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Since last time, Ashley and her friends have been on a ferry sailing from the resort of Ports Vista to continue their Pokemon journey.
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"Hey, look over there!" Suddenly, Misty spots a landmark.
"Great! That must be Maiden's Peak. That's where we'll be landing soon!"
"Ah, it wouldn't matter to me if I never saw land again. I just wasted another summer." Brock says with disappointment. Because for him, summer being over means no more girls in swimsuits, and he has to wait all year for the next one to come around.
Ashley says with a head shake, "Our poor friend is utterly girl crazy."
"Uh-huh." Misty agrees with a sigh.
After landing, Ash and her friends discover that they're just in time for the annual Summer Ending Festival.
'Maiden's Peak welcomes the passengers arriving from Porta Vista! We invite you all to attend our Annual Summer's End Festival, now in progress!'
"A festival huh? Sounds cool." Ashley smiled
"It looks like fun! Let's check it out!" Misty exclaimed with excitement.
"I'll ride the Ferris wheel all alone," Brock says with a sigh.
When they decide to go to the festival, Brock sees a beautiful young woman at the top of the cliff.
"Whoa! What a knockout!" The young male says with hearts in his eyes.
However, by the time he reached the cliff, the girl had disappeared and something completely different was shown. And Elektra notices that the girl is actually a Gastly but Ash and Misty don't notice the girl at all.
Brock frowned, "She's gone?"
("How strange?")
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Misty & Ashley were dragging along Brock as our heroes enjoyed all there is to offer at the festival; its food, games, and various other sorts of entertainment. During the festival, Ash, Misty, and Brock meet an old lady who warns them that the beautiful girl Brock saw will lead them to a cruel fate.
Brock says with determination, "That girl on the rock. I have to meet her!"
"Now I must be the beautiful girl she's talking about, but I would never hurt Brock!"
'Oh Misty...'
The old woman says to Misty, "I was talking about an elegant young woman not some scrawny little blabbermouth like you!"
"Scrawny?"
"Your female friend on the other hand has more class in her whole body than you do in your little pinky finger." The old lady continues to insult Misty as she also complimented Ashley in the process. Hearing this, Misty was far from happy.
"That's it. I don't have to stand around here and be insulted. Let's get out of here," Misty says as she drags Brock away with Ash following the two of them.
Brock says this with utter heartbreak, "The cruelest fate would be to never see that woman again."
'There was something off about that woman...' Ashley thought this since the old lady's aura was far from normal.
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Both Ash, her friends, and unsurprisingly Team Rocket go to the shrine of the maiden. They see the greatest treasure of the shrine, the painting of the maiden.
"For 2,000 years, this painting has hung within the Shrine of the Maiden. Once each year, it is removed from the shrine and displayed to the public during this festival! As I unveil the painting, please gaze with reverence."
Brock and James were in awe over the fact that the painting of the woman is the young girl they saw at the dock.
The older gentleman continued to speak about the young maiden in the painting, "The woman in this painting perished over 2,000 years ago. She was in love with a brave and handsome young man but he left her and sailed away to fight in a war. And she waited for a very long time hoping to see his ship on the horizon. But her true love never returned to that place again. Still, she waited and waited, never moving from that spot until finally her body was turned into stone just like the cliff upon which she stood. To this day, she waits for her love to return."
"Just tell me, where's this rock?"
The Priest answered, "Maiden's Rock is not far from this shrine.
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Both groups go to take a closer look at the cliff as the two men were completely spellbound by her resident beauty as if they were possessed.
"So that's Maiden's Rock. It's the most beautiful rock I've ever seen." Brock says as he and James were completely enthralled by the humanoid rock. As the sun sets, Brock is still sitting on the cliff.
"No matter how long you wait here a rock is a rock, Brock."
"Yeah, let's go back to the festival. This is boring."
"Why don't you two go back, I want to stay here a little longer," Brock says as he continues staring at the Maiden rock.
"You do remember where we're staying tonight, right?"
Brock, pacifying his friends said, "The Pokemon Center near the port. I'll make it back by curfew. Don't worry about me. I'll be okay."
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It was 11 o'clock, curfew time, and still no sign of Brock.
"I'm really getting worried. Brock still isn't back yet," Misty says as she and Ashley look at the time.
"That makes two of us. I just hope Brock found someplace to sleep for the night. And speaking of sleep, we better hit the hay too."
When the local Pokémon Center starts to shut its doors for the night, Brock is still on the cliff.
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Ash and Misty start looking for Brock the next morning and Jessie and Meowth start looking for James. Ash and Jessie meet face to face and they both notice that they are both looking for a missing person. Jessie recites the Team Rocket motto by herself, but then they hear James say his part. Soon after, James is thrown out of the shrine, followed by Brock.
"So everything turned out just as I predicted. Obviously, these two have both seen the ghost of the maiden." Said the old woman from before as she reminds them about the ghost of Maiden's Peak.
"'Ghost of the Maiden'?!" Everyone exclaimed. That is, everyone besides Brock and James who were still out of it
As the group tries to get James and Brock back to normal thanks to Elly electrifying them, the old lady further informs them about the ghost of Maiden's Peak.
"All men who pass this way fall under her spell. It's always the same story over and over. We find them like zombies with the lives sucked out of them babbling like idiots. It's the work of that maiden's ghost, still waiting for her lover to return. It's just as I warned you."
Brock didn't really seem scared since the maiden was a pretty girl. Ghost or not, "So what? Who cares as long as I can be with her."
James on the other hand, "I'm scared you got to do something!"
"There is only one thing we can do. We have stickers! These are anti-ghost stickers. However, I can't just give these stickers away for free."
