Palkia has long been worshiped by travelers and those with loved ones vast distances away, for it can manipulate space at will; it teleports across continents like an Abra travels from city to city. Even its most devout priests were always jealous of its power, but to no avail; any trainer who sought to capture it soon found it more frustrating a target than the legendary beasts. But when a single sacrilegious hero took Palkia by surprise and thrust a gigantic spear into its shoulder, its enormous pearl was knocked to the ground and pokemon training was changed forever.
The pearl of Palkia is today kept in an enormous computer laboratory in Kanto, and is often said to be the glue which holds the internet together. This is not entirely true; the ability to network computers had existed before, although undoubtedly Palkia's pearl gave an edge to anyone seeking to span the world. But the internet, despite its myriad of games, forums, and videos, is best known for the Global Trade System which allows pokemon themselves to be transported from Unova to Sinnoh in under a minute, and this system can only be powered by Palkia's holy pearl.
Many legends tell of divine relics being cursed in some fearsome way, but the Global Trade System, which connects space together as only Palkia can, has a far more modest curse. Whether motivated by greed, stupidity, or Palkia's own wrathful spirit, the search engine of the Global Trade System is clogged by people demanding gods, often at levels they have long since surpassed, in exchange for common pokemon. This curse has yet to kill anyone, for those who make such offers are protected by pseudonyms and distance, but it has driven many individuals seeking favorite pokemon to a frustration which approaches madness.