The Ghost Specialist

When they found themselves back at Union Cave’s Pokémon Center, Sableye returned to Dewford without any issues. That grey-painted Pokéball was transported, turning to light, and a few button presses later, and he was back with Sam’s mom.

Sam didn’t do anything special to say goodbye. Sableye got the last of the quartz—courtesy of Redi—and Sam thanked him. Then, he was gone.

Seeing Sableye off was bittersweet, for some reason. Sam wasn’t exactly sure what to think of that Ghost Type anymore. On one hand, Granite Cave had been much more difficult because of him. On the other hand, Sableye had been living with his mother without any problems, and he had even led them through Union Cave without even a single prank.

Yesterday, Sam would have said he disliked Sableye. Now, Sableye was just kind of... there, in his mind. Those thoughts lingered with him as Sam and everyone else rested through the night, and then those thoughts lingered with him as they re-entered Union Cave. Thankfully, this time around, they didn’t need to delve into its depths. The upper levels were full of weaker Pokémon with a more well-tread path, serving as a safe, alternative path to climbing the hills above for the trainers who wanted to reach Route 32 quickly.

Another Pokémon Center was on the other side of Union Cave, but the tunnels hadn’t been long enough to justify stopping to rest. Sam and Redi continued to push further north, entering a forest that stretched north alongside a wide, ocean bay. Travel was mostly silent until Redi spoke up.

“You know, you haven’t talked anywhere near as much since Sableye was sent back,” she commented.

“I haven’t?” Sam asked.

“Nah. You’re usually mumbling about Ghost Type Pokémon or talking about all those little plans you think up. Or you’re just talking about your book.”

Sam frowned. He wasn’t sure what to say.

“Sorry. I’m just thinking,” he answered.

“‘Bout Ghost Types?”

“Kinda.”

“Ah. So it is Sableye, then.”

Sam glanced at her as they walked along the edge of the forest, the waves lapping to their right. Redi saw his glance and smirked at him. She waggled a finger in his face.

“Psh, you really didn’t realize, did you?” she asked. “Everytime you looked at Sableye, it was like your face got all twisted up. And not in disgust like Quilava’s expression. She didn’t bother to hide that at all.”

On the ground, Quilava sniffed. It was a dismissive noise; she wasn’t going to bother with hiding her dislike of that Pokémon. She was just satisfied he was gone.

“I’ve been thinking about him, yeah,” Sam said. “Mostly thinking about how I’m supposed to think about him, I guess? Like, his pranks were pretty malicious back in Granite Cave, but he’s also Ghost Type. It’s kinda what they do. But then he’s also... living with my mom?”

Does that mean he’s part of my family now? The same way my mom and Delcatty and Quilava and the rest of my team are? ...Am I supposed to have Sableye’s back and expect Sableye to have mine?

Sam clearly remembered how easily Sableye accepted the use of that transfer Pokéball. He hadn’t resisted. and he even welcomed it without blinking an eye!

But it’s not like he can blink, anyway.

Redi hummed, throwing her hands behind her head, and she kicked up her feet as they continued to walk along.

“You know what I think?” she said. “I think you’re overthinking things. Something like this has happened a bunch with me and my family.”

“It has?”

“Yeah!” She smiled fondly, briefly reliving a few memories. “You think all those Pokémon we work with just came along peacefully? I mean, they did, ‘cause my family doesn’t go out to fight for captures, but, like, most are rescues—Pokémon that used to fight but don’t want to anymore. Mama was the biggest of the group, since she originally lived in the Safari Zone with the rest of the Kangaskhan. But then...”

Something flashed through Redi’s expression. It was the same look she had gained when she saw those three Dratini in Goldenrod’s Game Corner.

“But then Mama got poached. Her and Baby. When she was rescued, she didn’t want to go back. She didn’t feel safe in the Safari Zone anymore.”

Her hands fell to her sides, and her expression dropped. She stared at the dirt path before them. After a few seconds, she looked back up, a smile returning to her face. She took on the same casual demeanor as usual.

