Pokémon: Master System.

“So I paid you a reward, and such an expensive one at that, which put a lot of pressure on us.” The middle-aged man stared at Xu Xiu and the woman and said, “We also took a considerable risk.”

“We’ll need at least a month, and no more than three months,” the woman said. “We’ll take the mission.”

"Pleasant to work with."

"Pleasant to work with."

…………

The sudden downpour interrupted Xia Yu's training plan, forcing him to switch from outdoor to indoor training. He trained until about 5 p.m. Just as he was about to finish training and go home, he heard Long Yanning's phone ring.

"Hello." Long Yanning stood by the window, answering the phone with a serious expression: "This is Long Yanning."

"Are you sure?" Long Yan Ning looked flustered, then momentarily dazed, and said in disbelief, "When did this happen? I'll go right away."

It's easy to tell from Long Yanning's expression that something extremely important must have happened, otherwise her face wouldn't be so pale.

"Xia Yu, you stay in the lab and don't go anywhere." Long Yan Ning solemnly instructed Xia Yu, then quickly grabbed her raincoat, released the Sonic Dragon, leaped up, and disappeared into the rainy night.

"Drip."

At the same time, Xia Yu's phone rang. It was Old Lin calling: "Xiao Yu?"

“Grandpa,” Xia Yu replied.

"You stay in the lab for now. Someone will come to pick you up later and take you home." Old Lin's voice was serious, with an air of unquestionable authority.

"Has something happened?" Xia Yu asked cautiously. Judging from Long Yan Ning's reaction and Xia Yu's phone call, it seemed something major had occurred in the capital.

"Come back first and we'll talk about it. It's hard to explain over the phone."

…………

Upon returning home, Grandma Qin immediately came to greet Xia Yu, affectionately taking his hand, her eyes filled with worry.

"Grandma, what happened to Grandpa?" Xia Yu couldn't help but ask.

"Why don't you watch the news first?" Old Lin said nothing, but simply gestured for Xia Yu to watch the news on TV.

"Yesterday, another terrifying ghost incident occurred in Ping'an District of Beijing, resulting in three deaths. We urge all citizens to pay attention to their personal safety and avoid going out at night unless absolutely necessary."

Xia Yu frowned as he watched the news on TV. He remembered that a similar news report had been broadcast a few days ago. At that time, it was suspected that Ghost-type Pokémon were behind the trouble, and experts in Psychic, Dark, and Ghost types had been dispatched to investigate the matter.

The problem is still unresolved? And three people have died?

But the death of three people shouldn't have caused Long Yanning to panic so much.

Seemingly noticing his grandson's confusion, Old Lin slowly said, "Of the three dead, one was a student in the training program for the Dragon Realm, and the other two were a bodyguard and a driver. They left home after lunch today, intending to go to the Dragon Realm, but they all disappeared on the way. The missing vehicle and the three bodies were only found and reported to the police an hour ago."

So that's how it is. No wonder Long Yanning had that expression. As the head teacher of the training class, she bears some responsibility for the students' deaths on their way to the secret realm.

"Will this affect the Long family?" Xia Yu asked.

“Definitely.” Old Lin said without hesitation, “That person’s family must have influence to be able to participate in the training course, but as long as Long Fan is still around, it won’t have a big impact on the Long family. It’s just that girl Long Yanning might be affected a bit.”

Xia Yu nodded and continued, "Grandpa, have the police found any clues?"

Old Lin shook his head: "The specific details have not yet been released to the public, but it is said that the scene was extremely horrific, with obvious signs of a battle. Several Pokémon were dismembered and cut into pieces, and three human corpses were sucked dry. It must have been the work of some extremely evil Pokémon, but we don't know if it was controlled by humans."

At this point, Elder Lin also instructed, "The training camp has been suspended recently, so you should train at home. Don't go out unless absolutely necessary."

"Hmm." Xia Yu nodded. In such a dangerous situation, he certainly wouldn't be foolish enough to go out. He could also use these few days to write his thesis.

…………

Chapter 61 Evil Pokémon

Because of the mysterious evil spirit incident, the entire capital was on edge, with everyone on edge. Xia Yu was temporarily unable to go to the Dragon-type Secret Realm for special training, and at the same time dared not go to the capital to search for treasures, so he could only stay at the Lin family's house, which made Xia Yu feel very stifled.

Forced by circumstances, he had no choice but to devote most of his energy to training his three Pokémon, and use the rest of his time to write his own Z-Crystal thesis.

