Chapter Thirty-One: Conan's Gear

Upon hearing that a robbery had actually taken place, Amu glanced at Conan, the so-called “culprit.” “You’ve already solved the case, haven’t you?”

Conan jumped at her words, immediately looking around in alarm. Only after making sure no one else noticed did he reply irritably, “Uncle Kogoro solved the case!” His tone clearly warned her not to let anything slip.

“By the way, I heard you encountered a Misdreavus? And… it doesn’t seem to be your Pokémon, is it?” Amu asked.

Though Amu intuitively felt there shouldn’t be a problem—after all, from a metaphysical perspective, someone with the “Harbinger of Death” constitution having ghost-type talent was hardly surprising. Rotom, for instance, also had ghost attributes when not inhabiting appliances. Still, since she’d promised Sonoko, it was best to confirm.

“Yeah, so what?” Conan replied as if it were obvious.

At that moment, the Misdreavus that usually stayed hidden in Conan’s wristwatch suddenly appeared with a lilting, eerie giggle.

Misdreavus, a ghost-type Pokémon registered in the Johto region’s Pokédex, stood about seventy centimeters tall—rather small. Its body looked even greener than depicted in the Pokédex, resembling a little green specter with facial features. Its “hair” was tinged red, like ghostly fire, and its eyes were scarlet, with bright red beads hanging around its neck.

“Ah!” Conan was startled as well, not expecting the Misdreavus to appear so suddenly.

In front of the Pokémon Center, the steady stream of passersby quickly took notice—ghost-type Pokémon were, after all, quite rare.

Most people looked on with curiosity, though some, especially those with children, seemed uneasy and hurried away.

If this had happened in the wild, even more people would have shown fear. Due to various legends and their very nature, ghost-types made people sensitive. If it were a wild ghost Pokémon, few would dare approach. But now, everyone assumed this one had been released by a trainer, so curiosity prevailed.

“Why did you come out?” Conan tried to grab Misdreavus, but his hand passed right through.

Ghost-type Pokémon could ignore physical contact, meaning they were immune to normal-type attacks! In typical type matchups, pure physical force wasn’t negated, so “resisting normal-type” provided strong defensive advantages. But ghost-types were even more special.

They completely ignored physical collisions—able to negate even the purest physical impacts in moves. Ghost’s immunity to normal and fighting types was true immunity.

For example, ground-types are immune to electric-type moves, but not to the physical impact component of moves like Electro Ball or Wild Charge. Flying-types are immune to ground-type moves, but only to the earth’s tremors—moves like Bone Club could still inflict physical damage. Ghost-types, however, were immune to all physical impacts—and, by the same token, couldn’t inflict physical impact themselves. If you saw a ghost-type holding something, it was definitely telekinesis!

Ran and Sonoko, noticing the commotion, looked over in surprise, even a bit worried the little Misdreavus might cause trouble.

But then Amu bent down, placing her hand atop Misdreavus’ head.

Anyone unaware would have thought Misdreavus was Amu’s Pokémon, released for a nearby little boy to see. But those in the know—like Misty and the others—couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat.

That lilting, eerie laughter drifted on the breeze, making the air seem even colder—many ghost-type Pokémon, including Misdreavus, fed on fear. To it, scaring people was a way to refuel, but for the victim, it could mean days of nervous exhaustion.

“Careful…” Misty wanted to step closer in concern, but her legs were weak.

Fortunately, they soon realized that although Misdreavus still laughed eerily, it had its eyes closed, rubbing the “head” that should have been intangible against Amu’s palm.

Though they’d heard of Amu’s ghost-type affinity before, now Misty and Sonoko were fully convinced.

For Amu, the sensation was vague and faint, but still there—after all, having twice chosen the Moon path, Amu herself now had traces of ghost, fairy, and dark attributes.

At the same time, Amu understood Misdreavus’ intentions—it genuinely felt an affinity for Conan. As long as their “bond” was strong enough, there was nothing to worry about.

As for Amu herself—while Misdreavus had a high initial favorability, it wasn’t enough for the Pokémon to want to follow her instead, and she didn’t force it.

She simply led Conan to a quiet corner, then let Misdreavus return to the wristwatch—left behind by its previous owner, and now serving as its haunt.

Such cases of ghost-type Pokémon inhabiting objects were not uncommon.

As Sonoko and the others hurried over, Amu reassured them, “Don’t worry, the Misdreavus is following Conan because he reminds it so much of its previous owner… who was a sixteen-year-old detective enthusiast.”

Conan glared hard at Amu.

Luckily, Ran didn’t pick up on the underlying hint.

“That’s a relief, thank you so much. It’s lucky you have an affinity for ghost-types, Amu,” Ran said gratefully.

“No need to thank me… By the way, is this kid allowed to stay at the Pokémon Center?” Amu asked in confusion, seeing that Ran was heading inside with Conan.

“Yes, Conan’s mother got me a diamond card yesterday, so I can bring an extra guest.” Ran sounded a bit embarrassed—she hadn’t wanted to accept so much money.

Amu nodded in understanding. So, she’d already met Conan’s “parents”—the real ones, no less, though if they’d revealed their faces, Ran would have recognized them. They must have been in disguise.

“So you have to keep dragging this little troublemaker around… But of course, Ran and I will be sharing a room! Disappointed, kid?” Sonoko pretended to be annoyed, then teased.

“Heh, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Conan replied with a forced laugh.

“Sonoko!” Ran worried she’d be a bad influence.

“It’s not so bad… At least laundry will be easier,” Amu mused, still thinking about Conan’s Rotom.

Conan, with a look of innocence, declared, “No, that Rotom has already been returned to Shinichi… Now my skateboard Rotom was specially developed for me by the Professor!”

Judging by his expression, Amu suspected it was still the same Rotom, just inhabiting a different appliance.

A skateboard Rotom was indeed rare—possibly the only one of its kind. Rotom was a special Pokémon, able to possess many electric devices, but only five forms had so far been engineered by humans to allow it to use its full battle capability.

As for this skateboard, it was custom-made for Conan by Professor Agasa, a form not even listed in the Pokédex…