Third Person POV
After the capture of the Golurk, Brandon turned his attention toward Grey. The moment he had a chance to properly look at the boy, his expression became a mixture of disbelief and irritation. He couldn't believe that this kid had somehow managed to stumble into the middle of a dangerous situation involving an ancient, abnormally powerful Pokémon simply because he wanted a gym battle.
Brandon gave Grey a brief scolding for entering the situation in the first place, especially after he had already warned him to stay away. Grey didn't have much to say in response. After some questioning, however, Brandon and Steven finally understood the reason behind Grey's strange determination.
He had come all the way here because he wanted a gym battle with Steven.
Steven, who had been listening to the conversation, couldn't help but laugh.
"You're telling me you went through all of that just because you wanted a gym battle?"
Grey simply nodded.
Steven shook his head with amusement.
"I think you're probably the first challenger I've ever had who went through this much trouble just to find me."
Grey wasn't sure whether that was supposed to be a compliment or an insult, so he simply let it go.
His attention soon shifted toward the Ultra Ball containing Golurk.
"What happens to the Golurk now?"
The question caused Brandon's expression to become more serious.
"It has to be put down."
Grey's eyes widened slightly.
"Put down?"
Brandon nodded.
"I know that sounds harsh, but after what we've discovered, there isn't really another option."
Grey looked toward the Ultra Ball in Brandon's hand, still trying to understand what exactly had happened to the Pokémon.
Brandon then explained what he and Steven had discovered while examining the murals and ruins around the area. They had managed to decipher enough of the ancient writings to understand that the ancient King of Pokelantis had created the Golurk as a Pokémon meant for control and destruction.
Golurk and Golett were originally Pokémon from Unova, and while they were naturally occurring Pokémon, the ancient people of that region had created them artificially in the distant past. In that sense, they were somewhat similar to the Baltoy line from Hoenn, which was also believed to have been created by ancient humans.
The King of Pokelantis had apparently obtained information about how Golurk could be created and had decided to experiment with that knowledge.
Unfortunately, the king hadn't been interested in creating a normal Pokémon.
He wanted something far more powerful.
This Golurk had been subjected to experiments that filled its body with an enormous amount of Ghost-type energy. The ancient people had apparently used some kind of sacrifice ritual to force even more energy and negative emotions into it. Over time, that energy had accumulated to such an extreme level that the Golurk had grown to a gigantic proportion.
But the worst part wasn't even its size.
Whatever consciousness the Golurk had once possessed had gradually been destroyed.
The experiments had continued until there was almost nothing left of the Pokémon's rational mind.
Brandon wasn't even sure whether the creature they had fought could still properly be called a Pokémon.
Whatever conscience Golurk had once possessed had been ripped apart long ago by the experiments carried out by the evil king.
Now, what remained was little more than a remnant of the evil that humans were capable of creating.
"The amount of Ghost-type energy inside that thing is ridiculous," Brandon explained. "It's so overwhelming that it has practically overpowered the Ground-type energy that should naturally exist inside a Golurk."
Grey finally understood why the Pokémon hadn't used any Ground-type moves during the battle.
"That's why it didn't use any Ground-type attacks..."
"Exactly."
Brandon sighed.
"Even if I wanted to help it, there's nothing left to help."
He looked toward the Ultra Ball.
"The kindest thing we can do now is end its suffering."
Grey remained silent for a moment.
He didn't particularly like the idea of killing a Pokémon, but after hearing what had been done to Golurk, he couldn't exactly argue with Brandon either.
He then thought of another concern.
"If you release it again, won't it just attack everything?"
Brandon gave him a confident look.
"I can deal with it."
He tapped the Ultra Ball lightly.
"I'll take it back to the Battle Pyramid. There are ways for me to contain something like that if necessary."
Grey nodded, though he still wasn't entirely comfortable with the situation.
Brandon then added something that surprised him.
"Besides, I didn't actually need your help in the first place."
Grey looked at him.
Brandon explained that he and Steven had deliberately avoided bringing out the rest of their Pokémon. They had wanted to understand the limits of the Golurk before committing to a decisive strategy. They had been testing its reactions, its attacks and its endurance while gradually figuring out how dangerous it really was.
