"Reverend Mingguang, it has been a while."
"Gym Leader Morty, is this Haunter the Pokémon you are helping to evolve today?"
"Yes." Morty now stood up, showing clear respect for the monk who had just arrived.
"A very fine Haunter." Mingguang praised it briefly before turning to Sato. "It has been a while."
Sato had no desire to speak. The monk he had previously ignored turned out to have significant influence, being called Reverend was no ordinary title.
However, Mingguang seemed to have no intention of making things difficult for Sato, nor did he mention their previous encounter.
'A demon in my heart?' Sato scoffed inwardly. What nonsense.
Soon, the four of them fell silent once again. None of them were particularly talkative, so the quiet atmosphere didn't feel awkward at all.
Meanwhile, Haunter had been unusually calm since entering the Burned Tower. It occasionally glanced at the burned ruins around them, seemingly deep in thought.
With less than ten minutes until midnight, Reverend Mingguang was the first to rise, followed closely by Morty.
Sato and the other disciple stayed slightly behind, while their Haunter and Misdreavus also sensed that a pivotal moment in their lives was approaching, making them visibly tense.
"Hold onto the Dusk Stone, Misdreavus. Give it your all," Morty's disciple said, handing the Dusk Stone to his Pokémon and guiding it toward the patch of moonlight.
"Haunter, you go too."
Haunter nodded seriously and floated forward without hesitation.
"Then, let us begin."
Reverend Mingguang spoke softly, pressing his hands together as his half-closed eyes reflected a golden glow. He then began quietly reciting Sages scriptures, his entire body emitting a faint golden radiance.
Morty simply closed his eyes, pressing his index and middle fingers to his forehead as he activated his special abilities.
Perhaps due to the resonance between their unique abilities, Sato's Dark Energy also began to stir restlessly.
Reverend Mingguang tilted his head slightly, his ears twitching as if detecting something. A brief flicker of recognition crossed his face before he turned back around.
He wasn't afraid of his special ability being discovered, but he preferred to keep it under wraps for now. It was clear that the reverend had noticed something but had chosen not to address it.
Sato frowned. He disliked this feeling, but since Haunter's evolution clearly depended on Reverend Mingguang's presence, he could only wait and see how things played out.
Before long, a faint purple glow began to radiate from Haunter's body. Almost immediately, a golden light surged in response, merging with the purple energy.
The two opposing forces flickered and pulsed, intertwining around Haunter, who remained motionless, floating silently within the glowing cocoon.
Sato glanced at his watch, mentally counting down the seconds until midnight.
A short distance away, Misdreavus carefully held the Dusk Stone in its tiny hands. Unlike Haunter, it wasn't enveloped in special energies, but the moonlight bathed it fully.
At the stroke of midnight, the previously gentle moonlight intensified, cascading through the ruined ceiling like a waterfall, completely enveloping Haunter and Misdreavus.
At that moment, Misdreavus swiftly absorbed the Dusk Stone into its body. It was soon wrapped in a cocoon of glowing light, beginning its evolution!
Simultaneously, Haunter was also swallowed by the moonlight, with the golden and purple energies weaving into its transformation.
Seven or eight seconds later, brilliant blue light began leaking from the cracks in Misdreavus' cocoon, its evolution was nearly complete!
As the transformation progressed, the moonlight became even more erratic, with vast amounts of its energy being absorbed into Misdreavus' cocoon, intensifying its glow.
Moments later, the evolution concluded, and a Mismagius emerged.
Through the feedback of his Dark Energy, Sato was astonished to realize that Mismagius, which had originally possessed an Elite-tier potential, had now surged to a level between Elite and Pseudo-Elite Four!
That half-tier increase alone raised Mismagius' chances of breaking through to Pseudo-Elite Four level by 30%!
Seeing this, Sato became even more eager for Haunter's evolution. The potential boost was invaluable, trading a Duskull for Haunter's long-term future was absolutely worth it!
After evolving, Mismagius quickly returned to its trainer's side, glancing enviously at Haunter, who was still inside its cocoon of moonlight, absorbing energy with no signs of beginning the transformation.
Nearby, Morty was already sweating, while Reverend Mingguang seemed slightly better off, though his rapid chanting suggested he wasn't as calm as he appeared.
Both of them had to continuously reinforce their special energies.
Seeing this, an idea struck Sato, if his Dark Energy could play the same role in Dark-type Pokémon evolutions as Morty's ability did for Ghost-types...
Haunter hadn't even evolved yet, but Sato already felt like he had gained valuable insight. His eyes sparkled as he watched the evolving Pokémon, at last, Haunter's evolution light began to shine through the cocoon.
The energy surrounding Haunter was far more intense than Mismagius' transformation. Almost instantly, the light erupted into a brilliant explosion!
A vast blue glow dominated the area, interwoven with radiant moonlight. Meanwhile, golden and violet special energies drifted through like scattered wisps of stardust.
It was beautiful, like a vast starry sky.
Then, all the radiance began converging toward Haunter. Every strand of energy, regardless of its color, was absorbed into its evolving body.
Before their eyes, Haunter's shape began to shift. Its detached hands retracted back into its body, its lower half and stubby legs formed, and the spikes on its back extended outward.
As the final light faded, a large, deep purple figure emerged, a grinning, mischievous creature with its iconic, plump silhouette.
But instead of the usual blood-red eyes...
Gengar's eyes were golden.
A mysterious golden glow flickered within its gaze, occasionally flashing with a trace of violet light.
With a slow descent, Gengar landed on the ground, it no longer hovered. Instead, it confidently waddled forward with its short legs in a playful, bouncing motion.
Grinning widely, it proudly displayed its new form before Sato.
"Congratulations, Gengar!"
"Congratulations to you, Sato. Are you satisfied with your new Gengar?" Morty wiped the sweat from his forehead, his voice carrying an almost imperceptible trace of envy.
"Very satisfied. Thank you, Leader Morty!"
Sato could already sense it through his Dark Energy, Gengar's Ghost-type potential had definitely surpassed Pseudo-Elite Four. However, it still hadn't quite reached Elite Four level.
Even so, Sato was more than pleased.
"Gengar's uniqueness is something you'll gradually discover," Morty remarked. "Also, you should be thanking Reverend Mingguang. When he heard I was helping evolve your Haunter, he volunteered to assist."
As Morty spoke, he cast Sato a knowing glance.
Sato blinked, quickly piecing together the situation. 'These two had clearly kept things from him, perhaps even set him up in a way.'
Objectively speaking, he had indeed gained significant benefits from this, but...
That lingering sense of being manipulated left him feeling...