After Fang Yuan's detailed explanation, Manafei still couldn't understand what sleepwalking battle syndrome, Awakened Power·Evil, and a second personality meant.
So, Manafei decided to let Dragonite enter that state in front of it, to observe for itself.
"Bwoo..." Dragonite naturally had no problem—it was just a matter of taking a nap. However, after looking around, the walls... these gems... these hangings... this flooring... they must be quite expensive, right?
Dragonite displayed a troubled expression. The Prince of the Sea had caused such an uproar over a lost item from the Temple; if it accidentally damaged anything here, healing its illness would be the least of its worries—it might get battered into sickness even if it were healthy.
"You make a fair point."
"Bwoo Bwoo."
Fang Yuan looked at Manafei, wondering if it was really fine to let Dragonite enter the sleepwalking state right here.
"Mana~" Manafei nodded its head, unconcerned, as it had already hidden away anything valuable.
"Then let's begin," Fang Yuan said to Dragonite, since Manafei had put it that way...
A moment later.
Off in the distance, Dragonite slowly closed its eyes...
Manafei watched Dragonite's every move attentively...
About 2 seconds later, strands of black airflow twined around Dragonite as if forming a dark aura!
The Awakening Power·Evil blended perfectly with the airflow. With the flapping of its wings, Dragonite radiated a massive evil intent, several times stronger than the evil of the Evil Fluctuation!
"Mana!!" Seeing this, Manafei showed a look of surprise, finding it incredible. Was this the simple-hearted, jealous Dragonite from before?
Now, it looked simply... even more terrifying than ferocious sea spirits like the Giant Tooth Shark and Pokémon World...
As Manafei felt the evil intent radiating from Dragonite, it started to focus more, and Fang Yuan's reminder reached its ears.
"Next, it's going to lose control..."
The darkness enshrouding Dragonite made it look wildly eerie, as if it had just walked out of hell...
Fang Yuan's words had barely ended.
Boom!!!!!
The terrifying aura of evil intent around Dragonite turned into ripples, sweeping towards Fang Yuan and the others!!!
Manafei's expression hardened, it moved forward, its yellow spots glowing faintly. Numerous fireflies gathered, forming a protective shield to safeguard Fang Yuan and the others behind it.
Bang!!
The evil fluctuation was blocked instantly, shattering into fragments.
"Mana~" Manafei turned back towards Fang Yuan and the others, shaking its head to tell them not to intervene.
Next, it wanted to observe more carefully...
"Alright..." Fang Yuan murmured, while Manafei had already swum away.
Observation meant battle.
It was said to be a battle, but it was really just an exchange of two rounds.
Manafei, maneuvering the water, easily suppressed Dragonite with various moves, demonstrating remarkable strength.
Fang Yuan judged that if Manafei wasn't holding back, it should at least possess top-level combat power.
"Logically, spirits like Manafei and Emuritto shouldn't be very strong in their own right; their power lies in their special authorities,"
Fang Yuan had always held this view, so he watched the battle very carefully... and indeed... he noticed that although Manafei had a high level of control over Water Series energy, its combat sense was very poor, narrowly being suppressed by Dragonite several times, and it was extremely unskilled in fighting.
It was like having potential and talent without having been honed... but that was also normal, not every Pokémon likes to fight, and for Manafei, it didn't need to fight on its own anyway.
The Legendary Pokémon like Groudon and Kyogre, who are constantly jostling each other... are after all rare.
"Mana~~!" After a while, Manafei shook its head gently, directly using its powers to communicate with Dragonite's soul.
Upon awakening the soul...
The Nightmare Fast Dragon, flying towards Manafei with a Hurricane, suddenly paused mentally and opened its eyes in a daze.
"How did it go, Manafei?" Fang Yuan and the others saw the battle stop and ran over quickly.
But Manafei's shaking head made Fang Yuan very nervous.
"Mana mana..." Manafei rested its chin in one hand, deep in thought, with confusion evident in its large, black eyes.
Then, it shook its head again, indicating that Dragonite's condition involved both spirit and "Dreamland," and it could only alleviate, not cure it.
"Alleviation means…"
"Ah, Mana!"
Manaphy swam into midair and explained that it could give mental suggestions to Dragonite, allowing it to sleep normally in the future.
This meant that after this, Dragonite would no longer unconsciously sleepwalk.
