Pokemon: Resurgence Chapter 90

Hi all,

Here’s the first chapter of the week.

Chapter 90

Once Bree arrived, events began to unfold rapidly.

Persian launched itself at Lucas, claws extended. He activated his aura barrier at the last second, the translucent blue energy absorbing the Slash attack. The cat Pokemon's claws scraped against the shield, sparks flying from the impact. The electricity sparking off the shield caused Persain to recoil in surprise. 

At the same moment, Bree launched her surprise attack. The kitchen knife punctured Giovanni's back, the steel sliding between vertebrae, severing the spinal cord in one clean stroke. The crime boss pitched forward, his legs buckling beneath him.

"What—" Giovanni's words dissolved into a strangled gasp. His knees struck the concrete.

Lucas condensed his aura into a lance. The crystalline projectile streaked through the air, forcing Persian to dodge sideways. Another lance followed, then a third. Each attack drove the Pokemon back, but madness had consumed its yellow eyes. It circled Lucas like a predator, undeterred by the barrage.

Bree stepped over Giovanni's prone form, her button eyes tracking Persian's movements. The cat Pokemon pounced again. Invisible force seized it mid-leap, telekinetic energy wrapping around its body like chains. Bree hurled the struggling Pokemon against the tunnel wall.

Persian struck the concrete with bone-jarring force. It dropped to the ground, shook its head, then immediately crouched for another attack.

A pink flash illuminated the tunnel. Dante materialised beside the crazed Pokemon, one hand reaching for its scruff. The world blurred. Both vanished in an instant.

"My spine," Giovanni wheezed, his voice hollow with shock. "I can't move my legs."

Bree crouched beside him, the bloodied knife balanced between her mitten hands. "Stupid bastard. This is what you deserve for messing with my family.”

The crime boss's face drained of colour. His mouth worked soundlessly as terror replaced rage in his eyes. “What are you—?”

"Shut your mouth," Bree whispered, pressing the blade against his throat. "Or I'll finish what I started."

Giovanni's protests died down. His chest rose and fell in rapid, shallow breaths.

Lucas tested his trapped leg, wincing at the pain. The debris had him pinned, but nothing seemed broken. He could wiggle his toes, though the weight prevented any real movement.

Explosions continued to echo from beyond the collapsed ceiling. Concrete dust rained down with each detonation. Pokemon screeched and roared, their cries muffled by tonnes of rubble.

"Sabrina!" Lucas shouted. "Are you alright?"

Her voice carried through the debris. "I'm fine! Cleaning up the mess Giovanni left behind."

More explosions followed. A particularly violent tremor shook the tunnel, dislodging fresh chunks of concrete from above.

Another pink flash. Dante materialised beside Lucas, then disappeared again. Seconds later, he returned with Sabrina in tow.

"Lucas," she breathed, dropping to her knees beside him. Her hands traced the concrete, pinning his leg, assessing the damage. "Can you move it?"

"Toes and ankle work. Knee's the problem."

Dante returned with Max and Kasumi, who immediately set to work on freeing him. Sabrina helped him stand. He tested his knee, wincing as he put weight on it. He had gotten away with just a minor injury. It would hurt for a while, but compared to what could have happened, he was lucky to come out mostly unscathed.

“Uncle," Sabrina said, spotting Shichiro’s motionless form against the far wall.

They approached Shichiro. Blood had dried in his grey hair, the cut above his eye no longer bleeding. His breathing remained steady, though his face looked pale.

"Uncle," Sabrina whispered, shaking his shoulder gently.

Shichiro's eyelids fluttered. He blinked several times, his gaze unfocused. "Sabrina? What happened?"

"You were kidnapped. The tunnel collapsed. How do you feel?"

"Like I've been run over by a Rhyhorn." He struggled to sit up, wincing. "My head's spinning, but I'm conscious. That's something."

"Concussion," Lucas said. "We need to get you to a hospital."

Giovanni's weak laughter echoed through the tunnel. "Think you've won? I’m only a small piece in a larger operation."

