"Stop chewing on my shoe."
My uncle glared at little Rumble, who looked back up at him with innocent eyes, not knowing what it had done wrong.
"I bought you chew toys to chew on, Rumble." I admonished as I waved said item at him. "So don't go about chewing anything else."
Rumble rumbled back a yes as it waddled up to me again on its four stubby legs. He rubbed his scaly body against my legs like how a cat does.
"I guess he really imprinted himself on you." My uncle commented as he picked up and frowned at his now destroyed shoes. Good thing my uncle is one of the richest men in Kalos. A ruined shoe is nothing for him.
"I don't even know what I did to reward such behaviour." I shrugged as I patted Rumble on the back. "It just left its family and decided to follow me. That wild krookodile didn't even turn back to search for Rumble, just letting him go off like that."
"Krookodile probably trusts you enough to take care of Rumble as his new parent." My uncle speculated as he found a new pair of shoes from somewhere. "Your affinity with Ground types is the most mysterious thing I ever come across. I've long since given up trying to know why."
"That's not like you, uncle."
"I'd rather not drive myself crazy over your weird abilities." My uncle argued back. "There are people who are born with unexplainable abilities in the world. They pop out every now and then. Look at Sabrina of Saffron, she is born with psychic abilities. Tate and Liza from Hoenn, same thing too. I heard that they can speak telepathically to anyone they wish and even teleport themselves with their own power. When compared to them, your ability to understand and attract ground types suddenly doesn't seem like much anymore."
"Somehow, I feel offended by that statement even if I don't know why." I replied with a raised eyebrow as Rumble finally decided to try out his new chew toy.
"Do you have time for a new project?" My uncle changed the topic as he put on his shoes to go to work. "I have something else that may interest you and is also possibly vital to both Project X and Y."
"Oh?" I perked up. "What is it?"
"Investigate the legends and myths of Xerneas and Yveltal." My uncle stated. "As of now, we suspect that the source of Infinity Energy may have originated from the two legendary pokemon but we aren't too sure. This is where your expertise comes in. Since the museum you are working at gives you so much freedom to research whatever topic that interests you, you might want to take this up instead."
"I think I will." I nodded my head in thought. "I reached another dead end for my own research into the history of the Kalos King and the Kalos War anyway. I'm almost certain that this part of history was purposely erased. There are too few clues to follow."
"Maybe something really unspeakable happened and whoever erased it deemed it too dangerous to be let known to the world." My uncle replied as he opened the front door, half of his body already out of the house. "I will send you what the company knows of Xerneas and Yveltal later through your Holo Caster. Maybe you will have an unexpected breakthrough in your research of the history of the Kalos King in the meantime."
"Will do." I mock saluted. "Have a safe trip!"
My uncle waved me goodbye before leaving the house, closing the door behind him with an audible click. After instructing Tinen to keep an eye out for Rumble lest he decides to chew on something that is not his chew toy, I went to change and get ready for work.
I work as a historian in the Lumiose Museum. My job is basically researching, studying, analysing, interpreting, and documenting facts of our region's history. I mostly dabble in the area of the Kalos War that happened about 3,000 years ago and also about the Kalos King, which is not an area many historians choose to specialise in because many found it too difficult and too outlandish. Most of them had their work centered around the time period which are relatively more recent.
All the historical evidence and facts that I had collected and found are stored in the archives of the Lumiose Museum which I work at, even those not relating to my main work. I had added seven full shelves worth of historical data that I had unearthed ever since I started my work as a historian at the museum. Being a historian is not the most glamorous of jobs and the pay really depends on how good and invaluable your research is. Not many historians make it big, but the average pay is enough to allow one to live comfortably even in a city like Lumiose where the cost of living is noticeably higher.
In my opinion, being a historian is not a job, but a profession that requires one to have a lot of passion in what they do. For any other people, the work of a historian is numbingly boring, but not to me.
I locked the door behind me as I walked to my workplace, Tinen and Rumble walking alongside me. Rumble is curious about everything around us since this is his first time living in a city. Tinen has to shepherd him with her bones every now and then to make sure that he doesn't wander off or bite anything that he isn't supposed to bite.
I reached my workplace after ten minutes of walking leisurely through the streets of Lumiose.
"Nova, found anything new?"
"A book I got from Dr Handel. Malva passed it to me." I waved back at Pagaret, the receptionist at the entrance of the museum. "How's things when I wasn't here?"
"Same old." Pagaret waved it off before his gaze travelled downwards. "New addition?"
"Yep. It just doesn't want to return back to his family after he found me. I named him Rumble."
Rumble rumbled back a greeting to Pagaret, who waved happily at my sandile.
"Just don't chew on anything here, okay?"
"I made sure to bring his chew toy along, so it should be fine." I answered on Rumble's behalf as I made my way up the stairs. "See you later!"
I soon reached my office located on the third floor where only authorised staff are allowed to enter. After exchanging a few words of greetings with my colleagues and after they are done fawning over Rumble, I got to work.
I carefully stored the picture book away on my allocated shelf. I had already scanned the entire book and made a hologram image out of it to store in my Holo Caster, so I wouldn't need the physical copy anymore. Once done, I walked to another shelf that is handled by one of my colleagues.
"Hey Soria, you mind if I look through the things here?"
"Nova? Sure, go ahead." My colleague, who is a historian specialising in investigating the legends and myths of Kalos' pokemon replied to me before going about doing her own things.
I took what I needed before bringing them to my desk. Putting my Holo Caster on the table and using it to bring up the holographic images of the data my uncle had sent, I sat down in my chair with my cup of coffee placed at the top right end of my table.
Time to get to work.
Historical accounts of the myths and legends of Kalos legendaries varied here and there, but there are also many consistent points in many of these stories and historical documents that I found. Sightings of them are rare to come by for they do not appear before humans unless absolutely necessary. Usually, their sightings would mean that something is very wrong in our world because they have to come out to right whatever wrongs that woke them up in the first place.
There are many more great stories about Xerneas when compared to those written about Yveltal. Xerneas is said to be the giver of life. In fact, the legends about it states that it shares eternal life to those it deemed worthy of such a gift. However the act of bestowing eternal life had also been seen as punishment in certain cases, depending on the context of the situation the written records described. There are also historical accounts that said Xerneas would transform into a tree to sleep for a thousand years once it expended its powers. Legend also has it that when Xerneas' horns shine in seven different colours, it is a sign of it bestowing eternal life to an individual. When disasters claim too many lives, Xerneas will appear to restore the lives lost so that Kalos will remain standing and not be a vacuum filled with death.
There are many nice things documented about Xerneas, but the same cannot be said for Yveltal.
Unlike Xerneas, Yveltal is said to be the bringer of death. Yveltal thrives on destruction. Just spreading its wings and tail feathers is enough for it to absorb life energy. A flap of its wings can cause thousands to die instantly. Another witness account made more than two thousand years ago stated that when Yveltal glows red, death follows the lands it flew past. Most historical accounts of the legends and myths surrounding Yveltal showed us enough to know that the pokemon is treated more as a demon than a pokemon. There is also a historical account of a monk stating that Yveltal will wake up from its cocoon state when there is too much life present. The monk speculated that Yveltal's job is to regulate the world's population. It brings about death to make sure that the world will not destroy itself from within when there is too much life present, so that the world's occupants will not suck the world dry of resources in the grand scheme of things.
Another myth about the destruction pokemon claimed that making sure that the world can survive for eternity, in the cosmic sense, is Yveltal's and Xerneas' true duty. For Yveltal, it is its responsibility to make sure life can go on by bringing about death, for destruction brings about new creation, death brings about new life. Only when life is short will species compete with each other so that we can evolve and not get complacent and procrastinate. On the other hand, Xerneas' steps in when calamity struck Kalos or when Yveltal had gone too far, bringing life back from the grasp of death so that the world will not be empty and is able to continue to live on. Xerneas is a benevolent and compassionate pokemon. If given the choice to only save one group of people out of many, it will not hesitate to choose to save everyone. Yveltal is the exact opposite. Death and destruction is all it craves until it deems that its responsibility to maintain the order of the world is fulfilled.
