114 Excavation Site

Hisoka was on his way to the mission site. At some point, he got tired because of the hike and decided to take out his Rhyperior and ride on his back with Buneary sitting on his head.

Boom!

Suddenly there was a loud explosion in the distance as rocks started falling down the mountain.

Seeing the rocks falling toward them, Hisoka quickly grabbed Buneary, jumped down, and hid underneath Rhyperior's body. At the same time, Rhypeior spread out his arms, shielding Hisoka and Buneary from the falling rocks.

They finally breathed a sigh of relief after the rockslide had stopped.

"Did someone use a bomb or something?" Hisoka frowned. He could still hear the faint sound of explosions.

Explosives were strictly controlled by the League. They were only usually used in construction work.

After Rhyperior cleared the debris around the area, Hisoka stood up, looking in the direction where he felt the sound come from. He saw a small cloud of black smoke billowing into the sky.

"Wait a second. Isn't that the place where I'm supposed to meet the client?" Hisoka looked at his map twice.

After that, he quickly picked up Buneary and climbed on Rhyperior's back.

"Let's go, Rhyperior!" he said, pointing toward the smoke.

***

Excavation Site.

"Dr. White, are you alright?"

A young girl with violet-blue hair, wearing hiking gear, walked over slowly. Her clothes looked a bit ruffled and dirty.

"I'm fine, Dr. Eve." The middle-aged man slowly stood up.

"Dr. White, your face!" Eve shouted in worry after seeing blood on his face.

"It's just a scratch." White waved off her concern.

"Doctor! Someone is injured!"

Suddenly, there was a shout coming from their back.

Hearing that, White and Eve looked at each other and quickly ran toward it.

"Ichiro, hold on, you will be fine!"

A man was surrounded by a dozen people. Most of them looked a bit disheveled and had some minor injuries around their face, arms, and legs.

"My leg..." Ichiro said with tears in his ears.

One of his legs was being pressed by a boulder with blood running on the ground.

"Can we save him?" White asked anxiously.

The only Doctor among them shook her head and said, "Our current medical conditions cannot treat this kind of injury. If you want to save his life, there is only one option. We need to cut off his right leg."

As soon as these words came out, Ichiro's face turned pale.

"No..." he uttered in a daze.

"It's all your fault. If you didn't suggest we use explosives, this kind of thing wouldn't have happened." A man then tried to lunge at White.

Seeing that, the others stepped forward to intercept him.

"Jiro! Calm Down! Dr. White didn't mean to hurt your brother. The most important thing now is to save your brother."

"I'm sorry!" White hung his head low.

He really shouldn't have used the explosives earlier. His recklessness would cause one of the team members to lose his leg for life. He might even face charges from the League for owning illegal items.

While everyone was at a loss, Hisoka finally arrived at the excavation site. He looked around and found that the campsite was in complete disarray. Seeing the small crowd on the other side of the camp, he quickly headed toward them.

"Brother, I don't want to lose my leg." Ichiro burst into tears and grabbed Jiro's right hand.

"Doctor, is there really no other way?" Jiro looked at the female Doctor.

"No." The Doctor shook her head sadly.

"Gardevoir, use Psychic to lift that boulder."

Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice came from their back. They turned around and saw a young man with two Pokemon by his side.

Gardevoir's eyes flashed red as she surrounded the boulder in her psychic energy. She then slowly lifted the boulder from the man's leg and moved it away.

Hisoka then turned toward Chansey and said, "Chansey, can you check him?"

"Chansey!"

She nodded at him and went toward the bleeding man as the crowd gave way to her. After getting closer to the man, she checked the man several times before getting down to work.

First, she put her hands in front of her body, forming a pink energy ball. Then, she carefully pressed her hands on the injured leg, bathing the man in pink light as his injury recovered almost instantly.

"Hey! It doesn't hurt anymore!" Ichiro lifted his leg in surprise.

"Chansey!"

After that, she put her hands inside her pouch and took out a white egg. Then, she grabbed the man's mouth and shoved it inside his mouth.

Gag!

Chansey: ＼(＾▽＾)／

She clapped her hands in satisfaction.

***

Nightfall.

"Mr. Hisoka, thank you for saving Ichiro."

White shook Hisoka's hand excitedly as they sat around a campfire.

After receiving treatment from Chansey, Ichiro, the man whose leg was caught under a large rock, had recovered his health. He only needed to rest for a few more days before being able to fully walk.

"It's my job anyway. You should be more careful when using explosives next time." Hisoka replied.

During the day, White tried to get into an ancient temple but was blocked by a large rock. Seeing no other way around it, he decided to use explosives to break it into smaller pieces. Unfortunately, he miscalculated the amount of explosive needed to be used, causing a massive rockslide.

Fortunately, no one died.

After Chansey finished checking everyone's health, they decided to rebuild the campsite, which took only a few minutes with their Pokemon's help.

He also came to know the other archeologist on the team. Dr. Eve, White's deputy, the twin brothers, Jiro and Ichiro, who Chansey saved earlier, and other archeologists.

***

After finishing their meal, Hisoka and Eve went to the largest tent in the campsite under White's lead to see the artifacts they dug up from the ancient temple.

"Is this a Psyduck statue?"

Hisoka picked up a clay figurine that was shaped somewhat like a Psyduck with some strange black lines around it.

"Huh? Is this made of gold?" He noticed the golden glow on the statue.

"Yep. It is indeed made from gold. I think it was used in a worshipping ceremony." Eve explained.

