Aoki's heart trembled when he heard Phoebe's words.
But then came a feeling of sudden enlightenment.
Phoebe grew up with Ghost-type Pokémon because she was born with a special Ghost Force that allowed her to communicate with them, and her affinity with Ghost-type Pokémon was maxed out since childhood. For her, spiritual energy should be a very familiar thing.
"When I saw Darkrai before, he was standing with Gengar. At that time, I felt Ghost-type energy from him and thought it was an illusion, thinking it was the influence of the powerful Ghost-type energy from Gengar. I didn't expect..." Phoebe looked at Darkrai, who was quietly floating on the lake, looking exceptionally calm, with a complex expression.
As a Dark-type Pokémon, having a large amount of dense Ghost-type energy that doesn't belong to it must be a kind of inhuman torture for any Dark-type Pokémon.
Although she didn't know what was happening with this Darkrai, Phoebe could sense that torture.
Listening to Phoebe's words, Aoki knew she must have sensed something.
"Brother Aoki, your Gengar's Ghost-type energy is very powerful. Compared to my Gengar, and even my Dusknoir, his energy is even denser. It seems he must have encountered some opportunity. This is not something a normally growing Gengar can achieve; it can even rival some Ghost-type legendary Pokémon.
It's precisely because of such dense energy that I had an illusion."
Phoebe seemed to be in a special state, muttering to herself, sounding as if she was speaking to Aoki, and also as if she was narrating her inner monologue.
She continued, "Gengar's Ghost-type energy is already very special and rare, but... but the Ghost-type energy on Darkrai is even denser, and it's like a maggot in the bone, tightly entangled with his body and his energy. For him, this is definitely a constant torture.
I can hardly imagine how he managed to endure it."
Aoki listened quietly without speaking. He also knew that Darkrai's body must be constantly uncomfortable at this moment, and the Ghost-type energy that didn't belong to him was always tormenting him.
Therefore, one of the exercises Darkrai had to do every day was to calm down and silently feel the energy in his body.
This was something he had been doing consistently since he was imprisoned. For him, it had become a daily routine, and even the torment and destruction of the energy in his body had become something he was accustomed to.
It was much better now. With Aoki's help, it had been weakened twice, which allowed Darkrai to overcome the influence of that energy through sheer will and fight freely.
Aoki's silence further confirmed Phoebe's thoughts. At this moment, she unconsciously felt a little heartache for Darkrai.
And Darkrai, who was closing his eyes and meditating on the lake, seemed to suddenly sense something and looked towards Aoki and Phoebe. From Phoebe's eyes, he saw that kind of look called "heartache" for the first time?
Darkrai was stunned. For some reason, his heart warmed.
But soon, he closed his eyes again.
Phoebe and Darkrai exchanged glances. Darkrai felt heartache in her eyes, while she felt something called "determination" in Darkrai's eyes!
"Gengar's Ghost-type energy is already very powerful, but the one in Darkrai's body is even stronger. The only Pokémon I can think of that could do this is the Renegade Pokémon! Giratina! Also known as the Ghost Dragon!" Phoebe's face showed a hint of shock. She had only heard of Giratina, the Renegade Pokémon, but had never seen it.
Aoki looked at Phoebe, who originally seemed a bit naive, but was now analyzing Darkrai's condition thoroughly, guessing almost perfectly.
The situation was indeed like this, but Aoki didn't know if Phoebe had any solutions.
Aoki had no intention of refuting her. The fact that Phoebe could see it meant she truly had the ability. Moreover, Aoki also recalled that the initial trace of Giratina's energy on Gengar was put there by Phoebe's grandparents. As their only granddaughter, Phoebe might have some way to deal with Giratina's energy.
"You guessed correctly, it is indeed Giratina's energy, which is why Darkrai has never been able to unleash his full power. This matter has not only troubled him but also me.
Although I have found some methods to remove a lot of the energy from his body, it's ultimately still not enough.
And the effect of that method is getting weaker and weaker. I don't even know if I can help him remove it again, but even if I do, it won't be completely cleared.", Aoki said slowly as he looked at Darkrai.
This Ghost-type energy, like a maggot in the bone, was a huge burden for Darkrai, both in battle and in daily life.
The reason Darkrai was so serious was that he was constantly being tormented.
Listening to Aoki's words, the heartache in Phoebe's eyes grew stronger. She gritted her teeth and said, "I might be able to try, but I'm not sure if it will succeed!"
