#but not everyone elses. It's a bit much to ask Dialga to do Uxie's job after all.

[nelvana]

In which there are three for balance

First [ARC 1]: In which the human is transformed First [ARC 2]: In which a present is prepared Next: In which the world’s balance is restored Previous: In which the god of space is fought

    Dusknoir’s eye shot open, his chest heaving as he was startled awake. His gaze darting around, he found the blank cave walls of the Spacial Rift staring back at him, the room familiar yet empty. Momentary calm washed over him as he found himself able to confirm his consciousness, but panic seized him again as he discovered himself to be the only one around now. Swiftly rising to stand, he glanced around the area again, trying not to allow his sudden worries to get the best of him.

    “Dusknoir?”

    His gaze snapping towards the source of the voice, Dusknoir found himself staring at a rock, a rock he knew very well by now. Somehow, he found this relieving, though he also found that to be surprising that this was a comforting sight, and he almost chuckled at himself. However, as he could recall the grovyle putting this stone in his own bag, Dusknoir knew that seeing it here now, but no one else, meant that this was intentional.

    “Yes, Giratina, it is me,” Dusknoir responded, slowly floating over to the rock and picking it up between his forefinger and his thumb to look at the item instead of staring down at the floor. “Where are the others?”

    “They are out fighting Primal Palkia, further in the cave,” Giratina answered promptly, “you are the last to wake up from the dark void; you can take me to the others when you join the fight, and hopefully we will be able to help the others out,” they added.

    Silencing himself, Dusknoir listened to see if he could confirm what Giratina was saying from here. After a few moments, he could hear a distant roar, and decided to take this as the evidence he needed.

    “What about Dialga?” Dusknoir asked, hesitant about dropping the “master” part but wishing to respect Dialga’s wishes to not call them as such anymore.

    “Dialga? They’re still being guarded by the Lake Guardians and Ditto,” Giratina told him, sounding mildly surprised at the question.

    “No one went to free them?” Dusknoir continued, glancing further out to the path ahead.

    “…No. Palkia is the larger problem at hand, and while Dialga could help solve that… Well, as you’ve noticed, not everyone woke up at the same time. Sending only two or one to fight those four guards would not be wise,” Giratina explained, “as it is, Primal Palkia is already beginning to tear apart the fabric of space, and Team Galaxy fighting them has already healed slow that down. And if they beat them, they can stop that altogether.”

    “I see…” That made sense, that they would try to take the more direct path to saving the world’s balance; they must have faith that they can do it on their own, especially after what had been discussed even before running into the Lake Guardians and Ditto again before. “Is Dialga in better condition now, at least?”

    “You are considering going out to rescue them yourself,” Giratina stated, “do you think that you can face the Lake Guardians and Ditto all on your own?”

    “Yes. I doubt they have gotten much time to rest themselves,” Dusknoir responded, “the trio have been hiding this entire time, and I have not known them to be the best of battlers before. The ditto is risky, but it is clear that they are being stretched to their limits; they can’t last forever,” he explained, “besides, I have an idea.”

    Giratina sighed, “I doubt there is anything I can say to convince you not to then,” they muttered, “Dialga is in better condition, yes. I am not certain how much assistance they will be able to provide in the fight still, but they could still help, and so long as Team Galaxy keeps Palkia distracted…”

    Dusknoir nodded, palming the rock in his hand. “I will take you with me; it would not do either of us any good to just leave you here.”

    “Thank you,” Giratina said, “I am not sure of what your ‘idea’ is, but I hope it works,” they told him.

    Letting the conversation fade to silence, Dusknoir finally moved ahead. Giratina was silent now as well, but Dusknoir could still feel the energy coming from the rock that gave away the legendary’s presence. Recalling the conversation the group had before running into the Lake Guardians and Ditto, he knew which path to take to get to them now, and thus he moved without hesitation to the correct pathway leading towards Dialga.

    Though he had been truthful when speaking to Giratina, there was more to it. While Dusknoir believed in Team Galaxy’s, and Damien’s, strength, he also believed in Dialga’s might. They had not had the chance to fight with Dialga yet, and Dusknoir was certain that together, they could have victory here. He figured the others could keep handling things on their own a bit longer, while he could do his best to hopefully tip the scales in their favor. At the very least, getting these four out of the way meant that they couldn’t possibly interrupt the fight going on in the distance.

    As he passed through the mouth of the opening to the other pathway, which turned out to be just a large room, the Lake Guardians all turned around to look at him. They had been ignoring him as he was approaching prior to this, but as he entered the room, they all turned to give him their full focus. Uxie frowned slightly, just slightly, a small crease at the edges of their mouth.

    “You’ve all somehow managed to wake up,” Uxie commented, “I suppose we shouldn’t be too surprised; a ditto could never match up to what an actual legendary can do, no matter how much we try to force them to.”

    “You’re aware that your master is being attacked, then,” Dusknoir responded.

    “We’ve been ordered to guard Dialga,” Uxie told him briefly, though Dusknoir could tell there was more to the story than that.

