The Ghost Specialist

The end of Ice Path saw the start of Route 44, and the end of Route 44 saw Mahogany Town itself. Dense forests surrounded this deep-mountain settlement, with icy peaks dotting that forest and stretching into the sky. A gap in the terrain to the north led to Route 43 and the Lake of Rage just past it. Though this place wasn’t as high up as Blackthorn City, it was chillier, and the town itself was less centralized, with houses spread throughout a flat, lightly forested space between the mountains.

The people here were hardier and more independent. Most of them were woodsmen, foragers, and other forms of craftsmen and harvesters. Despite being a full-fledged town, it almost felt like a collection of homesteads, but it still had a centralized main street with shops, a Pokémon Center, a ramshackle radio station, and, of course, the Pokémon Gym itself.

Most important to Sam, however, was that Mahogany Town was old. Like so many cities in Johto, it had a storied history, and a storied history meant ghosts.

“Just up ahead. I can see something already. You ready, Quilava?”

She nodded her head at Sam’s side, staying silent while trying to peek into the next room. The wood of the worn hallway was decaying around them, and the musty scent that lingered in the air could have only come from a home long unkempt.

The building they were creeping through was located right at the edge of town, pressed against the base of one of the many rocky mountains that surrounded Mahogany. However, a few decades ago, a landslide had rumbled down, and this home had seen its back half be covered by rock. Through some miracle, the building had stayed standing, with only its rear window shattering and collapsing inward. Its inhabitants had gone unharmed, but its back room was now filled with dirt and rocks, and the home itself was declared too unsafe to have anyone live inside.

Years later, the owner of the home passed away, and then more years after that, people started to notice a figure moving around inside. Given there was never any evidence of a break-in, no one thought much of it. That is, until a note about this location was passed on to Morty, and now that same note had been passed to Sam.

A few wild Gastly floated behind Sam and Quilava, watching carefully after being corralled by the efforts of Haunter and Misdreavus. There were only a handful of them, formed by the lingering regrets that filled this abandoned home. More than that, despite existing here for a while, these local, wild Gastly had never once entered the far room.

So, after a careful application of Misdreavus’s Psychic to push a cracked door open all the way, Sam and Quilava finally laid their eyes on their target.

A figure.

Standing still.

Something scraped at the ground near its feet, as if it was trying to sweep up the many stones in the room but was constantly failing.

“I believe in you. You can do this, Quilava,” Sam whispered.

He knelt to take off her scarf. Pulling it back, he removed the Everstone they had picked up from the local Pokémon Center away from her body. Taking a deep breath, Quilava then stepped forward.

She entered the room containing the very obvious and very active, real-life ghost.

Sam stayed silent, hanging back in the hallway to make sure he wouldn’t accidentally assist Quilava in any way, as her helping the ghost on her own was their objective for being here. However, she stopped after only a few steps. Fur standing on its ends, Quilava stood just past the entrance, and, ahead, the ghost stopped sweeping.

Cautiously, she lowered her head to pick up a stone in her mouth. Once it was secured she walked to the broken back window and did her best to throw it outside. She never once let her eyes drop from the ghost’s unmoving form, and once that stone was solidly outside, she then bent down to pick up another one and toss it out as well.

As Quilava began her efforts to empty the room, the figure resumed its attempts to sweep, and Quilava got rid of more and more stone. With the decades-old landslide having brought the earth to rest just underneath the window, she soon started to need to jump out to deposit her refuse carried outside.

Slowly, the floor became visible, and slowly, the room lost its piles of stone and sediment. Sam had to rub his eyes at several points, as the image of the room would become hazy. Yet, each time, it felt as though major chunks of the pile vanished—more than just what Quilava carried disappeared after a trip.

Throughout this process, the hazy silhouette became more clear, as well. It started as just a mist that resembled a person, to the shape of a woman trying to sweep up the floor, until finally, Sam could make out specific details.

