Dawn seed to think of sothing, then blinked and said, "Ancient things, fossils, treasure... Pokémon connected to stuff like that always seem to end up with really strong people."
Hikaru nodded. "That's true for Champions from every region too. It's proof that they all went on long, grueling journeys of their own."
They moved quickly through Eterna Forest. The woods were vast, but Hikaru could borrow the help of the Bug-type Pokémon living there to keep them on the right path.
Before long, they reached the area near the old manor rumored to be haunted by spirits.
"The Old Chateau is just ahead," Hikaru said. "Flutter Mane, can you do a favor? Go clear out the nearby Ghost Pokémon first, all right?"
"Happappappa~! (So you really do need after all, scrub Trainer. You can't do anything without . Honestly, what am I supposed to do with you?)"
Watching Flutter Mane drift ahead in high spirits, Dawn's fear vanished completely. At this point, she only found the Pokémon's behavior weirdly human-like. Earlier... was that supposed to be flirting?
That was way too strange.
And sohow, it felt like two cold stares were coming from Hikaru's backpack.
Dawn shivered uneasily. Just then, Hikaru turned toward her.
"If you're still really scared of ghosts, how about this? Think of it as a courage item."
Dawn took it without understanding, only to realize it was a huge black iron ball.
"Huh? It looks so heavy, but... it actually doesn't feel that heavy. What kind of item is this? It kind of looks like a Poké Ball, but why is it all black?"
"This is a Heavy Ball."
Hikaru raised a finger and explained. "I'll give you a few of them. This is one type of Poké Ball ancient people used to catch Pokémon. It's too heavy to throw far, but it has very strong catching power." The official English na for the Hisuian item is Heavy Ball, the haunted manor is the Old Chateau, and the cleansing item is Cleanse Tag. (Bulbapedia)
The crafting techniques for Hisuian Poké Balls and Kurt's Apricorn Balls were dramatically different. The two thods didn't overlap at all. But thanks to "secret techniques," Hikaru had learned the manga-world version of Kurt's Poké Ball craftsmanship too.
He could even make GS Balls now. Of course, without the genuine feather, he could only fake it with Fearow feathers, so the bootleg GS Balls he made had terrible cost performance and were basically worthless one-use products.
And now there was also the Item Printer. Even Hikaru had to admit that if you set that thing up in a forest and just fed materials into it, it could churn out simple items directly. The advantage was mass production. The drawback was obvious.
They weren't handmade.
They had no soul.
Dawn nodded. "So... you want to use this Ball to catch Pokémon?"
Hikaru replied, "What I an is, you can use this Ball to knock a Pokémon out cold first, then catch it easily. Especially when it smacks into the ground - boom. It sounds like the earth itself caves in."
"No matter what kind of Pokémon it is, you can knock it out first. Then I'll teach you another move: Secret Technique - Backstrike. Use a sneak attack from behind, and the Pokémon will go rigid and unable to move."
Dawn: "...?"
Ignoring Dawn's frozen expression, Hikaru continued, "The Heavy Ball itself isn't too hard to make. It belongs to the Apricorn Ball branch, but the process is much simpler. As for its practical effect... sure, it doesn't have a bunch of flashy gimmicks, but in actual combat, the results are imdiate."
"If you run into sothing annoying or sothing that scares you, throw a Heavy Ball and punish it. Also, since it's so heavy, you can tie a Red Chain onto it and use it like a teor hamr. At that point, you could even fight the Great Sinnoh itself."
"And if you run into mbers of so criminal organization while your Pokémon are battling, you can just swing the Heavy Ball and attack the opposing Trainer directly. Don't worry - it's not an official match, so legality doesn't matter."
Good evening, Sinnoh.
I now have a Heavy Ball.
"All right, practice your throws a little," Hikaru said. "I'm going to gather up this chopped wood over here... Piplup, using Cut is basically Extre Hyper Training!"
"Chop down so more trees!"
"Pipla!" Piplup puffed out its chest proudly.
The Distortion World.
