The Ghost Specialist

In one match, a Skiploom used the air pressure caused by Water Guns to dance around a frustrated Corsola. In another match, a Jynx’s Powder Snow froze the horns of a Stantler laying illusions. A Hitmonchan exchanged many, furious blows with a laughing Machoke. More and more Pokémon fought and fainted as the first round of the Violet City Tournament progressed.

Every trainer was strong. All were worthy of their appropriate star rating. Attacks landed with audible impacts. Moves were aimed with impressive accuracy.

Sam watched it all from the screen in the locker room, carefully observing each and every fight. While he couldn’t stomach the idea of stepping onto the balcony, he could at least watch the television. Doing so let him learn about the Pokémon of potential future opponents.

He didn’t have his journal with him. Writing down his observations wouldn’t matter now that the tournament had started. Most of his notes, he’d already memorized. He had spent a while going over the New Pokédex to look up what moves common species could use, too.

No, Sam solely focused on the television, not letting his mind wander for even a second. His entire focus was on preparing himself and psyching himself up. He was so involved in staring at the screen that he didn’t initially hear his name be called.

“...Samuel. Samuel!”

He looked up.

A woman holding a clipboard stood in the doorway, searching the room.

“Will a Samuel Greyson please come with me? You’re on deck.”

When Sam stood up, his heart was already pounding in his chest. He’d watched several battles, but it was now his turn to fight.

“I’m here.”

Sam approached as she nodded at him, leading him out of the room. With 31 competitors, there were fifteen matches in the first round. One lucky person got to skip their first match. Unfortunately, that person wasn’t him.

He was brought through a series of hallways before descending a staircase that connected to a tunnel that led to the field. Not too far away, the bright light of the late morning sun seemed to be blinding when compared to the far dimmer interior lights. A nurse stood off to the side pushing a cart, waiting for the current battle to end so she could heal the competitor’s Pokémon.

“You’ll wait here until you’re asked to step out. Don’t emerge early, and wait until the signal, got it?” the woman with the clipboard asked.

“Got it,” Sam said. His voice felt hoarse.

From his position in the tunnel, he could just barely see the match taking place, as a Pidgeotto struggled to face off against a Raichu. Unfortunately for the bird, sometimes a Type advantage couldn’t be bypassed. The Pidgeotto was struck by lightning and fainted. The Raichu’s trainer stood victorious on the field.

The loser of the battle returned his Pokémon, shook his opponent’s hand, and then all but ran back into this tunnel. He covered his eyes with an arm and only remembered the nurse was there when she called him over.

Sam didn’t want that to be him. Sam didn’t want to lose.

He still gulped, though. There wasn’t any stopping how nervous he was.

“You’re up in five, four, three...”

The woman held up a hand and pulled her fingers down one-by-one.

The three announcers’ voices were still echoing in discussion of the last match, but Sam was already walking towards the field. The referee asked for the next trainers to approach the very moment Sam stepped out of the hallway.

“And there we are! Our next competitors!” Mr. Pokémon’s voice shouted through the speakers.

Sam emerged to the roar of an audience. The place wasn't completely filled, but it was still packed. With it being the middle of the day, there was no need for a spotlight to shine on Sam, but he was still half of the center of attention.

He was suddenly very thankful for the hood of his jacket. Redi hadn’t helped choose this outfit with much thought for comfort, but Sam took comfort in it, anyway. The edges of his hood served as a sort of blinder that helped him ignore how many people were staring. Keeping his hands in his jacket’s pockets hid just how white his knuckles were as well.

Opposite to Sam was the other competitor, stepping out from an entrance on the complete opposite side of the field. Sam’s opponent was tall, overweight, and wore a yellow vest with a flame pattern creeping up from its bottom. The way his balding hair stuck up on its ends made him resemble a sort of clown.

The man walked with the confidence Redi told Sam to have, and Sam already didn’t like him. Yes, it was partly due to that assured confidence, but it was mostly due to how much of his opponent’s chest was exposed.

The announcers’ voices continued to speak above them as they both approached the field.

