Ash walked up to the dining room after he spent a bit "looking around." He walked into the room, and the old man who was apparently the butler of the manor was sitting at the head. On said table were dozens of delicious-looking foods, all looking nice and hot like they had just gotten off the stove.
Then, when he looked over to the other end, he saw Dawn, Verity, and Zoey all stuffing their faces...with nothing.
And no, he doesn't mean they weren't eating. He means that they had plates in front of them with nothing on them, and they were using a knife and fork like they were cutting and bringing food up to their mouths.
Dawn saw him first and raised her hand, waving him over, "Ash, over here! He told us we can dig in. Try it, it's delicious!" she said, raising her fork like there was something on it before bringing it to her mouth and chewing happily.
Ash understood more or less the situation. He put on a smile, "Sorry, but I'm not hungry. If you don't mind, sir, may I be excused to where we'll be resting for the night?"
The butler nodded, "Of course. Down the hall, second door to the left, and please don't wander. The young lady is resting. We don't want to wake her."
Ash nodded and turned to leave, waving behind him, "See you all in the morning," he said before he left.
As he left, the smile that he had on his face fell, and he looked around. In case you were unable to tell by the location, this was the Old Chateau, and maybe you might have forgotten that it was in this area because in the anime, for some reason, instead of being in the forest, it was just in Canalave City.
And because of that, he knew some Ghost shenanigans were going on. In fact, the reason that the girls were happily eating a plate full of nothing was because they were genuinely thinking they were eating a delicious meal. The only reason Ash wasn't affected was because of his Aura protecting him from any of those mind shenanigans.
So he could see this place for what it really was. While they saw a really well-kept manor, Ash saw it for the run-down and old building it was. And around him, he could see Ghost types flying through the halls. And in case you couldn't tell either, that butler was also a ghost.
So yeah, this whole place was messed up, but the whole reason that he came here when he saw it instead of agreeing with Verity and just leaving is for a very simple reason. Earlier, he felt something with his Aura. It wasn't that Rotom, that Ash would probably go pick up before they left since he wanted that.
But there was something else, and he was gonna go deal with it now, before "that" tries to eat his friends' souls in their sleep, and he's only slightly joking.
Ash let out a breath, and instead of going down the hall, he turned and went up the stairs and began wandering up to the second floor. At first, he was gonna go for the Rotom room, but then he stopped and looked to the side where he felt another source of negative energy. This one was one that he actually recognized.
And when Ash realized "what" it was, his grin got even bigger.
"So you came back for seconds. Well, who am I to deny such a humble request?" He walked past the room where the Rotom was and went down the hall.
—
{Meanwhile}
Dawn, Verity, and Zoey were still "eating" like nothing was weird, and the only thing that was heard was the scraping of utensils on the plates.
Dawn lifted her fork, scooping another bite before putting it to her mouth, "Mmm! This is really good!"
Verity nodded enthusiastically as she cut into her completely empty plate, "Yeah! I don't think I've ever had food this good before!"
Zoey took another bite and smiled, "It's really filling too."
The butler just sat at the head of the table looking at the girls. Then he stood and bowed, "Excuse me, I need to deliver the young lady's tea and snack. Please continue eating. I will return shortly."
He stood and walked out of the room.
As they were eating happily, a Gastly casually floated behind them. Verity got a chill and looked over her shoulder, but there was nothing there.
"Hmm, what's up?" Zoey asked, seeing Verity look over her shoulder.
"Nothing, I just thought I felt something," Verity said, going back to her plate and bringing another bite of nothing to her mouth.
As she did, the Gastly appeared behind her again, now looking closer to her. Then again, Verity turned quicker this time, but again, nothing.
"Do you get the feeling we're being watched?" Verity asked slowly.
Dawn paused with her fork halfway to her mouth, "…Now that you mention it…"
Zoey looked around the room, "I don't see anyone."
"Neither do I," Verity said, looking around again, "But I swear, something keeps watching me."
Dawn shrugged and went back to eating her imaginary food, "Maybe you're just getting paranoid."
"Maybe." Verity slowly looked around one more time before shaking her head and going back to her plate.
But then immediately, she turned one more time just for good measure, and there wasn't anyone there.
"I told you there isn't anyone there," Zoey said, letting out a small sigh.
Dawn put a hand on Verity's head, "Maybe you're just tired."
"Yeah, maybe…" Verity muttered and sighed, thinking that she must just be imagining things.
