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Outside the Pokémon Center, the group prepared to part ways for the night.
"Brother Sam, it's okay!" Ash said, fists clenched and full of excitement.
"Let's meet here tomorrow! I'll challenge the Canalave Gym first thing!"
Sam nodded with a smile.
"Alright. See you tomorrow."
"Big brother Sam, goodnight~"
"Goodbye, Sam."
"Pikachu~!"
Dawn, Brock, and Pikachu all waved in turn.
The team would stay at the Pokémon Center for the night—standard procedure for traveling Trainers.
The Pokémon Center, though supported by the Pokémon League, wasn't free.
Each year, families across the region paid a 100,000 Alliance Coins starting from the birth of their children.
At fifteen, a child registered for their Trainer license and Pokédex could then freely access the Pokémon Center's many services: warm meals, Scald hot springs, full Pokémon healing, rest rooms, and more.
Sam, of course, also had a Pokédex.
But he didn't use it.
Sam wasn't a standard Trainer.
As a high-level researcher of the League and a protected talent under the Alliance's Special Contributor program, Sam enjoyed exclusive perks.
With an annual income of five million Alliance coins, he had no need to squeeze into a bunk bed at the Center with a dozen others.
What star-level scholar would rough it?
Sam walked alone through the twilight-tinted streets of Mine Island, where glowing streetlamps flickered and machinery clanked faintly in the distance.
Eventually, he found a star-rated hotel near the main street.
Despite being an industrial zone, the mine island attracted its share of tourists interested in steelworks, evolution stones, and historic mining relics.
As he stepped inside, the front desk attendant greeted him with a polite but mechanical smile.
"Welcome~"
Her makeup was flawless, and her voice calm. But Sam noticed the cracks beneath the surface.
Heavy eye bags under a thick layer of foundation.
A voice slightly hoarse from fatigue.
Movements that were just a bit too slow.
She looked exhausted.
"…Hello," Sam said, watching her carefully.
"One room, please. And—could you also arrange two dinners?"
"One for me," he added, glancing at Lucario.
"And one for my partner."
The receptionist nodded slowly.
"Certainly. Please wait just a moment."
She took his Alliance card with trembling fingers and typed into the hotel's terminal.
But she made mistakes.
Three times.
Each time, she flinched and corrected herself.
Her hands didn't stop shaking.
Sam's gaze swept the lobby behind her.
All the hotel staff looked the same: sunken cheeks, pale skin, red-rimmed eyes.
Some were even swaying slightly where they stood.
"No wonder the pedestrians outside were like that," Sam thought.
"This isn't just exhaustion. It's sleep deprivation."
He leaned forward, voice calm.
"Excuse me. I noticed… everyone around here seems very tired."
The receptionist hesitated, glanced left and right, and then handed back the room card and Alliance card.
Her professional mask slipped just a little.
With a bitter smile, she whispered, "It's because of a Pokémon."
Sam's eyes narrowed.
"A Pokémon?"
She nodded. "Darkrai."
The receptionist leaned closer, voice barely audible now, as if afraid to even say the name aloud.
"Darkrai usually only shows up every once in a while. A few people might get nightmares, but nothing serious…"
"But this time… it's been five days."
"Five whole days!"
She looked up, and Sam saw true fear in her eyes.
"Darkrai hasn't disappeared at all. It's staying near the island. Now everyone—everyone who tries to sleep—gets pulled into terrible, endless nightmares."
"No one dares to sleep anymore."
Her hands clenched on the counter.
"We've tried everything. People drink coffee by the gallon. Some wear earplugs and use incense. Others even sleep standing up…"
"But no one can escape it. The nightmares always come."
"That's why we look like this."
She forced a smile again.
"Welcome to Mine Island."
Sam remained quiet.
He had suspected as much when he saw the state of the townspeople.
Darkrai.
A mythical Pokémon tied to nightmares…
And if it's actively affecting an entire island, that means something is very wrong.
"Thank you," Sam said softly, taking the card and heading to the elevator.
In the quiet of his suite, Sam sat cross-legged on the bed, eyes closed.
Lucario stood watch nearby, calm and focused.
The city outside was dim. Machinery rumbled faintly, but inside, all was still.
Sam focused on his Aura, the newly gained power humming gently within him.
He could feel something faint.
A presence.
Dark… cold… shifting beneath the earth like a shadow on the sea floor.
"Darkrai," Sam thought.
"You're not just passing through."
"You're staying here."
And something is keeping you from leaving.
In the hotel room, the glow of a standing lamp cast long shadows along the floor.
Sam sat at the small dinner table, poking at a bowl of noodles with mild disappointment.
"…Too salty."
He set the chopsticks down with a soft sigh.
"The chef must've been half-asleep when he made this."
Across from him, Lucario was forcing down a plate of berry salad, normally one of his favorites.
But tonight…
Even the berries were off.
Their textures were uneven, the flavors unbalanced—overripe in some places, undercut in others.
Sam leaned back in his chair, eyes shifting toward Lucario.
"Luca, do you sense anything?"
Lucario paused mid-bite, set his plate aside, and met Sam's gaze. His eyes shimmered faintly with Aura light.
"There's something," Lucario's voice echoed calmly in Sam's mind—clear and distinct now that they could communicate directly.
"The aura is faint… but it's close."
"Violent. Unstable. Full of destructive intent."
"But…" Lucario frowned.
"It comes and goes. Fleeting. Hard to pin down."
Sam crossed his arms thoughtfully, gaze falling to the floor.
"Unstable… violent… and elusive."
He whispered: "Could it be Darkrai's aura?"
Or… was it something else?
Sam closed his eyes, silently drawing on the Aura power within.
It glowed softly inside him, allowing him to sense faint life forces through the walls of the hotel.
Dozens of people in nearby rooms, all with weak, erratic rhythms.
Exhaustion. Stress. Mental strain.
"Luca," he said quietly,
"if you can catch that aura again… we might be able to trace the source."
Lucario nodded solemnly.
"Luka."
For now, though, Sam shook his head.
"We've been walking for days through the Psychedelic Forest. I haven't had a proper bath in days… I'm sticky and sore."
He got up with a stretch and yawned.
"Forget Darkrai for now."
"I'll shower first. Then we'll talk."
Lucario returned to his seat, quietly meditating as Sam stepped into the hotel bathroom.
Meanwhile, south of Mine Island.
A group of people dressed in Black where meeting.
Talking in a low voice, it seems that they are plotting something.