Chương 1187: The Mysterious New Space

Once all the Psychic Pokémon had gathered, Yuga said to Gengar, Mismagius, and Dusknoir, "Please demonstrate it for everyone again."

Gengar, Mismagius, and Dusknoir, well-practiced by now, repeated the fusion of Space and Trick Room. Just like before, within three seconds, a violent explosion occurred, adding yet another pit to the sandy ground.

After the demonstration, Gengar and the others, covered in soot, came back to ask if anyone had identified the issue. The Psychic Pokémon exchanged looks and shook their heads.

At this point, Nana suggested, "Show us again."

Without hesitation, Gengar and the others repeated the demonstration.

"So, did you figure it out?" Mismagius asked excitedly.

"Not quite yet," replied the Medicham clan leader, shaking their head, with other Psychic Pokémon following suit.

"Try once more," said Alakazam.

Gengar, Mismagius, and Dusknoir performed the combination once again.

After their third attempt, Espeon commented, "It's hard to pinpoint the problem without seeing it a few more times."

So, the three Pokémon demonstrated the fusion of Space and Trick Room over and over, breaking down the process to show every detail. Fortunately, they had already learned how to avoid injury from the explosions; otherwise, they'd have been hurt by now.

"Are you guys able to figure out the issue or not?" Gengar asked impatiently after another round of demonstration.

"I think it's the difference in the intensity of your mental energy that's blocking the fusion," said Alakazam.

"I agree," Nana nodded in agreement.

"The reason Gengar and Mismagius can fuse Magic Room and Wonder Room is because they've lived together for so long. Not only is their mental strength similar, but they're also synchronized in many other ways," Nana continued. "Dusknoir, on the other hand, is much higher in level than Gengar and Mismagius, and when it uses Trick Room, it can't control its mental energy to match them. That's why these explosions keep happening."

The other Psychic Pokémon nodded in understanding.

To successfully fuse Dusknoir's Trick Room with the spatial moves of Gengar and Mismagius, they needed to consider many factors. Dusknoir would have to strictly control the output of its mental energy, and even adjust the frequency of its energy waves to align with Gengar and Mismagius's, or else the fusion would be impossible.

"It's like playing a song with different instruments," Nana explained. "Even though they're different, everyone has to follow the same sheet music. If one instrument goes off-track, the whole melody becomes chaotic."

"In that case, would it help to swap Dusknoir with another Pokémon closer in strength to Gengar and Mismagius? Wouldn't the fusion of Space and Trick Room go more smoothly?" Yuga asked, considering that perhaps Dusknoir's higher level was the issue.

Alakazam shook his head and replied, "It's not that simple. The key is in the user's control over their mental energy output. Just being close in strength won't be enough."

"So, what should we do?" Mismagius asked anxiously.

"This will likely require a lot of time to develop synergy," Nana said, feeling a bit helpless. "Dusknoir will have to continuously adjust its mental energy until it can harmonize perfectly with you two."

Everyone fell silent, pondering whether a solution could be found.

At this moment, Spoink raised a hand and suggested, "How about we find them an assistant?"

Nana responded immediately, "Let's hear it."

So, Spoink shared its idea.

During the fusion of Trick Room and Space, Dusknoir needs to constantly adjust various aspects of its mental energy output, such as intensity and frequency. However, as the performers, Dusknoir, Gengar, and Mismagius are so absorbed in the process that they can't adjust their mental energy in real time to properly coordinate with one another.

But if there were a director to observe their status and give timely instructions, much like a conductor in an orchestra, the fusion process would certainly go more smoothly.

After hearing Spoink's proposal, everyone agreed it made a lot of sense.

"Let's go with Spoink's suggestion. Who would like to volunteer as the director?"

As soon as Yuga finished speaking, Spoink eagerly bounced forward, doing its best to stand out, practically screaming "Pick me" with its expression.

Yuga took one look at Spoink and immediately chose Nana.

