Tetsuya walked out of Bell Tower in silence.
'Ditto… if I ever see you again, you'll know what happens to traitors…'
Just as he suppressed his emotions, Tetsuya suddenly heard someone calling out.
"Tetsuya…!"
Ryuto hurried over.
"There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you. Your Ditto is seriously injured. If I hadn't gone to clean up the cobblestone path today, it would've died for sure," Ryuto continued.
"…What?"
Ryuto's words clearly caught Tetsuya off guard.
'Injured? cobblestone path? How did that happen?'
A flood of questions surged through Tetsuya's mind.
"Don't just stand there! Go check it out!"
With that, Ryuto grabbed Tetsuya and rushed toward the main hall of the Gym.
The two doctors Matsuba had hired were busy treating Ditto. Right now, Ditto was still unconscious.
"Tetsuya, we didn't see you all morning. Were you out looking for Ditto too?" Morty asked. Fantina also looked concerned for Ditto.
Tetsuya nodded, then turned to ask the two doctors, "How is it?"
However, the two doctors ignored Tetsuya and continued applying various treatments to Ditto.
Without a response, Tetsuya began examining Ditto's condition himself. His basic medical knowledge was more than enough for this.
There were burns caused by Will-O-Wisp, and injuries from Dark Pulse. Judging from Ditto's twitching even while unconscious, its mind had clearly taken damage as well.
'Did it get into a fight with Ghost-types yesterday and get ganged up on…?
'No, that doesn't make sense. It was training inside Bell Tower. So how did it end up hurt on the cobblestone path? And I've been to Bell Tower more than once; none of the Pokémon there are strong enough to do this… Looks like I'll only get answers when Ditto wakes up.'
---◓---
"Ditto should be fine after treatment. It should wake up by tonight, but it'll need at least a week of rest. Training should be put on hold for now."
The doctor gave Tetsuya the update.
"Mhm. Alright."
With that, Tetsuya carried Ditto back to his dormitory.
That night, Ditto finally woke up, but its expression was dazed and vacant. It wouldn't even drink milk unless Tetsuya fed it bit by bit.
'Think of this as my apology for accusing you.'
As he fed Ditto, Tetsuya kept thinking about what could've hurt it so badly…
For several days, Ditto remained in a sluggish state, occasionally running a high fever. The medicine never stopped.
But Tetsuya would never abandon Gastly's special training because of Ditto. During the day, training continued as usual, along with battling a few Gym challengers. So far, none of them had used the kind of Poison-type Pokémon he was hoping for.
Because Ditto's condition hadn't improved, Morty also postponed the plan to challenge the fifth floor of Brass Tower. With a full month left, they still had time, and he remained confident.
After a week, Ditto's external injuries had mostly healed, but it still looked somewhat vacant and disoriented.
Over the next few days, Tetsuya brought Ditto to the training grounds to watch everyone's training. The lively Fantina would always try to cheer Ditto up.
A full half month passed before Ditto finally returned to its usual state. Tetsuya still took it to the Pokémon Center for a full-body examination.
Only after confirming there were no problems did Tetsuya finally breathe a sigh of relief.
'Relief…?'
…All that previous training hadn't gone to waste after all. If Ditto had died, wouldn't all that effort have been for nothing?
However, Ditto looked at Tetsuya with eyes full of gratitude, its loyalty to its Trainer growing even stronger!
Tetsuya let out a cold laugh.
'Pokémon really are sentimental creatures… Too bad I'm no longer that naive boy…'
Back in the dormitory with Ditto, Tetsuya was eager to uncover the truth.
"Ditto, what exactly happened that night? Use Transform to show me what you saw."
Ditto closed its eyes and began to recall. Suddenly, terror flashed across its face as its body started trembling uncontrollably.
"What's there to be scared of? Are you afraid of death!?" Tetsuya barked harshly, snapping Ditto out of its fear.
It blinked at Tetsuya.
"Scared? As a Pokémon, your duty is to fight. If you're afraid before even entering battle, what's the point? No matter how strong the enemy is, you fight! Maybe you'll have a sliver of hope. But fear only leads to death."
Tetsuya instilled this belief into every single one of his Pokémon.
Finally, Ditto's eyes began to show resolve.
It concentrated hard on recreating that terrifying memory...
And Transformed.
'Gengar? No… horns all over its head.'
Though the transformation wasn't perfect, it was enough for Tetsuya to identify it.
"That's enough. Get some rest."
Tetsuya spoke to Ditto. It immediately returned to its original form, though traces of fear still lingered.
Mega Gengar.
Even though Ditto's transformation had been blurry, it was more than enough for Tetsuya.
So the one who attacked Ditto was undoubtedly Mega Gengar. Tetsuya had encountered one before in Bell Tower, back when Matsuba had traveled to Sinnoh.
That day, he saw Mega Gengar use Hypnosis to lead a few Ghost-type Pokémon away from Bell Tower. Ditto must've transformed into a Ghost-type Pokémon that night and happened to fall under Mega Gengar's Hypnosis. When it reached cobblestone path, it was discovered and attacked.
Will-O-Wisp, Dark Pulse, Psychic… those were all Mega Gengar's signature moves.
Matsuba hadn't been around that night either, so he probably didn't even know about Mega Gengar's existence. Even if he did, Matsuba's strength was likely no match for it.
Twice… he had encountered Mega Gengar twice in total.
Once, it disappeared toward the shadows of Brass Tower. The other time, Ditto was attacked.
Both times pointed in the same direction…
Matsuba Cemetery!
Mega Gengar was in Matsuba Cemetery. The mausoleum was there too. Everything was starting to get complicated.
The mausoleum was now stirring Tetsuya's curiosity. That Mega Gengar could very well be the one that belonged to Matsuba IV, the one said to have vanished after his death.
It might've been stationed there by Matsuba IV to guard the mausoleum.
In his past life, Morty's son had opened the mausoleum and obtained an ancient tome on Ghost-type training. If he could do it, surely Tetsuya could as well. But that stone pavilion and ritual vessel didn't look like anything that could be moved by human strength...
'Could I have overlooked something?'
Tetsuya combed through his memories of Matsuba Cemetery, but nothing stood out as particularly unusual. It seemed he would have to wait for Matsuba to leave again before going back to investigate.
Then there was Raine. He was clearly eyeing that mausoleum too…
Although Tetsuya now had the upper hand in strength and Raine acted respectful on the surface, he still felt uneasy. Raine was a ticking time bomb… and Tetsuya could feel it.