The Arena was vast and stifling, its spectators wild-eyed and frenzied, their cheers boiling into hoarse screams.
"Chupeh!"
Sharp black claws gripped the metal bars as it watched a heated battle in the distance.
A Pokémon in the next cage said someone formidable had arrived recently.
Someone formidable?
Someone especially strong?
It felt a flicker of interest, but that soon faded.
What did anyone else's strength matter while it was trapped in this hell? If only it could get out one day.
It curled up in the shadows until the distant shouting died down. The battle was over.
Not long afterward.
Footsteps sounded nearby.
Several cages around it shook violently. Pokémon that were usually quiet barked at the tops of their lungs, plainly vying to be chosen.
It did no such thing. After all—
"Huh? Why is there a shabby old doll here?"
"Heh, you may not know this, sir, but that's a rare Ghost-type Pokémon!"
"A Ghost-type Pokémon, huh... I'll take it."
Creeeak.
The cage door opened. It saw a stick tap against the bars, and the harsh metallic clang left it dizzy.
It hurried out and found itself looking into a pair of gentle eyes.
"Oh, so it's a Banette," the man said with a smile.
"You certainly know your Pokémon, sir. You won't regret choosing it!"
—
"You're saying you just saw a vortex, and there was a pair of eyes inside it that might have recognized you?"
After hearing Baimu's bewildered account, Pheobe gave him an odd look. "That was the Gatekeeper Pokémon! Have you been to the Spirit World down below before?"
He shook his head without hesitation. "Absolutely not. The deepest I've ever been is the Underground City. Go any farther down and people generally don't come back, let alone from the Spirit World..."