In Darkrai's retively long life, it had seen its fair share of events—big and small.

  All those so-called "grand occasions"? They were nothing special.

  And truth be told, it had always been rather lucky.

  Take the legendary Pokémon battles, for instance—it had come out of them unscathed.

  Aside from being hunted down by a certain lunatic for a while, things had actually been going pretty well.

  It had just found a new hideout when a bunch of fools voluntarily showed up to work for it.

  To be fair, Darkrai had considered luring some Pokémon to help spread nightmares, aiding in its recovery.

  But that was just a thought. Before it even made a move, these idiots had already gotten to work on their own.

  Ah, how fortunate.

  Its life had certainly seen many obstacles, yet it had always managed to get through them unscathed.

  This time would surely be no different.

  Darkrai thought so.

  Sure, there had been a little unexpected twist—some human had found its hiding pce.

  But no matter. A problem easily solved.

  Just a small show of force, and a swift resolution.

  Sure, that lunatic would notice if it used too much power.

  But as long as it changed locations immediately, it wouldn't be an issue.

  Then, Natsume pulled out a Lunar Feather.

  The situation took an unexpected turn, but it was still manageable.

  After all, it had been secretly accumuting power for a while now.

  It might not win, but it could at least put on a show before making its escape.

  Darkrai thought so.

  It had been chased by that damned Cresselia for so long.

  A little venting was only fair, right?!

  And then, a big guy descended from the sky.

  At that moment, Darkrai realized something terrifying.

  Right in front of it stood Cresselia and that little grass-type pest.

  Behind it loomed the mighty Ting-Lu and Manaphy.

  As for Zorua?

  Darkrai outright ignored it.

  Just a little fox. Without these other Pokémon around, it could crush that thing with one hand.

  At least, that's what Darkrai thought.

  "....."

  Staring at the absolute nightmare of a scene before it, Darkrai fell silent.

  In its long and mostly fortunate life, it had never been truly cornered before.

  And this time, surely—

  Surely what?!

  To be honest, Darkrai was a little shaken.

  But at this point, what else could it do?

  Lifting its gaze slightly, Darkrai's eyes locked onto Natsume, who was shielded by Ting-Lu.

  That burning stare was intense enough that even Serperior beside him could feel it.

  Right now, that human was its only way out.

  If it could just take him hostage, it might still have a chance...

  Darkrai wasted no time. It gathered its power in secret, waiting for the perfect moment—

  Then, suddenly, it erupted.

  A tidal wave of shadowy energy surged, like a raging sea threatening to swallow everything.

  And with that, Darkrai transformed into a shadow and—

  Ran for its life.

  Only an idiot would try to take that human hostage.

  Forget that strange Slowking standing beside him.

  It wouldn’t even make it past Ting-Lu.

  Darkrai, a master of nightmares, had at least heard of those cursed treasures.

  If it were the strongest Darkrai, maybe it could win. But it certainly wasn't, and it definitely wouldn't.

  If not now, then when?

  This was its true escape route!

  Darkrai was practically ughing internally as it pnned its next steps.

  I hear Neon has a lot of overworked office workers, full of stress and negative energy.

  And that forest of death or whatever? Sounds like the perfect pce for an evil vilin like me.

  Set up shop there, gather some power, maybe even create a Hyakki Yagyō—a parade of a hundred demons.

  While those other big-name legendaries were still recovering, it could finally build itself up.

  Darkrai had its future pnned out.

  And then, inevitably—something unexpected happened.

  "Woo!"

  A sacred moonlight burst forth, forming a crescent high in the sky.

  Countless beams rained down, bombarding the fleeing Darkrai from above.

  "Woo!"

  Don’t let it get away! Attack together!

  There’s no need to hold back against something like this!

  Cresselia’s gaze was ice-cold—clearly intent on taking this bastard out.

  It knew exactly what kind of Pokémon this Darkrai was.

  Some Pokémon, when cornered, would choose to fight to the bitter end.

  But not this one.

