He had already accepted the mission on the Exploration app.
So, he planned to head straight there.
Once this exploration mission was completed, he could go directly to North City. There, he could not only challenge the Gym but also take on another Exploration Mission nearby. At the same time, he could search for Palkia.
"Flyy~"
Wearing his goggles, and with Flygon's cry ringing out, the desert dragonfly immediately took off, transforming into a streak of light as it flew swiftly into the distance.
The Overseas Archipelago weren't close to the mainland—in fact, they were quite far.
Even with Flygon's speed, it still took four hours to reach the destination.
High above, Nathan gazed down at the island below, frowning slightly.
The island was shrouded in thick fog—it belonged to the Derek's family. The island was sizable, but the dense mist covering it made Nathan furrow his brows as he muttered, "It must be related to a certain Pokémon."
The surrounding sea had no fog; it was only this island that was enveloped in it—and it had appeared suddenly. If someone claimed this wasn't caused by a Pokémon…
No one would believe it.
"Let's land," Nathan said to Flygon, intending to handle the matter here first. As for the rest of the archipelago, he would go there after solving this situation.
"Flyy~"
Flygon nodded and quickly descended toward the island's shoreline.
The fog near the shore wasn't too dense, but the deeper he walked into the island, the thicker it became—so thick that it was almost impossible to see what lay ahead.
In such an environment, Nathan didn't dare to go in alone. He released both Volcarona and Metagross.
He also kept Flygon at his side instead of returning it to its Pokéball.
Looking at Volcarona, Nathan instructed, "Volcarona, use *Hurricane*. See if you can blow away the fog."
"Vool~"
Volcarona nodded. With a beat of its wings, a violent storm suddenly surged forth, blowing away some of the mist ahead.
But almost immediately, the fog rolled back in again.
Seeing this, Volcarona turned to Nathan with a questioning look, as if asking whether it should continue.
Nathan shook his head and stroked his chin in thought.
"The fog can be dispersed, but it quickly re-forms… This is definitely the work of a Pokémon. The only question is—what kind?"
"And where is it hiding?"
He muttered to himself, then took a deep breath.
"You guys stay close and come in with me. Metagross, stay alert to our surroundings."
In this kind of environment, Mimikyu wouldn't be of much help. Nathan could only rely on Metagross's psychic powers to sense nearby movements and keep them from getting separated in the fog.
The Pokémon all nodded and followed Nathan as he headed deeper into the island.
The farther in they went, the denser the mist became.
Before long, Nathan could see nothing but a blanket of white—aside from the three Pokémon right beside him.
"Flyy~"
Flygon suddenly cried out and nudged Nathan, signaling for him to look in a certain direction.
There, on the ground, lay a small figure—
It was a Venonat, a Bug/Poison-type Pokémon that evolved into Venomoth. Despite its appearance, it was generally a gentle and docile Pokémon.
But this particular Venonat was badly injured, seemingly attacked by other Pokémon. Whether it was dead or alive was uncertain.
Nathan rushed over, scooped up the Venonat, and checked its condition.
"It's still breathing… Just heavily wounded. You guys, stay alert while I treat it," Nathan said softly to his Pokémon.
The Venonat's injuries weren't minor, but they weren't fatal either. The real problem was that the wounds had gone untreated for a while and had worsened over time.
Nathan activated his Viridian Power, and a gentle light appeared in his palm, healing the Venonat's wounds.
He then took out several healing items and carefully applied them to its body.
Roughly half an hour later, the Venonat in his arms finally opened its eyes weakly.
It looked nervous at first—likely because it found itself in a human's arms—and struggled a bit, only to cry out in pain as the movement tugged at its injuries.
"Don't move. Your wounds aren't fully healed yet. You need to rest," Nathan said gently, reaching out to pat its head.
His soft voice calmed the flustered Venonat, who now stared at him curiously.
Maybe it understood this human had saved it—because it nuzzled against Nathan's chest.
Then, thanks to Nathan's use of the Viridian Power, he could hear its voice clearly.
"Thank you~"
A crisp voice, like that of a young girl.
Nathan smiled. "What happened to you?" he asked.
At this, Venonat's face twisted in anger.
"A bad guy came to the island. After that, all this thick fog started, and then I got attacked by other bad guys in the mist."
"Bad guy?" Nathan looked puzzled.
"Yeah. A very dark one. With scary red eyes," Venonat said. "It started destroying everything once it arrived, and then the fog showed up."
"Do you know where that bad guy is now?" Nathan asked.
"No," Venonat replied, squirming a bit.
Nathan frowned. It looked like he'd have to investigate the situation on the island himself.
But just then, a voice rang out in his mind.
"There are two interesting little creatures on this island. I know where they are. You should go check it out."
