Stone Soldiers

Upon entering the cave, Yuga gazed at the densely arranged Pokémon eggs on the ground and felt a tingling sensation on his scalp. It was like a bane for anyone suffering from claustrophobia.

At that moment, Yuga seemed to understand why the Gligar he encountered earlier outside was eating anything, even grass—it needed a lot of sustenance. Yuga even suspected that the vast desert was created by these underground creatures.

As usual, Yuga picked out the eggs with green aptitudes and stored them in his backpack, ignoring the rest. There were nearly two hundred eggs in total, yet only one egg had a blue aptitude.

Yuga found the appearance rate of these green-aptitude eggs to be highly abnormal, almost unbelievably so. However, he couldn't pinpoint the reason behind it.

After leaving the Gligar nest, Yuga and his team felt that this labyrinthine underground passage must consist of more than one layer.

The layer they encountered with Nincada was probably the first layer, while the Gligar nest was likely the second layer. The space between the two layers had become soft due to the Gligars' nesting, causing it to collapse under Yuga's group's footsteps.

Yuga suddenly grew very curious about this place. Why would there be such a location beneath the desert? And why were there so many high-aptitude Pokémon here? These questions ignited Yuga's intense curiosity.

This place buried deep under the yellow sand would likely remain undiscovered if they hadn't followed those Gligars. After all, no one would casually venture deep into the desert to dig around in the sand.

Moreover, the entrance location is identical to the countless sand dunes in the desert, without a single distinguishing feature.

After turning another corner, they reached a junction once more. Yuga, with an expressionless face, turned to Linoone and asked, "Which way this time?"

By now, Yuga and his team were completely lost. Not only did they not know their position within this underground maze, but they had also lost their sense of direction.

At this point, Linoone was already numb to the act of choosing directions, so it casually pointed in a direction.

During their journey, Yuga and his team had faced attacks from several groups of Pokémon, such as Zubats, Golbats, Sevipers, and even Sandshrew. Luckily, their formidable strength had made the journey challenging yet manageable.

Taking the path chosen by Linoone, Yuga's group entered another circular space. At this point, both Yuga and his Pokémon felt somewhat exhausted. Thus, they decided to rest here for a while, have lunch, and regain their energy.

In this underground space, it was impossible to distinguish between day and night. All light sources came from the glowing stones on the walls. Yuga's group only knew the time after checking their watches.

Yuga took out an alcohol stove and a large pot from his backpack. He then proceeded to cook a large pot of soup, and he and his Pokémon enjoyed a hearty meal.

After finishing the meal, Yuga realized that he didn't have water to clean the pot and utensils. He couldn't use drinking water for this purpose because it might be vital for survival if they remained here for an extended period.

After a moment's thought, Yuga simply discarded the utensils. As expected, cooking in the desert was impractical. In the future, he decided to stick to ready-to-eat food, while his Pokémon could consume energy blocks.

Dissatisfied with this decision, Linoone was filled with resentment, but the circumstances forced it to relent...

After approximately another half hour of walking, Yuga's group entered a considerably larger space. This area was several times larger than all the circular spaces they had encountered before, resembling a plaza.

Most importantly, this space was lined with rows of stone soldiers. Each one was clad in armor and held a spear, resembling soldiers in appearance.

Seeing these humanoid soldier statues, Yuga was certain that this place was an ancient ruin. This intricate maze was likely artificially constructed.

Yuga wondered who could have constructed such a complex maze and these lifelike stone soldiers. If not for the presence of extraordinary beings like Pokémon in this world, Yuga believed that building such a maze solely by human effort would have been extremely challenging.

Approaching one of the stone soldiers, Yuga found its appearance to be fierce and intimidating, exuding a malevolent aura.

At that moment, Yuga noticed a small piece of stone had fallen off from the soldier's arm. Upon closer inspection, he saw that what was revealed underneath was a skeletal structure.

Startled, Yuga took a few steps back and pointed to the exposed bones on the stone soldier, stammering as he addressed his Pokémon: "Y-y-you... d-d-do you think... these stone soldiers are made from... human remains?"

The three Pokémon exchanged puzzled looks, shaking their heads to indicate they didn't know.

"Most likely," Yuga continued, "otherwise, how can you explain these bones, the eerie atmosphere, and the scent of decay emanating from these soldiers? Let's leave quickly; it's truly frightening."

Saying this, Yuga grabbed Linoone's hand and attempted to exit the space.

However, just then, Yuga heard a series of "clack... clack" sounds from behind him. When he turned around, he was shocked to see that the stone soldiers were mysteriously moving.

Especially the one nearest to Yuga, which raised its arm and swung it down towards Yuga's head.

Just in the nick of time, Linoone pulled Yuga with force, rescuing him from the stone soldier's attack range.

The attack missed its mark, and other stone soldiers started surrounding Yuga and his team. Soon, the exit was blocked by layers of these animated stone soldiers.

Quickly releasing Absol, Yuga turned to his Pokémon and asked, "What's happening? Why are these stone soldiers moving on their own and attacking us?"

Clearly, even Linoone and the other Pokémon were at a loss, shaking their heads in response.

"Absol, use Psycho Cut!"

Observing the stone soldiers approaching them, Yuga commanded Absol to counterattack.

Several white blades of light materialized and slashed through the air, cutting down multiple stone soldiers. The shattered white bones and stone fragments were scattered around, sending shivers down Yuga's spine.

It seemed his suspicion was correct; all these stone soldiers indeed contained human remains, Yuga thought.

Seeing how easily Absol shattered the stone soldiers, Yuga shouted to his Pokémon, "Linoone, it's your turn to counterattack! These stone soldiers are fragile; they break easily once shattered!"