Master Craftsman of the Pokémon World

Shinto – Traveler's Workshop

As the sun set, all Pokémon—except Regirock—had gathered inside the house. Due to its massive body width and the protruding stone pillars on its back, Regirock couldn't fit through the front entrance of the workshop and had to enter through the forge's back door instead. It then settled inside the forge to rest.

Meanwhile, Hikaru and the Pokémon worked together to transport stone materials into the supernatural room.

The stock of Spirit Cloth placed here was nearly depleted, and the high-quality cloth ordered online had yet to arrive. Hikaru would have to restock from the village in the meantime.

Carefully unwrapping a tightly bundled Spirit Cloth, he revealed several stacks of blank paper, two thin notebooks, ink, and a fountain pen. Over the past few days, wrapped in the Spirit Cloth, these items had gradually absorbed spiritual energy.

Additionally, Hikaru had placed Spell Tags around the room to enhance its supernatural energy.

As a result, from the outside, this fourth room now looked eerie and ominous.

Recalling a recent custom order from a Unova client requesting a Chandelure crystal sculpture, Hikaru decided to work on it here.

After finishing the stone transport, Hikaru also placed a wooden table inside the room to serve as a workbench.

Then, he picked up the stack of spiritual paper—only for them to suddenly start flying on their own!

There was no one controlling them. It was as if they had become possessed, resembling the haunted locations in games where books would start flying by themselves!

"Yoooo~"

Doublade let out an excited cry, floating up into the air to join the dancing papers.

Was this… Swords Dance?

No, wait—its blades hadn't even been drawn! Hikaru sighed in relief and quickly shouted, "Don't cut up the paper!"

Also… why did it suddenly start dancing?!

"Yoop~"

Doublade responded affirmatively, while Lilligant appeared intrigued by the unexpected dance. Without hesitation, she stepped into the center of the room. Since the room was spacious and mostly empty, she could twirl freely without knocking anything over.

Amid the fluttering spiritual papers, Lilligant performed an elegant dance, while Doublade spun in the air, seemingly accompanying her.

The spectacle left Turtwig and Unown-E utterly mesmerized!

Turtwig, in particular, gazed in awe. Then, it began fantasizing about itself dancing…

Smack!

Dream failed.

Turtwig quickly realized that its sturdy body made dancing look ridiculous. Its expression fell into utter disappointment (╥﹏╥).

"I swear I just heard the sound of a dream shattering," Hikaru muttered, noticing Turtwig's dejected mood.

"Nah..."

Turtwig sighed, disheartened.

Meanwhile, Unown-E had a brilliant idea—perhaps it could use Hidden Power to help Turtwig achieve its fantasy?

…but after thinking it through, it decided against it.

Yeah… that'd be a little too absurd.

Instead, Unown-E joined the floating spiritual papers, spinning in midair alongside Doublade, making itself part of the unexpected spectral dance party.

Watching the crestfallen Turtwig, Hikaru suddenly had an idea.

"Lilligant, could you teach Turtwig 'Grass Knot'?"

"Nah?"

Turtwig looked at Hikaru in confusion.

Hikaru smiled and explained, "Grass Knot is a move you can learn, and it involves light and nimble footwork to boost your speed. If you master it, your dancing will look much more graceful!"

"The key to dancing isn't speed—it's footwork."

Lilligant elegantly stepped forward, demonstrating precise rhythmic foot movements. The tap-tap of her graceful steps intertwined with her fluid body movements, creating an almost hypnotic visual harmony.

At the same time, a stat-boosting aura surrounded her—Grass Knot was activating!

"Nah!"

Turtwig's eyes sparkled like twinkling stars. It was completely enchanted and immediately started mimicking Lilligant's footwork.

Though Turtwig had four legs, making the movement slightly awkward at times, it quickly found joy in the process. Before long, it was dancing alongside the others, fully immersed in the rhythm.

Then—

Hikaru suddenly noticed something happening to Doublade!

A stat-boosting aura surrounded it as well!

『Doublade learned Swords Dance!』

"…Huh?"

While accompanying Lilligant's dance, Doublade had unknowingly learned Swords Dance!

Even Doublade itself seemed surprised. However, it continued spinning even faster, now surrounded by glowing blue swords.

Its Attack stat had skyrocketed!

Finally, under Lilligant's lead, the impromptu "Spectral Dance Party" came to a graceful end. The Pokémon gathered around, laughing and chatting excitedly—clearly not ready for the fun to be over.

Turtwig, after this experience, had grown closer to everyone. It had also mastered a more fluid movement style!

At that moment, a notification appeared in Hikaru's mind.

『Turtwig learned Grass Knot!』

It actually worked!

"Learning moves through dance… Lilligant's teaching method is extremely effective—instant results!" Hikaru mused.

