Chapter 334: Notes and the Purification Method for the Treasure of Calamity

The Grass-Z Pure Crystal on his wrist dimmed instantly, as if it had lost all its energy.

Luo Mu knew clearly that the Grass-Z Pure Crystal had entered its cooldown period; next, it would automatically absorb the solar radiance and lunar brilliance showering down from the sky to complete its recharging.

However, the premise was that they had to leave this burial chamber first.

Under the Serperior's type advantage +6 and the move "Brilliant Bloom of Flowers" based on Leaf Storm, even the Golurk's immense stamina could only result in them being wiped out in one breath by the Serperior.

After being defeated, the Golurks' massive bodies transformed into bright purple light particles before they could even collapse, illuminating the entire surrounding space, and like a surging river, flowed back into the circular floor bearing mysterious patterns.

Although his expression did not change, Luo Mu, whose stamina had been significantly consumed, felt his eyebrows twitch, and a bad premonition suddenly surged in his heart.

This thing wouldn't come for a second round, would it?

Fortunately, while ancient technology could create artificial Pokémon like Golurk and Magearna, it had not mastered any black technology capable of generating energy out of thin air or completing recharging in one second.

After those Golurk turned into light particles and returned to the floor, there were no signs of them reappearing.

However, this phenomenon still aroused the interest of both Luo Mu and Lei He.

Nowadays, many trainers use Golurk; when their Golurk lose the ability to battle, they fall down just like other Pokémon, rather than returning to some space beneath the floor like the Golurk in this burial chamber.

After a brief discussion, Lei He and Luo Mu reached a consensus.

It was likely that the ancient Paldea Empire possessed some technology similar to modern Poké Balls, allowing the Golurk bound here to return to their "Poké Balls" after defeat and reactivate once they had replenished their energy.

Or perhaps the ancient Paldea Empire had modified the manufacturing method of Golurk, binding them deeply to the land they guarded, so that even if defeated, they would have a chance to make a comeback.

But regardless, under the true lightning-fast victory achieved by Luo Mu and his Serperior, the four Golurk were defeated without even having a chance to affect this space.

The possibility Lei He worried about—that the aftermath of the battle might destroy the structural balance of the burial chamber—was completely sealed off by Luo Mu and the Serperior.

Crossing the vast space, two passages leading to unknown destinations appeared before Luo Mu and Lei He.

Inside the pitch-black and profound passages, there was not a shred of light; they resembled the gaping maw of a giant beast, promising complete devouring to anyone who entered.

Lei He shot her left hand out like lightning, blocking Luo Mu's path, while simultaneously requesting him to wait a moment.

Since Luo Mu had resolved the battle, whether it was making a choice between two options or ensuring the safety of their burial chamber exploration journey, these were tasks she needed to handle.

Lei He did not rashly enter either of the two passages; instead, she took a bunch of small gadgets from her backpack and skillfully installed them along the edges of those passages.

While installing them, Lei He explained.

"This is a necessary preparation to avoid situations where mechanisms automatically trigger after we enter the passage, sealing it off and trapping us inside."

Watching Lei He not only busying herself up and down but also sending out her Zoroark and Malamar to help, Luo Mu nodded with understanding, realizing why she reacted so strongly to these two arched passages that resembled doors.

It was just like the plots frequently seen in horror movies or tomb-raiding films.

The protagonist team enters a certain passage, the door behind them suddenly slams shut, the locks outside engage automatically, forcing them to grit their teeth and continue exploring.

Lei He was preventing exactly this kind of situation from happening.

A moment later, Lei He finished all her work, exchanged a glance with Luo Mu, casually chose the passage on the left, and prepared to continue exploring inward.

According to Lei He's own words, it didn't matter whether they chose left or right.

Anyway, there was a 50% probability of clearing the stage and a 50% probability of hitting a dead end; but even if they hit a dead end, they still had the opportunity to return and retake the correct path.

All that would be consumed was the time spent on trial and error.

