Pokémon: Trainers Start as Bounty Hunters.

Tetsuya stepped into another cave and checked his watch.

It's 10 PM now.

Four hours had passed since he entered the Dark Cave, but he had gained nothing but human skeletons and elves.

"Five hours left. Let's set aside half an hour to go to a safe spot. Hopefully, we can find those guys later."

Tetsuya let out a deep breath.

"Thank you for your hard work."

He spoke to his three companions.

Compared to myself, the Ampharos, Blaziken, and Gigantamax are the ones who really suffer.

"Buwoo"

"Xia Mo"

"Dangoro!"

The three elves squinted and smiled, "It's just finding something, it's not tiring at all."

"Well then, keep up the good work!"

Tetsuya looked at the pitch-black cave ahead and lifted his leg to continue deeper.

The echoes of elves' activities could be heard from time to time in the intricate cave passages. If it were an ordinary person, they would have been feeling extremely depressed in such a situation.

Unfortunately, Tetsuya never considered himself an ordinary person.

A cold wind blew by.

"Xia Mo"

Blaziken let out a helpless cry.

Tetsuya somewhat awkwardly loosened his arms that were wrapped around it.

He was definitely not under any psychological pressure; he was just a little scared.

He hadn't felt this before, but ever since he learned that the Ghost of Light existed here, he felt a chill on his skin.

Tetsuya knew, of course, that this was an illusion.

Although the temperature in the underground cave was not high and there was wind, he could not possibly feel cold thanks to the temperature-controlled exploration suit.

However, having been in the Pokémon world for so long, he has never actually encountered a Ghost-type Pokémon in the wild, except for Sableye just now.

It's inevitable to feel a little scared.

This is a Ghost-type Pokémon that can suck away people's souls!

In the previous life, that would have been a ghost.

The reason I wasn't afraid of ghosts in my previous life was because ghosts didn't exist in that world, but the world of elves is different.

"Ok?"

Tetsuya, who was lost in thought, sniffed and made a puzzled sound.

"Xia Mo"

Blaziken nodded to the trainer who was looking at it, indicating that it could smell it too.

"Walk."

Tetsuya immediately cast aside his faint fear and strode forward.

The burnt smell gave him a very bad feeling.

"really."

Following the direction of the scent, Tetsuya's expression turned quite unpleasant.

What appeared before him this time was a black pile of coke.

Beside them, the broken Pokémon watches and Poké Balls scattered on the ground seemed to be telling a silent story.

"The time of death was within two hours. Did the Ghost of Light discover my arrival and feel threatened?"

He crouched down to examine himself and came to a conclusion he was very reluctant to face.

This situation, which differs from the previously discovered human skeletons of those who died near natural causes, perfectly illustrates the Ghost of the Light's current thoughts.

Since we can't wait, let's just kill them, have a good meal, and then hide.

For wild elves, having such thoughts is perfectly normal.

Especially Ghost-type Pokémon with incredibly long lifespans.

But this also confirms one of Tetsuya's ideas.

"It seems that even after devouring so many souls, this ghostly lamp still hasn't broken through to the Quasi-Heavenly King level."

If it weren't for this, the Lantern Ghost would have already come to harass him and his sprite.

Of course, it's also possible that it plans to deal with them last.

"No matter what, we need to find the victims as soon as possible."

Tetsuya picked up the watch and Poké Ball from the ground, and then put the charred ashes into a box.

This is the only thing that can prove the identity of the victims.

"We can't let you keep killing like this..."

Chapter 328 The End and the Black Glasses

"Roar--"

Painful and furious cries echoed continuously from underground.

"Snapped"

At the same time, faint sounds of whipping accompanied by roars could be heard.

"We've gone in the wrong direction again."

Tetsuya looked at the wild Onix in front of him, which was unable to take care of itself after being beaten by Serperior. He sighed helplessly.

It's perfectly normal to encounter a Pokémon like Onix underground, but it also means that the area is not within Lil's activity range.

Not many elves would want to live with a gloomy fellow who wants to absorb your soul to increase his own power.

The thought of being killed by your neighbor in your sleep is terrifying.

