Chapter 193: The Gengar That Can't Fly
The black mist seeped into the ground, and the blinding white light receded like a tide. From the shadow, a pair of pointed ears slowly emerged. A round, deep-purple body, with stubby arms and legs, spiky protrusions on its back, and a short tail—Haunter had evolved. Now, it was Gengar.
Its crimson eyes gleamed as it grinned from ear to ear, revealing a toothy smile that stretched all the way to its tongue. With those perfectly white, evenly spaced teeth, it could easily land an endorsement deal with Colgate. At the same time, its sinister, eerie expression was so terrifying… it could be cast in a horror movie without makeup.
"Garrr! (๑`▽´๑)۶" Gengar looked down at itself, fists raised in excitement. Stronger again! As expected of me, Gengar!
Due to Gengar's special heat-absorbing body, the room temperature dropped by another 5°C. Elm, ever the nervous type, shivered, hugging himself. "I-Its appearance is… honestly a bit terrifying…"
"Hmm… terrifying?" Lu Ye rubbed his chin and smiled. "I think it's adorable!"
"Garrr!" Gengar grinned mischievously, then stuck out its long, red tongue—and licked Lu Ye's neck.
Lu Ye didn't dodge or flinch. Thirty percent chance of paralysis? No way I'd be that unlucky…
The wet, sticky tongue glided over his skin. And then—Lu Ye froze completely.
[Teacher Lu is now 'Paralyzed'!]
"Are… are you okay?" For the first time, Silver's expression changed slightly, a hint of concern flickering across his usually emotionless face.
"J-Just a small issue!" Though his tongue was numb, Lu Ye forced a casual wave. With trembling fingers, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a Cheri Berry, and shakily shoved it into his mouth.
Silver and Elm stared at him in stunned silence. Why are you so damn experienced with this?!
"Garrr!" Gengar crossed its arms, grinning proudly.
As soon as Lu Ye regained movement, he patted Gengar's head, then quickly pulled up his Pokédex to scan it.
[Gengar – Ghost/Poison Type]
[Ability: Cursed Body]
[Moves: Shadow Ball, Hypnosis, Night Shade, Shadow Punch…]
No new moves upon evolution. Lu Ye let out a long sigh of relief. Still, Gengar's move pool was all over the place—it even had Ice Punch and Scary Face, proof of its dedicated daily training. (Scary Face: The user glares terrifyingly at the opponent, greatly reducing their movement speed.) Judging by Gengar's personality, Lu Ye figured it probably learned Scary Face by accident while admiring itself in the mirror.
As for its ability—theoretically, Gengar's ability had changed from Levitate to Cursed Body, meaning it lost its innate floating ability. But according to the recent Pokémon Journeys series, Ash's Gengar could still fly through alternative means.
Closing the Pokédex, Lu Ye studied Gengar closely, stroking his chin. Even before coming to this world, he had always been a huge fan of Gengar. Sure, in the modern era, Dragapult had overtaken it as a top-tier Ghost-type—but Gengar was still an absolute monster in battle. Filthy yet powerful… How could a Pokémon be this cool?!
"Gengar." Lu Ye smiled, extending his hand. "Let's keep working together from now on!"
"Garrr! (≧∇≦)ﾉ" Gengar grinned and jumped up, slapping Lu Ye's palm with a tiny paw.
"Huh? You still can't fly?" Lu Ye asked in surprise. Honestly, he had gotten used to Haunter floating beside him all the time. Now, seeing Gengar hopping around on the ground… Well… it was kinda cute.
"I can explain," Elm coughed. "Although Gengar can fly, it lost the Levitate ability, meaning it now needs to actively expend energy to stay airborne. Since it just evolved, it's probably still adjusting."
"Garrr…" Gengar scratched its head, a bit dejected.
Lu Ye immediately understood. It was like having a passive ability suddenly turn into an active skill. Right now, if Gengar wanted to fly, it would consume stamina like MP in a game.
Silver, who had been quietly observing, suddenly spoke. "It can try using its Ghost energy to maintain levitation first."
Gengar glanced at Lu Ye, who nodded in approval. And so, the experiments began. After two or three failed attempts, Gengar suddenly floated up, using a shroud of black mist to support itself. It let out a joyful laugh and began spinning happily in the air.
"That's… some crazy talent," Elm muttered in awe.
Silver frowned slightly. "This is only temporary levitation. If you want Gengar to float as freely as before, you'll need psychic energy to stabilize it."
Lu Ye froze. A sense of impending doom hit him like a truck. If Gengar needed psychic abilities for better flight… the only move it could learn was Psychic. Getting a TM for it was easy—between Sabrina and Cynthia, Lu Ye had connections. But if he trained it under those two, the cost was going to be astronomical.
"...I wonder if next month's game revenue can cover this…" Lu Ye muttered under his breath.
"Garrr? (⊙ˍ⊙)" Just then, Gengar fell straight down on its butt, blinking in confusion.
Lu Ye frowned. He had already grown used to Gengar floating beside him. More importantly… watching Gengar keep falling over like this was breaking his heart. He glanced at his Pokémon, who was sitting obediently on the ground, little paws on its tiny legs, looking strangely well-behaved.
Lu Ye let out a deep sigh, clenched his teeth, and declared: "I'm spending the money!"
For the next hour, Lu Ye stayed at Elm's lab, running tests on Gengar's post-evolution stats. Everything was normal—except that Gengar had insane digestion and far above-average arm strength…
Silver glanced at Gengar, who was shadowboxing at the wall, its fists leaving afterimages with each punch. He fell into deep thought. Is this… some kind of unique training method? Suddenly, an idea struck him. Summoning his Pokémon, Silver said in a serious tone: "Weavile, watch its Ice Punch technique closely." The Ice-specialist Weavile, sensing the learning opportunity, nodded with intense focus.
Meanwhile, Elm held up a report. "Gengar's levitation duration is currently between 20 to 30 minutes. If it learns Psychic, it can greatly reduce the energy cost, making flight almost as efficient as before."
Lu Ye's expression stiffened. "…I'm already working on it." He had just sent a message in the group chat, asking Sabrina for training methods on Psychic. She hadn't replied yet—but Lu Ye was already preparing to throw money at the problem.
"It's fine…" he reassured himself. Spending a few million Pokédollars to make Gengar fly again? Totally worth it!
"Oh, by the way," Elm suddenly added. "Since Gengar just evolved, you might want to invest in some extra resources to help it stabilize and grow stronger."
Lu Ye blinked and instinctively turned to Gengar. "Garrr! (๑´ㅂ`๑)" Gengar looked up at him, smiling like a dopey, happy idiot.
Lu Ye suddenly felt his eyes sting a little. Why do my eyes always fill with tears? Because I love my Pokémon too damn much!
[Inorin Note:
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