I caught a Pokémon

Satake was right. Just like in the game, what was in front of them was indeed a jigsaw puzzle with the order scrambled.

From today's perspective, jigsaw puzzles are just a kind of educational toy, but in that era, they were definitely a very ingenious puzzle.

Seeing such a mechanism made Xia You breathe a sigh of relief.

He was actually very afraid that after all that effort, he would end up with nothing. But now it seems that he has finally gained something, at least he didn't waste his energy.

Satake put on gloves and tried it out, but since he couldn't remove the puzzle pieces, he could only slide them one by one, like solving a puzzle, trying to move them to the correct positions.

Fortunately, these researchers are all highly intelligent, and they were able to put the puzzle together with just a few simple manipulations.

When the complete shape was revealed to everyone, they realized that it was actually a pattern of a fossil helmet!

"The pattern on the fossil helmet?"

Satake was initially surprised, but then felt it made perfect sense.

After all, in that era, Kabuto must have been a very common Pokémon, so using them as decorations was perfectly normal.

But... that's it?

Is it really just a simple jigsaw puzzle?

After waiting for a while and seeing no movement, Satake was about to speak when he suddenly saw a faint light emanating from the puzzle piece, followed by a few lines of short text appearing on it!

However, this script is not the language they use now, but a kind of alphabet that looks very much like English. However, unlike ordinary letters, each letter has a circle that looks like an eye, which looks very strange!

“This is totem language!!” Satake exclaimed.

Although Xia You knew what it was, she still feigned surprise and asked, "Totem language?"

“That’s right!” Satake nodded, knowing that Xia You might not know anything about this, so he took the initiative to explain, “Totem language can often be found in various ruins. It is an ancient script that is the predecessor of the script we use now. And it is said that it actually evolved from a Pokémon form!”

Do you know what it says on it?

"Wait a moment, let me try to translate it!"

Satake hurriedly took out a manual from his pocket and quickly flipped through it to compare the information.

After working for more than ten minutes, he finally took out his notebook and slowly wrote on the paper: "Our clan's words are inscribed here!"

This short sentence, just ten words, left people looking at each other in bewilderment!

Satake scratched his head: "What does this mean?"

“I think…” Xia You didn’t intend to explain, but vaguely said, “It should just be a term used in a festival.”

Seeing that the text appeared and then there was no further follow-up, Satake was greatly disappointed. He tapped here and there with his hand, seemingly unwilling to let it end like this.

But no matter how he tried to get it to work, there was no response at all!

"Don't rush." ​​Xia You took out the radio again and waved it in front of him. "There should be other rooms. Let's try again."

“Other rooms?” Satake could no longer contain his doubts. “Mr. Xia You, are you saying there are other rooms? How did you know? And… how did you come up with the idea of ​​using a radio to find a signal?”

Xia You naturally had no way to explain, so she could only vaguely say, "It was just a flash of inspiration. Okay, let's hurry up and get out of here."

There was nothing he could do; since Xia You didn't want to talk about it, Zuo Zhu could only swallow back all his doubts.

After the group left the room, Xia You turned on the radio again. Perhaps because a mechanism had been unlocked, the nearby sounds had disappeared, but a faint signal could still be heard from other places.

This also made Satake realize that, just as Xia You said, there must be more than one secret room!

The group set off again. Having learned from their previous experience, this time Xia You was in charge of using the radio to find the secret room. After finding it, Zuo Zhu directed the staff to dig, while Xia You went to find the next location.

And so, through their joint efforts, they quickly found three more secret rooms!

Meanwhile, they also discovered a puzzle of a pterosaur and an ammonite in the secret chamber, and even in the last stone chamber, what appeared before them was a puzzle of Ho-Oh!

The first few patterns weren't a big deal, but when the pattern of Ho-Oh appeared, the researchers, including Satake, started breathing heavily!

"It's Ho-Oh!!" he exclaimed in disbelief. "So, the mysterious bird call I heard on the radio must have been Ho-Oh's voice!!"

Hearing him say that, Xia You also felt that the bird's song should be made by Phoenix King, but since she had never actually heard Phoenix King's voice, she dared not make a conclusion.

After solving the three puzzles, they obtained three texts, but then the sound from the radio suddenly disappeared.

No matter where I turned the radio or what channel I tuned to, all I heard was endless static.

It seems the mysterious signals have all disappeared...

