Pokemon: The Lord of the Elements

Hi, everyone! Thank you for the reviews. To my "Guest" reviewer, you are partially right. Yes, Misty, Serena, May, and Dawn all love Ash, and he loves them. However, once again, I must turn you back to my closing author's note back in Chapter 6. I have no intention for the story ending in a harem, but there will come a point in which you understand why I am setting it up as such. Trust me, my intentions for the romance ending have not changed. That being said, I have certainly thought about the story ending in a harem, but it would take away from the story I had in mind.

I hope you all enjoy this next chapter!

Chapter 13

In Search of a Strange Myth

(A month since Ash and Serena parted ways….)

Giratina looked out over the seemingly endless expanse of, what was to him, the living, and his uncle, the Distortion World. In many colors, it gave its eerie, cloudy light, though the it seemed darker now than it did in past. He stayed in quiet contemplation, giving thought to the roads the spirits of the dead traveled, if they journeyed to the City of The One, and guiding them when necessary, but his heart troubled him. The spirits grew restless, and the dark spirits corrupted by his uncle were growing in their activity. Something was off, Giratina knew that much, though he wasn't sure what the source of his worry was, nor why he felt it in such depth.

He sensed the presence of his uncle. "The Other," men called him, as did all who dwelt in the physical world. Giratina, yet, thought of the name of his nameless uncle. "The Mighty," his name once meant, and nothing closer to the truth. The Other was, indeed, strong, and to be feared. He was an enemy that should never have been mocked or underestimated, and Giratina was beginning to feel why. He had felt tired for what had seemed for ages, but now he felt pain. Not so much pain that he felt need to worry about his ancient task to The One, but pain enough that he knew what The One warned him of was true: the Other was getting stronger.

It was a dark reminder that he would fail one day, but he had hope that The One would not allow his uncle to steal The One's creation. Still, something had troubled Giratina. Never before had his uncle grown so bold in his advancements. He was certain his uncle was planning something, and his uncle was always crafty enough to hide that plan from him. Many times, Giratina had discovered the plans of his uncle to escape the imprisonment of the Distortion World, and too many times such discoveries were last minute and by accident. Yet, it was the other meaning of the Other's true name that struck fear in the fear in even the heart of Giratina, and that was the name that the physical world feared to speak before it was forgotten. Yet, despite the fear he might have felt, Giratina spoke it still when invoking the name of The One to help drive his uncle off.

But, this time was different. This time Giratina felt drawn to the floating island he now contemplated on. The presence of the Other was focused on this part of the Distortion world, and upon the portal that Giratina stood protectively in front of. What Giratina was certain of, however, was that his uncle was taking his time coming this way and mocking Giratina in the process.

"Iskiotelos," Giratina growled as he gazed into the forming darkness across the Distortion World.

"I never thought I would hear that word again in my life," a voice spoke near Giratina. Yet, with the cunning exception of his uncle, Giratina knew all the doings of his realm. He did not need to look behind him to know the visit of his old friend.

"You come at a late hour, young master Chie," Giratina said thoughtfully.

"Late, yes," the ancient Mew nodded, "but not lost. Tell me, what cause do you have to use such a cursed name?"

"The same reason you do not," Giratina said. "Names hold power, as I told you long ago, and you told to a certain princess with hair as black as night…. But, just as names hold the power to bring forth or destroy, they also have the power to reveal. Even what dwells in darkness cannot hide from light. And if that darkness swallows the light, it endures, though it be hidden from seeing eyes."

"The Enemy," Chie said slowly and gazed at the forming darkness. "Can he really swallow the light?"

"If he could not, my destruction could not be by his hand," Giratina answered with grim resolve. "Still, it is his name that proves he must swallow light. Iskiotelos, 'the might of darkness at the end.' A grim name for a hateful creature, and prophetic."

"Do you feel weaker?" Chie frowned and winced at the name of the Other before looking to his ancient friend.

"Little by little," Giratina nodded. "But not so much that he is ready to strike me down. The fact he still eludes me instead of attacking me directly tells me as much."

"And yet he fled from the combined strength of your father and your brothers and sisters," Chie pointed out confidently.

