Chương 43: Chapter 41

The floating eyes were like spotlights that exposed Sam within the mist. Yet, despite their glow, no light came from them. The only source of illumination was from Xavier's lantern, as Sam shoved his flashlight into his backpack so he could dig through and retrieve his Cleanse Tag. Unfortunately, the Cleanse Tag could only imbue a passive, calming aura over the area around it. It wasn't a solution that could be used like the flick of a switch.

So as Sam clutched the tag in hand, the mist over the pond grew in intensity, condensing and swirling around the eyes of the ghost.

"Xavier, what Pokémon do you have?" Sam asked quickly.

"Yanma. Donphan. Noctowl. Poliwhirl. And—" The older boy chuckled nervously.

"At least, those are the ones useful in a fight." Sam nodded once, eyes locking onto the ghost drifting over the water. The stone shore Sam stood on was only eight or so feet across, and any other dry space was too full of loose rocks and stalagmites to be safe to stand on. Fighting in melee won't be possible. Mankey'll be kind of useless here. The monkey Pokémon was already standing in front of Sam, ready to defend him like always.

"Treat it like a Ghost Type," Sam said quickly.

"Don't hold back when it attacks."

"But the nurse said—""Do you want it to beat us?" Sam shouted over Xavier. His implication was left hanging. A tense second passed before there was a pulse. The mist shifted over the water. The pair of eyes lurched forward, sending water rippling out from underneath it, as it rushed towards Sam and Xavier with malicious intent. Sam acted as fast as he could.

"Haunter!" he shouted. Xavier joined in.

"Noctowl!" Two moves were used in quick succession; Haunter and Noctowl used Hex and Reflect respectively. Purple flames flickered into existence, threatening the ghost and forcing it to turn in its rush and bank to the side. Meanwhile, Noctowl, from where she stood next to Xavier, raised her wings and caused her eyes to glow. A translucent barrier appeared at the edge of the pond, and as long as that Reflect held, any attempts to get close would force the ghost to slow down to pass through.

"Now!" Sam shouted as the ghost circled the edge of the pond.

"Have your Noctowl identify it!"

"How?"

"Use Foresight! As if it were a Ghost Type!" Xavier shouted his order to Noctowl, and the owl's eyes flashed once more. The mist remained, but as long as Noctowl maintained her gaze on it, her Foresight allowed the true form of the ghost to be revealed. A pink body. A grey shelled tail. Bipedal with short, rounded ears.

"Of course," Sam grumbled. Noctowl successfully identified it. And of course, why would it be anything else in a place like Slowpoke Well? This ghost wasn't a spirit like the woman Sam had encountered in Ecruteak. Instead, this was a long passed Slowbro that was now bound to this room. The ghost of a Slowbro let its legs hang loosely underneath it, and its pink flesh had lost the brightness of a Slowbro that was still alive.

Following the edge of the pond, it continued its rush around, and pale, irisless eyes tracked Sam and Xavier's positions as it moved. Briefly, it buzzed by the Reflect, not passing through it, once more being dissuaded from getting closer by Haunter's Hex while causing water to splash in its wake.

"A Slowbro! A Slowbro..." Sam repeated the name to himself, reaching into his backpack once more. He initially hadn't wanted to take out the New Pokédex given all the water around, but if it meant being able to deal with this ghost, he was willing to take the risk.

"It's an evolution of Slowpoke—obviously. A Water-Psychic Type, too. Slowbro are good with special attacks and have an enormous amount of stamina. And since it's been revealed, we can treat it as its base species, too."

"I thought you said treat it like a Ghost Type!" Xavier shouted.

"Either or," Sam mumbled, still reading through his book.

"... Either or." Haunter was their best bet. He was an evolved Pokémon and had the Type advantage over Slowbro regardless of whatever Type combination it was. The problem was that Slowbro was great at withstanding attacks, and its own evolved form helped it offset any weakness of its previous evolution. Not just that, but it was speedy—speedier than a Slowbro should have been. How much stronger did its status as a spirit make it over a usual Slowbro? A swish as the ghost buzzed by the Reflect once again.

