Join my p@treon for more chapters
[email protected]/Tempest_29
At the same time, around the world, piercing sirens began to sound from space detection center stations in countries across the globe. Staff members wearing white laboratory coats were running around frantically, operating detection equipment, linking with satellite cameras positioned in outer space, and working to locate the precise position, scale, and disaster level of the spacequake that was originating from this newly manifesting Spirit Realm.
"The location of the Spirit Realm manifestation has been confirmed. The French capital, Paris, has detected dimensional node fluctuations."
"Reports are coming in that the neighboring city of Berlin, Germany, has also detected dimensional node fluctuations."
"The border region between the two countries can be confirmed as the central epicenter of the manifestation."
"The straight-line distance between Berlin and Paris is 878 kilometers..."
"Report: Scale of the Spirit Realm has been confirmed."
"Classification: Super-large Spirit Realm."
"Report: Disaster level has been confirmed."
"Classification: Super disaster."
The spatial disturbances continued to intensify and shake the very fabric of reality.
Bisharp crossed its blade-like arms and swung the sharp edges on its wrists through the air once again.
The speed of the attack was so incredibly fast that the human eye couldn't clearly see the movement of its metallic hands.
Clang!
The supersonic slash caused the air itself to be compressed violently, forming transparent sword energy that seemed to take on physical substance.
The razor-sharp sword energy came raging forward, and Lucario grabbed Roy tightly before using Teleport to dodge the deadly attack.
However, every single time they materialized at a new set of coordinates, another devastating sword slash would immediately follow. The relentless assault didn't give Lucario even a moment to catch its breath, forcing the Fighting/Steel-type to use Teleport again and again in rapid succession.
In just a few seconds, Bisharp had unleashed hundreds of individual sword energy attacks.
The load-bearing columns, ceiling fixtures, decorative elements, and walls of the Battle Tower... everything in the vicinity was being cut cleanly in half.
Nothing could withstand the cutting power of the Dark/Steel-type's assault.
The Kalos Battle Tower began to crumble and collapse due to the loss of too many critical structural support columns.
The people in the surrounding area also discovered the 'battle' taking place and began to flee in absolute panic.
Natural disasters and human-made catastrophes were occurring simultaneously.
The space trembled violently, sword energy raged through the air, and screams of terror arose from everywhere.
Occasionally, other Trainers noticed the dangerous situation unfolding, but after brief hesitation, they chose to remain as bystanders and turned to flee from the area rather than intervene.
Under normal circumstances, responsible Trainers would join forces to stop this kind of destructive 'fighting' behavior.
But these were not normal circumstances at all.
The Kalos Battle Tower was located in the hardest hit area of the spacequake phenomenon.
This meant that a dimensional node leading to an unknown Spirit Realm would appear in this location very soon.
It was far too dangerous to enter an unknown Spirit Realm without any preparation, without any reliable information, and under such chaotic conditions.
Although professional-level trainers had an obligation to protect civilians, neither Roy nor Arlo were citizens of France. The local trainers had no compelling reason to pay the ultimate price with their lives and stay behind to mediate this conflict.
"Damn it!"
Roy cursed silently to himself.
After teleporting hundreds of times within such a short period, even he, who possessed exceptionally strong spiritual power, couldn't help but feel physically dizzy and disoriented. He held onto little Cosmog tightly to prevent the small Pokémon from falling.
He used his Aura abilities to convey his thoughts directly:
[Lucario, try to teleport much farther away from here.]
[I cannot,] came Lucario's strained mental response.
[The surrounding space is too chaotic and unstable. I can't properly lock onto distant coordinates.]
[Actually, the distance I'm able to teleport is getting shorter and shorter with each attempt.]
The ongoing spacequake was causing severe disorder in the spatial framework of reality.
Everything in this immediate area was constantly being rewritten and reorganized by the dimensional forces.
Lucario's Teleport ability was being systematically blocked and reduced...
No other Trainers would intervene under these dangerous conditions...
After the complete arrival of the Spirit Realm, the space would become entirely sealed off from the outside world...
Roy had to admit that the timing of Arlo's chosen moment to attack was absolutely perfect.
What was Arlo's true identity and background?
Why was he trying to kill Roy specifically?
