Larry observed in silence. Even without any technical ability in aura cleansing, Kurapika's heartfelt mourning had eased the lingering thoughts of the dead.
Maybe, Larry thought, once Kurapika finishes taking revenge on the rest of the Phantom Troupe, the rest of this death aura would finally vanish as well.
After the prayer ended, Kurapika's breathing slowed, and his expression softened. The sadness in his eyes gradually faded, replaced by a calm and focused look.
He turned away from the stone monument, his mind clearer than before. With his respects paid, he motioned for Larry to follow him again.
They returned to a nearby house one of the few that had survived the devastation. Kurapika stepped inside with a complicated expression.
Though the place was familiar, the destruction had changed it enough to make it feel distant. The air was still, filled with dust and silence.
Larry's attention, however, was quickly drawn to a bookshelf along the wall. Though many of the books were damaged or weathered with age, a few remained intact.
Curious, he leaned in closer, noticing that the characters on the covers weren't from the common language of the Six Continents. They looked similar to the ones engraved on the stone monument back in the cemetery.
"These are the books of the Kuruta clan," Kurapika said as he walked over, noticing Larry's interest. "The language written here is unique to our tribe. Outsiders wouldn't be able to read it."
He paused for a moment, looking around the house.
"This was the home of our elders. Most of the tribe's books were kept here. That's why almost all of them are in our own script. You won't find many written in the Six Continents language."
Kurapika gently ran his fingers across the dusty shelves. The books hadn't been touched in years. When he was young, he'd come here often to read, soaking up every word, every lesson passed down from generations before.
Larry remembered Kurapika's memories clearly. There had been an elder who stood out a short, stocky man with a thick beard, a noticeable scar on his forehead, and surprisingly, the only one in the village who owned a mobile phone.
As for the lack of books from the outside world, Larry had a good guess why. In one of Kurapika's memories, a girl named Shira had accidentally wandered into the tribe's territory and brought two books with her both written in the Six Continents language.
They were about hunters and quickly caught Kurapika's attention. But once the elders found out, they confiscated them right away.
It was clear the elders didn't want the tribe to have too much contact with the outside world. Still, they did allow the younger ones to study the common language.
After all, even if the clan lived in seclusion, they sometimes had to leave to buy supplies or trade. Knowing the Six Continents language was a practical necessity.
Even those rare outings weren't easily granted. Anyone who wanted to leave the village had to first pass a strict test. Only those who passed were allowed to step outside.
In the original story, Kurapika had always been curious about the world beyond his homeland. He studied hard, passed the test, and finally got permission to go out. But soon after he left, the worst happened, the entire Kuruta clan was massacred. He had survived purely by chance.
Now, with Kurapika beside him, Larry saw an opportunity and asked him to translate some of the texts from the tribal books. Kurapika obliged, his voice low and steady.
Most of the content turned out to be prayers or records of knowledge about the outside world, likely passed down by the elders for educational purposes.
As Larry listened, he couldn't shake a strange feeling. Something didn't quite add up.
The Kuruta people all shared one trait, their crimson eyes, which glowed with incredible power in moments of strong emotion.
That alone gave them a massive edge when it came to aura. It was like a built-in cheat code, an innate boost that no other tribe had. And yet, their elders had chosen to stay hidden, to avoid the world.
It made Larry wonder, what else were they hiding?
Thanks to Kurapika's tireless effort in translating, Larry had come to understand a great deal about the Kurta clan's writing. Strangely, he had a strong feeling these words would prove useful someday.
[Ding! A Pokémon has hatched!]
After exploring the strange collection of books in the ruins, a new development stirred in Larry's mind. The gestation bar that had been slowly progressing finally hit completion.
'It was strange, this Pokémon, born from the Kurta clan's remnants, had manifested so quickly.' His thoughts sunk into his consciousness, and Larry's eyes narrowed sharply. He'd never seen this kind of Pokémon before.
Or… maybe he had. It looked vaguely familiar, yet not quite the same.
It had a dark purple body and a small, childlike frame definitely on the short side. What stood out most, though, were its eyes.
They weren't just red. They were actual rubies glimmering, flawless gems embedded in its face. Behind it hovered a giant ruby even bigger than its body, glowing with an eerie, gemstone light.
That ruby wasn't just for show, it was crafted from some unknown material and could reflect transformation-based attacks.
That was the source of its Magic Mirror ability.
Larry was stunned. This wasn't just any Pokémon, this was a Mega-Evolved one. He'd actually managed to give birth to a Pokémon already in its Mega form.
No Key Stones, no Mega Rings. It had been born this way. That completely broke the rules he thought applied to Pokémon.
Still, even in his shock, Larry figured something out. A Pokémon like this wouldn't just appear under normal conditions. It had to be a special place, the Kurta ruins clearly played a part in shaping this Mega-Evolved form.
The Pokémon was called Sableye, and the more Larry thought about it, the more the setting made sense. The ghostly atmosphere of the ruins, filled with death and memories, probably influenced its birth. It wasn't a coincidence.
The creepy graveyard vibes and the thick, silent air may have created the perfect conditions to summon a Ghost-type Pokémon.
Some of Sableye's abilities also made use of its gem eyes, which reminded Larry of the Kurta clan's fabled Scarlet Eyes. After its Mega Evolution, those gem eyes even took on a ruby glow, eerily similar to the Kurta's own.
According to the information, Sableye was said to live deep in caves. People feared it, believing its glowing eyes could steal their souls in the dark.
That legend matched the Kurta clan's own secluded, mysterious nature. It all lined up almost too well.
'It wasn't just the ruins that mattered,' Larry thought.
It was that they were hidden inside a secret realm. That kind of rare, mystical space might be the real key.
Maybe only places like these had the power to give birth to a Mega-Evolved Pokémon.