Now that Hikaru had returned to Sinnoh proper, Giratina naturally wanted to see what was going on. Aegislash could no longer serve as a cara, but Sinnoh had water and lakes everywhere. Around the Valley Windworks there had also been rivers and mirrors before, so it had plenty of ways to spy a little.
"...?"
Giratina blinked and suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. It thought for a long ti, then briefly curled in on itself in silent shock.
It couldn't see clearly now, but before... had it just seen soone familiar?
Giratina gradually worked it out and confird sothing. One hundred and fifty years ago, it had chosen to protect Sinnoh because it couldn't defeat a certain person.
The battle at Spear Pillar. The defeat at Turnback Cave.
It rembered. It rembered all of it.
The history of the past suddenly beca sharp and clear. There were still parts it didn't fully understand, still places that remained muddled, but the shadow of that girl was already right in front of its eyes.
Damn it!
How could Sinnoh... how could Sinnoh turn out like this?!
O great Sinnoh, have you closed your eyes too?!
How is this even possible? Arceus, haven't I already turned over a new leaf? So why is this still happening?!
"Ah... she... she's still alive? She's still alive!"
"AAAAAHHHHH!"
Hikaru had no idea that Giratina had just been scared half to death in the Distortion World and was now desperately trying to figure out how to display its loyalty.
anwhile, after crossing the dark Eterna Forest and arriving near the Old Chateau...
A scream suddenly rang out.
Dawn sharply noticed a human-shaped shadow lying near the manor.
Because of Flutter Mane's earlier antics and Gimmighoul's "tip," Dawn's impression of ghosts had already improved sowhat. But after reaching the ancient manor, she still couldn't help swallowing nervously. In this gloomy courtyard overrun with weeds and trees, seeing a human figure on the ground was enough to scare soone into a heart attack.
"A ghost...?"
"Happappa~"
Flutter Mane drifted back from the other side, circled the dark figure on the ground once, and let out a mocking laugh.
"Uh..." Hikaru walked forward and got a clear look at the fallen figure.
A girl with orange bobbed hair and a green cape lay sprawled on the ground, eyes swirled into spirals, completely knocked out.
Gardenia.
So she had still shown up in Eterna Forest after all. He just hadn't expected to run into her even at night.
Wasn't she supposed to be terrified of ghosts? And yet she still dared to wander into Eterna Forest after dark...
She was scared of ghosts, yet fascinated by supernatural legends. For a girl who loved growing vegetables, Gardenia's personality really was a little contradictory.
"Who is that?" Dawn asked. "The Gym Leader of Eterna City...? Oh. So it's not a ghost after all. But why is she collapsed here?"
Hikaru looked thoughtful. "...This is bad. Flutter Mane probably scared her."
Gardenia must have only fainted recently, because after being shaken a little, she woke right up. There was even a bit of drool at the corner of her mouth, so apparently she had also taken a nap while unconscious.
"Mmm... where am I... hehe... Grass-type Pokémon, who's calling ...?"
Then she looked up.
"Waaah! A ghost! Such a huge Misdreavus!"
Startled awake, Gardenia rubbed her sleepy eyes as the scene before her gradually ca into focus.
In the dim forest stood two humans, a Piplup, and a massive floating Misdreavus-like creature.
A giant Misdreavus.
"Happappappappa~ (What a useless scrub human. You actually fainted because of a ghost~)"
"Waaah! Big Misdreavus!" Gardenia scrambled backward at incredible speed, scooting on her hips with a terrified expression as she pointed at Flutter Mane. "Don't co over here! Don't co over here! I'm sorry! I shouldn't have co here at night!"
"That's not Misdreavus. It's Flutter Mane. Though yeah, it does look very similar." Hikaru flicked Flutter Mane's featherlike frills, making the cackling little nace float off elsewhere, then turned back to the badly shaken Gardenia. "Sorry my Pokémon scared you. Long ti no see, Gardenia."
"Do you rember ?"
They had once been childhood playmates and old acquaintances back in his hotown. His family had even helped renovate her Gym and carve Pokémon stone statues for it. In fact, the stone statues seen in Pokémon Gyms across different regions all ca from the sa line of artisan families.