Which meant…

"Lilligant…"

『Lilligant learned Coaching!』

"So that's how it works!"

Hikaru smiled knowingly.

Lilligant had an innate talent for teaching, which allowed her to learn Coaching—a move that boosted the Attack and Defense stats of all allies through proper and effective guidance.

Looks like she'll be "Coach Lilligant" from now on!

Despite being the one usually teaching Lilligant in matters of sculpting, it seemed that Doublade had somehow ended up learning Coaching from being guided instead.

Now that Hikaru thought about it, Lilligant's dancing skills were probably good enough to win prizes in Contests or Performance Tournaments.

Hikaru gave it some thought before clapping his hands. "Alright! Now that the dance party is over, let's get to work."

Since he had knowledge of spiritual energy, Hikaru used his spiritual control to recall all the floating papers back into his hands.

If anyone saw him manipulating papers midair, they would be shocked—after all, people with spiritual abilities weren't common!

As he pondered this, a system notification appeared in his mind.

[Rare Material: Spirit Paper]

[Description: While originally just ordinary paper, it has been infused with an immense amount of supernatural energy, transforming into a unique spirit-infused item. It may sometimes float around randomly, but ultimately, nothing significant will happen.]

Looking at the floating notebooks, another notification appeared.

[Crafted Item: Spirit Notebook]

[Description: Once an ordinary notebook, now imbued with spiritual energy. Effect – Burst of Inspiration: While holding this notebook, one may uncontrollably experience creative visions. It could stimulate inspiration, but writing those visions down will slightly drain one's life force.]

"As expected… Anything related to Ghost-types always drains life force."

Hikaru couldn't help but recall when he first obtained Honedge, back when it was still categorized as a crafted item—it, too, had a life-draining effect.

Even the fountain pen and ink left in the room had been transformed into spiritual items, their effects causing written words or drawings to create mild illusions or instill fear.

That was simply the nature of supernatural artifacts!

"So that's what that customer meant… Spending too much time with Ghost Pokémon had caused their manuscripts to become 'possessed'... No wonder they're a novelist!"

"A spirit-infused notebook that sparks inspiration, huh? The side effects make it unsuitable for most people, though."

Hikaru retrieved some dark-colored bookbinding materials. Since these items needed to be shipped safely, he used ordinary materials for the outer book covers. Otherwise, if the books started floating mid-shipment, he could already imagine a delivery Charizard filing a complaint against him.

Then, he began binding some of the spirit-infused papers into books.

There were many binding styles, but Hikaru chose a hardcover design—using cardboard, fabric, and leather for reinforcement. The spine was squared, making it suitable for books up to 20mm thick.

A new system notification appeared.

[Crafted Item: Square-Spine Spirit Tome (Hardcover Edition)]

[Description: A spirit-infused tome capable of recording anything. Through precise bookbinding techniques, the nature of the Spirit Paper has been altered, granting it unique properties.]

[Special Effect – Soul Affinity: Writing or drawing the name or image of a Ghost-type Pokémon increases friendship with that Pokémon. The holder becomes more attuned to ghostly energy, making it easier to remain calm in eerie environments.]

[For those with weak constitutions or susceptible to ghostly influences, holding this tome can improve their spiritual and physical well-being.]

"A book that benefits both spirit-sensitive people and those affected by ghosts…"

Hikaru placed the freshly bound Spirit Tome on the workbench.

Immediately, Doublade was the first to float over, drawn to the tome's gentle and soothing spiritual energy.

Unlike the usual restless and eerie ghostly energy, the power emanating from this book felt serene and stable.

"This is the power of books… refining the heart and soul." Hikaru murmured, then suddenly realized—perhaps the tome's ability to calm spirits stemmed from its "idealistic" nature?

After all, the Pokémon world was full of phenomena driven by belief.

Changing the form of an object could alter how its power flowed, producing entirely new effects.

"Well… At least I didn't accidentally create something like a Death Note."

Hikaru chuckled to himself, then turned his focus to his next task—sculpting the Chandelure crystal statue.

"Yoouuu~!"

Doublade's blades gleamed—it was ready!

"Yoouuu~!"

Now that it had just learned Swords Dance, it wanted to combine Swords Dance with Psycho Cut to see if it could enhance carving precision and efficiency!

Seeing its enthusiasm, Hikaru glanced at the stone slabs—there were plenty of extra materials.

"If you want to give it a shot… then go ahead."

"Doublade, use Swords Dance, then carefully execute Psycho Cut to carve this design."

Hikaru showed it a reference image of Chandelure.

After staring at the picture for a moment, Doublade froze.

Then, it suddenly spoke up in exasperation.

"Wait a second—Chandelure is a Ghost-type too… But it also looks like a household item! That means it's my kind of doppelgänger!"

(End of Chapter)

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