"Who's there!?" In a distant space, a Pokémon lived completely alone.
It sensed that a mark it had left in the Pokémon world was being attacked, but at that moment it could not leave that space—or rather, it could not temporarily enter the Pokémon world.
Around it floated enormous inverted masses of land like suspended islands, with remnants of shattered buildings upon them and waterfalls that flowed upward.
It was as if the rules of that entire world had been completely thrown into disorder.
Six spectral wings, shaped like bands, swept across those fractured islands. Between them, golden patterns and a gigantic tail could be seen.
But it was only a flash; its true form could not be clearly seen.
"Arceus!!! Sooner or later, I will return!!"
...
Under the continuous attacks of Honchkrow and Slowking, the wall grew thinner and thinner, and then Gengar and Mismagius joined the assault.
With the combined strikes of the four Pokémon, accompanied by roaring sounds and shattering rocks, they finally broke through the wall.
Boom!
But this time the roar was not small. Behind the wall, it was as if there were a fierce hurricane—huge amounts of Ghost-type energy burst out from the newly opened hole.
Honchkrow and Slowking, who were unprepared, were thrown backward. The psychic barrier surrounding Cain nearly shattered.
Fortunately, Gengar reacted quickly and teleported in front of Cain, letting the Ghost-type energy pour naturally into his body.
"Kekeke!" Gengar shouted loudly.
Mismagius appeared at his side to help him withstand the pressure of the incoming energy.
Slowking teleported to Cain's side, reinforced the barrier, and Honchkrow returned, taking up a defensive stance.
Cain showed no panic, only a bit of surprise. He hadn't expected that, by comparison, the Ghost-type energy of the tunnel they were in was merely a diluted version, while the energy coming from the other side of the wall was extremely dense.
An instant later, even the light entering from outside was completely blocked; the interior became absolute blackness.
Cain moved closer to Gengar and Mismagius.
"Gengar, how do you feel?" According to the system's data, Gengar's values, which had previously been completely stagnant, were now beginning to rise without stopping.
It was a sign that he was about to break through a limit—he was using that energy to attempt to cross the barrier into the Champion level.
"Kekeke!" Gengar replied with his eyes closed.
"Of course! This has everything to do with Giratina!" Cain murmured upon hearing him.
When they had entered, and Gengar said that the energy felt familiar, Cain had already suspected it.
After all, in that world, the Pokémon capable of generating Ghost-type energy of this magnitude was, first on the list, Giratina.
Of course, it wasn't the only one. Ghost-type Pokémon have ages impossible to calculate; there could be one out there that had lived for thousands of years. Cain knew that not only Giratina could reach this level—Marshadow or Lunala could as well.
Although Lunala was less likely; Marshadow still made sense.
But when Gengar said "familiar energy," it was practically confirmed.
Just moments ago, when Gengar clearly identified part of the mixed energy there, the certainty reached one hundred percent.
All that remained was to know what Giratina was doing in this place. Cain was sure that behind that wall, there was something important.
Given the situation, to be able to enter they would either have to wait for the internal energy to decrease in intensity, or for Gengar and Mismagius to finish absorbing it to complete their breakthroughs.
The energy consumption required to break the limit would be enormous, and right now there was an apparently inexhaustible flow supplying them.
Fortunately, more than six months had passed since Gengar's last drastic increase in power, so his body could withstand large amounts of energy.
In a single explosive surge of growth, Gengar managed to break the limit, rose to level 80, and officially entered the Champion level.
His absorption speed also increased. The amount of energy he could store became much greater.
"Gengar, that's enough. This energy is sufficient for you to stabilize; there's no need to go higher. Mismagius, you too are already at your limit."
After a while, Cain stopped them both.
Mismagius had reached level 74.
That was her current cap.
After they absorbed most of it, and considering the energy that dispersed on its own, the tunnel was no longer so dense.
At last, they could see some of the interior.
When Gengar and Mismagius finished stabilizing, Gengar took the lead and Cain advanced with his Pokémon.
The passageway was long, built entirely of fragments of crystallized dark stone, the same as the wall they had broken. The entire place looked like... a prison?
Or a cage?
But what was the purpose of building something like this?
As they advanced, the Ghost-type energy intensified once more.
Soon they reached the end of the tunnel, where there was a pool. It was from there that the energy flowed outward.
"This... might be the spring of all this Ghost-type energy." Cain observed the black water of the pool. He didn't know whether it was real water filled with Ghost-type energy, or if the energy was so dense that it had condensed into liquid form.
Splash!
When Cain approached, the surface of the water rippled.
Something was about to emerge.
Sensing the movement, Honchkrow stepped in front of Cain along with the others, alert to any threat.
Cain frowned. He felt that Giratina had done all this for the Pokémon beneath the water.
Cling clang cling...
A metallic sound echoed as a figure began to rise from the depths.
It was a Pokémon, with both hands bound by four thick black chains. That clinking sound came from them.
As he watched it slowly emerge, Cain's pupils contracted. A name appeared in his mind.
The God of Nightmares!
(End of chapter)