Pokemon: The Lord of the Elements

Hey, everyone! Thank you for the reviews and sorry about the wait. Work before pleasure, as they say! I hope that I will continue entertain you. As always, please leave your reviews! Enjoy the next chapter!

(Warning: Again, tobacco… blah, blah, blah.)

Chapter 8

The Heir of the Medallion

Part 2

"What is this place?" Pikachu asked as he, Ash, and Eevee gazed out at the hidden lake that they stumbled upon under the guidance of whatever power drove Ash to Mount Silver.

The air had becoming deafeningly silent as well as surprisingly warmer around them. The mist moved around their feet as they made cautious steps towards the dead white tree. Light of the sun pierced through the clouds in the sky in a ray that descended and fell upon the tree as a spotlight. Even clear waters seemed to glitter around the small island the tree stood upon. Yet, as they stepped closer and closer, Ash began to become aware that everything was off about this place: the silence, the warmth, the mist that was so low that one would normally associate such a thing with horror movies.

"I'm not sure," Ash mumbled as he gazed at the white tree. "But I have seen this place before in my dreams."

Pikachu looked up at his trainer in concern. For the few days that Pikachu had taken watch alone whenever Ash had rested, the trainer would grasp at the medallion around his neck and toss and turn as if he were having nightmares. What frightened Pikachu the most, however, was when Ash had started to talk in his sleep, muttering gibberish that seemed like a foreign language, but was no language Pikachu had ever heard before. Sometimes he would even make a horrid scream in sleep that Pikachu would need to shock him in order to snap him out of it. Yet, Ash, whatever it was that he was dreaming about, remembered the visions perfectly, though he wasn't sure why he had them or the reason he could remember them. But he did not speak of the dreams, even when Pikachu asked. He would only stop and become like a statue with a faraway look in his eyes before muttering about how he didn't want to talk about it, as if he were holding dark or embarrassing secret in his heart. What troubled Pikachu was that the longer Ash had the medallion, the more troubled he seemed. His trainer had always been cheerful and optimistic, but now he seemed closed off and thoughtful, as if the weight of all the world were on his shoulders.

"What did you see in your dream?" Eevee asked Ash, snapping Pikachu out of his thoughts. The yellow mouse frowned at Ash, silently praying that the young trainer would finally tear down whatever wall was closing him off.

"I saw the tree," Ash answered, vaguely answering Pikachu's prayer. "It was… calling out to me. But, in my dream, it was dead."

"Was?" Pikachu frowned, looking at the leafless and flowerless white tree. "Ash, that tree is dead."

Ash frowned as well. The tree was very much dead as far as looks went, but Ash felt something inside of him that told him that the tree was alive. It seemed rather to his heart that the tree asleep rather than dead, but that sleep seemed to look like death. Quietly, he moved forward, stepping into the shallow lake and wading to the lonely island at the center. When he came to the tree, he slowly reached out and placed his hand on the tree.

A painful jolt shot through his body and suddenly he saw forest on fire around him and the lake. No longer where Pikachu and Eevee at the lake's shore, but were lying face down in the water under a blood red sky, dead. Instead, at the shore was the form of a floating shadow with red eyes and a malicious laugh, summoning forth its power and throwing whatever killing blow it intended for Ash. However, the blow never came. Ash cried out in pain and horror, pulling away from the tree and falling back into the lake.

"Ash!" Pikachu and Eevee cried out in concern before running over to the trainer, who was now sitting in the lake's water.

"What happened?" Pikachu asked with a frown as he placed his hands on his trainer's wet leggings.

"I…," Ash began before shaking his head to come back to his senses, "I don't know. I thought I saw this place being destroyed."

Climbing back onto the small island, Ash sighed in slight relief that his little vision wasn't real. Though, as he took off his backpack and nestled his back against the tree, he felt an odd urge to use the pipe he had been given a few days earlier. Opening up his backpack, he took out the long stem wooden pipe as well as the bag of tobacco. After quickly taking pinches to fill up the bowl, he lit the pipe and made a few puffs on it. Of course, he couldn't bear the idea of inhaling the smoke into his lungs, so he just let the flavored smoke roll on his tongue before blowing it out. The smell and flavor was, strangely enough, of cherries, which happened to be Serena's favorite little fruit, though there was also a detected hint of chocolate in the flavor as well.

"Strange," Ash muttered in surprise. "This almost tastes good."

"Perhaps we should consider going back," Eevee frowned.

"Why?" Ash asked as he took another puff on the pipe while Pikachu sat beside him.

"I have a bad feeling about this place," Eevee looked around while furrowing his brows together. "I don't think we're alone."

"How right you are," an annoyed voice said above them, causing the trio to look up. Above them was a rather familiar small, pink cat with blue eyes and a long tail. "And I would have mind to kill you all, if the tree didn't command me not to."

"Mew?" Ash's mouth dropped slightly.

"You seem to be familiar with me," Mew growled with mistrust, "but it is I who does not know you. Who are you, and why do you disturb my home?"

"Visitors, I would imagine!" sounded mirthful laugh before a second Mew appeared before them. In looks of the body, the two Mew seemed identical in appearance of age, but the second Mew had a strange look in his eyes that told Ash that it was far older than he dared to guess.

"Master," the first Mew said slowly, relaxing as he sounded out the word, "you know as well as I do that it is death to come to this place."

"Indeed, young one," the second Mew answered with an amused grin. "However, those who come here come by accident. These three were led here."

"Led?" the first Mew asked with confusion. "No one is 'led' here. No one even—"

"Aye," the second Mew cut the first one off, "that is why each time someone or something has, it was by accident. And now we have our first nonaccidental visitor!"

"Then who, Master Chie," the first Mew growled in frustration at Ash and his friends, "would lead these three here? I think we both know that it was not I, and I highly doubt you of all creatures would lead innocents to their death."

"I think you are forgetting there is one other here, Proles!" Master Chie laughed again.

The Mew, whose name was Proles, turned to the white tree behind him before looking back at Master Chie. The older Mew simply smiled at the younger Mew before turning to Ash, Pikachu, and Eevee. Slowly overlooking each one of them, Master Chie finally let out a third and final laugh when his eyes met Ash's medallion.

"I was hardly able to believe it when I saw you in the shop at the foot of the mountain," Master Chie smiled widely, "but I suppose the rumors were true. A child of Sato lives! It seems I lost a bet, eh? 'Tis a pity indeed that none of my cousins are alive to watch me pay up. And I thought those gems were lost forever!"

"'A child of Sato?'" asked a rather confused Ash, who simply stared at the Mew who was inspecting him.

"Eh?" Master Chie perked up to look Ash in the eyes. "The boy has the gems and doesn't know his own lineage? Bah! What sad times these are when you humans don't study your own roots! What's the point of history of you don't keep it alive and study it?"

"Master," Proles interrupted, "I thought you said that the gems were all destroyed. How could there be even one left, let alone nineteen of them?"

"They ought to have been all destroyed," Master Chie answered, his smile slowly turning to a frown. "Yet, eighteen were unaccounted for, and I never heard of this nineteenth gem, unless it were to belong to…."

"Shin'en has long since been destroyed," Proles said quietly after quickly floating to Master Chie, "and his gem was never accounted for, either."

"That's because Shin'en's gem was as mythological as Sato's lost medallion," Master Chie contemplated. "And, if they did exist, they were supposed to be destroyed. If not by the hands that made them, then by the Great Cataclysm."

"You have always said that Sato's medallion existed," Proles frowned. "Why be so doubtful about Shin'en's gem?"

"If you knew the world as it was, young one," Master Chie answered, "then you would hope beyond hope that such objects don't exist. Still, the fact that this boy is here, that there are indeed nineteen gems, and that the tree called him here does not bode well for my cautious optimism."

