Pokemon Paldea [329-330]

Chapter 329: Coins, Gimmighoul, and the Terastallized Palossand

Since Raifort said she needed to prepare some tools, she told him to explore the area first.

Carrying a flashlight, Lucas walked over to the leaning watchtower and examined the structure that was said to date back to the ancient Paldea Empire.

The tower's body was built of rough stone. In the flashlight's beam, he could clearly see how the surface, worn by wind and sand, had become smooth and hard. He couldn't tell what kind of stone it was, but after so many years of blazing sun and sandstorms in this scorching desert, it had only tilted a bit, with most of its body buried under the sand.

The tower all but merged with the pitch-black night. If not for the car's headlights earlier and his flashlight now, Lucas might have missed that a watchtower lay buried here—and beneath it, the tomb of an imperial Paldean official.

As he inspected the area around the leaning watchtower, the thick gravel under his feet began to flow—slowly, imperceptibly—guided by some mysterious power.

Atop the leaning tower, a tiny figure only about ten centimeters tall peeked cautiously from the shadows, glancing fearfully toward the sands below.

It wanted to warn the human, but it was afraid of the big thing lurking beneath the sand, and wavered in indecision.

After circling the tower for about ten minutes and getting bored of it, Lucas decided to summon Dragonite and fly up to check the top.

After all, the Paldea League did not maintain the leaning watchtower in the Asado Desert. It wouldn't be surprising if it collapsed at any time. Lucas didn't dare to climb it rashly; getting buried alive wouldn't be fatal for him, but it would be awfully embarrassing.

Just as he lowered his head to take out a Poké Ball, he frowned slightly at the sand beneath his feet.

 If he wasn't mistaken, the sand seemed to be moving?

Before he could think it through, Raifort suddenly let out a scream not far away.

"Ah!"

He looked over and saw Raifort, who had been carrying a large box of unknown contents, staring at her legs as they sank into the sand. She let out an involuntary cry of surprise.

Forcing herself to calm down, Raifort quickly realized some Pokémon was behind this. She reached for a Poké Ball, intending to have her Grumpig—now rested and with much of its psychic strength recovered—help free her legs from the sand's grip.

At that moment, an orange shadow streaked across the night sky. Dragonite yanked both Raifort and the big box from the sand and hovered in midair.

"Thank you."

Dragonite brought Raifort back to Lucas's side. Feeling the sand filling her shoes and shifting uncomfortably, she still didn't forget to thank Lucas and Dragonite.

Although Raifort could have saved herself, Lucas and Dragonite did rescue her—that was a fact.

Lucas gave a slight nod, accepting her thanks, and asked, "You okay?"

"I'm fine, but…"

Raifort frowned, looking at the sand that, perhaps because she'd escaped, was flowing faster now. It had already swallowed half of the off-road vehicle's tires and was about to reach the chassis.

"There's something under the sand. It should be a Pokémon."

Lucas nodded slightly. "I know. And it's a Ghost-type especially good at hiding its presence, which is why neither of us noticed it earlier."

Hovering nearby, Dragonite also vaguely sensed a faint presence beneath the sand. It shifted its gaze, searching for the intruder's true location.

At that moment, Lucas finished conferring with his system and learned the identity and position of the Pokémon lurking beneath the sand, trying to swallow Raifort and him.

"Dragonite, Hydro Pump—left rear tire of the off-roader!"

To Raifort's surprise, Lucas suddenly called out a command.

Even more surprising, in the instant after his voice fell, Dragonite had already finished charging. Azure water swirled in its mouth, then burst forth as a thick column, tearing through night and air to strike the precise spot Lucas named.

That level of trust and execution—Raifort admitted that even her constant companion Zoroark might not manage it.

Under the torrent, the sneaky Pokémon let out an eerie shriek and leapt straight out of the sand.

With Dragonite's Hydro Pump washing the area, the sand near the vehicle was quickly blasted away, revealing a brilliant crystal long buried below. It flared with dazzling light, a pillar shooting into the sky like a sword.

"That's… a Tera crystal!?"

Raifort clapped a hand over her mouth, astonished.

As a Naranja Academy history teacher, she knew well the mysterious phenomena long present in Paldea.

When a Pokémon comes into contact with energy leaking from a Tera crystal, it undergoes a transformation called Terastallization, its body gleaming as if plated in faceted gemstone.

It was said the Paldea League planned to roll out controllable Terastallization soon, based on work by Professors Turo and Sada.

"That's right… and over there is a Terastallized Pokémon."

Lucas nodded, then looked at the Pokémon that had jumped out of the sand.

Palossand, a Ghost/Ground-type Pokémon.

Its Tera Type… Grass!

True to its name, Palossand resembled a castle made of yellow sand, composed of three parts: the central body and two arms.

The arch that looked like a gate in the central body was actually its mouth, with pink and blue stones set into the structure and atop its head.

Its mouth went straight through to its back, and there was a red shovel stuck upside down in its head. It was said to function like a radar. While hiding in the sand, Palossand likely relied on that shovel to track Lucas and Raifort's positions.

