Upon witnessing Giratina's reaction, Lucius's expression turned cold. It was clear now—his assumption had been wrong.
Of course. Giratina was an entity on the same level as the deities of time and space. How could it possibly be interested in something so mundane and cliché as ruling the world or becoming the so-called King of All Pokémon?
Compared to its ancient life and boundless power, ordinary Pokémon were little more than dust motes.
It was like a human having no desire to be crowned King of Ants—the disparity was simply too vast, utterly unappealing.
Lucius immediately realized the flaw in his thinking: he was still trapped in a human mindset, failing to consider things from the other side's perspective.
But then… what could Lugia and the others possibly offer Giratina?
As the shadow of the Creator, what did it truly desire?
Suddenly, a flash of insight burst through Lucius's mind.
The shadow of the Creator…
That's it. If Lugia could offer something that would appeal to Giratina, Palkia, and Dialga alike, it had to be connected to Arceus.
The ancient pact between Arceus and the mythical Pokémon made one thing clear: Arceus sided with humanity. The Creator had no desire to see human civilization destroyed in a clash of divine power.
So, if Lugia and its allies were waging war to annihilate human civilization… then surely Arceus would intervene.
And tying that to the prophecy made a century ago…
Lugia wants to destroy humanity. But Giratina… it wants to destroy Arceus.
"If you're not interested in becoming King of Pokémon, what if I help you replace Arceus instead?" Lucius suddenly proposed, locking eyes with Giratina.
The moment the words left his mouth, Giratina's gaze changed.
It was the first time it truly looked at this supposed "source of the sinister aura" with genuine curiosity—because this human had actually guessed its true purpose.
When Arceus created the universe, it had split off most of its power—some large, some small.
The greatest among them became the divine trio: Palkia, who inherited the power of space; Dialga, who took on time; and Giratina, the embodiment of antimatter and shadow. Others included Xerneas, bearer of life, and Eternatus, master of the Dynamax force.
The lesser fragments became everything else: a prehistoric Anorith, a tree, a blade of grass, even a single grain of dust.
In essence, everything in the world—life and matter—was a manifestation of Arceus's fragmented energies.
As the first and most powerful of these creations, Giratina had long watched from the shadowy Distortion World, observing the development of the real world—its beauty and its filth, its goodness and evil, its natural evolution and technological marvels.
Every shadow in the world belonged to it. Nothing escaped its gaze.
And yet, it could never fully comprehend why the Creator's lesser beings were born and died, endlessly, every day.
Still, since they were all crafted by the great Arceus, Giratina accepted them.
Until that day—when a massive meteor came crashing from the heavens.
The meteor was so enormous that its mere friction with the upper atmosphere scorched the land below. If it had struck the planet directly, it would've shattered the planet's core.
In that moment of global crisis, Arceus emerged—shielding the world with its own body.
That was when Giratina saw it clearly: Arceus had grown weak.
So weak that stopping the meteor left it gravely wounded and forced into slumber.
So weak that it needed humans just to recover its Plates.
Arceus had given away too much of its own power. What remained was not much stronger than Giratina itself.
And in that single instant… ambition bloomed.
When a shadow gains its own will, will it still be content to remain a shadow?
As fragments of Arceus, the three deities of time, space, and antimatter shared the same divine essence. If they could divide what remained of Arceus's power, each of them could evolve—becoming gods above gods.
That was the deal Giratina struck with Lugia and the others.
While Lugia and Ho-Oh scour human civilization with fire and storm, the trio of space-time-shadow would ambush the slumbering Arceus, dividing and consuming it.
"I'm curious," Giratina suddenly spoke, voice echoing like the howl of gravity itself. "What exactly can you do to help me replace Arceus?"
It had watched the world for eons. Few things piqued its interest anymore.
"Arceus may be dormant, but its consciousness isn't entirely silent," Lucius explained. "It still has its descendants standing guard. If they detect a threat, they'll awaken it prematurely."
"And we've already seen—back during the Groudon-Kyogre conflict—that Arceus favors humans. If humanity rallies behind it, and Arceus awakens fully… Lugia's plan to cleanse the world fails. And your plan falls apart too."
Lucius paused for a moment.
"I'm offering a deal. I can ensure that, when war breaks out, humanity—and most of the Legendary Pokémon—will be on your side."
Giratina's eyes narrowed.
It knew Arceus had to be awakened early—with flaws—for the plan to succeed. That was the only way to strike it down before it could recover its full strength.
And the only way to awaken it early… was for Lugia and Ho-Oh to launch their purge of humanity.
But there were two unpredictable variables.
First: could Lugia and the others truly succeed in wiping out humanity?
Giratina had observed the modern world. Human civilization today was nothing like before. Their science and technology had surpassed even the ultimate weapon from 3,000 years ago. They had weapons powered by Infinity Energy, strong enough to capture even Rayquaza at one point.
With humanity's full resistance, Lugia's campaign wouldn't be so simple.
That's why the Hive—constructed from that sinister energy—had to be used to provoke war indirectly.
Second: the attitudes of the other mythical and Legendary Pokémon.
The success of the ambush on Arceus hinged on their cooperation. Kyurem remained in slumber. Zygarde had fractured long ago. Only Groudon and Kyogre harbored known resentment toward Arceus.
But Reshiram, Zekrom, and Xerneas had yet to reveal their stance.
"…Very well. I'll give you a chance," Giratina's massive form spiraled ominously through the air. "I'll release you alone. If you can secure the support of the other mythical Pokémon before Arceus awakens, I'll free the rest."
Upon hearing his words, the gathered Champions and Leaders exchanged glances, then turned their attention toward Lucius.
"I need Celebi's help," Lucius replied calmly.
"You may, but I suggest you hurry," Giratina added, its voice echoing like a deep rift. "The Distortion World… has no food."
With that, Giratina's serpentine form surged skyward. The dark skies of the Distortion World spiraled, splitting open into a swirling black vortex.
A powerful gravitational pull followed. Lucius and Anabel were lifted from the ground, their bodies slowly drifting into the air.
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