Unable to find Gastly in the crowd, Cole had to put the matter aside. Even if he found it, he probably couldn't defeat it anyway.
When lunchtime arrived, everyone found a picturesque spot with beautiful scenery for their picnic.
Cole, Sara, and Kiara set up the tables and placed the cutlery, while Delia and Lopunny brought out ingredients and began cooking. Chansey assisted them.
Delia and Lopunny had prepared abundant ingredients, eager to showcase their cooking skills for lunch.
After setting up the tableware, Cole distributed his snacks to everyone. The Pokémon ate while playing on the nearby grass.
They weren't alone in the area. The weather was perfect today, and with Veilshore Town's Summer Festival underway, many tourists had come to visit.
Some trainers accompanied their male and female Nidoran on romantic dates.
Riders raced wildly across the field on Tauros and Dodrio. A Gloom showered its trainer with affectionate kisses.
With time before the meal was ready, Cole, Sara, and Kiara's Pokémon began playing freely.
Near the soft grass was a pond with crystal-clear water. Brionne spotted it and eagerly darted in. After swimming around, it climbed onto a rock in the center and began to sing.
The beautiful melody immediately attracted many Pokémon, who gathered at the pond's edge, listening with expressions of pure enjoyment.
Tinkatuff and Brionne didn't get along. The little pink Pokémon picked up a small stone from the grass, planning to ambush the sea lioness. Before it could act, however, it found itself involuntarily captivated by Brionne's enchanting voice.
Damn it, why does this guy have to sing so beautifully!
Heliolisk extended its frill and lay on the grass, basking leisurely in the sun.
Pikachu noticed and ran over, sending golden electrical currents from its cheeks to Heliolisk's frill. In return, currents from Heliolisk's frill flowed into Pikachu's electric pouches.
"Pika~~"
Pikachu rubbed its cheeks, called out happily, and sent another electric current to Heliolisk's frill. The two Electric-type Pokémon contentedly continued their electrical exchange.
Cole's Dragonair and Sara's Dragonair became instant best friends, soaring freely through the sky together.
Cole's Pidove competed with Sara's Pidgeotto and Kiara's Golbat in an aerial display, each showing off their flying techniques.
Despite Pidgeotto and Golbat having evolved once, they consistently lost to Pidove. This left them frustrated, and though they kept demanding rematches, they only collected more defeats with each attempt.
Meanwhile, Bayleef lounged on the grass with Kiara's Ivysaur and Vileplume, as well as Sara's Ampharos and Charizard. They lay with their heads together, whispering about something only they knew.
Soon it was time to eat. Cole called all the Pokémon back but noticed Brionne being stopped by a young girl. After their conversation, Brionne swaggered back looking quite self-satisfied.
"What were you talking about with her?" Cole asked curiously.
"Bri~" — I met one of my fans!
Brionne proudly raised its chin, its face beaming with pride.
"That's impressive!" Cole gave it a thumbs up, "You even have fans here in Kanto."
Tinkatuff, following behind Brionne, secretly made a face at it, thinking, 'What's so great about that? You just know how to sing, pfft~~~'
Cole distributed the Pokéblocks — made by Lopunny from S-class berries — to his Pokémon and Ash's Pikachu, then went to eat his own meal.
The Pokéblocks were both nutritious and delicious; everyone ate with their heads down, fully focused on the food.
As Bayleef was eating, it suddenly saw Pikachu approach its plate, grab a Pokéblock and pop it into its mouth with an expression of pure bliss! Bayleef wasn't stingy — it was a Pokémon that loved to share — and even pushed its plate closer to Pikachu.
It was a bit confused though: didn't Pikachu have its own Pokéblocks? Had it finished them so quickly?
Bayleef didn't think too much about it, since Pikachu left after eating just two bites, so it returned to enjoying its meal.
Next was Heliolisk. Halfway through eating, it saw Lopunny suddenly approach and start taking Pokéblocks from its plate. Heliolisk was happy to share food with its wife and pushed its plate closer.
