//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: A New World, a New Way // by zeusdemigod131 //------------------------------// Twilight sighed as she levitated the last book back onto the shelf. Since she had run out earlier that morning in the middle of re-shelving day, she had been forced to quickly put the books back, out of order. She hated that. The group had arrived at the library without any trouble, since everypony was still hiding, nopony had even stopped them to ask about the Pokémon. Upon arrival, Twilight had remembered the mess she had left and excused herself so she could quickly clean up. “Done.” She sighed dejectedly as she opened the door to let the others in. “So this is an actual tree?” Misty asked as she awkwardly plodded into the room. She still wasn’t use to walking on four legs, or with a very large fish-like tail upsetting her balance. If anything, she thought she’d enjoy being a Water-type Pokémon. She did love Vaporeon; back on the Pokémon world, she’d been searching for an Eevee to evolve into a Vaporeon for her Gym team. She even had a Water Stone ready. Togepi waddled alongside her. “Yes, it is.” Twilight answered as she ushered the others in. “This kinda reminds me of Valerie’s Gym in Laverre City.” Korrina said as she entered the house. “Just, more books, less Gym.” “What’s with all the gyms in your world?” Rainbow Dash asked, settling in one of the reading chairs. “Are a lot of you humans out of shape?” Gene chuckled. “No, well some are, but not the majority. Pokémon Gyms are places where Pokémon trainers can go and test their skills against a powerful trainer called a Gym Leader.” “Like in a wrestlin’ match?” Applejack looked at the Pokémon doubtfully. “No, more like a… do you have martial arts here?” Gene needed something to compare Pokémon battling with. “Heck yeah, we do!” Rainbow Dash smiled. “I happen to be a black belt myself.” Gene nodded. “Well think of Pokémon battling as a smaller version of a martial arts tournament.” “So the Pokémon… test their skills against each other? Like Belle and that… Vepis – Vequi – what was it?” Twilight asked. “Vespiquen.” Gene corrected her. “Yeah, I get that, but where do humans come in?” “The humans direct the Pokémon, you know tell them what moves to use, basically come up with some sort of strategy.” Korrina explained. “But why would they need to do that?” Fluttershy asked, not liking the idea of the sweet little Pokémon back at her cottage fighting. “Because… that’s what a Pokémon Trainer does.” Korrina shrugged. “They train their Pokémon so they become stronger.” “You mean like my martial arts teacher?” The rainbow pegasus asked. “Sort of.” Misty answered. She and Togepi had curled up on a pillow near the foot of the coach. “It’s more cooperation than that, you have to trust your Pokémon to do what they think is best, even if they don’t always listen to what you say, and they have to trust you to come up with the best strategy.” Twilight nodded, satisfied with this answer, but something about the way she worded it drew her attention. “What do you mean your Pokémon? You’ve said stuff like that before but what do you mean? Like partners?” “Yeah.” Gene answered, smiling at his mate. “Partners.” Belle smiled back at him. Twilight rolled her eyes. “Okay, how about when the… Trainer and Pokémon aren’t in a relationship?” “Still partners.” Korrina answered, smiling at Lucario. “We work together to face whatever challenges come our way.” “And travel.” Misty added, fondly remembering her travels. “ We go on adventures together, meet new people.” “Alright, but one more thing.” Twilight turned to Belle and Gene, sitting together on the couch. “You didn’t say anything while Belle was battling, why is that?” “Well for one thing, I didn’t want to complicate the battle since Vespiquen didn’t know I was human.” He thought for a moment, then continued. “And Belle and I have been together for years, Princess, I trust her to know what to do, and it’s a great strategy since other Trainers don’t know what’s coming, although I can’t use that in official battles.” He smiled as he remembered the first time he had met Belle, all those years ago. Twilight smiled and nodded, but still she wondered what Gene was hiding. “So,” Korrina looked around the room. “When do you think these princesses are going to get here?” "I don’t know.” Twilight replied, looking out the window. “The royal chariot usually takes about twenty minutes or so, they could fly here themselves in half that time, or they could–” A blinding light erupted from the center of the room, causing everyone to look away and several of them to scream in surprise. When the light finally subsided the room’s occupants looked back to see that the princesses had arrived. “–do that.” Twilight finished redundantly. Luna blinked once, clearing her eyes of the glare from her sister’s teleportation, and saw the