NSO: Chapter 38
I don't own Pokemon.
"Hello, Zenith. We've been expecting you."
Zenith's face was still smushed up against the cold marble floor from his fall out of the void. Blood was still flowing through his veins, even those that were sliced in half by sharp, clawed paws before, the crimson liquid continuously pooling out on the pristine white tiles. Half of his body was a mangled mess. Skin, flesh and chunks of organs had been ripped, clawed, shredded haphazardly from his body, leaving multiple paw-shaped holes in what remained. If one were to closely examine the bones that were protruding out from the flesh, shallow scratch marks could be seen etched into the rigid organ. But despite all that, he was still functioning normally like any other living Pokemon.
"If this is who I think it is, I would like some answers."
"All in due time, Zenith. Rise first, then we shall converse."
"Well, technically, we already are conversing, so-"
"Dude. Just get up, will you? And be respectful. Do you even know who you're talking to?" Now that was a voice he did recognise, a voice that he had heard and talked to in his head for many years.
Zenith got to his paws unsteadily, tottering around as he tried to maintain his balance on uneven limbs, one significantly shorter than the others. Eventually, he resorted to just trembling in one spot as his remaining three battered legs supported his weight, gazing up at the figures that stood before him.
"I have a pretty good idea."
Arceus, Dialga and Palkia. There was no point in trying to describe how they looked, they were identical to what all those ancient murals, stained glass windows and texts depicted: standing stoically since the dawn of time, remaining the same for countless millennia, impervious to change. However, what these works of art back on Earth failed to encapsulate was the aura that each of them radiated. It brimmed with power, threatening to knock Zenith over as they washed over him. The raw power they emanated just by standing there made Zenith feel more minuscule and insignificant compared to these higher beings that already towered over him, the Umbreon barely coming up to their knees. At least what little confidence he possessed still remained, fuelled by burning curiosity.
"Welcome, Zenith," The domed roof of the pantheon seemed to amplify Arceus' grandiose voice as it boomed throughout the structure. "to the Hall of Legends. I trust that you have questions, but first, we have to get you back into fighting shape."
Zenith only had time to ponder Arceus' oddly specific voice of words before said Legendary closed and opened his eyes again, beams of white light spilling out of the sockets. Waves that radiated from the Alpha Pokemon grew exponentially stronger, pushing Zenith backwards to fall flat on the floor. His body was starting to convulse, but the Umbreon's eyes weren't filled with fear or confusion, but with wonder and shock instead. As Zenith watched in horrrified awe, bones sprouted from shattered, splintered ends. New muscles and tissue sprang forth, wrapping and attaching themselves around the bare bones. With his skeletal and muscular systems completely healed, Zenith's other systems started to undergo self-repairs as well. Blood vessels and capillaries joined themselves back together. Flesh was filling up the spots where it had been brutally ripped out. Now skin was covering up the gashes, tears and bruises, patching up the wounds without leaving a single scar.
Fur started to regrow in places where it had been torn out in clumps, the sleek black hairs covering up the pale, newly healed skin that was hidden underneath. Zenith's blue luminescent rings and bands, once dim, flickering and fading, now blazed with new life, shining brighter than ever before. His face was the last to get healed, patching himself up until every part of Zenith was back.
Every part of him except for one.
"Sorry to seem rude or ungrateful and all, but… where's my eye?"
His face was fully redeemed, covered in short black fur without a single scratch, but his eye socket remained empty, an unsightly cavity of his face devoid of a red eyeball.
"Ah, yes. Terribly sorry about your eye. You see, healing injuries this severe from nothing can be somewhat tricky for Legendaries like us. We replicate the missing muscles, organs and whatnot using my blueprints for all the various Pokemon in the world. Bone, muscles, flesh and skin are easy to replicate. They're tough and strong, made to withstand quite a few beatings, so the complicated and intense process of replication is nothing to them. Eyeballs, on the other hoof, along with a few vital organs, are softer and more delicate. Fragile, easily broken. Very little survive the replication process nowadays."
Nowadays?
"But… you're a god! Can't you at least try?"
