On the way to work.
Nathan Hale walked alone, carrying a bag of steamed buns he’d bought at a convenience store.
Every now and then, he would take one from the bag and toss it toward a wall in a nearby alley.
The bun never actually reached the wall.
Gastly would float straight through it and catch the bun in its mouth.
“Ko-gee.”
Gastly cautiously glanced at him, looking like a pitiful little troublemaker who’d been caught red-handed.
Nathan Hale knew perfectly well what was going on, but he couldn’t help feeling helpless about it.
After all, this was simply part of Gastly’s nature.
He couldn’t forcibly erase a Pokémon’s natural instincts.
Even Agatha, one of the Elite Four, still occasionally got pranked by her Gengar.
The difference was that Agatha had long since learned not to fall for it.
And what Gastly was doing wasn’t even really a prank.
It had simply inhaled the gas because it didn’t know any better.
“From now on, you’re not allowed in the kitchen.”
Nathan Hale gave the “pitiful” little Pokémon a stern look.
“Ko-gee, ko-gee!”
If Gastly had hands, it probably would have been raising one to swear an oath.
Seeing that Nathan Hale wasn’t actually angry, its pitiful expression immediately vanished.
In its place was pure happiness as it enjoyed its food.
Nathan Hale couldn’t help shaking his head.
He’d known it.
Gastly’s pitiful act had all been fake.
“I’m going to buy you some Poké Puffs after work anyway.
We can pay the gas bill while we’re at it.”
“Ko-gee, ko-gee?”
Gastly was responding happily when it suddenly stopped.
It turned toward the alley behind them.
Noticing the movement, Nathan Hale followed its gaze.
Hm?
He thought he’d caught a glimpse of someone.
He looked at Gastly.
Gastly’s expression had become serious as well, and it nodded at him.
This alley wasn’t exactly busy.
It was simply a shortcut Nathan Hale used to get to the university.
Normally, he might not encounter a single person here in an entire month.
Yet this person seemed to have been following them for some time.
“Ko-gee!”
Gastly’s expression turned fierce.
It was about to chase after the figure when Nathan Hale hurriedly stopped it.
Under Gastly’s confused gaze, Nathan Hale spoke in a low voice.
“We don’t know who they are.
We don’t know how strong they are, and we don’t know what they want.
Chasing after them recklessly would only expose us.”
As he spoke, his expression returned to normal.
He took another steamed bun from the bag and stuffed it into his mouth, signaling for Gastly to return to him.
Then he continued toward the university at his usual pace.
The person following them hadn’t dared to come too close.
That meant they probably had some reservations.
And at such a distance, with the alley being narrow and dim, there was a good chance they hadn’t noticed Gastly.
Now that their stalker had exposed themselves, all Nathan Hale needed to do was pretend nothing had happened.
Then the balance between light and shadow would be reversed.
However, Nathan Hale already had a fairly good idea what their target was.
Most likely…
It was the stone he was carrying.
So the thing I was worried about really did happen.
Fortunately, the other party had only followed from a distance and hadn’t made any rash moves.
Nathan Hale returned to the university without incident.
That eased his mind somewhat.
But at the same time, it made him realize something.
His peaceful, uneventful life might be coming to an end.
There was one thing he absolutely had to find out, though.
After arriving at the university, Nathan Hale didn’t immediately return to his counseling office.
Instead, he went to Dr.
Solans’s office.
“Nathan Hale?”
Solans looked surprised when Nathan Hale entered.
He was sitting beside his desk, sorting through his lesson plans.
“I’m here to borrow your computer tower.”
Nathan Hale got straight to the point with a smile.
Solans immediately understood and stood aside.
“I don’t use it anyway.
Go ahead and take it.
I already reported it to the Academic Affairs Office yesterday, but they said the beginning of the semester is especially busy, so it might take a few days before they can arrange a replacement.”
Nathan Hale took off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves, and began disconnecting the computer tower.
At the same time, he asked casually,
“Was the loss serious?”
At the mention of it, Solans’s expression became troubled.
“If you call it serious, it was only some rocks.
But those rocks were important to me.”
“They must have been hard to find.”
Nathan Hale’s tone was gentle.
“Like that one you told me about the day before yesterday.”
“Yeah.”
Solans sighed.
“I hadn’t even had much time to study that one.
I’ve almost forgotten whether I brought it to the university that day or left it at home.
Either way, it’s gone now.”
“Did you find that one with Steven?
A fossil?”
Mentioning Steven seemed to cheer Solans up considerably.
After all, there weren’t many people who shared his love of rocks.
Finding someone with the same hobby—even someone much younger—was comforting.
Besides, he’d known Steven for a long time, dating back to when Steven’s father was still working at the Mossdeep Space Center.
“Yeah.
Steven’s a remarkable kid.”
Solans sighed with admiration.
“Although whether that stone is actually a fossil is hard to say.
My first impression was actually that it looked more like a fragment of a meteorite.”
Nathan Hale had finished disconnecting the computer tower.
“A meteorite fragment?
Where would you find something like that?”
“Meteor Falls.”
Solans answered without hesitation.
“Actually, meteorites are much closer to us than you’d think.
Meteor Falls itself was formed by meteorite impacts.
