Gary wasn't the type to hole up indoors all day, so he decided to stay outside and survey the environment around the observation station.
By afternoon, the clouds and mist blanketing the middle layer had gradually dissipated, allowing him to roughly make out what the middle layer of Area Zero actually looked like.
The middle layer wasn't all that different from the upper layer. It featured lush green grasslands, lakes formed from the waterfalls tumbling down from the upper levels, and rock zones and caves stretching into the distance.
The only notable difference was the observation station itself, which had been strategically built right next to the entrance leading to the lower level.
Gary gazed at the cave entrance.
According to the plot of the game, the lower level led ultimately to Area Zero's depths, where the Area Zero Laboratory was located at the very bottom.
The Area Zero Laboratory had been created by Professor Sada or Professor Turo — it was where they studied the time machine, which was also the reason for the appearance of Paradox Pokémon.
But Gary didn't know if the plot followed the game's script in this world. At least it could be confirmed at present that Paradox Pokémon of both ancient and future varieties existed. And that fact alone proved that the time machine existed.
As for whether Professors Sada and Turo had actually invented it, that remained to be discussed. But at least it could be confirmed that Professor Sada was a real person and not a robot.
Gary didn't know what lay in the lower levels, but since the operation's route would take them to the 4th Observation Station anyway, they would definitely enter the cave.
Gary looked at Nick and Angus and asked, "Nick, Angus — you two have been to the lower level before, right?"
"I've been there, what do you want to know?" Nick had noticed he was trying to scope out information about the lower level, but he didn't mind much. He would have to go in eventually, so there was no harm in telling Gary about it ahead of time.
"What's down there?" Gary asked.
"Honestly, it's nothing special — just a massive cave. The Terastal energy inside is really dense. You'll frequently encounter Terastal Pokémon down there. And the tera crystals — since the Terastal energy is so rich — the tera orbs will fill with energy soon. You can try it yourself," Nick said.
"How fast is it?"
Although Gary had Tera Orbs, Terastalization had never really caught on with him. On top of that, Gary wasn't accustomed to using it, so he never bothered.
"Normal charging takes only a few minutes," Nick said. "Before coming in, did Professor tell you anything about it?"
"I'm not from the Paldea Region, so I can't use Tera Orbs all the time," Gary said.
"Then you should test it now. Didn't you just catch Archaludon? Don't you want to see its Tera Type?" Nick said.
"Good point, let me check."
Having nothing else to do, Gary decided to test it out.
Because Tera Orbs couldn't be recharged easily — and he'd never bothered testing his Pokémon's Tera Attributes before — Gary figured now was a good opportunity. Since the charging speed in the Great Crater of Paldea was so fast, he might as well test them all.
Unfortunately, Gary only had four Pokémon with him. The others couldn't be transferred.
Gary released Charizard, Blastoise, and Archaludon first, then decided to test Eevee by having it use the Tera Orb.
"Eevee, let's see what your Tera Type is," Gary sent the Tera Orb toward Eevee.
The Tera Orb latched onto Eevee, bursting out a crystallization energy that covered Eevee completely. When the crystallization began to shatter, Eevee appeared, covered in the gleaming crystalline force.
Eevee had a white diamond ring crown on its head, indicating its Tera Attribute was Normal type.
Seeing Eevee was a Normal Tera Type, Nick explained in detail: "After a Pokémon undergoes Terastalization, if its type remains Normal — the original type — then that's what you'll see. If you want to change the Attribute, you need Tera Shards. You can go to Medali and buy food made from Tera Shards at the cafeteria, or just give the Tera Shards to the Pokémon to eat directly."
"Yeah, got it."
Gary nodded. He had actually known this stuff for a while — this wasn't his first time hearing it — but he had to pretend it was new information.
"VEE-VEE!"
Eevee looked at its body, and aside from a slight shimmer, there was no other perceptible change. Moreover, Eevee's Ability was EX Adaptability, which already tripled the power of same-type skills.
If Terastalization turned Eevee into Normal Tera Type, the same-type power would only double. The two effects would conflict — EX Adaptability would override and outperform the 2x boost from Terastalization.
So Terastalization didn't improve Eevee much — and in Eevee's case, it actually weakened the Pokémon by overriding its EX Adaptability bonus.
Gary looked at the Tera Orb in his hand. What had once been dull and lifeless now had dazzling starlight inside, with the Tera energy visibly recovering at a rate visible to the naked eye.
After about seven minutes, the diamond-shaped indicator on the Tera Orb flashed — meaning it was fully charged and ready for use again.
Gary then used Terastalization on Blastoise, Charizard, and Archaludon. Like Eevee, their Tera Attributes corresponded to their own base types.
Blastoise's Tera Attribute was Water.
Charizard's Tera Attribute was Fire.
Archaludon's Tera Attribute was Steel.
After that, Gary had nothing else to do, so he stayed at the observation station entrance, lost in thought.
It wasn't until dinner time that everyone entered the observation station to rest. Since monitoring Pokémon from the previous two research stations had been completed, Professor Sada and the others began working on data backup and tried not to involve Gary.
Gary didn't care about this. He only wanted to catch more Paradox Pokémon — hoping to encounter future species in the coming expeditions.
The next day.
After the data backup of the 3rd Observation Station was completed, everyone went to the lower cave in the morning.
The caves on the lower level were also constructed in a spiral pattern. The lower level was full of dazzling gems, and they could frequently see crystal buds and crystal flowers. These Pokémon couldn't be touched carelessly because they were poisonous — touching them would cause them to spray venom immediately in self-defense.
However, there were no particularly vicious Pokémon in the lower caves. Glimmet and Glimmora were also relatively timid Pokémon — as long as they weren't actively provoked, they wouldn't attack.
The journey was smooth, taking three hours to safely reach the 4th Observation Station.
However, when they arrived at the 4th Observation Station, everyone was stunned.
The 4th Observation Station was damaged. A deep gully cut through the entrance — it had obviously been sliced open by something.
"The observation station was destroyed! Who did this?!" Garke couldn't believe it. It had been perfectly fine when they came here two months ago — how could it be broken?
The fourth observation station was extremely important — it was what monitored the situation in the lower levels of Area Zero. After all, the appearance of Paradox Pokémon had always been linked to the lower levels' activities.
"Garke, don't panic — go check it out first," Professor Sada calmly issued orders.
Everyone approached the fourth observation station. After confirming there was no danger, Professor Sada tried to open the observation station door with the remote control, but the internal sensing system seemed broken — the remote control didn't respond.
"Porygon2, go in and see what's happening inside," Garke said.