For three days, the mountain remained a mountain.
That annoyed Ronnie more than anyone.
He stood in front of the narrow entrance every morning with Steelix coiled behind him, both of them staring at the stone like two offended construction workers who had been denied their tools. The entrance Krookodile had opened was barely wide enough for men and smaller Pokémon to pass through comfortably. The first chamber beyond it was enormous, yes, but getting equipment inside was still a miserable problem of angles, ropes, crates, and people cursing under their breath.
Ronnie believed this problem had an obvious solution.
Anna did not.
That was why Steelix had not touched the mountain.
Anna had turned a flat stone near the entrance into a temporary desk, covered it with maps, sketches, batteries, measuring sticks, field lights, and three different lists of things nobody was allowed to do. She had tied her hair back, rolled her sleeves up, and spent the last three days becoming increasingly less patient with anyone who used the words "just a little" near the cave walls.
Ronnie approached her again on the third morning with the expression of a man bringing a reasonable diplomatic proposal.
Anna did not look up from her tablet. "No."
Ronnie stopped with his mouth half open. "I didn't say anything yet."
Anna tapped a red-marked section of the map. "You were going to ask if Steelix could widen the entrance carefully."
Ronnie looked genuinely betrayed. "How do you keep doing that?"
Proton, who was standing near the entrance with his arms crossed, answered without looking away from the forest. "Because it is the only thought you have had for three days."
Ronnie pointed at him. "That is not true. I also thought about where the main road should go."
Meowth sat on top of a crate with his arms crossed and his tail flicking in irritation. "You wanted to call it Steelix Avenue."
Ronnie smiled at him. "Because it sounds strong."
Meowth looked at Anna. "Please write down that I objected."
Anna's fingers moved across the tablet. "Noted."
Ronnie looked delighted. "So Steelix Avenue is officially on record?"
Anna finally lifted her eyes. "Nope, but the objection is on record."
Ronnie's smile died.
Enzo watched the exchange from several steps away, standing just outside the shade of the entrance. The forest around them was quiet in the way forests were only quiet when people had forced them to be. Proton's patrols had already pushed curious wild Pokémon away from the immediate perimeter. Xedron's markers were hidden through the trees in places Enzo would not have noticed without the map. Xenon had divided the material personnel into small teams, none large enough to feel like a crowd, none idle long enough to become a problem.
The mountain still looked untouched from a distance.
That was the point.
Enzo had not allowed expansion. Not one meter. Not one careless cut into the stone. Not one attempt by Ronnie to "help" with Steelix.
He looked at the entrance again.
Stone did not forgive stupidity either.
He had bought a mountain and found a city-sized secret inside it. That did not mean he owned the right to get people buried.
Not yet.
Anna approached with the tablet held against her chest. She looked tired, but not overwhelmed. That was new. When she had first entered Team Rocket's world, everything had been too large, too strange, too brutal. Now she looked at impossible tasks and began sorting them into categories.
That was one of the most useful transformations Enzo had seen in her.
Anna stopped beside him and turned the tablet so he could see the rough map. "The first chamber is mapped only at a basic level. The ceiling is too high for accurate measurement with the equipment we have. I marked the visible terraces, the water channel, the entry route, and five unknown tunnels. Nobody has gone past the red line."
Enzo looked over the map carefully. "Ventilation?"
Anna shook her head. "Unknown. There is airflow, but I don't know if it is reliable or where it comes from."
"Water?"
"Untested. We marked the channel but did not collect deep samples."
Enzo nodded once. "Good."
Anna hesitated for half a second, then looked toward Ronnie and Steelix. "He has asked twelve times."
"I know."
"He will ask a thirteenth."
"I know that too."
Anna's mouth twitched slightly. "Then, for the record, my answer is still no."
Enzo glanced at Ronnie, who was now trying to convince Meowth that "Big Rock Door" sounded like a strong name for the entrance. Meowth looked physically pained.
Enzo returned his attention to Anna. "Your answer stands. Until the specialist arrives, no expansion."
Anna nodded, and for a moment, there was something in her expression that looked dangerously close to pride. Not arrogance. Not yet. Just the small, quiet satisfaction of having authority and seeing it respected.
