Rustle, rustle—
Nathan Hale shook the rainwater off his umbrella, hurried into the room, and closed the door behind him.
“Whew—”
After letting out a long breath, Nathan Hale looked toward Gastly.
“Ko…
gee.”
Noticing his gaze, Gastly’s expression stiffened slightly.
It subtly turned its eyes away, as though it would have started whistling if it knew how.
Did he notice?
Probably not…
Gastly was still worried that Nathan Hale might discover it had doubled back to give that man an especially memorable nightmare when it heard him say,
“Gastly, well done.”
Nathan Hale had naturally noticed Gastly’s little detour.
But it wasn’t important, so he hadn’t paid much attention to it.
“Ko-gee.”
Th-thanks…
It was the first time Nathan Hale had ever seen the little guy look embarrassed.
He smiled faintly.
“I’ll go change my clothes.”
With that, he turned and walked into the bedroom.
The rain wasn’t particularly heavy, but thanks to the whole incident with Dahui from Da Zi Jin Holdings, quite a bit of his clothing had gotten wet.
“Ko-gee~~”
Seeing that Nathan Hale wasn’t going to question it, Gastly let out a long sigh of relief.
Before long, Nathan Hale had changed clothes, tied on an apron, and walked into the kitchen.
Soon, two steaming bowls of noodle soup were placed on the table.
“Ko-gee!”
Gastly’s eyes lit up at the sight of the ordinary-looking but wonderfully fragrant noodles.
It immediately floated over to the table, chirping excitedly as it waited for Nathan Hale to sit down.
Ψ(￣︶￣)Ψ
Even though it now had Energy Cubes to eat, Gastly still loved Nathan Hale’s cooking.
Besides, given Nathan Hale’s current financial situation, he couldn’t exactly feed it Energy Cubes for every meal.
It still needed ordinary food as part of its daily diet.
“You got rained on.
Have some hot soup to warm yourself up.”
The moment he sat down, Gastly eagerly grabbed its fork, twirled up some noodles, and stuffed them into its mouth.
“Ko-gee?!”
But after taking one bite, Gastly immediately realized something was wrong.
It’s spicy!
It opened its mouth wide, huffing and puffing as it stared at Nathan Hale.
Did you mistake chili peppers for salt?!
Nathan Hale said helplessly,
“I put ginger in it.
I told you, you need to warm yourself up.
Otherwise, you’ll catch a cold.”
“KO-GEE!!”
Gastly’s eyes widened like saucers.
Have you ever heard of a ghost needing to warm itself up?
But this time, Nathan Hale was completely uncompromising.
“You’re a Ghost-type Pokémon, not an actual ghost.
Every Pokémon can get sick.
Finish it, and you’re not allowed to leave any soup behind!”
“Ko—gee—”
Gastly reluctantly dragged out its response.
Gulp, gulp—
The noodles might have been spicy, but they were still delicious.
Gastly ate faster and faster, and within a few blinks, it had finished every noodle and drunk every drop of soup.
Whether it was because of the ginger or something else, as Gastly ate, it gradually felt a warm sensation spreading through its body.
“Ko-gee~~”
Gastly: ()
After dinner.
Nathan Hale and Gastly curled up together on the sofa.
Nathan Hale held the rough stone in which Gastly had once slept, carefully examining it.
Gastly, meanwhile, stared excitedly at the computer screen, licking its tongue.
A Pokémon battle was playing.
“So, what exactly is hidden inside this stone that has those ‘remnants’ of Da Zi Jin Holdings so interested?
And how did they even know Dr.
Solas had found it?”
Although the immediate threat had been resolved for now, Nathan Hale couldn’t truly feel at ease without figuring out what this stone was.
Besides, he had developed a strong curiosity about it himself.
“A fossil?”
That had been his initial guess.
But why would a fossil interest an energy company like Da Zi Jin Holdings?
“Sure enough…
maybe I should just smash it.”
After thinking for a long while, Nathan Hale, who knew virtually nothing about rocks, finally arrived at this conclusion.
