Either by coincidence or due to a sophisticated gossip network, I ran into Professor Carolina right as I left the Pokécentre.

“Why, Dani, you look a little rough,” she greeted me, an eyebrow raised in question.

“Some things happened,” I admitted, returning her greeting and for a moment, I considered if I should tell her everything. On one hand, she was an elder specialised in the appropriate field but on the other hand, Wera and I had been sent by the Pokéleague, so maybe reporting there first was appropriate.

“Do you have some time? I think you should know about them,” I asked, making the decision to inform her. If nothing else, the mission Wera and I had been on had nothing to do with the ruins we had found but with the trail we had cleared.

“Oh, certainly. Why don’t I invite you for dinner and you can tell me what’s going on?” she suggested and I immediately nodded, her delicious cooking still vivid in my mind.

Together, we quickly walked through town and, after I evaded a question about my wounds, talked about nothing in particular. Amusingly, I gathered even more attention walking through town, half of me covered in bandages and my face smeared with ointment compared to walking around injured. The wounds on my face had only been visible when looking closely and I had used some of my hair to shield them but the ointment was distinctly visible, its green-white colour striking compared to my tanned skin.

When we reached her house, she waved me in, guiding me to a bedroom adjacent to a bath.

“You are injured. Rest here as long as you like, I believe it will be more comfortable than the hostel,” she offered and I only now realised that I hadn’t showered in a few days, only washed up casually when Wera and I came across a stream of water. I didn’t stink but there was a bit of a fragrance around me, the realisation making me blush.

“Thank you,” I gratefully accepted, just the knowledge that someone was there to look out for me while I was injured taking a weight off my shoulders. Sure, the attendants in the hostel were nice people and would likely keep an eye out, but they were doing their job, not going out of their way to invite me.

“You’re welcome,” she grinned, “My granddaughter told me a few things about your situation and I can always take in more Great-Grandchildren,” she assured me, looking quite amused.

“Why don’t you relax for a bit, I’ll get you some plastic bags so you can cover your bandages while washing.”

She left me in the bedroom and I sat down on the armchair in the corner, noticing that the ointment smeared all over me was already taking effect. The scabs were softening a little, no longer pulling the wounds tight, allowing me to move without having to fear them breaking and making me bleed again.

a minute or two later, Professor Carolina brought those bags she mentioned and I took on the difficult task of showering without getting a leg and both arms wet. It was a massive pain, to the point that I considered simply using a sponge but the sensation of having warm water cascade down your back was just too tempting.

After washing up and fishing out some clean clothes, I walked over to the kitchen where Professor Carolina was bustling about.

“There you are, everything fine?” she asked, inspecting me.

“Still bruised and battered but I’ll live,” I gave her a wry smile.

“Now, why don’t you tell me what you wanted me to know?” she prodded, some of her focus back on the pots and pans she was handling.

“Let’s start at the beginning, I was asked to escort another trainer to perform some road maintenance…” I began, giving a brief overview of Wera and her situation, simply to see if Professor Carolina had some insight there.

“Some trainers don’t like battling with their partners, it’s not a terribly rare occurrence. In some cases, they simply can’t see their partners getting hurt but instead of trying to help their partners and train them, they freeze and try to avoid battling altogether, restricting themselves and their partners. Sadly, that happens especially often after one of their partners gets defeated badly and almost certainly if someone loses a partner permanently. That just breaks a trainer’s heart and spirit,” she looked morose, the smile she usually had on her face completely absent.

“That Wera, I think I’ve heard the name, but I don’t know the details. Given that she is willing to work outside town, I don’t think the problem is too large. If she was truly incapable, she would simply stay in town, nobody would force her out. Especially if it’s her father doing it, I know him and he’s a good guy. Crude and a little rough around the edges, but a good guy,” she explained, before softly muttering, almost under her breath, “And if I hear he’s trying to force things, I’ll spank the mischievous brat.”

I had to swallow down a burst of laughter, the tone simply too amusing, especially with the mental image accompanying it. And yet, despite the mental image of tiny, ancient Professor Carolina speaking the burly, physically utterly imposing Gym leader being impossibly comical, I had a feeling that if everything went down, Professor Carolina would be the dominant person between the two. She simply had a casual air of certainty, the feeling that she was utterly unflappable and unshakable, that gave me a great deal of security. In many ways, she was as imposing as Cynthia was but in some, she was even more so.

“I thought about asking Nurse Joyce of the Pokémon League for advice. From what I understand, she managed to complete her journey despite being ‘bad at battling’,” I made air quotes around the last words, managing to evoke a grin from the Professor.

“Well, she’s no champion, that’s for sure. Sure, I’ll have Cynthia deliver the message, I don’t think you’ve got the partners to teleport around just yet,” she nodded, “But back to your story, I’m pretty sure you didn’t get that mangled by simply escorting Kodra’s brat around.”

“No, I didn’t and this is the important task. Wera noticed something at the location the rockslide we had to clean up originated and we took a closer look. Turns out the rockslide was triggered because something broke open the mountain, just a small hole, but inside is some sort of complex. We explored a little but had to flee and I took a tumble down the mountain,” I explained and Professor Carolina froze when I mentioned the complex, before turning around, looking at me with a heavy gaze.

“A complex you say, under the mountains?” I froze a little, the impressive focus of the Professor putting me under heavy pressure, “Tell me everything,” she ordered, her voice intense, her gaze strong enough to pierce through me.

Swallowing hard, I began to tell my story. Professor Carolina never interrupted but from the way her face occasionally moved, I had no doubt that questions would come, as soon as I finished the initial retelling of my story.

Just as expected, once I came to tumbling down the mountain, she nodded, obviously taking the story as finished, before quickly getting some paper and beginning to ask questions. Every detail of my memory was scrutinised and dissected, from the simple and mundane, like the exact texture of the rock that room had been made of, to the extraordinary, like the reading I had taken of the Spiritomb and my impression of the mural we had seen.

Given that she was aware of my previous encounter with Palkia, she spent a lot of time making sure she got every bit of detail she could from my memory to the point that she only paused when the pan behind her started sizzling, the food beginning to char.

“You said you’ll report tomorrow?” she asked, after stirring the pan once more, “I’ll go with you, I’m sure Kodra would call me in anyways, I’m the expert after all. This discovery of yours is quite extraordinary, an unknown complex of that size, likely ancient,” she grinned, shaking her head filled with excitement.

“But, you know, I wonder just why the wall broke. It withstood centuries, so why did it fall now? Coincidence or was there something involved?” she mused and suddenly, I remembered a detail that had slipped my mind.

“I don’t think it was a coincidence,” I admitted, her earlier intense focus snapping back on me, “Wera and I found this in the complex. I don’t think it’s ancient,” I showed her the piece of cardboard I had found, her face looking incredibly grim when she saw it.

“No, if that was found inside, it wasn’t a coincidence. And we might have a problem,” she admitted, a deep frown on her face. “I might have to call in my Granddaughter.”