At that moment, a suppressed anger welled up in Tetsuya. A Pokémon leaving without its Trainer's command was, in his view, a serious offense.
'Fine… I was going to give up on you anyway. Do as you like.'
Tetsuya let it go, completely ignoring the salesclerk as he walked outside.
There on the street, five or six burly men were shouting at each other, about to come to blows. Gastly drifted around them like a specter.
Suddenly, all six men began swaying unsteadily, as if they could barely stand. They clung to the streetlamps just to stay upright.
At that moment, Gastly floated back to Tetsuya's side, suddenly full of energy, completely different from the weak and feeble state it had shown earlier that afternoon.
Tetsuya connected the dots between the men's drained condition and the weakness he himself had experienced when encountering Gastly earlier…
He had the answer: Gastly's preferred food was vitality.
Was a Gastly like this good or bad? Tetsuya couldn't make a conclusion yet. Maybe the answer lay with Ecruteak Gym. But at least there was one problem he no longer needed to worry about, food. Even in the wild, as long as there was life, there would be vitality. It would save him the cost of feeding it, at least…
'I guess it's time to head back home…'
---◓---
Back home, Tetsuya focused his attention on Gastly. After all, it was going to be battling tomorrow.
Gastly stared wide-eyed at Tetsuya, its new "Trainer".
Tetsuya had originally planned to have Ditto teach Gastly a lesson for wandering off without orders. But thinking back, if not for that, he wouldn't have discovered what kind of food it needed.
Considering it a first offense, he gave a warning instead. "Gastly, you're my Pokémon now. From now on, without my command, you're not allowed to act on your own. Going off to feed yourself without permission is a mistake. This time it's just a warning. Next time… it won't be so simple."
Gastly blinked, looking somewhat confused.
Tetsuya shook his head. 'One day, you'll understand.'
"That's enough of that. Now, let's see what other moves you have besides Curse. Don't hold back, I need to know for tomorrow's match."
Hypnosis, Lick, Mean Look.
Tetsuya sighed. As expected, its level was low. Its only offensive move was Lick, and that was a physical move, utterly useless. Gastly might be Gengar's first-stage evolution, but it still had a base Special Attack stat of 100. Yet not a single Special Attack move? With a base 35 in physical Attack, it couldn't do any real damage at all.
Nearly hopeless!
Looked like tomorrow's battle wouldn't be relying on this Gastly. He'd have to count on himself.
Tetsuya sent Gastly to the old man's room and had it do zigzag collisions, bouncing from one corner of the room to the opposite one to train its Speed through rebound force. Right now, Speed was the only asset he could use.
As always, Ditto was training alongside him in the six-meter [Shadow Dagger] throw drill…
---◓---
The next morning at nine, they gathered once again at the battlefield in Ecruteak Gym. Tetsuya couldn't even remember how many times they'd met there.
Matsuba looked at the four "rising stars" before him with pride.
"All four of you have done very well to make it this far. To ensure absolute fairness, I've changed the old draw-based matchup format.
Now, we'll be using a point system. Each of you will battle every other person. It will be completely fair and just. The top two will advance."
No one had any objections to this decision.
The other two competitors, besides Tetsuya and Raine, had only managed to catch a Gastly thanks to Tetsuya's help. Those two Gastly were even lower in level than Tetsuya's, and they had absolutely no battle sense. Their fate as cannon fodder was already sealed.
Very quickly, both Tetsuya and Raine won two matches each. It was essentially confirmed that the two of them would become official Trainees at Ecruteak Gym.
Matsuba treated their final battle as a friendly match after entering the Gym, instructing them to use their Ghost-type Pokémon to battle.
What Matsuba could never have imagined… was that the fight between the two had already begun, each with hidden motives.
Gastly -⚔️- Duskull.
Without any Special Attack moves, Gastly was completely outmatched against the high-Defense Duskull line.
Tetsuya fixed his eyes on Raine and Duskull, closely observing every movement.
Gastly's Speed far surpassed Duskull's, allowing it to wait and strike at the perfect moment. Raine, still somewhat shaken by Tetsuya's presence, didn't dare to make a reckless move.
A sly grin appeared on Tetsuya's lips. He had already seen through Raine's mindset. He had been wary of Duskull at first, but with a Trainer like Raine, it was truly Duskull's misfortune.
'Hn. If you won't act, then I will.'
"Gastly, Hypnosis."
Gastly and Duskull locked eyes at just the right moment. Gastly's pupils turned bright red, and waves of hypnotic light began to spread. Duskull, looking dazed and vacant, stared blankly at Gastly, its body swaying as sleep overcame it.
"…Dammit, that's so dirty!"
Raine clenched his teeth, struggling to come up with a plan as Duskull was about to fall into a deep sleep.
"Astonish! Use Astonish on yourself, Duskull!"
In a moment of desperation, Raine shouted his command.
Luckily, Duskull hadn't completely lost consciousness. With a shrill scream, it snapped itself out of the trance. Gastly's Hypnosis was broken without fully landing.
'Heh… not bad. At least he knew something.'
Tetsuya gave a cold snort. But his next command had already been given.
Still shaken, Duskull was struck again by Gastly's Lick.
While the attack wasn't painful -hardly more than a tickle- it was the only offensive option Gastly had.
Taking hits wasn't Raine's style. Earlier, he had backed down under Tetsuya's pressure.
Now, all he could think about was counterattack -revenge- to regain his lost "pride".
"Duskull, use Disable!"
Tetsuya inwardly cursed. This was bad. Gastly was basically finished now. Disable specifically shuts down the opponent's last move for a short duration.
A cloud of purplish-red smoke shrouded Gastly. Its Lick was immediately blocked.
With both Hypnosis and Lick now unusable, Gastly had become a helpless target…
"Brilliant!" Even Matsuba watching from the sidelines couldn't help but praise the move.
Raine seemed to realize that this Gastly was completely out of options, and launched into a furious counteroffensive.
Night Shade, Astonish, Shadow Sneak…
This Duskull was clearly at a higher level than Gastly, unleashing a variety of moves from multiple angles.
Now, Gastly could only dodge repeatedly. If not for the Speed training from last night, it would have already been overwhelmed by Raine's revenge-driven assault.
Victory was within reach.
Raine broke into a rare smile; today, he was finally going to defeat Tetsuya.
Tetsuya's eyes narrowed, focused tightly on the chase. He still recognized Gastly's Speed as a solid advantage. Now it was a contest of stamina.
'…Stamina?'
At that thought, a flash of inspiration struck Tetsuya. Bait the enemy into overextending from a losing position… how had he not seen it before? He had almost been defeated in the gutter.
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