"Hobi~ hobi~" I can't do it anymore, so tired.
Bunnelby sat on the ground, discouraged, after digging for a long time without seeing the end of the stone.
Vaporeon stepped forward and patted its back.
"Savo~ savo~" Keep trying, maybe we'll reach the end soon.
"Sand~ sand~" Jolteon nodded in agreement.
"Hobi~ hobi~" Hearing this, Bunnelby had no choice but to rejoin the digging team.
"Di~ di~" After digging for a while longer, Drilbur suddenly let out a cry of surprise.
"Kola~"
"Hobi~"
"Awoo~"
Aggron, Bunnelby, and Tyrunt hurried forward to check the situation.
Before them, regular cracks had appeared on the stone in front of Drilbur.
The three Eevee evolutions walked over, and upon seeing the cracks, Vaporeon exclaimed with joy:
"Savo~ savo~" We found treasure!
Treasure? The eyes of the other Pokémon lit up at the news.
"Awoo~ awoo~" Tyrunt was so excited that it immediately continued digging.
Seeing this, Aggron, Bunnelby, and Drilbur hurried to help.
Soon, the soil near the giant stone in front of them was cleared away, and what appeared before them was a huge, thick stone door.
Looking at the stone door in front of them, the Pokémon jumped for joy.
It was treasure; they had really found treasure!
"Pus~ pus~" Open it quickly, let's see what's inside.
Flareon said excitedly.
After nodding, the Pokémon walked to the front together and pushed hard against the stone door.
"Savo~"
"Pus~"
"Sand~"
"Kola~"
"Hobi~"
"Awoo~"
"Digu~"
The Pokémon gave it all they had, but the stone door didn't budge an inch.
After a long while, they lay on the ground, panting from exhaustion.
"Ho~ hobi~~" It really won't move.
Bunnelby said.
"Kola~ kola~" Should we go back and ask everyone for help?
Aggron proposed.
The suggestion was agreed upon by everyone, so they returned along the tunnel the way they came.
When they emerged, covered in dirt, they were spotted by Spritzee passing by.
"Zee~ zee~" Where have you all been? Ange has been looking everywhere for you!
Spritzee landed on Aggron's back and said to the three Eevee evolutions.
Ange? Did Ange return?
Hearing this, the Pokémon's faces lit up with joy, and they dashed home.
Spritzee flapped its wings and took flight from Aggron's back, thinking with a face full of confusion: What happened to them?
After searching a circle and failing to find the three Eevee evolutions, Ange was just leading Munchlax and the others home when they ran into them.
Seeing the Pokémon covered in mud, Ange asked doubtfully, "Where did you run off to? How did you end up like this?"
"Pus~ pus~" Ange, Ange, we found treasure!
Flareon looked up and said excitedly.
"Hobi~ hobi~" Yes, treasure!
"Digu~ digu~" There really is treasure!
...
The other Pokémon chimed in, echoing Flareon.
Ange felt his head spinning from their chatter.
"Wait, what did you say? You found treasure? In the Nebel Plateau?"
"Awoo~"
"Savo~"
"Sand~"
...
The Pokémon nodded in unison.
"You aren't dreaming, are you? There's treasure in the Nebel Plateau?" Disbelief appeared on Ange's face.
Hearing Ange's words, the Pokémon immediately looked dissatisfied.
"Hobi~ hobi~" Bunnelby tugged on Ange's pant leg, wanting Ange to follow them.
"Fine, I want to see what treasure you've discovered." Ange didn't take the "treasure" the Pokémon were talking about seriously.
On the way, Ange listened to the Pokémon talking one after another, and soon he understood the process of how they found the "treasure."
He couldn't help but laugh, "You guys really... running off to dig holes for no reason, what if you had caused the Nebel Plateau to collapse?"
When they reached the entrance of the cave, Ange followed the Pokémon down, and after walking for a long time without reaching the end, he couldn't help but say:
"I really have to hand it to you for being able to dig such a tunnel."
