Giratina wasn't invincible, apparently Arceus wasn't either.
Giratina always knew that, it was able to hurt, to bleed. However, Arceus was always different to Giratina. Arceus never seemed to be capable of feeling hurt, of bleeding, not even as he fought with his three children, Dialga, Palkia and Giratina. Beings that can manipulate time, space and the very dimensions at whim respectively. Their impress power and combined might didn't matter however, he defeated them easily and singlehandedly with not even a scratch to indicate he was in a battle.
Arceus always seemed to be this….infallible pillar of strength, his coat white as snow, glistening in the sun, his plates orbiting him, mini satellites that obeyed his whim and simultaneously empowered him. Or at least, that's what they appear to be to the average observant. In actuality the plates were Arceus, or more specifically parts of him that makes him complete when all sixteen were in his possession. The Creation Trio were well aware of this fact, which is why Giratina was suddenly staring at its former master in consternation.
When Arceus has all his plates he is positively brimming with energy that seemed to electrify the very environment, a literal powerhouse. However, as Giratina analyzed Arceus, it realized that the power that normally rolled off of Arceus in waves was dulled tremendously. That could only mean one thing. Whatever defeated Arceus also took his plates, which was actually a smart choice of action because the loss of Arceus' Plates left him vulnerable, slowing his impressive healing factor considerably and thus weakening him. Giratina could not fault the creature, whatever it was, for fighting smartly.
However, the fact that it was able to weaken Arceus enough to take his Plates is something to take note and lose sleep over.
Arceus finally stirred from its slumber, causing Giratina to file its opinions and evaluations away for further processing later.
The first thing Arceus saw when it woke up was a serpent more than twice its size with conical spikes or claws on its long black tentacles or streamers looking quite ghostly despite its opaque appearance, six short and spike-like protrusions from is sides, six gold half rings on its chest resembling ribs that it can freely move, four deadly golden spikes at the end of its tail and two glowing red eyes gleaming with malice and mischief through its head plate as it deliberately placed its face in Arceus's line of sight. Poor Arceus was so surprised he shrieked (a sound more befitting a woman than a god as older than the universe) that literally shook the cave and scared off the ghostly Pokémon that occasionally roamed the Turnback Cave, including the Haunters whom promptly disappeared inexplicably.
Giratina's eyes suddenly became emotionless once again, pulling at Arceus' hamstrings as Giratina began to float away. Arceus' embarrassment was designated by its cheeks which glowed a vibrant red more befitting a tomato.
If any of the other Legendaries got wind of this he would never hear the end of it and forever is a very long time. Furthermore, how must Giratina feel as it witnessed its (former) master scream like girl when faced with his own son. Arceus placed its feet under it as it rose from its prone position on the dirty floor of Turnback Cave (did Giratina drag him out here?) and levitated to where Giratina was floating in front of the opening of its second home.
"Giratina, I'm sorry you had to witness that." Arceus said with honest regret saturating its words as it sadly noted Giratina's shaking form. Clearly its respect for its father dimmed quite a bit.
"The cave shook" Giratina's silky smooth masculine voice rang out in Arceus' mind brimming with what Arceus could only assume was horror underlying in the angelic voice.
"Yes it did." Arceus' embarrassment only grew as the pink hue on its cheeks suddenly traveled to its entire face and increased in heat until he was sure Giratina could feel the Enthalpy rolling off his face in waves.
"The mist parted." Giratina noted in wonder as its tremors only grew stronger with every word until it looked like an eight year old child that just consumed a gallon of coffee mixed with syrup.
Arceus did not even notice but as he looked around he realized that, yes, indeed the ominous mist that characterized Turnback Cave seemed to be trying to blend with the wall. "Apparently." Arceus once again agreed as he felt his face heating up even more to temperatures that would have surely killed any mortal by now.
Then Giratina did something Arceus did not expect to see let alone hear ever again in his entire, eternal lifespan.
It laughed.
It was a vibrant sound, its dual voice chiming like bells as the tenor and soprano voice mixed beautifully immediately dissipating the dreary atmosphere of the cave.
Giratina really did try to keep a professional appearance but its father always brought out its mischievous side which showed itself once again as Giratina, still in its Origin form, doubled over in laughter, its ghostly streamers twitching with pent up mirth before seemingly twitching uncontrollably. It suddenly stopped and looked at the mist cowering at the edges of the cave before dissolving into a new fit of laughter.
