Watching Joanna leave on her Salamence, Natsuhiko took off the mask that Ditto had transformed and his expression turned somber.
A person who, for their own benefit, could disregard the goals of their own organization and even vaguely target their own superior—how much trust could one place in them?
Complete trust between them was out of the question; it was more about the exchange of interests.
Joanna needed substantial subordinates to break into the twenty-six seats, so even if Natsuhiko didn't actively seek to advance in the Hunter Guild's ranks, she would help him improve.
And Natsuhiko needed her to get closer to the Divine Hall of Snow Peak.
Perhaps she had said the same thing to others besides Natsuhiko, and maybe a lot of the core and peripheral members of the Hunter Guild were already under her sway.
The internal dynamics of the Hunter Guild were about to change, leading to a big reshuffle; who would disappear, who would rise, would depend on individual abilities.
Joanna was confident she would take the lead in this "cooperation."
But Natsuhiko was also confident in himself.
For him, this might also be an opportunity.
"In the end, it's hard to say who will take control."
Compared to Lance, Flint, Hilona, those people, Natsuhiko might not be very confident.
But a Hunter J... as he grew stronger, he did have some confidence.
Otherwise, if he couldn't even reach this level after risking everything in this world, it would be a disgrace to the many "transmigrators" out there.
Gradually.
He had gone from a small fry struggling at the bottom of this world to a Trainer with goals, ideas, and confidence.
This was the change in mindset brought about by the evolution of his abilities.
"Don't end up making a wedding dress for someone else in the end."
After muttering while looking in the direction Joanna left, he turned and headed toward the Divine Hall of Snow Peak.
According to Joanna, it was safe for him to approach the Divine Hall of Snow Peak now.
But he should avoid any unexpected incidents now; otherwise, it would be hard for her, who was monitoring the Divine Hall, to explain to her superiors.
Natsuhiko didn't slow down.
Soon, he arrived at the ancient entrance of the Divine Hall of Snow Peak.
Two massive, towering stone pillars supported the rock roof of the entrance, and the heavy main door was tightly shut, with the entire hall embedded in the mountain.
After signaling Yujira to leave a psychic "anchor" at the entrance, he didn't linger and used Instant Movement to leave.
After returning to Snow Peak City, he wasted no time and took the earliest flight to Binhai City.
He didn't want to be delayed any further by this matter.
From what Joanna disclosed, the Hunter Guild was targeting the Divine Hall of Snow Peak due to an imminent major internal operation, even to the extent of contacting the Ocean Team, which showed their significant determination.
Natsuhiko wanted to complete this matter quickly and then extricate himself without getting caught up in the chaos.
Due to the long-term snowfall in Snow Peak City, flights weren't scheduled regularly; they were arranged when the snowfall stopped.
Fortunately, Natsuhiko was lucky to catch a break in the weather.
Thus, he successfully reached Binhai City before nightfall, sparing Yujira the strain of using Instant Movement.
He then headed to the Poke Center.
There, he once again saw the grandfather and grandson, dutifully staying in their room, not having stepped out even once.
"Togepi Brother!"
Little Meiyu, seeing Natsuhiko, immediately bounced off the bed and ran to him, her face glowing with excitement and no longer showing the shyness from their first meeting.
Natsuhiko smiled and patted her head before looking over at Kage, who was slowly approaching with a hunched back.
Having already been quite old, and after suffering such severe injuries last time, the damage was permanent to his old body even if he survived.
Kage didn't say a word, just looked at Natsuhiko with anticipation.
Seeing Natsuhiko nod silently, Kage's expression relaxed, and he exhaled a long breath.
"Pack up your things, we're leaving now," Natsuhiko said.
"We've been ready the whole time."
Kage pointed to the pack in the corner.
"Good."
Natsuhiko liked this kind of straightforward action.
"Yongji."
When it was time for Yujira to perform Instant Movement, it called out to Natsuhiko with a bit of hesitation.
Upon hearing this, Natsuhiko was taken aback.
He knew that using Instant Movement continuously this time would inevitably consume a large amount of Yujira's psychic power, and it would be greatly increased due to carrying three people.