“For this battle, we have one Samuel Greyson and one Firebreather Otis,” Falkner said, the names coming across stilted, as if he were reading off a card.

“Wait, is his first name Firebreather, last name Otis?” Nurse Joy asked.

“No, he asked for that title. It’s what he put on his registration card?”

Sam was a bit more robotic in how he walked, and he reached his trainer box first. There, he stared at Otis. For some reason, the heavyset man looked somewhat familiar.

Otis didn’t blink at Sam, however, and he slowed to delay his arrival to the trainer box. He held up a hand, both waving to the audience and asking for everyone to wait, before taking out a wooden stick and somehow managing to light it by scraping it against the ground. There, torch in hand, Otis then proceeded to dramatically hold it out in front of his face. He breathed in before letting loose a massive exhale. A gout of flame blew a dozen feet ahead.

“Impressive!” Mr. Pokémon said. “With skills like that, will young Samuel find Otis’s team too hot to handle?”

He chortled, and Falkner groaned.

“Samuel has a good chance to win,” Nurse Joy said. “His summary says he’s from Hoenn, and everyone knows trainers from Hoenn always know how to withstand the heat.”

I have a summary?

I guess I’ve been in a major tournament once before.

They didn’t mention that, however. The comment about Hoenn kind of rankled Sam, too. Hoenn didn’t get that hot. It got humid sometimes, at most. If anything, Johto was just a colder place. Hoenn’s weather was normal between the two regions.

Sam’s annoyance continued until he was frowning. He hadn’t smirked even a single time when walking out on the field. He considered trying to salvage this with a smile, but in the end, he chose to keep his lips pressed together in a thin line. Apparently, he’d be going for a more solemn appearance for his debut.

Finally, Otis reached his trainer box, still holding that flaming torch in one hand. He held his arms out wide as the audience cheered for him. They were here for entertainment, and he clearly planned to provide.

The referee cleared his throat.

“Competitor Otis, please put out your fire,” the referee said.

“Ah, my apologies. Certainly!”

Otis smiled and stabbed it into the ground.

Hitting the dirt, the flames were immediately snuffed out, and tendrils of smoke crept into the air. There was something about how violently he shoved it to the floor that made the act feel like a threat. And with how he stared at Sam, it was like he was implying he was about to do the same to Sam’s team.

Otis left the smoking stick of wood next to him as he grabbed a Pokéball from inside his vest’s interior pocket. Sam did the same, retrieving a Pokéball from his jacket pocket, but he couldn’t look away from the guy. While the outfit was definitely new, Sam swore he had seen Otis before.

The head referee, professional, had no such compunctions with either competitors’ identity.

“Trainers, please send out your Pokémon!” the referee shouted.

Knowing Otis likely relied on Fire Types, Sam grabbed Quilava’s Pokéball first and tossed it into the air. Otis did the same, and when two Pokémon appeared on the field, Sam finally understood what was so familiar about his opponent.

Oh, he realized, That’s why I know this guy. Redi challenged him to a fight.

More importantly, Sam realized something else.

Huh. I actually know what I need to do to win.

Quilava might have been on the field, her flames already blazing as strong as they could go, but Haunter was the “solution” to the battle. Sam needed him and no one else.

But that didn’t mean Otis’s Pokémon wasn’t intimidating. Appearing across from Quilava was a red, flaming Pokémon—as expected. It stood on two legs with a bulbous head and a billed mouth that curved up into a mix of a snarl and a smile. The Pokémon, Magmar, readied itself, raising up both its hands and widening its stance. It had done the same thing against Redi’s Ursaring.

Two Fire Types faced each other and prepared themselves to fight.

“A Fire Type, huh?” Otis said. “Kid, you’ve made a mistake going against me today.”

Sam replied with nothing. He knew his persona was meant to be arrogant, but he chose to stay silent instead. He merely continued to look over Magmar, making sure it’d behave exactly as he expected. Otis’s taunts meant nothing to him; Sam was going to win.

“Begin!” the referee shouted.

Magmar was already inhaling, Otis dramatically pointing forward with a deep lean, causing even more of his chest to be exposed.