Ordinarily, Hydro Pump should be Palossand's bane. Hit with too much water, it can't maintain its castle shape.

But perhaps due to Terastallization, the torrent from Dragonite hadn't made it crumble into a heap of sand.

Out of the sand, Palossand screeched in anger, furious that Dragonite dared use its most hated Water-type move.

On the watchtower, the tiny, doll-like Pokémon set down the coin it had been carefully holding, grabbed its head with both hands, and cringed in fear at the shrill cry.

After all, it was because of Palossand that it had been trapped up on this tower.

Palossand had been tyrannizing the area near the leaning watchtower for a long time.

Especially since that strange crystal had formed.

After it touched the crystal and plated its body in a crystalline sheen, Palossand was once struck by a Water-type move in a fight with another Pokémon. Knowing water was its weakness, it thought it was finished—only to find it didn't collapse. The Water-type attack hurt far less than expected.

From that moment, Palossand grasped how powerful the crystal was.

As a Ghost-type, Palossand had excellent energy perception. Noticing that the exposed crystal continually leaked energy, it chose to bury it with sand to slow the leakage.

Since then, Palossand had claimed the crystal and the surrounding area as its territory.

Raifort, Lucas, and Dragonite were intruders—and not only did they refuse to take their beating, they even exposed the Tera crystal it had painstakingly hidden.

Before long, other Pokémon would notice the light pillar and invade.

That infuriated Palossand, who viewed the crystal as its own.

Seething, Palossand's mouth flared with radiance. Empowered by Tera energy, a blazing green beam gushed toward Dragonite, illuminating half the night sky.

A move that unleashed a large portion of stored Tera energy: Tera Tera Blast!

Because Palossand's Tera Type was Grass, this Tera Blast counted as a Grass-type attack.

Dragonite couldn't even be bothered to dodge. It let the Tera Blast erupt across its body.

Lucas's expression grew odd. With Dragonite quadruple-resisting Grass and Multiscale reducing damage… this Palossand didn't seem very well-educated.

When the dazzling flare faded, Dragonite was virtually unscathed. Palossand stared in disbelief, and the little figure on the tower, who had shut its eyes, gaped in shock.

Just days ago it had seen Palossand one-shot a very strong-looking croc with that move!

"Drago~~"

Palossand had been far weaker than Dragonite to begin with, never mind that hilariously mismatched Grass-type Tera Blast.

Dragonite felt as if it had just enjoyed a refreshing rinse, and decided to counterattack. It beat its wind-wreathed wings, and scything gusts tore toward Palossand. With howling winds even more piercing than Palossand's shrieks, the surrounding quicksand blasted apart, and Palossand lost most of its stamina under multiple Hurricanes.

"Crack—"

A crisp snap rang out. In the next instant, not only was Palossand blasted out of Terastallization, but even the Tera crystal buried beneath the sand, with only a sharp edge exposed, shattered into glittering motes and dissolved completely.

"Ding!"

The tiny figure atop the leaning tower cried out in surprise, eyes darting between Dragonite and Lucas.

That super strong Palossand… lost just like that?

Chapter 330: Times Have Changed

After its Terastallization broke and the Tera crystal shattered into stardust, Palossand flared with anger for a second—then, seeing the azure swirl gathering once more in Dragonite's mouth, chickened out, dove into the sand, and fled without a trace in the blink of an eye.

Lucas, who had been about to take out a Poké Ball to temporarily capture Palossand and release it after exploring the tomb, froze with a dumb look.

No backbone at all—running that fast?

Raifort spoke up. "How about this: I'll have Grumpig and Seviper stand guard outside later. They can also watch my off-roader."

She clearly knew what Lucas was worried about.

They were about to enter an underground tomb somewhere near the leaning watchtower. If Palossand returned for revenge while they were defenseless inside, they could be trapped.

To prevent that, Pokémon had to keep watch outside.

Raifort had a clear sense of her role.

She only needed to handle traps and mechanisms and lead the way. The fighting could be left entirely to Lucas.

…

With the incident over, Raifort went back to prepping for the tomb.

Lucas, meanwhile, returned to his earlier plan—ride Dragonite to the top platform of the watchtower and see if anything was there.

In the games, watchtower tops usually have some items and TMs—and typically a Pokémon called Gimmighoul.

As the exalted Pokédex No. 999, Gimmighoul has two forms: the Chest Form, born inside a treasure chest, and the Roaming Form, born from passion infused into a coin.

The tower-top Gimmighoul is the capturable Chest Form, while the Paldea region's nooks and crannies hide Roaming Forms that can't be captured.

Chest Form Gimmighoul can barely move because of the chest.

But the Roaming form is so nimble that people rarely notice them. Even if spotted, their sharp senses trigger and they bolt, so no one in Paldea has captured a Roaming Gimmighoul.

The Roaming form always carries an ancient coin with austere patterns and is only about ten centimeters tall—small enough to fit in a palm.

As Lucas mounted Dragonite and flew toward the top—

The tiny figure at the platform's edge—Gimmighoul—looked startled.

"Ding!"

