Teacher Luke: How do I actually evolve Gastly?
Blue stared at the message, baffled. Is that really a question a Master-tier Trainer needs to ask? Evolution just... happens, doesn't it?
Then something clicked, and his brow furrowed. To be fair, evolution was foundational material — but foundational didn't mean simple. Even with how far Pokémon science had come, huge chunks of the evolutionary process remained genuinely unsolved. Trade evolution, the Slowpoke-Shellder symbiosis — scholars like Professor Rowan had built entire careers around exactly these gaps. Known triggers ranged from accumulated battle experience to raw elemental exposure to something as intangible as emotional bonding, and the specific method used could shape a Pokémon in lasting ways.
Teacher Luke clearly thought this through before bringing it to the group.
"Almost made the mistake of underestimating him again," Blue muttered, rubbing his forehead. A face under a wide sun hat surfaced in his memory. "Speaking of evolution, though... I do know someone."
Red, as it turned out, was thinking of the exact same person.
Red: Good question. Not really our specialty, though.
Red: @Blue you've still got Green's contact, right?
Of the three Trainers who'd set out from Pallet Town together, Professor Oak had tagged Red as "the Fighter" and Blue as "the Breeder." When it came to evolution specifically, though, the recognized expert was Green — "the Communicator." Even Red himself consulted her whenever one of his own Pokémon neared an evolution threshold.
Up on Mt. Silver, Red handed a Pokéblock to the Pikachu on his shoulder, smiling faintly to himself. "Teacher Luke really does think of everything."
Back in the chat, Blue seemed suddenly, conveniently reluctant.
Blue: Can't find her number.
Red: Isn't she literally closer to you than to anyone else in this chat?
Blue: Haven't talked to her in a while.
Lorelei, quietly lurking through all of this, wore an entirely too-amused smile. She'd heard plenty about the tangled mess that was the Kanto crew's personal lives — a love triangle, more or less, with Yellow's very obvious crush on Red thrown into the mix too.
"Ah, to be young," Lorelei said, chin propped on her hands, grinning.
"I'll add her, got her info through Silver," Gold cut in suddenly.
[Member "Gold" has invited "Jigglypuff With Umbrella" to join the chat!]
Gold: Green, please change that nickname.
Green: Wait, why is EVERYONE in here??
Luke, technically the group's owner, stared silently up at the ceiling. Is this my fan group or Red's group chat harem, at this point? Everyone knew about Yellow's crush except, apparently, Red and Yellow themselves. Now add Green — clearly tangled up in that mess somehow too — plus Misty, who'd apparently already bowed out of whatever this was. And on top of that, Blue happened to be Yellow's mentor, and Green happened to be Silver the "Trader's" own sister—
"This circle is an absolute mess," Luke sighed.
In the chat, Green — evidently a familiar face already — was chatting animatedly with Lorelei. It wasn't until Blue pointed her toward the chat history that she actually noticed the Gastly clip. She studied it carefully and nodded.
"Yeah, this Gastly's genuinely close to evolving." A pause. "If it's not too much trouble, I'd love to observe it more directly. Could the group owner start a video call?"
Luke: Of course, appreciate the help!
Green had no idea who Luke actually was, but between Red and the rest of this lineup fawning over him, she'd more or less assumed he was some kind of senior figure and addressed him accordingly.
[Member "Green" is requesting a video call!]
Luke flipped his camera on and floated Gastly into frame for her.
On screen: a girl with a round hat, shoulder-length auburn hair, striking features.
"Hi, Senior!" Green smiled, bright and genuine.
Luke hesitated for a second — being called "Senior" felt absurd, but correcting her seemed like more trouble than it was worth. He nodded. "I wanted to ask — what exactly do I need to do here?"
Green, reading his formality as simple politeness, smiled easily. "Senior, just keep training the way you have been!"
Luke blinked. That's it? So I've just been doing nothing this whole time and it counts as effort?
"Judging by the training here, this Gastly's been through a lot of high-quality Pokéblock, hasn't it?" Green studied the footage, chin in hand, smiling. "You can really tell how much care's gone into raising it, Senior."
Reading the tint of the mist, she could tell it had recently been working through Toxic training using the notoriously intense "toxin absorption" method — rough on the body, sure, but the bond it clearly had with its Trainer despite that spoke volumes. This senior's training instincts are genuinely impressive.
"That's fair," Luke said, nodding. "I've been pretty dedicated lately."
"Kojie!" Gastly nodded along solemnly.
Green smiled. "Bottom line — staying close with your Pokémon speeds up evolution naturally. Just try to avoid letting it evolve mid-battle, though — way too many variables in play. Better to have it hold an Everstone during matches instead."
"An Everstone also lets a Pokémon learn moves ahead of its current stage without forcing evolution early."
An Everstone suppressed evolution outright — without one, if Gastly evolved unexpectedly mid-match, it might struggle to adjust in real time and risk actual injury.
Luke nodded. "Thank you, Senior Green."
"No problem, Senior Luke!" Green smiled. "I'll send over some evolution data for Gastly too, just for reference."
"Sounds good, thanks."
With guidance straight from the region's foremost evolution expert, Luke felt considerably more confident heading into Gastly's evolution. There was just one problem: an Everstone cost 1000 BP in the system, and Luke was sitting on less than 100.
Reluctantly, he checked the market price on the official Pokémon retailer site instead.
"TEN THOUSAND for a broken rock?!" Luke choked. "Is this actually a robbery?"
Just a fist-sized gray stone, no markings, no shine, sitting plainly in a display case — and somehow priced at $1,400. Official reasoning cited new research linking Everstones to egg-hatching outcomes, which had apparently sent demand through the roof. Luke double-checked around and confirmed: yeah, that really was the going rate.
In mining operations, apparently, workers commonly kept Excadrill or Dugtrio on hand to help dig, and any Pokémon with the Pickup ability had a small chance of turning up an Everstone in the process — rare as finding actual gold or jade, but valuable enough in mining circles to function almost like currency.
Grudgingly, fees included, Luke dropped a total of $1,680 on the stone. Delivery was set for tomorrow — the same day as the Piplup Cup quarterfinals, conveniently, since deliveries with nothing scheduled for early morning usually landed by noon.