"What do we do now?"

Satake was anxious. Everything that had happened today was the most magical and unbelievable thing he had encountered since arriving at the Ruins of Aluf, and it made him eager to know the mystery hidden at the end!

Xia You frowned as well.

To be honest, in the game this event is just a cutscene or a simple process, but this is the real world, and he doesn't know what to do next!

As he was thinking, his gaze swept across the four secret rooms in turn, and his eyes suddenly lit up!

In his mind, he connected the four locations with a line, then found the place where they intersected. He walked quickly and soon arrived at a seemingly ordinary stone slab!

He stomped his foot hard, and heard a 'thump thump' echo in his ears, which meant that he was in a new secret room!

Satake swears that they have passed by here countless times before and have never seen this stone slab before!

It seems that some mechanism was triggered to make the stone slab appear!

He excitedly waved his hand, signaling the staff to open the stone slab. When the slab was lifted, a dark room appeared before their eyes!

Chapter 340 The Murals of Arceus

This secret room is so well hidden, and it requires a mechanism to open, so it must be an extremely special place.

Suppressing their joy, Satake and the other researchers followed Xia You down a stone staircase to the secret chamber. Although they were slightly disappointed to find the room empty, they didn't care too much after the previous visits and went straight to the innermost wall with practiced ease.

Having just seen the image of Ho-Oh, they are now eager to know what kind of Pokémon will appear next!

They quickly approached and, sure enough, saw a stone slab. However, this time, what appeared before them was no longer a jigsaw puzzle, but simply a mural!

Looking at the painting, even though they were mentally prepared, they were still taken aback when they saw the Pokémon in the painting!

This is a unique Pokémon with a white body and an appearance similar to a horse, a unicorn, or a centaur. It has four golden, pointed hooves, a mane that sticks up high from its head, a gray face with green eyes and red pupils, a golden stripe on its head, and ears that stand up. On its abdomen, there is a cross-shaped wheel inlaid with four gems!

Well, this Pokémon doesn't feel like any other creature on Earth. It gives off a dangerous and strange vibe, and it also exudes a mysterious aura!

"It's Arceus!"

Satake gasped. He recognized the Pokémon at a glance. Although he tried to calm himself down, his trembling voice, trembling with excitement, couldn't hide his shock!

The other researchers also gasped in surprise.

"My God! It's Arceus!?"

"How could it be here?! Did the ancients already see it and begin to worship it?!"

Although no one has ever actually seen Arceus, its presence is frequently mentioned in various historical records, further confirming its existence.

Seeing his companions so flustered, Satake, regaining his composure, shouted to them, "Don't panic! It's just a mural! It doesn't mean anything!"

Hearing him say that, the people quieted down.

Xia You then arrived in front of the mural. He touched it with his hand and suddenly said, "Don't you guys feel that this looks a lot like a door?"

After he mentioned it, Satake and the others examined it carefully and realized that the mural, embedded in the wall, did indeed look very much like a stone door!

"Where does it lead!?"

"Could this be a gateway to the world of gods!?"

Amid the researchers' astonishment, Satake tried his best to push and pull, but the stone door remained unmoved. Looking to the side, he found no switch either!

Xia You also let Gengar go through the stone gate to take a look on the other side, but there was nothing there except rocks and soil.

It seems... this must be the gate to the ruins of the capital, but unfortunately, they have no way to open it!

However, Xia You had a premonition that she might return here in the future, but obviously not now.

Despite finding nothing nearby, Satake and the others were still very excited and took out their notebooks and cameras to start recording and studying the information.

But for Xia You, the matter was already over.

Since it was confirmed that it couldn't be opened for the time being, he decided to leave and wait until someday, when he might come across a solution.

Looking back on everything that happened in the past few hours, this unplanned trip to the Aluf Ruins Park, although it seemed like a waste of time and a fruitless endeavor, was still somewhat rewarding. I not only formed a friendship with a researcher, but also laid the groundwork for future events.

But at this moment, he no longer had the will to stay.

Thinking of this, he said to Satake, "Mr. Satake, it's your business now. I've lingered for too long, it's time to leave."

"Huh? You're leaving already!?"

Upon hearing that Xia You was leaving, Zuo Zhu looked regretful, but he composed himself, walked up to him, and extended his hand.