Bree ran the knife across his cheek. "Didn't I tell you to be quiet?"

The crime boss's laughter cut off abruptly. 

“I can’t believe the boss came to kidnap me in person,” Shichiro murmured. “Seeing how wretched he is now, it was well worth it.”

“His suffering is only getting started,” Bree said, waving her knife around. “We should build a prison on the farm where I get to torture him for the rest of his life.”

“How is Masumi?” Shichiro asked.

“Auntie’s fine,” Sabrina assured him. “Just a concussion like yourself.”

As they talked, Kasumi and Max carved a path through the debris. They joined up with their other Pokemon, who had been clearing the path from the opposite side. They peeked inside to check if their trainers were okay. Behind them, the defeated Team Rocket members and their Pokemon lay on the ground.

"Dante," Lucas called. "I need your help again."

The Gardevoir appeared, surveying the injured humans. He moved to Shichiro first, placing one hand on the Prime Minister's shoulder.

"Wait," Shichiro protested. "What about Giovanni?"

Lucas glanced at the paralysed crime boss. Blood had pooled beneath him, though the flow had slowed. His breathing remained laboured but steady.

"Leave him," Bree said, her voice carrying an edge of satisfied cruelty. "Let him contemplate his choices."

Sabrina frowned. "We can't abandon him here. He'll die."

"And?"

"Bree," Sabrina warned.

“He destroyed our family,” Bree argued. “We shouldn’t show him any mercy.”

“We won’t,” Sabrina replied. “Killing him is easy. I would rather he live and suffer for his crimes.”

The doll stepped away from Giovanni's prone form. "Fine.”

Dante's teleportation whisked them away in stages. First Shichiro, then Sabrina, and finally Lucas himself. The familiar sensation of displacement washed over him as the grimy tunnel dissolved into the street outside of Saffron General Hospital.

Emergency staff swarmed them immediately. Doctors whisked Shichiro away while nurses examined Lucas’s leg. After a few doses of a healing potion, he was feeling much better. He and Sabrina watched the news of Mew’s intervention on the television in his hospital room, relieved to see the crisis had passed. 

Authorities were still working to capture everyone involved in the attack on the eastern cities, but the majority of them had already been caught. Meanwhile, the army had set up barricades around the tunnels to protect the vulnerable areas. Small groups of elite soldiers were sent into the tunnels to disable the remaining teleportation towers. 

Deep in the abandoned tunnels, Persian stood up from where Dante had deposited him. It had been knocked unconscious during the transit. The cat Pokemon's feral eyes darted left and right, searching for his missing trainer. It could still feel the bond, but it was faint. Knowing it wouldn’t find its master anytime soon, it padded deeper into the labyrinth, instinct driving it toward darker depths.

=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Lucas knocked on the hospital room door before stepping inside with Sabrina. The space buzzed with activity despite the early hour. Aides cluttered around a makeshift command centre, laptops balanced on their knees whilst they fielded phone calls.

Shichiro sat propped against his pillows, a white bandage wrapped around his head like a crown. His wife occupied the chair beside his bed, her own smaller bandage stark against her dark hair. Masumi looked even more petite than Lucas remembered—barely five feet tall, with delicate features that hid the steel beneath.

"I don’t care for excuses. Get it done." Shichiro barked into his phone. "No, I don't care about overtime costs. Fix it."

He ended the call and glanced up, noticing them in the doorway.

"Masumi," Sabrina said, crossing to embrace her aunt. "How are you feeling?"

"Still a little dizzy," Masumi replied. "But grateful to be alive."

Lucas nodded to her. "Good to see you're recovering."

Shichiro threw his phone onto the bed "Right then. We need to talk."

An aide approached with another phone. Shichiro waved him away irritably. "Unless the building's on fire, it can wait."

"First things first," Shichiro continued, fixing Lucas and Sabrina with his sharp gaze. "Mew’s intervention."

"Saved a lot of lives," Lucas observed.

"Undoubtedly. But it's created new problems." Shichiro rubbed his temples beneath the bandage. "The Arceus Church is having a field day online. They're claiming Kanto suffered this crisis because we expelled them from the region. It was only to the grace of a legendary Pokemon that we managed to survive."

