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Harry took a deep sip from his coffee as he slid into a small booth in the Sea Breeze Café. Sure he could have eaten for free in the Papas Academy cafeteria, but he wanted some privacy this morning. Judging by the dark circles underneath his eyes, it was clear he hadn't gotten much sleep the previous night, and his hands trembled as they retrieved a stack of books from within his backpack. Spreading everything out on the table, the young transfer student quickly checked his notes for the thirteenth time; his eyes growing wider as he realized what he'd stumbled upon. 

Two weeks earlier, Harry had first set foot in the Paldea Region. Having transferred into Papas Academy as a second-year student, he was quick to make friends with Ms. Raifort, the history teacher at Papas Academy as well as the cousin of Ms. Lenora, Harry's mentor and friend from Unova. Through a shared interest in Paldean history and their mutual friend, they formed a quick bond. It was through Raifort's class that Harry had learned about an old legend concerning four ancient and super-powerful Pokémon sealed in tombs around the region. It had taken nearly a week of asking, but Harry convinced Raifort to let him borrow her notes on the "Ruinous Quartet" as she called them in class. He hadn't expected to find anything new when a certain piece of information caught his eye. At some point in her studies, she had mentioned rumors of strange 'stakes' that were supposed to be keeping the Pokémon at bay. Cross referencing her 'notes' along with the original legend of the Pokémon, Harry discovered the locations of several of the stakes. Shortly afterwards, he began to notice patterns in how the stakes were placed around the map. As if they were... surrounding something. 

Flash forward to today and Harry sat in the café, finalizing his map. If his calculations were correct, he may have finally discovered the lost tombs of the Pokémon of Ruin! He was so engrossed in his work that he almost didn't hear the sound of flapping wings over his shoulder. Looking up, he saw his partner Striker the Rufflet hovering over him; a bag of doughnuts clutched in his talons.

[i][color=silver]"Huh? Oh, thanks buddy!"[/color][/i] Harry smiled as he took the bag, and waving to the lady behind the counter as Striker alighted on his trainer's shoulder. [i][color=silver]"This is it, Striker,"[/color][/i] said Harry as he took a hefty bite out of his doughnut. [i][color=silver]"If I did my math right, and if Ms. Raifort's reputation as an archeologist is half as good as Lenora's, then we may have found some of the most powerful Pokémon ever lost to history!"[/color][/i]

[i][color=red]"Rufflet!"[/color][/i] Striker chirped excitedly on Harry's shoulder. The little eaglet curiously looked down to inspect the map Harry had been furiously drawing upon since last night. Striker had always been a more curious type than others of his species. It was that inquisitive nature that had made him and Harry a perfect match in spite of the reason they'd been brought together in the first place. As Harry put down the finishing touches, he reached back into his bag and produced two leather-bound books; one scarlet and the other violet. 

[i][color=silver]"Let's see... even if the majority of these both focus on the Area Zero expeditions, the authors did offer some footnotes on Paldean history,"[/color][/i] said Harry as he furously flipped through the books until he found the right pages. [i][color=silver]"Even if we can open the tombs, these Pokémon were said to have destroyed the first great empire of Paldea... It'd be tough to battle any single one let alone catch them with our current skills..."[/color][/i] Striker's crest fell in line with Harry's. Harry had a rudimentary knowledge of competitive battling thanks to his mother, but it had never truly been his passion. Heck, the other two Pokémon he owned were ones he'd just happened to catch on sheer luck, one of which he could rarely even send out from its pokeball... Part of him considered going back and giving his information to Raifort, but she'd just form her own expedition and find the Pokémon for herself. She may not even believe Harry actually located the tombs. The more he thought about it, Harry wanted this to be HIS discovery, but he'd still need to either train himself up or recruit people to join him on his crazy crusade.

By this point, Harry had found himself so lost in thought that he didn't bother to notice a pair of eyes looking at him from one of the back corners of the Sea Breeze Café.