Chapter 22: A Sealed Chamber

Regice's glittering cave of crystal and ice was a long trek to say the very least, but with Vanessa's help to navigate the various twists and turns, they made good time. Floyd probably would have walked the rest of the way down if they'd needed too, and Ren would have followed him until her legs gave out. That strong sense of self and morale gave their team the boost of confidence they needed to walk a few extra miles.

And it also made Tabby's heart hammer against her chest like a Spoink jumping around to stay alive.

"When are you going to try your luck with Boss?"

There was no reason an Absol should be so lippy, and even then, shouldn't be able to see through people like that.

A small part of her was grateful though. She hadn't been lying to Ren when she'd said she'd never had anyone like that before. But that was about the men here in Snowpoint. She'd seen cute guys before, but she'd been focused on getting through school, then running errands back and forth to try and save the friggin' city. There had just never been time. The guards, she darkly mused, had been more than willing to make some of her lonelier nights not so lonely. She shuddered and continued on in deep thought.

What if she…did? What if when it was all said and done…?

She felt heat rise in her face, felt the blush cross the bridge of her nose.

Maybe she would talk to Floyd…she'd certainly thank him for all of his help of course. She owed him that much. She'd give him everything that he needed to continue on with his journey…

The journey that would take him home…

Home to a different universe…where she might never see him again.

That filled Tabby with such an extreme sadness that she refused to think about it lest it get her killed in the dangerous underground ruins. And lucky she did too, as a Golbat swooped down from the ceiling and towards her, jaws yawning wide to rip a chunk of flesh or two from her head. Tabby flicked her hand idly and a gout of flame licked up the Golbat's wing, sending it careening off course and into a wall, where it screeched as it flew back behind them into the cave system.

"Those things never give up," Tabby muttered.

"I'm starting to notice that," Floyd said, glancing up at the ceiling. "We might need to stop soon. We've been fighting the damn things all day, and the Pokemon are starting to get tired."

Tabby smiled. "Why, Floyd, you sound a bit tired yourself."

Floyd snorted. "As much I don't want to be. I'm starting to share Ren's sentiment about being underground for so long. I've explored my fair share of ruins, and they all start to feel the same after a while." He sighed and shook his head. "But if we don't stop now, I'll keep pushing on until someone," he ruffled the top of Ren's head, the Absol butting his leg in retaliation, "gives out on me. Vanessa, let's stop here for the night."

They made camp like they had the day before, and tonight Floyd wanted a fire to ward off any Pokemon with not-so bright ideas. Vanessa announced that she could take first watch and promptly fell asleep, Vance snorting and settling down next to his trainer in the dirt. Ren curled up on Floyd's sleeping bag in a ball and stopped moving, and Blitz was out cold. That left Floyd and Tabby by themselves, but strangely, she didn't feel too tired yet.

"I can take first watch if you want," Tabby suggested after they'd sat in silence for a while. "Get some rest."

Floyd waved a hand. "It's alright. I don't need as much sleep as everyone else." He let out a sigh and placed his head atop his hands. "Remember earlier, when we were talking about hope?"

Tabby blinked. "Yeah? What about it?"

"I'm starting to lose mine."

Tabby bit her lip. "About the war?" she asked hesitantly.

"No, not about that. About going home."

Tabby pursed her lips, then got up and sat down next to Floyd on his bag. "What's on your mind?"

"No leads on what did this to us, where we came out from, how to get back there, and if a way back even exists," Floyd said, waving with a hand. "I was half-hoping that in an ancient ruin older than most of the cities on this continent, we'd find some kind of answers."

"Well, we aren't at the bottom floor yet," Tabby said. "And there's always the chance that we'll find something there. You can't give up yet." She tried for another smile, bumping his arm with her shoulder. "And there has to be a way back, because I made a promise I intend on keeping."

Floyd snickered, then looked at her. "If only it were that easy."

"Yeah, if only," Tabby said. They shared a quiet laugh over the flickering flames, the smell of smoke putting Tabby's mind oddly at ease. She'd never truly been camping before, but this was probably what it felt like…sans the thousands of tons of rock overhead. "Floyd, will you really leave? After this is all said and done?"

"That's the plan." Tabby fell silent, something that Floyd picked up on. "You're not happy about that?"

