Operation GEAR: The Gardener of Gratitude

by The Great Butler

A legendary adventurer and archeologist is murdered, leaving his grandson to inherit a puzzle box that can lead to the greatest treasure in history, a city made entirely of gold. Invited to help solve the riddle of the Golden City, he is drawn into a conflict between multiple parties for the immense power sleeping there that soon descends into all-out civil war.

6. Cold Truths

The character of Jacob Alexison first appeared in the story "Nothing, Everything" by Bay, and is used with her permission. Bay also provided an inspiration for the document written in-universe by Jacob in the first scene of this chapter.

-:-

CHAPTER 5: Cold Truths

-:-

The air in La Ciudad Dorada was cold that night, the sky filled with countless stars. In spite of it being yet another tranquil night the desert kingdom was known for, the normalcy was nothing but a facade. A creeping feeling of dread, the sense that something monumental was going to happen, hung over the remote city. Even the average citizens and tourists, who had little idea of what was unfolding in and around the kingdom, seemed to sense it.

Only a few people knew the reality of what was taking place, among them Cassy, who was still hard at work in Lingote Palace's archive. Her stack of books had barely changed over the hours she'd spent reading, while the pile of empty drink cups next to her had piled up into a large mound of coffee-stained paper. She was paging through a leather-bound folder indexing the various treasures of the kingdom with her left hand while holding her head up with her right.

"Colored shards… fossils… Sparkling Stones, even…" Her eyes lazily glanced over each page before she turned it, but with nothing piquing her interest, she yawned.

At that moment, though, she found something. She nearly passed it because of how used to flipping the pages she was, but she managed to catch herself after noticing a curious name. Cassy straightened up in her seat and blinked to focus.

"From the journal of Jacob Alexison," she read aloud, picking up the document. "Professor Sutter and I have discovered so much during our time in La Ciudad Dorada. It is a shame that the world will not know most of it. Ah well, it is not my decision to make. Perhaps the day will eventually come where the world is ready to learn the truth. I hope I will get to live to see it."

Cassy reached for her current drink and nearly knocked it over. The paper in her hands, yellowed as it was, held her transfixed. She took a long sip before continuing to read.

"Among the many treasures we have witnessed, one that truly fascinates me is the Griseous Orb. Yes, I said Griseous Orb. I'm as surprised to see it here as you are, future reader. Though it prominently features in the mythology of Sinnoh, it is in fact considered one of the Doradan crown jewels. I wonder if the royal family understands its true significance. You see, in Sinnoh, it is tied to the legendary Pokémon Giratina as well as Giratina's home, which we call the Reverse World. The Reverse World, or as some know it the Distortion World, is a place that exists on the opposite side of our own world. The limited research by scientists of our time indicates that it is a dimension where common knowledge is warped and strange. Fitting for a Pokémon that represents antimatter, I suppose.

Sinnohan mythology explains that the Griseous Orb is a condensed physical form of Giratina's power. It is written that the Griseous Orb is able to help Giratina maintain its true form in the gravity of this world. Additionally, the Doradan royal family has informed us that it has the ability to locally alter gravity's effect when used. How accurate these accounts are remain unclear, as the Griseous Orb was said to have not been since the time of kingdom's civil war. Perhaps that is for the best. La Ciudad Dorada has seen ages of peace, and such an item could disturb that if it were to be used as a weapon again. Even separated from Giratina, its powers are not to be underestimated."

When she finished reading the note, Cassy set it down on the table and took a deep breath. "Finally, a clue. It really is here…"

-:-

The Griseous Orb glittered from its container atop Fernando's staff, its light pulsing as if it knew someone was thinking about it. Fernando didn't notice. He leaned the staff against the wall of the skyship's hold while he stood nearby, reviewing information projected holographically by the gauntlet he'd donned on his left arm.

"Everything looks ready to go," he said to himself as he flicked through the different windows. He stopped on the last one, which displayed the image of a giant sphere with strange belts strapped onto it, and shook his head. "Including you. I truly hope it doesn't come to this, but if I'm left with no other option, you will ensure that our greatest treasures are never taken."

-:-

Matt Chiaki was not having a good day.

From where he sat in the back of the vehicle en route to Regice's location the next morning, every sensation around him proved to be a stressor of some sort. Noel and Leon sitting right in front of him, the former with her arms crossed and face twisted into a characteristic scowl. The old coat that had been thrust upon him as soon as he woke up. The fact that half his face and some of the left side of his torso were wrapped in the same silk that had hung him up by the legs just a few short days ago. He irritably sighed, and all it did was agitate Noel further.

"I ain't any more thrilled by this than you are," she grumbled. "Thank Princess over there for the idea. She's the one who cut us a better deal than what her brother did."

"Yeah, I know." Matt adjusted his glasses - a new pair he had as a spare in case something happened to his original set - uncomfortably. They fit strangely on his bandaged head.

Sensing Matt's obvious resentment, Leon paused quietly before asking him, "You really doin' okay, dude? Heatran really messed you up… Sis and I never wanted to do somethin' like that…"

"Show me you mean it and I'll believe you." Matt sighed again. "Look, I'm not trying to be cruel to you. You guys just have a lot to make up for."

"And I made that crystal clear to them," Rosalita intervened from her place between Matt and Sheena. "Imperative number one is stopping Fernando. That is why I made the decision to forge an alliance that will also help them out of their life of crime. If you want to blame someone for them being here," she firmly declared, "blame me."

"I can't imagine what I'd do in your position," he admitted. "Maybe you really did make the right choice in the grander scope of things." Feeling the conversation had reached a dead end, Matt decided to change the subject. He started pulling at the heavy, dark material of one of the sleeves on his new coat, then opened and closed his now-gloved hands. "At least I'm not feeling any pain right now. This stuff, though… it's not really my style."

"Our options were limited, unfortunately," Sheena informed him. "The only other thing back there you even plausibly could have worn was a suit of armor."

"I don't think I'd call that a plausible option," Matt replied, dismissing the mere thought of wearing armor with a weak chuckle.

"Tell you what, though…" said Noel, a shiver running through her. Next to her, Leon sneezed. "I think I'm speakin' for both Bro and I when I tell you we'd gladly take anything warmer than what we got now."

Matt hadn't thought much about it before, but once Noel called his attention to them, he saw her point. The siblings' jackets were far too light for the rugged, snowy terrain on the far side of the mountain range. He briefly considered giving his new coat to one of them, but swiftly remembered that it was the only thing protecting his bandaged side from the cold.

"I'm sorry," Rosalita apologized to them. "I should have thought to fetch some coats for you before we left, too."

"I guess it ain't the worst problem we could be havin' right now." Leon stretched his neck and called to Eleanor, who was driving the vehicle, "Hey, cabbie! Can we get there a little faster so this can get done?"

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Eleanor shouted back, not taking her eyes off the path ahead. "I can't make this thing fly over rough terrain like this!"

"We shouldn't be too far from our destination, anyway." Rosalita pressed her lips together and stared down at Shaymin, who was sitting in her lap. "The final trial, Regice's… I must confess, I'm nervous."

"Just breathe, Rosalita," Sheena encouraged her. "Remember, you've passed two already, and you know who your final opponent is. That allows you to be ready."

"It's not Regice I'm worried about. Not entirely." The princess balled her hands into fists, prompting Shaymin to look up at her. "The closer we come to the conclusion of my trial, the closer we come to whatever Fernando's endgame is. I'm sure he has something prepared, some sort of plan, to ambush us when we least expect. What would the time we least expect it be? When we think we've won."

"Maybe I ain't got a right to be talkin' here," Noel crudely interjected, "but I say let him bring it. I believe you when you say he was usin' Bro and me, Princess. Now I'm spoilin' to serve up some revenge, and ruinin' his big moment sounds like just the ticket."

"Thank you for the assistance." Rosalita didn't lift her head. "However, it's what lies beyond that which scares me the most. I don't know if I'm ready to give up the life I have now, even though I know the people need me. I love being able to participate in our riding pageants with Adiela, competing in the traditional sporting events of our kingdom… I just don't know if I'm ready to give it all up. Such things aren't quite becoming of a queen."

"Maybe you could be the one to change that? No one ever said that the crown had to be unchanging," Sheena suggested. "Don't feel bad about being nervous. That's a natural human reaction."

"That's true, I suppose." Rosalita's expression brightened, but she remained fixated on Shaymin. "Thank you, Sheena. I really owe all of you a debt. Now that we're at the final trial I'm thinking about the support you've given me."

From its place in Rosalita's lap, Shaymin squirmed. It had its own worries, and they distracted it to the point where no flowers sprouted in response to Rosalita's gratitude. Unable to sit still any longer, Shaymin jumped down to the floor of the vehicle and plodded toward the driver's seat.

"Shaymin, is something the matter?" the princess wondered.

"I told you, I hate the cold, yes." This was a lie. The cold did bother Shaymin, but the reason for its consternation was something else. Something far heavier, planted deep within its heart. It frowned and felt glad it had its back to the humans. "Every time I come back to this place, I feel the same shame, yes… and the shame only gets worse because I never can fix what I did…"

"Finally somethin' you and I have in common," Noel remarked, completely missing the mythical Pokémon's body language. Her eyes happened to twitch over to Matt for the briefest of moments, but even that was enough time for her to spot a glow coming from his bag. "Hey, hey, what's goin' on with that?!" she exclaimed, pointing squarely at the light.

