Shiro and the others continued down the rocky tunnel, covering several hundred meters at a brisk pace. Compared to the earlier descent, the walk now felt short and efficient.
As they moved deeper underground, the walls around them began to change color—shifting gradually from a dull brownish-yellow to pale yellow. Strange patterns appeared along the stone surfaces.
At first, they were faint and scattered, but the further they went, the more vivid and intricate they became. Eventually, entire murals emerged, stretching across the walls like ancient tapestries.
'So these are the murals from that old kingdom or whatever,' Shiro thought. He gave them only a cursory glance before refocusing on the path ahead. Stopping to admire ancient art wasn't on his agenda.
Suddenly, Marvin hurried up from behind, whispering, "Shiro, did you hear something?"
"A sound?" Shiro glanced sideways at him. Marvin looked uneasy, shifting his eyes around the tunnel. "What kind of sound?"
"It was... a woman singing. Kinda nice, actually," Marvin replied, keeping his voice low. He kept looking at the walls, as if expecting to see a woman emerge from the stone itself. If they were in a city—or even just out in the wild—he wouldn't have found the singing strange. But hearing something like that deep underground in a cave?
"It's definitely some kind of Pokémon," Shiro said firmly as he kept walking. In a world of Pokémon, whenever something strange happened, it was almost always related to one. Even so-called supernatural events usually had a Pokémon behind them.
If that was the case, then there was no reason to be scared. In fact, Shiro could vaguely hear the singing too. It was beautiful. But he didn't give it much attention and focused on the path ahead.
"Shiro…" Marvin muttered, his voice shaky. "You sure there aren't ghosts here? The researchers said this place used to be part of an ancient kingdom. There could be a bunch of dead singers buried down here or something…"
Shiro let out a quiet sigh. "Stop overthinking. I already told you, it's probably a Pokémon. Could be a Flygon or something."
"Gaaass!"
Up ahead, Gastly came to a sudden halt, causing Dreepy to stop too. Both Pokémon started floating around nervously.
"What's going on?" Shiro rushed forward, lifting his flashlight to illuminate the area. The beam swept across the path—then froze.
A dozen or so round orange heads lay scattered across the ground, stained with dark red liquid. Pieces of torn bodies with limbs had been deliberately tossed over the heads, like someone had cut them up after killing them.
"These Pokémon..." Shiro studied them. "They're Trapinch."
Trapinch had oversized, rounded heads that seemed too big for their bodies. Each one had massive jaws, orange armor, and four short legs. They usually hid in cone-shaped burrows, waiting for prey. Once they bit down, they never let go.
"This is human blood," Shiro said quietly as he carefully moved a few Trapinch aside. Beneath them were several sunken holes—small tunnels that must have been their nests.
It looked like the B5 scouting team had accidentally stepped on them. Their own Pokémon likely missed the signs, and the Trapinch retaliated.
Shiro noticed bits of red-and-white flesh still lodged between the jaws of some of the dead Pokémon.
"Ugh..." Marvin groaned and took out a collapsible alloy stick from his backpack. Using it, he began to push aside the Pokémon and human remains littered across the ground.
Shiro stopped at the edge of the small nests and didn't move forward. Instead, he called Gastly and Dreepy over, ordering them to search each nest and check if any Trapinch were still buried deeper underground.
If they got bitten again, it'd be the same mistake all over.
Looking at the thick jaws and razor-sharp teeth of the dead Trapinch, Shiro couldn't help but feel a flicker of fear. One bite from those things could probably leave a person crippled.
Behind him, Nessa instinctively covered her mouth at the sight, but quickly composed herself and pulled out a Poké Ball.
"Come out, Drednaw!"
The bulky, armored Pokémon emerged in a flash. The width of the tunnel was just enough for it to lead the way.
With its rocky, horn-like snout, Drednaw burrowed into the ground and started digging forward, tearing through the path ahead with brute force.
There was no need for Gastly and Dreepy to waste time searching. Before long, Drednaw unearthed two more Trapinch that had been asleep underground. Still dazed, the two Pokémon opened their eyes in confusion.
Startled, Gastly and Dreepy reacted on instinct, both launching the strongest moves they could. Two Shadow Balls hit their mark, sending the Advanced-level Trapinch tumbling backward.
Despite its unimpressive appearance and early-stage Ground typing, Trapinch belonged to a lineage of Dragon-type Pokémon. Its first evolution, Vibrava, was Ground/Dragon, and so was its final evolution—Flygon.
Before Garchomp entered the picture, Flygon had been considered the original dragon of the desert. And in the Pokémon world, any Dragon-type line had huge potential.
Even a Trapinch with average talent could, upon fully evolving, reach Gym-level strength. The ones they encountered now looked like they were close to evolving. The attacks from the two Ghost-types barely did any real damage.
"Drakloak!" Shiro called out sharply as the two Pokémon began to recover.
From his shadow, Drakloak shot forward. In a blur, its glowing tail swept across the tunnel. With a single strike, it slammed both Trapinch into the rocky wall. They bounced off and hit the ground, knocked unconscious.
Shiro pulled out two Poké Balls and casually captured them, then continued forward.
None of the others—Marvin, Nessa, or Allister—specialized in Ground or Dragon types, so they weren't interested in the Pokémon.
Shiro, on the other hand, was thinking it wouldn't be bad to train one. His team still wasn't full, and an Advanced-level Trapinch could help fill the gap. Once they were back at headquarters, he'd get them both appraised on the black market. If one showed promise, he'd train it. If not, he'd sell it off.
With Drednaw clearing the way, the group pressed forward. The murals ahead grew more detailed and colorful. At the same time, the number of corpses along the way increased.
Common Ground-types like Hippopotas and Sandshrew lay scattered, their bodies torn and broken. Team B5 had clearly shown no mercy, killing every wild Pokémon they encountered.
If it weren't for the trails of blood in some spots, Shiro might not have realized there had been a battle here. Many of the corpses had clearly been removed to keep the path clear.
Even so, what remained was disturbing enough to make Marvin consider quitting the mission entirely.
"Shiro…what if that sword-and-shield 'hero' or whatever set this all up just to lure us in and kill us?" he muttered as he kicked aside a Stunfisk carcass. "Feels like this whole place is haunted with Pokémon ghosts."
"There are no ghosts. If you don't believe me, ask Allister," Shiro replied offhandedly while checking the map and picking out their route.
From behind them, Allister spoke in his usual quiet tone. "There are indeed no ghosts here."
Marvin breathed a sigh of relief.
"But," the masked boy added softly, "there are ghosts up ahead."
A deep hum echoed through the tunnel.
As if on cue, Drednaw came to a sudden stop. Nessa instinctively stepped back and turned to Allister, eyes wide with alarm.
**
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