I caught a Pokémon

Chapter 863 Underground Ruins

The walls on both sides of the passage are decorated with murals depicting ancient Pokémon.

Xia You had seen some of them before, but he hadn't seen others.

After taking some random photos of the murals and statues, Xia You and Xiao Yao continued forward. When they passed several places that were obviously traps, neither of them touched the mechanisms, but carefully went around them.

"Brother Xia You, what do you think this place could be?" As she spoke, Xiao Yao looked around curiously. "There are even mechanisms here. Could it be some kind of tomb?"

"Pretty much," Xia You said. "Actually, underground ruins like these are either tombs or hiding places, so there's not much difference. To find out their specific function, we can only figure it out by finding obvious features or the secrets hidden here."

Perhaps having chosen the right direction, the two walked another hundred steps or so, made a sharp turn, passed through an underground intersection, and continued walking forward for several dozen meters before finally arriving at a strange gate with several recessed holes.

Standing in front of the door, Xiaoyao frowned slightly: "This door looks very mysterious and unusual. Could it be that the room inside, as you said, holds a secret?"

"That's easy, we'll know once we go inside."

Given the mechanisms they had just seen, Xia You did not approach the gate, but instead turned and gestured to Gengar.

This time, Gengar didn't mutter anything. Perhaps it was also very interested in what was behind the door, because it readily darted into the wall and disappeared into the passage.

Xia You and Xiao Yao waited quietly outside the door. Not long after, only a dozen seconds later, Gengar came out again.

“This door is a flip-top door,” Gengar said to the two with a smile. “Luckily you didn’t touch it rashly. There’s a trap on it. Once the first person goes through the door, it will lock immediately. Only the mechanism on the side can unlock it.”

Before Xia You could speak, Gengar went to a nearby stone pillar, took a movable brick from it, and pressed a switch inside.

Click, click...

With a loud scraping sound, the previously closed door opened, revealing a dark space behind it.

It has to be said that this is the advantage of having Ghost-type Pokémon. As long as they are there, no matter how difficult the mechanism is to find, it can not be a problem for them.

Some of their hidden routes can even travel through the ground, overcoming obstacles that other people and Pokémon cannot pass, until they reach the other end of the route!

Just as Xia You and Xiao Yao were about to step inside, they suddenly heard hurried footsteps behind them.

The sound was clearly that of a human running at full speed, and it was getting closer and closer, which surprised Xia You and Xiao Yao so much that they instinctively stood there and looked back.

Just a few breaths later, a middle-aged man came running over, panting.

Upon seeing Xia You and Xiao Yao, he was clearly taken aback and couldn't help but ask, "Who are you people?!"

Xia You didn't answer him immediately, but instead sized up the man a few times.

He appeared to be in his forties, dressed in military green outdoor adventure gear. His hair was gray and slightly long, giving him a somewhat unkempt look. His complexion was also a bit bluish, with sharp eyes and downturned lips, making him look serious and unsmiling.

Seeing his expression, Xia You had already guessed his identity, but she still asked him knowingly, "Who are you?"

The man scrutinized Xia You and Xiao Yao with a critical gaze and said in a deep voice, "I am from the God Era. How did you get into this ruin?"

Sure enough, this person was the last pioneering mind, the pyramid pharaoh who fought against the pyramids!

In fact, he was the only one who would appear in this ruin at this time.

"Kamishiro?" Upon hearing that this person was Kamishiro, Haruka was taken aback at first, then looked at Xia You, "Brother Xia You, so he is..."

Xiaoyao had only spoken halfway when Kamishiro's gaze suddenly sharpened.

"Oh? You know me?"

“Of course,” Xia You nodded. “In fact, we came here to challenge you, but just as we were about to reach your battle pyramid, we happened to fall into this ruin.”

“I see.” Kamishiro crossed his arms. “So you’ve defeated the other six Pioneer Brains and obtained their symbols.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Kamishiro's gaze swept over Xia You and Xiao Yao's shoulders and looked at the open door behind them.

"This area is now a restricted zone. Although you did not intend to enter here, it would be best to leave as soon as possible."

“That being said, it seems we’re lost.” Xia You remained unmoved and instead asked, “Mr. Kamishiro, may I ask where we are?”

Kamishiro hesitated for a moment, clearly deciding whether to reveal the information to the two people. However, considering that the two people had already appeared in the ruins, he felt there was nothing to hide.

"This is the ruins of the Kingdom of Poklandis." He said, "It is a mysterious ancient kingdom. I only learned about the existence of such a country when I was researching the documents."

