Putting one foot in front of the other was next to impossible when you couldn’t feel them anymore. The snow-capped peak of Mount Coronet was unforgiving, and the better part of this past week had been a hard trek through increasingly deeper snow. Best not to complain too much though. Even though this great titan was snow-capped year round, the rest of the peaks that Ezekiel had already scaled in the Crown Mountains had shed their wintry cloaks as summer was beginning to settle around Sinnoh in full.

The month-long journey had been the hardest thing Ezekiel had ever done; even more difficult than his training with the spear, or the ceremonial dances he’d had to memorize as the village chieftain’s son. But his father had undertaken the journey when he was only 15, as had his father’s father and his father’s father’s father. Every man in Ezekiel’s family had completed their journey through the Crown Mountains when they were 15, so Zeke would too, even if his reason was to simply spite his father and the village’s insane traditions.

Zeke slipped the wool cap off his once shaven head to let the frigid wind cool the sweat from his brow. Every village chief shaved their head, ‘to let thoughts enter and exit the mind uninhibited’ his father had told him; another insane tradition. His black hair had started to grow back out now so he ran his fingers through it, reminiscing the days when his hair used to be more than just a fuzzy patch; his father would scalp him again as soon as he returned home.

Zeke had paused on a small bluff to drink some water and as he glanced back down the path he had come from, he marveled at the sight; he was at the roof of the world. Looking out across the lands of Sinnoh left him speechless and he begrudgingly offered his thanks into the wind for being sent on this journey. He could stand here all day, content to watch the clouds pass by and feel the wind whipping about his face. A snuffling noise from the first of his travel companions woke him from his musings.

“Why are you always looking for food, you little glutton?” Zeke laughed, shaking his head. “How many times has your stomach gotten us into trouble, Swinub?”

The top of the furry little pig barely stuck through the snow, but his brown coat was so thick he could have been completely submerged and been unbothered. He stuck his face out of the snow to grunt at Zeke, frozen root dangling from his little maw.

“You’ll eat anything won’t you? That root cannot taste good.” Zeke grinned. “Not like that pot pie we nicked from Auntie’s house, or remember those berries you lifted from that traveling merchant? We had to hide in the forest for a couple of hours while half of the village looked for us. They tasted damn good though.”

Zeke smiled down at the little pig who had resumed digging around under the snow. Swinub was always causing trouble and Zeke wouldn’t be surprised if the next root Swinub found collapsed the whole mountain down on them. He took another gulp of water and drew in a lungful of frigid air, enjoying a nice respite from a morning of brutal hiking.

“Everything is supposed to be different once our journey is complete though,” Zeke spoke softly into the wind. “Dad said that the days of us running around and causing trouble are over, that we shoulder a great and heavy burden on our backs. Will this journey really change who we are so much? I never asked for any of this.”

Zeke shivered as a weird feeling ran down his back; someone was watching him. He frowned while turning his gaze to look over his other traveling companion. It took all of his self-control to repress the urge to lash out at it in anger.

“We’re just taking 5 minutes,” Zeke cursed. “Just give us a minute to catch our breath will you?”

Solrock simply floated there with its eyes closed and neither said nor did anything. Solrock was the Pokémon of all the people in the village and was cared for by whoever was currently the village chief. Zeke always found the floating rock eerie and was not looking forward to the day that he would inherit the Pokémon from his father. Apparently it was old; ancient, according to his father and some of the other townsfolk. It had supposedly been the Pokémon of every village chief for the last 10 generations or more.

“Ugh, come on Swinub,” Zeke complained. “We’ll reach the peak in just a few more hours and then Solrock might finally let us take a break.”

The sentient rock had set out from Celestic Town with Zeke and Swinub over a month ago and had been hovering silently behind them ever since they had taken the first step of their journey. Zeke never saw it eat, sleep, or do anything for that matter; it simply floated above the ground with its eyes closed. He would have thought it lifeless if not for the weird aura that he constantly felt whenever he walked close by it. The only thing that had been nice was the steady heat the rock had given off once they reached Mount Coronet; sleeping on the side of a frozen mountain had not been agreeable to Zeke, even if it was summer.

Zeke gave one last look over the vast continent spread below him and let out a contented sigh, turning so he and Swinub could begin their final ascent to the peak. Solrock floated diligently behind them like some sort of unliving sentinel. The steep hike was made more traversable as Swinub continually broke through the hard-packed snow just in front of Zeke, allowing him to focus solely on putting one foot in front of the other. He was eternally grateful for the little pig and dreaded to think of attempting this climb without Swinub hard at work in front of him.

After hiking for a few hours, lunchtime rolled around and their little troupe broke for a short rest. Zeke pulled some dried meat and hardtack from the pack he was carrying and offered some to his friend. Swinub grunted in disapproval at the meager rations like he always did; hardtack was the one thing the little glutton refused to eat.

“If you refuse to eat it, then you’re on your own,” Zeke smiled at Swinub. “We’re almost to the top and I’ll give you some dried fruit then, but that’s the last of it. We have to save everything else for the trip down the mountain or we won’t have enough.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Swinub snorted an oink of annoyance and began to root around the area they had paused in, trying to find something to snack on. The little guy may always be hungry, but he knew better than to eat all of their food now lest they starve making their descent. No sooner had the last morsel of food passed Zeke’s lips when Solrock hummed and set off again. Zeke grumbled at the thing and set off after it, trying to drink some water while traipsing through the deepening snow. Solrock was driving them harder than Zeke had seen it do for the entire trip. They must be close to the summit.

