Absolite Arc: An Unexpected Reunion
They landed in Lacunosa. The city looked old and ancient, and above all, quiet. They took a look around. "Okay... Let's go look for the monastery," Mari decided. They withdrew their Pokémon and marched off. As they did so, they checked for any conspicuous-looking buildings. "Hmm... What about that?" The black-haired girl pointed to a large building in the shadow of a mountain that stood on a hill.
"Huh... We should take a closer look at that", Jacky decided and they walked towards it. They passed a sign. "Monastery of Lacunosa. There you go, we're in the right place." Mari grinned widely. "I had the right hunch!",
"Do you think we should just go in?" Jacky stopped in front of the huge wooden door.
"Do you have a better plan in store?",
"Not this time." Jacky smirked and then banged on the door with the knocker. It took a while for the door to open and a nun to face them. "Yes?",
"Hello." Jacky indicated a slight bow. "I'm Jacky from Aspertia and this is my friend, Mari." She pointed briefly at Mari and then continued: "We would like to ask permission to ascend Temple Mountain."
A long pause followed before the nun exhaled audibly. "I will lead you to Nate." She opened the door fully. "He will give you permission or not. Don't get your hopes up too high, though. Follow me.",
"Thank you." Jacky and Mari stepped past the woman and purposefully followed her down the hallway. Eventually, they reached a large door and the nun pushed it open. It was a hall in which there was a podium with an altar. On the wall hung a strange structure. One that united a ring and a cross. "Nate... There are visitors for you."
An old man turned to them. He wore a dark robe and seemed alert and awake despite his surely advanced age. He eyed the girls. "Thank you, Sister Nadia. I will take care of our guests." The nun indicated a bow and left the hall again. The abbot of the monastery approached them. "Children very, very rarely visit here. I guess you have a request, am I right in assuming?",
"Yes." Jacky nodded. "I... we... want to ascend Temple Mountain."
Nate's brows furrowed. "That mountain is sacred and entering it is strictly forbidden. Why do you want to go up there?" Jacky straightened her shoulders and took a deep breath before continuing. "In Sinnoh, the legendary Pokémon Palkia and Dialga have been subjugated by a criminal organization. The situation is very serious... and we need the Mega Stone kept at the top of the mountain." She suppressed the word 'possibly'. Nate raised his eyebrows. "Go on.",
"If we have it, we may be able to prevent worse. We need your permission to do that. We're just kids, but I can say we've been through and accomplished more than some adults."
The abbot was silent. He didn't really seem convinced. "How do I know you're telling the truth? This story sounds very fabricated to me, if I am being honest. It does not sound believable, what power would simple humans have to suppress ancient and legendary deities like that?",
"The power of the lake guardians", Mari explained. "They crafted shackles from the crystals of the three fairies and captured them with them.",
"That sounds even less convincing.",
"They are trying to take advantage of the situation to summon Arceus and chain it so it would create another universe! How serious do I have to get with this?!",
"Absurd! No soul on this earth would dare trying such a foul trick on the god of our world! No human in existence would ever be able to subjugate Arceus in this way! You clearly have a wild imagination, but there is no way I will buy it!",
"Don't worry, Grandpa!", a voice from the background spoke up. "These sugar buns don't lie, I'll vouch for that with my caramel apples!" Footsteps approached and the red-haired boy from the ferry appeared in front of them, arms folded and a lollipop in his mouth. "So we meet again, huh?",
"You?" Mari stared at him with a mixture of great surprise and confusion.
"A sweet pleasure on my part!" he grinned. Mari was far too stunned to reply. Nate exhaled. "I am still not okay with what you did. But... you've been to Sinnoh for a short while. Despite the fact you were actually not supposed to leave this place at all. So, you are telling me that there are some arrogant people out there that are trying to claim the power of our god for themselves to destroy the old order and create a new one?",
"That's what I'm saying. May sound strange, and I agree it also sounds a bit crazy, but that's 100% the truth.",
"...Alright, this is on your head then. I hereby grant permission. If the gods of time and space turn to the dark side, this world would be lost. But swear in Arceus' name that you will not damage anything on this mountain",
"Very wise of you, Grandpa." The boy nodded in satisfaction and raised an eyebrow as he noticed the girls' stunned faces. "What's the matter? Do I have something on my face?",
"N-no..." Mari muttered.
"Aaaah, I see now." Again, he grinned. "It's because good old Jayden is hanging out in a monastery, right?",
"To be honest, that's the least place I would have expected you to be." Mari admitted.
"Prick up your ears." He tapped Nate on the shoulder. "This gray hunk here is the chief-" Nate cast an unenthusiastic glance at Jayden, "...abbot, don't stare at me so angrily - in this monastery and my grandfather. So, I do the nuns and priests here a little favor and sweeten their bland daily lives. I'm the good mood maker against my will, so to speak. Right?" He patted Nate on the shoulder. Nate huffed slightly. "Since you took their side, I want you to guide them. Understood?",
"What?" Jayden pulled a stunned face. "But my feet really aren't cut out for mountain climbing! And besides, they have these delicious chocolate bars with vanilla icing on them today and...!",
"I won't stand for any backtalk," Nate interrupted him. "You know the rules of the monastery, so I want you to make sure they are nature of the mountain has remained untouched for decades. And I want it to stay that way." Jayden grumbled quietly to himself before sighing and waving it off. "Point taken. Honestly, I'm surprised you're so quick to say yes. Normally, you'd rip the head off anyone who even thought about going up there." Nate ignored Jayden's comment and turned to the cross-shaped ring of ivory on the wall.