"He fled from The One," Giratina corrected. "My uncle is many things, but he is no coward, and he is certainly no fool. You speak poorly to disregard him, my young friend."

It was at that moment that the dark dragon of the dead turned to look at the floating, pink cat, his yellow eyes staring deeply into the blue eyes of the ancient Mew. It seemed to Chie that Giratina smiled for a moment to see his friend. But the smile, if it was one, vanished as soon as it came, and the dragon raised its height to gaze at Chie in authority.

"Why are you here, young master Chie?" the dragon spoke deeply, as if his voice rang out as a bell all across the Distortion World.

"To seek your authority for my work in the physical world," Chie answered softly and bowed low before Giratina.

"I seem to recall that you already had it," Giratina said back in thought. "But you seek a different authority than power, knowledge, and wisdom, don't you?"

"The Tree of Tears," Chie said softly again after some hesitation.

"You ask a great thing," Giratina frowned. "Why should I give you authority over her?"

"To wake her and rouse her wrath against Shin'en," Chie said plainly. "Along with the Stone of the Night."

"Their sleep is not by my authority," Giratina said, though when he next spoke, it seemed it was not with his own voice. "Nor shall they wake again, save to drink upon the essence of the six immortal guardians and call upon the ancient powers to punish the Enemy who dwells on Earth. But it shall be Sato's heirs who turn the guardians' hearts to do this thing. And on that day, Regisia shall be avenged, and the heirs of Sato may claim back their crowns, if they so desire. But the Tree and the Stone shall give up their lives, because of their long labors, and know peace at last."

And so Giratina quieted after he spoke the last word, and thought about what was said. But he turned his back to the ancient Mew and stared at the approaching darkness once more in silence. It was Chie, however, who was troubled in his heart, for the words of Giratina both made sense and did not.

"There is only one heir of Sato," Chie said softly as he stayed bowed.

"Yes, my young friend," Giratina answered. "You are right. You have my blessing, but I can give you no authority I do not possess. Go. You have much work to do."

"Master Giratina," Chie spoke once more, "may I ask one last thing?"

"If it is your wish," the ghostly dragon answered, keeping his eyes on the darkness.

"Why are you guarding this specific portal?" the ancient Mew wondered aloud, looking at the arch behind his old friend. "If your uncle is far away from here, and he is the master of deception, why do you not chase him?"

"My uncle is the master of deception," Giratina growled in response. "Yet, when he is honest, a power comes from him that is easily felt through such honesty. He chose to come here. Why here, I am not sure, but he baits me here. He would not bait me if he was unsure of his plans."

"That is not a comforting thought," Chie said.

"No," Giratina answered. "It is not. He has a plan, and it is undoubtedly a trap. Yet, I must hold him here, even if I were to fall doing so. All I know is he chose here for a reason, and the place that portal leads to leaves me with little doubt about the coming attack."

"Where does it go?" Chie frowned.

"You shall find out," Giratina answered. "Now go!"

And when Chie rose, he looked a moment longer at the ancient dragon, who now seemed older and far more tired than he ever had seen before. The ancient Mew closed his eyes for a second and opened the portal behind Giratina, but he was stopped by a small grunt that came from the dragon of death before passing through. It was then, when he turned to face Giratina, who stared at him one last time, that Chie knew he saw a look of sadness on Giratina's face.

"Good bye, my young friend," Giratina said softly, earning a nod from Chie before he passed through the portal. The dragon watched the portal until it had closed, and he turned his attention back to the darkness. "We are running out of time."

…

(Hearthome City, Sinnoh; The Hearthome Cathedral….)

Dawn glanced up at the towering, grey building before her. It seemed darker than the last time she had seen it, though it may have been the rain that kissed the normally lighter stone. Last time she was here, Dawn had witnessed Ash win a badge for the Sinnoh Pokémon League, and the time before that was during a Pokémon Contest she had participated in. She smiled at the warm memories her travels with Ash provided for her, though those warm memories were broken by the cold wind that came from Mount Coronet in the west. She shuddered. Too long had the sun been hidden by dark grey clouds that hung above her; too long had she felt the cold suck hope, warmth, and life from her. Yet, there was an ember of hope that still glowed within her ever since Serena had sent an email claiming that Ash was alive.

