According to legend, Cresselia could give birth to Lunar Feathers imbued with the power of pleasant dreams, possessing the mysterious ability to dispel Darkrai's nightmares. Thus, it was intrinsically connected to the moon.
"If my guess is correct, there should be an island near the Sinnoh Region where Cresselia resides."
This thought surfaced in his mind, but he soon frowned and shook his head slightly. If his guess was correct, then why hadn't the Sorcerer Organization gone to capture Cresselia?
As a guardian deity, there was no way the Sorcerer Organization would simply give up on Cresselia—so the explanation was obvious. The Sorcerers had been to this island, but they had failed to find Cresselia.
"Perhaps Cresselia has already left that island?" he mused. Even so, he still planned to visit it. Perhaps he might discover something there.
After once more surveying the hall, Aven had Gardevoir use her psychic power to record everything around them, then prepared to head for the island marked on the map.
According to the map, the island lay to the southwest of Darkrai's cave. As long as they explored in that direction, it should not be difficult to find the island depicted on the map.
They then retraced their steps. This time, however, Aven brought back not only himself, but also a large number of Ghost-type Pokémon. These Ghost-types would follow him back to the Pokémon Domain and live in the Tower of Souls.
Moreover, these Ghost-type Pokémon held Darkrai in great reverence. Their willingness to leave was, to some extent, also because of Darkrai's existence.
"Your Highness Aven," Mado greeted him as he returned, leading the knights forward.
"Yes, I'm back. I've already clarified Darkrai's situation," Aven replied.
"Next, we'll continue sailing toward the southwestern seas. I need you to explore the islands in that direction."
With Aven's orders given, the ironwood ship set sail once more. At the same time, the knights riding Gyarados gradually spread out, searching the surrounding waters for islands.
With a clear direction, finding islands in the vast sea became relatively easy. During this period, islands were discovered one after another, but unfortunately none of them were the target.
Not until three days later did they land on an island that contained a temple.
"Found it—the temple of Cresselia," Aven said as he stood before the temple, his gaze resting on the carvings upon it.
However, it was obvious that neither the island nor the temple held any trace of Cresselia. At some unknown point in time, Cresselia had already left the island.
He then led his Pokémon into the temple to investigate, searching for information related to Cresselia in hopes of finding her next whereabouts and continuing the search.
The temple was in a very dilapidated state. As Aven scanned the surroundings, he discovered that much of the information here bore great similarities to what he had seen in Darkrai's cave.
"Hm? Almian script again… so the humans who worshipped Cresselia also came from there," Aven muttered, his eyes narrowing slightly.
Darkrai's followers, Heatran's followers, and now Cresselia's followers—together with that mysterious region he had yet to set foot on, Almia truly concealed far too many secrets.
At this thought, he took out the black crystal and the red crystal. Both crystals originated from the Almia region and were closely connected to Darkrai and Heatran.
If that was the case, then could Cresselia also possess a crystal of her own? The only question was whether it would be a yellow crystal or a blue one.
While he was deep in thought, he suddenly noticed the red crystal in his hand flash with a glimmer of light. It actually reacted to the temple—could it be because traces of Cresselia's aura still lingered here?
"Perhaps we can wait here for a while. Maybe the red crystal can draw Cresselia here," Aven thought.
Since he had no other leads for now, he decided to stay and carefully study the information from Darkrai's cave and this temple, continuing to trace the whereabouts of Darkrai and Cresselia.
All of this information was written in Almian script. He couldn't help but sigh—if only Phyllis were here.
With Phyllis absent, he could only rely on the Almian script dictionary she had given him to slowly decipher the inscriptions.
By combining the records from the Daly family, Meteor City, Darkrai's cave, and this temple, he might be able to glean more information about Almia, making final preparations for his eventual journey to the Almia region.
Time soon came to nightfall. Perhaps because Cresselia had once lived here, the moonlight on the island was exceptionally bright, filling the entire island with abundant Fairy-type energy.
"Garde~ voir~"
Gardevoir was currently seated at the peak of the island's highest mountain, bathed in moonlight.
