"So the kid truly has some connection with it." Alka paced around in his cabin. In front of him was the same Gengar who just saved Eric's life.
"And that fragment merged with his Gastly..." He went up to a drawer and took out a stone with a weird symbol on it.
"That means the two of them have already formed a connection..." He played with the stone as it began to glow. And if you looked at the Gengar beside him, it too faintly emitted the same glow as the stone.
Alka put the stone back. "You don't need to shadow the kid anymore. We helped him once. Noe he'll have to rely on himself."
"Gengar!"
Gengar replied back as he then merged with Alka's shadow.
"Whether this connection with that entity is a good or bad thing... only time will tell."
---
After freeing Haruko from her bounds, Eric, Misako and Haruko were now on their way back to Lavender Town. They have survived the ordeal, but their mood was anything but good.
Haruko's hands were also badly injured. She needed immediate treatment.
Misako was still shaken up by this ordeal. This event would likely traumatise her for a long time.
As for Eric... he was quiet. But inside his head was a mess.
The reality of his powerlessness gnawed at him. He had overcome a lot of the anxiety that he had when he just came to this world. But now, it came back with a vengeance.
Even though he has grown a lot, he felt weaker than ever. That at any point, anyone can come and crush him.
Haruko, noticing the state they were in, said, "I know how you both are feeling, but don't let your thoughts overtake you."
Misako nodded but she didn't get much of a response from Eric, so she dug in deeper. "Hey kid. What's going through your head? Walk me the it."
"… Nothing. Just the reality of how weak I am still."
Haruko could sense the anxiety in his voice.
"Nobody's born strong you know. But that doesn't mean you have to live your life in fear. The fact is, this was an anomalous situation. You don't face something like this often. So stop worrying that you'll get crushed at any moment."
"…"
She wasn't wrong. It's not a usual thing to meet cloaked psycopaths. But Eric won't feel at peace till he was strong enough to crush such people.
"S-sis is right! I refuse to let guys like that make me feel anxious. I won't give them the power."
Misako said with resolve. Even though she was still a bit traumatised, she won't let someone like him break her.
Her words resonated with Eric.
'Why am I still giving scums like him power over me? While it is true, I need to get strong, I am going to do that for me. Not out of fear. Otherwise, what's the point of this second life? Not to mention, I don't want that kind of life for my Pokémon.'
"…You two are right. I was just anxious."
Seeing that both Eric and Misako recovered, Haruko sighed. Teenagers change their moods so easily, she thought.
'Still...' her eyes narrowed. She looked at Eric.
"You said that you found a Red share that merged with your Haunter right?"
"I did. I don't know what that is though. I just came here to get Ghost Pearls."
"And who gave you the map?"
"It was someone named Alka Korvet. He lives in Lavender Towe-"
"Oh that geezer." Eric was cut off as Haruko interjected.
"You know him?"
"Yes…" Haruko sighed. She didn't want to remember the time she met Alka.
"Guess I'll have to go and ask him about it." She sighed again. Seemed like meeting Alka was more annoying to her than fighting that Cloaked guy.
Then she remembered the cloaked guy's creepy stare. No, scratch that. The cloaked guy was still much worse.
In this manner, the trip quickly left Lavander woods and returned to town. They immediately went to the Pokémon Center to get their Pokémon treated. Haruko went to the section that dealt with trainer injuries to get her hands treated.
They had a hole in them due to the nail. Even with the fast regeneration of this world's humans, something like that is going to take a few weeks to heal. Well, that was still infinitely faster than Earth, where you might now even fully recover.
Aftwrwards, Eric was about to bade farewell to the 2 sisters but they dragged him with them to get a meal together.
The Ghostly Griddle, one of Lavender Town's flagship restaurants.
"Big sis, Eric! You have to try this!"
Misako jumped out of her seat excitedly after taking a bite from her food.
"Settle down Misako!"
Haruko pulled her back into her chair. Sigh. This sister of her was such a handful.
She then looked at Eric.
Eric felt a bit out of his element, unused to eating at restaurants with others. But as soon as the food arrived, his dimeaner changed entirely, as he ate with even more enthusiasm than Misako.
"…What?"
Eric noticed Haruko's stare and asked.
"Nothing. I just didn't expect you to be a foodie." Haruko smiled teasingly.
"…"
Eric stared back at her.
"Have you looked at your plate?"
He said as he pointed at it.
*Cough*
" W-well, I guess everyone hair is a foodie." Haruko averted her gaze as she said.
They had booked a large room just for themselves, so all of their Pokemon were also feasting with them.
'Yup. All of us are foodies.' she thought when she looked at them.
"Fearow, Poliwag! There is enough food so stop fighting."
Eric commented in annoyance as he saw both Fearow and Poliwag fighting furiously over food. Besides them, Haunter was laughing mischievously as he was stuffing his mouth with food.
"Haunter! Don't think I didn't notice you caused this mess. Do it again and I'm returning you to your pokeball."
Eric scolded. Haunter stopped laughing and looked away.
'Seriously. He has gotten a lot more mischievous after evolving.' Eric thought as he got back to his food, a slight smile on his face.
'Well, it's not so bad considering how he was when we met.'
In this manner the group enjoyed a grand feast after facing an ordeal that could've ended with their deaths.
---
"You lost the fragment to a kid?"
"Like I said, it was becaue of that Gengar. It defeated my Druddigon in one move!"
"Tch. The Lord will not be happy. Did you at least mark the kid?"
"No. I tried but that Gengar cut the connection. I do know what that kid looks like though."
"Useless. Do you realise how big Kanto is? Even if you know what he looks like, we'll never be able to find him! Just you wait till we tell the Lord about this."
"Tch do you want to fight, is that it?"
"Shut up, both of you." A third more commanding voice said.
"Lex, you screwed up. I don't care for excuses. Fix this on your own if you want to avoid punishment."
The cloaked man's name was Lex.
" You don't need to tell me. He is my prey… and I don't ever let my preys escape…kuhaha"
------------------------------------
This marks the end of this arc. Tell me in the comments what you thought.
If you want early access (10 chapters) to the upcoming chapters or just want to support me, you can do that at:
www.patreon.com/GhostQuill407