Queen Ilene had invited everyone to spend the night before heading out, and not wanting to turn down an offer by the literal queen of the small country, they accepted.

Night in Cameran Palace was much quieter than Goh expected. In his imagination, a castle was a busy, bustling place with things happening at all times. But from the window in the guest room he sat staring out of, he saw only a few dim electric lights lighting the pathways around the garden in the courtyard and little else.

Grookey was laying calmly in his lap, having tuckered himself out from playing in the library that day and having eaten plenty for dinner that evening. He glanced over to the bed where Ash was laying, and he and Pikachu were also exhausted, sprawled out on top of the covers without even changing into his pajamas yet.

Goh smiled at them sadly. He wished he could be just as carefree as Ash was.

But between the pressures of Project Mew as well as trying to give attention to Chloe (she was his girlfriend, after all), there was a quiet worry that he had been holding, one that he might have been allowing to fuel his irritation towards Ash as of late.

It made him feel like a terrible friend, feeling like he and Ash were growing apart as he focused on his dream and the girl he loved. He could see why Serena opted not to force the issue with Ash and just press towards her dream for now. The more he saw, the more her wisdom continued to shine through.

He glanced back out the window towards the garden and almost did a double take.

Walking on the pathway in the garden was undeniably Chloe with her Eevee. Her hair was down, and she was wearing her long yellow pajamas

Goh decided that if she was still awake, that he might as well spend some time speaking with her in hopes of clearing his mind.

Looking down at his lap at Grookey, he decided to tuck the chimp in rather than take him outside letting him enjoy his sleep. He shot one more glance to Ash before slipping out of the door and heading downstairs to the garden.

Once he reached the garden, it struck him how similar it seemed to the garden at Sunset Junior High School, the academic institution where both he and Chloe were enrolled as students (though Goh rarely attended, instead focusing on his own dream and journeys with Ash).

Still, it was a wonderful garden filled with the flowers one would expect to be in bloom in the spring, and he took a few steps out into the dim light afforded by the lamps alongside the pathway.

It didn't take very long to locate Chloe, as she was kneeling near some flowers, holding Eevee up to them to sniff. The small Pokémon sniffed at the flowers before sneezing with a loud "Vui!" and shaking her whole body.

He couldn't help but grin. "If she's allergic to flowers, I don't know if Leafeon's the right evolution for her."

Chloe looked up at him with surprise lighting her emerald eyes before she gave him a joyful smirk. "Well, if that's what Eevee decides," she said, "I'm sure we'll find some way to figure it out."

Goh crouched down next to her, planting a kiss on the top of her head before sitting next to where she was crouching. "Are you enjoying the castle?" he asked.

She giggled at the kiss and nodded. "It's… pretty incredible when you think about it, you know? The world's got so many different, interesting places and things in it. I didn't even know there was a castle like this in Kanto, and yet here we are!"

"Eievui?" Eevee asked, turning to Goh.

She seemed to be looking at his empty shoulder, so Goh shrugged and reached into a pocket. "Sorry, Eevee. Grookey's still wiped out from earlier today. But you can play with Argent if you'd like."

He took the Poké Ball containing his Umbreon from his pocket and let Argent out. In a flash of light, his slate-gray colored Pokémon stood next to Eevee with his signature calm, cool expression on his face, his fur sparkling in the moonlight.

"Bre."

Even as friendly as he was growing to be, Argent was still a Pokémon of few words.

Eevee sniffed the air in his direction and tilted her head before looking at Chloe. She smiled and waved off her partner. "You can explore the garden as long as Argent makes sure you don't get lost."

"Eievui!"

With permission given, Eevee turned and dove into a nearby shrub, with Argent leaping clear over it to keep up with the smaller Pokémon.

Goh watched the gentle blue glow from Argent's rings disappear into the dark before turning back to Chloe.

"What're you still doing up?" he asked.

She shrugged. "It's not like it's that late," she said. "And besides, it's not like you're asleep right now, either."

