Day after day, repeating the same routine at Ecruteak Gym… half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
What would normally be a dull and tedious life felt fulfilling to Tetsuya, because he could see his Pokémon making small strides every day.
Ditto continued its basic training each day, with a focus on speed.
Gastly's training in [Shadow Hypnosis] wasn't progressing quickly. The illusion coverage and power of Night Shade, the casting speed of Hypnosis, and the ability to split its focus all still needed improvement.
The five Shuppet had become Gastly's designated sparring partners. Day in, day out, Gastly had begun to learn the fundamentals of [Shadow Hypnosis]. Meanwhile, the move where it drained vitality under cover of Night Shade was becoming more and more honed.
Apparently, the threat of "eating" was even more potent than Gastly itself…
Raine hadn't been idle either. Duskull and Machop were progressing. Just the day before, they'd finally managed to use Foresight before the Gastly "horde" launched their attack… a "historic" breakthrough!
For half a month, they had failed to clear the first floor of Brass Tower. But success was getting closer.
After polishing their moves once more, Tetsuya and Raine stepped in for their eighteenth attempt at the first floor of Brass Tower.
"Hey! How confident are you this time?" Raine asked.
"Hn. If we lose again, we're not coming back out."
Tetsuya replied coldly as he led Ditto and Gastly inside.
Raine snorted. "Whoa… cocky." Then followed close behind.
Two Haunter, twenty Gastly. After battling them daily for over half a month, both sides had become very familiar with each other.
"Foresight!"
Raine shouted the command without hesitation.
"Ditto, Transform. Gastly, Night Shade cover."
Tetsuya knew all too well that the key to this fight was pulling off Foresight successfully. He wasn't about to take any chances.
Ditto quickly transformed into Haunter and flung two Shadow Balls with a quick motion of its hands. After two weeks of transforming into Haunter daily, Ditto's sensitivity to Ghost-type energy had reached a new level.
With Ditto keeping them busy, the two Haunter couldn't focus on coordinating the Gastly group.
The Gastly closest to Machop and Duskull launched the first attack -tongues whipping forward- but Tetsuya's Gastly cast a large wave of Night Shade to shield the two as they focused.
Just at that moment…!
Machop and Duskull unleashed four beams of light, illuminating the entire first floor of Brass Tower without leaving a single shadow.
Every Gastly and Haunter was forcibly materialized. Blinded by the sudden burst of light, the Gastly "horde" fell into disarray.
"Now, attack!"
Tetsuya gave the order, and Gastly surged forward with Night Shade trailing behind it like a black cloud, swallowing five nearby Gastly.
It began draining their vitality.
Sensing that the situation was going south, the two Haunter broke off their engagement with Ditto and rushed to assist. But Ditto, fueled by a sense of purpose, wasn't about to let them go. Shadow Balls came flying like a rapid-fire machine gun. One of the Haunter had no choice but to stay behind and deal with Ditto.
Duskull was in the middle of using Shadow Sneak on a Gastly when the Haunter's backup arrived. A single Shadow Ball shattered Duskull's shadow, forcing it to retreat.
With the reinforcement, the Haunter rallied the Gastly group and surrounded the three remaining Pokémon on Tetsuya's side.
"They're trying to form a Night Shade ring. Do whatever it takes to scatter Gastly!"
Tetsuya called out to Raine. Raine, though irritated, understood the urgency. If they let the Night Shade ring complete, they'd see a repeat of their first failed attempt. At their current strength, there was no breaking through that layered illusion.
Without another word, Raine immediately commanded Machop and Duskull to launch a melee assault.
Ghost-type moves were limited in their effect on Machop. It charged forward, and with a powerful Karate Chop, struck at two Gastly.
The two Gastly hadn't even realized they'd been hit while under the effects of Foresight.
They took Machop's full-force blow and went down.
Duskull, being slower and unable to endure a direct hit, didn't charge in. Instead, it posed as if attacking, drawing the attention of some of the Gastly. In truth, it had no way of getting close to the Gastly group.
Meanwhile, the black mist of Gastly's Night Shade expanded noticeably.
Tetsuya nodded.
As expected, the five Gastly being drained had just about run dry. One by one, they fell out of the black mist of Night Shade.
That made seven Gastly defeated so far.
With the situation like this, the Haunter could no longer coordinate the Night Shade ring. They gave up on it entirely.
Duskull, now overextended and struggling, became the Haunter's next target.
Two Shadow Balls flew toward it. Duskull, already drained, couldn't dodge such high-speed attacks. It was knocked to the ground.
Haunter followed up with Shadow Punch.
Under Haunter's relentless assault, Duskull was close to collapsing.
But credit where it was due, Raine had trained it well.
Just as Haunter was savoring its victory, Duskull made a final counterattack. Shadow Sneak.
A black claw struck from behind, slamming Haunter down!
"Gastly, go!"
Haunter was the field commander. With it exposed like that, Tetsuya wasn't going to miss the opportunity.
Gastly's Night Shade plunged downward, engulfing the Haunter.
But Gastly had already hit its limit. It couldn't drain any more vitality. It could only hold Haunter in place.
On Tetsuya and Raine's side, Duskull had lost the ability to battle.
Ditto was still locked in a bitter standoff with the remaining Haunter.
One Haunter was subdued.
That left thirteen Gastly.
"[Shadow Hypnosis]."
Tetsuya had no choice but to go for it. Could one Machop take on thirteen powerful Gastly?
Impossible!
Even now wasn't the best moment for [Shadow Hypnosis]. Only six Gastly were attacking the Night Shade cloud to try and free Haunter.
As they pounded the black mist, red hypnotic waves suddenly rippled out. Caught completely off guard, the six Gastly grew drowsy and collapsed in sleep one by one.
Haunter, still trapped inside Night Shade, couldn't escape the hypnotic waves either. It too fell asleep and was flung out.
That left seven Gastly facing a single Machop. Machop had no choice but to keep taking hits. Having witnessed its strength, the Gastly kept their distance. Machop had no chance to get close.
But in that position, Gastly couldn't be affected by "Shadow Hypnosis" either. Their backs were turned. Since Hypnosis worked primarily through "eye contact" -face-to-face-, the move was useless.
Machop was on the verge of collapse. If Gastly broke free of the Night Shade's protective shield and attacked directly, Gastly could maybe take down two more. But there were seven left. Winning was impossible.
The battle had come so far. Victory was in sight. But at this critical juncture, Tetsuya was stuck, unsure how to break through.