Startled by Lucas and Dragonite, it had no time to admire that they'd defeated Palossand. It let out a clear little cry, even abandoning its coin as it panicked and squeezed into a sun-cracked gap at the platform's edge, hiding with practiced ease.

With that unremarkable crevice, its tiny body, and a Ghost-type's innate ability to hide its presence, no one would find it without a careful search.

A second after Gimmighoul hid, Dragonite reached the platform.

Lucas didn't have Dragonite land; he dismounted, boots on ancient stone, and scanned his surroundings.

The tower was already leaning. He was fine by himself, but a four-hundred-plus-pound Dragonite moving around could be the last straw that finally brought the tower down.

As a watchtower, the top platform was spacious.

Unfortunately, because of the lean, Lucas didn't dare go toward the lower, slanted side. The teetering edges looked terrifying.

After checking the safe area and not even finding a stray feather, he sighed. Of course the exalted No. 999 wouldn't just sit around here.

It seemed his plan to collect coins and evolve the exalted No. 999 Gimmighoul into the exalted No. 1000 Gholdengo had hit a snag at step one.

Just then, Raifort below called up—she seemed ready, urging Lucas to come down and begin.

"Drago~~"

As Lucas was about to leave, Dragonite—whose night vision far surpassed his—pointed to the edge on the lower side of the platform and let out a puzzled trill.

There… seemed to be a coin?

Blinking, Dragonite fluttered over, carefully picked up a coin whose color stood out even in the dark with its slightly pudgy claws, and proudly presented it to Lucas.

Hiding in the crack, Gimmighoul realized it had dropped its coin. It wanted to retrieve its precious treasure, but feared Dragonite—who had easily beaten Palossand—and could only fret in the crevice, unable to muster the courage to come out.

"This is…"

Lucas took the ancient-patterned coin from Dragonite, deep in thought.

A moment later, as if he'd figured it out, he handed the coin back and had Dragonite carefully return it to where it had been.

No chest mimic, but on the tower top… a coin-back little guy!

Knowing the coin-back's timid nature, Lucas didn't try to force it out with the coin. He had Dragonite put it back, flashed a friendly smile toward a certain spot by the tower's edge, then descended to join Raifort and prep for the tomb.

Long after Lucas and Dragonite left the top, Gimmighoul cautiously peeked out. Confirming no one was there, it hugged its recovered coin and smiled happily.

When the joy faded, it recalled the human who had commanded Dragonite and his behavior.

It hesitated, then timidly craned out, as if searching for Lucas.

But below, aside from the off-roader parked in the distance, there were only two Pokémon standing guard—both looked fierce to Gimmighoul.

Frightened, it shrank back—then remembered the friendly smile from Lucas, who seemed to know it was hiding in the crack.

Gritting its metaphorical teeth, it went "ding ding ding" to psych itself up, and using its innate gifts, slipped down the tower with its coin, slipped past Seviper and Grumpig, and scurried into the off-road vehicle.

If it guessed right, that human would return to this big thing.

…

Inside a pitch-black passage, the only light coming from their flashlights, Lucas followed behind Raifort, curiosity written all over his face. Everything here was new to him.

"Didn't expect the tomb entrance to be there."

Thinking of where Raifort had taken him, Lucas was impressed.

He'd imagined the entrance would be inside the leaning tower, accessed through lower levels buried in sand.

But Raifort helplessly asked him: if the tomb entrance were blatantly connected to the tower, would this tomb still be waiting for the two of them?

 It would've been raided countless times. The tomb owner's underwear would be gone—let alone the official's journal she was after.

The real entrance was like that Tera crystal—deep within the sands that built this vast Asado Desert.

To get in, you had to find the right spot and bring a Pokémon that could manipulate sand, part the sands in that area, and locate a very well-hidden sand pit.

To reach this tomb, Raifort had even gone to the Hoenn region's desert to catch a Trapinch to churn the sand, find the pit, and use a gentle Sand Tomb to swallow them down.

To be honest, Lucas never wanted to experience being sucked into a sand vortex again.

Even with a mask and protective suit, being engulfed—body and vision—felt like being buried alive. It was awful.

Thankfully, the novelty of the tomb exploration washed away his discomfort. Following a professional like Raifort was pretty fun.

Raifort's gear wasn't tomb-raiding relics but modern industrial tech: detectors, protective suits, flashlights…

 That deflated Lucas's excitement a bit.

Raifort led Lucas methodically through the maze-like tomb, full of dead ends.

"Many tomb raiders in the past used torches or Pokémon to light the way, but under certain conditions that can wipe out an entire party."

"That so-called stale, ancient air in long-sealed tombs is actually marsh gas… and mechanisms sensitive to energy released by Pokémon."

"Times have changed! With modern tech, flashlights won't produce energy fluctuations, and our protective suits ensure we breathe clean air, avoiding pathogens and toxins."

Through the comms built into their suits, Raifort explained calmly while deftly disarming traps, and Lucas listened, feeling enlightened.

A crisp click echoed through the narrow passage. Raifort exhaled, turned to Lucas, and smiled slightly. "There should be guardian Pokémon behind this door. Champion, I'll leave the battle to you, okay?"