"Ah..." The council elder let out a long sigh. "All of this did indeed begin because of me..."
The old man, who just moments ago still appeared full of vigor, suddenly seemed to have aged twenty years. His back, which had been straight, slowly began to stoop.
For a man like him, an elder who had devoted his entire life to the Pokémon League, the blow in this aspect was far more severe than any physical wound.
After saying all of this, Kael looked once again at Giratina.
In reality, all of that detour and explanation had merely been a way to buy more time.
During this period, he had discovered that by isolating Giratina from the Distortion World, its strength would decline. That was why he had contacted the Aether Foundation: because among all current organizations in the Pokémon world, it was probably the one that had advanced the furthest in the study of space, in no way inferior to the Sacred Church itself.
Moreover, Giratina had fought for quite some time against the council elder, and neither had been able to gain the upper hand. As a result, both Giratina and the council elder's three legendary birds had suffered fairly serious injuries.
In that state, Giratina was truly no longer a match for Kael.
Of course, the council elder would not simply stand by and watch Kael capture Giratina, so he directed the three legendary birds to launch an attack.
But if Kael had spent so long speaking with him, was that not also a way of delaying him, in addition to weakening Giratina?
Then he threw the white Poké Ball in his hand directly toward Giratina.
Giratina, already in poor condition and restrained by Mega Latios and Mega Latias, could only watch in horror as the small Origin Ball lightly struck its body.
A white beam shot out and absorbed the enormous Giratina inside.
The Origin Ball remained suspended in the air, its central point blinking. It gently shook three times and then became completely still.
The council elder, who had rushed forward, stopped abruptly halfway and watched the Origin Ball slowly return to Kael's hand under psychic control.
As it flew back, the Origin Ball, which until that moment had been flawless white like pure jade, began to change at its center with two thin strands, one black and one gold. The two intertwined with each other, and gradually the upper half of the Origin Ball became a mixture of black and gold, taking on the appearance of a far more ordinary Poké Ball.
Click!
The now-transformed Origin Ball fell into Kael's hand.
Kael lowered his head. His body began to tremble once more, and gradually that trembling became stronger and stronger.
"GIRATINA!!! I HAVE CAPTURED GIRATINA!!!" Kael shouted, his eyes filled with complex emotions.
He had exhausted his mind, spent decades, remained crouched beside Giratina enduring everything, and finally, at this very moment, he had succeeded in placing this first-tier Dragon-type legendary Pokémon into his pocket.
From now on, the entire world lay open before him!
An organization like the League could be destroyed with a mere turn of his palm!
After suppressing his desires for so long, how could he not feel happy and excited?
That feeling that, from now on, everything would fall under his control was precisely what he had pursued his entire life.
Absolute power meant absolute authority. Those who obeyed would prosper, those who opposed would die. That was what Kael desired.
If viewed coldly, in essence Kael's way of thinking was not so different from Cain's: as long as the objective was achieved, enduring humiliation or waiting patiently was nothing. Both pursued extreme individual power and regarded the organizations they had created as far less important.
Even, if necessary, they could abandon them at any time, so long as it benefited them.
However, although Cain acknowledged that Kael was extraordinarily capable, both in talent and potential, he felt that in this matter Kael was relying too heavily on his own assumptions.
The reason Cain thought this was because he had not overlooked the change in the council elder's expression.
First had been the shock of discovering Kael's objective. Then the regret upon realizing that he himself had unintentionally contributed to pushing him in that direction. And finally, what remained now was a deep pity.
But pity for what?
Clearly, it could not be pity over Giratina having been captured. Either he regretted that such a valuable object as the Origin Ball had been used in that way, or... he was lamenting Kael's fate itself.
"Come out, Giratina!" Kael shouted as he threw the now-transformed Origin Ball.
"GRRAAAHHH!!"
Giratina appeared once more and roared toward the sky. But it did not attack Kael. Instead, it simply floated foolishly at his side.
Those with sharp eyes could see that Giratina's originally red eyes had turned completely white. At the same time, on Kael's forehead, two thin black lines began to slowly spread, though no one knew toward where.
It was clear that something was changing between that man and that Legendary Pokémon, something the others could not understand.
If anyone could understand it, it was probably only the council elder.
Seeing that Giratina showed no resistance, the people of the Aether Foundation finally released the devices they had been holding.
Only then did Giratina reconnect with the Distortion World, and its strength began to gradually return.
"The Origin Ball... is not used like that..."
At some point, the council elder was no longer far from Cain. He looked at Kael and Giratina with that same expression of pity, and his words fell directly into Cain's ears.
The Origin Ball... was not used like that?
Cain froze. He did not fully understand what the elder meant, but judging from what had happened with Kael, it seemed that Kael knew of the Origin Ball's existence without actually understanding how it was meant to be used. He had simply assumed, based on logic alone, that it functioned the same as an ordinary Poké Ball: throw it, and capture.
Cain directed his system scan once more toward Giratina.
Before, he had already attempted to scan its data once, but at that time the system had indicated that a special magnetic field existed on the surface of the target's body, preventing analysis.
But this time, unexpectedly, he did obtain results. Only, those results differed greatly from what he had imagined.
(End of chapter)