บท 13: Casting away the shadows
Jared couldn't recall the woman's name who had tested his affinity, but her words regarding Gastlys had stayed with him. According to her, Gastlys would disappear soon after being caught by a trainer. After reading through numerous cases in the books he had perused, it appeared that this information was indeed accurate. No matter what methods were employed, once a Gastly was caught, they would inevitably vanish, sometimes in as little as three days, other times within a week, but always before two weeks had passed. Even if they were hidden within a pokeball, it was as if nothing could prevent their mysterious disappearance.
Despite the unsettling nature of this knowledge, Jared was satisfied with the fact that he had at least learned something. Not only that, but a few trainers had documented some of their moves, namely hypnosis and lick. However, he was quite surprised to see that there were only two moves.
When he had delved deeper into his research on Gastlys, he couldn't help but question the limited information available. Despite reading about their abilities, such as intangibility, and the ability to disperse and vanish into the air, there was little... too little for his liking.
Tapping his foot he pondered what Gastlys ate or if they even ate at all. His mind raced with theories, wondering if perhaps these ghostly creatures didn't require sustenance in the same way as physical creatures. What if they fed on the intangible rather than physical food? Jared felt a sense of excitement as he realized he may have uncovered a gap in the accumulated knowledge of this world, a piece of information that he could potentially exploit.
Suddenly he had a crazy idea: what if Gastlys feasted on dreams or nightmares and even had the ability to manipulate them?
Excitement sparked in Jared's eyes as he considered the possibilities. Maybe he could lure a Gastly in his own dreams? As he stood up, his stool fell back with a thud, but he paid it no attention as a new thought occurred to him. What if he had already encountered one?
Setting the stool upright, and sitting back down, Jared then began recalling how the man with the lantern had suddenly stopped appearing in his dream. He had previously dismissed it as coincidence, but now he wondered if his nightmare had been manipulated. "Gastlys dislike the light, don't they?" he mumbled to himself. "If I were a Gastly and could alter a dream, wouldn't I get rid of that annoying light too? Or at least hide it somewhere?"
Milling over his idea for a moment, Jared still acknowledged that it was a long shot. Nevertheless, he held onto this idea tightly, convinced that it could be the key to catching a Gastly.
"But what if it's true?" he murmured to himself, still lost in thought. "What if a Gastly really is feasting on my dreams? How could I catch it and make it obey me?"
As the night wore on and Jared's mind grew weary, he realized it was getting late. With a resigned sigh, he decided to put his thoughts on hold and try to get some rest. He lay down on the hard mattress, closed his eyes, and allowed himself a hopeful smile as he drifted off into slumber.
That night, the nightmare returned with a vengeance. Jared saw the two men once more, and watched as two shadows were thrown out into the darkness. As he stood there, seemingly helpless, the two shadows began to merge into one.
Jared spoke to the growing shadow as if it was a long lost friend. "Hey Gastly, how are you doing today?" he said casually. But despite his words, the shadow continued to grow, without any sign of slowing down.
Undeterred, Jared continued to ask questions, "Do you enjoy eating my dreams every day? What do I taste like? Do you like the dream I had tonight? Was it fun?" The shadow remained silent and continued to expand until it reached its critical mass.
With its fangs bared, the shadow lunged forward, ready to consume its prey as it had done before. But before it could reach him, Jared smiled and said, "I found you. I was right all along. You were still here, hidden away where I couldn't see you..."
Suddenly a light appeared in the darkness, illuminating the shadowy figure before him. The shadow twisted and hissed, seemingly caught off guard.
As the shadow began to take on a more recognizable shape, Jared watched it struggle against the light of the lantern. Even though the shadow looked like an unstoppable tidal wave easily able to swallow him whole, Jared stood firm like a reef in a storm. Despite the shadows best efforts, it could not regain an inch of lost territory.
Amused by the relentlessness of the shadow, Jared hummed a poem,
"Wherever which way the lantern swayed, The shadows cowered, shrank away."
"For in its light, they could not stay, Their dark advance, held at bay."
"What do you think of the poem?" Jared asked.
Hearing no reply, Jared stepped forward, watching as the shadow struggled and hissed at him, but still shrunk back in the end. He found it quite humorous, It was almost like they were engaged in a strange dance, one man steps forward, and one shadow stepped back, in perfect rhythm.
"Hey Gastly, how long are you going to keep pretending?" Jared asked in the same casual, and relaxed tone.
To Jared's delight the Shadow actually responded! Even though the words were strained, as if it were taking all of its energy to form words, he still clearly heard the shadow say, "Impossible... control... nightmare...?"
Jared chuckled as if he had known what he would be asked. "I'll answer your question," he said, "but first you answer one of mine, deal?"
The shadow twisted and seethed before finally growing still. "Ask," it hissed.
Leaning in closer to the large shadow, Jared's eyes narrowed to say, "Are you perhaps stuck in here with me until I wake up?" He asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
The shadow trembled as it struggled to form the words, "Who...?" but the man's smile remained on his lips as he tapped the lantern with his free hand, watching the flickering flames dance. "Alright, since I'm satisfied with your answer, I'll answer your first question," he said, his tone even. "You want to know the reason I can control this 'nightmare'?"
The shadow roiled and swayed, seemingly asking itself the same thing.
"Well, isn't it obvious?" Jared continued. "This is no longer a nightmare for me. It's simply a beautiful dream, a beautiful lucid dream, you might even say. But despite what you might think, I don't really have much control, it's just a dream after all," he admitted.
After a long pause, the shadow finally seemed to digest Jared's words. "Want?" it hissed, as if struggling to understand.
Jared nodded approvingly, "Good, you're frank, I like that." He spoke calmly, looking at the shadow with the same smiling expression. "My 'wants' are simple, become my Pokémon, swear it to me and I'll let you go."
The shadow went silent, and slowly began to grow and pulse with anger, as if offended by the human's words. Jared could see that the negotiations were falling through and shook his head, his slight smile finally fading. "Have it your way then." With that, the lantern in his hand began to pulse brighter and brighter, and each time it did, the shadow screeched in pain, falling back further into the alley. "Useless... light..." the shadow hissed, its voice barely audible over the sound of its agony.
Jared scolded the shadow, shaking his finger in disapproval. "Tut tut, this isn't mere light. Maybe it was something as worthless as light in the past, but it's not anymore." he said, walking confidently forwards. The shadow shrank back as Jared approached, continuing the strange dance. Jared's footsteps echoed on the muddy cobblestone as he calmly stated once again, "Become my Pokemon."
Howling silently the shadow was repeatedly burned back by the pulsing light of the lantern. Not giving it any respite, Jared continued walking until the shadow was reduced to a small ball of darkness cowering in the corner of the alley.
Jared took a moment to admire the night sky, "Why can't you just fly away? The sky's right up there, isn't it?" he asked, pointing to the twinkling lights high above.
The shadow made no response, simply continuing to cower in the corner, growing smaller by the second.
Seeing the shadows pathetic state, Jared joked, shaking the lantern slightly, "What's wrong, wasn't it just a useless little light?" He chuckled and said, "It's heavy isn't it?"
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