"My dad died for this thing," Ash said loudly, placing his hand on the medallion and giving it a squeeze, and causing the two Mew to look at him. "I want to know what it is. More importantly, I want to know why I keep having the dreams I have. Too many times I have seen visions of the people and pokémon I care for dead. I want answers!"

The two Mew looked at each other for a moment. After the elder one nodded to the younger one, who was frowning, he turned back to Ash. He gave a long sigh as he closed his eyes before floating down to Ash to come eyelevel with the boy.

"And answers you shall have," the elder Mew agreed. "But, even you must understand when I say that you must undergo trials. There are… components… to the story, that I cannot tell you, but the gems certainly can. If you are who I think you are, and if the gems are what I fear they are, then this is the only way. However, I shall help you as much as I can through this task. Do understand, however, what you are about to do you must do alone. No other human can know the task I am giving you.

In the wrong hands, those gems could wield a power too great and terrible to imagine, even if the intentions of that person are good. Only a true-blood owner or someone of sufficient will could use the gems ordinarily. Yet Sato's gems were, according to the myth, made to only his hands and the hands of his heirs. If you are who I think you are, they will tell you everything I cannot tell you."

"I want to know," Ash said, his eyes filled with fire.

"You have no idea what it is you ask for," Master Chie said darkly, "but I will give you what you seek. Come."

With that Master Chie led Ash, Pikachu, and Eevee to the nearby waterfall. It was small in width, but started about thirty feet above where Ash stood when he came to the base of the waterfall. The water was cold, and, unlike the water of the small lake, was hued blue as a dark sapphire that illuminated by a bright moon. The reason for this darkness, as Ash soon discovered from the power Chie set forth, was a cave behind the waterfall when its waters were parted. The older Mew looked behind him to the travelers and lifted his arm to signal them inside. The trio took a moment to stare into the unyielding dark of the cave, but they each nodded before continuing forward. However, before Master Chie followed them inside, he took a moment to look towards the younger Mew.

"Where we go, for the moment, you may not follow," Master Chie said. "Watch over the tree. It may yet come to flower again."

With that, he went followed Ash into the darkness and the falls closed behind them. However, a light enveloped Chie's body that helped to illuminate the cave. Long the three friends descended into the darkness, only guided by the light that Mew provided for them. Winding stairs, they followed, with grey stone all around them.

"The air in thin in here," Eevee said with a frown.

"Yes," Chie responded. "But not for much longer. There is a chamber we will soon enter that has several vents that cut through the mountain."

"What is this place?" Ash asked, taking time to look around him at the walls. "It looks as if there are carvings here."

"There are," Chie answered. "I have preserved what I could, but some images are worse for wear than others. This was a human temple once."

"A temple?" Ash asked. "But this mountain is far too inhospitable for settlers."

"Maybe that's why they left?" Pikachu asked.

"You think it was abandoned?" Mew scoffed grimly. "No. They were slaughtered."

"Slaughtered?" Eevee frowned. "Did you bring us here to kill us, then?"

"No," Chie answered after a long moment of silence. "There is history here that has long been dead to the world. I brought you here because the answers you seek are nothing but dead to world."

Pikachu and Eevee exchanged looks of unease, but followed the Mew until they came to the chamber he spoke of. There was a small ray of light that descended as a dove onto what looked like a fountain. The fountain had been long dead, but was still in good condition. There was a strange device on top of the fountain, however, that had three globes circling around a large, white globe. The three smaller globes, however, were a light blue, pink, and black.

"I've seen something like that," Ash said quietly as he thought back to a time when he saw a similar device that measured the alignment of the dimensions.

"Indeed, you have," Chie answered, reading the young man's mind. "Though, this device is slightly more accurate than the one you saw. I have always loved how clever you humans are, but you are still less advanced than your predecessors."

"Predecessors?" Ash frowned with confusion.

