After entering the room, Silas found that the entire turbine chamber was filled with all kinds of complicated instruments.
Many of them looked incomprehensible, and most had long since fallen into disrepair.
However, a few screens were still faintly glowing, casting dim light across the chamber and barely providing enough visibility to see.
Silas did not turn on his searchlight immediately.
What if a Pokémon was hiding somewhere in the darkness?
If he suddenly turned on a bright light, it would be the same as shouting:
"I'm here—come attack me!"
The turbine chamber was enormous.
Passageways and rooms connected in a maze-like layout.
Silas carefully opened the nearest door.
After checking inside and confirming that it was only an ordinary rest room, he finally relaxed a little.
He and his Pokémon entered the room and temporarily used it as a resting spot.
The room had only one ventilation opening- a small window in the ceiling.
"Whew…"
Dust covered everything.
The walls, furniture, and floor were all buried under a thick layer.
It was obvious that no one had lived here for years.
Silas shined his flashlight toward the floor.
In one spot, the dust was slightly thinner than the surrounding area.
There seemed to be a faint pattern there.
"…Footprints?"
Judging from the shape, they were probably left by someone who had explored the place long ago.
The imprint was extremely faint.
Of course, there was another possibility.
"That means the person who left this footprint was a woman… and very light."
Only someone with a very light body weight could leave such a shallow print that dust almost covered it completely.
Before Silas could carefully examine the room for more traces ,The entire power plant suddenly shook violently.
BOOM!
Rumble…
Dust fell from the ceiling and walls like gray snow.
The layer of dust on the floor thickened even further.
His Pokémon instantly became alert.
Silas raised his hand to signal them to stay calm while listening carefully.
Even though this was a small abandoned power plant, it had been built using extremely sturdy materials.
For the entire steel structure to shake like this…
Whatever caused it was definitely not ordinary.
Silas's expression became serious.
He loaded a bolt into his crossbow before cautiously opening the door again.
Only after everything was ready did he slowly move deeper into the turbine chamber.
...
The Strange Energy
The chamber was incredibly spacious.
Under the dim lighting, the end of the room couldn't even be seen.
Everything faded into darkness.
The only sounds were the footsteps of Silas and his Pokémon, occasionally mixed with faint metallic clanking.
Silas guessed those noises were made by wild Pokémon living here.
As he approached the source of the earlier disturbance, something strange happened.
The energy in the air became noticeably denser.
Inside the sealed space, breathing even felt slightly difficult.
Leading the way was Crawdaunt But the moment Crawdaunt approached the center area, its expression suddenly changed.
It looked uncomfortable.
Oppressed.
Even… frightened.
For a Pokémon like Crawdaunt, who was normally bold and aggressive,to show such fear was extremely unusual.
Especially since Silas's Crawdaunt had already gone through countless battles.
Even Silas was momentarily stunned.
Even when facing strong elite-level Pokémon before, Crawdaunt had always charged forward without hesitation.
Silas immediately stepped forward and tried to calm it down.
After all, if Crawdaunt was reacting like this…
The other Pokémon were even more affected.
Only Sandile seemed completely unaffected.
The rest of his Pokémon all showed varying degrees of fear.
It was as if something in their instincts warned them to be afraid.
"Could there be a powerful Electric-type Pokémon inside?"
Silas couldn't think of any other explanation.
After all, Electric types naturally counter Water and Flying types But what kind of Pokémon could cause such deep fear?
"Could it be… a quasi-Elite Pokémon?"
A quasi-Elite Pokémon would normally be level 60 or above.
Up to this point, Silas had only encountered a few Pokémon at that level.
.....
The Suspicious Camp
Silas continued exploring carefully through the complicated passages.
Some corridors ended in dead ends.
Others split into multiple paths.
Most of the rooms he found were empty and filled with dust.
There were also signs that Pokémon had once been there Scratches on the walls and marks from battles But strangely…He didn't encounter any Pokémon.
It was as if someone had already cleared them out.
When Silas explored the fourth passage, he finally noticed something unusual.
He hid his presence and moved quietly forward.
On the ground were fresh footprints.
Human footprints.
Along with Pokémon tracks.
Judging from how clear they were, they must have been left recently.
Then Silas noticed something else.
A faint scent drifting from deeper inside.
"…Food?"
He slowly approached.
Inside the room, it was obvious that someone had been living there.
There was no dust.
Everything looked clean and organized.
In one corner were piles of supplies:
food
water
daily necessities
A campfire was burning.
An iron pot hung above it, cooking something.
"It looks like someone has been using this place as a temporary camp."
"That would explain why we didn't encounter any Pokémon along the way… they were probably driven away."
Silas searched the room carefully But he found no one.
He walked over to the campfire and stared at the burning embers.
"The person should have been here just moments ago…"
"Otherwise where did that noise come from?"
Just as Silas prepared to leave ,A shadow suddenly burst out from the corner.
Lightning flashed across the entire room.
"Not good!"
Silas instantly jumped backward.
At the same time, his Pokémon activated Protect.
A green barrier appeared and successfully blocked the attack.
Silas quickly focused on the attacker.
It was a canine Pokémon crackling with electricity. Its body was blue, with a yellowmane shaped like lightning ,eyes glowed crimson in the darkness.
Two sharp tufts of fur stood upright on its head like horns.
It was the Discharge Pokémon –Manectric.
But when Silas rushed out of the passage,He saw that the lights in the central hall had already been turned on.
Standing in the center was a girl with short black hair, wearing a tight combat outfit.
Her face looked familiar.
Silas frowned slightly.
"…Kiera?"
It was the Gym apprentice he had defeated yesterday during his battle at the Mauville Gym But the girl no longer looked the same as before.
Her lips twitched slightly.
Her eyes were filled with unmasked killing intent.
"Manectric-Thunder Fang!"
Before Silas could even ask why she attacked him, Kiera gave the order again.
The target of the attack was Silashimself.
<><><><><><>
[You read till here… now pay the Power stone tax 😌 (just kidding… or am I?)]
(End of chapter)