"It's through, it's through!" A worker came running out, excited.
Tetsuya asked in surprise, "What's through?"
"The tunnel, Tetsuya! You're amazing! Not only did you… subdue, that Golem, but you also helped us clear the tunnel! Thank you so much! That 60k the boss gave you was well worth it~!"
The worker blurted out everything in one breath, so excited he was practically incoherent.
Tetsuya steadied himself.
'Could it have been Golem's Explosion at the moment of death?'
With that question in mind, Tetsuya walked over.
He saw the foreman directing Onix to clear the rubble from the explosion while Quagsire was using Water Gun to suppress the dust.
It looked like Golem had turned into rubble as well…
While the foreman was busy clearing debris, Tetsuya released Haunter and gave it a Potion along with a stamina-recovery[1] medicine.
Suddenly, the foreman, a few workers, and even the working Pokémon all felt a wave of dizziness; Tetsuya knew Haunter had more or less recovered its strength.
He also gave food to Ditto and Swinub to help replenish their stamina. The tunnel was nearly cleared, and they'd have to keep moving soon. Being fed and rested was the top priority.
This time, Tetsuya had done the construction team a huge favor, and the foreman kept coming over to chat with him from time to time.
"Tetsuya, you really helped me out big, big time this time! Here's my card, hope we get a chance to work together again."
"Just leave it by my bag."
Tetsuya had no interest in making conversation and kept chewing on the food in his hand…
---◓---
As soon as the tunnel was just barely passable, Tetsuya hurried on his way.
On the other side of the tunnel was a small town centered around livestock farming. There was no Pokémon Center or Black Market, so he had no choice but to keep Kangaskhan on him for now.
Looking ahead toward Mahogany Town, there didn't seem to be any towns along the way. He absolutely couldn't bring Kangaskhan into Mahogany Town to sell.
With no other option, Tetsuya decided to take a longer detour.
By the time he reached a larger town, it was nearly dusk.
Tetsuya's main goal was to sell Kangaskhan.
After asking around and locating the acquisition center, he decided to get it over with first. After all, Kangaskhan had been with him for two days. Even though staying in a Poké Ball didn't use much energy, being kept too long would still affect its market value.
As expected, the original estimate of 20,000 PokéDollars was knocked down by 2,000 because of injuries and low vitality. Tetsuya didn't want to be stuck with it either.
'18k it is.' At least that made up for what he'd spent on shopping last time.
Once he confirmed the transfer was complete, Tetsuya left.
Now his card balance was back to 68,000 PokéDollars. Adding the 60,000 cash he earned from the foreman and some spare change, his total available funds now exceeded 128,000. Tomorrow, he would find a bank and deposit it into his payroll account. Carrying this much cash around was just inconvenient.
He booked a room at the town inn, ate dinner, and had Ditto rest early. After all, it had transformed into Rapidash and run all day, its stamina was completely spent.
As for Haunter, after absorbing Ninetales's vitality, its mental energy had surged, and it could now fully use Psychic.
This had come as a total surprise to Tetsuya, and for now, he had no idea how to incorporate it into Haunter's training.
"Haunter, for now, continue your psychic mental power training. This kind of training should be doable indoors too."
As soon as Tetsuya finished speaking, Haunter closed its eyes. Unexpectedly, during its psychic training, all the cups, kettles, tables, and chairs in the room began to levitate under the influence of its powerful psychic force.
'This...'
Tetsuya's face darkened. He was already preparing himself to pay for the damages.
The process of psychic training must not be interrupted!
He could only wait for Haunter to finish on its own.
Having barely slept the past two days, Tetsuya was utterly exhausted and went to bed early.
In a half-asleep haze, he heard clattering sounds. Tetsuya slightly opened his eyes; he didn't even need to look to know what was going on.
"…Haunter, that's enough training for today. Get some rest."
He had been too naive. From now on, psychic training would have to be done in open areas!
A good night's sleep was the best way to recover stamina, but this one night stay turned out to be expensive. Including damages and the lodging, he had spent a thousand.