Neither Matt nor any of the others had noticed the now familiar glow. Once Noel called their attention to it, Matt hurried to retrieve its source, the puzzle box.

"It really is magic…" Leon whispered, awestruck.

"This happens every time we get close to the next puzzle to find the Golden City," Matt explained to the siblings. "I guess it's a guide."

"Eleanor, we must stop here!" Rosalita called to the front of the vehicle. "Regice is nearby!"

"Roger that, Rosa!" Eleanor slowly brought her hands together over the glowing control panel, gradually bringing the machine to a stop. She then got up and joined the others just in time to see Shaymin climbing back up onto Rosalita's shoulder. "I take it we're ready to go?"

Before the full question had even left Eleanor's mouth, Rosalita was already climbing out of the vehicle. The others were left to catch up.

"Looks like you two aren't the only ones who want to be done with this," Matt sarcastically said as he stuffed the cube back into his bag. Even though he directed the comment to Noel and Leon, Eleanor was the one who laughed.

"Don't you joke like that," Noel sniped back.

"Fine, I won't."

By that time, Sheena had gotten off the vehicle as well. Matt followed, but when he turned back to help Eleanor down, she just jumped off and landed perfectly on her feet. Leon ended up assisting his sister by taking her hand as she stepped down instead. Once the entire group assembled, they stared out over the bleak, rugged terrain before them. There was little but rocks and gravel as far as the eye could see, mostly covered by at least a thin layer of snow. Compared to the oasis of La Ciudad Dorada or the wooded mountains, Regice's domain was another world entirely. Even the sky was different, filled with a monochromatic grey.

"Regice is out there somewhere…" Sheena said aloud to no one in particular.

"Luckily we have a way to find it," Matt replied. He took the puzzle box out of his bag and held it up in front of himself. Its light brightened when he did so, much like it had for Regirock and Registeel. "We just follow where it leads us by seeing where its light is strongest," he explained to the group's two new members.

"Then get followin' it already," Noel complained. Next to her, Leon sneezed from the cold.

Before Matt could respond to Noel, Rosalita grabbed his arm. "Let us make haste," she said, glaring ahead at the wintry expanse. "It is not just Regice that's out there. The future of La Ciudad Dorada hangs in the balance… as does the fate of my family."

Matt started to accede to Rosalita's request, but he stopped himself from speaking when he saw her face. Her eyes and lips were trembling subtly, betraying her true feelings in spite of how hard she was trying to focus on her mission. Sheena and Eleanor noticed it too, and they shared a knowing glance with Matt.

"Let us go." Rosalita told her companions, not letting on whether or not she knew they were aware of her roiling emotions.

The princess took the lead in trudging out into the rocky tundra. Matt quickly followed, making sure to keep the cube held out in front of him. They were trailed by Eleanor and Sheena, but Noel and Leon initially hung back.

"Sis…" Leon whispered, "you think we're doin' the right thing? Cuttin' and runnin' like this?"

"I don't think we got much choice," Noel replied, scowling. "We got in way over our heads with this one. I let you down, Bro." Noel's scowl turned into a depressed pout that she hid from her brother by turning her head. "I got greedy when I agreed to take this job. We shoulda never got involved in this."

Seeing his sister so downcast shook Leon to his soul. He was used to always having her confidence to look to as an easy way to reassure himself in times of doubt.

-:-

The hike in search for Regice was a punishing one, thanks to both the terrain and the climate. Matt couldn't fully understand how either Rosalita or Eleanor were managing the trek over the stones and snow as well as they were. He could at least guess that Rosalita's blazing determination was keeping her focused on her goal, but Eleanor was practically leaping through the landscape despite her completely unsuitable clothing. He and Sheena were doing just fine on their own, while Noel and Leon avoided the issue altogether by walking next to Heatran.

They'd been traveling for some time, following the box's steadily growing light, until it suddenly and sharply intensified.

"Wait, you guys!" Matt cried out, bringing the others to a stop. "I think we're close!"

"You're right," Rosalita agreed. She hopped down from the slightly elevated stone she was on, walked to Matt, and looked around. Shaymin stuck its head out of her cloak, but remained safely nestled in its warmth. "There's nothing around here," she observed, "but that does not mean a thing by itself. Every time we do this, a passage forward appears before us."

"About that…" Sheena piped up. The rest of the group turned to her, but she said nothing more. She simply pointed down and swept away the snow around her with her foot.

Matt, Eleanor and Rosalita, all understanding the meaning of this action, hastily mimicked it. The reason for doing so soon became clear to them.

Under their feet, initially hidden by a thin layer of snow, was a vivid mural depicting Regice, its two siblings, and their master Regigigas.

"It's here…" Eleanor said to herself, before raising her voice and repeating, "It's right here!"

"What's right here, girl?" Leon asked, unaware of what was about to take place.

"Here, watch," replied the engineer. Turning her head towards Matt, she told him, "Use the box so we can find the next clue."

"You act like I know exactly how this thing works," Matt sighed. Nevertheless, he raised the cube toward the murky sky. He was unsure of what effect his action would have, if it had any at all. When the puzzle box completely erupted with light, he was so surprised he nearly dropped it.

The light carved a wide, circular space out of the snow around the group, fully uncovering the mural in the course of doing so. All Matt, Rosalita and the others could do was watch in awe as the process unfolded, staring intently as the gleam intensified until it grew so bright that they had to shield their eyes.

"Wh-what's goin' on?!" Noel sputtered.

"Just watch and you'll see something amazing!" Matt yelled back, still covering his eyes.

Right when the light reached the peak of its intensity, it vanished just as suddenly as it appeared. All that was left was a single trail leading from the center of the mural to a point in the stones surrounding the area.

"That where Regice is?" Noel's anger and aggression had melted away, replaced by a sense of pure wonder at what she was witnessing. She couldn't help but be fixated on the spot the trail of light led to.

"It's not where Regice is, technically," Matt explained. "It's more accurate to say it's where the way to make Regice appear is."

"There's something strange here, though," Rosalita ventured as she looked around at their surroundings. "The tower that used to stand here was destroyed in the civil war, that much I know. Yet there's no shrine appearing this time?" While heading to the spot indicated by the light, she placed her finger on her chin and mused to herself, "Perhaps the tower itself was the shrine. But if that was the case, why was it not rebuilt?"

"Please just solve the puzzle, yes…" Shaymin thought. It buried its face in Rosalita's cloak. "Defeat Regice and leave this place…"

Taking no notice of Shaymin's mood, Rosalita lowered herself to examine what the light led to. There, half-buried in the rocks, was a stone tablet with a Braille message written on it.

"Matt, please come here," the princess said over her shoulder. "I need your assistance reading this.."

"Now what's he doin'?" Noel asked Sheena as they watched Matt go to Rosalita's side.

"Every one of these trials has involved at least one puzzle written out in Braille." Sheena saw both Noel and Leon staring inquisitively at her, so she clarified, "It's a way of writing that translates letters into patterns of dots. He learned to read it because his sister is blind."

Noel could feel her heart sink when she heard that fact. She turned, slowly and stiffly, to face Matt and Rosalita while they uncovered the tablet. "He's just like me… watchin' out for his sis like I watch out for Bro." Both horrified and disgusted with herself, Noel covered her mouth with her hands. "I've been doin' this to him and didn't even know…"

The siblings hung back as Eleanor and Sheena joined Matt and Rosalita in examining the tablet, which they'd laid on top of the stones that once covered it. Matt wasted no time in reading over the message spread across its surface.

"Can you tell what it says?" Sheena asked.

"It's not a cipher this time," he replied, "it's actual words and sentences, but the way it's written seems a little… odd."

"What do you mean?" the princess wondered, cocking her head to the side.

"Listen and I think you'll get it right away." Before beginning to read the Braille, Matt held his chin. When his fingers touched the bandages, he cringed at their still-alien feeling on his skin. "The one who shall wear the crown, listen, you. Here is the end and the beginning. The body of ice shall only awaken when the one who most fears the cold braves it. Only the one who shall wear the crown can guide the way."

"Yeah, this one's definitely asking for Shaymin," Eleanor teased the Pokémon, half-closing her eyes and smirking mischievously. "It's about time that was the answer."

"You haven't made any secret of the cold bothering you," Sheena added. "This one's easy."

"Hey, that's not funny!" Shaymin shot back from its perch in Rosalita's cloak. "The cold is really awful to me, yes!"

"I certainly do see why you said the message was odd," Rosalita said to Matt, paying no mind to Shaymin's fuming. She only happened to turn to the mythical Pokémon after it was done, asking it, "Did you create that clue yourself? It sounded very much like how you speak in your other form."

"Not only that, the clue that led us here sounded like how you speak normally," Matt elaborated. "You were creating your own clues, weren't you?"

"Only these two, yes," Shaymin confessed.

