The Ghost Specialist

Sam didn’t let himself drop his guard. He actively scanned his surroundings as hurried footsteps carried him forward. He knew what he had seen; Petrel’s Golbat was large enough to ride. It would be no trouble for the thief to fly above them and position himself in their path. There was that, and there was also a worry about Petrel’s skills with disguise. His appearance as ‘Pete’ involved a completely different facial structure. Petrel could appear as anyone he wanted.

Running, it took Sam and Redi less than a minute to exit the park, and Sam did his best to direct them towards the densest part of Violet City. While the buildings around them didn’t quite reach the same heights as other cities Sam had visited, they at least served as some sort of protection from above.

Or walls trapping us in.

Nervous, Sam led from the front, keeping an eye out for anyone who might be Petrel. He also desperately prayed that someone would appear so they would no longer be alone. He saw a woman in a blue uniform, a police officer, lit up by a street light on a distant block, but Sam didn’t approach. It felt too obvious and too easy to ask her for help. It was the exact sort of trap Petrel might set up for a pair of dumb kids.

Redi was panting behind him, her footsteps uneven but still rushed. She had Porygon under one shoulder, the floating Pokémon remaining next to her to help her keep up. Haunter was in his Pokéball, as Sam had returned him as soon as he could. While he was the Pokémon on the team that could most easily withstand severe injuries, Sam didn’t want him to stay out while missing a chunk of himself, thanks to that Raticate’s bite.

Their lone defender was Misdreavus. The Ghost Type flitted about above their heads, constantly looking every which way. She didn’t enter a shadow, choosing instead to stay out to serve a visible guard. Even if it meant she wouldn’t be able to ambush any would-be ambushers, her presence would at least ward off anyone else who would target a pair of kids outside in the middle of the night.

She was worried, Sam could tell, but there was also a certain hardness to her expression that told Sam she was prepared to fight if needed. Back in Sprout Tower, she hadn’t blinked when Sam directed her to ambush Petrel, and she had even stayed at the front to fight alongside Ursaring, assisting the bear without Sam’s direct orders.

He looked up at her. She continued to look around.

“Misdreavus,” he said, just needing to do something other than run. “Thank you.”

As if surprised to hear his voice, Misdreavus snapped her gaze his way. Sam was genuinely thankful, and upon seeing his smile, her expression lightened up. She said her name with pride and resumed her watch. She seemed much more confident about it than she was before.

Their group’s saving grace eventually came in the form of a businessman passed out on the side of the street. His suit was disheveled, and his face was bright red due to what was likely too many drinks. Most importantly, dozens of water bottles sat around him on the ground, likely left by passersby who found the scene funny. Above him, a pair of Murkrow sat on the overhang of a storefront, cawing their names and cackling when the man didn’t even hint at an answer.

The businessman might have been unconscious, but he was at least another person. Given that it would have taken hours to build up that many water bottles, there was no way he was Petrel, too. That, and those two Murkrow were awake and nearby. Sam could let himself relax for at least a little bit now that he and everyone else were no longer alone.

Just a moment to breathe. Then we can keep going.

He slowed a light jog before slowing even further to enter a hurried walk, trying to give himself a chance to catch his breath without completely coming to a stop. Behind him, the second he let up, the sounds of Redi’s footsteps ceased. She exhaled, and there was the rustling of cloth as she leaned against a building’s wall. Redi let out a hiss of pain as she did.

“Sam,” she said quietly. “Can we stop? Please.”

Sam stopped walking. Misdreavus turned around alongside him.

Redi’s expression was tense, and each breath came to her labored. She raised one foot off the ground and put her entire weight on her other leg. She clutched Porygon against her chest, treating the Pokémon like her sole lifeline. Sam could tell she was trying to look confident, but she was clearly in a lot of pain.

He ran over, eyes flicking about for any signs of injury.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay? Did one of Petrel’s Pokémon get you?”

If she breathed in the Koffing smoke, I can’t exactly return her to a Pokéball. We have berries and antidotes that might help, but if she has a physical injury, our treatment options are pretty limited. We need a doctor, or a professional, or a Pokémon can that heal injuries, or a—

“My ankle,” Redi said reluctantly, physically wincing as she did. “It hurts when I step on it. Just give me a few seconds to give it a break and then we can go. I’ll be fine, alright?”

Sam didn’t believe her. She was usually better at lying than this.

He kneeled and tried to lightly support the foot she was holding up. A full-body wince went through her, and rather than prod at it, Sam looked to Misdreauvs.