A small part of Arceus was indignant, his pride taking a large hit as his own child laughed at his misfortune that was caused by Giratina itself but a larger part reveled in the beautiful sound and his heart broke knowing that he would never hear the melodious laughter ever again. Giratina never realized it had a beautiful voice and probably never will.
Giratina eventually regained control of itself, its full blown laughter fading as it remembered someone else who brought out its mischievous side…..Dawn. It's been a millennium since her death and yet it still heavily impacted the Ghost/Dragon type Pokémon. Was this wound ever going to heal? It's been so long, didn't time heal all wounds? Giratina feared that this wound was far too deep to ever heal. It could still feel the pain of its heart sometimes, the burning of its insides by the loss of its soul mate but it never cried, it long since ran out of tears.
Though perplexed at the Dragon's snap depression Arceus made to comfort the suddenly downcast Pokémon. However, he forgot his injuries resulting in the malfunction of his power and his feet folding beneath him as he swore and cursed vehemently words that would make a sailor blush like a school girl who was told she was beautiful.
The sudden noise attracted the serpentine dragon as it quickly turned to the source of its mirth and almost chuckled at the sight of the strongest Pokémon in existence nearly pouting as he futilely tried to stand, his long neck eventually settling down in a bowed manner as he gave up his useless struggle and seemed to resign himself to his own weakness, acquiescing to his body's demand for rest…..for now.
Giratina ignored the pitiful sight and levitated to its creator, its form conveying "all business". This was the Giratina Arceus first encountered when he barged into its layer in a panic. Giratina seemed to dwarf Arceus even more than usual as Arceus grudgingly made itself at home on the cold, hard and unforgiving floor of the cave.
"I repeat my earlier question, why have you entered my heavenly abode in such a piteous state? Who caused such pervading damage to your system that you can barely stand? What did you mean save them? Who are they? How do you expect me to save them when you, the god of all Pokémon, was so soundly defeated?" Giratina continued to interrogate Arceus almost overenthusiastically, showing no remorse even when Arceus showed signs of being overwhelmed, its pale face becoming even more ashen as it was mercilessly bombarded with questions that no creature should have to face in such quick session. To be reminded that they failed the ones closest to them. To know they were mercilessly outclassed by a variable it did not foresee.
"Enough, Giratina!" Arceus suddenly exclaimed in a booming, deep voice as its patience finally grew short, Giratina immediately quieted over the telepathic connection as it became wary of the god's wrath. Arceus' fury was something to behold and Giratina was taking no chances….not even with the wounded god.
Arceus' anger vanished as quickly as it appeared however (much to Giratina's relief) as it suddenly sagged, its whole form expressing extreme exhaustion, "Pardon my outburst, Giratina, I am haggard as I was beaten senselessly by a Pokémon that I thought has long since passed. Apparently, I was wrong. That Pokémon wasn't alone unfortunately; it was also backed by a small army of Pokémon as Team Plasma unleashed their weapons of choice. Beware Giratina, this Pokémon is not of this Earth, I never foresaw it arriving on this plane but I fear not…..surely my child will succeed where I have failed. Please Giratina, save Palkia and Dialga. They were captured by the group of humans that refer to themselves as Team Plasma. They are a criminal organization that must be stopped; I barely escaped with my life. I anticipate your triumph because you are my child and thus you are the only one that can."The original ones' powerful voice rang out throughout the very cave before softening as sleep eventually claimed him. The Original One dreamt of his own vibrant laughter and child-like giggles originating from his three little angels, of a world where there was only four and all was right.
Giratina sadly gazed down at its former master before Giratina was suddenly in a court room of sorts within the white walls of the Hall of Origins, surrounded by its brethren whom refused to look it in the eyes. No! it didn't want to be here, Giratina looked around frantically, what was it doing here. It didn't want to experience this once again! Giratina felt a feeling it does not usually experience, fear. Fear of its past.
