Chapter 17: A Lethal Strike Under the Shade

"Haunter, Shadow Ball!"

"Kehehehehe~"

Haunter grinned as it launched a decently powered Shadow Ball at its opponent, who was already suffering from both paralysis and poison. The attack landed cleanly, knocking out the opposing Pokémon with ease.

"Graveler, you did well!" The once enthusiastic young trainer now looked utterly dejected as he retrieved his fainted Graveler into its Poké Ball.

Sato glanced at his watch—twenty minutes until lunchtime. Seeing Haunter's eager expression, he quickly made a decision.

"Anyone else?"

"Damn it! I'll take you on! I refuse to believe that there's no one in all of New Bark Town who can beat you!"

One of the boy's friends stepped forward, burning with determination.

Ten minutes later, a rather strong Gligar lay flat on its back, tongue out, completely defeated. Its trainer, now just as crushed as his friend, recalled it silently before both boys walked away, disappointed.

"Kehehehehe!" Haunter gleefully twirled in front of Sato, making all sorts of ghostly gestures. For a Pokémon with ambition, winning consecutive battles was definitely worth celebrating.

"Not bad." Sato tried praising his Pokémon like an ordinary trainer would.

It didn't feel too bad.

After lunch, Sato took his three Pokémon to the forest behind the Pokémon Center, settling under the shade of a large tree. Zorua's eyes lit up and it immediately burrowed into Sato's lap. Haunter, however, suddenly materialized nearby.

"Kehehe~ Kehehehe!"

Whatever it said clearly irritated Zorua, as the little fox chased after it furiously, blue eyes burning with frustration. Haunter didn't even bother to phase out, instead circling around the tree and Sato repeatedly, with Zorua howling in rage behind it. Every now and then, Haunter would deliberately change direction, leading Zorua straight toward the most composed Pokémon in the group—Larvitar.

Once or twice, it was no big deal…

"Larvi!!"

But after Zorua jumped over it for the third time, the supposedly calm and quiet Larvitar finally snapped!

"I am a future pseudo-legendary! Have some respect!"

"Zor!"

Zorua transformed into a Larvitar, its eyes sparkling with excitement, as it invited the real Larvitar to team up against Haunter.

"Lar…"

Larvitar genuinely considered the proposal, its bright eyes glancing toward Haunter.

"Kehehe! Kehehe!"

Haunter dramatically begged for mercy, putting on its most pitiful expression before quickly floating over to Larvitar with a submissive look.

And then…

"Sllllluuurp!"

"LARVI!!"

Larvitar shuddered violently as Haunter licked half its body in one disgusting, wet motion. For a moment, Larvitar experienced pure rage, like a deity about to ascend in fury.

"So you think you can just bully the quiet one, huh?!"

Larvitar kicked off the ground, its fangs glowing with dark energy, and clamped down on the still-smirking Haunter!

"Kehehe—?! KEHEHEHEHE!!"

Haunter had been laughing at Larvitar's discomfort—until it realized too late that it had underestimated the consequences of provoking the quiet type.

Ghost-type Pokémon had one major flaw—against Dark-type moves, their bodies would be forced into a solid state, leaving them completely defenseless.

Meanwhile, Larvitar was used to munching on solid rocks like they were candy. Its jaw strength was no joke—Haunter howled in pain, flailing in the air.

Sato leaned back against the tree, watching his three Pokémon playfully roughhouse. He could tell that Larvitar wasn't using its full strength—otherwise, it could have easily taken an actual bite out of Haunter.

Ghost-type bodies were inherently ethereal, meaning that even if a piece of them was torn away, they wouldn't die. However, regenerating lost mass took a long time, and a missing limb could severely impact their energy stability, making them unusable in battle—one of the reasons why Ghost-types tended to be fragile in fights.

Sato let out a deep sigh.

"Even when my Pokémon are just messing around, my mind immediately jumps to missing limbs and battle injuries. Clearly, I still haven't adjusted my thinking yet."

In official Pokémon battles, the League had strict rules—severe injuries or permanent damage were not allowed.

If a Pokémon suffered from paralysis, burns, poison, or any other status condition, and standard healing treatments didn't work due to their unique physiology, their trainer was required to provide a valid recovery method.

For example, trainers who specialized in Poison-types often had teams with various venoms, including plant toxins, snake venom, or insect poisons.

During battles, their opponents frequently ended up with multiple layers of poison or severe status conditions, making their treatment far more complicated.

This type of trainer would usually report all their officially used toxins to the Pokémon Center, where Nurse Joy would prepare antidotes specifically for their Pokémon.

Of course, if someone were to use toxins in secret, or poison their opponent in an underground battle arena, no one would step forward to enforce justice.

Looking at it from another angle, if Sato wanted to continue walking the city streets, then he had to adapt to formal battle formats.

That was why he chose to stay in New Bark Town and battle against the likes of Youngsters and Backpackers. He wanted to gradually adjust both himself and his Pokémon to this style of fighting.

If he spent all his time battling wild Pokémon in dangerous terrains, he would eventually lose control and step into the fight himself. With Dark Energy, he wasn't just some helpless trainer who could only give orders from the back.

"Larvitar, let go now. If you keep biting Haunter, it's really going to cry."

"Lar..."

Larvitar obediently released its grip. Since Sato was someone who helped it grow stronger, it listened to him without hesitation.

However, the moment Larvitar realized what it had just done, it suddenly felt like all the composure it had worked so hard to maintain over the past few days had completely collapsed.

"Lar…"

It couldn't help but let out a sigh.

"A pseudo-legendary… without any dignity left…"

"Kehehe~"

Haunter floated over to Sato, looking pitiful as it raised one ghostly hand, pointing directly at the bite mark Larvitar had left on its head, complaining like the true victim.

"Hmm… but your eyes are below . How did you even see the bite mark on your own head?"

Sato asked his genuine question with a completely straight face—only to watch as Haunter froze in shock, completely petrified.

Off to the side, Zorua burst into laughter, rolling onto its back, clutching its stomach, its little face scrunched up in amusement.

Larvitar squinted its eyes, watching Haunter's dumbfounded expression. It wanted to laugh as well, but tried desperately to hold it in, its rocky face turning bright red from the effort.

Sato smirked.

This kind of moment never existed in his past life.

The constant pressure of living on the edge of a blade meant that he and his Pokémon never had the time to stop and relax.

"Let's go. We'll battle a few more times this afternoon. Especially you, Haunter—your level has increased too fast, and you haven't caught up on your basic training. You can't even use your full strength properly."

The chaos ended with Sato's final decision, leaving Haunter dejectedly trailing behind.

Zorua cheerfully stuck its tongue out at Haunter, then quickly climbed onto Sato's shoulder, affectionately nuzzling against him.

Meanwhile, Larvitar was deeply disappointed in itself.

It felt unworthy of its pseudo-legendary title, realizing the huge gap between itself and its father's imposing presence.

"Lar!"

Determined, Larvitar raised its arms, giving itself a small pep talk.