“Can you help?” he asked.

Misdreavus grimaced, not wanting to let down her guard, but with those two noisy Murkrow nearby, they’d at least have some sort of prior warning if anyone came and attacked. She floated down next to where Sam was kneeling, her eyes glowing blue in a soft light.

Her Confusion-based telekinesis required more fine control than using it as an attack, but it let Misdreavus hold Redi’s foot with less pressure than a set of hands. Blue light gently rolled up the leg of Redi’s pants.

Redi swallowed. The skin around her ankle had turned shades of purple and red. The ankle was swollen. It looked inflamed.

“You were running on this?”

“It’s just a flesh wound. I can get better,” Redi said as fast as she could.

Sam saw the look in her eyes and recognized she’d refuse to give up even with this pain.

Sighing, Sam stood and moved closer, positioning himself to the side of Redi with her injured ankle.

“Come here,” he said, bringing her arm around his shoulders. Redi leaned in as he helped her stand, assisting her as a living crutch that’d help her walk.

“Thank you,” she said quietly. “And I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. It’s my fault,” Sam said, frowning. “If I had just thought of a different plan than jumping out of a window...”

They got lucky, and Sam hated that.

There was no lying about what happened; Petrel completely outclassed them. His Golbat flew circles around both Misdreavus and Ursaring, and they hadn’t even seen the full capabilities of Petrel’s Raticate in the fight. Haunter had taken a critical injury, and while Primeape had managed to punch Petrel’s Raticate away, it had easily stood back up after taking that super effective hit.

If Petrel hadn’t been so casual about this situation, they wouldn’t have been able to escape. The man was playing with his food. He could have finished them off whenever he wanted.

“It’s not that, either,” Redi said with a grimace as they moved down the sidewalk. They were no longer running, but Sam stayed on alert. “It’s my fault we went to Sprout Tower in the first place. I should have never trusted his offer!”

“It’s not your fault for being lied to,” Sam countered. “No one is going to blame you for trusting a monk. They’re supposed to be reliable and wise. He took advantage of their reputation.”

Redi hung her head, not replying to Sam’s words. He didn’t know what else to say, so he kept walking forward, supporting her with every tense step. Shuttered shops and locked doors passed them as they trudged down the street. Still following the sidewalk, they turned and kept heading deeper into the city.

No one bothered them. Petrel didn’t attack.

“Where are we going?” Redi asked after a few minutes of walking.

“I thought about leaving town—”

“What, so he could pick us off?”

Sam held back a laugh.

“That’s exactly why we’re not doing that,” Sam said. “He’d win. I don’t want to lose. We’re... We’re not strong. We can’t do this on our own. That’s why we need help, so we’re going to the Pokémon Center.”

Also, Sam was worried about all of the injuries their team had sustained.

Haunter.

Ursaring.

Those two had taken the brunt of the damage in their “fight,” if that losing battle could even be called a fight. They needed to be treated, and Pokémon Centers could also treat trainers, though not as well as a dedicated human doctor. But Pokémon Centers also tended to be well-defended. Sam would be able to get help while also allowing everyone to be treated in a safe location.

As they walked, a Noctowl silently flew above their heads. Sam only saw it thanks to Misdreavus pointing it out. He’d seen Noctowl on patrol the previous night when he went for a walk with his entire team. The bird Pokémon likely belonged to Violet City’s Gym, and instead of moving to another block, it began to circle above Sam and Redi. While it didn’t say anything and never flew close, it helped to know they’d gained a silent protector.

No one was waiting for them outside the Pokémon Center. While their destination was obvious, there was no Petrel or Petrel in disguise standing outside for an ambush. It made sense, as ambushing them here would have been a fool’s mistake. Petrel would be attacking a pair of kids outside a Pokémon Center and a Pokémon League Gym.

Sam hoped the thief would decide to cut his losses and flee, but after remembering what Petrel shouted at the end, Sam felt as though someone was watching them from every nook and cranny they passed.

“We’re here,” Sam said.

Redi brought up her head as the glass doors of the Pokémon Center slid open before her. Sam helped her in.

They were immediately met with warm air and a brightly lit room. There were no shadows that’d let anyone with poor intentions hide. There was no one around who might have been Petrel. There was a single unconscious trainer sprawled across a couch, and a familiar face from the tournament—Nurse Joy herself—sat behind the front counter, reading a book.

As Sam and Redi finally allowed themselves to breathe, the head nurse looked up and smiled, a reaction as automatic as the sliding doors. However, her smile fell, replaced with worry when she saw their haggard group.

