Incarnated Whisp

Chapter 134

Misdreavus made fighting the Druddigon look a lot easier than it was. She avoided all of its attacks because she was forced to avoid all of its attacks. If even one of its powerful strikes hit her, she would have fainted, and then another trainer would have stepped up to challenge it, and then that would have been that.

But now, Sam held the Ultra Ball that contained the Druddigon. The other trainers had already all left, grumbling to themselves about needing to find other Dragon Types. However, that wasn’t going to happen. His team had already caught and turned in every Dragon Type they could find, and if there were any left, they were either adept hiders or belonged to someone else. The vast, vast majority had been captured, meaning the ongoing search would soon end.

“You know,” Sam said as he and Misdreavus carefully made their way into the Druddigon’s carved-out trash lair. “With this win, it’s gotten pretty clear you've become strong. You’re at the baseline we’ve been looking for. I know we’re not in Cianwood just yet, but if you really want to...”

He glanced over to his Pokémon, but Misdreavus shook her head.

Sam could tell she did want to evolve, but she didn’t want to evolve just yet. They were yet to fight Jasmine, and until that battle took place, Misdreavus would stay in her current form. Taking part in that battle as she was now and then facing the Cianwood Gym as a Mismagius later would give her a better sense of how her evolution affected her capabilities.

After all, their true goal was the Conference. Just as much as Sam, Misdreavus wanted to be as prepared as possible to make sure they’d win.

“That’s well planned,” Sam commented, continuing deeper into the den.

Misdreavus huffed in reply, annoyed at the implication that anything she did wasn’t well planned.

“That’s fair, but I guess there was that time you stalked us when we first met. I think, if you just came up and asked to be caught—”

Sam immediately shut up when he saw Misdreavus’s withering glare.

His statement was wrong; she did ask to be caught. However, miscommunication on both their parts turned it into a mess. Haunter had attacked her when she wasn’t actually attacking, and after that disastrous encounter, she hadn’t known what to do with herself.

“...I’m sorry,” Sam said quietly, feeling the guilt surge in his chest. “It’s my fault. I should have recognized your excitement. I should have known your rush didn’t mean we needed to fight you. I didn’t realize how desperate for a trainer you actually were.”

Something sad flicked across Misdreavus’s face, and she was forced to look away. There was more to it, but she didn’t speak. Sam didn’t push either since there was no reason to make his Pokémon share something she didn’t want to share.

Instead, he simply resumed his search through the Druddigon’s den. This place had been carved out with heavy claws, and its refuse-made walls had been pressed flat by a heavy body. Sam could see the few items the Druddigon had managed to scavenge in between fights. Soft plastics and papers formed a bed-like nest. In the corner, mostly empty Potion bottles lay in a pile of shattered glass. Likely, the Druddigon would smash them open to heal up as much as possible between each of its fights.

For a dump, this place didn’t reek anywhere near as bad as Sam expected. Dumps like these primarily existed to provide “safe” areas for pollution-based Poison Types to gather. Those species were an unfortunate consequence of modern development, so as unsatisfying as a massive, exposed area filled with trash was, it was better for it to exist than it was to let Pokémon like Grimer and Koffing wander through city streets on their own.

The Druddigon was strong enough to claim a portion of the dump for itself, and it had experienced plenty of challenges before Sam finally managed to capture the tired Pokémon. With it soon to be sent home, this den would no longer be maintained, and it would likely eventually collapse.

But the den was still here right now, and Sam gave the place one last look-through. Primarily, he wanted to make sure the Druddigon wasn’t protecting any eggs. However, while there were no eggs here, a gleam in the corner caught his eye, and Misdreavus’s scowl reflected his own darkened expression.

“Chains,” he said solemnly.

A set of metal manacles sat on the ground, bit through and torn apart thanks to the flexibility that came alongside the Druddigon’s freedom. Wherever the Druddigon had come from, the poachers had not treated it kindly. It was too strong to keep in a cage. The poachers chose to keep it bound until it somehow escaped.

“I’ll tell the nurse about these when we get back,” Sam said, his voice low. “The poachers might have already been arrested, but maybe we can provide a bit more evidence to make sure they get the punishment they deserve.”

“Mis.”

Misdreavus was just as disgusted now as she was when she looked over Trevenant’s burned grove. There was a history there, but again, Sam chose not to push and ask.

For now, with this final check through the den, Sam confirmed that the Druddigon didn’t have any other Pokémon it was protecting.

That meant with this capture, there were truly no more Dragon Types that he could easily catch. The only ones left were the same ones he had wanted to catch for himself in the first place, but neither the Dreepy nor Drakloak were anywhere to be found.

...At least, until Sam turned back toward the entrance.

It wasn’t the Drakloak that appeared in the opening to the Druddigon’s den, but Haunter floated there with a grim look on his face. Sam knew it was serious the moment he saw that Haunter wasn’t smiling. To make matters worse, when Sam locked eyes with him, Haunter nodded once to confirm that Sam’s suspicions were true.

“Tell me,” Sam said.

He went on high alert. Misdreavus’s wavy hair stood on its ends.

However, Haunter’s expression didn’t denote an attack or anything like that. Instead, he waved to a set of Gastly behind him to have them part and make way.

Through that gap, a certain Pokémon slowly inched into the carved-out room. The wild Drakloak floated closer, moving incredibly slow for its otherwise fast species. A Dragon Type like it should have been proud and met Sam’s gaze head-on. However, the Drakloak hung its head, and its body slumped in the air. Everything about its body language screamed submission.

There was not a single ounce of challenge to it, and Sam only felt bewilderment. He knew this was the same Pokémon, but nothing about the Drakloak resembled the Dragon Type that had attacked him only a few days ago.

“What happened?” he asked.

The Drakloak said something, and then Haunter hurried to fill in the translation gap. Pointing at the Dragon Type’s bare head, Sam finally recognized what was missing.

“The Dreepy’s gone.”

A slight nod. The Drakloak looked up to glance at Sam’s Pokéballs before letting its head fall back down.

“You... Ugh. Someone captured your Dreepy,” Sam concluded, rubbing his brow. “But they didn’t capture you. So since you weren’t able to help, you came to me instead.”

The Drakloak looked as though Sam’s words caused it physical pain. Guilt and shame overtook its expression, and it took everything it had left for it to stay in the air.

It didn’t want to go to him. It didn’t want to ask for help. However, in this case, the Drakloak simply didn’t have a choice.

After a long period of silence, the Drakloak finally looked up at Sam. Its expression was one of utter defeat. He could understand what that look was saying—it begging for his help, and it was offering the only thing it could in exchange.

If he could get the Dreepy back for it, the Drakloak would join his team.

Huh.

Sam hated that.

“No,” he said. “I refuse.”

Immediately, the Drakloak looked outraged. Whatever guilt had overtaken it was now replaced by steaming anger as it snapped up its head to glare into his eyes.

“You’re missing my point. I’m not going to catch you just because you need our help. That’s not right. We’ll help you get Dreepy back—I promise you that—but I’m not going to force you onto my team just because you didn’t have a choice.”

Sam wanted to catch Drakloak, though. He desperately wanted to have a Drakloak join him, but that was just his selfish side speaking. This was a rare Dragon and Ghost Type Pokémon, so of course he wanted to train it, but bringing it on like this wouldn’t be the same as a regular capture. If he accepted, Drakloak would only be joining him because it had nothing else it could do—its willingness was only coming from a place of desperation.

“Haunter,” Sam said, turning to his Pokémon, and the Drakloak stared at Sam with wide, disbelieving eyes. “Take the Ultra Ball. Bring Druddigon to the Pokémon Center. The Chansey there will make sure he doesn’t misbehave, and then meet back up with us at the city’s center.”

A little-known fact about Chansey was that they were incredibly strong—at least outside of battle. Even their pre-evolved form was capable of great feats of strength, which let them deal with difficult Pokémon. However, in matches, few Chansey were ever able to bring that strength to bear. It was against their nature to put much effort into hurting another Pokémon.

Even if the Druddigon protested, the Chansey would be able to treat it. It would receive the care it needed, but Haunter would be handling that. Sam and his team would be going to Olivine’s Central Pokémon Center because if there was anywhere the Dreepy would be brought, it would be there.

But they had to leave now. Bringing the Druddigon in by himself would risk too long of a delay. If Sam wanted to rescue that Dreepy before it was handed over, he needed to arrive at the central Pokémon Center before whatever trainer had captured it showed up.

Time was of the essence.

“Alright, we need to move quickly. Before anything else, we’re going to convince whoever caught Dreepy to release him before he splits from you for good. There’s only one place this Dragon Type hunt has been happening—Olivine’s central Pokémon Center. Gastly, I want all of you to head out and search for the trainer just in case, but we...” Sam looked over to Drakloak. “Come with me. Can you give me more information on the way, if that’s alright?”

He waited for a response, but Drakloak seemed to be stuck in disbelief. Sam’s response seemed to have stunned it with his simultaneous denial and acceptance of its request. To see him suddenly jump into action without wanting to capture it in return wasn’t a situation it expected.

But it quickly recognized he was waiting for it to answer his question, and the Drakloak shook to snap itself back into focus. It locked eyes with him, but rather than any sort of challenge, its stare was one of respect—and of acceptance.

_______________________________________________________________

Sam strode down the road as fast as he could, walking quickly but not running to properly pace himself while maintaining speed.  Drakloak floated along at his side, having no problem with keeping up. While Sam was moving fast for a human, this was practically nothing for her.

Drakloak’s body language betrayed her nervousness. Sam’s willingness to help had sparked her hope, but it was clear she was still wrought with nerves. So focused on making sure Dreepy, her brother, would be released, that she didn’t bother to hide. Passersby sent the unfamiliar Pokémon surprised and curious looks, but Drakloak paid no attention to them. Instead, she did her best to share as much as she could along the way.

So Sam learned of her past. With Misdreavus and a few helpful Gastly, he learned of everything that happened to her. He learned of how she and her brother were captured in Galar, he learned of how the poachers treated them, and he learned that she and her brother were responsible for all of the Dragon Types’ escape.

He was also surprised to find out that Team Rocket wasn’t involved, but he didn’t doubt that Team Rocket was one of the organizations the poachers had called.

No wonder I haven’t seen any Gym Trainers working on this. I bet Lance tasked them with making sure Olivine City stays safe.

But Sam was more focused on what needed to be done rather than the wider implications of these recent events. A certain trainer had captured Drakloak’s brother, and with her story, Sam knew for a fact that Dreepy would be found at the city’s central Pokémon Center.

Except—

Except she doesn’t need to be so self-flagellating. It’s not her fault her brother was captured. He was going to try to slip away no matter what. She had no way of knowing when he’d try that, and she had no way of knowing that Preston would just happen to be nearby.

“I get it,” Sam eventually said, speaking once his Pokémon finished their translation. “It’s easy to fall into inaction. My grandfather used to say it was like a ‘Deerling in the headlights,’ but I didn’t know what a Deerling was, and I wasn’t sure what he meant by headlights. At least, the meaning was clear enough—it’s easy to be overtaken by surprise.

“But! Thanks to you, I know which trainer captured him. An Absol and a Haunter makes it easy enough. You should also know that you wouldn’t have been able to win. Coming to me was the right choice. We will get your brother back.”

Despite Sam’s comforting words, Drakloak hissed, trying to deny her lack of strength. She was a Pokémon that managed to evolve in the wild and a Pokémon that had been in her second stage for quite some time, but she was also a Pokémon that had only fought in the wild. Out there, battles were always fought with the idea of escape in mind. Pokémon almost always held back, and they often lacked the same level of strategy a trainer could provide.

“No. Trust me when I say you couldn’t have won. Preston has earned six badges. He’s not someone you’d be able to beat. However!” Sam said, and he sent a glance to the Dragon Type. “You have nothing to blame yourself for, either. All it takes is a single moment, a single second when you’re not paying attention. As a wild Pokémon, you have to constantly avoid trainers if you don’t want to be caught, but trainers only need a single opening if they want to catch you.”

He then sighed, recognizing his own words. He felt just as responsible for this as Preston was.

“There are dozens of trainers in Olivine trying to capture a Dragon Type for themselves,” Sam said softly. “I was one of them. Eventually, one of them would have snuck up on you no matter what, and then...”

His words trailed off. Drakloak’s silence was deafening. Every second she didn’t speak was like a jab to his chest.

Again, he missed when things weren’t so complicated.

“I’m sorry,” Sam said, and Drakloak looked up at him. “I should have known. Dreepy don’t often travel on their own. I should have checked to see if there was any sign you or something else was nearby. Honestly, I might be helping you right now, but I’m just a hypocrite. Even though we’re getting your brother back, I tried to do the same thing as Preston. Yet—”

There was no sense in backing down just because of a mistake he made in the past. He had done the best he could in the moment, so there was no sense in letting that hold him down. Sam was a Pokémon trainer, and he had an entire team behind his back.

He held his head high as he turned to Drakloak. With his full confidence, he met the Dragon Type in the eye.

“I promise you, you will get Dreepy back,” Sam declared. “And if you choose it, I’ll bring you to someone who can return you to Galar. Or, even if you don’t want that, I can make sure you’re left alone so you can keep living here.”

He turned back to the street to keep an eye on the rapidly approaching Pokémon Center.

“No matter what, you have the choice,” Sam said. “You’re allowed to do whatever makes you the happiest.”

Drakloak’s gaze flicked over him to search for any sign that he was lying. Sam wasn’t, and he truly meant what he said. No matter what, he would do his best for these Pokémon because his best was what they deserved.

Besides, while what he had in mind couldn’t help with transportation, he technically already had a sixth member of his team. He had plenty of Gastly that would love to help out in fights. While they wouldn’t be much help in the later rounds of the Conference, he could at least use one or two of them when it came to the earlier or preliminary matches.

But he didn’t bring that up, and he had nothing else to say. From then on, for the rest of the way to the Pokémon Center, Drakloak remained silent. She had already shared everything she could share and didn’t have anything left. Sam chose to stay quiet since attempting to comfort her now would be pointless until she got her brother back.

Once they reached the towering skyscraper that contained Olivine’s primary Pokémon Center, Sam found a spot to wait next to its main entrance so he could reach Preston before Dreepy was handed in.

The last time Sam was here, the Beginner’s Tournament was still yet to take place. Annihilape, as a Mankey, helped him win their qualifying match after Sam over-relied on Cyndaquil. If anything, his experience there taught him the importance of using his team as a whole and was probably one of the defining moments that helped him create his team’s strategy.

For now, he stayed silent and leaned against the Center’s front wall, going over the memories in his head while trying to make a plan to convince Preston to hand over that rare Dragon Type. A few trainers entered and exited the Pokémon Center while taking jobs and healing their Pokémon. Most didn’t bother to hide their jealousy when they saw Drakloak. They might not have recognized her species, but she was visibly a Dragon Type. Likely, they thought Sam had captured her for himself.

Waiting didn’t last long. Sam managed to come here just fast enough. Barely any time passed before Sam saw his target walking down the road. Preston, the same trainer Sam encountered once before thanks to their Haunter’s shared history, approached with a skip to his step. His smile was so wide that he almost didn’t notice Sam waiting there.

Upon seeing Preston, Sam took a deep breath. He knew how difficult his request would be.

“Preston,” Sam called out, and the other trainer finally slowed down.

“...Sam? What are you doing here?”

“We need to talk.”

Preston finally noticed him waiting there, and his eyes flicked over Drakloak. His smile faded as an understanding entered his gaze. Likely, he could see the clear family resemblance between her and Dreepy.

“Alright,” Preston said with a reluctant sigh. “There should be a quiet place inside for us to talk.”

He looked as though he also missed when things weren’t so complicated. Sam just appreciated that Preston didn’t need to be convinced to wait.

Stepping inside, Preston took the lead, bringing Sam and Drakloak into the Pokémon Center and up a stairwell in the back. Along the way, unfamiliar red eyes opened up in Sam’s shadow as the Center’s local Gengar checked in to make sure none of Sam’s Ghost Types would bring trouble. Haunter wasn’t back yet, but Misdreavus was able to clear things up, and the evolved Pokémon slipped away to go back to its job haunting the rest of the building and preventing hostile Ghost Types from slipping in.

“Here. This place has a bunch of unused battlefields. We won’t be disturbed inside,” Preston said.

This interior room contained a pretty standard field, although the walls were close to its bounds. Likely, the reason this Pokémon Center was so expansive was to allow for rooms like these. Sam doubted Olivine City wanted a bunch of trainers practicing in the streets.

Preston walked to the center of the field before turning around. His arms were crossed, and behind him, his Haunter revealed itself by floating into the air.

“Talk,” Preston ordered.

Sam did exactly that.

“The Dreepy you caught wasn’t on its own. It’s Drakloak’s brother. The species is almost like a Dugtrio or Magneton, except where they can technically live on their own, they bond and partner up.”

He paused, about to add a comment about it being more similar to Mantine and Remoraid, but Preston was already shaking his head.

“I can’t do that. I get it, but I have to be selfish here. Turning in Dreepy means too much for me and my team. I’d be giving him to the Blackthorn Clan, anyway. You really think he wouldn’t have a happy life with them?”

So he knows.

Honestly, with how Preston had mentioned everyone talking about Dragon Types in this Pokémon Center, Sam wasn’t too surprised that others had figured out the job’s mysterious sponsors.

“It’s not the same,” Sam immediately countered. “Sure, Lance and Clair wouldn’t allow him to be mistreated, but you’re still taking him away from his family. They’d treat him well, but his sister—”

“So come with me,” Preston said, immediately turning toward Drakloak. “The Blackthorn Clan specializes in taking care of Dragon Types. You won’t have to be separated from your brother, and I can still get the reward. You’d get to live a happy life and my team would be able to fulfill our dream. It’s a win-win situation no matter what.”

To Sam’s surprise, Drakloak didn’t even consider it. She immediately hissed at Preston, her voice practically dripping with venom. Her response carried no doubt whatsoever; she refused to be handed over as if she was just some... thing. She valued her freedom over almost anything else, but she valued her brother’s freedom even more than her own. Going to the Blackthorn Clan wasn’t a choice either of them would be making. It would be a choice practically forced onto them by Preston’s surprise capture.

(And, in that moment, Sam was struck by her offer to let him capture them. It hit him just how much she was willing to give up to prevent this outcome for her brother.)

“Ugh.” Preston pinched his nose. “I know. I’m sorry. I don’t have a choice—I have to turn Dreepy in. You’re asking me to give him up for what might be a slightly better future when he’d be just fine being taken care of by people who specialize in raising Dragon Types.”

Preston was obviously not a fan of the current situation, but he also had to think of his team. He was convinced of the opportunities the reward money would give him. Handing over Dreepy wasn’t an option. He needed the money, and in his mind, he wasn’t even doing anything that bad in the first place.

But he would still be taking Dreepy away from his sister. Sam couldn’t think highly of him for that decision.

“You’d really split them up?” Sam asked.

“You’d really have my team give up our dreams?” Preston immediately countered. “You already know just how much the money would do. My team and I would actually have a chance. We wouldn’t be stopped three-quarters of the way there. With the help we could get...”

Preston clenched his fists.

“We would get somewhere. We wouldn’t be failures. We wouldn’t be forced to go home early.”

Sam grimaced. He knew Preston wouldn’t be convinced. Dreepy didn’t deserve to be torn from his sister, yet Preston was desperate to keep chasing the Conference. If this job hadn’t been posted by the Blackthorn Clan, if it had been posted by anyone with even slightly less respect, there might have been more wiggle room—but there wasn’t. Preston at least had a small point: the Blackthorn Clan would treat Dreepy well, and that was enough for him to latch onto this outcome and refuse to believe anything else.

So I can’t change his mind. He’s always going to try to turn Dreepy in.

Unless—

Sam’s chest twisted as he came to his realization.

Unless I offer Preston something worth just as much.

It hurt to come to this conclusion, but he had promised Drakloak he’d help. To not do this here...

He made a promise. He wouldn’t go back on his word.

“Preston,” Sam said, and there was something to his voice that managed to capture Preston’s attention. “What if I offer you something more valuable than the Dragon Type reward?”

“Pft. What, you just have a hundred-thousand in your pockets? ‘Cause that’s the only way I’m giving Dreepy up.”

“I don’t,” Sam said, “but I have something better. If you’re just trying to earn your next badge, you don’t need the money. You need a way to get stronger. You need to know exactly what your team needs to learn to get past Jasmine’s Steel Types.”

Preston cocked an eyebrow as Sam’s voice shook. Sam really didn’t want to say this out loud, but at this point, he didn’t have a choice.

“Promise me that you won’t say anything.”

“What?”

“Promise me that you won’t reveal anything I’m about to share with anyone else. No, promise me on your team that you’ll keep what I’m about to say secret.”

Preston was silent for a moment.

“Fine. I promise on my team that I won’t reveal your secrets.”

And Sam nodded once. He did his best to speak as normally as he could as he finally spoke his offer.

“I challenge you to a battle over the fate of Dreepy,” Sam said. “While it seems like a big risk for you, I’ll be betting this in exchange—a book. A Pokédex. One that contains impossible and otherwise unknown information on Pokémon.”

Immediately, Drakloak sent Sam a hateful glare over determining the fate of her brother on a simple bet. Preston crossed his arms.

Though Preston was unconvinced, Drakloak’s glare seemed to lessen when she saw the pain that crossed Sam’s face.

“Yeah, right,” Preston scoffed. “You want me to battle you just for some book? I’m supposed to believe it’s special enough to risk that much money?”

Shakily, Sam breathed in and reached into his backpack. He pulled out the New Pokédex, flipped to a specific entry, and began to read out loud.

“Dreepy. The Lingering Pokémon. Dreepy are reborn ghosts of a primordial species. Moves common to their evolution line are Astonish. Infestation. Quick Attack—”

“That means nothing,” Preston interrupted.

Sam flipped to another page.

“Absol. The Disaster Pokémon. Its ability to predict misfortune tends to see it mistaken as the misfortune’s source. Moves common to it are Quick Attack. Leer. Double Team. Knock Off—”

“Again, you could just be making that up.”

Sam paused on the entry before him. His throat felt dry, but he knew Preston wouldn’t truly believe the book’s contents unless he saw genuine proof.

That meant—

“Annihilape,” Sam said, and Preston narrowed his eyes. “The Rage Monkey Pokémon. Primeape that fail to evolve into Annihilape tend to pass on.”

He ad-libbed the actual description of the species. He didn’t want to risk Preston trying for an Annihilape and only causing a Primeape to get hurt.

“A-again, you’re just making this up,” Preston repeated, but his words didn’t carry the same confidence to them as before.

Slowly, Sam turned the book around, exposing its aged, yellowed pages as well as the sketch of an Annihilape contained within. He then went on to grab a certain Pokéball and released the exact species the entry described.

The very second that Annihilape appeared, Preston’s breath hitched. His eyes flicked between Sam, Annihilape, Drakloak, and then to the New Pokédex itself.

Finally, Sam saw the opening he’d been waiting for. A glint entered Preston’s eyes. It was a mix of what was unmistakably hope, but also unmistakenly greed.

“Alright. So you have a special book. It has some neat information, but just knowing that won’t help me fast enough.” Preston said, turning around so Sam couldn’t see his face. “Doesn’t mean much. I already have Dreepy. You’re asking me to fight a battle rigged in your favor to make me give up the reward.”

“This book is worth significantly more than Dreepy,” Sam countered.

A pause. Preston seemed to weigh how he wanted to approach this.

“Counter offer,” he said, turning back around. “We battle, but I get to decide the rules. Your team is stronger than mine, so there needs to be a handicap. So! For the fight, I get to use three Pokémon, but you’re only allowed to use one.”

Sam almost interjected—the match wouldn’t be fair. Even with the difference in strength, Preston’s team was six stars, and Sam’s was rated at seven. While each successive star represented a greater difference in power, six and seven star teams were still rather close. Three Pokémon against one was not a winnable match, especially since Preston could pick his next Pokémon based on the best match-ups after losing the first.

But as much as Sam wanted to argue, he could tell that Preston would refuse to budge. The other trainer knew he had the advantage, and that was the only reason he was agreeing to this fight. Between the two of them, Sam was far more desperate to obtain the Dreepy than Preston was to obtain Sam’s book. After all, even if Sam refused, Preston would be able to turn in Dreepy, anyway. He’d get the reward money no matter what, and he was only presenting this counter-proposal because he was convinced he would win.

There’s no room for negotiation. Preston is never going to change his mind.

The reveal of the New Pokédex had opened up this slight opportunity, but Preston was leaving no room for Sam to modify the deal.

Hah. If Redi was here, she’d just punch him and steal Dreepy back, but I can’t do that. Not in the middle of a city. I guess if he was sleeping, we might have been able to try something, but it’s currently the middle of the day. It’s not the right time.

...But even then, he’d just call the cops since he’d know who took Dreepy. The Pokémon Center’s Gengar would also be on us in seconds. I don’t want to risk my team. That kind of act would get the League on our back. We’ve already taken too many chances in the past. I refuse to have any of my friends be taken away.

Sam wanted to curse out Preston. He wanted to call the other trainer names. The suddenness of Dreepy’s capture meant this was the only way out, and as it stood, a battle was the only way this could be resolved.

They were Pokémon trainers, after all. Battles were the go-to way to settle disagreements.

“Fine,” Sam said.

Preston grinned and immediately started to stroll over to the trainer box opposite Sam. Given that he had led them here, it was as though he had known a battle would be happening since the start.

“Looking forward to this match! Excited to see what Pokémon you’ll choose,” he said.

Sam grumbled and looked around. As much as he wanted to get upset, he knew his energy was better spent trying to think of a plan.

As he weighed what Pokémon to choose, Annihilape let out a grunt while looking extremely ticked off. He was offering to take part in the fight, but Sam knew that wouldn’t work. Annihilape was far too weak at range to win such an uneven match.

Then, a noise came from Sam’s side. Drakloak moved ahead to offer to fight, herself. However, Sam just shook his head to decline. She wasn’t trained. She was strong, but there was no way she could beat three of another trainer’s Pokémon in a fight.

No, as Sam reached to his waist, he knew he already made his decision. Typhlosion had been with him the longest. She was also the Pokémon he knew best. It would be hard, but she could dodge with both Smokescreen and Double Team. With her skill with Infernal Parade as well, she carried the best chance to win, so Sam reached for her Pokéball.

But it wasn’t Typhlosion who came out.

Rather than sending out a Pokémon himself, a flash of light saw a completely different member of the team appear. Looming before Sam, Trevenant stared down at him with a knowing look.

He had the best chance to win. He would be the one to fight. He would be the one to make sure Drakloak’s family would never be split.

“But—”

The severity of Trevenant’s gaze interrupted him. Trevenant had made up his mind. Back on Route 38, Sam had already asked for this. There, they had a conversation, and Sam asked for Trevenant’s help to introduce the next capture to the team.

This was not the same situation, but Trevenant planned to live up to his promise, anyway. This was a fight he knew he could win, and he wanted Sam to understand the same.

Thus, as Trevenant stared at Sam with his red, unblinking eye, Sam finally let himself breathe.

“Alright Trevenant, let’s do this,” he said.

And Trevenant nodded once, turning back to the field to walk to its center. Because Trevenant had a point. He would win. Between every possible option, he was Sam’s best chance. A three-on-one fight was not a fair fight, but it was a fight that played into Trevenant’s strengths.

After all, no other Pokémon was as capable of enduring damage as him. No other Pokémon could heal as much as he could.

For this battle, Trevenant was Sam’s best chance at winning, but it was still only a chance. They would have to apply everything they’d practiced if they were to win.

===============================================================
Author Note:

It’s impossible for Preston to claim “credit” for the discovery of Annihilape. Sam didn’t share the specifics of Annihlape’s evolution, and Carl has already passed around the news. The information is out there, but it’s been kept quiet. The only people who will learn about it are people who think to ask, and the concept of a Ghost Type evolution of Primeape is ridiculous enough that no one will bother.

Also, as long as he doesn't win, Preston won't have proof of either the Annihilape or the New Pokédex, so Sam doesn't need to worry about anyone finding out.

Pokémon included in this chapter:
Absol
Chansey
Dreepy / Drakloak
Druddigon
Grimer
Koffing
Mantine
Remoraid

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Chapter 133

The next morning, Sam left the Pokémon Center carrying a sack of empty Pokéballs. None of them were his even though he had a few left from Azalea Town. However, those were Apricorn Balls, so they were too rare to use for this task. Although, it wasn’t like he had paid for these balls, either. If he had, all of his money would have disappeared.

The Pokéballs in the bag were all an unpainted grey, designed for temporary use rather than anything as permanent like for a member of a trainer’s team. They were primarily used for computer-based transfers of Pokémon since not every Pokémon at a Pokémon Center possessed a personal Pokéball. Normally, these grey Pokéballs wouldn't be offered for captures, but the nurse knew Sam's plan and handed over half of the spares she had in storage. Once Sam was done with them, most, if not all, would be returned filled.

“And a handful more, just in case,” Sam told his team as they stepped out.

After a stop at a PokéMart, he bought a single, extremely expensive Ultra Ball instead of a few Great Balls like he had first planned. Thankfully, the clerk there recognized him from before and was just as apologetic, so the offered discount made this purchase less of a “splurge” than it would have been otherwise.

An Ultra Ball was more powerful than a Great Ball, and Sam needed to be as prepared as possible. After all, his plans for the next few days involved checking in with the Gym each morning and then catching as many Dragon Types as he could.

“All across the city, poached Dragon Types are hiding and waiting to be caught. They’ve been taken from their homes, and now trainers are trying to find them to capture them or just to earn some cash,” Sam said to his team as they walked through the city. “I don’t like that. I know I’m being hypocritical, but I’d rather help these Pokémon than not. So this is going to serve two purposes—training for us, since some of these Dragon Types will fight before being captured, and then assistance for them since we want to make sure they get the chance to go home.”

His team had already found many of the Dragon Types currently loose in Olivine. Unfortunately, they hadn’t found all of them because some were adept hiders or had already been caught. However, Sam couldn’t just not do this. He was in a position to help, so he would help. The thought of leaving them behind instead of actually doing something didn’t sit right in his gut.

“We’ll try to capture that Sliggoo, first,” Sam continued. “Based on the New Pokédex and Matilda’s Goomy, a Sliggoo seems friendly enough, so hopefully trying to capture it will tell us whether or not our plan will work.”

He followed the Gastly back to that same alley behind a hotel where they had found a wild Sliggoo the other day. Upon arrival, Haunter focused and nodded to Sam that the Sliggoo was still there. The space ahead of them was dark, dank, and uncomfortably humid. It was blatantly obvious why no trainer had checked this place—why would a Dragon Type ever live somewhere so uncomfortable?

But unlike all of the other trainers in this city, Sam actually knew what species he was looking for. Few others knew about hundreds upon hundreds of foreign Pokémon, and they didn’t know Sliggoo existed let alone that there was a Dragon Type that liked uncomfortably warm swamps.

As Sam stepped into the space, the squelch that came from beneath his foot sent a shiver of disgust up his spine. The humming air conditioning units dripped, and the pipes rattled. Slime coated practically everything, and then there was another layer of moss on top of that.

(Well, it was more like an occasional patch of something mildly gross every here and there, but that was already too much. Sam could tell this old hotel rarely bothered with maintenance.)

The Gastly, as Poison Types, had no issues with the status of the place and eagerly rushed ahead. Within only a few seconds, splotches of darkness had already searched the entire alley and were now coalesced above one, singular dumpster.

Sam approached the obvious signal and lifted the dumpster’s lid.

“Goo?”

The Sliggoo’s expression was curious, with its head cocked to the side. Where an unevolved Goomy resembled a purple mound, this Pokémon’s back was curved almost like a shell and its head was held up by a long, thin neck.

“Hey,” Sam said softly. It was a little weird to speak into a dumpster like this. “I'm going around Olivine and trying to catch as many Dragon Types as I can. I’m not trying to add you to my team, but I want to give you the chance to be sent home if you’d like.”

Sam knew from Redi’s experience with Dragonair that making eye contact with Dragon Types was special. Doing so was simultaneously a challenge and a show of confidence. In this case, when he looked at the Sliggoo, he made eye contact to do just that. He wanted it to understand that he was serious about his offer—but the problem was that a Sliggoo’s eyes devolved upon evolution and were unable to see. Still, the pair of antennae on its head let it detect its surroundings, and it could tell Sam was giving it the utmost focus. Though as slug-like as the Sliggoo was, it was definitely still a Dragon Type.

So, after a single moment of Sam refusing to back off, its expression grew serious.

The Sliggoo would agree to Sam’s plan but only if he beat it in a fight.

“Of course.”

The Sliggoo hopped out of its moist, dumpster shelter once Sam moved back, and Sam nodded to the wall to call Haunter out. As his Ghost Type left the shadows to hover in the air, the Sliggoo scooted over the wet earth to face him, unaware of the excited Gastly swarming behind it that were looking forward to a good match.

This wasn’t an official battle, so the Sliggoo began the second Haunter looked prepared enough. Rearing its head back, yellow flames crackled around its mouth for what was likely a Dragon Breath.

But Sam just pointed forward.

“Hypnosis.”

And that was that.

Once the sleeping Sliggoo was soundly captured in one of those unpainted Pokéballs, Sam could finally let himself breathe out in relief.

“Alright. So we’re not dealing with Pokémon on the level of Dragonair. They’ll be wild, but they’re pretty much untrained. Capture won’t be the hard part; the hard part will be finding them and convincing them to be caught.”

Upset, one of the Gastly blew a raspberry at Sam for tricking them into watching such an unsatisfying match, but another purposely bumped into it to get it under control. As excited as they’d been to watch the fight, there’d be plenty of other battles today.

For now, Sam left, carrying the Sliggoo in his pocket, but he wasn’t done just yet. There were so many other Pokémon in the city all but waiting to be caught. This battle was easy. He couldn’t say the others would be the same. If he truly wanted to capture so many Dragon Types, it would be a test of skill as much as it would be a test of his team’s endurance.

_______________________________________________________________

Sam found that fighting these Dragon Types would have been an even fight for most six-star trainers, and then as an added point of difficulty on top of that, actually finding the Pokémon would make the task even harder. Trainers still tried, however, but this late in the season, most high-level trainers had already gathered all of the Pokémon they wanted for their teams. There were always those open to catching more, but not everyone had ranching options, and there were plenty of others who were too suspicious about that insanely large sum to bother getting involved.

That being said, the “easy” Dragon Types had all already been caught, either by the League’s initial sweeping efforts or by other trainers early on. The Dragon Types that were left were the ones people overlooked or the ones that had found decent places to hide. In other words, if Sam wasn’t catching them, the only way they would have been found was through chance encounters at best.

After the Sliggoo, the Gastly led Sam to a two-headed Zweilous, a stocky Pokémon whose two heads were at war over who could lay claim to an entire park. It looked as though the argument had lasted for weeks, and the Pokémon had nested into a darkened exit of a storm drain for quite some time. It looked as though the only time the Zweilous stopped fighting itself was for food, water, and rest.

As the Zweilous was an aggressive Dark Type, Sam was able to make use of its constant, self-inflicted war. Instead of going up and trying to convince it to be caught, he simply sent both Haunter and Misdreavus forward, and the Zweilous was unable to agree on who and when to attack. The resulting knock-out was a walk in the park.

Literally, given the park Sam had to pass through to reach its nest.

The few Bagon that had escaped the boat had already been mostly captured, but that didn’t mean none were left in the city. Other than the two Sam found standing at the edge of a tall balcony, he found another pinned behind a grocery store. A nasty-looking Houndour was actively bullying it in an attempt to steal its meager meal.

One easy fight later, and that Bagon was sobbing to Haunter about just wanting to go home. Sam’s heart hurt for it. He made sure it was in the nurse’s hands as soon as possible.

And even more Dragon Types were caught over the next few days. A pair of Deino were captured during a territorial fight. A Vibrava was taken from a cave on the beach before it could finish building itself a hive. Sam also caught one species with a name he struggled to remember—it was either a Jangmo-o, a Hakamo-o, or a Kommo-o. Whatever it was, it was a mid-stage Fighting Type, and that let Misdreavus’s super effective attacks easily carry the fight.

But it wasn’t all easy. The Vibrava was a challenge—that Pokémon only revealed itself after the Gastly harassed it into leaving the tunnels it had dug into the floor. Another snag came when Sam captured a few Swablu, as the nurse had to inform him that those Swablu hadn’t actually been poached. Though they weren’t a species native to Johto and had the potential to evolve into the Dragon Type Altaria, Swablu weren’t exactly rare. Foreign Flying Types were often found in port cities simply because some of them liked hitching rides on boats to visit new places.

So the Swablu were released, and Sam went on to search for what few Dragon Types were left, but he quickly found that he was rapidly running out. There had never been that many Dragon Types in the first place, so the rate of captures quickly slowed down. Dragon Types were rare—barely anyone ever managed to catch one. Honestly, the poachers likely went through a lot of trouble as well as what was likely a massive investment to gather the numbers they did. It was disgusting, but Sam could at least take comfort in how the poachers’ arrest probably caused them to go bankrupt.

He continued to hunt. Half a week came and passed. After only a few more catches, Sam’s Gastly began to report back with a distinct lack of Dragon Types. No matter how much they scoured the city, all of the stragglers had been caught. The only ones left were the big ones: the Dreepy, the Drakloak, a Druddigon, and then one group he saved for last.

With no other options left, Sam finally made his way to the back of a specific, abandoned house. It was one of the many buildings the city left purposefully empty to provide a safe place for wild Pokémon to rest. However, instead of the usual Normal or Bug Type living inside, its small backyard had been claimed. Inside of its walled, enclosed space, four Dragon Types had made a temporary home.

The tiles out here had been dug up to expose the cool dirt underneath. The yard’s few plants were in poor shape, having been gnawed on over the past few weeks. Containers of stolen food were torn up and littered the floor.

And, the very second Sam stepped out back, the wild Gabite snapped up its head and growled only for its eyes to widen in fear in recognition of who he was.

“Wait. You might have tried to attack me once, but I’m not here for revenge.” Sam held up his hands to show he meant no harm. “I’m not here to scare you, or to terrify you, or to do anything mean. I’m also not here to take those Gible away—I’m just here to offer you help.”

The Gabite’s mouth curled up for a silent snarl, but it made no noise. Beneath it, three young Gible dozed with their large, toothy maws hanging open and dripping with drool.

“I’ve been going around and capturing all of the Dragon Types in Olivine,” Sam explained, speaking slowly and quietly. “At this point, almost all of them have been brought to the Pokémon Center to let them choose where they go. I’m not taking you for my team or trying to trade you in for money. I’m just trying to make sure you have a choice. I can bring you to a nurse who can send all of you home.”

Unlike the so many other times Sam had encountered a Dragon Type, he purposefully broke eye contact with the Gabite here. Their encounter in the alley had already intimidated it. He didn’t need to prove his team’s strength or face it in battle. With the Gible here, there was no point in making it go on guard.

But there was a risk to that; often, a wild Pokémon would use that kind of moment to attack, especially when backed into a corner like the Gabite currently was. However, even as wary as it was, the Gabite didn’t move. With the Gible sound asleep, pressed against it, it didn’t want to disturb them. What it did do, however, was keep an eye on every shadow, just in case.

“Here. Check this Pokéball.” Sam reached into his pocket to slowly take out one of those unpainted, Pokémon Center Pokéballs before rolling it across the floor. “This isn’t the ball of a trainer. This is the ball of a Pokémon temporarily caught to be transferred. Cross-region transportation isn't that developed, but Sinnoh isn’t far away. It wouldn’t take long at all to send you back to where you were taken from.”

Hoenn, Johto, Kanto, and Sinnoh were all linked, but they didn’t technically have direct transfers between every Pokémon Center just yet. Instead, when the system brought a Pokéball across regions, the Pokéball was transferred between the regions’ largest and most central Pokémon Centers before being sent to the target Center in question.

From the New Pokédex, Sam knew the Gible line lived in a cave system on Sinnoh’s Route 206. He’d checked the maps; it wouldn’t be immediate, but these Pokémon could be transferred to Eterna City and then brought home by a Ranger within only a few days.

“But even if you don’t want that, I can still bring you to the Pokémon Center, anyway,” he quickly added. “The Chansey there are nice. You can tell them what you want, and they’ll make sure it comes true.”

If the Gabite didn’t want to be sent back to a Route, others would be willing to care for these Pokémon, and the Pokémon Center would make sure they obtained the right partners. If not that, then there were specialized ranches in Sinnoh—places better for them than just the Blackthorn Clan in Johto.

So, with that final piece said, Sam had nothing more to say. He stayed silent for a short while, giving the Gabite time to weigh the offer before giving it a final push.

“What do you think?” he asked softly.

The reply came in the form of a glare.

It hurt to be looked at like that. The Gabite’s glare was almost identical to the one Drakloak had sent him during their battle a few days ago.

I can’t blame either of them for looking at me like that. These Pokémon were ripped away from their homes. At least in Drakloak’s case, I almost did the same thing. I broke into its hiding space and then tried to leave with its friend.

If someone broke into Mom’s bookstore and then tried to lure Cyndaquil away, I would have been just as mad. Whoever did that wouldn’t have cared if I was there. They would have just cared that Cyndaquil belonged to a rare species.

Which is basically what I did with Dreepy.

He was at least thankful he had tried to be respectful when attempting to capture the Dreepy, but his presence had still been an unwelcome intrusion. Those two Dragon Types were still out there. Though his Gastly were yet to find them, in that moment, Sam promised himself that he’d apologize the second he got the chance.

And, as Sam silently came to that decision, something must have shown on his face because the Gabite’s harsh gaze broke. Then, from beneath it, a small noise came out, and one of the Gible looked up with a groggy yawn.

The unevolved Dragon Type briefly looked around before freezing when it noticed Sam, a human, standing right there. As young as it was, Sam doubted any of the Gible were related to the Gabite, but they had likely hatched after the Dragon Types escaped from the boat, and the Gabite dedicated itself to their care.

That meant there was no fear in its eyes when it looked at Sam. It didn’t have that past experience. Seeing that, the Gabite let out a sigh. While it personally didn’t seem happy about this, it chose to accept his offer solely for the Gible’s sake.

“Thank you,” Sam said. “I promise that they’ll get a good future.”

The Gabite just wanted the Gible to be happy, and Sam would absolutely make sure that came true.

It only took a slight bit of further effort to coax the Dragon Types into those grey Pokéballs, but food was a surprisingly effective motivator for the trio of hungry Gible. Afterward, Sam left that small backyard with all four wild Pokémon on his person.

“That just leaves three. And they’re the hardest ones,” Sam said to his team. “We need to find the Dreepy and Drakloak, but before that, we also need to deal with that Druddigon in the dump.”

_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

Shadows.

She crouched on a towering pile, looking down at the crowd below.

She'd been following the boy for a while. Why? She didn’t know. She tried her best to keep track of all of the hunters in the city, and that boy had seemed the most dangerous out of them all.

Alternatively, a better explanation was that she was following him due to her brother’s foolish insistence, but she’d never admit to that. No, the boy commanded far too many Pokémon for her to ignore. She simply needed to track the threat that he posed.

“To the side—Confuse Ray!” the voice of that very same boy rang out.

The thing was, he was hard to understand. He was clearly doing all of this for his own selfish motivations, but why did he look so genuine whenever he told a fellow Dragon Type that he just was there to help out?

The massive pile of trash let her stay hidden as she watched a battle take place below. An audience gathered around the fight—more than just her. Other trainers looked on with a mix of annoyance and envy as that boy took on the same, great Dragon that so many others had fought and failed. His Misdreavus fought with a surprising amount of grace for a Pokémon that looked so infuriatingly smug.

“Great!” the boy shouted. “Now, Night Shade! Lure it around!”

But she couldn’t ignore that the Ghost was skilled—doing so would have been a mistake. Within the midst of the match, a flash of darkness was met by a mighty roar. The field became cloaked in night. The Druddigon, blinded, tried to chase the Misdreavus, but it was only led around by the nose and tricked into crashing through several smaller trash piles nearby.

The Misdreavus would win, she was sure of it, but as she watched the two Pokémon battle it out, a short whine came from her side, and she recognized that mixture of awe and hope.

As Drakloak checked on her brother, she could see that Dreepy was fine. However, his whine had spoken of his continuing naivety, one that persisted no matter what she said. Though he hid behind a discarded paper bag to hide just like her, it was almost as if he wanted to rush out. He wanted to grant that boy his trust even though the boy had done nothing to earn her own.

Drakloak knew her brother didn’t understand the truth of the world even though they had both experienced the same things. It was like he had forgotten just how easily they’d been taken away from their homes.

It wasn’t a pleasant memory. Even now, she could remember it clearly. The mere thought of what happened caused bile to build in her throat, but she re-lived it all the same.

...On a foggy day in the rolling hills of their old home, they were lured by the prospect of a bountiful source of food. It was a trap in the end, and they soon found themselves covered by a net. Normally, that would have been easy to escape, but the net was wrapped with strange papers that left them feeling drained.

Those same papers were attached to the cage they were thrown into, and those same papers prevented them from phasing through its metal bars. Trapped and shoved into darkness, they were tossed into an open hull filled with Pokémon. Hopeless shouts rang out from all around them, but the noises were almost muffled. Dreepy and Drakloak had been placed up front, where their captors stored their “precious” Dragon Types.

It was ages before they managed to escape, and they were only able to do so thanks to a burst of panic that came from the ship’s main deck. Drakloak couldn’t say she was an expert at understanding the human language, but emotions were always easy to convey.

Something had happened. A misunderstanding, or a call had gone wrong. The poachers had contacted the wrong people, and now, the authorities were rushing their way.

With the cruel men and women so preoccupied with thoughts of escape, none bothered to check the lower decks. There, Dreepy came to the rescue. He forced his way through their cage’s bars, using his small size to squeeze through and a focused will to ignore the lethargy that came with being drained.

Escaping, he had just enough energy left to destroy the locks keeping them in. Once he was safe back on her head, Drakloak went on to use that granted freedom to release everyone she could in turn.

