"oooh, an experienced ghost hunter," velvet teases. "well, don't worry, i've got a few tricks up my sleeve..." she has no idea whether ghost-type pokemon will help against actual ghosts, but it's worth a shot, right? they might even just be pokemon here-- sometimes people can't tell the difference, and so reports get a little mixed up.

she pulls out her phone and turns on the flashlight, shining it around them. kouji's question gives her pause for a second, but then she starts to ascend after him. it is a bit cooler in here... would there be air conditioning on when nobody is supposed to be around? "couple months," velvet says with a shrug. "still just kinda getting my footing."

there's a creaking further up. almost as if someone else is there, ascending in much the way they are. ooh, exciting! velvet starts to walk faster, almost fast enough to overtake kouji. "hellooo up there-- oh, the acoustics here are amazing. ECHO!" her voice echoes throughout the lighthouse.

[ Kouji Matsubara ]

afraid of ghosts? "nope," velvet replies. "should i be? i mean, what's the worst that can happen? it's not like they can kill us, right?" life isn't like a horror movie. if ghosts are real, then they probably can't do much damage. if they could, they'd probably be hearing a lot more about ghost-related deaths and accidents. unless that's what they want you to think, and they're just suckering you into a false sense of security... velvet contemplates this thought and then tosses it to the side.

instead, she turns her flashlight around the staircase. she catches sight of a shadow moving up at the top, but it's gone in the blink of an eye, making her think she was just seeing things.

and then... her phone's flashlight starts to flicker. velvet wrinkles her nose, looking at the screen. "what the hell? this piece of junk..." she grumbles. she fiddles with the app, turning it off and then on again, but it continues to flicker. she's busy pursing her lips as she tries to decide what to do when, without warning, her phone turns off completely.

and then they're left in the suffocating darkness.

[ Kouji Matsubara ]

velvet sticks her tongue out in the darkness. "booo! i'm gonna live forever, bitch! unlike you, stupid ghost!" she blows a raspberry at the top of the stairs. as she says it, she tightens her grip on the railing, and her other hand putting her phone away in her bag and finding a pokeball instead. what they need here is some light... but first, she wants to try doing what she's seen on a bunch of ghost hunting shows. the best way to get a spirit to reveal itself is to piss it off, right?

she yells even louder. "are you gonna show yourself, or are you just a big pussy!? huh??" there's a creak, as if something is coming a bit closer... and then nothing but the sound of the wind. "huh... guess you are--"

something yanks at her shirt, pulling her backwards. "whoa!" velvet almost loses her footing. "quick, it's behind me!" purely by reflex, her finger finds the button on her pokeball, and out comes her lampent. the staircase is now once again illuminated, albeit in an eerie blue glow.

[ Kouji Matsubara ]

velvet's response is automatic. "ew, no." she doesn't much like touching other people unless she initiates. the thought makes her skin crawl.

her lampent floats in between them as they ascend the stairs. velvet follows after kouji, doing her best to keep up the pace. her heart is racing, but not in a bad way. she feels more like a kid in a haunted house attraction than anything. life after death, huh... are ghosts even aware of what they are? or does death feel like dreaming?

"how exactly did you get rid of them the last time you did this?" velvet asks, brows furrowing. "i mean, it's not like we can hurt them, right? and we don't have any special equipment." no vacuums that can suck ghosts up actually exist outside of movies, she assumes. though they haven't yet confirmed these are human ghosts and not pokemon just messing with them...

[ Kouji Matsubara ]

okay, ghost-type pokemon she can definitely deal with pretty easily. she can deal with psychic types pretending to be ghosts, too. real ghosts? it seems both of them are in the dark, no pun intended.

the floor beneath them begins to shake. velvet casts a worried glance around. is this another prank, or are they in actual danger? she finds her answer when the floor caves beneath her feet. with a shriek, she plummets, one hand reaching out for something, anything to grab. her fingers grace upon the cool steel of her lampent, and she grabs hold tightly, her legs swinging underneath her. panting, velvet tries to focus. is this an illusion? did the floor really cave in?

if it's a pokemon messing with them, the first thing to do is find it. "cast a wide inferno out," she tells her lampent. "like-- like a net." it does as she asks, the blue flames illuminating the entire area around them... hunting, searching, trying to find the culprit behind it all.

[ Kouji Matsubara ]

kecleon, huh? velvet's lampent floats up to the next available platform, allowing her to light down upon the ground once more. she's composed once more, recovering quickly from the shock of her plummet. "obviously we gotta take 'em out after they humiliated us like that," she states, scowling at the already-injured kecleon as they try to recover from the attack. given their ability, they'll be fire type now... so it wouldn't be wise to use another fire type move.

she points at one of them. "use shadow ball," velvet commands, sneering. the lampent at her side conjures up a dark orb and sends it flying at the kecleon, who's still too shaken to dodge it. "maybe if we catch them and hand them over when we report in...? i mean, they're pretty good at messing with people. i bet they'd be a valuable asset for rocket."

[ Kouji Matsubara ]