writer's block

Arc I, The Plate of Space

Chapter Nineteen:

The Omega Shadow

No matter which Pokémon I could become, the Ditto would only follow suit. We could have played this silly game of transformations only to reach an eternal stalemate, and I would be so distracted that I would never reach my Plate in time. Perhaps that was exactly where Grimmstone wanted me.

I pushed away into the open expanse of water. The Pokémon around us, startled, fled into the darkness, alarmed by the impending battle between two legendaries. I slid easily through the water, as effortless as could be. Lugia's body was designed for underwater maneuvers.

But so was Kyogre's.

My chest tightened. Whoever held the Plate had not yet departed from the catacombs, but they were attempting to experiment with what was left of its power. I feverishly tried to form a mental picture of the person. I saw the faint outline of their body and some of their eyes, but nothing else. From that self-painted description, I could at least tell that Grimmwolfe was not there. Maybe he had never left the ship, after all.

Still — that meant that his spider web was more elaborate than I believed.

Crying out with anger, I lunged through the water towards Kyogre. It spread its fins and retaliated, whirling ocean tornados surrounding its body. We collided in a colossal exhibition of dominance, like two fairytale behemoths in the dark pit of the sea. All of the resentment that had been stored inside of me was exploding outward.

The force of my tackle left us tumbling in a mass of disarray. We crashed onto the coral floors, clouds of debris and sand floating around us. I held the Kyogre, twitching and pained, with my psychic powers, and it froze one of my wings with a crystallizing beam of ice. We used the elements, and sometimes we resorted to a more primitive method of battle, biting and scratching.

My heart suddenly beat with such strain that I found myself dazed and confused. Each pulsing heartbeat came like a pummel to my face.

"Do you feel that?"

My vision blurred.

"I have the feeling that Arceus is quite aware of my presence now."

The painting of the stranger — the bastard who had my Plate — was clarifying. I saw the fishbowl picture of a person, indistinguishable from either a man or a woman, with blanched skin, dark hair, and nebula-black eyes. He — she?— tapped on the surface of the Plate, peering into it like it was an all-seeing mirror.

"Hello, Arceus," he said. His voice was somber and seemingly infinite, old as time. "It seems that I've finally acquired the Plate of Space. But you knew that, already. I'm sure you felt it."

Noticing my lack of concentration, Kyogre slammed into me, sending me spinning away. I snarled, regaining my focus, and thirsty for destruction, I plunged deeper into the ocean. But the person, the humanoid creature with the eyes like black stars, nudged for my attention again.

"You may not know it, but I've been looking for a way to contact you for a very, VERY long time."

I beat my wings under the water, sending forth powerful currents that caught Kyogre.

"In fact, I would even say that I've been trying to find you since the beginning of the universe…"

Troubled, I hesitated. My vulnerability was quickly becoming apparent. Kyogre swung out one of its fins, knocking the side of my head. I crashed into a wall of sea rocks. In between my disoriented blinks, I saw its dim markings, glowing like beacons of bloodlight in the shadows.

"...since your creation…"

Lugia's body could remain underneath the water for hours without oxygen. Only ten minutes had passed and I already need to resurface. I furiously shook my head back and forth, willing the ominous voice to disappear.

"...well, since OUR creation."

"Who are you?" I demanded through the Plate. Narrowly dodging a blow from Kyogre, I swam towards the moon. I would have much rather been far up there, beyond the stratosphere. On the white skin of the celestial crescent, I saw the stranger grinning down at me, amused by my desperate surge for air. "Where's Grimmwolfe?"

"Grimmwolfe is exactly where he needs to be — doing exactly what I ordered him," said the stranger. "The plot thickens, yeah? How pitiful for you how things have come to be. You think that Grimmwolfe — Grimmwolfe! — is the largest of your worries? What a sad, sad misunderstanding you've reached."

I breached the surface, spreading my wings to catch the world below me. Water droplets, like stars, glittered upon the canvas of the sky.

"Who are you?" I asked again, my patience evaporating.

Latios and Aurelio, both human, were sitting on a floating slab of wood. I yearned to join them, but I knew that Philippa was near, and wherever I went, her Pokémon would certainly pursue. My friends would come to no harm as long as I was near. Gathering my last breaths, I descended from the heavens again, diving into the water to rid of the dangers I had stirred.

