An S-rank opponent… Larry couldn't help but get excited. He wondered how much experience his Pokémon would get from this one. Maybe, just maybe, this would be enough for his Dragonite to push past the S-level barrier.
Surprisingly, on their way deeper into the ruins, they didn't run into any more gold or silver Plants. It seemed like the earlier battle had really cleared out all the small fry.
Now, only silence remained, thick and unnatural, pressing down on them as they moved through the maze-like city. The air was heavy with death, like the city itself was haunted by lingering thoughts and regrets. Apart from the three of them, there wasn't a single sign of life.
Although the area wasn't massive, its twisted maze layout forced them to take their time navigating through it. While walking, Larry started piecing together why the buildings were constructed this way.
It probably wasn't just aesthetic, there was strategy behind it. A layout like this could buy valuable time during an invasion, giving defenders a better chance to hold off attackers or escape.
Pyon, clearly intrigued by the structure, stopped several times to take photos and analyze the ruins with her materialized phone. Eventually, she decrypted some of the data embedded in the walls, and what she found shocked them all.
The entire structure, still intact after who knows how many years, was built using the same primary material found in the parasitic Gildrosia. It was likely that ancient humans had mined the same minerals used by the parasitic plants and refined them into usable materials. With enough processing, they had transformed those metals into towering, elegant buildings.
Suddenly, it all made sense. Larry had felt something familiar in the metallic sheen of the walls since the beginning. That strange glimmer, it wasn't just decorative. It was the same eerie luster the Gildrosia carried on their bodies.
At first, Larry thought he was just overthinking it. He figured parasitic plants were simply organisms that grew around certain metal-rich minerals, and after years of absorbing those elements, they naturally developed metallic properties of their own. Coupled with their parasitic nature, this fusion of traits eventually gave rise to one of humanity's most terrifying disasters, the Gildrosia.
When the three of them finally reached the deepest part of the labyrinth, what they saw confirmed everything they had suspected and more. The stone wall at the heart of the ruins, once likely covered in divine carvings, was now completely overtaken by wild vegetation.
Ancient inscriptions were buried beneath layers of twisted vines and thick weeds, forming a tangled web that spread outward like a living net. The entire wall had been overtaken, now a blanket of green.
But what stood out the most was a single plant at the very center of it all, vanilla. Like a full moon surrounded by stars, it was unmistakably the focal point, drawing attention even among the chaos of the surrounding flora.
True to its name, vanilla gave off a strikingly strong fragrance. Even from a distance, Larry could smell its sweet, refreshing scent wafting through the air. Just a single breath was enough to lift the exhaustion from his shoulders, replenishing his drained energy as if he'd just woken up from the best sleep of his life.
Ging felt it even more intensely. This wasn't some ordinary herb.
The vanilla looked unlike anything they had ever seen. Its structure was tiered, almost like a pagoda made of petals.
On each level, two or three soft yellow leaves were neatly arranged, each emitting a subtle glow. The sweet scent came from them, and despite being surrounded by a dense wall of green, the vanilla shone like a beacon.
It wasn't just beautiful, it had presence. Even in total darkness, Larry had no doubt he'd still be able to spot it.
This plant was different. It was special. It felt like the kind of mythical treasure you'd read about in fantasy stories, something that could heal a thousand wounds or change the course of a kingdom.
"That's vanilla," Pyon said, raising her materialized phone and snapping a quick photo. She activated her analysis ability right away, and after a few seconds, the result popped up.
It really was the legendary herb said to cure almost all diseases. In a world filled with unspeakable disasters, there were also rare fragments of hope scattered throughout the Six Continents.
More often than not, the two were intertwined, forming an eerie kind of balance. For example, there was a liquid known as Liquid of Immortality from lake mobius, a miracle among all liquids, priceless and pure. But wherever it appeared, an "B" level disaster would inevitably be nearby, lurking like a shadow.
The same balance applied here. The Gildrosia represented a catastrophic "disaster," while the vanilla was its direct counterpart, "hope."
What Larry discovered through his Pokédex ability, though, added another layer to this connection. The so-called "hope" was actually just the final, matured form of the parasitic plant that gave birth to the disaster in the first place.
In other words, "disaster" and "hope" weren't just related, they were the same entity at different points in time. The line between the two could be crossed in an instant.
While they were still focused on the vanilla, the group noticed something else, someone else. Standing in front of the overgrown wall, guarding it in silence, was a Gildrosia. But it was nothing like the others they had fought.
This one gave off a completely different vibe. It didn't move, didn't growl or lash out. It just stood there, quiet and still, but the sense of pressure rolling off it was unmistakable.
It wasn't just another soldier. This was the source. The core. The one they had been sensing all along.
"Is it a guard?" After a moment of silence, Larry finally voiced what had been on his mind. He couldn't shake the feeling that this Gildrosia wasn't just standing there, it was guarding Vanilla.
Ging followed Larry's gaze toward the Vanilla embedded in the wall, then back to the unmoving Plants blocking their path. It wasn't backing down in the slightest. "Yeah… you're right. This one's different," Ging muttered.
Both of them felt it, the presence before them wasn't like the other Plants they had encountered. This one gave off a heavy sense of purpose.
And it wasn't just its behavior that stood out. The difference was physical too.
This Plants was massive, taller than an average person, with a bare upper body that showed off bulging, twisted muscles. Those muscles alone made it obvious: this one was built for power. In comparison, the others looked weak, even fragile.
But what truly caught their attention was its head. It had the same smooth, flat, spherical shape as the others, but it was larger, almost a full circle bigger. And the color was completely unique.
Gold Plants were gold. Silver Plants were silver. But this one? The left half of its head gleamed gold, while the right shimmered silver. It was both at once.