Boom!
With a loud crash, the Raticate that was rushing forward at full speed using Quick Attack was struck head-on by the energy sphere formed by Riolu's Return, causing a violent explosion.
When the shockwave finally dissipated, the Raticate was already lying on the ground, unable to continue fighting.
"Well done. This move, released using psychic power and the Psychic-type energy from Hidden Power as the foundation... it finally worked."
Ethan looked at the defeated Raticate with an expression of surprise and delight.
Return was a move that made a Pokémon attack with all its strength for its trainer; the higher the friendship, the greater the power.
In the manga—he remembered—Silver's Feraligatr used Return by grabbing the opponent with one hand, lifting it with both, and throwing it forcefully, so it was originally a physical move.
However, Riolu's body didn't allow him to attack physically like other Pokémon.
That was why Ethan came up with the idea of using Riolu's powerful mental strength—almost comparable to that of a Psychic-type Pokémon—along with the Psychic-type energy from Hidden Power to form a sphere of psycho-energy as a carrier. Afterwards, reinforce it with Aura on top of the emotional energy and project it as an energy orb, similar to the move Psychic.
One could say that this way of releasing Return was a technique only a Pokémon capable of sensing emotional energy, like Riolu, could perform.
And judging by the results, the projected version of Return had excellent power: it had taken down a Raticate in a single blow!
"Riou!"
Seeing that his move defeated the opponent, and that it had also been his first battle, Riolu began jumping with excitement.
"Calm down, it's just a Raticate," Ethan said with a smile. "If you keep training the way I tell you, you'll become as strong as Sandslash and Slowking."
Ethan lifted Riolu into his arms. The Pokémon nodded enthusiastically, his eyes full of hope.
"If a wild Pokémon appeared here, it means there's probably an entrance to a Secret Kingdom nearby, and this Raticate escaped from there. And it's not safe for it to be around this area. If it reaches the outside of the forest, it would be a problem."
Ethan looked toward the jungle in the distance, thoughtful. Then he took out a Poké Ball and captured the Raticate.
"Zzzt!"
At that moment, Meltan emitted a sound: it had discovered something.
"So there really is an entrance to a Secret Kingdom around here?"
Ethan's eyes lit up as he followed Meltan toward a point deeper in the forest.
It didn't take long before they reached a spot where Meltan stopped floating. When Ethan looked at the ground, he saw a hole in the earth, exactly the size of the Raticate's footprint.
"Indeed, we found the entrance to the Secret Kingdom."
A smile appeared on Ethan's lips.
Meltan had the ability to open portals to Secret Kingdoms by manipulating the spatial magnetic field.
Inside a Secret Kingdom, it could also locate the exit thanks to variations in the magnetic field.
And now, with its increased power, it could already detect the entrance by analyzing subtle changes in the magnetism of the surroundings.
"Meltan, open the portal."
Upon hearing him, Meltan activated its Magnet Pull ability and began manipulating the spatial fields to open the entrance.
Ethan put away Charizard—because of his size—and Shuckle and Riolu—because they were the weakest—and with Meltan and Vibrava at his side, he entered the Secret Kingdom under Gengar's protection.
"Is this... a wasteland?"
After entering, Ethan was stunned to see a completely barren stretch of land.
Until now, all the Secret Kingdoms he had entered were rich in energy and resources. It was the first time he saw one this desolate.
"Seems like we weren't very lucky today."
Sighing, Ethan released Charizard.
He quickly mounted him and, surrounded by Meltan, Vibrava, and Gengar, rose into the sky.
The view from above was no different: a lifeless landscape, except for a few scattered grasses that showed a faint trace of life.
"Gengar, can you check if there's any form of life around here?"
As a Ghost-type Pokémon, Gengar would have special sensitivity toward living presences.
Gengar hesitated for a moment, but nodded. After a brief period of sensing, he shook his head: there was no life in that area.
"Charrzz!"
At that moment, Charizard roared.
Looking toward where his claw pointed, Ethan noticed that the ground had turned completely black.
"Could it have suffered a Fire-type move?"
He ordered Charizard to continue forward and confirmed that the scorched area was enormous.
"Wait... what is that?"
Ethan immediately descended.
As he approached, his expression turned into one of shock. Because that huge hole in the ground... looked like a footprint.
"No way... a footprint this big?"
He frowned, and after descending and examining it more closely, he confirmed that aside from looking like a giant footprint, it had nothing special.
He then traveled around the entire Secret Kingdom riding Charizard. Apart from finding some Raticate and Rattata trying to survive, he found no signs of any other Pokémon.
"It seems there was a battle between very powerful Fire-type Pokémon here."
"It left the land completely scorched, and even after so long, this wasteland hasn't recovered... the one responsible might have been an extremely strong Fire-type Pokémon. It could even be a legendary one."
Ethan memorized the location of that Secret Kingdom. Following Meltan's guidance, he found the exit and left the place.
Once outside, he took out a map and wrote down the Secret Kingdom's location.
His map already had several coordinates of recently discovered Secret Kingdoms. Although some weren't very useful for now, in the future, who knew.
(End of chapter)