"Not waiting a bit? Maybe the Doctor will be ready soon."
Knowing Natsuhiko was about to leave, Hilona tried to persuade him to stay.
Only had dessert, not the main course, and couldn't fulfill the obligations of a host.
Natsuhiko just looked at her... looked at her...
"Alright."
Hilona gave up; Dr. Yamanashi, like many doctors, once in their zone, can't emerge easily, even if it's just a while, they might stay submerged for two or three days.
Natsuhiko clearly didn't have time to wait here.
Time is precious.
"Contact me if anything comes up. If nothing unexpected happens, a new Eevee evolution might appear in a few days. You've got a few days to think about it."
Think about it?
Hilona pressed her lips as if feeling some heavy burden, she nodded.
"I'm off."
Waving a hand, Natsuhiko walked straight toward outside Murasaki Town.
Hilona leaned on her hand.
Espeon, Umbreon, Three-attribute Eevee...
Slowly lifted her head, gazing at the sky.
So conflicted.
...
...
Zhuqing City.
On the map, it lies north of Murasaki Town, situated on a man-made mountain, reportedly dug and built by residents of nearby Steel City. It's now the largest city in the Sinnoh Region and also the most technologically advanced.
Looking down from the sky, the city is bustling with steel and concrete, an image of busy traffic and high-rise buildings densely packed.
Natsuhiko put away Yanmega and descended from the sky.
He appeared in a secluded rock pile.
Zhuqing City was his target this time.
As the largest and most advanced city in the Sinnoh Region, naturally, it also hosts the largest black market.
Selling things in the black market, as long as one can avoid people's covetous and spying eyes, is quite safe, and there's no need to worry about anyone tracing things back to their origin.
However.
Before entering Zhuqing City, Natsuhiko had something to confirm first.
Threw out a Pokeball.
Summoned Beedrill, Yujira, and Togetic, while Doublade in the shadow voluntarily came out.
"I'll take you to play at the black market later."
"Tocatocat!" Togetic was the most excited and jumped up from the ground.
Beedrill and Yujira didn't react much.
Doublade remembered being "targeted" by Natsuhiko at the black market before, though the outcome was good, the process made it shake its head.
Looking at the frolicking Togetic.
Natsuhiko suddenly thought of a question.
If Togetic evolves into Togekiss, could it sweep teams when others aren't prepared properly?
Even facing Dragon-type Pokémon, the now awakened Fairy-type Togetic can still stand against them.
The fear is some Dragon-type trainers summon a bunch of Flying-types.
And...
The Fairy type isn't suitable to be revealed at the moment.
Involuntarily shaking his head, he abandoned the idea of evolving Togetic.
Currently, Togetic has only just reached Elite Level and has lots of potential to develop; no need to prematurely exhaust its future for a match.
After dispelling stray thoughts, Natsuhiko took out two more Pokeballs.
As red light flickered, wisp after wisp of black mist appeared, and the surrounding temperature seemed to rise several degrees.
Feeling the change, Natsuhiko squinted slightly.
Even the normally invisible Dragapult revealed itself, absorbing most of the spreading black mist, with a small part entering Doublade.
Ghost Energy!
The two summoned Pokémon were, naturally, two of the three Death God Coffins captured in the Alternate Space's ruins.
However, they now felt stronger than when they were in the ruins, in both aura and impression.
They had truly strengthened!
Natsuhiko's gaze at them showed subtle changes.
"Baluya—" Dragapult appeared by Natsuhiko's side, noticing the change in the two Death God Coffins, feeling surprised.
Togetic, at some unknown point, was already hanging on him.
Luckily, after Natsuhiko's "training," the two Death God Coffins were quite behaved.
Though their faces still bore a taunting smile, it was just their nature.
"Nothing much, just gave them the two Electric-type Pokémon taken down by you and Regice." Natsuhiko said calmly.
Tom Rokicki's two Electric-type Pokémon, Magneton and Electrike.
Used as tools to intercept Natsuhiko's offense by Tom Rokicki, they couldn't withstand Regice and Dragapult's fierce attacks and lost their lives on the spot.
In the spirit of not wasting.
Natsuhiko tossed those two Pokémon to the Death God Coffins.
The fact proved.
His previous speculation wasn't wrong.
Death God Coffin could "consume" Pokémon and present their energy in the form of Ghost Energy.
Thus explaining how there was such a dense Ghost Energy in the ruins' chamber where Dragapult was confined.
Now it's clear.
Those Death God Coffins, after "digesting" Pokémon, emitted it.
But back then, the ruins might have used a special device to draw off most of the post-digestion Ghost Energy to Dragapult, so even after who knows how long, they remained at Elite Level, not at Dragapult's level of terror.
This time, Natsuhiko didn't siphon away the converted Ghost Energy, and they showed noticeable changes upon appearing.
After all, those two, Magneton and Electrike, were at least at the pinnacle of Elite Candidate Level; compared to Elite Level, the benefits received were enormous.
And the emitted Ghost Energy was just a tiny rare portion.
"Baluya?" Dragapult was surprised.
'Could they really grow stronger this way?'
Natsuhiko gave it a glance, chose not to reveal his theory about the ruins and the role of the Death God Coffins.
It was in the past now; sharing it would only add to Dragapult's mental burden.
Its thoughts were pure before, but now, like an adult; knowing its power was from ancient people's use of the Death God Coffins and piling up bones would hurt its feelings.
"Energy growing stronger doesn't equate to strength getting stronger; relying solely on 'digestion' to increase energy without proper control leads to self-destruction and compromises future prospects."
But the Death God Coffins seemed unbothered by this.
Not every Pokémon has the luxury of centuries or even longer to simmer like Dragapult.
Natsuhiko planned not to use the Death God Coffins to "nourish" Doublade.
Still, decisions aside, absorbing some benefits, like today, wouldn't hurt and could indeed offer advantages.
"In the future... gotta focus more on burying bodies."