"Gaaas-gas…" Gastly felt blissfully happy. The moment it woke up, there was a huge pile of delicious food waiting for it—and all of it was its favorite, Pokéblocks.
If only it could drink that poison again, that would be perfect. After it drank the poison last time, even its dreams smelled sweet. It woke up clear-headed, refreshed, with lingering aftertaste that wouldn't fade.
Reiji had no idea what Gastly was thinking. Once Gastly finished its evolve–devolve cycle, he pulled up its proficiency panel and checked the updated numbers.
[Gastly (Shiny)]
[Type: Ghost + Poison]
[Gender: Male]
[Potential: 60.74%]
[Level: 11.61%]
[Ability: ...]
Gastly's potential had risen by 0.4, and its level had dropped by two whole levels.
Good grief. Reiji couldn't help muttering to himself. Without any gems backing it up, once Gastly's potential was in the Elite Four range, pushing it higher meant losing two levels for a measly 0.4 increase in potential.
If he didn't have money for gems, all he could do was grind it out slowly. Each evolve–devolve cycle would only give tenths of a point. Who knew how long it would take to get Gastly's potential all the way to Champion level?
Even if Gastly gained two levels a day and its potential went up by only a fraction each day, it would still take two or three years for its potential to hit the ceiling. And once potential was capped, he'd still have to grind level. Who knew if that would take five years, or ten.
Ghost-type energy, Psychic-type energy, and Poison-type energy—those three had drastically sped up the process and saved him a lot of time.
For now, though, all they were really doing was accelerating its potential growth. Once those resources were gone, there'd be no more shortcuts, and he'd be back to slow-cooking it.
This really did feel like those pay-to-win games from his previous life. As long as you kept spending money, your level shot up like a rocket; your progress climbed like a skybound firework, impossible to hold down.
All he could say was: worthy of Gastly. Being able to control its own evolution and de-evolution really was busted. It accelerated every step of digestion and absorption. Whether he could live easy in this life would all come down to Gastly.
Next, he gave Gastly 100 grams of poison to see if it would get drunk.
It didn't. If anything, it seemed a little hyped. Reiji figured Gastly's poison resistance must have increased. After all, it had taken so much poison its body had turned purple and become Shiny.
If a hundred grams was enough to knock it out, he'd have to assume all that poison it chugged before had basically been water.
After that, he brought out another 400 grams—half a kilo—for Gastly to try. Only then did Gastly start to look woozy. Reiji immediately told it to evolve, using evolution to burn through the poison in its system so it wouldn't pass out and delay his experiments.
When Gastly devolved again, its face was an even deeper purple. Reiji also noticed something else: after evolving, Haunter wasn't purple at all—it was pitch-black.
Haunter's body was solid black from head to toe. Only its eyes were white, and its mouth was pink from that long tongue.
He wasn't sure if that counted as abnormal. His Shiny Gastly didn't look quite like the Shiny from the anime in his old world anyway, and he had no idea if a Mega Gengar here would turn into a white Gengar.
This poison-fueled evolve–devolve cycle had given Gastly one full point of potential, at the cost of 1.2 levels. Reiji silently thought, as expected.
Poison itself wasn't pure energy. It did very little to raise potential and only slightly slowed down the level drain. It was nowhere near as effective as the energy held inside gems.
Next, he started mixing poison with Poison Gems. After burning through seven kilos of poison and seven Poison Gems, Gastly's potential had only gone up by six points.
Then came the six Psychic Gems and all the Psychic-type energy. Reiji let Gastly eat as much as it liked and told it to evolve once it was done.
However, while it evolved, it was not to absorb any more energy from the Twisted Spoon. Instead, it was to divert part of the Psychic-type energy back into the Spoon—just like how energy was split between potential and level.
He had no idea if Gastly would understand the instructions. But after Haunter devolved and spat the Twisted Spoon back out, Reiji saw that the Spoon's level had miraculously risen.
Gastly's potential had gone up too, but the result was underwhelming. It hadn't even climbed a full point.
His guess was that, with potential this high, siphoning off energy to recharge the Twisted Spoon slowed down Gastly's own gains and increased its energy requirements. At this point, Gastly's potential had already reached 67.
[Gastly (Shiny)]
[Type: Ghost + Poison]
[Gender: Male]
[Potential: 67.54%]
[Level: 9.42%]
[Ability: ...]
The evolution experiments rolled on. After the last five evolve–devolve cycles and five more Psychic Gems, Gastly's potential had only climbed by 2.8, and the Twisted Spoon had just barely made it back into the advanced-tier item bracket.