Then Grey had appeared out of nowhere.
"You kind of ruined our little experiment," Brandon said with a slight grin.
Grey scratched the back of his head.
"Sorry."
Brandon laughed.
"Don't worry about it."
Despite the recklessness Grey had shown, Brandon couldn't deny what he had seen during the battle. The kid had reacted quickly, understood the situation and adapted his strategy several times. His decision to use Cloyster and stack Shell Smash twice had been risky, but it had ultimately worked.
"You were reckless," Brandon told him. "But you've got good instincts."
Grey looked toward him.
"You're quick at understanding what's happening around you, and you don't freeze when things go wrong. That's important for a trainer."
Brandon paused for a moment.
"You've got potential."
Grey nodded, accepting the praise.
As the three of them continued walking through the ruins, Brandon eventually brought up another subject.
"If you're interested, you could always try the Frontier Challenge."
Grey looked toward him.
"The Battle Frontier?"
Brandon nodded.
"Yeah. You seem like the kind of trainer who would enjoy it."
Grey thought about it for a moment before shaking his head.
"Maybe later. For now, I want to try the Indigo League."
That answer caught Brandon's attention.
"The Indigo League?"
"Yeah."
Brandon became curious.
"How long have you been a trainer?"
Grey thought for a moment before answering.
"A few months."
Brandon stopped walking for a moment.
"Few months?"
Grey nodded.
"And this is your first League?"
"Yeah."
Brandon stared at him for a few seconds before shaking his head in disbelief.
"You're serious?"
Grey simply nodded again.
Brandon couldn't help but laugh.
"That's actually pretty impressive."
He had met plenty of talented young trainers throughout his career, but Grey's progress was unusual even by those standards. Most trainers needed years of experience before they were capable of handling battles at this level, yet this kid had already managed to challenge multiple gym leaders and had now found himself fighting alongside two experienced trainers against an ancient Pokémon.
"You remind me of someone," Brandon said.
Grey looked at him curiously.
"Who?"
"My apprentice. Anabel."
Brandon smiled slightly.
"She's incredibly talented as a trainer too. She has that same kind of instinct you seem to have. The ability to adapt quickly and understand what's happening in a battle."
Grey raised an eyebrow.
"Your apprentice?"
Brandon nodded.
"Yeah. She's one of the better young trainers I've worked with."
Grey stored the information away in his mind.
The three continued walking through the ruins, slowly making their way toward the exit as they continued talking about Pokémon.
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Larvitar's POV
Larvitar had been watching the human ever since he entered the ruins. It had seen him fighting alongside the other humans against the giant Pokémon that had been rampaging through the ruins. The human's Pokémon were strong. Far too strong compared to most of the Pokémon Larvitar had encountered in these ruins. It had watched them fight one powerful Pokémon after another, and every time, the human and his Pokémon had somehow managed to overcome them.
But now the human was leaving along with the other humans.
Larvitar didn't want him to leave yet.
It wanted to learn more.
Watching the human battle had already taught Larvitar things about fighting that it had never considered before. The way his Pokémon moved, the way they combined their attacks, and especially how they worked together against an opponent much larger than themselves had given Larvitar some ideas of its own.
But if the human left now, Larvitar would have to return to hiding again.
The strong Pokémon in these ruins were still dangerous. Larvitar was nowhere near strong enough to fight most of them on its own, and it had learned that the safest thing to do was to avoid them whenever possible.
So, without thinking too much about it, Larvitar followed the human.
It tried to keep a reasonable distance behind them, carefully moving through the ruins while making sure it wasn't noticed.
Unfortunately, Larvitar wasn't exactly the most graceful Pokémon.
Its foot caught against something on the ground.
"Thud!"
Larvitar tumbled forward and landed heavily on the ground.
Grey's POV
"Thud."
I heard a noise behind us and immediately turned around.
Brandon and Steven also looked back at the same time.
A Pokémon had fallen onto the ground.
It slowly got back up, brushing itself off before looking toward us.
It was green, had a red belly, looked slightly chubby, and was made almost entirely out of rock.
