Hostile Encounter

With the Chandelure no longer impeding them, Yuga and his group continued to advance deeper into the ruins along the long stone corridor.

As they ventured further inside, they encountered an increasing number of Ghost-type Pokémon. While most of them weren't very powerful individually, the air was thick with Ghost-type energy.

However, most of the Pokémon they encountered along the way were like Yamask, Shuppet, and Litwick, not even reaching their final evolved forms. Pokémon like the Cofagrigus and Chandelure they had faced earlier were not encountered again.

After what felt like a long journey, Yuga and his group finally passed through the lengthy stone corridor and arrived at the entrance of a stone chamber. The chamber's walls were illuminated by bright candles, casting a radiant light throughout the room.

However, these candles were different from Litwick; they were real candles, containing an unknown type of oil.

Yuga and his team stood at the entrance of the stone chamber, observing the room. The walls of the chamber were adorned with mysterious totems, and in the center of the chamber stood a large Darmanitan and several Darumaka.

Upon first glance, Yuga and his group noticed numerous Yamask and Shuppet engaged in battle with the Darmanitan and Darumaka.

Although the number of Yamask and Shuppet was far greater than that of the Darmanitan and Darumaka, they were forming a siege against the two larger Pokémon.

However, Darmanitan's strength was extraordinary. It sent the nearby Yamask and Shuppet flying with its Fire Punch. These Yamask and Shuppet were gradually forced into retreat.

Even the few Darumaka, while not many in number, were notably stronger than the Yamask and Shuppet. It didn't take long for the Yamask and Shuppet to retreat completely.

Behind Darmanitan and Darumaka, there was a stone door. Based on their observation, Yuga and his group deduced that Darmanitan and Darumaka were guarding that stone door.

This puzzled Yuga and his team.

Within this ruin, there were countless Ghost-type Pokémon, aside from the Swoobat and Woobat that initially lived on the outermost fringes. However, the majority of them were Ghost-type Pokémon. Even the surrounding energy was dominated by Ghost-type energy. Yet, the guardian Pokémon deep within the ruins were Fire-type Pokémon.

As they approached the stone chamber, Yuga and his group felt the temperature gradually rise, and the humid mist in the air disappeared. The Fire-type energy in the air increased significantly, though it still had a long way to match the dense Ghost-type energy.

Initially, they thought this Fire-type energy might be due to the presence of Chandelure and Litwick. Now it appeared that wasn't the case.

While Chandelure and Litwick were Fire-type Pokémon, their primary type was Ghost, which meant that their Fire-type power had a cold aspect to it. However, the current Fire-type energy felt warm.

This made Yuga and his team think of the Volcarona that Marlon had mentioned at the beginning.

In the Unova region, Volcarona was referred to as the incarnation of the sun, which was in line with the warm power they were currently sensing. However, they had no idea where this Volcarona might be now.

Fire-type Pokémon were generally associated with heat and light, while Ghost-type Pokémon gave the impression of coldness and darkness. It was difficult to imagine how these two completely opposite attributes coexisted within the same ruin.

From the recent battle between Darmanitan, Darumaka, Yamask, and Shuppet, it seemed that the Ghost-type and Fire-type Pokémon in this place were in a hostile state.

Yuga and his team now stood at the entrance of the stone chamber, watching the imposing Darmanitan inside. They were unsure whether to enter, as Darmanitan appeared extremely formidable.

"What should we do? Should we go in?" Brawly whispered.

Yuga replied, "Let's wait and observe a bit longer."

Yuga had already figured out that the Darumaka inside were of a similar caliber to the previous Chandelure, both being pseudo-Elite-level Pokémon. Charging in recklessly would likely lead to trouble, especially since Yuga didn't possess the ability to suppress Fire-type Pokémon. That would require revealing Gengar and Mismagius.

Given that Fire-type Pokémon and Ghost-type Pokémon here seemed to be in opposition, perhaps they could wait for other Ghost-type Pokémon to engage Darmanitan and Darumaka in combat, much like what had happened with the Chandelure earlier.

However, as they waited, instead of the Chandelure, they were greeted by a Cofagrigus.

There was more than one entrance to the chamber, and the Cofagrigus entered through the same exit where the Yamask and Shuppet had fled moments ago.

This Cofagrigus was shrouded in dark mist and immediately confronted Darmanitan upon entering the chamber. The few Darumaka behind Darmanitan wisely stepped aside, not daring to interfere with their leader's confrontation against Cofagrigus.

The Darumaka's step-back was well-practiced, indicating that this situation wasn't their first encounter with Cofagrigus.

Cofagrigus's aura was on par with Darmanitan's, suggesting their strength was evenly matched. Cofagrigus began the encounter by using Trick Room, a move that greatly slowed down the battle's pace, which favored the slow-moving Cofagrigus.

However, Darmanitan was a stubborn one. It swiftly retaliated by using Fire Punch, a fiery punch aimed at the energy barrier that formed Trick Room. With a single punch, the entire Trick Room shattered like glass, vanishing with a resounding crash.

Darmanitan's eyes then shot a provoking glance at Cofagrigus, almost as if saying, "Aren't you going to learn your lesson?"

Though Cofagrigus's expression seemed angry, it remained composed and unprovoked. This scenario appeared to have unfolded multiple times, as Cofagrigus calmly launched Shadow Balls one after another.

Confident in its own strength, Darmanitan nonchalantly smashed each incoming Shadow Ball with a left punch, then a right punch.

After dealing with the Shadow Balls, Darmanitan prepared to use Flame Charge, transforming into a blazing fireball and charging towards Cofagrigus.

However, Cofagrigus's speed was much too slow, and it had no way of evading Darmanitan's full-powered attack. It could only watch helplessly as Darmanitan charged towards it.

In the prolonged battles against Darmanitan, Cofagrigus had found its speed to be its greatest disadvantage.

While it possessed Trick Room to slow down its opponents, this move was consistently nullified by Darmanitan's sheer power, rendering it useless.

This particular Darmanitan didn't possess the Zen Mode ability unique to its species; instead, it had the typical Sheer Force ability. Combined with its innate tremendous strength, it had coincidentally become a nemesis to Cofagrigus's Trick Room.

After being struck by the Fire Punch, Cofagrigus collided with the wall behind it with a resounding thud. Realizing that it was in for another unfavorable situation, it immediately turned and fled, disappearing into the corridor it came from.

The exhilarated Darmanitan, who doesn't want to let Cofagrigus escape easily, eagerly chased after it. Its enthusiasm was shared by its companions, the Darumaka, who cheered and followed Darmanitan into the passage.

The Darmanitan and Darumaka were guarding the stone door, facing off against the Ghost-type Pokémon like Cofagrigus. Now that Cofagrigus had appeared, they chased it without reservation, not realizing that Yuga and his few human companions were lurking in the shadows.