It remembered the feeling of being ostracized, fear pervading throughout its entire body as it stared at its doom, its own father. It remembered the horrifying feeling of choking on its own blood from Arceus' furious onslaught, and yet never dying of it. Just choking, choking, choking and choking. Will it ever breathe again? Will it forever choke on its own coppery tasting liquid of life? Why did Giratina's master hurt it? Why is master still talking? Did he not know that Giratina was dying? Was it dying? It couldn't tell, it doesn't even know if it can die, with its Ghost and Dragon type combination it is ridiculously resistant to aging and can take punishment that would have killed even other Legendaries and gods.
Yet its master brutalized it. Yet its master killed it. It would never love again as its creator spouted nonsensical things that Giratina's fragmented mind could not have hoped to process. How dare Arceus choose man over his own child!
It would Brutalize Arceus! It would not rest until it bathed in his blood. Giratina will NOT stop! It was not suppose to be like this. It was suppose to be adored, venerated, loved and respected for protecting the peace so why! Why was it punished? Giratina heard the words: "banish" and "Distortion World", one of its very own creations. No! It would not suffer in such eternal solitude! Arceus will die for this betrayal!
It stepped towards Arceus, murder and bloodlust in its eyes completely ignoring the other legendaries in the room (Why do they still refuse to look it in its eyes?).
Two more steps and Giratina could taste Arceus' blood in its mouth (or is that its own?) and prepared to leap at its former master (no more!) before it was suddenly propelled back into the waiting Darkness by a ridiculously pressurized water blast in the form of Hydro Cannon by its very own sibling, Palkia.
Its roar of unadulterated anger, sorrow and hate originating from its betrayal tore through the very world it was cast into and pierced through every Legendaries' heart present, arrows that tore into flesh and cardiac muscle as their morning star was casted into the dark abyss.
Giratina was violently forced out of its flashback as it wildly looked around, only finding a harmless, unconscious, weak and oh so vulnerable Arceus. It would be so easy really, Giratina could just use the barbed tip located on the top of its ghostly streamer and thrust it into Arceus' back, the area where his heart resides. Nobody would know and the feral Pokémon that visit this cave would probably get rid of the evidence via eating the god's cadaver. It would be the least he deserved.
Mind made up Giratina lifted its tentacle and… buried it into the ground mere centimeters from Arceus' face. The Original One barely moved in its slumber, unaware of how it narrowly escaped certain death, even having the nerve to smile a little, the egocentrically oriented buffoon.
Giratina bowed its eyes, but no tears came. It had long since run out.
Giratina roared at the prone form of Arceus before turning and flying out of the cave. As soon as Giratina exited the cave it became covered by a purple semi-liquid as it changed forms. When it fully emerged a 14 foot basilisk flew off into the skies in the place of a 22 foot long serpent, flying over the Sendoff Lake, never once looking back at its home.
Giratina occasionally resurfaced from its chambers but yet it never got tired of the feeling of ultra-violet waves of an electro-magnetic origin bombarding its hulking body, the feeling of the wind blowing in its face as it steadily picked up speed before topping at two hundred meters per second, its ghostly wings occasionally flapping when faced with an abnormally strong gust of wind.
Giratina was breathless. It looked down on the breath taking fields, the grass taller than many humans and housed many wild Pokémon. Giratina was grateful for the lonely Cynthia's tutelage or else it would have surely been severely lost in this new, alien world where anything is possible. It tried to ignore the rural Western side of Sinnoh as it flew on the path leading to one destination, Lake Acuity.
Giratina was so focused on getting to its destination, it paid no heed to the lakes below it, nor the grass, nor the herds of bull-like Pokémon with three glaring eyes, nor the Turtwigs with their turtle like features and misplaced bird beak and what appears to be a tree growing out of its head, nor the shrewdness of flaming apes that appear to be on perpetual fire, nor the herd of Ponytas and Rapishidas with their heads and mane peculiarly on fire but they neither cried nor even seem to notice as they grazed in peace.
Yeah….. Giratina didn't believe itself either.
The flight of Staraptors and Starraviers squawked in panic and indignation as a near two thousand pound flying basilisk suddenly flew through their formation scattering the Flying type Pokémon. Giratina merely chuckled as it rose higher into the air, its ghostly, bat-like appendages flapping ferociously to lift the creature with a one thousand, six hundred pound frame even higher into the air. As Giratina gained altitude a surprising feeling overcame it, a feeling it hasn't felt since Hareta battled with it when Giratina was feeling rather rowdy, elation. Giratina gave a monstrous cry, all the Pokémon in Sinnoh looked up and everyone in Sinnoh knew that Giratina was free. The Renegade has returned.