"That's Arceus' ring, isn't it?" Mari whispered to Jacky.
"I've read a lot about it, but I've never seen it in real life", Jacky answered. "But... yes, it must be."
Mari looked at Jayden. "Shall we go then? I'll give you a bag of butterscotch candies too, if that's any consolation.",
"Huh?" Jayden looked at her. "No kidding?",
"No kidding." Mari opened her bag and rummaged around in it until she found what she was looking for. "Here. See?"
Jayden opened his mouth in amazement and quickly closed it again before he would start drooling. "Um... That... looks tempting, really! Hey, grandpa! Looks like I won't have to take a nun for early marriage after all, huh?",
"For early what now?" Mari stared at him.
"Pffft, haha! Your face just now was as pale as your candy, cutiepie", he remarked with mischievousness in his eyes. "As they say, a little fun is essential!"
Mari looked at him, befuddled, before shaking her head and tossing him the bag of candy. Then, she turned towards Jacky. "Sorry, I had to bribe him, if he ain't coming with us, we ain't getting up that mountain. So I better get him to come along voluntarily.",
"Good move, Mari." She chuckled. "You've chosen the right bait.",
"Of course I did. But I have a feeling this dude is going to annoy me to no end."
Jayden, who could hear it of course, raised both eyebrows in amusement, then dropped the bag of candy into his pouch. "Sooo... A trip to Temple Mountain it is, huh? Let's not waste any more time then!",
"Yeah, that's right... Jacky, the Mega Stone is calling!" Mari said before following Jayden. Jacky laughed softly and walked beside her. "Yeah, I can't wait to see it! But... what if none of our Pokémon can use it?",
"That would be a pity then... All we can do right now is hope they can.",
"Jayden?", Jacky called forward. "Do you know what mega stone is kept up there?",
"I have no idea," the redhead replied.
"Aren't you the future abbot or something?" Jacky frowned. "I have no idea about life in the monastery, but aren't you supposed to know?",
"Here's the thing... No one at the monastery really knows what kind of mega stone it is", Jayden explained as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "That's because no one has ever been up there, except Nate. It's forbidden for anyone to enter the mountain's grounds. Nate is the only one who knows.",
"We should have asked him..." Jacky sighed in disappointment.
"And what exactly are you doing here?" Mari asked. "At the monastery, I mean?",
"I'm enjoying the time I have with my one true love." He chewed on a piece of candy as if to emphasize that statement.
"Riiight... How surprising. So... you don't worship the legendary gods?",
"We all kind of worship them, don't we?", he asked. "But if you mean it the way I think you mean it, then no, I don't. I don't participate in any of the prayers.",
"Have you ever seen a legendary Pokémon?", Mari asked further.
"Kind of, yes." he replied. "I once saw the mysterious Pokémon Manaphy." As he said this, he sounded proud.
"Really?",
"Mhm." He nodded as they left the monastery's grounds. "Grandpa said that only those with a good heart would ever get to see it in their lives. If that's really true, then I guess I'm not so bad after all, huh?"
Mari shrugged. "Well... looks like it, at least.",
"The marriage thing just now was just a joke, in case you still think otherwise." He smirked. "So... don't cling to false hopes. Mhm... although, maybe they're not so false, who knows?", "As if I'd think of such a thing, you stupid imbecile!" Mari hissed at him, visibly annoyed.
"I guess the word 'joke' is nowhere to be found in your dictionary, huh?" Again, a piece of candy disappeared into his mouth. "But I want to keep my head, so I'd better be quiet.", "Clever boy," Mari said. "I've already got someone else prioritized on my 'to kill list', so I'd have to concentrate on that for now.",
"Always am, cutiepie," he murmured, amused. Then, he pointed to a small path that led up the slope of the mountain that now loomed before them. "The shrine is at the top. It's pretty late, so we'll have to spend the night up there at least once. We won't make it there and back in a day. And if you want to screech and fly up there now-forget it." He shook his head. "I mean... sure, you could maybe, but the rules of the monastery forbid it. Using your own strength and all that.",
"Great," Mari screwed up her face. "This is going to be absolutely hilarious. I'm starting to hate these stupid rules. And by the way..." She pointed at Jayden. "Stop calling me cutiepie!" Jayden laughed and crossed his arms. "Okay, Mari. I guess you're pretty fiery. And speaking of the rules... They also say that the guide of those allowed to enter the mountain doesn't have to light the fire or look for anything to eat, and they're allowed to insist on a free back massage.",
"Liar," Mari growled. "Any dumbass can smell that you just made that up. The fire wouldn't be a problem at all, but I'm SURELY not going to give you a back massage! Forget about that right now!",
"You're immensely fun to tease," he grinned. They reached the beginning of the path.
"Tch." Mari tossed her hair back. "I guess he's going to be a victim of my definitely rising bad mood if he keeps this up.",
"I must say, my mood is pretty good!" Jacky commented, giggling.
"Yeah, because you're not his victim." Mari grumbled angrily.