A/N: …Sorry for the late update… here's the next chapter!
P.S. Wow! It's been almost a year since I started posting this story!
Chapter 35: The Legend of the Time Gears
The sun was shining, and it felt pleasant, like a nice, spring day. The sand beneath their feet was warm, and the ocean was sparkling. Really, it was a lovely place, and normally everyone would have just kicked back and enjoyed the surf and sun, except…
"Oh my gosh! Where are we?! How did we get here?!" Sunflora exclaimed frantically, summing up everyone's thoughts perfectly.
"Relax, we're still in the guild," Mason said as he sat down on the ground, tugging at Laura's pant legs to get her to join him.
"WHAT?" Loudred exclaimed in disbelief, looking around again. "This sure doesn't LOOK like the guild!"
"Yeah, well that's because Uxie just has to do things theatrically," Mason said, rolling his eyes in Uxie's direction. "You could have just told this story like someone normal would, but nooo… you insist on all these dramatic illusions!"
Paula blinked. "Wait… this is an illusion?"
"Indeed," Uxie confirmed, turning to her with his still-glowing eyes. "I think you will get a better understanding of this legend if you watch it unfold, rather than just listen to me tell it." He paused and glanced at Laura, who was silently staring out at the ocean. "Although…" he hesitantly addressed her, "if this makes you uncomfortable, then I can—"
Laura cut him off with a shake of her head. "No," she said quietly, "I don't mind."
Chatot cleared his throat, trying to get everyone back on track. "If I may ask… where is this an illusion of?"
"The Beach," came Uxie's simple answer.
Paula blinked again. "The Beach…? You mean the one near the guild?" she asked. She looked around, before frowning at the sight of Beach Cave. Or at least… the site where Beach Cave was supposed to be, since it wasn't there. "But... where's Beach Cave, then?"
"It doesn't exist yet; this legend takes place thousands—if not millions—of years before the present time," Uxie explained, causing Drowzee, Paula, and the members of the guild looked to him in surprise.
Uxie nodded, acknowledging their shock. "Yes… this was before Temporal Tower existed, back when the world was still in chaos."
"Chaos?" Corphish repeated in confusion, looking around at the tranquil scene. "Hey, hey! It doesn't seem too chaotic to—"
He was cut off when a flash of red lightning split the sky and fiery rain seemed to fall from the heavens. But then it stopped as a gust of wind carrying snowflakes took its place, followed by strange, green rain. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the odd weather stopped and all was tranquil again.
"…I guess I spoke too soon, hey, hey…" Corphish said sheepishly.
"Indeed," Uxie said, smirking at him slightly.
"But don't worry," Mesprit piped up. "All that's about to change. Look," she said, pointing towards the spot that Laura was still staring at intently.
The tranquil setting of the beach was soon disturbed. A Dimensional Hole—a swirling portal of blue-green—suddenly appeared, growing larger with each passing second, and the silhouette of what appeared to be a human woman with gorgeous eyes of the same shade of the portal stepped out onto the sand. She briefly looked around before grabbing the edge of the portal and tugging on it, dragging it along the shoreline and causing it to widen. When she had deemed it wide enough, she stopped, turned around, and steeped back into it. But she was only gone for a moment… and when she returned she wasn't alone; dozens of other humans had followed after her. They weren't nearly as graceful as she was, though, seeing as they all more or less fell out of the portal in unconscious heaps…
But they quickly began to awaken. At least… they appeared to be awakening; unlike the woman, their eyes didn't stand out and weren't visible on their silhouette bodies. But the woman ignored the majority, opting instead to focus on rousing two of the younger humans, a male and female, near the front of the group. The boy woke first, and, unlike the others, his eyes, like the first woman's, were visible. They were also very beautiful, colored golden and pure. As soon as he awoke, he immediately turned to check on the girl beside him; when he saw that she was still unconscious, he aided the woman in rousing her. The two were ultimately successful, and the girl's eyes blinked open to reveal a stunning rainbow of colors.
"Hey, hey! Why are those three so special?" Corphish asked as he watched the blue-green eyed woman finally take an interest in the other humans on the beach. "I mean… they're the only ones whose eyes are visible."
"That's because they're the most important characters in the story," Azelf explained.
"Oh?" Diglett asked, cocking his head. "Who are they?"
Mason gave him a sidelong smirk, "Well for one thing… the woman with the Time Gear colored eyes is Relatia." He laughed when everyone's jaws dropped and they looked unbelievingly from the woman to him, the expressions on their faces seeming to say, "No way!" But Mason quickly sobered up as he continued, "As for the other two… well…" he trailed off, seeming unwilling to explain further.
But luckily for the others, Uxie picked right back up where Mason left off. "Those two were Relatia's favorite servants, known as the Golden Child," he nodded towards the boy, "and the Rainbow Child," he nodded towards the girl.
The others readily absorbed this, looking again at the pair with interest. Paula cocked her head when she noticed something interesting. "Their eyes are the same colors as yours are," she noted to Laura and Mason. But Laura was too busy staring at the silhouette of her Mistress to acknowledge her, and Mason's only response was to shoot a pleading look towards Uxie to continue with the illusions.
As everyone began to take a look at their surroundings, Relatia asked a question of the Rainbow Child—
"Um… what did she just say?" Drowzee asked, not having heard Relatia's question.
"Ah… Forgive me, but these particular illusions don't include dialogue," Uxie explained.
Paula's brows furrowed. "Huh? Why not?" she asked in confusion. "You made that Groudon illusion talk… so why can't you do it this time?"
Uxie flushed slightly in embarrassment, "It, ah… it's not that I am unable to include dialogue… it's more a matter of protecting privacy."
"Privacy for WHO?" Loudred demanded. "Everyone there but Relatia would be DEAD by now, RIGHT?"
"You'd be surprised," Azelf murmured, causing Loudred's brow to crease in confusion.
"But… didn't you say this happened MILLIONS of years ago?" Loudred confirmed. "Humans don't live THAT long… do they?"
Mesprit rolled her eyes at him before shaking her head. "No, they don't," she agreed. "Not usually, anyways."
"Uh… Not USUALLY?"
"It's not important right now!" Mason cut in hastily, causing the others to look at him in surprise. He sighed. "Just… let Uxie continue, okay?" he asked, sounding weary. "You'll understand later."
—and her response—a shake of the head—caused the goddess to share a subtle glance with the Golden Child. Unfortunately for them, the girl caught it. But right when she opened her mouth—presumably to ask about the glance—things turned chaotic once more.
The ground began to shake, but it was… strange. Sometimes it would have a slow, almost rolling motion, but other times it would be so fast that the movement seemed almost blurred. Stranger yet was the fact that sometimes the ground would seem to stop abruptly, sparking and changing into the gray color that designated an area where time had stopped.
But time wasn't the only thing suffering; the scenery surrounding the group began to act… oddly. At times it would seem to shimmer before abruptly warping into strange shapes. Other times it would disappear completely, only to be replaced by something entirely different… an indication that space was being affected as well.
Relatia began to glow with energy, and the Beach immediately turned back to normal. She looked around for the source of the disturbance… and immediately found it in the silhouetted forms of Dialga and Palkia. The two mighty dragons were flying through the air, seemingly locked in battle. They attacked each other wildly without regard to strategy or aim, unaware—or perhaps simply uncaring—about the effect they were having on the environment. But at least they were sane enough to notice when Relatia intervened and caused their attacks to suddenly halt in midair, only to be immediately turned back on themselves.
Once the two had recovered from the force of the attack, they ceased their pointless struggle in favor of flying down to get a better look at who had interrupted them. Most of the humans cowered in fear, but Relatia's favored servants stood tall with their Mistress as she greeted the dragons. She then placed her hands on the backs of the Rainbow Child and Golden Child, and they curtsied and bowed respectfully. By that point the other humans had mostly recovered, and they also bowed and curtsied in turn when Relatia introduced them. Then the Rainbow Child smiled and said something to Dialga and Palkia which appeared to shock them. The two dragons glanced at each other and shared a silent agreement before turning back towards the assembled on the Beach and bowing.
"Squawk! Wh-what?! The legendary dragons are actually bowing?!" Chatot yelped out in shock.
Azelf merely shrugged in response. "They knew that they were in the presence of one much more powerful than themselves," he explained nonchalantly.
"Now, observe," Uxie commanded before blinking his eyes. In a flash of light, the scene changed.
