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Many people have likely wondered whether Ghost-type Pokémon could produce eggs.
In fact, since Ghost-types were a kind of Pokémon and had genders in this world, it naturally followed that they could lay eggs too.
As for how Ghost-type Pokémon actually produced eggs, that remained an enigma. It had long baffled countless Pokémon scholars and continued to be a persistent academic mystery.
Now, in front of Sato was a Ghost-type Pokémon egg—specifically, a Misdreavus egg. Its shell was pitch black like ink, with a layer of dark mist lingering around it, giving it a very mysterious appearance.
Sato had always had a soft spot for Misdreavus. The reason was simple—the Misdreavus species was considered one of the more benevolent ghost lineages among all Ghost-type Pokémon.
Aside from their penchant for scaring people and collecting fear energy, Misdreavus rarely harmed other living beings. Their sustenance came from the fear that resided in the hearts of the living.
Sometimes, Misdreavus would even go so far as to help those trapped in illusions cast by other Ghost-types, pulling them out. Of course, the cost of that rescue was being scared half to death by the Misdreavus within the illusion.
But when compared to having one's life force drained completely, which was the greater horror? Without question, it was the latter. Thus, while many found Misdreavus' pranks annoying, few actually bore hostility toward them.
Of course, one could look at it from another perspective. Misdreavus weren't exactly helping others—they were helping themselves. They were an incredibly clever species of Ghost-type Pokémon, fully aware of the importance of "livestock management."
Sato gained in-depth knowledge about Misdreavus through The Grimoire of Dark Spirits.
Misdreavus were natural-born masters of hypnosis. While the move Hypnosis wasn't listed among their techniques, the ability itself seemed etched into their very bones—or rather, their souls. They could lull a living being into slumber at any time and in any place without warning.
With hypnosis, Misdreavus could conjure up illusions so realistic they were indistinguishable from reality. Powerful Misdreavus could even plant false memories deep in someone's unconscious mind through these illusions.
Beyond crafting illusions, Misdreavus also had the ability to traverse the dreams of others. Although they couldn't control the dreams themselves, they could introduce fear into them, turning ordinary dreams into terrifying nightmares.
Whether creating illusions or weaving nightmares, Misdreavus had only one simple goal: to induce fear and harvest it as a food source.
From The Grimoire of Dark Spirits, Sato learned that Misdreavus' abilities—hypnosis, illusion creation, and nightmare weaving—were all closely tied to the amount of fear energy within their bodies.
In short, the more fear energy they had stored, the stronger these abilities became.
Yes, their powers came at a cost. Every time Misdreavus used one of these abilities, they consumed a portion of their internal fear energy.
That meant scaring people wasn't free—it had a cost. If they couldn't frighten anyone and failed to gather enough fear energy, not only would they starve, but they'd have wasted their resources entirely.
According to The Grimoire of Dark Spirits, Misdreavus' abilities—hypnosis, illusion creation, and nightmare weaving—were all divided into three levels: Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced.
Their hypnosis ability followed this tier system. Basic hypnosis allowed them to lull only one or two individuals to sleep. Intermediate hypnosis extended their control to five people at once. As for Advanced-level hypnosis, it could exert an effect resembling a domain—blanketing an entire area.
(Note: The success rate of hypnosis depended on the amount of fear energy consumed and the willpower of the target. The more energy spent, the higher the success rate. The stronger the target's will, the lower the rate.)
The same classification applied to illusion creation. Basic-level illusion could only be used on a single hypnotized individual and would typically last just a few minutes.
At this level, they could only conjure scary images. It was impossible to tap into the target's deepest fears.
But once a Misdreavus advanced to the Intermediate level of illusion creation, their abilities underwent a qualitative transformation. They could begin triggering memories buried deep within a target's mind and sustain illusions for much longer.
At the Advanced level, Misdreavus gained the power to implant false memories directly into a target's mind while under hypnosis.
Nightmare weaving also came in three levels.
At the Basic level, Misdreavus could linger within a dream for about ten minutes, using fear energy to contaminate the dream and slowly twist it into a nightmare.
However, their influence remained limited, affecting only a small part of the dreamscape. They couldn't fully convert it into a nightmare, nor could they control its direction.
With Intermediate-level nightmare weaving, they could remain in the dream for up to an hour. At this point, they had the ability to completely convert the dream into a nightmare, even populating it with terrifying dream-creatures of their own creation.
When they reached Advanced-level nightmare weaving, Misdreavus could stay in a dream indefinitely—provided they were willing to pay the cost. In fact, they could remain inside a dream world forever if they wished.
Such a Misdreavus could trap someone's consciousness within a nightmare permanently. Unless an external force intervened—or the person managed to break free through their own will—they would never awaken and might eventually suffer brain death.
Yes, what made Misdreavus truly dangerous wasn't their move pool or physical stats, but how far they had developed these three core abilities.
Hypnosis, illusion creation, and nightmare weaving—if a Misdreavus mastered even one of these to the Advanced level, it would become a terrifying Ghost-type Pokémon.
Especially one that had mastered Advanced-level illusion creation—they could become a waking nightmare for any living creature.
At present, Sato already possessed a number of Pokémon. His offensive team included Swampert, Crobat, and Arbok. His healing team had Bellossom and Miltank. For reconnaissance, he used Crobat and Growlithe.
A qualified Trainer required Pokémon in five categories: Attackers, Scouts, Defenders, Healers, and Controllers. In wild battles, lacking even one of these roles could lead to fatal weaknesses.
Currently, Sato still lacked a proper Controller and Defender.
Strictly speaking, he did have some defensive options. Ditto could count, and Swampert's balanced offense and defense gave it a partial role.
But his team's biggest current gap was a solid Controller—and Misdreavus, a Pokémon whose very presence carried controlling capabilities without even relying on moves, was without doubt an excellent choice for that role.