    Dusknoir stared back at the trio for a few moments. His gaze flitted down to look at Ditto momentary, but he quickly turned his eye back to look at the Lake Guardians again. There was something familiar and yet unusual and strange about the state they were currently in. Primal Dialga had never had to force them to work for them, at least, not initially, instead merely manipulating them to believe they were meant to guard the time gears in certain locations… or at least, as far as Dusknoir was aware. He wondered if there was more to even that. He had never had to question it before.

    They looked tired. He wondered if there was more to all this. How much of this were they really aware of? He had assumed that they wanted to be here, serving Palkia for whatever reason, but perhaps they were not. Giratina had brought that idea up once, but Dusknoir had dismissed it at the time. Now he thought back to that. He wondered if they remembered the other timeline, if they remembered how they and he were once allies. And now they stood opposite to each other, surely about to have to battle once more. He had never seen them as friends, just as distant coworkers, and surely, they thought of him similarly, but he almost wondered what they thought of him now, now that everything was different.

    “You’re here to break out Dialga,” Uxie stated, dragging Dusknoir out of his thoughts.

    “Indeed.”

    “We cannot have that.”

    “I know.” Dusknoir felt tired too. “I know that we will not be able to convince the other to step aside either; we are both stubborn and dedicated like that.”

    Uxie nodded slowly, “it is our jobs.”

    Ah, so they did remember. Or at least, had been filled in on the details of what they did in the other timeline.

    When Dusknoir showed no immediate signs of saying anything else, the Lake Guardians glanced down to Ditto like they had many times before. And like in previous encounters, the creature was forced to transform once more into a houndoom; which, to their credit, was beginning to look better put together than some of the earlier times. Snarling, the transformed being lunged at Dusknoir, dark-type energy already forming around their teeth for a crunch attack.

    The move never made contact, however. Holding out his free hand, Dusknoir clasped it around the malformed houndoom’s head, catching them mid-air as they leapt recklessly at him and holding them suspended over the ground as they lashed about furiously. In a way, it reminded him of the archeops from Brine Cave, but unlike the archeops, who had struggled desperately to be freed out of fear of being killed more than anger, Ditto remained vicious and angry, their emotions and determination continuously being manipulated by Mesprit and Azelf.

    “You poor thing,” Dusknoir mumbled, “tortured every day for the whims of others. You never should have been dragged out here.”

    Dusknoir pitied the creature, who likely had never had able to live freely ever since being recruited by the Lake Guardians and Palkia. This ditto reminded him of another he knew, one of the ‘mons who guarded one of the time gears back in the dead timeline. They were not the same ditto, he knew that, but at the same time, that resemblance to this pokemon and someone he once knew brought sympathy mixed with the previous pity he felt for Ditto.

    He wondered if that ditto was why this ditto was here, if they had been selected out of familiarity first instead of function. It made Dusknoir wonder if, had they been presented with the opportunity, the Lake Guardians would have recruited another dusknoir like himself to work with them as well.

    “There is nothing I can do for you,” Dusknoir continued, “perhaps you could be saved, but not by me. All I can do is put you out of your misery.”

    He tightened his hand around the pokemon’s head, crushing them. By forcing damage onto them with ghost-type energy as well, it was a simple act to kill Ditto. For Dusknoir, it was always a simple act, to kill, but for the first time in a long time, it was no longer easy; he felt immediate guilt over the action. Ditto’s struggles ceased, the life fading from their eyes as a small, almost relaxed, smile parted onto their face, before their form melted away. Pink sludge pooled onto the ground, any expression or sign of life fading from the being entirely. Ditto was dead.

    The Lake Guardians silently stared at this for a few moments, managing to keep their expressions as emotionless as before despite what they had just witnessed.

    “I suppose that was to be expected from you,” Uxie finally said.

    Perhaps once, that could have been a compliment, but now… hearing this, Dusknoir couldn’t help but stiffen, his softened expression hardening as he looked back up at the trio again. And though something seemed to burn inside him, he couldn’t find any words to say in response.

    “It’s a shame though,” Mesprit commented, “they were useful.”

    “We don’t need them now,” Azelf insisted, “we can fight on our own; and this should be one of our final battles, here at least.”

    Uxie nodded to Azelf before facing Dusknoir again, “do you still wish to face us three? You defeated Ditto, but they are not a legendary as we are.”

    “Why offer me, offer us, so many chances of mercy? To turn back and retreat from battle?” Dusknoir questioned, “you don’t want to do this. You don’t have to fight me, or any of us.”

    “But we must,” Uxie insisted.

    Dusknoir’s gaze softened again, “I understand.” He remembered when Edgar asked about his scars, of how many were from the time traveling trio and how many were from Dialga; working with a primal legendary felt like a choice, but there was a point there stopped being options.

    He knew that he could not kill the Lake Guardians, and nor did he want to. But he knew he could still defeat them, even if it came at a heavy cost to his own health. He could start a full on battle, but that would take time he did not have, and energy he could not risk. This, his idea he had mentioned before, he was confident would work.