Then the three of them sat back and looked forward to keep eating, but once they did, they saw on the chair across from them there was a Gastly right there.
The Gastly laughed at them, then from behind the chair another came out, then another and another, one after another until there were at least 50 Gastly all flying around the room and laughing at the girls.
And as they were watching, only now did the illusion of food on the plates fall, and they saw that there was never anything on their plates, so that whole thing was an illusion, and now they were under attack.
Verity looked toward the doorway where the butler had left, "Oh, that's not good."
Zoey immediately reached for one of her Poké Balls, "We need to get out of here."
One of the Gastly floated directly in front of her face.
"Gastly!"
Zoey jumped back, "Okay! Definitely getting out of here!"
Dawn quickly stood up, pulling out her own Poké Balls, "Pachirisu!"
She threw the Poké Ball, but before it could even open, one of the Gastly swooped down and smacked it with [Lick], knocking the ball out of Dawn's hand.
"Hey!"
The Poké Ball rolled across the floor. Dawn immediately went after it, but another Gastly floated in front of her.
The Gastly grinned and suddenly lunged forward.
Dawn ducked just in time, causing the Gastly to fly right over her head. She quickly rolled to the side and grabbed her Poké Ball before standing back up.
"Got it!"
Another Gastly immediately came flying toward her.
"Dawn!" Verity shouted.
Verity quickly threw one of her Poké Balls, "Piplup, go!"
Piplup appeared in a flash of red light and immediately jumped out with an [Aqua Jet], smacking the incoming Gastly away before it could reach Dawn.
Dawn looked over, "Thanks!"
"Don't mention it!" Verity said before immediately ducking as another Gastly flew over her head.
Zoey quickly threw her own Poké Ball, "Go, Glameow!"
Glameow appeared and immediately hissed at the swarm of Ghost types.
"Use [Shadow Claw]!"
Glameow leaped forward, her paw glowing with dark energy as she slashed through one of the Gastly, sending it flying backward.
"Nice!" Zoey cheered.
But before Glameow could land, two more Gastly flew toward her from opposite sides.
"Glameow, behind you!"
Glameow quickly twisted around, but the two Gastly were already on top of her.
Piplup suddenly rushed in, blasting one of them away with [Bubble Beam], while Pachirisu jumped onto the table and fired a [Spark] at the other, sending it crashing into the wall.
"Thanks!" Zoey said.
"Yeah, no problem!" Dawn said before immediately looking around, "Uh...there's still a lot of them!"
The room was practically filled with Gastly now, all of them floating around the girls and laughing as they slowly closed in.
"Okay, we need to stick together!" Verity shouted, "If we spread out, they'll pick us off!"
Dawn nodded, "Right!"
"Glameow, stay close to us!" Zoey called out.
Glameow quickly moved back toward the group, keeping her eyes on the swarm.
One Gastly suddenly swooped down toward Dawn.
"Dawn, left!" Verity shouted.
Dawn ducked as the Gastly flew over her head.
"Pachirisu!" Dawn called out.
Pachirisu jumped off Dawn's shoulder and landed on the Gastly, grabbing it and using a [Spark] to cause it to fly into another.
Another one immediately came from behind.
"Piplup, [Peck]!"
Piplup jumped in front of Dawn and struck the Gastly with its beak, sending it spinning away.
Dawn looked between them, "You guys are really getting the hang of this teamwork thing!"
"Less talking, more fighting!" Verity yelled as another Gastly rushed toward her.
"Piplup, [Bubble Beam]!"
A stream of bubbles blasted the Ghost type backward.
Verity immediately followed up, "Now [Peck]!"
Piplup jumped forward and smacked the Gastly again before quickly retreating.
"Nice!" Verity cheered.
Zoey pointed toward another group of Gastly, "They're coming from that side!"
"Glameow, [Shadow Claw]!"
Glameow dashed forward, swiping through one Gastly before spinning around and slashing another.
But three more immediately surrounded her.
"Glameow!"
Pachirisu rushed forward.
"[Spark]!"
Electricity erupted from Pachirisu's body as it charged into the group, forcing the Gastly to scatter.
Glameow landed beside Pachirisu and looked at her.
"Meow!"
Pachirisu grinned.
"See? They're working together!" Dawn said.
"Yeah, but there are way too many!" Zoey shouted.
As if to prove her point, another wave of Gastly poured into the room.
