Regarding this matter, Aoki didn't know anything about it.
It was only after he had advanced for half an hour that the cave remained unchanged, and he gradually discovered something strange.
It seemed like... this cave had no end?
Aoki frowned unconsciously.
He reached out and touched the wall.
The sensation was real—he could clearly feel the fine dust on the cave wall and the cold, sunless texture against his fingers.
"Am I thinking too much?" Aoki comforted himself.
Since he had walked so far inside without encountering any wild Pokémon, it was possible that there really were none in this cave.
Aoki turned back with his Pokémon, a trace of uneasiness settling in his heart.
But as he walked, his expression darkened.
The path back was not the same as the one he had come from.
How could he be sure?
Aoki noticed that there were no footprints left behind by him or his Pokémon.
Not a single trace remained, as if this were a newly discovered cave.
At that moment, the last bit of hope in Aoki's heart vanished—he had indeed entered a strange place.
A cave that seemed to loop endlessly.
Forcing down his growing frustration, Aoki knew he had to stay calm. If this situation was caused by a Pokémon, the best solution was to use his own Pokémon.
He summoned Slowking.
"Slowking, can you try to sense the psychic coordinates you left earlier?" Aoki asked.
Before leaving the League Highway earlier that day, Aoki had instructed Slowking to leave psychic markers along the way to ensure a smoother journey.
Slowking closed its eyes and concentrated.
But soon, it opened them again, looking puzzled.
Seeing Slowking's expression, Aoki's heart sank.
After a moment, Slowking communicated through Telepathy.
It could vaguely sense the psychic markers, but the distance was too great—it couldn't teleport there.
Aoki was momentarily stunned. If Slowking could still faintly detect the markers, that meant they were still in the Sinnoh region, just trapped in some kind of hidden space far from their original location.
A mysterious distortion...
Many possibilities raced through Aoki's mind.
Perhaps he had accidentally wandered into an ancient ruin, where some unknown force was interfering with Slowking's psychic senses.
Or maybe he had stumbled into a trap set by a Pokémon—one that was either deliberately targeting him or simply reacting to his presence.
Both were plausible.
"Slowking, use your psychic powers to scan the cave. See if you can detect anything unusual," Aoki instructed.
"Yah dong!" Slowking nodded. Its psychic energy surged outward in rippling waves, spreading through the cave like an invisible pulse.
As Slowking continued its scan, Aoki kept walking, determined to find out what Pokémon was behind this.
The fact that he hadn't been attacked outright suggested this wasn't necessarily an ambush—just an unfortunate accident.
His luck really was something else.
Suppressing another wave of irritation, Aoki walked for another half-hour before his patience finally snapped.
All he wanted was a place to rest for the night—was that too much to ask?!
"Slowking, stop scanning. I'm done playing along. If this cave won't let me leave, then I'll make my own exit."
Aoki halted and gave the order.
"Use Psychic to blast through the wall. Let's see if that forces this place to let us out."
Slowking nodded, its psychic energy condensing into a sharp blade before slashing into the cave wall.
With each strike, rocks shattered and debris flew, the sound of cracking stone echoing through the tunnel.
But just as quickly, the damaged sections of the wall began repairing themselves, the broken fragments vanishing as if they had never existed.
Fortunately, Slowking's power outpaced the cave's regeneration. After relentless attacks, a small opening finally appeared—revealing not another tunnel, but a swirling, indistinct darkness beyond.
Aoki peered through the gap, watching the chaotic void outside.
Then, suddenly, a shadow flitted past the opening.
Aoki stiffened.
An Unown.
It might not have been the only one—the gap was small, and the figure had moved too quickly to be certain—but there was no mistaking that fleeting shape.
Now he understood. The cave's rapid regeneration wasn't natural—it was the work of Unown outside, frantically repairing the damage.
With the mystery solved, Aoki's frustration gave way to fascination.
Unown were among the most enigmatic Pokémon in the world.
It was said that Unown had 28 different forms—26 resembling letters of the alphabet, plus two more shaped like a question mark and an exclamation point.
And when two or more Unown gathered, they could wield a unique power—the power of hidden dimensions.
They could create pocket realities, spaces entirely under their control. The more Unown there were, the larger and more stable these dimensions became.
Aoki's interest sharpened.
He tossed three more Poké Balls, releasing Honchkrow, Weavile, and Drapion.
"Help Slowking widen that hole," he ordered.
Though Unown were rare, the League had records of them. Few Trainers had ever encountered one, let alone multiple.
They were Psychic-types, and his Dark-type Pokémon—Honchkrow, Weavile, and Drapion—could resist their powers. Only Slowking's Psychic abilities had been able to damage the cave wall in the first place.
Now, with their combined strength, they would break through completely—and reveal the Unown hiding outside.