“Well, what I guess I’m trying to say is that Pokémon adapt. People, too. No one spends their life without changing. Your mom’s influencing Sableye, Sableye is influencing your mom, and then I’m pretty sure both of them are influencing you, too!”

Sam let her words hang. It wasn’t often Redi said something wise.

“Was Mama difficult when she joined your family?” he asked.

“Kind of. She didn’t like humans. Took a while to build up trust. I think it helped that I was a kid when she joined our family, and I was around the same size as her son.”

Sam hummed. He wasn’t sure how to respond. It was a different situation, with a different history, but he still appreciated everything Redi had to say.

“Thanks, Redi,” Sam said. “I guess... I’ll just have to wait and see. Sableye looked weirdly serious after listening to Lapras's song. I think that image stuck with me.”

“Huh. I didn’t even notice that,” Redi said. “Think he was upset?”

“More like he was deep in thought,” Sam said, frowning.

Redi snickered. She elbowed him in the arm.

“So you’re saying he was acting like you, then?”

Sam glared at her before snickering, himself.

Maybe? I guess time will tell when it comes to how Sableye might change.

And he doesn’t act like me! We’re completely different from one another!

Route 32 was much of the same environment Sam had seen before, but with a few small differences. The forest was more deciduous than the forests around Olivine and Ecruteak, and its trees were nowhere as unreasonably large as the trees of Ilex. There were two ways forward, either through the Route’s forest or along the coast. It was nice to be able to look out over the bay, so they kept close to where rolling hills and cliffs divided the land from the sea.

The beaches here weren’t that big, and the ocean was only so far across. No matter where they went, Sam could see land to the far east of the water, and sandy beaches filled the dips between hills. On those beaches, he frequently saw old men and travelers fishing. At one point, there was even a surprise Wingull, but the Hoenn-native species landed on a red-capped fisherman’s shoulder. It looked as though the man had come all the way from another region just to fish.

But even with all these people, most were too occupied to challenge Sam and Redi to any battles. They stared out over the ocean, eyes locked in focus. Their hands gripped their fishing rods as bobbers drifted out in the water.

It felt like it was going to be yet another uneventful stretch of travel. They walked, stopped to train, walked, stopped to train, camped, walked, and walked, and walked. The usual cycles of hiking and resting continued with the environment being rather uniform in its sights. But, after a few days passed, Redi suddenly sucked air through her teeth when she saw yet another person fishing on the shore.

“Oh, ugh. It’s that guy,” she said, trying to move to the other side of Sam as if to hide her presence here.

Sam had heard that sentiment before; his first thought was that she had seen Xavier again, but looking around, he didn’t see him. When he followed Redi’s gaze, all Sam saw was just some random boy.

“Who?”

“There! Are you blind? He’s the one fishing, wearing the purple cap!”

The boy was a bit younger than them, maybe by a year or two. He sat on his backpack, fishing rod in hand, and occasionally drawing it back and casting it out into the water. He wore a vest, a dark purple one that seemed to change in intensity depending on the light. Sam wasn’t sure who he was until the water around his bobber exploded upwards, and an angry looking Tentacruel broke through the surface.

He used to have a Tentacool before.

Using its tentacles, the Poison Type Pokémon lifted a terrified-looking Goldeen out of the water, and the boy shook his head.

“Next cast, then,” Sam just barely heard him say.

The Tentacruel tossed the Goldeen back into the ocean, which hurriedly swam away, before submerging itself once more to likely find more catches.

“That’s Edgar,” Redi hissed. “I hate him. He beat me in the tournament.”

“Oh! Oh.”

Huh.

Sam looked at the boy in a new light.

Back in Olivine, Edgar placed first in the Beginner’s Tournament. He won overall, defeating Xavier, and he was responsible for Redi’s elimination as well. As part of his first place prize, he was presented with an incredibly rare Pokémon egg, but he had passed it up as he had no way of guaranteeing it would be a Poison Type. Instead, he had received only a lump sum of cash and a selection of TMs. A lot of TMs.

