The Ghost Specialist

There was no avoiding the fact Porygon needed to be trained. Porygon’s unquestioning obedience and machine-like behavior meant that getting them to follow orders wasn’t the problem, it was that they weren’t a great battler. It took an hour for Redi to teach Porygon to lead its targets when aiming Psybeam. It took another hour for her to teach Porygon to chain Sharpen and Tackle.

Now, though? Now, Redi was just playing around.

“Up,” she said. “Up again. Now... down. Down again. Go... Left. Then Right. Left. Right! Now, B-A-Start!”

Sam much preferred this form of active practice than when Redi had sat down and forced herself to read a few passages within some books. Sure, the information was helpful, but he was pretty sure she could have found alternatives than ones written by Professor Oak.

He chose not to make a comment when he noticed that. Here, as he watched Porygon rapidly shift around in line with Redi’s orders, it looked silly enough that he had to at least say something.

“Are you trying to make them do something specific?”

Redi giggled, not answering the question.

“Training Porygon reminds me a lot of playing video games,” she said. “Every little movement needs a command. They don’t do anything on their own. It’s like having a character in an RPG—or controlling some kind of ship to dodge a bullet.”

She giggled again.

“I wonder if I could plug in a controller?” she mused.

Sam rolled his eyes and focused back on his own task. A Miltank sat before him.

“Alright, Cyndaquil,” he said. “Let’s try again for Will-O-Wisp.”

The little Fire Type shut her eyes, pouring her focus on the task of conjuring a Will-O-Wisp. Motes of fire coalesced into being at her sides, forming from the latent heat of the flames burning on her back. The attack held steady—a success—but it failed to remain that way when they were sent forward.

The Will-O-Wisp moved far too slowly and shakily to chase after anything but an unmoving target, and they winked out before they could burn Miltank’s side.

The pink cow Pokémon chuffed in amusement and rolled onto its side. It didn’t bother to treat her as a threat.

Cyndaquil slumped, and Sam knelt to rub her back. Despite the blaze that had been there seconds before, her fur was heavily insulated. She felt only slightly warm.

“You’ll get it next time,” he said with a comforting smile. “In the meantime... Gastly, use Mean Look.”

The Ghost Type released himself from his Pokéball, squirming out to appear in a flash of light. His mouth curled up into a cruel grin that persisted as he crept behind the Miltank. Floating behind its head, he was in the perfect position to give it a scare.

He rushed forward, cackling. Miltank froze. As much as Gastly’s horrifically twisted smile made it want to run, the use of Mean Look actively prevented that.

“Bit mean, wasn’t that?” Redi commented, walking over. She ordered Porygon to stay exactly a foot away from her side, and the Pokémon was doing so perfectly.

“Miltank deserves it after brushing off Cyndaquil like that,” Sam said, standing up. “Besides, this is the last one we need. Once we get this third one in, our Gym Trial will be over.”

Redi wasn’t competing; she was just tagging along. Her team needed more work, and she was also absolutely against the idea of what was effectively free labor. But, so many trainers were present that it was the perfect place to blend in and train. Porygon easily fit in with all the different species, with no one giving them even a second glance.

There were at least two dozen other people trying to herd Miltank back to the nearby barn. This was Goldenrod Gym’s Trial, which took place five times a week, divided up by the tier of the Gym Badge. For challengers with two badges so far, the task was to herd three Miltank off of the field. Most of the bovine Pokémon were standing around and grazing, but others were being annoyed by trainers trying to move them.

“Will-O-Wisp might not have worked, but I think that’s just a consequence of how we’ve trained,” Sam said to Cyndaquil, mumbling as he considered their next steps. “With all your practice with Blaze and Curse, your internal control of energies is incredible. I’d imagine with a little push, you could probably turn Ember into a stronger attack. But, when it comes to Will-O-Wisp...”

He shrugged.

“Just need a bit more practice. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was something basic we’re missing. You have the base form down, we just need to figure out speed.”

