“Ge-Geodude…
Geodude…”
Geodude panted heavily.
The look it gave Nathan Hale and Gastly was as though it were staring at two smiling demons.
Demons!
They were demons!
They called this a battle, but Geodude hadn’t managed to touch Gastly even once from beginning to end!
Its attacks seemed completely useless against Gastly.
Gastly hadn’t attacked it much either, but every move Gastly used was even more agonizing than a direct attack.
More importantly—
It couldn’t even run!
Not only was Gastly much faster than it, but every time the thought of escaping arose in its mind, it would inexplicably shudder and become completely unable to move.
Just think about what it had gone through earlier.
Paralysis, confusion, sleep, flinching, burns…
Every time it finally managed to break free from one negative effect, another would immediately be piled on.
And before it could even endure a full round of attacks, its stamina would mysteriously drain away amid waves of agonizing pain.
Was this a battle?
This was just pure torture!
Whenever Geodude thought back to its battle with Gastly, it couldn’t help but shudder.
And then there was Gastly’s sinister laughter.
Especially the way it kept inexplicably appearing behind Geodude…
And that human named Nathan Hale was even more terrifying!
He looked so thin and weak.
Aside from being handsome, he seemed to have nothing going for him.
Yet one sentence from him had been burned deep into Geodude’s heart—
Heal it, then battle again.
Was that something a normal living creature could say?
Geodude felt as though its young heart had suffered a devastating blow.
Compared to that, even Metagross seemed “gentle.”
Roxanne was absolutely the best Trainer in the world!
Seeing the pleading, submissive expression on Geodude’s face, Nathan Hale reached out and stopped Gastly.
“That’s enough.
Don’t be so cruel, Gastly.”
“Ko-gee~~”
Gastly called out resentfully.
Cruel?
Me?
“It accepted the lesson much faster than I expected.”
Nathan Hale ignored the look Gastly was giving him and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
To be honest, the outcome of Gastly’s battle with Geodude had been completely within his expectations.
The main reason was that Gastly simply countered Geodude too thoroughly.
Roxanne’s Geodude indeed had considerable potential.
It had inherited the move Mega Punch.
The problem was that Mega Punch was a Normal-type move.
And without moves such as Foresight or Odor Sleuth to assist it, Normal-type moves couldn’t hit a Ghost-type Pokémon like Gastly.
At least, Geodude’s current strength wasn’t enough to overcome that limitation.
The same applied to Tackle, which Geodude had used twice.
It was also a Normal-type move and therefore completely ineffective against Gastly.
Furthermore, Geodude was a Rock- and Ground-type Pokémon, while Gastly had the ability Levitate.
A Pokémon with Levitate could ignore most Ground-type moves as long as it wasn’t grounded itself or affected by something like Gravity.
Taken together…
Of all the moves Geodude knew, only its Rock-type moves could actually damage Gastly.
And Geodude’s greatest characteristic was its powerful physical defense coupled with its slow speed.
Gastly, on the other hand?
Its strengths were Special Attack and Speed.
A perfect counter!
As long as Nathan Hale and Gastly didn’t make any foolish mistakes, and Geodude wasn’t overwhelmingly stronger than Gastly, there was simply no way it could win.
That was also why Nathan Hale had chosen to fight Geodude himself rather than let Steven and Metagross take over.
Gastly’s first real battle needed to give it enough confidence.
Though now…
It seemed he’d given it a little too much confidence.
But that wasn’t a problem.
“Geodude?”
Seeing that the battle had finally ended, Roxanne hurried onto the field and tentatively called out.
“Geodude!”
At last, there was no more of Nathan Hale’s calm voice or Gastly’s sinister laughter.
To Geodude, Roxanne’s voice sounded like the most beautiful music in the world.
It immediately rushed to her side and pressed itself tightly against her, looking as though it desperately wanted comfort.
Only after losing something did one understand how precious it was.
Roxanne was slightly stunned.
Was this really her Geodude, the one whose eyes seemed to be practically growing toward the sky?
With Nathan Hale’s encouragement, Roxanne quickly comforted it.
It was easy to predict that after today, Geodude would behave itself quite a bit more.
It might remain somewhat arrogant, but at least it wouldn’t turn into some sort of Rock-Aotian anymore.
Steven also walked onto the field with Metagross.
His expression was complicated.
On one hand, he hadn’t expected Roxanne’s Geodude to actually become so obedient.
On the other, he was thinking about Nathan Hale’s treatment method and his battling ability.