He chuckled."Yeah, you're right."

She looked at him, and he could already see the question rising up in her eyes. "You couldn't sleep, could you?"

Truly, dating a girl who'd known you for most of your life had its disadvantages. Chloe could read him like a book.

"I… guess I've still got a lot on my mind with Project Mew and stuff," he said, shrugging away his issue.

"But we talked about Project Mew already," Chloe interrupted him. She twisted to face him more, a frown on her face. "What's this other stuff you're worried about…?"

Goh frowned, looking away from her. He knew there would be no way out of this conversation without answering her directly, but that didn't make the process of finding the words to say what he was thinking any easier.

He took in a deep breath and sighed.

"...I guess I feel like… Ash and I haven't been on the same page as much recently."

"Do you two need couples therapy?" Chloe teased, smirking at him.

Unfortunately, Goh wasn't in the mood for their regular game.

"I'm serious," he said, a deep frown on his face. "Like, you've noticed how… ahead of everything Ash always seems, right? He knew Kurt, he knew Lugia, he knew the Kimono Sisters… it feels like I'm just spinning my wheels because every place we've gone is just someplace Ash has gone before!"

His frustration finally boiled over, his voice raising as it did.

"I know I haven't been spending as much time hanging out with him lately, too. He's been practicing for the Masters Eight and I've been trying to get my tokens to join Project Mew. Not to mention that we've been spending more time together alone, too-"

"You better not be about to say that this is somehow partially my fault," Chloe said, eyelids lowered with the most annoyed, offended look Goh thought she could muster without looking actually angry.

He shook his head. "No, it's not that. Of course I wouldn't blame you. It's just…"

He sighed, pulling his knees to his chest and lowered his head.

"...I feel like a pretty awful friend, getting mad at Ash over something like this."

"... because Ash went on his Pokémon journey when he turned ten and he's already seen all these places you've been going?"

Chloe was showing the kind of insight one could gain by spending about a decade in one's company.

"...I feel like Ash is hiding something from me. From all of us. He never brings anything up unless he's directly face to face with it and can't wriggle out of it. And I… just feel like, if I can't trust Ash, then who can I trust?"

"So this is what happened with Horace all over again, then?"

Like a well aimed Poké Ball hitting a distant flying Pokémon, Chloe had hit the point bothering him with perfect accuracy. Goh said nothing and hung his head. He didn't even have anything to say in his own defense.

"Goh, I know things didn't just get better just because you made up with Horace," she said, putting a hand on his back as she inched closer. "It still hurt you and it's taking time to really heal over it. That's okay! But trust me, Ash isn't doing anything of the sort to trick you or lie or anything like that. He's just being forgetful. I mean, you've spent way more time with him than I have. I'd have thought that was obvious."

He sniffed and squeezed his eyes shut, dispelling the tears that were forming in the edge of his vision. "You really think so?"

Chloe nodded. "I'm sure you're just imagining things," she said. "Ash has been his regular goofy self all the time. In fact I couldn't even tell you anyone who is more him than he is. Ash wouldn't hide anything from you on purpose."

He wanted to believe her words. He desperately wanted to grab onto them like a life raft in his sea of doubt.

"...You really think so? I'm just being stupid and jealous?"

She snorted. "You are being stupid, but I wouldn't say jealous. You're just really concerned about getting your last Project Mew tokens. And I get that worry, Goh, honest." She turned to him and put her hands on his shoulders and looked him square in the eyes. "Trust me. If you talk this over with Ash, I'm sure you guys'll be laughing about this later."

There was that faith in her eyes once more, and despite his own history with her, he couldn't determine if she was speaking a truth or only something she believed to be true.

But if she had faith, then Goh would do his best to have faith, as well.

"I guess you're right," he said, cracking a smile. "I've just been all in my own head so much after losing to Horace that I'm the one forgetting things." He leaned in towards her cheek and softly pressed his lips against it, catching the scent of her perfumed skin as he did. "Thank you for helping me keep my head on straight," he whispered, smiling sweetly to her as he did.

