Chapter 294: Haunter
Heracross #2: "Both my wife and I are willing to follow you."
Heracross #3: "Choose us—a family of three."
Heracross #4: "Pfft, you shameless lot. Don't think I don't know why you all want to follow this human."
"Human, they all have ulterior motives, but I truly want to follow you with a sincere heart."
Heracross Leader: "All of you, shut up! Are any of you stronger than me? Can any of you fight as well as I can? And most importantly, my appetite is smaller than all of yours."
As Julian and Dalton were preparing to leave, the group of Heracross swarmed around Julian, insisting on following him.
Each of them expressed their desire to be chosen, which made Dalton look at Julian with admiration.
'As expected of Boss Walker, he subdued all these Heracross effortlessly!'
Julian, however, remained expressionless as he stared at the Heracross. If anyone ever claimed Pokémon were simple-minded and pure-hearted, he'd make them come and meet this lot.
They claimed they wanted to follow him, but wasn't it just because of his honey?
Each one spoke as sweetly as a song.
If one of them had Cyan-tier potential, he might reluctantly accept it. After all, Heracross are strong Bug-types.
But they were all green-tier, so they couldn't enter Julian's and their typing wasn't suitable for him either.
"You're all rubbish," Julian said flatly.
The Heracross didn't seem the least bit discouraged by his words. Instead, they enthusiastically volunteered themselves one by one, as if they hadn't understood him at all.
Julian was at a loss. 'I just called you weak, and not only are you not offended, but you look thrilled. Do you even understand what I'm saying?'
"Roar"
Suddenly, a roar echoed from the sky.
Julian looked up and saw Dragonite returning.
"Dragonite? Boss Walker, there's a Dragonite here? Wait—it's coming down... Oh, it's yours."
Dalton said, his excitement quickly fading into disappointment.
For a moment, he thought it was a wild Dragonite, but now he realized he'd been mistaken.
"Did you find anything?" Julian asked.
Dragonite shook its head and handed Julian the location tracker it was carrying.
"Boss Walker, the investigation team's tracker is broken."
Dalton explained after seeing the device.
Julian sighed in frustration.
"How does something like this even break? What are you people doing out here?"
The tracker was the only way to relay one's location in the wild.
It was designed to be shockproof, waterproof, moisture-resistant, and could last six months without needing a battery replacement. Aside from not being fireproof, it was practically indestructible.
Now Dalton was telling Julian that the tracker was broken.
No wonder Dragonite searched for an entire day and night and still found nothing. With Dragonite's speed and the tracker's 50-kilometer detection range, it should have been a straightforward task, but nothing.
Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong all at once.
"It wasn't me who broke it."
Dalton muttered under his breath, but when he saw Julian glaring at him with a dark expression, he quickly shut up.
"Do you remember where you encountered the Gengar?" Julian asked.
The only way to locate the missing team now was to track down the Gengar and Haunter that had separated them.
Dalton nodded quickly.
Julian pulled out a map: "Where?"
Dalton looked at it for a moment and pointed to a specific area. "Right here. But Boss Walker, if we head there now, they might've already moved on."
Many Ghost-type Pokémon were wanderers, rarely staying in one spot for long.
The Gengar and Haunter they encountered were no exception. Ghost Pokémon often roamed in search of humans to prank.
Ignoring the reluctant gazes of the Heracross, Julian mounted Dragonite with Dalton and left the area.
As they soared through the sky, Dalton remarked, "Boss Walker, I feel like Dragonite looks different now, almost like it's—"
"Dragonite is Elite-level now," Julian said matter-of-factly. "And stop grabbing my waist."
Dalton had been about to say Dragonite looked a bit fatter, but the bombshell Julian dropped made him forget all about it. In his excitement, Dalton unconsciously tightened his grip on Julian.
"MF***er! Let go of my waist!"
Julian snapped. He reached back, grabbed Dalton by the collar, and threw him off Dragonite.
"Ahhh!!!"
Dalton screamed as he experienced the terror of freefall before scrambling back onto Dragonite's back, pale and trembling. He didn't dare grab Julian again and instead braced himself by placing his hands firmly on Dragonite's back.
Because Dalton had joined the ride, the flight seat couldn't be installed, leaving him to balance precariously.
After flying for over half an hour, they reached the area where they had encountered the Gengar and Haunter.
Julian recalled Dragonite into its Poké Ball. Although Dragonite had suppressed its aura, Ghost Pokémon were highly sensitive. If Gengar and Haunter were still nearby, they wouldn't approach as long as Dragonite was around.
"That's Shen's bag over there."
Dalton said, pointing to a pile of leaves where a black backpack was partially visible.
Julian walked over and pulled the backpack from the pile. It was indeed Shen's—Julian had seen her carrying it before.
"Shen is even unluckier than me. At least I still have my bag."
Dalton couldn't help but gloat a little. While he had only lost his clothes to the mischievous Gengar and Haunter—leaving him shivering in the cold—Shen had lost her entire bag.
And that bag contained essential survival gear.
Suddenly, Dalton's expression turned a bit odd. "Boss Walker, I lost my Shirt, Shen lost her bag… What if Luis got his pants stolen?"
The image that flashed in his mind was a bit too much to bear.
Julian froze for a moment, realizing that scenario wasn't entirely impossible.
Now, he found himself unexpectedly eager to see what state Luis would be in when they found him.
'Guess I really am a terrible person'
"Haunter"
Julian said, tossing out a Poké Ball.
From the ball emerged a white Haunter, its ghostly form gleaming faintly in the light.
After leaving the Dragon's Den, Julian had taken the time to evolve his Gastly.
"What the—? A white Haunter?"
Dalton exclaimed. It was the first time he had ever seen a white Haunter.
"Search the area, look for any traces of Gengar or Haunter."
Haunter let out a mischievous cackle before vanishing into the shadows.
"Boss Walker, where did you get a white Haunter? It looks so amazing!"
"Picked it up from the road."
Julian replied nonchalantly.
"Really?"
"As if," Julian deadpanned.
"I knew you were joking. But actually, my Machamp really 'was' found on the road."
"Really?"
"As if"
"Smack!"
Julian landed a solid slap on the back of Dalton's head, sending him face-first into the dirt.
'Damn it! how did I get played by someone like him?!'
*****
Upto 30 chapters ahead on patreon :-
patreon.com/ReduxMagister