Chapter 72 – Stone Titan

  “That’s… awful.”

  “Indeed, a most unfortunate situation.”

  “We have to save that Pokémon!!”

  The reactions upon hearing that a Pokémon who had been helping humans got imprisoned for a span of most likely over a thousand years garnered much sympathy from every member of our group. Even our Pokémon partners became unsettled upon hearing that such a kind Pokémon had been sealed on nothing more than the baseless fears of a dimwitted backward populace. Victini took it the hardest, her invisibility showing flaws as her ears flared up sparks and embers shooting out haphazardly.

  ‘Calm down Tini! Your ears are firing up!’

  “All this time alone trapped in darkness…!”

  ‘We’ll get Regirock out one way or another, I promise!’

  Victini managed to calm herself down after hearing my heartfelt promise. No longer spontaneously forming sparks, instead crawling under the backside of my clothes to share body heat and comfort.

  “Let’s not get things twisted. I am thinking all of us want to save that Pokémon, am I correct?”

  Both Roxanne and Dusty gave me a resolute nod while our teams did much the same. The concept of camping close to a suffering Pokémon without doing anything to help never didn’t even cross their minds.

  “Okay first, this rock formation is probably the seal that keeps the Pokémon imprisoned. That it has been standing here without being destroyed or damaged for millennia probably means it has some form of mystical protection.”

  Both Dusty and Roxanne gave me looks of skepticism, disbelieving my claims that there were some sort of supernatural shenanigans at work here. Roxanne was the first to sound out her disbelief of what a layman would term as magic.

  “Egon… you believe in mysticism? That poor Pokémon must just have been entombed deep enough so that it wouldn’t have the strength to break out on its own.”

  Not wanting to argue the point, I pointed out that there was a quick and easy way to confirm my theory.

  “How about we test it? If you can get one of your partners to even nick the main spire it will prove you are right.”

  It was at this moment that Dusty stepped in as the voice of reason. The man had been seemingly content to watch his juniors debate on how to tackle this problem but we seemed to have crossed a dangerous line of thinking.

  “Even if your projections on the nature of this rock formation appear to be reasonable young scholar, I will have to remind you that this place is considered a national treasure in the eyes of the Hoenn league association. Damaging it would cause us to run afoul of the law, for the two of you considering your age this could result in the revocation of your trainer’s licenses. As for myself considering my status as a foreign expat this would most likely cause my person to end up in jail or banned from ever re-entering the region.”

  Dusty’s common sense put a halt to my scheming. The old Paleontologist turned out to be very much “straight laced” when it came to matters of the law. If it was just me on my own I would have conducted all manner of stress testing on the adjacent wall in the hopes of uncovering the secret entrance, now I had to find another way of doing so.

  “Egon…”

  ‘I know, this won’t stop us.’

  “So, are you saying that if we gained permission from someone with a sufficient amount of authority that we could go ahead with our plan?”

  “Why of course! There’s always a proper course of action for procedures like this one. Many a time my own ventures were held up from having to follow protocol. I even have the right forms to apply for digging in a cultural site like this one. The moment I get home I will deliver them with the right annotations at the nearest post office. In six months’ time to a year, we’ll gain permission to proceed I can guarantee it!”

  Even Roxanne paled at the news of letting that poor Pokémon suffer for another six months to a year. That’s when I came up with my own solution for this headache inducing problem.

  “Say Dusty, if we could somehow get permission from someone high up in the league, let’s say… an elite four member would that be sufficient to start delving right away?”

  “Hmm a cultural site like this one usually falls under the rangers purview. Although the ranger corps are not directly subordinate to the elite four they are beholden to the champion. If the elite four in question assures us that he will take responsibility for any legal repercussions that might follow I could see us starting this excavation right away.”

  ‘I really wanted to avoid having to rely on Mr. Moore even more but if it’s for the sake of a suffering Pokémon…’

  “My sponsor Mr. Moore is a member of the elite four, I’ll give him a call and see what he can do about it.”

  “A splendid suggestion young man!”

  Rolling up my right sleeve I unveiled my Xtransceiver and scrolled down my contact list until I reached the gym’s home number before tapping on the green symbol on the screen. The beeping sounds emanating from my wrist phone confirmed that the call was making it through despite the harsh weather conditions. After a good long while someone finally picked up the phone but it wasn’t the person I was hoping to hear from.

  “Who is this?”

  “Flannery it’s me Egon, can you put your grandfather on the line?”

  Roxanne hearing Flannery’s voice decided to join in on the call even though I was calling for serious business.

