Chapter 18 - Haunted!

Quinn had a terrible nightmare. He was in a dark and damp place, chased by a group of rotting headless corpses and long-haired female ghosts like the ghost from The Ring. He didn't sleep well that night- and when he woke up in the morning, he felt dizzy and sweat had covered his back.

"Weird... why is it so much colder in here..?" He said as got out of the bed.

Quinn felt something was wrong. He glanced out of the window. It was autumn when he first crossed over, and it had been around a month since he crossed over. It should be winter soon, so it's normal for the temperature to drop suddenly. Quinn didn't think much about it, so he put on his clothes and took his two Pokémon to the cafeteria for breakfast.

When passing the playground, he saw Nishida walking the students to the playground. Nishida is the teacher of the Pokémon Typing course. In addition to explaining the basic knowledge in class, he occasionally goes to the playground to show some physical examples.

As is this case, as when Quinn approached he heard, "What I want to say is that type advantages can easily win you a battle- but be aware that isn't absolute. Through the command and training of the trainer, it's possible to win even if you face a type disadvantage."

After speaking, Nishida turned to Quinn and said, "Little Mareep, can you assist me?"

Quinn didn't know what he needed help with, but he walked over and said speechlessly, "Didn't I say not to call me that name?"  

People have taken a liking to calling Quinn "small", but it was mostly Maya, Nishida, and Olly. But, after getting acquainted with the school, they all agreed to change his nickname to "Little Mareep".

Nishida just smiled and said, "But it sounds so much better!"

Quinn chose to ignore his antics and directly asked, "What did you need help with?"

Nishida responded, "It's nothing much. I'm explaining the type advantages and disadvantages to them, and I heard Maya say that you had just caught a grass-type Pokémon. Can you battle me with it?"

While speaking, he took out a pokéball- and as a white light flashed, a Krabby appeared by his side.

(E/N -- Could have been Corphish, but if I notice anything concrete I'll come back and change it...)

Seeing this, Quinn reminded him expressionlessly, "You have been a trainer for seven or eight years, and I'm a newcomer. Are you trying to bully me?"

Nishida scratched his head embarrassedly while saying, "Ah, I almost forgot about that... But don't worry! I just captured Krabby, and we haven't battled that much."

"I guess it's fine then." Quinn was interested, even if it was just to test out the power of his moves.

The two stood at the two ends of the practice field, and the students surrounded the field with excitement. A student from the audience yelled, "Teacher Proudmoore, you got this!"

Under their leadership, the other students also shouted cheering loudly, but they all cheered for Quinn... Hearing this, Nishida's face had a dark line, and he was very sad, saying, "Why aren't any of you cheering for me?"

"Teacher, you've been a trainer for so many years! Mr. Proudmoore just started! It's only fair we cheer for him!" A kid from the audience yelled.

Nishida found no way to refute what was said. Seeing this Quinn almost laughed, and tried to hold back a smile while saying, "Can we start now?"

"Bud-!" Budew said if agreeing with Quinn. She was full of fighting spirit, and the food yesterday made her filled to the brim with energy!

Calling over another teacher to referee the battle, the teacher said, "The battle will be 1 on 1, the battle will not end until the Pokémon on either side is unable to battle or is recalled! Begin!"

The battle had officially begun, and Nishida decided to take the initiative ordering loudly, "Krabby, use Bubble!"

(E/N -- I don't know if the author has Pokémon learn moves at certain levels, or if levels are even the recognized form of power measurement... it seems like he's using custom moves? I don't think bubble is an official move anyways, just Bubble Beam.)

"Krab!" The Krabby raised two large claws, and from them a wave of pressurized bubbles was launched towards Budew!

"Budew, dodge to the left!" Although it was his first official Pokémon battle, Quinn wasn't actually nervous. Instead, there was an unprecedented excitement in his body, even so- he was still able to calmly give orders.

Bubble is a simplified version of the move Bubble Beam. No matter the density or the speed of Bubble, it can't compare to the power of a Bubble Beam.

Before they could even reach her, Budew had already moved out of the way and was waiting for an order from Quinn.

