Dark City.
"Good! You're getting there. Keep this up."
Three days had passed by since the start of Ran's training, and right now, Hisoka was training her Mightyena on how to use her skills more effectively.
Meanwhile, Ran was watching over her two new Pokemon, Mukrow and Purrloin, engaged in a light sparring. Both of them were still very young. She didn't want them to train hard for the time being.
"Knock! Knock!"
Hearing the sudden knocking sounds coming from the door, he turned to Gardevoir and asked her to see who was at the door. He then resumed the training.
His other Pokemon had just finished their morning training and were now having their breakfast in the training ground. Feeling a bit thirsty, he picked up a bottle of water and drank a mouthful.
Then, he noticed Gardevoir had come back and was walking toward him with three young boys, around six to seven years old, in tow.
He stood up and walked up to them.
"So you guys must be Peter, Ben, and Ned, right?"
He asked.
"Yes."
They nodded, feeling a little bit nervous.
"Hisoka, who are these kids? Are they going to challenge the gym? Aren't they too young?"
Ran walked up to him and asked in a confused tone while giving them a look over.
"These are Ben, Peter, and Ned. Their parents called me yesterday and asked if they could join the gym as a gym trainer. I agreed and asked them to come over today."
He replied after introducing them to Ran. Turning to them, he grabbed three Pokeball from his belt and threw them on the ground.
Soon, a Poochyena, a Murkrow, and a Purrloin appeared in front of them.
"Before you join our gym, you have to take a test first. Each of you has to choose a Pokemon and tame them without any help."
He paused, giving them a moment to let that sink in before he continued.
"Are you guys ready?"
He said in a solemn manner.
At first, the three boys were slightly hesitant, but eventually, they nodded. When else could they get such a good opportunity? It was no easy thing to become a gym trainer. Not to mention they still haven't become a trainer yet.
Seeing their resolute expressions, he nodded in approval. At least they were brave enough.
"Now you guys can choose from these three Pokemon."
He pointed to the three Pokemon next to them. These three Pokemon were just born and hadn't been trained yet. They were good starter Pokemon, easy to train and care for.
The three boys looked at each other and cautiously approached them. Meanwhile, he stood close by, keeping a careful watch over them in case something went wrong.
A little while later, they returned to him, each with their own Pokemon. Ben, the chubby kid, and the lanky Peter had chosen a Poochyena and a Murkrow, respectively, while the kid with the round glasses, Ned, had a Purrloin sitting on his shoulder.
"I see you have chosen your own Pokemon. Well, you guys don't need to do anything today. Just watch us train for now. Try to get to know your Pokemon first."
He said, motioning them to sit down.
They repeatedly nodded with joyful expressions and went to play with their Pokemon. Occasionally, small giggles could be heard from them.
About an hour later, he stopped the training. It was getting hot outside. A nice cold shower would be nice right now.
As he left the training ground, he called Ran and told her to bring the three boys to their own room. Yeah, he had already informed their parents that he would take care of them for this week, at least until they were able to command their Pokemon.
At this time, Gardevoir came up to him.
"Hisoka, I haven't seen Misdreavus since yesterday."
She asked, somewhat worried that something might have happened to Misdreavus.
"Misdreavus? Now that you mention it. I haven't seen her too. Let me check the storage room first."
After he said that, he hurriedly left for the storeroom, where he remembered the large bell was stored. Pushing the door open, he went closer to the bell he found during the mission in Mount Hideaway and knocked it several times.
He waited for a couple of minutes, but there was no response. Just as he was about to knock for the second time, a purple phantom flew out.
"Misdreavus, why are you so big?"
He looked up in shock, mouth agape.
Clearly, the purple phantom was Misdreavus. Except she was twice as large as before, and the strange black markings across her face now looked much more pronounced.
She gestured for him to wait and closed her eyes. Soon, she started to become smaller as the strange markings on her face faded away. Whatever she just did somehow revert her to her old look.
"Tadaa!"
She twirled around on the spot as if she was showing off to him.
"Phew! I was starting to get worried."
He finally let go of his worries. At least nothing seemed to be wrong with Misdreavus.
"Are you sure you will be fine? You don't need to absorb all the power left inside the bell, you know?"
He asked, waiting for her reply.
She nodded and made a gesture as if she was telling him not to worry about her.
However, he didn't know that Misreadus was hiding a secret. The first time she went inside the bell, she discovered a sealed giant Pokemon. Fortunately, it appeared to be unconscious. So there wasn't much trouble for her to absorb the energy inside the bell.
She estimated that she would be able to absorb all the remaining energy in another month. By then, she would be able to fully control the power she had absorbed.
Sometime later in the afternoon, he, along with a few of his Pokemon, went to the Ancient Pokemon Reserve in Grampa Canyon on his bike.
Along the way, he saw a couple of tourist buses heading to Grampa Canyon. Although there were far fewer people than before, there were still many people looking forward to seeing the ancient Pokemon.
"This place looks a little different now."
He took off his helmet and looked at the small town that had been built right next to the reserve.
There were many people peddling their wares along the streets as he made his way to the reserve. Most of them were selling fossils, which he knew were fake.
However, one of them caught his attention.