stonecrandall Chapter 38 The Dream Eater and Psyduck
Chapter 38 The Dream Eater and Psyduck
After challenging the Rainbow Gym, Ash and his friends rested for a few days before continuing their journey to the next gym.
However, Rainbow City is a mega-city cluster surrounded by multiple satellite cities.
So they probably won't get lost in the woods again on this trip.
However, the lack of opportunities to battle wild Pokémon in big cities made Ash miss Team Rocket for a while.
"Those idiots, though annoying, provide real, hard-earned experience."
"Xiao Zhi, look! Why is that auntie over there staring at you?"
Following Xiaoxia's words, they saw a pretty young woman staring at Xiaozhi.
"Xiao Yi, I've finally found you."
The aunt stared at him for a while, then ran over and pulled Xiaozhi into her arms.
[Congratulations, host, you have achieved the milestone: First time using face wash!]
[Rewards: Alliance Coins +200; Stamina +1]
"Wait, I'm not a first grader, let go..."
I actually wanted to enjoy it a little longer, but it was really covered up too tightly.
Moreover, this aunt didn't seem to be in good spirits. Xiao Zhi is a gentleman and would never take advantage of someone in distress.
After Auntie calmed down, Xiaozhi and the others finally understood what was going on.
It turns out that something strange has been happening in this town lately: adorable children have been going missing one after another.
The aunt's son, Xiao Yi, was also one of the victims.
After searching for many days, the aunt was so disoriented that she mistook Xiaozhi for Xiaoyi.
The sad look on the aunt's face reminded Xiaozhi of his mother, Hanako.
As long as he has the ability, Ash will choose to help as much as possible.
"Auntie, let's help find Xiao Yi too."
[Ding! New side quest triggered: Father Buster! Go save the cute little boy!]
[Rewards: Alliance Coins +500; Speed +2; Free Attribute Points +1; Regional Reputation +5]
Ash decided to go find Officer Jenny to find out what was going on.
"Little brother, you're the boy from the cruise ship, right?"
"You know me, Miss Officer Jenny."
The cruise ship incident happened a long time ago, and besides, this is Rainbow City, there's no reason for us to be famous here.
"There's no way around it. There's an elder in the family who praised you for a long time during a previous meeting. It's hard not to remember."
It must be that high-ranking league official, Sato Junsa.
However, thanks to him, Ash can move freely within the Metropolitan Police Department without being kicked out.
They quickly inquired with Miss Officer Jenny about the missing child.
Unfortunately, Officer Jenny is also troubled by this case and has no clue whatsoever.
But in the end, Ash was given a clue: the number of Pokémon being delivered to the Pokémon Center had suddenly increased recently, causing Nurse Joy a lot of trouble.
So Ash took Misty and Pikachu to the center to check on the situation.
This investigation did indeed uncover something unusual.
Nurse Joy told Ash that in the past three days, many Pokémon have suddenly fallen asleep in broad daylight for some unknown reason.
Just as Nurse Joy was explaining the situation, Pikachu and the other Pokémon that were awake suddenly fell asleep on the ground.
For a moment, only one Psyduck remained awake in the Pokémon Center.
"Look, in situations like this, all the Pokémon instantly collapsed."
"Only this child seems to have a headache and can't sleep."
Nurse Joy picked up Psyduck and showed it to Ash and Misty.
"It looks blank; it doesn't seem to be in pain."
Xiaoxia couldn't help but complain when she saw Psyduck's appearance.
Ash was overjoyed when he poked the Psyduck, which was clearly dumber than the other ducks, with his finger.
"Isn't that the Duck God?!"
Quickly ask Ms. Joy if Psyduck has a trainer.
After receiving no reply, Ash directly asked Nurse Joy to take Psyduck with him.
Because Ash has a very high regional affinity, Nurse Joy will readily grant him any reasonable requests.
"Alright, I can rest assured leaving this child in your care."
Ash managed to get his hands on Psyduck.
At this moment, through waveguide perception, Xiaozhi keenly sensed an unusual energy wave.
"It's hypnosis!"
By fully activating his aura perception, Ash finally located the source of the hypnosis on the top floor of a building.