At the end of it, he was looking at the figure of an old woman holding a broom. She used it to push dirt against the wall, where it disappeared, and she stopped to stand up and look around.

The room was perfectly clear of debris.

“Thank you.”

Her words reverberated through the air, and she smiled at Quilava.

Then, in an instant, she was gone.

With her sole, lingering regret having been solved, the ghost was able to move on.

“Yes!” Sam whispered.

But even with this success, Sam waited. After all, Quilava had finally been able to help out a ghost all on her own.

He stayed silent, crouching in the hallway, patiently waiting to see an evolution’s glow.

But nothing happened.

After a few seconds of bracing herself, Quilava breathed out, letting herself collapse from exhaustion and disappointment. Sam sighed and stood up, shaking his legs from having crouched for so long.

“Let’s move outside,” he whispered to everyone. Behind him, Misdreavus hung her head and Haunter genuinely frowned.

They met back up with Primeape, who had been standing outside the door to keep guard. Sam shook his head to share the bad news, and a minute later, Quilava trudged out to join them.

After so much manual labor, she was tired. Mainly, she looked depressed.

“So you helped a ghost,” Sam said.

Quilava nodded.

“And then the ghost moved on.”

Quilava nodded again.

“But... You didn’t evolve,” Sam finished. “Something’s missing. I thought it would be this simple, but it’s like... It’s like there wasn’t enough meaning to it. Or the ghost was too weak. There’s another level to this that we’re missing.”

Quilava collapsed to the ground once more, and Sam let out a breath as he leaned down to scoop her up and deposit her around his shoulders. Misdreavus floated up next to her, smiling and trying to cheer her up. She nudged Quilava, saying something that sounded hopeful.

Quilava did smile in response, but there wasn’t much energy behind her expression. Sam could tell she was just trying to act okay so her friend wouldn’t be worried.

“At least think of it like this: no matter what, we’re still one step closer to your evolution!” Sam said, trying to keep his voice cheery. “Sure, turns out, we can’t just help any ghost, but helping ghosts should still count for something, right? You’re being exposed to the right kind of energy, so if we help enough of them, you’ll eventually evolve no matter what! But like using an evolution stone, if we wanted to speed up the process, we should probably try to find a ghost that carries a heavier... metaphorical weight?”

He frowned when he heard Quilava sigh and deflate next to his ear. He scratched Quilava’s chin, trying to comfort her, and he soon moved off to return to Mahogany’s Pokémon Center.

Not everyone immediately moved to leave with Sam. Primeape followed at his side, Misdreavus stayed next to Quilava to keep her company, but Haunter, however, stayed at the cottage. He turned around to speak with the Gastly that lived there. Without a ghost sustaining comfortable conditions, Haunter provided them with an alternative.

Using his hands, he gestured to the rest of the team.

A moment of silence passed, and the group of Gastly gathered up to mumble among themselves and come to a decision.

It was unanimous.

From behind, they all dove into Sam’s shadow, entering it and causing him to stumble from the sudden chill.

“All aboard the Samuel Express,” Sam mumbled. “Choo choo, I suppose?”

And to that, a snicker. Misdreavus’s eyes lit up at the sight of Quilava’s smile. Quilava tried her best to pretend she hadn’t laughed at Sam’s joke, but Misdreavus egged her on, and Quilava wasn’t able to stop her next few laughs.

She was in a much more cheerful mood once reached the center of the town, and Sam felt more hopeful now that he could properly recognize their success. This round of ghost-seeking exploration hadn’t resulted in evolution, but with this experience, Quilava would be more ready to handle stronger ghosts when the proper time finally came.

Together, they all walked past the other buildings and down a cracked road. Moving down Mahogany’s main street, their little group made their way to the town’s sole Pokémon Center. There, rather than going inside, Sam noticed a small crowd formed at its back. Having a feeling about what was going on, he moved around to join all the other trainers. He also knew Quilava wanted to stay out with everyone a bit longer before being passed over for healing, and this served as the perfect excuse.

