BlizzardBricks
Youngster
- Pronouns
- He/Him
A Father's Regret
Eons ago, Giratina was banished from the universe.Now, eons later, after the space-time rift has been sealed, Arceus watches his only daughter collapse from the strain of existing in a universe that denies her. He decides that enough is enough!
Giratina's banishment will end today. But can the two deities reconcile their differences, and does Giratina even want to?
The rain pounded down upon the lone traveller as she hiked across the sandy coastline, waves pounding the shore to her left. She was alone tonight, all the nocturnal Pokémon having long since found shelter from the storm hammering the Cobalt Coastlands. Her only company was the six battered Poké Balls that hung from her waist, the Pokémon inside alert and ready to jump out at a moment’s notice.
The cold ocean breeze picked up, chilling Akari almost to her bones. The clothes the Galaxy Team provided her certainly helped insulate her from the harsh Hisuian winter, but they did nothing to keep water out. She was drenched. She lamented once again that Arceus decided to whisk her into the past during her sleep. “What I wouldn’t give for my winter jacket.”
Shaking herself out of her longing, she found a tree to shelter under and pulled out her journal. According to the Professor, a member of the Diamond Clan had reported seeing a large shadow, likely a Pokémon, around the coast, and asked a member of the Galaxy Team to investigate. They were concerned that the Pokémon could disrupt the port that the Ginkgo Guild had recently constructed.
The Ginkgo Guild… Akari’s thoughts quickly filled with memories of one of their members, someone she thought was a friend, someone she thought she could trust. Instead, that man had nearly tried to kill her atop what would become Spear Pillar. “Volo…”
As if sensing her thoughts, one of Akari’s Poké Balls burst open, this one a different style compared to the others, and out emerged her Piplup. He wrapped his flippers around his trainer and held her until her mind was settled once again.
“Thank you, Piplup. What would I do without you?” Akari responded, gratefulness filling her voice. Piplup simply cried out in response. The two sat underneath the tree for some time afterwards, waiting for the rain to hopefully let up. As the pair waited, Akari gazed out at the horizon and realized that she recognized it.
“Hey, Piplup, does that look familiar to you?” The penguin raised an eyebrow at his trainer before looking out. All that greeted him was a rocky coastline, but wait, that cluster of trees looked familiar. And so did that hillside, now that he thought about it. Nodding his head, he turned back to his trainer.
“Yeah, I thought so. Guess this is where Daybreak Town will one day sit, huh. Man, that brings me back. We qualified for the Grand Festival at the contest here, remember?”
Piplup smirked and squawked, reminding his trainer of just how they managed to win their fifth ribbon. “Oh, stop it! But… how do you think the rest of our friends are doing? The ones left behind in the future.”
The bird Pokémon had no answer for her question. It had crossed both of their minds quite often. Both of them missed their home, and although they loved the new friends they had encountered and the memories they had made, neither of them wanted to remain in Hisui permanently.
“Hopefully, Arceus can send us home once this adventure is done, right?” Akari tried to chuckle, but it was terribly forced.
Eventually, the rain did let up, the clouds disappearing somewhat, allowing Akari and Piplup a view of Palkia’s majestic night sky. That was one thing she loved about Hisui. The view of the night sky was unparalleled due to the lack of light pollution.
Akari pushed herself back to her feet and pulled out Piplup’s Poké Ball, the question implicit. The Pokémon glanced at the ball before shaking his head. Nodding, she shrank the ball back down and clipped it to her belt. Together, the pair set off once more, searching for any Pokémon that could fit the description.
“So, bud, what kind of Pokémon do you think we are looking for? An Alpha, right? But I can’t think of any Pokémon that would be large enough. Maybe a Gyarados, but those aren’t found on land, so… an Onix?”
Piplup simply chirped, and Akari’s expression dropped. “Ugh. Yeah, you’re right. Knowing our luck, it’s probably Giratina. They haven’t been seen since they fled from Volo a few months ago. Guess that’s what we get for travelling with Ash for all that time. We acquired his ‘luck’.”
The pair grew silent afterwards, the knowledge that they’d have to confront the Pokémon who tried to kill them both just two months prior filled the two with unease. They had encountered Giratina previously, during their adventures across the Sinnoh region as a teenager, and both knew that the Pokémon held grudges.
But Giratina could also be gentle and kind, and cared deeply for others. Akari had seen that firsthand. They had answered the call to help protect Michina Town from Arceus’s rage, putting aside their anger towards their siblings over the disaster in Alamos Town.
These thoughts consumed Akari as she hiked across the eastern coast of Hisui, her loyal Pokémon staying alert for any potential danger. Yet it seemed that any Pokémon around knew better than to confront a Pokémon as powerful as Piplup, despite his diminutive size, Akari thought with pride. Gone were the days when he would refuse to listen to her.
Eventually, as the sun was crossing the eastern horizon, Akari noticed that the ground to her left dropped off rather abruptly. Curious, she walked over and beheld a small lake, about half the size of Lake Verity. Shattered columns revealed the entrance to a cave on the edge of the lake.