    So, as the trio advanced towards him, all preparing to attack, he opened his belly mouth. Pain throbbed on the scar and the rest of his mouth as he forced it open, energy swirling around as he pulled everything towards him like his mouth was a black hole. Dusknoir kept this up for as long as he could manage, unimaginable pain coursing through him as he continued his attack. The Lake Guardians were small, but they were also strong, and just barely able to resist the pull enough to not be completely dragged over. Despite their efforts though, the effects still damaged them, powerful energy scraping at them as it continued to try pulling them in.

    Eventually though, his head spinning, Dusknoir was forced to stop, and he dropped to the ground, just barely propping himself up slightly with his shaking arms. Distantly, he was aware of the Lake Guardians also collapsing onto the floor, but he couldn’t focus enough to look over at them. He felt like crying again, the lingering pain continued to ebb in his body. The scar that stretched across his mouth had broken it, preventing him from doing something like this. Well, at least not without harming himself severely. But the pain was worth it here, he had figured, it was for the greater good.

    “Dusknoir? Are you alright?”

    Weakly, Dusknoir pulled himself to look up higher, his vision spotty through the agony. He saw Dialga across the room, looking at him with concern. Out of the corner of his eye, he could confirm that yes, he had successfully managed to knock out the Lake Guardians with this action.

    “I… I am f-fine,” Dusknoir insisted, wincing as he forced himself to stand up fully.

    Dialga eyed Dusknoir with a frown, seeing right through the lie but knowing there would be no point to question him about it. At the very least, he was conscious, and Dialga figured the pain would wear off eventually. That was all they could currently ask for; not having the energy themselves to do anything to help him.

    “…Are you alright, Dialga?” Giratina’s voice quietly spoke through the growing silence, seeming to have reached the same conclusion as Dialga had about Dusknoir’s current state.

    “I am… tired, but my wounds from before have been mostly healed by know,” Dialga told their sibling.

    “Are you capable of battling?” Giratina asked, “Team Galaxy is going to need more support against Primal Palkia,” they continued.

    Dialga took in a deep breath, “I am, but not for long,” they responded, “however… I have another plan. I’ve had some time to think, while I was stuck here.”

    Dusknoir straightened up slightly, “what is it?”

    “It… It’s something I am hesitant to do, but I believe it may be our best option,” Dialga said, “in the dead timeline… I had created a trap. To a mortal, it could drain so much of their energy it could take their soul. It is… a horrible trap. Palkia is much stronger than that though, and I believe that this trap may be enough to weaken them enough to take them out of their primal state,” they explained, “I didn’t even want to consider it before, taking something like that from the dead timeline is not the same as restoring those who were alive then. However, at this point… I believe that the world’s balance is already broken enough that this will be a small risk in the grand scheme of things. If all goes well, the world’s balance will be fixed afterwards anyway.”

    “What do you need me- us to do to help, then?” Dusknoir asked.

    “I’ll want you to help me set up the trap, Dusknoir,” Dialga answered, “and… and I am asking you this as your ally, not ordering as your master. If you believe you would be better off fighting, my plan can still work around that.”

    Dusknoir shook his head, “no, I can help with the trap.” He didn’t want to admit it, but he wasn’t sure how long he would be capable of battling anyway after his fight with the Lake Guardians.

    Dialga nodded, “thank you. There is more, however. As I said before, I did some thinking while I’ve been trapped here. There is something else needed to do to restore the world’s balance, and we will need more help than just us currently in this room.”

    They paused, eyeing where the three other legendaries still lay unconscious before turning back to make eye contact with Dusknoir again.

    “Now, listen to me closely…”

    Damien gritted his teeth, crouched slightly as his platform continued to spin around just like the others like it. Primal Palkia was quite resilient, and though the gengar was scared to admit it, he wasn’t certain of how close they were or if they would even be able to do this. They hadn’t even seen Dusknoir show up yet, and while most of the team disliked him, no one could deny that his strength would be useful here.

    Watching the others for a few moments, Damien studied how they were fighting. He was starting to get tired of using thunderbolt, and currently was pausing to save the energy of the move for necessary moments. It was also good for him to keep an eye out for everyone’s health, so he could provide any appropriate healing items right away when needed.

    “Damien.”

    At the sudden voice behind him, Damien jumped up in shock, only to have his arm grabbed before he accidentally stumbled off the rocky island. Turning to see who this was, he was pleasantly surprised to see the only one who had been previously missing from the party.

    “Dusknoir! There you are; we were starting to get worried you would never show up,” Damien greeted, “we could really use some help here, we-“

    “Damien,” Dusknoir interrupted firmly, “I rescued Dialga; they have a plan.”

    Damien blinked, “oh! Well, what is it then? Also, where are they…?”

    “Come with me, I can explain more when we don’t have to worry about getting hit,” Dusknoir told him.

    “What?” Damien frowned. “Dude, we can’t do that. We need all the help here we can get! Look, I know protect if we need it, just tell me now.”