Sam briefly remembered that Xavier had that egg. Sam still wasn’t sure what Pokémon had hatched from it. Xavier hadn’t sent it out.

“I’m pretty sure Edgar has a Gastly, too...” Sam mumbled.

Redi scowled, her front lip curling up in what was almost a snarl.

“Don’t remind me. And don’t bring it up just to make fun of me, Mr. I-don’t-know-the-Fairy-Type.”

“At least I didn’t need flash cards.”

“Hey! Those helped! And you were the one to give them to me!”

Sam snorted. He would have shot back with another witty remark, but he was also intrigued by Edgar.

Edgar’s age wasn’t an issue—Sam would have gone on his journey years ago if it wasn’t for certain events that happened around the same time. No, Edgar was a Poison Type trainer, not a Ghost Type trainer. Yet, he had a Gastly on his team, and he had been training that Ghost Type long before Sam first caught Haunter.

“You wouldn’t mind if I challenged him to a match, would you?” Sam asked. “A mirror match, I’m thinking. My Haunter versus his.”

Redi didn’t look away from the fishing Poison Type trainer. Her expression turned to harsh confusion.

“But why?” she all but hissed.

“You know he has a Gastly, and that Pokémon is most likely a Haunter by now. Not to mention, Edgar’s a Poison Type trainer training a Ghost Type. It just makes sense to me; if I fight him, I can see how his Pokémon has improved. I might be able to figure something out for Haunter, but I’d also be able to see how someone who doesn’t specialize in the Ghost Type trains a Ghost Type Pokémon.

Redi rubbed her chin. She was still standing behind Sam, using him as cover as her head peeked out from his side. She was trying to act casually about this, but there was a measure of distaste to her expression that half reminded how Quilava reacted to Sableye.

However, the more Redi seemed to consider Sam’s idea, the more a small smile began to stretch across her face.

“You know what? Yeah, fight him!” she said. “Beat him up for me, and then I’ll know all his tricks for the next time we have a match.”

She looked downright villainous. Honestly, her expression wouldn’t be out of place on a Ghost Type—or a Dark Type, for that matter. She practically pushed him forward as he stepped closer. Sam stumbled before catching himself, and he turned around to glare at her only to watch her run over to a tree to position herself “casually” underneath.

Sam just shook his head and walked closer to the shore.

“Hey!” he shouted. “Edgar, right?”

The boy in question glanced over his shoulder at Sam and watched him approach.

“We were in the Beginner’s Tournament together,” Sam continued. “But I never got the chance to face you back then. I saw that you have a Gastly, and I have one too. A Haunter, I mean. Would you be interested in a mirror match? Pick up some tricks from one another?”

Edgar wobbled his head, considering it, before a bright smile appeared on his face. He grabbed the handle on his fishing rod and reeled his line in.

“Yeah! Sounds fun!” he said.

Fishing rod placed on the ground, he stood up, pressing on his lower back to stretch. Behind him, his Tentacruel stayed in the water, but it didn’t submerge like before.

Edgar looked over Sam now that he was no longer sitting. Recognition flashed in his eyes.

“Oh! You’re that guy from the first round. The uh... The one with the Cyndaquil!”

“She’s a Quilava now,” Sam said, not hiding the pride in his voice.

“Nice! Grats on the evolution!”

Sam was happy to be recognized, but he felt a bit hypocritical. Before now, he was a little bothered that people had recognized Xavier and Redi from the tournament, but no one had ever recognized him. Yet, the only trainers he himself would have recognized were the trainers who had placed in the highest positions possible. It was weird to have Edgar, of all people, know who he was.

I mean, Edgar won the tournament overall!

“So what kind of a battle do you want? One-on-one? Knock-out? First to three hits?” Edgar asked. “I’m down for any kind of match at any time. I actually don’t go out of my way to challenge people that much.”

