"Is this... an alternate dimension?"
Looking at the scattered lakes and breathing the damp air, Gu Yuan murmured with a hint of doubt. Beside him, Charizard and the others stood on high alert. Rather than rushing into action, Gu Yuan took a moment to carefully recall the previous situation.
When the blue pillar of light appeared, both he and his Pokémon were immobilized. Even his psychic powers couldn't penetrate the light, and his vision was entirely filled with blue. After that, a sensation of movement followed, and the blue light gradually faded. By the time he could see clearly again, he had arrived in this strange place.
Based on this information, his situation was very similar to entering an alternate dimension. Looking at the blue crystal and the blue stone in his hand, which had both turned dull, a spark of inspiration flashed through Gu Yuan's mind.
He quickly pulled out the blue stone he had purchased long ago from his backpack. In appearance, it was identical to the one he had taken from Archie. Most importantly, this blue stone had also lost its luster, turning a grayish-white as if its energy had been completely exhausted. At this moment, Gu Yuan seemed to understand why he had entered this space.
"Let's go. Let's head deeper first. At the very least, we need to know the strength of the Pokémon here and try to gather some useful information from them."
After stowing away the grayish-white stones, Gu Yuan prepared to move forward. He activated the System's detection function, but strangely, even with its range, he couldn't find any signs of Pokémon. For Gu Yuan, this was undoubtedly a worse situation. If there were wild Pokémon, he could find a way to communicate and gather information about this space.
Initially, Gu Yuan advanced with extreme caution. However, after realizing there were no living creatures around and no restrictions on the power of his Pokémon, he had Alakazam use Teleport to carry him forward. With each blink, Gu Yuan drew closer to the heart of the alternate dimension, sensing the surrounding temperature begin to rise. Eventually, a mountain appeared before him.
Without hesitation, he had Alakazam use Teleport to bring him up the mountain. Along the way, the System's detection found nothing. Reaching the halfway point, Gu Yuan looked out to see a barren landscape, with only lakes of various sizes dotting the terrain.
"Let's go. Let's rush to the peak in one go."
Retracting his gaze, Gu Yuan had Alakazam use Teleport again. In the blink of an eye, he reached the summit. The temperature here was far more intense than on the mountainside. In the center of the peak was a crater. Upon closer inspection, he discovered the mountain was a volcano filled with churning lava. Most strangely, in the middle of the lava sat a red rock holding a blue and red egg!
"Alakazam, use your psychic power to bring that egg over."
A thief never leaves empty-handed. Having finally found something of value, Gu Yuan naturally wouldn't let it go. Psychic energy surged, forming a pair of invisible hands that lifted the egg and slowly brought it toward Alakazam. Taking the egg from Alakazam, Gu Yuan was surprised to find that the surface of the shell fluctuated between hot and cold.
Before he could study it further, the lava within the volcano began to grow restless.
In the next second, the volcano erupted, spewing a massive amount of lava. Almost the instant the magma surged out, Alakazam used Teleport to carry Gu Yuan away. As if enraged by the egg thief, the lava seemed to come alive, chasing after Gu Yuan. Fortunately, while the lava spread quickly, it could not outpace Alakazam's Teleport.
They reached the foot of the mountain, yet the lava showed no sign of stopping, continuing its frantic spread.
"Pull back further!"
Gu Yuan didn't let Alakazam stop; he wanted to see just how much lava could pour from the volcano. Soon, he regretted this thought. As the lava spread and touched the water puddles, it released massive amounts of steam, which quickly vanished under the high temperature. It wasn't until Gu Yuan retreated to his original entry point that the lava finally slowed to a halt.
But this was only the beginning. The lava cooled rapidly and then emitted a pure white light. Even just by looking, Gu Yuan could feel a rich aura of life. Soon, countless specks of light emerged from the glow, scattering throughout the space.
Watching from a short distance, Gu Yuan felt he was witnessing a magnificent change. However, before he could fully process it, a layer of white light appeared on his own body. It wasn't just him; Charizard and the others were the same. Even Ceruledge in Gu Yuan's shadow and Hatterene in her Poké Ball were enveloped by the pure white light.
A surge of warmth washed over him, making Gu Yuan feel incredibly drowsy. The moment the feeling appeared, he realized something was wrong. Unfortunately, the overwhelming sleepiness gave him no chance to react, and he fell into a deep slumber. Charizard and the others were no different; despite their Elite Rank strength, they couldn't resist the drowsiness and collapsed beside Gu Yuan.
Gradually, the white light grew more dazzling until it completely encased Gu Yuan and his team, leaving only a vague silhouette. After an unknown amount of time, the light dissipated, and Gu Yuan's group vanished from the alternate dimension.
With the disappearance of the white light, the bare ground was revealed once more. On the slightly parched earth, there was a faint movement, and then a tender sprout broke through the soil. On the surface, it seemed like nothing, but for this previously lifeless space, it was undoubtedly a monumental change. Unfortunately, the key had lost its power. If one wished to enter again, it would likely require Kyogre to replenish its energy.
"This... this is the coast from before I disappeared!"
Opening his eyes and looking around, Gu Yuan murmured in shock. He glanced at Charizard and the others, and only after confirming they were safe did he breathe a sigh of relief. At the same time, he felt a unique change in his body. Despite having only slept once, he felt extraordinarily light, as if he possessed inexhaustible strength.
Channeling his psychic power, Gu Yuan was shocked to discover he had become a Middle-tier High-grade Psychic! Thinking of this, he opened the System to check the data for his Pokémon. Just as he suspected, his Pokémon's strength had all increased by a small sub-rank, and Hatterene and her peers had directly crossed the threshold into the Ace Rank.