Chloe's cheeks were burning red in the garden's dim light, and for the first time in several days, Goh felt like his recent troubles were behind him.

Between Flygon, Aerodactyl, and Dragonite, the three teens could fly with reasonable speed after leaving Cameran Palace with the blessing of Queen Ilene. They flew due west, crossing over the lower peaks of the Raizen Mountains and avoiding the more turbulent winds that made things difficult for them in the autumn near the peak of Mount Tensei.

Holding his phone in one hand as he held onto Flygon with the other (with Grookey holding tight to his shoulder), Goh used his GPS to try to pinpoint the location of the ruins, though doing so from the sky wasn't easy. It seemed that when Ho-Oh allegedly destroyed this entire kingdom, it had been effectively erased from ever existing, with not even a still-burnt crater like he sort of expected after seeing the Burned Tower still retain its damaged shape after all of these years.

When the three of them arrived at the coordinates that seemed to be indicated on the map, they descended and Goh and Ash recalled their Pokémon.

"Watch your step around here," Ash said as he placed Dragonite's Poké Ball back in his pocket. "The ground isn't always solid and you can fall into the ruins if you're not careful."

"Why do I get the idea that you're speaking from experience?" Chloe asked snidely.

Ash's only response was a chuckle that felt far too ominous to Goh. Pikachu just sighed from Ash's shoulder, giving a shrug that seemed to communicate 'it can't be helped'.

"All the same, I'll just hold Eevee in my arms, if that's alright with you guys," she said.

"Good idea." Goh said.

Ash turned to him. "Are we close to where the map says the ruins are?"

Goh looked at his phone and zoomed in on the map image. "It looks like there may be some sort of entrance around here somewhere… but it'd be north of where I'm standing."

The three of them looked north and through the smaller, thinner trees, they could see a larger tree standing in what looked to be a clearing just a bit away. Stepping carefully, the three teens walked towards the giant tree, with Goh ending up behind Chloe as Ash led the way into the grove.

Looking around the grove, the first thing to grab Goh's attention were the stone bricks that were still visible through the layer of dirt and soil that seemed to be covering them up haphazardly. While from the sky, it seemed they were invisible, from here Goh could easily tell there used to be some sort of building here. As he looked on about the clearing, it seemed like there were signs of a battle here with scorches on the ground mixed with parts of the ground sliced into or dug up. They were the tell-tale signs that a Pokémon battle occurred here.

"Watch it," Ash said, gesturing to the marks. "This might be someone's home now."

Chloe looked around. "I don't see anyone… can you really tell that from a few scorched spots of grass?"

"Trust him," Goh said. "Those scorches aren't from fire. They're from electricity."

Ash nodded with a grin. "Yeah! It looks just like when Pikachu fries some grass with a Thunderbolt!"

"Pikachu!"

"But what kinds of Electric-type Pokémon would live in this area…?" Goh asked out-loud as he took out his phone and began looking through his Pokédex application. "Let's see… there's Rattata, Spearow, Ekans, Sandshrew, and Mankey…"

None of the Pokémon that seemed to live in the area were Electric-types.

"That's weird… then who left these scorch marks…?"

"Maybe there's some Pokémon who doesn't normally live in the area that moved in? Like an Electabuzz or something?"

Goh frowned at Chloe's suggestion. "This far from a city? Pewter City is south of here; I'd think an Electabuzz would rather be there than up here in front of some ruins."

"That's a good point…"

Grookey hopped off of Goh's shoulder and approached the scorched areas before taking his stick off of his head and smacking it against the ground with a loud "Grooki! Grooki!"

As his rapid beating continued, a wave of revitalizing energy bloomed from Grookey's stick, and the scorched grass quickly recovered from its fried state, returning to a healthy shade of green.

Goh approached his Pokémon and gave him a pat on the head. "Good work, Grookey. I hope whoever lives here appreciates it."

