"What's wrong?"
Gary had still been alert, but when Eevee suddenly woke up and cried out, he froze for a moment. There didn't seem to be any movement outside.
"Vee!"
Eevee immediately dashed out of the observation station.
Seeing that, Gary quickly followed.
When they stepped outside, there wasn't a single Pokémon in sight. However, Eevee continued staring at one of the brightly glowing crystal walls ahead, barking toward it.
Gary frowned in confusion.
To his Eye of Insight, it was just an ordinary crystal wall. No Pokémon name appeared. Although he trusted Eevee's danger-sensing Ability, he also trusted the Eye of Insight. Since it showed nothing, there was only one possibility.
"Is it hiding behind the crystal wall?"
Thinking of that, Gary immediately ordered, "Eevee, use Swift toward whatever you're sensing."
"Vee!"
Eevee flicked its tail, sending a volley of golden stars flying toward the crystal wall like a rain of shuriken.
Bang! Bang! Bang...!
The crystal wall couldn't withstand the barrage. Cracks spread across its surface before it shattered completely.
The instant it broke apart, a pink energy blade was reflected by another crystal wall farther away.
Seeing the pink blade, Gary's expression changed slightly.
In his memory, only Iron Valiant wielded energy blades like that.
Had the Pokémon that destroyed the Fourth Observation Station not left after all?
"Vee!"
Eevee cried out again, urging the hidden Pokémon to come out.
"Gary, what's wrong?"
"What happened?"
The commotion had already awakened the others. Nick and Angus immediately rushed outside.
"It's nothing. A Pokémon was trying to approach the station," Gary replied.
However, as soon as he finished speaking, the reflected energy blade disappeared.
At the same time, faint running footsteps echoed through the cave.
"It ran?"
Nick immediately reacted.
"Talonflame, go check!"
Talonflame shot into the air and flew toward the crystal wall.
But when it reached the area, there wasn't a single Pokémon to be found.
Gary and the others also walked over.
Behind the shattered crystal wall was nothing but solid rock.
"Gary... are you being too cautious? There's nothing here," Nick said.
There were rock walls all around. There wasn't even an escape route. If a Pokémon had really been there, it shouldn't have been able to disappear so completely.
Gary himself was puzzled.
He was certain he had seen that pink energy blade.
And Eevee's sensing Ability had never been wrong.
"Eevee, use Fire Blast. Blow open the rock wall," Gary ordered.
"Vee!"
Trusting its own senses, Eevee immediately unleashed Fire Blast toward the rock wall.
Boom!
The explosion blasted a large hole through the rock, exposing the solid stone behind it.
There was still no trace of any Pokémon.
Nick and Angus both looked at Gary, waiting for an explanation.
"Believe me or not, there really was a Pokémon here just now," Gary said firmly.
"Vee."
Eevee nodded repeatedly.
It was absolutely certain it had sensed a Pokémon. Its Ability couldn't have been wrong.
"Maybe there really was one," Angus suggested. "But when it saw all of you come out, it got scared and ran away."
"That's possible," Nick agreed. "Not every Pokémon in Area Zero is aggressive. Maybe it was just curious and came to take a look. Once it realized we'd noticed it, it fled."
Gary sighed helplessly.
He knew he'd most likely seen Iron Valiant, but he couldn't exactly explain that.
"Maybe," Gary said. "Let's head back."
There was no point dwelling on it. Even if they kept searching, Iron Valiant had already escaped.
When they returned to the observation station, they found Professor Sada and the others awake. Naturally, the noise outside had awakened them.
"Was something outside?" Professor Sada asked.
"A Pokémon probably approached the station," Nick replied. "But it ran away after seeing Gary and Eevee come out. Nothing serious."
"What Pokémon was it?" Professor Sada asked.
"We didn't see it clearly," Nick admitted. "By the time Angus and I got outside, it had already disappeared. Gary, did you manage to see it?" Nick asked, realizing he had forgotten to ask if Gary had seen the Pokémon.
"I only caught a glimpse of a silhouette," Gary answered casually. "I couldn't make out what it was."
"That's fine."
Professor Sada didn't ask any further questions.
After all, they were inside the Great Crater of Paldea. Everyone was already tense. It wouldn't be strange if someone misjudged the situation.
"Since everyone's already awake, let's prepare breakfast and head back afterward," Professor Sada said.
"I've rested enough. Angus, how about you?"
Nick had already slept four or five hours, which was enough.
Angus had taken the middle shift and had just been awakened by the disturbance, so he probably hadn't rested as well.
"I'm perfectly fine."
Angus looked as tough as an Oreburgh miner. Combined with his massive physique, it felt as though he could go three days and three nights without sleeping.
"Then let's eat first, clean up, and head back," Professor Sada said.
Everyone began preparing breakfast.
Those with nothing else to do cleaned up the observation station.
After finishing breakfast, the group left the Fourth Observation Station.
The wild Pokémon remained peaceful along the way.
By the time they returned to the middle layer, it was already around eleven in the morning.
Rather than stopping to rest, everyone chose to continue the journey by riding Flying Pokémon.
Fortunately, Gary's Charizard was large enough to carry three people at once.
Nick's Talonflame could carry both Nick and Angus.
Garke had his own Porygon2.
The return trip was much faster.
After only seven or eight minutes of flying, everyone emerged back onto the upper level of Area Zero and flew directly toward the First Observation Station.
Instead of heading straight for the exit, the group landed outside the First Observation Station.
Professor Sada planned to rest there, have lunch, and then leave Area Zero afterward.
Everyone entered the station and began cooking.
Since they were returning today, there was no reason to ration their remaining supplies.
Originally, they had expected to spend another two days at the Fourth Observation Station.
However, because it had been attacked and rendered unusable, they had only stayed there for one night.
As a result, everyone still had plenty of leftover food.
Naturally, they ate as much as they could.
Anything left over would simply be discarded in Area Zero, where the local Pokémon would take care of it.
After everyone had eaten and rested for a while, they locked up the First Observation Station and prepared to leave.
However, just as everyone thought they could finally head back...
They discovered two Pokémon standing in front of the rocky entrance.
More importantly, every boulder surrounding the entrance had been cleanly sliced apart, exposing the concealed passage behind them.