The Ghost Specialist

Redi took a step closer to Porygon, but Teddiursa shouted his name and tripped over himself in his rush to block her path. She snorted and leaned down to pat his head.

“I'll be fine,” she said. “I don't think Porygon is going to attack.”

Sam stayed behind as Redi began to circle the unmoving Pokémon. She casually held her hands behind her back and tilted her head to the side as she took in every inch of Porygon. It remained where it floated, not bothering to track her path. Its eyes blankly stared out past the grove’s edge.

Sam started to doubt Porygon was even conscious.

The Pokémon consisted of several sharp, angular polygons that, when put together, vaguely resembled a duck. Blue treads spun in place on its sides, their color contrasting with the pink of its body. A tail flicked back and forth as its head slowly drifted about twenty degrees to the left before snapping back to its start and beginning that slow process once again.

The movements almost reminded Sam of clockwork, but clockwork had a distinctly metallic look and generally had some sort of purpose. These shifts were just passive twitches that felt like an unconscious quirk. Genuinely, it looked like someone took a poorly made computer model and plopped it down in real life.

“Feels like plastic,” Redi said, carefully running a pair of fingers down Porygon’s side.

There was still no reaction as it remained floating in the middle of the camp. When Sam joined Redi in her slow path around it, he expected it to do something.

But it didn’t.

“So, Porygon!” Redi completed her circle and snapped her heels together. “What can you tell us about yourself? Were you kidnapped? Poached? Stolen? I’ll be honest, I kind of grabbed you because I want you to be a part of my team, but I don't want to take you away if you’re already partnered with someone else.”

Despite the seriousness of her questions, Redi spoke with her usual levity. She handled a heavy topic with the lightness of a casual conversation. Sam could tell she was just trying to lighten the mood, but it felt a little callous. Still, if he was Porygon, he would have appreciated the attempt.

However, there wasn’t a response. Even the direct engagement failed to stir Porygon into action. Its treads continued to spin, and its head continued its slow drifts and snaps back into place. Redi slumped, and she waved a hand in front of Porygon’s face.

“...Hello?”

Still nothing. She glanced at Sam.

“Sam, help,” she whined.

He quickly pulled out the New Pokédex to see if Porygon’s entry included any relevant information.

“Says here it was designed to explore cyberspace?”

“Wait, designed? Like Porygon was man-made?”

“Yeah,” Sam said. “I thought it was obvious when I said it was computer generated.”

Redi rocked back and forth on her feet.

“Then Porygon was probably stolen from a lab. Question is, what lab? And where?”

The New Pokédex listed no labs in the locations where Porygon could be found.

At this point, Sam’s and Redi’s Pokémon had finally built enough courage to approach. Teddiursa cautiously inched forward, holding up a stick he kept pointed at Porygon. Mankey and Gastly had no such worries, and Mankey skipped forward to better look at it while Gastly sneaked behind to try to scare it and inspire a reaction.

Just like everyone else, he failed to get it to move.

“Alright,” Redi said. “If you're from the future, you gotta have at least something. How do I get it to react, Sam?”

Sam stumbled. He hadn’t realized she was talking to him until she said his name.

“Wait, me?” He held up a hand to his chest. “You think I’m from the future?”

Redi scoffed, not even bothering to glance his way.

“Well, duh? How else do you explain everything that's going on?” she said, gesturing at nothing specific. “I said I wanted answers. It’s why I wanted to camp somewhere private. That, and to make sure no one saw we had Porygon.”

She proceeded to turn on her heel and face Sam, her head cocked to the side.

“Look, it all adds up, yeah? You’ve got some kind of old book that has facts no one else knows. You keep saying little things that don’t make sense—like how Porygon can apparently have three abilities? Plus your strategies! They’re super advanced compared to mine. Only problem is that I don’t get how you didn’t know about the Fairy Type. And your mom. Unless... unless when you call her you’re actually calling her in the future!”

Words failed Sam. He genuinely had to fight just to contemplate the wild accusation Redi threw his way. She walked closer, each footstep punctuated by a demand.

