Pokemon : I'm Just a Photographer!

Chapter 98: Chapter 98

Leafeon sat outside the cave entrance, trembling as she listened to the miserable howls echoing from within.

’What kind of friends does Mike know...?’

’They’re terrifying...’

...

Inside the cave, Cynthia held a torch while Garchomp walked beside her.

Geodude, Sandshrew, and several other Pokémon lay scattered across the ground around them.

Cynthia stopped and looked around before asking Garchomp, "Did he mention whether the Geodude he knows has any distinguishing features?"

"Gar-chomp—"

Garchomp shook her head.

Cynthia hesitated before calling into the cave.

"Does anyone here know Mike? I’m his friend. He asked me to find someone who could help me."

Before long, a bruised and swollen Geodude raised one muscular arm and bounced over to Cynthia and Garchomp.

"Ge...o..."

Cynthia looked at the battered Geodude, then glanced back at Garchomp.

Garchomp: "..."

’You were the one who told me to attack them.’

Cynthia smiled gently.

"Hello. Mike said you could guide me to the ruins. Would you mind taking me there?"

Geodude hadn’t even answered when he noticed Garchomp behind the human woman calmly polishing one of her fins.

Geodude: "..."

He immediately turned and began bouncing deeper into the cave.

Cynthia and Garchomp followed.

...

Inside the ruins, Bronzong and Claydol floated out of the ground and stared warily toward the entrance.

The sound of something sharp striking the stone floor repeatedly echoed from the darkness.

The rhythm was steady, and each impact rang out clearly.

Alongside those footsteps, they could hear the breathing of an extraordinarily powerful Pokémon.

Slow.

Deep.

Powerful.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Bronzong began trembling. It tilted its body horizontally and aimed its bell-shaped opening toward the passage.

Claydol hovered in the air, prepared to attack at any moment.

A flicker of fire appeared in the darkness as a figure emerged from the passage, and Geodude rolled into the chamber.

He stared blankly at Bronzong and Claydol, who had already assumed battle positions.

"Geo?"

Geodude braced both hands against the entrance, having no idea what was happening.

Bronzong and Claydol were equally confused about why Geodude had suddenly appeared.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

The footsteps grew closer, and the firelight gradually brightened.

When it finally reached the entrance, Bronzong and Claydol saw the newcomer clearly.

A blonde woman wearing a long black coat.

They were just beginning to relax when a pair of golden eyes appeared behind her.

Garchomp stepped out from behind Cynthia and stood at her side.

Her full aura erupted, sending dust and tiny stones swirling through the chamber.

Bronzong: "!"

Claydol: "!"

’Geodude, you bastard! What kind of monster did you bring here?!’

Both of them wanted to kill him!

One look at that Garchomp was enough to tell them they stood absolutely no chance against her.

Cynthia reached out and patted Garchomp’s shoulder.

Garchomp withdrew her aura.

Holding the torch, Cynthia looked at Bronzong and Claydol with a faint smile.

"Hello, Bronzong and Claydol. Garchomp and I mean you no harm. We’re also friends of Mike. We came here today to study the ruins. Would that be all right?"

Bronzong looked at the Garchomp beside her and blinked.

Then it returned to an upright position and floated aside, clearing the passage.

Claydol: ’Mike’s friend? You should’ve said so sooner!’

Seeing them move aside, Cynthia thanked them politely and entered the ruins with her torch.

Following the order of Mike’s video, she first approached the stone wall.

She held the flame closer and carefully examined the surviving carvings.

Her attention was meticulous and unwavering.

Garchomp stood quietly beside her without moving.

Cynthia fell into thought as she studied the unfamiliar Pokémon depicted on the wall.

Meanwhile, Bronzong and Claydol retreated into a corner.

Bronzong used psychic power to drag Geodude over.

Bronzong: ’What happened to your face?’

Geodude: ’...Garchomp beat me up.’

Claydol: ’Could you warn us before bringing someone here next time? You nearly scared us to death.’

Geodude: ’If I’d known in advance, do you think I would’ve let her knock out one of my teeth?!’

Geodude opened his mouth, revealing that one tooth was missing.

Bronzong and Claydol exchanged a glance.

Then they closed their eyes, their bodies beginning to tremble.

Geodude: ’...You’re laughing at me?!’

Garchomp noticed the three Pokémon whispering in the corner and glanced back.

They instantly fell silent.

Cynthia continued analyzing the murals until her brows furrowed.

Once she finished examining the wall, she carried the torch past Bronzong and the others and approached the stone tablet in the center of the ruins.

She lowered the flame and bent down to inspect its inscription.