"Why just these, then?" Rosalita's swift response only made Shaymin regret answering so specifically. "You created the messages to lead here and call forth Regice. The tower that was here was probably Regice's shrine, but it was never rebuilt after the civil war. All these circumstances are awfully strange… something else happened here, didn't it?"

Shaymin didn't say anything right away. It tried to shrink back into Rosalita's cloak, but there was no escaping the group's collective gaze. "Now cannot be the time," it finally decided. Popping back out of its hiding place, it dodged Rosalita's question by saying, "We must focus on defeating Fernando for now, yes."

All four humans glanced knowingly at each other. Shaymin's attempt at a non-answer immediately led all four to conclude something had indeed taken place that Shaymin was covering up. Matt, Sheena and Eleanor all weighed the idea of confronting it, but none of them could get up the nerve to do so before Rosalita spoke up.

"You are correct," the princess said, allowing Shaymin's lie to slide for the time being. "Preventing Fernando's coup is of paramount importance right now. So… summoning Regice is not as simple as merely bringing you here, is it?"

"Hm?" Shaymin was caught off guard by its companion's inquiry. "Well, I do hate the cold, yes…"

"But you could hate the cold even more," Rosalita deduced. "You are a Grass-type Pokémon," she reasoned as she fetched the container with her preserved Gracidea within it. "But your other form is a Grass-and-Flying-type. That means your other form is twice as weak to Ice. I apologize for making you transform in this climate, especially after how anxious it made you earlier, but there is no other option."

"Yes, yes, the cold is what I hate the most about this place," Shaymin again lied. It climbed out of Rosalita's cloak and edged toward the Gracidea. When the pollen wafting from the blossom made contact, Shaymin's body became cloaked in golden light.

"What's that now?" Leon uttered. He and his sister had drawn closer during the rest of the group's deliberation over the puzzle, and they watched in awe as Shaymin floated into the air and began to transform.

"Remember Shaymin's other form?" Eleanor said over her shoulder. "This is what happens when it assumes that form."

As soon as Shaymin completed its transformation into its Sky Forme and emerged from the cocoon of light, it sneezed. "It's time to make haste, you!" it exclaimed to Rosalita.

"I am ready!" the princess declared in response, spreading her arms. "Shaymin, call forth Regice!"

Heeding Rosalita's call, Shaymin landed directly on the stone tablet. "Listen to me, you!" it called out into the cold air. "A new leader has come to claim the crown! Appear to us and put her to the test, you!"

Nothing happened at first. In fact, it almost seemed like Shaymin's entreaty made the area even calmer. The air went still and quiet, but just before any of the group could question this strange turn of events, the sound of a high-pitched, vaguely electronic beeping reached their ears.

"It's starting again…" Sheena murmured.

"That's right, you!" exclaimed Shaymin. It was using its intense mood to try and fight back the chill in the air. "He is her-"

Before Shaymin could even finish warning the humans of Regice's arrival, the titan erupted from an elevated snowbank. It crash landed on its narrow, pointed feet and loomed over the circular arena, repeating the syllables of its name in a screeching, buzzing voice as the landscape reflected brilliantly in its crystalline body.

"That's Regice?!" Noel could no longer keep her composure, seeing Regice's continued buzzing and beeping as a threat. Turning to Leon, she warned, "Bro, we're gonna have to fight our way outta this…"

"One step ahead of you on that, Sis!"

The siblings fumbled for the Poké Balls containing their partners, Muk and Palossand. Matt happened to hear their exchange, however, and he lunged to stop them before they could act.

"No!" he cried out. "This is how it's supposed to be!"

"What're you sayin'?" Noel demanded. "Can't you see? That thing's comin' after us!"

"You're wrong." As he gave his explanation, Matt retrieved his laptop from his bag and began recording with it. "It's a ritual. Rosalita has to defeat Regice and the other two in direct combat to prove herself worthy to lead the kingdom. Regice isn't here for any of us."

"So that's what Princess meant when she said they beat Regirock and Registeel…" Leon reasoned.

"Regice!" Rosalita called up to the titan. She stretched her arms out to her sides, touching her thumbs to her middle fingers as she did so. "I am Rosalita of the House of Fernando, and the crown princess of La Ciudad Dorada! I have come before you to prove myself and claim my birthright!"

Regice stood still, only acknowledging Rosalita's declaration by flashing its dots. Everyone assembled before it could tell that it was pondering the princess's words despite it not having anything resembling a normal face.

Finally, Regice raised its arms, brightened all its dots, and let out an electronic-sounding shriek. It was plain to all present that the titan accepted Rosalita's challenge even before it floated down to the arena floor, while Shaymin landed on one of the highest stones overlooking the ring.

"This is the last of my trials against the Three Pillars," Rosalita told the others, urging them back with her arm. "It's going to be the hardest, I'm sure… but I am…" The princess shut her eyes and thought of her beloved family. Her father, her mother… even her brother. She saw them all there, proudly watching her. Yes, that was the person Fernando really was, of that she was certain. All he had to see was that she was capable of leading the kingdom, then he would come to his senses. She truly believed he would. She needed to. "I am sure I will succeed!" she finally declared, fixing her intense gaze on Regice. Fetching one of her Poké Balls, she threw it and called out, "Leonel, come forth!"

Rosalita's Bibarel materialized from the Poké Ball already on all fours. A small shiver ran through his body from head to toe, but the sight of his opponent helped him push it from his mind. For its part, Regice acknowledged Leonel's presence by running a flash across its dots, then raised its arms to the sky and shrilled. A red aura similar to Registeel's burst from its body.

"Making yourself stronger by tapping into Gaia's energy," Rosalita noted. "I am not surprised you would do that as well. But I can also do such a thing. Leonel, Swords Dance!"

Much as they had during his battle with Regirock, the blade-like lights surrounded Leonel and orbited him for a moment before being absorbed into his body. Leonel briefly radiated a red aura as intense as Regice's, tensing his muscles and growling as the lights boosted his strength.

Regice remained largely still in the face of its challenger powering himself up. Its apparent serenity was such that off to the sidelines, Matt, Eleanor, Sheena, and even Noel and Leon felt unsettled from looking at it. The dots on the ends of its cross-shaped pattern lit up, followed by the next ones in line. When the centermost dots illuminated, a brilliant, rainbow-colored beam shot out from them. Leonel took the Signal Beam directly to his face, but it had little effect besides forcing him to fall back and sit up.

"Be careful with that!" Matt warned Rosalita when he saw Leonel blinking off the remainder of Regice's attack. "Signal Beam can leave your Pokémon confused!"

"I'll be mindful of that," Rosalita replied.

Regice suddenly pitched back and screeched even louder, pointing its dots toward the sky as they emanated bright red light. Rosalita recognized what it was doing, thanks to Registeel calling for Xatu the previous day, and couldn't help but wonder what would happen next.

The answer came in the form of a gruff cry that sounded across the battlefield. An Abomasnow crashed through one of the surrounding drifts and leapt down to join Regice, his great weight shaking the ground when he landed. His entrance also turned the sky even darker, and the clouds churned as a storm of wind, snow and hail whipped up.

"Ah, it's Abomasnow's Snow Warning!" Sheena exclaimed, bracing herself against the sudden gusts and shielding her face with her arm, much like Matt and Eleanor were doing. Noel and Leon, meanwhile, simply pushed themselves even closer to the warmth of Heatran's body.

"This will be trouble," Rosalita said to herself, her expression darkening. Unlike the others, she paid the snowstorm no mind, acting as if it didn't even exist. "I did not account for the possibility of a Grass-type… still, I shall stay with my plan. Leonel, Defense Curl!"

The princess's Bibarel jumped into the air at her behest, rolling into a ball before he landed. His body was temporarily cloaked in yet another aura, this one blue, as his physical fortitude heightened.

Anticipating that Regice and Abomasnow would take the opportunity for an attack, Rosalita mentally shut out the world around her so she could focus squarely on them. Regice beeped for a moment - processing Leonel's actions, Rosalita reasoned - but what it did next initially surprised her. Instead of mounting an offense, the titan again raised its arms. Brilliant, rainbow-colored light radiated from its geometric fingers and wrapped around both Regice and its ally.

Rosalita took a step back and ground her heel into the snow under her feet. She recognized what Regice had done after all. "And at the end of the road, the body of ice shall cloak itself in the polar lights…" she recited, remembering the words in the book she and Fernando had read years earlier. "Aurora Veil…"

While the princess was lost in thought, Abomasnow took action. He dashed forward, displaying enough unexpected speed to snap Rosalita back to reality. She gasped in both surprise and dismay when she saw Abomasnow right on top of Leonel, getting ready to strike with a glowing, green club formed around his arm. Neither the Bibarel nor his trainer could react fast enough to Abomasnow's Wood Hammer to counteract it.

"Leonel!" Rosalita cried out, watching her Pokémon tumble through the air while still rolled up. Seeing that he'd maintained his posture from Defense Curl swiftly gave her an idea, however. "Use Rollout off the rocks!" she called to him.

