Chapter 210: Gengar VS Charizard (1)

Gengar's words made Huo La smile bitterly. He hurriedly turned to Red and pointed to the flickering purple figure in the field: "Brother Xiao Chi, this is my special partner."

"Partner?" Red instantly caught the subtlety in Huo La's phrasing, his brows raised slightly, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes.

Ordinary Trainers would acknowledge Pokémon as "partners," but in conversation, they would always refer to them as "my Pokémon." Only in very special circumstances would they emphasize the word "partner."

Yet in Huo La's tone, there was clearly another meaning hidden.

"I'm no ordinary Pokémon, just this brat's hired hand." Gengar's voice carried a hint of aged hoarseness. Its pale purple body swayed lightly, appearing instantly before Red. Its eyes stared straight at him, and its long, scarlet tongue slowly lolled out and flicked, revealing a hint of playfulness.

"A talking Gengar!" Red's pupils shrank, but he quickly regained his composure, though his tone still carried surprise: "That's rare, but to be able to reach such a contract with a Trainer, you are indeed extraordinary."

Xiao Gang and Bilan on the sidelines were even more wide-eyed with shock.

Xiao Gang's body trembled slightly, and he instinctively shrank back, as if remembering some unpleasant memory.

No one noticed that in the shadow at Xiao Gang's feet, a small black shadow quietly poked out half a head—Marshadow's eyes were locked tightly on Gengar in the center of the field, and a faint fluctuation of Ghost-type energy rippled around it, as if it were wary of Gengar.

"Huo La, this... doesn't count as your regular Pokémon, right?" Red regained his composure and looked at Huo La to confirm.

"It does, and it doesn't." Huo La spread his hands helplessly, his tone carrying a hint of wry laughter: "You can just consider him a 'hired gun' I hired at a high price; he doesn't usually get involved in battles. I guess he saw that your Charizard had a strong enough aura, so he suddenly got itchy to trade a few moves, and I couldn't stop him."

After all, they were in the middle of a deciding match against Red, and Gengar suddenly cutting in did indeed feel a bit like breaking the rules, and Huo La felt a bit guilty about it.

"Since it's a partner you acknowledge, then there's no problem." Red made the final decision. Not only did he not mind, but his battle intent burned even brighter: "A talking Gengar that you specifically 'hired' must have unfathomable strength. Using such an opponent to test Charizard's condition is actually my gain!"

"Hehe, you brat know how to talk, much better than this guy Huo La!" Gengar narrowed its eyes in satisfaction, curled its long tongue, and didn't forget to tease Huo La.

Huo La: "..."

So he had to be looked down upon by his own "hired hand" while battling; where was he supposed to go to reason this out?

"Old Ghost." Huo La called out, his tone carrying a hint of resentment.

Gengar turned its head and glanced at him lazily. Its pale purple body swayed lightly, and it obediently returned to its position in the center of the field, speaking slowly: "That kid named Red, you and your Charizard go first; I won't take advantage of the first move."

"Alright!" Red didn't stand on ceremony and tilted his chin at Charizard.

Charizard immediately took a step forward, spread its wings abruptly, and let out a powerful roar toward the sky. The scorching aura instantly swept out, and even the water vapor remaining on the field was baked into steam.

"Since the opponent is a Ghost-type, Charizard, use Air Cutter to probe first!" Red's command was precise and decisive, knowing that most Ghost-type Pokémon were adept at movement and speed, so probing with long-range moves was the safest bet.

Charizard flapped its wings and took to the air. After hovering, its wings slashed rapidly like sharp blades, and four air cutters shimmering with sharp white light whistled toward Gengar, sealing off its escape space in all directions.

"Hehe, just this level of Air Cutter?" Gengar sneered, not intending to dodge at all.

It lightly rubbed its hands together, and a Shadow Ball containing purple light within the pitch black condensed, smashing fiercely toward the air cutters.

With a muffled "bang," the Shadow Ball exploded, instantly scattering all four air cutters and splashing up a cloud of dust that shrouded a small area.

Before the dust could settle, Gengar's figure suddenly turned into a hazy purple shadow, like a stream of light teleporting, rushing straight toward Charizard in mid-air, its speed so fast it left afterimages.

"Charizard, use Swift to seal its movements!" Red reacted extremely quickly, instantly seeing through Gengar's intent to ambush, and ordered loudly.

Charizard flapped its wings, rapidly gaining altitude, while opening its mouth to spit out a dense rain of silver-white stars. Swift swept toward the purple shadow like raindrops.

That purple shadow was incredibly agile, not getting hit by a single star, instead getting closer and closer to Charizard.

Huo La stood on the sidelines, staring at Gengar's movements without blinking, even his breathing instinctively softening.

The Rotom Phone beside him was already hovering, its lens aimed steadily at the battlefield, recording the battle without interruption.

Although this round was Old Ghost's "free time" and didn't require his command, it was rare for Old Ghost to take the initiative to battle, and this practical experience was worth more than gold to him.

He hadn't been able to see the battle between Old Ghost and Steelix with his own eyes back then, which he had regretted for a long time, so naturally, he had to record every detail now to ponder and study repeatedly later.

Charizard's massive frame was ultimately no match for Gengar's flickering agility, and in the blink of an eye, Gengar appeared silently before it.

The next second, Gengar's ghostly green eyes widened abruptly, actually bulging right out of their sockets, and paired with its wide-open mouth and lolling scarlet tongue, it looked indescribably eerie and terrifying.

Charizard was caught off guard and startled, its wings shaking violently, almost falling from the sky, and even the flame on its tail flickered.

Seeing this, Gengar let out a "hehehe" weird laugh and instantly retreated, not giving Charizard any chance to counterattack.

"It's Scary Face!" Red recognized the move at a glance and hurriedly ordered loudly: "Charizard, hurry, use Fire Spin to trap it inside!"

Charizard shook its head, finally recovering from the fright. It roared and opened its mouth to spit a ball of scorching flame along Gengar's retreat path.

The flame spread rapidly in mid-air, and with the help of the wind, it curled into a rotating wall of fire, forming a huge Fire Spin that completely sealed Gengar's retreat.

But what was surprising was that Gengar didn't dodge, but instead dived straight into the Fire Spin.

Its pale purple body rolled back and forth within the wall of fire, following the direction of the flames, as comfortable as if it were playing.

"This... won't Gengar get burned?" Bilan clung to the railing, covering her mouth nervously, her eyes fixed on the purple figure in the flames, her tone full of worry.

Xiao Gang also stared intently at the changes in the field, only speaking calmly after a moment: "Don't worry, it dived into the flames voluntarily, so it must have a way to deal with it. Ghost-type Pokémon already have a certain resistance to some Fire-type moves, not to mention this Gengar is clearly unfathomably strong and won't be easily hurt by Fire Spin."

Huo La wasn't worried; although Old Ghost liked to play pranks, its own strength was absolutely powerful, and it would definitely be fine.

The lens of the Rotom Phone on the side was pushed even closer, and the recording indicator light on the screen flashed even more frequently, clearly also "focusing" on recording this rare scene. ===== CHAPTER 211 =====