Arceus extended a gold-tipped hoof, closing his eyes once again. A white orb appeared in the centre of the hoof, revolving slowly like a magnetic globe. Veins started to form on the smooth, shiny surface of the orb, and the iris, pupil and sclera were now visible. But just as the eyeball turned a dark shade of red to match Zenith's other eye, it started to revolve faster and faster, spinning in place so quickly that it was barely a blur.
BANG!
The eyeball exploded with the sound of a burst balloon, splattering the entire pantheon with small droplets of blood and liquids. Reopening his eyes, Arceus surveyed his even bloodier surroundings, looking back at Zenith. The Legendary's green and red eyes held a seemingly sympathetic gaze as if to say "Well, I tried.", but Zenith noticed hints of longing in those eyes.
"Sorry, Zenith. No eye. You should have seen when I was in my prime, about a few thousand years ago. Back then, I could have been able to create an eyeball just like… that." Another spinning eyeball appeared in Arceus' hoof but suffered the same fate as the first.
"You got… weaker?"
"Zenith, you're pushing your luck here. Asking about power is a very sensitive topic for Legendaries. Arceus, you're really not going to answer tha-" Palkia's sentence was interjected by Arceus waving a hoof at her, brushing off her worries. "It's fine, Palkia. I've told the others, he has the right to know too."
Others?
"As you know, there are many Pokemon that reside within the Hall of Legends, those that mortals like you call 'Legendaries' or Mythicals'. There are two ways to becoming these kinds of Pokemon. The first is to have been created and granted immense power by me, like these two," Dialga and Palkia nodded at Arceus' acknowledgement as he gestured towards them. "Or those who have deemed themselves worthy of those statuses. All these Pokemon, in addition to the benefit of living here, are entitled to a portion of my power, which is divided and shared equally amongst the others whenever a new Legendary or Mythical Pokemon enters the Hall. However, Dialga, Palkia, Giratina and I still possess significantly more power than them in order to keep them in check, mine, of course, being the greatest out of us four."
Zenith nodded in understanding, but was going nuts under the calm expression of his. Here he was, sitting before Arceus, the creator of everything, was giving him undocumented, previously unknown knowledge about Legendaries and Mythicals. According to Dialga, some of them did live amongst normal Pokemon down on Earth, but their very private lifestyles meant that little was still known about them. Now a whole load of information had been dumped upon him and the only thing preventing his brain from overloading was one unsolved question that he wanted answered.
"So why am I here? I died!"
Arceus had the hint of a smile of his face, as though he was waiting for Zenith to ask that very question.
"Zenith, the reason to why you've been brought into these Halls, is because you have been chosen to become a Champion."
"A… champion? What's that?"
"Champions are Pokemon that a Legendary or Mythical recognise for their talent and skill amongst all others, be it compared to other Pokemon in their town, state, country, or even the entire world. The Legendary will then monitor their selected Pokemon, evaluating the potential Champion's skills throughout its entire lifetime. Upon the Champion's eventual death in the mortal realm, if the Legendary still approves of his or her skills, the Pokemon will then be brought to the Hall of Legends to become a full-fledged Champion. Any other questions?"
Life after death is… real? Questions were racing through Zenith's mind, which had been completely blown by this new piece of information.
Stay calm, Zenith. One question at a time.
"What does a Champion do?"
"A Champion is sworn to uphold justice in the world."
"What about Champions who pass from old age?"
"When Champions arrive here, their bodies are instantly restored to the time when they were at their prime, along with their looks and age. Experience and memories are still retained."
"How do Champions 'uphold justice'? I-I don't think I've read anything that even mentions their existence."
Arceus chuckled to himself as he seemed to reminisce, the foggy mists of nostalgia clouding his eyes. "I implemented the Champions when I looked back down on my creations a few millennia ago, only to realise the injustice of it all. Pokemon with potential wasted their lives and skill, never fully realising it, and most who do misuse their potential to commit sins. With the number of evildoers skyrocketing with each passing year, history was clearly repeating itself. Calling in another purge like before would be of no use, so I decided to take a different approach this time. By bringing Pokemon back as Champions, it gives them a new life to do good, or continue doing good in the world. As for why Champions have never been documented, let's just say Champions work from the shadows to bring light to the world. Ever read about 'miracles' happening in battles or wars, or how some perceived evildoers 'choose' to kill themselves? You have Champions to think for that."
