Nathan Hale carried his coffee toward the freshman registration area.
He wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about it, but he suspected that the reason Dr.
Solans couldn’t be found was probably related to the rock containing Gastly.
Perhaps Dr.
Solans had gone looking for it.
Nathan Hale and Gastly were partly responsible for the situation anyway, so he had agreed to help.
When he arrived at the registration area, several professors were already seated there.
Some were organizing forms, while others chatted among themselves.
The most impressive was undoubtedly one of the battle instructors, who had brought along a Kadabra.
He chatted and laughed with a female professor beside him while sorting through paperwork at the same time.
The Kadabra’s spoon bent slightly in its hand.
A faint glow appeared in its eyes, and the documents scattered across the desk immediately began floating around on their own.
Whether it was actually sorting them correctly was another matter.
Kadabra can do that.
Gastly should probably be able to learn it eventually, too.
Nathan Hale couldn’t help thinking that.
Although Gastly was a Ghost- and Poison-type Pokémon, that didn’t mean it couldn’t learn Psychic-type moves and abilities.
Besides, wasn’t it perfectly reasonable for ghosts and spirits to possess a little psychic power?
All that mysterious supernatural stuff could be explained by Ghost-type Pokémon anyway.
“Professor Nathan Hale, are you helping with freshman registration today?”
“Good morning, Professor Nathan Hale.”
“…”
Nathan Hale found his assigned seat and exchanged a few brief pleasantries with several professors he had only met a handful of times.
He organized the registration forms and waited for this year’s freshmen to arrive.
It didn’t take long.
Students began trickling into the registration area.
Some brought their Pokémon or Poké Balls with them, while others carried huge stacks of paperwork.
Nathan Hale’s job was actually quite simple.
He only needed to register each student’s name and department.
If they needed campus housing, he would arrange a dormitory as well.
Their admission qualifications and other requirements had already been verified before they arrived.
Registration was little more than a formality.
“Next.”
Nathan Hale didn’t even raise his head as he called out.
A long line had already formed in front of him.
As one of the most prestigious Pokémon universities in the Hoenn region, Rustboro Pokémon University had quite a reputation throughout the Pokémon world.
Naturally, many of the students applying here came from influential families.
A young man sat down in front of him.
“Name,” Nathan Hale asked while holding the registration form.
“Steven.
Steven Stone.”
“Steven…
Steven Stone…
Major in Pokémon Battles and Pokémon Breeding.
Minors in History, Geology and Mineralogy, and Metallurgy…
Hmm?”
Nathan Hale had just found the student’s name and academic information when his hand suddenly stopped.
Without showing anything on his face, he looked up and studied the young man in front of him.
Light blue hair that was almost silver.
A refined suit that looked straight out of an aristocratic wardrobe.
A handsome face.
And a warm, pleasant smile.
“Steven?”
Steven Stone!
The future Champion of Hoenn.
The heir to Devon Corporation, one of the largest companies in the Pokémon world.
One of the most famous wealthy heirs in the Pokémon world.
“Yes, Professor.”
Steven smiled warmly, showing none of the airs one might expect from the heir to Devon Corporation.
Nathan Hale gave a small nod, finished filling in the registration form, then located the corresponding student ID card.
As he handed it over, he said,
“You’re not staying in the dorms, so I won’t assign you a room.
Enter the number on your student ID on the university’s official website, and you’ll be able to access the electronic textbooks.”
“Thank you.”
Steven accepted the student ID and thanked him before stepping aside, apparently waiting for someone.
Before Nathan Hale could even call for the next student, a quiet-looking girl sat down.
She wore a schoolgirl-style uniform with pink tights, her hair tied into twin buns.
“Are you…
Professor Nathan Hale?”
The girl sounded as though she recognized him but wasn’t completely certain.
Nathan Hale paused.
He hadn’t expected a freshman to recognize him.
Even among the upperclassmen, how many could actually call me by name?
“You know me?” he asked.
“It’s really you?!”
The girl’s face lit up with delight.
“Celia, you know this professor?” Steven, who had been waiting nearby, asked in surprise.
Celia?
The Gym Leader of the Rustboro Gym?
Nathan Hale’s eyes moved between the two.
Celia nodded vigorously.
“Steven, you didn’t know?
Professor Nathan Hale got a perfect score on the Pokémon theory examination and ranked first in all of Hoenn before being admitted to Silver University in Kanto!”
A perfect score in theory?
First in Hoenn?
Steven stared at Nathan Hale in surprise.
He didn’t look much older than Steven himself.
With grades like that, why would he come work as a professor at Rustboro Pokémon University?
Even if Rustboro Pokémon University was one of the most prestigious Pokémon universities in Hoenn, it still seemed strange.
Steven couldn’t help becoming curious.
“Ahem.”
Nathan Hale cleared his throat and handed Celia her student ID.
“Celia, here’s your student ID.
Take good care of it.”
“Thank you, Professor.”
Celia obediently accepted the card.
After a brief hesitation, she asked again,
“Professor Nathan Hale, which department do you teach in?”
“Pokémon Psychology.”
Nathan Hale answered casually.
Neither of their registration forms listed his course among their electives.
