Chapter 424: Doduo War Machine!

The Death Coffin — bathtub version finished speaking and fell silent.

This fellow's strange appearance greatly reinforced the reliability of Froslass's "painted skin" — after all, if a coffin can turn into a bathtub, how hard could it be to make a skin out of ice and snow?

It's just that Froslass had no artistic cells or hands-on ability, which is why she ended up making something that looked neither human nor ghost.

Thinking back on what it had just said, past two-thirty might very well be the time when the Death Coffin wakes up every day and then tries to cling to its coffin and go back to sleep.

At this stage, no matter who got disturbed, they probably wouldn't be happy about it.

Good grief!

After all that fuss, he'd actually been lying in the most dangerous spot!

All Baimu shivered, then his vision went black — something had blocked his view.

"Hiyah!"

It was the Doduo Messhia that had flown back; this fellow was already impatient to go out and find its sibling. The difference was that earlier it might have flown toward Furong, who had offered help first, but now it chose his side without the slightest hesitation.

"Heh…"

A few layers of meaning flickered across Furong's face.

It wasn't jealousy at seeing Doduo Messhia "stolen away" — she was simply surprised that this little fellow had built a relationship of trust with All Baimu in such a short time.

As a medium who could communicate telepathically with Ghost-type Pokémon, she knew very well how difficult it was to earn a Ghost-type Pokémon's trust.

A trainer Champion Dawu often had on his lips — as expected, not ordinary.

Queen Boni took in the same scene, but wasn't surprised in the slightest. Having served as a Champion longer and seen far more trainers, she had no idea how many trainers she had seen; whether a person had talent or excellence, she could tell at a glance.

And All Baimu, after peeling Doduo Messhia off his face, first softly soothed it with a word, then looked at Furong, who was walking toward the door. "Champion Furong—"

"Are you going to be quiet or not! Get out and talk! Don't disturb my sleep!"

The silent bathtub suddenly spoke, its tone extremely irritable.

"…"

He silently shut his mouth, followed behind Queen Boni and Glalie, and before leaving exchanged a glance with the Lileep that had flown onto his right shoulder — they read each other's eyes.

The latter firmly shook its head.

I haven't even said anything yet, what are you shaking your head for!

All Baimu glared. Although some things between them could be communicated perfectly well with just a look, wasn't it a bit much to refuse before the other had even brought it up?

We were just lying on a coffin lid together not long ago — at least share a little more of the workload sometimes!

The Lileep quietly turned its body away, closed its candle-like red eyes, and entered slacking-off mode, completely ignoring its trainer's "hopeful" gaze.

Are you crazy! Who in their right mind would pick a fight with someone who obviously looks like trouble!

Joking? Joking isn't allowed either!

They arrived at the narrow corridor outside.

All Baimu temporarily let the slacking Lileep off the hook, circled around to the Glalie blocking the path, and stopped Furong, who was about to open the door. "Wait, Champion Furong, about those ice beads from Froslass…"

Although there were indeed old legends about Ghost-type Pokémon like Froslass freezing male souls into ice cubes — even recorded in the Pokédex — and incidents of wild Froslass attacking humans with low-temperature freezing air were common.

But binding a human soul and carrying it around — something about that just felt off-style.

It gave the sense of a healing-girls anime set suddenly jumping to a third-rate ghost-story set, a Japanese-Western hybrid flavor at that.

Maybe the Death Coffin was deliberately teasing him, making a joke?

"It's true."

Furong gave an answer that troubled All Baimu but didn't surprise him much.

"Then if we don't go save them… is that okay?"

He asked again.

If you never ran into something like this, fine, but happening to encounter it and then acting as if nothing happened just felt wrong.

Let alone that he lived in an environment where one needed to show kindness.

It's not like they couldn't handle that Froslass — dodging it wasn't fear of it.

Hearing his words, Furong's brows curved into a smile: "What I mean is, it's true that Froslass gathers human souls into ice beads the way a trainer would. As for whether it actually has any human souls on hand… since I didn't 'see' any, then there probably aren't any."

"Mm…"

"Is All Baimu-dear reassured? You're even gentler than I imagined — no wonder Doduo Messhia likes you so much." Furong delivered a perfectly standard "kind-hearted protagonist" evaluation.

All Baimu responded with a strained smile.

The door was pulled open by Furong.

A run-down, gloomy corridor came into view — peeling walls and ceiling, a carpet so dirty it was thick with dust, shattered decorations. It couldn't have screamed "ghost hotel" any louder.

Especially when Dusknoir turned on the lights with its bluish "ghost fire," barely illuminating the surroundings.

All Baimu silently pulled a flashlight from his bag and asked, "Would a high-beam flashlight be okay?"

"A high-beam flashlight?"

"The kind that goes whoosh and turns night into day."

He briefly explained to Furong and Queen Boni.

Seeing the former nod in permission, he decisively stepped forward and pressed the switch.

In an instant.

It was as if holy light had descended.

A high-tech portable flashlight pumping out a hundred and fifty thousand lumens brought daylight to this hundred-meter-long corridor — the netherworld was lit up like the living world.

"Ooooh!"