“The usual rules for a one-on-one match should be fine,” Sam said. “Fight to the knock-out, Haunter versus Haunter. I’m kind of specializing in the Ghost Type so I want to be able to compare.”

“Wait, the Ghost Type? With a Cyndaquil? And a Machop?”

“Mankey, actually,” Sam said, correcting him. “Different Pokémon. Same Type. And she’s a Quilava now too, remember?”

Edgar nodded and started to walk up the beach.

“Sounds good to me, but let’s battle away from the shore. Don’t want to disturb the Water Types, y’know?”

But your Tentacruel is still out?

Sam said nothing. He wasn’t familiar enough with Water Types to know if an evolved Pokémon would scare others away or not.

“I’m actually trying to catch a Qwilfish,” Edgar said, excitedly talking to Sam as they moved inwards. “Not catch, catch, but just trying to bring one out with my rod. You can learn a lot by observing Pokémon, and I’m hoping Qwilfish’s spines will help. I only want to add Pokémon to my team that actually have potential—you know how it is.”

Sam missed a step when he heard Edgar’s implication at the end. To Sam, all Ghost Types had the potential to be strong. If he met a Pokémon he liked, he’d catch it no matter what. Other trainers felt differently, but there was something about hearing someone so bluntly deride a species that felt wrong.

Approaching the edge of the forest, Edgar briefly waved to where Redi was failing to pretend to be uninterested as he continued to chatter on.

Apparently, there had been a major fishing contest at the back end of Route 32’s bay, and many wild Water Type Pokémon tended to visit it in hopes of being caught. During this time of year, the variety of species on this route was far greater than anywhere in the region, and Edgar purposefully planned his journey so he’d be around while Qwilfish were swarming.

“Wait a second, Water Types come from all over the place? Do foreign Pokémon visit during this time, too?” Sam asked, barely managing to get his question in between Edgar’s words.

“Hm... Foreign Pokémon? Um, I think I heard someone caught a Finneon? That’s usually from Sinnoh, right?”

Sam sighed.

No Frillish, then.

There was a patch of sandy grass between the shore and the treeline of the forest. It wasn’t as wide or as large as other battlefields Sam was used to, but it’d be enough for a match between two Ghost Types. The field itself didn’t matter as much as having a clear space to fight in. Sam and Edgar separated, and Edgar tossed out a Pokéball.

Appearing in the air was a Haunter, one that Sam could immediately tell was different than his Haunter. It looked nearly identical to Sam’s, but there were subtle differences, like how it had more angled eyes and how the spikes on its back seemed to be sharper.

To send his Pokémon out, Sam merely pointed forward. Out from underneath him, his shadow stretched onto the field. Once it was a few feet away, red eyes flashed from within, and Haunter allowed himself to dramatically float out and enter the air.

Sam’s shadow snapped back to him like elastic, and Edgar let out a low, impressed whistle.

“Wow. My Haunter can’t enter shadows yet,” he said.

Looking over their two Pokémon, both trainers nodded their heads, satisfied.

“Ready!” Edgar shouted.

“Ready,” Sam replied.

There was no referee for this match. The two shouts of “Ready” were enough to signify that they were prepared to start. Sam began by quickly shouting an order.

“Let’s start with a few probes. Keep it weak, but use He-”

The word caught in Sam’s throat.

Haunter knew three attacking moves: Lick, Shadow Punch, and Hex, but Lick was too weak for him to consider, and while Shadow Punch was useful, Haunter’s lack of physical strength meant it dealt little damage. All of his successful battles relied entirely on Hex, as it was a special attacking move that combined well with status conditions.

But Sam didn’t want to use Hex here. That was his secret weapon, and if he showed it off, then Edgar would learn of the attack for himself. According to Morty, Hex was a game-changer, and Sam wasn’t comfortable with allowing other people to learn it so easily just yet.

Stalled by the dilemma, Edgar capitalized on Sam’s delay to shout a command of his own.

“Smog! Surprise ‘em!”

