Chapter 295: Arceus: "I Look Forward to Seeing Your Limits"
Mythology described it as the very first Pokémon to hatch from an egg amid the nothingness, before the universe itself existed. In Hisui myth, it was said to be a being of light unto itself, shining down from the heavens upon the land of Hisui, guiding and guarding Pokémon by that very light — revered across Hisui's mythology as the creator of all things.
The Sinnoh Deity. The Creator. The God of Genesis. Every one of these was simply another name humans and Pokémon alike had given to Arceus.
Holy crap! A boss encounter!!
Mammon stared, thoroughly stunned, at the Alpaca before him. He'd imagined, from time to time, what it might be like to actually meet Arceus. Having already struck his bargain with Giratina, he'd assumed the meeting would come only after thorough preparation, once they'd finally journeyed to the Hall of Origin to issue their challenge properly. But an "encounter" arriving this abruptly? That, he genuinely hadn't seen coming.
A soft, gentle radiance shimmered across its entire body as it stood there in perfect stillness on the ground — no one had the faintest idea when it had actually appeared. Its whole form was white, shaped something like a horse crossed with a qilin and a centaur, its body, mane, tail, and face all traced through with gray banding, its hooves capped in gold, a golden cross-shaped ring resting at its waist — the "Ring of a Thousand Skies," by name. Its eyes were green, pupils a deep red, currently regarding Mammon with a faint, knowing smile. It wasn't especially large — perhaps a little over three meters tall by rough estimate — and yet the aura it carried was utterly transcendent, wrapped in a quality impossible to fully put into words.
Caitlin and Cynthia both turned toward the abruptly-appearing Pokémon, mentally combing through everything they knew. Nothing. They'd never once seen this Pokémon before in their lives.
"Father God!"
Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf all instantly dropped into a kneeling posture, bowing their heads to Arceus in deep, respectful greeting.
Father God??
Understanding hit Cynthia and Caitlin at the exact same moment — the white Pokémon standing before them was the legendary Arceus itself!
Arceus!!!
Cynthia's mind churned with turbulent thoughts as she gazed at this warm, gentle-natured being. Over this whole stretch of time, she'd heard Arceus's name invoked more times than she could count — the Creator, the Sinnoh Deity, the one who'd made Dialga and the others.
"It's been a while~"
Arceus gave the Lake Guardians a faint nod, its warm telepathy resonating outward. Its telepathic voice carried a distinctive quality — like some kindly old soul who'd lived through countless ages. Hm, perhaps that was simply the tone it preferred; by any normal reasoning, Arceus's lifespan ought to be effectively infinite, incapable of aging at all.
This particular Arceus seems awfully good-natured, doesn't it? Mammon noted the fact — and it did check out; whether from myth or from what he already knew of Arceus's canonical exploits, Arceus was consistently portrayed as remarkably kind at its core. As for the movie version... well, even that Arceus's descent into cruelty had only ever come from believing itself betrayed by humanity, a thousand years of accumulated resentment curdling it into something monstrous. And once the misunderstanding was resolved, that same Arceus proved to be every bit as benevolent underneath. After all — the movie's Arceus had been willing to lend Damos its own life-source Plate, which said quite a lot on its own. For that version of Arceus, the Plates literally were its life force — lose them all, and it would have died outright. Telling, really.
"Honored Arceus, I am Mammon. It's my great privilege to meet you."
Mammon's mind raced with a dozen thoughts at once, but he offered his respects to Arceus immediately regardless. Whatever else, this was the world's own god of creation — showing due respect was simply necessary.
"You're quite something, Mammon."
Arceus's gaze settled on him, and it smiled. It had seen a great deal. It had always been watching.
"I'd assumed you were still asleep — Michina's been waiting all this time for your return, to give your Plate back to you."
Mammon replied, neither overly humble nor presumptuous.
"Michina, hm~" Arceus's tone carried genuine wistfulness, memories of the old town stirring. Honestly, far too long since it had last returned there. In the blink of an eye, a thousand years had already passed — Damos long since reduced to dust. Such was the way of humans.
"I fell into slumber a thousand years ago. I only recently awoke."
Arceus said — and honestly, it hadn't expected to see quite so much unfold the moment it stirred from sleep.
Recently? Meaning, it hadn't only just now woken up — which meant everything that had just happened at Spear Pillar—
A distinctly bad feeling settled over Mammon.
"No need to worry. I'll await your challenge at the Hall of Origin."
Hearing Arceus's words, Mammon looked up, meeting its warm, smiling gaze directly.
"Humanity's anthem is the anthem of courage. Humanity's greatness is the greatness of courage itself."
Arceus turned its gaze toward the distant horizon, its gentle telepathy tinged with something almost ethereal. Worth noting — Kyogre, terrified its bulk might be blocking Arceus's line of sight, immediately, obediently flattened itself against the ground. Please, Great Alpaca, do not look at me.
"This is..." At those words, something stirred in Mammon's chest — that phrasing sounded oddly, distinctly familiar.
"Long ago, a human once came before me as well — determined to prove humanity's strength — and issued me a challenge."