The massive rock body collapsed limply to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

As a near-Elite Four level Grass-type Pokémon, Serperior is practically invincible against Rock-type Pokémon in the wild.

"You've worked hard, come back and rest."

As usual, Tetsuya took out a Deluxe Ball and put Serperior back.

The little princess was quite averse to these underground caves; she wouldn't want to stay outside unless it was for a fight.

"Let's go."

Tetsuya called to his companions and turned to walk in another direction.

Fighting, endless fighting.

The variety and number of Pokémon living in the underground caves significantly exceeded Tetsuya's initial estimates.

Geodude, Graveler, Onix, Zubat, Zubat, Rattata, Orbendur, Brutus...

The underground caves seem to have perfectly constructed an ecosystem that is no different from that on the surface.

However, perhaps because they had never seen the light of day, all of these spirits attacked Tetsuya when he intruded into their territory.

Their temperaments are much worse than their counterparts on the ground.

Of course, since they are basically only of average strength, they are just half a move for Tetsuya's companions. Sometimes they even have to hold back a bit, for fear of actually killing them.

"Never mind it, let's go."

Meeting Blaziken's gaze once more, Tetsuya shook his head, ignored the Pokémon hiding in the shadows, and turned to leave.

“sonasi~”

Behind them, a blue sprite in the darkness let out a relieved cry as it watched Tetsuya and his group disappear.

It is indeed the old man.

The underground cave is a perfect living place for Wobbuffet, which hates light and needs to hide its black tail.

Although it lacks the ability to launch an attack, Wobbuffet has managed to survive in this area thanks to its hedgehog-like defensive capabilities.

Something's not right.

Tetsuya frowned as he continued walking on the muddy ground.

More than an hour has passed since he discovered the first unfortunate soul swallowed by the ghost of the light, and he has expanded the area he has explored, but he still has not found any trace of the other party.

"Dangoro!"

At this moment, Pang Yan made a sound.

It detected fluctuations suggesting a battle between the opponent and the trainer.

Tetsuya's face lit up with joy: "Lead the way."

If Blaziken's aura is more precise than Gigantamax's, then Gigantamax's unique ability provides a range of perception that Blaziken's aura currently cannot match.

With its keen perception of both sound and rock, underground caves are a natural home ground for the Giant Rock Monster.

Led by Pang Yan Guai, Tetsuya quickly traversed the underground cave.

.......

"Lapp"

The ghostly lamp that resembled Tetsuya's previous life, a medieval oil lamp, emitted a joyful cry.

It was surrounded by a ring of white mist.

Upon closer inspection, the mist outlined a terrifying image of intertwined human heads and elves.

Gradually, the white mist "squeezed" into the flames within the body of the Ghost of Light.

“hong——”

Just as the ghostly light was enjoying this ultimate pleasure, a huge roar interrupted it.

One of the cave walls shattered, sending streaks of rock flying out of the dust and smoke.

“The giant rock is strange, the rocks are collapsing.”

Accompanied by commands in human language, the enormous rock burst forth at an even faster speed, accompanied by a yellowish-brown stream of air.

"Lapp"

The ghostly light reacted immediately, decisively ceasing its absorption of life energy and beginning to evade.

But it was a little slow after all.

Although it dodged the first rock, the second and third rocks still hit it head-on without any doubt.

The flames inside the ghostly light trembled constantly, flickering on and off.

This indicates that its condition is quite poor.

The Fire-type Lidgment is not very resistant to Rock-type moves, and given the difference in strength, it was entirely expected that it would be severely damaged in one hit.

As the smoke and dust cleared, a large hole was revealed in the rock wall, and Tetsuya's figure appeared from the hole.

Looking at the familiar black wreckage not far away, he knew he was ultimately too late.

"It seems like I ate too much and couldn't digest it quickly, which is why I found it."

Watching the life energy gradually dissipate in the distance, Tetsuya silently mourned for the deceased unknown trainer before drawing his conclusion.

If that weren't the case, the Ghost of Light would have already used its life energy to strengthen its flames and then made its escape.

Come to think of it, it would take an elite-level Lizard at least seven or eight days to completely absorb the life energy of a normal person plus their Pokémon.