As the saying goes, a friend's meat tastes delicious.
The Fungus People's meat is firm, with a unique earthy fishiness.
Caesar was too lazy to bother with processing it, so he used [Dragon Breath] to sear it directly. The high temperature instantly locked in the juices, roasting the outer layer to a golden brown while the inside remained tender.
Grease dripped onto the ground, making a "sizzling" sound.
Cecilia crouched to the side, a "gurgle" coming from her throat, her eyes staring intently at the roasted meat.
Caesar tore off a large piece and threw it to her.
The Little Silver Dragon immediately caught it in her mouth, not minding the heat, and began to swallow in large gulps, her mouth covered in grease.
"You..." Cecilia spoke indistinctly while chewing, "Are you really going to help that old bag of bones? It's a traitor to the True Dragon Imperial Court."
"Traitor?" Caesar ignored her, gnawing on the meat himself. "I'm not a True Dragon, what does it have to do with me?"
"But..."
"No more buts, it really gave too much, ow."
Caesar finished the last bite and licked his claws, still wanting more.
It wasn't that he hadn't suspected Viola's rhetoric; it was hard to say how many truths an old monster who had lived for countless years would tell.
But the System mission had popped up, and the rewards were tangible.
[Shadow Claw], this Move, is a bit like Haunter's two floating claws. It comes with a critical hit ratio +1 effect, and when equipped with the [sharp claw], that's another critical hit ratio +1.
With the two effects stacked, wouldn't he have a skill with a 50% critical hit chance?
What more could I ask for!
Rounded off, it's equivalent to gaining a 1.5x Ghost-type STAB bonus out of thin air.
Where else could you find such a good deal?
Having eaten and drunk his fill, Caesar stood up and beckoned to Cecilia.
"Let's go, time to work."
By now, the Bone Dragon Viola was nowhere to be seen. The two little dragons arrived at the stone gate deep in the hall, which was entwined with countless black chains.
The stone gate was immense, wrapped in countless black chains. Those chains weren't solid metal, but were condensed from a Death Qi so thick it wouldn't dissipate.
As they approached, a heavy pressure hit them. Cecilia's claws went soft, and she almost collapsed. It was pure, high-level Dragon Might, and it carried a powerful sense of rejection.
"Good grief!"
Caesar also felt his breath hitch, his body feeling as if it were filled with lead.
He quickly summoned Shadow Claw and took out that pure white [sharp claw] from a gap in the scales at his waist.
Holding the bone spur in the Shadow Claw, the sense of suppression immediately diminished by more than half.
Garchomp stepped forward and pressed the tip of the [sharp claw] into the groove in the center of the stone gate.
"Buzz—"
The bone spur let out a soft hum, emitting a ring of gentle white light.
A magical scene occurred. The Dragon Might, which had been incredibly violent and intent on crushing the two, rapidly melted away like snow meeting boiling water the moment it touched the white light. The black chains seemed to sense their master's aura, automatically unravelling one by one and retracting into the Void Realm.
Rumble. The massive stone gate slowly slid open to both sides.
Caesar had originally thought that behind the door would be a gloomy and terrifying tomb, or an execution ground piled high with bones. But he was wrong.
Behind the door was a bizarre and phantasmagoric world.
There were no rocks, no soil. Only endless magenta and purple curtains of light flowing, like an overturned bucket of neon paint, or the brilliant aurora in a polar night sky. The ground was transparent, rippling with every step.
There was no smell of decay in the air; instead, it was filled with a strange sweet fragrance. However, smelling this sweetness for too long made one's head feel a bit light.
"This..." Cecilia was stunned, "So... so beautiful..."
Caesar was also somewhat surprised.
The Bone Dragon Viola had said that this was an area distorted by a powerful Mental Energy field, but he hadn't expected this kind of scenery.
There were no enemies, no traps, just an open field... but the Little Earth Dragon narrowed his eyes.
This color scheme, this atmosphere. It looked familiar no matter how he looked at it.
Is this... [Psychic Terrain]?
The game term popped into Caesar's head.
"Psychic Terrain."
A terrain effect introduced in pokémon Generation VII, it increases the power of Psychic-type Moves and makes pokémon on the ground immune to priority Moves.
Back then, the appearance of this terrain allowed the Psychic-type to stage a comeback, even giving rise to "Psychic Spam" strategies led by Choice Specs Tapu Lele.
