Chapter 755: Seal Released

A clear, sunny afternoon.

As usual, Baimu was operating the unmanned deep-sea submersible to explore the seafloor.

Suddenly.

"Hm?"

He abruptly stopped the forward control stick, adjusted the camera, and had the submersible back up a few steps; a pitch-black cavern suddenly appeared before his eyes.

More importantly, both sides of the cavern seemed to bear some kind of pattern, and because seaweed was blocking them, he had nearly missed it.

He operated the mechanical arm to pull the seaweed away, and soon a large amount of algae clinging to the surface was revealed, along with many partially damaged, strange murals appearing on camera.

"Professor! Come look at this!"

Baimu immediately turned his head and shouted; the three people getting some air on the deck filed in one after another, and at a glance saw the murals, somewhat blurred from seawater corrosion and algae growth.

Professor Suigao said joyfully, "That's right! This is it!"

He operated a computer beside him, and the silver screen at the very front instantly displayed an additional image — the similarity with the cavern murals reached a staggering eighty percent!

"Finally found it!"

Asahi excitedly grabbed Baimu's shoulders and shook him.

They had finally located their target in the very last unexplored stretch of sea; even if only a few patches remained, they weren't much different from the final one.

A-Jian said nothing, but a relaxed look unconsciously spread across his brow.

Baimu asked, "Should we go straight in to explore, or first circle around the cavern to clear the nearby seaweed and gather more mural information?"

"Let's gather information first. If there are murals not recorded in the data, it would be a major discovery!" Professor Suigao suppressed his excitement.

"Alright."

He agreed.

Although he was very eager to enter the posted stone chamber and decipher the ancient Braille, Baimu understood that the purpose of Professor Suigao and the others coming here was less about finding those three Pillar Giants, and more about using them to search for a more distant history.

A caught Farfetch'd never flies far — take it slow.

"Leave it to me." A-Jian suddenly spoke up. "Next—"

"Hold on, I get it, I'll step aside."

Baimu raised his hand and quickly moved out of the way, handing the unmanned submersible's control panel to A-Jian.

Clearing the seaweed and algae off the walls wasn't hard, but for research purposes they had to make sure not to damage the mural content, so the clearing speed had to be slowed down infinitely — this would be an extremely draining and exhausting hassle.

A-Jian clearly wanted to take on this tiring job, but he wouldn't be so blunt as to say it outright.

It was just bizarre.

In any case, Baimu had no interest in listening to a grown man's awkward words; he once thought that if one day A-Jian suffered because of that personality and that mouth of his, it would be exactly what A-Jian deserved.

Serves him right!

Be grateful you live in the Pokémon world, buddy.

He patted A-Jian on the shoulder; the latter frowned, not quite understanding his meaning, but didn't really mind.

The immediate priority was gathering mural intelligence.

——

Just as Baimu had expected.

Even with high-tech assistance, excavating ruins was an extremely tiring affair.

The three of them plus Professor Suigao worked overtime clearing the murals, and it still took a grueling four or five days — during which they even returned to Cianwood City once to resupply — before they had cleared all the murals near the cave entrance.

Fortunately, the harvest was rich.

"The traces of history are truly fascinating!"

Professor Suigao looked at the murals scanned into the computer, his face filled with a joyful smile.

The content of the murals was pretty much what Baimu had imagined — abstract paintings of ancient Hoenn humans worshipping Lei Jiaisi, Regirock, and Registeel, with many raised dots beneath them.

Without a doubt.

These were the writings of an ancient civilization.

Professor Suigao said, "The biggest difference between ancient Braille and modern Braille is that it produces different meanings based on the length and shape of the Braille symbols — it's an extremely complex linguistic system."

Baimu asked, "Is it hard to decipher?"

"It used to be relatively difficult, but in recent years quite a few people have participated in ancient script research, and I happen to know one." Professor Suigao said with a smile, just as an email notification popped up in the lower right corner of the computer: "Here it comes!"

He opened the email, and immediately a string of translations corresponding to the images appeared before everyone's eyes.

'Eternal giants, we offer you everything'

'Eternal giants, may you forever shelter us'

'Eternal giants, where does the hope of the future lie'

'Eternal giants, please forgive us'

……

"Hymns of praise?" Asahi asked curiously.

Baimu, however, said, "More than praise, I think it's more like a history of the civilization's development… I once heard that this civilization originally lived in caves?"

