The path from Pewter City led upward into cold stone and shadow.
Kael Drakar stood at the mouth of Mt. Moon, staring into the gaping darkness beyond. A cold wind drifted from within like the breath of some ancient beast. Behind him, Serena checked her pack, adjusting the straps and flashlight.
"I read the caves go on for miles," she said. "It's not just Zubat and Geodude. Some trainers have never come back."
Kael didn't answer. The darkness was a call—and a promise.
[Entering Hazard-Class Zone: Mt. Moon] [Origin Engine Online | Sync Rate: 15.9%]
They stepped inside. The light from outside vanished behind them.
The air was thick with the scent of minerals, moisture, and wild power.
The first ambush came within minutes.
A Zubat swarm, hundreds of them, shrieking as they dove.
Kael moved through them like a storm. His blows were precise, rapid, each one knocking a bat unconscious with minimal effort. He moved with a dancer's grace and a monster's strength.
[New Trait Gained: Sonic Resistance Boost (Minor)] [Adaptation Threading: Echolocation Layer Initiated]
Serena stared, barely able to keep up. She summoned her Braixen just in case, but Kael never slowed, never needed aid. The deeper they traveled, the more creatures appeared—Zubat, Paras, Sandshrew, even a rogue Machop—but all fell.
Until they found the corpse.
It was a Clefairy. Crushed. Not by a wild Pokémon, but by human hands—brutal, deliberate.
"Team Rocket," Serena said grimly.
Kael's eyes narrowed. His instincts had sharpened. And he sensed the violence ahead.
The next cavern was massive—an underground lake reflecting dim bioluminescence from clusters of glowing mushrooms. And there they were.
Three figures in black.
Rocket grunts, all armed, all circling another Clefairy. This one alive, shaking, trapped against a stone wall.
"You want to take her?" one grunt asked.
"Let's see how well a Moon Stone works on broken bones first," the other sneered.
They never heard Kael coming.
He was on them in seconds.
The first grunt went down with a cracked jaw. The second with a shattered kneecap. The third pulled a baton, but Kael's hand crushed it mid-swing. He lifted the man by the collar and threw him into the wall. Hard.
The Clefairy whimpered, then looked up at Kael.
He reached out slowly, hand open. It sniffed him. Then, trembling, touched its forehead to his palm.
Serena knelt beside it. "Kael… this one's different. It has some kind of glow in its fur."
[Anomaly Detected: Lunar Energy Signature — Mutated Genetic Thread Present] [Initiating Micro-Sync… Complete | New Trait Stored: Lunar Resilience Layer (Dormant)]
They helped the Clefairy escape into a hidden upper cavern, one only Pokémon could reach. It looked back once, as if in thanks.
Kael stared at his hand.
"I can feel it," he said. "Something more. Something ancient."
Night passed in silence inside the cave. They rested in an alcove above the lake. Serena leaned into Kael, and for the first time, he didn't pull away.
"You didn't hesitate," she whispered.
"I won't. Not against them. Not ever."
Above them, a soft trail of falling stars streaked across the thin slit of sky visible through the cracks.
To be continued in Chapter 6: Cavern of Hunger