Sabrina scowled. "They were part of the invasion."

"We know that. The public doesn't—yet." Shichiro gestured to his aides. "My people are already preparing some countermeasures. By this afternoon, their involvement will be front-page news across every major publication."

"Will that be enough?" Lucas asked.

"To discredit them? Absolutely. To silence them permanently?" Shichiro shrugged. "That's a longer battle."

Masumi squeezed her husband's hand. "You'll manage it. You always do."

Shichiro's expression softened momentarily before snapping back to business. "The underground tunnels present our next challenge."

"Thought you were sealing them," Sabrina said.

"Changed my mind. Sealing them doesn't eliminate the threat—it just pushes it elsewhere. Instead, we're implementing a comprehensive cleanup operation. Remove every criminal element, then redevelop the entire area."

Lucas raised an eyebrow. "You’re working fast. Redevelop how?"

"Shopping centres, entertainment districts, and rapid transit between cities. Transform the tunnels from a criminal haven back into a commercial asset like the old days." 

"Ambitious," Lucas admitted. “Are you going to use the army to clear it out?”

"Yes, I was too cautious before, allowing for this major incident to happen. No more. The tunnels will remain a security vulnerability to the eastern region if I leave them as it is.”

“You won’t hear an argument from me.”

“I'd like your help with the cleanup phase," Shichiro continued. "You have already gained a lot of intel on the area.” 

Lucas nodded without hesitation. The Zygarde Core remained somewhere in those depths. He'd collected most of the scattered pieces from Hoenn, Kalos, and United Kanto over recent months, but several still eluded him. The underground component was one of them. He received a quest to gather the Zygarde cores and cells retroactively once the system was upgraded. The quest had three stages. He was close to completing the first stage to earn his initial reward. After that, he would need to explore other regions to find more.

A notification chimed in his interface. Lucas discreetly opened it and read the contents. 

======== 

New Regional Quest! 

The Hidden Vault: Locate a criminal’s secret treasure chamber in the underground tunnels. It conceals both wealth and a secret in a hidden location. 

Reward: +50000 experience, +3 skill points.

=========

Lucas dismissed the notification. "Consider it done.”

"Excellent." Shichiro shifted position, wincing slightly. "Now, the separatist situation."

"How many are remaining?" Sabrina asked.

"More than I'd like. We captured Pryce and most of the Elite Four, plus several gym leaders. But plenty of their supporters in the western territories remain at large." Shichiro's jaw tightened. "I've declared martial law across the western region until we can sort this mess."

An aide approached with a laptop. Shichiro glanced at it, nodded, then waved the man away.

"I want you to oversee the western operations, Sabrina," Shichiro continued. "Your psychic abilities make you ideal for rooting out remaining conspirators."

Sabrina exchanged a glance with Lucas. “I can do that.”

"Excellent. I’ll send several soldiers with you to ensure you’re protected."

"What about Team Rocket?" Lucas asked. "With Giovanni captured, who's running the organisation?"

Shichiro's expression darkened. "Unknown. That's what worries me most. Giovanni was predictable, cruel, ambitious, but rational. I don’t know how a new leader will act."

"Or the organisation might fragment entirely," Sabrina suggested.

"We can hope. But I'm not counting on it."

Lucas agreed with him. Team Rocket had plenty of Administrators who would be happy to take over from where Giovanni left off.

"There's one more issue," Shichiro said. "Porygon."

"What about it?" Lucas asked.

"After Giovanni's attack, I ordered Porygon into the network for safety. Standard protocol. The problem is, it's not responding to recall commands."

"Meaning?"

"The Pokemon is implementing new security directives ahead of schedule. Upgrading firewalls, reorganising data structures, establishing monitoring protocols." Shichiro rubbed his bandaged head. "All things we planned eventually, but under controlled conditions."

Sabrina frowned. "Can you regain control?"

"Unknown. Porygon exists in digital space now. I had several fail-safes implemented for such a scenario, but none of them are working.”

