“It’s you two.”
Nathan Hale smiled and stopped walking.
The two hurried over to him and greeted him again.
Come to think of it, he wasn’t actually much older than the two of them.
He had skipped several grades while studying, so he was only two or three years older than Steven and Roxanne.
They were practically the same generation.
Thus, although they respected Nathan Hale as their teacher, neither of them was particularly stiff or reserved around him.
Instead, they were quite at ease.
Of course, the fact that Nathan Hale had helped Steven with his Metagross’s psychological issues—and achieved rather good results—was another important reason.
“Teacher, so you were here.
We went to your office earlier but couldn’t find you.
Were you training your Pokémon?” Roxanne asked in surprise.
As a professor at a Pokémon university, it was perfectly normal for him to own a Pokémon.
However, in her impression, that senior Nathan Hale had always had exceptionally outstanding theoretical grades, but apparently hadn’t owned a Pokémon.
Steven, however, knew a little more about this.
When Nathan Hale had conducted psychological therapy on his Metagross, he had summoned his Gastly.
“Yeah.” Nathan Hale smiled and nodded without trying to hide it.
Then he asked, “Were you looking for me?”
“Teacher, it’s like this…”
Steven briefly explained the situation.
It turned out that Roxanne had recently caught a Pokémon, but its temperament was rather hot-tempered.
Pokémon naturally had different personalities.
Some were gentle, so naturally there were also those that were irritable.
Roxanne hadn’t thought much of it when she caught it.
She figured she could slowly train and discipline it over time.
Who could have expected that the Pokémon wouldn’t become gentler at all?
Instead, it had become increasingly unruly, to the point where it had even started ignoring Roxanne’s commands.
This had given her quite the headache.
It was only recently that Roxanne heard from Steven that Nathan Hale had provided psychological treatment for his Metagross and significantly improved its condition.
That made her wonder if her Pokémon might have some psychological issues as well.
After listening, Nathan Hale asked,
“Your Pokémon doesn’t obey your commands?
Didn’t you use a battle to catch it?”
At this, Roxanne looked embarrassed and answered quietly,
“It’s the offspring of one of my father’s Pokémon.”
Nathan Hale understood.
He glanced around before saying,
“Let’s take a look.
Though this isn’t really the right place…”
“There are battlefields behind the training hall,” Steven said.
Perhaps because the sky was gray and looked as though it might rain at any moment, the outdoor battlefields, which were normally bustling, were now deserted.
Only a few people were scattered around, packing up their things and seemingly preparing to leave.
The three of them went to a battlefield in the far corner.
At Nathan Hale’s gesture, Roxanne took out a Poké Ball.
A flash of red light appeared.
Her Pokémon materialized on the battlefield.
“Geodude!”
Its appearance was that of a gray, round boulder with a pair of muscular, stone arms.
A Rock- and Ground-type Pokémon.
Geodude!
The moment it appeared, it swept its gaze over the three of them.
Then it crossed its arms and closed its eyes, minding its own business.
The disdain on its face was practically overflowing.
“Geodude?” Nathan Hale was slightly surprised.
Geodude wasn’t exactly rare.
If you went hiking through a relatively barren mountain, chances were you could encounter more than ten of them.
However, Rock- and Ground-type Pokémon were generally steady-tempered, even taciturn.
Especially Pokémon like Geodude and Roggenrola.
A particularly hot temper was actually rather uncommon.
“Geodude!”
Perhaps hearing someone call its name, Geodude looked toward Nathan Hale.
It saw only a young man with sharp features, deep-set eyes, and a handsome face.
The disdain in Geodude’s eyes grew even stronger.
Especially when it noticed Nathan Hale examining it.
Its hot temper could no longer be restrained.
“Geodude!”
It suddenly leaped into the air.
And charged straight toward Nathan Hale!
Steven and Roxanne’s expressions changed immediately.
Steven reached for his Poké Ball, while Roxanne grabbed hers, preparing to recall Geodude.
“Ko-gee!”
But before either of them could act, a mass of black mist immediately floated out from Nathan Hale.
Gastly’s grinning face emerged from within.
Sensing the cold, eerie aura, Geodude showed no intention of retreating.
Its eyes narrowed as it charged straight at Gastly.
Tackle!
Puff!
Its body slammed into Gastly, but only created a hole in the gaseous Pokémon’s body.
The hole quickly closed.
No damage had been done.
“Geodude?”
Geodude landed and stared in confusion.
“Ko-gee—”
Gastly continued to grin, but there was now a hint of hostility in its smile.
Clearly, Geodude’s sudden attempt to attack Nathan Hale had displeased it.
At the same time, Steven summoned Metagross.
If Geodude tried anything else out of line, Metagross would intervene immediately.
“Metagross!”
Metagross gave Geodude a deep, warning cry.
The arrogance on Geodude’s face briefly gave way to fear when it saw Metagross.
But that fear quickly disappeared.
“Geo…
dude!”