He hadn't expected to see it with his own eyes in this world... Caesar felt a stir in his heart and, leading Cecilia, cautiously stepped into the colorful curtain of light.
—The curtain of light felt cool to the touch but offered no physical resistance.
As soon as he entered, Garchomp felt his head go a bit fuzzy, as if he hadn't fully woken up.
Cecilia shook her head even more, looking completely uncomfortable.
"What kind of hellhole is this... I feel so dizzy—"
"Stay close to me, don't wander off."
Caesar gave a warning and, relying on Garchomp's sonar organs in his head, began to probe the surroundings.
The sense of space here was very chaotic; clearly moving in a straight line, but sometimes it felt like spinning in place.
There was no direction, no reference point, only the constantly shifting magenta steam colors... after walking for an unknown amount of time, something different finally appeared ahead.
It was a towering sacrificial altar, built from an unknown white stone, standing quietly in the center of the colorful mist.
At the top of the altar, a purple orb of light was suspended, constantly contracting and expanding.
"That should be it," Caesar judged; that must be the core area Viola had mentioned.
It doesn't seem that difficult...?
While he was thinking this, Cecilia beside him could no longer restrain herself.
"Finally here... I want to see what exactly is sealed inside!"
She let down her guard, muttered a word, and tried to reach out with her claws.
"Don't go!" Caesar shouted, but it was too late.
The moment Cecilia's claws were about to touch the edge of the altar, an invisible force erupted violently from it.
"—Ugh?!"
Cecilia cried out in pain, the entire dragon flying backward as if struck by an invisible hammer, crashing heavily onto the ground.
Her eyes instantly became dull, her silver dragon pupils losing focus.
Then, she began to babble nonsense.
"Hehe... soup... delicious mushroom soup..."
Cecilia grinned and giggled foolishly, saliva dripping from the corner of her mouth.
"That earth dragon... so hateful... always using that soup to bully me..."
"He even licked me... licked my scales clean before giving me food..."
"Ugh... so humiliating... but... but it really tastes so good..."
Caesar's face darkened.
This wretched child—!
Mentally deranged, she actually started babbling nonsense, spilling all her dark history.
He lunged forward, reached out a claw, and covered Cecilia's nostrils.
"Mmph! Mmph—!"
Cecilia, unable to breathe, began to struggle violently.
Caesar increased his strength until he felt the Little Silver Dragon under his claw was about to roll her eyes, then he suddenly let go.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
The Little Silver Dragon lay on the ground, gasping for air, her eyes finally regaining a hint of clarity.
She looked at Caesar blankly, completely forgetting what she had just said.
"What happened? I just..."
"You almost did something stupid and killed yourself," the Little Earth Dragon interrupted crossly. "Stay here and don't Move."
Looks like I'll have to investigate slowly.
Caesar walked to the spot where Cecilia had been repelled and reached out a claw, tentatively touching forward.
An invisible barrier blocked him.
He channeled the energy within his body, purple-black shadow energy covering his claw tips.
"[Shadow Claw]!"
The sharp claws scraped against the invisible barrier, making a piercing grinding sound.
The barrier vibrated violently but did not break.
An even stronger reaction force surged back through his claws.
"Buzz!"
Caesar felt as if a great bell had been struck hard inside his head, as countless chaotic sounds and distorted images instantly flooded into his mind.
Battlefields, wails, explosions, collapses... countless negative emotions surged like a tide, battering his spirit.
Intense pain exploded from deep within his brain.
Caesar let out a muffled groan, staggered back a few steps, and shook his groggy head.
This backlash was more than ten times stronger than what Cecilia had encountered.
Unwilling to accept defeat, he opened his mouth and spat a blast of scorching Dragon Breath at the barrier.
The result was the same.
The Dragon Breath was swallowed by the barrier, followed immediately by an even more violent mental shock sweeping in!
Garchomp's vision went black, and he nearly fainted on the spot.
He held his forehead, forcing himself to steady his stance, his mind a complete mess.
After several attempts, Caesar finally discovered a pattern.
The stronger his intent to attack and the more powerful the Move used, the more terrifying the mental shock fed back.
Conversely, if he only approached tentatively, the resistance would be much smaller.
This mechanism... could it be the reason why [Psychic Terrain] provides immunity to priority Moves?
