The Road to the Afterlife

Darkness truly filled humans with fear.

Led by Gengar, the group hurried through the forest.

As they ventured deeper, the number of wild Pokémon around them gradually dwindled.

One teacher familiar with the forest frowned at the sight. "Be careful. We may have entered the territory of a powerful Pokémon!"

The number of wild Pokémon had decreased. No, more accurately, the number of powerful wild Pokémon had gradually decreased.

Because a single territory allowed only one "king" to exist.

Any intruder with a certain degree of strength would be regarded as a threat, and the ruler would step forward to fight for its territory.

Everyone froze upon hearing this.

Hu Yang asked, "Are we not there yet?"

Gengar looked around with a grim expression. "Something is wrong. Something stronger than me is interfering with my judgment!"

Before Gengar could finish speaking, an Officer Jenny ahead let out a startled cry. "That tree just moved!"

Everyone immediately turned to look.

At that moment, another teacher behind them cried out in fear. "This is bad! Two teachers have disappeared!"

"Hehehe!"

"Ehehe!"

"Wahaha!"

Sharp laughter suddenly rang out from the dim forest, and the Officer Jennys immediately became alert.

All the flashlights in their hands abruptly went out.

The last traces of light vanished as well, and everyone was completely swallowed by darkness.

Hu Yang nervously gripped the Poké Ball in his hand.

"Everyone, hold the hand of the person beside you. Do not get separated!" an Officer Jenny's voice called out.

That voice suddenly sounded very close, then suddenly very far away.

In his panic, Hu Yang grabbed someone's hand, but in the next second, he sensed that something was wrong.

The temperature of that hand was not something a living person could possess!

Although he knew Ghost-type Pokémon were behind this, being confronted with it so suddenly still gave him a fright, and he fell backward.

Yet the expected feeling of hitting the ground never came. Instead, it felt as though he had fallen into a bottomless pit, and a sensation of plummeting instantly spread through Hu Yang's body.

Pale blue candlelight suddenly lit up in the darkness.

Using that light, Hu Yang saw Ghost-type Pokémon floating all around him.

Litwick... Chandelure... Shuppet... Haunter...

Fuck!

A thousand raging alpacas galloped through Hu Yang's mind. At that moment, his body finally landed, but the pain he had expected never came.

That made Hu Yang realize that everything he had just experienced had been an illusion.

Calm down! Calm down! Calm down!

"Gengar?" Hu Yang tried calling out to Gengar, but received no reply.

"Hehehe!"

"Ooooo..."

Amid familiar sobbing and laughter, Litwick suddenly appeared out of thin air one after another, floating in the darkness and forming an eerie pale-blue path.

It had to be said that, judging by their appearance, Litwick truly looked harmless.

They floated along both sides of the blue path, staring with innocent pale-yellow eyes at the only human present.

Their behavior was like that of someone guiding a lost traveler, as though saying, "Come on, follow this path and you can leave this place!"

However, Hu Yang did not find the scene cute at all. Instead, cold sweat poured down his back.

He did not know how Litwick were described in this world.

But as a transmigrator, he knew very well that Litwick were extremely dangerous Pokémon!

According to their descriptions, wild Litwick would come up with all sorts of tricks to drain life force.

In places so dark one could not see their own fingers, they would appear before lost travelers and pretend to light candles, as if guiding them along the way.

Yet in truth, Litwick would silently drain the lost travelers' life energy as they led them onward.

This was a genuine "road to the afterlife." For the living, the end of this road was death.

More importantly, Litwick's flames were usually extinguished, but after absorbing the life force of humans or Pokémon, their flames would burn intensely.

And the flames on these Litwick now...

Thinking of this, Hu Yang decisively took out Cramorant's and Roserade's Poké Balls.

"Gah?"

It still had that vacant, foolish face, but it gave Hu Yang an overwhelming sense of security.

"Roserade!"

Roserade sensed the danger and immediately assumed a serious battle stance.

"We mean no harm. I only want to take away the children you captured." Before attacking, Hu Yang made one final attempt to negotiate with them.

But the only response he received was a burst of eerie laughter.

A cold breath even brushed against the back of his neck.

At that moment, he no longer hesitated in the slightest. "Roserade, Magical Leaf!"

Perhaps they could not win, but if they did not fight, death would still await them.

"Roserade!"

Roserade cried out resolutely. It lightly raised its wrist, and rich green light began glowing from its red and blue rose buds.

Within the glow, dense, sharp leaves shot out and automatically tracked the nearby Litwick.

Magical Leaf struck with precision. One Litwick swayed, but it did not lose its ability to fight.

"Hehe!"

The other Litwick revealed sinister, terrifying smiles.

Then, Shadow Balls flew in from the darkness in every direction.

Several struck Roserade, and Roserade immediately lost its ability to fight.

Several others reflected in Hu Yang's pupils, growing larger and larger.

Hu Yang could tell from their aura that these Ghosts had lived for who knew how long. He and Roserade, which had only just evolved, were no match for them at all.

Fucking mansion!

Hu Yang could not help cursing.

He recalled what had happened in the forest before. Did Cramorant's protection mechanism only activate when he was in danger?!

There was no other way. He could only try it now.

He took a deep breath and used Snarl with all his strength:

"Cramorant!!!"

Blow the fuck up already!!!

"Gah!"

Perhaps it sensed its Trainer's intense feelings and expectations, or perhaps it realized the danger approaching, but Cramorant's eyes instantly turned serious as Bodyguard Mode activated.

A terrifying aura surged higher and higher from its body, and golden patterns flowing with scorching energy suddenly emerged across its feathers.

They looked exactly like the patterns on Primal Groudon in the anime.

Then, all that energy sank from its body into the ground.

At that moment, the earth trembled.

Amid rumbling thunder, the energy gathered into enormous scorching blades that suddenly pierced up from underground, instantly covering a terrifying area spanning hundreds of meters.

"Thrust!" "Thrust!" "Thrust!"... "Thrust!"

Countless scorching swords stabbed upward at the Litwick like a violent storm, molten lava and crimson energy pouring down together.

First, a dazzling crimson flash like a particle of light flickered. In the next second, the Pokémon that had been struck erupted in an incomparably violent explosion.

"Hehe?!"

"Screech!"

The surrounding Ghost-type Pokémon were both shocked and flustered.

These blades did not merely Slash apart their spirit bodies. Even the illusion they had created was cleaved straight down the middle.

At the same time, a sleeping presence within the mansion sensed that aura, instantly opened its eyes, and fixed its gaze in the direction of the forest.