“..’saring!”

“Naaiir!”

A pair of shouts were followed by a clang that shook the air. Heavy claws smashed into a scaled tail’s bash, and two Pokémon were knocked back.

“Again!” Redi ordered.

At that, a similarly powerful exchange of moves.

She stood off to the side, smiling to herself. At the edges of this training field, trainers gathered to watch her two rare and powerful Pokémon spar with attacks strong enough to conjure winds.

Dragonair wasn’t fully evolved, but she was a full-fledged Dragon Type capable of evolving into a pseudo-Legendary Pokémon. As for Ursaring, his species was known for its power, but the way Redi fought and trained had seen his strength be pushed past even that.

He was preparing for evolution, after all.

Between the two of them, Dragonair was certainly rarer, but they were each also demonstrating a level of pure, raw power that most other trainers failed to reach. Redi’s team might not have been anywhere near Ace Trainer levels just yet, but not every trainer here had as many Gym Badges as her or had dedicated themselves to such a single-minded pursuit of physical power.

“Hey, Redi,” Sam said.

People mumbled as he pushed past the crowd to approach his friend. Behind him, wide eyes stared at the strange trainer so willing to approach this insane person training her insane Pokémon on one of the Pokémon Center’s fields.

Yeah, sure, you all might think Redi’s scary, but just wait until you see Ursaring and Dragonair argue over who gets to finish a pot of soup.

...The answer is Primeape.

As Sam approached, Redi’s gaze flicked over him and to Quilava on his shoulders.

“Dang,” she said. “That sucks. But I’m sure you’ll evolve next time!”

Quilava deflated a bit at the reminder, but she still sent Redi a thankful smile at the show of support.

“So, wanna spar, too?” Redi offered. “I’m trying to make sure Dragonair’s caught up with the rest of the team. The right kind of power, the right kind of skill, y’know? We’ll be working on moves like Agility and Extreme Speed before moving on to the harder stuff.”

More mumbles from the crowd—many Pokémon could learn Agility, but how many could actually learn Extreme Speed, and how many more would treat learning that move so casually?

But Sam knew Redi’s goals went past that. She wasn’t going to reveal everything here. Dragonair was capable of attacks like Aqua Tail. Dragon Rush. And the best one for Redi—Dragon Dance.

Honestly, at this point, he was more motivated than her to guide Dragonair’s training with information from the New Pokédex. Redi of course wanted to see her Pokémon get stronger, but Sam wanted to see what a near pseudo-Legend like Dragonair could really do.

“I think...” Sam hummed as he looked around at his team. Around so many other people, Misdreavus and Haunter were hiding, but Quilava and Primeape were still out. “I think for now, we’ll turn down the offer. Thanks, though. Since we didn’t get our success, I want us to get at least something by taking on a job.”

“Oh? Low on funds?” she said with a smirk.

Sam rolled his eyes.

“Not all of us have some big, fancy sponsorship.”

Redi’s smirk deepened as she turned away to look over her team.

“Yup. We have a bunch of money coming in,” she said, raising her voice. “And I’m willing to bet a lot of it against anyone brave enough to challenge my team!”

Sam tried to hold back his laughter as she immediately went and made eye contact with every trainer here. Some of them turned away under her piercing gaze, but a handful stared back, meeting her challenge with determined interest.

He doubted Redi would make much in battle, but facing as many trainers as possible was a great way to get experience, and for her challengers, facing a stronger trainer was also a great way to learn new tricks.

It had certainly been a learning experience for him when he lost against Will and basically lost against Clair.

“Good.” Redi began to walk toward the trainers that met her gaze, briefly turning around to grin at Sam’s Pokémon. “Make sure to cheer us on, Quilava! We’ll be dedicating our victories to you!”

She sent Quilava a wink before setting up the matches. Though Quilava didn’t participate in the fights, they still cheered her up.