“Hey, Piplup. You think Giratina’d be in there?” and pointed to the entrance. “The Sinnoh legends do seem to love their lakes.” The penguin nodded, puffing up his chest in a display of bravado. Clearly, he was ready to face the God of Antimatter.
“Alright, bud, let’s do this!”
Arceus observed as his chosen entered Turnback Cave. He could sense his renegade daughter lingering inside, and the pain she was in, the atmosphere caustic to her form. Every second Giratina spent outside the Reverse World caused her more pain, so why had she not returned!?
The Original One cast his senses forward, entering the cavern, and observed his daughter for the first time in eons. He was awestruck by how much she had grown in her exile. “An exile you forced her into,” his traitorous thoughts added.
He tried to focus on the confrontation between Akari and Giratina, but thoughts of the past consumed him. Echoes of memories flashed through his mind, his daughter’s growing jealousy towards her brothers, as her creations crumbled while theirs blossomed. He could have, should have, done more, intervened sooner.
Instead, he waited until it was too late, and when she lashed out in understandable anger, he panicked and cast his child away, locking her in a prison for eons. He tried to ignore his twin sons’ questions, asking where their beloved sister had gone. He tried to move on as his family fractured around him. Dialga and Palkia, once the closest of brothers, now blamed the other for Giratina’s rage and pain.
He tried to focus on Earth, creating new beings to help him bring life to the barren world. Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza shaped the landscape while Xerneas, Yveltal, and Zygarde governed the flow of life, helping the planet as it grew and evolved over the ages. He created new life across the continents, but nothing could fill the void that his daughter had once filled.
He could have ended her torment at any time, helped her understand the nature of her abilities. “But you didn’t, you coward.”
Arceus was thrust out of his self-deprecation as his daughter cried out in pain. His heart leapt into his chest at the sound. Had Akari hurt his daughter!
No, Akari wasn’t responsible. Instead, a worried expression covered her face as she tried to approach Giratina with a small bottle in her hands. “Ah, yes. Those are those medicinal sprays humanity has recently created to help accelerate a Pokémon’s healing process.”
His child lay heaving on the ground, tears falling from her eyes as she glared at Akari. In a voice so quiet even he could barely hear her, she whispered, “Why? Why does he care for you… What do you have that I don’t… Why doesn’t he love me!” She had nearly screamed the last part before she tore open a hole in reality, vanishing back into the darkness of the Distortion World.
The god’s heart shattered, and his course was decided. “Enough! My daughter’s punishment ends TODAY!”
He sent a message to Akari, thanking her for her efforts, but not to worry. He needed to be the one to help his daughter now.
Arceus cut his senses and opened his eyes, staring out at the golden light that filled the pocket of space he called home. Longing filled him for a moment, the light reminding him of his friend, but he pushed those feelings aside for now.
The God of Creation had to visit his daughter himself. No avatars, no projections. If he wanted to prove to Giratina he meant what he said, he needed to do it in person and accept anything she decided to throw his way. Firm in his resolve, he stepped out of his home and into the nebula that surrounded it.
He always liked nebulae. It reminded the deity of when the universe was young, when his children were still learning their powers. It was in a nebula just like this where he encountered his best friend long ago.
Arceus bent the fabric of reality, cutting open a portal to the Distortion World, and flew into it. As he entered the parallel universe, the distortion sparked against his form. Normally, antimatter would annihilate anything it came in contact with, but his divine powers shielded him.
His daughter likely sensed him upon his entrance, but he flew for a bit until he came upon a piece of land floating in the abyss. Thinking it was as good a place as any, he stopped and landed.
The deity looked around and gazed at the realm his daughter had created. It was… beautiful. She had always been a creative mind, which is why it hurt so much to see her creations fall apart when she was a child. But in a world all her own, she had finally bloomed.
Islands floated every which way amidst the void, while columns blanketed the landscape, as if they were supporting the realm itself. Clouds formed from waterfalls that fell upwards, and everywhere Arceus looked, there was life.
Plant life was plentiful. He could see redwoods stretching to the heavens above, spindly oak trees, small saplings, as well as many new types of flora he was unable to identify. Flowers that shimmered in the eternal dusk, as if they were made out of metal itself. Precious gemstones hung from trees like fruit, and to his shock and regret, most of them were diamonds and pearls.
His senses picked up a powerful aura moving towards him, and moving fast. Arceus prepared himself for his daughter’s wrath, yet his eyes still widened at the incoming Shadow Ball that greeted him as he turned around, hitting him square in the face.
Thankfully, none of his plates had been active at the time, so he wasn’t affected by the impact, but Giratina had to have known that. That was probably just to get my attention. The deity sighed internally, but kept his body language calm. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt his daughter, so he was prepared to take everything she threw at him.
And Giratina was eager to attack her father. Countless Dark Pulses, Dragon Pulses, Aura Spheres, and other attacks were launched from the void. Arceus took them all on, regardless of the injuries they were causing. Yet, this only infuriated his daughter. Did she want him to respond?