"How many Champions are there currently?"
"All Legendary and Mythical Pokemon can select one Champion each to train, but we only have eight as of now. It's not that we Legendaries are picky, but more so that Champion material is harder to come by these days."
"Um... do Champions get a chance to return to their normal mortal lives?"
Arceus' eyes widened slightly, as if surprised by the query.
"Absolutely not. Come to think of it, you are the first Pokemon to ask that question. But why would you want to return? Being a Champion has much more benefits than mortal life. Immortality, better faculties in the Halls, preventing the word from falling to greater evils. What could the mortal realm possibly offer that would entice you to return there?"
Zenith decided not to answer that question, pondering the answers he had received. To become a Champion, to get another shot at 'life' after his had been brutally ripped away from him, one fully dedicated to making the world a better place. And…
He may get another chance to see Cleo again. Sure, the chances were slim, but there was still a chance, and he would take it, no matter how small it was.
The question didn't even need to be asked. The steely resolve and absolute certainty in Zenith's eyes was a clear answer to the Alpha Pokemon. The Legendary extended a gold-tipped hoof which Zenith accepted, grabbing it as Arceus pulled the Umbreon to his feet with relative ease, shaking his paw after doing so. As the two of them shook hooves/paws, Zenith felt a strange sort of feeling descend upon him, trickling down like warm honey from the tips of his ears, clinging to his fur until his entire body seemed to be covered in 'it'.
"Congratulations, Zenith Schroff. I, Arceus, officially declare you a Champion."
On the Alpha Pokemon's last word, it became clear to Zenith what Arceus had bestowed upon him. A small flicker in the aura that the Legendary was constantly radiating. The sticky, grassy, warm feeling that encased his body vanished, only to be replaced by a stronger, more intense warmth within his body, almost sending Zenith collapsing on the ground under buckling legs, barely strong enough to support him as this familiar yet foreign feeling overwhelmed him completely.
So this was what pure power felt like. It coursed through his veins, pulsing in every muscle, nerve, organ and bone in his body. A feeling so red-hot and intense that it hurt both mentally and physically. Zenith bit down on his tongue to present himself from crying out in pain as his body took in the power Arceus was giving him. And to think that this was probably only a minuscule portion of the Alpha Pokemon's power… Zenith had his guesses, but now he couldn't possibly fathom how strong the Legendary even was. Slowly but surely, the pain slowly diminished from its strong searing sensation back down to tolerable levels.
This pain… it's worse than that operation with Mew. I guess Arceus restored my damaged pain receptors along with my body.
The Legendary in question wore the same unreadable expression as the other two that stood behind him, all staring down at Zenith. Dialga looked mildly impressed. Zenith was still panting heavily from the exception from the power-granting process, but Arceus barely gave him any time to rest, turning around immediately to walk out of the pantheon, accompanied by Dialga and Palkia, pausing at the arched doorway to look back at a confused Zenith.
"Well, come on Zenith. Let's give you a tour of this place."
Zenith had never stepped outside his town during his entire 16 years that he had lived. He had seen pictures, videos of other places, other regions, their wide grassy plains, barren gorges and wide canyons. Even though he never really stood in those places, but he could bet that none of them could compare to the magnificence or size of the Hall of Legends. It was certainly true to its name, with hallways everywhere, branching out in all directions as far as the eye could see. As he was guided through its long winding corridors, Zenith found that there weren't many facilities in those Halls, but what the Hall of Legends lacked in numbers, each room more than made up for it in sheer interior abundance.
The first was the Pantheon, he place he had landed in. It was made for introducing new Champion, or for fans of white. Although a huge place, it was supposedly the smallest facility in the Hall of Legends. It seemed impossible to Zenith at first, and he was more than glad to be proven wrong.
Second was the Infirmary, created specifically for the Champions but also used by the occasional legendary who bit off more than it could chew. High-tech, multipurpose hospital beds lined the large room, along with all different sorts of examination and recuperation equipment. In a corner, floating in the air lazily reading levitating newspapers and magazines were Celebi and Mew. Both of them waved at Zenith and the trio of Legendaries as they stepped into the room. While Arceus described all the tech and devices in the room to Zenith along with their purposes, Mew yelled out to Dialga, "Dialga! You owe me!" The pink cat's words were acknowledged by the Temporal Pokemon with a small dip of his head, grinning sheepishly at Zenith as he received a quizzical glance from the Umbreon.
