Dorm Hall - 2nd Floor

[Seren]

Olivia strut around the room, sniffing every corner she could reach. She'd been sensing that strange ghostly aura since they'd arrived, but she hadn't yet been able to pinpoint it. It had been around every time she'd been scanning their area so far - not just in the room, but anywhere she'd scanned. The one exception so far was at the cove with the human who was like her own, and the sylveon, and that funny one - that one had been the only strange reading that day. But that night, the ghostly aura was back. So it was tonight as well, and while it hadn't yet posed a threat, Olivia was determined to find it.

She'd been around this room several times over the last few nights, and she wasn't any closer to figuring out who was watching them. There was definitely someone there... something about the aura was familiar even, but she couldn't specify why. She'd been around more ghosts than she could count back home. Olivia even considered whether or not she was just imagining it in her paranoia, but no... there was something there.

"Stupid ghosts and their stupid invisibility," she grumbled to herself. How was she going to protect her human if she couldn't even see the threat?

That was the problem with this entire vacation, though, wasn't it?

As she circled the perimeter again, she passed by her human in the pool. Kimiko leaned over the edge, her chin resting on one arm as she held up Celebi's whistle for scrutiny in her free hand. Or, perhaps that's what she had been doing at first, but her eyes were distant now and she seemed to stare right through it. No, now she was lost in her thoughts.

Olivia wished she knew how to comfort her human from... whatever this was. She'd tried everything she could think of since they returned from the forest. Fetch hadn't worked. Purring hadn't worked. Even swimming hadn't worked. Olivia didn't understand it at all. They'd gotten Celebi's help! That was a success, wasn't it? Hadn't they been worried that the powerful pokemon would stay away after what happened with Manaphy? This was good! Sure, they didn't know who was kidnapping people yet, but they'd figure it out... there were a lot of smart, strong pairs here, weren't there? And they were one of them! Celebi even knew that now!

And yet... Olivia watched for a moment as Kimiko set the whistle down with a sigh. She lifted her head just enough to tuck her free arm back underneath her other and set herself back down, eyes closed. Humans were such emotional creatures...

By the time Olivia had circled around again, her human had slumped slightly, clearly asleep. That wasn't safe, with her in the water like that... Olivia picked up the whistle with a psychic touch, careful not to step on it, and nudged Kimiko lightly with her nose.

"Mmm... sorry, dozed off..."

"Espiiiii..."

With a tired grunt, she heaved herself out of the pool, headed to the bathroom, and dried her hair, before returning and climbing into bed.

With her fifth cycle of the room complete and nothing to show for it, Olivia set Celebi's whistle down on the nightstand and retreated to her own bed. She continued to keep an eye on the entity; it hadn't been harmful as of yet, and Olivia hoped dearly that it remained as such, because she wasn't sure what else she could do right now until it acted. She waited until she sensed her human asleep again, then, with her psychic grip, collected Kimiko's music player and dragged it towards her bed. Olivia made sure to turn the volume down; her trainer needed all the sleep she could get. Olivia didn't want to accidentally wake her while she mewed along to Bohemian Rhapsody.

 

[Seren]

"I'm not seeing anything specific to poison," came Alex's voice over the video chat. "Just a lot of vague mentions of powerful healing abilities."

"Same here," Kimiko replied from her seat on the bed, over the sound of her music app playing Paper Umbrella at low volume. She sat propped up against the headboard by a few pillows, one of the history books from the lounge in her lap. Olivia lay by her side, body slowly rising and falling as she slept peacefully. Her phone was also propped up, leaning against the lamp on the nightstand so Alex could see her; she had to look sideways to see him from this angle, but her attention was elsewhere, anyway.

It had been another long, roller coaster of a day. A battle, a group meeting, another investigation, another mythical encounter. One person - Mitch and Mightyena - had been rescued, only for another pair - Wallace and Victoria - to be attacked. She hadn't really contributed much to the forest investigation; Steven and Aggron had already uncovered whatever there was to find by the time she arrived, and Aggron was the one who really won Shaymin over. And Steven had had others there for backup, too, if accidental... If only she'd followed Wallace instead... would she have been able to do something? What if that had been Odette? Or Coleane, or Gen, or Ayumi, or...

It had taken her a few hours to finally stop thinking that way and beating herself up over it. Right now, they needed information. First, on poisons; Healing Clink (and possibly Orzo) was going to be important in getting them home. And second, they needed to know more about this 'Golden One'.

Kimiko hoped Shaymin's Gracidea flower would work, even if it's main use was as a ruse to let someone get close to Orzo. Even if the hoopa did turn out to be their foe, he was still the only one with the ability to send everyone home; not only would they need to defeat him, they'd need to convince him to do so. And for that, they'd need him healthy.

To that end, she reluctantly recruited her boyfriend to help her research another solution, just in case Shaymin's efforts were not enough. That hadn't been a fun conversation, but she kept herself as vague as possible, only telling him that Cresselia was supposedly nearby, and that they were seeking her help for someone's sick pokemon. There was no need to make him worry over everything else going on. She wasn't sure why she recalled Cresselia as being a skilled healer, but she figured she should be sure she was remembering correctly before seeking a meeting. And even so, no one had seen Cresselia yet to her knowledge; if nothing else, Kimiko figured she could attempt to recruit another mythical to their cause.

