Arceus is awkward like me.

Arc I, The Plate of Space

Chapter Ten:

Gods Have No Sense of Fashion

In the land of wakefulness, I experienced a dream.

I had returned to my false palace and all of its gardens. The stars and moons glowed around the spires, casting dull light through the windows. Celebi was there. And so was Cresselia, and Shaymin as well. They awaited me at the palace entrance, asking about the Plates, and had I succeeded or had I failed? Then the three of them told me that I smelled weird, like I had been sleeping alongside human bodies and walking amongst Pokémon. Where had my immortality gone, they asked me. Would I return to them as their ruler or as a pretend mortal, they asked more.

So in my dream, I slipped into my pool of visions, bathing myself with my hands. On my left, I saw the Plate of Space — Time on my right. They bubbled under the waters, their surfaces painted aquamarine. My hair curved around the top of my head, a swirling underwater cloud. When I looked down, I saw the Alterstone, but not upon my wrist. I held it carefully.

Space. Time. The Alterstone.

Hidden behind a visage.

The Cosmos.

"Well, we've never shopped here before, so if you could help my friend…"

"Of course! That's my job, sir. Only, err—"

I woke up in the middle of a large, crowded store, with people milling around my backside. A smiling woman stood next to a rack of clothes in front of me, her hands folded in front of her. Her face was looking at me, but her eyes were fixed on Aurelio. The corners of her glistening mouth tightened.

"What?" asked Aurelio. He already knew what was coming but was pretending that he didn't.

"Which clothes does he — um, she? — prefer?" The girl's ears were pink.

I jumped in before Aurelio could make a bigger fool of himself. "Loose-fitting." I glanced out into the store, hoping that something would catch my eye before everything that these mortals knew about social construct came crumbling down. "Those clothes over there. I like those."

The girl looked over. Her name-tag, clipped to her pink sweater, read: Mina. "Those are for women," she said, still looking utterly perplexed. Mina seemed to be evaluating my height. She barely reached my shoulders. "I'm not sure if…" She trailed off, having thought better, I suppose. "Nevermind, let's bring you over there! Come this way, please."

We followed her through the store. As we went through the women's clothing, I reached out and touched fabrics, intrigued by the fashion whims of mortals. Some of these items were completely impractical. Other women, pressed and clean and illogical like the people of this city, tracked me with their eyes, their whispers evident yet meaningless to me:

"Look at how tall she is…she's all legs..."

"THAT'S a woman?"

"I think she's a famous model, I think I saw her in a fashion show in Lilycove one time…"

"Do you think she bleaches her hair that color?"

"How did she get it so long?"

"That's clearly a young man...look at his jawline…"

"I guess now they look like both when you think about it…"

Aurelio cautiously peered at me, wondering if I could hear them. Perhaps he thought that they were hurting my feelings, but I was much too occupied trying to remember what a 'model' was to be concerned by the attention.

"Here we go!" said Mina, presenting me with my options. She nervously laughed. The whispers floating in the background remained ongoing. "We don't have many options for your, um, size. But you'll find these very comfortable. Hey! What about this?"

She held up an extremely loose white shirt to me, struggling to reach my full height. I took the garment from her and imagined myself in it. "I suppose it will do," I said hesitantly. I glanced over at Aurelio for approval, but he seemed to want nothing to do with this process. I kicked his ankles. He stumbled slightly, but said nothing to help me converse with this girl. "Can you help me find an entire set?"

"Like...an outfit?" Mina became excitable. She made eye contact with another associate, who startled me with the immediateness of her appearance. Sometimes, humans could astonish me with their powers of ubiquity. "You're, like, totally runway material! Did you get your current outfit from a show? It's so designer."

"What does that mean?"

"Pick anything that fits…" began Aurelio. "...Theo." He faced me, his eyes hardening meaningfully. "Alright, Theo...these young ladies are going to help you dress. Whatever is comfortable, whatever colors you like, it's my treat. I just need you to look...more Rustboro. Ladies?"