Professor Suigao responded, "That's right. At first, to escape natural disasters, they lived in lightless caves, and Braille was developed during that time.

"Later, with the power of the legendary giants, they walked out of the caves and further developed a brilliant civilization — but in the end, it all came to an abrupt halt."

A-Jian offered no opinion, silently piloting the unmanned submersible to the front of the cavern.

It was time to begin further exploration!

Under everyone's expectant gazes, the drone slowly entered the cavern; the floodlights switched on, illuminating the cavern's interior, revealing a deep, straight tunnel.

There were no signs of any wild Pokémon activity.

At the end was a fork leading left and right; after a brief discussion, the group decided to explore the right side first.

Little did they expect this was actually a loop-shaped path.

They didn't find anything.

Baimu saw the three of them wearing thoughtful expressions and said, "Could it also be a mural with text?"

Professor Suigao immediately said, "Baimu has a point! Look carefully again to see if there are any patterns or raised Braille on the walls!"

"Okay!"

A-Jian piloted the drone and began searching carefully.

Soon he found a rock wall covered by a thick layer of dust; after carefully brushing off the dust, several lines of Braille were revealed.

Professor Suigao quickly sent it to his friend.

The other party's efficiency was also very high — a reply came back in less than five minutes.

'The Hall of Words is above here'

Asahi, seeing this, said, "Above? You mean there's a passable passage up there?"

Without a word, A-Jian swiveled the camera, and just as Asahi had said, a new passage was indeed found above the rock wall.

The drone rose quickly, but then — splash!

"It broke the surface? There's a huge hollow here!" Asahi cried out in surprise.

Baimu narrowed his eyes. Although it differed slightly from the situation in his memory, overall this was indeed the bulletin stone chamber where the Divine Pillar was freed in the game.

At the same time.

A-Jian had already completed the survey of the cave, confirming there were no signs of living creatures nearby and that the air composition inside allowed human activity.

"It's our turn to take the field."

He stood up and said to Baimu.

The deep-sea submersible had no land-travel function, so the actual exploration of the cave could only be done by manpower.

Baimu had long been looking forward to this and immediately went to organize his gear.

Diving in the Pokémon animated world was simpler and safer than in his previous life — no need to worry about decompression sickness, and ear pressure equalization only required a little attention.

A tough human body was more than enough to bull through everything.

Just like Ash in the theatrical film *Princess of the Sea*, who dove without any equipment to depths of several dozen meters, then kept swimming back up to breathe, to retrieve the prism used to control the Sea Temple.

The only thing to watch out for were wild Pokémon that might launch attacks — irritable types like Sharpedo, Gyarados, and Tentacruel, which had wide activity ranges and were very common.

Before the descent, A-Jian was assigned the role of team leader at Professor Suigao's instruction; Baimu and Asahi had no objections.

"Pay attention and stay close to the lamp on the waist of the person ahead. Don't let unnecessary things distract you. If anything happens, use the team comms in time."

He said sternly.

The two of them naturally had no objections — this was something said every time before a dive, and they were long used to hearing it.

They put on their hoods and entered the water in order.

Plop! Plop!

The gurgling sound of water swirling by his ears filled Baimu with excitement, and as the deep, magnificent undersea world gradually appeared before his eyes, the small anticipation in his heart was satisfied.

A different kind of scenery…

What's the good thing about the Pokémon animated world?

No need to worry about getting thalassophobia — there are only Pokémon here. Even if some enormous creature appears, it's still a special kind of Pokémon.

For example, the super-giant Dragonite that appeared in Bill's lighthouse.

Besides, no matter how ugly deep-sea Pokémon are, could they be uglier than Qwilfish and Relicanth?

Beep!

The comms channel alert tone snapped Baimu back to attention. He looked ahead and saw A-Jian and Asahi both looking back at him.

"How is it?" Asahi's voice came through, sounding muffled.

"No problem."

Baimu fluttered his swim fins and caught up.

To conserve their stamina, Professor Suigao had sailed the ship in advance to a position close to the bulletin stone cave, so it wasn't long before the three of them arrived at the cave tunnel and surfaced one by one into the stone chamber.

"Hoo~"

Baimu exhaled, took off his flippers, hood, oxygen tank, and other gear, and changed into the shoes and gloves A-Jian handed him.

Porygon-Z poked out of the phone, and without waiting for Asahi and A-Jian to say anything, its body lit up with Bai Guang and split into another Porygon-Z.

