Marquis Hormay stood by the tall arched window, his gaze fixed on the distant horizon where the last traces of daylight were slowly swallowed by the encroaching dusk.
He had always been fond of this atmosphere. After all, once twilight arrived, darkness was sure to follow.
"So, the gray mist has finally reappeared, has it?" he murmured softly, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
"In that case, the final stage of the plan must also begin."
"Sacrifices… we will still need more sacrifices. Only with enough of them can the Gate to the Ghost World be opened."
His eyes dropped to the goblet of red wine he held loosely in his hand. The blood-red liquid shimmered faintly, and in the reflection, his pupils also seemed to glow with a sinister scarlet hue.
Ever since the destruction of the Gilded Fang Merchant Guild, he had known that there was no retreat left for him. If he continued to wait, then his so-called "Iron Blood" would inevitably wither away.
Now, he had only one choice—to gamble everything. If he succeeded, the entire city of Aspiration would belong to him. And as for failure… he had never even considered it. In his mind, victory was the only outcome.
…
Meanwhile, in Fairhaven Town's castle, Aven stood silently at his own window, eyes closed, lost deep in thought.
At this point, most of the officials of the Pokémon Domain had already been informed about the appearance of the gray mist.
Yet, somewhat surprisingly, none of them showed any expression of fear or unease on their faces. After all, why should they be worried? They had Lord Aven on their side!
If last year Lord Aven had been able to successfully repel the gray fog, then surely this time, too, he would find a way to do so again.
Receiving such unquestioning confidence from those around him, however, only made Aven fall into a deeper silence. Because he knew clearly in his heart that things would not be nearly as easy this time.
Yes, it was true that last year he had managed to drive away the fog completely—but that had been thanks entirely to the power of Froslass.
And now, Froslass could not recklessly absorb the power of the gray mist like she had the last time.
That meant he would have to find a brand-new way to dispel its corrosion, and it was obvious that such a task would be far from simple.
His gaze shifted downward, to the courtyard in the back. His Pokémon were still training diligently as usual.
"Meowr~ meow~!"
Ever since Luxio had evolved into Luxray, its training had grown even harsher and more relentless.
Its strength had already reached the level of an advanced level Pokémon. And if it unleashed its full potential—stimulating every muscle in its body with surging currents of electricity—it might even be able to fight head-on against a quasi-king level Pokémon.
Of course, its most terrifying ability was not merely its raw power, but the electric eyes it had awakened. With them, Luxray not only possessed a penetrating sight akin to X-ray vision, but could even perceive the stray electrons drifting through the air itself.
With this gift, its control over electric energy had grown unimaginably precise. By focusing on those electrons, Luxray could direct currents through its body at will, steadily strengthening its physique.
Aven had given this training method a name: Thunder-Body Forging.
And thus Luxray embarked upon the same grueling, self-destructive path once walked by Rhydon—pushing its body to the brink day after day, yet savoring the exhilaration of growing stronger through pain.
Aside from Luxray, his other Pokémon too were immersed in their training, each following their own strict routines.
In a shadowed corner, Froslass sat cross-legged, holding the Odd Keystone in her pale hands, attempting to meditate with it and learn to harness the ghost energy within her body.
Yet because the Keystone itself was still suffused with Spiritomb's malicious aura, she could not fully merge with its power.
"It seems I'll still have to resolve the Spiritomb problem first," Aven muttered, taking out the Poké Ball containing Spiritomb.
If he wanted to completely eradicate the gray fog, he would have no choice but to rely on Froslass. But before that, he had to eliminate the hidden danger of her losing control.
And the only method he could think of was to solve Spiritomb's problem once and for all, then borrow the Odd Keystone's strength to suppress the gray fog's corruption.
"In that case… I must make a trip to the Ironblood Fortress."
With Empoleon standing guard, Aven had tried releasing Spiritomb before. But every single time, it remained utterly unstable, consumed by chaos.
From its body he could sense the presence of countless vengeful spirits. Clearly, to resolve Spiritomb, he would have to purge it of those malignant souls first.
Knock, knock, knock!
While he was deep in thought, a sudden knocking came from the door.
Quickly returning to his desk, Aven called out for the visitor to enter.
Fessen, Sutter, Matthew, Peter, Jorah, Mado, and several others swiftly entered the study.
All of these men were key officials of the Pokémon Trainers Association, each commanding a large portion of the territory's defensive power.
"Lord Aven," Sutter said solemnly, "the Knights of Fairhaven Town are fully prepared. They can enter battle at any moment!"
Aven gave a satisfied nod. "Well done. Good. We may be facing a fierce battle very soon."
"A fierce battle…? But Lord Aven, aren't you able to remove the mist's corruption?" Peter asked hesitantly.
After all, he had fought at Aven's side during last year's beast tide from the Abyssal Caverns. He had witnessed with his own eyes how Aven ended it.
"No," Aven shook his head slightly, "the battle I speak of is not against the fog itself…"
"What I mean is this—next, I intend to have a proper talk with the nobles."
He paused, his voice growing sharper.
"In truth, there is a far better way to end the abyssal beast tides than simply cleansing corrupted Pokémon."
"If we can prevent Pokémon from ever coming into contact with the mist in the first place, then they will never fall under its influence. At that point, all we would need to deal with is the fog itself."
Aven's eyes gleamed with gravity as he spoke. This was one of the plans he had already devised, and the timing was perfect to push forward with his long-considered idea of establishing Pokémon Breeding Zones.
…
"Indeed… with Earl Aven present, there is hope."
At the Frontline Fortress, several of the northeastern nobles exchanged glances. For a moment, their tensed hearts eased.
But then, they turned toward their liege, the stern Earl Ruize. Since Earl Aven had already sent word, surely, he must also have some concrete proposal.
"Yes," Earl Ruize said with a nod, "this time Earl Aven has promised to assist us. However, he has one condition—"
"That we relocate as many of the magical beast tribes from the surrounding forest of the caverns as possible."
"Based on previous experience, there is always a buffer of time between the fog's first appearance and the emergence of corrupted magical beasts. If we can evacuate those magical beasts tribes in advance, then none of them will be infected by the gray fog."
The Earl's words fell heavily over the gathering.
The nobles, who had just begun to relax moments ago, stiffened once more. Their expressions changed, some paling slightly.
Because they could not deny it—the proposal was effective.
If the magical beasts never touched the fog, then they could not be corrupted. And without corrupted magical beasts, there would be no beast tide at all.
What's more, this time the gray mist had been discovered very early, before it had spread beyond the depths of the Abyssal Caverns. So far, not a single magical beasts had been corrupted. That made the plan far more feasible.
Yet if they followed this plan, another problem immediately arose—
Where were they supposed to relocate those magical beast tribes? And more importantly, how could they possibly guarantee that such creatures would obediently remain where they were placed?
(End of Chapter)