"No."

"Why?"

Suddenly, she was absolutely sure that Ren's eyes were on her back, and that she'd been awake the entire time. Do something, her presence seemed to shout at her.

"I…I'm going to miss you," Tabby blurted out. "I don't want you to leave. W-well I do, but…"

"I get it," Floyd said with a chuckle, patting her shoulder. "It's okay. I…I will miss you, too."

"If there's anything I can do for you," Tabby said, picking at some imaginary dust on her pants, "anything at all once we beat Olivier…please don't hesitate to ask. I owe you my life, like, a hundred times over."

"Could you create me a portal back to my universe?"

Tabby elbowed him in the side, causing him to laugh. "You're impossible."

"Yeah, Ren's been rubbing off on me." He shook his head and looked at her again, his laughter fading. "But in all seriousness, thank you. I owe you as much you think you owe me. But we can only collect debts if we're alive to beat Olivier in the first place. For that you'll need your rest. Go get some, and I'll wake you in a few hours."

Tabby hesitated. Maybe this was it. They weren't so far away from each other…in fact, they were close. If she just leaned forward a bit, closed her eyes…what would Floyd do? She wanted to find out. She wanted to see if he'd be daring enough to steal a kiss…and then see if he was daring enough to steal another one.

He'd probably push her away, insist that she was kind but that she deserved someone that wasn't him. Yes, that sadly sounded like Floyd. But…but what if he didn't?

Tabby's confidence peaked, and just as she braced herself to be welcomed or rejected and leaned forward, the chittering sounds of a hundred Zubats roared from behind them in the cave. The two of them flinched as they glanced overhead, the musty smell of the Bat Pokemon overpowering their noses as they rushed overhead and zipped further down underground.

"That didn't look good," Floyd said as the last of the Pokemon swooped down into the cave system.

Tabby nodded. "I think something scared them."

"Go to sleep, now," Floyd said, though his tone was still light. "I need you and Vanessa as strong as we can possibly manage for tomorrow. If something comes, I will wake you."

Disappointed, Tabby nodded. "Alright. Good night, Floyd."

Floyd said his good night and stepped away from the fire a little, watching over the camp intently as Tabby snuggled into her bedroll and into a deep sleep. She quickly forgot her disappointment and loneliness and soon focused on getting as good of a rest as possible. As though it had only been five minutes, Floyd woke her up for her shift, and she kept guard until it was Vanessa's turn.

Nothing bothered them.

###

The next morning, they came to the end of the crystallized caverns and immediately into the arms of another problem.

"I hope I'm not the only one that feels that," Ren said. "Yo, fire monkey. You feel how hot it is?"

"Infernape!"

"Thought so."

"Seems you were right," Tabby said, smiling at Floyd over the flashlight in her hand.

"Unfortunately," Floyd said, glancing into the passage ahead. "This is likely the last level before…whatever is waiting for us within the ruins. Everyone keep your guards up."

The cave had radiated with geothermal heat as was per usual this deep into the earth, but this heat was different. It was the boiling intensity that one felt on a street of asphalt in the warmest of summers, the kind that made the very air shimmer in the distance and drove men to dehydration in minutes. The cave turned from cool crystals, to rocks and dirt, then to brittle dust that kicked up around their boots as they walked.

Ash.

They walked for five minutes and then saw the first of the boiling magma. It was like an underground river of the stuff, a stagnant but somehow still-flowing river that was like the blood in the veins of the ruins. Floyd saw many Pokemon that he'd never seen before, all of them likely Fire or Rock types that bathed or lived in the molten rock. The smallest of them were little blobs of living magma that spewed embers from their mouths and onto their bigger counterparts. Vanessa and Tabby helped to fill in his Pokemon knowledge best they could; the blobs were Slugma and their parents were Magcargo. They also pointed out the various colonies of Heatmor that lingered near the magma's edges. Atop the magma's boiling surface floated large, jagged points of rock of some kind. At first Floyd had dismissed them, but Tabby had squinted at one from afar, then became visibly unnerved.

Floyd saw why immediately; the magma was flowing away from them, and the rocks were coming towards them.