While not happy about her lack of evolution, sometimes, it was just fun to watch what were effectively one-sided stomps.

The purpose of taking on this job wasn’t money, it was to give his team something to do. They always needed more funds, yes, but earning cash wasn’t a pressing concern, just something to keep in mind so they never ran out. Mainly, taking on a job would let them gather experience while also serving as a distraction. They had plenty more places in Mahogany Town to search for ghosts, but Sam just wanted to give Quilava some sort of win.

The job he selected saw them leave town to the north, heading onto Route 43 to help a forager living in a cabin near the edge of the Route. Thankfully, with the Lake of Rage being so close to Mahogany Town, Route 43 wasn’t that large. It would still take a bit to reach their temporary employer’s home, so Sam took this opportunity to speak to his team as they walked.

“I’ve been trying to think of ways that’d let us catch up to our future opponents,” he said.

The path they followed led through the trees, bringing them deeper into the forest.

“The thing is, we’re falling behind. Not against trainers at our level, just—” He sighed. “When we compare ourselves to everyone else, I mean. Ace Trainers. Gym Leaders. It’s been two-thirds of a season, but how are we ever supposed to reach their level if we’re still so far behind?”

Off to the side, Primeape let out a grunt. He kept his eyes locked onto the woods around them to stay on guard, but he was still able to provide a firm response.

Primeape was proud. In his opinion, they were strong enough for where they were, and they’d continue getting stronger because that was what they could be doing. With a flex of his shoulders and a jab to the air, Primeape’s movements harkened back to his training and practice against Ursaring. With his strength, facing an opponent with the same number of Gym Badges would mean a victory more often than not.

“I don’t mean raw strength,” Sam quickly clarified. “I don’t mean our moves or our battling power or anything like that. Yeah, that’s all going to improve with practice, but what I really mean is...”

He ran his tongue over his teeth as he tried to gather the right words.

“We need to improve our strategies, but not our strategies, strategies. More like, I’m too rigid in how I give orders? And I think we need more flexibility in our moves?”

To that, Haunter left a nearby shadow to dart to the front of the group, where he floated backward. He proceeded to press his hands against the sides of his face to bend himself inward as if he were a ghostly book.

Their entire group stopped walking for a second.

Sam struggled to respond.

To the side, Misdreavus spoke up quietly as if to say that, even as a Ghost Type, she wasn’t aware Haunter could bend himself to such an extreme degree.

“...You’re just proving my point,” Sam grumbled, resuming their walk forward. “I’m too literal, and that’s rubbing off on you.

“We need more options,” Sam continued, the words of that elderly Blackthorn Clan member running through his head. “A wider range of things we can do in battle with what we already have. Like, speed is important and helps with accuracy and dodging, but that's all we use it for. Even just a basic Double Team could stop us from using speed to our advantage. We don’t have enough options and can be countered too easily.”

Sam looked over to one of his Pokémon.

“Misdreavus, would you be able to use Shadow Sneak to escape a Flamethrower aimed at the floor?”

As she floated at Quilava’s side, Sam watched Misdreavus’s expression. He could see her picture the scenario—hidden in a shadow, she becomes surrounded by a wave of flames that coats the ground. Shadow Sneak offers speed and positioning rather than any form of direct defense. The fire would spread out and hit whatever shadow she was in, and then she would take the full damage of the attack, especially if it cut off any other routes of escape.

“And even then, you could avoid it by floating directly up, but that just exposes you to further moves. Using only the moves you currently know, how would you try to defend yourself if you enter the air?”

Her next few gestures managed to communicate the idea of a Confuse Ray or a Night Shade, but—

“Confuse Ray would need you to stay focused enough to hit your target and that strategy relies on your opponent not being ready for you to come out. As for Night Shade, if the Flamethrower can spread out across the ground, couldn’t it just consume the entire darkness sphere even if it didn’t know exactly where you are?”

