Chapter 893: Temple Clan
Chapter 893: Temple Clan
Yuga and Cynthia spent an extra day in Celestic Town, and on the following morning, Jamil drove them to Machina.
While Celestic Town was a gathering place for the Temple Clan, it still had many outsiders living there. However, Machina was different; it was the ancestral land of the Temple Clan, and there were no outsiders there.
Machina was not far from Celestic Town, and it took less than half an hour by car. Cynthia informed Yuga that they had entered Machina.
Similar to Celestic Town, Machina was situated at the foothills of Mount Coronet, in a secluded valley. However, unlike Celestic Town, Machina truly experienced all four seasons.
Mount Coronet was the highest peak in the Coronet Highlands and the highest in Sinnoh region, It's covered in snow all year-round, a true snow mountain.
Due to its terrain and location, Machina had a unique climate, with abundant water sources from melting snow, nourishing the land and making it incredibly fertile.
While the summers in Sinnoh were generally warm, as soon as Yuga entered Machina, he felt like he had stepped into a different season.
He rolled down the car window, feeling the warm breeze on his face, breathing in the fresh air, and seeing playful and cute Pokémon.
Many of the Pokémon living here were rare Pokémon, such as Shinx, Piplup, Turtwig, and Budew. Yuga saw several of them along the way.
With Cynthia's explanation, Yuga learned that these Pokémon were descendants of the Temple Clan's Pokémon.
Descendants of high potential Pokémon weren't necessarily high potential themselves. The Pokémon owned by the trainers of the Temple Clan would send their lower potential offspring here to live carefree lives.
Most of the Temple Clan members living in Machina were uninvolved in worldly matters, especially the elderly. When they were bored, these Pokémon served as their companions, and they helped care for them.
Apart from some young Pokémon, Yuga also saw many mature ones, some even at the pseudo-Elite level.
These Pokémon's trainers had either passed away or were currently residing in Machina, leading a retired life.
In summary, Machina held the deep heritage of the Temple Clan.
The car crossed a small river and stopped after passing a stone bridge. As Yuga got out of the car, he saw a young boy and girl waiting for them.
These two seemed a bit younger than Yuga, dressed in blue, black, and white uniforms, wearing smiles on their faces as they saw Yuga and Cynthia get out of the car.
"Cynthia, you're here!"
The girl happily grabbed Cynthia's hand and said.
"Sheena, there are guests here, don't be too casual!"
The boy cautioned her.
The boy noticed that Yuga was looking at them and quickly scolded the girl in a serious tone before turning to Yuga and saying, "Hello, esteemed guest. I'm Kevin, and this is Sheena. Welcome to Machina. We will be your guides and show you around."
The boy, Kevin, had golden hair similar to Cynthia's, and his facial features bore some resemblance to Cynthia as well. It was easy to believe they were relatives, and indeed they were.
Kevin's grandfather and Cynthia's grandmother, Professor Carolina, were siblings, making Kevin and Cynthia close cousins.
On the other hand, the girl, Sheena, belonged to a branch of the Temple Clan, so her blood relation to Cynthia and Kevin was more distant, not exactly close relatives, but they shared the same clan.
However, both Kevin and Sheena were the two strongest awakeners of the Power of True Heart in their generation. From a young age, they were transferred from Celestic Town to Machina to receive guidance from the elders.
Especially Sheena, despite being from a branch, her Power of True Heart ability was even stronger than Kevin's, so her treatment within the clan was no different from that of the main branch members.
"Hello, I'm Shimizu Yuga. It's nice to meet you."
Yuga could sense a peculiar energy emanating from Sheena and Kevin, which made him realize that this must be the Power of True Heart ability passed down within the Temple Clan.
Likewise, Sheena and Kevin noticed the same sensation from Yuga.
After Kevin finished introducing himself to Yuga, he turned to Cynthia and said, "Welcome back, Cynthia."
Cynthia smiled and ruffled Kevin's hair, saying, "It's been a while, Kevin."
"Alright, let's not stand here any longer. Let's go inside."
Sheena urged, then she waved her hand towards the distance. Four Pokémon came running towards them, and as they approached, Yuga could see that they were four Mamoswine.
"We'll ride on Mamoswine to go inside; otherwise, it'll be quite tiring to walk on just two feet."
Sheena touched a huge tooth of the Mamoswine in front of her and said with a smile.
Mamoswine are Pokémon that live in the snowy mountains, but Michina is located at the foot of Mount Coronet, so They're raised some of them here as transportation.
Cynthia nodded in agreement and then turned to Jamil, who was standing next to the car, saying, "Jamil, you can head back to Celestic Town for now. I'll let you know when to come and pick us up later."
