Author's Notes
WARNING! WARNING! EXPOSITION CHAPTER!
God, this chapter was hard to write... Before we begin, I wanna apologize for this rather short chapter.
The reason being I had to cut out A LOT from a nearly 10k words chapter to a measly 5k (not even). So really, the chapter was already done a long time ago but I had to censor and remove the spoilery parts. Once again, really sorry for the short chapter. (It'll be worth it, I swear!)
Now, let's get to the spicy stuff!
Yes, the chapter's name is a reference... of a once great manga. (SIIIGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH)
Although this chapter's short, I guessed that with the amount of content in here, it'd be enough to satisfy you guys.
Also, incoming characters from the movies appearing as well! Also also, there are some foreshadowing within the chapter so be sure to write them down in the notes because a lot of them are gonna come up in the future.
Plus, with the amount of revision in Fated, do you guys think I should make a dedicated 'chapter' about Fated's timeline?
And finally, I'll be changing the fic's characters since Gary and Blue are sidelined in Johto for now.
This is gonna be great for the readers who are interested in the story but can't find the time to read / here for the Amour since by seeing the featured characters on the fic, you guys can roughly guess which region we're on without even reading it. So a bit of QOL changes there.
So now, we're changing Leaf and Gary to Misty and Brendan
Now, onto the reviews!
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Corrupted1:
I literally going to leave a review/comment on the previous chapter and here you are shooting more at us. Bless. And again, here you are just hitting us with hints and hyping this up. Again, bless.
Okay, want to touch upon the "I lived" response. Yeah, no kidding. Instead of bones, more like "And with every brush of death" or "and with every kind of scar". Something like that.
And Fated!Ash to Anime!Ash... I should have figured he'd have a panic attack when seeing Serena leave. Thought it be funny, now it's sad.
Pertaining to the previous chapters, get that they have to remain professional cause of the circumstances, but least they get why Ash is acting that way towards Giovanni, mean he can say sorry all he wants, he sent his whole organization onto a 10 (11) year old kid who started his adventure just because he bruised their ego by saving a baby they forcibly took then committed domestic terrorism on the center(s) because he was in them, making him nervous/scared to stay in them for so long. And with Neo Rocket possibly being unhinged because of what happens to the Slowpokes, it might just come back stronger, only staying in to make the call then off to the woods. Cept for the trio, cause they're harmless... somewhat.
Okay, did not expect the third. Definitely pulled the rug. Though don't have any knowledge of anything when it comes to the manga or anything like that so in the dark. Though I remember hearing about the Eevee that could change forms by will, which is honestly kinda insane. Guess that's one way to have Serena get her Eevee.
And Elm being the Professor in breeding... he could not have known the horrors (him and Game Freak) he would have stepped in if we're taking into account what RL Pokemon competition is like, with 'perfect stats' and 'shiny' hatching because of illicit Ditto breeding. That and the insane things that would happen in literally the next region... *cough* Wailord and Skitty *cough* Which if that is a thing in universe, gotta question the drugs the breeder or individual was on when they attempted this and the crime that was thrown on them.
So Serena... holy shit. She really took after Ash and then some. Mean, damn. And she's still new to this compared to the Kanto trio, meaning things gonna be crazy when she's got experience under her... which makes me wonder if Ash will still be panic-induced protective of her even after that.
Obvious, but I really like the dynamic between her and Cynthia throughout this. It's an interesting relationship and it's just funny.
I'm really liking that other groups outside of the narrative region one are actually making moves and doing things cause that's something that always bothered me when thinking about the other regions as a whole when all these events occur. Just are they really just waiting till their turn or are they planning and acting.
Then there's Ash again... he really is emotional deaf. 'Not my sister'. Sorry Daisy, he cares not for your shipping or feelings. I wanna shake him till his brain connects. Which I guess if he was conscious after beating Gary, he would have either have an inner monologue of 'you're not my brother' or he would have corrected Gary as soon as he could.
I am curious though. I'm expecting this won't be like Kanto where it's a couple of steps then jump to the league, but will it skip to the important bits like Gym battles and narrative points (with mentions of in between) or will it take it's time in between everything?
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Alrighty, let's go through this one by one. *cracks fingers*
First off, thanks a lot for the reviews, Corrupted! A lot of your reviews are really enjoyable to read.
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Fated!Ash to Canon:
That little omake is written in a way where you can think of it as Fated-certified canon or just an omake since it doesn't affect the story.
For as much willpower Fated!Ash has, when it comes to Serena, he WILL go crazy if something happens to her.
Especially canon!Ash leaving her, which is the absolute worst thing to happen to Fated!Ash.
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Adults' reactions to Ash towards Giovanni:
Yep, you're right. The adults have to be professional, even if they absolutely have some bone to pick with against Giovanni.
That's what it means to be an adult, after all. You swallow whatever the hell you were about to fire off and try your damned hardest to power through it, even if you hate it.
But Ash isn't like that. Even though he's more mature than canon, he's still an 11-year-old boy. That's how he's written to be so there's room for growth there.
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Eevee:
I mean, Adventures' Vee is rather iconic among the manga readers so I'm LEGALLY OBLIGATED to put it in one way or another.
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Elm:
That poor dude... That Skitty/Wailord scarred me for life, man.
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Serena:
Haha, I'm glad you guys enjoy our girl's first ever villain encounter. Believe me, you haven't seen anything yet. It's only going to get crazier from here.
Ash being protective of her when he comes for her is still present but not as much since I am not a big fan of main characters fretting over their clearly capable partner. But it's still gonna be there since... it's Ash, c'mon.
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The world outside of Ash:
Hard agree. That's what makes One Piece amazing. I haven't read it yet but from what I understand, what makes it amazing is that the Straw Hats can be written off and the world would still be existing since its alive. That's top tier worldbuilding since the story doesn't need a locked protagonist to carry the plots. It's also what makes Luffy a proactive protagonist as opposed to canon!Ash who is more of a reactive protagonist.
