Although it should have been a day filled with warm sunshine, the ancient city of Michina was shrouded in darkness.
Thunder raged in the sky. Arceus stood high above, while Palkia, Dialga, and Giratina looked up at it from below.
Seeing that they were siding with the humans, Arceus's radiance flared continuously, subsequently transforming into beams of light that fell upon the three Pokémon like raindrops.
Palkia stood in front of the platform where Cynthia, Ash, and the others were, opening a spatial shield to help block Arceus's Judgment beams.
Cracks began to appear on the shield Palkia had opened, gradually spreading across the entire surface.
The next second, the Judgment beams shattered Palkia's shield. Palkia turned its body, using the jewels on its arms to block Arceus's Judgment beams.
Debris from the ruins flew everywhere, but Cynthia and the others remained unscathed under Palkia's protection.
Dialga fired an energy beam at Arceus, but Arceus switched its plate, nullifying the attack.
After using its move, Dialga was struck by the beams of light and crashed into the temple behind Ash and the others.
The Team Rocket Trio was startled by the commotion of Dialga crashing into the temple. They were blown away by the resulting shockwave, falling into the temple's sewers and drifting along with the flow.
Giratina tried to ambush Arceus, but passed right through its body. It dove into the Distortion World, looking for an opportunity to counterattack.
Arceus tapped its front hoof, causing Giratina to be forced out of the Distortion World and fall into the Lake.
Lucas looked at his chest, where the wooden plaque had left a burn mark, and frowned.
"Manager, the total solar eclipse is here."
Mrs. Fujino's words caught Lucas's attention.
"A total solar eclipse?"
"Yes, haven't the news reports been saying that a total solar eclipse would occur these past few days? I thought you knew."
Mrs. Fujino said.
Lucas walked out of the Breeding House and looked up at the pitch-black sky.
"Uncle, this feeling is so uncomfortable—"
Lucas lowered his head to look at Shauna, who was tugging on his finger. Shauna's face was scrunched up; as she looked at the darkened sky, she felt an inexplicable sense of oppression.
"It feels like—like something bad is going to happen—"
Little Shauna said when she saw Lucas looking at her.
Lucas smiled and patted little Shauna's head. "If it makes you uncomfortable, then go back to the Breeding House and watch TV. It will pass in a little while."
"Okay."
Little Shauna nodded, then took Chimecho back to the rest area to watch cartoons with Gengar.
Meanwhile, Lucas looked up at the completely obscured sky.
"A total solar eclipse—the Promised Day—has it already begun?"
Lucas muttered to himself.
"Ash, I hope you can resolve this smoothly."
Lucas did not plan on going. Facing Arceus, he didn't have the physical constitution that Ash and his friends had. If he went over and accidentally got hit by a Judgment beam, it would be game over.
Just as Lucas turned to head back to the Breeding House to sleep, the wooden plaque on his chest became scalding hot again, making him jump on the spot.
"Why is it still hot—I already said I wasn't going—"
Lucas was speechless. The next second, through the wooden plaque, he sensed a few familiar figures.
Among them was one he was very familiar with.
Cynthia?! How could she be there?!
Immediately after, ripples stirred in the depths of Lucas's heart.
Dialga: Come.
Palkia: Help me.
Giratina: One short!
Lucas: —
Lucas swallowed hard and looked at Gengar. Gengar nodded, and Lilligant and Dash also emerged from behind the counter immediately.
Lucas looked at Mrs. Fujino. "Ma'am, I have something to attend to and need to find Cynthia. I'll leave the Breeding House in your hands for now."
Shauna looked at Lucas, and Lucas smiled at her. "It's okay, Uncle will be back soon."
Shauna nodded sensibly.
Lucas recalled Dash and the others into their Poké Balls, then rode Ninetales quickly to Twinleaf Town, where Gothitelle was already waiting at the harbor.
Seeing Lucas arrive at the harbor, the sea surface erupted in a splash. A giant white bird flew above the sea, looking down at Lucas.
"Are you sure?"
Lucas didn't hesitate. "The person I love is there, so I must go."
"If you aren't willing, that's fine too."
"It's a fool's errand, but I like it."
Lugia, who already had a smiling expression, laughed.
"I've never fought Arceus before. This time, let's give it a try."
Hearing Lugia's words, Lucas laughed as well.
The red airplane flew back from afar.
"Who are we fighting this time?"
Latias's voice echoed in Lucas's mind.
