#If Iscan is scared of Ghosts eating souls

[kettouryuujin]

Fearful Ghosts

[Set in @shadowonwater's Viral Pokérus AU, which itself is inspired by @monsoon-of-art's Pokérus AU]

Urgh. Talk about a nightmare!

Iscan groaned, slowly rousing from the the worst dream he’d ever had. What had seemed to be a slight cold was actually that Pokérus thing the Clan had warned him about. And silly him, he thought it was something else at first because the transformative bug hadn’t been spreading in the Coastlands.

So he’d gone ahead with his plan to try and get past his fear of Dusclops, which had gone… marginally well? He’d at least managed to ask one to help flavor a treat for Lord Basculegion, but… well, the moment it was done, he was so ready to get out of there.

He just hadn’t gotten out soon enough, as when the high fever rolled around he wasn’t growing scales as he’d expected. Instead, his skin was turning grey and cloth-like.

The realization sent the poor Warden into a panic. He couldn’t be a Ghost. He just couldn’t! Ghosts were evil things that stole souls and ate them up! OK, his Lord was an exception, but still!

At some point he fell asleep, worn out after so much panic. And thank the Legends - he was waking up, and it was all a dream.

Had to be. Sinnoh wouldn’t let something so horrendous happen to him.

“...think he’s finally awake?” Eh? That wasn’t Palina.

“Dunno. 

…you sure it’s the scardey-cat?” Nor was that…

“Positive. Boss-’mon saw the changes himself!”

“And the other Boss-’mon?”

“Yeah, he backed it up. Reluctantly.”

“And he’s seriously letting us be the welcome wagon?”

“With a warning to be on good behavior. And yes, he’s going to compensate .”

“So we can’t scare him? Aww, man-wait, where’d he go?”

Iscan hurried in dragging himself along the ground, having decided it’d be a bad idea to stay around those two. They weren’t familiar, and he didn’t want to risk them being Ghosts.

(The dragging was just in case he didn’t really have legs anymore, ok?)

At least he was in the woods, so… shore had to be close. If he was still on Firespit, at least.

Speaking of shore, he could see Lord Arcanine in the water, helping…was that one of his littermates? No, none of them had made it to the island. At least, not that he knew of. 

But that was definitely a Growlithe trying to swim just off the coastline, so maybe he was wrong? Or maybe…

“P-Palina?”

Crap, he was too far out, they didn’t hear him! Drag himself a bit closer…closer… and maybe a bit louder this time? 

“PALINA?”

Both giant puppy and small canine whirled to look his way. Yes! “Oh thank Sinnoh, it’s you…” A sigh of relief. “Just g-glad to see you’re alright.”

“Ah. Umm. Same for you, Iscan?” He blinked as Palina dragged herself out of the water, shaking herself off. Why did she sound so…nervous? Ignoring the fact that they’d both fully changed.

(He really hoped it wasn’t what he thought it was. Nope. Just a fish out of water, nothing else to see here.)

“OI!” Oh no, those two caught up! Turning to look, Iscan decided it was time to get the Distortion out of here. As he’d feared, his “welcoming party” had been two Ghosts - a Dusclops and a Drifloon. So time to get away from the soul-stealing monsters please and thank you.

He didn’t even consider his possible lack of legs, opting to get up and run. Running was faster, after all - and knowing he had ghosts after him? Meant speed was a very good thing to have.

The cowardly Warden raced towards the ocean, putting a hand to his mouth in an attempt to call his Lord. His whistling wasn’t as good as it normally was, and - oh dear, apparently it wasn’t good enough to call his Lord. Dart behind Lord Arcanine (they’d never try and steal a Noble’s soul) and keep trying, putting both hands in his mouth.

But try after try, it just wouldn’t work. Lord Basculegion never came.

The feeling of fabric on his shoulder sent chills throughout his body. Crap, they caught him, and now his soul was going to be eaten alive…

“Buddy! Please! Calm down!” Calm down. The Ghosts wanted him to calm down.

Laughter poured out at the mere thought. “W-what, s-so my soul will b-be easier to eat or something? Nope! Nopenopenopenop..”

A groan from his pursuers before Dusclops filled his vision. Iscan yelped, jumping back and-

Oh Legends, that felt weird! W-whatever it was, he couldn’t explain it. It was like he was in the same place as something else, but…that shouldn’t be possible! “...wow. Rude.” The Drifloon went through him - through him - and sighed, sharing a Look with the Dusclops. “Do we seriously have to put up with this?”

“Yeah. I got lucky with helping him, but you…” Was that Dusclops smirking? (Without a mouth?) “I seem to recall you giving the poor man one scare too many.”

“Oh, so this is punishment for me? Ugh. Well, what the Lord says goes, I guess…” Wat.

It wasn’t Lord Arcanine, he was just as confused. And none of the other Lords held sway over Firespit Island.

But…why would Lord Basculegion tell these ghosts to put up with him? Wouldn’t his Lord tell them to stay away? He had before, it was the only reason he hadn’t been accosted on duty since his first yea-

Where were his legs.