Luffy starts plot arcs and resolving them while Ash merely reacts to them. That's probably why a lot of people dislike Ash retellings since the villains' evil plans only seem to exist for Ash to thwart. Like seriously, it's like they're waiting for Ash to arrive on their region to begin their plans.
But in Fated, that's not the case. Things are already happening even without Ash as you'll see in this chapter. My goal as an author is to show our main character, Ash, as something insignificant in the grand scheme of things before moving up in the story as the most important character.
Right now, Fated!Ash is in the realm of irrelevant as opposed to insignificant since the villains are aware of his existence thanks to the Grand League but not enough to retain him in their minds. And from Johto, it's gonna snowball HARD with a certain event in another region. The only problem now is how to switch Ash from reactive to proactive.
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Ash himself:
Emotionally deaf isn't really the right word to use for Fated!Ash, but from what has been shown so far, it's very accurate.
Remember what Gary said back in Chapter 58? About 'limited' information? Yeah, that applies here too.
Ash is mentally distorted. Not clinically insane, but more 'traumatized'. Trauma from what? Well...
Love.
That's the main clue for his mindset. And remember this:
There is currently no one in Fated who understands Ash, not even Serena... Only Ash himself (lol).
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Jumping Gyms:
At first, I was planning on doing something like that since it saves time... But what the heck? Let's go through one by one.
If any of y'all want me to skip some Gyms, make sure to tell me since I'm truthfully alright with it.
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starff2432:
oh here I hoped to find more conversation between Ash and Serena
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Sorry, man. But like I said, they do have their own lives and aren't solely devoted to each other... yet.
But hey, absence makes the heart fonder.
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Rajiv A. Rajaram:
Ah, another regular. Thanks for another review, man! Appreciate it.
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A proper chapter on Serena and her taking after Ash on helping Eevee. Really enjoyable and I liked the little part about Eevee feeling familiarity with Ash. The witch and the king is a whole other thing by itself and I'm just going for the ride. Don't think I'll try and overthink this one haha.
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Haha, yeah... That fox sure is familiar with Ash... Haha. (´∀｀；) *whistling"
The Witch and the King. They're gonna be expanded this chapter, don't worry. After this, you may be able to identify who these two are.
And when their names are actually revealed... it's gonna be sweet sweet payoff.
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MegaSalamence64 (Eyyyy, what's up):
Hey Baley-07, It's Me, MegaSalamence64...
Sorry for the Review that Got cut short the other day (The one about Poppy and Scarlet and Violet Stuff)
Thought I expand on it as well...
Since I didn't explained it properly what I wanted to mentioned earlier, I'll say them here instead:
Regarding Poppy... I say keep her as a Toddler in the elite 4...
I mean, your not intending to do any characters dirty but I do think you should keep what each character have unique to them at least (Unless it's an upgrade of said Unique Skill) and sure Paldean Laws are questionable because of this...
But, You can actually use this in favor regarding Geeta since you can actually make her a Villain as well...
Again, I said this before but again, Regardless of what the DLC does, I say Keep Geeta as a Villain at least...
I'll explain more down below but Evil Geeta should help avoid any bashing you plan for her as well... (since well, You can actually flesh Geeta out in a way that makes Cynthia and Diantha look good at least... And even have Nemona become her Replacement as Top Champion as well)
(XXXX)
Ok, Now for some minor stuff you need to know so I can help give advice for this fic:
Rising Volt Tacklers: Yeah, While I'm glad you're keeping them...
I do wonder how you'll handle their origins...
It's been mentioned that The name of the Group came form how Captain Pikachu desires to fly and his attempts with him using Volt Tackle while rising up in Episode 18 of Horizons (Which managed to feature more of Paldea did then Journeys did with Galar (I mean, Nemona AND THREE GYM LEADERS (Larry, Iono and Braccius? we only had Leon as a Galar character at that point in Journeys) when at this point we only have Leon? Man Galar's truly pathetic in my opinion since it didn't even get a good Anime when Unova at least have good games)... It's personally great that Paldea at least getting the better Anime so far at least... SwSh/Journeys is the worst of Pokémon tbh... Galar truly sucks as a region...)
So I am curious how The Rising Volt Tacklers form in your Story as well... I doubt this story's Ash would take it well Friede has a Pikachu that has his Pikachu's special technique (he'll take it better at least but all I can is... I do wonder how you'll handle this at least...)
It's a minor issue but I thought I point this out...
Plus, I do wonder how you'll handle Dot as well since she's Basically the third wheel of the Horizons Kids as well... (She's far Better handled then Chloe so far at least in my opinion)
(XXXX)
Now for the Geeta Stuff (Again, I repeated it before, I'll say them again):
Well, I have to admit, As I said before Geeta's an easy character to bash as well (And I consider her the ONLY Scarlet and Violet character who's worse then a SwSh character but writing her as a Villain does help me like her at least since Villainous Geeta is actually pretty fun to write as well
So here's my idea for her (and what to do with Poppy as well):
Have Geeta actually be a member of the Explorers as a High Ranking Admin (Abit with her own Agenda as well however)
Use her irregular Canon Team as a Facade she uses to lure her foes into a deception she's weaker before she lures them to a trap and ambushed them with her Real Team... they'll be unprepared for her actual strength as well...
Basically have Geeta's Magnus Opnus be trickery... Show Geeta's playing the fool to lower her foes's guard down and strike them when they least expect it... (That's what I'm doing with my Geeta and her being a Cecaelia ala Ursula in the little mermaid
Heck like I said above, I think you should Keep Geeta recruiting Poppy at a Young Age, Show her using her Top Champion to essentially groom a Possible Successor as well...
