The next day.
"Good morning, Hisoka."
"Morning."
Hisoka nodded to everyone he met as he headed back to the camp after finishing his morning run.
"What did you say?"
Suddenly, he heard a shout not far away from him.
Turning his head, he saw Eve and Jiro engaged in a fierce discussion. Curious, he made his way to them.
"What happened, guys? Is there anything wrong?" he inquired.
"Hisoka, you're here. Dr. White is missing!" Eve said, looking worried.
"Have you checked his tent?" he frowned.
"I have," Jiro replied, nodding his head. He then continued, "I went to his tent just now, but he wasn't there. Even his sleeping hasn't been touched."
"Aaron is missing too!"
At this time, Ichiro, Jiro's brother, slowly walked to them.
"Ichiro! Your body hasn't fully recovered yet. You need to lie down and rest," Jiro said angrily.
"I've almost healed, brother. Don't worry," Ichiro reassured his brother.
"Aaron is gone too?" Eve turned to look at him.
"Yeah," he nodded and said, "I got up in the middle of the night yesterday to go to the toilet and found his bed was empty. I thought he went to the toilet too, so I thought nothing of it. When I woke in the morning later, his bed was still empty. I asked the others, but they didn't even know where he was. That's why I'm out here, looking for him."
For a moment, everyone fell into silence.
"I think we should check the temple. They might have gone to the secret cavern," Hisoka suggested.
"Do you think they might have been looking for the artifact you left behind?" Eve asked.
"There's a high chance they might do that. Besides, where else could they be?" he said in reply.
"Let's go there, now! I'm afraid they might have gotten into an accident, " Eve said anxiously.
After that, all of them started running toward the temple.
***
"Look, there are a lot of giant footprints here."
Outside the entrance to the ruins, the archeologists had discovered the footprints left by the mysterious creature last night. To their surprise, the footprint was more than ten feet long, enough to fit two people inside.
"It's just a prank. I didn't hear any loud movement last night," One of them laughed.
Hearing that, the other people quickly calmed down.
"Yeah, dude. It was a nice prank."
"Haha!"
On a pile of rubble, a dark object was visible. An archeologist happened to see it. Out of curiosity, he picked it up.
"Guys! I found another artifact!" he said excitedly.
"Put that thing down!"
Suddenly a shout was heard. The archeologists turned around and found Eve, Hisoka, Jiro, and Ichiro running toward them.
Hisoka's shout made the person who picked the black artifact just now confused.
'Why should I throw this thing away?' he thought, confused.
"Gar! Gar!"
All of a sudden, everyone couldn't move. The dark objects slowly floated into the air, accompanied by eerie laughter.
A pair of red eyes appeared in the sky. Then, a ray of red light spread under it. Under everyone's eyes, the archeologists were covered in red light before being absorbed by the dark object.
After absorbing the archeologists, the eyes locked on Eve and the others.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Two red beams swept across the air at the same time.
"I can't move my body!" Jiro shouted loudly. He gritted his teeth and struggled to break free.
Ichiro also did the same as they watched the rays heading toward them.
After the two brothers were struck by the rays, they also suffered the same fate as the archeologists.
"This is psychic power!"
Hisoka closed his eyes and felt the strong pressure on his body. He was very familiar with this feeling.
"Gardevoir!" Hisoka called out.
In the next second, Gardevoir appeared in front of him and Eve.
She quickly raised a barrier around them as the dark object released multiple rays toward them.
Ripples appeared on the barrier after the rays hit as if it would fail anytime soon. Still, she stayed calm and increased the power of the barrier.
What she used was Protect, the strongest defensive skill she had mastered.
After a few moments, the dark object finally stopped its attack. Quickly, Gardevoir placed her hands on Hisoka and Eve, freeing them from the psychic power that bound them just now. She then teleported them away from the area.
"What is that? How did they disappear?" Eve was still in shock. She couldn't believe what she saw just now.
Hisoka sighed and said, "Dr. White and Aaron must have brought it out and got attacked by it."
Seeing Hisoka and the others disappear, the dark object continued to fly toward the camp at high speed.
"It is heading for the camp!" Eve was shocked when he saw this.
"We need to warn the others!"
The dark object appeared above the campsite. Its red eyes were staring at its prey below.
At this time, Hisoka and Eve teleported into the camp with Gardevoir's help.
"Get out of here, now!" Eve shouted as hard as she could.
"Run! Something dangerous is coming. Hurry!"
"Dr. Eve? What is going on?" They asked.
Unfortunately, it was too late. When the other archeologists stood up to look at Eve, the dark object was already behind them.
The familiar red rays continued to hit everyone in the camp. Covering them in red lights before they got absorbed by the dark object.
In just a few seconds, everyone in the camp had disappeared except for Hisoka and the others.
A burst of red light enveloped the dark object. Suddenly, a black mist emerged from the black artifact. It gradually covered the entire campsite and continued to rise into the sky.
Hisoka and Eve stood outside the camp, watching the situation unfold. Gardevoir stood by their side. She erected a barrier to protect them from the black mist.
Suddenly, a pair of red eyes appeared in the sky as the black mist started to come together.
"It's coming!"
Hisoka's looked serious as he slowly lowered his hand on his belt. Once a battle broke out, Gardevoir alone would not be the opponent of the creature in the mist.
A few seconds later, a behemoth appeared in front of their eyes. It had a roundish body with two short arms and legs, pointed ears, and numerous spikes on its back. The corner of his mouth was curled, revealing a sinister smile.
Although its size has been enlarged countless times, no one would fail to recognize this popular Pokemon.
It was the final evolution of Gastly, Gengar, a powerful Ghost/Poison-type Pokemon.
This Gengar was much bigger than the previous giant Onix, reaching thirty feet high. Its color was the same as the black mist. At the same time, there were some strange silver markings around its body.
"Gar! Gar!"
Gengar's evil laughter spread throughout the entire Mount Hideaway.
***
Meanwhile, Ash was directing his Pikachu to attack Brock's Geodude. He was finally training for the Pokemon League Conference that was starting in three weeks.
"Did you guys hear that?" Misty asked, holding a fishing rod. She heard a faint laugh just now.
Brock nodded and said, "I seem to have heard it too, but I thought I heard wrong. So I quickly forget it."
"What are you guys talking about?" Ash looked at them in a puzzled manner.
"Look over there!" Misty looked startled as she pointed toward somewhere with her fishing road.
Ash and Brock looked where she was pointing and found the entire forest shrouded in dark clouds. It was just fine a minute ago.
***
Gengar raised its hand toward the sky, covering the sky above Mount Hideaway in dark clouds. Changing the weather in a large area was not easy, even if a Pokemon knew weather-changing skills.
Then, it noticed Hisoka and Eve below. It remembered that these two people escaped from its attack just now.
Putting its hands together, it formed a large Shadow Ball that sparkled with black lightning. It then threw it at them.
Seeing the terrifying attack heading toward them, Hisoka instantly cleared any notions of fighting with the giant Pokemon. He quickly grabbed Eve and said, "Gardevoir! Teleport!"
"Boom!"
The Shadow Ball exploded as it hit the ground. The energy storm swept through the entire camp. Everything disappeared under the blast. All that was left was red, bare eath.
Hisoka, Eve and Gardevoir reappeared at the top of the cliff a few meters away, hidden from view. After seeing the destruction it had caused, the Gengar laughed in satisfaction and began to walk down the mountain.
***
Professor Oak's Laboratory.
Professor Oak was walking through his backyard, watching the Pokemon roaming around the area.
Suddenly, the Pokemon that was lying down leisurely became restless for no reason. The Tauros herd that was running on the plain stopped one after another. With fearful expressions, they immediately turned around and ran toward the cowshed to hide. Many other Pokemon also went into hiding under Professor Oak's confused eyes.
"What is going on?"
His gaze shifted, and he stared into the distance. The sky above Mount Hideaway was shrouded in strange dark clouds.
***
"Troublesome."
Bruno was running through the woods, closely following the giant Gengar from behind. He had a grave expression on his face as he looked in the direction the Gengar was heading at. It was Pallet Town.
He didn't need someone to tell him how important Pallet Town was to the League.
"Why is it a Gengar," he muttered under his breath.
If it was another type of Pokemon, it would be fine. Gengar was immune to Fighting-type skills that he specialized in. Not only that, but it was also immune to Normal-type skills.
"Can't wait for them any longer."
Based on his estimate, it would take another fifteen minutes for this behemoth of a Gengar to reach Pallet Town.
Earlier, he had informed the League about the giant Gengar. Although the League had already sent some men on the way, it would take some time for them to reach here.
In the meantime, he had to find a way to delay the Gengar before they arrived.
Machamp! Hitmonlee! Hitmonchan!
Three Pokemon appeared on the ground. He only brought his three main Pokemon for his training this time.
He jumped down from a tree and walked toward Machamp.
"Friend. You need to take off your belt. We have a strong opponent ahead of us," he said to Machamp.
He then turned toward Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan, saying, "Try to distract it as much as possible. Machamp will lead the main attack. We need to delay it for some time."
"Champ!"
Machamp nodded in understanding and took off the golden power-save belt around its waist.
Machamp and Machoke wore this belt to restrict their muscle activity. Their physical strength was too strong that it made it easy for them to get injured. The belt would prevent their body from breaking down.
Bruno's Machamp usually wore this belt all the time. It only took it off when faced with a strong opponent.
After he explained the plan to his Pokemon, Machamp, Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan slammed their fist hard.
Hurrah!