She pawed at the ground, and Sam patted her back once again.

“You know what’ll really make you feel better?” he whispered.

She cocked her head to the side as he pointedly glanced at the Miltank. Gastly was still harassing the Pokémon with Mean Look.

“How ‘bout one last Ember to get it to move, just like how you corralled the rest?” Sam said with a smile.

Bringing the Miltank back to the barn was as easy as the other two. Gastly’s Mean Look helped keep it in line, and the flames from Cyndaquil’s Ember encouraged it to keep moving.

It was a bit cruel, but these Miltank were obstinate layabouts. Present Gym Trainers went as far as to encourage attacks—to little effect. Water Type moves just cooled the cows down. Flying Type moves gave them a nice breeze. Grass Type moves tended to get eaten, and despite being non-combat Pokémon that solely produced milk, most melee strikes outright bounced off of them.

Although, even with this struggle, Sam appreciated that he came here with only two Gym Badges. If he had arrived with even a single Gym Badge more, he would have had to corral Tauros instead, and those Pokémon were far more aggressive and difficult than the ones here.

All of Cyndaquil’s training meant she had plenty of stamina to guide the Miltank back to the barn, where it was more than willing to head right in. One of the Gym Trainers overseeing the Gym Trial made a note on a clipboard and started to walk over to hand Sam the badge.

“Sorry,” he said, holding up a hand, “but I plan to earn my Gym Badge in a battle against Whitney.”

The Gym Trainer shrugged.

“Yeah, you and everyone else,” she said.

The woman walked away as Sam chuckled and scratched his cheek.

He turned, moving closer to Redi. She was carefully watching Porygon follow behind her with a curious look on her face.

“I want Porygon to learn Trick Room,” she said. “But I have a feeling that’s a long way off. You said Tri-Attack is one of their best attacks?”

“Yeah. It’s a strong Normal Type attack that can burn, freeze, or paralyze.”

“I wonder if teaching Porygon Tri-Attack might help Teddiursa, since those effects line up well with all the elemental punches,” she said. “And I wonder if telling Porygon to help tutor Teddiursa might help with their independence problem.”

Porygon stared blankly at her. The Pokémon didn’t look like it heard any of that at all.

Redi sighed, and Sam patted her shoulder.

“You can figure it out. I believe in you.”

She smiled.

“Thanks,” she said. “I really appreciate it.”

Sam intended to leave at this point, as he needed to return to Goldenrod Gym to collect his earnings, but a sudden shout grabbed his attention before he could walk away.

“Open the doors!”

A blue-haired girl sprinted down a nearby hill, a Slowpoke clutched in her arms with a Miltank hovering in the air at her side.

She struggled to hold her Pokémon aloft, but her Slowpoke didn’t seem to care. Instead, it let its head droop off her side, eyes locked onto the bemused-looking Miltank. A blue glow surrounded the Pokémon, held up by Psychic Type energy.

A pair of Gym Trainers rushed to open up the barn doors as the girl dashed over. She breathed heavily as she darted right in.

A thump.

The Miltank hit the ground inside.

“We got it!” The girl came striding out, a wide smile on her face. “And that’s our third, right?”

“Correct. And as a reward for completing your Gym Trial—”

A hand stopped the Gym Trainer.

“Ah, I, uh, plan to battle the Gym Leader for my Gym Badge?” the girl said, awkwardly rubbing the back of her head.

The Gym Trainer rolled her eyes. “Of course,” she mumbled before returning to keeping an eye on the rest of the trainers.

The girl placed her Slowpoke on the ground and gave it a happy pet before retrieving a berry from her pack and feeding it as a reward.

“I know her,” Sam said.

“Yeah?” Redi pulled her gaze away from Porygon.

“I think her name’s... Eliza?” Sam said. “Her Slowpoke completely shut down a Pikachu in the preliminaries back in Olivine. And then in the tournament, she got either third or fourth place.”

