Evolution occurs as a result of overflowing accumulated energy interacting with bodily mutation and reconstruction.
There was no doubt that Gastly had already reached the level required for evolution, surpassing it, in fact. Although the amount of energy required for evolution varied based on a Pokémon's "potential", even Gastly's potential had to have a limit. It had now far exceeded the evolutionary threshold.
In recent days, Tetsuya could faintly sense the waves of energy spilling out from Gastly's body. The power of its moves had also greatly increased thanks to this accumulated energy.
That left only one possible explanation…
The body.
Gastly's body had been forcibly modified. Its Poison Core was artificially stimulated through external means. These changes might have made it impossible for the body to complete the reconstruction process necessary for evolution.
In his past life, when Tetsuya raised a Gastly, nothing like this had happened. So when he did the same thing in this life, he didn't think twice. But what was the real difference?
Poison…
It was poison again!
In his previous life, he dealt with Poison-type Pokémon every day, and Gastly was no exception. Even its sparring partners during training were all Poison-types. As a result, Gastly evolved smoothly, with no interruptions.
Could it be that stimulation from Poison-type Pokémon was necessary?
That was the conclusion Tetsuya came to. But he had already tricked Fantina once, and that definitely wouldn't work again. Plus, his movements in Ecruteak Gym were restricted.
'Haah… this was a real problem.'
A single Pokédollar could stop even the strongest hero!
That was exactly Tetsuya's situation -cash-. He couldn't obtain another Pokémon. All he could do now was fight challengers who happened to use Poison-types.
But Poison-type Pokémon weren't exactly popular, so over the next few days, he barely saw any. The only one was a Beedrill that only knew Poison Sting, a move that had no real effect on Gastly…
---◓---
Before he knew it, Fantina had already been here a month, and Tetsuya had spent nearly two months in Ecruteak Gym.
The ritual vessel at the pavilion in Matsuba Cemetery continued to block Tetsuya's path forward. And with no clear solution to Gastly's evolution, these two matters remained unresolved. Other than that, special training had been going smoothly.
Raine's Duskull had evolved into Dusclops, and Fantina's Drifloon had evolved into Drifblim. Morty had originally planned to wait until Tetsuya's Gastly evolved into Haunter before challenging the fourth floor of Brass Tower again, but with no signs of evolution, the plan had to be moved up.
By now, they had enough confidence to take on the fourth floor. After over half a month of special training, combined with battling, sparring, and learning from other Trainers, their skills had grown substantially.
Gastly, Spiritomb, Drifblim, and Dusclops had all improved rapidly.
Even though Gastly hadn't evolved, its strength was now on par with Morty's Spiritomb. Drifblim and Dusclops were both evolved Pokémon, yet they still couldn't match Gastly in a direct fight. This, of course, frustrated both Fantina and Raine.
All four had full confidence in their strength. Half a month later, Morty led them back to the fourth floor of Brass Tower once again.
The moment they stepped onto the floor, the Haunter group struck first, instantly surrounding the four Pokémon.
"Night Shade," Tetsuya ordered.
Just as five Haunter launched Shadow Punch, a black illusion rose around Gastly. Their punches only struck the outer edge of Night Shade's veil, failing to touch Gastly hidden within.
"Hn, Dark Pulse."
Tetsuya could already picture what would happen next.
A wave of malicious energy radiated from Gastly in all directions. The five surrounding Haunter were struck by the wave, their souls gripped tightly, their faces twisted in agony as they let out painful howls.
Two of the Haunter were overwhelmed by the intense Dark-type energy and Flinched. Gastly ignored the remaining three trying to reorganize their attack and launched two elliptical Shadow Balls, knocking out two more Haunter.
Seeing that two Haunter on Tetsuya's side had lost the ability to battle, Gengar was just about to swoop in and assist. But Morty's Spiritomb, using Snarl's double damage, had completely pinned down all five Haunter on its end. They were just about to fall.
Unable to handle both fronts at once, Gengar hurled a Shadow Ball at Spiritomb.
Morty knew that at such a critical moment, they had to take down all five Haunter in one go. If he gave them even a moment to recover, he would be forced onto the defensive.
Spiritomb endured the Shadow Ball head-on.
After landing a hit, Gengar naturally wanted to save the remaining Haunter, so it threw another Shadow Ball at Spiritomb.
