"Hey—Thanks for coming!" A brief pause see's to it that Derek waves back, welcoming the familiar sight and the added protection that her Meowstic employs around them.

But her curiosity, though appreciated, is unable to be rewarded. "No, not yet..."

Continuing to dig alongside his Machamp and Tyranitar, they eventually find that the sand changes colors. It becomes more earthy, and darker in color. Perhaps clay, or something like it. "Actually...maybe?" Their efforts to dig become more eager—overzealous.

Eventually the ground buckles, collapsing under their weight. The ranger might be shocked, wondering just how far they fell.

"We're fine!" It's dark down there, so she probably can't see very well, but the three of them are okay. The room they're in seems to be the size of a bedroom, with bed-like furniture and a chest resembling a nightstand. "Open that, will you?"

His pokemon are quick to act, smashing the dated safe in order to reveal ancient jewelry and tools already featured in the collector's museum. "Say, has anyone ever called you a good luck charm?" For some reason good things seemed to happen when Anna was around.

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"Uh, yeah! Just be careful on the way down." Derek remarks as he moves forward, bringing out a flashlight to illuminate the way forward. A narrow doorway with room for one abreast leads them further underground. Derek can't help but feel a little claustrophobic, but there was no danger down here, and his pokemon could always help if the structure were to begin trying to collapse.

Allowing his pokemon to lead, Derek stays back a moment to wait for Anna—to show her the jewelry he found. "Neat, isn't it?" He says, running a finger along the smooth bronze and whatever mineral was fashioned into it's surface.

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"My guess is thousands of years." But it could be even older, as the sand shielded it from the elements after the initial damages of being submerged underground. Derek couldn't really say how it all came to pass. Just that it was.

Hell, maybe it was only hundreds of years.

"Sure, but we shouldn't stay down here long." Even though it held for now, Derek didn't want to hang out in this place longer than necessary. The weight of the sands could shift as easily as the wind, spelling trouble for those below. He hoped to make it out before anything like that could happen.

But as he pressed on, Derek noticed some odd depictions along the wall. The hallway on each side seemed to be illustrated with a line of people—walking alongside them. At the end was a large clay slab that had a handle, which had already been pushed aside by his pokemon.

"Woahhh." As he walks inside, the narrow hallway expands into a circular room spanning for a much greater distance. Similar murals of a cryptic nature show the people gathered around, with a slab in the center featuring one of them.

Their hands were crossed like someone in a casket, and their wrists poured down into the ground. What's more, there was an unidentifiable creature depicted at the top of the slab. A pokemon, maybe? One unlike anything he's ever seen.

It's creepy, but exactly the kind of thing his employer was hoping for.

Taking out his phone, he snaps a few pictures and sends them before looking back to Anna. "Bet you weren't expecting to stumble into a ritual sacrifice chamber, huh?" It was definitely an interesting development to say the least. "I wish it had something to do with the Regis."

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"Nope." But it did vaguely resemble some others in a way or two. Namely the eyes, not that it was exact enough to make note of. Not out loud, anyway.

"But I don't think it's good news. Never knew sacrifices to be the hallmark of generosity or kindness." Instead he assumed the worst. That it was evil, and that they just might be seeing it sometime in the future. "My guess is the League probably doesn't know either. Or if they do, it isn't something they'd openly tell us." Whether it was to prevent panic or something to that effect, he could not say.

Meanwhile, the pokemon digging on Derek's behalf return with special minerals in tow. They seem to have found something they think he should know about. "Ah, those look valuable." Unsure if they were mega stones that needed refined or something else, he allows Anna to pack one while he takes the other.

"So when's the last time you've been to Petalburg?" He asks, motioning for his pokemon to round up before heading out. The other excavation team would be here within the hour to pick up where they left off. "There's a thing or two I could use some help with, if your schedule allows for it. Say...next week, maybe?"

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