Inside the passage, the figures of the two gradually merged into the darkness as the light from their flashlights faded into the distance.

A short while later.

"Something's wrong, something's very wrong."

They had been in the passage for about ten-plus minutes; according to Lei He's understanding of the burial chamber, after passing the stage guarded by the Golurk acting as the final defenders, they should be quite close to the real treasure spot or important location within the chamber.

But this passage not only twisted and turned, making the walk feel extremely long, but Lei He hadn't even discovered a single trace of traps; it was practically undefended.

This didn't match up at all with the pile of dangerous traps she and Luo Mu had experienced earlier.

In other words, after preparing so many sinister and tricky traps, and setting up four giant Golurk as guards, what act of innocence were you putting on now?

Only when the flashlight's beam illuminated the wall at the end, signifying a termination, could Lei He confirm that this passage was a dead end.

However—

"What is that?"

Having long adapted to the light emitted by the flashlight, Lei He couldn't help but squint her eyes, looking at the strange stone at the end of the passage with confusion in her heart.

It was a strange earth-yellow stone riddled with many cracks, looking like the kind of stone commonly found by the roadside, full of an unremarkable feel.

If such a stone hadn't suddenly appeared in this place where there was nothing but walls, floor, and ceiling in all directions, Lei He wouldn't have even noticed that thing.

She was about to say or write something, but a hand suddenly reached out, forcibly turning off the light source of Lei He's flashlight, while another hand waved in front of Lei He's face mask, making a gesture to silence.

Lei He's body stiffened slightly.

Although she didn't know why Luo Mu's reaction was so intense, she still controlled her mouth; following the hint in Luo Mu's eyes, she made not a sound and gently withdrew from the left passage.

This back-and-forth directly wasted more than half an hour of time.

Returning outside the passage, the two indeed discovered that at the edge gaps of the passage, an object resembling a stone door was trying to break out, yet was firmly stuck due to Lei He's preparations.

This passage was indeed the wrong one.

Facing Lei He's puzzled gaze, Luo Mu explained directly to her: "That thing just now is called a Odd Keystone, a vessel for a Pokémon named Spiritomb."

Legend has it that Spiritomb is a Pokémon generated by 108 spirits gathering together; because wicked spirits are mixed within, Spiritomb always acts as an evil entity committing countless misdeeds.

Although there are also good Spiritomb, just like Cynthia's Spiritomb.

But whether it was the inexplicably chilly environment in the passage just now, or the ominous aura radiating around the Odd Keystone, Luo Mu could judge that this Spiritomb existing at the dead end of the burial chamber passage was likely not a master easy to deal with.

Ghost-type Pokémon abilities are always strange and unpredictable; plus, Luo Mu hadn't brought Mimikyu on this trip, so after comprehensive judgment, he felt it was better to pretend he hadn't seen that Odd Keystone and leave directly.

Fortunately, this burial chamber should never have been visited by anyone; the Spiritomb inside the Odd Keystone had likely fallen into slumber, and as long as no one made a loud disturbance to wake it, it would not awaken.

Hearing that the earth-yellow stone from before was the Odd Keystone inhabited by Spiritomb, Lei He felt not only surprised but, even more so, a sense of lingering fear.

If possible, she really didn't want to face those Ghost-type Pokémon famous for their strange abilities, especially Spiritomb, which held an absolute notorious reputation deterring everyone even among grave robbers like themselves.

"Let's take the right passage this time."

The two said in unison.

This time, the passage's length was greatly reduced, and the main burial chamber, the target of both Seeing Lei He and Luo Mu, appeared normally at the end of the corridor.

Opening the heavy stone door, dust that had accumulated for quite a long time fell down with the momentum; fortunately, the masks worn by the two posed no problem against this level of dust, making respiratory infections and the like utterly impossible.

Stepping into the interior space behind the stone door, this place resembled less a burial chamber and more a large room composed of many small rooms.

Seeing Lei He, wearing an excited expression, began searching for the room storing paper-based materials.