All kinds of pressing questions came flooding into his mind, but there was absolutely no time for Roy to hesitate or seek answers.
After his brain fully realized that he had fallen into a life-or-death 'combat' situation, the immediate crisis of death caused adrenaline to be continuously released into his system. Roy's body gradually became intensely hot, but paradoxically his mind became extremely calm and focused.
His emotional state was like controlled thunder and lightning.
His eyes lit up with a brilliant blue-green light, and Roy issued commands through pure mental communication.
In the next moment, Lucario released Roy after completing another teleport, then launched itself forward with 'Meteor Mash' aimed directly at the incoming sword energy.
Slash!
Lucario winced in pain, feeling a sharp stinging sensation in its metallic fist.
The sword energy had pierced through Meteor Mash's steel-type energy coating, injuring its hand. Lucario simply couldn't match or effectively block Bisharp's devastating sword energy attacks.
However, during the precious time that Lucario had managed to buy, Roy had already safely recalled little Cosmog into its Beast Ball and pressed the release buttons of his remaining Poké Balls.
Blastoise's massive form appeared on the battlefield, and the first action it took after emerging was to wrap its powerful arms protectively around Roy, shielding him beneath its enormous turtle shell.
The golden Totem aura wrapped around its entire body, and the turtle shell began gathering defensive energy to form both 'Light Screen' and 'Iron Defense' simultaneously.
Arlo had also released the rest of his Pokémon team at some point during the intense battle.
One was a black, hound-like Pokémon—Houndoom—which opened its jaws wide in the direction of Roy and Blastoise.
The Dark/Fire-type executed its attack: Flamethrower.
A massive pillar of red flames erupted from its mouth, but the fire was mixed with several distinct streaks of purple energy. This particular Houndoom actually possessed a variant type of flame that was different from normal Fire-type attacks.
Blastoise entered its 'Torrent' state, and its cannon began to discharge a powerful column of water.
The Water-type met the enemy's assault with its Hydro Pump.
However, even with the type advantage plus the Torrent ability's boost, Hydro Pump still showed significant signs of being overwhelmed. The attack was losing ground in the direct confrontation, and the poisonous flames kept advancing steadily toward Roy's position.
Intensely evaporated water vapor began to fill the air around them, and Roy quickly covered his mouth and nose with his hand.
This water vapor was clearly poisonous...
This Houndoom's variant flame was apparently composed of two different type energies: 'Fire plus Poison.'
[Apply the Totem aura enhancement to energy intensity,] Roy transmitted his thoughts through waveguide communication.
"Blast!"
Blastoise nodded in understanding. After an extended period of intensive training, although it hadn't yet mastered the complete technique of 'transformation,' it had learned to flexibly distribute the Totem aura to enhance any of its individual stats as needed.
It was no longer limited to only boosting 'defense.'
The power of Hydro Pump suddenly increased dramatically, finally managing to resist and match Houndoom's poisonous flame spray in the energy clash.
This young trainer's Pokémon are all completely beyond common sense and normal expectations.
Looking at Lucario, which was using its incredible speed to stay engaged with Bisharp, and Blastoise, which was directly confronting Houndoom with pure energy intensity, Arlo felt genuinely amazed.
Neither of these two Pokémon had managed to break through their natural racial limitations, yet both were able to compete effectively with professional-level Pokémon in their respective areas of specialization.
How exactly had they been trained to reach this level?
At this critical moment, Arlo's intuition, which had been forged through hundreds of life-or-death battles, made him suddenly sense deadly danger approaching.
Crack—
A spatial rift appeared directly behind Evander, emitting the otherworldly light characteristic of Spirit Realm manifestations.
Immediately afterward, Mimikyu burst through the dimensional tear like a vengeful spirit, brandishing a massive, burning Shadow Claw, and struck down mercilessly toward Evander.
Just as the ghostly claw was about to slam Arlo into nothing more than pulverized meat, the Shadow Claw seemed to collide with some kind of invisible protective object and was deflected away.
Clang!!
There was a distinctive sound of metal clashing against metal.
The invisible barrier that had been covering Arlo's body slowly became visible and materialized.
It was a large bell constructed from bronze, completely encasing Arlo's entire form.
