"What do you mean? There are no basic Pokémon in the Underground Caverns at all. ”

"yes, that's right. Basically, Pokémon do not appear underground. But there are exceptions. ”

"Exceptions?"

"Recently found 'hidden' and very close to here. Miss Sirona must have heard the voice from there. ”

Shirona and Kem react to the unfamiliar word "hideout".

"What's a hideout?"

"This is a general term for the places where Pokémon live in underground space. All kinds of Pokémon live in hiding places. Sometimes you can see Pokémon from outside the Sinnoh region. ”

"Except for the Sinnoh region? Where did they come from? ”

"Well, I don't know that far yet. After all, the hideout itself was only recently discovered. We still don't know where the hideouts themselves are and how many there are. ”

So should I check it out? I think, but their job is just a coal mine. Living organisms are the work of scholars. It's okay if you don't know.

"I don't know how they got here, but I can't let them ruin a nice place to live, so we miners stay away from that hideout."

"They live underground because there are some inconveniences on the ground.

"Yes, we've made it possible for people to come in, but there are dangerous places, so we basically don't let them in."

"Ugh"

Looking at Kem's grunting expression, Yuta smiled.

"Oh, Kem. Are you interested? ”

“？ Oh no, a little. ”

"Hahahaha! Although you are in a different field, you are also an academic! I'm sure you'll be interested in the unknown! ”

"Then let's go over and have a look."

"Are you sure?"

As far as I know so far, it's basically off-limits, and there are some dangerous places. In that case, I wondered, could Shirona and Keim, as amateurs, go there?

I'm actually quite interested. But I don't even want to go out of my way to take care of Kota and Togan.

"What, I don't care, the hiding places that are closer to here are safer, with our permission, just observe."

"So, can I ask you something?"

"It's good to be honest!"

Tou Gan laughed heartily as he walked. Perhaps out of concern for Kem, who looked a little sorry, Hita said while patting Kem on the shoulder.

"There is really no need to worry about this, our staff is also interested in that place, just to go and see, in fact, it is not a big deal."

"I'm sorry"

"Wonderful.

"Okay, but is that okay?"

Kem does not refuse basic combat. Of course, there are exceptions, but if you're a Pokémon trainer, you probably won't turn down a lot of people. Kem thinks that it is not enough to make it a condition for repaying the favor, but Hyota looks at him with a strange look, as if he sees through the idea.

"When you first joined the Torizhang Gym, who refused my fight?"

"That's who I am."

Thinking of this, Kem raised his head. At that time, I had no experience, and sumo wrestling had only just gotten three columns. The memory of the rejection was now awakened again, as I couldn't even win a good battle, let alone defeat the other gym leaders.

"Ah, there is such a thing"

"Right?"

"Huhu, please forgive me, Hita-kun. Keim, I was just starting my training, so I didn't have confidence. "

"Wow, I'm sorry. Next time, next time. ”

"It's a promise! Okay, let's go! ”

Looking at the back of Hyota walking happily, I sighed softly.

"Fufu, it's so difficult"

"Damn, I hate it."

"A war?"

"Don't ask you what you know"

What Kem hates is his past self. I can't be a good opponent alone. That's why not fighting is giving up the opportunity to grow as a coach.

As I've learned from training under Sirona, defeat gives more experience than victory. What did you gain from this failure? What will you do next? Kem now understands that thinking is more important than anything else.

"I've grown as I've realized that."

Then I remembered Sirona's words.

"What do you gain from today's failure? Who will you be tomorrow? "

I failed that day. Repeat the analysis from there and make it your own food. And in order to make it his own flesh and blood, he will further cultivate. Words that contain it. Currently, Keim himself is saying the same thing when he coaches gym trainers as a gym leader, albeit as a substitute.

"I don't have enough experience myself, but I think I've improved a bit."

"Yes. You can be proud. ”

“… Ahh

"Let's go, let's go."

As he spoke, Bai Nai took Kem's hand and chased after the gourd and the east eye. Kem followed, turning his foot to a place called the hideout.

ーー

When Sirona and Kem follow the guidance of Higashi and Kota, they find a hole that is big enough for people to pass through.

A small amount of light leaks out of the hole.

"What is this?"

"Yes.

Shirona and Kaiki believe Kota's words and jump into the hole. Walk in the direction of the leaky light for about 2-3 minutes and arrive at a very quiet space.

"Wow Wow"

"Is this underground?"

The space that unfolds in front of Sirona and Kem is a peaceful and comfortable space with meadows and a beautiful pond.

"It's beautiful."

"I can't believe it's underground"

"How? It's amazing, isn't it? It's like a field with a good climate, and even this place is underground. ”

When I looked up at the ceiling, I didn't know how it worked, but the sun-like light poured over the entire space. It doesn't look like artificial light, but since it's underground, it shouldn't be sunlight.

"It's not sunlight, is it? How does it work? ”

"We don't know about that. According to one theory, it is illuminated by the power of the 'Nippon Haru' of the Pokémon gathered here. ”

"I see, so it's possible."

"I don't know why they bothered to go underground, but there was no doubt that it was a comfortable living environment for them. I try not to insist

Whatever the reason, the Pokémon that live here do so because the environment here is suitable for them. The Tuga, who work here, don't have much contact with Pokémon, even for their own work. By doing so, they can coexist with each other.

"Is there any other hiding place besides here?"

"Yes. This is a hideout called the 'Great Cave of the Sun', and there are various environments such as grass and water systems, as well as the Great Shogunate Cave. ”

"Depending on the location, there are places where lava flows, and the danger zone is basically cordoned off."

"It's spectacular."

Some spaces are comfortable to live in, but others are dangerous even for people to enter. In my opinion, I know how amazing it is that they are working side by side in such a different place.

"There are quite a lot of types of Pokémon."

As Shirona said, there are all kinds of Pokémon in this hideout. The variety of Pokémon is quite wide, ranging from Pokémon that are common in the Sinnoh region like Subomi to Pokémon that are mainly found in other regions like Chikorita.

"We still don't know how it got here, or how it was originally here. Scholars specializing in geology and ecology are investigating the hideout. We are coal mines, and workers often instruct scholars in this way. ”

"In other words, it's not unusual for you to bring us here."

"yes. If it's not a dangerous place, I can take it and see it. ”

In fact, the sunny cave climate we are in now is very mild, which is comfortable even for people. There are beautiful trees there. In addition, Pokémon is quiet. It would be a different story if he was grumpy, but that doesn't seem to be the case here.

The group walked around the depression. Pokémon will be a little more cautious, as there are people they don't see often, but they are careful to live a normal life, perhaps because they perceive that there is no malice here.

In the middle of this, Bai Nai could see that there was a place in this space where only a part of the rock had been ejected. The place is obviously full of different energies, and the other Pokémon don't even try to get close to it.

"Hey, Mr. Dongyan. That stone."

“？ What happened? ”

"Isn't it surprisingly quiet over there?"

Where Sirona was pointing, the rock was exposed, and if you looked closely, there was no grass in that part. Also, I found that the Pokémon around it didn't try to get close to it at all.

"It's really weird. A hideout is basically a space that follows some kind of concept"

"What's wrong?"

"Hyota, you should know more about this. Do you know that? "

"No, I don't know the specifics, it's only been about a month since this hideout was discovered, and even the scholars haven't set foot in it."

"I see, but I'm curious, so let's explore a little bit."

Togan threw the shovel over his shoulder and began to walk towards where Sirona was pointing. Shirona and the others followed, and when they stepped inside, the atmosphere changed.

"The atmosphere has changed"

"It's better not to stay too long, let's cut down this stone and leave quickly."

Tougan put his hand on the small stone in the center of the strange space and said. Then use a shovel on your shoulder to break up the rocks.

"I'll help you too."

"Please"

Kota uses an ice axe to break the crushed rock of Dongyan into small pieces so that it can be easier to excavate. It looked like a rather hard rock, but the dexterous hands of the two dug into it, and soon reached the center. It's so fast that even Sirona and Kem can't match it with a little mining experience.

"Is this the craftsman?

"Really?"

Shirona is not bad for beginners, but she is still in the realm of "beginners". No matter how gifted and sane you are, you will not be able to surpass the effort and experience you have accumulated so easily.

While Sirona and Kem were admiring the Tugan's rapid mining, the Tugan's shovel touched something hard.

"This"

Dongyan switches to an ice axe and carefully digs through the objects that appear with Hyota. Then he picked it up and showed it to Sirona and Kaim.

"He's the reason why grass doesn't grow here."

"This is..."

The content on display was familiar to Sirona and the others. It was a thick purple plank, and a faint smell of poison could be felt from it.