”Giratina, please, enough of this. I just want to talk,” the Lord of Creation said after a few minutes. “Oh, now you want to talk! Where was this a billion years ago!” the vengeful goddess spat back. “Oh, right. You were too busy banishing me for something I had no control over!”
“Two billion, six hundred sixty-six million, two hundred fifty-three thousand, one hundred eighty-two years, four months, and 7 days.” That was how long it had been since Giratina had been banished. Arceus could never forget that day; it had been burned into his mind. He whispered that number, a solitary tear falling from his eye as he said.
As he looked up, he saw Giratina with his own eyes for the first time in two billion years. She had blanketed herself in shadows, likely to cover the wounds the normal world had inflicted across her body. She seemed stunned, and the god realized she had heard him speak.
”I could never forget that day, Tina,” The Ghost type tensed at the nickname, but he continued. “I made a mistake, and for that, I am truly sorry.”
Giratina snarled, warping forward, bringing herself face to face with her father. To his surprise, she was taller than him now. She jabbed him with one of her tendrils and spoke one word, “Why!?”
He was thrust back into memories from when the universe was new, and he was still young. He had been exploring the expanding cosmos, watching as space expanded wherever he walked, and time began whenever he took a breath.
Yet, the process had taken its toll on him. Managing both space and time had worn down his body, sapping his strength. What would happen if he grew too exhausted? Would time stop? Would space collapse? He needed to find a better way to manage this new universe.
Unbidden, a thought came to his mind. What if he created others like him, someone who could wield the power of space and another given time on his behalf? He grew certain this was the best path forward the longer he contemplated it.
Yet, how would he create new life? He seemed to be alone in this place, surrounded by nothing but dust, gas, and heat. The creator gave it some thought and believed his powers would guide the process. They guided the expansion of space and time without conscious effort on his part, so perhaps they would manage the process. He hoped this would be the case.
Focusing, the divine being concentrated, his thoughts centered on the feelings of time flowing and space expanding. Deep inside, he could feel his energy begin to mold itself into two new shapes. He opened his eyes and tried to bring the energy outside his form.
Circles and lines manifested below his form, collecting into an odd circle that the Creator could sense was filled with power. Did his instincts do this? He focused, and the strange design began to glow a soft white light. His golden arms emerged from his body, holding two small golden orbs.
As Arceus continued to channel his power, his arms molded the spheres like clay. The left orb grew as 4 legs were crafted. His instincts guided his arms into shaping a long neck and a tail, followed by a large crest on the back of Arceus’s creation. He thought it looked rather similar to himself.
The Lord of Creation focused his temporal energy into this being and watched his powers mold the other being. This one was bipedal, with only two legs and two arms in place of forelegs. 2 fins were crafted, connecting to the being’s shoulders. The head and tail formed afterwards, and Arceus bestowed this being with his spatial powers.
He cut his energy, the circle below him vanishing as he brought his arms back into his body. It was weaker than when Arceus began. He felt exhausted. Two names appeared in his mind, and he named the two beings Dialga, ruler of Time, and Palkia, Lord over Space.
His sons.
Arceus couldn’t believe it. He was a father!
Oh, Creation, he was a father… He didn’t know the first thing about being a parent. What even is a parent! He didn’t have one. Is he even qualified to raise these… children?
Before Arceus could sink further into despair, his two sons began to cry. He quickly gathered them together and held them in his forelegs, slowly rocking them, which seemed to calm them down. Dialga blearily opened his eyes, and Arceus vowed that he’d do anything to protect his newfound family.
Once the two children had fallen to sleep, he gathered up a nearby cloud of dust and set the two down for them to continue sleeping. He wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and fall asleep beside the twins.
Crying rang out from behind the God suddenly, startling him out of his exhaustion. What? He turned and beheld a small cloud of shadows floating amidst the dust and gas of the nebula. He floated over and knelt, inspecting the cloud.
To his shock, two teary red eyes stared back at the deity. The shadows, which Arceus realized were similar to wings, furled out. The young one was trying to intimidate him!
He chuckled, frightening the newborn, who covered… herself? Yes, herself. She covered herself in her shadows. The creator gently placed his hoof on the child’s back, rubbing her until she looked back at her father. She glared at him, but the intimidating look was spoiled as she yawned.
He picked his daughter up and held her in one of his legs as he floated back to his two sons, slumbering away without a care in the universe. He placed her down alongside her brothers and was able to see what she looked like. Rather than arms and legs like her brothers, she was serpent-like, with six tendril-like wings sprouting from her back.
Giratina.. welcome to the universe. He murmured her name, and she slowly blinked at him before she tucked into her brothers, her wings wrapping around both of them. The twins shifted, unused to this new feeling, and opened their eyes.
Slowly, Arceus rocked the dust cloud, lulling his sons and daughter back to sleep. As he did this, a song came to his mind, and he softly hummed it. The melody comforted the children, their eyes dropping as they fell back asleep.