Unfortunately, she was only able to free the Pokémon in her immediate vicinity—the Dragon Types—before she was forced to escape. The authorities boarded the boat, and then all of the Pokémon were saved.

Except—

Hah. 

Drakloak sneered.

Saved? As if she’d fall for that trap.

No. She’d never let anyone take her or her brother’s freedom again. Drakloak swore to herself that she’d never again make that mistake.

The battle continued beneath her, with the Misdreavus’s opponent now both burned and confused. Its roars were angry, but its swipes were unguided. The Psybeams the Ghost Type unleashed would certainly wear the Druddigon down.

Watching carefully, Drakloak supposed she could swoop down and mess with the battle’s inevitable outcome, but she knew the boy had plenty of other Pokémon waiting in turn. For now, she just watched, waited, and looked on carefully. She needed to learn every potential weakness she could use against him—and maybe she could finally understand his strange nature, too.

But she had to split her focus to do that. Not only was she trying to watch carefully, but she had to keep her presence to a minimum. One mistake, and she’d be at risk of detection by the boy’s infuriatingly tight patrols of Ghost Types—but that was where she messed up, instead.

Drakloak split her focus on the wrong areas. She focused on the battle and herself but not her brother. Suddenly shocked away from her observation, she turned at the sound of a yelp to see her brother halfway down the trash mound, facing a Haunter floating before him.

She almost, almost felt relief when she saw the Haunter. She’d been spying on one for a while, and she knew the Haunter she’d been watching wouldn’t cause her brother any true harm.

But this wasn’t that Haunter. It was a different Pokémon that only looked the same. Her relief lasted only a single instant, and the unfamiliar Pokémon’s eyes flashed with a hypnotizing glare.

Dreepy fell.

Drakloak was too shocked to do anything, too caught off-guard by this sudden change. That delay was her second mistake, as something then flew through the air, and a red light sucked up Dreepy’s sleeping form.

“Wait, we actually found one? Wow, Haunter! You’re incredible!” an unknown voice called out. “I can’t believe there was another Dragon Type here! Finally! A hundred K, here we come!”

Desperately, Drakloak wanted to rush forward. She wanted to attack, to assault, to tear them apart for daring to steal her family’s freedom once again.

But she couldn’t. She was too overcome by surprise and shame and fear. As fast as she was, she could already see the losing battle for what it was. She wouldn’t be able to beat the white-furred Dark Type that walked by the unfamiliar trainer’s side, and attacking right now would only see herself be captured as well.

“Okay, okay. Breathe out, Preston. Think about what you need to do next,” the stranger said to himself. “Calm down, head out, don’t let anyone know, and... You go to the Pokémon Center to collect your reward!”

He grinned a cruel grin. Drakloak couldn’t do anything—the stranger’s Pokémon had too many advantages over her. As she watched, from behind, grumbles from other trainers echoed out as a second ball clicked.

That fight ended. That boy had captured the Druddigon.

Yet, as two different celebrations for two different captures rang out, Drakloak felt just as stuck as Dreepy. The unknown trainer turned to leave, but all she could do was continue to hide like a fool and watch her unconscious brother be carried away.

==============================================================
Author Note:

Pokémon included in this chapter:
The Dragon Type
Chansey
Dreepy / Drakloak / Dragapult
Swablu

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Next Chapter

Chapter 132

Drakloak was fast—faster than Sam expected, but Typhlosion was already prepared for a battle when it lunged. She had withstood its Dragon Pulse, but it wasn’t attempting to use a special attack. No, it was trying to make use of its prodigious speed to get close.

Bringing down its head, Drakloak shot off to the side like an arrow and slipped into the shadows of the warehouse’s boxes to cloak itself. Its body became phantasmal, shrouded in pitch-black darkness. Even through that, however, its eyes locked with Typhlosion’s own.

“Mines!” Sam shouted.

Typhlosion roared her name, and wisps of Infernal Parade sparked up around her. They were a minefield to prevent Drakloak’s approach, but it continued unbothered, the presence of the deep purple flames not worrying it in the slightest. The Pokémon clearly expected to phase right through, using the effects of its move to completely ignore the floating fire. However, Infernal Parade was not a mundane attack, and Drakloak was caught unprepared. It ran head-first right into the fire and jerked away. For a split second, a sizzling noise rang out as the flames seared its scales.

“Not burned,” Sam said as he checked over the wild Pokémon. “Not sure if that's good or bad.”

He had conflicting feelings about battling Drakloak, but if it was going to fight them, then of course he was going to fight back. A burn just felt a little too mean. He wanted to catch this Drakloak, and catching a Pokémon often involved weakening it in battle and convincing it afterward. He just wished they could have convinced it first.

“Typhlosion, that was Phantom Force,” Sam warned as Drakloak pulled back. Shadows dripped from its body as it eyed Typhlosion warily. “Think of it as a stronger Shadow Sneak that’s much slower. Rather than use shadows to move around, it uses shadows as protection to let it slip past most moves.”

Sam was only somewhat familiar with Phantom Force thanks to the New Pokédex. Only one member of his team had bothered to try to figure it out so far. However, it seemed the attack came naturally to Drakloak. Phantom Force wasn’t a move commonly found in Johto, and its use here almost seemed to emphasize just how out of place this species was.

Yet, it was almost like Drakloak knew that, as it had used Phantom Force with the intent of finishing this match quickly. As Sam had warned Typhlosion, Drakloak shot him a glare. Its look actually surprised him—Drakloak’s glower was full of genuine hate.

“What have you been through to react like that?” Sam mumbled.

Typhlosion took the initiative and charged. Though she was better at range, she’d already proven her Infernal Parade could disrupt her opponent’s movements. While her control was great, it was faster to conjure her wisps in the area immediately around her than from afar. She wanted to lock down this Pokémon to restrict its speedy movements, so she ran with her neck already blazing and a swarm of wisps following her.

However, Drakloak was faster, and the moment she started to run, it shouted out a command. The Dreepy on Drakloak’s head whined about getting involved in this fight, but there was still an eagerness to its eyes that came with the request to be a part of a move.

It jumped, grabbing Drakloak’s forehead to throw itself forward, and it was immediately hit by a Dragon Pulse from behind. Except, rather than take damage, the move seemed to form around it. Like a missile, the combined attack saw the Dreepy rocket forward.

The Dreepy-Pulse slammed into Typhlosion’s chest right as she tried to rear back in an attempt to dodge. Unlike the last Dragon Pulse she withstood, the physical aspect of the combination that came from the Dreepy caused her to recoil.

“We can’t forget this will evolve into a Pseudo-Legend! It’s strong—think of Dragonair!” Sam shouted.

Typhlosion growled as she rubbed where the move had slammed into her chest. She briefly checked on Sam before watching the Dreepy return to Drakloak. The impact had caused it to bounce off of her, and it used that momentum to quickly fly back.

While the Drakloak was preoccupied with catching the Dreepy, Sam sent Typhlosion a nod, causing her to grin.

“Double Team,” he ordered.

Faster than ever before, an image of Typhlosion split off to her right, and then both copies of herself split again. Drakloak let out a threatening hiss from where it floated, but that did nothing to stop the illusory duplicates from surrounding it throughout the room.

Typhlosion smirked at it from the floor, from atop the storage boxes, and even from atop the metal catwalk above. While this wasn’t as strong a trap as her Infernal Parade, she was still able to threaten Drakloak from every angle simply because it didn’t know where she was.

“Great! Now—”

Yet, Drakloak was more angered than it was intimidated. Before Sam could give any further commands, it took off to slam right through one of the illusions surrounding it. Its Take Down did nothing—not like it could have done much to the Ghost Type Typhlosion, anyway—but the move did let it continue right through that copy to escape the circle and charge at someone else.

It charged at Sam.

His next order caught in his throat when he saw Drakloak rocket toward him. The Dreepy on its head looked just as surprised, and it attempted to grab Drakloak’s eyelids and pull, desperately trying to get it to turn or move back.

But its panicked attempts did nothing, as all Drakloak did was continue to rush Sam like a missile. However, while Sam had been caught off guard by the sudden change in targets, it wasn’t like he was unprepared.

As vulnerable as he seemed, Sam had other Pokémon hiding around him. Haunter rose up from the floor, and Misdreavus phased into existence behind him. Two hands, slightly enlarged thanks to the gathered shadows of Shadow Punch, opened up to serve as a flat, defensive wall. Misdreavus’s eyes then glowed for a Psychic as she prepared herself to grab Drakloak when it got too close.

A growl.

Briefly, Drakloak looked genuinely frustrated, and the Dreepy on its head breathed out in relief. At the very last moment, instead of slamming into Haunter’s awaiting palms, it pulled to the side to scrape against them in a move that reminded Sam of a fly-by attack performed by a bug—a U-Turn.

Though Haunter resisted the Bug Type U-Turn twice over, his lack of reaction didn’t interfere with Drakloak’s plan. The U-Turn let it maintain its momentum even as it twisted into that sharp angle. Before anyone knew it, it was traveling perpendicular to them toward a wall. And at the very last second, it turned translucent to phase right through, escaping the fight alongside Dreepy all in the blink of an eye.

It was gone.

Tension leftover from the fight hung in the air for a single second longer, but that quickly vanished once it set in that Drakloak had fled rather than leave to reposition. The glow around Misdreavus’s eyes faded, and Haunter lowered his hands. From on top of the crates, Typhlosion let out a sad whine while letting her many Double Team duplicates disappear.

“Mis?” Misdreavus asked.

Sam let out a groan and rubbed his head.

“I’m not sure if we can give chase. It’s passing through buildings, has turned half-invisible, and is moving faster than any of us can run.”

Typhlosion spoke up—she could keep up if she used Agility, but Sam just sent her a look.

“You can’t exactly phase through walls,” he said.

Haunter snickered at the flat reaction, and Typhlosion huffed in reply. A few Gastly pulled themselves out from where they’d been watching from the shadows.

“I hate to say it, but we don’t have a choice. We’ll call it here for the night. We’ve at least sensed the Dreepy and Drakloak, so we shouldn’t have too much difficulty finding them again. We can pick up again tomorrow, but...” Sam sighed. He couldn’t say he enjoyed how he saw the Drakloak react. “I don’t know. I know we came here to catch them, but I need some time to think.”

_______________________________________________________________

Sam missed when solutions were easy. Oh, Team Rocket is chasing you? Just beat them in a fight. Oh, some Dratini were illegally captured? Just break into the game corner and call the cops.

But three times now, Sam had encountered a Pokémon with an “unhappy” past. Annihilape was technically the first, but everything with his brother hadn’t happened until later in their journey. Trevenant was the big one, with him taking control of a whole route and causing a retaliation from the local Gym. And now? There was a Drakloak out there that was still reeling from whatever had happened to it when it was poached.

It was a morbid thought, but Sam almost considered that “unhappiness” to be a part of the nature of Ghost Types. They were driven by their emotions and desires, which could be both good and bad. While most Ghost Types could act almost whimsical with their pranks and scares, it was easy for them to fall into darker thoughts. Primeape and Trevenant had both nearly been consumed by revenge, and now there was this Drakloak. While the Dreepy seemed okay at a surface level, the Drakloak certainly wasn’t. There was true hatred in its eyes when it had attacked Sam—and there was also the fact it had attacked Sam in the first place.

As Sam walked Olivine’s midnight streets to return to the Pokémon Center, Misdreavus made a noise from behind him—she was worried. Both about him and about everything involving that Drakloak.

“Yeah,” he said with what felt like the hundredth sigh tonight. “But they were poached. I can’t exactly blame them for that kind of reaction.”

He glanced over his shoulder to check on Misdreavus, and the ferocity of her glare almost made him stumble. She didn’t just look angry, she looked downright apoplectic. Either due to Sam being attacked or due to recognizing what Drakloak had been through, there was nothing about this situation she enjoyed.

I wonder if she’s being reminded about something that happened to her in the past.

But as Sam looked at her, Misdreavus realized he was staring, and she forced a smile to calm down. She wasn’t okay—this situation was still clearly affecting her—but she at least seemed better at the reminder she was surrounded by friends.

“We’ll do something,” Sam promised. “I just don’t know what right now. As much as I just want to sit around and gnash my teeth, that’s just the Ghost Type energy talking.”

He turned back around.

“Agatha gave good advice—it’s nice to have a set of rules to fall back on. The poachers might already be captured so we can’t get revenge on them, but there are Pokémon that need help. We’ll do something to help them, instead.”

However, when it came to helping Drakloak, the big question was how. As much as Sam wanted to catch it, he doubted that would make it happy.

I need time to plan.

When he arrived back at the Pokémon Center, it was empty like usual. Not only were most people asleep at this time of night, but he was pretty sure only three or four other trainers were staying there. Set at the edge of a residential district, there was little reason for any traveling trainer to choose this Center as a place to stay. The grand, hotel-like Pokémon Center in Olivine’s downtown was likely more stuffed. There were probably a bunch of trainers hanging out there, awake and talking about ways to catch those Dragon Types even right now.

“Samuel!”

But there was an advantage to staying at a smaller Pokémon Center. With fewer people around, it was easier to be remembered. The second he stepped into the building, the nurse at the counter looked up and recognized him, putting her book down to beckon him over.

“I finally have an answer,” she said, and she looked rather proud about it, too.

“To what?” Sam asked.

“...To what? Oh, ‘to what,’ he says.” The nurse shook her head. “I finally managed to get an answer to your question. After a bit of asking around, I now know who put up that job you were so curious about.”

And just like that, she immediately captured every ounce of Sam’s attention. When she saw just how alert he’d become, she gained a satisfied smile.

“At first, I thought the job was posted by an independent agent because there was only one name listed in its files,” she began to explain. “However, I wasn’t satisfied with that answer and did some more digging. Turns out, that man puts up a lot of jobs, and he actually works on behalf of a larger organization, which is where all of that reward money is coming from.”

“And that organization is...?” Sam asked. The mention of a “larger organization” suddenly made him feel sick.

But thankfully, his gut feeling was wrong. The nurse gained a warm smile and answered quite merrily.

“The Blackthorn Clan!” the nurse said happily. “They’re the ones who put up that job. The individual I mentioned is essentially a broker for them—he’s the one that administrates the jobs put up on their behalf all across the region.”

Sam was relieved that Team Rocket wasn’t involved, but he still couldn’t stop his grumble.

“Of course it’s the Blackthorn Clan.”

Because when Dragon Types were involved, who else could it be?

Rich people and collectors always had money to spend, but spending such an extreme amount of cash just to obtain Dragon Types was something only the Blackthorn Clan would do. To them, these Dragon Types represented more than just new Pokémon. They represented a way to grow their strength, increase their power, and help them maintain their otherwise dwindling influence.

As much as the Clan wanted to stick to tradition, they probably had to recognize the changing situation of the world. Everyone else was moving on and forming connections to other regions. Being known for a single species of Dragon Type wouldn’t be enough to stay relevant moving forward.

So then if the Blackthorn Clan put up that job, then I bet they’re the ones who’ve been keeping everything quiet, too. They kept their listing far too purposefully vague to not cause people to make connections. No one else would have the influence to shut down that news story so quickly, either.

...I need to thank Matilda again for telling me that.

To the Blackthorn Clan, even a single new species of Dragon Type was genuinely worth that ridiculous amount they were offering as a reward. And paying such a sum would also scare other offers away. After all, why bother putting up a reward if someone else was paying even more? If the Blackthorn Clan had truly put up that job, then they were more in control of the entire situation than Sam would have thought.

“Are you okay?” the nurse suddenly asked.

Sam realized he’d been scowling.

“Sorry. I’m just not a fan,” he grumbled. “It just feels messed up.”

From what he’d heard, a Shelgon had already been captured and turned in for that reward, so the Blackthorn Clan likely already had at least one new species. The only positive thing, in his opinion, is that there was no way the Shelgon wouldn’t live a good life.

But it still left a bad taste in Sam’s mouth. Honestly, part of it was probably just because the Blackthorn Clan hadn’t shared much information on the Ghost Type Dreepy when they had likely known far more.

“How so?” the nurse asked.

Sam looked up.

“How is this messed up?” the nurse asked again.

“It’s like... I don’t know. It feels like they’re just trying to capture these Pokémon to increase their power. The Blackthorn Clan doesn’t care. These Pokémon were poached, and now they just want them for their personal benefit. And... And—!” He stopped himself. He couldn’t say he hadn’t been doing the same thing.

But even as his grumbling continued, Sam suddenly had a thought.

“Wait. Hold on,” he said, interrupting himself. “Where did these Dragon Types come from in the first place?”

“Dragon Types?”

The nurse blinked at him. Sam blinked back. He quickly realized that her Pokémon Center was likely out of the way enough that she didn’t have the full story.

He went on to hand over Typhlosion and Haunter’s Pokéballs to have them be checked over just in case, and a Chansey brought them to the back. While they were being treated, he shared everything he knew about the situation with the Dragon Types.

Turns out, the nurse already knew about the poachers—that event had been big enough for all the nurses in the city to hear. She also knew that some Pokémon had escaped, but according to her, not every Pokémon had. Apparently, the Pokémon League had recovered plenty of poached Pokémon from the ship itself, and many had already come and gone from the city’s Pokémon Centers after being treated.

But the detail she lacked was that most of the missing Pokémon were Dragon Types, and upon hearing that, she pressed her lips together for a frown. She was also able to intuit that trainers were out there trying to capture those Dragon Types, but she grew visibly suspicious about why the League wasn’t doing more.

“Because they don’t need to,” Sam answered. “Dragon Types are Dragon Types, sure, but these ones are only mid-stage Pokémon at best. Even if they were trained, they can't be more dangerous than something like an evolved Dark Type. There are only so many of them in Olivine, which is an entire city, so making sure there are jobs up for trainers to handle them is the League doing something. Team Rocket is out there. There are bigger threats.”

“I suppose,” the nurse said. “But you do seem rather bothered by the Blackthorn Clan’s involvement.”

Sam frowned again.

“I know. It’s just... Ugh.” He rubbed his temples. “The Blackthorn Clan is fine. Clair is fine. Lance is probably fine, too. But I know a few of their members are complete jerks, so I can’t say I’m a big fan of them getting a bunch of scared Pokémon under their control.”

And a little voice whispered in the back of his head—why was there a boat of poached Dragon Types in Johto? There had to be a reason that those Pokémon were brought here, and given who stood to profit from them the most...

“But I might be focusing on the Blackthorn Clan a little too much,” Sam said, letting the feeling drop before it could consume him. “There’s no way Clair, Lance, or this one really old elder I met would ever let the Blackthorn Clan even think about interacting with poachers.”

If he had to guess, even if the Blackthorn Clan had been involved, they were either tricked, or the poachers had been grossly misinformed.

Probably the second option, to be honest. After all, the poachers were captured pretty much the second they docked in Olivine. Someone had to have learned about them almost immediately for something like that to have happened.

He let out a sigh as the Center’s Chansey brought his Pokémon back. Typhlosion and Haunter were fine. They might have been somewhat injured in battle, but those injuries were surface-level at worst. At most, their treatment was the same as usual—a minuscule amount of medicine, but they mainly needed a good night’s rest.

For now, Sam planned to head up to his room to think of a plan on how to deal with the Drakloak, but the nurse suddenly spoke up.

“You know,” she said, tapping her cheek, “if you really don’t trust the Blackthorn Clan, there is one thing you can do.”

He looked up at her, and a corner of her mouth quirked up for an amused smirk.

“While I can’t say it’ll be anywhere as much, the League reserves a part of its budget solely for rewards. Trainers that perform great services on the League’s behalf are paid to encourage that kind of behavior.”

Sam stood up a bit straighter.

“Oh. I know about that. My friend and I captured one of Team Rocket’s lieutenants so she got a TM for Teleport while I got a favor.”

The nurse opened her mouth but failed to speak. Doubt crossed her face and she had to briefly close her eyes, but she had just seen two impossible Pokémon on Sam’s team. A Hisuian Typhlosion and Annihilape weren’t exactly common.

But when she opened her eyes again, that doubt had vanished. She might have believed him, but she also seemed intent on pretending she hadn’t heard what Sam just said.

“What I’m trying to say is that if you feel so strongly about helping these Pokémon, and if you don’t trust the Blackthorn Clan, there’s always another option. The League’s Pokémon Rangers are responsible for helping wild Pokémon—”

Sam’s eyes lit up.

“So if I bring those Pokémon to you, you could bring them to the Pokémon Rangers, and then the Pokémon Rangers make sure they’d be returned to their home regions,” he finished.

“You’ll also still get a reward, just not as much,” the nurse added.

Sam stepped away from the counter to begin to pace, trying to weigh everything in his head. On one hand, it would be selfish of him to capture those Pokémon before any other trainers could, but on the other hand, who cared about those other trainers? These were Pokémon stuck in a region far away from home, and the other trainers would just turn them in for the reward or do what he had planned to do—keep them for their team.

But Pokémon Rangers were famously nonpolitical, at least when it came to their duty to wild Pokémon. This wasn’t a situation where Sam would turn in the Dragon Types and just see them be sent to the Blackthorn Clan anyway. No, Pokémon Rangers solved Pokémon problems. Ace Trainers also solved Pokémon problems, but they solved Pokémon problems that involved people. Rangers wouldn’t be influenced by the Blackthorn Clan to hand over any species.

Sam had no doubt in his mind that relying on Pokémon Rangers would see the Dragon Types sent home. The poached Pokémon wouldn’t need to be stuck in a foreign-to-them region or be handed over to the secretive Blackthorn Clan.

But he was then struck with a thought.

What about Drakloak?

Sam stopped walking.

I... I don’t know.

However, he knew he could do at least something for the rest of the wild Dragon Types in Olivine. With his team, he would have no problem going around and capturing them. He could make sure all of those missing Pokémon were properly returned while also screwing over the more selfish members of the Blackthorn Clan.

Yeah, he thought to himself, coming to a decision, I think I like this plan.

==============================================================
Author Note:

As a quick clarification, this is not a Mankey/Gastly situation. Sam isn't adding any extra Dragon Types to his team.

Pokémon included in this chapter:
Chansey
Dreepy / Drakloak
Shelgon

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Chapter 131

Sam’s heart raced as the realization sunk in. He was making an assumption, but it was an assumption with all signs pointing to it being true.

He’d come to Olivine to catch a sixth Pokémon, and this was a chance—a chance—to do exactly that. He wouldn’t need to find someone to trade. He wouldn’t need to go out to catch whatever species they specified. He would not have to struggle to convince a wild Pokémon to be trained by someone it didn’t know.

Somehow, impossibly, miraculously, he could go out and catch an incredibly rare Pokémon within the very city he was in.

But he would need to find it first.

“You alright?”

Sam blinked, realizing he’d been silently staring at the Goomy for the entire last minute. The little Dragon Type had shrunk back from his gaze, and Matilda was now watching both of them in worry.

“I’m... fine. Thank you. Sorry. I’ve just realized there’s a Pokémon I really want to catch.”

“The one you were describing?”

Sam nodded.

“Well, don’t expect it to be easy,” Matilda said. “Just about you and everyone will be out hunting for it.”

“To catch it?”

“Or for the cash,” she said with a shrug.

Matilda went on to explain her nerves—a lot of trainers were out looking for those Dragon Types. Sam had missed most of them since they were likely staying at the city’s more populated Pokémon Centers, but according to Matilda, those trainers were actively scouring the city for any sign of the escaped Dragon Types.

“We’ve had to keep the back door locked because Goomy likes to explore,” she continued. “Before, he would slip out, and now that’s too much of a risk. We used to get the occasional person slipping through the back alley just for a shortcut, but ever since news of those Dragon Types spread, we’ve been getting trainers walking past about three or four times a day.”

“So that’s why you freaked out when I asked for help,” Sam said. “You thought I was here for Goomy.”

“...Was I that obvious?”

Matilda winced, and her father laughed.

“Maddie, you couldn’t act even if your life depended on it! I’m surprised we haven’t had anyone else here!”

Annoyed, she sent her father a withering glare as he let loose a belly-deep laugh, but when she seemed to remember Sam was still watching, she chose to drop it, saying nothing and simply scooping up Goomy for a hug, instead.

“Goomy is with us, now. We don’t have a Pokéball for him yet, but we’ll be getting one soon! I’ve already been doing research into figuring out what to do if he ever evolves—”

“Are you, now?”

She ignored her father’s question.

“The problem is that there’s a lot of money up for his capture. With that much, I’m worried that someone might come and take him away.”

Sam doubted anyone would be successful. Those sailors out there had glared at him for a reason.

“I’m sure the search will die down eventually,” he said. “And if Goomy ever evolves, being a Sliggoo won’t be a problem. They’re pretty much the same size, and I’m pretty sure a Sliggoo only becomes a Goodra when battling in the rain.”

“Oh.” Matilda blinked. “Goomy hasn’t expressed any interest in battling, anyway.”

The little Dragon Type shook in her arms as if to express his disinterest, and then a bit of drool dripped from his mouth when he glanced back at the cooking food.

Matilda did send Sam a curious look after realizing the level of information he’d just shared, but Sam had already told her he knew about foreign Pokémon in the past. However, slipping the New Pokédex back into his pack probably didn’t help him stay subtle. Matilda thankfully shrugged once again. She seemed to understand that they both had their secrets.

But Sam now had the knowledge that there was a Dreepy somewhere out there, and he began to struggle with continuing the conversation. He kept drifting off into thought, getting distracted by ideas and plans, so they ended up moving their chat outside.

There, Sam released Trevenant, and Matilda’s eyes shone. Surprisingly, Trevenant was willing to slowly answer the onslaught of questions she threw his way.

“Oh, how deep off-route did you live?”

“Wow! And how were your interactions with other species?”

“Your leaves—do you photosynthesize or eat real food?”

“Wait, I have this list here... Have you tried to learn any of the following moves—”

Though Trevenant tried to hide it, he honestly seemed to be complimented to have someone gush over him so much. However, he started to become uncomfortable pretty quickly, and Sam cleared his throat once it was clear his Pokémon would soon be overwhelmed.

Matilda blushed.

“Sorry. You’re so cool, Trevenant. Just, uh, hold on! I know you need to go, but do you mind waiting out here just for a few more minutes?”

She dashed back inside, likely to catch up on serving the sailors cleaning up plates. From the subsequent, uproarious laughter Sam heard echo out, they seemed more than amused by the delay.

And just a handful of minutes later, Matilda came back out with a journal. Silently, she hopped onto a crate and sat down while furiously scribbling in it with a pencil. Trevenant watched without making a noise until she suddenly looked up and tore out the sheet.

Matilda presented Trevenant with a surprisingly accurate sketch of himself.

“Here. Thank you. I really appreciate you answering my questions,” she said to the Pokémon.

Carefully accepting it so his sharp claws wouldn’t pierce the paper, Trevenant stared at the sketch, his eye never leaving the page. Matilda sent him a small smile before thanking Sam as well, and then she turned around to head back inside.

“Thanks for the information, Matilda. If you want to see him fight, we’ll be fighting in the Conference!” Sam called out.

“We’ll be rooting for you!” she said happily.

She disappeared through the back door, scooping up the little Dragon Type who had been in the process of absentmindedly wandering out. Trevenant was in a daze until Sam nudged his arm to remind them they were about to walk away.

“Nice, huh? To have a fan?”

Trevenant nodded a little slowly. He held his head a little higher than usual, too, when they walked back to the Pokémon Center.

_______________________________________________________________

In the end, Sam knew he had to search for the Dreepy sooner rather than later. The reward for turning in a Dragon Type was simply too much. Other trainers would be lured by that excessive sum, so if he wanted to find and add a Dreepy to his team, he needed to be the one to find it first.

He still had other tasks to take care of, however, so he quickly stopped at the docks to inquire about boats to Cianwood and checked in with the Gym about a match against Jasmine. Boats to Cianwood left about thrice a week, so he’d be able to buy a ticket the day before or the day of. As for a match against Jasmine, her schedule varied from day to day. The Gym Trainer working at the front desk told Sam to check back whenever he could, but trainers with a Gym Badge challenge took priority.

His best bet would be to ask each morning to see if she’d be free, and Sam knew he could do that easily enough. For now, with those two important tasks taken care of, he left to join the scores of trainers searching out Dragon Types.

But unlike everyone else, he had an advantage.

Unfortunately for everyone else, Sam was likely the most prepared trainer for a Dragon Type hunt on this side of Johto. Not only did he have the New Pokédex, which allowed him to actually know information about the Dragon Types, but he also had an unreasonable amount of Pokémon with him. After all, he had over two dozen Gastly that could phase through walls, which meant his team could cover significantly more ground than “just” a team of six could.

Not to mention, too, that these Gastlys had been trained to search. Ever since Sam and Redi first hunted down that Stantler herd, they’d frequently left under his command to search other Pokémon out.

So, his Pokémon split off into groups of three, and then those groups joined together into squads under either Haunter or Misdreavus. Most of Olivine City was already divided up into neat, city blocks, so Sam would choose a road, and Misdreavus’s team would search the block to his left while Haunter’s team searched the block to his right. By the time he reached the next intersection, his Pokémon would be finished and able to report anything they’d found.

By far, Normal, Dark, and Flying Types were the most common species (like usual). Rattata and Pidgey were the number one Pokémon found, as they were everywhere in Johto. The usual suspects for city Pokémon were also here—the occasional Zubat hanging in shadowed corners, hound Pokémon like Houndoom and Growlithe roaming the streets, and the out-of-the-way Spinarak making a nest somewhere unseen. Honestly, it was surprising to learn just how many Pokémon lived near humans now that his team was searching for them.

Once in a while, a Ghost Type would come back to report a lone Pokémon from another region, or they’d report another that had snuck here via boat from another city. His Pokémon also found a missing Snubbull at one point, who was then returned to her inconsolable owner, earning Sam a surprising sum.

But there were also the Dragon Types. The ones that remained, at least. A handful had already been caught, but Sam’s team was skilled. Several were found almost right away.

An evolved Sliggoo lived in an alleyway behind an old hotel, enjoying the moisture that dripped from the condensation of cooling units and improperly sealed pipes. Elsewhere, a Fraxure practically lived behind a warehouse, using scrap left over from the interior machine shop to sharpen its tusks. Then, on the far side of the city, a lone Druddigon had carved a home into the dump.

And finally, there was that Gabite, the very same Pokémon that had attacked Sam just last night. The Gastly reported seeing it in the backyard of an abandoned home. Sneaking around, Sam was able to lay eyes on it as well as the stolen take-out meal it carried. It tore open the bag to spill the food onto the ground, and a trio of young Gible rushed to gobble the meal up.

So what did Sam do with all of this? These Pokémon had time to settle. All of the Dragon Types that hadn’t been able to find a place had already been caught. Likely, no one else knew about these species, and between his team’s stealth, hypnosis, and general strength, capturing any of them would have been an ease.

But he did nothing.

He knew about the Dragon Types, and he knew just how much cash he stood to make. His team was competent enough to earn him a solid half a million in a single afternoon, yet he couldn’t bring himself to do such a thing.

“I don’t know. It feels wrong. Like, it’s so much money that it’s raising red flags in my mind.”

It was dusk by this point, and it was still the same day that he had talked to Matilda. From late morning to right now, his team had already managed to find that many Dragon Types.

“I know we stand to profit, and I know this city isn’t really suitable for them, but the idea of capturing them just to hand them over to some mysterious rich person doesn’t feel right,” Sam said. “It’d be different if they were on a Route because Pokémon on a Route at least expect to be captured. But these Pokémon were stolen from their homes and then brought here.”

He sighed.

“Did they live on a route? Or did they live elsewhere? And then we’d be handing them over to someone we don’t know. How are we supposed to trust a complete stranger like that?”

Honestly, if less money was being offered, Sam would have had fewer doubts. But given that each Dragon Type was worth a hundred thousand dollars, it was suspicious. What kind of person had that much cash to throw around?

Next to Sam, Typhlosion used the cover of darkness to walk at his side. The shadows obscured her so that from a distance, she looked like nothing more than a darkened, Johtonian Typhlosion. 

Not too many people were out on this side of town right now, so she didn’t bother to keep quiet when she made a noise to respond to Sam’s question, speaking her name to express her agreement—but also to express her doubts.

She wasn’t the one to fully understand the value of money, but she did know that more money brought better things. Even just catching one of those Dragon Types would let Sam do a lot more with the team.

“I know, I know,” he said with another sigh. “We could do a lot with that kind of cash, but do we even need it? The Conference is only a month away.”

That much money would make things easier in the short term, but Sam had a gut feeling his team would get a lot of sponsorship offers. The money would help them now, but they stood to earn more in the future. Waiting just a single month was all that was needed to get the funding to keep training his team, and between Typhlosion, Annihilape, and everyone else, Sam had no doubts that at least one rich person or corporation would want to use them for advertisements.

“Besides, what would we even do with that much money? Buy some better food, probably. Send some home to Mom, definitely. But other than that? All I can think of is earlier ranching for the Mankey or held items, at least.”

Typhlosion sent Sam a look and dug into her fur to pull out her Charcoal, which she no longer needed a scarf to carry. She didn’t always use it in fights, but it did passively increase the strength of her Fire Type moves when she bothered.

“That’s yours. There’s still everyone else,” Sam countered.

She chuffed and put her Charcoal back. Technically, Trevenant also had a held item, but his were just the berries he could regrow with Harvest.

As they walked, from the side, a pair of Gastly phased out of a wall. Sam opened up the New Pokédex to let them search for the entry of the Pokémon they found.

“I think I’ll talk to the nurse tomorrow,” he said as the pair stopped on a sketch of a Raticate. “She had to vet the job, so she might be able to tell us who put it up.”

In that case, I’ll decide if it’s worth catching these Dragon Types. We might know where they are, but they’re better off staying here in the city if they’d just end up sitting in some rich guy’s collection.

The sun eventually fully set, and the street lights flickered on. They were close to the edge of the town at this point, and Haunter and Misdreavus kept showing up with their teams.

This search was technically hard work, but all the Ghost Types were downright eager to help. Not necessarily because they wanted to find a Dreepy, but because they were treating it like a game—and Typhlosion was keeping score.

Haunter’s team had found more overall Pokémon, but Misdreavus’s team had found more Dragon Types. Either way, even after searching for so long, both teams were still fighting hard to “win.”

Sam only planned to stay out here for a bit longer, however. A Ghost Type Dreepy would probably be more active at night, but as late as it was, his team deserved to rest after a long day.

“Hm. So it took less than a day to reach Olivine from Carl’s place, and then we stayed in the Pokémon Center to let Annihilape be checked over. And our conversation with Matilda was also today, so that means... there’s twenty-nine days until the Conference. We’ll head out when there’s around twenty-five left.”

As much as Sam wanted a Dreepy, he had to acknowledge this was only a chance at catching one. The Conference took priority. If he really had to, he could find a sixth member of his team somewhere else.

But that hurt. He didn’t want to give up this star-aligned chance. He had to accept the reality of the situation, however, because a Dreepy would be hard to find no matter what.

...Unless his Pokémon suddenly found a hint.

From a block over, Haunter shouted excitedly, and Sam made eye contact with Typhlosion before taking off.

“Already? Do you think he found it?” he whispered excitedly.

Typhlosion said her name—there was no way of knowing, but they had found a bunch of Dragon Types today.

Charging to where Haunter had yelled, Sam cut through an alley, trying to reach him as fast as possible. He could hear his Pokémon speaking excitedly from the other side, so he didn’t hesitate as he ran through.

But as he burst onto the other street, someone else yelped in surprise.

“Watch it!”

A blur of white suddenly jumped in front of Sam to pull its trainer out of the way. A black blade shone threateningly under the moonlight, and separately from it, Sam felt blue pinpricks of energy surround his body as a quick Psychic from Misdreavus pulled him back.

“Ab,” the Pokémon before him growled. “Sol.”

Its threat was made clear.

Sam blinked at the Absol, and then at its trainer. He then looked up to the night sky, where a pair of Haunter were excitedly bouncing around one another in the air.

“...Oh. You caught your Haunter at the Burned Tower too, didn’t you?” the other trainer asked.

Sam breathed out in disappointment.

“Yeah,” he said solemnly. “Looks like these two knew each other from back then.”

There was enough of a general sense of confusion between the two Ghost Types for Sam to tell that they’d only been acquaintances. Still, Haunter and Haunter knew one another. That shout might have been one of excitement, but it was from Haunter finding someone he knew instead of a Dreepy. The two Ghost Types were too busy rapidly talking over one and sharing stories of their journeys to do anything else.

And then a groan came out. The other trainer slumped.

“Don’t tell me you’re searching for those Dragons, too,” he whined.

“I am. Sorry?” Sam offered.

The other boy groaned and moved to sit on the curb.

“Preston,” he said, introducing himself.

“Sam,” Sam said to do the same.

“Yeah, there’s no way you’d run through an alley that excitedly just because you heard your Pokémon shout.”

Checking to the side, Preston’s Absol stared at the alley, its white hair practically standing on its ends. Absol were known for their disaster sense, and Preston was probably trying to use that to help with his search. Right now, however, the Absol was preoccupied with staring at all of those red eyes. Preston might not have noticed, but his Pokémon certainly seemed bothered by the many, many Ghost Types watching their group.

Preston just seemed bemused by the two Pokémon in the air. He let his head fall onto his fist, annoyed but willing to wait instead of calling for his Pokémon to come back.

“Well, if we’re going to be stuck here for a while, we might as well chat.”

Preston looked up at him expectantly, and Sam cautiously joined him on the curb.

Preston was dressed in what was honestly a pretty generic trainer’s outfit—a red vest, a cap, a pair of travel-ready blue jeans, and running shoes on his feet. Sam could tell his Absol and Haunter were strong, but they weren’t necessarily strong enough to beat his team in a fight.

“I haven’t seen you around. You aren’t part of that ‘dragon hunter’s club,’ are you?” Preston asked.

“Huh?”

“Over in the central Pokémon Center?” Preston blinked at Sam’s confusion. “Ah, no. You’re probably staying at another one, then.”

Neither of them had anything else to do with their Pokémon occupied, and neither wanted to leave and tear their Pokémon out of such a merry conversation. Both Haunter chatted on and on, and while Sam couldn’t say he was as social as Redi, he could at least recognize what this was—a chance to obtain more information.

“I’ve been searching every night,” Preston explained, speaking easily enough. “We made the mistake of waiting to take on Jasmine, but this is our chance to turn things around! Her Steel Types are crazy defensive, but catching one of these Dragon Types is exactly what we need for a chance to turn things around.”

“With a new member of your team?” Sam asked, speaking the question before Preston could ask about his own plans.

Preston replied with a blink.

“What? Nah. Only insane people plan to keep whatever they catch. This late in the season? No, Dragon Types take too long to train—but a hundred K? No way I’m passing that up.”

Tutors. Trainers. People he could hire for tips. Held items made a surprising amount of difference, but when talking about what he’d do with the cash, there was one idea he seemed to be enthralled with.

“Vitamins,” Preston said, almost dreamily. “Incredibly expensive, incredibly valuable. With just a single week of mixing them into your Pokémon’s food, you can already start to see the difference. They’re completely legal and completely natural—they’re all about proper development and amount of energy, you see? If Absol was just a little stronger, or if Haunter was just a little faster...”

Doesn’t that mean you should train instead of wasting your time on a search, then?

But Sam didn’t say that out loud.

“So then have you found any Dragon Types yet?” Sam asked.

Preston groaned.

“No. Only know of one, the same as everyone else. We lost, but have you tried your luck with the beast of the dump yet?”

“The Druddigon?”

“Yeah. That.”

Apparently, everyone knew about Druddigon, and everyone kept trying to catch it. Trainers frequently challenged it to battles only to lose, which meant that experience was making it stronger by the day. The dumps didn’t have much space for maneuverability, which meant special attackers would get caught, and every physical attacker would just be torn up when they got close—either through the Pokémon’s attacks or its strangely rough scales.

“I just need one. I just need to catch one Dragon Type, and everything will finally work out. That kind of money... It’s all we need. We could finally beat Jasmine, earn our seventh Gym Badge, and move on to our final Gym.”

Honestly, Sam could see where Preston was coming from, but in his mind, it was a matter of strategy more than anything else. Preston had six badges. He had a month to earn his seventh and eighth. If he was already trying to earn his seventh, he had more than enough time to focus on training and make his way to the Conference.

But as Sam listened to him talk, avoiding needing to speak for himself by asking Preston leading questions, he got a strange insight into the type of trainer out on this hunt. He doubted that everyone involved had the same mindset, but catching a Dragon Type here represented more than just the money or a new member of the team. These Pokémon were seen as a trainer’s big break. The benefits they could get from catching a Dragon Type meant they’d be able to finish their Gym Challenge in time for the Conference.

The end-of-season rush always happened for a reason. Trainers saw the dwindling amount of time left and began to beat themselves against a Gym Leader’s team just to try to earn one. More. Gym Badge.

“What about you? Have you found any?”

Sam couldn’t distract Preston with questions for long enough. The other trainer looked over to him with a surprising amount of hope.

But as Sam opened his mouth to say something, he just shook his head.

“No. I haven’t. Sorry,” Sam lied.

For a moment, Preston looked genuinely crushed.

“Guess we have to keep searching, then,” he mumbled. “Come on, Haunter! Let’s head out.”

_______________________________________________________________

Sam ended the first night of searching pretty soon after that. When he got back, he made sure to ask the nurse at the Pokémon Center if she knew who had put up the job.

Unfortunately, she hadn’t been the one to vet it—that had been a different nurse in the city. Every Pokémon Center had the same job posted on their board, so she couldn’t answer. What she could do, however, was promise Sam that she’d make a few calls and tell him once she found out.

Sam checked the Gym the next morning, found that Jasmine wasn’t available, and then did some odd jobs for cash. Afterward, once it became later in the day, his Pokémon resumed their search. They were effective, but there was only so much of the city they could cover before needing to take a break.

To Sam’s surprise, they did find a few more Dragon Types, but he also encountered other trainers searching, and one of them shared a story of a Dragon Type that’d already been found.

That Fraxure hadn’t been wild. It had been caught by the owners of the machine shop. Apparently, even though it was a Dragon Type now working a “menial” job, it was completely on board, practically in awe whenever it watched its humans reshape steel.

The amount of other trainers searching was worrying, but Sam’s team didn’t give up. Haunter and Misdreavus continued their competition, Typhlosion continued to keep score, and they continued to push on. Yet, even with all their effort, he could soon tell that any further work wouldn’t help.

But that was because they found what they were looking for.

On the third day of searching, early into the night, a Gastly suddenly zipped over to Sam rather excitedly because of course his team found the Dreepy. Not only were they uniquely suited for this task, but Ghosts attracted Ghosts. The sheer number of Ghost Types with Sam meant one of them would have eventually stumbled upon their target no matter what.

Heart pounding, Sam hurried after the Gastly, running down a cobbled side street located near the docks. As stereotypical as it was, the Gastly led him to a dark warehouse. He went up to its door just to find it was locked, but after a click, Misdreavus opened it from the other side to reveal herself inside. Smug, she sent a cocky look to Haunter, who had joined Sam from behind.

“...Hello?” his voice echoed after he sent a quiet thanks to Misdreavus.

Sam stepped into the building and looked around. Technically, he was trespassing, but it wasn’t like anyone was going to find out. Before him, boxes and crates filled with various shipments filled the space. This place wasn’t abandoned, but it didn’t look to be actively guarded by people, either.

“Hello,” Sam repeated, though he could see no obvious Ghost Type in the room. “My name is Sam. I’m a Ghost Type specialist. If there’s a Dreepy in here...”

He let his voice trail off.

Honestly, he wasn’t sure what to say—was he to catch it? To help it? Or to make things alright?

“I... train Ghost Types,” Sam ended up saying. “But I guess you already knew that since I said I was a specialist. What I really mean is that I know a lot about the Ghost Type, and I also have some experience with Dragon Types, too. So I know how to make Ghost Type Pokémon strong. And I know what Dragon Type Pokémon are like. I can help you get stronger, if you want. Or, if you have a different desire, I can help you with that instead, or maybe just... Ugh.”

He sighed.

This didn’t feel right.

“Alright, look, I don’t know if there’s actually a Dreepy in here, but I don’t want to lie. I want to catch you. I’m selfish. You’re a rare species. I think you’re cool, so you have my interest, except—

“Except you’re still your own Pokémon,” Sam said, his voice echoing around. “No matter how much I want to train you, I have a responsibility to all Ghost Types. You weren’t brought here by choice, but I can help. I want you to come with me, but even if you don’t, I promise you that I can find a way to bring you home, instead.”

It’d be complicated, but Sam was pretty sure he could pull it off. He’d have to rely on Morty, and he’d probably have to invest some of his own funds to purchase cross-region boat tickets, too. However, all it’d take was a little work, and he could pull it off. He wasn’t lying when he said he could find a way to bring a Dreepy home—even if he really just wanted to catch it.

Well, this only matters if there’s even a Dreepy here, at least.

He looked around once more, searching the warehouse for any sign of the Pokémon. Moonlight trickled in from short windows at the top of the walls, but he wasn’t able to make out much even with that dim light.

For now, he let his statement hang as he waited for some kind of response, but silence was the only reply. For a moment, he almost began to think this was a prank played on him by the Gastly, but that was when he saw a gleam out of the corner of his eye.

From behind a barrel, a pair of small, yellow eyes glowed in the darkness. Curious, they stared at Sam, looking at him as though they weren’t sure what to do.

Sam slowly turned his head to demonstrate he had seen the Pokémon, and it pulled back slightly but no more than that when he didn’t take a step forward. After taking a moment to recognize Sam wasn’t doing anything, it finally made a noise.

“...Dreep?”

And that confirmed it. The Pokémon was a Dreepy. Its voice was higher-pitched than Sam expected, but a member of its species was definitely there.

He could see the flat shape of its head and the dark green of its body. The edges of its flattened horns were tipped with a red that was barely visible in the moonlight.

