Chương 93: Chapter 90

Elite Four Agatha? Sam had been annoyed, but the unexpected question briefly made him forget his annoyance. It wasn't that it presented him with any new idea, it was just that what the elder asked felt so... random.

"Elite Four Agatha is an expert with the Ghost Type," the Blackthorn elder said.

"Some would even call her a Master. Her command over her Gengar is peerless, and she's not one to avoid branching out to other Pokémon such as Golbat and Arbok." Sam wasn't sure how to respond. He scratched at his cheek, pretending to be thinking about it while buying himself time to recover.

"A... Golbat?" he asked.

"And not a Crobat?"

"She famously went on air to present her Golbat with an Everstone in front of all of Indigo. She declared she had no need of a Johtonian Pokémon such as its evolved form, ignoring how Zubat and Golbat can be found throughout all of Kanto." The Blackthorn elder kept a pleasant smile on his face, but the subsequent, slow blink spoke of both frustration and annoyance.

Sam wasn't one to pay attention to Indigo's politics, but even he knew that Agatha was outspoken in the rare few times someone managed to get her to speak. A common way to describe her was "crotchety," but it wasn't like she wasn't respected. She might have been old, but with that age came decades of experience. No one would say she didn't deserve to be a part of the Elite Four. But she was still someone from another time. Her journey had taken place back when Kanto and Johto had a much more tense relationship.

Then again, the same's true for this elder, isn't it? The old man's half-lidded eyes were appraising, and Sam did his best to sit at attention under that sharp gaze. He wanted to leave and put everything about this Trial behind him, yet Sam would be lying if he said the question hadn't sparked his curiosity. He didn't know much about Agatha. She might have been a Ghost Type specialist, but he much preferred learning about the Type via his own research rather than just copying someone else.

He was also from Hoenn, so he couldn't speak much on Indigo's politics and its people of note. The most he could do along those lines was repeat opinions he heard on things like how Steven Stone's connection to the Devon Corp was technically a conflict of interest. He sat there in thought. Sam honestly spent more time on this answer than any questions from before. When he eventually spoke, his words came slowly, as he was still in the process of putting everything together.

"Agatha is... strong," Sam said carefully.

"I respect her skill with the Ghost Type, but I think I dislike how single-minded she is about its nature. I haven't done much research into her in the past, but it really seems like she focuses way too much on their surface-level appearance. Ghost Types might like to stalk and scare their targets, but they're still Pokémon. Type isn't everything. I don't think any Pokémon is as mean as she tries to present." Sam frowned when he finished, thinking back to how he'd acted in the Violet City Tournament.

But how much of her outward appearance is just a deception? Does she really think of the Ghost Type like that, or does she just lean into that image so no one ever knows what she's really thinking? He didn't say anything else. He didn't want to. On his cushion, the elder nodded along, but nothing about the old man's expression betrayed his thoughts.

"I see." Sam felt an eyebrow twitch. He'd expected a bigger reaction than just "I see." Then again, he'd hardly gone in depth. His description was similar to the answers he'd given before; it only touched on surface-level details and did not include comments on Agatha's political beliefs or behavior. Please don't tell me this was just a lead-up to presenting a political opinion of your own.

"Do you mind if I ask why you asked that question?" Sam said. The old man chuckled. He shook his head, moving it with amusement rather than denial.

"It was just an idle curiosity," he said in his hoarse voice.

"Nothing more, nothing less. Agatha is certainly a character. I have my own opinions of her, and the same is true of the Blackthorn Clan, but those opinions aren't anything to speak in polite company. Elite Four Agatha only came into prominence after my generation, and I wished to know the perspective of an outsider—an outsider that shares the favored Type of someone as young and hot-blooded as her." How old is this guy?! Sam wisely kept his mouth shut.

"But this is enough for now," the elder said.

"As an aside, I'd like to request you to remember that both Johto and Kanto make up Indigo. Neither is inherently better than the other." He chuckled.

