Introduction
This is a collection of short stories, each retelling a star myth in the Pokémon world. There are eighty-eight constellations, as defined by the International Astronomical Union. Most of the northern constellations—those originating from Ptolemy's list of 48 constellations, with a few exceptions—have associated mythology. Although some of the real-life stories have adult themes, I have attempted here to keep the stories on the level of the Pokémon animé and games—and in general, the myths have likely been greatly changed to fit this world.
Hopefully, I will get to all eighty-eight constellations. However; since some of the constellations do not have star myths, I will have to make up stories for these constellations.
There is no order in this collection of star myths, though it will generally go through the constellations with associated mythology first (and therefore, it will go mostly from northern to southern constellations). However, each of these stories is entirely independent each other, so you may decide to read them out of order.
A few rules for myself for how to choose which Pokémon to be which constellation:
1. All constellations must be a Pokémon (or multiple Pokémon, or part of a Pokémon); none can be based on human beings, machines, or anything else. An exception is made for the parts of the Argo Navis (Carina, Puppis, and Vela), as well as the two crowns (Corona Borealis and Corona Australis).
2. Northern constellations must be chosen from the first four generations; southern constellations must be chosen from the fifth generation and beyond. "Northern" is considered to be those listed by Ptolemy, or created by Petrus Plancius, or Johannes Hevelius, as well as the constellations Coma Berenices and Pyxis.
3. All canonical constellations from the ending of the sixth movie (Jirachi: Wish Maker) must remain exactly as they are. The two other canonical constellations (Scolipede and Bouffalant from episode BW094, "The Road to Humilau!") must appear as two southern constellations, but because they were not specified to have any particular real-world analogue, they can be placed as any constellation.
4. No Pokémon may be repeated in another constellation.
As a side note, genderless Pokémon, such as the legendaries, are all referred to with the pronoun "it." Pokémon with genders are all referred to accordingly, with "he" or "she."
Without further ado, let's begin.
Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Boötes, and Canes Venatici
Ursaring, Teddiursa, Gallade, and Houndour and Houndoom
Manaphy and Phione, the Princes of the Sea, were swimming in the ocean, their expansive domain. The small blue fairy-like Pokémon had always enjoyed their time in the ocean, often playing with each other or with the other aquatic Pokémon. The other guardians of the sea, Lugia and Kyogre, were far too serious, they thought. The two Princes therefore strove to make themselves more approachable to the Pokémon of the sea.
So as the two Pokémon swam past a trio of Tentacool, Manaphy tapped Phione on the shoulder and said, "Hey, wait a moment. They're about to start a fight, aren't they?" Without waiting for Phione, Manaphy dove down to the where the argument was happening.
Phione, though, started to sigh. It was tired of trying to break up fights; this was the third one today that the two Princes had passed. Instead of following Manaphy, it just closed its eyes and let the warm currents of the water carry it at will.
A knock on its head startled it from its sleep. Phione shook itself awake, suddenly aware that it had no idea where it was. It looked around the water, but found no sign of any Pokémon other than itself.
It inflated its floatation sack, allowing it to swim up towards the surface of the water. Perhaps it would catch a glimpse of a landmark once it surfaced.
Instead, it caught a glimpse of the most beautiful Pokémon in the world.
An Ursaring sat, bathed in moonlight, at the edge of the water on a little stretch of land protruding from a forest. Phione immediately fell in love with the bear Pokémon, from the sharp claws of her feet to the yellow ring encircling her belly, to the black, beady nose on her face.
Phione hopped up onto the land, greeting the Ursaring.
"Hello, Madame Ursaring."
The Ursaring jumped up in surprise, holding out her claws threateningly, before lowering them and said, "H… hello, Phione. Fancy meeting a legendary Pokémon here."
"Do you know where we are? I seem to have gotten lost," Phione said. Before the Ursaring could answer, Phione suddenly blurted out, "I have a crush on you."
The Ursaring, about to answer its first question, stuttered something before closing her mouth. "I beg your pardon?" she finally managed to say.
"I… just said that, didn't I?" Phione said. "Um… Would you please go out with me?" it asked, bowing. "I would be greatly honored if you did."
The Ursaring just stared at miniscule form of Phione. "Is a legendary Pokémon allowed to have such a relationship?"