“Smog!” he ordered.

Unnaturally green smoke blew out of Magmar’s mouth. Its exhale was strong, sending the gas out like a flood. It threatened to consume Quilava, but Sam countered.

“Smokescreen.”

Sam spoke calmly. He didn’t feel the need to yell.

Like the Magmar, Quilava breathed in. However, she was much less dramatic about it, and her smoke was pure black. Though with a smaller size, the Smokescreen collided with the Smog, and the two approaching clouds collided, were sent upwards, and created a swirling cloud in the center of the field.

Sam didn’t wait.

“I’m withdrawing Quilava from this battle,” he announced.

There were a few shouts from the audience. The referee nodded to confirm Sam’s statement.

“Interesting,” Falkner murmured from above. “Completely withdrawing a Pokémon so soon? He won’t be able to rely on his Pokémon for the rest of the match.”

If Sam had a switch, he would have used it. Since that wasn’t a possibility, this was the next best thing. It wasn’t risky since he already had a plan to win this fight.

Quickly, he withdrew Quilava into her Pokéball and a flash of light saw Haunter appear above the field.

“Flamethrower!” Otis shouted the very moment the battle resumed.

Haunter was already eyeing the cloud in the center, and as a stream of flames tore through it, he dropped to float near the floor and rushed to disappear within.

“Nice try, but hiding won’t matter if we can just burn you out. Another Flamethrower, keep it up!”

More fire left Magmar’s throat. It carved through the mixture of Smokescreen and Smog, but it didn’t reveal Haunter.

Sam said nothing. He chose to sit back, wait, and watch. Magmar was Otis’s most powerful Pokémon on his team. The man had beat Redi. He had worn her down through its use of Smog and flames. Haunter didn’t need to worry about poison, but he did need to worry about heat. However, if he didn’t show any injuries, and if they could just get this one Pokémon to faint...

Through the smoke, a slowly closing hole formed from the Flamethrower let Sam see Otis’s face. The firebreather looked annoyed at the lack of any reaction. They made eye contact, and Sam pounced.

He finally smirked.

“If this isn’t working... Head right into it, Magmar! Use Fire Punch!”

Otis sounded annoyed.

A swipe through the air saw Magmar’s fist catch fire. A second swipe saw its other fist burn just as bright. Two hands prepped for flaming strikes, and the Magmar charged. Sam waited for just before it entered the cloud to give his first command.

“Hypnosis.”

Haunter burst out like a jumpscare. Magmar made a honking noise that didn’t quite fit its appearance, letting loose a panicked swing. The Fire Punch came out early, swiping through nothing more than a few wisps of gas, and the power carried in its punch saw Magmar spin in place due to the momentum.

Credit to it, it was still well-trained, and Magmar caught itself before it fell. It turned back to Haunter to try its second punch, but it froze. Inches away from its face, Haunter’s blue-tinted gaze claimed it.

“Pull back! Don’t stare!” Otis shouted.

“Too late,” Sam said under his breath.

The flames on Magmar’s fists faded away. Haunter floated closer to it in the air. It didn’t move, utterly trapped, and Haunter pressed his forehead to Magmar’s own.

A sizzling sound could be heard as Haunter pressed against Magmar. A bit of steam entered the air where the two Pokémon touched. Arguably, this move could only hurt him, as Haunter was being hurt by the heat. However, maintaining the Hypnosis through the ridiculous heat was intimidating. The corner of Otis’s mouth quivered.

Magmar slumped to its knees as Haunter pulled back. It crumpled to the floor like a puppet with cut strings.

“Night Shade!”

Darkness utterly consumed it. Two Pokémon disappeared, and Otis tried to shout more commands. Haunter’s newest move, Night Shade, might not have been that strong on its own, but it was the perfect cover for anything else he might be doing inside.

The announcers chatted about the relatively unseen battle so far, and a short while later, the Night Shade dropped. The Smokescreen-Smog combo had all but faded away, but Haunter remained. He floated victorious. Beneath him, Magmar laid unmoving on the ground.

