The Ghost Specialist

Sam used his fork to prod at a pile of dehydrated greens. He couldn't call them anything but greens with how uniform and non-specific they were. Next to them was a pile of brown mush that was supposed to be protein. He wasn’t sure what that originally was, either.

“...I don't think we should buy the cheapest food anymore,” he said with a grimace.

Redi looked down at her own half-eaten plate and slid a spoon out of her mouth.

“I think it's fine! You just gotta drink water with it so it doesn't stick to your teeth as much!”

He had to look away as she smacked her lips and continued to eat. The sound was nauseating, so he pulled out a spare Oran Berry to munch on and distract himself.

If we hadn't found that grove...

Traveling on a Route was different. Heading northwest, Route 39 gave way to Route 38, and the settled hills outside of Olivine transitioned into a much flatter woodland. Sam and Redi sat on a short slope overlooking a stream as they ate their lunch. Their Pokémon were feasting on their own meals: bowls of canned Pokémon food rich in protein or calcium depending on if they were a physical or special attacker respectively.

It helped that canned Pokémon food was cheap, and each Pokémon also had an incredibly nutritious Berry. The Berry was delicious and sweet, but Sam couldn’t help but to feel jealous of his Pokémon; due to their biology, Pokémon tended to enjoy food more if it was especially nutritious.

He took a bite of his Oran Berry and slid his plate away. He pretended not to see when Mankey crept over to take that flavorless mash for himself.

“You think we'll find another berry tree?” Sam asked. “With the rate we’re eating them, we won’t have enough to last.”

“Not sure.” Redi tapped her fork against her cheek, leaving a dash of green behind. “Foraging has been decent to us, but there’s always the chance we'll anger some wild Pokémon again.”

Sam cringed at the memory. Their current, dwindling pile of berries had been picked from a small grove of berry trees. Gathering them had started out perfectly peaceful, but when the flock of Spearow returned home, they had only managed to escape thanks to Cyndaquil’s Smokescreen.

And those were Pokémon that lived on a Route. I can’t even imagine how strong ones that live off-route are. Pokémon Rangers must be really tough if they’re constantly working to keep them away.

“I'll guess I’ll just ration it,” Sam said, breaking his berry in half and putting the uneaten part away. “We’ll need different food than bagged, dehydrated meals. Absolutely anything else—”

“But it’s so cheap!” Redi whined. “And it tastes fine!”

Sam glanced over to where Cyndaquil was patting Mankey’s back as he choked. Once better, the monkey then made a point of turning the plate upside-down and letting the food slide off in a clump.

“...I’ll see if it fits in our budget,” she said, relenting. “Just keep in mind that you’re already reserving a huge part of it for yourself, too.”

She returned to eating her food, but she did so in a much more forceful manner, upset. Sam went through the rest of his berry and wiped his hands before pulling out a specific tome.

Redi didn't even blink when the New Pokédex hit his lap. It was obviously Sam’s secret weapon, but it was also a book. Sam was growing more and more aware of just how much Redi despised sitting down and reading written text.

But he hadn’t taken it out to help her right now. Sam wanted to continue his own research. He had the pages for Cyndaquil and Mankey bookmarked—with a third bookmarked for Teddiursa—and he was in the process of transferring exactly what he wanted them to learn into his personal journal.

Sam had been training with Redi over these past few weeks and got to the point where his Pokémon’s basics were firmly settled. Between Mankey’s spars with Teddiursa, Cyndaquil’s frequent practice controlling her flames, and everyone’s daily exercise and jogs, they had a solid foundation to move onto the next stage.

The problem was Sam wasn’t sure what the next stage would entail, only the goals he wanted his Pokémon to achieve. Learning new moves, developing their abilities, figuring out better commands to use in battle...

He scratched at the side of his head, annoyed.

“Still haven’t figured out an overall strategy,” he said out loud to help himself think. “Cyndaquil’s a special attacker. Mankey’s a physical attacker. That’s a good enough set-up for low level battles, but what’s all our training for?”

He wanted to be a Ghost Type specialist. That detail was already set. What would help him figure out everything else was to create a team-wide strategy to use in battle. That meant he needed to figure out the purpose of each Pokémon on his team more than just how they attacked.

Know that, and then the specific goals and steps for practice would all slide into place.

