c132: The Discovery of Gardevoir
Curator Lin gave a subtle signal to the acting curator in the distance.
Upon seeing the nod of acknowledgment, he led Chen Xiaoxiao into the private reception room located deeper within the Guancheng Gymnasium.
While the rest of the audience were a little disappointed to see Master Lin exit the stage, they had already been thoroughly satisfied by the exhilarating match. Still, with the star battle already concluded, the subsequent challenges felt bland in comparison.
Inside the reception room, Master Lin graciously served Chen Xiaoxiao a fragrant pot of high-grade Kalos Lumiose tea—tea favored among top Trainers for its calming properties.
After a short round of pleasant conversation, Chen Xiaoxiao leaned forward and asked a question that had weighed on her mind.
"Master Lin, your Kartana… it seems to share the same origin as my Solgaleo?"
It was an indirect question, carefully worded. After all, it would have been too abrupt to directly inquire about Kartana's source.
"Ah, yes. I've heard that your Solgaleo came from… a hatched Pokémon Egg, wasn't it?" Master Lin nodded at first, but then hesitated midway, realizing something. His tone grew more cautious as he glanced away.
Chen Xiaoxiao noticed but didn't press. She assumed Lin had almost mentioned her father whom she never met, being a time-traveler in this timeline. All she inherited were fragments of memory from her predecessor's life.
"Yes, Solgaleo came from an egg, found in a sealed chamber my father once explored. Master Lin, was your Kartana found in the same place?"
Master Lin shook his head slowly.
"No, not exactly. I didn't capture Kartana myself. It was obtained by my father during an Ultra Wormhole incident several years ago. He entrusted it to me once I was strong enough to control it. I never visited the original site myself."
Chen Xiaoxiao's expression dimmed with disappointment.
"I see…"
Seeing the shift in her expression, Curator Lin gently misread her meaning.
"Xiaoxiao, don't let it weigh on your heart. I'm sure your father, wherever he is, would be proud to see how strong you've become."
"I only want to understand more about the place," Chen Xiaoxiao said softly. "I even asked Uncle Lengxin, but he wouldn't say much."
"I apologize," said Lin sincerely. "My own father never shared much about what happened either just that it was sealed soon after. Ultra Beasts, spatial anomalies... too dangerous to publicize."
He mistook Chen Xiaoxiao's composed smile as one of polite concealment.
"It's okay. I'm just curious." She looked up and subtly used her empathy to sense Lin's emotions, there was no dishonesty, only sincere goodwill.
Still, one thing troubled her.
Gardevoir had been out for nearly an hour and hadn't returned.
Lin, noticing her slight unease, smoothly changed the subject and began discussing ancient League protocols and Kalos battle formats, trying to lift the mood.
---
Meanwhile elsewhere in Guancheng…
Gardevoir had Teleported far from the Gym and was now tailing the target discreetly from above. She stayed several rooftops behind, maintaining a wide-angle psychic lock without being noticed.
Following Chen Xiaoxiao's command, she used Calm Mind earlier to heighten perception and sharpen her psychic range.
But the target was no amateur.
At first, he drove aimlessly through the main streets of Guancheng for over ten minutes never staying on one route. Then, without warning, he released a large Flying-type Pokémon an evolved Pidgeot and took off at high speed.
With Gardevoir's high psychic intelligence and sharp deductive thinking enhanced further by her synchronized bond with Chen Xiaoxiao—she immediately understood the implications.
(He's shaking surveillance. He suspects someone's following him.)
She immediately Teleported farther back, staying beyond normal sensory range. Still, her Extrasensory and Future Sight were on standby for threat analysis.
Eventually, the target landed on a deserted plot on the northern outskirts of Guancheng.
But then he vanished.
No trace, no energy pulse.
Gardevoir's heart skipped a beat.
She quickly Teleported to a high vantage point several hundred meters away and began scanning.
Then she felt it.
Subtle psychic noise… beneath the ground.
She focused deeply, casting her perception below the surface. What she sensed left her stunned.
The target had entered an underground complex.
Worse there were dozens of humans inside.
And nearly a hundred Pokémon each giving off fear-stricken, panicked signals. She could sense their minds confused, desperate, disoriented. Some were injured. Some sedated.
Gardevoir's mental eyes widened in horror.
(This is… trafficking. Illegal detention… possibly experiments.)
She clenched her psychic fists. The oppressive despair in the air ignited righteous fury inside her.
(Xiaoxiao must be informed. Immediately!)
After committing the underground coordinates to memory with perfect spatial recall, Gardevoir disappeared from the rooftop in a flash of blue light.
---
Inside the underground base
"Move, now! Gather everyone!" barked a man as he stormed into the guard station.
It was "Brother Dong" one of the regional gang leaders specializing in illegal Pokémon capture.
"What's going on, Brother Dong?" the gatekeeper asked, startled.
SLAM!
"Don't ask stupid questions! Just do it!" Dong snapped, slamming the desk.
"I-I understand!" the gatekeeper saluted and ran off.
Within moments, over a dozen operatives assembled inside the command room. The guards had warned them that Dong was furious none dared speak.
"Inject the goods with heavy sedatives. We're relocating the entire cache. Make no noise. Any slip, and we all go down. Clear?!"
"Yes, sir!" they replied in unison.
Each man immediately dashed to their assigned sectors.
(This location wasn't supposed to be compromised... What went wrong?) Dong's face twisted with anxiety.
What none of them realized was that the surveillance team following Chen Xiaoxiao hadn't yet contacted this location so the base remained oblivious to Gardevoir's discovery.
"Begin transfer. Do it now."
---
Back near the gym
Gardevoir's aura blinked in and out across Guancheng's skyline. She was using short-range chained Teleports to minimize exposure.
In less than a minute, she returned near the gym, re-synced her perception, and zeroed in on Chen Xiaoxiao's aura signature.
FLASH!
Gardevoir materialized in the reception room beside Chen Xiaoxiao, startling Lin, who instinctively moved in front of her before realizing who it was.
"Oh? Gardevoir?" Lin blinked, eyes narrowing. "You weren't stored in the Poké Ball?"
He looked between her and Chen Xiaoxiao with a puzzled expression.
Gardevoir turned toward her Trainer and began transmitting telepathic thoughts rapidly:
(Xiaoxiao—Target traveled north, approximately 100 kilometers into Guancheng's suburbs. He vanished underground confirmed underground base. Estimated 12 humans present. Psychic scan detects over 90 Pokémon.all frightened, some injured. This is a high-risk operation.)
Chen Xiaoxiao's eyes widened her pupils dilated in shock.
The air in the reception room turned cold.
Her expression darkened.
"…So they're still running this operation," she whispered.
And just like that, a new storm had begun to gather.
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