Chapter 4: Nature of the Beast

The sun had begun to set after a while, and Jake sat quietly, staring into the campfire. According to Eric, they had made it about halfway to Striation City. It had been an awkward few hours since they left, and nobody said much. The journey here had been uneventful, and it left plenty of time to think. Too much time to think, in fact. He couldn't get his mind off of what happened in Nuvema Town. The murders, those "Awakened" things, and his own close encounter with Giratina: it was a lot for him to take in.

"Are you okay? You're acting really down."

Jade's sudden "voice" surprised Jake and made him jump. He turned and saw Jade sitting down next to him. The cat was looking at him, a concerned look on his face.

Jake sighed and stared back into the fire. "Jade...what have I gotten into here? All I wanted to do was go find Landorus and Tornadus with you and Dad. Now we've got an angry Zapdos following us, Giratina's on the loose, and now there's those Awakened things killing people! How am I supposed to feel?!"

"Jake...?" Jade put his forepaws up on Jake's lap, crawling up on him and staring him in the eyes.

The doleful look Jade was giving him was just too much, and Jake hugged the Espeon. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm just stressed. I didn't mean to snap at you."

"This is pretty sudden for you isn't it? I can sense your worry. I'm scared too. That's why I have a favor to ask."

"Yeah?" Jake pulled away from Jade.

Jade sighed and scratched his ear with a forepaw."I want to be strong enough to protect you. Eric trusted me to be your guardian, but there's things I can't do alone. Can you help me practice fighting?"

Jake was unsure what to say. Sure, fighting was part of what trainers do, but he had no idea where to even begin. Maybe Eric knew what to do? He looked over at Eric, but he'd fallen asleep in a squatting pose, snoring away with his head in his chest. Jake had to bite back a chuckle. His dad had the amusing talent of falling asleep in comical positions, and seeing another example of his zany gift made him smile.

"Jake."

Jake jumped up in surprise, stumbling and barely avoiding the fire. He had no idea Zack was behind him until he spoke up just then. "Arceus! Don't do that!" he scolded the Pokémon, "I almost fell in the fire!"

"You flatter me." Zack replied, smiling mischievously, "I'm just a humble Zapdos."

"Wise-crack." Jake rolled his eyes. He was in no mood for more of Zack's troublesome attitude. "What do you want, Zack?"

"I...It's..." Zack seemed lost for a moment. He paused and stared off into the fire, almost as if he couldn't quite figure out something. "Have you had any other visions? Headaches? Any hallucinations?"

"Huh? What kind of question is that?" He wasn't expecting Zack to ask something like this. Zack rarely spoke unless it was to grumble or bark orders.

Zack looked over at Jake. To his surprise, Zack's stare was not his usual baleful glare, but much softer now. Maybe even...concerned? Nah. Zack seemed too serious and intolerant to care about a human...right?

"I'm trying to make sure Giratina didn't cause any lasting damage to your psyche." Zack said, suddenly looking away and into the fire again. "You were quite reckless back there."

"I was reckless?!" Jake shook his head and sighed, "Says the crazy Zapdos who charged that Awakened thing."

"I was stopping it from feeding!" Zack scowled and lowered his head. "But that didn't work, did it? I couldn't do it. Its a miserable failure." He kicked a pebble into the fire, frowning at the ground.

Jake was puzzled. He had no idea Zack had this kind of side to him."Why do you care about that? I thought you hate humans."

Zack sighed and looked back at Jake. His expression was serious, but lacked the harsh, hateful edge Jake had seen before. "I didn't always hate humans, Jake." Zack walked over to a rock nearby and tapped his finger on it as he climbed up on it.. Jake reluctantly took the invitation, warily taking up a perch sitting next to Zack. He looked over at Jake and smiled a little. "You're an interesting human. You remind me of another human I knew some centuries ago."

"Oh yeah?" Jake blinked, suddenly realizing what Zack just said. "Wait, centuries? You're talking hundreds of years now?"

"Of course he is!" Jade cut in, jumping up next to Jake, "He's Zapdos, remember? Rumors say the legendary birds of Kanto are nearly immortal."

Jake nodded. "I see. You must be really ancient then."

"Hm." Zack shrugged. "I have nothing on some Pokémon. Compared to Griatina, I'm a child."

"And how old is 'a child' in your terms?" Jake was getting curious about Zack's past. If he really was that old, he must have been through a lot, especially compared to his own experience.

Zack fell quiet for several moments. "I guess it has been six-hundred and fifty-two seasons since my last rebirth. I forget."

