Come to think of it, given his level of strength, he could easily slip into Gengar's shadow and phase right through, without having to worry about any of those spirits or the haze.
But Will had developed a strange curiosity about this game. He wanted to know: if he followed its guidance completely, walking step by step like an ordinary player, what kind of result would that actually produce?
So he pushed aside any thought of teleporting, stood up, and followed the route displayed on the screen, moving one step at a time. All along the way, Will behaved like an obedient student doing exactly as he was told.
When the system said to veer left, he didn't take a single step to the right. When the game told him to stop and wait two minutes, he stood there in place, staring blankly into the air for the full two minutes.
The result took him completely by surprise.
Just as he rounded a large boulder, a massive Night Shade spirit suddenly materialized from the air and slammed down on the exact spot he should have been passing through moments ago.
Had he not taken the detour, he would have been caught dead on, though to be fair, with his level of strength, it wouldn't have been much of a problem regardless. Then there was the moment he waited out the haze surge.
Barely a minute after he stopped, a dense wave of deep violet-black mist suddenly churned up across the road ahead. The Soulbane Fog was extraordinarily thick; even he would probably have been in for a rough time walking through it.
Two minutes later, the fog miraculously dispersed, and the path ahead became clear once again.
Will stood where he was, watching all of it unfold before him, and what he felt wasn't simply surprise anymore; it was a deep, visceral shock.
He had come all this way without taking a single scratch.
For him personally, the detour was completely unnecessary, but for visiting trainers from outside, and for his own people of the Ghost World lineage, it was anything but trivial.
This level of guidance could genuinely help them avoid unnecessary physical strain and even casualties. One of the biggest problems his people faced when carrying out missions inside the Ghost World was that the extreme complexity of certain regions, combined with dangers that could appear at any moment, often drained them almost completely before a mission even began.
And now, with direct guidance from the game, it was as though each of them had been assigned an omniscient tactical advisor; those problems could be avoided entirely.
Even so, what came next surprised him even more.
As he continued forward, a semi-transparent simulation window suddenly popped up in the lower right corner of the screen.
[Detected: Player approaching target. Combat simulation data loaded.]
[Combat Simulation Mode now active. Available to assist player in formulating battle tactics.]
Will looked closely, and inside the window, a miniaturized battle scene had appeared.
On one side was his Gengar; on the other was that Elite Four-level Banette.
The visuals were simulated, but the Banette's movements, its expression, and even the wild, oppressive aura radiating off its body were identical to the real thing.
Will spoke toward the screen experimentally: "Gengar, use Shadow Ball."
The words barely left his mouth when the Gengar in the simulation immediately condensed a sphere of black energy and hurled it straight at the Banette.
The simulated Banette reacted with blinding speed. Its body dissolved into a cloud of black mist and dodged the attack entirely, then countered immediately with a Dazzling Gleam.
Will watched every detail with perfect clarity; this was a simulation built entirely around that Banette's real combat habits.
In an actual battle, Gengar would very likely have been disrupted by that, assuming the gap in strength was comparable.
Will adjusted immediately: "Use Will-O-Wisp to cut it off."
The Gengar in the simulation immediately breathed out a pale blue flame and positioned it directly in front of itself.
Sure enough, just as the Banette lunged out from the shadows, it was driven back by the ghostly fire.
The back-and-forth felt completely real, as though an actual battle was being fought.
What was even more extraordinary was that the simulation could be rewound at any moment. If he mishandled a move, Will could reset back to that point instantly and try a different response.
There was even a "Battle Assist" option on the side of the window.
When Will opened it, it had already generated several recommendations:
[Caution: Banette is preparing to use Destiny Bond. Immediately use a switching technique or swap your Pokemon.]
[Recommended tactic: Exploit Gengar's speed advantage to open with an attrition-based approach, bait out the opponent's Destiny Bond, then move in for the finish.]