That Porygon-Z flew above the Hall of Words and released intense light that illuminated the dark stone chamber.

"Porygon-Z is amazing!" Asahi praised.

Porygon-Z's mouth corner curled up smugly, then it glanced provocatively at A-Jian, who had earlier forbidden it from helping.

A-Jian: "…Come out, Urshifu!"

Poof!

"Raaagh!"

Single Strike Style Urshifu appeared in the cave.

Tch!

Porygon-Z looked disdainful — it hated most those self-righteous types who thought they were caring for and tempering others.

Does its Trainer need you to look after them?

"Professor! Can you hear me, Professor?"

A-Jian contacted Professor Suigao on the surface, confirmed the comms were normal, then said to Baimu, "From now on, your formal team-entry test begins. I won't be giving you any more help, and your performance will count toward the final score."

Baimu nodded to show he understood.

Asahi sent out Rapid Strike Style Urshifu, patted his shoulder, and said, "Go for it, Baimu! I'll be looking forward to you officially joining the team!"

Then you'll be disappointed.

He silently grumbled: chasing legendary Pokémon with Professor Suigao had been interesting, but he had never forgotten his true purpose for coming out.

The three began exploring the Hall of Words.

Baimu walked straight to the front, stared at the wall inscribed with ancient braille, and strained to recall.

It seemed like… digging?

But smashing it directly would be too reckless; he photographed the ancient braille from every angle and sent it to Professor Suigao to ask his friends for help translating.

He turned around, about to speak to Asahi and Ajian, when he heard them speaking seriously over the channel.

It seemed the content on the other stone walls had reminded them of the braille alphabet.

What is the Hall of Words?

It is the place where one correctly understands the meaning of ancient braille.

Each corresponds to an unknown totem, and each unknown totem represents another ancient language; crucially, with this alphabet, Professor Suigao could translate the ancient braille himself.

It would also allow correction of any previous mistranslations.

This was an extremely significant discovery!

Listening to the joy in Professor Suigao's and Asahi's and Ajian's voices over the channel, Baimu felt that human joys and sorrows were indeed different.

He circled around the stone wall, glanced at it, then touched it, saying, "That wall—the braille seems to tell us to dig through; it says there's another place inside called the Key Hall."

"You understand the ancient language represented by the unknown totems?" Asahi asked in surprise.

Ajian also turned to look.

Baimu smiled. "A little. Just a little."

He had learned ancient languages from the calligrapher—it truly was only a little, and even if tested, he wouldn't be afraid.

After photographing all the content on the stone wall and sending it to Professor Suigao, the three arrived before the rock face.

Asahi suggested: "Digging straight through would be a waste; these are precious historical artifacts. Let's first remove the braille before excavating?"

"Mm."

Ajian, as team leader, immediately agreed.

Baimu had no objection; he pulled a small hammer and shovel from his bag filled with tools.

The three crouched or stood, slowly digging.

There were exactly nine braille symbols on the wall; each took three, and with nimble hands, they quickly removed them. Ajian carefully transported them into the accompanying drone, which Professor Suigao operated to return them to the salvage ship.

And when he returned,

Baimu had already sent Bisharp to dig through the rock wall—fast, and without any loud noise.

Ajian paused, said nothing.

Poliwhirl II, as usual, split off clones to turn on their lights inside.

Under the bright illumination, the Key Hall—extremely similar to the Hall of Words—appeared before the three.

But the Key Hall was larger, vast as if several plazas had been combined, forcing Poliwhirl II to ascend higher and increase its brightness.

"More stone walls."

Asahi did not rush forward; she waited for Ajian to enter first, then stepped in, scanning the stone walls on both sides. "The number is much smaller."

Baimu, as usual, headed straight for the deepest wall, glanced at the braille, and was about to turn and tell the other two who were exploring other walls—but suddenly stopped.

Wait.

Were Ho-Oh and Gyarados always called by these names?

In the games, yes—but if the anime had different names… "Strong Argument" could explain it, but to be safe, better translate it, to avoid mistakes.

He opened his phone, matched the recorded content from the Hall of Words, and began translating the ancient braille by hand—

Ho-Oh was indeed called Ho-Oh, but Gyarados was not called Gyarados.

The reason: the modern name Gyarados derives from its discoverer; if it had been called that in ancient times, that would be absurd.