Another hour of hiking behind them and the steep slope began to level out. The snow began to thin even though they were higher now than they had ever been. He turned to look back out over the land again but saw nothing behind him but white. The snow covered the ground below him and a fine mist hung in the air; they were so high up Zeke had walked straight into a cloud without realizing. He turned and saw Solrock flare to life, a brilliant orange light cutting through the fog ahead of him. Zeke trudged forward hesitantly, hoping the floating rock was not about to lead him off a cliff to tumble to his death.

He exited the cloud and saw the summit of Mount Coronet. He had reached the highest point in the world. Her crown was magnificent, pure white so blinding that Zeke could only stand to gaze upon her majesty for a fraction of a second.

He averted his eyes from the peak and saw what it was that he had journeyed all this way to find. A dilapidated temple lay upon the peak of Mount Coronet, constructed from massive slabs of now ancient and weathered stone. The temple was almost the same color as the snow that surrounded it, though he noticed that no snow lay upon the temple itself nor any of her pillars.

He worked his way forward almost reverently. His heart was hammering away in his chest, not just from the exertion of climbing the mountain. As he entered the temple grounds he paused to marvel at all sorts of wonders he had never seen in his small village. There were proud pillars that stretched upwards towards the heavens and shattered statues whose likenesses were lost to the annals of time. After exploring for a few minutes he ascended the steps of the ruined temple. Swinub trailed behind him silently, mouth empty for once.

The wind in his ears died as Zeke entered the temple proper and a hushed silence fell as he gazed in reverence at everything that stood around him. If only he had eyes facing every direction to see everything around him all at once. Though part of the roof had collapsed due to some of the crumbling pillars, the impact of the temple was still magnificent. The floor, the columns, the ceiling, everything inside this temple was constructed from marble. There were bas-reliefs running around the columns that were still standing and upon every column, eternally lit torches were ensconced and set in precious metals. The ceiling was painted to resemble the heavens and each star was a precious stone, sparkling in the torchlight.

All along the floor of the temple were statues of various Pokémon, some intact and some destroyed. Beasts, birds, and fish, there were so many Pokémon that Zeke had never seen before. At the far end of the temple was a marble throne inlaid with gold and silver filigree. Ringing the throne in a half circle were nine massive marble statues, dwarfing everything in the room but the throne itself. The two statues capping the ends were giant birds bowing towards the throne with spread wings, while three of the others resembled a dragon, a fish, and some colossal beast. The other four statues had collapsed, their likenesses destroyed in a pile of rubble lying upon the ground at their respective pedestals.

Zeke glanced up at the entity seated upon the throne, or tried to, for every time he brought his gaze up to look at it he found his gaze would end up elsewhere. He tried to look upon its face many times but gave up after being frustrated more times than he could count.

He strode carefully across the floor, weaving in between statues, and marveling over and over at the enormity and beauty of all that surrounded him. The first time his father spoke of this place was the day that Zeke had set out on his journey. Even on that day his father had simply said that Zeke would find the temple at the summit of Mount Coronet, nothing more. Had his father been here too? Why had he not told Zeke of the temple before a month ago?

He spied a sort of pedestal in the center of the temple and made his way over to it. It was a circular disc that was held aloft by three humans, the only human statues in the room he realized. The first human was the likeness of a woman so beautiful that Zeke was tempted to reach out and touch the statue. Her angular face was brilliant to look upon and feathered wings erupted from her back. The second stood in complete juxtaposition to the first, a hideously scarred man with horns protruding from his forehead and long stringy hair that hid his face from view. The third was a statue of a somewhat simple man; he had short hair, was fairly muscled, and there were small spots on his face which Zeke kind of thought looked like freckles upon closer inspection. Upon the disc that they were raising was the carving of a poem.

In an age long past she was the first,

The one who was called Anointed.

So she and the One walked hand in hand,

And all was at peace across the land.

But from her blood there came the worst,

He caused the One to be disappointed.

All was lost when he found the Foe,

And sorrow and grief all came to know.

So will the last be blessed or cursed?

The one who is not yet appointed.

Will the world once more be full of light?

Or has all been lost to the endless night?

Zeke reread the poem a few times, frowning but having no idea what it was talking about. He scratched his head, feeling that he may be out of his league and that it was time to go. He wasn’t sure what his father had sent him here for. He was given no directions when he departed, so he had no clue what he was supposed to be doing.

He looked down from the circular disc to the three statues holding it aloft; they were all staring at him now. He suppressed the urge to shudder as he looked at the man with horns and told himself that the statues had always been positioned like that.

He returned his gaze to the rest of the room and felt his mouth immediately go dry. Every statue in the room that had once been bowing to the throne was now facing towards the center of the room, looking at the pedestal that he was standing on.

“Swinub?” Zeke called out hesitantly, readying his spear. He turned around to collect his Pokémon and leave. He would return down the mountain, back to Celestic, and ask his father if this was all some sort of sick joke that he was not a part of.

Zeke screamed at the top of his lungs as he turned around, Solrock was hovering right behind him. He was about to open his mouth to tell the floating rock to move aside, but just as words began to form, Solrock opened its glowing red eyes and cast its thoughts into Zeke’s mind.

He collapsed on the pedestal as the world faded to blackness.