Ash's Story (Part 6: Unova)

Chapter 47: Sun Beneath Sand

The Pokémon World Tournament did not feel bright anymore after the Frigate.

Yesterday, the building had been loud with cheering, tournament announcements, and battles that pushed everyone to show their best. Today, every metal support beam looked like something Team Plasma could hide behind, and every underground doorway made me think of cold machines moving beneath a normal city.

Cheren had already gone toward Route 6 to follow Zinzolin's warning, but we were still in Driftveil. Golly wanted the hidden routes documented before anyone pretended they were harmless. Eve wanted Alice watched without making Alice feel trapped. I wanted answers before Team Plasma escaped through another road under our feet.

Clay was busy with tournament officials, but one of his workers recognized us near the rear level. He said construction crews had found an older passage while rebuilding Cold Storage into the PWT, but Clay had ordered it blocked until proper inspection.

Golly's eyes narrowed immediately. "Blocked does not mean secured. It means someone decided rope was enough until something went wrong."

Eve looked toward the maintenance gate. "Team Plasma loves places where adults say something is probably fine."

Alice stood close beside me, her gaze already on the dark stone beyond the workers' lights. "If it connects to Castelia Sewers, it may explain how people keep moving without being seen."

The worker led us behind a locked gate and stopped at a stone arch half-buried by new construction. A newer sign called it Relic Tunnel, but the older carving under the dust still read Relic Passage.

Cilan leaned forward with careful excitement. "A hidden course beneath a tournament stage. This has the flavor of ambition built over buried history."

Iris folded her arms. "It smells more like dirt that has been sleeping too long."

"Sleeping ground still matters," Golly said. "Especially when someone wakes it without permission."

Pikachu shifted on my shoulder, ears lowering toward the dark.

Pikachu's meaning came soft and tense. "The floor is not quiet."

That was enough for me. "We go slowly. Nobody touches anything unless Golly says it is safe."

Golly gave me one short nod. Alice stayed beside my left shoulder, close enough that I felt her presence before I saw her hand brush mine.

The first stretch still belonged to Clay's workers. Fresh support beams held older stone, chalk marks showed weak places, and emergency lamps gave the dust a dull yellow glow. Farther in, the newer marks stopped. The passage grew warmer, drier, and older with every step.

Cilan kept his hand near the wall without touching it. "Castelia-style brick, Driftveil reinforcement, and Relic Castle stonework are blending here. This tunnel is a dish with too many forgotten ingredients."

Iris wrinkled her nose. "That is the worst food speech you have ever made."

Cilan sighed dramatically. "Even unpleasant flavors deserve respectful analysis."

Golly crouched near the floor where scuffed dust crossed the path. "Fresh marks."

"Workers?" Eve asked without looking away.

"Not unless Clay's workers carry narrow metal tools and drag something heavy behind them." Golly traced the marks with her eyes, not her fingers. "Someone entered after the official inspection stopped."

Eve's Liepard lowered her head and sniffed the mark, then stepped back with her tail stiff.

Liepard's meaning came smooth and cold. "Metal smell. Human hurry. Bad patience."