Hikaru tended to both Trainers’ Pokémon, using his expertise as the Medicine-type Elite Four. Naturally, his bag was packed with every kind of healing item imaginable.

Revives restored their stamina, Pokéblocks replenished their energy, the Shinto Elixir boosted their physical strength, herbal juice cured all injuries, and a bite of a Golden Apple brought them instantly back to full power!

Even Cynthia couldn’t help but marvel at this “full-package recovery set.” Out in the world, such a lineup of healing items was extremely rare. While there were many medicines that could heal wounds, those that could also restore stamina were scarce!

Many times, if a Pokémon entered battle after a prior injury or exertion, even if its wounds were healed, hidden fatigue would linger—flaring up unexpectedly and severely affecting performance. In worst cases, it could endanger the Pokémon’s life.

The Stage of Light—called the Tri-Fantasy Stage by ancient Johto civilizations.

Cynthia’s heart was pounding. The moment she received the pendant from Hikaru, a mysterious power surged from it, guiding her with clear intent.

Ascend the stage… A vague voice echoed in her heart—hazy, unreal, but Cynthia knew it existed.

“The crest on the Tri-Fantasy Stage resembles the murals from Sinjoh Ruins and Celestic Town… As I thought, my earlier research was correct.”

“Whether it’s the Solaceon Ruins or Celestic Town, the strange triangle symbol appears everywhere. And the stone tablets found throughout Sinnoh inscribed with ancient writing spoke of ‘That Being’ placing the Pokémon of Time and Space into the world as avatars… And now, the truth is finally clear.”

“I once thought ‘That Being’ referred to Giratina. But further study revealed the triangle may represent not just the lake guardians, but also Dialga, Palkia… and finally, Giratina.”

Cynthia looked toward Hikaru.

Hikaru smiled. “Haha, if Giratina heard it was mistaken for Arceus, it’d probably be delighted.”

Even if it was a wild, baseless myth—thinking that Giratina was Arceus would certainly amuse the latter. The absurdity of the confusion made it all the more amusing. At the very least, Dialga and Palkia would have sour looks on their faces.

“That coward doesn’t have that kind of power,” Volo chuckled, drifting into memory. “Still… you managed to investigate Giratina. Not bad at all.”

Of course—she was his great-granddaughter.

“Why do you say that?” Cynthia asked with narrowed eyes. “What kind of Pokémon is Giratina?”

“A coward and a weakling. Rageful yet powerless.” That was Volo’s blunt judgment, leaving Cynthia stunned. Volo crossed his arms, tilting his head back as he recalled the past.

“Contradictory—but that’s what Giratina is. A violent shadow, banished to the world’s reverse side, bringing down wrathful thunder upon life.”

“That thing was exiled.”

He sighed. “Driven away by Arceus, it held a grudge. It never got along with its two brothers and always longed to rebel against Arceus.”

“The saddest part? Its faith has long since been lost. The Sinjoh Temple ruins no longer exist, do they?”

Cynthia’s eyes lit up as she shook her head. “I’ve never heard of such ruins.”

“Vanished,” Volo waved dismissively. “Many ruins were lost to urban development. I don’t know exactly why.”

“The Sinjoh Temple was destroyed ages ago. The mountain path once enshrined three Pokémon. Giratina was one of them. But at some point, someone smashed its statue and moved it to a remote place.”

“It used to guard the Ghost-type enhancing tablet—the Spooky Plate. In the ancient Hisui era, every plate had a guardian Pokémon.”

“I had dealings with it. I once received a plate from it. It wanted to ally with me—to rebel against Arceus. But that plan failed. Our story was discarded by history.”

[That wretch dares slander Me?!]

As Volo ranted to Cynthia, feeding her a highly negative version of Giratina’s tale, Giratina’s voice suddenly rang out inside Hikaru’s soul, fuming.

[It wasn’t Me who was weak—it was him! I gave it My all!]

[I want to come out and clear My name!]

“Really? Things are about to get serious.” Hikaru conversed with Giratina mentally. “You’re talking about the Hisui era, right?”

[You already know… I guess it makes sense. You carry traces of time and space.]

[I was defeated by that person. Couldn’t beat her. So I stayed behind to protect Hisui despite that bitter defeat. Even now, I shudder recalling it. If not for Me, Volo would’ve been groveling at her feet!]

[Wait—you said the victor of that battle can summon Arceus’s phantom on the Stage of Light?!]

[…But that’s just a phantom!]

“Want to team up with the winner for the challenge?”

Hikaru’s sudden suggestion stunned Giratina into silence.

…He was tempted.

Volo the perpetual loser had no chance of beating Arceus’s phantom. But his great-granddaughter? She looked promising. Champion material. Finally living up to the family name.

