Pokémon: Midnight Blue

Gastly

Against my better judgement, I went back to Pokémon Tower. The events that occurred the day before were really unsettling, but I really needed a Ghost Pokémon. As I stood at the foot of the tower, I felt a quake in the ground along with screams coming from the top floor. They were not screams of terror, though. They were more so screams of anger and frustration. I saw a flaming explosion come from one of the top windows and a Charizard emerging from it with a familiar figure riding on it.

"Kira," I whispered in admiration. Whatever evil souls were in the tower, Kira must have warded them off.

I was much more confident about entering the tower now. I walked around the second floor for nearly half an hour and found nothing. I decided maybe I needed to climb up one more flight of stairs.

On the third floor, I took four steps, and all of a sudden, I felt something come over me. I looked to my sides. Nothing. I calmed down and looked forward to find a Gastly not even a hair's distance from my face. The Gastly had a really stupid, however malevolent smile on its face. I was unsettled at first, but it passed before long. I kept perfect eye contact with the Gas Pokémon with my cocky smirk quickly snapping across my face, and I grabbed a Ball from my belt and tossed it behind me. Gyarados rose from the capsule and glared at its opponent. I was pretty amused when Gastly broke eye contact with me at the sight of my Gyarados. It gaped in absolute terror as my Atrocious Pokémon towered over it with regal superiority.

"Gyarados," I continued to smirk, "Bubblebeam."

Gyarados flooded Gastly with its bubbles, but I knew that Gyarados was too strong for Gastly. When I felt that Gastly had been watered down enough, I stopped the attack. Gastly was groggy from the attack and barely conscious. I pulled out an empty Pokéball and flicked it at Gastly. Gastly did not put up much of a fight to escape, and the Pokéball locked before long.

This was the first time I had ever caught a Pokémon to add it to my team against its own will. I realized I did not want to force any Pokémon to fight against its own will. I decided on what I would do about this. I went back to the Pokémon Center and healed my team. Then I went back to the tower and brought Gastly out. It seemed to be fairly comfortable around me, so I spoke to it.

"Gastly," I said, "my name is Brian Phoenix. I have a mission to be the greatest Pokémon trainer in the world. I need a Ghost Pokémon on my team, so I caught you. I can train you to be the very best you can be, and all I ask in return is your friendship and for you to help me to achieve my goal. What do you say?"

Gastly listened intently to me, with a very serious look on his face. When I was done, a huge smile stretched across its face, as if to say, "Of course!"

I smiled back, "Well then, I guess it's time for you to meet the rest of the team!" I released Charmeleon, Pikachu, and Gyarados and introduced them one by one. Gastly was very pleased to meet them all. That is, all but Gyarados. As it looked over at Gyarados, it lost some color to its composure and looked terrified enough to cry.

"Calm down, Gastly," I reassured it, "That's Gyarados, my first Pokémon. It saved me from drowning in the flood that brought me here. It's on your side now, so you have nothing to worry about. Besides, if you stick with me, you'll end up being just as strong as Gyarados is.

Gastly did not seem too convinced. I figured it would be easier to start bulking Gastly up so it would not be nearly as afraid of Gyarados as it was at that moment.

And with that, Gastly's training went underway.