  “Flanny! I am here too. It's so good to hear from you!”

  “Roxy!! How have you been? And why are you with Egon!? The last time we spoke you were all the way up in Sootopolis city.”

  “Egon and I met up at the Sootopolis Pokémon center, and he’s brought me along on an expedition!”

  “Without me?! Egon!!!”

  “Please, can we cycle back to my first request?! We found something important, and we need to speak to Mr. Moore.”

  “Is he speaking truthfully Roxy?”

  “Yes, we do indeed require the assistance of your grandfather.”

  “Fine, just hold on a minute he’s taking a soak in the gym’s hot springs.”

  I could hear the sounds of a door opening and hurried footsteps combined with Flannery shouting for her grandfather’s attention. Mr. Moore’s retort about being interrupted during his private bath time was a measured one filled with patience and understanding.

  “Just hand me the phone sweetheart.”

  “My new bestie is on the other side and the phone is on speaker. So don’t say embarrassing things about me, okay?”

  Roxanne’s eyes began twinkling and an amused smile crept its way up onto her face. Hearing Flannery cajoling her grandfather diminished the despondency we felt after finding out about the Pokémon being trapped beneath our feet.

  “Egon? What seems to be so important that you had to call me at this time of day?”

  “Sir, we are currently standing near the rock formation located inside the desert of route 111. With the assistance of a resourceful Sandslash we managed to find evidence proving the existence of an ancient Pokémon trapped within. Seeing as this collection of rocks is considered a cultural heritage site, I would like to ask for your permission to have our partners blow up an entryway so we can go save the Pokémon that has been trapped here for millennia.”

  At the other end of line Flannery was kicking up a fuss but Mr. Moore kept quiet for a good while indicating that he was ruminating on our problem. Eventually he decided to give us his tentative answer.

  “This evidence… what is it?”

  At this point Dusty decided to step into our conversation.

  “Greetings Elite Moore, my name is Tybald Darington Fitzgerald Paleontologist at Celadon University. With the help of my lifelong partner, we managed to uncover this harrowing secret. The evidence in question is an engraved tablet written in a script this remarkable young man was able to translate for us. With your blessing we can start this excavation right away. I have all the required tools with me and this momentous occasion will be recorded for the Hoenn league’s own professionals to peruse at their leisure. If it is of any comfort, all involved parties are willing to sign a non-disclosure agreement.”

  Dusty continued to enlighten Mr. Moore on all the minute details of our discovery even quoting my translation of the tablet’s engravings word for word to him. At the end of it all I could hear the sound of doors opening and closing from the other end of the line. No doubt indicating that Mr. Moore has taken a personal interest in the matter.

  “Egon, the route 111 desert is only two hours removed from Lavaridge on Rapidashback. Refrain from attempting anything before my arrival, we don’t know if this Pokémon is dangerous or not.”

  Again, we could hear Flannery listening in and reacting to our news in the background.

  “Grandpa, can I come too?”

  “No, but I am leaving you the very important task of looking after the gym while I am gone.”

  “No fair! I want to hang out with my new bestie!”

  Roxanne, ever quick to indulge Flannery, pitched in a well-timed proposal swiftly calming down the irate teenager.

  “I could come visit the gym afterwards? Egon’s little helper could ferry us over, right?”

  ‘I’ve heard that this is what happens to trainers who partner up with teleporters. By the same time next year, we’ll be getting calls non-stop requesting your “services”.’

  “The first time’s free, the second time they have to pay!”

  Flannery went quiet on the other end of the call for but a moment.

  “No take backsies!”

  Leaving us only with a single reply before hurried footsteps were heard from the other end of the line. No doubt the girl was in a rush to clean up her room before Roxanne’s arrival.

  Two hours later*

  We spent the remaining time waiting for Mr. Moore to arrive, most of us had settled down while watching the sun dipping under the horizon. The only one who couldn’t sit still was Victini zipping around in my tent like a beartic trapped in a zoo. Roxanne chose to spend her time on her Pokégear messaging back and forth with an excitable Flannery while Dusty kept busy by grooming Sandslash popping out the Pokémon’s quills off its back.

  Eventually the monotony got broken up by the sound of swift thuds impacting the sand. The culprits got revealed as Mr. Moore rode up to us on his prized Arcanine. The elite was wearing clothing appropriate for sand excursions and gave us a good look over before stepping down off his mount and walking up to us. Roxanne was the first to get in good with the elite four member for any of us had the chance to.

