It took me a second to realize who this pokemon is and it took me another second to react and jump back while gasping.

Ninetales snarled at my sudden reaction and all their tails suddenly turned stiff and moved to point at me in a flash.

I froze and I locked eyes with the fire type and everything seemed to stop.

The first time it gazed its eyes at me, it filled me with an indescribable urge to scratch the entirety of my body, to scrub my whole self clean with a sharp, hard rock and splash my whole body with acid to get rid of the impurity within me

Now that it is looking straight into my eyes, it's as if a voice had manifested into my mind and is screaming at me to obey, to do all those things and do it all a hundred times over until my body just becomes a speck of dust and there was nothing left of me to—

Darkness.

For a split second, all I could see is darkness, cancelling out my thoughts and forcing me to fall to the ground and leave me in a breathless state.

What the heck was that!?

I turned my head up and saw a tiny figure ahead of me. The girl's pokemon.

Ninetales barked at the shadowy pokemon and I was about to look directly at it again when the girl moved in front of me and blocked Ninetales from my sight.

She turned her body at me, gestured at her eyes and wagged her hands.

Looking at Ninetales's eyes is... bad? I frowned but nodded, taking a moment to calm my breathing and got up.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Putting my thumbs up to say I was okay, I moved beside the girl, now more wary of Ninetales.

"What should we do now...?" I whispered at her, pointing at her and me.

She glanced at me for a moment but turned her focus on Ninetales rather than me, taking out her phone instead and showed me a text.

[Don't move too wildly or we'll provoke Ninetales there and don't lock eyes with them or they'll curse ya. If you see me moving backwards slowly, copy me.]

Curse...? That was a curse? If not for her pokemon, I might've stayed cursed.

I nodded and faced ahead, looking at the feet of Ninetales. A sudden question popped in my head.

Are they the one producing that ringing noise?

The girl's pokemon did lead us here so it's only right to assume that it was Ninetales, but how? I don't remember Ninetales being able to sound like a bell and there doesn't seem to be anything on them that can make such a noise.

Is it a move? I haven't heard of one that can make ringing sounds though....

The girl raised her hands.

Ninetales feet shifted and their heads lowered, their eyes narrowing an—I looked away.

I grit my teeth and turn my head back to Ninetales again. It's fine if we both don't look at each other's eyes directly right?

As Ninetales posture changed to an even more threatening one, the girl's pokemon turned darker and shadows started rising from the ground, swirling around the pokemon like a dark aura.

"Gem, come." A voice said amongst the rising tension.

The swirling shadows stilled and then dropped, sinking back into the ground. The girl's pokemon eyed Ninetales deeply before coming to the girl's shoulders which was where the voice came from.

My eyes widened a bit. So she can actually talk.

The girl took a step back and cast her head down. I took the hint and followed her actions, painfully aware of the uncomfortable gaze tracking us.

The bush is just right behind us, a couple more steps back and we'd be able to get out of Ninetales's sight.

We'd come here to search for the source of the ringing but I'd rather not risk my life trying to film a video. Whether Ninetales is actually the one making the noise or not, this is enough excitement for me.

Honestly what did the me from earlier expect me to do when I encounter a ghost, hope they wouldn't haunt me?

I held back a sigh, worried it would make Ninetales angry. This day is such a mess—

Ringing.

My ears are filled with loud ringing.

It sounded so close, as if it was right behind me and I couldn't help but jump.

The girl's pokemon also reacted, shadows swirling violently around them again but this time it kept swirling and swirling until it formed a hand with long claws attached to them.

Is Ninetales cursing us?! My head immediately snapped towards Ninetales.

They are baring their teeth and there was a wave of heat coming towards them as their body glowed stronger, they flexed their tails and then flames erupted at every tip.

But as I continued to look at them, there were no signs of them being the one making that noise.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and I saw the girl looking at me in confusion.

And it was also the same time, that I saw something floating right behind her.

It took me a second to realize what it is and what it is doing and it took me another second to move.

The floating figure took in a deep breath and before it could do what it was about to do.

I shouted. "Chingling!"