Third Person POV
Grey continued moving through the maze-like ruins, and by now the constant walking was starting to irritate him. Every passage seemed to lead into another passage, and every turn seemed to create three more options for him to choose from. At least there was one advantage to going deeper into the ruins. The wild Pokémon he encountered were getting stronger, which meant they could actually provide some decent training for his team. Charmeleon and Persian were getting most of the opportunities to battle, especially against Pokémon from the Golem line. The surprise encounter with a Crobat from one of the darker sections of the cave was another matter entirely.
The Crobat had appeared from one end of the cave without warning and immediately started attacking. Its speed made it difficult for Charmeleon to land most of her attacks, and for a while the battle turned into a frustrating game of Charmeleon trying to predict where the flying Pokémon would appear next. Eventually, however, Charmeleon managed to bait Crobat into coming in close. The moment it committed to the attack, Charmeleon turned the tables and caught it at close range, using Bite to latch onto the Pokémon.
It was something Charmeleon had only recently started learning to make proper use of, and the situation gave her the perfect opportunity to experiment with it. While keeping her bite locked onto Crobat, she unleashed Flamethrower at point-blank range. The combination badly burned Crobat and forced it into a desperate attempt to escape. Charmeleon didn't give it the opportunity. She released her Bite and immediately followed up with Dragon Claw, striking Crobat hard enough to finish the battle.
From around the corner, the small green Pokémon watched the entire battle with sparkling eyes.
It was fascinated.
The Pokémon had been looking for rocks to eat when it had noticed the strange human travelling through the ruins. At first, it had only been curious about the battles happening nearby. The trainer and his Pokémon were defeating many of the stronger Pokémon that lived in these ruins, including some that the little Pokémon itself would normally have to run away from.
That caught its attention.
The Pokémon loved battling. It enjoyed watching battles and imagining itself becoming stronger, but the problem was that it was still weaker than many of the Pokémon living in these ruins. It couldn't simply challenge everything it encountered, especially some of the stronger Pokémon deeper inside.
But this human was different.
His Pokémon seemed to know exactly what they were doing, and the little Pokémon found itself fascinated by the way they fought. Watching them battle gave it ideas. It could learn from them. Perhaps if it followed this trainer for a while, it could understand how to become stronger itself.
So, while remaining hidden and keeping its distance, the green Pokémon continued following Grey and his team.
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Grey continued his journey through the ruins, completely unaware that he had picked up a small follower.
After another series of twists and turns, he eventually reached what appeared to be a dead end.
Grey stared at the wall in front of him.
"You've got to be kidding me."
He turned around and walked back the way he had come before taking another route.
That route eventually led to another dead end.
Then another.
And another.
This continued for quite some time until Grey became irritated enough to consider simply ordering one of his Pokémon to destroy the obstruction.
He looked at the wall.
"Maybe I should just have them punch through this."
He immediately reconsidered.
There was a chance that the wall was simply part of the structure.
There was also a chance that destroying it could cause the entire section of the cave to collapse.
Maybe it wouldn't.
But he wasn't willing to gamble his life on the possibility that ancient ruins had somehow been built with modern engineering standards.
"Screw it. We'll find another way."
After some more backtracking, he finally found a route that actually seemed to lead somewhere.
Grey followed it and eventually entered a much larger chamber.
The atmosphere changed almost immediately.
The rough stone walls that had surrounded him throughout most of the ruins suddenly became polished. The walls appeared to have been carefully constructed rather than naturally formed, and strange symbols covered almost every available surface.
Grey walked closer.
The symbols were written using Unknown.
Thankfully, he at least knew that Unknown were essentially the alphabet of this world, so he could attempt to read some of the writing.
Attempt being the important word.
The words themselves didn't make much sense when put together.
"Kwars... HE... Baku... roku... le."
Grey stared at the writing for a few seconds.
"What the hell is this supposed to mean?"
Maybe the people of the past had spoken a completely different language and simply used Unknown to represent the sounds.
There was no guarantee that whoever had created these ruins had spoken what could basically be considered modern Poke-English.
So even if Grey could technically recognise the letters, that didn't mean he could understand the language.
There were also quite a few drawings scattered across the walls.
Some of them were easier to interpret than others.
Grey noticed what appeared to be a giant Poké Ball-like structure being used to seal some kind of Pokémon.
Another drawing seemed to depict something being used to seal a king or perhaps some important ruler.
He wasn't entirely sure what the artist had intended.
One particular drawing caught his attention.
It depicted a gigantic bird-like Pokémon.
Unfortunately, the drawing was too unclear to identify it properly.
For all Grey knew, it could have been Moltres.
It could have been Ho-Oh.
It could even have been a Fearow if the artist had simply been terrible at drawing.
"Yeah, not wasting more time figuring this out."
Grey had come here for one reason.
The Gym Leader.
And considering that this chamber looked considerably more important than the other parts of the ruins, there was a good chance Steven had come here specifically to investigate it.
Grey continued exploring deeper into the chamber.
Then he heard something.
It sounded almost like someone shouting a command.
Grey stopped.
"What was that?"
Before he could investigate further, the wall beside him suddenly cracked.
Then...
BOOM!
A Claydol burst through the stone wall and was launched directly into the corridor.
Grey jumped backward in surprise.
The Claydol quickly recovered and floated upright before immediately moving through the cracked section of the wall.
Grey stared at the opening.
"...Okay."
That definitely wasn't normal.
He followed the Claydol through the newly created passage, stepping carefully through the broken section of the wall.
What he saw on the other side made him stop.
The area beyond was another enormous chamber.
Standing inside were several people.
One of them immediately caught Grey's attention.
The man was someone he had heard about recently.
Pyramid King Brandon.
Standing near him was another trainer, while several other people were positioned behind them, seemingly taking cover or simply trying to stay out of the way.
But none of them were what caught Grey's attention.
At the centre of the chamber stood a gigantic Pokémon.
Its body was massive, covered in dark metallic armour and ancient markings.
A huge stone-like structure formed its torso, while its enormous arms and legs made it look more like a living statue than an ordinary Pokémon.
Grey's eyes widened.
A Golurk.
And judging by its size and the situation surrounding it...
Something told Grey that this wasn't going to be a simple battle.
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Regirock launched multiple Stone Edges at Golurk on Brandon's command. At the same time, Steven ordered Claydol to use Ancient Power, but Golurk responded with Gyro Ball, spinning its enormous body and deflecting both attacks.
At the same time, Brandon noticed Grey. An innocent idiot trainer had somehow gotten into the middle of this situation.
"Kid, run out of here! Quick!"
But Golurk had also noticed the newcomer and immediately decided to launch a Shadow Ball at him.
Seeing the giant Shadow Ball coming straight toward him, Grey quickly told his team to defend. Charmeleon used Flamethrower, Exeguttor used Light Screen and Psychic, while Persian fired Power Gem. The attacks collided with the incoming Shadow Ball and managed to disperse it before it could reach Grey.
Grey immediately recalled Exeguttor and called out Fraxure for this battle.
Taking the opening, Brandon told Regirock to use Ancient Power against Golurk. The attack struck Golurk point-blank, but surprisingly, the giant Pokémon barely reacted. It simply tilted its head in a strange, robotic fashion toward Brandon and Regirock before launching a Shadow Punch.
The enormous shadowy fist came toward Regirock, large enough to encompass almost its entire upper half.
Regirock immediately used Protect to block the attack. A green barrier appeared in front of it, stopping the giant fist. However, Golurk continued exerting pressure against the barrier, trying to crack it, but Regirock remained sturdy as a rock and refused to give way.
Taking the opening that had been created, Steven ordered Claydol to launch Ancient Power at Golurk. The attack struck the giant Pokémon once again.
Golurk seemed to become annoyed by the repeated attacks and turned its attention toward Claydol.
But before it could launch another attack, Grey gave his command.
"Dragon Pulse, Flamethrower and Water Pulse!"
Fraxure, Charmeleon and Persian fired their respective attacks simultaneously. The three attacks struck Golurk head-on.
Golurk simply tilted its head at the three Pokémon.
Then Regirock launched a Stone Edge from point-blank range, striking Golurk and sending the giant Pokémon skidding backward across the ground.
Brandon wasn't sure whether he should berate the kid for being reckless or be glad that there were now more Pokémon helping him fight this thing.
This Pokémon seemed to be some kind of experiment created by the ancient kingdom of Pokelantis. Its unusual size was already proof of that, and it appeared to have been in some kind of slumber before he and Steven accidentally woke it up. The moment it awakened, it had immediately started attacking everything in its path.
