[Pokemon] Exploration; of Stone and Spirits

Max closed the book on her lap, Joker curling up next to her under the shade of the tree outside the library. She spent all day rereading the Sinnoh Myths; they were her favorite of all. Then again, she may have just been bias for her home region. Eris exited the library, a tray of coffee and cookies in his paws. Noir followed him closely, carrying a basket of sandwiches. The aura guardian smiled and made room on the blanket, her pokemon joining her for their lunch. 

"Reading the region mythos again, Maxwell?" Eris inquired, taking his seat.

"Yeah, just brushing up on the Lake guardians." she pat the cover of the closed book. "I forgot how scary they really are."

"Don't look into one's eyes, or forget who you are. Don't touch one's body, or lose all sense of self. Harm not one's life, or become eternal." The Aura Pokemon recited, closing his eyes. Max smiled at his memory of the small myth. "Yes, Maxwell. I remember it clearly. It's your favorite of the stories in Sinnoh."

She chuckled, pulling out the sandwiches and divying them out to her team. Max went to take a bite but stopped, a headache inducing pulse rocking her body. She placed a hand to her head and looked in the direction the pulse came from. Her pokemon looked in the same direction as her, then to their human. Blinking away the headache, she shook her head and continued on with her lunch. 

Another pulse rocked her mind, forcing her to drop her food back onto her plate.
"Maxwell, are you alright? I can feel something hitting your mind."

"...I don't know. I feel like there's something calling for me. Something powerful." She got up, brushing crumbs off her lap. "I need to go see what it is."

Her team hopped up and nodded, ready to follow her. She nodded to each of them, turning in the direction of the pulsations. Max pulled out her map and pointed to Mt. Coronet. 

"I'm pretty sure theres something here calling to me. This place is home to some intense shit. You guys ready for this?"

"Maxwell, you forget that we've faced quite a bit together. I believe we can take on something that can cause a couple headaches." Eris nodded. "Though, how do you know that it's Coronet thats calling to you?"

"...Call it a feeling."

Her pokemon looked at each other, knowing all too well that when Max had a 'feeling', it was usually correct. Though it also usually got her into a lot of trouble as well. The small group has had several near death experiences because of Max lusting after these feelings and hunches. They all slowly returned their gazes to their human, unease clear in their eyes.
"Oh, relax you three! How bad could it possibly be?"

Eris and Noir facepalmed, knowing they had to go through with this, now that those dreaded words had been spoken. The three pokemon quickly cleared up their lunch cut short, and followed their trainer on another possibly dangerous adventure. 

The group walked for a long time, getting to Oreburgh by dusk. Max knocked on the side door of the gym; the door that lead to Roark's home. The red head answered the door, surprised that he was getting a visitor this late.

"Max? Ah, what's up?" He grinned awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. He was a bit taller than the guardian, and only one year older than her. "What can i do for ya?"

"I was wondering... I uh, i plan on going on an expedition tomorrow. Through Mt. Coronet." She adverted her gaze. "I've only ever been there once.... so would you be willing to... go... with me...?" she mumbled the last part.

Eris elbowed his partner in the ribs, earning a sharp inhale. Max frowned at the shit-eating grin the Lucario wore.

"A feeling, huh Maxwell?" He spoke directly to her. She could hear the smugness in his telepathy. 

"Hush your face, you." She snapped back, her eyes flicking to a rather confused Roark. "SO! What do you say?"

"O-of course! I know that place like the back of my hand, so I can help you get around up there."

"Excellent!"

The two stood there awkwardly, not looking at each other. This time, the gym leader getting the elbow.

"Oh! Right! Would you... like to come in? You could... spend the night here. N-Not to do anything of course!" He looked at the lucario, who stared at him with an eyebrow raised. He was rather protective of Max, so he definitely wouldnt let anything like such happen. He stepped aside, granting Max and Eris entry. Eris stared hard at the Rock type leader, forcing him to advert his eyes, and go bright red in the face. 

"I'm watching you, Roark." Eris spoke to him directly. "You and your team are mighty vulnerable to me, after all."

He didn't respond. Instead, he went to his kitchen to put a pot of coffee on, while the aura guardian and her partner got comfortable in his living room. 

