Day 13 of the Johto journey. Clear.
Reiji spent the morning walking around Ecruteak City, both inside the city and out near the outskirts. His first impression was simple: the place was old. Not just in its buildings, either. Ghost-type traces were everywhere, woven into the city's history and atmosphere.
The city felt old in every direction. Instead of glass towers or concrete blocks, most of the buildings were old wooden houses, even the inns.
There were plenty of Ghost-type Pokémon too. If not for Gengar hiding in his shadow, they probably would have tried to scare him the moment he went near the abandoned houses outside the city or Burned Tower.
Luckily, Gengar's Elite Four-tier Ghost-type pressure kept the wild Ghost-types far away. Reiji was more than happy with the peace and quiet.
After checking the area, Gengar confirmed that Burned Tower had the densest Ghost-type energy in the city. That made Reiji think of the blue stone he carried — the Golett core stone. This might be the right place to awaken it.
The Ghost-type energy alone made Burned Tower worth trying. Reiji badly needed another combat option. Toxicroak was strong, but it could not carry the whole cover team by itself.
Once he made up his mind, Reiji decided to delay the trip to the lake with the crystal by one day. That lake sat somewhere between Blackthorn City and Mahogany Town. If he left in the morning, he could reach the area by evening, and finding the lake itself should not take too long. At most, this would cost him two days. Zapdos could hold out that long.
He marked Burned Tower's location, then spent the rest of the day wandering around Ecruteak, paying special attention to places where the Ghost-type energy felt strongest.
After circling the city several times, he confirmed that Burned Tower was indeed the best spot. Maybe it was because so many Ghost-type Pokémon lived there.
It had once been Lugia's home, and it was where the three Legendary beasts were born. If anywhere in Ecruteak could still produce a miracle, it would be this place.
With the location settled, Reiji decided to awaken the Golett core stone there tonight using a Dusk Stone. He would also need a lot of Ground-type resources. Ghost-type energy would be the main trigger, but Ground was still one of Golett's core types.
Golett had two types. Reiji had no intention of wasting the first strengthening opportunity. It still had one evolution ahead of it after this, and if he handled both stages properly, he could raise a Golurk with Elite Four-tier potential.
The problem was that he had used up most of his Ground-type items while evolving Diglett. Fortunately, the Steelix from the Elite Four-tier pursuer had dropped a mountain of Steel-, Ground-, and Rock-type materials. The high-grade pieces should be enough.
If he wanted the Golett core stone to awaken with strong talent, he had to use the best materials he had. The Elite Four-tier Soft Sand material from Steelix was going in. So were the Elite Four-tier Steel and Rock-type materials.
Golett learned the most Ghost, Ground, and Rock-type moves. After those, it also had a good number of Fighting- and Psychic-type options.
It could also learn some Steel, Dark, Electric, Fire, and Ice-type moves, so those energies were worth adding in smaller amounts too.
Still, Reiji would not lose sight of the point. For Golett, Ghost and Ground mattered most. Everything else came after those two.
He had one Elite Four-tier Spell Tag, found together with the Golett core stone, plus one top-grade Dusk Stone and plenty of raw Elite Four-tier Soft Sand from Steelix. That should be enough for the core. If it still was not enough, he could add mid-grade Dusk Stones, Ghost Gems, Ground Gems, and other elemental Gems.
Elite Four-tier raw materials were the best things he could bring out right now. Anything above that would be Champion-tier, and he did not own anything at that level.
While Reiji was preparing the materials, a young man came down the stairs of Burned Tower and called out to him.
"Who are you? My Pokémon noticed you sneaking around the city. What are you doing here?"
"I'm a Trainer passing through," Reiji said. "I wanted to see the place where Lugia once lived, and where the three Legendary beasts were born."
Gengar had already warned him that the young man had a Gengar in his shadow.
That Gengar was not Elite Four tier, and it had not noticed Reiji's Gengar, especially with shadow power hiding it. Gengar told him there was no need to worry.
"A Trainer?" The young man's guard dropped a little. "Show me your Pokédex."
