Nightmare God, Head Towards Saffron City

"Oh."

After seeing clearly that the desperate little guy who was scaring him was a Pokémon and not the ghost that haunted Lavender Town according to urban legends, Instructor Ai also put away his fierce expression of preparation for battle.

"Tsk..."

He was a bit disappointed.

Aisha would also be very curious if he really encountered someone buried alive or a white ghost hand. These ferocious monsters in urban legends would not be able to resist his own sword.

"Jie..."

Gastly was too frightened to move.

It felt like it almost died...

Luckily, this human only threw a fist.

But if he had wrapped a layer of Busoshoku Haki on top of his fist, it would have completely ascended to the heavens by now.

"Jie!"

Realizing this, Gastly's eyes were filled with tears of relief, and a touch of gratitude tinted its eyes towards Aisha.

Yes, gratitude.

Gastly was grateful that Aisha had the ability to kill itself with a single punch, but still chose to show mercy.

Ah, what a powerful and merciful man.

"Jie~"

Having figured this out, Gastly was instantly moved to flap his tongue and rushed towards Aisha, ready to let the other party experience some of his own tongue licking that was filled with love.

"Eh, don't!"

Looking at Gastly suddenly rushing towards himwith a tearful face for some reason, that ghost tongue already flung out of its mouth, Instructor instantly felt a tingle in his scalp.

"Jie!"

"..."

Instructor Ai made a downward move and dodged Gastly's tongue.

Watching Gastly's tongue swipe in front of his face, Aisha only felt a wave of dizziness.

What was wrong with these Ghost type Pokémon?

Growing a tongue just to lick people...

It didn't matter if Eevee and Marill looked like this, they were cute kids anyway.

But you, Gastly, you've got a mean look on your face.

How can you be so shameless as to flick your tongue out at strangers, ready to lick them?

Licking ghost!

"Jie~"

Gastly floated in mid-air with a silly grin on its face.

Looking at Aisha dodging its licking tongue, this licking ghost wasn't angry, instead it was happily circling around this beautiful boy.

"Jie!"

This master, I'll follow him!

"...Hmm?"

Aisha stood up straight and slightly distanced himself from Gastly.

After calming down a little, he also scrutinized the appearance of this one Pokémon.

"Shiny Gastly?"

Aisha's eyes lit up.

The Gastly family in their normal stance, the shiny form's face value was of a normal level, and there wasn't much of a difference compared to the main body as it was.

However, once the shiny Gengar underwent Mega Evolution, its body color became white.

With its ghost attribute, the white Mega Gengar's appearance was full of grotesque and eerie beauty, and with its explosive strength, it was undoubtedly an extremely popular Pokémon, and also Instructor Ai's favorite Pokémon... well, one of his favorite Pokémon.

"Hey, kid."

Truly delighted by the sight, Instructor Ai also took the initiative to open his mouth.

"Jie?"

After realizing that Aisha was taking the initiative to talk to him, Gastlyalso had a burst of happiness and immediately rushed to his front.

"...Overexcited."

Meeting Gastly's scorching eyes, Aisha had a slight headache.

However, the joy was unabated.

Since, this little brat liked himself so much, then the job of taking in should go extraordinarily smoothly...

Moreover, this one Gastly could have approached him without him noticing, the ability and talent in terms of stealth must be of an extremely high level.

The talent required for a Ghost type Pokémon was exactly the same...

He remembered that there was a trick on the Elite Summer's side that allowed her to hide Gengar within her own shadow and perform a series of supernatural and anti-physical manipulations - Aisha had been coveting it for a very long time, and if he were to subdue this shiny Gastly, the future of his own defense would certainly be a quantum leap forward in terms of safety.

Perfect!

"Jie!"

Gastly came a few more points closer.

Aisha did not retreat this time.

"Gastly, what do you want to do by following me?"

"Jie~"

As soon as Gastly heard the question his eyes lit up, and his big eyes looked towards the Poké ball worn above Aisha's belt, the meaning was already self-evident.

"You want to be my Pokémon?"

"Jie!"

Aisha was overjoyed in her heart, and Gastly was also very excited.

Totally got it for nothing...

Instructor Ai completely didn't expect that he had actually picked up such a well-endowed shiny Gastly for nothing.

It was a great stroke of luck.

This trip to Lavender Town was not a loss at all, it was a profit!

"However, becoming my Pokémon is no simple matter, and you must undergo very hard training and strict tests in the future."

After waiting for the excitement to subside a little, Aisha also revealed a serious expression, and spoke a serious request towards Gastly, saying, "As my Pokémon, I hope you can become the strongest, so that daily exercise naturally can't be lazy, and must be adhered to no matter what, can you accept it? "

"Jie~"

Seemingly sensing Aisha's mood was very serious, Gastly also instantly put away its playful demeanor and instantly revealed a serious expression.

"Jie!"

Gastly nodded its head, indicating that it understood and could accept it.

"Good..."

Aisha revealed a satisfied expression.

