Chapter 702 - 699

The seventeenth Life Plate seemed to manifest at that very moment. It was the Fairy-type Life Plate, which had not yet existed during the events of Arceus and the Jewel of Life. Its existence would only be completed later.

Fairy-type attacks dealt super-effective damage to Spiritomb’s dual Ghost/Dark typing. It was also Spiritomb’s only weakness.

Spiritomb, Vessa: “Spiritomb!”

These were the thoughts of the Spiritomb named Vessa:

[“The sun is out! My anger is fading, and Sinnoh has returned to this world! At last, I can leap and dance beneath the sun again!”]

[“I’m so happy! I’m so happy, Hikaru! Is this when you fulfill your promise? It is, isn’t it? No one ever needed me before… but now I can stand here. Someone needs me, and I’m no longer seen as a creature that only brings disaster!”]

[“Right now, I must be the happiest Spiritomb in the entire world!”]

Hello, dreaming child.

Look closely at me through those young eyes.

Everything in the world seems so hazy,

yet the whole world feels so gentle.

Everyone is a friend.

Even the drifting clouds in the sky are flowers!

Those bright eyes shine like the sun… They must have illuminated your entire world!

If I could live once more, what kind of days would I spend?

Spiritomb, Vessa: [“I’ll unleash all of my power! The sun is telling me to do the same!”]

…

Hikaru: “Vessa, use Curse!”

The user sacrificed half of its maximum HP while placing the target under a curse. At the end of each turn, the cursed opposing Pokémon would lose one-quarter of its maximum HP.

That further reduced Arceus’s life force. And then…

Spiky-eared Pichu appeared at the edge of the battlefield. As one of the Pokémon with the lowest base HP in existence, this little Pokémon that had traveled across a thousand years began to pray, offering one final wish to Arceus.

Hikaru: “Spike, use Pain Split!”

…

These were the thoughts of Spiky-eared Pichu, who had once traveled through time from Michina to Ilex Forest.

Spiky-eared Pichu: “Pichu!”

[“I was clearly born on the soil of Sinnoh, so why did I end up at a shrine in the Johto region?”]

[“Perhaps it was because the people of Johto and Sinnoh once had ties with each other. Maybe that was why someone brought me there. I was terribly lonely at first, but I soon found new friends and even saw an incredible new world.”]

[“Damos and I used to be friends and partners. Getting to know each other was difficult, but in the end, he allowed me to live inside the temple. Thanks to him, I could finally fill my belly.”]

[“Endure pain, share suffering, then grit your teeth and keep living. That is how we Pokémon survive.”]

[“Some of my memories from the past are painful, but I could still sneak away and play with the other Pokémon from time to time.”]

[“That’s right. As long as we can play together, we’re friends! Come over here and play with me! Then, little by little, our bond will grow stronger!”]

[“And then, our hearts will leap with joy… both mine and my friends’!”]

[“I’ve met another Arceus before… but you are our creator. You should become our friend too! Then… we can all play together!”]

[“So, do you accept or not?”]

…

Then came the third Pokémon.

It was a Pokémon born among the bones carried by rivers. In terms of strength, Basculegion was not yet a particularly powerful partner. However, across a thousand years, gratitude alone had endured.

When Damos’s Law of Transcendence calmed all the Pokémon…

There was a move that attacked to resolve the regrets of fallen companions. The more allied Pokémon that had been knocked out, the stronger that move became!

Its base power was only 50, but for every allied Pokémon that had entered a fainted state, its power increased by another 50. In an unrestricted battle, its maximum power could therefore reach an absurd level.

Hikaru assumed an Aura stance. By channeling Aura, he could ensure that the move struck its target!

This was one of the secret arts of the Hisui era!

Arceus, however, could switch between its Life Plates and render every attack ineffective. Even without the Legend Plate, the Transcendent Almighty could freely change its type and nullify incoming attacks.

That was why the assistance of other partners was still necessary. The move they needed was Foresight!

After Foresight was used, moves that normally could not affect Ghost-type Pokémon would be able to hit them. It also allowed attacks to strike opponents with heightened evasiveness!

Several beams of light shone upon the Transcendent Almighty. Hikaru actually had several Pokémon that had mastered either Foresight or sword techniques capable of cutting down invisible enemies!