"Digu~" "Awoo~" "Pus~"
Drilbur, Tyrunt, and Flareon puffed out their chests proudly.
Ange raised his hand and tapped Tyrunt on the back of the head, saying, "I wasn't praising you!"
Tyrunt looked aggrieved: Why only tap me?
"And Flareon, it seems you didn't help with the digging, right? Why are you so proud?" Ange looked at Flareon and said.
Hmph~~ Next time, I'm going to learn Dig! Flareon thought, feeling unconvinced.
All Eevee evolutions can learn the move Dig.
After walking a bit further, Ange and the others finally reached the destination.
Looking at the thick, tall stone door in front of him, Ange thought in surprise: No way? Did they really find treasure?
"Pus~ pus~" I told you we found treasure!
Flareon said triumphantly.
"Kola~ kola~" But we can't open it.
Aggron said.
Ange contemplated, saying, "Usually, doors like this are opened by mechanisms; using brute force is, of course, not advisable."
"Gang~~ gang~~~" Master is amazing! You even knew that.
Munchlax looked at Ange with adoration.
"Gar~ gar~" Gengar echoed his senior brother.
Ange: ...
Hey, hey, hey~~ Munchlax, Gengar, you guys are too supportive! I was just saying that; what if there hadn't been a mechanism? Wouldn't I have lost face?
Ange suddenly realized that sometimes having students who are too supportive isn't a good thing.
Thus, Ange braced himself and began searching for the mechanism.
Hmm? He then found to his surprise that there seemed to be patterns carved into the stone door, but because they were covered in too much mud, they weren't easy to spot.
"Vaporeon, would you mind washing the mud off the door?" Ange asked, looking at Vaporeon.
"Savo~" No problem.
Saying this, Vaporeon stepped forward, opened its mouth, and spat a jet of water at the giant door.
Splash~~ Soon the mud on the stone door was washed away bit by bit, and the carvings on it were revealed.
The carvings on the door were two Pokémon, whom Ange had just seen not long ago.
On the left side of the door was Latios, and on the right side was Latias.
The Latias and Latios in the two carvings were head-to-head, in a pose similar to Tai Chi.
Where their heads touched was a sphere the size of a fist.
Could that be the mechanism to open the door?
Thinking this, Ange reached out and pressed on it.
Sure enough, as a rumbling sound came, the huge stone door slowly opened.
"Savo~"
"Pus~"
"Sand~"
...
Seeing this scene, the Pokémon looked surprised.
Ange also breathed a sigh of relief.
Thankfully, thankfully, he hadn't lost face; his imposing, tall image was preserved.
However, to everyone's surprise, the door stopped after opening only a crack, and "click-clack" sounds came, as if something had gotten stuck.
Apparently, due to being buried deep underground for too long, the door's mechanism had malfunctioned.
For a moment, the Pokémon looked at each other.
Ange laughed, "It seems the mechanism has fallen into disrepair and is broken."
As he spoke, he walked to the crack in the door, turned sideways, and easily passed through the stone door.
He said to everyone through the crack, "Look, didn't I get in?"
Thus, Vaporeon, Jolteon, Flareon, and Bunnelby followed Ange through the crack one after another.
When it was Tyrunt's turn, its massive head got stuck, and it couldn't get in at all.
"Awoo~ awoo~" Tyrunt cried out in frustration.
Looking at Tyrunt, which was struggling to squeeze in, Ange said helplessly:
"Alright, Tyrunt, if you can't get in, don't force it; it would be a disaster if your head got stuck in the crack and you couldn't get out."
Hearing this, Tyrunt could only retreat, looking aggrieved.
Not only could Tyrunt not get in, but Aggron and Munchlax couldn't either.
Aggron went without saying; it was too big.
Munchlax was completely stuck because of its chubby belly, and even though it had tried to suck in its gut, it was to no avail.
"Gang~~" Master...
Munchlax looked at Ange inside the crack with a heartbroken expression.
Ange felt his heart melt at the look.
"Be good, I'll tell you what's inside when I come out."
