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Chapter 130: Bluffing
🕑 Added 2025-02-12 09:04:49 +0000 UTCChapter 130: Bluffing
The mist churned, and eerie wails—some sobbing, some shrill—echoed through the hall, making the place feel like a true ghostly realm.
…Well, it was a ghostly realm. So, never mind.
Cold gusts of wind swirled around, the flickering lights casting fleeting shadows within the fog. Even Green, who always claimed she wasn’t afraid of ghosts, started feeling tense.
Surprisingly, Eevee was braver than Asahi expected—it actually kept its head out instead of burrowing deeper into his arms. Maybe Gardevoir’s presence gave it some courage?
Asahi, however, felt no fear.
Fear came from the unknown, but now that Gardevoir had scanned the area with its psychic powers, pinpointing the locations of all the Gengar, Asahi had a full mental map of the hall. There was nothing to be afraid of when he could see everything clearly.
What concerned him was how to deal with this many Ghost Pokémon without getting injured when they inevitably attacked.
But… the situation wasn’t unfolding as he expected.
The attack never came.
Asahi waited in place for a while, but the Ghost Pokémon only howled from the mist. Not a single one attacked. In fact, they seemed to be moving away from him.
"....."
Could you guys stop screaming and just attack already? I have other things to do.
He glanced at the Gengar Agatha had assigned as his guide. The Gengar shrugged helplessly—it had no idea what was happening either.
But it was a little embarrassing.
Since Agatha’s Gengar was just as clueless, Asahi decided not to waste time. He activated Intimidation.
An invisible aura spread from him, quickly engulfing the entire hall.
The once deafening howls fell silent in an instant. The eerie wails and cries disappeared, replaced by panicked shrieks.
In front of Asahi, many weaker Gastly and Haunter were forced out of their invisible state under his aura, revealing themselves.
The moment they realized their invisibility had failed, they looked at Asahi in terror.
"?"
Asahi was utterly confused.
Why were they the ones scared? They were the ghosts here!
But something felt off.
As a former ranger, Asahi had seen plenty of rampaging Pokémon. Truly berserk Pokémon never acted like this.
These Ghost Pokémon were behaving very differently from what he had expected.
Signaling to Gardevoir, Asahi had it use Psychic to grab the nearest Haunter.
The captured Haunter panicked, struggling desperately to escape, but against Gardevoir, its resistance was futile.
Seeing their companion caught, the surrounding Gastly, Haunter, and even the hidden Gengar grew restless, preparing to attack.
But the moment Gardevoir swept its gaze over them, they shrank back in fear.
Asahi got straight to the point. "What happened in Pokémon Tower?"
Haunter, trembling under Asahi’s oppressive aura, swallowed nervously and didn’t dare to hide anything.
"Gaaastly…"
After listening to Haunter’s explanation, Asahi finally understood why these Ghost Pokémon were acting this way.
According to Haunter, they were the original inhabitants of Pokémon Tower. They loved playing pranks on visitors but never actually attacked humans.
However, half a month ago, a group of humans opened a portal to the Spirit Realm at the top of the tower, releasing a horde of powerful Ghost Pokémon.
Since these Ghost Pokémon were weaker, they were forced down to the first floor.
"I get that. But what about the humans who were attacked?" Asahi wasn’t going to trust Haunter’s words alone.
"Haunt?"
Haunter was surprised that Asahi could understand it.
Excited, it hurriedly explained further.
"…So, you’re saying those humans were being controlled and trying to enter the Spirit Realm, and you had no choice but to attack them to stop them?" Asahi was surprised. "Didn’t expect you guys to be so righteous."
"Haunt~!"
Haunter puffed out its chest with pride.
It explained that since it and its fellow Pokémon had lived in Pokémon Tower for so long and often interacted with humans, they were different from the Ghost Pokémon from the Spirit Realm.
"That makes sense."
Most Ghost Pokémon weren’t this cowardly.
Glancing at the Gastly and Gengar nearby, Asahi confirmed they weren’t hostile. He nodded to Gardevoir, and it released Haunter.
Seeing their companion freed, the other Ghost Pokémon seemed to relax a little.
"Gengar!"
A particularly chubby Gengar stepped forward, gesturing at Asahi.
It wanted to dissuade him from going upstairs, claiming that the Spirit Realm’s messengers would handle the situation.
"Spirit Realm messengers… You mean Dusknoir?" Asahi guessed.
Dusknoir was the only Pokémon known to freely travel between the Spirit Realm and the real world.
Gengar nodded.
Asahi smiled. "But if it’s been half a month and the Spirit Realm’s presence is still here, that means Dusknoir hasn’t shown up… Something must have happened. That’s all the more reason for me to go check it out."
Gengar panicked and turned to Agatha’s Gengar, hoping it would help convince Asahi.
But Agatha’s Gengar ignored it, leaving Gengar deflated.
Asahi acknowledged its concern. "Don’t worry. My strength is nothing like those other trainers."
As a token of gratitude for the warning, he pulled out a box of Pokéblocks.
Under the worried gazes of the Ghost Pokémon, Asahi, Green, and Gardevoir stepped onto the mist-shrouded staircase.
Shortly after they left, a Gastly quietly slipped in through a window.
"Gaaastly?"
Curious, it approached the Ghost Pokémon munching on Pokéblocks and asked where the humans had gone.
The Haunter it asked froze for a moment, forgetting to chew, then turned toward the staircase.
Gastly hesitated for a brief moment before making up its mind and diving into the thick mist.
None of the other Ghost Pokémon noticed its presence.
The Haunter snapped out of its daze, scratched its head in confusion, then happily resumed eating.
