Chapter 9: Three Months

Three months later, inside the basic training room.

"Gastly, use Toxic!"

"Kehehe~"

Gastly's figure suddenly appeared beside a training target in the center of the room. A deep purple toxic mist rapidly enveloped the target.

The potent poison sizzled as it corroded the sturdy training dummy, producing a faint hissing sound.

Sato stepped forward to examine the damage. The surface of the dummy was riddled with tiny holes—up close, it was almost disturbing to look at.

"Not bad! Zorua, destroy the target with Dark Pulse."

"Zor!"

Black energy waves struck the dummy evenly, the powerful destructive and corrosive properties of Dark-type energy reducing it to nothing but a pile of wood shavings, erasing any trace of the toxic corrosion.

Previously, Sato had obtained Toxic Gas through the trading platform and had Gastly absorb small amounts daily, integrating it into its natural gaseous body.

It took half a month for Gastly to learn Toxic and another half a month to fully master it.

Judging by its progress, Gastly's Poison-type affinity wasn't as strong as its Ghost-type affinity, but it still reached Elite level.

Its Shadow Ball training had also continued without interruption, with its power and quantity being a trade-off between strength and rapid-fire capability.

Currently, Gastly could now charge a single, fully-powered Shadow Ball in one second, or alternatively, form six smaller Shadow Balls in half a second for rapid bombardment.

One move, two variations—greatly increasing combat flexibility and almost functioning as a minor area attack.

Zorua had also made significant progress.

Now that its physical condition had caught up, its Elite Four-level potential had fully emerged.

It could now effortlessly use Dark Pulse, and through specialized training, its Fake Tears move had become so effective that any opponent witnessing it would feel heartbroken and start tearing up.

After three months of rigorous training, both Zorua and Gastly had undergone substantial level increases.

Pokémon:

Zorua

-Gender: Male

-Level: 21 (High Ordinary)

-Potential: Elite Four

-Ability: Illusion

-Moves: Scratch, Leer, Pursuit, Fake Tears, Dark Pulse, Fury Swipes, Sucker Punch, Scary Face.

Gastly

-Gender: Male

-Level: 20 (Mid Ordinary)

-Potential: Pseudo-Elite Four

-Ability: Levitate

-Moves: Hypnosis, Lick, Spite, Mean Look, Shadow Ball, Toxic, Curse, Night Shade, Confuse Ray.

Judging from their levels, both Pokémon had surpassed level 20, successfully learning all the natural moves they should have acquired.

However, most of these moves were still basic at best—their power and mastery still required improvement.

In terms of battle style, their combat approaches were now becoming distinct.

Zorua's moves could be categorized into two primary roles—

-Weakening the opponent. -Direct attacks.

Gastly, on the other hand, specialized in status effects—

Sleep, paralysis, poison, confusion, curse.

If an enemy was hit by even one of these conditions, they would suffer greatly.

Sato silently congratulated himself.

He had taken a gamble.

He had bet that Kalo, the Blue-rank assassin, wouldn't stop him from obtaining an initial Pokémon.

If he had been limited to just Zorua, his plans would have been far more difficult to execute.

"Beep beep beep!"

The doorbell of the training room rang.

The cold mechanical voice immediately snapped Sato out of his good mood.

"Sir, the trial begins tomorrow. You still have 100 points remaining. Would you like to…?"

"I've already sent you the list. Buy everything and deliver it to my room."

Sato cut her off, stepping past Rika, who had been waiting by the door, and walked straight back to his quarters.

Rika secretly let out a breath of relief.

In three months, the number of times they had spoken could be counted on one hand.

Every conversation required mental preparation on her part.

She hesitated for a moment before glancing inside the training room.

The scattered wood shavings on the floor proved the intensity of Sato's training.

Recalling how other White-rank attendants constantly bragged about which recruit was the strongest, Rika stuck out her tongue slightly.

The one she was assigned to was probably the one hiding the deepest.

A vibration from her identification badge snapped her out of her thoughts.

Sato had already sent her the supply list.

Not daring to waste time, Rika quickly locked the training room and hurried off to make the purchases.

Meanwhile, Sato browsed internal announcements on his badge.

With his current rank, he could only access basic information, such as assassins receiving rank promotions or recent additions to the trading platform.

However, in his past life, he had been a master of reconnaissance—not a single piece of data was meaningless.

For example, recruits were currently studying basic disguise and reconnaissance techniques, meaning that certain supplies would see high demand.

Therefore, items used for counter-detection and counter-surveillance were things Sato needed to analyze and collect.

Soon, Rika delivered everything he had requested—spending exactly 100 points.

"Sir, I wish you victory in the trial and a high ranking!"

Rika hurriedly blurted out her well-wishes before Sato could shut the door in her face.

"…Hm."

Closing the door, Sato quickly put Rika out of his mind.

Although her association with him might bring trouble, she understood that clinging to him was her best chance at survival.

After three months together, Rika wasn't completely clueless about his strength.

So how much of her well-wishing was genuine, and how much was calculative—even she probably didn't know.

After checking the delivered supplies, Sato sorted them into his spatial backpack.

Then, he silently reviewed his plans.

That night, Sato neither slept nor meditated.

He simply sat motionless until dawn.

At 8:00 AM, Sato exited his quarters and headed for the training grounds.

By 8:30 AM, all twenty recruits had assembled, and along with them, twenty Red-rank assassins who would serve as trial observers.

Among them, Sato immediately recognized two familiar presences.

One was the Red-rank assassin he had clashed with in the bloody cage trial.

The other was the assassin who had kidnapped him—a Green-rank assassin, higher-ranked than Red, and one of the vice-commanders for this trial.

Perfect. He could kill them both in one go.

Lowering his head, a faint smirk formed on Sato's lips.

"The details of this trial were sent to your badges last night. Any questions? Figure it out yourselves. HL Division has 20 participants—let's see how many of you actually survive."

The commander of the trial was a Blue-rank assassin—not Kalo, but a burly brute whose physique hardly resembled an assassin's.

Alongside him were two Green-rank vice-commanders, plus twenty Red-rank assassins.

The lineup was undeniably formidable.

"Alakazam, use Teleport!"

"Alakazam!"

All organizational movements were handled exclusively through Teleporting Pokémon, ensuring maximum secrecy—a clear sign of the organization's immense wealth.