"I think those are Turtonator," Vanessa said, wiping some sweat from her brow. Tabby had thrown up a Safeguard to prevent them being burned to a crisp, but the heat was still immense.

"Is that bad?" Floyd asked.

"Let's go around," Tabby said. "Far around." Vanessa took her advice, and with Vance's help, raised stone platforms out from underneath the lake of molten steel. Tabby cooled them with short blasts of Icy Winds and they traveled across quickly, leaving the drudging Turtonator behind.

Twice they were attacked by Slugma and Magcargo eager to defend their turf. The Pokemon were horrendously slow, and Vance was devilishly fast for his size. Well-placed blasts of rock sent the Pokemon hurtling back into the molten steel from which they were born, and Vanessa shifted and folded the land beneath their sluggy bodies. The ash was quick to sift into the molten river, making it all too easy to avoid pursuers. Even with the aid of the Ground type Expert, it was hard, grueling work, and the heat made it no better. They ran out of their ample water in the first two hours, and all of Tabby's resources were diverted to maintaining the Safeguard and conjuring more water for them to drink. Eventually Vance and Ren had to be put away in their Pokeballs lest they wither and stumble into the river. Only Blitz seemed to be unaffected, and if anything, having fun. He happily splashed into the river from time to time, taking care to do it well away from the main group. Once, he had a lavaball fight with a stray Heatmor, who promptly lost when one of the lavaballs smacked Blitz between the eyes and caused him to pound the Heatmor into the wall with Close Combat.

But eventually they bore the worst and came to the first man-made sets of danger in the ruins.

"Take five," Floyd said, glancing up. "I want to have a look at this."

"I should…" Vanessa began.

"Rest," Tabby interrupted, fanning her face and panting. "You're no good to anyone if you pass out."

Floyd let Tabby take care of Vanessa while he stepped forward, frowning. They'd come to a set of towering steel gates, its bars twisting around themselves and into a steel arch. Red rubies lines the edge of the arch, glimmering down at Floyd from the light of the lava behind him. Experimentally, Floyd took out his lightsaber and swung. The blade didn't so much as scratch the metal, simply rebounded with an odd clang. Arceus or Light or whichever could have ripped them down, but not much else could.

"Find anything?" Floyd turned to see Tabby walking towards him, still fanning her face. "Wow. Those are some big gates."

"Mm. My lightsaber won't open them." He smiled a little. "I don't suppose you have anymore brilliant ideas?"

"I wish," Tabby said with a huff. "I think it's your turn though. How are we getting through?"

"I guess we could dig under," Floyd said. "Or around."

Tabby shook her head. "If we do, there might be some kind of unbeatable defense behind the gate. The people who built this wanted people to go through it, not around it."

Floyd looked around the giant entryway. There had to be something around here that would open the gate. A mechanism, a lever, something…but there was nothing there. Nothing on the walls or the floor except for a number of strange divets and rivulets.

Come to think of it, the wall contained a number of them as well.

"Tabby," Floyd said, gesturing to the space around them, "this looks a lot like Braille."

Tabby blinked. "I guess so. Why does that matter?"

"I think it might form a message," Floyd said. "I don't suppose you can read it, though."

She shook her head. "I'd ask Vanessa, but she can just see into the ground. She can't read it just because…I don't think, anyway."

Floyd scowled at the gates. "Regirock's caverns were about the journey. Then there was Regice, who valued strength and wisdom to move those boulders into the correct places." He looked up at the glimmering rubies. "So then what does Registeel want?"

The rubies…there were twelve in total.

"I'll go get Vanessa," Tabby said. "Maybe she'll think of something."

"No, wait," Floyd said. "I'm going to try something, and if I'm hurt I might need you to heal me."

He looked down at the Braille on the floor. There was a small message that was scattered across the floor, and unless he missed his guess, seemed to be repeated on the walls as well, leading to the archway encrusted with the rubies. The center had the message written the biggest.

Floyd took a deep breath and reached for the power in his core, letting it rush to his fingertips and flood his being.

"Cover your eyes, Tabby," Floyd warned a moment before the sun on his chest all but exploded with white light.

Flash.

