I Caught Dhelmise! Gastly Evolved!

"Gastly! Protect!"

"Keheh! (╬￣皿￣)"

Gastly flew angrily toward Dhelmise as it charged at Blake. A pale blue shield appeared around him, blocking Dhelmise's strike head-on. Though Dhelmise was far slower than Gastly, giving Gyro Ball a considerable boost, and his Steel-type traits made the move exceptionally powerful, it still paled beside Gastly's long-practiced Protect and failed to break through his defense.

"Negotiations have broken down! Prepare to take it by force! Gastly, Toxic!"

Though Blake knew Dhelmise had misunderstood him, this was no longer the time to explain. If he would not listen, then Blake would beat him first!

"Keheh! Ptooey!"

Seeing Dhelmise so close by, Gastly spat a mouthful of toxic sludge at him. Dhelmise immediately retreated, but his slow speed made it clear that he could not dodge. The attack struck his body directly, and the dark green seaweed instantly turned purplish-black.

"Rrrrumble!"

The pain brought by Toxic enraged Dhelmise. In the games, poison only drained health at the end of each turn, but this was reality—Toxic took effect every moment.

"Rumble! Urgh—"

A trace of Dark-type energy gathered before Dhelmise, forming a claw that struck toward Gastly with Thief.

"Dodge it! Gastly, Will-O-Wisp!"

As Blake spoke, he rolled aside himself. The captain's cabin was not small, but with a Dhelmise nearly four meters tall inside it, the space was practically filled.

"Keheh! (〝▼皿▼)"

Gastly instantly dispersed into a cloud of thin mist, evading the attack. Then, three violet ghostly flames flew toward Dhelmise. Blake's Gastly was a genius bred through generations of his family's careful cultivation. Besides his exceptional intelligence and a great many inherited moves, he had mastered the ability to turn his body gaseous. In theory, Gastly, being a gaseous Pokémon, should naturally possess this ability, but few Gastly could truly gasify their entire bodies. Most could only turn part of themselves into gas, and some could not even control it. Blake's Gastly had been able to gasify himself from birth, which was also why Haze was so powerful in his hands.

Although Dark-type moves did indeed counter Ghost-type Gastly, Gastly's gasification was extremely effective at evading physical moves. Combined with Dhelmise's pitiful speed, his attack completely missed. Dhelmise, unable to react in time, was struck directly by Will-O-Wisp. Blackened burn marks appeared across his already purplish-black seaweed.

Games could only allow one status condition for balance, at most coupled with confusion, but reality was different. After discovering this, Blake had designed this tactic for Gastly.

"Rrrrumble—!"

The pain of being poisoned and burned at once made Dhelmise let out a miserable cry. Unfortunately for him, it was not over yet!

"Gastly! Confuse Ray!"

"Keheh! (ﾟ▽ﾟ*)"

Gastly excitedly appeared before Dhelmise. Before Dhelmise could even react, Gastly spat out an orb of ever-changing colors that made anyone dizzy just looking at it. Dhelmise immediately felt awful, as though everything around him had become hazy and unreal. And that was not all—while Dhelmise was suffering, Gastly took the opportunity to lick him. Fortunately, that lick did not paralyze Dhelmise.

"The finishing blow! Hex!"

Knowing his strategy had succeeded, Blake pumped his fist excitedly and called for the final strike.

Hex: a Ghost-type special attack with a power of 65. Its power doubled when the opponent was afflicted by a status condition. Dhelmise was currently suffering from two negative conditions and was confused, unable to dodge. After doubling twice and adding type advantage, not even a hundred thousand lives would be enough for Dhelmise to withstand it.

Purplish-black fog engulfed Dhelmise. The next moment—

"Roaaargh—!"

A scream unlike anything Dhelmise should have been capable of producing rang out. When the fog dispersed, Dhelmise crashed to the ground with a thunderous boom, as though dead.

"Whew... Looks like this tactic really works. Now, let's see whether this will work too!"

Blake wiped nonexistent sweat from his face, pulled a Dusk Ball from his waist, and threw it at the fallen Dhelmise.

"Ding—whoosh!"

The enormous Dhelmise turned into a streak of red light and was sucked into the Dusk Ball. The Pokémon world's technological level truly was astounding. Before mobile phones had even appeared, spatial tools like this had already been invented. Then again, perhaps that was related to Pokémon themselves being miracle-like beings.

The Dusk Ball containing Dhelmise began to shake, a sign that Dhelmise was resisting. Though he had already lost consciousness, his subconscious had not fully submitted. Yet not fully submitting also meant that part of him had already yielded. Given his condition, after the Dusk Ball shook several times, it clicked and became still.

"Whew... Success."

Blake let out a breath of relief.

"Keheh? Keheh! Σ(ﾟдﾟlll)"

After Dhelmise was caught, Gastly suddenly began to stir. Blake hurriedly turned around and saw white light blooming from Gastly's body.

"Is this... evolution?"

Blake stared at Gastly.

"Then again, you've been holding it back for so long. It's only natural that you'd evolve."

Blake watched Gastly's body restructure itself. Keeping a Pokémon in its first-stage form for a while was beneficial, and Blake and Gastly had not had many proper battles. Thus, Gastly had remained in his basic form for quite some time. After this genuine battle and his excitement, evolving was only natural.

"Keheh! (ﾉﾟ▽ﾟ)ﾉ"

With an unmistakably excited cry, Gastly—no, Haunter—finally completed his evolution. Having grown hands, Haunter kept examining them, poking here and tapping there in excitement. He was clearly thrilled by their existence.

"Congratulations, Gastly—no, Haunter."

Blake picked up the Dusk Ball containing Dhelmise and held out a hand to Haunter.

"Keheh~~"

Haunter floated over and extended a hand to shake Blake's. Ah—having hands felt so good.

"Now, let's check on Dhelmise first. His burns and poisoning need treatment."

Poké Balls could cure confusion, but they could not detoxify poison or heal burns. Though Blake was excited, he had not forgotten what mattered. He also intended to ask Dhelmise carefully whether he was willing to follow him. If Dhelmise was unwilling, Blake would hand him over to the Pokémon League and have them find a suitable place to release him. This was not a game; Pokémon were not data that automatically obeyed after being caught.

"Keheh! (o´ω`o)و"

Haunter gave a thumbs-up. He wanted companions, but if the other party was unwilling, he would not force them.

"Come out, Dhelmise."

Blake released Dhelmise once more. The Poké Ball's basic healing ability had restored a little of Dhelmise's strength, but he still could not take much strain. Blake swiftly took out the Antidote, Burn Heal, and Potion he had prepared beforehand, then got busy alongside Haunter. Dhelmise, meanwhile, remained motionless after letting out a low cry.

"Rrrrumble—"