"Hm?" the Mew looked to the young man. "Ah, yes. I still have questions from you that need answering. I suppose I should answer the first question: Welcome, children, to the Temple of the Stones. Here, humans worked, studied, and trained to master powers known to you now as 'aura.' Then, however, though the users were still quite rare, aura much more common and much more dangerous. Often, aura users were made kings, lords, priests, or, if they were especially powerful, what you humans call 'wizards.' Now, aura is a gift that is nearly dead in the world. The strength of will in humanity is failing. A pity, but the world was made for men, not magic."

"Then how old is this place?" Ash frowned.

"Oh, two or three million years, if I recall," Chie answered.

"Million?" Pikachu's mouth dropped.

"Yes," the old Mew answered with a laugh. "Though, I think I have lost count. All I remember for certain is being a couple thousand years older than this place is. Humans have certainly lost much of their history!"

"Do you really expect us to believe that?" Eevee growled.

"Believe as you wish," Chie smiled. "I do not demand that you believe me, though you may find the truth harder to hear if you don't!"

"And what is the truth?" Ash asked.

"That your family is several million years old," Chie answered. "Well, at least through illegitimate means."

"Illegitimate?" Ash frowned.

"Ah, that is a story old as this mountain!" Chie laughed again. "And if I told it to you in its full, we would be talking in this ruin for the next decade! But, I shall give you a summary of what I know:

A very long time ago, when the world was still yet young and the continents were joined together as a single, unified land, there was the Kingdom of Regisia, the greatest human civilization the world has ever known. At that time, there were no pokémon save for the creatures of myth and legend and our species, Mew, were still large in number across the earth. We, humans and what we called the 'greater pokémon,' lived together in peace. Now it was that aura users were long lived and all Mew were immortal, and the Regisians were famed for their knowledge and great works of beauty, for they were our friends of old. Because of their great friendship, and the trust between them, the humans and Mew first came across a strange stone we called gaeithium, the veins of the earth, and fashioned them into stones of power.

Now it was at that time that Mew would birth only eighteen new Mew every ten thousand years to symbolize the eighteen elements and because we gave our young as advisors and wards to the long-lived kings of the Regisians. So it was that many humans and Mew put forth their powers and fashioned each gem to hold the strength and will of that Mew's favored element. From these stones, the humans made a system of ranking to symbolize their positions of power, with the king having one of each of the elemental gems that came from the oldest living eighteen Mew. And so the human aura users took the gems without question for the of love for the Mew they called 'friends,' and they made many marvels of science and architecture. Yet, they did not advance their science as humans today do, but rather from the magic of their aura and the strength of our powers. Their buildings they made to withstand all time, creating great works of art out of mountains and islands. Indeed, of all their works of magnificence, the Temple of the Sea was their greatest achievement!

Yet, for all their superiority, they were still human. They were still subject to petty emotions such as rage, greed, lust, hate…. The lesser lords strove drove their people to work the fields in misery, and greater lords would plot to take Regisia for themselves, and the king would horde wealth and ravage the earth for more gaeithium. But it was often said amongst the immortal Mew that the height of their power was the pinnacle that led to their doom.

Long after the forging of the gems, but still very long ago, the barbaric tribes to the north of Regisia began to lead hunting parties to kill any Mew they might find. The Regians, horrified by this act, took up arms and marched against the barbarians under the banner of the Regisian prince, Sato the Wise. After what was a thousand years of war, Sato not only crushed the barbarians, but also conquered the entire world. Yet, he was ever haunted by the turmoil of war. When he returned to his father in the Regisian capital, he returned a changed man who never wanted to draw the sword again. He came to spend all of time reading and talking to mythical pokémon whenever he could. From Mew, he learned wisdom, and patience from Celebi. There were even those who claimed that he would walk into the mountains alone to speak with Rayquazza, or even Arceus himself. But I believe he spoke and walked with something else, for I have never met a man so moved to pity and mercy in all my years.

