Yuga shared the Swoobat leader's suspicion with the other generals. General Chiba immediately said, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go find the General!"
General Leo, the eldest and the calmest, glared at General Chiba and said, "Why are you in such a rush? We don't even know what the situation inside is. What if something happens to us when we all go in together!"
Yuga nodded in agreement and said, "General Leo is right. Since Swoobat's elder had warned it repeatedly that the center of the labyrinth cave is dangerous, it definitely wasn't for no reason. If we charge in recklessly, we might not find General Damov and end up getting ourselves trapped in there."
General Chiba said in frustration, "Then what do you suggest we do?"
General Yukishiro thought for a moment and said, "How about we choose two people to go in and see what's going on, while the others stay here and wait."
"That's the only way." General Leo thought this was a good idea and nodded in agreement.
General Chiba immediately volunteered, "I'll go!"
To his surprise, General Yukishiro and General Leo both rejected his offer at the same time.
"Why not?!" General Chiba asked in dissatisfaction.
General Yukishiro explained helplessly, "We don't know what's inside, and with your impulsive personality, you might end up causing trouble."
General Chiba was well aware of his own shortcomings. He was also used to listening to General Yukishiro and General Leo. Since he was always the muscle among the vice generals, responsible mainly for soldier training and rarely involved in major decision-making, he quietly stepped aside without saying anything more.
Although Chiba held the same rank as General Yukishiro, General Leo, and General Toyama, his temperament meant that he always played the role of the enforcer in the Pioneer Corps. He had long been used to taking orders from General Damov and the other vice generals.
Naturally, Yuga had to be one of the two to go, as he was the strongest among them. His presence would ensure the highest safety. Even if danger arose, he would be able to deal with it effectively.
One of the generals also had to stay behind, otherwise the morale of the soldiers would be hard to maintain.
"I'll go," said General Yukishiro and General Leo in unison. Both were momentarily stunned and looked at each other.
General Leo was about to suggest they both go, but General Yukishiro quickly added:
"Uncle Leo, you should stay behind. I wouldn't feel at ease leaving Chiba here alone."
Privately, Yuga actually wanted to go alone. He didn't believe that having another person with him would offer much help. But he was afraid saying that out loud would make him sound arrogant, so he simply watched as they decided that General Yukishiro would accompany him into the center of the labyrinth.
Before heading into the labyrinth center, the Swoobat leader hesitated again and again, clearly unwilling to follow Yuga. It always remembered its father's warning: the center was dangerous and should not be approached.
But strangely, every time it met Yuga's trusting gaze, it couldn't help but nod. After agreeing, it immediately regretted the decision in its heart.
Before leaving, Yuga left most of the food supplies with General Leo and the others. He wasn't worried about going hungry himself, because he could use the Trainer Shop in his system to buy unlimited amounts of common Berries. As long as he had enough money saved up, he could buy as many as he needed.
He just had to be cautious around General Yukishiro—if necessary, he'd just claim that he had stored them ahead of time.
Yuga didn't mind if others found out he had a storage space (system backpack). After all, his Pokémon could already create alternate dimensions, and one of his partners was even a Tier 1 Legendary Pokémon—not exactly a well-kept secret. Owning a larger storage space wasn't a particularly incredible thing anymore.
There were simply too many people with strange powers in the Pokémon world.
In addition to food, Yuga also left a few Swoobats with General Leo and the others. That way, even if something happened to Yuga and he couldn't return, General Leo's team could still rely on the Swoobats to find their way out of the labyrinth cave.
The boundary between the center of the labyrinth and the other areas was very clear. Upon entering, Yuga noticed that the glowing stones he had seen earlier while finding General Yukishiro were becoming more and more abundant. The air also became less dry, and he could even feel obvious moisture in the surroundings.
"Could there be an underground lake in here?" Yuga looked at the Swoobat leader and asked.
The Swoobat leader shook its head, indicating that it didn't know. Its understanding of the labyrinth cave's center was limited to what its elders had described—it had never actually been here itself, so how would it know if there was an underground lake?
General Yukishiro added, "There should be one. Otherwise, the humidity in the air wouldn't be so different from the outer areas."
Yuga nodded in agreement and then said, "Since there's a water source here, is it possible that other Pokémon also live here?"
The Swoobat leader immediately refuted that, claiming that apart from their own kind, no other Pokémon had ever lived in the labyrinth cave.
