The Ghost Specialist

When the announcers described the bracket, they had described the battles in order. They started with Franklin’s battle in the top-left and ended with Sam’s battle in the bottom right. Sam had the advantage of being assigned the last battle of the four, meaning he could spend time observing and preparing for the other trainers’ teams. However, with how the bracket was essentially divided into halves to determine the finalists, only one person on each side of the bracket would actually matter. Sam didn’t truly need to observe any of the first four trainers just yet. He only needed to worry about them once he beat Victor and had the potential to defeat Edgar and move on.

Because, honestly, if Edgar doesn’t win his next match, there's something major missing in my understanding of Pokémon. If he loses, I might as well drop out because there’s no way I’d be able to win with an understanding that flawed.

Sam was also pretty sure his final opponent would be Franklin, but that was only an assumption. He didn’t mean any offense to the rest of the competitors, but Franklin was the only trainer among them who hadn’t revealed more than one Pokémon. He was doing the same as Sam; having a single team member easily sweep anyone he faced. If he displayed a Pokémon other than his Kadabra in the impending match, Sam could still hear about it from Redi later. No, what Sam needed to do right now was ensure a win against Victor. He needed to plan if he wanted to reach the top four and guarantee himself at least one of those insanely valuable prize TMs.

After retrieving his stuff from a locker, Sam slipped out of the waiting room as the sounds of quiet conversations continued behind him. Most of the trainers here had already been eliminated, but that didn’t mean they were suddenly banned from the room. They also had belongings stored in the lockers, and the exterior balcony gave them a far better view of the battlefield than if they went and found a seat in the stands.

Intending to find a private space to plan, Sam returned to the lowest hallways to pick up the healed Haunter and began searching for an empty room. Doors to single-person dressing rooms were common, though they were in fewer numbers than in the Olivine’s arena. Sam waited until no one was around to release his Ghost Type, who appeared with a somewhat tired nod of his head.

“Can you get the door?” Sam asked.

Haunter phased through and opened it with a click from the other side. Sam stepped in and smiled at him gratefully before making sure the entrance was locked behind him.

“Come on out, everyone,” Sam said, tossing two more Pokéballs into the air.

Now safe, his team appeared. Quilava arched her back, and Primeape bashed his fists together. He looked up at Sam expectantly.

“You’ll get your time to shine in the next round. Haunter needs to rest.”

Primeape grinned under his thick fur, though the Pokémon did send a subtle, concerned glance towards Haunter.

It wasn’t that Haunter was weak, but his relative amorphousness came with a certain lack of stamina. So many uses of an intensive move like Hypnosis could be draining, and he’d pushed himself to not take damage from any direct attacks.

“We’re having a team planning session,” Sam announced, swinging his backpack over his shoulder and beginning to dig through. “Haunter’s already taken out two teams for us, but we still have three more coming up. Victor and his Dark Types are our immediate concern. Edgar and his Poison Types will be after. We’ll do this again when the finals come up, but now, let’s see what our next opponents have to offer.”

Once he found it, Sam placed the New Pokédex on a stool in the center of the room. Primeape dragged another one over to give him the height needed to let him see. As the stool’s legs squeaked across the tile, Sam scooped up Quilava and deposited her on his shoulders so that she could look on as well.

“The New Pokédex has a ridiculous number of species, but I’m getting better at remembering where and what the entries are,” Sam said as everyone gathered around. “I’ve mostly been focusing on nearby species, but between Kanto, Johto, Sinnoh, and Hoenn, that’s at least five-hundred different Pokémon to memorize—especially when you count all the variants and alternate evolutions.”

Sam almost licked his finger to turn the page but stopped. That kind of action risked damaging the old book. Instead, he just carefully parsed through to find the entries he wanted. As he did, he mumbled to go over the relevant species he could remember.

“If Victor’s specializing in the Dark Type, there’s only so many Pokémon he can have. He’s shown off a Murkrow, a Houndoom, and a Sneasel, but then he might be hiding an Umbreon or a... Tyranitar?” Sam shivered, but he doubted such a rare and powerful Pokémon would make an appearance in this tournament. “As for any other species, he’ll likely only have Pokémon found in Johto. I mean, he only had two Pokémon back in the Beginner’s Tournament, and unless he made a pit stop in Hoenn or traded for a new species—which doesn’t seem like something he’d do—he’ll probably have some sort of mix of those five.”