That confirmed that items sharing the same attribute energy could be mutually converted. After all, they were all gear meant for Pokémon of the same type.
If that was how it worked, he could buy a bunch of low-tier items and let Gastly slowly charge them up.
This evolution-based charging method was probably something only Gastly could pull off. And it would only work for Poison-, Ghost-, and Psychic-type items. Even then, the conversion efficiency for Psychic was clearly worse than for Ghost and Poison.
Right now, Gastly's potential was still a long way from the quasi-Champion level he'd imagined. His Poison and Psychic resources were already gone.
He looked down at the Dusk Stone with 30% purity and the seven Ghost Gems in his hand, and decided to bet everything on the Ghost energy he had left.
These were the supplies he'd set aside to push Gastly over the Champion threshold. Yet he hadn't even hit 71% yet.
His earlier estimate of the energy needed for that threshold had been wrong. The higher potential climbed, the more energy each step cost. Poison and Psychic alone were nowhere near enough; he was now dipping into his emergency stores.
The result: seven Ghost Gems plus a large number of Life Energy Pokéblocks only raised Gastly's potential by 3.6. It was now sitting at 73%.
There was one piece of good news, at least. The Spell Tag had climbed back into the advanced tier.
But Gastly's potential was only 73. Reiji stared at the last Dusk Stone in his hand, feeling like a gambler who'd lost his mind. His arm trembled as he lifted the stone and stuffed it into Gastly's gaping mouth, telling it to keep evolving and devolving.
And that was that. The Dusk Stone's Ghost-type energy was drained to the last drop. It turned into a dull, ordinary clear stone—and Gastly's potential still hadn't hit 80. Instead, it was…
[Gastly (Shiny)]
[Type: Ghost + Poison]
[Gender: Male]
[Potential: 75.52%]
[Level: 8.61%]
[Ability: ...]
Gastly hadn't even reached 79%. The Dusk Stone with 30% purity had only raised its potential by 1.6. He had burned through every usable energy resource he owned.
The closer he got to that number, the more it reminded him of those days scavenging junk on the deserted island, haunted by the fear of "point nine nine." Back then, he'd had nightmares more than once.
If 30% purity only bought 1.6, then everything beyond that—every ".99" to come—was his true nightmare. His nightmare was only just beginning.
He'd already been through one nightmare, anyway: just last week, when Gastly reached the quasi–Elite Four threshold.
If he had enough resources, he could keep stacking potential. If one attempt wasn't enough, he'd go twice, three times. But he was broke. He'd have to trade for more resources.
Before he went out to trade, there was no point forcing another evolution. After Gastly had eaten its fill, he recalled it into its Poké Ball. When he pushed himself up from the floor, his legs buckled and he nearly fell.
He drew several deep breaths before he managed to calm his racing heart and started gathering up the garbage bags and empty boxes on the ground.
Just now, he really had been like a gambler who'd lost his mind. Thinking about the .99 barrier had rattled him. But he hadn't given up. He was still going to gamble—on the future, on Gastly having a limit.
And if Gastly had no limit? Then everything he'd poured in so far wouldn't be wasted either. Because "no limit" was a limit in itself—and that was a terrifying thought. It meant Gastly's future was infinite; it just meant Reiji wouldn't be able to afford raising it.
Once he'd cleaned up, he did a quick tally: Gastly had eaten at least thirteen boxes of Life Energy Pokéblocks and at least eight boxes of Psychic-type Pokéblocks.
Its eating speed could no longer be measured in days. It was now measured in minutes. And Pokéblocks weren't even the main expense—the various gems were where the true cost lay.
He had two advanced-tier items left—Spell Tag and Twisted Spoon—plus two thousand boxes of Life Energy Pokéblocks and over nine hundred boxes of Psychic-type Pokéblocks.
He was going to take all of that and trade it for one last wave of resources. He would use them to push Gastly's potential to full Champion.
The remaining Toxic Orb and Black Sludge could stay. No need to trade those away; better to keep them for Gastly's own use.
Stepping out into the villa's small courtyard, he recalled Poliwhirl and the others who were in the middle of training. He was taking them out with him—to find that greasy fatty.
Riding on Pelipper, it didn't take long to reach the department store. He headed into the food shop he'd visited twice before and soon spotted the greasy fatty who'd dealt with him a week ago.
"Sir, please, come in! You two, go make tea, and bring out some fruit," the greasy fatty said, hurrying into the shop after a clerk gave him the nod. When he saw Reiji, he plastered on a smile and invited him into a private room to talk. This was a major client; there was no way he'd dare slack off.