Writing a thesis is quite troublesome, and it requires factual evidence to support and verify one's conjectures. The requirement for a Z-Move to upgrade to a powerful Z-Ring is a particular headache for Xia Yu. Since neither the anime nor the games mention how to upgrade it, except for the four guardian deities of the island helping Ash upgrade his Z-Ring to a powerful one, Xia Yu guesses that the core of upgrading the Z-Ring is related to energy.

As for whether this is true, we can only wait for laboratory verification. If not, it will take a long time just to research the powerful Z-band.

…………

Two days later, Xia Yu looked out the window. Outside, the rain was still pouring down. After two days of clear skies, the capital city was hit by another downpour. The thunder and lightning made people feel depressed.

In the past two days, Xia Yu has also received video calls from his parents, his older brother, and Fatty Wu. They have all heard about the evil spirit incident in the capital from the news and are concerned about him.

Meanwhile, the capital city has been in a state of panic these past two days, especially the Ping'an District, which is particularly deserted due to the location of the incident.

The police in the capital city also invested a lot of manpower and resources in a multi-faceted investigation, including reviewing surveillance footage, but ultimately came up empty-handed. They didn't even know if there was a trainer behind that mysterious Pokémon.

The only useful information was that the Pokémon was very strong, at least at the level of a near-Elite Four member, otherwise it would have killed the three of them silently.

Trainers in the capital city have long been clearing out wild Pokémon, and it's rare to even see elite-level wild Pokémon. The appearance of such a powerful Pokémon this time is definitely an accident.

Since the day three people died, no more evil spirits have killed anyone in the capital for two consecutive days. The mysterious Pokémon seems to have disappeared without a trace. But everyone knows that this is just a temporary hibernation, waiting for new prey.

The reason why Ghost-type Pokémon are so troublesome and terrifying is that if they really want to hide, they are hard to detect once they conceal their presence. However, they will definitely reappear and kill again, because some Pokémon become extremely terrifying once they have killed someone. They will unconsciously treat humans as prey and keep hunting them.

Xia Yu was actually quite curious about this mysterious Pokémon, but he also knew his own limitations. With the strength of his three Pokémon, he was absolutely not qualified or capable of trying to investigate this mysterious Pokémon.

To participate, Xia Yu estimated that his Pokémon would need to be at least at the Gym Leader level to barely survive. That Pokémon was able to kill all of the bodyguard's Pokémon, so its strength was at least at the near-Elite Four level. If its strength wasn't at the Gym Leader level, it would be a complete waste.

This also gave Xia Yu a sense of urgency. He had to do everything he could to improve his strength. This feeling of being powerless and unable to control his destiny was just too terrible.

…………

This lasted for two days. The training camp issued another training notice, but this time it was a completely closed camp, and four trainers at the near-Elite Four level personally came to pick up the students and ensure their safety.

Meanwhile, no one is allowed to leave the Dragon Realm until the evil spirit of the capital is found. Of course, participation in this training camp is entirely up to individual will.

Xia Yu naturally wanted to participate. The abundant dragon-type energy within the Dragon-type Secret Realm was extremely beneficial to the growth of the three Pokémon, so he naturally wouldn't stay at home.

As for safety, Xia Yu didn't need to worry at all. With such a big incident, Long Fan would definitely be stationed in the Dragon System Secret Realm around the clock. In addition, there were Heavenly King-level experts and Quasi-Heavenly King-level experts in the secret realm, making it much safer than staying at home.

After confirming his participation in the closed training camp, Xia Yu also told the two elderly people, Lin and Qin, so as not to worry them.

After packing his things, two hours later, the doorbell rang. Long Yanning, looking haggard and with her hair soaked, appeared at the door. Xia Yu was startled. Was this still the glamorous Teacher Long he knew?

Two days had passed, and Long Yanning looked noticeably haggard, with extremely prominent dark circles under her eyes. She had barely slept for the past two days. Even though the matter had little to do with her, the murder of her student made her feel extremely guilty. After all, the student had died after being handed over to bodyguards after leaving the secret realm, so in truth, it really had little to do with her.

However, Long Yanning has been searching for the murderer of that student for the past two days, but to no avail. In such a large capital city, and with Ghost-type Pokémon involved, the search is undoubtedly like looking for a needle in a haystack.

“Teacher Long,” Xia Yu said.

"Let's go." Pointing to the car parked in the rain outside the door, Long Yanning gestured for Xia Yu to get in.

"Okay." Xia Yu nodded and followed Long Yanning to sit in the back seat of the car. The driver in the front seat glanced at the two of them and silently drove off.

The distance from the Lin family to the Dragon Realm is about an hour's drive, and with traffic jams, it may take two hours to get there.