Sam glanced around at his team. He quickly flipped through the pages to show them drawings of each of the species he’d mentioned. Primeape made a noise when he saw Murkrow; he’d been the one to knock it out with a strike to the throat back in the Beginner’s Tournament preliminaries. Sam was also pretty sure he had seen Victor use his unevolved Houndour against Morty, but Victor had lost that battle, and that entire day might as well have been a blur, anyway.

He cleared his throat and began to state more specific details, starting with the obvious.

“Murkrow’s a Flying Type. Quick and agile, capable of strikes that make use of its speed. Just going off the New Pokédex, I’d say we’d need to worry about it harassing us from range, but it's only ever shown off contact moves. Most of its listed moves are still unknown. We should be able to attack it right before it gets close.”

Primeape punched his fists together again. Sam sent him a nod—even though Murkrow’s Flying Type gave it an advantage, Primeape would make for a good counter. However, Sam also shifted his head to nudge Quilava. If Murkrow had to get close to strike, then it’d also have trouble avoiding Quilava’s flames.

“As for its abilities...”

Abilities were tougher to judge since so many remained undiscovered. There was no way to tell what a Pokémon had trained until its abilities became relevant in a fight.

“Kinda doubt it’ll have Super Luck or Prankster trained. Haven’t heard of Super Luck before, and Prankster is its hidden ability. Only like, ten species actually have their hidden abilities known, and even then I doubt the average trainer has bothered to research them. Really, it’s Insomnia we need to worry about. That means for you, Haunter...”

The Ghost Type nodded his head. Insomnia meant a Pokémon had great difficulties falling asleep. Something like Hypnosis wouldn’t work. While Sam planned to hold Haunter back as much as possible in this upcoming match, if he was sent out against Murkrow, they’d need to resort to something other than the one strategy they’ve relied on so far.

Which is fine. If anything, I wouldn’t mind being able to branch out for once.

“Up next is Victor’s Houndoom,” Sam said, turning to the next entry. “It’s a classic Fire Type with a Dark Type twist. Expect attacks from range, but also expect devastating bites. Really, what we need to worry about most is Flash Fire. It’ll be able to absorb and empower itself with any flames thrown at it, so remember that ability, and then Early Bird will let it wake up from Hypnosis right away, too.”

With that comment, Haunter huffed, miming crossing a set of invisible arms. The revealed Pokémon on Victor’s team practically no-sold his Hypnosis so far, but he did have a considering look on his face.

Against Houndoom, ranged attacks would remain a problem, but Haunter could float and avoid the Dark Type’s bites. Not just that, but Acid Spray was still a strong attacking move. If Houndoom proved to be too strong, even a single use of Acid Spray could prime the Pokémon to be taken out by Quilava’s Swift.

Sam took note of Haunter’s reminder, but he doubted he’d need to send Haunter out in this battle.

“So that just leaves his Sneasel,” Sam said next. “I don’t have a lot to say about it. Ice and Dark Type, a very fast physical attacker. It’s also pretty frail, so one super effective move should be able to take it out.”

Primeape and Quilava would be the most useful in this next battle, with the super effective advantage of Primeape’s Fighting Type putting the odds firmly in his favor. However, with two more rounds, Sam was wary of revealing too much more and letting future opponents plan. Sure, he could probably beat Victor, but if he showed off too much of what his Pokémon could do, anyone he faced next would be able to prepare counters like he was doing right now.

However, Sam focused his thoughts back on the task at hand. This upcoming third round would allow four Pokémon to be used, which meant Victor had one last, unrevealed team member that needed to be figured out.

“Victor might have an Umbreon or maybe a Pupitar next, but those two are really rare. He might also have a non-Dark Type Pokémon on his team, but that means any other species might show up. There’re too many options to bother preparing for right now.”

Umbreon tended to be tanky Pokémon that were hard to take out, and while Sam doubted Victor had any Pokémon in Tyranitar’s evolutionary line, they were all still weak to Primeape’s Fighting Type moves. That, and they leaned towards physical moves. Quilava’s Will-O-Wisp would be absolutely crippling.

Sam frowned after discussing that. Since this was the fourth round, battles would consist of up to four Pokémon each, though each trainer still only had one switch at their disposal. That meant only one Pokémon had the potential to be recalled while setting up for the next team member. Sam’s strategy was still hindered; this battle would be based more on personal power, something that Sam hoped all the training with Redi had hopefully shored up.

“Any final thoughts?” he said, nerves building. “Any ideas or recommendations?”

Sam looked between his Pokémon. While he was the final judge of strategy in battle, his Pokémon knew what they were capable of and could have insights into what techniques to rely on. Speaking of, Primeape raised a hand. His fur began to stick out as he pulsed a quick use of Curse and followed it up with a few light punches.

