VII. Sinnoh III

The mountain was still, as though all life ad stopped. The wind whipped past gently, but it sounded far away, as if even nature didn't want to disturb this place. Not a single Pokemon called it home, and Carson honestly couldn't blame them. The Spear Pillar was sacred ground, after all, and it wouldn't surprise him if nobody had been up here since he and Jileya ended up here six years ago.

It looked about the same as he remembered it, as if the world itself were conspiring to keep this place alive to the end of time. What he thought had once been a pantheon had long ago lost its shape, the roof had crumbled to dust well before he got here, and the pillars that gave the area its name were the last vestiges.

Supposedly, this place was the origin point of Sinnoh, with the entire region spreading from it. While he wasn't sure he believed that, he'd seen firsthand that this place connected to the two legendary Pokemon of Time and Space, when Cyrus had brought them to this world right before his eyes. He reached up to rake a hand through his hair at the thought of those two Pokemon - only to remember he'd got it cut the day he left, shortening it back to just barely covering his ears. He liked it that way, but long hair offered its comforts too. It just didn't look good with his favourite red newsboy hat, which is why he ditched it.

He glanced around the pillar. Five days ago, he'd left Jileya's house to climb here as fast as he could, just to possibly check if the two deities had returned and were causing this. There was a slightly personal motivation in this adventure as well, as if he could find one of them and study it…

"No." He said aloud. While studying them would be phenomenal and a huge help to Professor Rowan's research, he still remembered the last encounter. They were awe-inspiring, monumental beasts with powers equal to those of a god, and every text he had ever encountered that spoke of them said the same thing:

They are not to be crossed, trifled with, or otherwise angered.

Granted, that could mean any number of things, but he figured study counted, especially a more extensive one, and he enjoyed living enough to mentally table the idea as he went on with his search. He began to slowly walk around the pillars, calling up six-year-old memories of what it had looked like the last time deities had been called to the world.

He remembered two crystals, Dusky Pink and Deep Blue, surrounded by a red chain, created by an evil man in blue and gray. There had been a blinding light as the crystals and the chain shattered, and then both vanished, and it had failed, meaning he had never gotten to see their true forms. While he suspected it was man-made and that that wasn't how they normally made themselves known, it was all he had to work with and likely more than entire generations got to know.

Crystals and chains aside, his best guess was some sort of weird dimensional hole or portal of some description… not that he knew what those looked like. His comic books as a kid conjured up images of purple and green holes stretched at the tips that practically belched whatever it was the heroes were looking for or villains to fight them. Once again, he was slightly sure that was faked.

Slowly, careful not to disturb anything, he stalked around the crumbling debris, looking for something, anything that might indicate that something had happened in the six years since he'd last been here. It was eerie, feeling almost like he'd stepped back in time instead of simply climbing a mountain. He half-expected to hear the younger voices of Jileya and Barry interspersed with the wind at any moment.

After several minutes of searching, he had found nothing in either the past or the present that would be of help, and made to leave, grumbling a little. It had taken him five days from Jubilife City traveling nonstop thanks to the ban on flying to bypass the area gates Cynthia had installed, and he wasn't looking forward to repeating that. Not that he disagreed with the policy due to what was happening, but it did make travelling while under a time limit more annoying. He was grateful he'd gotten eight badges a long time ago, and that he could travel anywhere without either a guide or being interrupted because of it. Others weren't so lucky.

Personally, he thought the need for a guide in certain areas was a little silly, especially due to the fact that in extreme cases he'd heard tale of guides staying with the trainer for their entire journey or doing all the battling for an afflicted trainer. While he was only twenty years old at the moment and, all things considered, fairly young, he did notice the changes to how young trainers tackled their journey while he was out in the field, with more reliance on technology, guides, and otherwise either staying as safe as possible or doing it as quickly as possible. Every time he saw a kid like that, his heart went out to them, as it seemed like something had been truly lost in the change of generations. But, not being an old man yet, he still had a while before he could really voice those opinions.

He pulled out his Poké Ball containing Staraptor and stared at it forlornly. The poor bird Pokémon had been spending more time in a Poké ball than he was accustomed to, and Carson felt guilty.

"I'm sorry, Starry, I'll make sure you get a workout once we're at Jilly's place again, okay?" He pleaded, and he could practically hear his friend sigh through the Poké Ball. He did plan to make one more stop beforehand, however, since Jileya would still be in Kalos for another week. He'd planned to check out the Canalave Library, the location of possible answers for anything lore-related and one of his more frequent haunts if he was ever in the field that far west. It was also a week's trek on foot, meaning if he left now, he'd have at most a few hours to study until Jileya came back…

He grumbled, cursing his lack of being able to lawfully fly, and started back down the steps, leaving the Spear Pillar isolated in time and space once again.

Notes:

If it wasn't apparent, I still haven't figured out how long a week is. This time, I bring you a chapter that felt like filler to write but at least sort of advances the plot. Mostly, it develops Carson as a character, which is cool because I like him. It's a bit like the glut from 2-4, but it's at least a little more relevant.

Starry is the nickname of an actual Staraptor I actually had in my pearl file. I'm not going to bother nicknaming every Pokémon with their original names because the ones I made as a kid are pretty laughable, but Starry's at least sorta reasonable. Coming up with characters from my old save files is also a legitimately fun experience and good motivation whenever I hit writer's block.

Enjoy! Maybe next time we'll meet another new character, hm?