“So, answers!” she said. “I want lottery numbers. The best stocks. Successful companies. Technology to buy! You gotta have some kind of way to make money. You don’t do a bit of time travel and not abuse it. Please?”

She clasped her hands and fluttered her eyes. She put on the best puppy-dog expression she could.

Sam turned away and cleared his throat.

“I’m not from the future?” he said.

Redi pulled back.

“Oh.”

She crossed her arms with a frown.

“I don’t get it,” Redi said, pursing her lips. “How do you even know all this stuff, then? I mean, you knew about Porygon when no one else did. And you already know it can evolve, too? You’re way too educated when it comes to Pokémon!”

“I do a lot of reading,” Sam said.

She scoffed.

“Yeah, but there’s a difference between doing a lot of reading and knowing something that’s clearly from the future.”

Sam grimaced, unable to meet her accusing gaze. He knew he’d slipped up a few times, but he didn’t think Redi would care?

He tried to distract himself, hoping Redi would drop the topic. He turned to their Pokémon and their continued attempts to get a reaction out of Porygon.

Teddiursa poked it with his stick. Cyndaquil squeaked at him to get him to stop. Gastly seemed to delight in the chaos, cackling to himself, and Mankey just watched the whole scene impassively while scratching his head and glancing between the floating Pokémon and everyone else.

Sam hoped that Redi would take the hint and choose to watch all the nonsense going on, but she refused to look away, staring at him with a gaze that seemed to pierce his soul. Yet, he also knew that he could simply tell his friend that he didn’t want to talk about it, and she would accept that. Redi was understanding like that.

But Sam was selfish. He wanted to keep the New Pokédex for himself, but he also wanted to talk about it. You don’t have a book full of world-shattering information and not freak out about it.

Who else but him knew there was a Ghost Type that was also part Dragon Type? That was so cool! And he couldn’t geek out about it with anyone if he kept it secret!

Sam let the dam burst. After a month of knowing Redi, he knew he could trust her. He wanted to be selfish. He wanted to be able to speak about his secrets. This wasn’t him being nice, this was him being selfish. He refused to justify it any other way.

“I’m not from the future,” Sam repeated. “But I think I have a book that is?”

Redi pursed her lips.

“Yeah, that makes way more sense.”

“...It kind of does, doesn’t it?”

He hadn’t put the pieces together until Redi’s accusation. It came from an outside perspective, which seemed to line everything up in a way he would have never considered.

The New Pokédex was from the future. That’s how it had so much impossible information about Pokémon. It was old because it was sent back in time. And how was it sent back in time?

He didn’t know. This theory didn’t answer every question. It answered nothing about where the book came from, how it got to his grandfather, or why it left so many details out.

It at least felt like a headstart. It just wasn’t a headstart he could actually research.

“I found this book, the New Pokédex, when I was going through my grandfather’s old stuff,” Sam said, holding up the book to let Redi see. “I thought it was just an old Pokédex, but it has a bunch of undiscovered information on it. Unknown Pokémon, unknown evolutions, unknown moves...”

Redi hummed. She finally turned back and watched their Pokémon, chuckling when Cyndaquil snatched the stick from Teddiursa’s hands.

“I wanted to keep it my secret weapon,” Sam continued. “I wanted to be the best Ghost Type trainer out there, so why not rely on information no one else knows? According to the book, Mankey can eventually evolve into a Ghost Type. Cyndaquil can eventually evolve into a Ghost Type. Gastly is... well, he’s already a Ghost Type, but there’s a list of moves in the New Pokédex I can use to make him the strongest Gengar around.”

“You know you could sell it,” Redi suddenly interjected. “If the New Pokédex is so advanced, why not sell that book and be set for life? Heck, do you even realize how many rare Ghost Types you could buy with that kind of money?”

Sam’s answer came quick.

“No!” he said, pulling the book closer to his chest. “No shortcuts. If I’m going to be a Pokémon trainer, I’m doing it right. The New Pokédex is a guide—it’s information I need to spend time learning and understanding rather than just a list of answers. What’s the point of being a trainer if I just skip to the end? The whole point of this is the journey! I wouldn’t give that up for the world!”

He coughed, realizing he got a little impassioned at the end, and Redi let her head flop on her shoulder to send him a grin.

