The Ghost Specialist

Sam knew he could crush this battle. He could constantly switch his team members in and out to overwhelm whoever they faced with status conditions. A Will-O-Wisp could lead into Hex, which didn’t need to be hidden in a private battle like this one. A Hypnosis could cause a flying Pokémon to plummet to the floor, opening it to attacks from Primeape. And if Sam didn’t want to rely on the more non-volatile conditions, he could instead subject opponents to moves like Spite, Mean Look, and the always-wonderful Confuse Ray.

But for this battle, Sam had the chance to do whatever he wanted, and he wanted to use that freedom to test something. Instead of playing it Pokémon-by-Pokémon, he had a goal. He would play exactly how he needed to set up for a strong, singular finish.

Quilava was already out of her Pokéball, as she was Sam’s preferred lead by far. Sam was most familiar with her fighting style out of all the others on his team, but most importantly, she was reliable. She had incredible mobility and knew exactly how much to push herself. With her moveset, she excelled at setting up opponents for whoever Sam sent out next, and once returned, she could come back out to easily finish off anyone else later, helped by the Charcoal kept in place by the bandana on her neck.

Readying herself on the field, the flames on her head and lower back flared to life. She kept the front of her body close to the ground, positioning herself to dart off in any direction she needed. Across from her was a Pidgeotto. It was only a mid-stage Flying Type, but the bird’s keen eyes would make dodging difficult as its moves would come out with incredible accuracy.

Yet, Sam trusted Quilava to avoid her opponent’s attacks. He looked at the referee, who checked everyone was prepared to start.

“Ready?” the referee called out.

Both Sam and his opponent, Rod, replied with the positive.

“Then... Begin!”

Quilava was already off. She didn’t need Sam to give her any instructions for the immediate start of the battle. The sides of the field lacked the normal psychic barrier, but her incredible agility meant she could follow the edges of the field without falling off.

Flame Charge increased her speed as she wreathed herself in flame. Rod threw an arm forward, aiming at Quilava, and calmly called for his Pokémon to use an attack.

“Gust,” he said. His smile spoke of appreciation for Quilava’s prompt action.

In the air, Pidgeotto furiously flapped its wings to conjure a pair of great, gusts of wind that it sent spiraling toward Quilava. Each one looked like a miniature tornado.

“Quick Attack last second. Flamethrower, harass!”

The two thin tornados bore down on Quilava. She kept her pace at the edge of the field until they were right on top of her. Before they could collide with her, she used Quick Attack to dart right between them. The attacks crashed together, dissipating and giving Quilava the perfect moment to use her latest move.

Flamethrower.

Embers left her mouth and quickly grew in ferocity and power. What started as glowing motes turned into a streaming inferno that chased after the Pidgeotto in the air.

Unfortunately, as she had just learned Flamethrower, Quilava’s stream of flames lacked the density of an experienced Fire Type's attack. However, the flames in the air were still thick enough to threaten the Pidgeotto’s flight.

“Now, Swift. As usual.”

Her flames petered out, and Pidgeotto turned to unleash another Gust. Two more spirals of wind came rushing out, but she ran away. She aimed her Swift to the side rather than her front. Her attack curved around the attack as she ran, and the spinning stars of Swift homed in after the Pidgeotto, the bird unable to run as she had.

“Wing Attack! Beat them back!”

Unable to fly away, the Pidgeotto was forced to defend itself by batting the stars back. One by one, the stars burst on impact, but Pidgeotto only reduced the damage instead of utterly negating it.

Except, more than that, the Swift guided and directed motes of flame that followed in its wake. A Will-O-Wisp followed up Quilava’s attack to leave Pidgeotto with a burn.

There we go.

“Return!” Sam quickly shouted, Quilava disappearing right as she dashed between the two Gusts once more.

“You too, Pidgeotto! Return!”

Sam clicked his tongue. Swift might have been the perfect way to disguise a Will-O-Wisp, but Rod didn’t seem interested in letting his Pokémon suffer from the condition.