"Is it dangerous?" Lucas asked.

"Not maliciously. But I have a rogue Pokemon in the global network, and I'll need to explain that to every world leader." Shichiro's laugh held no humour. "They're already demanding explanations about the attack. Adding an uncontrolled digital entity to that conversation won't improve things."

"Could be worse," Lucas said. "We’ll just have to wait and see if Porygon functions as it’s supposed to or if it becomes a dangerous element.”

Shichiro scowled. “I’m not a patient man.”

Lucas and Sabrina exited the room after Masumi ordered Shichiro to get some rest. 

“Looks like we won’t be seeing each other for a while,” Sabrina said.

Lucas pulled her into his arms and kissed her. “How about we have a bet on who finishes first. I finish cleaning up the underground, or you clean up the separatists’ faction. It will give us the proper motivation to finish sooner.” 

“No fair,” Sabrina protested. “You’re getting help from the army.”

“So are you.”

“But my job is ten times harder.”

“Scared of a little bet?” Lucas taunted her.

Sabrina frowned. “Not even a little. The loser has to run naked down the street during the middle of the day.”

Lucas gripped her bottom. “Not a chance. These cheeks are for my eyes only.”

"Confident you will win?" She pushed against his chest playfully. “Don’t want to show your tiny Drowzee off to the world?”

Lucas pulled her closer. “Little minx. I’ll show you my thing is more of a Diglett than a Drowzee. But it does have the power to hypnotise you.”

“Gross.”

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Several days of relentless tunnel clearing had left Lucas utterly knackered. 

The army had torn through the tunnels like a force of nature. Squads of soldiers worked in rotating shifts, methodically sweeping each section clean. They'd dragged out over three hundred criminals in chains—thieves, Pokemon smugglers, murderers, and everything else in between. 

Lucas had barely slept. But the tunnels were finally secure. What had once been a lawless maze of criminal hideouts was now mostly empty. Only the homeless who lived in the tunnels were left alone. The transformation was remarkable.

Yet Lucas's real objective remained unfulfilled. The hidden chamber eluded him despite their thorough exploration. Despite that, it allowed Meowth to find loads of hidden items, all within the safe embrace of the army. Lucas had acted more like a guide through the tunnels while providing information on the criminals. 

The army had departed an hour ago to clear the final section near Vermillion, leaving Lucas alone to continue his search. Every tunnel had been mapped, every settlement dismantled, yet the secret vault stayed hidden. But he had one clue that pointed to the general area. The Zygarde cores embedded in his chest pulsed stronger here, near the Celadon exit. Which meant the core was located inside the treasure chamber. 

If it was Giovanni’s chamber, then his familiarity with these tunnels made sense now. The crime boss had operated a casino in Celadon for years, using it as a front for Team Rocket's activities. Where better to hide his accumulated wealth than beneath his old stomping grounds?

"The entrance has to be here somewhere," Lucas muttered.

"Would've been easier if we had Sabrina's creepy ghost," Meowth replied. "Salem could've phased through walls, found it in minutes."

"Can't be that hard to find. We need to be more methodical."

"What d'you mean?"

"We inspect every cinderblock in this tunnel."

Meowth's tail drooped. "But that'll take ages."

"No, it won't."

Lucas released his team in quick succession. Max, Nero, Ashe, and Raphael.

"Listen up," he addressed his team. "We're looking for loose blocks, hidden switches, anything that doesn't belong. Take your time and don’t miss a single block.”

Ten minutes of methodical searching passed before Nero's growl broke the silence. His claw pressed against an innocuous-looking block, and the stones around it sank into the wall with a grinding sound. A section of the wall swung inward, revealing stone steps descending into darkness.

Lucas patted Nero's armoured hide. "Good work, Nero. Should've thought of this sooner."

Meowth peered down the staircase. "This looks pretty creepy. The loot better be worth it."

Lucas retrieved a torch from his pack, the beam casting dancing shadows on the worn stone steps. His aura sight could see through the darkness, but it made more sense to save his energy when ordinary methods worked fine.

