Elf: I have a secret realm of emerald green.

Looking down, lush green forests surround the center, where a "waterfall mountain" with rushing water stands in the middle.

Because of the waterfall's rapid flow, the clear, transparent water was stained a pure white.

The white ribbons, ranging from a few meters to tens of meters high, hang in the air, creating a magnificent sight.

Upstream and downstream of the waterfall lies a vast, tranquil lake, its crystal-clear waters so clear that Xia Shen could even count the few ugly fish swimming in it.

Several Psyducks basked in the sun on the lakeshore, while mosquito tadpoles splashed water at each other. Long-winged gulls and swooping canaries raced each other across the sky and the lake.

The baby sprites lived carefree in this area, but the two overlord sprites that Xia Shen had been worried about were nowhere to be seen.

…………

Xia Shen didn't rush down, but instead asked Meilutan, "Are your people here?"

“Meilu—” Meilu nodded her little head, then shook her head hesitantly.

Thankfully, Zoroark was there. [It said it could only detect the general area, not the exact location.]

Xia Shen understood and said, "That's easy. Just call them out. We're nearby anyway, so they don't need to go too far."

Meltan nodded, then hopped and skipped onto Garchomp's head, releasing a special sonic wave.

"Meilu—"

[Let's go down and wait; they'll be here soon.] Zoroark transmitted this message.

Xia Shen slowly lowered Garchomp to the ground while using his mental powers to probe for the presence of powerful Pokémon.

To his surprise and worry, there wasn't a single Pokémon below that possessed an aura higher than that of a Master-level Pokémon.

This unusual behavior made Xia Shen somewhat uneasy.

After confirming several times, Garchomp landed. Its enormous size and powerful aura drew the attention of all the nearby Pokémon to this unfamiliar face.

They immediately stopped their leisurely movements and hid to quietly observe the uninvited guest. Even Psyduck was running around dumbly with its head in its hands.

It's quite like a group of children whose parents aren't home and they see strangers knocking on the door.

Meanwhile, the professional Golducks and Pelippers ran over and warily confronted the Garchomp.

Xia Shen was there to wait for Meilutan, so of course he wouldn't provoke them. He quickly extended goodwill to them.

So-called goodwill, of course, is...

"You can eat anything, and I have more here if you need more."

Xia Shen smiled and took out several cans of energy cubes, the favorite of water-type spirits, and together with Yan Yan, they bribed these local bullies.

To be honest, they've never actually eaten food from the human world.

Although this secret realm has existed for over thirty years, there are dominant elves in the babbling hills, and human influence on this place is minimal.

Naturally, the energy cubes, a product of human technology, quickly won over these elves.

Before long, Woody Owl and Meltan, the two bulls, were playing around with Mosquito Tadpoles.

…………

Xia Shen looked at Mashado, who was peeking out from his shadow, and picked it up with one hand.

"If you want to play, go with them."

Although he has lived for thousands of years, Marshall's personality remains as innocent as a child's, yet he appears aloof in every way.

Among Xia Shen's Pokémon, besides Zoroark and Draco Messia, who have intricate connections with the Spirit World, only Rowlet has a slightly better relationship with him.

Despite Xia Shen's attempts to persuade him, Mashado stubbornly shook his head.

[No, we'll never see each other again after today anyway.]

For some reason, Marshall often says pessimistic things, which is definitely a sign of potential Jade Syndrome.

Zoroark reached out and patted Marshadow's head, his expression overflowing with maternal love.

But you're not even two years old yet, can Zoroark really be Marshall's mother?

Xia Shen silently complained to himself, ignoring them, holding Tibrim in his arms and Doromesia perched on his shoulder, waiting for the Meltans to arrive.

After waiting for about half an hour, Meltan, who was teasing Psyduck, suddenly stopped and ran to the lakeside, as if waiting for something.

At the same time, gurgling bubbles suddenly appeared on the surface of the lake near the shore.

The next second, one after another, tiny sprites with screw caps on their heads lined up and crawled out from under the lake!

------------

Chapter 264 Remnants of Civilization, Ultimate Beast Tetsuka Kaguya!

The nuts on the Mertans' heads started spinning like electric fans, whether to dry the water off their heads or to celebrate their long-lost reunion with their companions, it was hard to tell.

But the eyes, almost slits, hidden within each screw revealed their joy and excitement.