As Goh attended Grookey, Ash slipped away from the group and began searching the tree. He gasped as he stepped around it. "Hey, guys! C'mere, quick!"

Goh scooped Grookey back up onto his shoulder and hurried over, with Chloe and Eevee close behind.

As they rounded the tree, they saw it.

While the tree was massive, towering over their heads, it seemed as though it grew around an entrance to something. It reminded Goh of an entrance to the subway that ran beneath Vermilion City, only it was beneath this huge tree, and the entrance looked to be carved out of dirt and stone.

"Do you think this is the main entrance?" Goh asked.

"Grooki…"

Ash shrugged. "Last time, my friends and I all fell in a hole. If this is the main entrance, I wouldn't know it."

"That doesn't inspire confidence…" Chloe sighed, rolling her eyes.

Goh chuckled. "This isn't so bad! We're off on an adventure!"

"Grooki!"

"Eievui!"

Chloe groaned as her Pokémon seemed to vote against her.

"C'mon!" Ash cheered as he stepped forward towards the entrance.

"Let's go!" Goh added, following right behind.

As they stepped into the stone entranceway, the three teens quickly brought out their phones and turned on the flashlight functions to help them see in the darkness. The walls seemed to be covered in hieroglyphs and other writing, though to Goh it may as well have been written in an alien language. He pressed forward with Ash right behind him, but he stopped when he didn't hear Chloe's footprints following along.

Turning back, he saw Chloe scrutinizing the writing, looking from it to her phone and back again.

"Chloe…?"

"...I… I might be able to parse this out…"

Ash gasped. "You mean you think you can read it…?"

"Don't rush me!" Chloe snapped at him before turning back to it. "It's… way more complex writing than was in the temple on Stone Mountain. Likely way older, too. But… I think I can put some pieces of it together and we can get a pretty good idea of what's going on here. But… it'll take me some time to read this as we head further in."

Goh gave her a thumbs up. "Go ahead and do what you can. Any information you've got'll be great for anything we run into!"
"Grooki!" the chimp said in agreement.

Chloe nodded. "Got it!"

"Until then," he said, turning towards the path that seemed to descend further underground, "let's move confidently but carefully."

Ash nodded. "Right! Let's go!"

The three teens continued down their way for quite a while, with Chloe stopping and reading occasionally and taking lots and lots of pictures on her Rotom Phone. So far, they didn't seem to encounter any wild Pokémon, nor did they see any signs of whatever caused the scorch marks outside. As she was focused on translation, Goh turned his efforts to making a reliable map for the three of them so they could get back out without getting lost. This left Ash and Pikachu being the ones to lead, but this was fine for Goh. His friend had a weird way of not getting seriously harmed, even when falling into a trap, so he would trust in the toughness of one of the Masters Eight.

"Can we take a break?" Chloe asked. "I think now would be a good time for me to go over everything that I've been able to compile so far."

Ash turned and nodded. "Sounds good t' me. I'm feeling pretty hungry."

"Good thing we got some lunch packed for us at the castle," Goh said, setting down his backpack and unzipping it as he began looking for what food was packed for him. He pulled out a sandwich and turned his attention to his girlfriend. "Alright, Chloe. We're all ears!"

Chloe sat Eevee down on the ground and took out her own sandwich for lunch. "Okay, so the writing on these walls is all like a big history book. It talks about how this kingdom was founded."

"It talks about how Pokélantis was founded?" Ash asked, though his words were muffled by his own full mouth.

"That's the weird part," Chloe said. "It's not just Pokélantis it talks about here, but the kingdom of Rota, too."
That was news for Goh. "The Kingdom of Rota? On this side of the mountains?"

"But I thought Rota was a small, independent country," Ash asked with a furrowed brow. Pikachu mirrored his expression, though the mouse looked a bit more concerned than confused.

