At that moment, Cain and the other two had fully entered the interior of the hollow tree.
But they didn't know exactly where the tunnel was leading.
They had been running for ten minutes without seeing anything at all.
The tunnel seemed to descend endlessly, as if it had no bottom.
Suddenly, Cain's right hand trembled slightly.
"A spatial membrane!" he thought to himself, his expression calm, yet instantly understanding what was happening.
"This way!" Cain shouted.
Mounted on his Drapion, he charged straight at a wall of the tree that, at first glance, appeared completely normal.
To anyone else, it would've seemed like he was crashing into a wall for no reason.
In the blink of an eye, Cain vanished from the tunnel.
Steven and Phoebe were left stunned.
They looked at each other.
Phoebe, with more experience, remembered that the entrance to the interior of Mt. Pyre was also behind a spatial membrane.
"Let's go!" she exclaimed, and leapt forward with her Dusknoir and Banette.
Seeing them vanish, Steven didn't hesitate and followed them without a second thought.
Once inside...
Steven saw Cain and Phoebe standing still, not moving forward.
"What is it?" he asked.
Phoebe pointed around them, urging him to look.
When Steven looked up, he too was astonished.
What kind of place was this?
They were in a new space within the tree, but it looked nothing like the previous passage: it was an enormous cavern.
And the most striking thing...
The ceiling, walls, and floor all glowed with a shade of emerald green. It was as if they were inside a giant gemstone.
And that green glow wasn't static—it seemed to flow constantly, as if the entire environment were a single connected organism. From top to bottom, everything pulsed like a unified current.
In front of them stood a tree of the same color and texture.
A tree... inside another tree.
Even stranger: both its trunk and leaves were a translucent green, identical to the rest of the surroundings.
The glow that pulsed through it gave it a crystalline appearance.
The three of them slowly approached the tree.
When they stepped on the ground, it didn't feel like wood, but rather solid rock.
"Where... are we?" Steven asked, breaking the silence.
No matter how much money his family had, he had never seen so much 'emerald' together—if that was even real emerald.
Especially that central tree.
"I think this place might be the true core of the tree," Cain said, uncertainly.
A place impossible to find without spatial abilities—unless one searched every corner with great patience.
But who would do that?
Normally, when entering a cave, one tries to reach the end, hoping to find something there.
The devices the Hunter's Guild had previously sent into the tree were likely sensors. Mitchell must have known something, but lacking his own abilities, he had to rely on technology.
"And this tree? Is it even really a tree?" asked Phoebe, intrigued.
No one could give her a definitive answer.
Cain approached and crouched down to observe some fine lines on the ground—they could be the tree's roots.
A green energy flowed through them, as if constantly nourishing the tree.
"Doesn't it remind you of the tree?" Cain suddenly said, his eyes lighting up with realization.
Steven and Phoebe nodded after taking a closer look.
"Now that you mention it... it does look similar," murmured Steven.
"Could it be...?"
Cain looked around the environment, searching for reference points.
Although there was nothing specific, he compared the size of the tree with the space surrounding it.
"What is it?" Steven asked.
Cain let out a long sigh and said:
"This place is probably a miniature version of the entire mysterious space. And this tree... would be a representation of the tree. Everything around us is full of a green substance, like a liquid that flows—it's probably the energy of this place."
"The lush plant growth here proves there's abundant Grass-type energy. And haven't you noticed? The Grass-type Pokémon in this space are considerably stronger."
"Put that way... yeah, it could be a scale model of the entire space," Steven added.
"But..." Phoebe began.
"But what's its purpose?" Cain replied before Steven could speak.
They were both just as puzzled about the exact function of this place.
The three fell silent.
"Huh?" Phoebe suddenly exclaimed.
"Cain, Steven, look! Why does the green liquid flowing here seem to thin out in this area?" she pointed to a spot on the ground.
Cain and Steven followed her finger.
Cain slowly crouched and touched the ground with his fingers. He felt a slight coolness and a faintly uneven texture.
The entire space was smooth—except for that one spot, which felt slightly sunken.
Something clicked in Cain's mind. He looked up at the tree, then back down at the ground.
As if he were comparing something...
"This place...! Isn't this where the Venusaur herd I found lives?" he exclaimed.
There, he had found a pool of energy without a specific type, and the Unown's message had said that energy flowed from a spatial rift.
This place really was a miniature version of the entire space!
Confirming his suspicion, Cain approached the tree.
From here, the tree no longer looked so impressive. In fact, it seemed more like a regular little tree—not very tall, but full of foliage.
He reached out and touched the trunk.
He felt its warmth and slowly closed his eyes.
He activated his telepathy.
He didn't know why...
But he wanted to try communicating with this tree.
Steven and Phoebe held their breath, afraid of disturbing Cain.
They both knew him well.
They knew Cain could use telepathy thanks to his psychic power, while Phoebe, with her Ghost Power, could only communicate with Ghost-type Pokémon.
They still didn't know if the combination of Ghost Power and psychic power strengthened or weakened that ability.
Cain closed his eyes, covering the tree with his mental power, just as he had done when trying to communicate with the Unown.
Three minutes passed in complete silence.
The effort of enveloping such a large tree with his psychic energy was enormous.
He received no response.
"Well?" Steven asked when he saw Cain open his eyes.
Cain slowly shook his head, visibly disappointed.
But just as he was about to pull his hand completely away from the tree...
A voice suddenly echoed in his mind.
"Shuu... laaaa..."
(End of chapter)