"At that time, he came representing the whole of humankind."
"I acknowledged that humanity's future could stand on its own two feet, and I withdrew back into my own dimension. But I have often wondered, since — what exactly gave him such unshakeable conviction."
Arceus said slowly.
"In time, though, I came to understand something else — that under my protection, humanity, while able to persist stably enough, was also left lacking the courage to forge its own future."
"And events have proven that understanding correct."
Arceus's gaze returned to Mammon, a faint light flickering in its eyes.
"Giratina holds resentment toward me in his heart. I have always known this. And yet I have never wished for that resentment to drive him toward reckless action."
"With you at his side now, Mammon, I find myself considerably more at ease."
Hearing this, Mammon nodded — understandably so. Giratina's temperament ran violent and unpredictable; in pursuit of its challenge against Arceus, it wouldn't hesitate to resort to extreme measures — driving the twin gods of space-time into a berserk frenzy, for instance. But with Mammon there to steady it, he certainly wasn't about to let Giratina go running wild.
"Just as you said — I look forward to that moment. I'll be watching to see the extent of your limits."
A glow of light kindled before Arceus, and a deep-purple flute materialized out of thin air.
The Azure Flute!
Mammon recognized the abstract-looking instrument instantly — the very flute capable of opening the way into the Original World.
"You would never find the Azure Flute out in the world."
Arceus's warm voice continued.
"A thousand years ago, I already recalled it and fell into slumber."
Mammon clicked his tongue, quietly grateful the Alpaca had actually shown up today — otherwise, he'd have wasted no end of effort searching for nothing. Made sense, though — in the games, there'd never actually been any legitimate way to obtain the Azure Flute at all. It only ever existed in Legends: Arceus, and even then, only because Arceus itself had granted it.
"Take it."
"My thanks."
Mammon accepted without hesitation, cradling the Azure Flute with genuine reverence. Handed to him personally, by Arceus itself!!
"Time... is also growing short."
"?"
Mammon looked puzzled — what did that mean, time growing short?
"An evil force is drifting across the parallel worlds, Mammon. You should prepare yourself."
Arceus didn't bother speaking in riddles, offering the warning plainly.
An evil force? Drifting across parallel worlds?
Mammon raised an eyebrow. Rainbow Rocket? In the source material, only Rainbow Rocket really fit that description.
"Couldn't you just wipe them all out yourself?" Mammon asked Arceus.
Rainbow Rocket — the evil organization led by Rainbow Giovanni, the single most powerful villainous force ever assembled, spanning multiple parallel worlds. Worth noting: every one of Rainbow Rocket's executives was, without exception, a former boss of some other world's evil organization — each one having already achieved their goal within their own timeline. And every single one of them carried a Legendary Pokémon of their own — Archie with Kyogre, Charon with Palkia, Ghetsis with Zekrom, and so on. Rainbow Giovanni himself wielded a Mega-capable Mewtwo. Unquestionably, Rainbow Rocket was a genuinely terrifying, overwhelming force — and the very reason Rainbow Giovanni had gathered so many evil bosses from across so many worlds was precisely because he wasn't satisfied merely ruling his own. So he'd set his sights on the countless parallel worlds beyond it instead.
And this monstrously powerful organization, in the game's actual story, had been single-handedly wiped out by Mitsuki alone. What kind of joke was that — some two-bit Rainbow Rocket outfit thought it could invade the very Alola region belonging to the great Lady Mitsuki? Didn't know when to quit.
Granted, this world's Mitsuki hadn't grown into her full power yet — but no real problem there. There was still an Alpaca on standby, after all.
"Mammon, after that incident all those years ago, I resolved never to interfere in humanity's internal disputes again."
Arceus shook its head.
Mammon: "..."
"Arceus, is there any chance this could count as an alien invasion instead? Not exactly an internal dispute, wouldn't you say?"
Mammon chose his words carefully, offering the argument to Arceus. An internal human dispute should at least be confined to this world, shouldn't it? People crashing in from across parallel dimensions — does that really still count?
The Alpaca simply smiled and said nothing, its gaze remaining fixed steadily on Mammon.
"Alright, alright, I get it. Please, feel free to leave this matter entirely to me."
Mammon caught on instantly, thumping his chest with total confidence.
"Truly worthy of being chosen by Giratina, Mammon. I wasn't wrong about you."
Arceus's eyes lit immediately with something like genuine admiration.
Mammon's eyelid twitched. He suddenly got the distinct impression this Arceus was more than a little scheming underneath that gentle exterior. Not that it mattered much — Rainbow Rocket had always been one of Mammon's own targets anyway. If Rainbow Rocket ever dared to show up, Mammon certainly wasn't going to let them off easy.
"Once you've driven off these invaders, I'll see that you receive a fitting reward."
Right — Arceus always paid its debts. It never let anyone work for it for free.
"What kind of reward?" Mammon perked up with real interest.
"What is it you want?" Arceus asked, genuinely curious.
"I want a body forged to withstand a thousand trials — the single finest human physique this entire world has to offer!"
"?"
(End of Chapter)
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