After collecting a sample of the black water from the pool as usual, Yuga left the stone chamber where the Froslass resided.
In the next stone chamber, Yuga finally found a place resembling a study and laboratory. Inside were many books and instruments, but the books had all rotted and deteriorated, and most of the instruments were in poor condition. Only a small portion of specially made metal items still retained their original appearance.
Similarly, here Yuga encountered many more imprisoned Litwick, Lampent, and a single Chandelure, all of whom he freed.
From the mouth of the Chandelure, Yuga finally confirmed that the owner of this underground palace was the once-famous King Robi. The Froslass had not lied; she had indeed once been King Robi's queen.
This stone chamber had been the site of King Robi's experiments—experiments to transform humans into Pokémon. Aside from the queen, all the soldiers who had followed King Robi were turned into various Ghost-type Pokémon by him—these were the same Pokémon capable of human speech that Yuga had encountered earlier.
Because the experiments were immature, many of those Pokémon were flawed, including being without rational thought.
As for the black shadow Yuga had encountered earlier, they were failed products of even earlier experiments by King Robi.
His experiment involved allowing human souls to seize the bodies of Ghost-type Pokémon, which was why those shadows instinctively attacked Gengar and Mismagius.
The reason the Chandelure knew all this was because it had been imprisoned there and served as a lamp accompanying King Robi during his experiments.
After conveying all this to Yuga, the Chandelure left with its kin.
This laboratory also had traps installed. Fortunately, Yuga had been cautious and avoided triggering them seriously, so they didn't harm him.
Yuga didn't touch anything in this chamber, intending to wait for the League personnel to come and handle it.
Passing through this chamber, Yuga entered a space that was over ten times the size and area of the previous stone rooms. Here, he saw a massive, semi-transparent black crystal standing at the center. Inside the crystal was a middle-aged man with eyes tightly shut.
The middle-aged man appeared to be about forty years old, wearing an ornate suit of armor and holding a gleaming greatsword in his hands, presenting a majestic figure reminiscent of a general.
In addition to this, behind the black crystal stood a throne, upon which sat a completely motionless Golurk.
This Golurk was extremely tall—nearly half a body taller than average members of its species.
The average height of a normal Golurk is around 2.8 meters, but this one was estimated to be over 4 meters tall.
...
[ Golurk ]
Type: Ground, Ghost
Ability: Iron Fist
Gender: None
Potential: Indigo
Level: 93
Moves: Pound, Astonish, Mud-Slap, Iron Defense, Shadow Punch, Stomping Tantrum, Mega Punch, Magnitude, Hammer Arm, Night Shade, Earthquake, Focus Punch, Heavy Slam, High Horsepower, Aura Sphere, Phantom Force, Hyper Beam, Shadow Ball, Flash Cannon, Fire Punch, Gravity, Thunder Punch, Ice Punch, Drain Punch, Earth Power, Zen Headbutt.
...
Yuga hadn't expected it to be a master level Pokémon. However, his presence didn't awaken the Pokémon. The Golurk remained motionless, seated on the throne.
Apart from the Golurk, the massive stone chamber contained several Mismagius drifting about. Their levels were not high, and they appeared to have been assigned to clean, which explained why the chamber was spotless.
While the Golurk didn't react, the Mismagius were quite startled. No one had entered this place for hundreds of years, so when they suddenly saw Yuga and his Gengar, how could they not be frightened?
Yuga speculated that this was likely King Robi's resting place. The middle-aged man inside the black crystal was probably King Robi himself, and the Golurk on the throne might very well be his Pokémon.
At the same time, a thought emerged in Yuga's mind: King Robi went to great lengths to conduct those experiments, even sacrificing his own queen—could it be that he was seeking the long-lasting lifespan of Ghost-type Pokémon?
Then what about this Golurk…
Judging from the case of the Froslass, it seemed that King Robi's experiment had likely already been more than halfway successful at the time.
Just as Yuga was deep in thought, a Mismagius let out a piercing scream, and then two cries echoed throughout the stone chamber.
Focusing his gaze, Yuga suddenly realized that, at some point, two new Pokémon had appeared in the air—one red and one blue. It was none other than Latias and Latios.
This was simply beyond Yuga's expectations. Who would have thought that two Legendary Pokémon would be hidden beneath the outskirts of Verdanturf Town?
However, considering that this was the tomb of King Robi, having two Legendary Pokemon here didn't seem entirely unreasonable.