Redi eyed the blue-haired girl. Eliza looked to be about sixteen or seventeen, just over two years older than Sam. She patted her Slowpoke one last time as it finished eating, then she returned it to its Pokéball.

“I’m surprised how many familiar people have been here,” Redi said. “Xavier at the Gym. This girl right now. I’m pretty sure I saw the guy who beat me in the Beginner’s Tournament the other day...”

She hummed.

“I guess it's because we all started in the same place?” Redi said. “Would make sense if we end up mostly traveling in the same direction.”

“...I wonder if she’s up for a battle?” Sam mumbled, hardly paying attention.

Redi snorted.

“We could battle,” she said.

“Yeah, but we can battle anytime. I want to see how my team stacks up against someone who did so well in the tournament.”

“...Only one round better than me,” Redi grumbled, crossing her arms.

Sam remembered Xavier’s declaration. Sam remembered his own declaration, too. He might have been eliminated in the very first round of the Beginner’s Tournament, but things had changed since then. His team had been growing, he had been developing as a trainer, and now he actually had an idea of what to do for a strategy.

Before he realized it, he was already walking over to reach Eliza before she left.

“Hey!” Sam shouted. “Eliza?”

Eliza jumped. Crouching in on herself slightly, she quickly looked around before her gaze settled on Sam.

For some reason, Sam was reminded of a startled Furret.

“Yes?” she said, a little nervously.

“You probably don’t remember me, but we both competed in the Beginner’s Tournament,” Sam said. “I was in your group in the preliminaries...”

Her face scrunched up in thought before her eyes lightened in realization.

“Oh! You’re that boy with the Cyndaquil!”

“Sam.” He held out his hand.

“Eliza,” she said, shaking his hand back.

From the ground, Cyndaquil squeaked a hello, and Eliza turned towards her before her own expression immediately melted.

“You’re so cute!”

She knelt to let Cyndaquil sniff her hand before scratching the little Pokémon’s neck. Cyndaquil leaned into the touch.

“I thought that since we were in the same tournament, you’d be up for a battle to see how we’ve grown?”

“Oh! Ah, um, a battle?”

Her smile suddenly became more strained.

“Sure, I guess?” she continued. “But where—”

“If you're going to fight, go around to the side of the barn,” a Gym Trainer interjected. “There isn’t a field, but there is a flat dirt area you can use. Just don’t get in the way of anyone taking the Trial.”

Sam bowed his head. “Thank you.”

He turned to Eliza.

“So, how ‘bout it? Let's have a match!”

The blue-haired girl looked unsure for several moments as she stood back up from petting Cyndaquil. She scratched at her arm.

“Alright,” she said, “but I only have two Pokémon—”

Redi frowned.

“Only two Pokémon, huh?” she mumbled quietly.

Sam ignored her as Eliza started to walk around the side of the barn. He followed, reaching the flat, dirt area the Gym Trainer described.

“If you have two Pokémon, how about a two-on-two match?” Sam asked.

“Double or single?”

“Single.”

“Got it,” Eliza said.

Sam smiled and nodded, taking up a space a distance away from Eliza. This wasn’t an official battlefield by any means—there were no painted lines on the ground—but it was a good enough space to serve for a casual match like this.

“Slowpoke!” Eliza shouted. “Let's come back out!”

Sam grabbed a Pokéball at his waist before pausing—it was empty. He glanced behind Eliza to give Gastly a stink-eye. The Ghost Type floated onto the field. Eliza yelped out of surprise.

“A... Ghost Type?” she said.

“Yeah. I’m trying to be a specialist.”

“But your Cynda— never mind,” she said. Her gaze hardened as she stared out over the field.

Sam’s current goal with his team was to increase the power of his Pokémon. Everyone’s baseline was in a solid state, they just needed better moves. That meant Mankey was back to working on Fire Punch, with the added thought of turning Karate Chop into Cross Chop. Cyndaquil had her Will-O-Wisp, and then Gastly needed to get a bit of practice in with what he currently had before shifting to Hex.

