Infiltration

"I'm almost certain someone's guarding the other side, or they've set traps. After all this time, we haven't heard of anyone spotting marine Pokémon in Sweet Spring Lake," Xiao Ran said after some thought.

The other side of the Secret Realm entrance was an ocean, while Sweet Spring Lake was a freshwater lake. The Pokémon living in the two waters were different, so some Pokémon from the Secret Realm should have wandered into Sweet Spring Lake by accident. Yet no one had ever reported seeing any. That could only mean one thing: someone had blocked off the entrance.

"But the security shouldn't be that tight, right? It's underwater, after all. Humans can't stay underwater for long," Jiang Cheng said.

"Exactly. So they've probably stationed Pokémon underwater, with their trainers keeping watch on shore." Xiao Ran nodded.

"If it's just Pokémon, could we find a way to lure them away? Then we could slip past them, swim farther away underwater, and come ashore somewhere else?" Shen Yue tilted her head in thought.

"Don't lure them away. Lure them over here and kill them," Ye Ling suddenly said, her voice revealing an unmistakable chill.

This was the real world. Defeated Pokémon didn't just get little spirals over their eyes to show they had fainted; they could actually die. Still, confronting a group of children with such a bloody reality was hard to accept.

"Lingling, wouldn't killing them be... a little too cruel?" Jiang Cheng asked, looking reluctant.

"Cruel? The Hall aren't good people. We'll have to face this sooner or later, so we might as well get our first taste of blood now." Before Xiao Ran could explain, Shen Yue gritted her teeth and spoke up. Having grown up in a Gym, she had seen plenty of battles, including quite a few where the combatants couldn't hold back in time.

"You're right. Why chicken out? None of the Hall's people are any good anyway." Jiang Cheng took a deep breath, steadying his emotions.

"All right, we can discuss that later. Even if we do fight, how can we be sure we'll win?" Xiao Ran quieted the two of them and changed the subject, though this was indeed a problem they needed to face.

"Luring their Pokémon over isn't a problem. The question is whether we can actually beat them. Remember, we can't send out Charmander or Magneton underwater. Are we supposed to rely on just Popplio and Froakie? Besides, even if the Pokémon the Hall left on guard aren't particularly strong, surely they wouldn't be only Normal Class? I don't need to explain the gap between Entry Class and Normal Class Pokémon, do I?" Xiao Ran quickly laid out his reasoning.

The divisions of Pokémon strength weren't arbitrary. Every advance represented a qualitative change. One Entry Class Pokémon could easily defeat an entire group of Normal Class Pokémon. Numbers alone were no longer enough to secure victory.

Among their Pokémon, only Sneasel could pose a threat to an Entry Class opponent, but Sneasel was merely at the peak of Normal Class. Even if Sneasel advanced during battle, that would only mean barely reaching Entry Class. Against a group of stronger Pokémon, Sneasel would still be helpless.

"Then what do we do? Lure them away after all? But who's going to do it?" Jiang Cheng asked, tugging at his hair. Having a mountain of treasure right before them with no way inside was unbearably frustrating.

"Luring them away is too dangerous, too. Who knows how strong the Pokémon on the other side are? Neither Popplio nor Froakie is guaranteed to escape. And who can say whether those Pokémon might go ashore to raise the alarm?" Xiao Ran shook his head. That plan wouldn't work either.

"This won't work, that won't work... does that mean we can't get in at all?" Jiang Cheng demanded angrily, but he had no solution either.

They fell silent. Even Ye Ling said nothing more. As much as she wanted to strike at the Hall, she knew how dangerous this was. Going over there wouldn't be revenge; it would be suicide.

"I recognize the Hall's markings. I'll lure them away." After a long silence, just as Xiao Ran was about to give up and wait for the Alliance's people to arrive, Ye Ling suddenly spoke.

"No, it's too dangerous!" That single sentence was enough for Xiao Ran to understand what she intended. "We don't have to go in! It's not worth doing this just to fight the Hall."

Ye Ling's meaning was clear. Familiar with how the Hall operated, she could use their markings to pose as one of their members and get inside first. She would draw the Secret Realm Entrance guards' attention away so Xiao Ran and the others could sneak in, then find an opportunity to escape herself. But doing so would expose her to far too much risk.

Besides, they still didn't know what the Hall was plotting inside the Secret Realm. Taking such an enormous risk just to compete with the Alliance for the profits of a Secret Realm was completely unnecessary. None of them was short of money, after all.

