Guardians

'The Guardians' are the colloquial name for a group of four immense structures located across the Miato region. Wrought by the ancient, advanced civilization that once called the Miato Region its home through unknown techniques now impossible to recreate, the Guardians are not so much 'buildings' as they are vast semi-living bio-mechanical constructs, said to serve multiple observation and regulation functions in an ancient system rooted throughout the entire region – with some records claiming they also have a certain "stabilizing" function on the region at large. While there are numerous records of the Guardians' existence, general purpose and the loose cardinal directions where they once stood – enough to verify that they at least existed at some point – the structures themselves appear to have either been concealed in some way or to have ceased existing following the disappearance of their makers, and any more detailed information about them was extremely scarce – which may indicate such information was privileged, or intentionally expunged in order to protect the constructs from interference.

The Guardians remained undisturbed for many years hence – until the sudden reactivation of an ancient pyramid-like structure in the vicinity of Topaz City after thousands of years of dormancy. Investigation of the site revealed the structure functioned as a system hub and a fail-safe for the Guardians, intended to activate in case the system requires reactivation or re-calibration, and containing detailed instructions as for the actions required and interface devices – akin, perhaps, to backup modules – required to initialize the process.

Construction

The Guardians are each associated with a separate direction, element and season – affecting their location, construction, predominant elemental energy alignments and myriad functions within the greater system. Their exteriors take the form of great beasts, blending elements of their immediate environment and the quasi-living stone common in the works of their creators – a marble-like substance, warm to the touch, and streaked with luminous veins of energy that appear to flow just under the surface of the material itself. Their internal structure – predominantly composed of the same marble-like substance – is fairly complex and labyrinthine, shaped into flowing organic curves, and is believed to constantly grow and change in subtle ways – with the complexifying inner-structure serving a function akin to the formation of new neural connections and the fading of others. There are, however, a few fixed pathways through each Guardian – presumably ones maintaining heavily-conserved functions, or ones intended for the rare occasion a human would need to access the heart of the system. These paths often require the adjustment and redirection of elemental energy flows in specific – and at times, rather puzzling – ways to navigate, varying greatly by the nature of the Guardian. Furthermore, wild Pokémon live within the Guardians and appear to share a symbiotic relationship with the constructs, serving a variety of purposes within the system itself.

Each Guardian contains a "Heart Chamber" which serves as an internal central monitoring and control station for the Guardian and its "Heart Glyph" – the construct's very core, which may be interfaced with and manipulated utilizing appropriate interface modules. These chambers are replete with elemental energies, and are designed to amplify and modulate these energies per each specific Guardian's particular attributes. Owing to their significance, these chambers are not without their protectors – unauthorized personnel attempting to access the Glyph will soon find themselves forced to contend with a powerful protector Pokémon – chosen to match the chamber's attributes and empowered by the elemental attributes of the chamber itself and internal systems that provide it with further tactical advantages.

The Four Guardians

The Northern Guardian

Situated in the heart of a labyrinth of glaciers and ice-floes somewhere in the north seas of Miato and concealed by thick mists, it is associated with the winter season and the classical element of water.

Location

To reach the Northern Guardian, one must set off from Galena Town and navigate the waters northwards amidst rapid, dangerous currents. At places, moving ice floes necessitate proper timing to cross safely, while others must be landed on and crossed on foot. Wild Pokémon – both of the swimming sort and of the kinds that one may find resting on ice floes and glaciers – may also impede one's progress. To top it off, visibility is rather low, forcing one to essentially "fly on instruments" by using specialized navigation equipment, making their way towards the only apparent constant in this ever-shifting frozen wasteland: something massive and shrouded in the mists in the distance that can only be barely discerned – until finally, the veil of fog abruptly tears and reveals the Northern Guardian in all its glory - an island-sized construct in the form of a giant turtle – seemingly carved out of the ice of a great glacier intertwined with living marble, veins of icy-blue energy flowing through its form and giving it an ethereal radiance.

Interior

Water flows through elaborate channels and cascades between levels within the Guardian, powering assorted mechanisms. The deeper one travels into the Guardian's interior, the colder the ambient temperatures get and the icier the water becomes. In order to navigate the interior, one must manipulate the velocity and direction of the water flow within it, sometimes freezing it solid in places while unfreezing it and allow it to flow freely in others.

The Heart Chamber

The Northern Guardian's Heart Chamber resembles a resplendent glacial cavern – the glow of the energy within the walls and assorted interface structures casting marvelous patterns of reflection and refraction. The Glyph at the heart of the chamber is protected by an empowered Winterora and a persistently-generated snowstorm which cannot be overridden by any other Pokémon's weather-affecting moves.

The Western Guardian

Situated within a hidden enclave among the mountains of the Tiger's Eye Ridge, it is associated with the spring season and the classical element of earth.

Location

The Western Guardian may only be reached by a concealed mountain path, the entrance to which requires a special sigil to open. Only few know where the entrance is located, and the sigil that serves as its key has been kept for generations by a particular family – whom have been entrusted with the item and the knowledge that goes with it by the system itself. Should one manage to convince the current keeper of the sigil that this is necessary, she will guide them to Tiger's Eye Grove, where the sigil will reveal and open the hidden doorway in the sheer cliff face, allowing access to the mountain trail.

The trail is long, fraught with forks and hazards, but the sigil's natural attraction to the Guardian will lead those who follow it along the true path to the Guardian itself – a vast structure in the form of a tiger-like creature, in places overgrown with moss and plants, partially formed from the banded rocks of the ridge itself and partially of living marble veined with radiant, deep-green light.

