CHAPTER 409: INVESTIGATION

John decided to take on a mission first.

He chose the first one.

[Recently, a large number of berserk Pokemon have appeared on Route 108. According to the investigation, the source of the Pokemon’s rage is an abandoned ship. Because there are numerous powerful Pokemon in the area, investigators cannot approach safely. Request Elite Four and Champion assistance to eliminate the source of the Pokemon rampage.]

Presumably it should be related to Water-type Pokemon.

Time to be a happy electric fish again.

Using Fly on Salamence, he arrived at Dewford Town, then headed east by water to reach Route 108.

Just a few steps forward, John immediately entered a battle screen.

[A Shadow Tentacool jumped out of the water!]

Shadow Tentacool [LV15]

Seeing the Tentacool covered in thick dark aura in front of him, John froze for a moment.

"Shadow Pokemon?"

"The berserk Pokemon that the investigator mentioned are Shadow Pokemon?"

Using Zeraora to fire Thunder Shock for an instant KO, John continued forward.

After a few steps, John encountered another Shadow Pokemon, this time a level 20 Tentacruel.

"It seems this isn’t a coincidence," John frowned in thought, making some connections.

Was it possible that this batch of Shadow Pokemon came from the same source as the Shadow Pokemon that attacked Alto Mare last time?

Although the Shadow Pokemon here were weaker.

But if he thought about it carefully, wasn’t the direction the group of Shadow Pokemon headed when they left toward the Hoenn Region?

Hmm, the distance from Hoenn to Alto Mare seemed quite far though.

"Maybe the creators of those Shadow Pokemon came to the Hoenn Region?" John speculated.

I let you escape last time, but you won’t be able to run this time, right?

Continuing forward, John began to encounter Shadow Pokemon frequently, basically running into one every few steps. Even using Repel was useless, Shadow Pokemon had no natural instincts and were immune to repellent sprays.

And as John got closer to the abandoned shipwreck, the Shadow Pokemon he encountered became stronger.

When John reached the deck of the sunken ship, he had encountered a level 50 Wailord at the highest.

He controlled his character into the sunken ship.

Immediately, a prompt popped up before his eyes.

[Enter special dungeon "Shadow Sea Mauville"? Yes/No (disappears after completion)]

[Dungeon recommended entry level: 90]

"A level 90 dungeon?"

This was the same difficulty as the Victory Road he had just cleared!

John looked forward to meeting the creator of the Shadow Pokemon more and more.

"Enter!"

The scenery in front of John changed, and he had already entered the dungeon.

The sky above was covered by dark haze, the deck of the abandoned shipwreck beneath his feet, and a group of Shadow Pokemon covered in dark aura were all staring at John.

"Garde~" Gardevoir took the initiative to emerge from her Pokeball.

"What’s wrong?"

"Garde! (I found the psychic imprint that was left behind!)"

John raised his eyebrows. "Did it remain on that Shadow Dragonite?"

"Garde! (Yes!)"

"I knew it!" John chuckled and released another Pokeball.

Garchomp landed on the deck and immediately completed its Mega Evolution!

"Clear the way!"

"Graaah!" Mega Garchomp let out a low growl and rushed forward, galloping across the deck with swift steps.

A Dragon Claw shattered the obstacle.

It wasn’t just the steel door that was smashed, but also a Shadow Kabutops that had been hidden behind it!

The level 70 Kabutops was incapacitated on the spot, it didn’t even have the honor to make Mega Garchomp launch another attack.

"Graaah!" Mega Garchomp let out another roar, leaped, and flew into the air. The next moment, thick Dragon-type energy erupted from its body like molten lava.

Dragon Rush!

BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!

Straight through.

Gardevoir was already floating in mid-air, hands extended, scanning the entire abandoned shipwreck with her powerful psychic abilities, searching for targets while simultaneously providing Mega Garchomp with a route forward.

John walked slowly, looking around as he moved forward.

The name of this abandoned shipwreck was Sea Mauville.

It was a subsea energy mining platform owned by the large Mauville Holdings company. New Mauville, beneath Mauville City, was also built by Greater Mauville Holdings.

However, Greater Mauville Holdings was currently out of business.

Who made them rivals with Steven’s Devon Corporation?

After Devon successfully realized the practical application of Infinity Energy, Greater Mauville Holdings, which mainly dealt in conventional energy, began to gradually decline.

At the same time, when it rains, it pours, the New Mauville project under Mauville City was halted because the project leader "Watson" worried that such massive construction would affect the living environment of surrounding Pokemon. Greater Mauville Holdings was thus devastated.

Eventually, shortly after the New Mauville project fell through, the company was forced to evacuate its main office, Sea Mauville. Greater Mauville Holdings subsequently declared bankruptcy.

Before the facility was demolished, investigators discovered that the site had developed a unique ecological environment, and Sea Mauville was thus preserved as a nature reserve. After many years, the ruins and environment had become compatible to form a special landscape, and Sea Mauville was remodeled as a tourist attraction.

On normal days, there were quite a few people swimming with Pokemon around here. If there were no Shadow Pokemon, John would probably have been "harassed" by those trainers along the way.

Walking through Sea Mauville, John could vaguely see the markings of Greater Mauville Holdings.

The "Rules and Regulations" of Greater Mauville Holdings were plastered on the walls of one lobby:

1: Say "Good morning" out loud

2: Pokemon are forbidden in the workplace

3: Arrive on time, always work overtime

4: Sacrifice yourself and confirm your safety

5: Teamwork, joint responsibility

6: Absolutely obey the boss’s orders

7: Maintain quality, abandon rationality

8: Worship and praise the founder

9: Don’t expect time off until retirement

10: No need to think, just work

"Tsk tsk, what kind of employees did Greater Mauville Holdings want? They wanted corporate slaves!" John couldn’t help but comment.

No wonder it had to go bankrupt.

Deserved it.

"Garde~ (Scan complete)" Gardevoir retracted her hands, and her psychic energy stabilized.

"Build a 3D model."

Gardevoir extended her hands again, and a platform model similar to an aircraft carrier appeared in front of John. The appearance and movements of Pokemon within were lifelike.

Moving his gaze to the bottom of the model, a girl with twin ponytails nearly reaching the ground caught John’s attention.

"Garchomp, Dig!"