Mina and the other girl stopped.

Aurelio sighed. "Just make sure that Theo gets some shoes."

"So is that your boyfriend?"

Mina and the second associate, Grace, had made an absolute wreck of their dressing room while bringing me clothes. I had been perfectly content with the first batch, but the longer they milled over my appearance, the more dissatisfied with their own work they seemed. Grace had even wrapped my hair and secured it at the base of my neck, due to her "devotion of fashion perfection," as she had phrased it. She claimed that the length of my neck could change the whole outfit.

I thought about Mina's question. "He is my boy friend," I responded. "Although, he is hardly a boy. He is much more of a man than a child."

Mina and Grace giggled in flawless synchronization. "No," said Grace, still grinning. "Are you two in a relationship?"

I tried to think about Aurelio's description of relationships in the hotel room, but the concept was unfamiliar to me, and I had no honest way or answering this curious mortal's question. "We do not sleep together," I said slowly, remembering how Aurelio had detailed the concept to me. "He has never touched me in a manner beyond common courtesy. But I believe he treasures me. He said that I was sacred."

"That's romantic," said Mina dreamily.

The two elbowed one another.

"We thought you were dating," piped Mina. "Since he offered to buy your outfit and all."

Grace was running her fingers through my hair. She pulled it back, dragging it along the tender curves of my shoulders, and braiding it down the middle. At first, I had wanted to pull away — having a mortal's fingers so close to the sensitive parts of this body was nerve-wracking and, for a moment, almost insulting. But her nails combing through my hair felt so delightful. I was disappointed when she finished, but at least my hair would no longer fall into my eyes.

"And you're just so beautiful, what guy wouldn't want you?" added Grace. "Were you born with this hair?"

"What sort of hair?"

"Almost white," she said. "Your skin is dark. I've never seen a person have dark skin and white hair."

I had almost come to the mortal dimension with white skin and black hair. I hadn't known one was more unusual than the other. "This is the look I prefer," I said. The two girls were running around the dressing room, picking up their mess.

From behind my reflection in the mirror, I saw Aurelio. An unexpected surge of euphoria rose in my heartcage. "Aurelio!" I said, turning around. His eyes were bigger than usual, and his glasses had been cleaned. He reminded me of a man I had seen years ago, sleeping on the lawn of some extravagant castle-like building with a book in his hand. Those were the same garments with which he had adorned himself. "These clothes feel entirely different than the ones I came with. Do you like them?"

"Yeah!" He stretched out his arms. "How about these? Better than the ones I wore in the desert, huh?"

I inspected him. "I like yours, as well. These are very flattering."

Afterward, I said nothing about how I had noticed his face was tomato red. I had no idea why.

Mortals were easily embarrassed, I think.

"We're much more presentable than before," said Aurelio, his hands in his pockets. "Devon would never let me forget it if I stumbled in post-research like that. They want us to be field researchers but expect us to look graduate conference ready. It's crazy."

We ambled down the sidewalk in our new clothes. The late afternoon sun warmed me. I saw the vibrant horizon through the crevices of the skyscrapers ahead, casting a brilliant glow on the red brick streets. After his shower and recent wardrobe, he seemed like a completely different person. It felt like I was speaking with a stranger, despite having been in his company for several days now.

"Is it fine if I walk in with you?" I said.

"Perfectly," he said. "We have random people come in all the time. Mr. Stone might catch them and let them independently research something. They don't even need experience. But if they're a Pokémon trainer, and they're already on their way to this island or that cave, Mr. Stone pays them big to retrieve some stuff for him. It kind of ruins the legitimacy of my professional career."

"Hmm…well, I'm sure there's never been a random trainer who discovered the legends of Arceus."

Aurelio laughed. "Thanks for that," he said. By the shine in his eyes, he looked genuinely grateful.

