Koga was still rampaging outside the Gym entrance.
Relying on that golden Arbok, he was utterly unstoppable, completely disregarding the warnings from his mentor, Hattori Tōkichi.
Tetsuya arrived at the Pokémon Center.
Of course, he had a purpose.
Tetsuya handed Gastly's Poké Ball to Nurse Joy, then sat in the main hall with his eyes closed, speaking softly to Ditto on his right wrist: "…Ditto, transform into Gastly and use Invisibility. Go scout the layout of the Pokémon Center."
Upon receiving Tetsuya's command, Ditto disappeared from his right hand.
About an hour later, Ditto returned to his right hand.
"…All clear? You found the dormitory area, right?" Tetsuya whispered, gently brushing the wristband on his arm.
After waiting a bit longer, Gastly had also recovered its "HP". Without lingering, Tetsuya left immediately.
When he returned to Ecruteak Gym, Koga was still bullying rookies. Tetsuya didn't even glance at him and headed straight inside.
Koga had become completely arrogant.
This was undoubtedly in Tetsuya's favor. And now that more and more people knew about his shiny Arbok, the news would soon spread widely.
But Tetsuya would strike before that happened…
---◓---
Back at Ecruteak Gym, Raine was training Dusclops and Machoke. It was clear the training was stricter than before.
Now Raine understood what he had to do. Alone in this world, even without Tetsuya as an enemy, he had to work hard to improve his strength.
Yet Raine believes that his existence had also become Tetsuya's "motivation". A vicious Houndour was always chasing him from behind; if he got caught, he'd be thrown into a fully passive position and could be killed at any moment.
"Rahaha… didn't think you could lose too." Raine snorted coldly.
At that moment, Raine felt lost. Even someone as strong as Tetsuya could be defeated, how many powerful Trainers were out there? How hard would it be to survive alone in this world?
Tetsuya didn't respond. As usual, he went straight into special training. Just from the noise outside, he could tell whether Koga had left.
Koga's battles lasted until dusk. In this state, he would surely stay overnight at the Pokémon Center. Still, Tetsuya wasn't fully at ease, so under the pretense of going out for dinner, he secretly followed Koga.
Seeing Koga enter the Pokémon Center, Tetsuya sat down at a small fast food shop across the street.
After sitting in the shop for three hours and still not seeing Koga come out, Tetsuya finally paid the bill with peace of mind.
The shop owner wore an aggrieved expression.
Now, returning to Ecruteak Gym, neither he nor his Pokémon would have dinner, so Tetsuya ate out, then bought milk for Ditto and Pokéfood for Swinub.
He rested in the dormitory with his eyes closed until 1 a.m.
Time to move…
Just in case, Tetsuya had Gastly cast mild Hypnosis on both Raine and Ryuto. They wouldn't wake up until eight or nine the next morning.
Wearing a coat, Tetsuya walked out of Ecruteak Gym and mounted his Bicycle. What he needed now was speed.
At this hour, there were few people left on the streets, though some nightlife-loving crowds still lingered here and there.
The Pokémon Center was now dark except for the main hall, where a single nurse was on duty.
Tetsuya didn't approach the Pokémon Center directly. He just watched quietly from the end of the distant street.
"Come out, Gastly. Ditto, revert to your original form."
Gastly and Ditto appeared before Tetsuya.
Then Tetsuya said, "Ditto, transform into Raine's Dusclops."
Although Ditto didn't understand the reason, as the Pokémon that had been with Tetsuya the longest, it knew full well that its Trainer always had a clear goal. It instantly transformed into Dusclops.
"You both remember everyone who battled me during the day, right?" Tetsuya asked.
Gastly and Ditto nodded.
"Good. You noticed that golden Arbok's purple Poké Ball, right? Ditto, I told you specifically to pay attention to it. It should be kept in his inner pocket."
Ditto nodded first, and then Gastly also seemed to recall it.
"Ditto, I had you scout the Pokémon Center's layout earlier today. You know where the dormitory area is. Now your mission is to use Invisibility and avoid entering through the main entrance. Go directly to the dormitory, find the guy who battled me, put him to sleep, and steal the Poké Ball that holds Arbok."
Gastly shook its body, indicating it didn't have hands.
Tetsuya glanced at the Dusclops-transformed Ditto. Not only did it have hands, but it could move them freely, very similar to Haunter's hands.
"Be careful. You must stay invisible the entire time. Gastly, cover Dusclops and use mild Hypnosis on that guy. Just make sure he doesn't wake up before tomorrow morning."
Although the mission wasn't particularly difficult for Gastly and Ditto, Tetsuya still gave repeated instructions.
Stealing the ball would be easy, but it was the aftermath that could become a huge problem. He had to eliminate any possibility of being implicated. Once Koga realized Arbok was missing tomorrow, he definitely wouldn't let it go. He might even alert his mentor, Hattori Tōkichi.
That was why Tetsuya had deliberately avoided any real conflict with Koga from the beginning. Koga would never suspect him. Plus, he had never entered the Pokémon Center's surveillance zone, so he had solid alibi coverage.
As for what to do with Arbok afterward… Tetsuya had already thought it all through.
---◓---
Gastly and Dusclops vanished into the night.
Now, all he could do was wait. He couldn't act. All he could do was sit here and wait for Gastly and Ditto.
The hardest part was the waiting. If he had enough strength, with a powerful backing, there would be no need for this kind of caution. He could've taken Swinub and crushed all of Koga's Pokémon right at the Ecruteak Gym entrance this afternoon!
Well… not that exaggerated.
But behind Koga stood Tōkichi… and as for himself, Matsuba was no match for Tōkichi.
And while Pryce wasn't afraid of Tōkichi at all, if Pryce stepped in for him, that would tie Tetsuya to him completely. And Tetsuya knew Pryce would step down from his Elite Four position in just a few years. When that happened, Tetsuya would gain an Elite Four level enemy for no reason. People of that caliber… even a single breath could be fatal.
In his last life, Tetsuya had spent everything he had just to reach the threshold of the Elite Four. So the level beyond that was still completely unknown to him.
As time passed, Tetsuya's heart grew more and more tense.
It had to succeed!
If this worked, not only would it push Gastly toward Evolution, it would also set Koga's strength back by at least three years. If it even got him expelled by Tōkichi or sent him spiraling, then half of Tetsuya's revenge from his past life would already be fulfilled.
'Gastly, Dusclops...'
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