"Rockface Fish… what a strange name."

Baimu stepped back, found Ajian and Asahi; both had just finished translating the wall's content.

'We live in this cave, here in this place.'

'All of this is thanks to them.'

'But we sealed them away.'

'Because they were truly terrifying.'

'Brave people, those full of hope for the future'

'Open the door—the eternal giant lies within.'

'Is there another door ahead?' Asahi looked at Baimu.

Baimu said: 'No. It says: from Rockface Fish to Ho-Oh. All will be opened.'

Ajian and Asahi looked puzzled.

'Rockface Fish? What Pokémon is that?'

'You didn't misread?'

'Of course not. I've already sent it to the discussion group—check it yourselves.' He spread his hands.

Asahi pulled out her phone to view the images in the discussion group; Ajian walked straight to the platform and reached out to touch it.

Both fell silent.

Professor Suigao said: 'I couldn't find Rockface Fish among the extinct Pokémon. Perhaps it's an existing Pokémon that changed its name?'

'I think so too. I vote for Gyarados.' Baimu said bluntly: 'Among fish Pokémon, Gyarados best fits the description "Rockface."'

Asahi exclaimed: 'Gyarados! Ah! That living fossil fish Pokémon! Now you mention it, it does seem right!'

The two of them looked at Ajian.

Who would have thought Ajian not only didn't object, but even unexpectedly began to praise him: "Not a bad idea. The Relicanth does indeed match the characteristics of the rock face. Your knowledge of Pokémon is commendable."

All Baimu had no particular reaction. Asahi laughed heartily and patted Ajian, "So you can compliment people too! How great it is to be straightforward!"

Professor Suigao expressed his approval on the channel: "Indeed, the Relicanth matches the characteristics of the rock face. I didn't expect you to recognize the Relicanth, All Baimu-kun. This is a very, very rare Pokémon.

"As far as I know, there aren't many still in existence in the world, yet you thought of it right away."

Of course it's easy to find the process when you already have the answer.

All Baimu smiled. He didn't think the others were fools — they just hadn't thought of it that quickly. Give them a Pokédex and they'd probably confirm it within ten minutes.

And so.

Professor Suigao went to borrow a Relicanth and a Wailord.

There aren't many still in existence in the world, yet Professor Suigao can borrow them from others... just how much clout does this man have?

Speaking of which, the fact that he could attract so many people — especially Shigeru — to participate in the Mew Project has already proven Professor Suigao's connections to some extent. Legendary Pokémon that an ordinary person would never see in a lifetime, he's using them as tests for those joining the team.

How could an ordinary person have that kind of power?

The three of them rested briefly on the spot, and the more talkative Asahi struck up a conversation with All Baimu.

Not long after.

Professor Suigao's voice sounded in their ears, "Borrowed them! Do you need me to transport them down by drone?"

"Wait, Professor. The instructions mentioned starting with the Relicanth and ending with the Wailord. Why don't you release them directly above the rock cave, with the Relicanth facing the direction of the mural?"

All Baimu stated bluntly: "It's hard to fit a Wailord where we are."

Professor Suigao replied upon hearing this: "That's fine too."

They only heard two thuds, followed by a long, drawn-out hum and the sound of water being spouted.

Ajian used a compass to confirm the direction and informed Professor Suigao of the exact orientation.

The next moment.

The earthquake began!

Rumble rumble!

Everything before their eyes blurred.

The ancient Braille on the rock wall at the end began to glow, but the three of them paid it no heed and quickly drew together.

Ajian said without hesitation: "Let's get out!"

No matter how precious the ruins are, if they collapse and bury people inside, wouldn't that be a terrible bargain?

They hurried to dash outside, but before they'd taken two steps the earthquake abruptly stopped, as if it had never happened at all.

The three of them exchanged glances.

Professor Suigao asked about their condition on the channel, and after confirming they were safe, asked: "Are there any changes in the cave?"

"Nothing at all, everything's as usual." Ajian reported, standing on the stone wall at the end and looking around. "No door has opened."

Did the seal-breaking fail?

Ajian's brows knitted tightly; Asahi's face showed bewilderment.

Only All Baimu knew that the three ruins scattered across the Hoenn continent had already been opened — if he recalled correctly, they were the Island Cave, the Desert Ruins, and the Ancient Tomb.

Professor Suigao was silent for a long time, and after a few minutes instructed the group to come ashore to figure out their next move.