Chapter 24: Ash Ketchum and the Temple of the Sea

"Samiya?" Ash asked, curiously.

"An ancient temple built by the People of the Waters," May continued. "An ancient tribe of people who worshiped Kyogre, the king of the seas. They believed that Manaphy were the children of Kyogre, and built this temple for them to live in."

Manaphy nodded, clapping his hands together happily.

"Now what, then?" Brendan asked. "The fog's still too thick for us to proceed."

"Why don't we go check out this temple?" May asked. "Not like we can do much else."

With not much else to do, everyone agreed. There was no place for their ship to dock, so May, Ash, and Sir Aaron took a lifeboat and rowed into the temple.

Inside, they found the first room to be completely bare, just a long hallway and a tiled floor.

"Huh. For an ancient temple, there's not a lot to see."

Ash was about to step forward, but Sir Aaron held his arm out to prevent him from doing so.

"Hold on, something's not right."

Taking out a small pin, he dropped it on a tile a few feet ahead of them. The moment it hit, the ground in front of them gave way, revealing a pit of spikes ready to skewer them.

"Woah."

"Figures," Sir Aaron said with a weary sigh. "These ancient civilizations really didn't want people stealing their treasure."

"So now what do we do?" May asked. After a moment of thought, Ash took out a Pokeball and released it, sending out his Kirlia onto the other side of the chasm.

"Kirlia, do you think you can lift us over this gap?"

Kirlia nodded, and used her psychic powers to lift Ash over the gap. It took some effort, but she got him over safe and sound before working on May, then Sir Aaron. After a few moments, all humans and Pokemon were safely on the other side.

"Good job, Kirlia. Return!"

Sir Aaron nodded in approval, before taking the lead and guiding them to the next room.

The next room was bigger, though much of the same. But the first thing all of them noticed was several small notches in the walls.

"Well, this is a rather obvious trap."

"Yes, but I'm afraid there's more to it than just that," Sir Aaron continued. "See those indents in the walls? If we step on the wrong tile, we'll be skewered by hundreds of arrows."

"So just like the last room?" May inquired.

"Yes, but it's not just one tile, but multiple. We need to be very careful as we cross this room."

"But how do we know which ones are safe to cross?"

Sir Aaron scanned the floor for a minute, before taking a step. When he didn't get shot at, he examined the floor again before making another step forward, followed by another until he had crossed the room. He then turned back to his companions.

"Just do what I did, and you'll be fine!"

Cautiously, the two slowly crept across the floor, making sure to retrace Sir Aaron's steps exactly. It took a while, but at last they were safely on the other side.

"Phew! Man, am I glad you went first."

"Me too," May agreed. "How could you tell which tiles were safe?"

Sir Aaron didn't answer them, and just started walking again. This made Ash and May confused.

"For someone who was hounding me about my secret an hour ago, he sure seems to have plenty of his own."

"Agreed, but at least he's helping us."

Ash nodded, and the two followed Sir Aaron down the hall.

After a while of wandering through empty hallways, they at last came to the final room. To their surprise, it was just a large room, filled to the brim with gold and other treasures.

"Woah," Ash said, impressed.

"A girl could get used to this," May agreed.

"Don't take anything," Sir Aaron warned. "If this was what those rooms were protecting was worth it, then I have no doubt it's the same thing here."

Ash and May nodded, and very carefully began exploring the treasure trove. Then, something in the back of the room caught May's eye. Curious, she walked over to it.

At the far back of the room were two pedestals, upon which sat two unique items. The first was a beautiful crown, with dazzling jewels adorning it. Perhaps not too unusual, May thought to herself, but the second item was what caught her attention.

It was a bright blue orb, Perfectly smooth and brighter than any gem that was on the crown. Thinking back to what The Magma Kingdom was looking for, May had a thought.

"The Blue Orb…could this be the one they were after?"

"AHA! I finally found you!"

Everyone whirled around to find The Phantom dragging his way into the room, arrows sticking out of his torn waistcoat and his hat ripped to shreds.

"You again?"

"Yes, and if you know what's good for you, you'll hand over the Sea Crown to me! Otherwise this little one gets it."

May gasped in horror as The Phantom thrust Manaphy into her field of view.

"Manaphy! You monster!"

"The little brat snuck in ahead of me. Now, unless you want him to get the business end of my sword, you'll hand over the crown!"

May snarled, but she refused to move.

