“Gastly…”
Seeing the Gastly, and remembering the incredibly realistic nightmare he’d just experienced, Nathan Hale slowly put two and two together.
So this guy was probably the reason I fell asleep and had that nightmare?
Judging by Gastly’s current appearance, though…
Was it scared of him?
Nathan Hale didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
When he’d first encountered Gastly—or Ghost-type Pokémon in general—in the dream, he had indeed been frightened.
But after getting over that initial shock and accepting the existence of Ghost-type Pokémon, they weren’t quite as difficult to stomach.
Looking at Gastly’s terrified expression, it was hard to believe that it was the Ghost-type Pokémon that normally took pleasure in frightening others.
Human and Pokémon stared at each other for a full minute.
Throughout the entire exchange, it almost seemed as though Nathan Hale was the terrifying ghost and Gastly was the victim.
“Gulp…”
The sound of Gastly swallowing broke the eerie silence.
“So, that dream just now was your doing?”
Nathan Hale suddenly spoke.
Gastly almost instinctively nodded.
But it quickly realized its mistake and shook its head frantically, like a bobblehead.
Seeing that reaction, Nathan Hale immediately knew the answer.
Perhaps realizing it couldn’t hide the truth from him, Gastly squeezed out what it apparently considered a very friendly smile.
“Ko-gee—”
Gastly was a gaseous Pokémon, so doors and windows were no obstacle to it.
But Gastly usually inhabited graveyards or abandoned, dilapidated buildings.
His home was old, sure, but surely it wasn’t run-down enough to attract a Gastly?
Still, as a Pokémon psychology instructor, Nathan Hale could tell from Gastly’s reactions and expression one thing very clearly.
Gastly was afraid of him.
Or, more accurately, it was afraid of the Giratina it had seen in the dream.
What exactly it was afraid of wasn’t important.
What mattered was that it was afraid.
Everyone knew that the best way to catch a Pokémon was to weaken it until it could no longer battle, then throw a Poké Ball.
Alternatively, establishing a friendly relationship with it—or catching it while it was suffering from a status condition such as paralysis or flinching—could also create an excellent opportunity.
And right now, Gastly was in an almost instinctive state of panic brought on by fear and nervousness.
Nathan Hale slowly sat up on the sofa.
Under Gastly’s watchful gaze, he calmly folded the blanket and placed it neatly to one side.
Then he smoothed out a couple of wrinkles in his clothes and took a slow breath.
His deliberate movements and composed demeanor gradually put Gastly at ease.
Maybe this human isn’t so scary after all?
Suddenly—
Nathan Hale raised his hand.
“Look!
Giratina!”
“Ko-gee!”
Gastly, which had only just managed to calm itself down, jolted violently and cried out in alarm, instinctively turning around.
At the same time, Nathan Hale somehow produced a red-and-white sphere from somewhere and threw it at Gastly.
Buzz!
A flash of red enveloped Gastly, pulling it into the Poké Ball.
For a moment, the entire room seemed to freeze.
Nathan Hale stared unblinkingly at the Poké Ball lying on the floor, silently counting along with its movements.
One…
two…
three.
Thunk!
The Poké Ball rocked three times, each movement small, before making a distinct locking sound.
Then it went still.
“Phew…”
Nathan Hale let out a long breath.
The joy on his face lasted less than three seconds before being replaced by a strange sense of anticlimax.
“So this is what catching a Pokémon feels like?”
It wasn’t nearly as thrilling as he’d imagined.
He walked over and picked up the Poké Ball.
This was the decision he’d reached after a full minute of careful consideration while staring Gastly down.
There were three reasons.
First, although Gastly seemed terrified of him at the moment, it would probably soon realize that he was merely a human and there was nothing particularly frightening about him.
Once that happened, there was no telling whether Gastly would try putting him to sleep again or simply leave.
Second, if Gastly attacked him again, Nathanhad already ruled out the possibility that he possessed the physique of the legendary Super Rookie.
As an ordinary human, his odds of beating a Pokémon were practically zero—especially a Ghost-type Pokémon.
And finally…
The opportunity was simply too good.
If Ghost-type Pokémon weren’t so unnerving in real life, he probably wouldn’t have spent that entire minute hesitating.
Then again, if Gastly could eventually evolve into Gengar…
Well, that would be…
pretty cool.
“Gastly?”
Nathan Hale pressed the button in the center of the Poké Ball, and it opened.
“Ko-gee?”
A mass of black mist slowly condensed within the red light.
It was Gastly, looking completely bewildered.
Its large white eyes blinked above its sharp teeth and long crimson tongue.
After a couple of slow blinks, Gastly finally realized what had happened.
It turned toward Nathan Hale with an expression that seemed to say—
I thought we were friends, and you were planning to—
“KO-GEEEEE—!”