That mattered.
Enzo's TR Device vibrated.
Steven.
The message was short.
At the southern access road. Arriving in five minutes. Documents and Devon preliminary equipment included.
Enzo put the device away and looked toward Proton. "Steven is arriving."
Proton's face changed by a fraction. "Alone?"
"Devon staff. Legal equipment, probably survey material. Nothing hostile."
"Nothing hostile that we know of," Proton corrected.
Enzo looked at him.
Proton did not apologize.
Good.
Enzo turned to Xenon, who stood near a group of material grunts carrying portable lights. "Keep the groups inside the perimeter. Nobody approaches the access road unless Proton clears them."
Xenon gave a small, professional nod. "Understood."
Xedron stood farther back under the shade of a tree, cigarette between two fingers, visible blue eye moving across the forest rather than the people. He had been there for ten minutes without making a sound, and somehow Enzo trusted that he had noticed more than most people who had walked the whole perimeter.
Xedron spoke without turning his head. "Two locals passed the southern slope twenty minutes ago. Hunters. Not League."
Proton's gaze sharpened. "Threat?"
Xedron exhaled a thin stream of smoke. "I don't know."
"That was not an answer," Proton said.
Xedron crushed the cigarette against a small metal case, then slipped it into his coat. "I will go check, captain."
Enzo liked that answer better.
A few minutes later, the sound of vehicles moved through the trees. Not loud. Not military. Controlled engines, heavy enough to carry equipment but not large enough to look like a convoy from the main road. A Devon-marked utility vehicle appeared first, followed by a smaller black car.
Steven stepped out of the car wearing gloves, a pale jacket, and the expression of a man who had already imagined six legal disasters before breakfast. Two Devon technicians exited the utility vehicle and began unloading sealed cases after Steven gave them a short nod.
Steven looked at the mountain.
Then at the entrance.
Then at the men with Rocket posture pretending to be ordinary workers.
Finally, he looked at Enzo.
Steven adjusted one glove. "Every time I see you, I understand less why I agreed to help you."
Enzo walked toward him. "Because you are intelligent."
Steven did not smile. "That is exactly why I should have refused."
Anna approached with the tablet, and Steven immediately shifted. Steven's thoughts slowed.
Anna was beautiful.
Not in the loud, polished way he was used to. Steven had grown up surrounded by beauty refined into performance. Devon galas, League dinners, private auctions, sponsor events, old-money restaurants where every smile carried intention. Women had looked at him with perfect eyes and careful mouths for as long as he could remember. Some wanted his face. Most wanted his surname. A few were honest enough to want both.
She barely looked at him.
Her eyes moved from his face to the folder, then to the tablet, then to the cave entrance behind Enzo, as if Steven Stone, heir of Devon Corporation, was simply another person holding paperwork she needed before real work could continue.
In her eyes, he was not a prize.
Steven found that far more attractive than he wanted to admit.
He handed Enzo the first folder, then offered Anna the second copy. "Glacia's provisional authorization. Devon's technical support declaration. A preliminary list of conditions, though you already heard most of them yesterday. No civilian habitation before structural review, ventilation certification, water safety, medical access, security protocol, and evacuation routes."
Anna accepted the folder with a short nod. "Thank you."
There was nothing flirtatious in the words. Nothing nervous. Nothing careful.
Steven almost laughed at himself.
Of course, this would be the kind of woman Enzo had at his side.
Anna opened the folder and scanned it quickly, her eyes moving down the page with increasing sharpness. "Joy Clan medical readiness review. Jenny Clan security review."
Proton's expression soured from near the entrance. "So we invite outsiders inside."
Steven looked at him. "Yes. That is generally how official reviews work."
Proton's eyes did not soften. "That is generally how secrets die."
Steven did not answer.
He did not need to.
Enzo stood quietly for a moment, looking from the folder to the people gathered around the crates. Jessie was complaining about the dust on her boots. James was trying to help clean them while somehow making himself look more guilty than useful. Meowth watched both of them with the exhausted face of someone forced to share a career with weather events.
Enzo looked at them a little longer.