Furong's face was full of wonder, and Queen Boni was slightly moved as well.

Then their gazes settled on an abandoned cleaning cart about ten-plus meters away — unless their eyes were deceiving them, the cart had still been moving up until five or six seconds after the lights came on.

But now it had stopped.

The reason was naturally that the cursed doll pushing the cart was covering its eyes and rolling around on the ground, letting out pitiful screams.

Having lived in a pitch-black environment for a long time.

Suddenly one day, the "sun" appeared.

If the cursed doll weren't a Ghost-type Pokémon, its eyes would probably have been completely blinded.

One must realize this is a hundred and fifty thousand lumens!

An exaggerated number that requires a specially-made heat sink to keep the flashlight from exploding!

And for the cursed doll, nothing is more terrifying than trying to play a trick on someone only to get tricked in return. After finally getting some relief for its eyes, it immediately dropped to the ground with a thud and played dead.

Hoping this little act could fool this group of fellows who somehow got in and were carrying something especially terrifying.

But it probably didn't expect that among this group there was a social terror who treated ghosts like long-lost family.

"Cursed doll~"

Furong beamed and jogged over, scooping it up with an air that completely disregarded whether it might attack, then waved back at the others.

All Baimu very considerately adjusted the flashlight to normal mode so the light wouldn't be so blinding, then pulled out a second one and asked Queen Boni, "Do you need one?"

"…Thank you."

Queen Boni had wanted to refuse, but recalling the holy light descending earlier, she quietly accepted it.

Not far away.

Furong switched on interrogation mode, pointed at the eager Dreepy Messia behind her, and asked the cursed doll in her arms up close, "Have you seen a Pokémon that looks like it?"

Holy crap!

I can understand what this thing is saying!

Surrounded on all sides, the cursed doll broke out in a cold sweat, especially fearing Dusknoir's single crimson eye. It didn't dare so much as swipe a claw at this bizarre person before it.

Where did this Ghost-type Pokémon come from! How terrifying!

It was clearly scared out of its wits. After all, Dusknoir was Furong's ace Pokémon, her greatest reliance possessing Champion-level combat power, and its Ability Intimidate further allowed it to crush the spirit of many Pokémon.

A "wild ghost" like the cursed doll from some forgotten corner wasn't even fit to shine its shoes in terms of strength; it couldn't bear even a brief gaze and quietly answered Furong's question—

No.

The Dreepy Messia, brimming with anticipation, instantly fell dejected and flew back to All Baimu's side with a whimper.

Furong fell into thought. "You really haven't seen one… That's impossible, the divination clearly pointed this way… Are you sure? No outsiders or Ghost-type Pokémon?"

The cursed doll, wanting nothing more than to send this pack of jinxes on their way, hurriedly nodded.

"Lying is wrong, you know!"

Yeah, right, as if!

The cursed doll thought, on the verge of tears.

Suddenly.

"There's no point bullying it," an aged voice rang out from not far away.

Everyone turned toward the source, their flashlights following suit, and immediately saw a hunched figure, feet not touching the ground, drifting not far away.

A balloon-like Gastly fluttered at its side.

"Hmm, hasn't been years since I've seen light this harsh. Young man, please put that flashlight away." The other party clearly couldn't handle the flashlight's glare, even in a mode far below a hundred and fifty thousand lumens.

All Baimu turned it down another notch, making the light dim to the slightly gloomy level found in horror games.

Only then did the other party dare drift over slowly, revealing the appearance of a weathered old man. In his slightly cloudy eyes, a glint of liveliness could be seen, but judging from his state, he had clearly been dead for a long time.

"Lively bunch, I am Kars, and I suppose you could call me the temporary manager of this Ghost Hotel."

The old man introduced himself.

This Ghost Hotel actually has a manager?

Isn't that different from the gatekeeper Pokémon?

All Baimu was somewhat surprised, and quickly noticed the important words "suppose" and "temporary" in the introduction. But regardless, such an existence should be better informed than the cursed doll.

Furong, who seemed to deal with ghosts often, stepped forward to chat with him on her own initiative, but didn't reveal their names. After exchanging greetings, she went straight to stating the purpose of their visit, as if wary of something.

Meanwhile.

The cursed doll, finally free, pushed its cleaning cart away and vanished into the darkness of the corridor. It would probably never dare to casually approach living people again.

"You asked if I've seen a Pokémon that looks exactly like it—I haven't. But if you're asking about a Ghost-type Pokémon that looks similar, I did happen to see one recently."

Kars replied with words that surprised everyone.

Furong picked up the thread. "Looks similar?"

"Yes, bigger than it, with a longer tail, and oh, an extra pair of legs." Kars nodded.

Everyone exchanged glances, and finally their gazes collectively landed on Dreepy Messia.

"Did your brother evolve? Evolve into Dragapult?" All Baimu asked softly.

Dreepy Messia looked utterly confused. "Hiyah?"

"…It could also be a Hydreigon." Queen Boni added, even though the probability was nearly zero.

But the moment she said that.

All Baimu instantly recalled that the base stats he had set were six hundred, so the Ghost-type Pokémon Kars saw was almost certainly a Hydreigon.