"Gang~" Munchlax nodded obediently.
Although Gengar's body was also round, it could control its body to float like smoke, so it wasn't affected.
Just like that, Munchlax, Tyrunt, and Aggron waited outside the door, while Ange took the other Pokémon inside to check the situation.
Ange walked along the long corridor and discovered that the walls were carved with many patterns, all related to Latias and Latios.
Continuing forward, Ange was surprised to find that the figure of Yveltal had appeared in the patterns.
Hmm? How did it get involved with Yveltal?
He continued looking down, gradually realizing that these patterns seemed to form a story.
The story wasn't complicated.
A long, long time ago, there was a village that worshipped Latias and Latios, nestled quietly in a corner of the Kalos region.
Suddenly one day, the young people of the village who had gone out returned with something: a giant, pitch-black cocoon.
The villagers didn't know what the giant cocoon was, so they placed it in the center of the village and even held a campfire party next to it at night.
However, they didn't know that their actions had offended the God of Destruction slumbering within the cocoon, and a disaster was about to descend.
So, when the party reached its climax, the pitch-black cocoon transformed into an "Evil God" and appeared before them.
The appearance of the God of Destruction naturally meant a great catastrophe, so the enraged Yveltal launched an attack on the village.
At the critical moment, the village chief took out a flute that had been worshipped in the ancestral hall and blew it.
That was the Eon Flute, a magical item capable of summoning Eon Pokémon.
As the sound of the flute rang out, two Eon Pokémon descended—they were Latias and Latios.
To protect the village, Latias and Latios launched a challenge against the God of Destruction.
The end result was obvious: Latias and Latios were defeated, and the two Eon Pokémon were turned into stone statues by Yveltal.
However, precisely because of the heroic battle of the two Eon Pokémon, Yveltal eventually abandoned the plan to destroy the village.
It left behind the statues of Latias and Latios and flew away.
To express their gratitude for the desperate protection of Latias and Latios, the village enshrined the statues they had become.
Countless years passed, and the village had long since vanished in the river of time, and even the terrain of the place where the village originally stood had changed dramatically.
But the place where Latias and Latios were worshipped remained.
The Nebel Plateau was the original location of the village.
At the end of the corridor, the patterns telling the story disappeared, and in front of Ange appeared two stone statues.
They were the stone statues of Latios and Latias.
Beneath the stone statues was a stone pillar, lifting the two statues high toward the sky.
Apart from that, in front of the statues, there was a stone shelf about a person's height, upon which a flute was enshrined.
It was the Eon Flute.
Ange walked up to the stone shelf and took down the flute, only to see that it had become extremely mottled.
"Vaporeon, please!" Ange said, handing the Eon Flute toward Vaporeon.
Vaporeon understood, opened its mouth, and spat out a jet of water, helping Ange wash the Eon Flute clean.
He didn't know what material the flute was made of; after who knows how many years, it was now as bright as new.
The overall design of the Eon Flute was similar to Latias; the cylindrical body of the flute had two wing-like structures on the sides.
Then Ange was surprised to find that a Mega Stone was embedded in each of the wing-like positions on the sides of the Eon Flute.
"Are these the Mega Stones for Latias and Latios?"
Previously, during the divine war, those two Latias and Latios had completed Mega Evolution by themselves, and he had thought that the anime was different from the games and that they didn't need to use Mega Stones.
Ange put the Eon Flute to his lips, and a melodious flute sound rang out; the two Mega Stones emitted a faint light, shining and more beautiful than gemstones.
In his past life, out of interest, he had learned to play the flute for a time. Although he couldn't be a musician, playing a few tunes was no problem.
The barely decent flute sound echoed in the small chamber, and the Pokémon gently swayed their bodies, moving rhythmically to the sound of the flute.
Unfortunately, Latias and Latios, having turned into stone statues, could not respond to the sound of the flute.
Ange took another turn around this suspected ancestral hall, and after finding nothing special, he planned to leave.
