Looking at the scene inside the house, Gastly couldn't help but fantasize.
It put itself in the role of those Pokémon.
It was also a rainy day.
It was huddled on the sofa with Carver.
Mountains of berries were placed in front of them.
Carver gently picked up berries and fed them to it.
After eating the berries, Carver ran with it freely on the grassland. It ran in front while Carver chased behind. The grassland was filled with their laughter and joy—it sounded so blissful!
But dreams were just dreams after all.
The cold rainwater awakened Gastly from its fantasy.
It looked at the scene inside the house and said dejectedly: "Gastly..."
Inside the house.
"Bewear?"
Bewear suddenly caught a glimpse of a familiar figure by the window.
Carver, who was feeding bone biscuits to Growlithe, noticed Bewear's behavior and asked with some surprise: "What's wrong, Bewear?"
He instinctively followed Bewear's gaze and saw a familiar figure outside the window.
A purple gaseous Pokémon.
That was... Gastly?
Carver was slightly stunned. Why had Gastly suddenly come over here?
Though somewhat puzzled, thinking that it was raining outside, and despite it being spring, there was still a lingering chill in the air. If one wasn't careful, getting sick would be troublesome.
Thinking this, Carver stood up and walked toward Gastly.
Opening the window, he saw Gastly seem startled and quickly look up.
"Gastly?" Carver called.
He looked ahead but didn't see Ralts, Chansey, or the others. Gastly must have come over by itself.
However, Gastly were naturally restless Pokémon. Mischief was their calling card, so coming over was quite normal.
Suddenly seeing Carver, Gastly seemed somewhat afraid, its body freezing in place, momentarily forgetting to move.
"Gastly..."
Seeing Gastly like this, Carver couldn't help but smile.
"Come inside first!"
He made room, gesturing for Gastly to come in.
Gastly stared blankly at the inside, murmuring: "Gastly..."
Could it really go in?
Fantasy suddenly becoming reality made Gastly feel like it was dreaming.
"Come sit for a while!" Carver invited again.
Gastly looked at Carver, and while feeling somewhat excited inside, it carefully floated into the house.
All the Pokémon in the house were looking at it, making Gastly involuntarily nervous.
Carver focused his attention, and the next second, this little Gastly's detailed information appeared before his eyes.
[Pokémon: Gastly]
[Type: Ghost/Poison]
[Gender: Male]
[Ability: Levitate]
[Moves: Confuse Ray, Lick, Hypnosis, Mean Look, Astonish]
[Status: Psychological Trauma]
[Mood: Nervous, Uneasy, Excited]
[Joy Level: 20]
[Friendship: 30 (It has great affection for you)]
[Description: Dreams came true! —Gastly]
Hm?
Gastly was very nervous now? Was it because of seeing him?
Carver was somewhat surprised, but what was this about dreams coming true?
"Don't worry, the Pokémon here are all friendly and won't hurt you." Carver comforted Gastly's emotions, then introduced it to each Pokémon in the breeding house.
Growlithe, Bewear, Clefairy, Chingling, Castform...
Gastly stared blankly at the Pokémon before it, nodding its head foolishly to show it remembered.
"Have something to eat!"
Carver sat on another empty sofa, then picked up Pokémon treats from the table and offered them to Gastly.
Gastly had no hands and could only catch them with its mouth, chewing a few times before swallowing.
Its eyes lit up, as if it had never eaten anything so delicious.
Carver smiled: "These are snacks for you all—you can't eat them as meals!"
Saying this, he picked up another treat and offered it.
Gastly nodded while eating the treats.
Seeing the child like this, Carver felt somewhat heartbroken.
"Eat more!"
"Gastly..." Gastly responded indistinctly.
The other Pokémon in the breeding house also watched this scene in amazement.
They had never seen this way of eating before.
After Gastly stopped eating and burped contentedly, Carver spoke again:
"Do you remember where you used to live?"
"Gastly..." Gastly recalled carefully, then said: "Gastly!"
It used to live in a cemetery where there were almost no humans and very few Pokémon.
Since gaining consciousness, Gastly had lived alone there.
Back then, it had never felt lonely.
But suddenly one day, two humans came there.
Gastly had originally wanted to prank them and play with them, but those two humans looked at it as if seeing some treasure, directly had powerful Pokémon attack it, then captured it.
After that, it and other Pokémon were locked in specially made iron cages and transported by truck to a very distant place—so far that Gastly couldn't even remember the way back.
Finally, they were separated, and it was locked with Chansey and the others in the depths of that underground waterway.
Until Carver rescued them.
Gastly kept chattering away.
Carver couldn't understand a single word, but he still maintained a listening posture. Finally, based on Gastly's expression, he said softly: "It must have been very hard?"
Recalling those terrible experiences and now facing Carver's care, Gastly instantly became teary-eyed.
"Gastly...!"
The surrounding Pokémon all looked at this scene with moved expressions.
Carver slowly sighed and tentatively reached out to pet Gastly's head, comforting: "Don't worry, that kind of thing will never happen again. Things will slowly get better."
Gastly looked up at this human, then nodded vigorously: "Gastly!"
After this comforting, although Gastly's joy level didn't increase much, Carver noticed its friendship had skyrocketed from 30 to 60.
With this level of friendship, if he proposed capturing Gastly, this Gastly would probably agree without hesitation.
But Carver didn't do that.
He looked toward the shed and said: "When you're bored in the future, come to the breeding house! We're all here. If you want to move here to live, that's fine too, but you should discuss it with Chansey and the others first, or they'll worry about you."
"Gastly...?"
Hearing this, Gastly looked over with complete disbelief.
Really?
Could it also live here with everyone like the Clefairy?
It felt... like a dream!