Perhaps they couldn't reach the Divine Hall of Snow Peak directly in one go.
Or maybe upon arrival, Yujira might fall into a deep sleep due to overexertion.
He didn't expect Yujira to propose a very constructive suggestion.
"You're saying if my psychic power amplifies yours, it could significantly lessen your burden? While it would also consume a substantial amount of my psychic power, if the synergy is successful, we might achieve a sum greater than its parts."
Natsuhiko was a bit surprised.
Yujira nodded.
It had thought about this possibility before, but didn't mention it because it didn't need Natsuhiko's help then.
But this time was different; this was definitely a "big project."
"I understand, let's give it a try."
Natsuhiko took a deep breath and placed his hand on Yujira's shoulder.
Soon, their psyches began to slowly merge.
Relying on the familiarity from previous psychic perception and the synergy between Natsuhiko and Yujira, they quickly completed the psychic integration.
Kage watched the interaction between Natsuhiko and Yujira with some amazement.
He hadn't expected Natsuhiko to be a superpower user; it was indeed a bit unexpected.
Superpower user....
Kage's eyes glimmered with a faint light, and a thought arose in his mind.
At that moment, Natsuhiko finally realized why superpower users often chose Psychic-type Pokémon, and why Psychic-type Pokémon were more inclined towards superpower users.
It turns out, there's this kind of synergy.
After merging with Yujira's psychic power, while the main control remained with the more powerful Yujira, Natsuhiko could also distinctly feel his psychic power significantly enhanced.
The feeling was like...
Like he had become a Pokémon himself, and one with Senior Level strength.
Natsuhiko thought that a superpower user like Nancy, if supported by a suitable Psychic-type Pokémon, would completely transform into a humanoid Pokémon, wouldn't they?
One with overwhelming strength that could crush most Pokémon.
No wonder even Giovanni placed so much importance on Nancy.
While Yujira didn't experience such dramatic changes, it seemed it had touched an invisible threshold.
Intuition told it that once it crossed this threshold, it would formally step into the Elite Level, like Beedrill.
Both the person and the Pokémon felt the benefits.
"Ready."
Natsuhiko took the curious hand of Meiyu, while Meiyu held onto Kage on the other side, and, carrying their luggage under the psychic shield, they vanished from the room.
Continuous, uninterrupted psychic Instant Movement jumps.
Following the "anchor" points Natsuhiko and Yujira had left along their journey.
Moreover, it became apparent that Yujira's Instant Movement distance had considerably increased after their psychic power fusion.
Just as it said, accomplishing a sum greater than its parts.
A brief pause for adjustment.
Reaching the entrance of the Divine Hall of Snow Peak took a little over an hour in total, including the time spent resting.
Far faster than flying or using Flying Pokémon.
But it did strain the mind a bit.
Upon reaching the entrance of the Divine Hall of Snow Peak, Natsuhiko felt a wave of dizziness and nausea from overusing Instant Movement across space; Kage and Meiyu felt similar and had to squat for a while to recover.
A sharp pain followed, and Natsuhiko couldn't help but press on his temples.
Yujira didn't seem very comfortable either, gripping the spoon tightly, its Buddha beads turning rhythmically, chanting softly with a calm and spiritual demeanor.
But its psychic power was slowly recovering.
'It's efficient, but definitely not something to use frequently,' Natsuhiko thought, massaging his temples and complaining internally.
Fortunately, they had arrived.
"Have someone inside open the door quickly; it's not safe here," Natsuhiko urged.
"Alright." Kage, suppressing his discomfort, stood up and retrieved a special tool from his clothing.
Though Meiyu was the youngest, she recovered the fastest.
She watched Kage's actions with great curiosity, as it was her first time at the Divine Hall of Snow Peak.
Kage had told her that her mother was inside.
Before long.
With a harsh scraping sound, the massive rock slowly opened with a "rumbling" sound.
And at the moment the door opened, Natsuhiko felt as if a gaze from within locked onto him, exerting immense pressure.
Soon after, a giant dragon head peeked out from inside.