I haven't decided on a name for my Pokémon trainer yet.

“We don’t know what we’ll encounter once we go in. It doesn’t really matter what happens to us old folks, but you’re still so young…” Master Yu said.

“Master Yu…” Ye Feng was a little touched, but he still shook his head. “Don’t worry about me. I’m not some weak young man. Gengar, Gardevoir.”

"Gengar!" Gengar leaped out of Ye Feng's shadow in a flash.

"Garde!" Gardevoir also ran out of its Poké Ball.

The two elves flanked Ye Feng, one on each side.

Gengar, in particular, is full of vigor, perhaps because it's a new addition to the team, as if it's eager for something to happen so it can show off.

"With these two by my side, I'm not afraid of any danger," Ye Feng said with a smile.

The three masters stared in silence at the Master-level Gengar and Gardevoir, which had also reached Master-level strength after Mega Evolution.

Are young people these days so abnormal? When I was Ye Feng's age, where did I get two Pokémon with master-level strength?

That makes sense, as trainers' strength inevitably increases. Take the captain of the national team, for example. He's not even thirty yet, and he's just one step away from becoming a master trainer—the last Pokémon he caught hasn't even crossed the master level threshold.

Once that Pokémon is strong enough, he will become the youngest Master Trainer in Chinese history.

Wait a minute... The three masters were stunned. How come it felt like Ye Feng might have entered the master level at a younger age than the national team captain?

Come to think of it, Ye Feng is only about 18 years old this year? He already has two Master-level Pokémon...

Although these two Master-level creatures are somewhat overrated—Gengar was captured voluntarily to repay a debt of gratitude, and Gardevoir evolved through Mega Evolution—they are still quite good.

Thinking of this, the three of them couldn't help but gasp—

Hiss, this kid is so scary!

"Let's go then." Since Ye Feng's safety is not a concern, there's nothing to worry about.

The four of them walked to the palace gate.

After thinking for a while, Master Wang, Master Yu, and Ye Feng all looked at the most robust Master Ye.

Master Ye chuckled, proudly flexing his muscles, and declared, "Watch this!"

The three of them stepped back at the same time, leaving Master Ye a stage to perform.

Master Ye spat into each of his palms, rubbed them together vigorously, then placed both hands on the door and began to exert force.

"Go for it, Master Ye!" Ye Feng shouted, and Gengar and Gardevoir joined in.

"..." Master Wang and Master Yu exchanged a glance, but in the end they couldn't bear to lose face, so they silently cheered loudly in their hearts.

"Ugh, ahhh!" Master Ye used all his strength, and veins even popped out on his forehead, but the door remained unmoved, only some dust fell on it.

"Uh." Ye Feng scratched his head, feeling that Master Ye, who was standing silently facing the door, must be quite embarrassed, so he wisely chose not to speak.

A flurry of actions as fierce as a tiger, but the output was only 250... cough.

"Hmm, it seems this gate isn't an ordinary gate." Master Ye finally broke the awkward silence, chuckling to himself.

"Yes, it's definitely not ordinary; it can't be opened by human power," Master Wang coughed and continued the conversation.

Master Ye felt that this door had to be opened, otherwise he would lose face. So he threw out a Poké Ball.

"Bangiras, use brute force! Open this door for me!"

A colossal figure, Tyranitar, covered in green armor, appeared before the gate, placing his hands on it and roaring as he pushed it open with all his might.

"Crench!"

The door emitted a screeching sound, and a large amount of dust fell down, which Gardevoir quickly blocked with its psychic powers.

"Keep going!" Seeing that it was working, Master Ye waved his fist.

Bangilas continued to exert force, and the gate began to shake slightly, but that was all; there was no further movement.

"Aggron, you go help too!" Ye Feng threw out a Poké Ball.

Aggron, a head taller than Tyranitar, appeared at the door, and the two Pokémon began to push the door open together.

Finally, with the combined strength of the two powerful elves, the massive palace gate slowly moved, and one of the gates was successfully pushed to the side of the wall.

"Hmph!" Master Ye touched his nose and smiled smugly. He turned to look at Aggron and said, "Young Ye, your Aggron is quite powerful. How about you have a match with my Tyranitar sometime?"

"Uh, maybe when there's a chance," Ye Feng replied perfunctorily, his gaze drifting to the other side.

Let a master-level Tyranitar bully my Aggron?

Master Ye, are you alright?

Chapter 275 Exploring the Palace

Although Ye Feng didn't really want to talk to Master Ye, Aggron and Tyranitar seemed to be on good terms, bumping into each other with their heads...

It should be good.