’Ancient writing?’

Cynthia narrowed her eyes.

"A terrible drought descended from the heavens..."

She quietly read the beginning aloud, but many of the ancient characters were unfamiliar to her. She had only learned a small portion of the script.

Her attention then shifted to the picture surrounding the inscription.

A Pokémon had been painted with pink pigment, and the lower half of its body resembled a cloud.

"Is this the fourth member of the Forces of Nature that Mike mentioned?"

"Enamorus?"

Cynthia murmured.

She had already seen the images in Mike’s photographs and video, but viewing the original carving in person still filled her with astonishment.

There truly had been a fourth member of Unova’s Forces of Nature!

But where had this fourth Pokémon gone?

Why had Cynthia never heard a single surviving legend about it?

And how had Mike known its name was Enamorus?

After finishing with the tablet, Cynthia straightened and raised the torch high.

Firelight illuminated the entire ruin.

She surveyed the chamber until her gaze settled on a wall concealed beneath compacted earth.

Cynthia approached and gently ran one slender finger along the surface before tapping it.

The sound that returned made her eyes brighten.

’It isn’t completely blocked?’

She stepped back and looked toward Garchomp.

Garchomp nodded, walked in front of her, raised one bladed fin, and slammed her thick tail against the ground.

"Garchomp!"

Her roar frightened Bronzong, who had just floated forward to stop them, back into the corner.

Bronzong: ’...There’s no way we can defeat her.’

Garchomp brought her fin down against the wall.

Dust and debris exploded outward, completely obscuring the passage ahead.

A red flash appeared in Cynthia’s hand and a strange figure emerged beside her.

Under the torchlight, Spiritomb’s shadow expanded until it seemed to cover the entire ruin.

A gust of wind swept through the chamber, blowing away all the dust.

Spiritomb withdrew its shadow and obediently remained beside Cynthia’s feet.

She returned it to its Poké Ball, then looked at the newly opened passage and smiled.

Holding the torch, she followed Garchomp inside.

Bronzong and the others exchanged a glance before following as well.

The space beyond was considerably more open.

The continuation of the mural that Mike had seen cut off by earth was fully visible here.

Cynthia approached with the torch.

The carvings depicted the daily life of an ancient village—ceremonies, gathering, hunting, fishing, trading, and children laughing and playing.

"This is..."

Cynthia saw several more Pokémon she didn’t recognize.

One resembled Samurott, one of Unova’s starter Pokémon, but the horn on its head was different from that of an ordinary Samurott.

It curved like a wave and was dark in color.

There were also Voltorb and Electrode whose bodies differed from their modern forms.

’Ancient forms?’

Cynthia remembered something Geeta, the Champion of Paldea, had once told her.

Paldea possessed a massive crater containing Paradox Pokémon, including species resembling creatures from the distant past and future.

Could these Pokémon, whose appearances differed from their modern counterparts, be something similar?

Farther along the wall, Cynthia found even more Pokémon with shapes that differed from the ones currently known.

"Claaay..."

Claydol’s voice sounded nearby.

Cynthia turned and found it hovering in a corner, using psychic power to pull a stone fragment from the earth.

It placed the slab before her.

"Thank you."

After expressing her gratitude, Cynthia lowered her head and examined it.

’The missing section of the tablet?’

She looked toward Claydol.

"Could you help me carry this to the other chamber?"

Claydol nodded.

Using psychic power, it lifted the fragment and followed Cynthia back, fitting it against the original tablet.

The two pieces matched perfectly.

Cynthia carefully studied the completed inscription.

After analyzing it for a long while, she took out her phone and tried calling Mike, only to discover there was no signal underground. (duh)

She could only photograph everything.

Leaving the tablet behind, Cynthia entered a second chamber in the ruins.

After photographing all the murals, she approached another section where the wall merged with the surrounding earth and tapped it.

The sound was dull and solid.

She looked toward Garchomp.

Garchomp struck the surface lightly with one fin, then shook her head.

Cynthia sighed regretfully.

Breaking through by force might uncover more information, but it could just as easily destroy the ruins entirely.

She shook her head and returned to the entrance with her torch.

Looking at Bronzong and the others, Cynthia smiled with satisfaction.

"Thank you all for your help today."

With that, she left the ruins with Garchomp.

Bronzong, Claydol, and Geodude looked at one another and released simultaneous sighs of relief.

Claydol: ’She was actually rather kind. She even cleared out another part of the ruins for us.’

Bronzong: ’That’s true. Her Garchomp was simply terrifying.’

Geodude: ’My tooth...’

...

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