Noctowl strained, keeping up two moves, and the mist swirled around to create a chilling breeze despite being totally underground.

"We have to beat it and escape, or we help it move on," Sam said, slamming the New Pokédex close and shoving it back in his pack.

"That means resolving its unfinished business, helping it realize it's free to pass on, or just beating it up until it's too tired to continue to exist." Xavier looked like he was struggling to keep his expression steady. His gaze was shaky, and his mouth curved into a frown.

"So you're saying we have to fight it."

"Yeah," Sam unhappily replied. Another dash. It continued to circle. Noctowl looked to be getting tired from maintaining such a strong Reflect. Yet, the Slowbro still refused to get close thanks to Haunter, but it also kept returning to the side of that rocky formation in the back. Wait a second... Sam's eyes narrowed as he carefully kept track of the ghost's movements. I'm pretty sure it's bound to that formation, like I had thought before. So that means we can either destroy it, or we can...

Back in Ecruteak, Morty was closely tied to his duties as the resident Ghost Type Gym Leader. A major part of his responsibility was handling spiritual matters inside the town. When he talked about the woman in that alley, he almost sounded regretful. Mournful. It wasn't right for a spirit to be stuck here like this. Trapped in one place for eternity? With only a single pond to exist in? Sam disliked that. No, Sam hated that. Everyone deserved to be able to move on.

He felt himself calm down as cold determination settled in. Sam stood up straighter and took a single step forward.

"Haunter can weaken it. Can you damage it?" Xavier nodded once. His expression hardened as well.

"We absolutely can." As Sam swung his backpack around, Xavier tore a Luxury Ball free from his belt.

"Yanma!" he shouted.

"Signal Beam!" The sudden display of skill gnawed at Sam. With the current public level of knowledge, Bug Types rarely ever learned attacking moves that shared their Type. Xavier's Yanma either worked itself to the bone to learn that attack, or it had known Signal Beam when it first hatched. But Sam pushed past those feelings. Calling for a direct attack like that meant the battle truly began. Yanma curved its tail up underneath it, the very tip of it flashing with a bright light.

A beam of spiraling colors shot out, striking the Slowbro as it continued to build up the mist. The ghostly Pokémon staggered in the air. Sam quickly whispered a command of his own.

"Prepare a Spite." Haunter disappeared into a shadow created by Xavier's lantern, merging into darkness that flickered against the wall. Catching itself, the Slowbro finally changed its behavior, moving to the very back of the room. It raised its arms, the water of the pond rising alongside them, and it threw that movement forward to thrust a wave hurtling towards Sam and Xavier.

"That's Surf! Reflect won't block that!" Xavier yelled. Sam realized he didn't have a way to defend. He wouldn't be fast enough to call out any useful orders, either. Just how strong is this Pokémon? He turned around, rushing to pull the tired Cyndaquil out of his hood, and he bent himself around her to try to protect her from the incoming wave. As the water roared closer, to his surprise, he was only hit with a mild splash. Mankey, the ever-loyal Mankey, jumped up with two hands raised.

A dual Karate Chop—no, a Cross Chop—split the incoming Surf and minimized how much of the attack reached Sam. However, he wasn't strong enough to completely stop it. Mankey was caught by the wave. The wave threw the unevolved Fighting Type into the wall. Sam shouted, panicked, and Mankey hit the ground in a daze. His fur dripped, he stumbled, and he fell to his hands and knees.

From the damage he sustained, he wasn't able to get back up, and Sam quickly returned him knowing he'd be able to be healed at the Pokémon Center later. Thank you. I'll buy you as much food as you want if we get out of this. Cyndaquil cried her name in Sam's arms. He clutched her even tighter and turned back to the rest of the fight. Xavier had protected himself by sending out a burly Poliwhirl to block the wave, and his Noctowl had flown high to avoid the attack.

Unfortunately, his Yanma had been caught and was now laying on the ground, unable to fly due to its horribly soaked wings. He returned it as well.

