Sheena and the Jewel of Life
Chapter 1: Judgment Day
Author's note: Anything in brackets like [] indicates Pokémon speech that's being translated. Only Damos and Sheena (and Sheena's entire family) can understand it.
"Return thus to Arceus, the Jewel of Life. Placate his rage, lest destruction visit this land."
Such an inscription written in Greek letters hung on the wall in front of her bed as she woke up. She glared at it. Who gives a yippee-ki-yay?
For her, this was yet another same exact boring day as the one before that, and the one before that, and the one before that too. Bright sunlight filtered into the room, hitting her eyes at the exact same time every day. Who needs alarm clocks when you have the sun's blinding rays?
Twenty-year-old Sheena grudgingly rolled out of bed and proceeded to prepare herself for the same job she had every day of her life since she was sixteen: As a guardian of the Michina Ruins, she had to keep bad people out and entertain the tourists with the story of the legend of Arceus, the Lord of Everything and Everyone. It was depressing, really. She already knew the whole thing by heart, but recited it anyway. This was how it went:
"When it appeared that a meteor storm would destroy the world, Arceus sacrificed himself to fend it off. He always carried the sixteen life plates to counter all possible attacks, but lost them in the collision, making his death a near certainty. Then he was saved by a man named Damos, who returned the life plates for him. Back then, Michina was little more than a wasteland, but when Arceus saw this, he was overcome with pity. He used the life plates of ground, water, grass, electricity, and dragon to create the Jewel of Life. Even when it meant his life was in grave danger, Arceus entrusted it to Damos. Damos used it to turn Michina into fertile paradise. And then came the day Damos was to return it…the day the moon covered the sun. However…he broke his promise. Instead of returning it, he attacked Arceus, all because he believed that if he did, Michina would go back to being a wasteland. Feeling betrayed, Arceus destroyed the shrine, and in order to heal his injuries, he went into a long sleep."
For over 2,000 years, her family protected the Jewel of Life on the off-chance that Arceus would actually awaken and start destroying all of humanity. Damos dared to defy the most powerful Pokémon in the universe. The one who can create whole worlds. Smart. Just smart. Sheena scowled at how such an ancient person's actions were ruining her life. I swear, if it were possible to meet the guy, I'd give him a piece of my mind and…
Though Arceus hadn't awoken all that time, the distortions in the time-space continuum had been growing stronger and with more intensity. At Alamos Town, the legendary Pokémon Dialga and Palkia had a massive battle thinking each one invaded the other's dimension. And because of that battle, the Distortion World became so polluted that its only resident Giratina kept pursuing Dialga to punish him. Sheena worried that all that fighting just might accelerate Arceus' awakening. Either that or, to make matters worse, Arceus' awakening might've actually caused the incidents in the first place. None of these helped Sheena's confidence. On one hand, she wished he would awaken faster so that she could finally get rid of this dead-end job. On the other, she dreaded being the first and only family member to give the Jewel of Life back.
But she had no choice. Out of all the aunts, uncles, siblings, grandparents, cousins, and even little nephews and nieces in her family, her power—to connect with the hearts of Pokémon—by far sucked the most. This would often get a laugh at the dinner table—"She can't even connect when they're angry? What a disgrace!" they'd guffaw something to that effect. As a result, everyone nominated her to be the official guardian for the rest of her life. It was an afterthought "just in case" type of job that barely paid above minimum wage, as everyone else's stronger powers were needed for such jobs as translation services, rehab for dispassionate trainers and their scarred Pokémon, etc. As she brushed her light brown hair, tied it into three buns, attached some crystal earrings to her ears, and examined her official blue-white-and-black-schemed "uniform" in the tall, long mirror, she thought, At least I got to choose what I wanted to wear.
She quietly ate her official breakfast, consisting of hot tea, pancakes, etc., in the crowded kitchen. Her whole family was there, animatedly chatting about their super-special high-paying jobs and/or plans for the day. They preferred not to think about how Arceus could one day show up to smite them all, leaving it for Sheena to worry about. Finally, she finished. "Farewell, Mother, Father," she said, using the formal tone of voice they officially trained her in.
"Remember the importance of your job, Sheena," said Mother. Father walked up, patted her on the back, and said, smiling reassuringly, "Now go bring honor to our family."
Honor, huh? Yeah, right, she thought.
