[Snippet] The Ghost King (Pokemon): Chapter 10 (Patreon)

“Make sure to call when you get to the next city, okay? We don’t need you to call and check up every week…but just letting us know your general route and journey is enough.”

Edmund’s mom was fussing over him.

She wasn’t cold by any means, but she was like his father, more reserved. Seeing her emotional like this…was strange to him. Especially when it overlapped with the memories of his mom of his past life, who had the same face and name.

When he first arrived here, he thought that it might be his special type of hell. A glimpse into things of how they could have been, of things he yearned for when he was younger. All the ‘what-ifs’ he had in his heart that slowly ground away under the pestle of life.

“I’ll make sure to check in, Mom." Edmund smiled awkwardly, still feeling the warmth in his chest despite his own reservations.

His father put a hand on his shoulder. It was about the same as him getting a hug and a tear-induced goodbye from the stoic man.

“Do you have everything you need?”

“I triple-checked everything, and Benjamin made sure too.” Edmund nodded.

“Went through a checklist.” His brother gave a thumbs-up.

“Edmund.” Barty spoke up. “Do you have a route planned? It’s important to devise your trajectory ahead of time.”

Edmund swallowed as they all looked at him, and he nodded. “After I pick up my Pokemon, I’ll head to Pewter City for my first badge and gym.”

Barty nodded. “Good choice. Brock is a young gym leader, but he’s sympathetic and makes sure to coordinate a proper team for new trainers. You won’t get a free win, but if you put in the effort, he won’t be a tall wall to overcome.”

“Sounds like you’re leaving good ol’ Giovanni for last.” Benjamin snorted. “Good choice. That guy does not take it easy on new trainers. You won’t see his true team, but he will stomp everyone into the ground even with a sub-badge new trainer.”

Giovanni was renowned for being ruthless in his battles. This more or less made him the final hurdle for most trainers in the region. It was extremely common for everyone to battle him for their final badge.

Since Giovanni was stationed in their home city, it made the whole journey an easy circle to complete and ended up back home on the complete circuit.

“Alright boys, don’t path out his journey for him.” His mom grabbed his collar, fixing it. “The official Circuit ends in nine months; that’s when the League Tournament starts taking registrations. No one can tell you where to go or what to do. Take your time, don’t get into too much trouble, and see the world.” His mother gave heartfelt words.

The send-off wasn’t spectacular; it was quiet and intimate.

They all said their goodbyes as they saw him off onto the road. Even though he wasn’t heading directly out onto his journey, as he needed to go ‘get his starter,' they still acted like he was setting off.

That suited him fine because he didn’t plan on coming back anytime soon.

As Edmund left, as he walked the road, backpack on, pulling his hood up over his head, he had resolved himself. He would make something of himself; at the very least, he was going to carve out his own existence in this fantastical world.

Early morning, most people hadn’t ventured out yet. The first official day of the Circuit Season—the start for a new generation of trainers—it was still just a tad early. Edmund made his way down to Palot town to find his new partner in crime.

He felt a pressure stretch out his hood as a certain ball of gas made its new seat on top of his head, under his hood.

Gastly had decided it wanted out of its Poké Ball.

Edmund didn’t say anything; it was important to respect a Pokémon's preferences. Ghosts were naturally mischievous; if he tried to strangle that aspect, it would just lead to resentment over time.

The house of Julian was the same as before; the trip down to Pallet town passed quickly as his mind was focused almost entirely on his journey ahead.

Frankly, he might even call himself excited at this point.

The researcher's house was the same before, and Edmund barely knocked once before it swung open to see the other man’s tired face.

Julian looked at him, then at his Gastly, and just grunted, leaving the door open as he went back inside.

Edmund silently followed, closing the door behind him before looking around. “You cleaned up.”

Julian snorted. “I had some time in between fixing up one of those Pokedex’s and updating the systems. Figured if I was going to be doing some work from here, I may as well spruce things up.”

“You managed to fix one up?” Edmund perked up.

“I was up all night, but it’s done.” Julian waved his hand, pointing at the Pokedex on the table. “Last Generation, but I made it look nice and new on the outside at least. Should pass any scrutiny at face value.”

Edmund picked it up from the table, gently running his hand over it.

“Gast.”