“So I was unwanted,” the ghost dragon spat out, her voice full of bitterness and venom at the statement.
”Never,” Arceus’s voice was low at the accusation. “You were, and still are, my little girl. I’ll never stop loving you.”
”You were…unexpected, yes. But never unloved. But you are right. I have made many mistakes, and not helping you figure out your powers sooner was the biggest one.”
Daddy, look at what I’ve made.” Giratina’s voice was full of excitement and elation as she flew towards her father. Said father turned, having just finished his conversation with Palkia. His son had been trying to figure out how to deal with black holes, and Arceus had been describing his experience with the phenomena.
”What’ve you got, Tina?” he asked. His daughter could barely stand still.
”Come see what I made out of shadows. Come on!” His daughter twirled in place before racing back to her creation.
Arceus couldn’t help but chuckle at his daughter’s antics. He loved that she was still a child at heart. Dialga set to his task of managing time like… well, Arceus wasn’t sure, but he excelled at it. If only he could learn to lighten up and live a little. Palkia instead kept trying to compete with his brother. To him, everything was a competition.
Thinking about it now, Arceus probably needed to talk with the two about their competitiveness.
Setting the issue aside for later, Arceus sped up to catch his daughter, who… had stopped suddenly. And were those tears in her eyes?
Instantly on alert, he rushed over to his daughter. “Tina, what’s wrong?” She trembled before shoving her head into his chest and sobbing. “L-look! It’s all ruined!”
The god moved his eyes and saw Giratina’s creation, or what was left of it. The shadows had all decomposed, and whatever Giratina had tried to create was left unrecognizable.
Arceus wasn’t sure what to say. This had been an issue for a while. Giratina seemed to always have trouble with her creations staying together. If she stopped using her powers on whatever she was working on, it would fall apart almost instantly.
”H-hey, look. It’s alright. We’ll figure out your powers one of these days.” He did his best to try and be comforting, but he could tell it wasn’t working. He instead began humming the same tune that had lulled her to sleep as an infant, hoping it would provide her some amount of comfort.
”Why can Dialga and Palkia use their powers just fine, but I can’t?” She trembled in his embrace, and Arceus didn’t have an answer for his daughter, as much as he wished he did. He hated seeing her upset.
”I…I…” As he was trying to think of an answer, he noticed something. Were those… burns on Giratina’s back? Where did those come from!
“Tina, where did those injuries on your back come from?” His daughter tensed before pulling back quickly. “I-it’s nothing. I’m fine. Probably just some allergy or something.”
An allergy to what? Arceus was perplexed, but was worried about pressing the issue. He decided to accept Giratina’s answer, but he would try to keep an eye out for anything that could cause this ‘allergy’.
He should have paid more attention.
He barely dodged the energy blast the colossal hand sent his way, its purple aura oozing with malevolent intent. The Lord of Creation spun through the void, eyes darting around as he tried to locate his children.
There! Dialga and Giratina were facing off with that annoying turtle. As he watched, Dialga puffed up his chest, the diamond in his chest glowing bright, back fin growing as Dialga’s energy gathered, before letting out a scream that could be heard even through the vacuum of space. Energy flew towards the Giant, but the menace retreated into its shell before gouts of flame and energy spewed out of the openings, sending the turtle hurtling away from the energy beam.
His daughter tried to pursue, but her own attacks failed to reach the spinning Giant, fizzling out before they could hit. His heart ached once more for his daughter, but he could do nothing but watch, caught up in his own fight at the moment. He had to hope Dialga and Palkia could protect their younger sister.
Arceus looked back at his own opponent, a massive five-fingered hand that stretched out towards him, poison dripping from each fingertip. The two beings had emerged out of nowhere, and the God could sense the unbridled chaos that dwelt inside them. If he or his children fell in battle, the very fabric of the universe would come undone. Everything he and his children had created until now would fall to ruin and decay.
“No, I will not allow that to happen!” The Creator roared out, challenging his enemy. He chose to unleash the power inside him, and unleashed his many arms, thousands of hands fighting back against the one. The two forces collided, and the very fabric of the universe shook at the impact.
Straining, Arceus fought to keep his ground, but the corrosive poison from the opposing Giant was eating through his hands. Inch by inch, he was forced back, as the hand grew ever closer.
Palkia, whom Arceus had lost track of amidst the chaos, appeared through a rift above the enemy, unleashing strike after strike, tearing apart space, but the crystalline entity shrugged off the blows. The full force of creation, and this monster was treating them like paper cuts!
The turtle, as if sensing an opportunity, flew away from his son and daughter, racing towards Arceus. The light-years melted away as they grew ever closer. Any moment now, and Arceus knew that he would fall today. This was their plan from the start, he realized.
The deity closed his eyes, his last thoughts that of his children. They needed to run, run as far away as they could!