The Dreepy then spoke again, repeating its question, and rather than its lower jaw moving down like most Pokémon, the entire upper half of its head moved up. The way it talked made it almost seem like a puppet, but it was clearly a living Pokémon.

Well, it was a living Pokémon much as a Ghost Type could be.

“I meant what I said, even though I’m not a fan. I want to catch you, but I can bring you home—or I can even leave you here if that’s what you choose.”

Something in Sam’s words seemed to cause its curiosity to grow. Warily, it floated up from where it’d been hiding behind that barrel, and Sam was able to see the tail that made up the rest of the Dreepy’s form.

Slowly, it crept closer through the air, and Sam stayed in the entrance, not taking any steps forward in an attempt to not scare it. When it was just a few feet away, Sam slowly knelt, and it paused at the movement before inching closer.

“...Hey,” Sam said quietly. “May I?”

It stared at his hand before nodding, and Sam ran two fingers down its head.

Scaled, but surprisingly smooth. Everything about its shape is probably to minimize drag.

Dreepy weren’t capable of much when it came to fighting, but their species excelled at being used as missiles by their evolved forms.

With this Dreepy not fleeing and not making any aggressive moves, Sam stayed there for a while, just dragging his fingers across the Dreepy’s head. For a Dragon and Ghost Type, it was surprisingly friendly, but Sam’s truthfulness had probably caught its interest. He also knew not to challenge it, and it relaxed to the point where it closed its eyes and let out a low purr.

Sam still had a small handful of PokéBlocks left over, so he began to reach into his pack to pull one out and see if the Dreepy would eat.

But that was when everything was flipped onto its head. A sharp hiss pierced through the quiet of the night, interrupting Sam’s actions.

The Dreepy’s eyes snapped open, and it darted through the air to stare into the shadows. Gesturing wildly, it started to furiously say its name, speaking fast like a child that had just been caught doing something wrong.

But where it spoke into the darkness, something stared back, and the Dreepy let out a long, tired sigh. It moved forward, latching onto a scaled body and scrambling upward. Once it reached the top, it lowered itself into position on another Pokémon’s forehead.

And Sam made sure he was completely still. He made no movements whatsoever when he realized the other Pokémon in the room. Much like how the Dreepy’s yellow eyes glowed in the darkness, this one's eyes were apparent under the moonlight. However, they were much, much sharper, and they clearly carried an anger that came from the surprise of Sam’s presence.

Another hiss, and another threat came Sam’s way. He tried to bring up his hands to show he meant no harm, but all that did was encourage the wild Pokémon to attack.

“Drakloak!”

Before he could even realize what it had done, a blast of blue-purple fire left the Pokémon’s mouth to rocket right toward Sam. He almost flinched—almost—but he hadn’t come here alone.

A flash, and Typhlosion released herself before him. She easily withstood the move, and the Dragon Pulse became nothing more than smoke that fizzled off her body.

“We really mean no harm,” Sam said, standing up from the floor.

The Drakloak took one look at Typhlosion and scoffed as if the very act of defending him had somehow proved his guilt.

Typhlosion growled when it became clear that the Drakloak had no intention of dropping its threat, and the wild Pokémon lowered itself in the air. Sam turned to properly face the Dragon Type as Typhlosion’s back became alit with light.

The Drakloak didn’t appreciate how it had returned to its hideout just to find Sam there. And from how it began to rear back, it also became clear that it had no intention of letting him leave without a fight.

===============================================================
Author Note:

It’s not going to be that easy.

Sorry for such a long delay. This chapter could have stood a few more tweaks, but I’d rather get it out than force you all to wait even longer.

Pokémon included in this chapter:
The Dragon Type
Dreepy / Drakloak / Dragapult
Growlithe
Houndour
Pidgey
Rattata
Spinarak
Zubat

Previous Chapter
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Chapter 130

The first thing Sam did in Olivine was find a Pokémon Center, but he didn’t want to risk revealing either Typhlosion or Annihilape. Rather than heading to the city’s main Pokémon Center, he went to a small, lesser-used one set at the edge of a residential area. The lobby was empty save for him and the nurse when he passed over his team’s Pokéballs.

“One of my Pokémon evolved recently, but his evolution is pretty rare. You can make sure he stays secret, right?” Sam asked the nurse on duty.

“Of course! We get plenty of trainers who want to keep some aspect of their team quiet. Alongside doctor-patient confidentiality, Pokémon Centers also offer private check-up rooms. However, keep in mind that the health of your Pokémon takes priority over keeping secrets. We will share information if it’s needed to properly heal a patient, and we won’t bother to hide your team members if an emergency sees us run out of space.”

Sam easily nodded.

“But the end-of-season crush hasn’t started just yet, so I don’t expect any problems with your request,” the nurse said with a smile. “Just give me a second to look up your Pokémon in our system, and—”

The moment she finished entering Sam’s trainer ID number into her blocky computer, she went completely still. Her eye flicked between the displayed information, Sam’s Pokéballs on the counter, and Sam himself, and then a tense smile forced its way onto her face.

“We will keep your Pokémon secret,” she said, her voice a forced calm.

“And you’ll give Annihil— Sorry, my Pokémon a checkover just in case? I, uh, also have some Gastly that have been ‘following’ me that would probably benefit from a check-up, too.”

They had a process for healing unofficial team members, surprisingly, as while part of a Pokémon Center’s duty was to make sure trainers followed the League’s rules, their priority was making sure Pokémon were healthy no matter what. Thankfully, Morty had been correct in that there wasn’t much they could do about Ghost Type followers. The nurse simply took Sam’s Pokéballs before directing him into a side room. There, the Center’s resident Ghost Type, a Haunter, gave instructions to the Gastly to have them split off two at a time to be checked over by a Chansey.

Everyone was fine, although there was a bit of a snag with Annihilape. Unlike Typhlosion, he didn’t have a local variant of his species to compare his results to. They could only compare him to Primeape, but Primeape weren’t Ghost Types. In fact, the only known Ghost Type species that evolved from non-Ghost Types were Shedinja and Froslass, and both were far too different from the Primeape line for their data to be useful.

The nurse was unable to tell if he had no heartbeat or an extremely fast but light heartbeat, so she requested that he stay for observation overnight. This process was to make sure he could be treated correctly in the future as Carl had managed to do exactly what he promised; no alert was sent out when Annihilape was scanned. He was already in their system.

The Gastly took over an hour to be checked, and Annihilape would be stuck in the Pokémon Center until tomorrow. Forced to wait, Sam chose to step out to take care of some “boring” errands that Annihilape wouldn’t care about. It was late afternoon when he left.

Weirdly, stepping out meant their group split up.

Upon getting only a block away from the Pokémon Center, Typhlosion suddenly released herself from her ball and sniffed the air. She gained a look in her eye that told Sam there was something—someone—she needed to guide, and Misdreavus left alongside her to provide both support and company.

Sam didn’t want to crowd her task, and he trusted her to be successful. With the few team members he had left (and with the large number of Gastly), he made his way to a nearby PokéMart to restock on supplies.

Shopping stunk.

In this case, literally.

As much as Sam wanted to get a move on, while browsing through the PokéMart’s shelves full of healing supplies, he wasn’t necessarily attacked so much as he was “glomped.” The same Muk that he and Redi had once fought out of a pond now lived nearby, and it brought Sam into a nasty hug out of thanks for allowing it to find its new partner.

While it was nice to be appreciated, Sam couldn’t say he enjoyed being covered in the sludge left by the Muk. While helping him clean up, the sole clerk working at the PokéMart apologized profusely and assured him that they’d get a shower installed eventually, but Sam couldn’t say that helped him right now.

At least, the clerk gave him a nice discount on everything he bought, and he even threw in a free, bulging bag of PokéBlocks. The PokéBlocks were presented as a rare treat not usually found in Johto, but due to their source being Hoenn, they were a nice reminder of home.

So by the time Sam left, it was dark out, and while he walked, he tossed those candies made of crushed berries into the shadows for his Pokémon. Gastly ate them like hungry Carvanha, and so many PokéBlocks had been stuffed into the sack that there would still be plenty left for the rest of his team to enjoy in the Pokémon Center.

“So that’s errands done with. No need to shop anymore until right before we head out. Then again, Berries will be cheaper here than in Cianwood, so we might want to stock up on fresh ones right before we leave.” As he walked down the road, Sam continued to toss PokéBlocks into the shadows for Haunter and the Gastly to snap up. “But no matter what, we just have the exciting stuff left to do: finding a boat to take us to Cianwood, visiting the Gym, and then also finding someone willing to let us trade for a new Pokémon.”

He slowed slightly as he considered what his plans meant.

“Man. We have to find a sixth Pokémon,” Sam said quietly. “Not sure if that’s going to be worse or easier than scheduling a fight at the Gym.”

Even with the need for a sixth team member hanging over his head, Sam considered a battle with Jasmine to be the most complicated task he had planned. He wanted—needed—to fight her core team after seeing just how strong her Steel Types were at the start of the Beginner’s Tournament.

However, with how the timing was working out, he was a little worried that Jasmine wouldn’t be free for a proper battle. With only a month left in the season, trainers were going to start pushing for their last few Gym Badges. It would soon become almost as busy as the season’s start, but trainers with seven Gym Badges usually took priority when it came to scheduling a match.

“Except, that priority is only for trainers trying to earn a Gym Badge,” Sam continued, just thinking out loud. “I want us to fight her core team, which is an optional fight from her perspective since we’ve already beaten her Gym.”

But he needed to see where his Pokémon stood. He knew his team had grown, but he wanted to see how much. When he had first seen it in the arena, Jasmine’s Steelix seemed like an impossible wall to climb. Now, after everything they’d been through, it felt like his team actually had a chance.

It’d be tough, but they could do it. Also, he just wanted to fight some actual Steel Types instead of the miscellaneous Rock Types that had appeared in his first Gym.

“So then we just need to figure out how we’re scheduling all of this,” Sam said as a thrown PokéBlock sank into a shadow. He made a hard left turn to slip into an alley for a shortcut. “Do we want to search for a sixth team member first, or do we want to face Jasmine as soon as possible? Getting a sixth team member first would give us more time for training and maybe let us use another member in the match, but with the end of the season so soon, we probably want to battle her before things get too busy.”

Even though he was just speaking to work through his thoughts, he still paused to wait for a response. The Gastly and Haunter were too focused on snapping up what PokéBlocks they could, and Misdreavus or Typhlosion weren’t anywhere nearby. Sam sighed, planning to have a better discussion once everyone was back in the Pokémon Center.

It was then that he heard a growl suddenly echo out from behind.

Turning around, Sam glanced over to see the source of the threat sent his way. There, at the front of the alley and half-illuminated by the street lamps, was a dark blue-grey Pokémon with rough, scaled skin and a bright red chest. Fins stuck out from its arms to resemble wings, and another fin on its back made it seem as though it was almost aquatic. It stood on two legs, however, and it exposed its sharp teeth with a snarl.

The clearly wild Pokémon took a step forward, and Sam could only stare at it in confusion. The way it kept glancing at his bag of PokéBlocks made it pretty obvious what it wanted. However, even with its threat, Sam was more confused than concerned, and he struggled to understand why a Gabite, of all things, would be threatening him from one end of an Olivine alley.

The Gastly, too, seemed just as bewildered as their shadows spread to the alley walls around him. Within that curtain of darkness, a pair of red eyes opened up, and then another, and another. And immediately after that, Trevenant released himself from his Pokéball to loom behind Sam just in case.

“You—”

That was all Sam got to say. Before anything else could happen, the Gabite let out a sudden yelp and turned in a panic. It ran, escaping in a furious scramble out of the alley that saw its claws scrape against the stones of the ground.

And then it was gone.

And Sam was left blinking.

He looked around at all of the Gastly, and all of the Gastly looked back.

“So, that was definitely a Gabite, right? Like, I didn’t just imagine a mid-stage pseudo-legend standing there?” Sam asked. “A Dragon Type. From Sinnoh. Here in Johto. It wasn’t an illusion or a Ditto or anything like that?”

The Gastly left their shadows to bob in the equivalent of a shrug, and Haunter dipped out as well to confirm that, yes, he saw it too. Sam checked on Trevenant, but Trevenant no longer cared. He just flicked his eye down to the Moon Ball at Sam’s belt in a silent request to be returned.

Sam sighed as he brought him back.

“Is it still nearby, Haunter?”

Haunter shook his head—it wasn’t. At least, he couldn’t sense any of its intent nearby. The weirdest part, too, was that the Gabite couldn’t possibly have had truly malicious intentions. Otherwise, Sam’s team would have detected it far sooner and alerted him ahead of time.

“...Okay. Well, Typhlosion and Misdreavus are waiting for us, and I don’t want to leave Annihilape alone in the Pokémon Center for too long. We’ll check to see if anyone is missing a Gabite when the jobs are posted tomorrow morning.”

Haunter and the Gastly recollected themselves in his shadow, and Sam continued heading back.

As he returned, Typhlosion and Misdreavus met Sam outside the Pokémon Center, stepping out from where they had been hiding in the darkness. They got their fair share of the treats, and Sam only got a slight talking-to when he had Haunter phase through the walls to sneak PokéBlocks to Annihilape.

And, when Sam returned Annihilape the next morning—the nurse found nothing wrong with him—the happy (less angry) look on his face almost made getting coated by Muk worth it.

_______________________________________________________________

No post on the job board mentioned the Gabite, but there was a single, far too suspicious listing that might have been mentioning it.

MISSING POKEMON: 100,000 REWARD.

And that was it. The job didn't list the species, but it included a phone number to call for when a trainer had something to present. It was also an open offer with no set date, which meant any trainer could take it at any time without any issue. Its sheer lack of detail raised alarm bells in Sam’s head, but the weirdest thing was that there was no way it could be a scam. Every job posted on a job board had to be vetted by the city’s Pokémon Centers first, so this vague posting had somehow been approved despite the sheer number of details it lacked.

“...We might want to take a different job or two in the meantime, but maybe another day,” Sam mumbled to his team.

He hadn't taken any jobs in Ecruteak, and Redi was no longer around to help pay for food. Their little battle event jar earned them enough to last, but he knew he would need a lot of cash to buy the supplies needed to finish off the season in Ilex.

Sam chose not to think about that strange job. While it seemed to be about that Gabite, dwelling on the idea of missing out on that much cash would only serve to make him sick.

He had other goals to achieve, and he’d already reached a conclusion with his team; before anything else, he would get a sixth Pokémon. Maximizing the time available for training was imperative, and having a sixth team member on hand for a battle against Jasmine could help the new Pokémon get used to everyone else.

But it wouldn't be easy. Sam would need to find someone willing to trade away their Ghost Type, and that Ghost Type needed to be a species capable of helping with transportation. Given Olivine’s status as a port city, someone had to be willing to trade a viable Pokémon somewhere, and Sam’s planned offer was likely to open up doors. Unlike most trainers searching for a trade, he had no intention of trading away a team member, but he would offer his services. While an open-ended proposal wouldn’t normally be worth that much, Sam’s team was nearing eight stars. They excelled at searching, too, and could go out to capture any requested species in return.

Unfortunately, while his team could find wild Pokémon, they couldn’t exactly find someone willing to trade. Sam wasn’t social like Redi, either. It was completely out of his skillset to approach a random trainer, strike up a conversation, and then leave with pertinent information. 

He knew one person in the city, at least, and she wasn’t Redi’s aunt. No, Redi’s aunt would just guilt him into staying at her place, but the person he had in mind seemed social enough to at least give him a starting point for his search.

Following that plan, Sam left the Pokémon Center and traveled toward a certain location situated close to the docks. When he arrived, that same, imitation Kalosian restaurant was still in business. More than that; it was thriving. Through its front glass windows, he could see it had significantly more customers than the nearly empty building he and his team had eaten at before.

Last time I was here, I learned that rarer Pokémon could be found off-route. I also promised to show off any Kalosian species I could, which Trevenant technically fulfills.

Only slightly nervous, Sam stepped inside, and a chime rang to announce his entrance. The place still had the same faux-fancy vibes as last time, but instead of being greeted by Matilda, the waitress here, Sam was greeted by an entire room full of burly sailors who all fell into perfect silence to send him their glares.

“I, um...”

His throat suddenly felt parched. He heard the squeak of a fork being bent as if in threat.

Rescue came in the form of a door to the kitchen opening up in the back. The moment she saw him, Matilda’s face lit up with excitement.

“It's you! One of our first customers! It’s— It’s, uh... Ss... Seth, right?”

She snapped her fingers, as if proud of her memory, but Sam just shook his head.

Her expression fell.

“Mm... Matt?” she offered.

“It's Sam.”

“Sam!” Matilda happily replied.

The waitress practically bounced over to the podium set in front of the door.

“I'm so glad you showed up! It’s way better here than last time, right? Oh, is that cute lil’ Mankey still with you? And your Cyndaquil? Ah! And did you manage to catch any of those rare Pokémon we talked about?”

Sam glanced around the room. The sailors had all gone back to eating. Many of them had Pokémon out, where they tossed food to species like Krabby, Wingull, and one especially mean-looking Poliwrath.

“Is your restaurant popular now?” Sam asked weakly.

The sheer number of those hateful glares spurred a completely different type of fear than that caused by the Ghost Type.

“Yes! I mean, kind of?” Matilda said. “Apparently, we’re the only place around that can make a decent Kalosian dish. So, we've become pretty popular with sailors who enjoyed that kind of food while traveling out of Johto.”

Sam managed to peel his eyes away from the rest of the room to look back at Matilda. She was eagerly waiting for him to keep talking, probably wanting him to request a free table.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t here for lunch. He pushed aside the slight bit of guilt he felt for letting her down.

“I’m actually here for your help,” Sam said. “I wanted to know if you knew anything that could help me search for a Pokémon.”

Silence. Once again, the entire restaurant immediately fell into perfect silence. In front of him, Matilda went completely still. Every single sailor resumed staring daggers at him, and Sam felt as though the shared gaze burned even more than before.

“Everything alright, Maddie?” one of the sailors called out.

“Y-yeah!” she said, laughing nervously. “You need help finding a... a Pokémon? Just, um, what kind of Pokémon? What do you mean, um, specifically?”

She didn't look away from Sam, and neither did any of the sailors. Even with his Ghost Types, a battle against an entire ship’s worth of men and women strong enough to face the high seas was not something he’d win.

“I’m just trying to find a Ghost Type!” Sam blurted out. “I just wanted to know if you knew someone willing to trade!”

And just like that, the room went back to normal. Matilda breathed out in relief without bothering to hide it.

“Oh, yeah! I can totally help! Just, hm. Well...”

“I caught a Trevenant, by the way,” Sam added.

“I’ll definitely figure something out!”

Compared to before, all of her nerves had vanished. She took a moment to glance around and check that her customers didn't need anything before waving Sam over to the side.

“Your Trevenant—Can you send them out?” she asked excitedly.

“There’s not enough space in here for him, but I’ll show you Trevenant no matter what. I already said I would. But we really do need your help. We’re trying to find a Pokémon that can help with transportation, and Ghost Types that can do that aren’t very common.”

“So you came to me?”

She looked flattered.

“You seemed connected,” Sam said, speaking as if he knew anyone else. “I thought that maybe you knew someone already looking for a trade or that you knew someone else who might know. I’m not trading away any of my Pokémon, but I’m willing to go out and catch anything in exchange for something like a Frillish, or a Drifloon, or even...”

He bit his tongue. He didn't think he’d find a white-striped Basculin here.

“Those are specific,” Matilda commented.

“Ghost Types don't really have many options for transportation,” he said. “But, uh, do any of the... Do any of these sailors have one of those Pokémon they're willing to trade?”

Matilda winced as she checked behind her. Sam got the sense that one or two of the sailors here might have had those Pokémon, but they certainly wouldn't be willing to trade.

Then, he started to think about it—really think about it. The more he did, the more he realized how difficult his goal would be to achieve. Some of these sailors might have had the Pokémon he was looking for, but those Pokémon would have been traveling the world with them for all this time.

Matilda didn’t say that, however. Instead of giving up, she hummed with her brow furrowed, trying to think of something that could help Sam. Either out of kindness or only out of a desire to see Trevenant, it was clear she had no plans to speak until she had something helpful to say.

She was quiet for a while.

...But as she stayed quiet, and as Sam desperately waited for her reply, the door to the kitchen opened in the back. It was strange; Matilda was the only waitress that worked here. No person walked out. Instead, a gurgling hum came from the floor, and Sam looked down.

He blinked.

He rubbed his eyes.

He then double-checked to make sure he was seeing the Pokémon correctly.

“Is that a Goomy?” Sam asked.

Shocked, Matilda turned around, and she also laid her eyes on a round, purple slug that looked around the room with awe and a merry expression on its face.

Matilda finally made a noise—she gasped—and she ran over to the Pokémon. Scooping it up, she started to send the Goomy chiding whispers while facing away as if trying to hide it from Sam.

“Nope!” she called out over her shoulder. “Definitely no Goomy here!”

The sailors didn't stop eating this time around, but they did return to glaring at Sam, almost daring him to try anything over that Pokémon. A Poliwrath hopped off a chair to roll its shoulders in what could only be a threat.

At this point, too many weird things were going on. Even with the implied threat, Sam was too fed up to not ask.

“Alright, what’s going on? You’re acting like you need to hide that Pokémon, and that's the second random Dragon Type I’ve seen in the past day!”

Matilda stopped whispering to the Goomy to go silent for several long seconds.

“You’ve seen another?” she asked cautiously. “Wait, and you know what a Goomy is?”

“Yes to both,” Sam said, doing his best to ignore the sailors. “A Gabite tried to attack—well, rob me last night. Tried to, because my Pokémon scared it off.”

He then paused before remembering another detail he’d forgotten.

“Wait, what do you mean, ‘another?’ Are there more than that Gabite? Hold on, and does all of this have to do with that job in the Pokémon Center?”

Matilda bit her lip and looked like she desperately didn't want to say anything, but she eventually sighed and turned back around to reveal the Goomy once more. The small Dragon Type happily purred and wiggled in her arms. Wherever it touched, it left a slimy film behind.

“So you don't know,” Matilda said.

“I really don’t,” Sam answered.

“Huh. Alright, follow me. I need to wash up now, anyway,” she said.

She used her shoulder to push through the door to the kitchen, and Sam easily followed her through, more than willing to leave all of those harsh glares behind.

“Tch. So he slipped out again? I’m telling you, we should just turn him in for the money,” a voice grumbled.

“We’re not giving up Goomy, Dad.”

Matilda placed the small Pokémon on a stool next to a stocky chef who had to be her father. While she was busy washing her arms and replacing her apron, the man quickly dumped an entire plate of food into the Goomy’s open mouth when he thought no one was looking.

“It all started a few weeks ago. A bunch of poachers got busted at the docks,” Matilda said as she re-tied a clean apron on her back. “From what the news said, they were arrested for bringing in a ship full of illegally caught Pokémon from other regions. The story was everywhere for, like, an hour before it stopped pretty quickly and was never talked about again."

Sam found an empty stool to sit on. Matilda leaned against the counter while her dad continued to cook.

“So Goomy is from that ship?” Sam asked.

“We think so. The theory going around is that a bunch of the poached Pokémon escaped in the chaos. Goomy was lured here by the familiar smells, so we fed him. And he’s far too cute to give up now!”

The Goomy let out another gurgling purr, and Matilda put on a glove to pet his head. Her touch pushed down a pair of antennae, but the antenna bounced right back the second Matilda removed her hand.

“There are a bunch of Dragon Types running around town, we think. Wild, effectively, because otherwise there’d be more of a stir. If those Pokémon were stolen from trainers, someone would have tried to get their Pokémon back—”

“And poachers don't use Pokéballs,” Sam growled. “They purposefully mistreat them so the Pokémon better bond with whoever gets them next.”

Sam knew the details from everything that happened with Porygon and Dragonair. Poached Pokémon were taken from the wild and then purposefully kept in poor conditions to make sales easier.

It was sick, and Dragon Types were the premier Type of Pokémon poachers went after. Between their rarity and their strength, almost every trainer wanted a Dragon Type to add to their team.

“So that’s why you were so nervous when I came here,” Sam said. “You thought I was after Goomy, and that job I saw—”

“It’s for the Dragon Types that escaped from the boat, yeah,” Matilda answered. “Honestly, it’s probably such a big offer to try to convince trainers to not keep them. Whoever it's from, they want the Pokémon for themselves instead of letting a bunch of random trainers add Dragon Types to their team.”

So that’s probably why the job is so vague. They don’t want the information to spread. The only trainers going out to catch Dragon Types will be trainers aware of the Dragon Types. And then for most people, that much money is far more attractive than a new team member this late in the season.

It was a bit worrying that no one was talking about a bunch of potentially dangerous Dragon Types running around, especially since that Gabite had tried to go after Sam last night. Yet, it wasn’t like their presence changed the status quo. They were only a handful of Pokémon in a city that vastly outnumbered them. As long as none of the Dragon Types were fully evolved, at worst, they wouldn’t be worse than something like a Houndoom trying to take food from someone—and that kind of interaction wasn’t even that uncommon.

...But in those cases, more explicit jobs would be posted to stop that threat, and Gym Trainers usually stepped in to capture dangerous Pokémon in cities. These Dragon Types were still inherently strong, and they could easily lash out if cornered in an unfamiliar city.

“Do you know who put the job up?” Sam asked. “Or why the poachers brought all these Pokémon here?”

Both Matilda and her father shook their heads, but Sam had his theories. However, while only so many groups had the money and influence to suppress a news story so quickly, he didn’t think the Blackthorn Clan would willingly purchase a ship full of poached Pokémon. They also seemed far too proud to ever branch away from the Dragonite line.

Probably.

But there were still plenty of other rich people more than willing to fork over that much cash just for the off-chance of having such rare Dragon Types, too.

“So then Goomy and Gabite,” Sam said after giving it some thought. “What other Pokémon escaped the ship?”

Matilda casually waved a hand.

“I heard something about the authorities catching a Shelgon pretty quickly. And then I think there were sightings of something called a Druddigon last week? Oh wait, hold on! I think there was also a trainer going around and bragging about catching an Arctibax?”

She looked over for confirmation, but her father shrugged.

Matilda had spoken casually, but her words stuck with Sam. Shelgon were native to Hoenn. Gabite were native to Sinnoh. Goomy were native to Kalos, and Druddigon were somewhat familiar, but he was pretty sure they were from Unova, which was a region he couldn’t say he knew that well.

But Arctibax weren’t familiar at all. Given the situation, Sam decided to risk it and took out the new Pokédex.

Matilda cocked her head at the sight of the book but said nothing as he began to read. She left to pass out some finished dishes and came back carrying empty plates by the time Sam found the entry that described Arctibax.

“Here,” Sam said as she returned. “Arctibax. That's... a Dragon Type from Paldea.”

“Oh, Paldea! That's close to Kalos, right?”

“Maybe?” Sam answered. “I don't know where the region is, just that it exists.”

Matilda shrugged in the same way her father had done before. She looked mostly unconcerned.

“So then... the boat had a Goomy. And a Shelgon. And a Druddigon. And even an Arctibax," Sam repeated, listing them off. “Those are all Dragon Types from across the world. There's... there's no way there would be more. Right?”

His words hung in the air.

“...Right?”

Instead of looking over to Matilda, Sam looked at Goomy. The Pokémon was busy humming to itself while chewing on even more food that had been slipped to it when no one was looking.

But when it saw Sam staring, it stopped chewing to swallow. Sam gulped as well when a certain question came to mind.

“When you were on that ship, did you see it?” he asked slowly. “A Pokémon. A floating one. Green and lizard-like. One with a tail that becomes transparent toward its end.”

The seconds seemed to stretch out into an impossible length. Sam stared at the Goomy and waited for its answer. The little Pokémon bobbed up and down as it considered the question. After a moment, it shivered and looked away from Sam, intimidated by the intensity of his stare. 

Eventually, however, it responded.

Slowly, the Goomy sent Sam a nod.

It had seen that Pokémon there.

And to that, Sam went quiet, not sure what to do or even what to think.

Because if the Goomy was remembering correctly, then somewhere out there, somewhere out in the depths of Olivine, there was the impossibly rare Dragon-Ghost Type Pokémon Dreepy that Sam could go out and catch.

===============================================================
Author Note:

No, keeping a Goomy in the kitchen is not hygienic. Thankfully, the sailors are aware, and none of them mind.

I will post my meta-perspective on why this “arc” is happening closer to its end.

Pokémon included in this chapter:
Arctibax
Dreepy
Druddigon
Gabite
Goomy
Krabby
Muk
Poliwrath
Shelgon
Wingull

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Chapter 129

Carl’s couch was comfortable. Sam wasn’t sure what to think of that. Honestly, he wasn’t sure how he got here in the first place.

No, he had a clear memory of spending the past few days traveling. What he really felt confused about was what had possessed him to come here with an entire tribe of Mankey—or how he had even managed to come here without being stopped by a Pokémon Ranger in the first place.

I’m on Carl’s ranch. A breeder’s ranch. That’s probably how I managed to get away with two dozen Pokémon following me from behind. I bet a Pokémon Ranger did notice me. They just didn’t approach, because why would they need to? There are a bunch of different ranches and breeders on this route. I probably just looked like a trainer helping one of them with their Mankey.

He heard the low cry of a Tauros come from outside. The stress in its voice probably signified that the Mankey were harassing it. Well, it probably wasn’t being harassed, but it was probably being surrounded and bombarded with questions. After living off-route for so long, the Mankey were all overwhelmingly curious about every little thing.

It didn’t help that the Gastly actively encouraged them on, too.

After a short while of sitting in that cozy living room, a noise came from the nearby kitchen, and Sam looked over to see Carl stepping out with a pair of steaming drinks. He placed one in front of Sam while keeping the other for himself.

“There you go. One cup of cocoa for the young’un. Just be careful, it’s hot.”

Sam gladly took the cup and blew on it before taking a sip. It was sweet, maybe a little too sweet. Carl had gone as far as to slip in a few marshmallows, but Sam wasn’t going to complain. Something about having access to a sweet treat was nice. For once, Sam felt as though he could totally relax even with everything that had been lingering in his mind.

Carl let Sam enjoy that for a few minutes as he moved over to a cushioned armchair and sat down. The rancher settled into its thick cushions and enjoyed his drink before he finally started with his questions.

“So,” Carl said. His eyes flicked over Sam, who didn’t exactly have any of his Pokémon with him right now. Everyone was outside watching the Mankey tribe interact with Carl’s Tauros, but Typhlosion herself had slipped around to the back to go and greet her grandfather.

Sam couldn’t exactly blame her for that decision.

“So...” Carl said again. “Your Pokémon?”

“The Mankey,” Sam finished, but Carl just shook his head.

“We can get to them later. I might be getting a bit nosy, but I can’t say I recognize half your team?”

Sam just blinked, and Carl set down his drink to awkwardly rub the back of his neck.

“Now, I can’t say I personally know most of your Pokémon, but that ain’t what I’m talking about. I can’t say that I’m unfamiliar with new species in general, either, but your Typhlosion? The one that used to be that sweet lil’ Cyndaquil? Can’t say her looks are familiar. Same with your Primeape—if he can even be called a Primeape anymore.”

Like Carl, Sam slowly put his cup of cocoa down. Half of its contents were already gone. Breathing out, he steadied his breath, and then he put his face in his hands and groaned.

It wasn’t like he forgot to keep his team’s evolutions secret, it was just that he didn’t think he needed to—Typhlosion had constantly been out of her Pokéball for the past several days, and Carl was trustworthy! The man was taking care of his grandfather’s personal Typhlosion, for goodness’s sake!

But the fact that he’d need to explain two entire evolutions had slipped Sam’s mind. He knew he could trust Carl, he had just thought the big swarm of Mankey behind him would have taken precedence.

Sam spoke quickly.

“Typhlosion is a Hisuian Typhlosion, an old variant that’s part Ghost Type. We spent most of the season meeting people and visiting new locations just to make sure she’d be able to evolve,” he said.

Carl nodded along. His words were carefully selected.

“I thought so,” he said. “I’d be a poor excuse for a Cyndaquil breeder if I didn’t recognize her variant. But to see one in person—to see that one of the Cyndaquil from my ranch was able to evolve into an extinct species?”

He chuckled, shaking his head.

“Well, it ain’t extinct any longer,” he continued. “I’d be proud of myself if I had anything to do with it, but I didn’t. The achievement’s all yours. Certainly one heck of a surprise, and you two deserve all the praise you get for that. Incredible job.”

Sam smiled.

“Thank you,” he said.

“But your other one? The Primeape?” Carl's expression suddenly shifted to bewilderment. “Is that a Ghost Type? Is he a Ghost Type? Was he that same Mankey from before? So then that means he managed to evolve twice! And into something completely unknown! Wait. So is that why you caught him? Because you knew all of this would happen? That’s why you had a Fighting Type even though you said you wanted to train a team of Ghost Types?”

Faced with so many questions, Sam opened his mouth but failed to think of an easy reply. Delaying it, he chose to grab his mug and take a long, long sip to finish off his drink.

“I—” He coughed and wiped away the liquid that had given him a foamy mustache on his upper lip. “Yes to everything?”

Carl looked as though he didn’t know how to respond.

For a long while, Carl just leaned back into his chair and sipped at his drink much more slowly than Sam. For some reason, Sam got the sense that it wasn’t entirely coffee in there. From outside, the Mankey continued to launch their questions at the nearby Tauros. When its cries became rather terse, a sharp noise from Annihilape echoed out, immediately silencing and calming them. Annihilape’s brother might have technically been the leader of the tribe, but at this point, he carried so much respect among the Mankey that the tribe would do anything he said.

“...I’ve met a lot of people. Seen a lot of wild things,” Carl said, starting slowly once a full minute passed. “I’ve even shook hands with the Champion once. That was pretty great.”

“I saw the picture,” Sam responded quietly.

“I work on a ranch that has a contract with this region’s Professor. I’m responsible for raising almost all of the Cyndaquil handed away as starter Pokémon in Johto. But your Primeape... Or your Pokémon that was once a Primeape. Can’t say I’ve ever encountered a completely new species.” Carl then blinked. “Hold on, who else knows about it? Heck, who else knows about Typhlosion, anyway?”

“Morty knows about Typhlosion. Agatha does, too. As for Annihilape—that’s the name for Primeape’s evolution—no one knows about him,” Sam said. “Annihilape evolved in the mountains to the north when we were with the Mankey tribe. It’s part of the reason we came directly here.”

Carl finally put down his mug. Sam could see it was empty. The man sighed as if he was still having trouble processing everything he just heard.

“Whew. So no one else knows that a Primeape can evolve. Except for you. And me, as of just now. I could believe a variant Typhlosion—they were thought to be extinct, but most people know from Alola that variants are a thing. But Annihilape? An Annihilape. That’s... That’s a completely unknown evolution! Man, the response. Oh, the response! Hah! The sheer amount of chaos he’s going to stir—”

“Sure, but I’d like to wait?” Sam interrupted.

Carl glanced back down at Sam. For a second, he had started to stare off, but Sam’s comment snapped him out of his growing daze.

Thankfully, Carl seemed to have got ahold of himself, and he easily nodded along to Sam’s request.

“Of course. Of course!” he said, merrily enough. “The Conference’s in just about a month. So you’re planning on debuting your two evolutions there.”

“Yeah, I’ve already been given advice to do that, too. The hope is that we make a big enough splash and use that fame to make it so criminals won’t want to mess with us.”

“Makes sense, makes sense,” Carl said, humming as he leaned back his chair. “Then, you’re in for the long run, aren’t you?”

“We are,” Sam answered decidedly. “We’re going to become the strongest Ghost Type team there is.”

For a while, Carl just continued to hum. His face went through a number of different expressions. He started appreciative before into amusement. From there, he looked curious, then confused, and then almost giddy, and then he took on a look of contemplative, deep thought.

“Hm. Back to the start of it: you said you didn’t come here to show off your Pokémon. You came here because you needed my help.”

Sam winced.

“I do. Sorry. I didn’t know what else to do—where else to bring the Mankey. They kind of had a berry tree, but that got destroyed, and then they had nowhere else to go, but then you were nearby, and then I could take them with me but I can’t say no because my team was begging but it’s okay since the Mankey are honestly really fun and then—”

“Stop,” Carl said, holding up a hand. “Gimme a moment to think.”

It took him only a few seconds to confidently nod and firmly lock his gaze on Sam.

“Alright. Before I say anything else, I want you to know that I don’t got much free funds. Most earnings get cycled back into costs. High gross, low net, understand?”

“I understand,” Sam said, sitting straight up.

“Now, I might not have too much money to spend, but I have enough to make an allowance, if only for a bit. Since I have this ranch of mine, and since the Conference is coming up anyway, I can tell you outright that I can temporarily take on your Mankey—”

“Thank you!”

Sam was halfway into standing up for bow when he was abruptly stopped by Carl holding up his hand once again.

“Temporarily,” Carl emphasized. “This ain’t something I can do long-term. Technically, it’s a matter of contracting. Despite all the secrecy, we sometimes get the wrong kinda’ folk snooping around. A bunch of Mankey staying here will help muddy the waters a bit. No one needs to learn about the Cyndaquil, so I can take them on for a while in exchange for room and board.”

Sam eagerly nodded, already more than willing to agree, but Carl had more things he needed to say.

“However, like I said, it can’t be something long-term. I can only have them here until a bit after the Conference. That means you need to find somewhere else for them to stay. But, with your Pokémon? Your Typhlosion and Annihilape? You’ll definitely get yourself a sponsorship. Just make sure to negotiate ranching options when discussing the contract.”

Although Carl was doing him a big favor, Sam still grimaced slightly. Two brand new Pokémon would absolutely attract a big fish sponsor wanting to latch onto his name, but now he’d also need to make sure that sponsor could provide a place for his Pokémon to stay. 

An entire tribe of Mankey was not a feasible option to send home, unfortunately. He’d been able to do so with Shuppet and Duskull because, as Ghost Types, those two didn’t really need to eat. He hadn’t been worried about sending them to his mom, but two dozen Fighting Types would simply be far too much even with a Fighting Type Gym in the same town.

“I’ll do that,” Sam promised. “Whatever sponsor I get probably won’t pay as much in return, but ranching benefits would probably save me more money overall, anyway.”

“Good. Now, that being said...” Carl hummed again. “You mentioned a few people know about Typhlosion, but I’ve heard nothing, myself. I’m taking that means she’s staying secret for now. But with Annihilape, well, you came directly here?”

“Yes?” Sam answered cautiously. 

“No visit to the Pokémon Center just yet?”

“None,” Sam answered. “Which means you’re the first to find out, other than me. But probably not for too long. I want to call my mom, and then Agatha and Morty will probably learn about him automatically since he’s a new Ghost Type and their system—”

Sam stopped himself when he saw Carl frowning. He wasn’t sure if he had ever seen Carl frown.

“Ah. That rule,” Carl said. “The one that says all new discoveries for ‘dangerous’ Types need to be shared to keep people safe.”

He breathed out, temporarily taking off his hat to wipe his otherwise hidden, bald head.

“I don’t like it,” Carl said outright, speaking with almost a scowl. “It’s a holdover from older times. No such thing as a dangerous Type, just harder-to-train ones. All that rule does is create a system where trainers have to give up their secrets to empower the strong.”

Sam blinked at the man.

“Excuse me?”

Carl seemed to realize the sour expression he was wearing and laughed to get it off of his face.

“Ah, sorry. Sorry! Don’t get me wrong, I understand why it exists and I do carry the belief that new discoveries should be shared—eventually at least. Trainers should be allowed to keep some tricks in their pocket as long as they aren’t hoarding ‘em for too long. My problem is that their system is automatic—doesn’t matter how hard you worked, if someone thinks your Pokémon might be dangerous, you don’t get to keep any tricks about it.”

“But it’s necessary,” Sam immediately countered. “Some Ghost Types can be genuinely dangerous.”

Real ghosts existed, and real ghosts were capable of dangerous spiritual effects. A powerful Ghost Type was capable of inflicting spiritual problems, and even outside of various hauntings and curses, spiritual possession was a real, genuine thing.

“No, no. I understand that, and the same is true for the Poison Type. New Poison Types need to be sampled so that the proper antidotes can be made,” Carl explained. “But the Dragon Type? And the Dark Type? Certainly not those two. Dragon Types might be a bit egotistical and strong, but dangerous? Any powerful Pokémon can be dangerous. Is a Dragonite really that much more threatening than a fully enraged Steelix?”

Sam took a moment to try to picture the type of damage those two Pokémon could cause. A Dragonite could fly around and fire off Hyper Beams, but it’d fall pretty quickly to a decent Ice Type. Steelix, however, were incredibly defensive and could also dig. Instead of being visible, if a Steelix was clever, it could destroy an entire city by causing earthquakes underground.

And even then, it didn’t take a Steelix to be that destructive. Even a low-level Fire Type could cause a fire to spread over an entire town.

“Yeah. You see what I mean,” Carl said. “This might just be my bias talking, but let me do you one more favor. I can offer you something else and let us pull a little trick on the League.”

“I don’t want—”

“Is your Annihilape dangerous?” Carl interrupted.

“In a fight? Yes.”

“But is he at threat of losing control of his anger and going on a rampage?”

Sam thought of all of their training, all of their efforts to have Primeape control his rage. They’d spent ages on meditation and weeks and weeks practicing Rage Fist itself. In his evolution, anger was less something that affected him and more something that was a part of him. He was so in control that he had even lost access to his Anger Point ability—he simply could no longer lose himself to his rage even after taking an infuriatingly direct critical hit.

“No. He’s not,” Sam answered slowly.

An Annihilape could only truly fall into a rage if it really wanted to.

“Then let me offer you this: as one of the League’s officially contracted breeders, I have a few avenues I can approach when it comes to submitting new discoveries. I can pass on the news of Annihilape myself to stop him from tripping any flags and preventing his data from automatically being sent to everyone in their systems.”

Sam stayed quiet. Carl was offering him a way to bypass Morty—but it was more than that. Carl was offering him a way to bypass even Agatha. With how he managed his ranch, this wasn’t something he was offering just to steal credit for himself. He wasn’t the type of person that would backstab him for recognition. With the secrecy of his Cyndaquil, Carl wouldn’t want any recognition.

No, this was just a loophole that Carl was in a unique position to abuse, and it was something that would let Annihilape stay secret. More secret than he’d otherwise be. Annihilape’s evolution would be revealed at the Conference no matter what, but this offer meant Sam wouldn’t need to worry about a Primeape trying to evolve incorrectly and getting an unfortunate result before more information could be shared.

...Also, the look on Morty’s face when he sees Annihilape come out during the Conference would be amazing to see.

“Let me think about it,” Sam said, even though he was pretty sure he’d take Carl up on his offer.

For this, Annihilape wasn’t a dangerous Ghost Type—and Sam had no doubts about that. He wasn’t a Ghost Type at risk of causing horrible curses, and he wasn’t a Ghost Type to go out and cause more issues that were more than just base destruction. If he was a special attacker tied closely to esoteric uses of Ghost Type energy, then Sam would have probably turned Carl down and let the League’s systems automatically share Annihilape’s information just in case.

But Annihilape was the most physical of physical Pokémon. If Sam was wrong and the worst came true, even if Annihilape lost himself to a rampage, a single Thunder Wave would be enough to lock him down.

“Regardless of what you decide, keep in mind that you just have Chuck left, if my understanding of your journey so far is right. Won’t be long until you reach him, and he’d be a good judge of Annihilape once you’re there. He’s a Fighting Type specialist and would probably love to know how you evolved a Primeape, but...” Carl chuckled to himself. “Can’t say I know that man too well, but he’s not the sort to cause you any trouble. Not in any way that matters, at least.”

There was definitely something more to what he was saying, but it didn’t seem like anything harmful. As far as Sam could tell, Carl had simply made a connection that he hadn’t.

Cianwood Gym was certainly going to be interesting.

But before then, he still needed to get through Olivine, get another Pokémon, and then actually reach that final city. Yet, even with all of that waiting before him, Carl’s offers had left Sam with a single, burning question on his mind.

“But... Why?” he asked. “Why are you offering this? Why are you doing all of this for me? Taking on the Mankey. Keeping Annihilape secret. You’d be doing all of this in exchange for... nothing. You’re just handing it over. Why?”

Sam half expected to hear some kind of grand plan, some kind of enormous benefit Carl wanted to obtain. Maybe he wanted to use Sam’s Pokémon to subtly advertise his ranch, or maybe he wanted to get a Ghost Type or two to help protect the Cyndaquil. Some of the Gastly could be convinced to stay. Or maybe offering to keep Primeape secret was more than just a small protest on his part to call out the League.

But as much as Sam wanted to know the grand reason Carl was doing all of this for him, in the end, Carl just gained a small smile.

“Because I can,” he answered easily, and Sam knew he was telling the truth. “I’m in a position to help someone else, so why not do just that?”

Sam waited to see if Carl would offer a further explanation, but he didn’t. He had already shared all of his thoughts. Even though there was a level of secrecy involved with his job, Carl wasn’t the type of person to lie. His expressions had been far too revealing for this entire conversation.

He truly meant what he said.

So, as Sam stared at the man, Carl went on to chuckle. His soft smile turned to something much more mischievous as he leaned back to stare ahead.

“If you really want a reason, I already told you I’m not getting nothing out of this deal. The Mankey will act like a Cyndaquil’s Smokescreen to make sure they aren’t found. And keeping Annihilape unknown enough helps me call out something I don’t like with the League,” Carl said. “But if there’s a single reason, then think of this as a thank you. You showed me that there’s more than just a single future for all the Cyndaquil I take care of. Having a choice matters, and I know that quite a few of them are going to strive for that new possibility you and Typhlosion brought here together.”

At Carl’s words, Sam felt something warm in his chest. It wasn’t just pride about their achievements, it was pride that their achievements mattered. Typhlosion wasn’t just a single Pokémon that managed to evolve. She was an example that would inspire an entire new generation of Cyndaquil on their journey. And the same was true for Annihilape—he would show the Primeape of the world that there was more to them than just their rage.