"Haunter!" Sam shouted, turning his head.

"Use it!" The Slowbro was already repeating that same action, using the churning waters to conjure an even higher Surf than before. Arms raised, the water began to move, but that was when Haunter struck; he burst from the wall and caused red motes to leave the Slowbro's body. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. The water shuddered and fell, splashing back into the pond without anything more than a small splash. Pure white eyes glowed and glared at Haunter. Yet, Sam stood tall.

"Surf won't happen again," he said.

"This Slowbro is—""It's really strong," Xavier finished. Sam noticed that despite everything, Xavier was grinning. In the face of an incredible and impossible foe, a smile had found its way across his face. When Sam touched his own face, he found he had a smile on as well. This is what it means to be a Pokémon trainer. To keep your head high no matter the odds. He was terrified. He was scared. However, Sam was also thrilled. The battle could very well spell the end of his journey, but that was only if they lost.

Fighting against a ghost like this was him living out part of his dream. Wasn't this what he wanted in the first place? He made sure Cyndaquil remained safe in his arms as he focused on the fight. Slowbro's blank eyes didn't look away from Haunter. Spite ensured that a wide-ranged Surf wouldn't be able to be conjured once again. It came with the unfortunate consequence of making the ghost angry, but its most powerful attack had been rendered unusable.

Sam just needed to figure out their next steps, but there was a sudden squeak in his arms. Cyndaquil stared up at him.

"Have a plan?" She nodded once and gestured to explain her thoughts. Sam nodded in agreement and placed her on the ground. He trusted her with his life. Upon being set down, Cyndaquil briefly stumbled, slipping on the water-damp ground. However, once she stabilized, she conjured a flickering flame off to her side—a Will-O-Wisp. After the first Will-O-Wisp, a second one appeared. Then another. And another.

One by one, a swarm of floating Will-O-Wisps formed in the air around her, almost resembling a lantern festival contained entirely in this one room. Sam had never been more proud. The Slowbro might have been a Water Type, but it only resisted Fire Type attacks. It wasn't immune to being burned. With Haunter distracting it, it turned to see the incoming flood of flame too late, and each wisp passed right through to seemingly disrupt its body and turn areas of its mist into smoke.

Purple flames from Hex quickly followed, as Haunter wasn't one to pass up the opportunity Cyndaquil provided.

"Defend us, Poliwhirl. Assist them, Noctowl," Xavier said. Poliwhirl moved to the front to better stop any incoming attacks, and the Reflect dropped as Noctowl flew forward. Gusts of wind sliced through tendrils of water that the Slowbro tried to have lash out from the pond.

"Now bring it here!" Sam shouted. More Will-O-Wisps poured out from around Cyndaquil. Another Hex forced Slowbro back. The ghost conjured more mist as if trying to hide itself, but Haunter rushed it. A telekinetic Confusion from Noctowl held it in place, and then a Shadow Punch slammed into its cheek. The ghost of a Slowbro blinked and touched its cheek as if it hadn't expected to ever be punched at all. A second later, another Shadow Punch hit it in the other cheek, and then another, and then another.

Haunter punched it repeatedly, cackling all the while. None of these physical attacks were that strong, but what mattered is that they could hit. Case in point, when the Slowbro neared the shore, Xavier's Poliwhirl tried to reach up and grab it, but it passed right through. That failure alerted it to its surroundings, and it snapped its head around. Cyndaquil's Will-O-Wisps stopped, and Haunter paused. The Slowbro glared at both Sam and Xavier, and then Sam did as he had done before. He ran right towards the ghost.

Haunter laughed in the background. He'd been at the other end of this. After all, Sam was one of the few people insane enough to try to punch a ghost. But as Sam charged, still holding the Cleanse Tag in hand, he knew that simply defeating the ghost in battle wouldn't be enough. They weren't strong enough to weaken it to the point of passing on. They had definitely angered it, but they wouldn't be able to do much more than escape.