[Note: A significant power gap has been detected. Your Pokemon could release a large burst of Ghost-type energy to counter the Destiny Bond effect upon defeating the opponent. However, to conserve stamina for subsequent missions, the previous tactic is recommended.]
Reading those clear, well-structured recommendations, Will felt the corners of his mouth begin to curve upward.
This was practically a hand-held guide on how to win.
In battle, aside from raw strength, experience was everything.
The standard by which a trainer's ability was judged could often be read directly from the depth of their battle experience. The older and stronger the trainer, the richer their accumulated knowledge of combat.
And now...
For an ordinary trainer, even one with modest natural talent, having something like this to compensate for their lack of battle experience could allow them to perform at several times their actual level.
Will stopped walking and stared at the still-flickering simulation window, feeling a storm rise inside him.
For him, right now, only one thing truly mattered.
If this game could actually deliver on its promise and hand out rewards capable of changing reality once a mission was completed...
Then the coming battle to protect the Ghost World might genuinely have nothing to do with his Ghost World lineage at all.
All those outside trainers would need to do was have this game, and they would become a supremely coordinated force, one that knew the Ghost World inside out. In gaming terms, what was that called again?
A cheat, wasn't it?
Will drew a slow breath and forced his emotions back down.
For as long as he could remember, he had felt like he was fighting alone on the matter of the Ghost World, or more precisely, that only those of the Ghost World lineage were truly giving everything to protect the seal.
Others came to help, but in the end it was always for their own benefit, including the League.
But now, when the benefits were staggering enough, it no longer mattered whether they were helping out of genuine conviction.
As long as the outcome was good, that was enough.
Right... the rewards.
That new player welcome gift had already included a Soulstone of incredible quality. So what kind of rewards could actually be exchanged with mission completion points? Kairos had to be bold to bring something like this out; the items in the shop were almost certainly even more outrageous.
With that thought, Will began hunting through the interface.
Sure enough, in the upper right corner, he spotted an icon glowing with golden light: the Points Shop.
Without any hesitation, Will tapped his way in.
The next moment, he froze.
Was this some kind of wishing well?
The shop listings were packed tight and sprawling in every direction, with a variety far beyond anything he had imagined.
But there wasn't a single piece of filler. Everything listed was a genuinely useful, high-quality item.
And the prices... weren't they a bit too low?
Take this, for instance:
[Full Restore: 1 point per bottle.]
[This item instantly restores all of a Pokemon's HP and cures any status conditions. Recommended maximum use: once per day; excessive use will reduce its effectiveness.]
The recovery effect described here sounded even more absurd than the entire batch of medicine the League had sent to support them, and a single bottle only cost one point?
He immediately scrolled down through the rest of the list.
Sure enough, all manner of bizarre and extraordinary items were there, along with materials and rare medicinal herbs he had only ever read about in ancient texts. And if the points were sufficient, even a Soulstone of the same quality as the one he had just received could be exchanged here.
A Soulstone at that tier... only 35 points.
Will's gaze swept quickly across the listings until it landed on a pale blue candy icon.
[Rare Candy (Basic): A candy filled with mysterious energy. When fed to a Pokemon, it directly enhances a portion of their strength.]
[Exchange cost: 50 points.]
The moment Will read that description, his breath caught.
Directly enhance strength?
If someone had walked up to him before today, held this up, and insisted it was real, he would have thrown them out on the spot without a second thought, and probably wondered whether they had lost their mind.
But now...
Will instinctively glanced at Gengar beside him, then back at the still-flickering simulation window.
The precise navigation earlier, the combat simulation that could foresee what was coming, all of it was more than enough to prove the scale of power behind this game. If all of that was possible, then a candy capable of enhancing a Pokemon's strength was actually quite easy to accept.
Will drew a slow breath and opened the candy's full detail page.
When he reached the notes section at the bottom, however, his eyes dimmed slightly.
[Note: Effective only on Pokemon below Elite Four tier.]
As expected.
