The evening wind tugged at their jackets as Staraptor sliced through the clouds with practiced ease, wings outstretched, eyes trained forward.
The brothers sat astride the powerful bird, the elder of the two gently scratching at the creature's nape. Staraptor gave a low chirp of contentment and slowed its speed slightly, coasting more than flying now.
Michael leaned in closer, arms snug around Asher's waist, and broke the silence."Bro, what happened back there? Why did you leave with those security guys like some top-secret agent? "
Asher gave a small sigh, shifting his weight."We detected a spatial anomaly near the southern ridge of Base-3. Some kind of unidentified Pokémon managed to breach the breeding zone."
Michael blinked."You mean someone snuck a Pokémon in? A visitor's?"
Asher shook his head."Nope. We are not that lucky. We have strict bio-lock protocols for all visiting Pokémon—Guard's Pokémon too. If it slipped through without detection, it means one of two things."
Michael raised a brow."I feel like I will hate both of those options already."
Asher chuckled softly."First option : the Pokémon was native to the dungeon but went unnoticed during the scans. Not likely—those breeder dungeons are combed down to every last pebble before any stabilizer gets installed."
Michael perked up, shifting to sit straighter."Remind me again—what do those stabilizers do?"
Asher smirked."Fine. Think of it like this—dungeons are naturally unstable pocket dimensions. Without stabilizers, they can collapse, fuse into other zones, or even rupture into the real world. Regular stabilizers—Class-B—are standard for league-monitored dungeons. They keep the spatial matrix calm and tethered."
He glanced back, eyebrow raised."But ours? They're fitted with Class-A stabilizers. Private-use grade. Super expensive. They not only stabilize the zone but also create isolation buffers to block external influence. That's why unknown entries are nearly impossible."
Michael's eyes sparkled with interest. Completely forgetting about the main issue, he started asking questions."Wait, spacial stabilizer tech originate from Florazul, right? That's that jungle place where all the ruins are, right? Didn't they find it in a S-class Ruin or something insane like that?"
Asher nodded."Yeah. And the stabilizer tech was reverse-engineered from one of the S-Class ruins there. It was pretty messy back then as they were only country with the tech."
He smirked."Of course, when Florazul's government said they'd share it freely for the good of mankind, other nations were not convinced. They were like, 'God knows if what you give us is the original without any tinkering, we are not eager to take an L ,if given some useless papers', the governments were already not in the right mind with all the mess going on at that time, so it would have been a war if we weren't lucky."
Michael laughed."Typical."
Asher continued, voice tinged with dry humor."So, instead of diplomacy, we got black-market chaos. One of the researchers leaked the schematics. A bunch of businessmen from various countries, bought the data before any government could react. Smart move—governments were broke or mid-civil wars at the time anyway. These guys launched their own tech corporations overnight."
Michael blinked."Wait, so that's how we got stabilizers?"
"Basically. The Leagues formed and tried to control it later by buying 40-50% stakes in those companies and then gave those businessmen honorary titles like they were war heroes. The rest of the world? Either stole the tech, erased it, or rage-quit."
Michael gave a whistle."Sounds like a mess."
"It was a mess. One guy in the Eastern continent burned every copy of his stabilizer blueprints before the army could raid him. The country lost five years of tech just like that. Dude vanished—probably runs a smoothie shop in other nations now."
Michael chuckled, remembering the reason this discussion started, then grew more serious."So… back to the thing in the dungeon. What's the second option?"
Asher's face turned grim."A legendary. One capable of tearing into dungeons through sheer force of will or spatial manipulation. We detected a massive aura signature. By the time we got there, it was gone. No signs of aggression, but..."
He didn't need to finish the sentence.
Michael's voice dropped. "Jeez… We're lucky it wasn't hostile."
"Extremely. Still, this'll probably force a shutdown of the site. Maybe even full evacuation." Asher said.
Michael brightened."Or Grandpa could sell the dungeon and get a new one! Fresh start, right?"
Asher laughed outright this time, shaking his head."That's not how it works, bud. That dungeon's registered under our family's name. Selling it now would mean declaring it compromised—it would mean even League Champion Drake listed it as high-risk. No one would buy it unless they had a death wish."
"Well, All business guys do have a death wish when it comes to profit margins." Michael quipped.
Asher just rolled his eyes."True. But still, this isn't a joke. It's one of our family's important breeder site. If we lose it..."
He trailed off as Staraptor began its descent.
Their house appeared below—large but modest, nestled in a plateaued clearing between jagged canyon walls. A Salamence snoozed near the fence line, one eye cracked open lazily as the familiar Staraptor approached. The father's dragonite circled overhead in lazy arcs, ever the aerial sentinel.
As they dismounted, their feet hadn't even touched the grass when Janice sprinted from the house, her face pale and frantic.
"Michael! Asher!"
Victor followed right behind her, his usual calm expression shaken.
Janice rushed to Michael first, pulling him into a fierce hug, her fingers patting him down like she was checking for burns or bruises.
"I was just told what happened—Your Grandfather called personally. Are you hurt? Are you alright?"
Michael flinched slightly from the intensity, but melted into the hug."I am fine, Mom. Promise. I wasn't even in there"
Asher stepped forward, arms open, and she pulled him in too.
Victor placed a hand on both boys' shoulders, voice level but strained."Dad said the stabilizers were overcharged. The anomaly triggered a system reboot. They're relocating the equipment to another site."
Asher nodded, tone calm."It approached and left before we got there. We weren't in danger, just near the detection field."
Victor gave a slow nod."Dad's already working with League logistics. But this affects more than just our family. A legendary Pokemon at the master class is a very alarming situation, hopefully it isn't hostile to humanity."
Janice gave both boys one final look, eyes softening.
"Come inside. We'll talk after dinner. You both smell like dungeon air and old feathers."
Michael sniffed himself and recoiled."Ew—yeah, fair point."
Asher simply chuckled, guiding his little brother toward the house, the setting sun casting long shadows across the land.
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