Show Geeta's irregularity to make her a Villain...
That's what I'm been doing in my fics as well... So you can do as well...
(Heck, Unlike Rose, Geeta's actually has potential as a Villain as mentioned before... And she even gives more villain vibes compared to Rose as well... Yeah, Rose is officially my most hated Pokémon character alongside Team Yell, Marnie and Piers... SwSh is that bad...)
That or you can have Geeta be a Benefactor to the Explorers as well...
So TL:DR, Have Geeta be part of the Explorers or even a funder of theirs with her own agenda as well...
It's easy to bash her like I do with Rose in my fics, But sincshe has potential as a Villain at least...
(XXX)
Violet and Florian/Juliana: Yeah, Since this fic is including massive Pokespe elements...
I do want to at least offer you advice on Juliana and Florian at least (Especially the Former even it's mostly me being a Juliana Fan) given while Violet's based on the latter, I can see you neglecting the Paldea Protaganists as well (Especially with the stuff about Geeta being absent AND NO ONE mentioning Sada and Turo's irregularities during the first Orange Island chapter...)
So to avoid risking Juliana and Florian form being neglected like Possibly Geeta... I'll offer some advice for you as well...
I gave you the idea of Florian being part of Team Star (As part of a 6th Crew as it's leader) with him and Juliana being Siblings as well...
So my advice is make Florian part of Team Star (As the older sibling with Juliana being the younger sibling enrolling later after the whole Operation Star Thing was over...) While Juliana can be Ash's Travel Companion as well...
Violet can be depending on what happen in canon but give Juliana Koraidon and have Violet use Miraidon as well...
Like Arven can give Juliana Koraidon like in canon Scarlet at least...
And heck, Just make Juliana and Arven a Couple at least... They're my current OTP right now but I think you can do Juliana Justice as well...
So I hope this helps for the Paldea Protaganists at least...
(XXXX)
Overall, Hope this helps...
I'll get the reviews for the other stuff I missed out when possible...
Take care, Stay Safe, Watch your health and See Ya! ;)
-MegaSalamence64
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Another fantastic review, Salamence! There's quite some great advice on here. I'll be sure to add them on the Paldea notes. These are all great!
(Huge rant(?) incoming)
However, that comment about Galar doesn't sit right with me. To me, its not really pathetic but more shafted that it actually hurts.
Leon, in terms of game, may be handholdy but think about it from in-game. He's canonically the strongest Champion and actually HELPS around the region, solving things for you, the children, so that you have a worry-free journey. So the fanbase accusing Leon of being so annoying irritates me since being involved IS HIS JOB.
He's more reminiscent to Cynthia, both of which are Champions who stayed relevant through the entire story which is cool.
It really sucks that Journeys had the perfect setting for Ash's sendoff with the perfect region about heroes and it just get shafted for Goh pandering and globetrotting. It really hurts. Like, give more Galar characters instead of Goh. (He's my least favourite character)
Galar, in my opinion, has the potential to be the single greatest region with its lore. Crown Tundra shows it with the introduction of Calyrex.
Heck, a part of why I wanted to make Fated was to give Galar its justice by making it Fated's FINAL region.
Yes, you read it right, folks. Galar is endgame. That means Paldea comes first before Galar while expanding the latter's characters before the two penultimate arcs:
Masters 16 and the last arc of the fanfic, aptly named... Fated.
Do I think Paldea sucks at storytelling?
Absolutely not! Paldea excels amazingly in its characters. Arven's story is goated in my opinion.
However, when it comes to region-building, it falls flat with some inconsistencies.
For example, why are the players locked from being older in the customizations?
Sure, the player being young makes you stand out as implied in the game dialogue but... there's a toddler in the Elite Four? Like wat?
What's more, the Professors' plan don't make sense and frankly weird and out of place.
Like hell, Kalos' weapon is related to Mega energy and Lysandre wants to use that to make the world beautiful so there's some sense in that.
Alola's Z Crystals are theorized to be shards of Necrozma.
Galar's Dynamax is directly related to the endgame plot.
So... how does Terastallizing link with time paradoxes? At least with Necrozma, there's a widely-agreed theory.
And as for the Professors, they're just remaking the Jurassic Park plot all over again.
So, I'm not saying Paldea is bad but please understand that it has flaws in storytelling since the flaws are there to make sure the character stories are great.
As for Galar, I really like the Legendaries' lore and what they represent:
After Mewtwo, every single Legendary Pokémon have been gods or worshipped as one, the latter being Zekrom and Reshiram since they weren't really Gods but had stories about them from the past, meaning they had legends.
But Zacian and Zamazenta didn't. They were forgotten by the people, replaced by two twats whose descendants ruined the endgame. They were not gods nor worshipped as such. And despite that, they were able to defeat Eternatus, arguably the biggest threat to the Pokémon world due to its spacetime distortions and being Infinity itself.
All the wolves had were a Sword and Shield. And that, to me at least, is very inspiring, especially to the current demographic of kids playing Pokémon.
Not godlike in any way, just pure heroes defeating the (game-wise) strongest Pokémon ever created.
Even after being forgotten, they came back for round 2 and did it again. If that isn't pure Gigachad energy, I don't know what is.
That's why I love Galar despite its huge number of flaws. It's based on King Arthur's region, after all. As a Fate fan and a Pokémon fan, to me, it was a match made in heaven.
So... yeah, sorry about the rant(?). I really like every region, but Galar stands out to me the most since its backstory is hidden and is way more interesting.
This isn't an angry rant, but more of me gushing about the the Galar lore. So, yeah, there's that.
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And that's about it. Get ready for the biggest exposition chapter as of writing this.
Chapter 69: To You, 3,000 Years Later
'A King and 'the' Witch? Why the 'the'?' Serena wondered.
