Idk if it's actual folklore or just something someone said once, but in-universe, it's said that twins are born when a soul becomes too much for one body to contain. We're going to be taking that and running with it.
They both have their own Klinks, which were their starters. I love the idea that it's a tradition re: twins.
For our purposes, things would start when the boys are adventuring around Unova. Not right at the beginning of it, but a little ways in, so in terms of other Pokemon...
I wanna say Opelucid was their starting point, but that could be subject to change.
In that case, I could see Emmet already having Durant at this point, which is a weird first catch, but I dig it. None of the other options are great, but considering what else we're modifying, we could stretch things a bit and say Ingo has Drilbur or Trubbish.
They're confident enough to be wandering around in a generic forested area, which is where our introduction to the gimmick comes in.
They aren't lost, but they're definitely off the path. Neither is terribly concerned about it.
I think they're looking for something specific. Maybe a dragon type said to be nearby?
Regardless of the what, they're half-searching, half-holding a conversation. Honestly, at this point it may be closer to a (harmless) argument.
During a lull, Ingo hears something; in that kind of 'what did you just say to me' way, asks what Emmet said. Emmet says that he didn't say anything. Ingo doesn't really believe him, but doesn't press the matter.
It happens again a few minutes later. Irritated, Ingo comments on it. Emmet maintains that he didn't say anything.
The third time it happens, he's utterly exasperated, but Emmet is growing concerned.
He thinks maybe it's time to turn back. They can try again later, but something's... clearly not right with Ingo, and he doesn't want it to get worse.
In turning around, they promptly run into a Litwick, which, after a bit, is determined to be the source of the sound. Not a Pokemon cry or any kind of Meowth deal. It's not really telepathy either, but there are unmistakable-- if rough-- words in human language that come through.
At first, it only tries it w/ Ingo, who it saw success with earlier, but at his insistence that he's not going crazy, Emmet tries, too.
(What's going on here is kind of weird to put into words, but it's kind of like there's this... liminal space in between them. Despite the folklore, they have their own souls, but remain connected, which creates this thin spot between them that ghost types can connect through.)
It's less telepathy and more like... direct communication via the soul, which is only possible bc ghosts are just souls. It's rough because they don't actually share a language, so that much is the human brain making sense of what's being shared w/ them.
Turns out the Litwick was trying to help; it knows where to find whatever they're looking for.
The fallout from this isn't necessarily the main plot, but it's definitely way more than they bargained for, and becomes a bonding experience/the reason Litwick joins them.
Things progress as you'd expect; they continue to find trouble, meet Pokemon and hone their ability to battle. Litwick begins to gravitate more toward Ingo, especially after the acquisition of Tynamo.
Continues to communicate via human spirit box-- which is to say the Estes Method, though, in-universe, it probably has a different name-- and (with time) that's solely to blame for the glowing eyes.
Emmet's on the receiving end of it, too, but not quite to the same extent.
They do encounter other ghost types. I could see them running afoul of a Frillish or Jellicent, and since they have to head to route 4-- if not the Desert Resort properly-- there's the potential for Yamask.
Golett just seems too chill to really be a source for conflict, imo.)
Like Litwick, those other ghosts can make their opinions and intentions known through this contact. The twins don't actually have a choice whether or not they hear it, so Litwick likely becomes a little over protective in this regard.
Yamask in particular would be... something, given their accepted point of origin. A little heavy for a couple of kids to deal with, though. We're probably not going full-on Cofagrigus here.
At some point-- because of Litwick's semi-constant communications-- there's a noticeable shift, and any ghost Pokemon seem way more interested in Ingo, which is not exactly a good thing.
Not always bad, either, but ghosts tend toward mischievous at best, and are usually strongly opinionated.
When he's not the one being bothered, Emmet thinks it's pretty amusing. Will sometimes nudge (benevolent) ghosts his brother's way. This is a double edged sword, all things considered.
Sometimes Ingo will completely fabricate something a ghost says, usually in the interest of poking back at Emmet. he does this infrequently enough that it's hard to call him on it.
Idk if this is an Uncle Drayden premise, but when their designated adults realize what's going on, they're, uh, horrified. There might be an argument re: Litwick, which Litwick wins via refusal to leave.
There's really only one big change as they get older/this continues.
I can see teens/young adults being more interested in socializing w/ Yamask out of curiosity, especially if we want to play into the concept of Ingo being a closet goth.
So in the anime, a Yamask can possess anyone who wears its mask, yeah? While I don't see that happening by choice, a Yamask who had been playing nice forces the issue, trying to use Ingo as a workaround to the whole 'being dead' thing.
Obviously, nobody around him takes kindly to this, but there's no way to attack it without hurting him. Trying to remove the mask isn't working, and Yamask is trying to keep them at arm's length.
Lampent, frustrated, decides, 'fuck it, I'm a ghost, I'm going to grab you by the spirit and yeet you'
Which is to say, she ends up forcing the Yamask out by possessing Ingo in its stead.
This was not her intention. Not all ghost Pokemon are capable of possession, and Litwick/Lampent/Chandelure are generally too solid to do so.
After the situation is resolved, they kind of hazard that she was able to do it because they're really close and she was acting in his best interest...?
Alas. With time, it's proven that any ghost type can try*, regardless of whether or not they'd usually be able to do such a thing.
*Trying does not equal success. Yamask have an advantage, though, as demonstrated.
It also becomes quite clear that Emmet doesn't share this vulnerability, meaning yeah, it's definitely all the ghost contact.
There's. No need to alert the parental figure(s) that this concern was a valid one. They can handle it themselves.
Because the twins are way too trusting of their Pokemon, this eventually also becomes normalized re: Chandelure specifically. Not to imply that it happens a lot, but it's not a taboo thing in this instance.
It's mostly just Chandelure trying to strong arm Ingo into paying attention to what he needs.
If he legitimately wants her out, she leaves in a heartbeat.
To an extent, the fact that they're totally okay with it is also kind of a damage mitigation thing. Like, it's already happened, they just need to do what they can to protect themselves, now.
In Emmet's case, this means shying away from communication with Chandelure in this specific way. He still loves her just as much as ever, but for safety's sake, it's best not to invite trouble.
He still can't exactly reject it if a ghost is trying to contact him, though, so she's just as active in this precautionary measure as he is.
For Ingo, it's more retroactive damage control. At this point, contact doesn't seem to have any further side effects, and the occasional possession is more of a learning experience than anything.
With time, he's able to throw a possessing ghost off, though it's a battle in and of itself, and there are some ghosts that are just too strong to wrest control away from.
Having Chandelure on hand helps negate the threat of that last part, though.
No real notes re: the Battle Subway specifically, but it's. Yknow. A thing.
Idk exactly how we're framing this; if it's something that will be a belated reveal, or whether it's best to just be up front with what exactly happened, but I'm going chronologically right now. Here it goes.
Enter Giratina and the stable time loop. It's here for some ungodly reason, and has realized two things:
1) This human seems very receptive to ghosts.
2) This human also reminds it a lot of a human it knew a long time ago.
It doesn't really connect the dots until disaster strikes and it finds itself saving Ingo, but not really knowing what to do with him after the fact. For whatever reason, it's more complicated than just putting him back where it grabbed him-- maybe the fact that it was in Unova at all is an issue.
It tries to keep him in the distortion world for a (relative) little while, but that proves to be a bad idea when it starts messing with his head.