"Worshipping a Psyduck. Who would do that," he said wryly.

At this time, White came to them, holding a golden spoon.

"So far, we have found around ten artifacts left by the ancient Pokémopolis civilization. Many of them are made from gold," he said excitedly.

Hisoka had read from books that there were many ancient civilizations discovered around the world. Apart from leaving some relics, most of them had disappeared under the passage of time.

In fact, the artifacts left by the ancient civilizations had high research value. Many modern-day items, such as his space-folding backpack and Pokeballs, were made after studying these relics.

White introduced a lot of information about Pokémopolis to Hisoka. Telling him about their culture, language, beliefs, and so on.

Eve put on white gloves and took out a stone tablet engraved with strange symbols on one side.

"This is what we've found in the ruins just now," she said while using a magnifying glass to observe it closely.

"What do these symbols mean?" Hisoka leaned forward in interest. They were quite different from the ancient writing he had seen.

"Dr. Eve is one of the best archeologists on our team. It shouldn't take long for her to decipher the writing on the stone table," White whispered to him.

Hisoka nodded as they both stayed quiet while waiting for Eve to translate the ancient script on the stone tablet.

"Got it!" A few moments later, a shout was heard from Eve, catching their attention.

She cleared her throat and said, "Beware the two great powers of destruction. The sacred city will be no more as day is swallowed up by night. Darker still for you when they return to lay waste to the world. But no human knows the secret to soothe the powers and guide them back to where they belong."

Hisoka fell into deep thought after hearing that.

"That means they did manage to stop the disaster, but how did they disappear?" he said with a frown.

Eve shrugged her shoulders in reply.

"Unfortunately, we will never know that. Some of the writing on this stone tablet had been damaged."

As she said that, she showed the lower part of the stele, where some parts had gone missing.

Later that night, Hisoka recorded the writing on the stone tablet using his camera and asked Eve to translate it for him, to which she agreed. They might be useful to him someday.

***

The next morning.

Hisoka walked out of his tent while rubbing his bleary eyes. He stayed up late last night, helping Eve and White record the artifacts they had excavated.

"Ha!"

He yawned loudly and stretched. He then took a deep breath, enjoying the fresh morning air.

"Good morning, Hisoka."

Just then, a man greeted Hisoka. A Primeape stood next to the man, carrying a basket filled with berries.

"Morning, Jiro." Hisoka greeted in return.

Jiro crouched down, took a couple of berries from the basket, and handed them to him.

"I just picked these berries in the forest. They're really good. Give it a try," he said eagerly.

"Thanks!" Hisoka said as he took a bite of the Sitrus berry. It was much sweeter and had a well-rounded flavor than the normal ones.

Jiro shook his head and said, "No. I should be thanking you instead for saving my brother."

After telling Hisoka that breakfast would be ready soon, Jiro left for the kitchen with the Primeape in tow.

***

Hisoka walked a few hundred meters away from the camp and found a small clearing next to a stream. He placed his bag on the ground and released all of his Pokemon, except for Porygon, who stayed behind at Professor Oak's Laboratory.

"Line up, guys!" Hisoka commanded his Pokemon.

Hearing that, they quickly got into a line: Gardevoir, Weavile, Milotic, Rhyperior, Chansey, Misdreavus, and Buneary.

Then, he took out several tightly sealed bags, which contained the food for his Pokemon. After heating them up, he served them on plates and handed them to his Pokemon.

"Come here, Buneary," he beckoned her to come over.

"Bu!"

Buneary jumped into his arms, laughing. Rubbing her head fondly, he handed her a large bottle of Moomoo Milk, some Pokeblocks, and some berries he got from Jiro earlier.

While his Pokemon was eating their breakfast, there was a sudden loud rumbling sound.

Boom!

"Watch out!"

Gardevoir's voice rang inside his head as rocks burst out of the ground and started falling toward them. Thankfully, she managed to put up a barrier before the rocks hit them.

Roar!

Following that, a creature composed of a giant chain of gray boulders with a rocky spine emerged from the ground.

It was the giant Onix he met yesterday. It seemed there was something wrong with it.

He and his Pokemon quickly backed away from it. Only Rhyperior stood still as he faced the Onix squarely.

'Why is it here?' Hisoka thought in a puzzled manner.

This place was very far from the place where Onix was supposed to live. And the soil here wasn't very good for it either. Why would it bother to come to this place?

The giant Onix roared loudly, banging its tail on the ground several times.

Obviously, it had lost its mind. Then, its red eyes turned toward them.

Hisoka tensed his body. He was clear how destructive an Onix of that size could be if it had gone crazy.

"Rhyperior! Use Hammer Arm!"

Hearing his command, Rhyperior rushed toward the giant Onix and punched its face with his shining fist.

Bang!

The Onix moved its head back and forth in confusion after being struck by Rhyperior's fist. Then, it shook its head rapidly and stared at Rhyperior in recognition. It seemed it had come back to its senses.

With a flick of its tail, the giant Onix reentered the hole it came out from just now.

He finally sighed in relief after seeing Onix had escaped. As he sat on the ground, he suddenly noticed the trail left by Onix.

"Hey, isn't that... Fuck!"

He found the Onix was heading in the campsite direction. Taking back his Pokemon, he quickly jumped on Rhyperior's back and told him to return to the campsite as fast as he could.

Meanwhile, Gardevoir flew ahead of them using her psychic power.

Bang! Bang!

Rhyperior dashed toward the campsite with heavy steps as Hisoka held onto him.

***