Aunt Johanna and Dawn's house was right in Twinleaf Town, and since Aunt Johanna was also a distant relative of Yuga's family, once they arrived in Twinleaf Town, Yuga brought Seiryu and Iris along to pay a visit.
Before coming to Sinnoh, Yuga had already contacted Aunt Johanna in advance, so when they arrived, they were warmly welcomed by Aunt Johanna and even stayed overnight at her house.
Dawn was out traveling and was not at home, so Yuga did not get to see her this time.
The next morning, after politely declining Aunt Johanna's enthusiastic attempt to keep them longer, Yuga set out again together with Seiryu and Iris.
Their destination this time was a village not far from Twinleaf Town. According to what Lax had said, the dragon ruin they were told about was located near that village.
The village wasn't difficult to find. The three of them asked around just a little and quickly found it. It was a small village called Ram Horn Village.
Ram Horn Village was very small, with fewer than a hundred households. The village had gotten its name because in the past the villagers were skilled at raising Mareep.
Although nowadays hardly anyone in the village raised Mareep anymore, the name "Ram Horn Village" had been carried on until now.
According to what Lax said, the dragon ruin was located just to the south of Ram Horn Village. After Yuga, Seiryu, and Iris arrived at Ram Horn Village, they followed the road south all the way down, but even by the time it was nearly dark, they still hadn't found any clues.
Iris was extremely agile. With a leap she sprang onto the branch of a tall tree, gazed out into the distance, and then said down to Yuga and Seiryu: "If we keep going forward, we'll be completely outside the range of Ram Horn Village. Should we still keep walking?"
Yuga looked at the sky, felt that today they should call it a day, and said: "Let's stop here for today. It's getting late. Tomorrow we'll retrace the same path and search it over again carefully."
Iris immediately found this troublesome: "Eh~ do we really have to search all over again?"
Yuga explained in a tone tinged with helplessness: "What if we missed something along the way?"
Seiryu, who had barely spoken much, spoke up at this moment: "Could it be that guy named Lax tricked us?"
Yuga shook his head and said: "That shouldn't be the case."
The Verdanturf City police weren't so incompetent that they couldn't even tell whether a criminal was lying or not.
Iris, holding her stomach, jumped down from the tree and said: "I'm hungry. Whatever the case, let's find a place to eat first."
So the three of them returned to Ram Horn Village, and under the introduction of the village chief, they borrowed lodging at the house of one of the villagers.
At first, this family wasn't very willing to let Yuga and the others stay, but since the village chief had already taken money from Yuga and his group and didn't want to botch the arrangement, he exercised a bit of his "authority" as village chief. The family had no choice but to reluctantly agree.
Of course, Yuga and the others didn't know any of this, since the village chief had done it all behind the scenes.
Although they hadn't been willing at first, once the village chief left, the family treated Yuga and the others fairly warmly, and after Yuga and the others gave them compensation, the family even prepared a rich dinner for them.
The household where Yuga and the others were staying was very simple, consisting only of a middle-aged couple and their son, who was just over twenty years old.
At dinner, Yuga and the others inadvertently learned that this family had only recently moved to Ram Horn Village. The house was newly built, and there were many vacant rooms, which was why the village chief had introduced them to stay there.
It was precisely because they were new arrivals that the family felt they could not afford to offend the village chief, and so they tolerated his small display of force.
But Yuga found it very puzzling. Ram Horn Village was just a remote little village, with neither any special products nor good prospects for development. Why would this family of three move here? Surely not for seclusion?
When Yuga asked about this, the family said it was because this was the ancestral home of the grandparents, and because they missed their elders, they had moved back here.
Hearing this, Yuga felt it didn't make much sense. If you missed your elders, did you really need to move into such a remote village? There were so many ways to honor their memory; there was no need to use this one.
But since this was the family's private matter, as outsiders it wasn't proper to pry too much, so they didn't press further.
That night, Yuga and the others stayed in that family's home.
In the middle of the night, Yuga was sleeping soundly when he was suddenly shaken awake by Gengar. The room was pitch dark, and Gengar's two eyes were glowing in the night. It was really quite frightening.
Yuga was so startled that he jolted awake.
"Gengar~ Gengar~"
When he realized it was Gengar calling him, he let out a long sigh of relief, calmed his nerves a little, and asked softly: "What's wrong?"
Out of caution, Yuga had arranged for Gengar to stand watch at night.
"Gengar~ Gengar~"
Gengar gestured animatedly as it explained, and Yuga said in surprise: "Going out in the middle of the night?"
It turned out that the son of this family had quietly slipped out of the house in the middle of the night.
