Explorers of the Hero's Ruin!

**Explorers of the Hero's Ruin!** (黒き英雄の遺跡！ノノミのテスト, *The Black Hero's Ruins! Nonomi's Test*?) is the (TBA) episode of Season 8 and the (TBA) episode of the *Guardians of Harmony* series overall.

## Summary

*Our friends have been invited by Aurea’s father, Professor Cedric Juniper, to join him as he explores a ruin said to be the site of a meeting between an ancient Hero and the Legendary Pokémon Zekrom.*

*When they arrive at the ruin, Cedric warns our heroes that it may be filled with traps, and he’s absolutely right! A huge boulder rolling down a narrow passageway threatens to mow them down, but thanks to Nanette's teleportation spell, our heroes escape to safety. Then they encounter two bridges spanning a deep gorge, and assume one of them is a trap—but it turns out both bridges are fraught with danger! Axi manages to find another way around the chasm, and our heroes move on.*

*Next, they encounter three cave entrances, each painted to look like a Pokémon: Darumaka, Krokorok, and Golett. They try the Darumaka cave first, then the Krokorok tunnel, but both are full of traps yet again. Cedric then reveals that he knew the Golett cave was the right one the whole time! He kept it to himself because he wanted the youngsters to get “the full enjoyment” out of their adventure. Ash thinks that makes Cedric super cool, but while Iris is somewhat less appreciative, Nanette is unaware something may be after her...*

*The Golett cave leads to a large room shaped like a volcanic crater, where they discover a circle of huge crystals and an artifact known as the Golden Dark Stone. Cedric warns our heroes not to touch the Stone, but after they’re attacked by an angry Sigilyph and a group of Cofagrigus, he reveals that he grabbed it when they weren’t looking...much to Nanette's fury!*

*When all seems lost, Cedric reminds them of the Legend of the Hero: “Zekrom lent its power to the Hero as soon as his heart became one with the Pokémon.” The Guardians think back on all the wonderful times they’ve shared with their Pokémon, and that seems to be enough to satisfy the ruin’s guardians, as Sigilyph and Cofagrigus stop attacking our heroes and rescue them instead. On the other hand, Nanette's strong willpower also allows her to transform into a brand new form!*

*Although Iris is annoyed at the dangers their adventure presented, everyone is ecstatic about all the fun they had. They thank Cedric and bid their new friend goodbye to continue their journey. But before they get very far, not only do they come face to face with a menacing Krokorok in sunglasses, but Nanette finally learns something important...*

## Plot

Cedric Juniper stumbles out of the Chargestone Cave and collapses. Aurea recognizes him as her father. Inside of the base camp tent, Cedric eats a meal and is feeling a lot better after collapsing. Aurea explains to Ash and his non-Unovian friends that Cedric does research on Zekrom and Reshiram. Cedric explains that he may have found the Hero's Ruin, the location where the Hero for the hero's legend and Zekrom communicated, but he got lost inside Chargestone Cave while searching. The Guardians ask Cedric if they can go with him to look for the ruins. Cedric says no which shocks everyone, but he finishes his statement by saying that no reason he should say no. Everyone finds out that Cedric tends to get interrupted in the middle of his sentence but does not get upset easily. The Guardians put the two statements together and realize that he is saying that they can go with him to the ruins.

Everyone heads off through Chargestone Cave, through the forest, up a rock wall, and later that night camp out in the forest. Ash asks Cedric about the hero's legend. Cedric explains that when the hero turns darkness into light, and links his heart with Pokémon, Zekrom will appear to him its power. Everyone enters the ruins while Cedric explains that they must be careful inside because there are traps all over the ruins to deal with intruders, and they return their Pokémon to their Poké Balls except for Thunders and Elizabeth's Pokémon. They reach a Venipede statue, and Hilbert approaches it. Cedric says that turning the statue to the left should not be done, but Hilbert turns it to the left before Cedric could finish saying that he shouldn't. The wall opens up, and a huge boulder rolls towards them, making the group transform and fly for their lives. Nanette uses a teleportation spell to avoid the boulder. Iris is upset at Cedric for not finishing his statement in time. After teleporting and detransforming offscreen, they see two suspension bridges. Cedric tells them not to cross the bridge on the right, so Ash and Hilary try to cross the bridge on the left. Cedric finishes his statement and says that the bridge on the left should not be crossed either. Ash and Maya almost fall in but make it back in time by transforming and the former grabbing the latter and pulling her up. Cedric explains to them that they should not jump to conclusions. Axi is again not pleased that Cedric didn't finish his statement in time again. He points out that there is a separate pathway and they take that instead.

