The first thing Dr.
Elena Marquez did after walking through the portal was check whether the air would kill her.
The second was complain about the mud.
“I just bought these boots.”
The man behind her laughed.
“You wore new boots into an unexplored Secret Realm?”
“I was told it was grassland.”
“You were lied to.”
Elena looked down.
Black mud had already swallowed the bottom third of her boots.
Wonderful.
Around her, the Federation survey camp continued forming.
Professional Trainers moved through the temporary perimeter.
Engineers carried equipment cases through the portal.
Portable lights illuminated the staging area.
A Chansey stood beside the medical station while two technicians checked atmospheric monitors.
Farther ahead, a Machamp was helping move a portable generator.
This was Day Three.
Which meant they had progressed beyond: Does the portal work?
and: Can humans survive inside?
Now came the complicated part.
Determining exactly what the Federation had found.
Elena adjusted the identification card hanging from her vest.
FEDERATION SECRET REALM ADMINISTRATION ENVIRONMENTAL SURVEY DIVISION
Thirty-eight years old.
Doctorate in Pokémon Ecology.
Twelve years working for the Federation.
And somehow she still ended up standing ankle-deep in mud.
“Doctor.”
Elena turned.
A young technician held out a tablet.
“Preliminary energy results.”
She took it.
The numbers immediately improved her mood.
“Again?”
“Three separate readings.”
“Calibration?”
“Confirmed.”
Elena studied the graph.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
“Water alignment?”
The technician nodded.
“Strong.”
“Secondary?”
“Possibly Grass, but we’re not confident.”
Elena looked toward the landscape.
Beyond their secured camp, a vast wetland stretched toward the horizon.
Waterways cut between enormous reeds.
Trees grew from shallow pools.
Something large moved beneath the distant surface.
One of the perimeter Trainers immediately noticed.
His Poliwrath shifted with him.
Nobody panicked.
That was why professional Trainers were here.
“Get another set fifty meters east.”
“Yes, Doctor.”
“And don’t cross Marker Twelve.”
The technician hesitated.
“That’s not far.”
“It’s far enough until Security clears it.”
He nodded and left.
Elena returned to the tablet.
Three days ago, this entire Realm had been unknown.
Now it had a temporary designation.
SR-26-1147
Terrible name.
Eventually somebody in an office would give it something more memorable.
If the Realm remained Federation-controlled, perhaps.
That wasn’t Elena’s department.
Discovery rights were complicated.
Land ownership.
Portal location.
Private discovery.
Federal jurisdiction.
Environmental regulations.
Resource rights.
Security classification.
The lawyers could fight over those things.
Elena measured mud.
“Dr.
Marquez.”
This time the voice belonged to Captain David Shaw.
Security.
Forty-five.
Career Trainer.
Exactly the kind of man Elena wanted around when exploring somewhere that contained Pokémon capable of eating researchers.
“What?”
“We found a nest.”
“What kind?”
“Wooper.”
Elena relaxed.
“That’s what required Captain Shaw?”
“Twenty-three Wooper.”
“That’s adorable.”
“And one Quagsire.”
“Still adorable.”
“Advanced Grade.”
Less adorable.
Elena lowered the tablet.
“Territorial?”
“Not yet.”
“Then don’t disturb them.”
“We’re rerouting Marker Fifteen.”
“Good.”
Captain Shaw looked toward the wetlands.
“More Pokémon farther north.”
“Species?”
“Lotad.
Poliwag.
Two Corphish.
Something my scout couldn’t identify.”
“Grade?”
“Unknown.”
“Meaning?”
“My Noctowl refused to approach.”
Elena looked at him.
That mattered.
Shaw’s Noctowl was Elite Grade.
“Then we’re not going north.”
“Already told the team.”
Elena smiled.
That was another reason she liked working with him.
He didn’t need a scientist to explain basic survival.
“Any casualties?”
“No.”
“Injuries?”
“One technician slipped in the mud.”
Elena looked at her boots.
“Remove the mud from the Realm.”
“I’ll inform administration.”
“Thank you.”
He almost smiled.
By afternoon, the classification equipment was running properly.
Elena stood beside a machine the size of a refrigerator.
Several sensor arrays extended from it.
Not magical.
Not mysterious.
Just extremely expensive.
The environmental spectrometer measured several forms of ambient energy associated with Pokémon habitats.
Another device sampled atmospheric particles.
Others monitored soil composition, water chemistry, radiation, temperature, pressure and dozens of variables.