Sam’s Pokémon weren’t just his team. They were Pokémon that would become the shining examples of what Ghost Types could be.

“I think I get it,” Sam said quietly. “All throughout my journey, so many people have helped me basically for free. There’s been Morty. Spencer Hale. Professor Carolina. Agatha, technically. And now you. They all helped because they wanted to. They all helped because of that look of gratitude on someone’s face... it’s nice, isn’t it?”

Carl continued to chuckle to himself, looking rather amused.

“Yup. It’s pretty nice,” he said as he looked over Sam. “But, let’s call it here. It’s pretty late, and I have a free guest room. After traveling for so long, you must be tired. My home is always open to a family friend.”

Sam readily nodded, the stress practically melting out of him. Right now, after spending so long off-route, a real bed sounded great.

So, he went out to talk to his Pokémon, informing them of his plans for now. Once he made sure they were all settled, he went to lie down and promptly fell asleep.

_______________________________________________________________

Sam found Annihilape’s old tribe with thirty-seven days left in the season. Annihilape evolved that same night, and then they all left the next morning when it was confirmed there was nothing they could do to fix the berry tree.

Returning from the mountains didn’t take long as there was no need to search for a hidden, wandering tribe. Now that they were on Carl’s ranch, they stayed for a couple of days just to make sure everything was properly settled and to give all the Pokémon a chance to relax.

Sam did take up Carl’s offer, watching the man call a Noctowl that’d deliver a few letters for him about the discovery of Annihilape. No drama was stirred, only the absolute minimum number of people were informed. And, instead of pushing his team even more and having them train, Sam used this visit to take a break, and he spent his time relaxing and helping Carl go through his daily tasks.

For two days, Sam and all of his Pokémon stayed, relaxed, played with the ranch’s Pokémon, and also maybe worked in a small amount of training. The Gastly got to hang out with the Mankey for a bit longer, and Typhlosion got to hang out with her grandfather.

After the break and all of their traveling, only thirty-one days remained in the season. Summer was beginning to give way to fall, and the final city tournaments of the season were taking place, though Sam had no plans to compete.

When it finally became time to head out and continue their journey, everyone stood at the edge of the ranch. They said their goodbyes, and Carl assured Sam that everything was already handled.

The Gastly sobbed when they parted with the Mankey, even the ones that were quieter than the others. Much to Sam’s surprise, none of the Gastly chose to stay behind, either. All of them returned to Sam’s shadow to continue their journey with him.

But for the Gastly that would decide to stick with Sam for even longer, this was not a final meeting. Technically, the Mankey were now all Sam’s even if he never formally caught them. He was responsible for their wellbeing, and with Carl’s offer, he was officially their trainer. He made sure to tell all of them that he’d live up to that and find them a proper home as soon as he could.

As for one member of the tribe—their leader, that no-longer-wild Primeape—he shared a final, long look with his brother. Their parting wasn’t that sad or even emotional, but he and Annihilape shared a firm handshake.

They’d leave on that for now.

Finally, Typhlosion said goodbye to her grandfather. Sam had barely seen her throughout their stay as she’d been sequestered away in the deepest sections of the half-burned Cyndaquil grove. There, she trained, which Sam knew for sure. The roar of her flames had been far too regular for her to have been doing anything else.

She and her grandfather could not have looked different enough, but they were still so very similar. The two of them stared one another in the eyes before falling forward for a hug.

“Typhlo!”

Her grandfather, through his tears, expressed just how proud of her he was.

“‘Phlosion!”

Typhlosion, in response, expressed her love and her genuine thanks for all of his help.

When they pulled out of their hug, Typhlosion’s grandfather let his flames burn. She did the same, and a red-purple glow came from around them, their flames so different yet still so alike.

Sam stepped back.

He and his team left Carl’s ranch and so many memories behind.

They began to head down Route 39, to where Olivine City was waiting for them not too far to the south.

“We don’t have that long left in the season,” Sam said to everyone as they walked away.

He got a mix of cries and jeers in response—they knew. Of course, they knew. At this point, he was bringing up that fact practically three times a day.

“Hah. Sorry. I just want to make sure we’re prepared, y’know?” he said with a slight laugh. “But really, I’m excited. It feels like everything is finally coming together.”

Typhlosion had evolved. Annihilape had evolved. They had a Dusk Stone in pocket for Misdreavus to become a Mismagius, and Trevenant was already in his final form.

That just left Haunter’s evolution, but Sam planned to take care of that when they visited the Ilex Forest. The darkness of the deep woods would hopefully carry the perfect conditions for him to become a Gengar.

“I guess I could make a big speech, but I’ve already done that a bunch before,” Sam said as they traveled down the route. “So I’ll just say this: we’re heading to Olivine! To see just how strong we’ve become in a rematch against Jasmine, to catch a boat to Cianwood and reach our final Gym, and to also...”

He smiled.

“And to also finally add a sixth member to our team.”

===============================================================
Author Note: 

Pokémon included in this chapter:
Cyndaquil
Tauros

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter

Chapter 128

Author Note:

TWO CHAPTERS CAME OUT TODAY!
Make sure to read Chapter 127 first.

==============================================================

The world returned to Primeape in hazy shades of black. Shadows swam in his vision as he grabbed his aching head. In the distance, he could hear a shout, but it was almost muffled to his ears. It sounded familiar as if it was some sort of command?

“Flamethrower!”

He couldn’t understand it. It didn’t make sense. He wasn’t able to use Flamethrower. Why was he being told to use that attack?

That was when Primeape put the pieces together. He wasn’t the one being given a command. Another Pokémon was fighting.

And it wasn’t him.

Sam’s voice repeated the order, that same shout coming almost desperately. It was farther away than before, a distant call to the Pokémon that took Primeape’s place after he was knocked out in a single blow.

Ahead of him, blurry shapes took form as his vision returned to him, and he could see the shattered remains of boulders that had once surrounded the camp. The Snorlax, still half-asleep, somehow looked annoyed. It swiped at images of a weasel-like Pokémon, crashing through them and breaking everything in its path.

Typhlosion could avoid its attacks thanks to Double Team, and her Agility was letting her keep her distance. She was running circles around the Snorlax but shouldn’t have needed to. She shouldn’t have been the one fighting. It should have been Primeape.

But he had already failed.

The worst part of it was that the Snorlax hadn’t even used a real move. It had only bothered to casually swing its arm. However, that base slam into Primeape had hurt. Not only did the swipe carry all of the Snorlax’s weight behind it, but the Pokémon was also inherently strong.

While Primeape might have been able to withstand that swipe, being knocked straight into a rock wall was enough to take him out. And now Typhlosion was being forced to fight on his behalf, but she wasn’t a Pokémon meant for close-ranged fights. She might have been a Ghost Type, but she couldn’t phase through attacks. While Fighting and Normal Type moves carried no effect, she would still feel the force behind those powerful blows.

So she was avoiding the Snorlax's attacks, but she was only successful because so much of her focus was being spent on defense. The few Flamethrowers she released scorched the surface of the Snorlax, but they only burned its body without doing much else thanks to its insulating layers of Thick Fat.

And Sam was there too, standing in the back of the clearing. He crouched next to the boulders and helped Mankey climb over. They were doing the only thing they could do—escape. Primeape could tell Typhlosion would eventually win, but her victory would not come fast enough.

Painfully, Primeape peeled himself out of the crater, but that pain was nothing compared to the burning in his chest. The entire team had relied on him, and all he had done was fail. The sole reason the rampaging Snorlax hadn’t reached the berry tree was that it had yet to notice the tree’s presence. More than that, a handful of Gligar remained, flinging a few, last-ditch moves. Most had already gathered their injured and made their escape. But it wasn’t like the threat had vanished; a good chunk of them hid at the top of the cliffs and watched the ongoing fight.

Clearly, their strategy wasn’t over. They were thinking they could swoop in at the end of the battle, but there wouldn’t be an end. The second the Snorlax woke up enough to notice it, any life in the berry tree would be gone.

Primeape wasn’t sure what to do. He felt angry, but he felt hopeless. He walked forward, almost in a daze. The quiet of the night was gone at this point since all of the remaining battles were now loud and desperate.

Haunter fought. Gastly fought. Trevenant fought, too. Misdreavus helped Sam with Psychic, catching any Mankey that fell and bringing them up the boulders so they could escape the heavy Pokémon’s rampage.

And Primeape just watched. Because what else could he do? He was useless. He watched Typhlosion fend off the Snorlax while also watching the Mankey escape.

But when his gaze lingered on Sam’s group, he saw it: a Pokémon. A familiar Pokémon stood right at Sam’s side even though it shouldn’t have been there. Serving as the final line of defense—taking the one role that should have been his—was the only Pokémon that could do it. Primeape’s brother stood at the ready, prepared to fight a losing battle if pushed.

The wild Pokémon was in his place. The wild Pokémon stood where Primeape should have stood.

Anger growing, Primeape stared forward, trying to refuse but being forced to accept the reality of the situation.

He was doing nothing.

He was being useless.

Even after everything else, he had done nothing but prove himself weak.

No matter how much training he had gone through, he hadn’t been able to withstand the simple physics of Snorlax’s swing. But despite that feeling, despite all the hopelessness he felt, something else grew in Primeape’s chest.

That thought was making him rage.

Immediately, Primeape stopped kidding himself. He wasn't winning this fight—not as he was now. The boost of Bulk Up could help bridge the gap, but even that wouldn’t be enough. As strong as Bulk Up could make him, there was still the problem of mass. Snorlax was just far too heavy for him to withstand its attacks.

But he had a solution. If he wanted to win this fight, he needed power. And if he wanted power, he needed to evolve.

This was not the time for a sudden epiphany or realization. This was the time for a final push to complete all his efforts.

So, even as hurt as he was, he threw himself forward, diving right into the fray where the last few Gligar were still being fought. He roared in challenge, and his fist swung out to smash an unsuspecting Pokémon in the face.

Above his head, a pair of Gligar dived through the air and opened their mouths. Needles came out for a Poison Sting that peppered Primeape, but he blocked it with his arms and ignored the lingering, biting pain.

Jumping, he kicked off the cliff to meet the two Pokémon in the air, his gloved hands grabbing the top of the two Gligar’s heads. He used the movement to slam them into the ground, the impact finishing them off and taking them out of the fight.

But it wasn't enough.

Primeape roared again, furiously shouting for more to attack him while simultaneously challenging every Pokémon here. There were practically no Gligar left, and at this point, the ones that remained were in no condition to face a Pokémon at his level of strength.

But Primeape didn’t give up, and he jerked around, searching for a target. His heart pounded in his chest. His body heaved with every breath.

...Above him, a certain Ghost Type looked down.

Responding to the call, a grin stretched across Haunter’s face as he pointed, more than willing to help out. Though there was a moment’s pause, his commands were followed. Gastly rushed Primeape, just as he demanded.

A punch. A hiss. A Rage Fist smashed right through an incoming Gastly. The attack caused it to fly far back right as something else seared Primeape from behind.

His fist snapped out before he even saw what had done that, and a different Gastly hit the wall. More swarmed him, and the world became a tornado of swirling shadows that consumed every ounce of light.

He fought.

A Lick swiped his side.

Primeape lashed out with a Rage Fist.

A Spite came forth in an attempt to drain him.

Primeape lashed out with a Rage Fist.

A pair of eyes flashed in the darkness, opening up in an attempt to put him to sleep. Unfortunately for the poor Gastly, Primeape had a Vital Spirit. He was far too angry to fall unconscious that easily.

Primeape lashed out with a Rage Fist.

More and more Gastly swarmed him, and Primeape laid into them all. All fainted Pokémon were pulled back as even more Pokémon zipped in to fill the gaps.

Primeape was attacked from all angles by the Pokémon that should have been his allies. Yet, he called for this, he demanded this, and for every Rage Fist he used, he grew more and more enraged.

But it didn’t last forever. There were only so many Gastly capable of using attacks. As he roared, their numbers died down, and even through the gap, Primeape struck at one, final face.

Haunter bounced across the ground, being forced to disappear into a shadow to recover. For Primeape, the world turned into a blur. The only thing that mattered to him right now was finding his next target to fight.

He could feel the energy pulsing through the gloves. He could feel the heat filling his chest. A voice called out to him in the distance, but Primeape did not respond.

Something else spoke, and Primeape turned to lay his eyes on something green that towered over his head.

Lunging forward, he was stopped by latching roots.

He used Rage Fist; he smashed right through. He charged at the Pokémon trying to hit him.

Something swiped at his side, draining his energy, and a second claw of shadowy energy tore into his fur.

He used Rage Fist; he hit the Pokémon in its chest, and the energy pierced into it for super effective damage.

In response to his move, Primeape heard the crunch of a berry and the cracking of the ground. Despite the punch’s power, his target hadn’t been moved. It was ingrained. It was not going to be knocked out of this fight so easily.

Thus, Rage Fist; Primeape struck again.

Then, Rage Fist; Primeape broke through his target’s bark.

And a Rage Fist; no matter how many times he thought he was about to win, it seemed as though his target was able to restore to full health.

In the distance, another shout came. Words? They didn’t matter. All Primeape cared about right now was getting through this infuriating foe.

He punched again, and again, and again, his rage the only thing keeping him conscious. Something thundered in his chest. With a final swing, his target was finally torn from the floor.

...There was that shout again. Why did it sound so concerned?

But Primeape paid it no mind as a different noise rang out. A sound akin to a shattering stone entered his ears.

He knew then that there were more targets.

There were more things that needed to be punched.

He turned toward a new blur, one that was even larger. It had blue-tan fur and a width that seemed to obscure most of his sight.

He marched.

Right now, the only thing Primeape could hear was the sound of his breathing and the beating of his heart in his chest. It was pounding at a thousand beats per minute. He felt as though he could hardly breathe, but he didn’t care. All that mattered was that right now, he was still alive.

Another noise echoed out. This one was different. It was not an unrecognizable shout or the sound of a stone breaking. Something was hit, flesh on flesh. A pained cry left a Pokémon’s throat and then spoke no more.

That massive thing lumbered away from him.

Primeape’s rage grew out of frustration.

The earth shook as the blur sat down and started to make the noise of chewing on a tree.

Primeape was inexorable; he did not stop in his march forward. The world became nothing but him and his target, and he understood.

It was that Snorlax.

It was eating.

It was eating the berry tree, and it was paying him no mind.

Everything felt so simple at that moment. He had been angry. Angry at himself. Angry at the world. Angry at that thing for having the gall to beat him.

But did that matter? He couldn’t say he was angry about that anymore. He was simply angry at anything and everything.

He was his rage.

The Snorlax didn’t care that he was approaching. The Snorlax only cared about its meal. Primeape was mad, but he was also calm. He was completely and totally focused on his singular goal.

This time, when something shouted, it was a brand new voice. One that cried out a name that was so similar to his own. From the side, a shape ran his way, and Primeape drew back an arm to take it out before he could be stopped.

And there, right before him, Primeape was hit with a shock. The shape wasn’t an opponent. It wasn’t the Snorlax. He was being approached by his own face.

His brother’s face.

But the sight did nothing to stop his rage, and his arm had already been drawn back. He released that tension, the punch flying forward.

But he failed to land his move.

Just like that, before he could fully unleash his Rage Fist, the beating in his chest stopped. All around him, the pounding blur that had been the entire world vanished.

His heart gave out, and Primeape could do nothing but fall.

_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

Sam pressed his back against the boulders. The Snorlax was ignoring him as well as everyone else. In a way, Typhlosion had won; she had woken it up. But instead of coming to reason and turning around, it had laid its eyes on the berry tree and moved toward that instead.

She had tried to stop it, but she had already exhausted herself trying to fight it off earlier, and a single attack had taken her out. Now, she was in her Pokéball. Same as Haunter. Same as Trevenant. Between his Ghost Types, only Misdreavus was out, and she was carefully pulling away all the fainted Gastly to bring them to the Mankey tribe for treatment.

Yet, the Snorlax was still there, casually ripping off entire branches from the tree as if they were mere skewers that contained snacks. With a single bite, everything on them would vanish, both the berries and leaves and all.

Sam would have been more angry at the situation, but he simply couldn’t muster anything more than despair. He couldn’t care less about the Snorlax right now. The only thing he could pay attention to was Primeape.

Who was on the ground.

Laying silently.

Doing nothing at all.

Sam could not explain it. He could not explain what possessed Primeape to do what he’d done. He’d noticed it too late, and it was only after Primeape began attacking the Gastly that he had seen what was going on. The only good thing about that show of force was that it completely scared off any remaining Gligar. Unfortunately, that was made pointless when Primeape then tore through Sam’s team, taking out the Gastly, then Haunter, and then Trevenant one by one.

And then...

And then he had approached the Snorlax. His eyes had turned white, and veins throbbed on his face. He had been utterly consumed by his anger, so berserk he had turned impossibly calm.

When Typhlosion had been taken out, Primeape didn’t respond. He acted like nothing had happened. He had simply turned and walked toward the Snorlax. That was when everything went wrong.

His brother tried to stop him. Primeape tried to throw one last Rage Fist.

It hadn’t worked. He had just collapsed, instead.

Sam could say nothing. He could do nothing. Primeape’s brother looked horrified. The noise that left the Pokémon’s throat wasn’t anything Sam would ever be able to describe.

In front of the fallen Primeape, his brother collapsed. The Pokémon’s face twisted to one of both grief and rage.

The Mankey tribe hadn’t fled. They stood on the boulders, quietly watching the scene with an intensity that didn’t quite fit them.

Sam would have liked to pretend the sky was cloudy, or that it was raining, but it was perfectly clear right now. The stars were shining, the moon was high, and his Pokémon was silent on the ground.

Compared to how he looked before, Primeape was peaceful. Despite all of the anger that had consumed him less than even single a minute ago, he was almost smiling. As if, despite everything, he had achieved his final goal.

But he hadn’t. And Sam knew this was his fault. He said he would never betray his friends, but what had he done? He had led Primeape to this moment, bringing him here and causing all of this just so he could—

“UGH!”

It hurt when he slammed his fist into a boulder. He was no Pokémon. Shock traveled up his arm. He was weak. Pitiful. A sorry excuse for a trainer.

“I shouldn’t have... Why did I...”

Sam was having trouble breathing. Misdreavus rushed to his side in worry.

The only sound that came from the clearing was the sound of Primeape’s brother and the noise of the Snorlax’s continued eating.

I shouldn’t have left home.

If he had just stayed behind, none of this would have happened.

Misdreavus nudged Sam again, and he almost pushed her away. However, he stopped when he realized she wasn’t trying to comfort him. She was trying to get his attention, instead.

There, where Primeape laid on the ground, something drifted off his back. It almost resembled one of Typhlosion’s wisps, but where her wisps were dark, this was light. It looked like a mote of pure energy that peeled off of Primeape’s fur.

Though he was unmoving, more and more of those motes flecked off his back. For a second, Sam thought Primeape was falling apart, but that wasn’t it.

He was giving off a glow.

A far too familiar glow.

A glow of a Pokémon about to evolve.

Primeape’s brother looked up in utter shock, and in front of him, an arm snapped up to press against the ground. Something broke on Primeape’s wrists—bracelets, like manacles, snapped open one by one, and one outright turned to dust to completely free his right arm.

With steady movement, Primeape pushed to his feet, turning completely white under the evolutionary glow. Standing tall, his fur lengthed and became a mane of flowing hair that drifted off his head and constantly waved with dissipating, ephemeral energy.

When the light broke, Sam could not say his Pokémon looked the same. The tan color of Primeape’s fur had been replaced by a grey that looked as though it came from decay. However, his snout was still bright pink with life, and there were deep bags under his eyes—red eyes. Angry eyes. Eyes that were consumed by rage.

He looked awful. He looked great. He looked angry. He looked impossibly calm.

But more than anything else, he looked alive and ready to continue this fight.

When he took a step forward, his brother took a step back. When he moved toward the Snorlax, it did nothing but send him a nonchalant glance.

By far, the Snorlax was more concerned with eating than anything about the evolution behind it. Typhlosion’s few successful attacks had taken their toll, and it wanted to eat and heal more than anything else. An angry Pokémon might have been approaching it, but it didn’t care. It just wanted to continue its meal.

It didn’t respond when a fist was drawn back, and it didn’t respond when that fist slammed right into its side.

“Wait. No. That did do something,” Sam breathed. “The Snorlax stopped eating.”

Pulling a bare branch out of its mouth, the Snorlax looked behind it once again only for a shockwave to ripple through its fat.

And after that shockwave came another, and then another, and then another. The assault laying into its body picked up speed, and with every fist that bounced off of it, the momentum was used to build a new attack.

Slowly, the Snorlax’s face contorted into an expression that was more and more pained, and it tried to swing an arm for an attack, but its opponent just ducked under the move.

It roared, taking the super effective damage, trying to properly turn around but being too slow to do anything but open itself up to even more of the move.

This was no Rage Fist. No, the attack was a Fighting Type move that forsook all defense.

The move being used against the Snorlax was a Close Combat, instead.

Despite all of its bulk, the Snorlax couldn’t resist the damaging move. The clearing started to be filled with not the noise of a fight, but the noise of all of the Mankey cheering the attacker on.

The Snorlax tried to lift its arms—tried to. It was currently being subjected to a constant, super-effective assault. Growing angrier by the second, it finally managed to position itself for some kind of attack—

But that was pointless. For all the anger it felt, the Snorlax could not match the rage of a fully realized Annihilape.

With one final swing, the evolved Fighting Type drew back its right arm, and that arm changed. Unbound and influenced by the Ghost Type, it grew, and grew, and grew, until the fist was so large that it could almost reach the Snorlax’s size.

The attack snapped out.

Snorlax was hit.

And all several thousand pounds of it were sent flying off, smashing right through the trunk of the berry tree and down into the valley below.

_______________________________________________________________

Trevenant checked over the shattered trunk the next morning. His expression was grim; there was nothing he could do. As a Grass Type, he could use his energy to cause plants to grow and heal, but in this case, the berry tree was gone, stripped clean by the Snorlax, and then finished off when it was smashed through by that Pokémon.

The Gligar were gone as well, but in a way, they had won. Though they did not get the tree for themselves, the Mankey certainly didn’t have access to it, either.

Some of them looked despondent at the loss of their food source, but many of them didn’t seem to care. The wonder of Annihilape’s new form served as a decent distraction in that moment, as most of the tribe was far too busy staring at him in awe.

As awful as he looked, Annihilape was still Primeape as he was before. A vein constantly throbbed on his now-grey head, but all of his practice and all of his effort meant he was in full control of his rage. It had become a part of him as much as Typhlosion’s flames were a part of her. It was a fuel that he could use to direct as he wished.

And right now, his body heaved up and down and he stared at the shattered trunk of the tree. Once more, he was angry at himself, but he wasn’t angry at his weakness. He seemed to be far more angry that he had failed to realize which direction the Snorlax would fly.

“It doesn’t matter, Prime—Annihilape. The Snorlax ate most of it before you showed up. What matters is you evolved. I’m proud of you. You finally reached your goal.”

Despite Sam’s words, Annihilape just grunted, breathing out to blow away a few strands of hair that had fallen onto his face. Grooming was going to be a problem, especially with the way his hair constantly flowed above him and gave off energy that dissipated in the wind.

“And also...” Sam continued, biting his lip. “I just want to say I’m sorry. I’m sorry you had to go through all of that. Never did I think... No, if I had stopped for a moment, I probably would have realized what your evolution entailed. If I had just put two and two together—”

But before he could get any further, Annihilape stopped him with another grunt. Sam’s comments were ticking him off, but more than that, he was communicating that he would have never been satisfied unless he had achieved this, anyway.

“I know, I just...” Sam stopped himself, shaking his head. “No matter what, thank you. No one else could have done what you’ve done.”

And even despite all of Annihilape’s ongoing anger, he still smiled. He would always feel a simmering rage, but it would always be under control. No matter what, he was still himself, just with massively increased strength and flowing grey hair.

“So now there’s just the question of what to do with the rest of you,” Sam said.

Turning from the remains of the tree, he looked around at the rest of the Pokémon here. His team was battered and injured after Primeape’s fight, but they were healing. Trevenant had made sure of that, because as soon as he was conscious he had grown Sitrus berries to feed to everyone to make sure they’d heal.

Most of the Gastly were resting in Sam’s shadow, and the Mankey had gotten off scot-free.

Mostly.

That was the source of Sam’s question—they weren’t injured, but they had lost their tree. At the same time, they had also learned of their species’s “secret” final evolution that Sam was honestly pretty worried they’d try to repeat.

It was almost a good thing that Annihilape’s brother seemed to be in a daze. That Primeape looked completely unsure of how to react to any of this. He seemed incapable of suddenly gaining a desire to try to evolve.

“I’m sorry about your tree. If I’d known the Gligar would lure a Snorlax here, I would have made a better plan,” Sam said to the tribe. “But we’ll help you find a new home. Trevenant, I know you’ve already done a lot, but would you be able to help them find a new tree or grow a new one, instead?”

Trevenant was still staring at the ruined trunk, and Sam winced. This situation probably hit close to home for him, but he was still able to reply to Sam with a serious nod of his head.

“Thank you. And once they’re healed, the Gastly will be able to help, too. I promise you all that we’ll find you somewhere you can be comfortable, and...”

He let his words drift off. Sam couldn’t say he was a fan of this situation. Even with the efforts of a Grass Type, growing a new tree would take a while. And “capturing” an existing tree would mean they’d just be doing the same thing the Gligar had done to them.

As he stared over the group, unsure how to tackle this issue, one of the Gastly drifted up from between Sam’s feet. He looked over to it only to see its expression and begin to sputter.

“No. No way,” Sam said, his voice firm.

But it just continued to look at him with pleading eyes. And then another joined it. And another, and another, and pretty soon practically every Gastly was begging Sam. Even Haunter had joined in, and even—

“You too, Typhlosion?”

Her resulting whine was pathetic.

“I can’t just... I can’t just do that! A bunch of extra Ghost Types are one thing, but Mankey? Where are they supposed to hide?”

Everyone was involved at this point, even responsible Pokémon like Misdreavus and Trevenant. Sam felt like he was under assault, and he was forced to turn around, unable to look at anyone here.

“We’re not. We’re not!” he responded, doing his best to put his foot down. “No matter how much you beg, no matter how much you plead, there is no way I’m taking an entire tribe of Mankey with—”

_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

A few days later, after a long day of work tending to the Cyndaquil and Tauros on his ranch, Carl opened the door to his home to see a familiar face and at least two dozen Mankey outside, all looking up at him with pleading eyes.

“Carl, please,” Sam begged. “We really need your help.”

===============================================================
Author Note:

With this chapter, Sam finally has a full Ghost Type team.

A full Ghost Type core team, at least.

Pokémon included in this chapter:
Gligar
Mankey
Snorlax

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter

Chapter 127

Author Note:

Thank you everyone for all the support. I appreciate the chance to take time to recover. Honestly, these past two months have been difficult, but we should be back to a normal schedule from here.

Mostly.

Today is a bit different.

This chapter has a massive cliffhanger, but that shouldn’t matter.

After all, two chapters are coming out today.

(The next one will be up shortly.)

===============================================================

Groups of wild Pokémon had a limit to how large they could be. Pokémon with a guaranteed source of food tended to stay in larger groups, and flocks of flying Pokémon tended to get even larger thanks to sourcing meals over vast distances and picking out targets from the sky.

Gligar weren’t a species that traveled in large groups, and though they could glide, they couldn’t exactly get too high into the air. They were as limited as any grounded group of Pokémon, but right now, it was like that limit on group size had disappeared.

They were a tide, a flood of creatures from many different groups joining together for a mass assault. Berry trees were invaluable out here, and the mere chance to claim one from the Mankey tribe was worth putting aside their differences for this singular plan.

It would have worked in any other situation, but these Gligar had unfortunate timing. Though a mass, midnight ambush would have worked even just one day ago, Sam’s group was right here, and they had no plans to let the Gligar win.

Unlike usual, Misdreavus was the first Pokémon to act, as Haunter intentionally waited for her to begin. She had been practicing new ways to use old moves, and she showed off her practice with a Psybeam that tore up the ground.

Rather than just leaving a groove, the Psychic Type energy sent dirt and debris into the air. In a cloud that wasn’t quite a Smoke Screen but didn’t need to be actively maintained, her attack churned up the earth to create quite the obscuration that Haunter and everyone else could take advantage of.

He dived right into it, with most of the Gastly following behind. The lower half of the Gligar swarm disappeared into the dust cloud, and muffled yelps began to echo out, quickly fading into nothing more than whispers thanks to the blankets of Night Shade the Gastly popped up and maintained.

Claws left the cloud to grab the necks of isolated Gligar and yank them back in. Several Gastly lingered off to the side to flash their eyes at incoming attackers, and sleeping Gligar fell right out of the sky toward the other, eager Ghost Types waiting below.

At Sam’s side, Typhlosion took a step forward and brought up her head to conjure her best attack. Deep purple flames burned from her neck, their unnatural energy casting shadows instead of light.

Her Infernal Parade winked into existence multiple wisps at a time. She formed a wall that she sent right toward the incoming swarm, and Gligar desperately moved out of the way in an attempt to avoid the unfamiliar move.

But the Infernal Parade did not light up the area, and the combination of the dust cloud below and Gastly at the sides meant it had become the darkest of nights. In an attempt to dodge, blind Gligar slammed into other blind Gligar. Their charge fell apart in seconds, which created openings for even more attacks.

Every Gligar that dodged was another Gligar that got hurt somehow. Either by being bumped into, grabbed by a Ghost Type, or just hit by Typhlosion’s attack, the assault force quickly became the ones under assault.

Trevenant took advantage of that to slip forward, becoming a surprisingly stealthy tree that sent up roots to lash around. Gligar were either pinned or inflicted with the Grass Type thanks to Forest’s Curse. Those ones became easy targets for Typhlosion to get quick knock-outs.

Trevenant’s Shadow Claw also let him finish off any stragglers, and the Gastly did their work in support. The overall combination had come together in only a few short moments, and already, the swarm was falling apart.

Out here, an attack force of this size was practically unheard of, but even more unheard of was this many Ghost Types working together. They were off-route, where every day was a fight in its own way. Even in the rare scenarios in which a trainer showed up, they never brought a team of this size.

“This attack was doomed before it even had a chance,” Sam said quietly, keeping his voice low to not wake up any slumbering Mankey in the camp.

At his side, Typhlosion snickered, but even though his chest swelled in pride as he watched how easily his Pokémon dismantled the swarm, he still found himself growing nervous.

Everyone might have been demonstrating the strength they’d been chasing all this time, but something about this mass battle was missing. It wasn’t Primeape, as he had moved up to stand next to Sam and serve as a last line of defense just in case, and it wasn’t the Mankey, since they were all still asleep behind them.

The more Sam watched, the more he realized what he was feeling. The swarm almost felt too undirected. Honestly, it was almost as if it was uncontrolled.

Primeape grunted to express his suspicions, and Sam had to agree with his comment; this was too easy.

“Wait. I get it,” Sam said, looking at how easily the Gligar were falling into a panic. “This was supposed to overwhelm us with numbers, but they’re falling apart too quickly. No one was leading the charge. Even out here, isn’t every group out here supposed to have a leader?”

That Gligar from yesterday, the one that had challenged Primeape’s brother only to lose, was nowhere to be found. This might have been a swarm, but it was like each Pokémon was fighting individually rather than as a group under a single Pokémon’s command.

Even when Trevenant had taken over Route 43, his groups of Pokémon had leaders. Sam had a clear memory of that Honchkrow leading its group of Murkrow. Not every Pokémon had a trainer, but many still tended to follow something that gave them commands.

This was wrong. While the sheer amount of numbers had been a surprise, the assault was far too simple. Sam quickly looked around, trying to see if the lead Gligar was hiding anywhere or attempting to sneak around from the back.

But he couldn’t find it. It wasn’t that the Pokémon was sneaky, it simply wasn’t there.

Alarm bells went off in Sam’s head, even as the swarm of Pokémon slowly started to flee. He got his first clue that something was going wrong when he looked down and saw a pebble rattle against the ground. It bounced as if subjected to distant, heavy thumps.

And those thumps grew by the second.

Sam began to feel vibrations under his feet, and he finally realized exactly what he’d missed.

“Drop the dust cloud! Push it down!” he shouted.

Misdreavus had been firing off weak Power Gems, using this opportunity to practice that move. But with Sam’s command, she quickly switched to using Psychic, and the dust slammed to the earth like a blanket hitting the floor.

The noise picked up; right away, behind them, many of the Mankey woke up in alarm. Shouts rang out when they saw the fight going on ahead of them, but Sam didn’t care. Now wasn’t the time to be quiet anymore.

His eyes locked onto the lead Gligar almost right away. It was desperately gliding forward in the back of the swarm. The dust cloud had hidden its presence, but it hadn’t been hiding. It was as if it hadn’t shown up until right now.

It rushed out from around a curve in the ravine, face locked into panicked desperation. It was intent on moving as fast as possible, and those same thumps grew louder behind it.

Something growled, but the noise was nothing that could come from a mouth. Followed by a constant rumble, it was pretty clear that Gligar was being chased. Panic started to erupt in the Mankey tribe as they put the clues together before it was revealed. They pushed aside any weariness just to flee, scrambling toward the back boulders while fueled by nothing but adrenaline.

Sam finally saw it—the real core of the Gligar’s plan. Heft—fat, plain and simple—appeared around the corner, jiggling with every step.

Unfortunately, he had been right in the worst way possible; the Gligar’s mass assault hadn’t been the entire plan. Their leader had been doing something else. They knew they wouldn’t win against Primeape’s brother, so this had all been just a distraction to lure something else in.

A Snorlax.

Almost like a Primeape, Sam could have sworn he felt a vein throb on his head.

“That idiot! Doesn’t it know that a Snorlax is just going to eat the entire tree?!”

Wild Snorlax stood above every other wild species out here, not just due to how much it ate, but due to its thick layers of fat that let it shrug off practically any attack. That weight made them strong, not just defensively, but also because they needed the muscle to lug all that mass around.

So impossibly heavy, as the Snorlax turned the corner, each of its footsteps shook the earth, and the Mankey cried out in pure panic. On the Snorlax’s stomach, Sam could see a nasty, discolored welt that showed off just how the Gligar had attacked it to get it to wake up.

But waking up a Snorlax was not a simple matter, and Sam would in no way call this Pokémon fully awake. Its eyes were closed, and it was half asleep. There was a purpose to its footsteps, but it wasn’t being guided by anything conscious.

If Sam had to guess, the reason the Snorlax was chasing the Gligar was two-fold; it was lashing out in its sleep, and it was following what movement it could see out of hopes it’d eventually be led to food.

“Hypnosis won’t work. Snorlax is still practically asleep. I could have Haunter use Dream Eater or Nightmare, but those would just enrage it even more. The worst case is if messing with its dreams wakes it up. Then it’d see that the berry tree is right there and would go up to it for an easy meal.”

Sam muttered his thoughts, speaking as quickly as possible to share anything he could think of with his Pokémon around him. Snorlax had a reputation for a reason. This one might not have been a trainer’s Pokémon, but the sheer level of strength it possessed meant it was a major threat.

“Can’t have Typhlosion help,” he continued, speaking anything that came to mind. “Thick Fat means Fire Type moves are nothing against it, and the same is probably true for a burn. Worse, it’s a Normal Type and immune to Ghost Type moves. And then the same reason Hypnosis is ineffective makes Confuse Ray ineffective, too.”

If Sam had taught his Pokémon Destiny Bond by now, Haunter could have purposefully fainted to buy the team an opening for an attack. Trevenant could have then used his roots to lash Snorlax to the ground, which would have worked because breaking free was too much work for a lazy Pokémon like it.

But Haunter didn’t know Destiny Bond. None of Sam’s Pokémon did.

And Sam had even told Misdreavus to work on Power Gem before Pain Split. If she had known that move, Pain Split would have been perfect here.

They had nothing. Well, they did have a few options, but those were based around wearing the Snorlax down. Despite its bulk, Sam knew his team could eventually win, but that was only if they spent a while taking it out. Meanwhile, as they fought, the Snorlax would still have free reign to continue its half-asleep movements. Eventually, it’d find the berry tree, and then that would be it.

There was also the issue that if they focused on it too much, the Gligar would come back. Then, it didn’t matter if the berry tree was protected. The Mankey would be forced away, anyway.

This is bad. They’ve pinned us. Fighting a wild Snorlax is just as dangerous as fighting a wild Dragonite, and only fools fight wild Dragonite.

The difference between the two Pokémon was that Snorlax rarely gave chase if its opponents fled, but if a Pokémon was deliberately trying to guide it somewhere...

Sam growled at how the lead Gligar grinned when it saw its goal was now in sight.

“Primeape,” Sam said, though he wasn’t happy with this plan. “You’re our only solution. You’re a Fighting Type, so you’re our best answer to big targets like these.”

Primeape had already stepped forward. He knew his role. When it came to the opponents the rest of the team struggled to defeat, his job was to take them out. For as immune to Normal Type moves as the team was, they didn’t exactly have a viable way to defeat Normal Types. That was where Primeape came in, as his strong, super effective Fighting Type moves could defeat those kinds of foes.

He knew how to fight a bigger target. He’d fought Ursaring countless times in the past. While Ursaring wasn’t as big as a Snorlax, he was more skilled than one, so Primeape looked unbothered as he marched ahead.

No matter how strong the Snorlax was, it was still a Normal Type, and it was an untrained one, at that. It was powerful, but Primeape had something even more powerful prepared for it.

A strategy.

And that strategy involved landing just a single, solid punch.

_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

As Primeape walked forward, he had to ask himself a question: was he afraid? He would never admit that he was, but he couldn’t ignore the way his body shook as he approached such an enormous threat.

It wasn’t that the Snorlax was intimidating. It wasn’t that the Pokémon was some impossible-to-defeat foe. It was that Primeape was familiar with the species. He had grown up in this valley, and Snorlax had always felt more like a force of nature than any individual Pokémon.

One of his earliest memories was of him fleeing alongside the rest of the tribe. While traveling, they had turned a cliff corner only to come face-to-face with a wandering Snorlax. That shouldn’t have been a problem, but it had seen the chestnuts carried by a few members of the tribe and lunged.

The way it drooled in hunger had been terrifying. It cared nothing for the Mankey before it, only for the food they held. The only reason the tribe managed to escape was because the older members called for everyone to drop what they carried and run. The Snorlax had shaken the earth when it sat to eat, and that was the first time Primeape remembered ever truly being scared.

So his reaction was more instinctual than it was logical. Coming back here had stirred up far too many memories. If they had been facing the Snorlax in an official battle, he wouldn’t have been nervous. But out here, it was a threat, and he was the one to take care of threats. Yet even though the Snorlax was tough, so was he.

Primeape had beaten his brother.

Primeape had been strong.

He had finally managed to prove his strength.

Because of course he had, hadn’t he?

Gligar fought in the air above him as he picked up speed. All around him, Gastly pushed the wild Pokémon back to open up a path for his charge. A Psychic from Misdreavus grabbed a Gligar and yanked it to the side. Nearby, Trevenant slashed with a Shadow Claw to prevent a pair of aggressive Gligar from reaching where he ran.

Primeape’s nerves hardened. These Pokémon were his team. His friends. His family. As big as the Snorlax was, he’d be bigger. This was his role. His job. His target to defeat.

The space between him and the approaching Snorlax shrunk. It only walked, but it was so big it felt as though every step brought it forward a mile. In front of it, that one lead Gligar looked at Primeape with a smug, punchable face, but Primeape just grabbed its lashing tail and swung it away. It didn’t deserve anything more than that right now.

And then, he was at the Snorlax. It towered over him with its jiggling, impossibly heavy bulk. It barely responded to him with anything other than a half-conscious growl. He was likely nothing more than a blur to the half-asleep creature, but he was a blur that was in the Snorlax’s way.

It lifted its arms, but Primeape was faster. Raising his fists like the boxers Redi once told Ursaring about, he dived forward to slip beneath the Snorlax’s guard and jabbed to unleash the strongest move he could.

Brick Break. The attack was like Rock Smash, but it broke through most forms of defense. Sam had mentioned that some Psychic Types liked to set up translucent screens, and Brick Break was powerful enough to shatter them to pieces. It might not have been a Rock Smash, which could destroy a Pokémon’s defense and make them vulnerable to further attacks, but Primeape didn’t want to take that chance. Rock Smash wasn’t as strong as Brick Break, and he needed a strong attack.

So, his fist hit the Snorlax’s stomach, and the Pokémon stopped where it had been walking forward. This first super effective move should have been enough to seal the fight.

But there was no impact.

Though he had landed his punch, his fist had harmlessly sunk into the Snorlax’s gut.

So incredibly fat, the Snorlax only had to breathe in to send Primeape bouncing back. He stumbled on his feet and looked up. An arm was already swinging his way.

It wasn’t a move. It was just a swipe. The Snorlax was too unconscious to do anything more than a simple bash. No matter how much Primeape tried to resist, the difference in strength and size was too much, and he flew.

Soaring over the battlefield, the next thing Primeape knew was the pain of an impact into a rock wall. Everything blurred, and his consciousness slipped.

In the distance, the Snorlax continued forward.

===============================================================Author Note:

The next chapter should be out after a final few edits. Combined, these two chapters are long, so please forgive me for the occasional mistake or awkward wording. They’ll be corrected with time.

Pokémon included in this chapter:
Gligar
Mankey
Snorlax

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter

Chapter 126

Author Note:

Schedule notes in the post-chapter author note.

===============================================================

By the time they’d returned to the campsite, the situation had changed. No longer were the Gastly on a neat patrol around the boulders to keep an eye out for attackers. No, the task at hand had been pushed to the side, their presence replaced by several older-looking Mankey and an annoyed-looking Misdreavus herself. Any attempt at staying hidden had gone out the window, and every single Gastly was now involved with something else:

Fraternization.

Their shadowy hiding spots had been abandoned even with the hanging threat of the mid-afternoon sun. They’d exposed themselves to the light, a discomfort apparently worth experiencing if it meant taking this opportunity at hand. Here, in the wilds of off-route, few species of Pokémon ever truly had a chance at a pleasant exchange with others. To the Mankey, Sam’s team might have once represented a potential threat, but the “mere” act of healing their leader served as proof they came in peace. Now, the Mankey were more than willing to be awed by the wonders of the Ghost Type.

Gastly bounced through the air and zipped between groups of wide-eyed Pokémon. Hoots and hollers echoed around as the wild Mankey took in the sight and abilities of the many ethereal Ghost Types. Instead of stalking through the night or messing with their dreams, these Gastly were showing off everything they could do. They phased through rocks, did flips in the sky, and a few of them even demonstrated their Type immunity by letting the Mankey attack them to no avail.

One Gastly contorted its face, its gaseous form letting it make exaggerated expressions. Another regaled a trio of the Fighting Types with all the wonders it had seen. Others played tricks, shocking lone Mankey with unexpected scares. Yet, while the victim always became angry, the others laughed, and it’d calm down as soon as it saw another Pokémon become a victim of that same joke.

“I guess we don’t need to worry about any more fights?” Sam said quietly as he watched one Gastly gain a grin so wide that it seemed to almost split its body in two. “I can’t say I expected any of this.”

At his side, Trevenant rustled his leaves as if to agree.

Meanwhile, Primeape just stared—because what else could he do? He had come here and attacked their leader, yet, at this point, none of the Mankey bothered to pay him any mind.

Almost jealously, his eyes seemed to linger on a few of the Gastly and at how much positive attention they were receiving. He didn’t let it show on his face for long, however, and soon looked over to Haunter—who wasn’t exactly taking part for once. He seemed far too preoccupied with flitting about to make sure nothing was too mean-spirited while also ensuring no interaction devolved into something that wasn’t just a show.

As Sam and Primeape took all of this in, pausing where they had just stepped past a gap in the boulders to enter the Mankey’s camp, Trevenant’s brief glance seemed to be enough for him and he strolled straight in. Almost immediately getting over his initial moment of shock, he used the opportunity to approach the berry tree at the camp’s center. No Mankey stopped him, though some did stiffen when they noticed his directed march.

However, Trevenant was visibly a Grass Type. Grass Type Pokémon were rare out here. These Mankey would act foolishly at times, but they weren’t actually fools. They had no reason to stop him as he placed a clawed hand on their berry tree’s trunk. Closing his eyes, he seemed to be checking its health while also ensuring proper growth.

Trevenant’s march also served as a distraction, as his presence let Sam break his gaze away from everything else. Misdreavus was on guard, Haunter was managing the Ghost Types, and Typhlosion sat at the dead center of this area. She looked exasperated at how everything had developed, but, notably, the healing items Sam had passed her were gone. The berry was absent, having been consumed, and the Potion bottle now laid empty, broken in half at her side.

However, while she visibly relaxed when she saw Primeape return, Primeape had the opposite reaction when he saw who she was with. It wasn’t that he had a problem with Typhlosion herself, but he definitely wasn’t pleased with the Pokémon at her side.

In the shade beneath the tree and in the comfortable presence of Typhlosion’s cool flames, Primeape’s brother leaned back, his eyes closed while he attempted to recover and rest.

The other Pokémon hadn’t stirred when Trevenant had walked next to him, but he seemed completely relaxed. At the same time, Sam could feel just how still Primeape became upon laying his eyes on his closest blood relative. His hair stood on its ends, yet Sam wasn’t able to tell if it was out of anger or something else entirely. For a moment, to Primeape, it was as if the only living creatures here were him and his brother.

A leg twitched. Primeape brought up a foot. But rather than placing it down to move closer, he took a step back.

“Primeape. You promised.”

Sam bumped his Pokémon on the back, and the sudden touch surprised Primeape enough to send him stumbling forward. Annoyed, a vein throbbed on his head as he shot Sam a glare, but his angry look vanished when he realized the noise of his stumble had caused his brother to wake up.

