As the crackling static in the earpiece finally faded, voices from the other teams came through clearly.
Daming's eyes lit up with excitement.
"Captain! We're connected—I got through!"
The captain, while directing his Pokémon to plug gaps in the defensive circle, spoke rapidly,
"Good. Inform Gym Leader Zhu immediately—confirm the presence of a Gym-level Pokémon. The danger rating of this secret realm must be raised. Team One has suffered heavy casualties!"
But even as he spoke, the shrinking number of Pokémon made the encirclement thinner and thinner.
Despite the captain and Wang Chengzhou desperately coordinating defenses, the black shadow seized the briefest opening—ripping through a weak point and charging straight into the protective ring!
Its target wasn't the Pokémon.
It was the trainers.
The creature had already realized that while the Pokémon themselves weren't individually strong, under human command they had managed to stall it for far too long.
So now, it aimed for the most obvious commanders—the humans constantly issuing orders.
Wang Chengzhou, his back turned, became the prime target.
Razor-sharp claws gleamed coldly in the darkness.
"Watch out!"
The captain roared and lunged forward, knocking Wang Chengzhou aside.
But in doing so, he himself was slashed as the black shadow swept past, spraying blood into the air.
Wang Chengzhou rolled over just in time to see the captain collapse—his face pale, three deep gashes carved across his back, bone visible beneath torn flesh. Yet somehow… the man was smiling.
"Alakazam—now!"
"Ka…ZAM!"
A vivid violet beam of psychic energy burst forth from the void itself, striking directly at the shadow.
The timing was flawless—too perfect to be coincidence.
Future Sight.
One of the most terrifying Psychic-type techniques, storing an attack in distorted space to be unleashed at a predetermined moment.
The captain had chosen to use himself as bait—this was the instant he had been waiting for.
The shadow couldn't dodge in time.
At least… that was what the captain believed.
But as the beam struck, his smile froze.
"How… is that possible? It didn't work?!"
The black shadow emerged unharmed.
Instead of vanishing again, it spread its wings and hovered overhead, allowing everyone to finally see its true form.
A crown-like V-shaped crest.
Crimson, bloodshot eyes.
It looked like a Noctowl—but warped, twisted, wrong.
With a screech, it spat out a sphere of pitch-black energy, aiming directly at the center of the formation where all the investigators were clustered.
At that critical moment, Wang Chengzhou roared,
"Ninetales—Protect!"
Ninetales, forcing out every ounce of strength, unleashed the largest Protect barrier it had ever managed.
The collision between Dark Pulse and Protect triggered a violent shockwave that blasted outward in all directions.
The barrier held—but its expanded range came at the cost of reduced strength.
Daming, still mid-report, was caught by the shockwave and flung violently through the air, tumbling across the ground before finally stopping.
The devastating impact didn't just scatter people and Pokémon—it completely destroyed their equipment.
Every instrument malfunctioned, sparks flying as devices died one after another.
Daming stared at the shattered communicator in his hands, despair flooding his heart.
The captain was thrown back as well, his head smashing into a tree. Already gravely wounded, he finally lost consciousness.
Others were no better—some collapsed instantly, others lay groaning, unable to move.
Wang Chengzhou, closest to the blast, suffered the worst of it. He was hurled dozens of meters before slamming into a tree trunk.
Blood streamed into his eyes, turning the world into a hazy crimson blur.
Every bone in his body felt shattered.
Through the haze, he saw a bird-shaped Pokémon step into view.
He tensed instantly—until a young man walked out from behind it, a Kirlia following quietly at his side.
"That uniform… you're a League investigator, right?"
Despite the agony wracking his body, Wang Chengzhou forced himself upright, glaring warily at the bird Pokémon.
"You were dragged into the secret realm? Run—get out of here! It's too dangerous!"
The young man calmly patted the bird Pokémon's shoulder.
"Relax. This Decidueye isn't affected by the malice. It won't attack randomly."
Then he followed Decidueye's gaze—and saw it.
A jet-black Pokémon, unmistakably owl-like, yet clearly distorted.
Pokémon: Noctowl
Level: High Gym-level ~ Quasi-Elite
Potential: Elite-tier
Evaluation: Due to prolonged exposure to the source of malice and absorption of massive Dark-type energy, its typing has mutated into Dark/Flying.
Pokémon changing types wasn't unheard of—records existed of Vulpix lines becoming Ice-type due to environmental influence.
By that logic, Noctowl's transformation from Normal/Flying to Dark/Flying made grim sense.
And the sheer amount of Dark energy it had absorbed had pushed its strength beyond Gym-level, approaching Elite territory.
"So… that's your old friend?" Oliver muttered softly.
"That's not 'a bit weaker' than you."
Decidueye let out a low call.
At that moment, Noctowl spotted Decidueye and went berserk, shrieking as it transformed into a streak of black light and lunged forward.
Decidueye's eyes sharpened.
In a flash, it vanished—meeting Noctowl head-on in midair.
Oliver turned to Wang Chengzhou and said calmly,
"Leave the rest to me."
Wang Chengzhou wanted to argue—but the overwhelming pressure radiating from Decidueye made the words die in his throat.
"…Another Gym-level Pokémon," he muttered weakly.
"What kind of monster are kids these days?"
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