Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 309: Snowpoint Temple (Two-in-One)

Hunter K, who had escaped from the Hunter headquarters, arrived at Snowpoint City and Snowpoint Temple. He stood on the deck of the ship hovering above the ruins, gazing down at the ancient site below. Though his words were full of determination to capture Regigigas, his eyes burned with a thirst for revenge.

"Don’t worry, Boss K. Regigigas will be ours." Hunter J stood beside him, echoing his sentiments. "And we will definitely get our revenge on that Kanto Champion Rio."

"Just now, Q from the Unova region contacted me. She said she’ll also shift her focus toward capturing legendary Pokémon."

Hunter K nodded approvingly, pleased that his siblings weren’t giving up despite the difficulties.

"By the way, don’t let the outside world know we’re after Regigigas. The Sinnoh League’s fools can no longer be trusted." Hunter K said.

"Understood. As soon as we arrived at the temple, I ordered the area to be sealed off and prioritized searching for temple guardians. These ruins usually have guardians watching over them—we need to find them beforehand to avoid complications." Hunter J replied.

Hunter K nodded again, satisfied with Hunter J’s competence.

"In that case, let’s go inside and take a look."

Hunter K threw out a Poké Ball. A flash of light—a Dragonite appeared. He stood on its back and flew toward the ruins. Hunter J followed closely, releasing her ace, Salamence, and flying after him.

By now, the area around the ruins was already being guarded by the surviving hunters and their many Pokémon. The temple’s main gate had already been opened.

As Hunter K arrived at the gate, he was drawn to an ancient stone tablet inscribed with indecipherable ancient script.

"What does this say?" Hunter K asked, puzzled.

Hunter J gestured to the side. Soon, a person in a white lab coat came forward and explained:

"K-sama, this tablet records the legend of Snowpoint Temple."

Hunter K nodded. "Go on."

The researcher continued: "The legend says that a massive volcanic eruption once occurred here, turning what was once the Snowpoint Forest—a natural preserve—into a sea of molten lava."

"In that moment of crisis, a blue light appeared upon the land. This was the legendary Pokémon Regigigas. It appeared alongside three other legendary Pokémon it had created: Regirock, Regice, and Registeel."

"They worked together to quell the volcanic crisis. Afterward, the legendary giant Regigigas transformed into a Light Stone and fell into a deep slumber here."

"To guard Regigigas’s slumber, Regirock, Regice, and Registeel transformed into three pillars: the Rock Pillar, the Ice Pillar, and the Steel Pillar."

"The people of Snowpoint City, grateful to the giants, built this temple at their resting place—the very one we stand before now."

With that, the researcher finished translating and stepped aside.

Hunter K nodded slightly, praising "As expected of the legendary giant said to be able to drag continents," then led Hunter J into the temple gate.

What he didn’t notice was that inside his shadow, a lavender ear occasionally peeked out—and it was holding a live-streaming camera.

That’s right—it was Old Ghost.

Outside Snowpoint Temple, Rio sat under a tree with Mewtwo, cracking sunflower seeds. A screen before him displayed the footage from Gengar’s camera.

"Keep it up, Hunter Organization. I’m looking forward to you waking up Regigigas." Rio smiled as he cracked seeds.

He wasn’t going to do anything for now—he’d wait for the Hunter Organization to awaken Regigigas, and when they were locked in a difficult fight, he’d make his heroic entrance.

On screen, Hunter K and Hunter J walked for about twenty minutes before arriving at a stone door. Beside this door was another tablet with ancient script. Five researchers in white lab coats were currently working on deciphering it.

The stone door had three stone slates on it: one in the shape of rock, one of unmelting ice, and one formed of steel.

"What’s this—is the tablet hard to decipher?" Hunter K asked, noticing the five researchers sweating profusely.

The lead researcher, a middle-aged man, wiped his brow. "Boss K, this tablet’s script is different from the one outside. Please give us more time."

Hunter K looked at them—they didn’t seem to be faking it—so he nodded in agreement, though he urged them to hurry.

Outside the temple, Rio learned through Gengar’s camera that the Hunter Organization was stuck on the ancient tablet. Curious about what the text said, he urged Gengar to find an opportunity to photograph it for him.

Gengar received the order and slipped from Hunter K’s shadow into the shadow of one of the researchers. After waiting for about ten minutes, it found a chance to use its psychic powers to maneuver the camera and send a photo of the tablet to Rio.

Rio stared at the tablet’s contents, frowning slightly. He didn’t understand the ancient script either. From what he’d learned from Fuji, he could only make out the character for "steel."

So, rather than forcing it, he made an overseas call to Fuji and sent him the photo, asking for help deciphering it. He was confident that Fuji’s vast knowledge would be useful.

And he was right. After seeing the photo, Fuji became intrigued, said he’d need some time, and hung up.

When Fuji called back, it was already late at night.

"Kid, where are you right now?" Fuji asked first.

"I’m at some ruins." Rio raised an eyebrow.

"No kidding—any fool can see you’re at ruins from that photo. I’m asking which ruins!" Fuji said impatiently.

"I’m at Snowpoint Temple—the legendary resting place of Regigigas." Rio didn’t hide it. If Fuji was asking, he probably already suspected.

