1. Ash's Story (Part 10: Galar)

Chapter 95: The Locked Giants

Back at Peony's base camp, the festival warmth still clung to my coat, but the Crown Tundra already felt ready to hand us another mystery. Elena spread the second Legendary Clue across the table and smoothed the creases with both hands.

"So what does it say?" I asked.

"It is split into four parts," Elena said. "I will read the first one."

Alice leaned closer while Peony's handmade flag snapped outside the window. Pikachu sat beside the table, ears high, and watched the paper as if it might start moving on its own.

Elena took a breath. "Near where green meets snow in the Giant's Bed lies a temple where the giant of steel sleeps. On the temple's door are strange words. The door remains firmly shut."

"The giant of steel," I said. "Registeel."

Alice nodded. "But we already have Regirock, Regice, and Registeel from Hoenn. We do not need to capture them again."

"Right," I said. "We visit, document the clue, and leave the sleeping ones alone."

Elena looked relieved. "Good. I prefer not to wake ancient giants unless the expedition actually requires it."

My Rotom Phone rang before we reached the door. Elena answered, and Peony's voice burst through loudly enough that Pikachu flinched.

"Oi, Chief! How are things? Found anything ruiny-looking yet?"

"We found the first temple clue," Elena said.

"That has got to be one of those places where the legendary giants are supposed to be!" Peony shouted. "A door with mysterious writing and no one able to open it? I would call this adventure the Terrible Titans, Lurking Locked Away!"

Alice covered a smile. Elena closed her eyes.

"Uncle, please do not title danger before we know how dangerous it is."

Peony laughed. "I eagerly leave the research in your hands!"

The call ended. Elena folded the clue and stood. "I hate that his title probably fits."

Elena packed the clue with more care than usual. After Calyrex's expedition, her report folder had stopped being only Peony's assignment and had become something closer to a promise. If the Crown Tundra kept old truths in strange places, we owed those truths clean records.

I checked our supplies before we left: the Rotom Phone map, cold-weather gear, spare food, and the stamped Calyrex report. Before we set out, Alice and I also called Regirock, Regice, and Registeel, our roaming Hoenn partners, so they could answer the final temple's riddle if the clue required them.

Alice noticed my hand pause over the three balls. "It feels strange using them to open a different region's temple."

"Maybe legends cross borders better than people think," I said. "The Hoenn giants may understand this better than anyone."

The Giant's Bed looked different now that Calyrex had restored life to the tundra. Green touched the edges of snow where the fields had once looked hopeless, and new shoots pushed through stubborn soil.

The Iron Ruins stood near that meeting of green and white. The door was sealed by old markings, and the air around it held the patience of something that had not cared about human schedules for centuries.

I stepped closer and traced the raised marks without pressing too hard. "Braille."

Alice smiled a little. "I almost forgot you could read it."

"It helped in Hoenn," I said. "Some lessons stay useful."

Elena handed me the clue, and I compared the broken writing with the marks on the door. The old riddle slowly came together beneath my fingers.