No single machine declared:
WATER-TYPE SECRET REALM.
That was how children imagined it worked.
Reality took data.
Lots of it.
Multiple locations.
Repeated measurements.
Comparison against known environments.
Then experts argued.
Elena loved it.
“Southern station?”
“Water affinity, eighty-one percent confidence.”
“Western?”
“Seventy-six.”
“Eastern?”
“Seventy-nine.”
“Northern?”
The technician hesitated.
“Not established.”
“Because?”
“Advanced Quagsire.”
Elena nodded.
“Excellent scientific reason.”
She looked over the reports.
Water-aligned.
Almost certainly.
Grass influence in several areas.
Potentially mixed ecosystems farther inside.
And they’d surveyed less than one percent of the estimated accessible region.
Maybe much less.
Nobody knew how large SR-26-1147 actually was.
That could take years.
The administrator standing beside her whistled.
“Water Realm.”
“Probably.”
“Valuable?”
Elena looked at him.
“You’re administration.
You tell me.”
He smiled.
“Resources?”
“We found wild medicinal plants, freshwater Pokémon populations, several berry varieties and mineral deposits.”
“Mega Stones?”
Elena laughed.
“It’s Day Three.”
“I’m asking.”
“We haven’t found any.”
“Key Stones?”
“No.”
“Rare species?”
“Define rare.”
He sighed.
“You scientists make everything difficult.”
“That’s why you employ us.”
Secret Realms were valuable even without spectacular discoveries.
Some supplied berries.
Some medicinal plants.
Some rare minerals.
Others supported breeding programs or protected Pokémon populations.
Large, ancient Realms could become strategic assets.
And every so often—
Someone found something extraordinary.
Mega Stones.
Key Stones.
Exceptionally rare Pokémon colonies.
Resources unavailable anywhere else.
Entire ecosystems untouched by modern civilization.
Those were the discoveries that made corporations fight, governments intervene and Trainers become famous.
Elena looked across the wetlands.
Maybe SR-26-1147 would become one of those.
Maybe it would simply be useful.
Both mattered.
A warning alarm sounded.
Everyone moved immediately.
Not panic.
Procedure.
“Perimeter breach!”
Captain Shaw’s voice carried across camp.
Elena stepped behind the marked safety line.
Professional Trainers released Pokémon.
Poliwrath.
Arcanine.
Scizor.
A large shape burst from the reeds.
Quagsire.
Not the Advanced one.
Elena knew immediately from Shaw’s reaction.
This one was larger.
Scarred.
Angry.
“Grade?”
A technician stared at his portable monitor.
“Elite!”
There it was.
The entire camp changed.
Researchers moved back.
Security moved forward.
Captain Shaw didn’t order an attack.
“Hold!”
Quagsire stopped thirty meters from the perimeter.
Its eyes moved across the camp.
Humans.
Machines.
Pokémon.
Noise.
They were invading its territory.
Elena understood that.
Understanding didn’t make it safe.
“Poliwrath forward.”
Shaw’s partner moved.
Elite against Elite.
Neither attacked.
Quagsire vocalized.
Poliwrath answered.
Several tense seconds passed.
Then Quagsire stepped back.
One step.
Another.
Then turned.
It disappeared into the reeds.
Nobody celebrated.
Shaw waited.
“Extend exclusion zone two hundred meters.”
One technician protested.
“That removes Survey Station North.”
“Correct.”
“But the equipment—”
“Can be replaced.”
Shaw looked toward the reeds.
“You can’t.”
Nobody argued after that.
Elena watched workers begin moving markers.
That was Secret Realm exploration.
Not treasure hunting.
Not walking into a forest and collecting everything that looked valuable.
It was logistics.
Security.
Science.
Money.
Risk.
And occasionally discovering that an Elite Quagsire disagreed with your map.
That evening, Elena stood outside the portal.
The Federation had established a fenced perimeter on the normal-world side.
Security cameras.
Access logs.
Medical tent.
Survey vehicles.
Government personnel.
Everyone entering the Realm was recorded.
Every sample leaving was cataloged.
Wild Pokémon captures required documentation.
Resource extraction required authorization.
Researchers signed more forms than they collected samples.
Elena looked back at the glowing portal.
This was how discovering a Secret Realm was supposed to work.
Controlled.
Documented.
Regulated.
Safe.
Or as safe as possible.
“Doctor?”
Captain Shaw stood nearby.
“Yes?”
“What do you think?”
She looked toward the portal.
“Water-aligned.”
