~ Chapter 91 ~

The Final Power, the King of Pokémon!

"If anyone had told me on the day I left Twinleaf Town that in several months time I would be speaking to the Creator God Pokémon that created the universe and all things in it I would have laughed in your face. Even after Nilama gave me the Azure Flute I was still doubtful I'd be finding myself here. I later learned that where I was was known as the Hall of Origin. It was…well, you'll see..."

Sam continued up the steps.

He climbed for what felt like hours, but finally, he reached the top.

Several crystal-glass like structures seemed to form a platform that connected to the top step.

Everything was see-through, but gave off a faint glow.

Looking around, Sam could see he was much higher up than before, he seemed to almost be in space. He could see the darkness of the atmosphere around him, stars glittering in the black-blue dome, but he could still see the gradient that bled down into what the humans saw as the sky.

It was a blend of day, night, and sunset and it was hauntingly beautiful.

Sam couldn't deny the view was amazing.

And something had noticed.

"Breathtaking, is it not?" asked the voice.

Sam jumped and spun around.

He found himself face to face with a glowing orb of light. It floated in the air, in the centre of the platform, and though it gave off light, it seemed to give off no warmth.

"Forgive me, I should have announced myself," chuckled the voice.

Sam paused for a moment before responding.

It sounded familiar, he knew this voice…yes, of course. It was the voice in his head after Sam had been shot.

The same voice, the same one that had promised him he would not be alone, and had seemed to ask him questions to test his mettle.

"You sent Giratina," stated Sam, "And the Lake Guardians."

The orb seemed to nod. "I did," he admitted, "The Lake Guardians were there to assist the new Champions, and Giratina was needed to shatter the Red Chain. It's chaos can be…useful when put to proper use. Besides, there was a Champion that needed its Creator."

"Thanks," replied Sam, "It…we could use the help, and it was needed."

The voice stated nothing, but Sam could feel its appreciation for the gratitude.

"So where are we, exactly?" asked Sam next, "Forgive me, I've got a lot of questions."

The orb nodded. "Understandable," replied the voice, "There is a lot going on—lots to question. We are in a place known as the Hall of Origin."

The orb spun and as it did, so too, did the world around Sam, like it was some kind of observatory.

"From the Hall of Origin, one can watch the entirety of all creation," explained the orb, "It is, as you think, like an observatory. I can see any point in creation, at any point in time, at any speed I wish, and yes, I can zoom in and out as I please."

"How?" asked Sam, "And how are you not visible, how has no one ever found the Hall of Origin?"

The voice chuckled again. "It is like a pocket dimension," explained the voice, "A separate plane of existence parallel to the world you come from. They are attached, and meet at a single point."

"The Spear Pillar," stated Sam.

The orb nodded. "Correct," he explained, "But do you know why?"

Sam thought for a moment, and then it clicked as he looked down and saw the very place he had come from to get here. "The Spear Pillar is said to be the point where Arceus created the universe and all things within it," explained Sam, "And from there, he created the three Creator Dragon Gods, and then, the Lake Guardians, and then all other life."

The light laughed boomingly. "A close enough approximation to what happened, I suppose."

"What do you mean?" asked Sam.

The orb did not respond.

Instead, it started to shift and form, changing shape as it started to grow legs, and then a neck and a head.

Sam was dumbstruck as he saw the Pokémon form and the light wear off.

He recognized the creature from drawings and statues and from the tales told by Nilama and others.

It was pure white, with a grey underside, and yellow accents on its legs; yellow circular patterns sprouted from the Pokémon's centre, studded in gems and jewels.

Its head was placed atop a long, thin neck, and had a long, cloud-like protrusion coming from the back.

In a way, the Pokémon God almost seemed to resemble a tall, spindly llama with a skirt.

Sam kept this evaluation to himself though.

As the Pokémon reared, it looked down at Sam.

The creature was massive, at almost ten and a half feet tall; it towered over Sam and the world above which this little pocket dimension appeared to be placed.

Sam bowed to Arceus, and Arceus bowed back.

"Forgive me," stated Arceus gently, "I am not normally in my full form. I prefer a more…loose and abstract form as I muse over all creature."

Sam laughed awkwardly. "I understand. Totally."

Arceus laughed at Sam's glib comment. "Forgive me, I don't often have visitors…or those who can relate to me. Now tell me…have you any more questions?"

Sam thought for a moment.

"What happened earlier?" he asked, "We met before, and we talked. Was I dead?"

"You were not dead," replied Arceus, "You were merely at the doorstep of death."

"What saved me?" asked Sam, "Did you?"

Arceus shook his massive head slowly. "I did not send you back. Not entirely…it was not your time to go, but something else was pulling you back before. You were at the veil, at the doorstep, you live your life on the precipice, constantly on the edge of the living and the dead."

"What do you mean?" asked Sam confused, "Am I half dead?"

Again Arceus shook its head. "No," he replied, "You merely stand between two worlds. Like standing in a doorway, half in one room, half in another."

Sam still didn't get it.

