Chapter 6: Acuity
The situation didn't concern Palkia nearly as much as it did Dialga. This was because spatial balance had been maintained this whole time. For every universe that had collapsed, another one grew to take its place.
Like right now, for instance. As Palkia watched over Dialga's interactions with the children, they saw something shift in the corner of their eye. From their perspective, every alternate universe was perceived as an orb. Most of them were purple, others were pink. Palkia watched as one such universe collapsed into itself, and then was replaced by something new.
Which reminded Palkia...how long had it been since Dialga had asked them to look into the new universes? Could have been a day, could have been a century. Such things did not matter to Palkia as much as they did Dialga, but it would not do to keep him waiting for too long. May as well look into it while it was on their mind.
The first thing Palkia noticed about the new universe was the lack of color. Granted, they did not expect too much from a brand-new universe. Each was its own creation, and some were slower to flourish than others. Palkia was not sure how much time would need to pass before this new universe flourishes with spirit, but they knew it would happen.
At least, they were certain until they saw one of the first new universes that had appeared. Its color had not changed at all; it still retained the shade of gray that marked it when it appeared. While Palkia was not sure how much time had passed within this universe...the lack of color for this long had a troubling implication behind it.
Palkia didn't want to come to a conclusion too soon, but perhaps they could keep an eye on the newly formed universes a while longer. Just in case.
Before any of that, they had to make sure Dialga would not get side-tracked for longer than he actually had.
Lucas was the one who ultimately confronted Mars - with Dawn and Barry confronting the other Team Galactic Grunts in the building, taking down the leader (so to speak) simply fell to him. it was a tough battle, but he and his Pokemon somehow managed to win. Mars could only stare in disbelief as her last Pokemon fell.
"I lost?! How can that-?! How did you-?! You uppity brat!" she shouted, taking out her PokeBall and returning the Normal-type. "Ughhh, I messed up. I enjoyed our battle, but still..."
Lucas had a feeling that Mars had lied. Curse was a life-saver of a move, and Kale made really good use of it the whole fight. Few things are more frustrating than facing a physical wall when your whole team is made of physical attackers.
The older man beside her - who Lucas could only assume was another Commander - seemed to be thinking the same thing.
"I doubt you did. Lose to a child, will you?" The older man scoffed. Lucas couldn't help noting that she seethed at the mere sound of his voice. "No matter; we have plenty of electricity. Even with this much, we can do something spectacular. So says I, the genius-"
"Will you shut up!" Mars shouted, whirling around to face the scientist. "How many times do I need to say it?! Master Cyrus is the only one who gets to boss me around! You're not important; don't forget that you only joined recently, Mercury or whatever your name is!"
"How many times do I need to say it?! It's Charon!" the old man shouted back. "We don't even have a Mercury in our ranks!"
Mars snickered, although her mirth didn't last long. She sighed, "Ugh, whatever. I guess it's time to say good-bye for now!"
As she walked past, Mars shot Lucas a nasty glare. "You got lucky! If you get in our way again, I won't be so nice!"
As the two Commanders left, Lucas immediately went to check on the scientist that they left behind. The uniform he was wearing indicated that he worked in the Windworks. Maybe this was the girl's father. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, thanks," the scientist responded. "They kept saying something they had to gather Pokemon and energy no matter what."
"Did they say for what?" Lucas couldn't place a finger on what compelled him to ask that particular question. It felt a little like instinct.
"Something about creating a new universe? Or something like that. It didn't make much sense to me, so I just tuned it out."
Lucas was not prepared for how the scientist's words felt like a punch to the throat. A new universe.
As he watched the following chain of events - Dawn and Barry checking on the scientist, the little girl tackling her father into a hug - Lucas knew that he should be feeling proud of himself. He was definitely proud of his Pokemon for putting up a good fight; that Purugly in particular was no joke. They pulled through in the end, saved the day. He was glad that he, Dawn and Barry made it through that whole thing in one piece.
No matter how many times Lucas told himself that, it wouldn't assuage the sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach.
Part of the reason Dialga decided to stick around and watch the three children confront Team Galactic was to get an idea on how they battled. He understood that Pokemon battling had changed in recent centuries; what used to be a rarity was now a commonplace occupation. To actually see it in person (so to speak) was a rare treat.
Besides, he found that he would feel much more at ease if the children could take care of themselves. That would be one less thing for him to concern himself with.
This is why he allowed himself to be on 'lookout duty'. Strictly speaking, he wasn't a Trainer. So it wasn't like he could confront them himself. Not without revealing his true identity as Dialga, anyway.
The girl seemed to be thankful for the company, at least. She sure did like to talk, though. Were all human children like this? He certainly knew that Celebi wasn't this chatty when she was young.
"Mr. Pirate?" she questioned. When he looked down at her, she continued, "How come you're not in there with them, beating up the spacemen?"
"Ah..." Dialga had to think fast. What kind of answer would be best?! "I...left my sword at home?"
It was a flimsy answer. The flimsiest he could think of, and he was surprised that the little girl actually accepted it. She nodded sagely, "Ohhh, okay. I guess pirates are pretty useless without their swords. Unless they got a hook for a hand, but you don't have one."