And in Sinnoh, stone statues were especially interesting items. You could see lifelike Pokémon statues when decorating Secret Bases in the Underground or furnishing the grand villas in the Battle Frontier.
The generous gentleman and the luxury gentleman in Heartho City could also award Pokémon statues as prizes.
And the statues sold in the villa district weren't cheap either. Even in-ga, they cost around 150,000.
"Y-you're...?!"
Gardenia gradually recovered from her panic and got a better look at Hikaru with his enormous backpack. mories of the past slowly surfaced, bringing old scenes back to mind.
Well, saying "the past" made it sound like it had been forever, but it really hadn't been that long.
"Hey! Hikaru! It really is you! What are you doing here?! You scared to death!"
"What the heck was that? Was that Misdreavus your Pokémon?!"
At last, Gardenia's thought process returned to normal and she fully understood the situation. Seeing a friend she hadn't t in ages, her second reaction was:
"Wait! Did you move back? Why didn't you tell ?!"
Hikaru shook his head. "No. I just ca back to Sinnoh to take care of sothing. I just didn't expect to find you passed out here."
"What are you doing in Eterna Forest? Don't tell you ca because you wanted to overco your fear?"
"What kind of joke is that?!" Gardenia instantly flared up, face red. "I-I didn't co here because I wanted to overco my fear, and it's not because I'm scared that I haven't gone into that mansion either! I'm just really busy with work, so I haven't had ti to go in! I was just taking a little nap here! Getting so fresh air!"
"I'm a Gym Leader! I'm not a coward!"
Dawn blinked as she watched Gardenia desperately defend herself, then muttered, "Didn't she basically just admit all of it? But honestly... being scared of ghosts is normal, isn't it?"
"At night, forests don't even have fresh air," Hikaru said flatly. "Plants stop photosynthesizing, so the oxygen level drops while carbon dioxide increases. The air should actually feel stuffy."
"The reason I got scared into fainting obviously has sothing to do with you!" Gardenia was really flustered now that she had been exposed. Losing face in front of an old friend already felt embarrassing enough, and there was also another cute girl standing right there.
"All right! Fine! I admit it! I ca to the forest in the middle of the night because I wanted to overco my fear of ghosts! Go ahead and laugh at if you want!"
Her face was bright red.
But the expected laughter never ca.
Only Flutter Mane's cackling echoed nearby, while Hikaru rely pointed at the Old Chateau.
"It's been a while. Want to go explore the Old Chateau together?"
Gardenia jumped. "...Huh? Y-you're saying you're actually going in there?!"
She stared at her fingertips, her eyes darting toward the manor over and over.
Normally, this Grass specialist ought to have been extrely self-assured. But the mont ghosts or the Old Chateau were involved, she beca unbelievably timid.
At this point, she was already drenched in sweat.
"I-I... I think I'd better n-" Gardenia started to refuse, but swallowed hard instead. Her curiosity was impossible to suppress.
Hikaru cut straight to it.
"Of course you ca to the forest to train your weak point. But that's not the only reason, is it? You also ca because you heard the rumors about the Old Chateau. So soone in Eterna City has already spotted the 'monster Pokémon' around it?"
"The 'monster Pokémon'..." Gardenia nodded. "You just got back, and you already know the rumors around Eterna City?"
"The monster Pokémon in the forest mansion... people say they've seen suspicious shadows there at night. I got really curious, so I've been coming to check it out a lot. During the day, it looks normal from a distance, but there's always this purple glow coming from the mansion windows."
"So then I decided to co at night too. But because... because I was too scared, I could only watch from way over here. It's not far from the exit to Eterna, so if anything happened, I could imdiately..."
"Turn and run, right?" Hikaru said.
Gardenia clenched her fists, embarrassed. "Shut up! It really is terrifying!"
"I-I actually did see sothing weird too, but I don't know if I was just scaring myself..."
"There is sothing there," Hikaru interrupted.
Gardenia blinked and froze. Then she saw him turn to Dawn and say, "Inside the Old Chateau, there aren't just Ghost Pokémon. There's also the 'friend' we're here to find."
"That mansion used to be a normal place where a scientist lived. But at so point, it really did beco inhabited by human ghosts."