The wild Pokémon was tired. Healthy, but tired. With the dense nutrients of a farm-grown berry and the healing effects of a human-made potion, his injuries had mostly faded away, and he had finally gotten rid of that stress. Of course, he still had a few patches of matted fur that likely marked spots he’d been attacked in the past. A simple potion wasn’t enough to treat those lingering injuries, but a nurse could have fixed those overnight.

But while those remnant injuries marked a further need to rest, they also marked the wild Primeape’s experience in battle. This Pokémon had been fighting on behalf of his tribe for all this time. He had been alone and without his brother—and he had no one to blame but himself.

Yet.

Yet.

Now, his brother was back. However, Primeape just stayed there, staring forward from where he was kneeling after stumbling into the camp.

Slowly, both Pokémon pushed to their feet, and both of them took a single step forward. For very different reasons, those small acts seemed to cost the Pokémon a great effort.

They moved forward, walking straight at one another and the general sense of celebration in the camp slowly died down. The Gastly were the first to notice, followed by the Mankey. Tension and expectation alike filled the air as the two evolved Fighting Types finally met.

This time around, Primeape didn’t look angry. All members of his species were angry, but he didn’t look that way right now. Mankey tended to be quick to rage, and a Primeape always had a certain heat burning in their chest. However, those Pokémon’s anger varied from individual to individual. While it was always there, its target often changed—mostly.

(Primeape were known to hold a grudge.)

But in this case, Sam could see the family resemblance between the two Pokémon. The physical similarities were blatantly obvious now that they were next to each other, but so was the resemblance in how they both felt. They were angry, maybe a little bit at each other, but really, the two Primeape were angry at themselves.

Primeape hated himself for being so weak that he’d been abandoned, and his brother hated himself for neglecting, ignoring, and betraying his brother.

They clenched their fists, eyes looking one another up and down. Sam could tell from the tension in Primeape’s arm that he was ready to throw a punch, but as his brother breathed in, he didn’t throw it. He was waiting to see what he’d say first.

A breath out—his brother exhaled.

Everyone in the camp seemed to breathe in out of nerves.

The wild Primeape looked over Primeape himself before finally allowing that tension to leave his body.

He spoke his mind, blurting it out:

He was sorry.

And then Primeape punched him in the face for the second time today.

The attack was basically unconscious. Nothing his brother said could have stopped that result. This time around, it wasn’t fueled by months and months of resentment, so he wasn’t launched back. He did grunt in pain and grab his face, and a wince passed through the entire camp.

Sam let out a groan.

This isn’t going to be good.

But, save for a single moment of rage that passed across his face, Primeape’s brother chose not to react. The impact saw him slide a few inches back, but he didn’t get further away. He simply breathed out to recover and looked up.

His expression said everything—he was tired, and he recognized that he deserved that.

“You know what? Yeah, he kind of betrayed the Pokémon that let him evolve in the first place. He’s getting off easy,” Sam mumbled.

But no one paid attention to what he said; they were too busy watching the two Primeape interact.

Even though Primeape hadn’t intended to punch, he still huffed and crossed his arms as if the attack had been intentional. His brother rubbed a nasty welt forming over his eye and grunted to acknowledge the strength of the attack. He seemed to wait, as if hoping Primeape would say anything else, but the two Pokémon just stared at one another before finally turning away.

The meeting hadn’t exactly been a reconciliation, but it had at least been an acknowledgment. Sam couldn’t exactly call himself an expert on inter-Pokémon relationships, but for Fighting Types, violence was apparently a form of respect?

However the two Pokémon felt about one another, for now, they chose to let things rest. Slowly, Primeape’s brother walked away to disappear into the hole beneath the tree, and Primeape walked away, finding a free spot to sit in this camp.

The end of that meeting allowed the rest of the tribe to finally breathe out—the encounter was over. Practically every Mankey here then exploded back into that same excitement as before. They chatted animatedly among themselves, and a good number of the Gastly joined in. Primeape himself looked as though he just wanted to leave, but he never got the chance; he was quickly swarmed.

Whatever lingering tension he felt vanished, immediately replaced by sheer bewilderment at the mass of Pokémon that surrounded him. Mankey jumped, cheered, and practically assaulted him with questions. Not every Pokémon here had been a member of the tribe when he left. Some were hatched and others had joined up, but they were all overwhelmed by curiosity—he was their leader’s brother. They wanted to learn everything they could.

Primeape looked to Sam for help, but Sam deliberately looked away. Avoiding Primeape’s pleading gaze, he moved to join Typhlosion at her side.

“Have fun, Primeape,” Sam said as he walked past his Pokémon, patting him on the back. “I know how much you like showing off, so what better place to do that than right here, right now?”

_______________________________________________________________

The only way Sam could describe the rest of the day was that it became a sort of party. The wild Mankey laughed along at all of the nonsense the Gastly got up to, and even the Mankey that chose to stay on watch seemed to get along with the few Gastly that were less interested in social events.

A few of the Mankey dove into that dug-out tunnel to retrieve a handful of berries—rather conspicuous ones. They were few in number, but those berries were old and had been stored in darkness. If Sam had to describe them, rather than rotting, it was more like the old berries had fermented.

Gross.

The actions of the Mankey and the Gastly that took bites from the aged berries weren’t worth paying attention to, but Haunter certainly had his hands full for the rest of the day and night. Misdreavus seemed to take great pleasure in his exasperated expressions—for once, he had to experience what it was like to be on the other side of his pranks.

Misdreavus stayed back on watch with the others, occasionally drifting over to hang out with Sam and Typhlosion. At a few points during this “event,” Typhlosion used her wisps to put on shows that described her best battles to the curious Mankey. Trevenant didn’t exactly interact with any of the wild Pokémon, but he did stay next to the tree. As was his expertise, he did something to cause new berries to grow and ripen in almost no time at all, and Sam even managed to catch sight of Trevenant smiling to himself as he watched the Mankey pick the newly grown fruits and toss them to their friends.

As for Primeape, Sam’s gut feeling had been right—this party was good for him. The attention of the crowd prevented him from slipping away, and it prevented him from slipping into a more sullen mood. While many of these Mankey had treated him poorly once, that was not true for every Pokémon here, and he had been gone for months. There’d been plenty of time for the tribe to obtain new members, and there’d been plenty of time for the Mankey to grow regretful of what they’d done.

That meant plenty of Pokémon came over to offer their apologies, and plenty more practically begged him to show off his strength. He was surrounded by all of the youngest members of the tribe, and they shouted their names over and over again before he finally gave in and demonstrated his power by punching straight through a nearby stone.

A cheer echoed out. It was just a Rock Smash, but the variety of moves wasn’t as intense out here. Primeape looked around sheepishly, but practically every single Mankey looked back at him with awe.

From there, a completely different type of event started. No longer as enthralled by the Gastly, the various Mankey started to scramble off. A young Mankey brought Primeape a pebble, which he then crushed in his palm. A second one brought a slightly larger pebble, which he also easily turned to dust. A third then brought him a slightly larger stone that he punched through, and then another lined up behind that one with a rock of their own, and behind that Mankey, another Mankey with a rock, and then another, and another.

The items got bigger, tougher, and even more rugged, but Primeape broke through them all. The sheer excitement shared by the Mankey was infectious—even the Gastly brought stones over to help out. Save for a single Geodude that woke up and rolled away, annoyed at being disturbed in its nap, Primeape shattered everything placed before him. At the very end of the event, over a dozen Gastly and Mankey worked together to roll a boulder to his position.

Of course, Primeape broke through that, too.

There was plenty of time to chat, plenty of food to eat, and plenty of ways to be entertained. Out here, where life was defined by constant fights, these Pokémon jumped at this chance to celebrate. If Sam had to describe it, it was like they experienced higher highs and lower lows.

The party lasted the rest of the day and a decent way into dusk. The air was filled with laughter. The goofy Mankey and Gastly made oddly good pairs.

But though these Fighting Types seemed like furry balls of boundless energy, they didn’t exactly have infinite stamina. Day gave way to night, and as the sun fell, the Mankey eventually exhausted themselves and fell into a deep sleep.

Dozens of snores echoed out, the rumbling so prevalent it felt as though it came from the earth itself. Haunter was already in Sam’s shadow, using the familiar darkness as a comfortable spot to rest. Other Gastly had joined him, slipping into a restful torpor now that the Mankey had burned out, and a few remained in shadows around the camp, watching over the slumbering forms of their new friends.

“I really can’t say I expected any of this,” Sam said to Typhlosion. He sat against a boulder at the very edge of the camp. Her head was in his lap, and he scratched behind her ear. “A party is not what I thought bringing Primeape here would become, but he needed this. This was good for him. He needed to see that he’s more than just his past. He looks a lot better, too.”

Typhlosion chuffed to herself and glanced over to where the campsite gave way to a cliff’s edge. Much like Sam had found him earlier, Primeape was sitting on a rock and overlooking the valley. But instead of being filled with nerves and tension, it was clear that he had finally been able to relax.

“And it’s crazy. Primeape only used Rock Smash. I would have expected him to use Bulk Up to cheat, but he didn’t. He’s really become that strong.

“He needed this,” Sam said again. “He needed this chance to move on. I think he’s finally recognizing just how powerful he actually is. And his brother...”

Sam sighed. That was a more complicated thought.

It wasn’t like the two Pokémon had forgiven each other. Well, it wasn’t like Primeape’s brother was in a state to be forgiven. Saying sorry was a start, but back then, he had essentially taken everything Primeape had done for him and thrown it in the trash. That kind of betrayal was painful, and it wasn’t exactly something words alone could fix.

But this was still a step forward, and Sam knew that seeing his brother’s regret had helped Primeape, even if it had caused him far too many mixed emotions at the start.

“I’m not sure if they’ll ever have the same relationship. But I’m not sure how much they’ll interact from here. Do you think Primeape will want to come back here, or do you think this was a happy enough event that he feels as though he can now properly say goodbye? It’s... Ugh. It’s a family matter. It always feels like this stuff gets more complicated than it should be.”

Sam sighed, pressing his back against that boulder. Typhlosion scooted around to press her head closer to his stomach, and he made sure to keep scratching behind her ear as he stared up at the countless stars visible in the night sky.

“If Redi was here, she’d know what to say, but I can’t rely on her for everything. I have to learn to take care of this kind of stuff by myself, too. I know it sucks, but it’s probably for the best of both of us that we’re taking the time to be on our own.”

The situation was complicated, but Sam was just happy that Primeape looked better. When he had walked over to sit on the boulder, it was like his steps were lighter. His movements didn’t carry that same weight to them as before.

It made Sam wonder how Primeape was feeling. Not how he was feeling about his brother, but how he was feeling in general. As a Primeape, he was supposed to be constantly angry, but how was that anger being directed? After all of their training, Sam knew Primeape should have had great control of it, but he couldn’t exactly see into his Pokémon’s head.

...But did he even need to? Primeape wasn’t consumed by a need for revenge, and that was enough. All that mattered was that he was finally better off.

So for a while, Sam and Typhlosion just sat there, taking in the cool night air and the clear view of the stars that came from the lack of light pollution off-route. It was hard to put into words just how peaceful it was, but it was nice. He might not have had a book in hand, but it reminded him of all the times they read together in the windowsill above his mother’s shop.

After a while, however, Sam breathed out. The moment couldn’t last forever.

Typhlosion snapped her head up and began to let her flames lick around her neck as Sam pushed to his feet. Shadows writhed beneath her. Sam stared up at the cliffs.

“Yeah,” he said quietly, “I see them too.”

Above, creatures stalked about, but they were no Ghost Types. Though they stuck to the shadows, their purple bodies were far too obvious against the light-colored stone of the rock walls. Faint clattering came from their claws breaking the stone and sending pebbles to the stone floors.

The cliffs looked as though they were moving. The Gligar did their best to hide their midnight approach, but Sam was far too used to searching for hidden Pokémon for that strategy to work against him.

“Looks like they got help this time around,” Sam said as he took in the incoming horde. “They didn’t exactly change their plan, but they definitely got help.”

The number of Gligar from earlier had more than tripled—whatever had happened in the past few hours, the previous Gligar attackers had somehow gathered others for help. Berry trees were invaluable out here, not just for food but also for the healing they represented. Even split several ways, a berry tree meant not just power but safe growth for any Pokémon with access.

From around the campsite, shadows of Ghost Types peeled away to meld with Sam’s own. Trevenant left where he’d been resting against the berry tree to join Sam at his side.

The muffled hissing of the Gligar sharing their plan stood in the silent night. They intended to make use of the darkness to attack, swooping down and ambushing the sleeping Mankey to force them all to flee.

If this were any other day, the Gligar’s plan might have worked. Unfortunately for the wild Pokémon, Sam was here, and he had his entire team with him.

“Looks like we really can’t go anywhere without something going on,” Sam said with a sigh, “but at least this isn’t too much. A Gligar swarm isn’t that bad.”

He quickly took in the sheer size of the crawling mass. His team had to be outnumbered by at least three to one.

“Still, we’ve had such gracious hosts. I think we can at least take this on for them.”

His Pokémon readied themselves for a fight, and the many Gligar turned their heads. Yellow eyes glowed in the darkness of the night, and they unlatched from the walls to dive at them in a wave.

“We’ll do this carefully,” Sam said as he calmly watched the incoming horde. “No sense in waking up the Mankey, so let’s win as quietly as possible, yeah?”

===============================================================
Author Note:

My dog passed away over the weekend. I will be taking some time off for myself, so there will be no chapter on Friday. The next chapter will be out on Tuesday.

Thank you for reading. I will see you then.

Pokémon included in this chapter:
Gligar
Mankey

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter

Chapter 125 (Rough)

Author Note:

Short chapter today due to unhappy reasons (explained in the author's note below). No chapter on Friday. I will see you next Tuesday.

Please enjoy the holidays! We’ll be back on the very last day of the year!

===============================================================

Everyone’s eyes were on Primeape. His body heaved up and down with every breath. His arm was still extended from where it had smashed right into his brother’s face.

His brother wasn't moving, but he was alive. As it stood, he was just unconscious. A single hit had knocked him out.

Slowly, Sam took a step forward. The clearing was practically silent.

“Primeape...” he said softly, trying to call for his Pokémon to step back.

Unfortunately, all his voice seemed to do was snap Primeape out of his shock. The Fighting Type blinked and looked around as if he had just now realized what he had done.

His eyes flicked to his brother, to the Mankey, and then to Sam’s team behind him. He said nothing, and neither did anyone else. Primeape proceeded to do the only thing he could do:

He ran.

Faced with the weight of everything that had just happened, Primeape turned and dashed right out of the clearing. Arm over leg, he scrambled to escape, quickly disappearing into the curved ravines of the nearby cliffs.

“Wait!” Sam’s shout saw no response, only his voice’s echoes returning to him. Primeape was already gone, too busy running away to do anything else.

Sam cursed, breathed out, and readied himself to chase after his Pokémon, but he froze when he realized the current state of the clearing. All of the Mankey crouched by the boulders in the back, watching his group warily. Despite this being their all, they all looked ready to flee.

As for Primeape’s brother, he groaned in his unconsciousness, but he wasn’t in a state to stand up. A few of the Mankey looked like they wanted to run up and protect him, but none wanted to get closer to Sam’s group after that demonstration.

“Ugh. Alright.” Sam rubbed the side of his head. “Typhlosion, come out. We need your help!”

Upon the appearance of such a large and fully evolved Pokémon, a ripple of greater nervousness passed through the entire Mankey tribe. However, it turned to curiosity when Sam placed two items into Typhlosion’s paws.

“Here. A Sitrus Berry and a Super Potion. Heal the Primeape, okay?”

Typhlosion nodded her head. Sam looked over everyone else.

“Misdreavus, help her. Haunter? Stay on guard with the Gastly.”

Those two gave their acknowledgments, and Sam took off. Behind him, Typhlosion turned toward the wild Primeape as Misdreavus drifted over to float beside her, but both of them just looked down at the human-made Super Potion spray bottle in confusion.

Sam didn’t see what they did next as the cliffs soon obscured the campsite from view. However, he trusted his Pokémon to manage the situation, and even in the worst case, it wasn’t like a bunch of Fighting Types could hurt Ghost Types, anyway.

Primeape had charged right through this ravine path, traveling in the same direction as those Gligar but sticking to the ground. Sam didn’t see any of those gliding Pokémon, but he did see the trail Primeape left behind. Primeape hadn’t bothered to cover his tracks, so there were obvious footprints, disturbed dirt, and the occasional trampled shrub that guided Sam in the direction of his friend.

Weaving between the stones, Sam hurried after him. He found it slightly ironic that Primeape had found such a “followable” path only after his old tribe had been located.

Still, he was more worried about his Pokémon than anything else, and he soon slowed as he reached the end of the trail. Ahead of him, the ravine opened up to a short ledge. Primeape sat on a stone at its edge, staring out over the entire valley at once.

In the distance, clouds of flying Pokémon traveled in flocks, and the occasional movement in the dry foliage below hinted at other Pokémon scavenging for food along the ground. The sparse few patches of trees and shrubs tended to lack leaves, but they still added a splash of green to this otherwise dirt-brown view.

But it was still a valley. And it was full of life. This was where so many Pokémon fought and struggled and thrived while living off-route.

Primeape remained seated. He stayed on his stone and watched it all. Sam hung back for now, giving Primeape the chance to calm down while trying to see how he was doing. Though he was facing away, he did look slightly better. At least, that heavy breathing from before was gone. He was tense, but his body was no longer heaving with every breath like before.

After waiting a few seconds longer, Sam moved to step forward but stopped himself when a pebble fell from above. Rocks cracked as roots pierced into the stone, and rather than Sam walking up to talk to Primeape, Trevenant left his position at the top of the cliffs to approach, instead.

______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

Primeape heard the crunch of stone behind him. The regular cracking of the earth betrayed sharp spikes being stabbed into a wall. He did his best to ignore it, but he knew he couldn’t ignore it forever. Soon enough, the noise changed from a Pokémon defying gravity to that of the rapid taps of multiple legs moving closer to him along the ground.

He knew who it was. There was only one Pokémon on the team who could move in that manner—there was only one member of the team that had more than two legs. But he didn’t want to greet them. Pulling himself in, he continued to sit on his boulder and stare out at the valley that used to be his home.

When Trevenant eventually reached his side, neither of them said anything. He just stood there next to Primeape in silence. Primeape expected some kind of speech or a condemnation or any attempt to say something.

But Trevenant stayed quiet.

He only offered his presence, and that was enough.

...Mostly.

Primeape was already starting to feel a bit ticked off. He got the sense that Trevenant had something to say, but he was choosing to wait to say it. He just stood there, looming with that same quiet to him as always. It was awful, as the lack of anything was starting to make Primeape feel as though someone was beating him with a shovel. A familiar heat came from his chest, and a vein throbbed on his forehead.

He couldn’t hold back forever. Silence existed to be broken.

So Primeape talked, unable to resist blurting everything out. His rant started simple and summed up his feelings as succinctly as he could.

For Primeape, none of this was fair.

All this time, Primeape had been fighting to get stronger. All this time, Primeape had been fighting to stop being weak. And when he finally got a chance to prove to everyone that he wasn’t that same, pathetic Mankey?

It hadn’t mattered.

His brother, the same brother who had all but thrown him away when his usefulness ran out, didn’t even want to fight. It was like that thing had been happy to see that he was back.

It should have been afraid. It should have been furious. The Pokémon that had once been family should have reacted in any way but exactly like that. But he hadn’t. When Primeape’s fist sailed right toward his brother’s face, his brother almost looked like he was full of regret.

And the more Primeape remembered that expression, the more extreme a twisting in his chest became. Fed up, he smashed a fist into the boulder he sat on. Dust fell from his hand when he pulled it out of the resulting crack, and he wrapped his arms around his legs.

Primeape breathed out, grumbling as he did. He tried to calm himself in the same way he’d practiced so many times before.

He hated this.

He hated his brother.

He hated everything that had just happened.

He hated how his brother didn't fight back. He hated how easily his brother had been knocked out. He hated how the entire tribe had been there for support. He hated how getting his revenge had felt wrong even though it was everything he'd sought.

Above it all, there was one thing Primeape hated the most—he hated how his brother had acted as though everything would finally be alright now that Primeape had returned.

With that statement, he went quiet, a heaviness returning to his breathing even though he had nothing else to say. His rage continued to smolder in his chest, but at this point, he didn’t care. He felt far too exhausted to give it anything other than the briefest of acknowledgments.

Unfortunately and infuriatingly, Trevenant continued to choose to not speak. At least, Primeape appreciated that he was listening. If nothing else, having another Pokémon there was nice. It meant he wouldn’t be alone.

For a while, they lingered at the top of the cliffside, and life in the valley beneath them continued on, unaware of everything that took place. Time passed, and after just a minute longer, a new set of footsteps echoed out as Sam moved up to join Primeape as well.

“You know,” Sam said, “you are allowed to be upset.”

Primeape grunted in annoyance. He was not upset. He was angry! Yeah, he was definitely still angry, it was just that he was... angry in the opposite direction.

He let his head fall onto his knees, and Trevenant chuffed as if something Primeape had said caused him to laugh. Primeape grumbled in response and ignored how that was the first time Trevenant made a noise in this conversation. He didn’t want to get angry about it right now, and he didn’t want to think about how he’d done nothing but rant.

“But this sucks,” Sam continued.

Primeape snorted. He could only agree.

“I get this wasn’t supposed to happen. It really wasn’t what either of us planned. Instead of him being a raging jerk, we got here and he was a leader. An actual one. And that means we can’t just take the easy way out.”

Sam rubbed his temples.

“If he had been nothing more than a tyrant, we could have been leaving by now. You could have strolled up, punched him in the face, and left right after. Didn’t need to be more complicated than that. I mean, imagine what that could have looked like—your fist smoking, your brother recoiling, and all of the Mankey looking up at you in awe.”

Primeape actually let out a short laugh before quickly schooling his expression.

“Except...” Sam said, his voice becoming soft, and Primeape went silent to listen to his trainer’s words. “He was tired. Injured. All this time, he’s been fighting to defend the tribe, and he even proved his change when he gave that berry away. Your brother—if you even want to call him your brother, I mean. That Pokémon changed, but that doesn’t mean what happened to you changed. Just because he has the tribe’s support doesn’t mean you have to forgive him for what he did.”

Primeape looked up at Sam to see him staring back.

“The past still happened. You’re allowed to be upset about how you were treated. He’s done nothing to make up for that. Guilt isn’t enough to make everything okay.”

To the side, Trevenant rustled his leaves to express his agreement. Like usual, he shared no words, but his meaning was clear enough.

Just like Primeape, Trevenant was yet to forgive. Honestly, Trevenant would never forgive the people who burned down his family and his home. However, for the sake of his own well-being, he had to move on. He had to recognize just how pointless a constant search for revenge would have been. It wasn’t worth letting himself be controlled by nothing but rage.

And, as Trevenant looked back to Primeape, Primeape could understand why Trevenant had come. Their backgrounds were similar enough, and Primeape had already given him advice in the past. So just like how Primeape had once supported Trevenant, Trevenant was now supporting Primeape—but it wasn’t an exchange. Trevenant was here because they were friends.

“...But, also, like, I don’t mean you should never forgive him. Or that you need to. It’s complicated, you know? Morally and ethically and, I guess everything else, too?”

One of Primeape’s ears flicked to the side. He hadn’t realized Sam was still talking—or that he had started rambling, more like.

“I mean, that Pokémon’s been fighting for the tribe for a while, so it makes sense why he fell into a leadership position. He had to, or, well, he already was in a leadership position, so he was forced to take on the responsibility no matter what. So then does that mean you need to forgive him? Because he’s changed and understands responsibility now? Or is that too much leniency, and you should wait until you actually feel better about the situation? Like, family doesn’t get a free pass to be rude just because they’re family, so does that mean he needs to do something for you, or is it enough that he’s changed? Or maybe because he changed he will be better from now so you should just forgive him regardless or is there a better moral outcome here that’s still an outcome that makes you happy so we should spend time finding a different solution that—”

Sam stopped to breathe in, and he seemed to notice that Primeape and Trevenant were staring blankly. Awkwardly, he turned away from the pair and cleared his throat, coughing into his hand in an attempt to regain control of the situation.

“Sorry. I got caught up in my thoughts. Read too many books, y’know?”

Primeape snorted. He appreciated the effort, nonetheless.

“But I guess if I have to summarize everything I was trying to say, I think it’s worth talking to him no matter what, Primeape,” Sam said softly. “Not to forgive him outright, but at least just to talk. Even after everything else, he was still your brother. That doesn’t mean you two have to make up, it’s just... I just don’t want you to pass up a chance to say goodbye.”

And Sam went silent, his gaze gaining a certain quality Primeape couldn’t put into words. What he did understand, however, was Sam’s point, and he disliked that he agreed.

Primeape had no way of knowing where he’d be in the future. The same was true for his brother. Leaving everything like this would only foster regret. If he wanted to move on, they needed to talk. He needed a way to move past this for the sake of his own well-being, just like Trevenant had said.

So, there was no sense in waiting. Primeape scooted back on the rock and hopped down to the floor. Trevenant and Sam both silently watched him begin to head back toward the ravine, and Primeape had to stop walking to shoot them a look to say that, yes, he was trying to return.

“Ah! Good. I just— I just want you to be happy, Primeape.”

Trevenant was already moving up to catch up. Sam had to jog to reach Primeape’s side.

“But you know...” Sam said, speaking as they began walking back to the Mankey’s campsite. “Your brother kind of got what he wished for. He’s the strongest in the tribe, so he’s their leader, but that also means he’s the one fighting on the Mankey’s behalf—Every. Single. Time.”

Primeape grunted—so what? 

Sam just smiled.

“So you know what that means? He’s caught in a trap of his own making. Instead of falling behind, he’s stuck in his position at the top. If I had to call it something...” Sam let out a chuckle. “I’d almost say that he made a wish on a Mankey’s paw, yeah?”

He shot Primeape a smirk, and Primeape had to stop walking just to stare back.

That was awful.

That was genuinely the worst joke Primeape had ever heard, and he increased his speed to march far, far ahead.

“Wait! Hold on, don’t run off without us!” Sam called out. “We’re off-route! Don’t go all the way back to camp on your own!”

But Primeape tread onward, his fast pace allowing him to keep a decent lead on Sam and Trevenant—yet never out of sight. They raced to catch up but failed to reach him. Primeape didn’t want to acknowledge that awful pun, but really, he didn’t want them to see the small smile that had crept onto his face.

===============================================================
Author Note:

I don't think I was in the right headspace for this chapter. Over the weekend, my dog became seriously ill. He’s somewhat better now, but ongoing issues still exist. Please forgive me if the schedule suddenly becomes more erratic, but we should be fine for a chapter next Tuesday. There just might be an unexpected break sometime in the future.

See you soon.

Pokémon included in this chapter:
Mankey / Primeape

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter

Chapter 124

Author Note:

There will be a short break next Friday due to the holidays. Tuesday will still have a chapter!

===============================================================

It took two days to reach the mountains. With how large they had been on the horizon, it made sense in retrospect that they were closer than Sam had thought. Route 39’s hilly plains quickly gave way to a short forest at the very north of Route 38, and then that forest gave way to rocky cliffs and shrub-covered slopes. No Pokémon attacked even as they moved off-route. The wild Pokémon seemed less willing to approach now that the Gastly were more readily leaving Sam’s shadow to follow along from behind.

Unfortunately, though they entered the mountains in search of his old tribe, Primeape wasn’t able to help with much more than traversal. The environment was rocky and consisted of valleys interspersed with sharp climbs. The only plants were shrubs and the occasional, almost barren chestnut tree. Despite this being his old home, only the basic sense of the area was familiar to him—whatever Pokémon lived out here seemed to regularly reshape the terrain.

Large grooves on mountainsides marked where Graveler would roll down slopes to race. Plants were almost always new growth, popping up from seeds dropped from Flying Types and then grown due to the influence of the rare Grass Type. Paths were formed through chance rather than anything else. It was difficult to find ways to travel forward at all.

And then there were other, even larger roadblocks.

A few days in, Sam found himself staring at a mountain of flesh that rumbled as it snored. Pokémon that lived in these mountains had to be strong to survive, and there was no way that the Pokémon before him was anything his team could easily handle.

“Redi would hate me right now,” Sam mumbled as he looked over the massive Pokémon.

Sleeping so soundly, that... thing in the road didn’t react to his words. Though it was probably in its equivalent of a simple nap, it’d likely be in its hibernation-like state for the next few days or until violently disturbed. However, so thick with fat, it had plenty of padding to be comfortable no matter what it felt. Its position lodged between two cliffsides probably made it feel as though it was sleeping in a hammock.

If Redi was here, she would have considered catching this Snorlax. They were as rare as they were strong, but they inhaled food almost as much as a person inhaled air. Part of the reason Redi kept her team small was to keep costs down, but given her current sponsorship with Mr. Pokémon, the sight of this sleeping monster would have caused her to debate if its sheer strength made it worth the catch.

But she wasn’t here. Only Sam and his team were. Snorlax might have been considered nuisances for how much they ate and for the way they blocked roads, but no one ever denied just how strong they were. It took muscle to walk around with all that fat, and then that fat also protected them from even the strongest of moves. Their reputation was earned, and it didn’t help that they became very grumpy when improperly woken up.

...So despite how his team had found a rare, even path to keep moving forward, Sam could tell that having Haunter mess with the Snorlax’s dreams to wake it up was not worth the risk.

“We’re climbing,” he said with a sigh.

Traversal out here was as difficult as it was annoying. Off-route, there wasn’t anyone around to make paths for humans, and all the local wild Pokémon tended to climb.

Above him, Primeape easily dug his hands into the stony cliffside to pull himself higher and higher. His species was adept at finding handholds, or at least they were adept at making new ones. He excelled out here—but that made sense given the mountains were where the Mankey line tended to live. He didn’t need help like Sam did, who benefitted from Haunter’s disembodied hands pushing from behind to provide additional lift.

Of course, Primeape reached the top of the cliff first, stepping onto a sloped ledge that was just flat enough to support a precarious hike. He was silent as he stared out over the canyon and the wide valley past it. Below, the Snorlax let out a snore, and Sam gasped as he barely managed to reach the top.

“We’ll find them,” Sam said, promising his Pokémon as he moved up to Primeape’s side. He put a hand on his head, but Primeape just grunted and started to walk ahead. 

Primeape was as quiet now as he had been over the past few days. Not at a single point had Sam returned him to his Pokéball. He knew he should have, just to let Primeape rest, but he could also tell that his Pokémon wanted to stay out. Primeape wanted to experience every step that brought him closer to his goal. Closer to his brother.

“I know we said we’d help him, but I can’t help but be worried. He wants his revenge, and I’ll help him with that, but it almost feels wrong. I don’t want it to consume him, either.”

A rustle at Sam’s side brought his attention to Trevenant. There wasn’t exactly enough room for Typhlosion—these paths were narrow and she wasn’t great at climbing stone—but weirdly, Trevenant had plenty of space to walk. He might not have been traveling along the ground like Sam and Primeape, but he had a better way of getting around: he could stab his sharp roots into the cliffsides, and that allowed him to walk across the rocky walls almost like a Spinarak.

“Trevenant, what do you think?” Sam asked quietly. “About Primeape, I mean.”

Trevenant watched Primeape continue ahead, but he remained silent without answering Sam’s question. Soon, he chose to keep moving as well, and he maneuvered himself onto the wall, where he walked as if ignoring gravity.

Sam sighed.

“At least I can tell Primeape needs this. Facing his brother should help him with his confidence. I think his anger’s been too directed toward his past. In a way, this has been holding him back. A fight should let him break free.”

Finally, Sam actually got a response. Misdreavus brought herself out of the shadows to voice a quiet agreement with Sam’s words. Pulling her worried gaze away from Primeape, she looked at Sam for assurance. He did his best to send her a confident nod that’d tell her that everything would be okay.

All of this was to support Primeape. All of this was to make sure Primeape would be in a better spot from here.

She nodded back, and Sam continued after the rest of his team. He made sure to give a few orders to the nearby Gastly as he did.

“Alright. Now that we’ve managed to get somewhere out here, I think we’re deep enough in to start searching in earnest,” Sam said, and his shadow came to life. “Split off into groups of three to search for Primeape’s old tribe. Look for what he described—a berry tree surrounded by a big group of Mankey. Don’t go farther than line of sight. You can hide, but Haunter has to be able to see at least one of you. Also, please don’t anger anything, and keep in mind that running away is always okay if you feel unsafe.”

As he finished his orders, he watched as groups of shadows split off from his own, traveling over the landscape like splotches of darkness cast by a Pokémon flying through the air. However, where a flying Pokémon’s shadow would carry a blurry yet distinct shape, the shadows of the Gastly were far more ambiguous and vague.

He lost sight of them pretty quickly, but he was able to keep track of where all the groups were thanks to flickers in the corner of his eyes. While he wasn’t able to see them when they dipped behind boulders or hid in a cliff’s shade, Morty’s advice rang true once more—Ghost Types were pretty obvious when they were moving. He could follow where the Gastly went by keeping an eye out for the shadows that jumped from hiding space to hiding space.

And just like that, days passed. The Gastly searched the area while everyone else followed what viable paths they could. The terrain was treacherous enough that it was hard to locate safe paths for hiking and areas for camping, but Primeape was able to point out signs. Despite the shape of the environment being unfamiliar, he was able to find viable, Pokémon-trodden paths and flat sections in which they could sleep through the night. All the while, the Gastly found points of interest and tribes of Mankey, but none were that berry tree or the exact group of Mankey they were looking for.

Not right away, at least.

Time passed. Soon, there were only thirty-seven days left in the season—thirty-seven days left for Sam to earn his final Gym Badge. Thankfully, they had a slight bit of wiggle room when it came to the Conference. The end-of-season tournament wouldn’t start right away. There was a day’s break and then a week-long “festival” in Silver Town beforehand. Smaller tournaments and events would take place over that period, giving trainers with fewer Gym Badges a place to compete. Most trainers who intended to take part in the Conference itself used that period to arrive.

Sam’s plan was to show up then, but that was still a while away.

Thankfully, before too many days went by, one of the Gastly found something important, something that wasn’t just a false lead this time around. From where they had been traveling so high up in the mountains, they followed the Gastly along a steep cliff and up to a sudden drop. And there, not too far below them, was the exact tribe of Mankey they’d been looking for all this time.

_______________________________________________________________

There was a fight going on beneath Sam. At least, there was the prelude of a fight. Hoots and shouts were met with the sounds of sharp hisses as two groups of Pokémon faced one another, posturing and trying to make themselves appear as a threat.

There might have been no large stone or boulder to hide behind, but Sam was able to kneel and use the lip of a narrow path as cover to let him watch. Below, at the very end of a ravine that overlooked a valley, a group of Mankey surrounded what could only have once been Primeape’s home.

Trees out here weren’t too impressive, and the one in the center of the Mankey’s boulder-protected “campsite” wasn’t that special, either. However, it was greener than any chestnut tree they’d walked past, and it towered over everything else, its roots grasping a large stone and growing out with a gnarled curve. Between its thick leaves was another dash of color; bright blue Oran berries grew from its branches.

Hm. But there doesn’t seem to be too many Oran Berry left right now. Can’t say they look that ripe, either.

The tree might have looked nearly picked clean, but it was still obviously a berry tree.

...Which was probably why a group of Gligar was trying to approach the Mankey’s camp.

Clawed Gligar with sharp fangs and even sharper, stinging tails clung to the ravine’s cliffsides and hissed at the Mankey that shouted back at them. They would occasionally unlatch to threaten the Fighting Types with sweeping glides before returning to the wall, but the Gligar never risked getting too close.

Both sides were testing one another—the Gligar would glide past, and the Mankey would swipe at the air. Neither wanted to fight, but they both wanted something. The Mankey wanted to protect their home, and the Glilgar wanted to claim those delicious berries for themselves.

Behind Sam, Trevenant rustled in annoyance. He didn’t bother to hide. If anything, his displeasure was making him stand taller than usual. In his eyes, the Mankey were “selfishly” protecting their tree instead of sharing, but Sam could only disagree.

“The Mankey are only able to live out here because of their tree,” he whispered. “They have an entire tribe to feed—which looks to be about two dozen Pokémon right now. If they give away their food to the Gligar, then even more Pokémon would come to ask for food. Their tree isn’t that large and they aren’t Grass Types. They only have enough berries to support themselves, so a meal given away is a meal their tribe can’t eat.”

Trevenant grumbled but relented, quickly quieting down. Sam glanced around to see where everyone else was, finding that his Ghost Types were watching from the nearby shadows and that Primeape was now watching at his side.

Everyone was completely silent. Primeape stared at the Mankey with an intensity that told Sam this group was exactly right.

“Do you see your brother?” Sam whispered.

Primeape slowly shook his head, but his eyes lingered on the base of the tree. Beneath the boulder and the tree’s roots, a dug-out hole formed a den beneath the earth. Given the lack of a certain individual, Primeape seemed convinced that someone was inside.

So Sam and everyone else stayed hidden above the clearing, watching and waiting as the stand-off progressed. Each time the Gligar unlatched for a dive, they seemed to glide closer, and each time they came near, the Mankey’s shouts became even more furious.

Eventually, one Gligar got far too close.

With a hiss, a single Gligar unlatched from the cliffside and dived in the same way so many others had done before. However, its fanged mouth curled up into a nasty grin that seemed far too targeted for this dive to be a mere test. It moved surprisingly fast, and one of the shouting Mankey off to the side wasn’t prepared.

The Gligar hurtled downward, pulling up at the very last second to swipe right across the vulnerable Fighting Type’s face.

The slashing attack might not have been too serious, but it still knocked the Fighting Type off the boulder it had been perched on. It hit the ground with a grunt, rolling back to clutch its head in pain. The hooting and hollering stopped, and Sam expected the entire tribe to fall into a rage.

But that didn’t happen.

Instead of that hot, furious anger Mankey were known for, a far more cold rage seemed to settle into the tribe. The clearing below fell into pure silence, and the many Mankey perched on the camp’s surrounding boulders all pulled back at once.

“Is that normal?” Sam whispered.

Primeape stayed quiet. He only watched.

As the Mankey left their spots on the stones, they moved back to surround the tree. Two of them peeled off to the side to help their injured tribe member, who they escorted to sit in the shade under the tree’s trunk.

The Gligar took that as a victory, hissing in laughter and jumping down to take up positions on the very boulders the Mankey had just abandoned. The largest of the Gligar, the same one who had landed that attack, jumped into the clearing almost in challenge.

Instead of attacking group-to-group, this one Gligar seemed to be challenging the Mankey’s leader. Doing so would minimize the injuries on both sides, but Sam had a feeling it was doing this out of ego more than anything else.

After a further moment of silence, Sam felt just how still Primeape suddenly went next to him. From the darkness of that den beneath the tree, an arm shot out. A gloved hand grabbed the rock, which cracked under its grip.

At first, Sam thought it was his Pokémon down there. All Pokémon of the same species usually looked somewhat alike, but the resemblance here was genuinely uncanny. However, where his Primeape was thick with muscle, this Primeape was far more lean. More than that, too. They had similar faces but different fur. Sam’s Primeape had the benefit of semi-regular grooming sessions. This Primeape had coarse, dirt-covered fur and matted patches that betrayed the locations where it had been injured in the past.

Also...

It’s tired.

Once Sam got over his shock at the clear family resemblance, he realized that the wild Primeape had bags under its eyes. It moved with a controlled confidence, yet part of that control came from an ongoing feeling of exhaustion.

Seeing the state of its foe, the lead Gligar grinned. It cackled, cockily raising its head and acting as though this would be an easy win.

Letting the wild Primeape approach it, the lead Gligar bragged to the rest of its group, causing a few of the other Gligar to laugh. However, the evolved Fighting Type continued to walk forward unabated, never letting up and never slowing for even an instant.

Some of the Gligar in the back started to look nervous—the Primeape’s confidence was far too persistent. Sure, it looked tired, injured, and overall exhausted, but those were signs of previous battles. It was experienced. It was tough.

But that lead Gligar, though? It wasn’t worried in the slightest. If anything, it looked excited to win here. Before the Primeape could ever reach it, it launched itself forward, gliding through the air and twisting its body around to stab with its tail in an attempt to immediately end the fight.

It failed.

An inch away from the wild Primeape’s face, its stinger came to an abrupt halt. The Gligar’s eyes widened as it stared at the hand that had snapped up to grab its incoming tail. The Gligar tried to flap its wings in an attempt to escape, but it simply wasn’t strong enough. 

The wild Primeape had it pinned, and, in a single movement, the Gligar was then unceremoniously slammed into the ground.

Dust entered the air. The Gligar behind it all shouted at once.

“So that’s...”

Sam didn’t finish his thought. Below, gasps from the Gligar echoed out in pain.

Rather than attacking again or encouraging the other Pokémon forward, the lead Gligar began to furiously scramble away. Hurt and terrified, it clambered up one of the surrounding boulders to jump off, using the height to glide away as fast as possible. The rest of its group followed.

The lone Pokémon that had to be Primeape’s brother watched as the Gligar fled, and it was only when they had completely vanished that he finally let himself breathe out in relief. One of the Mankey watching in the back hurriedly climbed up the tree to pluck a berry. It then rushed down, running up to the Primeape and offering the healing fruit to him.

Without missing a beat and without slowing down, he took it. Except, he didn’t eat it right away. Instead, he strode toward the rest of the tribe, marching right up to where a certain Mankey sat.

In the shade, the Mankey was still too busy rubbing its head to notice its leader standing before it. It was only when it noticed a slight shift in the tree’s shadow that it looked up, seeing a pair of red eyes staring back down at it.

It froze, not sure what to do. The Primeape thrust its hand forward, and Sam braced himself for what was about to happen, but he didn’t need to.

This wasn’t an attack. The Primeape was offering the injured Mankey the berry.

After taking a second to process what just happened, the Mankey smiled and easily grabbed the berry so it could eat and heal. It showed no sign of caution or restraint as it did so, and the Primeape grunted as if amused before walking back over to the tree, where it sat in the shade to rest.

“That was...”

As Sam frowned, Misdreavus said something. He had failed to notice the sudden absence at his side.

For all his training with the Ghost Type, Primeape might not have been the Type just yet, but he certainly knew how to sneak.

“PRIME!” he roared, jumping to slide down the cliffside right toward the berry tree campsite. “APE!”

The entire tribe of Mankey went on high alert. The cliffside was steep, but Primeape didn’t care. So consumed by his anger, he was more focused on reaching his brother than anything else and perfectly maintained his balance while pebbles rolled down the hill around him.

“Wait, Primeape!” Sam shouted at his Pokémon. “We need to talk about this, first!”

Something about this situation felt off. The action he’d just witnessed was not one of the cruel despot Primeape had once described.

The cliffside beneath Sam might have been sloped, but it was far too steep for him to risk sliding like Primeape. His Pokémon was already nearing the bottom, and he looked around in panic before taking off toward where the slope was more reasonable. He shouted for Haunter to help him out.

Right after, he also ordered the Gastly to surround the campsite, just in case, but even with his shouts, none of the Pokémon below looked up.

No, their hackles were raised. Their fur stood on its ends. An unfamiliar intruder was rushing their leader—and why wouldn’t Primeape be unfamiliar? He’d been gone for months. He had evolved in the meantime, as well.

Primeape’s brother met his aggressor’s eyes and carefully stood up. Primeape punched for a Rock Smash that shattered one of the boulders and made his way in. The Mankey shouted in an attempt to ward him off, but he didn’t stop. The two evolved Fighting Types were already moving to meet one another in an unavoidable fight.

Primeape ran, arm over leg. His brother calmly walked. Where Primeape was completely consumed by rage and anger, his brother seemed to be consumed by nothing but weariness instead.

However, halfway there, when the two Pokémon were seconds away from their clash, the wild Primeape seemed to freeze, going through what must have been the shock of its life.

Eyes as wide as they could go, the Primeape whispered something under its breath. It was a question, one filled with far too many emotions at once. Shock. Surprise. Guilt. Curiosity.

And also, hope.

Something twisted in Sam’s chest. He knew Primeape wanted revenge, but too much time had passed. Everything about this felt off. Haunter’s help let him reach the base of the cliff without falling, but Trevenant stayed behind.

The Pokémon remained at the top of the cliff and watched in silence.

Primeape’s brother completely dropped his guard, overwhelmed as he stared at Primeape in disbelief. A cloud of dust filled the air as Primeape tore forward, his eyes bright red and locked on his singular goal.

To the sounds of the Mankey’s fervent cries and Sam’s panicked shouts, Primeape struck first.

His fist impacted his brother’s face. 

His brother rocketed back.

The Pokémon bounced across the ground and came to a rest against the boulder under the tree.

It had only been a single attack.

Yet, Primeape’s brother did not get up.

===============================================================
Author Note:

I’m genuinely excited about some of the stuff coming up. A lot of what’s left is tying together plot threads I set up a long time ago. There are also a few other things I’ve been building up to for a while, all of which are “fun.”

And then there’s the Conference. Tournament arcs are always difficult to find the right balance for, but given all of my plans for it...

Next chapter on Tuesday. Break on Friday. We’ll pick back up on the very last day of the year.

Pokémon included in this chapter:
Gligar
Mankey
Snorlax

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter

Chapter 123

Primeape was a Mankey when he first hatched from an egg, and Mankey’s memories of back then were blurry. However, he knew he had a mother even though he couldn’t remember anything about what she was like. Primarily, he knew that he hatched into a “tribe” of wild Mankey, and just as much as his mother was family, the tribe was his family. But more so than anything else, his family was his brother, and that made everything that happened to him so much worse.

Mankey’s tribe lived off-route, which came with its costs and benefits. No one in the tribe would be captured and they had the freedom to do and take what they wanted, but they didn’t have the protection or relative safety of an area regularly patrolled by humans. The tribe existed because there was safety in numbers, but they had no singular leader. Everyone was unevolved and on their own, but they traveled and stuck together because that was what let them succeed.