It was a fucking Larvitar.
What was a Larvitar doing in this place of all places?
I stared at the Pokémon.
The Larvitar stared back at me.
For about fifteen seconds, neither of us said anything.
I had absolutely no idea what I was supposed to do in this situation.
Then the Larvitar suddenly started waving its little chubby arms.
"Larvitar tar tar Larvitar!"
I stared at it.
I didn't understand a single word.
The Larvitar continued gesturing before suddenly pointing toward one of the Poké Balls hanging from my belt.
I blinked.
Wait.
Did this Larvitar want to join my team?
I looked toward Brandon.
He gave me a look that practically said, Yes. It wants to join your team.
Even Brandon looked surprised by the situation.
To be fair, Brandon knew that Larvitar could be found in mountainous or ruin areas, but they were much more commonly encountered around places such as Mt. Silver. Finding one in Kanto was already rare enough, and finding one wandering around these ruins was even more unusual.
He explained that it was possible a Tyranitar had migrated into the region at some point and left an egg behind. Larvitar took a long time to hatch and required a significant amount of rock energy during their development, so it wasn't completely impossible for one to have been born here.
I looked back at the Larvitar.
It was still staring at me.
Honestly, I didn't really see a reason to wait any longer.
Normally, I had certain criteria when deciding whether a Pokémon should join my team. It needed to be strong, have good potential, and most importantly, have the right kind of will to travel and become stronger.
But if a Pokémon actively wanted to join my team, that already said something about its personality.
This Larvitar had apparently watched my Pokémon battle, decided that it wanted to become stronger, and then followed us out of the ruins just to try and join us.
Besides...
It was a fucking Larvitar.
I'd have to be an idiot to turn down an opportunity like this.
I pulled an Ultra Ball from my belt.
The Larvitar immediately seemed to understand what I was about to do.
I threw the Ultra Ball.
The ball struck Larvitar and absorbed it inside before falling onto the ground.
It wobbled once.
Then twice.
Then a third time.
Click.
I had caught it.
I stared at the Ultra Ball for a moment.
Just like that, I suddenly had a Larvitar on my team.
There was only one problem.
The Poké Ball immediately shrank down after the capture.
I stared at it.
"...Right."
Seven Pokémon.
I'd completely forgotten about the six-Pokémon limit.
I had just caught my seventh Pokémon.
I sighed before putting the Ultra Ball away.
I'd sort out the rotation once I reached the Pokémon Center. Bill could probably help me transfer one of my current Pokémon and make the necessary arrangements.
For now, I had apparently gained a Larvitar.
Brandon and Steven congratulated me on the bizarre capture. Brandon in particular seemed to find the whole situation rather amusing.
He probably understood why Larvitar had chosen me.
Larvitar clearly wanted to travel with a strong trainer, and it had seen my Pokémon fighting throughout the ruins. It had probably decided that I was the kind of trainer it wanted to follow.
It was still strange, though.
I had gone into these ruins looking for a gym leader.
I'd ended up fighting a gigantic Golurk, watching Brandon capture it, meeting Steven, and somehow walking out with a Larvitar.
At this point, I wasn't even sure what kind of journey I was having anymore.
After travelling for a while longer, the three of us finally reached the exit of the ruins.
The moment we stepped outside, sunlight flooded over us.
After spending so much time underground, the sight of the open sky was almost refreshing.
I took a deep breath.
At least we were finally out of that damn maze.
Author's Note: The best way to imagine that golurk is it is kind of a bastardized version of mega golurk , remember the Pokemon movie where mega evolution was forced upon pokemon and the dex entries in sun and moon where pokemon are said to feel pain on mega evolving , this was kind of like an experiment in that direction done by pokelantis.
I did have a poacher scene in mind as well for the larvitar thing but decided with this one for now , as maybe larvitar choosing to join with grey might be better.
PS: Lets try to hit 450-500 powerstone count for this week , I will be uploading daily for that.
Also will try that Green interlude that is left ,later post this week or somewhere in between this week but it wont be just green rather mix of everyone and what they are currently doing but with a focus on green .