Chapter 2

Many months had passed. The universe that once existed had disappeared, and the portal was gone.

No one had gone back, and it appeared that the opportunity to revisit the land they once knew

had vanished. Surprisingly though, none of the pokemon seemed to notice any of this. They had

made a life in this new land, and had settled down rather quickly. By the time three years had

passed, it seemed that no one had any recollection of what used to be, and no one seemed to

question the unfortunate confrontation that fell upon Arceus that fateful day.

While all the pokemon were settling in their new life, Arceus had embarked on a quest to find

something that may help him. Though he never knew exactly what he searched for, he traveled the vast

land for years, but to no avail. After three years, everything seemed hopeless, and Arceus

spent his days and nights alone. He often wondered how this universe came to be. He thought he

was the only one of his kind that could create such a vast universe, yet he never imagined

finding one of this magnitude. Unlike his universe, he felt a sort of eternal unity in this

world, as if everything was connected to one source. He questioned the Arceus he

encountered that day. There was something familiar about it, and he would never forget that

awful smirk on its face.

One day Arceus started to search for something to eat. If there was anything good that had come

out of this whole ordeal, it was that he was able to experience a whole new array of exotic

berries. Back in his universe, there were only two kinds of berries, and they were rather plain

and uninteresting in flavor. But in this new universe, he had tasted over 30 kinds of berries,

some that were spicy yet dry, some that were bitter yet sweet, and his favorite ones, the sour

berries. As he searched for some of the sour berries, he thought he heard a voice far off

in the distance. He felt he was being a bit nostalgic, and so he dismissed the idea of the

voice. After all, three years of searching had led to nothing. So he kept searching for some,

and found some in a bush by a small stream. He leaned towards the bush to collect them when

he heard the voice again. It sounded like a pokemon singing, but he was unfamiliar with the

voice, and he realized it wasn't just nostalgia. He traced where the voice was coming from, and

darted towards the source. As he drew closer his mind was racing with ideas that not even he

could keep up with. It had been a full three years since he heard a voice other than his, and

he could not possibly imagine what this pokemon could be doing all the way out in what had

seemed a barren land. He could hear the voice clearer, and he sprinted even faster as to prevent

it from escaping. He felt a force of energy that had been dormant for three years, and he

put all his effort into getting there as fast as he could. He finally arrived at the source of

the singing, but had no time to describe what he saw, as he immediately collapsed and fainted

from all the exhaustion.

"Hello? You awake? Hellooo? WAKE UP SLEEPYHEAD!"

Arceus felt a large trout slap him, and he instantly awoke. He looked around, dazed, and was back

at the stream where he had collected the berries. He looked around to find who had awoken him

in such a hostile manner, and saw the pokemon.

"Hi, I'm Celebi! You are...?"

Arceus was confused, but knew that this Celebi was the voice he heard earlier. He didn't know

what to say exactly, but he was able to answer to Celebi's question, though he didn't know where

to continue from there.

"Uhh, I'm Arceus."

"I see. Well hello there . I do have one question. Why were you running so fast? By the

time I heard someone coming, you were on the ground sleeping like a Snorlax. You can't just tire

yourself out like that!"

" I apologize, I wasn't sure where the voice was coming from. I heard some singing and I ran

towards it. It's been a while since I've heard any pokemon's voice."

"What do you mean? There's all kinds of pokemon around here. You were probably heading too far

off, everyone knows that there isn't one single pokemon outside of this region."

Arceus thought he was hearing things. He had to repeat what the Celebi had said to himself again,

and digest the sentence bit by bit. What did Celebi mean "outside this region?" Is there more

pokemon in this universe than he had assumed? The thought of meeting new pokemon had never come

across Arceus' mind, and the idea of what they would even look like was mind boggling. He pulled

himself together and spoke up.

"There are other pokemon in this region? Would you mind introducing me to them?"

"Of course, follow me! We've never seen a pokemon like you before, they would be ecstatic to

meet a newcomer like you! This will be great!"

Celebi escorted Arceus downstream, and cut into a path in the forest. They walked very

nonchalantly, and it gave Arceus that tranquil feeling he would always enjoy on a casual stroll,

just like on that fateful day. Arceus was once again in a state of peace and tranquility, and

nothing could break that. Except, of course, a warm welcome.

"HI NEWCOMER!"

Arceus snapped out of the daydream, and gazed his eyes upon a new pokemon community. It consisted

of all bug type pokemon, and apparently Celebi was their leader. He saw the grins on their faces,

and thought they must have felt honored to meet him. Despite this, he felt he should be honored

to meet them. He thought he would never see a pokemon again, let alone a full community of bug

type saw that Arceus was feeling a little nervous and awkward, so he came around

Arceus' side.

"Let me show you around Arceus. The pokemon are really friendly and they won't bite. For the

most part, haha."

Celebi introduced Arceus to a lot of the well known bug type pokemon, and tried to make Arceus

feel at home. It was then that Celebi started to notice the sun go down, and knew that dusk was

coming fast. Celebi stopped and shouted to all the pokemon.

"Dancing time!"

All the pokemon roared with enthusiasm, and they all rushed towards Arceus. They picked him up,

and carried him off as Celebi followed. Celebi saw the fear in Arceus' face, and assured him

everything was fine. Arceus was puzzled until he froze. He remembered chasing down that voice

and feeling a familiar presence of energy. It was right before he had collapsed. This wave of

energy had come over him yet again, and he couldn't possibly imagine looked up and saw

nothing but the tops of trees. The trees were starting to get less condensed, until they finally

cleared up as they brought Arceus into a clearing. Arceus was here again, though this time very

conscious and full of breath.

He laid his eyes upon a tree of energy, just like the one near the portal. The tree was

gargantuan. The eerie glow of each branch was just as bright as the previous, if not brighter.

The massive size and and strange glow did not seem to faze the pokemon at all, as they made music

and danced. It was a ritual, and each of them played a part in it. Whether they danced, made

music with primitive instruments, or cheered the dancers on, they all had a role in this

community tradition.

Arceus turned to Celebi.

"Celebi can I talk to you?"

"Of course Arceus, what is it?"

Arceus and Celebi walked off into the distance, while Arceus began to recall his grand journey...

End of Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Analysis

Time passes as Arceus walks around aimlessly. After three years (2004-2007) Arceus hears a voice and

chases after it. After collapsing he wakes up.

Quote:

"Arceus felt a large trout slap him, and he instantly awoke."

Two things could have given away the reference here. If you are a pokemon geek, you would know

that there is no such thing as a trout in the pokemon world. Pokemon are the animals. The second

thing is if you have ever used the mIRC client for 's IRC, you would notice a pop-up command

that says slap. If you use it to slap another user in the IRC, sure enough, it will say "Person 1

slapped Person 2 around a bit with a large trout." That was the reference.

Celebi is then introduced as another character. Yes, Celebi is none other than me (ddrXero64). After

a bit of conversation, Celebi leads Arceus to the other pokemon. It is noted here that they are all

bug pokemon. The first forum language to be incorporated into was Dutch. This

means that the dutch players, for the most part, are represented by bug pokemon.

After some small talk, Celebi sees dusk coming and announces dancing time. All the pokemon rush

Arceus to another tree of energy. He notices all the dancing and music and wakes up the next morning

to look at the tree. Arceus confesses to Celebi his adventure so far.

End of Chapter 2 Analysis