“I agree,” she said, smiling. “Can’t blame you for not wanting to sell it. I wouldn’t want to sell that kind of advantage, either. But, uh...”

She scratched her cheek.

“About my team—”

“I was already planning on drip-feeding you secret information. I just wasn’t going to tell you it was secret when I did.”

She laughed.

“Has anyone told you that you’re an incredible friend?”

“No, but you could say it more often.”

“You’re an incredible friend.”

Sam turned away so she couldn't see his face.

Cyndaquil returned to his side, holding Teddiursa’s stick, which she quickly burned to ash. She stuck her tongue out at the Normal Type, who stuck his tongue out back at her. She then held up her paws to ask to be picked up, and Sam put her in her favored spot within his hood so she could curl up and look out over his shoulder.

“We still haven't settled the main issue, though,” Sam said, walking closer to everyone else.

“Yeah,” Redi mumbled, rubbing her chin. “What are we going to do about Porygon? And why isn’t it doing anything?”

Despite everything, Porygon was yet to do anything but idle, passive movements. No matter how much Teddiursa had poked it or how much Gastly tried to scare it, it had remained in a single spot in the air, blankly staring ahead.

“Can you come here, Porygon?” Redi asked.

There was no response.

“What if you’re more direct?” Sam offered.

Redi cleared her throat.

“Porygon. Come here,” she said in a commanding tone.

To both of their surprise, Porygon actually turned in the air and floated over to sit in front of Redi.

She hummed as the rest of the Pokémon shouted in surprise. Cyndaquil chortled in Sam’s hood.

“Alright. What if you... Move over there!” she said, pointing to a spot under a nearby tree.

Following her orders, Porygon floated to where she pointed.

“Now move there,” Redi said next, choosing a different spot under a different tree.

It moved as it did before, hovering to reach the designated location.

“Now there,” she continued.

It moved again.

“And there,” she said.

It moved yet again.

“And float higher up.”

It shifted a foot up.

“And return to my side.”

It returned to her side.

“Okay. I think I get it,” Redi said. “Porygon responds to commands, but it doesn’t do anything for itself.”

“Can it attack?” Sam asked.

“Are you willing to show off your moves, Porygon?” she said, turning to the Pokémon.

No response.

“Show off your moves,” Redi ordered, once again returning to a commanding tone of voice.

Two obvious attacks came out: Tackle, in the form of a sudden lurch forward, and Psybeam, a Psychic Type beam of energy that shot from its beak and impacted a tree. After those two attacks, it then used Sharpen, which somehow made the already sharp angles of its body even sharper. That move would enhance the damage of any physical attack that involved its body.

Afterwards, Porygon did something strange that didn’t seem to carry an effect. In a wave across its surface, squares not unlike pixels rotated around and flipped only to return Porygon to the same state it was in before.

It took a bit of searching in the New Pokédex, but Sam was pretty confident he found what that move was.

“Conversion, I think,” he said. “It changes the user’s Type to the Type of one of its moves.”

Redi rubbed her chin, but that eventually evolved into her furiously scratching at the sides of her head.

“Ugh! This is so messed up!” she groaned with a yell. “It’s like it can’t even think for itself! It’s acting like it's some kind of tool made just for battles!”

“...It reminds me of how some abused Pokémon act,” Sam mumbled.

Redi let herself fall to the dirt, where she sat on the ground.

“I know,” she said, leaning back and staring at the darkened sky through gaps in the trees. “It’s messed up. I want to help it.”

A silence stretched out in their hidden camp. Neither Redi nor Sam spoke, choosing instead to simply sit and think about potential solutions.

The problem was Porygon was an extremely unusual Pokémon, and there was no telling if its behavior was unique to its species or if it was forced to act this way. Handing it over to the police was out of the question—Sam didn’t want to risk Porygon being returned to its previous owner, and he could tell that Redi felt the same way. All Pokémon deserved to have a bright future no matter what, and perhaps with the New Pokédex—

“I’m keeping Porygon,” Redi said with a tone that spoke of finality. “I don’t care if I technically stole them, I want to make sure they’re happy. And if I have to spend years ensuring that they gain independence...” She smiled. “I’d say it’d be years well spent.”

