Maya’s Chronicles 2 – The Gardevoir of Maiden’s Peak (v. 1.00) I once came across a romantic and mysterious place in the Kanto Region; it’s called “Maiden’s Peak”. It is a mountainous port, with a significant landmark – the Maiden Rock. It stood right beside a high cliff, and the interesting part is: it so closely resemble a praying maiden! Legend says there was once a maiden, who was deeply in love with a brave and handsome young man, however, he went away to a war, and never came back. She stood on that cliff and waited for his return… she waited and waited, for over 2000 years, never moving from that very spot, until her body was turned into rock, thus it was called the Maiden Rock… When I arrived there on my way to Lilycove City in the Hoenn Region from Vermillion Port, it was right at the end of summer, and the local people were organizing their annual Summer’s End Festival, in remembrance of the ancient legend of the Maiden. It was no doubt the busiest season of the year, and the local people, along with most of the tourists, were getting ready for their festival by preparing the costumes, stalls and many other things, and it was also a good time for me to discard my disguise as a person and go out as my true self, because I knew all people would think as they see me was that I’m in some sort of a costume. So I did; I put away those uncomfortable clothes that people wear all the time and joined the crowd on the streets, and people didn’t seem to take any specific notice of me… As I wandered around the streets, merged into the crowds of people, I noticed a really weird little old lady with a gnarled walking stick which seemed to be at least twice her height; she had an exceedingly huge mouth that was big enough to eat someone whole. She appeared to be a fortune teller. She was chasing random people around, mostly male, and warning them about a strange curse of some sort. I believed that was only for the fun of the festival, but those people seemed to be taking her quite seriously. And then, the real strange thing happened: I knew that old lady was behind me all the time, but I somehow bumped into her, in front of me! So, unless she’s a ghost, or she knows Teleport or something, it was impossible! I apologized for bumping into her, but all she did was warning me of her so-called curse… I asked her what that curse was all about, and she said, in her simulated creepy voice, “…beware of the Ghost of the Maiden…! Most men that passed here, at this time of the year, have got possessed by her…! So, if you see a really beautiful girl, beware and control yourself, mainly your desire, or you will be possessed…!” I was quite offended by her last bit, so I complained, rather instinctively, “Well, I’m not a male and I’m not a lesbian, so what’s your point in telling me that?” She seemed to have realized that I’m a female, so she crept away and disappeared into the crowd… I developed a strange feeling that she was no ordinary fortune teller; in fact, there was a peculiar essence of chilliness around her… That night before the festival, I stayed in an old shrine right beside the Maiden Rock. For my own interest, I went out and had a closer look at that strange rock: it indeed resembles a young and beautiful girl; her body is slightly tilted towards the roaring sea, with her praying hands before her chest, and her eyes fixed at a distant point where land, sea and sky converge… I lifted myself off the ground and levitated to her side; I wanted to see what she is seeing, and the view was indeed different from that I saw from the ground. I couldn’t figure out what, or where, exactly she is staring at, but I was certain that it was the furthest point on the horizon, where she is expecting to catch the very first silhouette of her beloved one’s return! I hovered there and gazed towards the limitless horizon for hours, and I was completely lost in that beautiful and magnificent view of the moonlit sea. I was totally unaware of that I was being watched by a small crowd of astonished people. They were discussing something about the Ghost of the Maiden, and then they were all pointing at me for some apparent reason… I thought – could they have mistaken me for the Ghost of the Maiden? It was very possible considering I was hovering right next to the Maiden Rock, and my species was unknown to the Kanto Region. I was beginning to get worried, because if I go back to the shrine, I’d have some real explaining to do, and I very much doubted they’d believe me at all… After all, I was certain that 99 percent of those people wouldn’t have an idea who, or say, what, I am, as they might never have seen a Gardevoir before… And so, I had decided to act as the Ghost of the Maiden for once, if only to avoid all those hassle… I set up my posture just like the Maiden, and tried to be oblivious of those people looking at me. I continued to gaze into the horizon, just like the Maiden… After all, I did look somewhat ghostly with that faint amethyst aura radiating from my body. It was already midnight, and my aura of darkness glowed brighter and brighter. With my special Dark-type traits, I sensed that familiar chilling essence nearby, and it was approaching me from all directions. Then, a Shadow Ball came out of nowhere and flew right towards me; I countered it with one of my own, and I looked towards the direction where that Shadow Ball seemed to have come from. There was that weird fortune teller again; she was standing in front of the crowd and cursing me loud for no reason at all; I tried to be modest and not to curse back. Then, I saw her selling a multitude of fake Spell Tags