They lived in the mountains, in which they roamed through a few specific valleys. When individual Mankey set off to wander, they made sure to never wander too far away from everyone else. There was no set pattern or schedule they followed, they simply moved according to the tribe’s whims. Often, they would be motivated by discoveries found by wandering members, bathing in and drinking from discovered hot springs and briefly settling into caves that were unoccupied enough for them to temporarily claim.

But the biggest reason they wandered, however, was to find food. Mankey were omnivorous, which meant they ate nuts, berries, and bugs—specifically, the small ones that could be found under rocks, not the much larger and more dangerous Bug Types.

Chestnuts were by far the tribe’s favorite food due to the nutty flavour perfectly appealing to a Mankey’s palette. Unfortunately, chestnuts were never easy to eat due to the nut’s spiked exterior. The most common way a member of the tribe would open the nut was to give it to someone else. That Mankey would try to peel it, get pricked, and then undoubtedly thrash about in anger, breaking the nut open in the resulting rampage and allowing the “gifter” to eat it.

Unfortunately, that didn’t always work because sometimes the target Mankey were able to peel nut with minimal pain and consume it themselves. The problem was that while the tribe was a tribe with many Mankey part of it, the Mankey didn’t exactly help each other. Everyone was on their own, but they were at least on their own together.

That was why Mankey himself lived so well at the start of it all. He and his brother stuck together, and having someone to rely on was critical to all of their success.

Two Mankey working together were more powerful than two Mankey working on their own. Relying on one another, they were able to do things other Mankey couldn’t do. They could go out and forage while watching one another’s back. They could rely on one another’s eyes while searching for areas to claim for a rest. Other tribe members were more reluctant to try to steal their stuff when the two of them shared and protected their belongings. They could take turns sleeping without needing to worry about anyone eating their food.

Between the two of them, it was Mankey’s brother who was stronger. He was the one to fight, and Mankey was the one to come up with their plans. While the tribe often traveled, they didn’t lack food due to the sheer number of chestnut trees that existed in the mountain range. While difficult to open, the only other Pokémon that ate those chestnuts were Flying Types, who could painlessly pick them up with their beaks and drop them from a great height to break them open and easily peel away the spikes.

Yet, also extremely common in the mountains were Rock Types, and as Fighting Type Pokémon, Mankey and his brother had little to worry about thanks to their inherent sturdiness and Type advantage. So, it was Mankey who came up with a foolproof plan to use those Rock Types to let them eat as many chestnuts as they desired.

Instead of tricking another Mankey into peeling the nuts for them, they simply went out and found a Rock Type Pokémon. Mankey’s brother would distract it, usually by taking it on in a fight, and then Mankey would go up and take advantage of the chaos by tossing in chestnuts to be broken open by the Rock Type attacks.

His fondest memory was of when they found an Onix. Looking back on it, it had been a foolish plan, but it had earned them so much. The large Pokémon had been coiled, deep asleep, and Mankey had found a leaf large enough to carry many chestnuts at once. His brother enraged the Onix by waking it up, and while his brother fled and ran away, Mankey tossed the bundle of chestnuts into a gap between the Onix’s ever-churning stones. The grinding motion meant that every nut within broke enough to be easily peeled.

They feasted that night.

Because they worked so well together, Mankey and his brother started to gain more and more respect in their group. They ate more food, so they were healthier and had more energy than the average member of the tribe. His brother fought in more battles too, so his energy was used to increase his strength. Mankey himself, meanwhile, used his energy to scout and make plans. As he was the brains between them, he had to always make sure he had a plan.

Soon enough, it became the case that when a problem started up in the tribe, the other Mankey would go to them for a resolution. And, if one of them had something to say, more often than not, the other Pokémon would stop and listen.

But that didn’t last forever. The turning point came when Mankey went out to scout and found something incredibly valuable—a lone berry tree. It was one just undefended enough that the tribe had a good chance to claim it for themselves.

See, Primeape’s experiences were so focused on food because food was the motivating factor out in the wild. The tribe might have had many sources of it, but accessing those sources required frequent travel. Staying in one place tended to exhaust the local area of meals while also carrying the risk of angering any strong, singular Pokémon that had “ownership” over the area they were in.

But berry trees were special. Not only did they grow food, but berries were inherently more nutritious than anything else. It took only a handful of berries to feel absolutely stuffed, and berry trees tended to grow fast.

Claiming a tree would allow the tribe to settle permanently, with them no longer needing to worry about obtaining their next meal. By claiming the one Mankey had found, the tribe would be set for—well, they’d essentially be set forever.

Immediately upon his discovery, Mankey clamored back over the valley’s rocks to return to his brother, sharing the discovery and then telling the entire tribe exactly what he had found. The berry tree was owned by a flock of Spearow, and the Flying Type Pokémon hadn’t exactly looked that wary. Most likely, he guessed, they were a subset of a larger flock, and that larger flock had so many trees that they wouldn’t get too ticked off by the loss of just one.

The Spearow could be fought back. The Spearow could be scared off. With a single battle, the Spearow could be pushed away so that the tribe could take over the berry tree.

However, the tree wasn’t exactly something just Mankey and his brother could take alone. No, Spearow were Flying Types, and every Mankey here knew just how difficult it was to punch a bird. They needed a plan, but Mankey already had the perfect solution:

Their chestnuts. They didn’t need their usual attacks. They could throw those spike-covered balls at the birds, and the birds would undoubtedly be pushed back.

(When Primeape described his plan through a series of grunts and gestures, Sam stayed silent—more silent than he’d been so far. Somehow, before ever being captured, his Pokémon had already figured out the basics of Fling. Unfortunately, he hadn’t thought to bring Dark Type energy into it, so it had remained a simple technique rather than a full-fledged attacking move.)

With that plan made, the resulting battle was epic, but Primeape didn’t exactly describe it. The initial assault was overwhelming, but more Spearow flew in to make it more difficult than they had ever thought. Yet, they still won in the end, and that was because of one reason:

So hindered by the onslaught of spiked projectiles, the Spearow fled, deciding that a single tree wasn’t worth the effort once Mankey’s brother unexpectedly evolved.

Evolution in the wild was different than evolution with a trainer. It was never a guarantee, and only Pokémon that truly pushed themselves could reach their evolved form. Sure, it’d eventually happen over time, but Mankey’s brother was young. Evolving in that battle demonstrated just how tough he was, and no Spearow wanted to risk taking him on.

Their victory after the fight was supposed to be a celebration. The tribe claimed a berry tree for themselves, and for the first time, the tribe truly worked together to earn something that belonged to them instead of just individuals. 

That wasn’t what happened.

Something about that evolution changed Mankey’s brother. Despite everything they worked for, despite everything they had done together, that tree did not belong to the tribe—the tree belonged to Mankey’s brother.

If someone wanted a berry, they couldn’t just go up and grab one. No, if they wanted a fruit, they had to convince that Primeape to allow them to get it.

He enjoyed the attention. Practically relished in the attention. There was something about having the power of an evolved Pokémon that immediately went to his head.

To get their food, the tribe had to do as he wished. They had to put on shows, gather neat items as gifts, and generally do as he bid. The thing was, however, none of the other Mankey saw anything wrong with that. Mankey’s brother was the strongest among them, so of course he was their leader. Why wouldn’t they do what he said if it meant they got to keep a reliable source of food?

But for Mankey himself? But for who Primeape was back then? Nothing that he had done mattered. After that horrible evolution, his brother treated him as if he were any other member of the tribe, nothing more than a lesser being required to do his bidding.

Their shared history meant nothing. The shared efforts of the tribe meant nothing. Mankey believed that the tree should belong to everyone, not just the single strongest Pokémon among them. The fact that he was the one to find the tree and the fact that he was one to make the plan to capture it meant absolutely nothing in the face of the sheer, overwhelming might of his species’s evolved form.

That Primeape was a Primeape, and Mankey was just a Mankey. There was a gap between them that was impossible to cross as mere wild Pokémon. They might have worked together in the past, but so what? That Primeape now had everything he ever wanted.

And Mankey had nothing. More than that—since his brother had been the one to do all the fighting, he had less battle experience than anyone else in the tribe.

He.

Was.

Weak.

No matter what Mankey did, he was brushed off. No matter what fellow tribe member he approached, he was ignored. The small advantage he had gained from better nutrition disappeared with everyone having access to what little berries that Primeape let them gather. Mankey couldn’t exactly stand up for himself, which meant he was an easy target to be bullied and laughed at.

He went to his brother for help, of course, begging the Pokémon for assistance. Since they had done so much together, he felt he deserved at least some sympathy. Yet, when that Primeape looked down at him, when the two of them locked eyes...

There was nothing.

That Primeape did nothing.

There was a reason he grew so angry that he challenged his brother to a fight.

Of course, while Mankey was “great” at coming up with plans, all of his plans had been simple. He wasn’t educated and he lacked the focus a Pokémon trainer could bring. Everything he came up with was based on things he’d already seen. The plan with the chestnuts? That was based on how he’d seen Flying Types drop the nuts out of the sky. The plan with the Rock Types? That was based on how he’d seen them accidentally crush fallen chestnuts while traveling.

So, when he threw himself at that Primeape, he truly expected to win. That Primeape had the strength, but Mankey was clever. He could use Low Kick to win, because the bigger they were, the harder they fell, right?

...Right?

That Primeape beat him in a show of force to remind the rest of the tribe just why he was in charge. He had more than enough strength to protect their tree and keep their primary food source safe. He, of course, showed just how “kind” he was by tossing a half-eaten berry to the defeated Mankey. The fact that the berry was stolen later didn’t mean anything—after all, it was another tribe member who stole it, not that Primeape.

Mankey was the only one who saw a problem with how everything was set up. But no one listened to him. His brother might not have told him to leave, but he could tell he was no longer welcome.

Once he recovered, cold and bruised, he simply got up and left.

He left the mountains, trudged through a forest, and walked south through the vast plains of Route 39.

When he stumbled onto a strange, rumbling box filled to the brim with berries, he was far too hungry to question why it was undefended or why it was making that noise. Too busy stuffing his face, he missed how the delivery truck started to move. It brought him to Olivine City, where he then found a place to hunker down as well as an easy source from which to gather food.

_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

Primeape finished his story by gesturing toward Sam, as Sam knew how things concluded from there. Mankey’s source had been a berry vendor, and Sam went after Mankey, caught him, and then promised the Pokémon that he could become strong.

It was deep into the night when Primeape stopped speaking. Above him, the stars were pinpricks of light next to the moon’s bright glow. Everyone in the camp had gone silent, watching Primeape as he stared into the fire. The flickering flames before him cast shadows onto his face.

He had said everything that he needed to say.

Truthfully, understanding the story hadn’t been easy for Sam. Primeape didn’t exactly speak a human language, but his grunts and gestures carried enough meaning and his expressions helped display how he was feeling. Also, Sam always had the option to glance over to Typhlosion for a translation. He couldn’t say he understood every detail, but he understood more than enough.

So with the story ended, he stared at his Pokémon who was unable to do anything but stare back into the fire.

“Primeape...” Sam said softly.

The Pokémon grunted, rolling his shoulders, and tried to break out of his self-inflicted trance. He stretched out his hands to his sides, and Sam could see the muscles flex in his arms.

“So all this time, you’ve been down because you’ve been waiting for this. You’ve been so focused on getting stronger because you want to beat your brother in a fight?”

Primeape’s fists clenched. His arms went tense with his hard-earned strength.

Speaking that goal had been a reminder of Primeape’s purpose. He would defeat his brother. He would prove his strength.

Just like how a flame burned in the center of their campsite, a flame burned in Primeape’s chest. Sam couldn’t tell if it was hatred or rage or just a deep-seated grudge, but everything he’d been doing was for the sole purpose of this upcoming fight. 

Primeape couldn’t focus his thoughts if his mind always fell back to his past. He needed to work through what had happened to him, and to do that, he needed to defeat his brother in a proper match.

Sam could remember how he first found him. Primeape—Mankey at the time—had been living alone in an abandoned house’s attic. He’d been surviving off of stolen fruit, living in a dirty nest of scavenged cloth. But rotting food and gathered scraps wasn’t everything up there. Mankey might have been on his own, but also collected in the room was something else:

Scattered Pokédolls.

Even back then, Primeape had just wanted friends.

But even though Sam had caught Mankey, it was only when he had told him of Annihilape that he’d truly become motivated. He’d laughed and trained alongside all of them, but there was always that desire to become something more than just a Primeape.

He knew Rage Fist, but he was yet to master it. His species was one that could never give up a grudge, and he was far too consumed by it to ever evolve as he was now.

In a way, he needed to overcome this to reach his next form, but this wasn’t something he needed to do just to become strong. With how much this had been affecting him all this time, Sam knew that Primeape needed to do this if he ever wanted to be happy.

So Sam breathed out, still trying to gather his thoughts about everything he had just heard, and another noise finally echoed out. Haunter let out an echoing sob, and all the Gastly around him began to wail and cry Primeape’s story.

They empathized with Primeape. His story was sad. Even though their reaction was one of tears, it was kind of ridiculous. Sam could have sworn he saw Primeape smile, as small as that reaction was.

But in the end, it wasn’t anyone Sam expected who approached Primeape. It wasn’t Typhlosion or Misdreavus or even Sam himself. No, from where he had been listening in the back of their group, Trevenant stepped closer to the fire. He moved up to the very thing that had once destroyed his home despite the tense wariness he still felt toward it.

Trevenant’s red eye met Primeape’s expression. After a long period of silence, Trevenant nodded once.

Though he said nothing, the action was a promise. Just like how everyone had once helped him, Trevenant promised they’d help Primeape.

Sam smiled at that, but it was Misdreavus who pointed out that Trevenant had just spoken on behalf of their entire group.

In response, Trevenant almost immediately looked away and awkwardly coughed into his hand. His embarrassment came out like the sound of two pieces of bark rubbing against one another.

But he was right. Everyone here was willing to help Primeape. Misdreavus just thought it was funny that Trevenant had been the one to speak what was on all of their minds. She promised, too, that she’d help Primeape. After her, Typhlosion promised. And then Haunter. And then all of the Gastly here as well.

Sam was the last to speak. He met his Pokémon in the eyes.

“We’ll help you,” he said.

Primeape had to rub away the rain that had mysteriously fallen onto his face from the clear, night sky.

As cheers and cries of support filled the camp, Sam stood up and looked around. The moon was high above their heads, and the stars somehow felt even brighter than before.

But more than anything, that night, each and every Pokémon here were up and raring to go.

“Change of plans!” Sam shouted, the start of his announcement echoing over their campsite. “We’ll be taking a detour! Instead of continuing west, we’re heading north into the mountains! We’ll be going off-route to find Primeape’s old tribe, and there...”

Primeape looked up at Sam.

“And there...” Sam continued. “You’ll be defeating your brother. Primeape, I promise you that you will win.”

==============================================================
Author Note:

Pokémon (and people) included in this chapter:
Mankey / Primeape / Annihilape
Spearow
Onix

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Chapter 122

Even without Redi, travel was a cycle that involved frequent breaks. Sam would spend a while walking down the route, and once he found a decently clear area, he’d settle down for a rest. There, his team would practice their moves and test out potential strategies while he took a break. His Pokémon would then relax in their Pokéballs while he traveled west, and the process would begin anew.

Nothing about this schedule changed from how they had traveled alongside Redi. Right now, however, everyone was throwing themselves into it with a greater sense of determination than before. Practice was less relaxed and more intense than usual thanks to the knowledge that Cianwood was coming up. There, they’d strive to earn their eighth Gym Badge as fast as possible, and then they’d leave via a boat to Goldenrod. Their real goal was to finish the season in Ilex Forest, the premier environment for a team of Ghost Types to train for the Conference.

But they needed to actually get there first.

So they went through harsh training sessions for now, pushing themselves to be as strong as possible to defeat their final Gym. Thankfully, Sam was great at making plans, and instead of “merely” taking a break while his Pokémon trained, he made sure to chat with them and make sure they knew the direction they needed to take their training.

_______________________________________________________________

Typhlosion had her offensive moves down. Her evolution had brought a massive increase in strength, and she had spent the weeks before their seventh Gym battle practicing and learning all of her damaging Ghost Type moves. When fighting, she primarily relied on Infernal Parade and Flamethrower for damage, which meant she truly only needed to worry about Pokémon that resisted those moves’ Types. But even then, Misdreavus and Primeape could take out those difficult opponents for her, and inflicting a burn could also turn a tough fight into a win. Alternatively, since she now knew both Smokescreen and Double Team, Typhlosion could easily stall out any foe, but they’d already learned in the past that pure evasion wasn’t enough to win.

She was in a good place power-wise, but that didn’t mean she was done with her training. Strength could always be increased, and Sam still had a few ideas for new developments. She was the first he approached for a chat, moving to her side as she practiced creating spheres of Night Shade around her.

“Agility and Curse,” Sam said outright.

Typhlosion glanced over, dropping her sphere of darkness.

“Quick Attack is fine, but it’s only a quick burst of speed. It doesn’t provide any ongoing increase in how fast you move. Flame Charge can give you that, but that move requires locking you into an attack,” Sam explained, listing off his points while pulling at his fingers. “Agility doesn’t have that limit, and we’ve already done some practice with it before. So I think you should start trying to work on Agility to replace Quick Attack, and then there’s also...”

Curse.

Sam let his words trail off. He could tell Typhlosion understood why he was reluctant. Back in Ecruteak, she had seen Morty’s Pokémon use that very move, and it hadn’t exactly been an innocuous, self-boost.

They both knew how Curse had to be used. The energy responded differently to Ghost Types and non-Ghost Types. It was no longer about solely boosting her physical energy. She needed to take that energy and harm herself with it, and then she’d be able to carry that pain into a damaging Curse that could be laid onto any foe.

She would have to effectively relearn the move, but Sam knew she would pick it up fast. The problem he had was with the pain the new version required—he couldn’t say he was the biggest fan of having Typhlosin stab herself in the chest.

“If you were more ethereal, like Haunter or Misdreavus, I wouldn’t be so worried. They can take serious damage and then reform missing parts of themselves. But using Curse is violent. Seeing Gengar slam its energy into itself was a lot. The sheer amount of damage you’d take—”

Typhlosion huffed. She was touched by Sam’s worry, but she also clearly thought that his worry was misplaced.

Before he could ask or inquire about her reaction, Typhlosion was already moving. She held out a paw, and shadows curled around it in something that was neither a Shadow Claw nor an Infernal Parade. They formed into a flickering, jagged edge, and Sam jumped when she slammed it straight into her chest.

However, when she pulled her paw back, there was no injury. Typhlosion had winced and parts of her fur had blackened, but there was no other physical mark or injury from the work-in-progress Curse being used.

“Good.” Sam breathed out in relief. “So it’s more of a spiritual wound instead of a physical one. That’s why it hurt Morty’s Gengar so visibly; Gengar don’t exactly have physical bodies.”

Typhlosion nodded happily—she had been practicing, and she’d found that the injury caused by Curse was minor, all things considered. It hurt in the moment and would affect her in battle, but its pain was closer to something inflicted by Destiny Bond. She wouldn’t need to be rushed to the Pokémon Center after using it, but it would certainly make her closer to fainting in a match.

“Thanks for showing me that, Typhlosion. I’m happy you’ve been practicing, but, uh, well...” Sam chuckled awkwardly. “I don’t want you practicing those kinds of moves without me? I spent all this time worrying about Curse, and if it was any different, you could have got seriously injured, so I’m glad it's not worse, but—”

Sam was interrupted by Typhlosion placing a paw on his head.

It took him a second to process what just happened, and he flailed his arms to get her paw off. She snickered as she pulled it away, her laughter coming as a throaty rumble as she took in his embarrassed reaction.

“Fine then. Maybe I won’t tell you the good news,” Sam huffed, and Typhlosion immediately stopped her laugh. “...But I’ve been thinking. Since we’re on our way back to Olivine, Carl’s ranch is going to be right there. Since it’s not really a detour, I figured we could visit your grandfather sometime in the coming days.”

And then in just as much of a surprise as before, Sam suddenly found himself scooped up into a hug. He fought against it for only a second before letting himself lean into Typhlosion's arms.

She was excited. Her grandfather was a Typhlosion of great power, and she didn’t get to see him that often. Not only would she have a chance to show off once they arrived, but she’d also have the chance to learn a few tricks from a Typhlosion far older than her.

_______________________________________________________________

When Sam approached Misdreavus, she was leading a group of Gastly. While the Gastly did tend to listen to Haunter most of the time, not every one of them followed his advice. Some preferred a more steady head, and when it came to learning more from Sam’s group, these Gastly wished to hear from a reliable commander rather than a mischievous friend.

So for them, Misdreavus demonstrated Hex—not necessarily to teach it, but just to show off the move. She’d already gone through both her Shadow Ball and her Night Shade, so it only made sense to demonstrate this attack next. Though fewer in number and with less control than Typhlosion’s Infernal Parade, the wisps of her Hex were still quite impressive as she arranged them into burning, geometric shapes in the air.

“Hey, Misdreavus,” Sam called out. His voice seemed to stun some of the Gastly; a good portion of them had looked absolutely enthralled by Misdreavus’s moves. “Wanna talk about training?”

The response was instant; every dark flame winked out. Without bothering to say goodbye, Misdreavus immediately ended her show and split away from the Gastly to reach Sam. She then affectionately nudged his side.

He laughed.

“Sorry. I need to borrow her for a bit. Just a short break! She’ll be back to it soon!” Sam called out.

The Gastly tried to look on with pleading eyes, but Sam was used to their antics and knew when to move on. Stepping to the side, he found a quiet spot for a chat with Misdreavus. Some of the other Gastly drifted away, but most remained behind to patiently wait for Misdreavus to continue her demonstration.

“Alright, Misdreavus,” Sam said, looking his Pokémon up and down. “Let’s talk about training. I already gave you a big list of attacking moves in the past, but right now, I want you to focus on just two: Power Gem and Pain Split.”

Misdreavus eagerly listened in, and Sam went on to explain.

Power Gem was one of the few, special-attacking Rock Type moves, and it used the power of gemstones to fire out laser beams, somehow. His thought was that it would be unleashed from the pearl necklace around her neck, and it’d be a useful move for her to pick up.

As a Pokémon so based around special attacks, coverage was more important for Misdreavus than the rest of the team. She already had Ghost and Psychic Type moves, but a new Rock Type attack could help her take out Types otherwise difficult for Sam’s team. Rock was super effective against both Fire and Flying, and it was a viable option against Dark. Conceptually, Sam couldn’t claim to understand how it worked, but the New Pokédex said it came naturally to Misdreavus’s species, and it was a strong companion for her Nasty Plot.

“I know I’ve already talked about Power Gem in the past, but I think now’s the best time to learn it. It’s more accurate than most other Rock Type attacks, and it should pack enough of a punch to be a strong surprise,” Sam said. “I’ve also been considering Pain Split, but that move is a bit more... strange.”

There were many other moves Misdreavus could still learn, but he didn’t want to have her split her focus too much.

“Pain Split takes you and your opponent’s remaining health and divides it equally between the two of you,” Sam said. “It’s supposed to ‘split your pain,’ but since you have less vitality than most Pokémon, it should generally result in a heal. The big reason I want you to learn it is so that you have a way to stay up while sweeping. All of that sounds good on paper, but...”

He breathed out, distinctly aware of the analysis he wrote on it in his journal.

“The same lack of vitality that makes it good for you also makes it bad,” Sam continued. “Pain Split might be amazing against a Pokémon like Ursaring, but that’s not a great match-up in the first place. One Shadow Claw would see you faint, and the same is true for any of his other non-Normal Type attacks. It’s more of a niche pick to use in emergencies rather than something to base your strategy around.”

Misdreavus hummed as Sam explained his plans, and then she spoke; she had her own thoughts to add. Primarily, she gestured to her body and a certain conspicuous lack of arms, something that’d change once she evolved into a Mismagius.

Her evolution would bring an increase to both her power and her defense. While she currently wasn’t the best at taking hits, that would improve once she evolved. As a Mismagius, it’d let her take more risks in fights.

“Yeah, but—”

She interrupted again, sharing even more of her thoughts.

Pain Split was a good move, they’d just need to use it carefully. If Sam really wanted to give her a way to punish foes for hurting her, then he’d have her learn Destiny Bond. In a way, Pain Split was safer.

Once she was done gesturing to share her thoughts, Sam looked at his Pokémon before letting out a sigh. Misdreavus giggled and affectionately rubbed against his side again.

“No, you’re definitely right,” he said as Midreavus smiled to herself, smug. “Pain Split is better, and while I do want you to learn Destiny Bond eventually, a way to heal gives you more opportunities in battle overall. Still, it’s not as pressing as coverage, so focus on Power Gem first, alright?”

She eagerly nodded her head. Her central gemstone flashed as if in practice, but since she hadn’t really attempted the move before, no attack came out.

“Alright. So other than that, I’ve been thinking about your evolution. I think I finally know when we’ll be using that Dusk Stone.”

Cianwood.

Specifically, Sam thought it made the most sense to evolve Misdreavus right before their final Gym Battle. He wanted to give her time to make sure she had as solid of a baseline as possible, and he wanted to make sure she had time to learn her new moves before needing to distract herself with getting used to a new form.

However, there was an argument to evolve Misdreavus earlier than that. Once a Mismagius, she’d need to spend time adapting to her new form before she could properly fight in a battle. However, Sam was more worried about the Conference than maximizing their chances in their final Gym battle. Since Misdreavus focused more on special attacks than physical attacks, the biggest change her evolution would bring would be the power behind her moves, something that would only need a slight amount of work to get used to in time for their fight.

“Does that sound good?” Sam asked. “Do you have any thoughts or comments on my plans for you?”

Misdreavus tilted to the side before nodding and saying her name excitedly. She agreed with his plans, and she had trusted him to make the right decision before he’d even caught her. The fact that he was talking to her at all about this instead of just demanding she train or evolve in a certain way just made her agree even more. 

So their plans were set, but even though Sam had nothing else to say, Misdreavus had more thoughts to share. Unrelated to any new moves, she’d been thinking about something Sam had brought up in the past. 

Her species might not have been the Psychic Type, but she was capable of plenty of Psychic Type moves. When it came to using old moves in new situations, she had plenty of ideas she wanted to try.

_______________________________________________________________

The conversations with Haunter and Primeape were easy. Haunter only needed to practice his moves—everything but Hypnosis, since he’d been relying on it too much lately. He was already more than willing to learn Destiny Bond as well because the idea of making his opponents faint at the same time as him made him cackle.

As for Primeape, he had the singular and overwhelming goal of complete mastery over Rage Fist, something absolutely necessary for him to evolve. He could have alternatively tried to develop other useful attacks like Power-Up Punch and Drain Punch, but evolving into an Annihilape was a hill he needed to climb before splitting his focus on anything else.

However, while Haunter and Primeape’s goals were easy, Sam still had one more Pokémon to speak to. He passed by where Haunter sparred with Primeape, who was practicing close-ranged dodges while Primeape practiced his aim.

A cloud of Gastly floated in the air above them, watching Haunter and Primeape give it their all. Haunter would use Spite to drain Primeape’s reserved energy, but Primeape would push through, trying to figure out how to unleash his attacks with the maximum possible efficiency.

Sam didn’t say anything as he moved next to Trevenant. It was almost night, as their schedule had shifted. He’d chosen to travel closer to night to give his Pokémon more comfortable conditions outside of the light. As a Grass Type, however, Trevenant couldn’t exactly relax during these periods and photosynthesize, but he was still partially a Ghost Type and was as at home under the moon as he was under the sun.

Ahead, Haunter and Primeape continued their exchange. Trevenant’s singular eye flicked over to Sam, but Sam didn’t say anything, and his gaze went back to the match for the while it took for Sam to finally speak.

“Hey,” he eventually said.

A slight scoff escaped Trevenant’s throat—Sam had stood there for all that time just to start with such a basic greeting. Yet, Sam could only smile at the reaction. It might have come from a place of annoyance, but it was casual. It was an unconscious demonstration of trust that Trevenant was so relaxed at Sam’s side.

“Do you mind if we talk?” Sam asked. “I wanted to discuss plans I have for you on the team.”

Trevenant replied with a soft grunt of his name. He had already said he was willing to train back in Mahogany Town, and that was still true right now. 

So, Trevenant turned to properly look at him, using his root-like legs to twist his entire body so all of him was facing Sam. It was a purposeful movement to show that Sam had his entire focus, even with the spar going on not too far away.

He loomed, but Sam felt no worry. Trevenant was his Pokémon, and more importantly, Trevenant was a proper member of the team—a friend.

“Back then, when we were preparing to meet you, I tried really hard to figure out how a Trevenant might fight in a battle,” Sam started. “I looked into all of your potential moves and readied everyone to fight a regenerating wall, but in the end, all you did was use Horn Leech?”

Trevenant scoffed.

“No, no! Don’t get me wrong. Your attacks are strong. Horn Leech is a great, default move to rely on with its damage and self-healing, but we’ve been building up your battle instincts since then, and we’ve even been working on turning your Astonish into Shadow Claw. That’s been going well, but...”

Sam trailed off when he noticed a few shreds of darkness begin curling around Trevenant’s claws. It was different, as when Typhlosion would use this attack, she controlled Ghost Type energy to conjure lengthened, sharpened claws that stretched from her paws. But when Trevenant used it here, however, his hands were already claws of gnarled, sharpened wood. His Shadow Claw was not constructed out of Ghost Type energy, rather, it came to form like a Ghost Type, enhanced Slash.

“You got it! See? I knew you could do it!” Sam looked at Trevenant with a smile. “But what I think we should really do is lean into the Grass Type. With all of that research I talked about, I can make you an absolute menace to face on the field.”

Trevenant might have been trying to keep his expression level, but his gaze sharpened with a greater sense of focus in reaction to Sam’s words.

Sam breathed in; he had a lot of ideas.

“Ingrain might make you immobile, but it gives you a guaranteed way to heal yourself by pulling energy from the battlefield floor. Leech Seed adds more healing on top of that while damaging your opponents in return. Now stack that healing with Horn Leech—which I already talked about—and then combine it with your Harvest ability, too. Think about it. If I give you a Sitrus Berry, you can constantly heal yourself up. Other Pokémon might be better at taking attacks than you, but with all of that applied, you could heal yourself from any move sent your way!”

Trevenant quirked his brow—an action that looked a little silly given he only had a single pupil. Sam stared back until he had to clear his throat in an attempt to not laugh.

“The big part, though, is using your Harvest ability. That’s what I think we should work on mastering,” Sam said. “Regrowing healing berries can make sure you stay up in battle. I mean, I haven’t really seen you use it this way, but you don’t have to give away what you grow. Taking the seeds of a single Sitrus berry to make dozens more can give you a lot of extra health in a fight.”

Trevenant stared back until suddenly looking away in what was almost a mimicry of how Sam had just cleared his throat. When he brought up a fist to cough into it, the Pokémon looked embarrassed.

It was like Trevenant had never thought of using berries to heal himself in battle, before.

Sam felt smug, and Trevenant was receptive. Stacking forms of healing was just the start of the ideas he had in mind. The sheer amount of potential Trevenant held was genuinely ridiculous.

“I have a lot more thoughts on how to make you strong, especially when we throw in other effects, like Confuse Ray or Will-O-Wisp. And then there’s also your attacks! Did you know you can learn Wood Hammer? That’s crazy! Instead of just your claws, you could swing your entire arm for a single, devastating blow!”

Trevenant would be a powerhouse, he just needed to put the practice in. Sam was already more than excited to see Trevenant’s future as a fully realized Ghost-Grass Type.

Trevenant, too, seemed to like the plans. He always tried to keep his expression level, but there was a certain glint to his eye that told Sam he was looking forward to those ideas.

For Sam, that was nice to see.

“Also... I didn’t come here to just talk about moves. There’s something else I want your help with,” Sam said quietly as he turned back to watch Haunter and Primeape’s spar. “You’ve been with us for a few weeks at this point, but everyone else has been with me for months. In Typhlosion’s case, we grew up together. So I’m very familiar with everyone else here. Everyone except you.”

Trevenant blinked at Sam, almost hiding an awkward shuffle alongside that move. Sam saw the reaction and quickly spoke up—he hadn’t been trying to make Trevenant feel out of place, he was just trying to point something out.

“No, no, no. Not like that. What I mean is...” Sam groaned. “Sorry. This is hard. Specifically, I want to see if I can trade for a new Pokémon in Olivine City to get a sixth to add to our team. When that happens, we’ll be getting a new friend, and that new friend is probably a Pokémon that’s been trained separately from the team. So, I was thinking, well...”

Sam looked up at Trevenant.

“Would you be willing to help me when that happens? Help me introduce them to everyone. I want your experience to help them fit in.”

Trevenant stared back at Sam, looking like he didn’t know how to respond. Generally, the most experienced Pokémon was the one to greet a new capture, but in this case, Sam was going with the inverse.

“I’m not sure if I can really explain my logic. I just think you’d be a good fit. There’s just something about you...” He held back a chuckle. “You just seem like a good leader.”

Trevenant looked away silently. Out of the corner of his eye, though the Pokémon lacked blood, Sam got the sense that there was almost a blush on Trevenant’s face.

A moment passed between them, and Haunter somehow landed a solid punch to Primeape’s face. The clearing fell into silence before the Gastly broke out in cheers, and then Primeape sent him a nod of respect before lunging. The spar devolved into a panicked chase.

As that nonsense played out before them, Trevenant finally came to a decision. He nodded, and Sam broke into a smile.

“Great! Thanks, Trevenant. I know you’ll be perfect for the job!”

Trevenant cleared his throat again in an attempt to keep acting cool. Sam used the opportunity to swing his backpack around, pulling out his journal and a certain set of notes he wrote back in Mahogany Town.

He ignored the shouts of the Gastly coming from around him. This kind of chase was good for his Pokémon. It wasn’t mean-spirited, and Haunter was practicing how well he could hide while giving Primeape the chance to develop how well he could search.

“I still have my old notes I wrote when preparing for you,” Sam said to Trevenant. “So I already have a bunch of different ideas on how a Trevenant can fight. If you’re interested in hearing them...”

Trevenant nodded again, and Sam didn’t wait to read from the page.

Training continued, and the team became stronger. Sam continued to head west.

Their destination was soon in reach.

_______________________________________________________________

Finally, as Sam and everyone else traveled closer and closer to Olivine City, training breaks became more frequent. It wasn’t that they were stalling, it was just that they were spending a longer time getting stronger each day.

Sam made sure to take advantage of those periods, using them to furiously scribble into his journal. Each night at dusk, he would find time for himself by the campfire, and he’d go over his notes while tending to a stew.

Truthfully, he had completely filled up his first journal at this point and was already well into his second. Though there was no narrative or coherent plot, he was proud of that fact.

In a way, filling it up meant he’d written an entire book.

While he appreciated the relative quiet he used to work, it did feel empty without Redi, even after all these days spent away. The campsite was missing something without her presence, and Sam missed her regular, casual taunts.

When it comes to facing her, though, I still need more ideas. We might have a few counters for Redi’s team, but they all need more work.

If Haunter picks up Destiny Bond, he can take out any of her Pokémon, but that only works once. Unfortunately, after Morty, she’ll be expecting something like that. No, Misdreavus’s Pain Split is probably unexpected enough to be key.

Though he was helping his team get stronger, Sam had another duty of his own. As his team’s trainer, they trusted him to come up with strategies and to know exactly what to do to have them win.

When we arrive in Olivine, I should use a computer to check the League’s archives or maybe some forum posts. That should let me find recordings of Xavier and other trainers from past tournaments. It won’t give me a look into their current teams, but it’ll let me see where their current teams are coming from.

Ugh. The Conference is so soon. I know we have over a month left, but it feels like we’re running out of time.

The noises of the campfire’s crackling flames, the bubbling food, and the furious scribbling of his pen filled the air. Typhlosion dozed next to him, and various Ghost Types floated around and enjoyed the chill of the approaching night.

The sun was actively setting, casting the sky into a rainbow of reds and oranges. The first half of the moon was already visible to the east. Half of the sky was already dark with pinpricks of stars.

Everyone was relaxing after their day so far, and though Sam was focusing on his work and the stew he occasionally stirred, he quickly realized a silence had fallen over the camp. All movement had ceased in favor of everyone focusing on one Pokémon’s form.

They were close to Olivine. Close to the mountains. Close to where Sam had captured one member of his team at the very start.

He felt as though he was being watched, and as he brought up his head, he was met with Primeape’s gaze.

He carefully closed his journal.

“...I see.”

Primeape walked over to stand in front of the fire, casting his gaze into the flames. He stared for several moments before turning, looking directly at the mountain range to the north.

Then, with a grunt, he communicated his desire:

It was time.

They were close enough.

Primeape had been waiting and practicing and training for all this time, and now that they were here, he was finally ready to talk.

===============================================================
Author Note:

Pokémon included in this chapter:
Mismagius

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Chapter 121

Redi said she was leaving, but she wasn’t leaving right away. She would only leave for Goldenrod once she and Sam agreed to head out of town. They had plenty of time left together, as neither were too keen on immediately splitting off. This was made extra true since leaving meant they wouldn’t see one another for over a full extra month.

Instead, they tried to relax, walking around town in an attempt to explore with their teams. They visited a few gardens, a Bell Tower viewing site, a daytime Burned Tower, and a handful of shops that sold custom-made goods.

It was boring.

Sure, Sam appreciated the historical weight these places carried, and sure, they could have spent a while just taking everything in, but the thing about going out on a journey was that they were always sightseeing. Trying to do that specifically wasn’t anything special because they saw new places regardless of where they went. So it was boring, and staying in a town like this only caused a growing itch to go out and do something exciting. Exploring did little to help them develop their teams, and it did even less for what could be considered “entertainment.”

No, it took little time for them to come to a unanimous agreement—acting like tourists wasn’t worth the effort. They were trainers. They’d rather be battling. So, if they wanted something to do, they’d do exactly that.

After a day of trying to explore the town and wasting their time, Sam and Redi went out behind the Pokémon Center to claim a battlefield early the next morning. There, they placed down a simple, painted sign and a large glass jar. The setup was simple: pay a small fee, and anyone could challenge them to a one-Pokémon-each battle. If their challengers won the match, then the challengers would earn every dollar that’d been placed into the jar.

The challenge was open to anyone who approached and paid a small fee. The catch was that the battle was a double battle—every trainer would use a single Pokémon, but two trainers were required to take Sam and Redi on at the same time. In Indigo, the main form of battling was still single battles. Almost no one ever practiced anything else, so challengers would need a partner to take them on in a match.

Most people seemed wary of that idea, especially once they saw Redi’s towering team members and Sam’s scary-looking Ghost Types. However, a few curious pairs eventually decided to take them on.

In every case, Sam and Redi won.

The challenge started with only a sparse few trainers and a rather slow morning. Double battles were still new in theory, and not everyone wanted to bother with finding a partner. However, while it started slow, each fight added money to the jar. As its contents grew in both size and value, more and more passing eyes lingered on that prize. 

Whispers sparked up, not ones that talked about Sam and Redi, but ones shared between strangers trying to find the right partner to team up and earn that sum. Unfamiliar trainers would pair up and give the challenge a shot. Unfortunately for everyone who tried, Sam and Redi were prepared. The lack of switches made each battle fast, and Sam and Redi rotated their team members to ensure everyone had time to rest.

By far, they had the advantage, as they were some of the few trainers here who had practiced for double battles in the past. Their challenge against Clair meant they were more experienced than most, and their Pokémon had been training together for months at this point so they knew how one another fought.

Haphazardly thrown-together strategies weren’t enough, and their Pokémon knew how to dismantle any attempts at overwhelming force. The Normal Type Ursaring could pin Pokémon and not need to worry about being clipped by Ghost Type moves. Similarly, Sam’s Ghost Types could trap Pokémon without worrying about being incinerated by Ursaring’s Hyper Beam. Dragonair could charge right through fields of Will-O-Wisp thanks to Shed Skin allowing her to “discard” status conditions, and Porygon could hide within thick banks of Ominous Wind to serve as an impossible-to-find turret with perfect aim.

But trainers watched, and they developed new strategies. When their opponents started becoming too clever, that was when Sam and Redi mixed things up.

Instead of powerful combinations, they resorted to overwhelming force. Redi’s Pokémon would stall to allow Misdreavus to set up with Nasty Plot, and Primeape was a surprise for anyone who expected another fragile Ghost Type. Ursaring and Primeape together was a vicious combination. Sam and Redi had far too many pre-planned strategies for most trainers to win, and victories rolled in. The jar became flush with cash.

Unfortunately, not every Pokémon could participate in these matches. While Porygon wasn’t known to the vast majority of challengers and Trevenant was rare enough to be a surprise, Typhlosion had to completely sit out.

Rather quickly, this challenge became quite the public spectacle, so showing off the unknown Hisuian Typhlosion in battle was not worth the risk. Although, even though she couldn’t fight, she could still attempt a different type of challenge instead.

Rather than directly participating in a match, Typhlosion pushed herself to make use of her new Type. While she couldn’t exactly sink into a shadow like the more ethereal members of Sam’s team, she could still cloak herself in darkness. Underneath a set of nearby bleachers, she practiced her control of Ghost Type energy while trying to stay hidden. Barely anyone noticed her, and the ones who did quickly looked away when they saw her glowing purple eyes and the many more sets of eyes of all of the Gastly floating around to assist.

Sam and Redi’s battles stretched deep into the afternoon, but they didn’t last forever. Though they built a good streak, it ended suddenly. As was expected, they eventually lost.

The “event” ended with a pair of challengers who were in the midst of their second season taking on the League. Though neither trainer had known the other beforehand, both had earned all eight of their Gym badges in their League attempt this year. They waited until a tough battle had come and passed before approaching Sam and Redi. There, an elite Arcanine identified Sam’s Ghost Type with an Odor Sleuth, and the resulting lack of immunity to Normal Type moves allowed an Electrode’s Explosion to take out both Porygon and Haunter at once.

With that loss, the jar of money was passed over—but Sam and Redi weren’t complete fools. Not every bill had been placed into the container, and they walked away with a decent sum.

The next day, they didn’t bother to do anything, choosing to simply sit back and take the time to rest. It was quiet, slow, and sleepy. They didn’t do anything or even speak that much, but that was fine.

They both knew what was soon to occur.

Finally, after a bit longer in town, which they mostly used to watch people take on Morty’s Gym, the moment arrived. Sam and Redi stood on a road that led out of the city. It split in a fork that had one path leading west toward Olivine and the other path leading south toward Goldenrod.

“So,” Sam said as the wind blew. The quiet city of Ecruteak slept behind them.

“So,” Redi repeated. She stared off in the directions they were yet to travel.

Not sure what to say, Sam thumbed the strap of his backpack. Both he and Redi had already said their goodbyes to Morty at this point, and their Pokémon had already shared their well-wishes—especially Primeape and Ursaring. Those two seemed to have left one another with a promise: by the next time they met, both would have evolved.

Sam and Redi planned to make that promise come true, but they were yet to say goodbye.

But they stood there awkwardly, not really sure what to do or say. Eventually, enough time passed that Sam felt forced to speak up.

“So this is it,” he said, unable to turn toward Redi. “We’re splitting up here. This is the last time we’ll be together until the Conference.”

Redi just nodded, struggling to find her words, and she cast her gaze down the path that’d guide her away.

“Sure. But it’ll be fine,” she said. “A month isn’t even that long. We’re still going to meet back up, and we’re still going to earn all our Gym Badges. We’ll be in Silver Town in no time at all, and when that happens, I’m going to beat you and win the Conference!”

She did her best to grin at him, attempting to send him a challenging smirk.

“Oh yeah? Beat me?” Sam said, grinning right back. “Maybe in your dreams! And even then, that’s not going to happen, ‘cause Haunter is going to eat those dreams right up!”

A pause.

Despite Sam’s challenge, Redi let out a snort. After a second, she threw her head back and guffawed, wiping an eye, and Sam had to look away due to the heat in his face.

“That was so dumb! Maybe work on your trash-talking before we meet back up, yeah?”

Sam snorted, and then he laughed too. He couldn’t help it. Redi was right; what he said did sound stupid, but it wasn’t like he could have said anything else.

...They stood still. It was like their feet no longer worked.

“You’ll be okay, right?” Sam asked after a few seconds longer. “Tibia and Fibula will be going with you to make sure Porygon stays safe, but you’re still not going to have everyone else around. I’ll at least have Haunter and the Gastly and everyone else, but you—”

“Please,” Redi scoffed. “You know my team can fight off anyone who comes our way. We don’t need a horde of sensors to stay safe. I’m more concerned about you and Typhlosion—”

“No, the same is true for us. We’ll be fine,” Sam said.

Once more, their conversation drifted off, but this time around, Sam could tell that this was it. There was no sense in stalling any longer.

“We’ll be back,” he said, turning toward Olivine.

“We’ll be back, too,” Redi said as she turned toward Goldenrod.

They could have said a more explicit goodbye, but they both knew they needn’t bother. This was only a temporary parting. As they each took a step forward, they knew they would be meeting up again.

In Silver Town.

In the Conference.

At the very end of the season.

_______________________________________________________________

“No, no. This is not us betraying Redi. There’s nothing wrong with making a plan!” Sam said to his team. “She’s the same as us—I mean, she’s doing the same as us. We’re just planning for a fight against one another. There’s nothing wrong with that!”

Typhlosion sent Sam a look from where she was sitting during the team’s break. They’d already traveled down Route 39 once before, so Sam knew the best locations to rest and wait. Around them were wide, hilly plains that’d eventually give way to ranches and farms. To the far north, a range of mountains lined the horizon, and directly to their south, a small slope connected to a river that followed the main road.

Technically, they had stopped somewhere where passersby could see Typhlosion, but her evolution wasn’t exactly going to stay secret forever. It was just that the news of her evolution wasn’t something to be passed around just yet. She didn’t need to hide if they weren’t anywhere so public.

