After putting away all his Pokémon except Kirlia, Natsui gently woke Misty and Ash.
Ash stretched with a big yawn, having apparently slept quite well: "Is it morning already?"
Misty rubbed her eyes too and said, still drowsy: "I think I just had a dream that a ghost attacked us."
Natsui smiled wryly: "It wasn't a dream, it was real, and Brock is missing."
"What?!" Misty and Ash exclaimed, suddenly fully awake. "Did they take him?"
Thinking of the corresponding anime plot, Natsui nodded: "I don't think he's in any life‑threatening danger, but nonetheless, we should find him as soon as possible."
The three looked at the wooden cabin before them and entered cautiously, only to find it empty. There was just a smell of dampness and mold—who knows how many years it had stood.
As they stepped on the wooden floor, it let out an eerie creak. Misty peeked over Natsui's shoulder, looking around with some fear.
"Huh? Brock's not here?"
Natsui thought for a moment and said to them: "Come on, let's go back to the Maiden's Shrine!"
When they returned to Maiden Cape Village, it was already midnight.
The night sky was dotted with stars, the day's hustle had ceased, and the entire village was eerily silent. The cold air seeped through their clothes, making them shiver involuntarily.
The people who had attended the festival had already left, leaving trash scattered everywhere, waiting to be cleaned up in the morning.
They arrived at the Maiden's Shrine, opened the door, and saw Brock lying on the floor, unconscious.
Aside from him, there was still no sign of Gastly.
In reality, Natsui understood that, with Gastly's strange abilities, truly finding him would be extremely difficult.
"Brock, wake up!"
Ash shook Brock hard. After a while, Brock finally stirred weakly, still muttering under his breath: "I want to see her..."
Natsui quickly knelt down to check his condition.
"He has dark circles under his eyes, his clothes are disheveled, he's lacking energy, and he's visibly thinner than before. They must have drained too much of his vitality and energy!"
Compared to an innocent boy like Ash, Misty, being a girl, was more perceptive. Although she didn't know much about "those matters," she vaguely understood some things.
She blushed and said, "Was it Gastly?"
"No," Natsui shook his head. "I think it was a real ghost that drained his energy, and Gastly was just its accomplice."
"A real ghost?" Misty asked in surprise. "You mean that woman actually exists?"
Natsui confirmed: "Of course; otherwise, Gastly wouldn't have led Brock to a place like this."
Misty asked again, "So why did she do it?"
Natsui thought for a moment and speculated: "After all, she's existed for two thousand years. Even a ghost needs energy to maintain its existence, so I guess that's why she absorbs men's energy during the Summer Festival every year."
Seeing that Misty was about to ask more, Natsui quickly said, "Alright, no more questions. Let's hurry and take Brock back to the Poké Center."
At the Poké Center.
After Nurse Joy diagnosed that Brock was only suffering from extreme exhaustion, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
However, regarding what had just happened, no matter how much they questioned him, Brock only looked confused, as if he didn't remember anything after Gastly took him.
After leaving him in the bedroom and asking Ash to take good care of him, Natsui exited the Poké Center alone.
Although that Gastly was extremely difficult to deal with, Natsui had made up his mind to capture it.
As a wild Gastly that had lived for who-knows-how-many years, its abilities were naturally very powerful. And the strangest thing of all was that, just like Team Rocket's Meowth, it could also speak human language!
For that reason alone, if he captured it, communicating with his Pokémon would be much more comfortable in the future, and he wouldn't have to rely solely on intuition and guesswork to interact with them.
But where could Gastly be now?
It was two in the morning, and the night was deep.
Natsui looked both ways and finally decided to trust his instinct, heading first to Maiden's Rock on the cliff by the sea to try his luck.
Following the mountain path, he left the village and soon reached his destination. However, as before, aside from the sound of the waves and the salty sea breeze, there was nothing.
"Gastly, are you here?!"
Natsui shouted loudly, but although his voice carried into the distance, there was no response.
"He really isn't here?" Natsui said to himself as he approached Maiden's Rock. "Then I suppose it wouldn't matter if I destroyed this rock right now, would it?"
"Hey, hey!" a voice suddenly sounded behind him. "I can't pretend I didn't hear that!"
Natsui smiled, turned around and, sure enough, it was Gastly.
"Gastly, let's battle!"
"Oh?" Gastly said seriously. "You want to catch me?"
Natsui pulled a Poké Ball from his belt, which expanded in his hand. "Of course. My goal is the Indigo Conference, and I'm looking for teammates. Your power will undoubtedly be a great help to me!"
With that, Natsui threw the Poké Ball he held, and after a flash of red light, what appeared in front of Gastly was an Eevee whose fur was completely bristled!
"Wow, so it's a Jolteon!" Gastly's tone at that moment, though somewhat surprised, was mostly one of relief.
Natsui asked, "What's the matter? Surprised to see a Jolteon?"
Gastly replied, "I thought you'd pull out that Zapdos to face me. Honestly, if I had to go up against a Legendary Pokémon like that, I wouldn't stand much of a chance."
Natsui chuckled.
As if I didn't want to!
But am I going to tell you I still can't give it orders?
"Don't worry: even if Jolteon fails, I won't use Zapdos against you!" Natsui said with his arms crossed, pretending to be nonchalant. "Alright, enough chatter, let's start the battle! Jolteon, use Thunderbolt!"
Small electric sparks flashed across Jolteon's body and then formed a bolt of electricity that shot toward Gastly.
Seeing Jolteon's attack, a black orb of energy suddenly materialized beside Gastly and collided with the electric bolt.
It was the Ghost‑type move, Shadow Ball!
However, the power of Thunderbolt was clearly inferior to that of Shadow Ball. The Shadow Ball pierced the Thunderbolt and continued flying toward Jolteon.
Natsui shouted, "Jolteon, dodge it quickly! Then use Pin Missile!"
Thanks to its incredible speed, Jolteon easily dodged the Shadow Ball. It leaped to one side and its fur, like steel needles, shot toward Gastly in continuous waves!
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