[ti]location[/ti] GIANT SHRINE (gone)

Static crawled across Sarah's neck as she placed Quincy's Pokeball at the base of the shrine, nestling it into the close-cropped grass that surrounded the altar. A herd of Mareep must have passed by recently for the grass to be this short. A good sign?

Either that or it was just programmed to always be this short. She frowned a little, but her dark visage lightened as sparks jumped between the pillar and Quincy's ball. It was expected, right? They were both metal, after all, but something about the process seemed magical. Besides, this wasn't regular electricity. This wasn't like plugging in a phone. Why should some wild lightning heal her Pokemon?

The crackling stopped, and she picked up the ball, her heart beating fast and strong in her chest. She clutched it, and then turned away, as if expecting it to burst with light. The golden Pokeball reminded her of Quincy's tail so much that she was worried about it going off!

"Stupid Rufflet," she muttered, before stalking back into the grassland, headed towards the spire she'd just escaped.

The Doduo was long gone, having lost interest in chasing prey who just would not stop running. Bronze was, in many ways, a proud man, but concern for his Pokemon and sheer pragmatism far outweighed the faint prickling of his pride. Thankfully, his Totodile had not bled out, though the young Pokemon was quiet on the journey to the shrine - understandably, in Bronze's view. The shock of the wound alone would be sufficient to mute even a gregarious soul, but combined with the weight of perceived failure, it was little wonder the small crocodile was so somber.

"It's alright. You tried your best, and it was your first fight. It happens. It's a good lesson to learn early on." The Totodile stirred faintly at the vibration of the bass resonance within the man's powerful chest, though he did not reply, save to curl tighter in on himself. Bronze grunted, but didn't pursue the subject further. Sometimes you had to let a wound scab over some before you could deal with it.

The shrine was a titan among titans. It was massive, built to a dizzying scale - but that was not what set it apart from the other spines of metal jutting across the plains. There was an almost tangible quality to the area about the shrine, as if it were infused with a gravitas born of something ancient and otherworldly, imbued with the preturnatural that the shrine scuded with its sheer existence.

Bronze loved it immediately.

This was exactly the sort of experience he had been craving his entire life. That sense of something more, something profound. Despite the sobering encounter with the Doduo, he found that he could still appreciate that. For all that he marvelled at it, however, he would not allow any further delay in getting his companion healed.

Approaching the shrine, still cradling the Totodile in the crook of his arm, Bronze laid the flat of his calloused palm against the static-veined steel, craggy fingers splayed wide - the shock is immediate and intense, setting his muscles to twitching and jumping as if truly electrified. Little more than a surprised grunt emanated from the man, and he turned his head down to inspect the Pokemon he held. All patched up. Good. That was good. The brooding silence, however, was not.

The conquerors returned to the shrine, without the riotous fanfare of a Roman triumph, but with victory shining bright in their eyes - and what else mattered, truly mattered, but the triumph felt within?

Battered though the Totodile was, the heady rush of success surging through him made all the aches and pains inconsequential sensations, background noise set to the symphony of victory that sang in his heart. Not only had he proven his worth to his trainer, his partner, in taking down that steely behemoth, but he had earned a name. <'Varivus,'> he thought to himself, rolling the word, its component syllables about his mind as one might sample an unfamiliar, yet pleasant vintage of wine. He could not imagine himself bearing any other name, now, even fresh as it was to him.

So lost in his inner revelry was he that he barely noticed when Bronze laid his hand flat against the shrine once more, the man's head bowed as if communing with the unknowable edifice, static crackling over the conjoining of flesh and steel.

Finn whites out, coming to consciousness next to a massive spear of metal thrust into the earth. He groans, getting back to his feet with the aid of the shrine. When he touches it, he feels a jolt of electricity pulse through his veins.

It doesn't hurt; not like that damn Blitzle's electric attacks had. It feels electrifying, pun intended, and he has to take a moment to catch his breath.

His Pokémon seem to enjoy the sensation far less. Meowstic's fur fluffs up from the static, and Klefki can't seem to relax. Finn, oblivious to their discomfort, cranes his neck to try and glimpse the top of the massive monolith.

So this is the GIANT SHRINE...

Of all the shrines he's visited in UNOVR, this one speaks to him the most.