With a weak chuckle, Dialga shifted his focus when he heard the door opening. One by one, the members of Team Galactic filed out of the Windworks. The last two were a woman with red hair and an older man with purple hair. Their outfits were different from the other Galactic members...their leaders, perhaps? The redhead's loud complaints about 'those meddling brats' caught his attention. So Lucas and the others were successful?
"They're gone!" the little girl cheered. "Now I can see my papa again?"
Before she entered the Windsworks, she stopped to face 'Aevus'. "Thanks for your help, Mr. Pirate! Bye-bye!"
Not even three seconds after the child entered the Windworks, the ground suddenly opened up beneath Dialga's feet, and he fell.
As if the sudden falling sensation wasn't bewildering enough, he landed in a pile of snow. There was water close to him, and if he squinted he could see what looked to be an island...a lake, perhaps? Definitely not Lake Verity...Acuity, then? How did he get from the Floaroma area to Lake Acuity?!
Looking up, Dialga soon had his answer. Above him was a shimmering purple portal, and he could see Palkia's face looking down at him. Dialga scowled; the absolute nerve of them!
"You could have warned me!" Dialga shouted into the portal.
"You're lucky I didn't drop you into the water," Palkia deadpanned, rolling their eyes. "Now hurry up and talk with Uxie. They've been practically dying to pick your brain."
Dialga sighed. "Is there anyone within the Pantheon who doesn't know what happened?"
"Please tell me that question was rhetorical."
Before Dialga could answer, he could make out a small yellow light floating towards them. Stopping just in front of him, the light manifested itself into Uxie's astral form.
"Dialga," Uxie greeted. "I've been waiting for you. Hello to you too, Palkia."
"Hello, Uxie," Palkia responded. "Unfortunately, this conversation doesn't involve me. So I'll leave you two alone."
With that, Palkia's portal closed. As agitated as Dialga was that they had pulled him here, he didn't have much choice but to let it go.
With a sigh, Dialga decided that it was best to get straight why he was here. "I don't suppose there's much point in asking how much you know?"
"Actually, there is one thing I don't know. Tell me about this Lucas."
This caught Dialga off-guard. "I thought Mesprit would have-"
"She did," Uxie interjected. "My apologies. I simply wish to know your view of him."
"My view of-?" Dialga could see why Uxie would be curious about that. After all, Lucas wasn't nearly killed by Mystical Power, was he? "Very well. He is...a unique case. Not many humans can survive something like Roar of Time, and even fewer come out relatively unscathed. He does not even remember anything connected to what is going on-"
"Are you sure about that?"
"...What do you mean?" Had anyone else in his family asked him this, Dialga would not have considered the possibility. But when it came from Uxie, with that tone... "I watched as he carried on like nothing happened. Surely there would have been some urgency in his actions the moment he recovered-"
Uxie shook their head. "Memories are much more complex in humans than you think. It may be true that he cannot recall anything connected to what is going on, but do you truly believe Roar of Time could leave such a small impact on a human? It could have easily left an impact on his body, or even his spirit. These things remember, even when the mind cannot."
Dialga was stunned. He wanted to say that this was ridiculous. The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he could not bring himself to say them. Of course he knew that Roar of Time drew its power not from sound, but from his own Aura. How had he never thought about how it could affect a human?
Strangely, he thought of Rei; how he avoided the dark and flinched at every shadow in the aftermath of the battle against that damned merchant, even years after the fact. Could Lucas be experiencing anything similar to that?
Uxie clearly sensed Dialga's surprise and insisted, "Tell me something: have you noticed anything strange in Lucas' demeanor lately?"
"Anything-" Did they mean anything out of the ordinary? How should Dialga know that, he had only met the child a grand total of three times!
Dialga had a feeling that Uxie was rolling their eyes. "Palkia told me before they brought you here - you were with the boy and his friends, weren't you? Tell me about that."
This was starting to feel less like Dialga coming to Uxie for advice, and more like a lecture. Not an uncommon occurrence when it came to Uxie. Nonetheless, he relented; "The three of them had come across a mockery of the Galaxy Team. Team Galactic, I believe it was called? They took some scientists hostage."
"And? How did Lucas act?"
Dialga recalled how Lucas' expression shifted as he learned what was happening - curiosity to agitation. While he was no expert in the spectrum of human emotion...was such a drastic shift normal? Based on what little he knew of Lucas, it might not be. The boy had proven to be polite, and somewhat soft-spoken on top of that. Like he would sooner avoid conflict than dive head-first into it. Dialga would find it hard to believe that Lucas would ever get angry if he had not seen it actually happen.
"He acted like it wasn't a question of if he would confront them," Dialga realized, "but more a question of how."
The following revelation was a surprising one. Perhaps Lucas did retain some memory connected to the Unraveling...as unconscious as they may be. If that was the case, and he acted so agitated when it came to Team Galactic...does that mean that they would be the ones to try creating the Red Chain?!
Satisfied, Uxie hummed. "You look like you've figured something out."
"I think I have," Dialga responded, giving his cousin a polite smile. "Thank you for your help, Uxie."
As glad as he was to have a new lead...the thought lingered in the back of his mind. There was little doubt he would see the boy and his friends again. If Dialga's hunch was correct, Lucas in particular would feel compelled to fight Team Galactic any way he could. He may be compelled to fight back just as strongly as Dialga was, without ever knowing why.
Was it strange that the thought made Dialga anxious?