Inside the Snowpoint Temple, Caleb and his group of Pokémon stood before the entrance blocked by massive boulders...
He issued a command, "Dragonite, use Hyper Beam!"
"Wuuu!"
Dragonite frowned as a dense white light gathered in its mouth, transforming into a thick destructive beam that blasted violently toward the boulders.
A thunderous explosion echoed in all directions. The entire temple trembled from the shockwave, and spiderweb-like cracks rapidly spread across the icy surface.
Seeing this, Caleb suddenly had a bad premonition...
Terrence took a step back, nervously gulping, "Is this place going to collapse?!"
Before his words even finished, Caleb heard a series of cracking sounds beneath his feet.
The next second, the entire section of ice nearest to the entrance shattered, revealing the temple's underground first floor. But Caleb had no time to focus on that because he was now plummeting downward at high speed.
At the critical moment, Lucario, who had been keeping a close eye on him, steadied itself. Using a falling rock as a foothold, it leaped into the air, catching Caleb securely and shielding him from the impact of the fall with its own body...
...
~Below the First Floor of the Temple~
As the group of Pokémon landed, the sound of gears turning suddenly echoed around them...
Immediately afterward, layers of black stone slabs rose from the ceiling and surrounding walls, completely enclosing the space.
Hunter J, who had just broken through to the underground second floor, abruptly looked up at the noise from above, frowning.
'Someone triggered the temple's defense mechanism! Who was it?'
J's expression turned grave as she pinched a Poké Ball from her pocket.
The red-and-white sphere rapidly expanded in her hand. With a flash of white light, a massive and ferocious Salamence, radiating brutality, appeared beside her.
With Salamence in tow, J walked toward the staircase leading to the upper floor, only to find the previously unobstructed exit now blocked by a solid black stone slab...
....
"Is everyone alright?" Caleb climbed to his feet, relieved only after confirming that Lucario was unharmed.
He stood up and began searching through the surrounding rubble for Dragonite, Mimikyu, and Terrence.
Lucario had only recently evolved and was still unfamiliar with controlling its Aura. Thus, it could only convey its thoughts through Aura when in physical contact.
It grabbed Caleb's arm and transmitted its voice directly into his mind, >...Mimikyu is over there...<
Caleb turned and saw Mimikyu's disguise-covered head poking out from beneath a pile of rubble, its body pinned underneath.
Beneath it lay a miserable-looking Terrence, sprawled on his back and struggling to push the rocks off himself.
*Boom!*
From the nearby pile of debris, Dragonite punched through the boulders that pinned it down and stood up, its expression dark as it frantically searched for Caleb.
Caleb and Lucario worked together to pull Mimikyu and Terrence free. Turning around, he spotted Dragonite looking for him and immediately called out, "I'm here!"
Dragonite swiftly turned and flew over, its wings flapping as it descended in front of Caleb. Only after seeing that he was unharmed did its expression relax slightly.
*Cough! Cough!*
Bent over with his hands on his knees, Terrence coughed violently from inhaling dust.
He lifted his head to look at Caleb and asked hoarsely, "Are we... underground now?"
Caleb surveyed their surroundings, then looked up at where they had fallen from, his expression serious, "This must be the temple's underground first level. But... the exit back up is blocked."
Suddenly, an explosion erupted from below.
Dragonite's keen senses immediately picked up the aura of another Dragon-type. It whipped its head around and stared in that direction.
From the darkness, Hunter J and her Salamence emerged, their figures sharp and poised.
Her gaze swept over Dragonite, Mimikyu, Lucario, and Smeargle before finally settling on the only human present, Caleb.
J's eyes widened slightly in surprise as she recognized the child she had briefly encountered in the forest not long ago.
Though her Pokémon hunting operations had yet to expand to other regions, Hunter J, who frequently took commissions from clients worldwide, immediately identified the Pokémon before her; a rare Dragonite from Kanto, a Lucario, which typically lived in the wild and rarely appeared before humans, and an utterly ordinary common Smeargle.
As for Mimikyu... Given the vast distance between the Sinnoh and Alola regions which were separated by endless oceans and land, J didn't immediately recognize what kind of Pokémon it was.
'How interesting.' she mused.
A three-year-old child, alone in the perilous Snowpoint Temple, accompanied by such rare Pokémon...
J narrowed her eyes as she studied Caleb with amusement, "You've been following me?"
Caleb's expression remained unchanged. His right hand moved behind his back and retrieved three Poké Balls from 'thin air', intending to recall Mimikyu, Lucario, and Terrence.
But none of them moved...
Lucario stared intently at the opposing Salamence, sensing the overwhelming pressure radiating from it.
When Caleb didn't respond, J raised an eyebrow and chuckled, "Interesting... Kid, didn't your mother teach you not to flaunt your wealth?"
"Dragonite, use Flamethrower!" Caleb wasted no more time, issuing the order rapidly.
At the same time, he decisively recalled Lucario, Mimikyu, and Terrence into their Poké Balls before climbing onto Dragonite's back.
A scorching blast of crimson flames erupted from Dragonite's maw, surging toward Hunter J and Salamence.
"Salamence, Dragon Claw!" J's eyes glinted sharply.
Faced with the incoming Flamethrower, she didn't flinch, standing firm as she gave the command.
The Salamence behind her finally sprang into action. Its blood-red wings that resembled twin scythes spread wide as it lunged forward with an unstoppable savage momentum, tearing through the flames with a single swipe of its claws.
Seeing this, Caleb didn't hesitate, "Use Fire Punch to smash through that slab! Let's get out of here!"
"Wuuu!"
Dragonite's wings beat fiercely, generating a whirlwind as it ascended into the air and charged straight upward.
"Stop it!" Hunter J ordered in a cold tone. None of her prey ever escaped.
"Roooar!"
Salamence locked onto Dragonite with a predatory glare, its massive body shooting into the air and intercepting Dragonite in the blink of an eye, blocking its path.
Then Salamence used Hyper Beam...