Upon hearing this, Aoki's heart filled with joy.
He had thought about going to Mt. Pyre to ask Phoebe's grandparents for help, but at that time, one thing after another happened. And from the bottom of Aoki's heart, after being tricked by Phoebe's grandfather, he was still a bit reluctant to find them again, fearing that they might be working with Giratina.
However, this time, if there was an opportunity, he really had to make a trip to Mt. Pyre.
Even if Aoki didn't trust them, he had to trust Phoebe.
"Darkrai!" Aoki called out to Darkrai in the middle of the lake.
"Kou!" Hearing Aoki call his name, Darkrai suddenly opened his eyes, and the aura on his body trembled. He thought it was time to battle, but when he saw Aoki waving at him, Darkrai was slightly stunned, then obediently floated over.
For Darkrai, there weren't many people he could trust now, only Aoki.
Aoki had done his best to help him recover, so Darkrai tried hard to accept Aoki's existence, put himself in the right position, and live in the world as a trainer's Pokémon.
Human life was ultimately short. Darkrai was willing to silently be a Pokémon during Aoki's lifetime.
Floating in front of Aoki, Darkrai didn't know what Aoki wanted to do, but the look in Phoebe's eyes when he met her gaze just now had touched his heart slightly.
"I'm counting on you," Aoki said to Phoebe.
Phoebe smiled, "You saved my life, and I haven't even thanked you, Brother Aoki. You're being too formal."
Hearing the familiar closeness in her words, Aoki also smiled.
Phoebe didn't doubt him because Itsuki said he was from Team Rocket; instead, she always believed in him, which still touched Aoki.
Darkrai remained in front of Aoki and , not knowing why Aoki had summoned him.
"Darkrai, let Phoebe examine your condition. She might have a solution," Aoki said to Darkrai.
Upon hearing this, Darkrai was slightly stunned. He remembered Phoebe was the girl he saved that day, but Darkrai hadn't felt any special abilities from her.
However, Phoebe didn't care what Darkrai thought. She walked to Darkrai's side and extended her hands, holding them between herself and Darkrai.
Noticing Phoebe's movements, Darkrai instinctively wanted to resist, but before he could move, Aoki's hand pressed onto Darkrai's shoulder, his eyes fixed on him, signaling him not to move and to trust Phoebe .
Darkrai could not trust others, but he could not disbelieve Aoki, the only human who could make him open his heart.
Immediately after, a circle of gray-black energy fluctuations appeared on Phoebe's hands, undisturbed.
Phoebe closed her eyes tightly. Feeling the energy fluctuations from Phoebe, Darkrai showed a surprised expression, but soon he had no time to be surprised, as he felt some changes occurring within his body.
Aoki's arm, placed on Darkrai's body, also extended his psychic powers into it, purely for observation, without affecting Phoebe's operation.
So, by the lake, two people and one Pokémon all closed their eyes, feeling the energy changes within Darkrai's body.
Daigo and the others, who were training their Pokémon and familiarizing themselves with the environment not far away, also saw Aoki and Phoebe's situation. Although they didn't know what they were doing, Steven and the others tacitly chose not to speak, simply shifting some of their attention to Aoki and his companions.
Aoki's heart was filled with a hint of shock at this moment. When he had tried to help Darkrai recover before, he had also observed his internal state and knew that his internal energy was chaotic and impure, with a large amount of powerful Ghost-type energy, like maggots in the bone, intricately entrenched within his body. This was why his current strength could only be at most three or four tenths of his peak power.
Aoki had also tried to mobilize the Ghost-type energy within him, at least to make it less chaotic. This way, even if the total amount of Ghost-type energy in his body remained unchanged, the energy he could call upon would be much smoother.
However, his idea was beautiful, but reality was cruel. No matter what method he used, he couldn't move it.
When Darkrai was first rescued by Aoki, the large amount of Ghost-type energy accumulated in his body was in clumps, like towering mountains. Every time Darkrai called upon a trace of energy, it was like having to cross high mountains, which was very troublesome and difficult.
But later, Aoki obtained a feasible formula from Granny Kui. Aoki also used this special recovery potion to destroy a large amount of Ghost-type energy within Darkrai's body.
It couldn't really be called destruction; rather, it was forcibly using external energy to dig out many tunnels within those high mountains and continuous mountain ranges, and building many rugged and intricate mountain paths on them.