Strategy in mind, Sam looked over his team's Pokédex entries to find any obvious patterns between their moves. Anything that would synergize or fill in a needed gap, he tried to locate, but he was having little success at all.

He recorded a few attacks—Cross Chop would be perfect as a powerful Fighting Type attack, and Quick Attack and Flame Charge would help Cyndaquil with her agility—but nothing really fit together between his two Pokémon outside of continuing their basic roles. His study was eventually interrupted by the sound of Mankey getting up. Glancing upwards, Sam watched his Pokémon push away an empty bowl before huffing and stepping closer to Teddiursa.

Mankey loomed over the little bear, red eyes locked onto his with a look of challenge. A snort left his pig-like nose, showing that Mankey was ready to fight.

Teddiursa looked over.

He also pushed away his bowl.

Then, he flung his paws to the side and let his claws gleam in the midday sun.

“If you're going to fight, do it lower on the hill,” Sam said. “I don’t want any stray attacks damaging my books.”

They grunted and did as he said.

The New Pokédex wasn’t that fragile, but it was better to be careful. If the worst ever came, his mother had at least made a copy of it to keep at home. None of the information it contained was at risk of being lost, but Sam still didn’t want the original to get hurt.

“A fight?” Redi stood up and put her mostly empty plate on the ground. “Yes! Wait for me, you two! Give me a moment, and I'll—”

“Stay here?” Sam asked.

He looked up at her hopefully. She glanced down to him, pursing her lip as if to beg. The two of them stared off until she let out a long, drawn-out sigh.

“Alright. If you need my help, I’ll stay.”

She plopped back down and crossed her arms. Sam could tell she wasn’t actually that upset, but she was still making a show of it.

Mankey and Teddiursa moved closer to the small stream and readied themselves to spar. These practice bouts had been Redi’s idea, but now they had turned into regular competitions between the two Pokémon. To keep it fair, it was mostly about landing hits rather than landing actual moves, so any use of Type energy was all but banned. That didn’t mean they didn’t get hurt—one of the reasons they were burning through their collected Oran Berries so quickly was because the two Pokémon frequently used them to heal.

As for Cyndaquil, she simply tugged at Sam’s pants for permission to step away. He nodded at her, and she walked off. Once she had some distance to their camp, she let her back blaze as bright as it could go as she crouched and put all of her focus into manipulating the output of her flames.

“I don’t know what I should do to train my team next,” Sam admitted to Redi. “I was wondering if you could help—maybe work with me to develop an overall strategy?”

“Have you considered brute force?” she offered.

Sam sent her a flat look, and she stuck out her tongue.

“Ghost Types tend to be frail. Mankey eventually won’t be, but Cyndaquil always will. I’m more worried about making a strategy to determine a direction for my entire team. Training’s been going well, yeah, but what specifically are we training for?”

Redi hummed and tapped her chin, leaning back against the hillside to stare up at the sky.

“Maybe pure speed?”

“No. There’s no way to guarantee every future team member will be fast.”

“Then... pure special attack?”

“That’s just brute force but at range.”

She hummed again, and Sam started to think he had asked the wrong person. Eventually, she responded, but her answer wasn’t what he had hoped.

“Yeah, you’re going to need to ask someone else.”

He put his pen down and sighed.

“I guess for now, I’ll probably have Cyndaquil and Mankey work on their abilities, since those’ll be useful no matter what,” he said. Redi nodded along to show she approved. “Cyndaquil’s Blaze is tied pretty close to building up her pyrokinesis, which she’s already doing. And the same is true for Anger Point and Mankey’s rage.”

Blaze was an ability that drastically increased the power of Cyndaquil’s Fire Type moves when she was close to falling unconscious. It had to do with pyrokinetic control, large amounts of adrenaline, as well as the immense willpower it took to be seriously hurt but keep going.

As for Anger Point, that ability was all about using anger to fuel attacks. When mastered, it meant Mankey could use the pain of any critical hits he suffered to enter a furious berserker state and maximize his physical power. The problem with that ability, though, was that it wasn’t necessarily what he needed to become an Annihilape. It was at least a start of him tapping into his rage, but his final evolution would require him to have perfect control over it. Letting it consume him was the opposite of what becoming an Annihilape required.

