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Oreburgh Coal Mine.
Crystal-like stones were embedded everywhere, even at the top of the rock walls.
Therefore, one needed to be careful of one's head while walking, especially Wayne, who was already quite tall.
Wayne had already sent out his Pokémon to investigate the area.
Dragapult was the first to shake its head.
"Grulu~"
Dragapult did not sense any Ghost-type energy within this cave.
Based on this, a Rift to the Spirit World could probably be ruled out.
Wayne wondered—besides the Spirit World, could there be a possibility of the Distortion World, where the Renegade Pokémon Giratina lived?
But judging from the reactions of Dragapult and Drakloak, this probability was also low.
Arcanine and Lucario hadn't found anything yet either.
As soon as they heard that Steven had an idea, Wayne and Roark's attention shifted to him.
Steven put away his glasses, his gaze fixed on the mirror-like stone that reflected his face.
"Have you heard of the Reflection Cave in the Kalos region?"
Roark's eyes were full of confusion. "Reflection Cave?"
Wayne nodded slightly. "I think I've heard of it."
Wayne did indeed vaguely remember the name Reflection Cave, but it was just a vague impression.
Steven explained, "Based on my current observations, this is the same as the reflection stone inside the Reflection Cave near Shalour City."
Reflection stone? Wayne pondered, lightly stroking his chin.
Roark pressed on, "Reflection stone? Is there anything special about it?"
Steven, uncharacteristically, made a joke. "Does being able to serve as a full-length mirror for girls count?"
Roark's tense nerves immediately relaxed, and his gloved fist clenched.
"Steven, this is no time for jokes!"
Even Lucario was almost caught off guard by Steven's comment.
Steven said softly, "Roark, I know you're worried, but being tense doesn't help."
Steven had noticed early on that Roark was very tense.
With people missing, Steven was worried too.
But he believed that being tense wasn't conducive to the search efforts.
"Roark, sometimes the more eager you are, the more likely you are to miss clues right in front of you."
Roark took a deep breath, relaxing slightly. "Thank you for your guidance, Steven."
Steven smiled. "It's not guidance. Based on my current observations, the reflection stone doesn't have any particularly special qualities."
Steven had been to the Kalos region and studied the Reflection Cave and its reflection stones.
Steven shined his flashlight around the cave, the beam sweeping over the mirror-like crystal stones.
"The stones inside Reflection Cave are different from common crystals and gems. Their surface is like a mirror, hence they're called reflection stones."
"And just as I said, the reflection stone only serves as a mirror. Perhaps it has other uses, but we haven't discovered them yet."
Through visual inspection and touch, Steven could only draw this conclusion for now.
This place, like the Reflection Cave in Kalos, was also a Reflection Cave.
Roark looked at Steven with some confusion.
"Then why are people disappearing here? There have already been three."
Steven's expression suddenly became serious.
"That's the answer we need to keep searching for. I'll be staying here for this period."
Roark, wearing his hard hat, stood at attention and bowed to Steven.
"Thank you very much!"
Wayne added, "The good news is, there should be no Rift to the Spirit World here."
Wayne gently stroked Drakloak, whose head was resting on his shoulder.
"Drakloak and Dragapult both said there's no Ghost-type energy here, so even if people disappeared, they shouldn't have been swallowed into the Spirit World."
Steven nodded slightly. "That's indeed good news. So we can proceed this way."
In short: humanity's understanding of Pokémon was far less than one percent!
This also indirectly showed Wayne's understanding of Pokémon and his active thinking.
Steven was increasingly able to understand why Blue and Lance held Wayne in such high regard.
Steven suggested, "How about we search together?"
Wayne nodded. "Alright."
Although Wayne had been searching around just now, he'd been doing a cursory sweep, mainly relying on Arcanine and the others.
"Come back for now, Drakloak, Dragapult."
Wayne recalled the mother and child duo, Dragapult and Drakloak, into their Luxury Balls.
Since no Ghost-type energy was sensed, they wouldn't be needed for now.
The Cave was actually quite large, with branching paths.
Wayne was able to find his way back to the starting point thanks to Lucario's Aura sensing.
In front were Arcanine and Metagross, beside him was Lucario.
Wayne, Steven, and Roark began to explore the Cave together.
Standing at a three-way intersection, Wayne tapped the rock wall.
"Do you think this was dug out by Steelix or Onix?"
Steven mused, "I lean toward it being here originally, but the reason for its appearance... I don't know yet."
No matter how extensive Steven's knowledge base was, it couldn't change the fact that he had just arrived here.
Roark shook his head. "I thought that too, but I haven't found any traces of Onix or other Pokémon moving through here."
Steven suggested, "How about we split up? There are exactly three branching paths."
Wayne turned to look at him. "I wonder if you've seen horror movies?"
Steven looked bewildered. "Horror movies?"
Wayne said in an eerie tone, "Those who split up always end up dead."
Steven gave a stiff smile. "Then let's stay together."
From Steven's reaction, Wayne sensed his will to survive.
Roark sighed. "So Steven gets scared too."
"..."
Clearly, Roark's sense of self-preservation wasn't very high.
After Wayne and the others entered one of the branching paths, one of the reflection stones at the intersection rippled like water...
"Meta?!"
Metagross, who had been using its psychic powers to detect energy changes in the surroundings, immediately turned its head.
Lucario suddenly spun around.
(Something's happening!)
"Beep, beep, beep..."
Steven's energy detector also reacted.
Glancing at the detector, Steven said loudly, "Go back! There's a reaction at the intersection!"
The three people and their Pokémon quickly retreated.
Steven ran with his eyes fixed on the energy detector's readings.
The energy detector's reaction grew more and more intense.
"Beep, beep, beep..."
Arcanine ran ahead, leading the way.
The moment Wayne and the others ran out of the branching path, they saw an unbelievable scene.
The surface of the reflection stone rippled like water, and two figures appeared inside!
"Roark and Byron?"
Inside the reflection stone, Roark's father Byron, the Gym Leader of the Canalave Gym, affectionately put his arm around Roark's shoulder, and the two laughed heartily together.
Wayne, Steven, and Roark stared at each other in bewilderment.
Arcanine's head darted back and forth between Roark beside them and Roark inside the reflection stone.
Roark clutched his head, completely flustered.
"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"
Steven was momentarily at a loss.
"What... what's going on?"
Roark declared emphatically, "My relationship with my father could absolutely not be this good!"
"..."
What kind of family drama is this?!