Interior

The entrance into the structure's interior lies within one of the creature's massive paws. The Western Guardian's inner functions are facilitated, in part, through a symbiotic network of plants and fungi, and traversing the interior will often require influencing the growth of plants to bridge chasms, ascend climbing vines and revitalize sections of the structure that were previously barren.

The Heart Chamber

The Western Guardian's Heart Chamber resembles a lush tropical garden teeming with plantlife. The air is filled with the scent of flowers, moss and dew, and interface-nodes mesh organically with the growth. The Glyph at the heart of the chamber is protected by an empowered Sprairie and a persistently-generated Sylvan Orb which cannot be overridden by any other Pokémon's weather-affecting moves.

The Southern Guardian

Situated in an ocean inlet south of the Sandswept Ruins in the southern reaches of the Jeweled Desert, it is associated with the summer season and the classical element of fire.

Location

The Southern Guardian has been concealed beneath the ocean waves – and to access it, one must raise it back to the surface. This can be done through a secondary control system. Time (or perhaps more than time) has not been kind to the site where this control system was housed – and the decay and corruption of patterns within the elemental-powered systems once housed here have left the area volatile and prone to unusual phenomena. The key required to interface with the Southern Guardian's secondary control system – wrought in the form of a red stone figurine in the shape of a bird – has been removed from the site long ago by one of the research expeditions that attempted to investigate the ruins, and somehow found its way into the hands of Kara, whom had been studying it for a while and – upon discovering its intended purpose – is more than willing to return it to its rightful place. Locating the control mechanism and attaching the figurine to its place would allow one to raise the structure to the surface, like a phoenix from its ashes.

This is not merely a metaphor – the Southern Guardian is wrought in the shape of a great phoenix, crafted of dark volcanic rock, metal and the living-marble of the guardians, veins of radiant red-and-orange energies running through the structure like flowing lava. As the structure rises from the depths, a land bridge is formed to connect it to the opposite shore, the Phoenix's own "tail-feathers" snaking along its sides and forming something of a guard rail (though their sheer magnitude Makes them more decorative than truly protective).

Interior

The structure lies between the bird's talons, perched upon the black sand shore at the Guardian's base. Despite having spent however long underwater, the Southern Guardian's is still bone-dry, and quite warm and bright, regardless of the time of day – becoming increasingly brighter and hotter as one makes their way towards the Heart Chamber. The red glow of the energy veins flowing through the rocks is reflected in structures of ore and glass, and to advance through the structure, one may be required to direct light through glass structure or heat through metal connectors set within insulating blocks, providing energy to assorted systems and opening new paths.

The Heart Chamber

The Southern Guardian's Heart Chamber resembles a scorching desert with the sun at the highest point. Interface-nodes are built into rock formations jutting out of the sand, and the blazing heat causes the air to waver and distort. The Glyph at the heart of the chamber is protected by an empowered Summorgana and the pervasive harsh sunlight cannot be overridden by any other Pokémon's weather-affecting moves.

The Eastern Guardian

Situated on a small island roughly to the east of Mount Triumph, it is associated with the autumn season and the classical element of air.

Location

At first glance, the island which holds the Eastern Guardian appears wholly unremarkable, its only apparent features of note are a small plateau with a forest of deciduous trees at its foot. On closer inspection, however, something does not add up – the island seems oddly windy compared to the mainland, flying Pokémon appear to give it a wide berth, and no matter what route one may attempt to take through the forest and towards the plateau, the forest's paths seem to somehow twist and turn away from it – with a subtle, yet steadily mounting sense of unease and doubt discouraging attempts to push further. Those who attempt to force the issue regardless find the winds become fierce whipping gales seemingly without warning, and risk attack by droves of Ghost-type Pokémon. Thus, out of respect for the creatures' habitat, the island is left to its own devices – for the most part.

The reactivation of the Guardians, however, unravels the illusion concealing the plateau's true form: a great natural pillar of stone, with the Eastern Guardian – bearing the serpentine form of an eastern dragon – coiled around it in a helical pattern. Even when revealed, however, approaching the Guardian is a tricky prospect, as it is protected by a wall of wind – a seemingly impassable vortex denying entry by land or air – to reach the Guardian, one must utilize an ancient artifact known as a Spirit Wing to attune to the currents of this wind-wall and ride the vortex itself from a platform at the base of the pillar straight up to a magnificent marble terrace, around which the dragon's tail appears to coil.

Interior

Scaling the dragon's tail, one would eventually spot the entrance into the structure through a gap between its "scales". The living marble of the Eastern Guardian is aglow with energy of a violet hue. Though the interior still maintains the organically curving structure of the other Guardians, it also appears to feature many pillar-supported segments open to the sky – and to the creatures that live there, including multiple flying-types and even a few dragons. The Spirit Wing is an invaluable tool in navigating the interior, enabling one to glide across gaps and up air currents. Halls that are not open to the air are often fairly plain and unadorned save for checkered patterns of lighter and darker stone on the polished floors, and have a lonely air to them. The most prominent encounters in such halls tend to be patrolling Soldazza – ever moving in pairs of black and white – though their evolved forms may also be rarely encountered.

The Heart Chamber

The Eastern Guardian's Heart Chamber resembles a clearing in a forest of deciduous trees in autumn, in a state of perpetual twilight. It is very quiet, save for the crunching of leaves beneath the visitor's foot - an eerie, almost unnatural silence. The interface nodes appear to be embedded in grey marble - almost like long-forgotten gravestones. The Glyph at the heart of the chamber is protected by an empowered Falancholy, with a pervasively-generated Gravechill that cannot be overridden by any other Pokémon's weather-affecting moves.