There was still a long line behind them, so Steven and Celia didn’t stay any longer.
After collecting their student IDs and completing registration, they left.
Nathan Hale subsequently finished his own registration duties without incident.
Dragging his exhausted body back to the counseling office, he opened the door.
“Ko-gee?”
Seeing that it was Nathan Hale, Gastly cautiously poked its head through the ceiling.
It wore an ingratiating grin.
Nathan Hale’s mouth twitched.
Honestly…
Having a Pokémon that could casually emerge from the walls whenever it felt like it…
Wasn’t so bad.
At least life was a little more exciting.
Right?
“Ko-gee?”
“It’s fine.”
Click.
Nathan Hale flipped on the wall switch.
The fluorescent light immediately brightened the previously dim room, dispelling much of the eerie atmosphere Gastly brought with it.
The temperature inside, however, was noticeably three or four degrees lower than outside.
Guess I won’t need air conditioning in summer anymore.
Suppressing the thought, he said,
“You can leave the lights on from now on.”
“Ko-gee~~”
Gastly obediently acknowledged him.
“All right.
Let’s continue where we left off.
Let me see what you can do.”
Gastly had already prepared itself.
The black mist around its body began to ripple once again.
The already cool counseling room suddenly became several degrees colder.
“Huh?”
Nathan Hale stared at Gastly, rubbing his arms as he prepared to see what moves it knew.
Then he froze.
Because several lines of translucent, ethereal text suddenly appeared before his eyes.
[Gastly]
[Type: Ghost, Poison]
[Ability: Levitate]
[Moves: Confuse Ray, Lick, Hypnosis, Mean Look, Disable, Astonish, Curse, Will-O-Wisp]
[Mood: Happy, Uneasy]
[Condition: Good (Apparently, it hasn’t fully recovered after sleeping for too long)]
[Friendship: 75 (Gastly has accepted you, but there’s still a long way to go before the two of you become inseparable)]
This is Gastly’s…?
Nathan ‘s gaze moved beyond the text.
Within the swirling black mist surrounding Gastly, faint points of light suddenly began to flicker.
They gathered together, eventually forming a small sphere surrounded by an eerie glow.
It was—
Confuse Ray!
Indeed, one of Gastly’s moves.
Which meant that this really was some kind of status screen for Gastly.
Nathan Hale glanced over the complete list of moves and his mouth twitched.
Good grief.
Eight moves.
That was definitely on the high side.
Yet every single one of them was a status or debuff move!
Confuse Ray could confuse an opponent.
Hypnosis could put one to sleep.
Mean Look prevented an opponent from fleeing.
Disable could interfere with the use of an opponent’s moves.
Curse could continuously drain an opponent’s vitality.
Will-O-Wisp could inflict the Burn status.
Even Lick and Astonish, the two offensive moves, came with the additional effects of potentially causing paralysis and flinching respectively.
With a moveset like this, even if an opponent didn’t lose the battle, their mental state would probably be in ruins by the end of it.
Nathan Hale could only say—
As expected of Gastly.
And as expected of something that would eventually evolve into Gengar.
Of course, in the games, a Pokémon could only be afflicted by one major status condition at a time.
Whether the same rule applied to the real world remained to be seen.
But one thing Nathan Hale was certain of was that the success rate of inflicting status conditions was linked to both move proficiency and a Pokémon’s strength.
Sometimes, having too many moves without mastering any of them was inferior to mastering a smaller number of moves.
But doesn’t Gastly have Poison-type abilities?
It probably hasn’t developed them yet, which is why it wasn’t even aware of its own potential.
That’s probably how I ended up getting poisoned by accident.
Still…
it definitely has talent in that area.
Wait.
The Friendship stat was easy enough to understand.
Gastly was willing to become his Pokémon, so its Friendship naturally wasn’t low.
But since Nathan Hale had only just caught it, there was no way it could already be extremely high.
The “Happy” part of its mood made sense, too.
But why was it “Uneasy”?
Nathan Hale looked suspiciously at Gastly.
Its expression had seemed strange the moment he’d entered the room.
“Ko…
ko-gee?”
After using its move, Gastly noticed Nathan Hale’s expression.
It seemed somewhat nervous.
Its eyes darted around, and its body shifted restlessly.
Nathan Hale soon noticed that Gastly’s wandering gaze kept drifting toward one place more than anywhere else.
His desk.
He immediately walked toward it.
Sure enough, the moment he moved, Gastly became even more anxious.
When Nathan Hale reached the desk and saw his computer—
“Gastly!”
“Ko…
Ko-gee!”
Listen!
I can explain!
A thin wisp of black smoke was drifting from the computer tower.
A vein practically popped on Nathan Hale’s forehead.
“Ko…
Ko…”
“Knock, knock.”
Just as Gastly was trying to explain itself, another knock came from the door.
Nathan Hale rubbed his temples and waved at Gastly.
Gastly immediately slipped into the ceiling as though it had been granted a reprieve.
“Come in.”
The door opened.
A somewhat familiar voice followed.
“Sorry to bother you, Professor.
I’m a first-year student.
Do you happen to know where I can find Dr.
Solans…
Professor Nathan Hale?”
The person who walked in was none other than Steven.