Down the Mountain

On the way down the mountain,

Roy warmly greeted a pale man with dry lips. The man merely glanced at Roy, nodded, and continued with what he was doing.

The man was not a Ghost-type Pokémon trainer. His name was Fujibashi, and he had once been a prosecutor for the Pokémon League.

He wanted to become a Ghost-type trainer because his Houndoom had died while investigating a poaching black-market trafficking ring.

Those desperate criminals, fleeing for their lives, had sent out more than a dozen Forretress and had them use Explosion simultaneously. To protect him, Houndoom used Protect in front of him, creating an energy barrier.

At the final moment, Houndoom leaped out of the energy barrier and stood before it, using its body to endure the full force of the attacks.

Fujibashi survived, but the right side of his face was disfigured. Houndoom's judgment had been correct—the energy barrier it created had been completely shattered by more than a dozen Explosions.

If it had not jumped out and blocked most of the energy, they likely would all have died in that chain of explosions.

After that night, Fujibashi had aged considerably. Who would have thought that he was only twenty-two now, yet looked to be in his forties?

He had heard that becoming a Ghost-type trainer allowed one to commune with spirits. To see Houndoom's soul again, he chose to cultivate himself at Mt. Pyre. All in all, he was a pitiful man.

Roy was genuinely worried that Fujibashi might suddenly drop dead here one day. It was not that Roy was especially kind or concerned for him; burying a person was simply too troublesome.

Mt. Pyre only handled Pokémon burials, not human ones. To bury him, Roy would have to carry him down the mountain, dig a hole, toss in some dirt, and count one, two, three, four, five.

Most importantly, Tetsuya did not look like a wealthy man either. He probably could not even afford half price.

What a pain.

Roy counted the stack of Poké Dollars in his hand. This was today's income:

"One hundred Poké Dollars to buy Pheobe some snacks, two hundred for the old man to buy tobacco, and Grandma needs some yarn to knit Gengar a hat. I really don't know why a Ghost type needs a hat."

"One thousand Poké Dollars for two Poké Balls, and I'll save the remaining seven hundred as my future wife fund."

Since Pheobe and the old couple of Mt. Pyre existed in this real world, then Cynthia, Lorelei... they should exist too. If he calculated their ages, he should be around the same age as them. Which one should he choose?

Whatever!

First, he'd win over the big-busted Lorelei. Then came Elesa, whose legs were longer than her life, and after that...

Just thinking about it was wonderful!

"Today is a good day, everything I wish for will come true..."

Roy hummed a cheerful tune, which sounded especially eerie amid the silence of Mt. Pyre.

Some people who had come to pay their respects hurriedly avoided Roy.

Roy did not care. The impression left by Ghost-type Pokémon ran too deep, and their trainers being unwelcome was hardly something that had only been happening for a year or two. He was used to it.

Roy came to a stop when a woman in a black mage's robe, with chaotic eyes and a red crystal ball in her hand, blocked the path down the mountain.

Her name was Honoka. She was also one of those Hex Maniacs often seen in the games.

Among the thousands of NPCs across so many generations of anime and games, Roy remembered her because she was the only roadside NPC character in Pokémon who had appeared in doujinshi from different series.

It made Roy feel a little embarrassed whenever he looked at her now.

Fortunately, Hex Maniacs were not very talkative. Honoka knew Roy came from the mountain, so she shifted left and cleared the way.

After Roy left, Honoka came to where he had just passed and greedily inhaled the scent he had left behind.

That was something Roy did not know.

He only felt that Honoka was deliberately blocking his way, then stepping aside once he came close.

Ghost-type trainers certainly had many quirks that others could not understand, but they were real people. Unlike in the games, they did not stand there motionlessly from morning to night just to challenge you.

In reality, they could not be bothered with you at all. They would even deliberately avoid you, especially Ghost-type trainers.

Fortunately, the Pokémon did not look at Roy any differently.

Once he reached the foot of the mountain,

Roy walked up to a large tree.

"Hello, Rayquaza. Still haven't evolved today?"

Roy enthusiastically greeted the Caterpie in the tree, the one that had once helped him use String Shot to trap a Spearow.

The Caterpie Roy had named "Rayquaza" lowered itself from the tree on a strand of silk.

It made hissing sounds as it greeted Roy.

"Same as usual today. If you trap Litwick with String Shot, I'll buy you some Berries."

Caterpie had long been prepared. Today, Lord Caterpie was going to eat ten Berries!

It said so!

Litwick jumped down from Roy's shoulder. This was training he carried out every day without fail.

After Roy shouted, "Start!"

Caterpie aimed at Litwick and spat out strands of webbing.

Litwick continuously dodged Caterpie's String Shot.

Meanwhile, lured on by the Berries, Caterpie worked twice as hard to use String Shot.

In its eyes, Litwick had already turned into a moving Berry, just waiting for its webbing to hook it.

This was Roy's training for Litwick. During it, Litwick could not use any moves at all; everything depended entirely on its footwork.

Just like Ash's commonly used godly move in the anime: "Dodge!"

Litwick twisted its waxy waist and constantly evaded Caterpie's attacks.

Every so often, it even stopped to make a face at Caterpie in provocation.

Litwick's actions successfully provoked Caterpie. It was no longer fighting for Berries, but for pride. No matter what, it had to catch Litwick today.

But the more anxious it became, the worse its results. Caterpie's String Shot gradually veered off course, and its accuracy plummeted.

Roy's future role for Litwick was that of an artillery battery. After evolving into Chandelure, its Special Attack would reach 145. Not to mention that Chandelure had also gained Mega Evolution in ZA.

After gaining Mega Evolution, its base Special Attack would skyrocket to 175, while its Speed would reach 90. Though it was not among the very fastest, it was only two points lower than Mega Garchomp.

It would completely transform into a mobile artillery battery.

Today's training ended, and Litwick had perfectly dodged every one of Caterpie's Spider Webs.

Unlike Litwick's delight, Caterpie was somewhat dejected.

Roy patted Caterpie on the head and said,

"Don't be sad. When I come back, I'll buy you a Sitrus Berry."

When Roy promised that he would still bring it a Berry when he returned, Caterpie immediately cheered up and wriggled its body as it saw Roy off.

That was right. A bug's happiness was simple. One Berry was enough to guarantee its happiness for the entire day.

Following the only small path at the foot of the mountain, Roy arrived at a town not far outside Mt. Pyre.

Because it was steeped in the ghostly aura of Mt. Pyre, few people came here. Usually, only some elderly people lived there.

It was basically an area beyond anyone's jurisdiction. There were a few local gangs, though they could not be considered criminal organizations—at most, they were just several hooligans hanging around together.

They did not dare cause trouble on Mt. Pyre. Roy would not even need to do anything; the Ghost-type Pokémon at the foot of the mountain were constantly waiting for such a meal to deliver itself to them.

The kinder ones might only scare them and absorb their fear. The less kind ones would directly Absorb their life energy.

By then, they would not even know how they died.

"We're here. Let's go buy two Poké Balls."

"Lit."

"Night."

The building before them was not much different from the Pokémon Marts in Pokémon League games. Above its entrance was a huge blue Poké Ball.

It was also the only official Pokémon League institution within a hundred kilometers of Mt. Pyre.

The League Shop.

It sold all kinds of Pokémon supplies, such as Poké Balls, Pokéblocks, Pokémon training equipment, Pokémon perfume, Potions...

Because the population was too small, the area around Mt. Pyre did not have a Pokémon Center, League Police Bureau, or centers for the various Pokémon League professions.