Chương 98: Chapter 95

Sam stood above the sea of clouds once more. An expanse of white stretched out before him, with the peaks of the other mountains poking out like islands in an archipelago. He rolled his shoulders, feeling the weight of his backpack and everything he'd fit within. He had the New Pokédex, the journal on Hisui, the Ghost Type packet from the Blackthorn Clan, and his personal notebook he used to track the progress of his team. Climbing this mountain had been difficult, but he'd stayed here long enough.

It was time to make his descent, no matter how hard it would be. There were no Psychic Types around to Teleport him, but he wasn't alone. Professor Carolina stood nearby, looking on to see him off while hugging herself to ward off the cold.

"It's freezing out here. Everyone else leaves through Teleport. You sure you don't want an easier way back?" she asked.

"I'm sure," Sam said.

"My team needs this. I need this. I'm not a researcher, so I can't be happy sitting around and staring at the same two carvings over and over again. I'm a Pokémon Trainer—through-and-through. A Ghost Type Specialist, y'know? Training is all about knowing how and when to push your team, and right now..." Sam stared into the clouds.

"Right now, we need to climb down this mountain." Unlike last time, when Sam was unceremoniously dropped halfway up, he was actually prepared to face this mountain's icy slopes. He had days to mentally ready himself for this trip, and he was packed with the items needed to support a multi-day hike down. There had been so many forgotten and leftover supplies in the storage building of the research camp that no one had objected to Sam claiming some for his own.

He'd restocked on healing items and made sure he could handle the cold. He wore that warm, neon jacket, a pair of thick pants, and he'd been able to request a pair of proper boots to be delivered. He could now walk without occasionally feeling his socks get wet from small amounts of snow. A rope hung off his backpack with a crowbar attached next to it. The tent he had purchased long ago was rated to withstand all sorts of weather.

However, given how often wild Pokémon liked to dig, he was confident he'd be able to find caves to safely rest within along the way down.

"We'll be heading to the Pokémon Center at the base of the mountain," Sam said.

"You said there's one for emergencies, right?"

"There is," Professor Carolina said, her lips twitching down.

"People stay there occasionally, and it's where deliveries from Silver Town and Blackthorn are sent before they're teleported over." Sam nodded.

"Then that's where I'm meeting Will," he said.

"He'll teleport my team and I back to Blackthorn, but not before we climb down this mountain." He glanced over his shoulder to see the old woman watching him with a discerning eye. Professor Carolina met his stare and breathed out, pushing aside her worry to now just look amused.

"I could never be a Pokémon Trainer," she said, shaking her head.

"All of you can be so... determined at times." Sam just laughed and turned back around. He knew what was waiting for him: ice, stone, and then more ice. But he had his team. He had all the days of training they'd spent up here. At his side, Quilava stood at the ready as well. Her back was already ablaze. (And this time around, she had on little booties to protect her feet. Even as a Fire Type, the cold could get to her, and that set of tiny shoes would let her better handle the snow.)"I'll see you another time, then," Sam said, adjusting his pack.

"Thank you for everything."

"It was no problem. And good luck. It's a long way down." Sam sent Professor Carolina one last thankful look and took a deep breath in. Even though the air was thinner up here, he hadn't had much trouble breathing. The chill was crisp, but it felt welcoming. There was just the right amount of coolness to it with Quilava at his side. But he could no longer linger. He'd already gathered the information he needed and spent plenty of time making the most of the small, Sinjoh Ruins settlement.

Steadying himself, Sam took a single step forward, and he began the slow hike down. Descending the mountain, Sam made sure to take his time. Instead of trying to rush to his destination, he treated this trip as if he were traveling down a route. His path meandered, and he never walked for the entire day. He frequently stopped to train. He set up camp early whenever he found a safe place to rest. He challenged wild Pokémon to battles whenever they were willing.