Yuga thought for a moment and then said: "Follow him and see what he's up to."
"Gengar~"
Gengar nodded, and then immediately disappeared from Yuga's room.
After Gengar left, Yuga lay down again and continued to sleep. This time he slept straight through until the morning light was shining brightly. When he woke up, he realized that Gengar had already returned to the shadow space.
Yuga planned to ask Gengar about what had happened the previous night after stepping outside, but during breakfast he unexpectedly learned that the village chief had accidentally fallen during the night and had broken his leg.
Thinking of Gengar's report from the night before, he instinctively glanced at the son of the household, only to find that his expression was completely normal, even chatting and laughing with his parents as they discussed the matter. In Yuga's heart, doubt could not help but arise: Could it really not have been him?
After they went outside, Yuga finally called out Gengar to ask about the events of the previous night, and immediately learned that his guess had in fact been correct: the village chief's broken leg was indeed the handiwork of the son from the family they were staying with.
What's more, according to Gengar, that son was actually a trainer, and it was by using a Pokémon that he had caused the village chief's leg to break.
But during the day, the whole family had clearly said that they were ordinary people, and besides, there had been no signs in their home of Pokémon having ever lived there!
Surely the parents couldn't be unaware that their son was a trainer, right? If that were truly the case, then why would the son be hiding it from his own parents?
Iris saw Yuga and Gengar whispering together as soon as they came out, and so she asked: "What are you two talking about?"
Seiryu also looked over curiously.
"Just a bit of doubt." Yuga shook his head and said.
"Doubt? What kind of doubt?" Iris asked again.
Yuga gave Gengar a few instructions, and after Gengar disappeared, he finally said: "I'll explain to you after I've figured it out."
Hearing this, Iris didn't press further: "Alright then. So, are we really going to search along the same path again today?"
When she saw Yuga nod, Iris resigned herself and said: "Then this time we'd better search thoroughly!"
So the three of them once again began the arduous task of searching for the dragon ruin.
In the blink of an eye, another day passed. Looking at the sun about to set in the west, Yuga said helplessly: "Once again today we've found nothing."
"Where on earth is that dragon ruin hidden? That Lax didn't even explain clearly!" Iris complained.
"Maybe he doesn't know either," Yuga said. "For now, let's head back. Tonight we'll discuss things. Searching aimlessly like this isn't a solution."
Iris and Seiryu nodded in agreement, and the three of them walked back to Ram Horn Village in the setting sun.
After returning, the three of them went to visit the village chief. The village chief lay in bed groaning and moaning, and his leg looked badly injured. He was old in age, and recovery would likely not be easy.
After the three of them returned, they found that the family of three they were lodging with were all at home. When they saw Yuga and the others come back, they warmly called out to say that dinner would be ready shortly.
When Yuga returned to his own room, Gengar appeared as soon as he walked in.
"How did it go?" Yuga asked.
"Gengar~ Gengar~ Gengar~"
Gengar leaned close to Yuga's ear and whispered everything it had discovered today.
After hearing it all, Yuga exclaimed in astonishment: "Really?"
Gengar nodded.
Gengar was extremely capable; in just one day, it had practically dug out every last detail about the situation of that family of three.
That so-called family of three, that so-called story about moving back to the village for the sake of remembering their parents… all of it was false. That "family of three" had absolutely no blood relation at all. At best, they could only be considered colleagues.
No wonder Lax did not know the exact location of the dragon ruin and only knew the general direction. It turned out that there were people here who were supposed to receive him.
It was just that he himself did not know about this matter! Most likely only after he had arrived in Sinnoh, after he had reached Ram Horn Village, would these people who were meant to receive him appear in person and meet him.
That's right, this so-called family of three were actually all disguised subordinates of King Robi, and their purpose was precisely to receive Lax and the others who had captured the Remnants of the Dragon Vlab.
Unfortunately, Lax was captured, and the ones who arrived instead were Yuga and his companions.
During the day yesterday, this "family" had suffered a small loss at the hands of the village chief, and the vengeful "son" went during the night to break the leg of the village chief.
It was only because the "son" had not informed the "parents" when he did this, nor told them afterwards, that Yuga had originally thought that the parents did not know that the son was a trainer.
But in fact, all three of them were trainers.
After Yuga had learned the whole situation about this family of three, he went out with an expression that revealed nothing to join them for dinner, while at the same time secretly observing them.
Before, when he had not realized the truth, it had been one thing, but now that he knew the reality, Yuga truly felt that in every aspect they looked nothing like a family of three.
That night, after Iris and Seiryu came to Yuga's room to discuss the matter of searching for the Dragon ruin, Yuga told them what Gengar had discovered during the day.
