"I didn't expect Professor Oak to have told you about this in advance."
Jasmine was also somewhat surprised by the expression on Silas's face.
She had assumed that he would have to ask around before finding out.
"Uh..."
Silas hesitated for a moment.
"Not exactly. I mainly saw some photographs in the laboratory."
"I see."
Jasmine nodded knowingly.
"It isn't anything major. As long as you know what you're doing."
Silas indicated that he understood.
To most people in the Pokémon world, Legendary Pokémon were ultimately nothing more than legends.
Even when one truly appeared, only a small number of people would actually know about it.
There was nothing that could be done about it. Human greed was endless.
And greed alone was not frightening. What was frightening was having greed without any self-awareness.
The League certainly did not want some idiot to anger a Legendary Pokémon and then leave everyone else to deal with the inexplicable consequences.
Even if criminal organizations had plans targeting Legendary Pokémon, they at least genuinely possessed some ability to back themselves up.
But reckless Trainers were different.
Some of them really were capable of pulling off the feat of having a Caterpie battle Rayquaza.
Silas's suggestion was to learn Electroweb first.
Not to use it against Rayquaza, but to make Trainers' brains a little more functional.
There would never be a shortage of armchair experts who only knew how to talk big without actually doing anything.
Just take a look at any Pokémon forum, and you would be buried under posts from people like that.
According to them, kicking Steven's ass and punching Lance into the ground were nothing more than trivial matters.
Silas found it difficult to understand what went through the minds of such people.
To a large extent, the League's concealment of information concerning Legendary Pokémon was also intended to protect those people who failed to realize just how powerful Legendary Pokémon really were.
"So, what do you think? Should we continue exploring?"
Silas looked at Jasmine.
For the time being, regardless of whether Celebi might be present around Agate Village, their current focus was still the ruins.
After all, the benefits of the latter were tangible.
"Of course."
Jasmine replied indifferently.
"Even if there's some danger, there's no need to worry too much with me here.
"At worst, the three of us, you, me, and Falkner, can go down and explore it ourselves.
"I don't believe Skyler didn't give Falkner some Pokémon to protect himself."
"Mm."
Silas raised both hands and feet in agreement.
As his strength increased, he was no longer as cautious about exploring unknown places as he had been in the past.
If his strength had increased but his attitude remained so timid and cautious, he might as well stay in the city and muddle through life.
If there was danger, all he had to do was run.
What he was afraid of was being unable to run at all.
After recalling Pidgeot and Magnezone, the two headed straight toward Qilei Village.
After explaining the situation to the middle-aged man who was leading the group, he could only sigh helplessly.
"If that's what the village chief said, then please be careful."
"We will. We'll also have to trouble you to lead the way. You should be much more familiar with the exact location than we are."
Jasmine gave him a slight nod.
"Wait a moment."
The middle-aged man called over several people and gave them some instructions before leading the way.
The surrounding area was typical mountainous terrain.
Yellowish-brown rocks were exposed everywhere, making the place look exceptionally desolate.
Occasionally, small gray Geodude scurried between the rocks. Upon seeing people approaching, they quickly hid themselves.
"This is the place."
The middle-aged man stopped in front of a stretch of flat ground and pointed ahead.
Silas noticed a trace of fear in his eyes. He frowned and asked,
"You seem to know something about these ruins. Would you mind telling us?"
The man hurriedly nodded.
"Of course, of course.
"Actually, I don't know whether it's true. It's mainly based on some legends passed down through the generations. They say that there is an evil artifact beneath this place capable of controlling people's minds."
As he spoke, he could not help but look somewhat frightened.
"About twenty years ago, two young men from our village came here and stayed overnight.
"When they returned the next day, their eyes were glowing red.
"They were also carrying sharp rocks and attacked anyone they saw.
"If a Trainer hadn't happened to pass by at the time, someone might have been killed."
Jasmine and Silas exchanged glances.
Sure enough, people who were determined to court disaster existed everywhere.
There was already a legend about the place, yet some people still refused to believe it and insisted on experiencing it for themselves.
"Ghost-type Pokémon?"
Silas offered his guess without paying any attention to the middle-aged man, who was adamantly refusing to go any farther.
It was extremely common for Psychic-type or Ghost-type Pokémon to be associated with the appearance of ruins.
"The red glow does indeed sound somewhat like something a Ghost-type Pokémon could cause.
"But directly attacking everyone they see doesn't seem to fit the temperament of Ghost-type Pokémon very well."
Jasmine was also thinking. She did not completely dismiss Silas's idea, but instead pointed out the suspicious part.
"Maybe it's a Ghost-type Pokémon from another region. Ghost-type Pokémon like Gengar, which enjoy playing pranks and don't casually kill people, are relatively uncommon."
Neither of them had paid much attention to the middle-aged man's claim about an "evil artifact capable of controlling people's minds."
In the Pokémon world, things like this were generally the work of Pokémon.
With all kinds of special abilities at their disposal, controlling people's minds was hardly the limit of what they could accomplish.
For example, there was the illusion created by Brock's Ninetales.
"What happened to those two people afterward?"
Silas continued questioning him.
"They..."
The middle-aged man swallowed with difficulty. His voice was somewhat dry.
"In the end, they jumped into the river and killed themselves."
"Their eyes were still red when they jumped into the river?"
"Yes. It was broad daylight, too. It was terrifying."
The man nodded frantically.
This was also why he had desperately tried to stop the exploration team from entering the village.
After all, there were quite a few Trainers among those people.
Although they were not particularly strong, they were still much stronger than the villagers.
If they were controlled and released their Pokémon to cause destruction, it would truly become a huge problem.
"Lady Jasmine, why don't you come back after seven years? The village chief said it's dangerous, too."
The man pleaded with her.
He was genuinely afraid.
"Don't worry. Nothing will happen."
Jasmine comforted him.
"Besides, we can't just leave it like this for seven years.
"I didn't know about it before, but now that I do, we should deal with it as soon as possible. Otherwise, the danger is simply too great."
Although the man had described the situation as extremely frightening, neither Silas nor Jasmine showed the slightest intention of backing down.
If the so-called evil force beneath them was powerful enough to control Pokémon at or above the Elite Four level, it would not be hiding underground like this.
Moreover, according to the village chief of Agate Village, the danger posed by the ruins would not be particularly great seven years from now.
That meant the power of whatever was down there was constantly weakening.
"You can retreat a little farther first. Take the villagers and stay near the exploration team. If there's a major disturbance later, they'll be responsible for protecting you."
Jasmine gave him some instructions before letting the middle-aged man leave.
She then turned to Silas.
"Let's first take a look at the general situation. Once we determine the exact entrance, we can wait for Falkner to arrive."
"Sure."
Silas took several Poké Balls from his belt.
"Though the existence of this village really has saved us quite a bit of effort. I didn't expect us to find the location so easily.
"Gigalith, Blaziken, and Gallade, I'll be counting on you!"
"Exactly. Otherwise, with the interference resistance of these ruins, we'd have to spend at least another day or two here."
Jasmine nodded in agreement.
"As for me, Steelix and Bronzong, I'll leave it to you two!"
Red light flashed through the air.
In the blink of an eye, five Pokémon appeared in the open area, occupying a considerable amount of space.
There was no need to mention Gigalith and Jasmine's Steelix, An'er.
One was broad while the other was long, making the two of them the largest Pokémon present.
Next was the Pokémon Jasmine called Tetsuko.
It was a Bronzong.
However, this Bronzong was obviously much larger than others of its species.
"Tetsuko is a Pokémon I encountered and caught in some ruins. It had been sleeping for a very long time.
"I had to put in a tremendous amount of effort to get its body completely clean back then."
Jasmine proudly patted Bronzong's body, producing a series of echoes.
This Bronzong, standing 1.8 meters tall and weighing more than 500 kilograms, was clearly not an easy opponent.
However, its attitude toward Jasmine was extremely affectionate.
Perhaps, just as Jasmine had said, it was because she had gone to such great lengths to clean its body.
For a special Pokémon that lived in ruins, sleeping for hundreds of years was perfectly normal.
After waking up, its body would naturally be covered in dirt and all kinds of other mess.
Cleaning it with Psychic powers was one thing, but feeling uncomfortable psychologically was another.
Under such circumstances, helping a Pokémon clean itself was indeed a highly effective way to increase its bond with its Trainer.
Bronzong swayed its body toward Jasmine in greeting before floating into the air, blue-purple light beginning to glow around it.
"Levitate and Heavy Metal. That's quite an interesting ability combination."
Silas's eyes lit up as he praised it.
For a Steel and Psychic-type Bronzong, both Levitate, its first Ability, and Heatproof, its second Ability, could effectively help improve its resistances.
But without considering the probability of encountering a particular opponent, Levitate, which grants immunity to Ground-type moves, was undoubtedly better than the reduction provided by the latter.
Moreover, although Bronzong was a Psychic-type Pokémon, it could not learn Teleport, and it was also rather slow.
Levitate could also greatly improve its mobility.
Silas had once thought that the reason Bronzong could not learn Teleport was probably because it was simply too heavy.
"Then let's get started on our side, too."
Seeing that Steelix and Bronzong had already begun working, Silas also directed his three Pokémon toward the areas they needed to investigate.
Yellow, blue, and blue-purple, three different colors intertwined in the air.
"A Blaziken skilled in Aura. Wow, your Blaziken really is quite unusual."
Jasmine could not help but sigh in amazement.
Silas smiled and replied,
"Speaking of which, haven't people recently been saying that the blue dog also has the Steel type? Jasmine, aren't you planning to raise one?"
Although it had not been officially announced yet, researchers had already reached a conclusion regarding this new type called Steel.
They had also recently updated and corrected the types of quite a few Pokémon based on the relevant research.
As direct members of the League and people who could be considered part of its upper ranks, the two naturally had access to first-hand information.
"Blue dog? Lucario?"
Jasmine was stunned for a moment before realizing what he meant. She burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha! That's quite an interesting nickname. Be careful, or Manectric's supporters might come looking for you!"
"As for raising one, forget it. I'm already very satisfied with my Pokémon.
"Adding Lucario would actually be somewhat inconvenient.
"Besides, I don't have Aura. Finding a Lucario that acknowledges me would be extremely difficult."
She placed both hands behind her back, looking completely relaxed.
The two chatted while directing their Pokémon to search for the entrance to the ruins, and time passed quickly.
"Gigalith!"
A deep cry came from Gigalith in the distance.
Silas's eyes lit up.
"Let's go take a look. Gigalith seems to have discovered something."
With that, he quickly walked toward Gigalith.
Seeing its Trainer arrive, Gigalith also rotated the rocks on its body as it conveyed the information it had discovered.
Silas translated it very seriously, while Jasmine was stunned by the way he communicated with his Pokémon.
A form of encrypted communication?
Interesting.
After seeing through the principle behind it, Jasmine thoughtfully looked toward her own Steelix.
Actually, she could probably learn this method of communication as well. It was sufficiently covert.
It was just a pity that Steelix's body was not as flexible as Onix's or Gigalith's, so there would be some shortcomings in terms of concealment and precision.
She could instead have Steelix manipulate objects and make them travel along its body.
Silas had no idea that Jasmine was so blatantly learning from him.
"Gigalith says it's right here, at a depth of roughly 300 meters."
"Then let's start digging, Steelix!"
Jasmine did not hesitate and immediately called her Pokémon over.
"Boom!"
As the enormous Steel-type Pokémon sank into the ground as smoothly as though it were entering water, a huge opening appeared in the open area.
Countless amounts of sand and soil were manipulated by Psychic power and thrown to the side.
A mound of earth quickly formed nearby.
In less than ten minutes, a simple passage leading underground had been constructed, with clearly defined steps.
This was the efficiency that only Pokémon could provide.
"Pidgeot!"
Just then, a familiar cry came from high above.
"That's Pidgeot's cry. Falkner should be here."
Silas looked up into the sky.
Sure enough, a handsome, carefree young man was waving at them as he approached.
"You guys are ridiculously fast."
After landing on the ground, Falkner eagerly recalled Pidgeot and came over.
"We were just waiting for you. Get ready and let's go in."
Silas instructed him as he put on his exploration equipment.
"Don't worry. I got everything ready a long time ago."
Falkner tugged at his clothes.
Only then did Silas realize that the guy had actually put his equipment on underneath his clothes. He did not even seem to mind how inconvenient that must have been.
"If that's the case, let's go."
Jasmine, who had also changed into her clothes, walked over from the other side.
Her valiant and spirited appearance was completely different from the refined, proper look she usually had.
The three of them brought their respective Pokémon and walked down the steps.
Fortunately, the passage had been excavated by Steelix. Otherwise, Gigalith would not have had such an easy time getting down.
Falkner's Pokémon were much smaller, a Noctowl and a Crobat, both Flying-type Pokémon that were highly suitable for operating underground.
All three of them had excellent physical fitness, and Jasmine was no exception.
After deliberately increasing their pace, they soon arrived in front of a large, slanted door.
"What does this mean?"
Falkner pointed at the writing on the door without the slightest embarrassment and asked.
"Translated, it says 'golden,' which means gold."
Silas, who was skilled in ancient languages, immediately answered.
.....
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