What kind of international joke is this?
Obviously, Ann Ci has been dragged into a space similar to the Spirit Realm for some reason, possibly full of Ghost Type Pokémon. And Ann Ci is even stronger than him, so going in to save him?
He might end up sacrificing himself.
So when he saw the words on the ground, he pretended not to see them.
There's no need. Saving someone requires first ensuring your own ability to protect yourself. If you can't guarantee your own safety, then saving others is out of the question.
Natsuhiko was very aware of this.
But unfortunately.
Things often go contrary to one's wishes.
As he was preparing to leave, that mysterious cave suspected to be an entrance to the Spirit Realm suddenly seemed to sense something. Countless black lines spurted out, and as the cave continuously expanded, a massive suction force swept over.
"Abra!" Natsuhiko quickly shouted.
"Abra!"
Abra immediately noticed the severity of the situation, but before its psychic abilities could fully cover itself and Natsuhiko, they were completely engulfed by a black-red glow.
His vision turned pitch black.
In the blink of an eye, Natsuhiko and Abra vanished from the room.
All returned to tranquility.
Only a gray head slowly emerged from the wall, red eyes scanning the quiet room, then slowly retracting.
...
...
Natsuhiko and Abra felt their vision suddenly go dark, and when it cleared, they discovered they were in a ghastly forest.
Visibility was low, and the entire world was gray, like entering a black-and-white photo.
Occasionally, wisps of white, indistinct things would drift by.
Natsuhiko: "...."
He pursed his lips, a bit speechless.
He knew this was a passage to the Spirit Realm but didn't know it had a self-suction function.
He looked around.
Apart from the eerie tones and the overly quiet environment, there wasn't much difference from an ordinary forest.
"Abra, can you sense your 'anchor' point?"
Hearing this, Abra closed its eyes and carefully sensed, a process that took much longer than expected.
During this time, Natsuhiko summoned Beedrill and Togepi.
They could still be summoned, which gave him some comfort.
At least, there's some fighting capability left.
After a long time.
Abra slowly opened its eyes, its expression a bit complicated.
"What's wrong?"
"Abra... Abra..."
Understanding Abra's meaning, Natsuhiko furrowed his eyebrows.
"I can vaguely sense the 'anchor' point exists, but I can't lock onto it, so I can't use Instant Movement to leave here..."
The passage that brought them in was already lost.
Abra's Instant Movement could be said to be Natsuhiko's only thought-of method in the short term.
But now Abra's Instant Movement couldn't be utilized...
But the good news is.
At least it can sense the existence of the "anchor" point, which means if Abra's abilities can improve, it might be able to take them out.
This represents there's still one last retreat.
While Abra was blaming itself for its lack of ability, Natsuhiko patted its head and said with a smile, "Since we're in, let's go find that fake monk, Ann Ci. After all, we were named in the rescue call."
Abra silently watched the calm and collected Natsuhiko, tightening its fists.
It knew Natsuhiko was comforting it; otherwise, with Natsuhiko's cautious personality, reporting it to the authorities might have been the greatest help.
No sane person would choose to rashly enter such an unknown dangerous space.
Especially with Ann Ci's previous experience as a warning.
Abra didn't speak.
Natsuhiko's kindness and understanding gave it a joyful growth period, provided it a steady progress process, and gave it reasons to be forgiven multiple times.
But this doesn't mean Abra can accept it itself.
It closed its eyes silently, layers of psychic power surged from its body, covering it while stirring ripples.
Abra directly entered a meditation state.
Natsuhiko had Beedrill and Togepi for safety, so there was no need for Abra to worry.
However, for some reason, when it meditated, those elegant scriptures naturally flashed in its mind.
They were scriptures Ann Ci wrote on the villa walls.
And as these scriptures passed, Abra entered a deeper meditation state, odd sounds continually rang in its heart, solemn, respectful, sacred...
Like human voices, like bird chirps, there were flames, arcs, haziness...
Under such a state, it wasn't just Natsuhiko who didn't expect it; perhaps even it didn't pay much attention.
Maybe meditation is supposed to be like this.
Though Abra entered a state of meditation, a strand of psychic power remained attached to Natsuhiko, enabling it to follow Natsuhiko's movement while floating without burden.
Besides Abra, engaged in deep meditation, Beedrill guarded Natsuhiko's sides, while Togepi nestled in his arms, unwilling to leave.
"Togepi——"
No matter how you looked at it, it didn't seem like a place free of ghostly encounters.
Natsuhiko tossed out a Pokeball again to summon Pidgeotto.
"Pidgeotto, scout from the air."
Caw——
Pidgeotto cried out sharply, taking flight into the sky.
"That annoying monk didn't leave more info, which direction should we go after coming in?" Natsuhiko muttered, rubbing his forehead in frustration.
But he still had to search.
Two people surely wield more strength, and maybe Ann Ci knows the way out, besides Natsuhiko had many questions for him.
He looked around again.
Surrounded by endless forest, the direction couldn't be determined.
However, just as Natsuhiko was hesitating.
Abra's psychic power seemed to sense something, slowly extending and attaching to a tree not far off.
Next,
Under the influence of psychic power, faint writing appeared on the tree trunk.
Just by the handwriting, it was evident this was written by Ann Ci when he wrote those scriptures, exactly the same handwriting!
Natsuhiko's eyes lit up.
"Looks like Ann Ci left something behind."
Having a direction prevented wandering blindly in this unknown place.
If this was truly the Spirit Realm, Natsuhiko didn't believe he possessed enough ability to protect himself.
But being with someone else unquestionably increased safety a lot.
Even if ultimately, they could only rely on Abra's growing ability to use Instant Movement to escape, enough time would be needed for Abra to mature.
Understanding this, after slightly discerning the direction.
He plunged into the dense forest.
In this space, the unchanging scenery made it impossible to feel the passage of time, the forest being eerily quiet, without sighting any tracks of Wild Pokémon.
It gave Natsuhiko a sense of standing in a crack of time, excluded from the world.
And bringing a change to this feeling was the encounter with a group of Pokémon.
A group of Ghost Type Pokémon.
They looked like lanterns made from pumpkins.
Pumpkaboo!
Ghost and Grass Type dual attribute Pokémon, usually seen in the Kalos Region and registered, but in a place resembling the Spirit Realm, he found them here.
If it were someone else, they might have failed to recognize them, after all, the Kalos Region had only recently been incorporated into the alliance and not thoroughly controlled, the resistance from Kalos to the alliance was quite significant.
This led to the Kalos Region's registered Pokémon not yet being included in the "complete" Pokedex.
Upon seeing Pumpkaboo, a very bold idea suddenly sprang into Natsuhiko's mind.