Challenging the Lost Tower

"Heh... heh... heh..."

"Ooh~ aah~"

"Hee-hee... ha-ha... hoo-hoo..."

Ignoring the strange noises that sounded beside his ears from time to time, Qingliu scanned the room on this floor.

"Just as Candice said. No surveillance, dim lighting, and this eerie chill..."

The moment he entered the Lost Tower, a cold, sinister presence closed in from all around, making even Qingliu sneeze.

"It really is as creepy as a graveyard."

Especially after Qingliu failed to react, the strange noises grew shriller and more terrifying, bringing the graveyard atmosphere vividly to life. That put him on full alert.

By contrast, Agumon seemed perfectly calm.

Agumon's large green eyes glanced left and right without a trace of fear, showing more curiosity about the howling than anything else.

"Qingliu, are there really ghosts in this world?"

After pulling aside a stone tablet and finding nothing beneath it, Agumon turned to ask him.

"No."

"Then what's with all these weird noises?"

Qingliu studied several corners in the darkest part of the floor. Seeing the masses of shifting shadows there, he said, "There's no such thing as ghosts in the Pokémon world, but there are Ghost-type Pokémon. Compared to ordinary Pokémon, they're more like ghosts."

"So all of these are Ghost-type Pokémon?"

"That's what Candice said, but there are exceptions."

Qingliu raised his head and looked at the figures hanging upside down from a rod overhead, their wings wrapped around their bodies.

The room was poorly lit, but thanks to his panel's Pokédex function, Qingliu easily found the two of them. Their information appeared as well.

[Species] Zubat/Zubat

[Category] Bat Pokémon

[Type] Poison, Flying

[Ability] Inner Focus (possesses a trained mind, remaining unaffected by Intimidate and never flinching from attacks)/Infiltrator (can bypass an opponent's barriers and Substitute to attack)

[Level] 16/16

[Exclusive moves] None

[Learned moves] Absorb, Supersonic, Astonish, Mean Look, Poison Fang

[Base stats] 245 (HP 40, Attack 45, Defense 35, Special Attack 30, Special Defense 40, Speed 55)

[Friendship] 0

[Status] Normal

[Information summary] Extremely averse to sunlight, as its skin burns easily.

It has no eyes and relies on ultrasonic waves to navigate and detect its surroundings. The frequency of these waves varies between colonies.

"Level 16 Zubat, huh."

In a dark place like this, it was perfectly normal for Zubat to appear.

And although he couldn't see their eyes, Qingliu knew the two Zubat were watching them-or rather, watching Agumon.

Perhaps they hadn't attacked because they had never seen a Pokémon that looked like Agumon before.

"Agumon, get ready to fight," Qingliu reminded Agumon quietly.

On the way here, Qingliu had questioned Candice carefully about the Lost Tower's rules.

At the center of every floor in the Lost Tower was a passage leading upward. Reaching the next floor through that passage counted as clearing the current one.

Because Solaceon Town had an agreement with the Pokémon in the Lost Tower, those Pokémon would guard the passages and do their best to stop any humans and Pokémon trying to get through.

Of course, some people had tried other methods, such as using Pokémon with thick-fog moves or Haze to obscure vision and sneak toward the passage. Without exception, they had all failed, and the Pokémon guarding the passages on both floors had beaten them up together.

Simply put, the rule was that challengers had to use a single Pokémon to defeat every Pokémon on their current floor before they could proceed unhindered to the next.

But Qingliu hadn't intended to use tricks like that anyway. Having Agumon battle Pokémon and win to earn experience points was part of his plan.

Still, if the focus was on fighting and winning, there was no need to worry about fair challenges or surprise attacks. As long as he could take an opponent out, he would be easing the pressure on himself.

"Agumon, use Pepper Breath in that direction."

Already poised to act, Agumon abruptly opened that mouth and fired two shots of Pepper Breath in succession. They streaked through the dim room straight toward the two hanging figures.

The two Zubat clearly hadn't expected Qingliu to order a sudden attack. Or rather, they had never imagined they could be discovered without attacking first.

Caught off guard, one Zubat had no time to react before Pepper Breath blasted into its body.

The raging flames erupted, instantly charring the Zubat black. It fell straight from the rod, and Agumon followed up with Razor Claw to defeat it.

The other managed to react and wrench its body aside, narrowly dodging the incoming Pepper Breath.

Even so, the flames grazed its back, singeing away a layer of fur as searing pain spread across it.

The fierce sting was anything but pleasant. The Zubat let out a piercing cry and turned furiously toward Qingliu, then flapped its wings and began flying around the room, trying to use the dim lighting to conceal itself again.

This trick had worked time and again, earning it plenty of victories. Unfortunately, this time it faced Qingliu with his panel, and Agumon, who fired off moves as though they cost nothing.

"Agumon, Pepper Breath, ahead to the left."

With the panel's detection function, Qingliu easily tracked the Zubat's position and flight path. After carefully observing its pattern, he predicted the direction of its attack.

Almost the instant Qingliu spoke, a fireball flared to life and shot in the direction he indicated.

As though deliberately throwing itself into the attack, the Zubat flew straight into Agumon's Pepper Breath.

Then a second Pepper Breath followed to finish it off.

Thud!

With a faint sound as it hit the ground, the second Zubat was knocked out.

"Nicely done."

Qingliu tossed over a Pokéblock, praising Agumon's swift reaction at the same time.

As Agumon gained battle experience and the two spent more time together, Agumon was growing quicker at understanding his commands.

Although Agumon could be a little oblivious in everyday life, once a battle began, that alertness was extraordinary.

The other Pokémon hiding in the shadows, however, found the scene rather hard to accept.

Against the challengers who had come over the past few days, these two Zubat had defeated more trainers and Pokémon than could be counted on one hand, taking advantage of the darkness. Thanks to Absorb, they had also kept themselves in excellent condition.

Yet now, in less than half a minute-practically a few blinks of an eye-both Zubat had been instantly defeated before the others could even decide whether to help?

Just who were these two?!