The doors of the Infirmary silently slid shut as the four of them moved on to the next facility, Arceus hardly losing his stride as he navigated the hallways. Zenith, who was walking beside Alpha Pokemon, lagged behind to keep pace with Dialga.
"What was that all about?"
"Oh. I sent mew to Earth to… watch over you in school. You know… to make sure that you don't get messed up too badly and arrive here earlier than expected." The statement earned a skeptical glance from Palkia, but Zenith didn't notice it. Dialga gently shoved the Umbreon back to the front beside Arceus, signalling the end of the exchange, but Zenith had some nagging thoughts that things were being hidden from him.
The Eating Area, or 'Bar' by the sign that hung outside the entrance to the facility, seemed hugely redundant to Zenith, especially after how Arceus was explaining how neither Legendaries, Mythicals nor Champions needed to consume any food or beverages to obtain energy. The godly power that flowed through their veins provided more than enough of whatever their bodies needed to sustain and run themselves, as well as vaporise any waste materials produced.
"So why even need an Eating Area in the first place?"
The room did not have a ceiling, opening up into a bright sunny sky, but the sunlight from above did not seem to affect the room in any easy. A dim light still shone over the objects in it, giving it the ambience of an old-timey bar. Not a single store or vending machine could be seen, just rows and rows of tables, along with a few barstool-like revolving chairs. The chairs seemed fun to sit on, but Zenith couldn't figure out where the food to eat in the 'Eating Area' was going to come from.
"Legendaries, and sometimes Champions like to eat too, you know. Ever tasted ambrosia? Don't. Only us Legendaries and Mythicals can consume come. You Champions or mortals will burn up at its taste. So-"
"He's just kidding." Palkia shoved a snorting Dialga, who was doubled over with laughter. "But he's right to some extent. Arceus did give everyone a sense of taste, and to let it go to waste… he doesn't like it when his creations are left unused. Hence this place. To use it, just think of any food or drink you would like to eat and it'll appear."
"Any food?"
'Any sort of food you can imagine. But don't summon anything now. We still have a few more places to show you, and everything conjured in this room stays in this room. If you leave the Eating Area, any food not consumed will disappear."
"Neat."
The hallway was starting to slope downwards as they approached the next room. Even at first glance, Zenith could tell that this one was definitely different from the others. Instead of opaque white glass sliding doors, the entrance were thick metal-looking double doors, and behind that was another set of double doors, placed horizontally. The entrance procedure seemed very similar to an airlock, and Zenith found out why moments later. As soon as he stepped the doors, a wave of heat hit him, its hot sensation a stark contrast to the normally cooler room temperature as it washed over his body. The Umbreon also noted that he wasn't perspiring in the slightest despite the heat. The room was large, its walls curving upwards in a dome-like structure, with all the smoke being produced in the room leaving it through a large hole in the ceiling, which Zenith presumed was to resemble a chimney of some sort. All sorts of scents and smells mingled and mixed in the air, from the smell of gunpowder to molten metals to pungent gases. Various sounds reverberated throughout the room in an ear-piercing cacophony, but Zenith didn't seem to find himself bothered at all. Neither did the Legendaries, as they calmly led him to the next facility.
The Armory and Lab both shared the same location, but that didn't stop each facility from having their individuality and being impressive in their own rights, feeling completely unique from the other, The Armory was a smoke-filled workplace where both Champions or Legendaries could either commission or make their own creations. It contained an amazing array of all sorts of tools and machinery, ranging from forges and furnaces of the olden days to three-dimensional printing machines. Crafting benches were everywhere, as well as boxes of blank blueprints.
"Champions often come here to fix and improve their existing weapons and tools or to build new inventions should they get hit with inspiration."
