1. Ash's Story (Part 0: Prologue)

Chapter 17: The Seven Haunted Mysteries

Quest Town lived beneath a roof of mist.

Black mountains and gray mist enclosed Quest Town, where lanterns burned early along crooked streets.

Ash looked up at the mansion on the hill and tried not to smile too obviously.

Gina's mansion had pointed roofs, watching statues, iron gates, and Ghost-type carvings that made its Gym symbol look like a warning.

Alice folded her arms beside him. "Your sister has very strange taste."

Ash nodded without denying it. "Gina would call this cozy."

The gates creaked open before either of them touched them.

Cold air carried old wood, candle wax, and wet stone from the open gate while an unseen bell chimed.

Alice looked at the open gate. "That is supposed to scare us."

"It almost worked," Ash admitted.

Gina waited in a violet dress at the mansion doors, silver hair stirring as mischief brightened her eyes.

"Welcome to the Quest Town Gym," Gina said. "Home of the Haunted Mansion and the Seven Mysteries."

Ash narrowed his eyes at her. "Why did you bring us here?"

"Because you are my favorite little brother," Gina answered sweetly.

Alice immediately looked suspicious. "That means something bad is waiting."

"Not bad," Gina said. "Educational, entertaining, carefully controlled, and only a little terrifying."

Ash glanced at Alice. "That sounds like bad with more words."

Gina laughed and stepped aside, revealing the dim foyer behind her. "Today, you two will explore the Seven Mysteries of my Gym. If you solve them, you receive a prize."

Alice lifted an eyebrow. "Did you build these mysteries just to scare challengers?"

"A Ghost Gym tests more than battling," Gina said. "You must listen, notice, remember, adapt, and keep moving when nothing makes sense."

Ash looked into the mansion. "So this is training."

"It is training wearing a scary costume," Gina said.

Alice sighed, but Ash could see the curiosity in her eyes. "Fine. We will solve your mysteries."

Gina's smile widened with obvious satisfaction. "Excellent."

Gina snapped her fingers. Candles lit themselves down a long corridor as the mansion seemed to inhale.

Gina gestured grandly toward the entrance. "In you go."

Ash stepped inside first, with Alice right beside him.

The doors shut behind them with a deep, echoing thud.

The foyer became silent too quickly.

Ash turned back and found the inner doors smooth, handleless, and perfectly innocent.

Alice touched the door, then gave Ash a flat look. "Of course."

Gina's voice drifted from nowhere and everywhere at once. "Do not worry. The doors are only locked in the dramatic sense."

Ash looked up at the ceiling. "There is a dramatic sense?"

"There is in my Gym," Gina replied.

Alice shook her head. "Your sister enjoys this too much."

"She enjoys everything too much," Ash said.

A bell chimed somewhere in the walls. The candles along the left corridor burned brighter, while the right corridor sank into darkness.