A/N: Thank you for continuing to read this story! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any of their IP. I just own this story and my OCs
Lucian immediately contacted Roy to get a task force started to look for this mysterious pokémon that started this entire mess.
He asked for the task force to look up all trainers in the prefecture who had a Hypno, Gastly, Haunter, Gengar, Munna, or Musharna. As well as all those who had any of those pokémon who had traveled through the prefecture in the last month.
He also contacted customs and asked for a list of all trainers in the past month who imported a Munna or Musharna from Unova and to send that list over to Roy. Though, if a pokémon was illegally brought in, Lucian knew it wouldn't be on record. So he contacted the task force and told them to keep an eye on their contacts in the black market to see if there has been any movement of Munna or Musharna in the region.
Days passed by and Lucian was overwhelmed with all the information he was receiving.
There were hundreds of trainers in the prefecture who owned one of the pokémon he was looking for. He didn't think they would be quite this popular. Vetting the names of each trainer that he came across was tiring and time consuming.
After getting a headache for the third day in a row, Lucian decided to take a break. He got his keys and his wallet and decided to take a bus over to Moon Town. He wanted to look around the markets and see if there was anything that would catch his eye.
When Lucian got to the market, he took his time as he walked through. He hadn't been back to this market in a long time. It both reminds him of his time in university as well as his homeland.
When he was in college, he used to come to the market all the time to get groceries. The markets sold all different kinds of foods, vegetables, herbs, and spices that were only native to the Moonbay Prefecture.
The food helped him to stay sane while in such a foreign place. Whenever he remade any of the dishes his parents or grandparents used to make him, it was as if he was transported back home and given a temporary reprieve from his reality.
The market didn't just sell food either though. It also sold clothing, shoes, decor, tapestries, and any goods that could come from Moonbay.
Today, the markets were bustling with people. You could even hear some bartering across the way.
As Lucian was looking at some of the fruits on sale, he was approached by a woman who appeared to be in her forties. She was dressed in a long pale blue dress with a white apron in front of her. She looked to be a shopkeeper.
"Moon Knight," she whispered, "I am in need of your help."
Lucian sharpened his gaze and looked around to see if anyone was paying attention to their conversation before he decided to answer.
"My lady, how might I assist you?"
"Please come to my home this evening. My daughter is sick with the plague that is running through the town. Please heal her."
"I will be there my lady."
With that, the woman handed Lucian a piece of paper with her address on it and scurried off.
Lucian decided to stay around the market to shop around for a bit before leaving.
Once Lucian was done looking around the market, he decided to head to a bakery in Moon Town to pick up some pastries to eat with his fruit he just bought.
As Lucian entered the shop, he noticed he was the only one there.
Looking around the shop, he decided to get two muffins and a scone.
Once he had what he was looking for, Lucian went to the register to be checked out. At the register was a tall, burly man who had a buzz cut and wore a cute, white apron.
Once he was done paying for his pastries, Lucian turned around to leave. But just before he left the building, the man at the register called out to him.
"Dream Wielder, my father has fallen ill to the sickness spreading through the land. Could you please heal him?"
Lucian nodded his head and said, "Yes I can. Just let me know where to be, and I will be there."
So the man handed Lucian a piece of paper with an address on it.
Then Lucian left the establishment and headed back to his hotel.
For the sickness that was running through the Mercury Prefecture, Lucian believed that it is the same illness that is very common in the Moonbay Prefecture, known as takut. Though it is deadly, it is also easily curable.
There were three known ways to cure takut.
The first was to have a lunar wing that came from the body of Penuh Cresselia to touch the bare skin of a person.
This would be the hardest way to heal anyone struck with takut. For there are very few lunar wings that have not been touched. Once a lunar wing has touched the bare skin of a human or the skin, feather, scales, or fur of a pokémon, the power of the wing is instantly gone. You only have one chance to use it.
Many lunar wings had been passed on through families as testimonies of the Penuh healing their people. Now, there are only a handful of lunar wings left that have never been used, and they are all under the protection of the Lunites' High Priestess.
So even if they had enough lunar wings to heal everybody, it wouldn't be likely the High Priestess would allow them access. They are only to be used during emergencies.
The second way to cure takut would be for someone anointed by both Kosong Darkrai and Penuh Cresselia to enter into the dream life of the afflicted person and call for them to wake up.
Lunites call those who are anointed by the Penuh and Kosong Moon Knights. While Eclipsites call them Dream Wielders.
There were only three known people who were anointed by both the Kosong and the Penuh, and one of them was Lucian.
Moon Knights' and Dream Wielders' status was announced to their people immediately after their birth. If anyone was anointed later on in their life, they would have to immediately present themselves at the temple and have their status confirmed.
Moon Knights and Dream Wielders were known to be able to have complete conscious reign of Dunia. They were able to roam Dunia freely, affect the world through their will, and communicate to others through their dreams.
Lucian knew that he would be able to heal the Lunite and Eclipsite whose family members reached out to him, but he could not do the same for those who were in the hospital.