This battle served as both a way to check his progress while also giving his team a chance to develop. Cyndaquil needed a chance to figure out Will-O-Wisp, but since he didn’t want her to be interrupted by Slowpoke’s Disable, he had Gastly stay out for now. She could fight Eliza’s second Pokemon, once Gastly won.

He glanced over to Redi, who was standing off to the side.

“...What?” she said.

“Wanna ref?”

She blinked in surprise before wobbling her head, considering it.

“Yeah, alright,” she said. “Begin!”

The abrupt shout to start caught both trainers off guard, with Sam and Eliza both stuttering in surprise. However, Sam was more used to Redi’s nonsense and recovered enough to give a command first.

“Confuse Ray!”

“Disable!”

Sam had seen her battle before and knew how to respond.

“Spite!”

A lot of things happened very quickly.

A grey beam struck Slowpoke between the eyes, but the Pokémon went unaffected—likely, its ability Own Tempo prevented the confusion. However, Slowpoke responded by pushing off the ground ever so slightly and letting its own eyes flash.

Gastly stiffened when Disable prevented Confuse Ray, but it was a pointless development—Own Tempo would have prevented it from working, anyway.

The true winner of this exchange was Gastly’s use of Spite. He stuck his tongue out to taunt as red energy leaked out of Slowpoke’s body.

“Ugh.” Eliza frowned. Spite wasn’t a strong enough move to completely disable Disable, but it was enough to threaten any future uses of it. If Eliza ordered it again, Gastly could drain Slowpoke with another Spite and drain the rest of the energy reserved for Disable away.

“Confusion!” Eliza ordered next.

“Hypnosis!” Sam shouted.

The two Pokémon made eye contact right when a blue glow surrounded Gastly. The Psychic Type move caused space to twist around him—a super effective attack thanks to his secondary Poison Type—but the Hypnosis seemed to fail. That is, it only seemed to fail until the Slowpoke fell to the ground several, long seconds later.

...Did it really take Slowpoke that long to realize it needed to fall asleep?

While Sam was annoyed, Gastly was already rushing downwards. Confuse Ray could do nothing to cause Slowpoke to damage itself, so he only had Lick at his disposal to knock it out. However, before he could reach Slowpoke and start dealing damage, Eliza pulled out a Pokéball and returned her Pokémon.

“I’m recalling Slowpoke from the battle. We lost with that Hypnosis. It takes him too long to wake up and keep fighting,” she said sheepishly.

Gastly rolled his eyes before Sam returned him as well.

“I’ll recall Gastly, too. He doesn’t have much in the way of other attacks outside of Lick.”

Confuse Ray, Spite, and Hypnosis were great at setting up opponents for the rest of Sam’s team, and Mean Look could lock a Pokémon out and prevent them from being returned. However, until he learned Hex, he was a little useless as an attacker.

“And, um, my second Pokémon...”

“Yeah?” Sam asked.

Eliza looked away a little awkwardly.

“Just be careful? I caught them at the Bug Catching contest, and they still don’t always listen to my orders.”

His eyebrows raised. Eliza seemed like a skilled trainer, especially with how strong her Slowpoke was. One Confusion could have potentially taken out Gastly if it wasn’t for Hypnosis interrupting the attack.

Still, he was curious.

“Cyndaquil, are you ready?”

She nodded and stepped onto the field. Eliza bit her lip and tossed out a blue Pokéball with a lattice pattern on it—a Net Ball.

Appearing from its light was a four-foot tall Bug Type with blades as hands. Cyndaquil automatically took a step back when the Scyther leered at her from above.

“And you caught that at the Bug Catching contest?” Redi said, a little exasperated.

The Scyther looked mean. Its mouth curved up into a smirk.

“Um, yes? It was kind of an accident. He surprised me and I threw my Net Ball, and then somehow he stayed in.”

