Chapter 20 - Gengar's Story

Gengar thought about it for a moment, and suddenly said, "You are too weak right now, I'll tell you when you're strong enough."

"..."

'How am I supposed to help him if he won't tell me?' Quinn thought with a complicated face.

Gengar saw his expression and thought he was worried about the treasure, and said, "Don't worry, I won't deceive you as other humans would."

When he said these words, the smile on Gengar's face suddenly left a for a moment, and a trace of resentment could be seen instead.

Quinn didn't care about the treasure, and asked, "Can I refuse?"

The origin of this Gengar is unusual at first glance, but opportunities are often accompanied by risks. He has a deep awareness of his strength and doesn't want to do something he isn't completely sure of.

Gengar showed an unkind smile on his face, saying, "If you refuse, I will eat you. Also, don't try throwing the orb away. When you took the initiative to buy it from that person, it was already bound to you."

Quinn reminded him saying, "I can give the orb to someone else."

Gengar said coldly, "I will eat you before you can."

Quinn was puzzled, "Then why don't you just kill them before I can give the orb to them?"

"Because you are very unlucky, I had just regained consciousness when you received the orb. I'm bound to you and can't affect others." Gengar replied.

"Fine, that's a very reasonable answer. What do you need help with?"

Gengar's attitude turned serious, and when he spoke his whole body released an intense dark aura. Quinn could feel its terrifying power, but before Gengar could speak he said, "But before hearing about that, I think we need to get to know each other more."

Gengar squinted his eyes and said nothing.

Quinn asked, "You were sealed in that orb. May I ask why?"

A cold light flashed in Gengar's eyes, and he coldly said, "Because of a group of nasty humans. But you don't need to know about that. You only need to do what I say."

Quinn knew what he meant and asked, "Do you want me to take revenge? Or do you want me to release your seal? How do I release you or destroy the orb?"

After asking about the seal, Gengar's face stiffened. Quinn noticed this and figured out something was wrong... Generally speaking, if you want to release a sealed creature, you only need to break the seal from the outside. This Gengar seems to be incredibly strong. It should be able to break out of its seal- and if can break out it can take revenge on its own.

Gengar didn't answer Quinn's question, instead opting to avoid it by acting like he was in a bad mood. Quinn didn't continue to ask about it because it was almost time for class. He stood up, taking Cramorant and Budew to class with him.

After class was over in the afternoon, Quinn returned to his room. He still saw the orb laying where he left it, but he couldn't see Gengar anywhere. Before Quinn could go looking, Gengar returned from the outside and he made his first request!

"As long as you can find me the icy food that tastes sweet, I will tell you where the treasure is hidden." Gengar said with complete seriousness, gesturing the shape of the food.

Quinn froze for a moment, watching the movements of Gengar's hands, and visualized, before asking, "Do you want some ice cream?"

Gengar was surprised, and said, "Yes, that's what I want!"

"...you just want some ice cream?"

Gengar looked awkward and replied, "Yes... that's it."

Quinn lightly smiled, picked up Budew, and started to head towards town. Seeing Quinn start leaving, Gengar hurriedly followed behind.

Although it's almost wintertime, there are still some places selling ice cream in town. Quinn looked at the Gengar floating beside him, and asked, "Can't other people see you?"

Gengar looked proud and said, "I can only be seen by those I permit!"

Quinn bought three ice cream cones at a stall selling ice cream, one for Budew, one for Cramorant, and one for Gengar.

Quinn started handing them out, and reached Gengar saying, "This is yours."

Gengar stretched out his hand to pick it up with excitement, Quinn let go when he saw Gengar had a good grasp, but the ice cream went straight through the palm of Gengar's hand and fell to the ground with a crack.

The pure white cream was instantly covered with dust and flowed into the ground along the cracks in the road. Gengar stared at his hands in a daze, with a sad expression on his face.

Quinn was taken aback, he stretched out his hand towards Gengar, but went straight through his body. Gengar's data emerged in his mind, and a terrible thought suddenly appeared in his mind.

"I think we should talk." He said.

Quinn returned home and Gengar never said anything along the way.

Sitting on the sofa, Quinn looked at Gengar and asked, "You are dead, right?"

(E/N -- Insensitive! D*mn man!)

Looking at the appearance of Gengar, it seemed that he didn't realize the state he was in. Ghost-types can indeed phase through some objects, but they can touch them if they decide to.

If Gengar knew about it, he probably wouldn't have asked for ice cream. What will ghost-types become after they die? A ghost among other ghosts?

Gengar's face showed confusion before saying, "I don't know, I only remember that they trapped me within the orb, and told me that if the orb was broken, I would disappear along with it."

Maybe the sealed orb sealed the soul of Gengar? If the orb is broken, does it mean that Gengar will dissipate? Were all the threats before just bluffs? If all of this is true, then the situation has completely reversed...

"Who sealed you?" asked Quinn.

"A group of humans."

"Did you hurt them?"

"No, they said that I would cause a disease within humans and that I was bad luck and evil."

Foolish ancient humans killed him, sealed him in an orb, and buried him deep underground... The strong resentment against them allowed Gengar to survive through the orb and he didn't dissipate after all that time.

At the cost of losing the body, it merged with the orb and transformed its soul. But it has both advantages and disadvantages. It survives and merges with the orb, but it's now essentially just a sentient gem. Eternally trapped inside, unable to escape, and even unable to use moves. Not to mention Gengar's resentment towards humans also gave birth to a curse, which will make all humans who come into contact with the orb have nightmares.

After listening to Gengar's story, Quinn felt extremely complicated. The alliance has only been established for around two hundred years. Before that, the powers of this world were found in the form of different tribes and kingdoms. It was an era where ignorance and feudalism coexisted.

Earlier, humans even referred to Pokémon as monsters, and they were enemies to humans. Hunting and warfare could be found just about anywhere. Quinn has read about this era in the library before and using that knowledge along with the experience of Gengar, he couldn't imagine how many lives were lost because of the ignorance of humans.