Even Sootopolis City was formed from the glass created by the intense heat of a meteorite impact.”
“I think I’ve heard something about that.”
Nathan Hale nodded in realization.
After thanking him, he picked up the computer tower and headed outside.
When he reached the doorway, he suddenly turned around.
“By the way, did they catch the thieves?
Who were they?”
“No.”
Solans shook his head helplessly.
“Officer Jenny and the others are looking into it.
But since all they stole were rocks…
well, you know how it is.”
Back in the counseling office, the smile disappeared from Nathan Hale’s face.
His expression gradually turned grim.
Meteor Falls?
As far as he remembered, Dr.
Solans was eventually drawn into trouble with Team Aqua and Team Magma because he discovered a fossil at Meteor Falls.
Which meant he had every reason to suspect that whoever had broken into Solans’s home and searched through his rocks might very well have been members of Team Aqua or Team Magma.
Team Aqua and Team Magma were the two largest criminal organizations in Hoenn.
They were extremely powerful and had enormous influence.
They could even go toe-to-toe with the Hoenn League to some extent.
And their ambitions were equally outrageous.
They sought the legendary ancient Pokémon—
Kyogre and Groudon.
The more Nathan Hale thought about it, the more his brows furrowed.
But the timeline doesn’t add up.
Steven was still a student.
He was nowhere near becoming Champion yet.
And Team Magma and Team Aqua should still have been lying low at this point…
So maybe things haven’t gotten that bad yet?
“Ko-gee—”
Gastly waved a hand in front of Nathan Hale, who had been standing motionless with a grim expression ever since returning to the counseling office.
Nathan Hale came back to his senses.
He looked at Gastly seriously.
“Gastly, I’m afraid…
we’re going to have to get a League Trainer License.”
“Ko-gee?”
Huh?
Whether the people involved were Team Aqua, Team Magma, or someone else entirely, becoming a League-registered Trainer would undoubtedly provide some protection for both him and Gastly.
Unless Team Aqua or Team Magma intended to openly challenge the League right now, they wouldn’t dare casually target a League-registered Trainer.
And if the people behind this weren’t members of those organizations, then there was even less reason to worry.
Being a professor at the Rustboro Pokémon University offered some protection as well.
But Dr.
Solans’s experience had already shown Nathan Hale that it wasn’t enough.
As for becoming a League researcher, the previous owner had already spent a long time pursuing that goal without succeeding.
Compared with that, becoming a registered Trainer seemed much more attainable.
And even if the worst came to pass…
Having some actual strength would naturally improve his ability to protect himself.
This was the first time since arriving in this world that Nathan Hale had truly felt a sense of danger and urgency.
Even including the original owner’s experiences, this was the first time he’d felt this way.
But strangely…
There was also a faint trace of excitement in his heart.
So men really do have an instinct for adventure buried in their blood.
After hearing Nathan Hale’s brief explanation, Gastly showed no resistance whatsoever.
If anything, it looked eager to give it a try.
It had learned quite a bit yesterday.
It was itching to put those lessons into practice.
“Looks like men aren’t the only ones with a taste for adventure.”
Nathan Hale set down the computer tower and left the counseling office with Gastly.
One advantage of being a professor at a Pokémon university was that he had almost unrestricted access to the school’s various training facilities.
Before long, they passed through two corridors and crossed a lawn before arriving at the training rooms.
Although the semester had begun, classes hadn’t officially started yet, so there weren’t many people around.
Nathan Hale and Gastly entered a private training room.
“Ko-gee?”
Gastly was visibly excited.
It couldn’t wait to ask what they were going to train.
Attacking from behind?
Assassinating people in the dark?
A black line appeared on Nathan Hale’s forehead.
He took a slow breath.
“Your offensive options are lacking, but we don’t actually need much raw offense.
What we need to do now is improve your overall abilities while refining your proficiency with the moves you’ve already learned.”
“Preferably, we should focus on mastering one or two moves.”
As a seasoned Pokémon enthusiast, Nathan Hale already had a pretty good idea how Gastly should fight.
“Ko-gee, ko-gee—”
Gastly nodded as though it understood.
So…?
Seeing the confusion on its face, Nathan Hale patiently continued explaining.
“Put a Curse on your opponent, then follow it up with a package deal of Hypnosis, confusion, paralysis, flinching, and burn.”
“By the time your opponent finally manages to recover from all those status effects and debuffs, Curse may have already drained their stamina to the point where they’re barely standing—or they may have simply collapsed under the effects.”
“Isn’t that much more reliable than attacking from behind?”
“Of course, attacking from behind is still a perfectly good tactic…”
Nathan Hale rubbed his chin.
He couldn’t help thinking that Gastly was incredibly well suited to someone with his particular tactical style.
“Ko…
ko-gee.”
Gastly looked at the dangerous gleam in Nathan Hale’s eyes.
It quietly swallowed.
Then floated backward a little.
This man…
He’s dangerous!
Gastly finally understood why Nathan Hale hadn’t let it watch any more of those videos featuring Elite Four Agatha.
If they were talking about who was more dangerous…
Nathan Hale was absolutely no worse than her.
But why did Gastly feel a little excited about it, too?