Dialga and Palkia

The church of Hearthome was grand and elegant. Its structure allowed it to be bright and airy inside without sacrificing stability or size. Large stained glass windows and painted murals on the wall depicted many old myths, like the creation of the world by the Pokémon god Arceus. In the middle of the afternoon, it was usually visited by curious sightseers, although a few devout stayed in solitary worship. Still, it was not often that one of the Pokémon gods came into the church itself.

Especially not two of them. They had come in disguise. Somewhat. Dialga and Palkia looked much the same as they usually did, but only a foot tall like many of the small Pokémon of the world. Being that size, they had been able to get in and move around underneath the pews without being noticed as anything unusual.

"They keep this place, like, pretty nice," Palkia said, looking up at the preacher's area of the room.

Dialga noticed a bit of old fur clinging to the bottom of one corner of the pew. "Not entirely," he said.

"Well it's not fallen to ruins like other sacred buildings," she retorted. "That's much better than some places we've seen on this trip. Oh hey, lookit!" She pointed up with one of her clawed hands, twitching her wings in excitement. "That painting looks as good as ever. I still say you look all burly and no-nonsense in that one."

He lowered his neck so that he could see the painting better, then walked up to the edge of the pew with her. "And what's wrong with that?"

Giggling like there was some secret joke she wasn't going to share, she said, "Nothing! Should we stick around or skip some time so we can see a service?"

Dialga considered it, then yawned. "Eh, we've had a long trek to get here, at this size." His sister beamed, looking proud of herself. While it was her doing, it wouldn't be that hard to alter sizes for someone of her ability. "I'd like to get some rest. Relax a little while. This town's so noisy, though."

She tapped her chin. Sometimes he was jealous of her having hands. "Hmm, relaxing would be nice. But hey, it would be nicer if we could find one of those Pokémon spa places. Wouldn't that be great? We could convince the workers to treat us like other guests and get pampered for a while."

"How are you going to hide the fact that we're gods?" he asked. "Traveling around like this is one thing, but letting humans see us like this for an extended period of time isn't good. We're not like the Psychic ones who can fully bluff them."

"Oh don't be such a grumpy Gloom," Palkia teased him. "If we get into too much trouble, we could ask those guys for assistance. Besides, those Plasma weirdoes that were trying to enslave us got totally burned trying to mess with Giratina. Well not burned, per say, but he messed them up for, you know, messing with him."

"What's with your language today? And most of this trip?"

"I'm fitting in to this time! I talked with some Pokémon and listened to their Trainers to find out, like, how they talk now. I think it's fun!"

"I think it's silly," Dialga countered.

Before their conversation could continue, a preteen girl stopped by them and dropped down onto her knees. She had black hair in pigtails and when she grinned, she showed off some silver braces. "Hi cute little Pokémon," she said. "Whatcha doin' down there?" She reached in to touch Dialga.

He leaned his head back, causing her to lower her hand. Someone reaching out to him was much different on this size scale. Once she seemed less threatening, he sniffed at her fingers. Pen ink, salt water taffy (lemon flavored), and Combee. Nothing too surprising for this era, but something beyond scent was surprising about her.

"Hey, bro!" Palkia said, looking up at the girl. "Somebody's marked her aura as a potential hero!"

"I've noticed," he replied as the human then tried to touch Palkia. She was more willing. "But she's not one who was there when we were awakened. I wonder what's in store for this one."

"We can tag along and find out," she suggested.

"Aren't we supposed to be on vacation?" he asked.

Before his sister could reply, she was picked up by the human. "You two look strange," the girl said. "You're like the ones in the picture up there, but you're little Pokémon, not giants. I wonder if Dad knows." She walked over to the front of the aisle, carrying Palkia with her.

"And we're not supposed to be noticed," Dialga grumbled, following after. He didn't come out in the open, not yet.

At that point, the quiet of the church was broken by a shout from a man in the back. "General Woodard!" Then the man in the black mask threw something at the girl and Palkia.

Although he doubted that girl was a General, Dialga wasn't going to let his sister be in a dangerous position again. Causing the jewel on his chest to glow, he slowed time save for himself, the girl, and Palkia. That made the object, a dart with Murkrow feathers on the end, seem to slow down to a crawl. The girl was frozen in fear for a moment, but a little nip from Palkia got her to move out of the way. Once they were safe, Dialga let time flow naturally. The dark flew past them and embedded itself in a wooden podium. To anyone else, it would have looked as if the girl had dodged supernaturally fast.

Another man in the back got up and went to the attacker. He was middle-aged, but a powerful looking human. "What do you want?" he asked in a firm tone edged in danger.

Perplexed by the miss, the attacker glanced at the general, then rushed up the aisle. "Oo, oo, let me!" Palkia called. After a pink glow from her, the church suddenly expanded to have a center aisle that was a mile long. Thousand of pews lined the path between the attacker and his targets.

Dialga came out from his cover and walked up to them. "This is exactly why I wanted to remain inconspicuous," he said. "I don't want anymore trouble after that maddening mess that was the red chain."

"But, but, aren't you like curious now about what's going on?" Palkia asked, still in the girl's arms. "We've been hibernating for so many centuries, but now we can be involved in big things again. Maybe even make some new legends. That would be totally awesome!"

He looked over at the girl, who was perplexed by the strange events happening around her. Then he looked over at the attacker and the 'general' (probably the girl's dad, now that he thought of it). If they went with this girl, there would be adventure, but there would be danger. If they carried on with their own travels, there could be relaxation, but not much of consequence.

The choice was difficult.

…

Dialga Diamond entry: It has the power to control time. It appears in Sinnoh-region myths as an ancient deity.

Palkia Diamond entry: It has the ability to distort space. It is described as a deity in Sinnoh-region mythology.