The three of them walked for what felt like hours through the ghostly forest, gradually approaching their destination. Despite passing through several areas where Elite-level Ghost-types typically roamed, they hadn’t encountered a single Ghost-type Pokemon along the way.
"This is bizarre," Harrison muttered, scratching his head. "Usually, even when we take the long route, we bump into dozens of Ghost-types. Why haven’t we seen any today?"
"John’s Gengar is... special," Damian explained casually. "Even unintentionally, it can deter most Ghost-type Pokemon."
"Seriously?" Harrison stared at the regal purple Gengar floating beside John. "We should’ve brought John along on every previous expedition. Would’ve saved us a ton of trouble."
John had already guessed Damian’s reasoning. While the King’s Presence ability from his system didn’t technically provide Intimidate, as a true king among Ghost-types, his Gengar naturally suppressed weaker Ghost Pokemon. Against species like Gastly or common Gengar, it could even achieve something resembling royal command.
However, this ability had little effect on Ghost-types of comparable strength levels. When he’d battled Damian’s Gengar before, the opponent had barely been affected.
The fact that they hadn’t encountered even a single Ghost-type until now simply meant the surrounding Pokemon were relatively weak compared to his King Gengar’s overwhelming presence.
"We’re here," Damian suddenly announced.
They stood in a dense thicket. Not far ahead lay an open clearing about the size of a basketball court. In the center sat a "stone" roughly the size of a millstone.
Embedded in the center of the stone was a golden rune radiating energy, as if suppressing something powerful beneath.
The moment they approached, a massive phantom materialized, standing atop the stone.
It was a Alpha Dusknoir!
If John remembered correctly, this was supposedly Halloween Island’s strongest resident, with Champion-level combat power.
"Gengar!" John raised his hand, revealing his Key Stone to prepare for Mega Evolution.
Before he could begin the transformation, Damian stopped him. "It’s already been conquered by me."
The Alpha Dusknoir made no aggressive moves, instead giving Damian a respectful nod.
"Then what’s the actual purpose of this trip?" John asked.
"Under that stone," Harrison said, gesturing toward the mysterious monument.
"What’s under there?"
"An ancient Sanctuary," Damian answered this time.
"An ancient Sanctuary? A sanctuary within a sanctuary?" John’s interest immediately peaked.
Nested Sanctuarys were incredibly rare, let alone ancient ones.
Damian stepped forward and pressed his hand against the golden rune. The symbol immediately dissolved, and the stone was lifted by an invisible force.
A light blue circular portal, shaped like a pond, appeared beneath the monument.
"After entering, we’ll appear at an altitude of several thousand meters," Damian warned. "Remember to release your Flying Pokemon immediately."
With that, he jumped into the portal first, followed by Harrison.
Clearly, this wasn’t their first expedition here.
John quickly followed, leaping into the swirling gateway.
After all three had entered, the stone settled back into place, the golden rune reappeared, and the Totem Dusknoir slowly faded away, as if nothing had ever happened.
Inside the portal, a bone-chilling cold hit John immediately.
He found himself soaring through crystal-clear blue skies that seemed to stretch infinitely in all directions. The azure heavens were so pristine they resembled a mirror, reflecting the entire world below. It was hard to imagine such a paradise existed within Halloween Island’s ghostly domain!
Damian and Harrison had already released their Flying Pokemon.
John quickly sent out his Salamence to follow suit.
The trio landed atop a frost-covered mountain peak blanketed in snow.
"One of our objectives is to explore secrets here that others haven’t discovered yet," Damian said, tossing John a Gameboy-like device.
John recognized it from the Breeders Association, many Pokemon researchers carried these. The device had regional communication, photography, and scanning functions, making it invaluable for field research.
"While exploring, remember to scan the surrounding terrain," Damian instructed. "If you encounter Pokemon you’ve never seen before, try to capture them. If you face danger or unbeatable opponents, send a distress signal through the device."
"However, before we split up to explore freely, I need to ask something of you, John."
"Here, Psychic-type Pokemon have their powers suppressed, making energy scanning nearly impossible. Harrison and I don’t have powerful Water-types, so I need your help finding something."
John surveyed the secret realm from their mountain perch. There were no large lakes, just rivers seven or eight meters wide, maybe ten meters at most. If they couldn’t scan with psychic abilities and still needed to find a Pokemon with quasi-Champion-level power, it would indeed be extremely difficult.
"What about your other objective, Damian? Do you need our help with that?" Harrison asked.
"When Harrison and I explored here last time, we discovered a Ghost-type Pokemon we’d never seen before living in these rivers. It has incredible escape abilities, every time we got close, it vanished."
"But since Harrison has already agreed to help, it would be rude of me to refuse," John said, though he was curious about what kind of Ghost-type could live underwater and evade even Damian’s expertise.
"After this is completed, I’m willing to teach you the Phantom General technique as payment," Damian offered.
"Senior, you don’t need to—" John began, waving his hands. Despite wanting to learn the technique, Damian had already helped him so much. How could he shamelessly ask for such a valuable secret technique?
"No, I’ve already figured out a solution for my main objective. I’ll handle that conquest myself."
"Just accept it," Harrison said matter-of-factly. "Since we’re friends, we need to keep these things clear, or we won’t have opportunities to cooperate in the future. Besides—" ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ noⅴelfire.net
"An unseen Ghost-type Pokemon?" John gazed down from the mountain peak across the entire realm territory.