And so, they decide to protect themselves from the ghost with anti-ghost stickers that they bought from the old woman as everyone stuck them on the shrine and Brock & James.
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So they lingered at the shrine until dawn fell and night began to set as everyone waited for the ghost to appear. But when night comes, the stickers don't work and like the night before, the ghost of the maiden appears and tries to drag Brock and James towards it over a cliff.
"I don't want to go! I don't want to go!" James screamed out loud as the only one able to come back to his senses. However, Brock was still entranced by the Maiden's Ghost as he happily awaited her to take him away.
"Brock, wait!" Misty says as she and Ashley grab his pants leg.
"Hey, let me go!"
But before anything else could transpire, Jessie shoots a bazooka at the ghost (making James fall into the waters below, but he climbs back up).
"Hey, girl! You can't take him. You haven't got a ghost of a chance."
James was touched by his female friend's compassion, "You really do care."
But Jessie had different thoughts on the matter, "It's not because of you. Girls like her disgust me. Always waiting around for her man as if she were his faithful pet. She can't stand the thought of losing him. She cries, but I'd say, 'See ya later!' There are plenty of other fish in the sea."
"I could sure go for some fish," Meowth says since his stomach was bigger than his brain.
"I've been waiting. You cannot interfere."
The Maiden's Ghost gets upset as it summons some skull-like ghosts.
However, Ash finally figured everything out as she solved this mystery and decided that enough was enough, "Alright Gastly, your fun is over!"
"Gastly?!" Everyone was utterly surprised by the young girl's acquisition.
"So Gastly isn't the Ghost of Maiden's Peak?" Misty asked.
"No, he isn't. But she is," Ashley says as the real Ghost of Maiden's Peak appeared before them.
"That's correct, my name is Michiko Neya. And I am the true ghost of Maiden's Peak."
~Michiko Neya is the Japanese voice actor of the Ghost of Maiden's Peak. I just thought that it would be best to give her a name thought out the story since it was never announced in the anime.~
"But if that's the real ghost of maiden's peak... Then is Gastly pretending to be her?" Misty asked out loud without realizing that her question was going to be answered by the said Pokemon.
"It is because I guard over the maiden's rock. Aiding young Michiko in finding her missing lover. Sometimes, I'm the ghost of the 2,000-year-old Maiden. And sometimes I'm the mysterious old woman. After the war, various souls lost their way and have now become lingering spirits without being able to cross over. But young Miss I must ask, how did you know who I was while disguising myself as Michiko?" Gastly questioned Ash.
"I've been gifted with strong psyche powers and the ability to see the aura of others, granting me various capabilities. Thanks to my psyche powers I'm also a medium. Allowing me to see and communicate with spirits. As I can contact the spirit world, and summon them anywhere, anytime."
With Ashley's 1080 beads being a link to the Afterlife, she's able to enter a trance and then summon a spirit, using the beads as a medium to channel the said spirit into this world.
"Meaning, I can bring your lover back to you Michiko. Now, what is his name?"
"Ugetsu Asari. But can you really bring him back?"
"Just trust me. Spirits in the dark, if you can hear my beads. If you can see their glow? Listen to my voice. I am calling for Ugetsu Asari. Stand up and discover the path from your world to mine. Let my voice be your guide. Cross the threshold!
Now, Ugetsu Asari follow my voice, rise, and take form!"
Ugetsu Asari is the firstborn son of the Asari Family of Shrine Priests & priestesses still residing on Maiden's Peak. He was a humbled young man who loved music. But to help care for/protect his friends and family; he had given up his flute in exchange for swords. As it was said in a battle that no one could match his skills with the blade.
Michiko smiled with unimaginable happiness as she and Ugetsu embraced one another, "Ugetsu, my love." she said while crying tears of joy.
"Awww..." Misty & Jessie whispered. Whereas Brock and James were a bit teary-eyed.
"What a touching moment..." Ashley nodded.
Apparently, after losing his life in the war Ugetsu's lingering regrets of leaving Michiko behind made him become a wandering spirit. Over the years, he traveled the earth to one day return to his home and be reunited with his lover.
Michiko and Ugetsu bowed as they thanked everyone for their help as the two ghosts disappeared into the Afterlife. Then the sun began to rise indicating the next morning.
"Well, it's time for me to leave. I can only come out at night." Gastly said.
"What will you do now Gastly?" Ashley asked.
"I enjoy keeping alive old legends that people have forgotten over the years. And besides, I'm a ghost Pokemon. I intend to help the various spirits who are lost." Gastly explained as he disappeared to only who knows where.
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The next night the festival continues and Ash and her friends have fun since everything is back to normal.
At the end of every summer, the visitors send out these tiny boats. Each one with a candle, to help light the way for any wandering spirits who can't find their way back home.
With the legend of the Ghost of Maiden's Peak finally reunited with her lover, everyone enjoyed their time at the festival.
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And so, the Summer Festival draws to a close. There's autumn in the air. Which means that poor Brock won't get back to the beach until next year. Who knows what new adventures and romances are waiting just over the horizon.
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Ashley's Pokemon:
Elektra (female Pikachu)
Aoi (Female Lucario)
Poliwhirl (Male)
Shelly (Female Cubone)
Butterfree (Male)
Pidgeotto (Female)
Suzumebachi (Female Beedrill)
Sandshrew (Male)
Juliet (Female Nidoran)
Romeo (Male Nidoran)
Kori (Female Eevee)
Mizu (Male Eevee)
Bulbasaur (Male)
Charmander (Male)
Squirtle (Male)
Krabby (Male)
Oddish (Female)
Queen (Female Goldeen)
Gyarados (Male)