The exploration of the Seafloor Cavern continued. It had been half an hour since the three encountered the Sandslash, and in that time, they had also come across a Graveler, a Golbat, and a Raticate.
None of the three Pokémon lasted even a single move against Metagross. The Pseudo-Elite Four level Metagross showcased its monstrous power as a pseudo-legendary.
Along the way, another major change in the cave became apparent: the number of white crystal stones was steadily increasing.
By the time Sato and the others reached the first fork in the path, they could almost see the surrounding environment clearly without needing the Flash from Metagross or Umbreon.
"Which way should we go?" Steven, who was at the front, stopped and turned around to ask politely.
At that moment, Mark pointed unhesitatingly toward the path on the right. Under Steven's surprised gaze, both Sato and Joseph nodded in agreement.
"Why?" Steven couldn't help but ask.
"Mark's our lucky charm. Listening the mascot never fails!" Joseph said with a big smile.
"You're the lucky charm! Your whole family are lucky charms!"
Having his "true identity" exposed on the spot, Mark turned bright red with "anger". 'Am I supposed to have no pride here?!'
"Steven, can you tell which path might have something valuable ahead?" Sato ignored Mark's rant and asked directly.
"Nope. How would anyone know that?"
"Then let's go with Mark's choice. Some people are just born lucky," Sato smiled and didn't elaborate further.
Steven blinked, gave up arguing, and obediently walked to the right.
By this time, the two Pokémon had already stopped using Flash. The milky white glow from the white crystal stones was gentle and not glaring at all.
Mark still acted like he was strolling through a park, wandering around with his Arbok, touching everything, rubbing against things. But since he stayed within the range between Sato and Steven, no one bothered to stop him.
"Hey, what kind of flower is this?"
Right then, Mark was struggling to move a fairly large rock. Underneath it, he discovered a massive flower with pink petals and an overall purplish hue.
Then, to Mark's horror, the purple "flower" suddenly moved!
Its pink petals rapidly extended and instantly wrapped around Mark, binding him tightly until he couldn't move a muscle.
Then, from the center of the flower bud, waves of sour-smelling gastric acid began to ooze out, clearly preparing to "digest" Mark right on the spot.
"Help me!" Mark screamed with all his might.
He didn't need to say more. The moment Sato saw what was behind the rock, he had already thrown Weavile's Poké Ball.
The Ice Shard attack flashed through the air at lightning speed, slicing off several of the purple "flower's" petals.
Immediately after, Joseph's Florges joined the rescue. Two vines stretched out, wrapped around Mark, and began pulling him back.
Ice Shard had clearly hurt the purple "flower" badly, and the meal it had just brought to its mouth was reluctantly snatched away.
Florges used her full strength from the start to rescue Mark as quickly as possible. Mark, feeling like his waist was about to snap in half, was caught between the pain and the joy of surviving.
His emotions were... complicated.
By this point, Arbok had already gone into a frenzy, lunging straight at the "flower" and coiling around it tightly. It rained down Poison Fang and Poison Tail relentlessly onto the enemy's body.
The flower soon went completely still, tightly strangled by Arbok's coils.
Joseph released Chansey for support and began treating the injuries on Mark's body.
Only then did Sato and Steven slowly walk up to the purple flower and begin carefully observing it.
Upon seeing Sato, the crimson glow in Arbok's eyes gradually faded. Realizing its opponent was dead, Arbok silently let go and slowly crawled over to Mark's side.
"This has to be some kind of Pokémon. I feel like I've seen it somewhere before," Steven frowned, showing no reaction to Arbok's behavior.
"It should be the fossil Pokémon, Lileep," Sato had recognized it long ago, that's why he had sent Weavile to fight it.
"A living fossil Pokémon?" Steven froze, a hint of regret flashing in his eyes, though it quickly disappeared.
"Since one Lileep has appeared, there's likely more than one," Sato said calmly and turned back toward Mark and Joseph.
Steven looked slightly awkward. It was clear Sato had noticed the look of regret in his eyes.
Sato wasn't exactly angry, but it certainly didn't sit well with him. After all, that Lileep had just nearly taken Mark's life.
On the other side, Joseph directly used Viridian Power to heal Mark.
The areas where Lileep had touched Mark were already swelling and reddening. With an unknown condition , using Viridian Power was the safest bet.
Before long, Mark had recovered completely. He glanced at the now-dead Lileep with lingering fear, then gently hugged the Arbok at his side.
It was hard to tell whether he was comforting himself or the other.
"You okay? If you're tired, we can head back to the submarine to rest," Steven asked as he walked over.
"I'm fine. I picked this path, didn't I? How could I go back empty-handed?" Mark grinned wide, as if completely unfazed by the recent brush with death.
"Then let's move." Sato didn't try to stop him, Mark was a proud person.
The group continued forward. Mark clearly toned it down a lot, though his eyes shone brightly, as if anticipating something.
This time, they had barely walked a few steps when the sound of heavy footsteps echoed from up ahead, step by step, making it feel like the ground itself was trembling.
Steven warned them, and Metagross automatically moved forward, waiting for the approaching opponent.
The footsteps got closer and closer until a massive figure slowly appeared from the fork in the path and began turning toward them.
Having learned his lesson from earlier, Steven quickly recognized this long-extinct fossil Pokémon.
Without hesitation, Metagross closed the gap. Its steel fists lit up with dozens of star-like flashes and smashed down hard.
Armaldo wasn't about to back down. Its blade-like claws crossed in front of it, executing a direct X-Scissor.
To everyone's surprise, the X-Scissor actually managed to block Metagross's Meteor Mash, preventing a total domination.
Steven's eyes lit up. He was obsessed with rocks, fascinated by fossil Pokémon; and clearly, this one was no pushover.
"Metagross, overpower it!"
Metagross powered up again, and Armaldo finally couldn't hold on, getting forced back.
A few minutes later, Steven held a Poké Ball containing the captured Armaldo, grinning from ear to ear.
"I really Armaldo. So if we run into any other Pokémon from now on, you three get first pick."
"We're good," Sato shook his head, showing he didn't mind. The three of them were only curious about the fossil Pokémon. Whether or not to capture them would depend on fate.