Chapter – 9

After the decidedly unpleasant revelation that was his potential impending doom, Professor Oak had bid farewell to Aman and his companions under the excuse of needing time to digest the information.

In reality, Hikaru had immediately retreated to his core room to vent his frustrations and rant to the only being available.

His loyal minion. Trapinch.

Hikaru was beginning to realize just how much he had changed as a person. The initial panic he had felt at hearing Stella casually discuss kingdoms destroying dungeons had lasted all of thirty seconds.

After that, it had swiftly transformed into the absolute indignation of a dungeon core.

“Can you believe their audacity?” Hikaru demanded. “They actually think it’s better to risk facing me than let another kingdom have access to some magical berries. A few measly berries!”

Trapinch clicked his jaws in agreement.

“They must think I’m a joke. Some pushover they can simply walk all over. Hah. Well, I say let them try.”

The surrounding mana stirred with his emotions, causing the core room to tremble slightly.

“Seriously, what kind of plan is that? ‘Oh no, our neighbor might get access to some useful resources. Better go pick a fight with a living dungeon with god-like powers.’ Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.”

Trapinch chittered indignantly.

“Exactly! They probably think this is some basic newborn dungeon with no defenses. They don’t know about the terrifying guardian protecting my core. Not that they’ll ever find my core in the first place. Anyone stupid enough to pick a fight with me is only in for a world of hurt.”

Trapinch nodded, looking toward the dungeon entrance with determination, as though already considering how best to bury the intruders.

“So it’s decided then. While I’ll be working on phase two, you’ll take up permanent residence in the Pokécenter and keep watch over my core whenever Professor Oak isn’t around.”

Trapinch’s jaws paused mid-click.

The Pokémon turned toward his creator, confusion evident in his eyes.

Honestly, Trapinch had mostly been humoring his master this entire time.

He had long since grown accustomed to Hikaru’s occasional bouts of dramatic ranting and knew it was usually best to nod along and let him run out of steam on his own.

He had not been expecting the sudden assignment.

Trapinch considered himself the primary guardian of the dungeon. It was his duty to stand as the final line of defense between any intruder and his master’s core.

That said, he had never been particularly concerned about the dungeon’s security.

Any enemy would first need to fight their way through the denizens of Viridian Forest, navigate a dark and confusing cave system and somehow locate the core room itself.

By that point, anyone still standing would already be exhausted.

Finishing them off would be easy, especially with his new body.

Not that it would amount to much.

His master had cleverly hidden the real core inside the large red building near the dungeon’s entrance. Even if an intruder reached this room and somehow defeated him, all they would find was disappointment and, eventually, Trapinch’s revenge.

Confident in both his own abilities and his master’s ingenuity, Trapinch had grown quite comfortable spending his days lazing around inside the original core room.

Being assigned to guard the Pokécenter sounded exhausting.

Not dangerous.

He had no doubts about his ability to deal with any mortal foolish enough to threaten his creator.

No, the problem was the eventual stream of people coming and going from the building.

Watching over all of them sounded like a tremendous nuisance.

Unfortunately, Hikaru either failed to notice his reluctance or simply didn’t care.

“What? Oh right. I never actually explained that part, did I?”

Hikaru rubbed the back of his head.

“You know how I get when I’m focused on a project. Even if it’s unlikely anyone will find my core, there’s always a chance. And I can’t always keep an eye on the Pokécenter.”

Pointing at Trapinch, he continued.

“You’ll be my alarm system. Most people will probably mind their own business if I’m not around, but if someone starts snooping where they shouldn’t, you can scare them off.”

Hikaru shrugged.

“And if that doesn’t work, just let me know. I’ll figure something out.”

Trapinch let out a defeated sigh.

There was no escaping this assignment.

Protecting the core was his duty.

His creator had given him life. The least he could do was ensure nobody threatened his.

“Don’t worry.”

Hikaru finally seemed to notice the look on his minion’s face.

“Once I’m finished with this project, you won’t have to suffer for much longer. Then you can go back to hiding in your cave and continue being a little introvert.”

Trapinch immediately felt much better.

“Because by then, I’ll have my own army protecting me.”

Trapinch tilted his head.

He had been hearing about this mysterious phase two ever since the first human visited the dungeon, but Hikaru had never properly explained what it actually involved.

His curious stare did not go unnoticed.

However, Hikaru had no intention of explaining. After all, Trapinch unfortunately lacked the necessary otherworldly context to appreciate the brilliance of his plan.

Instead, Hikaru looked down at the metallic sphere currently floating in his hands.

A wide grin slowly spread across his face.

