Guardians

The Guardians are the colloquial name for a group of four megalithic structures located across the Miato region. Wrought by the ancient, advanced civilizations that once ruled the Miato region through unknown techniques that are most likely impossible to reproduce, the Guardians are not so much 'buildings' as vast, semi-living biomechanical constructs serving multiple functions of observation and regulation in an ancient system rooted throughout the entire region and stabilizing it.

Resembling living creatures from the outside and shaped into flowing organic curves within, the Guardians appear to be largely constructed of some kind of a living stone resembling marble in texture - albeit warm to the touch, and streaked with luminous veins of energy which appears to flow within the material. Their internal structure is fairly complex and labyrinthine, and it is quite possible that it subtly changes over many years, the complexifying of the internal structure akin to the formation of new neural connections as others fade. There are a few fixed paths, however, presumably intended for the few occasions where a human would need to access the heart of the system. These paths often need to be accessed in particular ways, and involve a myriad of puzzles involving the redirection of the energy flow. In addition to these puzzles, there are wild Pokémon living within the Guardians in a symbiotic relationship, serving a variety of purposes within the system.

Each of the Guardians is associated with a direction and a season (affecting both their placement and the area which they monitor), and should a reactivation of the system be required, it must be done in a particular order. To perform a reactivation, the Guardian's Heart Chamber must be accessed and the Glyph in its centered must be accessed using the correct interface stone. The Glyphs are not without their security system, however, and are protected by modified terrain and a Protector Pokémon, awakened at times of need.

The Northern Guardian

Located in the north of Miato, the Northern Guardian is associated with the winter season and the classical element of water.

To reach the Northern Guardian, the Jade Town Trainers must surf out of Galena Town into the treacherous northern seas of Miato. Using the Pathfinder, the trainer must chart a path through a labyrinth of glaciers, ice floes and thick, obscuring mists of the northern seas, essentially "flying on instruments" in the low visibility, towards the one major thing that appears constant - something massive and shrouded in the mists in the distance that they cannot quite make out. Some of the ice floes move, necessitating proper timing to cross, and some of them require stepping onto and crossing on foot. Wild Pokémon - both of the swimming sort and of the sort one might find on ice floes and glaciers - may also impede the trainer's progress, until at last the veil of fog tears revealing the Northern Guardian in all its glory - an island-sized construct wrought in the shape of a giant turtle and appearing partially carved of the ice of its surroundings and part of the living stone, veins of icy-blue energy flowing through its form and giving it a sort of an ethereal radiance.

Water flows through the guardian's interior, assorted phase-transitions playing a part in its inner workings. Its heart-chamber resembles a resplendent icy cavern, the glow of the energy within the walls and the assorted interface structures casting marvelous refraction patterns. The Glyph's protector is a Winterora with boosted stats, its Rainbow Mist making it impossible for the trainer to match the protector's boosts or use confusion or attraction to their benefit. Hail that does not fade out and cannot be overridden with other weather effects is in effect during this battle.

The Western Guardian

Located in the west of Miato, the Western Guardian is associated with the spring season and the classical element of earth.

The Western Guardian is nestled within the Tiger's Eye Grove, at the end of a treacherous path - the entrance to which is hidden away. Only a few knew where the hidden entrance lies - and the Sigil that serves as its key has been in the possession of a long line of a particular family - chosen by the system itself and entrusted with the lore required to use it - for generations. In order to find the path, the Jade Town Trainers must obtain the sigil from its current keeper and take it to the gate hidden in Tiger's Eye Grove. Touching the Sigil to the a corresponding groove in one of the rock formations will open a pathway in the sheer rock cliff that the grove is located at the base of, leading into a previously obscured path into the mountains.

The path is complex and labyrinthine, but the Sigil's natural attraction to the Guardian allows traversing it along the shortest possible route, eventually leading to a vast clearing the Guardian itself - a vast structure in the form of a tiger-like creature, partially carved out of the rocks of the ridge itself, in places overgrown with moss and plants and deep-green veins of energy.

The Western Guardian's inner functions are partially facilitated through a symbiotic network of plants and fungi, and often whatever energy-redirection puzzles take place here influence the growth of plants, bridging gaps, opening new paths, and revitalizing parts that have not been energized for a time. Its heart-chamber resembles resembles a lush tropical garden teeming with plantlife. The air is filled with the scent of flowers and moss and dew and interface-nodes mesh organically with the growth. The Glyph's protector is a Sprairie with boosted stats, and the nature of the chamber extends its Prairie Wind ability creating a Sylvan Orb that does not fade out and cannot be overridden with other weather effects.

The Southern Guardian

Located in the south of Miato, the Southern Guardian is associated with the summer season and the classical element of fire.

The Southern Guardian is concealed within the ocean south of Miato, and in order to reach it one must -raise- it back to the surface through a secondary control system located deep within the Jeweled Desert. The system has long since fallen into disuse, and the key component required for its activation - a red stone figurine in the form of a bird - has been removed from the ruins long before. Somehow, the figurine has fallen into the hands of Kara, who understands the need to return the figurine to its rightful place and entrusts the Jade Town Trainers with it after having tested their mettle before. Revitalizing the ruins and restoring the figurine allows the trainers to raise the Southern Guardian from the depths like the phoenix it is wrought in the shape of from the ashes, complete with a land bridge connecting the newly-resurfaced structure with the land. It is partially made of volcanic rock and its base appears to be partially covered in black sand, the veins of brightly-radiant red energy flowing through the structure almost resembling lava flow.

Even though it can spend much time underwater, the Southern Guardian's interior is still bone-dry - and very bright. The red glow of the energy veins that flow through the rocks is is reflected in rivulets of glass and ore - and many puzzles involve the redirection of light through glass structures and heat through metal connectors. The interior gets hotter the closer to the heart-chamber one gets - and the heart-chamber is certainly the hottest of all, resembling a deep desert at the highest point of heat, convection triggering a continuous Heat Mirage which only lifts after the defeat of the Glyph's protector, a Summorgana with boosted stats. Bright sunlight that does not fade out and cannot be overridden with other weather effects is in effect during this battle.