She went quiet, and Sam looked around at everyone else. His Pokémon were listening. They were recognizing the same problems he did.

“Haunter’s fast but vulnerable to physical moves. Primeape is hard-countered by any special attacker that stays at range. Quilava only has Swift to deal with Water Types, and that’s not even mentioning how she only has Will-O-Wisp to deal with Rocks!”

He took a moment to breathe.

“What I’m saying is that we need variety. Things to mix up battles—and I don’t mean new moves. I guess what I’m trying to say is that we need to... experiment? See new ways your attacks and abilities can be used, and then we figure out how to apply that to battles so we have more options.”

He could admit he was being a little unfair. The point of a Pokémon team was that each team member could fill in for one another’s gaps. However, sometimes it wasn’t possible to switch out or adjust a match-up. He wanted his team members to be specialized, but he didn’t want them to be specialized at the cost of everything else.

“...We’ll be working on that, soon,” Sam mumbled. “My current focus is still to get your evolutions going. We have our previous training goals, but we need to expand what we’re doing if we want to make it to the higher tiers and win.”

With the end of his speech, Sam focused on moving down the thin forest path. In response to his words, his team was left in silence. They drifted off into thought, each thinking on their own, until Haunter floated down to begin to have a whispered discussion with Primeape. Misdreavus frowned and asked Sam to return her. She wanted a quiet place where she could think without being disturbed.

As for Quilava, her eyes flashed when Misdreavus disappeared. A single mote of Will-O-Wisp appeared just ahead of her nose, and she focused on it to maintain the move while causing it to shift positions and follow at her side.

Just a bit further down the road, they soon reached their destination—a small, wooden cabin built under the branches of several larger trees.

Misdreavus had already been returned, and Primeape asked to be recalled, too. Haunter entered Sam’s shadow to chat with the however-many Gastly were in there right now, but Quilava stayed out.

She maintained that same, singular Will-O-Wisp as before.

Sam knocked on the entrance to the cabin, and he heard a muffled voice followed by shuffling from inside. After a few seconds, a man in his mid-twenties or so opened it up. He wore a thick, square cap that covered his ears and a long shirt with loose, hanging sleeves.

“Hello?” The man’s eyes widened. “Woah, woah! Put it out, put it out! We just had a big fire in these woods, and we don’t want another one!”

Quilava blinked, and her move blinked out alongside that. The man in the doorway breathed out before regaining a friendly smile.

“Sorry about that. Pryce spent enough effort keeping the fire controlled, and he can get pretty grouchy,” the man said. “Anyway, you can call me Shin! You here for the mushroom job?”

“Yup,” Sam said, adjusting his backpack. “You put up a notice for protection? Something about a trainer escorting you deeper into the woods. I should be able to help you with that, and I have a few Pokémon great at detecting others—”

“Hah! I knew I recognized you! Your name is Samuel, isn’t it?”

Sam stopped talking. He looked up at Shin as the man gained a wider smile.

“...Y-yes?” Sam answered carefully.

Shin clapped his hands.

“Hah! Wow, I knew it! Oh man, this is so lucky! I knew a trainer would be coming out here, but I didn’t think we’d be getting a tournament winner to protect us!”

Before he could go into any more detail, Shin turned around to wave something forward. Sam could hear some scuttling, and then a second later, a mushroom the size of a toddler approached Shin, a basket with hanging straps being dragged behind it.

“Thanks, Parasect.”

Shin patted his Pokémon on its top before scooping up the basket and swinging it around so it hung off his back.

“Come on. Let’s go. It’s pretty late in the day, and I want to get back before it gets dark.”

He marched out of his home, his crab-like Pokémon closing the door behind him. The Parasect was bright red with two large claws on its front. Its eyes were a clouded white, and it moved almost robotically as it walked across the forest floor.

Sam hurried to catch up.

“So, uh, how do you know me, exactly?” he asked.