If it was a fossil, smashing it might reduce its value, but he should still be able to extract some useful information from it.
But if it wasn’t a fossil…
Then all bets were off.
“Ko-gee, ko-gee—ko-gee?!”
Gastly had initially nodded absentmindedly in agreement.
Then it suddenly realized what Nathan Hale had said.
Its voice shot up several pitches.
It stared at him in shock.
Smash what?
The stone?!
“Ko-gee, ko-gee.”
Its head shook like a rattle.
No!
No way!
“Three.”
Nathan Hale didn’t bother arguing over the pros and cons.
He held up three fingers.
Three Energy Cubes.
“Ko…
gee.”
Gastly froze.
After a brief pause, it shook its head even faster.
No!
Still no!
To Nathan Hale, this might merely be a valuable stone.
But to Gastly, this was the place where it had slept for nearly a thousand years.
It was both its bed and its house.
Its only “possession.”
So…
The price needs to go up.
It needs to go way up!
Seeing its reaction, Nathan Hale furrowed his brow slightly.
Then he raised two more fingers.
“Five.
That’s the maximum.”
Gulp.
Gastly swallowed.
Its eyes darted around.
Then the corner of its eye caught sight of the kitchen.
Its gaze suddenly brightened.
“Ko-gee!”
It pointed toward the kitchen and cried out.
You also have to let me go in there!
Nathan Hale’s expression darkened.
He took a deep breath.
“One minute.
One minute at most.
Otherwise, forget it.”
“Ko-gee!”
Deal!
Gastly: ˙˙
Having gotten what it wanted, Gastly revealed a triumphant grin.
It happily waved its black mist, signaling Nathan Hale to smash away.
Smash it!
Smash it however you like!
Soon.
One person and one Pokémon were gathered on the balcony.
Nathan Hale placed the stone on the ground and held it steady with one hand.
In the other, he gripped a hammer and began gently tapping it.
Knock, knock.
Knock, knock—
However, the stone was considerably harder than he’d expected.
The hammer struck it without leaving so much as a mark.
“Ko-gee!”
Use some force!
What, didn’t you eat dinner?
Nathan Hale shot it a sideways glance and swung the hammer harder.
Bang!
Crack!
The stone immediately emitted a crisp sound.
Some fragments of rock broke loose, while fine cracks spread across its surface like a spiderweb.
Nathan Hale hurriedly picked up the stone, carefully examining it.
Gastly immediately floated over to take a look as well.
The once-perfect stone was now covered in cracks, with a sizeable fissure running through its center.
But through that fissure, something could vaguely be seen inside.
“Ko-gee!”
There’s really something inside?!
And I’ve been “living” here all these years without ever noticing!
Nathan Hale quickly returned to the desk.
He switched on the desk lamp.
Under the light, the object inside the stone reflected a faint glow.
At the same time, with the lamp illuminating the stone, Nathan Hale and Gastly could finally make out what was inside.
It seemed to be a transparent sphere, almost like a glass marble.
But embedded within the sphere was something red and purple.
It resembled a leaf.
Yet at the same time, it looked like a spiral pattern.
“This is…”
As he clearly saw the sphere inside the stone, Nathan Hale’s pupils contracted slightly.
He was stunned.
Then, understanding dawned on him.
“Ko-gee…”
Gastly’s expression was much the same.
But unlike Nathan Hale, it could vaguely sense something strange about the sphere.
It seemed to possess an inexplicable attraction toward Gastly.
A peculiar sensation it couldn’t quite put into words.
Gastly looked toward Nathan Hale.
It felt that Nathan Hale must know what this thing was.
Rustle, rustle—
To confirm his suspicions, Nathan Hale decided to clear away the remaining outer layer.
Layer after layer of rock peeled away like the skin of a fruit.
Finally, the sphere hidden within the stone was completely revealed before Nathan Hale and Gastly.
A transparent sphere.
Faintly glowing red, with a subtle purple sheen.
Nathan Hale leaned back against his chair and slowly exhaled.
“It really is a Mega Stone…”