A plan was formed. Redi needed to register Porygon under her name. They had no clue if Porygon’s Pokéball had a previous owner or not, but they couldn’t risk allowing Porygon to be handed back, especially with the behavior Porygon displayed.

So, with so few options available to them, they came to the unanimous decision that Redi needed to go to a Pokémon Center. There, she would talk to a nurse, and they would figure out what to do next from there.

Redi took a bold step into the Pokémon Center, the squeak of the automatic doors announcing her entrance. Sam stood behind her back, a comforting presence, and Redi strode towards the front desk where a pink-haired nurse was stationed.

It felt as though everyone was staring at her, but whenever she checked, the other trainers were too busy with their own conversations. Small groups lingered and chatted within seating areas in the lobby, and others stood around and stared at nothing at all while they waited for their own Pokémon to be healed.

It felt like the world was resting on her shoulders. She’d promised she’d make Teddiursa the strongest Pokémon out there, and now she’d effectively done the same to make sure Porygon would turn out okay. While it had done nothing besides float in place overnight, she already felt attached to the little Pokémon.

Porygon deserved to be treated well.

“Hello and welcome to the Pokémon Center! Here, we can restore your Pokémon to full health,” the nurse cheerfully said.

Redi could feel the weight of the two Pokéballs attached to her waist. Sam nodded to her and split off to wait on a nearby couch.

Porygon was meant to be her Pokémon, and she needed to ensure that Porygon could stay.

“I have a pair of Pokémon that need to be checked,” Redi said, not letting even an ounce of nervousness creep into her voice. “Except, I have a team member that needs to be kept secret. They’re...”

She leaned in and gestured for the nurse to do the same.

“They’re a new species,” she whispered, causing the nurse’s eyes to widen in surprise.

“Well, I... Hm. Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

Redi did not break her gaze away from the pink-haired nurse.

The nurse looked around, surprisingly calmly, before waving a Chansey over. She stepped back and let the egg-shaped Pokémon man the counter before nodding to Redi.

“Please, follow me.”

Redi sent Sam a nervous smile as she followed the nurse into the door behind the counter. There, she was led through a sterile hallway with rooms off to the sides. Some were merely closed off with featureless doors, but others had windows that revealed sleeping Pokémon tucked into beds. Each one was being monitored by wires and devices, and a few trainers lingered next to those windows to watch their injured Pokémon with worry clear in their expression.

The nurse took Redi to a room without a window and opened it up.

“In here,” she said.

This room reminded Redi of a doctor’s office, with the classic shelves, counter, examination table, and a chair for anyone who accompanied the patient. However, the examination table was about twice as large as the usual ones reserved for humans, and there was a machine against the wall with six slots to allow Pokéballs to be placed within.

“Please, sit,” the nurse said, gesturing to the chair.

Redi did as asked as the nurse placed her two Pokéballs into the machine. Above it, a screen turned on, and the nurse typed on a keyboard at the machine’s side. An image of Teddiursa appeared and rotated around to let the nurse look him over for obvious injuries.

“These machines let us summarize a Pokémon’s status without needing to release them from their Pokéball. They ensure no bad condition gets worse, and it gives us time to prepare any emergency treatment if necessary.”

“That’s... good?” Redi said.

The nurse paused to smile at her.

“It’s a miracle of modern medicine,” she said. “As for your newest Pokémon...”

The nurse frowned when Porygon appeared on the screen.

Where Teddiursa had appeared unmoving, Porygon visibly shifted around in its idle, animated state.

“That’s strange. How much can you tell me about the species?” she asked.

“My Pokémon... it’s called Porygon,” Redi said quietly. “I’m pretty sure it's man-made. Normal Type. It’s computer generated and can explore cyberspace.”

“Huh.”

The nurse rapidly typed on the keyboard, clicks and clacks filling the air. Redi squirmed in her seat, unsure what the nurse was actually doing.

“Do you... does the Pokéball have a previous owner?” Redi asked.

The typing stopped.

“Why?”