Arceus continued to explain that building materials worked exactly like how food did in the Eating Area, allowing anyone easy access to the specific parts and quality of their choice. As he spoke, a Magearna was sorting out weapons of all shapes and sizes gave him a curtsy when they passed by her, which Zenith returned the gesture politely with a small bow. He made a mental note to come back here as soon as he could. Ideas were flooding through his mind, and he couldn't wait to act on those ideas or visualise them on the blue papers. However, respect was still crucial, especially with those around him, so he let himself get ushered through another two pairs of double doors into a linked room.
Unlike the Armory, which unintentionally showcased the way of making tools throughout the ages, the Lab seemed to have fully embraced the future. Everything in the room was white, sleek, and even seemed too high tech for Zenith to comprehend how to operate them. The tables were built and bolted to the floor in neat, orderly rows, with a sink and tap shared between every two long tables, the long resin tabletop filled with test tubes in their holders, bottles holding various chemicals in small shelves. The Lab had a smaller main room than the Armory, but had more doors leading to more rooms instead, with different types of science being carried out in each one. Closets and cabinets lined the walls, all filled with the flashing lights, beeps and boops of oddly shaped contraptions.
"Don't worry, Zenith." Zenith froze, paws reaching towards an unknown device. "You'll have enough time to explore everything later. There's still a few more rooms you haven't seen yet. Now the next room is-"
"Arceus?" Dialga cut in briefly. "Everyone's assembled in the meeting room."
"Excellent," The Alpha Pokemon turned back to Zenith.
"There's been a change of plans, Zenith. I'm sorry, but we'll skip the rest of the rooms for now. You'll get to see them eventually, with all the time you're spending here. Now follow me. Let's make haste, shall we? We don't want to keep the other Champions waiting." The both of them had rounded another corridor to stop at a door. It looked pretty ordinary compared to the other entrances of the Hall of legends, nothing high-tech or made for security purposes. It was just a white wooden door with a golden doorknob. A red piece of paper was haphazardly taped onto the smooth surface as if as an afterthought, with words scribbled onto it with yellow marker.
'Meeting Room'
"I think it's time for you to finally introduce yourself," With that, Arceus somehow managed to turn the circular doorknob with his hoof, pushing the wooden door open.
The room held a few pieces of furniture: a single circular table placed in the centre. It seemed quite high tech, but Zenith was more focused on the eight Pokemon sitting around it, each of them looking back at him with different expressions on their faces.
"Uh… hi." Zenith raised a paw awkwardly in greeting, fighting his inner introvert instincts to look down at the ground. Or duck under that table. There was just something that made Zenith feel out of place in this Meeting Room. Maybe it was the fact that Zenith still had some dried blood on his fur. Maybe it was all the attention he was receiving from the Champions and Legendaries staring at him from all directions, waiting for his reactions.
Or maybe it was the fact that all eight Champions were female. With the Legendaries having no genders besides the ones Zenith had labelled them with, the Umbreon was the only male in the room.
"Hey, look guys! It's a boy!" A Porygon-Z was floating in circles above everyone's heads. Zenith knew that all types of Porygons had no gender, but based on the small female gender symbol stuck on the Porygon-Z's chest, it was best to address 'her' as such.
"Oh, really, Poll-E. I hadn't noticed," Next to the empty seat the Porygon-Z was hovering above, a Decidueye stared at Zenith from beneath the shadows of her green hood. Her eyes were bright, with a gaze that seemed to see through him. But other than her eyes, her face was unreadable. There was no way to tell how she felt towards Zenith besides her body language, which radiated boredom.
"But you should have. I mean, Eeveelutions are kinda hard to tell apart, but I'm pretty sure even you can see the differences clear enough to know that he's a-" The Porygon-Z kept chatting on at the Decidueye's answer, with a sense of complete obliviousness to her respondent's sarcasm and dry tone.
"Shut it." Irritation clear on her face, the Decidueye pulled on the strings on her hood, the green leaves closing on her face, hiding it from view as she sat there, motionless and silent. Seeing that she had succeeded, Poll-E's stream of words shut off immediately, chuckling to 'her'self.
