Following the passage deeper into the ruins, Aiden eventually arrived before a massive stone door carved with the same spiral pattern he had seen throughout the structure.
“So this is the end?”
He backed away several steps and glanced at Snivy.
“Sni!”
Snivy nodded.
Her vine lashed out with a sharp whoosh, striking the spiral carved into the center of the door.
Rumble—
The floor trembled as a deep grinding roar echoed through the ruins.
Dust spilled from the ceiling, and the enormous stone door slowly slid open.
Brilliant light poured through the widening gap.
The sudden brightness stung Aiden’s eyes, but he couldn’t have been happier.
At least all this exploring hadn’t been for nothing.
Then his eyes adjusted.
“What the hell?
It’s empty?!”
Beyond the door was an enormous chamber resembling a plaza.
There were no piles of gold, no mysterious murals, and none of the treasures he had imagined finding.
The only thing of note was a circular stone platform in the middle of the room that looked vaguely like an altar.
One torch after another suddenly flared to life, illuminating the entire chamber.
Aiden cautiously stepped inside and swept his gaze around.
Aside from the torches, all he could see were the same spiral markings that appeared everywhere else in the ruins.
“Well…
we came all this way.”
He looked toward the nearest spiral-marked stone.
Before he even had to ask, Snivy had already gotten to work.
Whoosh!
Her vine struck the panel.
Click.
The stone sank into the floor.
Nothing happened.
“…?”
Aiden stared at the tile as it slowly rose back into place, thoroughly confused.
Then he noticed something else.
Four unusually large stone panels were set into the floor around the altar, positioned perfectly at its front, back, left, and right.
“Looking at this…
maybe all four need to be pressed at the same time.”
There was only one problem.
Aiden counted their numbers.
Sprigatito, Snivy, and himself.
“We’re one short…
Could I use something from the backpack?”
He hesitated.
If activating the mechanism caused some kind of accident, sacrificing part of his already meager belongings to an ancient ruin would hurt badly.
“If only there were something around here I could use instead…”
He searched the chamber without success.
Just as he was considering unloading the contents of his backpack, a familiar figure crept past the open doorway.
“Sandile?!”
Aiden’s eyes lit up.
Meanwhile, the Sandile in question had been disturbed by all the banging and crashing coming from deeper inside the ruins.
It had only intended to sneak over and see what kind of trouble the strange human from earlier was causing.
Then, while cautiously poking its head around the doorway…
It felt Aiden’s burning gaze lock onto it.
Sandile froze.
‘Oh.’
‘I’m dead.’
Under Aiden’s intensely enthusiastic stare, Sandile attempted to make itself look cute.
Then it accidentally showed off its sharp teeth.
Sprigatito promptly beat the hell out of it.
‘That’s for digging random holes!’
‘And that’s for scaring us!’
Sprigatito’s furious yowling sounded absolutely filthy.
Sandile’s crying sounded even worse.
…
A short while later, Sandile stood on one of the stone panels with tears pooling in its large eyes.
Its mouth was clamped tightly shut, and under Sprigatito’s vicious glare, it didn’t dare move so much as a toe.
Aiden rubbed his chin as he studied the scene, then nodded thoughtfully.
“Yep.
You really can tell your final evolution becomes a Dark-type.
There’s definitely a mean streak hiding in there.
Terrifying little cat…”
While Aiden was still offering his unsolicited commentary, Snivy—who had not forgotten what they were actually trying to accomplish—had already taken her place on another panel.
She then used her vines to drag Aiden and Sprigatito onto the remaining two.
Click!
Rumble—!
The chamber shook again, even more violently than when the stone door had opened.
At the same time, the markings carved into the center of the altar began to rotate.
Separate lines shifted and connected until they formed the exact same spiral pattern that covered the stone panels throughout the ruins.
Light erupted from the altar.
This time, Aiden’s exploration finally paid off.
When the light faded, an enormous Pokémon stood at the center of the platform.
“Golurk!”
Only then did Aiden understand why the patterns throughout the ruins had seemed so familiar.
The spiraling designs carved into the stones were almost identical to the markings on Golurk’s body.
Aiden slowly raised his phone while craning his neck to look up at the towering Pokémon.
“This thing has to be five or six meters tall…”
If he remembered correctly, an ordinary Golurk was usually somewhere around two or three meters in height.
This one was more than five meters tall.
Frankly, Aiden wasn’t sure he could reach its knee even if he jumped.
Then Golurk’s eyes suddenly lit up.
Aiden’s expression changed.
A purple beam erupted from its body.
Boom!
Fortunately, Aiden had never completely lowered his guard.
He threw himself sideways and rolled across the floor, narrowly avoiding the blast.
At the same time, his right hand snapped forward.
The Poké Ball he threw struck Golurk cleanly.
Red light burst from the ball and swallowed the massive Pokémon, pulling it inside.
The instant that happened, Aiden was already reaching for another Poké Ball.
“Get ready!
The second Golurk comes back out, hit it together!
Sprigatito, use Leafage!
Snivy, Magical Leaf!”
“Sni!”
“Spriga!”
He had barely finished speaking when—
Bang!
The Poké Ball burst open.
Golurk had not even touched the ground before Sprigatito and Snivy unleashed their attacks together.
But Golurk was a fully evolved Pokémon.
Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t even evolve from Golett until at least Level 43, and judging by this enormous specimen, there was no telling how many years it had spent sealed inside these ruins.
Aiden didn’t even want to guess how strong it actually was.
Boom!
Golurk crashed heavily onto the stone floor and raised both arms as energy began gathering between them.
Aiden saw his opening.
Without even looking directly at his target, he turned and flicked another Poké Ball over his shoulder.