Chapter 144:
"Strange news?"
Hayashi Kaede was taken aback. "What do you mean? What strange news?"
"Rotom~ Switching for you now, Master."
The perspective on the Rotom-controlled phone shifted quickly. "At 8 o'clock this morning, a large number of citizens in Haikou City reported to the League that they had experience terrifying nightmares last night. According to numerous accounts, the nightmares varied in form but were extremely frightening..."
"This incident has drawn the League's high attention. Champion Kazephyr has already intervened, and we believe an explanation will be provided soon..."
"Nightmares?"
Hayashi Kaede's heart sank.
He couldn't help but be sensitive to this.
Gardevoir had only recently fully mastered Darkrai's nightmare energy, and now, not long after, such phenomena occurred in Haikou City?
It was worth noting that Haikou City wasn't far from Aogiri Town—in fact, they were neighboring cities.
Moreover, Haikou City was much larger than Aogiri Town, a bona fide major city.
"Doesn't this seem like it's targeting Gardevoir...?"
"Which Darkrai could it be, though?"
"Well, Champion Kazephyr is already involved. It should be fine, right?"
These thoughts flashed through Hayashi Kaede's mind before he sighed.
If this was really about him, hiding wouldn't solve anything.
For now, he could only hope that Champion Kazephyr would resolve the situation successfully.
He wasn't too worried about that. When it came to the Nightmare Pokémon Darkrai, they existed as a species, meaning their strength varied.
Not every Darkrai could rival the Temporal and Spatial deities.
And the strength of the League's Champion was nothing to scoff at.
According to rumors, Mr. Kazephyr possessed a Pokémon capable of contending with Legendary Pokémon—even traditional tier-one Legendaries.
Though the source of this rumor was unknown, Mr. Kazephyr had indeed revealed a Legendary Pokémon in battle before the public—Moltres.
"If it comes down to a fight, well... Gardevoir is almost at level 90 now. It shouldn't be completely helpless, right?"
Hayashi Kaede thought to himself.
There was no way he would let Gardevoir return this power.
It had worked so hard to master this energy. Giving it back just like that? What about all the hardship it had endured over the years?
With a faint sense of unease, Hayashi Kaede returned to the Breeding House.
But the moment he saw the pink-clothed youth standing at the entrance, his anxiety vanished.
"Mewtwo!?"
---
Haikou City.
Haikou City Pokémon Center.
As a major city in the rivaling even Nagisuna City, it was home to a population of several hundred thousand.
But today, tens of thousands of people collectively reported having extremely terrifying nightmares. At the end of these nightmares, they all saw a figure.
This figure was pitch black, with blood-red eyes, and left them with just one phrase: "Energy."
"Find my energy."
Panic spread quickly.
Everyone believed this mysterious figure intended to absorb some kind of energy from them.
At the Haikou City League headquarters, a tall young man wearing a white short-sleeved shirt under a beige coat looked seriously at the Officer Jenny before him. "Have we identified the source of the nightmare energy?"
He was none other than Kazephyr, the Champion, elected through the Horizon Cup and had reigned as Champion for ten years.
A decade of fame had elevated his reputation to great heights.
His name was practically a household name across the Pokemon League.
Many young Trainers saw him as their role model.
Officer Jenny stared at the virtual screen, wiping sweat from her brow. As the progress bar reached its end, she breathed a sigh of relief. "We found it."
On the virtual screen, once the progress bar disappeared, a map of Haikou City appeared. It was covered in dark energy, and the area with the highest concentration was now clearly marked.
"The port!"
The moment the dark energy source was identified, Officer Jenny exclaimed.
But when she turned to look, Kazephyr had already vanished.
---
In the sky
Kazephyr rode on Moltres, deep in thought.
Such intense nightmare energy—in his experience, only one kind of Pokémon could be responsible.
Without a doubt, a Darkrai had come here.
But to his knowledge, there were no Darkrai in this region.
Which meant this Darkrai had come from somewhere else.
Traveling such a great distance and causing such a disturbance clearly indicated this Darkrai had a purpose.
'What could it be here for?'
The thought crossed Kazephyr's mind as his destination drew nearer, filling him with confusion.
Moltres was incredibly fast. In just a minute or two, they traveled from the city center to the port.
"The nightmare energy is emanating from here. So, logically speaking..."
Kazephyr looked down from above.
Unlike its usual bustle, the port was unusually quiet today, with only a few fishing boats docked along the shore.
He scanned the surroundings, feeling somewhat frustrated.
He didn't have any Pokémon particularly suited for investigation. If Darkrai insisted on hiding, he would have to seek help from the Pokemon League's Psychic-type Elite.
Just as Kazephyr was about to pull out the investigation report for a closer look, his movements halted, and his body stiffened slightly.
A shadowy, dark figure slowly materialized before him.
Pitch black, floating form, with turquoise-blue eyes.
"So it is you, Darkrai." Kazephyr's expression turned grave.
Judging by the aura this Darkrai emitted,
it was undoubtedly at the Champion level or higher.
"Human... I request your assistance."
Darkrai was straightforward. The Pokémon this human rode was the strongest he had ever encountered.
So he directly stated his request.
"Assistance? You caused such a commotion just to ask for our help?"
Kazephyr's face tightened.
This was no small disturbance—tens of thousands of people plagued by nightmares, prompting his immediate arrival.
"Yes" Darkrai didn't think it had done anything wrong.
Those humans had merely experienced nightmares—no physical harm had been done.
Kazephyr clenched his fist, in his mind he scolded this Darkrai ten thousand times over. Then, considering the other's strength, he finally said, "Tell me. What is it?"