Chapter 24 ⇾ A Dangerous Escape

"Mr. Lysandre, are you also here to explore the Sea Spirit's Den on a mission from the League?" Cole asked.

He maintained a certain wariness toward this future antagonist before him.

However, according to the background, Lysandre was a very kind person in his youth, even dedicated to eliminating the wealth gap in this world — someone with lofty ideals. It was only later experiences that made him become disillusioned with humanity's constant conflicts and plunder, ultimately leading him to place his hopes in the ultimate weapon to change the world.

So was he still a good person now?

Hearing his question, Lysandre shook his head with a smile and replied, "No, I'm here because I'm personally interested in this place."

Seeing his impressive strength, Diantha extended an invitation.

"Mr. Lysandre, would you like to explore the Sea Spirit's Den with us?"

She knew of him, though they had never met in person. She had heard much about him.

Though Lysandre wasn't particularly old, he was already a famous entrepreneur in the Kalos region. Diantha had not only acted in movies he invested in but also endorsed products from his company.

To be honest, she greatly admired him because he was not only brilliant in business but had also made tremendous contributions to charitable causes.

"With Miss Diantha's invitation, I have no reason to refuse." Just as she knew of him, Lysandre was equally familiar with her reputation as both a child star and talented trainer.

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The three found a safe place to spend the night, and early the next morning, they ventured into the Sea Spirit's Den together.

The entrance was fairly spacious, though the interior was dimly lit and very quiet.

After they entered, their footsteps echoed clearly, and they could even hear the distinct dripping of water seeping from the cave ceiling onto the ground.

Lysandre took out a device that resembled a mobile phone, waved it around the cave, and said, "As expected, there's a special energy permeating this place."

Diantha looked at the device in his hand and asked curiously, "What's that?"

Without hesitation, Lysandre held the device out to the two kids, saying, "This is an energy detector made by my research institute. It can not only detect the concentration of ambient energy but also measure the energy levels within Pokémon."

"That's amazing!"

Cole and Diantha exclaimed in unison. They couldn't help it — they were truly amazed. Devices that detected ambient energy concentrations weren't rare, the League had them too, but they had never heard of a device that could measure energy levels within Pokémon.

The two leaned in to look at the device and saw a constantly fluctuating blue wave on the screen, with "B+" displayed in the upper left corner.

After Lysandre's explanation, they understood that different environments had different energy concentrations. Usually, in their living environment, energy concentrations ranged between D and C+. Anything exceeding this standard would be considered abnormal.

The color of the wave represented the nature of the environmental energy. If the energy became harmful to humans or Pokémon, the device would sound an alarm, and the wave on the screen would change from blue to red.

Currently, the wave was blue and fluctuating steadily, indicating that the energy in the Sea Spirit's Den posed no harm to them.

"What a useful device!" Diantha exclaimed.

Lysandre smiled and said, "I'll give you each one when we get back. These are still just prototype products from our research institute, and I haven't planned to release them publicly yet."

"Then we'll gladly accept."

Both Cole and Diantha were very interested in the device, so neither refused.

The three continued deeper into the Sea Spirit's Den, with the energy level indicator on the device fluctuating between B and B+.

Screech screech screech~

After walking for some time, pairs of eerily gleaming eyes appeared in the darkness, followed by a cacophony of cries echoing through the cave.

"Everyone be careful, they're Zubat!" Having been here once before, Diantha naturally knew what these suddenly appearing Pokémon were.

As soon as she finished speaking, the chattering Zubat swarmed toward the three.

"Heliolisk, Thunder Wave."

"Murkrow, Thunder Wave!"

✲ Thunder Wave ✲

✲ Thunder Wave ✲

Golden light burst forth in the darkness as Cole's Helioptile and Lysandre's Murkrow attacked simultaneously, both using Thunder Wave.

Golden electricity wove through the upper cave like a net, trapping the approaching Zubat. All who touched the electric web became paralyzed and fell like dumplings into boiling water.

Helioptile's Thunder Wave was the most striking and impressive — the Murkrow couldn't compare in this aspect.

Soon all the attacking Zubat were subdued.

Lysandre looked at him in surprise and said, "Cole, how come I've never heard of such a skilled trainer as yourself? That seems strange..."

Cole humbly replied, "Haha... you're too kind, Mr. Lysandre. I'm not primarily a trainer, and I've never participated in any major competitions. My main work is researching Berry cultivation, and I'm only here at the Sea Spirit's Den because Diantha invited me."

"I see, that explains it, though you're certainly impressive." Lysandre realized, "And just call me Lysandre, no need for 'Mr.' — we're friends now, aren't we? That goes for you too, Miss Diantha."

He had always appreciated talented trainers, and upon meeting these two, he naturally wanted to befriend them.

"Then we'll take you up on that offer."

