EP014

## Summary

Traveling from the holiday resort of Porta Vista to Maiden's Peak, Alex and his friends find out that they have arrived in time for the annual Summer Festival. When they decide to go and enjoy it, Salvadore sees a beautiful girl, with flowing purple hair and a red flower, standing on a nearby pier. He immediately falls in love with her, but after being run over by a group of tourists, he notices that the girl has disappeared. Alex's Charmeleon is the only one that seems to notice that the girl, who is actually a Gastly, but Alex and Nikki don't seem to notice her at all.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket follows Alex and his friends to Maiden's Peak. They come up with an idea to look around for dropped coins, and while pondering it, Butch sees the same girl Salvadore saw before, only by the water. Cassidy slaps Butch to regain his attention. As they leave to look for the coins, Butch takes a final look at the dock, noticing the disappearance of the girl. During the festival, Alex, Nikki and Salvadore meet an old lady. She warns Salvadore that he should beware a young, beautiful girl who will lead him to a cruel fate. After the old lady insults Nikki and Nikki decides that they should be somewhere else instead of being insulted and drags off Alex and Salvadore with her. Meanwhile, Team Rocket puts their plan into action, though they do not seem to find anything. Then, Butch notices a penny lying on the walkway and goes to retrieve it, but is interrupted by the old lady, which Alex and company met just a moment ago. As in the case of Salvadore, she mentions the young girl to Butch.

Both Alex's group and Team Rocket head for the Shrine of the Maiden. They see the shrine's greatest treasure, a 2,000-year-old painting of the maiden. Salvadore and Butch both realize that the girl in the painting is the same girl they saw before, and both attempt to approach the painting but are blocked by the man presenting the painting to the audience. He then tells the story of the maiden, who waited on the cliff for her loved one to return from the war, and eventually turned into stone. As night falls, Salvadore is still at the cliff. Nikki and Alex leave to enjoy the festival while Salvadore insists on staying at the cliff-side. When it is about time for the local Pokemon Center to lock the doors for the night, Salvadore still has not returned from the cliff, so Alex decides to go look for him, but Nurse Joy holds him back, giving Alex a short lecture on the importance of sleep.

Suddenly a strong wind blows, and the doors of the Maiden's Shrine open. The ghost of the maiden floats out. She shows herself to Salvadore, telling him that she's been waiting for him. Salvadore replies that he has been waiting, too. Alex and Nikki start looking for Salvadore the next morning. Alex and Cassidy then meet face-to-face and notice that they both are looking for a missing person. Cassidy performs the Team Rocket motto all alone, but then hears Butch saying his lines. James and later Brock are thrown out of the shrine. As they all try to return Brock and James normal, the old lady appears again, reminding them of her warning about the ghost of the maiden.

Alex's Charmeleon burns Butch and Salvadore, and the two finally revert to their normal selves. They all head inside, and the old lady states that all young men have fallen into the curse while passing through Maiden's Peak. They decide to protect themselves from the ghost by buying a large quantity of anti-ghost stickers and placing them around the shrine and the two cursed ones. However, when night comes, they note that the stickers do not work, and just like the previous night, the ghost of the maiden appears. Alex and others try to prevent Salvadore and Butch from being pulled out by the maiden.

After being shot with a bazooka by Cassidy, the ghost of the maiden summons several skull-like ghostly apparitions. Alex tries to check their on his Pokedex, but with no results. However, the Pokedex is still searching for one and when Alex points the Pokedex at the ghost of the maiden, it identifies her as a Gastly, who is impersonating the old lady as well. Since Gastly's disguise has been revealed, it transforms back to its normal form. Cassidy then sends out Rattata, only for it to be scared off by Gastly's newly summoned mongoose. Butch commands his Krabby to attack with the Water Gun attack, but the mongoose dodges and stomps Krabby down.

Alex decides that it is his turn again and calls out Squirtle. Gastly summons a thunder, and Alex quickly recalls Squirtle. He then summons his Charmeleon, but Gastly summons a Wartortle, which causes Alex's Pokemon to become too scared to do anything. After repeatedly being beaten by Gastly, Nikki tries another strategy. She uses a cross, garlic, a stake, and a hammer, comparing Gastly to a vampire. However, the sun starts to rise once again, and as Gastly hates sunlight, it disappears. On the following night, the festival continues, with lantern boats sent out to sea to help guide any wandering spirits. Alex and his friends have fun, and everything is back to normal. At the end, the true ghost of the maiden emerges from her stone self, thanking Gastly for keeping her legend alive and hoping her true love will return.

## Major Events

* Butch's Krabby is revealed to know Water Gun

## Characters

### Humans

* Alex
* Nikki
* Salvadore
* Butch
* Cassidy
* Officer Jenny
* Nurse Joy

## Pokemon

* Charmeleon (Alex's)
* Squirtle (Alex's)
* Rattata (Cassidy's)
* Krabby (Butch's)
* Gastly (debut)
* Wartortle (illusion)