"According to what's written here, a long long time ago, this place used to be all one kingdom called Rotatlantis," Chloe said. "Based on what's written here, it stretched all the way from Rota's Tree of Beginning down south to a huge verdant forest in the south. It also included the Raizen Mountains and that altar we found on top of them.

Goh put a hand to his chin, a gesture that Grookey and then Eevee copied. He remembered the altar and the stone tablet they had found up there that Professor Cerise had translated. "Where the Rainbow begins and Kingdoms end…" he muttered.

Ash, however, was more concerned about other details. "A verdant forest? How far did it go..?"

To that, Chloe shrugged. "It sounds to me like that might have been the Viridian Forest, which means the territory stretched pretty far. Rota used to be part of a huge kingdom, I guess, though that's not the end of the story."

"What else did you learn?" Goh asked.

Chloe looked down at her phone. "It almost sounds like a fairy tale… It says that the Kingdom of Rotatlantis was once ruled by a family that had two princes, and when they took their sons to the altair that stands atop the tallest mountain in the kingdom - definitely Mount Tensei - they asked their god which prince should rule - the elder or the younger."

"Why would they ask their god about something like that?" Ash asked.

"Usually these things are just inherited by the older son, right? Maybe there was something about him that made them unsure of who their successor should be?"

Goh's supposition was based on nothing but conjecture, but that seemed to be all they had at the moment.

"In any case, the legend written here says that the two sons competed in a series of trials against each other in order to receive the god's blessing. And it ended up that the younger son ended up earning the blessing and being chosen to be the new ruler of Rotatlantis."

Goh frowned, but not at Chloe.

This all felt strangely familiar. It was almost as though he could feel pieces sliding into place in his mind.

"I don't guess that the older son liked that very much," Ash noted.

"The kingdom was nearly torn apart by the god's decision to bless the younger son, and to avoid a civil war, the two sons agreed to split the kingdom in two along the Raizen Mountains. On the western side, they called the new kingdom Pokélantis and the eastern kingdom took the remaining part of the old name and called itself Rota."

"Their god chose a new leader and ended up splitting the kingdom…"

Goh said the words barely above a whisper. And he continued to recite from memory. "...The hidden secrets shall be uncovered by trials of Fire, Lightning, and Water. The treasure within shall be blessed by the powers of Fire, Lightning, and Water and be purified. It will be called the One who Chases the Rainbow, most beloved by the gods. Offer your prayers at the foot of the Rainbow, and god will descend."

Ash gasped. "The legend from the temple in Stone Town…!"

"What if…" Goh said, "this legend is about how the succession crisis started back in ancient times?"

Chloe's eyes went wide at the thought. "So… you think that maybe the trials we went through were the same ones those two princes had to go through…?"

"We can't be sure. We're missing a few details," Goh cautioned. "But we may be on the right track here…"

Even as he urged caution, he could feel his excitement bubbling up. This was getting closer and closer to uncovering the full mystery of the temple and earning a veritable boat-load of tokens.

"So 'the One who Chases the Rainbow' is what they called the one who was chosen to be the kingdom's true successor?" Chloe asked.

"Chosen by a god, by the sound of it," Goh said. "It's almost a bit scary to think about…"

Ash crossed his arms, looking uncharacteristically in thought. "Do… do you think that god that chose was Ho-Oh?" he asked.

Chloe frowned. "Ho-Oh did destroy Pokélantis later, right? It'd make sense if they were still angry at the city for basically defying a divine edict."

"But the feather doesn't match up to what we know about Ho-Oh, either," Goh said. "The order's all wrong. Remember what Morty told us, Ash?"

The Palletonian nodded. "Yeah, and there's never been anyone who's found a feather like this from Ho-Oh that's not got any colors before gettin' them added."

"So… maybe the god was someone else?"

Chloe's question hung in the air with the sounds of Pikachu, Grookey, and Eevee all eating together.

It made sense to Goh that the god had to be someone else, given the evidence against Ho-Oh, but given that the phoenix was the one said to destroy Pokélantis, they couldn't be dismissed entirely.