This way, although mobilizing energy was still very complex, it was at least much simpler than before.
After two doses of the recovery potion, a considerable amount of Ghost-type energy was removed from Darkrai's body, but precisely because of this, the effect of the recovery potion would gradually decrease. Even if Aoki increased the dosage, it might not have the same effect as the first two times.
Aoki was stuck in a dilemma regarding how to restore Darkrai's strength. It was also because Darkrai was still the highest-level Pokémon among Aoki's current Pokémon, so he didn't need to worry too much about this for the time being, and Aoki temporarily put it aside.
However, just now, when observing the influence of Phoebe's Ghost Force on Darkrai's internal energy, Aoki showed a surprised expression because he discovered that Phoebe's Ghost Force could slowly move the Giratina's Ghost-type energy within Darkrai's body.
Although it was very slow, it did successfully move.
Under Phoebe's conscious control and guidance, the Ghost-type energy that she slowly moved began to accumulate again.
However, this time's accumulation was different from Darkrai's previous accumulation. Previously, it was because the total amount of Ghost-type energy was there, and no matter how it was moved, it would become an obstacle.
But the current situation is different from the past. Under the effect of Aoki's two recovery potions, the total amount of Ghost-type energy in Darkrai's body has been significantly reduced, so even if the energy accumulates again this time, it will not become an obstacle for Darkrai.
Especially when Phoebe consciously flattened all the completely winding tunnels and mountain paths that were opened up by the recovery potion, and then gathered these scattered gaps to form a wide road or a large passage.
In this way, although the total amount of Ghost-type energy did not change, and the total amount of all passages did not change much, for Darkrai, the speed and efficiency with which he could mobilize energy increased significantly, improving by more than one level.
As long as he could freely and flexibly control the increase of his own energy, it meant that his strength was gradually recovering.
However, it was uncertain whether it was because Phoebe's Ghost Force was insufficient, or because Giratina's Ghost-type energy was too strong, making Phoebe's movement too slow. The previous idea was only the most ideal state. To achieve that level, according to the current progress, it would be impossible without a month.
But having a glimmer of hope is better than having none. Although it's uncertain how much strength this can help Darkrai recover, at least it's an achievable goal and direction.
An hour later, Phoebe opened her eyes, sweating profusely. It was her first time encountering Giratina's Ghost-type energy, and for her current Ghost Force, moving it was still a bit slow, but at least some movement occurred.
As Phoebe opened her eyes, Darkrai and Aoki also opened their eyes simultaneously.
Looking at the sweating Phoebe, Darkrai, who originally had a stern expression, had a hint of tenderness flash deep in his eyes, but he quickly concealed it.
Aoki took out a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to Phoebe, saying sincerely, "You've worked hard."
Phoebe took the handkerchief, slowly shook her head, a hint of embarrassment in her eyes, "My Ghost-type power isn't strong enough. I can only do this much. I can't extract those Ghost-type energies from Darkrai's body. I might not be able to help him regain his strength."
But Aoki placed a hand directly on her forehead, smiling, and said, "Phoebe, you've done more than enough. What you just did, I couldn't achieve no matter what methods I used. To be able to do this is already beyond my expectations. If you could just keep going..."
Aoki stopped there. For the current Phoebe, continuing indefinitely was impossible. In just one hour, she had completely exhausted her Ghost-type power and was drenched in sweat. It was a laborious and thankless task.
"No problem!" Although Aoki stopped mid-sentence, knowing his request might be a bit much, Phoebe immediately agreed, even looking eager.
Aoki was slightly taken aback, unsure why Phoebe was so excited.
However, Phoebe quickly explained, "Brother Aoki, don't worry. Although I can't move Giratina's energy for a long time right now, consistently doing it for an hour every day is absolutely fine. This isn't just to help you and Darkrai; it's also a form of self-training for me.
My grandpa used to tell me to train my Ghost-type power more, saying it wasn't as simple as I imagined. Back then, I didn't believe him and always found excuses to put it off. But I think I'm finally starting to understand what Grandpa meant. This is an opportunity to train myself and help Darkrai at the same time. Why wouldn't I do it?"
Actually, there was something else Phoebe didn't mention.
vrisking his life to save her that day truly put him in a very dangerous situation. He not only helped her get revenge but also retrieved her Pokémon. She had never known how to repay such a kindness, and this was a good opportunity to partially repay it.