Meowth noticed first.
His ears twitched. "Why are you looking at us like that?"
Jessie stopped mid-complaint. "Like what?"
Meowth pointed at Enzo without taking his eyes off him. "Like he just found a use for us."
James tried a small, nervous smile. "That sounds good, doesn't it?"
Meowth looked at him with pity. "Not when he is the one finding it."
Enzo walked toward them.
Jessie straightened, pride reacting before discipline. James adjusted his posture more politely. Meowth remained seated on the crate, but his tail stopped moving.
Enzo stopped in front of them. "Jessie. Your family has Joy Clan connections."
Jessie blinked.
For once, she did not answer immediately. When she did, her chin lifted as if the fact had been waiting for the correct spotlight. "On my father's side."
"Good," Enzo said. "You are going to use them."
Jessie's eyes narrowed. "Use them how?"
"You will enroll in whatever certification Hoenn accepts for medical support administration, Pokémon first aid coordination, and clinic work. I need you to become a Nurse Joy. I need you to be recognized enough that when this city opens, the Joy Clan can communicate through someone who answers to me."
Jessie stared at him.
James stared at Jessie.
Anna, who had followed with the tablet in hand, read the requirement again and looked up. "It would reduce the need for external Joy personnel inside the city."
Steven's eyes narrowed as he understood the move. "It would also make the city appear cooperative without surrendering internal control."
Enzo looked at Jessie. "Exactly."
Jessie's expression changed in stages. Offense faded into calculation. Calculation became ambition. Ambition became dangerous pride.
Jessie placed one hand on her hip. "So I would become the Joy Clan representative for your city."
Enzo corrected. "Only if you pass the exams and become a nurse joy ."
Jessie's voice sharpened. "I can do it."
"I know you can," Enzo said. "That is why I am assigning it to you."
That pleased her more than she wanted to show.
Then Enzo turned to James.
James' polite smile became much more fragile.
Enzo said, "James. Your family has Jenny Clan connections."
James' shoulders stiffened.
Jessie looked at him. Meowth's ears lifted.
James swallowed once before answering. "Old connections. Not comfortable ones."
"I did not ask if they were comfortable," Enzo said. "I asked if they existed."
James looked down for a second, then back up. "They exist, I guess..."
"Then you will use them. You will take whatever auxiliary course Hoenn recognizes for civil security work. Incident reporting, patrol coordination, emergency protocol, community safety, and public security documentation. When Jenny asks who is responsible for preliminary security coordination here, I want the answer to be someone inside."
James stared at him.
Then James spoke. "You want me to become your Jenny? I'm beautiful, but I'm not a woman. Besides, I haven't talked to my family in years. How am I supposed to reconnect?"
James looked overwhelmed. He needed him to enter polished rooms without looking like a criminal. James had been raised around money, manners, old expectations, and family shame.
Enzo looked at both Jessie and James. "Giovanni did not send me three recommendations as a joke. Jessie, you handle Joy. James, you handle Jenny. Meowth, you listen to both of them and tell Anna what they miss."
Meowth's eyes widened. "I'm supervising?"
Anna looked at him over the tablet. "You are reporting."
Meowth crossed his arms. "That is supervising with paperwork."
Anna did not blink. "It is reporting."
Meowth looked at Enzo. "I want my title to sound better."
Enzo turned away. "Earn one."
For a moment, Jessie and James stood in silence.
Then Jessie smiled.
James looked nervous.
Enzo glanced back at Steven. "Good. Glacia gave conditions. We will treat them as instructions."
Steven watched him carefully. "You are trying to fool the Jenny and Joy clans. Be careful."
Enzo looked toward the cave entrance. "Can't you help me a bit?"
Steven nodded, but he did not seem reassured.
The next vehicle arrived late.
Not by much. Just enough for everyone to notice.
It did not carry Devon markings. It did not look League-approved. It was an old industrial truck with dull grey paint, heavy tires, reinforced suspension, and enough scratches along its sides to suggest it had survived places where roads were considered optional. A second, smaller vehicle followed behind it, loaded with equipment cases, metal tripods, cable rolls, portable lights, gas sensors, sample kits, and tools that looked too specialized to be legal in every region.
