Mt. Pyre was usually very quiet. Wild Pokémon each guarded their own territory and rarely engaged in conflict.
So when the sound of battle suddenly came from nearby, Sato was quite intrigued.
Dragging along an equally curious Mark, the two of them sneaked closer to the source of the battle and hid in a patch of bushes, quietly watching like two gossip-hungry spectators.
"It really is Sableye."
"You know it, boss?"
"Yeah. Gengar battled it yesterday. It's strong."
"Strong? But it looks like it's getting beat up."
Sato nodded, silently observing the battle before them. Mark wasn't wrong, Sableye was completely on the defensive, struggling to keep up.
But after watching for a bit, Sato felt something was off. Sableye's overall strength had significantly dropped. Its reactions were much slower compared to yesterday.
'Injuries?' Sato speculated silently.
Yesterday, Sableye had been hit with a poison attack. While Gengar's poison wasn't as terrifying as Ariados's, it was still a same-type move and well above average.
A single Antidote might not have been enough to fully neutralize the toxins.
To make matters worse, Sableye's opponent wasn't weak either. It was Dusknoir, the final evolution of Duskull, and an exceptionally rare Ghost-type in the wild.
For Dusclops to evolve into Dusknoir, it needed the special Pokémon item Reaper Cloth and a trade to trigger the evolution.
This was a method discovered by humans, but how wild Dusknoir came to exist remained a mystery… even up to the time of Sato's reincarnation.
Similar cases included Magmortar and Electivire.
None of that, however, changed the fact that Dusknoir was undeniably powerful.
With Shadow Punch clashing against Shadow Claw, Dusknoir used its superior defense to go head-to-head with Sableye. Even though Ghost-type moves didn't do much damage to Sableye, Dusknoir still had the upper hand.
Wham!
Just as Sato was wondering whether to step in and play the "hero saving the ghost" hoping to boost Sableye's affection and seize the chance to catch it, Sableye was already sent flying.
Sato raised a hand to signal Cacturne, indicating that it should charge in the moment he lowered his arm. But just as he was about to play his part, Dusknoir suddenly stopped attacking.
It floated over slowly to Sableye and helped it up.
They knew each other!
Sato quietly waved Cacturne back, ignoring the dramatic eye roll it shot him. He glanced sideways at Mark and Arbok.
'Good, neither of them had seen anything.'
"Sab Sab!"
"Duusk!"
The two Pokémon began chattering away. Sableye nodded and shook its head repeatedly, while Dusknoir thumped the ground and shouted. Overall, it seemed pretty angry.
Then, Dusknoir beckoned in a certain direction, as if calling for someone.
A few seconds later, a Chimecho floated rapidly toward them, casting Heal Pulse and Heal Bell on Sableye without hesitation.
Sableye's expression was still unreadable, but it nodded seriously at Chimecho.
"Chime~"
Chimecho twirled its frilled body once more around Dusknoir before drifting away gracefully.
As expected, support-type Pokémon were treated gently no matter where they were. Even in Mt. Pyre, the stronghold of Ghost-types.
Since Sato had already fought Sableye once and had even considered capturing it, he chose to retreat quietly, planning to go train elsewhere.
Crack
The sound of a snapping branch was loud and crisp. Sato slowly turned his head toward Mark, only to see him holding a broken piece of dead wood.
"Uh… I thought it wouldn't break," Mark said with a wide-eyed innocence, pretending not to understand the situation.
"…" Sato turned his head back, unsurprised to find Dusknoir and Sableye, both eyes staring straight at their bush.
Oh right, Dusknoir only had one eye…
But that didn't matter. What did was that Dusknoir's Shadow Punch and Sableye's Shadow Ball were already flying toward them.
Boom Boom Boom...
A series of explosions flattened the bushes around them. Gengar and Cacturne had jumped in front of them using Protect, successfully shielding them from harm.
"Duusk!" Dusknoir let out an enraged roar. It never expected someone to be eavesdropping on its private conversation.
Just when it was about to win over its beloved Sableye, someone had to show up and ruin the moment… Dusknoir flew into a rage.
Sato looked at Dusknoir curiously.
This should still be Sableye's territory. The owner wasn't angry, so what was Dusknoir mad about?
Of course, if Sato knew what Dusknoir was thinking, all he could do was sigh inwardly.
'You two aren't even in the same Egg Group! There's no future here.'
A doomed pairing…
"Gengar, Shadow Ball!"
Dusknoir launched a massive Shadow Ball, only for Gengar to respond with eight smaller ones. It used one to detonate Dusknoir's attack, and the remaining seven curved around it and bombarded Dusknoir with a flurry of blows.
Momentarily pushed back, Dusknoir regained a bit of clarity and took a closer look at its opponent.
'Gengar… and a human?' This combo felt oddly familiar.
Dusknoir immediately turned toward Sableye, only to see its beloved raising both hands with an expressionless face. It was a battle stance Dusknoir knew all too well.
'It's him It's him! That ugly ghost who bullied my beloved'
Dusknoir's lone red eye flickered rapidly. The look it gave Gengar was full of hostility, and it raised its arm to attack…
Suddenly, a thin spectral claw appeared in front of it, stopping the attack. Dusknoir looked at its beloved in confusion.
"Sab?"
Sableye questioned it. 'You didn't force me to subdue , and I clearly rejected you. So why are you still here? Can't let it go?'
Judging by the mood, Sato clearly understood what Sableye meant. He shrugged and said, "Your battle caught my attention. I thought you might need help… but then I saw you two knew each other."
Sato still held hope, but Sableye firmly shook its head. Then it grabbed Dusknoir's hand and quickly pulled it away.
Dusknoir didn't resist at all, it was completely stunned.
Its beloved… had grabbed its hand!
In that moment, all of its hostility and resentment toward Sato and Gengar completely vanished.
'If possible… please, come ruin the moment every day!'
---
Mark nervously watched in the direction where Sableye had disappeared. Only after they were completely gone did he let out a breath of relief.
Running into two high-level Pokémon right off the bat… yeah, the pressure was real.
"Forget it, we'll see next time," Sato said with a shake of his head. Sableye's firm stance had left him feeling a bit discouraged.
Still, he decided to grind in the area around where Sableye had been. Who knew, maybe they'd bump into each other again and bond.