Leonel gave no clear acknowledgement of Rosalita's command, but he did hear it. Using the momentum from the Wood Hammer he was hit with, he propelled himself off a stone on the arena's edge and spun right back towards Abomasnow. The impact made the Grass-and-Ice-type stumble back and grunt, even as the Aurora Veil's gleam shielded him from feeling the brunt of the Rollout. Leonel, meanwhile, pitched high into the air.

"Keep going, Leonel!" Rosalita shouted in encouragement.

Though he again gave no direct reply, Leonel felt heartened by his trainer's words. He spun faster and cut through the snow and hail, aiming directly at Regice. The titan shot another Signal Beam at him, but he broke through it and struck Regice squarely in the center of its body. Regice groaned, its voice briefly becoming deep and distorted while Aurora Veil's light glittered across its form.

Just as Leonel separated from Regice, however, Abomasnow loomed up behind him.

"Watch out!"

Rosalita's warning came too late. Abomasnow hit Leonel from behind with an Ice Punch, while Regice blasted him with a point-blank Blizzard. There was no way to tell which one had done it, but Leonel was left frozen in a block of ice.

"That's not good…" Sheena said to herself.

"I don't have any other option," Rosalita hissed through clenched teeth. "Leonel, try your best to break free and keep using Rollout!"

Several small cracks appeared in the ice, and seeing them gave Rosalita a flicker of hope that Leonel would pull through. She clenched her fists, put her foot forward in the snow and cheered him on, but no amount of optimism could save him. Just as one of the fissures grew wide enough for Leonel to reach out, Regice unceremoniously dropped a pile of glowing rocks on him, while Abomasnow slammed a Wood Hammer down squarely on the Bibarel's head. The blunt brutality of the pair's assault left not only Rosalita but her audience of supporters stunned as they watched Leonel collapse into the snow.

Regice and Abomasnow then backed away from Leonel's still form. Rosalita looked at them and cocked her head, unsure at first of what exactly they were doing. It took Regice blinking its dots and beeping at her for her to realize that they were allowing her the opportunity to bring in her next combatant without interruption.

"How chivalrous," she chuckled to herself. "It is a nice thing to see the honor of the royal court exist even out in this wilderness." After recalling Leonel to his Poké Ball, Rosalita held it in her hand and said to it, "Thank you, Leonel. You fought valiantly, as you always have."

"I'm so glad we didn't try to capture that thing," Noel uttered, dumbfounded at what she'd seen. "If that's the power of a legendary Pokémon…"

"I'm thinkin' we got lucky then, Sis…" Leon added. "Shaymin's gotta be even tougher, and we got away with only a taste…"

"I'm with you on that, Bro. And Princess said she's beaten two of 'em already…"

The siblings turned to the elevated outcropping where Shaymin was perched, only to find that it was no longer alone. Many local Pokémon - specifically several silver-blue Sandshrew and Sandslash, two Delibird, a Vanilluxe, a Froslass, and a Mamoswine with his family of Swinub and Piloswine - had assembled to watch Regice in battle.

"Look at 'em all, Bro!" Noel exclaimed in surprise, bringing one hand to her mouth and pointing at the crowd with the other.

Matt, Sheena and Eleanor, having overheard the siblings' conversation, also took notice of the gathering around Shaymin. "Well, would you look at that," Matt said to the others, making sure to get some footage of the Pokémon with his laptop. "They all understand the significance of this event, I'd say." Sheena and Eleanor nodded in agreement.

Within the ancient arena, Rosalita started to take out another Poké Ball. As she did so, the Mamoswine stomped up next to Shaymin and grunted to it. Shaymin tilted its head and carefully listened to him.

"Yeah, yeah, I know it hasn't been that long since last time," the mythical Pokémon replied, brushing snow from its face. "A lot is taking place back home. But this one's tough. Just watch, you!"

Right before she threw the Poké Ball, however, a sudden thought made Rosalita pause. She turned the sphere over in her hand and stared at it. "Adiela, you have the best matchup against Regice and Abomasnow… but I just saw Regice use Ancient Power. If you faint now, I will not be able to call upon you later. I did not want to have to do this, but I have no choice…" The princess returned Adiela's ball to under her cloak and fetched out another. "Isabel, everyone… I apologize for sending you into battle like this. Please fight as long as you can. We will need to tackle this trial as one if we are to overcome it."

With that, Rosalita threw the Poké Ball, and her Luxray materialized in the hailstorm. Isabel pawed at the ground and shook her body, growling as she acclimated herself to the harsh environment. She then let out an earth-shaking roar that made Abomasnow shrink back, even as Regice displayed no reaction whatsoever.

Recalling her studying with Fernando again, Rosalita said to herself, "The Three Pillars stand strong and true. None shall compromise their Clear Body." A tiny laugh slipped from her lips. "So Intimidate didn't work on you, Regice, but it sure did on your partner. That will be enough for now. Isabel, use Superpower on Regice!"

Isabel's muscles swelled, and she bound straight into the titan. Even though Aurora Veil gave it some degree of protection, Regice was driven into a snowbank behind itself, shrieking all the while.

The stress of assailing Regice with such strength forced Isabel to stop and catch her breath. That brief downtime was all Regice needed to turn the tide back in its favor. It exploded from the snow with a blast of icy wind, fueled by the storm Abomasnow brought with him. Between her own weariness and the way the hail strengthened the Blizzard, Isabel ended up taking the full brunt of the frigid assault.

"Isabel!" Rosalita exclaimed in dismay. Her Luxray had avoided being frozen the way Leonel had been, but as Isabel picked herself up and shook the frost from her fur, her shivering made plain that the chill badly weakened her. "Isabel, I'm sorry… are you able to continue?"

Isabel braced herself and growled at Regice and Abomasnow, a response that heartened Rosalita. Before the princess could give another direction, however, Abomasnow caught both her and the Luxray by surprise. He locked his gaze with Isabel's, and his eyes briefly filled with yellow and red colors to match hers. Once it faded, he lifted his bulky arms above his head and released a guttural roar. Much like how Isabel's roar had sapped his strength, Abomasnow's had the same effect on her.

"No way!" Matt had to adjust his glasses to be sure his impression was correct, but when he did he almost dropped his laptop. "That's the last thing I expected to see here!"

"That looked awfully familiar," Noel remarked. "You know what that was, Glasses, don't you?"

"I'll just ignore that…" Matt sighed. "But yes, your memory is correct. Role Play, just like my Hitmonchan used when you attacked the garden. Abomasnow took Intimidate for itself."

Rosalita didn't hear Matt's explanation, but she'd already worked out the same conclusion. "That's going to make things a little more difficult…" she said, furrowing her eyebrows. "It is not ideal, but I have little choice. Isabel, Thunderbolt!"

Electricity erupted from Isabel's fur and arced through the frigid air until it struck Regice, but it had little effect on the titan. At first, Regice simply stood still and absorbed the lightning with aid from the cover given by Aurora Veil. It waited until Isabel began to tire, and as soon as Thunderbolt's intensity dropped even a tiny bit, Regice seized its opportunity. It raced straight for Isabel, breaking through the flagging remains of her Thunderbolt, before blowing a gale of icy wind into her at point-blank range. She hissed in distress as she was coated in frost and thrown by Blizzard's force, only for Abomasnow to catch her by the leg and fling her into the ground. Rosalita recognized what was coming and hurried to retrieve Isabel's Poké Ball, but she failed to reach it in time. Abomasnow ended the clash even more decisively by bringing one last Wood Hammer down on the prone Luxray.

Without a word delaying her, Rosalita recalled Isabel to the safety of the sphere, then stared down at it. "I'm sorry you had to go through that…" she whispered to its occupant. Her eyelids were trembling without her notice. "If only I were stronger…"

A memory suddenly emerged in her mind, giving Rosalita pause. She shut her eyes, allowing her perception to fill with an image she'd forgotten until then. It was so vivid she actually wondered how she'd lost it. She felt as if she was standing right there in her elegantly furnished bedchamber, watching her younger self sitting on her silken sheets. The Rosalita of the past had Elena, then a green caterpillar with a leaf collar, sitting peacefully on her lap, happily cooing as Rosalita stroked her head. Fernando's younger self stood a few feet away.

"I was serious when I said I would make you my knight. You'll help me keep our home safe, right?"

"Of course I will, Fernando! We promised each other, right?" The young princess ceased petting her Pokémon, causing the Sewaddle to look up at her. "But that's such a long time away. Father and Mother aren't going anywhere soon. Let's just…"

"Rosalita, this is serious!" Fernando interrupted. Even in his youth, he was passionate about defending the kingdom. "We have great responsibilities placed upon us. One day, I will be called upon to lead everyone who lives here. When that time comes, I will need you to help by fighting beside me as my knight. You must be able to toss aside any and all doubts and do what is necessary to emerge victorious. That's not just for you, it's for Adiela, Elena and any of the other Pokémon who are at your side."

"I can't watch them get hurt," replied the Rosalita of the past. "If I make poor decisions, they will be the ones who pay the price. For now, I can't wait to be able to enter the Alliance Battle myself. To take Adiela into a pageant. That's what I want to do. Fighting with so much on the line is kind of scary."