The head referee raised a flag in Otis’s direction, signaling Magmar had fainted. Otis was forced to return his Pokémon. When he did so, Sam took pride in how Otis gritted his teeth.

Sam needed to wait for Otis to decide who to send out next. As time passed to let the other trainer make a decision, the screen above the field showed the status of both trainers’ teams. Sam had three circles under a photo of him. Two circles displayed pictures of Quilava and Haunter, but the last was a question mark. Meanwhile, Otis had three circles—Magmar and two question marks. And, since they had been eliminated from the fight, both Quilava and Magmar’s pictures were greyed out.

As Sam smiled at that—the first true knock-out of the match—he suddenly heard Mr. Pokémon laugh.

“Oh? It looks like young Samuel already has fans in the audience!”

The screen above cut to show Redi sitting next to Ursaring. They each held up one side of a banner that said “You can do it, Sam!”

Sam felt warm when he saw that, but Ursaring quickly tapped Redi on the shoulder. She glanced up at the screen, a grin appeared, and they worked together to quickly show the other side of the banner.

“Hire Vermillion Construction Co. for all your construction needs!”

The camera couldn’t switch away fast enough.

“Vulpix!” Otis shouted.

The shout brought Sam’s attention back onto the field. Otis looked serious. Angry. He all but snarled at Sam.

“You won’t faint my other Pokémon as easily as Magmar,” he said.

“Wanna bet?” Sam asked.

For the briefest of moments, Otis looked as though he wanted to take Sam up on the offer. Instead, he bit his lip and said nothing. The referee resumed the match.

“Hypnosis.”

“Confuse Ray!”

Sam couldn’t help but to snort.

Clearly, Otis wanted to try to trap Haunter in illusions before he could do the same to Vulpix. Unfortunately for him, Haunter easily rolled away from the red fox’s greyish beam, and upon making eye contact, the little Pokémon immediately collapsed.

“Oh, come on!” Otis shouted.

Vulpix and Haunter disappeared within a Night Shade before the move dropped, leaving Vulpix fainted on the ground.

Otis practically slammed the Pokéball back into his vest pocket once Vulpix was returned. A hand went down to grip the end of his torch, likely an unconscious reaction. Sam couldn’t hear it, but it looked like Otis let out a growl as well.

“Furret!” he shouted.

Sam raised an eyebrow—Furret was a Normal Type, not a Fire Type. A week ago, it could have utterly walled Haunter. Now? Now, he actually had a way to fight back.

“Hypnosis,” Sam said the moment the battle resumed.

“No you don’t! Use Quick Attack! Into Sunny Day!” Otis shouted.

Before Haunter could lock eyes with it, Furret was already dashing to the side, circling around the floating Ghost Type. It focused on what was ahead of it rather than its opponent, meaning that Haunter couldn’t land his move.

He stayed in place, though he rotated to track the running ferret. As part of its circling dash, it leaped into the air, rolled with its limbs clutched close to its chest, and tossed them out when it faced upside down. With that movement came a fiery sphere it threw high into the air.

Sunny Day was a weather move, the first time Sam had personally seen one in battle. Sunny Day’s harsh sunlight seared away all other weather conditions and created an intense heat that powered up Fire Type attacks.

Sam could see where Otis was going with this—Sunny Day was bright. The man wanted to make the darkness-conjuring Night Shade impossible to use while also empowering the Fire Type.

Except, there was a problem with that line of thinking.

Sure, Night Shade is a decent way for Haunter to hide, but why would we use it against a Normal Type? Furret is immune!

His confidence regained, Otis shouted for one more command.

“Fire Punch! And use your speed to guide you—close your eyes!”

Furret turned on a dime, its noodly body briefly twisting into a sharp, right angle. It bounded forward and jumped, sailing right towards Haunter with a paw consumed by flame. Clearly, Sam wasn’t the only one to have relied on a TM move in the past, but it didn’t matter.

Time to make a splash.

This would be the first time Sam used something from the New Pokédex in such a public battle. Smiling, he called for Haunter’s Poison Type attack.

The crowd went wild.