Verity's eyes widened, "You're kidding me!"
The girls backed closer together.
Dawn looked around, "Okay, new plan!"
"What plan?" Zoey asked.
"I don't know yet!"
Verity stared at her, "That's not a plan!"
"I'm working on it!"
A Gastly suddenly lunged.
"Duck!"
All three girls dropped at once as it flew over them.
Piplup immediately fired [Bubble Beam], catching the Gastly from behind and knocking it into two others.
"Okay, maybe we just keep doing this!" Dawn said.
Verity stared at her, "That is still not a plan!"
"It's a temporary plan!"
"That's not how plans work!"
Zoey quickly looked toward the doorway, "Guys, I think we should get out of this room!"
Dawn looked over, "Yeah, you're right!"
Verity nodded, "We need to find Ash!"
"Agreed!" Zoey said.
The three girls quickly started making their way toward the doorway, their Pokémon staying close as the Gastly continued flying around them.
"Piplup, keep them back!" Verity shouted.
Piplup jumped in front of the group, "[Bubble Beam]!"
A wave of bubbles blasted several Gastly backward, clearing a path toward the door.
"Nice!" Dawn said.
Pachirisu jumped onto Dawn's shoulder as they moved, "Pachi!"
"Come on, everyone!" Dawn said as she hurried toward the doorway.
The girls finally made it out of the dining room and into the hallway.
For a moment, there was silence.
Dawn looked around, "Okay...where did Ash go?"
Verity looked down one side of the hallway, then the other, "I don't know."
Zoey frowned, "He said he was going to where we were sleeping, right?"
"Yeah," Dawn said.
"Then we should go there!" Verity said.
Dawn nodded, "Right!"
They started moving down the hallway, but then they heard it, a soft giggle.
"Heeheehee…"
All three girls stopped, and Dawn slowly looked around, "…Did you hear that?"
Verity's eyes widened, "Yeah."
Zoey immediately reached for another Poké Ball, "I heard it too."
Another giggle echoed through the hallway.
"Heeheehee…"
The girls slowly turned toward the end of the hallway. There, floating a few feet above the ground, was a little girl. She looked around eight, maybe a little younger. Her body was translucent, almost like she was made of pale mist, and she wore an old-fashioned dress that seemed to float around her. But what was most noticeable was that she was floating.
Dawn froze, "…Hello?"
The little girl tilted her head and smiled, "Do you want to play?"
Verity immediately stepped backward, "Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope!"
But before they could turn and start running, the little girl started laughing, and then one pair of glowing eyes appeared in the darkness, then another, and another, and another appeared.
Slowly, one by one, Gastly began floating out from behind the ghost girl, and there were at least 50 more of them.
Dawn's face went pale, "…Okay."
Verity slowly raised one finger, "I have an idea."
Zoey looked at her, "What?"
"We run."
Dawn nodded immediately, "I like that idea."
The little girl smiled wider, "Where are you going?"
The hallway suddenly seemed to stretch, the darkness at the end growing deeper as the Gastly continued floating toward them.
Verity grabbed Dawn's arm, "RUN!"
The three girls immediately took off down the hallway.
"GET THEM!" the little girl giggled.
The Gastly swarmed after them.
"Why are there so many?!" Dawn yelled as she ran.
"I DON'T KNOW!" Verity yelled back.
Zoey looked behind them and immediately regretted it, "They're catching up!"
"Piplup, [Bubble Beam]!"
Piplup jumped off Verity's shoulder and turned around while still running. He spun around and fired a stream of bubbles down the hallway. Several Gastly were blasted backward, but the others simply floated around the attack.
"There's too many!" Verity shouted.
"Pachirisu, [Spark]!"
Pachirisu jumped off Dawn's shoulder and landed on the floor, electricity crackling around its body before it charged forward.
"Pachi!"
Pachirisu slammed into one Gastly, sending it flying into several others.
"Good job!" Dawn shouted.
But another wave immediately came from the ceiling.
Dawn looked up, "…Oh no."
Several Gastly dropped down from above them.
"LEFT!" Zoey yelled.
They all immediately turned.
The Gastly crashed into the floor where they had been standing only a second earlier.
"KEEP RUNNING!" Verity shouted.
They sprinted down another hallway, but suddenly the lights flickered, then they went out.
"Why?!" Dawn cried.
"We could really use Ash right about now," Verity said while running, and she could swear that she'd seen that painting on the wall before.
