"You will see soon enough," Aria replied with a playful smile at Ange.
Then, to Ange's surprise, Aria pulled a gray stone slab the size of a palm from her backpack.
She pointed the slab at the wall. Suddenly, a blue hexagram pattern began to emerge on it.
The pattern then projected a pillar of light onto the wall, and matching patterns began to appear on the wall itself, emitting a blue glow.
Next, cracks followed the patterns, and the originally smooth and flat wall began to bulge and recess. Finally, a relief mural appeared before the eyes of Ange and Aria.
The relief depicted a middle-aged man wearing a crown and a Pokémon.
The Pokémon was Lucario, and it was in its Mega Evolved form.
The man looked somewhat like a king.
Lucario and the human male raised their hands simultaneously, together holding up a sphere.
If Ange guessed correctly, that sphere must have been a manifested Aura.
There was also a large palm print on the sphere.
Aria pointed at the relief and said, "Look, this is the entrance to the ruins. If I am not mistaken, only a messenger of Aura can open it."
Ange keenly noticed a line of text below the palm print, but he realized he could not recognize a single character.
"What is written here?" he asked.
Aria read it word for word: "The power of Aura is with me!"
"You can actually read it!" Ange said in surprise.
Aria looked dissatisfied upon hearing this. "What do you mean? Is it strange that I can read it?"
Ange quickly waved his hands. "A slip of the tongue, a slip of the tongue! I just didn't expect it."
"Hmph~" Aria snorted coldly and then explained, "This is ancient Kalosian script. I have done some research in this area."
Ange gave her a thumbs up and said with an admiring tone, "Impressive!"
After the two of them defeated Team Flare together, their relationship had become much more familiar, and their speech had gradually become more casual.
Aria pointed at the palm print and said, "Put your hand on it and try to input your Aura into it."
Ange nodded and stepped forward, putting his Aura Gloves back on. Without the gloves, with his current ability, he could not manifest his Aura.
He placed his palm into the print and, as Aria instructed, inputted his Aura.
Blue light suddenly erupted from the relief, and the sculpture recessed, revealing a crack.
Accompanied by a rumbling sound, a stone door slowly opened before them. Behind the stone door was a long, bottomless stone staircase.
"It opened!" Aria said with pleasant surprise. "It finally opened."
Heaven knows how much effort she had spent to find someone with the power of Aura.
"Let's go in and take a look," Ange said.
"Okay!" Aria nodded.
Then the two walked through the stone door one after the other.
Munch~
Leo leo~
Munchlax and Pyroar followed their respective masters (trainers).
The light behind the stone door was very dim, unlike the outside where there was glowing moss; even without any aid, it did not affect vision.
However, Aria was well prepared; she took out a flashlight and turned it on. The surrounding light instantly brightened up.
"I wonder what is down here," Aria said while walking.
"I hope there will be some surprising discoveries, so we don't make this trip for nothing," Ange said.
"Yes!" Aria nodded.
This ruin did not know how long it had been sealed. Ange and the others walked all the way, and except for the rot smell that permeated the place, they found nothing else.
The two didn't know how long they had walked when the stone stairs leading down finally disappeared, replaced by a straight corridor.
Unlike the empty stone stairs, the walls on both sides of the corridor were carved with Riolu in various forms.
There were ones laughing out loud, ones with worried expressions, ones roaring in anger... each was incredibly vivid.
"The person who carved these must have been a master," Ange said.
Aria looked as she walked and couldn't help but complain, "Is the owner of these ruins some kind of Riolu fanatic?"
Ange laughed. "Riolu is so cute, it's nothing to like them a little."
Aria muttered, "This is no longer a word that can describe 'liking'."
Soon they reached the end of the corridor.
The end of the corridor was originally pitch black, and Ange and the others could not see what was in front of them at first.
But the moment they stepped out of the corridor, they saw individual ghostly blue flames ignite one after another, and they finally saw the environment in front of them.
This was a huge circular space, like the hall of a palace.
Small boat-shaped lamps were installed on the walls of the hall, and a Litwick was nesting on each lamp.
Those ghostly blue flames were the candle flames on top of the heads of the Litwick.
Lit lit~
Lit lit~
Lit lit~
...
Dozens of Litwick looked at Ange, Munchlax, Aria, and Pyroar in unison.
Munch~ Master, they are a bit scary.
Munchlax tugged at Ange's clothes and said.
Leo leo~ Aria's Pyroar let out a roar.
Pyroar was a royal Pokémon and wouldn't be scared by this little scene!
Voir voir~
Just then, the chandelier hanging above their heads suddenly swayed and then drifted down from the dome.
It turned out that it was not a chandelier, but a Chandelure disguised as one.
The Chandelure drifted in front of them, its golden eyes shining with light.
Ange and Aria looked vigilant, fearing that the Chandelure would suddenly launch an attack.
At the same time, Munchlax and Pyroar stepped forward, protecting Ange and Aria behind them.
However, the Chandelure not only did not attack, but after looking them over, it used Telepathy to say:
"Trial... The trial begins... The trial begins..."