The implication was clear; Primeape wanted to set himself up and sweep through Victor’s team.

“...Maybe,” Sam said. “It’s the Houndoom that’d give you trouble. That, and Curse reduces your speed, and Victor’s other two known Pokémon are really speedy. If you had Bulk Up—”

Primeape snorted to say he could do it regardless.

Sam hesitantly nodded, but unless something went wrong, he wasn’t sure it was wise to have Primeape expend so much energy in one battle. It’d basically mean Primeape would be useless against Edgar. But, given that Primeape wouldn’t be able to do much against an onslaught of Poison anyway...

I’ll think about it.

At least for now, Sam had been able to go over what Victor could do.

“You remember our strategies, and I’ll do my best to call them out when needed in battle. Don’t be afraid to think for yourself. We’ve already discussed our use-conditions for most of your techniques before the tournament started,” Sam said. “For now, we also have Edgar’s team of Poison Types coming up, and I think for that we’ll be able to rely on—”

“Hey!”

Loud thumps shook the room’s door.

“Room’s locked for a reason! I have half a mind to disqualify you from the tournament for this!”

Shouts of worry came out from Sam’s Pokémon as he hurriedly returned his team. He shoved the New Pokédex into his backpack while Haunter disappeared into his shadow, finishing just in time for the jingling of keys to mark the opening of the door.

An overweight security man glared at Sam, sending him a flat look.

“Kid, we have security cameras all over the place. We can see just about the entire arena at once,” he said. “Competitors need to stick to their zones for a reason. If you were gone when it was your turn to go up—”

“I’m sorry!”

Sam stood up and bent forward into a full-body bow.

Head turned towards the ground, he watched the nervous sweat on his face drip to the floor, and the man in the doorway sigh. Craning his neck up, Sam saw the security guard tiredly rub the back of his neck.

“It’s fine. I, uh, don’t actually have the authority to disqualify you. Just... Next time, if you really need a private space, know that you’re allowed to ask.”

“I see. Thank you.”

Sam awkwardly chuckled, a little guilty about being caught.

As he walked out of the room, the security guard crossed his arms and watched Sam go. The dressing room was locked behind him, but it had at least given Sam the chance to use the New Pokédex to prepare for his next match.

When he returned to the locker room, he found he had missed Franklin’s battle, though he hadn’t missed any new information. The other trainer still only needed to use his Kadabra to pull off a win. Sam was able to catch the last half of the second battle, and he watched Edgar’s battle after that. Then, it was his turn to head out. His match against Victor was up next.

Sam was already walking out of the waiting room the moment the third battle’s outcome was obvious. Edgar had modified his Haunter’s strategy; now, instead of waiting for an opponent to enter his Haunter’s Smog, the Ghost Type used the Smog to disguise its body while attacking with Shadow Punches that homed.

Sam didn’t see the final Pokémon faint, but he could hear the muffled cheers from within the hallways themselves. Every step he took contained a nervous energy. He could feel how his heart thrummed in line with the audience’s shouts.

He almost ran into the same staff member from last time. Still holding her clipboard, she blinked at him before nodding once respectfully. No words needed to be exchanged as Sam was led over to the tunnel that exited onto the field. The woman left alongside the defeated trainer from the previous match, who passed his Pokémon to the awaiting nurse and followed her out.

With them gone, Sam was now the only person in this hallway. Breathing out, he moved back and leaned against the wall.

“One match left,” he whispered. “At least, until we’ve earned ourselves a new TM.”

No guarantees that it'd be the Hyper Beam Redi sought, but it’d at least be something. Even if Sam was awarded with a less in-demand move like Thunder or Blizzard, there was a chance they could trade for that Hyper Beam TM if they threw something extra in for exchange.

But if he could win the next three battles...

Advertisements played outside. Time without a battle passed to show commercials and to let people use the bathroom and get snacks. The noises of the arena washed over Sam as he went through all of his strategies in his mind.

He actually found it a bit funny that while Dark Types usually had the advantage over Ghost Types, his current team lacked such a weakness. Only Haunter was vulnerable. The rest of his team had decent odds of fighting with an advantage.

Breathing in once more, he closed his eyes and felt the weight of his Pokémon’s Pokéballs in his pockets. There was a chill in the air that he tried to ward off by pulling his jacket tighter—

His eyes snapped open.

A chill in the air?

Standing back up, Sam breathed out and saw mist leave his throat.

Too many times, Sam had felt this chill. Too many times, this had happened for Sam to not know what this feeling meant. When he looked around, he saw nothing, but the unnatural chill was utterly out of place in this hallway.