As a Fairy-type Pokémon, she had a very strong affinity with moonlight. Encountering such a place conducive to cultivating Fairy-type energy, she naturally wouldn't let the opportunity slip by.
Although Gardevoir's Psychic-type talent was much stronger than her Fairy-type talent, her Psychic training had already faintly reached a bottleneck. At such a time, training her Fairy-type energy was a good alternative.
If she could, like Lilligant, Froslass, and Rhyperior, merge the Psychic-type energy she controlled with Fairy-type energy, her strength would receive a tremendous boost.
She sat upright atop the mountain, the moonlight shining directly upon her. Pink energy began to surge and roll, continuously merging into Gardevoir's body.
Time passed quickly. While absorbing moonlight and meditating, Gardevoir's consciousness suddenly became somewhat hazy—something extremely rare for her, given that her mental power had already reached the King level.
She instantly opened her eyes and took a deep breath, feeling as though she had almost drowned and had only just surfaced for air, her awareness slowly returning.
The moment she opened her eyes, she froze.
Floating in midair before her was a figure with a light-blue body, a yellow underside, and two strands of purplish-red hair extending from a crescent-shaped chest crest.
The yellow ornaments on either side of its head resembled crescent moons. Pink, ring-shaped wings extended from its sides and back, with claw-like tips resting before its chest. Countless glowing particles radiated from its wings, pulsing rhythmically.
"Garde…?"
Gardevoir stared blankly at the suddenly appearing figure.
From this being, she felt an overwhelming sense of warmth and familiarity, as though she were gazing upon the embodiment of the moon itself.
A moment later, she finally reacted, instantly realizing the identity of the figure before her—
Cresselia!
Without hesitation, she activated Teleport and vanished from the spot. When she reappeared, she was already inside the temple.
"Gardevoir, what's wrong?" Aven was standing before a stone stele and turned in confusion as Gardevoir suddenly appeared.
"Garde! Voir!"
Gardevoir hurriedly conveyed through psychic transmission the news that she had seen Cresselia.
"Cresselia has appeared?" Aven exclaimed in shock.
Before he could head to the mountaintop to search, a brilliant light suddenly filled the temple, and Cresselia's figure slowly manifested within.
Once she appeared, Cresselia's gaze fell upon Aven—or rather, upon the black crystal and red crystal in his backpack. That was precisely why she had come.
"Cresselia, did you come because of these?" Sensing her gaze, Aven took out the two crystals.
Cresselia nodded gently, then closed her eyes. A surge of psychic power spread outward, instantly enveloping Aven.
"Lilli—!"
Seeing this, Lilligant's expression sharpened.
But just as she was about to act, Aven stepped forward and stopped her. "She has no malicious intent."
Hearing Aven's words, Lilligant, Froslass, and Gardevoir all calmed down, watching as Cresselia's psychic power completely wrapped around him.
In the dark world of consciousness, two figures appeared simultaneously.
Cresselia looked the same as ever, but Aven was now shrouded in radiant, seven-colored light.
Seeing Aven in this state, surprise appeared on Cresselia's face—she had clearly recognized the power of Azelf within him.
However, she had never intended to harm Aven. She merely wished to communicate with him through psychic means, seeking information about the two crystals.
"I know what you want to ask," Aven said with a faint smile as he spread his hands, opening his memories.
Instantly, countless images appeared in the dark world, flashing by like slides in a projector, fully presented before Cresselia.
Psychic communication was indeed extremely efficient. As a Psychic-type Legendary Pokémon, Cresselia quickly obtained the answers she sought and withdrew from the mental realm.
In the real world, Aven opened his eyes at the same time and took out Darkrai's Poké Ball. With a flash of white light, Darkrai's figure emerged.
Upon appearing, Darkrai instinctively activated his Nightmare ability. An invisible wave of psychic power spread outward, capable of plunging any affected beings into sleep.
But Cresselia was Darkrai's natural nemesis. Under the influence of her psychic fluctuations, the power of Nightmare vanished without a trace, as though nothing had happened.
Cresselia looked once more at Darkrai, then at the black crystal in Aven's hand, and gently nodded.
Immediately afterward, a yellow crystal suddenly materialized beside her!
(End of Chapter)