"I understand your feelings," Fernando offered, "but when a strong bond of gratitude exists between trainer and Pokémon, they will understand you. I've learned that Pokémon enter battle alongside humans because they choose to. Their assistance is an expression of gratitude for the fact that we live in peace as one with them. If you fight for a noble goal, they will understand and come to your side."

"If you fight for a noble goal, they will understand and come to your side," Rosalita repeated to herself as she opened her eyes. She immediately saw Regice and Abomasnow waiting patiently for her, then looked to Shaymin and the crowd of Pokémon overlooking her trial. At that point, she could no longer hold her emotions in check. Small, narrow tears rolled down her cheeks as she quietly said to herself, "Is that what this is, Fernando? Your noble goal? I hate what you have done, but your cause, your reason for your deeds…" Rosalita's despair started to subside when she again regarded the Poké Ball in her hand, replaced with a swell of what she considered determination instead of confidence. "Then stopping you is mine. I swore I would do whatever I needed to protect our home… and it is my allies' home as well. You all understand," she addressed the sphere, "of that I am certain. Please grant me your assistance, and I will lead you to victory."

While Rosalita pondered her next move, the hailstorm tapered off. She watched the clouds Abomasnow had summoned break apart and reveal the calmer ones underneath.

"Without that, Regice's Blizzard will be easier to evade," she observed, before taking notice of the rainbow light still enveloping both of her opponents. "Aurora Veil is not yet gone, however… this may be the only time I get a chance to do this." The princess stashed Isabel's Poké Ball away in her cloak, selected another, and threw it. Her Staraptor, Reyes, appeared from it, spreading his wings and shrilling in a display that turned Intimidate against the Ice-type duo once again. Rosalita went to his side and set her left hand on his back, saying to him, "Reyes, I have a plan I need your help in executing. Only you can do it. Are you ready?"

"Star," Reyes trilled in affirmation.

"Most excellent." Rosalita smiled, stepped back, and swept her arm in front of herself in a regal, authoritative motion. "Reyes, I call upon you to use Double Team!"

Reyes took to the air, beating his wings so forcefully that the snow around him blew away. Regice spun around in place, beeping as it called forth another Ancient Power, but before the glowing stones could reach Reyes, he screeched and split off a number of illusionary copies of himself. With the true Reyes obscured within the cluster, Regice couldn't accomplish anything beyond cutting down a few of the illusory Staraptor. Abomasnow tried to assist by leaping up at swinging an Ice Punch at one of them, only for his fist to pass cleanly through the copy he ended up targeting.

At that point, as Abomasnow landed at Regice's side again, the rainbow light of Aurora Veil finally faded from around their bodies. Seeing this, Rosalita called out, "Now is your chance, Reyes! Hit Regice with Close Combat!"

All of Reyes's doubles swarmed over the titan, further concealing their creator while they battered Regice with their wings, beaks and talons. The legendary Pokémon, angered by the way the barrage took chips out of its body, bellowed electronically and raised an Ancient Power around itself. The rocks it threw into the air dispelled Reyes's copies, but the real one flipped back to escape direct harm. Abomasnow swung an icy fist after Reyes, but failed to reach him.

"Now is the time for what only you can do, Reyes." Rosalita extended her arm toward Regice, then snapped her fist closed. "Final Gambit!"

Reyes voiced a mighty caw that echoed throughout the barren landscape. The Staraptor drew every ounce of strength he could muster from deep within himself, creating an orange aura that outlined his body. He then dive-bombed Regice like a missile, slicing through the air in the blink of an eye. When they collided, Reyes's aura exploded, violently flinging them back apart. Regice was caught by a pile of stones behind it, but no such safety net existed for Reyes, leaving him to fall and tumble through the snow.

"A move that sacrifices all the user's energy to inflict equal damage to the target," Matt said to Eleanor, Sheena, Noel and Leon. "That's what Final Gambit is."

"Princess had somethin' like that up her sleeve all this time?" A chill ran down Noel's spine, but it wasn't from the cold. "We're real lucky we stopped when we did, ain't we?"

"What was holdin' her back, then?" wondered Leon. "Not that I'm complainin', though…"

"I think she was still struggling to accept that she had to fight with nothing at all held back," Sheena ventured, watching as Reyes picked himself up and Rosalita went to his side. "Now, though, I sense a new level of resolve in her. Does she still harbor some doubts? I believe so, but at the same time, I can tell she has grown enough to face them."

"I am proud of you, Reyes," Rosalita told her Pokémon while helping him up. He cooed softly to her in response, and she smiled at him. "Once we're done here, I will help heal you from doing that. For now, please rest." The princess held up Reyes's Poké Ball, calling him back into the sphere. She then turned back to Regice, who was still lying against the stones that broke its momentum. Abomasnow was standing between it and Rosalita, watching her warily. "I will not yield," she told the pair, her voice firm and eyes burning with conviction. "For my brother, my people, and those who have come before me, I will defeat you!"

At that, Rosalita flung the Poké Ball she'd been clutching under her cloak. Her Shiftry, Deivi, emerged from it with a cluster of glittering stars surrounding him. Regice emerged from the indentation once an opponent appeared, but its dots changed to shine with a menacing red glow. Its shrill, buzzing voice had also vanished, discarded in favor of a deep, electronic croak that struck fear into the audience of the battle.

Rosalita, on the other hand, wasn't fazed at all. In fact, Regice's newfound aggression only seemed to harden her resolve even further. She pursed her lips, allowing a small puff of steam to slip from her mouth, and pulled back her arm in preparation to give Deivi an order. Before she could voice her intent, however, Regice took further action. A wave of green energy flowed from the dots on its face and merged with Abomasnow, causing a cocoon of light to form around him. Said cocoon shattered moments later, revealing that the titan's Grass-and-Ice-type ally had undergone an unexpected metamorphosis. He'd grown at least a full foot taller, his fur had drastically lengthened, and the four cones on his back had become giant spikes of ice, not unlike those on Regice's back. The four spikes were so heavy, in fact, that Abomasnow was forced to lean forward and support his newfound bulk with both his arms and legs.

"Mega Evolution?!" Eleanor gasped in surprise. "It's a phenomenon where certain Pokémon temporarily assume an even higher form of evolution during battle. I've read about it back home in Kalos… but I thought a trainer was needed to activate it. How did Regice do it?"

"That green light must have been a wave of Gaia," Sheena realized. "You're right, normally it's the Key Stone held by a trainer that harnesses the life energy of the Pokémon in question, but we know Regice can draw upon Gaia itself. That is probably the way it carried out Mega Evolution."

Amidst their awed chatter, the group failed to notice one other event set off by Abomasnow's Mega Evolution while they conversed. As soon as Mega Abomasnow had emerged from his cocoon, the churning clouds returned to the sky. It wasn't until snow and hail started falling once again that they became aware of it.

"I think it's a safe guess that Mega Abomasnow's Ability is also Snow Warning," Matt said, his voice strained from the irritation he felt.

"What've you got to complain about, Glasses?" Noel complained. Both she and Leon were pressing themselves against Heatran again, desperate for any amount of warmth they could get. "Bro and I are the ones who ain't prepared for this!"

On the battlefield, Rosalita pulled up the front of her cloak to partially cover her mouth. "You've certainly prepared well for this, Regice… over all these centuries, it's only natural. Despite that, I will see this through no matter what you do! Deivi," she called to her shining Shiftry, "Low Kick!"

It took a moment for Deivi to find his footing in the hail. His narrow feet made it hard for him to stay balanced on the wet rock, but once he stabilized himself, he was able to slide toward Regice with ease.

Regice, however, was having none of it. The titan buzzed at its ally, leading Abomasnow to lumber between it and Deivi to run interference. His great weight following his Mega Evolution only made Deivi's Low Kick even more potent; when the Shiftry's foot collided with Abomasnow's leg, the Grass-and-Ice-type flipped helplessly forward while his assailant slid underneath him. His act still had its intended outcome despite his injury, as Deivi fell short of Regice.

With its plan a success, Regice cast Aurora Veil from its fingers, wrapping itself and Abomasnow anew in the polar lights. Its ally, meanwhile, swiftly recovered from being knocked down. Abomasnow loomed over Deivi from behind, his arm cocked in preparation for Ice Punch.

"Behind you!" Rosalita yelled to her Shiftry. "Dark Pulse!"

On his trainer's direction, Deivi jumped into the air and flipped over in a single fluid motion. Despite being upside down, he was able to shoot a wave of glowing black rings from his hands straight into Abomasnow's face. The Grass-and-Ice-type stumbled and flinched, losing his nerve to attack. Regice tried to retaliate by firing a Signal Beam at Deivi, but with how the Shiftry's body was propelled by the force of his Dark Pulse, it couldn't get a bearing on him.

"Keep going like that, Deivi!" the princess encouraged him. "Channel your attack into X-Scissor!"

Deivi flipped again, this time taking aim squarely at Regice as he crossed his arms. Regice shot two more Signal Beams at him, but both missed and Deivi was able to slash at Regice's body. Though the titan was shielded by Aurora Veil's light, it still groaned erratically when its foe made contact. It recovered its strength right away, though, and blew Deivi away with a vortex of wind and ice it whipped up around itself. On the sidelines, Matt cringed at how badly Regice's Blizzard overran Rosalita's Pokémon, while Sheena frowned and shivered.