"Before I show you mine, shouldn't you introduce yourself first?" Reiji pushed back. "A Trainer's Pokédex isn't something just anyone gets to check."
The young man was not Officer Jenny. He had no right to inspect a stranger's identity for free.
"I'm Morty, Gym Leader of Ecruteak Gym. I award the Fog Badge and test Trainers who challenge my Gym."
Morty gave his name, and the Gengar in his shadow rose into view.
"Gym Leader Morty?" Reiji acted as if this was his first time hearing the name. He tossed over his Pokédex, and while the shadows hid his face, Ditto shifted from its disguise back into Reiji's real features.
"Orange Archipelago… Reiji… Mikan Gym Trainer." Morty scanned the Pokédex with his own and pulled up more information through his Gym Leader access. "You're a Gym Trainer?"
"Yes." Reiji nodded.
That identity was not hard to verify. A quick check at any Pokémon Center would prove it.
"If you're a Gym Trainer, then why were you sneaking around the city?" Morty handed the Pokédex back. Most of his suspicion had faded. In a sense, they were colleagues already. Once Reiji became a Gym Leader, they would be equals.
"I wanted to see if there were any Ghost-type Pokémon I could catch, so I searched around a bit." Reiji put the Pokédex away and spread his hands helplessly, looking exactly like a Trainer who had come up empty. "But they all kept hiding from me. I couldn't catch anything."
"You want to catch a Ghost-type? Need help?" Morty no longer suspected him. Catching Pokémon was normal for a Trainer, and Ghost-types were famously hard to find. He did not mind doing Reiji a small favor.
"No, it's fine. If I didn't run into one, I guess it wasn't meant to be."
Reiji waved it off and left Burned Tower. Even if he was going to awaken Golett here, that would be tonight, not in broad daylight. Midnight, when yin energy was at its heaviest, would be better.
"You're not challenging the Gym?" Morty asked, following him out.
"I'm not interested in the Johto League."
Reiji waved goodbye and headed toward a restaurant in the city. After dinner, he planned to return to the inn and sleep.
That was all for show.
Only after Reiji returned to the inn did the Gengar tailing him finally leave. Morty really was suspicious. Luckily, he was not Team Rocket. Otherwise, Reiji might have had another ambush waiting for him.
For the rest of the evening, Reiji stayed in his room and sorted through his resources.
For awakening Golett, he had Elite Four-tier Ghost- and Ground-type materials. Rock, Fighting, and Psychic were covered too. Steel, Electric, Fire, and Ice were also available.
He still planned to build Golett around Ground and Ghost.
For Ghost-type materials, he had one Elite Four-tier Spell Tag, one top-grade Dusk Stone, and all of his mid- and low-grade Dusk Stones. He would keep the high-grade ones. He also had plenty of Ghost Gems, since almost none had been used except for Gengar's food.
For Ground-type materials, he had raw Soft Sand. The Elite Four-tier fine sand filled a whole large water bucket, and that should be enough. If not, he could add more. He had three large buckets in total.
Ground Gems and Rock Gems alone filled five buckets. Steelix's body had been huge, so it had dropped an absurd amount of material.
For Rock-type materials, he would use Elite Four-tier Hard Stones. He had picked up two more of those, along with many Rock Gems and Smooth Rock.
For Psychic-type materials, he had the quasi–Elite Four-tier Twisted Spoon left behind by Medicham, plus the Twisted Spoon from that Team Rocket Alakazam in Gringey City, also quasi–Elite Four tier. With those two and the Psychic Gems from the Lightning Gang's stockpile, that should be enough.
Steel could get something good too. Steelix had dropped plenty of metal, so he picked an Elite Four-tier black metal chunk about the size of a basin. For the rest, he could use scraps. He had plenty of Advanced-tier metal materials.
Fighting, Dark, Electric, Fire, and Ice would just get Gems. They were not core types for Golett, and he did not have anything especially good for Fighting anyway.
All of this together might cost enough to buy a pseudo-Legendary Pokémon Egg. Six or seven hundred million, maybe more.
After all, there were five or six Elite Four-tier items and materials in the pile. Add everything else on top, and the total was easily another two or three hundred million. The real issue was that Elite Four-tier materials were priceless. No one sold treasures like these casually.
