The Ghost Specialist

It was dusk, now. The colors of the sky were layers of reds, oranges, and purples as the first stars began to peek through. The sight framed the nearby Violet City, with only its condensed skyline and tall Gym tower being visible between the tops of two short hills.

Sam sat on a boulder. Redi paced before him. It had taken a few hours of searching Route 36 to find a place this isolated. She was insistent that they needed to practice somewhere where no one could spy on them. All trainers had secrets, and if Sam was going to do well in the tournament, the less others knew about his Pokémon, the better.

“First off, I want to make a few things clear and set ground rules as I do,” Redi started. “I will be battling other trainers over the next few days. You are not allowed to battle anyone until the tournament itself.”

“What? Why?!” Sam said, standing up. Battles were way more interesting than doing jobs when it came to growing their funds.

His outburst was matched by cries from the rest of his team. Quilava and Haunter both shouted their names to complain, and Primeape outright took a step forward and huffed, looking as though he was ready to fight Redi over that demand.

But, upon this assault of complaints, Redi merely stopped pacing to stand next to Ursaring. The large bear Pokémon loomed over everyone, crossing his arms like some sort of bouncer outside a club. With how Redi smiled next to him, those two painted a rather intimidating picture of trainer and Pokémon.

“Because,” Redi said, looking only at Sam, “I thought you were all about strategy. You'll practice off-route. Train off-route. Staying away from other people means that no one will be able to learn your plans. You really want to risk being scouted? You really want your strategy to work? Remember that we’re aiming for first. We need every advantage we can get.”

Sam fell back onto his boulder and crossed his arms, same as Ursaring. He stared at Redi, reluctant but acquiescing.

“Fine, then,” he said. “But it still doesn’t make sense for you to battle but not us. Aren’t you worried about people figuring out your plans? Aren’t trainers going to recognize you when you compete?”

“Huh? Oh, that's easy. I’m allowed to fight because I won't be battling in the tournament.”

Ursaring snapped his gaze to Redi. He clearly hadn’t known that.

“Like I said, you have the higher odds of actually placing first,” Redi continued, “and as much as I'd like to be able to take out one or two tough trainers for you, we can't risk the chance of us facing each other again. I'd be forced to defeat you, and then you wouldn't be able to actually place anywhere.”

“...You really think you’d be able to defeat me?”

Sam leaned back and glared at Redi and Ursaring. Her bear Pokémon's evolution had brought a lot of strength, but so had Primeape's. Sam could think of many different ways each and every Pokémon on his team could beat them—although Haunter was an issue. He only knew Ghost Type attacks, which the Normal Type Ursaring was immune to.

Hm. We’ll need to fix that.

Redi cleared her throat to gather everyone’s attention once the jeers had stopped.

She didn’t address them.

“So, to summarize, you can’t battle in the city, but that’s because only you will be in the tournament. And then adding to that, I don't think you should use Hex, either.”

“Anything else, your majesty?” Sam said, rolling his eyes. “Should Quilava not use Will-O-Wisp? Should Primeape not punch?”

Redi smirked.

“If you really want to reveal Hex to the world, then go ahead. And feel free to keep calling me that. ‘Your majesty’ fits me pretty well, don'tcha think?”

She brought up her chin to look down at him imperiously.

Sam frowned. He hated to say it, but Redi had a point.

“Ugh.” He scratched at the side of his head. “Hex is Haunter’s main trump card. If we reveal it here, we won’t be able to surprise people with it in the Conference. I want to use it, but can’t. And then you saw what happened with Edgar, too. Without Hex, Haunter might as well not fight.”

Haunter eagerly nodded along in agreement. He didn’t even blink at Sam exposing his main weakness so readily. Redi pursed her lips, considering it. Her gaze turned towards the ground in deep thought.

“How's Night Shade coming along? And Smog? You were trying to copy Edgar, right?”

“...Not well, but we at least have something,” Sam said.

Haunter was more than willing to show off, as he closed his eyes and caused an aura of dim shade to flicker around him. It wasn't too steady, but a base version of Night Shade was at least there. The move probably wasn’t good enough to use in battle, but it was getting close.

“I’m hoping Shadow Ball will come after. We've made the mistake of hyper-specializing Haunter too much into Hex,” Sam said. “His Ghost Type control is basically just that and Spite, so our current goal is to rework his understanding. Smog is important, but it might be a bit much. Something more direct like Sludge Bomb might be better.”

