The Hisuian Typhlosion stood protectively in front of Damian, opening its maw to unleash a brilliant purple pillar of fire!
The violent flames immediately blocked the charging Basculegion’s advance.
Flame met water in a spectacular collision, generating thick clouds of steam that rolled across the battlefield.
Through the dense mist, Typhlosion and Basculegion collided head-on in a brutal clash.
Neither Pokemon gave an inch!
"The power level of Pokemon in this place is seriously high," John muttered under his breath.
One Pseudo-Champion level Pokemon was already rare enough, but here were two. And he had a sinking feeling these weren’t the only ones lurking in this ancient sanctuary. In the outside world, finding even Elite-level wild Pokemon was like striking gold.
"Shadow Sneak," Damian commanded coolly.
From the shadows on the ground, dark tendrils erupted to firmly grasp Basculegion around the waist. For normal fish Pokemon like regular Basculin or Goldeen, being trapped on shore would spell certain defeat.
But Basculegion was Ghost-type, already dead, so what did it care about being on land or in water?
The Shadow Sneak served its true purpose: preventing any escape back to the safety of the river.
Basculegion wasn’t about to go down without a fight. Finding itself trapped, its expression grew increasingly ferocious as it opened its maw and fired a rapid barrage of Shadow Balls.
"Shadow Claw!" Damian commanded without missing a beat.
Purple flames erupted along Typhlosion’s back as deep violet claws materialized on both arms. With explosive speed, it swatted aside every incoming Shadow Ball before delivering a devastating strike that sent Basculegion flying.
Typhlosion dropped to all fours and charged forward, wreathed in a blazing purple aura. It slammed into the airborne Basculegion like a supernatural battering ram.
Despite the type disadvantage, this Typhlosion clearly outclassed its opponent. Both Pokemon shared the Ghost typing, making their mutual weaknesses cancel out in a display of raw power versus power.
Typhlosion’s combo attack left Basculegion completely stunned, so much so that it was captured in a Pokeball before it could even demonstrate its full Champion-level potential.
A brief struggle from within the ball, then... stillness.
One minute later, Damian had successfully captured the ancient Pokemon.
"Congratulations on adding another powerhouse to your team!" Harrison immediately offered his praise. "With monsters like these, you’ll definitely claim that Championship title!"
"It’s still a long road ahead," Damian replied, though his usually stern expression softened into a rare smile.
As he said, there was still much work to do. While both Pokemon possessed Pseudo-Champion level raw power, they were wild creatures. Months of intensive training and move refinement would be needed before they could reach their true potential in battle.
Otherwise, a skilled trainer with well-trained Elite-level Pokemon could potentially outmaneuver them, just like what had nearly happened with Basculegion.
Securing both Pokeballs, Damian turned to John with genuine gratitude. "Thank you for this. When we get back, I’ll send you the Phantom General training manual I promised."
"Don’t mention it," John waved off the thanks.
"Hey, what about thanking me?" Harrison protested.
"Thank you for what? You didn’t help find anything, and you’re already getting paid for this trip."
Harrison silently raised his middle finger in response.
"Damian, did you set up any seal stones in this sanctuary? Like the one we passed when we entered?" John asked suddenly.
Damian paused, then shook his head. "No, why?"
"While exploring earlier, I discovered what looks like an artificial tunnel with a massive seal stone inside. It seems to be imprisoning something incredible underneath, but I have no idea how to unlock it." Now that he’d confirmed it wasn’t Damian’s handiwork, John decided to share his discovery.
Hearing about a seal stone in the sanctuary immediately piqued Damian’s interest. "Let’s go take a look!"
John released Salamence to lead the way, and the group quickly flew back to the cave he’d discovered earlier.
"What incredibly pure Ghost-type energy!" Standing at the cave entrance, Damian immediately sensed something extraordinary. He couldn’t help but kneel down and touch the energy that carpeted the entire cave floor like dense fabric.
"It’s so pure it feels like the source of all Ghost-type energy, as if the Spirit World itself originated from whatever’s down there."
"That’s exactly what I was thinking," John said, gesturing for Gardevoir to use Flash as he pointed toward the cave’s depths. "The source is over there, beneath that seal stone."
Damian looked up and his face filled with shock. "What a massive seal stone, and look at all those sigils!"
He started to step forward but John quickly stopped him.
"Let the Pokemon carry us in. This Ghost-type energy will attack anyone who approaches on foot."
With that, John mounted Arcanine and rode into the cave.
"So it actively attacks intruders? That means whatever’s producing this Ghost-type energy has consciousness," Damian mused. Pure energy had no awareness, only living beings with self-consciousness could manipulate energy to launch attacks. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝~𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖~𝕟𝕖𝕥
Both Damian and Harrison released their Dragapult and climbed onto their backs to follow.
Upon reaching the massive black seal stone, Damian began carefully examining the intricate seals covering its surface.
"Well? Can you crack it?" John asked.
Damian shook his head immediately. "No chance. I’ve never seen runic script . Judging by the style, it’s at least two thousand years old, probably from some civilization or race we haven’t discovered yet. There’s no way to decipher it."
"Then... could we break it open by force?"
Damian didn’t answer right away. Instead, he had Dragapult carry him in a complete circle around the black seal stone.
"Brute force could work," he finally concluded. "This seal stone has been in place for so long that the sigils have begun to weaken and crack. You can see evidence of that from how the Ghost-type energy is already leaking throughout the cave."
"However," Damian’s tone grew serious, "with a seal stone this massive and Ghost-type energy this pure saturating the area, whatever’s imprisoned below is definitely no pushover. If you want to break the seal, you’d better think long and hard about the consequences."
"How dangerous could it really be?" John mentally ran through the legendary Ghost-type Pokemon he knew of.
Giratina, Calyrex, Marshadow, Lunala, Hoopa...
That should be all of them, right?
But none of those legendary Pokemon could possibly be sealed away in a place , could they?
Since it probably wasn’t a legendary Pokemon, what did he have to fear?
John grinned and pulled out a Pokeball. "We’ve come this far, I’m not leaving empty-handed."