Previously, when Steven learned that Nathanalso owned a Pokémon, he had once asked whether Nathan Hale could battle.
Nathan Hale’s answer at the time had been—
Battle?
What’s that?
I don’t know how.
But now…
The timing of his moves, the transitions between them, and the combinations he’d used hardly looked like someone who didn’t know how to battle.
Especially those moves Gastly had used.
They were simply…
They were simply…
Metagross rubbed its eyes twice.
It felt like something dirty had gotten into them.
Before Steven and Metagross could approach and say anything, Nathan Hale was already staring at Geodude’s condition and muttering thoughtfully,
“Hmm.
So it seems that under certain circumstances, ‘physical intervention’ can be much simpler and more effective than ‘psychological intervention’…”
“Meta!”
Metagross stiffened.
It looked toward Steven with a pleading expression.
Am I also supposed to undergo this ‘physical intervention’ treatment?
The corner of Steven’s eye twitched.
Physical intervention?
He felt…
Geodude had suffered a far more severe psychological blow.
But regardless of the process, they had to admit that the result was good.
This could be seen from Geodude, which was currently glued to Roxanne’s side and refusing to leave.
Steven took a deep breath.
“Teacher Nathan Hale, is it over?”
“It’s over.” Nathan Hale nodded.
“Originally, I was thinking that if Geodude proved particularly stubborn and Gastly got tired, I’d have you and Metagross take over.”
Steven:
“…”
Was Geodude not stubborn?
A normal Pokémon should have been unable to endure it after being “treated” once.
Geodude had endured two rounds.
In Steven’s eyes, that already qualified as remarkably strong-willed.
Geodude’s ability was Rock Head.
That didn’t mean its head was literally made of rock.
“Thank you, Teacher!”
At that moment, Roxanne finished comforting Geodude and brought it over to thank Nathan Hale.
“Ge-Geodude…”
Geodude no longer had the contemptuous, arrogant look from earlier.
It hid behind Roxanne and timidly called out.
“Ko-gee—”
Gastly gave a sinister laugh and waved a misty hand.
But its laughter made Geodude tremble slightly.
Nathan Hale crouched down in front of Geodude.
“Listen to your Trainer properly.
You aren’t without a chance of defeating Gastly.”
“Geodude?”
Geodude froze.
It instinctively looked at Roxanne.
Roxanne had already received Nathan Hale’s instructions and nodded firmly.
“Geodude!”
A glimmer returned to Geodude’s eyes.
Seeing this, Nathan Hale smiled.
The light in Steven’s eyes also brightened slightly.
Clearly, he’d worried for nothing.
His opinion of Nathan Hale gained another measure of respect.
“Ko-gee, ko-gee~~”
I’m awesome, right?
(•̀ᴗ•́)و
Steven and Roxanne went off to class, while Nathan Hale returned to the counseling room with Gastly.
Gastly was exceptionally excited on the way back.
This had been its first battle.
And the result was obvious—it had completely dominated its opponent.
More importantly, this was also confirmation of the results of its training over the past few days.
That was a good thing for both Gastly and Nathan Hale.
“Don’t get too arrogant.”
Nathan Hale smiled as he made himself a cup of coffee.
He had seen more than Gastly had.
He could naturally see Gastly’s strengths and advantages, but he had also noticed many of its shortcomings.
Those shortcomings would be the primary focus of their upcoming training.
Actual combat was one of the most effective ways to test the results of training.
“If Geodude had followed its Trainer’s commands, you wouldn’t have won so easily.”
Nathan Hale needed to keep knocking some sense into the little guy at appropriate times, lest it become too arrogant.
Gastly, however, didn’t seem to care.
“Ko-gee—”
As if you don’t have a Trainer yourself.
Watching Nathan Hale seriously prepare his coffee, a mischievous glint flashed through Gastly’s eyes.
It gave a low, sinister chuckle before slowly fading from sight.
When Nathan Hale finished making his coffee and turned around—
“Ko-gee!”
Gastly suddenly appeared in front of him, making a frightening face as its long tongue shot toward him.
An ambush!
Nathan Hale’s expression stiffened.
He was about to wipe the saliva from his face, but halfway through the motion, his raised hand stopped in midair.
A faint purple hue appeared across his face.
“This time…
I’m really poisoned.”
“Ko-gee?!”
And this wasn’t an ordinary poison, either.
Inside the counseling room, Gastly’s panicked cry rang out.