    Dusknoir hesitated. Now that Damien looked at the larger pokemon, however, he found that it almost appeared as if Dusknoir was barely standing. That was strange, but Damien’s mind quickly reminded him that Dusknoir had just mentioned rescuing Dialga; he must have had to fight the Lake Guardians all on his own. Digging into his bag, Damien went to pull out an oran berry for his ally, but Dusknoir stopped him.

    “I have another part in this plan anyway, I cannot linger here for long,” Dusknoir said, “here, take Giratina, they can tell you the plan for me.”

    Reaching out his hand, Dusknoir passed the stone and another, unfamiliar item over to Damien, who carefully took it in his own hands. Without waiting for any response from Damien after this, Dusknoir wobblily floated off the platform, off into the darkness around them. Was it always this dark here?

    Taking in a deep breath, Damien flipped over the rock in his hands, eyeing it for a few moments. The other item he had been given appeared to be some sort of lizard scale. It was a metallic blue, and glinted in the slight light there was out here.

    Giratina was here, he could feel it in the rock, but it seemed that they were waiting for him to invite them to speak first. Taking this opportunity, Damien looked back out to the fight, standing up straight. Stretching out an arm, he used thunderbolt one more time, watching to see the effectiveness of the move before crouching again and holding the rock close.

    “Okay, Giratina, lay it on me; what’s the plan?”

    Damien spoke to Edgar next, who relayed the information to Ceebee, who opened up telepathy to everyone else to go over their part in the plan. It was… a surprise to most of them, what they were supposed to be doing, but it was something they were going to have to put their trust in.

    Not long after everyone was informed, Dialga arrived at the mouth of the cavern.

    “Palkia!” Dialga called out, narrowing their eyes at their sibling.

    Primal Palkia turned around to face Dialga, wordlessly roaring back at them. Dialga kept their gaze focused, a glow slowly growing over their eyes and light blue markings. And slowly, the platforms slowed to a stop before going to spin in reverse; time turning back.

    The islands remained slow enough at first, allowing those standing on them to jump back off to the cavern on safer grounds, but once each platform was empty, the reversal sped up. Some platforms floated off into their own corners of the battlefield, but many of them broke apart, reforming to create a single platform large enough to carry any pokemon. Dialga jumped onto this platform, but did not linger on it long, going directly to jumping to the central platform to attack Primal Palkia.

    While the two legendaries began to fight, the others hurried off deeper into the cavern. Damien, taking the lead with him still carrying the rock which Giratina spoke from, brought everyone back to the room where Dialga was once a prisoner being guarded. In the back of the room, the Lake Guardians had been moved to lay together in a pile. Ditto’s remains were missing as well.

    But what was in the room, and something that drew in everyone’s gaze, was a long, red, dully glowing chain, curled to form a circle, overlapping itself slightly at the ends where they met.

    “What… What is that?” Keahi gasped, hesitantly stepping closer to the chain.

    “The Red Chain,” Giratina answered, their own voice quiet. “Er, well, this is a weakened version of that. It’s… It can be used to summon legendaries. It’s from the Lake Guardian’s power. With enough of that power, the Red Chain can be used to control legendaries as well, but this version does not have those capabilities,” they explained.

    “Dialga was really serious about bringing you back then, huh?” Ceebee commented, glancing over at the rock. “I thought Edgar had heard wrong when he told me that was the plan.”

    “I am just as shocked as you, but Dialga believes that I will be needed as well to restore the world’s balance,” Giratina murmured.

    Alex sighed, “alright, well if that’s what we need to do to restore the world’s balance, we’ll do it. How do we complete the summoning?”

    Nods of agreement went through the group at Alex’s sentence, followed by them waiting quietly for an explanation.

    “I… The rock needs to be placed in the center of the chain,” Giratina instructed hesitantly, “and the scale from Dialga.”

    Following this first step, Damien reached out across the chain. Too reluctant to actually step over the crystalized links, he stretched his arm out as far as he could before simply tossing the stone towards the center of the circle. It bounced once, before landing with a clatter where it was meant to be. Next, he tossed the scale as well, which did not bounce and simply landed nearby the rock.

    By now, the group had naturally spread around the outside of the circle, watching and waiting for more instructions and their effects.

    “What next?” Tsuki prompted.

    “Not much. There are some… words you need to say-“

    Damien whispered something about this getting cult-like, and Edgar nudged him in the side to silence him.

    “-and Ceebee will have to do her own part… acting through with her time abilities once more, extending from Dialga, and opening this as a gateway for me to enter through,” Giratina explained.

    “Is that really it?” Keahi asked, “that sounds… surprisingly simple for something like this.”

    “The Red Chain plays a major part in this,” Giratina replied, “and there are other things that could help make this go smoother, but we do not currently have… any of those with us.”

    “What are they?” Ceebee pressed.