"Wha!?" Jake nearly fell off the rock. He certainly wasn't expecting an answer like that! "That's seriously old!"

Zack smiled a little again. "By human standards, I suppose I am old." Zack shook his head. "I'm getting off subject. What I wanted to say was..." Zack sighed and looked directly at Jake. "I'm sorry for being so harsh on both of you. When I saw you almost die back there...I felt so...foolish. Angry too. So often, humans and Pokémon die around me when I get attached to them."

"Zapdos?" Jake was confused. This was a rather unexpected revelation from the usually arrogant and bitter Zapdos.

Zack suddenly looked away again, staring down at the rock and frowning. "And I almost got you two killed because of my pride. It's more than a bit humiliating to realize it." He looked up at Jake again. "Is it too much to ask for a second chance? Can you forgive this old bird?"

"It's okay, Zack." Jake replied, putting a hand on his shoulder. He was actually relieved to see that Zapdos actually had a kinder side to him. "We all have stuff we're not real proud of doing. It's not like I expect perfection or whatever. I guess even legendary Pokémon have regrets."

Zack gave Jake a look, staring at him, a softer look in his dark eyes. "Thank you. Maybe there are still some good humans left after all."

Jade flicked his ears. "Did you forget? I asked if we could train?"

That's right! Jake remembered now. He'd gotten distracted by Zack and completely forgotten. "Hey, Zack. Can I ask a weird question?" The Zapdos nodded, and Jake continued, "How exactly do you fight a Pokémon battle?"

Zack just gave Jake a look. "Why do you ask that? I thought all humans knew how to fight?"

Jake shook his head. "No. I only became interested recently. Up until a couple days ago, I was just a clerk's aide at the Pokémon Center in Mistralton City."

"And your father? Is he asleep?" A loud snore from Eric got Zack's attention, and he looked over at him, clearly surprised. Eric had fallen straight over from his squatting pose, landing straight on his face, but still asleep. "How does he even sleep like that?"

Jake started laughing, startling Eric awake. He sprang up like he'd just been goosed and looked back and forth in surprise. "Buh! Wha?! Oh. It's half-past midnight." He scratched his head and yawned. "You two are still awake, huh?"

"Yeah." Jake bit back a smile, "You were sleeping on your feet again."

Zack tilted his head. "He does that often?"

Jake chuckled. "Yeah." Now that Eric was awake, Jake took a second to tell Eric how Jade wanted to train. Eric smiled back at Jake warmly. "Sure thing, but we should get some sleep first, okay? There's no thinking when you're sleepy."

"I can escort him if you are too tired." Zack offered, "Besides, I can't say I blame him for being sleepless. I can't let my guard down with Giratina's Awakened prowling about."

"Oh yeah?" Eric glanced between Jake and Zack, smiling mischievously, "What's gotten into you two? Did I miss something?"

"I think I need to apologize to you as well, Eric." Zack said, climbing down from the rock, "I thought you two had to be part of that scheme. I assumed too much, and I regret that." He sighed and looked down. "Forgive me."

"Hey, cut it out." Eric grinned impishly, "Kissing up doesn't suit a legendary Pokémon. Just, try and be a little more understanding okay?"

Zack nodded. His expression suddenly tensed and he froze, only moving enough to look sternly at Jake. "I should have asked this from the beginning. How much do you know about the Awakened, anyway?"

Jake and Eric exchanged looks. Jake wasn't too up-to-speed on legends and stuff, preferring helping out around the shop to chasing tales. Of course, he wished he'd paid a little more attention now. Eric shook his head, answering for both of them, "I don't know much about Pokémon outside of Unova. I only know what I do about Giratina from what happened yesterday."

Zack sighed and leaned up against the rock. "I see." He frowned and looked down at the dirt. "The history of Pokémon isn't all sweet and peaceful. There was a time, long before my first rebirth, when Pokémon waged war on one another. There were two kings of reality in that age. One was called Arceus. You know it is the ruler of our world, and the creator of all Pokémon. The other was the Pokémon called Giratina. Originally, Giratina, and two other Pokémon, Dialga and Palkia, were born to maintain the world's balance of forces."

Zack looked up and back at Jake. "Do you follow me so far?" Both Jake and Eric nodded, and Zack continued his tale. "According to what I know of the matter, Arceus wanted Dialga to support the flow of time. That has been done flawlessly thus far. Palkia was assigned as warden of space. There has been no problems with its way of rule either. Lastly, Giratina was born to rule the world of antimatter, that which is called the Distortion World. Giratina was not satisfied with an entire world to its disposal. It wanted to dethrone Arceus and become lord of all worlds."

