The following day passes pretty much the same as the last. The main difference is now we practically stay hyperaware of our surroundings. Even if that pair didn't chase after us, that doesn't mean we won't run into them again. Since Ri and I don't know who they are, it's better if we keep our distance.
Not just them either: We make a point to stay away from that Upsilon group as well. Now that we've seen them and can put a name to their identities, we notice a lot more of them than we did before. Almost all of them wear the same tactical gear and keep their dark visors down. The details of their uniforms are more obvious in the light, their jumpsuits now appearing a deep, dull blue-grey and a strange, subtle 'ϒ' symbol located on their vest pockets.
It's different, but they give me just as ill a feeling. I don't remember having too much bad luck with teams like that in the corrected timeline and I don't plan to. We've got enough of our own problems to handle.
As far as our mission to alert all of the Regis goes, it really does look like our work here was already done for us. The Regirock we saw before is staying vigilant and when Ri and confronted him about what was happening, he already knew. He even told us that a Registeel near Solaceon Town was also active, saving us another search.
All that's left to do is our bonus work for Dusknoir. I check my map as we walk under a vacant overhang between structures. We'll still make the shortest trip by crossing through the Solaceon Ruins, so our route won't change. From the looks of it though, they've even more expansive than the ones here. I can only hope that we'll find what we need soon.
As we enter the next stretch of tunnels, the hieroglyphs around us show more of the same things from yesterday: More images depicting the Creation Trio, Arceus, and his many plates. We've managed to pick up the basics of this town's legend. According to it, this place was a barren wasteland until one of the locals gained the Alpha Pokemon's favor, explaining the intense focus on him. The entire town could be considered a sacred site.
Ri stares up at the glyphs and clutches his Relic Fragment with a smile, "You know, I never would've dreamed I'd see even one legendary in-person. Now? I've lost count of how many we've met and become friends with."
"Me too." Growing up, I guess I never put much thought into it. After all, a good chunk of my life was devoted to avoiding Primal Dialga and Celebi was in another large part of it. When I lost my memory, all I had were feelings and my limited knowledge to go on, so sure, meeting them came as a surprise.
"Do you think we'll run into any more?"
"With our track record? No doubt." My brows furrow. Honestly, I'm not thrilled by the idea. There might be some who are friendly like Celebi and others who are just amazed with us because we're Guardians of Light like Cresselia, but there are plenty more who've tried to kill us on-sight. "Let's just hope there's a limit to that…"
Ri tilts his head at my words and I hug my arms almost defensively. Having said that out loud, I feel a little awkward. Legendaries might vary in power and status, but overall, they're meant to be revered. Why wouldn't they be, when some of them can break the laws of reality and bend life itself? Our personal experience with so many of them though has left me, well… kind of jaded. Even beyond Darkrai, there are some I'm still upset with.
My partner senses my confliction, "You're worried that they won't all be on our side, aren't you?"
That's putting it lightly. "Can you blame me?" I ask, "It's hard to know which ones we can depend on."
Obviously, Cresselia's still a concern since she only joined our team to look for Darkrai. Our search for him could potentially even put us at odds with those who want him gone for good. For better or worse, too many legendaries will treat us differently because of our identities as Guardians of Light—just look at Uxie. We haven't changed, but as soon as they find out what we are, the way they treat us does.
"Well, at least most of us should want the same things," Ri points out, "We want to stop whatever kind of calamity is coming up next."
That's true: They tend to take their duties as seriously as we do. Still, I sigh, "I just hope they don't plan on turning on us to do that."
The Child of the Dimensional Scream was killed in the first generation of Guardians before Arceus revived him. Thinking back on the series of visions I had in the Dark Crater, a Moltres said that three of the five in another generation were killed during something called the Barren Age. I'd give my life to protect this world, but I don't like how readily they accepted we suffer for it. That was something even Dialga warned me about: We're bound to face a lot of pain and little help because of our roles.
"I hate admitting it, but Darkrai might've been right about one thing, Ri: We're just tools to some of the legendaries. A few of them don't even think we should exist."
He gives me a reassuring grin, "Then we'll have to prove them wrong."
As he leans over to nuzzle his nose against mine before giving me a small peck on the cheek, the weight of my concerns lifts away just a bit. In a short time, we've come a long way from the trials Pitch Black put us through. It's nice to hear him say that, given the dark place we were in with all the blame for the distortion in space getting pinned on us. I nod. That's right: Whatever happens around us, we're still going to fight for our own future as well. That includes facing off against any more angry or warped legendaries.
As we continue exploring, we run across a new set of murals that catches our attention. Not that it's super detailed, but part of it depicts a tall structure that reminds me a lot of Temporal Tower with a slightly altered design. Etched above it, as if it were hanging in the clouds, is a sphere with two rings connected by intersecting lines.
"It's familiar, but I don't know what it could be," Ri mutters, "Any ideas?"
"Not a clue," I place my hand against the stone. Other than what tunnels and chambers were constructed into the natural layout of the land, most of the buildings here are only one or two levels high. This thing looks massive. Trying to decipher what it could be from the surrounding glyphs doesn't work either, as most of them are either pretty generic or just as hard to understand.
Since it doesn't match anything in the area, I can only assume that it has something to do with Arceus alone. Maybe it's a part of his realm just like Temporal Tower exists in Dialga's? He governs, well, pretty much everything, so I can't imagine what that kind of place would look like. For all we know, it could be beyond all of the realms that Ri's Relic Fragment can take us to.
