Gengar: Shadow Sneak, I Want to Learn! (BONUS)

Boom! Boom! Boom—

Under the night sky, dazzling fireworks cast a colorful veil over Lake Valor and the Seven Stars Restaurant.

The doubles battle tournament at Seven Stars Restaurant had concluded.

Johan successfully secured ten "Unlimited Dining Passes," handing one each to Jasmine and Maylene, leaving the two girls deeply grateful.

As for Volkner—

As the Sunyshore Gym Leader, known as the "Thunder of Sunyshore," he didn't need one.

And Flint? Well, he had Volkner.

Then came the moment everyone was looking forward to—the free dinner.

There was no denying that Seven Stars Restaurant was the most famous eatery in the Sinnoh region for a reason.

They practically swept through the entire restaurant like a storm.

Even Thorne and Aime, the restaurant owners, hadn't expected the meal to end because the food ran out!

They always stocked up well when hosting doubles tournaments, but this was the first time they'd completely run out.

The reason was simple—Johan's Pokémon had eaten to their heart's content.

After the feast—

Johan took his little ones on a walk around Lake Valor.

Earlier, he had been concerned about encountering Azelf, but since he had already met it—and even received the Fang of Azelf—there was nothing to worry about anymore.

Gentle ripples shimmered on the lake's surface, occasionally revealing wild Water-type Pokémon poking their heads out.

Had he not been so full, Gengar might have already put on swimming goggles and dived right in.

At that moment, Johan was on the phone.

"...The report has been submitted. The follow-up research funding should be approved soon."

Cynthia's voice came through the phone.

She had been staying in Celestic Town with Professor Carolina, completing their research report on the ancient giants.

Since Regigigas was officially registered by the Sinnoh League as a Pokémon requiring special monitoring, this report was of utmost importance.

So, they had rushed to complete it.

"Good work," Johan said.

After all, a portion of that funding would be his reward.

"Mm."

Cynthia's voice carried a hint of exhaustion.

"How's Sunyshore? Everything going well?"

"Not bad."

Johan briefly summarized their experiences over the past few days.

Overall, Volkner was gradually recovering his form. Johan's main goal for coming to Sunyshore was more than halfway complete.

"You guys joined the Seven Stars Restaurant doubles tournament?" Cynthia sounded surprised.

She had heard of it before.

Johan scoffed. "They called it doubles; I fought alone."

"Hmm?"

"Flint ditched me."

At this, Johan began to grumble.

Originally, he had planned to team up with Flint. Not only would the battles be easier, but with their tactical skills, they would've completely crushed that "clown" Flint.

But Flint bailed early, leaving Johan to fight alone.

"Then Flint and Volkner deliberately targeted me, using ridiculously tricky strategies. I almost lost!"

After a moment of silence, Cynthia asked, confirming—

"Flint?"

"Yep!"

At that moment, Johan was the picture of someone tattling.

Meanwhile—

Having finished dinner, Flint was lounging on the sofa with Volkner, reminiscing about their past visits to the restaurant.

Suddenly, he shivered violently and sprang up from the couch.

Volkner gave him a puzzled look as Flint rubbed his goosebump-covered arms.

"For some reason… I feel like my life is in danger."

The next morning, cloudy skies.

On the third floor of Seven Stars Restaurant, in the VIP suite—

Johan lazily woke up in bed.

Last night, he had a dream.

In it, there was a massive cake, which upon closer inspection, turned out to be a Gigantamax Alcremie.

Without hesitation, he had grabbed a bucket of sugar and charged at it. Fresh cream with sugar? Perfection.

Only after waking up did he realize—

That shouldn't have been his dream. It should've been Gengar's.

Glancing at the ceiling, he saw Gengar sprawled out, drooling, wrapped in a giant Spirit Cloth like a blanket.

Johan narrowed his eyes.

Could Gengar have influenced his dream?

"Looks like they really do love Alcremie."

After last night's battle, Alcremie had been busy in the kitchen, so Johan hadn't had a chance to talk to it.

But he could tell—Alcremie was interested.

Gengar and the others must've been working on "persuading" it.

A little more effort today, and he'd probably be able to recruit it.

After waking up, washing up, and having breakfast—

Johan took his Pokémon to the lakeside for their usual warm-up and training.

"Morning, Mr. Johan!"

He happened to run into Maylene, already drenched in sweat from practicing her martial arts.

Judging by her state, she had been training for quite a while.

"Morning, Maylene."

"Mr. Johan, can you teach me some fighting techniques?" Maylene asked earnestly.

To demonstrate her strength, she ran barefoot to a massive boulder—about two people tall and requiring three or four people to encircle it.

Then—

With a light shout, she pushed it, leaving a deep groove in the riverbank.

Johan: "..."

Teach?