"Where even is he?" Zoey asked, as she noticed the painting too.
"Wait a minute...are we looping?!" Zoey called.
Verity blinked once, blinked twice, then cried out, "Fuuuu-"
—
{Meanwhile}
Ash was walking down the hallway that seemed to never end. He got Pikachu out to keep a [Flash] up since, as he got deeper, the illusion didn't even bother trying anymore, and Ash could see this place for what it was.
And even still, he kept his leisurely pace like nothing was happening. He was even thinking in his head how hard he should go. He really doesn't want to do too much; otherwise, this place would collapse, and believe it or not, even though this place is old, there is a reason it hasn't been demolished.
Technically, due to some old land rights, the Old Chateau is protected. People were technically allowed to enter since who is gonna enforce or punish you if you did, but if you damaged the building, you would be held criminally liable for vandalism.
But as Ash was thinking, suddenly he felt something grab his legs. He looked down, and he saw a pair of shadowy hands grabbing them. Then he heard that familiar laugh.
"Jeijeijei!"
Suddenly, the room around him turned dark, and shadows grew around him. Then the shadowy arms grabbed him around the waist, pinning his arms to his sides as they lifted him up and turned him.
Then what Ash saw was a giant Haunter laughing at him with rows of sharp teeth. That Ash recognized.
It was the Black Fog again.
Looks like in the end, he did survive.
"Hello, Aura Guardian. Surprised to see me!" the Black Fog gloated, "I see you've grown your Aura perfectly. I love my meals extra filling."
The Black Fog laughed again like a mad Pokémon, "I bet you're wondering how I survived, and how I arrived here. Well, after you mortals ruined my first body, I reformed here, and I used the fear that those mortals had to grow my power. It took a long three years, but I have returned, and soon I'll devour you now that you're alone. Then I'll devour those friends you have with you! Jeijeijei!"
The Black Fog laughed.
And since Ash wasn't saying anything, the Black Fog laughed harder, thinking that he had fallen to despair, and that was good. Despair was like salt on the soul; it gave it more flavor.
"Any last words, Aura Guardian? I'll give you that honor. After all, after I consume you, I'll grow more powerful than I've ever been. Jeijeijei!"
And as he laughed, Ash finally looked up, and his eyes glowed blue.
"Oh, please," he said.
Then he pulled his arm free, and with one swipe, the whole illusion shattered like glass, and the Black Fog's hands felt like they were burning.
"Gah!" it cried out.
It tried to pull back, but Ash grabbed it and held it close, "What's wrong? Don't you want my life force? Go ahead. Take as much as you'd like," Ash said as he pushed more Aura out.
The Black Fog screamed in agony. After all, it was made of pure negative energy. Positive energy like Aura hurt it. If this was before three years ago, when they fought the first time, the Black Fog had more negative energy and could cancel it out, but now it was too much. It was burning.
Then Pikachu stopped playing weak, and he jumped down with one [Iron Tail]. He cut the Black Fog's hand in half, sending it flying back.
As it fell onto the ground, it tried regenerating its hand, but it couldn't. It wasn't regenerating. Then it tried to run away by phasing, but it couldn't go intangible again.
Ash looked down at it as he reached into his inventory, "Did you really think that I'd still be that weak? I'm a thousand times stronger than I was three years ago."
Then slowly, he pulled out Guile's sword and held it in one hand as Pikachu's light shimmered across it, "But since you decided to show up, I think we should fix that. But it would be a shame to let all of that energy go to waste. Don't worry. I'll put it to good use."
Ash slowly approached, letting his sword drag along the wooden floor, making a slow scraping noise. And the Black Fog, for the first time in its life, was afraid. Every cell in its body was telling it to escape.
Quickly, it started trying to crawl away, but when it did, blocking the way were Pikachu and Vee, who appeared after using [Extreme Speed] to block it. They both looked at each other and smirked as they both lit up, charging a [Thunderbolt], lighting up the despair on the Black Fog's face, while Ash walked up behind it.
Then around the hall, the only thing that was heard was the sounds of electricity and screams before it was cut off.
—
Back with the girls, they were still running around for their lives and fighting. Their Pokémon were starting to get tired, and they were being dragged into a corner.
But just as their backs got to a wall and the little girl floated up to them, suddenly the butler appeared and put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her.
"My lady, I think it's time," he said.
