The next day, Saturday.
"Ka-kah~~"
Once again, Johan awoke to the sensation of Gastly licking him. He was starting to grow numb to the spicy taste of Pecha Berries, which he now routinely used to cure his paralysis.
Fortunately, Gastly had only just begun mastering Toxic and couldn't yet consistently use it. Johan had managed to cure himself after consuming three Pecha Berries yesterday, finally shaking off the poison.
After a quick wash, the first thing Johan did was tie on an apron and head to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.
Cracking an egg into the pan with one hand, he glanced at his phone playing the morning news. The sizzling of the pan mixed with the anchor's voice, and the sll of breakfast quickly filled the room.
anwhile, Gastly was lounging on the couch, its tongue rapidly tapping away at the screen.
Little notifications like "Thanks for the stars, Old Ghost of the Millennium!" popped up on the screen, quickly drowned out by the flood of chat ssages in the live feed.
Still, Gastly was having the ti of its life.
It was watching a live Pokémon battle on the Sinnoh channel.
The contestants? Cynthia versus Gardenia!
But Gastly wasn't focused on the battle itself—it was fixated on the Pokémon Cynthia was commanding.
An Eevee.
Heh, Eevee. Heh.
"Dinner's ready," Johan suddenly called out.
"Ka-kah!"
Startled, Gastly quickly shut off the phone, casting a guilty glance toward the kitchen. It peeked out cautiously, seeing that Johan hadn't noticed, and let out a sigh of relief before quickly closing the live stream.
"What were you sneaking around and watching?" Johan asked, seemingly casually, as he sat down and untied his apron.
"Ka-kah, Ka-kah," Gastly shook its head emphatically, trying hard to look innocent.
Of course, Johan could see through Gastly's act, but he didn't push any further.
At least Gastly's account didn't have any money on it, so there was no danger of getting scamd. He could let it be.
"Since it's the weekend, let's head to Rustboro City's police station. Maybe we can calm down one or two of their Pokémon," Johan said between bites of breakfast, "and then we'll swing by the shops to see if we can get you a move-learning machine."
Gastly had just learned Toxic, but the issue was that it overlapped too much with Will-O-Wisp and Curse. Although Gastly already knew a decent number of moves, most of them were debuffs, and it had very few offensive options. Johan wanted to see if he could afford a TM for Hex.
Since Gastly had said yesterday it wanted to beco stronger and Johan had a dream of becoming a real Trainer, there was no reason to hold back.
"Ka-kah~~"
Gastly's eyes glead mischievously, swirling with ideas.
I ca up with an aweso move last night!
"Hm?"
Johan raised an eyebrow as he bit into his egg. Could Gastly really be that talented? Had it already learned another move?
Could it have learned two moves in just one day?
"Ka-kah——"
Gastly flashed a confident grin, its misty form shifting and shaping into a silhouette.
Johan's expression turned odd as he watched. He stared at Gastly for a long ti before tentatively asking, "Is that... a lizard?"
"Ka-kah!" Gastly glared at him.
"A bat?"
"Ka-kah, Ka-kah!"
"A tardigrade?"
Gastly: "..."
After much effort and so very elaborate explanations from Gastly, Johan finally realized, "Wait, you're saying that was supposed to be Giratina?"
"Ka-kah!" Gastly nodded enthusiastically.
Imagine how scary it would be if I turned into Giratina the next ti I use Spite!
Right?
Johan finished the last of his egg and wiped his lips.
"How about you stick with transforming into 'Gastlybee' next ti?"
Gastly's attempts at transformation left much to be desired.
"Ka! Kaaaah! (((//Д//)))"
anwhile, in Kanto's Rock Tunnel.
"Charizard, fly lower," a young man with short auburn hair wearing a cape instructed from atop a sturdy Charizard, who was skimming the canyon floor.
In his earpiece, a voice crackled, "Lance, the area has been cleared of tourists."
"Understood, thank you," Lance replied, holding the earpiece as he scanned the jagged rocks surrounding him, his sharp eyes searching for sothing.
Suddenly.
"Rooaaar!!"
Charizard let out a low growl, flapping its wings to gain altitude.
Just then, a cliffside in the tunnel exploded, sending shards of jagged rock flying in every direction, carving a deep hole into the rocky face.
Had Charizard's reflexes not been quick enough, the shards might not have hard the sturdy Pokémon but could have injured Lance.
"We've found it," Lance muttered, unfazed.
Several days earlier, a vicious, unidentified Pokémon had been reported in Rock Tunnel, attacking Pokémon and people alike. As one of Kanto's League investigators, Lance had taken on the mission to track it down.
After several days of searching, and with a bit of deliberate provocation from Charizard, the creature had finally revealed itself.
From the dark chasm in the cliff erged a pale gray, blue-eyed Pokémon with a striking resemblance to a pterosaur—an Aerodactyl!
Upon seeing its true form, Lance dismounted from Charizard and stared in surprise.
"An Aerodactyl?" he said, his voice tinged with excitent.
He tossed a Poké Ball into the air.
In a flash of light, a nacing Gyarados materialized beside him.
"Roarrr!"
Facing Gyarados, Aerodactyl was unafraid and let out a loud, fierce cry in response.
The two Pokémon locked eyes, both radiating intense energy.
"Charizard, Dragon Breath! Gyarados, Waterfall!" Lance ordered.
Aerodactyl hesitated for a mont as the two powerful Pokémon attacked from both sides.
Wait, this wasn't supposed to be a one-on-one battle!
Thunk!
The Poké Ball stopped shaking, and the red light on it dimd.
Lance stepped forward to retrieve the ball, looking through the red-tinted glass at the now sleeping Aerodactyl.
However, his expression was not one of satisfaction.
Throughout the battle, he had sensed that this Aerodactyl had just recently awakened from its fossilized state. Its body was far from healthy, and even its emotional and ntal state seed off.
Realizing this, Lance wasted no ti in recalling Gyarados and jumping back onto Charizard's back.
He quickly flew toward the nearest Pokémon Center.
"Sorry, sir."
Back in Rustboro City, Johan and a dejected Gastly left the departnt store, with the sales clerk's apologetic voice echoing behind them.
They had the Hex TM in stock, but Johan couldn't afford it.
Even after helping to calm down two rampaging Pokémon at the Rustboro Police Station earlier in the day, he still didn't have enough money.
That was partly because the station only had two rampaging Pokémon left. The rest of the afflicted Pokémon had already been sent to Rustboro on Drake's orders, but it would take so ti to transport them.
Those Pokémon were difficult to move, and standard Poké Balls couldn't contain them.
"It's alright, we'll save up eventually," Johan reassured Gastly.
He just needed to complete more "side quests" and earn so cash.
Taking out his phone, Johan scrolled through his contacts and found a familiar na.
[Grain in the Field]: How's Feebas doing lately?
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