Yuga looked skeptical. "Really?"
The Swoobat leader suddenly wasn't sure how to answer—whether it was true or false.
As they walked, Yuga continued collecting glowing stones that were either uniquely shaped or relatively large. He noticed that the deeper they went, the purer the glowing stones became—clearer, brighter, and in some cases completely free of impurities.
"Mr. Shimizu, why are you collecting so many of these stones? Are they special in some way?" General Yukishiro asked curiously. She didn't find such sparkly things particularly appealing.
Yuga shook his head and replied, "I don't know."
You don't know? General Yukishiro looked even more puzzled. Then why collect so many?
Then she heard Yuga continue, "I'm planning to take some out and give them to friends."
General Yukishiro froze for a moment when she heard that, as if she had suddenly realized something, and blurted out, "You mean… Mr. Steven?"
The former Hoenn Champion Steven's fondness for collecting stones was widely known.
"You know about that too?" Yuga was a little surprised, but not shocked.
General Yukishiro nodded. "I know a little."
So she didn't ask any more questions about why Yuga was collecting the stones.
The two continued their journey toward the center of the labyrinth cave. It remained eerily quiet the entire way. Aside from the increasingly humid air, they encountered nothing unusual.
Suddenly, Decidueye let out a sharp cry and swiftly grabbed Yuga's shoulders with its talons, darting to the side. In the next instant, a loud bang erupted from the spot where Yuga had been standing—leaving a massive crater in the ground.
Vivillon also reacted quickly. Its wings beat rapidly, releasing beam after beam of Signal Beam light in a controlled barrage toward one direction.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Rocks shattered, and a large Pokémon appeared before Yuga and General Yukishiro.
...
[ Haxorus ]
Type: Dragon
Ability: Mold Breaker
Gender: Male
Potential: Indigo
Level: 82
Moves: Scratch, Leer, Dragon Rage, Slash, Dual Chop, Dragon Claw, Dragon Dance, Dragon Pulse, Swords Dance, Guillotine, Outrage, Giga Impact, Earthquake, Hyper Beam, Brick Break, Thrash, Shadow Claw, Dragon Tail, Counter, Aqua Tail.
...
A Champion level Haxorus!
Logically, such a Pokémon shouldn't be found inside the labyrinth cave.
But the next second, Yuga understood the reason. He heard General Yukishiro gasp in surprise.
"That's the General's Haxorus!"
Although Yuga also referred to Yukishiro and the other two deputy generals as "General," when the deputy generals spoke of "the General," they were specifically referring to General Damov.
General Yukishiro had worked alongside General Damov for many years, so of course she couldn't possibly fail to recognize his Haxorus.
General Damov hailed from the famed Village of Dragons—the same faction where the Unova League's master level Trainer, the Matriarch, came from—and Haxorus was one of the symbolic Pokémon of the Village of Dragons.
No sooner had General Yukishiro finished her sentence than Haxorus launched another attack, this time targeting her directly.
Her Stoutland immediately charged forward to intercept and collided with Haxorus.
But Stoutland, though already an Elite level Pokémon, stood no chance against a Champion level Pokémon—especially one known for its close-range combat prowess like Haxorus—and was instantly sent flying by a single slash of its claw.
General Yukishiro shouted, "Haxorus, what's wrong with you? Don't you recognize me? Where is the General?"
However, Haxorus didn't respond to her at all. Instead, it raised its dragon claw and swiped toward her.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Decidueye, having already put Yuga down, fired multiple arrows in rapid succession, but they were easily deflected by Haxorus. Decidueye, who had only recently advanced to the Elite level, clearly wasn't a match for Champion-level Haxorus.
However, Vivillon's Signal Beam came right after and successfully blasted Haxorus backward.
General Yukishiro was still trying to call out to Haxorus, but Yuga, after observing for a while, said, "General Yukishiro, it's no use. Haxorus is most likely being controlled by something."
General Yukishiro looked into Haxorus's eyes and indeed noticed they were vacant and lifeless.
"Let's subdue it first and talk later."
After saying that, Yuga commanded Vivillon to go all out in the battle, and soon they managed to take down Haxorus. Even though both Pokémon were Champion level Pokémon, the difference was clear—one had a trainer giving orders, the other did not, and Haxorus lacked self-awareness entirely.