If one were to look at the legends and myths in this manner, then Xerneas and Yveltal are like each other's checks and balances. When there is too much death, Xerneas will appear to bestow life. When there is too much life, Yveltal will awaken to bring about death. It is a never ending cycle that repeats itself for eternity. A beginning will eventually come to an end and the end brings about a new beginning, that is the meaning of eternity that the two legendary pokemon represent.
Lumiose Museum is the largest and oldest museum in Kalos. Even then, there are very few records in our archives that can show us a glimpse of how the two legendary pokemon might have looked like. The most detailed description of Xerneas' and Yveltal's appearance is an ancient drawing of both pokemon facing each other in battle. In the drawing, Xerneas is a quadrupled, stag-like pokemon with four pairs of antlers. The colouring on the drawing is faint, but it is enough for us to see that it is largely dark blue and black in colour while its horns shine a golden hue. Yveltal is depicted as an avian that is largely red and black in colour. Its appearance is like a demonic cross between the vilest physical characteristics of dragon and flying types.
Life and death. Checks and balances that brings about eternity. To make sure that the world can continue to live on forever, one became a god loved by many to bestow life, the other became a demon hated by all that reaps that very same life.
I'm not sure which one is stronger, but I sure hope that both pokemon are of the same strength. Too much life will doom Kalos. We are already experiencing a gradually worsening case of overpopulation. Nobody wants to die too, so I hope something can be done about the overpopulation problem before Yveltal wakes up. If the myths and legends about the destruction are to be believed, then it wouldn't be long before Yveltal awakens from its slumber. The bringer of death awakens when the world suffers because there is too much life, that is a consistent point that every single historical document told us when it comes to Yveltal. Every single historical record we have of Yveltal's legends or myths are all documented after Yveltal is done with regulating the world's population by bringing about death. It was the survivors of the destruction that Yveltal caused who recorded the information about the destruction pokemon, the ones that I'm reading about now.
There is a part of Xerneas' legend that caught my interest. If Xerneas is said to have the ability to bestow eternal life and assuming that it really has the ability to do so, was it the one responsible for giving eternal life to the Kalos King? The bedtime stories about the Kalos King ended with him wandering around for eternity to search for his beloved pokemon who left him. If him wandering for eternity is true, he must have attained eternal life. How and where did his eternal life come from? That question is one of the unanswered questions that I have been trying to get an answer for.
There are many assumptions made here. For one, I have to assume that the story that passed down through word of mouth for more than 3,000 years is indeed factually correct. Secondly, I have to assume that Xerneas and Yveltal are somehow involved in the story of the Kalos King.
I got a feeling that I may be onto something here. Maybe my uncle's right. I could possibly make some headway into my own research of the true history behind the Kalos King by researching the myths and legends of Xerneas and Yveltal.
The first point that stood out to me was the ultimate weapon that the Kalos King used. How did he create it? More importantly, how was it powered? If the story was to be believed, that it somehow brought his beloved pokemon back to life, how was it achieved? There are only a few legendary pokemon whose myths and legends spoke about their ability to bestow life. Arceus, Ho-oh, Xerneas, and maybe Regigigas are the only known ones to possess such abilities thus far from what little we know. Arceus is said to be slumbering somewhere in Sinnoh. Ho-oh made its home in Johto. Regigigas is said to be sealed somewhere in Sinnoh. Kalos houses the only remaining legendary said to have the ability to bestow life.
There is also no pokemon in existence capable of using any moves or abilities that can replicate such a feat. The technology used 3,000 years ago is also a far cry from what we have now, and even modern day technology is far from achieving what that supposed ultimate weapon could do in the story. The best we can do now is to revive pokemon from fossils, which is a different thing entirely.
Going by the logical and rational process of elimination using whatever historical facts or myths that I know, the most probable conclusion to arrive at would be that the machine that the Kalos King used had somehow harnessed Xerneas' power. I may be wrong about the entire thing, but I still believe that is the logical conclusion given what I know.
