Tales of a Ghost boy

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Rain batted against the taxi's windshield as it drove into the middle of nowhere. Leon clutched onto the last known location of a relative he knew that was living in Sinnoh but why did he have to live so far from Eterna City. The car slipped on the wet muddy road and eventually had to stop in fear of being bogged. "Sorry kid, this is far as I can get, the rest you'll have to walk." Leon wasn't sure if the cab driver was being serious or he just didn't want to drive a little further, regardless the blonde paid the fare and got out into this monsoon like weather. 

Shielding his face from the rain, Leon made his way along an old muddy road that lead up into a clearing. He was soaked to the bone and his pant legs were caked in mud and loose grass but he pushed on. Atop of the hill was an old house, worn and showing signs it was abandoned. Great. There was little sign of life, grass overgrown, leaks in the roof, windows dusty, there was no way anyone lived in this hellhole. 

Leon reached the porch and shook off the water from his hair before peering into the window but it was no use, nothing. He knocked several times but the sound of the rain seem to drown it out...or no one lived here. It was cold and Leon felt his body starting to shiver from being soaked. "At least I got shelter." he muttered before reaching to his pocket and getting out Flick. "H-hey Flick, I could use some of that warmth." He wearily smiled. Flick jolted and floated close to Leon, giving off as much heat as he could. 

It felt like hours passed and the rain was only getting heavier. Leon sat on the wet porch with his back to the house wall lost in his own thoughts. What was he even doing here? He wondered if this person was going to even welcome him or even remember him, it had been so long since her death. He was tired and his candy reserves were empty. Pulling up his legs to his chest, he tried to get some sleep.


Leon body jolted awake when he felt a sudden vibration on his back and quickly got to his feet. At first he thought it was a bug but on closer inspection he saw movement inside the window. "What...?" He tried to clean the window with his sleeve but only the outside dust was cleared, something darted across the glass and he quickly tried to identify it. "H-hey! Hey is anyone home?" He banged on the door again and click, it unlocked. 

Cautiously, Leon pushed the door open. It creaked and pushed some debris that was behind it. Flick coward behind his trainer as they both entered the dark and damp abode. "Flick, I need some light." Leon whispered but Flick could only muster a little light. Leon moved through the dark house and felt around for a switch but it was no use, power was out. "Hello?" He called out again and there was movement across the room again. 

This was creepy even for Leon, he was unsure if it was a ghost pokemon or something more sinister. He pushed further into the home and in the corner of his eye. Flick shivered with fear and Leon felt his heart race. He moved towards what looked like a kitchen only to find it was a complete mess. Dirty dishes left in the sink, take away containers days old and..baby bottles? "...Flick, I think we should leave-" Leon turned but was faced with several red eyes, all staring into his soul.

"AAAAAAH!!"


Leon grabbed the nearest weapon, a wooden spoon as they unknown pokemon began to creep closer towards their pray. There was six, no 9, more than a dozen of these and they looked bloodthirsty. They moved like jelly, crawling on the floor, walls and even a few on the ceiling.

"ditto ditto ditto ditto ditto"

They called as they came for Leon. One transformed into Flick, another into a chainsaw which a fellow ditto took ahold of and started it up. Flick was the first one swarmed, holding the poor ghost pokemon down. "FLICK! Let him go!!" Leon yelled, trying to hit the blob with the wooden spoon but it got stuck then absorbed into its body. Leon backed up before another ditto grabbed his foot, tripping him over onto the floor. They all swarmed around him, clutching onto his lips and face. 

"GET OFF ME-"

"huh? Whats going on?" A voice called out as the lights flickered on and a dishevelled man stood in the doorway holding a bag of takeaway. "Ditto what are-" He looked to his pokemon than at Leon who was being held hostage on the floor. "Who the hell is this?!?!?" he pointed before seeing one of his ditto ready to decapitate Leon with a ditto chainsaw. "MAZZY NO-"

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Living with Owen wasn't exactly a vacation for Leon. The house was always a mess, dishes were never cleaned, the smell of week old takeout filled the entire house and Leon still had to get used to seeing his Uncle sniff clothes and wearing whatever smelt the best. However, the ditto were always top priority for Owen, getting fed three times a day, being checked up on and whatever else 12 ditto needed. 

