Riding down an elevator going 1500 meters underneath the surface, kinda sucked.
They were going down fast, fast enough that they had to be strapped into seats lest they start falling instead of standing, but that only added to the terror. The metal screeched and hissed, the one light that barely illuminated the large elevator flickered and struggled, barely staying alight. From time to time the machinery seemed to snag on something, jostling everyone within, eliciting more than a few choice words from its riders.
Yea. It sucked. Like a really fucked up rollercoaster.
“We’re still working on streamlining this part of the journey!” An engineer shouted, “We built for function rather than convenience, so please hold on a little longer folks!”
“God, I don’t know if you exist,” Felis thought, praying silently in his head, “I don’t know if you’ve abandoned us, or if we were never in your plan in the first place. But please, holy shit, please keep us safe big G. I’m so fucking scared right now.”
The elevator was large, large enough to carry 5 teams of 5 (Hazel’s included–yay) plus the extra engineers, doctors, and scientists, so hey, at least he wasn’t alone in his suffering. Looking to his left he saw Arun clenching his eyes shut as the elevator continued to roar down the shaft, and Felis decided quickly to reword his prayer.
“Scratch that, please make it just a tad bit scarier please.”
The Elevator rumbled.
Something popped.
People screamed.
Ok, well, he screamed.
“DIDN’T MEAN IT!” He thought furiously.
Thankfully the journey ended quickly, leaving everyone stumbling out dazed and confused. Though somehow, Cyrus managed to leave walking straight, the only indicator of his discomfort being the frown on his face that was perhaps a few millimetres longer.
“Cyrus dear!” A musical voice rang out. A second later a group of people stepped forward, at their head were two figures. He recognized the speaker immediately, almost as tall as Felis himself was Admin Jupiter. Her hair was different from the games, tied into a single braid that ran down her neck, likely done so her head would fit the hard hat that she wore. Aside from that, everything else was the same for the Admin, one of Cyrus's top 3.
The most annoying, if the memory of him crying tears of frustration at her constant use of poison was correct.
The second figure was new to him though. Almost comical in appearance the man was much older, desperately trying to shape his receding hairline into something that Felis would have absolutely laughed at if it were any other situation. He carried himself with confidence though, and the Grunts following showed respect, so he was probably important.
“Jupiter.” Cyrus said fondly, meeting the troupe halfway. The two exchanged brief cheek kisses in greeting before he asked, “How have you been, my friend?”
“Oh stop it dear, you must be brimming with excitement about now. We’ll save the small talk for later, yes? Let me show you what I’ve found.”
“You know me well.” The Galactic boss chuckled, “How is it?”
“Beautiful, Cyrus, just…beautiful.”
Felis was unable to hear the rest, as the two lowered their tones to speak to one another, the “elite” of the Grunts creating a wall between them and the common rabble.
“How you feeling?” Arun whispered, nudging Felis’s shoulder.
“A little rattled, but I’m chilling, you?”
“...strange.”
Felis blinked, “Strange?”
“I…I can’t describe it. Anyways, did you see the Admins?”
“Yeah, Jupiter is bad as fuck dude holy shit.”
“No–I mean…alright yea, fair. But I was looking at the other guy.”
“Receding hairline guy? Shit man if that’s your type, I won’t judge.”
“Shut it.” His brother chuckled, nudging Felis’s shoulder again, “That’s Charon, he’s the newest Admin Cyrus promoted.”
“What? How come we never saw him?”
“You didn’t see him because you didn’t play Platinum.”
“Well that’s just bullshit,” Felis mumbled, kicking a loose pebble, “What do you know about him?”
“Prideful, large ego, desperate to rise in the ranks…kinda like you actually, just old.”
Felis shuddered at the image, “Dude.”
“Yeah, sorry. Basically mad scientist type, wants to prove his genius and be a top dog in this world.”
“And since Winton said intelligence is considered secondary in the Pokémon world…”
“He joined up with Galactic to make it big.” Arun finished. “Think you can work with that?”
“Psh, can I? He’s the easiest type to work with. All I have to do is–”
“We’re here~!” Jupiter sang out to the group, causing everyone to stop, “Brace yourselves ladies and gentlemen, what we’re about to see here is very special.”
The group stepped past the man-made structure, and everyone–even Cyrus, let out audible gasps.
The antechamber opened up to a cavern that felt as if they were stepping into another world. It was impossibly large, like three CN Towers stacked atop one another in height from floor to ceiling, perhaps one tower in width. The roof of the cave sparkled in purple, black, and blue, resembling nebulas in the night sky, reflective minerals recreating the feeling of stars.
The first platform, roughly the size of a football stadium, was floating in the middle of the chasm, a Galactic camp already stationed atop it. The spot they stood on had a bridge built from there current position to the platform, but Felis could see floating rocks that the scouts must have used to access the platform in the first place. From the first platform were stairs that led up to what could only have been the main building, massive pillars were erected, faded imagery adorned them, but at his distance, he couldn’t tell exactly what they depicted.
Not that he cared at the moment, he was too busy looking at something else.
Past the platform, standing in the gaping chasm, were three, impossibly large statues of Sinnoh’s legendary trio. Whoever carved them had made them very lifelike, every detail, down to the ridges of their armor, was done to absolute perfection. They looked to have been carved from obsidian, their ebony bodies reflected the Chasm’s light, and it looked almost as if galaxies were slowly drifting across their skin.
“It’s…beautiful.” Cyrus whispered, awestruck by the sights.
“Wait until you see inside.” Jupiter smiled.
The troupe carried on in silence, nobody daring to speak up as they held their breaths in reverie. The spell was broken once they reached the base camp, but even then members kept their voices low, as team leaders spoke to one another, moving into their first tasks. Felis nodded to Hazel’s group as they split ways, him and Sirius following closely behind the group of Elite grunts as they made way for them to step into another tent.
It was almost eerie how well they moved together. None of the elites ever spoke, they simply exchanged the briefest of glances before moving together in tandem.
“We’re still working on deciphering the old texts.” Jupiter sighed, once they were fully inside, “It’s difficult, most of the names for the Deities are still faded from the murals…”
“Not for lack of trying!” Charon interrupted, “I’ve had my best people working around the clock for this, it’s a miracle I’ve managed to get us this far!”
“Oh we don’t have to worry about that anymore.” Cyrus waved, “I’d like to introduce you to our new “specialists”. This is Sirius and Felis.”
“Ma’am.” Sirius nodded.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“How you doing?” Felis smiled.
Suspicion danced across Jupiter’s eyes as a professional smile touched her lips. “Foreigners? And what exactly do they know?”
“What are the possible names we have for the ‘Watcher of Time’?”
“We have three that make the most sense so far, sir.” Charon interrupted before Jupiter could speak, causing a flash of irritation to flicker across her features, “Dilax, Dialon, and Dialgus.”
Cyrus turned to look at the brothers, “If you will.”
“Have you tried Dialga?” Sirius asked, crossing his arms.
“Hah!” Charon scoffed, “That’s not even in the list. Cyrus–”
“Try.” The Galactic boss said, giving Charon a look.
The scientist grumbled, pulling a tablet from his coat pocket, tapping away at the screen. Felis wondered just how the hell they got service down here, before realizing it must have probably been a local database carried down all the way from up top. Before Felis could confirm his hypothesis however, Charon let out a soft gasp, his eyes widening as he stared at the screen.
“It…it’s a match.” The old scientist breathed.
“I see-” Jupiter began, only to be interrupted again.
“You don’t understand! This is a perfect match! It fits the text perfectly, we can use the lettering to decipher others!” Charon’s head snapped up to the two brothers, “How? How do you know this? How can you know this?”
Felis moved to answer, but Cyrus raised a hand, silencing them both, “That won’t be necessary. Give them the other names, and the typings you’ve given me.”
“T-typings!?” Charon said, incredulous.
As Sirius rattled off the typings and names, Felis took the time to take stock of the situation. Cyrus’s face gave nothing away, and he couldn’t make out any sort of tick, as the man kept his hands folded behind his back. Charon was easy enough, the man was equal parts impressed and furious, nearly frothing at the mouth as his hard work was completely undermined by a couple of handsome assholes waltzing in with answers.
Jupiter however, made Felis nervous, and not in the “oh shit gorgeous woman checking me out” nervous, but “oh fuck mom definitely doesn’t believe I went to a group study session” type nervous. Her suspicion was palpable, he could tell from the way her smile strained that she was doing everything in her power not to drop everything to question them.
He could also tell though, that said suspicion was also aimed at Charon. He didn’t know their relationship or dynamic, but he could tell Jupiter was losing patience with the man. Could he use that for themselves? Turn Charon and Jupiter against each other, join the winning side?
“This…this could change a lot.” Charon said, after spending a few moments tapping away at his tablet, “Cyrus, we must start another expedition right away! I can decipher more now, I can give you more!”
“It will be done.” Cyrus nodded, “Charon, let them know the Grunts shall have an hour to settle themselves, then call the leaders for a briefing.”
“As you will, Cyrus.” Charon bowed, exiting the tent.
“Take a break, you two.” Cyrus nodded at the brothers, “I intend to catch up with my friend.”
“We’ll take our leave then.” Sirius nodded, and Felis did the same.
Time for a little sightseeing.
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“I don’t trust them.” Jupiter hummed, as soon as the two newbloods were out of earshot.
Cyrus chuckled to himself lightly, looking over the map of everything that had been recorded so far. The questions that bounced around his head had left him giddy with excitement, what was the purpose of this place? What sort of system or technology could be used to build such a place? If he was 10 years younger, he would have asked how he could have used it to help Sinnoh advance.
But it was too late for Sinnoh, or any other region for that matter.
“Cyrus.” Jupiter said, pulling him out of his thoughts, “I’m telling you we shouldn’t trust them.”
“You and Saturn both.”
“Then why aren’t you listening?”
“Because what they can offer outweighs any threat the two can pose to me.” Cyrus sighed. He trusted the opinion of his Admins, he really did. All of them were very protective of him though, and sometimes that got in the way of the vision.
“And the reason we can’t just use Alakzam to simply pull their memories away from them?” Jupiter asked, leaning against the table.
“That was the original plan.”
“And?”
“And I’ve found they can be used for more than just information. They’re killers Jupiter.”
“I know,” She said, her voice distant, “I can see it in their eyes.”
“And we are in the middle of a war.”
“So why aren’t they out there with Mars and Saturn?”
“You know why.”
Jupiter let out an exasperated sigh, bringing her hands up to her temples. Cyrus let a small smile creep across his lips, sometimes he wondered what he’d done to deserve such loyal followers, or strange followers if the two brothers could be counted. He took it as a sign he was on the right path, that Arceus himself was out there, giving him guidance.
“Enough about them.” Cyrus waved, as he pulled out a report from one of Jupiter’s previous excursions, “Tell me about what we’re going to be facing down there.”
“Unown.” Jupiter said, sliding across the desk and joining his side, “But these ones are different.”
“How so.”
“They confirm the Hale theory.”
Cyrus’s eyes widened, “What?”
“It was difficult for me to believe at first.” Jupiter sighed, “But flip through pages 11 to 17, you’ll see.”
Cyrus did so quickly, the pages turning in a blur. He stopped at the first of the pages, staring at the photograph that was clipped onto the report.
A...a Shinx.
“At first we believed it to be a regular Shinx. There are underground reservoirs running through the temple, so water isn’t in any demand. But food? We figured there might’ve been an ecosystem down here.”
“How did you find out otherwise?”
“Next page.”
He flipped, leaning back in his chair as one hand stroked his chin. There in the next photograph was the same Shinx, though defeated. It lay there defeated and broken, except half its face was missing. Instead of blood and brain matter however, was the shimmering shape of an Unown, as if the Pokemon was being pulled away.
“Fascinating.” Cyrus breathed, reading the text of the Grunts who’d defeated it, “Was this the only instance?”
“You’re already flipping through, my dear,” Jupiter smirked, “You tell me.”
That was true, his hands were moving of their own accord. Shinx, Bidoof, Bibarel, Ursarang, Gabite, Steelix…
“They’re getting stronger.” Cyrus noted.
“It’s why our excursions have been taking so long.” Jupiter sighed, “Our last fight involved a trio of class 6 Garchomp. I managed to take one down myself, but the Grunts were already exhausted, we were losing steam.”
Cyrus offered a silent prayer for those who'd been injured, before asking the more prominent question in his mind.
“Was any of the ruin damaged?”
“No, no.” Jupiter waved, causing Cyrus to sigh in relief. “Though not for our lack of trying.”
“What do you mean?”
“These ruins Cyrus, they’re near-indestructible. Only the founders of this place know what it’s built of, but we’ve had no success trying to take samples.”
“And the reasons no camp has been established farther?”
“We need numbers to guard it. The Unown are particularly violent when they see a large group, we didn’t have the sort of power to establish a secondary base, and push forward.”
“But now that I’m here…”
“And with the elite.”
“We can push deeper.” They said together.
“Wonderful. This is absolutely wonderful.” Cyrus smiled, “You’ve done excellent work Jupiter, I’m proud.”
“Aw, you’re making me blush. I assume you’ll be going to Charon next? We’ve captured some of the Unown, though I doubt he has anything substantial to report.”
“Let us go.” Cyrus said, rising from his seat. Jupiter told him story after story about what she’d seen in the temple, and Cyrus listened with rapt attention, chuckling at her exaggerations of the tale.
