When I opened my eyes again, I found everything around me was pitch black.
After a while, I could barely make out my surroundings. Lighting a torch, Slowking used its psychic powers to create a barrier around me, protecting me from the corrosive Ghost-type energy.
Gengar, however, felt very comfortable here, freely absorbing the seemingly endless and inexhaustible Ghost-type energy.
One must know that Gengar had already reached the peak of quasi-champion level, yet there was still Ghost-type energy that it couldn't fully absorb.
"Gengar—"
Gengar softly called out beside Aoki.
"You're saying that the energy in this place feels familiar to you?" Aoki confirmed after understanding Gengar's meaning.
Gengar hesitated for a moment, then carefully sensed the energy again before nodding.
Aoki's expression became slightly solemn.
The place that had once made it impossible for them to move now posed little obstacle to their actions.
With Slowking's psychic assistance, Aoki walked through the cave and once again saw the place he had previously dug. There were pits on the wall and a lot of soil debris on the ground.
This place was filled with extremely dense Ghost-type energy. Both the rocks and soil inside the cave had been completely assimilated.
"Mismagius—"
Sensing the outside world, Mismagius quietly peeked its head out from Aoki's shadow, only to realize the familiar surroundings.
Seeing Mismagius, Aoki immediately smiled and called her out from the shadow.
Upon appearing, Mismagius, like Gengar, freely absorbed the surrounding energy, showing a look of intoxication.
She hadn't known then that this was Ghost-type energy, nor had she actively absorbed it. Only after following Aoki for some time did she understand what it truly was.
If she had discovered it earlier, Aoki might not have found her as just an ordinary Elite Four-level Pokémon.
"In a place equivalent to a Ghost-type energy spring in the Pokémon world, even a random Pokémon might turn into a Ghost-type Pokémon after some time. If its aptitude is excellent enough, it might even directly advance to Champion level, though it would require a lot of time," Aoki said, looking at the joyful Mismagius and Gengar.
Mismagius had returned to the place she once lived, and her heart was filled with indescribable emotion.
Looking back, she realized how ignorant and naive she had been. If she hadn't met Aoki, she might never have known how vast and wonderful this world truly was.
Mismagius genuinely liked Aoki from the bottom of her heart.
Although he always made her weave strange dreams, it was precisely because of these dreams that she learned many things and saw many interesting sights.
Every time a dream weaving session ended, Mismagius would hide in Aoki's shadow, reliving the content repeatedly. This was also her way of seeing the world.
Therefore, the dreams she wove later became increasingly realistic, making it difficult for those who entered them to distinguish between reality and illusion.
This gave Mismagius a strong sense of presence.
"Spring..." Aoki was suddenly enlightened by a subconscious remark he made.
Just now, with Slowking's help, they hadn't found any passages in this underground cave, apart from the extremely dense Ghost-type energy.
But such dense Ghost-type energy couldn't have appeared out of thin air!
Even if it resembled a world energy spring, there should at least be an energy outlet, but there was none here.
This greatly surprised him.
Nothing can appear out of thin air, especially energy, which must have a source.
Aoki narrowed his eyes and said to Gengar and Mismagius, "Gengar, Mismagius, absorb the energy with all your might. Based on the energy flow, see where this energy is coming from!"
Gengar and Mismagius nodded in unison upon hearing Aoki's words.
Instantly, the two Pokémon became like giant siphon machines. They had been somewhat reserved before, fearing their eating habits would be too unsightly, but now it didn't matter.
Indeed, after the two Pokémon absorbed with all their might, the Ghost-type energy in the entire cave gradually began to thin out.
However, even with a quasi-champion-level Pokémon and a veteran Elite Four-level Pokémon absorbing with all their might, the thinning speed of the cave's energy was not very fast.
Aoki became even more curious about the source supplying this energy.
But after Gengar and Mismagius had absorbed for some time, the two Pokémon almost simultaneously pointed in one direction.
Seeing the direction they pointed, Aoki frowned. It was precisely the place he had previously dug.
Only after the Ghost-type energy in the cave thinned out could one feel that a large amount of energy was permeating through the wall and pouring into this cave.
Aoki led his Pokémon back to the wall.
"Honchkrow!" Aoki called out softly.
Honchkrow understood instantly, and a bright light emanated from its wings as it fiercely struck the wall.
Bang!!! Bang!!!
Two dull thuds were heard, but the wall did not shatter as Aoki had expected.
A large amount of soil and rock fragments fell, but the wall still stood there.
A hint of surprise appeared on Aoki's face. The rigidity of this wall exceeded his imagination, and the material of the stones on this wall also exceeded his imagination.
He casually picked up a piece of black glowing stone from the ground.
"It really is a Dusk Stone. Although I can't tell its exact quality, it looks like it's either high-grade or top-grade, or perhaps a mixture. What a grand gesture!" Aoki's words were filled with deep surprise.
Although he had once had this conjecture, he merely thought that ordinary Dusk Stones were already quite good, and finding a high-grade or top-grade material occasionally would be like a pie falling from the sky. But now, it seemed there was more to it.
Moreover, for Honchkrow's attack to only shatter a few stones, this wall must have undergone special treatment.
Otherwise, with Honchkrow's current attack capability, let alone an underground wall, even a small hill could be directly destroyed.
What's more, only a few fragments had fallen now.
"Slowking, let's go together!" Aoki said to Slowking.
Upon hearing this, Slowking and Honchkrow attacked together.
Boom!!
The entire wall trembled slightly, and the pit Honchkrow had made became larger. The key was that Slowking swept away all the clinging mud.
Then, a completely dark and shiny black wall was revealed, like a giant LCD screen.
"Continue," Aoki said, narrowing his eyes at the sight.
He became even more curious about what was behind the wall.
However, he didn't know that his actions this time had startled an existing entity.