“Yeah, it’s important," Edmund replied, sort of understanding him as time went by. “It’s a good tool, and it can act like an identification in some places, opening some doors.”

“Just be careful bout what ‘doors’ you open with it because someone may ring up the old man and blow everything up.” Julian tiredly said.

Edmund nodded. “I’ll be careful.” He paused. “Are you able to register a Pokeball for me? I just got this guy ‘captured’ yesterday. The source was…abnormal."

Julian gave him a look like he was about to ask but decided not to. “Yeah, hand it over. As long as it’s not a stolen one, it’s not very hard.” He took the offered Poké Ball from Julian, then went over to his computer and hooked it up to a device there. 

Edmund looked over his shoulder as his own face popped up, his Trainer ID.

“I got you all registered already.” Julian told him, as if to guess what he wanted to ask. “Here we go, new Poké Ball, no previous owner. Not registered as stolen, it should be fine. Pokemon scanned Gastly."

An image appeared next to his Trainer ID; it was a picture of Gastly, showing it as one of his Pokemon.

“As a zero-badged, unlisted trainer, your current carry limit is six Pokemon. If you don’t have an automatic transfer system set up for housing and support, you’re allowed a grace period of two weeks to deposit any extra Pokemon into a shelter or ranch facility to take care of them.” Julian spoke almost in a monotone, like he was reading some memorized rules. “At Eight Badges, your limit is increased by two automatically. Further increases require special permission or certifications, which aren’t really relevant to you at this point in time.”

“Six is enough for now.” Edmund recalled the other Pokeball in his pack, the old one he found before. If there was a need, he could use that one to get around the limit and keep it secret for now.

Of course that had other issues, such as presenting it to a Pokecenter for healing or help if whatever inside was hurt.

“I also took the liberty of registering you as a Pokemon catcher.”

“Pokemon Catcher?” Edmund repeated, confused by the term.

“Not surprised you don’t know it; it’s not something talked about in polite company.” Julian responded, shifting through some documents until he found some things he was looking for. “It’s basically the registration for people who capture Pokemon for profit.”

“Ah.” Edmund understood immediately. “They don’t advertise it but still support it secretly.”

“Bingo.” Julian snapped his fingers. “Despite how people look down on the sort of thing, it’s incredibly prevalent throughout our world. Heck, the big ‘Clans’ are only one side step away from the whole thing with their breeding farms. There honestly isn’t a real difference between breeding Pokémon to sell or catching them wild if you think about it.”

“Can you tell me what this whole ‘Pokemon Catcher’ thing is about, though?” He knew there was more to it than that.

“It’s just a way for the League to keep everything under their eyes. It puts a capture limit on those people who capture and sell for profit. You’re allowed a capture limit of thirty Pokemon per year if it results in a direct monetary purpose.”

“That sounds…”

“Dubious and vague?” Julian finished for him. “It is; it’s mostly just there to streamline things, to establish rules, and as a way for the League to bring the hammer down if it needs to. Genuinely, they don’t really bother to police it too closely if you’re not being egregious. Fill out your paperwork properly when making a sale, pay your taxes, and they’ll probably not care if you go a few over the limit or make some shady deals.” 

Edmund understood.

It was a regulation set up mostly on paper to be used when the League needed to exert control. For the most part, it was almost impossible to completely control the market for buying and selling pokemon. 

“I get it," Edmund said simply. “Don’t rock the boat; don’t go out and destroy ecosystems and capture entire herds of Pokemon.”

“Pretty much.”

Edmund looked over to the side where Gastly was looking around, getting into things. He seemed particularly interested in a few knick-knacks on the shelf.

“Are you sure this is the route you want to go, kid?” Julian asked me. “It’s not illegal, it’s not like you’re going to be poaching or anything, but it’s not really look at well in the big leagues. If you want to go big, it’s going to be a black mark on your record. To most people, if it comes out that you’re a Pokemon catcher who sells valuable pokemon for profit, there’s not much of a difference in people’s mind between that and poaching.”

“I know.” Edmund said softly. “But it’s the path I’m choosing. I don’t care what other people think; I’m going to do what I can, and I'm going to walk my own path. I’m already a Ghost Trainer; will people think even less of me?”

