🎆 Happy New Year! 🎆
Thank you all for the amazing support throughout this year. 💙To celebrate the arrival of the new year, here is a special New Year code:
🎁 Code:NewYear: F3B16
📅 Code validity:
Start: December 30, 2025 at 11:55 p.m.
End: January 2, 2026 at 11:00 p.m.
Enjoy it and let's start this new year strong. 🚀✨Here's to an amazing 2026! 🎉
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Night had fallen.
On the streets of the city, the streetlights still shone everywhere.
All these streetlights worked thanks to the energy supplied by the great Mechanical City of the Azoth Kingdom.
Moving at night, for someone as experienced as Cain, was truly something simple.
Besides, now that he had reached the advanced level in his psychic power, he obviously had no problem.
He advanced at great speed, leaping from house to house across the rooftops of the city.
His psychic power enveloped his whole body, so that no one could detect his presence.
And since his speed was at its limit, much less could anyone clearly distinguish him.
Alva lived on the main avenue, not far from the central royal castle.
In a luxurious mansion.
It was the mansion left to him by his father, but due to his father's death, many coveted the property.
Only out of fear of the connections his father had left within royalty had no one dared to act directly. His father had also left him some power for protection.
However, the mockery toward Alva's research had begun precisely among those people.
Soon, Cain arrived at the mansion.
Because of its location and its particular design, it wasn't difficult to find.
Without hesitation, he entered directly into the mansion's courtyard.
Despite being such a large property, there were hardly any lights visible at a glance.
The courtyard looked somewhat neglected, dry branches and leaves covering the ground, and the only tree there was already withered. At the base of the trunk, grass grew wildly.
The central pond had almost no water. The water-type Pokémon that had once been raised there, if they could escape, had already done so; and those that could not had died dried up.
Just by observing that courtyard, one could deduce Alva's current situation.
The only light in the entire house came from one particular room.
Cain approached slowly.
This was the moment when he had to take maximum precautions.
A Gengar appeared at his side.
Although Alva in the Azoth Kingdom was considered a complete laughingstock...
That did not mean he truly lacked talent.
On the contrary, it was precisely because of his talent that Cain had decided to come here.
Pokémon were not the main focus of Alva's efforts, but he still had a certain level.
Cain ordered Gengar to go ahead and infiltrate first.
"Kekeke!"
Gengar nodded and then sank into the shadows, slipping inside.
Quite a while passed before it returned.
Cain was a little surprised it took so long.
But upon learning what Gengar had found inside and why it had needed so much time, he immediately understood.
So in the end, Alva did have some ability.
Cain nodded and, after confirming what was necessary, coated his hands with psychic power and flung the door open.
As soon as the door was pushed, its entire surface filled with electrical discharges.
That was the first mechanism designed by Alva.
Anyone who didn't know and opened the door with their hands would be almost electrocuted before they could enter.
Alva knew his situation well in the Azoth Kingdom, which is why he had designed such defenses.
But since Cain had his hands protected by psychic power, he suffered no harm whatsoever.
"Who goes there!?"
At the very instant the door opened, Alva noticed.
He turned his head and saw a man dressed in a black cloak standing at the threshold, completely unharmed by the mechanisms he had designed.
Cain could also see him clearly.
Alva had purple hair, a pale face, like someone who had spent far too long shut indoors without going out.
His appearance revealed a cunning air.
He wore very small orange glasses and a yellowish-brown coat.
Upon seeing Cain at the door, he picked up a golden scepter he had at his side.
Although it wasn't exactly the scepter he would use in the future, it was surely his current weapon.
Immediately, a Poké Ball appeared in his hand.
He stared fixedly, unable to identify who he was.
Beside Cain, his Gengar smiled with that characteristic grin.
Cain didn't hesitate at all and stepped inside firmly.
When his foot crossed the threshold, a fleeting spark of satisfaction appeared on Alva's face.
But before that smile completed, it turned to surprise.
Several arrows shot from different corners of the room stopped just ten centimeters away from Cain.
Those were mechanisms designed by Alva.
But since Gengar had already checked them all during its earlier infiltration, they were rendered useless.
If not for that, Cain would not have taken so long to receive the report.
What most astonished Alva was that Cain advanced with firm steps and none of his mechanisms worked.
When he stood before him, Alva still hadn't fully reacted.
"Is this what you call your mechanisms? I must say I'm a little disappointed," said Cain from beneath his black cloak.
He raised his head and looked directly at Alva.
But Alva could only see how his face was completely shrouded by psychic power.
"Who are you? Who sent you?" asked Alva, holding the Poké Ball high in front of Cain.
That was his last resort.
The only legacy his father had left him to guarantee his safety: a Gengar.
Curiously, the same as the Pokémon accompanying Cain at that moment: also a Gengar.
At the sight of the Poké Ball in his hand, Cain showed no reaction whatsoever.
He simply continued: "From what I see, your research in arcane science isn't much either... perhaps I should reconsider my plans."
Alva was a little unsettled by those words, but upon noticing the Gengar beside Cain, he felt his safety was compromised.
He threw the Poké Ball.
Another Gengar appeared in the room.
But unlike Cain's, this one had a quite different color.
A light gray-toned Gengar!
A Shiny Gengar!
"Now I'll ask you again! Who sent you? If you don't speak, I'll attack!" shouted Alva.
Cain's lips curved slightly.
Still a little immature, but overall...
Not bad.
Pokémon: Shiny Gengar (Dark Blue)
Gender: Male
Level: 61
Types: Ghost + Poison
Ability: Cursed Body
Held Item: None
Egg Moves: Psywave, Astonish, Scary Face, Haze
Basic Moves: Shadow Punch, Hypnosis, Lick, Spite, Mean Look, Curse, Night Shade, Confuse Ray, Sucker Punch, Payback, Dream Eater, Dark Pulse, Destiny Bond, Hex, Nightmare
Learned Moves: Rest, Shadow Ball, Psychic, Snore, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch
TM Moves: Protect, Toxic, Taunt, Poison Jab, Venoshock
The Shiny Gengar, Alva's signature Pokémon.
An Elite-level one.
That was probably the reason why, surrounded by so many enemies in the Azoth Kingdom, Alva still managed to survive.
According to Team Flare's investigations, there weren't too many Elite-level trainers in the Azoth Kingdom.
Therefore, having a Pokémon of that level was still a great threat.
(End of chapter)