337. The Mysterious Broadcast and the Hidden Chamber
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Since he had already agreed to Foster's request, Kai headed into the ruins alongside Sabrina.
They entered the nearest stone chamber first. Although it was still broad daylight outside, the interior was dim and gloomy. With no power or lighting, Kai had to flick on his flashlight just to see what was in front of him.
The bright beam swept across the stone walls, revealing… not much.
The room was empty. Even the markings on the walls—faint carvings that vaguely resembled writing—had been worn down by time and weather, now barely legible.
He stepped closer and slowly ran his fingers across the stone etchings, feeling the worn grooves and the sense of age they carried.
Turning to Sabrina, he asked, "Anything strange around here?"
Sabrina closed her eyes and extended her psychic senses outward. A long moment passed before she shook her head.
"Nothing. It just feels… still. Like a desert or a stone—something ordinary. There's no disturbance at all."
Kai didn't seem surprised.
It made sense. Foster and his team had probably combed through this place dozens of times already. If there was anything obvious to be found, someone else would've found it by now.
And clearly, Foster didn't expect him to use conventional methods to begin with.
They moved on, checking the second chamber, then the third. But it was the same story—empty rooms, weathered walls, and no clues in sight.
This isn't working. We're wasting our time.
Standing in the hallway, Kai sifted through memories from the games—specifically, any scenes involving this ruin. He mentally retraced every detail, then made up his mind.
He briskly exited the chamber and approached Foster.
"Do you have a radio?"
Foster blinked. "A radio? What for?"
Kai couldn't exactly explain, so he just said vaguely, "I've got a theory, and I want to test it out."
Foster's eyes lit up. He hadn't really expected Kai to uncover anything serious—just figured that as a Champion, maybe he had a different perspective. But now… maybe there was something here after all.
A radio, though…
Foster hesitated. These days, radios are rare—mostly used by older folks. And out here in the middle of nowhere? Even if they had one, there weren't any local stations to tune into.
Still, he didn't hesitate for long.
"Hold on. I'll get someone to find one."
He pulled out his phone and made a hurried call. About half an hour later, a panting researcher came jogging in from the distance, carrying a compact, relatively new radio.
"F-Found one!"
Kai took the radio with a mix of hope and uncertainty. Truth be told, he had no idea if this would actually work—but it was better to try than to give up.
He returned to the ruins with the radio in hand. Foster and a few other researchers, curious about what was going to happen next, followed close behind.
Kai ignored the onlookers, switched on the radio, and—unsurprisingly—heard nothing but static. Out here, far from any major cities, there was no signal to pick up. The radio crackled with loud bursts of white noise.
Still, he patiently turned the tuning knob, slowly rotating it from the low frequencies upward.
Everyone held their breath. Even Gengar floated silently in the air, curious to see what Kai was trying to do.
10.5… 12.1… 12.8… 13…
Then—at 13.5—something happened.
"Krrzzzt… Beep… krrzt… whoooo…"
The signal was faint, riddled with static and distortion—but it was definitely something.
Foster's eyes widened. "Is that—?"
"Shh." Kai raised a hand, signaling for silence.
He didn't adjust the dial any further. Instead, he cranked up the volume and started walking toward the nearest chamber.
As he moved, the strange signal grew slightly clearer. He quickly changed direction—and the signal became even stronger.
Eventually, when he reached one specific chamber, the static vanished completely.
Now, the signal was crystal clear.
"Unbelievable…" Foster whispered in awe.
He listened closely. The transmission sounded like a soft flute melody, interwoven with the cry of a birdlike Pokémon.
The researchers lit up. They whipped out notebooks and began recording every detail they could.
But when they peered into the stone chamber from which the signal was strongest… it looked just like all the others. Empty. Ordinary.
"What now?" one of them asked.
Kai stepped forward and studied one of the chamber's inner walls. Then he turned to Gengar.
"Phase through it. See what's on the other side."
"Got it."
With all eyes on him, Gengar drifted forward and vanished into the wall—then almost immediately popped back out.
"There's a room behind it!"
"What?!"
The researchers gasped. It was a massive discovery. They had looked for secret chambers before—but with so many stone rooms to check, they'd stopped after a few fruitless attempts.
Who would've thought that one of these unassuming chambers would be hiding a sealed-off room?
Kai ran his hand along the wall, trying to feel for a switch or mechanism—but found nothing. He turned to Foster.
"You trust me, right?"
"Of course!" Foster said without hesitation. "If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have found this at all. This could be a huge breakthrough!"
"Then let's break down the wall."
"Wait, what? But—"
Foster hesitated. This was still a historical site. Even a single stone here was a priceless artifact. Breaking the wall would mean damaging the integrity of the ruins.
But there was no other way inside.
After a brief moment of consideration, Foster made his decision.
He instructed the team to avoid using Pokémon or heavy equipment, opting instead for hammers and chisels—carefully chipping away at the stone little by little.
It would take time. And it would be slow work.
While the researchers were busy, Kai and Sabrina returned to the research center's cafeteria for lunch. By the time they got back, the team had already carved open a narrow passage into the hidden chamber.
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