Roy watched his Popularity Points increase by another 100.
He hadn’t expected that simply eating lunch would earn him more points.
Not bad.
Not bad at all.
It seemed the system’s definition of Popularity wasn’t limited to Ghost-type Pokémon.
Even attracting attention as a Ghost-type Trainer counted.
After finishing the last bite of his ice cream cone, Roy wandered around the academy’s club district.
Most of the clubs revolved around Pokémon of different types.
Fire Club.
Water Club.
Grass Club.
Battle Club.
Breeding Club.
Coordinator Club.
There was practically one for every specialty.
Except…
There wasn’t a single Ghost-type club.
Even stranger…
There was a club called:
The Steven Fan Club.
“…”
Does Steven even know this exists?
Roy rubbed his chin.
At this stage, none of the clubs really interested him.
Maybe in the future…
He could establish something like:
Ghost Lovers Club.
Or perhaps…
Roy Fan Club.
Either one should generate plenty of Popularity Points.
With that thought in mind…
Roy returned to the silent back mountain.
He pushed open the creaking door of his lonely, run-down dormitory.
After making sure nobody was nearby…
He eagerly opened his system interface.
Congratulations!
Total Popularity Points have reached 1,000.
System Shop unlocked.
The previously grayed-out Shop icon turned bright green.
Roy immediately opened it.
Five neatly arranged items appeared before him.
1.
Reaper Cloth
Price: 10,000 Popularity Points
Description:
A mysterious cloth overflowing with powerful spiritual energy.
Certain Pokémon absolutely love it.
2.
Dusk Stone
Quality: High
Price: 15,000 Popularity Points
Description:
A mysterious stone capable of evolving certain Pokémon.
Its darkness is as deep as midnight itself.
3.
King’s Rock
Quality: Medium
Price: 10,000 Popularity Points
Description:
When held by a Pokémon, attacks may occasionally cause the opponent to flinch.
4.
Eviolite
Price: 8,000 Popularity Points
Description:
If held by a Pokémon capable of evolving, its Defense and Special Defense increase by 50%.
5.
TM: Rest
Price: 2,000 Popularity Points
Description:
The user falls asleep and fully restores all HP.
The Pokémon enters the Sleep status.
Roy carefully examined all five items.
Two evolution items.
Two held items.
One Technical Machine.
Three of them were actually useful to him right now.
Overall…
The System Shop wasn’t bad.
At the bottom of the shop was another option.
Refresh Shop
Cost: 100 Popularity Points
Roy stared at it for several seconds.
“What a scam.”
“Refreshing once costs ten percent of everything I own.”
“Greedy system.”
“Heartless merchant.”
“…”
After venting for a while…
Roy decided not to think about refreshing anymore.
Instead…
He analyzed every item one by one.
The first item…
Reaper Cloth.
Roy had absolutely no intention of buying it.
Yes…
It could evolve Dusclops into Dusknoir.
After evolving…
Dusknoir’s base stat total reached 525, almost on par with many starter Pokémon.
But Roy knew something most Trainers ignored.
Those additional 70 base stats were distributed terribly.
+5 HP.
+5 Defense.
+5 Special Defense.
+20 Speed.
+30 Attack.
The defensive boosts were insignificant.
The extra Speed was almost a downside.
And while 100 base Attack sounded decent…
What exactly was Dusknoir supposed to do?
Run into melee combat?
Ghost-types simply didn’t have enough strong physical Ghost-type moves to justify it.
In Roy’s opinion…
Reaper Cloth wasn’t worth considering.
Because there was another item in the shop that suited Dusclops infinitely better.
Eviolite.
Unlike other held items…
Eviolite had no quality ranking.
Every Eviolite provided the exact same effect.
If held by an unevolved Pokémon…
Its Defense and Special Defense increased by 50%.
To Roy…
Reaper Cloth wasn’t even worth comparing.
The greatest purpose of Dusknoir’s existence…
Was allowing people to realize how absurd Dusclops became with Eviolite.
Dusclops already possessed 130 base Defense and 130 base Special Defense.
Multiply both by 1.5…
And they effectively reached 195.
Nearly 200 defensive stats.
At that point…
Dusclops’ effective stat total approached 585.
Higher than fully evolved starters.
Only slightly below pseudo-Legendaries.
Even several Mega Evolutions didn’t possess defensive stats that ridiculous.
Of course…
As long as you avoided Dark-types carrying Knock Off.
After all…
Dusclops still only had 40 base HP.
According to Roy’s long-term plan…
Dusclops would become the perfect Trick Room support.
Activate Trick Room.
Reverse the Speed order.
Then become the most obnoxious wall imaginable.
Massive defenses.
Pain Split.
Disable.
Will-O-Wisp.
Curse.
Substitute.
Hex.
…
“Have fun dealing with that.”
Roy chuckled.
Even better…
This wasn’t the Pokémon games.
Pokémon weren’t limited to carrying only four moves.
The possibilities were practically endless.
Still…
He decided to ask the person most involved.
“Hey.”
“Night Watch.”
Dusclops’ future owner was currently lying motionless on the windowsill like a corpse.
Night Watch slowly floated upright.
Roy asked seriously.
“A fearless frontline fighter?”
“Or…”
“The ultimate unbeatable tank support who does nothing but annoy people?”
Night Watch tilted its tiny head.
About…
One-tenth of a turn.
Did that even require thinking?
Obviously…
The second title had way more words.
More words sounded stronger.
“I choose that one.”
Roy couldn’t help laughing.
That perfectly matched Night Watch’s personality.
If it could lie down…
It would never sit.
If it could sit…
It would never stand.
Expecting it to become a brave warrior?
Forget it.
Next…
Roy looked at King’s Rock.
Too expensive.
Only medium quality.
Pass.
Then…
Dusk Stone.
It was necessary for Lampent to evolve into Chandelure.
And it was even High Quality.
Unfortunately…
Before leaving Mt.
Pyre…
Gengar had already gifted Roy a Perfect Quality Dusk Stone.
There was absolutely no need to buy another one.
Besides…
Fifteen thousand Popularity Points…
Who knew how long that would take?
Pass.
Finally…
TM: Rest.
Roy’s eyes lit up.
This…
Was something he genuinely wanted.
Teaching Rest to Night Watch would greatly expand its move pool while improving its survivability.
The only disappointment…
Was that the shop didn’t currently offer Sleep Talk.
Rest and Sleep Talk worked perfectly together.
Hopefully…
A future refresh would bring it into stock.
After weighing everything…
Roy made his decision.
His priorities were now:
TM: Rest and
Eviolite.
Together…
They required 10,000 Popularity Points.
Unfortunately…
He currently possessed only 1,000.
Still 9,000 short.
Most of today’s Popularity Points had come from helping Officer Jenny capture the poacher in Lilycove…
Along with this afternoon’s academy battle.
Several hundred people had watched today’s match.
If even more spectators had been present…
His Popularity Points might already have exceeded a thousand.
Roy slowly smiled.
A bigger audience…
Tomorrow…
Maybe I should…
He turned toward the room.
Night Watch floated lazily around the dorm.
Litwick stood quietly in the corner acting as a bedside lamp.
Roy smiled so warmly…
It sent chills down both Ghost Pokémon’s spines.
“My little partners…”
“I’m counting on you tomorrow.”
Night Watch and Litwick exchanged nervous looks.
Even as Ghost-type Pokémon…
They suddenly felt an icy chill.
Wait…
What kind of monster is more sinister than Ghost-types?
At that exact moment…
A certain chubby student’s face slowly appeared in Roy’s mind.
A wicked grin spread across his lips.