It wasn't that he was being redundant, but it was mainly because it was very important for trainers and wild Pokémon to reach a consensus in advance before accepting a Pokémon.

If you don't see, after some trainers had taken in Pokémon, problems arose in a series of aspects such as the living habits of both parties, so that conflicts gradually accumulated, and in the end, because of a crucial matter, the conflicts completely detonated, resulting in the two parties parting ways, there were too many examples.

Aisha's Pokémon acceptance valued a fellowship.

He also didn't want to be at odds with his Pokémon over some inexplicable matter at some point in the future.

As for, why Aisha hadn't been like this before...

The main reason was that he now had a total of eight Pokémon.

One Pokémon was an initial Pokémon received from the incubation base, five Pokémon were gifts given to him by other people, and one Pokémon was a prize redeemed from the Celadon City Game Corner.

After looking around, really only Marill was a Pokémon that was properly collected in the wild... At that time, because of the shortage of combat power, Aisha didn't have the heart to persuade and communicate, but it was good that Marill, who was still an Azurill at that time, was very well-behaved and understanding, and didn't create a problem.

"Jie!"

Gastly came closer, with a look saying "are you done asking? Hurry up and conquer me now" written all over its big face.

"Good."

Aisha took out a Poké ball from within his belt pouch and zoomed in.

Gastly, on the other hand, hit the button of the Poké ball head on impatiently.

Instantly, the Poké ball opened and shot out a red light that wrapped around Gastly's illusory body.

After the lid of the Poké ball closed, it didn't even shake a bit inside Aisha's hand before the blooming red light signaled a successful take-in.

"Gastly, get."

Looking at the quiet Poké ball, Aisha's eyes looked through the translucent glass lid of the Poké ball to the curious Gastly inside the ball.

"Jie~"

Inside the Poké ball was actually such a feeling, it was too comfortable.

"Oh..."

Looking at Gastly's soothing face, Aisha also remembered one of the settings of the Poké ball - the interior of the Poké ball was designed to be a cozy environment that Pokémon especially liked, and Team Rocket Trio's Meowth had almost fallen within that cozy environment that seemed to be like heaven.

"Good."

Aisha released Gastly again.

"Come out, Gastly, there's something I need to ask you."

"Jie!"

Gastly appeared in front of Aisha under a burst of light, after which, fluttering his tongue, he quickly lunged at it.

"Alright, stop it, Instructor Ai has questions ready to ask you!"

Rotom phone, on the other hand, released a ray of electric current, and managed to intercept Gastly, who was piggybacking on it.

"Lo~"

I can't lick Instructor Ai without my tongue, and you can't lick him either!

"Jie..."

Gastly still had a stupid grin on his face.

"Jie!"

I won't give up trying for the sake of licking my master, and I'll definitely try to become stronger in the future!

"...Hmm?"

Watching Gastly inexplicably change into a motivated look, Aisha was puzzled but didn't care much.

He also liked that his Pokémon could be passionate.

"By the way, before, when those bad guys acted in the Poké ball, did you find out what those people did on this floor?"

"Jie?"

Hearing Aisha's inquiry, Gastly also showed a thoughtful expression.

"Jie~jie!"

A moment later, Gastly revealed an expression of confidence.

Young man, you've asked the right person... asked the right ghost!

"Jie~jie~jie~jie!"

Gastly instantly transformed into a Soul Temple Elder1 and began a colorful recount of what it had seen and heard on the top floor of the Pokémon Tower.

"It said that it happened to be hiding outside the tower at the time, and that Proton and those people didn't seem to be prepared to capture Pokémon on the top floor, so it didn't care about itself."

Rotom phone translated Gastly's words from the side.

"Jie~jie!"

"Gastly said that all those people in black uniforms were holding some strange mechanical instruments detecting something... It feels like they're searching for some kind of Pokémon."

Aisha wasn't much surprised.

"Pokémon?"

"It would make sense if Proton was deployed in search of some special Pokémon." Aisha's fingers were rubbing his chin, and he also wore a thoughtful expression as he muttered to himself, saying, "But what kind of Pokémon is it that even made Giovanni go so far as to send Problem , one of the Four Admins with Elite Four level strength, on an adventure?"

Aisha glanced at Gastly.

Hmm... A shiny Gastly is just a shiny Gastly, not so much.

"Jie!"

Suddenly, Gastly burrowed into the corner of the top floor of the Pokémon Tower.

"Hmm?"

Aisha followed and looked over.

He saw Gastly pull out a picture from under the pile of stones in the corner.

"What is it?"

"Jie~"

Gastly wrapped the photo in gas and handed it to Aisha.

"Jie!"

"It said that this one photo was the photo that the guy who was looking at the head of Team Rocket at first glance was looking at, and because it felt it was very important, it said that after the head was arrested, it hid this one photo, and waited until this time... uh, offered it to you."

While translating Gastly's words, Rotom phone's tone was a bit strange.

"What a licking ghost..."

Little Ro classmate was so disdainful.

"...Great help, thanks a lot."