Mew looked up from its perch on a building on the eastern and urban side of Sinnoh, his small pink, cat-like form suddenly growing taut as it heard a creature he never expected to hear from again in his head.
"My fellow subjects, Legendaries and fellow gods, again I stand before you to declare that my sentence has been lifted, cross me and I shall bring the wrath of a god upon you. Join me in my endeavors and you shall be rewarded greatly." With that ominous declaration, Giratina disappeared in a burst of black flames, its cold laughter following as it cut off its telepathic link with the Pokémon of the world.
A green dragon with a frame of a Chinese dragon, two arms and scales, Rayquaza, roared from its place in the ozone, a sound of challenge originating from its throat aimed towards the Renegade Pokémon that has deigned to return to this plain.
Mew flittered off, a serious and contemplative look on his pink face, something unusual on the normally cheerful god's countenance.
The lake trio bowed their heads, acknowledging the beginning of the end.
In Hohen Deoxys gazed at the sky its face blank before returning to its partner, one of the few like it.
Cresselia gazed at the place Giratina once flew before flying to another area. This does not bode well for the world; will she have to face Giratina as well as Darkrai to protect all she holds dear?
Darkrai glanced up calmly before continuing its trek of Newmoon Island in never-ending isolation of its own choice to protect the world from its vast, uncontrollable power.
Lugia woke but refused to rise to see if it was true, to see if the renegade really has risen because it fears the damage to the world above it would accidently wrought.
Entei was confused, never encountering Giratina before, discarding the scenario as a fool whose let power get to its head. During this entire thought process it never stopped running on the landscape of Johto.
Thunder clouds appeared accentuating Raikou's confusion.
Giratina merely continued on its journey marveling at the sites, including the forest. The forest seemed to be endless as Giratina watched the trees passed underneath it. There were also many bug type Pokémon nesting in the cacophony of trees much to Giratina's disgruntlement. The bug type Pokémon seemed to be aware of every single thing occurring around them, their behavior reminding Giratina of a paranoid human.
Giratina suddenly heard a panicked scream of what sounds to be a child and two roars that would have scared off anything that would have possibly helped the youth. Giratina changed its course for the direction it heard the sound emitting from. It eventually spotted a dark blue dragon with red underbellies that cover from their abdomens to the bottom of their jaws and the rest being a light blue. Furthermore, the creature had appendages that resembled a human's flying contraption like a plane or jet Cynthia was always talking about. It had four fins, one on each arm one its back and another on is tail; horns that resembled jet engines that comfortably rested rest on their heads each with a light blue stripe in the middle. It has spikes on its hind limbs and sharp claws on its feet. Its eyes have black scleras and gold irises giving it a rather sinister appearance. A Gabite. Cynthia spoke about them, fierce and predatory dragons with short, deadly teeth and equipped with speed that would have made a Starravier envious. The real deal apparently, Giratina would be the judge of that.
Then Giratina analyzed the variable other than the Iggly Puff. It was another dragon with the same color scheme but Giratina was taken aback. This dragon type looked to be a badass. Its snout had a gold cross and a gold emblem in its chest. Additionally, the appendages were quite similar to Gabite, except of its sharper claws that dwarfed the other Pokémon's accompanying it. There was also a pair of spikes covering its wings and legs. A Garchomp. Shit. From what Giratina knows, Garchomps can fly at insane speeds, rightfully taking its place as one of the fastest creatures on Earth. Judging by the cut on their Dorsal fin they were obviously males.
Even so, Giratina was curious. Both Pokémon were cave dwellers, what are they doing in a Forest? This doesn't add up. Moreover, Giratina realized that now only was the Iggly Puff hopelessly outclassed (it was almost funny) but it was also outnumbered. Even so,does it really want to save the child? Why should it? Why should it face two speed demons, beings that would give Giratina a run for its money with their insane speed to save one uninteresting Iggly Puff? It levitated above the Pokémon battle, its wings not moving to keep it afloat, as it witnessed the Garchomp and Gabite positioned themselves in such a way that the Iggly Puff became trapped between the two larger creatures.