A dozen or so Merutans held hands and hopped around several times before finally calming down. They looked at Xia Shen and whispered to each other, as if they were discussing something.

Before long, the little cuties lined up and surrounded Xia Shen in a circle, chattering away.

[They want you to find that Meltan, how naive...]

Zoroark muttered a complaint under his breath.

However, Xia Shen ruthlessly exposed her.

[Even when you were still Zoroark, you liked to transform into a Gible so I could tell the difference, okay...]

[......]

Zoroark turned his head away and remained silent.

Xia Shen chuckled, turned around, and looked at the Merutans surrounding him.

"Miracle...Miracle..."

They circled around Xia Shen, making the same expressions as they looked at him, chirping as if urging him to choose quickly.

Xia Shen shook his head helplessly and picked out one from the dozen or so Merutans.

Xia Shen, holding its red, wire-like tail, laughed and said, "Is this all you've got? You're underestimating me."

"Meilu—"

Meltan, who was being held captive, struggled with his limbs made of liquid metal, his face filled with joy and curiosity.

Clearly, the joy stemmed from Xia Shen's correct choice, while the curiosity arose from...

[It asks you how you figured it out?]

Zoroark was also somewhat curious.

Xia Shen smiled and put down the Meltan, "Because of the bond between us!"

"Beautiful~"

Meilu rushed to Xia Shen's face, her eyes filled with emotion.

Xia Shen chuckled to himself. Actually, it was possible to tell from micro-expressions or through mental detection, but it didn't actually require that much trouble.

Nourished by the steel over a long period, Meltan's body had a more metallic sheen than its companions, and Xia Shen, with his keen eyesight, naturally recognized it at a glance.

…………

Having stopped the Mertans from their playful fighting, Xia Shen asked with a serious expression, "Alright, stop fooling around. What's going on with those companions that were calling for help?"

The Merutans were stunned for a moment before realizing what was going on, and then they gathered around Xia Shen and started chattering.

Xia Shen was getting a headache from listening to them and quickly stopped them, "Stop, stop, stop, one person can talk!"

The Mertans looked at each other and finally selected one.

"Miracle...Miracle..."

As this Meltan spoke, Soroyak provided real-time translation.

[We migrated to this place not long ago. There are lots of delicious things on the seabed here, enough to feed us for a long, long time.]

Merutan seems to have no concept of time or quantity, describing everything with words like "a lot" or "a long time".

However, they should be able to eat things like steel, so a large iron ore deposit was discovered on the seabed?

[But later, we found a huge, unprecedented steel spirit in a large iron box in that same place. It seemed to have been asleep. Some of our companions didn't recognize it as a spirit and bit it a few times... Then it seemed to wake up, and those companions were trapped inside.]

Meltan's words made Xia Shen frown deeply; he had never seen a sleeping steel spirit before...

Buried in a big iron box...

I sobered up after a few bites...

Trapped inside and can't get out...

The statements are incoherent and disjointed; how can anyone analyze them...?

Why can't Meltan get out after waking up?

Most importantly, who is that elf?

[It seems they sensed the presence there; now a lot of Pokémon have gathered there, including Wishiwashi, Araquos, Gyarados, Milotic... Could you go and help us?]

Xia Shen suddenly realized that all the powerful Pokémon here had disappeared; they had all gone over there to deal with this awakened Pokémon.

But then he became worried. How terrifying must this elf be to require so many elves, especially two dominant elves, to go and keep it in check?

…………

After a two-second pause, Xia Shen asked, "Can you describe what that elf looks like?"

Logically speaking, the Meltans shouldn't encounter any Pokémon they don't recognize while traveling the world, so Xia Shen wanted to determine the origin of this Pokémon before making any further plans.

Meltan tilted his head and thought for a moment, then replied: [Its entire body was greenish-blue and gray, and it looked like it was made of metal. It was very, very large, with a thick lower body and a thin upper body. The strangest thing was that it had two thin poles on either side of its body, and then there were dark tubes at the ends of the poles and at the bottom of its body.]

Xia Shen was stunned halfway through the conversation. He was certain that this Pokémon, which the Meltans didn't recognize, was a type of Ultra Beast...

Codenamed [Jeter], the Ironfire Kaguya is a Steel/Flying type!

An ultimate beast has appeared in the secret realm?

Xia Shen was greatly shocked. In other words, the Ultimate Cave had already been opened?