"The guest room is all set for you guys." Roark gestured to the stairs. "I assume you remember where it is. I'll be up around 6 or so. It'll be a long trek up the mountain, so you might want to wake up early as well." He headed for his room, stopping and turning to face them all. "We can hit the storage sheds at the mine on our way to the base of Coronet, so you'll be able to stock up and prepare there. I recommend keeping at least Noir and Joker in their balls on the journey. It's incredibly treacherous, the higher we get."

"Noted." Max nodded, taking her empty mug to the kitchen sink. "Hear that, you two? Its going to be dangerous, so you two will have to stay in your balls, until further notice." She kneels down and pets the smaller pokemon. "I want to keep you two safe, so please stay in there unless its a dire emergency, okay?" She smiled as the vaporeon and the mimikyu purred their replies. "Good, good. Lets get to bed. We have a long day ahead of us!"

---0o*o0---

Maxwell couldn't sleep that night. She spent most of the night at the window, staring at the Mountain off in the distance. The pulses returned, stronger than before. It took most of Max's willpower to resist the call. Eris at one point had gotten up to stand with his trainer, using gentle waves of aura to push a feeling of sleepiness over her to get her to go to sleep. The trip could go horrible if she wasn't well rested; they knew from experience.

Her pokegear sounded off at 6:30am. Blue eyes fluttered open, blinking rapidly as the trainer forced herself to sit up. She rubbed her eyes and reached for her glasses, which Eris handed to her. A knock on the door made the two jump, and awoke the two other sleeping pokemon.
 
"Can I come in?" Roark's voice came through the door. 

"Yeah, go ahead." Max responded through a yawn and the opening of the door. "It's been a minute since i've actually had to walk up early for an expedition." she smiled. "It's kinda nice."

"I remember the first time you and your dad stayed here in Oreburgh. Every morning at 6am, like clockwork, you'd be at my door, wanting to go exploring in the mines. ...How are your injuries?" he asked, also glancing at Joker, who was lapping up black coffee from a plastic bowl.

"Some scarring for both of us, but everything healed up for the most part." she paused. "Roark... do you blame yourself for what happened?"

"No, I just... I wasn't back there to help, like i should have been. I was told to supervise any and all expeditions in the back of the mines, due to the instability of the area. ....Yeah, I guess I do blame myself."

"...Well don't. We didn't pay attention to the structural integrity of the area, which is like the number 2 rule of Spelunking. One being never explore alone. Our injuries are on us. Literally and Metaphorically, of course."

He gave a weak chuckle and headed for the stairs, forgetting what he came in here for. "Let me know when you're ready, so we can head to the mines to gear up."

---0o*o0---

It was about 7am by the time they hit the mine. Roark unlocked the shed, gesturing Max and Erix inside. The two immediately started gearing up. Harnesses, extra ropes, pitons, chisels, empty transport bags; the works. This was a huge exploration, they wanted to be prepared for everything. 

"I also, recommend packing some winter gear." Roark stated, tossing a winter coat to each of them. "The top of the mountain gets incredibly cold, and it snows a lot there."

Max nodded, stuffing the coat into her backpack. Hers and Roark's carried most of the heavy supplies, while Eris's carried a lot of the rations and survival gear. The trio looked to each other and gave a single solid nod, ready to begin their ascent up Mt. Coronet. 

---0o*o0---

The winds blew colder as they climbed, Eris shuddering, even under the coat he wore. They were pretty high up now, the cities below invisible through the fog and snow. The three ducked into a cavelet and set up a warm fire, making sure they didnt freeze up here. 
"So Max, why exactly are we up here?" He questioned.

"...I felt something calling to me, pulling me to this place. But it was different, then all the other urges I've had. This one... was something powerful. It's aura was able to reach me all the way in Canalave."

"Any Idea what it was?" 

"There was only one other time I felt an aura this strong." she responded, rolling up her left pants leg and revealing the Giratina tattoo that twisted up her calf. 

"You think Giratina's calling for you?"

"It's a possibility, yes. Though the aura i'm receiving, and Giratina's aura don't quite match, such waves can get distorted when traveling over long distances."

Another wave hit Max, forcing her to grab her head and groan in pain. She looked off to the left of the cavelet they were in, her eyes alight with aura. Silently, she stood up and made her way over to the wall, placing a hand to it.

"...Maxwell?" Eris stood as well. "Are you alright?"