Michina Town. Still as fertile and peaceful as the day Damos used the Jewel of Life. With bright blue skies, clear rivers, and lush green plant life, it was truly a paradise to behold. The kids chased each other, playing games such as Tag and Manhunt with their Pokémon. Sheena stopped in the middle of the bridge and leaned on the railing, taking in a deep breath of fresh air and looking to the giant mountain in the center of town that was the Michina Ruins.
"Sheena!"
"Kevin!" She smiled. Of all the tedious, everyday routines she had to endure, walking with Kevin to the ruins was the only thing she looked forward to each day. Twenty-year-old Kevin, with blond hair and an official blue-and-white uniform with six buttons on his coat, came running.
"Hey, Sheena…" he gasped, a bit winding from running all that time, but practically jumping up and down with excitement, holding up a piece of paper, "Guess what? Guess what? Yesterday, I got some eyewitness accounts from those places we went to! This is from some people named Alice and Tonio. Listen to this…"
It has always been this way. Sheena and Kevin have been best friends for as long as they can remember. As she listened, she could tell that in a way, Kevin hadn't quite lost his childish excitement, and she also knew that he only ever talked that freely around her. But what amazed Sheena even more was his decision to join her as a guardian of the Michina Ruins when they both turned sixteen. How could he throw away his life to help me in this sacredly important yet still such a dead-end job? He said he "just wanted to do it", but she guessed she'd never know if there were any other reasons. As they walked, she remembered the innocent days when she and Kevin would run around the town, swinging around trees, playing with the other Pokémon, and generally having unbridled fun. Ah, those were the days.
Finally, they reached the mountain. The entrance was still a long way off, though. They stopped by a lake at the mountain's base, all sparkling clear and full of life. Passing around the lake would lead them to the entrance where they needed to be.
Sheena stopped. She could feel something different about the air this time…
"Sheena?" asked Kevin. "What's wrong?"
All of a sudden, several massive typhoons erupted on the lake's surface. The sky above suddenly turned dark-red, and the typhoons swirled up to that sky like a vortex. The resulting winds were unusually strong…so strong, in fact, that it lifted Sheena into the air.
"SHEENA!" Kevin yelled. He grabbed her hand in time.
But Sheena saw the wind rip several tree branches behind Kevin…and they were heading straight towards him. "Kevin! Look out!"
Too late. They hit him—and then they were all being sucked into the sky.
As they sailed through the air, Sheena thought out loud, "Someone, anyone, HELP US!"
A bluish portal opened in thin air and out came the Temporal Pokémon, Dialga. He flew to intercept Sheena and Kevin. They landed on his diamond-embedded steel chest plate. Despite his massive height and weight, he gently brought them down back to the ground.
Kevin dragged Sheena away quickly. "D—Dialga…" he uttered in fear. He was concerned about how, despite Sheena's powers "that totally suck", these Legendary Pokémon always seemed to respond to her the most, as he observed when they tracked similar time-space distortions in Alamos Town and some faraway glacier. It was a dangerous habit for her to get into. If they get angry for any reason, she would never be able to connect, unlike the rest of her family, and, well...that wouldn't be good. Besides, her family already knew that too well, so they hired him to protect her from such accidents in the first place.
Sheena had to deliver one last word, though. She clasped her hands and said, "Dialga…Thank you."
That was why Dialga even bothered to save them at all; He knew from experience that Sheena was among the only humans who ever expressed gratitude to him regularly. But he also knew of what was going on lately, and thought he'd let her know just in case.
"[Arceus' power is growing,]" he whispered. "[Be careful, little one.]"
Sheena asked, "What do you mean—?"
The lake's surface shimmered. Giratina emerged and tackled Dialga, interrupting Sheena. He was still furious at how Dialga's battle with Palkia polluted his Distortion World and started aggressively blasting him. As if that weren't enough, a pinkish portal opened in thin air and out came Palkia, who wanted to see what all the ruckus was about. Right then, Dialga and Giratina's attacks hit him at the same time. Uh-oh…
Sheena chanted the classic incantation, "Now transcend…the confines of time and space!" This was her chance to see if she could surpass her own limitations and prove that she was worthy of a better job than just entertaining tourists. She tried to connect with all three of their hearts at once to calm them down, but she received a massive red wave of rage instead. The shockwave broke her connection and launched her back into the trees. "I…I can't—"
"Sheena, stop!" shouted Kevin. He found her and started dragging her to the ruins' entrance. "We have to get to the Time-Space Axis now!" They ran through the torch-lit hallways as fast as they could, leaving the three-way battle behind. They could feel rumbling reverberating through the hallways as the Legendary Pokémon exchanged blows. Finally, they reached the room where they would normally be entertaining tourists. Conveniently, there were no tourists that day. They reached the Time-Space Axis, caught their breaths, and proceeded to analyze the convoluted contraption.