Knock, knock.
"Come in," Serena approved in a hush manner to not wake the sleepy foxes.
The door swung gently, revealing Cynthia in a ponytail, wearing her signature black themes, only this time it was loose black shirt and pants for nightwear with a similarly black robe.
Serena could only stare in envy as she silently hoped for her growth spurt to hurry. Meanwhile, the blonde woman was clueless towards the honey blonde's frown.
'Damn, she looks good. I wonder if Red likes those kind of clothes…'
'Why's she looking at me like that?'
"You mind if I join in this storytelling?" Cynthia asked.
"Not at all. In fact, we would be glad if you joined," Puni-chan nodded.
"It would be better if we started from the very beginning."
The two blondes sat together on the bed as they listened to the Cores' retellings.
"In the beginning, there was only a churning turmoil of chaos."
"At the heart of chaos, where all things became one, appeared an Egg."
"Having tumbled from the vortex, the Egg gave rise to the Original One."
'This is… the Sinjohism myth,' Cynthia caught on.
'Isn't this the Sinjohism myth?' Serena did too similarly.
It was the most widely spread religion for a reason.
"The birth of the Original One came with another."
"It is the threat we spoke of… A Threat to Humanity:"
"An Outer God."
"A lifeform equal to the Original One."
'…What?' Serena blinked owlishly.
"An ancient being that warred against the Original One before the birth of the universe. We call it…"
"The Foreigner."
'…What?'
"The Descender of the Empty Void. After its first defeat against the Original One, its remains were turned into Elements."
"Or in more modern terms, the Types."
'Foreigner… Empty Void… A space god?!'
"The 17 Types birthed from its remains were converted into the Original One's arsenal called Plates. With them, the Original One created the World, flourishing it with life."
"I see. Then what about the Creation Gods?" Cynthia wondered aloud.
"They were created shortly after the Outer God's defeat to our knowledge," Squishy closed its singular eye as it reminisced.
"Time and Space. Dialga and Palkia. They were not so much as creations of the Original One but rather, its Alter-Egos."
"Alter-Ego?" Serena repeated.
"Indeed. The Original One is a Cosmic Being, one who is unable to descend upon its beloved creation due to its infinite power. Because of this, it decided to watch over its creation… All of them."
"All…?! Wait, are you telling me…" Serena could not believe her ears.
"…A multiverse," Cynthia realized quickly.
"You are sharp, Cynthia. Yes, a multiverse. And governing them are the Warden of Time and the Speaker of Space."
'This means in the entire multiverse, there's only one Dialga and Palkia,' the blonde woman surmised.
'Wait just a darn minute! When did this conversation turn into existential dread?!' Serena retorted.
"Or at least, that is the general explanation," Puni-chan stared at Cynthia.
A confused Cynthia wondered why the Cores were staring at her.
"In truth, both Time and Space, the Concepts, alone could not sustain the entire multiverse. To make it simple, imagine the contraption human children used for play. The one that moves up and down."
"A seesaw?" Serena guessed.
"Yes, that. Balance is required in the multiverse as well and in every World Line, there always exists imbalance," Squishy nodded again.
"To counteract this… A third Concept birthed from the Original One appeared."
"That Concept… is your God, Cynthia."
The Champion was stunned speechless. Her platinum eyes glistened beautifully in moonlight, finally granted a clue to the God who blessed her.
"Who…" she quivered.
The Cores would not answer. They did not have the right to.
"I'm sorry, Cynthia. However, we can promise you this: It would not be long now before you will meet it," Puni-chan assured confidently.
The humans were unaware, but the Cores knew. For they had felt the presence of a certain being during the pandemonium that was the Shamouti Crisis.
'The events are lining up…'
"Let's continue. The third concept, Antimatter, was a counterbalance to everything in the multiverse. But if interacted improper…"
"It will cause destruction," Cynthia finished, already known the effects of the physics in question.
The Cores nodded, sympathy in their eyes.
"It is a sympathetic story. Just like its Creator and fellow Concepts, Antimatter needed an avatar to interact with the World. But its destructive nature caused it to destroy everything in its path."
"The lonely God loved humans but because of its function, it could never feel their warmth. It felt violated, angered towards its Creator for its purpose."
"And so, Antimatter roared against the stars."
"It became the first God to receive its second epithet—"
"—The Renegade."
Both Cynthia and Serena listened in muted shock. The realization of how much Sinjohism had covered up the Renegade God was slowly sinking in as its religion spoke nothing of it. It had treated it as if it never existed.
It was cruellest thing to do to a God: To be forgotten.
The revelation of her guardian's creation caused Cynthia to tighten her fist in both rage and sorrow.
"During the ancient times, when Sinnoh was still known as Hisui, we heard of the Renegade's rebellion against the avatar of the Original One. We do not remember much but it sent the Creation Gods into a frenzy," Squishy said.
"Did you not stop it?" Serena queried to which the Cores shook their heads.
"We could not afford to due to our injuries. In addition, we do sympathize with the Renegade. After that, we heard of its wrath being quelled by a distant traveller but nothing more than that."
The honey blonde widened her eyes, remembering what this whole conversation was about: Zygarde's injury.
"Right, your injury!" she exclaimed before shutting herself with her hands.
Luckily, the two foxes merely tossed towards each other, unknowingly hugging each other in their sleep.
Snap!
Serena immediately took a picture with her Dex while Cynthia did the same, only with a PoryPhone.
"Yes, our injury. The cause of our current weakened state," Squishy wobbled.
"Remember how the Foreigner was thwarted by the Original One before the birth of the universe?" Puni-chan reminded.
The two nodded.
"Well, that was not the end of it."
"In fact, that was how it all began."
"This is a tale that started 20,000 years ago…"
"The day… a star fell."