Nurse Joy dropped her book onto the counter, not even bothering to mark her page as she rushed towards Redi.

“Chansey! Get a stretcher!” the nurse shouted.

A Pokémon cheerfully replied with its name from behind the door behind the front counter.

“What happened? Who did this?” Nurse Joy asked, helping Sam bring Redi over to a chair.

“It was—”

“Team Rocket,” Redi interrupted. “He said it at the end. Someone from Team Rocket ambushed us after luring us into a fake tour of Sprout Tower.”

Nurse Joy’s face was unreadable. Her demeanor was one of utter professionalism. She brought up Redi’s leg and inspected her injured ankle more tenderly than even Misdreavus’s telekinesis.

“Team Rocket?” Sam asked.

He didn't get a response. Nurse Joy was more focused on Redi’s injury, and Redi was more focused on Nurse Joy. The nurse didn’t poke or prod at the wound; she merely looked it over. She pursed her lips, clearly unhappy, and the light squeak of the back doors marked one of the Pokémon Center’s Chansey coming out, pushing a stretcher as requested.

“I’m sorry. Normally, we’d use a wheelchair for this, but what few we have are already in use due to how rarely we get human patients.”

“It’s fine. I wouldn’t mind lying down,” Redi said lazily with a smile.

Sam could tell that while she presented that as a joke, Redi would appreciate being able to rest.

Both Nurse Joy and the Chansey helped Redi onto the stretcher. Thankfully, she only had a sprained ankle, which was “minor” enough to be treated here. If her foot was broken, a human doctor would have needed to be brought in. However, if her foot was broken, Redi wouldn’t have been able to run on it in the first place.

The Chansey pushed Redi towards the doors in the back, and Nurse Joy glanced at Sam.

“Come with us,” she said.

It was a weird mix of an order and a request—she wanted Sam to come with her and help explain, but Sam could also tell that she wouldn’t blame him if he just wanted to rest.

“Alright,” Sam said, moving to follow.

She nodded once, leading him through the paired, back doors.

Glass windows lined the interior hallway, providing views into treatment rooms set off to the side. Most of those rooms were empty, but a few injured Pokémon were visible, sleeping on differently-sized beds. Outside of one room was a passed-out trainer in a chair. He had fallen asleep while waiting for his Pokémon to get better.

“Normally, I ask for friends of patients to wait outside, but given the situation, I need to talk to you two about what happened,” Nurse Joy said, striding forward alongside Redi’s stretcher. Upon reaching one partially open door, the nurse raised a hand to ask her Pokémon to stop. She plucked a piece of paper from a nearby slot and scribbled something on its back.

“Please send this message to the Gym,” Nurse Joy said.

The Chansey happily nodded, took the paper, and waddled down the hall.

Sam followed Nurse Joy in as she brought Redi into the side room and easily helped her onto an examination table. The room wasn’t anything built for overnight stays, it was just a room for quick check-ups and simple treatments. The examination table was larger than normal to support as many different sizes of Pokémon as possible. It made Redi look small.

There was a chair for healthy guests—likely intended for the trainers of the Pokémon—set off to the side, but Sam couldn’t bring himself to sit down right away. Nurse Joy sent him a pointed stare that he almost refused, but he forced himself to listen to the trained medical professional and quickly collapsed into it.

While the seat was only lightly cushioned wood, after everything that happened tonight, being able to relax for once made the chair feel heavenly.

“Are your Pokémon injured?” Nurse Joy asked.

Sam and Redi both nodded. The nurse sat on a wheeled stool and pressed a button on a large, computer-like device built into a counter attached to a wall. She then opened a drawer to pull out supplies and pushed herself back over to start working on Redi’s leg.

As she did her job, a Chansey collected everyone’s Pokéballs. Redi had dropped Porygon when Nurse Joy escorted her to a chair in the lobby, and she used this chance to return her following Pokémon. Misdreavus was still floating over Sam’s head, and she looked ready to fight against the order if Sam tried to return her right here.

“You were fighting that Golbat,” Sam said softly. “Please let me return you. I need to know that you’re okay.”

Her lips quivered, and after a short second of consideration, she reluctantly relented, letting Sam return her to her Friend Ball. He passed her over alongside the Pokéballs containing Primeape and Haunter. While he didn’t plan to send Quilava out, she hadn’t been involved in the fight. He kept her on his belt, as he couldn’t bring himself to go without any Pokémon.