    “Well, some… physical forms of permission from Palkia and Arceus would always help, like how we have one of Dialga’s scale, but we can’t get that from the other two. For… obvious reasons.” Giratina trailed off slightly, then coughing before going on. “Something else that links to myself would help as well, but we don’t have any of that either. It would have to either be something either from when I wasn’t banished, and I believe most physical evidence of that on this plane is long gone, or something that would have crossed within my power. Gardevoir would actually be a good example of this, unfortunately, she isn’t here right now…”

    Nelvana stood up straighter, “I can do it then,” she declared, “I… We have a bit of a theory, that Gardevoir is somehow connected to me. If she is slightly connected to you, by extension, I should have a slight bit of that connection too. Right…?”

    Alex blinked at his partner, “what? You think so?”

    “I… I would not find that hard to believe,” Ceebee commented, “we spoke about it briefly a bit earlier, but Gardevoir has always had a better link to you through telepathy than anyone else, and while I have been unable to place it before now… there is definitely some sort of connection that I noticed there,” she explained, “a soul bond, I might wager to call it. I’d guess that it happened at some point when she turned you into a pokemon, the curse linked you to her.”

    Eyeing for any reactions to this, Nelvana glanced around the circle to her friends. Most appeared contemplative; considering this theory. However, as she made eye contact with Damien, he surprisingly smiled back at her, and she swore she saw that his eyes were a bit teary.

    “You’re right. I know you are,” he said, “and she can help us through you. I- I saw it.”

    Nelvana smiled softly back at him, and then looked back towards the center of the circle, now only awaiting to see what Giratina had to say about this.

    “…Yes. Yes, it is certainly possible,” Giratina murmured, “I had not thought about it much at the time, but I believe it was easier for me to assist in bringing back Gardevoir because you were there too, Nelvana. It certainly sounds possible that there is some sort of psychic connection there; or soul bond as Ceebee put it.”

    “Will I be able to help here then?” Nelvana asked.

    “Not in the same way someone like Gardevoir could, but there is still one way you could with your link to her…” Giratina responded, “if it is your spirits that are connected, the closest physical way to that is through blood. If… If you are willing, providing some of your blood should help.”

    Slowly nodding, Nelvana spared another moment to glance at her friends again. Some seemed hesitant at the idea of her needing to give up blood for this, but all understood how important this could be. Any qualms with this were not brought up, so, Nelvana looked back towards the rock again.

    “…How much?”

    “Oh, I… I am not certain. This is not something I am… well-versed in, let’s just say. No more than a couple drops though; I would not want you to hurt yourself,” Giratina answered.

    Nodding once again, Nelvana took in a deep breath, preparing herself for this. No longer waiting for any comments about this, though still moving slow enough to be careful, she wielded her club once more. Since evolving, the jagged end had become blunt to match the other end of the bone, however, unlike most marowak, just before the ends were small, sharp spikes sticking out. Raising this above her arm, she took in another breath and quickly swiped one of the spikes across her arm, making a small cut and slowly drawing tiny drops of blood.

    Moving her arm to hold it above the inside of the circle, letting a couple droplets land onto the rock floor before moving her arm back to herself, inspecting the tiny wound. Alex stepped closer, arm in his bag as if wanting to offer something, but even he understood that this was such a minor wound that any items they had would be too much for it; it was barely like a paper cut.

    With nothing else to provide for the summoning, they went right to what Giratina had told them before. First getting everyone to know what they had to say, then saying it. Already the Red Chain began glowing slightly, but as Ceebee closed her eyes, reaching her arm out towards the circle with glowing antennae, it only continued to glow more.

    Energy sparked and swirled around the chain, causing everyone to cautiously take a couple steps back. The glowing continued, growing and getting brighter. The two extra components, the scale and the blood, sparkled slightly in the glow before vanishing altogether. Mere seconds later, the glow wrapped itself around the rock, lifting it into the air.

    Getting brighter and brighter, everyone was forced to close their eyes or look away altogether as the summoning continued on its own. The stone crumbled into dust, energy mixing with spirit and forming a silhouette through the light. As the glow finally faded, the Red Chain finally disappearing too, Giratina stood there, brought back from their banishment, back to this plane in a physical form.

    A physical form, long and serpentine like, with six stocky legs to support them. Their body was grey, with golden half circles around their neck and legs, the same color as their blunt horns. Black and red stripes went down the front of their neck and their belly, and large, shadowy wings stretched out over their back.

    Giratina blinked with eyes orange like both of their siblings, glancing around with shock and awe at their surroundings. Glancing down at the group around them, they smiled warmly at them, emotion filling their eyes at the sight of those who had been talking with them for so long, allowing them to travel with them. As they glanced down as well, however, they stared at their own body, a look of mild perplexment crossing their expression as they hesitantly moved one of their legs.

    “Ah… this is not the form I am used to,” Giratina commented, their voice coming out clearer than ever. “But I am not one to complain; this is certainly not something to be picky about. Thank you, thank you all for helping bring me back,” they continued, their smile returning to their face.

    With Giratina brought back, that step of the plan was complete. Without any time for much conversation, they had to move on to the next step. Everyone moving together, they went back towards where Primal Palkia resided, back out to the open space.

    Primal Palkia and Dialga were still locked in combat. Even though Primal Palkia had been weakened from their fight against the others earlier, it was clear that they were still holding a victory against their sibling. Dialga pushed through the best they could. Though shaky, they persevered in this battle.

