Journey Towards Greatness

Julian ties up the Hexagon cipher members and lets Gengar drag them into his shadow realm.

He still doesn't know what to do with these ruffians. Since most of Orre is under Cipher's control, he can't just hand them to the authorities—even the ones who claim not to be under Cipher's influence.

Julian had already seen a traitor hiding among the resistance, putting on a friendly face up front and then stabbing the back.

His only option right now is to capture all these goons and hand them over to the league when he is done with Cipher once and for all.

Julian then proceeds to make his way through the invisible barrier and sees a small structure with a thick gate preventing his entry into the hideout.

Julian [Gengar see if there is any ID on their person,]

Julian speaks directly to Gengar and makes him check the Hexagon Cipher members to see if they have anything that could let him open the gate.

A tentacle rises with multiple ID cards. Six cards of different colors, each matching the individual member's corresponding color.

Julian takes the red ID card as the red member is their leader, so his card should have access to more places than others.

He places the ID card in front of the scanner and massive metal doors start moving. A stairway leading deep into the ground greets him.

Julian "Gengar, scout out the whole lab. Find Professor Krane."

Gengar separates from Julian's shadow and begins his scout mission.

As he goes deeper into the lab, he starts seeing Cipher members, but these guys are nothing special for Gengar to be interested in.

He moves deeper and enters a lab. Inside, he sees many pokemons trapped inside pods in a comatose state as multiple tubes are attached to their body. Gengar follows these tubes and traces them towards a small container containing an orb of dark energy.

Gengar narrows his eyes, as he can't tell what this orb of energy is. He is right now a very powerful entity that can influence the realm of shadows, and even he can't get a grasp of what this orb of energy is.

One thing he can tell is that this thing is beyond his capability. So Gengar immediately informs Julian about it through his thoughts.

Back to Julian, he too is going around the facility, searching for Professor Krane while stealthily taking out Cipher guards with Marshadow's help when he suddenly receives Gengar's message.

"A weird energy? Is it the source of all shadow pokemons?" he questions and quickly makes his way toward Gengar.

On his way, a few Cipher members see him and try to alert everyone in the lab, but Marshadow is too swift to even let them make a move. Julian doesn't want to alarm the whole lab, as it might lead to Professor Krane getting hurt.

Julian arrives at the lab where Gengar is and immediately sees the mentioned pokemons inside pods induced into a forced coma by Cipher. Seeing their poor state makes Julian's blood boil, but he controls his rage and approaches Gengar.

He looks at the small container mentioned by Gengar with equally confused eyes. He, too, doesn't know what this dark energy is.

The pulsating dark energy is being carried by the tubes into the pods and then infused into the comatose pokemons to trigger their shadowfication.

Julian [System]

Julian calls out the system he has not used for quite a while because he never had any need for it until now. With his strength growing day by day, his need for the system has reduced quite a lot.

But during situations like this, it's the best thing he has access to.

System [Yes host?]

The system asks with its usual cold tone.

Julian [What is this energy in front of me?]

Julian asks.

System [--Scanning--]

As the system gets busy with scanning, Crystal too finally notices the weird energy and pops its head out. It looks at the pulsating dark energy with its oversized, cute eyes.

Excitement flashes in them as Crystal shoots out of Julian's pocket and starts aggressively circling the container.

Julian "Looks like Crystal recognise it. Crystal"

Crystal is much more sensitive to these energies compared to Julian, as Julian's abilities are limited by God himself. The container that this energy is in seems to be able to block almost all the radiation inside. But Crystal was still able to sense it.

Julian "Crystal, calm down,"

Julian tries to calm down Crystal. He has rarely seen Crystal get this excited over something. Crystal didn't feel this level of excitement even when discovering that time platform in Agate Village.

System [Scanning complete... The energy signature matched... Energy affinity Dark... Energy source... Arceus's dark plate]

Julian's eyes widen as he hears the system's answer.

Julian is not foreign to Arceus's plates as he has encountered it twice. The first time was when he found the Water plate near Mt. Coronet, and the second time was the Ice Plate which he found after catching Kyurem, who took him into another dimension. And both times, Crystal absorbed those energies to become stronger.

This also explains why Crystal is so excited right now.

Julian "Why is this energy so little compared to the one I have seen before and where's the dark plate? And how the fuck did Cipher get their hands on something like this?"

Julian had too many questions, but no one to answer them. He then becomes serious as he realizes something.

Julian "There is a third plate out there and Cipher has access to it. I need to find it and hide it away from everyone."

Julian understands the danger of these plates. A single plate is more dangerous than any creation trio's manifestation. If Cipher really has access to this plate, then the entire world is doomed.