“I saw you on T.V.!” Shin merrily replied. “We watched the finals of the Violet City Tournament. Your fight against that Psychic Type guy was great!”

Shin smiled at Sam from over his shoulder, and Sam nodded, feeling a bit dazed. At this point, that tournament felt like it had taken place months ago.

Probably because it had taken place months ago.

Still, Sam hadn’t expected to ever be recognized outside of Violet City.

“Are your other Pokémon with us?” Shin asked. “That Haunter of yours, and then... Misdreavus?”

“Haunter is in my shadow, but Primeape and Misdreavus are resting in their Pokéballs.”

Shin nodded again, smiling. He briefly looked beneath Sam’s feet.

“That’s cool. I didn’t know Ghost Type Pokémon could ride in a shadow like that.”

“Y-yes.” Sam cleared his throat and did his best to ignore the heat he could feel in his face. “I know a lot about Ghost Types. Half my team is the Ghost Type. I like the Ghost Type.”

He could feel vibrations under his feet as all of the Pokémon in his shadow laughed at his embarrassment.

“Well, just from me, thanks for competing. Not many trainers out there are willing to work with the creepy and the crawly,” Shin said. “Certainly makes Parasect more stomachable for most. Trainers like you are why it’s been getting easier to sell my finds over in town.”

“Y-yeah,” Sam said, continuing to follow Shin as he walked down a second path that stretched away from his cabin. As they walked, the branches of the trees became denser, and more and more light was blocked from above. “So... Does your Parasect battle? How dangerous does it get out here, anyway?”

“Huh?” Shin rolled his shoulders to adjust the basket hanging on his back. “Oh, she’s fine in a match. Mostly just uses Spore to put anything that attacks us to sleep. I’m just planning on pushing in a bit deeper today, which is why I put up that job—just in case. You don’t need to worry, so close to a Route, Pokémon don’t really attack if we’re not going after them. I’d say maybe... one in ten times we get caught in a match?”

He hummed to himself, some kind of tune leaving his throat. Sam quietly wondered how much Shin talked to other people out here.

“Parasect, though, she’s more of my partner for this than anything else,” Shin continued. “Her species has a strong affinity for mushrooms, so she’s one of the rare Grass Types that can encourage that kind of growth.”

He went on to explain that he made his living off of gathering mushrooms, and Parasect made his life easier. He took care of her, and in exchange, she helped him find valuable species while also encouraging regrowth for future harvests.

As they continued deeper into the woods, where the canopy overhead became thicker and thicker, Shin licked his lips while looking around carefully. He held a finger up to his mouth to signal they needed to be quieter than before, and he had Sam wait a moment to let Parasect move to the front of the group to lead the search for where rare mushrooms might be.

“How long have you been partnered?” Sam asked quietly. Quilava walked along his side, keeping watch, and he knew Haunter in his shadow was helping, too.

“I met her a few years ago,” Shin whispered. “She was just a Paras back then. I made the mistake of trying to pull off her mushrooms while she was hibernating underground. Gave her some berries as an apology, and I encountered her a few times in similar situations after that. Eventually, we decided to team up, and we’ve been partners ever since.”

He smiled, but for some reason, it felt heavy. Like there was more to the story than Sam was hearing.

“But she’s a Parasect, now. There’s some obvious difficulties with that,” Shin said.

Given he was here on a job, Sam was actively watching the woods. However, when he checked on Shin, he could see the man’s frown.

“Oh, don’t look at me like that. It’s fine now. It’s just that her species has it rough,” Shin said. “They’re called Parasect for a reason—a portmanteau of ‘parasite’ and ‘insect.’ The mushroom on her back isn’t exactly sentient, but it definitely has some sort of will. It draws nutrients out of her and can even force her to seek more out. In the wild, some Parasect lose themselves to their mushrooms, effectively living as nutrient zombies under their control.”

“That’s... dark,” Sam mumbled.

Even with most Ghost Type species, he could only think of a single other species that went through something that was maybe similar to that.