A shrill, ear-piercing cry suddenly erupted, impossible to tell whether it was furious or simply feral.
Buzz!
Nathan Hale had already been prepared.
Without hesitation, he activated the Poké Ball again.
A flash of red.
Gastly was sucked back inside, and its scream abruptly cut off.
After waiting a while, Nathan Hale released it again.
“KO—!”
Back inside.
Out again.
“Ko—”
Back inside.
Out again.
“…”
After repeating this several times—
Gastly: ( )
“Ko-gee~~”
Its voice was noticeably calmer now, with even a hint of ingratiation.
Let’s talk.
We can talk things out.
Whatever it is, there’s no need to get so worked up.
Once Gastly finally settled down, Nathan Hale breathed a sigh of relief.
Sure enough, all that nonsense about Pokémon becoming inseparable from their Trainers the moment they’re caught is a lie.
He was very glad he’d struck first.
Now that they could communicate, things would be much easier.
“Grrrrr—”
“Ko-gee?”
Gastly looked confused.
What was that sound?
“Ahem.”
Nathan Hale raised a fist to his mouth and cleared his throat.
He turned his gaze aside, his expression perfectly composed.
“Want something to eat?”
“Ko-gee?”
Ten minutes later.
“Ko-gee!”
On the small dining table sat two steaming bowls of…
Instant noodles.
Gastly, however, looked absolutely astonished, as though it had never seen such a thing before.
It stared at the noodles in front of it, inhaled the enticing aroma, and swallowed hard.
“I’ve used up most of the ingredients I had stocked at home.
These two bowls of instant noodles were all I had left.”
Nathan Hale offered a brief explanation.
Playing mind games with Gastly had been surprisingly exhausting, especially after that nightmare.
Gastly nodded blankly, though Nathan Hale wasn’t sure whether it had actually understood him.
It simply stared at the bowl of noodles, the mist around its body writhing as though it had no idea how to begin.
“Well, dig in.”
Nathan Hale didn’t say anything else.
He picked up his chopsticks, gathered a large mouthful of noodles, and stuffed them into his mouth.
Slurp—
The rather loud noise finally caught Gastly’s attention again.
It watched Nathan Hale eat and suddenly seemed to understand.
A strand of black mist extended from its body and formed the shape of a hand.
It mimicked Nathan Hale, picking up the chopsticks and reaching into the bowl.
Unfortunately, this seemed to be its first time using such an implement—or perhaps its first time eating noodles.
After several attempts, it either couldn’t pick up any noodles at all, or the noodles slipped away halfway up.
Gastly grew increasingly frustrated.
It desperately wanted to eat, yet couldn’t seem to get a single bite.
Watching its comical struggle, Nathan Hale couldn’t help smiling.
After swallowing the noodles in his mouth, he said,
“You could try the fork.”
Only then did Gastly notice that there was a fork beside its bowl.
Nathan Hale didn’t have one.
For some reason, a warm feeling spread through Gastly.
It decisively abandoned the chopsticks and switched to the fork.
After several failed attempts with the chopsticks, it immediately managed to grab some noodles with the fork.
“Ko-gee!!”
The moment Gastly tasted instant noodles for the first time, its eyes lit up.
It hadn’t even swallowed what was in its mouth before diving back into the bowl.
Seeing it wolf down the noodles, Nathan Hale smiled again.
He introduced himself for the first time.
“It’s nice to meet you, Gastly.
I’m Nathan Hale.”
The dinner table was the perfect place to build a friendly relationship.
“Ko-gee, ko-gee!”
Gastly gave two spirited cries.
Compared to before, it still wasn’t exactly close to Nathan Hale, but at the very least, it no longer seemed hostile toward him.
“By the way.” Nathan Hale put down his chopsticks.
“Gastly, why did you come here?”
That was the question that had been bothering him all night.
Slurp—
Gastly sucked down the last of its noodles in one long gulp.
It didn’t answer Nathan Hale’s question.
Instead, it licked its lips and stared longingly at the empty container, which contained nothing but broth.
“I can’t finish this.”
Nathan Hale pushed the bowl, which still had more than half its noodles left, toward Gastly.
“Ko-gee?”
Gastly stared blankly at him.
You weren’t eating because you were hungry?
But this really was the first time it had ever tasted something so delicious.
And it was also the first time it had felt something warm flowing through its heart.
Nathan Hale smiled warmly.
“As long as you don’t mind.”
“Ko-gee, ko-gee!”
Gastly floated over to Nathan Hale.
Before he could react—
Slurp!
Its long crimson tongue gave his cheek an affectionate lick.
Nathan ‘s expression stiffened.
After a long moment, he wiped the saliva from his face.
“Did you brush your teeth?”