Chapter 51: A Promise Spanning Two Centuries

“Then, Mr. Gengar, if there’s nothing else, I’ll head back now,” Hu Yang said.

He had already achieved his goal; from here on, all he needed to do was grow stronger and help Gengar find its body.

But unexpectedly, the ruling Gengar did not immediately send him away. Instead, it suddenly turned its head to look in a certain direction.

From the darkness, a figure slowly emerged from the dense forest.

Steven held in his hand a feather that glowed with a silvery, moonlike radiance.

He had borrowed it from an elder in his family known for his collector’s habits. Legend had it that this was the feather of Cresselia, the fabled Pokémon of sweet dreams, possessing the power to banish evil spirits and nightmares from its bearer.

That afternoon, after exchanging information with Phoebe, Steven had rushed back to Rustboro City to fetch this feather.

Sure enough, the object proved effective against the strange energy field permeating the forest.

However…

What was that boy who sold him the stone doing here?

Steven looked at the human standing beside the Gengar, his expression peculiar.

Was it by accident, or had the boy found the manor using his own abilities?

Hu Yang felt awkward as well.

Why did it seem like he ran into Steven everywhere?

As their eyes met, Steven was the first to speak. “What are you doing here?”

Hu Yang glanced at the ruling Gengar beside him and decided to tell the truth. “I had something I wanted to ask of Mr. Gengar.”

As he answered, he allowed his own Gengar to reveal itself before Steven.

Steven quickly pieced things together, but now was not the time to discuss this matter.

He shifted his gaze to the ruling Gengar and said, “Did Nochi have you guard this place?”

Having received the assignment from the League, Steven had gone to the archives to look up information.

Nochi, the first Ghost-type Elite of the Hoenn League.

Two hundred years ago, when the League was newly founded, there had been a large-scale case of human disappearances. The matter was eventually resolved, but Nochi vanished and was never seen again.

At the mention of that name, the ruling Gengar’s body stiffened briefly. It nodded.

Hu Yang stood to the side, listening quietly.

Steven’s face remained calm as he continued his deduction. “He encountered danger while investigating the case, and in the final moments, he sealed these Ghost-type Pokémon within the manor, leaving you to watch over them. Is that right?”

This vacation manor had been the scene of the mass disappearance.

The ruling Gengar did not answer. The words brought back memories of its trainer’s final moments.

To stand guard here, to ensure these Ghost-types would never again harm others—those were Nochi’s last words to it.

It had kept its promise, but that man would never return.

Steven sighed lightly, his expression growing solemn. “Mr. Nochi was a trainer worthy of respect. The League will remember his deeds forever.”

“Now, let us fulfill Mr. Nochi’s last wish,” Steven said. “I am Steven Stone, current Champion of the Hoenn League, and I am here to handle the aftermath of this manor.”

The ruling Gengar was silent for a moment, then turned to look at Hu Yang.

Steven, surprised, couldn’t help but follow its gaze.

Hu Yang: “…”

Fine, he’d speak.

“Mr. Stone, you want to resolve the matter of the Ghost-types in the manor, correct?” Hu Yang asked.

Steven nodded.

“Do you have any ideas?” Hu Yang continued.

Besides banishing them to the spirit world, there was another way: to destroy them all.

Steven had obviously thought of this too. He fell silent, at a loss for words.

In recent years, thanks to the efforts of various regional Leagues, public acceptance of Pokémon had grown. People now saw them as friends and even family.

Thus, when faced with the prospect of executing so many Pokémon, most people would hesitate.

It wasn’t naïveté; it was simply that the events of two centuries past felt distant to people today.

As an outsider, Hu Yang couldn’t judge these matters and left the decision to Steven.

“There’s another way to resolve this,” he said.

Steven instinctively asked, “What is it?”

“Have you heard of the spirit world?” Hu Yang replied.

“The spirit world?”

Hu Yang nodded and repeated the explanation he had given to Gengar earlier.

Steven fell into deep thought.

He had heard the term before, but did such a realm that housed souls truly exist?

Dusknoir… Phoebe did have one.

With that thought, Steven looked at Hu Yang, perplexed. “How do you know all this?”

Hu Yang: “…”

He had long prepared for this question, so he brought up his nonexistent parents from this world once again.

This time, he gave them the hobby of studying myths and legends.

All this knowledge, he said, came from them.

Steven did not doubt him. He took out an object resembling an old-fashioned cell phone and called Phoebe on the spot.

Before long, Phoebe arrived.

Because the ruling Gengar had withdrawn its influence over the area, Phoebe did not lose her way this time.

“Dusknoir?” After hearing Steven’s account, Phoebe retrieved a Poké Ball from her pocket.

With a click, a Dusknoir appeared before everyone.

“Dusky, do you know about the spirit world?” Phoebe asked.

Dusknoir let out an ancient cry, indicating it did.

“Do you know how to open the door to the spirit world?” she continued.

As the Ghost-type Elite, Phoebe knew more than Steven about the spirit world. Even without Hu Yang’s explanation, she was aware that Dusknoir could receive signals from it.

Dusknoir shook its head and murmured a few sounds.

Phoebe rose to her feet and said to Steven, “This method is feasible, but my Dusknoir isn’t strong enough.”

To open a gateway to the spirit world required an immense amount of Ghost-type energy.

At that moment, the ruling Gengar, who had been quietly listening, suddenly erupted in a blaze of purple flames.

Phoebe’s attention was instantly drawn.

It was… transferring its Ghost-type energy to Dusknoir!

“You’ll die!” Phoebe cried out in alarm.

The ruling Gengar gazed silently at her.

Phoebe’s face showed her shock as she murmured, “Your trainer is gone, and you no longer wish to live, do you?”

Receiving the powerful energy, Dusknoir was suddenly enveloped in a violet glow.

The light projected onto a nearby clearing, forming a swirling gateway.

The ruling Gengar turned to face the manor.

Immediately, a tremendous suction erupted from the vortex.

With a crash, the manor’s windows and doors were flung open, and one by one, the Ghost-type Pokémon inside wailed and struggled as they were drawn out, flying into the entrance of the spirit world.