Chapter 85: The Cause

“So… what exactly did you find out?” Am looked at Haunter with curiosity.

Haunter beckoned Am over with a wave of his hand, motioning for him to come closer…

Am: …

“Coffin, prepare Shadow Ball,” Am ordered directly.

Am guessed that Haunter must have learned of someone plotting against Mt. Moon, which was why he’d returned.

Seeing the Cofagrigus begin to gather a Shadow Ball in its hands, Haunter immediately cried out, “So you really are all in cahoots! Always picking on an honest Pokémon like me!”

Where in the world did he learn to refer to himself that way…?

“Well, there’s no helping it… Yesterday you must have used gas to knock me out, otherwise I wouldn’t have slept so deeply or felt so awful today,” Am stated matter-of-factly.

Gastly and Haunter are composed of ghostly energy and gaseous matter. Seeing that Am had no intention of stopping, Haunter had no choice but to surrender and complain, “I saw it before… That human you call Anzu, she’s planning to attack the Clefairy and Haunter of Mt. Moon during the full moon and steal the Moon Stone!”

Am: ???

“Huh? The Moon Stone? Just for that?” Am said with a look of discomfort.

Although the Moon Stone isn’t exactly worthless, it certainly doesn’t warrant such a grand scheme…

“Not the ‘Moon Stone’ you’re talking about! The Moon Stone on the mountain! Ugh, humans really are a pain, Haunter!” Haunter looked thoroughly exasperated.

“Maybe… we need a different way to communicate?” Am realized that the issue lay in the human language.

This Haunter had probably spent too long mingling among humans; his ‘human speech’ was already at level eight, yet he still struggled to convey his thoughts accurately.

As Am spoke, he reached out a hand, letting the waves of Animal Sensory ripple outward.

Sure enough, Haunter immediately understood Am’s intent. Though his face was full of disdain, he still muttered, “Honestly… human language is such a barrier to real communication, Haunter…”

At the same time, the images Haunter wished to express surfaced in Am’s mind.

He saw a mountain valley, with a massive, spherical boulder at its center. When the boulder began to shine with a light reminiscent of the full moon, a host of Clefairy and Haunter—each with their face comically distorted into a ‘foolish’ expression—emerged and started dancing around the giant stone…

But then, a ferocious ninja leapt out, brandishing a burlap sack and, one by one, snatched up the Clefairy and Haunter, stuffing them all inside. Afterward, the ninja hoisted the giant boulder onto his shoulder and left with a look of smug satisfaction.

Of course, this was just Haunter’s way of expressing things—obviously, no human could achieve such feats!

Still, Am understood the gist: during the full moon in mid-May, ‘Anzu’ was planning to attack the Clefairy and Haunter of this mountain, and steal the giant boulder?

“Are you sure the person you mean is Anzu? The hair color and style don’t seem to match…” Am muttered in confusion.

In Haunter’s ‘impressions,’ the ninja’s face was obscured, and any expressions were just vague hints of temperament. The physical features were only symbolic—after all, this wasn’t reading memories, just grasping his intended meaning!

Still, Am noticed that the clothing did resemble Anzu’s… except the hair was green and styled like a hedgehog, quite different from Anzu’s messy ponytail.

“I didn’t expect her to notice me tailing her midway. By the time I caught up again, she’d already dyed her hair… Heh heh heh, but she thinks that trick would fool me?” Haunter boasted proudly.

“Wait, are you sure… it wasn’t this person?” Am said as he pulled up a promotional photo of Gym Leader Koga from Vermilion City on the Pokédex.

The ninja attire was identical to Anzu’s, and… Koga’s hair was nothing like his daughter’s: bright green and spiky!

“That’s right! Yep, that’s what she looked like before dyeing her hair!” Haunter said, nodding with certainty after a glance.

Am: …

“Just looking at us—excluding hair and glasses—can you tell the difference between the two of us?” Am walked over to Misty, pressing his face close to hers. Misty, catching on, also leaned in with a knowing smile.

“I think… maybe, Haunter?” Haunter mused uncertainly.

Suddenly, Am realized that Haunter’s face blindness was even worse than his own!

Noticing Am’s expression, Haunter quickly added, “But I can always tell the boss’s wife from Moonfire! That’s just because you and Misty look too much alike!”

Before Am could respond, Haunter interjected, “Could you pick me out from a crowd of Haunter? Haunter!”

He did have a point…

It’s hard even for humans to distinguish between individual Pokémon of the same species—unless it’s a close companion, most can only rely on subtle differences in size or sheen of fur.

“So who is it, really?” Misty asked, still confused, turning Am’s wrist to peer at the Pokédex screen.

“Koga? Would he really threaten the Pokémon of Mt. Moon? No, no, that must be a mistake!” Misty shook her head at once.

In Misty’s eyes, Koga was like her own father—powerful, reliable, and trustworthy. Even though she and her father, Blaine, were currently at odds over her future, in her heart, she still saw her father as the most dependable of all.

“As expected, you foolish humans never believe…” Haunter’s catchphrase seemed to serve as a curse at times.

“So how did you discover that Koga was planning an attack on your kin…” Am looked as though he’d already accepted the story.

“What kin? Just a bunch of idiots, Haunter!” Haunter immediately corrected.

Still, Haunter explained further: he’d been haunting an abandoned building, scaring people and replenishing his energy, when he overheard a group of ‘bad guys’ plotting a secret mission to Mt. Moon to steal the ‘Moon Stone.’

Now Am understood: the ‘Moon Stone’ here referred to a mysterious, colossal stone hidden in Mt. Moon, which, during the full moon every May, bestows the effects of a Moon Stone on all nearby Pokémon!

At the time, the ‘bad guys’ had many powerful Pokémon with them, so Haunter hadn’t dared show himself. Only afterward, when tailing them, had he identified one among them—Koga.

“That’s impossible! You must be mistaken…” Misty still looked unconvinced.

If the story had come from a cute, innocent Pokémon, she might have believed it more readily.

“Whether it’s true or not, we can still follow and see for ourselves,” Am said, impartial as ever.

Given Koga’s suspected ties to Team Rocket’s higher-ups, Am actually found the story plausible, though he was still puzzled—according to Professor Oak, Team Rocket was supposed to be lying low right now.

In this sort of situation, Am was always bold. His journey as a trainer may have been short and his Pokémon not especially high-level, but in real battles—especially those he could prepare for—the ‘apothecary’ was where his strength truly shone!

“But… Haunter’s probably got the wrong person! Anzu isn’t even with Koga, and besides, we have no idea where she is right now,” Misty insisted. Haunter, learning he may have misidentified someone, looked utterly disbelieving.

“No, if Anzu is here, it can’t be a coincidence. Besides… I know where she is.” As Am spoke, he pressed a button on his glasses.