"None of our kin may enter… what does that mean?"
The group started discussing.
"This is the Matsuba Family's mausoleum. 'Our kin' must refer to members of the Matsuba Family, right?" They eventually reached this conclusion.
"Then doesn't that mean none of us are allowed inside? Pfft! What a joke. I don't believe in that kind of superstition."
Raine's father said this and prepared to enter.
But Raine's grandfather stopped him and said, "Wait. You four go in with him, and release all your Pokémon just in case. With five of you, even if something happens, we won't have to worry."
Though the four were reluctant, they couldn't defy Raine's grandfather's authority. With five people going in together, the fear wasn't as overwhelming.
Raine's father led the group, accompanied by his Gengar and Mismagius. The others brought out two Honchkrow, two Haunter, and two Sneasel. Eight Pokémon in total.
It was an impressive lineup, enough to instill confidence.
They pushed open the stone doors and entered the inner chamber.
Once they were all inside, the stone doors suddenly slammed shut.
Raine's grandfather's heart skipped a beat. He quickly released a Banette; three Pokémon now stood guard in front of him.
The old man was just trying to give himself a little peace of mind.
Tetsuya remained leaning quietly against the wall, with Raine and Machoke still watching over him.
The Ghost-type Pokémon manuscript had already been destroyed, and the most important section on training Gengar in Distorted Space hadn't been found.
Letting Tetsuya leave now would be unacceptable.
And with this mysterious area still ahead, they wouldn't be satisfied without exploring it fully.
Tetsuya had faced countless brushes with death in the wilderness during his previous life. This situation was actually quite safe by comparison. Besides, he still had Pryce's Swinub.
---◓---
Time ticked by.
Waiting always made people anxious.
The passageway was eerily silent, and the atmosphere felt suffocating.
Raine and his grandfather kept glancing around nervously. After all, their loved ones -father/son- were inside.
Tetsuya was also curious. What could be inside that caused such total silence?
No one knew how much time had passed…
Suddenly, the stone doors opened again, revealing a faint blue glow.
All three instinctively leaned in to look.
"Ojiisan… did they succeed?" All Raine wanted now was a reassuring answer.
"It's okay, it's okay…"
The old man mumbled to himself repeatedly.
Suddenly!
A mass of objects came flying out from inside. The three of them reflexively backed away.
With a heavy thud, they looked down at the ground...
Corpses… more precisely, dried corpses. Five people and four Pokémon. The other four Ghost-types had left no remains, but they were nowhere to be seen either.
"O-Oto… Otousan…!"
Raine could only recognize his father by his clothing. The desiccated corpses no longer resembled their original forms. Fear had consumed him completely. Even though his father lay dead before him, the sorrow was so deep he couldn't shed a single tear.
"M-My son… this is all my fault…"
Raine's grandfather's hands trembled uncontrollably. He couldn't accept what he was seeing.
Such corpses...
Tetsuya knew them all too well. Koga's Mega Gengar had done the same to his Pokémon; though during that public tournament, it had held back just enough not to kill. The outcome had been only slightly better than this.
There was no mistaking it.
Inside had to be a Mega Gengar from Distorted Space, and most likely the very one he had seen before.
It wasn't Koga's, but the hatred it radiated had already been tied to him.
He could barely restrain himself from killing this Mega Gengar on the spot to avenge his past life.
"Ojiisan! Let's just get out of here. Otousan is already dead… There's no reason to stay! We're all of Matsuba blood. It's too dangerous in there! We shouldn't go in!"
Raine's words reminded the old man, who had just been struck by the grief of losing his son.
"Matsuba… blood… How could I forget!? There's still one more person…"
Raine's grandfather suddenly remembered Tetsuya, and his eyes lit up. He stared directly at him. "You're not one of the Matsuba Family."
Tetsuya glanced at him coldly, already understanding what the old man intended.
"Ojisan, if he goes in there, he'll just die!" Raine protested.
"Silence! Or do you want him walking out and exposing all we've done?"
The roar from his grandfather left Raine speechless. Only now did he realize that from the moment Tetsuya entered the tomb, he had been marked for death.
"Gaki, get in there now… or I'll kill you right here!"
Raine's grandfather glared viciously as he barked the order.
Tetsuya had planned to go in anyway. Even without being forced, he was determined to see whether this Mega Gengar or Pryce's Swinub was stronger.
He sneered. "Tehaha… You sure like throwing your weight around, old man."
With that, Tetsuya walked toward the stone door alone, one hand gripping Swinub's Poké Ball tightly in his pocket.
Raine watched his figure disappear into the chamber. He knew this might be the last time he ever saw Tetsuya. '…I'll take care of your Gastly and Ditto for you.'
Though mature beyond his years, Raine was still just a ten-year-old child. He hadn't developed the ruthless, inhuman cruelty of his father and grandfather.
Tetsuya pushed open the stone door just enough to slip through.
The moment he entered, a gust of eerie wind slammed into him. Without hesitation, he threw Swinub's Poké Ball.
The door sealed shut behind him. Swinub stood ready at his side. If danger struck, Tetsuya could react instantly.
It was indeed… Mega Gengar.
This hall was much smaller than the previous two. There was no coffin, only two wooden boxes and two gravestones.
Mega Gengar floated between the two gravestones, eyes closed, as if sensing something.
Tetsuya was fully prepared for battle. The Mega Gengar was no joke, he wouldn't make any rash moves.
After a moment of standoff, Mega Gengar floated aside and pointed at the gravestone, signaling Tetsuya to read it.
That left Tetsuya a bit baffled.
Could it really be, as written above the door, that those with Matsuba blood were forbidden from entering?
Mega Gengar must have been sensing his bloodline; if he didn't carry the Matsuba lineage, he wouldn't be attacked.
Still, Tetsuya didn't let his guard down. This was a Mega Gengar that fed on vitality. One mistake and he could be drained dry.
Keeping Swinub at his side, he cautiously approached the left gravestone.
[~Matsuba III~]
'Heh. The mysterious Matsuba III.'
From the [Matsuba Family Chronicle], to Ecruteak City's history, to the Matsuba Cemetery… there had never been even a shred of information about Matsuba III.
And yet here he was, resurfacing at last.