"We've put the years of cold war behind us for a reason. The future is in the hands of the young, and they will achieve great things together. I can confidently say that the Blackthorn Clan disagrees with Kanto's projected exceptionalism; all trainers are capable of great things. We can see you are capable of great things as well, so please, if you require any other assistance, do not hesitate to contact us, and we will be willing to help you." But you didn't help Redi.

Sam made sure to keep that thought in his mind. When he left the Dragon's Den, Sam was alone. To leave, he was directed toward a back tunnel that curved around and led to the surface. Cassandra didn't show up. Redi had already left. The Ace Trainer who had been sitting behind those paper screens had vanished when it was determined that Sam would not progress. Sam wanted to talk to Redi, but she was neither at the lake nor in the lobby of the Pokémon Center.

The nurse on duty confirmed she had gone upstairs, but rather than bothering her, Sam decided to give her space and collapsed onto his bed, falling asleep quickly after such an incredibly long night. Waking up the next morning, he ate breakfast and checked in with the nurse before heading out. What he didn't expect was a packet of papers waiting for him. The Blackthorn Clan had moved quickly to provide him with the information he desired.

"Look at this! Photocopies of everything relevant to me. The Blackthorn Clan might have its issues, but I can't say they aren't on top of things." On the couch next to him, Quilava lifted her head to sniff at the packet of papers Sam held in his hands. He flicked through, not reading it just yet but trying to get a sense of things. He could already tell it was filled with information on the Ghost Type, and Sam leaned in to hunker down and start reading within this Pokémon Center lobby.

Quilava watched his eyes scan through the pages, but she eventually rested her head to relax and digest her food from breakfast. In Sam's shadow, a few eyes opened up to see what he was doing, but they just as quickly closed and pulled back, bored. Misdreavus made a short appearance next to Sam, chatting with Quilava for a minute or two. However, Sam didn't move from his place, so she entered his shadow again. Sam had a lot to get through, but he didn't mind all the reading.

He enjoyed this kind of research, and by staying in the Pokémon Center lobby, he was giving Redi space to meet up with him when she was ready.

"This is..." Unfortunately, even with all of Sam's excited energy, the more he read through the packet, the more he slowed down.

"I don't know what I expected." Disappointed, he leaned back in his seat and let out a sigh. Quilava pushed against him in an attempt to cheer him up.

"It's full of handwritten summaries and photocopied pages. The Blackthorn Clan definitely has an enormous archive, but they didn't give me their original documents. Just copies bound together," he said to his Pokémon.

"There are a few firsthand accounts listed within, and it heavily focuses on sightings of Ghost Types around the region—exactly what I requested. But... I don't know." He sighed again.

"I was just hoping there would have been more than what's listed." It started with a collection of sightings of the most common species, included mostly for completion's sake. The packet made the incredible confirmation that, yes, Gastly and Misdreavus could be found within the region. Weirdly, though, the two species tended to avoid coastlines, being found inland more often than not. As for Misdreavus, the species was rarer than Gastly, but it could be found in great numbers in the caves around Mount Silver.

Past that section, thankfully, were clippings of newspaper articles discussing the presence of Shuppet and Duskull. Mostly, the articles discussed how certain, foreign species were becoming more prevalent, using Shuppet and Duskull as examples. Those two species occasionally formed naturally when the environment was exactly right, but in this case, individuals from the nearby regions had snuck along with trainers to form breeding populations in a few places across Johto.

That was news to Sam, as the New Pokédex didn't exactly list either of them as species present in Johto. However, once he moved past those two species, nothing included afterward seemed to be counted as among Johto's "common" Ghost Type species.

"I am kind of surprised Sableye and Snorunt aren't included in this," Sam commented.