Redi glanced at Sam. Sam glanced at Cyndaquil. Cyndaquil didn’t look away from the green Bug Type towering above her.

“Redi, start the fight,” Sam said.

“...Alright,” she said with a shrug. “Resume!”

Before Eliza could order anything, Scyther was already rushing Cyndaquil. Its wings buzzed behind it as it pushed forward with a Quick Attack. Cyndaquil just barely avoided the slash of its claw that came down an inch away from her side.

“Ember!” Sam shouted.

A flurry of fire left Cyndaquil’s mouth, but Scyther buzzed to the side and hopped to avoid the attack.

Agility, Sam recognized.

“Wing Attack!” Eliza shouted.

The Scyther scoffed and rolled its eyes, but it still lunged forward with its wings flapping to increase its speed and shoulder-check Cyndaquil. The impact sent her flying back, hitting the ground where she struggled to push back up.

The Scyther cackled. Sam felt his hands clench into fists.

With how strong its attacks are...

“Cyndaquil!” he shouted. “You aren’t going to win this unless you use Will-O-Wisp! Try to cut its attack!”

Cyndaquil immediately conjured swirling wisps of flame at her side, but they shakily floated towards Scyther with barely any speed. Eliza called for Scyther to dodge, but the Bug Type ignored her. It stayed still and watched the move approach.

When the flames reached it, it poked a wisp with the tip of its scythe. The move popped, and Cyndaquil released the breath she was holding.

Panting, she glared at Scyther as it chortled at her lack of proper control.

“...You kidding me right now?”

Sam and Cyndaquil both turned to Redi. Scyther turned too, having the confidence to take the match as it pleased.

“I gotta know, Cyndaquil, why bother controlling Will-O-Wisp all the way to your opponent? You don’t control Ember like that, do you? Just toss it at them! Fine control is fine, but that comes later! Get the basics down first!”

Cyndaquil’s eyes were too thin to let her visibly blink, but her body language screamed that she had been caught off guard by just how much Redi’s suggestion made sense.

“...Listen to Redi,” Sam mumbled.

Cyndaquil sheepishly squeaked.

“Um, do you want to—”

“Will-O-Wisp!” Sam shouted, interrupting Eliza.

“Agility!” she hurriedly countered.

Wisps of flame formed at Cyndaquil’s sides, and instead of controlling them all the way to her foe, she treated the move closer to an attack. Instead of pushing them, she “tossed” them with her innate Fire Type control to send the spheres hurtling at the Scyther.

Sam could immediately tell that this was a proper use of Will-O-Wisp.

“Keep it up!” he yelled.

Scyther was forced to dodge, ducking under the motes of flame as they passed right over its head. Agility increased Scyther’s speed and made it easier to evade Cyndaquil’s moves, but Sam had spent a long time training Cyndaquil’s stamina. She conjured wisp after wisp to fling at her foe, a smile on her face as she unleashed a barrage of flame towards Scyther.

One caught it in the shoulder. A blackened streak appeared on its green chitin.

With that hit, it reeled back, allowing another to catch Scyther on its chest. After that, one on its arm. Then the other shoulder. Then three more into its stomach.

Scyther winced, the heat of the move causing it damage. The tension of the burn on its body made its movements come out forced—any physical attacks would be weaker as a result.

Eliza no longer looked worried. Now, she looked annoyed.

“Quick Attack! Get in close and don’t let up!”

“Ready yourself, Cyndaquil! We’re going to pour everything into this!”

Scyther was now more than willing to listen to its trainer, ducking its head to rush with a streamlined Quick Attack. Cyndaquil jumped over a horizontal sweep only for its other arm to swipe down and catch her in the air.

She cried out in pain, and Scyther hooked her in close to bodycheck her again with Wing Attack. Once more, she was sent flying back.

Sam held his tongue.

Cyndaquil bounced on the ground with the large Bug Type chasing after her. She scrambled to return to her feet, panting, but she wasn’t done just yet.

