Chapter 275: Finding the Duo
In the sky.
Carmela rode on her Garchomp's back, scanning the ground below.
"Where could they be? Can we even find them like this?"
Will looked up at Carmela.
"Let's investigate the surrounding areas first. I recall... there seem to be some people in Celestic Town who look normal, as if they haven't been dreaming at all."
Carmela's gaze was calm.
She had probably planned this investigation long ago, maybe even started observing the townspeople days ago.
They spent the morning asking around.
Finally, they discovered that the residents of the western half of Celestic Town were generally dreaming—both good and bad—at night and during afternoon naps.
The residents of the eastern half were mostly unaffected; the few who claimed to dream were either rare occurrences or just bragging.
Will could tell at a glance if someone had truly been dreaming.
People who dreamed... and people who didn't... had different Auras.
Whether it was a sweet dream or a nightmare, the next morning, their Aura would be more "turbulent" than a normal person's. Their nerves would be frayed, and their emotions easily fluctuated.
"Mt. Coronet?"
Carmela turned her head, fixing her gaze on the mountain towering into the clouds west of Celestic Town.
"Yawn~"
Will yawned, feeling sleepy.
But he didn't want to sleep.
Because the moment he slept, he had nightmares. And they were the kind where you know you're having a nightmare but can't wake up. It was torture.
However, he wasn't too nervous anymore.
Because the Cresselia and Darkrai nearby were clearly not very powerful.
The range of their abilities couldn't even cover the whole of Celestic Town. They were at most Elite Four level.
If it were the two from Newmoon and Fullmoon Islands, even from Mt. Coronet, they could probably blanket Celestic Town, Eterna City, and Hearthome City all at once.
"Oh my, baby Piplup is sleepy. Let's go see the scenery on Mt. Coronet."
Carmela rubbed Will's butt, then turned Garchomp toward the mountain.
Will wasn't visiting Mt. Coronet for the first time in this world.
In his last life, while staying in Sinnoh with Meowscarada, they had come here chasing Liz's phantom.
Now, looking down...
He knew that in a hundred and fifty years, Mt. Coronet hadn't changed much at all.
"Sure enough, even the Pokémon on Mt. Coronet can't stand it."
Carmela muttered.
Will looked closer.
He saw a significant number of Pokémon fighting on the mountain. Their eyes were slightly red, clearly in a state of mental instability.
It must be the lack of sleep making them irritable. So they fought with the Pokémon around them at the drop of a hat.
It was only because humans—those not-quite-evolved monkeys—were fewer in number here. Otherwise, Celestic Town would probably be just as chaotic, with people arguing and fighting constantly.
"What are they planning?" Carmela frowned, muttering to herself.
By now, some people in Celestic Town must have noticed something was wrong, maybe even reported it to the Sinnoh League. The League might come to handle this in a few days.
"Is it possible... they can't control their abilities?" Will looked up at Carmela.
As someone who had experienced the Regice incident, Will knew that some Legendary Pokémon, when low-level or newly born, couldn't control their powers. They needed time to learn.
"...Legendary Pokémon can lose control too?"
Carmela looked puzzled.
This was incomprehensible to her. Although she had studied history and legends for half her life, she hadn't actually seen many real Legendary Pokémon, let alone communicated with them.
"We'll know when we find them. I suggest checking there."
Will pointed.
It was the peak of Mt. Coronet, a place covered by white clouds. It was also the most desolate part of the mountain; at most, a few Gligar might appear there occasionally.
"Let's go check."
Carmela nodded and patted Garchomp.
WHOOSH!
Garchomp accelerated instantly, shooting toward the peak like a jet.
The wind roared in their ears, piercing the atmosphere.
Garchomp's speed right now even surpassed Will's speed when using Extreme Speed in his second life as a Dragonite.
Of course, if second-life Will had been a higher level, surpassing Garchomp wouldn't have been hard.
Soon, they arrived at the summit.
"See? Told you." Will grinned.
Directly below them, a Darkrai sat alone against a cliff face, staring blankly at the sky.
There was no sign of Cresselia.
When they saw Darkrai, Darkrai saw them too.
