Rumble——
A large amount of sand collapsed, and as the sand fell, the true form of the castle slowly appeared before Natsuhiko and Ann Ci.
"A shovel?"
Ann Ci looked down at the red shovel in her hand, and with Natsuhiko's words, she realized what was happening.
She turned her head and threw the shovel in her hand fiercely toward the continuously collapsing castle.
However, just as the shovel was thrown out, Natsuhiko suddenly noticed a black cloth tied at the end of the shovel, resembling a rag. As the shovel was thrown, the cloth fluttered and swayed.
Natsuhiko's mind raced with thoughts.
He gritted his teeth.
"Abra, stop that shovel!"
"Kadabra—"
Abra's eyes glowed with a bluish light, and the shovel, suspended in midair, suddenly halted, slowly floating towards Natsuhiko.
"Didn't you say to throw it away? Why did you take it back?" Ann Ci asked, looking disheveled as she joined Natsuhiko.
Natsuhiko's gaze flickered as he gripped the shovel, staring intently at the black cloth on the end.
Touching it lightly, he could feel its chilling touch.
"It really is!" Natsuhiko was somewhat surprised and delighted.
Initially, it was just a guess, but once he touched it, he was more or less certain of his assumption.
"What is it?"
Ann Ci was somewhat wary of the shovel.
Originally, he was exploring the vicinity when he suddenly saw a red shovel in this black and white world.
Inexplicably, he picked up the shovel.
But soon, the sand from the entire dune seemed to go mad, gathering towards him and wrapping him tightly.
Furthermore, Pokémon hidden within the sand continuously attacked him. These Pokémon resembled sand creatures, unable to speak and seemingly emotionless, yet they coordinated with machine-like precision.
Even with his not-so-weak strength, being surrounded by sand and faced with these extraordinarily coordinated creatures, he could not escape for the moment.
Until just now, when two of the creatures left his encirclement, giving him the chance to break free.
And that's when he saw Natsuhiko.
If not for Natsuhiko's reminder, he would have practically forgotten he was still holding the red shovel that had plunged him into danger.
It seemed something had affected his thinking, causing him to naturally ignore the existence of the shovel.
So seeing the shovel in Natsuhiko's hand, he was somewhat apprehensive.
Natsuhiko did not answer Ann Ci's question, instead trying to untangle the black cloth tightly wrapped around the shovel as he asked, "How did you get in here?"
Upon hearing the question, a look of helplessness appeared on Ann Ci's face.
"Remember when I told you about helping that homeowner resolve an eerie incident?"
"So?"
Natsuhiko kept his head down, slowly untying the bindings, gradually peeling the black cloth off, his cautious actions and the changing surroundings causing sweat to continuously drip from his forehead.
On the other side, the castle had completely vanished, leaving only a much smaller-sized castle.
Palossand!
Its body consisted of three parts, with the middle being its main body, the sides being its hands, its gate as its mouth. Pink and blue stones adorned its mouth and head, with an obvious hole on its head top.
Standing alongside it were approximately twenty Golett, and a Golurk, which resembled a much larger Golett, was their evolved form.
At this moment, their eyes were filled with red light, fixated on the shovel in Natsuhiko's hand.
Ann Ci glanced at the changes on the other side, swallowing gently. "Perhaps we should leave first? Discussing this here doesn't seem wise."
Thump thump thump——
As his voice fell, Golett and Golurk emitted gas from under their feet, slowly levitating.
"Buzz!"
Beedrill, with a solemn expression, stood guard in front of Natsuhiko, ready for combat.
"Natsuhiko..." Ann Ci called gently.
Before he could say anything, Natsuhiko shouted, "It's done!"
He had successfully separated the black cloth from the shovel and, with a sudden hurl, embedded the shovel into the sand.
The sand around the shovel slowly wriggled, quickly moving towards Palossand, finally planting itself into its head.
"Sshh-shh—"
Feeling the long-lost harmony with the shovel, Palossand squinted happily, making a sound.
With its voice, the Golett and Golurk, poised to attack in the sky, hesitated and slowly returned to stand before Palossand.
Palossand's gaze lingered on Natsuhiko and Ann Ci for a moment, pondering something.
Finally, the sand surged, slowly enveloping Palossand, as well as the Golett and Golurk, disappearing from their sight.
However, with Palossand gone, the space between the two dunes lost its support, and the sand from both sides swept over them like a tidal wave.
Fortunately, Natsuhiko was prepared.
Abra's psychic abilities covered them, and with Instant Movement, they left the dunes before the sand could trap them, returning to the forest's edge where they had been before.
Having returned to safety, Ann Ci plopped down on the ground, exhaling a long breath.
The Farfetch'd beside him did the same, lying directly on the ground. It had used every bit of its strength to protect Ann Ci earlier.
Natsuhiko put the struggling Togepi back on the ground.
The little guy's eyes darted around slyly, a mischievous grin on its face.
After a long time, Ann Ci finally caught his breath and asked, "Natsuhiko, what happened just now?"
Natsuhiko rolled his eyes at him and sat down directly, rubbing the black cloth in his hand, unable to leave any marks on it no matter how he kneaded it.
"It delivered the shovel to you, hoping you'd help it unwrap the black cloth, but you held onto it instead," he said.
Ann Ci was taken aback.
He hadn't thought along those lines at all.
It was mainly because he didn't know if the black cloth was originally on the shovel or attached later.
Of course, it was also because his consciousness was affected when he held the shovel.
This was one of Palossand's innate abilities.
Palossand controls humans to build sandcastles, enhancing its mimicry and defense capability, and one of the tools for that control is this shovel.
Just like Sandygast uses the shovel on its head to control children, helping it build sandcastles.
However, Ann Ci's will was strong, and Palossand couldn't make him remove the cloth nor manage to control him, so it had to wrap him up to retrieve the shovel.
Instead, Natsuhiko learned his lesson and had Abra's psychic power wrap around him the entire time.
As for the Golett and Golurk,
they might have been supporting and protecting each other with Palossand.
Golett and Golurk are said to be ancient human creations, Pokémons born from human ingenuity.
However, their activity relies on a special Energy Core, and Palossand can absorb Essence Qi from humans or Pokémon, also known as Life Energy, which can supplement the Energy Cores of Golett and Golurk.
Of course, these were Natsuhiko's reasonable assumptions based on the information he knew.
He didn't intend to explain it all to Ann Ci, as it would be hard to justify many things.
"How... do you know it wanted me to help it unwrap the black cloth? Do you recognize those Pokémon?" Ann Ci asked blankly.
"I guessed."
Ann Ci: "..."
He almost believed it.
"By the way, what is this black cloth..." Ann Ci asked, unable to resist watching Natsuhiko continually playing with the black cloth.
Natsuhiko's eyes gleamed; the appearance of this black cloth made him pretty much confirm the world they were now in.
Slowly, he said, "It shouldn't be something simple, let's tentatively call it... Spirit Realm Cloth."