strange collection of creatures scattered around the room. “Sister…” Luna eyed Gene’s arm blades nervously. The Gallade noticed the stare he was getting from the Alicorn and once again hid the blades behind his back, cutting open the back of the couch as he did. He smiled sheepishly and apologized. “Heh, heh, sorry, Princess.” Celestia raised an eyebrow at him, as if confused. “Princess!” Twilight ran over to her mentor and hugged her. “I’m glad you’re here! This day has been insane; I even had to skip re-shelving the library!” Celestia chuckled. “It’s good to see you too Twilight, but there are more pressing matters to attend to.” She turned her attention to the Pokémon. “Are these the Pokémon?” “Yep,” Korrina answered, leaning against one of the book shelves. “That’s us, two Lucario, a Gallade, a Gardevoir, a Vaporeon, a Togepi, and a Cubone. Three of whom used to be humans.” Celestia again looked in confusion at the Pokémon. “I thought you said they could speak.” Twilight looked up at the Princess quizzically. “They are speaking… in some way or another. Belle had to cast a translation spell so we could understand them.” “It wasn’t a spell.” Belle replied. “I’m supporting a translator using my psychic powers, whatever we say goes through me and is automatically translated before being transferred to your minds so you think you’re hearing your native language.” Twilight turned to Celestia with a smile. “See?” “Twilight Sparkle,” Luna stepped forward. “Perhaps you are mistaken, but whatever language that was, it was not Equish.” “What?” Twilight deadpanned in confusion. “But Belle just explained what she was doing! It’s a psychic translator! This is so weird.” Realization hit the princesses as Twilight began to wonder about the Pokémon’s powers. “Did you say psychic?” “Um, yes?” Celestia nodded. “That explains it.” “Explains what, Princess?” Twilight asked. Celestia looked at the newest little Alicorn. “You see, Twilight, over the years Luna and I have studied how magic can affect not only the body, but also the mind. And, being rulers of an entire country, we set special wards to defend our minds from any and all outside intrusion, meaning that your friend’s mental abilities will not be able to affect us.” “Well, that makes this a whole lot more complicated.” Gene slumped in his seat and his blades slid down with him, tearing open more of Twilight’s couch before he pulled them out. “Sorry.” Twilight sighed. “It’s fine, just watch where you point those things.” Gene nodded and smiled sheepishly at her. She then turned back to the princesses and decided to repeat what Gene had said. “This makes everything a lot more complicated.” “That is not necessarily true.” Luna countered the purple princess. “We will simply cast our own translation spell upon them, so that we may understand what they say.” “Those don’t normally last very long,” Twilight remarked as she remembered studying the spells. “But it’s all we’ve got.” “Excellent.” Luna lit up her horn. “Hold still.” Her magic exploded in a small shock wave. The wave traveled throughout the library before dissipating as it reached the far wall. While the ponies and Spike felt nothing from the magic, the Pokémon felt something ripple across their skin, as if they had been hit with a blast of warm air. “What did she do?” Korrina asked. “That was a simple translation spell.” Twilight explained. “It worked, right?” Celestia smiled and nodded. “Yes, we can understand them now, although as you said the spell will fade before long, and I don’t know how long it will last on these Pokémon.” “Well then, we should get started.” Gene stood, partially to avoid ripping the couch again. “Greetings, Your Highness, my name is Gene, this is Belle.” He gestured to his mate. “I’m Korrina, and this is Lucario.” The gym leader pointed to her partner. “And I’m Misty,” The Vaporeon introduced herself. “And this little cutie is Togepi.” Celestia smiled. “It’s good to meet you all.” She looked around the room at the various creatures. “I wish we had more time to talk, but I’m afraid we don’t have time for idle chit-chat.” She turned back to Twilight. “You said you might have a lead on what’s causing this?” Twilight nodded. “Yes, but Gene’s actually the one who brought it up.” “It’s just a possibility.” He explained, not wanting to breathe too much hope into this idea. “But it’s possible that the legendary Pokémon have something to do with it.” “Legendary Pokémon?” Luna asked. “What makes them legends?” The look on Belle’s face became deadly serious. “They are immortal, one of a kind, immensely powerful beings who control the forces of the universe.” The princesses looked at each other, then Luna said. “Go on.” The shock on the Pokémon’s face was evident. “‘Go on?’ Did you not hear what I just told you?” “No, no,” The Princess dismissed the notion with a wave of her hoof. “We just want to know what these creatures are capable of.” “There are like fifty-something of them,” Gene added. “And they do a lot of different things. Some control fire, water, and other elements, but some control forces like time, space, and order.” Luna was about to say something, possibly about her own powers, but her sister interrupted her. “A being who controls order?” A devious smile appeared on her lips. “Do tell.” “Dragon Pulse!” A shock wave blasted through the forest, flattening several trees as it traveled. A lone Timberwolf pounced from its hiding place amongst the shrubbery. “Enough, Ssshaymin, thisss isss your area of expertissse, do sssomething.” Zygarde slithered off into the foliage and left the Grass type to deal with the creature. “Typical,” Shaymin stepped in front of the wolf, stopping it from pursuing the Order Pokémon. “ He gets bored and leaves me to clean up.” She remembered the occasions on which she had been forced to work with him to clean up the world. She began to release the special pollen from the flowers that grew on her back. As the pollen wafted over to the Timberwolf the creature calmed and ceased its assault. “Good, I wasn’t sure if you were a plant or a living creature.” Shaymin walked over to the wolf and examined it. “Hmm, I think I’ll keep this one. It might be interesting.” Shaymin bade the creature to travel to the Hall of Legends and wait for her outside, she could keep it in her room there until later. With the Timberwolf out of the way, Shaymin followed Zygarde deeper into the forest. Originally, the Order Pokémon had been using his powers to rectify the Everfree, and the sections he had converted where now more akin to the Eterna Forest that Shaymin called home. Used to call home. She corrected herself. While Shaymin had faith in Arceus, she wasn’t one hundred percent sure that this was the right course of action. She would have preferred to use her own powers to return the world to its original, unspoiled state. Shaymin had been helping by using her power over nature to reshape the flora so it looked less twisted. But after a short while Zygarde said he felt something that extruded order, and had then began tracking the force to its source, then they had run into the Timberwolf. When Shaymin finally tracked down her fellow legendary she found him staring down the side of an enormous canyon. “It isss down there.” He said. “I feel order there.” He looked down the side of the crevice and sighed, he began to use his serpentine form to slowly make his way down the cliff face wrapping around various roots and outcroppings. Shaymin looked around the edge of the canyon and sighed. “Zygarde?” Shaymin said in slight exasperation. “Yesss?” “You do realize there are stairs right over there?” Zygarde looked to his right and saw the staircase leading to the bottom. “....Yesss.” He lied, slowly making his way over to them. Shaymin sighed and began her own descent. This was another usual whenever she was with him; he was too serious, slightly absentminded, and overall, too sure of himself, but he was her best friend in the world. When the two legendaries finally made it to the bottom of the cavern they found themselves in front of a large cavern from which a strange blue light emanating from within. “What is it?” Shaymin asked. Zygarde smiled, baring his pointed fangs. “Only one way to find out.” He slithered inside and Shaymin followed, as they came around a bend in the cave they were greeted by a blinding flash of blue light, and as the light faded they saw what Zygarde had sensed. “Whoa.” “So this… Arceus. He is the ruler of your world?” Celestia asked partway into the discussion. Gene chuckled. “No, Arceus hasn’t been seen in millennia. Some say he’s actually a myth, but I don’t think so. He’s supposed to be trapped somewhere, but no one knows where.” “Then his significance is what exactly?” Celestia had a small understanding of this being but she wanted to hear it herself. “He created the universe. He’s basically a god.” Belle explained. This elected a small giggle from the Alicorn. “Is something funny?” Belle asked, upset and confused at the princess’s reaction. “Oh, I apologize. I mean no disrespect, it’s just… I myself have been called a goddess, as has my sister, and our mother is often credited with creating this universe.” “Did she?” Twilight asked, inquisitive about her mentors past. “No,” Celestia answered. “Or she never claimed to at least. My point is that I’m a little skeptical about a being who claims to be that powerful.” “Well,” Lucario said, slightly annoyed with the princess’s attitude. “While Lord Arceus is gone now, many Pokémon believe it is the truth, that he did exist and that he did create the universe.” Celestia saw the tension in the Pokémon and attempted to end the conversation. “I apologize, but I’m just not one to accept the existence of an actual god. I raise the sun and Luna the