The light spilled forth from Floyd's chest, swallowing the cavern, the archway, and the gate. Through his mask, Floyd saw all of the rubies activate at once, giving off a sinister red glow and chiming furiously even as the light from Floyd's sun died away. When it was clear to see again, the rubies were still shining with a fiery red light from within, and the gates began to swing open silently, as though they had just been made and greased yesterday.

"Voila," Floyd said with a flourish. "Let's go get Vanessa."

Tabby smiled and high-fived him as they walked back to check on their companion.

###

Nerevor walked among the screams of the wounded, sorrow upon his face as he did so. There hadn't been much fighting, not in the last 24 hours. No one had responded to the herald's request, so they had tried their luck and attempted to force a breach. As he suspected, the magi and regular men were repulsed or killed, but the Elite Guard had broken through the hole and swarmed among Nerevor's students, killing and maiming at random. In the end, a concentrated Psychic attack from himself, Kazam, and a few of the other accomplished magi had forced the Elite through the wards and prevented him from crossing back over.

It was only a matter of time before they tried that again.

He hoped that the messenger had gotten to Tabby and the others, or was at least close. He didn't dare send Kazam away, and the recent skirmish with the Guard had proven that.

"Hold still, please," a Nurse Joy was saying in the lobby. A man was writhing and thrashing in agony due to the pains of his wounds. The Elite Guard had relieved him of his right arm at the forearm, and it seemed that even through the cauterization, it had become infected. "Audino, please! I need that Blissey Egg!"

"Not to worry, Nurse Joy," Nerevor said, kneeling next to her. "I will do this one." He closed his eyes and placed his palms on the screaming man's forehead, straining as magic rushed from his fingertips and filled the man's body. In fact, he went a little overboard. A soothing aroma wafted through the lobby, muting some of the screaming and groaning and placating the rest. A green tinge filled Nerevor's eyes, and at last faded. The man beneath him had lapsed into a deep sleep, his arm wound no longer festering and angry.

"Thank you," Nurse Joy said, taking a deep breath. "That was…Aromatherapy, right? That certainly helped." She waved a hand to her other sisters and Pokemon helpers., who looked so tired, Nerevor was surprised they were still standing. "Nerevor, how are we supposed to keep up with all of these wounded? Every day it seems like more and more are getting hurt."

Nerevor shook his head, a shadow crossing his face. "I fear that the worst is yet to come, my dear. But you have done well to create such a robust field hospital. If you need anything, perhaps a few extra hands around the infirmary, you need but to ask."

She managed a laugh and wiped her hands on her dirty apron. "I'll keep that in mind." She bowed and walked off to a Chansey in the distance, likely for a little bit of a break herself.

"Nerevor, sir!" The old arch-mage turned and saw one of the younger initiates run into Sanctuary, doubling over and breathing hard with his hands on his knees.

"Timothy, isn't it?" Nerevor asked. "Is something the matter?"

He nodded frantically, some of the youthfulness shining through his 14-year old demeanor. "Mr. Griffin says that the watchtowers have spotted something else happening in the enemy camp!"

Nerevor frowned and looked up to the ceiling. A moment later, Kazam appeared out of thin air at his side. "You did well to tell me, Timothy. Head upstairs for some rest. Kazam, take us to the watchtower please."

The world unraveled and reappeared as Nerevor stepped forward. Luckily the heating was still working in the buildings, but even so, the windows had been opened wide so that their sentries could get a clear shot, cold air billowing through. A troop of Decidueye stood watching over the vast enemy camp, which had grown in size since yesterday. Nerevor felt at ease seeing so many of the Pokemon; they could pin a Rattata running from corner to corner even from all the way up here. Griffin and a few of his most trusted security guardsmen all huddled around a set of binoculars, scowling.

"I was told that something is the matter," Nerevor said.

"They're building something," Griffin said with a nod. "Take a look."

Peering through the binoculars, Nerevor saw what they were talking about. One of the abandoned buildings was surrounded on all sides by trucks and machinery. A host of Magnemite and Magneton buzzed around, feeding blasts of electricity into…something. Men in bulletproof vests were escorted by a squadron of Pokemon and some more Elite Guards, more than Nerevor had seen in the past two days.

"Those men in the vests are likely her engineers. What could it be, though?" Nerevor asked. "Have they made any demands?"

"None," a guardsman said. "They tried to attack the ward again but we pushed them back even easier than we did the first time. Didn't even bring any Elites with them."

Nerevor frowned. Just as he had yesterday, he was missing something. But he couldn't see it, not this time.

Hopefully that wouldn't cost them much.

"Please, my friends," Nerevor muttered, looking behind him to the north. "Hurry."

###

They were a little ways from the base of the ruins—or so Floyd was led to believe anyway—when he officially decided that bringing Vanessa was one of the best decisions he'd ever made. Perhaps her skill with the Ground only extended to that and not the mechanisms of the traps around them, but she could still feel the blank spots where the machinery lay beneath the layers of rock, dirt, and ash. They walked into a corridor that was one long stretch of a single granite slab. Vanessa had stopped them before anyone could cross and informed them that the slab was one giant tile. One person's weight wouldn't set it off, but their combined weight would, and it would cause the walls themselves to slide forward and crush them into pulp. Floyd flew everyone across and they kept moving at a brisk pace. Another time they came across a room with holes at ankle level, and Vanessa felt liquid settled deep in the ground, waiting for the trap to be triggered to flood forth and spill onto the oddly smooth floor.

They figured out later that the liquid was likely acid, because Tabby couldn't freeze or manipulate it with her limited Water magic, and the floors looked as though they'd been scrubbed clean yesterday.

Vanessa saved their lives almost a dozen more times over the course of the day. They made such good time through the numerous traps and tricks of the ruins that Floyd found himself longing for a clone of her to take with him once Olivier was defeated. It would certainly help for any other ruins that he and Ren would come across.

They stopped for the night, ate a hearty meal, then picked up where they left off when everyone awoke. There were no bones, no remains, and not even any Pokemon with how deep they'd come.

And that pressure from before had doubled. It was immense, like he'd swam too deep into the ocean and its weight was threatening to crumple him like a tin can. Of course, this pressure simply weighed on his mind, not his body, though it felt like a physical thing.

Something powerful awaited them nearby.

"You alright?" Ren asked Tabby as they continued to walk. "You'd think it was raining the way your forehead is sweating."

"I'm sweating because I'm still burning up down here," Tabby said. Her Safeguard was still up, and the heat had cooled the farther away from the molten steel they traveled. "And…because I think we're close."

"We are," Vanessa said, stopping at the base of a small slope. "Just ahead is…a blank spot, I suppose. I can't sense past it. Vance?"

"Cadrill," the Excadrill agreed, shaking his head.

"Then that means whatever is there is either not connected to the ground or…" She paused. "Well, I don't have any other explanation. Be ready, though."

They kept moving forwards. Any traces of Registeel's domain was gone by now. It was silent, completely silent except for the sounds of their breathing and the crunch of boots in the dirt. The heat soon faded and Floyd saw the barely-visible mist from the Safeguard fade away as well. Just as good; Tabby might need all of her strength to blast whatever waited for them beyond the chamber.

Floyd took another step and began hearing his own heartbeat in his ears. No, that wasn't right…it was another heartbeat…someone or something else's. Glancing around at his friends, it was clear they began to hear it too.

The passage stopped winding and became a straight shot to a gentle glow in the distance. The cave grew wider and wider around them, expanding above their heads and to their sides. The statues from the first floor began to reappear in all their splendor, but in much greater detail this time; they were painted and carved with ornate designs to their armor. There were new ones this time; a Pokemon that looked to be an orb in the middle of a closing dragon's mouth, another in the shape of a lightbulb covered in tesla coils. So many different designs, and all of them seemed to regard Floyd and his friends with insurmountable wills of their own.

And finally, they reached the door.

Compared to the other trials they'd gone through, the door was simple; a plain white, double marble door with a pattern of dots on either side. Floyd remembered the pattern from before.

They'd been on the face of Regigigas' statue.

"This is it," Vanessa said, awed. "Are we…are we ready to go in?"

"As ready as we'll ever be," Tabby murmured.

Vanessa nodded and pressed her hands against the doors, trying to push them open. She had barely strained for a second when the statues nearest the door all flashed violently, the dots on their faces flickering in intricate patterns. Voices echoed in their heads and in the cavern, sorting through their memories and judging their actions.

