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"What could possibly be sealed beneath that stone?" Chris wondered aloud, his curiosity intensifying.
The massive structure was clearly being used as a prison of some kind, deliberately containing whatever lay beneath it. Even with such powerful restraints in place, the spiritual energy that managed to seep through was still purer and more concentrated than any Ghost-type energy he had encountered in the Spirit World itself.
"Well, there's only one way to find out - let's open it up!" Chris declared, patting Arcanine's neck decisively.
"Woof!" Arcanine responded with enthusiasm, stepping boldly into the chamber with its head held high.
The Fire-type's thick paw pads pressed against the pitch-black ground, the surface feeling strangely soft, almost like walking across a thick carpet of shadows.
In the next instant, a torrent of ghostly energy erupted from the ground!
The surging spiritual power rushed upward, attempting to engulf both Arcanine and Chris completely. However, the dark energy only managed to rise about two centimeters before being immediately suppressed by Arcanine's blazing flames that burned as intensely as the sun itself.
The Ghost-type energy quickly retreated and settled back down, creating gentle ripples across the surface with each of Arcanine's confident steps, like a stone skipping across still water.
"Garde~ (Master, my Psychic abilities have been completely nullified here,)" Mega Gardevoir reported through their mental link.
Chris nodded thoughtfully, confirming his earlier suspicion that they had reached the source of the psychic suppression field.
He stared intently at the imposing sealing stone before him, considering his options carefully.
How could he safely move this ancient monument and release whatever powerful entity was imprisoned beneath it?
His first instinct was to simply blast the stone apart with raw force. Chris was confident in his team's combat abilities - unless they were facing a true legendary Pokemon, he could at least manage to escape even if victory proved impossible. However, his main concern was whether destroying the sealing stone might accidentally harm or destroy whatever was being contained within.
Alternatively, Chris recalled the scene where Roy had carefully dismantled the runic seal on the previous stone using a more delicate approach.
"Garde~ (Master, Greninja has located the target!)" Mega Gardevoir suddenly announced.
"Already? That was incredibly fast," Chris responded with surprise. He had expected the search for Roy's target Pokemon to be a much more time-consuming endeavor, yet his team had succeeded in less than an hour.
After considering the situation, Chris decided it would be best to return later with proper guidance.
"I'll bring Roy back here to examine this seal more carefully," he decided aloud.
"Let's head out, boy!"
"Woof!" Arcanine immediately activated Flame Charge, racing toward the cave exit at an even greater speed than before, with Mega Gardevoir following close behind.
After Chris's departure, the floating orbs of light gradually dimmed and disappeared, returning the ancient chamber to its natural state of silence and absolute darkness.
The only difference from previous ages was the appearance of a ghostly figure that materialized behind the black sealing stone. The shadowy entity blended perfectly with the surrounding darkness, making it nearly invisible except for a pair of glowing, watchful eyes.
Emerging from the cave system, Chris immediately called out, "Where's Greninja?"
Before he had finished speaking, Salamence swooped down from the crystalline sky above to collect him.
Chris vaulted onto his Dragon-type's back, recalled Arcanine to its Poke Ball, and headed northwest at maximum speed toward the source of the commotion.
"BOOM!" Just as they arrived at their destination, a massive explosion erupted from the densely forested river below.
Greninja was airborne, launching a rapid series of Water Shuriken with deadly precision!
"Rat-tat-tat-tat!"
The sound resembled intense machine gun fire as the water projectiles struck their target repeatedly.
Their opponent proved equally formidable, responding with a barrage of Shadow Balls that erupted from beneath the water's surface one after another.
Chris finally got a clear view of the Pokemon battling his Greninja - it was a Basculegion!
The creature possessed the large, robust body typical of Basculin, but its tail was a spectral phantom that burned with an eerie, phosphorescent flame.
"No wonder I've never encountered one before..." Chris finally understood why Roy had claimed to have never seen this species.
This was indeed an ancient Pokemon that had never been witnessed by modern humans in the contemporary world.
In the Pokemon universe, Basculegion was native to the Hisui region - an ancient version of what would eventually become the Sinnoh region, existing over two thousand years in the past.
In the real world, Basculegion had long been considered extinct, existing only in historical records and artifacts occasionally discovered by archaeological expeditions.
This was Chris's first encounter with a living Basculegion in the modern era.
Actually, calling it "living" wasn't entirely accurate - Basculegion was a Water and Ghost dual-type, meaning it was technically undead.
"I never expected that instead of reaching the Hisui region through video games, I'd encounter Hisui Pokemon first in reality," Chris couldn't help but chuckle at the irony.
A sudden thought occurred to him: if this secret realm was ancient enough to harbor Pokemon from the Hisui region, might there be other unique species from that era waiting to be discovered?
Were there any other Hisui-exclusive Pokemon that he might want to add to his own team? He made a mental note to search for additional rare species once this current situation was resolved.
Chris retrieved his Pokedex and contacted Roy to report that he had successfully located the target Pokemon.
The Basculegion was undoubtedly the mysterious Ghost-type that Roy had been seeking.
As for Chris himself, he wasn't particularly interested in capturing the Basculegion, despite its impressive strength.
His Water-type lineup was already well-established with Greninja and his shiny Gyarados, plus Lugia and Latias - while not technically Water-types, both were closely associated with aquatic environments, earning them the titles "Sea God" and "Guardian of Alto Mare" respectively.
His Water-type team was already more than adequately "saturated."
Roy arrived quickly after receiving the message, with Alexis accompanying him.
"Help me maintain a perimeter - just make sure it doesn't escape again!" Roy called out as he landed near the riverbank.
True to trainer tradition, Roy needed to defeat the Pokemon personally before attempting to capture it. Otherwise, even if successfully caught, there was a high probability that the Pokemon would refuse to obey his commands.
"Come back and rest up, everyone did great work," Chris quickly recalled his Pokemon, yielding the battlefield to Roy. He kept only Greninja and Gengar active in case the Basculegion attempted another escape.
The moment Roy appeared on the scene, Basculegion immediately focused its attention on him with unmistakable hostility. As the dominant predator in these waters and effectively the apex Pokemon of the entire ancient secret realm, it clearly remembered the trainer who had "disturbed" it during their previous encounter and had been holding a grudge ever since.
The Ghost-type's eyes immediately blazed with red light, and the spectral flames on its tail surged dramatically with increased intensity!
Before Roy could even release his first Pokemon, Basculegion launched a dishonorable sneak attack!
"Aqua Jet!" the ancient Pokemon roared as it rocketed toward Roy with tremendous speed.
Roy calmly reached for a Poke Ball without showing the slightest sign of panic.
"Flamethrower!" he commanded confidently.
A Typhlosion emerged from the Poke Ball, but this specimen was distinctly different from ordinary members of its species. The fur along its back displayed a rich purple coloration, and it wore what appeared to be a purple mane around its neck like an elegant scarf. Embedded within this mane were several purple flame orbs that glowed with supernatural energy.
Even when entering its combat stance, the flames that erupted from Typhlosion's back burned with a brilliant purple hue!
Compared to standard Typhlosion, this variant appeared far more refined and mystical in its bearing.
This was clearly not a shiny Pokemon - the unusual appearance indicated that this was a Typhlosion in its Hisuian form! Its typing was no longer pure Fire, but had gained the additional Ghost-type classification.
So this Hisuian Typhlosion was the other target Pokemon that Roy had mentioned pursuing independently.