As Sato grew older, he became increasingly wise and fair. His love was not for books, or speaking to the mythical pokémon, but also for music and the stars. And for many centuries, Sato grew and the people of Regisia grew more to love their prince, though they bore less love for their king. One day, he walked atop the heights of his home to overlook his fair city and spotted a young woman who bathed in a pond of the royal gardens.

While such a display of public nudity was punishable by death, he was overcome by her great beauty and had his guards take her out of the pond to be robed and sent to his chambers. There, he learned she was a woman of low, common birth, but he fell for her, and she for him. For many years, they met in secret, away from the watchful eye of Sato's father. Yet, since his father was old in years, he arranged and ordered a marriage between Prince Sato and a high-born Lady named Scarlett. Bound with grief, but unwilling to anger his father or the lords of Regisia, he agreed to the marriage.

But, in the same year of Sato's marriage to Scarlett, the woman Sato loved gave birth to baby girl named Selene. Sato was overjoyed in this birth, but Selene's mother died of a broken heart a year later. To defend his child, however, Sato had his most trusted guards watch over the child. And, after many years, including the birth of Sato's son by Scarlett, Aegis, and the death of Sato's father, Sato became king over Regisia. Out of love for her mother, Sato took in Selene and legitimized her, calling her "princess." She, like her father, grew in wisdom and gained the love of the common people, and her beauty was a legend throughout the land.

But, Aegis grew jealous of his bastard half-sister, and hated her, wanting the throne to himself. After Aegis grew into a man, he sought, with the help of the lords of Regisia, to murder Selene. But a lord who was fiercely loyal to Sato told Selene, and they together told the king. Then Sato, filled with despair, gave Selene a choice: to fight in civil war against her brother for the throne, or to flee the city and kingdom. Selene, however, for the love of her father, chose to flee, for she could not risk the lives of the common people in war. The king was moved by her wisdom and, out of his love for her and to punish her brother, he gave to her the King's Medallion. Thus the Princess Selene disappeared from history, and so, too, did the true King's Medallion."

And then Chie fell silent and gazed at the beam of light that fell upon the group. At that moment, Ash, Pikachu, and Eevee became very aware of the age of the old Mew, who now seemed to be a carved image of splendor out of stone that ancient peoples would make to honor the legendary and mythical pokémon.

"What happened then?" Pikachu asked, causing the old Mew to look up and smile.

"Aegis tried to follow in his father's footsteps as a king," Chie continued, "but was ultimately met with civil war as he was unjust and cruel. Regisia broke apart as a kingdom, but was still ruled by Aegis' heirs. After another several ten thousand years, a king appeared who wanted to get rid of the gems that caused so much strife amongst the lords of Regisia. During this time, however, the immortal Mew, who were still many but few in number compared to humans, lost their ability to produce offspring. That was, until the king wanted to give back to us. Those Mew who helped make the gems were happy to destroy the gems and gain back their lost power.

However, the destructions of the gems came at a terrible price that was both a boon and a curse. They indeed gained their strength back, and their ability to produce offspring, but they became mortal. Yet, the females laid many eggs that came to spread across the world. The 'lesser pokémon,' we called them: the pokémon you know. Some Mew, in that moment, rejoiced to be a part of this creation. Others, however, cursed humans and the lesser pokémon, calling them abominations and usurpers of their immortality…."

Chie sighed softly.

"But I will not be the one to tell you the rest," the old Mew said. "Come! We must follow the passage further down into the lowest level of the temple area. There we should come into a chamber that is filled with a rock that shines like starlight and a lone archway in the middle of the chamber. That is where you shall find the answers you seek, Ash Ketchum. And maybe you shall understand a little my shame and sorrow. It, too, is the world's."

…...

Hey, everyone! I know, this chapter was a little shorter, but I wasn't entirely sure how I wanted to proceed with this part and I was getting a little impatient with myself. Heh. However, despite that, I am pleased with the work. Now I can finally get to discussing what Ash was doing for the past few years! Hopefully I won't take as long to post another chapter, but I can't make promises on that. In either case, please leave your reviews! Have a great day!