“That part I understood.”
“I think it’s large.”
“How large?”
“No idea.”
“Helpful.”
She smiled.
“And I think we’re going to be here for years.”
Shaw groaned.
“Great.”
Elena looked at his muddy boots.
“You’ll need new shoes.”
“I didn’t wear new ones.”
“Smart.”
“Experience.”
They walked toward the temporary command building.
Neither of them knew that hundreds of kilometers away, beneath an ordinary berry orchard outside Grayhaven, another portal existed.
No security fence surrounded it.
No Federation database contained its coordinates.
No researchers had classified it.
No access logs existed.
And the only people who knew it existed were a sixty-two-year-old orchard owner and his twelve-year-old grandson.
Ethan Crowe
“Again!”
Houndour fired.
Ember crossed the training field.
Missed.
Ethan stared.
Houndour looked at the target.
Then at Ethan.
“How?”
“Hound.”
“It wasn’t moving.”
“Hound.”
“Don’t blame the target.”
Arthur was sitting nearby.
“Maybe the target moved.”
Ethan looked at him.
“You’re supposed to help.”
“I am.”
“How?”
“Emotional support.”
“Terrible emotional support.”
Arthur smiled.
They were training at Bennett Orchards.
Private property.
Houndour could remain outside his Poké Ball.
Three circular targets stood against an old earthen embankment.
Ethan had copied part of the school accuracy assessment.
Houndour’s power wasn’t the problem.
Especially after weeks of Realm training.
His control wasn’t terrible either.
His accuracy—
“Again.”
Houndour inhaled.
“Don’t rush.”
Ethan watched.
“Middle.”
Ember.
Hit.
“Good!”
Houndour’s tail moved.
“Left.”
Fire.
Hit.
Ethan smiled.
“Right.”
Miss.
He closed his eyes.
“Why do you hate the right target?”
“Hound.”
Arthur laughed.
Ethan ignored him.
Five weeks.
Their first district meet was five weeks away.
Northgate Secondary.
Ethan had searched them after Reyes announced the opponent.
Last year’s district runner-up.
Experienced returning Trainers.
Good program.
Nothing terrifying.
Nothing easy.
And Ethan wasn’t guaranteed to participate.
That part bothered him most.
Before joining the team, he’d assumed the hard part was winning.
Now he had to earn the right to even stand on the field.
“Houndour.”
“Hound?”
“Again.”
Arthur stood.
“No.”
Ethan looked over.
“What?”
“Rest.”
“We’ve only done—”
“Enough.”
“Houndour feels fine.”
Houndour was breathing harder than normal.
Ethan noticed.
Arthur noticed Ethan noticing.
“Right.”
Ethan sighed.
“Water.”
Houndour happily abandoned training.
Traitor.
They sat beneath a tree while Houndour drank.
Arthur opened his notebook.
Not the Secret Realm map.
Another one.
Ethan looked.
“What’s that?”
“Orchard plans.”
Ethan leaned closer.
Rows.
Sections.
Irrigation lines.
Greenhouses.
The unused northern field.
He recognized it.
Arthur pointed.
“The area you were talking about.”
Ethan sat straighter.
“The Dark garden?”
“Ecological area.”
“Dark garden sounds better.”
“It sounds like a theme park.”
“Exactly.”
“No.”
Ethan smiled.
Arthur continued.
“I’ve been thinking.”
“About building it?”
“About whether it’s possible.”
That was basically yes.
Ethan leaned closer.
Arthur pointed toward an unused section.
“Start small.”
“How small?”
“Half an acre.”
Ethan stared.
“That’s tiny.”
“You’re twelve.”
“So?”
“You own one Houndour.”
Ethan looked toward Houndour.
“That’s rude.”
Arthur ignored him.
“We don’t even know whether Nightbloom will establish properly outside Realm soil.”
“Then bring Realm soil.”
“How much?”
Ethan paused.
An entire half-acre suddenly sounded like a lot of dirt.
Arthur nodded.
“Exactly.”
“So?”
“We experiment.”
Greenhouse first.
Different soil mixtures.
Different light levels.
Realm soil diluted with normal orchard soil.
Plant survival.
Growth rates.
Then maybe an outdoor test plot.
Ethan listened.
That actually sounded—
slow.
Which meant Grandpa loved it.
“But eventually?”
Arthur looked toward the northern field.
“Eventually, maybe.”
Ethan smiled.
Houndour finished drinking and approached.
Ethan scratched behind his ears.
“You’re getting a forest.”