Nathan Hale noticed all of this.
“Teacher Nathan Hale, I’m sorry.
I didn’t know it would—”
Roxanne hurriedly apologized and was about to recall Geodude.
But Nathan Hale stopped her with a raised hand.
Geodude’s sudden attack had surprised him a little, but with Gastly beside him, he hadn’t been frightened.
More importantly, when Geodude had used Tackle, a Pokédex-like panel had appeared before his eyes.
[Geodude]
[Type: Rock, Ground]
[Ability: Rock Head]
[Moves: Tackle, Defense Curl, Mud Sport, Rock Polish, Rollout, Magnitude, Rock Throw, Block, Endure, Mega Punch]
[Mood: Restless, Arrogant]
[Condition: Excellent (It just finished eating and is eager to battle)]
[Friendship: -20 (You’re too weak.
You’re not worthy of even calling its name)]
Too weak…
A black line appeared on Nathan Hale’s forehead.
Still, Roxanne’s Geodude was undeniably impressive.
As expected of the offspring of her father’s Pokémon, it had even inherited a move like Mega Punch.
Perhaps because it had witnessed the strength of Roxanne’s father’s Pokémon, it looked down on both Nathan Hale and Roxanne.
But it was clearly wary of Steven’s Metagross.
And because Roxanne hadn’t caught it through battle—and had probably pampered it carefully ever since—it had only encouraged its arrogance.
The solution to this kind of Pokémon problem was actually quite simple.
Give it a little education.
Nathan Hale decided to do it himself.
Of course, this wasn’t because Geodude had looked down on him.
Definitely not.
It was simply because he happened to want to give Gastly some practical battle experience, and this Geodude was an excellent opponent.
Yes.
That was it.
“Teacher, Geodude…” Roxanne said worriedly.
“I’ll give it a try.
If everything goes smoothly, we should be able to solve the problem today.”
Nathan Hale’s tone was calm.
“Really?” Roxanne’s face lit up.
Steven was surprised too.
He can solve it today?
Nathan Hale didn’t explain.
Instead, he looked at Geodude.
“How about a battle?”
“Geodude?”
You?
Geodude shot him a sideways glance.
Nathan Hale smiled.
Before Geodude could even answer, he said,
“Gastly, say hello.
Mean Look.”
“Ko-gee!”
Gastly stared intently at Geodude.
The moment Geodude looked back, Gastly suddenly made a terrifying expression.
Several eerie eyes appeared around it, staring fixedly at Geodude.
Geodude shuddered involuntarily.
It was startled.
Then anger surged from the depths of its heart.
“Geodude!”
It roared furiously and swung its fists, once again charging at the floating Gastly.
“Don’t dodge.
Curse.”
Nathan Hale stepped back a few paces to create some distance and calmly issued his command.
Normal-type moves couldn’t affect Ghost-type Pokémon.
Without a Trainer directing it, this Geodude clearly hadn’t realized that.
Gastly gave an eerie laugh and simply allowed Geodude’s fist to pass through its body.
Its strange laughter seemed to echo directly inside Geodude’s mind.
Then a black shadow shot from Gastly at incredible speed and sank into Geodude’s body.
At the same time, Gastly’s previously solid-looking form became noticeably more translucent.
Geodude landed and was startled.
But soon, it relaxed.
It didn’t seem to have suffered any damage.
Suddenly, Gastly poked its head out from behind Geodude.
“Ko-gee?”
Its scarlet tongue slid out.
The sticky saliva made Geodude shudder violently.
It felt like…
Was it poisoned?
Its limbs felt weak.
Its body wasn’t responding properly.
Fortunately for Geodude, or perhaps unfortunately, Gastly’s first use of Lick in actual combat had triggered the paralysis effect.
From here, things became even simpler.
“Gastly, Confuse Ray.”
“Hypnosis.”
“Will-O-Wisp.”
“…”
Steven and Roxanne had retreated to the side, watching the two Pokémon battle.
No.
Calling it a battle was inaccurate.
This was a one-sided lesson.
They almost instinctively exchanged a glance.
“Roxanne, you…
didn’t offend Teacher Nathan Hale, did you?” Steven whispered.
Listening to Nathan Hale’s calm voice and Gastly’s delighted, sinister laughter, Roxanne shuddered.
“N-No, I don’t think so.
Though Geodude did seem to offend Teacher just now…”
Before long, the sounds from the battlefield disappeared.
Roxanne couldn’t help but let out a long sigh of relief.
Finally, it’s over.
Then she heard Nathan Hale ask,
“Roxanne, did you bring any healing spray?”
“I-I did.”
Roxanne answered instinctively.
She looked at Geodude lying in the middle of the battlefield.
Its body was covered in layers of debuffs, many of which had yet to fade, and it had already lost the ability to battle.
It definitely needs treatment.
But then Nathan Hale said,
“Good.
Heal it, then we’ll have another battle.”
Roxanne: