Chapter 101: Intelligence on Super-Ancient Pokémon

Speaking of the Mirage Tower, one cannot help but mention the request the Fossil Maniac gave him last year: to find the Mirage Tower in the desert and bring back the two fossils from its summit. That desert is located on Route 111, north of Mauville City. According to the map he purchased from the department store, the desert is vast, and for at least half of every twenty-four-hour period, it is shrouded in violent sandstorms. This peculiar phenomenon has attracted widespread attention from numerous renowned explorers. In an effort to uncover the truth, they even ventured deep into the heart of the desert, but unfortunately, they discovered nothing. Because of this weather, thrill-seeking trainers and backpackers frequently enter the desert for adventures. As the number of visitors increased, so did the number of casualties. More importantly, ordinary Pokémon using moves like Rain Dance or Sunny Day in the desert are completely unable to alter the sandstorm weather. Relevant researchers have speculated that this might be due to the insufficient strength of those Pokémon. It is precisely because of this that the vast desert has come to be known as the "Devil's Triangle."

Huyang silently recalled the information from the map. If he remembered correctly, the desert ruins that sealed Regirock were located there. However, until the seal on the Sealed Chamber was broken, the entrance to the interior of those ruins would not appear. To venture into such an extreme environment, one must be fully prepared—with sufficient water and food; otherwise, even if one didn't get lost in the sandstorm, one would still perish from dehydration or starvation. At times like this, he wished he could capture Rayquaza. Riding Rayquaza into the desert, a single Twister move could destroy the entire desert; a mere sandstorm would be nothing at all. Hmm... capturing Rayquaza.

Hmm? Huyang suddenly realized something was wrong. Why had he been constantly thinking about capturing Legendary Pokémon today, as if he were keeping them like pets to collect at home? Huyang looked down at his shadow. Seeing this, Marshadow, residing in the shadow world, gave a start. *Oh no! I'm going to get caught!*

Huyang bypassed Dr. Maze, went to a deserted spot, and said to his shadow with a stern face, "Marshadow! Come out!"

Marshadow dared not move. Its ability to amplify the darkest desires in a human heart seemed to have lost its effect... What kind of person would have a dark side that involved collecting all the legendary Pokémon and flying around cities on their backs, anyway?! And with such power, why not conquer the world instead of huddling in this place as a minor trainer?

Marshadow felt that this human was different from the chosen ones it had encountered before. But without a doubt, he was full of goodwill toward this world and all the Pokémon within it. This could be seen from the way his Pokémon treated him and their daily interactions.

When Marshadow refused to come out, Huyang felt a splitting headache. He knew very well that his wild thoughts were influenced by Marshadow. Amplifying the dark side of a human's heart—what was his dark side? Collecting all the Legendary Pokémon and ruling the world? Even Huyang himself wasn't sure. Although he had fantasized about catching Legendary Pokémon before, it had never been this outrageous. The key was that his own wild thoughts were one thing, but if Cramorant sensed them and actually went to snatch those Legendary Pokémon, it would be a disaster.

However, since Marshadow wouldn't come out, he had no other choice. Finally, he decided to just let it all go. *So, you're peeping at my thoughts, huh?! Fine, I'll just keep thinking about Ho-Oh as hard as I can. Once Ho-Oh gets snatched over here, you're in for it!*

Huyang's thoughts were immediately transmitted to Marshadow through the shadow. As a guardian of Ho-Oh, it naturally dared not show such disrespect to the legendary bird. Therefore, upon feeling Ho-Oh being "dealt with" in such a way by this human, Marshadow immediately blushed and pulled back its power.

*Hmph, little guy, you think you can fight me?* He wasn't some immature kid like Ash. Huyang had just locked his Master Ball tightly, so even if Cramorant sensed it, it wouldn't be able to run out on its own. Only after feeling that the influence had slowed significantly did he stop humiliating Ho-Oh in his mind. He said to Marshadow, "You'd better leave. I'm not going to participate in your Trial of the Hero right now!"

Marshadow wanted to, but the rainbow feather had not yet lost its luster, which meant the human before it had not yet lost his eligibility. Its mission was not complete, so it could not leave. More importantly, it was not supposed to be discovered by the human during the assessment process. Even if Huyang knew it was there, and it knew that Huyang knew it was there, it still had to hide in the shadow, pretending not to know that Huyang knew it was there, faithfully fulfilling its duty to guide the Rainbow Hero. It had to provide guidance to the chosen one at the appropriate time and help them realize their true self.

...

Perhaps because of a new breakthrough in his long-term research, Dr. Maze was in an unprecedented state of excitement. He was so happy that he forgot to return to the Pokémon Center, and instead huddled inside the ruins, chatting with Huyang. They talked about his past research, the ruins of this world, and the ancient Pokémon civilization.

"Legend has it that in ancient times, there existed a civilization in this world that worshipped the power of Pokémon as supernatural force!"

"That civilization produced a large amount of pottery to contain the power of Pokémon. Later, due to a sudden natural disaster, they vanished from this world overnight."

"The items they created were buried underground, look—"

As he spoke, Dr. Maze placed the stone tablet inscribed with ancient characters in front of Huyang and continued, "This records information about super-ancient Pokémon, as well as a prophecy, but unfortunately, I haven't been able to decipher it."

"However, this prophecy doesn't seem to belong to these ruins; it appears to describe the situation of another site of super-ancient civilization."

Upon hearing this, Huyang used his Appraisal ability on the text. In the next second, a surge of information appeared in his mind:

*Two forces that destroy the world*
*Black darkness dyes the sky*
*Golden eyes disturb the air*
*A conflict that tears the world in two*
*People are helpless*
*The gate to another world opens in the sky*
*At this moment, a power to quell all appears*
*Turning into a sphere, it returns beneath the horizon*

Huyang: "..."

Dr. Maze continued, "The civilization left behind by the super-ancient era is still full of mysteries to this day. There are many places in this world that we humans have yet to discover."

"Excuse me, Mr. Maze, is this your line of work?" Huyang asked.

Dr. Maze nodded, his eyes filled with a look of longing: "Yes, finding traces of ancient humans and ancient Pokémon beneath the soil, and excavating ancient ruins—that is the meaning of our profession!"

"Civilizations beneath the soil, how full of charm they are!"