"This was what we were called here for? I was in the middle of good dream..." A Noivern had her jaws stretched wide open in a yawn, blinking at Zenith through half-opened eyes. She held a kunai in one of her claws, and was twirling it lazily around one talon. She leaned forward on the table to get a better look at Zenith, before laying back in her chair with a huff. Kunai grasped firmly in her palm, she placed her claws behind her head, spreading out her large purple-green wings. "Are you sure he's the correct one, Arceus? Other than the blood, he sure doesn't look like Champion material."
"Well, it's always nice to have a new face around here." A gentler tone from a Golem, waving the air around her as of to shoo the Noivern's insults away. "And plus," She turned to said Noivern with an accusing gaze. "Didn't you say you were going to be training when I asked you to help me out just now?"
As the Noivern fumbled for an answer, an Espeon floating in the air like the Porygon-Z spoke up. The Espeon was surrounded in a bright pink glow, using Psychic to 'fly'. Zenith was impressed. He had only seen Alakazams levitating themselves above the ground on Mewtube, but never circling around him like the Eeveelution before her. He remembered the reversion to prime form upon a Champion's death, but the Espeon seemed so much younger than the rest, around his age, while the other seven Champions ranged from late teens to matured adults.
The Psychic-type seemed to share the same thought about him. "Doesn't he look a bit too young to end up... here?" Now that the Espeon was really close to him, Zenith could see that the Espeon had a really small frame, even compared to him. He also hadn't noticed this before, mainly because of the pink glow, but the Espeon actually had a cyan gem instead of the usual red, while her eyes were almost as crimson as his, not her species' usual purple. More questions that had yet to be answered.
"You're one to talk, short stack," Next to the Golem, a Salazzle piped up with an impish look on her face, sharing a fist bump with an Alolan Raichu that sat next to her. The insult seemed to irk the Espeon, who turned from her mini inspection of Zenith to look back at the duo, red eyes blazing with a bright blue glow. She zoomed over to the Salazzle and Raichu, who were now starting to be enveloped by the same pink glow around the Espeon.
"Why you pieces of s-"
"His arrival. It signals the start." All hands turned to the speaker of ominous words. It was a Cofagrigus, eyes closed and four ghostly hands folded across her chest. Other activities were abruptly halted as everyone's attention was directed on the coffin Pokemon, waiting for her to elaborate. Everyone except the Decidueye, who had laid her covered face directly on the circular tabletop in what seemed to be disinterest.
"He has entered the Halls. Slowly but surely, the civilisations will rise agai-"
"Hello, Champions," Arceus' booming voice drowned out the Cofagrigus' low, raspy whispers. "I hope you all are doing well, and are still mindful of your manners. Now, how about a little self-introduction? Starting with our newest Champion."
"I-I'm Zenith."
"Poll-E!" The Porygon-Z responded gleefully, oval arms spinning wildly.
"Son Dan-O." A flat, monotone voice from the Decidueye. She had propped her head up on the table with a wing, and Zenith felt like his soul was being searched again.
"Vo… id." The Noivern yawned mid-sentence, stretching out her wings again.
"Gigi. it's nice to meet you, Zenith. If you have any problems, you can always come to us for-"
"Hold it!" The Espeon butted into the Golems words, flashing Zenith a cheeky smile. "If he needs our help, he's going to prove he's worthy of it. I'm Solaire, by the way. You have quite some way to go before you're fully accepted as one of us." There was something intimidating about the small Espeon that made Zenith gulp at her words. Like Arceus, Soliaire was also probably more powerful than she seemed to be.
"Reina." The Alolan Raichu had her gaze focused on a card that she held in her paw, turning it over back and forth as she inspected it single-pawed. With a flick of her wrist, the card vanished in a shower of sparks, and another flick caused three more cards to appear in the same paw. She looked up to meet Zenith's gaze, hints of a cocky smile evident on her face. "Impressive, huh?"
"I'm Clara. You know, Reina, I've never seen you show anyone that trick except for me, and now Zenith? Don't tell me you've already fell for hi-kidding! Kidding!" The Salazzle couldn't restrain herself, bursting out into laughter as she ducked underneath the table to avoid the lightning-shaped tail aimed furiously at her head, dodging the bolts of lightning that was hurled at her. When the barrage of attack attempts had ceased, she peeked out from under the table, pointing in the direction if the Cofagrigus. "And that coffin over there is… a billion years old, give or take a few millennia. Her name's Maganza."
