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Arriving at the former location of the massive guardian stone, Chris discovered a purple stone tablet embedded in the sunken earth, bearing a white ghostly symbol on its surface.
"This can't be..." Chris took a deep breath and quickly picked up the tablet, immediately checking its properties on his Pokédex.
Spooky Plate: One of the creation tablets. The holder gains immunity to and can absorb Ghost-type effects. Ghost-type move power is increased by 500%.
"It really is the Ghost-type Plate!" Chris's grin stretched wide across his face.
When the treasure detector had given him readings earlier, he'd been wondering what could possibly be more valuable than Legendary Pokémon items.
Now it made perfect sense—there were no other items that could compare except for the creation-level artifacts that belonged to Arceus himself.
Moreover, considering it could emit Ghost-type energy purer than even the Spirit World itself, what else could it be but the very Ghost-type Plate used to create the world? Perhaps the Spirit World itself was formed by Arceus using this Spooky Plate.
Whether in the anime or games, there were very few descriptions of the Spirit World's origins. Chris had no way of knowing the true details.
But... compared to pondering the Spirit World's existence, Chris found himself more puzzled by another question. Why hadn't Zoroark taken the tablet for itself?
If Zoroark had been equipped with the Spooky Plate, its Ghost-type moves would have been five times more powerful. Even using all his resources, Chris might not have been able to defeat it.
He couldn't figure it out, so he decided to let it go for now.
He'd use the Soothe Bell to communicate with Zoroark later and ask what had happened.
"I think when we get back this time, Chris, you owe us a big dinner!" Alexis declared with his hands on his hips, tilting his head expectantly.
Chris quickly secured the Spooky Plate in his backpack, then turned around and nodded in agreement.
"Absolutely! What would you like to eat, Senior Alexis?"
"Oh, I want the works—premium abalone, giant lobsters, and some vintage wines!"
"Done! Senior Alexis can order whatever he wants!" Chris agreed proudly. After all, it was just a dinner—how expensive could it possibly be?
The rewards from this expedition were unprecedented: an ancient Zoroark and a creation-level artifact, the Spooky Plate. Either one alone would be enough to drive people wild with envy.
"But before that dinner, we need to explore this secret realm a bit more. Your Pokémon are incredible, and I want to catch one too!"
Roy nodded in agreement. "These extinct Pokémon species—we should find as many as possible. Through breeding programs, we could help them reproduce and thrive in this world again."
Chris couldn't help but chuckle.
Finding another Zoroark...
The Hisui-form Zoroark should theoretically be able to breed with regular Dark-type Zoroark. But... Chris remembered from his recent scan that the one he'd captured was male.
Even if it mated with an ordinary Zoroark, the offspring would likely be regular Dark-type Zoroark.
For now, he could only hope there really was a female Hisui-form Zoroark somewhere in this realm.
"Alright then, let's search the secret realm thoroughly."
The three trainers left the cave. Before departing, Chris had Gardevoir scan the entire cavern with Psychic to confirm no treasures had been missed. Only then did they leave. Once Chris had stored the Spooky Plate safely away, Psychic-type moves could be used again.
Apparently, the Spooky Plate had been the reason Psychic-type moves couldn't function properly in the rift.
This effect wasn't listed in the Plate's attribute description, and Chris speculated it might be due to Ghost-type's natural resistance to Psychic-type moves.
But that was just a theory—he'd test it properly once they returned home.
Roy and Alexis didn't pay much attention to what Chris had discovered and pocketed.
Though no one had explicitly discussed exploration rules for this ancient secret realm, everyone understood and silently followed the principle of "finders keepers."
Leaving the cave, the group began systematically searching the entire ancient secret realm for more Zoroark.
Without the Spooky Plate's interference suppressing Psychic-types, their exploration of the ancient secret realm proceeded much faster.
In less than an hour, they had thoroughly searched the ancient secret realm, which covered an area comparable to an entire province.
Unfortunately, they found no additional Hisui-form Zoroark. However, they did discover more of the Basculin that Roy had captured earlier, as well as additional Hisui-form Typhlosion. However, each specimen was considerably weaker than the two Roy had already captured.
Alexis also made a significant catch, successfully capturing a Hisui-form Decidueye.
Everyone could say this expedition had been highly rewarding.
However, this was only the first phase of exploring the secret realm.
Beyond Pokémon resources, items and artifacts were equally important discoveries.
So even though Chris was eager to host that celebratory dinner, it would probably have to wait several days. Since they could now use Psychic-type moves to search effectively, the three trainers planned to turn this place inside out.
They weren't about to leave anything valuable for whoever might come later.
Roy even specifically instructed Chris and Alexis to search more thoroughly than usual. When they departed this time, he didn't plan to leave his Totem Dusknoir guarding the entrance—he intended to report this location immediately upon returning to China.
Afterward, various nations would intervene to formally and scientifically develop this secret realm.
So the three trainers temporarily established a base camp in the ancient secret realm and began systematically searching for Pokémon items hidden throughout the area.
Chris also retrieved his treasure detector and resumed scanning.
While it was unlikely they'd find items of the same caliber as the Spooky Plate, this unexplored realm surely contained one or two Legendary Pokémon items.
By the time Roy and Alexis were ready to leave the ancient secret realm, Chris had discovered a total of two additional Legendary Pokémon items.
Cursed Haunting Gem: When using Ghost-type moves, attack power increases by 120%. Ghost-type moves gain a Curse effect that reduces the target's Attack, Special Attack, Special Defense, and Defense by one stage when hit. Rechargeable and reusable.
Spell Tag: Ghost-type move power increases by 70%. Greatly enhances Ghost-type control abilities. 30% chance of causing the Flinch condition when Ghost-type moves connect.
All were Ghost-type Pokémon items.
This was presumably due to the presence and influence of the Spooky Plate over the centuries.
This could also explain why the most powerful Pokémon in the ancient secret realm were predominantly Ghost-types.
The ancient secret realm hadn't become a "supernatural ghost domain" like some haunted locations, perhaps because the Spooky Plate's influence hadn't fully saturated the entire area yet.