While waiting, Owen took the opportunity to ask Director Qi for a small favor.
His situation was a bit special. Since he had two Pokémon, he naturally hoped both Eevee and Magnemite could experience the Haunted House. That way, the gains would be doubled.
"Director Qi, that's the situation. I was wondering if I could have two slots? I don't mind lining up again for the second one," Owen asked, his usual "thin skin" nowhere to be found when it came to his Pokémon's growth.
"Uh..."
"You caught another one besides Eevee?" Liden was stunned.
Before Director Qi could even answer, Liden and the other rookie geniuses cast envious glances at Owen. Unless someone literally couldn't afford the food, who wouldn't want to expand their team early?
"Hmm..." Director Qi pondered for a moment. "It's not a big deal. Actually, forget the second lineup—you'd be waiting until the day after tomorrow. Just let them both enter together in this batch."
Director Qi waved it off, essentially granting a small "champion's privilege" to the winner of the Young Ho-Oh Cup. He was genuinely curious to see how a rookie with two Pokémon would handle this.
"Really? Thank you so much!" Owen grinned, quickly thanking the director.
About half an hour later, the group of six received word that they could head to the Haunted House.
"Joining you will be five trainers drawn from the general queue. A total of eleven people will experience it in this batch," Director Qi informed them as he stood up. "Get ready; we're heading over now."
The rookies in the room perked up instantly. Owen was no exception. Eevee had watched so many horror movies—and always dragged him along, leaving Owen as the only one jumping at shadows. He refused to believe Eevee could stay cool inside a professional Magic City University facility.
The illusions created by actual Ghost-type Pokémon were on a completely different level than jump scares in a budget movie.
They arrived at the North Gate of the massive building.
"There are four entrances: East, West, South, and North. Each starts with a different scenario. As for the North Gate... I hear the Pokémon there are very 'friendly,' hehe," Director Qi said with a mischievous glint in his eye. "I'll let the person in charge, Ms. Ghost, explain the specifics."
Soon, a female teacher with a chilling, somewhat eerie aura approached. Perhaps from spending too much time with Ghost-types, her presence alone made the rookies shiver.
If this teacher went to film a horror movie, she wouldn't even need makeup, Owen thought.
It was often said that if a trainer and Pokémon spent enough time together, they started to resemble each other—much like the "couple face" phenomenon. Behavior and temperament would bleed across the bond.
Owen tried to guess her partner. A Froslass, maybe?
Then again, the theory might be junk. If Eevee had even half of my hardworking nature, she wouldn't be a hopeless internet addict by now.
While Owen's mind wandered, Ms. Ghost spoke: "Once everyone is here, the Pokémon will enter. Trainers, you will follow me to the back-end control room to watch their performance via the monitors."
"Normally, we allow trainers to enter with their Pokémon, but considering you're all inexperienced rookies, we're only letting the Pokémon—who generally have higher mental resilience—go in. After all, if I traumatize you, kids for life, I can't take responsibility for that."
Owen remained calm. This suited him perfectly.
The remaining five trainers arrived, and the eleven of them gathered at the North Gate. Ms. Ghost nodded to them.
"I'll give you three minutes to release your Pokémon. Encourage them, pep talk them, do whatever you need."
Beside her, Director Qi stayed behind, clearly wanting to enjoy the show. He was dying to see how these "geniuses" would react compared to the ordinary rookies outside.
"Come on out, Eevee, Magnemite."
Owen tossed his Pokéballs. In two flashes of red light, his team appeared. Owen pointed at the looming building behind them. "Eevee, the Haunted House. You know the drill."
Eevee: "???"
Her eyes sharpened instantly as she took a half-step back. Liking horror movies and liking actual ghosts are two very different things!
"Magnemite, interested in a challenge?" Owen turned to the little floating magnet.
"Kuo-yi!!" Magnemite didn't let him down.
"See, Eevee? Look at Magnemite, then look at yourself," Owen said, sounding heartbroken.
"Vee??" Eevee curled her lip. You're just taking advantage of the fact that Magnemite doesn't speak Human.
After a quick negotiation involving a promise from Owen to watch a horror marathon with her tonight, Eevee finally agreed to enter. Magnemite, having no concept of a "Haunted House" and far less "life experience" than Eevee, had no idea what was waiting for it.
Once the twelve Pokémon (including Owen's two) entered the house, Ms. Ghost led the trainers to the monitoring station and had them take their seats. She flicked on a large screen.
"This is the surveillance feed. There will be a slight delay before we show you the live performance."
She let out a weird, unsettling laugh. "Don't worry. If your Pokémon faints from fright, we have staff ready to carry them out..."
For the Ghost-type Pokémon, these public openings were a carnival. The fear of visitors was their favorite snack.
Owen sat next to Liden. Before the screen flickered to life, he whispered, "Liden, is your Pokémon a first-timer for this too?"
"Yeah..." Liden replied. "Why?"
"I was just wondering... how do Magic City freshmen usually perform their first time?" Owen rubbed his chin. He mainly wanted to know so he could collect some "dark history" footage of Eevee and Magnemite as a souvenir.
"That..." Liden didn't know.
Suddenly, Ms. Ghost interjected: "Even for the freshmen who have already enrolled, their Pokémon are usually trembling and terrified the first time. Most lose their wits completely. Only a tiny fraction of special Pokémon can adapt and make it through to the end."
Everyone swallowed hard.
Flicker—
The screen finally lit up. The first image showed a Tyrogue belonging to one of the girls, already rolling on the ground in a blind panic.
"..." Owen went silent.
So, how are Eevee and Magnemite doing?
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