The princess herself remained centered, however. She exhaled another puff of vapor, then said to Deivi as he shook off the frost, "I have faith in you, Deivi. If you can continue, I am sure you will do everything you are capable of."

Deivi replied with a grunt of affirmation, but he was cut short when Regice rushed him, gliding over the earth with unexpected speed and buzzing angrily all the while. Another Signal Beam sparked to life in the titan's face, but before it could launch the ray, Rosalita called out, "Low Kick!"

Just before the gleaming light erupted from Regice's dots, Deivi dove underneath it and slid into its right leg, knocking the titan over. It called Abomasnow to attention with a furious, distorted cry, prompting its ally to step in block Deivi from escaping. The two Grass-types ended up face-to-face with each other, their proximity leading to their perception of time slowing down. Abomasnow breathed out a tiny cloud of frozen crystals, then pulled his fist back, more ice encasing the three digits on it.

Acting on instinct, Deivi was able to cross his arms and leap up before Abomasnow swung at him. The change of orientation between the two Pokémon led to Abomasnow only being able to strike Deivi's foot with Ice Punch mere moments before the shining Shiftry slashed at him. Using the momentum given to him by Abomasnow clipping his foot, Deivi somersaulted over his opponent after striking with X-Scissor.

"Watch out!" Rosalita shouted as Deivi landed.

Turning around to see what his trainer was warning him of, Deivi discovered Regice sweeping around its temporarily felled partner and heading straight for him. The titan whipped up a Blizzard as it continued advancing forward, leaving Deivi little room to escape. He only managed to avoid taking a direct hit by reflexively bounding up onto the stones around the battlefield. Regice wouldn't let up and gave chase, levitating up to Deivi's elevated refuge and pursuing him as he raced through the hailstorm. Every few seconds, Regice fired another Signal Beam at him, but he managed to stay ahead of them.

"This really is the toughest one yet," Eleanor mused to the others. The dueling pair had left the humans' sight, but they could still hear the sounds of their clash.

"It is still ritual combat," observed Sheena, "but Regice is fighting particularly viciously. The technique behind its tactics are also quite impressive…"

A snowbank opposite Rosalita exploded when one of Regice's Signal Beams burst through it. Deivi leapt over its remains and landed back in the arena, but as soon as he arrived, Abomasnow ambushed him with an Ice Punch straight to the chest. The blow forced a sickening wheeze from Deivi's lungs, and Abomasnow tossed him upward, putting him squarely in Regice's sights. The titan extended its arms and finally managed to cleanly strike Deivi with its ray of flickering, multicolored light. All the blows the Shiftry had weathered finally caught up with him, and when Signal Beam's explosion threw him at his trainer's feet, he didn't get up.

Rosalita was aware of the worried stares her companions, even Noel and Leon, were regarding her with. Though she understood why they would react that way to what they'd seen, her heart was untroubled by it. She lowered herself to her knees and nestled Deivi's head in her arms. "Deivi…" she gently whispered to him, recalling when she first found him as a child. She'd been playing hide-and-seek with Fernando in Lingote Palace's vineyard, and while it was her turn to find her brother, she encountered a red Seedot feeding from a Nomel Berry tree. She ended up forgetting about her game to pursue Deivi around the garden instead, and Fernando never let her live it down. "We've been through a lot, haven't we?" the princess said to the Shiftry as she gently stroked his hair. "I am proud of your courage, Deivi. Thank you for lending me your strength. I couldn't be where I am today without you."

Rosalita returned Deivi to his Poké Ball, then stood up and brushed the snow from her cloak. She could sense that her destiny was close, a fact that both excited and terrified her. Her conflicting emotions led her to bite her lip.

"Almost there…" she muttered to herself as she tightened her fingers around another Poké Ball. She recalled the events of the previous day, specifically her battle with Registeel, and was able to calm herself down as a plan formed in her mind. "That's right, this should still work. Elena, Fell Stinger!"

The princess's Leavanny burst from her Poké Ball already in mid-dive. She spat several glowing, purple needles at Abomasnow, only for Regice to sail into their path and block them from reaching their target. The needles scattered on the ground while Regice moved away, giving Abomasnow space to take a swing at Elena. She was ready, however, and deftly pulled her head back so Abomasnow's Ice Punch would sail harmlessly over her.

"That is superb, Elena!" Rosalita encouraged her Pokémon. She then crossed her arms and called out, "Now use String Shot and spread it everywhere you can!"

The first place Elena spit her silk was directly into Abomasnow's face, covering his eyes. He roared and blindly swiped at her, his anger making a red aura to erupt from his body. Elena bobbed around his punch and attached a strand of silk to his arm, using its movement to swing away on the thread. Just as she let go of the string and spun forward through the air, Regice planted itself firmly in front of her and raised its arms to start whipping up a Blizzard.

"Leaf Blade!" the princess commanded.

Elena trilled and slashed at Regice using her leafy arms, which had extended into knife-like protrusions. Aurora Veil shielded Regice from suffering any visible injuries and assisted it in remaining upright, allowing it to easily engulf Elena in its gusty winter blast. Her frail body couldn't weather the cold, and she crumpled to the ground crying out in pain.

"It won't work the same way it did yesterday…" Rosalita realized. Her confidence started to crack, leaving her unable to decide what to do. All her thoughts intrusively focused on one thing. "I should not have sent Elena into this at all…"

Off on the sidelines, Matt and the others could see Rosalita's fear and worry pulling her eyes open wide and weakening her posture. He instinctively moved his laptop's camera away from her.

Eleanor cupped her hands around her mouth and called out, "Keep going, Rosa! You're almost there!"

"That… that's right!" Sheena added, initially caught off guard by Eleanor's enthusiasm. "You can move past a mistake!"

"You can move past a mistake…" Rosalita repeated. With each word, a little more of her determination returned. She straightened up, and her look of panic disappeared. "You are correct. Thank you for reminding me of that…"

The princess, having composed herself, recalled her Leavanny to the Poké Ball in her hand. Once this was done, she rolled the sphere over and stared at its button. Flakes of snow landed on its plastic surface and melted just enough to leave visible streaks of water.

"Elena," she addressed the Pokémon inside the sphere, "please forgive me for leading you into the wrong battle. It was my mistake, not yours." Her lip quivered, and her fingers tightened involuntarily around the ball. "When we're done here, I'll heal you. For now, though, all I can do is make sure your effort was not in vain. I shall not let you down." Rosalita reached into her cloak and exchanged Elena's Poké Ball for Adiela's. It was her last, a fact she was very well aware of. Yet, she held no doubt when it came to what would happen. For all her mistakes, and as grueling as the trial had been, she had a reason for saving Adiela until the end. "I shall not let any of you down… nor will I let down anyone else I must fight for. Adiela, come forth and claim victory!"

Two things happened at once when Rosalita's Rapidash erupted from the sphere she threw. The equine Fire-type clacked her hooves on the stone floor and neighed, while up above, the hailstorm tapered off as the clouds broke up.

"If I'm not mistaken," Matt said as he gazed skyward alongside the others, "there's no way Abomasnow will be able to set Snow Warning off again. That means no more Aurora Veil, too."

"I don't really know all the particulars of what you're talkin' about," Leon told him, "but I'm guessin' that's good for Princess, and that means it's probably good for us."

"You aren't wrong," Sheena confirmed, making Leon smile in delight.

Noel remained stone-faced, on the other hand. Her attention stayed fixed on the battle before them, where Abomasnow had finally managed to pull Elena's silk off his face. "Don't get to countin' your Torchic yet, Bro," she warned. "Those eggs are all in one basket and they ain't hatched yet."

Rosalita, too, was aware of what the shift in the weather signified. "This is our best opportunity to make a decisive move," she informed Adiela, who snorted embers from her muzzle in response. "Tackle Abomasnow with Flame Charge!"

Adiela bound straight for Abomasnow, her lithe form wrapped in smoldering flames that flicked outward like those of the sun. The Grass-and-Ice-type didn't move at all in the face of the overwhelming threat the oncoming attack held. He stood perfectly still, watching Adiela as she approached. Before she reached him, his eyes changed color, briefly flashing the same red and white as the Rapidash's.

Rosalita and her companions couldn't react in time to what Abomasnow did, and Adiela didn't see it. She collided with him at full force, but he didn't flinch at all. He held fast to his place, seemingly unaffected by a blow that just moments earlier seemed to pose a severe danger to him. The flames that could have easily brought him down were instead drawn into his body and absorbed, with not so much as a singe on his furry body. Rosalita had no idea what she'd just seen at first. It took her some time to think back on the trial before the answer came to her.

"Role Play!" the princess exclaimed, taking a step forward. "I completely forgot…"

"I don't understand what's goin' on here, not one bit," Noel remarked to the others.

"I think Adiela's ability must be Flash Fire," Matt deduced. "Abomasnow copied it and gained an immunity to Fire-type moves. Very clever…"

Once Abomasnow finished absorbing the flames, the same red aura that he radiated while attacking Elena reappeared. He roared, reared back and smashed both his arms into Adiela, sending her skidding across the ancient arena. At that same time, the rainbow light of Aurora Veil faded from around his body.

