This chapter was requested by

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"Have you guys heard the legends about these woods?" Trevor asked as he navigated the crew through the dense forest. For the first time in a while, the crew had decided to take a trip together, opting on a little adventuring since they had spent most of their journey apart.

"No, what is it?" Tierno asked curiously.

Little did they know, Calem, who was in the back of the group, was trying his best not to listen. He could already tell where this was going, and he wanted no part of it.

He was usually all about legends and lore, but he knew this was heading south fast.

"Legends tell of a lost soul..." Trevor started off, his voice didn't have a particular sound to it, he was a very literal person, so he was just telling the story as it was. Even so, Calem couldn't handle scary stories, especially when they were about a place he was currently visiting like today.

He had already thought that the woods were dark enough, it wasn't even sundown yet, but the fact that this place had haunted history behind it didn't help at all.

"The soul belongs to a little boy who entered these woods years ago, he just wanted to play." Trevor continued, and no matter how hard Calem tried, he couldn't block it out.

"Since when do you tell spooky stories Trevor?" Shauna asked, he could tell that she seemed a little spooked too, but not quite as much as himself.

"This one piqued my interest to tell you the truth. It doesn't seem like a huge hoax like usual, there seems to be some truth behind it." he sounded excited, but for Calem that was the last thing he wanted to hear.

"Well, the child wanted to play of course and he heard giggling in the forest, so he decided to check it out. But while he was in there, he soon got turned around, he couldn't remember where he had come from, or where he had been." Calem began to sweat nervously as the story went on.

"Hey, are you okay there, Calem?" Calem jumped when he felt a hand rest itself on his shoulder, and was relieved to see it had just been Serena.

"Of course! I'm fine, no need to worry. I'll just stick back here for a while, you go on ahead." he sent her a fake smile and chuckled nervously. He saw her hesitate and send him a wary glance, but she complied and joined up with Shauna.

To his dismay, Trevor's story wasn't over.

"Not knowing how to get back, the boy wept and cried for his parents in the woods, for days on end. Then he heard the giggling again. This time, he followed it again, but what he found wasn't another child that could help him home." he didn't like where this was going.

"There, before him, was the ghost of another child, calling him further into the woods. And with nowhere to go, he followed. The child was never heard from again." Trevor concluded.

"Wow that was a scary story!" Shauna commented and Serena agreed.

"That was decades ago, wasn't it? His family is long gone now." Tierno put in, and Calem felt a little better, maybe it was gone by now.

"Yeah, but I've heard from other travelers that sometimes you can still hear a voice crying in the forest. And if you listen even closer, some giggling too." and those better feelings were gone.

Everyone sounded so enthused, Calem felt embarrassed at the fact that a small story like that made his blood run cold, but he couldn't stand them. Scary stories, movies, anything scary.

He just hoped he'd get sleep tonight, maybe at a nice Pokemon Center after they got through the woods. He felt better at the thought of being out of this place by nightfall.

And as by some force of the heavens looking down at him and laughing at his suffering, Tierno spoke up, "Crap guys, look at the time! It's already nine!" he said.

"We should make camp for the night, we should be out of the forest tomorrow, but we need to rest up." Trevor commented, crushing Calem's dreams even further.

And here they were, Calem was setting up his tent, in apprehension of course, maybe if he sat inside nothing would be able to get to him. He knew that wasn't how it worked, but he could try, right?

Soon everyone around him was snoring, or he guessed everyone was, the only two who had audible snoring were Tierno and Shauna. But Calem lied awake in his sleeping bag, contrary to what he believed earlier, being in a tent made him feel worse.

He felt he couldn't see the threat coming, and the constant forest noises were making it hard for him to sleep.

Leaving his sleeping bag, Calem slowly crawled out of his tent, only to be greeted by the darkness of the forest around him. He grabbed an electric lantern and turned it on, huddling just outside his tent with a blanket.

The howling of the wind around him made him shiver, and he could hear the sounds of nocturnal Pokemon in the distance. He was shaking, not because it was cold, but because of the sheer weight of it all. Ever since he had heard the story he had been trying to bottle it up, he still was, but his restraint was wearing thin.

He felt warm liquid slid down his cheeks, at first only a little, then as time went on, more and more tears fell. His shoulders shook as he cried, every sound, every sight scared him.

And for a moment, he thought he had heard crying, other than his own. That's when he started to sob, his hand covering his mouth to stifle his cries. He didn't want his friends to know about this.

To them he was the cool trainer, aiming to be the champion. He couldn't let them see such a sad side of him, they'd surely make fun of him.

Calem jumped when he heard shuffling behind him, his fear rising to his throat and his sobs refusing to cease.

"Are you okay?" he heard the pleasant voice of Serena from the darkness, and when he held up his small lamp, he saw her features etched with worry.

He breathed a shaky sigh of relief, or at least tried to before choking on his tears again.