“And I’ll keep working on getting all of Teddiursa’s punches down!” Redi said cheerfully. “You’re right that we haven’t been looking into Type coverage enough. Stuff like Fire Punch, Ice Punch, and Electric Punch—”

“Thunder Punch.”

“—will pay off once we figure them out!”

He just snorted at her excitement. He had already brought up easier, alternate attacks Teddiursa could learn, but Redi had ignored them all.

Lick was a Ghost Type move that could help Teddiursa against Ghost Types, but it was honestly so weak Redi had dismissed it just like every other Ghost Type trainer around. Alternatively, there was Feint Attack, but Redi pointed out that Dark Type moves only countered Psychic and Ghost Types.

Alternatively—and this was the plan she was absolutely obsessed with—Redi could expand her attempts to teach Teddiursa Fire Punch into attempts that taught both Ice Punch and Thunder Punch as well. With all three elemental punches at his disposal, he would have a far wider—and far stronger—coverage than anything else might allow.

“So we’ll keep doing what we’re doing for now, just focused on abilities,” Sam said. “We’ll save stronger attacking moves for a later date. Our moves are good enough for the second Gym.”

Redi shrugged.

“I mean, don’t slack on learning better moves? Does Mankey even have a way to damage Ghost Types? He has the same problem as Teddiursa.”

“...Then we’ll also learn Fire Punch,” Sam declared.

There were mountains of ideas resting in Sam’s head, all thanks to the information contained within the New Pokédex. However, it took time to train a team, and he still had a long way to go to get anywhere.

Sitting back, he knew the best thing he could do for his team was probably catch a Gastly. As backwards as adding a new capture seemed, having a third Pokémon and having a Ghost Type could help narrow down his decisions. Where there was not much synergy between Mankey and Cyndaquil, there was the possibility of synergy existing between them and a Gastly. All it would take was heading to Ecruteak, buying a Pokéball, and reaching the place where—

A shout.

Sam’s daydream came to a sudden halt when he heard Teddiursa’s laughter. Redi glanced towards their Pokémon only to hop up and throw up her arms out in a cheer.

“You did it! Ha! You actually did it!” She let loose a hollering yell. “Teddiursa, that took like no time at all! Just a few weeks to figure out Fire Punch!”

The bear’s paw was on fire, but not a single fleck of that flame was burning him. Both he and Mankey stared at the burning limb in shock before he turned to Mankey and exposed his teeth in a grin.

Teddiursa took a step forward.

Mankey took a step back.

Now looking closer, Sam realized both Pokémon were covered in bruises. Their spar had involved more Type energy than he had thought.

“Oh, no you don’t,” he said, under his breath.

Redi’s shout came out quicker than his.

“Use Fire Punch!” she ordered.

Her Pokémon swung down with a blazing fist right as Mankey barely managed to jump away.

He pushed off the ground, doing a backflip, and landing with a few feet to separate them. Teddursa gave chase, and Sam quickly put down his book.

“Low Kick! Trip it!”

A second later, the bear face-planted into the dirt. Mankey hooted and hollered to laugh at him as Teddiursa spat out some mud.

The spar devolved into an actual battle, with both Sam and Redi shouting orders from higher up on the slope. Still, despite the fight, there were bright smiles on their faces. Sure, Sam had a lot to think about in the future, but right now, he was fine with enjoying his time in the present.

Redi and Sam hadn’t been the only trainers traveling between Olivine and Ecruteak, and they won enough battles that they left the Route with more money than they had entered.

Sam convinced Redi through logic and reasoning (begging) to let him make a purchase with their shared funds once arrived in Ecruteak. It had taken all day to push through the last distance and actually reach the city. Now, with so little time left in the day, Sam wasted no time at all to rush to the nearest Pokémart.

Redi chased after him, yelling for him to slow down.

Ecruteak City wasn't anywhere near as tall as Olivine. Wooden buildings in the style of old Johto lined the streets, with more modern houses clustered together in independent city blocks here and there. Running through it, it was clear this place had grown out rather than up. It had kept close to its historic roots and was a common tourist destination as a result.

However, the Pokémart still stood out with its blue roof, and Sam immediately headed right in. There, he grabbed a brand new Pokéball and passed over its cost of two-hundred dollars.