"...Here..." She spoke softly, almost inaudible. A pulse of aura released from her palm, crumbling the wall to pieces. She turned her gaze to her allies, the glow fading from her eyes. "What? What're you guys looking at?"

"Maxwell, you just opened up a new path. Do you not remember doing such?"

She shook her head, looking at this newfound path. With a shrug, she grabbed her stuff and started going through.

"Max! Wait up!" The rock-type trainer stamped out the fire and picked up his bag, following his friend. "We need to exercize caution from here on out! We don't know what's out this way!"

"...I do." Max said without turning around. "Whatever is calling for me is this way. We'll be completely safe, I pormise."

The Lucario and the Gym Leader had no choice but to follow the guardian, mostly to make sure that she remained safe, as she 'promised'. Through the cleared path, up several sets of worn-in stairs, and through what seemed to be erosion-carved archways, they wade their way into the large room that was pretty empty, save for the ancient pillars that lay broken and speared around the vicinity. 

"It looks like the ruins of an ancient shrine area..." Max inquired, approaching the pillars and gently running a hand over the ornate carvings on one of the fallen pillars. She dropped to her knees as a pulse rocked her mind, inducing a massive migraine. "It's telling me something..." She forced herself to get up, heading to the back of the room. One the ground, carved into the stone, was a large square with a triangle. Each point had a dull red stone, to which Max naturally had to touch. "Wait a minute... Eris, can you hand me my Sinnoh Mythos book?"

"...Did you really pack that, Maxwell?" 

"Are you questioning why I packed a research book?"

"...Fair point." Eris handed her the book, to which Max eagerly looked through. 

"Hah! It's the red chain! It's what connects the three lake spirits together! I can't believe we actually found it.. Oh the history behind it..." she pulls out her sketchpad and begins drawing it out, Roark examining the fallen pillars and ruins as she sketched away.

"Max... did you know all of this would be up here?" he asked, running a hand down one of the pillars before him. 

"No, I just felt something pulling me, so i just kinda followed it." She looked up, then went pale. "Don't move a single muscle. You will die if you do."

Roark stood perfectly still as something yellow drifted past him. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead as the legendary's tail moved millimeters from his face. The two humans then heard voices in their heads. 

"Uuuuu... So smart, the girl is..."

"She must be the one that He wanted us to test, Messs."

"Zelf... Shall we get to it, then?"

The three lake spirits circled Max, before stopping and looking to Roark. 

"What do we do about this human?" Azelf spoke.

"We don't need him, as she is the only one that He cares for." Mesprit responded. "Uxie, Azelf, if you will.

"But of course..." The gold lake spirit faded out, only to reappear before Roark with it's eyes wide open.

Max reached out, screaming at him not to look... but it was too late. The red haired male's eyes glzed over as his memory swiftly left him. Azelf approached and waved one of it's tails in his face, enticing the Gym Leader to reach out and pinch it, checking if the pokemon was real. The aura guardina raced over, trying to shoo away the legendaries without looking or touching them. She wrapped an arm around her friend, only to find that he had turned to stone before her, a wide-eyed, confused expression on his immortalized face. The aura guardian ran over to him, gripping his hadened face between her gloved hand, tears welling up in her eyes. She turned to the lake spirits, who were floating about above the carving of the red chain.
"HE WAS INNOCENT!" She screamed at them, Eris holding her back. He knew how powerful these three were, and if Max were to anything to them, she would suffer a fate worse than the gym leader.

"Maxwell, your aura is flaring. You need to calm yourself, before you get hurt." He placed his paws to her back, his calmness, washing over his trainer. She wiped the tears from her eyes, and turned to Eris.

"...Thank you. Who know what kind of messes I would get myself into without you..." She gave her Lucario a smile, before turning back to the spirits, a frown on her face. "...I'll play your game."

Their laughter rang through Max's mind, making her cringe. 

"The guardian believe it to be a game!" Azelf giggled.

"Poor, naive Maxwell..." Uxie sneered.

"It seems He wants us to begin..." Mesprit spoke as the three gathered in formation, the Red Chain lighting up. At once all three flew towards the girl and her pokemon, forcing them to dodge out of the way. She reached for a pokeball on her belt, but something forced her to stop her movement. "I'm afraid we cannot allow you to let anyone else to assist, Maxwell. He wants to test you, and the bond that you and your Lucario share."