"I guess there's no way for Sableye to travel across regions when they live in caves, but the lack of Snorunt is unexpected. I could have sworn they would be able to be found in the Ice Path to our west." The rest of the packet included a few species that were technically native, but they were only ever found as individuals rather than as members of any species-based group. These came into existence via uncommon phenomena rather than anything involving reproduction.

Sam technically had a chance to find them, but to do so, he would have to go out of his way to search for them or just be lucky enough to encounter one while traveling. He read over the pages that described the rare sightings once again. A hand-written passage contained a Pokémon Ranger's report of a "moving tree" deep within Ilex. Given the passage's presence in the packet, Sam took that to be either a Phantump or a Trevenant. A few complaints from auction houses discussed "anomalous teapots."

Those were likely one of two convergent species—either Polteageist or Sinistcha. Sam had high hopes for Honedge, but that species was rarer now than it had ever been in the past. Honedge only took form when a spirit possessed a sword that was at least a hundred years old. The sword had to be both in good shape and go untouched for some time, a combination that rarely ever lined up.

Most ancient buildings and battlefields had already been picked over by archaeologists, and modern developments had meant collectors were much better at protecting their collections from possession. Weirdly, Sam had read a passage in one of the books loaned from Morty about that. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. The last of the potential species were listed via a few handwritten notes that seemed to be summaries of other sources.

Whoever had compiled these pages had written down a quick list of Ghost Types whose presence were either extraordinarily rare or not backed by any specific source. The jellyfish Pokémon, Frillish, occasionally drifted in from the ocean only to get caught in the rapids of the Whirl Islands. There were no comments about the same happening to wild Basculin, and there was nothing written about Basculegion. Drifloon, too, would sometimes float into the region, but that Pokémon came here via the sky.

While common to Sinnoh, the balloon Pokémon's appearances could be counted on one hand, and the same was true for other Ghost Types that rarely stowed away on international ships. Yamask, Litwick, Golett, and Rotom had all appeared in one of Johto's port cities. Unfortunately, they weren't noted to have shown up more than once, and each one was either caught quickly or was captured and returned home by the authorities.

"I thought there'd be more," Sam grumbled, closing the packet once more.

"It feels like if I want to hunt down another Ghost Type, I'm going to be limited to something like a Shuppet or Duskull." Quilava looked up at him and tilted her head to the side in a question. Sam saw that and blushed, looking away from her almost accusing stare.

"Y-yeah, I mean, it's not like I dislike those species, but I can find and befriend either of them if I just head back to Hoenn," Sam said.

"I just wanted to meet a rarer Ghost Type, I guess. I don't know what I'm going to do for our fifth team member, but I'm thankful all of you were willing to travel with me. We've already made incredible progress, so I'm kind of okay with whatever comes our way. I'm not picky—I'll catch any Pokémon that fits." Quilava said her name, and Sam hugged her. He went back to skimming through as she plopped down to lean against his side.

Even though nothing was immediately useful to him, Sam appreciated the information, his distaste for the Blackthorn Clan aside. If he didn't have the New Pokédex—or even access to the Ghost Type forums in general—he imagined that this information would have determined how he tackled the rest of Johto from here. For now, he just leaned back in his seat to consider his next steps. He felt like he was juggling several mountains at once. There's Quilava's evolution. Primeape's evolution.

Heck, Haunter's and Misdreavus's evolutions might pose some problems, too. I have to make sure everyone is trained. I have to keep an eye out for new members of our team. I have to worry about making money, earning the rest of Johto's Gym Badges, our upcoming double battle against Clair, and now the Blackthorn Clan— Sam rubbed his temples. The Blackthorn Clan. It was almost noon, and Redi still hadn't made an appearance.

Sam was worried for a lot of reasons, but mainly, he was just annoyed at the entirety of the Blackthorn Clan. He didn't like them. Clair had warned him and Redi that the Clan's Trials were biased, but Sam hadn't expected trainers to be eliminated for a reason as dumb as a nod. Sure, Dragon Types were more amiable when you had their respect, but it felt as though the Blackthorn Clan wasn't respecting anyone who didn't immediately respect them right back.