The truck stopped badly, as if the driver had considered braking optional until the last possible moment.
Ronnie immediately smiled. "I like this entrance."
Proton glanced at him. "Of course you do."
The driver's door opened.
Harland Graves stepped down.
He was old in the way stone was old, not fragile, but weathered. Thick grey hair, short beard, heavy boots caked with dirt from places far from Hoenn, and hands marked by scars, burns, and old fractures. His face looked like it had been carved by someone who disliked symmetry. He wore a dark, logo-free work coat, and the first thing he did after stepping out was look at the mountain, not at the people.
He studied it for a long moment.
Then he looked at Enzo.
Harland spat into the dirt beside the truck. "You're the idiot who wants a city inside this mountain."
Steven closed his eyes.
Ronnie's grin widened.
Enzo walked forward. "Yes."
Harland looked him up and down. "You look too young to be this stupid."
Enzo answered calmly. "I started early."
Ronnie whispered to Proton, "I really like him."
Harland heard them anyway. His eyes shifted to Ronnie, then to Steelix coiled behind him. "That's your big snake?"
Ronnie brightened immediately. "Yes, sir. This is Steelix. He can help with digging, moving stone, breaking walls, carrying equipment, and defending the perimeter."
Harland stared at Steelix.
Steelix stared back.
Harland then looked at Ronnie. "If that thing touches a load-bearing wall before I say so, I will personally hit you with a shovel until you stop being a construction hazard."
Ronnie went quiet.
Harland's gaze moved to Steven next. "Devon boy."
Steven opened his eyes. "Steven Stone."
"I know who you are," Harland said. "Your father still owes me money."
Steven's expression became professionally cautious. "For what?"
Harland pointed at Steven. "I'm not telling you twat."
Steven looked at Enzo.
Enzo looked back.
Neither of them spoke.
Harland turned toward Anna and held out one hand. "Map."
Anna handed him the tablet.
Harland took it, glanced at the screen, then looked at Enzo. "Is she yours?"
Anna's eyes sharpened.
Enzo answered before she could. "She is the logistical authority."
Harland looked back at the map. "Good..."
Anna's expression shifted by a fraction, not quite pleased but no longer insulted.
Harland scrolled through the rough map with a thick thumb, moving faster than Enzo expected. He stopped at the red zones, then at the water channel, then at the entrance markers. His expression changed for the first time.
He stopped insulting everyone for almost three full seconds.
Anna noticed. "Problem?"
Harland handed the tablet back. "No. That's the problem. This is the first sensible thing I've seen since I got here."
Harland turned to Enzo. "Show me the entrance."
They entered the mountain with portable lamps and sensor kits.
Harland complained for the first fifty meters.
He complained about the entrance angle, the loose stone, the lack of proper support, the humidity, the amateur markings, the fact that someone had used claw force instead of controlled cutting, the smell, the floor, and the general state of everyone's intelligence.
Krookodile, walking behind Enzo, looked personally offended by the claw comment.
Enzo put one hand briefly on the crocodile's side before it decided to defend its workmanship.
Harland kept walking.
Then the tunnel opened into the first chamber.
The old man stopped.
No one spoke.
The lights rose slowly across the hollow mountain. Portable lamps caught the pillars first, huge natural columns rising into darkness. Then the water channel appeared, silver and black. Then the terraces along the walls. Then the upper openings, the side tunnels, the ceiling too high for the light to fully conquer. The chamber did not reveal itself all at once. It unfolded, piece by piece, as if even the mountain wanted to be measured before being understood.
Harland said nothing for almost a full minute.
That was the first time Enzo believed the old man might actually be impressed.
Finally, Harland pointed his flashlight toward the ceiling and spoke in a low voice. "Well. Shit."
Ronnie smiled like Harland had complimented his family.
Harland began moving again, but now every insult had vanished. He walked along the edge of the chamber, tapped stone with a small hammer, checked cracks, crouched by the water, waved one of his technicians forward, and pointed at the ceiling.
Harland spoke without looking back. "Gas readings. Airflow. Upper shelf distance. Water sample."
His technicians moved instantly.
They were quiet people. Useful people. The kind of people who had worked with Harland long enough to understand that survival depended on doing things before he had to say them twice.
Steven stepped into the chamber more slowly than the others. He had seen the entrance before, but not like this. Not with proper lights stretching across the cavern. Not with Harland's equipment marking scale. Not with the first hints of infrastructure appearing in the form of tripods and cables.
Steven looked around, and something changed in his expression.
Harland returned after several minutes, wiping dust from his hand onto his coat. "This is either the best site I have seen in twenty years or the most expensive mass grave in Hoenn."
Ronnie looked up at the ceiling. "That feels like a big range."
Harland pointed at him. "That is because stone does not negotiate with idiots."
Ronnie looked at Steelix. "He keeps looking at me when he says that."
Harland ignored them and faced Enzo. "Good news. You don't need to hollow the mountain. The mountain did half the work. The main chamber is large enough for a primary spine, storage, temporary housing, and maybe future civic structures if you don't build like fools. The water source may be usable. Natural terraces are valuable. Side tunnels can become service routes or death traps depending on how stupid you are."
Enzo listened without interrupting.
Harland lifted a finger. "Bad news. You don't know where the air comes from. You don't know what gases sleep in the deeper tunnels. You don't know if the water is safe. You don't know which pillars are decorative and which ones are holding your life over your head. You don't know what wild Pokémon still live in the sealed sections. You don't know how many entrances this place really has. You don't know enough to build anything."
Anna nodded as if every sentence confirmed her own warnings.
Ronnie did not look at her.
Harland pointed toward the ceiling. "You don't build under stone because it looks romantic. You build under stone when the stone allows you."
Harland moved to the center of the chamber and pointed down. "Now, before you waste my time. What do you want first?"
Enzo did not answer immediately.
Harland continued, voice rough. "Housing? Roads? Storage? Gym? Lab? Pretty entrance for the League inspectors? Secret room for things I am not supposed to ask about? Choose carefully."
Several people looked toward Enzo.
Ronnie expected something grand.
Steven expected something dangerous.
Anna expected something practical, but even she watched him closely.
Enzo thought, then answered. "Structural survey first. Airflow. Gas sensors. Water testing. Ceiling stability. Entry control. Evacuation route. Temporary power. Drainage. Service corridor. Storage only after the first route is safe. Temporary worker housing only after air and water are cleared. Public zone and restricted zone separated from the beginning."
Harland stared at him.
For several seconds, the old man said nothing.
Then Harland's rough face shifted into something close to approval, though it looked painful on him. "Someone taught you not to start with the pretty part, kid. Maybe you won't get everyone killed in the first week."
Enzo's eyes remained on the ceiling for a moment longer. The chamber was enormous, but the darkness above them still swallowed most of the lamps' reach. Artificial lighting would work, but it would require power, maintenance, wiring, heat control, replacement parts, and too many obvious supply requests if used alone. The air was worse. Air would decide whether the cave became a city or a tomb.
Then Enzo remembered something he had already prepared before Hoenn had even become real beneath his feet. "Sir Harland, I may have a solution for the illumination and air quality."
Then he turned his head toward Proton. "The crates Ratchet shipped. The ones marked as agricultural samples. Bring them here."
Proton's expression sharpened with immediate suspicion. "Now?"
"Yes," Enzo said. "Carefully. Do not open them outside."
Proton nodded once and left without wasting another word.
Harland watched him go, then looked back at Enzo with open irritation. "Agricultural samples?"
Enzo did not answer immediately.
Harland's scowl deepened. "Kid, if you dragged me into a mountain to show me decorative plants, I will start charging by the insult."
Ronnie leaned toward Meowth and whispered loudly enough for everyone to hear. "Can he do that?"
Meowth crossed his arms. "I think he already is."
Anna looked from Enzo to the ceiling, then back to Enzo again, already trying to guess where his mind had gone. "So that was your plan all along, it was all for illumination?"
"For illumination," Enzo said. "And air."
A few minutes later, Proton returned with two material grunts, each carrying a sealed, insulated crate. Xenon followed behind, making sure the route stayed clear. The crate was dull grey, unmarked except for a small tag with Ratchet's ugly handwriting and several warnings written far more dramatically than necessary.
Proton set the crate down near Harland. "This is the first one. There are more in storage."
Enzo stepped closer. "Open it."
Proton released the locks.
The lid lifted with a soft hiss.
Light breathed out.
Not bright. Not blinding. A soft blue-green glow spilled from inside the crate, gentle enough not to hurt the eyes but strong enough to touch the faces gathered around it. Inside, several thick fungal clusters rested in padded trays, their caps wide and translucent along the edges, threaded with faint luminous veins. Some glowed blue. Some green. A few held a warmer violet shimmer near the stem.
The cave seemed to notice them.
Or maybe the darkness simply looked less absolute with something alive glowing inside it.
Harland's expression changed immediately.
The irritation vanished.
He reached in slowly and picked up one cluster with the care of a man handling something expensive and dangerous. He turned it under the lamp, studied the underside of the cap, then scratched lightly at the stem with his thumbnail.
Harland looked at Enzo. "Where did you get these?"
Enzo answered calmly. "Galar."
Harland's eyes narrowed. "No shit. These are Glimwood growths."
Steven stepped closer despite himself. "From Glimwood Tangle?"
Harland nodded without looking away from the mushroom. "Wild strain, or close to it. Not the weak decorative greenhouse crap people sell to rich idiots for garden caves. This is old forest stock."
Ronnie blinked. "Garden caves are a thing?"
Harland turned the mushroom again, eyes sharper now. "Whoever sourced these either knew what he was doing or stole from someone who did."
Enzo's mouth curved faintly. "I have a guy in Galar who will send me as much as I want of those. I already have more than 20 thousand in stock."
Harland ignored that and pointed the mushroom toward the ceiling. "You want to cultivate more than 20,000 of these up there."
"Yes," Enzo said. "Along the ceiling shelves first. Then the main routes. If the strain adapts properly, we can use them as low-level natural lighting, route markers, and atmospheric support."
Harland looked at him for several seconds.
Enzo continued, his eyes moving across the cavern as if he could already see the glow spreading above them. "They will not replace ventilation. I know that. But they can help the chamber breathe better if they are cultivated correctly. They absorb moisture, stale air, and mineral compounds. They produce stable low light, regulate humidity in pockets, and reduce how much artificial lighting we need."
Anna's fingers started moving across her tablet at once.
Steven's gaze drifted upward, imagining the ceiling alive with blue-green light. "That would also make the public area look less like a bunker."
"That too," Enzo said.
Harland rubbed his thumb across the mushroom's glowing cap. "It is a good idea."
Ronnie looked genuinely shocked. "He said good."
Meowth squinted at Harland. "I heard it too."
Harland turned his head slowly toward both of them.
Ronnie immediately looked away.
Then, without warning, Harland reached into his coat and pulled out a small metal field grinder.
Enzo stared.
Anna stopped typing.
Steven looked as if he was trying very hard to decide whether this was a construction technique or a crime.
Harland tore a small piece from the mushroom cap, dropped it into the grinder, twisted the mechanism twice, and opened it to reveal a faintly glowing powder. Then he packed a pinch of it into a short, old pipe that looked like it had survived three wars.
Enzo's eyebrows lifted.
Harland lit the pipe.
The old man inhaled once.
For a few seconds, nobody moved.
Blue-green smoke curled from the pipe and drifted into the cold cave air, carrying a sharp, earthy scent with something sweet underneath. Harland held the smoke in, closed his eyes, and exhaled slowly.
His rough face relaxed by one degree.
Harland looked at the mushroom in his hand with renewed respect. "This is some good shit."
Steven closed his eyes.
Anna stared at Harland with the expression of someone updating a risk register in real time.
Enzo leaned slightly toward her and lowered his voice. "Please ask Leni to run tests on combustion, inhalation effects, neurological impact, dependency risk, and whether smoking these creates any long-term stupidity beyond the usual amount. We may have a huge market here."
Harland took another short puff, then crouched beside the crate again, suddenly all business despite the smoke trailing from his mouth. "You have samples. That is good. Samples do not build a ceiling."
Enzo looked at him. "How many?"
Harland's laugh was rough and immediate. "For this cave? Thousands. For route markers, maybe hundreds to start. For meaningful air support and stable light across main corridors? Thousands and thousands. And that assumes they take to the stone, survive the humidity cycle."
Harland stood and handed the mushroom back to Proton. "These need cultivation racks, spore beds, humidity control, mineral feed, containment barriers, and a separate nursery. If you install them raw, half die, and the other half spreads where you do not want them. If you do it right, the cave gets softer light, better air pockets, and less dependency on generators."
Anna typed faster. "Fungal nursery. Controlled humidity. Mineral feed. Containment barriers."
Steven looked at Enzo, still processing. "You planned this before coming to Hoen."
Enzo did not answer him. He looked at the glowing crate, then up at the dark ceiling again.
Harland followed his gaze. "Thousands, kid. Tens of thousands if you want the whole place alive."
Enzo smiled.
Harland grunted. "Then tell your guy I need every living sample, spore bag, cultivation note, illegal grower contact, and fungal feed source he can get out of Galar."
Enzo pulled out his TR Device. "I will."
Harland looked back at the cave, this time not just as stone, but as something that could glow.
"Fine," Harland said. "Maybe this mountain is not completely stupid."
Steven glanced at the old man. "That is the highest praise we are getting today, isn't it?"
Anna's eyes remained on the tablet. "Probably."
Enzo sent the message to Ratchet and watched it disappear through the encrypted channel.
Then the old man walked toward the rear section of the chamber, where Proton had placed two guards near the route leading deeper toward the hidden container site. It was not obvious, but it was not invisible either. Harland noticed the moment the movement pattern changed. His eyes moved from the guards to Enzo.
Harland pointed with his flashlight. "What is back there?"
Enzo answered calmly. "Restricted cargo."
Harland's face did not change. "Dangerous?"
Enzo did not answer as quickly.
Harland saw it.
Steven saw it too.
Anna's fingers stopped moving over the tablet.
Harland stepped closer, voice losing its rough humor. "Listen carefully, kid. I do not care what you hide in boxes. I have built under casinos, prisons, labs, tunnels, and one mansion that had three basements and no legal reason for any of them. Secrets do not bother me. Secrets that change temperature, pressure, radiation, magnetics, humidity, psychic field, or wild Pokémon behavior bother me because they kill workers who did not know the secret was there."
Enzo held his gaze.
Harland continued. "If whatever is back there affects the mountain, I need to know before the mountain starts making decisions."
Enzo looked toward the guarded route for a moment.
The egg remained stable. Hypno remained with it. The incubator had shown no visible external anomaly. But the thing inside was still a Galarian Moltres egg, saturated with contained Dark energy and guarded by a Psychic-type that made grown men avoid staring too long.
Enzo looked back at Harland. "If it affects your work, you will know."
Harland stared at him for a long second. "That answer usually gets people buried."
Enzo's voice stayed even. "Then do not build near it until I tell you."
Harland grunted. "Ok, kid, calm down."
Proton, standing near the restricted route, looked slightly relieved.
The inspection continued.
Harland's technicians set up sensors, marked the stone with chalk and thin laser lines, collected water samples, and installed temporary flags along the first safe path. Anna followed them closely, adding each marker to her map. Harland corrected her twice. Anna corrected him once on the numbering system because his technician had mislabeled a side passage.
Harland stared at the tablet.
Then he looked at Anna.
Anna held the tablet firmly. "If the map order changes later, we will lose reference consistency."
Harland looked at his technician. "Fix the labels."
The technician obeyed.
Anna did not smile, but Meowth did it for her.
Harland pointed toward the main entry tunnel. "No one sleeps in here tonight. No one stores food near the water. No one starts fires inside. No digging. No blasting. No Pokémon using Earthquake, Dig, Bulldoze, Rock Slide, Stone Edge, or any move that makes the mountain remember it has gravity."
Harland seemed satisfied.
A small incident came near sunset.
Xedron appeared from the forest without sound, cigarette unlit between his fingers. He did not enter the chamber fully. He stopped at the entrance and waited until Proton noticed him.
Proton stepped outside first. Enzo followed.
Xedron looked toward the southern slope. "Two locals again. Same direction as before. One has a camera. They are pretending to look for wild Pokémon."
Proton's hand moved toward his belt. "I can remove them."
Steven's expression hardened. "No one is removing civilians."
Proton looked at him as if the word "civilians" were not relevant to the problem.
Enzo lifted one hand before either of them made the conversation worse. "No blood near the base"
They gathered inside the first chamber near the temporary lamps. Harland had marked a long white line across the stone floor with chalk and laser guide. It began near the entrance tunnel, cut along the safest side of the chamber, crossed near the water channel without touching it, and continued toward one of the broad natural terraces.
It was ugly.
Temporary.
Almost nothing.
But everyone looked at it.
Harland stood at the start of the line with his hands on his hips. "This is the spine."
Ronnie tilted his head. "It looks like a line."
Harland did not look at him. "That is because you are still alive and therefore capable of disappointing me."
Ronnie nodded slowly. "Fair."
Harland pointed down the marked route. "A city outside starts with roads. A city inside a mountain starts with air. Before you get homes, markets, clinics, gyms, labs, barracks, or whatever illegal nonsense you will pretend not to build, you get a spine. Entry route. Power line. Air line. Drainage. Sensors. Emergency path. Service access. If the spine is bad, everything connected to it becomes a tomb."
Anna recorded every word.
Harland continued. "Phase one. Survey. Air. Water. Power. Drainage. Support. No civilians. No refugees. No permanent housing. No Gym. No pretty public entrance for cameras. Anyone who asks for a fountain gets thrown into the water channel."
Harland pointed at the line again. "Phase two, if phase one does not kill you, storage and temporary worker housing. Phase three, public shell. Phase four, restricted internal works. Phase five, anything that requires lying to inspectors. We will discuss that later and never in front of Devon boy."
Steven's eyes narrowed. "I am standing right here."
Harland looked at him. "Then hear less."
Harland turned back to Enzo. "I need money, workers, equipment, silence, and technical authority. I do not need enthusiasm. I do not need speeches. When I say a section is closed, it is closed. When I say a wall stands, it stands. When I say a wall comes down, it comes down after I say how."
Enzo looked at Harland. "You have technical authority over construction safety. Anna has logistical authority. Proton has security authority. Conflicts come to me."
Harland grunted. "Good. Clear chain. Less stupid than expected."
Proton looked at Enzo with faint approval.
Anna did not react, but her fingers paused for half a second before continuing.
Steven took a slow breath, looking out over the line, the chamber, the people, the equipment, the impossible scale of the thing beginning to form around them.
"This will change Hoenn if it works," Steven said quietly.
Enzo looked at the white line. "That is the point."
Steven's voice lowered even more. "And if it fails?"
Harland answered before Enzo could. "Then it kills everyone inside and gives the newspapers something dramatic to spell wrong."
Steven stared at him.
Harland shrugged. "You asked."
Enzo stepped forward until he stood at the beginning of the marked line. The stone under his boots was cold. The air smelled of damp earth, machine oil, old cave water, and the first hint of electrical heat from the temporary lamps.
Everyone else looked at the line too.
Anna saw tasks.
Proton saw control points.
Ronnie saw a future road and probably wanted to name it.
Steven saw liability and history.
Harland Graves saw the first part of a problem that might be interesting enough to keep him interested.
Enzo saw a city.
Not complete. Not clean. Not public. Not yet.
But real enough to have a direction.
Harland picked up a can of white marking paint, shook it once, and reinforced the first section of the chalk line with a clean hiss across the stone. The paint smelled sharp in the cold air.
Harland stepped back and looked at Enzo. "Congratulations. That is your first street."
Ronnie's face lit up. "Can we name it?"
Anna, Proton, Harland, Meowth, and Steven all answered at the same time.
"No."
Ronnie looked wounded again.
Enzo barely heard them.
He watched the white line cut through the mountain's darkness and felt something inside him settle into place.