A Critical Moment

Yuga searched for a long time near the Sunflora Ranch but couldn't find any trace of Glenn or the boy. Left with no choice, he expanded the search area and continued looking.

As time passed, the afternoon wore on, and there was still no sign of them. Yuga grew increasingly anxious, deeply worried about their safety. What if something had happened to them after being missing for so long?

Meanwhile, far from Verdanturf Town, in a dark and dreary place, Glenn and the boy were huddled in a corner, trembling with fear. Above their heads, countless Gastly, Haunter, Gengar, Misdreavus, and Mismagius swirled ominously. The missing Sunflora from the ranch was clinging to Glenn in terror, not daring to make a sound.

The sheer number of Ghost-type Pokémon caused the magnetic field of the area to change subtly, forming a peculiar space. This eerie domain was cloaked in spectral energy, making it impossible for the outside world to detect what was happening within.

Aside from Glenn, the boy, and the Sunflora, many wild Pokémon were also trapped here by the Ghost-types. Most of these wild Pokémon were unconscious.

The boy clung to Glenn's arm, his face pale with fear. "Do you think we're going to die here?" he asked, his voice trembling. The sight of so many Ghost-type Pokémon gathered together left him utterly terrified.

Glenn, his face expressionless, replied, "No, I believe Yuga will come to save us."

When they were first captured, Glenn had been just as frightened as the boy. But as time passed, he gradually calmed down. Fear wouldn't help them now. In a situation like this, staying calm was essential.

Oh, by the way, the boy's name was Takee. After living together for over a week, Glenn naturally learned his name.

Glenn felt he needed to figure out why they had been captured, what the Ghost-types were planning, and why they had also taken those wild Pokémon.

Hearing Glenn's confident response, Takee retorted in despair, "How is the Verdanturf Daycare owner supposed to know where we are? How will he save us?" Takee wasn't as optimistic as Glenn. Sure, the Verdanturf Daycare owner was powerful, but that wouldn't help if they couldn't be found.

"Yuga will come," Glenn replied firmly.

As one of Yuga's most loyal fan boy, Glenn had unwavering faith in him. However, he wasn't pinning all his hopes on Yuga. He had been secretly searching for a way to escape.

They had already tried to escape several times, but each attempt had ended in failure. The sheer number of Ghost-types made it almost impossible to slip away unnoticed.

Seeing Glenn's calm demeanor, Takee began to grumble, "This is all your fault! If you hadn't insisted on staying, we wouldn't have been caught!"

Glenn glanced at him without saying a word. Takee wasn't wrong.

When they had been searching for Sunflora, just like Mr. Harrison, they hadn't been able to find it. As night approached, Takee had urged Glenn to return, but Glenn insisted on searching a little longer.

That's when they were ambushed by a large group of Ghost-types. Somehow, they lost consciousness, and when they awoke, they found themselves in this eerie and sinister place.

They had actually been awakened by the cold. Strangely, the temperature here was entirely different from the outside world. It was spring outside, but here it felt like the dead of winter—bone-chillingly cold. The icy air seemed to penetrate straight into their bones.

Shivering uncontrollably, Takee clung tightly to Glenn's arm, inching closer for warmth. "Even if those Ghost-types don't kill us, we'll freeze to death soon enough," he said, his voice shaking.

Glenn was cold too, so he allowed Takee to huddle closer. He even pulled the Sunflora nearer to share some warmth.

The Sunflora was also suffering from the cold. Being a Pokémon that thrived in warm environments, it was struggling to endure the freezing conditions. It had been captured earlier than Glenn and Takee and was in even worse shape.

Glenn remained silent, keeping a close eye on the movements of the Ghost-types. However, they just floated around aimlessly, giving no indication of their intentions.

After what felt like an eternity, the eerie space rippled slightly. Suddenly, a cloaked figure and a Dusknoir appeared out of nowhere.

When this person appeared, the Ghost-type Pokémon gathered together, showing great respect to the cloaked figure and the Dusknoir by his side.

At that moment, Glenn realized why the Ghost-type Pokémon were capturing the wild Pokémon. A Haunter brought an unconscious Zigzagoon to the Dusknoir. The Dusknoir placed its hands over the Zigzagoon, its eyes glowing with a crimson light, and the Zigzagoon gradually became nothing more than a dried corpse.

