Pokemon: The Lord of the Elements
Hey, everyone! Thank you for your reviews. Sadly, the Pokémon XYZ series is over! To all of my Amourshipping readers, congratulations on Serena kissing Ash! To all my other readers that have other shippings, at least you can hope that Brock will finally try to stop being a horn dog and actually find a good girl, right? Honestly, I'm just happy that Ash got the girl for once! I mean really, guy, 20 years! NOW WIN A FREAKING LEAGUE ALREADY! Though, I won't lie when I say that Pokeshipping and Amourshipping are my top two ships. I can't really decide between the two, though. Pearl and Advanced are tied for third to me, and the rest I just kind of think about.
I can't really put an "overall top," though, as I don't really want to be biased. But I won't lie when I say that I thought for the longest time it would be Misty and Ash forever. After Ash lost at the Hoenn League, I lost interest in the show, but the XY series brought me back, and I can honestly say that I am happy it did. In either case, you may be surprised how I handle the shipping business, though I don't plan on getting to anything major for shipping just yet. Anyway, thank you again for the reviews and I hope you enjoy the chapter! Please review at the end!
P.S.: .delicious – I put in a couple of hints for this chapter. See if you can figure it out!
Chapter 6
The Grey Wanderer and the Kings Under the Mountain
It had been a few hours since Dawn left the town she took shelter at from the storms of Mount Coronet. Though the skies were still dark and filled with lightning, Dawn took comfort in the fact that the mountain passes provided natural protections from the severe weather. Slowly Dawn moved forward, careful not to slip on the muddy trail, though her true fear at the moment was that the constant rain would cause an eventual landslide. However, her determination to find Ash drove her forward despite the danger. Thankfully, though, the hiker she met at the town tavern gave her information as to where the ruins of Mount Coronet was located. With some much-needed sleep that was able to get in a guest room provided to her from the bartender she met, Dawn felt more than ready to take on the challenge of Mount Coronet. Or, at least, she hoped she would be able to meet the challenge the mountain and its range provided.
She got up early that morning and had a good, warm breakfast to keep her energy up. Until her stay with the bartender, Dawn had mostly fed herself on meals-ready-to-eat that she bought before starting her journey. Thankfully, pokécenters sold such items to trainers for an extremely cheap price. While the food may not have been the best, they were certainly edible and good enough to make sure a trainer had a little comfort in the wilderness. Food, after all, was a luxury on the road, and good food was prized. As Dawn trudged forward through the mud, much to her displeasure, she heard a cry in the distance. Perking her head up, and eyes wide with alert, Dawn released her Prinplup from its pokéball. Prinplup evolved from Dawn's Piplup a year ago after a wild pokémon attempted to attack her. Quickly overpowered by her foe, Piplup evolved to protect Dawn from getting hurt and saved her. Prinplup was twice as big as Piplup was, who was the same height as Ash's Pikachu, and a slightly darker shade of blue. On his head were two golden ridges that extended slightly from him like horns.
Prinplup cried out in anticipation to see his trainer and an eagerness to whatever she asked. Dawn smiled at her old friend and gave a nod, informing the blue penguin that she heard a cry in the distance. Prinplup nodded and the two quickly hurried along, Dawn no longer caring if mud was now splashing on her. When she came to a cliff, Dawn saw below her a trainer clothed in red being attacked by a rather large Onix. Though the trainer attempted grab a pokéball from her yellow fanny pack the Onix was able to stop her from reaching it.
"Prinplup, jump at Onix and use steel wing!" Dawn commanded immediately upon seeing the danger.
"Prin-plup!" the penguin pokémon cried as it jumped high off the cliff and used its wings in order to glide towards Onix. Its wing glowed a bright, white silver-steel, causing the weight of Prinplup's wings to quickly increase the damage of the impact from its fall. Onix shrieked in pain when Prinplup struck a blow to the stone snake's head and the blue penguin did a front flip off of Onix's head to land safely on the ground. Onix shook its head and turned its attention to Prinplup in rage, no longer remembering the threat posed by the trainer it was originally attacking.