"Actually, no," Phione said, embarrassed. "But…" Phione suddenly jerked its head towards the sea, listening intently. "Quick, hide! Manaphy is coming!" Phione shoved the Ursaring towards the forest, and the bear Pokémon slunk away into the shadows of the trees without question.
Phione turned back towards the sea just as the familiar blue form of Manaphy jumped out of the water.
"There you are, Phione!" Manaphy said. "I've been looking all over for you! You haven't been doing anything naughty, have you?"
Manaphy made the last statement teasingly, but it struck Phione as dangerously close to the truth. Phione just smiled, though, and said, "Of course not. I fell asleep in the water while you were talking to those Tentacool, and I found myself here. I was just trying to get my bearings to see if I could find you again."
"Oh. Well, now that we have found each other, do you want to go back to the Sea Temple?"
Phione nodded, and dove back into the water, with Manaphy following.
But Phione wasn't going to let the Ursaring go quite so easily. Phione found its way back to the same forest a few days later, and was delighted to find her walking along the water's edge in the warm afternoon sun.
"Hello, Madame Ursaring," Phione said, hopping out of the water. "Nice to see you again!"
"Oh," the Ursaring said, backing away from the blue sea angel-like Pokémon. "How are you, Phione?"
"I'm fine. But what about that offer of a date? Would you like to show me around the forest?"
The Ursaring paused a moment before sighing. "Do I really have a choice? You're a legendary Pokémon; you'll make it happen even if I refuse. Come on, let's go."
Phione let out a happy squeal and hopped onto the Ursaring's back. "By the way, Madame Ursaring, do you have a name?"
"My friends call me Callisto," the Ursaring said, walking into the shade of forest.
The forest was green, far greener than anything underwater. But the green was not an unending mass; there were brown tree trunks, and certain colorful flowers and fruits. Several bug-type and flying-type Pokémon flittered by, such as Butterfree and Pidgey, rustling the leaves on the trees and making soft noises of the forest. Callisto showed Phione the berries that were good to eat, and those that would pass through the body poorly.
The sun soon set, however, so Callisto invited Phione into her cave where she made her nest. The cave was shared among several Pokémon, but Callisto had a separate room within the cave. Callisto and Phione shared a meal of an assortment of berries that they had collected throughout the day, and soon fell asleep together in her nest made of grass and twigs.
Phione found itself being shaken awake by a fuzzy brown paw. It blinked groggily, and found itself looking into the beautiful eyes of Callisto.
But the eyes were laced with worry. Callisto said, "Phione, wake up quickly. There's… there's an egg."
"What?" Phione was wide awake at the news. "An egg? Where?" It looked around the cave, only to find a smooth, orange egg with a white crescent on it, lying on the grassy nest.
"We had an egg. I don't know how it got there, but we had it," Callisto announced solemnly, gesturing a paw towards the roughly spherical shape that was the product of their love.
Phione was devastated. This couldn't be happening. Legendary Pokémon had taken a vow of chastity, never to even love another Pokémon intimately, let alone produce offspring. If Manaphy found out about the egg…
Manaphy. Phione had been out the whole night, hadn't it? Manaphy surely would come looking for it. Phione looked up at Callisto, who was still staring in shock at the egg. Phione said, "I… I can't stay here, Callisto. I'm so sorry." It hopped up to the Ursaring's shoulder and planted a kiss on her furry cheek before bounding out of the cave.
Callisto could do nothing but stare after the retreating legendary Pokémon, dreading her life as a single mother.
Months passed. Callisto kept her child's parentage a secret. The egg hatched a few days after its conception, giving birth to a healthy young Teddiursa whom she named Arcas. She taught Arcas how to survive in the wild, giving as much care to him as any mother would to her child, but the lack of father caused the Ursaring community to shun them. Indeed, she never even told him about his father. Callisto hoped that she would never meet Phione again, and sometimes expressed an utter loathing towards the Pokémon with whom she had spent a night of passion.
Manaphy still knew nothing about its fellow Prince's antics. The day after Arcas's conception, Manaphy and Phione continued their lives as normal, floating merrily around the ocean.
However, as the months dragged on, Phione found itself lonely, even in the company of Manaphy. One night, it stole away out of the Sea Temple and swam through the seas towards the forest where Callisto resided.
Manaphy, however, noticed when Phione was leaving, and decided to follow it. Manaphy camouflaged into the water and followed Phione to the land.
