Pokemon: The Lord of the Elements
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Chapter 10
A Secret Unburied
(Present day; a week after May and Dawn met the Wanderer….)
The summer breeze brushed the lush green fields of the Kalosian landscape that nestled beside the sea, a beautiful reminder of the relationship between the land, sea, and sky to the beautiful, blonde young woman who gazed over the beach and sea to the north. Her dark blue eyes reflected that of the dark clouds in the distance that hovered over the sea just at the horizon. There was a deep sadness to her eyes, yet, in contrast, was also a bright hope that burned within them despite the sadness. That sadness, of course, was for the disappearance of the man she loved, Ash Ketchum, and the burning hope was for his return, wherever and whenever that might be.
"Serena!" a feminine voice called out to her, causing her to turn her back to the beautiful scene she had so easily fallen for.
"Shauna?" Serena looked at the olive-skinned girl with long, dark pig tails and green eyes who ran towards her. "Did you find something?"
"Y-yeah," Shauna answered, taking a second wind. "I'm not sure I like it much, though."
"What is it?" Serena frowned, taking serious note of Shauna's worry.
"We found more of that crystal like the Sundial," Shauna said. "Serena, the pokémon are acting really weird around it. It's almost as if they are afraid to touch it."
"How far down do those catacombs even go?" Serena muttered.
"I don't know," Shauna said. "But I do know the pokémon won't take another step forward. There was a door infused with the stuff, and the pokémon just quit working."
"Every time we have a question answered, another twenty appear in its place," Serena frowned. "Don't push it. I've learned enough from Ash to know that pokémon can sense when something ought not to be messed with."
"But what if we can learn something about those rocks you're looking for?" Shauna frowned back.
"That's just it," Serena sighed, rubbing her temples softly. "I know next to nothing about Ash's medallion, or what those damned gems even are."
"Professor Sycamore is fascinated about the place, though," Shauna pointed out. "If what you said about that medallion is true, his research may make a breakthrough."
"It won't be much of a breakthrough if we can't go further," Serena said. "I feel like we hit a dead end every time."
"Well…," Shauna smiled weakly. "We may actually have a way to figure out what we're dealing with."
This was maybe the eighth-time Shauna had made her insinuation that there was an easy way to figure out the secrets of the catacombs. Were it not for the incident with Team Flare, Serena may have considered the possibility, but the similarities were too close to comfort. Something nagged in the back of Serena's mind that the powers involved were the same, and she wasn't willing to take the chance to finish what Lysandre started.
"For the last time, Shauna, no!" Serena frowned. "I know, it's a good idea, but we can't take the risk."
"You know as well as I do that Bonnie could help," Shauna advocated. "And you know exactly why!"
"And it is exactly that reason why I have refused," Serena argued back. "For one, this dig is being watched. If we bring Zygarde into the picture, people may start coming after him. We also don't know how the crystal would react to Zygarde. What if the world is destroyed because we let him come into contact with the crystal?"
"Zygarde isn't the megalith, Serena," Shauna defended. "We can't be certain of that."
"No, but we can be certain that the power that put Chespin in a coma is similar to the power of Zygarde," Serena's frown deepened. "And that's the power Lysandre used to power the megalith!"
Shauna frowned back and stepped down from her argument. It was the same argument every time, and Serena used the same closing statement every time. However, despite Shauna's advocacy, she did admit fully that Zygarde and mega evolution did share similar powers when it came to the megalith and the Sundial.
"I don't understand," Shauna sighed. "Aren't the gems on Ash's medallion mega-stones?"
"I don't know what they are," Serena looked down, wishing she could be carefree like the grass that danced to the wind under her. "And not knowing makes me even more afraid of them."
"What about Mrs. Ketchum?" Shauna pressed. "Wouldn't she know more?"
"Everything I already know came from her and those letters Ash got," Serena muttered in despair. "If I can be certain about anything, they shouldn't be used lightly."
After a moment of silence, she looked back out into the sea. Her eyes reflected the beautiful salty water in the form of tear that slowly trickled down her check. At the feeling, Serena moved her right hand to her heart and then to the familiar blue ribbon she received from Ash so long ago during their journeys together at her collar. Playing with it tenderly on her fingers, Serena compared the fabric of the ribbon to the fabric of Ash's blue jacket he would so often wear. Whenever the two were parted, Serena felt closest to Ash when she would touch the ribbon that, in part, lay over her heart. Ever since his disappearance, Serena would feel her ribbon more and more, and many took notice of the habbit.
