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A week passed in the blink of an eye.

Jacob’s Grovyle and Dreepy successfully evolved from Elite level to Lord level. The Grovyle’s breakthrough was relatively normal—it had been stuck at Elite level for quite some time. After last week’s battle and recent intensive training, it finally broke through to Lord level.

The breakthrough of Dreepy, however, came as a complete surprise to Jacob. After careful consideration, Jacob felt relieved. With the accelerated growth from the ghost core energy of the Poison Pot, Dreepy’s development was progressing at an extraordinary rate. If it continued at this pace, it would soon surpass Grovyle and become Jacob’s strongest Pokémon.

Of course, “strongest” was only on paper. In terms of actual combat power, Dreepy’s strength was quite poor, and its battle awareness remained extremely weak.

As his team grew stronger, Jacob increasingly felt his own weakness as a trainer. This realization made him value time more, driving him to train frantically every day.

…

Cloud Village, back mountain, cemetery.

The moon shone bright and full as Dante, Alora, and the middle-aged man Gabriel walked through the cemetery. Heavy snow drifted from the sky, covering the ground with a white blanket.

Gabriel was a registered Fighting-type King-level trainer with the Pokémon Association, but embarrassingly, he only possessed one King-level Pokémon, making him relatively weak among the many King trainers in the Capital.

Of course, with his status as a King-level trainer, he could easily dominate in a smaller town if he wished. But as water flows downhill, people are drawn to opportunity—Gabriel preferred to remain in the Capital.

“After searching for so long, we’ve finally found it,” Gabriel said, his face showing undisguised joy. He had expected the search to take one or two months, but they’d found it in just a week. “It should be buried here.”

The three spoke in hushed voices as they examined the tomb before them.

“This is the tomb. I’ve confirmed it. There’s nothing engraved on the tombstone except a poem,” Dante said quietly.

“Open it.”

The three summoned their Pokémon, dug up the grave, and upon seeing the golden coffin beneath the tombstone, Gabriel couldn’t help but exhale deeply, an expression of excitement crossing his face. He had finally found it—the dark clouds hanging over his head were finally dispersing.

As long as the person behind him fulfilled his promise, Gabriel’s strength would certainly reach new heights.

Gabriel couldn’t help fantasizing about the wonderful life awaiting him after completing this mission.

As the golden coffin was slowly opened, a skeleton surrounded by various rare treasures appeared before the three.

Just as Gabriel was immersed in his joy, the sharp-eyed Dante noticed something wrong. There was a small amount of yellow soil inside the coffin, and even the skeleton’s clothes were stained with mud.

Under normal circumstances, coffins are sealed tightly—there should be no possibility of dirt inside. Unless someone had moved the coffin and opened the lid, it would be impossible for soil to seep in.

Meanwhile, Gabriel anxiously searched through the contents. As he continued, his expression gradually shifted from anxious to uneasy, finally becoming panicked and manic.

“No! How could there be nothing?!” Gabriel became hysterical. The Poison Pot should have been in the coffin—how could it be missing?

Dante watched this scene coldly from the side. Seeing Gabriel’s anxious demeanor, he sneered inwardly, but as Gabriel’s emotions spiraled out of control, Dante couldn’t help feeling concerned.

“We helped you find the coffin, but it’s not our fault if items are missing,” Dante said quickly, distancing himself from the situation. Gabriel was acting like a rabid Growlithe, and Dante wanted no further entanglement. “Look carefully—there’s dirt in the coffin, and even the skeleton’s clothes are stained. Someone obviously found whatever was inside before we did.”

“Impossible, absolutely impossible!” Gabriel muttered repeatedly. He couldn’t accept this reality. He should have found it—how could the Poison Pot have disappeared? “No one else has this list. It’s absolutely confidential. Apart from those few people, no one could access this information.”

After a moment, Gabriel suddenly calmed down. He turned to look at Dante with cold eyes and undisguised murderous intent.

“I see.”

“Very good. You Dawn Society people are robbing each other, aren’t you? Finding clues first, taking the items, then notifying me. You want both the item and the reward. Very clever.”

Listening to Gabriel’s accusations, Dante felt a headache developing. This Gabriel was completely rabid—ready to bite whoever was nearest, endlessly!

“I’m warning you!” Gabriel’s eyes flashed with viciousness, revealing desperate intentions. “Hand over the item.”

“You’re insane! How could we possibly have taken what you’re looking for?” Dante replied calmly. “I won’t argue with you anymore. We found the person for you—it’s not our problem if the item is missing.”

“No! No one leaves without giving me answers.” Gabriel pulled out a Poké Ball, ready to fight with a desperate attitude. At that moment, a voice suddenly called from the distance.

“Who’s there?!” A security guard on duty had heard the noise and rushed over.

Before the guard could approach, he screamed as a massive Chandelure attacked him, engulfing his body in raging flames that consumed him completely.

“The intruder has been dealt with,”

Chandelure floated back to Alora’s side. She looked at Gabriel and said, “Dante is right. We’ve never been here. If you really want to find that item, why not check who has visited Cloud Village recently? If you still don’t believe us, that’s your problem.”

Gabriel listened to Alora’s words and gradually came to his senses. Looking at Dante and Alora, his expression turned extremely ugly. What grounds did he have to fight them?

Dante had his King-level Tyranitar.

Alora possessed both a King-level Chandelure and an Aegislash.

He was no match for either of them. Gabriel calmed down and seriously considered what they had said. Cloud Village was a famous tourist attraction that received countless visitors every week. Checking them all would take an impossibly long time.

What could he do?

This item was critically important. Only by obtaining the Poison Pot could they use its evil energy core to attract Darkrai! How would he explain this failure?

Gabriel looked dazed. He gritted his teeth, his eyes darting between Dante and Alora. “I’ll report this matter. If you truly had nothing to do with this, fine. But if you’re responsible, I guarantee the Dawn Society won’t be able to protect you.”

“Whatever.” Hearing Gabriel’s threat, Dante felt only irritation. He wanted no further contact with Gabriel—his only desire was to escape as quickly as possible to avoid further entanglement with this scoundrel.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep