After crossing the vast mining range—and digging up and collecting huge amounts of glittering ore and treasures—they came away loaded, raking it in.
Especially the few who loved picking up junk. They clustered together and let out a string of eerie, mischievous laughter.
Then, one of them suddenly had a lightbulb pop over its head!
Gimmighoul directed Walking Wake and Archaludon to dump every antique and "treasure" they'd excavated—everything in one go—right in front of Wo-Chien.
The little coin-carrying gremlin tipped its head back, staring at Wo-Chien as it read bamboo slips. The big snail's way of reading was subtle: the spiral-shaped wooden slips could be tugged forward from behind, and it used vine whips in place of arms to pick things up and read—extremely convenient.
"Cool~"
Oh my god, you're so tall!
But, Little Snail, please help us appraise the age of these treasures—and how much they're worth!
Wo-Chien glanced at the chaotic pile of ancient valuables, then looked at the three Pokémon.
"Wo-chien?"
In the Pokémon world, the line between "tomb robbing" and "ruins exploration" is pretty blurry, but that doesn't mean grave robbers don't exist here!
Where, exactly, did you three dig up this many ancient artifacts? Most of them look useless, but antiques sell for age, not utility.
Bring it closer. Flip it over. Looks real.
Where'd you get it?
Yep, one look and the "door" is wide open—old, unquestionably old!
And some of the stuff in there looks weirdly familiar.
Wait right there. I'm going to write a couple lines about you in the history books—"looted royal tombs"!
"Wo-chien~"
In the distant past, ancient Paldea wasn't a single nation. The Paldean Empire was merely the largest power among many, and plenty of scattered city-states and kingdoms refused to be governed. They traded with countries of the Far East and the West, and thus obtained many things that did not originate in this region.
After those nations fell, those treasures were buried along with them, swallowed by the earth.
"So that area is called a mining range, but it only started being developed in modern times. Which means, back in ancient times, it might've been part of some kingdom's territory."
They were discussing the mining range, but in reality, after a long stretch of travel, everyone had already reached Paldea's northeast.
North Province (Area Two).
Mountain ranges rose everywhere, wreathed in mist and cloud. There were sheer cliffs and narrow paths all over.
One section was a massive bamboo forest. Its waterfalls—Fury Falls—were acclaimed as one of the "Ten Sights of Paldea."
Another section was grassland and lakes enclosed by mountains.
Strange rocks shaped like dragon fangs and claws jutted through the peaks, seeming to howl higher and higher toward the sky. They felt alive—like a dragon's gaping maw, or like obsidian blades thrust upright.
In a lake beneath one of the sword-like mountains, you could pick up the TM for Swords Dance.
It was said that Paldea's dragon tamer clan lived in seclusion in the nearby mountains. Yet in the game, that clan had no real home base, and only during a certain academy storyline did people learn that Paldea had dragon tamers at all.
However, deep in North Province (Area Two), there were three dragon tamers known as the Dragon's Fangs, Dragon's Tail. Judging by the three towers they occupied, it could be inferred the clan most likely hid within North Province (Area Two).
There was also an expansive bamboo forest and a massive waterfall plunging straight down. If you possessed the appropriate Legendary Pokémon snack, you could meet a "teacherless" Kubfu here.
"Looks like… we won't be seeing Kubfu this time."
Among the Four Treasures of Ruin shrines, the Firescourge Shrine was sealed deep within a certain waterfall in North Province (Area Two). But among the countless waterfalls here, finding the one that hid the seal was still a bit difficult.
There were many ruins around here, and they connected straight toward the towering mountain range that separated Paldea from other regions. Long ago, this place was probably a fortress zone—easy to defend, hard to conquer.
In nearby ruins, there was also a TM for Giga Impact—an indirect hint that this area once had a history of war with some other nation.
This was the kind of place that made Gimmighoul ecstatic. Broken ruins were everywhere, and within them were coins minted by the ancient Paldean Empire and surrounding kingdoms. Those were crucial for its evolution, so it excitedly charged in. While hauling away silver coins, it even spotted its own kind wandering nearby.
It was another chest-carrying Gimmighoul!
Then let's see what you've got, buddy!
Activate Spell Card: Snatch!
I'm taking your coins—and I'm not giving them back!
If you want your money, come take it yourself!
The two Gimmighoul brawled. After a fierce struggle, Hikaru's Gimmighoul won in the end—because it had learned Nasty Plot and Power Gem, while the wild one only had Astonish.
A dazzling gemstone light bloomed. At the same time, Hikaru's Gimmighoul swung its chest and slammed it into the other Gimmighoul's box, sending coins flying everywhere with a clatter!
"Cool~"
Hey, friend!
Your chest isn't as good-looking as mine, and it isn't as heavy either!
The other Gimmighoul fled in disgrace, even losing its box. From far away, it hurled curses as it ran.
It declared that it would "soon bring people back" to pay this guy back, so don't you dare run—wait right there!
"Tsk tsk tsk~"
Hikaru's Gimmighoul stood on its chest, watching its fellow species flee, and let out a mocking laugh.
Like hell anyone waits in the same place!
Even if you drag a whole crowd back for revenge, I'm not scared. My Trainer hasn't exactly been losing, either!
What's the point of bringing more rabble?
Evolve two stages upward into a Super Paldean and come back.
Ha. Today's income: +157 coins!
The future is bright!
"Wo-chien?"
At this moment, Wo-Chien shifted its body, extended a vine whip, and investigated the ruins—now wrecked beyond recognition by the fight. With dust billowing, it "pulled" a strange ornament out from the rubble.
It looked extremely abstract, like an ancient totem from some faraway land. Wo-Chien stared at it for a long time, vaguely recalling something. The bamboo slips on its back rustled and spun, stretching longer and longer—like they had infinite length—while Wo-Chien flipped through them rapidly, and also flicked a vine whip at the sneaky cat-like leopard that had crept close.
Don't interrupt me while I'm looking for something, Haki-Leopard!
Cats have tiny brains, so Chien-Pao saw a thing and immediately wanted to paw at it. In moments like this, you have to whip them with love!
"Wo-chien!"
Oh, found it!
It's a Strange Souvenir from a faraway warm region. Records say it's an ornament supposedly made to imitate the mysterious Pokémon once called guardian deities.
Mm… that's what the record says, but the writing on the ornament itself… I can't really read it.
Yet there was a trace of ancient ghostly energy on it, which seemed to be why so many Gastly lingered around these ruins.
Even with my breadth of knowledge, I can't decipher it.
"That really is a statue from the Alola region. It's also called a Strange Souvenir."
"In a distant region, people carved ornaments like this to worship the four island guardians."
Hikaru walked over and looked at the ornament Wo-Chien held up with a vine whip.
"Mm. At first glance, I thought it was Tapu Koko, but it's not that simple."
"Wo-chien?" Wo-Chien looked at Hikaru, its eyes filled with curiosity and inquiry.
Oh!
So you know antiques like this too. As expected of a tamer—if you've traveled many places, you'd naturally have some knowledge of legends and treasures.
Come to think of it, I've seen something similar before. That merchant once dragged something like this to Paldea to sell.
So those goods were from a region called "Alola," huh.
Wait… are the guardian deities there Ghost-type? How intriguing.
"There aren't any Ghost-type guardian deities."
Hikaru turned the statue over. It looked like an ornament of a guardian deity, but in truth it was something else entirely.
"How interesting. Paldea's ancient kings spent fortunes buying all kinds of strange curios from distant lands just to amass treasure. But once the empire and kingdoms collapsed, the riches they cherished so dearly sank into sand, wilderness, and wind."
"This Strange Souvenir does not worship a guardian—it depicts another Pokémon unknown to most!"
"Legend says there is a night-wandering spirit blessed by the gods. Wherever it passes, torches burn brighter. Some claim it is the heroic soul of Alola's ancient warriors, yet another view treats it as an uncanny Pokémon."
"It's said that the night-wandering spirit slips into the shadow of a martial arts master and imitates their movements and strength. As it imitates, it becomes even stronger than the original, until it finally learns the ultimate secret art."
"Therefore, trainers who seek true strength, after leaving their homeland, will pray for this night-wandering spirit's protection."
"That is what this ornament records."
"And in a certain strange land, this Pokémon is called the Guide from the Shadows."
"Marshadow. Its name's meaning is… 'the shadow of martial arts.'"
Hikaru hadn't expected to see an antique related to Marshadow in Paldea.
When it didn't even have a visa here.
Still, ancient artifacts always drift with the currents, carried by merchants to all sorts of regions.
Marshadow might not have ever "passed customs."
But in Paldea, there really was someone who had a connection to Marshadow.
"Wo-chien!"
Wo-Chien's eyes lit up. Its bamboo slips continuously filled with text, recording everything Hikaru had just said.
The little snail was in high spirits, like an old scholar who loved history and had finally met someone worth discussing it with—rather than enduring Chien-Pao's meddling!
So there's a Pokémon like that… This truly opens my eyes!