Meanwhile, Luo Mu wandered around inspecting this burial chamber.

In the very center of the burial chamber stood a coffin and outer shell, covered with gorgeous silk and jewels, testifying that the tomb's owner had certainly stuffed plenty into his pockets while holding office.

Surrounding the coffin and outer shell were arranged various burial goods, including pottery, jade ware, bronze ware, and more; these items featured exquisite craftsmanship representing the past glory of the Paldea Empire, constituting precious objects worth a thousand gold pieces in the outside world and deeply loved by antique collectors.

Yet neither Luo Mu nor Seeing Lei He, who had retired from her life of crime, held any interest in these things.

Luo Mu again shone the beam of his flashlight onto the walls of the surrounding space.

As expected, the walls were carved with many somewhat abstract murals, along with a heap of ancient script that Luo Mu could not understand.

But even without understanding it, Luo Mu could roughly guess the content of the murals.

Just as Seeing Lei He had said, they depicted the romantic history of the tomb's owner—that official who served closely beside the Emperor of the ancient Paldea Empire—holding almost no reference value.

At this moment, Seeing Lei He's excited voice rang out from the second room on Luo Mu's left.

"As expected, his handwritten notes record the situation of that time!"

"Wandering through transitions, it absorbed much desire and evil thoughts; the auspicious artifact that completely erupted in the hands of the Paldea Empire Emperor thoroughly reversed... becoming the Four Calamities named the Treasures of Calamity."

"The crisis in the Paldea Empire's Wang Cheng was finally suppressed by a Pokémon Tamer, who used eight stakes to respectively suppress and seal them into four shrines."

"The story is true; within the torrent of history, this matter truly happened!"

By the time Luo Mu arrived at the room littered with parchment scrolls and some old books, he happened to witness Seeing Lei He, her eyes gleaming, holding a yellowed parchment scroll in her hand and "murmuring to herself" with an uncontrollable voice of delight.

It seemed Seeing Lei He felt immense excitement that the legend truly existed.

"By the way, perhaps scattered words and phrases in other handwritten notes might still yield clues regarding those 32 stakes and the Sealing Shrines!"

Seeing Lei He began rummaging through the room again.

Luo Mu frowned slightly and suddenly asked, "After finding the stakes and the Sealing Shrines, what do you plan to do? Break the seals?"

"... There should be other parchment scrolls and handwritten notes recording some scattered words and phrases."

Seeing Lei He evaded the question by talking about other matters; instead, she picked up another old parchment scroll and began deciphering the ancient script upon it.

The entire room temporarily fell into silence until Seeing Lei He finished deciphering and read aloud the content on the parchment scroll.

"That Pokémon Tamer suppressed the Four Treasures of Calamity with his own life; subsequently, the owner of this burial chamber made contact with the other's descendants, learning some information from the mouths of those descendants."

"One Pokémon corresponds to one shrine; the eight stakes driven into the ground around each shrine are used to suppress the power of calamity."

"In other words, as long as all corresponding stakes are pulled out, those Pokémon known as the Treasures of Calamity can be liberated."

"But if one wishes to pull out these stakes, only a person with absolutely no impure thoughts in their heart can release their seals."

The more Seeing Lei He deciphered, the more tightly her brows knitted together.

She regarded the Treasures of Calamity as long-cherished treasures, wishing to prove their existence and take them for her own.

Could someone like her really pull out those stakes?

Seeing Seeing Lei He fall silent after finishing deciphering the notes, Luo Mu emphasized, "The Paldea of today is very peaceful, with everything developing prosperously; once the seals are broken, those calamities, twisted by the desires of selfish and greedy people, will surely run rampant across this land once again."

"You cannot rashly break the seals without preparation; doing so would mean acting solely for your own selfish desires."

Seeing Lei He felt somewhat embarrassed by Luo Mu's words and found herself completely unable to refute the points he emphasized.