Teach how to get beaten up?

"That's enough, Maylene," Johan quickly said.

"Oh." Maylene obediently stepped back.

"Ahem..."

Johan awkwardly adjusted his glasses and said with a serious face:

"Next time, for sure!"

Maylene, unfazed and completely missing the hidden meaning, clenched her fists and nodded.

"Alright!"

Then she ran off, full of energy, continuing her training.

Johan wiped his forehead.

Even though he had awakened his Aura powers, Pokémon World's "superhuman strength" still left him feeling outmatched.

Shaking off the thought, he clapped his hands, signaling the start of training.

Compared to move training, basic training was much quieter and could be done anywhere.

"Goka!"

Charcadet solemnly handed its Pokémon Egg to Johan before diving into training.

Johan could feel the warmth radiating from the egg.

His Aura told him that the little one inside was incredibly lively and full of energy.

Charcadet's "Flame Body" would not only speed up the egg's incubation but also nurture the Pokémon inside.

So Johan had temporarily entrusted the "Rainbow Feather" to Charcadet.

With "Flame Body," "Rainbow Feather," and the "Life Fire," plus the blessings of "Uxie's Claw" and "Mesprit's Fang"—

Johan had a feeling this little one would be something extraordinary upon hatching.

—

Elsewhere—

"Ka-kaah~╭(●｀●)╯"

Gengar approached Marshadow.

It wanted to see if it could learn a move from Marshadow.

Back when they fought Regigigas together, Gengar had been very impressed by the way Marshadow pounded on its head.

"Marsha?"

Marshadow shook its head.

It wasn't unwilling to teach—

But "Close Combat" just wasn't a move Gengar could learn.

"Ka-kaah?"

Gengar scratched its head.

Wasn't there another powerful move?

Marshadow rubbed its chin thoughtfully.

Gengar stared, blinking.

Why was Marshadow starting to act like Johan?

"Marsha!"

A strong move? This one!

Marshadow clenched its fists and struck its palm.

Then, under Gengar's expectant gaze, it extended its hands toward a distant rock.

A shadow shot out from beneath Marshadow—

Boom!!

The rock shattered, and wisps of dark energy, like bats, returned to Marshadow's hands.

Gengar's eyes sparkled.

A ranged punch? With bat effects?

Marshadow shook its head again.

"Marsha?"

That move was even harder to learn.

Because it was its signature move—"Spectral Thief"!

But Gengar loved it.

"Ka-kaah!"

It had to learn it.

And it would.

Marshadow hesitated.

"Marsha..."

It wasn't that it didn't want to teach Gengar—

But whether Gengar could actually learn it depended on its own talent.

Signature moves weren't necessarily impossible for other Pokémon to learn, but it was incredibly rare.

For example, Smeargle could copy practically anything with Sketch, but that was a special case.

"Ka-kaah~(▼⊿▼)"

Gengar confidently puffed up its chest. It had excellent learning abilities!

To prove it, it spread its hands wide.

Dark energy emerged from its body, swirling together into two small bats, looking just like the ones Marshadow had recalled earlier.

How hard could it really be?

Shadow? It already mastered that.

Stealing? It could "borrow" Tinkaton's Pickpocket ability.

Attacking an opponent's physical strength? It knew Lick.

Negating stat boosts? It had Clear Smog as a reference.

If it combined all these skills, there was no way it couldn't pull it off!

Not to mention—

It had Johan, the strongest Trainer, guiding it.

This was totally doable!

"Marsha."

Marshadow gave a small nod, subtly tucking the three boxes of Pokéblocks into the shadows before beginning its explanation.

—

After finishing basic training—

Johan returned to the restaurant with his Pokémon, estimating that Alcremie's morning shift was nearly over.

So they waited for it inside.

"Gengar?"

Johan, while brushing Ninetales' fur, noticed how unusually quiet Gengar was today.

"Ka-kaah~~"

Gengar scrunched up its round face.

It had to admit—Spectral Thief was the hardest move it had ever tried to learn.

At that moment—

"Yimay?"

Walking out of the kitchen with tiny steps, Alcremie immediately spotted Johan and his team.

Johan pulled out his ace.

He played a video on his phone—showing the Alcremie's potential future teammates, the Indeedee siblings, along with the pastries and cakes they had made.

"We have the world's greatest pâtissiers," Johan said. "All that's missing is you. Want to work together to create the most delicious cake in the world?"

Pastry chefs admired Alcremie, but Alcremie also sought the right pastry chefs.

"Ai~yimay~~"

On the other end of the video call, the Indeedee sister warmly extended an invitation to Alcremie.

A partnership built on mutual passion.

"Yimay... Yimay!"

Alcremie's eyes shone.

Johan knew—

It was on the verge of saying yes.

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Powerstones?

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