Desolate [Pokémon Arven x Protagonist]

Opening the Gate

The water sparkled as we got nearer. It was so clear, our growing reflections felt to be another four school children walking alongside us. Its still surface was like a mirror, occasionally rippling with the touch of a rogue Pokémon's footsteps. The pathway flattened out into the pool, and Arven took the first step into the cool water. It barely reached an inch over the sole of his brown boot. The cave echoed with every splash of our shoes, the sound of water trickling in my ears. We headed towards the lab that was being swallowed with massive, white crystals. From above, it looked small and insignificant, but approaching it from its level, it towered over us all. We stood at its entrance—or what looked to be its entrance. There was a huge, long ramp that led up to a hexagonal gate, multiple diagonal seams at the door that I assumed meant the door opened circularly. On the ramp was some sort of emblem with strange symbols for letters. I had never seen it before in Paldea.

I looked up. It was dizzying how far down we were. The clouds that had been above us were pitch black. It was like staring down a bottomless abyss... but from below. I gulped.

"We made it!" Nemona cheered and shook Penny by the shoulders. "Ready to see if those legends of treasure down here are for real?"

Penny grabbed her hands to prevent her friend from accidentally pushing her over in excitement. "Heh. Yeah, right. That's just fluff they write to fill the textbooks."

Arven's rotom phone started to ring strangely from his pocket again. "Is that... Professor Sada?" I asked him. Without a word, Arven reached into his jeans and took out the angry phone that zipped from his hands and floated in the air. The professor's face snapped into the screen. She was centered in frame, but we could see that in the background, she was inside a lab. It was a bit dark, but I could see her handwritten notes posted on the wall behind her.

"Hello, children. You've done well to make it here," she congratulated. "The structure you see before you is the Zero Lab." The crystalized laboratory flashed red with the siren above the door that swung around a light. It was quiet, but the flashing was vaguely threatening.

Nemona pushed her way through us to speak with the Professor directly, pupils wide and ecstatic. "That's where you are, right, Professor?" Sada nodded.

"But wait..." Penny stood beside her, leaning against her side to make eye contact with the Professor through the tiny phone. "Why does it look like the whole place is being swallowed up by crystals?"

"The crystals here in Area Zero possess a peculiar energy. This energy can alter the functions of living things and optimize the performance of machinery," Professor Sada explained. She looked to Nemona, the Elite Four opposer. "It is the same energy that allows Pokémon to terastallize." Nemona gasped. I had never gotten into Pokémon terastallization. It was a strange phenomenon that only occurred in Paldea that allowed for Pokémon to either become twice as powerful or completely change their typing without altering their biology at all. It was a confusing and scary system, but only those given the scarce Tera Orb were able to perform the act. Nemona, being the student president of the island's top battling academy, of course, had one.

"So, this entire building's been terastallized?" Arven spat in disbelief. "Is that what you're saying?"

"Don't be silly, Arven," Penny chided. "The professor implied something important about Tera Orbs just now." She turned to the Professor. "They're made from the crystals down here in Area Zero... aren't they?"

Professor Sada nodded. "Indeed. Though not many know it." The powerful orb was surely a rare object, but I had no idea that its material had to be farmed from so far down the crater. The professor had to be the only person to have supplied the crystals. That was probably why the only people I knew that had Tera Orbs were super important like gym leaders, the Elite Four, and Director Clavell. "Since you have disabled all four locks, the gate to the Zero Lab should now be open for you. But once you open the gate, you will quickly be confronted with the dangerous Pokémon inside. They will likely make a break for freedom."