Re-gi-rock.

Re-gi-ice.

Re-gi-steel.

…

There was a gentle click as the wills finished regarding them, and the doors swung open silently.

They'd reached the base of Snowpoint Temple.

And what a magnificent, yet terrifying sight it was.

Ren gasped. "This looks like…"

"I see it," Floyd said at once.

At their feet in the immediate entrance of the chamber was a long inverted triangle, which led all the way to the center of the gigantic chamber and joined with a large circle carved into the floor that surrounded a supermassive statue of Regigigas. That triangle was repeated again and again and again and again spanning the circumference of the cirlce. Floyd was willing to bet everything he owned, including his armor, that there would be enough rays around the circle to recreate the sun on his chest.

"Look at all these books!" Tabby shouted, running from the center of the room to the walls. It was a circular chamber, so the massive bookshelves were curved to wrap around the edge. There had to be easily tens of thousands of volumes in the shelves, some of them thin, some of them thick. Floyd saw molding scrolls and texts that almost bled with power, saw ancient depictions of events from before humans had even began to walk the earth. Above each bookshelf was a strange insignia, and upon inspection, it seemed it corresponded to a certain element. There was a flame above the section Tabby was ripping books down from, while Vanessa and Vance wandered over to a section that was likely about the Ground type.

But something was wrong.

"Ren, Tabby said there were 18 types, right?"

"Mmhm."

"So you see what's wrong here too?"

"Mmhm. Come on."

They walked across the room, Floyd's boots echoing against the marble of the floor. Compared to the cavern beyond, the room was downright cold, almost like they were back in the middle of the forest. It was a welcome relief to the intense heat of Registeel's trap-filled cavern, but the cold also made him more aware, more alert.

It felt eerily similar to Regirock's caverns if anything, a giant tomb for the dead. The lifelike—and likely lifesize—statue of Regigigas did nothing to quell his fears either.

Floyd and Ren stopped just before a series of bookshelves in the center of…everything, really. All of the other sections had their appropriate symbols listed above them, carved into the stone.

This section had nothing. No symbols, no carvings, nothing. In the shelves were various copies of what was likely a series in a language Floyd didn't know. The text looked…strange, alien…almost alive.

"Those are Unown," Ren murmured. "But what…?"

Floyd glanced up above the bookshelves. An empty hole yawned into the surface of the rock from which the chamber had been carved, fifteen feet in diameter. It was high enough that literally nothing would be able to reach it, not even the ladders that could be slid around the surface of the bookshelves. It was on the same level as the other Types' emblems, but why was it there?

"More damned mysteries," Ren sighed. "I swear, the day we get a straight answer for once is the day you and I finally retire."

Floyd had to smile at that. "Then I guess we'll be working for some time yet." He glanced behind him at the gargantuan statue of Regigigas. "I think I have an idea."

The statue of Regigigas here was almost exactly like the one on the first floor; the Pokemon was holding something like the world in its hands, only this time it wasn't nestled between its shoulder blade structures. It was holding it clear above its head, the globe gripped with both of its massive hands as though displaying it for the world to see.

For the world…or maybe a group of worshipers.

"What are you gonna do?" Ren asked.

Floyd crouched down and cupped his hands together. "Test out a theory."

Ren's eyes widened and she took a few hasty steps back. "Can you say the words?"

"No."

"Please? Come on, it's been a long couple'a days."

"No."

"Pleeeaaase?"

Floyd shook his head and focused. Light came roaring to his call, a ball of energy swelling between his cupped hands and spilling from between his fingers. He didn't need a lot of power, but he'd need more than he probably expected.

Best not to half-ass it.

His energy peaked and the Solar Flare erupted from between his palms, slamming with titanic force into the globe Regigigas held over its head. Any other material would have just been disintegrated or destroyed, but Floyd's hunch had proven correct. Whatever the globe was made out of, it caught the light and refocused the beam of pure energy…right into the empty hole above the unmarked section.

"Hold it, Boss!" Ren shouted over the roar of his energy blast. "Hold it!"

Floyd grit his teeth and dug his feet into the ground, trying to find purchase. The others had sprinted over to see what all the noise was about, and now just watched as Floyd directed all of his strength into the massive globe. A high-pitched whine began to emit from the far wall, and that radiant light began to spread like mercury in a thermometer through the walls, connecting the symbols with a white line.