"No wonder it’s this kind of script." Fuji’s voice came through with realization. "So you’re planning to awaken Regigigas?"

"Not me—the Hunter Organization is. I’m just following quietly, and I had Gengar photograph the writing inside." Rio quickly shifted the blame.

"The Hunter Organization? Didn’t you already destroy them?" Fuji was surprised—he’d heard about Rio’s actions in Sinnoh through the news today.

"There are still remnants. They’re trying every way to awaken Regigigas." Rio changed the subject. "Fuji, did you decipher the tablet? It’s important—I need it to stop them."

Hearing that Rio wanted to stop the Hunter Organization, Fuji dropped his questions and puffed up with pride: "Of course I did! I’m the world’s foremost expert on ancient scripts—there’s nothing I can’t decipher."

"So what does it say?" Rio asked.

"The text says: ’This is the resting place of the legendary giant Regigigas. Do not disturb its slumber—unless the world is facing a crisis that requires its awakening. If such a time comes, please touch the door’s slates in the order of Rock, Steel, and Ice. The door will open, and a giant will be waiting for you.’"

Fuji spoke fluently, and Rio nodded along. He was very glad he had such a close relationship with Fuji—with him around, he’d never have to worry about ancient ruins being locked.

"Thanks for your help, Fuji. If I need more, I’ll contact you right away."

Rio chatted with Fuji a while longer before hanging up. Then he contacted Gengar, telling it to find a way to touch the door’s slates in the order of Rock, Steel, and Ice.

By now, it was late at night. The researchers were exhausted and had retreated to their tents. Only a few hunters remained on guard, half-asleep. This gave Gengar a perfect opportunity.

A simple Hypnosis knocked out the guards. Then Gengar floated up to the stone door and pressed the three slates in the order Rio had given: Rock, Steel, Ice.

Before long, the door rumbled and slowly opened. The noise woke the researchers in their tents—and Hunter K and Hunter J as well.

When they emerged and saw the door already open, confusion was written all over their faces.

"Did you just decipher the tablet?" Hunter K asked the researchers.

The five researchers exchanged bewildered glances. They asked each other if one of them had done it—but all came up empty. Now they were all staring at each other in confusion.

"Could it be... that the heavens are favoring our Hunter Organization? That they opened the door for us so we wouldn’t be stuck here?" Hunter K speculated after a long pause.

And the more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.

"Rio, you’re finished—even the heavens are helping us! Just wait for us to come for our revenge!" Hunter K excitedly ordered everyone to prepare to enter the door.

Once they stepped inside, they were greeted by a massive cavern of several hundred square meters. In the center stood a giant boulder.

"What is that?" Hunter K, leading the group, wondered aloud.

As soon as the question left his lips, the boulder began to shake. White light shimmered across its surface. Seconds later, Regirock appeared before them.

"So this is the ’giant’ the tablet mentioned?" Rio muttered, watching the big screen outside the temple.

If there was one guardian here, did that mean there were two more layers below?

As Rio muttered, the battle between the Hunter Organization and Regirock had already begun. The hunters didn’t send out Pokémon—instead, they deployed five armored vehicles aimed at Regirock.

When Regirock fired a Zap Cannon, three of the vehicles unleashed beam attacks similar to Hyper Beam, blocking Regirock’s attack. The other two vehicles, at Hunter J’s command, fired what were called "Liquid Plastic Missiles."

When the missiles hit Regirock, it was as if it had been glued with super-strength adhesive—it couldn’t move. It tried to use Stone Edge, but Hunter J raised the tech gun on her right arm and fired first. The beam hit Regirock and petrified it instantly.

"Impressive tech." Rio, having witnessed the capture firsthand through the livestream, couldn’t help but be amazed. He now understood how the headquarters had ended up with legendary Pokémon like Darkrai. With that kind of efficiency, relying solely on Pokémon battles would never have been enough.

After petrifying Regirock, Hunter J calmly ordered her subordinates: "Secure Regirock in the containment pod."

Several people immediately ran toward the petrified Regirock, releasing Machoke to help move it.

Hunter K, hands clasped behind his back, continued forward. He wasn’t particularly impressed by Regirock—among legendary Pokémon, they were common enough. Regigigas could create them with a snap of its fingers. If they captured Regigigas, they could easily make more Regirock, Regice, and Registeel—provided they had the raw materials.

After another ten minutes of walking, they arrived at a new stone door. This one had five slates: two Ice, two Rock, and one Steel. Beside it was another ancient tablet.

Seeing the incomprehensible script, Hunter K turned his gaze to the five researchers. They stepped forward and looked at the tablet—its text even denser than before. After exchanging glances, they let out a collective sigh.

"Employees really do have it tough. We don’t even know how the first tablet was deciphered, and now we’ve got a harder one. It’s killing us."

"If the heavens are truly watching over us, please open this door for us too."

What they didn’t know was that the "heavens" they referred to was already working on sneaking a photo of the tablet’s contents while they weren’t looking.

This time, Gengar waited about half an hour before finding an opportunity to send the tablet’s contents to Rio.

Rio stared at the text—completely lost again. He’d have to rely on Fuji once more. But he didn’t call immediately—it was already late at night, and waking an elderly man at this hour would be too cruel. He wasn’t that kind of person.