“Sure, but all a Parasect needs is just a bit of will to resist. And as long as she’s eating for two, her mushroom won’t be making any demands,” Shin said. “That, and once a Parasect gets strong enough, it’s basically mutualism. She feeds the mushroom, and the mushroom gives her access to Grass Type moves in exchange.”

“But it could still forcibly control her,” Sam pointed out.

Shin shrugged.

“We do our best.”

They stopped as Parasect reached the base of a tree, dug with her claws, and Shin walked over to pluck a few mushrooms out.

Sam wasn’t sure what species they were. Each one was small, probably about half the size of his palm, and they had orangish-red tops with splotches of yellow.

Honestly, they looked poisonous.

But Shin merrily tossed them into his basket and fondly patted Parasect. The insect Pokémon chittered before moving toward the next spot to harvest.

“Tiny Mushrooms,” Shin whispered. “That’s not their species, just the classification for mushrooms of that size. See, out here, there are a few different types we’re looking for...”

He kept talking, and Sam kept an eye out.

Shin and Parasect stopped at a few more patches. Mushrooms grew between tree roots, in patches of dirt, and sometimes even on the trees themselves. Shin didn’t often collect mushrooms this deep in the forest, and each mushroom was worth a pretty sum. He would need to find the right buyer, which was another job and a half, but this one trip was already proving valuable enough to fund his lifestyle for the next month.

However, as they continued through the forest, Sam was familiar enough with the Ghost Type to notice the shadow that moved through the branches above.

He stayed quiet and sent a signal to Quilava, but she had already noticed it, too. Shin didn’t react in any way and kept talking about mushrooms, unaware they were being watched.

It was a Murkrow.

A single, black-feathered Pokémon watched them from the trees.

Pretending to stop to check the ground, Sam pressed his hand into his shadow to get Haunter’s attention.

“...but the really valuable ones are the bigger ones—they’re called Big Mushrooms. I know. Clever name. A single Big Mushroom is insanely valuable to collectors and gourmets, worth up to a few...”

He kept going, continuing his search.

Above, another Murkrow moved through the trees to join the first, and Sam quietly watched another land. And then another.

Soon, as they moved through the forest, they were surrounded by an entire flock. No matter where they went, there were at least a dozen Murkrow watching them from within the trees.

“Over there!”

The sound of Shin’s excited shout snapped Sam’s focus away.

“Awesome! I knew a tournament winner would be a good luck charm! That’s one of those Big Mushrooms I was talking about! Parasect, come help me!”

Shin ran toward where a head-sized mushroom grew at the base of a tree, but above it, more shadows shifted. Something much larger than just a simple Murkrow prepared itself for Shin’s approach.

“Quilava!” Sam shouted hurriedly. He grabbed a Pokéball. “Primeape, stop him!”

Will-O-Wisps filled the clearing, providing enough light to let them see into the trees. Primeape appeared in a flash and leaped forward to tackle Shin into the ground.

“Huh?”

Groaning, Shin grumbled but froze when he looked up from where he had fallen onto the ground. Sam followed the man’s gaze. Directly above the Big Mushroom was a wild Ariados, the spider Pokémon hanging from a thread and staring down. Poison dripped from its fanged maw, a trap prepared for anything that foolishly moved to stand directly beneath it.

Gasping, Shin scrambled backward to rejoin Sam and everyone else. He searched through the now lit-up trees above them, staring at all of the Murkrow that were staring right back.

“When we get back to town, I’m giving you five stars.”

“I don’t get reviews for this.”

“A bonus, then.” Shin paused. “But I don’t understand. Murkrow and Ariados don’t work together. What’s going on?”

Sam grimaced as the many Murkrow smirked, and one flung out its wings.

“Get ready,” Sam told his team.

Less than a second later, the many Pokémon dived. The Murkrow unleashed over a dozen attacks, and the reflection of Quilava’s fires burned within their eyes.