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In the beginning, there was nothing, then there was Arceus, and then there were Three. None of them were sure the order in which they were created, or if they were all born at once. But the thing they agreed upon (entirely so they would stop arguing about it), was that something needed to Exist before it could Age and be Reflected. Palkia accepted this role, and did their best to fulfill it, no matter the rifts growing between them all. Space will always expand, but within that infinity is an endless amount of Things to fill the gaps between one bright light and the next.
The world as it was and the slowly-expanding universe were going well, until they weren’t and Giratina was growing restless. Restlessness turned to anger, turned to banishment to an empty echo of the planet they had helped to create. Time didn’t flow properly and space distorted at random intervals, leaving the Shadow on the Other Side cut off from their siblings. However, Time and Space, believing their Creator’s punishment was too harsh, worked in secret to create a link between the Two Worlds. With their combined power, any reflective surface could be used to view into the other world.
Much more secretively, Palkia poured in a bit more power than necessary to allow travel between the human world (though they wouldn’t be created for another few million years) and Distortion World, though this wouldn’t be discovered until much, much later.
Life barely changed, Time and Space kept the Balance (with their third part working from the shadows), while occasionally descending to that little blue planet to see what had changed.
Then things started to change very quickly, like stepping on a rake and having it fly up and smack you in the face. Their Creator was stirring, the Renegade started to rise up, Time was hitting bumps in the road, and once more Space was caught in the middle.
Arceus had a plan. If asked, Palkia would refuse to give their opinion on whether it was a good or bad one. The reason for this was that they were so stretched thin that the only thing they now cared about was the problem being fixed.
Trying to do the job meant for two as one was difficult, but could be achieved if one made sure to keep their workplace clear and manage their time properly.
Trying to do the job meant for Three as one was akin to managing a 10 storey hotel with 6 rooms on every floor by yourself, with people coming in and out every day and leaving behind a mess. The sole, very much underpaid worker cooking breakfast one minute, working the reception desk the next, another minute later cleaning the newest unoccupied room, will soon become very angry, and would take it up with management or their coworkers who all suddenly decided to take an indefinite smoke break, had they the time to do so.
With Dialga growing more crazed by the day and gathering the power for their Origin Forme, Giratina trying to overthrow Arceus, and Arceus doing… whatever He was doing, Palkia was now the lucky winner of keeping space-time from collapsing.
The obvious conclusion of this was that a lot of things slipped through the cracks. However, the ‘cracks’ was a giant hole in the sky that regularly spat out more distortions. (It should be stated, for the record, that the amount of space-time distortions that formed between the start of this fiasco and the end was an eighth of what would have formed, had Palkia not devoted every moment to keeping them at bay.)
The next logical conclusion is that Palkia should perhaps ask their Creator for help. However, trying to communicate with Him when He was in a Mood was like playing poker in a dark room with unknown stakes and a dealer who won’t tell you the rules.
A man was displaced in time as an (accidental) experiment by Giratina and the merchant-in-name-only. This did not end well, and as a result he smacked his head against the rocks and forgot the face of the One Who Started It All. Luckily, a Noble Pokemon sent by a Dream found him, and he was saved.
A girl was displaced, and rather than letting her meet the same fate, Arceus finally enacted His Plan. But rather than telling her what needed to be done outright, the Saving of the World would come as a byproduct of her actual goal: complete the first Hisuian Pokedex.
Everyone now in the know (as Legendaries have nothing better to do than gossip at times) disagreed with this (including one of the Twin Dragons of Unova, for some reason), but there wasn’t much they could do about it. Instead, they focused on damage control, making sure the Chosen One’s journey was as easy as possible.
But Pokemon who spend most of their time in a cave or in other isolated places have much different standards than humans, and the Legendaries couldn’t quite agree on what the best course of action was, so there were some… unforeseen complications.
Just another problem to add onto Palkia’s plate, which at this point was overflowing so much you couldn’t even see it any more.
It was fine .
Eventually, Space’s control slipped for just a moment. That moment was all that was needed for Dialga to exert their power, worsening the rift and making the sky bleed.
Something tightened in Palkia’s throat, their very core telling them that if they didn’t do something very soon, the world would end.
The Chosen girl ascended Mount Coronet, and Palkia took their one and only chance, tapping into the mind of one of their devotees to warn the group of humans and offer their strength (well, what little remained of it after months without rest).
Akari (Dawn, actually. Very few knew that. Both were very nice names, and later Palkia would nudge some people in the right direction to create a statue in her honor, as she was just as weary as they were, and humans were not as durable) proved her worth, and together they dispelled the power of Dialga’s Origin, calming them and closing the rift.
Judging by the (very, very) few human stories Palkia had heard/read, this would be the point in the story where the hero from another world says goodbye and returns home, and everyone lives happily ever after. There was just one Giratina-sized rock in the way.
Very tired and fed up with the whole situation, Space glared at Time for a few minutes before returning home for a much needed nap, trusting Time to tell the Chosen One of their youngest sibling’s plans, and the man behind it. Time took their glare to mean ‘don’t cause any more problems’, returning to their home as well, as they hadn’t got the memo due to spending the entire experience feeling like they’d rolled around in a field of mushrooms.
A week later, they felt the Veil between the Two Worlds split once more, and judging by the look on Akari’s face, Dialga hadn’t done their job. Palkia would have stepped in, had they not been so tired they could barely lift a claw to see what was going on.
Their fear was once more eased as Akari dispatched… whatever his name was’s (it didn’t matter in the long run, and keeping track of points in time was Dialga’s job) team, and sent Giratina running back to the weakest point in the Veil.
It would have been nice to properly reunite with their siblings, after Akari caught Giratina, but the wounds on all of them were still fresh, and though they loved their siblings very much Palkia doubted they could share the same space without losing their temper.
By the combined power of Time and Space (as Arceus couldn’t be trusted with it, lest they end up in an alternate timeline five dimensions over with their heads on backward), the Chosen One and the One Displaced were returned home. It was bittersweet, as they had quite enjoyed their time with her, but for the best.
Another 50 years passed before the Three saw each other again.
Palkia was enjoying a nice afternoon by a secluded lake (not that secluded, but anything coming too close would find themselves suddenly turned around) when the water in front of them rippled, and from it a Shadow spilled forth, tentatively slithering over to their side. When they didn’t make a move to smack it into orbit, the shadow solidified into Giratina.
Both Legendaries were still for a few moments before Palkia did something they hadn’t done since the days when the world was still young: they extended a wing and Giratina took the cue immediately, shuffling into their side and folding their legs beneath them. Moments later (despite being Time itself, they were always a few seconds late) Dialga arrived, settling on Palkia’s other side under their sister’s wing.
Not a word was said as the hours ticked by, but it wasn’t quite the right Time for the conversations they needed to have.
For the moment, they enjoyed the comfort of each others’ presence in a peaceful world.
(It would be many years before they saw Dawn again, this time younger and without nearly as much of the pain and anger behind her eyes.
Time and Space were in chains, forced to create a world that would destroy the one they had worked together to lovingly create. This time, it would be Distortion rising from the Shadows like an avenging angel to save them, cursing the man who echoed the actions of the one who took advantage of their anger. They cursed him for everything they could name, but one most of all: for causing their sister to cry.
Once again, though in her eyes it was the first, Dawn proved her strength and saved them all.
Palkia couldn’t be prouder of them both.)