With the difficulties of the climate up here, not every wild Pokémon accepted, but a few did take up his offer. An Abomasnow blasted Primeape with freezing winds in exchange for berries for its Snover children. A Graveler rolled around while Haunter chased it, desperately trying to position himself to put it to sleep. Quilava and Misdreavus worked together, the team's practice for their upcoming double battle not being set to the side. Those two fought off an entire gang of Sneasel.

Quilava supplied the fire, and Misdreavus took command over it to practice her developing Will-O-Wisp and Psychic. Sam could have stayed longer within the mountaintop camp, but it was getting boring up there. Unlike all the times he'd stayed in a larger settlement, there hadn't been anything he was waiting for or any jobs to do. Sure, leaving early might not have made the upcoming Trial come sooner or even his battle against Clair start earlier, but it made him feel like he was doing something.

And the mountain's harsh environment was great at pushing his team. The chance to search for new ghosts and Ghost Types didn't hurt, either. Unfortunately, he found none. There were no Snorunt. No Froslass. No Banette, Dusclops, Sableye, or any other Ghost Type species on this mountain. In his heart, Sam prayed that the Ruins of Sinjoh meant the incredibly rare Hisuian Zorua might show up, but that species was considered to be extinct for a reason. Despite wanting to expand his team, he never had the opportunity.

Despite wanting to find a ghost for Quilava's evolution, none ever appeared. He did have a small question about whether Ghost Types were enough to trigger her evolution, but even though he was pretty sure Hisuian Typhlosion was a spirit guide, she couldn't act as one if there were no spirits around. When resting, he looked to the future. They needed to find at least one ghost for Quilava's evolution. The only ghost Sam could immediately think of was the spirit of a woman in that Ecruteak alley.

Upon remembering her, his first thought was that they should head over as soon as possible, but it took him only three seconds to recognize why doing so would be a bad idea. That woman was a ghost within the city that had the Ghost Type Gym. If Morty was unable to help her, how would they? No, she wouldn't work. Sam needed to find someone else for Quilava. He hoped to get a start on that once he was back in town.

He would have thought such a freezing mountain like this would have had at least one fallen hiker or the like, but that amounted to only a single, morbid desire in the end. The descent down was great for training, but they made no further progress on Quilava's evolution. Since we're trying to search for one to send off, ghosts might attract ghosts, so maybe they're avoiding us when they sense our intentions?

Though reaching the bottom took days—longer than it took to ascend—it was much easier to move down than it was to move up. The supplies he picked up in camp helped make the trip easier as well, but by the time he reached the bottom, his supplies were almost empty. The Pokémon Center was a welcome site, and he rushed through the sparse, evergreen woods to enter the Center's singular, log cabin.

"A room, please!" Bursting inside, he practically dumped his team's Pokéballs on the front counter. The man on duty laughed, took his Pokémon for healing, and directed Sam to the shared bunk room in the back. Thankfully, while this place was small, its visitors were so rare that Sam had the entire space to himself. Mostly. He realized he had a visitor as he placed his stuff to claim a mattress. A lone Xatu—an unfortunately familiar one—stared directly at Sam in the uncomfortable way its species always did.

"... So." Sam turned around to stare right at it.

"Does Will know you only brought me halfway up, or did he tell you to not bring me to the Sinjoh Ruins directly?" The Pokémon's silent gaze lasted only a second longer. Out of nowhere, it snapped out its wings, a quick "Kwee-Kwah!" squawked out of its throat, and it disappeared with a panicked flash of Teleport. The next day, after his team was healed and they had time to rest, Sam found the exact person he knew would already be waiting for him in the lobby.

Will tilted his head, politely greeting Sam as he walked in.

"Hello, Sam. Was your stay pleasant?" A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"I'd say it was fine outside all of the climbing I had to do at the start," Sam replied. He crossed his arms, watching Will closely and searching for any smallest reaction. Unfortunately, Will was clearly a performer at heart; nothing about his expression displayed even the slightest hint of whether or not he'd been aware of Xatu's incomplete teleport.

"I'm glad it went well for you! Informative, I hope," Will said, brushing past the mention of climbing.

