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Several days later, Chris and Professor Vladimir boarded a plane bound for the Malaya Forest.

Chris still hadn't solved the mystery of why Gardevoir had been able to learn "Spacial Rend." Following the practical principle that unsolvable problems should be set aside temporarily, Chris had resolutely decided to leave this "unsolved mystery of the world" for future consideration.

What he did know with certainty was that Gardevoir would now be competing seriously for the position of his primary Trump Card Pokémon.

Gardevoir's original held item had been the "Gracidea," but that flower offered no significant combat bonuses.

Gracidea: When equipped, absorbs any negative status effects in the surrounding area. Moves gain a "Purify" effect, dealing double damage to Poison-type and Ghost-type Pokémon. When the absorption of negative effects reaches maximum capacity, automatically releases "Seed Flare." Current progress: 98/100. When carried by a Pokémon, grants additional power. Most effective against Poison-type and Ghost-type opponents.

For strategic purposes, Chris had deliberately maintained the progress at 98/100, waiting for some unlucky Poison-type or Ghost-type opponent with sufficient strength to trigger this devastating attack.

Compared to the Lustrous Orb, however, the Gracidea was clearly inferior in overall utility.

The Lustrous Orb's 100% boost to Water-type and Dragon-type moves offered no direct benefit to Gardevoir, since it knew no Dragon-type techniques and only possessed "Life Dew" as a Water-type move.

However, the Lustrous Orb's "200% increase to spatial move effectiveness" made Gardevoir's most proficient technique, "Teleport," absolutely terrifying in its enhanced form!

With the 200% enhancement, Teleport required no preparation gestures, had no recovery time, possessed no cooldown period, could transport multiple targets simultaneously, and could even force teleportation of opponents stronger than the user.

Combined with the devastating "Spacial Rend" technique, Gardevoir after Mega Evolution had become a formidable contender for Chris's primary Trump Card position!

Even considering type advantages and disadvantages, both Greninja and Garchomp would have to acknowledge Gardevoir's superior tactical potential.

Although Professor Vladimir had originally given the Lustrous Orb to Chris specifically for Gengar, his primary intention had been to provide Chris with a "spatial storage solution" by expanding Gengar's dimensional stomach space for carrying numerous items and freeing up Chris's hands during expeditions.

However, Chris had no need for such spatial storage, since he already possessed a "Secret Base" created by Gardevoir using the move "Secret Power." The Secret Base came equipped with running water and electricity, provided comfortable living accommodations, and offered maximum concealment from detection.

Wasn't this arrangement far superior to storing items in Gengar's stomach?

Therefore, Chris had ultimately assigned the Lustrous Orb to Gardevoir as its permanent held item. After all, Gengar already possessed a 2-star exclusive item, while Gardevoir had been lacking equivalent equipment.

As for Gardevoir's previous "Gracidea" flower, Chris could reassign it based on tactical needs since it had no specific carrying requirements and could benefit any team member.

"We're almost there," Professor Vladimir announced to Chris, who had been resting in his seat.

Chris opened his eyes and gazed out the aircraft window at an endless sea of green forest canopy stretching toward the horizon.

They were returning to the Malaya Forest.

The last time Chris had visited this region was during the Breeders Winter Camp, where he had obtained the Landorus's Treasure from Landorus. He wondered what discoveries awaited him on this expedition.

The plane landed at the region's basic airport facility, and they transferred to ground transportation for the journey to their hotel accommodations.

Compared to Chris's previous visit to the Malaya Forest, the area now hosted significantly more trainers and researchers.

Earlier that year, Landorus had rampaged through the Malaya Forest, though it had ultimately been defeated and driven away by Regigigas. However, Landorus's destructive presence had sparked intense speculation among the Pokémon training community.

Why had Landorus chosen to ravage the Malaya Forest specifically?

Had it been searching for something lost during its previous territorial battle with another Landorus?

Perhaps... Landorus's sacred tablet!

Of course, these theories and rumors were widely suspected to be promotional "advertisements" designed to attract trainers to the Malaya Forest, lacking any substantive evidence.

Only Chris knew that the Landorus which had devastated the forest was most likely searching for the Sacred Treasure that he had claimed during his previous visit.

Throughout the past year, however, the Malaya Forest had remained peaceful. There had been no reports of renewed Landorus attacks, and no one had even spotted the legendary Pokémon. Presumably, Landorus had been sufficiently humbled by Regigigas's overwhelming response to abandon its search.

The Malaya Forest was clearly not a place where even legendary Pokémon could cause trouble without consequences.

Although Landorus had apparently learned its lesson and departed, the influx of trainers continued, with people still flocking to the Malaya Forest in hopes of discovering legendary treasures.

In any region where legendary Pokémon had been active, there were bound to be valuable discoveries waiting!

Chris and Professor Vladimir arrived at the five-star hotel outside the Malaya Forest and completed their check-in process.

Having arrived in the afternoon, they planned to spend one night at the luxury hotel before entering the Malaya Forest the following morning to locate the spatial rift where Theodore had disappeared.

After checking in, Chris and Professor Vladimir took the elevator to their respective room floors.

However, neither of them noticed the ten pairs of eyes that were observing them with calculated interest from various positions throughout the hotel lobby.

"Boss Jack, that young man is the rising star from China, Chris!" A middle-aged man with a distinctive goatee whispered to his companion, a well-dressed middle-aged man in an expensive suit. The speaker pretended to casually glance toward the elevator through the corners of his narrow eyes while maintaining his cover.

The middle-aged man addressed as Boss Jack seemed uninterested and continued drinking his wine without apparent concern.

"So what?" he replied dismissively.

Seeing Boss Jack's lack of enthusiasm, the goateed man felt compelled to provide additional motivation. "This is the same Chris who owns the Mega Shiny Gardevoir!"

"What?!" Upon hearing about the Mega Shiny Gardevoir, Boss Jack immediately snapped his attention toward the elevator.

Unfortunately, all he could see were the closed elevator doors.

"Are you absolutely certain?" Boss Jack asked, a glint of obvious greed appearing in his eyes.

"I'm completely sure. When I first spotted him, I verified his identity using the photo on my phone. I'm certain this is that genius Chris from China." The goateed man handed his phone to Boss Jack, displaying Chris's photograph for confirmation.

Boss Jack examined Chris's photo carefully, then displayed a cold, calculating smile. "Rich but lacking sufficient strength, and he dares to travel abroad? How foolish."

He then asked for additional intelligence.

"How many people did he arrive with?"

"Two people total."

"Who is his companion?"

"I don't know—probably no one significant." The goateed man had also observed Professor Vladimir, but to his eyes, Vladimir appeared to have an ordinary face typical of people from that region.

Vladimir possessed the kind of unremarkable features that would make him nearly impossible to locate if he disappeared into a crowd.

Boss Jack nodded approvingly, reached into his pocket, and withdrew a Poké Ball. He enlarged it and released his Pokémon without hesitation.

A Sableye materialized at his feet.

Without requiring any verbal instructions from Boss Jack, Sableye immediately merged its body with the floor and vanished completely from sight.