Dreepy Messia's brother is a Hydreigon…

Is that even possible?

Based on what Dreepy Messia had revealed itself, its brother was not a Hydreigon.

However, there was only that one lead at present, and they would have to follow it.

Perhaps if they followed the trail, they'd run into its brother along the way.

The three exchanged glances, the same consideration reflected in their eyes, and so at Furong's request, Kars led them off to search for the existence that resembled Dreepy Messia.

On the way.

Kass's mouth wasn't idle either—perhaps it had simply been too long since he'd seen a living person he could talk to.

"The fact that the Death Coffin actually let someone in is simply unbelievable; no living person has appeared here for many years." He sighed as he spoke: "It's just pitiful for the Snow Woman, who knows how long she's been captured and imprisoned by the Death Coffin…"

All Baimu asked, "Is it your Pokémon?"

"No, it's a tenant here. Its room isn't far from 1608, which is why it was able to discover you right away and barge in. Unfortunately, it's been so long that it even forgot when the Death Coffin wakes and what its taboos are."

Kass sighed and said, "But fortunately the Death Coffin woke up, so everyone calmed down. Otherwise, the ones coming over to say hello wouldn't have been limited to just the Snow Woman. Everyone holds extremely complicated feelings toward the living."

First time hearing "harming people" dressed up like that.

True to form for an old ghost.

The group arrived at the elevator.

Furong glanced at the elevator, then at Kass. Only when she saw the latter walk around the elevator toward the emergency passage did she withdraw her gaze, turned her head, and said:

"Baimu dear, many places in the Spirit World are very dangerous. One of them is a tightly enclosed narrow space like an elevator, so try to go to places that are open on all sides or spacious, okay?"

"…Okay."

All Baimu twitched the corner of his mouth. Although he knew she was taking a jab at Kass, who in their right mind would come to a place like the Spirit World!

He looked again at Kass at the very front. Surrounded by Gastly, the latter's expression didn't change in the slightest—still a sheet of ghastly white.

And the interesting thing was—

When the group walked into the emergency passage, they had clearly started on the sixth floor and gone up, yet the floor above was the third floor.

"This is the disorienting space brought on by a 'ghost wall.' Up and down don't follow normal logic—it's even more terrifying than a normal ghost wall."

Furong began speaking with a solemn look, then the next instant her brow relaxed. "Of course, breaking it is also very simple. Just having a pair of special eyes is enough."

She smiled and pointed at Dusknoir's single eye.

Ghost-type Pokémon's eyes seemed able to ignore this maze.

Not long after.

Kass stopped in front of a room on the third floor, turned around, and said: "This is it. Just knock."

"Oh~ thanks~"

Furong walked forward with a smile. Under Kass's gaze, she raised her hand as if about to knock on the door, but stopped one centimeter short, turned her head, and said: "Are you sure it's here?"

"Positive!"

"Ah~ you really are patient." She nodded, then suddenly raised her hand: "Dusknoir, grab them."

Dusknoir's single eye flashed red. "Yo-noh!"

It suddenly lunged at Kass and the Gastly, whose expressions changed drastically. Seeing this, All Baimu didn't stop it but quickly looked behind him—and sure enough, spotted two sneaky Gastly.

"Shadow—"

"Ice Beam!"

Queen Boni's voice was faster than his, and Glalie's attacking motion was swifter than Sun Coral's. The two Gastly were instantly frozen into huge ice balls and dropped.

And the Dusknoir Furong had sent out also successfully grabbed Kass and the other Gastly.

Immediately, a black mist suddenly surged up from Kass's body, and a cackling Gengar shot backward, trying to escape.

"Dark Pulse!"

A bolt of red lightning flew through the air and instantly struck the Gengar, knocking it to the ground.

Dusknoir tilted its head slightly and saw Sun Coral on All Baimu's shoulder, but said nothing—silently swallowing those Gastly and the remaining old man's ghost into its gaping belly.

Its enormous mouth was like a bottomless pit, sucking in the Gengar with its twisted face.

Furong watched all this, her smile unwavering, then turned to All Baimu to educate him: "In the Spirit World, as long as it's a ghost, you can't trust anything anyone says. Ghosts are full of lies, after all."

"Then haven't we made this trip for nothing?"

"No, no, no. The true essence of 'ghosts are full of lies' is nine truths and one lie—one false statement mixed into nine true ones is enough." Furong went to the room across the hall and, without knocking, turned the handle directly.

Click.

The door slowly opened.

The sight inside left All Baimu shocked. What he saw was by no means some shabby standard single room—it was a raging sea!

A portal?!

"Hiyah!"

Dreepy suddenly let out an excited cry and dove in. It moved so fast he had no time to stop it—

Nor did he need to.

When it flew to a certain spot, a small figure roughly its own size suddenly materialized in the air—another Dreepy.

It found its sibling!

All Baimu couldn't help but feel happy for it, but the hazy figure that appeared next made his breath catch.

—A pseudo-legendary Pokémon designed with elements of a ghost fighter: Dragapult!

"Rurua!"

The other looked at the group outside the door, eyes full of cold, and abruptly vanished on the spot.