They arrive at three caves, and Cedric explains that only one pathway is the right way. They decide to take the Darumaka pathway first, but a fire appears. Chompy uses Water Gun combined with Maya's water spell to put out the fire so that they can escape the Darumaka path. They decide to take the Krokorok pathway next. The walls begin to close in on them, and Iris has Dylan (her Excadrill) hold the walls back so they could escape that pathway. Iris recalls Dylan to his Poké Ball just before the walls close in on him. Cedric tells them that he knew the remaining pathway was correct all along, but he wanted to set off all traps to enjoy the adventure as much as possible. Julia then says that she doesn't know if this adventure can be called an enjoyment. Everyone enters the Golett pathway, and finds several coffins, giving Marina the creeps. They notice that all of them are empty and continue on. One of the coffins open indicating that something is watching them. After passing through the revolving door, they find a large area in the shape of a volcano crater. In the center there are large glowing pillars with the "Golden Dark Stone" inside of the circle that they form. Elizabeth tries to grab the stone, but Cedric pulls her back, saying that it sets off a dangerous trap. Ash and Nanette imagine that they are crushed and that they would become ghosts. A Sigilyph appears and attacks everyone with Psybeam. Ash scans Sigilyph with his Rotom Phone. Thunders uses Thunderbolt which misses, Sigilyph then uses Mirror Move which hits the Guardians, who transform and try to attack the Sigilyph with their own attacks but miss. It then puts Thunders to sleep with Hypnosis. Everyone runs away and back to the coffins they passed by before and hides inside of them to wait for Sigilyph to go away.

Once the coast is clear, the Guardians and Cedric come out of the coffins but notice that Iris has not done so yet. They say to Iris that she can come out now, but the coffin she is in is actually a Cofagrigus. Ash scans Cofagrigus with his Rotom Phone. Cofagrigus uses Telekinesis to stop the Guardians in their tracks. Homura's Umhreon Eliott uses Dark Pulse and Quick Attack to attack Cofagrigus and to free Iris. Iris and Axi are freed and are shown to be wrapped like mummies. Everyone escapes through another pathway to a room which is also surrounded by coffins. These coffins were also Cofagrigus which appear and scare them. Everyone continues on the same pathway, but the Sigilyph from before appears and begins to attack them.

Cedric reveals to everyone during the chase that he actually grabbed the Golden Dark Stone. He offers to give it back to Sigilyph, but it continues to attack them. Cofagrigus appear and use Telekinesis to send them through another pathway and into some water.

Cedric explains to everyone that the underground area is where the intruders are locked into, and that it is where the hero from the legend communicated with Zekrom. Cedric takes the stone and shows them the mural that is hidden on the wall with it, and explains that it says that the hero met Zekrom underground, and that their combined power helped him escape. Everyone searches and finds the exit which leads back to the area with the glowing pillars. Cedric returns the golden stone back to where it belongs, and Cofagrigus sends them through the opening in the ceiling with Telekinesis. Everyone screams that they love Pokémon and remember all of their great memories they had with various Pokémon in the Unova region, recalling their memories with them. Cofagrigus uses Telekinesis to slow them down and to safely bring them back to the ground. They were successfully able to link their hearts with that of the Pokémon. Cedric points out to them that the route that took forms a silhouette of a Zekrom. On the other hand, suddenly, Nanette's extremely strong willpower suddenly transforms her into a new form, much to everycreature's surprise.

## Major Events

* Ash and his non-Unoivan friends are officially introduced to Cedric Juniper, the father of Aurea.
* Nanette earns her Miracle Mode powerup thanks to a test concerning her ancestor, and she learns that Vahirom lives within her, causing Melody to get extremely serious for the next few episodes.
* The Sunglasses Krokorok returns to confront Thunders.

## Characters

### Guardians of Harmony

* Nanette Daisy
* Marina Daisy
* Julia Dreamwalker
* Jim Porter
* Mikey Evoli
* Glorysia Melody
* Elizabeth Storybook
* Nina Aarden
* Ash Kecthum
* Will Brennan
* Emily
* Melody Harmadale
* Madoka Kaname
* Sayaka Miki
* Mami Tomoe
* Homura Akemi
* Kyoko Sakura
* Nagisa Momoe
* Natasha Flowerton
* Maya Aquaheart
* Hilary Lightfied
* Alison Garfield

### Secondary Characters

* Professor Aurea Juniper
* Cedric Juniper
* Hinomori Shizuku
* Doctor Fennel Rosetta (flashback)
* Avery (flashback)
* Kindergartners (flashback)
* Victoria Daisy (spirit)

## Trivia

* Music from *Arceus and the Jewel of Life* and *Zoroark: Master of Illusions* is used in this episode.
* Due to the use of flashbacks, every Pokémon belonging to the Guardians that have appeared during Season 8 made an appearance in this episode, except for Pabby (Ash's Palpitoad).

### Easter Eggs

* The scene where the group runs down a hallway while being chased by a boulder and the Venipede statue replaces the Fertility Idol is a reference to the first Indiana Jones movie, *Raiders of the Lost Ark*. This is also the second time this has been parodied during the series, the first being *Battling the Enemy Within!*. A group of people being chased by a boulder would be parodied a third time in *Dummy, You Shrunk the Kids!*.
* The Golden Dark Stone's chamber in the ruins is updated from the design of the chamber where the Meteonite was found in one of the skipped episodes of the canon *Pokémon* anime.
* A flower-shaped marking on Nanette's forehead appears for a few moments a few times.