The Two Legendary Pokémon and the Master of the Mirage Tower

After confirming that Chimecho was truly fine, Yuga began dealing with the Solrock and Lunatone on the ground, deciding to take all of them with him.

Rare Pokémon like Solrock and Lunatone are valuable, even if they have low potential, because there are still buyers for them. After administering the Inovation Potion, some of their potentials will surely improve.

There were significantly more high-potential Solrock and Lunatone here than the Baltoy on the second floor. Apart from the Elite-level Lunatone and Solrock, all the others had blue potential, and together with the green potential ones, there were more than a dozen in total.

The total number of Solrock and Lunatone was around two hundred, and having over ten high-potential ones seemed unbelievable to Yuga. In the wild, the proportion of high-potential Pokémon within a group is never this high unless humans have selectively bred and refined their genes.

Just like the Baltoy and Vibrava on the second floor, Yuga gave Ash and Brock a Solrock with green potential, and gave May and Luvia a Lunatone with green potential. Luvia's Lunatone, in particular, was even a pseudo-Elite-level Pokémon, and this time, she didn't refuse because of its type.

As Yuga captured each Solrock and Lunatone and stored them in his spatial backpack, Luvia was amazed and asked, "Do you always carry this many Poké Balls with you when you go out?"

"Yes!" Yuga replied with a small smile, "It's always better to be prepared." In truth, he had just bought them from the system store, where the purchase of regular Poké Balls isn't limited in quantity.

Ash and Brock were equally astonished, especially Ash, who directly asked, "Mr. Shimizu, why are you capturing so many Pokémon?"

Before Yuga could respond, Max eagerly explained, "You might not know this, but Brother Yuga is not only a Gym Leader, he's also the owner of a Pokemon Day Care. Of course, he's capturing these Pokémon to take back for breeding!"

"Does that mean Mr. Shimizu's place has all kinds of Pokémon?" Ash asked, his tone full of envy. "That's so cool! I want to see all those different Pokémon."

Yuga smiled and replied, "When you get the chance to visit Verdanturf Town, I'll take you to tour our Pokemon Day Care's Ecopark."

What Yuga was referring to was the new Ecopark. The Pokémon that exist in the system's Ecopark are also present in the new Ecopark, so there wouldn't be any issue with showing Ash around.

Ash exclaimed excitedly, "That sounds amazing! I'm really looking forward to visiting Verdanturf Town even more now!"

Yuga quickly finished gathering up all the Solrock and Lunatone, and the group continued on their way to the next floor of the Mirage Tower.

None of them knew exactly how many floors the Mirage Tower had, but on the third floor, they had found the entrance leading down, meaning there was a fourth floor.

Based on their experiences from the previous three floors, the group was very cautious when they reached the fourth floor. However, the situation was not what they had expected.

After descending a long staircase, they reached the end where they saw a massive white stone door covered in intricate carvings.

The door was incredibly heavy. Yuga and Brock tried to push it open, but it was nearly impossible to move it with just manpower. In the end, Yuga's Charizard, Dragonite, and Breloom had to work together to slowly push the door open a crack.

*Boom...*

As the white stone door slowly creaked open, on the other side, a Pokémon stirred, gently opening its eyes upon hearing the sound.

Seeing the gap in the door, Yuga and the others recalled their larger Pokémon back into their Poké Balls and finally managed to squeeze through the door.

On the other side of the door was a palace. As soon as they entered, they saw a Pokémon floating in the air, silently watching them.

"Humans..." A soft voice echoed in everyone's minds.

"It's telepathy!" Max cried out in surprise.

The Pokémon floating in the sky didn't seem to mind Max's impolite outburst and said again, "I didn't expect humans to reach me here. Hello."

"What Pokémon is this? I've never seen it before," Ash whispered to Brock.

Brock shook his head, "I've never seen it either."

"Hello, Cresselia. We didn't expect to meet you here," Yuga greeted the Pokémon in the sky politely, showing his respect. Based on Cresselia's current attitude, it seemed like it didn't have any ill will towards them.