"As for me, this past while has been quite informative as well. Redi has excelled during her training, and I've learned a significant bit about both of you during the process."

"Redi?" Sam perked up.

"Is she here?" Will shook his head.

"Alas, unfortunately not. You see, I've found myself in an unexpected break between jobs. I'd expected our time together to last longer, but after a quick trip out of the city, she specifically requested to be dropped off off-route. Something about wanting to train on her own with a friend?" Stantler, then. If Porygon was learning Teleport, Sam understood why Redi would want to visit Stantler while she was nearby. What better way to practice Teleport than jump between its herd and Blackthorn City?

"That makes sense," Sam said.

"But you'll still be bringing me back to Blackthorn, right?"

"Of course." Will nodded his head. But he made no movements to release any of the Psychic Types on his team.

"Are we... going to go?" Sam asked, awkwardly adjusting the straps on his backpack while waiting for Will to do something.

"I suppose we are, but after learning so much from Redi, I was wondering if you were willing to have a conversation with me before we leave." He waited for Will to continue—for him to actually explain what he wanted to talk about—but no further words left the man's throat. Sam crossed his arms.

"Well?" he asked.

"Well, what?"

"If you want to have a conversation, why aren't you saying anything?" Annoyingly, Will didn't speak—he just chuckled. The man looked at Sam with an infuriating smile on his face, and the staring contest lasted a full minute before Sam finally understood.

"Ugh. We're Pokémon trainers." Sam covered his face with a hand.

"You don't mean an actual conversation. You want a battle."

"Indeed!" Will gained a wide smile and clapped his hands together.

"There is no better way to learn about another trainer than to face them in a battle, yes?" Sam knew Will was a Psychic Type specialist—a Psychic Type specialist powerful enough to work as an Ace Trainer. He was also skilled enough to take up the task of tutoring Redi's Porygon in a skill as esoteric as Teleport. And now here he was, challenging Sam to a match.

"So you just want to... learn more about me?"

"I wish to have a conversation in the shared language of Pokémon Trainers, yes." Sam paused.

"How strong is your team?" he asked.

"I'd like to say you'll see in battle, but that would be disingenuous given the difference in strength," Will said.

"No, I've been traveling for some time, and my Pokémon have picked up many tricks. If I had to describe their level of strength, well, I'd claim they'd been rated at eight stars in the past." Sam's team was at five stars. They were rapidly approaching six—were practically at six—but that was still a two star difference in power. He knew just how much of a difference even a single star advantage could make, but this wasn't going to be a life-threatening match.

There wasn't anything riding on this battle; Will would still give him a Teleport back to Blackthorn City even if Sam lost. It would be casual. But faced with such a strong opponent, this would be a learning experience more than a conversation.

"Alright. You're on," Sam said. With the battle confirmed, Will bowed his head and followed Sam outside to the dirt road in front of the Pokémon Center. This place was too small and too infrequently visited to have a dedicated battlefield, but the road would work well enough to facilitate a match, especially since vehicles were rare enough that the battle would go uninterrupted.

"For this battle, I'll be using a scant two Pokémon," Will said.

"You, meanwhile, will be allowed to use your full team."

"A handicap? Makes sense. What about the number of switches?"

"No need for any limits, as far as I'm concerned," Will said. To that, Sam grinned. Will was stronger, but status conditions were all about weakening and wearing down an opponent, no matter how much stronger that opponent might have been. If Sam was clever, his Pokémon had a chance at pulling off a victory—but it was still only a chance. Yet, Sam had no plans to lose this even if it was going to be an uphill battle.

This match would let his team consolidate everything they'd learned while training on the mountain, and it would let Sam potentially pick up a few tricks from a Psychic Type specialist. Those trainers were known to have many clever strategies up their sleeves.

"Jynx!" Will called out. He threw forward a Pokéball before Sam could decide which team member would lead. With a flash, a short, humanoid Pokémon wearing a dress appeared on the field. Will's Jynx ran a hand through her blonde hair to push it back. She huffed at Sam, already impatient for the battle to begin. Sam blinked.

