"Good job, Alakazam. However, I'll need you and Ditto to round up the survivors next."
Taking the treasure map, Gu Yuan praised Alakazam with a smile before assigning it a new task.
Nodding, Alakazam used Teleport with Ditto and vanished instantly. Guided by psychic detection, not a single pirate could escape their reach. Soon, the last dozen pirates, including their captain, were taken captive.
"Interrogate them first. Execute those who deserve it, and detain the ones with lighter offenses to be handled by the Sinnoh region authorities."
With a wave of his hand, Dar pronounced their fate. Unfortunately, not a single person among them had committed a "light" offense. They were all executed and cast into the sea, paying the price for their past crimes.
"A treasure map... I didn't expect this group of pirates to actually carry something like this."
"By the way, this counts as your personal war trophy. Are you sure you want everyone to search for it? That will divide the spoils that originally belonged to you," Dar said, looking at Gu Yuan with a smile as he rolled up the map.
"It doesn't matter. I wouldn't be able to go treasure hunting alone anyway. I'd probably just set it aside and forget about it. It's better for everyone to go and have a look together."
"Smart!"
Dar gave a rare word of praise to the magnanimous Gu Yuan.
"Go get some rest. I'll handle the rest and guarantee we'll reach the location safely."
"Yes, thank you for the trouble."
"Don't mention it."
After turning to leave, Gu Yuan stopped worrying about the matter. It was as he said; he couldn't hunt for treasure alone. Furthermore, a map found on common pirates likely wasn't for anything too precious. Fortunately, the location on the map didn't deviate from their original route. Two days later, the group arrived at the treasure island.
Calling it an island was a bit of a stretch. Standing on the sea, the crew could see its entire layout at a glance. It was precisely because it had no development value that no one had ever claimed it, allowing the treasure to remain hidden until today.
"Half of you stay behind to guard the ship. The rest, follow me ashore."
Dar had already assigned the landing party before arrival, so there was no confusion. The landing party included the entire Regional Battle Tournament team. Logically, since the map belonged to Gu Yuan, Dar shouldn't have let Taishi Utsunomiya and his peers go ashore. However, to prevent them from causing trouble behind his back, Dar felt it was better to keep them where he could see them.
The group encountered no powerful wild Pokémon along the way and reached the center of the island smoothly.
"According to the map, it should be right here."
"It's up to you, Kurata. Use your Pokémon to dig through here!"
"You got it!"
Kurata replied, releasing his Pokémon. Although he was a scion of a prominent family, this was his first treasure hunt, and he was visibly excited. With the Pokémon's help, a large hole was quickly excavated. Throughout the process, Gu Yuan and Alakazam kept a close eye on the excavation site, not missing a single detail. They only noticed something when the sound of a mechanism activating echoed.
"Everyone, come back."
Following Kurata's command, his Pokémon retreated to his side. Immediately after, the mechanism triggered, and a tunnel appeared before everyone's eyes.
"I'll go down first. Gu Yuan, stay in the middle. Keep your Alakazam on high alert at all times."
"Yes!"
Releasing Nidoking, Dar entered the tunnel first. Once inside, the surroundings weren't dark; instead, it was quite bright because many glowing stones were embedded in the walls. Unfortunately, they weren't luminous pearls, or it would have been quite a haul. The further they walked, the stronger the light became until they entered a large square.
In the massive square stood four stone pillars. On top of each sat a giant rock emitting a blue light, illuminating the murals on the surrounding walls.
"Don't act rashly. Let's look for clues in the murals first."
Ever cautious, even Dar, with his Champion Rank strength, did not rush forward. He looked for information on the walls first. After scanning the area and committing the murals to memory, Gu Yuan quickly pieced them into a complete story.
"I think I've figured out what these murals are about."
Gu Yuan then began to explain.
"Starting from the first mural, it tells the story of the inhabitants who lived on this island a long time ago. Due to a disaster, the grain harvests failed, and even the Berries were all eaten."
"Tragically, there were no fish to be caught in the nearby waters either."
"At that time, people hadn't invented tools like Poké Balls, so they didn't dare enter the deep areas where wild Pokémon lived."
"Finally, the starving and freezing people placed their last hope on the gods—the Legendary Pokémon. After a ritual, they actually received a response. Kyogre appeared!"
"Though no one knows why Kyogre did it, it brought these people a vast amount of fish, helping them survive the crisis."
"To thank Kyogre for its help, they built this place to show their gratitude and respect. I just don't know why it ended up buried or how it was turned into a treasure map."
Following Gu Yuan's explanation, the others understood the history through the murals. Now only one question remained: was there anything else here that could be called treasure besides the murals? Was it the glowing stones on the pillars? Or the altar ahead?
"Let's go. We'll check the altar."
With Nidoking leading the way, Dar reached the altar first. Unfortunately, there were no valuable items here—not even a statue. These findings led everyone to speculate that someone might have been here before and cleared out everything of value.
"It looks like there's no harvest, but at least we found traces of Kyogre's deeds."
"Take photos of these murals. Historians might be interested in them."
Dar shook his head helplessly and announced the result of the treasure hunt. The others had no objections; they treated it like a walk to clear their heads. Arriving at the altar, Gu Yuan and Alakazam also failed to find any clues.
It seems I'm really not a main character; I won't just stumble upon some deeply buried treasure.
Gu Yuan thought helplessly and prepared to leave. What the group failed to notice was that at one point, the light from the blue stones grew slightly more intense. At the same time, in the depths of the ocean, a pair of giant eyes snapped open.