Regardless of what he might become in the future, Cole felt there was no problem being friendly with him now — who could say what the future might bring?

"We should hurry and leave this place, or those Zubat will recover soon." Diantha suddenly said.

No one knew just how deep the Sea Spirit's Den went. The three continued deeper, turning seven or eight corners without seeing an end.

Suddenly Lysandre called out, "The energy concentration here has reached level A!"

As his words fell, bubbles began rising in the seawater beneath their feet, accompanied by gurgling sounds.

"Look, isn't the water getting murky?" Cole said.

"This is bad, there's danger!"

Lysandre shouted, but before he could finish speaking, a jet of water suddenly shot toward Diantha.

Her Gardevoir appeared in front of her with Teleport, launching a Shadow Ball that shattered the water column into pieces.

That's when Cole and the others finally saw who had ambushed them—a Gastrodon over four meters tall. It had been hiding behind the rock wall, its soft body blending perfectly with the rocky surface, which was why the three hadn't noticed its presence earlier.

"Feidong~~"

The Gastrodon roared skyward, glaring angrily at the three intruders. As it moved, the seawater beneath their feet grew increasingly murky.

"This is bad, it's about to use Muddy Water!" Cole warned, releasing Daisy as quickly as possible.

Gastrodon was a Ground-type Pokémon, so the Electric-type Helioptile couldn't damage it.

Splash splash splash~

The seawater beneath the three began to violently shake. At this moment, Daisy and Diantha's Gardevoir exchanged glances, purple light flashing intensely in the eyes of both Psychic-type Pokémon. As the murky water began to rise, they combined their psychic powers to suspend it in midair.

"Roar~"

That's when Lysandre's Gyarados appeared again, roaring as it lunged at Gastrodon, using its thick, powerful body to coil tightly around the opponent while opening its sharp-toothed mouth to use Crunch on the enemy's head.

"FEIDONG!!!"

The cave echoed with Gastrodon's heart-wrenching roar. It twisted its soft body while controlling the water waves beneath to attack Gyarados, trying to force it back.

But Gyarados was infamous for its temperamental nature — once angered, it would stubbornly refuse to back down. Gastrodon's attacks only irritated its sensitive nerves, causing it to constrict even tighter rather than letting go.

At this point, Daisy and the other Gardevoir had repelled its Muddy Water, one using Dazzling Gleam and the other Shadow Ball, both striking Gastrodon's forehead simultaneously.

"Feidong~"

Unable to withstand the combined attack from three Pokémon, Gastrodon's head slumped as it fell.

But before the three could celebrate, another Pokémon appeared — another Water and Ground-type, Whiscash.

This Whiscash seemed to be Gastrodon's companion, just as gigantic in size. Upon seeing the fallen Gastrodon, it roared in anger.

At first, Cole and the others thought it was just venting its anger, but they quickly realized something was wrong — numerous inconspicuous Barboach had appeared in the seawater beneath their feet.

Clearly, Whiscash had been calling for its allies.

"There are too many — we shouldn't engage them."

Lysandre's suggestion was met with agreement from Cole and Diantha.

"Roar~"

Under his command, Gyarados used Waterfall, ramming into Whiscash to clear an escape route for Cole and the others.

Diantha's Gardevoir seized the opportunity to Teleport the three onto Gyarados's back, letting it carry them to safety.

Gyarados swam incredibly fast through the water, but the pursuing Whiscash and Barboach wouldn't give up. As Gyarados kept swimming and they kept chasing, Cole and the others eventually lost all sense of direction in the Sea Spirit's Den.

"Look over there!" Diantha suddenly called out, pointing to a circular tunnel ahead that appeared just wide enough for Gyarados to pass through.

Gyarados carried the three into the circular tunnel with Whiscash close behind. But the pursuer was simply too fat — while its head made it into the tunnel, its enormous belly got stuck at the entrance. The Barboach couldn't continue their pursuit either, as their boss was blocking the way.

Looking back at Whiscash stuck in the tunnel entrance, Diantha let out a deep breath and said, "Finally got away from that bunch."

As Gyarados continued swimming forward, Lysandre asked, "Where are we now?"

Cole and Diantha looked at each other and both shook their heads.

She checked the map on her wrist but found it wasn't working anymore. This map, which she'd received when accepting the mission, was supposed to automatically record their route. Now, however, it seemed to be experiencing interference.

"This is troublesome!" Lysandre frowned as he took out his energy detector.

He wasn't just referring to them being lost — the device showed that the energy concentration in their environment had reached A+, an absolutely terrifying reading. It was these extremely high energy levels that were interfering with the map.

Yet even so, they still hadn't found the source of such high energy concentration in this area.

"What should we do next?" Cole asked.

Diantha and Lysandre looked toward the tunnel that stretched endlessly ahead and answered in unison:

"Keep going forward!"

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