"Oh, Ash," Serena said in a worried whisper. "Where are you?"
"If we open the door, we could find out," Shauna answered Serena's question to no one, causing the blonde beauty to turn her eyes back to Shauna's. "I mean, assuming the rock that door is made of is the same as Ash's gems."
"I said 'no,' Shauna," Serena frowned again. "If the door is locked, it's meant to stay that way. We haven't another way without Zygarde, and I won't risk that way, either!"
"Well…," Shauna's face turned red in nervousness. "That's not entirely true."
"What does that mean?" Serena stared at Shauna coldly, trying to get a read on the brunette. "You called Bonnie, didn't you?!"
"I-I just wanted to help!" Shauna gulped. "It was last week when I called, so she should get here today."
"SHAUNA!" Serena shrieked, causing Shauna to cower a little.
"It just happened!" Shauna cried. "I was on the phone with her, and she offered to help. She said she wanted to help Clemont find a wife out here!"
"You'll have to marry Clemont just so I won't kick your ass!" Serena shouted.
The olive-skinned girl blushed slightly at the comment, but stopped talking so she could let Serena calm down. Serena paced around for a good five minutes, muttering to herself about how she needed a bottle of wine and a night to herself to get rid of her stress. However, after her silent ravings, Serena took a deep breath and turned her attention back to Shauna.
"I can't believe you went behind my back," Serena said sternly, "but I know you were just trying to help. Make sure that everyone is cleared of that area of the catacombs so Zygarde won't be seen. I won't let him or Bonnie be put in danger because of your reckless decision."
"Nothing bad will happen," Shauna smiled softly. "Besides, this is Zygarde we're talking about. If anything happens, he will change forms to protect himself."
"Which will paint a giant circle on Bonnie's back if there are any criminal organizations left in the world," Serena sighed.
"But she doesn't really own Zygarde," Shauna pointed out.
"Her association is enough," Serena countered. "I consider Bonnie a sister, so if anything happens to her, I will hunt down the reason for it."
"Y-you have my word that she'll be safe," Shauna gulped and nodded.
Serena gave Shauna a glare before making her way southwards towards the dig site. It wasn't too awfully far away from the beach: perhaps a good half an hour walk. Of course, Serena found herself taking more and more walks away from the dig site whenever she had to think. With Ash being gone for four years now, her morale was staggeringly low point. Yet, she was confident that he was alive, even if she wasn't sure about his whereabouts. If Delia was right about Ash following in his father's footsteps, she was certain the ruins of ancient civilizations might give her a clue to wherever he was.
"We'll find him, Serena," Shauna said softly to her best friend after catching up with her.
"But when?" Serena asked with a barely audible whisper. "How long do I have to keep suffering not knowing if he is okay? How long do I hang onto blind hope when every sign I have points that he's gone?"
"He's not dead, Serena," Shauna said, feeling a part of the weight that Serena had been carrying for the past four years. "It's actually your 'blind hope' that has kept me going on, too. I can't accept that he's dead because I believe in you too much. A lot of people would have given up by now, but you haven't. It's your belief that has driven so many to your cause. I don't care for him like you do, but I want him back for you."
Serena gave Shauna a small smile and blushed softly before nodding at her friend. The pair traveled the rest of the way in silence, trying to be speedy in their attempt to return to the site of the catacombs. When they reached the site, they saw it filled with some fifty workers, digging away, taking reports, or simply trying to get rid of any debris that might have clung to artifacts that were found. Overseeing the work was a white pavilion that was established on hill that overlooked the site; and inside it was tall, skinny man with black hair and wearing a white lab coat, and a young woman, in her teens, dressed in a brown top and skirt and with long, blonde hair. On the girl's right shoulder was a Dedenne, and on the left shoulder was a strange, green blob with a red hexagon on its belly.
"You think Squishy could really open that door in the catacombs, Professor?" the girl asked curiously whilst furrowing her brows.
"The rock that is fused into the door seems to match Squishy's unique power signature," the professor nodded. "It's amazing, though, as the strange stones evolve any pokémon that come into contact with them, even if they don't require stones to evolve! And that is simply the first stones we found. As we get closer to the door, the stones seem to get more powerful and more—"
"Dangerous," Serena finished as she and Shauna stepped into the pavilion.
"Serena!" the girl cried happily and ran into Serena with outstretched arms, embracing Serena tightly. Dedenne and the green blob the girl called "Squishy" jumped off of the girl and onto the table before the pair could collide and made cheerful sounds as well at the sight of Serena.
