บท 21: The Unusual Gastly
Having climbed to the ninth floor of the Bell Tower, Cain was exhausted, because the stairs were extremely difficult to traverse. He had to rely on his Ditto transforming into a rope and wrapping around the load-bearing pillars of the previous floor to climb up, resulting in his hands being rubbed raw and blistered.
Upon arriving on the ninth floor, another illusion appeared, engulfing him in what seemed like a sea of fire.
However, Cain did not pay it much attention.
Just as he was about to use "Foresight", he saw a Gastly lying weakly in the corner.
Cain shook his head; this illusion had a glaring flaw, as it even had a weak link.
"Ditto, use Foresight."
Two beams of light swept across the room, revealing a group of Gastly with nowhere to hide. They naturally vanished without a trace.
Only the weak Gastly in the corner remained, cowering in fear.
Cain squatted down by the corner, "Why didn't you run?"
Upon seeing Cain, the Gastly shrank back even more.
Cain lost interest in the timid Gastly and was about to leave.
Suddenly, he felt a wave of dizziness and nearly stumbled and fell.
What was going on?
He was only seven years old and exercised daily, so his energy levels were always high. Why did it feel like his body's heat was being drained?
Looking at the Gastly again, it had actually started to float, revealing a wicked smile.
Such a smile was familiar, deeply etched into his memory.
The Mega Gengar of Koga had a smile just like this.
This memory was so profound that it would be impossible to erase even in this lifetime.
Moreover, the feeling he just experienced was identical to when Ariados and his team had their life energy drained by the Mega Gengar.
Capture it!
Although Cain felt dizzy at the moment, his strong willpower was enough to support his conviction. He had to capture this Gastly. Even if he didn't know how to train it yet, he knew it was valuable.
The Gastly was still under the effect of Foresight and weakened, making it highly likely to be captured.
"Ditto, transform."
A black face surrounded by a cloud of purple mist appeared. The large white eyes took up half of its face, but its pupils were tiny. Underneath the ghostly smile, a pair of fangs exuded an unusual sense of terror.
One real and one fake Gastly!
"Mean Look."
Master at catching Pokémon, Cain immediately cut off Gastly's escape route
A dark, oppressive gaze enveloped Gastly, as if a strange energy was binding it.
The naturally timid Gastly wanted to escape but found it couldn't break free from this specific area.
"Give up, Lick."
Seeing Gastly so weak, it must have been the type bullied by its companions. Its level definitely wouldn't be high, and Cain didn't expect it to know any advanced moves. To be on the safe side, Cain only ordered the use of the most basic move, Lick.
Gastly's Lick was different from that of Lickitung, a Pokémon whose actual tongue is used. Instead, it was the ghostly power extending from Gastly's body.
A long tongue wrapped around Gastly.
The weak Gastly was chased and ran around in a panic, its speed getting slower and slower.
The scene turned into a game of "cat and mouse."
Cain was somewhat disappointed, because such a Pokémon was not what he had hoped for. Timid Pokémon may be fast, but they are only good at fleeing, and their battle awareness is extremely poor.
Just like this Gastly, its only thought when attacked was to run away. If it wasn't for the experience of battling with Koga, Cain wouldn't even bother with such a Gastly.
Getting closer and closer.
Lick had left Gastly with nowhere to run, and the long tongue whipped Gastly like a lash.
It's over!
Cain had already taken out a Poké Ball.
...
At this moment, a surprising scene occurred. Gastly's entire eyes were filled with red light, its body trembling, seemingly in pain as if it was having a seizure.
What is this?
"Curse."
Cain realized, seeing Ditto's body also wrapped in red light, its expression as eerie as Gastly's.
Hehe
Cain laughed, a genuine laugh from his heart. Gastly's last desperate move was exactly where its value lied.
If a Ghost-type Pokémon uses Curse, it sacrifices half of its own health to inflict the cursed status on its opponent, causing the opponent's health to continuously deplete. It can be considered a move that injures oneself first and then the enemy.
When Gengar was cornered, it fought back instead of waiting for its doom. In the last moment, it used a self-destructive move like "Curse," which showed its determination to take the enemy down with it.
This was exactly what Cain valued. Low levels and poor talent were not frightening, but knowing one's shortcomings and not taking action was.
"Finish it."
Upon Cain's order, Ditto launched its final attack.
The exhausted Gastly was taken down by the last Lick attack.
Cain threw the Poké Ball.
That feeling.
Watching the Poké Ball trace a perfect arc and hit Gastly, the red light flickered twice, and Gastly was completely captured.
How nostalgic. Cain didn't know how many years it had been since he last caught a Pokémon. This feeling seemed to take him back to his passionate youth.
No, he had traveled through time, and his youth was about to come. This life would be even more brilliant and colorful.
Cain went to pick up the Poké Ball.
A strong arm blocked his way.
"I'll take this Gastly."
A gloomy aura emanated from behind, and Cain already knew who the person was.
What gave him such courage to try and snatch Cain's prey after witnessing his powerful display of strength?
The value of this Gastly.
The first answer Cain came up with.
Turning around, it was indeed the gloomy man, Raikou.
"Move aside."
Cain stared at Raikou coldly.
With that kind of look again, Raikou couldn't help but take a step back, feeling a little intimidated.
Raikou swallowed and said, "I want this Gastly. I'll help you catch a stronger one."
Raikou had originally been afraid of Cain to some extent, and since they were in the Ecruteak Gym, he didn't dare to act recklessly. His tone was already conciliatory.
However, this only made Cain more certain of the value of this Gastly. Giving it to Raikou was absolutely impossible.
"I said move aside."
Cain's attitude was firm.
Raikou also knew the importance of this Gstly to him, so he mustered up his courage and said, "Your Ditto has already consumed a lot of energy, and my Machop is now in perfect condition. You have no chance of winning."
Raikou tried to intimidate Cain.
Meeting an enemy, killing on sight was the rule. If there was so much time for idle talk, they'd have already died a hundred times over.
Cain sneered coldly, "Ditto, use Lick to wrap around Machop's eyes."
The long tongue, accompanied by nauseating mucus, coiled around Machop's eyes.
Without its eyes, Machop couldn't use Foresight, and without Foresight, Fighting-type moves would be useless against Ghost-type Pokémon.
Cain was decisive and quick, immediately targeting Machop's weakness.
Raikou was suddenly at a loss, standing still in the scene...
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