The source of the strange noises

The outcome was beyond doubt.

Even at full strength, they could have lost to Agumon, let alone now, when Golbat and the two Misdreavus were so weakened that they could barely dodge effectively, much less spare the stamina to mount an attack.

Agumon was not in great shape either, but compared to the three of them, he had more than enough left.

"Whew..."

Agumon let out a long breath, barely brought his ragged breathing under control, and sat down on the floor to rest.

Although victory was assured, Qingliu had told Agumon to finish the battle as quickly as possible to avoid drawing the attention of the "source of the strange noises" overhead.

As a result, Agumon had expended considerably more stamina.

But there was good news as well.

Golbat and the two Misdreavus had initiated the battle, and despite their weakened state, Agumon had fought them fair and square.

Thus, after defeating one level 20 opponent and two level 19 opponents, Agumon gained a large amount of experience and leveled up again.

[Level] 19 → 20

After a round of grinding in the wild, beating Candice in a one-on-three battle, and then challenging the Lost Tower and clearing its first four floors, Agumon had skyrocketed from level 13 to level 20.

A full seven levels-undoubtedly a substantial gain.

At this level, Agumon's overall strength, already greater than that of comparable Pokémon thanks to his repeated evolutions, meant he could now hold his own to some extent. Perhaps his only shortcoming was the variety of his moves.

But the prize money for clearing the Lost Tower would solve that problem too.

Qingliu did not know the exact amount, but he guessed it would be considerable.

He could use that money to buy some Technical Machines, allowing Agumon to branch out from Digimon-exclusive moves and learn the Pokémon world's diverse techniques, becoming a true Digimon-brand Pokémon.

Pushing aside the ideas beginning to crowd his mind, Qingliu applied the Heal Spray to Agumon. Then, looking at the little remaining and the three Pokémon lying nearby, he gave them some basic treatment as well.

A little while later.

"Qingliu, I think I'm ready."

Having recovered some of his energy, Agumon stood up.

"Good."

Stepping over the three unconscious Pokémon blocking the way, Qingliu reached the passage and took out a Poké Ball. As before, he intended to recall Agumon to keep him from being caught on surveillance footage and having reporters expose everything in an instant.

But just as he took it out...

Agumon, who had still looked somewhat tired, sniffed the air. As though sensing something, his expression instantly turned serious.

"Qingliu, that really unpleasant presence I mentioned earlier suddenly got much stronger. And it seems to be coming toward us."

"I know."

Qingliu's expression was equally grave.

Ever since entering the Lost Tower, he had kept the panel open to guard against ambushes from hidden Pokémon, and now it had stirred.

That meant a Pokémon was nearby.

But all the Pokémon guarding the Fourth Floor were already lying on the ground. The Pokémon on each floor also seemed to have strictly defined duties and did not cross between floors at will. So... what other Pokémon could approach them now?

There was only one answer-the creature on the Fifth Floor "making the strange noises."

"Going from the Fourth Floor to the Fifth Floor was one thing, but now it's coming back down?"

Qingliu had never expected its movements to be so bizarre. There was no logic at all to its repeated trips back and forth.

The only thing he could be sure of was that this creature might be extremely powerful, second only to Cynthia's Gabite. Even in his normal condition, Agumon might not be a match for it.

As the information on the panel grew clearer and more detailed, what Qingliu read only reinforced that conclusion.

"Agumon, we're leaving."

Not only was it beyond them, it was also an extremely troublesome opponent. Now that he knew what it was, there was no reason to stay and invite trouble. They would make a run for it before it came down.

Although Agumon did not know what alarming discovery Qingliu had made, the increasingly oppressive presence in the air, coupled with the reflex he had developed from following Qingliu's instructions lately, made him act immediately-he followed Qingliu straight toward the passage leading to the Third Floor.

But things were rarely that simple.

When Qingliu saw a thin mist beginning to form around them, and even the sky outside the Lost Tower's windows taking on a hint of an approaching storm, he knew they probably would not escape.

The next second, piercing laughter rang in his ears.

"Kikikiki... kekekeke... kikikiki..."

A faint light appeared within the mist.

Qingliu narrowed his eyes and saw that the thing glowing was a stone.

It floated in midair, with a few simple marks carved into it that gave off a red glow.

The stone flew toward Qingliu and Agumon, finally stopping a few meters away.

Then a vivid red light burst from its surface, and a mass of purple, gaslike matter emerged from within.

At a glance, he could make out features resembling a mouth and eyes within that gaseous mass.

And at that moment, Qingliu knew it was watching him.

Its information also appeared in full on the panel.

[Species] Spiritomb

[Category] Forbidden Pokémon

[Type] Ghost, Dark

[Ability] Pressure (puts pressure on opponents, greatly reducing the number of times they can use moves)

[Level] 20

[Exclusive moves] None

[Known moves] Night Shade, Confuse Ray, Shadow Sneak, Spite, Payback, Nasty Plot, Destiny Bond

[Base stat total] 485 (HP 52, Attack 92, Defense 108, Special Attack 92, Special Defense 108, Speed 35)

[Friendship] 0 (does not know you)

[Status] Frenzied (in pain and angry)

[Information summary] Spiritomb is a Pokémon formed 500 years ago from a gathering of 108 spirits. Some apparently had wicked dispositions, making it an evil entity born of malicious thoughts.

It constantly committed misdeeds, until one day its physical form was bound to an Odd Keystone by a mysterious spell to prevent it from doing evil again.

Looking at the creature before him, Qingliu could not help sighing.

"We still didn't get away."

He truly did not want to battle a creature like this. Although it was the same level as Agumon, both Spiritomb's type combination and its moves were far too nasty.

Before the Fairy type appeared in Generation VI, it had been an incredibly formidable presence. Its Ghost and Dark typing left it with no type weaknesses.

Once it latched onto them, shaking it off would be an absolute headache.

But what Qingliu had not expected was that, after Spiritomb appeared, the panel's summoning function, which had remained dormant lately, suddenly responded.