[attr="class","ninety"]

Xiura rode quietly in the car with Zev Harcourt, mind occupied with the previous mission they had last been on. It had been a few weeks, but seeing him had brought the memory to mind as freshly as though it had occurred the day before. The sight of a stranger bleeding out in between them was a scene rather difficult to compartmentalize.

Looking out the window at the twilight scenery left her mind with too much freedom. She wished she had brought a book instead. She glanced guiltily at the driver, mentally apologizing for not being such an avid conversationalist during the ride over.

Before she could dwell on it too long, the Rocket duo arrived at their intended destination.

Zev said, "Let's get this over with." She nodded at him.

"Come out, Jin," Xiura said, tapping one of her Pokeballs, prompting a small Sableye to come out. He was a new addition to the team, but she thought he would prove helpful against the other ghosts in the cabin.

Sableye crept eerily around her footsteps as she approached the front door of the cabin. Without hesitation, she grasped the door handle and opened it with an ominous, drawn-out creak. "Oh, it's cold," she noted aloud with mild surprise, letting go of the icy handle and wiping her hands on her leggings. From what she could see in the dark foyer, frost crept along the floor boards, disappearing into the darkness.

She stepped across the threshold, her Sableye's gem-like eyes glowing with curiosity. A spine-chilling sound like a woman wailing in grief greeted them from deeper within the house.

"It seems like a Frosslass lives here, though probably not alone," Xiura said quietly to Zev.

---

[attr="class","zevpostpkmn"]

[attr="class","ninety"]

Xiura turned, startled by the loud crash of the closing door. "Oh, I suppose we upset them by entering their home," she said somberly. She wasn't surprised that the Pokemon residing in the house had already detected their presence, and that they were using scare tactics as a first line of defense to keep Zev Harcourt and Xiura away.

Unsurprised at the lack of electricity in the dilapidated house, Xiura pulled out a flashlight in response to Zev's inquiry. She flicked it on, shining it alongside his beam of light.

"Splitting up the floors sounds fine to me. Let's meet up in ten minutes? Shout if you need me sooner," she said with a playful quirk of her lips, sweeping the flashlight across the room to check the path before her. With assurance in her petite steps, she walked towards the kitchen, Sableye following close behind.

She entered the kitchen, shining a light over the refrigerator, the stove, the oven. Nothing out of the ordinary, though it all looked rather neat and tidy without the dust of disuse.

"Hello? We won't hurt you," Xiura said, willing a smile into her voice. "We just want to meet you." A long, shrieking wail answered her, the tall, shadowy silhouette of a decrepit-looking Pokemon stretching up the wall behind her. Sableye emitted a warning hiss at the sight. Xiura turned around, seeing Sableye cast a defensive DETECT as he looked around for the source of the shadow.

---

[attr="class","zevpostpkmn"]

[attr="class","ninety"]

With a screech, the Froslass threw a blast of ice at Sableye. A wall of shimmering, prismatic white flew up, courtesy of the dark-type Pokemon's Detect move put in place just seconds earlier. The ice shattered and dispersed against the wall, blocked from reaching Sableye and Xiura.

Acting fast, Xiura chose to abandon the peaceful approach; they were fully on the defensive now after a hostile attack from the ghostly Froslass, and who knew how many there were in the house?

"Jin, use Shadow Ball!" Xiura said, ducking down behind the counter and looking around for any other aggressive Pokemon. Her Sableye cackled in agreement, conjuring up a ball of darkness and hurling it at the Froslass. The Froslass dodged and cast another dagger of ice, which Xiura now recognized as an Ice Shard attack.

"Dodge and try not to get hurt! Shadow Ball, again! Let's get to the living room!" Compared to the kitchen, the living room was less cramped and had more cover to hide behind to avoid getting hit by the ice attacks.

Xiura and Sableye escaped from the kitchen under the cover of Sableye's Shadow Ball, but not before seeing the Froslass melt through the wall to avoid the blow. As they entered the living room again, the Froslass was there, waiting for them with an Icy Wind. Xiura threw up an arm to shield her face, gritting her teeth against the stinging shards of ice that struck her arm. Her Sableye was blasted by the attack as well, but stood steadfast between Froslass and Xiura, absorbing the brunt of the hurt.

It was all or nothing. She couldn't let this ghost Pokemon flee. "Jin, use Mean Look!" Froslass froze in place, unable to shift through the wall again. It tried to move away, but could not escape the glinting terror of Sableye's jeweled glare.

"Zen Headbutt!" Xiura commanded at last. With a final cackle of glee, Sableye rushed towards the Froslass. With a scream suddenly cut short, the Froslass fainted, ice melting around it.

The ice along the floor started to melt as well. "It looks like this part of the house is clear, then," Xiura said after listening for movement and hearing none.

"Let's join Zev," she suggested to her companion, just as an eerie shadow moved swiftly up the stairwell.

---

[attr="class","zevpostpkmn"]