Missing Elite Four Member

Petalburg Woods had been urgently sealed off.

Hu Yang had learned the news just as he was preparing to take Roserade into the forest for battle training.

But when he arrived at the entrance, he found warning signs and cordon lines already set up there.

Several Officer Jennys stood guard, negotiating with a brown-skinned girl with black hair and blue eyes.

"...That was how it happened. Those Ghost-type Pokémon could reappear at any time..." Officer Jenny reported truthfully.

The girl frowned and asked, "Who experienced this incident?"

Officer Jenny replied, "A lot of people. Besides us, there were also teachers and students from this Pokémon Elementary School."

The girl said, "I need to know more..."

Hu Yang slipped away before hearing the rest. He recognized the girl's identity.

She was Pheobe, one of the Hoenn League's Elite Four and its Ghost-type specialist. It was said that she possessed the ability to communicate with Ghost-type Pokémon.

In the games, her grandparents lived on Mt. Pyre and guarded the Red Orb and Blue Orb.

It looks like the Hoenn League takes this matter very seriously, Hu Yang thought silently.

For ordinary incidents, the Pokémon League would generally send investigators to assess the situation and resolve the issue.

But now, they had directly dispatched Pheobe, one of the Elite Four. That alone showed just how seriously they regarded what had happened in Petalburg Woods.

Hu Yang had originally thought the matter had nothing to do with him.

However, less than ten minutes after returning to school, he saw the Ghost-type Elite Four member again.

Pheobe had come to the school to ask the survivors who had experienced the incident that night a few questions.

But after questioning many people, she still found nothing.

Their answers were almost all things like, "I saw Ghost Pokémon glowing with blue light," "I was scared unconscious and didn't see anything," and "I don't know what happened either. Those guys just vanished right in front of us."

Pheobe asked again, "Didn't anyone hear any strange sounds?"

The answer she received was still no.

Pheobe frowned, puzzled.

She had inspected the enormous ground fissure in the forest, which stretched for hundreds of meters.

No Pokémon capable of causing such a phenomenon could possibly have fought without making a single sound.

Judging from the traces, those ground fissures had clearly formed all at once.

That meant the Pokémon had only used a single move.

Just how terrifyingly strong did a Pokémon with such destructive power have to be?!

Even the Pokémon they had trained for so many years could not tear such a huge gash in the earth with just one move!

If it had a Trainer behind it, then that—no, that Trainer's strength... just how powerful was he?!

Pheobe did not dare imagine it.

According to Officer Jenny's report, the ground fissure was clearly connected to the disappearance of those Ghost-type Pokémon.

And it was very likely that whoever had created the fissure had driven those Ghost-type Pokémon away.

"Miss Pheobe, this is the teacher who broke through those Ghost Pokémon's illusions at the time." Officer Jenny came in from outside, interrupting Pheobe's thoughts.

Pheobe looked over and discovered that he was a very young child. From his appearance, he seemed to have only just turned ten?

She froze for a moment, but as an Elite Four member, not only was she powerful, her emotional intelligence was also high. A child who could become a teacher must have extraordinary talent in that field.

Thus, Pheobe quickly adjusted her expression and politely said, "Hello."

Seeing her expression, Hu Yang had thought she would question his age like certain people before her.

However, she did not ask, which made Hu Yang feel a little more favorably toward her.

It seems this Ghost-type Elite Four member has high emotional intelligence! Hu Yang thought, while politely greeting her as well. "Hello."

Pheobe asked, "Can you tell me in detail what happened?"

"Alright." Hu Yang organized his thoughts and slowly recounted what he had encountered, naturally leaving out Cramorant:

"I encountered a group of Litwick, and when they attacked me, a very large Gengar suddenly appeared and drove them back."

The reason Hu Yang mentioned the Totem Gengar was that he also wanted to resolve the hidden danger in the forest as soon as possible. Otherwise, he would not be able to train there in peace.

Gengar.

Pheobe's eyes lit up at those words. At last, she had found a new lead.

"That Gengar took me to the front of an old-looking Mansion. It said that it was the one who had sealed those Ghost-type Pokémon there."

Hu Yang continued, "But not long ago, those Ghost-type Pokémon hypnotized it and secretly escaped. After saying that, Gengar sent me out."

"Mansion... Gengar... sealed..." Pheobe's brows drew tight at those words. An obscure rumor she had heard at the Pokémon League came to mind.

It was said that when the Pokémon League had first been established, a large-scale human disappearance incident had occurred. Later, the Pokémon League sent its first Ghost-type Elite Four member to resolve it.

Although the matter was eventually settled, that Ghost-type Elite Four member lost contact with the Pokémon League afterward and never appeared before humans again.

Pheobe remembered that the record had been named the "Missing Elite Four Member Incident" in the Pokémon League archives, and that senior had happened to own a Gengar.

Pheobe's heart tightened.

This had to be reported to the Hoenn League as soon as possible!

But before that, she still had something to ask. "Besides the matter of Gengar, did you hear any strange sounds at the time?"

"What?" Hu Yang froze.

Pheobe said, "The sounds of battle. You saw it too, right? That ground fissure in the forest?"

Hu Yang fell silent. That had been caused by his foolish bird.

He had not expected Precipice Blade to be so powerful. It seemed he could not use it casually in cities in the future.

But he could not say that, so he could only pretend not to know. "I didn't hear anything."

Pheobe's brows remained tightly furrowed as she said regretfully, "Thank you very much for the information. Jenny, I'll leave this place to you."

She needed to report this information to the Hoenn League as soon as possible.

"Yes, Miss Pheobe!" Officer Jenny saluted and watched Pheobe leave.

Hu Yang left as well.

Winter break was almost here. He had to book a ticket to Fallarbor Town in advance, or he would not be able to get one once the wave of Trainers returning home began.

Hoenn was surrounded by the sea, and Petalburg City did not have a port. He would first have to transfer to Rustboro City, then take a passenger ship through the northwestern waters to Fallarbor Town.

Hu Yang had already made his plans. He would first spend a few days battling in Fallarbor Town, then take Roserade, Cramorant, and Gengar on Mt. Chimney's distinctive cable car to Lavaridge Town for a hot spring vacation.

Hopefully, by the time he returned next spring, the Hoenn League would have resolved the Mansion incident!