"I'm s-sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up." he struggled to put together words, he was calming down a little, but not enough to stop himself from crying, just enough to speak coherently.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. You didn't wake me up, I woke up on my own. What happened?" she cooed in a soft voice.

Calem's quick panicked breaths eventually slowed a little, though they were still shaky. Serena sat next to him the entire time, not saying a word, giving him time to collect himself.

"Sorry, I didn't mean for you to see me like this." he said, curling into a ball, hugging his knees to his chest.

"You don't need to say sorry so much. I just want to make sure that you're okay, silly." she said playfully pushing him a little.

He laughed a bit, and sniffled, the fear was still there, and in full force, but hopefully with her here he could try to get his mind off of it. Serena was so strong, he wished he could be like her in times like this.

They sat in silence, and he prayed that she would speak up again. His thoughts were creeping back, and that was the last thing that he needed.

The wind howled and he heard the woods around him shift, he bundled up tighter, trying to mask any further tears from the girl next to him.

"Do, do you not like scary stories?" she sincerely asked him, he could tell that she was starting to see why he was out here crying.

Ashamed, he nodded into his knees, not making eye contact with her as he hiccuped from all the crying.

"Hey, it's okay to be scared, you know that right? Everyone has something they're afraid of." she started, scooting close to him so that their sides were touching, "Between you and me, I can't stand Beedrill, being around them terrifies me." she said in a low voice.

"But whenever I feel scared, I know I have you guys, plus" she said wrapping her arms loosely around his coiled form, "A hug really helps too."

None of it had sounded condescending, she wasn't treating him like a child. Her tone of voice made it seem like she had been in his shoes, like her fear had driven her to the brink as it did with him just now.

"I know I can't make it go away, fear is a very real thing, but I can stick here with you until it's over." she offered.

He felt he didn't deserve a friend like her, she was amazing, words couldn't describe how in awe he felt of her right now. He tried to form a sentence to respond, but he opted to just nod and lean close while she held him.

He hadn't even noticed when he drifted to sleep in her warm arms, that was until a loud cry woke him up. His head jolted from where it had been resting on Serena's, his heart rate quickening once again.

It must've been his imagination, but when he looked over to Serena, she was looking at him with wide eyes.

"Did you hear that?" she asked in a shaky voice.

"Yeah..." Calem responded, he had wanted to say no, he wanted it to all be in his head, but that last cry was very real, and it was coming from somewhere nearby in the forest.

The sound was getting close by the minute, and all Calem could do was hold Serena close and hope it would go away. She was holding him tighter too, and he silently cursed at himself for not being able to protect her like he should.

Soon there was rustling in the bushes right next to their tent, Calem closed his eyes tight, trying to block it out.

"Phan!" a black blob tumbled out of the bushes and Calem yelped. It sat there in front of them, shifting and shivering, the sounds of crying coming from the small mass.

"A Phantump?" Serena asked no one in particular, it was less of a question and more of a confirmation.

"Tump." the small Pokemon cried hiding behind a nearby rock.

Calem's fear washed away, he didn't like ghosts, but he could handle Ghost Pokemon. The poor creature looked as defenseless as he had felt, and he felt pity.

"Hey, it's okay." he held the lamp towards the rock, and he could now clearly make out the distinct shape of the Phantom Stump Pokemon, "We're not going to hurt you." he added, reaching into his bag to pull out some Poke Puffs.

"Here." he set the Poke Puff next to the rock, and they both watched as the Pokemon crept out and chomped on the treat happily.

"You're just lonely aren't you?" Serena asked, reaching out to pet the Pokemon.

"You think I could catch it?" Calem asked, he felt for the Pokemon, and he wanted to help it the best way he could.

"Are you sure?" Serena asked, she was probably still worried about him, and he was thankful, but Calem knew he was okay.

He reached into his back and set a Pokeball in front of the smaller Pokemon. It looked up from its meal, glancing with regret at the forest around it, before looking back at Calem. With a nod, it resigned itself into the Pokeball.

"You sure about this?" the blond haired girl next to him asked.

Calem smiled, "Yeah, it looked like it needed someone to stick with it, it's been lonely for a while."

Serena smiled back at him and began to stand up. Calem hurriedly grabbed her arm, effectively pulling her back to the ground.

"Do you mind staying here with me a little longer. I'm not scared anymore, but..." he trailed off and she leaned into him.

"Of course."

The next morning they all woke up, packed up their tents, and made on their way.

"So how about another story about the woods?" Trevor asked looking at a book while he walked.

Tierno and Shauna agreed, but Serena began to speak up, "Hey guys I don't really-" she was cut off by Calem.

"I don't really do scary stories guys." he chuckled sheepishly.

They stopped for a moment, looking at him.

"Okay, I'll tell them later." Trevor said, continuing. Shauna and Tierno continued with what they were doing too.

Calem breathed a sigh of relief and looked over at Serena who smiled and linked their hands together.