Old Man Fuji had originally planned to follow the usual script.
When Ash and his group replied with something like "We're materialists, successors of scientific socialism—we don't believe in ghosts,"
he would calmly counter with:
"Then… what's that white hand on your shoulder?"
Then he'd watch them panic, whip their heads around, and freak out on the spot.
Classic. Absolutely classic.
This was a Lavender Town traditional program—every outsider got scared like this. Everyone had fun.
After all, Lavender Town didn't have much going for it economically besides Pokémon Tower.
The young adults had long since gone out to work elsewhere, leaving behind only the elderly and children.
So the town leaned hard into the "ghost town" branding, pushing tourism as its main industry.
They even paid hefty advertising fees to the Vermilion Headlines every year to strengthen Lavender Town's haunted reputation and spread it across Kanto—and even the world.
Countless paranormal enthusiasts now treated this place as a holy site, making annual pilgrimages.
But Ash's response completely threw Fuji off.
For a moment, the old man didn't know how to continue.
Then—
Ash spoke first.
"Grandpa," Ash asked innocently, "do you believe there are ghosts in this world?"
Fuji froze, confused.
Huh?
Turntables?
Before he could answer, Ash suddenly pointed at Fuji's shoulder, eyes wide in terror.
"Th-there's a ghost hand on your shoulder!!"
The bald, white-browed old man let out a disdainful chuckle.
A foreign kid trying to turn the tables on me?
Playing this trick on an old pro like me?
Ghost hand, my foot.
This kind of thing only scared—
"Tap."
Something patted his shoulder.
A chill ran through his chest.
Fuji's heart skipped.
A bad feeling surged up.
He stiffly turned his head, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw it—
A strange purple-black claw resting squarely on his shoulder.
Why does this ghost hand look… so chubby?
"Th-there really is a ghost?!"
Fuji panicked.
Lavender Town did have ghosts—but they were all inside Pokémon Tower!
There had never been a case of one wandering out!
Danger!
When he fully turned his head, a blur of purple flashed before his eyes, followed by a pair of blood-red eyeballs lunging straight at his face.
An icy chill gripped his heart.
"AAAAAAAH!!!"
Fuji stumbled backward, sweat pouring down his face.
He collapsed onto the ground, clutching his chest, clearly suffering a massive shock.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
Ash, Brock, and Misty burst into victorious laughter.
They'd known it from the start—Lavender Town locals loved using the "ghost hand on your shoulder" trick.
So they'd agreed beforehand:
whoever tried that line on them first would get hit with a counter-scare immediately.
Didn't matter if it was an old man—
don't bully honest outsiders!
"Geng-geng-geng-geng!!"
The owner of the ghost claw—Gengar—returned to its full form.
Its massive, chubby body shook as it laughed uncontrollably, pointing at the old man.
Messing with humans was a racial talent for Gengar.
The moment it heard Ash's plan, it jumped in without hesitation.
Their affinity shot up on the spot.
"Huff… huff…"
But the white-browed old man on the ground suddenly stiffened.
Still clutching his chest, his eyes rolled back.
Then—
He went completely still.
Ash: "?"
The trio's expressions darkened simultaneously.
Oh no.
Did this… go too far?
Damn it!
Are the people of Ghost Town really this mentally fragile?!
"G-Grandpa…? A-are you okay…?"
Ash and Misty immediately panicked.
Brock, the oldest and most level-headed, took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.
His face grim, he quickly walked over and knelt beside Fuji.
With trembling fingers, he checked the old man's breathing.
One minute passed.
No breath.
CRITICAL.
Even Brock started to panic.
First counter-prank of their lives—and they killed someone?!
Is this old guy碰瓷-ing us?!
Hearing the commotion, Nurse Joy rushed out of the Pokémon Center.
The moment she saw Fuji's motionless body, her expression changed drastically.
"What are you doing?!" she shouted.
"This grandfather has a heart condition! He absolutely cannot be frightened!!"
The trio: "!!!"
Then why is he out here scaring people?!
"What do we do, what do we do?! I only know how to treat Pokémon!"
Joy paced anxiously.
"The town doctor went to the neighboring city two days ago!"
Her panic was so intense that even Brock—possessor of an iron will—didn't dare flirt.
"No choice!" Joy suddenly said.
"I know some basic emergency knowledge. This looks like cardiac arrest—he has to wake up immediately, or he's done for!"
She rushed behind the counter and pulled out a long syringe, filling it with a pale yellow liquid.
"This is adrenaline! We have to inject it directly to stimulate his heart!"
Then she shoved the syringe into Ash's hands.
Ash: "?"
"Of course you're doing it! You caused this!"
Joy said matter-of-factly.
"I faint at the sight of needles!"
Hurry up!
At this rate, if he didn't wake up in three minutes, he'd never wake up again.
"..."
Ash knelt on one knee, swallowed hard, and shakily raised the syringe above Fuji's chest.
Nurse Joy marked an X over the man's chest.
"Right here. Straight into the heart. You must be precise—miss it and he'll die instantly," she warned nervously.
Ash: "..."
His hand began to tremble violently.
His vision blurred, doubling at the edges.
He was freaking out.
All this from a stupid prank?!
Of all people, we hit a guy with heart disease?!
He'd rather have Pikachu shock him with electrotherapy!
Brock and Misty quickly grabbed Ash's arms to steady him.
"Ash, you can do this!"
"If you don't, the three of us are becoming cellmates!"
They were panicking just as badly.
Seeing Fuji's body starting to stiffen, Ash clenched his teeth and forced himself to calm down.
He has to wake up.
Damn it!
With everything he had, Ash thrust the syringe downward.
Wake up—!!
"Duang~"
The syringe suddenly bounced.
Like a spring.
At the same time, the old man snapped his eyes open, his face flushed red, and shouted:
"Surprise, motherfecker!"
Ash: "?"
"Did… you just fertilize?"
The trio stared blankly as Nurse Joy calmly took back the syringe and bent the spring-loaded needle with her arm.
Fuji stood up as well, dusting himself off and laughing loudly.
"Hahahaha! The last time we used this routine was ten years ago!
Little Joy, my acting's still solid, right?"
"Grandpa Fuji, you're still a legendary actor~!"
Joy giggled, covering her mouth.
The instant Fuji collapsed, she'd recognized the classic scam posture and immediately grabbed the custom spring syringe.
Ash and the others stood frozen, as if they'd heard nothing.
This was Lavender Town's traditional art form.
Whenever outsiders counter-scare successfully, the script immediately flips into the third-layer routine:
"I have heart disease—stab me in the heart!"
There were even fifth-layer and seventh-layer routines after this.
In terms of comprehension, outsiders would always be outsiders.
"Ho-ho-ho-ho-ho~"
Listening to their wild laughter, Ash and the others collapsed onto the ground—
just like Fuji had earlier—completely broken.
This town really was a ghost town.
Demons walk the earth. Hell is empty.
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