It was a hot morning in the middle of Spring and Leon found himself awkwardly sitting on his sofa and fiddling with his hands. Was he allowed to clean up, maybe his uncle didn't want anyone touching his things? What if it was sticky? Shaking his head, he looked down the hallway to a door to Owen's bedroom and figure he wasn't going to get up until the afternoon. 

Pushing himself off the sofa, he began to collect the trash. Empty beer cans, cigarette butts, dump dozen of take out containers and junk mail. The ditto watched Leon clean up, a behaviour they never really seen before and a couple mimicked his actions. At one point, Leon almost heaved when he found the most disgusting sock and swiftly threw it out. "Thats it, we're cleaning up this place for real." He said as he went to each window to open them up.

The curtains were drawn back, windows open to their fullest and that smell began to escape. The ditto happily enjoyed the cool breeze that floated in. Leon grabbed tongs and picked up anything too dirty for his hands and sorted them into bags, he was on a mission, a cleaning mission. Dishes were his next task and with some anger, he scrubbed the hell out of them until they sparkled. Floor mopped, trash out, clothes washed. 

Flopping down on the sofa exhausted, Leon looked at his work and smiled. Now this was a home. The place was far from perfect but it was several steps towards godliness. His eyes scanned his work but stopped at the pile of bills and papers that consumed the dining table. Leon glanced at the bedroom door and figured that there was no harm in sorting the junk from the important stuff. 

Pulling up a chair and rolling his shoulder, Leon got to work. The first couple of things were just expired coupons so in the trash they went. Perfume sample, coupon, magazine about ...never mind that was disgusting. Bill..bill....overdue bill...overdue bill. Leon frowned at the amount of overdue bills his uncle had, some on final notice too. "Geez, he really is having trou-" He stopped when he saw the next envelope. "A lawyer?" He muttered before going to open the letter. He knew looking at other people's mail was rude but Owen was family and the guy needed a hand. Looking at the bedroom door for a few moments, Leon figured it was safe and investigated the letter.

His eyes scanned the letter for several minutes, the was some usual stuff but his heart stopped as he saw a familiar name on there. William Gray.

"D-Dad??" Why would his father be suing Owen? Leon never heard anything about this in all his time at home so what did Owen do to upset his father. Leon put the letter down and looked for anything else. He found another legal document and read that over quickly. 

 [ ...We're taking you to court for DEATH OF MARIBELLE GRAY ]

Leon felt his stomach cramp up, his own father was suing his uncle for the accident. No, that was wrong. It wasn't his fault, it was just bad luck that his mother died that day. Leon exhaled and sat back in his chair feeling drained. He felt guilty knowing that his own family were at each others throats over the death of his mother. She wouldn't want this, she would hate this.

He mustered his strength to read on and his heart sank even more. "....theres no way he can pay all that back." Leon looked at the seven figure on the paper, it was impossible to pay back in this lifetime, especially for Owen who clearly had little to no income and from what Leon had observed, the guy spent 80% of his government funds on his ditto alone. 

The door suddenly opened and a tired Owen came out yawning. Leon quickly put away the papers and moved back to the couch. Owen scratched his shaggy hair and looked at Leon with a brow perked. "You okay kiddo?"

Leon looked up, pretending to browse his phone. "Hm? Oh yeah, I'm good." He wasn't, he wanted to scream but he had to stay calm. 

Owen shrugged and stopped, finally noticing the place was clean. " ..........W-what happened to my house?!"

Leon blinked and looked at his uncle. "I cleaned....it?"

Owen suddenly screamed and this made Leon jolt back, eyes wide. "HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO FIND MY STUFF!?" He was freaking out that his organised mess was now actually organised. 

"You can't be serious- you know what, I'll make us some breakfa- Lunch- whatever time it is for food." It was well past noon at this point. Finding a couple of instant ramens in the cupboard, Leon made one for him and Owen to eat. 

They really needed to go food shopping.