Chapter 62: The Bewilder Forest, Capturing a Shiny Haunter

Chapter 62: The Bewilder Forest, Capturing a Shiny Haunter

Ron recalled his time in Viridian Forest when he used Butterfree to train and didn't even dare to provoke Beedrill. Suddenly, he felt as if time had passed so quickly.

Thinking back to how he used to be, he realized he had once been youthful and arrogant. He had thought himself powerful, but he had simply been a frog in the well. The person who used to fear swarms of Beedrill now felt no panic facing an entire group of them, yet he recognized his weakness more clearly than before.

"Charizard, Heat Wave! Dragonite, Twister! Gyarados, Hydro Pump! Tyranitar, Rock Slide! Pheromosa, Silver Wind!" Ron released all his Pokémon at once, unleashing havoc among the Beedrill swarm.

Looking back at the excited group of Ledyba and Ledian, Ron said, "Stop staring! You guys attack too. Isn't this your homeland? Shouldn't you protect your own home?"

The Ledyba and Ledian whispered to each other, but none stepped forward. Ron sighed in disappointment: this group of Ledyba and Ledian was hopeless.

At the same time, he quietly made a decision. After pushing back the Beedrill swarm and forcing them to retreat in fear, he ordered his Pokémon to stop. Ron then addressed the remaining Beedrill swarm, saying, "Is there a leader among you? I want to talk."

The Beedrill buzzed loudly, and soon, a strong and robust Beedrill emerged, buzzing toward Ron. It seemed to be asking why Ron had attacked them.

"This place belongs to the Ledyba and Ledian; you're outsiders, so attacking you is justified," Ron explained. "There are seven big trees here. I'll have people come later to take two of them. Your swarm can occupy two of the remaining five, and the last one will be decided by a battle between your two groups. The loser must give up the tree, and the winner's swarm will have the right to use it for one year. After that year, another battle will decide ownership again. What do you think?"

The Beedrill swarm discussed briefly and quickly agreed. However, the Ledyba and Ledian were thrown into chaos. Cowardly by nature, they had no desire to clash with the Beedrill, and many expressed willingness to give up the tree. Some even accused Ron of breaking his promise to help them reclaim all the trees.

Ron ignored their complaints, making a call to have staff from his ranch come to take two of the large trees. With this sweet sap, his ranch would likely attract many Bug-type Pokémon, which would be beneficial to Ron.

Taking two signal transmitters from his backpack, he attached them to the selected trees and then stopped worrying about the conflict between the two groups. He hoped that these Ledyba and Ledian would overcome their cowardice, as one should always protect their homeland themselves.

After recording both types of Pokémon in his Pokédex, Ron continued his journey. Still, he spent some time wandering in the forest, eventually finding areas inhabited by Heracross and Pinsir. Only after capturing a few Heracross and Pinsir did he leave the forest feeling satisfied.

Passing by the Donphan Valley afterward, Ron bought some beautiful agate jewelry. He planned to give them to Lillie after challenging the Silver Conference. He also considered buying some more to give to her classmates, and so he purchased several items. Additionally, Ron selected a pair of matching necklaces for himself and Lillie, spending quite a bit of money.

A few days later, Ron arrived at the Bewilder Forest from the anime. He wasn't in a rush to enter because he didn't have Mewtwo with him, so he couldn't detect the mischievous Ghost-type Pokémon that loved to prank travelers there. Since none of his Pokémon knew Foresight, he had no choice but to rent a Hoothoot from Hagatha's cabin for convenience.

(TL note: This should be fanmade or something, not cannon.)

Finding Hagatha's cabin, Ron was left speechless at the price she quoted—it was extremely expensive. After a round of bargaining, Ron rented a Hoothoot and headed into the forest.

Shortly after entering, Hoothoot suddenly called out, pecking at Ron's face lightly. Using Foresight, Hoothoot's eyes glowed red, revealing several Gastly and Haunter that appeared in front of Ron.

Ron clicked his tongue, impressed by the specialized skills of the Hoothoot, which was indeed useful against Ghost-types. Cosmog, hearing the noise, curiously popped its head out of Ron's backpack, giggling at the sight.

"Tyranitar, Dark Pulse, finish them off," Ron called out Tyranitar.

Tyranitar immediately unleashed a dark energy wave from its mouth, instantly defeating the Gastly and Haunter. Ron threw several Pokéballs, capturing them and sending them directly to his ranch.

There really were many Ghost-type Pokémon in the Bewilder Forest. Along the way, whenever he encountered Ghost-types blocking his path, Ron decisively defeated and captured them, sending them all back to the ranch.

"Tyranitar, don't let it escape! Rock Tomb!" Ron shouted.

After walking through the forest for a long time, Ron finally encountered an exceptional Pokémon, a shiny Haunter. It was challenging to identify a shiny Pokémon from the Gengar line because the standard coloration was purple-black while the shiny one was grey-black. Coupled with the dim environment of the Bewilder Forest, it was extremely difficult to notice.

Fortunately, Ron's eyesight was sharp, and he immediately noticed the color of the Haunter's tongue was off when it stuck it out. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was indeed a shiny Pokémon.

Rock Tomb blocked Haunter's escape route, but the mischievous Haunter playfully stuck out its tongue, turned intangible, and slipped through the rocks, attempting to flee backward.

"Seriously? I don't believe it! Tyranitar, Mean Look!" Ron ordered.

Tyranitar raised its arms, releasing energy that immobilized Haunter in place. Haunter panicked, struggling to break free desperately.

"It's useless. After Mean Look, you can't escape unless you defeat my Tyranitar!" Ron declared, "I'm going to capture you! Tyranitar, Dark Pulse!"

Tyranitar opened its mouth and unleashed a powerful Dark Pulse at Haunter. In a hurry, Haunter retaliated with a Shadow Ball, but the Dark Pulse shattered the Shadow Ball and hit Haunter directly, knocking it out instantly.

Ron took out a Great Ball and captured the Haunter. Now that he had money, he had upgraded all his own Pokémon's Pokéballs to Great Balls, leaving regular Pokéballs to capture Pokémon for his ranch.

"Come out, Haunter." Ron released Haunter, then bought a Full Restore from the system's store to heal it completely.

Pokémon: Haunter (Shiny)

Level: 39

Gender: Male

Height: 160cm

Weight: 0.1kg

Ability: Levitate

Moves: Ice Punch (Egg Move), Shadow Punch, Hypnosis…

Its attributes were excellent, but Ron suddenly remembered that Haunter needed to undergo trade evolution to become Gengar. He asked the system whether there was another solution.

"Ding. Trade evolution occurs when a Pokémon is stimulated by the special magnetic field generated during Pokémon trading. The system can simulate that magnetic field. This requires a payment of 10 Diamonds," the system explained.

"Then evolve it. Haunter doesn't learn any special moves only at its current stage anyway. Evolving into Gengar will be more convenient," Ron decided.

Recalling Haunter and paying the system 10 Diamonds, a strange energy enveloped the Great Ball. Cosmog felt this power and looked around curiously, wondering where it came from.

Once the energy dissipated, Ron took the Great Ball and released the Pokémon again. What appeared in front of him was now a short and chubby Gengar.