"yo, idjit!" a voice yells for him. "are ya even paying attention?"

kyle blinks. the scent of the island air was replaced by deciduous smell of elm trees and mountains. the pathway on the ground was worn and almost faded, but it's been busy enough that grass and shrubs haven't overtaken them.

the face in front of him reminds him of the place: johto.

"as gym trainer, it's your job to help me find the legendary dragons 'round here! i read in books that there's a portal to their place of origin in these ruins. it's those creepy eye things."

"you mean the unown?"

"huh? no, you idjit! we know them! it's in the books, i told you! shaped like letters and stuff."

he finds himself with a faint smile. "yeah, that's what i meant. the unown."

"i already told you, idjit! stop playing around! this is serious!"

this was more than a few years ago, back when he still had been part of blackthorn's gym as one of its attendants. mateo martinez has always been interested in legends, and it wasn't something that rubbed off of him. still, kyle always listened to his rambles and took part in any adventure he has to find more about these dragons.

the ruins of alph had been the world's most interesting place for those who study the world beyond what was perceived. the unown were always connected to legends from way back, and those relating to dragons hadn't been an exemption, priming them as one of the young gym leader's interests.

"hey. did you hear about the rumors of creepy voices on the radio station when you play it around here?"

"y-y-you don't scare me! fuck off! i'm doing serious work around here and you're just playing around!"

"i'm playing it."

"stop! stop! we just entered one of the secret entrances and you're going to get us killed by a ghost before we even explored!"

the radio plays regardless of mateo's qualms. it's a distorted sound that felt too distinct to be random static picked up from neighboring frequencies of other radio stations, but distorted enough to be found creepy.

supposedly, the portal to the dragons that shaped the world could be found here according to ancient texts that mateo had read. kyle wouldn't have believed them before, but the place's connection with the unown had changed his beliefs somewhat after recent years.

he finds himself laughing at the gym leader's panic when an unown pops out of the cave, seemingly attracted by the sound he played on his pokegear.