Mitsuru had dealt with a lot of "hauntings" in her short time as an "exorcist". In only the past month, she'd already dealt with a family home tormented by a ghost whose body was buried in the floorboards, a cursed music box that played a creepy and distorted song, and even an unfortunate teenager who was being stalked by a relentless poltergeist. Each of them had driven their victims to the brink, and yet, each of them were powerless before her cleansing techniques.

They were also all not actually haunted. The first was just a stray Zigzagoon that was causing a ruckus in the basement, the second was caused by dirt build-up gunking up the inner mechanism, and the third? That was a just a normal teenager with normal anxiety. Fixing the problem wasn't hard, and once she was done, all she had to do was chant some Johtonian, sprinkle some purifying salt, and declare the exorcism complete.

That is to say, hauntings were much like Sharpedo attacks - Highly exaggerated in both frequency and danger. From her experience, most ghost-type Pokemon preferred to keep to themselves, staying in dense forests or deep caves. They scarcely interacted with humans, and rarely bothered to "haunt" specific places, objects, or people.

So, when she received a request to help deal with a haunted egg, she... Well, she wasn't sceptical, per say. It was certainly a possibility! But her expectations were low.

Still, real or not, she'd get paid either way. So, there was no reason not for her to do her best!

"Nice to meet you, Miss Mae." Mitsuru smiled her most mysterious smile, offering a bow of greeting towards the breeder before she continued on. "My name is Lady Crane, of Lady Crane's Mystic Services. My pleasure to make your acquaintance."

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GRACIE MAE BEE

"Mhm... Uh-huh... I see, I see..."

As Gracie Mae explained the intricacies of the situation, Lady Crane nodded along. Strange chills and unexplained movements? Yep, that sounded like textbook poltergeist activity, alright. Then again, it could just as easily be strong breeze and faulty insulation, couldn't it? There was no point speculating. At least, not until she could properly examine this supposedly cursed object.

So, she followed along behind the breeder, putting on her most enigmatic expression, making her wisest noises of thought, and trying her very best to conceal how very jealous she was of this very nice house.

And before long? She found herself face-to-face(?) with the sinister egg in question. Slowly, Lady Crane approached the egg, before gently placing her hands upon it and putting her ear up to the shell, as though listening to what was inside.

"Tell me, Miss Mae: Where did you happen to come across this particular egg?"

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GRACIE MAE BEE

Hm... It was definitely cold, like she said. But that didn't necessarily mean anything paranormal was afoot, did it? After all, she once watched this documentary about Snorunt in Sinnoh, and their eggs could remain icy cold even in warms environments! It was really good, too. Snorunt were so cute! And they seemed so low-maintenance, too! She'd love to have one...

...Ahem! Now, Lady Crane was no expert in Pokemon breeding and eggs and the like, but as far as she was concerned? This was just a quirky little egg. Not normal? Sure. Strange? Maybe! But, haunted? Nope, not at all.

"Well, Miss Mae, I'm glad to tell you that--"

As Lady Crane went to stand up, she suddenly found her feet weren't on the floor anymore. Instead, she was floating in the air, as though in zero gravity, the only thing binding her to the ground being the very egg she was clinging to.

"--EEEEEEEEEEEEEP!"

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GRACIE MAE BEE

The mystic struggled for a moment, frantically swinging her arms and kicking her legs, as though trying to swim through the air and back to the ground. Fortunately, she did make it there eventually! Unfortunately, it came in the form of her suddenly sinking to like a stone and hitting the floor with a loud THUD!

"...Ow..."

The pain didn't last, though, and once the shock of the impact had passed, she quickly scrambled back to her feet. This was bad. She hadn't expected the egg to be ACTUALLY haunted! Mitsuru hadn't expected this, but that didn't mean Lady Crane hadn't come prepared. It wouldn't be as easy as she'd like, but there was no other choice.

"W-well... Ahem, well! We'll just have to exorcise it." The occultist declared, reaching within her sash and pulling out a Pokeball. Murmuring a prayer under her breath, she tossed it forth, and out came her trusty Garganacl. "Seimei, cleanse that cursed spirit!"

Wordlessly, the sodium titan stepped forth, its blocky hands moving with surprising elegance. In on single swoop, it grabbed a palmful of Purifying Salt, and tossed it towards the ghastly gamete in an attempt to (Salt) Cure it!

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GRACIE MAE BEE

For a moment, it really seemed like the Salt Cure had worked. Like the cursed spirit had been exorcised. Like it would really be that simple.

But really, when were things ever so easy?

The very moment that Lady Crane let her guard down was the same moment the poltergeist made its terrifying resurgence. Darkness overtook the room as the egg began to move once more, shivering and quaking as though it were going to explode. Heck! Mitsuru took a cautious step back, while her Garganacl stepped forth.

"Alright... Alright! Very well! If you won't give up that easily, then I won't either! Seimei, hit it with another Salt--"

Before she could finish her command, she was interrupted by a sharp CRACK! All of a sudden, the egg ceased its violent movements, coming to an eerie stillness. Mitsuru just stood there, stunned, unsure of what was happening and what she was supposed to do about it.

And then, a piece of eggshell fell away.

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GRACIE MAE BEE

"I... I did...?"

Mitsuru blinked. She waited for a moment, tense, as though the second she let her guard down, everything would go to heck. But eventually, she mustered her courage and stepped forth, beyond the tall and sturdy protections of her Garganacl. First, she poked what remained of the ghostly egg with her foot. Then again, then again. Finally, after she was all but certain that no ghost remained, she crouched down and picked up a piece of the pitch black eggshell.

It seemed that the egg had hatched into nothing. Which was... Not something she'd ever seen before. It would've been worrying, if she wasn't so relieved about the sordid ordeal being over.

"I did... I mean, of course I did!" Lady Crane suddenly straightened up, a faux-confident smile on her face as she turned back to face Gracie Mae. "A simple exorcism, really. I've done hundreds just like it."

Idly, she stashed the shard of eggshell in her kimono, before approaching the breeder.

"Now, would that be all you require of me, Miss Mae?"

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GRACIE MAE BEE