"It's good to see you too, Bonnie," Serena smiled and closed her eyes, hugging Bonnie tightly back and rubbing her back a little. "I missed you. How have your travels been?"
"Great!" Bonnie giggled. "I actually just got back from the Johto region a couple weeks ago. Gosh, it is tough over there!"
"Johto, huh?" Serena smiled. "I actually spent a little time with Ash in Johto when he went see the Brass and Tin Towers. They were as beautiful as they were sad to look at."
"Did you kiss him again there?" Bonnie smirked playfully, narrowing her eyes and nudging Serena a little.
"N-no! BONNIE!" Serena huffed, a bright blush appearing on her face.
Shauna and Bonnie giggled loudly, much to Serena's further embarrassment, which only caused the girls to laugh more when Serena seemed like she would blow steam at any moment. However, Serena eventually was able to look past the girls and towards the professor with a glare.
"I thought we agreed that Bonnie shouldn't be here, Professor Sycamore," Serena frowned.
"We did," Sycamore nodded. "But she volunteered, and this excavation has become about pokémon evolution. Like or not, Squishy is a key factor in that research."
"You know the danger that could Bonnie and Squishy into," Serena sighed. "If word were to get out…."
"I assure you that Bonnie and I are quite safe," Squishy at last spoke through his telepathic abilities. "And even if we were to get into danger, I am capable of defending us both."
Serena turned her back to gaze at the tiny green blob that sat comfortably on the table next to Bonnie. There was a brightness in the eye that held a visible pupil, and Serena could tell that Squishy was smiling in his own way. Yet, Serena still felt some worry in the back of her mind and the bottom of her heart. Something nagged her to caution, and put fear in her soul.
"Where are Greninja and the other Zygarde?" Serena asked finally after a moment of silent thought.
"Patrolling the area," Squishy answered. "They wanted to make sure it was safe to proceed. In truth, if this place is what I fear it is, I may need my full power."
"What do you mean?" Serena asked after shooting a frown to the professor. "Why would you need your full power?"
"I'm not sure yet," Squishy said, sounding troubled. "All I know for certain is that the people who built those catacombs are far older than I. They're older than Kalos, I'd wager. The professor has been kind enough to share your worries with Bonnie and me, and I agree with you. Whatever the stones are that are sealing that door are not to be dismissed."
"So, you don't know what it is," Serena sighed softly, brushing some hair behind her ear.
"I have a guess," Squishy answered thoughtfully, "but not a good one. I can feel their energies from even here. Something about that rock gives me the feeling that it's alive. It's a power that I have never felt before, and yet I feel like I have known it all my life. I feel like I know it, because I am like it. Life is a strange thing: it's both order and chaos. Chaos because true, perfect order is a cold nothingness. Order because it forms itself into a complex system that allows for harmony. Yet, with all the hurts that harmony endures, there is a Power that sets order and chaos back into harmony with each other."
"So, wouldn't opening the door just cause more harm than good?" Bonnie asked her little green friend before Serena could ask herself.
"Hmm? Oh, no!" Zygarde answered with a laugh. "There is a complexity with the stone that allows for self-healing. The door is quite capable of opening and closing. The harm would be in trying to force the door open. As a result, the correct strength and will are required to open such an obstacle. You and your pokémon would simply die in the attempt."
"WHAT?!" Shauna cried in horror before looking at Serena. "Are you happy we got Bonnie now?!"
"I… am a little more relieved knowing that we won't have an accident," Serena gulped. "But how can we be sure you won't die in the attempt?"
"I have a hunch," Squishy said with secret smile behind his telepathic voice. "If I have the right strength of will, the door will open."
"Just what kind of ancient people makes a door that's designed to kill people?" Shauna crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. "That doesn't seem morally right at all!"
"Many ancient peoples would put curses on burial sites to protect against tomb raiders," Professor Sycamore smiled. "It was just their way of protecting history. Of course, we know today that those curses aren't real."
"Except this particular curse is real," Squishy pointed out, taking a look at the papers and pictures of the door on the table. "And even then, to call it 'a curse' would be an incorrect concept of the stone's purpose. From your description of the door, and these pictures, I'd say it was put in place to keep something from getting out."
"Out?" everyone asked around Squishy, who merely nodded.