However, despite Dawn's attempts to ask how Serena had found out Ash was alive, the communications ended with that email. It only caused Dawn's worry to return once again, but she resolved to stay in Sinnoh so she could help anyone she could. Despite her feeling at a loss, however, she was comforted by May, who chose to travel with her. It had been five weeks since the pair had met the Wanderer, and they decided to search for anything they could find about the temple the Wanderer had shown them.

"Why are we here, Dawn?" May asked behind the blunette before taking a bite out of a crème puff she had bought earlier. "I thought Sinnoh's largest library was at Canalave City."

"It was," Dawn said and clenched her fists at her side. "But sea has become violent all over the world, and it was decided that the library's collection be moved here."

"I wonder why," May muttered. "Moving across Mount Coronet isn't exactly what anyone would refer to as safe, either."

"Nowhere is safe," Dawn said back. "But Hearthome is safer than other places in Sinnoh."

"What is this building, anyway?" May asked.

"I wondered that myself, when I first saw it," Dawn answered after a moment of silence. "It was here before Hearthome even existed. Some think it was once a keep to a castle, and the city just slowly built around it. Others call it a cathedral to Arceus, but there are no relics to Arceus inside, only a stained-glass window that captures the image of the mountain and two statues of Mew. It is at least a thousand years old, and will probably stay longer."

"You seem to know a good deal about it already," May smiled.

"No, I don't," Dawn shook her head and sighed. "Any records I could find about it were stored in the Canalave library, and those records were few. When the founders of Hearthome came here, and found this building, it was occupied by a people foreign to Sinnoh. And when the founders of Hearthome came, the people who built this place left a year later."

"How strange," May said thoughtfully. "Why would anyone just leave their home like that?"

"Records claim that they said it was their time to leave," Dawn shrugged. "They gave Hearthome the keys to this place, and went westward. Evidently the people who lived here were beautiful, but sad. They spoke little, but they were generous, and aided of Hearthome often until they left."

"So nothing is known about the people who built this," May said with narrowed eyes.

"Next to nothing, yes," Dawn nodded. "But I'm hoping we can somehow link this place and those people to the ruins we found at the mountain."

"Maybe," May rubbed her chin softly while looking at the strange building. "But I think we both know that the design of this building looks far different from the temple at Coronet."

"I agree," Dawn smiled. "But I think that mystery of origin will be our main connection link!"

"I think it's time for our next expedition," May smiled back before giving a short giggle.

Dawn giggled as well before grabbing the brunette's hand and leading her inside the strange cathedral. It was as grey on the inside as it was on the outside, but it was certainly not lacking in light. A great dome was centered in the cathedral's ceiling that filtered in light from the outside world, and stained-glass windows filled the walls. Yet, the only window that took an image to it was the window at the back of the sanctuary within, and that image was of Mount Coronet. The peak of the mountain was crowned with the sun rising behind it, and yellows rays spread throughout the image of the mountain. There were a few people inside the sanctuary, perhaps saying prayers for passed pokémon, but each of them were reverently quiet.

An elderly man watched those inside the sanctuary quietly, though he seemed about his own business as he sat in a chair at the back of the sanctuary with a book in his hands. Both girls had assumed he was their best bet at finding the library inside the strange building. However, when the pair approached him, he looked up from his book and smiled kindly at them.

"Welcome, ladies," he said softly. "May I help you?"

"We're looking for the books from the Canalave library," May smiled back.

"Oh?" the old man raised an eyebrow, but kept his smile. "What knowledge are seeking? Perhaps I can help you find your needed book faster."

"We're looking for a history on ancient Sinnoh culture," Dawn answered. "Though, ancient world culture might be just as useful."

"With all these reports of ruins popping up across the world, I can't say I'm surprised," the old man stroked his white beard thoughtfully. "However, I'm afraid I have lent any books we have to scientists studying the ruins themselves."

Dawn frowned a little and looked down. The girls were back to square one, though they had to admit that they hadn't really had questions answered the entire they searched to begin with. The only time they had question was ever answered was when they were with the Wanderer, but the answers they had were vague and only raised more questions. Still, their hope to figure out what happened to Ash, even if he was now found, and maybe piece together a way to calm the raging pokémon of the world drove them forward. Ash taught them never to give up to the bitter end, the two young women would do just that.

