After successfully subduing the Infernape tribe, Aven led the merchant caravan onward toward Meteor City.
With the Infernape leader, this local "snake"—guiding the way, they were able to leave the Meteorite Mountain Range with remarkable ease.
Once they entered the territory belonging to Meteor City, the surrounding terrain became noticeably flatter, and traces of mining activity could be seen everywhere.
"This place was clearly excavated by Onix," Aven muttered as his gaze fell upon a nearby mining pit.
There was an enormous hole carved deep into the ground. Judging by its size, it was almost exactly the same as an Onix's body length.
It seemed that Meteor City had already discovered the usefulness of these Pokémon and had found its own way to make the Onix obediently follow orders and mine ore for them.
Over this period of continuous exploitation, Meteor City had gradually pushed its mining operations deeper into the Meteorite Mountain Range. As a result, conflicts with the Pokémon clans living within the mountains had erupted time and time again.
This was something Aven had learned directly from the Infernape tribe. In their words, the people living in Meteor City were not good at all—they constantly tried to capture Pokémon and force them into hard labor.
Because of this, the Infernape tribe had clashed with the knights of Meteor City on several occasions. As a result, they harbored strong resistance toward going anywhere near the city.
"Don't worry," Aven said gently, offering reassurance. "You are free. No one has the right to force you to do anything you don't want to do."
Upon hearing his words, the Infernape leader's expression shifted slightly. It closed its eyes, recalling the scenes it had witnessed within Aven's memories, then nodded firmly. It trusted him.
"Infernape, you can escort us up to here," Aven continued.
"I'll leave some Pokémon food for you next. You can wait for my return inside the Meteorite Mountains."
When the Infernape heard this, it visibly relaxed. The other Infernape followed suit—they truly did not want to enter Meteor City.
After bidding farewell to the Infernape tribe, the caravan proceeded swiftly along the wide, flat roads ahead.
These roads had clearly been constructed by Meteor City, most likely to facilitate ore transportation. Along the way, Aven spotted many traces of Onix having crawled across the ground, further confirming his earlier suspicions.
However, just as they reached the outskirts of Meteor City, they were immediately stopped by the border knights, who informed them that entry into the city was currently prohibited.
"Hm?" Aven frowned slightly as he looked around. "Did something happen in Meteor City?"
He could faintly sense that something was off—the knights' expressions were tense, and the air itself was filled with unease.
This was also confirmed by Gardevoir. The knights here were fully armed, a level of readiness that only appeared when preparing for war.
"Perhaps another territory is attacking Meteor City again," Master Makin said thoughtfully. "After all, there are far too many territories coveting this rich city."
"I see." Aven nodded. "Then we'll find a place to rest and regroup first."
They had come all this way—naturally, they couldn't just turn around and leave. This time, no matter what, he had to meet the lord of Meteor City.
Perhaps because Meteor City frequently found itself embroiled in warfare, the border knights were very experienced. They efficiently helped the arriving caravans arrange lodging.
After all, Meteor City relied heavily on trade caravans. Only through commerce could it sell the ironware it produced and exchange it for food from other territories.
"Your Highness Aven, are we just going to wait here?" Master Makin asked. He had never been a patient man—in his eyes, waiting was nothing but wasted time.
Aven slowly shook his head. "Of course not. I plan to go into Meteor City alone to check on the situation. I might even be able to bring this war to an early end."
Master Makin froze, then quickly said, "Your Highness, isn't that too dangerous?"
"Don't worry," Aven replied calmly. "With my current strength, I can move freely across the entire Sinnoh continent."
"Besides, even if I really do encounter danger, I can use my connection with Azelf to return directly to Aspiration City."
Hearing this, the tension on Master Makin's face eased slightly. "Please be careful, Your Highness Aven."
Patting Master Makin on the shoulder, Aven shifted his gaze toward Gardevoir and gestured for her to use Teleport.
"Garde~ voir!"
Gardevoir nodded as invisible psychic power flowed out from her body.
Spatial energy continuously gathered around her, and the space in front of her suddenly twisted, forming a doorway of distorted space.
At its core, this was still the Teleport move. However, relying on her powerful strength, Gardevoir could now directly use spatial energy to construct a spatial link between two distant locations.
"Master Makin, I'll leave things here to you," Aven said calmly as he stepped into the spatial gate, vanishing in an instant.
When he appeared again, he found himself within a city. However, the city that should have been bustling with life now felt eerily deserted.
Knights could be seen patrolling the streets, maintaining order, while no civilians were present at all. To facilitate control, all civilians had been forcibly confined to their homes.
Under such circumstances, Aven's sudden appearance in the middle of the street was extremely conspicuous.
Yet when a knight passed by, he walked straight past Aven without noticing anything at all, completely unaware that an intruder was standing beside him.
"Mismagius, I'll leave the next part to you," Aven said as he released a Poké Ball.
"Maaa~"
Mismagius nodded, its gaze locking onto the knight in the distance.
Invisible psychic power spread outward and enveloped the knight. His body immediately went limp, collapsing to the ground.
Seeing this, Mismagius directly invaded the knight's dream, beginning to guide it and extract the answers it sought.
After some time passed, the knight suddenly opened his eyes in confusion. He stood up and rubbed his head, vaguely feeling that something had happened—but he couldn't remember anything at all.
By then, Aven had already left Meteor City using Gardevoir's Teleport. With a flash, he appeared on an open plain.
He then released Luxray from its Poké Ball. Mounting Luxray, he galloped toward the eastern territory of Meteor City. According to the information Mismagius obtained from the city guard, the battlefield was located to the east.
"The enemy actually launched the attack from the sea?" Aven frowned slightly in confusion.
In this world, there were very few forces capable of long-distance sea travel. Meteor City was one of them—and the Sorcerer Organization was another.
"Could it be the Sorcerer Organization?" he muttered to himself.
With that thought, he urged Luxray to increase its speed, intent on reaching the battlefield as quickly as possible.
If it truly was the Sorcerer Organization, then Meteor City was about to face a serious crisis.
(End of Chapter)