Though Regice had disappeared from her line of sight, Rosalita knew it too was no longer protected. Swelling with another burst of confidence, she swept her arm in front of herself and into the air, calling out, "Go for a Megahorn!"

On her trainer's command, Adiela checked her slide by shifting her right rear leg back. She lowered her head and charged at Abomasnow again, her horn glowing and lengthening as she did so. He stomped towards her, still engulfed in the aura of his Outrage, but before the two collided, Regice emerged from behind its partner. The titan already had a number of Ancient Power's stones levitating around it, and it flung them at Adiela. Several of them hit her, but she was so focused that they failed to stop her pace.

Regice slid away as quickly as it had appeared, granting Abomasnow the chance to charge Adiela head-on. He met Megahorn with a powerful punch, and both Pokémon felt the shock of the impact radiate through their bodies. Neither was repelled, however, and they continued to clash. Horn met fist again and again, with Abomasnow showing agility that belied his bulk in keeping up with Adiela's thrusts. No matter how the Rapidash twisted and bucked around him, he was able to match her blow-for-blow.

"See, I told you this one was good," Shaymin boasted to the other Pokémon watching the battle. The Mamoswine grunted to it, and after listening to what the Ice-and-Ground-type had to say, it shook its head. "There's not enough time to tell everything that's going on, you. It's not for you to worry about." Shaymin turned back to the duel between Adiela and Abomasnow. "Not for you, but for me…" it silently added.

Adiela and Abomasnow continued to joust, but Rosalita could perceive that Abomasnow was growing weary. His punches were losing speed and turning more into him just blocking Adiela's jabs with his arms. Not only that, his eyes were glazing over.

"That shouldn't surprise me…" the princess thought to herself. "Outrage leaves the one who performs it in a state of confusion…"

Abomasnow's movements continued to grow slower and clumsier, to the point where Adiela was finally able to start landing clean blows on him. After several more strikes, Abomasnow stumbled, and Adiela seized her opening. She drove her horn straight into the Frost Tree Pokémon's chest, forcing a deep, pained groan out of him. He collapsed onto his stomach and reverted to his original form, his Mega Evolution vanishing in a wave of light.

"That's one down… well done, Adiela!" While Rosalita praised her, Adiela snorted out a bundle of embers and neighed. Their moment of victory was short-lived, however, as Regice re-entered the ring. Beeping and buzzing, it tore more stones from the ground and spun in a circle, flinging them at the Rapidash. Rosalita was ready, and she directed, "Adiela, dodge it and strike with Bounce!"

Drawing on the strength in her powerful legs, Adiela leaped up and into the swarm of rocks. She bounded off the first few, using them as literal stepping stones to propel herself toward Regice. The titan kept spinning and throwing the stones at her, and before she could reach it, one clipped her right flank. She stumbled in midair, leaving herself open to suffer several more blows from the glowing stones.

Rosalita glanced to her side, and saw that Matt, Eleanor, Sheena, Noel and Leon all were staring at Adiela, closely watching the Rapidash's struggle. To encourage her, Rosalita called to her, "You can do it, Adiela! We've been so much together… I know you can make it!"

Hearing her trainer's words of support helped to clear Adiela's head. She shook off her daze and vaulted from the stone she was on, just managing to avoid several more flying her way. Once she finally got above Regice, she somersaulted and plummeted toward it, driving all four of her hooves down into its body. A shockwave radiated through the titan's body, making it shudder and emit an electronic groan. Adiela shoved herself off Regice, but when it tried to give chase, it found itself unable to move.

"Bounce paralyzed it!" Matt shouted to Rosalita. "This is it! Now's your chance to finish this fight!"

"Much obliged," replied the princess. She turned back to the battle, held her fist to her chest, and said, "That is correct, Adiela! Victory is in our grasp! First, use Flame Charge to build up speed!"

Regice, unable to move, could do nothing but watch as Adiela charged towards it with her body aflame. It screeched and slid back when she collided with it. While she ran back to her trainer, Regice tried to mount a counterattack but failed to rouse its body beyond raising its arms.

"This… this is really it, Adiela." Rosalita's voice was growing quiet as the meaning of the moment started to fully dawn on her. "We're going to win against the last of the Three Pillars… please, put an end to this. Wild Charge!"

Adiela struck her foot against the ground to dispel the remaining flares from Flame Charge. They were promptly replaced by a veil of crackling electricity, and the Rapidash barreled at its target once again. From her vantage point, Rosalita thought she saw Regice go still, as if it was ceding the fight to her. She couldn't be sure, but the idea that even Regice respected her strength gave her some comfort.

After Adiela tackled Regice and caused her electrical energy to explode outward, she backed up but did not go far from her opponent. Sure enough, after one last robotic groan, the titan fell forward and crashed into the ground. By sheer coincidence, a soft, gentle snowfall started at the exact same time. It was as if the weather itself was watching and understood what had taken place.

"We did it…" Rosalita whispered to herself. For a moment, she felt nothing. Her mind disconnected from her body, giving her the sensation of watching herself from outside. And then, all at once, every emotion hit her. Joy that her long-awaited destiny had come. Worry over whether she'd do the right thing for her kingdom. Nervousness over the immense responsibilities she faced. All-consuming fear regarding her brother and his plans. Rosalita couldn't handle everything that was piling on her at the same time. She crumpled to her knees and started sobbing. That was the only thing she had the ability to do. "It's finally over… we did it, we did it…"

A sudden warm touch briefly choked off her tears, and she looked up to see Adiela gently nuzzling her. She started crying again as she hugged her friend, but these tears carried hints of joy.

"Thank you, Adiela, thank you so much…" She glanced under her cloak and saw her other Poké Balls. "I thank you all as well… all of you, I couldn't have done it without you."

"I'm proud of you, Rosalita," Sheena said as she approached with the others. She gave Rosalita a warm smile. "You've worked hard to get here."

"Sheena is right, you!" Shaymin boisterously declared, flying into the circle. The Pokémon it was with remained on the cliff. "Your efforts have been quite admirable. Yes, quite admirable indeed. You truly are worthy of taking the throne."

"That means so much to me…" Rosalita cries subsided, her tears coming slower and smaller as she looked up still sniffling quietly. "I don't know if I'm ready for what comes next…"

"That's why we're by your side." Matt had given his laptop to Eleanor, and he extended a gloved hand to Rosalita. The light of the puzzle box was spilling from his bag. "Please, stand up. This is your rite of passage, so you should be the one to do this."

The princess blinked several times, ridding her eyes of the tears that remained. "You are correct," she said, regaining her focus. She took Matt's hand and rose back up. Both of them then turned to Regice, who hadn't moved after falling over. It was radiating golden light, just like Regirock and Registeel had after their defeats. Matt retrieved the puzzle box from his bag, and he and Rosalita lifted it into the air, each of them sharing one side of it.

"A body of ice," the voice, distinctly male yet gentle and suave, sounded in their heads. While it spoke, Regice dissolved into light and merged with the cube. "To summon the king, such a thing must be obtained."

"Who's that talkin' now?!" Noel exclaimed, pushing Leon behind herself while frantically searching around.

"It's the voice of Regice," Eleanor told the siblings. "Don't feel bad, it freaked Matt out pretty bad when it first happened to him, too."

Matt shot a look back over his shoulder at Eleanor, and she replied by sticking her tongue out and winking at him. He thought about saying something, but a sudden spike in the intensity of the puzzle box's glow distracted all of them. It levitated from Matt and Rosalita's hands and floated in the air before the group, spilling light from all of its sides.

"Here we go," Rosalita breathlessly said.

As much as the question of what the cube's completion tantalized the princess, it was Matt who couldn't wait to find out. "My grandfather laid down his life to protect this thing," he thought, staring at the gleaming relic. "Now that it's complete, what's going to happen…?"

The puzzle box released a burst of energy, forcing Matt, Rosalita and the others to shield their faces as the wave blew against them. It then slowly descended, landing softly on the snow-dusted earth. The group convened around it as its light faded. For all the different ideas each of them had regarding what would happen next - Matt and Rosalita anticipated seeing an actual map, Eleanor hoped that whatever was inside would come out through an elaborate mechanism - what ended up happening was something none of them guessed.

The top of the cube lit back up and projected not a map but a simple message written in Braille. Matt waited for a moment, thinking as the others did that something else might happen. When nothing did, he focused his sight and began reading.

"Whosoever shall wear the crown, the time of your birthright has come." Behind him, Rosalita tended up and drowned. "Reach the sacred site and accept the gift and the curse of the earth. The place of your fate is the crown on the head of the king. The boundaries of life and death await at the end of the four towers and the Three Pillars."

"The four towers and the Three Pillars?" Sheena repeated. "The Three Pillars are Regirock, Registeel and Regice, that we know. What four towers is it referring to?"

"I am quite certain I know," Rosalita said in a deathly serious voice. "Matt, show me that map we've been using."

"Huh? Oh, right." Matt reclaimed his laptop from Eleanor and tapped several keys, bringing the map back up on its screen. "Here."