moon, and Discord is, despite his insistence otherwise, a lord of chaos, not a god.” Celestia thought for a second and then continued. “In fact, I believe a few of these legendaries have exaggerated their powers to gain your respect.” Celestia had encountered beings who had done this kind of thing before, and as a result, she had zero patience for those who took advantage of the less powerful. The Pokémon on the other hand, had zero tolerance for those who disrespected their god. Gene knew how Pokémon could get on this subject and, despite his own annoyance at the princess’s doubt, decided to try and change to subject. “Okay, we’ll discuss differences in religious belief later. Right now, I think we need to work with what we do know.” “What’s that?” Applejack asked. “That a lot of Pokémon and some humans who became Pokémon are in Equestria.” “And that something crashed in the Everfree.” Pinkie added. “What’s the Everfree?” Korrina asked. “And what crashed?” “The Everfree is a forest, it’s just outside of Ponyville.” Rainbow Dash answered. “And we have no idea what crashed… unless you have an idea?” Twilight looked at her mentor in hope that she would know something. Celestia shook her head and Twilight sighed. “So then no one knows what crashed, but whatever it is it appeared at the same time as the Pokémon did.” “Twilight, does that mean what I think it means?” Rarity asked, already suspicion of the answer. “Yes,” The princess replied. “We’re going into the Everfree.” “I don’t get it.” Misty looked at the path before her, leading into the woods. “What’s so bad about this place?” She had seen plenty of weird forests in her adventures and while these woods were a bit more sinister looking, she couldn’t figure out why the ponies were scared of them. “The Everfree just ain’t natural.” Applejack explained. “Plants grow.” “Clouds move.” Dash said. “And animals care for themselves.” Fluttershy added. “All on their own!” The trio finished together and Misty wondered if they had rehearsed that. “That sounds pretty normal to me.” Korrina said. “What?” Twilight asked in confusion. “How is that normal?” “It’s how our world works.” Gene shrugged. “Are you telling me yours doesn’t work like that?” “No,” Celestia said. “We have control over the weather, the plants, the animals, and my sister and I raise the sun and moon respectively.” Gene raised an eyebrow and looked at Belle. “Hypocritical much?” The Gardevoir laughed softly. “Well, come then,” Luan beckoned, beginning the trek into the accursed forest. “If we are to make it to the crashed object before sundown we must hurry.” Everypony’s eyes went wide with fear, none of them were hoping to spend another night traveling through the Everfree. “I hope Togepi and Cubone are alright.” Fluttershy and Misty had left the little Pokémon back at Twilight’s library with Spike. “I’m sure they’re fine.” Misty said with a smile. “Togepi isn’t as defenseless as she looks and I bet that Cubone isn’t either.” Fluttershy frowned as she remembered what Belle and the others had said about Pokémon having powers, she just had a hard time believing that some of the little cuties at her cottage could do things similar to what Belle had done to the Vespiquen. “Just how far in do you think this thing is anyway?” Applejack asked. “I don’t know, Pinkie Pie how far did you say this thing was?” Twilight hoped that giving Pinkie more time would allow her to answer clearly. “Past Zecora’s house and the old castle.” She replied smiling. “It’s past the Tree of Harmony too.” Twilight sighed. “This is going to be a long walk.” She pushed through some bushes on the path and froze. On the edge of the path was an old tree with a fork in its trunk, and resting in that fork was the largest snake Twilight had ever seen. It was dark purple and almost as thick as the tree it was resting in, fortunately it appeared to be asleep. “Twilight, what’s wrong?” Celestia followed her pupil’s gaze and saw the snake. “ Oh my.” When Gene saw the creature he looked at it in confusion for a moment before continuing on. “Sn-sn-sn-sn-SNAKE!” Twilight screamed at the top of her lungs. Gene stopped and turned back just in time to watch the snake awaken and drop from the tree. “CHARBOK!” It cried at the ponies who had woken it from its nap. “Belle!” Gene called to his partner as the Arbok splayed its hooded neck, the red and yellow markings suddenly on display as it uncoiled its entire body and made its way towards the ponies. Belle, Korrina, Misty and Lucario all pushed through the shrubbery and stood beside the ponies, seeing the powerful Pokémon before it, and noticing the Gallade standing behind it, the Cobra Pokémon decided that getting to the ponies would be too much trouble. “Bah!” It slithered off into the thicket, leaving the ponies and Pokémon behind. “What *GASP* was *PANT* that?” Twilight asked, her heart racing in fear. “An