She didn't mention this reason, but it didn't matter whether she said it or not; Aoki and she both understood tacitly.
Of course, Aoki wholeheartedly approved of Phoebe's decision.
Darkrai's strength might be the hardest to improve among Aoki's Pokémon currently. It can't be improved through battle, but if the right method is found, it can become the fastest and most stable way to improve, and even after a surge in power, it will still have sufficient self-control.
In this complex and dangerous environment, if Darkrai's strength could advance further, it would be a great help to both Aoki and their entire team.
During the hour Phoebe spent dealing with Darkrai's energy, Aoki not only kept his psychic abilities focused but also had the chip constantly scanning and recording Darkrai's data and energy changes. Although the changes were small, they were steadily increasing.
As long as there was improvement, it was good for Darkrai. He hadn't experienced the joy of slow strength improvement for a long time, the kind of strength improvement he had pursued in the past to become stronger.
For Darkrai, any increase in strength was a pleasure.
"Then I won't be polite either. If you want any items or potions, you can always come to me. I guarantee to provide you with the best," Aoki said with a smile, rubbing Phoebe's head.
"Mm!" Phoebe also smiled and nodded. She didn't know when she started to like Aoki rubbing her head.
In Aoki's view, Phoebe helping Darkrai move the Giratina energy within him was not a limited form of assistance but could be seen as a long-term collaboration.
The reason Aoki said that the recovery potions he made would become less effective was because after two uses, the Ghost-type energy within Darkrai's body had become chaotic and scattered. The effect of the recovery potion would weaken as this energy became more disorganized.
However, the situation had now changed.
If the plan truly went as intended, and Phoebe could gather the energy within Darkrai's body again, as long as it was concentrated, then Aoki would only need to slightly adjust the timing and location of the recovery potion's effect, and it would become effective again!
This was an opportunity for Aoki and Darkrai to fully recover.
So Phoebe only saw the surface, the present, but Aoki saw the future and beyond.
After Phoebe's first close contact with Darkrai, their actions would continue for a long time.
As Phoebe said, her Ghost-type power also needed training. As the training intensified, she would be able to sustain it for longer periods each day, and Darkrai's recovery speed would also increase. This was a very good positive cycle.
If things truly continued at this pace, Darkrai might maintain his dominant position in terms of level among Aoki's Pokémon for a very long time.
After dealing with Darkrai's matters, telling him that from today onwards he would spend some time with Phoebe every day to help him recover his strength, Aoki started to get busy with other things.
It had been almost a month since they entered this continent. Long periods of outdoor combat were mentally and physically exhausting for the Pokémon, so Aoki didn't arrange any training tasks today. He also put aside all his own matters to give each Pokémon a full body check-up and a full body massage, one by one.
While helping them recover from physical fatigue, he also helped them relieve mental fatigue.
Pokémon, despite their physical strength being incomparable to humans, are not made of iron. Except for a few Pokémon made purely of metal and rock, most Pokémon have a seemingly tough but actually soft body.
Fortunately, Aoki's psychic abilities were strong enough now to directly use them to massage the Pokémon. Otherwise, let alone massages, for Pokémon like Aggron and Tyranitar, Aoki wouldn't even know where to start, especially Aggron, which is entirely covered in metal.
However, how to massage Pokémon that are difficult to massage is something a breeder needs to learn. With the help of the System, Aoki could quickly analyze which positions and acupoints on the Pokémon would help them recover faster. This was his advantage.
Although during this period, most of the main combat was handled by Salamence, Gardevoir, Venusaur, and Lucario, their strength was still a bit lacking, especially before Salamence's strength broke through to pseudo-champion level.
There would always be some Pokémon that their strength couldn't contend with. In such situations, Aoki would dispatch suitable Pokémon to battle.
As for what constitutes a suitable Pokémon, it means Pokémon with similar levels and similar strengths to battle.
Although this would make victory a bit slower, and the Pokémon would suffer varying degrees of injury after the battle, isn't training about experiencing injuries and tempering? Aren't they part of the training process?
If you always fight opponents weaker than yourself, who can be defeated with two casual moves, then what's the point?
I believe not only Aoki but also his Pokémon wouldn't want to constantly participate in such battles.
If they really wanted to bully weaker opponents, why would they come to such a high-risk environment? Wouldn't it be better to bully weaker Pokémon in the ordinary, low-level wild Pokémon forests of the Pokémon world?
