Chapter 146:
"League Special Announcement: Citizens of Haikou City and surrounding areas, as well as Trainers currently traveling, please be advised. If you frequently experience nightmares recently, please report to your local Pokémon Center promptly. Upon confirmation, the League will offer rewards ranging from 50,000 to 1,000,000 PokéDollars.
Additionally, please keep an eye out for any exceptionally powerful Pokémon from other regions that possess nightmare-related abilities."
"Rotom~ That's what it says. Champion Kazephyr also released a video," Rotom floated in the air and reported.
Sensitive to the word "nightmare" Gardevoir quickly turned its attention over and floated closer.
"Gardevoir?"
Hayashi Kaede shrugged. "Looks like the one who gave you that cursed power has realized its energy doesn't belong to it anymore."
"Gardevoir...!" Gardevoir's gaze froze as vague memories of that dark figure resurfaced.
It's often said that Shiny Pokémon face discrimination within their own species.
But when it was young, it hadn't really experienced much discrimination or bullying.
It just noticed its skin color stood out strikingly among other Ralts, making it feel special.
So, back then, "Ralts" would often practice its moves alone.
During one such day, Darkrai found it and said, "I can make you stronger. But in return, all living beings around you will suffer from nightmares from now on. What do you say?"
The young "Ralts," completely unaware that all gifts from fate come with a price, agreed without hesitation.
Then, when "Ralts" returned to its tribe, the nightmares had already begun.
Every Pokémon meditating near it would inexplicably fall into terrifying nightmares.
For a Psychic-type Pokémon tribe, this was unacceptable.
The Gardevoir in the tribe quickly traced the source of the nightmare energy through psychic powers—right to it.
At first, they wondered if they could help "Ralts" resolve this nightmare energy.
But later, realizing this nightmare energy was left by a Pokémon far beyond their capabilities, they gave up.
This time, the only fate left for "Ralts" was expulsion.
The Gardevoir wouldn't allow a "Ralts" that could cause such significant impact to remain in the tribe.
It not only affected them but also caused serious developmental issues for the newer generations.
Back then, "Ralts" didn't understand this and felt like its world had collapsed.
Life alone was tough. Like a lost little creature, it left its tribe and began to fend for itself.
Survival in the wild wasn't as difficult as it had imagined, but everywhere it went, it caused quite a stir.
This left the young "Ralts" with a constant sense of guilt and growing resentment toward that dark figure.
It believed Darkrai had brought this upon it.
Later, as its strength gradually increased and it evolved into Gardevoir, it came to understand that it had accepted Darkrai's "gift" willingly.
But correspondingly, it had also paid the price for over a decade.
Now, if Darkrai wanted to take this power back, Gardevoir would absolutely not agree.
"Gardevoir…" (Is it here to take its power back?)
"Not sure," Hayashi Kaede shook his head and turned to Rotom. "Pull up the official League video."
"Rotom, okay, Master."
Rotom quickly pulled up a video.
The man in the video was riding a Moltres, clearly filmed in a hurry.
The content was simple—just explaining the reason behind the League's message.
This highlighted the seriousness of the situation.
After all, even the League Champion was taking this so seriously.
Coupled with the generous rewards, pretty much everyone would take a look.
"Whatever, never mind. No matter how big the issue, meal time comes first." Hayashi Kaede shook his head and stopped paying attention.
Even if he were to go looking for this Darkrai, it would have to wait until after the meal.
And upon hearing "meal," Combusken reacted the fastest.
It immediately poked its head out. "Combusken?"
Hayashi Kaede's face darkened. "We haven't even started eating yet, and you're the most eager."
Checking the time, it was indeed almost mealtime.
Around this time, Dragonite should be flying out soon.
Sure enough, not long after, an orange figure flashed across the sky.
But upon seeing the youth next to Hayashi Kaede below, its face immediately fell.
Dragonite seemed to wrestle with itself in the air for a long time before finally drooping down listlessly.
It whined weakly, "Ooooh...." Didn't you say you were going traveling?
Why are you back so soon?
Seeing Dragonite like this, Hayashi Kaede naturally knew what it was thinking.
"Hahaha, Dragonite. Mewtwo is here to pick you up. It wants you to deliver some messages, but it's no big deal. It said it'll only take a few days."
"Ooh?!" (Really?) Dragonite looked at Mewtwo with disbelief.
Mewtwo's mouth twitched. Seeing how well Dragonite was living here, it couldn't help but feel a bit envious.
Then it regained its composure. "It's true."
At the same time, it pondered its own future.
This would be its final test regarding the relationship between humans and Pokémon.
And after this test, to be honest, it felt lost, unsure of where to go.
'Well, I'll just take it one step at a time.'
The thought flashed through its mind. Mewtwo shook its head and, seeing Hayashi Kaede heading toward the Breeding House, followed.
After entering the Breeding House, Hayashi Kaede first checked on Indeedee's work. Finding everything in order, he was about to head to the kitchen to cook when he saw the two high school students from earlier walk into the Breeding House.
They picked up and bought about one-fifth of the stock of Stamina Energy Cubes.
He could hear them muttering, "It's really challenging! How can that Pidgey fly so fast and so steadily? But I feel like Pichu's move proficiency is improving quickly with this challenge!"
The other high school student replied, "Yeah, yeah! My Nidoran is much more agile than before too."
"The main thing is the Energy Cubes we bought here recover stamina super fast. It's fully restored in three or four minutes. They're just a bit expensive."
"Hey, enough, enough. Mr. Hayashi said today was free. Who knows if he'll charge next time? We gotta make the most of today!"
After buying some Energy Cubes, the two hurried out.
Hearing their conversation, Hayashi Kaede couldn't help but feel surprised.
Had those two been challenging here all morning?