Larry swallowed hard. There was no clear way to deal with it—not eveabase could provide aimate of its full power. He let out a bitter chuckle. "Great... just great," he muttered under his breath, his usually posed expression now tinged with helplessness.

  Sure, it was exg that his ability could analyze creatures from the Dark ti, but the bigger issue remained—how were they supposed to survive this? He hadn’t been in this world for long, and he was already fag one of the deadliest threats ience. ‘Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows anymore.’

  As the misty figure of "Ai" moved forward, fnked by the grotesque red and greeion monsters, Larry made up his mind. He turo Gardevoir, his voice steady despite the rising tension. “Prepare to teleport us out of here.”

  Gardevoir nodded silently. Larry wasn’t particurly attached to the treasure lying around. In this world, strength was everything. Wealth would e naturally with power. The true prize of this expedition? Gengar.

  ‘Wait—where was Gengar?’ A familiar, mischievous chuckle echoed beside him. Larry blinked in surprise. Gengar had materialized from his shadow without him even realizing it, standing in front of him with a grin, fidently patting its chest. “Geng...Gengar!”

  Larry raised an eyebrow. “What, you think you hahis?”

  Gengar nodded vigorously, fshing a toothy grin as if it had been waiting for this moment. Larry’s eyes widened. ‘Hold on... does that mean you absorb the death aura and ter “Ai’s” influence?’

  Gengar gave an exaggerated thumbs-up before crag its knuckles. Larry was momentarily speechless. ‘So that’s why those ive emotions earlier disappeared so fast... Gengar absorbed them?’ A spark of hope lit up in Larry’s chest.

  “Alright,” he said, his lips curling into a smirk. “Show me what you got.”

  Gengar’s wide, eerie grin stretched even further as it devoured the swirling remnants of "Ai" without wasting a si. A thick cloud of eerie gas poured into its gaping mouth, and with a deep gulp, it swallowed everything whole. Instantly, Larry noticed the experience bar in his mind tig fengar had leveled up signifitly, while Gardevoir also gained some progress, though to a lesser extent.

  This was exactly why Larry was surprised when Gengar expis ability earlier. It could absorb deathly thoughts and mist-like entities like "Ai" and vert them into experience points to level up. This unique meic seemed to be a special upgrade feature of Pokémon within his Nen ability.

  As for why Gengar’s attacks were so effective against "Ai," Larry had a theory—perhaps "Ai" was cssified as a ghost-like entity, making it naturally weak to Gengar's ghost-type moves. “Burp~” Gengar let out a loud burp, patted its belly with satisfa, and bounced around gleefully. It was clear the meal had left it in high spirits.

  Meanwhile, the two remaining men—Neguro and the bespectacled man—stood frozen in shock. They had clearly uimated Larry. A moment ago, they thought he was just a support-type with no offensive abilities. But now, after witnessing his Pokémon in a, they realized h they were. Their previous assumptio ughable—like they had been staring at the world from inside a well, unaware of its vastness.

  With the remnants of deathly aura fading away, the hip-hop man, onfted with rage, now looked like a defted balloon. His body shrank rapidly back to its normal size before colpsing to the ground, kig up a cloud of rotten dust.

  Larry sighed and rubbed his forehead. Everything had happened so fast—it almost felt... b. He had prepared for a long and grueling battle, yet Gengar had e effortlessly. He had to admit, though, a big part of this easy victory came down to Gengar’s unique abilities tering "Ai" perfectly. If it had been any other Pokémon, things could have been very different. The terrifying nature of "Ai" wasn't in its direct strength but in its insidious ability to mess with people's minds aions, spawniional moo attack.

  People feared "Ai" food reason. Even an experienen user could fall victim if they didn’t have the right tools to fight it. If it weren’t fengar, Larry would have had to resort to his inal pn—telep away. But this victory sparked ahought in Larry’s mind. Could it be that the Pokémon he bred were influenced by the enviro he was in at the time?

  The eerie, abandoned ruins—steeped in despair aivity—had given birth to Gengar, a ghost-type Pokémon that perfectly suited the surroundings. Moreover, "Ai" was also known as a gaseous lifeform, aligning perfectly with Gengar’s position as a gas-based entity. It was like fate had orchestrated their enter.

  After firming with Gengar that there were no more "Ai" lurking around, Larry couldn’t help but feel a little regret. If there had been just one mengar might have reached A-rank instantly. With the danger dealt with, it was time for the phase—colleg the loot. "Alright, let's get to work," Larry muttered.

  Under his and, Gengar began swallowing piles of treasures scattered around the cave. Uhe earlier battle, Gengar showed no i in the loot unless Larry specifically ordered it. Although some of the items were damaged from the fight, the remaining treasures still amouo an impressive haul. As the one who saved everyone, Larry had no qualms about g everything.

  The bespectacled man seemed to uand this and, while a hint ret flickered in his eyes, he was mostly grateful. Neguro, oher hand, ractically radiating jealousy ament. In his eyes, he had done so mud felt entitled to a portion of the treasure. Watg Larry cim it all left him simmering with bitterness.

  However, what Neguro didn’t realize was that Gardevoir, being a Psychic-type Pokémon, could seions with ease. Every flicker of jealousy and hatred was silently transmitted to Larry. After Gengar swallowed the st of the loot, Larry turned his gaze to Neguro. A fake smile tugged at his lips, but his eyes were cold. "Jealous of me, huh? Envious of my strength? Angry that I took what you thought should’ve been yours?" Larry’s voice was light, almost teasing, but it cut deep.

  Neguro stiffened, his face betraying his iurmoil. “W-What?” he stammered, his shock evident.

  "Heh, the great actor, still putting on a show?"

  Gengar grinned mischievously. Three colorful will-o’-the-wisps floated toward Neguro, ging to him like parasites. The fmes erupted in an instant, engulfing Neguro’s body in ghostly fire. His screams echoed through the cave but were short-lived. Soon, nothing was left—no trace of Neguro remained, as if he had never existed.