Wrapping Little Gengar in his clothes, Xingye climbed onto Cyclizar and started heading home. Before long, the rain finally began to ease.
Riding a Pokémon in the rain really was inconvenient. Even with his riding talent, he could not avoid getting splashed all over, and he had to hold an umbrella too. That was how he had been ambushed and wiped out that morning.
Nothing happened along the way, so his luck was fairly decent. When he returned to Kabukicho, Meowth and the others unusually did not chase after him.
When that bunch was short on manpower, they really would not come after him directly. In a sense, after a month and a half, they had gotten somewhat familiar with each other...
Rain did not have much impact on Kabukicho's business. Most of its residents were wild Pokémon, after all, and they were long used to getting rained on.
On the way back, Xingye also realized that Gengar's problem was serious. Other than making a few sounds, it seemingly could not do anything at all. It was like a sound-effect toy.
"Don't tell me you can't move at all?"
"Gengar..."
"Just as I thought... That's a bit troublesome. But I've got the omniscient and omnipotent Boss Slowking here. It'll definitely be able to help you solve this."
Xingye had not expected the little one to be like this. No wonder it had stayed inside the claw machine without coming out. If it could not move, that place probably felt safer...
The izakaya was doing good business today. Plenty of Pokémon came out drinking in weather like this, and regulars like Machoke and Gurdurr were all there as well. Xingye smiled and greeted them.
"Alola~"
"Ugh~ Machoke~"
Over this period of time, he had helped some Pokémon resolve their troubles through the izakaya.
Of course, he had also gained some Friendship Talents, but they were mostly everyday skills, such as increasing his efficiency at mixing concrete... At least they ensured that if he ran out of material for his streams, he could go scrape together a living at a construction site.
But the results had been poor. Since he had to attend school and work at the same time, he simply did not have much time to build good relationships with Pokémon. But now that he had saved up nearly enough money, it was time to get started.
Seeing him suddenly appear, Slowking, who had been chatting with customers, glanced over and called out speechlessly, "You go out and get beaten up every day? Hurry up and pay your rent. Don't end up unable to make it back one day."
"I'm not paying until the last day. Without some pressure, I won't even have the motivation to make money. And lately, I've inexplicably had this feeling that I might be about to evolve into a Super Alolan!"
"If you're still bouncing around like this, then you already are one. So you're here to mooch a meal again? This is a bar. Go mooch off Nae-chan, okay?"
"It takes several minutes to walk over there. Downstairs is more convenient."
As he spoke, Xingye walked over and sat at the counter. He then placed Gengar on top of it and continued, "Here, take a look at this."
"What's so special about a doll... Hm?"
Before Slowking could finish speaking, it instantly noticed something unusual. Picking Gengar up, its dopey expression turned to surprise as it said, "This is the real deal. Did a dead human's soul turn into a Pokémon? That's pretty rare, though not unheard of."
"Huh?"
"This usually happens more often with Ghost-type and Psychic-type Pokémon, though there are exceptions. For example, there was a construction worker who passed out from exhaustion after mixing concrete all night, then woke up as a Conkeldurr."
"That's terrifying! Even after becoming a Pokémon, he still had to keep mixing concrete. The fate of construction workers..."
Xingye instinctively complained, but quickly realized that was not the point. He hurriedly asked, "You're saying Gengar was transformed from a human soul?"
"Yep."
Slowking squeezed the doll and continued, "I can't tell how old the soul was when it was alive, but it's been dead for a long time, and its memories are long gone. It probably attached itself to this doll while muddled and formed a new consciousness. Look, there's even a production date on the tag."
"That's its birthday!"
Xingye snatched Gengar back, then instinctively looked at the tag near its tail. Its birthday was exactly one week before Halloween. That meant this Gengar was not even a month old yet? It was a baby!
"Gengar?"
Gengar could not understand what they were talking about. Its expression was filled with confusion and curiosity, and Xingye noticed that its face had changed. It was no longer just wearing that unchanging smile.
"Is it adapting to its body?"
"That should be it. Its soul has fused into the doll, but it hasn't completely adapted to its new body yet."
Slowking truly lived up to its self-proclaimed omniscience. It really understood this stuff. Xingye held Gengar in both hands. Its pink body and little skirt made it cuter and cuter the more he looked at it. He would take it back and wash it later.
"Then don't rush. Just adapt slowly. By the way, can dolls eat..."
Just as Xingye voiced his doubt, a panel suddenly appeared before him, accompanied by a reward effect that caught him completely off guard.
