Early the next morning.
"You guys head to the exit on Poni Island first. I've got one more thing to take care of."
Julian swallowed the last bite of bread, swung himself onto the back of Moltres, and flew off before the three could ask any questions.
"So secretive," Ember muttered under her breath.
The four of them then headed straight for Poni Island, just as Julian had said. This time, when they left the island, they were not stopped by Tapu Koko, the island's guardian deity.
"Should we kill Kate before leaving? If she survives, she'll give Celestria an excuse to cause trouble for us," Rowan suggested.
Together with the Volkarians, they had wiped out the trainers from Celestria and Gallia.
Only Kate had been lucky enough to escape. Even after the battle ended, they still hadn't been able to find her.
Now, they were about to leave the secret realm.
If Kate were to survive and leave the secret realm later, Celestria and Gallia would find out that their trainers had been killed by the combined efforts of Drakoria and Volkaria.
At that point, it would be hard to avoid stirring up more trouble.
If they killed Kate, then even if Celestria suspected the Drakorian trainers were responsible, there would be no evidence. Besides, Top-tier secret realms were fraught with danger—it was entirely possible their people had died at the hands of wild Pokémon.
"What do you think Julian just went to do?"
Asher shot Rowan a look that said 'are you an idiot.'
"Julian went to find Kate?"
Rowan was stunned, then asked doubtfully, "Does he know where Kate is?"
Kate possessed divination abilities, making it extremely difficult to track her down. Even if you knew her location, by the time you got there, she might have already fled.
"This entire secret realm belongs to Julian now. Do you really think he doesn't know where Kate is hiding?" Asher retorted.
"Oh… right." Rowan nodded subconsciously.
---
Somewhere on Melemele Island, Kate had been living extremely cautiously these past days, not even daring to sleep too deeply at night for fear that the Drakorian trainers might find her.
She was now certain that her companions and the trainers from Gallia had all died in the conspiracy orchestrated by Drakorian and Volkarian trainers.
She was the only survivor, but she knew both Drakorian and Volkarian trainers were still searching for her.
If it wasn't for her divination abilities, she might have already been found by now, despite her hiding place being well-concealed.
Gnawing on the last bits of her military rations, she realized that her food supply was running dangerously low—she had already lost weight from stress and reduced portions.
Even though she had been eating as little as possible—eventually, the food would run out. Once it did, she would have to venture out to find more, increasing the risk of being discovered.
Her two Meowstic nestled close to her on each side.
They had been through a lot too.
Normally playful by nature, they had been confined to this narrow hiding spot because of her.
"Who knows how long we'll have to live like this…"
Kate murmured softly, her face full of endless worry.
She wanted to leave this secret realm, but she had no idea where this secret realm's exit was. If it wasn't on Melemele Island, she might be stuck on this island for a long, long time—until the next wave of trainers arrived.
Still, as long as she survived, it would all be worth it.
The thought lifted her spirits for a brief moment, but exhaustion quickly overwhelmed her. Her eyelids grew heavy, and the next second, she drifted off into a deep sleep.
"Ghehehe~"
A white Gengar materialized, covering its mouth as it laughed.
Its voice startled the two sleeping Meowstic, who immediately checked on their trainer's condition. When they saw that she was merely under Hypnosis, they breathed a sigh of relief.
They were about to confront the Gengar when they realized their bodies couldn't move.
Tap, tap, tap.
Footsteps approached.
A young man stepped into view, accompanied by a silver Metagross. Their inability to move was due to its psychic grip.
"You hid pretty well. Too bad it was useless."
He reached out and retrieved two Poké Balls from Kate. Under the Meowstic's pleading, desperate gazes, he recalled them into their balls—and locked them shut.
"Kill her."
Still deep in sleep, Kate's life was ended by Gengar.
Her soul, too, was devoured.
For Gengar, the soul of a psychic was an exceptionally delicious treat.
"From now on, you're not allowed to absorb any more souls without my permission. You've already absorbed too many lately," Julian said, frowning slightly as he looked at Gengar, who wore an expression of pure satisfaction.
For Ghost-types, the fastest way to grow stronger was by absorbing the souls of the dead, whether they were human or Pokémon.
However, every soul carried its own will. Absorb too many, and those lingering wills could lead to mental instability.
The most common outcome of this was a split personality.
The stronger a Pokémon was in life, the stronger its soul's power after death—especially Psychic-types and Ghost-types. Their souls were the most powerful after death.
And thus, the most coveted by Ghost Pokémon. To them, these souls were like century-old ginseng—a rare, nourishing delicacy.
For example, the last soul Gengar devoured was that of a Chandelure, and it was so potent that it nearly exploded from the overload.
"Gen~"
Gengar nodded vigorously, then gestured to Julian that it was perfectly fine.
After all, it had consumed two Soul Crystals—treasures of the Ghost-type—making its own soul strength terrifyingly robust. Unless it absorbed tens of thousands of souls in a short time, there would be no issues.
"If you say you're fine, that's good, then."
Julian patted Gengar's head, realizing he might have been worrying too much.
This guy was already at the Elite-level, its power more fearsome than ever. On top of that, it carried three Ultimate treasures—two Ghost-type and one Poison-type.
Julian then rummaged through Kate's backpack.
'Well, well.'
He actually found three Elemental Orbs inside.
Previously, they'd only recovered five such orbs from the three Celestrian trainers combined. Yet here, Kate alone had been carrying three.
There were plenty of other treasures too, though none caught Julian's interest.
He packed all her Poké Balls—over a dozen of them—into his bag, then had Metagross teleport them away.
A trainer's death was tragic, but for their Pokémon, the aftermath could be even crueler.
Pokémon deeply bonded with their trainers would rarely accept a second master after losing their first.
It was similar to the idea of a loyal widow who would refuse to remarry. For these Pokémon, the idea of serving a new trainer was simply unthinkable.
Because of this, many such Pokémon—if they possessed exceptional potential but refused a new trainer—they would often be turned into breeding machines to produce Pokémon eggs.
After all, Pokémon with high potential were far more likely to produce high-tier eggs.
And when paired with others of equal caliber, the odds of their offspring inheriting elite traits only grew higher.
*****
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