"So, someone here knows who I am," Cresselia's gentle voice echoed once again in their minds.

"Cresselia? I've never heard of this Pokémon," Ash said, confused. May also nodded in agreement.

Max, frustrated, explained, "Ash, May, seriously? You should study more! Cresselia is a legendary Pokémon!"

Yuga was also curious at this point. He had a fair understanding of legendary Pokémon from different regions, and both Cresselia and its nemesis, Darkrai, were part of the legends in Sinnoh. There was no mention of them in Hoenn's history, though.

In fact, apart from a few legendaries like the Legendary Birds, Beasts, Manaphy, Heatran, Celebi, and Mew, most legendary Pokémon tend to stay within their specific continents and rarely leave.

Even though Yuga was curious, he felt it wasn't appropriate to ask.

At that moment, Cresselia noticed the Baltoy beside Yuga and suddenly understood. "Ah, so it was this little one that led you here."

It turned out that besides the numerous Pokémon blocking the way, the Mirage Tower also had various traps and mechanisms, especially on the first and second floors, where the guarding Pokémon were weaker.

If it weren't for the fortunate guidance of the native Baltoy, Yuga and the others would have most likely fallen into the traps. After all, in all these years, it was the first time anyone had avoided the traps and mechanisms to reach Cresselia.

If they had fallen into the traps, even if they survived, they would never have encountered Cresselia—much like Jessie and James, who were currently suffering in those traps.

However, Cresselia didn't explain this to Yuga and the others, so they had no way of knowing. While they had doubts about what Cresselia said, seeing that it had no intention of elaborating, they didn't press further.

"What is your purpose for coming here?" Cresselia asked them.

Yuga answered honestly, "We came for exploration and treasure hunting."

Cresselia wasn't surprised by this answer, as most humans who ventured here did so for the same reason, though no one had made it to her in all these years.

"I see. Follow me."

To their surprise, Cresselia led them to a side chamber.

"The treasures you seek are all here."

Entering the side chamber, Yuga and the others saw piles upon piles of gold and jewels, enough to dazzle anyone's eyes.

"Wow, wow! So much gold!" Max, being young, couldn't help but cheer in excitement upon seeing so many treasures. He wasn't particularly fond of such things but was simply astonished, having never seen so much before.

Ash and May, however, remained calm. May couldn't resist teasing her brother: "What are you so happy about? Do you even have a way to take them?"

Max immediately calmed down, realizing, "Oh, right, we can't take them."

Although they each had a space backpack, the space was limited. Plus, they were already filled with travel necessities and gear, leaving little room for treasure.

Though Yuga's system space could store the treasures, he wasn't the only person there, so he couldn't do that.

At this moment, Cresselia suggested, "You can choose what you like and take it with you."

Yuga looked up and asked, "Really?"

Cresselia casually replied, "Of course. These things aren't mine anyway; they are the burial treasures of the original owner of the Mirage Tower."

"The original owner?" Yuga asked in surprise.

"Yes," Cresselia explained. "This Mirage Tower is actually a tomb."

Cresselia then began to explain the history of the Mirage Tower and why it was there. Perhaps it had been too long since it had last spoken with anyone, as Cresselia suddenly became quite talkative.

The original owner of the Mirage Tower was a powerful beast tamer from Hoenn many, many years ago (in ancient times, Pokémon Trainers were called beast tamers). The era this beast tamer lived in was one of war and turmoil due to invasions from enemy nations. The country was in chaos, and the people suffered greatly.

To end the war, the beast tamer joined the military. Thanks to their exceptional leadership skills, the invading nation was eventually driven out, and the country returned to peace and stability.

After the turmoil ended, the beast tamer chose to live a life of anonymity, disappearing from the public eye. After their death, they used the wealth they accumulated during the war to build the Mirage Tower as their tomb.

