Pokémon: Wings Of Shadow

Crack!

The crisp sound echoed in the Dynamax Den. Shiro, who had been closely following Golem, widened his eyes in surprise. He quickly ordered Corviknight to fly toward the source of the shattering noise.

"Gooooleeem!"

Golem's thunderous bellow made the steel bird soar higher and pause midair to observe the scene below.

The nearest person, Felix, of course heard the sound of the barrier cracking too. But he had no time to breathe a sigh of relief, as Golem's second punch, brimming with fury and resentment, was hurtling toward him.

This strike crackled with electricity, and its blinding golden light flashed violently in the surroundings, like a furious thunder god striking down enemies.

Felix knew that if even a spark of that hit him or his Pokémon, they'd be dead.

"Teleport! Don't stop!" he shouted. Though Malamar was already gasping for breath, he had no other choice. With death looming over them, he could only urge it on desperately.

"Maaal!"

Malamar pushed its power to the limit. This time, instead of dodging sideways or upward, it teleported twice—straight toward Golem. In a blink, it appeared behind the massive Pokémon.

The effort was too much. As soon as it completed the move, Malamar's eyes rolled back. It lost consciousness and plummeted from the sky.

Felix immediately withdrew it into its Poké Ball, then grabbed another ball from his waist.

"Scraaaf!"

An orange-colored Scrafty appeared below him. It hurriedly twisted its body so its front faced downward. As the violent gusts rushed up against them, it stretched its belly skin up to the highest point.

Besides Malamar, Felix didn't have any other Pokémon that could fly. He specialized purely in Dark-types. He had never trained or caught anything else.

"Scraaaafty!"

The strong wind whipped Scrafty's bright red crest back and forth, but it did everything it could to support its trainer on its back. It spread the loose skin around its stomach as far as possible—twice its size, then three times.

The wind caught under the flapping belly skin, slowing their descent bit by bit.

As a Pokémon with Gym-level strength and an incredibly stretchable stomach, Scrafty wasn't afraid of falling from high altitudes.

Meanwhile, Golem's lightning-charged fist smashed into the barrier again.

Crack!

This time the sound of breaking was louder, sharper. Shiro heard it clearly.

With no target in front of it, the giant Pokémon panted heavily. Its head swayed, searching for the little bug it had been chasing. Just then, a shadow flashed by its vision.

It was Shiro and Corviknight.

"Goool!"

Golem didn't care who it was. Anything that moved nearby was a bug. Bugs could bite. Even if they hadn't bitten yet, they might later.

Crushing them all was the safest choice.

It roared again, but didn't throw a punch. It locked onto the steel bird's flight path, swung its head, and charged forward with a fierce headbutt.

Iron Head. A Steel-type move with a chance to make the target flinch.

But only if it hit.

Boosted by Tailwind and Quick Attack, Corviknight moved like lightning. It was nearly impossible to follow with the naked eye.

At full speed, it easily matched the effect of Malamar's teleportation, dodging Golem's attack without any effort.

Boom!

This time, the Iron Head strike, guided deliberately by Shiro, slammed into the exact same location that had previously been hit by Fire Punch.

While the fire and thunder punches had struck the barrier from hundreds of meters away, managing to fracture it but not break through completely, this direct hit shattered the damaged part clean.

A crisp, cracking sound rang out, and at the same time, Golem was forced backward by a sudden force. It staggered several steps and toppled into the pit behind it, landing flat on its round body, legs flailing helplessly.

It seemed stuck and unable to flip over.

High above, Corviknight streaked through the air like a black shadow, diving toward the broken gap in the barrier.

The opening was an uneven, roughly circular hole over a hundred meters wide. It was big enough for almost any Pokémon to pass through with ease.

Beyond the pale-pink barrier lay a shift in color. The crimson-tinted darkness gradually gave way to iridescent light. That was the boundary of the Dynamax Den, the passage leading back to the normal world.

The steel bird soared swiftly through the hole, carrying its trainer with it out of the den.

Buzz—

A faint ringing filled his ears. As they passed through the barrier, Shiro felt a moment of dizziness, but soon recovered.

Fresh, cool air rushed into his nose and mouth, refreshing his senses and snapping him back into clarity. He opened his eyes to the world outside.

The sky was slightly dim. They were now over the forest between the Stony Wilderness and Lake of Outrage, the habitat of the Stufful and Bewear tribes.

Whether it was because of the thicker trees outside or the natural difference between environments, everything felt different out here. After leaving the eternally dim, reddish-glowing Dynamax Den, Shiro felt invigorated.

Even the air seemed lighter and cleaner.

Corviknight's black wings shifted slightly, catching the wind to glide forward.

Since its evolution, it had gained the Steel typing. Much of its plumage had hardened, some feathers even turned to metal. Still, the downy feathers responsible for flight remained soft and flexible, or it wouldn't be able to fly at all.

The biggest changes were in its size and the structure of its head and shoulders. It had become massive, and its head and neck were now covered in a layer of black steel armor.

The one Shiro had trained was even larger than the average Corviknight, a testament to its exceptional upbringing.

Back when it was just a Rookidee and then a Corvisquire, he had routinely applied metal coatings to its beak. The energy from those coatings had fully integrated into its body upon evolution, reinforcing its new Steel type.

Only now did Shiro truly understand how important that coating process had been during its earlier stages. Many Corvisquire evolved as soon as they hit the required level, but their bodies were still filled primarily with Flying-type energy. Without preparation, developing a Steel typing was difficult, and some even ended up weaker after evolving, draining their potential entirely.

"Training, level, combat…" he mulled over these fundamental pillars of reaching the Gym-level. Though they sounded simple, doing each one right was anything but easy.

Especially without enough funds.

In the end, the greatest obstacle between most trainers and the Gym-level wasn't skill or determination—it was money.

The monopoly on Pokémon resources meant that commoners and trainers from prestigious families weren't even running the same race.

He had only been able to access the necessary resources and speed up his training because he'd caught the wave of Rose's push to dismantle the hereditary Gym system. He'd seized an opportunity amid the coming chaos.

As Shiro's thoughts wandered Corviknight glided steadily beneath him.

The wilderness below was empty. Not a single person in sight, and even wild Pokémon were scarce.

The bird flew on, heading toward the shores of Lake of Outrage.

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