Lu Chen paused briefly.
He glanced at the Ancient Gengar struggling at the edge of the alternate space and told his own Gengar:
"Rescue all the humans inside Gengar."
Lu Chen's Gengar nodded.
Then it did something the Ancient Gengar could not understand at all.
It thrust a claw straight through the Ancient Gengar's body.
The Ancient Gengar froze.
It looked down at the huge claw buried inside its body, its eyes filled with bewilderment.
Its body had an intangible, ghostly constitution that ordinary attacks could not touch, yet this Gengar's claw had reached solidly inside.
It grabbed straight into the alternate space within the Ancient Gengar!
Lu Chen's Gengar felt around inside the Ancient Gengar for a while, then abruptly pulled its hand out.
Its claw now held something wrapped in dark purple energy.
It carefully placed the mass of energy on the ground. The dark purple energy slowly dissipated, revealing the people inside.
The entire archaeological team lay sprawled across the ground. Although they were all unconscious, their chests were still rising and falling, their breathing steady.
Hokuto rushed forward and checked them one by one.
"They're all alive... they're all alive!"
Tears welled up at once. She laughed and cried, haphazardly wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand.
Meanwhile, Lu Chen's Gengar had already turned to face the Ancient Gengar, which still had not recovered from its shock.
It opened its mouth, forming a Shadow Ball inside, then flicked its head. The Shadow Ball struck the Ancient Gengar and Ancient Alakazam dead on.
Boom!
The two Ancient Pokémon were engulfed by the Shadow Ball's energy and let out a howl of defiance.
Then their bodies began to shrink.
The enormous dark purple body rapidly collapsed inward, and the golden light receded, like balloons leaking air.
Within a few short seconds, the Ancient Gengar and Ancient Alakazam had returned to their original sizes.
They continued shrinking until they finally returned to the forms of the black dumbbell and golden spoon.
They fell to the ground with two clinks.
The battle was over.
Lu Chen's Gengar also began shrinking rapidly.
The dark purple light receded, and the black markings fell dormant again.
From a colossal creature that blotted out the sky, it shrank back into its original round, grinning purple fatty form, floated beside Lu Chen, and yawned.
Hokuto looked at the Gengar that had saved the entire archaeological team and thanked it sincerely:
"Thank you! Gengar! Thank you..."
She bent at the waist and bowed to Gengar.
A little embarrassed by the praise, Gengar scratched the back of its head with a claw and gave a couple of wide-mouthed chuckles.
Then its stomach growled loudly.
"Geh..."
Lu Chen's Gengar rubbed its belly, looking a little aggrieved.
Although it had barely been hurt in the battle, growing to such an enormous size had consumed a great deal of its stamina. Now its stomach was completely empty.
Without another word, Hokuto turned and rummaged through her backpack.
Pokéblocks, Pokémon Food, human snacks, chocolate, biscuits, jerky-she pulled everything out and piled it in front of Gengar like a little mountain.
"Eat! Have as much as you want! I'll buy more if it's not enough!"
Gengar's eyes shone like lightbulbs as it looked at the food before it.
It plunged straight in, eating with both hands, stuffing its cheeks until they bulged and getting crumbs all over its face.
"Geh heh heh~"
It laughed as it ate, its tail swishing rapidly.
Meanwhile, Lu Chen bent down and picked up the black dumbbell and golden spoon.
Both objects felt cold in his hands and looked like perfectly ordinary antiques on the surface.
But Lu Chen knew the two Ancient Pokémon were still sealed inside.
They had merely been defeated, not destroyed, and could awaken again at any moment.
Hokuto came over and looked at the objects in Lu Chen's hands.
"These little things can actually hold those two Ancient Pokémon. Super-ancient technology really is amazing."
Lu Chen chuckled. "This is only a simplified version."
Hokuto pricked up her ears.
"Their technology for making Pokémon gigantic followed a path the Ten Thousand Beasts Empire abandoned early on."
Lu Chen turned the black dumbbell over and gently pressed a finger into an inconspicuous groove on its underside.
"Because Pokémon enlarged this way can only fight for a limited time. They exhaust themselves before long, making them single-use weapons."
