his glistening eyes looked up into her own.

"I’m sorry, Mom," he apologized sincerely, his voice cracking a bit. "About last night, I’m really sorry."

As soon as he said that, Delia smiled brightly. "It’s okay," she said softly, mumbling her words affectionately. "I’m sorry, too."

A smile crept to Ash’s lips. Delia set the plate of eggs at Ash’s place, then walked up to her son. She brought him in for a gentle hug, cuddling his head in her arms. Ash hugged back, while his mom rested the side of her head on his own. He smiled contentedly, happy to be okay with his mom again.

"I’m sorry," she repeated. "I shouldn’t have been so rough with you, sweetie. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I was just tired, that’s all. You gave me quite a scare."

Ash giggled softly, and their eyes met. "It’s okay. You weren’t rough with me. I’m an idiot, and I deserved it. Me and my stupid nightmares."

Delia smiled warmly again, and brought her hand up to rub Ash’s ear. Ash closed his eyes blissfully as she massaged it lightly, quite the opposite of what she had done to it the night before. Delia bent down and kissed his ear, then kissed his forehead.

"Go have breakfast, you," she said, giving him a small push towards the table. "And you’re not an idiot, either. Got that?"

"Okay," Ash chuckled. He sat down at the table, surprised to see that Misty was there now. She gave him another odd glance, but he smiled at her. Delia came by with a glass of fresh orange juice, which she placed in front of Ash. Patting his head playfully, she bent down to him.

"So everything’s okay, now?" she asked in hopes of clarification. "No more silly stuff and giving me heart-attacks? You’re lucky your mama’s not in the hospital."

Ash smiled. "Everything’s fine. I thought we established that last night." He winked at her, and shoveled a huge forkful of eggs into his mouth.

Delia winked back and stood up. "All right, then. I gotta get out early today, so you guys’ll be good, right?"

"We’ll probably be out doing more training," Brock answered, scraping the last of his eggs onto his fork.

"Yeah. Ash needs it," Misty remarked. Ash just glared impishly at her.

Delia smiled. "Okay. Don’t forget to lock up the house when you leave."

The three kids nodded, and Delia left the room to get dressed. Ash, Misty, and Brock finished up their breakfast in near silence. Misty found the lack of talking rather odd, but as she glanced from Brock to Ash, all she saw was their eyes lowered to the plates. Brock was tired as was she, so there was no excuse for him. But Ash . . . what was it that was bothering him so much? And why didn’t he want his mom around?

Misty shrugged mentally, but was brought out of her secluded world of thoughts when Delia came in a few minutes later.

"All right, kids, I’m heading out," she said. "I’ll be back later this afternoon. Be careful out there."

Ash lifted his head and smiled. "We always are, Mom."

Delia smiled and nodded. She left the kitchen and the kids heard the front door close loudly behind her soon afterward.

Misty didn’t hesitate at all to get the story out of Ash. "Okay, Ash. Spill it! What’s this all about?" she inquired persistently.

Ash sighed and tilted his head back to make sure his mom was gone for sure. When he was certain of it, he turned back to them.

"I saw it," he said quietly and a bit mysteriously.

They both looked confused. "Saw what?" Brock asked.

"It," Ash replied. "Ya know, the . . . the ghost."

Brock and Misty’s faces illuminated in shock. Both their mouths dropped open immediately, and none of them dared to even doubt it for a moment.

"You saw the ghost?!" Misty asked excitedly, displaying an expression of partial shock and partial amazement. "When? Where?"

"What did it look like?" Brock added.

Ash smiled confusingly at the questions shot at him, and he brought his hands up in hopes of calming them. "Last night, in the middle of the night," he replied, his smile fading as he recounted the horrific tale. "I heard someone walking down here. Here, look!"

He jumped out of his chair and proceeded to stamp softly on the threshold between the kitchen and living room. Sure enough, it was producing the same noise he had heard the night before.

"I was hearing this noise last night!" Ash exclaimed.

"You’re kidding!" Brock replied. "Man, are -- are you sure it wasn’t Pikachu or somebody?"

Ash nodded. "Pretty sure. Everyone was asleep."

Misty seemed to turn pale as she heard Ash telling the story. "But you saw it?"

Ash nodded seriously. "I think I did. I came down here in the pitch black, and out of the corner of my eye I saw this shadow flash by. Like something ran by the window or something."

Brock and Misty tensed up nervously as he said this, a small bit of fear creeping into their bodies. This sounded too weird to be true, yet with all they had been experiencing lately, they were still going to give it a chance.

"Are you sure you weren’t dreaming or something?" Brock asked, hoping that maybe there was a more logical reason behind it.

"I wasn’t dreaming, Brock," replied Ash, stepping on the threshold again. "This is what I heard, and this is where I saw it."

Brock and Misty sighed heavily and leaned back in their chairs. Misty brought up her hands to rub her eyes. She couldn’t believe she was hearing this. She became cold, the thought of the Ketchum ghost beginning to openly make known its presence. Suddenly, another thought came to her, and her heart took a leap.

"Ash, when was it last night that you saw it?" she asked him worriedly, her eyes open in fear.

Ash gave her a weird look. "Gee, I dunno. It was late, though. Why?"

"Because I came downstairs last night, also," she answered. "It was so weird. I mean, I came out your room quietly and all, and then your mom jumps out her room screaming and stuff. She scared the hell out of me!"

Ash’s eyelids flew open rapidly. "Oh, crap! You must’ve come out right after me!"

"Huh?"

"I woke her up last night trying when I was down here looking for the ghost," Ash explained. "She was really mad when she found out that that was why I was down here. That’s why I didn’t want to tell you guys this until after she left. I promised her I wouldn’t mention another word."

"I already told you not to say anything else, Ash!" Brock suddenly shouted. "I told you it was going to get ugly! Is that why you guys were apologizing like crazy to each other this morning?"

"Uh-huh," Ash replied. "But I couldn’t help it! She dragged it out of me. She’s good at that!"

Brock groaned and rested his face in his hands. Misty was not overly happy with what was going on. She was nervous, and the expression on her face confirmed that.

"What are we gonna do now?" she asked fearfully.

Ash looked at her for a moment quite seriously. "There’s only one thing we can do, Misty."

She cocked her head impatiently.

"We have go on a full out ghost stakeout," he replied. "And find this thing if it kills us."

TO BE CONTINUED . . .