Arceus’s senses surged as he picked up a new signature behind him. Golden light radiated outward, but it didn’t burn his form. Instead, it was… warm, almost inviting even. His shock rose even higher as a ball of energy flew past him, hitting the approaching turtle, igniting into a massive pillar. The turtle was sent flying through space, thrown off course, and greatly injured by the surprise attack.
Turning his head, the Lord of Creation watched as a four-winged golden dragon exited the strange, checkerboard portal. The dragon seemed friendly enough, but Arceus had had just about enough of strange, uninvited guests to last a millennium.
The dragon spoke, “Oh man, glad I made it in time. You were almost a goner right there!” Arceus was not impressed, and the dragon, to their credit, seemed to sense his mistrust. “Oh, right, sorry! Name’s Nexus. Necrozma Nexus, to be precise. I was soaring through the multiverse when I noticed your universe coming apart at the seams. Need some help?”
The being seemed genuine, and so Arceus nodded his head before speaking. “Help me deal with this five-fingered monstrosity. Palkia, help your siblings with the spinning nuisance!” Said son nodded and sped towards his brother and sister, the two making their way towards their opponent as Arceus spoke.
“Alright, Nexus… let’s take this Giant down!”
The two Pokémon were silent for a while, each one regretting their actions in the past.
”I didn’t know about antimatter back then. If I had, I would have recognized how dangerous being in the normal world was for your health. I could have made sure Dialga and Palkia weren’t accidentally destroying antimatter as they expanded time and space. If I had trusted Nexus faster, I could have asked him.”
“But you didn’t,” the Goddess of Antimatter stated, her tone neutral.
Arceus sighed, but he had to agree. The two sat in silence until his daughter spoke up, her tone carefully neutral.
“But I could have brought it up. I didn’t need to hide those scars, and I could have told you how it hurt to interact with normal matter. I could have mentioned my feelings of…inadequacy. I guess… it wasn’t all your fault.”
“But then-”
“But then I decided to attack my brothers, and risk the destruction of the entire universe.”
Arceus thought back to that dreadful day, the day his fear consumed him.
The day he lost his daughter.
He had become interested in creating a world of life after observing life forms on other planets throughout the universe. He had discussed the idea with Nexus, who had gone back to his own universe for a time, gathering materials and information that would help the Creator learn what is required for life.
Before the light dragon had left, he told his friend that life could usually only form if liquid water was present on a world. Arcues had been moving a planet into a suitable orbit when the fabric of reality shook around him. Then he felt Giratina’s power surge, her emotions in turmoil. He abandoned his effort, casting his senses out to try and find his children. Where did they go off to!
Finally, he found their location and tore open a rift in spacetime, regardless of the danger, given the tenuous state reality was currently in. His kids were in danger!
Arceus launched himself through the rift, and… where was the danger? He looked around, but couldn’t see any threat. All he saw was his children. His sons were lying on the ground, as his daughter stood over them, swirls of ghostly energy wrapping themselves around her wings, pointed at her brothers.
Arceus’s heart beat faster and faster as he processed the scene, until it stopped entirely, as he realized what had occurred. His daughter, his precious daughter… had attacked her brothers. He couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe, until he saw Giratina pull her wings back, the energy gathered growing more and more powerful. She was going to strike!
He reacted without thinking. He screamed out, and his power surged forward, forming into golden chains that wrapped around his daughter, yanking her away from his twin sons. Her ghostly energy vanished, sealed away by the golden chains that now bound her form.
“Giratina, why?” Arceus was stunned. Why would his daughter do something like this?
“Why?” she spat, venom filling her voice. “Because why do they get to be happy, to thrive, while everything I try crumbles before my eyes! Why do they get to be successful? Why do you love them instead of me!”
The creator didn’t know what to think. He loved his daughter. Why did she think otherwise? Unfortunately, before he could respond, his daughter phased through the chains that bound her and cloaked herself in shadow, vanishing into the dark void of space.
He tried to detect her presence, but he was too disoriented by what had just occurred. Wait, behind him! He turned just in time to see Giratina phase back into reality, the shadows streaking off her form as she impacted him.
He was sent flying, pain radiating from his chest. That move likely broke something. It was difficult to breathe. His vision began to blur, so he couldn’t see the incoming attacks Giratine threw his way,
His skin burned from the impacts. It felt like his very form was disintegrating with each successive blow. The pain grew too much, and he snapped, unleashing his power. Golden arms, hundreds of them, formed all around him. They twisted and merged into golden chains, these much more powerful than the ones he created previously, and bound his daughter.
She tried to move, but each movement only caused her more pain, as the chains grew tighter and tighter. Her cries broke Arceus’s heart, but he didn’t know what else to do.
ENOUGH!
Giratina grew silent at Arceus’s rage. The last time she had seen her father this furious, he had slain the emissaries of Chaos who had invaded his home, threatening to destroy everything he had created. The Lord of Creation stared down at his rebellious daughter emotionlessly, his emotions buried under layers and layers of certainty and determination.