To Sam, it felt as though the Clan was leaning into its reputation rather than doing anything that'd be worthy of it. Sure, the Blackthorn Clan was giving away useful items to trainers with potential, but they were also being picky about who those trainers were, going as far as to obscure the Trial's location to include only those they wanted to invite.

He supposed he might have had a more positive opinion of them if he'd grown up in Indigo around stories of Blackthorn's influence and prestige, but Sam was from Hoenn. Instead, he couldn't get over how quickly they'd kicked out Redi. And the way they told him he wasn't continuing felt a bit dismissive, too. All the Trial did was make them seem arrogant. And that last question about Agatha was the worst of it.

That guy said he was just curious, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was trying to make her seem unreasonable and the Clan reasonable in exchange. Sam brought his hand back down to reach into his backpack. He started to take out that journal on Hisui. However, he paused as he did so; a flash of pink caught his attention. Cassandra skipped away from the Pokémon Center's front counter, moving to head outside. The girl wasn't as dressed up as she was last night, but her shirt and skirt were still shades of pink.

There was a bright smile on her face and a hop that came alongside every step. Unlike Sam, she seemed satisfied with how her Trial had ended. He stood up before he realized what he was doing. Driven by curiosity, Sam chased after her. Quilava perched on the back of the couch to watch him run over, and right as Cassandra put her hand on the door outside, Sam called out.

"Cassandra!" She stopped and turned his way. Unfortunately, as he approached, Sam realized this was a mistake. Cassandra's mouth opened in delighted surprise, and she made a show of batting her eyelashes at him.

"Oh, Sammy! You really came to see—""Yeah, no," Sam interrupted." I just wanted to ask about what happened last night. Did you make a deal with the Blackthorn Clan?" Rather than be upset with that abrupt dismissal, Cassandra perked up. A bright smile crossed her face.

"Yes! We did make a deal!" she said, in almost a sing-song voice.

"They figured since I'm a Normal Type trainer—""Fairy Type trainer. What? You're a Fairy Type trainer," Sam said. Cassandra burst into a fit of giggles. It took a full minute for her to recover. Sam crossed his arms.

"No, no. A Fairy Type trainer? One of them? Please." Cassandra wiped an eye.

"Oh, don't worry. I don't have anything to do with something like that."

"You're training a Clefairy and Jigglypuff," Sam said, voice emotionless.

"Not anymore! They're both the Normal Type Clefable and Wigglytuff, courtesy of the Moon Stones provided by the Blackthorn Clan!" Her expression seemed to sparkle with joy as she smiled at Sam. Sam blankly stared back.

"But they're Fairy Types?" Sam asked.

"Nu-uh. I'm a hundred percent sure that they're Normal Types. The Blackthorn Clan made that extraordinarily clear last night. And now that my Pokémon have evolved, I'll make sure that anyone I talk to also understands that my Pokémon are Normal Types and not anything else!" Her smile persisted. The way she kept emphasizing every other word was getting exhausting. But it still took Sam an embarrassingly long time to figure out her hidden meaning.

"This is part of your deal with the Blackthorn Clan," he said, realization dawning on him.

"You can't say your team members are Fairy Types, but you get those Moon Stones in exchange."

"What deal?" Cassandra cocked her head to the side.

"I didn't make any deal. They simply generously provided me with a pair of Moon Stones, and I'm making sure there are no misunderstandings about how half my team is the Normal Type."

"But if you keep explaining it like that, no one's going to believe you." Cassandra blinked at him.

"Oh, no. Why would I ever want something like that," she said flatly. Cassandra stepped to the side when the door opened behind her. A man wearing a black domino mask paused briefly to smile at them before moving to the front counter and the on-duty nurse.

"Now, is that all?" Cassandra asked.