Phione hopped out of the water and started to wander into the forest. Once it was safely inside, Manaphy hopped out, as well, and quickly followed the trail of seawater that the other Prince of the Sea left.
Manaphy followed a winding path, with several detours and U-turns. Eventually, the saltwater trail faded, but Phione evidently wasn't a very careful Pokémon, since the tracks in the soil and carelessly broken branches provided enough of a trail even for a Pokémon like Manaphy who had never tried to track anyone on land.
The trail eventually led to a craggy clearing in the middle of the forest before disappearing onto the rock. Manaphy paused, searching for a continuation of Phione's trail.
But when Manaphy looked up, though, a large, brown shape approached. Frightened, Manaphy retreated back into the forest just as an enormous Ursaring came out of another part of the forest and into the clearing.
"I told you," the Ursaring growled menacingly behind it. "Stay out of my life. You had your thing with me already; I don't need any more trouble from you."
"Come on, Callisto!" a familiar voice called after the Ursaring. Manaphy stared in surprise at the emerging figure. As it stepped out of the shadows of the forest, all doubt was lost—the blue fairy-like Pokémon was indeed Phione.
Manaphy was about to rush up to Phione, but paused to listen to the conversation when Phione spoke up. "Look, Callisto, I came all this way just to see you. I haven't seen you in months!"
"Well, good!" the Ursaring yelled. "Go back to your ocean with Manaphy and not break any laws about legendary Pokémon relationships! You should be glad I'm not chasing after you and telling Manaphy about what happened."
Manaphy frowned at the reference to it in the statement, but it remained hidden in the foliage. Still, it started wondering: had Phione… fallen in love?
"Callisto, weren't you the one who was so accepting to a relationship with me?"
"I was scared of you legendary Pokémon at the time. I'm still not sure if you're going to do something horrible to me. But before, I was afraid of refusing you, whereas now, I don't care anymore. You've given me a child and forced me out of society. You can't do anything more to me."
"But—"
Before Phione could say anything else, Callisto sharpened her claws and slashed at it. Phione cried out as it flew backwards into a tree.
"Go away."
Manaphy, although horrified at what Phione had apparently done, couldn't just let its fellow Prince of the Sea be injured like this. Manaphy jumped towards Phione as it landed with a thud on the ground.
"Phione! Are you all right?" Manaphy called out.
Phione gave a start. "Man… Manaphy? Why are you here?"
"I was following you. I was wondering what you were doing out so late at night." Manaphy sighed. "And what I'm finding out is more and more disappointing. Phione, what happened with you and this Ursaring?"
Phione started stuttering, but was unable to form a complete sentence. Callisto interrupting its bout of nonsense syllables. "It's exactly what you think, Manaphy. Phione came to me one night and… we had a child. Arcas, I named him."
Manaphy turned back to Phione. "Is this true?" Manaphy demanded.
Phione could only nod silently, inching deeper into the forest.
"Hey, what's happening?"
The small, high-pitched voiced surprised all three Pokémon on the scene. They all turned towards the cave, where the voice came from.
A small, orange bear-like Pokémon, no bigger than Manaphy or Phione, waddled out of the cave, sucking honey off its paw. "Who are you?" he asked, pointing at the two Princes of the Sea. "I've never seen either of you around here."
"They're legendary Pokémon of the sea, Arcas," Callisto said gently.
"But this is a forest," the Teddiursa pointed out. "It's not the sea. Are they lost?"
"Actually, Arcas, I'm your father," Phione blurted out.
The four Pokémon dropped silent for an awkward moment. "No you're not," Arcas finally said. "I don't have a daddy. Mommy says that I'm special because I don't have a daddy."
"Well, technically I'm genderless…" Phione said. "So I guess I'm just a parent, and not really a father. But then, I am a Prince of the Sea, and princes are generally male…"
Manaphy slapped it. "You are getting that title revoked. I will make sure of that much."
Arcas ignored Manaphy and looked up at Callisto. "So I do have a daddy? That's great!"
"It's not that simple," Callisto said. "Legendary Pokémon… aren't supposed to have children. It's against the law."
Arcas seemed rather shocked at this statement. "So I'm illegal?"
"Unfortunately, in the eyes of Legendary Law, yes," Calisto said. "But only in that law. In nothing else. You're still my son, and I would do anything for you."