They descended carefully. At the bottom, a massive vault door blocked their path. Reinforced steel several inches thick, secured by a combination lock that looked like it belonged in a bank. The vault was built to withstand a lot of damage.

"Now what are we supposed to do?" Lucas asked.

"Let me give it a go," Meowth said, approaching the lock.

Lucas watched as the feline Pokemon pressed his ear against the door, one paw delicately turning the dial. Meowth's expression grew distant, focusing entirely on the subtle clicks and vibrations only he could detect.

Minutes passed. The lock clicked open with finality.

"Piece of cake," Meowth announced smugly.

"Wasn't that a little too easy?" Lucas frowned at the unlocked door.

"The vault's only an afterthought, Meowth. Finding the chamber was the real defence."

Lucas swung the heavy door open, and his jaw dropped. The chamber beyond defied his expectations completely.

Meowth showed less restraint. He bolted past Lucas and leaped onto a pallet stacked with bundled pokedollars, rolling amongst the cash like it was a bed of leaves.

"We're rich! Money! Money! Money!"

The chamber stretched back into shadows, filled with organised wealth that took his breath away. Pallets of bundled currency formed neat rows down the centre. The walls were lined with shelves full of valuable items like pokeballs, potions, evolution stones, specialised equipment, weapons, books, and ingredients. And that was only the tip of the iceberg.

Lucas stepped inside slowly, still struggling to process the magnitude of Giovanni's hoard. Conservative estimates put the value at one hundred million pokedollars, possibly more. This represented decades of criminal enterprise, systematically accumulated and hidden.

"Calm down," Lucas told the ecstatic Meowth. "We need to confirm this belongs to Giovanni. Might belong to someone else who could return at any moment."

"Boss, look at this!" Raphael's voice carried across their mental bond.

Lucas approached the Blastoise, who stood before an ornate painting mounted on the far wall. Giovanni's stern features gazed down at them from within an expensive frame, his Team Rocket uniform pristine in the artist's rendering.

"Well, that confirms it," Meowth said, finally stopping his money-rolling celebration.

"Unless Giovanni has a secret admirer, this belonged to him," Lucas agreed.

Meowth's expression grew panicked. "You're not thinking of handing this over, are you, boss? Don't break my heart."

Lucas snorted. "Why would I do something like that? This might be stolen goods, but we're the ones who found it. Sabrina might have a different opinion, though."

"Nah. You've already corrupted her too much."

"Thanks for the compliment."

The quest notification chimed softly in his interface:

======== 

The Hidden Vault Quest is completed! 

Reward: +50000 experience, +3 skill points.

========

Lucas dismissed the notification. The rewards paled in comparison to what was contained in the chamber. Still, the skill points were welcome.

He touched his chest, feeling a familiar warmth as the embedded cores resonated with something nearby. The Zygarde Core was close.

"Still searching for something, boss?" Meowth asked.

"Give me a minute." 

Lucas pressed his palm against his chest, following the sensation toward the back of the chamber. The warmth intensified with each step, drawing him past several shelves of evolution stones.

A cylindrical container sat alone on the highest shelf. It looked similar to the containment units he'd discovered in Lysandre's laboratory. Inside, a green and black hexagonal shape pulsed with soft light.

The Zygarde Core.

Lucas lifted the cylinder carefully. Had Giovanni understood what he'd stolen? The crime boss might have recognised its value without comprehending its true nature, treating it as another exotic trophy for his collection. He didn’t think Giovanni was connected to Lysandre, as he would have likely sold the Core already. If it didn’t immediately benefit him in some way, Giovanni was likely to sell it off. He was more profit-driven than someone like Lysandre.

He pressed the release mechanism. The cylinder hissed open, freeing the contained energy. The core shot toward Lucas's chest without hesitation, burrowing through his shirt to join its companions. 

A notification materialised in his vision:

======== 

Legendary Quest: Zygarde’s Transformation 

Stage One Complete! 

Reward: +10 skill points, +200,000 experience. Stage Two is now available. 

