"Bonds…"
"Not just the bonds between people and Pokémon, but also the bonds between people and people, and Pokémon and Pokémon."
"It's a broad way to put it, but I think that captures what it means," Steven said, his voice calm and thoughtful.
Mustard nodded, a warm smile crossing his face. "Well said."
"To have such an understanding on your very first visit here — it truly befits a Champion," Philiece added, her tone full of admiration.
"I wouldn't go that far," Steven replied with a quiet chuckle.
It was, in the end, simply what happened when one life met another. The thought reminded him of the first time he had encountered Metagross — that strange, wordless recognition between them. Something new had been born in that moment. A bond.
After that brief exchange, the four of them descended the stone steps and entered the Solaceon Ruins.
They moved through a series of winding passages, the air growing cooler and stiller the deeper they went, until they arrived at a small chamber tucked at the heart of the ruins.
The walls were covered in Unown — dozens of them, carved into the stone in countless different forms. On the floor, a triangular area had been etched with faint patterns, and at each of the three corners sat a rectangular groove.
"The Unown here aren't arranged in any clear order," Professor Carolina observed, standing before one of the walls with her hands clasped behind her back. "We'll need to work out the meaning they're trying to convey by combining their forms."
"The survey of the ruins has already been finished," Philiece explained. "What's left is deciphering what these Unown are actually saying."
Steven studied the walls in silence. Unown, in their many varied shapes, had long been understood as a kind of ancient writing — each form corresponding to a letter or symbol. Without knowing how they fit together, though, it was nearly impossible to read them.
He dropped his gaze to the triangular area on the floor.
The patterns carved there tugged at something in his memory.
"Something wrong?"
Cynthia had noticed him staring. She stepped closer, tilting her head with a curious look.
"Nothing serious," Steven said, glancing at her briefly. "These patterns just look a little familiar to me."
"If you look carefully," Philiece said, walking over, "you can see that the markings on the left and right ends match Dialga's chest plate and Palkia's shoulder plate. Both of those Pokémon have gems set into those exact spots."
"And the square in the very center?" Steven asked, pointing to the gray section at the middle of the triangle.
"That, we're still not sure about," Philiece admitted. "We'll only know once the Unown are fully deciphered. But we're fairly confident it relates to Dialga and Palkia in some way."
Steven gave a small nod and turned his attention to the three rectangular grooves at the corners.
Three grooves. Rectangular in shape.
In Sinnoh legend, alongside the temporal deity Dialga and the spatial deity Palkia, there was said to be a third — a being said to reside in a world beyond this one. The Renegade Pokémon, Giratina.
And these three legendary Pokémon each had a corresponding item. The Adamant Orb. The Lustrous Orb. The Griseous Orb.
But none of those, as far as Steven could reason, would fit into grooves like these. They were the wrong shape entirely.
He stared at the grooves, turning the problem over quietly in his mind.
"Steven?" Cynthia asked, watching him with an inquisitive look. "What are you thinking about?"
"What should be placed in these grooves," he said simply.
He looked again at the patterns. There was no mark here that seemed to represent Giratina. That was strange, if this chamber truly referred to all three of Sinnoh's great legends.
"Have you thought of anything?" Professor Carolina asked, turning from the wall.
"Not quite yet…" Steven began — and then something clicked.
Dialga. Palkia. Giratina. All three of them were, by the old myths, bound to Arceus. Created by the Original One. Subordinates, in a sense, to that supreme being.
And the grooves were rectangular.
Arceus's Plates — the items said to shift its very type — were rectangular. Flat, smooth-edged tablets that could slot cleanly into a groove just like these.
"If you have even a rough idea, please share it," Professor Carolina said, her tone gentle. "It could point us in a useful direction." She paused, then added honestly, "I didn't expect you to solve anything on arrival. I just didn't want the two of you to come all this way for nothing."
"Let's head out, then."
"Of course, Professor Carolina." Philiece nodded and fell into step behind her.
"Come on, Steven."
Cynthia started toward the passage, then stopped.
She turned back. Steven hadn't moved.
"Steven?" she said again, a note of concern entering her voice.
Professor Carolina and Philiece paused as well, turning to look at him. He stood with his back to them, his gaze fixed on the patterns at his feet.
Inside his mind, everything was moving quickly. Fragments of lore about Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, and Arceus surfaced and shifted, assembling themselves into something that felt almost like an answer.
If the objects meant for these three grooves were indeed Plates…
"Plates," Steven said, the word leaving him before he had fully decided to speak.
"Which Plates?" Cynthia stepped back to his side, her voice low.
"A Dragon-type Plate, a Steel-type Plate, and a Water-type Plate," Steven murmured.
He couldn't recall the exact names — the Draco Plate, the Iron Plate, the Splash Plate — so he could only describe them by type for now.
"Can you explain why those three?" Professor Carolina asked. Her tone was patient, genuinely curious.
Steven hesitated. In Sinnoh's current understanding, Dialga and Palkia were still figures of legend — their types, their natures, none of it confirmed. He had said more than he should have.
"I… don't have a clear reason," he admitted. "It was more like a faint impression, as if something in this place suggested it." He gave a slightly rueful smile. "You're welcome to consider it nonsense, Professor Carolina. I'm hardly an expert in ancient ruins."
"Not at all," she replied. "We've actually considered Plates ourselves as a possibility. The uncertainty was which three were needed — and what might happen if the wrong ones were used. We'll look into your suggestion seriously once the Unown are deciphered."
Fortunately, neither Professor Carolina nor Philiece pressed him further. It wasn't entirely unreasonable, after all, for a ruin tied to Sinnoh's deities to leave impressions on those who entered it. Researchers had reported stranger things — even cases of people being influenced, or worse, controlled by unknown forces within ancient sites.
"That said," Professor Carolina added, "you should probably have yourself checked over. We don't yet know whether some external force may have acted on you here."
"I understand," Steven said, with a slightly embarrassed smile.
There was no outside force. He had simply said too much and was now doing his best to explain it away.
"Hmm?"
The smile faded.
At the far end of the dark passage, something had flashed — a vivid, deep red light, there and gone in less than a second.
"Steven."
He turned his head. Cynthia's expression had gone serious, her eyes fixed on the same spot in the passage. She had seen it too.
Without hesitation, Steven reached to his belt and pulled out a Poké Ball.
"Metagross!"