The opposing Ghost Type opened its mouth, and sickly, dark green smoke poured out to surround it. In almost no time at all, it became hidden within its own toxic gas that slowly spread to cover a decent chunk of the field.

Sam’s next best option would have been Confuse Ray, but now that the Smog obscured Edgar’s Pokémon, there was no way for the move to land. The same was true for Hypnosis, and Spite would drain the opposing Haunter’s energy but not get rid of the effect of the move.

Haunter turned to look over at Sam, curious why he hadn’t provided any orders yet.

“Use Shadow Punch,” Sam said, settling on reserving Hex for now. “See if you can track it down!”

Despite the change in strategy, Haunter took it in stride and had his fists leave the side of his body to rocket into the Smog. His body wiggled as he controlled his hands from a distance, searching for his opponent while blind. Yet, from out of nowhere, he yelped, and his hands snapped back to his sides as he shook them and blew on their surface, wincing.

The Smog parted slightly as Edgar’s Haunter let up its move. Revealed from underneath was an aura around it—a swirling sphere of darkness that obscured all space in a set radius.

“Usually Smog poisons and damages our opponents, but since your Haunter is a Poison Type, Night Shade is the next best thing,” Edgar said.

The Night Shade had burned Haunter’s hands. Thankfully, it wasn’t a super effective attack, as though it was a Ghost Type move, Night Shade dealt damage solely based on the user’s current level of strength. Edgar’s Haunter looked decently strong.

Now revealed, it once more opened its mouth, and another use of Smog poured out to fill up the gaps that had appeared over time. Sam bit his lip in thought; Hex would be the perfect way to damage something within, but since he didn’t want to reveal it, he didn’t have many other moves to choose from.

But with so few options came only a handful of solutions to pick from. That helped Sam figure out their next step.

“Spite,” he said.

The energy needed for the opposing Haunter’s last used move, Smog, was drained away. More importantly, the red motes that left its body revealed where it was hiding.

“Shadow Punch!” Sam then shouted.

Haunter once more sent his fists rocketing forward. His opponent used Night Shade as a defense again, but this time he was prepared for the pain, and the actual damage he took was minimized thanks to the move only affecting his hands.

The Shadow Punch struck, knocking Edgar’s Pokémon away. The Night Shade failed as the impact slammed it right out of its cloud.

“There we go, Haunter! Who needs other attacks?” Sam shouted happily.

Haunter smiled and seemed to lean forward in the air. Yet, for some reason, Edgar looked unbothered.

“Shadow Ball. Dodgeball style.”

His Pokémon cackled, opening its mouth to let a pulsated sphere of darkness form before it. The attack started out small, but it grew over time. Surprisingly quickly, the Shadow Ball became greater than its body, and a breeze curved into it, causing some of the Smog to shift where it was lingering above the ground.

Sam shouted for Confuse Ray, but as the greyish beam left Haunter’s eyes, his opponent rolled to the side to dodge. The Shadow Ball fired out, but it moved too slowly to be a threat. The attack might have been filled with a ridiculous amount of energy, but the increase in size meant it wasn’t able to move anywhere near as fast.

“Nice try, but—”

Sam’s words were cut off by a shout from Haunter.

Turns out, there wasn’t just one Shadow Ball being used, but two. The first was large and slow-moving to draw attention away from their opponent. Behind that attack, where it couldn’t be seen, Edgar’s Haunter then charged up a second Shadow Ball that came out significantly faster thanks to its smaller size.

Haunter was hit by the super effective attack. It pushed him back in the air, leaving a nasty discolored spot on his body. Annoyance flicked within his usually merry eyes. He shouted something, but then he yelped again.

Edgar’s Pokémon rushed Haunter.

“Hypnosis!” Sam shouted.

He wasn’t sure if the move landed or not, as a Night Shade pulsed out of Edgar’s Pokémon’s body to consume both Pokémon in the air.

Sam clenched his hands.

I should have used Hex.

The Smog was now only a thin layer above the ground, scarring the patches of grass black. Edgar looked at Sam with a smug grin.