The Gabite abruptly flew towards the pink, bouncy Pokémon its speed as bit of impressive as Cynthia said. Time was running out, it needed to make a decision immediately.
The Iggly Puff screamed.
Giratina suddenly gave an aggressive cry as it landed roughly on the ground between the Iggly Puff and the rapidly approaching Garbite that suddenly stopped its oncoming assault, a crater forming as the ground bent under Giratina's impressive weight as the dust refused to settle, blocking the Garchomp's sight of his hunting partner.
When the dust finally cleared the basilisk was dispassionately staring at the short, 4 foot dragon, ridiculously unimpressed by its stature as Giratina was over three times it size. The starving Gabite nonetheless refused to let go of his prey and stayed his ground, snarling at the indifferent basilisk.
Only further infuriated by Giratina's apathetic personality, Gabite fired a Flamethrower at Giratina, a vortex of flames spewing from his mouth incinerating everything in his path. Giratina didn't bother dodging, knowing that if it did dodge, its foolish opponent would have burnt down the forest in its entirety and which would be extremely disadvantageous to Giratina. After all, Arceus basically let it off for good behavior, if he found out Giratina burnt down the Sinnoh Forest Giratina might as well kiss the world goodbye as Arceus would personally make sure Giratina never saw the light of day again.
Thanks to Giratina's thick hide it barely even felt it, in fact Giratina laughed at the pathetic excuse of an attack before flying at the shell-shocked dragon type, flames circling it as Giratina approached its prey at high speeds, faster than even the Gabite, before head butting it with the strength of a truck and the heat of the flames doing extra damage to the Ground/Dragon Type Pokemon. Garbite was propelled back, finally crashing into the tree trunk out cold, unable to withstand the power of Outrage.
Garchomp roared in defiance before charging, using Double Team to confuse Giratina so that it could land a successful hit unimpeded. Garchomp and its copies launched themselves into the air as Gachomp clawed Giratina in the face in the form of an uppercut with the use of Dragon Claw. It actually felt that one, Giratina decided to show no mercy.
"You dare strike me vile beast? Be gone from my sight!" Giratina's heavenly voice sang through the use of telepathy before firing a huge orange Aura Sphere, the powerful orb of energy travelling at amazing speeds and endangering the Gachomp's life.
The Gachomp quickly darted to the side to dodge the miniature sun, its form a mere blur as its yellow eyes shimmered with battle experience and bravery even as the area where the Aura Sphere struck was decimated. The Gachomp took off like a jet, flying at the speed of sound, 343 meters per second. Giratina was impressed despite itself. The basilisk looked at the pre-evolutionary stage of Jiggly Puff who seemed to have fainted from the shock of nearly being eaten.
Giratina quickly took off with its own impressive speed chasing after the mor aerodynamic dragon, yet it knew it wouldn't be able to catch up to the blue dragon in time. But then again, it didn't have to.
The blue badass landed in a dusty clearing, apparently waiting for it. Immediately Giratina was wary. Something was not quite right with this situation. It landed anyway….and instantly regretted it.
The Garchomp roared in victory as it was clear to him that the battle with the self proclaimed god was already over, Giratina fell into his trap.
Before all six of Giratina's legs could even fully immerge in the sand, a sand storm suddenly formed out of nowhere. The Giant Pokémon's eyes widened as it just remembered that not only was Garchomp a Dragon type but it was also a Ground type. And where was it? A dry sandy area located just outside of the forest. Great.
Giratina's eyes glowed a blood red as it realized it was played for a fool. The renegade cried out as the Sand Storm unexpectedly picked up and mercilessly assaulted its thick, amour-like hide. It was like the sand was draining its energy, but that was fine. Giratina had a lot of stamina. The Garchomp didn't seem to be through though and tried to tackle Giratina to the ground.
Giratina was more than twice the size of the sleek dragon and many times heavier however and only managed to annoy Giratina which tried to whip him with Iron Tail but missed as Garchomp quickly retreated into the confines of the storm he created to try yet another strategy.
Giratina didn't have to wait long as the sand continued to batter its body before Garchomp began to strike from the confines of the sandstorm with Dragon Claw form a mere blur as it struck Giratina with its long claws at its legs, chest and head. Soon enough Giratina was littered in scratches but it never wavered. It patiently timed the period between the attacks until it got it down pact before finally making its first move since the Sand Storm began.
