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"'New Continent' project…?" Louis muttered, repeating the words as if tasting them for the first time.
Lecaf nodded. "Exactly."
"For the past few years, our organization has sacrificed dozens of elite operatives to explore the outer regions of the Clara Mountains. Little by little, we've mapped the safer zones and cataloged points of interest."
He paused, fingers tapping the desk.
"And recently, by pure chance, someone in Dark Star resolved one of the key bottlenecks in the plan. That breakthrough is why the Executive Council is ready to move. This upcoming mission of yours is not random. It's part of the preparation phase before our full-scale entry."
Louis fell silent, head lowered, eyes narrowing in thought.
Lecaf watched him, then sighed softly.
He opened a drawer and pulled out a rolled map.
Thud!
The map hit the table. "Look."
Louis unfurled it.
It was a detailed chart of the Clara Mountains.
"These areas marked in red are locations your squad must avoid at all costs. The green markers are zones you're to scout and document along the way."
Louis pointed at a yellow dot. "And this one?"
"That," Lecaf said, "is where the three leased Pokémon from our storage disappeared."
"Your team's primary objective: the Thunder Canyon."
Louis frowned. "No operational data at all?"
"None," Lecaf admitted. "Our manpower isn't infinite you know that. We simply haven't explored that area yet."
"And you expect me to risk my squad's lives on a blind run?"
Before he could finish, Lecaf raised a hand and silently placed a second document on the table a sealed black folder marked Confidential.
He opened it just enough for Louis to glimpse the contents.
Loui's face drained of color.
Then slowly… he exhaled.
"…Understood."
"We accept the mission."
---
Thunder Canyon
Several days later.
Kael's wounds were nearly healed, thanks to the pink medicinal berries Zeraora brought him each day.
He had almost grown used to the routine lying like a salted Slowpoke in the alcove, recovering quietly when Zeraora returned once again.
Tap… tap…
Zeraora stopped just inside the entrance, icy blue gaze sweeping over Kael's body. Seeing that the Flaaffy was fully recovered, it gave a small nod.
Then in a low, emotionless voice: "Raora."
"You… want me to follow you?" Kael asked.
Zeraora nodded once and turned around without another word.
Kael blinked… then quickly got to his feet and followed.
After doing nothing but lie around for days, he was honestly relieved to finally do something.
But the relief didn't last long.
The moment they left the alcove, the oppressive atmosphere of the canyon returned.
The air was so saturated with electric energy that even Kael began to struggle for breath. Sweat ran down his wool in steady streams.
Zeraora simply walked ahead at a calm, steady pace never using electricity, just moving on foot.
Kael followed behind, legs growing heavier step by step. The deeper they went, the denser the air became.
Soon every breath felt like molten iron in his lungs.
"Haah… Haah…"
His vision blurred. His legs trembled.
Then—
Thud.
He dropped to one knee.
Bracing himself on the ground, Kael dry-heaved, every nerve screaming in protest.
Ahead of him, Zeraora finally stopped and turned around.
Those cold blue eyes studied him for a long moment.
Then…
Zzzzt.
A surge of silver-blue electricity flickered across its arm. Before Kael could react, a magnetic force lifted him clean off the ground and held him suspended in midair.
"What're you—?"
He couldn't finish.
Zeraora extended a single claw. Silver electricity wrapped around it with surgical precision.
It examined Kael's body mapping the flow of energy within him.
And then, with speed faster than lightning, it drove that charged claw straight into Kael's chest.
BZZZT!
All sound disappeared.
Kael felt every volt of electricity in his body go berserk. His own reserves turned riotous, bubbling and surging, ripping themselves out of him as though fleeing a burning building.
"AAAAAAAH!!"
He screamed as uncontrolled energy poured out in waves, emptying him from the inside.
For five full minutes, his electricity bled out into the air.
Only when the very last spark had left his body did Zeraora withdraw its claw and gently set him on the ground.
Panting, weak, but alive Kael blinked in confusion.
Zeraora tilted its head, mildly impressed.
So much electricity for a mere Flaaffy…
It stepped back and watched.
Kael's exhausted body, now completely devoid of stored electricity, immediately activated a survival reflex pulling in power from its surroundings to replenish.
The air around him crackled. Dense, high-quality electrical energy so thick it had nearly suffocated him moments ago now flowed into him like a river.
His Thunder Stone pendant shone bright green, regulating and refining the incoming voltage to keep his body from exploding.
Slowly, the pain eased.
Kael's mind finally caught up to what had just happened.
Wait…
Zeraora wasn't hurting him.
It was forcing a reset.
Draining him completely so that his body could adapt to a higher level of electrical density.
In other words—
Zeraora was helping him evolve.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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