"Regardless, that's all I was able to learn from the writing," Chloe said. "Maybe there's more we could learn, but it's going to take some time to decode all of it."

"Then I guess we should get moving again," Goh said, standing up. "It feels like we're really close to a breakthrough!"

Grookey leapt onto Goh's shoulder and agreed with a shout that echoed through the underground ruin. Ash chuckled at the chimp. "Man, I'm getting kinda psyched, too! Aren't you buddy?"

Pikachu jumped onto Ash's shoulder and gave a shout just like Grookey did that also echoed through the ruins. Goh pivoted on his foot and offered Ash his closed fist, which his friend quickly returned.

But as he took a step forward deeper into the ruins, he heard Chloe gasping.

"Goh, watch out!"

But he was already putting his foot down on the ground that Chloe was pointing at. The brick that was supporting his weight quickly fell out from beneath him. He felt like time began moving in slow motion as he began to fall. He saw the shocked faces of his friends in the dark as he tumbled down through the floor.

Grookey screamed as he held onto Goh's shoulder for dear life, and for a moment Goh himself thought that this ancient ruin might become his own tomb.

His mind began working quickly. The hole he was in was too tight for Flygon or Aerodactyl, but there was a way for him to at least slow his descent. He pulled out the ball containing Inteleon and sent out his Agent Pokémon below him. Inteleon appeared and immediately gripped the wall with one hand, using his other to grab Goh's as he fell past. But like Goh assumed, this wasn't enough to stop their descent into the darkness, only slow them down as Inteleon slid down the side of the wall until both he and Goh fell into another chamber. It was a rough landing, one that made Goh wince in pain as he hit the ground, but it could have been much worse.

He grinned through the pain. "Thank you, Inteleon. You really saved me there."

Inteleon smirked and nodded in that cool way he would when his varied abilities would come into good use. Grookey leapt from Goh's shoulder into Inteleon's open hand and cheered for the Water-type, giving them a moment of levity after surviving the fall.

"Goh!"

"Goh!"

"Pika!"

"Eievui!"

They were all calling for him from above. Goh stood back up and cupped his hands around his mouth. "I'm okay!" he shouted. "I don't think I can come back up that way, though! Inteleon can't carry me and Flygon and Aerodactyl are too big to fly back up."

"What're we going to do then?" Chloe shouted down. He could hear the worry in her voice, and it pained him to be separated, but he was alright.

"Let's keep exploring!" he shouted back up. "I'm sure I'll find a way back up eventually! Keep gathering information and I'll see what I can find down here myself!"
"Don't worry, Goh! If anything happens up here, Pikachu an' me'll keep Chloe safe!"

"Pikapikachu!"

Goh almost couldn't help the grin that grew on his lips. No matter what happened, Ash was always going to be his reliable friend. They trusted in each other, and that's why they made such a great team as research fellows.

"Thanks a lot, Ash! I'm sure it won't be long before I see you guys again!"

"Goh! Please be careful!"

"Don't worry, Chloe!" Goh shouted back up to her. "I'll be alright! I'll see you soon! I love you!"

"I-I love you, too! Take care! Be safe!"

It was a bit awkward to shout that in these ruins, but if it helped Chloe keep moving, he would be fine with it.

Looking around the darkness, Goh saw that the path went in two directions, ahead of him and behind him. "Inteleon, Grookey, can either of you tell which way we should go from here?"

Inteleon held up a finger while Grookey sniffed at the air. Both of them pointed in the direction Goh was facing, indicating that he should go that way. "Got it. Thank you, guys. I feel like we need a little more light down here."

He took out Argent's Poké Ball and let the Umbreon out. The gentle blue glow of Argent's rings immediately illuminated the surrounding area and Goh saw that the walls had more hieroglyphs written upon them.

"Alright. Let's go."

Grookey returned to his shoulder and Inteleon set the membranes over his eyes to let him see in the dark, and the four of them headed down through the ruined hallway.