Devon Corporation headquarters was one of the tallest buildings in Rustboro. I had seen it when Latios and I stood on the top of the train, and also through the windows of our hotel room. Funnily enough, even though the city had modernized long ago, it was one of the oldest appearing buildings, with stone architecture and vines growing along the columns. It wasn't until we were walking before the building that I caught sight of the mountain beyond the city lines.

I halted. Had that mountain always been there?

The dusk was descending. Streetlights flickered on, but people were still milling in and out of Devon. Most of them were carrying briefcases or thick folders. One woman, wearing a black blazer, was stumbling out in her heels, chatting next to another woman who looked prepared to sleep in a jungle for a few months.

Aurelio made no move to stop and talk with anyone, yet many people recognized him and attempted to make conversation. Together, we walked through a chorus of, "Hi, Aurelio" and "Good evening, Aurelio." He would merely wave and continue on. Occasionally, he would mutter beneath his breath, as if expecting me to know what on earth he meant by his irritated words.

"You're famous," I remarked, much to his chagrin and to my delight.

The lobby was busier than the courtyard.

Aurelio made a beeline towards the front desk — meanwhile, I stared at my feet as we walked, sensing a strangely mortal satisfaction in the way my shoes clicked against the tiles. I had never worn shoes before, only gone barefoot. How soon would this fascinating sound become white noise to me?

"Dani," said Aurelio, smiling and drawing out the secretary's name like he had bad news.

The woman's eyes slid up. "Aurelio," she said in return. "Claudie and I went to dinner last night."

"Of course you did. This is..." He hesitated, but only long enough for me to notice. "...The —a. Thea."

My name had changed again, apparently. Had Theo not satiated him?

Dani glared at me with an extra thick haze of judgment clouding her vision. "Anyway," she said, putting down her pen. She folded her lanky hands together. "You look snazzy. Almost handsome, even. But Mr. Stone is out, and so is your father, so I guess there's nobody here for you to impress. Who do you need to see?"

"The Crystal Towers project," said Aurelio shortly. "Who's running it?"

"That would be…" Dani looked at the surface of a thin, rectangular box device. These were computers, I realized, but they had only recently come into regular use. I tried to peer around the marble desk to see what words magically appeared on the screen. "...Mr. Grimmwolfe."

"I've never heard of him."

"Mr. Grimmwolfe joined Devon a few months ago while you were out in the field," said Dani, looking impatient. She smiled without humor. "He knows a guy who knows a guy who knows Mr. Stone. But he's smart as hell, so Mr. Stone put him as the head coordinator. His knowledge about legendary Pokémon is unrivaled. Any questions about the project — you'll want to ask him before anyone else."

Aurelio tapped his fingers on the marble. "He's in now?"

"Not currently. But he'll be here in the morning."

"I'll come again tomorrow, then."

"Is there a reason that you're suddenly considering his team?" asked Dani. Her fingers were also drumming her desk. The two rhythms muddled my thinking. "You've always been such an asshole about these formal projects. And then you storm in here after nobody's seen you in months, asking to jump on-board. Where have you been? What have you found? Is this your way of getting back into good graces after failing to find anything?"

Aurelio frowned. "I never said I wanted to join the project. And I've found...plenty."

"Yes, of course," deadpanned Dani, unamused. Her gaze was locked on me. "Since you won't tell me, I suppose I'll know for sure when Mr. Solomon swings back around. Anything that your family finds is always such a big deal..."

I looked down and saw Aurelio quivering from the waist down. "Thanks for your help, Dani," he said. He touched my hand briefly, signaling that we needed to leave. "Come on, let's go back."

When we left, I said to him, "Does it hurt you — knowing that my identity must remain secret?"

Aurelio attempted to exhale what I imagine must have been all of the burdening weight on his shoulders, then he smiled at me. "Of course not, Arceus," he said quietly, and gently too. "Knowing that you're here with me, and that you asked me for help on your quest...that's all that I could ever ask for in this lifetime."

But I knew that he was lying, and knowing that it hurt him was hurting me too.

Surprisingly.

End of Chapter Ten