"Boni!"
The source of the sound was some distance away.
Normally, Lucas and Perrin wouldn't get involved in every little thing.
But this voice was familiar—Lucas had heard it just last night.
"Is that the ghost?" Lucas frowned. Compared to the warning it gave about Gyarados last night, this sounded more like a cry for help.
He'd just been warned by it yesterday, so Lucas couldn't just ignore it now.
"I'll check it out. You follow in a bit, or wait here if you want."
After explaining quickly to Perrin and leaving Mimikyu to protect her, Lucas mounted Arcanine and dashed off.
Perrin didn't even have time to reply before Lucas vanished like the wind.
Hugging her Growlithe, Perrin muttered, "Should've expected that from his Pokémon."
"If my ancestors were here, they'd be pleased to see Hisuian Pokémon still thriving."
…
Arcanine, without even using Extreme Speed, carried Lucas to the source of the cry in an instant.
There, on a large tree, a giant, purple, cobra-like Pokémon with a terrifying belly pattern was binding its prey with its thick tail, jaws wide, venom dripping from its fangs, ready to strike.
The prey was the "ghost" Kieran had mentioned!
It was tied up tight, only its short legs (that looked like they wore wooden clogs) sticking out, struggling weakly.
Below, a green mask lay on the ground—clearly related to the ghost.
Lucas frowned.
He understood the situation, but… why was this so-called ghost, famed for single-handedly defeating the Loyal Three getting caught by a mere Arbok?
No time to think—it was urgent. He couldn't just watch as the ghost that warned him got bitten by Arbok, especially since it looked like a Grass-type, weak to Poison.
He leapt off Arcanine. "Thunder Fang!"
Electric attacks would paralyze Arbok, making it let go and giving Lucas a chance to save the ghost.
Arcanine roared and charged at Arbok.
Seeing the threat, Arbok loosened its grip to defend itself, displaying its terrifying belly pattern and hissing menacingly.
But Arcanine was unfazed—Lucas's angry face was far scarier!
Seeing Arcanine undeterred, Arbok grew angry and cold, opening its jaws to spray a foul-smelling, acidic liquid—Poison-type move, Acid Spray!
Arbok was confident in this move: it was fast, accurate, and could corrode any opponent.
It expected to see Arcanine stumble into the acid and collapse in pain.
But reality was different.
As the acid flew at it, Arcanine's eyes flashed with disdain, suddenly accelerating, its body outlined in a bright white glow.
Extreme Speed!
In Arbok's eyes, Arcanine simply vanished.
Without a target, the acid splattered on the ground, sizzling.
Arbok froze in shock.
A moment later, a huge force struck it—Arcanine had yanked it from the tree, then bit down hard with electrified fangs!
Electricity surged through Arbok, forcing it to release the ghost.
When the paralysis subsided, a shaken Arbok saw Arcanine standing by the human, ghost in tow.
Arbok, frightened, decided to cut its losses and leave.
It wasn't stupid enough to keep fighting and risk losing its territory.
"Wait!" Lucas called.
Arbok, annoyed, stopped—knowing it couldn't outrun Arcanine.
Then, Lucas did something unexpected: he tossed a bag of something at Arbok!
Suspicious, Arbok sniffed the air—whatever was inside smelled delicious.
Lucas spoke again. "There's enough food in there for a few days, plus healing berries. Consider it a trade, okay?"
Arbok sniffed the bag. As a Poison-type, it could tell there were no toxins—just tasty food and rare healing berries.
Was this guy for real?
Using its tail, Arbok picked up the bag, gave Lucas a strange look, and slithered away.
Not a bad deal, it thought. Got beaten up, but at least I got food and medicine out of it.
Lucas didn't stop Arbok, watching it disappear before turning away.
He'd tossed it a bag of Pokémon food and berries he'd prepared for exactly this kind of barter, ever since the time he saved Deerling from a Lycanroc at Casseroya Lake.
That way, he could trade with wild Pokémon without disrupting the ecosystem—and still get what he wanted.
After handling Arbok, Lucas crouched down and picked up the rescued "ghost" from Arcanine's back, checking it over.