Taking a step back, I examine the inscriptions as a whole. Thinking about it… Arceus might be the one legendary I truly revere as a divine being. In that vision, when all of the other legendaries were fighting about the Guardians and that fact that I'd be born a human, he took control of the situation and stood up for us. Moreover, I felt a natural pull toward him, as if there was something to his aura alone that I couldn't help but admire.
Celebi is a close friend. I respect Dialga for his strong sense of duty and for the chance he gave me to stay in the past. For whatever reason though, my feelings toward Arceus are something else entirely. It's hard to describe, but there was a certainty to him that was comforting in the chaos that I felt then, like clinging to a firm lifeline in a raging sea. If we met him in-person, I don't think I'd mind…
The sound of approaching footsteps snaps me out of my thoughts. Following Ri's gaze down the tunnel we arrived them, I see a small group of shadows dance along the walls as their owners grow closer. We look around, but there isn't much of another for us to hide. It's empty, and by the time we ran out of the chamber from the opposite side, we'd be spotted anyway. So, we hold our ground.
Thankfully, it's not humans: A group of four Pokemon—two Porygon, a Magnemite, and a Skorupi—shuffle into view, looking just as surprised to see us as we are to see them. It doesn't seem like any of them would be from around here, but then again, we don't either.
"Ah, we didn't think anyone we be this far out in the ruins," the Poison-type apologizes with a bashful smile, "Sorry if we're interrupting!"
"It's not like it's private," I shrug, although, I don't know how vocal we should be with our investigation. It might be better if we put it on hold until we're alone again.
"To be truthful, we got a little lost," he explains, "We were playing around and strayed too far from our trainers. Are yours anywhere close?"
Even though we've shed most of our heavy, winter gear, Ri and I have still kept our bandanas on like always. More and more, I can appreciate them as simple disguises than as the power-ups they're made to be. My partner shakes his head, "You could say we stepped away from ours for a bit to explore too."
"In that case, if it's not too much trouble, could you help point the way back to town for us? I'm sure we could find our way from there."
Ri and I look to each other in silent conversation. The many tunnels and paths running through the ruins create a rocky maze. Really though, if you climb along some of the walls, it's fairly easy to find your way around and move directly from one point to the next. We could probably see the town not long after stepping outside, so it would only take a few minutes. We agree and begin the short walk back out into the open air with them.
We continue our casual chatter, "If you're visiting, where are you guys from?"
"All different places. I'm from the marshes just south of here," the Skorupi answers, pointing to the others in his party next, "Magnemite's actually from Johto, and those two are from the city."
That definitely sounds like a travelling trainers' team. The more places they visit to collect gym badges or contest ribbons, the more likely it is that their Pokemon will vary and come from a wide range of environments. It's rare for them to stick to a type unless they're working in specific job or class.
"What about you two? Are you from the Lucario Kingdom, by chance?"
"We're headed that way, actually. Checking in on family…" I almost fumble with those last words. It's weird to hear a total stranger make such a close guess. It's weirder still to call my grandparents that when I've never met them and I know that they're going to practically abandon me. It was the first thing I could think of though for a reason.
"We imagined as much," the Magnemite buzzes, "It's fairly close."
Isn't it a pretty isolated civilization? We knew about it in advance, so Dusknoir was able to mark it on our maps. It wouldn't have been on there otherwise. I didn't think many people would know that it even existed.
"Have you been there before?" my partner asks.
"Negative. We've only heard of it."
"You know how folks there really like their privacy and all," the Skorupi adds, "It's rare to see a Riolu or Lucario from there travelling around—not outside of Iron Island, anyway."
Iron Island…? It takes me a minute to remember the school there, the one my parents considered sending me to. I guess it's already been built then. I wonder if Dusknoir and Azalea will come across it on their own search.
As for the 'privacy' thing, all I can do is nod in fake agreement. Outside of the glimpse I got of my grandparents, I have no idea what the people there are like. It looked cozy and small though, without any highways or major chain stores, so I'd believe it. The feeling I got from it was that it's a tiny, old town with even older ways.
Warm sunlight drenches over us. Ri and I scale the nearest wall and look out over the horizon. There are some rock formations that block our sight, but since we're on one of the cliffs, we can see mostly everything to our front and sides. We wave the others up and the Porygon levitate to our level to take in the view. Since they and Magnetite all can float, that should've made it even easier for them to get around; however, I guess it would be tough for Skorupi to keep up with them.
"It might be harder to navigate through the ruins again, but you can probably jump down from here and then follow that gap through the trees," Ri offers in direction, "I think I see a trail near the end of it that will lead you to town."
My ear fidgets as I hear a barely audible click. Turning my head, I see a small piece glint in the sun as it flies away from the nearby rocks. Then, an abrupt beam of energy fires from it and splits into a wave of narrow, crossing threads the size of my finger—like a net! It's a trap!
Ri notices it the same time as I do. In our rush to scramble out of the way, we end up grappling each other and toppling gracelessly off the edge. I feel the heat of the energized cords miss us by a hair and grunt as I land overtop Ri. We're quick to recover, pushing ourselves apart and looking up to see if the Porygon managed to avoid getting caught.
We don't have to worry about them: They're too busy readying a dual Psybeam attack! Ri and I jump out of the way just before they can fire, tucking and rolling to opposite sides to divide their attention.
Still, it's hard not to split my own. From this angle, I see what we missed before. Behind us, propping along the higher cliffs, are two members of Upsilon. It was pointless to avoid trouble with them, because they decided to start trouble with us first.
"Yes, you're both very rare!" Skorupi manages to climb up the rocks to our far right, popping up along the wall close to where we'd just been standing seconds earlier. He grins at us in mock innocence, "So please let our trainers catch you! Team Upsilon will give you a much more fulfilling life than your old masters ever could!"