"Wait, that's—""You recognize her?" Will asked. Sam carefully looked over the Ice Type Pokémon.

"... I think I do. She was on the mountain, I'm pretty sure," he said.

"When we were climbing up, she was... singing? On a stone outcrop, I think." He only noticed the Jynx via a brief glance on the way up, but Sam was still certain he'd seen this Pokémon before. And, to confirm his statement, Will's Jynx turned around to send her trainer a look. Based on her expression, she was admonishing him for ever thinking that she was forgettable.

"Hah. Yes. That was her. And I'll take this moment to briefly apologize to you, too," Will said, sheepish, much to Sam's surprise.

"It wasn't my intention for Xatu to bring you only part of the way up. Xatu are a species closely attuned to fate, and mine seems to have taken this matter into his own hands—or wings, I suppose.

"Of course, as a member of the Pokémon League, I could not allow you to be put into danger unaccompanied," Will continued.

"With the freezing temperatures of the mountain, Jynx was my best option to keep you safe. She kept an eye out, was prepared to rescue you if needed, and ensured no dangerous Pokémon attacked you while you made your way up." The Pokémon placed a hand on her lips to blow a kiss at Sam. She winked at him as he forced back a shudder at her far-too-friendly smile.

"... Thanks," he said. Will bowed his head in apology, and Sam frowned ever so slightly. I already promised my team we'd get revenge together. Well, I guess if he apologized, we can go a bit easier on him than what we had planned. With his apology completed, Will brought his head back up and smiled.

"Marvelous. Now, for our battle?" Sam's gaze returned to the Jynx on the field. There was a difference between gauging an opponent's strength and judging a book by its cover. Even though Sam knew that Will's team was rated at least eight stars, he wasn't able to tell just how strong this Jynx was. Truthfully, the Pokémon looked like any other Jynx to him. A Psychic Type's power was almost entirely within its mind. They were special attackers more often than not, which made them hard to visibly gauge.

In this case, Sam had to consider Jynx's theoretical power over anything he could see outright. He carefully considered his options before going with a somewhat unconventional choice. Jynx might have been an Ice Type, suggesting his usual lead of the Fire Type Quilava would grant him an advantage, but he had a gut feeling that Will's Pokémon would turn Quilava's flames against her—something Misdreavus had already demonstrated during her practice to turn Confusion into Psychic.

So, he went with a slightly different choice than usual, releasing Misdreavus onto the field. As the pure Ghost Type appeared in the air over the dirt, Sam knew her familiarity with the Psychic Type would let her better deal with Jynx's offense. It helped that her Ghost Type moves would be super effective, too.

"Interesting," Will mumbled. Sam caught Misdreavus's Friend Ball as it bounced back and clipped it to his belt. He sent a reassuring nod to her before looking at Will.

"Ready!" he shouted.

"I'm ready as well," Will said.

"But, as the challenger, I believe it's only polite to give you the first move." Sam grinned.

"You'll regret that. Misdreavus! Let's start with a Confuse Ray!" Though Misdreavus was training to be a set-up sweeper more than anything else, Sam wanted everyone on his team to be capable of at least one form of status move. They helped bridge gaps in strength, after all—something critical for this battle. Without missing even a single beat, Misdreavus's eyes flashed to send out a greyish beam. It raced through the air toward where Jynx stood on the field. But the move didn't work; Sam noticed something strange.

Before Misdreavus even started to look at her target with her eyes, Jynx was already moving out of the way. Confuse Ray utterly missed.

"Ah, you may have the second move, as well," Will said. Sam's first instinct was to try again, but he fought against that, pausing and trying to figure out what traps Will might have set.

"... Try Night Shade, Misdreavus," Sam said carefully.

"Time Confuse Ray to attack without Jynx knowing where you are." Will hummed as Misdreavus dived into the floor. She used Shadow Sneak, but she didn't use that move on its own. Already in control of a shadow, her influence expanded out so that several feet of darkness surrounded her in every direction. And within that darkness, she unleashed another Confuse Ray. However, yet again, Jynx was able to move out of the way before the move ever appeared.