Sam sighed.

“At least we have Quilava. She’s actually a great guide when it comes to using Ghost Type energy.”

Quilava sheepishly sat on her hind legs and rubbed the back of her head. It was a good sign for her future evolution that she was now better with Ghost Type energy than the actual Ghost Type on the team.

Redi listened to Sam carefully and looked at Haunter once Sam was done.

“Okay. So since you already have a decent goal, I’m giving you to the end of the week to learn either Night Shade, Shadow Ball, or a Poison Type attack,” she said to Haunter. “To motivate you, I’ll pull back your berry funds if you don’t get that done.”

Haunter didn’t seem to be bothered.

“Nevermind. I’ll have Porygon follow you and ruin all of your scares if you don’t succeed, instead.”

That got his attention.

Sam frowned at Redi. She said that she’d help train his team, and she would—they were just going over plans right now. For Sam, the problem was that Redi was only talking about his team.

“But don't you think this is a bit much?” Sam asked. “You're throwing yourself into training a team that isn't even yours.”

Redi took one look at Sam and shook her head. She almost seemed disappointed.

“Sam, you’re great at knowing what to train, and I'm really good at knowing how to train. You’re the one who told me about Porygon, and you’re the one who gave us the goal of figuring out Electric Type attacks. If it wasn't for you, I'd probably still be in Ecruteak, trying to figure out how to get Teddiursa to fight a Ghost Type with Normal Type moves! Think of this as me paying you back.”

“Thanks,” Sam said quietly.

“Plus, I really want that Hyper Beam TM, so you better win it for me, got it?”

He laughed.

“Got it.”

Even with the issue of having no real way to attack flying Pokémon in her upcoming Gym Battle, Hyper Beam wouldn’t help Redi since it came out too slow and necessitated a recharge. No, Redi was the same girl Sam had met back on the boat; someone who absolutely knew what she wanted, and she wanted her team to fight with the most powerful moves possible.

Members of Ursaring’s species are also pretty well known for their powerful Hyper Beams, so for her not to teach him that move would mean letting him down.

“We still need to figure out what we’re doing for Quilava and Primeape, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s more about getting their baselines up rather than learning any new moves.”

Sam nodded; he had shared that expectation with Redi earlier.

“So then that’s basically our plan for your training over the next week. We’ll come back here tomorrow morning to actually start all of it,” she said. “But before then... It’s getting pretty late, isn’t it? Let’s go get some dinner, my treat, and we can worry about the tournament tomorrow.”

Sam’s Pokémon cheered, especially Primeape, who tried to hide how his mouth was already watering at the base mention of free food. However, Sam looked at Redi suspiciously.

She wasn’t one to spend money without a dedicated reason.

Buying everyone a meal was suspicious, but he couldn’t figure out any greater plan. That, and Sam wasn’t one to turn down a gift. He still went along with it, and once they left the route and found a restaurant back in Violet City, he ate his fill alongside everyone else. It was a good night to start a good week. The real practice would start tomorrow.

I should have known.

The meal was a trap. Sam should have been more wary of Redi’s encouragement. She told everyone to eat as much as they wanted, and she even splurged and bought everyone dessert.

Primeape was nearly comatose when they got back. Even Quilava had trouble walking. Haunter didn’t necessarily need to eat, but he had his share of the dessert, and his speed in the air was significantly slower than before.

Morning should have been spent in recovery, but they were woken up early by a knock alongside the first hint of dawn. The second the door was unlocked, Redi barged in and threw open the curtains to let in the sun’s painful light.

“Rise and shine, everyone! Time for training!”

She got a round in groans in response.

“Hmph. Pathetic,” she said. “See this, Porygon? This is one of the reasons I like you so much. You don’t fall for tricks, and you don’t need to eat. You’re the coolest!”

She fondly patted the Pokémon floating at her side.

Breakfast was only a few bites that everyone had to force down. Sam still felt full from last night, even though hours had passed. Redi ignored their complaints and led them on a nausea-inducing march back to their spot on Route 36, and then she gave them only a moment to catch their breath before forcing everyone to train.

They practiced for an hour straight. Once done, they took an hour’s break and headed back into the city. After following Redi around for a while, it was time for another hour of practice, then after that, an hour off, then an hour on, then off, then on then off and on and off and so on and so forth.