Thus, the three of them decided to wait for the rabbit by the tree.
That family of three definitely knew the exact location of the Dragon ruin, so all they had to do was keep a close eye on those three people.
Therefore, from then on, Yuga and the others pretended to continue going out on schedule every day. Because the identities they had disguised themselves with when they came were that of scholars doing geological research, they needed to go out every day to survey the geological conditions, and so not a single person doubted them.
In reality, they were hiding in secret, quietly monitoring the movements of that family of three.
For three days in a row, those three people did not make any actual moves, pretending instead to be villagers working every day. Finally, on the fourth day, they began to take action.
Most likely it was true that they had grown impatient waiting for Lax and his group, so the three of them decided to personally go to the dragon ruin to check out the situation.
That night, when everyone in the village had already fallen asleep, the three of them quietly slipped out of the house.
To be on the safe side, they had even put sleeping pills into the dinner of Yuga and his companions, fearing that Yuga and the others might wake during the night and notice their absence.
Unfortunately for them, Yuga and the others had already been prepared and did not fall for it. Their unconsciousness was only an act.
After the three of them went out into the night, Yuga and the others also followed them out.
It just so happened that tonight the weather was very good. A huge full moon hung in the sky, and the bright, clear moonlight illuminated the land, lighting it up brightly, not at all hindering sight or movement.
Yuga and his two companions followed those three people all the way to the riverside outside the village. They saw the three of them each send out a Water-type Pokémon, then climb onto them, and with splashes and splashes dive into the river.
When Yuga and the others came to the riverside and looked at the rippling river surface, they thought to themselves: Could it be that the ruin is in the river? No wonder they had not been able to find it.
However, the three of them did not take action, but instead hid by the riverbank.
The three people in the river kept diving deeper and deeper, with the leader being the "father" in that so-called family of three. The Water-type Pokémon he was riding was a Lanturn.
It was precisely by relying on the light emitted from Lanturn that they were able to move forward smoothly without hindrance in the dim, dark waters of the river.
After swimming for a while, what appeared in their field of vision was a cavern at the bottom of the river. The cavern was pitch-black, appearing somewhat terrifying, but the three of them still urged their Pokémon forward without hesitation and swam straight inside.
No sooner had the three entered the cavern than they were met with a pair of eyes that gleamed with a crimson radiance.
"Rooaaar~!" the owner of the eyes bellowed in rage.
The voiceless yet deafening roar caused the river water to shake violently.
On the riverbank, Yuga and his companions also noticed the violently trembling surface of the water, and they were somewhat curious as to what that "family of three" was doing down at the riverbed.
Not long after the three had entered the cavern, golden flashes of light began to flicker unceasingly inside, and from time to time faint currents of electricity would leak outward.
From the churning waves that burst forth from within, it was clear that a fierce battle was taking place in the cavern.
No one knew how much time had passed before several figures were flung out from within the cavern—it was precisely that "family of three."
Together with them, several Electric-type Pokémon were also blasted out, but all of them had already lost the ability to battle, and the "family of three" themselves were all injured as well.
At the cavern's edge, the remnants of Electric-type energy left behind by the battle still lingered. Under the illumination of the golden radiance, a massive blue tail slowly withdrew back into the cavern.
Any trainer, upon seeing that tail, would instantly recognize that it belonged to a Gyarados.
The three people recalled all of their injured Electric-type Pokémon back into their Poké Balls, then immediately turned around and swam back toward the riverbank.
Hidden at the shore, Yuga and his companions only saw the three emerge to the surface in an utterly miserable state. Once they climbed onto the bank, the fake father spat out a mouthful of bloodied water into the grass and then said:
"It seems it still won't work. Without the help of the Remnants of the Dragon Clan, we cannot enter the ruin."
The "son," being young, and thus lacking a steady temperament, said angrily: "Master said that someone would bring the Remnants of the Dragon Clan here to meet us, but how many days has it already been now? We have not even seen a shadow of them. Just how much longer are we supposed to wait?"
The "mother" said helplessly: "But what can we do about it? Without the Remnants of the Dragon Clan, there is simply no way for us to enter the ruin."
The three of them continued complaining by the riverside for a while before finally leaving.
Once the three had departed, Yuga and his companions came out from their hiding spot and walked over to the riverbank.
The three of them exchanged glances with one another, then each released their Water-type mounts and leapt into the river.
Why had Seiryu and Iris followed along? Wasn't it precisely because they were the Remnants of the Dragon Clan? Moreover, all of them had already awakened the special abilities of the Remnants of the Dragon Clan.
So the conditions that those three people did not possess—they already possessed.