.. .
[ Latias ]
Type: Dragon, Psychic
Ability: Levitate
Gender: Female
Potential: Unknown
Level: Unknown
Moves: Wish, Helping Hand, Wish, Psywave, Safeguard, Water Sport, Charm, Stored Power, Refresh, Heal Pulse, Dragon Breath, Mist Ball, Telekinesis, Recover, Role Play, Psychic, Dragon Pulse, Dragon Claw, Calm Mind, Psyshock, Thunderbolt, Thunder, Rain Dance, Energy Ball, Aerial Ace, Steel Wing, Draco Meteor, Outrage, Defog, Tailwind, Zen Headbutt.
...
[ Latios ]
Type: Dragon, Psychic
Ability: Levitate
Gender: Male
Potential: Unknown
Level: Unknown
Moves: Parting Gift, Helping Hand, Psywave, Heal Block, Protect, Dragon Dance, Refresh, Heal Pulse, Dragon Breath, Luster Purge, Calm Mind, Recover, Zen Headbutt, Power Split, Psychic, Dragon Pulse, Psyshock, Dragon Claw, Hyper Beam, Ice Beam, Shadow Ball, Double Team, Aerial Ace, Steel Wing, Surf, Draco Meteor, Outrage, Magic Coat.
...
Both Pokémon radiated an incredibly powerful presence, exuding a savage and ferocious aura far stronger than any mythical or Tier 2 Legendary Pokémon Yuga had encountered before.
What Yuga didn't know was that the Latias and Latios before him were once the guardian Pokémon of the Doro Empire—or rather, its national guardian Pokemon.
Later, when King Robi waged war across the lands, the two guardian Pokémon, dissatisfied with the emperor's rule at the time, chose to follow King Robi. They had experienced countless bloody and fiery battles, having truly lived through life-and-death struggles. Naturally, they were not beings that could be compared to ordinary Legendary Pokémon.
The reason the last emperor of the Doro Empire was so easily slain by rebels was precisely because the empire's guardian Pokémon had gone with King Robi to the battlefield, leaving the capital unguarded.
After King Robi disappeared, the two guardian Pokémon also vanished with him.
"Latias~"
"Latios~"
Latias and Latios let out long cries at the same time and launched an attack at Yuga, the intruder. Two Dragon Pulses roared as they blasted toward him.
Gengar and Mismagius swiftly flew forward, firing Dark Pulse and Mystical Fire at the incoming Dragon Pulses, but their attacks were instantly dispersed by the overwhelming force of the Dragon Pulses.
Boom! Boom...
Gengar and Mismagius were struck by the Dragon Pulses and smashed against the nearby wall, instantly losing the ability to fight.
Yuga hadn't expected Latios and Latias to be even stronger than what he had sensed, so he quickly summoned Lunala from within the shadow space.
As soon as Lunala emerged, her powerful aura burst forth, causing Latias and Latios to pause in their actions for a brief moment.
Latias (Latios) simultaneously used the move Helping Hand on her brother (sister), then the two Legendary Pokemon respectively launched their signature moves Mist Ball and Luster Purge toward Lunala.
Mist Ball was an energy sphere enveloped in feathery plumes of energy, while Luster Purge was a radiant beam of light. The two attacks merged together, producing an effect where one plus one exceeded two.
Lunala gently flapped her wings and used her signature move Moongeist Beam, gathering a mass of dark, shadowy energy and immediately firing it. In an instant, it shattered the joint attack from Latias and Latios.
But it didn't end there—Moongeist Beam's powerful shockwave blasted both Legendary Pokemon backward, forcing them to retreat uncontrollably. Seizing the opportunity, Lunala unleashed Moonblast. The dazzling, multicolored light exploded forth, striking the two Pokémon, who had not yet stabilized themselves, and sent them crashing to the ground.
However, Latias and Latios were not Pokémon that would be defeated so easily. A flash of light flickered across their bodies, and all their injuries healed instantly.
They had used the move Recover.
This was a move that, when used effectively, became incredibly troublesome—and the Latias and Latios before Yuga had clearly mastered it to perfection.
The two war-hardened Pokémon had sustained countless wounds in battle, large and small, so it was natural that recovery-type moves were among their most proficient.
Latias and Latios took to the air once again. Their gazes toward Lunala were full of wariness, but even in the face of a powerful intruder, they would never back down.