"Prinplup, use hydro-pump!" Dawn commanded. "After Onix is soaked, finish it off with ice beam!"
Prinplup cried out furiously and released a powerfully rapid volume of water from its mouth, pushing Onix into a rock wall. However, when Prinplup was going to use ice beam, Onix let out a desperate screech attack to cause the penguin to halt its second attack. Prinplup cried out it pain at it covered its ears. As Onix continued its screech, it angrily thrashed its tail against the mountain, causing a rockslide that was heading directly for Prinplup.
"Prinplup!" Dawn cried in terror as she watched the boulders fall towards her partner.
"Blaziken, kick those boulders out of the way!" the other trainer called out and threw her pokéball to release a red and white feathered pokémon that looked like it had the body of a person and the head of a falcon. The pokémon quickly jumped and kicked the boulders away from crushing Prinplup, causing Onix to cry out in rage.
"Blaziken, jump high and use double kick!" the other trainer shouted.
"Prinplup, use ice beam once Blaziken is out of the way!" Dawn cried out with determination.
The two pokemon quickly took action, Blaziken jumping high and soaring above Onix while Prinplup took aim, fire in its eyes. Blaziken then dove straight Onix before throwing blow after blow with its long legs at the rock snake pokémon. After Onix once again was thrusted against the rock wall, Blaziken pushed its legs against the rock snake and made a backflip to land next to Prinplup. Prinplup then cried loudly as it shot an ice beam at its foe, causing Onix to be completely encased in ice except for its nose. Despite the creature trying to kill both pokemon and people, Prinplup could not stoop to the level of the aggressive pokemon and hoped that the Onix would one day stop such behavior. Dawn let out a sigh of relief, but that sigh was soon followed by a yelp of surprise when Blaziken jumped to the top of cliff, grabbed Dawn, and jumped back to its trainer at the bottom of the cliff.
"Hey, Dawn! Long time, no see," the trainer smiled. She was a brunette with long hair came down to rest between her shoulder blades and blue eyes that were like shinning sapphires. She was about Dawn's height, and pretty, though Dawn was arguably the more femininely dressed of the two.
"May?" Dawn blinked for a moment before letting a wide smile paint her face. Dawn quickly closed the gap between the two girls and hugged her friend of many years tightly, which was returned by the brunette. "Oh my gosh, how are you? When did you come to Sinnoh?"
"About a week ago," May laughed. "I actually came looking for you. I found out through your mom and Professor Rowan that you were traveling on the east side of the Coronet mountain range, so I took a small plane to Veilstone City and had a friend who owed me drive to one of the mountain trails. After that, I found myself wandering through the mountains with no idea how to find you!"
"Looks like I found you instead," Dawn smiled.
"And good thing you did, too," May nodded before looking towards the frozen Onix. "That Onix was out for blood. What on earth could be causing the pokémon to be acting like that?"
"That's what I intend to find out," Dawn frowned, thinking about all the horror the world had to endure. "Why were you looking for me, anyway? Did you have any news of Ash?!"
"No," May shook her head sadly, causing the momentary bout of excitement to extinguish from Dawn's eyes. "Nothing. But that's actually why I came. I think Ash is here."
"Why?" Dawn eyed her friend curiously. "What makes you think that?"
"It started a few weeks ago, actually," May started, looking upwards while placing a finger bellow her lips as she recounted her past events. "I had placed a call to Misty to see if she had any news from Kanto after exploring Hoenn. I knew you were unavailable, and so was Serena, as she has been trying to figure out the ruins near the megalith, but I did get some information from her in a text: Dawn, the ruins that are popping up across the world… they have two things in common."
"What would that be?" Dawn asked.
"Their architecture is in some way related to the architecture of ruins in the Sinnoh region and the Orange Islands," May stated. "Dawn, whatever is going on, I get the feeling it's too closely related. These ruins are appearing everywhere, but they more intact than anything I have seen. Something isn't right!"
"Okay, let's say that whatever is going on is related to a bunch of ruins," Dawn thought out loud, "what could the ruins have to do with it?"
"When Ash and I were in Kanto together," May said, "a little way from Pewter City, we came across the ruins Pokélantis. Ash did something there that made him not right. He was possessed by the spirit of some evil king that wanted to capture a Ho-oh and take over the world."
"Weren't the people of Pokélantis seafarers?" Dawn asked.
"Yeah, they were," May nodded. "Supposedly their original home was destroyed south of the Orange Islands. Those who escaped settled in the Orange Islands and made war on the Kanto region. They expanded quickly, but never got past the mountains where Mount Moon is at. Not being able to expand east any further, they tried expanding west into the Johto region. The settlers on the north-western slopes of Mount Silver supposedly drove them out. Those settlers were from Sinnoh, and built temples to Arceus. It just so happened that the king of Pokélantis was cruel enough that he enticed the people of the Orange Islands to rebel against him. Between the people of the Orange Islands and people of Mount Silver, the Pokélantians were destroyed. To celebrate that victory and to show that they were now one people, they founded the city of Pokémopolis at the southern foot of Mount Silver, which is close to Pallet Town."
"What did they do?" Dawn asked with curiosity.
"Supposedly they near took over the entire world through cultural assimilation," May shrugged. "They were highly advanced with technology, but their experiments got the better of them and they wound up destroying themselves."
"What?" Dawn smiled. "Did they build a super computer that killed them all?"
"Close," May laughed. "They tried creating super pokémon. They succeeded, but the pokémon that were made were overly aggressive and destroyed everything in their path. So, those who managed to survive made stone pokéball-like objects that held the creatures. For those that were particularly dangerous, they made relics that would hold the creatures, but intentionally made them not appear as pokéballs to prevent an accidental release."
"I think I remember hearing a story like that from Ash," Dawn now frowned. "Are you telling me these pokémon are creatures that the people of Pokémopolis tried to imprison?"
"I wish I was," May shook her head sadly. "At least we would know how to beat them: just find an oversized Jigglypuff. This seems more complicated."
"Complicated how?" Dawn asked.
"Well, it seems the ruins that have been found are older," May said quietly.
"Older?" Dawn frowned. "That makes no sense. You said that these were Pokémopolis ruins. How can they be older?"
"If they aren't Pokémopolis ruins," May frowned. "Trust me, I looked at them as many times as I could. The ruins at the Orange Islands and Mount Coronet are the oldest, but they are still too similar."
"Similar how?" Dawn asked, starting to get impatient.
"None of the ruins of Pokémopolis have depictions of Arceus and eighteen Mew surrounding it," May answered. "Whatever is going on, the pokémon can sense it, and it is driving them crazy."
"So what does this have to do with looking for me?" Dawn asked.
May looked up at Mount Coronet, a little bit of fear shrouding her heart as she gazed at the menacing storms above her. May didn't know why, but her heart said she was right in her guesses. She needed to find Ash, and her only guide so far was her heart.
"You and I are looking for Ash for the same reason," May answered honestly. "Mount Coronet has secrets inside it that fill me with hope that Ash is here, just as the sea of the Orange Islands has secrets under its depths. Ash has to be here. I know it. I sought you out because we need to find him, Dawn. I sought you out because this place is dangerous, and I don't want to be too late."
Dawn looked at her friend with sympathy. May was right, Mount Coronet was extremely dangerous now, and her heart feared Ash's demise as much as May's did. Dawn would not allow Ash to be the cause of his own death. She would find him, and she was glad that she had help.
"Alright," Dawn smiled. "We'll find Ash, and we'll drag him back home kicking and screaming if we have to."
