A Starry Night

After exchanging names, addresses, identities, and contact information with Fossil Maniac, Hu Yang left Fallarbor Town.

Of course, the contact information was only one-way.

He had not bought a phone yet. If he wanted to make a call, he could only go to a Pokémon Center and use the video phone there, like Ash in the anime.

After all, at this point in time, the Pokédexes carried by Trainers had yet to gain instant messaging functions.

Fossil Maniac seemed to trust him very much. He had already paid the deposit—the Key Stone—without fearing that Hu Yang would run off with it. Hu Yang could not help grumbling inwardly.

Or perhaps Fossil Maniac simply thought Key Stones were worthless.

Still, Hu Yang had no intention of running away with the money. For the sake of that Mega Key Stone, Mirage Tower was worth a trip.

Besides Fossil Maniac's commission, he still had Gengar's matter to deal with.

Sitting on the bus headed for the Mt. Chimney cable car station, Hu Yang looked over the pile of miscellaneous items in his backpack.

The orb sealing Gengar, Ho-Oh's feather, the Gardevoirite, unpolished Key Stone ore...

He did not plan to take on Fossil Maniac's commission right away. At the very least, he would wait another year, when Roserade and Axew had developed some fighting ability.

Cramorant was simply too unreliable at the moment.

And Mirage Tower was located in a desert—an extreme environment.

Cramorant was strong, but it could not communicate directly. And without communication, there was no room for flexibility.

If wild Pokémon captured him, would Cramorant attack or not?

If it attacked, he would go down together with the wild Pokémon.

If it did not attack, the wild Pokémon would take him out.

Thinking of this, Hu Yang looked at Gengar sitting in the seat beside him and asked, "You still haven't told me what dangers are in the ruins you mentioned."

After spending the past few months together, they had become quite familiar with each other. There was no need for Gengar to keep hiding things.

Gengar thought for a moment, then shook its head. "I don't know either, but my instincts tell me that place is dangerous."

Hu Yang: "..."

"Then let me ask something else. Do you know what is drawing you to that place?"

Gengar tried hard to remember, then revealed a confused expression.

Hu Yang sighed helplessly. "Okay, don't say anything. I get it. Last question—do you know of any way to bring you back to life?"

He could not stay in this state forever, could he?

Gengar froze for a moment. "You want to revive me?"

Everyone else wished it would disappear forever...

Hu Yang nodded and said seriously, "Yes. I do."

Gengar asked, "Why? Do you want to catch me?"

Hu Yang shook his head. "Not just because of that. I don't know how other Ghost-type Pokémon feel about humans, but I can tell that you still hold a great deal of goodwill toward people. Someone like you shouldn't fade away like this."

"I..." Gengar's mood sank. "I might not be able to come back to life."

So it did not know how to revive itself either. After considering it, Hu Yang said, "Don't be so pessimistic. We'll find a way."

First, he needed to figure out exactly what Gengar's current condition was.

The humans in this world who knew more about Ghost-type Pokémon...

The faces of Ghost-type Elite Four member Pheobe and the Totem Gengar in Petalburg Woods flashed through Hu Yang's mind.

Perhaps he could learn something from them.

As they spoke, the bus arrived at the Mt. Chimney cable car station.

Hu Yang slung his backpack over his shoulders and took a deep breath before getting off.

The instant the bus doors opened, an icy wind came whistling through.

Hiss...

It was fucking cold!

At that moment, Hu Yang desperately wanted a small Fire-type Pokémon he could hold in his arms like a hand warmer.

This was the last bus from Fallarbor Town to Mt. Chimney.

Before the doors closed, Hu Yang turned back and glanced at the digital clock above them. It was already seven thirty.

Night had fallen. The bus behind him rumbled to life and started back down the road.

Hu Yang was suddenly the only person left around.

Not far away, the cable car station glowed orange-yellow in the darkness.

They wouldn't stop operating at night, would they? Hu Yang wondered.

When he reached it, the staff member responsible for operating the cable car was boredly warming her hands around a cup of hot tea.

Almost no one came to ride the cable car this late at night.

At the sight, Hu Yang immediately relaxed. He found several bills in his backpack and said, "One ticket!"

The female staff member in a blue uniform set down her tea, took the money, and started the cable car. "Are you a Trainer traveling outside?"

Hu Yang followed beside her and nodded. "More or less."

"There you go, hop on!" The staff member opened the cable car door and smiled. "Good luck, Trainer. I hope to see you at the Ever Grande Conference someday."

Trainers were a profession deeply loved in this world.

Hu Yang smiled as well. "You will."

The cable car doors slowly closed, and it glided along Mt. Chimney's ridge toward the foothills on the other side.

Axew, Roserade, and Cramorant were sleeping soundly in their Poké Balls, so Hu Yang did not let them out.

Instead, he sat in the cable car with Gengar, which was unaffected by the weather, and gazed at the magnificent Mt. Chimney outside the window.

Today was unusually clear. Not a single cloud covered the night sky, and faintly shining stars filled the heavens as far as the eye could see.

Under the starry night, Mt. Chimney looked even more mysterious and towering.

"It's beautiful," Hu Yang said.

"Yeah," Gengar agreed.

Whenever Hu Yang saw Mt. Chimney, he could not help thinking of Groudon. He wondered whether Hoopa's story would still happen in this world.

If it did, he could secretly follow behind Groudon and see how long it took to walk back to the Hoenn region.

Soon, the cable car stopped at the foot of Mt. Chimney.

Twenty minutes later, Lavaridge Hot Springs.

"Ah, this feels amazing!"

Steam rose continuously from the hot spring.

Hu Yang narrowed his eyes in comfort.

Cramorant and Roserade were not afraid of water, so they quickly adapted to the hot spring.

Axew, on the other hand, was a land-dwelling Dragon-type Pokémon. The moment it touched the water, it looked as though it had seen a ghost. Its face changed drastically as it thrashed and struggled wildly.

Hu Yang: "..."

He remembered that Dragon-types were not weak against Water-type moves, right?

And the water was not even that hot.

Once it returned to shore, relief was visibly written across Axew's face.

"Are you really that scared?" Hu Yang asked curiously.

Axew nodded its little head. Looking at the water's surface, it wore an expression of deep fear.

Hu Yang could tell it was truly terrified. It had nothing to do with type matchups—it was psychological fear.

He looked over Axew's information again.

[Species: Axew ♂]

Type: Dragon-type

Ability: Rivalry

Base Stats: 320 (HP: 46, Attack: 87, Defense: 60, Special Attack: 30, Special Defense: 40, Speed: 57)

Known moves: Scratch, Leer, Bite, Dragon Rage, Dual Chop

Current mood: Fearful (Axew nearly drowned once as a child. The terror of almost dying left an indelible scar in its heart)

Physical condition: Perfect

Friendship: 30 (This young little dragon is slowly beginning to accept you)