Feeling the warm power entering its body and continuously repairing the damaged wounds, the Guardian of Time's eyes first showed a trace of confusion.
But soon enough, it realized what had happened...
It stood on the ground, looking up and quietly gazing at the creature above, emitting a strange aura.
At this moment, the irritable mood Dialga had felt due to Palkia invading its territory instantly vanished, replaced by calmness.
"Hello!" Caleb greeted Dialga with trepidation in his heart.
At such a close distance, he could feel the Legendary Pokémon's pressure emanating from the other.
Dialga rose from the ground into the air, its gaze fixed on Caleb, and said slowly: >..I sense the aura of another me on you..<
Caleb was taken aback for a moment, then realized it was probably referring to the Dialga from the Collapsed World. He nodded and said, "Yes, I encountered another... another Dialga before."
Dialga didn't speak further. It slowly raised its head and gazed into the void.
Palkia on the other side had also quieted down at some point. It held the Clefairy Doll in its hand and looked up.
Not far away, Rayquaza let out a roar, also raising its head along with the Temporal and Spatial duo.
At first, Caleb didn't understand what was happening. But as a strand of bright, dazzling light split the sky, his thoughts suddenly became clear.
What could make the Temporal and Spatial duo so quiet? In this world, besides that one, probably no one else, right?
Divine radiance dispersed the dark clouds brought by the fight between the Temporal and Spatial duo. Within that gentle light, a white, centaur-like figure emerged from the air.
Its head and all four legs were covered in a layer of sacred-looking golden patterns. The golden cross-shaped structure at its waist connected to its body at the abdomen, inlaid with four emerald-green jewels.
And around the edges of that golden structure floated eighteen plates of various colors. The different colors together formed a rainbow-like glow.
The Arceus of this world had descended...
It floated in the air, its pale green eyes with red pupils scanning the Pokémon below.
Palkia, which had been so arrogant just moments ago, immediately quieted down. Holding the Clefairy Doll, it obediently flew into the air.
Dialga followed closely behind, floating on either side of Arceus like ministers guarding their king.
After intimidating the fighting Temporal and Spatial duo, Arceus turned its attention to the only human present.
It said: >..You do not belong here..<
As the great Alpaca who spat at the face of nothingness and willed creation into existence, Arceus knew very well that this species did not exist on this planet.
Caleb couldn't sense any emotion from the other. He remained silent for a moment, then asked calmly, "So, are you going to expel me?"
Arceus: >..No..<
After saying this, it left the place with Dialga and Palkia, disappearing into the void, leaving only Caleb and Rayquaza looking at each other.
"Alright, seems I should be going too," Caleb said to Rayquaza.
He still needed to continue searching for 'Above the Clouds and Sky'.
Rayquaza let out a roar, indicating it could carry Caleb while flying.
"Forget it, I'll go on my own."
His body wasn't sturdy enough to withstand Rayquaza's exaggerated speed.
Rayquaza didn't press the matter, it was hungry and needed to go to space to find some snacks to replenish its energy.
Caleb thought for a moment and said, "By the way, while you're flying in the sky, could you keep an eye out for mountains piercing the clouds?"
Rayquaza nodded, then twisted its green body as it flew towards space.
Caleb glanced at the sky... it was getting late. He planned to find a place to rest for the night and continue his journey early tomorrow morning.
This area had many mountains and dense forests, with a climate that could be described as warm and humid. Unfortunately, the mountains here weren't very high in altitude.
But precisely because of this, it created a special ecological environment where a large number of Pokémon could survive.
Caleb had Dragonite help light a fire while he sat by the campfire and opened the unlocked map on the Warp Beacon.
Then, he used the panel's built-in virtual brush to draw a large X on it.
Another mountain range eliminated...
That left only the region in the southwest where high mountains existed.
Caleb calculated the time he had spent here in his heart. It had been six and a half months.
Six and a half months of living in the wild had practically turned him into a savage.
The only thing he still couldn't figure out was why the Mewtwo from the Collapsed World had suddenly appeared in this world...
...
Meanwhile, within the Distortion World of the Renegade Pokémon, Giratina... As a special space where one could observe the real world, today it welcomed an extremely special guest.
Giratina looked at the figure of the Original One, feeling extremely bitter but unable to express it. But soon enough, its attention was drawn to the images reflecting the real world.
There was a very strange-looking Pokémon. Around this strange Pokémon was a group of very weak Pokémon.
They were eating some oddly shaped things, and as they ate, their faces showed satisfied and happy expressions.
'Is it really that delicious?' This thought popped into Giratina's mind.
Somehow, it felt a bit hungry. So it casually grabbed a passing specialty of the Distortion World; a black stone, and began crunching on it.
Arceus turned its head at the crunching noise and gave a light glance, causing Giratina's movements to slow down.
Just then, Giratina saw a new Pokémon appear in the image. It was a Pokémon with blue dual horns and a deer-like appearance.
It was Xerneas...
It heard Xerneas say to that strange-looking creature: "Hello, human."
Giratina thought, 'Human? What is that?'
Then it saw the creature Xerneas called a human pull out several crystal clear and beautifully shimmering cubes from the air.
Xerneas began to devour them heartily, a happy expression in its eyes.
'Is it really that delicious?' This thought emerged in Giratina's mind again.
Having lived in the Distortion World for so long, it hadn't eaten many good things and could only watch the Pokémon in the real world eat in solitude.
Although Legendary Pokémon at its level could survive by absorbing the floating energy of special dimensions, Giratina still wanted to experience the joys of the real world.
Therefore, it attempted to communicate with Arceus: "Can I go out and take a look?"
Arceus immediately understood Giratina's thoughts. It glanced at the situation in the image, then gently nodded...
...
{T/N: I may have went a bit out of script in my descriptions of Arceus in this chapter. I greatly enjoy Fabled Webs' works, especially his Pokémon fics. So it's only natural that I adapt a bit of his style here and there in my translations.
"The great Alpaca who spat at the face of nothingness and willed creation into existence..." is a paraphrased example of one of my favorite lines in one of his fics.
Here, I recommend this Pokémon fic. It's easily top 5 of my all time favorites. You'll find it on fanfiction..net:
Title: When is a Spoon a Sword?
Author: Fabled Webs...}