The two players, Kay and Player 27, stood at the hill, breathing heavily after running for their lives.
Their clothes were messy, and their Pokémons looked just as tired. They had just escaped from a wild stampede of Tauros that came out of nowhere.
While they were running, Kay had noticed something interesting; a small cave hidden below the hill.
It looked dark and quiet, and something about it made him suspicious. He thought it might be the hiding place of the Eevees and Espeons they were looking for.
But when he glanced at Player 27 to see if he had noticed the cave too, he saw that Player 27 was only looking around the area, confused and unsure of what to do next.
Kay decided to speak up. "What should we do now? We can't follow the footprints anymore. That stampede destroyed everything. The grass is all trampled."
Player 27 turned toward Kay, thinking for a moment. "I don't know either. Luckily, the Tauros group didn't target us directly, so we're safe for now. But we can't go back the way we came. So we have two choices. First, we can stay here on this hill and wait for the Tauros stampede to finish, then go back and search for any clues."
Kay frowned. "That's impossible. The group of Tauros destroyed everything; we won't be able to find anything."
Player 27 nodded, then said, "The second choice is to keep moving. Let's climb to the other side of the hill and see what's there. Maybe we'll find something, or at least be safer."
Kay hesitated for a second before replying. "Honestly, I think we've already lost the trail. This hill is full of grass. Even if the Pokémons passed here, there would be no footprints to follow."
What Kay didn't say was that he didn't want to tell Player 27 about the cave he had spotted. He wanted to explore it alone.
Kay had a strong feeling that the cave might be connected to the secret of how Eevee evolves into Espeon, and he didn't want to share that discovery with anyone.
So he decided to play along with Player 27 for now, hiding his real plan. He would wait for the right moment to sneak away and check the cave on his own.
The two players continued their climb up the hill, determined to see what was on the other side.
As they got higher, they were suddenly attacked by a group of Flying-type Pokémons. Luckily, these wild Pokémons weren't very strong.
They seemed more hungry than aggressive. With some effort, Kay and Player 27 managed to defeat them. Afterward, they collected the killed Pokémons to use them later as food.
When they finally reached the top of the hill and looked down the other side, their eyes widened in shock.
What they saw was unlike anything they had ever seen before. There was a large open area hidden between the hills, and scattered all across the field were strange purple-colored zones.
These zones looked like hot springs, but instead of steam, they were glowing with a soft, shimmering light. Energy was rising from these places, mysterious and beautiful.
Kay focused harder and realized that the energy was likely Psychic-type energy. He scanned the area and noticed many Pokémons resting or meditating inside those glowing zones.
He saw Psyduck and Golduck sitting calmly there, Abra and Kadabra floating with their eyes closed, and Drowzee and Hypno swaying side to side. There were also Girafarig, Meditite, Medicham, and many other Psychic-type Pokémons.
Kay quickly understood what the place might be. It looked like a special zone where Psychic-type Pokémons gathered, maybe to heal, train, or become stronger.
The energy was powerful, and the Pokémons living there were strong, far stronger than what Kay and Player 27 could handle right now. They were just beginners compared to these high-level creatures.
Player 27 turned to Kay and said, "This dungeon is full of surprises. But we're not strong enough to handle something like this. We should return to the forest and look for another path."
Kay nodded. "Yeah, I agree. It's hard to walk away from something this special, but we don't want to throw our lives away. Let's survive today and come back stronger next time."
With that, the two players started walking back down the hill, carefully heading toward the base of the hill.
As Kay and Player 27 carefully moved down the hill, suddenly, colorful rays of light appeared in front of them.
The lights shimmered in the air for just a few seconds before two Mr. Mimes appeared out of nowhere.
The two players froze in place, shocked by the sudden appearance of the Psychic-type Pokémons.
It felt like their presence was detected when they took a look from the top of the hill before.
Kay quickly checked Mr. Mimes' stats using his system.
---
Mr. Mime
Potential: Deep Purple
Stage: Intermediate Bronze
Moveset: Teleport, Light Screen, Confusion, Hyper Beam, Shadow Ball, Protect, Psybeam, Calm Mind
---
This one was clearly the stronger of the two, even though they were of the same stage.
He turned to Player 27 and said calmly, "Don't attack yet. Let's wait and see what they'll do."
Player 27, however, couldn't pull out his Pokédex, so he didn't know the exact stats. Still, just from their aura alone, he could tell these Mr. Mimes were powerful, stronger than the Superior Steel stage but not yet above Bronze.
He guessed they were both likely in the Bronze stage, but he wasn't sure about their substages.
Trying not to provoke the two Pokémons, Kay and Player 27 began stepping backward slowly, avoiding any sudden moves.
Kay's brain was working non-stop. His thoughts were racing like a supercomputer overheating with stress. He needed a plan, fast.
But before they could figure anything out, the two Mr. Mimes raised their hands and started charging energy.
One of them formed a dark Shadow Ball between its palms, and the other gathered pink Psychic energy; Kay assumed it was about to use Psybeam.
"Jump!" Kay shouted, and both players dove to the side just in time as the attacks blasted past them. The attacks exploded on the ground, throwing up dust and rocks.
Kay realized immediately: there was no way they could win a head-on battle with these two Pokémons.
Not with the current strength of their Pokémons. He turned toward Player 27 to see what he would do.
"Hey! I'll handle the one on the right! You take the one on the left!" Player 27 called out, commanding his Cubone to attack.
Kay took a deep breath and shouted, "Eevee, use Sand Attack, then Double Team!"
Eevee, though nervous in front of such strong opponents, obeyed bravely. It sprinted forward, kicked up sand straight into the eyes of the first Mr. Mime, and then split into multiple illusions using Double Team.
The sand attack didn't deal damage, but it disrupted Mr. Mime's concentration, giving them a few precious seconds.
Kay used that moment to shout an unexpected command: "Now! Eevee, Growlithe, run!"
Player 27 looked surprised at Kay, but quickly he focused back on the battle; he couldn't lose focus outside this battle. He understood that Kay had decided to betray him and to escape alone.
As they started to retreat, Kay shouted again, "Growlithe, use Double Team too!"
Growlithe created several copies of itself, and together with the Eevee clones, the battlefield became filled with illusory Pokémons running in different directions. The real Kay and his Pokémons were among them, heading toward the base of the hill.
Mr. Mime blinked through the sand, and when it regained focus, it saw a small army of Pokémons dashing away.
It didn't hesitate. It fired multiple Shadow Balls, hitting and removing some of the clones, but each time, it only destroyed one illusion. It quickly became frustrated.
Then, with anger and focus, the Mr. Mime began gathering a massive amount of energy in front of its mouth. Kay's eyes widened. "Hyper Beam," he whispered in fear.
The beam of raw energy exploded forward, destroying every clone in its path. The ground shook, and a loud blast echoed through the area.
The impact wave was so powerful that even though Kay and his Pokémons weren't hit directly, the shockwave still launched them into the air.
"Ahhh!" Kay yelled as he and his Pokémons were thrown off their feet, flying several meters toward the base of the hill.
When they landed, bruised and shaken, they were at the very bottom of the hill. Covered in dust, Kay slowly looked up.
See you in the next chapter...
Drop some Powder Stones....