The beginning of everything:
The Foreigner Who Descended.
"It… wasn't dead?" Serena gasped.
"No, it is an Outer God. Our rules do not apply to it," Squishy shook its head.
"There, the Fragment slumbered for 17 millennia before nearly 3,000 years ago… the Outer God's avatar awoke."
"It destroyed the lands, poisoned it, and slaughtered the mortals. With its gaping maw of destruction, it filled the skies with darkness."
The picture the Cores painted horrified the honey blonde. Her imagination ran, but she was unable to stomach her own thoughts:
The people cried for help only to be liquified into puddles of rancid mud by the Foreigner's breath. The land of green swept away into blackened husks of their former scenery. And the beautiful skies of blue… contaminated into putrid clouds of wickedness.
Cynthia kept an even expression, but she was similarly revolted by the Cores' serious description.
"That is the true identity of the Foreigner:"
"A foul Dragon. A monstrous Giant."
"The antithesis of the Original One."
"The one the humans called…"
"꓅ꑛꍟ ꄤꋫꋪꌅꍟꌚ꓅ ꄤꋫꐟ."
She shuddered. The Champion had heard of it before.
How could she not? It was the greatest myth of Galar, after all.
"The Darkest Day…" she trembled.
But what she had in mind of the myth was completely different from the true identity of its namesake.
"It wasn't describing an event…"
"The Darkest Day was the Foreigner itself."
"Indeed," Puni-chan turned to Serena.
"We did not explain properly, dear. In truth, it was not only us who answered the call of the King and Witch."
"As the Darkest Day roared…"
"Every God from every corner of Gaia heeded their prayers."
The revelation had the honey blonde paled ghostly white in return.
"Every… single one?" her jaw dropped.
"That's right. It would not be an exaggeration to say that if we had fallen then, this World would have ended."
"The avatars of both the Creation Gods and Original One faced it. They clashed in the War, neither giving an inch," Squishy recalled.
"Our side suffered many, mainly the one that humans called Mew. The Dragon of Unova was wounded to the point where its body was nearly torn into half."
"And nearly half of our Cells… They were infected by the Foreigner's blight to this day."
Serena felt fear crawling into her skin as the girl tried to comprehend the Foreigner's strength. She had a taste of the Zygarde Cores' power by using a one-use Blessing against Ölrún and that was merely a weakened version. So to think of a lifeform stronger than the two was impossible.
"Mew… That day, Mew almost became extinct?" Cynthia breathed out in bewilderment.
"Yes. Thankfully, one remains. The mischievous one we call Ratatoskr," Puni-chan replied, seemingly delighted to say Mew's name.
"And the Dragon of Unova… The Original Dragon?"
"Yes. We were saddened to hear of its inability to merge back into its former self, but we digress."
Both Cynthia and Serena were quick to detect the Cores' quick deflection regarding the Original Dragon, as if they were hiding something.
"And you two were infected?" the honey blonde asked.
"The blight. It corrupts beings of Gaia, a natural poison to the World," Puni-chan supplied.
"It is the reason why we have been weakened till the current era."
"Then, where are those blighted Cells now?" Cynthia asked in turn.
"They reside now in Yggdrasil. If we recall, the region where dear Serena met her fateful concubine."
Serena froze.
'…Did they just say 'concubine'?'
She took a double take, wondering if her ears were working right. Once confirmed, heat began to redden her face. The blushing ears made their appearance as Serena had to hopelessly fend off the embarrassment.
"N-n-n-no! He's not my concubine!" she protested in a hush tone.
"And why concubine?!"
"Well, with an Origin like Sovereign, isn't Ash more of a 'wife' than a 'husband', Your Majesty?" Cynthia chimed in with a teasing smirk.
"Wif—! I mean, that sounds nice but… Wait, no! Not like that!"
All of that came from a restrained whisper of screams due to the sleeping foxes. Both the Cores and Cynthia marvelled at how she could be so loud and silent at the same time.
Snap!
"Cynthia!" she hissed.
"Sorry, sorry. But you were so cute, I couldn't help it," the blonde woman chuckled.
"Indeed, she was," the two Cores agreed.
"Now you three are just ganging up on me," Serena pouted.
The Zygardes nodded thankfully towards the Champion, realizing what she had just done for their custodian. Cynthia had noticed the building dread within the honey blonde from the retellings and opted to lighten her instead.
Finally, it was time for bed. The Champion giving a mirthful chuckle at the still pouting girl as she sat by her side.
"I still wanna listen to more of it," Serena protested.
"No can do, young lady. Grace gave me a schedule and you've long gone past it," the blonde woman said sternly.
"Fineee… Goodnight, Cynthia."
"Goodnight, Sere-chan."
The Champion watched as the honey blonde drifted off to sleep, snuggling close to her two foxes who welcomed the girl.
"Verdant Guardians," she addressed the Cores.
"Yes, dear Cynthia?"
"This is the last question I have for tonight."
Squishy and Puni-chan looked at each other before gesturing the woman to continue.
"…Was it Arceus who defeated the Darkest Day?"
The answer came swiftly and clear.
"…It was not."
"The ones who thwarted the Outer God's avatar…"
"Were the two heroes…"
"Aided by the King of Bountiful Harvests."
.
.
.
A week passed in a flash.
Serena stared out into the fogged window, silently enjoying the cold weather that arrived. Others were not so pleased.
"Boo… The cold just won't let up, huh?" Blue sniffled.
"It hasn't even been that long since that Shamouti weather screwup…" Calem agreed.
Alain was neutral about it as he wore his trademark scarf, though he did wish the room heater was turned up higher. Trevor and Tierno wore their blazers on top of their winter jackets.
Gary came prepared with a black leather jacket while Shauna wore a pink coat.
The only person who was unchanging was the honey blonde, who had no wardrobe change despite the cold.
"Vui!"
The Eevee on her lap morphed into a Flareon, emanating heat for the honey blonde. Its fluffy yellow mane was like a soft warm pillow.
"Thanks, Eevee. But I'm not really cold," Serena smiled gratefully at the maned fox.
"You don't have to transform if you don't like it, y'know?"
"Vui!" Flareon protested, stamping her little paw on her Trainer's lap.
"Well aren't you a fine lady?"
Seeing Serena smothering her face into a giggling Flareon caused envy by the freezing students, especially her closest friends.
"Say, Serena. What other forms can Eevee turn into?" Gary asked, curious since he had never seen the devolution phenomena before.
]=[
ATL Entry: Devolution
A phenomenon that occurred when a Pokémon reverts to its previous stages. While widely believed to be impossible, it was not unheard of.
One such example was the Slowpoke species. The Slowpoke's second stage of evolution, Slowbro, was determined to be a Shellder biting Slowpoke's tail. Once taken off, Slowbro would devolve back to Slowpoke.
Another example would be Exeggutor with one of its head becoming large enough to fall off and turning into Exeggcute. However, most researchers found this process more akin to reproduction rather than devolution.
]=[
"I still don't know," the honey blonde replied.
'I try not to force Eevee to turn since it looks painful,' she mused to herself.
Since Cynthia was not here yet, Blue summoned Espy to meet the shapeshifting fox.
"Here's Espy, Eevee. Say hi," the chestnut-haired girl introduced.
"Kya~" Espy mewed.
Although Eevee was still timid around humans, though clearly better with Serena's friends, she seemed interested towards one of her evolved forms.
"Vui…"
"Kyaa~"
The two sniffed each other's nose as a greeting, familiarizing themselves with their scents.
'That… That's so gosh darn cute!' Serena and Blue squealed internally as they snapped pictures of the two with their red devices.
The brown fox inspected the purple feline, stopping to try her best to transform into Espy only to find herself unable to.
"Huh. Looks like she can't," Calem observed the fox struggling.
It appeared that Eevee's form-shifting held limits as evolutions via high bonding such as Espeon or Umbreon were locked. However, Eeveelutions that required stones were more than capable by the brown fox.
"So out of the 8, only 3 are locked because of their requirements," Trevor pondered to himself.
"But hey. 5 Types are more than enough. And if we include Eevee, that's 6 Types," Tierno counted.
Normal, Fire, Water, Electric, Grass and Ice.
Serena was amazed at the variety of forms Eevee could take. However, she was still worried since she knew Eevee would undergo pains to evolve.
"Vui," Eevee rubbed her face on the honey blonde's arms as she leapt into them.
'Don't worry, huh?' she smiled as a gentle pat laid on the smiling fox.
While the students were lamenting the return of the cold and Serena's group were chatting about Eevee's capabilities, their classes began with Cynthia entering, still dressed the same.
"Now then, since it's cold out, Aug— I mean, Professor Sycamore has assigned me with History and Myths so buckle up, kids," Cynthia grinned.
History and Myths.
A subject most students dreaded as they could not be bothered to remember things from the distant past. However, it was one subject Serena excelled in, even more than Gary himself. The reason being her fascinated past with fairytales and obscure stories, her company before she met Ash.
Coincidentally, it was Cynthia's area of expertise as well.
The two blondes shared a look with the Champion shooting a reassuring smile towards Serena. Ever since that night, the honey blonde found herself more dazed than ever as she kept to her thoughts most of the time.
"Today, we're going to be learning about Kalos' myths," the Champion began.
"But Miss Cynthia, we've already gone through Kalos myths before," Shauna raised her hand.
"Excellent point. But what I'm going to be teaching today is from a more obscure origin, namely from Dahara."
]=[
ATL Entry: Dahara City
A sprawling metropolis with towering skyscrapers surrounded by stone houses. One of its landmarks was the Dahara Tower. Due to its humungous size, it could be considered another region due to how diverse its culture was.
]=[
"Another place that is similar to Dahara is an island city in Johto called Alto Mare. Their cultures and way of life are very different from their regions, making them somewhat exclusive locations," Cynthia explained.
"You could even say they are their own region."
With that being said, the blonde teacher started her lecture.
"Dahara's myth is told through its main subject: a djinn."
That word threw everyone for a loop, even Serena. As it turned out, even the honey blonde was not knowledgeable about the mythical creature despite her well-learnt background.
"What are djinns?" Gary asked, unfamiliar with that term.
"Well, djinns in modern terms would be called genies. They are allegedly wish-granters, capable of granting their master 3 wishes," Cynthia replied.
'Oh, so its like that one movie with the lamp…' Blue noted.
"The 3 wishes part is a more modern interpretation but back then, there were no such limits. Additionally, there were no master-servant relationships between the djinn and human, unlike what movies tell you."
That last bit was directed towards a whistling chestnut-haired girl.
"The most well-known djinn is the Pokémon, Hoopa. It was once Dahara's pride and joy as it made merry with the people and was a benevolent being to them."
"But as Pokémon Battles were popularized rapidly, the legend goes that Hoopa summoned stronger opponents to defeat for the joy and excitement of the Dahara people. Eventually, it got to the point where it was said to have summoned Gods to do battle, only to be punished and imprisoned into a bottle as penance for its hubris."
The students were baffled at the seemingly outlandish tale Cynthia told, silently wondering if the Dahara people truly believed such a fantastical tale.
"Well, that's about it for Hoopa. But there is still one more myth that's rather fascinating," Cynthia added, already in the groove to share more myths.
The honey blonde knew of Cynthia's borderline obsession with discovering legends and myths to the point where she had to personally pry the woman off her workspace to sleep.
"It is an overshadowed piece of prophecy, discovered recently about 12 years ago. It details similar events to the Sinjohism myths," she continued.