It even tried to snuggle with Lopunny, but strangely, Lopunny was unusually cold today and pushed away Heliolisk's approaching head.
After Lopunny left, Heliolisk remained dazed by the encounter.
Then came Pidove. It wasn't stingy either. When Pidgeotto pecked at the Pokéblocks from its plate, Pidove assumed its new friend didn't normally get such good food and was hungry, so it generously shared.
But things were different with Tinkatuff. As it ate, it suddenly saw Brionne come over and take Pokéblocks from its plate. Tinkatuff was dumbfounded.
Are we close enough to share food? Since when?
Tinkatuff angrily raised its hammer and slammed it hard toward Brionne, but at the moment of impact, the target dissolved into smoke and vanished.
BOOM!!!
The hammer struck the ground with such force that everyone — people and Pokémon alike — turned to look at Tinkatuff, the source of the commotion.
Tinkatuff was equally stunned. How did Brionne suddenly turn to smoke and drift away?
Wait — Brionne was still in its original spot. So who had just been here? Was Tinkatuff hallucinating?
Tinkatuff shook its head vigorously. Impossible, impossible!
"Tinkatuff, what's wrong?" Cole asked, looking confused.
"Tink~ Tink~ Tink~"
Tinkatuff excitedly explained what had just happened.
Brionne was displeased hearing this. Who wants your Pokéblocks? Don't I have my own? I even think you drool when you eat!
Cole pondered for a moment before suddenly realizing something. He called out to the air, "Gastly? It's you, isn't it? How shameless of you to steal my Pokémon's Pokéblocks!"
Sara, Kiara, Delia, and Ash were all bewildered by his words.
Gastly? Where did a Gastly come from?
"Uncle, who are you talking to?" Ash asked with a puzzled look.
Just then, a Gastly slowly materialized above everyone's heads.
"Hahaha..." It laughed awkwardly, "I didn't expect to be discovered. Failure, failure."
How had its plan suddenly failed with Tinkatuff? It had been using both Disguise to transform into other Pokémon and a mild hypnosis technique to steal food.
Gastly was cunning. It had carefully observed the relationships between the Pokémon and, when stealing food, deliberately transformed into Pokémon that had good relationships with its targets.
But it had completely misunderstood the relationship between Brionne and Tinkatuff.
Earlier, Gastly had seen Tinkatuff by the pool, entranced by Brionne's singing, and assumed they were friends — when in reality, the two Pokémon were bitter enemies.
To avoid drawing attention, Gastly would combine its Disguise with a mild hypnosis technique. This hypnosis was very subtle and wouldn't affect the target's consciousness — it simply distracted their attention.
This tactic worked perfectly when deceiving Pokémon with friendly relationships, but when used between enemies, it proved far less effective.
"Where did this Gastly come from?" Sara asked in surprise.
Cole explained, "That fortune-telling old lady you met earlier was actually Gastly in disguise."
Upon hearing this, Sara became furious, "I knew it! You're definitely a fraud. How could a Ghost-type Pokémon possibly tell fortunes!"
"Hehe~" Gastly chuckled sheepishly, "Young lady, don't mind it. Life is hard for a ghost. I just wanted to earn a little money for living expenses, and it wasn't even much."
"Bah!" Sara said angrily.
Gastly looked at Cole with interest and asked, "Little brat, how did you see through my Disguise?"
Cole looked mysteriously at Gastly and said, "That's for me to know!"
Gastly floated down from the air, circled around him, and remarked with curiosity, "You're a Psychic. For someone your age, you're quite strong, but still... your abilities might seem powerful to others, but to me, they're nothing special. By all logic, you shouldn't have been able to see through my Disguise!"
Cole said, "How I saw through your Disguise isn't important."
Gastly disagreed, "How can it not be important? This is my con — ahem — I mean, my livelihood!"
"Did you just say 'con and cheat'?" Sara suddenly chimed in.