"Nana, why don't you give it a try?"

After all, Nana also knew Trick Room, which could help her better assist Gengar and the others.

Spoink grew anxious and cried, "Pick me! I can do it!"

Yuga replied gently, "You're still young. Let's have Nana take this on."

After Yuga's repeated persuasion, Spoink finally relented, albeit reluctantly, saying, "Alright then."

And so, Nana joined Gengar and the others in practicing the fusion of Space and Trick Room.

Nana didn't need to perform any extra actions; she simply had to remain within the spatial area, closely observing the changes in the mental energy of the three Pokémon and guiding them on how to adjust.

Though this task seemed simple, it actually required intense concentration and greatly drained her focus.

The process of skill practice was long and tedious, with explosions echoing again and again, and before long, the day had passed.

One by one, the other Psychic Pokémon departed, but Yuga and Spoink stayed on to continue supporting the four Pokémon in their training.

The first day passed this way, as did the second. On the third day, after finishing his outside tasks, Yuga once again brought Spoink to the Desert Sub-Ecopark to continue skill training with the four Pokémon.

Yuga could see that Gengar and the others were making progress, as the fusion of Space and Trick Room now took five or six seconds before exploding, whereas before, it had barely lasted three seconds.

However, Yuga noticed something odd: each time Space and Trick Room fused, they would vanish, and he had no idea where the fused space went. The explosion would just suddenly occur out of nowhere.

Seeing that there was progress, Yuga thought they could take their time. As long as they kept practicing, Gengar and the others would eventually succeed. All they needed was to build synergy, and with plenty of time, there was no rush to achieve instant results.

But Gengar and Mismagius didn't feel the same; to them, the progress was far too slow.

As their director, Nana insisted that rushing wouldn't help.

After a brief rest, Gengar and the others were about to start a new round of practice when Spoink blinked up at Yuga, saying, "Let me try! I know I can do it well!"

Yuga, exasperated, replied, "Why are you so eager to try? This isn't some fun activity, and what if you get hurt?"

Spoink puffed up proudly, "I won't! I bet I can do better than Nana."

Nana chuckled, "Alright then, go ahead and give it a shot. Let's see if you can really outdo me. You may be small, but you've got a big attitude."

Seeing Nana's agreement, Yuga finally relented. "Just be careful, okay? Don't get hurt in any explosions."

Spoink, nonchalant, replied, "Got it, got it!"

And so, Spoink eagerly took on the role of director.

At first, under Spoink's direction, Gengar and the others didn't perform much differently; they still exploded when the timing was off. Yet, Spoink enthusiastically chattered away, advising Dusknoir and the others on adjusting their mental energy—one moment this way, the next moment that way. Yuga and Nana watched with amusement, deciding to let Spoink try a few more times before putting a stop to the "play."

But then, in the sixth round of practice, Dusknoir followed Spoink's instructions, and as Trick Room and Space fused, one second, two seconds… thirty seconds… almost a full minute passed before an explosion finally occurred.

Yuga and Nana were dumbfounded.

Yuga muttered, "This… must be a coincidence."

Nana replied, "…Probably?"

Although it still ended in an explosion, the difference between one minute and a few seconds was enormous—a leap in progress.

But Spoink wasn't satisfied with Dusknoir and Gengar's performance, launching into another round of chatter like a little teacher scolding students for not trying hard enough.

The four Pokémon then began their eighth practice.

This time, with Spoink's adjustments, Gengar and the others managed to hold the fusion for over four minutes—another groundbreaking improvement.

Nana sighed in disbelief, "Looks like I'm getting old. Even a little kid is better than me."

Yuga couldn't help but connect Spoink's fortune-telling abilities to its knack for pinpointing the exact adjustments needed for the fusion of the three spatial skills. He guessed that Spoink's talent had a lot to do with this success.