Hikaru looked at Wo-Chien's bamboo slips. The reason they could extend endlessly was because the slips were Wo-Chien's true body.
"Maybe, in ancient times, people used bamboo slips as a kind of Pokédex."
"The Pokédex is modern—something that emerged around the Hisui era—but similar things might have existed long before."
"Put that way, Little Snail can function like a Pokédex too. But modern Pokédexes are just far too comprehensive. Bamboo slips are slow and labor-intensive."
Little Snail wrote furiously, documenting the legend in detail. At the same time, it tugged Hikaru's Pokédex over and went "mm-mm-mm" while comparing entries.
This is called cross-referencing old and new!
"Besides recording Pokémon information, you could also record all kinds of lost legends. Later, compile them into volumes. Then whoever finds you again will know every legend in the world. Isn't that a fun idea?"
Hikaru sold Little Snail a dream. Wo-Chien thought about it carefully.
Fun?
No. Perhaps it would only evolve into a brand-new greedy war—people fighting over it to obtain all knowledge.
But that was a problem for later!
Because at this moment, the Gimmighoul that had been driven off had already returned with backup!
Only… when that "backup" saw Hikaru, she froze. Then she glanced at the "ornament" in Hikaru's hands, and behind her glasses, her eyes immediately sharpened with interest.
"Heh heh heh… I didn't expect to run into a colleague out here."
"Your Gimmighoul stole my Gimmighoul's coins. I was wondering—out in the middle of nowhere—where did another chest-carrying Gimmighoul come from?"
"I was going to say it's just Pokémon competing among themselves… but the thing in your hands is something I'm very interested in."
"Either way, could you please return those coins to me? Of course, I'll pay a suitable price to buy them back."
"And that antique in your hands—I'm interested in that too. Your analysis just now was impressive. I know I was eavesdropping, but could you explain it to me in more detail?"
"Hm? Looking closely… quite a few of those Pokémon look suspicious. Especially the one that looks like a snail, and the one that looks like a leopard…"
Records of historical disasters. Personal diaries.
She had studied all kinds of materials. There were many facts that could prove the authenticity of a certain story.
So the moment those two Pokémon entered her sight, she felt they looked extremely similar to two Pokémon described in her records.
"A colleague? I'm not your colleague."
Seeing who it was, Hikaru paused slightly, then laughed.
"Ancient scholar, Raifort-sensei. Nice to meet you. I'm Hikaru."
The woman who appeared here was, of course, Paldea's famous, number-one "tomb raider"—
Raifort.
And the person Hikaru meant—the one with a connection to Marshadow—was also her.
In the story, Raifort was suspected to be a descendant of Paldea's royal bloodline. She also had some kind of relationship with Director Clavell, who claimed, "Even if I die, I'll still keep an eye on you."
At the same time, the rapper Ryme had "certified" that Raifort was wrapped in countless ghosts and curses—yet Raifort herself didn't really feel anything, aside from occasional shoulder aches and loss of appetite.
Raifort's outfit contained many elements tied to Legendary Pokémon.
The tag on her chest was modeled after Articuno.
Her headpiece was modeled after Marshadow.
The bracelet on her wrist was modeled after Tapu Koko.
Her belt buckle was modeled after Lunala.
There were many Alola-related elements. She was also highly skilled at deciphering ancient scripts. Though her hands weren't exactly clean, in historical research, the only people who could compare were a select few—like Cynthia and Ghetsis.
That made Hikaru think: Raifort hadn't gone and looted the Alolan royal tombs, had she?
But on second thought, that was impossible.
Because Alola's royals were buried at Memorial Hill so they could be close to Tapu Lele and truly rest in peace. That place was basically a large cemetery.
"Wait… so that Gimmighoul wasn't wild?" Hikaru rubbed his chin and looked at the coinless little gremlin, now visibly panicked.
Because its chest had been taken too, it was currently a penniless little guy.
Which meant… this was the very Gimmighoul from the game: the one Raifort trades with the protagonist at Blueberry Academy's League Club after you complete her post-class dialogue and reach the "trust" threshold.
Its nature was arrogant, its Ability was Rattled, its moves were only Astonish and Tackle, and it was Level 30.
No wonder it couldn't beat Hikaru's little guy.
And if it only reached Level 30 by the Blueberry Academy period… then right now it was probably Level 10 at best!
"B-boss?" Raifort first froze, then shoved her glasses up in disbelief.
In the past few months, there had only been one person she dealt with who could be called "Boss," and who traded with her.
"You're Boss?! Unbelievable—running into you here like this!"
"Of course it's me. Look—Spell Tag and Cleanse Tag."