"I see," Will commented.

"I'm already developing an understanding, helped along by a few of Redi's comments. Are you aware of the flaw in your Pokémon's strategy?"

"A flaw?" Sam asked, feeling a twitch in his eye.

"Night Shade is a sphere. And while it hides the entirety of your Pokémon, all spheres have a central point of origin. If we want to hit, all it would take is a single, well-timed move, and—" Will pointed with his finger, and his Jynx brought her hands together. A small, freezing ball of energy formed between her palms, and it burst with an Ice Beam so fast it looked as though blue lightning struck the field. The crackling bolt of Ice Type energy pierced Misdreavus's Night Shade.

Though she was hidden, her cry of pain told Sam she'd been struck head-on.

"Back!" Sam shouted. She dropped the Night Shade, leaving the ground to move back in the air. Though she was still able to fight, she was shivering, and half her face was now covered in ice.

"Redi brags about you quite often, but I'm beginning to reach the same conclusion now that I reached then," Will said. He paused, looking over Sam.

"You're selfish," Will declared.

"I do not mean it as an insult—not necessarily, at least. Your strategy is all about taking command, claiming the battlefield in its entirety to use to your whims. You're selfish in that you expect your opponents to always be taken in by your plans. You expect opposing Pokémon to fall for the traps your Pokémon set, and you expect opposing trainers to fall to the beat of your Pokémon's moves.

"So, you try to steal the entire match for yourself. Thus, Samuel, you are selfish." Will rested a hand on his cheek while slightly tilting his head to the side. Misdreavus glowered at him, but Will watched Sam and only Sam while maintaining a pleasant smile.

"Again, being selfish is not inherently bad," he continued as Sam didn't speak.

"It is simply my perspective on how you battle—and my perspective may change depending on the rest of our fight. If you are trying to win, it is reasonable to seek control over the field. But your use of status moves means you do so in a rather domineering way. Yet, you are a Ghost Type specialist, and like many of them, you're quite fueled by desire." Sam stilled. Something about Will's words rang true in his heart. His last point. The final thing he said. A single word had been spoken: Desire.

To Sam, the idea was almost prescient. It summed up quite a number of his growing beliefs about the Ghost Type into a single word. However, he didn't have the chance to dwell on it. Will clapped his hands, effectively calling for the battle to resume.

"Now then, you've tried your strategy, so let's try mine. Jynx, go ahead. Let's put that new trick of ours to good use, hm?" Will's Pokémon focused, her hair raising up as if subjected to static. Around the field, a glow sparked into being. Sam could have called for Misdreavus to respond, but he didn't. He'd never seen this move before—not in any battle, on T. V., or even within the League's online archives.

Its utter unfamiliarity conjured a strange feeling that this was the first time it was being used within Indigo. Translucent squares of deep blue and violet formed into existence and slotted together in the shape of a box. It was slow going, but the reality-warping effect was the epitome of Psychic Type skill. The entire space chosen to be their field slowly became sealed within a shining box.

"There we go. Took a bit, but we managed it. Incredible job, Jynx!" Will's Pokémon breathed in to catch its breath then smiled.

"You see, Sam, we've traveled the world for quite some time, and this is something we picked up over in Sinnoh," Will said.

"Not many trainers have put it into practice, but I feel it's the perfect move for our purposes right now." The Ace Trainer smiled, but it wasn't the usual polite smile he kept on his face. It was a grin—an almost ecstatic one, and Sam was suddenly distinctly aware that he was facing a trainer with years of experience and potentially thousands of battles more than him. The handicap was minor, all things considering.

"Sam. In this match, I want you to show me. Show me how you'll react. Show me how you'll adapt. Show me the depths of how clever you can be." Will threw his arms out to the side.

"In this battle, show me your limits! Against my beautiful Jynx, show me how you plan to handle our glorious Trick Room!"