Pokémon: Start with an Admiral Crab!

"We're here. The house with the light on in front is my home."

After dusk, Wang Yao and old man Yamada walked along the trail together, leisurely strolling up the mountain.

Mr. Yamada’s home is a two-story hut with a pointed roof. The main body of the house is supported by several wooden pillars, and the walls are made of large and small stones.

There were many vines growing in the cracks of the stone walls, climbing up along the walls, covering most of the roof with green.

“It’s quite quiet here.”

Wang Yao had come here once in the afternoon, but he did not go near the house. He strolled around the pool at the edge of the cliff and then went down the mountain.

"This is because my wife Hotaru likes to do divination at home..."

Mr. Yamada does not live alone, but lives with his wife.

"And divination requires a quiet environment... We originally lived near the market."

Old man Yamada stood in front of the door and explained, then raised his hand and pushed open the door.

"Divination?"

Wang Yao was somewhat unfamiliar with this term.

He had been traveling for more than half a year, but it seemed that he had never heard of any researchers in this kind of "mysticism".

Even the Golden Gym, which is famous for being a gathering place for people with super powers, uses a scientific approach to learning and strengthening super powers.

"I'm back……"

Yamada put the crutch in his hand into the iron bucket behind the door and put it away. After entering the house, he changed into a pair of comfortable cotton slippers.

"Oh - never mind, just step right in."

Old man Yamada turned around and noticed that Wang Yao raised his foot hesitantly, and reminded him with a smile.

"I have 'Xiaoxiao' at home to help with cleaning. We only have guests occasionally, so I don't mind getting the floor dirty."

"Smile...is it a Pokémon?"

Wang Yao put aside his worries and followed old man Yamada into the house.

"It's my wife's Pokémon, a cursed doll that loves to smile."

Elder Yamada explained.

"Wow~" (The call is taken from Pokémon Advanced Episode 122, "The Final Battle! Grand Celebration (3)!!", but this little thing has many different calls, including "Ka La", "Wow", "Ji Ka"... Just pick the one that best fits the name.)

As he was speaking, a black shadow with sharp horns suddenly popped out from the ground with a loud scream.

The cursed doll opened its two bandaged hands and stared at Wang Yao with its pair of red eyes.

"Oh my - you're here just as I mentioned you. Sorry, our Xiaoxiao really likes to play pranks!"

Old man Yamada "pulled" the cursed doll out from under the floor, touched the other's head and said.

"Wow~"

The cursed doll floated to old man Yamada's shoulder, supported its head with both hands, and leisurely shook its tattered bag-like body behind its head.

"Mother-in-law, I have predicted that there will be guests visiting today~"

A somewhat hoarse voice came from the direction of the bedroom.

Then, a man wearing a purple wizard robe and a pointed hat appeared...

The old woman, holding a staff with a huge crystal ball on top, walked out of the bedroom slowly.

Judging from the image, the other person should be Mr. Yamada's wife, the fortune teller Granny Hotari.

"Hello, Granny. My name is Ayao, and I'm a trainer from Kanto."

Wang Yao greeted politely.

"Fate has crossed my path, young man...you are special."

Granny Hotaru held the crystal ball on the top of her cane in front of her eyes and looked at Wang Yao through the crystal ball.

Then he spoke in a mysterious voice.

"Your arrival will bring unprecedented changes to the Seven Islands - the future is uncertain, just like your past is unpredictable!"

As she spoke, the hesitation and confusion in Granny Hotaru's tone became more and more intense.

"Strange, really strange... I have never seen anything like this before..."

Granny Hotaryu frowned and muttered.

"Um……"

Wang Yao's eyelids jumped...

Oh no, this old woman doesn't really know something? !

"Okay, okay - don't tell everyone you meet that they are special..."

Old man Yamada shook his head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"I've been hearing this for more than 40 years... and I haven't seen anyone emerge who can completely change the Seven Islands."

Old man Yamada complained to his wife.

"Don't believe her nonsense - I was deceived in this way when I was young..."

Old man Yamada turned his head and whispered in Wang Yao's ear.

"Even Nobuko was described by her as a big shot who was 'involved in countless world lines'..."

"But now he's fifteen or sixteen years old, and he still runs to the mountain and throws stones every day?"

Elder Yamada gave an example.

"what?"

Wang Yao understood...

You should try your luck first, right? It turns out he is such a "fortune teller"!

Everyone he meets says that he is the chosen one and that he always gets lucky.

"Okay, come with me to the utility room - that's where all the items I collected during my previous adventures are stored."

As he spoke, old man Yamada took Wang Yao and walked towards the storage room in the corner of the house.

"..."

Granny Hotaryu silently put away her cane.

Although I did deceive the old man because I was greedy for beauty...

And the fortune-telling of that girl Nobuko is just nonsense to coax a child...

But this time, she did predict something special, but it was not clear from the image in the crystal ball alone.

If she could prepare the divination materials carefully and try again, perhaps she would be able to see the truth.

"This is the rubbing of the three stone carvings."

Old man Yamada took out several pieces of old papers of different sizes from the drawer in the utility room and spread them out on the table.

Because the original stone carvings were very large, these rubbings were also pieced together using pieces of paper.

Just one complete stone carving rubbing is three meters square...only a small part of it can be placed on the small table.

"Because the underground space where these stone carvings of gods are located is very dark, the camera's effect is not good...so we can only preserve them by rubbing them."

Elder Yamada explained.

In fact, there is another reason, that is, the cameras forty years ago were not only too large and not portable enough, but also the image clarity was not good enough.

Yamada never bought a camera when he was young.

If it were now, even with the old edition of the atlas in Wang Yao's hand, he could easily take clear photos of the stone carvings or scan out a complete 3D model.

This is the power of technology.

"It doesn't matter. Just look at the main image of the beast."

Wang Yao is not an archaeologist.

He only cares about the Pokémon in these ancient stone carvings.

"Where are the other two?"

The rubbing in front of you is a complete picture of Phoenix King. This original rubbing is much clearer than the simplified agate plate pattern.

You can also see the Ho-Oh spitting flames towards the ground, and on both sides of the flames are two armies holding weapons and riding various war beasts.

Judging from the general idea of ​​the stone carving, this should be a war that was forcibly quelled by the Phoenix King using his sacred fire.

This is something that the Phoenix King would do...

Wang Yao remembered that in the neighboring Johto region, the "holy fire" used in the Silver Conference was passed down in this way.