The little Pokémon might have been exhausted and injured, but her flames Blazed brighter than ever before.

“Ember!” Sam shouted. He had been waiting for this exact moment.

However, the deluge of flame that left her snout couldn’t be called merely an “Ember.”

Sam had known his thoughts on Cyndaquil’s level of control were right. There was no way she had trained for this long and not figured out an insight or two. Her species was more likely to learn physical attacks at this level, with moves like Flame Wheel, Quick Attack, and Flame Charge being common according to the New Pokédex.

But, with all of her practice with Curse and Blaze, her internal control was top-tier. The flames she conjured, enhanced through her ability, were dense enough to be a different attack:

Incinerate.

Not quite an Ember, but not quite a Flamethrower. There was still a drastic improvement to the attack as her opponent was consumed by flames.

The super effective attack sent Scyther stumbling back. The fire seared its chitin and forced it to flee.

“Go for a Quick Attack, Scyther! Just one move, and you can finish it off.”

“Again,” Sam ordered calmly.

Cyndaquil took a breath as a second Incinerate exploded out.

That was enough. Scyther was once more coated by flame, and when the move ended, it coughed out smoke. Then, it fell to the ground, utterly unconscious.

“Yes!” Sam shouted.

Cyndaquil wobbled in place as her Blaze faded. No longer needing to push herself for her ability, her exhaustion started to catch up to her.

Sam ran over and scooped her up before she could fall over.

“Great job!” he said.

She smiled weakly and leaned into him. Proud, he rubbed her head as she made pleased noises before he returned her to a Pokéball for a rest.

Eliza had a conflicted expression on her face. She returned the fainted Scyther to its Net Ball.

“That was the most Scyther listened to me,” she mumbled. “You know, he hasn’t lost any battles until now?”

She looked a little sad before a smile appeared on her face.

“I think he might be more willing to train with us now. Thank you. I really mean it.”

Sam held back a wince when he realized he didn’t bet any money on the match, but Cyndaquil figuring out not one but two new moves made the outcome profitable enough.

“Good match,” he said.

“Great match!” Eliza said cheerfully.

They shook hands before splitting off. When Sam walked away, Redi joined his side with a grumble next to him.

“You know, I think you’re giving her too much credit,” she said. “Yeah, I guess her Slowpoke had a good Confusion, but it's so slow! And then her Scyther’s strong but it's barely been trained!”

“What, jealous?” Sam said with a smirk.

Redi’s face turned red as she looked away,

“No!” she shouted. “But with just a bit of training with Porygon, we’d destroy that Slowpoke from range. And then Teddiursa... Well, I’d like to see Scyther dodge his Fire Punch with how open it left the center of its body.”

Sam blinked—he hadn’t even noticed that opening. He supposed he wasn’t as in tune with close-quarter strategies as Redi was.

“I still want to thank you, though,” he said.

“Thank me?”

“Without you, Cyndaquil wouldn’t have been able to figure out Will-O-Wisp. You helped us past that bottleneck. I bet she wouldn’t have been able to figure out Incinerate without your help, too!”

“Well. I, uh—”

The smug smile on her face didn’t match her stuttering words. She shook her head to reorient herself, bringing her hands behind her back to walk more casually.

“So, you passed the Gym Trial. Have plans for the Gym?” she asked.

“Gastly needs Hex for sure,” Sam said. “Whitney doesn’t seem to realize the opening she has against Ghost Type moves. And then I wouldn’t mind letting Mankey spar against Teddiursa a bit more. He needs to get better attacks. Cross Chop and Fire Punch would be huge for his power.”

“That’s fine. As long as you’re willing to keep helping me with Porygon.”

“Yeah! And I have some move suggestions for Teddiursa too, if you’re interested.”

Redi leaned in as Sam took out the New Pokédex, flipping to the related entries as he began to speak. He knew both of their teams needed a bit more practice, but he also knew their battles at the Goldenrod Gym would come sooner rather than later.

And he had a good feeling about their chances, too.