"Two interesting ones?" Nathan's mouth twitched.
That voice, no doubt, was from Calyrex. He didn't doubt Calyrex's words—though when Calyrex said "interesting," it definitely referred to Pokémon, not people. But what kind of Pokémon? Mythical? Legendary? Or just rare ones?
"They're over there. You'd better hurry—one of them is in danger," Calyrex's voice came again.
At the same time, the dense fog around Nathan suddenly parted, revealing a straight path leading deeper into the island.
Nathan looked down at the Venonat in his arms. "Can you get home on your own? The place I'm headed might be dangerous."
"Mm-hmm. I can smell where home is," Venonat nodded. "I can get back."
"Alright. Just be careful—don't get hurt again."
"Thank you, human," Venonat replied in its childlike voice.
It jumped out of Nathan's arms, glanced back at him once, and then quickly ran off in another direction.
Nathan shook his head and said no more.
He climbed onto Flygon and instructed Metagross and Volcarona, "You two, keep up. Flygon, take the path."
"Flyy~"
The three Pokémon nodded. Flygon gave a sharp cry and launched itself forward like a blur, racing down the newly opened trail.
Volcarona and Metagross followed closely behind.
The deeper they went, the denser the fog became—
As mentioned earlier, it was so thick you could barely see your own hand in front of your face.
Thankfully, Calyrex had parted the mist with his psychic power—
Otherwise, they would've been completely blind.
But this just further demonstrated how terrifying Calyrex's power was.
He was still located all the way in the Vibrant Forest, yet he could still affect Nathan's surroundings from afar with his abilities.
It was ridiculous.
Psychic Pokémon, when powerful enough, were truly terrifying.
As Flygon sped forward, they quickly arrived at their destination.
And as soon as they did, Nathan was struck dumb by the sight before him.
He couldn't help but exclaim, "Celebi? Darkrai?"
The two Pokémon in front of him left Nathan stunned.
He never expected to encounter two Mythical Pokémon here.
But… something seemed off.
Or rather—Darkrai didn't look right.
Darkrai's eyes were glowing red, filled with savagery.
Celebi, on the other hand, had pink light flashing in its eyes, seemingly trying to forcibly suppress Darkrai.
Sensing Nathan's presence, Celebi turned to him with a worried expression. Its voice rang out in his mind.
"Human, you need to leave! Darkrai has lost control—I can't hold it much longer!"
"Lost control?" Nathan frowned—then suddenly froze, as if he had realized something. He asked in his heart, "Calyrex, is this because of the Mystery Realms?"
The first thing he thought of when he heard "lost control" was those mysterious realms.
When the Mystery Realms first appeared, most of the Pokémon within them would go berserk.
Could this Darkrai have come from one of them?
But even if that were the case… shouldn't it still be inside the Mystery Realm?
Why was it here?
"Yes," Calyrex's voice replied.
"This is exactly why I want you to find Palkia. Even powerful Pokémon can lose control and want to destroy everything. And as time passes, some Mystery Realms begin merging with the real world. When that happens, the Pokémon inside remain berserk—and that's a disaster for both humans and regular Pokémon alike."
As his voice echoed—
Buzz.
Ripples of light spread out before Nathan.
In the next moment, Calyrex's figure suddenly appeared.
"Celebi, let me handle it," Calyrex said gently.
As if they already knew each other, Celebi looked visibly relieved upon seeing Calyrex.
Hearing his words, Celebi nodded. The light faded from its eyes, and it flew toward Nathan.
With Celebi's suppression lifted, the rampaging Darkrai erupted with terrifying pressure.
Black mist surged from its body—pure menace.
---
Darkrai may be a Mythical Pokémon, but the power it was displaying now was downright terrifying.
An overwhelming aura rolled out with thick, churning black fog.
Darkrai let out a ferocious, guttural roar.
With a casual swipe of its hand, a violent, icy wind burst forth—
In the blink of an eye, a massive twister formed.
It was Ominous Wind, a Ghost-type move.
"Darkrai, this destruction must end,"
Calyrex said calmly. His eyes flashed with light—
In an instant, that terrifying twister disintegrated.
Then, it was as if an invisible force pinned Darkrai in place.
It could no longer move—only thrash and roar.
"RRAHHH—!"
Darkrai let out another ear-piercing scream.
It was so sharp that it made both humans and Pokémon feel intense discomfort.
More importantly, the cry seemed to break the invisible restraints—
Suddenly, a powerful, sinister energy surged from Darkrai's body.
Dark Pulse.
Darkrai raised both hands—
Like a massive "Dark Rasengan," a swirling Dark Pulse formed between its palms—
And then it launched the attack straight at Calyrex.
The Dark Pulse surged toward them.
Calyrex raised his right hand and waved—