It's not that he wouldn't do it, but that by doing so, it could cause a lot more problems for him and his people if he does so. If he entered into the dreams of those who could not wake up, once he communicated with them and caused them to awaken, they would remember him. All it would do is feed into the witch allegations that the people of Mercury believed.
So the third and final cure was the only way to save them.
The last known method to heal takut was to create a special drought.
This drought was made from plants and herbs that were only found in the Moonbay Prefecture. While easy to make, the drought is only made as needed. Once you pick the plants and herbs you were going to use for the drought, you had to make it within 24 hours or it would remain ineffective. After the drought was made, you had 48 hours to administer the drought before it would become ineffective.
Since Lucian knew that none of the families of the sick would ever consent to giving their loved ones medicine made by witches, he would just have to tell the doctors to say that they came up with the medicine themselves.
Just before sunset, Lucian decided to visit the woman and her daughter.
Once he reached their address, he knocked on the door and waited for someone to let him in.
A tall man who was dark in complexion and had blond, low cut hair let him through the door.
As he went through the door, he saw the woman he saw at the marketplace sitting on the couch in the living room. She had a tan complexion with her long pink hair in a braid. She had traded her apron for a housecoat and invited Lucian to come sit.
The man came to the living room and brought everyone tea. Once everyone was served the woman started to speak.
"Thank you for coming, Moon Knight. I am Batari, and this is my husband Harun."
"Thank you for having me," nodded Lucian, "Is your daughter in her room?"
"Yes," said Harun, "She has been there ever since she became sick."
"Could you tell me a little about how you found her to be sick?"
"Lestari and I decided to go across the river to get some items that we could not find here in Moon Town," started Batari, "We were walking in a small, family owned grocery store when suddenly I heard a thump. I turned around and saw Lestari sprawled out on the floor. I tried to wake her up but she wouldn't respond. So I called for an ambulance, and they brought her to a local hospital. Nothing they tried was able to get her to wake up; so they asked us if we wanted them to keep our daughter in the hospital to see what could happen. I said no and brought Lestari back home immediately. I already knew what was wrong and am very distrustful of tanpi healers. Once I saw on the news that you were coming, I knew I could reach out to you to heal our daughter."
"Thank you for putting so much trust in me," said Lucian, "Did you see anyone or anything in the convenience store that looked like they could have hurt your daughter?"
"No," said Batari, "There was no one around. I'm not sure how Lestari got takut. We never have time to go to the forests here."
"How long has she been sick for?"
"At least a week," said Harun.
Lucian nodded his head.
"Okay, please take me to her."
Haran got up off the couch and led Lucian towards the girl's room.
When Haran opened the room, Lucian saw a sickly girl of no more than twelve sleeping on her back. Her pale pink tresses were put up into a bun to prevent her hair from getting in her face.
Lucian took a chair at her desk and slid it beside the bed. He sat down and then took Lestari's hand between his palms. He doesn't always need to touch someone in order to enter their part of Dunia, but it did help him to locate them faster.
In a flash of white, he saw the girl's last moments before she fell ill. She was in the grocery store with her mother looking at the frozen treats. All of a sudden she saw a cloud of pink smoke, and then the vision was over.
Lucian took a steading breath before closing his eyes. As he slowly closed his eyes, he found himself drifting into a light slumber.
Lucian walked through a beautiful meadow with the most gorgeous wildflowers he's ever seen. Their fragrant scent was pleasing to him.
He could hear the sound of a wind chime from a distance, coloring the wind with grace.
A little ways over, he saw a girl with pale pink hair running in circles as three starly chased after her.
He knew instantly that she was Lestari.
As he walked closer to her, he started to call out to her.
Once they locked eyes, he said, "Lestari, bangun (1)!"
Lestari's eyes instantly began to flutter open.
She immediately felt her hand in someone else's and looked towards it to find out who it was.
When she locked eyes with Lucian once again she gave a small smile.
"Terima kasih (2)."
After he left the Lunites' house, Lucian saw that it was nightfall; so he immediately went to his next destination.
Once he got to where he needed to be, he knocked on the door and waited for someone to open it.
The tall burly man who checked him out at the register answered the door. He was a man in his forties who was pale and had slightly long, black hair. Instead of his white apron, he wore a light cardigan instead.
As he entered through the door, a woman around his same age walked over to him and led him to the kitchen table. She was tan with her light purple hair worn in a high ponytail.
She served him some cut up fruit with iced tea.
The man came over to the table and said, "Dream Wielder, I am Raja, and this is my sister Sitti."
"Thank you for having me," said Lucian, "Where is your father?"
"We have him resting on the couch," said Sitti, "He loves to sleep there when he comes over."
"Do you mind if I ask a few questions before we get started?"
"Not at all," said Sitti, "Please ask away."
"How did you find your father sick like this?"