"And not just one. There are two ghosts."
Gardenia and Dawn's expressions slowly shifted from blank confusion to obvious fear.
Neither of them spoke.
The only response was the tight sound of swallowing.
Yup. Both were terrified.
"Y-you... y-you're not saying... you two are ghosts too?!" Gardenia stamred.
"You don't seriously think I'm a ghost, do you? I'm alive." Hikaru took one look at her drastically changed expression and knew she was imagining nonsense again. He sighed helplessly. "So-called haunted houses can form naturally over ti. I went to Unova before, and I t a ghost girl in a haunted house there too."
"But the ghosts in the Old Chateau really are a bit strange. Of course, once we go in, the ghosts themselves aren't the important part. They won't leave the manor anyway. And if you're really scared, then take this."
Hikaru handed Gardenia several paper charms.
"These are products from my shop. They're especially effective Cleanse Tags. Ordinary ghosts won't dare approach soone carrying one, and they can even dispel curses from ancient graveyards."
"W-we'll head in first... Dawn, do you want so too?"
"I-I do!" Dawn hurriedly snatched the charms, then gripped the Heavy Ball tightly, like she was ready to heave it at sothing at a mont's notice.
Seeing the two of them preparing to enter the manor, Gardenia quickly called out, "H-hey! If there really are ghosts in there, then going in now is insanely dangerous! I-I'm a Gym Leader. I can't just let you two walk into danger!"
"Wait for ! Don't leave here by myself!"
Their entrance into the manor was a little rough, but since Flutter Mane phased straight through the wall and started shouting and laughing mockingly inside, all the Gastly in the place got scared off at once.
"Miss Flutter Mane is so reliable," Dawn said. "She actually chased all the Ghost Pokémon away."
Once she stepped inside, Dawn realized the place was still creepy, but the invisible Gastly were now being driven around by Dazzling Gleam. And once sothing invisible beca visible, it imdiately stopped being nearly as terrifying.
What you could see and what you couldn't see were two completely different kinds of fear.
"Miss Flutter Mane?" Hikaru repeated.
Dawn smiled and nodded. "She feels like a little girl to , so that's what I ended up calling her. But she's probably actually really old, right...? Mm. Other titles don't feel quite right."
"By the way, this manor is huge. Who even used to live here?"
"Haha." Hikaru replied with one word. "Charon."
Dawn froze, then suddenly realized what he ant and gasped. "What?! You an that Charon from Team Galactic?!"
The coincidence was hard to believe. Thinking of the Rotom story too, she couldn't help asking, "Then does that an... Charon was connected to Rotom as well?"
Hikaru nodded. "The 'monster Pokémon' people have seen around the manor recently aren't just the two ghosts. They're also Rotom, plus the Gastly and Gengar living here."
"After Cyrus and Rotom were separated, Rotom vanished from public sight for at least ten years. But by sheer chance, it stole a motor from the Old Chateau and entered it. Charon, who was living here at the ti, discovered that."
"'A motor was taken by so unknown thing.'"
"Charon decided to study Rotom in depth and monopolize all the credit for himself, so he intended to hide everything about Rotom away. And all of that happened fairly recently."
Since Charon's notes ntioned the Day Care, it had to have happened only after Professor Elm had clarified the mystery of Egg Groups.
"You two... what are you even talking about...?" Gardenia said. "But the Ghost Pokémon around here all ran away, so... whew. I guess it's actually not that sca-"
She stopped.
She had just turned to look at the nearby doorway leading into the dining room.
Standing in the darkness beyond it was a properly dressed old gentleman with crimson eyes, silently watching her.
"Ahhh!"
Gardenia's face went white with terror. She nearly fainted again and dropped to the floor, pointing shakily at the dining room entrance.
"T-th-th-there! A ghost! An old man!"
"When you co in at night, you et the old ghost gentleman," Hikaru said matter-of-factly. "And there's also a little ghost girl."
"There are also crimson eyes in one of the wall paintings. Don't worry. That's just Gengar."
"As for this old gentleman and that little girl..."