Julian snorted. “Yeah, you’re starting on hard mode already. What's another nail in the coffin?" He let out a song, rubbing his head out of tiredness. “If it’s what you want, I’m not your dad; I’m not going to talk you out of it. I already have enough riding on this as it is.”

“For my plans, I’m going to need a lot of money.” There were just too many things he needed to get. Ignoring everything else, one of his major goals was getting the Mega Stone for his partner when he evolves in the future.

He had no idea if there was even a market for that sort of thing. If there was, if it wasn’t some closely guarded secret, how much would that possibly cost?

“Yeah, sure, whatever.” Julian didn’t particularly care at this point in time. He was still not fully on board, and that deadline they talked about still hung overhead. “I figured you didn’t want to do anything close to your family, but I asked around and found a good place for you to get acquainted with.”

Julian handed Edmund a piece of paper as he looked over it. “A bar?”

“It’s a series of bars, actually. This one is specifically in  Pewter City, I guessed it should be your first destination.” He waved off. “It’s a gathering place for people of the same trade. They usually post jobs there for any clients needing certain Pokemon and such.”

Edmund nodded and put the piece of paper away for now.

“Can I ask, how extensive are your connections?” He looked at the older researcher.

“My connections?” Julian blinked. “You mentioned something about that, I think. But if you’re hoping I have a huge network, you’re going to be disappointed. I have a few friends here or there, or people I’ve worked with before from my time under the old man. But it's not like I can call people up without any reservations and ask for favors.” He paused for a moment. “But if there’s money involved, most professors have people like me who would probably be happy to accept some research funds.”

That fit Edmund well enough. “So getting Pokemon from other regions isn’t out of the question.” It was good enough for now; he would worry more about it later once he starts bringing some income in.

Julian sighed. “You got your plans, I guess. What’s your first plan then, kid? What’s the big scheme to make it big for both of us?”

Edmund knew he couldn’t keep Julian completely in the dark; even for these few months, he was promised to prove himself. Julian was betting his livelihood, so he needed something. “The Onix I told you about.”

Julian perked up.

Edmund had mentioned the Crystal Onix briefly the last time they met.

“It’s in the Orange Islands.” He revealed that much even if he didn’t say it all. He wasn’t scared that the man would find it before him. How long had that Crystal Onix story been propagated in that area, and no one had found it until Ash fumbled into it?

“Orange Islands.” Julian’s eyes brightened. “I see, that makes sense. The ecosystem there is different than Kanto, even if it’s close by. If there was a mutation of some sort, something like that wouldn’t go unnoticed here in Kanto. But the Orange Islands are…less developed when it comes to both the League and trainers."

“I should be able to get there in two months.” Edmund nodded.

“You’ll need to practically make a line for it, but it shouldn’t be too hard.”

“I can always cut parts of my journey off and head there ahead of time.” Edmund was essentially speaking his thoughts out loud. “No reason I couldn’t head over there early after getting a few more team members and then heading back to where I left the front."

“Yeah, you’re going to need a bigger team.” Julian muttered. “The Orange Islands don’t count as another league, but it’s not recommended you travel that far without at least three solid Pokemon at your side. And you most definitely need a water-type if you’re crossing the ocean like that, and you’re going to be poking around the Arcepeligo."

“I have one in mind," Edmund smiled.

Julian showed a rare smile. “Most trainers heading out for the first time have a team composition in their heads. But rarely do they end up with everything they want.”

“I’m not too focused on what I think is the ‘optimal’ composition.” Edmund refuted. “However, I do have certain Pokemon in mind that I want to aim for. If it doesn’t work out, there’s nothing I can do but shift my plans.” He said with a shrug.

“That’s a good attitude to have. Things aren’t going to go your way; that’s a harsh lesson that trainers learn early on. The wilderness is not fun and games; it sucks. It's cold, it’s wet, it’s dark, it’s scary… and there are dangerous Pokemon out there that don’t care about ‘becoming friends.'

Edmund already ran into that with a certain Scythor and Beedrill swarm not long ago.

“Don’t worry, I already figured those life lessons out. A Beedrill swarm almost did me in a few days ago.”