He didn't really bother with taking any pictures or trying to write down anything they saw on the walls. He couldn't read it and he didn't figure Chloe would be able to make heads or tails of it without the full context, so he set his mind on finding a way back up to reunite with his friends.

As he turned down the next hallway, he thought he could see a glow in the distance, peering around the end of another corner, and so he and his Pokémon broke out into a run. He wasn't sure if the light belonged to a person or a Pokémon, but anyone down here could help him find his way back to the surface and his friends, he thought.

As he turned down the next passage, he saw a man kneeling down next to a wall, writing something on a notepad. Hovering behind him was a Pokémon Goh had only ever heard about online and never seen in person. He frowned as he approached the two of them. "I never thought there'd be someone else down here…"

The man had pale green colored hair that was somewhat disheveled, and he wore brown overalls and a plain cream colored shirt. For a moment, Goh was reminded of a young man dressed similarly who bore a resemblance to an Eevee, but this man's hair and mein were nothing like the young man who appeared in Goh's mind's eye.

The man looked up at him, his violet eyes reflecting the blue light emanating off of Argent, and he gave Goh a friendly smile. "Hello there. I didn't expect to run into anyone down here."

Goh chuckled. "Neither did I, to be honest," he said. "I came in here with a few friends of mine, but we got separated. I didn't think anyone but us would be here."

The man chuckled. "Well, I'm very interested in these ruins, you see. I'm seeing if there's anything that can be learned about the past by understanding what happened to Pokélantis." He stood, and Goh was almost taken aback by the man's height as he towered over him, but the man's height seemed at odds with his gentle demeanor. He offered a hand to Goh. "My name is Lawrence," he said, "and I'm a researcher of myths and a collector of artifacts."

Goh took the hand and gave it a shake. "My name's Goh, and I'm a research fellow for the Cerise Laboratory. And these are my partners Grookey, Inteleon, and Argent!"

"Grooki!"

"Intel."

"Bre."

Grookey excitedly greeted the man, but Inteleon and Argent were more reserved. Goh turned his attention to the man's Pokémon and held up his phone to them.

The Pokémon looked like they were made of several rounded balloons of red and blue pieced together as they watched Goh with their unblinking eyes. The Pokémon's image appeared in the Pokédex. "Porygon2," Goh's phone said, "the Virtual Pokémon. A Normal-type. Porygon2 was created by humans using the power of science. This man-made Pokémon has been endowed with artificial intelligence that enables it to learn new gestures and emotions on its own."

"Wow, a Porygon2! Talk about your rare Pokémon!"

Lawrence chuckled. "You've got quite the collection of rare Pokémon yourself. Two of the hard to catch Pokémon often given out to new trainers in the Galar Region and an Umbreon with a rare color scheme. I'm already impressed!"

The two of them shared a laugh to lighten the mood in the dreary tunnel. It felt a bit less lonely than it did after he fell, and so Goh felt a little emboldened to ask another question.

"So, what are you researching down here?" he asked. "What are you hoping to learn?"

Lawrence turned his attention back to the wall. "I've come here seeking God," he said.

"God…?"

Goh felt the word catch in his throat. They had just been wondering about the nature of the god in the legend they uncovered. Could Lawrence know something about what they were already researching?

Lawrence reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked to be a card, only it was made of a sparkling, colorful metal. Inscribed on the card looked to be the same images and hieroglyphs that surrounded Goh on all the walls around him, including four symbols that surrounded the central figure. But it was that figure that caught his eye the most. They were a small, pink colored creature with piercing eyes and large feet, and a long thin tail.

Goh couldn't believe his eyes. He felt like his heart was going to explode seeing the image depicted right in front of him. He couldn't even find the words to speak.

So instead he curled his lips to form the shape of the name of the Pokémon depicted on the card. The Pokémon who had been his reason for wanting to become a Pokémon trainer, the Pokémon he wanted to meet more than any other, and the aim of the research project he desperately wanted to be part of.

Mew.