"Ethan, you finally made it out!"
Seeing Ethan Black also emerge from the Secret Kingdom, Alex Baxter and Jasper Reid let out a sigh of relief.
"Don't worry, I'm fine."
Ethan Black felt warmth in his heart, then looked around, discovering that at that moment the mine was filled with people.
"How strange... Why does this Secret Kingdom only allow you to exit, but not go back in?"
A Pokémon Hunter was standing in front of the rocky wall that connected to the Secret Kingdom. He ran his hand over the stone, but couldn't manage to open the entrance again.
"What's going on?"
Ethan Black frowned and looked doubtfully at Alex Baxter and Jasper Reid.
"We're not too sure either. But this time we spent a day and a half inside the Secret Kingdom, so the rescue team had already arrived long before."
"The problem is they weren't able to open the entrance from this side to enter the Secret Kingdom. It seems now you can only leave from inside, but not enter from outside," explained Alex Baxter after thinking for a moment.
"I see..."
Ethan Black nodded, then took Meltan's Poké Ball, reflected for a moment, and gave a slight smile.
Upon leaving the Secret Kingdom, the Pokémon Hunters blocked off the entrance. Jasper Reid stayed to handle matters related to the place, while Ethan Black and Alex Baxter went with the hunters to the guild headquarters.
"So it turned out to be a mine-type Secret Kingdom..."
Once brought to the Pokémon Hunters Guild, they weren't hindered but rather put through the usual procedure: gathering information about the Secret Kingdom and registering it for the archives.
"They say you discovered Pokémon inside the Secret Kingdom that had never been seen before?" asked the recorder in surprise.
"Yes, that's right."
"There were many small Pokémon shaped like gears."
"And besides those, there was another type with a screw as a hat and a body resembling mercury."
"This time we were lucky enough to catch two of those little Pokémon. We can release them for you to see."
Ethan Black nodded, and after getting the staff's permission, released Meltan. Alex Baxter did the same with Klink.
"These two Pokémon truly haven't been recorded before!"
The staff were astonished upon seeing Meltan and Klink.
"It's true, they're completely new."
"For these undiscovered Pokémon, I suggest you voluntarily hand them over to the Pokémon Researchers Guild. It would be of great help for the League's research," said one of the employees after a brief silence.
Hearing this, Alex Baxter raised an eyebrow and smiled: "There's no need to worry. I myself am a Pokémon researcher, I can study them on my own."
"Besides, I'm a student at the Pokémon University of Ironvale City, and our professor is a famous scholar in the field. Researching new Pokémon is an excellent academic topic."
Ethan Black also gave the employee a deep look, recalled Meltan, and stood up: "We only came to cooperate in the exploration of the Secret Kingdom. We've said everything we needed to say, so I think we can leave now."
"Eh... sorry, my colleague didn't mean any harm, he was only giving advice."
"These Pokémon you've already captured belong to you. No one can force you to hand them over," said another staff member to calm the situation.
"No problem."
"Besides, look: our professor has already come to pick us up, so we'll be leaving."
Ethan Black smiled faintly. At that moment he saw Professor Harris enter the guild.
Faced with this, the employees could do nothing more, and after a couple more questions about the Secret Kingdom, let the three of them go.
"Professor Harris, you finally arrived," said Alex Baxter with a smile when he saw him.
"Hmph, you two have some nerve, daring to enter a Secret Kingdom," grumbled Professor Harris, pretending to be upset.
"Don't worry, professor. It was just a small Secret Kingdom, not too dangerous. And compared to what we gained this time, that risk is nothing."
Upon hearing this, Professor Harris's eyes lit up and he asked with some urgency: "Did you really find Pokémon never before discovered?"
Alex Baxter nodded immediately: "This isn't the place to talk about it. We'll tell you once we're back."
...
Pokémon University of Ironvale City
"Come on, release those two Pokémon right away," said Professor Harris impatiently after bringing them back to the university.
Ethan Black and Alex Baxter didn't keep him waiting and released Meltan and Klink.
"Zzzt zzzt!"
Meltan, upon coming out, looked around curiously at the new world, its eyes full of interest.
"Meltan, this is the world we live in," said Ethan Black, crouching down to greet it with a smile.
"Zzzt zzzt!"
Meltan's eye curved into a crescent shape, letting Ethan Black embrace it.
"As I suspected, these two species have not been discovered before."
"Judging by their appearance, they seem to be Steel type, right?"
"Maybe this little one with the screw is also part Water... and both seem to be in their initial form. I wonder if they have evolutions."
With his experience, Professor Harris correctly guessed most of it just by looking. However, he didn't know that Meltan was purely Steel type, with no Water type.
"Alex, go get the instruments. We'll start researching them right now," said the professor, licking his lips with excitement.
Alex Baxter gave him a disdainful look and replied: "Professor, according to League regulations, we must first register the new species in the Pokémon Researchers Guild. Only with their approval can we begin research."
Hearing this, Professor Harris smiled somewhat awkwardly; he had been so excited he had nearly forgotten that step.
Riiiing!
At that moment, his phone rang.
"Well, these guys sure found out fast..." said Professor Harris with a smile as he saw the number on the screen, before answering.
As expected, on the other end was... the president of the Pokémon Researchers Guild!
(End of chapter)