22 Chapter 22: Ghost
After wandering around for a while, Rex finally arrived at the location of the cemetery in Slateport City.
The cemetery in Slateport City is built on a seaside hill. It serves as both a human burial ground and a Pokémon cemetery. Many trainers choose to bury their Pokémon here.
Due to the large size of the cemetery, Rex searched for a long time before finally finding the gravestone of the original owner's parents, who were buried together.
Rex placed the bouquet he bought in front of the gravestone. At this moment, he didn't know how to face them and could only bow to the gravestone three times.
"I hope that you and your family can reunite in heaven!"
After standing silently for a long time, Rex spoke with an indescribable tone.
Seeing that the sky was gradually darkening, Rex took a final glance at the gravestone and was about to leave when he heard crying coming from nearby.
Without much thought, Rex walked towards the direction of the crying. Soon, he saw a little girl sitting on the ground, crying.
"Little sister, are you lost?"
Rex asked.
Unfortunately, it seemed that the little girl didn't hear him and continued crying.
At this moment, Rex also sensed something strange. He looked around and noticed that the scenery in the distance was becoming blurry, and apart from the sound of the little girl, he couldn't hear any other noises.
"Come out, Swellow!"
Rex released Swellow directly. Now he knew that he was most likely trapped in a ghost-type Pokémon's illusion, and after evolving, Swellow had activated its hidden ability, Bravery.
Pokémon with this ability can hit ghost-type Pokémon with normal and fighting-type moves, and they are not affected by intimidation.
After Swellow came out of the Poké Ball, a surge of energy enveloped the area. This was its activated Bravery ability.
"Gastly!"
With Swellow's Bravery ability covering the area, Rex felt the environment around him change. What appeared before him was not a little girl, but a Gastly with ghost and poison type.
In the legends of this world, Gastly is said to be resentment that has lodged in the gas emitted from graves and eventually turned into a Pokémon. There is also a saying that it is born from toxic gas, with 95% of its body being poison gas and the remaining 5% said to be the souls of those who died from the toxic gas.
Of course, neither of these explanations can be reasonably explained, but it is true that ghost-type Pokémon often appear in graveyards or abandoned mansions.
Rex didn't expect to be targeted by Gastly just by visiting the cemetery. Gastly is a Pokémon that loves to scare and tease people. Many ghost stories in this world are actually caused by these ghost-type Pokémon.
After Gastly revealed itself, it didn't run away but made faces at Rex. Seeing Gastly's changing form, Rex couldn't help but be amused.
"Gastly, were you alone here?"
Rex asked Gastly.
"Gastly, Gastly!"
After hearing Rex's words, Gastly stopped its actions and nodded.
"You must be hungry. Here, have some energy blocks!"
Then, Rex took out some basic energy blocks from his backpack and handed them to Gastly.
Gastly looked at Rex's friendly smile and thought for a moment before slowly floating over to him and then began eating the energy blocks.
As soon as the energy blocks entered its mouth, Gastly's eyes lit up, and it happily began eating.
Rex watched Gastly quietly.
After a while, Gastly had eaten enough and stopped eating. Now it no longer had any guard against Rex and floated around him, occasionally playing some tricks.
"Gastly, do you want to follow me and become my Pokémon?"
Rex glanced at the darkening sky. It was already completely dark. Then he said to Gastly.
"Gastly, Gastly!"
Gastly didn't hesitate for too long and directly nodded in agreement.
Then, Rex took out a Poké Ball, and Gastly entered it on its own. After the Poké Ball shook for a moment, it directly captured Gastly.
However, after only a while, Gastly came out of the Poké Ball by itself. It didn't want to stay in the Poké Ball anymore.
Seeing that it didn't like staying in the Poké Ball, Rex didn't force it.
By the time Rex returned to the city center, it was already past 8 o'clock in the evening. He went straight to the Pokémon Center in Slateport City, rented a room, washed up, and then went to rest.
The next day, early morning.
"Ah, tingling, tingling!"
Rex opened his eyes and saw Gastly stretching out its tongue to lick his face. After being licked by its tongue, his whole body felt numb.
After a while, Rex recovered from the paralysis.
At this moment, it seemed that Gastly also realized that it had caused trouble for Rex and looked at him somewhat nervously.
"It's okay, Gastly, but try not to lick me with your tongue in the future!"
Seeing Gastly's appearance, Rex calmed down, but still reminded it.
"Have you heard? There is a Pokémon battle competition being held at the square in Slateport City today. It is said that the prizes are very generous!"
"I knew about it a few days ago and was planning to participate after dinner!"
Rex was having breakfast in the Pokémon Center's restaurant at this time and overheard trainers at the next table talking about the Pokémon battle competition.
After thinking for a moment, Rex realized that he didn't have any special plans for today and felt that he could sign up for the competition to see the current strength level of Swellow.
Since coming to this world, he hasn't had many battles with other trainers. Now he can take this opportunity to experience the fun of Pokémon battles.
After breakfast, Rex went to the square in Slateport City with Gastly. When he arrived at the square, he found that it was already crowded with people.
After some inquiries, Rex went to the registration point for the competition and registered.
Now, Rex already knew that this Pokémon battle competition was organized by Devon Corporation to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the establishment of its Slateport Branch.
To host this competition, Devon Corporation spared no expense. The champion of this competition can choose five different attribute Pokémon evolution stones as prizes, the runner-up can choose three different attribute Pokémon evolution stones, and the third-place winner can choose one Pokémon evolution stone.
Moreover, the Pokémon evolution stones provided by Devon Corporation are all of superior quality. The value of these evolution stones alone exceeds 1 million Alliance Coins, not to mention other expenses.
After hearing about the generous rewards, Rex, who originally came to play, couldn't help but clench his fists and decided to take the competition seriously.
Due to the limited time, the competition is conducted in 1v1 Pokémon battles. Each trainer can only use one Pokémon, and no switching is allowed throughout the battle. The loser is directly eliminated, and the winner advances.
After a period of waiting, the competition finally began. There are a total of four battlefields in the square, where four Pokémon battles can be conducted simultaneously.
According to the arrangement on the central screen of the square, Rex was assigned to the fourth battlefield.
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"Swellow, use Air Slash!"
"Teddiursa, jump up and use Headbutt!"
This was Rex's first battle. His opponent was a boy who looked like a student, about the same age as him.
Unfortunately, the strength gap between the Pokémon on both sides was too large. Teddiursa was directly hit by Swellow's Air Slash and even suffered from the accompanying flinch effect. After that, when Swellow used Air Slash again, Teddiursa was knocked down and unable to continue the battle.
In the morning, Rex participated in four battles. Among the opponent's Pokémon, there was no Pokémon that could threaten Swellow.
At this stage of the competition, only 16 participants remained.
Now it was almost noon, and the participating trainers would have two hours to rest and restore their Pokémon's condition. Then the final showdown would begin at 2 o'clock in the afternoon.
Your support is my motivation!
(End of this chapter)