Manaphy frowned. "Still, we're going to have to discuss everything with the other Legendaries, particularly Mew, who's the de facto leader of us fairy-like Legendaries. Callisto and Arcas, I have to ask that you accompany us to meet it." Manaphy turned abruptly towards Phione. "And I am utterly disappointed in you, Phione. What were you thinking? I'll make sure you're punished justly."
Manaphy grabbed Phione's hands roughly and turned back towards the two bear Pokémon. "Could you please guide us back to the sea? I can get Mew's attention there."
Callisto nodded silently, picking up Arcas and placing him on her back. She turned towards the forest and walked straight through it.
The four Pokémon arrived on the shore a few minutes later. "We're here," Callisto announced to the two sea Pokémon behind her.
Manaphy, still tightly gripping Phione, stepped towards the edge of the sea. Manaphy sang out loudly towards the horizon, calling for Mew. For a while, all was silent but the lulling sound of Manaphy's voice.
Then, suddenly, a bright flash blinded the four Pokémon. A small, pink feline Pokémon appeared from the light, hovering about a meter off the ground.
"Hey, Manaphy, what's up?" it said.
"Hello, Mew," Manaphy said. "We have a rather heavy topic to discuss today."
"Indeed? I presume it's appropriate to talk about in front of this Ursaring and her child?" Mew said, gesturing towards the two anxious normal-types.
"It's about them, actually. The Teddiursa is Phione's son."
Mew was silent for a moment before turning to Callisto. "And you are the Teddiursa's mother?"
"Yes, Lord Mew," Callisto said, too afraid even of looking up at the legendary Pokémon.
Mew floated directly into the Ursaring's face, forcing her to look at it. "And you therefore admit to having had an affair with Phione?"
"Yes, Lord Mew."
"And were you aware that it was a legendary Pokémon, who is forbidden from having any sort of relationship with non-legendaries?"
"Yes, Lord Mew."
Mew floated back from Callisto. "And Phione, you do not deny this Ursaring is the mother of your son?"
"Unfortunately, I cannot," the small blue Pokémon said in a small voice.
Mew settled down on the ground as the four other Pokémon stared at it expectantly. When Mew said nothing for a while, Arcas spoke up.
"Lord Mew, what's going to happen to us?"
Mew just shook its head. "I don't know. Phione, you realize this is a major offense, right? This is the first time any legendary Pokémon has broken the no-affair law." Mew sighed and closed its eyes for a moment. "Phione, you are hereby stripped of your title of legendary Pokémon. Go ahead, have affairs freely. But you lose your legendary status. You can reproduce among commoners, even. That said…" Mew opened its eyes and turned to Callisto and Arcas. "I cannot allow two you to see Phione anymore. You knowingly disobeyed the law. You must be punished somehow."
"I understand," Callisto said.
"Wait," Arcas said. "I just met my daddy. Are you saying that I can't see him ever again?"
Mew nodded sadly. "I'm sorry, young one. But do not worry. You have your entire life ahead of you. You should not be burdened by something that happened before you were even born." It turned to the mother. "Still, I'm going to have to relocate both of you to another forest, away from the sea, so that Phione does not meet with you again. Is there anything you need to get before we go?"
Callisto, shocked, shook her head, but she asked, "Could we at least say farewell to our friends before we leave?"
"Very well. Come back here immediately when you are finished."
Callisto picked up Arcas in her paws, and they wordlessly reentered the forest. Manaphy, meanwhile, looked over at Phione. "And don't forget, Phione. You lose your title as Prince of the Sea, as well, and I hereby banish you from the Sea Temple. Do not come back."
Phione just stared, sad, at its former friend. "That is the least of my concerns. I'll just become a sea drifter. But for the rest of my life, I'll never see my mistress or my son again! That's what's bothering me the most." It let out a great cry towards the night sky above. Several of the stars shifted, forming two dipper shapes. A faint image glowed around the stars: Callisto and Arcas.
"What did you just do?" Mew demanded.
"I… I don't know," Phione said, as surprised as Mew about the new constellations. "I just needed to scream."
Presently, Callisto and Arcas came trampling out of the forest. "What happened?" Callisto asked. "I heard someone screaming."
The three fairy-like Pokémon didn't answer, but just stared straight up into the sky. Callisto and Arcas followed their gaze, and gasped in surprise as they found an image of themselves.
"That's us," Arcas said in amazement. He looked towards Phione. "Did you do this? Thank you, Daddy. I haven't known you, but I'll miss you." The small orange bear hugged the former Prince of the Sea.