Arbok. ” Korrina answered, stepping forward with the other Pokémon. “It’s the Cobra Pokémon.” She looked at the Alicorn. “Everything alright?” “Y-yeah,” She answered. “I just don’t like snakes.” Korrina nodded and decided not to mention that there were three more snake-like Pokémon, one of which was almost twenty feet long. The group continued without interruption for almost twenty minutes. Which, when you consider where they were and what was going on, was a pretty decent amount of time without encountering something truly scary or strange. As the group rounded a bend in the path Rarity noticed something. “Does anypony else smell that?” The group stopped and smelled the air, the scent that accosted their nostrils was slightly sweet and was similar to fancy perfume. “Yeah,” Dash said, looking around. “What is that?” “It smells like morning dew.” Celestia said. “Nay sister, tis more akin to the air at midnight.” Luna replied. “I smell cupcakes!” Pinkie cried, searching for the sweets. Belle and Gene looked at each other and blushed at that scent. Korrina took notice and rolled her eyes, looking up slightly as she did. “Found it.” She pointed to a flock of what looked like tiny pink birds resting in the trees. “More Pokémon?” Applejack ventured. Gene nodded. “Those are Spritzee. They release a pleasant odor that’s different to everyone who smells it.” “So that’s why I’m smelling the pages of an old book right now.” Twilight commented. Celestia chuckled softly at her student. One of the Spritzee heard this and opened its eye. “Spritz?” It fluttered down to the group and landed on Rarity’s head. Then it looked over her forehead and right into her eyes. “Spritzee.” “Oh, you are so cute!” Rarity grabbed the little creature and nuzzled it. “And you smell just like my favorite perfume.” Luna smiled and thought about how similar the creature was to her pet, whom she had left in her room at the castle at her sister’s insistence. The Spritzee blinked twice, then flew into Rarity’s mane and snuggled in before closing its eyes. “Awww.” Rarity looked to Gene and asked. “It’s not dangerous, is it?” Gene shook his head. “Nah, Spritzee are usually well tempered, calm little things, if you wanna keep it, it probably won’t cause you too much trouble.” Rarity smiled and looked back at the Pokémon resting in her mane. “I think I just might do that.” Not long after that, the group had traveled farther into the Everfree than many of them ever had before, and the forest had become even more twisted, even beginning to unnerve the Pokémon. That is, until they rounded another corner and saw clear woods, comparable to the Eterna forest. The ponies gasped. “What happened here?” Princess Celestia walked over to one of the trees in the clear area and lit up her horn as she performed a spell to detect the magic within the plant. Her eyes went wide as the results came to her. “Luna, Twilight, come here.” The other two princesses walked over to the solar Alicorn. “What is it Princess?” Twilight asked eyeing her surroundings. “What happened here?” “It appears,” Celestia said, doubting her own answer despite the proof. “That somehow this section of the forest has been cleared of the chaotic magic that is normal in the Everfree.” “How is that possible, sister?” Luna asked, double checking the tree for its magic. “I... don’t know, what I do know is that this section of the Everfree is now working in tune with Equestria’s natural magic.” “This is too weird.” Twilight said, she turned back to the Pokémon. “Any ideas?” Belle shrugged. “Only a legendary would be able to do something like this.” “But even I couldn't have done something like this in so little time, or on such a large scale.” Celestia gasped in disbelief. Belle smiled and walked haughtily past the princess, Gene following behind her. “Then perhaps you should rethink your opinion on the legendaries before we run into whichever one did this.” The princess shook her head and followed the Psychic types, eyeing the area as she walked. After almost another hour of walking, the group finally left behind the pleasant clearing of peace and returned to the normal woods. Looking off into the shadowy trees, Gene noticed a pair of eyes staring back at him before they disappeared into the dark. “How many Pokémon are here?” He asked no one in particular, trying to spot any others. “I don’t know.” Belle had likewise been searching, but the unnatural darkness of the forest and the thickness of the woods themselves made it nearly impossible. “But I definitely sensed a powerful Psychic a moment ago, and I mean legendarily powerful.” Gene remembered the eyes he had seen not a moment before, almost human in appearance. A moment later Misty ran up to them. “I think we’re being watched.” her voice shook with worry as she peered into the woods. “We know.” Belle nodded. “I sensed it for a moment before it hid itself. I