The palace was rigged with mechanisms. When Gengar infiltrated it a second time, if it had only watched from the dome again, it still wouldn't have seen anything useful.

Recalling the fearsome energy, Gengar hesitated, but in the end, it once more activated its Spatial energy, preparing to dive down under pressure.

As it passed through the dome, the overwhelming wave of terror surged again. Though Gengar had braced itself this time and didn't retreat, its entire body still trembled slightly.

"Gen~"

Gengar pressed its hands together and sat cross-legged within the Spatial Barrier it had created, slowly descending.

The farther down it went, the stronger the pressure became, and the more violently Gengar trembled.

But it never backed down. Its golden eyes constantly scanned the surroundings, hoping to find an entrance or some kind of mechanism.

Yet when it reached the height of the ghostly blue lanterns, the terrifying pressure was so intense that it could barely breathe, unable to descend even a centimeter further.

Still, there were no discoveries!

Gengar was deeply unwilling to give up. Even though it couldn't descend any farther, it still circled around the palace wall.

"Gen…!"

Finally, Gengar let out an excited yet restrained cry.

It had found something!

While circling the palace, it hadn't only been watching for entrances, but had also been keeping an eye on the Hydreigon skeleton that emitted the black glow.

At that moment, Gengar happened to be in a position where it could see the source of the black light through a gap between two ribs.

A black crown, about the size of a palm.

A Domain!

Back when Ralts handed over her Slumber Domain to Darkrai, Gengar -hiding in Sato's shadow- had witnessed it.

And aside from the color, this black crown looked exactly like that Slumber Domain!

There really was a Domain hidden in the Village of Dragons!

After a long while, once it calmed itself, Gengar continued observing the underground palace while circling the walls, but still found no mechanisms or entryways.

It couldn't take it anymore!

After completing a full lap around the palace, Gengar quickly ascended. When it passed through the dome murals, it was so drained it could barely maintain its Spatial Barrier.

But since the plaza was too close to Wilma's house, Gengar didn't dare drop the barrier no matter how tired it was. After taking just a brief moment to catch its breath, it quickly returned to Sato's side.

---

This time, even though Gengar hadn't found the entrance to the palace, it had directly confirmed the existence of a Domain, shocking both Sato and Ralts.

"Rest well, you've worked hard!"

Sato gave Gengar a dose of High-grade Pokéblock, then allowed it to rest in his shadow. For Gengar, a shadow was far more comfortable than a Poké Ball.

At this point, both Ralts and Sato were so shocked by Gengar's report that they couldn't sleep at all.

"Toto… that Domain should lean toward the Dark type. Otherwise, Gengi wouldn't have been so terrified."

Sato nodded in agreement, but immediately added,

"Based on Gengar's description, the Domain is currently inside a Hydreigon skeleton. Is it possible that Hydreigon was its original owner?"

"That's possible, but not certain. Gengi also mentioned there were many other Dark-type Pokémon skeletons there."

Ralts shook her head. She understood Domains even better than Sato did. A Pokémon species and a Domain could be completely unrelated. Whether they matched depended entirely on luck.

Otherwise, how could Ralts have inherited a Slumber Domain that seemed to have nothing to do with her?

Thinking of this, Ralts seemed to recall something. She clutched tightly at Sato's pajamas and said urgently,

"Toto, Toto! I have a bold guess! Those skeletons in the underground palace might have all been Pokémon chosen by the Village of Dragons over the years to inherit the Domain. But clearly, they all failed… leaving behind nothing but bones!"

Sato suddenly took in a sharp breath and looked at Ralts in shock!

…Only to see Ralts nodding repeatedly, her expression more and more certain after she spoke.

"It must be that, it definitely must be…"

"Then even if we go through all the trouble to obtain that Domain, it still might not help Lefty and Righty evolve?"

"Mm… but since over half the skeletons down there were Hydreigon, maybe Lefty and Righty still have a shot… maybe."

Ralts said this, but by the end, it was clear she didn't quite believe it herself.

The two of them fell silent. Neither spoke for a long time.

They had finally found a Domain, but this Domain clearly wasn't a benevolent one.

Just looking at those skeletal remains was enough to understand how hard it was to inherit a Domain and become a "Legendary" Pokémon.

'Could it be that everyone else was right? That natural evolution would at least preserve one mind? But trying to inherit a Domain… might leave them with only a skeleton.'

"No way, Toto! We can't give up like this!" Ralts suddenly said defiantly. "That old woman definitely knows more. We'll force her to spill it first. And we can ask Darkrai for help too. He said he'd help us once for free. If those don't work, we'll think of something else. Things always work out eventually!"

Sato looked at the slightly rogue-like Ralts in front of him, suddenly full of emotion.

She had nearly become his enemy once. And now, here they were, planning strategies together in the middle of the night… all for a Domain.

"Yeah. First, let's deal with Wilma. At the very least, we need to figure out the layout of the underground palace!"

---

The night passed uneventfully.

Early the next morning, Sato went to Wilma's house as usual and once again requested a battle.

Wilma didn't suspect a thing and sent out her Bisharp to help him train. From time to time, she would casually ask how Zweilous was doing, if it was holding up or starting to falter.

Sato wore a "worried" expression but replied that he still wasn't strong enough and likely wouldn't be able to defeat the Legendary Pokémon sealed in the Giant Chasm.

Seeing Sato still unwilling to leave, Wilma comforted and encouraged him while secretly cursing him for being so indecisive and unmanly.

Finally, Sato pretended to steel his resolve and said seriously, "Wilma, let's have a 4-on-6 partial team battle! I know this kind of match isn't fair, but if I can beat four of your Pokémon, I think that should be enough to take on the frozen Legendary."

Wilma was taken aback, thinking, 'What's with this kid and all his clever tricks? Trying to use me to test his strength… does he think I'm just a practice dummy?'

But then she thought, 'If I go a little easy on him and make him feel like he's gotten stronger, maybe he'll finally leave the Village and go get himself killed.'

With that in mind, even though something felt vaguely off, Wilma hesitated for a moment and then agreed.

"Youth should be full of confidence. Since you're so determined, I, this old woman, will help you all the way and test your progress!"