These people were already losing their minds over a few magical berries he had created using the potions he had found in Aman’s bag.

He wondered how they would react to this.

Because Hikaru had finally decided what he would introduce to the world of Esalia next.

The single most iconic item in the entire Pokémon franchise.

The Pokéball.

Yes, that’s right. Hikaru was currently working on recreating perhaps the most important item in any Pokémon game.

Now, one might reasonably ask how exactly he planned to replicate an object capable of digitizing living creatures and storing them inside a metal sphere.

Well, Hikaru had a plan. Like usual.

In fact, the inspiration had practically fallen into his lap a few days ago.

Initially, when Hikaru had liberated Aman’s enchanted, space-defying canteen, he had been planning to reverse engineer it and learn how to fold space himself. Perhaps then he could add pocket dimensions, instance dungeons and other similarly useful features to his growing dungeon. The possibilities had simply been too tempting to ignore.

Unfortunately, he had quickly discovered one small problem.

Space mana was a bitch.

Unlike the other mana types, it absolutely refused to stay put. Any structure he created with it would slowly unravel the moment he stopped actively maintaining it.

The only permanent solution he had found so far was enchantment.

And what a beautiful solution it was.

Enchantments were, as far as Hikaru could tell, the language of mana given form. By arranging them into specific patterns, one could fundamentally alter reality itself.

He still had no idea how the mortal races had discovered such a thing. The vague explanations provided by the System suggested some degree of divine involvement, but that was a mystery for another day.

What mattered was that enchantments worked.

Unfortunately, it also meant Hikaru now had to learn an entirely new language from scratch using nothing but a handful of enchanted objects and a beginner’s guide to enchanting he had found in Aman’s bag.

Apparently, whatever magical nonsense the System had used to download mortal languages into his mind had forgotten to include the very important language of mana.

Thankfully, Hikaru possessed some bullshit powers of his own.

Hikaru had failed to notice it because he was still acclimating to his new existence, but at some point during his transformation into a dungeon core, he had stopped possessing an actual brain.

Memory. Cognition. Reasoning. Every function normally handled by the fleshy organ was now performed directly by his soul.

Hikaru was no longer human. Neither was his mind.

As his Authority expanded, and by extension his soul, so too did his mental capabilities.

It explained how he could process the countless sensory inputs generated by everything within his Authority without immediately going insane. It also allowed him to divide his thoughts into separate compartments, each working independently on different tasks.

His mind had effectively become an absurdly powerful computer, with all the processing power that entailed.

With that advantage, mastering the fundamentals of enchanting had taken only a few days.

The difficult part was figuring out, through trial and error, how to actually apply that knowledge.

Then Hikaru had what he considered a brilliant idea.

Instead of wasting time creating something boring like a flaming sword or an infinite water bottle, he could focus on solving a much more important problem.

Namely, how to store a living creature inside an object without killing it.

And thus, Phase Two: Project Pokéball was born.

Of course, he was nowhere near finished. The sphere floating before him was merely a prototype for a prototype.

Still, progress was progress.

At his current pace, he expected results within a few weeks.

Possibly sooner if some generous adventurer happened to donate a few more enchanted artifacts for the advancement of science.

Entirely voluntarily, of course.

Now, some might be wondering why Hikaru was so obsessed with recreating a Pokéball in the first place.

The answer was simple.

Hikaru had realized something important.

His Pokémon weren’t really Pokémon. At least, not to the people of this world.

To them, every single one of his creations was viewed as nothing more than just another variety of magical beast, something to study or kill for resources.

The people of Esalia lacked the rich history and cultural context necessary to truly appreciate what Pokémon represented.

They didn’t know about the bond between Trainer and Pokémon.

They didn’t know about the adventures of Red, Gold, Brendan and all the other protagonists.

They didn’t know about Gym Battles, Contests, Leagues or the journey to become a Champion.

They didn’t know about Arceus or the lore surrounding his creations.

To them, Pokémon were merely intelligent animals.

Hikaru refused to accept that.

If he wanted people to understand the true potential of his creations, then simply recreating the creatures wasn’t enough.

He had to recreate the entire concept.

The stories. The adventure. The relationship.

Hikaru would create his own little corner of the Pokémon world inside his dungeon.

And to do that, he first needed to create Pokéballs.

Because once people could catch their own Pokémon, train alongside them and grow stronger together, they would begin to understand exactly what made Pokémon so special.

And who knew?

If being a Pokémon Trainer proved popular enough, Hikaru might just create an entire army of loyal supporters.

Supporters who would become very interested in ensuring the continued survival of the dungeon that supplied them with Pokémon.

“Hahaha.”