"I'm not sure what really happened," said Raja, "He came over to Sitti's house after running some errands. He was really out of it when he came back home. Sitti thought he was drugged, but I thought he was just tired. He's been putting in a lot of overtime at the shipyards lately. I told father to take a nap and that we would wake him up for dinner, but he never woke up."
Tears were streaming from the two siblings' faces.
"I'm sorry for that. How long has he been sick for?"
"It's fine," said Raja, "We're just glad you're here. He's been like this for a few days, but we're worried that he may not last long since he has some heart problems."
"Thank you," said Lucian, "I know this is not easy for you two. I can heal him now if you'll let me."
Sitti immediately got up and led Lucian to the couch.
He saw an older man with graying dark purple hair lying on the couch. He has a round belly but his face looked very gaunt.
Raja brought a chair from the kitchen table down to the couch for Lucian to sit in.
Lucian thanked him before sitting down.
He immediately took their father's hand between his own. And instantly, he saw a flash of white taking him back to their father's moments before becoming sick.
He saw their father looking around what appeared to be a small store. He was opening the fridge to the ice cream section looking for some tasty sugar free ice cream for his new diet. His doc said he needed to eat healthier but he just couldn't let go of ice cream. So he's been trying a new one each week trying to find the perfect sugar free ice cream.
As he's looking through the ice cream brands, he smelled something weird, not bad but a little minty. All of a sudden, he starts to feel dizzy. So he closes the door and decides to head to his daughter's house. And just like that, the vision was over.
Lucian took a steading breath before closing his eyes. As he slowly closed his eyes, he found himself drifting into a light slumber.
It was cold and dark in the shipyard and the smell of fish permeated the air.
Lucian could barely take a step without the entire dock squeaking.
As he was walking down the dock, he could hear a man yelling at someone to not quit. He could even hear the man using the dreaded word, witch.
A chill ran down Lucian's spine, not sure what he will see next.
As he turned the corner of the dock, he saw the man whose hand he was holding moving thick, heavy rope from one location to the next while another man was yelling at him.
Even though his children did not give Lucian his name he knew it instantly.
Lucian kept yelling the man's name over and over again to get the man to look at him.
The moment they locked eyes, Lucian said "Arif, bangun!"
Arif's eyes fluttered open. Slowly he saw Lucian and all his children surrounding him.
He instantly pulled down Lucian into his arms and hugged him.
"Terima kasih."
Cynthia got a call from Lucian the next day telling her of his theory of what and where this mysterious pokémon could be that is causing this sleeping sickness.
Lucian didn't tell her the full details of how he found this information. He just asked her to trust him. Which she did. How is she supposed to become friends with Lucian if they have no trust between them? Besides, Lucian has always been her second-in-command. She trusts that he is not leading them astray.
Since this mysterious pokémon is said to be in a convenient store or a grocery store of some kind, Cynthia decided to go to a small mom and pop grocer to buy her favorite ice cream. She needed a little pick-me-up since she failed to find a cure for this sickness.
As she was looking through all the ice cream flavors to see which ones she wanted to enjoy, she heard something behind her.
Immediately, she jumped out of the way of a giant dark plasma ball being hurled at her.
She looked up and saw a pokémon she did not recognize. Before she got out her pokédex to tell her what she was looking at, she took out one of her pokéballs and threw out her Roserade, Lila, to battle.
"Lila, use magical leaf!"
Cynthia knew that she had to be careful since she was inside a store and not outside. She would try to carefully capture this pokémon in order to limit damage.
While her pokémon was attacking, Cynthia got out her pokédex and had it pointed towards the pokémon.
"Munna, the dream eater pokémon. This Pokémon is native to the Unova region. This Pokémon appears before people and Pokémon who are having nightmares and eats those dreams. It eats the dreams of people and Pokémon. When it eats a pleasant dream, it expels pink-colored mist."
What was a Unovan pokémon doing here in Sinnoh? Was Lucian's theory right?
Cynthia quickly got out of her head.
Luckily for her, the Munna was hit with her Roserade's attack and looked ready to faint.
Cynthia got out an ultra ball from her bag and threw it at the wild pokémon. But when the ball hit the Pokémon, it immediately dropped to the ground.
The only reason for the pokéball not to work would be if that pokémon was captured by somebody else!
Cynthia immediately called out for her Roserade to use stun spore. If she couldn't capture the Munna, she could at least paralyze it and take it over to the Pokémon Center.
Once the Munna was paralyzed and couldn't move, Cynthia went up to the Pokémon and put both arms around them and walked out the store to the Pokémon Center.
Hopefully, she can figure out who the trainer is and give them a mouthful!
And maybe also get to eat her ice cream as well.
Word Count: 3,286
Date Updated: Thursday, March 16, 2023
Footnotes:
(1) Bangun - Indonesian for "wake up." Translation by Google Translate
(2) Terima kasih - Indonesian for "thank you." Translation by Google Translate
A/N: If you made it this far, thank you for reading until the end! I really love this story and I hope you do too. I really hope to finish this story by the end of March; there is only one chapter left so please stay tuned
Please leave a comment and let me know what you think :)