This got a lot of students nodding to themselves since some of them were believers of the almighty Arceus. As such, it was not uncommon for other myths to be recorded with similarities to the creation myths of Sinnoh.
"However, it has some additional aspects that were depicted on it."
"The Djinn Pokémon, Hoopa, was depicted as a mischievous prankster. The piece spoke of Arceus, or rather its powers, being the one who sealed it into the bottle, though it is unconfirmed. However, what was known is that Hoopa grew angry with the God. The details following this are unclear but somehow, Hoopa managed to free itself and searched for a friend. A friend who it thought could defeat Arceus."
Of course, murmurs of soft scoffs and off-waves erupted as they thought of the piece as a joke. Tales were nonsensical to begin with but an imaginary friend defeating the Almighty was way exaggerated even for a myth.
At this, Serena asked the question.
"Who's Hoopa's alleged friend?"
Cynthia answered as she turned on the class's projector, showing the mural on the tablet piece:
It was an ancient painting with a pristine white equine, akin to a qilin, doing battle against something the students had never seen before.
Everyone instinctively knew it was no Pokémon.
It was unthinkable to call it one.
Rather, it was something more… demonic.
An infernal monster with horns. And the most prominent of all:
It had a body made of steel. Or more specifically, sharp blades of steel.
Beneath those scales of sharpened swords were flames. Flames resembling blood.
Aiding the demon were two figures:
"It called its friend:"
Two great wolves wielding a Sword and Shield.
"ᎥᎦᏒᎥᏖ."
.
.
.
.
Olivine City, Johto Region
.
A pair of siblings disembarked their vessel as they made haste, holding onto their necklaces. Matching necklaces that were shaped familiarly like a certain golden cross-like wheel.
"We must make haste, Meray," the older brother wearing a red turban urged.
His sister, a woman wearing alight blue cloth around her head, nodded.
"You don't need to state the obvious, Baraz."
Silently, she closed her eyes to concentrate. Her thoughts went deeper as she searched. And soon, she reached the one she was looking for.
'Meray…' the other voice called out, childlike and scared.
Hearing its voice of trepidation filled Meray's heart with pain as she assured it.
'I'm here… Don't worry, we'll find you…'
'Hoopa.'
The link cut, the siblings began their journey.
"Those fiends…!" the sister snarled, her thoughts drifting back to the group that kidnapped the djinn.
"Team Rocket. Or rather, Neo Rocket," the brother glared, remembering the black-clothed criminals that invaded their home.
'But there is a silver lining. At least, Neo Rocket did not discover the Prison Bottle.'
The two siblings checked their map, unfamiliar with the new land as they had never been away this far from their hometown before.
"We must consult with the guardian deities of Johto," Baraz remarked as he eyed two locations on the map.
The Bell Tower of Ecruteak City and the Whirl Islands.
"No, brother. We may be the people of the Lord…" Meray caressed her golden necklace.
"But that doesn't give us the right to meet the Gods on a whim."
As opposed to her brother, Meray's brown eyes homed in on one singular location:
Ilex Forest.
"We will seek aid from the Warden of Time's kkoma: Celebi."
.
.
.
.
Unknown location, Johto Region
.
A little Pokémon was banging on its glass prison, its innocent expression showing fear and worry as it stared at its captors.
"Let Hoopa go! Hoopa wants to go home!" Hoopa yelled.
The grunts surrounding its prison merely snickered in response, clearly morbidly amused at its panic.
"Hey, was it this easy to catch a Mythical?" one of them wondered aloud.
"Nah. I heard of a Dahara story about this guy summoning Gods to battle," another replied.
"Hah! Looks like it was just a bunch of baloney!"
As the grunts laughed, their boss made their entrance, silencing them as they stood at attention.
Hoopa quaked at the sight of the appearance of the Neo Rocket boss:
A Masked Man.
"Hoopa. The myths described you as a being of six arms," a modulated androgenous voice commented behind the crystalline mask.
The small djinn floated back as it was intimidated by the man's mask.
"Well, no matter. Your rings are all I need anyways."
"Hoopa's rings?! What are you doing to Hoopa's rings?!" the djinn cried out.
The Masked Man glanced back at the furious Hoopa, his long locks of white hair shadowing the mask's eyes as he gripped onto a certain PokéBall on his seemingly icy clawed hand.
"…Righting the past."
The djinn widened its eyes at the remorseful tone the Masked Man gave before he returned to his cold demeanour.
"As for you. Well, the myths described you as the Speaker of Space's one and only kkoma. What happens if your counterpart hears of your capture, I wonder?"
Hoopa was confused as to what the man was saying but as it dug deeper, a certain image came into mind:
Its friend and fellow kkoma, a green fairy-like Pokémon.
"You…! Hoopa will not let you!"
Hearing his grunts chuckle away, the Masked Man made his way out.
"Hoopa friends will save Hoopa! Hoopa will stop you!"
As the Masked Man heard the fading cried of the djinn, a single thought solemnly lingered in his mind.
'…Forgive me.'
.
.
.
The end of a kingdom. The end of the Isles.
The Witch wept, for it was her home. It was all she ever loved.
Lush forests burned. Fertile earth eroded. And the people slain.
She was not human. She lived her life as a creature.
But at her homeland's end, she granted herself human.
The King was mortally wounded. His traitorous knight's blade was the culprit.
A hill of slain knights, the King awaited death atop.
The Witch disliked him. Called him a fool for his childish ambitions.
But alas, she understood his wish.
A wish to change their home into an eternal utopia.
His death was certain. It was meant to happen.
Everything was meant to happen.
Her beloved home, her misguided hatred, and the King's death.
It was all predetermined.
…
But the Witch had enough.
She howled resentfully towards the skies.
She cursed them for their lies.