Then how did Yveltal come in? If Xerneas' power was used in that manner, harnessed by a desperate man trying to play god, I find it hard to believe that Yveltal will continue to sleep without taking any action. If the stories and historical accounts about Yveltal are true, its duty is to maintain the order of the world through destruction if there is too much life. It won't stand for having a creation such as the ultimate weapon existing in this world.
If I were Yveltal, what would I do? To prevent the ultimate weapon from bestowing life so easily, I would do my best to take it away. So-
I snapped my fingers as a thought hit me.
The Kalos War.
The Kalos War ended when the Kalos King could not let go of his rage. He fired the weapon that ended the war through mass destruction. Was that really true? Was he really the one who fired the weapon, or did Yveltal intervene somehow?
My thoughts went back to my uncle. He said that Infinity Energy, the very thing Lysandre Labs is researching to solve Kalos' power shortage problem, may have very well originated from Xerneas and Yveltal. Xerneas and Yveltal have the respective abilities to bestow life and death. Now, there is a possibility that they are also involved in the story of the Kalos King, assuming the numerous historical facts and documents I discovered about that tale is to be believed. In my opinion, the tale of the Kalos King that many Kalosian can recite by heart should be true because every single historical evidence I found supports this idea.
How does it all come together?
Infinity Energy. Xernas and Yveltal. Life and death. The Kalos King reviving his dead pokemon with the power of eternal life before committing an act of mass destruction. Ultimate weapon.
Come to think about it, powering a machine like the ultimate weapon has to take up a lot of energy for it to bestow something as miraculous as eternal life. Maybe Xerneas' power really is the Infinity Energy? In that case, did any of the scientists working at Lysandre Labs who discovered Infinity Energy suddenly gain immortality?
I doubt it. If one of them really did gain immortality, my uncle would have made a big hoo-hah about it. Also, silly me! The story explicitly stated that the lives of many pokemon were used to revive the life of the pokemon belonging to the Kalos King. Xerneas' power probably wasn't at play here, although it might or might not have appeared before the Kalos King because he tried to play god.
Maybe that's why the story ended with the Kalos King wandering for eternity. Maybe Xerneas did punish him by granting him eternal life, like what the few historical records of its deeds had stated. Sounds unbelievable, but that's all I have to work with right now.
Come to think about it, if the Kalos King is really wandering for eternity, where is he right now? Is he still at Kalos or at some other region? Maybe he is now in parts of the world even beyond those of the seven regions that made up the Pokemon World League? There's a lot of things one can accomplish in three thousand years.
I would probably need to know more about how my uncle discovered Infinity Energy before I can carry on with my investigation about Kalos' history on its legendary pokemon. I would probably gain more insight if I know how he even generated the so-called bioenergy from pokemon in the first place. I will ask him when I reach home later. Right now, I am just grasping at straws here with too many assumptions and unsupported speculations.
Eternity. Everything about the legends seem to revolve around this particular concept. The legends and myths of Kalos' legendaries are not widely known to most because most people simply treated them as deity-like figures that conveniently existed. It doesn't help that the last known sighting of any of them was about a thousand years ago. Before that, there were only three documented sightings of any of them. Most people would only know that Xerneas grants life while Yveltal brings death. That's about it.
Even less people would care about the legends and myths about Zygarde, an elusive legendary pokemon that ancient civilisations refer to as the Overseer of Kalos. There are not many historical legends and myths about Zygarde that was preserved and is still surviving to this day. We don't even know for sure what it looks like and many historians researching its legends argued over what should be its true form. Some say that it is smaller than the palm of your hand. Some claim that it takes on the appearance of a hound-like pokemon. Others argued that it takes the form of a serpent, much like an arbok. There are those who also insist that Zygarde's true form is that of a large, humanoid body that also has wings protruding from its shoulders.
In short, there is no conclusion which historians and pokemon experts can agree on what Zygarde's true form should be.
