Pokémon: Chronicles of Freedom

If this had been a normal conversation, clearly this was the kind of comment that kills the topic from the beginning.

Cain was slightly surprised but didn't pay much attention to it.

From the tone of her voice, he could deduce that this Pokémon called Mismagius seemed quite young.

It's likely her intellect is that of a small child.

"Ahem, I'm a human; my name is Cain," Cain replied with a slight cough, trying to ease the awkwardness.

"Human? Cain? Then, what am I?" asked Mismagius telepathically, though somewhat clumsily.

"You're a Mismagius, a type of Pokémon. Like the one next to me; he's a Slowpoke," Cain explained slowly.

"Mismagius... Slowpoke... Pokémon?" Mismagius murmured, clearly having never heard those terms before.

"I'm a Pokémon? I'm a Pokémon!" Mismagius's telepathic communication became more fluent.

Though her age didn't seem short, compared to the long lifespan of a Mismagius, she was still a child.

And, as Cain mentioned, in a place so saturated with Ghost-type energy, even a Slowpoke could reach the level of an elite Pokémon in just a few years.

This Mismagius had clearly been here much longer, already becoming an elite-level Pokémon.

"Yes, you're a Pokémon."

"How fun! How fun! I'm a Pokémon! Then, what are these things?" Mismagius asked as she played with the Pokéblocks floating around her.

"They're Pokéblocks, a type of food, like the ones I just gave to Slowpoke."

Mismagius's mind seemed so innocent that Cain gradually stopped feeling fear.

"Food? What's that? Is it fun?" Mismagius tilted her head with curiosity.

"Uh... eating is putting things in your mouth, like this," Cain showed Mismagius how to eat.

Imitating Cain, Mismagius slowly brought one of the floating Pokéblocks to her mouth as if she'd never eaten before. She started chewing it slowly, then sped up and finally swallowed the Pokéblock in one gulp.

"Eating! Eating is fun! It's delicious!" Mismagius looked very happy, spinning in circles around Cain.

This was probably her first time eating anything, explaining why she didn't even know what it meant to eat.

It seems this Mismagius had stayed here since her birth, never having left.

Here, with the abundance of Ghost-type energy, Mismagius didn't need food to grow so significantly.

"Wait, Mismagius is the evolution of Misdreavus. If I'm not mistaken, it also needs a Dusk Stone to evolve. Does that mean she evolved thanks to the Dusk Stone present in this place?"

Mismagius's existence here likely didn't have a major impact on the environment, as the dense Ghost-type energy wasn't something she could generate. She was merely another beneficiary of this place. But how did she survive here when she was young?

Cain's questions grew more and more.

Why was a Mismagius living here? With her level of mental maturity, it was likely she had never left this cave. So how did she survive when she was smaller?

How was this cave formed? Even an elite-level Pokémon like Mismagius was only one of its beneficiaries. What kind of place was this?

Did Team Rocket really discover this trial island by chance?

Was the high quality of the Pokémon on Training Island also related to this place?

What connection was there between this and the strange space on Nameless Island?

One truth was confirmed: the more you know, the more questions arise.

Cain didn't have the power to investigate these issues for now. Mismagius alone could easily crush him.

After eating the first Pokéblock, Mismagius quickly devoured the others floating around her.

But just as two were left, she suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?" Cain looked at her with curiosity.

Earlier, Cain had been thinking that if Mismagius ran out of Pokéblocks, he might be able to offer her more in exchange for letting them go.

"Eating is fun! Delicious! But there's little, better to save some for later," Mismagius said in an adorable voice. Though her language wasn't very fluent yet, Cain understood what she meant.

She was saving some for later out of fear of running out. In this small space, she had endured loneliness, never leaving.

And her mind was so pure that she hadn't considered that Cain might give her more Pokéblocks if she asked, even though she had the power to make him do so.

Or maybe she simply hadn't thought of that possibility.

Hearing this, Cain smiled.

Suddenly, he no longer saw Mismagius as something frightening, even if she was a Ghost-type, even if she was at level 64, even if she could easily crush him.

Everything indicated the innocence of this Mismagius.

"Don't worry; you can eat them. I have more, lots more," Cain said, pulling out more Pokéblocks from his storage space. But this time, they weren't Slowpoke's; they were the ones he'd made especially for Haunter.

Since both were Ghost-types, Haunter's Pokéblocks should be even more appealing to Mismagius.

When Mismagius saw the new Pokéblocks, her eyes lit up like crescent moons, and she quickly devoured the remaining two pieces, chewing them with joy that resonated in the air like a beautiful melody.

Mismagius's laughter filled the air, as pure and beautiful as her essence.

"By the way, Mismagius, have you seen a stone like this?" Cain took out the Dusk Stone fragment he'd been holding. With the earlier fright, he hadn't had time to analyze it.

Name: Dusk Stone (Uncut)

Quality: Superior

Function: Can cause a Pokémon to evolve and significantly enhance its abilities.

Description: A mysterious stone that enables certain Pokémon to evolve, as dark as the night.

It was indeed a Dusk Stone and of superior quality. Cain smiled to himself.

Though it wasn't of supreme quality, a superior-quality Dusk Stone could still give Murkrow a chance to reach light blue quality.

If Murkrow used energy crystals to improve his quality to dark green before using it, the probability would be even higher.

"Hmm?" Mismagius looked at the black stone in Cain's hand.

From her own alternate space, she pulled out a nearly identical stone, but with a strange glow.

(End of Chapter)