May smiled and nodded. The two returned their Pokémon and started their long march up the eastern slopes of Mount Coronet. For two days, they slowly trudged up the mountain, with only their hope that Ash was alive keeping them going. However, much to their relief, and their worry, the further up they climbed, the less wild pokémon they saw. Some pokémon ran in fear of the girls, others tried to attack them. However, their combined skills allowed them to fend off any pokémon that dared to challenge them. Thankfully for the two, they had enough potions and berries to keep their pokémon happy and healthy during the climb. Yet, even as their legs started to give waiver on them, they saw their destination in the side of Mount Coronet: a structure carved into the rock on the mountain that was shaped like a temple. Into the rock was carved images of four columns and housing roof like one would see at a courthouse or a bank. The opening to the structure was large and inviting, but hole in the mountain was pitch black.
"We'll want to be careful," Dawn said, looking at the mountainside. "Whatever is in there, one thing is for sure, these people didn't make their temples on the mountain, it is the mountain."
"What do you think could be there?" May frowned before looking to her bluenette friend.
"I guess we'll find out," Dawn answered before giving a slight gulp. "But I suspect its older and far worse than Zubats."
"Yeah," May said nervously. "I was afraid of that."
The friends started towards the opening of the temple, ready to face whatever was inside. However, even as the rain poured on them once again and the lightning flashed over them, they were stopped by someone who came out of the temple. He was cloaked and robed in grey, though some color of his eyes could be seen through his dark hooding: a hint of grey-purple.
"Wh-who are you?" May asked nervously, only to be met by silence from the figure.
"That's the Grey Wanderer!" Dawn said in awe, her eyes wide knowing she finally caught up to him.
"You should not be here," the Wanderer said. "You must go back."
"Please," Dawn took a step forward, "we're looking for our friend. We think he's here."
"No one is here," the Wanderer answered. "But you are here when you should not be. Go back where it's safe."
"We have to try to look!" May cried. "Please, let us pass. Help us, sir!"
"I cannot help you," the Wanderer said, getting annoyed. "Leave, now, and do not come back. Forget that you saw me!"
"NO!" Dawn shouted. "You need to let us pass. And if you don't, we will make you!"
"Is that a challenge?" the Wanderer asked, scoffing slightly.
"You bet it is!" May shouted as well, drawing her pokéball along with Dawn. "We won't let you keep us from Ash!"
"Ash?" the Wanderer asked. "Ash Ketchum?"
The girls nodded, but still kept in a battling position out of caution. The Wanderer, however, merely stared at them, looking as if were reading them like books. He let out a sigh and seemed to relax a bit.
"I do not remember either of you traveling you Ash Ketchum," the Wanderer, keeping his gaze on the two women. "But your hearts and eyes tell me you know him and are his friends. Why are you looking for him?"
"We want to bring him home," Dawn answered with tears in her eyes, filled with hope that she might have finally found Ash. The girls put their pokéballs away, no longer feeling threatened.
"That's not possible," the Wanderer answered.
"What?" Dawn frowned. "Why not? Who are you to tell us that we can't help and protect our friend?!"
"I'm looking for him, too," the Wander said. "I was going to look here, but then you came."
"Then let us come with you!" May demanded, fire burning in her with determination to find Ash.
"You don't know the danger of the request you make," the Wander chuckled. "I am not responsible for you."
"We only want to find him," Dawn sniffled, wiping her tears away. "Please, he's our friend. We want to make sure he's safe. His mother is heartbroken without him. We're heartbroken without him."
"Better that you learn to bury those feelings now before your selfishness helps to destroy the world," the Wanderer said coldly, staring at the girls. However, he sighed after a moment. "Very well, you may come, but do not let your guard down."
Down they descended into the gaping darkness of Mount Coronet, the only light to guide coming from the Grey Wanderer. A sense of foreboding fell upon the girls the further they came away from the entrance of the temple until at last torches around them suddenly sparked to life. All around them were pictures of pokémon, many of were pictures ancient pictures of Mew, and their number was always eighteen.
"What is this place?" May asked with awe.
"An ancient place," the Wanderer answered plainly. "Far older than humans remember, and cleverly hidden so humans would not discover its secrets."