========

New Legendary Quest: Zygarde’s Transformation 2

Stage Two: Collect 40 Cores and 100 Cells from the various regions.

Reward: +15 skill points, +500,000 experience. Stage Three becomes available. 

========

Lucas dismissed the interface. It had taken him several months to collect twenty Cores and fifty Cells, but the rewards were worth the effort. Skill points remained his scarcest resource, making this windfall particularly valuable. The second stage rewards were even more enticing. 

"Boss, where's the door lead?"

Meowth's voice snapped him from his thoughts. The Pokemon pointed toward the chamber's rear wall, where a wooden door stood slightly ajar. Lucas had been so focused on the core he'd missed it entirely.

He approached the door and pulled it open. Darkness stretched beyond the threshold, punctuated by the distant sound of rushing water. He switched his torch on. The light revealed a rocky outcropping carved from stone, with crude steps descending toward an underground river. A water-type Pokemon could navigate these currents easily, carrying a passenger to safety. 

"Where do you think it leads?" Lucas asked.

"Dunno. But I'm not interested in finding out," Meowth replied. "Boss, we need to secure the loot instead of satisfying your curiosity."

"Where's your sense of adventure?"

"Back in the chamber with all the loot."

Lucas chuckled despite himself. "I can return here once we've cleared the chamber. Giovanni may have told someone else about this place, so it's not secure."

"Damn straight. So, what's my portion of the loot? Let's go fifty-fifty."

"How about I give you nothing? This isn't the same deal as the hidden items. Besides, you already have more money than you know what to do with."

"Boss, you're breaking my heart."

"I'm sure I can invent a potion to fix that."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Lucas spent the remainder of the day transferring Giovanni's hoard to a concealed Secret Base he'd established near his Rota Kingdom property. Bringing such wealth directly home would have raised uncomfortable questions. The operation required multiple trips, even when utilising his inventory.

Meowth refused to leave the chamber, declaring his intention to count every pokedollar. Lucas suspected some currency would mysteriously vanish during this process, but the Pokemon's joy was worth the inevitable shrinkage. 

He needed to sort through the items, but exhaustion had finally caught up with him. Lucas returned to the main house, which was silent. Sabrina remained in the western region, still hunting down separatist remnants. His staff occupied their own homes scattered across the property—Brock's dwelling being the largest to accommodate his siblings. The arrangement granted Lucas and Sabrina the privacy they craved.

He collapsed into an armchair and switched on the television. The evening news filled the screen, and the lead story left him reeling.

"Good evening. Our top story tonight comes from Saffron City, where hundreds of residents have gathered to establish what they're calling the Church of Mew. The movement seeks to worship the legendary Pokemon that intervened during last week's crisis."

The camera panned across a crowd assembled in Saffron's central plaza. Men and women held makeshift banners bearing Mew's likeness, their faces bright with religious fervour.

"The church's organisers claim Mew's appearance wasn't coincidental," the reporter continued. "They believe Lucas Walker summoned the legendary to save Kanto's cities. Based on this belief, they've nominated Walker as their spiritual leader."

Lucas's stomach churned. The camera focused on a middle-aged woman clutching a hand-drawn poster of Mew.

"Mr Walker has a special connection to legendary Pokemon," she declared. "He brought Mew to us in our darkest hour. Who else could guide us in understanding its message?"

The reporter's voice resumed over footage of the growing crowd. "Walker's popularity has soared following his role in recent crises. His girlfriend, Sabrina, has also attracted attention for her own heroic actions. Neither has commented on the movement's proposals."

More interviews followed. A young man claimed Lucas possessed divine authority granted by ancient Pokemon. An elderly woman insisted Mew had chosen Lucas as its earthly representative. Each testimonial pushed the narrative further into dangerous territory.

The news shifted to footage of similar gatherings in Cerulean and Vermillion. The movement was spreading, feeding on the population's desperate need for meaning after their traumatic experiences.

Lucas switched off the television, disgust churning in his gut. These people had transformed genuine gratitude into dangerous delusion. What were the chances they used to be members of the Church of Arceus? Some people couldn’t live without relying on faith and a higher authority to guide them.