[Obtained Doll Gengar's Friendship: Pink, Super Powerful (When holding an item or attacking through physical contact, damage is greatly increased, but the damage of ranged attacks is reduced. Usable only by Doll Gengar)]
"???"
Seeing the reward that seemed to have popped up late, Xingye was utterly dumbfounded. It was far too unexpected, and this talent...
"Pokémon-exclusive?"
He had not expected that, beyond the special Friendship Talents gained due to differing identities and statuses, special Pokémon could also grant exclusive Friendship Talents!
And what was with this effect? A melee Gengar? Why was it the opposite way around? Was it supposed to use the farmer's three punches? And what did holding an item mean?
Xingye did not understand. This had touched upon another one of his blind spots. He called himself a Pokémon scholar, so why could he not understand any of this?
But after gaining Friendship, he could check its information. That was at least...
[Pokémon: Gengar (Doll)] [Type: Ghost type + Fairy type] [Height/Weight: 0.31 m/1.6 kg] [Abilities: Levitate (Can leave the ground and fly in the air)/Fluffy (Damage from contact moves is halved, but damage from Fire-type moves is doubled)] [Move: Shadow Punch] [Status: Doll (A lost soul entered a doll's body. At that moment, something incredible happened: they actually fused together and truly became a Pokémon. Amazing, right?), Not Yet Adapted (Because its body used to be a doll, it cannot skillfully control it after fusing together, making it difficult to move)]
"Why do you have two Abilities?! Are you Calyrex? One for Drifloon and one for the doll, and this typing..."
Xingye was completely stunned. This child... might just become a one-punch super ghost!
But the talent had to be equipped after catching it. In other words, if he wanted Gengar to one-shot someone with a punch, he still had to become its Trainer!
"Gengar?"
Gengar had no idea why this guy's gaze toward it had changed, but it had a feeling that something was about to happen...
Xingye gently set it down on the counter, then asked seriously, "Little Gengar, do you want to become my Pokémon? Like Cyclizar."
"Gengar?"
Gengar glanced at Cyclizar, which was once again smacking Slowpoke's tail over there. Without thinking too much, it happily replied, "Gengar~"
"Mm!"
Having received its consent, Xingye took out a Poké Ball he had bought long ago and put Gengar inside. Watching the red-and-white ball shake in his hand, he smiled and said gently, "Don't worry. It's okay even if you don't understand anything. We'll take good care of you!"
The moment he finished speaking, the Poké Ball made the sound of a successful capture. He was just about to celebrate when he suddenly noticed that Ceruledge had somehow been standing not far away, coldly watching him the entire time. It seemed to have some objection.
"I didn't bully a Pokémon!"
Xingye instinctively panicked. It could be said that during his nearly two months in this world, Ceruledge was the only one he feared. He simply feared it.
"..."
Ceruledge did not speak, but Slowking seemed to understand what it meant and said, "It can help Gengar adapt to its body quickly. Ghost-type Pokémon have strong compatibility when it comes to spiritual energy."
"Really..."
Xingye was somewhat surprised. He then let Gengar out, and judging by its expression, the little one did not seem to like being inside a Poké Ball.
"Gengar?"
Gengar stared at Ceruledge as it suddenly approached. After freezing for a moment, its expression immediately turned frightened.
But as a wave of spiritual energy washed over it, its hands finally seemed able to move. The rest of its body could move as well, and it could even blink...
"Gengar!"
Waving its still-unfamiliar body around, Gengar instantly became excited. It could finally move! At the same time, some sort of power seemed to surge through it, as though it could knock out ten Magikarp with a single punch!
Seeing this, Xingye, who had just equipped the talent, shouted gratefully at the other Pokémon, "Thanks~"
"..."
Ceruledge ignored him and turned away. Xingye had already grown used to its coldness, though, and continued watching Gengar. "Now that you can move, let's first test your body's mobility!"
"Gengar!"
Gengar also wanted to move around and get familiar with its body quickly. Xingye likewise wanted to see how effective its punches were, whether they were truly that powerful, so he began looking for a target.
Cyclizar was out. Shadow Punch could not hit it. As for the other Pokémon around them, none of them seemed suitable to hit either. It looked like he would have to do it himself.
"It's a baby, and it's a doll. Its damage should be soft and fluffy right now. Let's see whether it can knock me back at full strength..."
That was what Xingye thought. After receiving his confirmation, Gengar did as instructed. It leaped up and threw a fierce punch, and then a figure was sent flying...
Boom—
Watching someone twitch in the rain on the street after crashing through the door, Slowking shouted, "Hey! I still have business to do! Don't die at my doorway! I'm putting the repair costs on your tab!"
Before you continue