A/N: If you're wondering why this ten-month-old story may have suddenly been pushed up the archives, maybe I should apologize. This story was meant to be a one-shot, but I got carried away in writing a second chapter for it. I don't know what to do with the rest of the story, especially after a few months away from fanfiction net, so I figured I might as well make this a one shot again.
I hope you enjoy The Azure Flute regardless of that.
GitS
It had been a long walk, but Taurus wasn't one to give up easily. Yet his footsteps seemed to drag as he finally made it to the top of Mt. Coronet.
"Take this up there," the strange hiker had said as he handed him a round, blue-colored flute. "Play it."
So that was what Taurus was doing. He was curious as to what would happen.
But having to return to Spear Pillar, the place where Sinnoh's lake trio and Giratina came to put an end to Cyrus' plans? He couldn't help remembering how Giratina rose from the shadows before, uh…
Let us just say that then-ten-year-old trainer nearly stained his pants. He never had been one for jump scares.
Taurus breathing grew heavier as he stood there by the massive cavern's exit. Was it because of his exhaustion or the fact the air thinned up here? Perhaps both were the case?
"Well, this is it," he said.
In a matter of moments, he was going to step outside. He was going to play the flute.
A poké ball on his belt began to shake. Then, a tall, dark blue shape materialized beside him.
"Napoleon?" Taurus asked. "What's up?"
The Empoleon before him said nothing as it took a flipper and gestured behind him.
Taurus glanced over his shoulder. "Huh?"
Something in his bag was glowing a whitish color.
The young trainer slipped off his bag and stuck his hand inside. It came up with the glowing object.
It was the azure flute. A soft light had begun to pulse around it.
Napoleon waddled up next to his trainer. He nodded at him.
Taurus gripped the flute as tightly as he could as he zippered his bag closed. He had come a long way in just one year. He had trained and bonded with an awesome team, traversed the region for all eight gym badges, stopped Cyrus, and beaten the League after a dozen or so tries. He had caught a ton of legendaries, fought in the Battle Area. and had had tons of great memories.
So whatever it was on the summit, he felt he was prepared to face it.
"Are you ready for this?" Taurus asked his Empoleon. "We're about to…"
Whatever poké balls were made of, they totally failed at keeping their residents in. Standing beside Napoleon now were five other figures:
Chompy the Garchomp, Taurus' key to victory against Cynthia, showed no expression as he met his trainer's eye level. Hanging around his neck was a dragon fang.
Stark the Staraptor, who could weather almost any battle yet wasn't afraid to charge in with brave birds. She was tense unlike Chompy; her talons were digging themselves into the cavern floor.
Chara the Flareon, who ate pretty much anything her trainer gave her. She wasn't much of a fighter but made up for this by winning many of the contests held in Hearthome City. Which was why she was covered head-to-toe in ribbons.
Luminos the Luxray sat on his haunches. He yawned lazily, which showed the sharp fangs in his mouth. He didn't do much, but his rain dance-powered thunders could destroy nearly anything when he put his mind to it.
Rex the Rampardos roared, making Chara jump. He wasn't as strong as Chompy or Napoleon, but he wasn't afraid of head smashing a powerful opponent if it meant the team could carry the rest of the battle.
Finally, there was the before-mentioned Napoleon the Empoleon. He had been Taurus' first-ever Pokémon and had stuck by him no matter what happened to the others. Taurus couldn't even remember a time where Napoleon had ever fallen in battle.
Their trainer grinned at his team. It was rare that they were gathered like this. In fact, the last time everyone was out of their balls at once…
It had been when he had fought Cyrus and company here on Mt. Coronet. It was fitting that they were doing this once again.
Taurus pressed the azure flute against his chest.
"Okay," he said. "Now are we ready?" He began to walk ahead of the group.
Once they had exchanged glances with one another, the team filed out of the cave after him.
Spear Pillar hadn't changed one bit since Taurus' last visit. Crumbling marble pillars littered the landscape above, and if one went further, they would reach a wide-open area.
It had been there that Cyrus, leader of Team Galactic, had tried to create a new world of his own. It had been there he had been kidnapped by Giratina and Taurus and Cynthia had entered the Distortion World to chase after him.
Taurus, however, wasn't given a chance to be nostalgic. As soon as he stepped out of the cave, the glow of the azure flute strengthened. It now regularly pulsed as he stood on the bottom of the stairs.
The others stood at his sides. They watched him.
As he put the flute to his mouth, Taurus thought, How do I even play this thing? Is there a specific melody, or…
The man back in Hearthome City hadn't been clear about that. What if this failed because there was a specific song he had to play?
No, he told himself. I didn't come all this way to fail.
Whatever the case, he blew on the flute. His fingers were unsteady and unsure as to what holes to push themselves against. But Taurus still managed to play something that resembled a melody.
