Golden Guardian

Golden Guardian '
Golden Guardian
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The Golden Guardian is the hidden fifth ancient quasi-living construct located in the Miato Region - and the most heavily shrouded in mystery.

Finding the Golden Guardian

Hints to the existence of the Golden Guardian and key items associated with which may be found in the other Guardians and assorted other locations associated with the ancient civilization of Miato, including the Sandswept Ruins, the Aquatic Ruins and the Submerged Shrine, among others. The clues and the items eventually lead to an isolated corner of Azure Valley, which hosts an ancient shrine. Activating the shrine by charging it with a great deal of elemental energy shall revitalize the ancient construct, revealing the primary access point into it.

Nature and Construction of the Golden Guardian

The Golden Guardian, unlike the other four, is virtually entirely subterranean, winding throughout and around the entire region. Like the other Guardians, it is constructed primarily of the same kind of living marble with flowing organic curves - though it seems that there are some localized changes in some segments where the material has intergrown with, say, Azure Valley's crystalline materials. The energy flow through the material's venation is a deep gold, though sometimes rivulets of other colors seem to flow through it at regular pulses. In places, you may be able to see a river of swirling elemental energies coursing beneath your feet.

Sections of the Golden Guardian are connected to each other through a series of rapid-travel nodes facilitated through a combination of conveyors and teleporters - not individual warp pads but a mapped fast-travel system which reveals a complicated structure and a vaguely draconic overall appearance. Once the structure is reactivated, access nodes to various points in the Region will also activate, allowing you to enter and leave the Guardian at points other than its isolated Azure Valley entrance. Some sections of the Golden Guardian require key items concealed in other locations to access, and some are protected by powerful automata, necessitating battles to deal with.

Purpose of the Golden Guardian

Perhaps the greatest mystery of the Golden Guardian is the purpose it serves. It does not seem to share the observation and regulation roles of the other four Guardians and its reactivation is not necessary to the system. The fact it requires massive amounts of energy to operate, its magnitude and branching paths and its primary central loop seem to suggest the device may have served as some kind of an elemental particle accelerator - perhaps the Ancient Miatoans and the Pokémon at their side sought a deeper understanding of the nature of the elemental planes themselves? Perhaps they were trying to create new, esoteric states of matter or energy? And why was this project abandoned and sealed with guardian automata left to protect it? Whatever their original purpose was, it remains lost to the ages - and perhaps it is better so...