Nurse Joy applied ointment, wrapped Redi’s ankle, and gave her an ice pack after raising her foot. The whole process took only a few minutes. Compared to most injuries the nurse had seen, this was probably nothing.

“Now,” Nurse Joy said, pulling herself back once satisfied with Redi’s treatment, “tell me everything about what happened. Don’t leave anything out.”

Sam and Redi both spoke at once, the explanation becoming jumbled between them.

“So it was my birthday—”

“I wanted to get him a gift—”

“This monk named Pete—”

“A private tour of Sprout Tower—”

“But it was an ambush—

“A bunch of Pokémon, way too many Koffing—”

“Blocked the ladder—!”

“Third story window...”

Nurse Joy looked incredulous.

Despite both Sam and Redi constantly talking over one another, she still didn’t have any problems understanding them. By the end of it, both of them were huffing and puffing. They’d done everything she said and left nothing out.

“Okay. Thank you. Please give me a moment,” Nurse Joy said. She didn’t look worried, and that was something that gave Sam comfort.

She turned back to her computer and began to furiously type into it. Loud key clicks and the whirring of the machine’s fans were the only noises in the room for several long minutes.

“May I have your trainer IDs?” she eventually asked.

Sam and Redi passed them over.

She glanced down at them and continued to enter information into her system. For a moment, Sam realized that he never checked if Nurse Joy was truly who she said she was, but then again, only a true nurse would have been able to give orders to those Chansey and have the Pokémon listen to her.

Plus, she treated Redi’s ankle. There’s no way a disguised Petrel could fake that level of skill.

Finally, silence. Mostly. The computer was still making the occasional noise.

Nurse Joy turned on her stool, looking at both Sam and Redi. Her firm gaze passed over them as if she was only now properly taking them in.

“Redi, there’s a note in our system about your Pokémon. You added Porygon to your team back in Goldenrod, correct?”

Redi’s response was a wince. This time, it wasn’t sourced from pain.

“Yes?” she replied meekly.

Her voice came out more like a squeak than anything else.

“When it comes to rescuing stolen and poached Pokémon, Pokémon Centers work closely with the League to ensure each victim is either released or paired with a trainer or family we know will treat them well. Sometimes it’s a long process to find a viable candidate. Other times, it’s done in less than a day. For you, the nurse in Goldenrod judged you as a fine candidate to take care of Porygon, and that’s why they’ve been allowed to stay on your team.”

“...Allowed?”

Redi didn’t sound happy, but Nurse Joy’s stern look demanded that neither of them should speak.

“Yes, allowed. What you two did was very foolish. Breaking into the heart of a gambling operation? Stealing a Pokémon from a den of poachers? You risked more than just your health. You risked the health of your Pokémon. What did you think would happen to them if you were caught inside?”

Silence. It was a rhetorical question.

“But...” Nurse Joy let out a sigh. Her expression softened if only a little bit. “You helped those Pokémon. You helped stop a lot more from getting hurt. For that reason, you were never punished. Usually, a feat like that warrants a reward from the League to promote that kind of good behavior, but in this case, you risked too much. Your reward was silence; no one would mention your involvement, but you wouldn’t find yourself in legal trouble in exchange.”

Sam could see Redi visibly pale.

“Normally, that would be where things are left,” Nurse Joy continued. “A poaching ring was broken up, the kids who discovered it got to go free none the wiser, and the poached Pokémon hopefully get the chance to live better lives. Unfortunately, this is becoming a bigger problem than anyone would have thought. Team Rocket is involved.”

Sam couldn’t resist speaking up.

“I’m not sure who Team Rocket is,” he said.

Redi looked at Sam. Nurse Joy blinked before opening her mouth in realization.

“You’re from Hoenn, aren’t you? That’s why you’re so confused,” she said, a hand placed on her cheek. “What do you currently know about Team Rocket?”

“A bit?” Sam answered. “I know they’re criminals, and I think I might have heard Redi talk about them, and I’ve heard of other teams like Team Magma and Team Aqua, but I’m pretty sure those two are just political movements. I’m getting the sense that Team Rocket wasn’t formed for environmental concerns, and it’s a lot more than just a few petty criminals, huh?”

For some reason, Nurse Joy frowned at his words.

“Teams are generally formed by people wanting to push for political change, yes, but in the case of Team Rocket, they’re more of—”

“A mafia. An entire organization of criminals,” Redi interrupted. “There’s no other way to describe them. They’re popping up more and more in Kanto. I shouldn’t be surprised that they’re over here.”

Redi was outright scowling, her familiarity with them obvious to Sam. Sam sent her a confused look, asking an unspoken question.

