Meanwhile, Steelix had already dug its way back to the Ruin's entrance, and Metagross also returned with Tyranitar's Poké Ball in hand.

"Let's go."

Julian recalled Steelix and had Metagross carry him down into the underground tunnel. As they descended, he sealed the opening behind them and sprayed odor neutralizer, so that when Tyranitar returned, it wouldn’t notice that someone else had entered its cave.

Facing the Ancient Ruin's gate, Julian took a deep breath and stepped through with Metagross.

The next second—

"Holy—"

Julian’s eyes widened slightly as he took in the sight before him.

A sprawling metropolis.

Skyscrapers stretched into the distance, not a single one under a hundred meters tall.

Below them wide roads lined with hovering cars (wheel-less, futuristic vehicles) filled the streets.

If Julian hadn’t been sure he had entered a Ruin, he would’ve thought he was still in Orient City or Imperial Capital.

Aside from the fact that there was no one here, everything in front of him looked exactly like a modern metropolis. And judging by those wheel-less cars, the technological level here was clearly far more advanced than their own.

"Could this be a technology-based ruin?"

Julian’s eyes suddenly lit up.

Ruins could generally be divided into two main categories: those centered on technology, and those centered on Pokémon.

Each of these categories could be further subdivided, but that wasn’t relevant now.

Currently, things like the Pokémon healing pods, Poké Ball transport systems, Poké Ball crafting technology, and various Pokémon medicines—all of these were originally discovered in tech-based ruins.

It was precisely because of this technology that human science had advanced by leaps and bounds. Advanced tech like this could often be adapted for human use.

Take the Pokémon healing pod, for example: with a few modifications, it could be used on humans. Although not as effective as it was on Pokémon, it could still treat many human diseases.

Ruins centered around Pokémon were simpler to understand—they lacked much technology, and mainly housed rare and powerful Pokémon. Some even contained Legendary Pokémon.

The Regi Trio, Legendary Birds, and Legendary Beasts were all first discovered in Pokémon-based ruins.

Aside from the fact that no second set of the Legendary Beasts had been found yet, the other two weren’t unique and had more than one instance.

From a human perspective, technology based ruins were clearly more beneficial than Pokémon-centered ones. After all, they provided the greatest support for human development.

Julian looked at the skyscrapers in front of him—office buildings, luxury malls, high-end restaurants—all frozen in time.

Then, suddenly—

"Ugh—!"

Julian clutched his chest, his face twisting in pain.

"Meta?!"

Metagross: "What’s wrong?!"

Metagross looked at Julian nervously, and at the same time scanned the surroundings, assuming he had been attacked by a Pokémon it couldn’t detect.

Even though this was a Tech-based Ruin, there were still Pokémon present—just in very small numbers.

But they were all extremely powerful.

Pop!

Celebi burst out from its Poké Ball and asked worriedly: "You’re not about to die, are you?"

Julian: (╬ಠ益ಠ)

"I’m not dying, thanks for the concern," Julian growled through gritted teeth. "Next time, just stay quiet."

The pain in his chest had eased, but now it was heating up. When he placed his hand over it, he could clearly feel the area was hotter than the rest of his body.

He could feel something inside his chest—

'The two Unown.'

The pain earlier—and now the heat—were both caused by them.

And now, they were pulsing with a single, insistent message:

"East. Go east."

Something to the east was calling to them.

But should he go or not?

The Unown had always been a mystery to Julian. Aside from boosting his psychic abilities to Advanced-tier, they had never displayed any other strange powers.

If not for the faint presence he could still sense, he’d have thought they’d left long ago.

But now, after entering this Ruin, the long-silent Unown had suddenly become active.

And that alone made Julian more cautious.

What was to the east? Danger—or opportunity?

Maybe because he hadn’t made a move yet, the heat in his chest began to rise, though it was still within tolerable limits.

"Tell me clearly—is it dangerous or not? If you don’t, I’m not going," Julian said through clenched teeth, activating his Aura powers to try and suppress the Unown.

A response flickered in his mind:

"No danger. No danger."

Julian didn’t exactly doubt them. Ever since obtaining them, they had never caused him harm, and his body had shown no signs of trouble either.

With that thought, Julian released Dragonite. He leapt off Metagross’s back and landed on Dragonite’s, saying, "Fly east."

If he stayed on Metagross, and they ran into danger, it would take extra effort for Metagross to protect him while reacting. That would just make things harder.

---

The city turned out to be far larger than expected. Even after flying for nearly half an hour, Dragonite hadn’t reached the outskirts.

Though Dragonite wasn’t flying at full speed, the distance covered in that time was still nearly 200 kilometers.

Along the way, they didn’t encounter any Pokémon either.

And they hadn’t reached the destination yet—because the Unown were still heating up.

After another ten minutes or so of flying—

"Down there, down there!!"

It looked like they had arrived.

"Dragonite, descend," Julian said.

Looking down, he saw a skyscraper over 300 meters tall. The exterior was covered entirely in blue glass. Surrounding it were shorter office buildings and what appeared to be factory-like structures.

Judging by the layout, it might be part of some company’s industrial park.

"Go in! Go in!!"

The Unown’s urgency pulsed through him.

The main doors of the skyscraper were shut tight. Julian took a few steps forward, wondering if he should have Metagross break them open—

Then, without warning, the doors slid open automatically—it was a sensor door.

"There’s still power?"

Julian had a look of disbelief.

This Ruin had existed for who knows how long, yet it still had electricity and its systems were active?

Even if it had only recently manifested in Drakoria, it must have been formed a long time ago, just never emerged until now.

Looking up at a device on the door that looked like a security camera, he guessed it was a motion sensor. As long as someone approached, the door would sense it and open automatically.

Julian glanced at Metagross.

Metagross signaled that it couldn’t detect any Pokémon presence inside.

Stepping through the doorway, Julian faced a security turnstile—the kind that required an access card to pass through.

Since he obviously didn’t have one, he opted for the simplest solution:

A running leap.

With a smooth hurdle-like jump, he cleared the barrier effortlessly.

"Now what?" he muttered.

The Unown’s response was immediate:

"Basement Level 10. Go to Basement Level 10."

*****

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/ReduxMagister