From a distance, she looked like a normal Typhlosion, she just had darker fur and purple flames. All Pokémon could have slight differences in fur style and color, and some stores even sold specialty dust that could temporarily change the appearance of a Fire Type’s flames.

So it wasn’t that suspicious to have her out here. It wasn’t like there were any travelers nearby, anyway. Anyone who passed by would just think she was just a strange-looking Typhlosion until they got close, and even then, the rest of Sam’s team could move around to block that view.

But since they were traveling, Sam couldn’t exactly not take breaks to train, and forcing Typhlosion to constantly stay hidden was just plain cruel. There were no problems with her being out right now, and she needed to be out right now. After all, they were planning! What better time to make a plan to defeat Redi if not during a time when Redi wasn’t around?

“Just think about it,” Sam said, looking around to meet almost everyone’s concerned gaze (except for Trevenant, as he didn’t seem to mind), “we already know Redi has a plan to defeat us, so we need to make one to defeat her. But not just her, we also need to be ready for Xavier. More than him, there’s also everyone else we’ve met—Eliza and Edgar and Cassandra and anyone else who might show up at the Conference! We need plans! We have to be able to take them on!”

It was simply common sense to prepare strategies for any trainer they might face, and it was simply common sense to include Redi in that group of potential opponents. Sam’s Pokémon might have grumbled to themselves, but they did relent in the end.

He took the opportunity to pull out a certain book, and for once, it wasn’t the New Pokédex. No, for their upcoming training sessions, he had a journal full of notes prepared specifically for developing the team.

“Morty helped a lot. We know where we can improve because of him. Yeah, we can’t forgo offense again, but we’ve been letting some of our status moves fall to the side.” Sam flipped through his journal’s pages. “I’m talking about the weirder moves—Spite, Grudge, and even Curse. Typhlosion, you saw how that move actually works, so you should be able to figure it out now. And for the rest of you, there’s also Destiny Bond. And then we can’t forget about using known moves in new situations, either.”

He glanced up from his journal to see that his team was paying rapt attention. For his impending plans, he had no intention to let anything Morty had said go to waste. The man was Ecruteak’s Gym Leader. Everything he had said came from a place of extreme, recognized skill, and Morty was also Johto’s foremost expert on the Ghost Type for a reason.

“Also, there’s something else. I’m not going to focus on just you five. For our training, there are a few other Pokémon that deserve our attention, so...”

Sam glanced between his feet at the dark shadow beneath them.

After a second of staring, the mass of hiding Pokémon got the hint, and a Gastly pulled itself out. After that one came another, and then another, and another. There were enough Gastly beneath him that it wasn’t a quick process, but soon enough, an entire swarm of Ghost Types had entered the air—although Haunter did have to dive in and grab two more that hadn't wanted to come out.

“So far, all of you have been traveling with me, and I can see that I’ve been neglecting you. I’m sorry.” Sam bowed his head to the Ghost Type swarm, earning him over a dozen looks of surprise. “For all of you, unless you’re very interested, I’m not going to train you to battle, but I do think working together to plan out a few tricks might be fun. I want to take a more active approach instead of just leaving you as observers. What do you think about that?”

In addition to training his core team, Sam couldn’t forget all of the Gastly that’d been following him across the region. He had a responsibility to make sure they didn’t fall into chaos—and to do that, this moment had been carefully planned.

The phrasing of his offer had been specifically chosen to imply that the training was something the Gastly would get to do instead of something they had to do. Forcing them to train under him would only see most of them run away.

Thankfully, this moment was planned to minimize risks, and Sam already had a quiet conversation with Haunter. Haunter had gone ahead to pick out the most amenable Gastly to inform them of this offer ahead of time.

So, as the swarm weighed Sam’s words, a few, specific individuals were quick to nod. Already aware, they were downright eager to work with Sam. That initial display of willingness opened the floodgates, and as to not part with the rest of the group, the rest of the Gastly easily jumped in to agree.

“Great! I know it’ll be fun. I have a lot of ideas you’ll enjoy,” Sam said.

He hid his sigh of relief as the Gastly began to chat among themselves. Morty wasn’t wrong about his duty to these Pokémon, and it helped to know he wouldn’t have to wrangle them into submission.

That confirmation marked the end of everything Sam had to do to start his team’s practice. Everyone here was ready to help him craft new strategies. The mass Gastly were all ready to train together as well, but even then, to Sam, something felt missing.

So this is it. I’ll be training everyone on my own, huh? It feels... I don’t know. It feels quiet.

There was a missing energy in their group. A certain presence was absent. Unfortunately, it wasn’t like that’d change anytime soon. This was how things would be until the Conference.

“I just want to say that while I might be a bit hard on everyone, it comes from a place of recognition. A place of desire,” Sam said, taking the time to look all of the Pokémon in the eye. “All of you have your own wants and needs, and my job is to make sure they come true. But we can’t forget that we only have so much time left in the season—only so much time left to train. One Gym is all that stands between us and the Conference, but you know what?”

Many of them said their names, asking “What?” in reply.

Sam smiled.

“No matter what, we’re going to win!”

His declaration was met with a cheer by the majority of the Pokémon. While the Gastly were still in agreement, a few were only cautiously optimistic, and Primeape and Trevenant were quiet when they nodded their heads.

Sam knew that all of his Pokémon carried their own desires, but all of those desires came from the same place. They wanted to be happy. They wanted the freedom to do what they wished. But to do that, they all needed the same thing:

They needed to become strong.

Together, they’d train. Redi might not have been there, but Sam and his team still had each other. He had a duty as their trainer to make sure everyone was prepared. He had a duty to make sure they became as strong as they could possibly be.

So as they traveled west, they trained, practiced, and created new plans. His team worked on specific developments, and to make sure everyone was working toward the right goals, Sam began to meet with everyone one by one.

===============================================================
Author Note:

This is the last chapter that Redi’s team will be in the team summary.

Pokémon included in this chapter:
Arcanine
Electrode

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter

Chapter 120

No matter how many times Sam tried to approach Redi, she always found some excuse to slip away.

“Oh, sorry, Ursaring got one of his claws chipped, so I have to go fix that!”

“Dragonair got a little dirty, so I have to go polish her scales!”

“Porygon was super interested in... something else, so I’m definitely going to go do that right now!”

She ran off every time, avoiding Sam, not answering his questions, and, quite frequently, she’d be gone from the Pokémon Center before the sun was even up.

Sam’s Pokémon were just as concerned as he was, and they tried several times to approach Redi and ask her what was wrong. However, she’d been traveling with them for a while. She knew their tricks and knew when to run away. They never had a proper chance to have a real conversation since Redi always knew how to avoid everything.

There was only one solution to this problem, and that solution came in the form of an opportunity Morty presented to them a few days ago. Though Redi might have been avoiding Sam, he knew there’d be one place she was guaranteed to be:

The upcoming festival.

Specifically, she’d be at the entire reason they agreed to stay in town. If Sam couldn’t reach Redi anywhere else, he would reach her there. If not, then, well...

No. He would reach Redi.

He just needed a proper plan.

The festival itself was hosted by the Kimono Girls, a group of skilled performers named after the clothes they always wore. Their performances were always in the style of old Johto, and they performed with such authenticity that they were known region-wide.

...Although, they weren’t technically an independent group but a cross-section of the Ecruteak Theatre Company and the Johtonian Historical Society. However, they carried enough influence and renown to be known separately from those two. Even Mr. Pokémon had connections to them, and they were so well regarded that festivals tended to spring up whenever they had a major performance scheduled. That was the story behind today, and that was the story of this festival that occurred every few months.

Booths and stalls were constructed along the road as several city blocks became closed to anyone but pedestrians. Bright lanterns with text painted onto their sides were thrown onto strings that crisscrossed the growing night sky. Though the festival was yet to fully enter its most populated time, it had already started. From where he stood in the shadows, Sam could already smell the spice in the air and hear the music begin to play. People laughed and pointed as they took in the sights, and in front of the Kimono Girls’ very own theatre, an Espeon draped in rainbow fabric and an Umbreon dressed in whirlpool-themed robes sat on a pair of cushions placed at the sides of the door. The two Pokémon welcomed everyone who stepped inside.

Though a crowd was building, people had only just started to show up. There were enough gaps in the throng that Sam could still see down the road, but there were also enough people that no one paid him any mind.

They didn’t notice the boy leaning against the wall, nor did they notice how his old-fashioned robes let him blend in with the outfits of so many others here. They didn’t hear his sandals scuff against the ground, and they certainly didn’t hear the many Ghost Types floating above them in the night sky.

While most of the floating Pokémon were curious, wild individuals, many more belonged to the Gym. Sam’s team had their own positions, however, with Misdreavus lingering in the shadows beneath his feet, Haunter sending him a thumbs up from a gap between two stalls, and various Gastly positioning themselves to form a grid to keep watch.

“Sorry for not sending you all out, too,” Sam whispered to the three full Pokéballs still at his waist. “I know you’d want to explore this place yourselves, but it’d cause too much trouble. Still, this gives us plenty of reasons to come back here again in the future. I promise you all that we’ll return to Ecruteak to experience this properly once we get the chance.”

Typhlosion was stuck in her Pokéball due to her species—her unique evolution meant she’d attract far too much attention if Sam sent her out in a public place like this. He could feel her Pokéball shake as she expressed her agreement, but the other two Pokémon, Primeape and Trevenant, didn’t bother to respond.

Those two had been kept back because they weren’t sneaky when it came to subtly moving around a human city. A big, angry monkey and a spooky, haunted tree were pretty obvious even in the middle of a crowd. Thankfully, the festival hadn’t appealed to them that much anyway, so they were content to use this time to rest, instead.

Sam fell back into silence as his eyes scanned the crowd, and no one sent him a second glance as they passed by. Children ran to and fro, men and women took in all of the sights, and Sam finally found his target cautiously entering this closed-off city street.

Though he and so many others had dressed up in the style of old Johto, Redi hadn’t bothered to dress up—she’d rather jump off a cliff than put on something like a kimono. Still, even in modern clothes, she wasn’t out of place. She fit in right with the crowd as she took in the sights and looked for somewhere spacious enough for her to send out her team.

But there was more than that. Her gaze seemed to possess a barely suppressed edge as if she had some gut feeling about what was yet to happen.

It was when she stopped in front of a booth containing a pond full of Magikarp that Sam made his move. Too occupied with watching a child use an enormous spoon made of rice paper to fish out a Magikarp, she didn’t see Sam push off from the wall.

She didn’t notice the shadows move in behind her either, but with an almost unnatural perception, she did notice when Sam took a single step forward.

Without any delay whatsoever, Redi turned on a dime and immediately ran. She’d been traveling with Sam for long enough to detect when even the smallest details were off, and it seemed his barely-started approach had been far too targeted for her to not notice what he’d done.

Sam cursed under his breath before quickly taking off after her. He was not wearing the right outfit for a run, but he kicked off his sandals to have them be caught by a Ghost Type lingering in the wall. The only thing he had on were socks as he ran across the ground, but he didn’t care because he knew this was his chance to finally reach Redi and get her to talk.

“Not yet!” Redi shouted as Sam ran after her. “Not now!”

Desperately, she zig-zagged through the crowded street, weaving through groups, between couples, and even unintentionally pushing several people to the side. For Sam, a certain shadow helped to guide his path—Misdreavus left a dark circle on the ground that most people avoided, and she was fast enough to direct him to easy gaps he could use to slip through.

“Look, everyone! It’s the Gym Leader! Wow, Morty’s here!” Redi shouted in an outright lie.

She looked over her shoulder to send Sam a smirk as she withdrew her hands from where she had cupped her mouth. All around her, people gasped and looked around for that famous man who wasn’t actually there. The crowd’s movements slowed, and in her shadow, Misdreavus pulled back.

The gaps in the crowd had all but disappeared, and she didn’t exactly want to get trampled by strangers.

Though Misdreavus wasn’t sure how to deal with the sudden change in the crowd, Sam pushed through. He started to squeeze through whatever gap he could find to get past the clamor and not lose Redi.

Fine. If you want to play it like that, then we have plans, too.

“Haunter!” Sam shouted.

Like what he had done with his sandals, Sam withdrew a sack of coins from his pocket and tossed them into a shadow on the wall. They sank into the darkness like disappearing into a puddle of water. Ahead, a tired-looking vendor jerked awake when the large sum was dumped onto his table, and then Haunter and a few Gastly burst out from behind to spill several baskets of fruits and berries onto the street.

People gasped and pulled away, but Redi didn’t even slow. Though the variety of fruits should have blocked her path, she just took a deep breath and picked up speed.

A single push off the ground. She leaped across.

Completely clearing the obstruction, she landed on the other side and stuck her tongue out at Sam. Her smug grin made it seem as though she planned to walk away from here, but when Sam prepared himself to jump as well, she gasped and turned to keep running away as fast as she could.

“Come on!” Sam shouted as his feet entered the air, and a sea of heads turned to track his leap through the air.

He didn’t make it.

A large Grepa berry burst when one of his feet came down hard. Thankfully, as he flailed and began to topple backward, a hand left a shadow to grab his robes and help stabilize him before he collapsed.

“Thanks, Haunter,” Sam mumbled before continuing his mad dash forward. He did his best to ignore his now-soaked socks.

Sam finally saw Redi try for one last thing as she grabbed a certain Pokéball with an almost guilty expression. Whispering to it as fast as she could, she then tossed it into the air with a single, final yell.

“Check out how cool my Pokémon is!” she shouted.

And that sealed the fate of this chase.

There, in the direct middle of the road, Dragonair appeared with a loud, melodic cry. The crowd of people taking in the festival fell into a hush before crying out in amazement at the incredibly rare species.

Dragonair preened under the attention, and people started to gather around her. Some of Morty’s Pokémon dipped down from above the lanterns to maintain a perimeter around the potentially dangerous Dragon Type, but that only added to the show. They might have been “scary” Ghost Types, but they also clearly belonged to the local Gym. The scene was far too attractive to the average festivalgoer to do anything but stare.

Sam was forced to come to a stop. There was no way forward. Dragonair’s regal presence was far too effective.

Redi got away.

...And then, almost as an insult on top of that, a hand was placed on Sam's shoulder. Cringing, he looked up to see an Ace Trainer staring right back at him.

“You’re cleaning up all of that fruit,” the woman said, her voice leaving no room for arguments.

Sam hung his head, knowing he had no choice but to agree.

_______________________________________________________________

Though Sam had been defeated, it was only Sam who hadn’t been able to follow. He might have been stuck in the festival for a bit longer, but he didn’t miss Misdreavus’s shadow leaving the safety of his own to chase after Redi even as she ran further and further away.

So he cleaned up the fruit, and Dragonair eventually flew off. The festival went back to normal, save for the short period he had to walk around and apologize to everyone he bothered while causing such a massive disturbance.

But, the Ace Trainer eventually determined he’d been “punished” enough, and he was able to leave with a promise to not do anything similar again. He immediately left the festival to meet up with a Gastly waiting for him, and the Pokémon led him to others in a trail that followed Misdreavus and Redi all the way out of town.

He also made sure to put on his shoes.

Sam soon found his friend on a grassy hillside that overlooked all of Ecruteak. The night was deep at this point, and the bright lights of the city were distinct from the few visible stars in the sky.

Dragonair coiled behind Redi, who had her arms crossed on top of her knees. Misdreavus floated over to Sam, looking pleased with herself, and Sam patted her head in thanks before bringing her back into her Friend Ball.

Finally, he reached his friend.

“I only realized Misdreavus was following me when I was halfway here,” Redi said quietly as she stared out over the city. In the distance, the sounds of the festival were faint, but they were audible from even this far away. “I didn’t really have a way to escape, so I figured I’d just wait for you, instead.”

Sam nodded, saying nothing, and sat down next to her. Dragonair briefly brought her head up to check on the two of them before letting it fall back down so she could return to her rest.

“You’ve been avoiding me,” Sam said after sitting there for a while. “Why? Is there something wrong? Is there anything I can do to help?”

He didn't expect it, but to his question, Redi let out a short laugh.

“That’s the problem. You’re already helping me too much!”

He sent her a questioning look, but she looked away from him, rubbing her eyes out of something that was only partially frustration. After taking a moment to get herself back in order, Redi breathed out and returned to staring out over the town.

“You’re always helping. Constantly. It’s not that I’m not grateful, it’s just that... How am I supposed to pay you back? You helped me learn about Pokémon. You got me that Hyper Beam TM. You’re the reason I knew I could seek out Porygon, and then there’s everything with the New Pokédex! Without that, I would have never got my sponsorship, and then I would have never got as far as I did without you, either.”

“But you sold your Beginner’s Tournament medal to get Typhlosion her Curse TM,” Sam replied. “Without that, she would have never gotten so familiar with the Ghost Type and she would have never evolved.”

Redi shook her head.

“That’s just one thing. What else have I done?”

“You helped me figure out how to actually train my team. You gave Primeape the perfect sparring partner in the form of Ursaring. You’re constantly breaking me out of dumb ideas and downward spirals. And you’re always there to support my plans, no matter how stupid I might be.”

She went quiet. It took her a long time to reply.

“That’s all stuff anyone would have done anyway. It still doesn’t match everything you’ve done for me,” she mumbled.

“Doesn’t it?” Sam said, immediately countering her words. “Because it definitely feels like it’s enough, but that doesn’t even matter. Redi, I don’t help you because I want to be repaid. I help you because we’re friends.”

There was a pause, an almost infinitesimally small pause. Sam didn't know what was going on with Redi, but he wanted his friend to be okay.

“That’s not going to change,” he continued. “It’s not going to change, right?”

“...Right,” Redi answered, but her voice was kept uncomfortably low.

“I don’t get it. What’s going on? Wanting to help more can’t be why you’ve been avoiding me so much,” Sam said as he turned to face her.

Redi slumped. She took a deep breath.

“No. That’s not why,” she said reluctantly. “It’s just... It’s just that... Ugh!” 

She furiously scratched the sides of her head. 

“It’s just that I don’t want to say goodbye.”

For an instant, Sam felt the world grind to a halt. Redi didn’t look away from the city, and he didn’t look away from his friend. Yet, no matter how hard he stared, he couldn't find any hint that’d reveal her words to be a lie.

“Say goodbye?” he repeated.

“Where are you going next?” Redi asked, her voice flat as she turned to look at him. “I know your plans, but I want to hear them. What city do you want to head to next?”

“Olivine,” Sam answered carefully. “I want to rematch Jasmine, and I want to see if the sailors there can help me get a sixth Pokémon, too.”

To that, Redi just sighed, leaning back and stretching out her legs. The sudden seriousness that had overtaken her vanished. She stared up at the night sky.

“I can’t do that,” she said, almost in a whisper. “Not because I’m banned from Olivine or anything like that, but just because there’s somewhere else I need to go.

“Mr. Pokémon called me,” she continued, still leaning back. “He gives me updates a lot, and I talk about my team. Right before we left Mahogany Town, he called me about Porygon. There, he told me he managed to get me a meeting with Bill about Porygon’s evolution.”

Sam froze.

“Bill? The Bill? That’s great! He's an expert with computers! He can help Porygon evolve, right?”

“Yeah. Maybe,” Redi said solemnly, but a slight smile did appear on her face. “The thing is, we don’t know for sure. Everything he’s going to do is experimental, and we’re volunteering to help him just as much as he’s volunteering to help us. But...”

She breathed out again, her faint smile fading alongside the mist formed by her breath.

“But Bill lives in Goldenrod. Not Olivine. We won’t be able to go to two places at once.”

Sam immediately found fault in that. He didn’t hesitate to counter.

“I don’t see how that means a goodbye,” he said. “We just go to Goldenrod first, and then we catch a boat to reach Cianwood. Once we both earn our eighth badge, we can then swing back around to Olivine so I can face Jasmine’s core team and then we’ll still have time before the Conference to do what we want!”

Redi glanced over at Sam out of the corner of her eye. The expression on her face said everything.

It wouldn’t work.

“I need to catch Stantler before going to Cianwood if I want to earn my eighth badge. And I don’t know how long I’ll have to stay in Goldenrod to get Porygon to evolve so we can teleport further. And there are also a few people Mr. Pokémon wants me to visit to maybe help with Ursaring’s evolution, so when I account for all of that...”

Sam fell back down. The plans he had for his team didn't line up with any of that.

“...We really have to split up here, don't we?” he said quietly.

Redi unhappily nodded her head.

For a while, they said nothing, choosing to just sit there and stare out over the city. At one point, fireworks were launched from the rooftops surrounding the festival, and Dragonair’s eyes sparkled as she took in the show.

Sam didn’t enjoy it. He couldn't enjoy it. He felt like he’d just been punched. He never considered that he and Redi might need to split up before the Conference. They’d been taking on the entire Gym Challenge together every moment before now.

We would have gone to Olivine, then Cianwood, and then taken a boat back down to Goldenrod before going to Ilex Forest. It could have worked out so well, but that’s only if we prioritized what I want.

Redi is right. For her team, she has to go to Goldenrod as soon as possible if she wants them to succeed. And the same is true for me when it comes to Olivine and my team.

When it came to Porygon, Redi desperately wanted them to evolve. Sam knew she prayed that an evolution would help them become more independent. And then when it came to Sam’s journey, re-battling Jasmine was only a loose desire, but he had promised himself he’d do it. Also, Typhlosion deserved to visit her grandfather again, who lived along the way, and Sam had a gut feeling that traveling back toward Olivine was something Primeape needed to do.

It felt as though they could have made it work if anything was ever so slightly different. But it wasn’t. And that meant they couldn’t keep traveling together once they left Ecruteak.

“Well...” Sam started, but he stopped himself as he made his expression serious. “Well, whatever! Who cares if we won’t be traveling together for the last bit of the season? The Conference is coming up no matter what! We’re absolutely going to earn our last badges, and we’re absolutely going to compete! So! We just need to promise to meet back up in Silver Town, and we’ll both be there when the time comes!”

Sam pushed to his face, now properly facing Redi. Dragonair watched him as he stood up, and he could feel the eyes of a few of his Ghost Types staring at his back.

“Agatha, and then Morty, both told me that I need to get better at managing how Ghost Type energy affects me,” he said, talking quickly. “I know I can get angry or annoyed or bothered easily, but to stop that, they said I should make some kind of rules for myself so I always have something to fall back to. I might have been avoiding it because I didn’t want to think about it, but let me make my first rule here right here and now!”

He held out his hand.

“I will never betray my friends, and I will never break my promises,” he declared. “And I promise to you that we’ll meet back up in the Conference. You’ll promise me that too, right?”

Redi stared at his offered palm before finally letting out a snort. A sharp grin of her own appeared across her face.

“Of course! Gah, why am I acting like this? It’s like I’m becoming you or something!”

She clasped his hand, and Sam yanked her to her feet. Their eyes then met in what could only be a challenge between trainers.

Their eyes met in a challenge between friends.

“We’ll face each other in the Conference,” Redi promised.

“We’ll face each other in the Conference,” Sam promised right back.

Some trainers would have a battle to say goodbye or even exchange gifts. Sometimes, in rare scenarios, trainers would even trade a Pokémon to encourage one another to meet back up in the future.

But Sam didn’t need to say or do anything else, and the same was true for Redi. Both were only one badge away from their goals with future schedules that saw little potential for an overlap. They both had the same goals, but they both had different paths. Yet, eventually, they’d be in the same place no matter what.

The Silver League Conference was a mere month and a half away, so for now, they’d be parting.

However, they both knew they’d meet back up soon enough.

===============================================================
Author Note:

Pokémon (and people) included in this chapter:
Espeon
Umbreon

Kimono Girls
Morty

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter

Chapter 119

Curse had always been a “buffing” move on Sam’s team. Its energy required its user to focus, slowing them down, but it otherwise increased a Pokémon’s physical capabilities.

Typhlosion, as a Quilava, had made great use of it when paired with her Flame Wheel. Similarly, its energy was what let Primeape figure out Rage Fist in the first place.

Yet, Curse’s effects changed when used by a Ghost Type, no longer serving as an enhancement and changing into a targeted, damage-over-time effect. Though Porygon continued to look as emotionless as always, Curse had inflicted a sort of lethargy to its clockwork-like movements. Its clicks would stall here and there, and an occasional wince would crop up and cause it to pause.

Pain, Sam realized. Curse inflicts pain.

He could see no other visible effects or injuries. Though Banette had fainted, its Curse remained. Porygon would only grow more and more exhausted until its eventual faint.

“Get ready,” Redi said, though Sam wasn’t sure how much Porygon would benefit from that assurance.

As Morty maintained a polite smile, Banette’s replacement, Drifblim, lazily drifted over the field.

Each side had two Pokémon left at this point, but Redi was at a severe disadvantage due to Porygon’s injuries and Ursaring’s likely poor match-ups. Sam could at least recognize Porygon’s limited time left conscious, so he quickly fulfilled his role as referee to call for the battle to continue.

“Resume!” he called out.

Redi wasted no time, as well.

“Charge Beam!”

Around Porygon, motes of Electric Type energy sparked up only to be sucked in and absorbed by the artificial Pokémon. Charge Beam built up Porygon’s power before being released, and Porygon’s impeccable aim meant it was due to hit.

But Morty was prepared. He had no plans to let Porygon do anything but suffer from its Curse.

“Minimize,” he said calmly, and that command let Drifblim easily dodge.

As a balloon-like Pokémon, Drifblim didn’t exactly have set dimensions. Charge Beam tore through the air toward the dead center of its body, but it suddenly pulled into itself, shrinking and cutting its size in half. Doing so saw its center of mass be pulled down, and the top of its head moved to be just barely under the launched beam.

Charge Beam completely missed, sailing past Drifblim to strike an invisible barrier that was being maintained by the various Ghost Types in the room.

“You...” Redi grumbled to herself. “Fine. Whatever. Porygon, return.”

Before Porygon fell to the Curse, she withdrew her Pokémon back into its ball. Curse didn’t linger after a switch, but it was far more effective than a burn or base poison when it came to dealing damage. If Curse couldn’t faint a Pokémon, it could at least force a switch.

Unfortunately, it had done its job, and Porygon was a hair’s breadth away from falling unconscious. At least, because Redi switched here, if Ursaring tied to Morty’s final Pokémon, Redi would win thanks to still having Porygon left.

But she needed to faint Drifblim first if she wanted to even think about Morty’s final Pokémon.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how your team handles Drifblim,” Morty commented.

“Yeah? I didn’t expect you to be so excited about losing,” Redi replied with a smirk.

Morty laughed as Redi tossed forward a Pokéball, bringing her expected Ursaring onto the field.

I don’t understand how she can be so confident here. Ursaring only has Rock Slide and Hyper Beam to deal with flying opponents. Except, Drifblim is immune to Hyper Beam, and Rock Slide can’t do much with Minimize letting Drifblim dodge. But she’s not bothered. Why?

Sam quickly realized that, yet again, both Redi and Morty were waiting on him.

“Continue!” he shouted.

Weirdly, Drifblim suddenly expanded back to its normal size. Minimize was dropped as if maintaining it required an exertion similar to constantly flexing an arm.

“Ominous Wind,” Morty ordered. “Focus on reacting with Minimize.”

“Swords Dance!” Redi yelled. She said nothing more than that, smiling as if her victory was now assured.

Rather than immediately dealing with Drifblim, Ursaring reared back to stand on his hind legs, beginning to regularly stomp back and forth. His claws clashed against one another in the air, echoing with ringing clangs that sent his fur standing on its ends.

The pressure conjured by the move caused him to visibly bulk up. Swords Dance increased his physical power.

Morty tilted his head to the side.

“Hm. I think I get it. Your strategy is something similar to... the Law of Large Numbers?” he asked. “Even if Drifblim avoids most of your attacks, something will eventually hit, and with Swords Dance, you’re making sure it’ll hit hard enough to knock him out with just that.”

Redi maintained her grin.

“Am I really that obvious? Well, you got it in one,” she said. “Sometimes, you don’t need a complicated strategy when brute strength is good enough!”

Morty seemed to enjoy her answer, as he chuckled at her response. He didn’t adjust the orders he had given to his Pokémon, and both sides of the field built themselves up.

Sure, Ominous Wind was an attack, but the Ghost Type move could never affect the Normal Type Ursaring, anyway. No, as Drifblim’s tendrils vibrated from the force of the ghostly wind it generated around it, the effect served to enhance its every capability thanks to the move’s energy priming Drifblim for a fight.

Both Pokémon had the same core strategy—to build themselves up so that their opponent would be unable to withstand any attack. Sam would have said Drifblim had the advantage since Ominous Wind boosted every capability including defense, but Ominous Wind’s boost only occurred rarely. Morty was already fortunate enough that it had happened once.

However, Redi seemed to recognize Ominous Wind’s limitation. Rather than waiting for Ursaring to completely maximize his strength, she called out for Ursaring to attack now, before Drifblim managed to enhance itself a second time.

“Rock Slide!”

As an attack learned solely to take on Walker’s Flying Type Gym, Ursaring knew how to use this move to target a Pokémon in the air. He stabbed his claws into the ground and tore up the floor, using Rock Type energy to send an absolute barrage of stones hurtling toward Drifblim.

But while Drifblim was in the air, it was no bird. Most importantly, it could shrink. Using Minimize combined with the speed gained from its Ominous Wind boost, it was able to maneuver through even the smallest of gaps, and as a balloon Pokémon, it was able to perfectly move up and down unlike any Pokémon with wings.

“Alright, Drifblim,” Morty called out. “We’ll be finishing off Ursaring here.”

He might not have given an explicit order, but his Drifblim seemed to understand the Gym Leader’s command. It replied with a voice that reminded Sam of some kind of kazoo—a very excited kazoo, which made the response that much more worrying.

Continuing its nimble movements, it slipped right through the onslaught of Rock Slide to rush Ursaring, which caused Ursaring to grin. Rather than stay in the air, where it was hard to hit, Drifblim was moving right into his melee range.

Unfortunately, even as Redi yelled out a command, Drifblim’s ribbons lashed out. Something akin to darkness sparked up around Ursaring’s claws in reaction, but before he could unleash any move, Drifblim had already managed to tie him up with a Constrict that limited his movements.

The strength granted by Swords Dance should have been enough to let Ursaring break free. Drifblim countered that by giving Ursaring just the slightest amount of leeway—he could flail about, but he couldn’t exactly reach back to swipe where it maintained its Constrict behind him.

Gritting her teeth, Redi momentarily looked overcome with annoyance before she suddenly blinked and slapped herself on the head.

“Wait. I’m stupid,” she said. “Just use Ice Punch.”

“Not going to work,” Morty countered.

They were both partially right.

Yes, Ursaring wasn’t able to land the Ice Punch, but as freezing energies crackled up his arms, they left a sharp frost on the tendrils actively wrapping him up. As a Flying Type, Drifblim was especially vulnerable to the Ice Type energy and reflexively pulled back. Doing so freed Ursaring from its grip.

“There we go! Take it out!” Redi yelled.

Morty let out a sigh.

“Looks like we’re doing this sooner rather than expected. Explosion, Drifblim. End this match now.”

Redi’s smile fell from her face as Drifblim cheered its name and glowed a bright orange. Ursaring had already dedicated himself to his attack and was stuck mid-Ice Punch when all of that energy was released.

Smoke, dirt, and heat exploded outwards, completely covering the field and warping the air with a thick obscuration. Sam narrowed his eyes without saying anything—though Drifblim was guaranteed to faint from a sacrificial move like Explosion, the fate of Ursaring was still left unknown.

Morty spoke up in the meantime.

“Our strategy usually involves Payback. Each time Drifblim is damaged, the move lets him return it two-fold. But in the case of your Ursaring, it wouldn’t have been possible to use it more than once. You saw how Swords Dance would cause even a single hit to knock Drifblim out?”

“...Yeah?” Redi said. She seemed more focused on trying to see through the smoke than listening to Morty’s words.

“The answer to that, of course, would be Aftermath. Drifblim’s ability means that he doesn’t need to use Explosion to deal damage when he faints. But since Explosion is more powerful, and since you have only one Pokémon left, it made more sense to take Ursaring out here.” Morty shrugged. “Like I said at the start of the battle, I had no plans to hold back.”

Redi nodded along, and her eyes lit up when she noticed something in the smoke. Her smile returned to her face as she replied, staring at a shadow on her side of the field.

“Yeah, that’s no problem. I totally get why you called for that,” Redi said far too casually. “You’re missing something, though.”

“What?”

“There’s no way Ursaring would fall to a single move like that!”

Her shout was punctuated by a roar in the center of the field, and the sheer ferocity of the noise pushed all the smoke away. The suddenly clear field revealed an unconscious Drifblim on the floor. However, Ursaring, blackened and breathing heavily, stood tall on his hind legs. He was more injured than he’d ever been before, but Redi’s Pokémon were strong. He was far too determined to allow himself to faint just like that.

“Good.” Morty smiled. “Your Pokémon are doing well, even with the disadvantage you’re at.”

“You really thought we’d fight three-on-five if we couldn’t withstand something as simple as an Explosion? Please. We’ve been fighting at a disadvantage since the start. Every Gym Battle, my Pokémon are always outnumbered.”

As Redi bragged to Morty, Sam considered the match so far. All of Redi’s previous team members had only been defeated by proportional effects. Destiny Bond had knocked out Dragonair, but Destiny Bond was a move that took out any foe regardless of a difference in strength. Similarly, the pain caused by Curse “scaled” with a Pokémon’s health.

So far, Morty had only managed knock-outs when not relying on direct attacks.

However, Sam was still confused. Calling for Drifblim to faint here felt like a waste.

I don’t get why he called for an Explosion. Did he really think Redi’s Rock Slide strategy was that much of a threat? His command is the reason Drifblim fainted, but then again...

Payback isn’t the strongest move in the world, and Drifblim probably doesn’t have too many other options against Normal Types. Morty probably figured that the sheer damage potential of Explosion was worth the trade-off.

...Which means this is him setting up Ursaring for the final Pokémon on his team.

“I appreciate your confidence, Redi, but like you said, this is still a three-on-five match!” Morty called out as he returned his fainted Drifblim. “I still have one Pokémon left, and Ursaring is in no state to take them out!”

“Bring it on,” Redi growled without even an ounce of fear.

Morty regained that same grin from before, looking over the field with the expression of a trainer enthralled by a match. Tossing up the last Pokéball he had brought for this battle, his final team member appeared on the field.

It was as threatening as it seemed. Morty released a fully evolved Gengar.

Seeing that Pokémon, Redi frowned. Not necessarily because it represented a threat, but because she’d commented about wanting to save Porygon’s Psybeam for a Poison Type. She had expected this Pokémon, just not necessarily in this order.

“Ursaring. Be careful,” she said slowly. “We don’t know how it fights.”

This Gengar wasn’t one Sam had seen before, but it looked just as mischievous as the Gengar that had fought Dusclops, staring at Ursaring with a wide, gleaming smile.

“Resume the battle,” Sam said.

Both trainers pointed forward.

“Shadow Claw!” Redi shouted.

“Agatha!” Morty ordered.

Sam blinked at the Gym Leader’s strange command.

Agatha? As in Elite Four Agatha?

Despite it being the weirdest order Sam had ever heard, Morty’s command seemed to carry a meaning to the Gengar. Its grin grew wide enough to almost split its head in half. Ursaring roared and charged, and the Gengar zipped over to meet him on the field.

They would reach one another in the center, and both Pokémon looked excited for the clash.

Ursaring let his front claws hang. They gathered shadows that stretched from his paws and left grooves in the dirt floor. While it was heartening to see that Redi had taken Sam’s Ghost Type lessons to heart, Sam still couldn’t help but be worried when the Gengar got close. Thanks to Swords Dance and Gengar’s frail body, Ursaring’s Shadow Claw would undoubtedly faint his foe, but the same was true for Gengar’s attacks thanks to the sheer amount of damage Ursaring had taken from that Explosion.

He remained standing through sheer willpower alone, something Redi’s team possessed in spades. Without any worry, Ursaring met Gengar in the middle of the field and reared up to try to use the motion to cleave right through his foe. The energy of his Shadow Claw left reverberations behind it, but the Gengar carried enough speed to pull back and dodge, bouncing away as the shadowy attack tore through the air an inch away.

Ursaring clearly expected Gengar to respond with an attack of its own. He followed up his swipe by pulling that same attack down, intending to cleave Gengar from above instead of from below.

He made a mistake here. So focused on attacking, he met Gengar’s gaze as he brought his claws down. Gengar didn’t move to dodge—it didn’t need to.

Instead, Ursaring utterly froze.

“Close your eyes!” Redi shouted desperately.

While her call could have been helpful, it was already too late.

Trapped by the sudden Hypnosis, Ursaring collapsed. The thud of his heavy body shook the floor, and his snores shook the air.

“Ugh! How did we fall for that? That’s, like, Sam’s every battle,” Redi grumbled.

Morty got you used to fighting with direct attacks against Drifblim. He put you in a certain mindset that he then took advantage of with Gengar.

Sam was in awe of the Gym Leader’s subtle manipulations. Morty, far too focused on the battle to notice Sam’s reaction, went ahead to share some of his thoughts with Redi.

“Gengar are powerful and speedy special attackers. Most trainers use them solely for offense,” he explained. “However, there’s one trainer that uses the Gengar line differently—and I’m not talking about Sam. Agatha’s primary strategy almost singularly relies on sleep. Her Pokémon are so incredible at sending opponents to sleep that few can even counter.

“Of course, we took inspiration here.”

As Morty spoke, his Gengar floated down with a movement that mimicked a cocky strut through the air. Each step brought it lower as it approached the sleeping Ursaring’s head.

“My call for ‘Agatha’ wasn’t a call for a specific attack, but it was a call to direct Gengar toward a specific strategy, even if that’s not how my team usually fights. At this level, trainers are expected to have a counter for status effects, but not usually when they’re such a surprise. Honestly, with your travels with Sam, I’m surprised that you had Ursaring go in so—”

“Ugh.” Redi’s sudden groan interrupted Morty. “Are you really going to make us do this? I mean, come on! That’s not fair.”

Morty paused. Gengar stopped preparing its next move to look up.

“Sorry, what?” Morty said.

“Do you mean taking on the Gym again?” Sam asked.

Redi shot Sam a glare before looking over to Morty. The Gym Leader frowned as he tried to think of what Redi was referring to.

“I’m not talking about that!” Redi shouted. “We’re not losing here. No, it’s just... This sucks. Do you even realize what you’ve done?”

“No?” Morty offered.

At this point, Ursaring was far too soundly asleep to do anything. Even though Gengar was watching Redi—its species far too curious to do anything else—it wasn’t exactly concerned about its opponent right now.

“This was supposed to be our trump card! Our secret strategy! Our surprise against Sam when we eventually fight in the Conference!” she whined.

She stomped a foot against the ground and let out a huff. Her vague words had captured the attention of every single watcher in this room as everyone tried to figure out her plan.

“Can’t really ask you to turn around if you’re the referee,” she grumbled to Sam. “Whatever.”

There was no pause after that word, but it sure felt like there was one.

“Ursaring,” Redi said, “use Sleep Talk.”

Redi’s command came out frustrated, but Morty’s eyes immediately went as wide as they could go. For once in this battle, he seemed to be genuinely caught off-foot. This move wasn’t anything that relied on a strategy of brute strength. Except, in a strange way, it absolutely was.

Still completely asleep, Ursaring stirred. He didn’t wake up or unleash a direct attack, but he did grumble and flip around. He seemed to be in some sort of hibernation-like state—which helped to explain why Redi didn’t bother to call out for him to wake up.

No, rolling to his side, he threw out an arm as if tossing and turning in his sleep. With how sudden and unexpected that movement came, Gengar was in no position to dodge when the attack hit.

A Shadow Claw tore right through it, disrupting its body and launching it far back. Ursaring remained asleep, but he had also remained under the effects of Swords Dance. Gengar’s cockiness and Redi’s distraction had given him plenty of room for this final blow.

“Gengar is...” Sam had to swallow once he realized what Redi had done. “Gengar is unable to battle. Redi wins?”

“You don’t have to act so surprised!” Redi snapped. “I’m allowed to develop my own tricks!”

At the end of her shout, the reality of that knock-out seemed to settle in. Redi looked to the unmoving Gengar and then dragged her stare over to the motionless Gym Leader. Morty was still in the process of taking her strategy in.

Several long seconds passed before he finally reacted. Morty slapped a hand to his forehead and drew himself back for a laugh.

“Of course! It all makes sense!” he practically shouted. “Guts activates under any status condition! Sleep Talk is even better—while asleep, every attack is enhanced!”

There was a slight pause.

“Oh. Yeah. Absolutely. I definitely thought of that,” Redi lied.

Still standing at the side of the field, Sam stared at Redi, who seemed to purposefully not look his way. She returned Ursaring before immediately releasing him at her side, and she pushed her shoulder against him to try to wake up.

She taught Ursaring that move just for me? Just so she could counter my team? She’s been preparing for a battle in the Conference all this time, which means...

Which means...

Sam breathed out.

Which means Redi is more prepared to defeat us than we’re prepared to defeat her.

At this point, her entire team had some sort of counter against status effects, and when Sam had been training his team, he’d been training for general opponents rather than anyone specific. He thought he’d be able to pick up the gaps once he earned his eighth Gym Badge, but now he could only worry about how many more strategies Redi had prepared—and there was more to that. Xavier had also told Sam he planned to win, and how many specific counters would Xavier have once they faced one another in the Conference?

As Ursaring slowly came to, he smacked his lips before glancing over to Redi. She sent him a look, causing him to shoot up, and she used the opportunity to fall forward into his stomach, pressing herself into his fur for a hug.

“We did it,” she said quietly.

Still waking up, Ursaring drowsily grinned and let his arms fall around her to hug back.

As the moment passed, Morty finally returned his Pokémon and walked over to join her. She looked up at him, and he smiled. He reached into his pocket to take out a certain ghost-shaped badge and place it into her palm.

“Congratulations,” he said. “I can tell you and your team worked hard for this.”

Redi’s grin was as bright as the sun. She’d been training for this ever since her loss to Ecruteak’s Gym Trial, and this badge was proof of more than just a victory—it was proof of her genuine growth as a trainer.

“One left,” she whispered, staring at the pin in her hand. “Only one Badge left for us to obtain before we take on the Conference.”

Ursaring let out a roar to express his confidence.

“I also want to thank you for this match, by the way,” Morty said, and Redi looked up at him as Sam walked over. “Given what you already know, I had the freedom to try out a few new strategies, though your Normal Types made the lack of Hex a pain. Still, your Pokémon are independently strong enough that you fight similarly enough. You were the perfect opponent to help me practice for my challenge against Lance.”

Redi’s jaw dropped open. Sam stumbled where he was walking over.

“Lance,” Sam repeated as he arrived, keeping his voice low. “Champion Lance, you mean? You’re training for a match against him?”

“Yes.” Morty’s voice contained nothing but the truth. “Hex’s power contains the edge we need. Honestly, my team could win on Destiny Bond alone, but I already told you that kind of fight isn’t really a fight. No, my Pokémon and I have been training for a proper battle for quite some time. While we have our tricks, we plan to win with our own strength no matter how powerful our opponent might be.”

At Morty’s side, a haze caused the air to waver, and he brought up a hand to pat his Mismagius as she appeared next to him.

“Moves like Spite, Curse, and even Minimize and Ominous Wind are going to be key. I won’t be surprised if Lance has something like Sleep Talk in his pocket, which is one of the reasons I appreciate this battle so much. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to use moves like Grudge and Destiny Bond or even Explosion. I can’t let any of my Pokémon faint too early against someone like the Champion—but I also have to admit that I might have pushed against the limits of what I’m allowed to do in a Gym Battle.”

He chuckled, scratching a cheek.

“Sorry about that.”

“...We still won,” Redi mumbled.

“Regardless, my match against Lance is scheduled to take place between seasons in a public showing. Demand will probably make tickets hard to get, but as long as you two promise to cheer me on, I can make sure some are passed your way, yeah?”

He grinned, and his expression was once again one that wouldn’t have been out of place on Redi’s face.

Sam was only able to slowly nod due to his shock. As a Gym Leader, Morty had the right to challenge Lance every so often, but people just didn’t do something like that right out of the blue.

“But why?” Redi asked. “Why challenge Lance?”

“To prove myself,” Morty answered, a strange look entering his eyes. “Fighting the Champion is more than just a battle for me. There’s a Pokémon I have to meet. But the only way I can ever do that is if I prove myself a worthy enough trainer for it to accept me.”

Silence lingered after his declaration, and Morty shook his head to snap himself out of the strange mood that had overtaken him.

“But that’s for the future! Right now, you two are rapidly becoming amazing trainers in your own right!” he said excitedly.

“Yeah, Redi’s pretty great,” Sam said.

Redi’s face turned bright red as she looked away.

“Well, in the meantime, I highly encourage you two to take some time to relax. Your journeys have been going on for a while, and you still have over a full month and a half to earn your final Gym Badge!” Morty said. “Stick around for a bit. Hang out in Ecruteak! Sam, I noticed you two tend to leave cities immediately after earning the local Gym Badge. The Kimono Girls are hosting a festival within the next few days. At least wait to experience that, yeah?”

Sam breathed out, getting over his shock to nod once again. He didn’t plan to battle Morty himself, but he was fine with lingering in the city especially if it meant he could watch some of the strong Ghost Type trainers here fight.

The festival was a bonus, too.

“That’s fine with me,” Sam said. “We have time until the Conference, and it shouldn’t take too long to get to Cianwood. I want to rematch Jasmine in Olivine and get a sixth Pokémon first, but we need to catch a boat in Olivine to reach Cianwood, anyway. I’m fine with staying in Ecruteak for a few more days, at least, if it’s okay with you, Re—”

He stopped himself when he saw Redi had frozen where she stood. She had gone utterly still upon mention of Olivine, and her happy expression had vanished from her face.

Almost hurriedly, she looked between Sam and Morty before taking a step back.

“S-sure,” she said quickly. “We can do that. I just... I just need to heal my Pokémon. Excuse me!”