  'You damned lunatic, why do you love barking and biting at me so much?!'

  Darkrai was this close to losing its temper completely.

  Did it have some deep grudge against it or something?!

  Cresselia: Do you need a reason? I can make one up right now.

  "Woomah!"

  Holding its thorny club, Ogerpon dashed forward.

  Small-bodied Pokémon had a clear advantage in agility during battles like this.

  And Ogerpon's goal was very clear.

  Today, I am opening that third eye.

  Don't ask which eye.

  'This little runt is so annoying!'

  A Shadow Ball gathered in Darkrai’s palm, which it immediately flung forward.

  With that, it could—

  Freeze.

  A strange, suffocating pressure descended upon Darkrai.

  For a split second, its entire world turned bck.

  A pair of massive, blood-red eyes stared at it, utterly still.

  From where Natsume stood, Ting-Lu's eyes shimmered with bck mist.

  The same move, in the hands of different Pokémon, could have vastly different effects.

  A regur Pokémon learning Precipice Bdes might not be much stronger than a simple Hyper Beam.

  Just another strong attack.

  But in Groudon’s hands? Precipice Bdes became an apocalyptic force.

  And under Ting-Lu's command, Mean Look didn’t just paralyze Darkrai’s body—

  It froze its very power, locking it in pce.

  "BOOM!"

  Frozen mid-motion, Darkrai could do nothing as Ogerpon's club smashed into it—

  A full home run straight into Cresselia’s path.

  Floating high above, Cresselia’s eyes lit up.

  Fairy-type energy surged around it.

  Then, without hesitation—

  It bulldozed straight into Darkrai like a runaway dump truck.

  Cresselia may have been primarily Psychic-type, making it weak against Darkrai—

  But no worries.

  It had plenty of Fairy-type moves.

  After all, it was adorable.

  And adorable Pokémon always had a little Fairy in them.

  Fairy-type Pokémon are, for the most part, quite adorable.

  Well, Granbull and Impidimp are exceptions.

  Maybe some people who aren't all about appearances would find them cute, though.

  "Woo!"

  The cool, silvery moonlight seemed to take on a tangible form, enveloping Cresselia as it dove toward the ground.

  Darkrai, still unable to fully recover, could only watch helplessly as Cresselia charged straight at it.

  Just before impact, it barely managed to cast Protect.

  A faint green glow flickered to life—

  But before it could even stabilize, Cresselia was already upon it.

  In that instant, Darkrai could clearly see the exhiration on its opponent’s face.

  And then…

  "——"

  A mushroom cloud slowly rose into the sky, an earth-shattering explosion engulfing the entire wastend.

  The shockwave nearly sent Natsume and Mei flying.

  Fortunately, Serperior reacted in time, using Vine Whip to anchor them down.

  The surrounding Pokémon felt as if their ears had suddenly gone deaf.

  Everything before their eyes turned into a blinding white void, their hearing completely drowned out.

  It took a long while before their senses gradually returned.

  Natsume was no exception.

  Even though he had prepared by shutting his eyes beforehand, all he could see now was pure white.

  The brightness of that explosion was far beyond what simply closing his eyes could protect him from.

  His vision was like an old, flickering television screen—static snowstorming across it, making everything impossible to discern.

  On the ground, the unconscious Darkrai y beneath Ting-Lu's heavy hoof.

  Meanwhile, Zorua and Manaphy had somehow managed to find two sticks and were poking Darkrai’s face with them.

  The moment the explosion erupted, Darkrai had barely managed to buy itself a second of breathing room with Protect before turning into a shadow and trying to escape underground.

  And then it got spped right out of the ground by Zorua.

  Followed immediately by Ting-Lu's big foot.

  Seeing Darkrai in this pitiful state, Ting-Lu couldn’t help but feel relieved.

  There’s an old saying in Jadeleaf—“He who ughs st…”

  Ahem.

  If it hadn’t wised up after a timely wake-up call, if it hadn’t abandoned its past and turned toward a better path—

  It might have ended up exactly like this.

