Julian searched the entire house, but as expected, he found nothing useful.
Many pieces of Pokémon-related technology had been discovered in seemingly ordinary houses like this one. After all, there was no way to know who the original owner was.
They could have been an ordinary person, an Elite Trainer, or even a Pokémon scholar.
That was why, whenever a new ruin was discovered, every single room was thoroughly inspected—multiple times. Even the trash on the streets was sifted through, just in case there was something of value.
The Ancient Kingdom Ruins had appeared in Drakoria decades ago. The Drakorian government had explored it no fewer than a hundred times. Forget the trash on the streets—they had even scoured the sewers countless times.
Finding anything valuable in this place now was practically impossible.
The Dowsing Machine was only effective for finding treasures. If Julian was hoping to find knowledge or technology, the device would be of no use—it wasn't designed to detect such things. Finding those would require pure luck.
By looking at the items in the house, he could easily tell that it once belonged to an ordinary family.
If it had been the residence of a Pokémon scholar, there would have been traces of books and records related to Pokémon research.
When Pokémon first appeared in this world, humans knew nothing about them. There was even a period of conflict, with humans waging war against the Pokémon out of fear.
It wasn't until ruins began to appear that people discovered Pokémon-related knowledge. Only then did they slowly start to understand and coexist with Pokémon.
The discovery of Poké Ball technology in these ruins further strengthened the bond between humans and Pokémon, making it easier for them to travel and battle together.
Stepping out of the house, Julian decided not to bother searching any more homes. His curiosity was satisfied, and there was little chance of finding anything worthwhile in the other buildings.
"Let's go check out the castle."
At the heart of the city stood a grand castle, once the residence of the king and his children. It was the central landmark of the entire ruin.
With Metagross's speed, it took only a few minutes to reach the castle's airspace. Julian glanced at the Dowsing Machine in his hand, but not a single red dot appeared.
"Just how thoroughly did they clean this place out…"
Julian sighed in frustration. He had hoped that the castle might hold Magearna's Soul-Heart, but there wasn't even the faintest sign of treasure—no red dots at all.
Clearly, the Drakorian government had already searched the place countless times. Whether they recognized the items or not, anything remotely resembling a relic had long been taken for research.
"Damn… the Soul-Heart better be in this ruin. Otherwise, this whole trip will have been for nothing."
Thinking that the Soul-Heart might have already been taken by the government, Julian immediately felt a pang of frustration. If that were the case, not only would this entire trip be a waste of time, but he would have also wasted a precious ruin-entry ticket.
After all, Magearna without its Soul-Heart had been reduced to nothing more than a stone sphere, which was brought outside the ruins, but after research it was deemed worthless and eventually circulated into the public.
There was also another possibility that the Dowsing Machine might simply be unable to locate the Soul-Heart. Since it was a part of Magearna's body rather than a treasure, it might not register on the device at all.
If that was the case, then he'd better give up. Finding a needle in a haystack was simply not something for a jinx like him.
He landed in the castle's central. The grayish-white walls exuded a sense of history, and the entire structure was massive. As he wandered through the castle, he eventually arrived at the back garden.
The lake's water was crystal clear, and the surrounding grass and trees were lush and vibrant.
In the garden, Julian spotted the first Pokémon he had seen in the ruins—a Beautifly sipping nectar from a flower. Its strength was at the peak of Elite level.
Beautifly, like Butterfree, was a Pokémon with a relatively short lifespan. In the wild, they typically lived for only three to four years—a common plight for most Bug-types.
Because of their rapid evolution, their natural lifespan was relatively brief.
A Wurmple could evolve into a Beautifly in as little as a month.
In that same month, most other Pokémon were still in their infancy.
Of course, as a Pokémon's strength increased, so did its lifespan.
The Beautifly before him, having reached the peak of Elite level, could easily live for over eighteen years.
Upon seeing a creature it had never encountered before, the Beautifly quickly flew away.
Three days later, Julian had scoured the entire Ancient Kingdom Ruins. During his exploration, he had encountered five Elite-level Pokémon and even spotted a pseudo-champion-level Pokémon.
However, he didn't have any conflicts with the latter.
Within the ruins, capturing Pokémon was strictly forbidden unless authorized.
Over the course of those three days, the Dowsing Machine had occasionally displayed some red dots, but none of them were what Julian was looking for.
Lying on a bed in one of the houses, he stared at the ceiling and muttered, "The worst-case scenario has come true. This is going to be tricky…"
The lack of any Soul-Heart signal from the Dowsing Machine meant that one of his earlier guesses was correct.
Either the Soul-Heart was no longer in the ruins and had already been taken outside.
Or, it was still somewhere within the ruins but couldn't be detected because it wasn't classified as a treasure.
Above him, Celebi fluttered around impatiently. "This place is so boring, when are we leaving?"
Even Celebi wasn't having fun. There wasn't even the thrill of treasure hunting here—just a bunch of powerful Pokémon wandering around.
"Tomorrow," Julian replied.
Since he couldn't find the Soul-Heart, there was no point in staying any longer.
Once he left, he could only ask his grandpa to look into where the relics and artifacts from this ruin had been transported.
If the Soul-Heart had indeed been taken, there was a chance that it had been dismissed as a mere trinket during inspection. It could have ended up discarded, just like Magearna, and eventually drifted into the outside world.
Thinking of this, Julian took out Magearna from his system storage.
Since it had lost its Soul-Heart, Magearna was nothing more than a lifeless object now, which was why it could be stored inside the system space.
In its current state, Magearna was in its Poké Ball-like form—a small, spherical shape. This was its dormant appearance. It had a metallic texture to the touch, cold and smooth, but completely devoid of life. Right now, it was nothing more than a decorative ornament.
"I'll do my best to help you find your Soul-Heart," Julian murmured with a sigh.
As a Steel-type Mythical Pokémon—one that was artificially created—Magearna was unique.
Though the Soul-Heart was its power source, it was also the true essence of Magearna itself. What Julian was holding was merely its shell.
Celebi: "What's this thing? A giant Poké Ball?"
It was Celebi's first time seeing Magearna.
"It's called Magearna. I came here specifically for it," Julian explained.
When he had obtained Magearna, Celebi hadn't been by his side yet. Back then, it was still living peacefully in the forest—snacking on berries, drinking dew, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle with a natural diet and proper rest.
Unlike now, where it stayed up all night gaming and binged on junk food.
It had really gone from Celebi to 'Cele-pig'.
*****
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