  Stolen story; please report.

  “It’s an honor meeting you sir! Flannery has shared many stories about her beloved grandfather with me.”

  “My, what a polite friend my granddaughter has made for herself! It’s a relief getting to meet the person my darling Flannery has been bragging about. If you do end up visiting us I’ll have the gym’s staff bring out the premium tea leaves.”

  ‘Premium!? I only get the off-brand generic stuff! I knew it! This damned old man gives preferable treatment to the opposite gender.’

  Next up was Dusty who had been waiting for his chance to leave a favorable impression on the elite four member. They exchanged some meaningless pleasantries and afterwards the seasoned Paleontologist showed off the engraved tablet in question. Which Mr. Moore gave a passing glance to but didn’t seem all too interested in, before divesting his attention to me, the only person who wasn’t waiting for him hand on feet.

  “Boy, I want to make it clear that there are other people who you can call on for these kinds of situations. A journey should be something one completes on his own without assistance from others.”

  ‘This old coot! Providing his daughter with a top breed Torchic, a Laramie ranch Ponyta and then he berates me for not making my own way.’

  “So, you want to start digging a hole here? Fine, go ahead, we'll keep watch.”

  “Iron Head!”

  Moore’s tacit permission was all Roxanne needed to hear to have her Aggron bash his head in against the stone wall. This wasn’t by any means a form of cruelty since it was widely known that aggron spend most of their time breaking bedrock with their steel horns in search for food and by the look of Roxanne’s Pokémon this one had managed to develop the ability Rock Head. Aggron’s horns glowed a steely sheen before colliding with the hidden entryway.

  Unlike how the girl expected this would go, the wall shimmered opalescent for just the briefest amount of time. Aggron who had been unprepared for any sort of backlash veered backwards as the momentum behind the attack got repulsed by an identical amount of force.

  “Gronnn!”

  “Aggron are you alright?!”

  The Pokémon seemed to be more surprised than actually hurt the backlash catching it on the backfoot making the iron armor Pokémon wobble for just a few seconds. Both Dusty and Roxanne were caught off guard by the event but I was suspecting this sort of thing to happen strangely enough Mr. Moore wasn’t surprised either.

  “As I thought, this structure is protected by spiritual energy.”

  “Aura?”

  “How would you know about aura boy?”

  “Well, I met this old hermit back in Unova who gave me a crash course on the subject.”

  “There is a reason why we don’t share details on the subject with youngsters like yourself. It creates a divide between the haves and the have nots… Whatever, there are still limitations on the amount of force structures like these can handle without falling apart. Arcanine Overheat!”

  “Awooo!”

  Overheat was the Lavaridge gym’s signature move developed by Mr. Moore during his days as a traveling trainer. Overwhelming firepower but in exchange the Pokémon using the move suffers a drastic decrease in its ability to build up type energy for a short period of time.

  I’ve seen instances of Overheat being able to melt rock. The gym’s staff used the move to remove excess slag when cleaning up the volcano battlefield. This move coming off Mr. Moore prize fighter Arcanine was sure to leave a lasting impact no matter what.

  The invisible barrier reactivated again, and the wall held true but it couldn’t escape the mechanical damage inflicted by a mass that is forced to expand after being exposed to such high temperatures. Several cracks formed on the wall’s surface raising our hopes that it would be possible to break into the ruins eventually.

  “That was amazing Mr. Moore! Just a few more of those and we’ll be able to break inside!”

  Before we had a chance to pat ourselves on the back the wall did something most curious. The cracks started refilling themselves with the surrounding material and in just a few moments all the structural damage from Arcanine’s move was gone leaving behind a pristine finish.

  “Oh, no…!”

  “No way!”

  “I guess this is it. My strongest partner’s Overheat is only a little bit stronger than Arcanine’s. If the wall can repair itself then there’s no point.”

  ‘We can try another method, but it involves you sharing your power.’

  “I’ll do it!”

  Victini could sense my intentions, and the little rabbit didn’t at all mind sharing her power if it was for a good cause.

  “Sir, I asked my other partner, and she agreed to lend us her power but…”

  I spared Dusty a quick glance to illustrate my need for anonymity. Mr. Moore was quick to notice what I was implying and walked up to the mild mannered Paleontologist before addressing him man to man.

  “My sponsee would like to try something different but it requires him to reveal a secret battle technique. Would you be so kind as to go for a stroll while he tries his method?”

  “Of course! I’ll be standing behind that rock over there! Please call me when it’s appropriate to look again.”