To learn more and to properly apply what has been learned in daily training and practice to actual combat, it is best to find evenly matched opponents for a head-on confrontation.
Aoki had his own plan for training his Pokémon, and Steven, not far away, naturally had their own training methods and directions.
A thousand people have a thousand Hamlets, and similarly, a thousand people have a thousand ways to train a single Pokémon. It's hard to prove which method is the best. Only by training a Pokémon into the ideal form one desires, then for that person, that training method is the best.
Therefore, although Aoki and the others were not far apart, they almost completely refrained from interfering with each other when training and exercising their Pokémon.
Even if they saw the other's Pokémon training methods as incorrect in their own eyes.
During this time, Aoki released Togekiss and Clawitzer again. After explaining everything to them, Togekiss finally understood what had happened.
In short, they needed to stay here for another four months. For them, this was actually a good thing. They had been reluctant to leave this place, and it wasn't easy to give up their homeland. Now they had four months to say goodbye, which was enough.
Additionally, their presence would increase the Aura power in this valley, allowing them to better resist abnormal psychic scans and enhance their own safety.
Aoki also summoned the two Eeveelutions belonging to Jokli and the middle-aged man in yellow, one Leafeon and one Jolteon.
Although they were quite well-trained, Aoki had no intention of keeping them for himself.
At his level of strength, unless he encountered a Pokémon with exceptionally good compatibility, like Daigo did, he generally wouldn't accept them.
Especially since these two Pokémon originally belonged to others.
Of course, not intending to keep them as his own Pokémon doesn't mean they can't be used. In certain special situations, they can still be utilized. After all, they are two beings whose strength has reached the first hurdle of the Champion level. Even without a matching trainer, the combat power they can exert is not weak.
Moreover, they don't need different training or any special nurturing now. Just maintaining their current strength is enough. They can be used to guard the entire valley, ensuring it won't be disturbed by any wild Pokémon that might intrude, thereby enhancing the overall safety of the valley.
For a period of time, Aoki and the others would likely live here, making it their base camp. Afterwards, they would definitely strengthen the defenses of this place little by little.
Today was their first day in the valley, and everyone needed to make some adjustments. By the end of today, most people would likely choose to slowly venture out, not only to find others but also to train their respective Pokémon.
The existence of the Divine Cult was like a dagger hanging over their heads. If they didn't want to lose their lives when the dagger fell, they could only constantly increase and improve their strength. Not to say resisting the dagger, but at least to have enough defensive power when it fell.
Everything was proceeding as Aoki and the others had planned.
...
Just as Aoki and the others began to steadily improve themselves and search for companions, the members of the Divine Cult who had gathered on this continent were in disarray.
They had no mind or energy to deal with Aoki and his group because they were all too busy dealing with their own problems.
Just as Aoki had sensed, the people of the Divine Cult were indeed gathered on the high mountain in the center of this continent.
To be precise, they were outside a special barrier on this high mountain. The Divine Cult members, who seemed formidable to Aoki, were actually stumped by this barrier.
On a flat area outside the barrier, many people were gathered. These people had various expressions, and their behaviors or postures were also different, giving a distinct impression of being clearly divided.
However, despite this clear division, the group was subtly led by two individuals.
If Aoki were here, he would recognize that the first person to enter, the psychic man with extremely strong psychic abilities, was one of these two leaders.
However, the expressions of the two leaders were completely opposite. The overly strong psychic man, with a hint of a spectator's expression, was currently leaning against a cliff, quietly fiddling with his fingernails.
Several people subtly followed this psychic man, who had a somewhat detached, spectating expression, and they all wore similarly indifferent, spectating expressions.
The other leader was the black-faced man, whose face was dark. It was unclear if he was dark-faced from anger or if his face was naturally dark, but at this moment, his gaze was extremely sharp, glaring fiercely at the two people standing before him, neither humble nor arrogant.
They were Bailing, who had escaped from Daigo, and Itsuki, who had escaped from Aoki.
However, Itsuki was now dressed entirely in black, and even the eye mask on his face had turned black.
What a Black Emissary of the Divine Cult!
Standing beside him, with a calm expression, was Bailing, dressed in white, who was none other than the White Emissary, the most active member of the Divine Cult in the Pokémon world!
Even though the black-faced man was seething with rage, Itsuki and Bailing showed no signs of fear. They simply stood quietly, leaving the black-faced man with nowhere to vent his anger.