Lucas opened his mouth, thought about it, and in the end, didn't tell Latias the truth.
"You definitely won't be disappointed."
Latias nodded frantically.
"Is it necessary to bring those three?"
Hearing Lugia's words, Lucas looked at the Legendary Birds beside Lugia. "They are Legendary Pokémon, after all. It should be fine for them to come along and soak up some damage, right?"
"You're ruthless."
Lucas nodded to Gothitelle, and Gothitelle stuffed a large amount of herbal medicine into Gengar's mouth.
Stop stuffing, stop stuffing, I really can't take any more, it's full—
Gengar slapped its thighs frantically.
Only after the last bucket of herbal medicine was stuffed into Gengar's mouth did Gothitelle nod with satisfaction, and then she was recalled into her Poké Ball by Lucas.
Gengar hiccuped and jumped into Lucas's shadow.
"Then let's set off. It will take some time to get there."
"No matter, it will be quick."
Lugia looked at Lucas in confusion, only to find Lucas raising his hand and closing his eyes. Immediately after, a gateway to the Distortion World appeared in front of it.
Lugia: ???
Wait, you're also a master of the Distortion World?!
Lugia's mouth fell open.
Lucas let out a breath. "Thankfully, it hasn't been beaten to death yet and can still respond to me. Let's head out now."
Lucas jumped onto Ninetales's back and then leaped into the Distortion World. Latias followed closely behind. Lugia looked at the Legendary Birds beside it and charged in; the Legendary Birds followed their boss into the Distortion World.
At Snowpoint Temple, colorful lights began to flicker in the sky, where snow was falling heavily.
The towering Spacetime Towers were playing leisurely music.
A shadow was rushing toward the distance.
Thinking of the message Lucas had conveyed, Darkrai felt a bit angry.
"Darkrai, I hope you can arrive in time this time."
"What does Lucas take me for? How could I be late this time? Once I help you knock your opponent flying, I'll make you apologize to me."
Darkrai imagined this while rushing toward the location Lucas had given.
On the other side, on a pure, clean Lake, a pure and beautiful white figure was stepping across the Lake, moving forward constantly.
Where lightning intersected, a Pokémon was also moving forward constantly.
On a scorching volcano, a figure was jumping repeatedly.
"Roar!"
How much longer until he comes!
Dialga knelt on the ground, struggling to stand up, and roared at Palkia.
"Roar!"
How would I know!
"Roar!"
Stop arguing, he opened the passage to the Distortion World!
The beams of light beside Arceus flickered again. Just as they were about to scatter outward, it hesitated.
"Huh?"
Giratina seized the opportunity, dove into the shadows, and then emerged to ram into Arceus. Arceus quickly changed its plate, nullifying Giratina's attack.
The next second, a giant white bird, covered in sacred light, ferociously rammed into Arceus, who had no time to react.
"Caw!"
Lugia roared at the sky.
Cynthia looked at Lugia's figure, paused, and then turned around.
"Hello there, Ms. Cynthia."
Lucas was standing on the platform above, looking at her and greeting her with a smile.
Cynthia pouted slightly. "Still no way to resolve this quickly."
Looking at Cynthia pouting, Lucas took a deep breath.
So—so cute—
"Lucas!"
Seeing it was Lucas, Ash shouted excitedly.
Lucas looked at Ash and the others, as well as the temple guardian Sheena, and nodded.
"Lugia? The Sea Guardian? Have you also been bewitched by humans?"
Arceus's voice rang out. Its body flew up from the Lake, a flash of light passed over it, and its injuries were restored to their original state.
Looking at Arceus before him, Lucas's teeth were chattering.
Giratina, Dialga, and Palkia didn't have a single spot on them that wasn't injured.
Yet, there wasn't a single scratch on Arceus.
Sure enough, no matter how lackluster Arceus might be in the games, it remained an invincible existence in reality.
Lugia looked at the Arceus with crimson eyes before it, its feathers starting to bristle involuntarily.
Damn it, if I had known, I wouldn't have agreed to Lucas—
In its long life, Lugia, who had gone everywhere looking for fights, spoke a plea for the first time.
"Arceus, can you hear us out?"
The response to Lugia was a sky full of light beams.
"Sea Guardian? Humans, you all must accept judgment!"
Energy gathered at Lugia's mouth, and then it poured out.
When the energy was exhausted, the light around Arceus shone again, and then it transformed once more into a sky full of light rain.
