Sunyshore Power Plant.
A group of Magneton were continuously emitting waves of Thunder Wave down the corridors, attempting to flush out any Trainers who had broken in through the entrance.
Once the Magneton all vacated a certain hallway, a faint spatial ripple stirred in a spot out of their sight, then quickly faded…
"They're organized and disciplined, even know how to use Thunder Wave to scan for human electronic equipment…" Sato frowned, speaking in a low voice.
Cynthia understood what he meant, and her brows furrowed tightly.
"Someone's controlling them…?"
"Very likely. Though we can't rule out the possibility that an extremely intelligent Pokémon is orchestrating all of this."
Sato didn't make a firm conclusion. After all, there were plenty of Pokémon whose IQ rivaled that of humans. He recalled a case in the Kalos region involving an underground organization led by a Malamar…
Cynthia nodded, then followed behind Sato as the two of them, under Gengar's cover, continued toward the central generator.
Along the way, they repeatedly encountered wild Pokémon, but they avoided battle whenever possible to minimize exposure.
And none of the wild Pokémon they saw were moving alone. At the very least, they traveled in groups of three or four.
This pattern only reinforced the suspicion that something significant was behind all this, whether human or Pokémon.
Fortunately, Gengar's presence was a bug in the system. With it leading the way, they finally reached the central generator room without a hitch.
"There are a lot of Pokémon. We should advance slowly…"
At the corner of a hallway, Sato and Cynthia came to a silent stop. Umbreon and Glaceon at their side stayed obediently quiet.
Peering through the Spatial Barrier, they calmly watched groups of wild Pokémon move in and out of the room. After observing for a while, they noticed something unusual.
"There's something inside that's healing their injuries and restoring their stamina!"
"Not just that…" Sato paused for two seconds, then added, "It's also forcibly boosting their combat power in a short amount of time!"
Cynthia shot Sato a surprised look but didn't question how he knew.
In her eyes, Sato was not someone who spoke recklessly. If he said so, it had to be true.
In truth, Sato had detected the info through feedback from his Dark Energy. He had observed an injured Houndoom enter the room, and within just ten minutes, it emerged completely refreshed, and its level had jumped from Low Elite to Mid Elite.
Sato and Cynthia exchanged a glance, their expressions growing more serious.
For something to enhance a Pokémon's strength that quickly and at scale, it was either an invaluable item… or it came with powerful side effects that weren't yet visible.
After watching a little longer, Sato and Cynthia were just about to find a way into the generator room… When suddenly, chaos erupted in another corridor leading directly to the room!
The sound of explosions rang out constantly; clearly, others had reached this location.
"Let's wait a little longer," Sato immediately suggested.
The corridors leading to the generator room weren't particularly wide. Sometimes, even Gengar had to constantly adjust the Spatial Barrier's range to avoid colliding with the wild Pokémon.
After all, being "cloaked" in a Spatial Barrier didn't mean they weren't still physically in the space.
Even a single stone hitting the barrier could alert others that something was off.
Soon, Sato and Cynthia saw the group responsible for the commotion.
There were quite a few of them -seven in total- including the Psychic who had demonstrated impressive strength at the entrance.
What surprised Sato most was that the musclehead who had been scheming at the entrance was also here!
Though he looked a bit worse for wear, the guy had definitely made it this far.
"They're trying to enter the generator room too!"
"Yeah, looks like someone in their group did some serious research and prep," Sato nodded, then added, "But no rush. Let them soak up the firepower first. They won't break through that quickly."
"Mhm."
The generator room appeared to have only one entrance -a standard double steel door- just wide enough for two Magmar to block completely.
And the Pokémon guarding this room were not only more numerous but also stronger than those at the entrance. Forcing a way through would be incredibly difficult.
If Sato could figure that out, Cynthia certainly could too. The two of them quietly retreated a bit farther back to give the others more room for battle.
The sounds of combat rang out from up ahead. Explosions echoed nonstop, evidence of how fierce the fighting had become.
Half an hour passed. Even Umbreon and Glaceon had curled up and taken a nap. Only then did the sounds of battle finally begin to die down.
Sato and Cynthia perked up, quickly stretching their sore limbs as they headed forward.
After the battle, the area outside the generator room was in ruins. Walls and floor alike were scarred with traces of countless moves.
Even more, there wasn't a single Pokémon or Trainer left in sight. The entrance, for a moment, felt eerily silent.
Just as Sato was about to examine the aftermath, Spiritomb floated out from beneath Cynthia's feet.
"Spir~Spirspir!"
Also a Ghost-type, but unlike Gengar, Spiritomb's cry was far sharper and more chilling; not pleasant at all…
Yet within that unpleasant cry, they soon received the final intel.
"Heh… they all got pushed back," Sato muttered, impressed by the strength of these wild Pokémon.
From what he had seen earlier, at least five of the seven intruders had Pokémon at Ace level.
To attract so many strong Trainers to a remote place like this was already rare. But the fact that none of them made it through!?
Still, Sato only grew more excited.
Because now… it was their turn!
"Shall we?"
"Let's go!"
Then, Sato and Cynthia stepped boldly into the generator room.
Hidden in each of their shadows were Spiritomb and Gengar. Behind them trailed Umbreon and Glaceon, still wrapped up in their sweet little world.
"This is… the generator room?"
As the core chamber of the power plant, it was supposed to be vast… but what Sato and Cynthia saw was a massive glowing red pit!
From the depths of the pit, waves of heat surged upward. In the flickering light, Sato could faintly make out the shapes of many Fire- and Electric-type Pokémon moving about.
"Sato, look there!"
Cynthia suddenly called out, and Sato followed her gaze.
At the bottom of the pit stood several enormous generators, completely intact.
More importantly, the generators were still humming with synchronized pulses, clearly in high-speed operation.
And the ones controlling them… were several Magnezone, crackling with electricity!
In that instant, the first thing that popped into Sato's mind was: 'Do Magnezone have high IQ…?'
A moment later, Cynthia suddenly exclaimed in realization, "So that's it!"
Sato: '…That's what?'