The strange, haunting music echoed throughout Spear Pillar. Something about it seemed familiar, but the young trainer couldn't place it.
He lowered the flute and looked around. Nothing about Spear Pillar had changed. It was what it had always been: an old, crumbling collection of columns.
Chompy came up from behind his trainer's left. He frowned.
Everyone else stared at one another. What were they supposed to do now?
A massive earthquake promptly ensued.
As brave as he was, Chompy screamed from the suddenness of it. He leaped backward into Rex.
The Rampados yelped as the two fell over each other.
Taurus himself gasped, nearly sure he was going to have a heart attack as a glass staircase materialized before him. He stumbled backward into Napoleon, who laid a flipper on his shoulder.
"Tha-thanks," he said.
Napoleon nodded. He lifted his head.
So did the rest of the group.
The glass staircase rose high into the air. Taurus noted how it lacked any sort of guardrails.
Without any sort of prompting, Stark took off into the air.
"Easy for you to do," he groused. What if he ended up tripping and falling off this thing?
The rest of the ground-bound team shared his sentiment. They crowded around him, trying their best to avoid the edge as they began their ascent.
Taurus's mouth fell open as he reached the top. At the very top of the staircase was a towering white figure. A golden ring, marked at the ends by greenish jewels, was wrapped around its midsection.
As the rest of the group congregated on at the top of the stairs, the Pokémon turned around. A tiny red eye landed on them.
Taurus looked straight up at it.
The creature's eye narrowed. It blinked once.
So did Taurus.
Without warning, the strange new Pokémon's shrill voice pierced the quiet atmosphere.
Everyone cringed. Chara, her back arched, backed away.
But the large creature found the nerve to charge.
The team scattered in all sorts of directions, half of them screaming. The only one of them who ran forward was Taurus, clutching an ultra ball. He boldly dashed under the creature's stomach, going right around that golden ring it had.
The Pokémon roared as it turned its head to face him. How could he be so foolish as to do that?
Taurus' pokédex beeped. He pulled it out of his pocket as he skidded to a stop.
A picture of the creature was on the pokédex's screen. The name above it? Arceus.
Taurus stared at it. Arceus?
Why did that name sound… Strangely familiar?
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When he was just a little kid, he had heard a myth:
Many, many years ago, an Egg had been born from Chaos.
The Egg hatched, and out came the "Original One".
Our world as we know it is said to have been born with the help of its children and thousand arms…
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Taurus shook his head. This wasn't a good time to be recalling the past.
"Okay, thanks," he said to the 'dex. He shoved it back into his coat as he held up his ultra ball.
When he ran across the platform, his hat fell off. He had no clue where it went, but that wasn't something he knew he couldn't think of now.
Arceus roared again. It took one step towards him, sending a tremble through the glass platform around it.
Despite wanting to focus on the situation at hand, a stray thought of Taurus' wondered how strong the platform beneath him was. What if it cracked mid-battle and sent everyone crashing down on the pillars below?
No. He couldn't think like that. Not when this Pokémon was focusing on him instead of his team.
Arceus lowered its head. Its eyes narrowing as it scrutinized the trainer. Despite what his fears were screaming at him, it didn't seem all that interested in attacking him. It merely stood there, as if unsure what to do.
Meanwhile, Stark circled this new creature from the skies above. She cried out to her trainer.
Taurus sighed in relief. The absolutely last thing he had wanted was to be flattened like a pancake.
"Stark," he yelled up at the Staraptor, "use brave bird! Now!"
She cried out in return and began to swoop down at Arceus.
Arceus spun around. It growled and, with a mighty leap of its long legs, met her in midair.
The rest of the team fled back to the stairs. Until their trainer said otherwise, they were staying there.
And so, though Taurus didn't realize it, the battle to capture the one thought to have created the universe began.
Finally, I'll leave you with a poem I originally wrote for the second chapter and thought too good to let go of. If I remember right, it was based off one of the books you can find in Canalave City's library:
The "Original One"
Once upon a time, only chaos existed.
From that chaos, an Egg came to be.
This Egg… It gave rise to the "Original One".
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Giratina of the Distortion World.
Dialga and Palkia of Coronet.
Mesprit, Azelf, and Uxie of the three lakes.
From the "Original One", they too came into being.
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Together, they laid the foundations.
Antimatter weaved our universe together.
Time and Space gave our universe structure.
Emotion, Willpower, and Knowledge were granted to People and Pokémon alike.
We owe our entire existence to them.
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When its work was completed, the "Original One" disappeared.
Giratina the Chaotic was banished to the Distortion World.
Dialga the Timeless and Palkia the Eternal settled into dimensions of their own design.
Emotional Mesprit, Determined Azelf, and Knowledgeable Uxie dove deep, deep down under Sinnoh's three great lakes.
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And for millennia since, the world has been at peace.