Lugia slammed heavily into the ground, snapping a large area of trees in half.
Lugia was knocked down by Arceus after just one move.
Gothitelle used her psychic power to pour a large amount of herbal medicine into the mouths of Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina, and then stuffed a whole bunch of medicinal herbs in as well.
Feeling their vitality once again surging through their bodies, the three Pokémon, Palkia and the others, flew into the air and let out a roar at Arceus.
Palkia looked pleadingly at Arceus, begging it for one more chance.
Lugia also rose from the ground and stopped behind Arceus.
Palkia, Dialga, Giratina, and Lugia, the four Pokémon, each occupied a position, surrounding Arceus.
Lucas looked at the Legendary Birds nearby. "What are you doing here? Go on, hurry up."
The Legendary Birds stared at Lucas. "???"
"Us? We're going to fight Arceus?"
"Huh?!"
If they had known that Lucas was going to fight Arceus, the Legendary Birds wouldn't have come today even if they were going to be roasted.
Under Lucas's coercion, they were forced to fly to a distance from Arceus.
"Three little birds?"
Arceus's puzzled voice rang out in the air.
Lucas tried hard to hold back his laughter.
The Legendary Birds: "————"
Lucas patted Latias beside him, and Latias turned around and glared at him fixedly.
"You said you wouldn't let me down, and that means making me fight it?"
Lucas grinned sheepishly and started to laugh.
"Lucas, I ****"
Lucas hurriedly covered her mouth. "Little children shouldn't use swear words."
After saying that, he skillfully mounted her back and had her fly over to Cynthia.
"Are you okay?"
Cynthia grabbed the hand of Lucas, who had arrived beside them, and asked worriedly.
Lucas shook his head. "It's fine. I have a general understanding of the situation. The main solution now is to find the real Life Orb and return it to Arceus."
Sheena shook her head. "But we don't know where the real Life Orb is."
"Then there is only one way left. Ash, later I will have Dialga find the correct point in time, and then you will go back to the day Damos reneged, find the real Life Orb, and then return it to Arceus at that time."
"Okay."
Ash nodded. "Don't worry, we will definitely find the real Life Orb and return it to Arceus."
Lucas looked at Cynthia behind him. "Cynthia————"
Cynthia shook her head and wanted to speak, but Lucas stopped her.
"Listen to me. Celebi once mentioned the story of Michina to me. You know that it can travel through time freely. At that time, it had seen that King Damos of Michina did not betray Arceus; the one who truly betrayed Arceus was his subordinate, Marcus. He locked Damos away. Now I need you to go back, find Marcus, defeat him, and take back the real Life Orb."
"Cynthia, I believe Ash and his friends can complete the task, but based on their way of doing things, it might take a long time."
That was the truth.
"Moreover, Marcus has a Heatran, and I'm afraid Ash and the others won't be able to handle it. You are the strongest one here. Go back, find him, defeat him, and take back the Life Orb."
"Promise me you will complete this in the shortest time possible, okay?"
Lucas smiled. "Here, we have Palkia, Dialga, Giratina, Lugia, Latias, the Legendary Birds, and an old friend."
There was a commotion in the sky. Lucas and Cynthia looked up together and found Darkrai looking confusedly at the sky in the distance.
Darkrai: "————"
"Did I open the wrong door?"
"Hello, you're finally on time."
Lucas greeted Darkrai with a smile.
Darkrai: "Tell me, what is this?"
"It's Arceus."
"I know it's Arceus! How did you get on its bad side!"
Darkrai dodged the body of Moltres, which was flying backward, gritted his teeth at Lucas, and then rushed up.
Lucas glanced at the battlefield; the three little birds had lost their fighting ability in just one round.
Lucas: "————"
Fine, I overestimated you.
"There are still Pokémon warming up. They will entangle Arceus for a while. I will run into the temple to hide. Don't worry."
Cynthia looked into Lucas's eyes and finally nodded slowly.
"Lucas, don't forget, after this is over, we will go see my grandmother together."
Lucas stared at the blonde-haired Cynthia in front of him and smiled. "Yes, I won't forget."
Arceus knocked Palkia and the others to the ground and did not take further action.
It just stared coldly at Lucas.
"You———— are a lot like him."
Lucas was a bit puzzled. "Who is he?"
"The one who created this place."
Arceus spoke. "His name is Damos."
"He deceived me, so I will make him pay the price for his actions."