"The Ten Thousand Beasts Empire later took the path of raising truly gigantic Pokémon. Unfortunately..."
Lu Chen did not continue.
Hokuto, however, could only half understand what she heard.
"And this Pokémopolis Empire probably inherited this technology from the Ten Thousand Beasts Empire through some chance encounter, then improved upon it again." Lu Chen put the two objects away.
"By super-ancient standards, it would only have been considered fairly good."
Hokuto did not dare forget a single word.
She immediately pulled a notebook and pen from her pocket and hurriedly wrote down every word Lu Chen had said.
As she took notes, Hokuto could not help thinking:
These are the precious words of a genuine super-ancient human in the modern age! I absolutely have to record them word for word!
Watching her act as though she had found a priceless treasure, Lu Chen shook his head helplessly.
At that moment, the archaeological team members also began slowly waking up.
"What happened...?"
"I remember something seemed to grab me..."
"Who saved us?"
Rubbing their heads, they groggily sat up.
As they looked at the devastated ruins around them and the traces of battle left by the two enormous beasts in the distance, their faces filled with bewilderment and fear.
For a moment, Lu Chen did not know how to explain.
There was certainly no hiding the appearance of the gigantic Gengar and Alakazam. Everyone within hundreds of miles had seen them.
Just as Lu Chen was hesitating over how to explain, Hokuto stepped forward, understanding his predicament.
"The power mentioned in the inscription, the power that would save the world, saved you!" Her voice was clear and certain, without a trace of hesitation.
"That enormous Gengar was the world-saving power recorded on the stone slab!"
The archaeological team members froze.
Then they exchanged looks, the bewilderment on their faces gradually giving way to shock and gratitude.
"So that's what happened..."
"The power mentioned in the inscription saved us!"
"Mr. Lu Chen, it was all thanks to you! Otherwise, we wouldn't even have known what the inscription said!"
"That's right! We really owe it all to Mr. Lu Chen! Not only is he strong, but he also knows so much about the Super-Ancient Civilization!"
A young team member suddenly raised a hand. "Mr. Lu Chen, why don't you just join our archaeological team?"
The others chimed in.
Hokuto also turned to look at Lu Chen, her face full of anticipation.
Lu Chen smiled and shook his head.
"I only joined you this time on a whim. I still have a farm to look after in Pallet Town. I can't get away."
Hokuto's expression visibly fell.
Lu Chen glanced at her and added:
"Of course, if you come across any unusual super-ancient ruins or anything like that, you can come find me again. I live in Pallet Town."
Hokuto's eyes instantly lit up.
"Really? That's wonderful!"
She was so happy that she jumped right up.
Then she realized everyone around her was watching. Her delighted expression turned awkward, and her cheeks flushed bright red with embarrassment.
She coughed and straightened her collar as though nothing had happened, but the tips of her ears were burning red.
Lu Chen said goodbye to the archaeological team, then turned and left.
Gengar followed behind him, still chewing its last Pokéblock, its cheeks bulging with each bite.
After saying goodbye to the archaeological team and Hokuto.
Lu Chen did not head straight back to Pallet Town.
He took a detour and, while no one was paying attention, quietly doubled back to the wreckage of the Pokémopolis Ruins.
Deep within the ruins, Gengar used its ability to pass through walls to lead Lu Chen along until they reached the great bell.
The great bell was still there.
Plain and covered in dust, it looked out of place among the exquisite carvings and magnificent stone pillars around it.
But when Lu Chen crouched down for a closer look, he discovered extremely fine writing carved into the bell. So much time had passed that dust had almost completely filled it in.
"This should be the fellow the ancient texts said could subdue Gengar and Alakazam." Lu Chen reached out and touched the bell.
"Since we're already here, let's pack this up and take it too."
Gengar nodded and opened its mouth wide.
It swallowed the enormous stone bell in one gulp, sending it into its own alternate space.
Pack it up, take it home, and study it at leisure.
Gengar patted its belly and gave a satisfied burp.
Lu Chen stood and dusted off his hands.
"Let's go. Time to head home."
Gengar slipped into Lu Chen's shadow, and the human and ghost left the now-devastated Pokémopolis Ruins, flying toward Pallet Town.