The history of the ruins and stone statues

"Forget it. Let's let them off and leave while we can."

"Huh? We're just letting it go?"

Agumon asked.

"Yeah. We were the ones who barged into their territory, after all. Besides, we've accomplished what we came for. There's no need to waste any more time here."

Since Qingliu had said so, Agumon naturally had no objections.

With that, Qingliu headed toward the gap between the massive stones.

As he walked, he glanced back at the Unown overhead.

They were still sobbing, with no sign of stopping.

Clearly, they weren't putting on an act. They genuinely felt wronged.

Qingliu watched them for a while, then finally sighed helplessly. He took the fruit Agumon had saved for him earlier out of his pocket and set it beneath them.

Then he led Agumon out of the ruins.

"Phew..."

Feeling the fresh air outside the ruins and the refreshing breeze brushing against him, Qingliu couldn't help taking a long, deep breath.

"This place looks amazing."

Standing beside the ruins, Agumon gazed around in wonder.

In the distance stood a lush green forest of towering trees stretching as far as the eye could see. Closer by was a square clearing raised entirely above ground level.

The enormous ancient ruins stood at the center of the clearing, dividing it into four equal sections. The whole place looked very much like an ancient fortress surrounded by its gardens, an impressive sight.

But what surprised Agumon most were the two towering statues standing at the entrance to the ruins, just below them.

The one on the left depicted a four-legged creature with a long, slender neck and tail. Scale-like spikes grew along its back, and a massive breastplate covered its chest, with a diamond embedded in the center.

The one on the right stood upright on two legs. It also had a long tail, with a disc-shaped piece of armor on each shoulder and an enormous pointed crest covering its head and extending all the way to the wings behind it.

"Qingliu, are these two statues based on Pokémon too? They look really intimidating."

Qingliu nodded. "Yes. They're Pokémon that have existed for an incredibly long time. Or rather, instead of simply Pokémon, they should be called legendary Pokémon.

"They're even older than this continent. Many humans once followed in their footsteps, too."

Hearing the word "legendary," Agumon widened his eyes. Clearly, he understood what it meant.

"But if they're so powerful, why put their statues here?"

"To guard these ruins, of course."

"They're that powerful, and they still have to be guards?"

Agumon was clearly shocked.

Qingliu slowly glanced at the statues and began to explain. "Don't underestimate these ruins. They're at least two thousand years old. The fact that they've survived this long without any sign of collapsing is proof enough of how important they were in ancient times. It's perfectly normal to have powerful legendary Pokémon guarding them."

"Okay... It's just a shame that a place built so well has nobody living in it anymore. All that's left are those nasty black Pokémon."

After listening to Qingliu's explanation, Agumon couldn't help sighing.

Qingliu shook his head but said nothing more.

Perhaps there was something bleak about ruins that had stood firm through two thousand years of history now lying deserted. But Qingliu knew this place probably hadn't been a human dwelling in ancient times. It had been a site for worship and storage.

Who had they worshipped?

Qingliu looked at the two enormous stone statues.

It was the deity worshipped two thousand years ago in ancient Sinnoh, also known as the Hisui region-the creator god, Almighty Sinnoh, Arceus, who had created Dialga, ruler of time, and Palkia, ruler of space.

The ancient people of Sinnoh had prayed to them here and asked for blessings, hoping to receive the deity's protection.

As for what was stored here...

Qingliu took a long look at the ruins behind him.

Over his week of exploration, he had largely confirmed the locations of some hidden chambers, secret compartments, and the objects stored inside the ruins, but he hadn't rashly touched anything.

Those objects were all extremely valuable, enough to change the entire region, or even affect the whole world.

The first was a fragment of a Plate lost by Arceus.

The second was a key that could locate and summon Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina, whom Arceus had created-the Spear Key.

That was the real reason he had decided enough was enough earlier and left with Agumon.

With those two objects here, Qingliu was certain there was more to these ruins than those thirty-two Unown below level 10.

After all, thousands of years had passed. No matter how useless the Unown serving as guardians might be, their strength couldn't possibly amount to just a few levels after all that time.

Deep within the ruins, on those walls covered in ancient murals and writing, there were surely still Unown hiding-powerful beings that had lived for thousands of years.

They... were the true guardians of these ruins.

Minor scuffles might not normally cause any problems, but if something woke them up, things could get serious.

Neither he nor Agumon currently had the strength to take them on, nor was there any need to.

He would return to retrieve those two objects once he was strong enough, or when the plot officially began. After all, the transformative boost a Plate could provide was simply too tempting.

But... what point in the timeline am I at now?

At that thought, Qingliu briefly sank into contemplation.

After spending a week living like a wild man in the wilderness, he had neither the time nor the means to determine when he was.

The only thing he could be sure of was that Team Galactic hadn't sent anyone to retrieve the objects in the ruins yet. That meant the Sinnoh arc he remembered hadn't begun.

"I'll have to check in a nearby town. But... before that, I need to fill my stomach."

After several days of eating nothing but wild fruit, he wasn't terribly hungry, but his stomach desperately needed some other kind of food to balance things out.

Now that he had finished exploring the ruins and successfully summoned the "Pokémon" Agumon, the fighting ability Agumon had displayed gave him the confidence to search the wilderness for some meat.

"Agumon, let's find something to eat first. Then we'll see where there's a town nearby and ask around."

"Yay!"

At the mention of finding food, Agumon immediately perked up. He followed Qingliu down the stone steps in the corner of the clearing, and they headed into the depths of the dense forest.