Chapter 443: The Ancient Seal
The three split up to cover more ground.
Damian headed off to capture his other target, while Harrison searched from north to south across the secret realm, and John worked his way from south to north.
"Alright, everyone out," John called, throwing multiple Pokeballs.
Greninja, Gyarados, Gengar, Latias, and Salamence materialized, ready to begin the search operation.
Greninja and Gyarados, being Water-types, dove directly into the river. Greninja activated Substitute, splitting into two copies before disappearing into the water like a fish born to swim.
Gyarados went full Power Trip mode, letting out a thunderous roar that shocked any Pokemon in the river before they could escape. With its terrifying presence, it quickly "recruited" the local Water-types to help with the search. John was confident it wouldn’t be long before his Gyarados had assembled quite the crew of underlings.
Besides the Water-types, Latias also dove into the river with a graceful splash. While not a Water-type itself, the legendary Pokemon was known as the guardian of "Alto Mare" and possessed superior water navigation abilities compared to ordinary Pokemon.
Salamence spread its wings and soared into the sky, using its keen draconic eyesight to scan from above.
Since their target was a Ghost-type, Gengar, sharing the same typing, would have the easiest time searching. As an incorporeal Ghost-type Pokemon, it didn’t matter whether the target was in the sky, water, or underground. Like a phantom, Gengar phased into the earth and vanished without a trace.
John stood in the middle of the dense forest, watching his team disperse. Gardevoir floated beside him and silently began Mega Evolution.
Even with all his Pokemon deployed, John maintained a weak Psychic link between them.
In this ancient Sanctuary, Psychic powers were indeed strangely suppressed, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t be used at all.
Gardevoir’s feedback confirmed that within the Ancient Sanctuary, Psychic power and effectiveness were reduced to only one-tenth of their normal potency.
But even with Mega Gardevoir operating at one-tenth power, while large-scale scanning was impossible, maintaining a communication bridge between all his Pokemon through weak Psychic was still manageable.
Now all he had to do was wait for good news from his team.
However, just sitting around waiting seemed like a waste of time. John quietly retrieved an artifact from his system inventory that he hadn’t used in ages.
Ding ding ding!
The Dowsing Machine!
It had been quite a while since he’d found a region special enough to warrant breaking out the treasure detector.
This place that Damian and Harrison called an ancient secret realm was clearly undeveloped, resource-rich territory, perfect for some serious treasure hunting!
The moment he activated the device, the detector’s indicator locked firmly in one direction.
Very decisively!
It seemed like whatever it had found was the only thing worth detecting in the area.
"Legendary Pokemon item?" John raised an eyebrow. It wasn’t surprising that this Sanctuary, housing quasi-Champion level Pokemon, would contain legendary items.
But... this time the treasure detector’s lock seemed much more intense than when it had previously detected legendary Pokemon items.
"Above legendary level?" John suddenly had an almost impossible thought.
But what could be above legendary level?
Such things didn’t exist, at least not in the real world. Legendary Pokemon items varied in strength, but items beyond legendary tier simply didn’t exist.
"Come on, let’s go take a look," John said, releasing another Pokeball.
Shiny Arcanine landed gracefully, its golden fur gleaming like burning sunlight.
The only thing that spoiled the majestic image were its clear, somewhat dopey eyes.
John had originally thought that evolving from Growlithe to Arcanine would bring maturity, but it seemed his "Little Sun" had somehow mixed with Husky genetics, the older it got, the more mischievous it became.
He climbed onto Arcanine’s back, grasping its mane like a lion tamer. "Alright, team! Let’s ride!"
"Woof!" Arcanine began bouncing excitedly, tail wagging furiously.
Then it took off like a golden rocket.
They blazed through the forest like a streak of golden light. Most Pokemon they passed only realized what had just rushed by after Arcanine was already long gone.
Even Mega Gardevoir had to use Teleport periodically just to keep up.
Racing at full speed, they reached the center of the Ancient Sanctuary, an unremarkable hill. Without slowing down, John spotted a cave entrance at the mountain’s base.
The treasure detector’s pointer angled slightly downward, but there was no need to climb the mountain. Whatever they were looking for was definitely underneath.
"Arcanine, let’s charge!" John patted his mount’s neck, signaling a direct approach.
"Gardevoir, use Psychic to scan 100 meters around us for any danger!"
"Arcanine!" Arcanine excitedly carried John into the cave.
Mega Gardevoir followed closely, Confusion spreading outward cautiously.
But just as they entered the cave, Mega Gardevoir’s voice echoed in John’s mind. "Garde... (Master, my psychic powers are being suppressed even more deeply here.)"
"The suppression has intensified?" John mused.
This likely meant they were approaching the source of the Psychic suppression. And it was very possible that the treasure detector’s target was connected to that source.
"Maintain Psychic coverage as much as possible," John instructed.
Arcanine continued accelerating forward.
Surprisingly, John didn’t encounter a single Pokemon along the way.
And this cave was clearly artificial, the passage walls bore weathered grooves and dark stains, as if torches had once been mounted here long ago.
After more than a minute of running, John reached the cave’s depths.
An empty chamber awaited them.
But standing at the entrance, John stopped short.
Something felt off about this place.
Under Mega Gardevoir’s Flash illumination, John noticed the cave floor was covered with a strange black substance that seemed to resist the light, almost like... like soil from the Spirit World!
Having recently witnessed a Spirit World battlefield, John was somewhat familiar with that otherworldly aura.
"An entrance to the Spirit World?" John frowned slightly. "No, wait... why does this aura feel purer than the Ghost-types from the Spirit World?"
"Gardevoir, light up the entire cave."
Mega Gardevoir waved her hand, creating multiple orbs of light that floated throughout the chamber. Flash wasn’t a Psychic-type move, so it remained unaffected by the suppression.
The entire cave interior was immediately bathed in bright light.
In the deepest part of the chamber, a massive seal stone over five meters tall caught John’s attention.
It was coal-black stone, and embedded in its center was a sacred golden runic chain, like bindings that held the monument firmly in this space. The black substance coating the cave floor was seeping out from beneath the seal stone.