"Back when the Doradan kingdom was at its peak," the princess explained, "our land encompassed everything from where La Ciudad Dorada is now to the mountain range across the desert. At that time, we had multiple towers laid out across the realm. Lingote Palace is considered one of them, but there were three others." Rosalita touched the laptop's screen in three places, leaving marks behind. "Here, here and here. The four towers."

Eleanor cocked her head. She had been tracing the path laid out by the towers' locations, but noticed something unusual. "See that? Those three towers are all in a straight line with Lingote Palace. But isn't this all a little weird?"

"What do you mean?" Rosalita asked her.

"These," Eleanor replied, pointing to the marks representing the titans' locations. "Where we found Regirock, Registeel and Regice. As soon as you showed us the towers. Rosa, I couldn't help but think that the whole map looks a bit like Regigigas."

Rosalita stole another glance at the map, brought her hand to her mouth, and gasped. "You are correct, it really is in the image of Regigigas!" she exclaimed, regarding the map with wide eyes. "Lingote Palace and the towers, plus the locations of the trials… this is the face of our guardian. And the clue said we need to go to a place that's the crown on the head of the king. Since this is Regigigas's head and face… the Golden City must be right… there."

The princess placed her finger on a spot at the center of the mountain range. The dots representing Lingote Palace and the three other towers led straight to it, while the locations of the trials completed a circle around the site.

"X marks the spot," Eleanor joked, "or in this case, the circle marks the spot."

"So in a sense, it really was a map…" Matt said to himself. "Not literally, but the key to understand the map to the Golden City…"

Matt's musing was interrupted when Rosalita tugged on his sleeve. "We must be off with haste," she told him, "but first… I need more Revival Herbs. I must heal my friends."

"Of course." Matt started to reach into his bag, but before he grasped the bottles with the herbs inside, he added, "I should let Cassy know where we're going, too."

-:-

It was mere minutes later when Cassy's phone started beeping. The tone interrupted her from the book she was reading, an extensive genealogy of the royal family.

"What happened now?" she muttered to herself in irritation.

Her frustration faded once she saw what was in the email Matt sent her. Besides a modest amount of text, it contained an image of the map with all the different location designations on it. Not only that, the site of the Golden City was circled a few too many times with what resembled yellow marker.

"Never one to be subtle when you want someone to see something, huh?" she said before reading the text out loud. "Cassy, it's me. We figured out where the Golden City is, so we're heading there now. I've marked it on the enclosed map. Be careful. Until Rosalita takes the crown, Fernando may resort to any measure necessary to stop her. This incident will be over soon, but the endgame is the most dangerous time."

As soon as she finished reading, Cassy stood up so quickly she nearly knocked her chair over, then hastily made her way out of the archive.

-:-

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the castle, Fernando was in his personal sitting room, surrounded by the splendor he'd personally chosen to furnish it. Two red velvet couches sat on opposite sides of a glass table with a marble frame. A number of stands made of wood dotted the room's perimeter, each of them supporting a planter. The Gracidea flowers contained within weren't in the best of health, even though Fernando had been careful to take care of them. Why they had proven so resistant to return to health, the royal had no idea.

What had his attention at that time, however, was the giant painting overlooking the room. It depicted himself and Rosalita as children, and had been commissioned by their father as a gift for their fifth birthday. He was standing before the portrait, staring at it while holding the Griseous Orb's staff in his hand.

Lost in thought, he scowled and asked himself under his breath, "Why wouldn't any of you listen to me?"

~:~

Lingote Palace's throne room was easily the most spectacular chamber in the entire castle. Giant stained glass windows depicting lush gardens and magnificent towers overlooked the red carpet path at the center of the hall, which connected the great entryway doors to the raised floor where the king's golden throne sat. More stained glass surrounded said platform, helping to fill the chamber with colorful radiance.

All that color and radiance was a mere facade that day. Fernando, Rosalita and their parents - all four were present, but the mood between them was nothing like the happy family they had been before.

"Father, you must see things the way I do!" pleaded the count. Spreading his arms, he continued, "That message is a direct threat against our sovereignty and way of life!"

Fernando VII tightened his grip on the piece of paper in his hand. It was a letter that had just arrived in the kingdom, promising that an unidentified sender - implying itself to be a group with its language - was coming for La Ciudad Dorada's treasures. He glanced to Sophia, standing at his side, and his queen gave him a short, encouraging nod. He then looked down from his throne to his children standing before him.

"It is undeniable that this is a threat to be taken seriously," Fernando VII told the pair.

"See, you understand!" his son exclaimed. "Luckily, I have prepared a plan to keep La Ciudad Dorada and its way of life safe. We must show these outsiders that attacking us would be a fool's errand. To do so, we should walk the path of the Three Pillars and awaken Regigigas-"

"We will do no such thing," the king interrupted.

In an instant, Fernando's face sank. He thought his father was listening to him, so when he realized his pleas were falling on deaf ears, his mind filled with anger. "But why?! You said we must take the threat seriously! Why are you not doing anything to respond to it and protect our land?"

"Father understands what Regigigas's role is," Rosalita interjected, bringing her brother's rage-filled glare onto herself. "Regigigas is our protector, but not our weapon."

"That is correct, my son," Fernando VII concurred. "We have had many centuries of peace, and we are more than prepared to defend that peace if we must. Regigigas's will is its own. If our defenses are not enough to defeat this threat, Regigigas will recognize the urgency and awaken of its own accord. We must not awaken it for our own purposes."

"You've all gone mad!" the younger Fernando fumed. "The civil war cost us all our territory except for this city itself. That was the last time Regigigas awakened on its own! We must call upon it ourselves and explain why we need it! I implore you, reconsider!"

"This is not up for debate, Fernando." The king shut his eyes. "Awakening Regigigas on our own is not an option. As Rosalita said, it is our protector, not our weapon. It is up to Regigigas to decide when to act."

"I cannot… I cannot believe…" It took every ounce of Fernando's will to not lash out at his father in a way that would surely have earned him a punishment. To restrain himself, he clenched his hands into fists so tightly that he nearly drew blood from his palms. He lowered his head and said in furious anguish, "I spent my life training myself to protect the kingdom, only to be rejected in favor of Rosalita… Now I'm the only one taking any initiative to shield our home from a threat, and this scorn from you all is how I'm rewarded… I have no place here, do I?!"

"Fernando…" Sophia gently replied, her face sinking into a soft, compassionate expression with saddened eyes. "You do have a place here. You always have and always will. Please try to understand that this just is not the right idea for the times we are in. It is not a judgment of your character."

"Mother?! H-how could you?!" Fernando seemed genuinely hurt by what Sophia said. His look of anger flipped to despair nearly instantly, and instead of restraining his fury, he found himself fighting back tears. "That is exactly what you told me that day, when Shaymin selected Rosalita to inherit the throne… how could you say those words to me now?!"

"I did not mean to…"

At that point, nothing his mother could have said would have gotten through to Fernando. He pivoted on his heel and started to march out of the throne room, leaving his parents and sister behind. They couldn't see or hear him mumbling to himself as he left.

"You're all mad… I will defend this kingdom. I will protect it from all its threats, from without… or within." Fernando's eyes went wide as they sank back in his head. "No matter what price I must pay. No matter what…"

~:~

Recalling the relatively recent events only made Fernando grit his teeth, the anger he felt rising within him once again.

"You will understand once I awaken Regigigas and it protects us, Rosalita," he told the image of his sister, using the portrait as a stand-in for her. "I will make sure that it will defend our land."

Fernando's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the heavy wooden door that connected his sitting room to the hallways outside. He turned away from the portrait and took a single step toward the entrance.

"Come in!" he beckoned.

The visitor to his chambers turned out to be one of the guards, who slowly pushed the door open with one hand while clutching his staff with the other. "Count Fernando?"

"Yes, what is it?"

The guard stepped aside, revealing Cassy standing behind him. She glared up at the count with an icy stare, seemingly angry with him for something even he wasn't aware of.

"Miss Natsuka has requested an audience with you," the guard explained.

"Very well," Fernando replied, ushering Cassy forward with a sweeping gesture. She went to one of the velvet couches and sat down, and Fernando followed. Before speaking to her, however, he said to the guard, "Leave us. I wish to speak to her alone."

"As you wish, sir."

The guard bowed his head and exited the room, closing the door behind him. Once they were alone together, Cassy and Fernando sat in uncomfortable silence for what seemed like forever.

"Well?" the count finally asked her.

Cassy sighed and reached into her pocket, retrieving her phone. She tapped its screen to wake it up, then handed it over to Fernando. "That's where the Golden City is," she informed him. "Matt circled it a million times, so you can't really miss it. Don't you hurt him when you go."

"The entirety of La Ciudad Dorada thanks you for your service," Fernando replied, though his expression soon darkened. His natural distrust of outsiders was flaring again, even despite the gift Cassy had just given him. "What do you think you gain by leaking his activity to me?"

"I've given you that information so you wouldn't hurt him while you dealt with your own affairs." Cassy's eyes drifted away from Fernando's face and fixated on the Griseous Orb atop his staff. "I already told you. That's what I want."

END of CHAPTER 5