"Darkrai!" Cain called out toward the center of the lake.
"Darrkkaaii!" Darkrai snapped his eyes open upon hearing his name, and his aura surged, thinking it was time to fight. But when he saw Cain gesturing to him, he froze for a moment in surprise and then obediently floated over.
For Darkrai, there were very few people he could trust. Only Cain.
Cain had done everything possible to help him recover, so Darkrai did his best to accept his existence, adjusting his position and living in the world as a trainer's Pokémon.
Human life is, after all, short. Darkrai was willing to be a Pokémon for as long as Cain lived.
As he floated in front of Cain, Darkrai did not know what he was planning to do, but Phoebe's gaze from a moment ago had touched something deep inside him.
"I'll leave it to you," Cain said to Phoebe.
Phoebe showed a faint smile.
"You saved my life. I haven't even thanked you yet, Cain. Don't be so distant."
Hearing that familiar, close tone, Cain also smiled.
Phoebe had never doubted him even when Will said he belonged to Team Rocket; she had always trusted him, which deeply moved Cain.
Darkrai stopped in front of Cain and Phoebe, not knowing why he had been called.
"Darkrai, let Phoebe examine your condition. She might have a way to fix it," Cain said.
Darkrai was slightly surprised. He remembered that Phoebe was the girl rescued that day, but he had not sensed anything special about her.
However, Phoebe did not concern herself with what Darkrai might think. She stepped to his side and extended both hands, holding them between herself and Darkrai.
Noticing her movement, Darkrai instinctively reacted and tried to resist, but before he could, Cain's hand rested on his shoulder. He stared at him intently, signaling him not to move and to trust Phoebe.
Darkrai might not trust anyone else, but he could not distrust Cain. He was the only human capable of opening his heart.
Then, a ripple of dark gray energy appeared in Phoebe's hands.
With her eyes tightly closed, Phoebe began her work. Upon sensing her energy, Darkrai showed surprise, but soon he had no time to be astonished, as he perceived changes within his body.
Cain's arm resting on Darkrai also extended his psychic power into him, only to observe, without interfering with Phoebe's actions.
Thus, by the lake, two people and one Pokémon closed their eyes, sensing the transformations of the energy within Darkrai.
Not far away, Steven and the others, who were training their Pokémon and familiarizing themselves with the surroundings, noticed what was happening. Although they did not know what was going on, they all fell silent tacitly, diverting part of their attention toward them.
At that moment, Cain was deeply astonished. In the past, when he helped Darkrai recover, he had already observed his interior: an energetic chaos, with enormous amounts of powerful Ghost-type energy—like parasites clinging to the bones—intertwined within his body. That was why his current strength barely reached three or four tenths of his peak condition.
Cain had tried to reorganize that internal Ghost-type energy so that at least it would not be so tangled. That way, even if the total amount did not change, Darkrai could use his own energy more smoothly.
The idea was beautiful, but reality was cruel: no matter what method he used, he could not move it.
When Cain first rescued Darkrai, those enormous amounts of Ghost-type energy were piled up in blocks, like imposing mountain ranges. Every time Darkrai tried to use a bit of energy, it was like climbing a mountain—extremely difficult.
Later, Cain obtained a viable formula from Grandma Syl and used that special recovery medicine to destroy a large portion of that internal Ghost-type energy.
It was not total destruction; rather, it involved using external energy to carve numerous tunnels through those mountains, creating intricate pathways.
In this way, although using the energy was still difficult, it was at least much easier than before.
After two doses of the medicine, the Ghost-type energy within Darkrai was greatly reduced, but because of this, the effectiveness of the treatment also began to diminish. Even increasing the dosage would not achieve the same results.
Cain had become stuck on how to fully restore Darkrai's strength. Fortunately, since Darkrai was still the highest-level Pokémon on his team, it was not an immediate concern, and the matter was temporarily put on the back burner.
However, upon now observing Phoebe's influence over Darkrai's internal energy, Cain was astonished to discover that her Ghost Power was capable of slowly moving the Ghost-type energy belonging to Giratina.
It was very slow, but it was moving.
Under Phoebe's conscious control, those displaced Ghost energies began to regroup.
But this time it was different from the past. Before, the accumulation itself was an unavoidable obstacle. Now, after the effect of the two doses of the medicine, the total amount of Ghost-type energy had been greatly reduced, so this new accumulation no longer represented a blockage.
Moreover, Phoebe consciously pushed all those tortuous tunnels created by the medicine, leveling them and unifying those scattered spaces into a broad pathway, a great artery of energy.
In this way, although the total amount of Ghost-type energy and channels did not change much, the speed and efficiency with which Darkrai could use it increased drastically, improving by several levels all at once.
As long as he could control his own energy freely and smoothly, his power would gradually be restored.
Nevertheless, whether because Phoebe's Ghost Power was still insufficient, or because Giratina's Ghost-type energy was too powerful, the process progressed with extreme slowness. Even in the best-case scenario, reaching that ideal would require at least a month.
Even so, having hope was better than having none. Although they did not know how much strength Darkrai could recover, at least there was now a clear goal and direction.
One hour later, Phoebe opened her eyes, drenched in sweat. It was the first time she had come into direct contact with Giratina's Ghost-type energy, and for her current Ghost Power, moving it was still very slow, but at least she had managed to shift a part of it.
(End of chapter)