## Chapter 54 : Arbok

Kane couldn't accept how easily he had received his certificate After all, he wasn't one to believe that good fortune would just fall from the sky without any effort.

But this wasn't his doing; it all relied on Chiyama's powerful reputation. With such influence behind him, everything simply fell into place as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Once Kane returned home with the graduation certificate in hand, he felt some relief. One more thing had been taken off his plate, though the process had been shockingly smooth.

Meanwhile, Komatsu and Melissa were out enjoying the scenic spots of Ecruatek City without a care in the world. The carefree lifestyle they enjoyed came as part and parcel of being the descendants of gym trainers. They didn't have to worry about the kinds of things Kane did.

Thunderstorm, on the other hand, was harder to pin down. He was always leaving early and coming back late. No one really knew what he was up to, and Kane didn't have the time to tail him and keep track either.

With nothing else pressing on his mind that afternoon, Kane spent hours wandering around the various garbage dumps of Ecruteak City. His goal was simple: he wanted to use the Weezing he had bought to absorb as much of the poisonous gas from these dumps as possible. It was one of the most effective ways to strengthen a Poison-type Pokémon.

After a few hours of this, Weezing seemed to be in better spirits. His lethargy was slowly dissipating, and Kane could tell that the toxicity in Weezing's body was gradually returning to normal levels.

"Alright, let's test your abilities," Kane said, leading the Weezing to a more open area.

There was no better way to gauge a Pokémon's potential than to have it try out its special moves. By doing so, Kane could roughly estimate Weezing's level and strength. And since this Weezing had already evolved from Koffing, it was clear that its level wasn't too low.

As expected, Weezing could already use the move Explosion. Kane wasn't surprised. Explosion was often one of the first powerful moves that Koffing learned once it evolved into Weezing.

Of course, Explosion came with a heavy cost. Though it was immensely powerful, it used up all of the Pokémon's energy, causing significant self-damage in the process. For this reason, many trainers hesitated to use the move. There were countless stories of Pokémon dying after using Explosion because they couldn't recover from the strain it put on them.

In fact, the only trainers who ever forced their Pokémon to use this move recklessly were usually those associated with criminal or evil organizations. Regular trainers would rarely, if ever, push their Pokémon to such extremes.

Weezing, for its part, was rather docile despite being a Poison-type Pokémon. Its expression was goofy, and it had a gentle temperament compared to many others of its kind. Since Kane had spent 10,000 poke dollars to acquire it, he certainly planned to get the most value out of his investment.

Later that evening, Kane returned to the black market.

He knew full well that the toxins Weezing could currently produce weren't potent enough to successfully trigger Gastly's evolution. The toxicity within Gastly had already been pushed to its limits by the poison core's of the two swalots. If Gastly was to evolve into Haunter, the level of poison required to stimulate the change had to be even greater than what those two Swalots had offered.

This time, Kane found an Arbok for sale in the market. It was fresh stock, only having been brought in that day, and still looked full of energy and health. Naturally, because of its condition, the price was higher.

Fifteen thousand poke dollarw—steep, but reasonable for such a specimen.

In just two days, Kane had spent 25,000 poke dollars on a Weezing and an Arbok. After purchasing food for the Weezing as well, Kane was left with only 20,000 poke dollars in cash. On top of that, his salary from the Ecruteak Gym, which was 4,500 poke dollars for three months of work, wasn't much help.

If the toxins from both Weezing and Arbok weren't enough to help Gastly evolve, Kane would be facing a serious cash shortage. He might even end up having to dip into his last remaining funds, and that would still be no guarantee that Gastly would evolve.

At this point, he had done all he could. The rest was up to luck.

Becoming an official disciple of the Ecruteak Gym meant he would be earning around 3,000 poke dollars a month. But even with that income, it would still take him four months just to save enough to buy another Weezing.

If there was little hope for evolving Gastly into Haunter, the idea of evolving it further into Gengar seemed even more distant, almost impossibly so.

With a heavy sigh, Kane let his thoughts drift. He still didn't know the passwords for the two bank accounts left behind by the old man, and there was no way to recover them after the man's death.

"Old man… even though we weren't related by blood, I never wanted you to die," Kane muttered under his breath. "But why did you have to get so worked up in your last moments?"

Leaving the black market, Kane decided it was time to test out Arbok's skills, especially since the Pokémon was still full of energy.

He led Arbok to an open field.

"Come on out, Arbok!" Kane called, releasing the snake-like Pokémon from its Poké Ball.

The moment Arbok emerged, it revealed its wild, untamed nature. Clearly, this Arbok had been caught in the wild by a Pokémon hunter and had no desire to submit to any human master. And when it saw Kane—a mere child—it made its decision. Arbok's predatory instincts kicked in, and it lunged at Kane with its fangs bared, intent on killing him to regain its freedom.

"Ditto, transform into a dagger!" Kane shouted, unfazed by the sudden attack. His voice was calm, but there was a deadly seriousness in his eyes.

Without hesitation, Ditto transformed into a dagger, which Kane swiftly grabbed. He was fully confident in his timing and abilities, knowing that Arbok was only five meters away from him.

With a sharp "whoosh," the dagger sliced through the air, piercing straight into Arbok's open mouth.

Kane rolled backward as Arbok, sensing the sudden presence of death, let out a desperate hiss. Up until now, the snake Pokémon had underestimated Kane, never considering him a real threat. But with death looming, Arbok reflexively tried to use its most deadly skills—Acid spray and Gunk Shot. Even a small hit from these poisonous attacks could prove fatal for Kane.

Rolling several meters away, Kane released both Gastly and Weezing from their Poké Balls.

Arbok, now gravely injured with a dagger lodged in its mouth, writhed in agony. Despite its pain, it locked eyes on Kane once again and frantically began slithering towards him, still intent on killing him.

"Ditto, transform into Arbok and use Bind!" Kane commanded.

Without hesitation, Ditto morphed into an identical Arbok and quickly coiled around the real one. However, the wild Arbok's strength was formidable, especially in its crazed state. Ditto's Bind slowed it down but wasn't enough to fully stop it.

Blood dripped from Arbok's mouth, its eyes filled with fury and pain. Even on the verge of death, it was determined to kill the one responsible for its suffering.

"Weezing, stop it!" Kane ordered.

Weezing, eager to prove itself, spun into action, speeding toward the Arbok. In response, Arbok spat out a stream of Acid, but Weezing deflected the attack with ease.

The Acid, intended to hurt Weezing, instead worsened Arbok's own condition. The corrosive liquid seeped into its already wounded mouth, eating away at the wounds and causing the snake even more agony.

Arbok's frenzied thrashing grew weaker and weaker under the combined pressure of Ditto and Weezing.

"Gastly, now! The poison sac is seven inches from its head. Break it open and absorb its natural toxins before it dies and becomes useless!" Kane shouted.

Gastly moved in swiftly, launching a Shadow Ball at the targeted spot. Arbok's body shook violently as the attack connected, shattering the poison sac.

Though Arbok was still alive, its mind was no longer functioning. It couldn't feel any more pain.

Gastly wasted no time and slipped into Arbok's body, absorbing the toxins from the sac. Slowly, the venom began to flow into Gastly's form, causing its body to glow faintly as the energy surged within it.

But after a few moments, the energy subsided. It wasn't enough.

Arbok's body gave one last tremor before finally going still.

Kane glanced at Weezing, who was looking up at him expectedly expecting to be praised for its work.