Indeed, she had only thought of witnessing the legendary existences with her own eyes, preferably taking them for herself, yet she had never considered what accidents might occur after liberating the Treasures of Calamity.

But this was the goal that drove her to go ashore, obtain an archaeologist certificate, and even join Grandma Ju Zi Academy; how could she possibly say she would give up now?

Seeing Lei He knew very well that if she insisted on breaking the seals, Luo Mu would definitely subdue her next.

While enjoying the convenience, she could not block the other changes arising from Luo Mu's companionship.

Could there not be a way to achieve both goals perfectly?

Seeing Lei He, unwilling to give up, browsed through the notes until she saw something on a certain parchment scroll; as if seizing new hope, she shouted to Luo Mu, "Quickly search! Somewhere in this room or the burial chamber, there should be a wooden slip recording some important things!"

"The content recorded upon it very likely holds the method to perfectly fulfill both your wish and mine!"

Luo Mu looked deeply at Seeing Lei He, made no sound, and buried his head in searching for the wooden slip Seeing Lei He had mentioned.

Soon, Luo Mu made a discovery.

Among a pile of Pei Zang Pin beside the coffin and outer shell, a wooden slip full of traces of the years lay there quietly.

Picking up the wooden slip, Luo Mu handed it to Seeing Lei He, who came upon hearing the news.

He had already looked at the writing on it; it wasn't that he couldn't read it, but rather that he completely failed to understand the meaning of those ghostly scribbles.

A moment later, having finished deciphering, Seeing Lei He, her eyes shining, shared with Luo Mu the true purpose behind the official contacting the Tamer, as well as the latter half of the work that the Pokémon Tamer who had suppressed the Treasures of Calamity had been unable to continue.

Ever since the destruction of the Paldea Empire's Wang Cheng, during the process of reconstruction, the Emperor who had caused the Treasures of Calamity to fully awaken contracted a severe illness and passed away before the reconstruction of Wang Cheng could be successfully completed.

The next Paldea Emperor to ascend the throne was counted among the rare wise rulers in history.

Knowing of the disaster brought about by his father, this Emperor, filled with guilt and wishing to make amends for his faults, dispatched the owner of this burial chamber to contact the descendants of the Pokémon Tamer who had suppressed the Four Treasures of Calamity.

It was precisely for this reason that the handwritten notes of the burial chamber's owner frequently mentioned that descendant.

The content in the handwritten notes was ultimately fragmentary and incomplete.

Only the content on the wooden slip recorded all the causes and the course of events.

The 32 stakes corresponding to the four shrines did not merely serve to suppress the power of calamity; their true purpose was, through these 32 stakes connected to the source of those curses, desires, and evil thoughts of the Treasures of Calamity, to completely purify them at their root.

After purification is completed, the Treasures of Calamity will once again become auspicious artifacts bringing peace and harmony; at that time, the seals can be opened, allowing the Four Treasures of Calamity—no, allowing the Four Auspicious Treasures to see the light of day again.

Regrettably, the Tamer who possessed such far-sighted planning died from exhaustion after suppressing the Four Treasures of Calamity, while the strength of the second-generation Tamer, his descendant, was far inferior to that of the previous generation; furthermore, due to the sudden death of the predecessor, a gap in knowledge occurred.

Even with the help of the Paldea Empire, the owner of the burial chamber and the second-generation Tamer traveled through many places yet could not find the necessary object capable of purifying the curses, evil thoughts, and desires contaminating the treasures.

"... The necessary object is clear water that purifies all filth; as long as it is found and evenly sprinkled upon the wooden stakes until thick black smoke rises from the stakes, the purification of a single stake can be considered successfully completed."

"Once the purification of the corresponding eight stakes is completed, one can proceed to the location of the shrine and release the seal of the Pokémon that has once again transformed into an Auspicious Treasure."

"These are all things mentioned by previous tamers, but as for what exactly that clear water which purifies all filth is, we have never been able to figure it out; even utilizing the Empire's intelligence network, we could not obtain any useful clues from other empires and nations."