The voice was growing fainter by the word. "I wish you would come meet me instead," it purred. "You are the most essential step in bringing back life to this wasted body of mine. And I've missed you since the last time we met…"

"We've never met!" I snapped. I saw Kyogre's dark silhouette.

"The fact that you say that," said the voice, sounding slightly grieved, "is what drives me to fight for my cause. We will meet again soon, and everything will become clear. There are many things you don't know concerning the human world, but I think that you know even less about yourself. Come find me, Arceus, and remember the name Luce…"

With that, our connection shattered and I was truly alone in my head again.

The momentum behind my dive gave me strength. I pummeled into Kyogre at breakneck speeds, aiming to end the battle there and then. I was so enraged that my vision turned to red. As one giant mass, we hit the edge of a dark precipice and then rolled into blackness. The water went from bearable to overwhelmingly cold. Dark, ambient noise rumbled from the endless trench below.

I would have dragged Kyogre to the center of the earth if I could reach it. Wrapping my wings around its body, I used the last of my momentum to dive downward. The initial tackle had taken enough of its toll, and Kyogre provided little struggle. Soon enough, the only visible light all around us came from the speck above. Deep sea monsters screeched at us as we fell. I felt the gentle brush of fins and tentacles reaching out to touch me.

When even Lugia's skilled eyes could see no more, I finally released Kyogre and used my wings to slow myself down. It floated further, unconscious.

I intended to swim back up, but a flash of light caught my eye. Kyogre lifelessly transformed into Ditto, still and unmoving as fish food. Caught in a moment of surreality, I watched it drift away. If I watched any longer, it would drown in the underwater canyons. Forgotten to nobody, except the Antebureau.

Some benevolent creator I am, huh…?

My clothes dripping, I stormed over to Philippa, whose expression was ghostly.

"Here," I said, relinquishing the Ditto. She wordlessly returned it to its Pokéball. "It was a son of a bitch to battle," I added, feeling like I had to exchange some form of pleasantries, despite how positively unpleasant our relationship was. "Our time to battle will come again. But it's not now."

Philippa nodded, her head lowered. She stood there with her Pokéball held delicately in her hands, as if she beheld a baby bird. I thought I might have seen her eyes brimming with tears.

I glanced at Aurelio and Latios, warmed by their energy and support. "I have one question before I drop the cordiality. Consider this a favor returned. Afterward, you will go that way, we will go this way, and you can explain to Devon why the ship's been split in half. Our next reunion will not be this amiable."

She wiped her tears. "What do you want to know?"

"Grimmwolfe is your boss…" I began. The night time air cast a chill over my skin. "But there's someone else. Someone who's in charge of him. Of all of you. His name is Luce."

Philippa regarded me with stony eyes. Whatever excitement and enthusiasm she had exhibited before was completely gone. "As much as I want to, I've always known that I could not capture you, Arceus. Even if I could, I would never be able to hang on." She dejectedly looked at Latios. "But you must never let your guard down around Luce. He's a power that will challenge your fortitude, perhaps even level it. Whatever you do — do not underestimate the Antebureau."

"What about—"

"I agreed to one question," she interrupted. Her spirit must have been returning, for she gave us a weary smile. "For saving my precious partner. As you said, now you will go that way, and I will go this way. Goodbye, Arceus, Latios, and the Solomon boy. You're off to confront worse things than me. Good luck."

Philippa faced the destruction that we had collaboratively caused. She contemplated in the eerie silence of ruin. Then she waved at us, and she was gone.

"Who's Luce?" asked Aurelio, standing close enough to me that I relaxed in the warmth radiating from his skin. I longed to reach for his hand, to ask him to comfort me like he had unknowingly done before we left Rustboro.

My throat closed. He asked that so casually — he had not felt the sinister presence in my Plate. Sinister on an otherwordly scale, on the plane of gods and monsters and immortals. It was far beyond Grimmwolfe, the human threat. We were potentially dealing with a being of great supremacy.

"Luce is…"

In fact, I would even say that I've been trying to find you since the beginning of the universe, since your creation…

Well, since OUR creation.

"Whoever he is," I muttered grimly, "we will find out soon enough."

End of Chapter Nineteen