    However, just as the others got close, close enough to peek around the corner of the wall and peer out at the ongoing fight, Dialga stopped. A small grin growing on their expression, Dialga broke away from the fight, stepping off the central platform onto the one they created, and letting it take them farther away from Primal Palkia. Primal Palkia roared at them, teeth snapping at empty air as they attempted to stop Dialga from getting away. Once Dialga was much too far away for melee combat, Primal Palkia went to use one of their long-range attacks.

    “Now!” Dialga cried out, looking out to their side.

    Activating from four orbs placed on some of the remaining rocky islands, purple electricity-like energy shot out at Primal Palkia. They screamed, the trap immediately taking its toll on them as they collapsed onto their platform, struggling in vain against the trap. Though difficult to see through the purple light, the orange glow from Primal Palkia slowly faded, their scales also beginning to return to their natural color, though not completely.

    “Palkia…?” Dialga called, watching their sibling cautiously.

    “Rrrg…. What… What have you DONE?” Palkia grunted, their words struggling to come out.

    “Your energy is being drained,” Dialga answered calmly, though they winced slightly as Palkia painfully struggled to get out of their trap. “I need to speak to you, as you. You went primal, that does not help anyone.”

    Palkia let out a low growl, something within them fighting against what Dialga was trying to say, but Palkia themself managed to compose themself enough to keep listening.

    “You were wrong about what was causing the misbalance of the world,” Dialga told them, “but… so was I. You turning primal was only a negative reaction to what was already happening. Simply bringing you back from being primal will not suddenly fix everything; I know that now. We need to work together to fix the imbalance ourselves.”

    Pausing to mull this over, Palkia silently looked Dialga up and down, all the while they were still being struck and pinned down by the energy trap. They coughed out another growl, but then spoke one more.

    “Ourselves. Together?”

    Dialga nodded, “we can’t be fighting each other anymore; the world’s balance is counting on us.”

    Another pause, though by now Palkia appeared much calmer than they had at any point before, though still tense with evident pain from the trap. They kept their gaze on Dialga, still eyeing them carefully. Dialga slowly began to frown as they continued being stared at, and then let out a sigh.

    “Not just us,” they added, glancing towards the mouth of the cave. “Giratina?”

    Taking their cue, Giratina cautiously stepped out into view of their two siblings. Immediately, Palkia lashed in place, struggling against the trap and snarling towards Giratina, though still lacked the ability to even get back up. Giratina tensed at the reaction, glancing towards Dialga.

    “Palkia, please,” Dialga pleaded, leaning towards the sibling in question.

    “NO! Why are THEY here?” Palkia snapped, turning their head to glare at Dialga. “THEY were BANISHED! And for good reason!”

    “Palkia, please, you must understand; the two of us cannot do this alone,” Dialga continued, “if Arceus is truly gone-“

    “THEY ARE!” Palkia interrupted, their voice strained and broken at the very thought.

    “We know. We believe you,” Dialga assured them softly, “I’m sorry, allow me to rephrase. Since Arceus is no longer with us, the three of us will need to work together to keep the world’s balance stable. We have no assistance, no supervision anymore. Giratina cannot provide the support that we will need from the Distortion Realm. They need to be here, with us, in this realm,” they explained, “there has always meant to be three of us, we were created this way.”

    To some surprise, Palkia did listen intently to Dialga’s words. Thinking this over, they snuck another glare towards Giratina, now looking them over suspiciously, as well as with mild surprise at their sibling’s new form. When Palkia did not say anything after a few moments, Dialga went on.

    “Besides… they were banished for good reason, but that was several millennia ago. We now have both tried to destroy the world’s balance, and though one could argue we were not in control for that, it was still far more recent and neither of us have received or likely will receive any punishment. I think it’s time Giratina is given another chance, don’t you think?”

    Giratina smiled slightly at Dialga’s words, their expression soft and hesitantly hopeful. Palkia glanced back and forth between both siblings. They still appeared reluctant to follow what Dialga was suggesting, but they no longer looked Giratina with purely glares, so to Giratina that appeared like progress.

    As Palkia looked towards Giratina again, however, their eyes looked past their sibling and towards the actual sides to the mouth of the cavern. Peeking around the corner, were as many of Team Galaxy and their one ally currently with them that they could stack on top of each other so each of them could simply poke their heads around the corner. Some of them flinched at being spotted, but none of them backed down from the legendary’s stare. Palkia looked the group over, their eyes focusing on Nelvana for a few moments. Her, the human, the cubone, the marowak. A small frown crossed Palkia’s expression, foggy memories of the other fight surfacing in their mind, their sharp gaze softening the more they thought about everything.

    Palkia looked back towards their siblings, “we… we’ll fix things, together?”

    Dialga nodded, “yes, I can promise you that. We can work together, as we were meant to. As a trio.”

    Giratina nodded as well, eagerly agreeing to Dialga’s promise. Palkia still seemed contemplative, but it didn’t take as long this time for them to speak again.