“They’re the ones who tried to take Mama in the first place,” she explained.

Oh. Team Rocket is the group that stole her family’s Kangaskhan from the Safari Zone.

Nurse Joy stayed quiet, missing a bit of context about who Redi was talking about. She let the silence continue, giving Sam and Redi a moment to process before she resumed her explanation.

“Thankfully, as far as we can tell, Team Rocket is still mostly contained in Kanto,” Nurse Joy said. “I very much doubt Petrel has the resources and surveillance he claimed. No, he ambushed you alone and mentioned that his organization is still expanding. He tried to recruit you, for goodness’s sake! That’s... not good news for the long run, but for now, you needn’t worry about him bringing in any grunts.”

Except Petrel’s strong enough to beat us on his own.

Sam didn’t say that part out loud.

“Now, if Petrel is truly a member of Team Rocket, he’ll likely be motivated to continue after you. I can’t call myself an expert on criminal organizations, but with a Pokémon as rare as Porygon with you, I can’t see a future in which he completely lets you go. No, for this matter, I see a few possible solutions.”

Sam sat up a bit straighter. Redi tried to sit up as much as her position on the examination table would let her.

Seeing they were listening, Nurse Joy held up a hand, raising fingers to number each of her points.

“First, you can hand Porygon over to a much stronger—”

“Nope,” Redi immediately interrupted.

Nurse Joy nodded approvingly and raised a second finger.

“Second, you can find shelter. Go to a Gym. Find a stronger trainer. Work under them in exchange for protection, and Petrel will be forced to cut his losses or risk getting himself caught.”

Sam didn’t even need to see Redi’s reaction to that one. Both of them were already in agreement.

“There’s no way that’s going to happen,” he said.

Nurse Joy nodded once again and continued.

“Third, you can find a sponsor and make yourselves big names in the trainer community. Make your Porygon well-known enough, and Petrel won’t be able to risk going after you without making a big scene. The consequence is that with the risks you pose, the contracts you sign will likely be limiting. Expect a lot of obligations—”

“I’m getting the sense that none of these are going to be good options except for whatever you plan to say last,” Redi said.

Nurse Joy brought down her hand, placing it over the other one in her lap.

“There’s two options, actually,” Nurse Joy replied, eyeing Redi carefully. “The first would be to rope in someone stronger to travel with you for your protection. The second would be to ensure Petrel’s capture before he can capture you.”

Sam’s expression hardened. He knew what that second one would entail.

“We need to get stronger,” he said.

“Yes. No matter what you do, an experienced criminal like Petrel will be able to defeat you as you are now.”

Sam had won the tournament in the city, but that wasn’t enough. If he wanted his friends to ever be safe again, he needed to train his team until they could no longer be beaten.

“So we get help now so we can capture Petrel once we’re stronger,” Sam said.

The nurse looked at Sam. Her expression was stern.

“No. I apologize. That’s not what I meant. Yes, you need to become stronger to help you stay safe, but it won’t be you capturing Petrel, but us. We know he’s in the city, and we know that he’ll be after you. The Pokémon League handles all crimes related to Pokémon. It has trainers experienced with this kind of work, and you can put your faith in them as the rest of us keep you safe.”

Redi’s expression was flat. Sam was now frowning.

“They didn’t keep us safe the first time around,” Redi mumbled.

Nurse Joy’s lips twitched downwards.

“Walker is... out of the city,” she said, her voice purposefully level. “While he might not be here, we’ve still known that Team Rocket has been trying to push into Johto for quite some time. You might have witnessed a few increased security measures while you were out. I imagine one of those might have ensured your safety while you returned to the Pokémon Center.”

The Noctowl.

“Now, while Violet Gym has been sending out more of its Pokémon on regular patrols, we haven’t had much information to work with. We unfortunately had no way of knowing that Team Rocket possessed people as skilled in disguise as Petrel, but thanks to you, we do know now.”

She smiled.

“We’ll be able to create plans that ensure his capture,” she said. “Thank you. It was smart of you to come back here and inform me instead of running off on your own.”

“But then that’s it?” Redi asked. “You want us to sit back while the ‘adults’ take charge and try to capture Petrel for themselves?”

Sam could taste the bitterness in his mouth.

“Yes. That is exactly what we want you to do. Take a break for a few days. Rest in the Pokémon Center. Heal up, train, and stay here and relax where you’ll be safe. You two didn’t deserve to be attacked by that... scum.”

