Chapter 30 – Revelations
Every region maintained their own creation stories. Some believed more strongly than others but there was a reason that legends were worshipped. However, there was one creation story which had permeated through a vast portion of the population over the years. Sinnoh was a rare case where the ruins showcasing the truth behind their creation tales were still laid bare. The bones of ancient civilizations poking up through the ground, hiding their stories behind pictures and structures.
Professors from all over had come to study these ruins as they spoke to something that was not easily grasped. It depicted a form above all else. But what was this form? Was it a god? Did a Pokemon truly create the universe? Why was man shaped in such a way then? What was our purpose? All of these questions were asked along thousands of others. But there was no denying the truth that the ancients in Sinnoh had worshipped something powerful.
'In the beginning, there was an egg. Born into the void of nothing, He created the cosmos' read the quote within Sinnoh scriptures. These belonged to the pantheon of Arceus, He who was credited with the creation of everything. Was this true? Who could say. There was no one left today who could otherwise.
'From his touch, the universe was given shape. To see his glory was to revel in life. Gathered unto him, were the disciples of powers. Gifted unto worlds were their lifeforce. Touched once more and given shape by He who is all powerful'.
Man has a history of giving rise to the powerful and godly to explain that which they cannot. Kyogre was the god of oceans and rains. However, did the great sea beast truly create the oceans? Or did it simply command such power over them that its powers were mistaken for something greater than other water type Pokemon? Cynthia was more inclined to believe the latter. The same could be said for most other legends. Some Pokemon could achieve levels of power that were so immense, they could bring down the legends, so long as they were partnered with a trainer of whom their bond was inseparable. The champion walked back to where her grandmother was looking through her notes.
Cynthia was distracted. Once she had heard from Jill and Carolina what had befallen them, Cynthia had activated the International Police divisions to arrest Cyrus. The CEO had mysteriously disappeared however. Galactic Corporation holdings were frozen and their building's locked down. There was no chance that a resurgence of gang activity would occur in Sinnoh. Ever since the criminal activity of Team Rocket all those years ago, other regions had witnessed an increase in violent tendencies. Cynthia had said she would stop this when she became champion. Other champions wished to do this as well, but it wasn't easy. There were constant rumblings in almost every other region around the world.
"This is what I was looking for" Carolina said, snapping Cynthia from her inner musings. The champion looked down at the old book her grandmother had brought out and was flipping through. It was an older text about the connection between the fresco in Celestic and certain other scenes throughout Sinnoh. Most were simply conjectures that were made without real proof. Cynthia leaned over and read the line that her grandmother was pointing out once she had found it.
'Sinnoh legends speak to Palkia the ruler of space. The ancients describe the beast as the brother to time and its ruler Dialga. These are both creatures of matter. However, if we take that during the intial Big Bang, matter and antimatter were created in equal amounts, what tipped the scales so that we can only see matter?' Cynthia looked up.
"Isn't this the work of Professor Burnet?" Cynthia asked. She was vaguely familiar with the woman's work into space and time.
"Yes, she and Professor Fennel came to Sinnoh one summer on an internship. I met with them to discuss the possibility of different planes of existence" Carolina explained.
"They've had some breakthroughs since then I thought" Cynthia replied. Carolina nodded.
"There are other 'dimensions' for lack of a better word out there. The keys to this idea are the lake guardians. Professor Burnet has even measured disturbances from various sources but mostly the lakes. She has taken to calling them wormholes. But what I was more interested in the question she asked." Cynthia looked back down and re-read the word creators.
"You think that there is something to control antimatter?" Cynthia said quietly.
"I think there is something else out there. I've spent my life looking but cannot find it because I do not think that it lives in our plane." Cynthia stared at her grandmother. "In the beginning, there was only a churning turmoil of chaos" Carolina recited. Cynthia recognized it as the beginning of the Original One's scripture.
"That quote talks about Arceus and his eventual creation of Dialga and Palkia. But if there was a separation of matter and antimatter, then surely there was something which formed to control that power as well." Cynthia was shocked.
"This has never been said before…" Cynthia said not entirely sure of herself.
"I don't think the ancients ever encountered it, and if they did, the story has been forgotten. We have such few records that it isn't farfetched to believe that part of the story never made it through."
"Do you have proof?" Carolina smiled and beckoned Cynthia to follow. She led her granddaughter to another room all together, where on the table laid a stone slab.
"We call this a plate" Carolina explained while Cynthia walked closer. The stone was a deep purple, highly polished. The young woman's reflection stared back at her, blonde hair obscuring her left eye. Cynthia ignored her tired complexation and instead inspected whatever was carved into the stone. It was in an ancient tongue, something the champion couldn't decipher.
"Do you know what it says?" Cynthia asked.
"We've only been able to get a few words from it, as those markings are from such an ancient language. It's a Plate of Arceus." Cynthia raised an eyebrow at her grandmother.
"You're just telling me about this now?"
"You took the news of the convergence point here in Sinnoh harder than I expected you too. We uncovered this Plate in the ruins by Solaceon. So far we have been able to decipher the name Arceus" Carolina pointed to one of the symbols near the top as she said this. "We've also come out with a rough translation speaking of that which could not live within matter. The name stated we believe is Giratina."
Caladan kept staring at the fire. His entire family had fallen asleep as far as he could tell. Jill was leaning up against Epona, her chest rising and falling with each breath. Icarium was still in his meditative state, legs crossed and arms resting against his knees. His head however, had fallen and rested against his chest. Caladan didn't hear Chase pad up along side him, almost jolting when the electric type flopped down beside the ground type. Caladan was lost in his own little world.