Harsh conditions were the goal. The free meal was a treat—and a subtle, preemptive apology—but it was also a way to ensure everyone would have a more difficult time moving around the next day. Pokémon grew the most when stressed, which was why battles were such an effective way to develop skills. Redi purposefully set this all up to make sure everyone had to push themselves as much as possible. She wanted to maximize the amount of growth everyone experienced before the tournament, and she wanted to start off strong.

“Individual practice! Come on, everyone! Sam’s strategy might be all about team synergy, but you still have to be able to fight on your own, too!”

Redi regularly had Sam’s Pokémon split up and push themselves on their own. During this time, she walked around and called out improvements they could be making. Sam followed and furiously took notes based on his observations, both planning for the future and recording his Pokémon’s current strengths so he could see just how much they’d developed by the end of this.

Redi also made sure to explain her plans for each of Sam’s Pokémon as they walked around.

“First off, Quilava,” she said.

Quilava was paired with Ursaring, and those two were locked in a desperate melee. Well, the desperation was solely on Quilava’s part, as she wasn’t allowed to attack. Quick Attack was perfect for quick bursts of movement, and the flashes of insight provided by Detect helped her learn the best way to dodge. Will-O-Wisp wasn’t technically an attack, so she was allowed to use it. However, the more the burn affected Ursaring, the more his adrenaline built and fueled his swipes.

She’d fallen for a classic mistake. Now, both she and her opponent were training. Evolved, Ursaring had the potential to train Guts, an ability that drastically increased his attack when he suffered from a status condition. For every improvement Quilava managed, Ursaring grew stronger as well. She learned to better dodge, he learned to better aim, and Ursaring’s ability grew in effectiveness as well.

“You’re right that Quilava doesn’t need to learn new attack moves—for now. Yes, keep working on moves she can use as support, but I think she’d get the most out of training the attacks she already has,” Redi said, watching the two Pokémon spar. “It’s kind of like that quote from the old Gym Leader of Saffron City. ‘Fear not the Pokémon that’s practiced ten-thousand moves once. Fear the Pokémon that has practiced one move ten-thousand times.’”

She chuckled.

“Funny part is, the guy was right. He got challenged to a battle for his authority as a Gym Leader, and he lost the role to a guy whose team had absolutely mastered Psychic.” Redi paused. “The attack, I mean. Not the Type.”

One of Ursaring’s Fury Swipes ended up catching Quilava in the side. His brute strength sent her flying, where she landed hard on the ground about a dozen feet away. Sam took a step closer, intending to help her up, but Redi put a hand on his chest to hold him back. Quilava, shaking, pushed to her feet and charged at Ursaring without an ounce of hesitation. So determined to continue her training, she didn’t even notice how her flames moved around her to heat her up and cause her to return at a greater speed.

“Grats on figuring out Flame Charge,” Redi said, patting Sam’s shoulder as he continued to hang back. “Now then. Next Pokémon!”

Primeape was on his own, but he wasn’t punching or attacking or training any of his moves. Instead, he sat alone with his legs crossed, his hands on his knees, and his eyes closed in an attempt to meditate. Unlike with everyone else, this practice was Sam’s idea, because Primeape needed to train in a way unusual for his species if he ever wanted to evolve.

“...You wanna explain this one to me, again?” Redi asked.

Sam stopped writing in his journal and looked up.

“Primeape will evolve once he has absolute mastery over his own rage,” Sam said. “The New Pokédex says we’ll know that’s true when he’s able to use Rage Fist twenty times in a row without any mistakes. The problem is, we’ve trained Anger Point. That ability is all about allowing his anger to consume and control him, and we need to do the opposite. Once we have that, we’ll be able to move onto moves like Bulk Up and Rage and Rage Fist. But before then...”

A vein throbbed on Primeape’s head. His fur bristled—no matter how hard he tried, the Pokémon wasn’t able to enter a calm state with true control over his emotions. Unfortunately for him, it was an uphill battle. His species meant that he was always enraged.

Redi silently nodded along, eyeing the angry Pokémon. Primeape twitched as he struggled to sit still.

“Uh-huh,” she mumbled. “Hey Primeape, can you come here?”

He snapped open his eyes and grumbled to himself, not even fighting Redi’s request. It wasn’t like he was getting anything done anyway, so he stomped over to stand right before them. Hot air left his nose alongside every breath.

Redi pointed to the rock Sam had sat on when first discussing their plans.