The orbs representing Dialga's, Palkia's, and Giratina's dimensions were clashing like crazy. Sparks flew in Kevin's and Sheena's eyes, making it hard to see what they really wanted to see: The red orb in the center representing Arceus' dimension. And then they heard the deep dinging sound.
They nodded at each other. They knew what it meant: All that battling rattled Arceus' dimension too much. He was awakening.
Sheena's heart pounded wildly as she picked up the flower-like container with the Jewel of Life in it. Arceus was awakening. Arceus was awakening! For over 2,000 years her family had kept the jewel safe just for this time. This day, which seemed so boring at first, suddenly became a matter of life-or-death, and Mother's words took on a powerful new meaning. She couldn't blow it now.
Meanwhile, everyone in town had stopped what they were doing to look at the intense battle happening around the ruins. Sheena's ridiculously large family all made their way to the ruins, being careful not to get too close. Dark thunderclouds quickly covered the bright blue sky, giving the town an ominous cover. Just then a portal opened high in the air. Glowing rainbow-colored tentacles emitted from it, and out came the most powerful legendary godlike Pokémon ever: Arceus, the Lord of Everything and Everyone…and he was out for vengeance. "The time has come!" he said. "You humans shall pay for what you did to me! JUDGMENT!"
Hundreds of red lights emitted in an arc from the glowing orb over his forehead. They launched into the sky and rained down upon Michina Town, destroying forests, fields, and most distressingly, buildings. People and Pokémon screamed and ran away, while Sheena's family desperately wondered where the heck she was. Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina suddenly stopped fighting with each other. Arceus charged up for another round of Judgment. Everything Sheena ever knew and loved would be demolished in a matter of seconds if the attack kept up.
"ARCEUS! WAIT!" shouted Sheena.
Arceus noticed a familiar aura and cancelled his attack. "Damos?" he wondered.
Sheena emerged from the ruins' other exit, carrying the container, gasping from breath. Kevin was right behind her, ready to step in if things went wrong. Arceus realized that who he thought was Damos clearly wasn't Damos, but someone related. "Who are you?" he asked, flying in closer.
She had to catch her breath a few times before saying everything she was supposed to remember. "I…I am a descendant of Damos, and I know he did something terrible to you. Please forgive us."
By now, her whole family had gotten close enough to see Sheena and Arceus. Even Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina sat down and watched. "That's it, Sheena…" whispered Father. "Just like we taught you…"
"What if this goes wrong?" asked Mother.
"...Don't even think about it. Have some faith in her, okay dear?" he reassured.
Sheena held up the flowery container. As it opened, she said, "This is the Jewel of Life!"
"WHAT?" Arceus cut in.
But Sheena was on a roll. Thinking little of the distraction, she set it down on a nearby rock and said, in her most sincere voice, "Here! I humbly return it to you. My family has been protecting it all this time so that one day we might present it to you."
She stepped back as he floated down to her level. Her family let out a sigh of relief. She did it. They finally gave it back to Arceus. All would be forgiven, and they would never have to put Sheena or anyone else through this burden again.
Arceus examined the jewel for two seconds. Ten. Then all of a sudden, he reared back his head and said, "You're saying THIS is the Jewel of LIFE?" He head-smashed it.
Sheena could only stare in horror, petrified, as the jewel's particles shattered, almost as if it was in slow motion. It was like Arceus smashed everything her life stood for, too.
"The Jewel of Life is a part of me. It cannot, and will not BREAK!" He shot a Flamethrower at her.
Kevin was quick enough to snatch Sheena out of the way in time. But Sheena's mind remained stone-still as the gravity of the situation overtook her: That was her one and only chance to appease the most powerful godlike Pokémon that ever lived.
And she blew it.
And her whole family knew it.
To be continued…