“Mr. Xia You, thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping us find this place. Without you, we might never have discovered this secret in our entire lives! The vanished voice... the mysterious totem writing... Ho-Oh... Arceus, there are so many mysteries waiting for me to solve, but unfortunately... you can no longer stay here and continue our research with us!”

Xia You shook his hand firmly.

"You're welcome. It was just a small favor. Besides, I really enjoy solving mysteries. It's a very interesting thing for me. Although I'd love to unravel these secrets, I'm ultimately a trainer. Challenging the League is what I should be doing!"

"Alright, then I wish you the best of luck at the Silver Tournament!" Nodding gratefully, Satake smiled and said, "I'll stay here to continue my research. If I make any discoveries, I'll contact you immediately!"

Wishing you all the best!

"Take care of yourself!"

……

As they left Alph Ruins Park and saw the sun beginning to set, Xia You and Sabrina were about to ride Charizard to Violet City for the night when Sabrina suddenly received a phone call.

The call was from the Pokémon League in the Kanto region. Although Xia You didn't pay special attention to what was being said on the phone, she still managed to glean a few keywords from the intermittent sounds.

It turns out that the Pokémon League realized that Sabrina had been away for too long, so they were urging her to return to the Goldenrod City Gym as soon as possible to fulfill her duties as Gym Leader!

Even with Sabrina's father acting as the Gym Leader, these people still believe that a 'psychic beauty' is more suitable to be the Gym Leader of Saffron City!

Nazi initially wanted to ignore it, abandon this identity, and continue traveling with Xia You, but fortunately Xia You persuaded her in time.

After all, the position of Gym Leader in the Pokémon League is not only highly respected and prestigious, but it is also a job!

Xia You would never allow Nazi to risk losing her position as the head of the club by traveling with her everywhere!

He said softly, "Naza, it's alright, go back."

Just as Naz was about to speak, Xia You comforted her again, "This is a serious matter, you can't be too willful. Besides, a temporary separation doesn't mean anything, it's just to prepare for a better reunion. This is a part of your life, and I won't selfishly keep you by my side!"

Nazi fell silent, her expression somewhat unpleasant; it was clear she was also unwilling to leave Xia You.

"Alright, let's do as I say." He stroked Naza's hair. "Okay, don't take it too seriously. Besides, you've been out for long enough. You can go back and rest for a while, and then travel with me after this is over!"

Chapter 341 Before Parting

Nazi remained silent for a while, clearly also making a decision. In the end, she listened to Xia You's advice and nodded.

"Okay, then I'll head back to the Saffron Gym first."

Although she was reluctant, she knew that there was nothing she could do. After all, they were all adults and couldn't travel around carefree like children. Everyone is bound by life.

Seeing that she was still a little upset, and to avoid Naz thinking that she was also urging her to leave, Xia You looked at her and said softly, "Anyway, it will only take a few days. I will take you all the way back to Golden City."

"Hmm?" Nazi glanced at Xia You with surprise, then asked in astonishment, "What? Aren't you going to continue your journey? It's okay, I can go back by myself."

Xia You kissed her forehead, not caring at all: "Compared to you, what's wasting a few days? Besides, I brought you out of Guandu, so naturally I have to personally send you back."

Touched, Nazi gently leaned into Xia You's arms.

Her forehead touched Xia You's chin, and even without Xia You looking down, she could smell the fragrance emanating from her.

After lingering for a while, the two realized it was getting late, so they mounted Charizard and headed towards Violet City.

Although the destination has changed, there is no rush to rush back to Kanto at night. It is better to rest in Kikyo City for a night, recharge, and set off again the next day after eating and drinking well.

The fire-breathing dragon flapped its wings, carrying the two of them high into the sky.

What they didn't know was that the Pokémon League had always been very supportive of the Gym Leaders' travel and training, and they had never seen the Gym Leaders' travel and training activities being restricted.

Even if the dojo owner leaves and there is no one to manage it, they will send someone to temporarily take care of it!

After all, only when the skill level of these gym leaders continues to improve and their fighting styles keep pace with the times can they provide more professional guidance to challengers and avoid being eliminated by the times!

This time, the fact that Team Rocket is urging Sabrina to return to the gym is actually a calculated move!

Because Xia You and Sabrina caused them a lot of trouble, yet they were unable to eliminate them, Team Rocket went so far as to use their hidden connections within the Pokémon League to transfer Sabrina away from Xia You, thus weakening Xia You's power.