After bringing the Eon Flute out of the secret room, Ange recounted the situation inside in detail to Aggron, Tyrunt, and Munchlax.
Out of the tunnel, Ange planned to go see Yveltal and ask if the story recorded on the walls of the tunnel was true.
At this moment, Yveltal was sleeping in the bar, and Honchkrow and the Murkrow were clustered around it as usual.
Seeing Ange approach, Honchkrow hurried to wake Yveltal.
Yveltal lifted one eyelid, and upon seeing Ange, it said softly:
"Woo~~" Welcome back.
It had now completely considered itself a member of the Nebel Plateau and had also completely recognized Ange.
Ange laughed, "Did I disturb your rest?"
Yveltal shook its head; it had nothing to do all day and had plenty of time to rest.
Ange said, "I came here because there's something I want to ask you."
"Woo~~" Confusion appeared on Yveltal's face.
What is it?
So Ange told it about finding the Latias and Latios ancestral hall underground and recounted the contents of the murals in the corridor of the hall.
"Did such a thing really happen?" Ange asked.
Were those two stone statues the real Latias and Latios transformed, or were they just ordinary stone carvings?
Yveltal fell into thought and recollection.
Because it had lived for too long, it wouldn't particularly remember some trivial matters.
"Woo~~" It seems there was such a thing...
Yveltal said; actually, it didn't quite remember either.
"Woo~~" I'll go take a look with you.
After seeing it, it would know whether they were real stone statues or Pokémon it had turned to stone.
Ange said helplessly, "The door of that ancestral hall is broken; with your size, it will probably be very difficult to enter."
He thought for a while and said, "How about this, I'll go ask Metagross later to see if it can repair the door, and once it's repaired, you can go take a look."
"Woo~" Yveltal nodded.
"Then you continue your rest; I won't disturb you."
After leaving Yveltal, Ange planned to find Metagross again.
But before he could walk home, he saw Metagross coming his way.
It turned out that Metagross had learned that Ange had returned and had specially come out of the laboratory to see him.
It was truly not easy to get Metagross to voluntarily come out of the laboratory; only Ange could make it do that.
"Metagross, I'm back!" Ange said to Metagross with a smile as he stepped forward.
"Meta~~" Welcome home, Ange.
Metagross also said to Ange with a smile.
After a few words between the human and the Pokémon, Ange told it about repairing the door.
Metagross said, "Meta~ meta~~~" No problem, I'll go take a look right now.
"I'll lead the way for you." Saying this, Ange led Metagross toward the direction of the underground ancestral hall.
On the way, Ange remembered the Sundial Stone that Ms. Olympia had gifted him, so he took it out and handed it to Metagross, asking Metagross to study it carefully.
Metagross was very interested in the Sundial Stone, and after taking the stone from Ange, it placed it into the system backpack.
After arriving at the entrance of the ancestral hall, Metagross carefully studied the stone door, and after a long while, it said to Ange:
"Meta~ meta~" I'll try it; it shouldn't be a problem.
"Then I'll leave it to you." Ange said.
Subsequently, Metagross stayed in the underground ancestral hall and began tinkering with it by itself.
Time quickly arrived at night, and Ange's return made everyone very happy, so they gathered neatly in the plaza, chatting.
At the same time, tonight's gathering could also be considered a belated welcoming ceremony for Goodra and the others, so Goodra, Sliggoo, Eevee, Lucario, and the whole gang were pushed to the center of the plaza, becoming the focal point of everyone's attention.
Goodra and Sliggoo had introverted personalities, so after becoming the focus, they felt very self-conscious.
The three Eevee evolutions, on the other hand, were very sociable; they loved everyone's enthusiasm, weaving between each Pokémon and able to chat freely with every one of them.
Lucario, Gothita, Girafarig, and Wobbuffet had also gradually adapted to the atmosphere of the Nebel Plateau, so they were also chatting warmly with the other Pokémon.
After Ange and the others finished preparing dinner, everyone chatted while eating, and the happy time flew by in a blink.