Arceus looked at Palkia and the others lying on the ground drinking herbal medicine. "I understand them, but I will not show mercy."
A light shone around it, shattering all the lightning densely surrounding it, and then transformed into beams of light, pointing directly at Palkia and the others.
"I will make them understand that they made the wrong choice."
Arceus had once been like them, believing in humans and trusting humans, so it understood Palkia and the others; it had been just like them back then.
But in the end, it was deceived. It would not kill Palkia and the others; what it wanted was to let Palkia and the others witness the wickedness of humans while it punished them.
Lucas looked at the beams of light filling the sky and let out a breath. "This Slow Start is too slow."
"Hmm?"
Arceus hummed in confusion.
Lucas opened his hands, and the gate to the Distortion World opened.
Amidst the ruins, mountains rose, and an ancient giant awakened from within, as if shaking off the dust of history as it woke from the kingdom.
A huge palm that blotted out the sky grabbed Arceus, and then both palms began to close, squeezing hard.
"Regi! Gigas!!!"
Regigigas's signature move, Crush Grip!
The red light on Regigigas flickered crazily. Its two hands, capable of dragging continental plates, were like rows of mountains, exerting force to crush the golden ring on Arceus's body.
Arceus was gripped in Regigigas's hand, its expression unchanging.
"Oh?"
Arceus's voice was calm and indifferent.
"He even called Regigigas over."
Palkia chewed on the medicinal herbs in its mouth.
"But this isn't something that can be won by numbers."
Lugia gasped weakly.
"Sea God? A lunatic!"
Dialga looked at Lugia and actually laughed inexplicably.
Giratina agreed with Dialga's words for the first time ever. "Indeed."
If they weren't lunatics, how could they come to challenge Arceus?
After Regigigas's giant hands contracted to a certain point, they stopped.
The red light on Regigigas flickered crazily, dyeing the sky red.
Boom!
The metal on Regigigas's hands shattered and fell in all directions.
Gothitelle opened a protective shield in front of Lucas.
Arceus's body was enveloped by a spherical protective shield, and it was now floating quietly in the air.
Its mouth began to gather a Hyper Beam, which it then fired at Regigigas.
Regigigas kept retreating, finally collapsing into the mountain, struggling to stand up.
"Oh, the Regigigas that once dragged continents————"
Arceus's eyes flashed with memories. "Have you also been bewitched by humans?"
"Dialga, have you anchored the point in time?"
Dialga nodded.
"Send them back, quickly."
The pentagonal diamonds on Dialga began to glow, and then the bodies of Cynthia, Sheena, and the Ash trio began to fade.
"Take Gengar with you."
Lucas looked at Gengar, and his lips moved.
Gengar nodded.
Gengar's body also began to fade.
"Wait for me, I'll be back soon."
Cynthia said silently.
Lucas watched Cynthia and the others leave, then turned his head to look at Arceus.
"You're the only one left? Are you so sure I won't attack you?"
Arceus asked Lucas.
"I'm betting that the Creator of the Universe, Arceus, will not attack its people."
"Unfortunately, you are not."
Arceus paused after saying this.
"Oh———— I see, you————"
For the first time, Arceus had an emotional fluctuation. The light wheel around it appeared, transforming into blades, pointing directly at Lucas.
"Lucas, come and try."
Judgment was unleashed without mercy.
The next second, under Lucas's command, the three Sinnoh gods, the Sea God, the Nightmare Pokémon, and Regigigas all moved out, rushing toward Arceus.
Lucas gripped the wooden plaque pendant on his chest.
"Latias, Mega Evolution!"
The powerful light of the bond illuminated the entire sky, and then a blue fighter jet cut through the sky and joined the battlefield.
Watching the surrounded Arceus, Lucas wiped the blood from his nose. "Arceus, you have been surrounded."
"Are you just indulging in verbal sparring?"
Arceus launched an attack on Lugia and the others.
The sewers of the temple.
The Team Rocket Trio crawled out of the water, soaked through.
Jessie angrily picked up a stone staff nearby and struck it hard.
The stone staff shattered, and a crystal-clear, brilliant jade stone fell out.
Team Rocket Trio: "???"
"The Life Orb?!"
"The weather today is truly wonderful, very suitable for having afternoon tea."
Lance sat on the back of Dragonite and said softly.
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Thoughts on where the plot is heading? Let me know in the comments! If you're enjoying the ride, please leave a quick review and toss a few Power Stones my way. Every bit of support means the world! 🙌