“Ah, I should have expected that trick. I caught a few of your battles in the tournament. You're a fan of that combination, aren’t you?”

Sam just replied with a cheeky smirk. Rod shook his head, amused.

Can't forget that even if I can switch freely, then so can my opponent. But that’s fine. Every bit of damage we inflict now is damage we won’t need to bother with later.

Even though Sam had been the one to return his Pokémon first, Rod didn’t wait to make his next choice.

“Fearow!”

A bird with a brilliant red crest and a narrow beak perfect for stabbing took to the air. Wings as large as a full-grown man beat back the air as it took to the sky. It was enormous, likely large enough that Rod regularly rode on its back. However, even with its sudden appearance, Sam didn’t bother changing his strategy. He already knew which of his Pokémon could take it on.

Or, he knew which of his Pokémon could use it to set up.

“Haunter!”

His Ghost Type was released from a Pokéball and twisted around in the air. He held up his claws and cackled, a chill covering the field.

“Ominous Wind,” Sam said.

“Fly!”

Fearow forcibly flapped its wings and rocketed so high over the field that Haunter’s chilling breeze never got close.

Except, Ominous Wind was a Ghost Type move. Fearow was part Normal Type. Ominous Wind would have never dealt damage, but Sam had been hoping to see it boost Haunter.

Maybe next time.

“Dive for a Drill Peck!” Rod shouted.

“Shadow Ball. Take it! Your choice of follow-up.”

Fearow’s already long beak began to expand, Flying Type energy condensing around it and curving into a cruel spin. Drill Peck was a piercing move. It planned to enhance the attack with the momentum of a sky-high dive.

Pulling its wings in, it dropped like a missile toward where Haunter levitated above the field. Rather than dodge, he brought his hands out to the side and gathered shadows to his front.

Haunter’s Shadow Ball came too slowly to be launched. Fearow took advantage of its immunity to pierce right through. However, Shadow Ball didn’t need to be launched, all it needed to do was to distract Fearow. The Drill Peck impaled Haunter, but he had already shifted around his body so that it pierced a point on his chest that he had made thinner than the rest of him.

He then grabbed on and stared into Fearow’s eyes. The momentum of the dive meant they were now being pushed across the field, but as the Hypnosis took effect, Fearow crashed to the ground.

Rod returned his Pokémon and let out a laugh.

“Never seen a Pokémon let itself get stabbed like that.”

“Haunter wasn’t going to be able to dodge. It makes more sense to control the damage he takes, instead.”

Admittedly, Haunter wasn’t doing good. While his amorphous body let him reshape himself to minimize the damage, Drill Peck was still a drill, and it had twisted part of his body around himself. Faint gas bled off of him where purple had been pulled into a swirl.

Both trainers returned their Pokémon—Sam, because Haunter was injured, and Rod, because his Fearow was asleep.

“Primeape,” Sam said.

“Pidgeot!”

Rod saw what Pokémon Sam sent out and grinned.

“A Fighting Type, you sure? Might not be the best idea in a Flying Type Gym like ours.”

Sam shrugged, and Rod laughed. The Gym Trainer looked like he was having the time of his life.

“Alright then, let’s not end this too quickly. Go for a Razor Wind!”

His Pidgeot took to the skies as slicing wind blades swirled around its wings.

Pidgeot was the evolved form of Pidgeotto, so Sam wasn’t too surprised to see it given this was a fight for his fifth Gym badge overall. Third stage Pokémon were more common this far into Sam’s journey, so facing one here was expected.

Rod’s Pidgeot wasn’t as large as his Fearow but was certainly larger than his Pidgeotto. Long red-and-yellow plumage hung off its head, and sharp eyes made it look meaner than the pre-evolved Pokémon at the start. The move it used, Razor Wind, wasn’t a Flying Type move, but it was still an attack that could be used at range. Pidgeotto whipped up a whirlwind as it gathered the energy around itself.

All the while, Primeape stayed utterly still.

“Now!” Rod shouted.

Primeape didn’t move. He watched the attack come right at him. The storm of blades threatened to slice right through him, but it wasn’t until the very last moment that he finally reacted.