Tetsuya was rather helpless, maybe he really was more suited to sleeping in the wilderness…
After breakfast in town, Tetsuya found a bank and deposited all his cash into his card. This card was quite secure; it was, after all, the payroll card of an official pupil of the Ecruteak Gym. Even if someone had their eye on it, they'd have to think twice. Plus, the bank staff were friendly and didn't show a hint of suspicion when handling deposits or withdrawals.
The detour had already taken Tetsuya off his original route, so he picked up his pace toward Mahogany Town. He took only main roads this time, and thankfully, there were no dangers.
After half a day of travel, Tetsuya passed through a village. Judging by the architecture, this place clearly had some history.
He planned to enter and find a Poké Mart to rest before continuing on. The sign at the village entrance read: [Xatu Village].
"Heh!" 'A village named Xatu Village? Then what were the people called?'
Once inside, he saw that the entire street was deserted. Every household had its doors shut tight, even the shops and restaurants were closed.
It was nearly lunchtime, this should've been the busiest hour.
'Could this be… a ghost village!!!!?'
Tetsuya glanced around for a bit and was just about to leave. Then he heard the distant popping of firecrackers. He followed the sound.
As it turned out, the village had a ritual square. It was filled with villagers -men, women, and children- over a hundred people in total. Everyone was holding baskets filled with Berries.
On the altar stood three Xatu and an old lady dressed like a priestess.
When the firecracker sounds stopped, the old lady spoke. "…Alright, this year's ritual for the Xatu Gods is now complete. Please place your offerings on the altar. Starting tomorrow, each Xatu will divine the future for three households per day. That's nine households a day. I'll post the schedule this afternoon."
After the old lady spoke, the villagers all placed their baskets on the altar and started chatting amongst themselves.
"I wonder what Xatu-sama will see for our family this year… I want to plan ahead!"
"Tch. Yeah, I'm nervous too. But the village head obasan's Xatu predictions are always spot on. Our village has been thriving thanks to them!"
"Exactly! We're really lucky to have been born in Xatu Village!"
'…'
After hearing their conversations, Tetsuya finally had a general understanding.
Xatu "divination".
It was said that Xatu possessed a mysterious ability to see into the future. Sometimes it would stay motionless all day long, and people believed it was because it had been frightened by a future it had foreseen.
Xatu divination was the most prevalent form of fortune-telling in the Johto Region. Since Xatu communicated by flapping its wings in a pattern similar to semaphore signals, researchers had spent generations studying and eventually compiled a system of Xatu "flag language." However, this knowledge was passed down only within certain Families, and outsiders rarely had access to it.
As for divination itself, Tetsuya viewed it as a form of psychological comfort. If you believed it, it worked; if you didn't, it didn't. Predicting a good future without putting in effort was meaningless. If the future predicted was grim, most people would ignore it, claiming it was inaccurate, but it could still influence one's decisions.
In his previous life, Tetsuya had sought out a Xatu divination for himself.
The first time was during his standard journey as a Pokémon Trainer. Back then, the Xatu predicted that his future held no prospects.
The second time was after he had become a Pokémon Hunter. Xatu's prediction then was one of peril.
The third time was when he had already become a Gym Leader. That time, the divination said his future was full of light.
To Tetsuya, all three readings had felt like empty words. The predictions simply echoed whatever path he was on at the time.
For a remote village like this to be so devoted to Xatu divination, claiming it brought good fortune and praising life here as a blessing, it was the mindset of ignorants, ignorant of how vast the world was.
This kind of divination was exactly what Xatu excelled at. Most villagers here were farmers, and by simply "predicting" the upcoming season's weather, one could basically infer the harvest. Whether it would be a "smooth year" or not would naturally follow.
But if a life of farming in a remote place like this was considered a fulfilled life, then who needed Xatu divination at all? Tetsuya could predict what that kind of life would look like on his own.
"Young man over there, you're not from this village, are you?" At that moment, the old lady from the altar walked down.
"Just passing through," Tetsuya replied.
"Would you like to try a Xatu divination? This method has been passed down from my ancestors. I'm fluent in Xatu flag language. If it's inaccurate, you won't have to pay. No one who comes to Xatu Village ever skips the chance for a Xatu reading."