"Pokerlandis?"

Xia You and Xiao Yao exchanged a glance; clearly, neither of them had ever heard of such a country existing in the world.

"It's not surprising that you don't know it. In fact, only a few people in this world know its history." Kamishiro walked a few steps slowly to Xia You and the other person's side. Looking at the dark room in front of them, he did not step in, but continued to say to them, "Legend has it that in ancient times, there was an empire called Poklandis that attempted to control Ho-Oh and conquer the world. This angered Ho-Oh, and the entire country was destroyed and erased from history overnight. But it is said that the king of Poklandis, who escaped, used magical power to seal Ho-Oh in a stone sphere for revenge and hid it in a certain place, where it remains to this day."

King Poklandis?

Ho-Oh?

A stone ball?

Just from these names, you can tell that things are really unusual, especially since Ho-Oh is involved!

When Xia You thought of Phoenix King, he recalled the scene in the capital city when it prevented him from subduing the three sacred beasts!

Of course, having fought Ho-Oh himself, he knew that the legend must not be true.

If Ho-Oh was truly sealed away in ancient times, then who was it that I saw before? And where did the legends about the three legendary beasts of the Johto region come from?

Clearly, this is just an exaggerated and unreliable rumor.

Stroking her chin, Xia You said, "So, the place where the stone ball was hidden is this room in front of us?"

“That’s right.” Kamishiro nodded. “I’ve been searching for information about this kingdom for the past few years, and I only discovered this place by chance a few days ago. I was investigating it little by little, but your appearance has disrupted my plans. As for whether this is the room, we need to verify that.”

Hearing him say that, Xia You then remembered that the man in front of her was not only a pioneering mind, but also an adventurer and archaeologist.

As they were talking, Kamishiro had already entered the room behind the door.

Seeing this, Xia You and Xiao Yao also led Gardevoir and Gengar inside.

The moment they stepped into the room, the braziers on both walls suddenly lit up on their own, one after another, extending all the way into the innermost part of the room, where a huge stone statue, several meters tall and holding a staff, sat on a huge stone throne!

Under the light of the brazier, the stone statue can be seen to be an old man. He is wearing a cloak-like garment and a round hat. Because of his age, his face is covered with wrinkles, and perhaps because of the light, he looks very sinister and evil.

Even a chilling wind, seemingly coming from some crack in the rocks or a corner, was blowing gently.

In an instant, all three of them turned their gaze to the stone statue.

"Is this the King of Poklandis?" Xiaoyao asked cautiously, seemingly afraid that her voice was too loud and might disturb something.

However, no one could answer her, because Xia You and Shen Dai's gazes had already fallen on an even smaller throne beneath the stone statue.

This small throne was empty and made of stone. It seemed unremarkable, but on the throne, a stone ball resembling a Poké Ball sat quietly.

Noticing their gazes, Xiaoyao quickly looked over as well.

And upon closer inspection, she immediately spotted the stone sphere!

This stone ball was slightly larger than the common Poké Balls. It was yellowish-brown in color, with an inscription-like ring in the center and a square, dark purple gem on the ring, which acted like a switch for the stone ball.

"There really is a stone sphere!? Could Ho-Oh really be inside?"

Xiaoyao was extremely surprised, but she immediately remembered that during their casual chat earlier, Xiaoxia had mentioned that she and Xiayou had both encountered Phoenix King. So it seemed that this stone sphere definitely didn't contain Phoenix King.

But why place it in such a prominent position?

The three of them approached the stone ball together, but none of them reached out to touch it.

Seeing that the two were also so cautious and did not seize any rare treasures they saw, Kamishiro nodded secretly.

He said to the two of them, "Based on my previous investigation and eyewitness accounts, Ho-Oh has always been active somewhere in the world, so this stone sphere doesn't contain Ho-Oh; it's very likely something else."

Xia You was well aware of this, but that didn't diminish his curiosity.

"Would you like to open it and take a look?"

Actually, by this point, Xia You had slowly begun to recall the plot of this place. Although she didn't remember everything, she vaguely remembered that the stone ball seemed to contain the soul of that king, which eventually possessed Xiao Zhi and controlled him for a long time.

He glanced at him and shook his head.

"It's good to be curious, but we don't know what's inside, or even if it's still alive after thousands of years. So it's best not to touch it before we figure it out."

No wonder he's an archaeologist; he's completely different from those tomb raiders.