"Gastly, Confuse Ray."
Tetsuya knew full well that Spiritomb was resilient, but it couldn't withstand a third Shadow Ball from Gengar. Right now, the only way to break free from the Haunter encirclement quickly was through his own efforts.
Speed was key, so Tetsuya opted for the faster and more convenient Confuse Ray instead of the slower Hypnosis.
Light orbs, like tiny electric sparks, surrounded the three Haunter. The confusion-inflicting spheres penetrated their bodies, and they instantly fell into confusion. Their Shadow Punches began flying in all directions, and from the outside, it was impossible to tell whose arms belonged to which Haunter.
Gengar's second Shadow Ball came flying, but was intercepted by Gastly's own Shadow Ball.
When Gengar saw the other three Haunter brawling with one another, it immediately shifted its focus to Gastly.
Three consecutive Shadow Balls shattered Gastly's Night Shade barrier, but not before Gastly had landed two Shadow Balls directly on Gengar.
Though Tetsuya's training had made Gastly's Shadow Ball both fast and powerful, it was still just a Gastly, there was still a gap compared to a Gengar.
Now, Gastly stood completely exposed before Gengar.
Gengar grinned wickedly. A Shadow Ball filled with vengeful energy began growing larger and larger, aiming to finish Gastly in one hit.
Tetsuya glanced sideways at Gengar. What a joke. What's the point of gathering all that power if you can't land the hit?
"Gastly, fall back."
Tetsuya had already calculated the positioning.
With a "whoosh," Gengar's Shadow Ball flew toward Gastly. Although it had accumulated massive energy and thus carried immense power, the speed of the shot was significantly slower.
Gastly dodged effortlessly, needing no further instruction from Tetsuya.
Gastly's position, Gengar's position, and the Haunter surrounding Dusclops were all aligned in a straight line.
With a loud bang, Gengar's Shadow Ball struck two of the Haunter that had been surrounding Dusclops.
The reality of what had just happened made Gengar even more furious.
For Raine, it was like a blessing from Arceus.
Dusclops had excellent defenses and decent offensive power, but its low Speed made it a poor matchup against the fast and elusive Haunter. Up until now, it had only managed to defeat one. But with Tetsuya taking out two more, Raine's confidence soared. He now had the energy to face the battle without hesitation.
At this moment, Morty also completed his task. All five Haunter had been taken down by Spiritomb.
"Gastly, Embargo."
Gengar, just about to launch an attack, was caught off guard by Gastly's sudden shout, freezing on the spot.
"Snarl."
It only took that instant. Morty reacted quickly, and Spiritomb followed up immediately with Snarl. Still reeling from the surprise, Gengar was hit full force by the Dark-type energy, its body trembling, nerves paralyzed.
That was Snarl's side effect. The physical discomfort made it impossible for Gengar to unleash its full strength. Its Special Attack was now weakened.
Gengar was now consumed with rage. It mustered all its strength, preparing to launch Dark Pulse, a move that could strike multiple targets at once.
"Sucker Punch!" Morty called out to Spiritomb.
As the son of a Gym Leader -and a future "pillar" of the Johto region- his grasp of battlefield timing was outstanding.
Sucker Punch was a double-edged Honedge. Its success depended entirely on the Trainer's judgment.
If the opponent was preparing an offensive move, they would inevitably reveal a moment of vulnerability during their motion. Sucker Punch would then strike at that exact opening with blinding speed, interrupting the attack and throwing the opponent off rhythm.
But if the opponent wasn't using an offensive move, their guard would be up, and Sucker Punch would have no opening to exploit.
Gastly could learn this move as well, but Tetsuya never taught it. The move wasn't suited for Gastly at all. Gastly was a Special Attack-focused Pokémon with poor defense.
Sucker Punch was a physical, close-range move. For Gastly, it was basically useless. Besides, could Gastly even get in close? That would be walking into a trap. At close range, Gastly could easily be caught, and once that happened, it would be finished in seconds.
At high-level battles, every move was planned several steps ahead. Competent opponents never left openings, and Sucker Punch had no chance to work. That was why you rarely saw it in advanced matches.
However, for a Pokémon "skilled" in close combat and fast in movement, Sucker Punch was absolutely worth learning. It wasn't about relying on the move to attack openings; it was about training the instinct to spot them.