There were all sorts of urban legends about the Old Chateau. So even claid Charon had poisoned the old man and the girl, since an antidote could be found in the dining room trash bin.
But officially, the franchise had actually filled in a small bit of backstory later, explained by the paranormal enthusiast Hex Maniac in Generation VI.
In other words, once Charon left, no one lived in the manor anymore. A little girl entered the Old Chateau chasing after a Pokémon. Her grandfather went looking for her alone.
And neither of them ever ca back.
Honestly, that explanation almost made it sound like Pokémon had killed two humans, so pinning it on Charon felt cleaner.
"There are quite a few ghosts in Sinnoh, actually," Hikaru continued. "Snowpoint City also has the legend of a snow-woman ghost. Dawn, when you go there later, rember to look for the little house along the road. The ghost girl inside will greet you, then give you a Spell Tag. Free charm."
Dawn turned pale. "What?! eting a ghost just to get one charm is way too scary! I'm not doing that!"
"Don't worry about it. Canalave City has a ghost uncle in one of its inns too. I'll give you a mber Card later. You'll definitely use it soday. You need to be braver. Trust your own body. How could so random ghost possibly compare to your perfectly trained physique?"
"I already taught you how to throw a Heavy Ball, right? Just hit it like that."
Listening to Hikaru describe all this, Dawn's face changed color so many tis she had probably set a record.
Ugh... ughhh...
Why were there so many ghosts wandering around Sinnoh?!
Couldn't they all just go back to the spirit world already?!
"Well then, sir, please stop scaring my friends. Otherwise I may have to send you on properly." Hikaru addressed the elderly ghost in the dining room. "And this isn't exactly your ho either. Though 'trespassing' isn't quite the right term. The owner of this manor committed so very serious cris, so we're here to investigate."
"And also... to take a certain Pokémon away."
The old ghost in the dark dining room looked at Hikaru thoughtfully.
He hadn't stepped out because he could tell Hikaru was a dium. For a ghost, being forcibly laid to rest was not ideal.
"I still have unfinished business. Don't exorcise ," the ghostly old man said to Hikaru, then gestured politely for them to proceed. "The Pokémon you're talking about - is it the one in the television? Then please, be my guest."
Gardenia nearly had her soul leave her body. "Waaahhh!!! The ghost talked!"
"Of course souls can talk," the old ghost replied. "I used to be human too, little girl. Look, I can even cry tears of blood..."
"N-no no no, I'm sorry! Don't show that!" Gardenia clapped both hands over her face in terror, while the ghostly old man burst into laughter, clearly delighted.
That really was one of the best things about being a ghost.
Scaring the living.
But then the old ghost noticed his granddaughter appear behind Dawn, and his smile imdiately froze.
"Hey, hey! Don't-"
Dawn turned and saw the little ghost girl in a white dress. She looked like she was about to scare Dawn, but in the next instant, a Heavy Ball smashed directly into her forehead.
"Eh?"
The little ghost girl's thoughts went blank. Her final thought was simple.
She was a ghost.
So how had she been hit by a Ball?
Mm... the aura of the Cleanse Tag. So then...
"Well, it's not just the power of the Cleanse Tag," Hikaru explained. "The Ball's craftsmanship also incorporates a special crystal, using techniques similar to the holy stakes."
"Sorry. In theory, Pokémon Trainers aren't supposed to attack humans, but this isn't an official battle. You really did scare Dawn. Still, impressive. You managed to get close despite the Cleanse Tag."
Looking at Dawn, who was still holding her throwing pose in fright, Hikaru almost laughed.
Throwing Poké Balls at people really was Juliana's signature move.
But hitting a ghost girl with one wasn't really a problem. She was already a ghost. Even if it hit, there was no danger to her life.
How could soone without life lose their life?
"Pokémon... Trainer..."
"S-so strong...!"
The little ghost girl rolled her eyes back and fell flat on her back with a thud, completely unable to battle.
Hikaru shrugged.
"The ghost girl is unable to battle."
"So the winner is Dawn."
"Well, Dawn? Do you now have a much clearer understanding of wild battling? Heavy Balls are convenient, right?"
(End of Chapter)
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