"Huh? Eterna Forest is dangerous?"
Peter stared at Gardenia in disbelief, his expression screaming Are you sure you're a Grass-type Gym Leader…?
"U-um… well…" Gardenia scratched her cheek awkwardly and explained,
"To make Intermediate Pokéblocks, you need Revival Herb powder. But Revival Herbs only grow under very strict conditions—they can only be harvested at midnight. And because of their special properties, they tend to attract a lot of wild Ghost-type Pokémon…"
As she said this, Gardenia visibly shuddered.
"A-and ghosts are just… terrifying, okay?! Just thinking about them gives me chills!"
"I see…"
A faint smile surfaced in Peter's eyes.
As rumored—
Gardenia was absolutely terrified of ghosts.
"So… if you really want to learn how to make Intermediate Pokéblocks, I need you to go to Eterna Forest's Old Chateau. There are quite a few Revival Herbs growing nearby. Just bring some back and that'll be enough."
Her voice softened near the end, as if some unpleasant memory had resurfaced.
[Ding! Commission Quest Triggered — 'Revival Herbs of the Old Chateau']
Quest: Revival Herbs of the Old Chateau
Objective: Travel to the Old Chateau in Eterna Forest, a hotspot for Ghost-type Pokémon, and bring back 5 fresh Revival Herbs for Gardenia.
Reward: Intermediate Pokéblock Crafting Blueprint
"No problem," Peter agreed readily. "I was planning to head there anyway."
Then he frowned slightly. "But Revival Herbs… can't you just buy them?"
"You don't know this yet," Gardenia explained patiently.
"Once Revival Herbs leave the soil, they dry out extremely fast, and their medicinal effect drops sharply. Only freshly harvested ones can be used to make high-quality Pokéblocks."
"Got it. That makes sense."
-----
After parting ways with Gardenia, Peter returned to the Pokémon Center.
He sent his four partners into the Dream Space for training, then sat down to edit footage from the Eterna Gym battle.
His SNS popularity was already sky-high, but Peter knew most of that traffic came from the League's sudden rule changes.
If he wanted people to stay, he'd need to prove his own strength.
And on that front—
He was confident.
[Sinnoh Gym Challenge Vol. 2 — Eterna Gym! The Decisive Baton Pass Strategy!]
He posted the video.
Ignoring the exploding comment section and nonstop private messages, Peter opened the Trainer Forum.
The Water Stone and Leaf Stone he'd obtained earlier had already sold—barely fetching 2 million Poké Dollars combined.
The premium Evolution Stones, however, were moving slowly.
Plenty of people asked about them, but most either complained about the price or left pointless comments marveling at "rich-player behavior."
After all this time, he'd sold only two Thunder Stones and one Water Stone, netting just over 1.11 million Poké Dollars.
Not bad—but nothing like the windfall from selling to Flint earlier.
"Can't expect to strike gold every day," Peter muttered, glancing at his balance—just over 2 million Poké Dollars.
A grin crept across his face.
"This feeling of being sponsored by a rich lady…"
"…surprisingly comfortable."
The remaining premium stones could easily sell for nearly 10 million Poké Dollars once buyers appeared.
Once that happened—
He could finally go full pay-to-win mode.
A 600-talent Lopunny doesn't sound unreasonable, right?
Peter was daydreaming when his phone suddenly rang.
"Hello? Who's this?"
"Peter—it's DJ Mary! Whitney—Whitney, she—!"
Mary's voice was frantic.
Peter's face went deathly pale.
"What did you say?!"
"Whitney was taken by a Zoroark?!"
...
"Haah…"
Moments later, Peter ended the call and forced himself to take deep breaths, trying to calm the storm raging in his chest.
…..
What He Learned
Over the past few weeks, Whitney had been searching for Zorua nonstop.
Eventually, she traced signs of it to Lostlorn Forest in the Unova region.
However, the moment she arrived, she was trapped by endless illusions, unable to venture beyond the forest's outer edge.
And just moments ago—
For reasons unknown, Zoroark suddenly appeared, seized Whitney, and vanished deep into the forest.
Lostlorn Forest's abnormal environment disrupted magnetic fields and signals completely.
Unable to get help inside the forest, DJ Mary rushed to nearby Nimbasa City and contacted Peter.
She'd hesitated for a long time before telling him.
-----
"Whitney… please… you can't let anything happen to you…"
Peter's eyes darkened dangerously.
If his dreams with Pokémon were his sky,
Then his bond with Whitney was his earth.
And he himself was the bird flying between them.
He always longed to soar higher, chase the horizon—
But he would never abandon the ground he came from.
The moment he heard Whitney was in danger,
His heart clenched violently.
The calm, calculating boy—
Lost all composure.
"…Unova… Lostlorn Forest…"
"She went there because of me…"
Regret flashed through Peter's dark eyes.
He'd only mentioned wanting a Zorua in passing.
But Whitney had taken it to heart—
And acted on it.
Now she was paying the price.
No time for regret.
Peter closed his eyes and forced himself to recall everything he knew about Zoroark and Lostlorn Forest.
-----
Zoroark — The Illusion Fox Pokémon
Zoroark, the evolved form of Zorua, can project scenes and memories from its mind directly into others' brains using powerful psychic waves—creating near-perfect illusions.
Normally, when approached, it simply creates illusions to drive intruders away.
This matched Peter's past encounters with Zorua back in Paldea.
"Zoroark are fiercely protective of their companions," Peter muttered.
"They're extremely loyal to those they acknowledge… and they don't attack humans without reason."
Which meant—
"This Zoroark… is abnormal."
-----
Lostlorn Forest
Located east of Nimbasa City in Unova.
Many people might not recognize Nimbasa by name—but almost everyone knows its Gym Leader, the dazzling supermodel Elesa.
Lostlorn Forest itself has nothing to do with her, though.
In the games, the forest was actually an illusion created entirely by Zoroark.
Once Zoroark was captured, the forest vanished instantly, reverting into open plains.
In the anime, Zoroark's most famous appearance was in the movie
Pokémon: Zoroark — Master of Illusions.
In that film, Zoroark was blackmailed by the antagonist Grings Kodai, forced to disguise itself as the Legendary Beasts and wreak havoc in Crown City—all to help Kodai steal Time Ripple energy.
Twenty years prior, Kodai had accidentally touched time ripples left behind by Celebi, gaining the power to glimpse the near future.
When he stole that power, Crown City suffered catastrophic backlash—
All plant life was annihilated, taking 20 years to recover.
Using his foresight, Kodai amassed a fortune in just two decades, founding the tech giant Kodai Network, capable of manipulating public opinion and synthesizing realistic video footage.
All of which helped him attempt to steal Time Ripple energy again.
…
Peter's eyes sharpened.
"I remember… in the games, the Lostlorn Forest Zoroark was disguised as a woman.
And the battle only triggered if you had the Legendary Beasts in your party…"
His gaze turned ice-cold.
"That means the Zoroark in Lostlorn Forest is the same one being coerced in the movie."
"…If the timing lines up," he continued slowly,
"Kodai might have already made his move."
After all—
Kodai's hometown was Nimbasa City.
And Lostlorn Forest lies just east of it.
The more Peter thought about it, the clearer everything became.
A chillingly logical chain of events.
"…So that's how it is."
His eyes gleamed with dangerous clarity.
Everything finally made sense.
--------------
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