"You see the dead, do you not?" asked Arceus.

Sam paused. "You mean my grandfather?"

Arceus nodded. "Something tethers you between both worlds, allowing you to peer into both, while still being alive. When you were wounded, your life force wavered, and in that brief moment of weakness, you were sucked towards the doorway of death. I kept you from passing through, but as your spirit regained strength, you were drawn closer and closer to life. You were never meant to die atop the Spear Pillar, but a combination of factors brought you to deaths door."

Sam nodded. "I think I understand now. I think…maybe."

Arceus laughed. "Perhaps, in time, you will, truly."

Sam shrugged. "Maybe."

The two stood there in silence, looking down at the world as the sun had set and bled to night.

Atop the Spear Pillar, with the storms and clouds that whipped around the top of Mt. Coronet, it was impossible to see the time of day.

Sam could only imagine how things looked to those who remained behind.

"Do you know where my friends went when the dragons took them?" asked Sam.

Arceus nodded. "Dialga lives at the Heart of Time—between all times. It exists in all times at once, similar to Celebi."

"Celebi?" asked Sam.

"Another story, for another time," noted Arceus before continuing, "Your friend Jeremy has been taken there, to see all times at once. He has not left the Spear Pillar, merely that point in time."

"And Lyss and Niya? Where are they?" asked Sam.

"Palkia has likely taken her to its own pocket dimension in another space, the World Between Worlds. While Giratina has taken Niya, along with the man Cyrus, to its own home, the Distortion World."

"The Distortion World? Where it was banished for its violence?" asked Sam.

Arceus chuckled. "It was not banished," explained Arceus, "The Distortion World was created by Giratina, for Giratina, similar to the domains of the other Creator Dragons."

"Why?" asked Sam.

"Giratina is not just the God of Anti-Matter, but the God of Chaos. Chaos is necessary for all things. Where there is order, chaos must shatter it; and where there is chaos, order shall come to set things straight. Chaos is not a ladder, but a pendulum, swinging between the two extremes of order and chaos. Such is the nature of life and creation. We spoke of this when you and I first met."

Sam nodded. He was starting to remember the harder he thought about it.

"So Giratina left this world because there was not enough chaos?" deduced Sam.

"In a way," nodded Arceus, "Giratina is a being that brings and causes chaos. But chaos needs balance; it has a time and place. To avoid bringing chaos to the world eternally, it went into a world where the laws of reality, time and space do not bind it. The Distortion World; it is a lawless, chaotic world. It's beautiful in its own way."

"I can imagine," Sam lied; still not understand how chaos and lawlessness could be beautiful.

"Can I ask something else?" Sam asked suddenly.

Arceus laughed. "Besides the question you just asked?"

Sam nodded with a smile. "What…what happened during creation? How was everything made? Why was everything made?"

Arceus paused.

The Pokémon inhaled gently, and thought for a moment.

Sam realized this wasn't an easy question, nor was it a quick question.

"I cannot explain how I came into being," explained Arceus, "I know simply that once I came into existence, so did the beings with whom I helped shape the world. These unknown creatures I have never named, for they were not my creation to do so, but they hold together the fabric of reality. You may have seen them when Palkia and Dialga appeared atop the Spear Pillar."

Sam nodded. He still couldn't help but feel as if he had seen those creatures before—he wasn't even sure if they were Pokémon or not.

"With them, my Thousand Arms, as you humans called them, I created reality and the fabric of all things. But I needed living beings to anchor them to. Creating leaves one very tired, and very drained…I could not hold Time, Space, Matter, Chaos and everything else together myself. I would have been too weakened to protect and oversee anything if I had," explained Arceus, "And so, I created Dialga, Palkia and Giratina to help me govern Time, Space, Matter and Chaos respectively. Giratina created the Distortion World and departed there to watch over his realms, Palkia went to the World Between Worlds to govern over Space, and Dialga went to to the Heart of Time to preside over Time."

"I created the Lake Guardians to help control and keep a hold on the Creation Trio to ensure they would not be misused by my future creations I was planning, and to also help guide and govern the humans I was creating as well," continued Arceus, "As you know, the Lake Guardians gifted humanity the values of willpower, emotion, and knowledge; but also bravery, truth, and critical thinking. They taught humanity how to be, and gave them, as Cyrus would believe, the flawed human spirit. Flawed, perhaps, to some…but not imperfect. Flaws and imperfections…they are perfection. No one is perfect, not even I. As I learned when I saw my humans turn on everything I had taught them…abandon it, and move on. Seflishness, greed…these too were given to humanity, indirectly, by the Lake Guardians."

"After creating the Lake Guardians, and then the humans whom I would entrust this world to—partly anyway—I would create the next species to whom I would entrust the world to. This species was to be a balance to humanity, but also companions…a give and take, between each other, and between themselves and nature. In this way, I created Pokémon."

Sam was enthralled by the somewhat confusing and disjointed story.

There were gaps, and the way Arceus spoke made Sam realize that he was not necessarily telling Sam everything, but just the important parts.

Then again, Creator Gods were welcomed to keep whatever secrets they so wished—Sam wasn't exactly in the position to be questioning them about it.

Something else Sam noticed, was the more he listened to Arceus, and the longer the Pokémon talked for, the more Sam realized he spoke with a slight accent. The language he was speaking now was not its first language…it was something Arceus had learned and picked up…and some of the way it spoke showed that, due to lack of use—likely due to lack of visitors—showed that the Pokémon was out of practice.

"When I created Pokémon, and by extension, their now less common animal cousins, I had a different vision than the humans," explained Arceus, "With the humans, I created several small groups that would create a diverse and rich array of humans from the intermixing…no for the Pokémon I tried something else. I created a single Pokémon, and then, from that, a single type of Pokémon."

"Which Pokémon did you create?" wondered Sam.

"Mew," stated Arceus simply, "I created Mew, several, many, numerous Mew. But within Mew, I created all the possible variations of Pokémon and animals I could ever possible imagine. I imbued within every Mew, a portion of my creation energies…and so Mew, as they lived, and grew and spread out across the world, began to breed. Many times, they would give birth to more Mew…but occaissionally, within their DNA, the latent DNA of the Pokémon I had imagined would come through, and from these eggs, would come new Pokémon, or other animals and creatures."

"Why?" asked Sam, confused again, "Why create Mew instead of creating all the different Pokémon, and why not do the same with humans you did with Mew?"

Arceus paused long before responding. His answer did not come easy, or quickly. In fact, the Pokémon seemed almost lost for how to answer. "I do not know. Whim? Will? It was how I chose to do it…I have never really questioned my reasons…only that…at the time, within my heart, it felt what was right. I cannot explain my nature—I apologize."

Sam shrugged. "It's all right. How could a mortal ever expect to understand a god?"

Arceus smiled. "Easier than you think, perhaps."

"Please continue your story," added Sam.

Arceus shook his head. "There is not much else to say. The Mew created new creatures and Pokémon of all kinds, and in the process, became less numerous themselves as these new beings became plentiful. I created some other beings, similar but separate from Pokémon and other creatures, other beings, other creatures and Pokémon to watch over different aspects of creation and life and the world I had made…and meanwhile, the humans continued to grow and evolve, and you know how that went from there…"

"Are there still Mew out there in the world, or are they simply legends like some believe?" asked Sam.

"That is a difficult question to answer," he stated, "But I shall give you the best answer I see fit to give: there are less than I would have liked, but far more than I could have hoped."

Sam's head hurt, but he understood the need for secrecy.

"Thank you for sharing with me, Arceus," stated Sam humbly, "Truly…I have been…so lucky to share and partake in your knowledge and stories. I have knowledge that I don't even know Nilama has."

"She doesn't," chuckled Arceus, "This is knowledge I usually save for my Champion…and I have not had one of those in…a long time. A long time…long before the war that sent humanity from this mountain chain."

There was a somber pregnant pause.

It was shattered abruptly as Arceus snapped from his stupor to look at Sam, turning to face the teenager who was but an ant beneath his feet.

"Now I suppose we must get to the reason you are here," stated Arceus, facing Sam resolutely, "You must battle me, and capture me."

"I suppose I must," stated Sam, reading his first Poké Ball.

Arceus chuckled. "Forgive me for my tests—I had to see if you were worthy of my power as Nilama had hoped. You passed."

"So how do I battle the Creator God?" asked Sam nervously, "Can I even win?"

"No," stated Arceus flatly, "But not all battles are won with strength. You have won me own in my own type of battle…a battle of souls, wills, and heart. Your character has won me over, and so I submit to being caught."

"Wait, what?" demanded Sam, baffled at what he was hearing.

"Besides," laughed Arceus, "It would not be much of a battle with what you have in your pocket."

"You know?" asked Sam in amazement.

Arceus nodded sagely. "Yes. And I admire most, above all else, your restraint in using it. You brought it, you could have used it long ago—you and your friends. And yet, despite having it, you still prepared to face me in honourable combat. So, I have nothing more to say today, and no battle in me, I submit to your will. Toss your Master Ball, and I shall be yours."

"Are you absolutely certain?" asked Sam; worried this was some kind of trick.

One did not want to upset or anger a Creator God after all, and gods were not always the kindest to mortals according to some legends.

"Absolutely," Arceus smiled.

Sam nodded and pulled out the small purple ball. It was accented with red bump on the side and a large white "M" on the front.

His gut churning, Sam tossed the ball at Arceus, and watched in amazement as the ball swallowed the large Pokémon whole, and hit the ground without a single rattle.

Something about this Master Ball felt wrong…Sam vowed he would only use these Poké Balls as an absolute final resort when catching only strong or dangerous Pokémon.

Sam walked over to the Master Ball and picked it up. He held the ball tight, feeling the warmth and power of Arceus within.

He heard the Pokémon God's voice within his head.

And with that, Sam felt the Hall of Origin fade away, as he fell back towards the earth, everything going white as he fell.