The girls observed the wall paintings quietly, sometimes seeing pictures of other legendary pokémon, but always seeing the eighteen Mew in a circle together. From time to time, there were pictures of an egg between the Mew, and other times there were pictures of Arceus between them. However, closer to the end of the descending staircase that seemed to be endless, they came to a picture of the Mew around a pokémon that appeared to be Arceus, only this Arceus was mainly colored black with a white underbelly and a blood-red ring around it instead of a golden ring.
"That's the strangest picture of Arceus I've ever seen," Dawn frowned at the picture, feeling a sense of dread as she gazed at it.
"That's not Arceus," the Wanderer said, stopping but not turning to look at the picture. "You ought not ask questions you don't want to know the answer to. Too often do such answers lead to more harm than good."
"But what is it?" Dawn asked. "Why would something like that be on the walls?"
"I suspect it's a warning," the Wanderer answered.
"A warning for what?" May asked.
"If I knew that, I wouldn't be down here," the Wanderer let out a grim chuckle before heading to the opening at the bottom of the stairs.
The girls frowned at each other but followed the Wanderer through the opening and into a great hall from which there were eighteen different paths that could be taken. The hall itself was gold colored and had several columns to support the wait of the rest of the mountain above it. In the center of the hall was a golden brazier that held a great fire to light the room, and inscribed the brazier were many runes.
"What is this place?" May asked in awe.
"A temple to Mew," the Wanderer answered, gazing slowly around. "And to Arceus."
"This seems all too familiar to me," Dawn frowned, thinking back to the time she, Brock, and Ash had to prevent Arceus from destroying a town and family line the pokémon thought betrayed him. "All that's missing is a machine that tells how the different dimensions are in relation to each other."
"They are closer together than you think," the Wanderer said. "And all connected."
"How do you know?" Dawn asked quickly, having her doubts that the Wanderer knew what people could only theorize about.
"When you travel as much as I have," he said, "you see things that may seem impossible, but are actually just improbable."
Past the brazier, at the end of the hall, was a case of golden steps before a large throne. A beam of light came from an opening in the mountain that hit the head of the throne. Above it was again the inscribed image of a Mew that gazed out over the hall like a guardian.
"Mew," the Wanderer said softly, never taking eyes from the image. "How often must I see you where I travel before I get answers? Where are you, I wonder? When will I see you again?"
"You've seen Mew?" Dawn asked.
"Yes," the Wanderer said, not turning to look at the girl. "Once, maybe twice. Your friend has seen Mew as well."
Dawn looked to May, who just looked at the Wanderer in shock.
"H-how did you know that?" May asked.
"I just do," the Wanderer said before looking to a passage with a closed eye over it. "But never mind that. We need to go, now!"
Quickly the Wanderer went to the passage and the girls went after him, following him through the winding hall. At the end of the hall, a bright light could be seen coming from the room that the hall ran too. Standing, in the light, however, were two figures: one with what appeared to a Pikachu on its shoulder, and the other a floating creature with a long tail.
"ASH!" May and Dawn cried out, running towards the light.
The figure turned to the shout that the girls made, along with the floating creature, but the moment they turned, the light disappeared and they along with it. And suddenly, when the girls stopped, they realized they were inside a tomb, as there was a sarcophagus at the end of the room. The Wanderer slowly neared the tomb and studied it for a moment.
"So this place does exist," the Wanderer chuckled grimly.
"You knew all along?!" May frowned. "Did you know Ash would be here, too?"
"I knew nothing," the Wanderer answered. "I only suspected. As for what this place is, it is as you see it. A tomb. A tomb for kings, actually."
"Why would a king be buried in this awful place?" Dawn grumbled.
"Mount Coronet is the beginning of pokémon," the Wanderer said. "They probably chose here to be close to them in death. As for the throne in the great hall, it appears they came here to die. Eighteen halls, eighteen tombs, eighteen kings."
The Wanderer scoffed as the girls stared at him. They were unsure what to make of the situation. They were certain they had just seen Ash, and were once again cut off from him. What's more, they both now had doubts as to whether or not the Wanderer was being honest with them.
"We have stayed here too long," the Wanderer spoke after a long silence. "Let the dead rest, their secrets are long since destroyed."