If he had not killed an Elite Four-tier Trainer and harvested so much raw material from those three Elite Four-tier Pokémon, he would never have had enough to awaken Golett this way.
Now all he needed was midnight.
Then he would make one more trip to Burned Tower and use the right time, the right place, and this mountain of energy to awaken the Golett still sleeping inside its core stone.
Good thing the fly watching him had finally left. If Morty had kept staring, it would have ruined the plan.
Time passed minute by minute.
Reiji had Gengar check the area around the inn. Once he was sure no one was watching, he opened the balcony, released Pelipper, and flew to Burned Tower.
When he arrived, he did not turn on a flashlight. He walked in by moonlight, each step creaking over the charred floorboards.
Before he came, he had seen illusions created by Ghost-type Pokémon around the tower. From a distance, there had even been ghostly flames. But the moment he approached, all the lights vanished.
The timid Ghost-types had sensed Gengar's Elite Four-tier pressure and retreated, probably shivering in some corner. None of them dared play tricks in front of him.
That suited Reiji just fine. He did not want those little pranksters interrupting him. Let Gengar scare them off, and he could awaken Golett in peace.
He climbed to the top of the tower and stood under the bright moonlight. It still did not feel like the right moment, but he laid the materials across the floor and waited.
He placed the most important Ghost- and Ground-type materials in a semicircle, forming the inner ring. Rock- and Fighting-type materials went into the second ring. The other types formed the third.
Once everything was arranged, the floor beneath him suddenly darkened.
Clouds had covered the moon.
Now.
Reiji placed the Golett core stone in the center of the Ghost- and Ground-type materials.
Nothing happened.
"Does it need to be triggered directly?" Reiji looked up at the cloudy sky. There was no moonlight at all now. "Or did I guess wrong? Does it need the moonlight?"
With no better option, he waited.
Half an hour later, the clouds finally drifted away. Moonlight fell over the Golett core stone, and this time it reacted.
The blue stone floated into the air. Golden light shone from the patterns carved into it.
But it still did not awaken.
"What does that mean? So it does need a push?"
Reiji thought it over. The moonlight was about to disappear again, so he called down to his shadow.
"Gengar, try it. Inject Ghost-type energy into the core stone and activate the materials on the floor at the same time."
"Gar."
Gengar stretched out of his shadow and appeared beside the floating stone. One hand gripped the core stone, the other grabbed a Ghost-type item, while both feet pressed down on the Ground-type materials. Then it poured energy into them.
Buzz.
The moment Ghost-type energy entered the stone, it began to tremble. Gengar had to let go and quickly withdrew into Reiji's shadow.
The core stone spun in midair.
One by one, the materials on the floor lifted and stuck to its surface. The closest pieces were naturally the Ghost- and Ground-type materials, and they were swallowed first.
After absorbing the Ghost and Ground materials, the core stone began pulling in the second ring — Rock and Fighting. By then, the suction had weakened, but it still lifted everything into the air.
Soon, all the materials were swirling around the core stone like a small tornado.
Reiji narrowed his eyes against the dust and wind. Then he took out his remaining high-grade Dusk Stones and a large pile of Ghost Gems. They had been Gengar's food, but he placed them on the floor anyway, and the tornado sucked them in at once.
Seeing that, he had Gengar spit out a bucket of Elite Four-tier Soft Sand material, plus Ground Gems, Rock Gems, and Gems of other types. The tornado took all of them.
Then he had Gengar spit out more black metal chunks. He had plenty of those. Steelix had been ten meters tall, and much of that massive body had been metal: black steel, silver steel, gray steel, all kinds of steel.
There was no shortage of Steel-type material.
When Reiji saw how much Steel-type material the tornado absorbed, a new idea hit him. He took out more than a dozen Float Stones and threw them in too. Better to keep the final body from becoming too heavy.
He also threw in Damp Rocks, Heat Rocks, and similar items to add some resistance against Water and Fire.
The tornado swallowed one batch of materials after another.
Only after absorbing a huge amount of resources did the storm around the core stone finally begin to settle.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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