  “Slash!”

  With that Dusty went off for a walk together with his partner Pokémon leaving us alone with each other. Victini reappeared having kept watch over our activities from the safety of my tent and the first thing she did was give Mr. Moore her version of a hearty hello.

  “Vi Vi!” “Start treating Egon better! He works hard!”

  “My apologies but with the current strength of his partners Egon should have collected all eight badges already. Just coddling him will not help him in the long run.”

  ‘It’s okay! The man pays for our food. If everything goes well, we can finance our own way forward at the end of this circuit.’

  “Vi….” “Muuuu…”

  “Glove, I'll need your help.”

  “Dar?”

  “The one move I didn’t want you using? We’ll need it if we want to break through the barrier. Try your best to avoid switching modes. We need you at your physical peak.”

  “Nitan!”

  Glove, who was sitting by the fire pit with the rest of my team, stood up and placed himself directly in front of the main spire. I could tell Roxanne and Mr. Moore were growing curious as to the exact specifics of my plan and we weren’t planning on disappointing them.

  “Belly Drum!”

  Glove repeatedly slammed his stomach area with both hands creating vibrations with every hit. The move belly drum was considered a risky gambit maximizing your Pokémon’s attack power and in exchange cutting its stamina in half. The move rarely saw any use in the big leagues since it was considered an all or nothing move and could impact your Pokémon’s health when used repeatedly. As Glove maximized his muscle strength Victini clamped down on his back exuding a golden glow. Victini’s light proceeded to envelop the entirety of my Darmanitan’s body.

  ‘Now’s the time!’

  “Flare Blitz!”

  Glove cloaked himself in fire, his flames burning so hot that instead of their normal coloring they burned bright blue. Like a rocket he launched himself into the wall the resulting explosion temporarily deafening me while at the same time creating tremors in the entire area. The once proud spires encircling the main entryway to the ruins started crumbling one by one as if the spell that had been holding them intact for millennia had just now been rendered useless. Once the resulting cloud of dust and molten slag dissipated, we were greeted by the sight of an open doorway which had previously been hidden coupled with my passed-out Pokémon. For a quick second I was worried that I might have pushed him too far, running up to him I grabbed his left wrist to check for a pulse feeling relieved after discovering that he’d just been knocked out.

  ‘The recoil must have been too great.’

  “Glove return! You did well, we’ll get you to a Pokémon center straight after freeing that poor Pokémon.”

  “Wow Egon! I didn’t know Pokémon moves could become that powerful!”

  “They don’t. Even counting for the fact that Darmanitan used Belly Drum. Did you always know that Victini harbored that kind of power?”

  “Yes, but I’ve never asked her to use it until now. If I ever decided to rely on that power to win my battles my progression as a trainer would halt.”

  “At least you have your priorities straight. Return Arcanine!”

  A red beam enveloped Mr. Moore’s Arcanine, withdrawing the Pokémon back into its ball. Given the fact that the entry way into the ruins was now open there was no longer a need for Dusty to wait twiddling his thumbs while standing behind one the now defunct spires. Roxanne made like a good girl and walked off to go fetch the now no doubt bamboozled university Professor.

  Inside the ruins*

  After all of us had gathered up our wits we proceeded to enter the newly opened ruins. All of my Pokémon except for Litwick and Victini were back in their balls. I figured that having a sentient candle accompanying us while delving into the pitch-black darkness of the sealed chambers was an appropriate choice. Apparently, Mr. Moore thought much the same seeing as his personal Magmar was out and about illuminating our path forward even better than Orin could.

  “Sir, have you done this sort of thing before?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Exploring old and forgotten ruins like this one.”

  “Once, back when I first started out as a trainer. The Ruins of Alph were classified as a no travel zone because trainers who visited that place often didn’t come back. Being the na?ve teenager that I was, that travel restriction felt more like a hurdle to overcome rather than a warning of mortal danger.”

  ‘That place is an Unown hotspot. I wouldn’t dare go in there even if they paid me.’

  As we walked along the down spiraling corridor we came upon the very first chamber. A square shaped room with a familiar looking script engraved upon the opposing wall. That wasn’t all we found though, the room was littered with ancient objects, some completely worn down by the passage of time, others looking expressly more salvageable due to being made from hardier materials. Stone tools, ceramic jars, bone ornaments and the like.

  “How wonderous!! We’ll for sure make it to the front page of the Rustboro Gazette if we publish these findings. Just the historical value of these items alone…!”