Nishida calmly looked at the dodge and continued to press the attack, commanding, "Krabby, rush them, use Metal Claw!"

Quinn commanded quickly, "Use Stun Spore as he approaches!"

"Budew!" she said excitedly, preparing the move.

Krabby had just reached Budew, but before he could even begin swinging the Metal Claw, the bud on her head opened sending out a yellow powder that surrounded Krabby!

"Krab!" The Krabby had been paralyzed and couldn't move!

"Quickly, use Seed Bomb while he can't move!" Quinn commanded upon seeing the paralysis take effect.

"Bud!" A huge green seed condensed near the bud on the top of Budew's head, and was launched directly at Krabby! Unsurprisingly, it hit straight on.

Like the move implies, as soon as Krabby was hit a large explosion of grass-type energy bloomed!

"Krabby!" Krabby could only yell in pain as it was hit, as it still couldn't move! Perhaps because of the low resistance to the stun spore, it was still paralyzed!

Nishida who had watched his Krabby take this hit was breathless for a moment. Without hesitation, Quinn once again commanded Budew, "Once more, use Seed Bomb!"

Unsurprisingly, being hit with two seed bombs that dealt 2x damage to Krabby made him fall unconscious!

Budew excitedly ran towards Quinn and jumped into his arms, cherishing her victory! It has always been defeated fighting the wild Pokémon in the forest, and now in it's first battle with Quinn it had won!

"Great job! Let's continue to win together!" Quinn said, praising Budew.

"Teacher, you said that there was a chance for the Pokemon with a type disadvantage to win, right?"

Nishida recalled Krabby, saying some encouragement to him before responding to the student saying, "Yes, but our Little Mareep is too good, even so- there is still a chance of victory for Pokémon facing a type disadvantage."

Quinn also pitched in, saying, "Your teacher is right, type restraints aren't everything. When you embark on your journey in the future, you'll definitely have these types of battles. However, as long as you know and trust your Pokémon, carefully observe the opponent's tactics in the battle, and make good predictions, you still have a chance to win."

Quinn analyzed the difference between the Bubble Krabby had used and Bubble Beam. If the Krabby had used Bubble Beam, then Budew definitely couldn't dodge it. After being hit with the beam, Nishida will immediately push his advantage and let Krabby get close. If that had happened it may have gone differently.

"Yes teacher Proudmoore! We'll remember!" The group of students all but yelled out.

Nishida just put a hand on Quinn's shoulder, whispering, "Why do I think you are more suitable to be their typing teacher than me.. How about I mention this to Principal Moss?"

"...I think the ecology course is suitable for me." There are only a few classes and he has his own free time...

"Okay then, thank you for the help!" Nishida said, changing the topic.

"No problem, I'm off to prepare for my classes later."

Some time later....

After finishing with class, he returned to his dormitory with Cramorant and Budew. As soon as he entered the room, he couldn't help but shiver saying to Budew, "Do you also think it feels a lot colder in here than outside?"

He didn't realize it before leaving the house in the morning, but now he could obviously tell something was wrong...

Budew could only frown and nod in response to Quinn.

'What happened?' Quinn thought while he stood in the living room and looked around. 'Is there anything different in the dorm?'

Quinn could only think of one new thing that had been introduced to his room recently... Thinking, his eyes locked on the dark purple orb placed on the desk. Quinn stepped forward and grabbed it.

When he touched it, he could feel an obvious cold aura spreading from the orb.

'It seems that the problem really lies here. The name of this orb is "The Cursed Orb" after all...' Quinn thought. He couldn't help but think of the strange connection between the nightmare he had last night and how the man had wanted to get rid of the orb so badly...

Quinn squinted his eyes. If there was a problem, the man must have run away by now, and it'd be impossible to find him for answers...

In order to verify if this orb had actually caused him to have a nightmare, before he went to bed, he took the orb outside, found a place where no one was nearby, and buried it around a foot deep.

Going to bed, he thought everything would pass- but when he woke up he saw the orb placed back on his desk where it was before he buried it.

"It seems it really is a curse..." Recalling the nightmare he had last night, Quinn finally understood why this thing was called a Haunted Orb.

'It's actually haunted..!'