Haunter pulled back, the blind Fire Punch becoming nothing more than a graze. As Furret continued its arc and began to fall, he quickly breathed in and grinned, exposing his teeth. Then, like a kid playing with water, he pressed his tongue forward to cause liquid to spray out through the gaps between his teeth. It splashed onto Furret’s fur, and when the Pokémon landed, a bit of steam drifted off of its body.

“What move was that?” Falkner’s voice echoed out, surprised.

Nurse Joy hummed but didn’t answer.

Sam couldn’t see him, but the pause in the announcers’ voices made him think that Mr. Pokémon was rubbing his mustache.

“Acid Spray,” the man said. “I believe I’ve heard of that move before. Mostly from foreign Poison Type trainers, but if I recall correctly, Kanto’s Koga has displayed it in his fights. While Acid Spray might not be the most damaging move, its acid scours its target's flesh. The result is that the move scales in power, rendering opponents quite vulnerable to further special attacks.”

There was a pregnant pause after Mr. Pokémon’s explanation.

“That’s...”

“Brutal,” Nurse Joy said.

Some of the audience quieted down.

Truthfully, Sam hadn’t intended to teach Haunter this move. He had started with Smog, but that had been put aside as Quilava’s Smokescreen worked well enough to create dark clouds. He instead tried for Sludge Bomb, as that was a powerful Poison Type attack.

However, their attempts to make use of Haunter’s Poison Type resulted in a happy accident; by first attempting to learn the gaseous Smog before moving into the more solid Sludge Bomb, Haunter’s poisons came out like thin liquids. Sam used the New Pokédex to scan for alternatives before settling on this attack.

Acid Spray could come out like a splattering glob or as a spray from the teeth. Either way, it was rather caustic. It burned foes and made them more vulnerable to follow-up moves from any special attackers on Sam’s team.

You know, maybe Otis should have called for Furret to open its eyes, huh?

Furret was still sizzling, even now. The Acid Spray lingered on its body and burned at both its flesh and fur. It wiggled unhappily, and instead of resuming its dash, Furret fell on its side and rolled across the dirt to try to rub off all of the lingering acid.

“What did you do to Furret?” Otis accused.

Sam shrugged.

“Oh, you know. Used Acid Spray?”

With that phrasing, Haunter attacked again, this time spitting out a glob. Furret dodged with Quick Attack, but that was all it could do. Haunter didn’t let up his assault.

Due to the barrage of Acid Sprays coming its way, Furret could no longer attack. It was forced to keep running to avoid Haunter’s moves. With it being Otis’s last Pokémon and with the potential build-up of Acid Spray’s effects, it couldn’t afford to take any damage. However, while it never took any direct attacks, each attack still caused a few droplets to splash onto its fur.

Its defeat would be inevitable if it kept this up.

“Ugh, that’s it! Go for a Fire Punch, head on!”

And that was the mistake Sam was waiting for.

He watched as Furret turned, rolled, and jumped into the air, and once its trajectory was set, he called out a move.

“Hypnosis.”

Otis smacked his own face.

So focused on Acid Spray, they forgot about the real reason Haunter was out. He made eye contact with the soaring Furret, and the Pokémon slumped without attacking. When it hit the ground, asleep, it had no way to avoid one last, direct hit.

A final Acid Spray finished it off.

“And in an impressive battle, Samuel Greyson and Haunter have utterly dominated Otis’s team!” Mr. Pokémon shouted. “An incredible show of techniques, both new and old! Won’t everyone give a hand for these two trainers?”

As Otis returned his Pokémon, and as the audience cheered, Sam could have sworn he heard Redi excitedly shouting his name over the noise of the crowd.

Sam returned Haunter, who disappeared in the middle of a salute. He walked onto the field, making sure to avoid anywhere the Acid Spray landed, and shook Otis’s hand.

“Good battle,” Sam said.

Otis just grunted.

Sam casually waved to the audience one last time before stepping off the field. Haunter was passed over to the awaiting nurse to get treated, and instead of returning to the waiting room, Sam left.

He had time before the next round, and he wanted to talk to Redi before his next match began.