“Great battle so far!” he said. “Impressed by Smog? Took forever to teach Haunter that move, and I’m pretty sure I’m one of the first to do so! You can learn a lot by observing other Pokémon, and Koffing can be great tutors.”

He paused briefly, eyes flicking up to the dark sphere in the sky.

“It’s a shame the battle’s ending soon, though. Your Haunter is well trained. Didn’t know the species could learn a move like that.”

“Like what?” Sam said through gritted teeth.

“Shadow Punch,” Edgar answered, and Sam winced. So focused on Hex, he hadn’t remembered Shadow Punch wasn’t common knowledge yet.

Staring up at the sky something was going on within. Likely, Haunter was attacking with Shadow Punch, and his opponent was reacting by controlling the damage of the Night Shade sphere. Edgar had said the battle would be ending soon, and Sam didn’t doubt him. Except, it would be his Pokémon winning, not Edgar’s.

As the hidden brawl continued, Sam noticed Edgar raise a hand at the edge of his vision. He held up three fingers before bringing them down one-by-one.

Three.

Two.

One.

He clenched his fist, and something dropped from the bottom of the sphere.

For a moment, when Sam saw a Haunter fall, he thought they had been successful. However, he quickly recognized that the Night Shade was being maintained, and the falling Haunter lacked the sharp features of Edgar’s own Pokémon.

There was a dull thump as the Ghost Type hit the ground. Sam stared blankly forward.

There was no Hypnosis involved. Haunter wasn’t asleep. He was unconscious. Taking that Shadow Ball alongside those Night Shades had been enough to do him in.

I should have used Hex!

Sam stared at Haunter.

Without Hex, they had fought the battle with their hands tied behind their backs, but Edgar didn’t learn the move. Knowledge of its existence wouldn’t spread. Keeping the end-of-season Conference in mind, Sam felt as though he had lost a battle to win a war.

He decided right there and then to expand Haunter’s moveset. He needed more viable attacks, and probably an attack or two that wasn’t Ghost Type. Normal Types would utterly wall him, otherwise.

Returning his fainted Pokémon, Sam closed his eyes. He held Haunter’s Pokéball in one hand and felt the weight in his palm. Over the field itself, he heard a noise akin to some kind of suction. When he opened his eyes back up, any trace of the lingering smog was gone. Edgar’s Pokémon licked its lips before rubbing its stomach. It let out an ashy burp.

“Good job, Haunter,” Edgar said. “Return for now.”

The Ghost Type disappeared into its Pokéball without any further words. Edgar then jogged over to meet where Sam was standing on his end of the makeshift field.

“So, what'd you think?” the boy asked.

He looked up at Sam hopefully. Sighing, Sam ran a hand through his hair.

“Your Haunter is well-trained,” he said, feeling bile in his throat when he said it. “You played to your strengths well. The Smog trick was impressive. I’d have never thought to combine it with Night Shade like that.”

“Yeah! Took forever to get that move down. But it makes a bunch of shadows for Night Shade to use, perfect for a Haunter! And since Smog poisons whatever goes into it, it’s perfect for my team!”

Edgar’s smile was blinding. The boy seemed to be genuinely happy to receive that compliment.

“I could totally tell the difference in how we’ve trained our Pokémon,” Edgar said, continuing. “Like, I’m clearly a Poison Type specialist, and you’re clearly a generalist!”

“...I’m a Ghost Type specialist,” Sam repeated.

Edgar blinked at him.

“Oh yeah. Sorry. You didn’t use Shadow Ball, so I guess I forgot.”

Sam did his best to not frown.

“Anyway, I think we should get to the end of this. When do you wanna trade?”

“Excuse me?”

Sam wasn’t sure how to respond.

“You know, trade Haunters,” Edgar eagerly explained, speaking as if those words answered everything. “Trading can trigger an evolution. We both want a Gengar on our team, don’t we?”

“No, no. I do. It’s—” Sam breathed in. “You mean trade them and trade back, right?”