Tetsuya already had a clear plan for this life and would never let some divination sway his resolve. He'd already done three readings in his past life, one more this time wouldn't hurt. He was genuinely curious how this old lady would perform under these circumstances.
He had no intention of revealing his identity. What he really wanted to see was what kind of result Xatu would divine in a situation like this.
"Alright. Go ahead," Tetsuya said.
The old lady nodded. "Mmm. Then allow me to first learn a little about you… What is your current identity? What are you currently doing?"
"No identity. Nothing in particular." Tetsuya's answer was crisp and direct, leaving the old lady a bit flustered.
Under the old lady's command, one of the Xatu stepped in front of Tetsuya. Its gaze was blank; it truly gave off the feeling of having glimpsed the future…
After about ten minutes, the Xatu suddenly collapsed.
The old lady was stunned. She had never encountered anything like this. The other two Xatu also looked at Tetsuya and then collapsed in the same way.
'…' Strange… very strange!
The old lady quickly began communicating with the three Xatu using flag language.
The old lady looked at Tetsuya with a bewildered expression and said, "How strange… In all my years of fortune-telling, I've never seen a case like yours. The Xatu said your future is too chaotic to see clearly. You should go. Sigh. I won't be making any money off you today…"
'My future is too chaotic?'
Three Xatu in a row collapsed from trying to read him. It really must be that messy. Could it be because of his "reincarnation/regression/rebirt"? Still, his future was in his own hands; no matter how chaotic, he would sort it out. His life would be written by his own choices!
---◓---
Tetsuya found a Poké Mart in the village, let Ditto and Swinub eat lunch, took a short rest himself, and then left.
After traveling the entire day, by dusk he could already see the lake leading to Mahogany Town.
The Lake of Rage.
Following the lake upstream would lead directly to Mahogany Town, but both banks were muddy, slippery, and so narrow that RaDittash -Ditto- couldn't make any progress.
From here, it would take at least half a day on foot to reach Mahogany Town.
Tetsuya evaluated silently. He might as well camp in the wild tonight and head out at dawn.
He pitched his tent near the lake and gathered a pile of dry wood from the forest. He lit campfires around the tent to dispel the damp and to keep away Bug-type Pokémon.
Now it was time for Haunter to shine.
Tetsuya gave a call, and Haunter emerged from behind him.
"Haunter, the base of Psychic is Confusion, which means using mental power to manipulate external objects with telekinetic force. Now that we've got plenty of space, try targeting the lake water to test the power you got from Ninetales."
Haunter hovered above the lake. Its eyes turned red again, and soon the lake water began to swirl upward, spiraling around Haunter.
As the whirlpool spun faster and faster, steam began to rise.
Tetsuya nodded. This level of mental/psychic strength could rival that of an adult Kadabra.
The steam had started spreading. It was all generated by Haunter's psychic energy causing the water molecules to rub at high speed and produce heat.
A few Magikarp accidentally got sucked into the vortex, and before long, the smell of boiled fish drifted through the air…
"That's enough, Haunter."
Using psychic power was extremely taxing and shouldn't be sustained for too long.
After Haunter stopped, Tetsuya said, "Now practice linking Shadow Ball, Sludge Bomb, and Dark Pulse. Once you're solid with those three, we can work on integrating Psychic."
Right now, Haunter was in a state of high potential but lacking solid fundamentals.
It had only been three months since Tetsuya caught it, and it had already learned quite a few moves. Especially learning Psychic, that had exceeded all his expectations.
But without fully grasping how to chain those moves together, their power couldn't be realized. So what Haunter needed most now was repeated practice to firm up the basics.
By the lake, Haunter began casting its moves with reckless intensity. After two days without training, it was almost like starting over again.
There were big gaps in its chaining. After firing a Shadow Ball, it even froze up mid-transition.
Haunter shook its body repeatedly, visibly frustrated, unwilling to accept the truth.
"Haunter, this kind of training takes more than a day or two. The worst thing you can do is lose your patience…
Now that your psychic power is strong, you can try using it to assist with chaining your moves!"
Tetsuya had a sudden idea.
[1] PP?????