Judging from the expression on Nurse Joy’s face, Sam could tell that while she was thankful for the information, she was not happy about what it took to learn it. Taking care of people and their Pokémon was her job. A criminal freely attacking a pair of young trainers was essentially the antithesis of everything she worked toward.

“Can I suggest something?” Sam said.

He hated it, but he wouldn’t be able to help as he was now. However, he wasn’t useless. He could at least try to bring someone else here.

“What is it?”

“Flying Types won’t be enough. Yeah, they can scan through a city pretty quickly, but can they check in buildings? In alleys? Flying Type specialists aren’t the kind of trainers who know how to find hidden things. There are better kinds of trainers out there.”

“...And who, exactly, are you proposing for this?” Nurse Joy asked carefully.

“Morty,” Sam replied. “The Gym Leader. He’s a Ghost Type specialist with the exact skillset you need to root out someone so skilled with disguise.”

Nurse Joy pressed her lips together, but she seemed to at least give his suggestion genuine thought. She’d already mentioned that the local Gym Leader was out of the city, but she hadn’t commented about contacting him, either.

“It would be good to get someone as skilled as him in this case...” she mumbled.

“Send him a message. Use my name. We’re friends—I think. Please. I’m sure he can help out.”

Nurse Joy took in Sam once more. She briefly flicked her gaze over to Redi’s ankle. As she stared at Sam, he tried to pour as much genuineness into his expression as possible. He tried to express that while he wanted to personally help, bringing someone like Morty in would mean that he stayed satisfied. More importantly, if Sam’s suggestion did something, he wouldn’t be as opposed to staying back.

Redi joined in, recognizing Sam’s attempts and sending Nurse Joy the best puppy-dog eyes she could muster. Nurse Joy’s expression quivered until she finally breathed out.

She leaned back in her chair, placing her hand on her forehead.

“It’s a well-reasoned idea, I’ll give you that,” Nurse Joy said reluctantly. “I’ll fax Ecruteak Gym as soon as I can. But you two have to promise me that you’ll rest and not do anything shortsighted until we talk again. Yes?”

“...Alright.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“We promise,” Sam and Redi said in unison.

“Good!” Nurse Joy clapped her hands. “Now, I’ll help you up to your rooms and make sure your Pokémon are healed. And don’t worry, there isn’t a more well-defended place in Violet City than inside this Pokémon Center.”

Sam wasn’t able to sleep until his Pokémon were returned to him. Haunter was given something to help him regrow his missing flesh, and the rest of Sam’s Pokémon lacked injuries that would need special treatment.

His rest wasn’t much, unfortunately. It came to him short and fitful. He couldn’t get over his nerves, and thoughts about Petrel sneaking in or exploding parts of the building kept him up until he was too exhausted to stay awake.

Sam wasn’t sure what to do the next morning. The rest of the Pokémon Center was as active as ever, seemingly unaware of what had transpired last night. Nurse Joy told them to wait inside until the League decided on a plan, so Sam lingered. Thankfully, the back courtyard was isolated enough that they could go out there and train.

His Pokémon were furious. Dedicated. Determined. They threw themselves into practice. Following Sam’s lead, they sparred and used their moves so ferociously that other trainers stopped to watch in surprise.

No one on Sam’s team wanted to lose like that again. The encounter in Sprout Tower wasn’t just a blow to their spirits—it was a blow to their pride. Having a criminal outsmart and dance around their every move was infuriating.

Sam might have had strategies prepared, but he didn’t have anything in place to help mitigate such a vast difference in strength.

He and Redi watched their teams, keeping an eye on everything going on. Sam wished he could go to the local library and watch more archived battles. He wanted to observe high-level matches and figure out counters to how more experienced trainers fight.

It felt like they trained for minutes, but the session lasted a full hour. They only stopped when interrupted by a tired-looking Nurse Joy calling them back inside.

“We’ve been discussing what to do,” she explained in a back room, yawning as she spoke to Sam and Redi in a place where no one could listen. “Morty agreed to help. Given the threat of Team Rocket, he’ll be coming to Violet City to take care of this problem in person. However, for your protection, you’ve been asked to remain in the Pokémon Center—”

Both Sam and Redi scowled.

“—But,” she continued. “Morty doesn’t plan to have you sit around and do nothing. He’s sending one of his personal Pokémon to help defend the Center—which you may politely ask to help you train—and he asked me for one last thing.”

She paused.

“A favor,” Nurse Joy said. “He asked me to reassign our resident Ghost Types to help defend you. For a matter like this, I, of course, accepted.”