The Dusknoir was absorbing the life force of the Pokémon to enhance its own power! Glenn was utterly horrified.

"Dusknoir~"

After draining the Zigzagoon's life force, the Dusknoir let out a groan of satisfaction.

Takee, who saw this scene as well, was about to cry out in terror, but Glenn quickly covered his mouth.

However, the cloaked figure still noticed the two of them.

"Hmm? You managed to capture two people as well?" The figure's voice was hoarse, making it difficult for Glenn to determine his age, though it was clear he was male.

Hearing his words, the Ghost-type Pokémon stirred restlessly, clearly terrified of the figure. They feared being blamed for causing trouble, as capturing Glenn and Takee had merely been a coincidence.

The figure hadn't initially intended to capture humans, knowing it would draw unwanted attention and cause complications. But instead of reprimanding the Ghost-types, he chuckled and said, "Since they're here, leave them for now. They'll be useful soon."

Upon hearing this, Takee was nearly scared out of his wits. Though he didn't know what the figure meant by "useful," it was undoubtedly nothing good. If Glenn hadn't been covering his mouth, Takee would likely have screamed in terror by now.

Glenn was equally terrified, but he forced himself to stay calm. Panic would only reduce their chances of escape.

The Dusknoir beside the cloaked figure cast a blood-red glance at Glenn, and he instantly felt the hairs on his body stand on end, a chilling sense of impending doom washing over him.

How terrifying!

After draining the life force of a few more wild Pokémon, the Dusknoir departed with the cloaked figure.

Once the Dusknoir left, Glenn touched the Pokéballs on his belt. Thankfully, the Ghost-type Pokémon hadn't confiscated them.

However, he was deeply worried about Lunatone. When he and Takee had been searching for the Sunflora, Lunatone had been accompanying him, but now it was nowhere to be seen. He didn't know if it had managed to escape or if it had been hurt.

Meanwhile, Yuga was still frantically searching for Glenn and Takee. He had sent out a large number of Ghost-type Pokémon and Houndoom to assist in the search, but there were still no leads.

By the next day, Yuga had been searching all night without rest and was visibly exhausted. At that moment, a Mismagius appeared before him with Lunatone in tow.

Seeing the injured Lunatone, Yuga's eyes lit up. He hurriedly asked, "Lunatone, where is Glenn?"

But Lunatone, still wounded and mentally disoriented, couldn't respond to Yuga's question. He could only instruct other Pokémon to take Lunatone home to recover before turning to the Mismagius.

"Mismagius, where did you find Lunatone?"

"Mismagius~ Mismagius~"

The Mismagius urgently beckoned Yuga to follow.

Yuga followed Mismagius to the location, discovering that the place where Mismagius found Lunatone was very close to where Glenn had first been captured by Cecilia long time ago.

Coincidence? A flash of insight struck Yuga's mind.

Either way, he had to investigate.

"Mismagius, go back and find Gengar and Mismagius. Bring them to me."

At this time, Yuga's Gengar and Mismagius were still searching for Glenn and Takee elsewhere. With their ability to sense through the shadow space, they would have no trouble finding him once nearby.

"Mismagius~"

Mismagius responded and vanishing instantly. It knew exactly which Gengar and Mismagius Yuga was referring to.

Meanwhile, Glenn's group found themselves in a dire situation as the mysterious cloaked man and his Dusknoir returned after disappearing for an entire night. The man cast a cold glance around before saying to the Dusknoir, "The time has come. Let's begin."

"Dusknoir~"

Dusknoir responded, spreading its arms wide as it began chanting incomprehensibly in its Pokémon tongue. Glenn couldn't understand the language, nor what it was invoking.

Takee, still conscious, shrank back and dared not say a word. Remembering the man's ominous words from yesterday, his heart raced with anxiety, unsure of what fate awaited him today.

As Dusknoir chanted, thick black mist poured from its body, swirling around it and refusing to dissipate. The eerie sight made Glenn's skin crawl.

The Ghost-type Pokémon in the vicinity grew agitated as the black mist emerged.

The cloaked man stared intently at Dusknoir, his eyes gleaming with a fanatical light.

Suddenly, Glenn saw Dusknoir's abdominal mouth slowly open. The gaping black maw was a terrifying void, shrouded in darkness that seemed to connect to the depths of hell itself.

