"Creaaak—"
As Lorze pushed open the creaking doors, moonlight slipped in through the crack, quietly illuminating the rug at the entrance.
Trying to feel around the wall by the door, which was covered in dust, he actually managed to find a row of small switches.
"Click, clack, click, clack—"
All the light bulbs booted up, booted up, booted up... and there was this one too!
Following the switches as his fingers flicked them one by one, the lights in the mansion came on sequentially from the hall to the inner walls, from the first floor to the second.
Even though they were old-style light bulbs, being able to see electrical appliances in such a mansion was already quite an accomplishment in itself.
At a glance, the floor was covered in accumulated dust, large patches of plaster had peeled off the walls, and the corners were densely covered in spider webs.
Dilapidated and desolate, very fitting for the stereotype.
But... there was one thing that was a bit different.
Lorze crouched down very carefully to observe the ground. The neat little cat footprints on the floor tiles were very obvious against the surrounding dust—these were freshly made.
In other words, it wasn't a Ghost-type Pokémon causing trouble—those guys either floated in the air or simply had no feet. Occasionally, a few had feet, but their footprints were also very distinctive and easy to identify.
As for this... Lorze hooked the corner of his mouth and stood back up.
"How interesting~"
[Are you sure it's a female Pokémon?]
"Of course, I can already smell the fresh, feminine body fragrance!"
After that, Lorze even made a show of sniffing the air...
Actually, the moment they entered the door, Mewtwo had sensed the presence of a certain Pokémon, but seeing Lorze's high spirits, she decided to keep quiet.
Let him chase his own wife! On the other hand, she was also very curious to see if that child would pull any eye-catching stunts.
Thus, Mewtwo concealed her aura, becoming even more ghost-like than a ghost. Unless one's strength had reached a certain level, it was absolutely impossible to detect her...
Braixen, at the end of the line, also stepped into the mansion, and the front doors slammed shut with a loud "Bang!"
A sudden idea flashed through the quirky dragon girl's mind. With her eyes shining, she locked onto Lorze—
[Wuu wuu wuu! Big brother Lorze! Latias is so scared!]
In reality, she was rubbing her beautiful dragon snout against Lorze's cheek. Even though her feathers were smooth, it still tickled...
After that, the fluffy Braixen and Gardevoir-chan, with her massive peaks, also leaned in, making Mewtwo, who was floating in mid-air, a bit dumbfounded.
Hey, hey, how come you guys all stuck to him in the blink of an eye!!
The three Pokémon all pretended to be shivering in fear and clung tightly to their beloved man. Mewtwo was somewhat awkwardly wondering if she should pretend a bit too?
But Lorze smiled and opened his cloak: "Mmhmm~ Big sister Mewtwo, there's still room here, want a hug?"
Of course!
Without a second thought, Mewtwo immediately transformed into her petite Y-form and shrank into Lorze's embrace, hugging him tightly. Her small mouth greedily left cute little strawberries on the young man's neck~
While enjoying the intimate interactions with his wives, Lorze shook his head triumphantly: This little one actually closed the door on her own initiative. Let me teach you what it means to invite a wolf into the house!
Sigh, I can't help it either. How could there be a reason not to eat the meat when it's right at your lips?
But the Meowstic deep inside the mansion was completely unaware. She only sensed everyone huddling together, and couldn't help but cover her mouth and snicker with satisfaction: Hahaha meow! They're all so scared they're hugging each other meow~ What a bunch of cowards meow!
Next, she was going to crank up the intensity, and then properly savor their emotions of fear, jejeje meow~
Her eyes glowing blue, Meowstic skillfully manipulated her telekinesis to start messing with the mansion's electrical system.
The lights in the hall suddenly began to flicker unsteadily, and Lorze very cooperatively played a creepy little tune in his mind.
Just like the precursor to a terrifying scene in a horror movie, it really did have a bit of that vibe~
"Oh? Looks like it's coming."
Then, the lights in the entire house went out in the blink of an eye, and the old mansion returned to silence as if nothing had happened—
Mewtwo nodded: Oh, so it wasn't an eye-catching stunt, but a sudden blackout.
To avoid alerting the snake by hitting the grass, Lorze began to use telepathy to open the team's communication channel: "Everyone! I thought of a great idea! Big sister Mewtwo and Latias, do this... then Gardevoir-chan, do that, and finally, Braixen... Hehehe, how about it?"