From his hood, Cyndaquil squeaked in pain at the loss of so much hard-earned cash.

“Sam. Wait—”

He was already running again, eyes tracking the setting sun. He had no clue about the operating hours of his destination, other than that it was likely dangerous at night. Behind him, Redi sighed and adjusted her clothes before resuming her chase.

Following the signs set up for tourists, Sam charged towards his destination at the edge of town. There, a historic site laid preserved from over a hundred years ago. The Burned Tower was exactly what its name claimed; it was a tower struck by lightning, burned down into rubble that remained even today.

Most importantly, the place was filled with Ghost Types.

Sam was fast enough that it took him only ten minutes to make his purchase and reach the historical site. He breathed heavily, but he had clearly made it in time as there were a few tourists still lingering around. He approached the open entrance, eyeing the old, blackened wood that had begun to rot over the years. Stones that were once its roof and pieces of ancient decorations littered the empty yard around it.

There was no door, merely an empty archway, and Sam took Cyndaquil out of his hood and placed her on the ground.

“We’re looking for a Gastly. Be on high alert.”

She stood up a bit straighter, and Sam made sure he had the fresh Pokéball firmly in his grip.

However, while he tried to enter the site, a buff man who looked like he’d be better serving as a bouncer moved to block the path ahead of him.

“Sorry, kid,” the man said. “Gym Leader’s orders. You can explore outside, but no one is actually allowed in without Morty’s explicit permission.”

“But... I....”

A Noctowl landed next to a man, two unblinking eyes almost daring Sam to try anything. He knew that Noctowl were keen enough with Hypnosis that trying anything would be an immediate failure.

“...Fine,” Sam grumbled, turning around and retrieving Cyndaquil to place back in his hood.

At this point, Redi caught up with him right when he started to walk away.

“Hey,” Sam said despondently.

“Hey,” Redi replied. “Why so glum?”

He took one last look over his shoulder at the fallen tower behind him.

“Can't enter without Gym Leader Morty's permission. Won’t be able to go in unless I ask.”

She nodded and patted his shoulder to console him. Then, she leaned in.

“We could sneak around the guard,” she whispered.

Sam paused and did his best to subtly glance back to the ruins. The man serving as the guard shook his head, already warning him not to try.

“I think by this point I've learned my lesson about entering dangerous places just to chase a ghost,” Sam said. “At least, the Gym is still open. We might be able to catch the Gym Leader if we rush.”

They could.

The Ecruteak Gym was located not too far away, and it was built in the same old Johtonian style that was so prevalent in town. It wasn’t the largest of places, looking more like a decently sized dojo than anything else. It had white walls, a curved yet pointed roof, and it sat on a platform of elevated stone.

Entry to watch any progressing Gym Battle matches took a five dollar fee, but Morty was already halfway through his last battle for the day, so the Gym Trainer in charge let them enter for free. Sam and Redi exchanged a single look before rushing inside, scaling a staircase that led to a set of mostly empty stands that flanked a lowered battlefield.

“Houndour, return,” a voice grumbled.

Sam was surprised to see that he recognized the Gym’s challenger. Victor, the jacket-wearing trainer he had beaten back in the Beginner’s Tournament preliminaries. He faced Morty, a young man who wore a tattered, purple scarf and a headband that held short, blond hair.

On the field, Morty had out a Gastly with poisonous gas that faded in and out around it. It was clearly injured but still able to battle.

Victor wasn’t much better off, though, as he reattached one of his two Pokéballs back to his belt. That meant the ball he pulled off contained his second and last member of his team.

“Ain’t lost yet,” Victor growled. “Take ‘em out, Murkrow!”

A black crow hit the field, where it pushed off the ground to flap its wings and maintain a set height in the air. Upon noticing Gastly, it cocked its head to the side in interest.

Sam and Redi sat down to watch the rest of the match.

“So you must be a Dark Type specialist. It’s rare to see someone with two Dark Types otherwise,” Morty said.

Victor grunted to confirm it. Morty pulled back a sleeve to check his watch.

“...I want to apologize to you. Normally I don’t rush these battles, but it’s getting rather late,” he said.

“Yeah? Then try to beat me!”

Morty chuckled and returned his Gastly.

“I wouldn’t get too cocky. Perhaps you’ll have better luck another day. Misdreavus!”

