"Arceus... could my system be—"
Before Aiden could finish, the avatar of Arceus—now empowered by its true body—smiled and answered.
"Yes. That's right."
"I didn't notice it before either, but after my true body descended, I came to understand everything it had done."
"Aiden, you were chosen by my true body from the very beginning."
"That is why you received the system."
"Every reward you obtained through it was granted by my true body."
Hearing this, Aiden immediately understood.
"No wonder I could obtain Legendary Pokémon from the system."
"If the system came from Arceus, then none of that is strange."
"With its ability to create entire universes, creating a Legendary Pokémon would hardly be difficult."
"And the system even gave me Creation Plates as rewards."
"I should have realized it sooner!"
Seeing Aiden muttering to himself, Arceus smiled.
"Now you know the truth."
"My true body has also given you this reward."
"Take good care of that Pokémon Egg."
"As for whether you can hatch it... that will depend on your own abilities."
"For the time being, I will remain by your side."
"You call that place the system space, correct?"
"I'll stay there."
With that, Arceus transformed into a sphere of golden light and entered Aiden's system space as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
Its eighteen Creation Plates scattered throughout the space alongside it.
Aiden sensed Arceus' actions.
Although he did not know exactly what the creator deity intended, it clearly had no reason to harm him.
After recalling all of his Legendary Pokémon, Aiden finally lowered his gaze to the Egg in his arms.
Its shell was covered in mysterious golden patterns, interwoven with countless different colors.
Even the system had been unable to identify it.
Perhaps Arceus' true body simply did not want Aiden to know what was inside yet.
In that case, he would leave it as a mysterious surprise for the future.
After all, Arceus itself had said that whether the Egg could hatch would depend on Aiden's choices and experiences.
That meant the Pokémon within could not possibly be an ordinary existence.
Perhaps it would be even stronger than a typical primary Legendary Pokémon.
Heh.
Just what kind of Pokémon could it be?
...
Arceus' avatar was now resting within Aiden's system space.
Although he had not truly captured it, its willingness to follow him at least meant that it intended to travel with him.
With that thought, Aiden prepared to return to the planet below.
Just then, a distant voice echoed through the sea of stars.
"Aiden."
"Once you have captured every Legendary Pokémon in the world, I will come to see you again."
"I hope that by then, the Pokémon Egg will have hatched successfully."
"I'm looking forward to it."
It was the voice of Arceus' true body.
It seemed this Egg truly was important.
After returning to the ground, Cynthia was the first to hurry toward him.
She carefully looked him over from head to toe.
"Are you all right?"
Seeing the concern in her eyes, Aiden smiled.
"I'm fine."
"I can even defeat Arceus. What could possibly hurt me now?"
Cynthia finally relaxed and smiled.
Ash, Lucian, and the others then came over one after another to greet him.
This time, they had truly witnessed the full extent of Aiden's strength.
Even if he were forbidden from using Legendary Pokémon in the World Coronation Tournament, so what?
Now that Aiden possessed the Creation Plates, he had effectively become an existence comparable to the creator deity.
Whatever he wished for...
He could potentially create.
Of course, Aiden did not yet understand that power, nor did he know how to properly use the Plates' ability to create.
Perhaps one day in the future, he would truly become an existence like Arceus.
...
Aiden remained in Sinnoh for a while longer and spent several intimate days with Cynthia.
Before departing, Arceus had told him to capture every Legendary Pokémon in the world.
Once that happened, its true body would meet him again.
That goal aligned perfectly with Aiden's main quest.
Capture every Pokémon he liked.
Capture every Legendary Pokémon.
Then witness the true extent of Arceus' power.
Perhaps an entirely new world would open before him afterward.
For now, however, Aiden turned his attention back to the World Coronation Tournament's Great Ball Tier.
With the Round of 64 underway, powerful Trainers from every region had begun battling.
Every one of the sixty-four competitors possessed Elite Four-tier strength.
They were not merely average Elite Four-level Trainers, either.
Many stood near the peak of that tier.
Since the Great Ball Tier's Round of 64 was being held in Sinnoh, Aiden and Cynthia attended the opening ceremony as special guests.
There, Aiden encountered several Trainers who were not particularly famous to the general public, but whose true strength he knew very well.
From Kanto—
Ash and Gary.
From Hoenn—
Tyson and Harrison.
From Sinnoh—
Tobias, Paul, and Reggie.
From Unova—
Cameron and N.
From Kalos—
Alain.
Every one of them had a strong chance of entering the Ultra Ball Tier.
It seemed a worldwide tournament really was rather interesting.
After briefly reflecting on that, Aiden asked Arceus to help train his Pokémon while he watched the upcoming matches.
The Great Ball Tier only needed to determine its top twenty-six Trainers, who would then advance into the Ultra Ball Tier.
As a result, quite a few dark horses emerged during the Round of 64.
Since this was the tournament's inaugural season, nearly every well-known Trainer in the world had entered.
Today was Ash's match.
His opponent was one of the Hoenn League's newly promoted Elite Four-level Trainers—
Norman, the father of May and Max.
This match would determine who advanced from the Round of 32 into the Round of 16.
If Ash won, he would secure his place in the Ultra Ball Tier and qualify for its sixty-four-Trainer competition.
Even if he lost, however, he could still compete in the later placement matches for one of the remaining advancement slots.
After all, among the newly determined top thirty-two Trainers, only eight would fail to advance into the Ultra Ball Tier.
Starting from the tournament's second season, the top three positions in the Great Ball Tier would remain fixed.
Each of those three Trainers would gain the right to challenge any Trainer in the Ultra Ball Tier.
If the challenger won, the two would exchange rankings.
The same rule would apply between the Ultra Ball Tier and the Master Ball Tier.
As for why Aiden had chosen not to allow the regional Champions to advance directly into the Masters Eight during the inaugural tournament...
Naturally, it was because he did not want anyone slipping into the final ranks without truly deserving it.
Yes.
That was directed at you, Alain.
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