After its Terastallization broke and the Tera crystal shattered into stardust, Palossand flared with anger for a second—then, seeing the azure swirl gathering once more in Dragonite's mouth, chickened out, dove into the sand, and fled without a trace in the blink of an eye.
Lucas, who had been about to take out a Poké Ball to temporarily capture Palossand and release it after exploring the tomb, froze with a dumb look.
No backbone at all—running that fast?
Raifort spoke up. "How about this: I'll have Grumpig and Seviper stand guard outside later. They can also watch my off-roader."
She clearly knew what Lucas was worried about.
They were about to enter an underground tomb somewhere near the leaning watchtower. If Palossand returned for revenge while they were defenseless inside, they could be trapped.
To prevent that, Pokémon had to keep watch outside.
Raifort had a clear sense of her role.
She only needed to handle traps and mechanisms and lead the way. The fighting could be left entirely to Lucas.
…
With the incident over, Raifort went back to prepping for the tomb.
Lucas, meanwhile, returned to his earlier plan—ride Dragonite to the top platform of the watchtower and see if anything was there.
In the games, watchtower tops usually have some items and TMs—and typically a Pokémon called Gimmighoul.
As the exalted Pokédex No. 999, Gimmighoul has two forms: the Chest Form, born inside a treasure chest, and the Roaming Form, born from passion infused into a coin.
The tower-top Gimmighoul is the capturable Chest Form, while the Paldea region's nooks and crannies hide Roaming Forms that can't be captured.
Chest Form Gimmighoul can barely move because of the chest.
But the Roaming form is so nimble that people rarely notice them. Even if spotted, their sharp senses trigger and they bolt, so no one in Paldea has captured a Roaming Gimmighoul.
The Roaming form always carries an ancient coin with austere patterns and is only about ten centimeters tall—small enough to fit in a palm.
As Lucas mounted Dragonite and flew toward the top—
The tiny figure at the platform's edge—Gimmighoul—looked startled.
"Ding!"
Startled by Lucas and Dragonite, it had no time to admire that they'd defeated Palossand. It let out a clear little cry, even abandoning its coin as it panicked and squeezed into a sun-cracked gap at the platform's edge, hiding with practiced ease.
With that unremarkable crevice, its tiny body, and a Ghost-type's innate ability to hide its presence, no one would find it without a careful search.
A second after Gimmighoul hid, Dragonite reached the platform.
Lucas didn't have Dragonite land; he dismounted, boots on ancient stone, and scanned his surroundings.
The tower was already leaning. He was fine by himself, but a four-hundred-plus-pound Dragonite moving around could be the last straw that finally brought the tower down.
As a watchtower, the top platform was spacious.
Unfortunately, because of the lean, Lucas didn't dare go toward the lower, slanted side. The teetering edges looked terrifying.
After checking the safe area and not even finding a stray feather, he sighed. Of course the exalted No. 999 wouldn't just sit around here.
It seemed his plan to collect coins and evolve the exalted No. 999 Gimmighoul into the exalted No. 1000 Gholdengo had hit a snag at step one.
Just then, Raifort below called up—she seemed ready, urging Lucas to come down and begin.
"Drago~~"
As Lucas was about to leave, Dragonite—whose night vision far surpassed his—pointed to the edge on the lower side of the platform and let out a puzzled trill.
There… seemed to be a coin?
Blinking, Dragonite fluttered over, carefully picked up a coin whose color stood out even in the dark with its slightly pudgy claws, and proudly presented it to Lucas.
Hiding in the crack, Gimmighoul realized it had dropped its coin. It wanted to retrieve its precious treasure, but feared Dragonite—who had easily beaten Palossand—and could only fret in the crevice, unable to muster the courage to come out.
"This is…"
Lucas took the ancient-patterned coin from Dragonite, deep in thought.
A moment later, as if he'd figured it out, he handed the coin back and had Dragonite carefully return it to where it had been.
No chest mimic, but on the tower top… a coin-back little guy!
Knowing the coin-back's timid nature, Lucas didn't try to force it out with the coin. He had Dragonite put it back, flashed a friendly smile toward a certain spot by the tower's edge, then descended to join Raifort and prep for the tomb.
Long after Lucas and Dragonite left the top, Gimmighoul cautiously peeked out. Confirming no one was there, it hugged its recovered coin and smiled happily.
When the joy faded, it recalled the human who had commanded Dragonite and his behavior.
It hesitated, then timidly craned out, as if searching for Lucas.
But below, aside from the off-roader parked in the distance, there were only two Pokémon standing guard—both looked fierce to Gimmighoul.
Frightened, it shrank back—then remembered the friendly smile from Lucas, who seemed to know it was hiding in the crack.
Gritting its metaphorical teeth, it went "ding ding ding" to psych itself up, and using its innate gifts, slipped down the tower with its coin, slipped past Seviper and Grumpig, and scurried into the off-road vehicle.
If it guessed right, that human would return to this big thing.
…
Inside a pitch-black passage, the only light coming from their flashlights, Lucas followed behind Raifort, curiosity written all over his face. Everything here was new to him.
"Didn't expect the tomb entrance to be there."
Thinking of where Raifort had taken him, Lucas was impressed.
He'd imagined the entrance would be inside the leaning tower, accessed through lower levels buried in sand.
But Raifort helplessly asked him: if the tomb entrance were blatantly connected to the tower, would this tomb still be waiting for the two of them?
It would've been raided countless times. The tomb owner's underwear would be gone—let alone the official's journal she was after.
The real entrance was like that Tera crystal—deep within the sands that built this vast Asado Desert.
To get in, you had to find the right spot and bring a Pokémon that could manipulate sand, part the sands in that area, and locate a very well-hidden sand pit.
To reach this tomb, Raifort had even gone to the Hoenn region's desert to catch a Trapinch to churn the sand, find the pit, and use a gentle Sand Tomb to swallow them down.
To be honest, Lucas never wanted to experience being sucked into a sand vortex again.
Even with a mask and protective suit, being engulfed—body and vision—felt like being buried alive. It was awful.
Thankfully, the novelty of the tomb exploration washed away his discomfort. Following a professional like Raifort was pretty fun.
Raifort's gear wasn't tomb-raiding relics but modern industrial tech: detectors, protective suits, flashlights…
That deflated Lucas's excitement a bit.
Raifort led Lucas methodically through the maze-like tomb, full of dead ends.
"Many tomb raiders in the past used torches or Pokémon to light the way, but under certain conditions that can wipe out an entire party."
"That so-called stale, ancient air in long-sealed tombs is actually marsh gas… and mechanisms sensitive to energy released by Pokémon."
"Times have changed! With modern tech, flashlights won't produce energy fluctuations, and our protective suits ensure we breathe clean air, avoiding pathogens and toxins."
Through the comms built into their suits, Raifort explained calmly while deftly disarming traps, and Lucas listened, feeling enlightened.
A crisp click echoed through the narrow passage. Raifort exhaled, turned to Lucas, and smiled slightly. "There should be guardian Pokémon behind this door. Champion, I'll leave the battle to you, okay?"
...
Bonus chapter at 100 PS