If it were anyone else, they would have picked up the ball and opened it to take a look. Only a true archaeologist like Kamiya could resist such temptation.

As for Xia You, although he also wanted to see the soul from thousands of years ago and hear how his speech and thinking differed from those of the present, he didn't want to get too close so easily and then be possessed by some strange creature.

Seeing that neither of them intended to approach, Xiaoyao was even less likely to do so.

But just then, seeing no one approaching, the creature inside the stone ball clearly grew impatient, and the entire ball began to sway gently.

It must have been the presence of a living person that awakened the soul of the king in the stone sphere, bringing him back to life even without physical contact.

Seeing that no one was coming forward, the king must have been trying to arouse their curiosity in this way.

Unfortunately, both Shen Dai and Xia You were people with strong willpower, so they were not fooled. Instead, seeing the stone ball shaking so much, they became even more cautious.

"Be careful." Gengar floated to Xia You's side and frowned. "I sensed a familiar yet unsettling aura inside, like... a ghost."

Xia You simply nodded, but Shen Dai, who was standing to the side, cast a surprised glance at her, which she quickly looked away from.

Even he would probably be quite surprised to see a talking Gengar.

At this moment, the stone ball on the throne shook even more violently.

But what's the point?

Even the most delicious bait is useless if no prey comes knocking.

Perhaps it was because it couldn't wait any longer, or perhaps it was because after thousands of years, prey had finally come knocking, and the king's soul inside the stone sphere didn't want to miss such an opportunity. With a burst of black light, it opened itself!

The next second, a blurry black figure floated out of the stone ball and flew into the air!

Because the shadow was too dark and dense, Xia You couldn't make out the figure's features at all. She could only vaguely make out that it was an old man, whose appearance was somewhat similar to the huge stone statue of the king behind him.

Judging from this, this must be the soul of that king.

After flying out, the shadow circled in the air a few times, seemingly selecting a target, before suddenly swooping down when it hovered above Xia You's head.

It seems that he prefers to possess the body of a young man rather than the middle-aged man Kamishiro or the little girl Haruka, and he has also set his sights on Xia You!

Xia You frowned when she saw him rushing towards her.

I never expected that even though I was standing so far away, this guy would still choose me.

What bad luck!

However, he didn't need to do anything. Gengar, a Ghost-type Pokémon and a master of manipulating souls, stood directly in front of Xia You.

"Hehehe, I won't allow an old bastard like you to take over my trainer's body!"

As Gengar pushed its hands forward, a black energy was released, instantly striking the king's soul. The king's soul, as if struck by a heavy blow, screamed and flew back!

Chapter 864 Stone Poké Ball

What can a soul without a body do in front of a Ghost-type Pokémon?

Even if this soul possesses some dark energy and has existed for countless years, it still cannot do anything!

Compared to Ghost-type Pokémon, the human's limited soul power is like that of a newborn infant, helplessly at the mercy of its manipulation.

Pushed by Gengar's power, the soul of King Toklandis was like a kite with a broken string, retreating a great distance before finally coming to a stop.

"Who are you, and why have you barged into my bedchamber?!"

Either seize the initiative, or have a legitimate reason for launching an attack.

It was clear that after the sneak attack failed and he suffered a great loss, the king knew that these people were tough nuts to crack, so he had to change his strategy and try to calm them down with words first.

But as I said before, if it were those reckless intruders, it might have some effect, but neither Xia You nor Shen Dai would fall for his trick.

However, this ancient tone does feel a bit awkward.

"Who are you?!" Kamishiro didn't answer him, but instead asked him the same question.

"Hmph hmph hmph..." The ghost laughed, his voice filled with arrogance and domineering, and shouted, "I am the overlord of the world! King Poklandis!"

"King Pokrandice?" Kamishiro frowned slightly, then turned to Xia You and Xiao Yao and said, "It seems the legend is wrong. I didn't expect that what's sealed inside this stone sphere isn't Ho-Oh, but King Pokrandice himself!"

"You have actually heard of my name?" King Poklandis's soul trembled violently. "Very well, then offer up your Pokémon. This time, I will make my empire conquer the whole world!"

As soon as he finished speaking, several black lights, like tentacles, flashed through King Poklandides' soul and headed straight for the Poké Balls on Xia You, Xiao Yao, and Shiro's waists!

Judging from this, since he couldn't bend down, he planned to steal their Pokémon!

However, these ghostly tentacles had only extended halfway when, unsurprisingly, Gengar once again stopped them by waving its hand.