"Come out, Gengar."
Gary released Gengar.
Go!
[LV59 Gengar / Champion]
"GENGAR?"
Gengar looked puzzled.
After being teleported over by Tracey, Gary had never released Gengar from its Poké Ball, so it had no idea why Gary had called it out.
"Do you see this villa?" Gary asked, pointing toward the building.
"GENGAR..."
Gengar glanced at the villa, and a sly glint flashed through its eyes.
"GENGAR."
Gengar waved a hand, and the villa's dignified, well-maintained appearance instantly vanished, replaced by the image of a dilapidated, abandoned mansion.
Seeing that Gengar's illusion had completely covered the Litwick's illusion, Gary could judge that the Pokémon inside were not very strong.
"There are Ghost-type Pokémon inside. Let's go in and deal with them," Gary said.
"GENGAR!"
Gengar indicated that there would be no problem.
"VEE."
Eevee also stepped forward, ready to help.
Eevee had the ability to sense danger. As long as Litwick and Lampent harbored hostile intentions toward them, Eevee would be able to detect them immediately.
Bang!
Gary kicked open the door and strode into the villa with a commanding presence. Eevee and Gengar followed in step, matching Gary's imposing momentum.
At that moment,
inside the abandoned villa,
both Lampent and Litwick sensed that the illusion outside had been broken.
"LIT!"
Lampent ordered the four Litwick to go outside and investigate, then report the situation back to it.
The four Litwick were not Lampent's rivals, but they nodded, indicating that they would definitely deal with the people who had broken into the villa.
"LIT!"
Lampent nodded with satisfaction and urged the Litwick to hurry.
The four Litwick passed through the wall and disappeared completely.
Inside the villa,
Gary and Eevee wandered through the rooms as though they owned the place.
Bang!
When Gary came across a door, he walked straight over and kicked it open.
Behind the door was a hall containing a rectangular dining table and several chairs. It seemed to be a dining room.
"Why haven't they come out yet?"
Five minutes had passed. The Litwick and Lampent should have responded by now, but there still hadn't been the slightest movement.
"VEE."
Just as Gary finished wondering about it, Eevee suddenly cried out. It had sensed hostility.
"You felt it?" Gary asked.
"VEE."
Eevee nodded and swept its eyes across the ceiling. The hostility was coming from above.
"As you sensed it, use Shadow Ball," Gary said.
"VEE!"
Eevee looked up at the ceiling. After determining the direction, it raised its right paw, quickly condensed a Shadow Ball, and hurled it upward.
The four Litwick hiding in a compartment above had been watching Gary completely unaware that they had been discovered. They only reacted when they saw Eevee attack, but by then it was too late.
Boom!
The ceiling shattered under Shadow Ball. Broken stones scattered across the floor, and four small Pokémon with white candles on their heads fell out together.
[LV30 Litwick / Gym-tier]
[LV30 Litwick / Quasi-Elite]
[LV28 Litwick / Gym-tier]
[LV28 Litwick♀ / Gym-tier]
The potential of the four Litwick was quite high. Three had Gym-tier potential, while one had Quasi-Elite potential.
However, Lampent had not appeared.
"Still not coming out?"
Gary thought Lampent must believe that four Litwick were enough to deal with him.
"LIT!"
Shadow Ball had only shattered the ceiling. The shock wave injured the four Litwick, but the damage wasn't severe. At least, none of them had fainted.
"Eevee, bind them with Psychic," Gary ordered.
"VEE."
Eevee used Psychic and bound all four Litwick.
"LIT!!"
"LIT!"
"LIT..."
The four Litwick struggled after finding themselves unable to move. They immediately used Psychic to fight back, but none of them had even reached Gym-tier strength, so they naturally couldn't resist Eevee's Psychic.
"You four, discuss among yourselves and send one of you to call your boss," Gary suddenly said.
The Litwick, which had been struggling, stopped and exchanged glances. After a brief discussion, they seemed to agree with Gary's suggestion.
"What? Have you decided?" Gary asked.
"LIT!"
One of the Litwick responded, indicating that it would go back and notify their boss.
Hearing this, Eevee released that Litwick.
The freed Litwick looked back at its companions reassuringly, then passed through the wall and left.
"Gengar, follow it," Gary whispered.
A black shadow flew out from Gary's shadow and chased after the departing Litwick.
"VEE?"
Eevee tilted its head, wondering whether Gengar would be alright.
"Don't worry. Gengar can handle it," Gary said.
In fact, Gary only needed to capture a Litwick. Regardless of its potential, he could raise it into a Lampent and then evolve it with the Premium Dusk Stone, which would raise its potential to Champion level.
Gary insisted on capturing the Lampent here because Lampent was already at a higher level, meaning he would need to use fewer Rare Candies.
While waiting, Gary and Eevee questioned the remaining Litwick about their origins.
The three Litwick had no backbone and answered every question honestly.
Litwick and Lampent had indeed come from the spirit world. They had claimed that they came out so Lampent could evolve, using that excuse to gain the trust of the Dusknoir guarding the passage.
However, after entering the human world, Lampent had failed to find a Dusk Stone. Instead, it discovered that the life energy in this world was extraordinarily delicious.
As a result, Lampent no longer wanted to evolve. It took the Litwick to live in the dilapidated villa and specialized in attacking Trainers and Pokémon that entered the area.
When the agreed departure date arrived, Lampent planned to absorb as much life energy as possible. It had even intended to abduct several humans and bring them back to the spirit world as offerings. Whenever it grew greedy, it would secretly absorb some of their life energy.
After listening to the Litwick's explanation, Gary shuddered.
He hadn't expected Lampent to want to bring humans back to the spirit world and keep them captive to satisfy its desires. It really was an evil Ghost-type Pokémon.
A Pokémon like that absolutely couldn't be released. It had to be captured and properly trained.
Just as Gary was about to continue asking about the spirit world, Gengar suddenly emerged from behind the wall.
"GENGAR!"
Gengar smiled confidently, then opened its mouth and spat out two things: the Litwick and Lampent.