Once the maw opened, a beam of dark light shot out from within, landing on the space before Dusknoir. Ripples spread through the air, and a spinning black vortex appeared in front of it.

"It appeared! It really appeared! Amazing!" The man, watching the vortex, became so excited that his speech turned incoherent.

But the man's joy was short-lived. Within seconds, the vortex began to shrink rapidly, spinning smaller and smaller until it was on the verge of vanishing.

"Stop it! Dusknoir, do something to keep it from disappearing!" The man shouted in his raspy voice, his tone filled with urgency.

Elsewhere, as Yuga was hurrying toward the location, he felt a sudden sensation the moment the black vortex appeared. He stopped briefly, gazing into the distance before quickening his pace.

"Dusknoir~ Dusknoir~"

Upon hearing the cloaked man's reminder, Dusknoir let out a loud cry toward the group of Ghost-type Pokémon. The Ghost Pokémon became even more restless, and soon Glenn and Takee saw them flying toward Dusknoir, diving straight into its massive, gaping mouth.

With each Ghost Pokémon that entered its maw, horrifying screams echoed from within, and Dusknoir seemed to become more energized, as if injected with adrenaline. Under its control, the black vortex continued to grow larger.

Seeing this, the cloaked man muttered excitedly, "Excellent, keep going, keep going!"

At his command, Dusknoir opened its mouth even wider, allowing more Ghost Pokémon to rush in. When the vortex grew to the size of a door, the cloaked man began picking up the unconscious wild Pokémon one by one and throwing them into the vortex.

By then, all the Ghost Pokémon had disappeared into Dusknoir's massive mouth, becoming sustenance to fuel the opening of the black vortex.

At this point, Glenn and Takee finally understood the meaning of the cloaked man's words from the day before. Their fates would likely mirror those of the wild Pokémon—they were going to be thrown into the black vortex as well.

"What do we do? What do we do? I don't want to die, I don't want to die…" Takee choked back sobs as he spoke, trembling. He couldn't believe his moment of greed had led him into such a terrifying ordeal.

If he could turn back time, he would never have stolen Pokémon from YoYo Day Care. If he hadn't been caught, he wouldn't have been sent to the ranch for "reform," and he wouldn't be facing this horror now.

Glenn was equally terrified. Takee's grip on his arm, born of sheer fear, was so tight it hurt, but seeing Takee crying and sniveling pitifully, Glenn chose to endure it.

Over the years, Glenn had faced many dangers during his adventures, giving him a stronger mental fortitude than Takee. While he was scared, he managed to stay relatively calm.

The cloaked man was irritated by Takee's crying and shot a fierce glare their way. "Don't worry, your turn will come very soon."

Takee immediately fell silent, too frightened to make another sound.

Soon, the cloaked man finished throwing all the wild Pokémon into the vortex. The only one left was the Sunflora hiding behind Glenn.

The vortex seemed to stabilize, no longer spinning rapidly or shrinking due to Dusknoir's lack of energy.

"Now it's your turn…" The cloaked man's face twisted with cruelty as he advanced toward Glenn and Takee.

Annoyed by Takee's earlier sobbing, he grabbed him first, dragging him toward the black vortex.

"Let me go! I don't want to die! Let me go…" Takee struggled desperately, but he was no match for the cloaked man's strength and was dragged across the ground.

At that moment, with the cloaked man's back turned, Glenn quickly pulled out a Poké Ball and released a Blaziken to attack. However, now that the vortex had stabilized, Dusknoir was free to act. It immediately noticed Glenn's movements and froze Blaziken in place before it could make a move.

Just as Takee was about to be thrown into the vortex, the entire space suddenly began to shake violently. Both the cloaked man and Dusknoir's expressions changed drastically.

Outside, Yuga was commanding Dragonite to strike the strange grayish space with Thunder. The area was an unstable pocket of altered space created by magnetic field fluctuations, and under Dragonite's relentless assault, cracks began to form.

This strange space had not existed before, and Yuga was certain Glenn and Takee's disappearance was connected to it. If he hadn't approached closer, he would never have noticed the space from afar.

With a thunderous crash, the pocket space shattered, exposing everything inside—Dusknoir, the cloaked man, the vortex, Takee, and Glenn—all in plain view of Yuga.

The first thing Yuga noticed was the Dusknoir exuding a sinister aura. For some reason, its gaze toward him felt strange, almost as if it recognized him.