In his previous life, Tetsuya's Ariados had mastered Sucker Punch and practically embedded it into its reflexes. From early training, it had used Sucker Punch constantly. Over time, this honed a unique "ability": whenever an opponent showed the slightest opening, it would immediately spot and exploit it, attacking from the weak point for maximum disruption.
Now, Morty's timing for using Sucker Punch was perfect… for his age.
Spiritomb lunged forward, charged with intense Dark-type energy, and struck Gengar right under the short arm. The delayed Gengar was hit straight in the soft spot, pain shooting through its core.
The Dark Pulse was forcefully interrupted.
Gengar shut its eyes in agony. When the pain slightly eased and it managed to open them again…
What it saw was a barrage of Shadow Balls flying straight at it!
Tetsuya had long been prepared. A series of Shadow Balls slammed into Gengar's body. The sounds of impact and explosions rang out one after another.
"Leave it alone."
Tetsuya knew there was no way Gengar could withstand that barrage of attacks. With a simple instruction, he signaled Morty to go help Raine and Fantina finish their battles quickly.
There were still three confused Haunter on his side, but Gastly took care of them in no time.
In truth, with Raine and Fantina's current strength, taking down five Haunter each was only a matter of time. But the battle had already dragged on long enough, and everyone was eager to clear the stage.
"Haaah… We finally made it," Fantina exhaled deeply.
"Ugh, I'm done. I need to rest. I feel completely drained," Morty waved a hand and headed down the stairs first.
Half a month of intense nerves finally had a moment of release.
At that moment, all Tetsuya could think about was finally getting a bit of rest. He recalled Gastly and went to have dinner.
He had originally planned to continue today's [Tetsuya Move: Shadow Dagger] training with Ditto, but Ditto still hadn't returned.
'Hmmm, was it still training with the Ghost-type Pokémon at Bell Tower? Or had it gotten too into it and lost track of time…?'
Tetsuya placed five bottles of milk on the table, then went to bed. It was a rare chance to sleep in.
---◓---
The next morning, when he woke up, the five bottles of milk were still sitting on the table. Ditto was nowhere to be found.
A sense of unease rose in Tetsuya's chest…
He headed alone toward Bell Tower.
With Gastly in tow, Tetsuya searched from top to bottom through all four gates of Bell Tower. He spent the entire morning scouring every corner, but there was still no sign of Ditto.
'Did it betray me…?'
The thought surfaced in Tetsuya's mind, and his chest tightened slightly.
He had… trained, yes, trained with Ditto for over two months. They had finally pushed the [Shadow Dagger] technique to a nine-meter range. If Ditto had really abandoned him, would all that effort go to waste!?
And this Ditto had both solid potential and strong Transform ability.
Tetsuya felt his emotions stir at the thought of Ditto's disappearance. After all, it meant all the grueling training they had done would be for nothing.
"Hmph." 'Running from training in fear? A Pokémon like that is worthless to keep around!'
Tetsuya snorted coldly and stopped thinking about it, heading back downstairs. He had always kept a deliberate emotional distance from his Pokémon…
In the wilderness, it was often a matter of life and death. A Trainer could never guarantee that their Pokémon would always be safe. In wild battles, Pokémon could very well die, and that was simply a reality they had to face.
That's why Trainers had to stay rational. Only then could they handle what came next. If they lost control over the death of a Pokémon, it could drag them into the abyss as well.
In his past life, his Starter Pokémon had been a Spinarak gifted to him by Mr. Shellby. Under his care, it had developed well and successfully evolved into Ariados.
But during one hunting mission, Ariados had blocked a Hyper Beam from a Salamence to protect him.
Tetsuya could still vividly remember Ariados's eyes before it died… filled with hope that he would survive. At the time, Tetsuya had gone mad. He even tried to fight that Salamence barehanded!
If not for a teammate saving him, he might have died that day.
After that, Tetsuya never allowed himself to develop feelings like he had for Ariados again. His Pokémon learned only fear and respect. And for Tetsuya, they were tools to achieve his goals…
'Nothing. More.'
As for that Salamence… years later, Tetsuya returned to the scene, captured it, and instead of selling it, froze it for three days before grinding its bones to dust.
"A-Ari… a… dos…"
The sealed-away memory suddenly surged forward, uncontrollable like a bursting dam.
•.
•.
Power Stones?