Episode 2: The Dark Wizard's Plot


Ash hurried as fast as he could through the streets of Vitiva, past the crowds of people and shops as he kept Serena in view. I wonder what it was Sage Oak found that has him so worried? he thought. Or what he meant when he said we would be searching for Epona sooner than we thought?

As he emerged from the marketplace and onto the stone pathway that led to the sage's library and a residential district, he balked when he saw Brock with Serena by the library entrance. "Brock? What are you doing here?"

"If my hunch about why the sage has called you here is correct, you may have need of my song on that adventure he told you about." Brock replied before the three friends made their way inside the large stone building with the book-like emblem of the scholar's guild over the entryway.

The rows of shelves containing books on almost every topic felt strangely comforting to Ash. Many times, when he and Serena were younger, Sage Oak would let them peruse the shelves for both pleasure and schoolwork. When the sage had hired an apprentice scholar named Tracey, he and Serena gave their all to make him feel at home. In return, he would show them his drawings of Pokemon, fairies, elves, and monsters. Some of them, such as anatomy diagrams, recipe illustrations, schematics of long lost relics, and maps; were for reference and study, but others he drew for artistic reasons, leading Serena to often joke that if he ever tired of studying, he could always become an artist.

As he arrived in the main study, he found Tracey in the process of sketching a detailed map of Glasa Forest, complete with fairy groves, elven cities, and the pedestal where the legendary Eight-color Blade was said to lie.

"Forgive me for interrupting your drawing, Sir Tracey but will you inform your master we wish to see him?" Ash asked as he approached the young black haired scholar.

Tracey added one last line to the detail of a tree, then looked up from his map. "Master said he was expecting you--I will inform him you are here immediately."

With that, he set aside his sketchbook, and hurried off down the hall to Sage Oak's quarters, while Ash, Serena, and Brock settled in around an empty table.

Sage Oak arrived some time later with some books and maps, with Tracey not far behind him. "All right...we all know the story of the forging of the Eight-color Blade, and what one must do if one is able to wield it?"

"Of course--I have told the tale many times." Brock replied.

"What I have found concerns an old foe Brock has crossed paths with before." Sage Oak explained. "Brock, if you could use your seeing song to show Ash and Serena what he looks like, please."

"All right...Seilei colfin ar kadram tro... Brock sang, conjuring an image of a young man in an ornate wizard's robe before Ash and Serena.

"Hair kinda looks like a Pyroar's mane..." Serena mused as she studied the image, particularly the man's fiery red hair that flared in all directions.

"Does Pyroar-man have a name?" Ash was equally weirded out by the man's appearance.

"His name is Lysandre." Sage Oak explained. "A fallen wizard obsessed with beauty and beautiful things, but his heart is anything but."

"A year ago, Lysandre summoned me to retrieve the legendary Celestial Harp of Rainbows in return for some mystical items." Brock explained. But as I was on my way to the cave where the harp was hidden, Meloetta appeared to me, and warned me that Lysandre wanted to use the harp to raise up an army of undead and ghost Pokemon, and destroy the world. Instead, she directed me to gather four other adventurers, assemble the eight jewel shards hidden in eight well guarded elemental labyrinths, and then use the powered up harp to defeat Lysandre before he could carry out his evil plot. Naturally I was shaken by this news, and immediately returned to Argenta to ask any and all adventurers to help me on an adventure of a lifetime. It was a long and dangerous quest, parts of which I have told for an audience, but in the end we defeated him."

"Were those elemental labyrinths the same ones the wielder of the Eight-color Blade must brave?" Ash asked.

"They are--in order, The Leaf, which is hidden within Glasa Forest, The Moon, hidden within Mt. Luna, The Drop, which is inside the Unknown Cavern outside of Serulin, The Storm, nearby the port of Arania, the Tower of the Wing in Lavan; which is also just called The Wing, The Crystal, inside Seafoam Cave, The Fire, hidden on Canela Island, and The Light, hidden on a secret path not far from the Aiiro City." Tracey replied.

"After lying low and nursing his wounds for a while, Lysandre has surfaced again." Sage Oak continued. "He has released the destruction bird Yveltal from her prison deep underground, unleashing an evil magic not seen in a thousand years--many Pokemon have gone wild, and monsters roam the land, bringing terror and despair in their wake."

"That explains why there's been an uptick in wild Pokemon attacks..." Serena mused.

"And probably why the elves and fey have been on edge as of late." Tracey agreed.

"Many have already made the journey to Glasa Forest to attempt to draw the sword, but one by one, they have failed, as the Eight Colored Blade can only be drawn by one whose heart is courageous, true, and unselfish." Sage Oak went on, smiling as Brock nodded in agreement.

"I would gladly journey to the forest and try to draw the blade--especially if this Lysandre fiend wants to abuse that too!" Ash announced, much to Serena's surprise. "And even if I am not worthy to draw the blade, I will find some way to defeat him, or die trying."

Serena let out a soft sigh--once Ash had his mind set on something, he wouldn't take no for an answer. "I will come with him, if only to be sure he comes home from the quest in one piece instead of in a funeral urn."

Sage Oak just chuckled at Ash's vow. "It will be a long journey, filled with perils and dangers--are you sure you both can handle that?"

"How can they know if they don't try?" Brock asked. "If going on this quest is what Ash wishes to do, woe be the one that tries to stop him."

"Besides, you have faced Lysandre before--your song and your experience would be helpful to us both." Serena replied as she got up from the table...