“Remember how you were breaking boulders outside of the Ruins of Alph?” she asked. “Can you do the same thing to that rock over there, but channel more Fighting Type energy into it while using Karate Chop?”

Primeape eyed her suspiciously before huffing and marching over to the rock. He raised a hand up, and Sam stayed quiet, wanting to see exactly what Redi had planned.

With a force he hadn’t been able to apply before his evolution, Primeape chopped downwards, his hand crashing into the stone. A horrific cracking noise rang out, causing the rest of the Pokémon to briefly pause. The boulder he hit split perfectly in two, a cleave right through its middle.

“Bam! Brick Break!” Redi punched a fist into the air. “A bit weaker than Cross Chop, but a lot easier to use when you only need one arm. You won’t need to rely on Karate Chop anymore, won’t you, Primeape?”

Primeape stared at his own hand in shock before his eyes curved up with glee. He used the same attack on the boulder twice more, turning the two halves into four quarters.

“...There goes my seat,” Sam grumbled.

As Primeape practiced his new attack into the air, Sam turned back to Redi, looking at her curiously.

“How long have you been holding back that idea?” he asked.

“A bit. I have a bunch of plans for your team I wanna test out. I’ve got months worth of Redi built up, and I plan to unleash it all on you this week!” She cackled. “Next Pokémon!”

They moved over to Haunter, who was staring up at the clear sky. He was trying to use Night Shade, but the move was failing to come out, even in its incomplete state like before.

“You’ve always said that Ghost Type moves work best in darkness, so that screams to me that it’s better to train them during the day,” Redi said. “If light can mess with their moves, they should learn to use them in the light to make their attacks even stronger!”

Sam wrote her words down in his journal and stared at Haunter. It looked as though a tendril of darkness tried to creep out of the Ghost Type, but it dissolved away under the light of the sun.

Sam frowned. “This isn’t going to work,” he said.

“Aw. Why not?”

“I guess this could be a way to train the move once he actually learns it, but Night Shade’s too weak to be used even now. I think we should work on a Poison Type move instead. At least until he has a better mastery over Night Shade.”

Redi clicked her tongue.

“Guess not every plan is a winner,” she said under her breath.

Sam had Haunter change his method of practice to see if he could do anything with gas or sludge, and then they started the cycle of observations over once again.

Later, during a break period, Sam was still writing in his journal. Months had passed since the start of his journey, and he was now about three-quarters of the way through. Soon, he’d need to buy another one if he wanted to continue recording his thoughts and everything he observed.

Brick Break can shatter screens. Primeape can counter any Psychic Types that try to get cheeky. Quilava can become a pain to catch with Flame Charge—Can she learn Double Team? I’ll need to double-check the New Pokédex later. Haunter is... trying. Poison Gas might be better to aim for instead of Smog. Or can he learn Toxic? Sludge Bomb? One of those might work better with his Poison Type.

Chewing on his pen, it took a moment for Sam to notice Redi standing before him. He looked up at her from where he was sitting on the hillside. She had a knowing smile on her face.

“And as for you, my court jester.”

Sam scoffed.

“I’m not calling you ‘your majesty.’ And I am not your court jester.”

“Alright! Then, you'll be my fool! So, fool, did you really think your Pokémon would be the only ones to train?”

Redi had mentioned she was going to battle other trainers in the city, and she did. She just made sure that Sam was absolutely brought along.

There was a trick to this—if she was the one to fight, then he could observe her opponents’ teams without those same trainers observing his own. Keeping his training to be solely off-route meant no one could learn the ins-and-outs of his strategies, and no one was able to develop any counters to how his Pokémon fought.

But Sam was able to craft counters to the trainers he watched. If they competed in the tournament, he’d already know what to do.

Redi’s Ursaring demolished a Skiploom that tried to paralyze him with Stun Spore. Her Porygon fell to a Raichu that was able to withstand and charge itself from Porygon’s own Electric Type attack. There was one trainer with a Magmar that wore her Pokémon down through poison inflicted due to Smog.

Sam noted that other trainers were beginning to rely on status conditions more often. Not as much as him, but it was a common theme between all these mid-level trainers trying out new things.

Redi’s net wins and losses were about even, so they neither made nor lost money when it came to these battles. Instead, Redi got to have fun and train with her Pokémon while Sam spent the time writing down his thoughts and theorycrafting new ideas.

“Now, there’s one more thing we have to do,” Redi said, approaching him as the week progressed. “Let me ask you a question. When I say Erika, what kind of person do you picture?”

