A gentle breeze swept past, leaving no trace on the ground, as if Pete had never appeared in the first place.
Linck then turned his gaze toward the glasses man, who was still in relatively good shape.
The earlier tension had set the man's heart pounding wildly, despite his composed, office-worker-like appearance.
"Um…"
The man with glasses finally mustered enough courage to explain to Linck that he harbored none of the same emotions Pete had shown.
But before he could utter a single word, a streak of pink light flashed past his eyes.
When he regained consciousness, the man and his two siblings suddenly found themselves standing in a vast forest.
"This is a forest outside the ruins of Harimu," Linck said casually. "You three are decent enough. At the very least, you gave me a far better impression than Pete did."
"Don't think too much of it. Sparing your lives was just a whim of mine."
"Gardevoir, heal them."
Gardevoir spread her hands wide, releasing rippling waves of pink light that washed over the three siblings. Their injuries healed at an astonishing speed.
[Healing Pulse]: Emits waves of light that restore the target's vitality and mend wounds.
Effectiveness depends on the user's Nen consumption and the severity of the injuries.
The two who had been on the verge of death quickly regained their vigor, looking almost as if they had never stepped foot inside the ruins at all.
The glasses man sat cross-legged on the ground, utterly shaken. His calm demeanor shattered, his jaw hung open in astonishment.
Up until now, Linck's nen-beasts had displayed a wide range of abilities: overwhelming offensive power, miraculous exorcism techniques, highly efficient healing, and even storage capability, functioning like portable pouches!
And yet, the man still didn't know if these were Linck's only two nen-beasts.
If he had more… then just how powerful could he become?
Linck's strength had already overturned the man's understanding of Nen. Without a doubt, he was witnessing the most formidable Nen-user he had ever encountered.
But Linck ignored the man's slack-jawed expression, he looked as though he were imitating a Gengar gulping food.
Seeing that the three siblings had almost fully recovered under Gardevoir's healing, Linck's figure blurred, vanishing instantly as he teleported away.
The glasses man was left behind, dumbfounded, alongside the unconscious leather-clad woman and the hip-hop youth.
Before long, the two slowly stirred awake, only to find themselves inexplicably in the middle of a forest.
After listening to the man's vivid retelling, they finally understood what had just happened.
Though they hadn't seen Linck's display of power firsthand, the fact that they'd come out of the ruins nearly unscathed was proof enough.
The siblings were not ungrateful people. Even if they couldn't repay Linck at this moment, they would forever remember this life-saving kindness.
As Hunters, their abilities might not stand out, but if the day ever came when Linck needed their help, they would never hesitate.
They also firmly believed that someone like Linck would never remain in obscurity. The day would come when his name echoed far and wide.
When that time arrived, they would personally seek him out to give thanks, for the debt of their lives.
…
Unlike the three siblings who now rested in the forest, Linck had already returned to the skies above the inner city of Harimu's ruins.
Yes, he had come back again.
This time, his purpose was to strip the place bare of its last remaining resource.
The dense death-aura within the inner city was like candy to Gengar, every time it devoured a cluster of it, its experience grew.
Unlike Gardevoir's Misty Guard or Heal Bell, which consumed her own Nen to dispel death-aura, Gengar's feeding cost nothing. All it needed was to open its mouth and inhale, like eating a meal.
What others viewed as a deadly curse became nourishment for Gengar, helping it grow stronger.
By the time the last wisp of death-aura was swallowed, Gengar's stats had risen to match Gardevoir's—both now standing at A-rank!
Name: Gengar
Rank: A
The speed of its growth was nothing short of outrageous, almost like cheating.
Linck had a hunch that Gengar might very well become his first Pokémon to break through from A-rank to the legendary S-rank.
This continent was littered with countless ruins, which meant an inexhaustible supply of death-aura.
And that was not even counting the faraway Dark Continent, where such things would surely exist in abundance. All of it could serve as Gengar's nourishment.
Moreover, this wasn't just for his benefit. With every ruin cleansed of death-aura, countless archaeologists and ruin-hunters would be free to pursue their dreams without peril.
If Linck were to openly reveal Gengar's ability, it wouldn't be long before he was hailed as the King among Ruin Hunters!
A feat even the leader of ruin-hunters himself, Ging—could never achieve.