Julian raised an eyebrow before shaking his head. “Lesson number one for every new trainer in Kanto, and really listen to this one.” Julian looked serious. “Stay the fuck away from Beedrill swarms. If you see a weedle by itself, it’s not.”

Edmund just nodded dumbly, understanding where that little bit of advice actually comes from. “Aren’t there a bunch of Bug Catchers running around every season, though?”

Julian scoffed. “Those idiots usually get their Weedle from one of the local nurtured hives. There are a few swarms that were nurtured and raised by human hands, so they’re a lot less temperamental.” He shook his head. “Besides, don’t bother with those idiots. Those types usually pick Weedle or other Bug Types because Bug Types are notoriously easy to evolve to their final form much quicker than other types. They usually get a Beedrill in a month or two, then bully some new kids for another few months, then fizzle out when everyone else catches up.”

“I get it.” Edmund waved it off. “Bugs have their strengths and weaknesses. A Beedril, despite being a third evolution, will still fall flat in front of most other third-level evolutions.” Bug types were easier to evolve, but they were generally ‘weaker’ in comparison to their equivalents of other types.

Not that they were weak.

If stats were calculated numerically, it would just be that their strength, stamina, and such were lower in comparison.

A Bug Type could most certainly reach the same heights as any other Pokemon; it was just up to the Trainer and Pokemon to climb there. But it was clear that these commonly known ‘bug catchers' just care about quick power-ups.

Of course, Edmund knew the type of person from his previous life. The name of ‘Bug Catcher’ was famous enough as it was.

“Speaking of Teams…” Julian got up to find a couple boxes, setting them on the table. “I got some old TMs that I scrounged up, and I got the Pokeballs you’ll need. If I’m going to be acting as your 'sponsor,' I figured I may as well set you up with some benefits.”

“TMs? Aren’t those like….really expensive?” Edmund’s eyes widened.

Julian just grunted. “I’ve picked up a few here or there from my work. Don’t think about it too much; these ones can’t be sold, otherwise I would have done so. They’re the special TMs that are sent to researchers for the purpose of research, so they’re flagged if you try to use them on regular systems or if they get checked by the authorities. But you’re in luck; I got a TM machine here in the back.”

“How did you get your hands on one of those?” He looked at Julian incredulously.

“It’s not as fantastical as you would think. I got it when it was broken, actually. I fixed it up a few years ago and didn’t really have a use for it; it was meant for another project, but I never got around to it.” He scratched his head. “It’s, uh…not perfect, though. It crashes after two-three uses and takes several days to debug and reboot after a system repair. It’s harmless, just…finicky."

Edmund looked at him and felt a strange feeling in his chest that he pushed away for now. “Thanks.” He began to rummage through the TMs as Gastly rejoined him, looking at them too. 

Based on the way he was looking at them as well, it seemed that Gastly knew what they were, which in and of itself was also strange.

“I heard a rumor that moves learned through TMs are weaker than if they’re learned normally?” Edmund looked up at Julian.

“To save you a rant, that’s both true and false.” Julian scratched his head. “If you taught your Pokemon Hyper Beam through and immediately tested it against a Pokemon of the same type who had just learned Hyper Beam naturally, yeah, it’s going to lose. There is something lost between transfers with a TM, but you just need to train it properly after.”

“So it’s a skill issue.”

Julian snorted at his summarization but didn’t deny it. “Even so, I don’t recommend powerful moves to learn. It is slightly harder to train up a learned move from a TM compared to a naturally learned version. Utility moves transfer better in the process where ‘power’ isn’t as much of a factor.”

“What do you think, buddy?” Edmund looked at Gastly as he held up several TMs.

“Gast…” The Ghost Pokemon looked at them in contemplation before diving into the others and fishing out one himself.

“Oh?” Edmund was surprised. “If that’s what you want, that’s fine too.”

Julian looked over the TMs. “That’s an interesting selection. It makes me curious what you’re trying to do with your Ghost here.”

He looked at the TMs: Thief and Will-O-Wisp.

Gastly wanted a thief; Edmund chose Will-O-Wisp.

“Ghosts shouldn’t be predictable.” Edmund said simply, recalling the battle with the Elder Gengar. 

For some reason, Edmund felt like he was teaching him a bit of lesson during that battle. Showing him tricks intentionally to get a point across that Ghosts don’t fight fair.

