"So these are oran berries" Eric thought as he held one in his hand.
These berries are known to restore stamina and help in recovery.
Eric didn't wait longer as he ate one, and gave one to Gastly. It tasted sweet and refreshing, and was surprisingly quite filling.
Eric was full in just 4-5 oran berries, and Gastly needed only 1. Eric felt his body energise, and his wounds started healing much faster. He was now almost fully recovered, aside from being malnourished and a bit skinny. Gastly too was at full energy.
The 2 went back to the tree they were resting under, worried that some other pokemon would be attracted by the oran berry tree.
'It's been about an hour since I escaped into the forest, though I am mostly on the outskirts. Some of the Arbok Gang members must've escaped into the forest as well, but they're probably further in.
It's a tricky situation. The league police will take some time to clear the base, but I can't stay in this forest, I have to leave before the sun sets. Wild areas like this forest are extremely dangerous post sunset.
My goal is to reach a city. Based on my memories, I am still registered as a citizen. And even if I disappeared for a few days, no one would know or even bother. I just need to escape this Arbok Gang's area to avoid police questioning. If I'm caught, and with a Pokémon while in this area, they'll surely investigate. I can't be seen with Gastly till I reach the city. Wait-'
"Gastly! Can you hide in my shadow?"
"Gas" Gastly nodded and then sank into the ground, merging with Eric's shadow.
"Great! Come out Gastly. And next, can you take items with you into the shadow?"
"Gas Gas"
It turns out it could.
'This is great. I'm lucky Gastly is my first Pokémon.' Eric thought. But his overthinking mind told him not to be so optimistic. The league police will surely have a way to find hidden Ghost Pokémons . Maybe another ghost or a psychic Pokémon. Or some device.
In any case, this gives Eric a lot more confidence, as not every policeman would have the means, or would bother with someone like him.
(Eric's thinking here is influenced by his paranoia. He thinks everyone is out to get him.)
With that, it's decided.
"Alright Gastly. We have a few hours till the sun sets. We'll leave this forest as soon as it starts getting a little dark. We don't have time to waste. You'll be training intensively for these next few hours. Same drill as before, but reduce the interval between each attack to 30s."
Gastly used Clear smog 52 times in these 30 minutes. He got tired in the middle, so Eric gave him an Oran berry and a 2 minute rest. In this session, Gastly managed to reduce his casting time to 2s.
This constant analysis of the move after each attack increased his understanding of it extensively. Even the speed at which the smog travelled had increased.
Eric wasn't just sitting around this time when Gastly was practicing. He has already set up the field for the next exercise, a bit further from where they were previously, as that area now had polluted air due to so many clear smogs.
He made Gastly scout the area first, then commanded,
"Alright Gastly. For the next exercise, we'll train your endurance and accuracy at the same time. I've marked these 5 areas. Your goal is to hit them accurately in rapid fire. No intervals are allowed between each attack, and you do it till you can't maintain the 2s casting speed anymore."
Gastly could do 8 consecutive Clear smogs with decent accuracy, before he needed a break. The Oran berries were truly amazing as Gastly was ready to continue in just 5 minutes. They did this exercise 3 times before Eric changed it up again. He then threw rocks at varying speeds to make Gastly practice hitting moving targets.
After that they again did training to improve his Casting speed.
After 4 hours,
Gastly reduced his casting speed to 1.8 seconds, he can now rapid fire clear smog 12 times, and his accuracy and speed has also improved drastically. Now as long as his casting speed improves more, it'll be very hard to dodge clear smog.
The smog was also increasing in strenght, the rocks were being corroded slightly faster, it looked like the gas was getting more poisonous.
Gastly had also eaten around 10 Oran berries, and he seemed like he didn't want to eat anymore.
He had also trained Gastly's speed and dodging ability a bit while he was recovering. Eric would throw rocks at Gastly and tell him to dodge them, forbidding passing through them. Or he would make Gastly do sprint exercises.
It was now time for them to leave. They went back to the Oran berry tree to restock a little, this time being more vigilant. And rightfully so, as Eric found another Rattata there.
Pokemon: Rattata
Gender: Male
level: 6
Type: Normal
Potential: Grey
Moves: Tackle, tail whip, growl
"Gastly! I'll stay here while you go fight it. You know what to do right? Pay attention to his movements"
Since Gastly can pass through things, he didn't make any sound. Even the alert Rattata cannot notice him. Gastly hits him with a sneak Clear smog.
"Rattat"
Rattata screams in pain as it takes an offensive stance. He tries to attack Gastly but just passed through him.
"Keke" Gastly laughs as he fires another clear smog. In the 1.8s it took to cast, Rattata barely manages to get out of the way, taking partial damage.
It then turns around and wags its tail.
Tail whip!
Eric was curious how moves like this function in the real world so he pays extra attention.
White sparks of energy forms on the Rattata's tail. As Gastly is preparing for his next attack, he finds himself distracted for a split second, stopping midway. Not only Gastly, but Eric is also slightly distracted.
It was only for less than a second though, as they both snapped out of it, and Gastly immediately casts clear smog. Rattata tries to use this second to run away but is still caught as Gastly has moved to chase him.
Rattata can't hold on and faints.
Eric has no plans of capturing or doing anything with him, however. He just collects the oran berries.
Gastly was quite excited and brimming with energy after this fight, so Eric checked its status.
No wonder. He had levelled up to lvl 6!
He was probably at the cusp of levelling up with all the training they did, and this was the final push.
"That's great, Gastly! This is our first step like I promised."
Eric said as he observed Gastly who looked back at him. Both were thinking the same thing. There was nothing more to be said.
In these few hours, the 2 had grown a lot closer.