"Awww...but I was having fun," she said, pouting, but it was no use to the old butler.
She sighed, "Okay…"
Then she turned to Dawn, Zoey, and Verity and waved.
"Bye-bye! Let's play again sometime."
As she said that, slowly, her transparent figure started turning more transparent, and so did the butler, and so did all the Gastly, until they all disappeared.
The girls were still breathing heavily, hardly believing what had just happened. For a moment, they didn't say anything.
Dawn slowly looked around the hallway, still holding Pachirisu close to her.
"…Are they gone?"
Verity looked toward the direction the little girl and the Gastly had disappeared, "I...think so."
Zoey slowly lowered her Poké Ball, "That was...really weird."
"Really weird?!" Verity exclaimed, "There were like a hundred Ghost Pokémon chasing us!"
"I know!"
"And that little girl!"
"I know!"
"And the hallway kept looping!"
"I KNOW!"
Dawn slowly raised a hand, "Okay, okay, let's all calm down."
Verity stared at her, "How are you calm?!"
"I'm not calm."
"You look calm."
"I'm trying really hard not to scream."
Verity looked at her for a moment before nodding, "…Fair."
Zoey slowly looked around again, "Do you think they're actually gone?"
"I don't know," Verity said.
Dawn frowned, "Maybe they were just trying to scare us."
"I don't know."
Zoey sighed, "At least we're not being chased anymore."
"Yeah…" Dawn looked around.
Now that the ghosts were apparently gone, the illusion slowly started turning off. The warm lights turned off, the walls turned into old and dusty wood, and on the floor there were holes that it was a miracle none of them fell through.
"I guess everything was fake," Zoey muttered, but then they all heard a growl.
Dawn and Zoey stood on guard, wondering if some beast was gonna jump out at them, but then they looked to the source of the sound, and it led them to Verity, who was holding her stomach and blushing.
"T-the food was fake, so...we never actually ate…" she said weakly.
On cue, both of their stomachs growled too.
Verity slowly looked between them, "See? You're both hungry too."
Dawn placed a hand over her stomach, "I thought I was eating."
"So did I," Zoey said.
Verity looked toward the hallway they had just escaped from, "That stupid ghost mansion tricked us into eating nothing!"
Dawn frowned, "It was pretty convincing."
"You were eating air!"
"So were you!"
"Yeah, but I didn't know that!"
Zoey sighed, "Can we argue about this after we find something real to eat?"
Verity immediately nodded, "Yes. Absolutely. I'm starving."
Dawn looked around the ruined hallway, "Okay, so...where do we go now?"
"Um, we should probably find Ash, then maybe go from there," Zoey said, looking around.
Verity immediately perked up, "Ash definitely has food."
Dawn nodded, "He always has food."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Verity said, immediately turning around.
She took one step, and the floor creaked. One of the floorboards underneath her foot shifted slightly.
"…Never mind."
Dawn looked down too, "Uh…"
Zoey carefully stepped around the damaged section of floor, "Yeah, we should probably watch where we're stepping."
The three of them slowly started making their way through the hallway, carefully avoiding the holes in the floor and the rotten boards.
Verity looked around as they walked, "How did this place look so nice before?"
Dawn shrugged, "Ghosts?"
"That doesn't explain anything!"
"It explains enough."
Zoey looked toward the wall, "I think the illusion was making everything look newer than it really was."
Dawn nodded, "Yeah. The furniture looked completely normal before."
Verity frowned, "And now everything looks like it's about to collapse."
As if on cue, a piece of wood fell from the ceiling and landed several feet away from them.
"…Yep," Verity said.
Dawn stared at the fallen wood, "Definitely haunted."
Zoey nodded, "Definitely."
They continued walking down carefully, going upstairs where they chose a hallway and started walking. After a while, they stepped into a hallway, and at the very end there was a tiny light.
And what's more, they heard the sounds of footsteps. Someone was walking toward them.
Verity immediately raised her Poké Ball, "Who's there?!"
The light slowly got closer, and the girls prepared themselves.
Dawn grabbed Pachirisu.
Zoey positioned herself beside Glameow.
Verity held Piplup's Poké Ball.
The figure got closer, and then the light suddenly moved to the side.
And the person holding it stepped into view and casually raised a hand, "Yo."
The girls froze.
Ash stood there casually holding Pikachu, who was currently using [Flash] to light up the hallway.
Ash looked at the three of them. They looked at him, and there was a long silence.