His gaze snapped into focus, and the coarse hair on his body puffed up to stand on its ends. The muscles on his arms tensed as his skin turned bright red.

A punch from Primeape helped him mitigate the damage of the Razor Wind. He didn’t have a way to resist special moves, but once he got his blood pumping, it was hard to make him stop.

“That’s Bulk Up, by the way,” Sam said. “I’d recommend telling your Pidgeot to run.”

“That’s fine. Pidgeot will fly, instead,” Rod said with a smirk.

Sam kept his focus on Primeape. He kept a careful eye on how his Pokémon reacted.

Primeape knew how to increase his physical power thanks to Curse, and his mastery over the Fighting Type had come a long way. Learning Bulk Up combined those two areas, influenced by the focus granted by his recent practice with anger management and meditation. Now, Primeape could use Bulk Up, but he didn’t yet have the skill to stack it too many times.

He was still drastically empowered—physically, at least. Razor Wind might have hurt him, but he was still ready to go and brought his arms up behind his head.

“Throw!” Sam shouted.

Primeape swung his hands downwards, almost going through a tearing motion through the air. The power brought on by Bulk Up let him pour all of his strength into it, and the movement allowed him to condense and throw dozens of sharpened pebbles from within his hands.

Rock Slide was a work in progress, but it still let him throw dozens of sharpened stones like bullets toward the flying Pidgeot. A shout from Rod saw it use Agility to maneuver through the air and improve its speed, but Primeape brought his hands back to throw more stones again, and again, and again.

The sprays of bullets didn’t come out consistently, but they pressured Pidgeot. Allowing Primeape to use Bulk Up while it prepared a Razor Wind had been a mistake. Though it dodged most of his attacks, it was still frequently clipped by every one Primeape sent out.

“Screw it, Whirlwind!” Rod shouted.

His words might have sounded annoyed, but there was still a smile on his face.

Rather than getting close, Pidgeot pulled to the side and halted, which caused it to take several more fragments of that super effective move. It didn’t flinch, however, and it furiously flapped its wings.

Primeape tried to grab onto the floor to prevent being thrown off, but given the field was made out of treated wood rather than compacted dirt, there was nowhere he could get a handhold. He was blown right off the side.

“No! Primeape!” Sam yelled.

He ran to the edge of his raised platform, desperately trying to peer off its side to see if his Pokémon was falling. From this height, a drop like that wouldn’t be safe. Sam had known the lack of barriers gave flying Pokémon more freedom, but he hadn’t put two-and-two together to realize his Pokémon could be knocked off its side.

A fall was dangerous. He had thought a Gym wouldn’t be allowed to risk its challengers’ Pokémon like that.

Thankfully, no thud marked Primeape hitting the ground. Instead, his expression grew into one of absolute rage. A blue glow floated back up to the field.

Specifically, a telekinetic grip dragged Primeape back to the field. Sam couldn’t see them from where he stood, but he knew there were balconies off to the sides that faced the inside of the Gym’s shaft. He wouldn’t have been surprised if there was a Xatu or two standing there, ready to catch and save any Pokémon that fell.

“As Primeape has left the bounds of the field and was unable to recover on his own, he has been disqualified from the fight,” the referee announced.

Sam sent Rod a stink-eye. Primeape dropped onto the ground and shouted what were likely curse words at where Pidgeot lazily glided through the air.

“I’m permitted to do that a few times each match,” Rod said, idly waving a hand. “Sorry, but I’m not the one who makes the rules.”

“But you’re the one who chooses how to fight,” Sam countered.

Rod swiped his nose and laughed while Sam returned Primeape. The only bright side of this situation was that Rod returned his Pidgeot now that it had taken so many of Primeape’s Rock Type attacks.

Still, that was a dumb mistake on my part. I should have been prepared.

The first full elimination was on Sam’s team, but he wasn’t worried. Everything was still proceeding according to his strategy. He was just upset at his mistake, but he wouldn’t fall for that trick more than once.

“Quilava,” Sam said, returning his starter to the field.

