Chapter 1212: Ghost Companions

[When you were eleven years old and heard that your peers had already set off on their journeys, you felt an unprecedented sense of loss]

The bubble above the young girl’s head showed a text expression of loneliness.

Starting off in a sanatorium, huh…

Baimu assessed the environment of the simulation target based on the posters and dolls decorating the room.

This reminded him of a certain green-haired boy, who also was weak and often ill, and had to go to a sanatorium in the better environment of Verdanturf Town. But after starting his journey, he gradually regained his health.

Thinking about it like this, the “weak and ill” buff seems to be better than the Careless trait.

[You desperately want to become a Trainer, but the weakness and frailty that plague your body make it a distant dream. You often lament why you don’t have a healthy body]

The girl looked straight ahead, a poster was displayed larger in front of her.

On it, a dashing blonde woman stood in a widely admired arena, with her faithful Garchomp ready to face the opponent’s challenge.

[You look at the poster of Champion Zhulan, unconsciously inserting yourself into it, fantasizing about dominating the stage at the League Conference, slowly closing your eyes]

A series of Z-shaped patterns appeared above the girl’s head, symbolizing sleep.

Champion Zhulan?

The standard black coat and black hair accessories suggest the story might be set in recent years.

Baimu had studied this popular PM female champion extensively, knowing that when Zhulan first became the Regional Champion, she didn’t have hair accessories and wore a blue coat.

In other words, the simulation target is likely younger than him in real life.

While Baimu was contemplating, a Gastly flew in from outside the window.

It headed straight for the girl on the hospital bed, opened its dark mouth wide, and bit down on her head, performing a pulling action.

A phantom-like figure was extracted from the girl’s body.

Soul extraction!

Baimu watched this scene in surprise. Pokémon can extract human souls? This isn’t—

Huh!

In the No-mark Era, Ash Ketchum and Pikachu also experienced soul extraction.

He suddenly remembered Ash and his party during their adventure at the Pokémon Tower in Lavender Town, where they were knocked out by falling lamp holders, allowing the mischievous Haunter to extract their souls and play along.

When Baimu looked at the simulation screen again, sure enough, the girl was not surprised by her situation, even happily greeting the Gastly.

[You have a little secret—every night at midnight, a Gastly comes to play with you. You initially thought it was a dream, but later realized it was your soul leaving your body]

The girl in hospital clothes transformed, donning a black long skirt, and the messy long hair reminded Baimu of a type of NPC in the game—

Paranormal Fan!

Speaking of which.

Will the soul’s long nightly wanderings have no negative effects on her body?

Under Baimu’s curious gaze, the soul of the Paranormal Fan girl flew away from the sanatorium with Gastly, freely soaring in the skies, overlooking the dazzling nocturnal city below.

[You always eagerly anticipate the arrival of nighttime, because it’s the only time you can finally leave the twenty-square-foot hospital room and embrace freedom]

Gastly led the Paranormal Fan into a square resembling an amusement park, where many Pokémon engaged in nighttime activities frolicked about, warmly inviting them to join in the fun.

The Paranormal Fan was happy to see them, having clearly “mixed with ghosts” before.

However.

Her exceptional Mysterious Physique truly comes into play—the Pokémon she interacts with are mainly of the Ghost Attribute.

“Interaction Plaza? This must be Hearthome City…”

Baimu recognized several iconic buildings of Hearthome City’s Interaction Plaza, such as the central fountain and the stone castle.

On-screen.

The Paranormal Fan girl and pixelated Pokémon played freely, sometimes dodging security guards’ flashlight beams and mischievously scaring them, sometimes activating various amusement rides on their own.

They even initiated Pokémon battles themselves, with Gastly reacting to her shouts.

Despite often being chased off by the infuriated security guards, the Paranormal Fan remained incredibly joyous, her accompanying Gastly always sporting a smile.

Though the screen was silent, the text danced around.

Baimu felt as if he could hear the girl’s cheerful laughter, feeling the current joy she was overflowing with, and the big smile between her and Gastly prompted him to call his Altered-color Gengar in for a hug.

“Gengar?”

Gengar seemed puzzled, but feeling the Trainer’s warm embrace, it laughed and licked him, “Ha ha ha!”

A tingle spread from his face to his head.

Baimu couldn’t help but smack it, saying, “Where did you learn this bad habit? Go! Play on your own!”

He released Gengar, but Gengar refused to leave, sticking close to him, laughing mischievously, and teasingly hovering its tongue as if to lick.

After thoroughly understanding Baimu’s nature, Gengar’s innate mischievous gene awakened, often doing naughty things and taunting around. Getting hit didn’t make it sad; instead, it laughed even harder.

Baimu ignored it and continued watching the simulation content.

Compared to the previous two rounds of simulations where the Mage and Ninja were driven by abilities and found their dreams through travel, the Paranormal Fan merely has dreams without the “abilities” to support her.

Now she laughs with joy, but likely feels miserable during the day.

And the more unstable her mood is, the more her body is likely affected, forming a vicious cycle.

As the first rays of sunlight shot from outside the screen, the Paranormal Fan reluctantly bid farewell to the wild Pokémon, returning to the hospital with Gastly.