Aerodactyl soared through the sky, Lucario stood upon the earth, and Aegislash watched from the mountains…

Pokémon appeared everywhere, amid fire and water, within grass and forests, beneath the earth and among the clouds, throughout this wondrous world.

No matter how difficult it might be, I would catch them all.

After saying goodbye to Pallet Town, I would set out on a journey with this partner.

I would train new moves and keep winning, gather more companions, and travel on to the next town!

Hikaru: “Space-Time Orb… Go, Basculegion! Use Last Respects!”

“Reverently sweep away the dust covering the history of the past! Just like Lake Acuity, frozen within the Alabaster Icelands!”

Power: 50, maximum boost → 5,050 → doubled by Adaptability → 10,100 → doubled by the Space-Time Orb → …

Last Respects reached a power of twenty thousand!

…

When Basculegion leaped into the air, the Pokémon that had once hovered on the brink of death and been reborn through sheer gratitude had never imagined that this moment would come.

The cruel process of natural selection had created it.

Now, the creator of the world stood before it, awaiting its attack.

Having once lost its life, it should have carried a wrathful soul. It should have wept blood as it denounced the creator standing before it.

Yet now, its heart held nothing but joy and… gratitude.

Basculegion’s voice, seemingly unheard by anyone else, reached the heart of the Transcendent Almighty.

[In the river, I was nothing more than a skeleton drifting with the current, a rotting body that never managed to return to its snow-white homeland.]

[The legends say that within the Alabaster Icelands lies a lake that has lost its memories, a lake overflowing with acuity and wisdom.]

[And yet, foolish and helpless as I was, I met a wise human beside the river, someone whose wisdom I could never have understood.]

[It turned out that the legends of my kind and the legends of humanity were both true.]

[When our skeletons are carried away by the river, when our flesh is eaten by humans or left to decay in the wilderness, someone may carefully wash our bones clean and respectfully return them to the water.]

[If they do, the Pokémon will regain its body and return to this world!]

[I am part of this world. I should have been filled with hatred, yet now my heart contains only boundless gratitude! Perhaps I am the only Basculegion in the world whose soul was formed entirely from gratitude!]

[I am neither a king nor any other kind of noble. I did not travel across a thousand years like Spiky-eared Pichu, nor did I carry regrets and hopes like Vessa. I have none of their profound and ancient stories.]

[I am merely a foolish fish.]

[But thank you, Creator… Thank you for the legends you left behind, for the world you created, and for the cycle you bestowed upon it. That is why I was able to live. That is why I can leap from the water and swim freely through this vast world!]

[That is why I was able to meet the person who saved my life!]

The immense power of Last Respects gathered into a spiraling current of light. Like the rivers of Hisui, it washed away every trace of hatred, leaving behind only remembrance of the past.

At the same time, the Arc Phone transformed, and the legendary Mysterious Balm manifested. It was an item created by Almighty Sinnoh specifically to quell others of its own kind.

It could suppress any Arceus. The balm itself had been made from countless types of food gathered from everything within the world, from all creation itself!

The Transcendent Almighty was swallowed by the current of light. It froze the world in place and looked down.

After enduring an attack of such tremendous power, what else did its opponent intend to reveal?

Hikaru: “All this time, I have never allowed this Light Stone to enter battle.”

“That’s because I no longer need to borrow its power.”

“However, if I’m going to battle the creator of the world, then I believe I must awaken it temporarily. I must rouse it from its slumber, because the white dragon will build a world of truth, and I am soon going to entrust it to a certain hero.”

“Reshiram.”

“According to legend, if humanity scorns truth and surrenders itself to greed, it will burn the entire world to ashes with its flames. It may not be powerful compared to you, but since both of you are Pokémon that came from the cosmos…”

“Perhaps you share the same origin!”

It absorbed an immense tide of spiritual energy and revealed the world of truth!

With white wings and blue eyes, the white dragon descended upon the world once more, wreathed in blue flames after its long absence!

In the Hisui era, an immense radiance poured into the sky above the Temple of Sinnoh.

Origin Forme Dialga, Origin Forme Palkia, Origin Forme Giratina, the lords of Hisui, every Legendary Pokémon of Sinnoh, and the Pokémon whose forms had changed with the land and climate…

They all gathered there alongside the people of the Diamond Clan, Pearl Clan, and Galaxy Team!

A tremendous force enveloped the temple. No one knew whether the Transcendent Almighty that had descended upon this place was its true body or merely a projection.