    “I… I’m sorry,” Palkia said, “I didn’t mean to… I didn’t want to cause so much damage.”

    “It’s alright,” Dialga assured them, leaning slightly closer. “We know you didn’t mean it, and we can still fix everything, together.”

    “I want to do that. I want to fix everything.” Palkia looked over at Giratina. “Together.”

    The three siblings smiled at each other, all tired for various reasons but finally able to be happy and agree with something.

    Dialga nodded off to their side, and following his cue, Dusknoir shut off the trap from the shadows. The spheres surrounding the area turned off, no more of the purple electricity-like energy came out from the trap, the energy that had already been released continuing its path slightly before dissipating in the air.

    Slowly, Palkia rose to their feet again, stumbling slightly out of weakness. Momentary tension hung in the air, distrust still lingering between everyone, but Palkia did not attack. Their scales were still slightly darker than they were meant to be, and the orange glow still faintly existed where Palkia was supposed to glow purple, but their eyes were clearer than any of Team Galaxy had seen from them, and they still managed a small smile.

    Without another word, Dialga crouched slightly and then leapt straight up into the air. Despite not having any wings like their siblings, they managed to fly in the air just as if they had wings. Palkia followed suit, spreading their own wings and slowly flying themself up their platform after their sibling. Giratina hesitated for a moment, glancing back towards the group still watching all this happen. They smiled softly at them, before spreading their own wings and hopping off the edge. Their flight was shaky, not quite adjusted to flying with only two wings instead of six in their origin form, but they still managed to follow their siblings higher and higher up.

    Together, the Creation Trio flew up into the space above and around them, the three siblings circling each other in the air as they did so. Eventually, they grew high enough to be barely specks in the dark space around them. Then, finally coming together, a light shone out, bright like a new star in the galaxies.

First [ARC 1]: In which the human is transformed First [ARC 2]: In which a present is prepared Next: In which the world’s balance is restored Previous: In which the god of space is fought

[catflowerqueen]

What if...?

Just thought of another scenario I might do for my “What if...?” series.

Well, a few, really, but this is the one I’m going to talk about first. I’ll talk a little bit about my other one(s) shortly.

...and then start working on my actual work.

...

...(after I eat some frozen yogurt and then wash the dishes)

So I had a scenario in mind wherein Uxie actually bothered to offer Laura some help in regards to her memory issues when they meet that first time at Fogbound Lake. Sure, he may not have caused it, but he obviously does have the power to affect memories--doubly so if one takes into account what he and his siblings tried to do in The World’s Treasure--so at the very least he could try and take a look, right? Maybe he can fix things a little, or get some sort of clue about what her past was. Also... while a human may not have ever come to the Lake, he does know humans, and all of the ones he knows worship/know about Relatia--a deity of time--so it is entirely possible that this former human might know something about/how to fix the recent issue that everyone is having in regards to time. (And there is definitely something ironic about him remembering Relatia is a time deity while simultaneously not remembering the Time Gear Legend. Chalk it up to them not really discussing it much/at all during any of her past visits, him being kind of a shut-in and not bothering to actually go out and interact with her or the Rainbow Child on many of those visits (typically only once per incarnation for the Rainbow Child--and, again, she apparently never went up to the Lake to see him), as well as how long it’s been since she or a Rainbow Child ever came to visit. Or Mason, for that matter, who pretty much stopped interacting with the world at large at this point--coupled with him frantically trying to batten down the hatches for the people he’s in charge of watching/frantically attempting to contact Relatia to figure out what’s going on and why no one has gone for the time gears yet. ...And probably by the point the was about to go out and attempt to do the job himself, he’d already heard about someone (Grovyle) going around “stealing” them and figured he’d just let them handle things.

Anyways, where was I... oh, yeah; so his familiarity with humans in general, coupled with Laura’s name, leaves him more inclined to help out. Even if he still has a lot of doubts that this is a Rainbow Child--because it isn’t completely uncommon for others to name their kids Laura, even among Relatia’s worshippers--he still feels really indulgent about helping out any Lauras he comes across. So he takes a brief look into this Laura’s mind, and---

Hm. That’s strange. Where her memories should be is a sort of... blank. Usually with amnesia, he would see/sense a sort of fog, like the memories were there, but simply inaccessible, but here... well, it’s as if someone literally scooped them all out. Or, no, more like they took them all and placed them behind an inaccessible barrier... or something like that. If he tries hard enough, he can get a little of that fog--likely why she still vaguely feels like she’s been to the Lake before, or at least to a similar location, but... nothing else. And that in itself gives him a good suspicion about who she actually is/will be in the future, because he has definitely felt something like this before. 

 He doesn’t exactly tell her who he thinks she is, partially because he isn’t completely sure himself and doesn’t want to reveal his suspicions in case he turns out to be wrong and partially because either way, memories or no, the feel of her mind did let him pinpoint her rough age and since it is a few years under thirteen, so it isn’t like she would remember being the Rainbow Child or have been told anything helpful at this point in time anyways. But he does tell her that he thinks she was probably a worshipper of Relatia.