YOU HAVE ENDANGERED THE VERY FABRIC OF REALITY! YOU WOULD HAVE KILLED YOUR BROTHERS HAD I NOT INTERVENED!
IF YOU HAD PERSISTED, YOU WOULD HAVE UNLEASHED THE VERY FORCES WE FOUGHT SO HARD TO CONTAIN!
The ghost dragon trembled before him, all anger and rage gone in the face of raw power and divinity. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. She was terrified, plain and simple. Terrified of her own father.
That realization nearly broke Arceus. All he wanted to do was cease this madness and hold his daughter in his arms, telling her everything was forgiven and would be all right. But he had to stay his course. Reality was nearly destroyed at his daughter’s behest, and his instincts whispered to him, telling him she needed to be dealt with. Just like how he had dealt with the Giants before, his instincts demanded he end her existence and take back her power as his own.
No matter how hard he tried, he was unable to rein in his power. It demanded that Giratina be dealt with. He struggled against these instincts. He couldn’t kill his own family, no matter how much pain she may have caused him. He couldn’t do it. When he gazed at Giratina, all he saw was the small infant he had created so long ago.
The God of Creation warred with himself, trying desperately to fight off the instructive demands, demanding his daughter be destroyed. He was losing ground. Every second he delayed, more and more of his power gathered. If he waited too long, fought too much, he’d kill his only daughter!
But wait! Arceus’s thoughts raced. The power had to be unleashed, but what if he redirected it and split the universe in two? A world of matter, and a world of this ‘anti-matter’ he had noticed throughout the cosmos. Gathering his power, he gathered all the strange and exotic matter he could sense throughout the universe. He had noticed that it seemed similar to Giratina, but hadn’t gotten the chance to show it to her in time.
He was too terrified of what would happen if he was wrong.
His daughter could sense his power surging and tried to escape the chains that ensnared her. As the chains grew tighter, they began to cut into her body, blood dripping down the chains and into the vacuum of space below. Tears streamed from her eyes as she pleaded with her father for a second chance.
Tears ran from Arceus’s eyes as well, yet he continued his spell. With reality as stressed as it was, he took the exotic matter he had gathered and thrust it through a hole he tore open. He split the universe in two, binding the two halves together, and used the exotic matter he had gathered to force that new half into existence.
He could feel the new universe take shape and begin to expand. Hopefully, it would suit his purpose. He turned and looked at Giratina. He raised his hoof, and the chains binding her shifted, pulling her along until she floated above the entrance to the new universe her father had created,
Once upon a time, if Arceus had been able to test his hypothesis about the exotic matter and how it interacted with Giratina, he had planned to create a world for his daughter. He hoped that this would help with the injuries she seemed to be rapidly accumulating. Now, it would be her punishment.
Arceus dared not think of what would happen if his hypothesis were wrong.
His eyes met his daughter’s, tears running down both of their faces. She was scared, scared of him. “Please don’t do this! I’m sorry! I’ll never do this again!” Endless apologies streamed from his daughter, but Arceus had to do this.
He lowered his hoof, and the chains descended, throwing his little girl into this new world, banishing her from his creation. The last thing he heard his daughter say was her screaming out, “I’m sorry!”
The portal closed, sealing his child away.
When Dialga and Palkia awoke, they found their father sobbing, clutching one of Giratina’s shadows.
Tears dripped from the lord’s eyes, his mind swirling from the memories he had dug up. That day was the worst day of his existence. Worse than when he lost his best friend, worse than the Darkest Day.
Wiping his eyes with a hoof, he turned and gazed at Giratina. She was silent, glaring a hole in the ground. Most of the shadows that had blanketed her form earlier had faded, allowing Arceus to view the burns that covered her body from when she forced herself into Hisui at the behest of that mortal. The one who dared challenge him.
Why did Giratina ally with that man?
“Tina, could I ask why you chose to ally with that man?” he asked hesitantly. She glared at him, but then lay down on the ground, her expression defeated. Her wings errantly twitched, one of them playing with a rock nearby. She rolled the rock back and forth for a little bit before softly speaking.
“Because he was nice to me… because he said he could bring me to you.”
He didn’t have a response.
Giratina gazed at her father, remorse, regret, anger, and a thousand other emotions visible in her crimson irises. It seemed this ordeal had sapped her of her strength, leaving her just feeling numb inside. It certainly had for Arceus.
“Why the girl? Why did you choose her?” she eventually asked. Arceus shifted his head, gazing up at the distortion-filled sky above. He admitted, “I don’t know.” Giratina’s head rose, gazing at the Creator in shock and a bit of anger. “What! What do you mean you don’t know!”
“Exactly that.” If looks could kill, Arceus would be dead several times over.. “Let me explain. I’ve long since lost the ability to see into the future, ever since Dialga was born. I exist within the flow of time, like you. It seems that the me of the future deemed Akari a suitable candidate to resolve this issue, and sent her back into the past to help calm your siblings and, if I had to guess, help you as well.”
Giratina processed this information. “Was that why she didn’t seem scared of me? Had she met me before, in her original time?”
