He knows Pokémon better than me.

Chapter 4282 Sonia's Will to Victory

Most importantly, according to Sonia's previous statement, these murals are entirely fictional versions fabricated and forged by later generations.

Thinking of this, Xiao Zhi suddenly lost all interest.

Mary and Chibana were still standing in front of the mural, one listening attentively and the other enthusiastically telling the story depicted in the image.

Xiao Zhi pouted and decided to wander around the exhibition hall by himself.

The treasures collected here are mostly antiques, but there don't seem to be any items that can be used in Pokémon battles.

As he looked around, he found a broken Poké Ball in a corner display case.

Only half of the outer shell remained, with burn marks and cracks on the surface. The overall shape looked like...

Is the flying wing ball a specialty of Xicui?

Weird.

We don't know what kind of world ancient Galar was, where the Dark Night Catastrophe occurred.

I really want to go and explore it myself!

"Piccoo~!"

Just then, Victini let out a soft groan and tugged at Ash's sleeve.

"what happened?"

Xiao Zhi turned his head to look.

Victini flew directly to the side, where there was a sealed stone door.

Judging from its location, it should be a passage leading to the adjacent castle, but I don't know why it's been completely blocked off.

“Bick.”

Victini flew around the stone gate twice, pondered for a while, then suddenly pointed to its large "V"-shaped ears and then to the stone gate.

Ash stared blankly, realizing that the Golden Translator, Mr. Mime, wasn't with him anymore.

Is there something behind this?

He walked to the stone gate and touched it. After a moment's hesitation, a layer of blue light appeared deep in his eyes, and invisible ripples spread out.

In that case, let's use waveguide power to confirm it first!

"Ash, is there anything special about that place?"

Cibana noticed the commotion and walked over out of curiosity.

Why stand there staring at a sealed wall instead of looking at the treasures and the murals?

But soon, Ash frowned.

Another day where the power of waveguides suffered a setback.

His waveguide had only extended two meters when it seemed to hit an invisible barrier and could not go any further.

Perception was abruptly cut off.

Ash recalled his Aura and looked at the stone gate with a hint of doubt in his expression.

"strangeness."

Isn't this an ancient, pristine castle that has been preserved intact? How come there's something here that can shield against waveguide power?

Could it be some kind of ancient Galatian black technology?

Cibana leaned closer for a look and asked in confusion:

What's wrong here?

He was quite familiar with the other side of the stone gate; the Vault Castle was located on the edge of this castle complex, and there were several other ancient castles nearby that had not yet been officially developed.

The doors leading to deeper areas were mostly sealed off.

"Nothing special happened after that~"

Ciban waved his hand, then smiled and said:

“I’ve been inside a few times before; it’s just some old, neglected places.”

For example, there are empty banquet halls and council chambers, wine cellars, old kitchens, dungeons, and some completely empty bedrooms.

"In short, it's a very primitive ancient castle; aside from being a bit dusty, there's not much to see."

Later, he became too lazy to go in again.

Just guard the treasure vault castle in front of you.

Hearing the commotion, Mary curiously came over to ask:

"Has Bictini discovered something?"

The actions of mythical Pokémon shouldn't be taken lightly. Ash didn't answer immediately, but placed his hand on Victini's head, trying to use the power of their bond to understand what the other was trying to express.

It was intermittent, but I could still barely hear it:

"There, the will to win."

Ash blinked, looking confused.

Will to win?

Did Bictini feel the will to win behind the stone gate?

In some ways, it can be considered another special way of sensing, and its penetrability seems to be much stronger than that of waveguide power.

However, to have the "will to win," you usually need to have Pokémon first, right?

"You mean, there are Pokémon inside?"

Xiao Zhi looked at the stone gate; it didn't seem like anything unusual.

The abandoned castle, deserted for so long, has now been inhabited by a few wild pickpocket cats and cunning little foxes.

It's perfectly normal to even use a particular bedroom as your hideout, right?

"Picc, Piccolo!"

However, Bictini shook her head again, anxiously spinning around in the air several times.

Then, it pointed again to its large "V"-shaped ears.

Just as Xiao Zhi was about to continue guessing, another word popped into his mind.

"Swoosh!"

索？

His first thought was of one of the two suit-wearing noblemen, Soder.

As for the ears

Cute ears, big V-shaped ears, orange ears

Ash stared at Victini for a few seconds, then suddenly realized what was happening.

"Wait a minute! You don't mean Pokémon, you mean Sonia with orange hair, right?!"

Seeing that Ash had finally figured it out, Victini's eyes crinkled into a smile, and it cheered as it spun around in the air several times in celebration.

It's quite a coincidence that the color behind Bictini's ear is in the same color family as Sonia's stylish curly hair.

Beside them, Chibana and Mari exchanged a glance. Why did they suddenly bring up Sonia?

Xiao Zhi's expression gradually became serious.

In other words, what Bictini sensed was Sonia's will to win?

Belatedly realizing what was happening, Qibana's face immediately darkened.

"Wait, you mean Sonia is locked up inside?"

He and Ash had previously speculated that Sonia might still be in Motostoke, since that's where she disappeared, making it the most likely location.

However, Cibana has already searched every place he knows well these past few days, from the arena to the streets and alleys, and even some internal passages that are rarely visited.

No trace of Sonia was found.

But now that I think about it—

He doesn't think he's ever actually searched those old castles behind the treasure vault castle area.

Qibana looked at the stone gate, his expression somewhat complicated.

"But inside, there are only undeveloped old buildings."

It wasn't some secret base; at most, it was just a dusty hall and old rooms.

Is this kind of place really suitable for imprisoning people?

"Anyway, let's go in and check the situation first."

Xiao Zhi perked up, not expecting to have such an unexpected gain today.

However, the stone door in front of them was completely blocked, not even a crack. The three of them quickly left the exhibition hall and went outside.

From the outside, the adjacent castles are still separated by thick walls.

The wall is tall, with a row of sharp spikes standing on top, clearly to prevent outsiders from climbing over it at will.

The group exchanged glances, then simultaneously pulled out their Poké Balls.

If you can't climb it, just fly there!

boom! boom! boom!

As the red light fell, Ash released Corviknight, Marnie released Vulpix, and Raibou released Flygon, which had appeared in the Gym Battle.

The three of them flipped over, and the Pokémon spread their wings and soared over the walls! (End of Chapter)