"We crossed ten thousand waters and a thousand mountains, searching back and forth for nearly a decade, yet ultimately found nothing; His Majesty the Emperor, depressed and sorrowful, passed away while worrying about the seal left to future generations, unsure of when it might collapse."

Lei He read aloud the final passage recorded on the wooden slip, her expression showing a slight difficulty.

Although she was very interested in history and legends, just like the second-generation tamer and the tomb owner, regarding this so-called "clear water which purifies all filth," she similarly could not make heads or tails of it.

Unlike Lei He.

At this moment, Luo Mu had a realization in his heart.

Perhaps it was precisely because of his questioning that Lei He chose to continue searching within the tomb for a complete method; otherwise, it would have been impossible to find this wooden slip, which did not exist at all in the game.

Even more impossible would it have been to find a method capable of purifying the desires, evil thoughts, and curses tainted upon the Disaster Treasure.

Regarding the word "purify," in Luo Mu's impression, there were actually quite a few Pokémon capable of doing such things.

Just like Suicune, which purifies turbid water sources.

But if the conditions were limited to "clear water which purifies all filth," a figure immediately floated up in Luo Mu's mind: a Pokémon with a black body resembling a mermaid and flowing long hair.

It was the colleague and companion of Tapu Tapu Moumou, who had taught Bai Bai Pengpeng and Comfey their special Grassy Terrain move, and had taught Mudsdale how to use the Rototiller move to create the most fertile land.

Its name was Tapu Fini, the Island Guardian of the Alola region, a Water/Fairy-type Pokémon.

Tapu Fini was the guardian of Poni Island, which manipulates water; its habitat deep within Poni Island was covered by thick mist and revered by the people.

If Tapu Lele, with its somewhat pink-and-black nature, was a Pokémon Luo Mu tried his best to avoid contacting just to spare himself trouble, then Tapu Fini, in a certain sense, was even more formidable than Tapu Lele.

Tapu Fini was skilled at manipulating water and also possessed the ability to generate thick mist.

Because it disliked injuring itself through battle, Tapu Fini tended to generate thick mist to interfere with an opponent's mind, causing them to become confused and engage in self-destructive behavior.

But this mist had another function—it could allow humans or Pokémon to see the departed existence that was most important to them.

Just like in a certain episode of the Pokémon Sun and Moon anime, where Mallow entered Tapu Fini's mist, saw her deceased mother inside, and then encountered Shaymin, the Gratitude Pokémon, who seemed to be her mother's reincarnation.

And Ash's Litten saw its deceased Stoutland within the mist, and even learned the Fire Fang move from Stoutland.

Even though he was somewhat reluctant, Luo Mu had always harbored the thought of going to meet Tapu Fini once.

If one wanted to resolve the knot in the heart of Dragonite's mother, the Dragonite leader, aside from Celebi and Dialga who could travel through time and space but had uncertain whereabouts, Tapu Fini's mist, which had a fixed location and similarly allowed one to see the departed, offered a much higher chance of success.

But coincidentally, Tapu Fini possessed another ability besides creating mist.

It could produce special water that purified body and mind, removing filth.

This special water, known as Purification Water, was exactly the same as the "clear water which purifies all filth" recorded on the wooden slip.

If Tapu Fini's Purification Water was indeed that "clear water which purifies all filth," then the reason why the second-generation Pokémon tamer and the tomb owner had never been able to find it made perfect sense.

After all, at that time, the Alola archipelago was still in a state of isolation from the world!

It was only in the last hundred years or so that the Alola archipelago began frequent exchanges with the continents of other league regions.

Logically, it made complete sense.

Furthermore, if one wished to obtain this Purification Water, one had to endure the mist generated by Tapu Fini and gain its approval.

"Isn't this... too much of a coincidence?"

Luo Mu widened his eyes, as if he had fallen into a state of shock due to this series of coincidences.

In that case, should he now include the plan to visit the Alola region once again in his itinerary?

(End of Chapter)