Edgar shrugged.

“Yeah, I guess we can do that, too,” he said.

Sam visibly gaped at him.

“You’d really trade away a team member just like that? A Pokémon you’ve spent time with and trained with and traveling with and befriended and—”

“All Pokémon want to get stronger. Does it really matter who they’re with?”

Edgar smiled a childlike smile of perfect innocence. It was like he couldn’t even comprehend why Sam might be appalled.

“Well, if you’re not ready to evolve your Haunter, at least take my number!” he said, reaching into his pocket. “You got a Pokégear?”

“...No.”

“Oh. I got mine for helping out at Goldenrod's Radio Tower.”

Yeah, brag about that too, why don’t you?

Edgar scribbled down his number on a piece of paper and handed it over to Sam. Sam took it, but he had nothing polite to say. He chose to remain quiet.

As Edgar waved goodbye and returned to where his backpack still sat on the shore, he resumed fishing for Qwilfish with the help of his Tentacruel. Sam turned to Redi, who approached looking like she had just eaten something sour.

“Is it bad I kind of expected that? It might sound funny, but when I fought him, it felt like he was just ordering his Pokémon around instead of working together. I thought I was just imagining it since he tried to hug his Gastly at the end, but now it’s like he got worse,” she said quietly.

“Too focused on winning, maybe?” Sam said. “Ruined by previous success?”

Something inside of Sam churned. He remembered the promise to his team. He wasn’t supposed to lose anymore, but how was he supposed to account for fighting without Hex?

“He needs to value his Pokémon more. Not caring about sending away your friend like that is gross.”

“You should hear what he said about Qwilfish,” Sam said.

She crossed her arms and grumbled something about not believing she lost to him. Sam patted her on her shoulder.

“I guess we’ll be losers together,” he said in mock comfort.

Redi raised a fist as though she was about to hit him in the arm, but in the end, she chose not to and brought her hand back down.

Sam moved away to leave Edgar behind them before he sent out Haunter. The Pokémon was still unconscious when he appeared on the ground, but Sam used a Potion to bring him back. It wasn’t as effective as a Revive might have been, but it was enough to treat Haunter’s injuries and allow him to heal naturally. They didn’t need the immediate full jumpstart right now—and not using a Revive saved money, too.

“So, I did hear him talk about trading. Do you plan to evolve Haunter like that?” Redi asked as Haunter re-entered the air.

The Ghost Type mimed stretched with his hands and turned to face Sam. He might have lost, but Haunter was still his usual cheerful self. If anything, he almost looked excited to have participated in that battle. It made it clear that he still had a long way to go before being strong enough to do whatever he wanted.

“Not sure. I know I want Haunter to evolve, but the idea of trading him away is... wrong,” Sam answered, standing back up. “Trading feels bad. It might be hard, but I’m tempted to try for something more natural.”

“That can take years,” Redi said. She wobbled her head. “Well, your book says Porygon needs to trade to evolve. Maybe we can keep it simple and trade and trade back once I find an Upgrade?”

“Yeah. I’d appreciate that. Thank you, Redi,” Sam said.

She smiled at him and turned to continue heading north.

Sam was a lot more comfortable trading with Redi than doing anything with a trainer like Edgar. Someone like that... Well, Sam wasn’t sure if it was just his upbringing or just common sense. Pokémon were friends, not just tools to use in battle.

“For now, we need to get you some more moves,” Sam said to Haunter. “If there’s anything we learned from that battle, it’s that Hex isn’t enough on its own, especially if we want to win matches outside of Gym Battles.”

Haunter happily nodded his head and dipped back into Sam’s shadow. Sam took out the New Pokédex to skim through Haunter’s entry to see if he could pick any attacks out from the expansive list included within.

“Shadow Ball is obvious, but maybe we should branch out,” he mused as they walked. “Honestly, we might be neglecting your Poison Type a bit too much. That combination of Smog and Night Shade was pretty effective, wasn’t it?”