Nina furrowed her brows in frustration.
“Take to the air, Gastly! Keep away from melee range!”
Gastly attempted to do as she was told, but faltered midway from the oppressive willpower of the Bellsprout, filled with fervent killing intent.
The first ten or so rounds had been a breeze with Gastly barely breaking a sweat. If Ghosts were even capable of sweating.
In fact, it went so smoothly that the win streak even emboldened the usually timid Gastly, doing wonders for her self-confidence. After all, Nina’s little cue ball of phantom horrors was a Ghost Type, so most of the Bellsprouts’ fancy martial arts moves did nothing against her, forcing them to rely on elemental moves — Grass, Poison and the occasional Bug Type moves. However, Gastly, being a trained bodyguard, dealt with them easily enough.
But then things got complicated; the strikes of Bellsprouts elongated limbs started hurting Gastly instead of phasing right through her. Nina surmised that this was because the ascetic Bellsprouts had begun to imbue their bodies with Grass Type Energy, mimicking a rudimentary application of Aura.
This then gradually transitioned into actual application of Aura and even more advanced tricks like a death glare from the flower Pokemon’s beady eyes that would temporarily overwhelm Gastly right as she was about to move in for an attack, freezing her in place for a counter attack.
“This is match number 27, I think?” The girl thought, beads of sweat dripping down her brow. They were barely halfway through and already, Gastly was struggling. “If this is the level of mastery at number 27, then what would Bellsprout number 69 look like?” Nina locked in, no longer taking the challenge as lightly as she did at the start.
“Call on the shadows, Gastly! No need to hold back anymore!”
“Gas!” Gastly cried, invoking her nascent domain and shrouding her immediate vicinity in a veil of shadows to hide from the axe kicking Bellsprout.
Out of all of Nina’s newer Pokemon, Gastly was the one who was closest to establishing that same invisible bond that she shared with Nitey. So the Ghostly ball of flames had a good understanding of what the girl wanted despite her vague words.
After all, she did spend an inordinate amount of time with Nina, constantly lurking in her shadow at every waking moment and even pulling the girl into her dreams at night.
Bellsprout looked around frantically. While its nascent Aura was good enough for practical applications in a limited capacity, it had yet to achieve mastery over its mind’s eye yet.
“Belll!!!” Bellsprout cried out in pain as a Shadow Ball emerged out of nowhere, striking the Grass Type on its bulbous head. Gastly had learned very early on that attacking a Bellsprout’s twiggy body was a futile endeavor.
“Don’t let up, Gastly!” And with a few more strikes, Bellsprout fainted, leaving only an exhausted looking Gastly on the field.
Nina frowned. Gastly managed to grasp the basics of establishing her own domain at an incredibly fast rate through videos from Purple Shadow and observing Nitey and Espy’s training. But trying to maintain one for a prolonged period of time at her current level was a strenuous affair.
“Are you okay, Gastly? Do you think you can continue?” asked the concerned Nina, receiving a strained nod in return from her Pokemon, whose Ghostly grey embers were looking dimmer than they were previously.
Nina clenched her fist, holding back her desire to recall the gas Pokemon. If Gastly was determined enough to continue fighting then Nina would respect her resolve.
“Victory goes to the challenger!” The elderly sage declared, only to immediately summon the next monk onto the wooden stage they were using. “Next combatant, please come forth!” The pacing was relentless with barely any time for respite
The new monk pressed his fist against his palm and gave Nina a respectful bow before summoning another Bellsprout onto the field, this one with a nasty looking scar marking one of its eyes.
“Be careful, buddy… I'm getting bad vibes for this one…”
“Gas…” Gastly shuddered under the Bellsprout’s gaze, experiencing a similar feeling of wary apprehension as Nina.
That feeling came into fruition when the elderly monk announced the start of the match and Gastly was immediately assaulted by an intimidating Aura exuding from the battle hardened Bellsprout.
“All in Gastly, hold nothing back!”
But before Gastly could reestablish her domain, Bellsprout whipped out with uncanny speed and spiked her like a volleyball against the ground.
“Dive into the shadows!” Nina shifted her body, angling herself in such a way that her silhouette briefly overlapped with Gastly, allowing her to melt into the shadow realm.
However, Bellsprout was relentless as it continually whipped its vine-like protrusions against the ground, tearing the arena apart to get at Gastly, but to no avail.
Nina smirked. Gastly couldn’t be hurt while she was travelling through the shadows. But more importantly, she gained a better understanding of their opponent. The Bellsprout, while stronger than all the ones that came before it, had trouble keeping its emotions under control — a fatal flaw for a supposedly enlightened monk.
Bellsprout’s indiscriminate assault only served to create more shade for Gastly through crevices and cracks from splintered wood.
The shadows writhed, slowly coming to life and obscuring part of the arena with a thin veil of misty darkness. The coverage of Gastly’s domain left much to be desired due to her waning energy reserves.
“Freeze ‘em, Gastly!”
A gale of Icy Wind blew towards Bellsprout, assaulting it from every angle and slowing it down with a grunt.
“Power through!” The monk called, prompting Bellsprout to suffuse itself with Fire Type Energy as its yellow head glowed an incandescent light — a localized Sunny Day — briefly pushing back the surrounding shadows.
“Will-o-wisp would be good to have right now…” Nina made a mental note to put in a mail order with Johnny later on.
