"Why would a Mismagius suddenly appear inside the Black Forest?"
This question instantly surfaced in Aven's mind. The birth of a Ghost-type Pokémon was already something extremely rare and required exceptionally harsh conditions.
At the very least, in this particular Black Forest, the conditions needed for the birth of a Ghost-type Pokémon simply did not exist—especially not for such a special kind of Pokémon like Misdreavus, and even more so for its evolved form, Mismagius.
What's more, this Mismagius before him had already completed its evolution. That fact alone made things even clearer—it absolutely could not have been born within the Black Forest. After all, there were no Dusk Stones here at all!
If that was the case, then there was only one explanation: this Mismagius must have entered the Black Forest from somewhere else. Of course, it might not necessarily have wandered in on its own—it was also possible that someone had brought it here for some unknown reason.
"As long as I can subdue and capture this Mismagius, then all the doubts in my heart will be answered." Aven slowly clenched his fist, determination flashing across his eyes.
"Lass~"
Beside him, the graceful figure of Froslass gradually appeared out of the misty air.
Aside from that wicked Spiritomb, this was her very first time encountering another Ghost-type Pokémon.
Moreover, the appearance of Mismagius gave Froslass a strange feeling—its aura, its very presence—seemed somewhat similar to her own. Because of that, an eagerness to fight surged up within her heart.
But just as Froslass was about to step forward and request to battle, the figure of Ralts suddenly floated in front of her, blocking her path.
"Ralts… do you want to be the one to battle?" Aven asked in a quiet, steady voice.
"Ralts!"
Ralts gave a firm nod, its eyes shining with unwavering determination.
"Alright. Then I'll entrust this battle to you."
With Aven's approval, Ralts swiftly floated out, positioning itself directly opposite the Mismagius.
In the very next moment, its eyes flashed with light. Psychic energy instantly surged out, and a pale blue aura of telekinesis wrapped itself around Mismagius!
"MAAA!"
Feeling its body suddenly bound by telekinetic force, Mismagius gave a sharp cry. With a violent burst of strength, it shattered the psychic grip in an instant.
Then, ghostly energy quickly condensed between its hands, forming into a ball of dark swirling power—it launched a Shadow Ball that shot straight toward Ralts with incredible speed!
"Ralts~!"
Ralts's reaction was swift as well.
All of its mental power focused at once, condensing into a tangible wave of energy as it unleashed Psychic once more!
The surge of psychic energy was so immense that even the air around them trembled faintly. After so many rounds of deep meditation and training, Ralts's mental strength had long since grown incomparably strong.
BOOM!
Up in the air, the Shadow Ball and Psychic blast collided violently.
The Shadow Ball spun rapidly, crushing and compressing the space around it, steadily grinding away at the psychic energy restraining it.
Finally, the Shadow Ball shattered through the last of Ralts's psychic energy and roared forward, racing toward its target!
But at the very moment the Shadow Ball was about to strike Ralts, its body flickered and abruptly disappeared from where it stood—Teleport! The Shadow Ball instead slammed into the ground with explosive force.
BOOM!
A terrifying blast erupted, gouging a massive crater into the earth. All the surrounding Pokémon who witnessed the scene widened their eyes in alarm, their pupils shrinking as they judged the power of this opponent.
This Mismagius possessed the strength of an advanced-level Pokémon!
That realization made many of them nervous for Ralts. While Ralts's battle power was indeed formidable, the difference between its current level and that of an advanced-level Pokémon was still enormous.
"Ralts~ Ralts!"
In the blink of an eye, Ralts reappeared behind Mismagius using Teleport.
Immediately, psychic energy condensed around it again. With no hesitation, it unleashed another devastating Psychic attack, striking Mismagius squarely from behind, catching it completely off guard!
BOOM!
The explosion that followed was thunderous, and a thick cloud of dust and smoke instantly engulfed Mismagius.
Ralts exhaled lightly, thinking it had landed a decisive blow. But to its shock, the figure of Mismagius soon floated out from the smoke completely unscathed, as if nothing had happened at all.
