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The dark storm erupted violently, sending scattered winds racing in every direction like the collapse of towering skyscrapers. The corrupted Dark Lugia plummeted from its position high in the sky, crashing heavily into the newly reinforced ice below. The impact sent deep cracks spider-webbing across the frozen surface once again.

Chris hovered in mid-air, having already received the system notification confirming Dark Lugia's defeat. The massive amount of experience gained from the battle had nearly caused all the Pokemon he'd deployed to level up simultaneously.

His gaze shifted to Lovrina in the distance.

The dungeon wasn't over yet—not while she remained undefeated.

However, with Dark Lugia's fall, Lovrina had lost her greatest asset. Her defeat was now inevitable, and she knew it.

Lovrina understood this reality all too well.

After witnessing Zeraora's terrifying power firsthand, she couldn't bear the thought of attempting to capture it and transform it into another Dark Pokemon. The risk was simply too great.

Her thoughts now turned to escape—finding sanctuary where the organization could regroup and plan their return.

She had successfully captured a Lugia and corrupted it into a Dark Pokemon before. Surely she could do the same with another Legendary Pokemon when the opportunity arose.

Her eyes darted to the Dark Dragonite still being overwhelmed by Chris's Mega Garchomp.

Forget the Dark Dragonite, she thought bitterly. It can't even defeat a single Garchomp.

Perhaps a surprise attack on another Champion would prove more fruitful.

Lovrina fixed Chris with a piercing stare, memorizing every detail of his appearance. When she possessed sufficient strength again, she would return to make him pay dearly for this humiliation.

She raised her hand, signaling for Malamar to teleport her away from this disaster.

But after waiting more than ten seconds, Lovrina found herself still standing in the same spot. The scenery before her remained unchanged—no teleportation had occurred.

"Malamar?" she called out, thinking perhaps the Dark Malamar hadn't understood her command. She turned to look at her Pokemon.

What greeted her were eyes that had spiraled into unconsciousness, resembling hypnotic swirls.

Dark Malamar had fainted.

"What... when did this happen?!" Lovrina felt a chill of horror run through her. The Dark Malamar had been floating behind her the entire time, even now supporting her with its Psychic abilities. How had it lost consciousness so silently?

Her eyes suddenly fell upon Mega Gardevoir, elegant in its flowing black dress-like appearance.

The Psychic-type Pokemon floated gracefully behind the unconscious Dark Malamar, its form poised and dignified.

When did Mega Gardevoir get so close?!

Before Lovrina could process this revelation fully, darkness suddenly clouded her vision. Her consciousness plunged uncontrollably into an abyss, as if something was dragging her down into the depths where resistance was impossible.

Chris remained suspended in the air above.

Taking down both Lovrina and her Dark Malamar had been surprisingly simple—nothing more than a well-timed double Hypnosis attack.

However, what puzzled him now was why the dungeon hadn't registered as complete.

Lugia had been defeated.

Lovrina had been defeated as well.

Every enemy that should have been conquered in this dungeon had fallen.

Was there some more powerful presence still lurking in the shadows?

Chris furrowed his brow in concentration.

Come to think of it, this particular dungeon hadn't seemed to mention any specific objectives...

This was the first time Chris had encountered such an unusual situation.

He descended slowly, studying the fallen Dark Lugia with intense curiosity.

Could this be... a free-roam dungeon where capturing Lugia was actually possible?

Drawing a Poke Ball from his belt, he threw it at the unconscious Legendary Pokemon.

The red capture beam met no resistance whatsoever—Lugia was successfully caught on the first attempt.

Chris raised his eyebrows in surprise. This Lugia hadn't actually been caught by Lovrina?

It was peculiar how villains in these scenarios never seemed to use Poke Balls after capturing Legendary Pokemon, but that was beside the point.

The troubling aspect, however, was that this Lugia remained a genuine Dark Pokemon. Unlike naturally aggressive Pokemon such as Aerodactyl, this Lugia had been artificially corrupted through Lovrina's technology.

Without any free will remaining, it had become nothing more than a living weapon.

If he intended to command and train it properly, removing its Dark Pokemon condition would be essential.

"I remember from the games that to turn Dark Pokemon back into normal Pokemon, you need something called a Purification Chamber," Chris murmured to himself.

That technology seemed to be exclusive to the Orre Region...

"Wake up!"

With a sharp snap of his fingers, Chris roused Lovrina from her Hypnosis-induced unconsciousness.

"Uh..." A confused sound escaped her lips before Lovrina lost consciousness again, though this time she fell into a trance-like state rather than complete unconsciousness.

"What region did you travel to Hoenn from?" Chris inquired.

"Ferrum Region," Lovrina answered honestly, her voice carrying the distant quality of someone talking in their sleep.

"Ferrum Region?" This answer was completely different from what Chris had expected.

The Ferrum Region was the setting for "Pokken Tournament" in the Pokemon series.

Did this region have connections to Dark Pokemon technology?

Chris considered this carefully. The only thing he could recall relating to Dark Pokemon from that region was the final boss "Shadow Mewtwo" from Pokken Tournament.

Could Shadow Mewtwo also be one of Lovrina's creations?

Probably not, he reasoned.

If Shadow Mewtwo had been her work, she surely would have brought it with her to this confrontation.

In that case, he would have had absolutely no chance of defeating Lovrina so easily.

"Do you know the route to the Ferrum Region?" Chris asked.

"Yes."

"How do you get there?"

"I have a map to the Ferrum Region in my laboratory."

"Perfect!" Chris raised his eyebrows, never expecting such a fortunate discovery. He gestured to Mega Gardevoir.

Mega Gardevoir's psychic power immediately expanded downward toward the depths of Sea Mauville, searching for the map to the Ferrum Region.

"What region are you originally from?" Chris changed his question this time.

"Orre Region."

Exactly as he'd suspected! Chris knew his intuition had been correct.

"Do you know the route to the Ferrum Region from Orre?"

"No... I don't know."

"You don't know? Then how did you reach the Ferrum Region?" Chris asked with surprise.

"Professor Krane sent me from the Orre Region to Ferrum on a special aircraft for training purposes," Lovrina replied truthfully, her voice maintaining that distant, trance-like quality.

Cipher—that was the name of the evil organization from the Orre Region. Professor Krane, an executive and chief scientist of Cipher, had overseen the research and development of Dark Pokemon technology.

"Did he mention when he would return to collect you?" Chris pressed.

"Never."

Well, that was disappointing...

It seemed his idea of traveling directly to the Orre Region through Lovrina wouldn't be feasible after all.

"Do you have a method to transform Dark Lugia back into a normal Pokemon?"

"Yes."

"What method?"

"Through the Purification Chamber in my laboratory."

"If your goal is to transform all Pokemon into Dark Pokemon, why would you have a Purification Chamber in your laboratory?"

"Occasionally, imperfect Dark Pokemon are created that need to be purified and reformed."