Hikaru imagined the moment.

Cynthia, after being wiped out by Arceus’s phantom, the battle nearing despair… suddenly, black smoke rises from behind—she turns and yells, “Come forth, Giratina!” A scene straight out of Volo’s old playbook. High emotional IQ would call that a “tribute.”

Kinda cool, honestly.

[I’ll wait and see for now.]

Giratina chose to observe. This wasn’t cowardice—it was “know thy enemy”! Let the phantom make its moves first. That way, he’d know how to counter later.

[Oh, and help clear My name! Don’t let Volo ruin My reputation! I was exiled, sure—but I govern the Distortion World! I sustain the real world!]

[That world isn’t what it used to be either! Volo’s just bitter that I ran. But he had no Pokémon left! What, did he expect Me to die for him? I wasn’t his Pokémon! We were partners, not owner and pet!]

In the Distortion World, Giratina fumed in frustration, wishing it could give Volo a Dragon Tail right now. Meanwhile, Volo kept badmouthing him to his granddaughter, leaving Cynthia dazed.

Thankfully, Cynthia was an accomplished archaeologist. She quickly sensed the personal bias in Volo’s story.

“Giratina rules the world of antimatter, the reverse side of reality. It supports the real world,” Hikaru interjected, giving Giratina a bit of justice.

“That world has no sky or ground, time nearly stands still, and space is constantly warped. Giratina exists as Arceus’s shadow. Without its maintenance of the Distortion World, disasters would ravage the real world.”

Volo had never heard this part. At first, he just hummed and shook his head. But when Hikaru mentioned the link between the two worlds, his eyebrows twitched, and he fell silent.

Next, it was time for Hikaru—the Messenger of the Gods, descendant of the Sinjoh people—to reveal the long-lost myths to Cynthia and Volo.

Cynthia listened intently, occasionally asking questions:

“Disasters?”

Hikaru nodded. “Someone has likely been studying the Distortion World. That realm could also be called the Ruined World. Miss Cynthia, have you heard the name Mujun Grace Lando? I think that’s the name.”

“No, it’s unfamiliar,” Cynthia replied, eyes filled with curiosity. “How strange. Research on Giratina should’ve only begun recently.”

“He must’ve found some lost documents.”

Cynthia jotted down the name, but soon learned more.

“He’s likely inside the Distortion World now. I mention him only to explain its connection to our own.”

“There are ‘pillars’ in the Distortion World that correspond to physical matter in reality. If they collapse, the mountains, rivers, and landscapes of our world will crumble too.”

Cynthia’s expression turned grim.

Such an important world—governed by a supposedly violent Pokémon? And yet… no disasters have occurred for all this time?

“So not all legends are accurate. If Giratina were truly that violent, and the realm really worked that way, our world would’ve ended already.”

She smiled slyly at Volo, who gawked in disbelief.

“Hey, it never told me anything like that!”

“If you knew, you’d probably try destroying the Distortion World yourself. Giratina isn’t stupid—it’s quite clever.”

Hikaru gave Giratina a little praise. In the Distortion World, it nodded vigorously.

That’s right. I’m a genius!

Volo wanted to reset the world. Giratina just wanted to beat up Arceus. Of course he wouldn’t tell Volo about the pillars—it’d only cause trouble for himself.

Volo: “That thing really is a sly beast!”

[“GRAAH!”] — A curse from Giratina.

Volo grumbled, “Even if I broke those pillars, it has nothing to do with restarting the world. Did it think I’d do something so foolish? I just want to meet Arceus! Nothing else matters!”

Then Hikaru began to recount the ancient story from the very beginning—

“Before the universe existed, there was only It.

Where the universe began, so did It.

When the universe formed, Its shards became Plates.”

“These are inscriptions found on ancient tablets, describing the origin of Arceus. It cast its light upon the Hisui land. But what we’ve seen is not the true Arceus.”

“I mentioned before, didn’t I? Arceus from other worlds.”

“Volo, your friend once gathered all the Plates—including the now-lost 19th Plate. Do you remember what was written on it?”

『It watches Pokémon and people across all universes.』

Cynthia and Volo instantly understood.

“There’s more than one Arceus. Each world has one. So… they’re actually…”

“Avatars,” Hikaru confirmed. “Each Arceus is both god and Pokémon, existing with the world, establishing all things, and watching every living being.”

“Its power is not a myth—but the true Arceus far surpasses what we know.”

“That’s… I’ve pursued this god for so long, and…” Volo trembled. The revelation shattered his thoughts.

“So even if I meet Arceus… It wouldn’t remake the world for me. That world already exists.”