"Indeed," Squishy said with a concentrated gaze. "The symbol above the door at the center is a symbol I have seen in ancient cultures across the world. It's something called 'Giratina's Veil.' It was often placed above shrines people would go to when they desired to talk to the dead. Of course, such shrines were eventually torn down when rumors surfaced that evil things would sometimes take possession of visitors. Yet, the symbol was thought to ensure that the dead could not pass beyond whatever ground it blessed. But that was the ancient world, and the symbol died with that world. It seems I was wrong."
"Then why have the door also kill anyone who wanted to enter?" Bonnie frowned while Serena went white as a ghost upon hearing about "the dead."
"I suspect to ensure that some fool doesn't wander in and mess with something he ought not to," Squishy looked up at his friend. "These people, unlike the other ancient civilizations I have observed, were clearly highly skilled and understood what they were doing. I hope I'm wrong, but I get a feeling I know exactly who they were."
"Squishy, if you have any information that could help us—" Professor Sycamore started.
"If you knew half as much as I did about them, you would still know nothing," Squishy looked to the professor seriously. "All I know is that the disturbances around the world that have drawn the attention of my cousins are now beginning to make sense to me."
"Bonnie, you just back from Johto," Shauna frowned. "Surely the world isn't as chaotic as Squishy is suggesting!"
"I wish I could," Bonnie sighed and looked at Squishy in silence for a moment. "Johto was nice, but it was in bad shape. People in small towns barely went outside, and pokémon everywhere were either too scared to show themselves, or were simply violent."
"The world seems to be getting worse every day," Professor Sycamore frowned. "I can't help but wonder what is the cause of all of these incidents."
"Even if you knew, you wouldn't be able to stop it," Squishy said quietly. "But I felt a disruption, as if something is trying to turn the world to chaos. My cousins around the world have been working to stop this chaos, but we are not enough. I fear for the world as you do, but I will not lie when I say that something is filling my heart with despair."
"Squishy…," Bonnie said softly with tears in her eyes, taking the Zygarde core in her arms and hugging him gently.
"Then we fight on," Serena spoke up confidently. "We don't give up until it's over!"
Bonnie couldn't help but smirk a little when she heard the little catchphrase that Serena and Ash shared despite the tears. Serena was right; they couldn't give up while there was still hope that they might find a way to save the world from its surrounding chaos. Looking from Serena to Zygarde, Bonnie smiled at her friend for many years.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Bonnie smiled with determination. "Let's get Ash back and figure out how we can save all the pokémon!"
…...
Some few miles away, in the forest to the south of the dig site, a blue, bipedal frog quickly from tree to tree in zigzag movements, keeping a close eye on his surroundings. The forest was quiet. Too quiet, in his opinion, and the air was almost foul to the taste, as if the lack of obvious life was just as harmful to the forest as human relentlessness. Still, there had to be life, otherwise the trees would have died much longer ago.
"Your worry is the same as mine, Geninja," a voice called out to the blue and black frog. Nearby, another small, green blob with a blue hexagon sat comfortably on a branch a couple trees behind Greninja. "The forest is dying without pokémon to help it live, not just here, but everywhere. And pokémon are dying because they are either too afraid to go anywhere, or those who are turned to violence need to be put down."
"What will you have me do, Zygarde?" Greninja frowned. "We can't force the weak ones out of hiding, and the violent ones are not of reasonable minds. Yet, violence is what is needed to protect the weak and the humans."
"But there can still be violence without the need to kill," the other Zygarde reasoned.
"Yes, but despite our rationality, we do not have Xerneas to help us restore order," Greninja muttered bitterly. "Even Yveltal would be of greater help considering her ability to cause the soil to become highly fertile."
"Even Yveltal's strength would be useless if there are no pokémon to help provide an ecosystem," Zygarde frowned at Greninja's despair. "As would the power of Xerneas. They merely provide a balance, not a solution. Power would be wasted on their part, but we do have their word to aid us if we manage to correct the ecosystem."
"How can we fix a problem that has no clear source?" Greninja turned to look at the blob.
"It has a source," Zygarde said assuredly. "There is always a cause for something, even if it isn't an obvious cause. And sometimes such a cause has deeper roots than we can perceive."
As Zygarde spoke, however, Greninja felt a fell, cold chill run down his spine, as if something drew near. Quickly, performing a backflip from the tree he perched on, he narrowly dodged a dark brown root that erupted from the ground to strike at him. The root was covered in a reddish glow and seemed rotted, but it quickly came down when Greninja threw a water shuriken at the root. Landing next to his friend, Greninja stared at the fallen root in rage.
