In just a few minutes of feasting and taking gifts, Gastly was pletely won over. With a Traihis generous, of course he wao stick around.

  If the system could show numbers, Gastly would probably have "Friendship +10 +15 +37" floating above its head right now.

  Julian, though, kept a bit of distance. With Gastly being y-five pert gas, getting too close could cause gas poisoning.

  The remaining five pert, as rumors say, might even be posed of souls from people poisoned by its gas.

  Since Gastly was a gas Pokémon, a strong enough wind could blow it away.

  "Gastly, use Invisibility," Julian suddenly said.

  Gastly hesitated, unsure why Julian wa to go invisible, but it obeyed anyway.

  Julian wasn't ed; it erfectly normal for a freshly caught Pokémon, o yet used to following ands, to hesitate.

  As Gastly turned invisible, Julian noticed its Aura had disappeared entirely.

  He gnced over at Metagross, who shook its head—just as befastly was pletely untraceable in its invisible state.

  Now that Gastly had been caught, even the Dowsing Mae couldn't detect it.

  If he hadn't known Gastly was standing right in front of him, Julian would've thought it had left the area entirely.

  "Alright, stop being invisible," Julian said.

  In the moment, Gastly reappeared, making a silly face, hoping to startle Julian, but Julian's expression didn't ge. Internally, though, he almost lost his posure.

  Julian: That was a close one

  Taking a deep breath, Julian asked, "Gastly, is your invisibility a bit different from astly's?"

  Gastly looked at him, puzzled by the question.

  What did he mean? All Gastlys' invisibility worked the same, didn't it?

  Fhost-types like Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar, invisibility assive skill, shared by many host-types too. This made ghost-type Pokémon a on pick for assassins around the world.

  But there were limitations to invisibility.

  Mahods could reveal a hidden Pokémon;

  Lucario's Aura, Metagross's Psychic power, and Growlithe's sense of smell, etc.. among others.

  Yet this Gastly's invisibility was differeher Aura nor psychic power could detect it. Julian guessed even Growlithe's st-trag wouldn't work on it.

  Looking at this shiny, white Gastly, Julian thought, 'Maybe this is a urait due it being shiny'.

  Shiny Pokémon were ofteed by their own species because of their different c, but they usually possessed talents that surpassed others of their kind.

  Take Julian's Metagross, for instas defeats were double those of a typical Metagross. That was the advantage of being a shiny.

  The urait of this shiny, white Gastly appeared to be "absolute invisibility."

  Julian came up with the term "absolute invisibility" on the spot; it fit Gastly's ability perfectly.

  Onvisible, unless someone khere was a Gastly around, even if a psychion or a Lucario was nearby, they wouldn't be able to detect it.

  A Gastly with absolute invisibility and a purple-grade potential—this Mf***er was a natural-born assassin.

  It could sneak up behind you and take your heart, lungs, or kidneys before you even knew what happened.

  Thinking about it, Julia a rush of relief. If this Gastly had any malicious i before, it could've easily attacked him, turned his brain into dessert, and he wouldn't have even noticed.

  Thanks to this absolute invisibility, Gastly had survived so well in the Shadowed Forest without being bullied by other Pokémon or caught by humans.

  Wild shiny Pokémon were often cast out of their groups, which greatly raised their ces of dying. Very few actually survived alone.

  Though this Gastly seemed to live well, it had surely been through many hardships.

  "From now on, we're partners," Thinking of this, Julian said with a smile.

  Gastly blinked in surprise. Pokémon were sensitive to emotions, especially ghost-types.

  Feeling the siy in Julian's words, Gastly remembered its own lonely life, cast out by its kind and relying on its invisibility to survive one dangerous day after another.

  To have a "partner" was something it had always dreamed of, and now...

  Gastly pulled a pyful face, and this time Juliaed with a scared expression. Laughing, Gastly floated over and gave him a lick.

  Julian thought it was just a friendly lick, but a moment ter, a wave of paralysis crept over him.

  Bas**d, it turned out to be—Lick.

  The move Libsp;only had about 20 % ce of paralysis, but for someoh Julian's luck, it ractically guaranteed.

  With shaky hands, he mao retrieve a Cheri Berry from his system space, f it down to finally shake off the paralysis.

  Seeing Julian in such a embarrassed state, Gastly ughed even harder, tears welling up from ughing so much.

  Julian: So much for that Mega Pallet Town Physique, It 't eve a little paralysis, What a rubbish Physique.

  Mega Pallet Town physique: (〝▼皿▼)

  After capturing su excellent Pokémon, Julian couldn't be happier—this trip to the advanced-level secret realm was definitely worth it.

  He didn't return Gastly to its Poké Ball, letting it float beside him instead, so they could start building trust.

  The Shadowed Forest had only just begun to reveal its secrets. There was no way this exploration would end so soon.

  The Dowsing Mae showed several red dots up ahead, and having Gastly, who khe forest i, was like having the best guide around.

  Some treasures were guarded by Pokémon, but instead of using Gastly's "absolute invisibility" to steal them, Julia out Growlithe and Lairon to tinue leveling up.

  Of course, Gastly joihe leveling-up team too.

  Currently, Gastly was at level 22. It would evolve into Hau level 25, and afterward, with a trade or a linking cord, Haunter could be evolved into the versatile powerhouse, Gengar.

  This evolution path didn't have any level restris.

  Julian also found a top-grade Dusk Stone, one of the rarest evolution stones and that too of top-grade.

  Without hesitatioossed it over to Gastly.

  The energy within the Dusk Stone could be absorbed by Gastly to boost its ghost-type affinity, just as the Toxic Orb strengthes poison-type affinity.

  In official matches, a Pokémon could only hold oem. But outside of matches, Gastly could hold a huems if it wanted—no limit on bes here.

  After spending about three days in the Shadowed Forest, Julian finally decided to head out.

  The dark, gloomy enviro was hardly fit for humans, nor was it suitable for Pokémon like Metagross onite. Only darkness-loving Pokémon thrived there.

  Any longer, and Julian feared he'd end up with a case of depression.