As Aggron grew more comfortable and mastered the nuances of Mega Evolution, Kashiwagi's confidence began to swell to unprecedented levels.
After all, a Mega Aggron is truly a powerhouse.
Not only did its base stats skyrocket across the board, but its reservoir of elemental energy seemed inexhaustible.
The silver-white steel armor, now covering almost every inch of its body, transformed it into a walking metal fortress. Its combat prowess had increased exponentially.
If Kashiwagi hadn't suspected that the Mirage Tower existed in a pocket dimension with some sort of magical self-healing property, he would have been tempted to let Mega Aggron tear the whole tower down.
Iris looked confused when he mumbled about "pushing through."
"Push through? Push what through?"
"Just walking straight ahead without a care in the world—I'm kidding,"
Kashiwagi waved a hand dismissively.
"Let's test the waters first. Maybe we can figure out the pattern for triggering these traps."
Adventure was one thing, but walking into a meat grinder for no reason was just bad strategy.
"Fine by me," Iris agreed without hesitation.
Though she felt the stone statues weren't much of a threat until they swarmed in larger numbers, she knew better than to pick a fight if she didn't have to.
Combat in a confined space was unpredictable—anything could happen.
"Alright, let's keep going."
Kashiwagi, unwilling to waste time, ordered Mawile to use Baton Pass, switching her out for Hydreigon.
"It's on you, Hydreigon. Fly over slowly and keep an eye out for anything suspicious. And remember, be ready to use Protect."
Mawile's Swords Dance boost was still active, so passing that energy to Hydreigon would be a huge help if a fight broke out.
Seeing this, Iris quickly sent out her Dragonite. "Dragonite, you go too!"
"Hydrei-g-o-n!"
"ROOOAR!"
Hydreigon took the lead, gliding forward.
Dragonite followed closely behind, feeling a surge of competitive spirit welling up as he watched the three-headed dragon.
However, he quickly shook it off. He knew this wasn't the right time for a spar.
The two dragons flew one after the other through the narrowing earthen corridor.
Kashiwagi and Iris followed behind, eyes glued to every inch of the walls.
Suddenly, as Dragonite passed a specific section, a crimson light flickered on the left wall.
"Left!" they shouted in unison.
The sand and soil on the wall bulged outward, rapidly coalescing into an Armaldo with glowing red eyes. The statue looked so lifelike that one would swear it was a living, breathing creature.
But before the statue could even move, Dragonite whipped around with lightning speed and slammed a fist into its head!
BOOM!
With a flash of blinding electricity, the sand and stone shattered. The headless Armaldo statue froze mid-motion, stuck in place.
Hydreigon, who had been ready to strike, silently lowered his left and right heads.
"So, it stops if you break its head?" Kashiwagi asked, turning to Iris. She nodded, confirming that all the Pokémon statues went inert once their heads were smashed.
"Check the ground—see if it dropped anything weird!" Kashiwagi called out.
Maybe there was a control core inside the statue's head?
It was the only explanation for why a creature made of packed sand and dirt would stop moving just because it lost its head.
Is this a zombie simulator?
Hydreigon scanned the floor, but found nothing. Instead, he saw the loose sand on the ground begin to move on its own, flowing upward like living liquid toward the headless Armaldo.
The shattered, sandy head was beginning to reform at a visible speed.
"Hydrei-g-o-n!"
"Got it," Kashiwagi replied to the dragon's warning.
So much for his theory about a core. The sand was reforming on its own—unless, of course, the core wasn't what it was reforming around.
At least, as Iris had said, the reconstruction process was slow. Kashiwagi glanced at his watch; at this rate, it would take the Armaldo at least two minutes to fully restore itself.
That brings up another question: Why didn't the wall react when Hydreigon flew past it earlier? Why did it only trigger when Dragonite got close?
Was it too slow to react to Hydreigon's speed? Or was it reacting, but it took time to "boot up"?
"Come back," Kashiwagi signaled.
According to Iris, if they left the floor, the statues would reset to their original positions—at least on the second and third floors.
The fourth floor was the tricky one. Once the fossil was taken, the statues' AI changed.
Even if she fell through a trapdoor to the bottom floor, the statues from the top would pursue her all the way down.
Time to refresh the floor and test the triggers.
He explained his plan to Iris. She wasn't annoyed in the slightest; she just called Dragonite back.
But just before Dragonite retreated, he took one last look at the reforming Armaldo statue with a sharp, predatory glint in his eyes.
"ROAR!"