...Or at least he would have, if the entire guild hadn’t decided to show up at this point and get protective of her/suspicious about what, exactly, he thought he was doing to their friend (except Wigglytuff, who had actually shown up while Uxie was still investigating but is able to read people really well and took Paula’s and Laura’s relaxed stances and eager/hopeful expressions to mean that whatever Uxie was doing was benign/he had permission for it). And then they mildly freak out upon hearing her estimated age, as well as the fact that she used to be human. Basically a lot of freaking out on their part, attempts to calm them all down on Paula and Laura’s part--although mostly Paula’s, since Laura is also dividing her attention between her friends and these small revelations about her past--and some thoughtful silence on Uxie’s part before Wigglytuff interrupts them and points out that the geyser is going off, and they all take a break to look at the excellent view.

Afterwards, Uxie is still thoughtful, but then makes a decision and asks everyone to wait at the Lake’s edge for a moment, and then to their shock he flies over to the center of the lake, dives in, and grabs the time gear (time does not immediately stop because he, specifically, was the one who took it out of the Lake. There is a lot of weird aura stuff going on, but it basically boils down to the fact that, as this gear’s guardian, his aura surrounds both the gear and the surrounding area. Since both are together, in close proximity, and since he is still in direct contact with it, it doesn’t register as the time gear having left its assigned area. That, and because Laura is close by--not that anyone there, Uxie included, would realize that this would have any sort of impact on things, since they don’t know at this point in time that she’s the one who charged them in the first place. Ditto didn’t know about this specific safety feature, or else he would have been the one to remove the Time Gear before handing it over to Grovyle. It wouldn’t have completely stopped the affects of a time-stop, but it probably would have shrunk the radius of the affect, which would have at least bought Grovyle some more time before anyone noticed). Everyone is already rally shocked by this, but the shock and incredulity increase tenfold when he asks Laura to take the Time Gear.

There are a few reasons for this, which he outlines to everyone present: first off, before everyone interrupted him he was about to say that he thought Laura was probably part of the group of humans who worshipped Relatia, and, if so, handling time gears is basically her jursidiction/right. Especially if she actually is who he thinks she is--but he isn’t going to reveal that in case he’s wrong. Come see him again when you’re older, and maybe he’ll talk more then; secondly, even if he is wrong about who she is, hiding the Time Gear somewhere else where he can still keep track of it isn’t a bad idea, given the circumstances where at least one theft is known. And no one would think that such a precious item would be hidden in plain sight; thirdly, he’s heard of the renowned Wigglytuff Guild, not only from what others have said about the guild and its explorers, but also because he knows about Wigglytuff through Ditto--another guardian (because even if he doesn’t get out much/keep in touch much, he does still do both a little, and Ditto does both a lot even if he doesn’t expect much reciprocation. Or at least... he used to. So he definitely would have alerted the others about the whole “Here Comes Team Charm” episode, and that fact that he viewed Wigglytuff as trustworthy). So he figures that the guild is trustworthy and powerful enough to act as guardians until the crisis passes. Then he put the time gear back where it belongs.

They’re extremely wary, but do eventually and reluctantly agree, and Uxie places the Time Gear in Laura’s hands. Some weird aura stuff probably happens, with the result being that when Laura and the others leave the vicinity, time doesn’t stop.

This, of course, results in a lot of confusion for Grovyle when he comes to collect the time gear, which is a major part of why Uxie is able to ID him as the “thief,” though he does manage to escape. Given that time hasn’t stopped there, and Uxie probably actually denies being a guardian/doesn’t let on who he gave the time gear to, Grovyle doesn’t realize that Laura is the one who has it.

No, he only finds out when Laura lets slip in the paralyzed future, before he knows her true identity--because she still had it on her at the time, since no one bothered to take her treasure bag from her/search her for items, and the guild and Uxie remained very tight lipped about the whole affair--Dusknoir had no clue she had it, that’s for sure, because even when they all still trusted him, they felt that it was best to keep that specific piece of information in reserve, just in case. It certainly didn’t help his or Grovyle’s panic and stress about the situation at all, that’s for sure.

It especially doesn’t help in Grovyle’s case even now, beyond doubling down in making sure they all get back to the past. And then he’s slightly less panicky when they do, since it means one less gear he has to go off and collect again.

I’m still undecided about whether the time gear being in the future with Team Rainbow is going to affect anything beyond funny character reactions. As far as the immediate state of the world, probably not because the other time gears being in their proper places the first time things went wrong sure didn’t do anything. Although likely the Tower tried to pull on their energy from afar during that time, so they may all be there, but drained and not actually doing anything. But this one just being there likely isn’t going to affect much since the Tower has already fallen, and it isn’t like putting the Treeshroud Forest gear back actually helped anything in the game, so... possibly a mild effect of increasing sanity/happiness in the immediate area, but nothing all that noticeable.

...Though it’s entirely possible Primal Dialga will have a comment or two. Maybe actually regain some momentary sanity? I’m not sure at this point.