Kingdom

As soon as Dusknoir appeared, it used Trick Room move. Dusknoir speed originally not very fast, however with the help of Trick Room it allowed Dusknoir to instantly appear in front of Yuga and the others.

The approach of Dusknoir made Dragonite and Gengar stand on edge, their bodies tensed, ready for anything. However, Dusknoir didn't attack Yuga; instead, it embraced him with its muscular arms.

"Dusknoir, Dusknoir, Dusknoir."

Dusknoir let out a soft call, but Yuga sensed a deep sense of emotion and sighs in that low growl.

"Are you... Shadowsong's Dusknoir?"

The moment Dusknoir held Yuga, he was startled, but upon hearing its call, he finally recognized Dusknoir's identity, and his heart was filled more with the joy of reunion.

"Dusknoir, Dusknoir!"

Dusknoir released Yuga and nodded.

"You... you're alive... so, what about Shadowsong?" Yuga said, feeling emotional.

Hearing Yuga mention its master, Dusknoir felt a bitter sadness. It had managed to reunite with Yuga across a thousand years, but its master...

Seeing Dusknoir's mood shift, Yuga's own mood darkened considerably.

Yes, a thousand years had passed. Yuga had only spent a little over two years in Arus, but for Shadowsong and Dusknoir, over a thousand years had gone by.

Shadowsong, the prince of Arus, and Yuga had met across time and space, spending a little over two years together in the era of the Arus Empire, witnessing the empire's demise together.

Speaking of it, Dusknoir wasn't originally Shadowsong's Pokémon. It was initially the Pokémon of Shadowsong's guardian, Hubert. When Hubert passed away, he entrusted Dusknoir with the task of protecting Shadowsong, and from that point on, it became Shadowsong's Pokémon.

Shadowsong was the first generation in Yuga and Mr. Kuni'o's lineage, a pure Grass-type Pokémon Trainer, and Dusknoir was his only non-Grass-type Pokémon.

After some reflection, Dusknoir invited Yuga and his Dragonite to board the ship. For Dragonite and Gengar, it was a reunion, and they were all quite happy to see each other again.

However, the Pelipper and the Wingull following behind were still confused and shivering. As soon as they boarded the ship, they flew to the mast and perched there, too scared to look around.

On this ghost ship, apart from Dusknoir and Dhelmise that initially attacked Yuga and his companions, there were many other Ghost-type Pokémon, such as Gengar, Banette, and Sableye, with quite high levels.

Yuga and his group's boarding caught the attention of the "crew" on the ship. It was the first time they had invited humans aboard their ship, and they wondered if this was the person they had been searching for all these years.

Once aboard the ghost ship, Yuga noticed that despite the tattered sails hanging from the masts, the ship itself was well maintained and showed no signs of damage. The interior of the ship was also pleasantly decorated, devoid of the eerie atmosphere often associated with ghost ships.

After a conversation with Dusknoir, Yuga learned about the development and continuation of the village that Shadowsong had founded after he left.

Back in the day, the territory of the Arus Empire was devastated by Groudon's rampage, which led to its downfall. Consequently, the Vante Empire, after occupying this area, didn't put much effort into managing it. Soon, the region fell into chaos.

Out of fear that the Vante Empire might wipe them out, Shadowsong had been living in anonymity. However, as the village developed, he eventually founded a city where the citizens could live and work.

Under the efforts of Shadowsong's descendants, this city eventually evolved into a small kingdom. While not large, the people there lived happily.

Before his passing, Shadowsong had entrusted Dusknoir with a mission: if it ever reached the era where Yuga existed, it must find him. So, for all these years, Dusknoir had been searching for Yuga.

However, the geography of the Hoenn region over a thousand years ago and the present-day Hoenn region were not the same. Many locations had shifted, making it difficult for Dusknoir to find Yuga.

Moreover, Dusknoir's memory about Yuga's era wasn't very clear, and it had no idea exactly when Yuga would be born.

So, for most of these years, Dusknoir had been urging the ghost ship to roam the seas, leaving behind many legends.

The Ghost-type Pokémon on the ship had all been taken in by Dusknoir while it searched for Yuga. As for the Elite level Dhelmise on the ship, it was the only surviving Grass-type Pokémon from Shadowsong's era.

Grass-type Pokémon were known for their long lifespans among Pokémon, but they still paled in comparison to Ghost-type Pokémon in terms of longevity. It was rare to find Ghost-type Pokémon that lived over a thousand years, let alone Grass-type Pokémon.

Dhelmise had been discovered by Shadowsong in his old age, near the beach. Shadowsong hadn't spent much time with it before he passed away, and it had been following Dusknoir ever since.

Today, unexpectedly meeting Yuga here was something even Dusknoir hadn't anticipated. It could be seen as a stroke of luck.

After a long conversation, Dusknoir suddenly told Yuga that it wanted to take him to a place where Shadowsong had left something for him.

Yuga wanted to know where they were going, but Dusknoir decided to keep it a secret.

Subsequently, Yuga witnessed the entire ghost ship, under the control of many Ghost-type Pokémon, rising from the sea and moving towards the land, not the open ocean.

After flying for the better part of a day, Yuga spotted a castle on the horizon, below which lay a small town bustling with people.

After Dusknoir introduced Yuga to the situation, he learned that this was the small kingdom established by Shadowsong's descendants, and it had persisted until today.

In the world of Pokémon, small kingdoms like this still existed, and most of them mainly concentrated in the Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Kalos regions. Yuga had only heard of them before, and this was the first time he had seen one in person.

Such small kingdoms were remnants of ancient times, with very limited land area, typically about the size of a single town.

However, during the time of the Pokémon League Revolution, they had been among the first to pledge allegiance and had provided significant aid to the League. This support had allowed them to survive and maintain a high degree of autonomy.

Essentially, they had a similar status to the general cities in the League.

The sudden appearance of the ghost ship over the kingdom quickly caught the attention of the residents in the town below. However, their gazes were filled with amazement rather than fear when they looked at the ghost ship.

Most of the kingdom's citizens were aware of the enigmatic ghost ship's existence within the kingdom. It had been there since the kingdom's establishment and held a high status within the kingdom, although few had actually seen it.

Dusknoir has been wandering outside for many years, and the last time he returned to the kingdom was more than 20 years ago, so it is not surprising that the residents of the kingdom have not seen the ghost ship.

This time, the reason Dusknoir had coincidentally encountered Yuga was because it had planned to disembark and return to the kingdom from the location where Pelipper's family resided.

The ghost ship swiftly arrived over the royal palace, and before long, squads of soldiers marched out from the palace, followed by a tall middle-aged man among them.

However, this middle-aged man had a menacing look and didn't seem like someone with good intentions.

As expected, he spoke harshly as soon as he opened his mouth.

"Who goes there! Daring to intrude into the royal palace, you better quickly disembark from the ship!"

Even the kingdom's citizens knew that the ghost ship belonged to their own kingdom, how could this person not know? Clearly, he was doing this on purpose.