The so-called incurability is that if Dragonite were to willingly enter this state, it would still be unable to control this power.
It addressed the abnormality in Dragonite's mental power, but to control this state and turn it into their own strength, besides mental power, one might also need the ability to control dreams.
"Really…?"
"Boo wooo!" Dragonite was also startled.
Fang Yuan was excited, for this was essentially akin to a cure. The most troubling part of the sleepwalking battle syndrome was the inability to sleep properly, with the worry of potentially entering a sleepwalking state unconsciously.
Without this worry, Dragonite could return to a normal sleep pattern.
In comparison, the huge power amplification brought about by the sleepwalking state was inconsequential, desirable to harness of course, but not impacting Dragonite's normal growth even if not under control.
"Then I entrust this to you, Manaphy!" Fang Yuan was emotional, as this meant Dragonite's problem was nearly resolved.
As for the Nightmare State, it could be considered an uncontrollable Outrage move, without much effect. If uncontrollable, simply avoid using it.
"Ah, Mana~~" Manaphy nodded, feeling somewhat mentally drained.
Not being able to cure perfectly, it always felt a slight regret.
Subsequently, Manaphy pondered and looked toward Dragonite and Milotic, asking if they wanted to become stronger.
The reason Manaphy called over the seven human Trainers with Water-type Spirits was to express its apologies, and since it needed to apologize, some compensation was required.
However, for Fang Yuan, Manaphy felt perhaps a different treatment was in order. In its eyes, Fang Yuan had great potential and was worth befriending.
"Get stronger?" Fang Yuan was surprised.
"Boo wooo?" "Mooootic?" Dragonite and Milotic were also taken aback, get stronger?
Although they did not know how Manaphy intended to make them stronger, both Dragonite and Milotic simultaneously thought of Monferno, who was staying back at the Dragon Palace Dojo for study and training...
For research and training, Monferno, Ditto, and Rotom had all stayed behind in the dojo for special training...
The opportunity given by Prince of the Sea Manaphy to become stronger... could they surpass Monferno?
Manaphy swam around happily, its favorite thing to do was to nurture Water-type Spirits, and then when trouble came, call a group of friends over to help.
This feeling was much better than fighting on its own.
"Ah, Mana~" However, Manaphy turned to Fang Yuan and presented a condition. It could help Dragonite and Milotic enhance their strength, but similarly, Fang Yuan had to agree to a request from it.
"What is the request?"
Manaphy pondered for a moment; it wanted Fang Yuan to bring over a female Trainer who loved Water-type Spirits, preferably one who has only Water-type Spirits, kind-hearted and possessing a talent for superpower, under the age of twenty.
As for the time, there was no limit.
"This... should be no problem." Fang Yuan was slightly startled, not quite understanding Manaphy's intention.
No time limit... what kind of condition was that?
"Ah, Mana mana~" Manaphy stretched its body, feeling good about itself, recalling those two special locations.
In the Temple of the Sea, there were two places that humans should not be allowed to make contact with easily.
One was the special location where Lugia had once rested, dropping a Silver Feather of Lugia.
Dragonite, like Lugia, possessing a multi-layer scale structure, had a connection out of the ordinary with it.
Both associated with the great sea, yet not Water-type Spirits, Manaphy had always believed that long ago, Dragonite and Lugia were from the same lineage.
Though Lugia was called the Sea God, Manaphy knew that Lugia was more adept at controlling Hurricanes, in charge of ocean current changes. This Dragonite of Fang Yuan's, Manaphy had also discovered a similar talent, and so it decided to let Dragonite have contact with Lugia's Silver Feather.
The other place was where Kyogre once dwelled within the temple, there it had a mind meld with Kyogre, branded with the Life Origin Fluctuation.
At that location, the Life Fluctuations were dense because it had branded Kyogre's mental power in the surroundings, where the origin forces of life and spirit intersected, allowing Water-type Spirits to perceive everything from the perspective of the sea, enhancing their control over Water-type energy, and also having the chance to feel the mysteries of the Sea of Origin and life's fundamental forces.
This place could be suitable for Fang Yuan's Milotic.
...
In Binhai City, within a courtyard of the Dragon Palace Dojo, Monferno, who was doing physical training with Ditto under Rotom's command, suddenly sneezed. The sky was almost dark; why hadn't Fang Yuan and the others returned yet?