It needed to be put to rest— deserved to be put to rest—not just for the sake of any visitors to Slowpoke Well, but also for its own sake. Everything Sam read about ghosts made it clear that staying behind wasn't pleasant. Ghosts existed in a daze, constantly reliving half-forgotten memories, and they would only ever experience peace once they had moved on. It was for that reason he was charging. It wasn't for violence's sake, but it was for the simple wish of wanting to help.

When the Slowbro reared back out of shock, Haunter used his ghostly hand to lock it in place, keeping it firmly in the material, and Sam finally arrived to act. He didn't punch the Slowbro like he had once punched Haunter. Instead, he swung his arms out wide, wrapped them around the Slowbro, and pulled it into a hug.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. The room went silent. Each and every other creature in the room went completely and utterly still.

"It isn't fair," Sam said quietly.

"It isn't fair that you've been stuck here. No one should ever be trapped like this. No one should ever be stuck in a single place. There's an entire world out there, you know? You shouldn't have to stay in a single, underground room." A weak chuckle left him. The Slowbro lifted up its arms in the same way it had conjured a Surf from before, but then it let itself slump. Its arms fell. Its tail went slack. The ghost let its head rest on Sam's shoulder.

"It's alright," he whispered.

"You can rest now. We aren't going to attack. You can move on."

"Sam, what—" A sharp glare from Sam, Haunter, and Cyndaquil shut Xavier up. The ghost of a Slowbro drifted closer to the ground as Sam guided it to lie on the floor.

"I get it. You wanted to protect this place. And you don't want anyone to hurt the Slowpoke or that formation in the back, right?" A groan left its mouth that sent a shiver down Sam's spine.

"Yeah. You felt like you had a duty. That's why you're still here. Well, how about this? We can protect this place. Humans and Pokémon, I mean. We're partners. You don't need to do everything by yourself." It was lying down now. Heavy eyelids began to cover its pure-white eyes. Sam let the hug go, pulling back, but he left one hand resting on the ghost's side.

"It's okay," he said softly.

"It'll be okay." This was only working because the ghost wanted to rest but couldn't. It needed the permission to know it was able to finally pass on. For a moment, it put one of its paws on the ground as if trying to push itself back up, but Cyndaquil walked over. She covered its paw with hers.

"Cynda," she said.

"Quil." It stared for several long seconds before it let its head hit the ground once more.

"Sam..." Xavier said, unsure. Sam and Cyndaquil stayed at the Slowbro's side as the Pokémon finished closing its eyes. Its form became translucent. Then transparent. Then, it was hardly there. Haunter joined in, also placing a hand on Slowbro's side and closing his own eyes. From Sam's waist, a flash. Soaked and barely conscious, Mankey released himself. He wobbled over to place a hand on the Slowbro as well. Poliwhirl joined in. Noctowl glided over and pressed her head to Slowbro's.

Nervously, Xavier bit his lip and knelt next to the spirit. However, when he tried to touch it, his hand passed right through, so he just kept it hovering an inch above. No one seemed willing to make any noise. Even the act of breathing seemed to come silently. The group stayed like that as Slowbro came to a rest. And the moment continued until a sudden cracking noise caught everyone off-guard. Alerted, everyone snapped their gazes to the back of the room, where the King's Rock-like formation crumpled inwards.

When it finished falling apart and they looked back down, the Slowbro was gone. Sam's Cleanse Tag sat on the floor in its place.

"It really was a ghost," Xavier said, hurriedly standing up.

"You were right." Sam wiped a bit of moisture out of his eyes.

"Yeah," he said hoarsely.

"Kind of surprised that worked. Logically, I knew wild ghosts want to rest, but I wasn't sure—" Quilava slapped him on the leg as if to admonish him. Why wouldn't his plan work? Sam didn't feel admonished at all, however, as he did a second-take to process the current state of his closest friend.... Excuse me? Staring back up at him was a familiar yet changed face. Where Cyndaquil's eyes had been thin enough to look almost closed, Quilava's eyes were wide and bright.

