Master!

"Heh-heh (￣▽￣)~*"

Haunter excitedly greeted Trevenant and Sableye. These two Pokémon, along with Chandelure, who was currently disguised as a chandelier in the house, were James's main Pokémon. The rest were more utility-oriented Pokémon, not James's main team, and had never defeated Champion-level opponents.

"Treve—ヽ(￣▽￣)ﾉ"

Trevenant happily greeted Haunter as well. He missed his little apprentice, but most of his attention was currently focused on Dhelmise nearby. As fellow Ghost- and Grass-type Pokémon, Trevenant was very curious about Dhelmise's strength.

"Zzzt (￣.￣)"

Sableye did not care much about that. Right now, he wanted to check on his treasures—the various fragments shed by Carbink—and have a nice extra snack. But dinner was coming soon; if he ran off to eat snacks now, he would have to eat less at dinner, so he could only endure for the time being.

"Heh-heh, heh-heh-heh."

Haunter pulled Dhelmise over and introduced him to the two Pokémon.

"Rrrumble."

Dhelmise politely greeted them as well. In his eyes, both of them possessed unfathomable strength.

"Treve, treve."

Trevenant walked up to Dhelmise and looked him over from left to right. Though it was his first time seeing Dhelmise's physical form, Trevenant would not mistake the anchor wrapped in seaweed for his body just because of the energy fluctuations. He carefully examined every strand of seaweed on Dhelmise, then nodded seriously. However, this made Dhelmise wonder whether this senior of his had something wrong with his head.

"Rrrumble?"

"Treve, treve-treve."

Trevenant did not hide the reason for his strange behavior. He frankly said that he was observing Dhelmise's strength. From the looks of it, Dhelmise was not bad and should be able to protect the young master.

Yes, in Trevenant's eyes, James was the lord he served, while Blake was the young master. As the lord's retainer, he naturally had to properly assess the young master's subordinates.

Haunter had long guessed this. After all, his teacher was a diehard fan of ancient dramas. In his spare time, he loved watching all kinds of period dramas, especially those about rulers and their ministers.

"Heh-heh, heeheeheehee."

Haunter snickered as he approached Sableye, then pulled out a handful of Ghost Gems and handed them over.

"Zzzt!"

A glint of gold flashed through Sableye's gem eyes. With a swoosh, he snatched the gems from Haunter's hand and stuffed them all into his mouth.

"Zzzt-zzt!"

Sableye chewed on the Ghost Gems while giving Haunter a thumbs-up. The meaning was obvious: Now that's more like it!

As one of Haunter's three teachers when he was young, Sableye had the best relationship with him. Trevenant had a good personality, but his obsession with ancient dramas sometimes made him overly serious and stern. Chandelure, meanwhile, was a socially anxious Pokémon who did not like talking. Every lesson was carried out step by step, and once he finished teaching, he left. Sableye, who was the least formal of them all, could play together with Haunter. The two had pulled countless pranks together, and thanks to his unusual body, Haunter often secretly helped Sableye steal a couple of Ghost Gems for a snack.

"Heh-heh, heh-heh-heh."

Seeing how pleased Sableye was, Haunter immediately made his request. It was simple: what had they encountered on this outing? Tell him about it.

"Zzzt."

{That? Oh, there's plenty to tell.} (Words in {} represent Pokémon speech.)

Sableye immediately began building suspense with an air of great wisdom. But Haunter was not in a hurry. He knew that Sableye always put on a performance before starting a story. That guy had an incredibly strong desire to show off.

{This time, we went to a very strange ruin. It was quite interesting, hidden in an unremarkable little ravine. Supposedly, it was first discovered when a forest ranger fell into it.

It was a completely undeveloped ruin. The Pokémon inside had reproduced for who knew how many generations, and there was even a group of my kind there!}

As Sableye spoke, he crossed his arms, looking extremely proud.

"Treve."

{What group? They did not acknowledge you at all. They even beat you and threw you out.}

Seeing Sableye looking so proud, Trevenant, unable to stand it, immediately poured cold water on him.

"Zzzt!"

{Didn't I beat them back afterward?! Stop interrupting me. Where was I? Oh, right, that ruin. Speaking of which, that ruin was really terrifying! I've been to quite a few ruins, but it was my first time seeing so many corpses. According to the trainers' speculation, that ruin seemed to be some kind of... what was it called again?}

"Treve."

{A sacrificial site, and the most brutal kind: human sacrifice.}

Trevenant added once again.

"Zzzt!"

{I know! You don't need to tell me! Anyway, that's right, it was a sacrificial site. Man, those corpses... so much time had passed that they were all dried up. Many were nothing but bones, and they turned to ash at the slightest touch. And that smell... really, after going to so many places, it was the first time I'd ever smelled something so disgusting. The trainer almost passed out on the spot.}

"Heh-heh!"

"Rrrumble!"

Sableye's exaggerated description immediately made Haunter and Dhelmise widen their eyes—well, Dhelmise only had one pair of eyes. Dhelmise had at least seen dead people before, but Haunter had only seen actors pretending to be dead on television, so he became a little nervous.

"Treve."

{Stop scaring them. The smell really was awful, but too much time had passed. Even the aura of the spirit world had faded away, so there was nothing scary about it at all.}

Trevenant spoke irritably. This guy just loved scaring others all day long.

"Zzzt."

{I wasn't lying, was I? Anyway, it was pretty shocking. I'd never encountered anything like that before. Still, the excavation of that ruin did not go very smoothly. The local Pokémon were also incredibly rude; every single one of them acted like they had swallowed gunpowder and did not follow any rules. Luckily, we were stronger. We charged in and out seven times, defeated them successfully, hahahahaha!}

"Treve."

{No idea who was beaten so badly that he ran around with his head in his hands. Old Flame and I were the ones who dragged you out.}

"Zzzt!"

{Do you have to expose my embarrassing moments like that?! What, you want to fight me now?!}

"Treve."

{There is no meaning in a battle between you and me. Instead of fighting me, you should properly hone yourself. That is the only way you can better assist our lord. Do not forget that the young master will be taking part in the exploration this time as well.}

"Zzzt."

{I don't need you, you old-fashioned fool, telling me that! Everyone else has the right to criticize me! Only you don't!}