Foolishly believing their promise to save their land.
Yes…
The Witch scorned the Gods.
…
No longer the Gods' puppet…
She saved the King from the clutches of Death.
And so, with one action…
The Witch surpassed Fate.
.
.
.
And yet, her actions were answered with naught but pain:
A great quake befell upon the Isles.
From the burning ashes of the land, a great beast awoke.
Its roar decimated the kingdom. Its claws shredded the earth.
There were no words to describe the beast.
No human could comprehend it; Gaia deciphered its appearance.
It was… a Dragon of Blight.
The Gods heard the two heroes.
They were allied for one singular goal:
To eradicate the Threat to Humanity.
Divine beings clashed.
But the Dragon overpowered them.
The Original One match it but could not defeat it, for it was only an avatar.
But then…
The two heroes faced the Dragon.
Sword and Shield.
Though they were not what they seemed.
It was not a Sword, but Humanity's hopes and dreams given form.
It was not a Shield, but a scabbard of omnipotent protection.
Together, they smite down the Dragon.
With that, the Enemy of the World had fallen.
…
But alas, there was no happiness to be found in the end—
For the Original One f̶̳͉̌͝ě̵͉͓͉̞̲̰̟̫̈́͝͠ͅą̴̨͙̝̤̘̙͖̲̳͋̍̆̽͑͜͝ͅř̸̨̨̬̣̣̂̃̆̇ẹ̴̛̥̗̳͆̓̉̉͆̍̏̾͂́̚͝͠d̵̨̛̥͓̰̹͋̄̃̓͗ͅ ̴̨̝̗̼͎͆̔̈́̋̒̈́̊̀̐t̷̗͆̅̈́̓̓̈̏͠h̶̡̧̢͚̞̤̪͚̗͈̻͋͂̽̄̓̊̅́̓̔̏͒̏̒͝ę̵̟̲̹͕͉̩̰̬̻̀͛̈̐̈̓̏̅̓̕͜ ̵̡͈̼̱̪͓̤̳̦̰̱̫̤͂͝ȟ̴̯̭̬͕̫͗́̍̂̚ę̴͉̬̖̫͔̪̖̈́̔̐̇ͅr̷̤̹͇͉̾̐͜ơ̷̬͑ę̴̧̟̮͕͍̖̭̫̩̾̿̈́ͅş̴̳̞̳̣̟̪̯̬͙̌͊͆̏͒̋͛̈́̚̚.
.
.
.
.
.
A pair of bleary bloodred inched awake as the raven-haired boy rose from his tent, exiting to find his two companions already up and running.
"Look who's awake," Brendan smirked cheekily.
"Hurry up, Ash. We'll eat in the Centre today," Misty urged.
"Pikachu," the electric mouse snickered.
"Kero," Froakie joined in as well.
"Oh, haha," Ash rolled his eyes at them.
But as the raven-haired boy stepped into the sunny light, he stopped to feel something on his cheeks.
'Hm?'
"Pikapi?" / "Kero?"
"Hey, Ash…" the white-hatted boy widened his eyes in surprise.
"Ash? Why…" the redhead stared in bewilderment.
"Why are you crying?"
Let me tell you a story.
Ash touched his cheek, taken aback by the warm tears.
A story of how Fate—
"…Eh?"
—Was cut through by a Sword.
"I don't know…"
Chapter 69: To You, 3,000 Years Later
"But I felt like I've just had a long dream."
Author's Notes
Well, well, well. Looks like we get an introduction to our ORT, folks.
That's right, Darkest Day is our endgame boss! As for why no one is calling it Eternatus, remember that its Rose who called it that. So, for the majority of the story until its reveal, Eternatus will have the placeholder 'Darkest Day' and 'Foreigner'.
Foreigner's a Fate class for Servants who made contact with Lovecraftian Gods, and with Fated's intepretation of Eternatus as an Outer God itself, its fitting.
As for the Types... no, I didn't miscount and no, you didn't read it wrong.
Foreigner here coughed out 17 Types instead of 18. What is the missing Type and how did it came to be? That's a mystery to be solve.
God, I hope there's no 19 Types but seeing how that new tortoise says the 19th Tera Type, I might come back here to change it.
Now then... the biggest elephant in the room: ᎥᎦᏒᎥᏖ.
Whomst? Well, I don't think anyone reading would be clueless as to who ᎥᎦᏒᎥᏖ is described as.
So instead, let's go through why I chose the name ᎥᎦᏒᎥᏖ and its significance.
As you guys had learnt, djinns are wish-granters. It's the origin of genie and his 3 wishes.
A wish is something of a promise. So, djinns are in a sense, something that brings promises to reality.
And now... who fits that description? ...Yep.
For the name of the 'djinn', it fits since it is associated with fire. The steel part is just fic-material.
Next, we have Baraz and Meray from the Hoopa movie! Their inclusion is due to hindsight of what Masked Man's end goal required.
He needed Celebi, sure, but he's also missing a key component: Space. Because Hoopa wasn't created that time, Celebi somehow gained space-warping powers in the manga.
That's why we need Hoopa!
Finally, that last bit... It is what makes this fic rather different from others.
Arceus is not the benevolent Abrahamic God in most fics... But the antagonistic force of the story.
But wait, author! Didn't you say that it's just an avatar?!
I sure as hell did. Because Arceus, the real one, is too big to write in a fanfic like this.
The avatars aligned with Legends: Arceus' description as the Arceus you catch in the game in merely a fraction of the actual one.
There's still a hidden secret regarding the above sentence which I'm not gonna reveal now but a hint would be: Incarnation.
As for the word kkoma, its a Korean word for runt or little. I used it since some Korean inclusion wouldn't hurt and also its a fitting name to call Dialga and Palkia's... kkomas. (See, it works and fits)
And well, that's all, folks!