Her body had lengthened to be more weasel-like rather than shrew-like, and ears pointed out from her head, with one of them flicking back in curiosity at his reaction.

"Quil," she said. Sam threw himself forward to bring her into his arms.

"You did it! Hahaha, congratulations!" he cheered, laughing.

"I guess you finally evolved, huh?" She blinked and looked down, freezing when she realized what had happened. Her bottom legs kicked at the air as she whined, but Sam held her high. He smiled at her, and she couldn't resist smiling back. He made sure to pull her in close, where she leaned into him, content with her evolution. Xavier cleared his throat.

"We should leave sooner rather than later." Sam let Quilava climb onto his shoulder, where she draped herself over the back of his neck like some kind of extremely short scarf.

"Oh. Yeah. Gotta tell Nurse Joy about a job well done, right?" Xavier nodded, but his gaze lingered on the ruins of those magnetic rocks. Sam looked over as well to see what he was staring at. In the center of the rubble, a single item sat on top. It was made of stone and resembled the shape the formation once held.

"A King's Rock," Sam whispered, identifying it. The Slowbro had been protecting it this whole time. Held items like King's Rocks were valuable—insanely so. This one in particular could be used to evolve species like Poliwhirl and Slowpoke, or it could be held to give attacks a chance to cause a flinch. However, the idea of taking it didn't sit right with Sam. The idea of angering a ghost, encouraging it to rest, and then taking the item it had been protecting this whole time?

"Leave it," Sam said.

"It's not ours." Xavier opened his mouth, then he closed it. He turned around, running a hand through his hair.

"... Fine." The journey out of Slowpoke Well felt a lot easier than the journey in. The frequent sounds of the many Slowpoke groans were mournful, but they were also celebratory. A long lost companion was finally able to rest.

"I want you to know I'm sorry," Sam said, walking through Azalea next to Xavier. Quilava remained around his neck as they slowly walked back to the Pokémon Center where this job had first been accepted.

"Are you saying that because of our bet? The competition is off. We saw the ghost at the same time. Neither of us won," Xavier said, looking annoyed about it.

"No, it's— It's not about the competition. I just... I shouldn't have been so rude with you. I shouldn't come at you so aggressively. And I shouldn't have bothered you when you just wanted to be left alone. It wasn't right." Xavier didn't reply.

"Ever since I battled you back on that boat I... I've built you up in my head. Everywhere I went, it was like you were doing way better than I was. I mean, you placed second in a tournament I lost in the first round. You had an evolved Pokémon in Goldenrod when it took me until Ilex to evolve one of mine. And then the biggest thing was how you crushed Whitney in a battle! You used a single Pokémon, but I needed to use my entire team!" Sam let out a sigh.

"You're a better trainer than me." There was a long period of silence followed by a long sigh.

"I'm not. I'm not a better trainer, I mean. You... You have information I don't have," Xavier said, forcing himself to not grit his teeth.

"I can't be called strong. Not yet, at least. You only think that because I'm pushing myself to be ahead. I have to. I have to. I have to prove myself—""To who?" Sam asked. Xavier's expression was utterly unreadable.

"I have to prove myself to the entire world." For some reason, that felt like a lie.

"I have my own goals. My own problems. I just... I have to try," he whispered. When Xavier stopped walking, Sam stopped too, turning around and looking over at his temporary companion. Xavier stared at the road, his hands clenched into fists, and he soon brought his gaze back up to stare at Sam.

"I don't like that you have a Starter Pokémon," he said. Sam laughed.

"Yeah? We're not friends because she's a Starter. We're friends because she's her. My grandfather set up the meeting where we met. She's the granddaughter of his Typhlosion, and she's one of the coolest Pokémon ever!" Quilava squeaked proudly. Sam scratched behind her ear.

"I guess that's better than buying her outright," Xavier said, allowing himself to relax. Sam bristled at the idea, but he could also tell Xavier didn't mean any offense.

"I guess... I'm sorry, too," Xavier said, resuming the walk forward.

