Pokémon: Wings Of Shadow

"Good." Rose nodded with satisfaction.

Based on the cross-referenced content, everything Shiro reported was accurate, and very detailed.

"Then what exactly are these hunters after? Traveling a long distance to reach the Galar wilds... what's their real goal?" He asked as he habitually reached up to twirl a strand of hair near his temple.

"We're still not sure," Oleana replied. "According to the report, Shiro never saw what their target was. He resolved the battle as quickly as possible and destroyed the enemy's equipment to break through the barrier."

Just as she finished, Rose let out a soft laugh and waved his hand.

"Use all the traces our people have found and capture every last one of those hunters. Find those two wild trainers too, don't let them slip away."

"Yes, sir!"

Everyone in the lobby answered in unison, then swiftly split into three teams and left the building.

Shae leaned on her cane, walking slowly at the rear. Edgar followed at a casual pace, muttering under his breath.

"So much damn trouble lately…"

"Heh." Shae snorted. "That Shiro... he's pretty good. His strength is probably second only to ours. But honestly, he's more suited to being a wild trainer than a company member... he stirs up quite the storm in there."

Edgar gave a nod, thoughtful.

Any normal person would've run far away after spotting those capable and clearly goal-driven hunters. But Shiro had the guts to sneak up and hypnotize one for questioning, then kept training his Pokémon in the wild as if nothing had happened.

Getting stronger made him bolder too. And luck was part of it. After all, who could've known those hunters had gear that could harness Dynamax energy and create a den that covered half the Wild Area?

"That kid took down three Gym-level trainers head-on... his overall strength keeps rising. Looks like he's a serious contender for the championship." Edgar sighed, silently hoping that Allister wouldn't end up facing Shiro too early in the tournament.

Leon and Raihan were already considered unbeatable championship seeds. Now there might be a third one.

The two of them walked around the building from the side and ran into Marvin and Allister, who had been waiting outside for a while.

"What's the mission this time?" Marvin asked with a big grin, looking at the two old folks.

"None of your business!" Shae's expression darkened the moment she saw his cheeky expression. Her voice turned sharp as she scolded, "Have you finished Frosmoth's basic training yet? And what about your other Ice-types? Are they at Gym-level?"

The boy instinctively glanced away and scratched his cheek.

"Uh... not yet..."

"Then what are you standing here for!" Shae suddenly raised her cane. "With your current strength, how can you still be smiling! When I get back, if I see any of your Pokémon haven't reached the expected standard, I'll break your legs myself!"

"My bad, my bad!" Marvin turned and bolted. "Don't be mad! I'm going to train right now!"

Only after he ran off did Shae finally let out a long breath.

"Huuh..."

Just two days ago, she had finally agreed to take the boy as her student after seeing his perseverance. But her standards were extremely strict, and so was her attitude.

Every time she thought about Shiro still fighting and training out there in the wild, then looked at Marvin goofing around like that, her temper flared up. She seriously wanted to lock him in a room and supervise his training nonstop.

"Ugh. How can the gap be so huge?" she muttered, sighing as she tapped her cane hard against the ground and slowly made her way toward the Flying Taxi.

Allister looked at the old woman in confusion, but then saw his own teacher raise an eyebrow too.

He said, "Just do your best."

With that, he waved his hand and followed Shae into the taxi.

* * *

Northern Wild Area, Lake of Outrage.

A gentle breeze blew across the lake as Shiro sat cross-legged on the grass by the shore. Unown A and G were splashing and playing in the water not far away.

Haunter and Vibrava, both capable of flight, had already drifted over to join the two strangely shaped new companions in play. Only Growlithe remained alone by the lakeside. It stretched out a paw to touch the clear blue water, then quickly pulled back.

It was afraid of the lake and didn't dare to step in. It turned to look at Shiro and was about to approach him, but the cold gaze of the nearby watchful Corviknight made it hesitate and back off.

"Groowl..."

Growlithe whimpered softly at the water. Then suddenly, it felt light, and the lake in front of it began to retreat rapidly from view.

"Dreee!"

Dreepy stood upright on Drakloak's head, swaying a little, looking very pleased.

The latter carried its water-shy companion and zipped right through the space between Haunter and Vibrava. Then it spun around in a playful loop, sending Growlithe into a panicked flail.

As Drakloak hovered above the lake, Unown G floated over.

'It's... Growlithe…'

It spoke while disappearing in front of the dog's wide eyes, only to reappear in a completely different spot.

Watching Drakloak glide through the air, Unown A decided the time was about right. It floated back to shore and landed on Shiro's shoulder.

He was still deep in meditation, trying to keep his mind completely clear. He continuously expanded and contracted the little psychic power he had left, trying to refine its quality and increase its strength through motion and pressure.

'Alright, that's enough,' Unown A said, using its power to pull Shiro out of his meditative state. 'You're too weak right now. It's best not to meditate for more than two hours a day. Overdoing it will just exhaust your fragile mental strength and have the opposite effect.'

"Mm..." he responded briefly, then opened his eyes.

His mind was buzzing, as if he'd stayed up all night and reached that hyper-alert state where every nerve was firing at full speed.

If Unown A hadn't interrupted him, he probably would've kept meditating in place of sleep—just like the cultivators in those fantasy novels who trained whenever they had a free moment.

'Overwork just leads to sudden death,' Unown A said in a calm, matter-of-fact tone. 'Humans figured that out over two thousand years ago.'

Shiro blinked, surprised.

This creature seemed to know a lot about ancient human society. According to it, there were already structured methods of psychic training back then.

Could it be that humans once captured them?

'Something like that,' Unown A replied simply. 'They were a group of extremely greedy people. The kind who held power among your kind, the ruling few.'

Shiro nodded slowly. After calming his overactive mind, he began focusing on the progress he'd made in his psychic ability.

He shifted his gaze to Unown A. But through his senses, it was still just a chaotic blur.

He shook his head and redirected his psychic energy toward Corviknight standing silently nearby.

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