He couldn’t feel his legs at all! But he was standing, he had to be -

A look down instead confirmed his worst fears. He wasn’t standing. He was floating. Nothing was holding him up whatsoever. “This can’t be happening…” 

Iscan’s lone whisper stilled all onlookers. He ignored the eyes on him, instead looking down at his hands - only to see small strips of cloth. “This can’t be happening.”

Drifting (drifting!!!) over the water, the praying coward looked at his reflection. Sinnoh, please don’t let it be a…

Duskull’s. A Duskull was looking at him from the water, gaping in shock. “This-this-THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING!”

It hadn’t been a dream! He actually was a Duskull now! A soul-eating ghos-

The specter went dead straight as realization struck. Soul-eating. Oh, he might already be nibbling on Palina’s soul and not even know it! 

He looked towards the Growlithe, ignoring her comments on Warden Ingo’s volume. For a split second, he even got closer, forgetting that it'd only make things worse.

There really wasn’t a choice, was there? “I…s-sorry, Palina…”

“Sorry? For wha-ISCAN! Wait!” But his love’s words fell on deaf “ears” as the Duskull sped off.

He knew the other Ghosts would follow him. And, for once, he welcomed it. All the better to keep Palina out of their soul-eating grasp.

As the cloth-and-mask ghost raced along, he missed seeing something that might’ve given him pause. Might’ve made him rethink Ghosts, just a little bit.

But his single-minded desire to protect Palina kept Iscan from seeing teardrops littering the path behind him.

[waywardstation]

So. Favorite Warden other than Ingo, eh? For me that's Iscan, hands down.

When first going through the game, his was the only name I could remember without looking it up, I just liked him that much! (You know. Other than Ingo. But that was only because I already knew him.)

He's just a sweet teddy bear of a man, but is also the definition of bravery. I immediately fell in love with this sweet man the moment I met and started to get to know him. Man's afraid of ghosts (understandable. And to be fair, Dusknoir (which an Alpha one hangs out where the Duskull and Dusclops spawn) is said to be a psychopomp... And most Ghost-types want to eat your soul anyway, so I can see why he avoids that place!) and gets intimidated by most other things, and so has set his house up on a hill to be surrounded by friendly monke(s)! I can absolutely see him just sitting in the grass, playing his little flute while Aipom swarm around him, just playing and messing with him like monke is want to do. Living on Aipom Hill actually sounds really nice and relaxing, tbh. Friendly monkey friends and a nice view! Can see why he set himself up there!

And just... He's such a good character! He doesn't really need to grow or have a character arc, because he's already such a great guy! (Palina gets all the character focus and development in that little arc of the game, and for good reason.) Like, his biggest flaw as a character/big defining trait is that he scares easy. But he is by no means a coward. Bravery is not defined by not being afraid of things. Recklessness and stupidity are more in line with that definition. But rather bravery is measured by being afraid of something, but having the strength of character to do what needs to be done anyway. He may be scared, but he'll always do what's right regardless! And we know that he's saved at least one life because of this bravery! And you know what? His romance with Palina is very cute. I hope those crazy kids make it work out and stay together. Also he looks like he would give GREAT hugs, and I really like his little <:3c face. Also also silly wave hairline may be hard to draw, but is very fun. I really hope that we can get confirmation on a descendant of his at some point. My biggest hope is that he has a descendant that will be introduced in Scarlet and Violet, and we can get confirmation that he and Palina did end up together in the end.

And what can I say? Out of anyone in the clan that's mostly young, attractive people, I chose the one middle-aged guy as my favorite. I always love me my middle-aged dudes! But that's purely a personal taste thing. (And a reason that I tend to like the Pearl Clan more than the Diamond Clan lol.)

Plus he gives you access to one of the most useful Ride Pokemon in the entire game! Finally! Your ass doesn't drown the second you even think of trying to get near a deep body of water! Even if trying to complete Pokedex tasks while out on the water with Basculegion is hell and I hate it! :D

Iscan’s the favorite!

Iscan is genuinely a fantastic character. @maniac-reboggles put it together very nicely. He is such a caring character and was there for Palina when she needed someone. He didn’t care for the fued between the clans at all, and disregarded that to help her. And he helps you, the protag as well, despite needing to confront something that terrifies him to do so!

The man might come off as a bit meek, and have a phobia that makes it hard to deal with certain things, but he pushes past that to be the epitome of bravery. Saving Lord Arcanine’s pups for Paulina. Being with her despite how clans say not to. Confronting his terror of ghosts to help you. Going to firespit island despite finding the lighting and bandits terrifying. Seriously, Iscan is a wonderful character. Both you and the first anon put it well, mentioning that Iscan is a very brave character!

I would also love to possibly see a Palina and Iscan descendant in SV or some other game haha! Those two are great together. The first Anon is right, their relationship really gives them a very interesting appeal, and a great dynamic.

(And I agree, Basculegion is an incredibly useful ride Pokémon! Thank you Iscan!)

As the second anon put it in their last paragraph, Iscan is just wholesome haha. Can’t say it enough, what a great character!

Iscan is great!