"At a certain time in the Paldea Kingdom, a merchant brought four treasures from the land of Aurient. They were a cauldron, a sword, bamboo slips, and a jade."
Later, these treasures passed through many places, absorbing countless wishes and curses.
During that period, a legend quietly appeared.
It was said that if someone gathered the power of all four treasures, their nation could be passed down for generations and would never decline."
At this point, Briar gently shook her head, and a hint of regret appeared in her tone.
"That king went through countless hardships to retrieve those four treasures again. But the disaster also began at that moment..."
"Those four treasures had already accumulated many desires and curses. The king's own desire became the final emotion that caused a qualitative change after a long accumulation."
"On the very day he gathered the four treasures, they suddenly transformed into Pokémon and rampaged through the royal city."
"According to legend, the sword became Chien-Pao, the cauldron became Ting-Lu, the bamboo slips became Wo-Chien, and the jade became Chi-Yu."
"These four Pokémon all possessed power far beyond ordinary Pokémon and nearly destroyed the entire royal city."
"The king spent a huge amount of money to invite Pokémon tamers. Using pillars with special power, they sealed the four of them into shrines. Only then was the disaster finally brought under control."
"Although the nation was preserved, it suffered severe losses because of this incident and gradually fell into decline..."
Axel listened with great interest, because he knew very clearly that these legends were all events that had truly happened.
And those four Pokémon were the secondary gods of this region, corresponding to the existence of the Legendary Birds, the Legendary Beasts, and the Forces of Nature.
"Professor Briar, I'd like to ask something. Are there any documents that record the locations of those four shrines?"
"No," Briar shook her head regretfully, "The locations of those shrines were originally recorded, but for certain reasons, they have already disappeared in the long river of history."
"These reasons might include large-scale Pokémon wars, or geological changes."
"There's even the possibility that some trainer family hid the locations of the four shrines, hoping their descendants would decipher them. All of these possibilities exist."
"Up until now, searching for those four shrines has even become an important topic in Paldea's academic community."
"Two outstanding professors even wanted to create a time machine to travel to the era of that king and search for the shrines..."
Axel nodded. He knew a little about those two professors. In the story of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, they were the most tragic parents of all, Arven's father and mother.
It was precisely because of their research that "Paradox Pokémon" later appeared in the Paldea region.
Of course, that wasn't something Axel needed to study right now.
Axel silently noted the possibilities Briar had just mentioned in his mind and began thinking about ways to verify them.
The geological change explanation was the simplest. He could ask an ancient Pokémon like Rayquaza.
As for Pokémon battles... Axel felt that possibility was relatively low, because Pokémon were essentially animals with instincts to avoid danger.
Aside from that stubborn little horse beside Kyurem, there were rarely cases where a lower-ranked Pokémon would challenge a higher-ranked one.
For Axel, the only possibility that was somewhat difficult to verify was whether the four shrines had been hidden by some family.
Because from his conversation with Briar, only one thing could be inferred.
The family that hid the Treasures of Ruin Pokémon might suffer from bad luck.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
The sound of the class bell suddenly rang, interrupting Axel's thoughts.
Axel glanced at the time. While he had been learning about the four Treasures of Ruin Pokémon, two hours had already passed without him noticing.
Let's see who still dares to say he's a poor student.
Seeing Briar put down the teaching stick, Axel showed a slight smile and was just about to ask if she wanted to go have a meal together and catch up.
But before he could speak, a red-and-blue head suddenly poked through the gap of the door.
"Mr. Axel, are you done with class?"
"Yeah, just finished," Seeing Fairy Queen appear again, Axel nodded and asked, "Did you come to find me for something?"
"It's actually not a big deal," The girl who had seemed very cool and confident today suddenly became a bit shy. She looked hesitant, and her voice grew much quieter.
"It's just... just that a friend wants to invite you to have a meal together."
"But she's worried you might refuse, so I wanted to ask if you have time..."
"And also, you can call me Penny now. My name is Penny!"
"Alright, Penny," Axel repeated her name with a smile.
"Coincidentally, I was planning to invite Professor Briar to eat together. If we can have a few companions join us, it should be even more lively."
"Professor Briar, would you like to come too?"
Briar nodded. She had just been chatting enthusiastically with Axel when the class bell suddenly interrupted them.
Changing locations to continue the conversation wasn't bad either. Besides, Briar knew that Fairy Queen also knew many secrets about the Paldea region. Perhaps there would be other discoveries.
Seeing that both Axel and Briar had agreed, Penny excitedly clenched her right fist.
"That's great! Mela, come out!"
Tap! Tap! Tap!
A series of light footsteps sounded. Axel saw a very familiar female student appear at the door, but she looked completely different from before.
Like Penny, she had short hair, though hers leaned more toward a bob cut. Most of it was red, with a bit of golden highlights on the top of her head.
As for her clothes, she was wearing a clean Naranja Academy uniform.
"Mela?", Seeing her clearly, Axel couldn't help blurting out in surprise.
It was hard to imagine that the delinquent girl who once led a team to participate in the exchange competition with Ninox University had turned into such a well-behaved student.
"It's me," Mela smiled slightly, though she still looked a bit nervous.
She seemed like she had prepared a lot to say, but was too tense to get the words out.
Penny looked at her classmate with a frustrated expression, then explained to Axel.
"The reason our school's bullying problem could be solved actually started with that battle between you and Mela."
"She brought your ideas back, which is why the campus was able to become what it is now."
"So she's always wanted to thank you in person!"
"But...", At this point, Penny tugged at her hair, looking a bit troubled.
"But for some reason, Mela has had really bad luck ever since she was little. So after taking off the disguise of a delinquent girl, she's actually very shy."
'Bad luck?'
Axel instantly caught the key phrase in Penny's words and exchanged a glance with Briar.
If he remembered correctly, families that hid the Treasures of Ruin Pokémon also had this trait.
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
[email protected]/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining P@treon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through P@treon.