This Gengar thoroughly enjoyed the sight of Su Bai jumping in fright.
"Hehehe! (Well, kid? Scared by my incredible skills, weren't you?)"
"You can talk?"
Su Bai was stunned. He could clearly understand what this Gengar was saying.
"Hehehe! (Kid, are you stupid? In human terms, it's called telepathy. Get it?)"
"How old are you?"
"Hehehe! (Can't remember. Probably over a hundred.)"
Su Bai curled his lips at that.
Over a hundred? That makes you way younger than that thousand-year-old Gastly in Maiden's Peak.
You're even way younger than that Ninetales in Johto.
Pathetic.
Gengar seemed to sense Su Bai's disdain and jumped up to smack him on the head.
Since Gengar was mostly shadow, the blow didn't hurt.
Su Bai rubbed his head, then suddenly remembered something.
"Wait, aren't you that Gengar who's been scaring people everywhere and getting hunted down?"
Hearing that, Gengar stood proudly on the ground, held his belly, and nodded.
Su Bai curled his lips helplessly. That wasn't a compliment.
This Gengar knew how to communicate with humans and would make a good interpreter. Besides, the purple fatty was one of Su Bai's favorite Ghost-types.
Unfortunately, Su Bai could only raise two Pokémon right now.
Should I use the Black Market Ball?
"All right, these treats are yours. Stop scaring people and live a good life."
"Hehehe! (Kid, don't think your little tricks will work on me. You think I'll be so touched after eating your food that I'll go with you? You're too young!)"
Gengar patted his belly smugly.
"Hehehe! (Don't get any ideas about me, either. I've scared people in over a dozen cities on my travels, and my wanted posters are everywhere. Catching me will just get you into trouble, kid.)"
Gengar tossed a Pokéblock into his mouth. After one taste, he suddenly felt reluctant to leave.
I've lived over a hundred years, and I've never tasted a Pokéblock this good.
The premium Pokéblocks Su Bai made were no ordinary treats.
But the urge to stay lasted only a moment. Gengar shook his head and steeled his resolve to leave.
"Hehehe! (Kid, you're the first person who didn't curse me out after I scared them, and you even treated me to good food. I'm off. If you really like Ghost-types, go to a cemetery at night. You'll find tons of them.)"
"I'm not going to that lousy place. I want you. Be my Pokémon."
An already accomplished, versatile ghost king wasn't easy to come by. Besides, Gengar could Mega Evolve and Gigantamax, and he could save Su Bai's life when exploring the wilderness. How could Su Bai possibly let him leave just like that?
Gengar glanced back at Su Bai and thought, Why won't this kid listen to reason?
"Hehehe! (You'll be in a lot of trouble if I stay.)"
"If I could make you unrecognizable to everyone and teach you how to scare people, would you want to stay?"
Su Bai's words tempted Gengar.
"Hehehe! (You can make me look different? Hurry up and do it! If you do, I'll stay!)"
"Come with me first! It isn't safe here."
Su Bai looked around. There was already movement in the homes surrounding the alley, and the sound of vehicles came from the main road in the distance. Knowing someone might spot them, he decided to take Gengar home first.
When they reached his front door, Su Bai hadn't even taken out his keys before Gengar floated inside and opened the door from within.
Wow. A Shadow Pokémon indeed.
Once inside, Su Bai and Gengar began going around in circles.
"Get in the ball first."
"Hehehe! (Change me first.)"
"I can't change you unless you get in the ball."
"Hehehe! (No way. Humans can't be trusted.)"
"By that logic, ghost talk is exactly what we humans trust least!"
The human and ghost argued back and forth for a long time. Finally, Su Bai came up with a compromise: he would teach Gengar how to scare people first.
"Hehehe! (Kid, you're barely out of diapers, and you know how to scare people?)"
"You've lived a hundred years, and that's all you've got? Let me tell you, bleeding walls and blowing on people's backs are utterly lame."
Ghost-types really only had a few tricks: using Hypnosis to cause nightmares, Confuse Ray to make people see illusions, and Psychic to float objects around. One use of Foresight exposed them all.
People scaring other people was what truly terrified them.
Over the next hour, Su Bai told Gengar all the urban legends and stories that grew more horrifying the longer you thought about them that he'd heard in his previous life.
Finally, Su Bai even let Gengar view his memories through telepathy.
The horror movie scenes from Su Bai's previous life made even Gengar shudder.
Because Ghost-type Pokémon existed in this world, its horror movies had fallen into a trap.
Just as horror movies in his previous life could explain everything away as nightmares and hallucinations, horror movies in this world ultimately blamed everything on a disobedient Ghost-type Pokémon.
Although Gengar naturally enjoyed scaring people, he had learned many of his tricks from human horror movies.
They were terribly clichéd.
Having learned the frightening tricks Su Bai taught him, Gengar was already itching to try them out.
"Hehehe! (Kid, you're even better at scaring people than I am. Just for that skill alone, I'll stick with you.)"
"Good, but we need to agree on three rules."
Su Bai didn't dare let this old ghost go out scaring people unchecked.
"First, you can't use the tricks I taught you to scare old people or children. Even with ordinary people, you need to hold back. You can't scare them so badly that something happens to them. Second, if you're going to be my Pokémon, you have to listen to me. Third, no more scaring people whenever you feel like it."
Gengar considered it. Although the restrictions were considerable, the frightening tricks Su Bai had taught him were genuinely fascinating.
After much deliberation, Gengar nodded. When Su Bai tossed the Black Market Ball at him, he didn't dodge and went straight inside.
"System, show me the old ghost's information."
[Eligible randomization target: Gengar] [Base stats: HP: 60, Attack: 65, Defense: 60, Special Attack: 130, Special Defense: 75, Speed: 110, Total: 500] [Individual values: HP (20), Attack (16), Defense (4), Special Attack (22), Special Defense (19), Speed (31)] [Level: 44 (Gym Leader Level)], [Ability: Cursed Body], [Held item: None], [Gender: ♂] [Known moves: Lick, Astonish, Confuse Ray, Hypnosis, Shadow Punch, Psychic] [Use Chosen Lucky One randomization?]
Su Bai glanced at Growlithe. If he went by who had joined first, this Chosen Lucky One randomization should go to Growlithe.
But Su Bai had never intended to use it on Growlithe this early.
Growlithe was bound to evolve into Arcanine. If he used the Chosen Lucky One randomization now, he would have to use it again after the evolution. That would be far too wasteful.
Using it on the newly recruited Gengar was just right.
Growlithe looked up and noticed Su Bai watching, then tilted its head, a glint of wisdom shining in its eyes.
Time to eat?
Forget it. I'll use it on Gengar.
At worst, before Growlithe evolves, I can buy roast chicken sometime and give it a drumstick.
"System, if I use the Chosen Lucky One randomization on Gengar, can I add a request?"
[Yes, provided the system can fulfill it.]
"Good. Just try to make Gengar unrecognizable to other people."
[Chosen Lucky One randomization activated] [Randomizing...] [Randomization complete!]
As soon as the system's voice fell silent, Gengar's Pokémon Ball opened.
A purple-and-white Gengar emerged from the Pokémon Ball.
Before you continue