Yuga walked over to the unconscious Haxorus to examine it. General Yukishiro asked, "How is it?"
Yuga shook his head. "I can't tell what's wrong." After all, he wasn't a real Pokémon doctor, and his knowledge had its limits.
Since they didn't have Haxorus's Poké Ball, Yuga and General Yukishiro couldn't return it to a ball, so they had no choice but to find a place to temporarily secure it.
Yuga left his Venusaur to watch over Haxorus and instructed Venusaur that if it woke up, it should knock it out again immediately.
After that, Yuga and General Yukishiro continued searching for General Damov and the others. They soon encountered more Pokémon and soldiers in the same condition as Haxorus—some of the Pokémon belonged to those soldiers, and several were General Damov's.
But for some unknown reason, all the Pokémon had escaped from their Poké Balls and had clearly been mentally disturbed by some unknown influence.
Soon, all the missing soldiers were found—except for General Damov, who was still nowhere to be seen.
Since both the soldiers and the Pokémon had been affected and the cause remained unclear, Yuga didn't feel comfortable leaving Venusaur to watch over them alone, so he asked General Yukishiro to stay behind and look after them too.
Although she was still worried about General Damov, she was equally concerned about the soldiers and thus reluctantly agreed to stay behind.
Yuga, along with the Swoobat leader, continued searching the unexplored areas. The Swoobat leader nervously asked, "Are we really going to keep looking? I'm really scared!"
Seeing so many people and Pokémon affected, the Swoobat leader was deeply unsettled. No wonder Father said this place was dangerous—he was right all along!
Yuga replied, "Of course! We haven't found everyone yet."
"F-fine…" the Swoobat leader replied miserably.
After an unknown amount of time had passed, Yuga suddenly stopped walking and asked Swoobat, Vivillon, and Decidueye, "Did you hear the sound of water?"
"I-I heard it…" So scary!
Swoobat trembled all over in fright.
Decidueye and Vivillon also indicated that they had heard it, but since the two of them had experienced many things while following Yuga, they didn't react much.
"Let's go have a look."
With that, Yuga led the three Pokémon toward the direction where the sound of water was coming from.
Before long, Yuga arrived at a tunnel entrance. As he looked inside, he saw that both sides of the tunnel were completely crystallized. The entire tunnel looked as though it were made of crystal, emitting a faint, misty glow.
"Let's go in and have a look."
Yuga walked along the tunnel deeper inside. The tunnel was very long—no one knew how long they had walked—when suddenly the space before them opened up. They had entered a massive stone cavern, and the "crystal" under their feet had abruptly disappeared.
Even though the tunnel outside was filled with glowing stones, the stone cavern itself had none.
However, the cavern wasn't dark—in fact, it was quite bright—because within it was a shimmering, glowing lake and countless luminous plants.
At the center of the lake stood a person, their lower body entirely submerged in water, with only their upper body visible. Beside them stood a completely azure-blue Pokémon.
...
[ Kingdra ]
Type: Water, Dragon
Ability: Swift Swim
Gender: Female
Potential: Indigo
Level: 85
Moves: Bubble, Smokescreen, Water Gun, Bubble Beam, Twister, Brine, Agility, Dragon Pulse, Dragon Dance, Hydro Pump, Yawn, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Rain Dance, Scald, Surf, Waterfall, Hyper Beam, Outrage, Draco Meteor, Water Pulse.
...
"General Damov?"
That person had their back to Yuga. The sound of water they had heard earlier had come from the Kingdra playing in the water beside him.
Upon hearing Yuga's voice, the person turned around—sure enough, it was General Damov.
General Damov had two Champion level Pokémon—one was the Haxorus from earlier, and the other was the Kingdra in front of them now.
However, both General Damov and his Kingdra seemed very off. The way they looked at Yuga was completely lifeless, as if they were puppets.
Yuga glanced at the plants by the lakeshore that continuously released white glowing particles into the air, and suddenly sensed something was wrong. He shouted loudly:
"Something's wrong here—let's get out of here!"
Saying that, he and the three Pokémon quickly retreated back into the tunnel.
As soon as he entered the tunnel, Yuga noticed that his head felt a little dizzy.
He leaned against the crystallized wall, his breathing becoming slightly rapid, but the dizziness quickly faded again.
At the same time, General Damov, noticing Yuga's movement, brought his Kingdra ashore.