The so-called "priority Moves" might be attacks launched by users with the intent of "striking first."
This Secret Realm, or rather this "Psychic Terrain," rejects all actions with strong "intent"!
A special way, an "intentless" way, must be used to pass through this barrier!
Caesar's thoughts raced, beginning to recall everything about the Psychic-type from the games in his past life—
The "Psychic" type was practically a bug-like existence in the Generation I games. Back then, it was only weak to the Bug-type, and Bug-type Moves generally dealt "scratching" damage. Thus, it had almost no natural enemies.
Later, for the sake of balance, it was urgently nerfed in the Generation II Gold and Silver versions, adding two new types, "Dark" and "Steel," to counter and resist it, even changing the Ghost-type's immunity to a weakness.
Poor Haunter was only then able to beat up Kadabra, just like in the anime.
Signs of a revival finally appeared in Generation IV, but then the Fairy-type emerged in Generation VI (*used to combat the overly dominant Dragon-type; at the time, teams of Magnezone + five Dragon-type pokémon were prevalent).
Many Normal-type pokémon gained the Fairy-type, and everyone became a dragon slayer. The Fairies were incredibly strong, instead becoming a superior type to Psychic.
In Generation VII, in order to nerf the Fairy-type Divine Beast Xerneas, the developers released a bunch of strong Steel-types, and the Psychic-type was caught in the crossfire again!
The developers probably also felt the Psychic-type was too pathetic and gave "Psychic Terrain" as compensation, finally giving the Psychic-type some room to breathe.
And speaking of [Psychic]-type Divine Beasts, besides the man-made Mewtwo, the most representative is the "Lunar pokémon" Cresselia.
Legend has it that by holding Cresselia's "Lunar Wing," one can Sleep peacefully and have good dreams.
Sweet dreams... dreams?
In Caesar's chaotic thoughts, a flash of inspiration struck.
Found it!
In the anime's portrayal, dreams have always been seen as an extension of the spirit, closely related to Psychic powers.
—If the mechanism of this Psychic Terrain is to counter "intent."
Then, in a state without "intent," would it be possible to pass through safely?
What kind of state is closest to "no intent"?
Sleep!
When a creature enters deep Sleep, its subjective consciousness drops to the lowest level, with almost no clear "intent" existing.
In dreams, the spirit is freely diffused.
At this point, he could enter a state of deep Sleep to synchronize his spirit with this Secret Realm, thereby "sleepwalking" into the core area!
This idea was bold, even a bit crazy.
Voluntarily entering a defenseless state of Sleep in this unknown environment was undoubtedly dangerous.
But fortunately, Caesar wasn't just a single dragon.
Although the Little Silver Dragon's mouth said no but her body said yes, the 160 points of friendship were right there; otherwise, Caesar wouldn't have bothered taking her along.
Dragons are quite magical creatures; they usually prefer to be alone, but once they form an alliance, they are willing to help out.
Caesar could still trust her on this point.
The problem was, how could he quickly enter deep Sleep in such a tense environment?
The blue Garchomp's gaze involuntarily shifted toward Cecilia, who was still rubbing her round head with a wary expression—
Got it.
He suddenly grinned.
"Hey, tool dragon," Caesar spoke.
"You're the tool dragon! Your whole family are tool dragons!" Cecilia immediately retorted.
"Alright, alright, Young Miss Cecilia," Caesar changed the form of address. "Do you want to learn a new skill? A very powerful one that can solve our current predicament."
"What skill?" The Little Silver Dragon was skeptical.
"A song that can make a dragon fall asleep quickly," Caesar said mysteriously.
Cecilia looked at him as if he were an idiot.
"Huh? Was your brain damaged by that hit just now? Singing?"
"You don't understand." Caesar wagged his claw, putting on a profound look. "This isn't an ordinary song. This is an 'Ancient Secret Art' containing mental power that can soothe the Soul and let the listener enter the deepest slumber. I'll only teach it once, so listen closely."
Garchomp cleared his throat, ignoring Cecilia's expression that was written all over with "I don't believe you," and began to build up his emotions.
Then, in a strange, out-of-tune melody, he began to hum softly.
"♪ Pu-pu-purin~ Pu-pu-purin~ Pu-pu-purin-pu~ ♪"
Cecilia's beautiful silver dragon pupils instantly widened—
What... what kind of song is this?