believe one of the legendaries is nearby.” Misty swallowed nervously. “Sh-should we tell them?” Gene shook his head. “Let’s try to not freak out the locals any more than we already have.” Misty nodded but kept pace with Belle and Gene, figuring it was safer near the Psychic types who knew what was going on. It was almost an hour later when the next complication arose. “I’m bored.” Rainbow Dash groaned. She took off and flew ahead of the group. “I’m gonna scout ahead and see if I can spot anything.” “Dash, wait.” Before Twilight could finish, her friend flew fu rther down the path. “Dash!” She gave her own groan and began chasing after her. When they finally managed to catch up with the chromatic Pegasus, they found her resting in the branches of a small tree, or she probably thought it was a tree when she landed. “Hey guys, what took ya?” She noticed the shocked expressions in her friends’ faces. “What’s wrong?” “Rainbow…” Applejack said in a hushed tone. “What are you sitting on?” Rainbow Dash looked at her friend in confusion. “What do you mean?” She looked down and saw the tree she was in was growing on a little hill, a few boulders jutted from the ground and an unblemished ring of stone encircled the entire thing. Then she noticed the head. “Yahh!” She launched from her place on the creature’s back and hovered in the air. “What is that thing?!” Everypony turned to the Pokémon. “It’s a Torterra.” Belle answered. The Grass-type thankfully remained asleep. “And I suggest we all stick together from now on so that no one thinks any other Pokémon are part of the scenery. Arceus forbid if we run into a Trevenant.” She eyed Rainbow Dash. “Heh, heh, yeah.” Rainbow Dash landed next to Twilight, who shot her a disapproving glare. With Belle and the other Pokémon now leading the group, the ponies found themselves wondering just what they were looking for in the first place. “It could be anything.” Twilight said to herself. “A meteor, another Pokémon…” “A giant temple with several statues atop it.” Luna deadpanned. Everypony stared at her for a moment, then she pointed to the enormous temple that was now breaking the tree line. “Yeah,” Twilight stared in awe at the construction. “Or that.” Jirachi floated down one of the hallways in the Hall of Legends. She smiled as she passed familiar statues, paintings, carvings, and other various pieces of art that lined the temple halls. The various art pieces had either existed in the ruins of Spear Pillar when Arceus had transferred the entire complex to its current location, either compressing or obliterating several dozen metric tons of dirt, trees and stone in the process, or had been dragged along as he left the world and had placed them here for safe keeping. It’s been far too long since I visited here. She thought as she passed an ancient carving depicting Arceus creating the Lake Trio. Of course I was only free for a week every thousand years. Jirachi wasn’t bitter about her imprisonment, she was merely upset that her imprisoner’s choice of prison. Being stuck within a crystal for an entire millennia straight with even Arceus unable to reach her in her enchanted sleep meant she missed a lot and had very little time to catch up. It also meant that, of the legendaries, Jirachi had changed the least over the period of Arceus’s imprisonment. The handful of other legendaries who had been around at the time had all changed somewhat. But since to Jirachi it had been only a few weeks in time, she had changed less over the past millennia than even Arceus had. Jirachi pondered this as she entered the part of the temple where the legendaries separate rooms were. With so many new legendaries having been added over his period of absence, Arceus had quickly thrown together enough extra space within the temple to accommodate the new members. Jirachi greeted the few others nearby before entering her own room. She smiled as she saw that it looked exactly how she had left it all those years ago, or weeks ago, depending on how you looked at it. Even the books from the temples library she had been reading were still in place. Jirachi was honestly surprised at just how well Arceus had rebuilt and refurbished the temple, not just the hall. Spear Pillar had been the ruins of the Hall of Legends, the legendaries meeting place, while the Hall of Origin was more of an idea than an actual location. Only Arceus could go there, even during her imprisonment, and he had only done so a handful of times, from there he could only return to his pocket dimension. The area of the Temple that Jirachi was currently in was located beneath the Hall of Legends, and had been located beneath the ruins of Spear Pillar as well, the humans just hadn’t considered that an entire mountain could be a single complex. Jirachi settled on her bed and opened the book she had been reading when she had last been to the temple, an adventure