“Brucey strats!” Nina called, initiating the same Confuse Ray and Mean Look combo that Gastly didn’t have a chance to deploy at the start, but this time, mixed in with Hypnosis for more comprehensive coverage.
An ominous looking face peeked out from the veil of shadows, briefly causing Bellsprout to falter, only for it to shrug it off with a vigorous shake of its bulbous head. Despite its anger issues, this Bellsprout was clearly very strong of mind.
“Espy strats!” Nina called, signalling for Gastly to switch to more direct mental attacks. “Let’s see exactly how strong willed this Bellsprout is…”
The shadows darkened, the malicious looking face hidden within its midst glowed an ominous red as invisible tendrils of thorns were extended from the void, crawling up the Bellsprout’s body to coil around the Grass Pokemon’s soul, inflicting agonizing pain to the very core of its being.
Hex and Night Shade combined with Curse. It was a custom move from Purple Shadow he named Cursed Thorns. Gastly had trouble executing usually, due to its self-harming and brutal nature. But all these consecutive battles had worn away at her inhibitions and allowed her to use it without reservation.
However, contrary to Nina’s expectations, Bellsprout was not cowed. Instead, the lanky Grass Type seemed to have been enraged by the excruciating pain as it lashed out violently, its limbs whipped all over the arena like a maddened Tangela and exploded into an all encompassing Leaf Storm.
The barrage of attacks cut right through the darkness and managed to reach the Gastly hiding in Limbo, forcing her out of the shadows with a pained cry as she hastily conjured up a Protect to shield herself.
“Gastly!” Nina cried in distress, ready to recall her beloved Pokemon at a moment's notice.
“Gas!” But that notion was dispelled by Gastly herself, whose sad frown twisted into a sharp glare as the Gastly shook her head vehemently in protest. All the while, she struggled desperately to maintain her Protect barrier while tightening the Cursed Thorns wrapped around Bellsprout’s soul, causing it to leak tears of agony as its outrage intensified.
“Bell… sprout…” And just when it felt like Gastly was about to give in and take her opponent down with Destiny Bond, Bellsprout abruptly froze with a final gasp, its lanky figure swaying unsteadily before falling over with a thud.
“Gastly!” Before the sage could even declare her win, Nina rushed into the arena to catch her Gastly, whose grey embers sputtered into a faint wisp surrounding a barely translucent dark void.
Nina cried as she felt the waning presence of her Ghost ball, the girl struggling to keep a firm grasp over Gastly’s ethereal body, the ball of gas no longer feeling as cold to the touch like usual.
“Gass…” Gastly responded to Nina’s concern with a weak smile and a gentle lick at her tears, as if telling her not to be sad.
Nina sniffled and tried to force a smile on her face. “You did great, Gastly… I’m so proud of you…” She whispered, fighting against the lump in her throat, before nuzzling her cheeks against Gastly in affection. “Thank you for fighting for me. It means a lot…” Especially since Nina knew better than anyone how reluctant Gastly was to engage in battles normally.
“Gas…” Gastly beamed a happy smile, returning Nina’s affection with nuzzles of her own and more gentle licks, eliciting giggles from the girl.
“Hehe… You’re the best, Gastly. Thank you.”
“Gas!”
And in that moment, the pair’s emotions synchronized, melding together into one cohesive whole as the Light of Evolution took hold of Gastly’s waning form.
Nina gasped and instinctively looked away from the searing ball of light, feeling like she had a miniature sun in her embrace.
Gastly’s presence intensified, her previously ethereal form becoming more tangible as the grey flames swirled into the blackness of the void that anchored the Ghost to the material realm.
And gradually, Nina could feel something being pulled from the darkness into her embrace, forming a much more corporeal existence as a greyish blue Haunter steadily emerged from the black hole, wearing the same sad look on her face that Nina was so familiar with.
“Haunter, you evolved!”
“Haunter!” The Ghost Pokemon joined in on Nina’s cheers and immediately pulled the girl in for a celebratory hug with her newly acquired hands.
Nina giggled and luxuriated in her Haunter’s presence, who felt much more substantial and cool to the touch, but no longer freezing like she was previously. Touching Haunter was almost like touching water in a sense — fluid and material, but not fully of substance.
“Congratulations.” Falkner chimed, pulling Nina away from her reverie. “It was a commendable effort. But I think it’s safe to say that you’ve failed this ordeal.”
Nina looked up with a sunny smile, not bothered at all by the man’s words. “It’s fine, I’ve already gained plenty from this experience. If anything, I should thank you for affording me this opportunity. I’ve been struggling with Haunter’s development for quite some time now, but the trial enabled her to make several breakthroughs in quick succession. So thank you.”
The girl gave a bow each to Falkner and the elderly monk, even leveling a respectful nod at her most recent opponent who was aggressively meditating at his loss.
Falkner nodded in approval. “Good. I admire your spirit. While I don’t think you’re worthy enough to challenge me for a Star badge. I shall grant you the privilege of facing me at the Expert tier. Just come to the Gym when you’re ready. I’ll inform the staff to waive the need for a screening battle.”
“Thank you Lord Falkner!” Nina exclaimed cheerfully, exchanging a few more pleasantries before excusing herself to go to the Pokemon Center.
***
Author's note:
Reminder that there's a bonus chapter attached to Chapter 197.