"You're hiding something," Dawn growled. "Do you know where Ash went?"
"If I did, wouldn't I tell his friends?" the Wanderer asked in return. "I can only suspect. Even if that was Ash, he went somewhere I cannot follow. Not without help, at any rate."
"Then tell us how to get there!" May cried, grabbing onto the Wanderer's cloak in desperate hope.
"You'd have to die," the Wanderer said. "I doubt you are ready to take that leap."
May let go of his robe and backed away slowly as tears began to fill her eyes. Dawn, on the other hand, looked at the Wanderer in silent horror, unable to believe that Ash was dead.
"N-no," May said under her breath, trying not to sob. "Ash wouldn't do that! He wouldn't leave us like that!"
"No, he isn't dead," the Wanderer assured the distraught girls. "But the only ones can go where he is are ghosts and Mew. And even then, only certain Mew are capable of such power."
"How can we trust what you are saying?" Dawn asked quietly, almost as if the answer would be enough to break her spirit and render her incapable of going on.
"You have to take a leap of faith," the Wanderer shrugged. "Be like Ash, who you both clearly care for. Believe in him and yourselves."
The girls looked at each other for a moment, trying to find and bring out each other's strength before looking back to the Wanderer and nodding. The Wanderer then led them out of the tomb and directed them to the nearest Pokémon Center, claiming that they would need their pokémon at their very best if they hoped to find Ash. They girls thanked the Wanderer for his help after that and turned to leave.
"Wait," the Wanderer called out, causing the girls to turn back to him and look at him. "Please, tell Misty that the pokémon at Mount Quena are safe, and that the lake is still pure."
Dawn and May looked to each other for a moment in confusion, wondering how the Wanderer knew about Misty, but they decided to drop it and nodded to the Wanderer, making the promise. For a long time, the Wanderer watched the girls travel down the mountain, becoming smaller and smaller to the sight until they disappeared from his gaze at last. Slowly he reached for his hood and removed it, revealing a cat-like face of grey color.
"So, Mew," Mewtwo thought, "you have brought Ash Ketchum to the Distortion World…. But why, I wonder…. What is there other than Giratina? Why did you have me search for him if you had him the whole time?"
"You shall find out soon," a voice answered. "As for why, have you not seen the division? His duty lies to the destruction of the Enemy."
"Many have had such a problem," Mewtwo answered. "I would have thought that you knew it was not the death of duty."
"I know it isn't," the voice said. "Just as I know that if Ash falls, there must be an heir. The gems will choose no other."
"Is it not better to have many?" Mewtwo asked.
"Perhaps," the voice said. "But the gems will only choose one. But if that one falls, then perhaps they shall choose another. You may be right. But still, a divided heart could spell doom for us all."
"Then I shall watch the women," Mewtwo offered.
"Good," the voice responded. "Yes, very good. Their importance will likely be what helps us bring our cousins out of darkness. Farewell."
And with that, the voice faded from his mind. Mewtwo looked off into the horizon before donning his hood again. Time what short, he knew that, but he couldn't help but wonder how long "short" was.
Well, that's it for this chapter. For those wondering, no, I am not think along the lines of "harem." Trust me, with what I have in mind, that will make much more sense later. While I do find the concept of poké-harems funny, and Ash does get all the ladies in one way or another, I would think his character a bit more honorable than that. I'm thinking that my next chapter will be Ash-centric. Questions, obviously, need to be answered!
Anyway, I'm interested to hear what everyone thinks! Please, post comments on who you think the antagonist is! I'm hoping in my next chapter to write a little more on the abilities of the gems. I'm particularly excited to write about cross-evolution and my introduction to "mega cross-evolution." To the first ten (non-guest) reviewers of this chapter, I will share a special sneak peek (when I have it ready, of course,) of the next chapter! To the first five (non-guest) reviewers, however, I will share a little about the background histories I plan on using for this story!
Please review! All comments, criticisms, thoughts, theories, ideas, and all else are welcome! Have a good day, everyone!