"Who are you talking to?" When he heard Togetic's question, Natsuhiko looked around and asked.
There was no one else and no other Pokémon here, could it be Solrock?
But seeing its aggressive stance, it clearly didn't seem to want to communicate.
"Toga?"
Didn't you hear it?
Natsuhiko and Abra exchanged a glance.
Were we supposed to hear it?
Togetic scratched its head, it wasn't hallucinating earlier, but the voice disappeared as suddenly as it appeared.
Abra's eyes turned a bit strange.
Oh no, Togetic muttering to itself seems really delusional, now it's even starting to have auditory hallucinations.
It didn't hear it just now, and neither did Natsuhiko, if Togetic isn't delusional, then what is it?
At that moment, Solrock's attack came again.
Focused mental power and intention gathered into a psychic fluctuation, forming a black Energy Ball filled with intense mental will, flying towards them.
"Abra."
Abra growled lowly, quickly forming a Superpower Barrier to try to block it.
But being also a Psychic, Solrock's psychic power was undoubtedly stronger than Abra's, quickly breaking through its Superpower Barrier, causing ripples in its psychic ability.
Bang!
The strong mental will hit Abra, causing it significant damage.
It also disrupted its psychic fluctuations and frequency to some extent.
This also proved that the Solrock's strength had reached Senior Level, its psychic power stronger than Abra's.
Abra suffered and Natsuhiko's face darkened, Togetic also showed a worried and guilty expression.
If it hadn't been distracted earlier, this Solrock would have been defeated by now.
"Togetic, we'll consider that voice later, focus on the battle first." Natsuhiko said sternly.
"Toga!" Togetic nodded heavily, bringing its hands together, a faint milky white glow emanated from its body, infusing Prayer Energy into Abra.
Next, Togetic's wings gently fluttered, the Power of Happiness lifting it into the air, deliberately drawing Solrock's attention, winking at it and using the "Look at Me" technique.
Solrock indeed targeted it, rocks falling from above its head.
Togetic was quick to act, black light flashing in its eyes, a sly light emerging, and various cunning ideas came to its mind.
With the influence of Abra's Psychic Arena, Togetic used Secret Power, transforming it into Telekinesis to envelop the falling rocks, slowing their descent.
Togetic also took the opportunity to dodge the attack again.
While flying in the air, swinging its arms, leaves emitting a green glow flew out from behind it, connecting into a long string, hitting Solrock successively and knocking it down from the sky.
Meanwhile, Abra finally recovered in the rear, its psychic power still fluctuating irregularly.
A small round black ball appeared in its hand, filled with dense Ghost Energy.
Shadow Ball was thrown.
Fallen to the ground, Solrock struggled to get up, fortunate that Togetic's Magic Leaf hadn't triggered the Sharp Fang effect earlier.
But just as it got up, Abra's Shadow Ball knocked it down once more.
Then the Magic Leaf flew again, reaping the last bit of its strength.
Fallen, unable to rise again.
Solrock lost its ability to fight.
This time Togetic wasn't arrogant but returned to Abra's side immediately, asking about its condition.
"Toga..." Togetic's face bore guilt.
"Abra." Abra shook its head, white light spots emerged on its body, Togetic's "Prayer" technique began to take effect, restoring Abra's body and strength.
It wasn't entirely Togetic's fault, it was partly overestimating itself.
If it had used Instant Movement to dodge again at that time, instead of choosing to block with psychic power, it might not have been injured.
But facing a fellow Psychic type Pokémon like Solrock using a Psychic technique, Abra wanted to give it a try.
Seeing Abra was fine, Togetic let out a long breath of relief, patting its little chest.
But Natsuhiko, standing beside him, wasn't as optimistic as it was.
He too was looking at Abra, noticing that it was still covered in psychic power, but the previously calm psychic power was now fluctuating irregularly.
Abra had also noticed the anomaly in its psychic abilities.
"Abra, do you really feel there's no problem?" Natsuhiko couldn't help but ask.
He knew Abra's background the best.
When Abra was born, it displayed remarkable psychic abilities and talent, which Natsuhiko knew came from its mother, a Pokémon that had escaped from Rocket Team's laboratory, with unstable mental state and psychic power.
At that time, Natsuhiko worried whether Abra would inherit these problems from its mother.
Fortunately, Abra grew up quite normal until now.
But now...
After enduring Solrock's strong mental attack, its psychic power was no longer fluctuating as calmly as before, which naturally worried Natsuhiko.
Although the fluctuation wasn't big, hardly noticeable unless looked at closely, it was undeniably there.
Abra closed its eyes for a moment to perceive it, then assuredly shook its head at Natsuhiko.
"Abra."
No problem.
"If you notice anything strange with your body, tell me immediately," Natsuhiko instructed.
Abra obediently agreed, curiously raising its hand, as if its sense of psychic fluctuation became more apparent.
But it seemed not to be a bad thing.
The psychic power presented peak and valley waves within a certain threshold, fluctuating in strength but, even at its weakest, it was similar to its usual strength, and at its peak, it exceeded its previous strength.
After confirming Abra was really fine, Natsuhiko approached the fallen Solrock.
Even though the Solrock was extinguished, it still emitted an orange glow.
Squatting down.
"If my memory serves, Solrock might carry something like..." He muttered while feeling around the Solrock with his fingers.
Raising his hand, he saw some tiny red grains glowing faintly like stars, sticking to his hand.
Gently rubbing them, they felt very fine, finer than the sand on the beach.
"Not bad luck, Star Sand."
Star Sand, a red and very aesthetically pleasing sand, a byproduct of Solrock spending time around meteorites, not particularly useful to Pokémon.
But this beautiful and sparkling sand held high ornamental value, capable of making buildings more resplendent when mixed into construction materials, or making objects like teacups look prettier when combined with production materials.
Considered a decent material, not highly valuable but not worthless either, provided enough quantity is gathered.
Taking out a small brush, Natsuhiko carefully brushed over the Solrock, acquiring a small amount of Star Sand with strange radiance.
"There should be plenty of Solrocks and Lunatones in Meteor Falls. If encountered, collecting some wouldn't be a bad idea for some extra gains."
Just as Natsuhiko took out a Pokeball to capture the Solrock, Togetic, circling it, suddenly started exploring its body, and managed to dig out a thumbnail-sized white crystal from the crevices.
"Toga." It proudly presented it to Natsuhiko.
"What is this?" Accepting the crystal, Natsuhiko examined it closely but couldn't identify what exactly it was.
All he could be sure of was that it wasn't a Star Fragment like the Star Sand.
"Abra." Abra moved closer, cautiously taking the crystal in its hand.
It could sense a peculiar fluctuation from the crystal, somewhat like psychic power, yet not quite.
This feeling puzzled it.
And with the crystal in hand, Abra's psychic fluctuation increased almost imperceptibly.
Setting aside the mystery of the crystal for now, Natsuhiko took out a Pokeball and captured Solrock.
"This must be Solrock's territory. After defeating it, we shouldn't worry about other Pokémon approaching anytime soon, making it a good place to rest."