“Kukukuku~” A purple haired woman crooned. She was on the coastline of the region, and had been walking for a few days before she came across the sight that made her laugh in that creepy way. There was a massive building overlooking the seas below, a mansion. Large, dark, and imposing over the path, the gothic manor commanded attention and respect even as it was clearly old enough that parts of the outer paint had stripped down to the bricks that it was built from, like someone walking around with bone visible through an injury but not showing any pain. It was an absolutely perfect place for Hex Maniac Pam to search for Ghost-type Pokémon!

Like many Hex Maniacs, she was more of an occultist than a trainer, using Ghost type Pokémon to peak into the realm after death. Although admittedly, more than a few just really liked the aesthetic and mimicked it. Pam, for her part, wasn’t quite the archetypical ghost type nut… and honestly, she was a bit self conscious about it. She was a lot more active than most, going around the region in search of Ghost types rather than hanging around a creepy tower or a graveyard. She also had cut her wavy purple hair short on a whim, and while she liked the style it did make her stand out a bit more than she would like.

But none of that mattered at the moment - what mattered now, was that clearly haunted mansion, and the ghost Pokémon she’d find there! After the previous night’s violent storms (she’d had to take shelter in a shallow cave, and that had been terrifying, and not in the way she liked!), she was more than a little happy to have some time to rest and stay in one place, doing something she loved to do.

She strolled up to the gothic manor, grasping the rusted iron knocker and banging it against the door thrice. Sure, the place was obviously abandoned, but that didn’t mean she had to be rude. When there was, of course, no response, she checked the door handle and tried to push. She’d been expecting it to be locked, but the door swung open with a shuddering creak that sent chills down Pam’s spine. It really was the perfect haunted house!

Stepping into the old, dark entrance hall, Pam took a deep breath. She’d expected it to be a bit more… decrepit. It was pretty much intact, like someone had just left the day before. But the door wasn’t locked and the outside certainly looked like it hadn’t seen repair in decades. Images of a once wealthy family becoming destitute and letting their home fall into decay until they simply couldn’t afford to live there anymore filled Pam’s head - perhaps it had been a grisly murder that drove them out, or maybe the family patriarch had thrown himself from the cliffside! They seemed like fitting backstories for a haunted home.

Pam hummed happily to herself as she started up the entrance hall stairs, keeping a careful eye out for the telltale purple glows that would indicate the presence of a ghost type, and listening carefully for the laughs and screeches they made. She didn’t make it every far, though - she wasn’t even at the top of the stairs when she heard footsteps! The Hex Maniac practically vibrated in excitement, taking a Pokéball from her pocket and preparing for a capture. The steps grew closer… closer…

The moment a shape peaked around the corner, she threw! The red and white, high tech ball sailed through the air on a textbook perfect course despite Pam’s admittedly not very strong arms, an exemplary arc bringing it to bonk against the target’s head. The ball snapped open, red lightning arcing out to cover the target. A Pokémon would then be brought into it, where it would try and escape and eventually settle.

But of course, that only happens if what it hits is a Pokémon.

There was a shriek, a flash of red light, and a shout of “Ow!”. The Pokéball clattered to the ground as the red light dissipated, leaving a distinctly not-captured figure angrily glaring at Pam. The human woman, not a Pokémon at all (though some greatly resemble humans...) looked between the ball, Pam, and the open door.

Pam stared at her. She stared back. The lights flickered on - electric lights, not any old-timey candelabras or chandeliers - as a figure walked up behind the woman and flipped a light switch. It was a Gardevoir, a humanoid Psychic type Pokémon and not at all a Ghost type. “I… I’ll just… be going now… kukuku~” Pam stammered, laughing nervously.

“Oh no you don’t!” the woman said. The Gardevoir glowed a soft blue, and there was a loud BANG as the doors slammed shut, sealing Pam’s means of exit. “You waltz into my house, potentially give me a concussion by tossing a metal ball at my head, then you laugh about it, and you expect to be allowed to leave without consequence? No, no I don’t think you will! Nobody insults Lady Ursula Bartram like this and gets away without adequate explanation!”

The Gardevoir moved protectively in front of it’s trainer, and Pam took another step back. “I, um… I thought this place was empty… It looked like a haunted house from outside, kukuku,” Pam mentally slapped herself - stop laughing, this was serious! “I wanted to catch some Ghost Pokémon!”

Ursula glared harshly, and Pam wilted under the heat of it. “Not only do you assault me, you insult my home as well? That’s it. There will be consequences for this, you creep!”

Pam fumbled with her belt, reaching for her Pokéballs - she could tell that Ursula was going to set her Gardevoir on her! But just as she was ready to click one off of her belt, the Gardevoir cried out, and her hand froze. A blue aura was surrounding her now, and she found she couldn’t move her hand. Her body shifted back to her neutral posture, standing straight and looking forward at the Gardevoir’s glowing… pretty eyes…

Ursula smirked. “There now. What to do with a creep like you…” she said, a finger tapping her cheek. Her eyes twinkled as an idea coalesced. “Gardevoir, sweetie, please bring her with me, to my room.” she said.

“I… I won’t… kuku…” Pam mumbled, a thin stream of drool dribbling from her lips as Gardevoir’s psychic abilities held her mind in a grip like iron. She tried to resist, she did, but it was simply impossible - all she could accomplish was muttered, half hearted protest. She was gently led along, a puppet on a string, into the halls and further from safety.