“Xatu,” Rod said, releasing a member of the same species that had saved Primeape.

His choice here almost felt like a taunt, but Xatu was still a part of Rod’s team. Sam had a decent idea of what a Xatu was capable of, especially due to their key role in the setup of Violet City’s official battles.

“Circle it. Will-O-Wisp to harass.”

“Set up a Light Screen. Future Sight to prepare for a knock-out.”

Flame Charge and Quick Attack combined to let Quilava move with increasing bursts of speed. She had to run onto the other side of the field, but Xatu was released inwards enough that she still had a decent amount of room to run.

It didn’t watch her. The totem-like Pokémon never turned her way, choosing to stare straight up instead. Its eyes were closed, but it faced the sky.

Then, it flung its wings out with a flash. When Will-O-Wisp neared, a screen popped up to stop the move from ever reaching its body.

“Continue. Keep building speed,” Sam said.

Xatu’s eyes were now open. They glowed blue but no move was used. Instead, Future Sight prepared an attack in the imminent future.

Will-O-Wisp continued to be blocked as Quilava continued to fail to burn it. Rod seemed to be waiting for the Future Sight to appear, but Sam went ahead and gave a surprise command.

“Flame Wheel!”

While Quilava was a special attacker, her Fire Type moves were incredibly strong, especially when helped by her Charcoal. She used her momentum to pull herself in and roll like an escaped tire right toward Xatu.

Will-O-Wisp was closer to a special move than a physical move, so its use built up an expectation for Light Screen. However, Flame Wheel was a physical attack, so Quilava easily crashed through the barrier and slammed into Xatu.

The move bashed it backward, and Quilava used the counterforce of the impact to leap into the air. More Will-O-Wisps were sent forward. If she had more practice, a Flamethrower would have been better. This was good enough for now.

“There!”

Blue light glowed above her head as she fell back toward the ground.

Quilava looked up too late. The Psychic Type force of Future Sight smashed down into her. Though Xatu was still physically recovering, it maintained the mental acuity to unleash a Psychic that squeezed her alongside the previously prepared attack.

It was quick, and Quilava had no way to defend herself. If it wasn’t for that Future Sight, she could have maybe used Detect, but Xatu timed everything too well.

“So, your next Pokémon?” Rod said, his curiosity audible.

Sam returned his fainted starter and clipped her Pokéball back to his belt.

“Haunter,” Sam named, tossing a Pokéball.

“Nu-uh. I’m not dumb enough for that.”

Instead of leaving a burned Psychic Type out against a Ghost Type, Rod quickly recalled Xatu and replaced it with something entirely else.

Sam would have expected a Noctowl here, as he knew the Gym frequently relied on that Pokémon for patrols. Given that Rod was specifically countering a Ghost Type, Sam would have assumed Noctowl was the correct choice.

Instead, he was caught off guard by the species Rod released. Deep brown feathers, a white face and chest, and a curve to its head that came to a point. The avian Pokémon sent out was nothing native to Johto. Rather, it was a species from a different region.

“Staravia!” Rod named, grinning. “Got her in a trade. Pretty neat, right?”

Sam remembered a comment he had been told by Morty at one point. Johto Gym Battles generally needed to consist of locally caught Pokémon, but the higher tiers of play had more flexibility in their options.

“When Fearow attacked your Haunter...” Rod hummed. “Alright. We’re going for Aerial Ace. It won’t be able to dodge.”

Sam looked at Rod’s Pokémon and knew it was time to enter the final stage of his team’s strategy.

“You’ll be fainting here, Haunter. Deal as much damage as you can, alright?”

As Staravia pulled itself up into a momentum-building loop, Haunter was more than ready. Cackling, he grinned as if Sam had just given him a second birthday gift.

Staravia dived. Aerial Ace built a Pokémon’s speed to make the move unavoidable. Fearow had damaged Haunter, and the outcome was set in stone. But Haunter wasn’t going to go down uselessly. He built up poison within his mouth and pushed it out between his teeth for a mist of Acid Spray that filled the air before him.