Relatia and her entourage had been led to a large clearing, and Dialga and Palkia had been joined by many other pokémon, both legendary and non-legendary alike. The humans seemed fascinated by the pokémon, and vice-versa, so they all intermingled. The Rainbow Child—and the Golden Child by proxy, since he had refused to leave her side—especially seemed popular, and was surrounded by a multitude of unown.
Relatia, meanwhile, was discussing something with Dialga and Palkia. When they were done, Palkia and Relatia stood, and the goddess addressed the crowd and called the Rainbow Child and Golden Child over to her side. All three climbed onto the Spacial Pokémon's back and he rose into the sky and took off with them.
"Hey hey! What happened there?" Corphish asked, only seeming slightly distracted by Uxie's illusion of flying through the air, following in the wake of the immense dragon and his companions.
"Relatia knew that Dialga and Palkia would continue to fight if they weren't each given a territory of their own… so she decided to create a place for each that they could call home," Mesprit explained. Then she pointed towards Relatia. "See? She's doing Palkia's now."
Palkia enjoyed simplicity, so Relatia knew that his home wouldn't be too hard to create. She had him fly to a weak point in space and used her powers to rip it apart and create someplace new.
"Oh!" Paula suddenly exclaimed when she recognized the area Relatia had made. "That's the Spatial Rift! Remember that, Laura?"
She turned to her partner, only to find that Laura was staring intently at the Rainbow and Golden Children—who were guiding a tired-looking Relatia to recline against Palkia while the dragon looked back over his shoulder at them in worry—and rubbing her temples. "What's wrong, Laura?" she asked in concern. "Do you have a headache?"
Laura blinked before glancing at her friend and then looking down at her feet. "I… no," she said, convincing no one. "It's just…" she glanced back at the silhouettes briefly before finishing in a mumble, "…It's different to see the legend played out right in front of you instead of being forced to imagine it all…"
"This was your favorite story, right Laura?" Bidoof asked. "Golly! Then I reckon this must be a real treat for you!"
Bidoof didn't notice Laura's slight blush or sudden downcast look, but only because once he had finished talking, Loudred impatiently butted in with, "Well don't stop THERE! What happened NEXT?"
Uxie blinked, and the scene changed once again.
Relatia was still exhausted from creating Palkia's domain, so she wasn't much help when it came to picking a place to set up camp. The clearing where they had held the meeting earlier was already the home to many of the pokémon they had interacted with, and, while they had invited Relatia and her worshippers to stay with them, she felt that the group was too large and would place too much of a strain on their hosts' resources. Therefore she sent some of her servants to scout a nearby forest while she waited by the edge, talking with the Rainbow Child and Golden Child.
An hour or so later the servants returned, and one beckoned for the rest of the group to follow. He had found the perfect spot; an underground cave. Relatia immediately commended him for his actions, and the group began to set up camp.
Chimecho tilted her head as she observed the scene. "That's the Eastern Forest, isn't it?" she asked.
"That's correct," Uxie confirmed. "That was their camp for the duration of their stay."
He blinked once more, and the next scene appeared to be some sort of building site…
The next day Relatia pondered what to do for Dialga's home. It would be a bit more complicated to create, as the Temporal Pokémon, unlike his counterpart Palkia, liked things to be more "flashy." But after consulting with the Golden Child, who was good with stonework and architecture, she soon came up with a solution and work began on the creation of a grand structure which would be called Temporal Tower.
"So that's the Hidden Land, huh?" Croagunk asked, rubbing his chin in contemplation, as he watched the work on Temporal Tower slowly progress. "It doesn't look so hidden to me, meh heh heh…"
Upon hearing that, Mason—who had been greatly interested in the construction work—rolled his eyes. "It was moved later," he tersely explained.
"Now, hush!" Azelf ordered. "This next part is very important…"
Eventually, the tower neared completion. The Golden Child rarely left the building site once work began on the pinnacle, so he would sometimes spend days—or even weeks—without seeing his Mistress or the Rainbow Child, though they would try to visit as often as they could. On one of these visits, while the Rainbow Child was helping him to build the outer wall, it happened: she touched one of the stones and experienced the Dimensional Scream, receiving a vision of the future. Once it was over she looked horrified, but she didn't have the words to describe what she had seen. But then she had an inspiration and began to paint her vision instead. Each new depiction more worrisome than the last and foretold of Temporal Tower collapsing, throwing the world into chaos and beginning to shroud it with dark and cold.