to those people, and they actually bought them! Anyway, she drew their attention and gave me a good chance to Teleport back into the shrine… I peeked through a side window. I saw that fortune teller, along with those people, were performing some sort of ritual around that shrine I was in. They stuck those fake Spell Tags all over the shrine and mumbled some weird spell, or curse, whichever it was supposed to be… I had no idea why they were doing this, but I knew it had something to do with me – actually, a lot to do with me! So I watched that weird fortune teller closely and carefully: she radiated ripples of hypnotic energy and put all those people out of consciousness, and some fell asleep. I recognized it immediately as the Hypnosis attack, so I used Safeguard to block those waves and prevented myself from being affected. Then, I saw her draining energy from those hypnotized people, and what she used was the Dream Eater attack! I began to grow suspicious, as how could a person execute those attacks like Shadow Ball, Hypnosis, and Dream Eater? – Unless she was some sort of a Pokémon in disguise! Just as I was about to go out and find out what she really is, the shrine doors flew open, and a ghostly silhouette that closely resembled the maiden portrayed by the Maiden Rock hovered inside. It stated at me, somewhat surprised, but I was not surprised at all, because I knew very well that ghost was no one but the weird fortune teller! So I shouted at it, “What is the meaning of this? After ripping people off their money with those fake Spell Tags, you put them to sleep and drain their dreams – you’ve gone way too far, if it was meant to be for fun! You’re a Pokémon, aren’t you? Show yourself before I have to make you!” That ghost was stunned for a moment, but it broke into a loud and haunting laugh. It said to me in a hollow voice, “Who are you to give me orders? And if you want me to show my true self, shouldn’t you do so first? Hahahaha…” Well, one thing I was certain was that even it had no idea what I am; that would only give me an advantage if we were to fight. So I said, “I’m not like you who dare not showing their real self. This is what I am – a Gardevoir from Holon. Now, it’s time for you to throw away your disguise, because I know you’re not the Ghost of the Maiden!” I waited for its reaction. “Very well, I will show myself. However, as you’ve seen everything, you’d ruin my business, so you must be defeated! I’ll crush you!” It howled, and it finally revealed its true form – a Gengar! That Gengar had obviously challenged me to a fight, and I didn’t seem to have an option to refuse. It threw a barrage of Shadow Balls at me, and I simply dodged its attack with Double Team. It was my turn to attack, and I got my images to charge into it while I Teleported to its back; it was distracted by my images, and that gave me a chance to score a direct hit with my Psychic attack – that should have done some serious damage to the Gengar because it is partly Poison-type as I remember. However, that Gengar showed no sign of giving up; it got up and vanished into a dark haze. I knew it was about to use its signature attack – Hypnosis, and I knew that I didn’t have enough time to set up another Safeguard as my first one was wearing off, so I had to take my chances and use my own special attack that I acquired immediately after exceeding the conventional maximum level of 100. I channeled the dark energies surrounding me and converted them into a Dark Pulse; I fired that Dark Pulse in all directions, and I scored another direct hit that knocked the Gengar out of its invisibility and defeated it. However, not long after I cleansed that shrine of the Maiden of Gengar’s presence, I began to feel weak… It was somewhat eccentric, and I actually became so weary… until the moment I couldn’t even keep myself awake for long. Just before I finally fell asleep, I found a real Spell Tag glowing among a scatter of fake ones, and I figured out what really happened: that Gengar used the Spell Tag and laid a Curse upon me to enfeeble me, but it didn’t expect to get hit by my Dark Pulse while in its invisibility. I could only say I was really lucky that I knocked it out before I was afflicted by its Curse… The next morning when I woke up, I found myself lying on an altar right in the center of the shrine, surrounded by a familiar crowd of people. That Gengar must have fled when the sun came out. Those people saw me woke up, they thanked me for chasing away “evil spirits” from their “sacred shrine”. Although I knew those so-called “evil spirits” were nothing other than the work of that Gengar, I kept it quiet. All I ever told them was that I would return to this place at the end of the next summer… Yes, I had made a self-imposed obligation to return to Maiden’s Peak at the end of every summer. Although I’m not the Ghost of the Maiden, and those people might have figured it out already, I will keep that beautiful legend alive, and I will keep the spirit of the Maiden undisturbed within her divine sanctuary… And, regarding that incident with the Gengar, I will, of course, keep it hidden within myself… Summer passed by, fall began, and it was the time for me to leave Maiden’s Peak. As our ship slowly left the port, I took yet another look at the mysterious Maiden Rock, but this time, I actually saw the real Ghost of the Maiden. She was even more beautiful than the legend described, and she was gazing in my way. Our ship accelerated towards its destination, Lilycove City, and I heard a faint feminine voice whispering to my heart, “Thank you, Maya! Thank you for everything…”