Very uncharacteristically, she threw herself into a bow before running out of the room, briefly turning around to return Ursaring when she remembered. As she vanished through the battlefield’s doors, Sam turned to Morty to see if the Gym Leader knew why that had happened, but Morty was just as confused as him.

The Ghost Types in the room murmured among themselves, and Typhlosion walked over to stand at Sam’s side. They stared at the entrance, watching the swinging doors that marked Redi’s sudden exit.

Neither of them understood what just happened, but they could tell it had been important. It had happened so suddenly that it caught them off guard, but it was still blatantly obvious that something was going on with their friend.

===============================================================
Author Note:

Thank you for being so patient! Next chapter on Friday.

I've updated the team summary to actually include Pryce's Gym Badge. The total number of earned Gym Badges should be accurate for both Sam and Redi, now. Sorry about that!

Pokémon (and people) included in this chapter:
Banette
Drifblim
Gengar
Mismagius

Morty

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter

Slight Delay

Unfortunately, when I woke up this morning, a minor cold I thought I had turned out to be worse. I will be able to write, just not today.

Next chapter will come out tomorrow around the usual time. There's no change to Friday's chapter or any other chapter, I'm just unable to get anything done right now.

See you soon.

Chapter 118

Author Note:

As much as I wanted to include the entire battle in this chapter, it quickly began to reach an unreasonable length, and I had to split it up. I’m very sorry to start a short break without a conclusive note.

This chapter contains the first half of Redi’s battle against Morty. The second half will be in the next chapter.

We’ll pick up on Tuesday, December 3rd. For everyone celebrating it, I hope you have a happy Thanksgiving!

==============================================================

The room became a flurry of activity when Morty stepped out to prepare for the fight. The various Ghost Types worked together to move everything out of the way, pushing the table to the side, adjusting the balloons so they wouldn’t drift onto the field, and even switching which wall the banner was on. Sam didn’t understand why they had done that, but they seemed to find it funny.

The battlefield itself was swept clean of the torn-paper confetti, and Redi took up her spot within her trainer box on the challenger’s side of the field. She stared at the door from which Morty had left with a look of pure determination on her face.

Soon, the Ghost Pokémon retreated into shadows or lingered at the side to watch. Sam stood next to Typhlosion and rubbed her back as she watched at the door just as intently as Redi.

“She’s trained hard for this,” Sam said quietly.

Typhlosion softly chuffed in reply.

Moments later, a click marked the door opening up, and Redi mumbled, “Here we go,” to the sight of the Gym Leader himself striding into the room.

“So,” Morty said in greeting, adjusting the purple headband holding back his blonde hair. “I’ve managed to gather up the Pokémon I need for a challenge of this level. You said you have a team of three?”

Redi firmly nodded.

“I do. I also have a fourth, but they aren’t with me right now.”

She’d be gathering her fourth and likely final Pokémon closer to the end of the season. Redi had told Sam that she planned to go back for Stantler as soon as Porygon became strong enough to teleport greater distances.

“Great!” Morty stepped into his trainer box and swiped a thumb under his nose. He looked around, taking in the adjustments made to the room while he was gone. “I’ll be using a team of five, the standard for a seventh badge challenge. I’ll also be using a few more ‘unique’ strategies you may or may not be familiar with. I can’t exactly test them out against anyone else.”

He sent a look to Sam, making his unspoken plans pretty obvious. Morty wanted to use Hex, a move he’d been keeping secret much in the same way Sam had been keeping the New Pokédex secret. However, Redi already knew about Hex, so she was the perfect opponent to test it out against, albeit at a slightly lower level.

It’d be difficult for him, though. Hex was a Ghost Type move, and two-thirds of Redi’s team was the Normal Type.

Next to Sam, Typhlosion shook out of excitement for the battle. The noise she made seemed to remind both Morty and Redi that they had an audience.

“Oh, shoot. Hold on. We need a referee,” Morty suddenly said.

When he locked eyes with Sam, Sam froze in place.

“Me?” Sam gaped at Morty. “But I don’t have any kind of training or certification or—”

“You’ll be fine!” Morty interrupted. “You’re familiar enough with our Pokémon to know when to call if they’ve fainted. Redi and I won’t break any rules, so you don’t need to worry about that. Just make sure the match keeps flowing properly, yeah?”

Sam glanced over to Redi, who gestured with her head to encourage him onto the field. Morty’s core Pokémon, the ones too strong to use in this match, piled on more supporting shouts—although it was mostly just his Mismagius.

What really did him in were the snickers from Typhlosion. She was enjoying that she was no longer the only one receiving that kind of attention. With a paw on his back, she pushed him forward, sending Sam stumbling closer to the field.

“F-fine then. Just gimme a moment to get into the right mindset.” He cleared his throat while walking up to the battlefield’s side. Adjusting his posture, he looked between Redi and Morty before finally raising his voice. “Trainers! ... And Ghost Types! We’re about to witness Redi take on Morty’s Gym! For this fight, it’ll be a three-on-five challenge, where Trainers will be permitted up to five Pokémon, and they’ll have...”

“Four,” Morty said, recognizing where Sam got stuck.

“Four switches each!” Sam finished. “We’ll be battling under the League’s standard rules, which everyone already knows. And, since I don’t have anything else to say... Send out your Pokémon?”

Morty chuckled and flicked his wrist to toss a basic Pokéball into the air. Appearing above the field was a Misdreavus, one trained by Morty instead of Sam.

Its appearance stirred a reaction off to the side. Morty’s Mismagius shook Sam’s Misdreavus excitedly and pointed to try to get her to pay attention regardless of how she would have done so anyway.

Redi took only a single moment to look over the Pokémon floating above the field. This Misdreavus was clearly one fit for a seven-star challenge, and the even ripples through its hair and cloth-like body hinted at its exceptional control of Ghost Type energy.

“Last time we were here, we lost. I had to put off our challenge for later,” Redi said, looking down at a Pokéball she held in her hands. “It’s been a while, but we didn’t let that time go to waste. We spent all of it practicing and training and preparing ourselves...”

She chuckled to herself.

“Well, I’ve realized that pure power isn’t that great. At least, it’s not that great without a strategy to support it!”

With a shout, Redi thrust her Pokéball into the air, a beam of light striking the earth and coalescing into the shape of her latest team member. A few of the weaker Ghost Types off to the side oohed and awed at the mid-stage Dragon Type that took form above the field.

“Dragonair!” Redi yelled, her voice a roar to start the match. “Get ready for your Twister-slam strategy!”

“Misdreavus,” Morty said in reply. “You know the plan. I don’t need to tell you what to do.”

With both Pokémon an instant away from throwing themselves into battle, Sam sliced through the air with an arm, waving an imaginary flag to start everything off.

“Begin!”

Dragonair lunged, her form blurring with an Agility that accelerated her to incredible speeds. Morty’s Misdreavus had no choice but to brace itself as Dragonair almost immediately reached it and pulled up to loom before it.

“Trap-n’-spin!” Redi yelled.

As Dragonair reared back her head, Sam flicked his eyes over to Morty, memories of their previous conversation still fresh in his mind. He watched closely as Dragonair used her move, no longer needing to coil up, only needing to call out her name to conjure whipping winds that caught Misdreavus inside.

Twister was technically a trapping move, but it did not trap foes in the same manner as Fire Spin or Whirlpool. It captured its target within a harsh, windy spiral, and Morty’s Misdreavus was forced to hunker down to stop the buffeting gale from making it flinch.

Imprisoned in Twister’s center, the Misdreavus would be in no place to avoid the incoming blue glow of Dragonair’s Aqua Tail. Yet, Sam and Morty both knew that Ghost Type Pokémon weren’t Pokémon to be trapped. Despite the powerful combo, Morty looked unconcerned and uttered only a single, casual word.

“Now.”

Dark shadows overtook a full half of the field.

Ominous Wind might not have been a Flying Type move, but the strength of its gusts was still able to disrupt Dragonair’s attack. She still managed to snap out her tail to complete her Aqua Tail, but Misdreavus faded away into a hazy pair of red eyes that dissipated when the move swiped through them.

Bewildered, Dragonair hurriedly searched around her to find where her opponent had gone. She turned a second too late, coming face to face with Morty’s Misdreavus, who had ridden its own breeze to reposition itself behind Dragonair’s head.

The successive Shadow Ball slammed into Dragonair’s chin, sending her careening back. However, Redi hadn’t been slacking on her team’s training, and Dragonair was able to catch herself before she fell out of the sky. Since she lacked any proper limbs, she didn’t exactly need to orient herself “normally,” either.

“Thunder Wave!” Redi shouted.

The impact of the Shadow Ball might have sent Dragonair recoiling back until she was upside-down, but she was still able to unleash her attack without any issues. Electricity crackled off her scales to jump onto Morty’s Misdreavus. It simply wasn’t ready for such an incredibly fast retaliation.

Sam hummed to himself as Dragonair used the delay caused by her inflicted paralysis to recover.

So Morty used Ominous Wind as a way to both hide and move around. It’s no Shadow Sneak, but it’s definitely less obvious. It’s also not as blatant as a sphere of darkness from Night Shade.

Morty called for a Psychic, his Pokémon’s eyes glowing a blue similar to Dragonair’s scales. However, as already demonstrated, Dragonair was no longer a Pokémon that needed to physically wind up her attacks. Another shout, and another Twister tore into the Misdreavus. The shock disrupted the Psychic before it could fully take hold, and Dragonair proceeded to use Agility to dive right at the Ghost Type.

It couldn’t dodge due to its paralysis, but without the use of a directly offensive move, Dragonair phased right through the Misdreavus’s ethereal body. However, when the tip of her tail was due to enter, a deep blue glow from Aqua Tail slammed right into and through the Misdreavus’s face.

That was more than enough to take out Morty’s first team member.

“Yes!” Redi pumped a fist. “Whoo! There we go! That’s the kind of power we need!”

Dragonair looked a bit worse for wear, but her species carried the potential to become a pseudo-legendary for a reason. She brought up her head to cry out her name, pushing past all the damage she’d taken so far. Practically radiating pride at her victory, she cast her gaze down at Morty as if challenging him for more.

“I see. A quick knock-out on your part, and you have an Agility set up to increase your Pokémon’s speed.” Morty looked over Dragonair. “Well, that’s on me for sending out a species you were so familiar with. Have you sparred with Misdreavus before? Or have you just watched Sam train?”

“Ursaring and Porygon have sparred with Misdreavus a few times, but Dragonair only got a handful of fights. Sam spent, like, two weeks camping outside a city pretty soon after she joined me.” Redi shrugged. “But honestly, after traveling with Misdreavus for so long, it’s pretty easy to figure out what her species can do. Any Ghost Type on Sam’s team, we have a strategy! And the last time I checked, there aren’t too many more Ghost Types from Johto you can choose from, right?”

Her smile exposed her teeth, and Morty chuckled at her cheeky expression. He plucked a Pokéball from his waist, still maintaining a confident smile.

“I better get this one out of the way, then,” he said as he tossed the Pokéball forward.

His second Pokémon was another species from Sam’s team—a Haunter. Off to the side, Sam’s Haunter cheered.

Redi might have looked amused at the familiarity, but Sam couldn’t help but frown.

I’ve trained Haunter to focus on speed and Hypnosis more than anything else. His species is fast, but Haunter can be better special attackers than even Misdreavus. Does Redi have a counter-strategy for a more offensive Haunter? Or is she going to expect this one to fight like my Pokémon?

He watched the field closely, only briefly flushing red when he realized everyone was waiting for him to call for the match to continue.

“...Keep going,” Sam mumbled as he tried to hide his embarrassment.

This time around, Morty’s Pokémon was the one to attack first.

“Shadow Punch!”

With a look much unlike one from Sam’s Haunter, Morty’s Pokémon carried an extremely serious expression as it punched with its two floating hands. Both fists left the sides of its body to rocket toward Dragonair, chasing it like missiles she’d be forced to dodge.

Dragonair tried to escape through the speed granted by Agility, but the persistence of the dual Shadow Punch meant that the fists chased her across the field no matter what. They might not have increased in size like what Sam had seen for Dusclops’s attacks. No, instead of being an unavoidable wall, they were unavoidable in that they never let up.

“Lick,” Morty ordered.

“We can’t keep doing this. Take everything, Dragonair!” Redi shouted.

Dragonair twisted in the air to rush Morty’s Haunter. The Pokémon took advantage of that, charging right back at her before peeling to the side to swipe its tongue across her side.

The attack left a silver sheen on her scales, and she shivered, undoubtedly affected by Lick’s paralysis. Immediately after, both Shadow Punches then smashed into her from behind, bouncing off her body with a pair of solid impacts before rejoining the Haunter at its side.

“Perfect,” Morty said. Briefly, his gaze sharpened. Surprising Sam, Morty’s grin became one that could have fit Redi’s face.

Well, I guess anyone who becomes a Gym Leader has to be someone who loves Pokémon battles.

“Here we go!” Morty shouted. “Haunter! USE HEX!”

Clapping its hands and then pulling them apart, Morty’s Haunter formed a chain of flames that solidified and reshaped themselves into burning needles.

The difference in form of Hex shocked Sam, but Redi looked unbothered. When the needles stabbed forward through the few feet needed to reach Dragonair’s body, that same, silvery sheen glinted off of her from the ceiling’s lights.

It was then that Sam realized that while Lick had paralyzed Dragonair, it had only done so for a single instant. The silvery sheen was not from Lick’s residue but from the very surface layer of Dragonair’s scales peeling away thanks to Shed Skin.

As she was no longer paralyzed, Hex didn’t carry its additional effect. It landed weaker than a Shadow Ball, and Dragonair was in the perfect position to retaliate with a move of her own.

“DRAGON RUSH!” Redi all but screamed, her volume matching Morty’s own.

In an attack straight out of the New Pokédex, Dragonair reared back to completely surprise Haunter. It had not expected this move nor had it expected its Hex to fail to pierce Dragonair’s scaly hide.

Blue, Dragon Type flames wreathed Dragonair’s head, and she wasted no time to dive down and smash through the Haunter before her.

To that, Morty breathed out, his energy from before disappearing as he calmed down.

“Alright,” he said. “You can go now, Haunter.”

The Dragon Type crash sent Haunter slamming into the floor. In the same instant, Dragonair’s eyes rolled up into her head as she fell from the sky.

“When I mentioned Destiny Bond earlier, Sam, I didn’t think I’d get to show it off so soon. In a proper battle, I mean, not a demonstration. Like I said, it’s not worth relying on too frequently, but in a situation like this where both Pokémon gave it their all, it’s a good way to force a tie.”

Redi’s mouth hung open from where she had stopped herself mid-shout. Whatever follow-up plan she had for Dragonair was now pointless given that the Haunter’s Destiny Bond meant both Pokémon had been taken out.

“...Dragonair and Haunter are unable to battle.” It took Sam a full second to announce the tie. “Sorry, Redi. If Haunter was a bit further away, you might have been able to see their shadows connect. That close, all it had to do was send its move out about a foot ahead to make Dragonair faint, too.”

Redi huffed as she returned her Pokémon.

“It’s fine,” she lied. “Dragonair got two knock-outs. I mean, I wanted three, but there’s no fighting against... that.”

Morty frowned.

“Wait, wait. Hold on. No, there’s absolutely a counter,” he immediately interjected. “Destiny Bond only triggers on direct damage, so a status condition or lingering effect warrants a safe knock-out. Also, Destiny Bond only lasts so long. You can ignore most uses of it by just waiting it out.”

Redi hummed. Sam did his best not to glare.

Why teach her the counter to the move you just taught me!?

But when he recognized he was getting angry over something pointless, Sam breathed in.

It was today that Morty told him to listen to Agatha’s advice. And she hadn’t been the only one to warn him of the effects of Ghost Type energy in the past. As a Gym Leader, it was Morty’s job to both protect and teach newer trainers. There was nothing wrong with telling Redi how to handle Destiny Bond. It just meant Sam would need to be more clever when his team eventually picked up the move.

So, he breathed out.

“Next Pokémon,” he said. “Both of you.”

Morty plucked a Pokéball from his waist and smiled at Redi. She tried to wait for him to release his team member first, but when it became clear he intended to have them both release their next Pokémon at the same time, she growled and snapped up a Pokéball of her own.

“Porygon!” Redi called out.

Morty let his Pokémon remain nameless, unwilling to ruin its entrance. Appearing from the ball’s light, his next team member collapsed into a heap of unmoving cloth and did nothing more.

While waiting for it to do something, Sam looked over to Redi.

“Do you always save Ursaring for last?” he asked.

“...Shut up. Ursaring’s just not the best against Ghost Types. I thought Morty was going to send out a Gengar or something like that. Psybeam is pretty good against Poison Types, y’know?”

Sam shrugged. He didn’t call for the battle to resume since Morty’s Pokémon was yet to stand up.

Five, then ten seconds passed without it moving. The Pokémon possessed such a lack of life that it seemed to resemble nothing more than a lump of fabric or an old, dusty doll. Yet, the features of its species were still recognizable enough, and right before Sam’s patience reached its limits, the Pokémon’s eyes sparked to life as it unzipped its mouth to let out a cackle.

“Banette,” Morty named as his third team member finally pushed to its feet.

Sam hadn’t expected to see a Pokémon from Hoenn in the match, yet it had been Morty himself who had warned Sam that Johto’s Gym Leaders began to use out-of-region Pokémon in high-level matches. The Banette looked like a grey doll of aged cloth, but it was hard to tell if that age came from being well-loved or being left to rot.

“Continue,” Sam called out.

This was his first time seeing a Banette fight in person, so he kept a close eye on Morty’s Pokémon.

But, just like it had done when first released, Banette did nothing but stand there, motionless.

On Redi’s side of the field, Porygon's body twitched with a constant, clockwork-like motion, and Banette stood and tilted its head to the side while silently observing its opponent.

“Aren’t you going to attack?” Morty asked.

“You first,” Redi said.

The Gym Leader just chuckled, and when nothing else happened, Sam let out a groan.

“I’m the ref, right? I can set the rules. Let’s say that one of you has to do something in the next... ten seconds. I’ll count down.”

He held up his hands, pulling down his fingers to emphasize each second of the time limit. Morty smiled at Redi as the numbers grew smaller, and her frown grew deeper and deeper with each one that passed. With only three seconds left, someone finally did something, and Redi clenched her fists out of annoyance.

“Fine!” she shouted, stomping a foot. “Magnet Rise! Go up twenty-four feet!”

Electricity crackled around Porygon as it rocketed off the ground.

It was true that Redi had made a lot of developments on her own, and Sam had helped by providing information. He didn’t know every new move her team had learned, but he knew many of them were straight out of the new Pokédex.

Normally, Porygon couldn’t levitate. It could hover above the ground, but its “flight” was limited to a few feet at best. With Magnet Rise, however, it could break through that limit. Far above the battlefield, the occasional zap toward the earth from Porygon’s body told Sam that a strange form of magnetism was actively being maintained.

Importantly, there was now a vast divide between where Porygon floated and where Banette stood beneath it. Redi’s Pokémon was two dozen feet off the ground, far above anywhere Banette could reach.

“Take this! Redi’s Orbital Porygon Space Cannon!” Redi shouted.

Sam snorted.

Redi’s face turned bright red.

Still, calling out the name of her strategy had Porygon shift in place. Its entire body rotated and aimed itself like a hovering cannon pointed Banette’s way.

“Interesting.” Morty watched as Porygon analytically adjusted its aim. “That high up, most Pokémon wouldn’t be able to reach your Porygon.”

At the very end of his statement, Porygon finished building itself up to release a Charge Beam, and Sam saw something unexpected—the very bottom of Banette’s feet sunk into the floor, allowing it to lurch backward in a dodge that mimicked the smooth motion of a pair of roller skates.

“However...” Morty continued. “You should know better than to create distances like this when fighting Ghost Types. Magnet Rise is meaningless to us.”

Banette seemed to get the hint as it suddenly took off toward Porygon’s projected position over the field. Redi seemed to choke on her next breath at the sudden, unnatural way Banette slid across the floor.

“Feint Attack,” Morty then ordered. “Shame Porygon is a Normal Type, but Type advantage isn’t everything.”

The very instant Banette reached a point directly beneath Porygon, it sank into the floor, disappearing into the small, faint shadow from Redi’s Pokémon. Porygon repeatedly used Charge Beam all along the way, each attack missing but still allowing it to gather up a charge with every use.

Yet... This isn’t a good match-up for Redi. Even though Conversion can make Porygon an Electric Type, Redi can’t call for it. Being a Normal Type is too great of a defense for this battle. Right now, Porygon is immune to all of Banette’s Ghost Type attacks, but that means they can’t change Porygon to the Electric Type to get that same-Type damage boost.

Sam and Redi both waited to see where Banette would emerge, and Sam had to control his reaction when he saw eyes open up on the bottom of Porygon’s body.

Morty had been telling the truth when he said that distance was meaningless, and Sam felt like a fool for never making this connection. All things cast shadows. Specifically, if a shadow was on the floor, it had to have been sourced from somewhere.

Having used the strange dimensions of that shadow to reach Porygon, Banette peeled out of Porygon’s shrouded underside. With an arm cloaked in darkness, Feint Attack disguised the origin of its move to allow it to hit without fail.

“Back up and wait it out! Stall with Recover!” Redi shouted as the smash left a nasty, scuffed dent on Porygon’s side.

“Oh, so Porygon is that kind of Pokémon?” Morty clicked his tongue. “You’re unlucky. Banette is exactly the wrong opponent for you in this fight.”

Banette cackled and threw out its arms, lingering in the air where it appeared. Porgyon, under the effects of Magnet Rise, slid away from it while completely ignoring the effects of friction.

The same moment Porygon glowed for a Recover, Banette reached into the air to pull out a jagged nail that it then stabbed into its chest.

“Curse,” Sam whispered, and even through the pain, Banette smirked.

“It’s injured! Perfect for you, Porygon! Get ready to finish it off with—”

“Spite.”

“Lock-On!”

Banette was faster, and Porygon’s most recent move hadn’t been Redi’s called-for attack. With a flash in Banette’s eyes, all of the energy reserved for Recover was drained away.

Still, Porygon’s endlessly clicking head stopped its jerking rotation to begin perfectly tracking Banette. However, Recover wasn’t exactly a move that could be used frequently, and Spite eliminated the few potential uses Porygon had available.

Porygon no longer had a way to heal, which meant the ongoing effect of Curse now dealt unrecoverable damage.

“If she has three Pokémon... Banette, I don’t want to deal with Electric Type moves,” Morty said.

His Pokémon nodded and kept its arms held out to its sides. While drifting downwards, it floated side-to-side to dodge, but any such movement was pointless in the face of Porygon’s Lock-On.

“Zap Cannon!” Redi roared.

Sam wanted to laugh. It was so like Redi to have gone out of her way to teach Porygon the strongest Electric Type move before it ever learned Thunderbolt.

From Porygon’s polygonal beak, electricity crackled and coiled, and all of the energy gathered from the previous Charge Beam gathered into this one attack. A sphere not unlike a Shadow Ball formed, but closer to a Hyper Beam, Sam had to squint to avoid being blinded by its light.

Banette stopped moving. It could see that this attack was coming and that nothing it’d do would let it dodge.

So it did just that—nothing. As the attack built, Banette scowled. Something about its expression changed to that of pure malice. The Pokémon built up a Grudge.

When the Zap Cannon hit, it exploded. The orb slowly floated through the air to burst into a flash that briefly blinded Sam and made the world sound as though it had been consumed by thousands of chittering beetles.

When Sam’s vision returned, it quickly became clear that the single Zap Cannon had taken out Banette. While it had remained standing, its unmoving body was covered in far too many latticed scorch marks for it to be faking its unconsciousness. With how even the earth around it was charred beneath its feet, it was pretty clear that no Pokémon save for a Ground Type could have withstood that attack.

Yet, though Banette had fainted, it continued to stand up.

Slowly, shakily, and with eyes unfocused, Banette lifted an arm to point at Porygon. The action was completely unconscious and came out as if the Pokémon was possessed. It was only after a strange silence filled the room that Banette finally collapsed.

Sam raised a hand to announce the outcome of this part of the match.

“Banette is unable to battle. Morty, please send out your next—”

“Sam,” Redi interrupted. “What was that attack?”

Sam looked over to Morty for permission to break his referee’s neutrality, and the Gym Leader sent him a quiet nod.

It took him a few seconds to work out everything in his head, but the move became pretty obvious in retrospect once he identified what it was.

“Grudge,” Sam answered. “The move was Grudge. Porygon won’t be able to use Zap Cannon anymore because of it.”

“Why not?”

“It’s because, well, Grudge creates a Grudge. It’s like Spite, except instead of just removing some energy reserved for a move, it completely eliminates any leftover energy for the attack used to knock out that Pokémon.”

Redi clenched her fists. Sam could tell her strategy for Porygon had hinged on this setup.

Magnet Rise to leave the ground and gain a field-wide angle. Charge Beam to empower Porygon while maintaining an offense. Then, Recover would keep Porygon healthy, and Zap Cannon and Lock-On together would allow them to eliminate any foe with an impossible-to-dodge attack.

Yet, with Banette’s actions, the two most important pieces of that strategy were gone.

Subjected to Curse, Porygon only had a limited amount of time until it fainted, and it couldn’t exactly use Recover to extend that period. Also, thanks to Grudge, Zap Cannon was no longer possible, leaving Porygon with only Charge Beam and Discharge at best.

When Morty sent out a Drifblim—not his personal Drifblim, thankfully enough—Sam knew Redi had an upward battle from here. Porygon could only do so much before Curse took it out, and then it would just be Ursaring left against that flying Pokémon as well as whatever final team member Morty still had in his pocket.

===============================================================
Author Note:

In the games, Spite removes 4 PP from the most recently used move, and Recover was nerfed in the latest generation to only have 5 PP. Thus, when Spite was used in this match, Porygon lost all energy reserved for Recover.

Morty and Sam’s strategies are surprisingly similar in that both heavily utilize status moves to wear down their foes. However, where Sam focuses on weakening his opponents to make opportunities for his team, Morty actively punishes his opponents. Every scratch warrants a pound of flesh. Every attack requires some sort of sacrifice. He takes the idea of making his foes worse off and pushes it to the utmost degree.

There’s a reason he said Destiny Bond was one of his favorite moves.

Pokémon (and people) included in this chapter:
Banette
Drifblim
Gengar
Mismagius

Morty

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter

Chapter 117

Author Note:

No chapter next Friday due to Thanksgiving. Tuesday will still have a chapter.

===============================================================

Sam realized he must have been making a face because Morty chuckled at his reaction.

“Yeah, Destiny Bond,” Morty said. “I guess you don't need a description?”

“Destiny Bond causes its target to if faint they knock out its user,” Sam said. “It's like a trade—one knock-out for another.”

Sam hadn't bothered to teach Destiny Bond to any member of his team just yet. Their strategy was about weakening their opponents, but the cost of Destiny Bond felt too high. Yes, it could allow for a quick takedown of a very tough foe, but it just wasn’t worth the consequence most of the time. Sam would rather his Pokémon stay conscious than guarantee the knock-out of another.

Then again, that's only true in most situations. I've traded faints before. We took out Clair’s Gyarados when Porygon used Discharge and fainted Haunter at the same time.

Sam glanced up at Morty to see the Gym Leader smiling at him, amused.

“We can get into it later. With how well you've been doing, I figure it's time I introduce you to a few advanced strategies. However, we should probably talk about expectations and responsibilities, first.”

Sam grumbled, and Morty chuckled again, leaning forward against the back of his chair. He rested his head on his crossed arms as he looked over Sam. Noticeably, his eyes lingered on Sam’s shadow, which Sam was pretty sure was empty at this point.

“How many Gastly do you have with you?” Morty suddenly asked.

“None, I think? They all should be—”

“The number of Gastly that have been following you,” Morty said, interrupting Sam by raising a hand. “How many are traveling with you without being a part of your team?”

Sam hummed.

“I want to say... A bit under two dozen? I started with just a couple after Violet City because of...” Sam didn’t finish the thought. “And then more have been joining up since then, but they come and go pretty frequently so I can't really count.”

“I can tell. I saw a lot of different reactions when they came out for the party,” Morty said, nodding. “Most of them seemed excited about my Pokémon and even seemed to expect them—so those were the ones that have stuck around the longest? Others seemed a bit more surprised and cautious—new joiners, most likely.”

“Probably,” Sam said.

Morty closed his eyes, rubbing his chin as he considered the situation.

“But you do understand what having so many Gastly with you means, right?” he asked.

“That I’m a Ghost Type specialist?” Sam replied hopefully.

Morty sent Sam a look.

“It means that since you’re the one bringing them around, you’re the one responsible for them. But also, that’s a lot more than six Pokémon. You should know the rules on team limits by now, Sam.”

Sam immediately felt the blood drain from his face. He had never gone out of his way to recruit Gastly—except for the few times he did—but he hadn't ever caught any of them. He hadn't ever tried to amass a swarm outside of that first encounter with Petrel, either.

“I...”

“Stop.” This time, Morty interrupted him right away. “You aren't in trouble. I’m not trying to call you out. This is a big part of what I wanted to discuss; you can't just ignore those Gastly. Since you’re bringing them around, you’re also responsible for them, so they need to be trained. But really, I’m bringing this up because...”

He rubbed the back of his head and chuckled.

“Well, you should know that Ghost Type specialists aren’t really limited by team size restrictions, anyway,” Morty said.

Sam paused as he looked over the Gym Leader for any sign of this being a joke. Team size limits were hard limits set by the League; even the Champion himself never brought more than six Pokémon with him. There were countless reasons for the League to limit the number to six, both for safety, practicality, and tradition.

For Morty to say Ghost Type specialists weren’t restricted by team size was ridiculous. To that, Sam responded with the only word he could.

“What.”

He stared at Morty and waited for the Gym Leader’s reply.

“No, really!” Morty chuckled with a small, awkward smile on his face. “Well, it’s not common knowledge, and it’s only that we aren’t technically limited. Obviously, trainers can’t use more than six Pokémon at a time, but it’s not like we can stop Ghost Types from doing what they want, either? The result is that Ghost Type trainers like you and me tend to have more than six Pokémon with them at once.”

“...Can’t stop Ghost Types from doing what they want,” Sam repeated. “Isn’t that your whole job?”

Morty looked away, scratching his cheek.

“Think of it like this: Ghosts attract Ghosts. If we scare some off now, is that a permanent solution? Or, given your team, are more just going to show up later? And even then, you’ve been carrying a Cleanse Tag with you. Tell me how much that’s been keeping all of those extra Gastly away.”

Sam stayed silent.

“Exactly.” Morty nodded. “Between the ease with which Ghost Types can avoid detection and their ability to phase through most physical effects, they can’t be captured or forced away unwillingly. So, you need to make sure that the Pokémon with you are trained. Not necessarily for battling, but just so they don’t cause unwarranted chaos.”

“But it’s still against the League’s rules,” Sam said.

Morty shrugged far too casually.

“You don’t need to worry. This exception isn’t anything explicit, but it’s still a commonly accepted, unspoken rule among higher-level trainers. We aren’t really supposed to spread that fact around, but you aren’t going to be harassed by Pokémon Rangers or Ace Trainers for having so many Pokémon with you. Well, as long as you keep those Gastly under control,” Morty said, emphasizing the need for Sam to train those ‘extra’ members of his team.

As it stood, Haunter had already been making sure that the Gastly didn’t get up to too much trouble, and Misdreavus had been helping him with that. However, if the difference in numbers ever got too large or if the Gastly decided they didn’t like the setup anymore, Sam would no longer be followed. He’d be actively haunted.

Thinking about it, I’m thankful I already started talking to them on the way to Blackthorn. If I’d been ignoring them...

He shook his head.

Ugh. I need to give them more attention soon. I never thought I’d need to train a swarm of Gastly when I first left home.

As Sam tried his best to think of a plan to handle the growing number of Ghost Types, Morty suddenly stood up, swinging a leg back over his chair. The Gym Leader paused briefly to stretch before walking over to the room’s back wall. There, he pulled open a previously hidden panel and exposed an old-fashioned breaker box with a radio hooked next to it.

He grabbed the radio to speak a message into its crackling static.

“Can Gengar and Dusclops come down here? Over.”

It clicked off with a final burst, and Morty walked back over to lean against his chair.

“Usually when I have this talk with up-and-coming Ghost Type specialists, I tend to give a demonstration to show off just how hard it is to pin down a Ghost Type. Really get into their head just how difficult it is to pin down even just one Ghost Pokémon, which is why specialists are so crucial. Enough Gastly can do whatever they want, so we have to instill at least a little bit of order. But you already know that. I can at least show off a few more advanced ideas before we continue, hm?”

Morty’s eyes flicked over to the window, and the shine in his eyes made him look genuinely excited. The maze-filled room below was large enough to support quite the fight.

As he walked over to stand before the window and stare out into the room, Sam got up to join Morty, momentarily blinking when the Gym Leader glanced behind him with a smirk.

When he checked where Morty was looking, he was met with a floating grin and red eyes hovering in the darkness. He didn’t flinch—maybe only a little bit—and a Gengar pulled itself away, snickering to itself, to float over to Morty. There, Morty patted it fondly and whispered something into its ear.

“Now, off you go,” Morty said once he was done whispering. “Dusclops should already be waiting for you out there.”

The Gengar phased right through the windows with a mid-air jump, plunging into that darkened room. Immediately, its body seemed to lose all coherence, appearing as nothing more than a purple-grey mist.

As it moved into position, Morty walked back to the breaker box to flick on a switch, and something akin to UV lights turned on. Their glow revealed Gengar’s true form rather than just the ghostly haze it mimicked.

And, beneath the window itself, a pool of inky blackness spread out to allow a certain Dusclops to rise onto the top of one of the walls. Given how strong this Dusclops had been when Sam trained against it in Violet City, he knew he was about to witness a high-level fight.

“Alright, Gengar, Dusclops. This is a demonstration for Sam here, so make sure to strut your stuff,” Morty said into the radio, his voice echoing out into the room. “Gengar, your goal is to come back here and reach us in this room. Dusclops, you’ll do everything in your power to stop Gengar from succeeding.”

Gengar saluted to the window, whereas Dusclops didn’t react at all. Morty glanced out to make sure his Pokémon were ready before slotting the radio back onto its hook and returning to Sam’s side.

“Our system’s a bit dated, but it’s good enough for what we use it for. If you’ve noticed the lights, they help expose Ghost Types, but otherwise, the room is in total darkness,” Morty said. “If you haven’t noticed it before, I’ll point it out now—when a Ghost Type stands completely still, they’re generally indistinguishable from a shadow.

“It’s only when they move that they become more obvious,” Morty continued. “It’s why Ghost Types are seen as flickering shadows in the corner of your eye more often than not. After all, it’s only when they’re moving from hiding spot to hiding spot that people tend to notice. Even the best Ghost Type specialists struggle to notice them when they’re standing still. ”

Sam could already think of several times in the past he’d noticed that kind of movement. He also remembered what had happened to his shadow when Agatha “visited” him in Mahogany.

There, all the Ghost Types with him had done the equivalent of “holding their breath.” Staying completely still, his shadow had appeared completely normal. It was only when they resumed moving around again that he could tell he had more than just darkness beneath him.

But it does make me wonder. How many times have I had Ghost Types watching me without me noticing?

“They’re starting,” Morty suddenly said. “Watch closely.”

The demonstration began.

Right away, Gengar seemed intent on moving forward, zipping through the air to try to use its impressive speed to slip past Dusclops. Dusclops, however, acted at that same moment. It might have been slow in general, but it had no intention to let Gengar win.

For this, all it needed to do was draw back a hand and punch.

With that basic attack, a hand left the side of its body to fly out in a Shadow Punch. However, it didn’t stay as a simple “missile” like the Shadow Punches Sam had seen Haunter use. No, the Ghost Type attack engorged itself on the room’s darkness, quickly scaling up to become a massive wall of a fist to block Gengar’s path.

Gengar’s expression flickered with surprise, and it immediately pulled away from the incoming fist. Shadow Punch tracked its target, however, and Gengar was forced into a hasty use of Shadow Ball to impact and disrupt the move.

“If it wasn’t for Dusclops, Gengar could have phased right through the window to return to us, as you’ve already seen,” Morty said. “Ghost Types are exceptional at corralling Ghost Types, but pay attention. Ghosts can’t be pinned down.”

As if reacting to Morty’s words, Dusclops’s singular, burning eye suddenly increased in ferocity. Gengar was immediately consumed by a red glow that momentarily seemed to stick.

“Mean Look?” Sam asked.

“Correct! Normally, it prevents its target from fleeing or switching out, but it’s unfortunately useless here.”

In the air, Gengar merely shivered to shake that red glow off of it as if the move had been nothing more than dyed water. It then responded to Dusclops’s attempt by sticking out its tongue with a teasing laugh.

“Keep this in mind; Ghost Types can never truly be trapped. Mean Look prevents most Pokémon from escaping, but that’s only true for untrained and unaware Ghost Types. Once they figure out the true strength of their Type, all Ghosts can easily shrug off any trapping effect.”

Unimpacted by that Mean Look, Gengar proceeded to fire off a Confuse Ray, but Dusclops ignored the illusions. Its successive, repeated Shadow Punches tracked Gengar regardless of whatever Dusclops saw.

From there, the battle became one of two different defenses. Dusclops’s attacks forced Gengar away, and Gengar had to spend all of its energy disrupting those moves without managing to continue forward.

“Man,” Sam said, seeing just how oppressive Dusclops was against this Gengar. “Dusclops was holding back against us, wasn’t he?”

Morty just smiled. In the room below, the Gengar grew more and more annoyed at its lack of progress.

Disliking its situation and its lack of a trainer to help it strategize, Gengar glared at Dusclops and seemed to decide that it had enough. It reached into the air, a hand disappearing into a shadow torn into nothing at all. From within that darkness, it then pulled out a cruel, jagged nail, cloaked from all forms of light.

Gengar proceeded to use that nail to stab itself in the stomach.

“What was that?” Sam asked, rubbing his eyes to make sure he hadn’t been subjected to a Confuse Ray.

“Easy. That was Curse,” Morty answered with what felt like a completely incorrect amount of confidence. “It’s an interesting choice on Gengar’s part. He’s sacrificing his health to lay a damage-over-time effect on Dusclops, which I suppose makes sense given Dusclops’s otherwise impenetrable defense.”

Sam looked on closely. This Curse had been so different from every other time Typhlosion and Primeape had used the move in the past. Non-Ghost Types benefitted from how the energy of Curse boosted their physical power, but the same technique hadn’t worked when Typhlosion used it after she evolved.

The move was supposed to change when used by a true Ghost Type, so maybe...

Typhlosion needs to take that same energy and use it to hurt herself, Sam realized. Curse has always been internal, but maybe she needs a target to trigger a sympathetic effect? We need more practice, but this is a good hint.

Though Gengar winced under the pain of the nail, its Curse had succeeded. Dusclops’s wrappings seemed to wither, and Gengar took advantage of the hesitation that came with it to conjure one last Shadow Ball.

“There we go,” Morty suddenly said. “Dusclops wins.”

Gengar released its attack, and at the same moment, a shadow snapped out of Dusclops’s shadow to merge with Gengar’s own. When Gengar’s move hit Dusclops, it put up absolutely no defense and fell back, fainted.

Yet, as it fell, Gengar went completely still. It then fell out of the air like a stone, its unconscious body falling from the sky.

“...Destiny Bond,” Sam whispered. “A guaranteed win, like you said.”

Morty’s expression was unreadable as he stared out at his two Pokémon with a surprising amount of intensity.

“I told Dusclops he had to stop Gengar from reaching us, but I didn’t limit him in any way. Gengar resorted to Curse quickly enough, so why wouldn’t he take advantage of that to secure himself a win?”

Below, nothing stirred for several long seconds, but Gengar did soon wake up. Destiny Bond might have fainted the Pokémon, but rather than falling unconscious due to direct damage, the move had caused some sort of system shock that overwhelmed it with a sudden, drastic drain.

Gengar looked annoyed, but it shook its head to cause a neutral-ish expression to return. Sluggishly, it floated over to Dusclops, where it grabbed one of those strips of fabric coming out of Dusclops’s back, shaking with a wince.

Something about touching that fabric allowed Dusclops to unconsciously use Pain Split. The remaining vitality between the two Pokémon was equalized, allowing Dusclops to wake up.

“Thank you, you two. Feel free to get yourselves some Sitrus berries out of storage,” Morty said into the radio.

Gengar’s smile returned and it waited no time to dive into the floor. Dusclops had no visible reaction, but Sam felt as though it sank back into its puddle of darkness faster than it would have otherwise.

“The thing about Destiny Bond is that it’s a victory at a cost,” Morty said now that the demonstration was over. “I didn’t expect it to be used here, but it lets me make a point.”

He cleared his throat.

“The cost of Destiny Bond isn’t that your Pokémon faints. Destiny Bond comes at the cost of the entire battle before it. Any moves that were exchanged become pointless, and the battlefield is effectively reset—both sides lose any present advantage.

“It’s great at maintaining a lead or allowing you to take out a troublesome opponent. However, all it does is trade knock-outs. It does nothing to progress the status of either side of the battlefield, it only removes options from play.”

Sam went quiet as he sat on the idea. There’d been a lot of wisdom in Morty’s words—more than just his thoughts on Destiny Bond.

He talked about Destiny Bond’s use in battle in reference to the state of the battle as a whole. When considering it as a move in a one-on-one fight, the obvious answer was that it guaranteed a trade of knock-outs, but how did it affect the chances of victory overall?

Any buffing moves would vanish. Any debuffs would no longer apply. Of course, that was true because both Pokémon fainted, but Sam knew that knocking out an opponent wasn’t always the correct answer. In his battle against Pryce, he had won when Misdreavus swept most of the Gym Leader’s team after Haunter put Pryce’s Cloyster to sleep.

It’s not like an attacking move. It’s not something to rely on all the time. So, Morty is trying to say there are specific situations where Destiny Bond is best. Otherwise, since it faints its user, using it would only hurt your team’s chances to win the fight.

“Hold on. Earlier, you said that Destiny Bond could let you win a battle without fail as long as you had even the slightest of advantages,” Sam said. “So, then, if you have even one more conscious Pokémon than your opponent, you could use Destiny Bond to win you the rest of the match, right?”

“Right,” Morty said, though his proud smile seemed to carry mixed feelings behind it. “That’s definitely a strategy you could use to win an official fight, but only official fights. Destiny Bond can faint any Pokémon, but as you saw with Gengar, it’s not the same as wearing them down in a battle. Pokémon recover quickly after fainting from Destiny Bond, so it’s not as useful in the wild.

“Also...” Morty sighed, and the man looked somewhat pained. “As much as I enjoy that kind of strategy, it’s not something we can use often. It’s just not respected. Over-relying on Destiny Bond is against the spirit of a Pokémon battle, isn’t it?”

“What do you mean?” Sam asked.

Gathering his thoughts, Morty rocked his chair.

“Let’s say every Pokémon on your team knows Destiny Bond. You use switches to make sure everyone stays conscious before the first of your opponent’s Pokémon faints. From there, your Pokémon purposefully take hits to trade knock-outs with every single Pokémon they face. At the end of the match, you’ll have one Pokémon left, allowing you to win, but tell me... How much of that was an actual battle?”

“All of it,” Sam answered confidently. “There’s no way Destiny Bond can be used that much, that easily. It takes skill and careful planning to pull it off successfully five times over, especially since your team members are constantly fainting. You have to carefully choose who you send out to make sure you don’t lose, instead.”

Morty smiled.

“You’re smart, Sam, but you’re overthinking it,” he said. “The battle isn’t a battle because your Pokémon won’t be fighting to cause a faint. Every knock-out would only come from a trade caused by Destiny Bond, effectively making your victory come from solely tricks.

“We might recognize how much skill that strategy would take, but over-relying on Destiny Bond turns the match into a puzzle rather than a true fight. While it requires a skilled trainer, it isn’t something that proves a team’s strength. Destiny Bond can ‘punch upwards,’ so to say, but without any direct knock-outs, you’re only showing off your skills to give commands instead of anything you and your Pokémon have developed together.”

“...So it’s not popular,” Sam grumbled.

“If you use that strategy in a Gym battle, most Gym Leaders would refuse to give you your badge. If you use it in a major tournament or the Conference...” Morty laughed. “It’s happened before. People were not pleased.”

Sam went quiet, dwelling on the state of the move. It was useful, but it wasn’t something to use too often in a match.

“So it’s best kept to limited scenarios. Instead of basing a strategy around it, it’s better to use Destiny Bond to turn a loss into a tie or take out a tough Pokémon on your opponent’s team,” Sam said.

Morty nodded.

“You got it. Destiny Bond is probably the most powerful tool in a Ghost Type specialist’s playbook, but we have to use it carefully. Not more than once or twice a battle, I’d say. Of course, I’ve mostly just discussed outside perception and reaction to the move, but also keep in mind that it becomes exponentially more difficult to pull off once your opponent is aware of it.”

Sam could see why Morty was both enthralled and disappointed by Destiny Bond. It was definitely key to “advanced” strategies, but there were too many small details that limited its usefulness.

In a critical battle, Sam could trade his entire team to guarantee a win—but then his entire team would be down, and there was no telling what the reaction would be to that kind of a match. However, using it to guarantee a knock-out against a specific opponent could make an entire battle easier.

Though, even if a low-level Gastly used Destiny Bond to knock out a fully evolved foe, it’s not like anyone would suddenly think that Gastly is stronger. They would just think it’s capable of a neat trick it can use to win.

“So, the purpose of that demonstration...” Sam started.

“Huh? Oh, sorry. I let myself be distracted. I really like Destiny Bond, but it’s risky. The point of the match was just to show off how hard it was to stop a Ghost Type, but I didn’t expect Dusclops to use Destiny Bond like that.”

Morty finally sat back in his chair. Thankfully, he sat like a normal person this time around.

Sam sat down, too.