Mega Gengar was panting heavily, its arms trembling slightly.
Thankfully, it was in its Mega Evolution state; the energy output was much faster than in its normal state, otherwise, it really wouldn't have been able to sustain it.
Gengar's condition gradually calmed down, and the dark Ghost-type energy stopped drilling into its body.
Letting out a long sigh, Aoki plopped down onto the ground, and Gengar also collapsed, its Mega Evolution energy slowly dissipating, allowing it to return to its original form.
It was hard to tell how much time had passed, and Aoki, while maintaining Mega Evolution and using his psychic powers to help Gengar dispel distracting thoughts, was on the verge of collapsing himself.
Gengar, too, was momentarily exhausted from unleashing too many attacks at once.
Level 77!
Not only did it break through, but its level also increased by three.
If it hadn't restrained itself at the end, it might have jumped to level 78 or even 79, but then Gengar's aptitude would definitely have dropped to light blue.
It was hard enough to raise it to blue; a downgrade would be too damaging.
It's easy to raise levels, but difficult to raise aptitude!
Although the color is slightly paler now, it is still maintained at blue aptitude. As long as it consumes Aoki's energy cubes for a long time, these can be replenished.
"It seems you'll have to work harder to compress your energy and solidify your foundation for a while, otherwise the Champion-level threshold might become a lifelong obstacle for you," Aoki said to Gengar after catching his breath.
Gengar nodded, understanding the situation.
With such a sudden increase in level, while its strength seemed to have improved significantly, Gengar's body felt somewhat unresponsive.
Although the impact was not significant, it indicated an unstable foundation.
In battle, even a slight deviation in a movement or an inability to control a skill's energy could mean defeat!
In a life-or-death battle, there was no need to elaborate on what defeat implied.
Seeing Gengar and Aoki both sit down to rest, the other Pokémon also secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Aoki stood up, looking at the Dragon Burial Grounds, which had been relatively flat, but was now a mess, a stark contrast to how it was before they arrived.
However, there was also a benefit: with Gengar's outburst, all the Ghost-type Pokémon in the vicinity had been scared away.
Only now did Aoki have the chance to properly examine the Mega Stone he had just obtained.
It was a transparent stone with a red and blue Mega Evolution symbol in the middle, a Mega Stone he did not currently possess.
Aoki had some conjectures about this Mega Stone, but he would have to wait until after this Dragon Burial Grounds expedition to verify them.
The area was now full of pits and craters, and what were once at least complete dragon bones were now scattered in pieces.
"My apologies, my apologies," he muttered, but then stood up and continued deeper with his Pokémon.
He wondered what was so special about this Dragon Burial Grounds that it could continuously supply energy to the Dragon Pond and also create three deformed monsters like Gengar.
Coupled with the self-fusion characteristic of the energy on those three Gengar, Aoki became even more curious.
Having come this far, there was even less reason to retreat.
Perhaps because Gengar's aura was strong enough, or because all the powerful Ghost-type Pokémon here had been devoured by those three Gengar, they did not encounter any powerful Pokémon along the way.
Judging by the time and distance, they should be nearing the center of the Dragon Burial Grounds.
The ground gradually flattened, or rather, became smooth.
Unlike before, with its scattered rocks and one or two paths, this area had become completely flat.
Moreover, Aoki did not see any dragon bones here.
It seemed as if all Dragon-type Pokémon, upon entering the Dragon Burial Grounds, had selectively avoided this area.
Looking around, the ground was not entirely flat; it was covered with various shallow and deep grooves, intertwining and crossing, forming a seemingly very complex pattern.
"Is this... a special formation?" A thought appeared in Aoki's mind, and he felt it was very likely.
Aoki had seen such special, seemingly magical formations before.
At Mt. Pyre, where Gengar completed its evolution, the Mt. Pyre elders had Gengar evolve under a special formation.
But compared to the one at Mt. Pyre, this one was much larger and much more complex.
These special formations are now completely lost in modern times; only in ancient times, when humans studied these things to counter some special forces and groups, were they known.
Aoki walked inward, avoiding all the lines and grooves. Touching even one might cause unimaginable changes to the entire Dragon Mountain.
Aoki didn't want the Dragon-type Pokémon here to be hostile towards him.
Genji bringing him here indicated that he wanted him to inherit the role of the sole communicator between this space and the outside world. So, from a subjective point of view, this space could be considered half of Aoki's territory, and thus he certainly wouldn't cause irreversible damage here.
However, he still had the chip scan the entire formation, hoping to find something by checking ancient texts when he returned.
The ancients were still very powerful; their special techniques differed from the path taken by modern society. Modern society pursued science, while the ancients pursued metaphysics. Claydol and Golurk were Pokémon they created through metaphysics.
Modern science can also create Pokémon through different means.
The mysterious science of the Azoth Kingdom was also like this.
It was just that different directions led to different developments and outcomes.
Upon reaching the very center, the heart of the entire formation, Aoki saw what was placed there.
A peculiar statue, resembling a dragon's claw, pointing straight upwards.
Three sharp claws were bent, as if they were originally grasping something, but now the top was empty.
"It seems the item on top was taken by someone, but I don't know what was originally placed there.
However, from the appearance of this Dragon Burial Grounds, it is highly likely that this was a space used by ancient people, similar to the Groudon space within Mt. Chimney, except that space was personally destroyed by Groudon, while this one is very well preserved."
Aoki thought silently, "Perhaps this truly was a space where ancient people who worshipped Rayquaza lived, which is why there are so many Dragon-type Pokémon here.
Also, there's that temple in the valley, with its various sculptures and lifelike carvings of Rayquaza.
I wonder what happened to those ancient people now. Did they completely die out? Or did they leave this space and go live outside?"
All of this was untraceable, and Aoki didn't want to dwell on it.
However, when he moved his gaze from the dragon claw statue, he discovered something else on the statue.
"This couldn't be another fragment of the Azure Flute, could it?" Aoki looked at the blue stone embedded in the statue, somewhat surprised.
Had Arceus already lost the Azure Flute since ancient times?