If that was the case, then it most certainly suited Edmund.

“Alright, if that’s your choice.” Julian had no mind to argue or deliberate the purposes of his choices. At the end of the day, a Pokemon Trainer should follow their own heart. “We’ll do those last. A few more things before you run off into the sunset. Pokeballs here.” There were two sections in the box. “On the right, Ten Pokeballs—these are specifically your Registered Capture Balls. On the left, there’s Six; these are your registered Team Balls. Don’t mix them up; don’t get cheeky with using one for the other.”

Edmund nodded as he picked them up and attached the proper ‘Team Balls’ to his belt along with the Gastly Ball. 

“Remember, I don’t have a whole stable set up, so you’re on your own to care for Pokemon. If, and I do mean if, you pull through in your wild ideas, we can start hashing out details on that sort of thing. A Onix, like you said, with a whole new type? That is worth some big money.” Julian explained. 

“Got it.” Edmund gave a blunt reply without argument. “I don’t plan on expanding my team or capturing too many anyways.” For him, he never really saw the point in capturing dozens, if not hundreds, of Pokemon, only to keep them on a ranch somewhere. 

He wanted his team to travel with him; he wasn’t going to abandon them every time he went to a new region.

“Good, now for your Pokedex.” He pointed to it still out on the table. “I’ve said it tons of times; it’s an older-gen model. That means the signal isn’t as good, the battery isn’t as good, and it has fewer functions. Still go ahead and use it to note Pokemon on your travels; I’ll get the data. It may or may not be beneficial, who knows. Second, it does have some call capabilities, but as I said, Signal sucks. If you’re too far out of cities, it’s going to be hard to talk. Also, it can’t take calls or make calls other than to specific devices. It’s plugged in to mine, so if you need something, if there’s an emergency, you can send me a call.”

“Got it, I’ll use it sparingly.” Edmund put it into his pocket. 

Everything was shaping up, and Edmund was ready to start his journey.

@***@

It took a bit to finally make their way out of Julian’s place.

The TM Machine broke down after two uses, which was fine; he planned specifically around two uses, and if it got a third, that would have only been a bonus.

The Road was clear for now, and Gastly floated next to him, a malevolent flame hovering in front of his face as he played around with his new ability.

Edmund had his notebook out as he jotted down notes, updating his Gastly’s list of abilities.

Lick.

Shadow Ball.

Payback.

Toxic.

Thief.

Will-O-Wisp.

At first glance, it was a strange assortment of abilities for a starter. Shadow Ball was a very high-level ability, not something a young Gastly should know. Yet, he was able to use it with relative ease based on how much it was spammed in their battle.

Thief didn’t have much application in normal battles; it wasn’t like it’s game equivalent, where trainers were using items so blatantly. Granted, things like Mega Stones existed, so they had some purpose. However, trainers didn’t have heals mid-battle; they didn’t have special items that did fantastical things like prevented downs, healed, or dodged an attack.

Why Gastly picked it, Edmund didn’t know, but it made him happy.

However, it would probably have good use outside of Battles.

Lick was obvious; it was basically Gastly's bread and butter at lower levels. It was something all Gastly knew from birth. A simple, basic attack.

Payback was interesting too, because it was a dark move. Logically, Dark Type moves should be much harder for a Ghost Type like Gastly to learn, yet he seemed to gravitate towards them. It just showed that typing wasn't so absolute in this world as it was in the media he was familiar with.

And Edmund himself chose Will-O-Wisp for a simple idea. Hit-and-run tactics, whittling down opponents, applying status effects, and avoiding damage. That seemed like a good method to start with and see how it develops.

Toxic to poison, Will-O-Wisp to burn, and then let them slowly get drained until defeat.

Obviously, such a simple strategy of a ‘DoT build’ wouldn’t take him too far if that’s the only thing he relied on. But it was simply a good starting point, as his Gastly learned more abilities and they got stronger.

The plan was for him to learn Sucker Punch.

Sucker Punch was going to be his signature move. It was a fantastic ability with good damage and utilization. It was weaker than Shadow Ball, but it was incredibly sneaky, subtle, and fast. It was important to note that it wasn’t like the game where both Pokemon sat around and took turns attacking.