  Sometimes, choosing the right path matters more than sheer ability.

  Ting-Lu understood that now.

  Then again, at this point, choices didn’t really matter for Darkrai anymore.

  Gncing at Cresselia, who had nded beside Natsume, Ting-Lu figured that Natsume would surely choose to take in this friendly Pokémon.

  And when that happened?

  Well, Darkrai—who had been hunted worldwide by Cresselia—was definitely in for a bad time.

  It would probably end up sealed away somewhere.

  Just like Ting-Lu and those other three unfortunate souls had been.

  Being sealed away was not a fun experience.

  And that thought alone infuriated Ting-Lu.

  They were born from human emotions—pure, unfiltered reflections of humanity’s true nature.

  In a way, weren’t they more representative of humans than those lofty, “righteous” legendary Pokémon?

  And yet…

  They were beled camities and sealed away?

  That part, Ting-Lu just couldn’t accept.

  Though, in hindsight, maybe it wasn’t all bad.

  At the very least, it did manage to sit out that st war of the gods thanks to being sealed.

  Guess luck pys a role, too.

  "Suo."

  Once Ting-Lu finally lifted its foot, Zorua leaped down from the bronze cauldron.

  It executed a perfect aerial somersault, followed by a 360-degree spin, before nding squarely on Darkrai’s head.

  After stepping on Darkrai’s face a few times to test for the most comfortable spot, Zorua plopped down and got cozy.

  Darkrai—sealed.

  Manaphy, watching from the side, decided to jump down too.

  Today’s entertainment had been satisfactory.

  To be honest, life under the sea was too boring.

  If it wasn’t staring at seaweed, it was watching fish bare their teeth at each other.

  Not interesting at all.

  Most of the time, it just spaced out, contempting life.

  This whole going-on-nd thing?

  Pretty refreshing.

  Huh?

  Oh, you’re asking if Manaphy sneaking away from its Sea Temple was a problem?

  At this point, who even remembered it existed?

  It could slip away for some fun, no problem at all.

  And even if something did happen—

  Wasn’t that what all those Phione were for?

  You raise kids so that they can handle responsibilities when you don’t want to.

  Sure, Manaphy had never actually raised those Phione.

  But that wasn’t going to stop it from shoving all its responsibilities onto them.

  My dear children, you must work hard.

  So that I can keep goofing off.

  "Cresselia, what do you pn to do now?"

  After releasing Absol from its Poké Ball and smacking it awake a couple of times, Natsume turned to Cresselia, who seemed deep in thought.

  Hearing the question, Cresselia turned its pink eyes toward him.

  Just now, while everyone was focused on Darkrai, Ting-Lu had whispered something to it.

  To be honest, it hadn’t really understood much.

  A lot of it sounded vague and cryptic.

  Part of it was that there wasn’t enough time to expin properly.

  And part of it was that even Ting-Lu itself wasn’t entirely sure—it had only learned these things from Zorua.

  As a result, Cresselia only understood the message in the most cryptic way possible:

  "If you get it, you get it. If you don’t, well… I can’t expin it to you either. But just know—this is how things are."

  Completely useless.

  Still, Cresselia grasped the general idea.

  Basically, this human named Natsume was no ordinary human.

  And sticking with him might lead to something good.

  On this point, Cresselia remained skeptical.

  It had always believed that as long as one kept living, good things would happen eventually.

  Especially for long-lived legendary Pokémon like itself.

  If you live long enough, you see a lot.

  And eventually, you grow indifferent to most things.

  Perhaps that’s why gods, after witnessing too much, become cold and distant.

  But that was a concern for the distant future.

  Right now, Cresselia was still young and full of energy.

  It had no intention of turning into some old, jaded deity.

  That being said—

  This human, Natsume, did feel rather nice to be around.

  Being near him was comforting, like soaking in a hot spring.

  Not that Cresselia had ever been in a hot spring.

  It had just heard that hot springs were rexing.

  So maybe this was what it felt like?

  "Woo!"