"Anything you might have will be useful," Dawn smiled with uncertain hope.

"Hmmm…," the old man looked down in thought. "I think we have some books on myths and legends around the world. Most of them are legends you were probably already told when you were children as bedtime stories. One, though…."

He trailed off and furrowed his brow before making a slight frown. Still, it was enough to get the attention of the two girls. Their eyes lit up eagerly with hope to help Ash as they drew closer to the old man. Pleading looks painted their faces as they dropped to their knees.

"Please, we want to know!" they pair spoke in unison.

"Well, I…," the old man's frown deepened. "One book seems to be an account of some kind, or at least some kind of fairy tale. The thing is, it has been discredited as mythology as there is no culture in the world links with it, or we have discovered to link with it. And it is certainly an odd one. Still, the library at Canalave claims it the oldest script they possess."

"May we look at it?!" Dawn pleaded.

"I suppose…," the old man said slowly with an even slower nod. He beckoned the girls to follow him into room to the girls' left. When they entered the room, it was filled with many shelves, and more books than there were shelves available. Yet, he did not take the girls to any of the shelves, but rather a locked chest in a far, dark corner of the room. He sighed as he pulled a key that hung from his neck and opened the chest with it. He dug around for a moment inside as the girls watched him patiently before finally stopping and standing back up.

"Once again," he said softly, "I do not expect you to find anything in here that is worthwhile. The stories in this book have no known origin, nor any reference of historical records we know of. All myths of the ancient world and stories have some connection to history of a certain location, but this book contains nothing about it. There is one page that does have a record of a known place, and that is at the start of the book. All it makes a claim to, however, is the day the book found its way to the Canalave library. I wish you girls luck in your search."

He sighed softly before handing the Dawn the book. After doing so, he closed and locked the chest once more before leaving the room to the girls. May and Dawn stared at each other as they heard the old man's footsteps and the closing door before looking at the simple book. It was rather large, ranging about six inches thick, and the pages being a foot long. The cover of the book was rather plain, colored brown with no words to explain what the book was called. However, there was a faded insignia upon the cover of a rose crossed with a sword.

"Well, I suppose we better start reading," May sighed.

Dawn nodded and opened the book. The pages were clearly newer, as the Canalave library was famous for its ability to preserve and restore books in its possession. Still, despite the fact that the book looked newer, Dawn felt a sense of timelessness within the pages.

"Within these pages lay the accounts of a strange organization that no nation claims to know of. This organization has referred to itself as the 'Knightly Order of Flowers,' or simply, 'Flower Knights.' According to the content within this book, these supposed Knights were primarily Amazonian in nature, their ranks filled with mostly women, and they were as deadly as they were graceful. The primary function of these Knights, according to the text, was simple: to protect the beauty of the world. Philosophically, this is a rather vague concept, as it is unknown what 'beauty' was to these Knights. Though, perhaps each Knight was encouraged to define their own beauty. What is certain in this book, however, is the concept that they defended life and nature.

While that is all good and well, it seems that the Knights were no different in their code of ethics when it comes to vows than other knights we know. Yet, it seems that the Knights in this book were described to have fought in wars unheard of and places that do not exist. Most odd of all is the people the Knights claim to be loyal to, a mystical people who called themselves the 'Sylvanae.'

However much uncertainty this book holds, though, what is certain is that it found its way into the Canalave library. It was donated to the library by robed migrators that spoke little and requested a ship to be carried westward across the sea. All that was ever claimed of it by these migrators was that this book is a book of history. Until further examination, the library cannot verify if this book has any significant historical contribution to the world."

"Flower Knights?" May frowned. "What's a Flower Knight?"

"Ugh!" Dawn groaned. "Why? Why can't we just get some bloody answers for once?!"

…

Hey, everyone! This chapter ended a little shorter than usual, but I think it will simply because I need to devote a larger scale of time into the book May and Dawn will investigate. The Flower Knights play an important role in the mythology of the story, and you have already met one of them. Anyway, please leave your reviews! I will try to post again whenever I can. Have a good day!