“Or maybe… you’ll be sent to it instead. If you could travel, where would you go?” Hikaru asked gently, pulling Volo back from the brink of despair.

“Eh? Leave this world… to travel?”

“If you’re recognized—truly acknowledged—and deemed someone a world desperately needs, it might be possible. Just like how that person long ago fell through the time-space rift into your world.”

Volo went silent.

That one idea alone would require tremendous emotion and willpower to absorb and process.

Cynthia, however, was filled with growing excitement.

She didn’t know Volo’s past—only the grandeur of the myths Hikaru told—and gazed toward the distance:

“All the universes… all the worlds… It’s all so far away. We haven’t even explored this land beneath our feet.”

“So this is what it means to be a Pokémon called a god…”

Hikaru pointed at the Stage of Light. “In ancient times, the Sinjoh people used music and dance to display Arceus’s might.”

“Arceus, born from an egg in the void, used a thousand arms to create infinite worlds.”

“The Arceus that came to our world was worshipped by the ancient people of Sinnoh as the ‘Great Sovereign of Sinnoh.’ At that time, the world was Pokémon’s domain.”

“There were two other sovereigns. One watched the flow of time. One watched the expanse of space. For the sake of futures beyond futures, they pursued the edges of the world. They each followed their path, accompanying the Sinnoh Sovereign. Thus were born Dialga and Palkia. The third, Giratina, was granted the reverse world, supporting all existence.”

“One Pokémon’s birth brought knowledge and abundance.

The second brought emotion, joy, and sorrow.

The third brought will, courage, and resolve.”

“These were the lake guardians: Uxie gave wisdom, Mesprit gave emotion, Azelf gave will. They hatched from the same egg.”

“Toothless and clawless, humans were weak.

One day, lightning struck ten Pokémon.

Those ten, transformed, became humanity’s strength.”

“A legendary hero led ten Pokémon to challenge Arceus. In that war, Arceus acknowledged human strength, and those ten Pokémon’s descendants became kings of Hisui.”

“After the war, Arceus returned to a realm beyond human reach. Its Plates scattered across Hisui, guarded by different Pokémon.”

“To worship Arceus, the Sinjoh built the Sinnoh Temple atop Mt. Coronet.”

“Mt. Coronet—closest place to the Sinnoh Sovereign. Its power gathered there and turned to ore, warping the local magnetic field. This is the mountain you know today.”

“People wished their will could reach the heavens. That wish was passed down. They hauled stones to the mountain’s peak, carved them into Pokémon, and created statues of the ten blessed by the Sinnoh Sovereign.”

“Later, when the sun vanished, sorrow swept the land. Chasing the sun, people left their homeland. Only Pokémon remained. That land… was ancient Sinnoh.”

“The sun disappeared?! So that was the disaster that caused the ancient Sinnoh people to migrate? But how does the sun vanish?” Cynthia stared gravely at the stage, listening to the truths Hikaru revealed.

“If Arceus watched over the people, why allow this?”

“Good question. That’s something the people of Michina might know,” Hikaru answered quietly. “But it’s not time to meet them yet. Even if you did, nothing would happen.”

“And the sun’s disappearance might have nothing to do with them.”

Maybe it had to do with a distant ‘Thief of Light.’ But Hikaru couldn’t say for sure.

“The Hisui land and Shinto share similarities. The Sinjoh settled here. Around the same time, unknown disasters struck Johto and Hoenn. Hoenn’s people came to Johto and built the Tower of Burial.”

“Johto’s people traveled further north and mingled with the Sinjoh. They built the Shinto Temple and the Stage of Light, modeled after the Sinnoh Temple. The dance to summon Arceus was later taken to Johto to summon Ho-Oh and Lugia.”

“The Sinjoh could call Arceus down and be blessed. On the Stage of Light, the only Pokémon worshipped… is Arceus!”

“And then…” Hikaru paused.

“When Arceus stands upon the Stage of Light—time, space, and antimatter are born!”

Cynthia gasped.

She instantly realized what this place truly was.

The Stage of Light wasn’t just a sacred place of worship—it was the very place where all things were created!

“Could it be?!”

Hikaru nodded. “Yes. Long ago, Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina were born here—watched by the Sinjoh. They first arrived in egg form.”

“That’s why Pokémon Eggs just appear. They are sacred vessels—born from no beginning. Even the Sinnoh Trio came from eggs. All life born from eggs will one day perish—and be reborn anew.”

The true function of the Stage of Light was revealed: it created time, space, and antimatter!

Cynthia’s entire body trembled. All her past questions were answered here. The clouds in her heart cleared, and the path of mythology shone before her—like she had returned to the ancient days of the world.

