Ging looked up at the endless stretch of purple forest before them, his expression serious.
"Basically, it's no exaggeration to call this place a poisonous forest, there's toxin everywhere."
"And that's just the danger from the forest itself. We don't even know what other threats might be lurking," he added grimly.
Turning to Larry, Ging raised an eyebrow and asked, "So, do we try to pass through it or take a detour?"
Larry seemed thoughtful, but oddly enough, Ging sensed a certain happiness in his mood.
It wasn't just an impression; Larry really was feeling upbeat.
After reaching the edge of the purple forest, two gestation bars appeared in his mind simultaneously, something rare on the six continents but happening twice in a row now since arriving on the Dark Continent.
Larry understood that not all the gestation bars were tied to the desert environment they'd passed through earlier.
Of the two bars from before, only the one for Garchomp was linked to the desert, while the other remained mostly inactive. It represented the whole Dark Continent.
Upon arriving on this land, Larry also noticed that Kyogre's progress bar had slowed down, clearly needing to interact with terrain like oceans, rivers, or lakes to advance.
As for which Pokemon might be connected to the ocean gestation bar, Larry already had a good guess.
This time, in the purple forest, two gestation bars appeared simultaneously, both a direct result of the forest itself.
After all, this was the Dark Continent, so it made sense that Larry's long-awaited arrival wouldn't come without something significant.
"We're not going to take a detour; we're going straight through this forest," Larry said firmly, shaking his head.
"Forget about the toxins in the purple forest, that's an easy problem to solve."
"Even if we detour, how can we be sure it'll be any safer than here?" he added.
"This is the Dark Continent. No place is simple, and nowhere is truly safe," he continued.
"According to the map, once we get through here, it won't be long until we reach our main destination, the swamp where the ultimate food, Nitro Rice, grows."
"And honestly, if we're looking for an easier path, this is probably it."
No one questioned his logic; what Larry said made perfect sense.
In a place like the Dark Continent, chasing safety is pointless. Focusing on it too much only leads to a quicker death.
Many dangers lurk beneath the surface of so-called safe spots.
As top fighters from the six continents, they all understood this well, and what really intrigued them was how Larry planned to handle the situation.
Clearly, he saw the toxins as no big deal.
Suddenly, Larry's shadow began to shift, immediately drawing everyone's attention.
It seemed almost alive, changing shape until a pair of glowing scarlet eyes appeared, so intense they were hard to look at directly.
A deep, dark aura slowly spread out, stirring a wave of aura among the group.
Everyone felt a subtle but heavy pressure, as if an invisible force was bearing down on them.
Then, as everyone held their breath, objects started emerging from the shadows one by one.
The onlookers stared in confusion.
While it was one thing to pull things out of the shadows, it almost looked as if the shadows themselves were spitting these items out.
The items resembled white suits, not unlike spacesuits, and they all looked strikingly similar.
Beyond was genuinely surprised when he saw the equipment.
"I really didn't expect you to actually bring these with you!" he exclaimed, his eyes landing on the familiar clothes.
A wave of nostalgia.
Washed over him, he remembered wearing the same outfit during his trip to the Dark Continent.
The thing was, the V5 Transit Hall strictly controlled these uniforms, so he never had the chance to buy any for himself.
If he had, he would have brought some along too.
The clothes everyone saw now were the standard uniforms worn by soldiers of the V5 Transit Hall.
Larry smiled and said, "You're half right. These uniforms originally belonged to the V5 Transit Hall, but Meowth has completely modified them."
Gently, Larry reached out and stroked Meowth's soft head, which made the little beast squint its eyes in pure contentment.
"These clothes don't just fit perfectly to whoever wears them, they also offer strong defense," Larry continued. "Of course, they're designed to resist toxins, and even purify the oxygen you breathe."
Meowth confidently patted its chest and said, "Yes, meow! I promise these will be really useful, meow!"
This was the pride of an technician shining through.
'Wait, a cat beast as an technician?'
It seemed unbelievable, yet here it was, proudly standing by its creation.
At that moment, the same thought crossed everyone's mind, and a wave of shock spread through their hearts.
'Could a cat really be an technician?'
Ging suddenly remembered the glasses and guns Meowth had used to shoot down the Thunderbird that day.
'Could it be true?'
Larry looked around and asked, "Are you all dressed?"
When everyone nodded, he said, "Then let's go."
They all put on Meowth's special outfits, which he called "safety clothes."
These suits were mostly white and resembled spacesuits but were more form-fitting.
They had a unique feature that allowed them to automatically adjust in size, fitting anyone from the tall Beyond to the small Dwun perfectly.
This adjustment didn't hinder movement or flexibility.
On the suits, there were strange symbols that looked more like drawings than letters.
To boost the suit's defense and add some power, Meowth had carved these divine characters onto them.
The source of these symbols? That credit went to the so-called "generous and selfless" V5 Ferry Office.
Porygon Z had gathered information from the Ferry Office that included research on these divine characters and their various effects.
Thanks to that, the safety suit truly lived up to its name.
However, because of the divine characters, the suits required a constant supply of aura to maintain their effects.
Still, the suits were impressive even without these powers.
"This suit is way better than the early equipment V5 used, there's just no comparison," Beyond said, patting the suit and glancing at the symbols.
He sighed deeply, thinking that if he and the other soldiers had these suits back then, perhaps he wouldn't have been the only one to make it back alive.
Wearing the suits, they all felt the magic embedded in Meowth's inventions and couldn't help but feel more curious and admiring of this talking cat.
Indeed, Meowth was not just any beast but a remarkable technician, truly living up to the legend.
Legend has it that the beast master Larry commands countless creatures, each possessing surprising magical abilities.
This isn't just a rumor, it's true.