Amazon Forest was urgently blocked.
When Albus learned about it, he was preparing to take Magical Leaf into the forest for combat training. However, upon arriving at the entrance, he found warning signs and cordons in place.
Several Miss Wednesdays stood at the scene, engaged in a conversation with a brown-skinned girl with black hair and blue eyes.
"...That's the situation. Those ghost-type Pokémon may reappear at any moment," Miss Wednesday reported truthfully.
The girl frowned and asked, "Who has encountered this before?"
Miss Wednesday responded, "Many people. Apart from us, there were also teachers and students from the Pokémon Junior School."
"I need more details," the girl said seriously.
Before Albus could finish listening, he slipped away. He had already recognized the girl's identity—she was one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Hoenn Alliance, the ghost-type master, Fleur. It was said that she had the unique ability to communicate with ghost-type Pokémon.
In the game, her grandparents resided in the Sacred Mountain, acting as guardians of the Vermilion Orb and the Indigo Orb.
"It seems the Hoenn Alliance is taking this matter very seriously," Albus thought to himself.
Normally, the alliance would send investigators to assess and resolve incidents. However, this time, they had directly dispatched Fleur, one of the Four Heavenly Kings, indicating the severity of the situation in Amazon Forest.
Initially, Albus believed this issue had nothing to do with him.
However, less than ten minutes after returning to school, he saw the ghost king once again.
Fleur had come to the school to gather information from the survivors who had experienced the event firsthand.
But after questioning many people, she found herself with nothing useful.
Their responses were almost identical:
"I saw a ghost Pokémon emitting blue light."
"I was so frightened that I fainted—I didn't see anything."
"I don't know what happened. They just disappeared before my eyes."
Fleur asked again, "Did you hear any strange sounds?"
Once again, the answer was no.
She frowned, feeling puzzled.
She had examined the massive cracks in the ground within the forest, stretching hundreds of meters long.
It was impossible for a Pokémon capable of causing such destruction to have done so in complete silence.
Judging from the terrain, those cracks had appeared in a single instant.
This meant that whatever Pokémon was responsible had only used one move.
How terrifying must such an entity be?
Even the strongest Pokémon trained by the Hoenn Alliance could not create such large-scale destruction in one attack.
If a trainer was behind it, just how powerful was that person?
Fleur couldn't even begin to imagine.
According to Miss Wednesday's report, the enormous crack in the earth was directly linked to the disappearance of the ghost Pokémon.
It was highly likely that the entity responsible for creating that crack had also been the one to repel those ghost-types.
"Miss Fleur, this is the teacher who broke the illusion created by those ghost Pokémon," Miss Wednesday said as she entered, interrupting Fleur's thoughts.
Fleur turned to look and found herself staring at a very young child. Judging by his appearance, he seemed to have just turned ten?
She was momentarily stunned. However, as one of the Four Heavenly Kings, she was not only strong in battle but also highly emotionally intelligent. A child who had already become a teacher must have possessed extraordinary talent.
Adjusting her expression quickly, she greeted him politely, "Hello."
Albus expected her to question his age, as many others had done before.
Yet, she did not.
This small detail gave him a good impression of her.
"This ghost king has high emotional intelligence," he thought to himself before responding with equal politeness, "Hello."
Fleur asked, "Can you explain the situation in detail?"
"Of course."
Albus carefully organized his thoughts before slowly recounting the incident. Of course, he omitted anything related to Powerful Duck.
"I encountered a group of Candlelight Spirits and Light Ghosts. Just when they attacked me, a very large Lorcan suddenly appeared and drove them away."
The reason Albus mentioned the overlord Lorcan was simple—he wanted the hidden dangers in the forest to be addressed as soon as possible. Without that assurance, he wouldn't be able to train there in peace.
"Lorcan?"
Fleur's eyes lit up upon hearing that name—finally, a new lead!
"That Lorcan took me to a very old mansion," Albus continued. "It told me it had been suppressing those ghost-type Pokémon there."
He paused before adding, "Not long ago, those ghosts hypnotized it and escaped. After telling me this, Lorcan sent me away."
"Mansion... Lorcan... suppression..."
Fleur muttered under her breath as a secret alliance rumor surfaced in her mind.
It was said that when the Hoenn Alliance was first established, there was a large-scale disappearance of humans. In response, the alliance had sent the first-ever Ghost King to resolve the crisis.
The issue had ultimately been resolved, but the Ghost King himself was never seen again.
According to old records, this case had been classified as 'The Missing King Incident.'
And that legendary Ghost King had owned a Lorcan.
Fleur's heart pounded.
She needed to report this to the Hoenn Alliance immediately!
But first, she still had one more question.
"Besides Lorcan, did you hear any strange sounds at that time?"
Albus hesitated. "What do you mean?"
"The sounds of battle," Fleur clarified. "Did you see that massive crack in the forest floor?"
Albus fell silent.
That was the work of his bird.
He had never expected that the Cliff Sword move would be so powerful.
Clearly, he needed to be more cautious about using it in urban areas in the future.
But he couldn't admit to it.
So, he feigned ignorance. "I didn't hear anything."
Fleur frowned, disappointed. "I see... Thank you for your help. Miss Wednesday, I'll leave the rest to you."
"I understand, Miss Fleur!" Miss Wednesday saluted as Fleur departed.
Albus also took his leave.
Winter vacation was approaching, and he had to book a boat ticket to Manchester Town in advance. If he waited too long, he might not get a ticket when all the trainers headed home.
The Hoenn region was surrounded by the sea, and Adelaide City had no port.
He would first need to travel to Melbourne City, where he could take a passenger ship from the northwest sea to Manchester Town.
Albus had already planned his trip.
He would stay in Manchester Town for a few days to battle, then take Magical Leaf, Powerful Duck, and Lorcan to Chimney Mountain to ride the special cable car to Fuyan Town for a relaxing hot spring vacation.
Hopefully, by the time he returned next spring, the Hoenn Alliance would have resolved the mansion incident!
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