Hikaru casually pulled out the charms. For him now, those charms were basically useless—but among his customers, they were hot sellers.
To be fair, he often explored ruins and dug up tombs, but digging up an acquaintance like this was still rare.
Raifort immediately became very enthusiastic. And as for the whole "Gimmighoul fighting Gimmighoul" incident, the tomb-raider teacher waved a hand grandly.
"Ah, come on, what's this? Look at the mess you've made. We're all on the same side—why are we splitting hairs over who wins, who loses, a few coins here and there?"
"We're all friends in the same line of work. If there's a tomb, we dig it together!"
Only Raifort's Gimmighoul was utterly devastated.
It never imagined its Trainer wouldn't help it reclaim justice—and would even say the money didn't need to be returned!
Didn't need to be returned?!
Are you even speaking human language?!
I've followed you for so long. Tomb raiding is obviously the fastest way to get rich, yet I still haven't evolved—do you have any idea why?!
"Gimme gold (give me gold)!"
Looking at Hikaru's Gimmighoul—its chest contained all kinds of ancient coins—that was a real "treasure chest"!
Mine is basically a piggy bank!
Raifort selectively ignored her Gimmighoul's tantrum and started eagerly chatting Hikaru up.
"Boss, I messaged you before, inviting you to Paldea. Now you're finally here. Oh, right—did you read the legends about the Treasures of Ruin?"
"Isn't it incredible? Those precious things really do exist!"
Raifort was secretly overjoyed.
To investigate the Treasures of Ruin—and claim them for herself—she'd put in a tremendous amount of effort!
Hikaru chuckled and nodded.
"I know. The vessel, the tablets, the sword, the beads—right? The four most precious treasures the Paldean Empire bought from the ancient East."
Raifort was practically vibrating with excitement.
"Exactly, exactly! Ah—seeing you here like this is practically heaven's guidance!"
"Yes. Guidance."
"Now… the time may be ripe."
A gleam flashed across Raifort's lenses.
"Those shrines sealed somewhere in Paldea—after long investigation, I've confirmed there are four in total. But for their exact locations, I still need more research."
"And then, by sheer luck, I found the truth in a recent interview report!"
"A carpenter claimed to be a descendant of the legendary tamer. He said a Pokémon messenger used sacred stakes to seal the Treasures of Ruin inside shrines."
"One Pokémon per shrine. In many unknown places, eight stakes were hammered into the earth to suppress the power of ruin."
"Which means—as long as we pull out all the corresponding stakes, we can release the Pokémon known as the Treasures of Ruin!"
"You know, the mountains around here might contain a Treasure of Ruin. For the past month, I've been living rough out here, and I finally found the shrine's location, but…"
"According to the messenger's descendants, to pull a stake, you need a bond with Pokémon… or perhaps, a mind free of desire."
"I actually found a stake too, and tried—but unfortunately, it didn't budge at all…"
"So I plan to ask you for help! I'll pay a very high price."
"The sacred stake you're talking about… is it this?"
Hikaru reached into his space-connected storage and took out a sacred stake that was nearly cracked apart.
The instant it appeared in front of Raifort, the dark-haired teacher's pupils tightened.
Though the stake had lost its color and its power was faint, she still recognized it at once—it was one of those stakes!
"Th-this really is a stake?! Y-you pulled it out?!"
Raifort was shocked. After examining it carefully, she confirmed it was exactly the same as the one she had found with such difficulty before.
Then her heart exploded with delight.
The moment of unsealing the Treasures of Ruin was close. Originally, she had planned to obtain the Treasures of Ruin and claim them as her own!
Now, with the help of someone who could actually pull the stakes, getting those four was completely feasible…!
Hikaru pointed at Wo-Chien and Chien-Pao.
"Yeah. Also, have you considered… another possibility?"
"That the Treasures of Ruin are already right in front of you?"
"Now, the bamboo tablets that record evil, and the sword meant for slaughter, have both returned to the light."
"So, in your search for the treasures of ruin… what exactly do you plan to do with these cute Pokémon, Raifort-sensei?"
"They're far too powerful. Let's be clear up front—they can't be polluted by people's desire again."
"This region is peaceful. For now, it doesn't need someone playing the villain."
"As one of this region's Elite Four, I feel obligated to remind you."
Raifort stood frozen. After a long moment, she pushed her glasses up, as if trying to her thoughts.
"Huh?"
"What did you just say? You're an Elite Four for this place?"
The wind in the valley turned a little colder.
And in Hikaru's hands, the Strange Souvenir's eyes flickered faintly.
(End of Chapter)
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