"No, no, young lady, you misheard." Gastly hurriedly flew back up into the air, distancing itself from Cole and Sara, "I've been alive for over two thousand years, so I'm quite the elder among your elders. I couldn't possibly cheat people."
Cole asked curiously, "Are you really just a Gastly?"
"Kekeke~~" Gastly cackled, "Why don't you guess? Didn't you see through my Disguise?"
Its body began to contort, and in an instant, it transformed into a Haunter.
"Kekeke, how about now?"
As it spoke, Haunter's body twisted again, turning into a Gengar.
"And now? Kekeke~"
After a series of transformations, Gengar reverted to Gastly's form.
"Well, little brat, am I impressive or what?"
Cole nodded honestly, "Indeed impressive."
"So... after watching my performance, shouldn't... shouldn't you give me a reward?" Gastly asked hesitantly, "Your Pokéblocks are quite good. I really like them."
"You want a reward for that?" Cole asked in surprise, "You performed on your own initiative, not because I asked you to."
"Ah~ Little brat, that's not fair!" Gastly complained, "Just a few Pokéblocks, why be so stingy?"
"Just a few Pokéblocks?" Cole rolled his eyes, "Do you have any idea how precious my Pokéblocks are? You can't buy them anywhere."
Gastly certainly knew this, otherwise it wouldn't have gone to such lengths to steal them.
"Why don't you come back home with me? I have plenty of these Pokéblocks at home. You can eat as many as you want." Cole finally revealed his true intentions.
"Kekeke~" Gastly cackled, "I see now, you want to trick me into becoming your Pokémon! What are you dreaming about? Ten of you together wouldn't be enough to defeat me, and you want to be my trainer?"
Having lived for so long, Gastly wasn't like those simple Pokémon who could be easily fooled. It saw through Cole's intentions immediately.
"Although your Pokéblocks are nice, if you think you can trick me into serving you, that's impossible."
"Fine then, since you refuse, I won't force you. But you stole quite a few Pokéblocks earlier — you need to compensate me!"
"I'll compensate you, you stingy little thing!" Gastly's body writhed as it levitated a dark-colored crystal toward Cole.
When he caught and examined it, Cole was surprised to discover it was a Dusk Stone of extremely high quality, almost on par with the Water Stone in his collection.
As expected from a thousand-year-old Gastly's collection!
This would be perfect for evolving the Misdreavus and Lampent at home into Mismagius and Chandelure, though it was a shame there was only one.
"Do you have any more of these? If you do, I can give you more Pokéblocks." Cole said.
"Kid, you're really greedy. A Dusk Stone of such high quality, and you want a second one!" Gastly said mockingly.
Despite its words, it promptly produced another one and tossed it to him.
It couldn't help it — the stone was useless to Gastly anyway, so it might as well exchange it for more useful Pokéblocks.
Cole received the Dusk Stone with satisfaction, placing it alongside the previous one in his backpack. He then took out a container of Pokéblocks and tossed it to Gastly.
"Here are your Pokéblocks!"
"Oh my Oh my" Gastly complained while absorbing the Pokéblocks into its gaseous body, "I got the short end of the deal! What a loss!"
Cole smiled silently. From a certain perspective, Gastly had indeed lost out.
"Hmph! Annoying brat, we'll meet again!"
With that, Gastly drifted higher and higher until it vanished from sight.
"Uncle, what Pokémon was that just now? It can talk!" Ash asked, his voice filled with curiosity and amazement.
"That was a Gastly, a Ghost and Poison-type Pokémon. Normal Gastly can't talk — this one is special." Cole explained patiently.
"Ohhh~~" Ash nodded repeatedly, "Strange Gastly, Ghost and Poison-type Pokémon..."
After lunch, everyone went to the Pokémon Center to rest for a while before continuing to enjoy the festival in the afternoon.
As evening approached, a sudden commotion erupted from the direction of Maiden's Peak.
"Something's wrong! There's trouble! Big trouble!" Someone shouted.
✲✲✲
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