The laugh escaped before he could stop it.

“Muwahaha.”

Sometimes, even Hikaru was impressed by his own brilliance.

After several seconds of enduring the strange laughter, Trapinch finally stood up and started walking toward the cave exit.

Hikaru continued laughing for a few more moments before noticing the attempted escape.

“Hey! Where are you going? I’m not done yet.”

Trapinch paused and looked back, pointing toward the cave exit.

“Oh, don’t worry about that.”

Hikaru waved dismissively.

“Once Apprentice Aman and his group leave the dungeon, I’ll personally take you to the Pokécenter.”

The Pokémon did not look reassured.

“In the meantime, look at this.”

With a casual application of mana, a lifelike image appeared in the air before them.

The image depicted one of Aman’s newest companions.

Arvel.

“Look at him.”

Hikaru pointed excitedly at the illusion.

“An honest-to-god bird person.”

Trapinch glanced at the image. Then at Hikaru. Then back at the image.

The Pokémon gave his creator an expression that could only be described as deeply unimpressed.

“He was part of the group that entered the dungeon today. His name is Arvel.”

Hikaru scratched his head.

“Though I don’t actually know what his race is called yet.”

The image rotated in the air.

“Anyway, this is the first time I’ve met another intelligent race besides humans, and honestly, I’m impressed.”

His eyes sparkled with curiosity.

“Look at those wings. They’re so beautiful.”

The illusion zoomed in.

“And he has claws for feet.”

Another rotation.

“Do you think he can fly long distances? I wonder how hollow his bones are. Do they lay eggs? Do they molt? What happens if—”

Trapinch let out a long sigh.

Resigned to his fate, Trapinch made himself comfortable and prepared for another lengthy session of his creator rambling about whatever random topic had captured his attention this time.

---

Stella and her team demonstrated why they were seasoned adventurers the moment they stepped inside the dungeon.

“Seibel, take point. You’ll be our vanguard. Use your shield to block any attacks and leave the fighting to us. Arvel, Mina, you know what to do. Get into formation.”

The two immediately moved into position without needing any further instructions.

Finally, Stella turned toward Aman.

“Mage Aman, I know you’re not a professional adventurer, so I’m not expecting much from you. Just stay in the middle of the formation and use your spells whenever you find an opportunity.”

Even though Stella’s words were technically true, they still stung his pride.

He might not be particularly proficient with combat magic, but he was still the most experienced person here when it came to this dungeon. He knew its layout. He knew its inhabitants. He knew what dangers lurked within.

So Stella’s casual dismissal of his usefulness felt a little insulting.

Maybe it was because of that.

Or maybe he was simply feeling petty.

Either way, Aman neglected to mention one very important detail.

The fact that they were currently walking into a maze.

He knew they would be perfectly safe near the dungeon entrance and he was already keeping track of their route, so his little omission wasn’t particularly dangerous.

He just wanted to see how long it would take them to realize they were walking in circles.

As it turned out, not very long.

“This is a maze, isn’t it?”

Arvel’s question came less than five minutes into their exploration.

Stella immediately turned toward him, one eyebrow raised in silent question.

Aman gave a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his head.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Um… yeah. It’s a maze. How did you know?”

Mina giggled.

“This isn’t our first dungeon, Aman. The first few floors of the Silver Mines are mazes too.”

Arvel provided a more detailed explanation.

“The tree walls are very symmetrical. Their placement is clearly intentional. The branching paths are designed to guide travelers along specific routes.”

Stella nodded before turning her attention back toward Aman.

“Mage Aman, I would appreciate it if you could share such useful information before we discover it ourselves.”

Aman suddenly felt rather foolish.

This might have been their first visit to Viridian Forest, but it certainly wasn’t their first dungeon. They weren’t inexperienced explorers like him, stumbling blindly into danger.

They were professionals.

All he had accomplished was slowing them down.

“Sorry. I just…”

He scratched the back of his head again.

“Yeah. Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Stella replied. “After everything we’ve discussed today, I can understand how it might have slipped your mind. Just remember next time.”

Aman let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Thankfully, they seemed to think he had genuinely forgotten to mention it.

That was probably for the best.

Determined to make up for his mistake, Aman began sharing everything he had learned during his previous visit as they ventured deeper into the dungeon.

Meanwhile, Arvel demonstrated exactly why he was the group’s scout.

The Garud periodically stopped to make notes on a sheet of paper, steadily constructing a rough map of the dungeon as they advanced.

Compared to Aman’s own navigation methods, it was embarrassingly efficient.

Aman was in the middle of describing his encounter with his little green friend during his previous visit when a sharp cry echoed through the forest.