Staravia’s speed meant it shot right through. Glowing Flying Type energy on its wings sliced right through Haunter. His laughter was cut off—though he dealt some damage, he ultimately fainted.

Sam returned his Pokémon. With the rest of his team out of the picture, he only had Misdreavus left.

I can’t believe how perfect this is.

Sam wasn’t worried in the slightest. Everything had been building for this moment.

Staravia had taken the Acid Spray, and while it wasn’t a direct hit, the mist it had flown through ate away at it as it tried to shake in its flight to get the lingering effect off.

“Misdreavus, you know what to do.”

When she appeared, she didn’t bother with any dramatic entrance. She simply flashed out of her Friend Ball and remained floating where the light had released her.

Analyzing her opposing Pokémon, a cruel glint appeared in her eyes. She wasn’t breathing—she didn’t need to—and a malicious smirk spread across her face.

“Spooky,” Rod said, but the Gym Trainer seemed unconcerned. “Let’s finish this, yeah? Staravia! Go for another Aerial Ace!”

It pulled high up into the same move, and Misdreavus stayed perfectly still on the field. It hurtled down at her, and the attack struck without a problem.

The strike sent her several feet back in the air, but she recovered. A single attack like that wasn’t going to faint her. If anything, the pain it caused would only motivate her to win even more.

“Again!” Rod shouted.

Sam could tell Misdreavus was ready at this point.

“Psywave,” he ordered.

Right as Staravia reached the peak of its loop, Misdreavus unleashed her attack. Rather than a pulsated Psywave, it came out smooth and consistent. The improved attack—a Psybeam—struck Staravia right when it least expected, the move striking its neck.

Rod gave a whole-body flinch at that, and the ref unconsciously sucked in air through her teeth. The hit was cruel in its aim, and Staravia never completed its Aerial Ace. It began to fall before ultimately closing its eyes.

“...Return,” Rod said.

Sam spoke up as the Gym Trainer took a moment to consider his next steps.

“Do you have a counter to Nasty Plot?” he asked.

As Sam named the buffing move, Rod’s shoulders slumped as he groaned. He unhappily rubbed the side of his head.

“Ugh. Is that what you were using? That’s not a super obvious move. I thought you were preparing a Mirror Coat, or a Confuse Ray, or even a Destiny Bond. Some kind of counter like that.”

Pidgeot made a repeat appearance, and Rod called for Gust, likely hoping for the weaker Flying Type move to come out before the empowered Misdreavus could faint it. However, Misdreavus dived into the floor, using Shadow Sneak to reposition herself. Being guided by her Dark-aligned thoughts thanks to Nasty Plot, she shot herself right underneath the evolved Pokémon to shoot up from underneath it.

Her Psybeam clipped it in the wing, disrupting its flight.

When Pidgeot fell, its wing was too damaged to support further attacks. It could not stop the second Psybeam that slammed into its chest and finished it off.

“If Pidgeot hadn’t taken so many pebbles earlier...” Rod mumbled.

“That’s kind of the point. I don’t think your Pokémon are healthy enough to fight back.”

“Maybe. Or maybe we are!”

Rod drew back his arm to toss out a new Pokéball. Replacing the fainted Pidgeot was its pre-evolved form, Pidgeotto.

As Pidgeotto appeared for the second time in the match, it pulled up high in the sky before adjusting, diving down, and picking up speed.

“Quick Attack! We need speed if we want to win!” Rod yelled.

The Normal Type move wouldn’t deal damage, but it could give Pidgeotto the speed for a follow-up Wing Attack to deal damage. Misdreavus wasn’t the sturdiest Pokémon in the world, so it was a potentially viable strategy.

However, the speed meant little in the face of Night Shade. The sudden pulse of darkness meant Pidgeotto’s accuracy was off. Even with its Keen Eye, it couldn’t pierce through Misdreavus’s pitch-black darkness.

Its speed carried it through Misdreavus’s move, and, facing away, it couldn’t stop her attack from striking it in the back. Burned and injured from Quilava, Pidgeotto hit the floor. Rod returned his Pokémon and stared at Sam.

