"This Pokémon is..." Ash looked at Porygon2 and immediately took out his Pokédex. "Porygon2, the evolved form of Porygon, the Virtual Pokémon," it announced. "Its rounded body is still composed of data, but its transmission speed is faster."
"Begin!" the referee announced.
"Porygon2, Lock-On!" Liu Qing called before Gengar could vanish.
As soon as Liu Qing spoke, a red gleam flashed in Porygon2's eyes. A red light then flashed across Gengar, who was just about to disappear, leaving a mark between its eyes. Porygon2 had successfully locked on.
The Pokémon world really was full of mysteries. Take Lock-On, for example. It was a Normal-type move, so logically it should have had no effect on a Ghost-type like Gengar. Yet it had clearly worked. Hypnosis was another example. As a Psychic-type move, it should have been useless against Dark-type Pokémon, yet Liu Qing had successfully put Reggie's Drapion to sleep during their battle in Kanto. Normal-type moves such as Leer and Tail Whip also worked on Ghost-types, so Liu Qing sometimes wondered whether status moves could ignore type interactions. Even some attacking moves could do the same. Take the Ghost-type move Lick: merely licking a Normal-type Pokémon should have had no effect, but what if the tongue was used as a whip instead? (It clearly worked; otherwise, Lick could never have hurt Ash's Noctowl.) It was precisely these fascinating quirks that drew generation after generation of researchers to study and explore the Pokémon world. Professor Oak, for instance, loved that exhausting work. Just imagining solving those mysteries was enough to set one's blood racing.
"Gengar, there's no need to hide anymore. Come out." Morty had originally intended to play hide-and-seek with Liu Qing, but seeing that Gengar had been locked on to, he abandoned concealment and chose a head-on confrontation. "Gengar,