Will shook his head with a wry look.
Breaking through to that level... it was never going to be that simple.
But just as he was about to close the page and scroll further down, his gaze caught on a different icon in the column beside it. It read: [Rare Candy (Intermediate).]
Will's pulse jumped. He tapped it open immediately.
[Rare Candy (Intermediate): A candy filled with even more concentrated mysterious energy. When fed to a Pokemon, it directly enhances a portion of their strength.]
The description was almost identical to the basic version, but when he looked at the notes section below, something was missing.
There was no line reading "effective only on Pokemon below Elite Four tier."
Will stared at that blank notes field, and the realization hit him instantly.
No restrictions.
This meant the intermediate candy would be effective even when given to an Elite Four-tier Pokemon, or even a Champion-tier one?
He checked the exchange cost immediately: 200 points. Four times the price of the basic version.
But it was obviously worth every point.
The most pressing matter was to finish the task ahead and see whether he could earn some points.
He closed the shop interface and shifted his attention back to the world around him.
The frenzied Banette was drifting nearby, the terrifying aura rolling off its body making the air around it feel cold enough to cut through to the bone. Clearly it had been affected by the Soulbane Fog.
An Elite Four-tier frenzied Ghost Pokemon was a formidable opponent by any measure.
But in Will's eyes, it was nothing to worry about.
"Gengar, let's go."
His voice was quiet.
The shadow behind him twisted, and Gengar's purple form floated free, its crimson eyes glowing with an eerie light in the dim reaches of the Ghost World.
The Banette across from them quickly sensed the presence of an intruder and let out a piercing, grating shriek. The bandages wrapped all over its body exploded outward, and it hurled itself forward like a creature gone completely mad.
Will spoke again: "Gengar, use Will-O-Wisp."
Gengar didn't hesitate for a second. Its jaws opened wide, and a rush of pale blue fire surged forth, landing precisely along the Banette's line of approach.
The Banette, wild as it was, still had enough instinct left to stop dead; it had no desire to be touched by those flames, which were known to sear the soul itself. As it stumbled backward, Will's next command came.
"Fake a Shadow Ball, just to draw it out."
Gengar raised both arms immediately, black energy gathering rapidly between its palms, everything about it suggesting an attack was about to be unleashed.
The Banette still had enough battle instinct intact to recognize the threat. The moment it saw Gengar's stance, it sensed danger. A look of vicious cunning flashed through those sly eyes, it dropped low, and the shadows directly beneath its feet suddenly lit up with a strange, unsettling glow.
That was the sign of Destiny Bond activating.
Will had been watching its every move without blinking, and rather than surprise, what he felt in that moment was something close to calm certainty: exactly as expected.
The instant that patch of pitch-black shadow beneath the Banette's feet spread and reached Gengar's, a bizarre force connected the two Pokemon. This was Destiny Bond, the Ghost-type move that gives strategists the most headaches.
Its effect was brutally unfair. For as long as the move remained active, if the user took a fatal blow or went down, the opponent would suffer the exact same damage and fall alongside them.
It was a curse that crossed power levels entirely. While an overwhelming gap in strength could prevent both from going down together, it could still deal devastating damage regardless of the disparity.
It doesn't matter if you are ten times stronger than your opponent, or if you can flatten them with a single strike; the moment you defeat them while Destiny Bond is active, you pay a price for it.
For many trainers with raw power but limited experience, this move was the perfect tool for catching them completely off guard.
More often than not, they would land a one-hit knockout and be celebrating before realizing with confusion that their own Pokemon had somehow just taken a heavy wound.
However, this move had one critical weakness.
Its window was extraordinarily short.
The bond established by Destiny Bond held for only an instant. If that instant passed without the effect being triggered, the connection immediately broke, and the move was spent.
For experienced trainers who saw it coming, all it took was a feint or a defensive maneuver to bait it out, and then they could handle things at their leisure.
Exactly like now.