After Gardevoir finished sharing the information she had discovered, it immediately followed up via Telepathy: "Toto, I think that Domain…"
"Yeah, something's off!"
Sato nodded seriously. He would never let Zweilous attempt something that was clearly a death sentence.
But now that he'd fallen out with Wilma and uncovered the Village of Dragons' greatest secret…
If he just left without doing anything, Sato really would feel a bit unwilling.
"Let's go check it out."
After thinking it over for a moment, Sato said it directly. Then, he quickly treated his Pokémon's injuries, helping them recover most of their combat power.
Gardevoir had also found the path to the underground palace in Wilma's memories, and as expected, it was right inside her house.
Under the cover of Gengar's Spatial Barrier, Sato and Gardevoir quietly snuck into Wilma's home again and found the secret passage to the underground palace inside her storage room.
"Gengar, the environment down there suppresses you too much. Stay by the entrance and keep watch."
Before entering the secret passage, Sato spoke to the air beside him.
"Gen~"
Gengar obediently stepped back to the entrance, looking very much like it was saying, 'I'll guard this place well.'
"Alright, Gardevoir, let's go down."
"Voir!"
Gardevoir, still controlling the thoroughly bound and deeply hypnotized Wilma, slowly followed Sato into the passage.
The passage was a bottomless spiral staircase. The pitch-black, enclosed environment made both Sato and Gardevoir feel a bit uneasy.
Bang!
Gardevoir raised her left hand, and with a flicker of energy, a small silver-white glowing orb formed in her palm.
The glowing orb floated vividly up and down, brightly illuminating the passage around them. With the detailed, clear patterns on its surface, it looked just like a tiny moon.
This was a special usage of the move Dazzling Gleam.
Although Gardevoir's type had changed, it didn't mean it couldn't use Fairy-type moves, it just no longer received STAB from them.
In fact, after gaining the Dark type, it had naturally learned many Dark-type moves as well.
Of course, aside from occasionally using a mildly powered Dark Pulse during training, Gardevoir had never used a Dark-type moves in front of others.
Hiding the truth was one reason, but more importantly, Gardevoir likely didn't really like this Dark-type power…
Even though Sato insisted on feeding his Pokémon through [Dark Energy: Blood Nourishment], Gardevoir had never tried it.
With the little moon overhead, Sato and Gardevoir continued descending deeper. They hadn't gone far before Sato felt the Dark Energy inside him beginning to stir.
"Hmph!"
Sato forcibly suppressed the Dark Energy. Even though it was closely tied to the Dark-type Domain, now that it had taken root inside his body for so long, he wasn't going to let it leave so easily!
The two continued downward until suddenly, they heard heavy breathing beside them.
"Cough, cough…"
The Domain and Sato's Dark Energy were resonating wildly, causing Wilma to wake up early.
…And when she saw Sato already deep inside the passage, she was so anxious she nearly passed out again.
"HOW DID YOU FIND IT?!"
Wilma shouted loudly, completely forgetting her current situation.
Sato couldn't be bothered to answer and continued heading downward. Seeing this, Gardevoir raised its hand slightly, and the vines of Grass Knot once again sealed Wilma's mouth shut.
Finally, the spiral staircase came to an end. What followed was a pitch-black corridor, and at the very end of it stood what seemed to be a naturally formed stone wall.
Wilma, suspended in the air with her mouth covered, looked at Sato who had stopped walking, and inwardly sneered.
'You think you can open it? Go on, open it, open it if you can!'
The next second, Sato walked over to Wilma. Under her terrified gaze, he took out a small knife and made a cut.
Tiny droplets of blood quickly welled up from the wrinkled tip of Wilma's right index finger.
Sato then used the knife to lift her finger slightly, letting the blood drip into a hidden groove on the stone wall. Afterward, he channeled a trace of Dark Energy into the wall.
Clatter…
The stone wall began to tremble, dust and dirt scattering as a small opening slowly revealed itself.
"Mm! MMM-MMPH!"
Wilma struggled frantically, seemingly demanding to know how Sato knew all of this.
Sato still ignored her and walked in confidently, followed closely by Gardevoir, who controlled Wilma to move along.
Bluish light filled the air. The walls were smooth and white, with eight massive pillars and, atop a platform, eighteen perfectly preserved Pokémon skeletons.
Just as Gengar had described, the underground palace now lay before Sato's eyes, exactly as foretold.
Sato turned back toward the entrance and noticed that the opening in the stone wall had been polished seamlessly, perfectly blending into the surrounding lines of the wall.
'No wonder even Gengar hadn't been able to detect it precisely.'
"What's inside those lamps?"
Sato pointed at the two-meter-tall lamp stands and turned to ask Wilma. Gardevoir cooperatively loosened the vines around her mouth.
"Sato, you thief, you'll never obtain the DO- MMPH!"
Sato shook his head. Wilma was still too agitated to communicate properly.
The contents of the lamps weren't important anyway. What mattered was that Sato had already seen that so-called Dark-type Domain.
A pure black, semi-transparent crown shimmered with a dark radiance, faintly floating inside the Hydreigon skeleton, right where the heart should have been.
It had to be said, the Domain's appearance was stunning, it looked more like a fragile, exquisite piece of art.
…But who would have thought that something so beautiful could be so deadly!
Sato circled the platform once more, carefully inspecting the palace from top to bottom, but found nothing else of note.
At this point, he glanced at Wilma, who had stopped struggling, and motioned for Gardevoir to release her mouth again.
"Go on, tell me. How exactly does your so-called inheritance ritual work?"
"Heh~ Since you seem to know everything already, why don't you just go and accept the inheritance yourself?" Wilma sneered, her face full of mockery.
"Eighteen Elite Four Pokémon skeletons, nine Elite Four Trainers who sought immortality and died here… this is the result of your so-called sacred duty to protect the Domain for a thousand years?"
Wilma's brow twitched. She had already guessed that Sato had somehow pried into her memories, which was how he knew everything so clearly.
But what did he mean by that?
"Gardevoir, Moonblast."
"YOU CURSED BRAT! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
Wilma suddenly screamed in fury. She never would have imagined that Sato would actually order an attack on the Domain!
That Domain… was the legendary treasure said to grant eternal life!
..
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200 PS - CH