Telepathy? The two were shocked at first, and then wondered:
A trial? What trial?
Before Ange and Aria could figure it out, they saw the Chandelure fly away, and two Aegislash appeared in front of them respectively.
Aegis~
Aegis~
The two Aegislash roared, and then drew their swords out of their sheaths at the same time, attacking Ange and Aria.
Seeing this, Aria did not hesitate to counterattack. "Pyroar, Flamethrower."
Leo leo~ Pyroar roared, jumped into the air, and spewed a flame at one of the Aegislash.
At the same time, without waiting for Ange's command, Munchlax stomped on the ground with one foot, jumped into the air with elasticity, and smashed his fist wreathed in flames at the Aegislash.
Fire Punch!
Seeing this, the two Aegislash hurriedly put away their attack stance, changed from Blade Form to Shield Form, and activated the move King's Shield.
Aegislash's ability is Stance Change, and the effect is that it will be in Blade Form when using offensive moves, and it will change to Shield Form when using King's Shield.
For Aegislash in Blade Form, its base stats are concentrated on Attack and Special Attack, while in Shield Form, its base stats are distributed to Defense and Special Defense.
Among the known Pokémon, only Aegislash has the Stance Change ability.
A transparent barrier appeared in front of the two Aegislash, blocking the attacks of Pyroar and Munchlax respectively.
As soon as Pyroar and Munchlax landed, the two Aegislash changed back to Blade Form. They held their swords high, and a brilliant light erupted from the blades.
It was the Fighting-type move Sacred Sword!
Coincidentally, both Pyroar and Munchlax were weak to Fighting-type moves.
Seeing the Sacred Sword of the Aegislash about to slash down, Aria shouted: "Pyroar, dodge quickly."
Ange and Munchlax looked at each other, then nodded to each other with mutual understanding.
Leo leo~ Pyroar followed Aria's instructions and jumped away from the spot.
With a bang, a deep sword mark was slashed where Pyroar had just been standing.
Munch~ Munchlax raised his hands in place, cold air overflowing from his round hands, and he even performed an empty-handed blade catch.
Crackle~
The blade of the Aegislash was caught between Munchlax's palms and quickly frozen by ice.
The Aegislash wanted to pull the blade out of Munchlax's hands, but no matter how hard it tried, it couldn't succeed.
Just then, Ange punched the Aegislash from the side.
With a clanging sound, the Aegislash screamed as it was sent flying, falling heavily to the ground.
Ange and Munchlax took advantage of the victory, and their figures flickered, turning into afterimages and disappearing from the spot. In the blink of an eye, they arrived beside the Aegislash that had just flown up, flanking it from left to right.
Before it could react, the master and apprentice swung their fists at the same time.
Clang, the Aegislash lost consciousness and fell to the ground.
(Private setting: The attack launched by Ange using Aura is not a Fighting-type attack, but a Normal-type attack, which is not super-effective against anyone, nor is it resisted by anyone. Everything has Aura, and Aura is type-less; it is only assigned a type when used by a Pokémon as a move.)
At this time, the Chandelure descended from the sky, chanting continuously: "Trial successful! Trial successful!"
So what exactly was the trial? Ange wondered.
Just as he was about to take Munchlax to support Aria, he was stopped by the Chandelure.
"No outsiders are allowed to interfere with the trial, no outsiders are allowed to interfere!"
Hearing this, Ange had to stop.
The Chandelure looked like it was not to be trifled with.
However, Aria didn't need Ange's help. Although her Pyroar was not as powerful as Absol, it was not weak either.
Coupled with the fact that Fire and Normal-type Pyroar completely countered the Steel and Ghost-type Aegislash, Pyroar quickly won the victory.
"Trial successful! Trial successful!" The Chandelure flew to Aria and said to her.
Aria walked to Ange with Pyroar and asked in a low voice, "So what exactly is the trial?"
Ange shook his head: "You, the discoverer of the ruins, don't know, how would I know!"
Then, the two were surprised to find that the Chandelure's eyes emitted blue light, and those Litwick nesting in the lamps flew up one after another, landed on the ground, and lined up in two neat rows, as if they were welcoming Ange and Aria.
The Chandelure that only knew Telepathy said: "Trialists, please come forward to receive your trial rewards!"
Ange and Aria looked at each other, and followed the path between the two rows of Litwick with Munchlax and Pyroar.
When they walked to the deepest part of the space, they saw a cylindrical stone platform, and there seemed to be something on the platform.
They walked in to take a look and found that they were two shimmering crowns embedded with various gemstones.
Embedded in the center of the crown was a Mega Stone.
The two crowns were identical. Each was embedded with nine gemstones of different colors, counting the Mega Stone, and they looked extremely valuable at a glance.
"There is writing here!" Suddenly Aria said, looking at the front of the stone platform.
Hearing this, Ange looked over and found that it was still ancient text he didn't recognize, so he asked:
"What does it say?"
Aria read as she watched: "This is a place of trial, prepared by the kingdom for its two sons."
Ange looked puzzled: "Then why are the things here still here? Did the King's sons fail the trial?"