In the dim room, only their large eyes flickered with dots of light, but one could still vaguely make out the smiles on their faces—As expected of Lorze (big brother) / Trash Master, so bad!
As the young man rubbed his fingers and snapped—operation commence!
First, Mewtwo and Latias pretended to be scared, shouting while running around the dark room like headless flies.
At first, Meowstic was still snickering: Due to the sudden darkness and getting separated from their companions, it probably won't be long before they start crying out loud from the fear of being isolated meow?
But in fact, Mewtwo and Latias weren't wandering aimlessly, instead—
"Crash!"
Accompanied by the sound of glass shattering on the second floor, they used telekinesis to break the window's seal and flew out together!
Meowstic, under a portrait in the corridor, was startled and couldn't help but twitch her large cat ears: What? They actually got so scared they jumped out the window to escape meow?
Their huge reaction really shocked Meowstic. Did I go too far meow? Jumping from a second-floor window... will they get hurt meow?
—After all, Meowstic didn't know they could fly, and her inherently non-evil nature caused her guilt to skyrocket.
Maybe... I should turn the lights back on meow? I just wanted to scare them a bit, not actually hurt anyone meow...
But when she tried using her telekinesis to drive the switches, she discovered that the house's electrical system... was really broken!? No matter what she did, it wouldn't turn on!
A deep sense of powerlessness welled up, and a drop of cold sweat slid from the fluff on her head.
A terrifying thought flashed through Meowstic's mind: Could there really be something scary in this mansion meow!?
N-no way meow!
The more she gave herself this suggestion, the less her inner turmoil could calm down. Meowstic panted heavily and pressed her cat paw against her chest; the thumping heartbeat transmitted with incredible speed.
My heart is beating so fast, I-I'm not scared at all!
"Pitter-patter—"
Her keen ears caught a faint sound from outside the house: it was the patter of water droplets hitting the bricks and tiles. Is it raining?
As the sound of the rain grew louder, Meowstic intended to go check it out, but...
A dazzling clap of thunder flashed!
"Rumble!"
The portrait directly opposite her was illuminated by the lightning, and the human face that appeared for a split second smiled so ghostly that it made Meowstic plop down onto the ground!
"Meowwa!!"
At the same time, an enchanting yet ghostly female voice came from downstairs, pouring into Meowstic's ears with terrifying penetration.
Her spirit felt as if it was under attack, agonizingly painful, and her consciousness gradually grew groggy, like she was falling into a deep lake...
This is... a trap! Don't they always say ghosts disguise themselves as beautiful women to lure people in meow... There's definitely something dirty downstairs meow!
N-no way meow! I have to quickly find a small room to hide in meow...
Holding onto her last shred of clarity, she hurriedly drooped her large ears to block out the sound, stepping out with her short little legs and dashing towards the room she was most familiar with.
But when passing the corner of the corridor, a幽幽 male voice drifted over...
"Hello~~ there~~"
Swallowing hard, Meowstic subconsciously turned her head stiffly like a robot. At that moment, Lorze was having Braixen help by shining a Dazzling Gleam upwards from under his chin.
But in Meowstic's view, it was a twisted, terrifying blue-green human face floating in mid-air, especially the eye parts which were deep black holes...
[A ghost meow!!!!!]
The fear she had accumulated earlier erupted entirely at this moment. Her consciousness seemed to be swallowed by endless darkness, and the whole cat fainted dead away with all her fur standing on end!
"Eh eh? Did we go overboard..."
The sudden downpour was big sister Mewtwo's Rain Dance, and the lightning was Latias's Thunder.
The ghostly voice from downstairs was Gardevoir's Disarming Voice, and as for his own ghost face at the end...
Lorze remembered how during his student days, when everyone visited caves, there was always someone who shined a flashlight up from their chin to create a very terrifying look, so he borrowed the idea.
The effect was surprisingly good...
It seemed the supernatural phenomena in this mansion were indeed thanks to Meowstic. Just as he expected—a very cute little catgirl!
Out of a principle of responsibility, the young man quite lovingly began CPR on Meowstic.
Gently pressing on the location of the heart, the soft touch of Meowstic's tiny peaks transmitted from under his hands.
After that, he pulled the petite catgirl into his embrace and kissed her lips, his tongue intertwining with the cute catgirl's fragrant, soft cat tongue...
Purr, purr, it's just artificial respiration~