Jamil bowed and said, "Understood, Miss. I'll take my leave now."
After Jamil left, the four of them sat on the backs of the Mamoswine and headed deeper into Machina.
The center of Machina was a towering mountain, where the ruins of the ancient temple were located. The members of the Temple Clan who resided here lived on the mountain.
As they walked, Sheena pointed to the distant mountain and introduced the origin of the Temple ruins to Yuga.
A thousand years ago, Machina was desolate, but Damos, the ancestors of the Temple Clan received a Jewel of Life borrowed from Arceus. With the power of the Jewel of Life, they transformed the land into a fertile one.
In gratitude to Arceus, Damos built a temple and entrusted his descendants to guarding this place, thus the Temple Clan was born.
Thinking about the Jewel of Life, Yuga recalled his Guardian Orb, suspecting it might be a replica of the Jewel of Life.
However, this was just his conjecture. There were no historical records about it, and he hadn't heard any rumors about it during his time in Arus. He hadn't even met the ministers responsible for making these beads, so there was no way to verify it.
Nevertheless, Yuga felt that his speculation had a good chance of being accurate. From the fragments of inscriptions on the stone tablets, the places the ministers had traveled to were highly likely to include Machina.
In the central area of the temple, Yuga saw even more rare Pokémon, including several of them were Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon, with one in particular appearing to be at the Elite level Pokémon.
These powerful Pokémon weren't just here to retire; they also served as the guardians of this place. According to Sheena, in the past, Machina had faced invasions, and it was thanks to these guardian Pokémon that they were able to repel the invaders.
Of course, the Temple Clan had grown to become one of the most powerful forces in the Pokémon world, and no one dared to be audacious enough to intrude here anymore.
However, there were still some ignorant individuals who had entered but left in disgrace.
When Yuga and the others reached the foot of the central mountain in Machina, Kevin whistled, and four Tropius emerged from the treetops.
Kevin said, "Next, we'll ride these Tropius up the mountain."
Sheena added, "Before we show the guest around Machina, we need to meet with the elders."
Kevin nodded, saying, "Yes, let's head to the temple first. Cynthia, it's been a while since you returned, and the elders would like to see you too."
Although Cynthia had not awakened the Power of True Heart, her status within the Temple was very high. Even compared to talented individuals like Sheena and Kevin, she was highly regarded by the elders, who considered her a favorite.
However, unlike children like Sheena and Kevin, who had been brought to Machina from a young age to receive instruction from the elders, Cynthia had grown up in Celestic Town. She had worked hard and risen through the ranks, earning her distinction among the clan members.
Indeed, it's precisely because of this that Cynthia's natural talents were considered valuable, and the elders paid even more attention to her.
Talent alone doesn't represent everything, and the elders knew this well. Throughout history, there have been many powerful trainers, but how many had special abilities?
Later, Cynthia was brought to Machina, but by that time, she was already around fifteen or sixteen years old, making her different from the other children.
At first, Cynthia faced some exclusion when she arrived, which was somewhat inevitable because she stood out in many ways.
While everyone else had awakened abilities, Cynthia had not. While everyone else had trained under the guidance of the elders from a young age, Cynthia had received special favor from the elders.
However, Cynthia was Cynthia. She brought her Garchomp, which was once a Gible at that time, and took care of anyone who tried to challenge her. After that, no one dared to pick fights with her.
Riding the Tropius, the four of them flew up the mountain, stopping only at the mountain's peak, where the temple was located. This was the central of Machina.
As Yuga looked at the architecture here, he found it quite similar to the buildings he had seen next to the temple ruins in Celestic Town. The difference was that these buildings were in much better condition and well-preserved.
Walking on the square in front of the temple, Yuga saw many other members of the Temple Clan, most of them around the same age as Cynthia, Sheena, and Kevin. They were all part of the younger generation who had received guidance from the elders together with Sheena and Kevin.
Most of the talented young members of the Temple Clan would come to Machina to receive instruction from the elders.
Even those with talents discovered later, like Cynthia, would be brought here to spend some time in the Temple.
Being here had its advantages. For instance, if you could gain the favor of the elder Pokémon living in seclusion here, you might even receive a gifted Pokémon.
For example, Cynthia's Lucario, Roserade, and Togekiss were all obtained after coming to Machina.
Their parents were descendants of the Pokémon trained by the ancestors of the Temple Clan.
Along the way, the young people greeted Cynthia and Kevin warmly and looked at Cynthia with admiration.
When they glanced at Yuga, curiosity filled their eyes. It seemed that not everyone knew about the arrival of a guest from the Temple.