“Step forward,” Hikaru said, stepping aside. The pendant in Cynthia’s hand glowed faintly, and the three symbols on the Stage of Light—originally colorless—suddenly lit up.

Blue. Pink. Black and red. The three symbols glowed brightly, awaiting a chosen one.

Cynthia stepped onto the stage. As instructed, she did not choose a crest, but instead raised her pendant high over the central circle.

Radiant light burst from the pendant, flooding the entire stage. The long-waiting Unown finally had their moment. They circled Cynthia, forming a massive vortex of energy—exactly like the creation scene from the Shinto Ruins myth!

Within the swirling light, a holy, pure-white Pokémon was “created” by the Unown!

Then the scene began to flicker, and all three present were pulled into an immense illusion!

“The power of Arceus—the creator of the universe—even a fraction of it can create life from nothing!”

“Don’t be nervous. Just watch!”

Hikaru calmed them as the three walked through Arceus’s illusion. All became darkness and chaos. A giant light flared before them. It expanded into a white ring with a black void in the center. Then—blinding seven-colored light exploded from within!

Azure starfields. Crimson galaxies. Golden void nebulae.

The crest on the Stage of Light changed—growing more intricate. Trees, oceans, reefs, rainbows, skies, skyscrapers, machinery, electricity, volcanoes, tides, even cellular life…

At last, the ring and the planet became one.

“What… what is this…” Cynthia gasped.

“The creation of the world,” Hikaru replied calmly.

He had seen this “cutscene” in the game before. But there, it was a simple slideshow. Experiencing it now was incomparably moving.

Volo was already frozen, staring at Arceus like a fool.

“That Pokémon called god…”

Arceus—radiant and white, with a massive golden wheel around its body—gazed silently at Cynthia. But its eyes also glanced toward Hikaru… and then Volo.

It didn’t speak—just nodded slightly.

This was just a temporary phantom created by the Unown.

“Drink this,” Hikaru said, offering her a bottle.

Cynthia looked at it, confused. Hikaru explained:

“This is Star Peach Wine—made from the mythical Star Peach Berry. It holds immense power. Drinking it boosts a random stat by two stages, enhances potential, sharpens confidence, and increases initiative.”

Arceus did not object. It seemed eager to see what its Chosen would do.

“And one warning,” Hikaru added seriously.

“This may be a phantom, but its power is equal to the real Arceus. It may even have the Plates!”

“Arceus with all 18 Plates is nearly invincible—it can freely change its typing, making super-effective attacks less effective—or even useless! You must watch for color changes and adjust accordingly!”

“And if needed—you can fight too. Arceus won’t mind. Also, have you heard of Sticky Globs?”

Hikaru glanced at the alpaca-like god—it seemed to be smiling mischievously.

[Arceus (Phantom): Of course.]

Its voice rang in their minds, though Cynthia was clearly stunned.

“M-Me too?! Alright then!”

A no-rules brawl, huh?

Well… she wasn’t exactly a melee expert!

Cynthia tightened her grip on her Poké Ball. Her lead? Spiritomb!

A standard opener in her team—least weaknesses, good for scouting. Though right now, Spiritomb had been stuffed with berries and elixirs—feeling absurdly strong—ready to 6v1 any Elite Four.

But the moment it saw the giant divine alpaca…

Spiritomb’s grin froze.

It turned to Cynthia with a nervous hiss:

“Sss-paa?”

You want ME to fight Arceus?!

…Fine! We’re here to challenge—no backing down!

Spiritomb psyched itself up. Hikaru and Volo left the stage. The roof of the ruins transformed into a starry sky. The stone platform shifted into a glowing dark field of shimmering blue light.

The Hall of Origin!

Of course. If they battled in the actual Shinto Ruins, the place would be reduced to rubble. Just like in the specials.

Arceus, not wanting to burden the ruins, kindly replaced the battlefield with a replica of the Hall of Origin!

And now—the moment was here.

Eighteen phantom Plates floated around Arceus!

Yes—eighteen, including the Normal-type “Blank Plate.”

Only the mythical 19th Plate, the “Legend Plate,” was missing. The rest hovered before Cynthia.

A dazzling light gathered on Arceus’s forehead!

Its body changed color—pink: Fairy Type!

A double-effective counter to Ghost/Dark-types!

Judgment!

Super effective against Spiritomb!

Back in the Distortion World, Giratina nodded furiously—its head lit up like a lightbulb!

Oh! Oh! Right—I still have a keg of Star Peach Wine in the Oak barrel back in the Distortion World!

I’m drinking it all later—it might help!

[When the Champion gets wiped—make sure she stands on My crest!]

(End of Chapter)

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep