David steadied himself and pressed his right hand against the Lugia carving.
Before doing so, he had retrieved his system-granted gloves from his bag and pulled them on — a precaution more than anything, but he wasn't about to take unnecessary risks. Sure enough, a brief search of the pattern confirmed what he had suspected: a hidden switch, worked into the carving itself. He pressed it without hesitation. There was no alternative. Waiting here would accomplish nothing, and having Kirlia attempt a blind Teleport to an unknown location was hardly safer — the last thing he wanted was to end up phased into solid stone.
A soft click echoed through the passage, and a thin crack split the previously seamless wall.
David pulled Zorua back before it could dart forward.
"Lucario, Zorua — stay sharp and be ready to battle."
"Kirlia, hold off on Flash for now. Stay ready to Teleport on my signal."
Rather than stepping through himself, David extended a thread of Aura and let it nudge the cracked door open from a distance. No blinding sunlight waited on the other side — not that he had really expected any. What greeted him instead was a stone staircase, climbing upward into the dark.
The steps were cracked and thick with dust. Iron oil lamps lined both walls at intervals, their brackets eaten through with rust, the whale-oil reservoirs inside long since dried out. Cobwebs draped everything. Whatever this place was, no one had set foot here in a very long time — David guessed at least a century, possibly more.
"No other options," he said quietly. "We go up and find a way out. Keep your guard up, and Kirlia — stay ready."
✦ ✦ ✦
The staircase was not long. The secret passage had only been ten or twenty meters below ground, and within a few minutes the group emerged fully into the open air of the structure above.
David stopped and looked around.
His earlier guess had been right. This was a temple.
"A side hall — we got teleported directly into the secret passage of a side hall. Of all the places to end up."
The layout was unmistakable. The hall followed the classical temple design of the old Cloudspire Empire: a raised divine seat at the far end, flanked on both sides by stone carvings of Dragonite standing sentinel. Every surface — walls, pillars, even the ceiling — was covered in lightning-bolt motifs, divine bird patterns, and faded murals. At the center of the divine seat stood a statue, worn and chipped by time, but still recognizable.
Zapdos.
This was a side hall dedicated to the God of Thunder.
According to historical records, Lugia — the Deity of the Sea, more precisely the guardian of ocean currents and monsoon winds — was said to have three subordinate deities: the God of Thunder, the God of Fire, and the God of Ice, each responsible for helping Lugia maintain the world's climate. During the Imperial Era, every Lugia temple within the Cloudspire Empire followed the same architectural plan: one main hall enshrining Lugia, and three side halls for the three Legendary Birds. A Ho-Oh temple, by contrast, would replace the Birds with the three Legendary Beasts.
A Zapdos hall placed here meant this was almost certainly the left wing of the temple complex.
David noted all of this with a practiced eye, but his attention had already moved elsewhere — to something resting on an ancient stone tray before the Zapdos throne. It had been sitting there, untouched, through however many decades of dust and decay. And it still shone.
A single feather, long and elegant, radiating a warm golden light threaded through with the faint crackle of electricity.
Even without checking his records, David knew exactly what it was.
A Feather of Zapdos — a genuine tail feather from the God of Thunder, saturated with Electric-type energy and imbued with Zapdos's own Aura. According to what he knew, a feather like this could suppress most Electric-type Pokémon and bird Pokémon in its presence, simply by existing.
He approached carefully and ran a quick check. No traps. No residual energy signatures that suggested it was warded. He collected it without another moment's hesitation.
"Yes!"
He caught himself before he actually jumped. The feather sat safely stored away, and David allowed himself a moment of genuine satisfaction. This was a legendary resource — not quite on the level of something like the Silver Wing, but far beyond any ordinary Zapdos feather. Something this rare would drive Electric-type specialists to ruin themselves trying to obtain it.
"I suppose not every accident is a bad thing," he thought.
Then his mind moved naturally to what else might be here.
If the God of Thunder's hall held Zapdos's feather, then the halls of the God of Fire and the God of Ice might contain their own offerings. And beyond that — the main hall. Lugia's hall. If he dared to hope for a moment… the Silver Wing…
The thought was enough to get him moving. He gathered his Pokémon and turned toward the hall's entrance, eager to press on before anyone else stumbled onto this place.
Then he heard footsteps.
They came from just outside — measured, unhurried, drawing closer. David went still instantly. He scanned the hall. It was large, but sparsely furnished; there weren't many places that offered real concealment.
He made a decision quickly. He bent down and murmured something into Zorua's ear.
Then he calmly drew his Pokémon close and pressed back against the wall to one side, waiting