When the Rainbow Child at last set down her brush, everyone became pensive, trying to figure out what could be done to save the world when this vision came to pass. It was then that the Rainbow Child spied Relatia's pendant and came up with an idea. She quickly picked up her brush again and began to paint once more, this time to create blueprints for a back-up system in the shape of Relatia's gear-shaped symbol that could re-energize Temporal Tower and prevent further collapse.
Everyone loved the idea, and work paused on the tower so that the Golden Child could carve the gears. But as he did so, another problem came to light; how they would be charged. Relatia was running out of energy; she barely had enough as it was to bring her worshippers back home once their work in the Pokémon World was completed. Relatia discussed this with the legendaries as the Golden Child began to put the finishing touches on Temporal Tower, and when the last day of construction came and she still had no answer, she gathered up the stone gears and took the Rainbow Child with her to contemplate in solitude. Apparently that was just what was needed, for when the two returned the next day for the completion of Dialga's home, the stone gears—now known as Time Gears—had been fully charged, yet Relatia's energy remained unchanged.
With Temporal Tower completed, the time came for Relatia and her servants to return to their own world. Many pokémon came to the Beach—where Relatia and her worshippers had first arrived—to see them off, for they would be greatly missed; especially—
To everyone's shock, the ground suddenly started to shake.
"Oh my Gosh! What's happening?" Sunflora asked as she tried to keep her balance by grabbing Loudred's arm.
"Oh, don't worry. It's probably just the roar of one of the legendaries," Mesprit assured nonchalantly as she observed the Rainbow Child perk up, excuse herself from her Mistress, and suddenly rush off. "See? There goes the Rainbow Child."
"Pardon me," Dugtrio interrupted, "but why do her actions signify that a legendary being has just spoken?"
"Notice how there are very few legendary pokémon here?" Mesprit asked, gesturing towards the crowd on the Beach. The observers looked around and saw that she was right; there were many of the more "common" pokémon present, but the only legendaries visible were Dialga, Palkia, a pokémon that looked suspiciously like Cresselia, and a trio that looked suspiciously like Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf…
"That's because most of them were indifferent to the visitors," she continued. "Relatia had already proved herself to be responsible and trustworthy with her incredible powers, and as she had made it very clear that those she had brought with her were her responsibility and under her protection, they didn't feel the need to interfere. In fact, the only visitor on the Beach that they truly cared about and might have felt the need to say goodbye to was the Rainbow Child."
The guild, Paula, and Drowzee started in surprise. "Golly! The Rainbow Child sure sounds like an amazing girl!" Bidoof exclaimed, sounding impressed.
For some reason that caused Laura to blush, and Mason quietly agreed, "Yeah, she does," as he stared at the Rainbow Child, who had since returned and was now making her way back towards Relatia.
—the Rainbow Child, who was beloved of the legendaries. But it was then that the Golden Child made a shocking announcement: he would not be returning with Relatia. Instead, he, along with a handful of other servants, would stay behind to ensure that there would be some way of calling upon Relatia for help if ever tragedy struck the world and she was needed. Relatia was reluctant to part with him, but she agreed that it was a wise idea. To further ensure his plan's success, she used what some of what little extra power she had to help him fit into his new home by giving him a new form, that of the time-travel pokémon, celebi. Then, knowing how dearly her two favorites cared for each other, she pulled both the Rainbow Child and Golden Child close for an embrace and, with a flash of light, granted them the gift of reincarnation so that they would have the chance meet again in another life.
With that, Relatia's work in the Pokémon World was completed. She opened up another Dimensional Hole and ushered her servants inside. Relatia went through last, and, after one final glance at the Pokémon World, closed the Dimensional Hole behind her.
The Golden Child immediately turned to the task at hand; finding hiding places for the Time Gears so that they would remain safe until they were needed to restore Temporal Tower…
As everyone watched, the silhouettes of the three pokémon who looked like the members of the Spirit Trio began floating forwards, towards the Golden Child. But just before they could reach him, Uxie closed his eyes. The illusion vanished, and everyone found themselves back in the guild.
"…And there you have it," Uxie concluded. "That's the Legend of the Time Gears."