“I think so.”
“Is that why you tolerate humanity? I mean, you didn’t create them, right?” Arceus smiled at the question. That was a question he had long asked himself. Humanity was a fluke, descending from Pokémon themselves, but had lost the ability to channel Infinity Energy. Instead, Arceus believed, something much more powerful lay inside each human.
He explained this to his daughter, who gestured for him to continue. “Humanity is capable of things Pokémon could only dream of. Despite all of their disadvantages, they’re adaptable, and even more, they’re curious.
“They can bring out the best in others. You saw it yourself in Akari. She trusted her Pokémon implicitly, and her Pokémon did the same in reverse.”
Seeing a way to break through the walls his daughter had built, he spoke once more, “I mean, Volo helped you break out of the Distortion World. Do you think you would have been able to, or wanted to, without his encouragement and help?”
The Lady of Antimatter was silent for a time, enough for Arceus to worry he had overstepped his bounds. His daughter could hold a grudge for millennia, and her fury was almost limitless. Frankly, he was surprised she was still listening to him.
To his surprise, she did not react with anger. “I suppose… You might have a point. But in the few months I’ve watched humanity, they are also capable of some tremendous amounts of harm. They threw your chosen out of their settlement, into the harsh Hisuian winter, to her death.”
Arceus had to suppress his annoyance at her statement. He had been ready to descend to Earth himself when Akari was banished from Jubilife Village, only to stop when he saw the two leaders of the native clans offering her assistance.
“You are correct. I have watched as humanity has grown from trembling newcomers, struggling in a world of Pokémon, into communities spread out across the world. They have caused a lot of harm, like you said, but I believe they are inherently good inside. A human even saved my life once, did you know that?”
Giratina’s glare returned as she raised an eyebrow. Arceus flinched, realizing that, no, his daughter would likely not have known that. He cleared his throat and explained, “A meteor was approaching the planet, and would have destroyed a large part of Hisui, and sent dust into the atmosphere, covering as far as Alola-”
His daughter interrupted him, “I don’t know where that is.”
Right. “It would have covered half the planet. Rayquaza wasn’t able to intercept the meteor in time, so I destroyed the meteor myself.”
She seemed to sense he was leaving a part of the story out, “But?”
The creator sighed. This story was rather embarrassing, but Giratina seemed almost eager to learn what happened next, so he continued. “But I had underestimated the amount of power it would take. The meteor was destroyed, but a fragment hit me, sending my plates across the landscape.”
“Your plates. The source of your power. The same plates that you scolded Palkia and me for using as sleds when we were kids.” The teasing was evident in her voice, and despite his irritation, he had to smile.
“Yes. Those plates. Moving on. A local human had seen where my plates had landed and worked to reunite them with me. In thanks, I blessed the valley he called home, imbuing some of my power in it so that he and his family may cultivate it and allow his community to thrive.”
Giratina was silent at his words, taking in the story he had shared. “That wasn’t the first time humanity had helped me. Around 20,000 years ago-”
“You speak of that spacetime warping monstrosity that threatened the planet, the dead fragment of the Giant we fought? Enamorous, or whatever?”
The god was stunned silent by Giratina’s words. How did she know who Eternatus was, let alone what happened during the Darkest Day? He asked those questions, and Giratina pushed herself off the ground, floating around her father.
“I’ve learned many things about this place over the eons. It seems that it is a mirror of sorts of the universe above. If space and time are warped in your universe, it is warped in mine. So when that Enamorous-”
“Eternatus” Arceus corrected. “Enamorous is one of Rayquaza’s kids.”
“Wha- never mind. When Eternatus began warping spacetime, it caused issues in my universe. Furthermore, I can affect your universe from my side by disrupting spacetime here, which ripples over to your side.”
Arceus’s mind flashed back to the Darkest Day. When the Legendaries had come together to fight against Eternatus, he had noticed a few times that Eternatus’s form would start bleeding abruptly, despite no Legendary striking that location. Was that Giratina’s doing?
“You were there,” he whispered. “You were there, helping us.”
“Oh, now you notice,” she stated, her voice full of bitterness. “I-I thought that you’d notice and remember me.”
“I never forgot you, Giratina. I’m just too big a coward to do anything until it’s too late. I didn’t tell you about my hypothesis regarding antimatter because I was afraid I’d be incorrect and make you feel even worse.”
Quietly, he said to himself, “A coward who couldn’t save his best friend.” But it seemed Giratina heard him. She gazed at him, a curious look in her eyes. “Who did you lose?”
“Nexus.”
“Uncle Nexus is dead!” The goddess was heartbroken at the news. Although her time spent with the Necrozma was relatively short, he had always been kind to her. “What happened after I…rebelled?”
The god tilted his head back, looking up at the Distortion World’s sky. He was quiet for a while, lost in memories of his departed friend. Eventually, he spoke. “He was furious to learn what I had done and demanded I release you from your imprisonment. But like I said, I was too much of a coward to do so, and that caused a rift in our friendship, one that never quite healed. A few million years after you were sent here, we had a chat and began to work on repairing our friendship.”