“So, what, I have a burned Psychic Type Xatu and a sleeping Fearow left against your Ghost Type?”

“Pretty much.”

He threw back his head and laughed.

“Yeah, alright. I forfeit! It’s pretty obvious you’ve won this match at this point.”

The referee brought up a hand to signal the final announcement.

“Gym Trainer Rod has forfeited the match! Challenger Samuel wins!” she yelled.

Sam's grin matched Misdreavus's grin. Having unrestricted access to switching had meant he had the chance to test this strategy, and he felt the battle had been a pretty good proof of concept so far.

“Great job,” Sam said, speaking to his Pokémon.

Misdreavus blinked away the malicious gleam to her eyes, dropping the effects of Nasty Plot, and didn’t hesitate to rush over and nuzzle against Sam’s chest. She was injured, but only just. She’d taken an Aerial Ace from Staravia but nothing else.

Proudly, Sam rubbed her back.

“Wanna stay out for now?”

Misdreavus eagerly nodded and floated over to drift near his head.

Both Sam and Rod grabbed their platform’s railing when the referee warned them that they were about to move. A lurch shook their metal plates, and the field and the trainer boxes around it were slowly returned to the ground level.

“Great battle.”

Sam and Rod met in the center once the motion stopped and the railings retracted.

“I'm impressed by your strategy, especially for a trainer at your level. Even though I pulled one over you here and there, I can see that you were in control the entire time,” Rod said.

“I know. It’s pretty great, isn’t it?” Sam shook his head, unable to stop smiling. “Everything was a set-up for Misdreavus. I wasn’t worried about getting knock-outs, just wearing out your team so she could finish you off at the end.”

Rod laughed, beginning to reach into the pocket on the chest of his overalls.

“Just keep in mind that it’s still a risky strategy. If Pidgeotto managed to get that Wing Attack off, I wouldn’t have pulled back my Pokémon. Misdreavus would have been injured enough for Xatu or Fearow to finish her off—if Fearow managed to wake up, I mean.”

“Yeah,” Sam sighed. “I know.”

At higher levels of play, opponents had more answers to different strategies. Sam would keep that in mind for the future, but, for now, he planned to enjoy how Misdreavus managed to pull off the sweep.

“That strategy would work better with one or two faints,” Rod continued. “Needing to finish off an entire team can be risky, but you’re a smart kid. You’ll figure it out in the future.”

With the advice done with and out of the way, Rod finally handed over the Gym’s badge. It was silver and shaped like a blocky, upside-down U, designed to resemble a simple pair of wings.

“This is the Zephyr Badge. Owning it marks your victory over our Gym. You deserve it, but keep in mind my advice if you want to get further, yeah? It’ll only get tougher from here.”

“I understand,” Sam said.

“Congratulations, then!” Rod slapped Sam on the shoulder. “Looking forward to seeing you take part in the Conference!”

The Gym Trainer walked off toward a door deeper in the Gym, likely intending to heal his Pokémon. The referee directed Sam back out the way he came, and Sam returned to the empty lobby.

Sam wanted to heal his Pokémon but stopped at the entrance and stared through the glass into the street. Misdreavus lingered in the air next to him, and the Pokémon Center was right there, but...

“Is there anyone around we need to worry about?”

A Gastly popped out of Sam’s shadow, briefly looked around, then shook its head and phased back down.

“Let’s go,” Sam said.

He didn’t want to let his guard down for even a moment. He knew what was set to happen, and with most of his team fainted, he didn’t want to give Petrel an early opening. Thankfully, as the criminal wasn’t nearby, Sam had the confidence to return to the Pokémon Center.

There would be no illusion of safety tomorrow. No matter what, it would be a much more eventful day. Sam had earned his fifth Gym Badge here, but that was only a checkpoint. His real test of skill would be seeing whether or not he could handle Petrel after losing so badly to the man before.

He wasn’t sure what exactly would take place, but no matter what, Sam planned to do everything he could to guarantee Petrel’s deserved arrest.