Grey looked toward Persian.
"Go in close and attack."
Brandon nearly had a heart attack hearing that command.
Was this kid actually nuts?
Persian immediately used Quick Attack to close the distance between itself and Golurk. The giant Pokémon responded by firing a Shadow Ball, forcing Persian to jump into the air to avoid it.
While still in the air, Persian fired a Water Pulse that struck Golurk.
Golurk immediately moved to launch another Shadow Punch, but Persian used Thunderbolt in the opposite direction, using the force of the attack to launch itself backward and narrowly avoid the incoming punch.
Persian landed safely on the ground.
The moment its feet touched the ground, it immediately used Quick Attack again, launching itself toward Golurk before following up with a Night Slash aimed directly at its face.
Persian immediately jumped away before the enormous Pokémon could retaliate.
Brandon wasn't sure whether the kid was simply gutsy or actually skilled. That Persian was incredibly fast, but there was a problem.
Golurk wouldn't allow that trick to work a second time.
"Use ranged attacks!" Brandon yelled toward Grey. "The Golurk is adapting to your attacks! The only way to deal with it is to keep your distance and keep it engaged!"
Grey signalled Persian to retreat, realizing that his idea hadn't been the best one.
Normally, his plan had been for Fraxure and Persian to overwhelm Golurk with Night Slashes, but it seemed Brandon knew something from his experience fighting the Pokémon for this long.
Grey wasn't ready to simply throw his Pokémon into a beatdown.
He recalled Fraxure and brought out Cloyster instead.
Brandon immediately understood what the kid was trying to do when he saw Cloyster appear, and a smirk formed on his face.
"Regirock, Stone Edge!"
Regirock launched Stone Edge at Golurk to keep it engaged.
At the same time, Grey gave his own commands.
"Charmeleon, Flamethrower! Persian,Water Pulse !"
The two Pokémon fired their attacks toward Golurk while Grey gave his final command.
"Cloyster, Shell Smash!"
Golurk blocked the incoming Stone Edge with Gyro Ball, but it was still struck by the Water Pulse and Flamethrower as the delayed attacks reached it.
The giant Pokémon tilted its head, preparing to launch another attack toward them.
Then another Ancient Power struck it.
Claydol had attacked again.
Golurk's movements had become slightly sluggish now, and it was clear that the Pokémon was getting injured. From the way it behaved, it seemed capable of ignoring pain, but that didn't mean the damage wasn't accumulating. It could ignore the pain, but its body was still taking the damage.
Cloyster had successfully completed its Shell Smash, increasing its Special Attack, Attack and Speed at the cost of its defenses.
On the other side, Claydol had also managed to get lucky, receiving an omniboost from Ancient Power and increasing all of its stats.
All three trainers called out their attacks at almost the same time.
Grey immediately gave Cloyster another command.
"Shell Smash!"
Cloyster began preparing the move again while the other Pokémon fired their ranged attacks.
Golurk responded with Gyro Ball, using its enormous hands to deflect the incoming attacks.
But this time, there were simply too many attacks coming toward it.
Its hands could not deflect everything.
The attacks broke through its defenses and struck Golurk from multiple directions.
Cloyster finished its second Shell Smash.
Grey looked toward the Pokémon.
"Icicle Spear!"
Cloyster gathered its energy.
This was the first time it had successfully pulled off two Shell Smashes in a battle.
The boost was enormous.
For a moment, Cloyster felt like it could defeat anything as long as it was able to land its attacks.
Golurk also sensed the danger.
Its eyes focused on Cloyster as multiple ice spears suddenly launched toward it.
Golurk tried to use Hammer Arm to deflect the incoming Icicle Spears, but the sheer number of spears and the power behind them were too much.
One after another, the ice spears slammed into its massive body.
Golurk was pelted from multiple directions until its body was riddled with Icicle Spears.
The giant Pokémon finally collapsed to the ground.
It could no longer move.
Brandon immediately threw an Ultra Ball toward Golurk.
The ball struck the massive Pokémon and absorbed it inside.
The Ultra Ball shook violently.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Then it finally stopped.
A successful capture.
Author's Note: And thats it for this excavation well another chapter to close it , as to why that golurk was huge and behaving that way will be explained next chapter.
PS: Lets hit a Powerstones and collections improvement , if it increases better than usual will try for daily chapters at least this week .