Ash tilted his head, "What's up?"
Verity's eye twitched, "WHAT'S UP?!"
Ash blinked, "Yeah?"
"We almost DIED!"
Ash looked at her, "You look fine."
"That is not the point!"
Dawn immediately ran over to him, "Ash!"
Ash caught her as she practically crashed into him, "Whoa, easy."
"You disappeared!" she said, shaking him slightly.
"Yeah."
"We got attacked by like fifty Gastly!"
"Sounds rough."
"They were everywhere!"
"Uh-huh."
"There was a little ghost girl!"
"Oh wow," Ash nodded along.
"Do you not believe us?" Zoey added.
"No, I believe you. I've seen weirder things," Ash answered honestly.
Verity immediately pointed at him, "And where were you?!"
Ash shrugged, "Dealing with something."
"Dealing with what?" Dawn asked.
Ash got a smirk and looked directly at her, "Don't worry about it."
"When you say 'don't worry about it,' that's when I-ohhh, okay, now I'm starting to get why my mom says that," Dawn rubbed her chin.
Ash gave Dawn a small smile, "Exactly."
Verity narrowed her eyes at him, "I don't like that answer."
"That's okay."
"Why are you always so calm?!"
"Experience."
Dawn crossed her arms, "You know, one of these days, you're actually going to have to explain what you were doing."
Ash shrugged, "Maybe."
Zoey looked between them, "So...you weren't attacked?"
Ash shook his head, "Nope."
"And you didn't run into those Ghost Pokémon?"
"Oh, I ran into some ghosts."
Verity immediately pointed at him, "See?!"
Ash held up a hand, "Relax. They weren't after me."
"How do you know that?"
"Because they left me alone."
Verity stared at him, "That's not how that works!"
Ash shrugged, "Worked for me."
Dawn sighed, "Ash…"
"Look, they're gone now, right?"
The three girls looked at each other.
"…Yeah," Dawn admitted.
"Then problem solved," Ash said. And of course, he didn't say anything about the Black Fog. He'd rather them live in bliss not knowing there was an actual ghost trying to kill them. The ghost girl was probably just trying to play with them and spook them. They were never in any real danger.
Verity crossed her arms, "I still don't like it."
"That's because you're thinking too much."
"I'm thinking the appropriate amount!"
"Debatable."
Zoey smiled slightly, "Well, whatever happened, I'm just glad we found you."
Ash gave a thumbs up, "Same."
Then, on cue, their stomachs rumbled, and they looked down, while Ash snorted, and they glared at him.
Ash raised his hands, keeping a smile on his face, "Well, since you girls didn't eat, I guess I did promise I'd cook. Let me see if the kitchen still works."
Ash walked around to the stairs, but then he stopped at a room, "Oh right, hold on a sec. I need to grab something."
Ash went into the room, and there in the center was a single TV that was on, even though there was no power, and it wasn't connected to any outlet.
The girls watched from outside and were already creeped out. This was just the sugar on the cream, but Ash walked in calmly and got behind the TV. He put his hand on the back, then gave it a slap with some Aura.
Then something got kicked out and fell onto the floor, where Pikachu grabbed it in a hug. It was a Rotom that was just chilling in there.
The Rotom tried to escape, but in Pikachu's hold, it was useless. Ash just grabbed a ball from his belt, tossed it casually, and it hit Rotom, sucking it in. It fell on the ground, then rolled three times before clicking shut.
Ash went over and picked it up, spinning it on his finger, then looking back at the girls, "Alright, let's go."
They were too stunned to speak. They just followed Ash downstairs as he led them to the dining room.
When he got to the kitchen, he looked at the stove. It was dusty, but he had Piplup clean it with some water, along with the pots and pans. And obviously, there were no ingredients, but Ash had his own.
Ash checked to see if there was any gas, but unsurprisingly, there was none. But not a problem. He pulled out his new Rotom and tossed him out.
When Rotom got out, it looked around, then looked at Ash. Ash slapped the top of the stove, and Rotom understood. It got a grin and quickly flew in, and the stove lit up.
Ash cracked his fingers and got to work cooking dinner.
Oh, and if you're wondering what happened to the Black Fog, let's just say down the hall there is a statue with the Black Fog's eternally screaming face, with not a drop of energy left in it. It was alive, but Ash made sure that it would never get any negative energy ever again, so it would be stuck there for the rest of time.