While Alex researched Cresselia for her, Kimiko only pretended to. Instead, she was once again combing the history books, looking for any information she could find about this 'Golden One'. She didn't recall anything during her first time skimming them, but she also hadn't had anything specific to focus on. Now she did; if these books contained any information at all, she was determined to find it tonight. [[ @Flyg0n ]]

"Hm... Here's something..." Alex said suddenly, and Kimiko paused to glance at her phone. "Most of what I've found talks about this lunar dance Cresselia is known for. Apparently, though, that uses Cresselia's own life force to heal another." Kimiko nodded at him; that's partly why they were researching. She wasn't about to ask Cresselia to sacrifice herself just to heal their potential foe. "But this here... I don't know how old this book is, but there's something here about a technique called 'lunar blessing'. Looks like this might be what we're looking for.

"Text me pics?" Kimiko asked with a smile before returning to her own book.

"Sure. Give me a sec... Hey, can I ask you something?"

She felt her smile slip; that was never a good question. "Of course."

There was a few moments of silence as Alex worked out how to phrase his prompt. He settled for "What's going on over there?"

"What do you mean?"

She heard him sigh; quietly enough that she probably wasn't intended to. "I mean... what illness could be so un-treatable by conventional means that you're looking a mythical pokemon instead?"

"I told you, we don't know," she answered cautiously. "We think it's some kind of poison, but the pokemon in question is a steel-type."

"I thought your new friend trained magical pokemon?" There was no accusation in his tone, just cautious curiosity.

"It's a klefki," Kimiko replied without missing a beat. Enora was a fairy-type; klefki wasn't that far of a stretch.

The confusion was obvious in Alex's voice. "But... steel-types can't be poisoned by most methods, except by like... a salazzle. And that's less like poison and more like... corrosion. Hell, that's what they called salazzle's ability, even."

"Hence why we're looking for more extreme solutions."

"Babe, is there... something else going on here that you're not telling me? You said it's like three in the morning there, and frankly, staying up late isn't something you tend to do, especially on a vacation."

It was the short, almost detached replies. That must have been what tipped him off. She let her book fall against her stomach to save her page as she turned to frown at her phone screen. "This is important and I'm worried about it, that's all. I tried to sleep, and I couldn't."

"Just... try again soon, okay? If you're going to be looking for a mythical pokemon tomorrow, you're going to need to be at your best."

"Don't I know it," she replied, catching herself too late. Best change the subject. "I'll go soon. By the way, has Lucy shown herself yet?"

 

[Flyg0n]

Very few books mention the myths of the Golden King, and there seems to be precious little information about him. Most only reference him as an old fireside tale or a story told to keep young children disobeying, and commentary from scholars suggests there's little substance to the myth. However, one such book references The Exhaustive Encylopedia of Ancient Myths of Tales, disparaging it for its 'uncited sources' and 'lack of supporting materials'.

A book which fortunately, Kimiko had happened to bring with her. A few moments later, she had skimmed the page of contents and found the desired entry.

The Golden King/The Broken King
​

This tale comes from long ago, before the age of friendship between pokemon and human, before the age of only pokemon and recorded history, when the universes themselves were young and unformed. From the void beyond and time and space, Arceus called forth the Golden One and granted to him a universe. He was given a small fragment of Arceus power, the Rings of Judgement, so that he could call upon the legendary pokemon to bring life to the universe.

Stories tells of how he reached across the empty world with his many arms, shaping it by using the power of the legends, as he had been told. He was then set in place as its ruler, and told to keep peace and guide mortals. And for a time, he did. Or it seemed he did.

For deep within the Golden King, darkness festered. The King believed his realm would be stronger if it lived by his golden rule, that only those most skilled or strongest should survive. Might makes right. And under this rule, the seeds of his world changed. Violence and discension took hold. Pokemon turned against pokemon. The weak were eradicated, the soft destroyed. And the King was pleased.

But as time passed, human met pokemon, and bonds began to form. Mercy, kindness and loyalty took root. Compassion replaced hardness. The world began to change, and as pokemon protected humans, and humans their pokemon, they too learned to look out for one another. The inhabitants of the world diverted from the Kings intentions, their aura’s granting them renewed powers, allowing those the King deemed inferior and weaker to survive.

Frustrated by the state of creation and his realm, the King sought to tear apart people and pokemon. Through deception, trickery and attacks, he did everything he could to drive them apart and return the world to its first state. Yet life and friendship prevailed. Despite dark times, over and over the bonds between human and pokemon proved stronger than hate and injustice.

The legendaries soon became aware of the Kings impure intentions and abuse. They rose up against him and dethroned the King, stripping his powers, destroying him utterly. Or so they had believed. For it is that the King, deformed and broken, escaped and fled, swearing revenge upon those he believed had wronged him - humanity and pokemon.

Legend says that to this day, the Broken King roams the land in search of revenge, determined to destroy both legendary, human, and pokemon alike.

(See: Poem of glitter and gold, author unknown, believed to be referencing the myth of Golden King)