Pokémon: Chronicles of Freedom

Seeing that the mysterious runes on Golurk's body had completely shut off, Cain slowly approached with his Pokémon. However, just when he was halfway there, Larvitar suddenly stopped.

Cain looked at him with some surprise, noticing that Larvitar had become completely still.

In his vision, the system showed Larvitar's data flicker momentarily.

"Did it level up?" Cain murmured, a bit puzzled.

He had been keeping Larvitar's level in check to avoid it progressing too quickly, but he didn't expect it to level up at that moment, especially considering it hadn't participated in the last battle.

Now Larvitar had reached level 29, just one level away from 30, which meant it was about to evolve into Pupitar.

Suddenly, something crossed his mind, and his expression changed as he approached Larvitar. He opened his backpack and began searching quickly.

After a careful inspection, he discovered that the Fragment of Groudon's armor he had been storing was no longer there.

It had been completely absorbed by Larvitar.

That probably explained why it had unexpectedly leveled up.

From the moment they entered this space, Larvitar had absorbed almost half of the fragment. Then, over the following days, it continued to absorb it bit by bit, and finally, upon entering this mysterious cave, it had absorbed it completely. However, Larvitar didn't seem to have noticed anything strange about itself.

Although Cain had planned for Larvitar to absorb that fragment, he hadn't expected the process to be so fast. Moreover, the way it had occurred—so suddenly—had caught him off guard.

With a resigned sigh, Cain reflected on the situation.

The system had estimated that it would take Larvitar about ten more days to fully absorb the fragment, and since the absorption rate had slowed over time, Cain hadn't paid it much attention. But now...

There was nothing he could do about it. Larvitar had already leveled up, and there was no way to reverse it. At least, he thought, there was still some time before it reached the next level.

"System, perform a full analysis of Larvitar to check for any anomalies," Cain said, wanting to make sure everything was in order.

Then he approached the Golurk lying on the ground.

Up close, it looked like an oversized ceramic figure, with a rough and rudimentary texture. The ancient humans had used mysterious runes and unknown methods to give it life.

Life?

Was that the reason Golurk was a Ghost-type Pokémon?

A chill ran through Cain as he considered the implications.

The ancient humans, in their quest for power, had likely resorted to far more extreme methods than those used today.

In that era, ruled by kings and nobles, slaves had no rights or protection. It was likely that the ancients had used human souls to create these Pokémon.

"System, analyze the principle behind Golurk's creation," said Cain, with a sudden idea.

If he could understand how these Pokémon were made, maybe he could replicate them today.

Although it sounded unrealistic, it wasn't impossible.

He placed his hand on Golurk's body, feeling the rough and fragile texture of the clay.

The system began analyzing through direct contact.

"A key material has been found. Name of material: 'Earth's Membrane,'" the system suddenly announced.

Cain raised an eyebrow, recalling that he had configured the system to alert him if it detected anything related to "Crimson Rock" or "Earth's Membrane."

When he was above the magma, the system had already warned him once about the presence of "Crimson Rock." Now, it seemed that the "Earth's Membrane" was related to Golurk.

According to the system's previous analysis, the "Earth's Membrane" was likely the essence of a mountain, a form of highly compressed energy. The larger and older the mountain, the more energy it contained, and the higher the quality of its "Earth's Membrane."

That was why Cain had come to Mt. Chimney, the largest mountain in the Hoenn region. He was hoping to get lucky and find something valuable.

Although he had already found the "Crimson Rock," he hadn't succeeded with the "Earth's Membrane." But now, it seemed he had finally found it.

"Where is the 'Earth's Membrane'?" Cain asked the system.

"Would you like to visualize the location?" the system responded.

Visualize?

That was something new.

"Yes, show it," Cain ordered.

Suddenly, the point of contact between his hand and Golurk emitted a faint glow. Small electric currents ran across the Golem's body, causing it to tremble slightly.

For a moment, Cain thought the Golem was about to reactivate, but then the mysterious rune on its chest flickered and a yellowish-brown lid opened, revealing its interior.

Inside its hollow, dark chest floated a small orb that emitted a dim, earthy yellow glow.

"Is this the 'Earth's Membrane'? The essence of the earth? Golurk's energy core?" Cain watched in amazement.

It turned out that Golurk was a Ground-type Pokémon not because it was made of mud, but because it contained this essence as its energy core, which granted it power.

The combination of an unknown soul, an "Earth's Membrane," and the mysterious runes on its body were the principles behind Golurk's creation.

Cain reached out and took the glowing orb.

Upon contact, he felt the heat emanating from the sphere, a concentrated energy that seemed to pulse in his palm.

"System, confirm the analysis," Cain ordered.

If an entire mountain was needed to create one Golurk, how many of these cores could really exist?

"Confirmed. The material is the Earth's Membrane," the system replied.

Cain nodded, watching as the orb's light gradually faded. Finally, it transformed into an opaque sphere, about the size of two thumbs, similar to a marble but without the transparency.

When the light completely vanished, Golurk collapsed into dust.

Without its energy core, the mysterious runes on its body had lost their power source, and time had done the rest, crumbling its structure in an instant.

Cain blinked, surprised by the sudden disintegration.

Before he could store the core, the system spoke again.

"Full analysis of Larvitar complete. Its condition is stable. It contains a large amount of unabsorbed energy, which is being gradually processed. Evolution is expected to occur upon complete absorption," the system reported.

Cain's expression darkened.

"I knew it wouldn't be that simple. Is it because the fragment's energy was too intense?" Cain reflected.

It seemed there was no time to waste in completing the quality-boosting potion for Larvitar. Luckily, he already had all the necessary ingredients.

However, before he could do anything more, something unexpected happened again.

(End of chapter)