"You alright big guy?" Chase asked in a quiet voice as they watched the flames die down. The clearing was no longer silent as coals popped, and those Pokemon who were nocturnal wandered around foraging or hunting.
"Not exactly" Caladan finally replied. Chase looked sideways at Jill's starter. Over their travels, Chase and Cal had grown close. They had been with Jill the longest, and their bond and love was that of brothers. This was why Chase knew that his friend wasn't doing good this past week and a half of travel. He had even spent a stretch of time within his Pokeball, saying at the time that he was moving too slow for the group.
"Yeah kinda figured that. Wanna talk about it?" The electric type looked back to the glowing embers.
"I don't know what to say." Cal's deep voice was usually a calming presence, but he was distracted, and it showed in his words. Gone was the solid confidence, replaced with unease.
"Well let's start with why you aren't revelling in your new power? I mean, you're freaking huge now" Chase pestered in a good nature.
"It's how I evolved though. Jill was in danger and I lost control…" Caladan trailed off. Urim stirred slightly in his sleep on Caladan's back.
"Well, hate to break this to you big guy, but I'm pretty sure we all would've lost our minds in that situation there" Chase said. "I know you think you're the leader and all here, but you gotta remember that we'd all do anything for her. Hell, even Sphyrna would do anything for blue and she's the dragon who can barely string two words together!"
"I heard that" the dragon growled from Caladan's otherside. Her eyes were still closed but obviously the conversation had awakened her.
"Oh shit, look what you did now leaves… toothy is awake…"
"You know for such a scrawny Pokemon, you have a big mouth. I should have you for breakfast" Sphyrna countered under her breath. Caladan gave a small chuckle at the two bickering. It was simply Chase's nature to be so mischievous. Sphyrna this evening though had shown she was as much a part of this family as anyone else.
"I'm sorry we woke you" Caladan said. "That wasn't my intention."
"I wasn't really asleep. Too restless" the dragon replied.
"What are you restless for?" Chase asked. They had been walking all day after all.
"Because I think I know what Caladan is talking about. That raw emotion that kicks in during a fight. The sweet bliss of battle focus where it's just you and your claws versus your opponent. There is nothing better in this world, but only when you are in control of your own power. Too lose control is to lose the battle, and that is unacceptable."
"How does that relate to Jill?" Chase countered.
"Because" Cal's deep voice interjected. "By losing control, by unleashing the power that she has allowed us to achieve, we could just as easily injure her or become what we're trying to protect her from." Sphyrna mumbled an agreement. Chase was silent for a time digesting that.
"I was so angry when I felt what was happening. Jill didn't mean to release me. And this time battling, I wasn't battling for Jill or anyone else. I was just angry and wanted to hurt that little weasel thing or whatever it was. I wanted to make sure he stopped breathing for daring to attack Jill. That's what caused me to evolve. I lost control and in my anger, I almost brought down the mountain on Jill." Caladan's admission left tears on the massive grass types eyes. Chase didn't know what to say. Caladan's emotions for their trainer ran so deep and he had scared himself as much as he was disappointed in himself.
"Did you learn from it?" Sphyrna finally asked. Both Caladan and Chase looked at the dragon. She opened her one eye facing the two.
"Did I…?" Caladan trailed off.
"Did you learn from it?" Sphyrna repeated a bit more forcefully. Caladan thought back. His memory of what happened was so sharp it was lit handling cut glass. Every action was painful. The warring anger clashing and winning out against controlled unleashing of energy. Raw power coursing outwards in devastating waves and the recoil afterwards of the potential harm. Suddenly it dawned on the grass type as to what Sphyrna was trying to say.
"I see what you're saying now." Chase looked between the two.
"Yeah I'm lost."
"She's asking if I remember how it felt. That power. And I do. But I also realize why I couldn't keep a calm head. I lost my centre." Sphyrna nodded. Chase still looked on, confused.
"When Jill battles, she doesn't lose her cool. She has seemed desperate at times, but she finds her centre" Sphyrna explained. "Her battle calm isn't like ours. She see's and fights with us in spirit. So, when she feels like she's losing grip, she only needs to refocus on us and what we're capable of. She sees that more clearly than we do. My nest mates used to tell stories of the battle calm of our great dragons like Balerion and Drago and Korlat. They could refocus their power to overcome things greater than themselves."
"So, you think you lost your centre there big guy?" Chase asked of Caladan.
"I think my rage overpowered it. I knew I was getting close to evolving but I wasn't quite ready yet…"
"Yes, you were" Sphyrna interrupted.
"Well isn't this the night for revalations and compliments from our scaly friend!" Chase commented.
"Shut it fur ball. If you weren't ready to evolve Cal, you wouldn't have. You were ready, you just didn't have the confidence to build up to it. Your anger allowed you to unlock the power that Jill has been building in you, just like she's building it in all of us." Caladan looked back to the quickly dying embers. His turbulent emotions were beginning to settle into some sort of semblance of his actual self.
"Thank you, Sphyrna," Caladan said quietly. Chase and Sphyrna stood at the same time and came closer to the grass type. She laid a talon on Caladan's shell while Chase laid a paw on his other side. "And thank you too Chase. I guess I did need to talk about this."
"We're nest mates now. Whatever this journey we're on brings, we'll handle it. And next time Jill tries to get involved in something over her head, we'll all be there beside you" Sphyrna said.
"Here, here" Chase agreed.