"Unless your questions were just a pretense, and you actually wanted to ask me out on a—""Goodbye, Cassandra," Sam said.

"Bye, Sammy! See you at the Conference!" He stepped back for a decisive end to the conversation, giving Cassandra the chance to skip outside. Before she got too far away, she turned and wiggled her fingers at him to wave goodbye, but Sam was already moving back to the couch. I don't understand the Fairy Type. He heard the nurse laugh as he plopped down on the cushion, and Quilava slid down the couch's back to return to her place next to him. At the front counter, the man in the mask leaned against its edge.

He made no effort to hide his attempts at flirting, and the nurse made no effort to push back. Sam decided to focus on his research and only his research. Using that journal on Hisui, he tried to compare notes. There had been no mention of Hisuian Typhlosion within the documents provided by the Blackthorn Clan. Sinnoh and Johto were different regions, but Sam hoped he could find some sort of pattern to give him some kind of deeper clue into the Ghost Type.

Unfortunately, though he took his time, he was unable to find anything. The most he could make out was a general sense that people used to be a lot more afraid of Pokémon in the past. Before Pokéballs became ubiquitous, few people ever bonded with Pokémon to have those individuals be considered part of their team. However, without a Pokémon's assistance, how were aggressive ghosts handled back then? Wild Ghost Type Pokémon like to play pranks, and when it comes to actual ghosts...

There'd always been channellers, shamans, and mediums, but Sam felt as though there was a missing niche. So focused on reading, he didn't notice he had company until a heavy thump into the couch caused Quilava to bounce beside him. Looking up, he saw Redi, who leaned against the back of the couch and stared up at the ceiling.

"Hey," Sam said.

"Heya," Redi replied. A second passed.

"I've got three weeks before I can try again," she said. Sam frowned. Redi didn't look as upset as he expected. Three weeks before trying again was a while, but there was time left in the season, and training was cumulative. As long as they used their time wisely, spending more time in Blackthorn just meant spending less time in later cities. It helped that wait times for Gym Battles didn't pick up until the end of the season, but even then, trainers nearing eight Gym Badges tended to get priority.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked.

"I'm fine. Frustrated, though. I thought I could get Dragonair and start training with her, but instead..." Redi clenched a hand.

"Three weeks," she repeated.

"Three weeks to prepare so that next time, we do win." Though she had been eliminated, Sam could tell that Redi had no plays for this to keep her down. Unfortunately, even with that thought, Sam still couldn't suppress his snort.

"But is doing the Trial again even worth it?" Redi snapped her head up to glare at him.

"What?"

"Hold on—I don't mean you should give up on Dragonair, I'm saying that I don't think the Trial is going to help," Sam said quickly.

"It's just... It's just not worth it! It's rigged. Biased. You were eliminated before the first test even began. Do you think that was for a good reason?" Sam shook his head.

"No. It was arbitrary. And stupid. The only reason you didn't move on was because you didn't nod to greet the elder!" Sam realized he was raising his voice and forced himself to quiet down. Redi was staring, but he couldn't bring himself to stop. Words poured out of him like a waterfall.

"That whole Trial was just so dumb and meaningless," he hissed, trying to stay quiet.

"At any point, the clan could have decided that they didn't like us and say we weren't fit to move on. It's like a popularity contest, except we're trainers from outside the clan. If we show off in the way they approve, then, great! We get free stuff! If we just happen to say or do something they don't like..." Sam scowled.

"Then we're out and get nothing in return."

"They gave me what I asked for, but I didn't get that far. If you want Dragonair, you're probably going to have to make it to the end. I'm pretty sure the quality of the stuff they give correlates to how well someone does. I know I'm acting all annoyed at this chance to get support from them, but everything about these trials feels... gross. I mean, they even bribed someone to try to hide the existence of the Fairy Type even though she has two Fairy Types on her team."