After a moment of silence, Aisha also took Gastly's picture.

"Jie~"

Gastly instantly started giggling around the Pokémon tower.

"..."

Rotom phone felt a bit of a headache as it looked at this new partner who had newly joined the team.

Once such a lickspittle who didn't hide its thoughts at all joined the team, Eevee and Marill, the kind of guys who were still hiding and maintaining their reserve, didn't know what would happen...

"It's over, the team is going to change."

However, Rotom phone wasn't scared at all.

The fact that it can speak human language is what it relies on.

No matter how straight ball you guys are, I will always be the Pokémon that communicates the most with Instructor Ai!

That's the confidence that being able to speak human language gives me.

"Hmph~"

Having figured out this matter, Rotom phone wasn't too afraid of Gastly, the licking ghost.

You still need me to translate in the middle when you communicate with Instructor Ai, don't you?

Unless Instructor Ai suddenly acquires the ability to understand Pokémon language, my translation ability will always be an indispensable thing within the team... huh?

"..."

Suddenly, the Rotom phone glanced at Aisha as if it had remembered something.

It remembered that Aisha could understand the meaning of the Pokémon's words without needing to translate them itself.

In other words, Instructor Ai could also understand some Pokémon language?

"Hiss~"

Little Ro classmate took in a breath of cold air.

"If it's Instructor Ai, it's not impossible..."

Bad.

Rotom phone felt its position faltering.

"This Pokémon... it's?"

Aisha ignored Rotom phone and Gastly's reactions, and now he was looking at the picture with a surprised expression floating above his face.

"Dakrai?"

Instructor Ai recognized the identity of the Pokémon captured above the photo.

The Nightmare God.

And, in the background was the Pokémon Tower...

"Dakrai appeared in the Pokémon Tower, why?"

Aisha was also puzzled.

"Is that why Proton went out?"

If it was for the sake of a Mythic Pokémon with terrifying strength like Dakrai, it was indeed a reasonable situation for Giovanni to have chosen to send out the Four Admins.

"For the sake of the Second Generation Mewtwo plan... Giovanni really did everything he could to get information on those Mythic and Legendary Pokémon."

After figuring that out, Aisha also revealed a mocking smile.

If Giovanni knew that he had mastered the harnessing of at least three first-class and three second-class Legendary Pokémon in his hands, I wonder if he would immediately come over to look for trouble?

Of course, he wasn't afraid of himself if he did come...

"But... Darkrai, I like it too."

Looking at that one picture, Aisha's mind came alive a bit.

Dakrai was a ruthless man.

However, he sighed again.

Lance's large group of people with professional instruments had searched Lavender Town for so long without obtaining any results, and Dakrai was afraid that he had already left this side, and whether he was in the Kanto region or not was still a matter of concern, and without any clues, it would be far too difficult to take this Phantom Pokémon in.

"Forget it, let it be."

Aisha didn't want to think about it.

Anyway, he had already made a big profit by subjugating a Gastly on this trip.

"Okay, let's go out."

The goal of collecting the Pokémon had already been accomplished, and Aisha had not met any horrible monsters within the urban legends, so naturally, there was no need to continue staying within the Pokémon Tower.

"Lo~ Take a rest tonight, tomorrow we can depart for Saffron City~"

"Jie!"

Rotom phone and Gastly also followed Aisha's footsteps.

...

That night, as the residents of Lavender Town entered their dreams, a dark shadow flashed to the top of the Pokémon Tower.

"...."

It was a Pokémon with a pitch-black body.

Without legs, it floated eerily above the sky.

A ring of red material that seemed to be a scarf was wrapped around its neck, and a thick white fog swirled above its head, with a bright blue eye hidden underneath the murky fog.

"..."

It felt the scent of nightmares.

Perhaps because of today's encounter, after the residents of Lavender Town, who had been hypnotized by the supernatural attribute Pokémon, went to sleep, many of them were still infested with nightmares.

The Nightmare God had arrived quietly...

Not only could it trigger the nightmares, the nightmares themselves could attract it.

"..."

This one Pokémon then floated above the top of the tower in silence, looking up at the sky - the full moon, which was supposed to be waving bright rays of light, at some point silently hid behind the overlapping clouds, refusing to show its clean form, and the earth was immersed under a darkness.

This is its favorite time.

A moonless night.

"Da?"

Suddenly, as if he had noticed something, Dakrai glanced at the far side of Lavender Town, after which his eyes turned back to an inn in Lavender Town.

"..."

Dakrai returned back within the darkness.

...

The next day, Aisha, who had a good night's sleep, stood at the entrance of Lavender Town, and after waving goodbye to the residents who were seeing him off and appreciating him, he carried his Rotom phone and Charmeleon with him, and set off on the road back to Saffron City.

"I wonder, how powerful is Sabrina's Psychic Gym?"

Instructor Ai, who didn't have the slightest idea that Sabrina had already changed the rules of the Gym Challenge for his own sake, was still figuring out how to configure the team.