"Come on girlie, I'll give you to the count of 3! 1…2…"

"Let her go!"

In a burst of rage, Ash charged forward, ready to punch the pirate. Just as he was about to reach him, though, something unexpected happened. A small sphere of energy launched itself from his hand and struck The Phantom dropped Manaphy in shock, the attack knocking him into a wall unconscious.

"Wh…what was that?" May asked in disbelief.

"I don't know," Ash finally managed to get out, equally in disbelief. But Sir Aaron had an answer.

"Incredible…I've never seen such potential with Aura before…"

"Aura?" Ash asked, looking to May for answers, but all she could do was shrug.

"I only know about it in vague terms," she admitted. Sir Aaron, sensing that they wouldn't have much time to explain, began leading them out.

"I'll explain more back on the ship. But that pirate won't be asleep forever, and I don't want to be around when he wakes up."

Realizing he was right, Ash and May quickly followed him out. They had just entered into the arrow room when the building began to shake, and the ceiling began to crumble around them.

"What's going on?"

"I guess our friend woke up and triggered another trap, my guess being the crown. We need to go, now!"

"What about the arrows?"

"Looks to me like The Phantom already triggered them, now move!"

The three began running even faster, May clutching Manaphy close to her as they ran for dear life. After a spectacular leap over the spike pit, they ran out the entrance and climbed into their rowboat, getting away just in time before the temple collapsed into the sea, never to be seen again.

"Is it over?" Ash asked. May looked down to see The Phantom's pirate hat bob its way to the surface, its owner nowhere to be seen.

"It's over, she said with a sigh of relief.

Once everyone was back on the ship, they were given a warm welcome back by the crew.

"So he went down with the temple? Brendan asked. "Serves him right."

"Indeed," May agreed. "Done in by his own greed."

She then turned to the ruins of the ancient temple with a sad expression on her face.

"Still, for this beautiful temple to have lasted for thousands of years, only to collapse because of an idiot like him… And now the Manaphy have nowhere to go…"

Everyone bowed their heads in respect. Suddenly, Manaphy glanced up into the sky in awe. Seeing this, everyone else looked up to see a huge group of Manaphy gathered in the sky, much to their amazement.

"Wow…"

"To think that before this day, I thought they were a myth, and now I'm seeing dozens of them…"

The Manaphy floated above their former home, their faces fallen. They then turned their attention to the ship. And they did not look happy.

"Uh oh. I think they might blame us for the temple's destruction," Ash said.

Luckily, Manaphy flew out of May's arms and over to the others, and in their own language tried to explain what happened. Luckily, whatever he said worked, and the other Manaphy subsided, allowing everyone to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Phew," May said. "The last thing we need is for them to attack us too."

Just then, two objects floated up to the surface. Upon closer inspection, they were the crown and Blue Orb from the temple. Upon spotting the crown, one of the Manaphy floated down and picked it up, before offering it to May's.

"What is it doing?"

"If the legends are correct," Sir Aaron. "The Sea Crown is given to the one the Manaphy trust to lead them as Kyogre's chosen. I believe they see potential in your Manaphy, and want him to join them as their Prince."

May's heart clenched. Despite only knowing him for a day, she'd already grown close to Manaphy. But despite that, she knew how important this was, and waited for Manaphy to make his choice.

Manaphy remained frozen for a minute, glancing down at the crown before looking back at May, who tried her best to hold back tears as she smiled.

"It's okay, don't worry about me. Follow your heart, and make the choice you think is right."

For a long minute, Manaphy floated in the air, trying to make his decision. At last, he turned…

And flew right into May's arms. The Princess was shocked, but happy.

"Are you sure, sweetie?"

"Ma…Ma…Mamma…"

May gasped in shock, but hugged him close to her chest as happy tears fell down her face. The other Manaphy smiled, and nodded in understanding. They turned to leave, but before they did one of them retrieved the blue orb and offered it to Ash.

"Do you want us to take this?"

"Manaphy!"

Ash nodded, and accepted it.

"Thank you, we'll take good care of it."

The Manaphy nodded, and the group set off for a new home. Once everything was all said and done, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Man, what a day!" Ash sighed in relief.

"Pi," Pikachu nodded in agreement.

"I'm just glad it's over," May said.

"Not quite," Sir Aaron interjected as he walked over to them, making them look at him in confusion. "I do believe I promise you an explanation, and I intend to keep it. Tell me, have you ever heard of the Aura Guardians?"