Since Spoink was clearly a more suitable director than Nana, she naturally handed the task over to it. Under Spoink's guidance, the three Pokémon improved rapidly. Their fusion time extended from one minute to four minutes, then to half an hour…

By the end of the day, Gengar and the others were able to maintain the fusion for over an hour—a phenomenal improvement that made Spoink swell with pride.

However, one thing continued to puzzle Yuga. He hadn't mentioned it before, given that Gengar and the others were busy practicing, but now that they were nearing the end, he finally voiced his question.

"Why does the space disappear after it fuses with Dusknoir's Trick Room?" Yuga asked Gengar and Mismagius.

"Disappear? No, it's still there," Mismagius replied, looking thoroughly confused.

Yuga looked at Gengar, Spoink, and Nana, and saw them all nodding in agreement with Mismagius.

"That's impossible! Try again and let me see!" Yuga insisted, convinced he hadn't imagined it.

So Gengar and the others obediently demonstrated once more.

Sure enough, Yuga couldn't see anything in his line of sight, yet Gengar and the others could sense the space's presence.

Following Spoink's lead, Yuga stepped into the fused space, only to find that it looked no different from the outside.

Seeing Yuga's puzzled expression, Spoink mumbled a few things to him, and he suddenly crouched down to grab a handful of sand from the ground.

But to his surprise, although he was clearly gripping sand, his hand came up empty.

Then, he watched Spoink fire a Power Gem at the ground. Normally, this would leave a mark or a crater, but instead, there was just a subtle ripple, and the sand remained untouched.

"This… is amazing!" Yuga couldn't help but marvel internally.

To further explore the new space's peculiarities, Yuga brought in various other Pokémon to test it out, and before long, he reached some conclusions.

First, Yuga noticed that many Pokémon, like himself, couldn't perceive the space's existence at all with their eyes, but Psychic-type Pokémon were an exception; they could distinctly sense the space's presence.

Among Ghost-types, aside from Gengar and its teammates, no other Ghost Pokémon could detect the space either.

Secondly, as long as Gengar and the others didn't interfere, others could freely enter the space, but once inside, they wouldn't be able to leave without Gengar's permission.

Moreover, the space overlapped with reality, making anyone or anything inside it unable to interact with the outside world. For example, if Yuga remained outside the space and stood right in front of Spoink, Spoink could blast skills at Yuga's face from inside the space, and Yuga wouldn't feel a thing.

Lastly, the space's durability was limited by the strength of Gengar and Mismagius. Although Dusknoir had master-level strength, the space's durability depended on the weakest link—Gengar and Mismagius. Through testing, Yuga found that while Dragonite's punches could only cause the space to ripple, Lapras could shatter it on its own.

In other words, for now, the space was only usable under specific conditions, making it rather impractical for regular battles.

Of course, some of these limitations might be due to the fact that the three Pokémon were not yet perfectly in sync.

The moves Magic Room, Wonder Room, and Trick Room could coexist in the same battle and on the same field without interfering with each other's functionality, unlike terrain moves that cancel each other out. However, once these three moves merged into the space, their individual effects would vanish, and the space would become just a space, without any skill effects.

This aspect was similar to Gengar and Mismagius's original space.

In summary, the new space had both advantages and disadvantages, but Yuga believed that with continuous adjustments, the space could still be improved.

To reward Spoink for its impressive contributions, Yuga decided to give it a well-deserved reward.

Considering Spoink's remarkable fortune-telling abilities, Yuga thought: wouldn't it be a waste not to nurture them?

Speaking of fortune-telling, Yuga naturally thought of Gym Leader Olympia of the Anistar Gym in Kalos.

Madame Olympia was a Psychic-type trainer, but unlike powerhouses like Sabrina and Caitlin, her strength lay in her ability to foresee events.

Historically, Anistar Gym Leaders held a unique role with their foresight abilities, sparing the Kalos region from many catastrophes and maintaining a special status within the Kalos League.

Yuga was now pondering whether he should pull some strings to send Spoink to Anistar Gym for a period of training.