What we do know is that ancient civilisations had an equal amount of reverence and fear of the pokemon. Like many other legendary pokemon, its appearance is not a good omen. The few historical records we uncovered that survive the sands of time gave us clues that our ancestors view Zygarde as the Overseer of our region. The term "Overseer" is its title, although some other ancient languages translate it as "Watcher", but the meaning is the same.
The few historical records we found about Zygarde suggests that Zygarde is always watching Kalos. The moment it feels that Kalos' ecosystem falls into disarray, it will step in and eradicate all those who oppose it. It acts like a judge that has the forces of nature at its disposal. It is neither friend nor foe to anyone, an unbiased and neutral entity that passes its own judgement in its duty to maintain order as its own sense of responsibility dictates.
Zygarde's duty is a separate set of duties from Xerneas and Yveltal but its ultimate goal is also to maintain order in the world. Where Xerneas and Yveltal governs the order of the occupants of the world, Zygarde governs the order of the world itself. Does that put it above the former two legendaries? Maybe at least in terms of strength? It does sound that way.
Maybe I should also include Zygarde in my list of topics to research about. I need to dig up more historical accounts of Xerneas, Yveltal, and Zygarde, the ones who make up the Aura Trio. After I sift out the reliable accounts from the fictitious ones, only then can I start to piece out the truth of their history and legends. From there, I can contribute more to what we know about the history of Kalos and hopefully help my uncle in making some progress in finding the truth behind this Infinity Energy.
For some reason, I have this irrational sense of worry when I think about the overpopulation problem Kalos is currently facing and what Yveltal's supposed duty is. I really hope that if the legends surrounding Yveltal are true, it wouldn't wake up anytime soon. At least have the courtesy to wake up after I'm long gone from here.
After I had done scanning the ancient documents about Xerneas and Yveltal that my colleagues and I had carefully preserved so that I could save them as holographic images in my Holo Caster, I pushed them to a side of the table. I also contributed to the archives by writing my own interpretation of the history of the legends of Xerneas and Yveltal for others to consider, the ones that I had woven into my research of the story of the Kalos King. To be a good historian is to be able to consider all sides of the stories and open your mind to all possibilities. Once you have done that, you would need to consider every single fact, account, document, and possibilities and use an unbiased and objective way of thinking to come up with the most logical interpretation of the piece of history you are studying.
Much like how Zygarde does its duty as the Overseer of Kalos, basically. Like Zygarde, historians should strive to be an objective and unbiased entity as much as possible. The only difference is that Zygarde acts more like a judge while historians simply observe, record, analyse, and interpret what had happened.
Once done, I lazily dialled for my uncle with a single finger.
"Nova?"
"Uncle?" I greeted back when my uncle's hologram image appeared before me. "Remember the things you asked me to help you out with? I found out some things that you may be interested in and I have my own speculations, but I really do need to know more about certain things before I can make any further progress. Are we having dinner together this evening? Or should we discuss the topic tomorrow morning?"
"I will probably be free after seven." My uncle replied. "Any preferences for dinner?"
"As long as it burns a hole in your bottomless wallet, I'm in."
"Spoiled brat."
"You spoiled me."
My uncle facepalmed like I expected.
"No, seriously, where do you want to eat?"
"See? You are spoiling me by giving me the power to choose where we are going to eat."
"I'm disowning you."
I stuck my tongue out at him.
"Meh, stop lying to yourself. We both know that you love me too much for that."
Character and pokemon list:
Nova Labelle, Age: 26, Female, Ground Specialist, Historian, Niece of Lysandre
Pokemon on hand:
1. Mamoswine (Berg), Male
2. Golem (Crust), Female
3. Excadrill (Solid), Male
4. Golurk (Drift), Genderless
5. Garchomp (Core), Male
6. Claydol (Vision), Genderless
7. Whiscash (Seis), Male
8. Marowak (Tinen), Female
9. Torterra (Terra), Female
10. Gigalith (Mantle), Male
11. Tyrantrum (Jaws), Male
12. Aurorus (Sail), Female
13. Sandile (Rumble), Male