“Porygon... I don’t know if it's their species, or if it's a result of how they’re treated,” Redi said nervously. “But they don’t act on their own. They only follow commands. I want to help them. I want to make sure they’re okay. And if they were abused—”

“The Pokéball is blank. Unregistered, unfortunately.”

“Oh.”

Redi slumped in her chair.

“But I’m sure Porygon appreciates the sentiment,” the nurse continued with a soft smile. “I can tell you’re very dedicated to your team. I just need to get a few last readings on it to make sure everything is okay, and then we can head back out to have a short discussion, alright?”

The mention of a discussion caused Redi’s heart to hammer in her chest, but she still nodded. The nurse maintained her smile.

Redi knew that she wanted—needed—to make sure Porygon would be okay, but she hadn’t obtained them through the most “ethical” of means. If someone had reported them as stolen, or if the nurse made the connection and reported Porygon to the local police—

“And... done!” the nurse said cheerfully. “You can take your Pokéballs back. Both Teddiursa and Porygon are in perfect health. Let’s head back out to the lobby, alright?”

She smiled at Redi, and Redi nodded cautiously. At the nurse’s command, she retrieved the two Pokéballs from their slots to clip them back to her belt.

Stepping outside, they returned to the hallway before exiting into the entrance room once again. Sam stood up to try to greet her, but Redi shook her head to get him to wait.

Still, she appreciated how ready he was to support her if necessary.

“Without getting into specifics, I’ve gone ahead and registered Porygon’s Pokéball to be in your name. They’re officially part of your team.”

Redi briefly froze as almost all of her stress melted away.

“Thank you,” Redi said.

“However...”

And Redi stood straighter once again.

“I applaud you for wanting to take care of your Pokémon, but you need to understand that you don’t have an easy task ahead of you. Not only do we know almost nothing about the species—this is the first time we’ve ever had a Porygon at a Pokémon Center, period—if it was abused, you need to show it as much love as you can, or give it the space it needs, okay?”

“Okay.” Redi continued to nod her head. She wasn’t sure how else she was supposed to react.

“Now, I have a list of assigned reading I want you to do, mostly books containing behavioral studies of Pokémon,” the nurse said, scribbling a list of titles on a small piece of paper. “Professor Oak has written nearly countless award-winning studies on the relationship between humans and Pokémon. Some of their chapters will be key to making sure your Pokémon comes out okay.”

Redi continued to nod, feeling a little silly but also thankful, as the nurse slid over the sheet and gave her directions to the nearby library. Her trainer ID would let her take out up to three books for a week at a time, and even though Redi really didn’t want to read, she would do so if it meant helping Porygon become more independent.

“That’s it for everything we need to take care of here—”

“Thank you,” Redi quickly said.

“—but might I say one last thing?”

She leaned in when the nurse gestured for her to do so. She then went stiff at the woman’s whisper.

“Next time, maybe don’t run away after calling the police?” the nurse said, winking.

She openly gaped at the Pokémon Center employee, but the nurse had already turned away to return to working the front desk computer. Redi wanted to ask how she knew, but something about the nurse’s nonchalant demeanor told her that she planned to keep any involvement a secret.

Dazed, Redi turned and walked away. Sam rushed to meet her as Cyndaquil squeaked a greeting.

“Did it work out? How’s Porygon?”

“Porygon is... fine,” she said, still feeling a bit confused. “And they’re officially part of my team.”

“Congratulations!”

“But you know what?” she continued. “I’m going to do my best to make sure they’re comfortable, too! And the nurse gave me a lot of ways I can find out how to do so!”

A confident smile appeared on her face. Sam smiled just as confidently back.

Porygon deserved someone who cared, and Redi planned to be that person. No Pokémon deserved to be treated as just a tool, and no Pokémon deserved to have all of their actions defined solely by their trainer’s commands.

She knew Sam would support her, especially with the New Pokédex’s help. This went beyond simply including Porygon on her team. Redi had a duty to ensure the brightest possible future for her newest Pokémon.

So, together with Teddiursa, Redi would give it her all. Porygon would feel safe, become more independent, and eventually, they’d become unbeatable, incapable of loss! Everything would all work out in the end, because it had to.

Redi would make sure of it.