(A/N: Bonus Chapter! Thank you for your continued support! And don’t hesitate to leave a comment or powerstone if you like the story!)
John stared in amazement.
Maybe... the Gengar he’d obtained really was a king of the ancient Hisui Region!
A king with his own battlefield, that was a true royal domain!
"I need to get Gengar to master Mega Evolution immediately!" John made up his mind.
A LV 83 Gengar with "King’s Presence," capable of Mega Evolution and potentially Dynamax... this wasn’t just a main team member anymore.
Gengar had soared from the original second team, no, third team, and become John’s ace Pokemon!
Originally, John’s ace should have been Garchomp or Greninja."
Greninja could perform Mega Evolution, and so could Garchomp. Even Garchomp, being a pseudo-legendary Pokemon, was stronger than bond-evolved Greninja after Mega Evolution.
But Greninja had mastered the "Ultimate Water Shuriken" after Mega Evolution! Combined with increasingly powerful aura abilities, he was a force to be reckoned with.
The comparison was close, but when Gengar reached 25% HP and activated "King’s Presence," John felt its strength had already surpassed his favorite frog.
Plus, there was the item Gengar currently carried.
[Stealth Barrier (★★): Upon entering battle, automatically activates "Mist" weather. If no damage is received within 1 minute, automatically generates a shield based on user’s level. When weather is "Mist," shield strength doubles and evasion increases by 3 stages. (Exclusive to Gastly, Haunter, Gengar, invalid when carried by other Pokemon)]
This was the result of John combining a Gengar race-exclusive "Mist Scarf" with Haunter’s original exclusive item "Gastly Barrier" when he’d been grinding dungeons.
Normally, entering "Mist" weather was only possible in the wild. To activate "Mist" weather independently during battle would require using the Mist move multiple times.
Now Gengar automatically activated "Mist" weather upon entering battle, saving precious setup time while boosting evasion by three stages.
Basically, opponents would need to clear the "Mist" weather first before having any hope of hitting Gengar.
Mega Evolution + exclusive Dynamax form + King’s Presence + 2-star exclusive item...
John’s evaluation of his own Gengar could be summed up in two words: "Terrifying!"
Moreover, he’d just fed it numerous treasure-level Pokemon items. Even if Gengar couldn’t absorb them all due to type restrictions, whatever it did absorb would continuously increase its strength!
"Tonight, I’ll take Gengar to the Tower of Mastery in Kalos Region to get the Mega Evolution stone!" John decided.
His chances of challenging the Elite Four had suddenly improved dramatically.
"Get some good rest," John fed Gengar a Max Potion and returned it to its Pokeball.
Now it was time to visit his mentor and claim his "reward."
Teleport, then Teleport again.
John arrived at the principal’s office.
"Mentor, my Haunter has evolved into Gengar," John announced, releasing his newly evolved Pokemon.
"Gengar!" Gengar greeted Principal Badman with a mischievous grin.
The old man had already set down his brush and begun sipping tea. When he saw John’s Gengar, his own Gengar immediately poked its head out from the shadows, but then froze, staring at John’s Gengar in bewilderment.
"Your Gengar is rather... special?" Saul said uncertainly, picking up on his Pokemon’s reaction through their bond.
"My Gengar senses a kingly presence from yours, something that emanates from the very depths of its bloodline." Saul Badman pondered for a moment, then suddenly had a thought. "Could it be that your Gengar has already obtained a divine blessing?"
But before John could answer, he continued his own train of thought. "No, that’s not it. Gengar’s divine artifact isn’t on your Pokemon."
John scratched his head silently. It was probably because of the "King" designation.
As a king of the Gengar species, his Pokemon would naturally intimidate ordinary Gengars. Although this effect wasn’t described on the status screen, it seemed to be a powerful passive ability that only affected fellow Gengar-line Pokemon.
John wasn’t sure how to explain Gengar’s "King" status to his mentor, so he decided not to explain at all and immediately changed the subject.
"Professor, you mentioned you’d give me something nice. What is it?"
Badman gestured to his own Gengar.
Reaching into Gengar’s dimensional stomach, he quickly retrieved two items and placed them before John.
A milky white orb, and a transparent bead with intertwining red and gray patterns.
"This is Gengar’s Mega Evolution stone." Saul handed John the transparent bead with its distinctive red and gray swirls.
"A few years ago, I was planning to give this to Dong Yan, but before I could, he found his own Gengar Mega Stone, so I kept mine. You don’t have one yet, do you?"
"Professor, don’t you need it?" John hesitated to take it, since he’d already planned to grind the Tower of Mastery on his Gameboy that evening.
"No need. I haven’t battled in years." Principal Badùan shook his head slightly and pressed it into John’s hand. "It’s wasted just sitting in my collection. Better to give it to someone who can actually use it."
"Then... thank you, Teacher" John had no choice but to accept it gracefully.
Professor Badman picked up the milky white orb and handed it to John as well.
"This orb increases the power of Dragon-type and Water-type moves. Its effects are comparable to legendary Pokemon artifacts, but most importantly, it can grant Pokemon spatial manipulation abilities."
"If you place it in Gengar’s stomach, the dimensional space within can expand infinitely, and it might even allow Gengar to master space-related techniques!"
"According to my research, it may be connected to the legendary Spatial Pokemon, Palkia."
John accepted the milky white orb silently, already forming a suspicion. He quietly pulled out his Gameboy with one hand and checked his inventory.
[Lustrous Orb: Increases Water-type and Dragon-type move power by 100%. Increases effectiveness of space-type moves by 200%. First-time carrier randomly masters a space-type move. When carried by a Pokemon, grants additional spatial power.]