Within frozen time, it slowly rose amid sacred light!

Its rage had reached this era. However, its goal had shifted from simple destruction to confirming something else…

It gazed upon the people and Pokémon who had joined forces to battle it, as well as the Temple of Sinnoh, which had been blasted apart in a burst of intense light.

The Transcendent Almighty turned its gaze toward the far end of the temple.

Everyone else was fighting, but one woman had done nothing. Cogita merely stood aside and watched, seemingly unaffected by everything happening around her.

“Cogita… and the Pixie Plate…”

“Ah… Is what all of you seek the same as what the people of the past once sought? O people within my memories, your will has reached this age!”

“Sinnoh, you have admirably fulfilled your mission of awakening me… Perhaps one such as I may finally, once again…”

“The millennium you chose and shaped was not one in which you simply gave them everything. Instead, you made them accomplish things for themselves, allowing their convictions to be passed down. You maintained your distance, revealing yourself only to certain chosen individuals.”

“You were right… I gave my love to the people of this world. I blessed them with lightning, shielded them from meteors, and bestowed life upon them… Yet I could never obtain the correct answer. Even so, I always… I suffered because of their betrayal, yet I still loved those brave lives…”

“Use the songs and dances of the past to reveal our power… I have also heard the melody of the Azure Flute! Let this remain as it is…”

“Leave it to Sinnoh!”

The destruction of the Temple of Sinnoh seemed to symbolize the Transcendent Almighty’s farewell to its past. It also represented its decision.

Its ferocious counterattack left the lords of Hisui and the assembled Legendary Pokémon struggling to endure.

For Adaman and Irida, fighting alongside the Almighty Sinnoh worshipped by their respective clans was an incomparable honor. However, when the true creator descended and began unleashing its power, they discovered that they were completely incapable of resisting it!

Adaman stared in astonishment.

“Arceus! So that’s Arceus! Irida, don’t you think it resembles the other Almighty Sinnoh? No, that’s not right. It’s the Origin Formes of the other Almighty Sinnoh that resemble it! That is the true form of the creator!”

Irida gritted her teeth.

“Even all the Legendary Pokémon appearing together aren’t enough to defeat it! This is unbelievable… Such incredible power… I have to play the flute!”

Cogita nodded.

“That’s right… Play the flute. The sound of the flute played by one who has gathered the power of the Plates is the melody to which it listens.”

Overcome with excitement, Volo shouted through the raging blast:

“Arceus! I have truly laid eyes upon you at last! I am a descendant of the ancient Sinnoh people. These clothes, this hairstyle, and every ornament I wear are expressions of our reverence for you! Do you still remember the appearance of the ancient Sinnoh people?”

“Your arrival fills me with heartfelt joy! Your desire to create a new world is also meant to make this world more beautiful! But before that happens, I will join these people in battling you… This may sound strange, but would you please regard this as a reenactment of the ancient hero’s legend?”

Cyllene held the green jewel out before her.

“Please accept this… Please allow your anger to subside! This is the Jewel of Life. We recovered this treasure from the land of Michina! Reclaim it, then return to the heavens beyond the mortal world!”

“We humbly beg your forgiveness! Let the legend of the Swordsman of the Veil appear once more!”

There were the seafaring descendants of the Celestica people, a woman who shared an intimate connection with it, the oddly coiffed descendant of the ancient Sinnoh people, and the outsiders who had crossed the ocean in search of a peaceful home.

The Transcendent Almighty did not respond, nor did it reclaim the Jewel of Life.

Instead, it turned its gaze toward the far reaches of the heavens.

A dazzling sun descended from the sky. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a radiant source of light that illuminated the entire land of Hisui!

The stars began to turn, and time resumed its flow. It was as though the world itself were being born at that very moment!

Everyone looked in the same direction.

At the far end of the staircase of light that stretched into the heavens, beyond the Gate of Origin, another Almighty Sinnoh with a form identical to the Transcendent Almighty finally descended into the mortal world!

Together with Akari, it passed through the Gate of Origin!

Starlight overflowed from the staircase of light and the farthest reaches of the cosmos. It had returned from among the stars and entered the mortal realm!

[“This was originally destined to become a calamity that destroyed the world. Yet with the slightest guidance, it became a trial instead. Across a thousand years… welcome home.”]

(End of Chapter)

“Zaelum”]