There was a commotion outside.

Chu-e chose to ignore it.

Until he no longer could, as it seemed that commotion was his partner. He turned to glance at the other, then gasped and his eyes lit up. "It's cool!" He said, quick, before walked over, starstruck- not looking at Maverick, but at the large Houndoom by his side. "I'm Ji-Hoon Ki, nice to meet you or whatever. Is this pretty girl yours? Oh gosh. Can I pet her?" Even without knowing who he was, Maverick had found his weakness... cute dogs and cats.

Chu-e was suddenly much less interested in exploring the depths of the ruins and just interested in petting this dog. He wished he had some treats on him. Oh, he would have absolutely spoiled Azula if he was given then chance.

Then, Chu-e actually, like, looked at maverick noah ryder. A proper look. Which made him do a double take. "Hey, aren't you that Gym Leader guy?" Real descriptive, Choi.

Oh, Chu-e was absolutely pleased at the reaction that Azula gave. He just gave a small laugh at the growl, not intimidated at all despite the fact she could probably bite him in half. But, since she didn't seem to want his attention, Chu-e would reluctantly turn it back to maverick noah ryder.

"Maverick? That's really fancy." It was good that Mav had told him... because while Chu-e vaguely recognized him as a gym leader, he didn't really have anything about him memorized. Most of the Gym Leaders Chu-e might recognize if he looked at them but it wasn't like he was one of those people who stalked their Piki pages. Or particularly cared about them, unless he personally knew them.

Looking around, Chu-e stepped a little further into the room and raised his arms up. "Yeah, it's just a lot of sand in here. I think there's water deeper down. Also really dark." Which, with that in mind, Chu-e took the time to pluck out one of his own pokeballs and release a pokemon of his own. A Morelull, which yawned, shaking herself. Chu-e placed her on his shoulder so her Illuminate could surround him in an aura of light. Spore wasn't as strong as their flashlights but she could light up a wider area around them. A small trade off.

Instead of answering, Chu-e trudged forward, towards the only opening. He stepped inside, curiously looking around... and then vanished. "Ack!" There was a splash, his voice echoing in the tunnel. Just on the other side of the door was a hole, which Chu-e had stepped in, the tunnel partially collapsed. However, it did lead into a deeper part of the tomb. "I'm okay!" He called out from below. Pushing himself up, Chu-e tried to shake the water off his clothes as if it would help. It was about ankle deep and seemed to be running deeper into the ruins. "There's a lot more stuff down here! Pottery... uh... well, most of it looks broken."

maverick noah ryder had some good questions. Taking a better look around, Chu-e tried to figure out if they could get out. "Hmm... yeah, there's a slope I could probably climb up. Or my pokemon could get us out!" Be it his Togekiss airlifting them out or one of his psychic types levitating them, they certainly wouldn't be trapped down nay holes unless something stupid happened.

"There's another room down here I bet we could go down! Just hope you don't mind getting wet!" Since Chu-e was the type of person who would die first in a horror movie, he went ahead and moved towards the doorway in question, this time taking a better look before stepping through. It led into another room, this one larger than the first. It was too big for him to see the entire room lit up, but he could already tell it was better than the last ones! Most things on the ground had already been washed away, sadly, but most of the walls had detailed carvings and paintings. Interesting.

"This is beautiful...." Chu-e flashed his light back and forth over the carvings on the wall, trying to piece together whatever was happening in the scene. It looked like a story of some sort... some of the damage had ruined a bit of it, but for the most part it seemed put together. Something about a well dressed person praising some green light in the sky before being brought to an alter. The person was then surrounded with bundles of flowers, meats, and other things were prized to this society. "Wonder what it means."

There was a thump and Chu-e whipped his light back around, finding that maverick noah ryder was now on the floor. "Oh shit, you okay?" But the guy seemed fine, so instead Chu-e leaned over to grab for the little box that had caught his attention from the other's fall. Unlike most of the physical things in this place, the box didn't seem like it was too badly damaged. Holding it up to his ear, Chu-e gave it a shake and heard something rattling around inside.

"Huh... wonder if we would get in trouble for cracking this open."

"Oh, I have no idea if it would be wise." Chu-e was already shaking the box and trying to dig his nails against the seams of the box, pulling; while pretty and ornate, it seemed that whatever was inside would be trapped without a little brute force. The ancient metal clasps were rusted shut.

Chu-e turned to maverick noah ryder to say more, but the breath he sucked in caught in his throat when large, wet stones narrowly missed him, slamming into the ground beside him. The Ancient Power was a rough one, having come from a glowing set of eyes in the doorway to the next room. Yelping, Chu-e jerked his flashlight in it's direction, illuminating a Claydol floating in the doorway.

The Claydol was massive, much larger than the normal Claydol you saw in the desert or with modern Trainers. The patterns and runes were intricate but faded and worn, looking just as ancient and old as the rest of this ancient temple. "Ah." Wincing, Chu-e moved a hand, slowly as to make no sudden moves, and grasped at the pokeballs in his pocket. Where was his Slowking, where was his Slowking....

He hoped that Maverick and his pokemon could hold it off for just long enough so he could join in the fight.