The Pokémon Yuga and the others encountered outside were the descendants of the tomb guardian Pokémon that the beast tamer had selected. Each of the guardian Pokémon had been handpicked by the tamer, with every one possessing exceptional strength and talent.

This was also why Yuga noticed a higher proportion of high-potential Solrock and Lunatone, as their ancestors were the original guardian Pokémon of the tomb's owner, all of whom were high-potential Pokémon.

However, over time, the number of low-potential Pokémon among the descendants of the tomb guardians increased. This was especially evident on the first floor, where there wasn't a single high-potential Sandshrew or Sandslash left.

As for why Cresselia was there, that's a different story.

Cresselia couldn't quite remember how long it had been in the Mirage Tower, but it had likely been several hundred years.

Centuries ago, Cresselia and its nemesis, Darkrai, lived in an unnamed town in the Sinnoh region.

One day, after a disagreement, they accidentally destroyed the village in a battle, causing the deaths of many innocent villagers. A passing traveler intervened and, as punishment, decided to take them away from the village.

Cresselia, feeling guilty for the villagers' deaths, agreed to leave with the traveler. However, the rebellious Darkrai refused.

In the end, Darkrai wasn't a match for the traveler and was forced to leave with them.

From that point on, Cresselia and Darkrai traveled the world with the traveler, even leaving Sinnoh to reach Hoenn.

After traveling in Hoenn for a while, they discovered the Mirage Tower.

The traveler, finding the Mirage Tower to be a safe place, grew weary of the endless journey and loneliness. They decided to sleep there permanently, asking Cresselia and Darkrai to guard them. For legendary Pokémon, a bit of time meant nothing, so both agreed.

Though Darkrai was proud and rebellious, it kept its word as a legendary Pokémon and never left the Mirage Tower.

Despite spending a long time together, Darkrai still didn't like Cresselia. So, the two legendary Pokémon guarded different parts of the Mirage Tower, agreeing only to meet if necessary.

The main tomb of the Mirage Tower has two parts: one is the palace where Cresselia resides, and the other is another palace where Darkrai resides.

The palace where Darkrai stays is the true resting place of the tomb's owner, the beast tamer, while the palace where Cresselia resides was built by the beast tamer to confuse tomb raiders. Compared to Cresselia's palace, Darkrai's palace is much more hidden.

Now, the traveler who brought them to Hoenn sleeps in the palace where Cresselia resides. Since he was an outsider, he couldn't take the place of the tomb's true owner, and he didn't want to lie next to a skeleton either.

After hearing Cresselia's story, the group was dumbfounded. Not only was Cresselia here, but Darkrai was as well!

Moreover, according to Cresselia, the traveler who brought them to Hoenn hadn't died after hundreds of years but was merely asleep.

Living for hundreds of years without dying—was that even a human? Could it be that Cresselia remembered wrong? Maybe it was another god sleeping here, not a human.

"If you want to leave here, you'll need to seek Darkrai's help because the exit of the Mirage Tower is with Darkrai," Cresselia added, "Darkrai's temperament is quite different from mine, so getting its help won't be easy."

"Can't we just go back the way we came and exit from where we entered?" Max, being young and not yet understanding the reverence one should have for legendary Pokémon, spoke rather casually.

Cresselia, with her gentle nature, didn't mind and replied, "No, you can't. The entrance to the Mirage Tower only allows entry, not exit, and that's part of its magic."

"What should we do then?" May asked, a little anxious.

Cresselia explained, "I can't help you because I made a pact with Darkrai. At most, I can only tell you where Darkrai is."

Seeing the group's worried expressions, Cresselia comforted them, "Actually, you don't need to worry too much. Although Darkrai and I don't get along, it has a good heart. If you speak to it properly, it might agree to let you leave."

Even though they were opposites, Cresselia had to admit that Darkrai wasn't truly bad. She had once seen it secretly helping villagers, and during their travels with the same traveler, Darkrai had also helped other travelers.

It's just that Darkrai's image was poor, always leaving people with a bad impression.