An unexpected battle (bonus chapter for "Aga-a"'s 10,000-point tip)

Dian glanced at the bridge, which seemed to have been broken again just recently, and silently felt sorry for the road maintenance workers.

Bridges were hard to maintain in the Pokémon World. Most were built for people to cross, but when a curious heavyweight Pokémon spotted one, it might decide to give it a try. More often than not, the bridge would collapse.

The broken bridge wasn't the real problem. The Pokémon would fall into the river and decide the bridge was a trap made by humans. After that, it would destroy every bridge it saw to keep anyone else from falling victim.

Who could anyone blame for that? In the end, it was the road maintenance workers who suffered.

Dian shook his head and stroked Misdreavus, who was still eating atop his head. "Sorry for the trouble, princess. Take me across, would you?"

"Misdreavus..."

Too absorbed in her snacks to fuss, Misdreavus nodded. She wrapped Dian in shadow and quickly flew toward the town on the far side of the river.

The moment he landed, Dian's Pokémon Pokédex chimed. He took it out and saw that a message he had scheduled earlier had only just gone through. That meant the river separated the human settlement from the Pokémon habitat.

In other words, he might have reached a small town near Violet City.

He raised the Pokémon Pokédex, intending to use its screen to adjust the round, pale-blue necklace at his throat.

But on the screen, it appeared to be nothing more than an unremarkable necklace made of gray stone.

Dian had long since discovered something strange about this treasure from the Naporant Ruins. It seemed to show its true form only to him. No—perhaps what he saw was an illusion too.

In mirrors, it looked like a cheap trinket