Aria shook her head, "I don't know, it's not written here."
At this time, the Chandelure flew over their heads and explained: "Because the kingdom was destroyed before the trial began."
Ange was surprised: "Doesn't that mean you have been guarding here all this time?"
The Chandelure nodded: "That's right."
Hearing this, Ange and Aria couldn't help but sigh in their hearts about the dedication of the Chandelure and the others.
"Take your trial rewards and leave!" The Chandelure urged them.
Ange and Aria each picked up a crown.
Afterward, according to the Chandelure's explanation, they learned that the rewards originally prepared by the King were not just two crowns, but also two Riolu eggs.
However, in the long passage of time, the two Riolu eggs had already hatched and left the place of trial.
The Chandelure said: "But I have prepared other Pokémon for you."
Then, at its signal, the Aegislash that had been defeated by Ange and the others reappeared, and each of them brought a Honedge.
Hon~
At the signal of the two Aegislash, the two Honedge flew to Ange and Aria.
The Chandelure said: "I selected the two most outstanding Honedge from the Aegislash clan to follow you!"
As its voice fell, more and more Honedge, Doublade, and Aegislash appeared in the darkness.
They were all members of the Aegislash clan.
They stared at Ange and Aria, as if looking to see if the two were worthy of being followed by a Honedge.
It is said that Aegislash has the ability to see through at a glance whether a person has the qualifications of a king.
After speaking, the Chandelure said to the two Honedge: "Come on, start selecting the masters you want to protect!"
Ange examined the two Honedge in front of him and was surprised to find that one of them was Shiny.
The blade of a regular Honedge is white, the ribbons on the hilt are generally deep blue, the ends are light blue, and the eyes are blue.
The blade of the Shiny Honedge is red, the ribbons on the hilt are generally red, the ends are purple, and the eyes are purple.
In fact, the eyes at the connection between the hilt and the blade of a Honedge are its true body.
The eyes at the junction of the hilt and the blade of the two Honedge turned back and forth, looking at Ange and Aria. After a long time, they each drifted to the side of their selected master.
The Shiny Honedge chose Ange.
The regular Honedge chose Aria.
"Please take care of me from now on, Honedge!" Aria said happily.
She didn't mind whether her Honedge was Shiny or not.
Zee zee~ The Honedge squinted its eyes and nodded, wrapping its ribbons around Aria's arm.
Seeing this, Ange also said to the Shiny Honedge beside him: "Honedge, let's take care of each other from now on!"
Hon~ The Shiny Honedge flew happily around Ange's head, appearing to be in a good mood. Of course, it had wanted to go out and see the world for a long time.
"You have received what you were supposed to get, you can leave now." Seeing this, the Chandelure urged them to leave quickly.
The trial was over, and from now on, this place would completely be their territory. The Chandelure didn't want to dilly-dally with humans.
Ange and Aria had no choice but to leave the ruins with their Pokémon, and the stone slab Aria used to open the ruins was also retrieved by the Chandelure.
Clearly, they didn't want anyone to bother them again in the future.
Out of the ruins, Aria held the crown in her hands, looking at the Mega Stone embedded on it, and asked in confusion:
"What Pokémon's Mega Stone is this? Could it be Lucario's?"
Ange took a look at the Mega Stone embedded in his own crown, and then looked at Aria's, and shook his head, saying: "Neither!"
Clearly, even for a king, one could not just collect whatever Mega Stones one wanted. Neither of the two Mega Stones belonged to Lucario.
Aria looked at Ange in surprise and said: "Can you recognize what Pokémon's Mega Stone this is?"
Ange nodded and said: "If I'm not mistaken, yours is Mawile's Mega Stone, and mine is Gengar's Mega Stone."
Ange himself did not expect that what he obtained happened to be Gengar's Mega Stone.
Hearing Ange's words, Aria felt happy, "That's great, I was just thinking of catching a Mawile!"
Ange said: "Then let's go see the Mawile and the others!"
As it happened, he also wanted to catch Solrock.
"Hmm, hurry, hurry!" Aria walked to the front impatiently.
Soon Ange and the others found Mawile and the others again.
This time, after surviving the disaster, Mawile, Solrock, and many other Pokémon hid in the depths of the Glittering Cave.
Seeing Mawile, Aria got straight to the point: "Mawile, do you want to come with me?"
Mawile was stunned when he heard this. He looked at his partners and then at Aria, hesitating.
At this time, a Dwebble stepped forward and pushed Mawile toward Aria.
Mawile looked back in surprise, only to see that everyone was looking at him with encouraging eyes.
After this incident, they realized that having a trainer who is willing to protect them is a very good thing.
Following Aria, Mawile would not only not have to endure hunger but also get protection, which was much happier than staying in the Glittering Cave.
They hoped Mawile could find happiness.
Feeling everyone's intentions, tears welled up in Mawile's eyes.
Finally, he plucked up the courage and threw himself into Aria's arms.
Aria hugged Mawile and said: "Mawile, from now on we are partners!"
Mawile burst into tears and laughed, nodding vigorously.