Chapter 444: Ghosts of Hisui
Something deliberately imprisoned using a seal stone of this magnitude.
And even while contained, the overflowing power was still purer than Ghost-type energy from the Spirit World itself.
"Doesn’t matter what’s under it, let’s find out!" John patted Arcanine’s neck.
"Woof!" Arcanine immediately strutted into the cave with head held high.
Thick paw prints pressed into the pitch-black ground, feeling like stepping on a dense carpet.
In the next instant, ghostly energy surged upward!
The rushing Ghost-type energy tried to engulf both Arcanine and John directly, but it only rose two centimeters before being suppressed by Arcanine’s blazing flames that burned hot as the sun.
The Ghost-type energy quickly subsided, and with each of Arcanine’s steps, ripples spread across the dark surface like a dragonfly touching water.
"Gardevoir... (Master, Psychic powers have completely failed here,)" Gardevoir reported.
John nodded slightly, his guess had been correct. This was the source of the Psychic suppression.
Staring at the seal stone before him, John pondered his options.
How could he move the stone and release whatever was imprisoned below?
Directly blast the seal stone apart with overwhelming force?
John was confident in his team’s combat abilities. Unless they faced a top-tier legendary, he could at least escape even if they couldn’t win. What worried him was whether destroying the seal stone might also destroy whatever was imprisoned beneath.
Or... John remembered the scene where Damian had unsealed the runic sigil earlier.
"Garde! (Master, Greninja has found the target!)" Gardevoir suddenly announced.
"Already?" John thought finding Damian’s target Pokemon would be a major undertaking, but they’d located it in under an hour.
After considering his options, John decided to leave for now.
"I’ll bring Damian back to examine this seal later."
"Arcanine, let’s go!"
"Woof!" Arcanine immediately activated Flame Charge, racing toward the cave exit at even greater speed, with Gardevoir following close behind.
After John departed, the orbs of light burst and vanished, returning the cave to silence and darkness.
The only difference from before was a ghostly figure that suddenly materialized behind the black seal stone, a pitch-black silhouette that blended seamlessly with the surrounding shadows, save for two glowing eyes.
Emerging from the cave, John called out, "Where’s Greninja?"
Before he’d finished speaking, Salamence had already swooped down from the sky to pick him up.
Leaping onto his dragon’s back, John recalled Arcanine and headed northwest at high speed.
BOOM!
Just as they arrived at the destination, an explosion erupted from the densely wooded river.
Greninja was airborne, launching a barrage of Water Shuriken!
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
The water’s surface looked like it was under machine gun fire for a moment.
The opponent wasn’t backing down either, firing Shadow Ball after Shadow Ball from beneath the water.
John finally got a clear look at the Pokemon battling Greninja, a Basculin with an unusual tail!
It had the large body of a regular Basculin, but its tail was a phantom that burned like strange phosphorous fire.
"No wonder I’ve never seen one before," John finally understood why Damian claimed he’d never encountered this species.
This was indeed an ancient Pokemon that modern humans had never witnessed alive.
In the Pokemon games, this was Basculegion from the Hisui Region, the Sinnoh Region from two thousand years ago.
But in reality, Basculegion had long been "extinct," existing only in historical records and accidentally unearthed artifacts.
This was the first time encountering a living Basculegion in the real world.
Well, technically Basculegion was Water/Ghost-type, so strictly speaking, it was already dead.
"I never made it to the Hisui Region in the games, but I found a Hisui Pokemon in reality first," John couldn’t help but chuckle.
It suddenly occurred to him, if this Sanctuary was so "ancient" that Hisui Region Pokemon could appear, might he also find Pokemon from other ancient regions?
Were there other Hisui-exclusive Pokemon here that he could potentially train? He’d have to search more carefully later.
Picking up his Pokegear, John contacted Damian to report the target’s location.
So... was Typhlosion (Hisui form) the other target Pokemon Damian had mentioned earlier?
"Just help me keep it from escaping!" Damian landed by the river and took out a Pokeball. When trying to capture a Pokemon, the trainer had to defeat it personally. Otherwise, even if captured, there was a high probability it wouldn’t obey commands.
Damian calmly released a Pokeball.
Compared to an ordinary Typhlosion, this one seemed more... crepy.
"Aqua Jet!"
The moment Damian appeared, Basculegion immediately locked onto him. As the apex predator of these waters, and indeed the entire ancien Sanctuary, it had already written down the offense from their last encounter in its little revenge notebook.
John’s Water-type lineup was already saturated with powerful members.
As for John himself, he wasn’t particularly interested in Basculegion, even with its pseudo-Champion level strength.
"Flamethrower!"
Damian had arrived quickly after receiving the news, with Harrison accompanying him.
John already had Greninja and shiny Gyarados, plus Lugia and Latias, who despite not being Water-types were known as "Sea Guardian" and "Guardian of Alto Mare" respectively.
"Come back and rest up," John quickly recalled his Pokemon, handing the stage over to Damian, leaving only Greninja and Gengar in position to prevent another escape.
The Typhlosion that emerged from the Pokeball was distinctly different from ordinary ones, the fur on its back was purple, with a circle of purple fur around its neck like an extra scarf, and purple fireballs were "embedded" along the scarf.
This unusual appearance was because it was a Typhlosion from the Hisui Region! Its typing was no longer purely Fire, but had gained the Ghost-type as well.
Before Damian could fully deploy his Pokemon, Basculegion launched a sneak attack!
Immediately, its eyes glowed red with excitement, and the phantom flames on its tail surged dramatically!