Chapter 292: Let's Show Arceus Our Limits!
The Pokémon world is a magnificent, wondrous place. By the modern era, humans and Pokémon had become utterly inseparable — walk into any city at random, and you'd find a living snapshot of that partnership everywhere you looked. Helping one another, sharing in each other's lives — countless human trades and occupations ran smoother, richer, for having Pokémon woven into them.
And trainer was, without question, the most mainstream profession in this world. When you got down to it, the sheer diversity of Pokémon abilities, the bewildering variety of moves, the intricate web of type advantages and weaknesses — it was almost as if the whole system had been designed purely for competitive battling. And wherever there's competition, there's inevitably a hierarchy — Pokémon were no exception. Which was exactly why Legendary Pokémon stood at the very peak of the pyramid. To Mammon, in his past life, they were the equivalent of mythological beings — wielding terrifying power, capabilities beyond ordinary comprehension, looking down on the mortal world from above.
And yet even among Legendaries, attitudes toward humans varied enormously. Some Legendaries actively chose human partners — Ho-Oh's Rainbow Heroes, for instance, or Rayquaza's chosen inheritors, or the champions of the twin dragons of Ideals and Truth. There were the heroes of the Swords and Shields, the ancient Kings of old who didn't mind traveling alongside humans and offered them the chance to be caught. Or the Paradise Protectors, summoned across time by machines from a distant future, who followed humans and guarded their "paradise" in turn. The reasons these Legendaries chose human partners were wildly varied — some for the sake of their own convictions, some to eliminate "evil," some simply for companionship.
And Giratina — it, too, could choose a human partner. Remarkable, isn't it?
Unlike Giratina and most other Legendaries, though, as one of the "Six Gods" from the very dawn of creation, it was known as Arceus's "violent splinter" — banished at the world's founding to the far side of existence, sole master of that shattered realm. In terms of both standing and raw power, Giratina stood at the very apex of this world. And yet, for all that, it still carried its own unresolved fixation — one deep enough that it, too, would choose a human to serve as its partner, in some sense.
"This favor you're talking about — it's not asking me to help you go fight Arceus, is it?"
Mammon studied Giratina, asking the question as a probe.
"Is that not acceptable?"
Giratina's ragged telepathy fired back.
So it really was that.
Mammon wasn't especially surprised — Giratina, having spent countless ages dwelling within the Distortion World, hardly needed a human's help for much of anything else, after all.
Kyogre: ???
"Let's just keep fighting, then. I've still got cards left to play — I think I can beat you and snap Dialga and the others out of it that way instead."
Mammon said without hesitation. Fight Arceus? Him? Mammon figured Giratina must be going through some kind of rebellious phase — the sheer nerve, thinking a scrappy little coalition like this stood any chance against Arceus. What was it even thinking? Wasn't that just asking to get beaten to death?
Kyogre let out an internal sigh of relief. Scared the fish half to death — thank goodness Mammon's actually being reasonable here. Fight Arceus? Where would it even find the strength for that?
"Human. You are weak-hearted," Giratina said, its eyes as cold and detached as ever. "The ancient humans were far braver than you."
Giratina was referring, of course, to the Hisui-era hero who'd challenged Arceus with a mere ten Pokémon at his side.
"That man did it to prove humanity's strength to Arceus — to show that mankind had grown beyond needing Arceus's protection." Mammon couldn't help but laugh. Was that really a fair comparison to draw?
That hero had been brave, genuinely great — arguably one of the finest figures Hisui had ever produced. And it was precisely because of that act that Arceus, recognizing humanity's growth, had chosen to withdraw from the mortal world and return to the Original World. But if Arceus had actually fought without holding back, wiping out that hero and all ten Pokémon would have taken exactly one move. Otherwise, why would such a legend have even survived to be told?
The meaning behind the two acts was completely different. That hero had set out to prove humanity's strength to the Sinnoh Deity. Giratina wanted outright rebellion! And honestly — if it genuinely came to blows with Arceus, wouldn't Giratina just get killed outright? Well — probably not killed outright, given Arceus's generally benevolent temperament; it would probably spare them and just send them home to recover. But who in their right mind goes looking for a fight like that? Just to see the limits of your own strength?
"Arceus has already lost five of its Plates. It is not unbeatable," Giratina said flatly.
"And yet, even so, its power remains unmatched by anything else." Mammon tilted his head. So Giratina wasn't entirely oblivious after all — it actually knew about Arceus missing the Jewel of Life's Plates. Made sense, really — even in Legends: Arceus itself, several of Arceus's Plates had ended up scattered across Hisui, and Giratina had even found one and handed it to Volo directly.
The atmosphere stiffened for a long moment, Giratina's eyes flickering unpredictably between calm and savage intensity. Uxie and the other two small figures seemed entirely unbothered by Giratina's behavior, perfectly composed — while Cynthia and Caitlin were visibly tense.