"A little more!" Ren shouted. "Come on! Put your back into it!"

The high-pitched whine turned into a squeal as the entire room was enveloped in white light, the wind pushing away everyone close to Floyd as he tried his hardest to hang on. It was almost like his own power was working against him, and it was going to defeat him, it was going to kill him, it was too much…

Then he felt something shift and Ren started shouting louder. "STOP! STOP!"

Floyd almost couldn't let go of the power, ripping his hands away and stumbling backwards as the last of the Solar Flare swirled into the globe and rushed into the empty hole on the farthest wall. Blitz caught him and helped him to sit down against a wall, the others crowding around him.

"What happened?" Floyd asked, closing his eyes and letting the cool stone calm the raging fire that was his pulse. "What did it do?"

"Floyd," Tabby half-whispered, awestruck. "Open…open your eyes."

He did, and saw what they were all looking at.

The chamber had completely changed.

The ceiling above had turned a jet black, almost as though he were looking into empty space filled with thousands of stars. Their combined pinpoints of light—beautiful shining spots of greens and blues and pale whites—shone down on Regigigas' ancient tomb and turned it into a multicolored palette of timeless beauty. The Type symbols above the bookcases had all become illuminated with the various primary colors of their respective Types, the outlines ringed with white that flowed behind the bookcases and seemingly into the floor. Those lines joined the giant sun inscribed in the marble and lit it as well…along with another hidden addition.

There was another circle, one that connected all of the sun's rays near their tips. It most definitely hadn't been there before, but was now as bright as any of the other pieces of the symbol.

"I understand," Vanessa said slowly, Tabby nodding along with her.

"It's all connected," Floyd murmured. The answer was clear as day in front of him, how had he not seen it before now? Of course, maybe that was the magic of the chamber speaking to him, but he could see clearly what had to be done.

"There are 19 types," Tabby said, voicing their thoughts. "Each of the original 18 sure…but that empty hole above those bookshelves…that's the final piece! Arceus' original typing!"

"And if it all stems from the same place, it looks like nothing can resist the power of the original typing," Vanessa said, looking down at Floyd. "Your typing, Floyd."

"I'm no Pokemon," Floyd said.

"Maybe not, Boss," Ren said, as serious as he'd seen her in a while, "but it seems like your old man and Arceus really do have something in common. So by extension…"

He'd planned to do so already, but it seemed that he really was Snowpoint's best option for a showdown with Olivier.

"Okay," Floyd said after a moment of contemplation. "Though I can't believe we came all the way here just for the temple to tell us that. It seems like…it seems like there should be more here."

"You're right," Tabby said, turning and looking at the statue of Regigigas. "But I don't…"

"Quiet!"

Floyd and the others snapped to look at Vanessa who was holding up a hand cautiously. Vance also had his wicked claws at the ready. "Someone is coming, I can feel their footfalls. They're not much more than a minute away, and they're closing fast."

"Hide, all of you!" Floyd said. They scattered into position, standing near the door ready to pinch anyone who dared to step foot into the room. Floyd had no idea how one of Olivier's scouts had managed to catch up with them so soon, but it was likely they'd done him a favor by going through and disabling all of the traps for them.

Well. The scout would make for a valuable piece of information.

The scout blurred through the door, and his friends charged. Tabby and Blitz readied a bolt of fire, while Vanessa and Vance raised a fist of earth, and a Night Slash glimmered on the edge of Ren's horn.

Floyd nearly got the kill before his eyes caught up with his rather tired and on-edge brain. "Wait!" he shouted. "Wait, stop! Don't attack!"

He sheathed his lightsaber and stepped in front of all of his friends' still-charged attacks. He didn't know what she was doing here, but there she was, standing barely over three feet with a pouch strapped to her back.

"Snea! Sneasel!"

The Sneasel from the Pokemon Center wasted no time ripping off its pack and handing a message to Floyd and the others, warning them of a trap that had already been set.

A/N: Sneasel returns! I really liked the idea of Snowpoint Temple in the games, so writing this mini-saga in the story was a lot of fun. Thanks for reading, and see you next update.