As soon as she got on the bus, the tired Long Yanning leaned her head against the window to rest. Two consecutive days without sleep had left Long Yanning quite exhausted. Before she knew it, her eyelids were drooping and she had fallen into a deep sleep.

Xia Yu did not disturb Long Yan Ning, but instead turned his gaze to the window. Unfortunately, the torrential rain blocked Xia Yu's view, just like the rain the day before yesterday, with lightning and thunder.

The car drove smoothly along the street, heading towards the Dragon Realm. After passing through the bustling city, the crowds gradually thinned out, with only the trees on both sides of the road flashing past the car window.

Long Yan Ning slept soundly the whole way. Perhaps because her head was resting on the hard window, she slowly leaned her head on Xia Yu's shoulder in her sleep.

Xia Yu frowned as he looked at Long Yanning, wanting to shake her awake, since men and women shouldn't touch each other. But seeing Long Yanning's haggard expression, Xia Yu ultimately held back.

But if you're going to sleep, why are you drooling?

As Xia Yu was complaining in his heart, he suddenly felt a momentary pause in the space-time around him, but it seemed like his imagination.

However, at that moment, a dazzling red light flashed. Under the cover of night, Xia Yu saw the red light pierce through the driver's side window, and the car was instantly forced to stop. The red light pierced through the driver's body in an instant, and the driver died without even having time to scream.

Blood gushed out, instantly splattering Xia Yu and Long Yanning. In that instant, Xia Yu was terrified and violently opened the car door, grabbed Long Yanning, jumped out, and fell to the ground, his clothes soaked by the rain.

Long Yanning was also awakened by the loud noise, but she reacted instantly. The two looked up and saw two Pokémon in front of them.

It was obvious that Xia Yu and his friends had encountered that one Darkrai Pokémon, no, those two Darkrai Pokémon!

Nobody said that it was two Pokémon, not one, that were hunting humans. As for whether humans were behind these two Pokémon, nobody knows!

Chapter 62 Interbreeding Pokémon

Two Pokémon appeared, one of which was entirely dark gray. Apart from its gray-black upper body, only a ghostly tail fluttered in the downpour. A yellow band, resembling an antenna, adorned its forehead, allowing it to receive information from the spirit world. Its entire face contained only one enormous, terrifying eye, which stared intently at Xia Yu and Long Yanning.

Yellow irises, red pupils, and black sclera, like the gaze of death. The patterns on its chest look like an angry face, and there are also face-like patterns on its back, but the eye-shaped markings have become round, and the horizontal lines like mouths seem to be smiling.

Night Demon!

The Night Demon travels between this life and the afterlife, its consciousness unknown. It can roam the spirit world, leading people there. It also approaches those nearing the end of their lives, guiding their souls towards the underworld, occasionally mistakenly taking the souls of those whose lifespan hasn't ended. The Night Demon swallows its prey whole with its belly-sized mouth, consuming only the soul and regurgitating the body upon departure. It is said to absorb wandering souls into its elastic body and carry them to another world, thus inspiring fear in people.

In the game, Dusknoir is just a powerful tank-type Pokémon, but in reality, Dusknoir is one of the most terrifying and frightening Ghost-type Pokémon.

Dusknoir possesses the ability to freely enter and exit the Spirit World, and also the ability to bring the living out of it. Some benevolent Dusknoirs only bring the souls of the dead into the Spirit World to help them find release. However, there are always exceptions. Some evil Dusknoirs choose to hunt humans, bringing them into the Spirit World, killing them, and then devouring their souls to continuously increase their own power. These types of Dusknoirs are the most terrifying Pokémon.

For this reason, the Pokémon Association has explicitly stipulated that all trainers who own Dusknoir family Pokémon must register with their real names, otherwise it is illegal.

This is similar to a gun license in the previous life. The Night Demon is like a gun. Ordinary people have no way to fight against it, so it can only be strictly guarded.

The fact that it is illegal to not register demonstrates just how strict the Pokémon Association is in controlling Dusknoir.

At the same time, Xia Yu finally understood why the Pokémon Association was still unable to find the Dark Spirit Pokémon despite mobilizing so many people. Dusknoir can enter the Spirit World at any time. It only needs to kill someone and hide in the Spirit World. Unless a near-Elite Four level Psychic or Ghost-type Pokémon specifically searches for it knowing its location, it will be impossible to find it.

However, this was not what terrified Xia Yu the most. What terrified him the most was another blood-red Pokémon.

The massive, blood-red sword, stained with the driver's blood, had a single eye on it staring at Xia Yu and Long Yanning. Combined with the black and gold shield, it looked particularly eerie in the torrential rain.