  Is there space on your farm?

  After some brief consideration, Cresselia made its decision.

  It had already visited Natsume’s farm months ago.

  And it had left behind a Lunar Feather simply because of the good impression it had.

  Given everything that had happened, staying there for a while didn’t seem like a bad idea.

  Besides, it had been pnning to rest for a bit anyway.

  And if it was going to rest, why not pick a beautiful pce with free food and board?

  Rather than hide away in some dark, damp forest, constantly worrying about trainers popping up from nowhere—

  Why wouldn’t it choose the better option?

  "Of course. Would you like to come, Cresselia?"

  Natsume extended a hand, his voice sincere.

  "Woo."

  Absolutely.

  Extending its tiny, pink hands—yes, Cresselia had hands—

  It pced them lightly on Natsume’s palm.

  "Suo!"

  Yay! A new friend!

  Seeing Cresselia accept Natsume’s invitation, Zorua was thrilled.

  Now I finally have someone to py mahjong with!

  Zorua had been longing to find a partner for mahjong.

  However, most Pokémon on the farm didn’t seem interested in the game.

  Take a certain steel-pted bird, for example—Corviknight.

  That guy was obsessed with electronic devices, but mahjong?

  Corviknight outright admitted it didn’t have the brainpower for that.

  After several failed attempts, Zorua decided to target the "young and naive" Pokémon.

  Like the newly born Phione, the visiting Manaphy, and now, Cresselia.

  At st, a legendary-tier mahjong session could begin!

  If you want a seat at this table, there’s only one requirement:

  No legendary status, no entry!

  This was Zorua’s way of getting back at all the Pokémon who had refused to py mahjong before!

  As for whether Cresselia would be interested?

  Zorua wasn’t too worried.

  It had absolute confidence in its ability to trick—ahem—convince others.

  Though technically, Cresselia wasn’t a child,

  its ck of frequent interaction with humans meant it had a rather pure mindset.

  Simply put, it was easy to deceive.

  Like a fresh college graduate entering the most complex workpce environment,

  believing everything they hear,

  and ending up suffering more losses than they’ve eaten meals.

  “Yadon?”

  Natsume, what do we do with all these Pokémon?

  Slowking, who had been standing with its hands behind its back, spoke up.

  At first, it hadn’t fully grasped the situation,

  but now, it had more or less pieced everything together.

  It was hard to say whether these Ghost-type Pokémon were truly deceived by Darkrai,

  or if they had willingly dragged others into nightmares.

  If it was the former, they could at least argue:

  "Sure, I committed some crimes, but deep down, I'm still a good kid!"

  If it was the tter… Slowking had no words.

  It had never been through a phase where it chased power at all costs.

  Back when it was just a Slowpoke, such concepts never even crossed its mind.

  Life was simple—eat, sleep, bask in the sun,

  then find a new spot and repeat.

  Then it met Uxie and had a great time for a while.

  After that, it evolved.

  And the moment it became a Slowking, the Psychic energy it had accumuted exploded.

  That one evolution unched it straight into the farm’s top-tier power rankings.

  Yes, the same ranking that included Ogerpon.

  If anything, there was a brief period where Slowking actually trained hard.

  But calling it "training to grow stronger" wasn’t quite right—

  it was more like physical therapy after an energy overload.

  And unlike those Pokémon tormented by nightmares,

  Slowking wasn’t about to just forgive these guys out of nowhere.

  Shaking its head, Slowking decided not to dwell on the philosophical questions.

  Any problem tied to philosophy would inevitably spiral into a headache.

  You could think about it forever and still get nowhere.

  So instead, Slowking did the simplest thing.

  It lifted Shellder off its head.

  Hugging the Shellder in its arms, Slowking felt its IQ instantly drop to its former Slowpoke state.

  Ahh… the bliss of an empty mind.

  No worries, no burdens.

  It could almost feel its intelligence leaking out from the corners of its mouth.

  A tiny bit of drool even trickled down.

  A true picture of blissful idiocy.