  Before Dusty had the chance to observe these ancient artifacts more closely a stern warning was given out by Mr. Moore.

  “Don’t touch anything. There’s no telling if that lone Pokémon wouldn’t grow more aggressive if it noticed one of us had looted this place for valuable objects.”

  ‘Is there some sort of finder’s fee for uncovering historically significant artifacts? We could really use the money.’

  “Focus! We have to keep moving forward!”

  We neared the back end of the room and from this distance the writing on the wall became much more legible as I had suspected earlier this chamber also held instructions written in braille. I moved my hand up to touch the wall’s hard exterior letting my fingers slip across the engraved text.

  Right, right, down, down, then use your Strength.

  “What does it say Egon?”

  “To get past this section of the ruins one needs to use a Pokémon move in a specific part of this chamber. Which of your partners is most proficient in the use of the move Strength?”

  “Maaar!”

  “Magmar here can do it. Just point where he needs to be.”

  With my front half facing the exact midsection of the wall I moved two steps to the right and two steps backwards. The wall writing wasn’t clear on the exact distance between each vector of movement, but I presumed it to be human steps. Which probably meant that during ancient times aura usage was much more widespread and a good portion of the human population were capable of channeling type energy to perform Pokémon moves. Ancient Human civilization and wild Pokémon treated each other more as rivals for acquiring the then scarce resources of the world. It was a widely known fact that Humans and Pokémon only really started forming individual bonds in the more modern age.

  “Exactly where I am standing right now.”

  Magmar walked up to the spot where I was standing whereas I quickly moved out of the way to avoid getting burned by accidentally brushing against the Spitfire Pokémon. Among the gym’s staff it was well known that a well-trained magmar could leave some serious burn marks just by brushing against you. Whenever someone did get burned it was never intentional and I was determined not to add my name to the accidental victim list.

  “Magmar Strength!”

  Strength was usually to be used when a Pokémon needed to move a heavy object the normal type energies enhancing their muscular load but that didn’t prevent them from using the move as is. The moment Magmar successfully performed the move was when the scripture embedded on the walls started glowing, melting away together with the entire end section of the wall to reveal another darkened chamber in the back.

  “Good job Egon, you make up for your lack of major victories with being able to read a dead language.”

  Our party moved forward into the second chamber Magmar’s taillight doing a wonderful job of lighting up the second room. This second chamber was absolutely massive in comparison to the first one but unlike the former one this one was comparatively empty. The entire chamber was filled with miniature spires that closely resembled the rock formation that was placed outside. In the middle of this miniature sealing formation stood a figure that was about as tall as a full-grown man. It’s entire being compromised of brown and orange rocks. Its face was decorated with seven dots closely forming into the shape of the capital letter H.

  All of us recognized the Pokémon as one of the same species of Pokémon that compromised Pyramid King Brandon’s star team.

  “Amazing!”

  “Well, I’ll be!”

  “Stupendous!”

  Roxanne wasted no time at all to pull out her Pokédex and scan the rock titan.

  Regirock the Rock Peak Pokémon,                            Regirock's body is composed entirely of rocks. Recently, a study made the startling discovery that the rocks were all unearthed from different locations. If parts of its body chip off in battle, Regirock repairs itself by adding new rocks. Milimeter-wave technology was used to study the internals of this Pokémon's rock body, but nothing was found—not even a brain or a heart.

  ‘To even have any entry at all… The Hoenn lab must have gotten permission from Brandon to study his Regirock. Their alarm bells must be whistling right about now, it wouldn’t surprise me if Roxanne gets a call from the lab to confirm her findings tomorrow morning.’

  Even Mr. Moore acted surprised at seeing such a rare Pokémon in person and Roxanne was absolutely star struck. Both Roxanne and Dusty couldn’t help themselves and immediately started taking pictures with their recording devices. Despite the upheaval that the duo was creating, Regirock itself did not move as if it had been powered down somehow.

  “Why doesn’t Regirock move?! Is it…?!”

  ‘Calm down, I am quite sure that having been stuck in this seal for so long led Regirock to shut off its mind in an effort to deal with the monotony. The only question remaining is how it will react to seeing other beings after being locked away for so long.’

  “Get a hold of yourselves! This Pokémon is undoubtedly powerful. I’ll let the three of you make the decisions since this is your discovery, but I reserve the right to veto any tomfoolery.”

  I could tell Mr. Moore was having the same thoughts as myself when he warned Professor Dusty and Roxanne to stay back until we all agreed what our plan moving forward should be.

  ‘What do you want to do Tini?’

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