Archive of Our Own ^beta

You are the hero of Sinnoh. You were there on Spear Pillar when Team Galactic attempted to create a new world.  You watched as the Lake Trio tried to sabotage the ritual, and Giratina dragged the team’s mad leader into its own world. Into the portal you had gone, and with the help of the Lake Trio, navigated the Distortion World. It was You who defeated Cyrus and then calmed that dragon of shadows. Then you found your way out so that you could continue your journey.

Now, you head north, to Lake Acuity. To check on the psychic who lives within, among other reasons. From Acuity Lakefront, you Rock Climb up to the forest. Using HM05 Surf, you reach the center of the lake. There is, as expected, a cave structure there.

You enter Acuity Cavern. At the center of the cave you see a small blue and yellow Pokémon levitating. it seems to stare at you from beneath its closed eyes. And then you hear a voice. No, not hear - at least not literally. The voice is all in your head.

“Ah, you have made it. Good.”

'...'

“Surprised I can communicate? You shouldn’t be, if you were listening to Cynthia. I am UXIE, the being of knowledge, should I not possess that which I embody?

I have been waiting for you. You did well, in saving the universe. And you calmed GIRATINA. Did you do so by catching the renegade? No, don’t tell me. It is not often that I get the chance to be surprised. And you made it out of the Distortion World well enough, didn’t you? It is a good thing that place was otherwise uninhabited, or else what would you have done had your Pokémon all fainted? There are no Pokémon Centers to return to there, after all. But it is odd isn’t it? That World’s emptiness?”

'...'

“Had you truly not considered it? It is not as if there is anything stopping other Pokémon from being there. You can enter and leave through Turnback Cave without issue. Why can’t others? There are BRONZOR and BRONZONG living right nearby the portal.”

'...'

“Because it is uninhabitable, hmm? You are working on the Pokédex Project are you not? Have you ever encountered anywhere in this world untouched by humans where Pokémon do not thrive? I assure you, there aren’t. Why isn’t there anything beneath the manifold living off the waters or ephemeral trees?”

'...'

“Ahh. I need neither read your thoughts nor look at you to see your eyes moving – the figurative gears in your head spinning. You are thinking! Very good. I knew I liked you. The truth then: It was not always uninhabited. Do you wish to know what happened, hmm?”

'...'

“Of course you do. Why else would simply stand there? Very well then: here it is:

The Mythical MEW, as you may know, is very often the creator of New Species. One day, just over a third of a billion years ago, near the end of what you humans call the ‘Devonian Period’, MEW became bored - as it often does. And in its boredom, it wondered its way into that Distorted realm. There, it found a world of Ghost and Rock and Ground and Water Pokémon who got lost within or else were descended from those who did. And there in GIRATINA's Realm, MEW found, was a world with most niches unfilled. When an unfilled niche is found - whether real or imagined, MEW holds the right to fill it with a creation of its own. And so, it decided to execute that right.

The environmental factors which affect how well a species would thrive in that Reverse world were found to be totally unlike those seen anywhere else. Thus the new species for this realm would also have to be totally unlike those seen anywhere else. MEW took a look at the world's primary inhabitant and the lack of stability of space and time, and then began to create. Creatures with great mouthed tentacles for gripping the disappearing rocks and trees. Vast dragons with claw-armed mouths. Monsters with multitudinous fin-wings for swimming through non-euclidean rivers and skies. Phasing tenebrous spirits to consume the wyrms at the centers of floating landmasses. Organisms shaped like walking human towers. Powerful blocks of color. Others were stranger still. MEW called the creations 'cute'. After a year of observing, playing with the new children, and hanging its tail - swinging back and forth - from one being's stinger tail, it grew bored once more, and, deciding its work to be good in its eyes, promptly left.

At first it was. MEW's creations were well suited to their environment - better than the sidereal native lives that had made their home in that world. And Nature took its course, as the new outcompeted the old. But the eldritch creatures were too successful. Once all the sidereal organisms were consumed, the horrors began to focus their unsated hungers on the terrain itself. Swarms of ▶ A drank whole forests. The dreaded 'M slowly assimilated entire floating landmasses. Soon some even began to consider the Dragon of Symmetry as potential prey if ganged up on. Actually gave the Renegade some exercise fighting them. And then some managed to come through a portal to our world unscathed. You could imagine the terror when they began to consume the land. The invaders were exterminated, and all saw the danger that had been let loose.

But MEW holds not just the role of a creator but also a destroyer. Its eldritch creations were found to be a threat to all ecosystems they encountered. To us.  The less dangerous were driven off to exotic planes and light years distant stars.  As for the others - with a hardened heart, MEW worked with GIRATINA to purge the horrors from that mirrored realm. MEW promised never to make another species for that place's niches again, and it remains all but uninhabited to this day. Now the Pokémon of this world are too afraid to crossover.”

'...'

“Might some of the more dangerous entities have escaped their purgation, you ask? Oh yes. All that remained awoke three years ago. But none survive today.

 Now then: I need not read your mind to know that you are not here simply to check on my health. I have waited almost my entire existence for this moment – this opportunity to make meaningful decisions of mine own. Step forward, human.

Come – To Battle!”