Sucker Punch was significantly more sneaky. It was a move that slipped into your opponent’s defense to target them at their most vulnerable or take them by surprise. Its advantage was its speed and maneuverability.

It wasn’t, however, inviolable or unavoidable.

So it would require a lot of training and learning how to time it well.

Gastly can learn Sucker Punch, but how does a floating ball of Gas even punch someone? That’s what made the move so incredible; it was a physical attack, but it utilized several different avenues to land a hit.

“Keep practicing with your flame. You’ll need to be able to control it to throw it out in different ways. Curving it around, anticipating movement or tracking someone.” Edmund told him. “The control aspect is very important.”

“Gast!” He seemed excited, nodding vigorously in the air as the flame began to dance around him playfully.

“Come one, why don’t we go say goodbye properly to your grandfather before we set off?” Edmund offered because they were about halfway between Pallet and Viridan, thereabouts where the Ghosts were set up.

Gastly perked up. “Gast! Gastly!” It used its smoky form to grab hold of Edmund’s sleeve and yank him into the forest off the road.

Just like before, they headed deep into the forest off the road. Gastly seemed to know exactly where it was going as it navigated the scenery rather easily.

This time, Edmund was paying more attention, expecting it. But even so, the change took him off guard, as the forest seemed to slowly peel back, the light slowly faded, and even the trees started to pull away until it was like they were in an entirely different world.

Eyes peeked out from the shadows, from between the darkness, from out of nowhere.

Different ghosts popped out happily, greeting the two of them as they welcomed them home.

However, compared to last time, it was also different. He thought they would stop in the middle of the forest area, but they kept going.

Past the trees that seemed to go on endlessly, they opened up, and Edmund saw buildings. Old, very old buildings that used to be part of a town that nature had started to reclaim.

Perhaps many years ago, it used to be a small village, but now there are fewer than a dozen buildings in an artificial clearing. The atmosphere didn't change as the twisted and dark trees hung overhead, but it really showed the breath of this group of ghosts that had made this area home.

Most of the buildings weren’t in good shape, but they still stood, providing some manner of…home? Of shelter or of a place for everyone to lay about.

Edmund looked to see various ghosts sleeping at random spots. Windows, roofs, and hanging off wooden beams that protruded off the decaying structures. 

It certainly made more sense than the Ghosts just living out in the middle of the forest for no reason. It was known that ghosts like to inhabit human structures, almost a preference compared to isolated wilderness.

No one but an eye at the new human wandering through their home either.

If anything, they now looked at him as one of their own.

Edmund noticed immediately the white mountain in front of them. The Alpha, Shiny Gengar, was just lying down in the middle of the 'town,' sleeping away. His eye peeked open as Edmund and Gastly appeared but seemed uninterested.

His immense pressure didn’t press down on him either this time, as apparently the Gengar also looked at him as one of their own as well.

“Gengar.” A familiar sound came out as a certain elderly Gengar seemed to pop out of thin air, touching the ground.

“Gast!” Gastly ran up to him like an excited grandchild. “Gastly! Gas, Gastly!” It excitedly told him everything as Gengar nodded along, humoring him.

“Gast!” His Will-O-Wisp came out as he floated the fires around, earning a pat on the head by his Grandpa Gengar.

At this point, a bunch of Ghosts gathered around, curious about what was going on. 

Grandpa Gengar carried Gastly in his arms as he walked back over to Edmund. “Geng?”

“We just wanted to come over and say our goodbyes before we left.” Edmund explained. “I already said goodbye to my parents; I thought it was appropriate," I thought.

Gengar seemed to smile. He then beckoned his hand, looking at Edmund, pointing at Gastly before producing his own Will-O-Wisp.

“Will-O-Wisp?” Edmund caught his question. “I thought it would be a good starting point to focus on status ailments, then branch off into more unconventional tactics.” He could more or less guess that Gengar was asking him why that move, assuming Gastly told him about the TMs. 

Gengar nodded in understanding.

He made a few more gestures that Edmund had a hard time understanding before realizing the communications difficulty. “Geng.” He hummed before reaching out with a small glint of something, and in his hand appeared Edmund’s notebook.

“Gengar.” He spoke, looking at Gastly as if to show him, Look, that’s how it’s done.