Reiji had come to this guy because he was easy to deal with. The last time they met, the man had been scared half to death. Simple exchanges like this weren't a big deal. Reiji figured he wouldn't say no.
"May I ask what you're looking to buy this time, sir?" The greasy fatty poured tea for Reiji and set the cup gently on the table, ready to hear his request.
Reiji took out the Spell Tag and Twisted Spoon. Their energy conversion efficiency was too low, and he planned to trade them for Ghost Gems and Poison Gems—stuff that was easier for Gastly to absorb.
"I'd like to swap some items," Reiji said, sliding the gift box toward him.
"Spell Tag and Twisted Spoon…" The greasy fatty opened the box and immediately recognized the two items as the ones he'd sold before.
He didn't nitpick, though. With any other customer he might have hemmed and hawed, but not here. He didn't dare offend a client like this. It was just an exchange. As long as the goods were sound, it wasn't a big deal.
"I want Ghost Gems and Poison Gems. Just trade them at the original discounted rate," Reiji said calmly. If the greasy fatty tried to play games, that would be another matter.
"Of course, sir. Do you mind if I examine the items?" The greasy fatty pulled out a device very similar to the one Reiji had seen back in the Kinnow City black market.
"Go ahead." Reiji nodded silently. He guessed the man was testing the energy concentration within the items, similar to what he saw on his own panels, although the device's readings were off by two or three points. Nowhere near as precise as his.
That was also why it was so hard to find real bargains at street stalls. Nobody was stupid. Items had their own levels, and so did Pokémon. You might slip a baby Pokémon through, or some item that didn't show a level reading, but that was about it.
As for Mega Stones, those were out of the question. Some were family heirlooms, some were passed down in Gyms. The folks at the bottom of the ladder might not understand, but did anyone really think the people at the top didn't know what was going on? It wasn't like the League's higher-ups were idiots.
"Sir, the items are fine. The energy's a bit weak, that's all. Once they're back in the warehouse, we'll place them somewhere with dense Ghost-type energy and they'll recover nicely…"
The greasy fatty set the tester down. He could tell Reiji had been using the items, but it didn't matter. After a period of nurturing and a bit of refurbishment, they could be sold again.
In fact, these two didn't even need refurbishing. You couldn't see any signs of use from the outside, so there was no need to rework them.
"Since the items are fine, take a look at this," Reiji said, bringing out one thousand boxes of Life Energy Pokéblocks and pushing them over as well.
"Sir, you want to exchange these too?" The greasy fatty was stunned. It was lucky Reiji was here to swap, not refund. If this had been a return, he'd be coughing up all his commission.
"Yes. One thousand boxes of Life Energy Pokéblocks at twenty percent off comes to 5.6 million, Spell Tag at twenty percent off is 4.4 million, and Twisted Spoon at twenty percent off is 5.6 million. That's 15,600,000 in total, if I'm not mistaken?" Reiji asked with a smile.
"Your memory is impressive, sir. Would you like everything converted into Ghost Gems and Poison Gems?" The greasy fatty waved for a clerk to start counting the Pokéblocks while he asked how Reiji wanted the exchange.
With the discount, Ghost Gems were 600,000 apiece and Poison Gems were 440,000 apiece.
"Fifteen Ghost Gems and fifteen Poison Gems," Reiji said after thinking it over.
Fifteen Ghost Gems came to 9 million. Fifteen Poison Gems came to 6.6 million. Together, they matched the total value of those three things.
Gastly had excellent affinity for both Ghost and Poison. It had turned Shiny because of poison, too. That was why he'd chosen to take fifteen of each.
As for Psychic-type energy, Gastly did have some talent there, but the efficiency was too poor. He was short on money now, so he had to prioritize its main typings and patch Psychic with Pokéblocks.
"Thirty gems lines up perfectly with the total, sir. Please wait just a moment, I'll fetch them now." The greasy fatty ran the numbers quickly in his head, saw that they matched, then left the private room with the items to prepare the goods.
Before long, he returned with a tray laden with gems—thirty in total, as requested.
After Reiji checked the purity of each one, he scooped them all up and hurried out of the department store. He needed to get back as soon as possible. He was going to use these thirty gems to shatter that .99 nightmare in his heart. He really didn't want to go through those dreams again.
Watching Reiji leave, the greasy fatty told the clerk to move the Pokéblocks into storage.
Now that he'd seen Reiji again, he didn't feel nearly as nervous. Turned out he'd just been scaring himself before. He'd given himself nightmares for days. Now, finally, he could sleep in peace.
(End of chapter)
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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