The Abyssal Ruins had been no more than a minor interlude for Xia You.
For Makomo, however, it had allowed her to shift a little of her attention away from Xia You and onto the photos she had taken underwater.
After all, the writing and patterns were not in any modern language. What exactly they said and what they meant would require research.
Of course, this did not mean she had given up on Xia You entirely. It was just that something fresher occupied her now. Once this was over, or when she tossed and turned at night, she would still find herself wondering how to obtain some fresher samples and data from him.
For Xia You, learning the meaning behind that writing would have been very simple: release his God of Time and have it take him back to before the ruins fell silent, where he could observe them up close.
But he would not do that.
Quite apart from whether the people back then would mistake him for some kind of monster, he also needed to avoid frequently disrupting time as much as possible.
After returning the boat and diving equipment, the group spent the night at the town's Pokémon Center. Once they had eaten breakfast the next morning, they set off again.
This time, however, they did not take the undersea tunnel again.
After all, once they had seen enough of it, it was nothing special. With the initial novelty gone, it was actually less interesting than traveling overland.
They headed south all the way.
The road wound along the coastline, with rolling hills to the left and the azure sea to the right. The sea breeze blew into their faces, carrying a salty, damp scent and the smell of cooking smoke drifting from distant fishing villages.