After a full minute's standoff, Giratina's patience finally ran out. If this human wasn't willing, then it would simply act alone. Dialga and Palkia were still locked in their berserk brawl overhead, the space-time above Mt. Coronet already beginning to warp visibly.
Watching this, Mammon's eyes flickered — an idea suddenly striking him as genuinely worthwhile.
"At the very least — with our current combined strength, we wouldn't stand the faintest chance," Mammon said, shifting his tone.
"?" A question mark rose over Giratina's grotesque head.
"And if you want me to help you pull off something this insane, what exactly do I get out of it?"
Mammon asked, grinning.
"I could calm those two down for you. Isn't that what you actually want?"
"No, no, no — Dialga and the others' safety isn't my concern at all. If it weren't for the fact that their thrashing around keeps affecting this world, I wouldn't care in the slightest," Mammon said, unbothered.
"And you can't use that as leverage anyway, Giratina — I'm confident I can beat you. Once I do, they'll come back to their senses regardless."
At that, Giratina's gaze dropped, sizing Mammon up. Beat me? Giratina didn't believe Mammon could accomplish that with just these two Pokémon — though Mammon had already mentioned having more cards to play. Still, arguing the point further was pointless.
"Arceus is, indeed, a worthy target. I can agree to help you — but..."
Mammon grinned, looking straight at Giratina.
"What do you want?" Giratina's ragged telepathy still carried that same distorted, layered quality — the unmistakable aura of a final boss, honestly.
"First — you become my registered partner. Not too much to ask, right? If we're going to team up to challenge Arceus, you'll need to travel alongside me."
"I cannot leave the Distortion World for long."
Giratina's low reply came. The request itself wasn't difficult — Mammon was, by far, the strongest human it had encountered so far, and having chosen him, becoming his partner was a natural necessity. But the crucial issue was that it couldn't leave the Distortion World unattended for extended periods, or the realm itself would begin to destabilize — and once the Distortion World fell into disorder, the ripple effects would inevitably reach the physical world as well. That was exactly why it kept watch over that realm in the first place.
"Of course, I understand that. But when I need you, you come and lend me a hand."
Mammon fully understood this — Giratina, Dialga, and Palkia all had their own clearly defined, genuinely critical duties to attend to.
"Agreed."
Giratina's terrifying eyes fixed on Mammon, considering for a long moment before finally agreeing. A glowing golden orb drifted out from within Giratina's body, settling before Mammon. He reached out and caught it — the Griseous Orb.
"Should you ever need my assistance, use this orb to summon me."
Giratina said flatly — the Griseous Orb was one of its own treasures. It certainly wasn't like those two useless brothers of hers, losing track of their own precious items.
"Deal."
Mammon pocketed the orb. Giratina possessed two treasures — the Griseous Orb and the Griseous Core. The Griseous Orb boosted Giratina's power directly; the Griseous Core not only boosted its power further but also allowed it to shift into its Origin Forme within the physical world. (Note: Generation 9 removed the Griseous Orb's ability to trigger Giratina's forme change.)
"Second — challenging Arceus demands proper preparation. Giratina, with our current strength as it stands, going up against Arceus is simply a hopeless prospect."
"You wish to wait for the right moment?"
Giratina's eyes narrowed — this was an opportunity it had waited a painfully long time to arrive.
"Human. The dimension Arceus resides in is impossibly mysterious. Without relying on those two's space-time power to tear open a rift, we would have no way of even reaching Arceus at all."
Giratina's telepathy carried a deep, heavy weight. This was exactly why it had driven Dialga and Palkia berserk in the first place — using the rift torn open by their conflict to locate Arceus. The same plan it had once carried out with Volo.
"Lose this window, and another chance like it will be far harder to come by."
"There will always be another opportunity eventually. And there's a far better way to actually find Arceus — I can figure something out."
Mammon said without hesitation. The genuinely best way to reach Arceus was the divine artifact known as the Azure Flute — obtain that, sound it at Spear Pillar, and it would open the Hall of Origin's path directly into the Original World.
"What we actually need to do is grow stronger — properly prepare ourselves for a real challenge against Arceus. Isn't that better than charging blindly at it right now, only to get kicked straight back out the door?"
Hearing this, Giratina fell silent, savage light flickering endlessly in its eyes. It was true — it didn't want to let this window slip away, given how rare an opportunity like Dialga and Palkia appearing together truly was. But equally, it had no desire to see this hard-won chance to defy Arceus get wasted, kicked away in an instant by that Alpaca, exactly as Mammon warned.
"Give me time. I can grow stronger, Giratina. Just support me properly, and trust me — someday, the two of us will stand before Arceus itself!"
Mammon promised Giratina with total confidence. Well — confidence in reaching Arceus, at least. Whether they could actually beat it once they got there was an entirely separate question. But exactly as Mammon himself had said — challenging Arceus... that was a genuinely massive undertaking.
"And when that day comes — we'll show Arceus exactly what our limits really are!"
(End of Chapter)
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