They walked through the halls for a short time before opening a door into an elaborate dressing room. Lady Bartram stepped into the room, followed quickly by Gardevoir and the puppetted Pam. Ursula spun on her heel and examined Pam, grabbing her by the chin and turning this way and that, like she was checking the teeth of a prized Rapidash and carefully avoiding the drip of drool. “Hm. There’s something here after all, if you get past the eyebags and crazed look. I can work with this.” She said.

Pam stared blankly, giggling a bit. She knew she should fight… but not thinking seemed so much easier, so much nicer… she allowed the Gardevoir to strip her purple dress off, that core part of being a Hex Maniac, and tossed it over it’s shoulder like a piece of trash. Meanwhile, Ursula rummaged through a wardrobe until she found what she was looking for, and withdrew with a pretty white dress.

“I believe this will do nicely. So much nicer than that frumpy thing, don’t you think… what’s your name?” she asked with a cruel grin.

“Kukuku… Pam…” Pam muttered.

“Pamela.” Ursula finished. “Yes I believe this will do much better.” she said with a cruel smirk. “You agree.” It wasn’t a question, but a statement that Pam agreed. And, bizarrely, she found that she did. That white silk and lace looked so much more comfortable than the dull purple fabric… she knew something was deeply wrong with that thought, but she couldn’t begin to place what it might have been. Ursula handed Pam the dress, and she started slipping it on with the help of Gardevoir. She moved automatically, not thinking about why she was suddenly doing this. “There. That’s a much more fitting dress for your station.” Ursula said as she finished.

“Station…? Kukuku~” Pam mumbled. What station? She was… just a hex maniac. Her station was curses and ghosts…

“Why, as a woman of high birth, of course. You couldn’t possibly be wearing such a nice dress if you were a commoner, could you?” Ursula said smoothly, running a hand down Pam’s body to smooth out some wrinkles, and in the meantime getting a nice handful. While it had been hard to tell in the dowdy Hex Maniac’s dress, but Pam actually had a decent figure hidden under there, which was now shown off well by the much clingier white dress.

“Right… right…” Pam mumbled. “Wait… something’s…” Something wasn’t right. This wasn’t her. This wasn’t her at all-

“Gardevoir.” Ursula said simply. “None of that, now.”

Suddenly, the grip on her mind squeezed as Gardevoir’s eyes flashed dangerously. Pam’s protests stopped mid word, the light of resistance leaving her eyes, leaving her with a blank expression. What minor resistance there had been had now been firmly snuffed out.

“That’s enough of that, o~hohoho~” the noblewoman laughed, taking out a handkerchief and wiping some of the drool off Pam’s face. “Now… let’s get back to it.”

“Yes… kukuku…” Pam said blankly.

“Firstly - shoes. Off with them, Gardevoir’s prepared some heels for you.” Ursula snapped.

“Yes…” Pam said, slipping her sneakers off and working to get the high heels on.

“Secondly - that laugh. You are a noblewoman, not a creep. You should have a proper noblewoman’s laugh.”

“Yes… kukuku…” Pam nodded.

“Wrong.” Ursula snapped again. “Like this!” She put a hand to her mouth, and gave her best noblewoman’s laugh. “O~hohoho~!”

“Oh.. ho… ho?” Pam gave a stilted laugh without mirth. There wasn’t much of any sort of emotion in her head right now.

Ursula rolled her eyes. “Careful, dear, don’t want to overcook her.” she said to Gardevoir. Then, back to Pam. “Good enough.”

Then, she guided her to the vanity, and got to the hard work - the face. Pam’s chalky white skin was far too pale, her hair far too stringy and… purple. And those lines under her eyes, ugh! Had she never slept? Ursula wasn’t the type to care but take a nap some time girl!

But all those imperfections were wiped away under the makeup. She got a thick layer of it, darkening her skin so it wasn’t indistinguishable from paper in color, getting a good bit of eyeshadow to hide the lines, lipstick, a solid dusting of blush… And all the while, Ursula whispered into Pam’s ear. How she wasn’t some asocial creep. She was an elegant noblewoman, a lady of status and wealth. A close friend of Ursula and her family. Who cared about ghost types? Who cared about their lessers? Certainly not ladies like them.

Pam… no, Pamela, nicknames were for the lower classes… soaked it all in. Her identity crushed out of her by Gardevoir’s psychic grip, it was easy for the words to settle in as truth. As Ursula brushed out her short hair and did it up in a bun, she forgot all about her past and new memories rose to replace it.

Pamela stood, but not at Gardevoir’s direction. Ursula frowned, looking at her pokemon, before a haughty “Ohohoho!” dragged her attention back to the former Hex Maniac. Her purple eyes sparkled with malice, and she had a chilling grin. “Oh, thank you darling,” she said, “For helping me to get ready. You have rooms for me ready, yes?”

Ursula blinked. What? How much had Pamela filled in herself? “What? No, you just…”

“Ohohoho! Is that so, Ursula? Well, I’ll just take yours then.” Pamela reached down to her discarded clothes, releasing a pair of Pokemon; a Hone-edge and a Ghastly. She pursed her lips looking at them - ghost types hardly befit a lady. But they’d do. “These two will help me.”

Ursula’s mouth moved, but she could find no words. Somehow, the new Pamela had broken Gardevoir’s psychic grip and seemed to be just… moving in. Any protest died at the harsh, haughty glares.

Perhaps she’d made a mistake.