"Wait a minute." Jake was starting to get confused. "What do you mean, 'all worlds'? Is that Distortion place not in Unova or something?"

Zack gave Jake a sharp look again. "I hope that's a bad joke. The Distortion World is not in Unova or any land you can comprehend. It exists on a completely different reality than the one you know. In that reality, the inhabitants are composed of antimatter. They are the Awakened; mighty beings that are neither human nor Pokémon. Over the eons, Giratina has warped the Awakened into twisted things that serve it without sway. They were its soldiers when Giratina waged war on Arceus all those years ago."

"So, let me see if I understand." Eric scratched his head, looking at the Zapdos with a bewildered expression. "Giratina lives in that Distortion World." Zack nodded once. "It wanted to take over the world, so it called upon those Awakened things living there to help it defeat Arceus." Zack nodded again. "I saw what those Awakened things can do. How did Arceus fend off the Awakened?"

Zack thought for a while, staring off into the campfire. "I don't know any of it first-hand. It was before my creation. I do know that Arceus created his own soldiers to fight off Giratina's onslaught. They are what you call 'legendary Pokémon'. My lord Ho-oh was among the first-born of Arceus' flock. Ho-oh was granted power over the funerary flame, and rebirth. Ho-oh aided Arceus' creation of more soldiers, more legendary Pokémon, and the war was in full-force. To hear it from Ho-oh, the fighting soon grew so heated that the very world started to crumble apart. That's why the oceans are so big. They are scars from that great climax."

"Wow." Jake wasn't sure what else to say. That was quite a story, and he hadn't even heard the end yet! "So how did Arceus win?"

"It wasn't an easy victory. After convening with its creations, Arceus decided a sacrifice was necessary to save this world from oblivion. It decided to kill Giratina."

"Wait a second!" Eric cut in, earning one of Zack's now infamous glares, "If Giratina's dead, how can it still be a threat?!"

"I'm getting to that!" Zack snapped, "Now stop interrupting me!" Zack took a moment, snorting in irritated impatience before continuing. "As I was saying, Arceus planned to destroy Giratina to save the world. Arceus lured Giratina to the Hall of Origin, then unleashed its mighty Judgment upon the king of Distortion. This horribly injured Giratina, and it begged for Arceus' mercy. Arceus made to release Giratina to the Distortion World, but Giratina instead attacked Arceus vicously from behind, inflicting serious damage on the elder Pokémon. Arceus was furious, and so shocked at Giratina's vehement behavior that it ripped Giratina's legs off as punishment for its horrible behavior. Giratina still would not surrender to the First One, even mortally wounded. Thus, Arceus was forced to finish Giratina, using a vast amount of its powers in the process. However, Giratina's hatred for Arceus burned strong even into death, and it continued to exist as a ghost. Arceus feared Giratina's persistence and feverish loathing. So, with one last effort, Arceus banished what was left of Giratina to the Distortion World. That seal was supposed to keep Giratina there for all eternity. After a bittersweet victory, Arceus withdrew from the world, choosing to recuperate in the Hall of Origin. It is said that even now, eons later, just a shadow of Arceus' former strength has returned, and it continues to rest after its massive efforts."

For a long couple of moments, all Jake could do was gape slack-jawed. Jake had absolutely no idea that such a thing could have ever happened. Eric was clearly in a similar state of shock, and his silence seemed to confirm it. Finally, Eric managed to speak. "Zack, that's one crazy story. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were full of it."

Jake nodded. "So, you were one of Arceus' fighters during the war?"

Zack shook his head. " No. Moltres, Articuno, and I were created by the union of our predecessors, Lugia and Ho-oh, later. I suppose in a strange way, they are our 'parents'."

"Really?" Eric queried, "Then that means one is male, and the other is female. Who would have guessed it?"

"Not really." Zack shook his head again. "You humans get so fixated on gender. It baffles me. I only even took the form of a male human because there are no equivalent human genders to what I really am." Zack shrugged. "Does it even matter anyway? The body you are born with is just a shell. What you do in life makes you who you are, not what you have."

Jake yawned. This heady stuff was really taxing his brain, and he suddenly felt drained. "Great. Now I'm sleepy..."

Eric nodded. "Let's put off that training until tomorrow. Sound good?"

Jake grunted in response and looked at Jade. "Is that okay?" Jade yawned back and nodded sleepily. Soon, rather suddenly in fact, an exhausted Jake had pulled one of his dad's tricks and fallen asleep sitting up on that rock.