"It's actually Loguetown."
Dak had thought he had arrived in some unfamiliar place, but to his surprise, this place was not so unknown.
After all, Loguetown also has its own story in the original work.
Although the Loguetown now has quite a difference from Loguetown nine years later.
Dak walked ahead, pushing a large baby carriage in front of him. The carriage contained nine eggs, attracting the attention of passersby.
This would become the exclusive vehicle for walking the eggs.
And Darkrai simply floated next to the baby carriage, guarding the eggs, ignoring the gazes focused on him.
As for the items purchased along the way, they were all stored in the dark space.
"Darkrai, wait for me, okay? I'll go inside and take a look."
Suddenly, Dak, who was walking ahead, stopped and headed towards a clothing store next to him.
Darkrai looked but had no reaction, obediently standing at the door guarding the baby carriage.
Previously, Dak had already bought several sets of clothes for himself, so Darkrai subconsciously thought Dak was going to buy some more.
Little did he know, this time Dak's target was Darkrai.
Thud!
Dak, while walking, didn't notice and bumped into a lady, accidentally knocking her to the ground.
"Sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going, my apologies."
Dak hurriedly bent down to help her up. The lady, who had fallen, raised her hand as if to grasp Dak's hand but accidentally stretched too far, touching Dak's face, but quickly retracted and took Dak's hand to stand up.
"It's okay."
The lady left after dropping a casual remark and then walked away.
Dak watched her leave with an apologetic look, entering the store after ensuring she didn't intend to pursue the matter.
About ten minutes later.
Darkrai suddenly felt someone poking his shoulder, turning around to see.
Dak had returned.
"Dak?"
Darkrai looked down and noticed Dak wasn't holding anything in his hands, seeming like he didn't buy any clothes.
"I left something inside, can you get it for me? I'll wait here for you."
Dak gestured with his hand, pointing towards the clothing store he had just entered.
Darkrai nodded and floated towards the clothing store.
However, just as he floated a few meters away, a dark hole appeared behind him, swallowing the Dak that had just been there.
Then, Darkrai turned around, his icy blue pupils flashing.
Now looking back at the dark hole, he saw that Dak had changed into another appearance.
That is to say, the Dak just now was impersonated by someone else.
Initially, Darkrai didn't notice anything odd about this 'Dak,' at least not in appearance.
His behavior didn't seem off, after all, he only said one sentence and made a small gesture.
Given the current level of understanding and connection between Darkrai and Dak, it wasn't possible to detect the differences between them with such a minor interaction.
However, passing by that person, Darkrai could sense malice emanating from him.
As a hallmark among Dark-type Pokémon, Darkrai is arguably the most sensitive to Dark-type energy, which is essentially a combination of natural energy and negative emotions.
This is also why the 'Nightmare Pokémon' enjoys causing nightmares.
Because humans experiencing nightmares generate a substantial amount of Dark-type energy, for Darkrai, who seeks to grow stronger quickly, causing a city's humans to have nightmares is a relatively fast method.
Darkrai waited obediently at the door.
About a quarter of an hour later, Dak came back after shopping.
"What's wrong?"
Dak noticed something was off with Darkrai.
Because Darkrai's mood of being upset was quite evident on his face, Pokémon are definitely not as good at hiding their emotions as humans.
After all, they are very straightforward creatures.
"Dak."
Darkrai told Dak about what had happened.
The gist of it was that someone had disguised themselves as Dak, with unknown intentions.
But Darkrai felt, anyway, it definitely wasn't to do something good, so he directly captured that person.
"Where is he?"
Dak asked with a frown.
Disguised as him?
It's not that easy to impersonate someone, and to do it so well that even Darkrai couldn't notice the difference?
This sounds very much like the ability of a familiar Devil Fruit.
As for this person's purpose, it's not too hard to guess, mostly it's because Dak and Darkrai are overly protective of the eggs, making the person think there might be something valuable in the baby carriage, hence the attempt to steal it.
"Dak."
Darkrai created a mini dark void in his hand.
"Good, let's go back and deal with this impolite gentleman."
Dak nodded, understanding Darkrai's intention, glanced at the dark sky, and walked with Darkrai towards a nearby café.
Opening the door, they stepped inside.
And just like that, they were back at the Pokémon Nursery.
"Release that guy."
Dak decided to see who was so bold before even placing the items he bought.
"Dak."
Darkrai nodded and pointed into the air with his hand.
As the dark void appeared, a figure also fell out of it.
Dak approached for a closer look, furrowing his brow, then started to think.
This person looked familiar to him.
Staring for a while, Dak couldn't figure out who it was exactly.
Characters from the 2D world look quite abstract when viewed in 3D.
Characters that might look very attractive in 2D might not stand out much in 3D, with many people having similar facial features.
For example, Megumi Kato from "Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend."
Although she looks exceptionally beautiful as a 2D character, from the attitudes of other characters in the anime, Megumi Kato seems to be just an ordinary girl with a somewhat low presence.
However, Dak had a guess about this person's real identity, based on the ability Darkrai mentioned earlier.
"Dak, lift him up."
Dak thought for a moment and asked Darkrai to suspend Bon Clay in mid-air with his hands.
Dak circled around Bon Clay, and when he moved behind him, he suddenly opened his eyes wide.
"Indeed, it's Bon Clay."
The person who would join the Baroque Works as the assassin Mr. 2 in the future, and also a key figure in helping Luffy escape from the underwater prison Impel Down.
But now, it seems like he's just a con artist or a petty thief in the East Blue?
(End of Chapter)