Chapter 6: The Ancient Tomb

Ace arrived at the base of the windswept plateau on Route 120 just as the midday sun cut through the cloud cover, bathing the Ancient Tomb in a harsh golden glow.

From a distance, the structure looked like nothing more than a half-buried relic of some forgotten civilization. There were six massive stone slabs surrounding the tomb weathered by centuries of gales. The engraved markings were so worn that they were nearly illegible.

Ace silently hoped that Phillip and Phoebe were doing okay and staying safe. He typed out a text message.

Ace: “Made it to the Ancient Tomb. I’m about to go inside. Hope y’all are okay.”

Ace waited a moment to see if either would respond, but there was no response. It made him uneasy, but he reminded himself that Phoebe and Phillip could handle themselves. They were smart and powerful Pokémon champions, and they’d know to prepare for the unexpected.

Ace clicked off his PokéNav and walked towards the cave entrance of the Ancient Tomb, where somewhere, deep inside, Registeel was waiting.

The air in the tomb was unnervingly still, as if the entire area held its breath. Ace entered the cavern and as soon as he was all the way inside, he suddenly heard the sound of stone moving behind him and saw the light from outside disappearing. He immediately turned around to see the entrance had shut.

“Well shit,” he muttered. He immediately wondered if this had happened to Phillip and Phoebe too.

He patted the door and confirmed that it was sealed shut. Ace took out his flashlight and turned it on before looking around.

The walls were a combination of stone and what appeared to be iron tiles sprinkled in. There was no visible mechanism, puzzle, or braille code carved into the entrance or on the walls.

Suddenly, there was sound along the far wall, and a hidden door opened, revealing a pathway to an inner chamber.

Ace stood puzzled with his guard up.

There were no guards nor traps. It was almost as if the tomb wanted him to walk in.

Ace paused, recalling what Steven had said about the Regi chambers requiring complex unlocks. His gut twisted. This felt too easy.

He picked up a small rock nearby and tossed it into the entry way to see if it might trigger a trap of some kind. The rock landed harmlessly on the other side of the doorway.

Nothing happened.

Ace got more nervous. This seemed way too simple. He walked to the doorway and slowly stuck his hand out, still not convinced that the doorway wasn’t booby trapped somehow.

Again, nothing happened.

He scanned the way ahead, and adjusted the strap on his Poké Ball belt, fingers brushing the capsules that housed his Pokémon partners.

He took a deep breath and stepped inside. The interior swallowed the outside world’s sound immediately. Pale light seeped from moss-lined cracks in the walls, illuminating smooth metal surfaces beneath the stone veneer.

Ace couldn’t help but notice that every ten seconds or so, he’d feel a subtle vibration in the ground, which only added to the ominous vibe of the Ancient Tomb.

The hairs on the back of his neck and his arms began to stand on end almost like there was static in the air. The air also had a faint tang of iron and ozone. The walls were covered in iron plating that extended all the way to the roof of the chamber.

Then Ace looked ahead deep into the tomb’s heart and saw it.

Registeel.

It was standing motionless in the center, its spherical body gleaming dully. Most of its body was spherical and silver while the middle of its face had the appearance of being exposed as it showed a black undercoat surrounded by raised metal.

Its lower half had a disc-like shape with two cylindrical legs without toes. Its face consisted of seven red dots in a hexagonal formation. It had black arms with three fingers each that were connected to its upper half by gray hemispherical shoulders.

The backs of its hands where the knuckles normally would be had three red triangles pointing away from the fingers.

It looked like it’d been there for centuries, maybe even a few millennia, but before Ace even had time to ponder this, a sound came from Registeel.

It was a low croaking sound almost like a DJ scratching a record. Suddenly the seven-dot pattern on its faceplate began to light up and blink in sequence, making small beeping noises as it did.

Registeel began to move. The sound deepened into grinding metal, like two iron plates scraping together. Sparks flared as its arms twitched, shedding centuries of rust in a shower of dust.

Registeel was awake.

It took a few clumsy steps forward stopping about thirty yards away from Ace. The red seven-dot braille pattern on its face was blinking and beeping furiously now.

Even at thirty yards away, Ace felt small compared to it. Its spherical torso loomed like a bunker, and its arms looked too long and heavy for anything that should move.

Registeel groaned, shedding more flakes of rust as if time itself was peeling away. Then it let out a deafening cry as if acknowledging Ace’s presence for the first time.

“BAH HAH HAWGH HMM—KZZT—WHIR—GONG GONG GONG!”

It was a deep, robotic, mechanical roar with sounds mixed in as if it were glitching, though it was still very intimidating. Ace readied his first Poké Ball.

“Alright, Lee, let’s get it!”

Ace snapped his wrist, letting the ball fly, and his Infernape burst out in a flash of light, landing in a low, fighter’s stance while bellowing a few loud screeches.

“Skkkrrr-eeeee-ahhh!”

Its fur bristled as the flames on its head roared higher.

“Close the gap! Flare Blitz!” Ace called.

Lee’s body ignited in an orange-blue blaze as he sprinted across the floor.

WHAM!

The impact against Registeel rang out like a hammer against an anvil, but the titan barely staggered.

Registeel’s dotted eyes pulsed rapidly, and its upper body suddenly shined as if it became more polished all of a sudden. It immediately used its large steel head to headbutt Lee in retaliation sending him skidding back.

“That was Iron Head,” Ace said to himself. “Lee, Fire Punch!”

Lee made a fist, which immediately ignited in a balled flame. He cocked back and struck Registeel in its center mass. The hit left a faint orange mark on Registeel’s body, but it didn’t even budge.

Registeel’s entire body suddenly began to glow orange. Then it grabbed Lee in its hands, lifted it high over its head, and heaved him effortlessly.

The velocity in which Lee flew was quite alarming. Ace watched helplessly as Lee sailed like a missile over his head and crashed into the back wall before falling to the ground.

Horrified, Ace ran over to his Pokémon. “Lee! Shit! Buddy, are you okay?”

Lee opened his eyes and gave a weak smirk. He managed to struggle to his feet but was clearly injured.

“Lee, thanks man, but you need to rest,” Ace said, pulling out his Poké Ball and recalling Lee. He then turned back towards Registeel.

“I need to—OH SHIT!”

Ace had to quickly dive out of the way as several large rocks, each glowing in a purple aura, were hurled at him and crashed into the wall.

Ace laid on the ground and looked towards Registeel who had several more rocks glowing purple hovering in the air around it.

“RRRRRRR—ÜN ÜN ÜN—GONG GONG GONG!” Registeel cried with its incoherent metallic noises.

“Ancient Power...” Ace whispered. He got up and sprinted away as Registeel hurled the remaining rocks at him, which missed him by only feet.