Eris looked to his partner and nodded, letting her know that he would be with her until the end. 

"We challenge you, Maxwell Gen, to a battle of life!" They spoke in unison.

"I accept. Eris, be careful. We know just how terrifying they really are." She called to him, noting the mythos that she was all too familiar with. She studied each of them as they moved about. This was going to be an incredibly tricky combat; Azelf would most likely try to intercept any attack on the other two, while Mesprit would probably attempt to use physical moves; anything to get either of them to touch them. 

She was right. Most of their combat involved the two of them dodging and maneuvering away from the three pokemon, who were almost ruthless with their assault. Max began to notice that the spirits were beginning to focus more on the Lucario than herself. Instinctively, she pushed her companion out of the way, taking a body slam from the being of Emotion. The aura guardian gripped her chest, feeling something leave her. She couldn't quite place it, but she could feel it missing. Her eyes gazed over the battlefield, watching the aura pokemon avoid the onslaught of attacks. 

Max felt nothing.

She understood what had happened to her, and she knew that she couldn't let it happen to Eris. 

"Get away from him." she snarled, but the emotion in her tone was missing. She moved to strike Uxie, however, Azelf stepped in the way. The motions forced Max to cease her attack, back pedaling away. 

"I know what will speed this up!" The blue spirit screeched, disappearing within the bi-pedal pokemon. Eris turned to Max with a cold, blank stare. "It's been quite a while since I've had this much fun!"

Max shook her head, desperate to feel something. Anything. She sidestepped as he possessed companion came at her, his metal claw whiffing her side. 

"Eris! Force them out! I don't want to fight you!" she called out, something strange welling up in her chest. She pushed her aura out to him, trying to reach his mind.

"...owo? whats this?" Mesprit circled above watching this trial. "She's managing to fight my emotion drain?" 

Metal claws raked her again as she barely moved out of the way. There was blood spattered all arcoss Spear Pillar, but she continued to avoid conflict. Her aura clashed with his, sparking more and more emotion within her. She coud feel his resistance to Azelf, and him telling her things would be okay.

"...You're right. Things will be okay, Eris." This time, Max let him collide with her, as she wrapped her arms tightly around him is a bear hug. She burried her face into his shoulder and whispered quietly. "I refuse to fight. I can't hurt you..." Her hug got tighter, the Lucario thrashing about as he found that he couldnt breathe.

Eris could feel Max's boxy grow heavy, as she fell to the floor, still holding him tightly. When Azelf/Lucario finally managed to wiggle free of the trainer's grasp, she had been turned to stone. Azelf removed itself from it's host, rejoining up with Mesprit and Uxie.

"What now? Did she pass? Did she fail?" Uxie questioned, opening it's eyes to view the scene below.

"It comes down to Him." Mesprit answered, turning around as a set of crystallized stairs formed. 

Down the stairs He descended, gold tipped legs not even touching the ground beneath Him. No words were spoke as the massive being approached the stoned trainer and her distraught pokemon. The Lucario stood defensively in front of Max, staring defiantly up at the God. No matter how much he wanted to fight, Eris simply couldn't find it in him to move against Him. He could only step aside and let him do what He came to do.

Arceus placed a hoof to Max's forehead, the Red Chain imprinting itself onto her mind before slowly dissipating. He performed the same action to Roark, though the Red Chain did not appear for him. He turned and began his ascent back up the stairs, stopping briefly to issue an order to his children.

"See to it she lives on."

He disappeared, the crystal stairs with him. The three spirits turned to the trainers as they began to become flesh once more. Max collapsed against Eris, who help her tightly, silently apologizing for not being strong enough to fend of Azelf. Roark crawled over, placing a hand to both of their shoulders, before helping them up. 

"Come on... Let's get out of here. The pokemon are gone." He said looking around for them. "We need to get those wounds looked at."

So the three of them decended the side of Mount Coronet, Noir and Joker releasing themselves as soon as they could. While they were unable to act during the incident, they were able to see everything up until the moment where their pokeballs turned to stone alongside Max's body. 

For now, all that mattered to them was that everyone was alive and well. This was to become another hisotric moment to Max, to be marked on her with a tattoo.

The lake trio around her left bicep, each one separated by a red dot.