"Me too," Phione muttered. "Farewell, Arcas. Farewell, Callisto." It jumped up onto Callisto's shoulder for a moment and gave her a kiss before diving into the sea.
After a moment, Mew asked Callisto, "Are you ready, Madame Ursaring? Shall we be off?"
"Yes."
"All right, then. Manaphy, I will see you next time."
With those words, Mew teleported away in a flash of light, bringing along Callisto and Arcas.
Manaphy remained on the shore a bit longer. As much as it was disappointed in Phione, Manaphy itself had fallen in love before, though it refused to act on the feeling. It was a pity such a celebrated emotion would have to separate the two Princes like this. Manaphy did like Phione as a friend, and it was sad that they might never see each other again.
Sighing, Manaphy glanced back up towards the sky, where the images of the two bear-like Pokémon were shining as brightly as ever.
In an act of empathy, Manaphy sang out a melodious tune. In response to the sound, the two new constellations shifted in the sky, to the celestial north pole.
Manaphy nodded at its work before diving into the sea. In this new position, Callisto and Arcas's constellations would be visible to Manaphy at any point in the year, for in this position, the constellations would not dip below the horizon. It was the least that Manaphy could do for its former friend.
Callisto and Arcas appeared in an unfamiliar forest, along with Mew. Once they had safely materialized, Mew nodded towards them.
"All right, this forest will be your new home," it said.
"Thank you, Lord Mew," Callisto said. She sniffed at the air uncertainly. "Still, this is… all so new."
"Indeed. I've already sent for assistants to help you to adjust to your new life. Ah, here they come now." Mew pointed its tail into the forest, where a Gallade approached with a Houndour and a Houndoom.
"Hello, Lord Mew," the Gallade said, bowing. "I came as soon I heard your call."
"Hello, Boötes," Mew said. "This Ursaring and her son have just arrived here. I trust that you and your two friends can keep them safe and show them around this forest?"
"Very well," Boötes said. He turned to Callisto and Arcas. "Nice to meet you, madam. My name is Boötes, and these are my friends Chara"—he gestured towards the Houndoom—"and her son Asterion"—he gestured towards the Houndour.
"My name is Callisto, and my son is Arcas," Callisto said. "I hope I'm not troubling you too much by imposing on your lives like this."
"Certainly not," Boötes promised. "I would do anything for Lord Mew."
Mew turned towards Boötes. "Of course, I will reward you for this—all three of you. I shall place your images among the stars, alongside the images of Callisto and Arcas that Phione evidently thought fit to produce. Until we meet again, goodbye." Without further ado, the pink feline disappeared into the night with a flash of light.
"Before anything else," Asterion suddenly said, "I want to see these constellations." He and Chara raced off towards a clearing, with the other three Pokémon quickly following.
They reached a clearing, and looked up just in time to see the fading image of a Gallade leading a Houndour and Houndoom, in addition to the image of the Callisto and Arcas. The stars outlining their forms remained bright, even as the images faded to black.
"All right," Boötes said, turning towards Callisto and Arcas. "I hope you're not too intimidating by having a new home. But let us show you around."
"I'm sure you'll find it a great place to raise your son, Callisto," Chara said. "I know it was for my son."
"Thank you," Callisto said.
Boötes, Chara, and Asterion led Callisto and Arcas back into the forest, where they would start their life anew.
Ursa Major and Ursa Minor are perhaps the most well-known constellations in the night sky. They both originated in ancient times, as listed by Ptolemy in the second century in his book Almagest. Boötes was also in that list. His hunting dogs, the Canes Venatici, came much later, created in 1687 by Johannes Hevelius, though he was likely inspired by Peter Apian's illustration of Boötes (1533), which showed him leading two unnamed dogs. At a standard 45°N latitude, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor are circumpolar (i.e. they are in the sky for the whole year). Boötes and Canes Venatici are best seen in late spring or early summer.
In this adaptation of the original story, Phione takes on the role of Zeus, while the role of Hera is split between Manaphy and Mew. In the traditional story, Hera cursed the two bears never to dip below the water and therefore be forever thirsty; in this story, however, staying in the sky year-round is a gift instead of a curse. Also, Boötes and his dogs, instead of being sent by Hera to execute Callisto, is her guide in an unfamiliar forest.
Published March 3, 2013