Redi didn't immediately comment at the end of his rant, but she did carefully look Sam up and down as he breathed and turned to face the floor. Her head rocked from side-to-side as she considered what he said. Then, she suddenly narrowed her eyes in suspicious realization.

"So... How far did you really get?" she asked.

"Third stage out of five," Sam sniffed. A smirk appeared on Redi's face.

"I get it. You're upset you didn't make it to the end." Sam wanted to reply, but nothing came out. He tried to glare at Redi, feeling the heat rush to his face, but she just grinned at him, smug.

"It's not —!" He cleared his throat when his voice cracked.

"It's not that. I just don't see a point in playing along. Who's to say anyone outside their clan ever gets a Dragon Type? The Trial isn't fair." Redi hummed.

"I think it's fine if they're a little unfair," she said. As Sam frowned, Redi adjusted her posture to bring herself back up. She rolled her jaw in thought, taking a bit to figure out her explanation for that outrageous sentence.

"Look, I've had time to think. And, yeah, I was pretty upset. But that was last night, and this is now. All of that is behind us so we just have to move on," she said.

"I've basically come to the conclusion that while I don't like it, I'm kind of okay with needing to try again. Even if the Blackthorn Clan is a bit biased, that just means I need to try harder. What's really stopping me from getting angry is that they're at least partially motivated by what's best for Dragonair." And," Redi added, "Clair's the one who told us about these Trials in the first place. She's a Gym Leader.

I figure if the Blackthorn Clan does try to stop me, she has at least some influence she could use to help us out."

"But she didn't have that kind of influence to keep her Dragonite around," Sam grumbled.

"You mean the Dragonite being sent to Lance? The aggressive Dragonite being sent to the guy who's going on an aggressive campaign against Team Rocket?" Sam looked away.

"Fine. Maybe you have a point," he mumbled. Redi simply sat back on the couch, looking as smug as ever to have gotten one-up over Sam.

"I just thought... I guess I just thought we could take advantage of what we know," Sam said.

"I don't trust the Blackthorn Clan to actually help you with Dragonair, so I thought that instead of doing the Trials, we could spread some unwanted information around?" Sam wiggled a hand.

"We'd tell other people about the Trial," he said.

"Reveal how they set up all their stages. Basically, we do what Lance did: annoy the Blackthorn Clan so much they give us Dragonair just so we go away." Redi tilted her head to the side.

"What, like blackmail?" she asked.

"Man, why'd you go and say something like that, Sam? Now I'm regretting trying to be mature about this. Blackmailing an entire clan would've been fun." Sam laughed, but he jumped when a pair of hands thumped onto the back of the couch. A voice spoke up from behind, a cheerful tone behind every word.

"What a marvelous idea!" the voice said.

"But I don't believe antagonizing the Blackthorn Clan in their own city would ever be a good plan." Sam turned around to see whoever had just butted in, but he stilled when he saw that masked man from before. Sam would have tried to reply with a few biting words, but he was too distracted to think of any. The man's outfit was ridiculous. His waistcoat sparkled in the Pokémon Center's lights, looking like something that wouldn't have been out of place on a circus performer on a stage.

"My, my! It's a pleasure to meet the both of you!" the man continued, giving the two of them a full second to use to recover.

"You must be Redi, and you must be Sam, yes? And a fine greeting to you too, my dear Quilava." Confused, she squeaked in reply.

"Now then, a certain Nurse Joy submitted a request for a tutor, and thus, I am here! I believe she wanted you to be tutored in the ways of Teleport, which you will find is my expertise." The man smiled a genuine smile. A white mesh on the domino mask prevented Sam from seeing the man's eyes, but they somehow seemed to be sparkling in the Pokémon Center's lights.

"However, while waiting for a good time to introduce myself, I couldn't help but to overhear your conversation." He rubbed his chin with a grin on his face.

"I've trained all around the world, and after hearing you two speak, I feel as though there's a way I can help you even more."