"I didn't mean to make you feel worse, nor did I mean to be rude. I've been told I can be... abrasive, sometimes. I'll try to work on that in the future."

"Thank you." Xavier shrugged. He didn't say anything else. The rest of the walk back to the Pokémon Center was in silence, but when they reached the front door, Sam stopped and stood up straight. He looked Xavier in the eye.

"Back in Goldenrod, you said you were going to win the Silver Conference," Sam said.

"I want you to know that that's not going to happen because I'm going to be the one who wins."

"Yeah?" Xavier raised an eyebrow.

"That's easy to say. It's harder to actually do." They glared at one another. Sam smirked slightly. Xavier turned his head. As he put his hand on the handle of the door, Sam didn't miss it; the corner of the other boy's mouth curved up ever so slightly in the smallest of smiles.

"Good luck earning your fourth Gym Badge," Xavier said.

"Good luck with your fifth," Sam replied. Xavier stepped inside, and Sam followed. Their job wasn't done just yet. So we need to report to the nurse, heal our Pokémon, and make sure Slowpoke Well will be protected. I promised Slowbro that we humans will keep the place safe, and I don't plan to break that promise. Maybe the Gym can do something? Or maybe the League can bring a few Ace Trainers here? He'd have to talk to the nurse about it, but his thoughts were interrupted when Redi ran right up to him.

"Hey!" she said as Xavier pulled ahead. She then raised her voice.

"I see that smile. So you beat him, right?"

"No! No, Xavier is actually..." He sighed.

"He's alright. We fought the ghost."

"Aw. Without me?" Sam scoffed.

"Please. We had to do it without you. If you were there, you would have had Porygon figure out like, ten different Electric Type moves, and then there wouldn't be any battle left for the rest of us! Wouldn't have been nearly as fun."

"Hmph. Probably. But you're wrong about something."

"Yeah?" Sam asked. Redi leaned forward.

"I would have figured out at least twelve." Both of them snickered as they moved to a couch. Xavier started to talk to the nurse.

"Well, I guess it doesn't matter as long as you didn't do it on purpose," Redi said.

"But you have to tell me the story later!"

"Of course," Sam easily replied. She swung her backpack around, hurrying to dig through it with her face scrunched up in focus. Grabbing something, she smiled and pulled out an item, which she shoved towards Sam.

"Here! I managed to sign us up for a Gym Trial tomorrow, and I got these! This one's for you—a Friend Ball for a friend!" In her hand, Redi held a green Pokéball with four brown teardrop shapes pointed at its center. He carefully took it in as she held up several other minimized, custom Pokéballs as well.

"All of these balls have different effects," Redi said cheerfully.

"Friend Balls are apparently super comfortable, so Pokémon like them more. The others do... other things, but we can check that later. I figured we'll share them as needed, catching whatever Pokémon that come our way." There were five in total, a decent amount to fill out their teams with new Pokémon, especially if Redi didn't plan to catch too many more. Sam carefully looked all of them over. These Pokéballs each had niche uses against certain species, and their creation had helped place Azalea on the map.

When he looked back up at Redi, her smile was as bright as the sun. After everything else that happened today, Sam couldn't help it. He sniffed.

"Thanks," he said genuinely. She smiled, but she then blinked and only now seemed to notice the Quilava resting on Sam's neck.

"Wait, hold on! You didn't just fight a ghost, but you also evolved without me?!" Sam laughed, and Quilava snorted. She was exasperated that Redi hadn't noticed until now. The rest of the day, Sam took it easy. He regaled the story of what happened in Slowpoke Well, and Redi regaled the surprisingly exciting story of her encounter with a rather surly Pokéball craftsman.

Mankey was healed, Quilava was checked over, and he and Xavier were both paid twice the amount the job was supposed to pay—after all, they did more than was asked. The nurse confirmed she'd pass a message to the Gym to secure protection for Slowpoke Well, and Sam just enjoyed this peaceful time he had with his friends. It was nice. It was relaxing. It was a good break before he, Redi, and all of their Pokémon challenged the Azalea Gym.