"Alright, let's go in, be careful," Master Wang said, then released Blastoise.

Alakazam stayed by Master Yu's side, Gardevoir stayed by Ye Feng's side, and Gengar continued to hide back in Ye Feng's shadow—it still had to keep an eye on Marshadow and would only appear at the crucial moment.

Marshado's ability to hide was surprisingly good; he wasn't discovered by Master Yu and Hudi, which surprised Ye Feng.

Looking at the dark space behind the gate, Ye Feng swallowed hard and followed the three masters inside.

“Alakazam, Flash,” Master Yu said.

Hu Di tapped the spoon, and a ball of light appeared between the spoons, then quickly rose into the air and exploded, illuminating the area like a small sun, opening a box that had been sealed for countless years in front of everyone.

"This is···"

With the help of the flashlight, everyone was able to see the interior of the palace.

The enormous dome, the load-bearing pillars shimmering with golden light, and the floor that remains as bright as a mirror even after all these years;

A long passageway paved with white jade stretched all the way to the deepest part of the palace. Various statues stood along the passageway, and at a rough glance, they were all people and elves.

It's hard to discern any particular style. You could call it Western, but it's also full of Chinese influences; you could say it's Chinese architecture, but it doesn't fit the architectural style of any particular dynasty.

"This is..." Everyone's attention was focused on the statues. "How can there be so many statues?"

“Moreover, this statue is very strange, it doesn’t seem like it was placed here…” Master Yu frowned slightly, “It’s as if a person who was fighting was suddenly turned into a statue.”

"Moreover, this place looks quite luxurious." Ye Feng looked around with a hint of curiosity.

Pillars cast in gold and floors paved with white jade—these are not things that ordinary cities would use.

"Yes, that's true. But it's not important, let's keep going." Master Wang didn't seem to care much about these things.

With everyone on edge, they walked forward along the passage. Fortunately, these statues were indeed just statues, and there was no sudden coming to life.

The group continued walking along the passage, passing numerous statues, before finally encountering a massive stone slab.

The stone slab was densely covered with text and pictures. Although the text was incomprehensible, the pictures were understandable to everyone.

A group of people led the Pokémon to face an enemy attack, and what puzzled them was that the enemy in the picture was Ho-Oh.

However, Ho-Oh's statue still stands as a gatekeeper outside the palace gate, so why would it appear as an enemy in the mural?

The group exchanged glances, sensing that something was probably more complicated than they thought.

They originally thought that Ho-Oh was a totem or guardian deity of this country, but the murals told them that Ho-Oh had become an enemy.

"Could it be that the statues here were originally people, killed by the Phoenix King and turned into statues?" Master Yu whispered.

"I don't know..." The group shook their heads.

Ye Feng felt a surge of excitement; he increasingly felt that this place might be the ruins of the Poklandis Empire.

In the original timeline, King Pokrandis coveted Ho-Oh's power, attempting to capture Ho-Oh and use its power to rule the world, but ultimately angered Ho-Oh instead.

Overnight, Pokrandis disappeared from the world, most likely because it was destroyed by Ho-Oh.

However, Ye Feng did not remember any connection between the Poklandis Empire, the Three Pillars, and the Holy Pillar King. Could it be that the world is different, so the history is also different?

The king here not only covets Ho-Oh's power, but also has his eye on Regice King's power?

After all, both of these elves possess the power to create legendary elves. From another perspective, don't these two elves also possess the power to grant immortality?

Immortality was something every emperor in any dynasty desired but could never possess.

"Can you understand what's written here?" Master Ye examined the stone slab for a while, then finally scratched his head and gave up.

"We don't understand." Master Wang and Master Yu shook their heads. Ye Feng understood even less, as he had never studied any classical Chinese.

"Forget it, since we can't understand it, let's leave it to the archaeologists to solve." Master Yu shook his head and looked behind the stone slab, where the passage continued to extend. "There's nothing else here, let's go take a look at the back."

Everyone continued to move forward.

Like the passageway before it, this place is still filled with statues of people and elves.

What's different is that the people here are clearly well-trained soldiers, dressed in armor.

There were also some other rooms, but apart from some broken furniture and the like, there was nothing else.

“It seems that we’re at the heart of the palace ahead,” Master Wang said, examining the statues of these people. “The further in we go, the more sophisticated their equipment looks.”

“Indeed, we should be careful,” Master Yu said.

Everyone nodded, secretly increasing their vigilance. Alakazam and Gardevoir also began to release their psychic powers to scout ahead.

"Gardener!" Gardevoir shook its head at Ye Feng, indicating that there were no living creatures inside, nor any mechanisms or similar things as those outside.