"Mismagius, the Magical Pokémon, the evolved form of Misdreavus. It chants incantations like a wizard to cast Curses, though occasionally it produces happy effects. It excels at creating illusions."
After tidying her top and miniskirt, Dawn held her pink Pokédex and scanned the culprit that had been knocked unconscious by electricity.
"Yikes, will Zoey's Misdreavus become that ugly after it evolves?" Having returned to normal, Dawn covered her small mouth, letting out an expression of incredible shock.
She hadn't expected that the Misdreavus, as cute as a mischievous princess, would actually turn into a character resembling an unattractive old hag after evolving.
"Uh... I guess so!" Ash couldn't help but feel a bit sheepish; girls' focus was truly different.
Rather than its looks, they should be more concerned about this fellow's ability to create an illusionary world.
To be able to pull them into it without them noticing, to the point where even Aura couldn't be used, was truly impressive.
Ahem... not to mention that even the sense of touch was so realistic.
Mismagius possesses the ability to create illusions, making it difficult for people to distinguish between falsehood and reality. Once one indulges in it, it is very hard to escape.
Brock was a prime example.
Even though he had been rescued by Ash, he still longed for that fantasy world where Nurse Joy and Jenny existed.
"My Nurse Joy, my Jenny..." Indeed, Brock still hadn't been able to walk away from it, kneeling on the ground and weeping bitterly.
Such a pathetic sight made Ash unable to bring himself to blame Brock for ruining his own good moment.
"Professor Oak has always been asking me to help him find some new research subjects. This Mismagius's ability to create illusions is quite special, so I'll just send it back!"
Recalling how Professor Oak had helped him raise his Pokémon for so long, Ash decided to send this Mismagius back as a way of giving back to the Professor.
With a flick of his wrist, he threw a Poké Ball. Mismagius turned into a red light and was then transported back to Professor Oak's Laboratory.
Mismagius: Thank you so much! Stranger Trainer!
The fainted Mismagius was still unaware of the fact that because it teased a passing Trainer, its entire self had been sold out.
"Ahem, Dawn, let's get back on the road!" Having finished all this, Ash called out somewhat awkwardly to the girl he had almost succeeded with.
"Mhm~"
Ash's posture was all captured in Dawn's eyes. She seemed to recall what had happened earlier, and a blush quietly crept back onto her fair face.
She responded shyly and followed obediently behind Ash, who had pulled Brock up, as they prepared to head toward the brightly lit town ahead to find a Pokémon Center for a good rest.
...
"Whoa, a Pokémon this late? And it was sent by Ash. Could it be that after Aerodactyl, Steelix, and Suicune, another new Pokémon has arrived?"
Professor Oak, who was eating instant noodles cooked over an alcohol lamp, heard the sound of the transport machine. He immediately took a slurp, put down his fork, and came to the machine.
"Oh, this time it's actually a Mismagius. That's an interesting Pokémon!"
Seeing the figure displayed on the machine, his eyes couldn't help but light up.
After all, Ghost-type Pokémon are inherently difficult to catch, let alone those from other regions.
In his excitement, Professor Oak picked up the Poké Ball without a second thought and released the Mismagius.
A red light flashed, and a Mismagius appeared, its body entirely purple, wearing a hat inlaid with three red gems.
By now, Mismagius had partially awakened. It floated in the air again, staring at its surroundings, finally fixing its gaze on the strange-faced old man.
"Mis~"
Mismagius let out an extremely raspy cry. It was surprised to see the Poké Ball in Professor Oak's hand and instantly realized it had been captured by that human with the Pikachu from before.
But it didn't care. It activated its Golden Pupil hypnosis on the old man in front of it, continuing to fulfill the sole dream of its life (Pokémon life)—mischief!
Thud!
The defenseless Oak naturally fell over at the sound.
"Mis~"
Mismagius grinned with an ugly smile, watching the strange old man, preparing to give him an unspeakable nightmare.
He could only blame the Trainer who caught it; they weren't even happy when it gave them good dreams!
"No, Agatha, please don't..." Professor Oak walked around as if sleepwalking, eventually huddling in a corner, shivering.
"Mis Mis"
The ugly smile on Mismagius's face deepened, looking like it had succeeded.
Until...
"Roar~"
Sensing Professor Oak's abnormality, a Poké Ball opened, and a thick Aura instantly spread throughout the laboratory.
An incredibly tall, orange Pokémon with a large belly glared at Mismagius. It pointed at Professor Oak beside it, and then gestured toward its own neck at Mismagius.
The meaning was quite clear!!!
If you don't listen, I'll finish you!!!
"Mis~"
Mismagius's face stiffened, and it nodded submissively to show it understood.
It controlled its ability, preparing to turn the nightmare into a beautiful dream.
"Hehehe, Agatha, wait for me..."
Almost instantly, Professor Oak's expression changed. The large orange dragon immediately picked up Professor Oak and brought him to where he rested.
It intended to let Professor Oak have a wonderful dream.
"Mis~"
Now Mismagius had a face like a bitter gourd, because according to the big guy in front of it, its ability had to be maintained until tomorrow morning before it could stop.
Wasn't this just bullying it for being weak and unable to resist?
But Mismagius dared not ask or say anything. It could only respectfully control its ability to let the strange old man have a good dream.
And Ash was temporarily unaware of all this.
Early the next morning, after a short night's rest in the dormitory of the Pokémon Center, the group of three continued their journey.
"Ha~"
It was just that the interference from Mismagius had caused them to waste quite a bit of time. Dawn was suffering from a lack of sleep and was yawning incessantly along the way.
However, Brock, who had returned to normal, kept muttering along the way, "Sigh, what a pity about my Nurse Joy and Jenny! How I wish they were real," which caused Dawn to suddenly snap into alertness.
As she observed Ash, who was half a head taller than her, her expression was quite complicated.
Because she knew that what Brock said was definitely impossible to achieve; they were all just illusions created by Mismagius!
But Ash's two companions truly existed.
Every time she thought of this, Dawn's heart couldn't help but tighten, as it meant they really might be her powerful rivals.
Ash was completely unaware of the thoughts wandering through the girl's mind.
Because his attention was already fixed on a reddish-brown spiky-haired young man in the distance—a quite familiar figure.
This was a young man wearing a black shirt, purple pants, a black backpack, and a satchel around his waist.
It was Gary, who had already switched careers to become a Pokémon Researcher.
"So it's you, Ash!"
The other party seemed to have some kind of intuition. He suddenly turned his head to look at Ash, placed one hand on his hip, and greeted him with a fairly gentle tone.