Everyone immediately became alert as all heads collectively turned toward the source of the sound.

At first, it was little more than a dark speck against the sky. Then the image rapidly sharpened into a bird with brown and red feathers.

Aman immediately recognized it.

It was the same Pokémon that had attacked him on his way to the central island.

While Arvel nocked an arrow and Siebel raised his shield in preparation for the incoming attack, Aman hurriedly searched his memory for the relevant Pokédex entry.

Spearow.

“That’s a Spearow!” Aman shouted. “Be careful of its beak and don’t look it in the eyes!”

Unfortunately, his warning turned out to be entirely useless.

Shebel raised his shield and intercepted the first attack, allowing Stella to counter with her sword. The blade barely grazed the bird Pokémon before it darted away with surprising speed.

The merchant’s son hissed and clutched the arm holding his shield.

“Ouch. That hurt.”

He glared up at the Spearow circling overhead.

The Spearow glared back.

The Pokémon’s attack was considerably more effective.

Siebel immediately screamed and fell onto his backside.

The Pokémon wasted no time taking advantage of the opening. Its wings beat furiously as it dove toward the group once more.

Thankfully, Aman had already finished preparing his spell.

Using [Lightning Manipulation], he erected a barrier of crackling electricity before the party.

The spell wasn’t meant to stop the attack.

It was merely meant to interfere with it.

The moment the Spearow passed through the field, its wings locked up from the electrical discharge, throwing it off course.

Instead of striking its target, the bird crashed into the ground.

While the Pokémon was still dazed, Arvel released his arrow.

The shot struck true.

A moment later, Stella stepped forward and drove her sword into the Spearow as well, ensuring the creature would not be getting back up.

Silence returned to the forest.

As the corpse lay motionless on the ground, Stella first looked over Siebel’s condition before silently gesturing toward Mina.

The healer immediately understood and began treating his injured arm.

Only then did Stella turn toward Aman.

“Mage Aman, would you mind explaining exactly what that was?”

She glanced toward the fallen Pokémon.

“I don’t believe Mr. Siebel’s reaction was entirely natural, and you seem to know more about that creature.”

“Uh, yeah. Sure.”

Aman was still coming down from the adrenaline rush, but he quickly removed the Pokédex from his bag and flipped to the relevant page.

“Here it is.”

He turned the book so everyone could see.

“Spearow. The Tiny Bird Pokémon. It’s very territorial and surprisingly fast, though it can’t fly particularly high.”

Then he pointed toward the listed abilities.

“[Peck]. It uses air mana to enhance its beak and strike with increased force.”

His finger moved lower.

“And [Leer]. It’s a mind-based attack similar to [Intimidate]. It causes fear and lowers the target’s defenses.”

“What?” Mina exclaimed.

The glow around her hands faded as she finished healing Seibel.

“Even that little thing can use mind magic?”

“It would appear so,” Stella replied.

Her gaze lingered on the dead Pokémon.

“This dungeon has already demonstrated that appearances can be deceiving. We should proceed more carefully in the future.”

Siebel expressed his own displeasure by kicking the corpse.

“Stupid magic bird.”

Stella immediately fixed him with a sharp stare.

“Mr. Siebel.”

The man immediately froze.

“This is not your pet. It is a creation of the dungeon. Give it the respect it deserves.”

Siebel wisely chose not to argue.

Satisfied, Stella turned toward Arvel.

“You landed the killing shot. What do you want to do with it?”

Arvel considered the question for a moment.

“Leave it.”

Everyone turned toward him.

“We came here to explore the dungeon, not collect loot. The dungeon can reclaim it.”

He glanced deeper into the forest.

“We can worry about resources later. For now, I would rather see if we can reach the lake Aman was talking about before nightfall.”

“Very well.”

Stella nodded.

“We will only collect any berries we come across. Leave everything else where it falls.”

Then she looked toward Siebel.

“Mr. Siebel, your shield may be expensive, but that means very little if you cannot use it properly.”

Siebel opened his mouth.

Stella cut him off before he could speak.

“And Mage Aman.”

Aman straightened.

“I think it would be best if you kept Professor Oak’s Pokédex readily available. Knowing what we’re fighting and what abilities it possesses before engaging it would be extremely useful.”

Aman nodded immediately and tightened his grip on the book.

“Understood.”

“Good.”

Stella looked deeper into the maze.

“Now then. Let us continue.”

Seibel cast one final longing glance at the Spearow’s corpse. No doubt the merchant’s son disliked leaving potentially valuable materials behind.

Unfortunately for him, nobody else seemed interested.

And so the group continued deeper into Viridian Forest.