Pokémon: Growlithe, the Champion King, gets the best of both worlds right from the start!

He turned to the first page.

The words on the paper, in black and white, each one felt like a cold shackle.

Stardust Cave Exploration Agreement

[Article 1: Absolutely prohibited.]

[Within the Stardust Caverns, the use of any skills that may trigger violent energy fluctuations is strictly prohibited. Judgment criteria include, but are not limited to, S-rank power moves such as [Destructive Ray], [Earthquake], [Big Bang], and [Ultimate Impact]. Violation may trigger an uncontrollable chain reaction of spacetime collapse, the consequences of which the Alliance will not bear, nor can it bear, any responsibility.]

Lin Che's fingertips lightly traced the words "time-space chain collapse".

He could almost picture the apocalyptic scene it would be. The entire space would be like a shattered mirror, with countless fragments of time and space and turbulent currents swallowing everything up.

His ace Pokémon, Charizard's Flamethrower and Tyranitar's Earthquake, have become forbidden moves sealed away here.

He continued to look down.

Article 2: Mandatory Equipment.

All entrants must maintain and wear a specially designed 'spatial stabilization anchor' from the Alliance's technical department throughout the entire process. This device will forcibly anchor the user's spatial coordinates within a three-meter radius of their current dimension.

[WARNING: If the stabilizing anchor's energy is depleted, shut down, or destroyed, the user will be swept into an unknown spacetime turbulence within 0.1 seconds, resulting in 'permanent disappearance'.]

"Permanent disappearance"—a word even more chilling than "death."

The terms of the agreement were increasingly harsh, each word reeking of bloodshed. Behind every prohibition seemed to stand one or more pioneers who had witnessed its horrific consequences with their lives.

Compared to this, the dragon disasters of the Dragon's Roar Islands and the volcanic eruption of Crimson Lotus Island seem to be "routine dangers" in a certain sense.

Because the laws governing those places are, at least, the laws governing the real world.

This is a completely independent, crazy world.

Lin Che silently turned to the last page.

At the end of the agreement is the signature section.

Without the slightest hesitation, he took a pen from the person in charge.

The pen tip grazed the paper, making a soft scratching sound, leaving behind his strong and powerful signature.

He closed the folder and handed it back to the military official.

"I understand."

The person in charge took the document, and a subtle change finally appeared in his eyes—an acknowledgment of the determination and courage.

"The supply depot is over there. You can find everything you need there. Remember, in Stardust Caverns, money is meaningless; only top-tier equipment will allow you to survive longer."

The interior of the supply depot was more like a small armory than a shop.

The shelves were filled with oddly shaped pieces of equipment that gleamed with metallic luster.

Lin Che barely even looked at the price.

He used the enormous prize money he had won in the world championships—enough for any ordinary person to squander for a lifetime—to begin a lavish spending spree.

Renting a "space anchor" can instantly wipe out an astronomical deposit and rental fee.

It was a heavy metal device that needed to be fixed to the waist and back, with a faintly glowing blue crystal embedded in its core, and the energy bar showing that it was full.

A set of silver-white special protective suit, codenamed "Boundary Traveler". Its fibers are mixed with a rare metal that can isolate spatial energy erosion to the greatest extent, and it feels cold and flexible to the touch.

An "energy detector" shaped like a compass is said to be able to roughly sense areas of abnormal energy accumulation, but its range of effect is compressed to the limit inside the Stardust Cave.

Lin Che stored all the regular supplies he had brought with him, leaving only the most essential Poké Balls and healing items.

He exchanged the last balance in his account for several highly concentrated nutrient solutions and spare energy bars for the stabilizing anchor.

When he came out of the locker room dressed and ready, he had completely changed his appearance.

The silver-white protective suit clung to the body, outlining smooth yet powerful lines. A faint blue indicator light illuminated the space at the waist and back, like a silent guardian.

He stood in front of a huge floor-to-ceiling window, outside which lay the entrance to the legendary forbidden area.

That wasn't a typical cave.

Instead, it is a huge spatial rift with a diameter of over fifty meters, suspended in mid-air.

It has no physical form; it is merely an energy vortex that constantly shifts with a seven-colored halo, rippling like water.

The surrounding rocks and space are visibly distorted under its gravity.

Light was swallowed up, and sound was blocked.

It floated there quietly, like a magnificent yet deadly entrance to another dimension.

Lin Che raised his hand, and the joints of the gloves on his protective suit made a slight mechanical friction sound.

He could feel his heart beating steadily and powerfully in his chest.

The rules of the real world end here.

He took a step and walked towards the distorted, multicolored halo.

"Space stabilization anchor, energy injection complete, system activated."

