Tale 5: The Haunted Pond (Brock)

(real tale: "Folktales from Japan" episode 18, story 2)

"Just a word of warning--this tale might be a little scary." Brock cautions.

"Oh, a ghost story!" Misty gasps with excitement--usually Brock only tells ghost stories around Halloween.

"Bring it on!" Ash demands.

Brock just smiles at his friends' bravery. "In a certain land, there stood a pond that brimmed with Goldeens." He then catches himself. "Actually, the Goldeens only came out at night--any would-be angler that went fishing during the day wouldn't get a single bite!"

"That IS odd..." Misty notes--usually Goldeens stayed out at all hours of the day and night.

"If anyone tried to leave the pond with their catch, they would hear a ghostly voice saying..." Brock then switches to one of his go to "spooky" voices. "Leave it there...leave it there..."

Ash swallows hard. "W-was it really a ghost?"

"Just listen and you'll find out." Misty assured him.

"Because of this, no one wanted to fish there." Brock explains. "So one day, a brave man in the nearby town--we'll call him Kane--decided to fish in the haunted pond. His wife and the townsfolk tried to talk him out of it, but Kane wouldn't take no for an answer."

Misty nervously giggles at this. "Kane went to the pond, and didn't get a bite all day." Brock continues. "But when night fell, the Goldeen were biting like no tomorrow!"

"I bet he caught a zillion!" Ash smiles.

"He caught enough to fill two buckets before calling it a day." Brock replies. "As he departed with his catch, he heard the ghostly voice in the distance." In his "ghostly" persona again, he intones "Leave it there...leave it there..." As himself, he continues "But Kane paid the voice no mind and continued home."

"A-and then?" Even Misty is worried for Kane's fate.

"Kane passed by a willow tree, where a girl in a blue robe and glowing veil was resting." Brock continues. "She noticed the Goldeens Kane carried and asked him..." In character as a girl, he asks "Those Goldeens you have look tasty...won't you share with a poor traveler?"

"I caught these fair and square!" he retorts as a young man. "They will be my dinner tonight!"

Misty and Ash laugh at this. "Despite the girl's pleas, Kane refused to part with his Goldeens. But when he lifted the girl's veil to directly refuse her, he was shocked to discover she had no face!"

"AUGH!!!" Ash yelps, much to Misty's and Azurill's delight.

"Pika pika pikachu, Pikapi." Pikachu assures his master, but Ash is shaking in fear.

Brock is unfazed. "Kane ran home as fast as he could, with a death grip on his Goldeens all the while. When he got home, he told his wife what had happened as he roasted one Goldeen over the fire. But when he got to the part about his encounter with the faceless girl, the lights went out."

"Uh oh..." Misty eagerly smiles as she waits to hear what happens next. Ash, meanwhile, clings to Misty in fear.

"He suddenly heard a voice say..." In character as a girl, Brock asks "One taste?" He continues as himself. "When Kane looked to see who was in the room, he saw the faceless girl!"

"Not so hard, Mr. Scaredy-meowth..." Misty grumbles as Ash grips her back even tighter in fear.

"In his rush to get away from the faceless girl, Kane left his Goldeens and his rod behind." Brock concludes. "They say he didn't go fishing for a long time after that!"

"Now, see? Kane lived." Misty assures Ash as she peels him off of her. "For my next tale of the night, I'll tell something to calm Mr. Scaredy-meowth down...." Ash just blushes as the Pokemon laugh....