“Erika? She’s a Grass Type specialist. The leader of Celadon’s Gym, right?” Sam asked, with Redi nodding to confirm his words. “Then, I think of some kind of noble lady. Kantonian-style. Wearing a kimono, which she’s known for, I’m pretty sure.”

“Right!” Redi said cheerfully. “And then when I say Lieutenant Surge...”

“A military officer. Or some kind of soldier.”

“Koga.”

“A ninja.”

“Giovanni.”

“A businessman.”

Redi looked extraordinarily pleased as she smiled at Sam.

“Great! So now I won’t need to argue my point. Appearance affects how people see you—duh. If you really want your strategies to work, that means relying on mind games, and a big portion of mind games is your style.”

Sam wasn’t sure how she did it. Redi was the one that managed their shared pool of funds, something they both agreed on when they first decided to travel together. He always thought they didn't have much spare money, but when she marched him into a clothing store, she told him that they didn’t need to worry about any of the listed prices.

There was a trick to it, he was sure.

“So. When I say Ghost Type Trainer, what kind of person do you think of?” Redi said, browsing through a rack of dark-colored coats.

“...My first thought is someone who stands tall in the darkness,” Sam said, really thinking about it. “They’re... someone who doesn’t back away from the unknown. Someone who’s brave no matter what. A Ghost Type trainer faces the future without forgetting about the past. And no matter who they might lose, it doesn’t affect them. They keep pushing forward.”

Redi’s hand lingered on one coat. She stared at it for a while without comment. When she spoke next, her voice was somewhat softer.

“Alright. But what do they look like?”

Sam blinked.

“I don’t know. Maybe some kind of librarian?”

“We’re not dressing you like a librarian.”

“Why not? I’ve always been a fan of argyle.”

Redi glared at him. It looked as though she desperately wanted to say something, but she bit her tongue instead.

“Quick question, did your mom buy all of your outfits back home?”

“Yes? Is that a bad thing?”

She shook her head. “Alright. So I guess this’ll be up to me,” she mumbled under her breath.

Sam followed along as Redi flew through the shop. She looked between articles of clothing, looked back at Sam, and occasionally grabbed one piece and slung it over an arm. She gathered quite the collection for him to try on, all the while, she explained her thoughts.

“I’m mostly thinking of how Lt. Surge does this,” she said. “He dresses as a soldier and acts as some big, tough guy, but he’s a lot more than that. You think he’s all about offense, but when you watch his battles, he does do that, but his real strengths rely on positioning and speed.”

She hummed and grabbed a pair of pants.

“He’s kinda the main inspiration for my team. But you get why I mean style is a good way to trick your opponents, yeah? You wouldn’t know a guy who acts as bold as him would rely so much on clever tactics. It sets up an expectation that you either match or deny.”

Sam briefly thought back to his battle back in Azalea’s Gym. There, he had intentionally tried to make himself seem arrogant to goad the young Gym Trainer into making a mistake.

“First impressions are everything,” Sam said. “We’re trying to throw off my opponents with my looks.”

“You got it,” Redi said, smiling once more.

Pile of clothing in hand, she led Sam into the back room and shoved it into his arms. She then waited outside as he stepped into the changing room. The number of outfits she chose for him was... a lot.

“Redi. I hate this,” Sam called out.

“Great, but try something on before making up your mind! And remember, if you hate it, that probably means your opponents will hate it, too!”

Sam grumbled and stared at the sheer amount of clothes before him. He knew that he couldn’t skip trying on any of them—Redi would definitely remember what she picked, and she’d call him out for trying to trick her.

He picked up one shirt and one pair of pants and tried to figure out if they matched. Everything here was dark-colored, mostly. Despite being chosen for the sake of a trick, these outfits were definitely themed around the Ghost Type.

Sighing, he closed his eyes and put his backpack on a hook in the room. He took off his belt too, where his Pokémon were resting in their Pokéballs. He kind of envied them—they didn’t need to worry about outfits or anything like that. They just needed to worry about fighting and training and evolving and—

No, Sam was alright with just this.

Opening his eyes again, he reached down to take off his shirt, but he paused when he noticed the changing room mirror. The reflective surface ran the length of his body, allowing him to see any outfit he wore in full, but it wasn’t himself that caught his eye. No, it was his breath. Mist came out with every exhale.

“...Redi, do you feel that?” he called out nervously.