Sam sucked in a breath. Misdreavus were rare Ghost Types found in Johto. As it appeared on the field, he took it in; the Pokémon had a feminine face with hair that drifted in the air behind it. The tips of those strands were pink, and a necklace of red pearls hung around its neck.

When the referee called for the battle to resume, both trainers called out commands.

“Pursuit!” Victor shouted.

“Will-o-Wisp,” Morty calmly ordered.

Murkrow rocketed forward as ghostly, wisps of flame appeared floating around Misdreavus. It made no moves to dodge until the very last second, where it pulled back and dropped down, the flames under its control collapsed to strike Murkrow and burn it through its feathers.

However, Pursuit was still about pursuing an opponent, and Murkrow dove down to strike Misdreavus with the Dark Type attack. The Ghost Type winced but was otherwise fine; Will-O-Wisp had burned Murkrow and made it that much harder to deal damage with its physical attacks.

“It’s actually pretty impressive that Morty taught his Misdreavus Will-o-Wisp,” Sam whispered to Redi. “The species doesn’t learn it on its own. It’s usually a TM Move.”

She hummed—if there was anything Sam had tried to hammer in, it was that being burned could severely hinder Teddiursa. Turning back to the fight, Morty went on to order a new move, but when the Gym Leader spoke, Sam found himself standing up.

“Now, continue from there, Misdreavus. You know what to do.”

The fact that he didn’t name the attack he was using was a strange sign. Yet, Sam had a gut feeling that he absolutely knew what was about to happen next.

It looked like Misdreavus conjured another Will-o-Wisp, but instead of the move being colored red, it was a deep purple. Murkrow pulled up in the air to dive down for another Pursuit, but then Misdreavus’s attack struck.

And the move dug into Murkrow’s wounds.

Flames of shadow pierced exactly where Murkrow had been burned, a malicious-looking attack that took advantage of its status condition. The pain was too much, and the attack failed. For all that it tried to give chase, it wasn’t prepared for this level of assault.

“No way...” Sam whispered. His knuckles tightened around the stands’ railing.

“You okay, Sam?” Redi asked, sitting up a bit straighter.

Once more, Morty didn’t name the attack, simply saying, “Again!”

Dark Types resisted Ghost Type moves, making them a strong counter to any Pokémon of that Type. However, the attack Misdreavus was using was incredibly powerful, especially when considering this was only a second Gym Badge fight.

The move dug into Murkrow once more, hurting it before it could even think about attacking again. Victor called out in worry, but his shout meant nothing in the face of Misdreavus’s power. Murkrow hurtled towards the ground and slammed into the dirt, utterly fainting from the two, back-to-back moves.

“No one is supposed to know about it. Only me and one other person,” Sam mumbled quickly under his breath. “This doesn’t make any sense unless he already knew about the move. Or... Or.... Or!”

Everything added up. He could not look away from Morty. Cyndaquil nudged him from where she stood on his seat, and Redi poked him on the arm.

“You okay?” she asked again, now sounding more worried than before.

He didn’t let up. He was ready.

The second Victor started to walk away, Sam threw himself over the railing to land on the field, several feet below. A shock was sent up through his knees, but he ignored it. Redi shouted his name behind him as he ran right at the Gym Leader.

Misdreavus moved to stop him. The Ghost Type Pokémon immediately conjured more balls of flame and rushed at him before he could get too close. The referee, too, responded by pulling out a Pokéball. However, all of that stopped when Morty opened his mouth and let loose a commanding, “Halt!”

Sam froze. Misdreavus froze. The referee froze.

Sam felt like there was something creeping up his spine.

When the Gym Leader breathed out, it was like life was allowed back into the room.

“You’re not supposed to enter the arena unless you have a scheduled challenge against me. Why’d you jump down?” Morty asked.

“I... I...” Sam clenched his fists and snapped his head up, looking Morty right in the eye. “I have to know,” he said.

“Yeah?”

Another second passed. Sam needed to gather himself up just so he could bark out his question.

“You... you’re MatsubaEnju, aren’t you? In that battle, you had Misdreavus attack with Hex!”

For a long moment, there was no reaction on Morty’s face as the Gym Leader kept his expression perfectly level. Then, his eyes widened as he seemed to put the clues together, responding with only two words.

“I am.”