"That is certainly an interesting development," Zygarde mused. "Especially considering we destroyed all of them."
"That wasn't the same corruption, was it?" Greninja frowned.
"No," Zygarde shook his head. "It was different and controlled by something that is unlike the power of the megalith."
"Another dark Zygarde, perhaps?" Greninja growled. "Is it possible that Team Flare has returned?"
"I have my doubts," Zygarde frowned. "I sense another power at work. Something far darker, and filled with rage. And, it's moving north."
"The catacombs?!" Greninja looked at Zygarde in horror, who merely nodded.
The blue and black frog made no delay, quickly hopping from one tree to the next until Zygarde could neither see nor hear Geninja anymore. He kept his eye to the north after the frog with a look of grim seriousness. Zygarde felt the root purposefully go after Greninja when it could have stuck him instead. A dread feeling fell over Zygarde as he contemplated what would so highly wish the death of Greninja. Yet, even as he considered the possibilities, Zygarde immediately felt another presence near to him.
"Come out!" Zygarde called out to the seemingly empty forest that surrounded him with authority. "Whether you be friend or foe, step out of the shadows!"
And a flash of light appeared in response.
…
Sycamore led Serena, Shauna, Bonnie, and Squishy into the once dark catacombs that were now filled with mining lights slowly. All across the walls were ancient murals that depicted pokémon, kings, and battles that no one had any knowledge of, with maybe the exception of Squishy. Though, if Squishy had knowledge of what was depicted, he did not reveal it.
"Nothing in this place seems to have any connection to Kalosian architecture at all," Bonnie said as she looked around.
"No," the professor agreed. "And everything that is depicted seems to predate any Kalosian culture that we know of. Look at the pokémon on these walls! There is not one pokémon that we see today commonly. They're either all legendary or mythological."
"But they're missing some," Bonnie frowned. "I don't see a painting of Xerneas, Yveltal, or a Zygarde."
Squishy stayed quiet, however, his eyes wandering between the walls. Deep in his heart, he felt a chill, though he wasn't sure what that chill meant. He recalled stories other cells or cores heard or bore witness to, but the strangest of such tales were those that were told to a Zygarde by Rayquaza. The two dragons did not male much contact anymore, and even less did they hear from the "Dragon of the Sea," Lugia. Though, Squishy would have thought that Lugia would make more contact with a Zygarde as the two were representatives of Kyogre and Groudon respectively. Yet, they eventually came to a mural of a pokémon that they all recognized: Arceus.
This mural, however, was strange, as it depicted Arceus standing before a person who was crowned and bore a staff at his side. Arceus and the human stared at each other eyelevel with the human offering his hand to Arceus in peace. Surrounding the human was eighteen Mew, each of a different color, in a circle which seemed to mirror the golden ring around Arceus.
"I often wonder who that man is in the painting," Sycamore spoke as the group stared at the mural. "Is he someone in particular, or does he represent humanity as a whole? Was there ever a time humans and Arceus were friends?"
"Maybe it is a little of both," Serena offered. "But I do have to wonder what people could have done to break that friendship if it were real."
"There is no point on dwelling on the 'what ifs,'" Squishy spoke at last. "The past is already written and the future is set."
"I don't believe that, Squishy," Bonnie frowned. "What's the point of doing anything if the future is already set?"
"We don't know what the future holds," Squishy answered. "So, we fight on for the future, in the hopes that such a future leads to a brighter tomorrow. And if it not us who fights for that tomorrow, someone else will. Do you think it mere chance that we met and became friends, Bonnie? Do you think it mere chance you showed me love, friendship, and compassion? That that compassion that allowed me and my friend to unleash our true power to stop Team Flare from destroying the world was by chance? No, there are too many happy accidents in the world for it to left to chance. Chance simply makes everything too unlikely to happen."
Bonnie opened her mouth to respond but was cut off when Squishy immediately started to bounce towards the corridor on the right of the mural. Serena watched her young friend with a soft expression, recalling the day that Ash, too, claimed that he believed that fate brought them together. The connection he claimed they had, it only caused her to love Ash more. Gently, she placed a hand on Bonnie's shoulder and gave her an encouraging smile.
"I believe in that too, Bonnie," Serena said softly as she continued her smile. "It was hope that allowed me to fight for my tomorrow. It was hope for the future that has always allowed me to never give up until it's over."
"You couldn't be more in love with him," Bonnie smirked playfully, causing Serena to blush a rather deep red.
"We're close," Sycamore called out to the two girls from down the right-hand corridor.