"I actually saw a marking. They should be taking some kind of action today. We might not have time to wait for the Alliance." To Xiao Ran, Ye Ling's cool voice sounded like a spell. He trusted that she wouldn't lie to him about something like this, but precisely because of that, he knew he wouldn't be able to stop her from entering the Secret Realm ahead of time.

For Ye Ling, the Secret Realm's rewards were secondary. Taking revenge on the Hall was what mattered most. She could forgo the benefits inside, but she couldn't let the Hall profit from them. Whatever their plan was, she would charge in and ruin it.

"Go get changed first. I'll think through the details." They stared at each other for a long time before Xiao Ran finally gave in helplessly.

Once all three had gone to change, Xiao Ran took the Pokémon underwater again. This time, he brought not only Popplio and Froakie, but Sneasel as well, returning to the cave that concealed the Secret Realm Entrance.

This time, he wasn't merely scouting the route. Following their earlier agreement, Froakie slowly approached the mirrorlike passage, then passed through it and vanished from Xiao Ran's sight.

Whatever method they used to get through the entrance, they had to get a rough idea of the opposition's strength. How many Pokémon were keeping watch? How powerful were they? Would they pursue intruders out through the entrance? Since they intended to enter, they needed to gather as much information as possible.

"Ten, nine, eight..." This was the time limit he had agreed on with Froakie: ten seconds. No matter how much Froakie managed to see, Froakie had to return within that time. If returning proved impossible, Froakie would drop the small stone held in one hand and let the current carry it out.

Fortunately, everything went fairly smoothly. By the time Xiao Ran counted down to three, Froakie had already returned. Without another word, Xiao Ran took the three Pokémon back to the surface and began asking about everything Froakie had seen.

"First, how many Pokémon were there?" Xiao Ran asked.

"Froak!"

One cry meant that, at least out in the open, there was only one Pokémon. This was the method of communication Xiao Ran had agreed on with Froakie beforehand.

"How strong?"

"Froak!"

One cry meant that the Pokémon's aura was no stronger than Sneasel's. Two cries would mean it was stronger than Sneasel. Froakie probably wouldn't be able to judge exactly how strong a more powerful Pokémon was.

"One Normal Class Pokémon. That's not right," Xiao Ran murmured. They had all assumed the guards would be powerful, but what Froakie had seen didn't match that assumption. Either their judgment had been wrong, or the Hall no longer considered this Secret Realm Entrance important. Given what Ye Ling had said, Xiao Ran was more inclined to believe the latter.

"One Normal Class Pokémon? Then we can definitely take it down!" Jiang Cheng said excitedly, having already changed.

"That's only what's out in the open. We still don't know whether there are Pokémon hiding nearby, or others their trainer hasn't sent out yet," Xiao Ran said, shaking his head.

"Let's stick to the original plan and have Lingling lure them away," Xiao Ran said after some thought. He genuinely disliked this plan, but judging by the current situation, if the Hall really had withdrawn even the people guarding the Secret Realm Entrance, they might be about to obtain whatever they wanted inside the Secret Realm. The consequences could be unimaginable.

When the two Girls returned after changing, Xiao Ran told them what Froakie had discovered. After going over the plan once more, the four of them began diving underwater.

They would need to stay underwater longer this time, so Xiao Ran had Popplio blow a large bubble around each person's head. However, these bubbles would burst if struck by a powerful current, so they could only extend their diving time a little.

According to the plan, Ye Ling went in first. Unlike Shen Yue, who wore a bikini, she had actually brought a wetsuit. The black wetsuit outlined her graceful figure and conveniently made her look more like someone from the Hall.

Seeing that Ye Ling had gone through, Xiao Ran began counting with his fingers. After ten seconds, Froakie would enter carrying balls of two different colors. If there was danger, Froakie would release the red ball to call for help. If everything was normal, Froakie would release the green ball to signal that they could follow. They would enter the Secret Realm either way, but the different colors would determine what they did once inside.

"It's the green ball!" Five seconds after Froakie entered the Secret Realm, they saw the green ball drift out through the curtain of light with the current. Their hearts leaped with joy, and they immediately headed toward the light.

But as they passed through the curtain of light, none of them noticed that after they entered the Secret Realm, another figure stepped into the cave at the bottom of the lake...