"Let's begin," Ms. Ghost said.
"Alright, Eevee. Show us that Shadow Ball you learned in the Haunted House," Owen commanded.
"Vee!!"
Though confused by the sudden change in venue, Eevee followed the order. She focused her gaze, and a dark-purple orb of energy began to coalesce in front of her.
It started as small as a marble and grew until it was roughly the size of a palm—currently Eevee's upper limit.
"Just as I thought..." Ms. Ghost nodded, staring at the flickering orb. "That's enough."
The moment she spoke, a shadow stirred at her feet. A deep-purple, rounded figure erupted from her shadow! The temperature in the room plummeted.
The Pokémon zipped through Ms. Ghost's body like a phantom and appeared directly in front of Eevee.
Eevee jumped back, startled. This room is definitely cursed!
"Je-je-je~~"
The Gengar glared with crimson eyes, its mouth curled into a sinister, wide grin. With a casual flick of its finger, the Shadow Ball Eevee had worked so hard to maintain was yanked away and promptly swallowed by Gengar.
"Vee????!!" Eevee scrambled back, staring at the purple ghost in shock. What is wrong with this guy?!
"Ms. Ghost?..." Owen asked instinctively, equally taken aback by the sudden appearance.
"Hmm..." Ms. Ghost looked at Owen and Eevee. "I wanted to confirm something, and now I'm certain. Your Eevee hasn't fully mastered Shadow Ball yet."
"In fact, her technique is fundamentally unstable—there's a hidden danger."
Ms. Ghost led Owen, Gengar, and Eevee to one of Magic City University's battle courts.
This time, she had Eevee manifest a Shadow Ball again, but with a specific catch: she wasn't allowed to fire it. She had to keep it hovering in front of her.
Eevee obeyed. However, unlike before, barely a second after the orb formed, it suddenly began to pulse and bloat. The energy frayed at the edges, and with a muffled boom, the ball detonated.
"Vee!!"
Eevee was startled by her own move. The resulting shockwave sent her tumbling backward, rolling across the pavement before she came to a stop. Fortunately, since the move was her own energy, it didn't cause real damage, but it did leave her covered in dust and soot.
She stood up, looking at the scorched spot on the ground with lingering fear.
"What happened?" Owen frowned.
"Don't worry. Do it a few more times. This time, have Eevee aim at Gengar," Ms. Ghost said with a faint smile.
"Alright... Eevee, you heard her."
Eevee blinked, nodded, and solemnly gathered her energy again.
Whoosh!
The Shadow Ball flew toward Gengar, but before it could even cover half the distance, it spontaneously combusted in mid-air.
Eevee: "???" Owen was completely baffled.
"Do you see it now?"
"Your Eevee hasn't grasped the essence of Shadow Ball. The orb she creates lacks a stable structure. Shadow Ball isn't meant to be used like that." Ms. Ghost smiled. "Gengar, show them."
"Je~~" Gengar nodded. It conjured a Shadow Ball between its paws, but instead of firing it, it held the orb. It began to toss the ball up and catch it, spinning it on a finger like a basketball—performing a series of flashy tricks.
"A true Shadow Ball only explodes upon a violent impact. The vibration triggers a chain reaction from the outside in, detonating the energy to damage the enemy and erode their energy."
"Your Eevee's Shadow Ball, however, collapses due to internal instability shortly after forming. Not only does this weaken the damage if it happens to hit, but if your luck is bad, it could hurt her or her teammates. Most importantly, an unstable ball cannot apply the 'energy erosion' effect!"
Energy erosion? Is she talking about the added effect of lowering Special Defense?
Owen realized the gap. "Then how can I help Eevee use it correctly?"
He watched Gengar juggling the Shadow Ball with a mix of awe and frustration. Come to think of it, Eevee's version was flimsy. In the anime, he'd even seen Pikachu ride on top of a Shadow Ball or use them as stepping stones in mid-air—
"I'll leave that to Gengar. It can teach your Eevee. Don't worry, it won't take long," Ms. Ghost said. "Consider this compensation for cutting your Haunted House experience short."
"And in a way, Eevee's improper learning was influenced by the Misdreavus in our facility. Seeing her use such a messy Shadow Ball triggers my perfectionism. I can't stand it."
Owen's lip twitched. Perfectionism? Really?
"Vee..." Eevee looked disgruntled. I worked so hard to learn this, and you're telling me I did it wrong? She was thoroughly annoyed.
The next second, Gengar grabbed her by the scruff and dragged her away toward the center of the court.
"Vee—!"
While the Pokémon trained, Owen approached Ms. Ghost.
"Ms. Ghost, does a Shadow Ball have to be a stable structure to be effective?"
He had just thought of a major hurdle. If the energy structure had to be perfectly static and stable, wouldn't his dream of a "Spiral Shadow Ball" be dead on arrival?
"Why do you ask?" she replied, curious.
"Because sometimes changing the form of a move can unleash greater power. For example, with Ice Punch—if you just wrap cold air around your fist, it's a simple strike.
But if you use water and cold air to shape the fist into a blade-like edge, wouldn't the attack be more devastating?" Owen cited a variation of Ash's "Ice Aqua Jet" strategy as an example.
"Oh?" Ms. Ghost looked at Owen with newfound respect. It was rare to see a rookie trainer with such an advanced grasp of move variation.
"You're right in principle, but unfortunately, Shadow Ball only achieves its peak effect when the structure is stable. You might have your own ideas, but every type of energy is different.
Their forms and properties vary wildly. Water and Ice are easy to reshape; that doesn't mean Ghost energy follows the same rules.
After all, Water and Ice are elements that have existed on Earth since ancient times. Ghost energy is a completely new form of energy brought from the Secret Realms. They aren't the same."
"You'll learn more about this when you take 'Pokémon Energetics' in university."
"The control methods and requirements for each energy type are fixed. Your idea of changing the form of Shadow Ball exists only in theory.
Currently, no trainer's Pokémon—not even pure Ghost-types—can do that, let alone an Eevee. You should focus on letting her master the basic use first instead of reaching for the impossible."
Because she didn't want Owen to waste his time on a dead end, she explained quite a lot.
Owen fell silent. He looked at Eevee being bossed around by Gengar and rubbed his chin. He knew different energies had different properties, but he truly didn't know the specifics of Ghost energy... perhaps he was indeed out of his depth.
Is the Spiral Shadow Ball really impossible? Owen wasn't ready to give up.
"I understand. Thank you for the advice," Owen told her. However, in his mind, a bold new idea was already forming.
If it was just a matter of control requirements, there had to be another way. Owen suddenly thought of a method to boost energy control.
What if Eevee's Main Body and her Substitute worked together on a single Shadow Ball? One body could focus on rotating the energy at high speeds, while the other focused purely on maintaining overall structural stability.
Could they find a balance? Could they force the stability high enough to change the form successfully?
This was no longer simple multitasking—it was a sophisticated evolution of the technique.
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