Arthur sighed.
“It’s half an acre.”
“Forest.”
“Garden.”
“Forest.”
Arthur gave up.
Ethan’s phone vibrated.
Team group chat.
He checked.
MAYA CHEN: Everyone check updated Saturday schedule.
NOAH GREENE: 7 AM???
CHLOE MERCER: Learn to read.
It says 8.
NOAH GREENE: Still evil.
Lucas sent nothing.
Of course.
Ethan opened the schedule.
SATURDAY — 8:00 AM Team tactics / conditioning Singles evaluations afterward
His eyes stopped.
Singles evaluations.
Arthur noticed his face.
“What?”
“Evaluations.”
“For?”
“Starting spots.”
“Does it say that?”
“No.”
“So you’re guessing.”
“It’s obvious.”
Arthur smiled.
Ethan hated when Grandpa used Ethan’s own logic against him.
“But it matters.”
“Then prepare.”
“I am.”
Arthur looked at the targets.
“Apparently.”
Ethan frowned.
Right target.
Tomorrow.
Saturday morning, Grayhaven’s training complex looked different.
Not physically.
Ethan did.
He knew more now.
Maya wasn’t simply an older student.
She was a returning competitor.
Oliver Grant’s Wartortle wasn’t just another Pokémon.
It had competed in district events.
Hannah Brooks’s Flaaffy had experience Houndour didn’t.
Even among the new members, Lucas had years ahead of him.
Ethan looked around.
Twelve primary.
Four reserves.
All training.
All trying to earn something.
Reyes gathered them.
“Northgate.”
That silenced everyone.
She activated the large screen behind her.
School logo.
Previous results.
Returning roster information.
No secret scouting information.
Just public competition records.
“Five weeks.”
Reyes looked across them.
“That’s our first meet.”
Ethan smiled.
“Some of you will compete.”
His smile remained.
“Some won’t.”
Less.
“Today begins individual evaluation for likely roles.”
Ethan straightened.
Reyes continued.
“I’m not selecting a final lineup today.”
Good.
“But I am beginning to identify which Trainers can contribute in which formats.”
Singles.
Doubles.
Team events.
Different roles.
Different Pokémon.
Different strengths.
Ethan remembered Maya.
Be more useful than whoever currently has the spot.
Reyes started reading assignments.
“Maya Chen.
Oliver Grant.”
Expected.
“Hannah Brooks.”
Another veteran.
“Lucas Whitmore.”
Lucas nodded.
Of course.
Then—
“Chloe Mercer.”
Chloe smiled.
Ethan waited.
Reyes continued.
Another Grade 8.
Then—
“Ethan Crowe.”
His stomach tightened.
Yes.
Not a starting position.
Not even a promise.
An evaluation.
Still.
It was something.
Reyes looked directly at him.
“Crowe, your singles evaluation is against Chen.”
Ethan froze.
Maya turned.
She smiled.
“Oh.”
Ethan looked at Furret.
Normal Grade.
Returning competitor.
Experienced.
Then at Maya.
She was already grinning.
“You wanted to know how strong I was.”
Ethan remembered saying that.
Damn.
Lucas laughed.
Chloe did too.
Ethan looked down at Houndour’s Poké Ball.
Then smiled.
“Good.”
Reyes raised an eyebrow.
“Good?”
“Yeah.”
He looked at Maya.
“If I want a battle spot, I should fight someone who already has one.”
Maya’s smile widened.
“That’s not how selection works.”
“Still.”
“You’re going to regret saying that.”
“Probably.”
Reyes sighed.
“Save it for the field.”
Ethan touched Houndour’s ball.
Five weeks until Northgate.
A few weeks ago, he’d wanted to become the best professional Trainer in the world because it sounded amazing.
Stadiums.
Fame.
Money.
Winning.
Those things still sounded amazing.
But now his world had gotten larger.
First Houndour.
Then school.
Then the Dark Realm.
Then Lucas.
Then the team.
Returning Trainers.
Other schools.
And somewhere beyond all of that were professionals Ethan had never met, Gyms he’d never challenged, Type Kings he’d only seen on screens, Federation expeditions exploring places he didn’t know existed.
Ethan didn’t know any of that was happening at that exact moment.
He didn’t need to.
The world was already enormous without asking his permission.
For now, his world was one field.
One opponent.
One Houndour.
Maya walked toward the battle area.
Furret followed.
Ethan smiled.
“Let’s see how far behind we are.”
He reached for Houndour’s Poké Ball.