"Latias~"
Latias let out a long cry and used Tailwind, while Latios, empowered by the Tailwind, used Double Team.
In the blink of an eye, the spacious stone chamber was filled with Latios's afterimages. At this moment, he used Calm Mind.
After greatly boosting his Speed and Special Attack, Latios once again used Dragon Pulse.
The sight of dozens of Latios illusions simultaneously launching Dragon Pulse was quite a spectacle.
While Latios attacked, Latias didn't stay idle either—she quietly used Wish.
Faced with this offensive, Lunala remained composed and unflinching. A strange black hole suddenly formed around her, and the moment the Dragon Pulse attacks surged toward her, the black hole abruptly exploded. The pitch-black energy wave burst like fireworks, shredding all the Dragon Pulse illusions—including the real one hidden among them.
The exploding black hole was the Dark-type move Night Daze, a very rare move. Among known Pokémon, only Lunala, Zorua, and Zoroark could use it.
But when used by a Tier 1 Legendary Pokemon like Lunala, its effect was certainly different from that of a Zoroark.
The tremendous force unleashed by the exploding Night Daze threw the entire stone chamber into chaos. The black crystal at the center that preserved the corpse of King Robi toppled to the ground, and the Golurk on the throne also crashed down.
Yet even after all that, the Golurk still showed no signs of waking. If not for the massive life force Yuga could still sense from it, one might have thought it was already dead.
After surveying the scene in the chamber, Latias and Latios were enraged. Together, they used Zen Headbutt and charged at Lunala.
Lunala didn't dodge at all. Instead, she used her signature move Moongeist Beam. The pitch-black pillar of energy instantly engulfed Latias and Latios.
After the light pillar faded, the two Legendary Pokemon were lying on the ground in a sorry state. At that moment, a beam of light descended from the sky and landed on Latios, and Latios's injuries immediately improved by more than half.
It was the Wish that Latias had cast in advance taking effect.
After Latios regained his mobility, he used a Heal Pulse on Latias, and Latias's injuries were also healed.
The two Pokémon rose from the ground and simultaneously used Recover. In an instant, all their wounds were healed.
Seeing this scene, Yuga frowned in frustration. These Pokémon with such exaggerated recovery ability were really hard to deal with. This reminded Yuga of that Deoxys, who had managed to battle Rayquaza on equal footing by relying on its powerful regenerative abilities.
However, the performance of Latias and Latios made Yuga feel that his speculation might not be wrong.
Seeing Latios and Latias acting like two cockroaches that couldn't be killed, Lunala also became impatient. It turned its head and let out a cry toward Yuga, who understood the meaning and took out Florges's Poké Ball.
Originally, Yuga thought Lunala would be enough to deal with Latias and Latios. He didn't expect these two Legendary Pokemon to be so much more troublesome than imagined, to the point that Lunala had no choice but to seek help from Florges.
Ever since its evolution, Lunala's strength had been growing explosively, far stronger than when it had just evolved. Yet it still couldn't take down Latias and Latios, which showed how formidable these two Pokémon were.
After releasing Florges, Yuga said to it, "Florges, Misty Terrain!"
"Florges"
Florges responded, and soon, pale pink mist rose beneath her feet. The mist spread continuously and soon filled the entire stone chamber, forming an energy field full of Fairy-type energy.
Surrounded by the Misty Terrain, Latias and Latios, as Dragon-type Pokémon, felt uncomfortable all over, uneasily circling in the air.
Yuga then said, "Florges, Fairy Aura."
Florges nodded. A pink radiance lit up on her body and simultaneously reflected onto Lunala.
Seeing that everything was ready, Yuga said to his two Pokémon at the same time, "Double Moonblast!"
"Lunala~"
Lunala howled up toward the sky, and behind it suddenly appeared a huge full moon. Silvery moonlight poured down onto it and Florges, and a silvery energy cluster began to condense in front of both Pokémon.
"Lunala~"
"Florges"
Two intertwined silver beams of light were fired from Lunala and Florges, instantly engulfing Latias and Latios.
As two cries of pain came from within the light pillars, Yuga knew—the outcome had been decided.
Sure enough, after the light pillars dissipated, the two Pokémon lay motionless on the ground.
However, there are always unexpected events. Just as Yuga was about to go check on Latias and Latios, the two Pokémon suddenly opened their eyes again and simultaneously lunged toward the fallen Golurk.
A sudden change had occurred…