“Gast!” Gastly nodded excitedly.

He had just used Thief like it was second nature. Gengar opened the notebook, then tapped at the spot where Edmund had written down Gastly’s moves before.

“What moves do I want Gastly to learn?” Edmund asked.

Gengar’s eyes lit up. “Geng! Gengar.” He responded as if to say, "Good job."

“The priority would be to make sure he becomes competent in the new moves he just learned. But the first move I want him to pick up himself is Sucker Punch.” Edmund answered easily.

Gengar rubbed his chin. “Geng.” He spoke to Gastly before turning to look at the Alpha Gengar. “Gengar. Geng. Gar.” He spoke, and the mountain of a ghost sat up, yawning.

“Geng?” It responded before standing up fully, shaking the ground in the process.

“Gengar.” The Elderly Gengar spoke again, as if telling them to pay attention. “Gengar!” He threw a punch into the air, and a shadowy manifestation of his fist appeared nearby, aimed at the Alpha’s cheek.

The Alpha Gengar held a hand up to block it, but just as it connected, it dissipated and another, on the other side, manifested and struck him in the cheek.

The Alpha Gengar’s eyes widened as his head spun and his entire body did a spin off the ground before he fell face-first into the dirt.

The Elderly Gengar put one foot onto the Alpha, then held his hand to the sky, pointing upwards. “Gengar!” 

Everyone cheered as the Alpha lay there, passed out from the Sucker Punch.

Was that two Sucker Punches back-to-back, or was the first a complete misdirection? Edmund didn’t know, but the result spoke for itself.

He then pointed at Gastly. “Gengar.”

Again, it was like he was asking, Did you see properly?

“Gastly! Gast! Lee!”

“Gar.”

The Elderly Gengar stepped off the Alpha, the latter of which rolled over and let his tongue roll out. Whether he was playing around or actually got knocked out briefly, Edmund also didn’t know the answer to this question.

The Elder Gengar snapped his fingers, and a good dozen or so Ghosts pushed through; between them, they were carrying an old chest. Not like a treasure chest, but more like an old chest that kept things like momentos or clothes, or what have you.

They set it down in front of the Elder Gengar, and he clicked it open, rummaging through it.

Gastly went over, diving into it before snatching something away. There was a rubber ball in its mouth that it chewed on like it had done so in the past. Gengar seemed to roll his eyes in a way that a parent does towards a child’s antics before fishing out what he was looking for.

Edmund barely got a look at it before he handed it to him.

It was a mask.

Edmund accepted it, looking it over.

It was like a strange combination between a kabuki mask and a ghost mask.

But for some reason, it felt heavy, and he didn’t mean its actual weight.

“Thank you?” Edmund spoke in confusion. But before he could ask about it, the Gengar plucked it out of his hands and pushed it into Edmund’s face.

Despite its shape and its size, it adhered to his face like it had glue on it.

Edmund subconsciously stepped back at the sudden action. And the Mask most assuredly has fallen off based on its design, yet it stayed stuck to his face. There was a brief moment of horror as he reached up to grab it, but to his surprise, it came off easily from his own effort.

He stared at it and pushed it onto his face again, and once more, it was like it was adhered to his skin, not falling off unless he wanted to take it off.

For some reason, he felt like there was something off about the mask, and he wasn’t talking about how it was sticking to his face.

This world was full of strange and fantastical items, things that stepped into the territory of magic. So he wasn’t completely baffled by something like this, but it still took him off guard initially.

“Thank you, I’ll take good care of it.” It was a gift from the Elder Gengar, so at the very least, he wouldn’t look down on it and take care of it properly.

Genger put a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him. “Gengar.”

Edmund blinked because he felt like he understood Gengar much clearer this time.

“Good luck on your journey."

@***@

A/N

Edmund setting off, saying goodbye to everyone and getting prepared. I like the idea of the MC having some advantages, but not like… 'Here's a whole starter team, and everyone has Hyperbeam.' A couple moves learned through a TM doesn’t break things. A few gifts here or there don't ruin the atmosphere, I don’t think. What’s the mask? What does it do? Well, it has some uses and purpose that will be revealed in the future.

Just felt like doing another Ghost King chapter.

Anyways, next update should be Surviving for the snippet choice.