Neither noticed the little ghost in the shadows, watching their every move.
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Dude, stop moving,” Felis chided “You’re making this way more difficult than it needs to be.”
“Well maybe if you didn’t-ow-keep snagging the clip-OW-on my beard,” Sirius growled back, “I wouldn’t be-ow-moving so much.”
Felis snagged the clip of his brother’s hard hat on his beard again.
“Asshole!” Sirius hissed, shoving him away.
“Alright alright I’ll do it proper. Stand still.”
“Kick your ass again if you mess around.” His brother muttered under his breath.
The two were in the tent designated for “barracks” gearing themselves up for ruin exploration. It was empty at the moment, the other Grunts having already taken what they needed. Based on the dangers the two were loosely warned about, they were told to travel light, abandoning some of the heavier gear like grapples, harnesses and the works for the bare essentials.
In terms of clothing, the Galactic Uniform provided everything they needed from armor to heavy boots to avoid broken stone or glass. Which kinda sucked in Felis’s opinion, he’d wanted some cool new exploration gear, but he supposed beggars couldn’t be choosers.
“Even living in the Pokemon world.” He lamented, “I still can’t pick my own drip.”
“What do you have packed?” Sirius asked, pulling on some heavy duty gloves.
Felis rolled his eyes, but answered anyway, “Food and Water, a week’s worth.”
“Between the two of us we could probably go for two weeks…” Sirius muttered.
“Dude, the excursion is going to be like 3 days at most, we’re overstocked. What do we need more for?”
“Are you asking that with our track record?” Sirius deadpanned, “Really?”
“Hah. Fair. Still, this shit is heavy man.”
Unlike Pokémon, who were able to condense themselves into raw energy, food still retained its mass despite the size decrease in their little capsules. It was great they weren’t carrying whole steaks or shit like that, but still.
Heavy.
“It’ll be your workout.” Sirius suggested, double checking his headlight had batteries.
“Yeah, yeah.”
They continued their preparation in silence. Sirius had gone with a messenger bag to carry more, but Felis felt like he couldn’t really support that weight, instead opting for a regular backpack. He couldn’t exactly admire his new piece of drip however, as he could tell something was eating away at his brother. Sirius moved slower, what actions were usually done without hesitation were now moved at a turtle’s pace to give the man time to think.
“Alright spill.” He finally said, unable to take the silence. “What is it?”
“Hazel.”
“Yea?”
“He’s asking too many questions.”
Felis raised an eyebrow at his brother, “You’re the one who told me to make new friends.”
“I know, I know…” He sighed.
“...should I keep an eye on him?”
“Would you be okay with that?”
Felis laughed, “Don’t get me wrong man, they’re cool people. I’m glad you suggested it, but it’s family first.”
Sirius was silent for a while, pondering as the headlights clicked on and off.
“No, it’ll be fine.” He finally said, “Just distance yourself if he keeps asking too many questions.”
“Sir yes sir.”
Sirius grunted in response, and Felis smiled. He would have commented more but the ruffling of the tent caused the two of them to still, tensing subconsciously.
Only for Aken to return, grinning like mad as he held…something in his mouth.
“My prodigal son returns!” He beamed, “What do you have for me buddy?”
Aken spat the report down at his feet, “This they gazed upon for a long time. I cannot understand the words.”
Felis flipped through, “Looks like a report. Did they talk about anything?”
Aken cleared his throat, before repeating everything he’d heard in Cyrus’s tent. Felis had gone from keeping one ear open, to fully listening in by the end, snarling at one particular part.
“What’d he say?” Sirius asked.
“Old Cyrus wanted to rip the info right out of our heads.” He growled.
“What? How?”
“Same way they fact-checked us, I’m guessing. An Alakazam.”
Sirius’s eyes widened, “That’s who I was feeling! Can Psychic types do that? Are there laws against that sort of thing?”
“More shit we have to research, I guess. Oh! take a look at this.” He flipped to the page with the Shinx, “It’s called the Hale theory.”
“Hale?” Sirius frowned, “That’s…familiar.”
“Aken, you know anything about this?”
“None.” The little ghost said, “What little of Unown I know is in story and legend.”
“Oh? Anything useful?”
“Only that they are the will of the world made flesh.”
Hm. That was ominous. Well! Nothing a good read-through wouldn’t help with.
“Yo, Arun. I’m gonna keep reading through this with Aken, make sure we got everything we need?”
“I got it. Don’t take too long though, we’ll be moving out soon.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll meet you at the rendezvous.”
Right now he had some reading to get through.