  “These Ghost-types really are a problem.”

  Looking at the unconscious, visibly drained Ghost Pokémon before him,

  Natsume couldn’t help but feel troubled.

  Sure, his farm was big, capable of housing many Pokémon.

  But that didn’t mean he wanted to bring in a bunch of unstable elements.

  These Ghost-types had already gotten a taste of shortcuts and power.

  Even if they were allowed into the farm,

  they probably wouldn’t settle down peacefully.

  And while Natsume wasn’t too worried about major incidents breaking out—

  after all, Persian and the others were there—

  he had no intention of letting his peaceful farm descend into chaos.

  "Woo."

  I’ll handle it.

  Just as Natsume was feeling stuck,

  Cresselia stepped forward on her own.

  In her eyes, the fact that these Pokémon were tempted into this situation

  was partly her own responsibility.

  If she had discovered Darkrai’s presence here sooner,

  maybe none of this would have happened.

  Of course, many of these Ghost-types had acted out of their own desires,

  not just Darkrai’s influence.

  But most beings were like that.

  Neither entirely good nor entirely evil.

  Under good influences, they could become kind.

  But if they strayed even slightly, they could quickly fall into corruption.

  "Mm."

  The ones who were coerced or reluctant can stay.

  But those whose hearts are full of greed… I will send them elsewhere.

  Since she had already decided to stay at the farm for a while,

  Cresselia figured she should start considering things from the farm’s perspective.

  She certainly didn’t want neighbors who were greedy troublemakers constantly eyeing the pce.

  That would be disgusting.

  “Mana! Mana!”

  I want in! Count me in too!

  From the sidelines, where it had been zily watching the drama unfold,

  Manaphy’s eyes suddenly lit up.

  It eagerly shot up its little arms and yelled out.

  As the Prince of the Sea,

  Manaphy naturally had the ability to communicate telepathically with humans and Pokémon.

  Reading another Pokémon’s true thoughts?

  Telling whether they were lying?

  Child’s py!

  No one could deceive Manaphy!

  It was the master detective!

  “All right, I’ll leave it to you two.”

  "Woo."

  "Mana!"

  Cresselia remained calm and composed,

  while Manaphy was visibly excited.

  Despite being older than Cresselia,

  Manaphy truly had the energy of an overgrown child.

  After a thorough screening—

  Natsume found himself staring at the two remaining Ghost Pokémon, deep in thought.

  The ones left were a Misdreavus and a Duskull.

  Misdreavus was a mischievous little Pokémon.

  It had a dark green body, ghostly fme-like hair, and red pearl-like ornaments around its neck—quite a cute appearance overall.

  It loved to startle people, often showing up at night to let out eerie cries and watch travelers panic.

  It also had a habit of tugging on people’s hair or nipping at them,

  just to see their startled reactions for fun.

  Duskull, on the other hand, looked like a hunchbacked little old man.

  It wore a skull-like mask, but had only one eye.

  Yes, from the side, it seemed like it had two eye sockets with one eye in each.

  But in truth, Duskull only had a single, centered eye.

  Compared to Misdreavus, Duskull’s descriptions were far less friendly:

  It is incredibly persistent and will endlessly chase its target.

  A chill runs down your spine when its glowing red eye locks onto you.

  Yet, the Duskull before Natsume was a special case.

  According to Manaphy’s telepathic scan,

  most of the Ghost-types had initially been hesitant about Darkrai’s offer.

  But once they saw others rapidly growing stronger, they chose to join in.

  Only this Misdreavus and Duskull had refused to use Darkrai’s power to torment others.

  Misdreavus had held back, worried about possible negative consequences.

  As for Duskull?

  Its reasoning was much simpler—

  It was just zy.

  Why bother?

  There were no real threats around here anyway.

  A life of coasting along and doing nothing sounded way better.

  Others could handle the fighting while it rexed in the back.

  It had no craving for energy, no hunger for fear.

  Life was already comfortable enough.

  All it really wanted…

  was a good nap.