Thankfully, there were no bite wounds, just some marks from being squeezed too tightly.
Relieved, Lucas treated its injuries with a healing spray.
Examining the ghost, he couldn't help but think: except for its orange face and fangs, it really looked like a kid.
He couldn't see its neck, and wondered how Arbok had managed to nearly suffocate it.
Just then, the ghost—Ogerpon—regained consciousness with a start.
"Boni!?"
Its first reaction was to look around, thinking it was still tied up.
Then it saw Lucas tending to its wounds, and after a moment's confusion, began to panic, trying to escape.
For Ogerpon, who hadn't interacted with humans for a long time and was subconsciously afraid of them, this close contact was like forcing a socially anxious person to perform in front of a crowd.
At that moment, Lucas's grip tightened slightly, and he spoke calmly.
"Relax. I mean you no harm."
Maybe there was something magical in Lucas's voice, because Ogerpon's struggles weakened, and it stared at him with starry eyes.
For a second, Ogerpon thought it saw a shadow overlapping Lucas—a memory from long ago, when someone else had tended its wounds like this.
But the illusion was quickly shattered, and Ogerpon realized Lucas was not that person.
After finishing the treatment, Lucas set Ogerpon down and asked, "How do you feel? Can you walk?"
Ogerpon tested its body and found the pain fading fast—soon it felt as light as ever.
"Boni!"
It stomped its feet in surprise, amazed at Lucas's medicine—old injuries seemed to have disappeared as well!
Lucas smiled. "I used the best healing spray. It can heal even battle wounds, let alone a few bruises."
After the surprise, Ogerpon suddenly realized something was missing.
Its mask! Where was its mask?
Before it could panic, Lucas pressed a warm hand on its head, calming it down.
"Take it easy."
"Arcanine, could you fetch its mask? Looks important."
Arcanine nodded and, within seconds, returned with the dusty, green mask.
Lucas took the mask, patted Arcanine's head in praise, then examined it.
It looked like a smiling, traditional mask, inlaid with gems that glimmered even in the darkness. Sadly, the mask was damaged, with many gems cracked or missing.
He handed the mask back to Ogerpon, teasing, "You know, to hold you still, I had to bend down."
"Boni?"
Ogerpon, overjoyed to have its mask, didn't get the joke at first.
After a few seconds, it realized—was Lucas calling it short?!
Ogerpon's opinion of Lucas instantly plummeted. Puffing its cheeks in anger, it let out a string of indignant cries.
"Boni! Boni! Boni!"
It forgot all about caution, flailing its tiny fists at Lucas's knees.
Unfortunately, its strength was lacking—it was more like a child playfully pounding an adult's legs.
Lucas, amused, asked his real question.
"Are you really the ghost that took on three opponents at once? You're not very strong!"
Ogerpon froze at his words.
Then, without warning, its eyes filled with tears, as if reminded of something sad.
Lucas was stunned—why was it crying?!
From within its Pokéball, Serperior couldn't take it anymore and came out, shooting Lucas a look.
Sometimes, this trainer was like a mind reader—and sometimes, completely clueless.
Wasn't it obvious Lucas had touched on Ogerpon's trauma?
Serperior comforted Ogerpon in its own way.
With Serperior's help, Ogerpon calmed down and even apologized quietly to Lucas.
Though Lucas couldn't understand its language, he got the gist.
His mind suddenly clicked—maybe there was more to the legend than he'd thought.
But before investigating the truth, Lucas had Serperior ask Ogerpon why it was in the Timeless Woods, away from Oni Mountain, and how it got caught by Arbok. He also asked for the ghost's name.
Serperior shot Lucas a look—always making the snake do the work—but did its job.
It turned out, the ghost's name was Ogerpon.
It had followed Lucas into the forest. Normally, with its agility, few could catch Ogerpon. But, trailing Lucas after dark in unfamiliar terrain, Ogerpon had stumbled into Arbok's grasp.
And that led to Lucas rescuing it.
After understanding the situation, Lucas finally asked the question on his mind.
"Why were you following me?"