Giratina was enraptured by his tale. “Were the two of you ever…more than friends?”
“N-no. Perhaps we could have been at one point, like I said, after you were banished, our relationship never quite recovered. The furthest I got was asking him to accept a fragment of my power, to become the God of Light, and manage that aspect of the universe in my place. I could tell he was shocked, but he accepted after spending some time thinking about it. The two of us were incredibly close.”
Arceus’s voice grew somber as he finished speaking. What he had to say next stuck in his throat. Giratina saw her father tense, tears beginning to well up in his eyes once more. She quickly said, “If this is too much, you don’t have to tell me.”
“No, I-I need to get this out.” He took a deep breath, steadying himself before he spoke. “Nexus had returned to his original universe. He said he had some things he had to deal with, some organization he was a part of. He didn’t talk too much about that part of his life, and I learned early on not to ask.
“All I know is that a psychic scream tore through my mental blocks before it went silent. It was Nexus. Something happened to him, and now… now he’s gone.”
Giratina tried to be comforting by saying, “It wasn’t your fault.”
“But it was! If I had reconnected with him sooner, inquired about his past and his home, maybe I could have helped him! I don’t even know which universe he was from, so I can’t even go there to find out what happened!” The tears flowed freely now, as Arceus was consumed by his failures.
Giratina moved without thinking, wrapping her father up in her wings, holding him tightly as he sobbed, finally letting out all of the guilt and regret he had been holding on to for millennia. Between his sobs, he heard his daughter begin to hum. She sang the same song he had sung eons before to comfort his children in their times of sorrow.
After a few minutes, Arceus had calmed enough for Giratina to let go, and she drifted a little bit away, unsure of what to do next.
“Thank you, Giratina. I’m sorry you had to see me like that.”
“Don’t apologize. It’s fine,” she said. Arcues paused for a bit, but spoke eventually. “You know, Nexus once told me of how there are countless universes out there, each filled with Pokémon, humans, and all sorts of life.”
“Hmph. Maybe there’s a universe where the two of us actually got along,” the goddess said morosely. “Why can’t that be this universe?” the Lord of Creation asked.
“I-I’m not asking for you to accept me back into your life, or for you to trust me. I’ve hurt you too much for you to accept something like that. But I want you to come back, Giratina. I should never have banished you, and for that, you have my eternal apologies.”
The Pokémon shifted, uncomfortable with the idea. “I-Even if I wanted to - which I don’t - I can’t live in your universe. It’s poisonous to me.”
Arceus nodded. “I know, which is why I made this,” he held out a hoof, and a glowing, faceted crystal appeared. “What is it?” Giratine asked, the crystal drawing her attention. It seemed to almost pulse in time with her heartbeat.
“If I am correct, it should shield you from the effects of the normal world and keep you safe while you are there.” Giratina’s jaw had dropped as he explained. “You mean, I can come back? Safely?” She stretched out a wing, the tip trembling just a few inches from the surface of the crystal, almost afraid of what would happen if she touched it.
“Yes”
The goddess swallowed before she rested her wing against the crystal. The glow grew more luminous, lighting up the area around the two Pokémon. “It’s warm,” she eventually remarked, not sure of what else to say.
“It’s yours,” her father simply stated, as he lowered his hoof, allowing Giratina to wrap her wings around the orb, bringing it close to her chest, cradling it.
“Based on what I could find, I think that for you to exist in the normal world, the crystal will alter your form slightly. It shouldn’t be painful…b-but if it is, I can always adjust how it works, or-oof.”
Giratina had rushed her father, wrapping her wings around his chest, and hugging him as hard as she could. “Thank you…dad. Thank you.” She trembled as she spoke, and Arceus wrapped his forelegs around her, returning the hug.
Eventually, Giratina pulled away and stared once more at the orb she now clutched. “So, I can enter the world whenever I want? But…where would I go? And would others accept me?”
Before she could start worrying, Arceus spoke, “Well, I’m sure your brothers would love to see you again. Why not go see them? Then, well, the whole universe is your Cloyster, as I’ve heard humans say.”
Giratina rolled her eyes at his statement, but the smile never left her face. Arceus took that as a sign and opened a new portal to Earth, and this time, his daughter was beside him.
Notes:
Hi everyone, hope you enjoyed this one-shot! I posted it on my AO3 page a while ago, but am now making it available here as well.
This idea came to me as I was outlining the world for the main story I'm writing, Pokémon: Restoring Balance. I was building out the various relationships between the Legendary Pokémon. I wanted to find an explanation for why Arceus would have created humanity, and those thoughts then led to Giratina.
We never saw them reconcile following the events of Legends Arceus, or learned exactly why Giratina might have rebelled against Arceus. Thus, this story was born.
Also, you get 10 Terra Tokens if you can guess the song Arceus was humming to his children (Here's a hint - it's from one of the Pokémon movies).