The hair on the back of his neck stood on its ends. That confirmed for Sam that he was being watched.

“...Misdreavus,” he said.

There wasn’t a response, but a subtle shift told Sam he had been heard.

“I...” His words briefly caught in his throat. “I know that you’re there.”

Nothing. The chill remained, but it almost felt focused. If he could guess, it was now entirely directed on him.

“You came to see me off, didn’t you? You’ve been watching the tournament. You’ve been nearby for a while, I think. I...” Sam breathed in. “I appreciate that. I just... I just want you to know that I never intended to make you cry. And back in the forest, you didn’t attack until we attacked. You were just trying to approach me like you did in the changing room.”

A Pokéball in Sam’s pocket shook slightly. He already knew it was Quilava getting ready to release herself if needed. However, he brought his hand down to grasp it. He didn’t intend to send her out. He wanted to try to signal that she should hold back.

“I think what I really want to say is that I’m sorry,” Sam continued quietly. “We didn’t know, but we still shouldn’t have attacked. Looking back on it, I recognize that we should have talked first. You didn’t deserve to be pushed away like that.”

He paused to better gather his next words.

“I’ve never been stalk—followed before,” he said carefully. “So... again, thank you for seeing me off. I’ll be winning this next match. I’ll actually be winning this entire tournament. And if you— If you really want to—”

The chill vanished in an instant. It pulled back the same way a child would pull back from a flame. The usual warmth of the hallway returned as footsteps echoed from deeper in.

That same woman from before approached.

“You’ll be on shortly,” she said.

Sam rubbed his face.

“Thanks,” he said quietly. “I’ll come back a winner.”

She looked at him funny, but he didn't say that for the woman. He said it for himself. He said it for his team.

Most importantly, Sam said it for Misdreavus.

Eventually, the break between matches finished, and the woman counted down on her fingers to signal when Sam needed to walk out. He emerged to the cheers of the crowd and the voices of the announcers filling the air around him.

“And there’re the trainers we’ve been waiting for. Samuel! Victor! I can't wait to see how that Haunter will react to a team of Dark Types!”

Approaching the field from the other side was Sam’s opponent. Victor’s expression was hard to parse; it was either a malicious smirk or an unhappy scowl. Sam thought it was amusing how both of them walked up to the field with their hands in their pockets. Except, Sam was trying to be more casual about it, and Victor was a storm.

As part of the pomp and circumstance of these later round matches, the head referee started to go over the rules. Two other referees stood behind each trainer as well to provide more viewpoints for making tough calls. However, while the head referee spoke, what no one expected was for Victor to interrupt him by suddenly calling out.

“Send him out,” Victor said, his gaze not breaking from Sam.

“You mean Haunter?” Sam asked.

“No. You know who I’m talking about. Send him out. That Mankey of yours. Murkrow’s been dying for revenge.”

The audience became energetic. They’d come to witness battles. But with Victor’s words, they were now witnessing a story as well.

“Oh? Perhaps this grudge match might be a true grudge match!” Mr. Pokémon’s voice echoed out from above. “It seems that Victor and young Samuel have a history between them!”

“I hope it’s nothing too serious,” Nurse Joy added quietly.

To the shouts of the audience and a stare from Sam, Victor snapped an arm out of his pocket to hold a Pokéball in front of his chest. He had a confident smirk on his face as he stared back expectantly. The referee glared at Victor. He sent out his Pokémon regardless.

Sam almost shivered from the black-feathered Murkrow’s threatening gaze. Almost.

“Pft.” Sam scoffed, regaining his persona’s show of confidence. “Like I’d do what my opponent says."

Victor’s expression contorted into a true scowl.

Rather than send out Primeape, Sam released Quilava. She’d be able to weaken that Murkrow with a burn to start off the battle. But, since he didn’t listen to Victor’s challenge, oohs and aahs came from the audience. It was a rather dramatic start to a battle amid the more generic rest of the tournament.

Though both sides had sent out their Pokémon without his permission, the head referee managed to keep a professional look on his face. The rules might not have been described as he intended, but they’d been shared several times before. Everyone here already knew what to expect.

“Normally, I’d ask you to send out your Pokémon, but since you two have already seen fit to do so...”

Sam shrugged to say, “What can you do?” Victor’s smile exposed his teeth.

“Trainers!” the head referee shouted instead, raising his arms to bring up a pair of flags. “Are you ready?”

“Ready!” Sam shouted.

“Born ready,” Victor snarled.

The referee looked between them once more and nodded.

“Then... let the battle begin!”