Ryuto's wild and unrestrained nature came out in full after Matsuba left. After giving Tetsuya and Raine a few instructions on managing the Gym, he ran off.
"Do we make our move?" Raine asked.
"Have Gastly and Duskull guard the entrance. If any Challengers show up, they can let us know." Tetsuya replied.
"Tch… if they come, they come. Why should we care?" Raine said with a dismissive shrug.
Tetsuya rolled his eyes. He couldn't be bothered to explain. "Yeah, you're such a big Gyarados~ Not only do we have to care, we have to accept their challenges!"
"T-That's a complete waste of our time. You must be brain-damaged!" Raine jumped at the chance to counter as if he'd found Tetsuya's weakness.
Tetsuya shot him a glare… 'You gaki… if we weren't under this roof, I'd make you pay.'
That same cold, ruthless look again. Raine instinctively swallowed hard. He could tell he'd crossed a line.
"Heh. You really don't think. Refusing a Challenger without reason… one or two is fine. But if too many pile up, people will start complaining. Then Matsuba will find out everything's a mess in the Gym, and he might return before we're done. If that happens, we'll never be trusted again to run the Gym, and our chance will disappear completely."
Tetsuya's tone dripped with scorn, and Raine's face flushed red.
Tetsuya snorted. 'This Raine… such short-sighted thinking. Can it be that Matsuba's branch family is really so lacking that they'd send someone with no IQ at all…? 'What a 'genius".'
---◓---
With Gastly and Duskull stationed at the Gym entrance, Tetsuya and Raine made their way to the inner rooms.
"The door's locked," Raine said, stopping.
Tetsuya didn't respond. If the door weren't locked, that would be more suspicious.
"Ditto, you're up."
When it came to picking locks, Ditto was the expert. It "launched" its whole body onto the lock, cellular structure oozing into the keyhole. A twist… and the lock clicked open.
Raine looked on, stunned.
"Hn."
Once inside Matsuba's study, Raine immediately began rummaging through the bookshelves.
Tetsuya paid him no mind. At that pace, with thousands of books and the need to leave no trace, Raine wouldn't finish even if he kept going until Matsuba returned.
Tetsuya started from the doorway, carefully inspecting the layout of the entire room for anything unusual.
The entire day passed like that. They even dealt with four Challengers. But they'd barely explored half the study. Once Ryuto returned in the evening, they had no choice but to call it off.
Since the day had been lost to investigations, they had to make up for it with training at night.
At the base of Bell Tower.
Tetsuya directed Gastly to practice Embargo again and again. Ditto served as the training partner. While Gastly had fully grasped the move's concept, it still couldn't lock Ditto into a frozen state.
The power just wasn't there yet.
Seeing Gastly start to slack off, Tetsuya barked, "Use full power. Don't stop!"
Gastly refocused its energy.
---◓---
They trained until ten o'clock, and Tetsuya still showed no signs of stopping. His attention remained fixed on Gastly and Ditto.
Suddenly, a black shadow zipped into Bell Tower.
Though it moved fast, Tetsuya got a clear look. It was a sharply defined figure, with spikes covering its body and a purplish-red lower half…
Mega Gengar!?
It was unmistakably Mega Gengar. Tetsuya was sure of it. But something didn't make sense. What era was this again? Mega Evolution wouldn't even appear in the public eye for another twenty years at least. And even then, the conditions for it were incredibly strict.
A strong bond between Trainer and Pokémon was essential for Mega Evolution. More importantly, the "Evolutionary Stone" -the Mega Stone- that matched a specific Pokémon for Mega Evolution was priceless. Even when Tetsuya was in his sixties in his past life, Mega Stones only ever appeared in high-end auction markets.
In any region, the number of people who possessed a Mega-Evolved Pokémon -A Pokémon who could Mega Evolve- could be counted on one hand!
Usually Champions, Elite Four, or a few major Families.
In his previous life, Tetsuya had managed to become a Gym Leader. One of the Beedrill he raised had Mega Evolution potential thanks to their bond, but he never secured a Mega Stone. Not even by the time he was "return" did he ever own a single Mega-Evolved Pokémon.
The value of a Mega Stone was practically infinite. Rare ones were impossible to buy even with money.
Stones like Tyranitarite, Garchompite, Salamencite, and Metagrossite only appeared in Champion-level battles, and anyone possessing them was backed by both the League and a major Family.
Still, the world had its mysteries…
Take Ash Ketchum, a man with the most absurd protagonist aura imaginable. He didn't even need a Mega Stone. He owned the world's only "Ash-Greninja" form of Mega Evolution. After traveling across all major regions, he returned to Pallet Town to lay low for a few years. With the full support of Professor Oak, he quickly rose in the Kanto Region, eventually becoming a Champion-level Trainer.
In his past life, Tetsuya had tried to steal some of Ash's fated opportunities. But every time, he failed. It was as if Ash had Legendary protection; none of his destined fortunes ever slipped away. Maybe this is what it meant to be favored by Arceus…
But he, Tetsuya, wasn't favored by it… and he didn't need to be. He was someone who fought against the ods!
Against fate…
In his past life, Koga had spent half his fortune at an auction to acquire the Mega Stone for his Gengar. And even then, Tetsuya had only ever seen a handful of Mega Gengar in total.
And now, here -in this timeline- a Mega Gengar had appeared.
Unbelievable…
Absolutely unbelievable!
Driven by intense curiosity, Tetsuya dashed into Bell Tower to investigate.
After "blending" into the tower for over half a month, the local Ghost-type Pokémon no longer used illusions on him.
Holding a flashlight, Tetsuya searched through the tower. Gastly followed close behind, while Ditto had transformed into a wrist guard wrapped around his right arm.
Tetsuya was just about to climb the stairs when he suddenly felt a crushing force pressing down on him. Then came a wave of red light descending from above.
His eyelids grew heavy, his head spun, and he nearly collapsed. Even Gastly wobbled in mid-air.
'Not good… Hypnosis? How can it be this powerful?'
Sensing the danger, Tetsuya immediately recalled Gastly. He slapped himself hard across the face, leaving five crimson marks.
Finally regaining clarity, Tetsuya fled the Bell Tower.
But he didn't give up. He kept circling the perimeter of the tower.
If what had entered just now really was Mega Gengar, it would have to come out eventually. A low-level place like Bell Tower wasn't fit for a Pokémon of such power.
Time ticked by, second after second…
Even past midnight, Tetsuya stayed sharp and alert.