Getting the graduation certificate so easily left Tetsuya a little uncomfortable. After all, he never believed in free lunches.
But it was all thanks to Matsuba's reputation; everything had fallen into place so naturally.
He placed the graduation certificate back at home, finally crossing another task off his list, even though the process had been rather effortless.
Morty and Fantina were happily sightseeing all around Ecruteak City, living carefree lives. That was the life of children born into the families of Gym Leaders.
Raine was also out from morning until night. No one knew what he was up to, and Tetsuya didn't have time to monitor him anyway.
That entire afternoon, Tetsuya wandered across various garbage dumps in Ecruteak City. His goal, of course, was to let Weezing absorb the gas leaking from the waste.
Weezing's condition finally began to improve, and its toxicity was slowly recovering.
"Let's test your moves."
Tetsuya found an open area. By observing a Pokémon's move usage, one could roughly estimate its level.
If it had already evolved into Weezing, then its level certainly wouldn't be too low.
This Weezing could already use Explosion. That didn't surprise Tetsuya. Explosion was the first move Weezing could learn after evolving from a Koffing.
It was a self-damaging move. Immensely powerful, but triggered by expending all of the user's energy in a massive blast. After using it, the user would suffer severe recoil from the explosion.
Unless it was a "Villainous organization" using any means to achieve their goals, most Trainers wouldn't force their Pokémon to use such a move. There were countless cases where a Pokémon died after using Explosion.
Weezing wore a blank expression and had a sluggish personality. Among Poison-types, it was relatively gentle in temperament. Tetsuya had spent 10,000 Pokédollars on it, so he definitely needed to get the most out of it.
That night, Tetsuya returned to the Black Market.
He knew clearly that a single Weezing's toxins were nowhere near enough to trigger Gastly's evolution. Gastly's Poison Core had already been fully stimulated by the core toxins of two Swalot. To evolve into Haunter, the toxin used now would need to be even more potent than what those two Swalot had provided.
This time at the Black Market, he found an Arbok. It had just arrived that day and was full of energy, which naturally made it more expensive.
15,000 Pokédollars. A pretty average price.
In two days, Tetsuya had spent 25,000 on a Weezing and an Arbok, not to mention the Pokéfood he had purchased for Weezing. That left him with just 20,000 cash and 4,500 Pokédollars from his three months' salary at Ecruteak Gym.
If the combined toxins from Arbok and Weezing still couldn't trigger Gastly's evolution, he might have to say goodbye to his last 20,000. And even then, there was no guarantee Gastly would evolve successfully.
This was as far as his abilities could take him. Man proposes, but the outcome is in Arceus's hands.
He was about to become a formal pupil at Ecruteak Gym. The salary for an official pupil would likely be around 3,000 Pokédollars. Even at that rate, it would take four months just to afford another Weezing.
If evolving into Haunter still gave him something to hope for, then evolving into Gengar was truly a distant dream.
Tetsuya let out a deep sigh. Because of the old man's death, he still didn't know the password to those two bank cards.
'Old man...
The me, from my world, and you, from this one, may not have been related by blood, but I never actually wanted you to die… So why did you have to be so hot-headed!?
Leaving the Black Market, Tetsuya decided to check Arbok's moves right away, since it still seemed full of energy.
He headed for an open area.
"Come out, Arbok."
This Arbok was incredibly wild. It must have just been caught in the wilderness by a Pokémon Hunter and naturally refused to submit to a human. Upon seeing Tetsuya -a weak child- it immediately thought, 'kill him, and I'll be free again'.
Arbok opened its gaping mouth and lunged at Tetsuya.
"Ditto, [Shadow Dagger]."
Tetsuya gave a cold laugh, his eyes filled with killing intent. At that moment, the wristguard on his right hand transformed into a dagger.
Without any hesitation -Arbok was now only five meters away- Tetsuya was confident.
With a sharp "whoosh"...
The dagger sliced through the air, piercing straight into Arbok's mouth. Ditto, harnessing its strength, burst out from inside Arbok's oral cavity.
Tetsuya rolled backward with the momentum.
Having sensed the presence of death, Arbok would now launch a desperate counterattack.
Moments ago, it had underestimated Tetsuya and hadn't thought to use ranged moves. But now, in this "life-or-death moment", if even a drop of Acid or Acid Spray hit him, Tetsuya would be crippled if not dead.
He rolled five or six meters away and released both Gastly and Weezing.
Arbok, pierced through the mouth, was writhing in pain and thrashing wildly. Then it spotted Tetsuya and began charging toward him in a frenzy.
"Ditto, Transform. Use Wrap on Arbok!" Tetsuya shouted at the top of his lungs.
In a moment of life-or-death crisis, there was no room for delay. Ditto quickly Transformed into an Arbok and coiled its tail around the charging Arbok.
But the real Arbok, already in a berserk state, was overflowing with power. Ditto could only slow it down, it wasn't enough to stop it!
Blood was pouring from Arbok's mouth. Its eyes locked onto Tetsuya alone. Even in death, it was determined to kill the human who had brought it such pain.
"Weezing, pin it down!"
Weezing, eager to prove itself, spun rapidly and charged forward. Arbok reacted by spewing out a blast of Acid, but Weezing deflected it entirely.
That blast of Acid didn't harm Weezing, but it sealed Arbok's fate. The acid seeped into its torn oral cavity and began corroding its own flesh.
The acid slowly ate away at the blood-soaked interior of Arbok's mouth. It was an excruciating torment. Arbok could no longer bear the pain and thrashed about uncontrollably.
Weezing dropped down from above, pressing Arbok's head to the ground. Ditto clung tightly to its tail.
Finally, Arbok's violent struggling began to slow...
"Gastly, Arbok's Poison Gland is located at the seven-inch mark. Break it open and absorb its core toxins. If it dies, it's useless."
At Tetsuya's command, Gastly launched into action. It hurled a Shadow Ball at the precise location, blowing open the serpent's body in a spray of blood and gore.
Arbok no longer felt anything. It was already numb to pain.
Gastly burrowed into the Arbok's abdomen and blasted open the Poison Gland. The toxins slowly seeped into Gastly's body. Only when the final drop had been absorbed did Gastly emerge from the Arbok's belly.
Gastly's energy was clearly surging!
Unfortunately, it only flickered, it hadn't reached a full burst. One Arbok's poison clearly wasn't enough.
Arbok's body was still twitching slightly.
Tetsuya looked over at Weezing, who was staring at him with eyes full of anticipation…