After picking up the pace, Serena and Bonnie met the professor, Shauna, and Squishy at a stone door that was infused with crystal-like substance that shimmered like starlight. The door's arch post, as Squishy had pointed out, was covered in strange symbols; the most notable of which, at the top center or the arch, was an image of the head of a crowned serpent with a circle around the head.
"Giratina's Veil," Squishy said slowly, and with slight reverence. "Here, you must stay behind me. I have no idea what could possibly be behind this door, and the enemy we do not know is far more dangerous than we enemy do know."
"Could you make that sound any more ominous?" Shauna frowned. "It's bad enough we about to go into a place that people used to talk to ghosts."
"Could you please not mention that?" Serena closed her eyes and trembled slightly before she felt Bonnie capture her hand. The two blondes offered each other small smiles, though neither smile stayed when Squishy next spoke.
"If these people were who I think they were, then this place was used for more than talking to the dead," Squishy said darkly, looking back at the group with a grim and serious eye.
"What more could it be?" Professor Sycamore asked, hoping it could be something connected to mega evolution.
"A road," Squishy responded before closing his eye and turning back to face the door.
Suddenly Squishy let out a loud cry that echoed throughout the catacombs and into the dig site. In response, flashes of green light surged forth and struck the small, green blob before Squishy turned into a large, humanoid like figure with two wings and a tail. His head developed a crown that seemed as if it mirrored the image of Giratina's Veil, though the horns of Squishy's crown were less pronounced.
As if the form Squishy took issued a challenge of some kind, the shimmering light of the door turned from a pale white to green. Suddenly, the light shot out from the door and struck Squishy, only to elicit a terrible cry of pain from the legendary pokémon. However, Squishy stood his ground, using whatever power he could muster to respond to the door's attack.
"SQUISHY!" Bonnie cried out in horror at seeing her friend in pain, but before she could move to try help her friend, Serena caught Bonnie in her arms and held the young trainer tightly.
However, the ground around them trembled violently around them as Squishy gave out another cry, this time in determination not to break before whatever power the crystal-infused door possessed. Suddenly, however, the light that surrounded Squishy stopped, and the door opened, revealing a chamber that had a statue of a Giratina standing over an empty archway. The moment, that the door opened to them, however, Squishy collapsed and his form denigrated, sending the Zygarde cells back out into the world until he was simply a core again.
"Squishy!" Bonnie cried out again and pulled out of Serena's arms so she could pick up the tiny, green blob. Tears fell from her soft face as she brought the unconscious Zygarde to her chest, but she smiled despite the tears.
"He's alright," the young trainer choked softly on her tears. "He's just tired."
Serena immediately went to hug Bonnie from behind while Shauna watched the trio and Professor Sycamore went into the chamber. He looked all around, studying the intricate designs of the chamber and the statue at the center of the room. Serena, however, continued to comfort Bonnie, who only thought of making sure her best friend was okay.
"Fascinating," Sycamore smiled. "This statue looks as if it were built yesterday, and yet I can already tell it is far older than anything we have seen throughout all of Kalos! And the crystal runs all throughout this room. In fact, the veins run all to this arch the statue is behind. The arch itself is nothing but the crystal!"
However, when he reached out to touch it, the arch began to glow brightly and a wall of light formed inside of it. Serena could only watch in horror as, in that next moment, Sycamore was thrown back and a root immediately shot through the ground to impale him, his blood spewing onto the ground. Suddenly, a thing of shadow stepped out of the portal that was made, and it grinned maliciously at the trio of girls.
…...
Hey, everyone! I know, I ended on a cliffhanger. I felt a bit eager to post and, honestly, if I continued, the chapter would have been too long. In any regard, I hope to start on my side project soon that will go into detail about the mythologies and background histories of PTLotE. Not sure on a title for it, but I was thinking of something along the lines of "Pokemon: Mythos." Maybe I will think of a better title later, but that is what I am working with right now. Keep an eye out for it, as I will be sure to put PTLotE as a reference in the summary.
I'd like to extend a special thanks to Frost Glaive, who has given me a number of ideas on how to proceed with the darker points of the story, as well has helped me to expand the backstory enough to the point that I am confidently able to take up my side project. I already have a few chapters in mind that are more or less rough drafts, but I haven't figured out where to put them chronologically yet. (Well, except for a couple.)
In any case, please leave your reviews! Any comments, suggestions, and/or constructive criticisms, as always, are greatly appreciated! Have a great day!