With a rapid flurry of punches and flashing thunder, Dragonite pulverized the remaining upper torso of the statue into fine dust, filling the hallway with a cloud of grit.
"Your Dragonite is a bit on the violent side, isn't he?" Kashiwagi said, waving away the dust.
He was the "Little Tyrant" of the group, after all.
He wondered what Elder Aoyagi would think if he saw this Dragonite, given how much he complained about Kashiwagi's Hydreigon being "too aggressive."
"Ah-ha-ha..." Iris laughed awkwardly, looking at her returning Dragonite with a helpless expression.
The two trainers and their three Pokémon descended to the first floor and came back up.
Sure enough, the Armaldo statue was gone, and the corridor was as clean as if no one had ever set foot there.
This time, Kashiwagi decided to send Hydreigon in alone. He wanted to see if the mechanism truly ignored him, or if there was something else at play.
"Hydrei-g-o-n!"
Hydreigon nodded and glided forward at a steady, moderate pace.
Kashiwagi held his breath as they reached the spot where the statue had previously triggered. He braced for an explosion of sand and red light—but the walls remained completely silent.
Nothing.
Hydreigon flew past the danger zone without a hitch, reached the far corner of the corridor, and lazily drifted back to their side.
"Do the traps change positions?" Kashiwagi asked Iris.
Iris blinked, looking completely blank. "I have no idea."
"…Mind if Dragonite tries again?" Kashiwagi asked, glancing at the dragon. Dragonite was standing nearby, looking visibly offended by the previous failure.
Oh? Kashiwagi noted internally. This guy really has a massive chip on his shoulder regarding Hydreigon, doesn't he?
"Of course! Dragonite, it's up to you!" Iris shouted.
With his trainer's go-ahead, the restless Dragonite didn't wait. He shot forward like a cannonball, moving at a speed far exceeding Hydreigon's cautious pace.
"He's going too fast!" Kashiwagi's face dropped.
As Dragonite surged ahead, a flurry of crimson lights erupted along the walls. One after another, dozens of Armaldo statues tore their way out of the stone, practically clogging the narrow corridor.
"This is a disaster! Get him back here!"
Kashiwagi shouted, directing Hydreigon to support the dragon. "Use Dragon Pulse!"
"Hydrei-g-o-n!"
Hydreigon's three heads opened wide, unleashing a trio of vibrant dragon-energy streams that coalesced into a roaring, radiant dragon.
It slammed into the front line of the Armaldo statues, shattering them into piles of rubble and triggering a chain reaction that sent several others crumbling.
Kashiwagi exhaled, feeling a moment of relief. The statues were numerous, but they weren't exactly durable—provided everything went according to plan.
But of course, nothing ever did.
Before he could react, Iris and Fraxure were already charging into the fray.
"Dragonite! Get back here!"
"The two of you, get back here too!"
Kashiwagi was stunned. He hadn't expected them to dive headfirst into a swarm of golems.
Their agile, monkey-like movements allowed them to weave through the chaos with ease, but their reckless charge made it impossible for Hydreigon to use his wide-range energy attacks without hitting them.
No time to overthink this. We need to reach a pitfall trap and drop back to the first floor!
He jumped onto Hydreigon's back and raced after them.
...
Five Minutes Later — First Floor
Kashiwagi stared down at the trio kneeling before him: Iris and Fraxure were hanging their heads in genuine shame, while Dragonite looked off to the side, maintaining a defiant, "I-don't-care" attitude.
"If you pull a stunt like that again, I'm kicking you out," Kashiwagi said coldly.
"I'd rather navigate this place alone than deal with teammates who only know how to cause trouble."
"I'm sorry..." Iris whispered.
"Frax... frax..."
"And you? Do you understand?"
He turned his gaze to Dragonite. The dragon was so tall that even kneeling, he was almost eye-level with Kashiwagi.
Under Kashiwagi's piercing stare, the "Little Tyrant" actually felt a flicker of insecurity and avoided eye contact.
Iris and Fraxure watched in utter shock; they had never seen Dragonite back down from anyone, stranger or otherwise.
"I'm waiting for an answer. I need to hear it!" Kashiwagi raised his voice.
"ROAR!"
"I can't hear you!"
"ROAAAAR!" Dragonite bellowed back at him, clearly furious.
Kashiwagi's expression didn't shift by a millimeter.
"I expect you to mean it."
He'd faced down a Legendary Pokémon like Raikou; he certainly wasn't going to be intimidated by a moody Dragonite.
He pushed the drama aside and refocused on the problem. Hydreigon didn't trigger the sensors, but Dragonite did. There had to be a technical difference.