"Garchomp, land." Carmela patted Garchomp's neck.
They landed not far from Darkrai.
"Piplup, you stay here. I'll handle this."
Carmela put Will on the ground.
The moment he landed, Will felt a chill from his chest down.
There was no helping it. This part of Mt. Coronet's peak was completely above the clouds.
Where they were standing right now... Will was buried in snow-white clouds from the chest down.
Visually, Carmela looked like a goddess standing on the clouds, but in reality, the mountain rock was just hidden beneath the vapor.
Darkrai watched Carmela land and slowly stood up, its eyes full of wariness.
"Carmela, its emotions are off. It might go berserk at any moment."
Will patted Carmela's leg, warning her.
"Mm."
Carmela nodded but didn't seem too concerned. This Darkrai clearly wasn't very strong. At least for her Garchomp, it would be easy to handle.
If talking didn't work... fighting would.
"Hrnn..."
Darkrai floated in the air, shrinking back slightly. But the cliff wall was behind it; there was nowhere to hide.
"Hmm?"
Will frowned. He noticed Darkrai's floating posture was strange. Its body was hunched. It seemed...
Injured?
"Darkrai, let's talk. About your..."
"Dah!"
Darkrai didn't seem to be listening. It raised its hands and fired two Shadow Balls at Carmela's feet.
BOOM! BOOM!
The Shadow Balls exploded on the ground, blowing away the clouds beneath Carmela's feet and revealing the brown earth of Mt. Coronet.
"Roar!"
Seeing its trainer attacked, Garchomp was instantly enraged.
It raised its head, gathering purple energy, seemingly preparing a Dragon Pulse.
BOOM!
A powerful shockwave erupted from Garchomp's mouth.
Just then...
A yellow and pink figure suddenly descended from the sky. It was Cresselia.
She immediately used Light Screen to shield Darkrai.
But Garchomp was Lv. 82, a solid Champion-level Pokémon. How could an Elite Four-level Cresselia block its attack?
CRASH!
Cresselia was blasted back by the Dragon Pulse, slamming into Darkrai and pinning them both against the cliff wall.
Will frowned.
Something felt off.
But he quickly realized that neither Darkrai nor Cresselia had any desire to attack Carmela.
They were simply terrified.
It seemed Darkrai's attack earlier was just self-defense.
"Carmela, let me try talking to them?"
Will stepped in front of Carmela, temporarily blocking her and Garchomp. He saw that Carmela seemed ready to beat the two Pokémon into submission before negotiating, or maybe just catch them and hand them over to the League.
But Will felt it didn't need to go that far. Let him try diplomacy.
"Piplup? Hmm... you have Aura Power. I've heard Pokémon trust those with Aura. Go ahead."
Carmela hesitated, then nodded.
Will boldly walked forward.
Although he sometimes complained about his appearance, he had to admit... the Piplup look was really useful. He enjoyed privileges in this life that he never got as a Sceptile.
For example, right now. If he were a Sceptile, Cresselia and Darkrai would probably have panicked. But now, they just watched the tiny Will approach.
Also, they had seen Will block Carmela and Garchomp just now. That act had earned him some basic goodwill.
"Hello~"
Will waved a flipper, using his Aura Power to project his thoughts directly into their minds.
Aura Power had a calming effect. Will used this method of communication to subtly soothe them.
"Cree..."
Cresselia's emotions were relatively stable. She looked at Will and asked why they attacked Darkrai.
"You should know perfectly well. Because of that Darkrai, the entire mountain and the humans nearby can't sleep well."
Hearing this, Darkrai lowered its head dejectedly, its mood plummeting.
"Cree, cree!"
Cresselia quickly responded. She said she used her ability at night to give everyone sweet dreams, so they should be sleeping soundly.
"Occasional dreams are a nice experience, but constant dreaming causes nervous disorders, lack of focus, lowered immunity, hormonal imbalance, irritability, headaches, and various other symptoms. Many creatures on Mt. Coronet and humans at the foot of the mountain are already showing these signs."
Will shook his head, then added, "Also, you only use your ability at night, right? Have you thought about the creatures that sleep during the day?"
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