Porygon2's eyes projected two beams of light like searchlights as it approached the gap in the gate, scanning the interior of the observation station.
Professor Sada and the others observed the inside through Porygon2's feed. The internal operating systems had been completely destroyed. Not a single console in the entire station was intact.
Everyone was stunned. The observation stations in Area Zero had been built eighty-seven years ago. While wild Pokémon had damaged stations before, they usually only scratched the exterior and never breached the inside. This time, even the equipment within hadn't been spared.
After Porygon2 completed its sweep and confirmed no Pokémon were hiding inside, everyone carefully entered through the cracked doorway.
"Charizard, come out and help light the place up," Gary said. Seeing how pitch-black it was inside, he casually tossed a Poké Ball, releasing Charizard.
"Rooar…"
Charizard grumbled, clearly unhappy about being summoned just to act as a flashlight. Still, he held his head high, and the flame on his tail burned brightly, illuminating the dark room and ensuring no one would trip or run into anything.
With the lighting sorted, Professor Sada and Garke began inspecting the monitoring systems. Seeing the extent of the damage, Garke immediately pulled out a multi-tool and removed the casing from one of the consoles. He was looking for the system's memory card—if it was still intact, they could recover the footage recorded before the station went offline.
"Professor, the memory card's been sliced too. We'll need to take it back to the lab for repairs if we want to recover the data," Garke said.
Gary took a look. The memory card had been cleanly cut into three pieces. He wasn't sure if it could be salvaged, but given this era's technology, it was probably possible.
"Professor, are we heading back now?" Angus asked.
Professor Sada remained silent.
None of them were fools. It was one thing for the fourth observation station to be attacked, but it made no sense for something to breach the interior and specifically target the operating systems. The equipment inside ran on low-power standby mode. Without a remote override, the consoles shouldn't even have been active—yet they were deliberately destroyed. Worse, the exact machines storing the surveillance footage were the ones targeted. This didn't look like the work of a wild Pokémon. Everything about it felt deeply unnatural.
"With all of you here, we shouldn't be in any immediate danger. Even if we plan to leave, we still need to assess the damage so we can bring the right parts for repairs next time," Professor Sada said.
"How long will it take to finish the assessment?" Angus asked.
"Don't worry, I'll wrap it up quickly," Garke replied. He was handling the technical side, and equipment repair was his specialty.
While Professor Sada and Garke handled the interior assessment, Gary and the others kept watch outside. Interestingly, the station's exterior was barely damaged aside from the gate. The Pokémon responsible had acted with clear intent—it knew exactly where to strike, bypassing the outer walls to destroy only the entrance and the internal systems. Its objective had been unmistakable: cripple the observation station.
Gary didn't pry too deeply. Since so much was being kept from him anyway, there was no point in inserting himself into their investigation. Still, he couldn't help but wonder if the culprit would show itself. Judging by the damage, every strike was a clean cut. Whatever had done this possessed incredibly sharp blades or appendages.
An Ancient Paradox Pokémon wouldn't attack like this. That left only the Future Paradox. And among them, only one possessed such devastating cutting power: Iron Valiant.
Iron Valiant was a Pokémon made by a mad scientist, bearing a striking resemblance to both Gardevoir and Gallade. But unlike those two, it inherited none of their gentle nature. It was ruthless and aggressive, showing no hesitation in drawing its razor-sharp blades to slash down any opponent.
Moreover, Iron Valiant's base stat total was exceptionally high. While most other Paradox Pokémon sat at 570, Iron Valiant reached 590—matching the Ancient Paradox Roaring Moon.
They worked through the afternoon.
After Garke finished his inspection, he confirmed that only the monitoring consoles and the generator had been damaged. The healing machine was intact, but without power, it was useless. Garke then compiled a list of replacement parts. Although the outer casings were shattered, the core components could be repaired, and both the generator and monitoring system could be brought back online. Unfortunately, they didn't have the necessary materials on hand, so he could only log the requirements for now. They would need to return to base, gather the parts, and come back to complete the repairs.
"Professor, I've logged everything we'll need to bring next time. We should head back tomorrow," Garke said.
"Alright. We'll take turns keeping watch tonight," Professor Sada said.
With the station's power out and the area recently attacked, someone had to stay on guard.
The night watch duty naturally fell to Gary, Nick, and Angus. The three of them worked out a rotation: three hours each. Nick would take the first shift, Angus the second, and Gary the last. That way, everyone could still get a decent amount of sleep.
Nick also released his three Pokémon. Since the cave temperature dropped significantly at night, they relied on Fire-type Pokémon to keep warm. Gary left Charizard out as well. With four Fire-types providing heat, it was more than enough to keep the cold at bay.
Gary's shift was the final three hours, meaning he would wake up at 3 a.m. to take over. True to his age, he fell asleep the moment he lay down. With Eevee keeping watch beside him anyway, Gary slept soundly.
…
"Vee!"
He wasn't sure how long he had slept when Eevee's cry reached his ears. Gary woke instantly, opening his eyes to see Angus walking toward him.
Angus had come to wake him for the shift change. Seeing Gary already awake, he stopped and whispered, "Gary, it's three o'clock. Your turn."
"Yeah. Get some rest."
After taking over, Gary brought Eevee to the doorway to keep watch for the night.
Even though they were deep inside a cave, the rock walls of the lower level were embedded with dazzling gems and crystals, bathing the area in a soft, constant glow. There was no real day or night down here—wild Pokémon relied on temperature shifts to know when to rest.
Gary peered through the crack in the iron door, staring blankly at the glowing crystals outside, hoping the three hours would pass quickly.
As time drifted by, about an hour into his shift, Eevee—who had been keeping watch alongside him—gradually dozed off and curled up on Gary's lap.
Looking down at Eevee, Gary could only smile helplessly and continue his watch alone.
"Vee…"