After reaching the ninth floor of the Tower, Tetsuya was already exhausted. The stairs were utterly impossible to climb. He had almost entirely relied on Ditto transforming into a rope, wrapping itself around the load-bearing pillars of the upper floors to climb up. His hands had once again been rubbed raw, blood blisters forming on his palms.
Just as he reached the ninth floor, an illusion appeared again, making it feel as though he were being buried alive in a sea of flames.
However, Tetsuya did not pay it much mind.
Just as he was about to use Foresight, he saw a Gastly lying in the corner, looking extremely weak.
Tetsuya shook his head. This illusion was far too flawed, there was actually one dragging the others down.
"Ditto, use Foresight."
Two beams of light swept across the area. A group of Gastly had nowhere to hide and naturally fled without a trace.
Only the weak Gastly in the corner was left, "trembling" with fear.
Tetsuya crouched down toward the corner. "Why aren't you running?"
Seeing Tetsuya, the Gastly shrank back even further.
Faced with such a timid Gastly, Tetsuya naturally lost interest and was just about to stand up and leave…
Suddenly, he felt a wave of dizziness in his head, as if he were about to stagger and fall.
'What… g…oing on…?'
This body was only seven years old, and he trained every day, his stamina could be said to be abundant. So why did it feel as though the heat in his body was being drained away?
Looking again at the Gastly, it had actually begun to Levitate, revealing a sinister smile.
That kind of smile felt so familiar, it could only be described as etched into his bones…
Koga's Mega Gengar had worn the same smile!
That memory was something that could not be erased even in this lifetime.
And the sensation just now was exactly the same as when Ariados and the others had their vitality drained by Mega Gengar.
'Catch!'
Although Tetsuya was feeling dizzy, his powerful will was enough to support his resolve.
He had to catch this Gastly!
Even though he did not yet know how to raise it, he knew for certain that it had value worth capturing.
This Gastly was still under the effects of Foresight, and its body was weak. The chance of catching it was very high.
"Ditto, Transform."
A black face was surrounded by a mass of purple smoke. Large white eyes took up nearly half of the face, yet the pupils were only tiny dots. Beneath a ghostly smile, a pair of fangs displayed an unsettling terror.
One real and one fake, two Gastly!
"Mean Look."
A Legend-level capture move. Tetsuya immediately cut off Gastly's escape route.
Oppressive black gazes shrouded Gastly, as if some strange energy were binding it in place.
Naturally timid, Gastly tried to escape but discovered it could not break free from this designated area no matter what.
"Give up, Lick."
Seeing how weak this Gastly was, it was clearly the type that got bullied by its companions. Its level was certainly not high, and there was no expectation that it had learned any advanced moves. To be safe, Tetsuya only gave the command to use the most basic Lick.
Gastly's Lick was different from Pokémon like Lickitung. It was not a real tongue, but ghostly energy extending from its body.
A long tongue stretched out and wrapped toward Gastly.
With insufficient stamina, the Gastly was chased all over the place, its speed growing slower and slower.
The scene turned into a game of T*m & Jer*y…
Seeing this, Tetsuya felt somewhat disappointed. To put it bluntly, a Pokémon like this was not what he had hoped for at all. Timid Pokémon might be fast, but that only meant they were good at fleeing. Their battle awareness was extremely poor.
Just like this Gastly now, under attack all it could think about was running away. If it were not for his experience battling Koga, Tetsuya would not have given such a Gastly a second glance.
It was getting closer.
Lick had already left Gastly with no escape. The long tongue, like a whip, lashed against Gastly.
It was over!
Tetsuya had already taken out a Poké Ball…
At that moment, a surprising scene unfolded. Gastly's eyes filled entirely with red light, and its whole body began to tremble, as if in the throes of a seizure.
What was this?
"Curse."
Tetsuya realized what was happening. He saw Ditto's body also wrapped in red light, its expression just as strange as Gastly's.
"Tehahaha…"
Tetsuya laughed… a genuine laugh. Gastly's final act of desperation was exactly what made it valuable.
If used by a Ghost-type Pokémon, Curse would cause it to lose half of its own vitality to inflict the Cursed status on the opponent, causing the opponent's vitality to continuously drain. It was a move that harmed the user first, then the enemy.
Forced into a corner, this Gastly chose to fight back rather than wait for defeat. Using a self-damaging move like Curse in its final moment proved its resolve to go down with its opponent.
This was exactly what Tetsuya valued. Low level and poor potential weren't frightening; what was frightening was knowing you were weak and doing nothing about it.
"Finish it."
Tetsuya gave the order. Ditto launched its final attack.
Gastly, having lost a large amount of vitality, was whipped down by the final Lick.
Tetsuya threw the Poké Ball.
'That feeling…'
Watching the Poké Ball trace a "Perfect-type arc" and strike Gastly, a flash of red light blinked twice… Gastly was completely caught!
"Hahhh~" 'What a nostalgic feeling…'
He didn't even know how many years it had been since he last caught a Pokémon. That moment brought him right back to the hot-blooded days of youth.
'No…' he had traveled through time. His youth was only just beginning. This life would be even more vivid and colorful!
Tetsuya walked over, about to pick up the Poké Ball.
A Machop blocked his way!
"This Gastly is mine."
An Emo-type aura swept in from behind. Tetsuya already knew who it was.
What gave him the courage to try and steal his prey after Tetsuya had displayed his power?
The value of this Gastly!
That was the first answer that came to Tetsuya's mind.
He turned around. As expected, it was the emo kid, Raine.
"…Move."
Tetsuya stared coldly at Raine.
That same gaze again. Raine involuntarily took half a step back, feeling a surge of fear.
Raine swallowed and said, "I-I… I want that Gastly. I'll help you catch a stronger one!"
Raine already felt three parts fear toward Tetsuya, and with this being the Ecruteak Gym evaluation, he didn't dare to act recklessly. His tone was already laced with negotiation.
But hearing that only confirmed Gastly's value in Tetsuya's mind. Giving it up? Absolutely impossible.
"I said move."
Tetsuya's tone was firm.
Raine also understood how important this Gastly was. Forcing himself to hold his ground, he said, "Your Ditto has already spent a lot of stamina. My Machop is still in perfect condition. You have no chance of winning!"
Raine tried to intimidate Tetsuya.
When meeting the enemy, strike first. If you waste time talking, you'd be dead a hundred times already.
Tetsuya gave a cold laugh. "Ditto, use Lick, wrap around Machop's eyes."
The long tongue, coated in disgusting slime, wrapped around Machop's eyes.
Without its eyes, Machop couldn't use Foresight. Without Foresight, Fighting-type moves had no effect on Ghost-types.
Tetsuya had decisively struck at Machop's vital weakness the moment the fight began.
Raine was completely helpless, frozen on the spot…