Giratina's head crest or plate glowed blue before its body turned black and finally disappeared like a ghost. Giratina would never get use to the cold engulfing it or the feeling of deconstruction and reconstruction of its molecules. It was never painful, just an abnormal feeling.
Giratina appeared again above the confused Garchomp who was staring stupidly at the now empty space with its right claw out in front of it in the direction that its opponent occupied a few moments ago. Never heard or saw the Dragon Pulse until it was too late.
The blue, condensed shockwave collided with the Charchomp's chest causing him to slide back in the sand until finally coming to a stop, bent over with its claws in the sandy terrain to decrease its velocity. It finally looked up only to see Giratina firing another strong shockwave from its mouth towards its fellow dragon.
Charchomp was still disoriented after the first Dragon Pulse which is why it didn't dodge the second shockwave which knocked him off his feet. He got up quickly however, and noted that the sandstorm was nonexistent. He must have lost concentration.
In rising desperation Charchomp tried to bury Giratina in sand via Sand Tomb, however, Giratina suddenly flew up into the sky avoiding the attack and negating the effects.
Giratina had no such qualms however as it levitated in mid air via its ghostly wings and gathered nature energy causing its body to glow green before performing a Shadow Force and reappearing right behind him with a green Energy Ball pointed towards the back of his head. The Garchomp quickly turned around only to get a face full of a green ball of energy that exploded on impact.
A detonation occurred flattening everything unfortunate enough to travel too close to the area. Once the smoke cleared there was the unmoving form of Garchomp, its neck twisted at odd angles as its body was covered in blisters, its face an unrecognizable charred black from the raw, untamable nature energy.
Giratina snorted, turned, and strutted away from the smoking carcass, from its conquest with its head held high and its wings shivering pleasantly while it slowly came down its proverbial adrenaline high. Oh how it has missed battle, where life can either end or continue to become even stronger.
It soon found the Iggly Puff still on the ground fast asleep, a cute smile adorning its adorable face, blissfully unaware of the hardcore battle Giratina undertook to protect its life. Giratina seemed to sigh in exasperation as it averted its eyes from the cuteness emanating from the lone figure before taking its arm in its toothless mouth and rocketed into the atmosphere, saving the fairy Pokémon from the predators living on the forest floor, its form bleeding profusely from its many scratches and sores the Dragon Claws and Sand Storm caused correspondingly.
Authors notes: Well, that's all folks. Giratina's quest is only beginning, it will face many enemies, encounter friends and allies and maybe, just maybe, learn a valuable lesson. Why did Garchomp give Giratina so much , Pokémon wants to include Science, so why not? I surely like it enough. In this story battles won't be won by who has the higher stats (how boring!) but who employs the best strategy, pure luck or simply has too much advantages (type wise) for it not to win. Why is Giratina so intelligent? Remember, just because someone or something is educated doesn't necessarily mean they are intelligent (I am the living proof of that). Even so, Giratina has both attributes (education and intelligence) in spades. You can't be around two Genius women without picking something up. Not to mention Giratina was taught by Cynthia as she realized Giratina was intelligent enough to teach though there were glaring holes in its education.
The result you ask? Giratina learnt how to count,the ABC, understood and memorized many mathematical, chemistry, biological and physical equations that would rival Arceus. Further, Cynthia had Giratina sit down and basically memorize the whole pokedex. Why, well she thought of Giratina as her son despite knowing that it was billions of years older than her. Isn't that what us humans do? Adopt creatures that are technically older than us?
Moreover, I have always been fascinated by Dragons and one thing that fascinated me the most was their wisdom. While the young are little more than dumb beasts, as they grow older their wisdom far exceeds that of normal human beings and yet, they are wrathful, violent, territorial and proud. In this story you will see Giratina display all these characteristics and more as I model Giratina's personality after the dragons' common personality aspects that are suspiciously similar to Giratina's personality in the anime and manga as they are also known to hold long grudges as it does against Dialga and Palkia.
Sorry the fight was so short but I will compensate in the next chapter that will really put you at the end of your seats, chairs, whatever.
NB: Underlined words are Pokémon moves.