This bell-shaped Pokémon had a pair of human-like metallic hands and a pair of round red eyes. It was clearly another member of his team.
The Pokémon was Bronzong.
This represented Arlo's team battle system, with Bronzong serving as the dedicated guardian responsible for protecting the Trainer who functioned as the "back row support."
Bronzong maintained both 'Reflect' and 'Light Screen' continuously throughout battles, using reflected light and Psychic-type energy to create illusions while maintaining an 'invisibility' state. The Steel/Psychic-type had been covering Arlo's body the entire time, essentially functioning as the Trainer's personal armor.
Arlo looked toward Mimikyu and said with a cold sneer, "I've been waiting for you to make that move for quite some time. You were a little slow to strike... I almost forgot that the spatial order here is completely disrupted, which would hinder Ghost-types trying to phase through dimensional space."
"Mimi!"
Mimikyu roared with obvious anger and frustration.
Arlo threw three additional Poké Balls, summoning the remainder of his Pokémon team.
Shiftry appeared first.
Then came Skarmory.
Finally, Aggron materialized.
Between the fingers of Roy's right hand, he also gripped the miniaturized Poké Balls containing Electabuzz, Ninetales, and Metagross, prepared to call forth his entire team as well.
Just as a full 6-versus-6 battle was about to commence, the surrounding space began to tremble even more violently than before.
Crack, crack, crack...
Spatial fractures continued to emerge throughout the area, and within the span of a few moments, the entire dimensional space was covered with spider web-like cracks spreading in all directions.
Seeing this ominous development, Arlo's facial expression changed dramatically, and he shouted urgently to his team:
"Why is this Spirit Realm manifesting so rapidly? Everyone, return immediately!"
Bisharp and Houndoom quickly withdrew from their combat positions.
This was Roy's first time personally encountering the arrival of a Spirit Realm. He didn't understand why Arlo was reacting this way, but since even a professional-level trainer was treating the situation with such extreme caution, Roy certainly couldn't afford to ignore the danger. He immediately recalled Mimikyu to his side.
Additionally, he commanded Blastoise to immediately concentrate all of its Totem aura enhancement on defensive capabilities.
In the next moment, an extremely dark sphere, resembling a miniature black hole, appeared without any warning whatsoever.
Immediately afterward, this miniature black hole began expanding at an absolutely astonishing rate, swallowing everything in its vicinity, and the expanding void reached Roy's position in an instant.
"Blast!"
Blastoise propped itself up on its powerful arms, squeezing out every ounce of strength it possessed, and established a protective 'Safeguard' barrier.
Lucario quickly constructed an additional Aura barrier layered beneath the 'Safeguard.'
Mimikyu leaped onto Roy's shoulder and wrapped him completely with its Ghost-type energy for a third layer of protection.
Even under this triple defensive system, Roy still felt a terrifying impact strike him directly. His vision suddenly went completely black, and he lost consciousness entirely.
Roy experienced a vivid dream during his unconscious state.
The dream began with his entrance examination for League University, then moved through his experiences in the Twin Gods Spirit Realm, the school team selection process, his training expedition to the White Mountains, the Shadow Church incident, the days of intensive training at the Promise Gym, the competition in East China, and his recent journey to Europe...
All of his experiences from the past up to the present emerged like dream sequences and illusions, but each memory left a deep impression on him and remained vivid in his recollection.
At the conclusion of the dream, he found himself standing in a completely dark world.
He waited for what felt like an eternity, but finally, a brilliant light appeared at the far end of this dark realm.
His consciousness began to rise rapidly toward the surface.
Roy suddenly opened his eyes and discovered that he was lying on a large rock formation. He sat up with immediate alertness and looked around calmly at the completely unfamiliar environment surrounding him.
It appeared that he was now in a forested area located within a deep valley.
Roy's enhanced vision allowed him to clearly see the steep cliffs that marked the boundaries at the end of the valley.
Suddenly, his gaze stopped moving, and he stared straight ahead in complete amazement.
In the direction where the sun was positioned in the sky, there stood a massive ancient tree that stretched directly across the heavens. Its lush and incredibly dense canopy resembled a floating castle suspended high above on the enormous trunk.
He had been transported into the Spirit Realm, and before him stood what could only be the legendary Tree of Beginning.