novel written by a Zoroark author from before Arceus’s imprisonment, grinning as she found the page still marked. Just what else has he done? She thought, remembering the statues that should have been rubble, the library that should have been dust, and the pool that should have dried up. Meanwhile, several stories up, Arceus was in the middle of a very important meeting. “So how have things been in the Sinnoh region?” A family meeting. Mesprit, Azelf, Uxie, Palkia, Dialga, Celebi, Giratina, Mew, and Arceus were gathered at the front of the meeting table. Mew had returned not long after Arceus had sent her off, saying she wanted to be there for something important. Arceus assumed she meant the reunion he was holding with his direct family. While the Alpha Pokémon loved and cared for all the legendaries, he was especially fond of his children and his grandchild. Mesprit just shrugged at her father’s question. “Rather dull, really. One of the Trainers a while back was a bit set on catching us.” “The one who foiled Team Galactic?” Giratina asked. “Yeah,” Azelf smiled. She and her sisters were thankful for the Trainer’s holding back, and they had grown fond of him over the ordeal, but in no way did they want to be captured. “But once we got him to actually listen to us he stopped trying.” Arceus smiled. “I’m glad, if any of you had been captured in my absence...” “Grandpa, don’t.” Celebi had seen how Arceus could get, he had talked with her and Mew a lot during the Team Galactic incident, and they had both seen how the god could get when his children were in danger. Arceus looked to his granddaughter and shook his head. “Right, I won’t think about that. Thanks, Celly.” Celebi smiled. “Anyway,” Her grin turned devious. “Do you know what happened with Heatran at Reversal Mountain?” Arceus already knew the answer, and the Creation Trio had somewhat of an idea, but none of them wanted to interrupt her. Deoxys, on the other hand, apparently had no such quarrels as he rocketed into the room before Celebi could even begin. “Apologies, Lord Arceus,” He said as he dropped out of his speed form. “But there is a group of the local sentients, as well as a few Pokémon, on their way here. I thought I should warn you.” Arceus blinked once before replying. “Oh, them? I know; in fact they’re entering the temple right now.” “What?” Palkia looked at his father in confusion. “How did they break the barriers?” The temple was protected by ancient wards, recently reset by Arceus, which only allowed Legendary Pokémon to enter the temple. Other beings could, but only with permission or whilst holding one of the objects of power, the Creation Orbs, an elemental plate, one of Genesect’s Drives, etc. “They didn’t.” Arceus answered. “I let them in.” “Why?” Dialga asked, just as confused as his brother. “To meet the locals.” He replied simply. Arceus knew that if his Pokémon were to live in peace in this world, then he would have to sell the leaders on the merits of his plan, or at least make it clear that none of the ordinary Pokémon had anything to do with it. “Should we call the others?” Uxie looked to her father, quickly figuring out his plan. “Soon I think, but not yet.” Arceus looked to a hall leading to the outside, the one he knew the ponies and Pokémon were coming from, and waited. He watched as a white Alicorn, her multi-hued mane flowing even in the absence of wind, came into view, soon followed by a midnight blue Alicorn, her star-dotted mane mimicking her sisters. Princess Celestia stopped as she saw the beings sitting at the table in the center of the enormous room. She looked at the being at the head of the table. His coat as white as her own, the golden ring encircling his body, the sheer aura of awe his very presence demanded, he was obviously the Arceus she had been told of. And yet he only watched her for a moment as she and the rest of the group slowly entered the room. The majority of whom were very, very nervous, especially the Pokémon. Celestia and Luna stood at the head of the group and stared at the legendaries, none of whom dared to speak before Arceus in this matter. Not wanting to wait any longer, Celestia decided to speak first, if this was to be a diplomatic sort of meeting, then they would have to view each other as equals, right? And yet, something about Arceus just made Celestia feel as though she were intruding upon more than just his home, like she should have waited for him to reveal himself to her. The specific feeling, one Celestia couldn’t name, was enough to shake up the princess’s usually calm demeanor, and instead of a wise and crowd-hushing introduction, Princess Celestia, Princess of the Sun, co-ruler of Equestria, original bearer to half of the Elements of Harmony, defeater of Discord, and nurturer of the one who destroyed King Sombra, and dispelled Nightmare Moon could only think of one thing to say. “Hello?”