  Then, as usual, it found a pce to take a nap.

  That st energy drain from Darkrai had nearly turned it into a dried-up husk.

  So, after seeing the miserable state Darkrai was in, it didn't hesitate to follow Natsume.

  A certain drifting wanderer…

  Cough.

  Compared to that, Misdreavus was having a bit of a dilemma.

  On one hand, it felt that Natsume was a good person, and his presence was incredibly soothing—something it wanted to be near.

  But on the other hand, it remembered something it had once seen in a human TV drama: "Men don’t cherish things once they have them, so make it a little challenging for him."

  That sounded reasonable, but… how exactly was it supposed to increase the difficulty?

  A battle?

  Misdreavus gnced at the fallen Ogerpon and Ting-Lu.

  …Forget it. It didn’t want to become Misdreavus-chan.

  That would be way too ugly.

  Food?

  The pokéblocks Natsume gave it (chomp chomp) were actually pretty tasty (chomp chomp).

  Other trials?

  Wouldn’t that be a bit too much?

  What if Natsume thought it was a bad kid? What then?

  Caught in its own overthinking, Misdreavus eventually gave up and let itself be captured.

  Whatever. Future problems could be dealt with in the future.

  It wasn’t about cking foresight.

  It was just… the pokéblocks in its mouth were too good.

  There was no way it could stop eating now!

  As for Duskull?

  Same logic as before—why not sck off somewhere else?

  It was just changing locations, after all.

  And Natsume had said he wouldn’t force them to do anything they didn’t want to do.

  What was there to hesitate about?

  Only an idiot would hesitate.

  Without a word, Duskull cast a sidelong gnce of disdain at the struggling Misdreavus, already pnning how to butter up the seniors at the farm—including Natsume himself.

  After all, the more favor it earned, the easier it would be to keep scking off.

  "Woo"

  Then I’ll take care of sending them away.

  After tossing the now-conscious ghost Pokémon aside, Cresselia turned her gaze toward Darkrai.

  That guy was definitely a headache.

  Should she just… finish him off?

  It wasn’t like she couldn’t.

  But she'd never done that kind of thing before.

  So, she turned to the others for input.

  Natsume? Looked like a sunny, wholesome boy—definitely no experience in this area. Pass.

  Ogerpon? A cheerful, simple-minded little thing—probably clueless.

  Slowking?

  Cresselia gnced over at him, drooling in a vacant daze.

  …Yeah, no. Instant pass.

  Mei? Same deal.

  Such clear, innocent eyes. Definitely a newbie.

  That left three candidates: Ting-Lu, Zorua, and Manaphy.

  Manaphy didn’t even need mentioning. It had lived a long time—surely it had encountered these situations before.

  At least, that’s what Cresselia assumed.

  Zorua?

  It seemed a little tricky.

  Worth considering.

  And Ting-Lu…

  "Roar!"

  This is my specialty!

  For Ting-Lu, this was practically a professional gig.

  Who was it?

  A camity Pokémon born from human fear itself!

  Executing someone? Child’s py.

  But just then, Zorua spoke up with its own suggestion.

  "Suosuo!"

  Natsume! Have you considered becoming Darkrai’s jinchūriki?

  Recently, after stumbling across a certain "X-Shadow Ninja" series, Zorua had developed a keen interest in trying it out.

  Unfortunately, Natsume immediately rejected the idea.

  There was absolutely no way he was going to let another conscious being live inside his body.

  "Suo."

  Fine, then let’s just seal it away.

  Zorua, slightly defted after its proposal was shot down, went straight for the simplest solution.

  If killing wasn’t an option, then just lock it up and let it cool off for a while.

  Ting-Lu had been sealed before, so Darkrai would just have to deal with it.

  "Suo!"

  With that, Zorua looked down at the now-awake Darkrai from above.

  Darkrai, your power is far too dangerous. I will seal you away.

  …?

  Darkrai slowly typed out a question mark in its mind.

  Kid, do you even hear the nonsense coming out of your mouth?

  GodDragcell