“Feel what? Is a shirt I chose too itchy?”

The hair on the back of Sam’s neck began to stand up. He felt a tingling in his spine. Looking around, he saw nothing, but he was expecting it.

Sam wasn’t alone in this room.

Slowly, he took a nervous step closer to where his belt hung, debating whether or not he should release a Pokémon into this room. He was just about to grab a Pokéball when he saw a flash of darkness out of the corner of his eye, a shadowy fuzz reflected in the mirror.

He jumped around and locked eyes with something else. A sharp gaze pierced right through him. A shadow slowly pushed out of the wall with hair waving in an unseen breeze. Around its neck, red glowing pearls pulsed and did... nothing.

Sam’s teeth chattered.

“Y-you’re... You're from the forest,” he mumbled. “It’s revenge, isn’t it? Revenge for scaring you off?”

He faced it, trying to keep his head held high. His heart was pounding in his chest as the Ghost Type stared back. With it suddenly so close, he wouldn’t be able to grab a Pokéball before any attacks.

Misdreavus.

The same Pokémon he had once encountered was now here.

Sam wanted to call out to Redi. He wanted to call out to his friends. He wasn’t sure what the wild Pokémon was going to do, or why it was here, but it was right there, even after all of this time.

Why is it here? Has it been following us? For how long? It’s been weeks since we left the Ilex Forest! We didn’t do anything to it! Why is it so motivated to go after me!?

Misdreavus cautiously looked around the room, not even bothered by Sam staring right at it. A smile crept onto its face as it seemed to confirm that, yes, no one else was around. It fully left the wall, moving closer. Sam really disliked how it looked satisfied.

Sam tried to take a step back but hit the wall instead. Using his body to hide the motion, he tried to subtly raise an arm behind his back to grab a Pokéball.

But the Misdreavus moved closer, inching towards him in the air. If his team had the energy, they’d have released themselves to defend him, but as it stood, they were all too tired from Redi’s training sessions to notice what was going on right outside of their Pokéballs.

So this is it, huh? I wonder if I scream I’ll be able to get help before it can attack.

He was waiting for it to lunge—waiting for it to use a move. Tense beyond belief, he readied himself for when the Misdreavus attacked...

But it didn’t.

Instead, he felt something warm press into his chest. Any form of chill vanished from the air.

Misdreavus didn’t attack. It pressed itself into his chest. It—she—nuzzled him. Affectionately. A sound not unlike a purr left her short throat.

“Uh...”

Sam’s brain ground to a halt. He was only able to make a croaking noise as the Misdreavus rubbed against him. Not once in his life had he shown this Pokémon any kindness. He didn’t have the brain power to be able to start asking questions.

Unable to speak, he couldn’t stop the Misdreavus from continuing to happily rub against him. She chattered her name, as if trying to speak, sharing a story he couldn’t understand with no one nearby to listen. She continued on until one point, where she looked up at him as if waiting for a reaction.

He had none. Sam could see his expression in the mirror. It was a mix of bewilderment, confusion, and most of all, fear.

She saw that, and her mouth closed. Something in Misdreavus’s expression faltered. Her eyes started to mist as she stared up into Sam’s own.

“...Misdreavus?” she asked.

Sam responded the same way he did before—he made a croaking noise and nothing else.

At first, Misdreavus pulled back as if she didn’t understand. The wild Ghost Type looked at him as if she was looking at him for the first time. Tears started to leave her eyes as she furiously shook her head.

“...Are you okay?” Sam finally asked.

But Misdreavus didn’t stick around. Before anything else, she turned around and fled back through the wall.

Sam wasn’t sure how long he stood there, staring, once it was gone. He was alone in the room once more, the strange Ghost Type having utterly run away. They were miles away from Ilex Forest, with multiple routes between Violet City and there. The Misdreavus had to have been following them all that way. Otherwise, how did she find them?

“Are you going to answer me? Is everything alright in there?” Redi’s voice suddenly rang out. “Sam, it’s not funny. Did you hurt yourself? I guess I can come in if you—”

“No!” Sam interrupted. “No, sorry. I’m just... I’m fine.”

He wasn’t sure why, but he chose to say nothing. Sam tried on a few outfits, got Redi’s opinion, and then they bought the cheapest, closest outfit from a different, secondhand store. But as training continued through the rest of the day, Sam found himself unable to focus. All he could think about was that strange encounter with the Misdreavus.