He quickly called Jun Sha to go to that building together.
The top floor of the building is a large sky garden, and at the very center of the garden is a clubhouse-style building.
Ash and Officer Jenny cautiously approached, then kicked the door open and entered.
"Don't move! We suspect you're involved in child trafficking!"
It seemed like a banquet was being held inside the clubhouse, with everyone dressed in formal attire, both men and women.
They were startled by the sudden intrusion of Ash and his group, and were all holding their wine glasses, unsure of what to do.
At this point, the leader stepped forward to explain.
"We are all people who work hard in the big city of Rainbow City."
"Because of the immense pressure, I can't sleep, so I regularly hold parties and use the hypnosis techniques of the tapir to help me sleep."
"I haven't done anything related to the child."
Ash doesn't really believe this claim. Is the hypnotic membrane, a common item in Pokémon books, really used to help Pokémon sleep?
That sounds so strange. Most importantly, who sleeps during the day?
However, they've been doing this every day for many years.
The children went missing three days ago.
Ash grabbed the association president's tie and said to him fiercely.
"Think carefully about whether anything important has happened in the last three days!"
"Nothing major happened. If there was anything, it's that we originally had two hypnotic tapirs, but one of them evolved into a dream-inducing tapir."
Discover the key points.
"This is it. Quickly release the Dream Eater."
Ash confirmed that the problem lay with the Baku after it cast another hypnotic spell.
"Miss Officer Jenny is now certain that the child's disappearance was caused by the hypnosis of the Dream Eater."
"Children with weak immune systems fantasize about becoming Pokémon after being exposed to hypnotic waves, so they run away from home."
The Dream Eater felt innocent, saying it did whatever its trainer told it to do.
In the end, Ash's waveguide perception determined the children's location.
It's located in the Pokémon Nature Reserve in the city center.
They searched for three days in such a nearby place and still couldn't find it.
The police force in the Kanto region is truly worrisome.
Ash went to the children in the park and used Aura to wake them up one by one.
[Ding! Side quest completed: Father Buster! Go save the cute little boy!]
[Rewards: Alliance Coins +500; Speed +2; Free Attribute Points +1; Regional Reputation +5]
This time, Xiao Zhi once again performed a meritorious service, and the city's Metropolitan Police Department commended him and awarded him a bonus of 1 yuan.
And he handed the mischievous Baku to Ash to take away.
[Ding! Congratulations, host, you have achieved the achievement: Hypnotic Guidance: You have obtained a Hypnotic Pokémon]
[Rewards: Stamina +2; Attack +2; Speed +2]
Ash unexpectedly acquired a Pokémon, and upon scanning it with his Pokédex, he discovered it was a female Hypnos.
"In short, it's great that things were resolved smoothly."
Although it looked rather sleazy, Ash didn't mind and accepted it.
"This is not good at all. Why does that Psyduck keep following us?"
"This is a Pokémon I specially prepared for you, and it seems to really like you."
Because she was walking backwards, Xiaoxia wasn't paying attention and bumped into a small stone, causing her Poké Ball to fall off.
Psyduck walked forward, swaying its body blankly, looking at the Poké Ball with a puzzled expression, and then suddenly tapped the button on the Poké Ball with its head.
Xiaoxia successfully caught Psyduck.
She held the Poké Ball with a slight frown, as if she didn't quite like it.
"I don't want this silly Pokémon!"
The duck god was actually rejected, so Ash had no choice but to hold Misty's hand and say something.
"Psyduck is a gift for you."
"The fact that you were able to subdue it by chance means that all of this was a choice made by Steins;Gate!"
"...What door?"
"That's not important! It's one of the few Water-type Pokémon that can use psychic powers, let's train it well together!"
Hearing Ash say this, Misty decided to keep Psyduck.
"From now on, let's name Psyduck 'Duck-Powered Masseuse'." (Beast Senpai: Huh?)
"No way!" Xiaoxia refused decisively.
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No sooner had Ash and his friends left than a dark-skinned boy with small eyes arrived.
He carefully examined the map, confirmed the location of his destination, and then strode off briskly.
And the direction they were heading was the same direction Ash had taken when he left.