"Ding~!"
[Detected: an unusual energy signature approximately 300 meters beneath the host. Insufficient proximity for full analysis.]
Ash's pupils contracted the moment the system notification echoed in his mind—this was no ordinary energy reading.
"The system rarely speaks up on its own... so for it to activate now, whatever's down there must be serious," Ash thought, his expression remaining calm and unreadable.
"We'll camp here tonight. I want to figure out what's really going on with those gophers." Ash narrowed his eyes, already deciding to investigate the source of the disturbance.
"Alright! I'll go set up the tent." Suzie gave a casual shrug and pulled camping gear from her backpack.
Suddenly, a red sports car skidded to a stop nearby. A familiar voice called out, "Ash! What are you doing here? I've been camping out for three days!"
Ash turned to see Gary Oak step out of the car, stylish as ever. His childhood rival and cousin had clearly not changed much.
"Gary! Didn't expect to see you here." Ash smiled. The two had grown up together and shared a bond that even their rivalry couldn't break.
Gary punched Ash lightly on the arm. "Hey man, thanks. I heard what you did—giving up your pharmacy shares to the family. Gramps told me. You really helped solidify my spot as heir."
Ash chuckled and returned the punch with a brotherly hug. "No big deal. How's the search going?"
Gary shook his head. "The gophers barely move during the day, but at night? The ground practically shakes. Feels like an earthquake down there. Also…" He wiggled his eyebrows. "Aren't you gonna introduce the three beauties traveling with you?"
Ash sighed at Gary's classic smirk. "You're incorrigible. Fine—this is Cynthia, Champion of the Sinnoh region… and my fiancée. Pretty sure you heard from Grandpa already. The woman beside her is Sabrina. We met up this morning—she's one of the most talented Breeders out there. Probably only Brock could compete."
"Fiancée? You really beat me to it, huh?" Gary said with mock envy. "I've dated a ton, but none of those girls were marriage material. Guess that's the downside of dating girls who only care about your Pokédollars."
"Want me to have Aunt Delia and Uncle Samuel set you up with someone?" Ash teased, lighting a cigarette and grinning. "I'm sure they'd be delighted to arrange a marriage."
Gary groaned. "Spare me. They're already cutting my allowance thanks to you. If they start matchmaking too, I'll have no freedom left!"
As they joked, the foreman nearby, clearly having eavesdropped, suddenly approached. "You must be Ash Ketchum of the Oak family! I heard you're helping out. Please—we need you. If this construction project isn't finished on time, the whole town will face drought!"
Ash nodded seriously. "I'll look into it tonight. If I can figure out the source, the rest should be easy."
Gary sighed. "Well, since you're here, I'll head out. My Pokémon aren't cooperating, and I haven't made any progress."
"Fair. Just a heads-up—avoid Saffron Gym for now. You're not ready. Trust me, even at my current level, it's a toss-up."
Gary frowned. "You mean your championship-level self still can't guarantee a win?"
Ash nodded. "Yeah. That Gym is no joke."
"Noted." Gary got into his car. "I'll stay far away from that one for now."
Once Gary left, Cynthia looked thoughtful. "Is the leader of Saffron Gym really that strong?"
"I've heard of it too," Sabrina chimed in. "But I've never seen the leader. My parents always warned me not to get involved. It's really far from Goldenrod anyway, so I never bothered."
Ash's gaze darkened slightly. "That Gym Leader is Giovanni—the Rocket Boss himself. Everyone in the League's upper circle knows. He's absurdly powerful. I've heard whispers that Team Rocket created a genetically-engineered Pokémon, stronger than even most Legendary Pokémon… and it's a Psychic-type."
"Mewtwo…" Cynthia whispered, eyes widening.
Ash nodded. "The League suspects Rocket scientists developed it in a hidden lab. They're still trying to locate and destroy the base before Mewtwo grows too powerful."
"No wonder you stayed away from Saffron Gym," Cynthia said.
"I plan to challenge it last. I want to see Mewtwo with my own eyes." Ash smiled faintly. "If he really is the strongest Psychic Pokémon ever created, I have to know."
Later that night…
After enjoying a delicious meal cooked by Suzie, everyone turned in. As the others settled into the tent, Ash's thoughts returned to the system.
"System—can you get a precise location on that energy signature?" he asked mentally.
Ding~!
[Confirmed. Approximately 300 meters directly underground.]
"Damn. It's really that deep?" Ash muttered. Without hesitation, he vanished into the night using his high-speed movement technique.
Unbeknownst to him, Sabrina's eyes fluttered open the moment he left. She smiled knowingly—Ash may have tried to hide it, but her psychic perception picked up his movements instantly. He'd spent so much time around her that his mental presence had become familiar—too familiar for him to hide.
Ash arrived at the marked location and tossed out a Poké Ball.
"Steelix, come out!"
With a roar, the giant serpent burst from the ball, towering over Ash.
"Steelix, dig. Right here."
Steelix roared again and slammed into the earth, easily boring a tunnel straight down with its massive body. Ash hopped onto its head, gripping tightly as they descended deeper and deeper underground.
"How much farther?" he asked the system.
"100 meters remaining."
Just then—BOOM! Steelix crashed through into a hollow chamber.
Ash coughed through the dust, unable to see in the darkness.
"Sharingan—activate." His pupils twisted into a crimson spiral as the special vision technique kicked in. The shadows cleared.
"…Ancient ruins," Ash whispered, eyes wide.
He recognized the strange carvings on the walls—they matched the ancient text he had once seen in Professor Oak's research lab. He recalled studying it years ago. This wasn't just some ordinary ruin.
"Return, Steelix." The cave wasn't exactly small, but even Steelix was too big to maneuver comfortably here.
Ash walked slowly along a stone corridor, studying the walls as the Pokémon engravings grew more distinct.
"These must be Pokémon… but this place is ancient—far older than Dragonite's fossil era…"
A single touch turned parts of the stone to gas, eroded by eons. Ash took his time translating the carvings. It took nearly half an hour before he pieced together the rough story:
Over 500 million years ago—during the paleontological period—no Pokémon or humans existed. Only massive reptiles, herbivores, and microscopic life forms roamed the planet. It was like Earth's own Jurassic or Cretaceous periods.
Then, everything changed.
A massive meteorite struck the surface, shattering continents and birthing countless islands. The explosion triggered a strange phenomenon: evolution accelerated wildly. A new form of life emerged—early humans, the first psychic tribes… and eventually, Pokémon.
Ash stared at the final wall carving, the hairs on his neck rising.
"So I was right. This world is like Earth. But the evolution diverged when the meteor fell… and Pokémon were born as a result."
He looked around the massive underground cavern, a grin tugging at his lips.
"An ancient world, a hidden truth… Mewtwo, I wonder if you're down here too."
His crimson eyes shimmered in the darkness as his curiosity deepened.
"Let's see what secrets you've been hiding for half a billion years."
Thinking of this, Ash once again turned his gaze to the wall. As he had guessed, during the era when Pokémon first began to appear, Legendary Pokémon—like the Flame Bird—were nearly everywhere!
Just as he was about to study the mural further, Ash suddenly realized something. The ancient script on the wall abruptly ended—right after the section he'd just read. There was no continuation at all, which left him deeply disappointed.
"Wait… how could a cave dating back over 500 million years show up here—barely eight or nine hundred meters underground? That doesn't make any sense!" With the mural's contents ending so suddenly, Ash's curiosity shifted to another strange inconsistency.
Boom!
Suddenly, the entire area shook violently. Loose stones began to fall from the ceiling. Acting quickly, Ash activated Suzuno to shield himself.
"BEE-PORCH!"
After the tremors stopped, Ash heard a high-pitched squeaking sound. He looked over to see a swarm of Diglett—along with three large ones—burrowing upward through the earth. It looked like these Pokémon emerged in massive numbers at night, and the sheer scale of their movement was easily enough to cause a quake.
"Wait a second… don't tell me this cave is—"
As the Diglett scattered, the vibrations faded. Ash was about to return to studying the mural when a realization struck him. He recalled the mural's final section ending abruptly—and now, he understood why.
The ancient text didn't simply stop recording information. No—it was cut off.
The tremors and the movement of the Diglett hinted at a startling truth: the entire corridor of this ruin had likely been relocated by the Diglett themselves. That would explain the unnatural break in the mural. It wasn't incomplete because of a lack of data—it was because the Diglett only dragged part of the ruin with them!
And if that's the case, it also explains how a structure dating back half a billion years could end up in this desolate place, hundreds of meters underground. If the Diglett hadn't moved it here, it would have been discovered by humans long ago.
"There are fault lines here after all… Incredible. The strength of these Diglett is insane. Just moving this massive corridor must've taken thousands of them working together!"
Motivated by this realization, Ash rushed to the section where the mural had been cut off. Upon closer inspection, he was right—there was a fault, like a stone slab had been cleanly broken in half. One half remained, but the other? It was gone—its location a mystery.
"The Diglett can't enter water... so that means this ruin is probably still in Kanto, though that's only about 70% certain. After all, even the seafloor is made of earth. If they were determined enough, it's possible they dragged the ruin from beneath the ocean somewhere else entirely."
The thought made Ash truly appreciate the Diglett's power. A single Diglett might not seem like much—but tens of thousands of them could collapse an entire town in a day.
"But that raises another question... Why would the Diglett even bother moving this ancient corridor? What would be the point?"
Ash frowned. Judging by the size of the structure, it would've taken at least three thousand Diglett to move it. Why would they spend that much time and effort to relocate a ruin? That, for now, remained a mystery.
Deciding not to dwell on it, Ash continued walking in the direction indicated by the system. The ruins were an unexpected discovery, but his real objective here was something else entirely—the mysterious energy the system had detected earlier that day.
"...This is it!!!"
After following the tunnel dug by the Diglett for more than thirty minutes, Ash finally arrived. At the source of the energy stood a small, octagonal gemstone, pulsing with vibrant blue light. It gave off a constant, mesmerizing glow.
"Ding~!"
[Analyzing... Please wait, Host.]
...
TN:
⚡ Pa-treon-com/LordMerlin (upto +50 Chaps)