Distance suddenly felt like a blessing. The Rota Kingdom's isolation protected him from the worst of this madness. With any luck, the movement would collapse under its own absurdity before gaining real momentum.

But Lucas had learned not to underestimate human foolishness. This wouldn't simply disappear.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Curiosity gnawed at Lucas throughout the night, denying him proper rest. By morning, his resolve had crumbled completely. The underground river beckoned with promises of discovery. Even with the newfound fortune, he wasn’t satisfied. He wanted to know what lay at the river’s end. 

After letting Brock know that he would be away from the farm, he summoned Dante to take him back to the underground chamber.

Lucas made his way to the hidden door. At the rocky outcropping, he released Saphira. The massive Dragonite stretched her wings before slipping into the water. Despite her new evolution, she retained her love of water. Her broad back provided a comfortable platform as she settled into the current.

"Which way should we go?" Lucas asked, settling between her shoulder blades.

"Does it really matter?" 

"I suppose not. Let's follow the flow of the river."

Saphira pushed off from the stone steps, her powerful limbs cutting through the current with ease. The water moved swiftly, but her strength made the flow seem gentle. Lucas opened his upgraded map interface, watching as the tunnel system filled out in real-time. After maxing out the map function, he could map out any area, including underwater. 

The river flowed south, stretching endlessly ahead, carved from living rock by centuries of flowing water. Phosphorescent minerals in the walls provided dim illumination, casting eerie shadows that danced with their movement. The air smelled of damp stone and underground streams, tinged with the metallic scent of deep earth.

After thirty minutes of steady swimming, Lucas began questioning his decision. The tunnel showed no signs of ending, stretching into darkness beyond his torchlight's reach. How far did this underground river system extend? Had Giovanni really explored this tunnel, and what had he discovered?

Movement ahead caught his attention. The tunnel branched into several passages, creating an intersection where multiple waterways converged. Each passage disappeared into darkness, offering new paths to explore.

Lucas hesitated, spoilt for choice. The map would prevent him from getting lost, and Dante could extract him from any dangerous situation. Still, selecting the wrong path might waste hours of exploration.

"Follow the right-hand tunnel," he decided.

Saphira adjusted course, her massive form gliding smoothly into the chosen passage. The water here moved more slowly, allowing vegetation to take root along the tunnel walls. Moss carpeted the lower sections whilst strange fungi sprouted from cracks in the stone. The air grew warmer, suggesting they were approaching something significant.

The tunnel terminated abruptly in a natural alcove. Unusual plants clustered around a small underground spring, their leaves glowing with bioluminescent patterns. Lucas had never seen their like before—flowering vines with crystalline petals.

He activated his Green Thumb skill, extending his senses toward the unusual flora. Information flooded his mind as the plants' properties revealed themselves. Evolution enhancers, all of them. Whatever that meant.

He carefully harvested some samples. These plants might lead to a new recipe. The crime boss had either overlooked this alcove entirely or hadn't recognised their value.

Lucas stored the samples in his inventory and climbed onto Saphira's back. The exploration had already proven worthwhile, and they'd barely begun mapping the tunnel system.

A mechanical sound echoed through the tunnels.

Lucas froze, straining to identify the source. The rhythmic puttering resembled a boat engine, though muffled by distance and stone walls. It wasn't coming from their current tunnel—the adjacent passage, most likely.

"Do you hear that?" he whispered.

Saphira's head turned toward the sound. "Someone else is down here."

The engine noise grew louder, suggesting the vessel was approaching their intersection. Lucas's mind raced through possibilities. Another explorer? Or something more sinister—remaining criminal elements using the waterways for transport?

His hand moved instinctively toward Dante's pokéball. The Gardevoir could extract them instantly if necessary, but retreat meant abandoning this promising discovery. Besides, he was curious about who else knew these tunnels well enough to navigate them by boat.

The engine sound reached the intersection and stopped.

So, what do you think? In the next chapter, Lucas confronts the occupants on the boat and learns a startling secret. 

Thanks for reading.