Said Cofagrigus continued to remain silent. Even though her eyes were still closed, Zenith had the eerie sensation that the Ghost-type could see everything in the room.
"Excellent. Now that formalities are out of the way, let's get down to your tasks for the week. Now, it has been a while since a new Champion has been introduced to these Halls. In order to get Zenith accustomed to daily life here, all of you have been assigned to make him feel welcome and included."
"So in other words…" Clara leaned forward on the round table surface to allow herself to be heard. "You want us to… band together to help hold this dude's paw?" Most of the Champions in the room groaned collectively at the bad pun while Zenith touched the bands on his ears self-consciously, the Salazzle sitting back in her chair with a proud smile on her face.
Arceus gave a small chuckle. "Not exactly. Each one of you will have a different time slot from your schedules set aside to show him the diffierent rooms and how to use them. Your mentors will give you your new temporary schedules later. It will also be best if you read up on Zenith's prelife, and make sure to share yours with him too. Despite this slight change, you will still be able to carry out all of your usual activities. That will be all. Are there any additional questions?"
Silence.
"Good. Meeting dismissed."
The Champions left the room one by one, each of them taking a passing glance at Zenith as they exited. Arceus and Palkia turned as well, both giving a nod to Dialga before they left. Now that the Meeting Room was empty, Dialga gestured to one of the chairs around the table, which Zenith went to sit on.
"So, Zenith. How are you enjoying the Halls and the Champions?"
Now that there was a moment of peace, the weight of the day's events was starting to catch up to Zenith.
Everything still felt strange, that Pokemon considered literal Gods down on Earth were just having a casual conversation with him right now. The entire tour, the introductions and new faces, all was a blur, like a sort of dream that seemed to last forever. Half of him was still in denial about the entire situation, unable to accept whatever was going on, his mind receiving so many stimuli in such a short time span that it was trying to convince him that nothing he was experiencing was real.
But it soon had to face the hard the truth his other half contained. As unbelievable as everything seemed, he could not escape the 'reality' he was in now. He had died, killed by Sylvie, but brought back by Legendaries as a Champion. Try as he might to reject his current position, it would be a hard thing to do. Arceus had already stated that Champions could not rejoin the mortal world, and to choose the other option… It was selfish of him to admit, but he didn't want to die.
To be honest, Champions did sound cool once he thought about it.
"I... I don't know yet. Everything just seems so…"
"Unreal? Dreamlike? Unbelievable? Too good to be true?"
"... yeah."
"Listen, Zenith. I know it may be hard to accept initially. Other Champions have also had their doubts when they first entered this place. But this is nothing to deny or be afraid of. It's actually a good thing to become a Champion, you just need to see the positives of this."
Pondering Dialga's words, Zenith realised a bit of sense in them. To be selectively hand-picked by Legendaries amongst all others, granted demigod status and immortality to take down the increasing amount of evil in the world. To reject this opportunity that others would literally die to have…
...And maybe. A small voice whispered in his mind. Another opportunity to see Cleo again.
It was time for Zenith to embrace the role bestowed upon him.
He was ready to become a Champion. But one last time, to really make sure he wasn't dreaming…
"Ouch!"
"What was that?"
"Nothing." Zenith shook his arm, trying to get rid of the stinging.
"I assume that all your doubts are settled?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good. Once again, welcome to the Hall of Legends, Champion. Let's get you to your room first, then run through your schedule."
Champion Character Creator Credits
Void (Noivern)- DevilsUnited (DevilsUnited on Fanfiction . net)
Poll-E (Porygon Z)- u/Folium249
Gigi (Golem)- u/Folium249
Son Dan-O (Decidueye)- Luanastar (LuanOTP on Fanfiction . net)
Maganza (Cofagrigus)- Transcendant
Reina (Alolan Raichu)- Halcyon
Clara (Salazzle)- A.B (JustaMegaMothim on Fanfiction . net)
Soliare (Espeon)- Solarflare the Flareon (ShinyUmbreonLover on Fanfiction . net)
Thank you to all these wonderful people for creating such fun character concepts for me to play around with/ write about! If anyone wants to submit a character of their own, feel free to do so!