"Correct."
Agatha revealed a satisfied smile.
Shiro's expression darkened, but he was not overly worried.
He had only killed a few pirates, and there were still two major pirate forces in the Triangle Sea area. Something like this would affect only a small portion of Sinnoh's upper-echelon interests; it would not escalate into life-and-death retaliation. Even if Sinnoh truly became desperate, at most they would demand compensation.
If things really turned bad, he could simply slip away and leave Sinnoh. What could their higher-ups do then? They would have no choice but to swallow the loss.
But why had Agatha come specifically to tell him this? To sell him a favor he did not even need?
"Of course I'm not here to talk nonsense."
Agatha lowered her eyelids slightly, and her entire face seemed to sink into shadow.
She casually glanced at Haunter and Gengar playing at the edge of the corridor before saying faintly, "Your Haunter has excellent talent and has been trained well… You also have an Elite-level Ghost-type Pokémon on you, don't you? I can feel it."
Shiro's expression shifted slightly, though confusion remained.
As a veteran Ghost-type Elite Four member of the Kanto League, Agatha's true strength was absolutely above Elite-level. She likely possessed Champion-level Ghost Pokémon herself.
But why suddenly praise Haunter? Had Haunter really been sneaking around to see her behind his back?
Surely she was not about to kindly teach him Ghost-type training methods for no reason.
Shiro speculated wildly, unable to grasp her intent.
Agatha, however, showed a faintly sinister smile and spoke slowly. "Shiro, become my protégé."
She wanted to take him as a student?
Shiro was momentarily stunned. Even if he used Growlithe's brain to think, he knew Agatha definitely had another motive.
"If you acknowledge me as your teacher, I can help you resolve Sinnoh's upper-level problem," she said, pausing briefly before adding, "I can also recommend you to Oak and have that bastard nominate you to become a professor this year… As for the rest, I don't need to spell it out, do I?"
Shiro fell silent in thought.
The League was extremely strict about conferring the title of Professor. The requirements were numerous, and one could not simply rise quickly at will. Even if he already had sufficient research achievements, in theory he would still need a few more years of accumulation and greater exposure at major conferences.
To many people, he already possessed Professor-level accomplishments and would certainly earn the title eventually. But in reality, he was still a few years short. Professor Oak's personal recommendation would undoubtedly shorten that timeline.
However…
Why would Agatha treat him so well?
He was a Galarian, and while his background was not entirely shrouded in mystery, it was at least unknown to her. Rather than a true apprenticeship, this felt more like an exchange of interests, just packaged as mentorship with Ghost-type training knowledge.
"It sounds quite good." Shiro smiled.
Agatha smiled as well.
"But I refuse," he replied coldly.
Her smile stiffened but did not fade. As if she had anticipated this, she continued, "The price is that you participate in the Indigo Plateau Conference."
The Indigo Plateau Conference?
Shiro frowned. Why participate in what he had thought of as a beginner's tournament? What could he possibly do for her there?
No. The timeline was early, and this world was no utopia. The Indigo Plateau Conference was certainly not some child's playground like in the anime.
Was it closer to the near-ruleless wild battle tournament of the manga adaptation, or a high-level gathering of elite prodigy trainers?
And what about after participating?
Agatha continued slowly and clearly, "With my recommendation, you can enter directly into the Top 16 as one of eight candidates. Your final placement does not matter. What matters is that afterward, you can challenge the Elite Four."
Challenge the Elite Four?
Shiro was even more puzzled. Challenge Kanto's Elite Four? First, he was from Galar. Second, his background was unclear. And weren't challengers normally required to win the conference before facing the Elite Four?
With his current strength, unless he cheated with Mesprit, how could he defeat a veteran Elite who might at any moment bring out a Champion-level Pokémon?
"Heh, I know you have doubts," Agatha chuckled softly. "This matter is significant. You can go back, take a look, think it over… Whenever you decide, you can contact me through Lorelei."
She emphasized the words "take a look" and "think it over."
Shiro remained silent.
This likely involved internal struggles within the Kanto League. He did not understand the situation and could not guess her true objective. It gave him a headache.
But as long as he refused, he would never fall into a trap.
Agatha did not press further. Instead, she waved her hand. "We're about to dock… And that three hundred million Pokédollars, when you come to Kanto for the Academic Summit, I'll have Lorelei deliver it to you."
Without waiting for his questions, she called to Gengar in the corner. "Come!"
Gengar, who had been playing ghost-energy hula hoops with Haunter, shuddered and instantly turned into a wisp of black mist, floating back. Agatha walked to her cabin and shut the door.
Haunter scratched its backside and drifted back to Shiro's side.
He stared at it silently for several seconds, until Haunter's eyes darted around nervously.
"Haunter… confess honestly," he said faintly.
"Haun? Haun?"
Haunter stuck out its red tongue and wobbled it left and right, grinning as if trying to brush the matter aside.
Shiro frowned slightly. "A."
A flash of light appeared as Unown A manifested on his right shoulder, its single eye stern like a judge interrogating a criminal.
'Confess honestly!' Unown A repeated.
Under the pressure of psychic power and Teacher A's authority, Haunter tapped its claws together and explained everything.
In the middle of the night, it had suddenly dreamed of something incredibly delicious, and its body had moved on its own…
Then there was no "then."
It had simply floated into the corridor for no reason, opened its eyes, seen Gengar eating something, and instinctively asked for some. Gengar had given it a portion.
Unown A translated Haunter's words before declaring indignantly, 'A conspiracy! A blatant conspiracy!'
"Indeed."
Shiro agreed as he walked toward the deck.
On the way, Unown A thoroughly examined Haunter with psychic power and finally reached a conclusion. 'Hiss… It seems… it's gotten quite a bit stronger. Its control over Ghost-type energy has also improved significantly.'
Haunter clutched its belly and snickered mischievously.
Unown A turned its back and stared at the floor, questioning existence itself. It had painstakingly given Haunter one-on-one guidance, yet it had grown so much just from playing for a while with that old hag's Pokémon.
This was beyond logic….
"As long as Haunter's fine." Shiro let out a breath.
He had thought that old woman might secretly poison Haunter, some toxin that would flare up every few days so she could use it as leverage to threaten him.
Well, he had clearly overthought it.
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