"Go, Poké Ball!"
Ethan threw a Poké Ball and directly captured Chandelure, thus marking the end of the battle.
While Ethan had captured both Dusknoir and Chandelure, the battles in other areas had also ended, allowing all the professors in the control room to let out a sigh of relief.
Due to the sudden opening of the Spirit World on this occasion, and the intrusion of several professional-level Pokémon from within it, and since it was not clear whether more hidden dangers still remained, that survival test was temporarily brought to an end.
...
"Ethan, I truly thank you very much for intervening this time."
Back at Arcaia City Pokémon University, the principal also personally expressed his gratitude to Ethan.
If Ethan had not acted so quickly, it was very possible that that student practice would have ended with injuries or even deaths.
"It was nothing, I just did it along the way."
Ethan smiled faintly while looking at the two Pokémon he held in his hand.
Dusknoir and Chandelure. His intervention on this occasion had also brought him a good harvest.
Now he already had two Dusknoir in his possession, so he also planned to try researching what exactly was strange about his soul.
If it were only one Dusknoir, it could still be considered coincidence, but for two Dusknoir to have targeted him... he did not believe that was a coincidence.
As for Chandelure, its ability to burn mental energy was also very peculiar, and perhaps it could help Litwick advance even further.
"In addition, here are the research materials from the university's medicine department that you wanted."
After chatting with Ethan for a while longer, the principal also took out the documentation the university had prepared and handed it to him.
During this time, Ethan had chosen to attend classes with Lucario not only because he wanted to strengthen the foundations of its healing abilities, but also because he had been waiting precisely for those materials in the principal's possession.
"Thank you very much, Principal."
Ethan received the documents with a certain feeling of pain.
To obtain such valuable materials, the price he had had to pay had not been small either.
Fortunately, after winning the World Championship, he had received a large sum as a reward.
That also made him reflect once again that knowledge was power. If not for his special identity, probably even with money he would not have been able to obtain such valuable materials.
After saying goodbye to the principal, Ethan returned to the dormitory with all the documentation.
However, in the short term, he had no intention of leaving Arcaia City Pokémon University. He planned to continue there as an exchange student.
Although he now already had in his hands the university's materials on the medicine department, possessing them and truly mastering them were two completely different things.
It was like in everyday learning: even if one has the notes or course material, the result of studying on one's own is still very different from listening to a professor's explanations in class.
Now, as an exchange student at Arcaia City Pokémon University, if any problem arose, he also had the opportunity to consult the professors of the medicine department, which greatly facilitated his research on healing-type moves.
In addition, after that survival test, those professors had begun to vaguely suspect what his true identity was, so when dealing with him they were especially courteous.
...
When the weekend arrived, Ethan went to the Pokémon Researchers Guild of Arcaia City.
Now that he possessed the identity of Pokémon Professor, he could freely use most of the guild's instruments.
After entering the guild and showing his Pokémon Professor certificate, the staff, with expressions of surprise and admiration, prepared a quiet laboratory for Ethan.
"Everyone, come out."
Arriving in front of the Pokémon release device, Ethan took out all his Pokémon.
After giving them some instructions, he took out the Poké Balls of the two Dusknoir.
"Why are the Dusknoir looking for me? What exactly is strange about my soul?"
"Perhaps we can obtain some answer!"
Ethan reflected as he opened one of the Poké Balls.
Accompanied by a roar full of fury, a Dusknoir appeared.
As soon as it came out, that Dusknoir's entire body began to give off shocking energy fluctuations. It was precisely the Dusknoir Ethan had just captured.
"Slowking."
Ethan spoke its name in a low voice.
Immediately, Slowking released a terrifying psychic force.
Under the pressure of that mental force, Dusknoir was immobilized instantly.
"Lucario, power of aura."
After controlling that Dusknoir, Ethan had Lucario use the power of aura to connect both of their mental energies.
Once everything was ready, he had Slowking withdraw the psychic restriction.
"Dusnoir!"
Dusknoir roared again.
Immediately afterward, it fixed its gaze on Ethan and its eyes began to shine with a blue light.
Boom!
At that instant, Ethan felt a strong tremor in his mind.
Fortunately, thanks to the protection of Lucario's aura power, that vibration that seemed to come from the soul disappeared right away.
But Dusknoir evidently did not give up the attack. It could clearly be seen how a current of energy began to confront the power of aura.
In the end, Dusknoir was not that strong. Facing Lucario's aura power, which was already at the Quasi-Elite level, it could not cause Ethan the slightest harm.
At the same time, Lucario was also using the power of aura to observe the changes in Dusknoir's soul and Ethan's.
After a long while, Dusknoir, exhausted from the enormous energy consumption, stopped using its ability.
"Well? Did you perceive anything?"
Ethan opened his eyes, returned Dusknoir to its Poké Ball, and looked at Lucario.
"Luucaarr!"
Lucario nodded and began communicating with Ethan.
Once the power of aura connected their mental energies, Lucario could already communicate with Ethan through an ability very similar to telepathy.
"So it really was that... the waves of the Spirit World."
For a long time, Ethan had already suspected why Dusknoir had chosen him as a target.
After all, his soul came from another world. Ethan supposed that Dusknoir had perceived something in him and wanted to drag him into the Spirit World.
And what Dusknoir had detected was precisely the waves of the Spirit World.
Dusknoir had the ability to receive those waves, and Ethan's soul also emitted similar waves. That was the reason Dusknoir had sought him out!
Of course, at first, Ethan had only suspected it. The previous Dusknoir was too weak and could not shake Lucario's aura power at all.
But this time, thanks to the perception of the power of aura, Lucario had finally discovered Dusknoir's ability and the changes in Ethan's soul.
"Waves of the Spirit World, huh?"
"That means... does a part of my soul resemble that of a ghost?"
Upon confirming that point, Ethan narrowed his eyes slightly.
In the anime, ghosts had appeared more than once, such as the ghost girl from the Maiden's Peak port or the mischievous ghost girl who appeared together with Dusknoir.
(End of chapter)