This Pokémon had actually endured a full-force Psychic head-on, yet showed no sign of injury!
Then, Mismagius suddenly raised its hands once again. A Shadow Ball began to form—but this time it grew larger, and larger, and larger still—until it had become an enormous orb of shadowy destruction!
"This Shadow Ball… how can it be possible?!" Aven's eyes widened in disbelief.
Beside him, Froslass's expression changed drastically as well. She could faintly sense the horrifying fluctuations of energy radiating from that Shadow Ball. It was not the level of power a mere advanced-level Pokémon should be able to muster.
Could it be that this Mismagius before them… was actually a pseudo-king-level Pokémon, or perhaps even a true king-level Pokémon?!
"Lass!"
At that instant, Froslass could no longer contain herself. She dashed forward, throwing herself into the battle.
Her figure blurred and reappeared in front of Ralts, taking position as a shield. Without hesitation, she unleashed a powerful Blizzard!
Whoooosh—
A frigid storm swept across the battlefield, freezing the ground solid in the blink of an eye.
BOOM!
The next moment, the Blizzard collided head-on with the colossal Shadow Ball.
But the massive Shadow Ball plowed through, crushing and dispersing the storm of ice and snow as though it were nothing more than mist.
Watching the oncoming attack, Froslass bit down hard, snow and ice swirling fiercely around her body. She knew Ralts was standing right behind her—retreating was simply not an option!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Energy clashed against energy, shaking the battlefield.
"Lil!"
Seeing this, Petilil quickly raised her hands as well, condensing a glowing Energy Ball infused with powerful life energy.
She hurled it straight at the Shadow Ball!
With the combined force of Petilil's Energy Ball and Froslass's Blizzard, the titanic Shadow Ball finally exploded with an ear-splitting blast!
"Huuh… we stopped it." Aven let out a heavy breath of relief, his tense shoulders loosening ever so slightly.
But his expression hardened again almost immediately. The strength of this Mismagius was clearly far beyond what he had expected. He had no choice left but to unleash all of his Pokémon at once.
Thinking this, Aven swiftly reached for his belt, pulling free a Poké Ball. He pressed the button, intent on summoning the Nidoking leader.
Yet in the very next instant, his expression froze. Even though he had clearly pressed the button to release it, Nidoking did not appear.
"What… what's going on? Has the Poké Ball malfunctioned?" Aven's face darkened.
He hurriedly grabbed another Poké Ball and pressed down. Once again, the ball opened—but no Pokémon came out.
"That's not right. The Poké Balls have clearly opened…" His brows furrowed deeply as his gaze snapped back toward the battlefield.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The battle raged violently, with Froslass and Mismagius exchanging blow after blow.
"Lass, Lass!"
In the midst of fighting, Froslass shouted back anxiously toward Ralts, urging it to act quickly.
This Mismagius was simply far too strong! It told Ralts to immediately use Teleport to take Aven away from here.
"Ralts, Ralts, Ralts!"
Ralts nodded rapidly, hurrying to Aven's side.
Without a moment's hesitation, it activated Teleport once more, determined to spirit Aven away from the battlefield.
This had always been the pact agreed upon long ago between Aven and his Pokémon: when facing an enemy they could not defeat, the very first priority would always be Aven's safety!
As the Teleport activated, space around them began to twist and distort. Ralts poured all of its mental power into the effort, extending its consciousness outward as far as it could.
Teleportation allowed it to move instantly to any location its mind could reach. In a way, its psychic sense acted as a coordinate in space, guiding the jump.
Crack… crack… crack…
Within the space of consciousness, everything around them seemed to slow.
Ralts concentrated with all its heart, feeling the distortions of space.
But in the very next moment, its awareness suddenly shifted—something was wrong!
Its eyes widened in horror. In the realm of consciousness, it saw Mismagius's figure appear right beside Aven. In its hand was a Shadow Ball, already fully condensed, and in the blink of an eye, it launched it straight at Aven!
(End of Chapter)