A cold, mechanical synthesized voice sounded in the communication channel. Lin Che felt a deep hum from the device at his waist, and an invisible force field instantly enveloped him, isolating him from the chaotic spatial fluctuations outside.

"Protective suit, energy circulation is normal, magnetic adsorption function is activated."

Immediately afterwards, pale blue energy patterns lit up one by one inside the silver-white combat suit covering the entire body, providing a constant temperature and oxygen supply. On the helmet visor, lines of data flowed silently across the surface.

"Vitality monitoring system is connected normally."

A slight vibration came from the terminal on his wrist, confirming that his heart rate, blood pressure and other indicators were all within safe thresholds.

The series of notification sounds ended.

All sounds are silent.

Lin Che stood on a plateau deep in the Kunlun Mountains. Before him was a constantly rippling spatial ripple, more than ten meters in diameter. It had no fixed shape; light passing through it was refracted and distorted into a seven-colored halo, beautiful yet deadly.

He took one last deep breath of the air belonging to the real world.

The cold, thin air, carrying the scent of snow-capped mountains and rocks, filled my lungs, as if it were a final farewell.

The next second, all hesitation vanished from his eyes, leaving only pure determination.

Lin Che lifted his foot and took a step.

With one step, I stepped into that seven-colored halo.

There was no tactile sensation of passing through a curtain of water, nor the pain of tearing through space.

An indescribable, extreme sense of disorientation instantly seized his entire perception.

His body seemed to be broken down into countless particles, and then instantly reassembled. Gravity, direction, time, space... all the concepts deeply rooted in the real world were shattered at this moment, turning into a chaotic mess.

My vision was swallowed up by an endless, chaotic torrent of colors.

The whole process may take only a moment, or it may last a century.

When Lin Che's consciousness refocused and he felt a solid touch on his feet, he suddenly opened his eyes.

The sight before him caused even his hardened will to freeze for several seconds, leaving him breathless.

There is no sky here.

There is no land either.

As far as the eye could see, there was an endless, deep void.

Clusters of crystals of all sizes float in this void, forming the only "land" here. Some are no bigger than a tabletop, while others stretch for kilometers, resembling rootless islands in the sky. These crystals are not transparent; instead, they emit a soft, starlight-like light from within, illuminating this eternal darkness.

Streams of seven-colored stars, formed by billions of points of light, flowed slowly between the crystal clusters. They were the only moving things in this desolate world, like magnificent ribbons, winding around and dividing this broken realm.

The entire space had a strange, distorted feel to it.

In the distance, a massive crystal, its outline sharp one moment, becomes blurred and indistinct the next, as if kneaded and deformed by an invisible hand. Everything in sight is subject to irregular refraction, like shattered glass, making one dizzy and unable to establish even the most basic sense of distance.

The 617 physical laws of the real world are completely overturned here.

"Is this... Stardust Cavern?"

Lin Che's voice carried a hint of dryness and shock that he himself was unaware of.

He didn't linger in this surreal spectacle for long.

With a flick of his wrist, a special Poké Ball appeared in his palm.

A flash of red light appeared, and a silver-gray figure appeared beside him.

Zhixing.

His new companion, a glittering little gray monster from outer space.

As soon as it appeared, Zhixing's metallic body emitted a slight hum, and the red light in its single eye, representing the core of life, suddenly increased in brightness by several levels.

It felt no discomfort whatsoever; on the contrary, it felt as if it had returned to its mother's embrace.

A pure, joyful, and comfortable mental wave was transmitted directly into Lin Che's mind. This was the first time it had displayed such active emotions since Lin Che had subdued it.

Chaotic spatial energy is not a deadly poison to it, but rather the most nourishing nutrient.

Lin Che's tense nerves relaxed slightly because of his partner's state. A smile appeared on his face, not deliberately, but from the heart.

"It seems this is your home turf."

He reached out and gently stroked Zhixing's cold metal shell.

Zhi Xing's single eye curved slightly, and an invisible telekinetic force extended out, precisely supporting the heavy backpack full of supplies behind Lin Che and easily lifting it into the air.

The pressure on his shoulders suddenly disappeared, and Lin Che felt a sense of relief.

He glanced down at his feet.

This is a floating crystal, resembling a small plaza, with a flat surface and emitting a faint blue light.

He activated the magnetic adsorption function on the soles of his protective suit and boots.

"Crack!"

With a soft click, a powerful suction came from the bottom of the tactical boots, firmly fixing him to the crystal surface, as if he had taken root.

He tried to move his feet, each step steady and powerful, and the feeling of weightlessness that made him feel like he might float away at any moment was gone.

Once he had steadied himself, he finally raised his head and began to re-examine this bizarre and wondrous world.