What was it?
Kashiwagi narrowed his eyes. His best guess? Color absorption.
Hydreigon's body was covered in midnight-black fur, which theoretically absorbed almost all light.
If the sensors relied on reflecting light beams, Hydreigon might be effectively "invisible" to the mechanism, while Dragonite's lighter color reflected them perfectly.
He returned to the second-floor hallway, pulled out his phone, and switched to the camera function.
Looking through the screen, he could clearly see that the walls, which appeared empty to the naked eye, were pulsing with rhythmic, flickering red lights.
"Infrared... sensors?"
Kashiwagi couldn't be 100% sure, but it was the best explanation. He gestured for Iris to take a look. She peered at the glowing red dots on the screen, her eyes wide with wonder.
"What is that?"
"A specialized sensor beam. I'm not entirely certain, but I have a theory."
He shook his head and began pulling black raincoats out of his pack.
"I think I've found a way to pass safely. Stay here for a second; I'm going to test it."
Iris looked baffled, but before she could protest, she watched Kashiwagi and Hydreigon stroll confidently into the hallway.
"Wait! Hey—stop!"
Didn't he just lecture me about not taking unnecessary risks?
But to her astonishment, Kashiwagi and Hydreigon walked the entire length of the hallway without a single trap triggering.
No stone statues lunged, no hidden walls opened—they even spent a moment goofing around at the far end just to prove a point.
"How?" Iris asked, her head tilted so far it looked like it might fall off.
Dragonite and Fraxure were equally confused.
"It's a long story..."
He gave a simplified explanation about how the color black absorbs light and how infrared sensors work by detecting reflections.
Iris listened, her eyes glazing over until she looked like she was about to start emitting smoke.
"Basic education is important, Miss Iris. You skipped class a lot back home, didn't you?" he sighed.
Iris blushed crimson. "That's because school is boring!"
"I can tell you aren't the type to sit still," Kashiwagi chuckled. He pulled a second black raincoat from his bag.
"Put this on. Keep your Dragonite in his ball for now. Follow my movements exactly."
Fraxure was small enough that if they were careful, they could navigate the "infrared grid" without issue.
"Okay!" Iris nodded.
Truth be told, ever since she started hanging around Ash, her adventuring style had become... well, impulsive.
She usually relied on her sharp sixth sense to dodge danger, but navigating a trap-filled ruin with actual logic and planning was a first. It felt incredibly...
novel.
...
The Top Floor
Before long, they passed the second and third floors without a hitch and reached the stairs leading to the fourth and final level.
Iris started to scramble up, but Kashiwagi blocked her path.
"Wait. You said those statues that hunted you don't disappear, right? For all we know, they're waiting right on the other side."
"You think so?"
"Better safe than sorry. Let's observe first."
He peeked into the top floor. The lighting was surprisingly bright—not just from the walls, but from the ceiling as well.
The top floor wasn't a labyrinth of crooked hallways, but a vast, open chamber.
In the very center sat a high stone platform, and sitting proudly atop it was Iris's missing backpack.
"I see your bag. And there aren't any statues nearby," Kashiwagi whispered.
"You said there weren't any when you first arrived, but as soon as you grabbed the fossils, a whole army woke up?"
"Yeah, exactly!" she nodded emphatically.
So the tower exists solely to guard two fossils? Kashiwagi mused.
It seemed like a lot of trouble to build an entire interdimensional tower just for that. But then again, this clearly wasn't a modern structure; the ancient world had its own strange priorities.
They entered the chamber, Kashiwagi scanning the area with his phone.
No red dots.
It seemed the trigger for the entire top floor really was linked to the fossils themselves.
He walked up to the stone platform. He didn't touch the luggage, and he signaled Iris to keep her distance while he searched the area for inscriptions or ancient texts.
Surely a tower this massive has some kind of lore? Surprisingly, it didn't.
Kashiwagi circled the platform seven or eight times. He scanned the walls with his flashlight, even running his hands along the stone, but found absolutely nothing.
Not a single letter.
"Geez, my first time uncovering an ancient mystery and it's just one giant 'no comment'?"
He snapped a few photos with his camera just to have some proof.
It was a shame the statues didn't drop anything useful when they were smashed—he could have used the raw materials for future projects.
"That's that, I suppose," Kashiwagi said, packing away his camera with a sigh.
"Let's get out of here."
"Right." Iris nodded, reaching out for her bag.
"Hold it!"
He stopped the impatient dragon-tamer in her tracks and released Porygon from its ball.
"I have a much better, safer way to handle this."