“Lord Arceus, I did exactly as you said and revived the great Zekrom” Giratina gently floated to the surface of Arceus's great white void with his greatest attempt at a smile to please Arceus.

  Arceus was more tense than usual, seeming extremely worried about something. The whole atmosphere changed, the vast white became a vast light gray.

  “Palkia is okay, right? And the citizens of Hearthome are unharmed as well I assume?” Arceus asked with the most worry Giratinas ever saw. The only time Arceus seemed this stressed was when it turned to stone a long time ago, and he had to rely on those kids.

  “Oh, Palkia? She's okay, I don't know where she is but I can sense she's fine.” Giratina turned his head away slightly in embarrassment. It's pretty embarrassing for a god to mess up like that…

  “Ah, and as for the citizens, they didn't notice a thing. The bomb never even got close to Hearthome. Even though…” Giratina closed his eyes, Arceus assumed he messed up something else and sighs.

  “And what about Zekrom? Did you seal him back in the stone? You know how dangerous he can be at a time like this, Giratina.” Arceus asked, expecting disappointment

  Giratina spawns the stone and it bounces on the floor, completely hollow and light.

  “Zekrom is loose…? Go seal him, now” Arceus's expression didn't change, but his tone couldn't be more different.

  “I have reason to believe he is dead, Lord Arceus. I couldn't sense his energy after the bomb went off. and there were a bunch of humans around his bloodied body. A clear hole was through his chest, I saw it myself. Giratina got ready for any punishment he must take, as he shut his eyes in a stoic act.

  “Giratina… you're saying he wasn't alive for even 10 minutes? Is it possible to mess that up so badly?” Arceus's face remains stoic as he calms himself down with a deep breath

  “It's okay, I recently let you roam from the Distortion Realm… maybe you're just not used to everything yet. We still have Reshiram's soul, yes? I intended for him and Zekrom to fuse, it's the strongest a mortal legendary can get right now. But we can make do, right Giratina?” Arceus said in a calmer tone

  “Yes Lord Arceus…” Giratina spoke

  “You're the only one who can control the power of those souls, Giratina.”

  Giratina finally manages to escape from that situation, while Arceus wasn't as mad as he usually was. These last 12 years have been hellish for everyone involved, it changed everybody involved for better or worse.

  A FEW DAYS LATER

  I quickly learned that powerful pokemon have it especially bad when they're captured. I never took a liking to being tied up, some may enjoy it but it sure wasn't for me.

  I kept over hearing the professors and reporters coming near my cell, and unfortunately for my chances and being released they keep finding some kind of evidence that I harmed, ate, or even hid some trainer they won't even tell me the name of.

  As far as I know they've found a fried trainer ID stuck to mud on my foot and human sized contacts that fell from my eyes when the heat of the room dried them from my eyes. Why the hell would my contacts still stay in my eyes when I transformed?

  Before I closed my eyes to try to sleep this away again, one of them knocked on the window and entered the room. and some scientist enters the room with a clipboard and binder of papers, and her Aggron enters the room with her.

  “Hey, hey! Isn't there a way to tell her that I don't know who the trainer is? I saved Hearthome City from going down!” I yelled at the Aggron with an apparent growl in my voice

  “Aggron, make sure it doesn't pull anything, alright?” She said as she set down several pictures on a white table near me.

  “I swear I didn't have anything t-to-GRRMMMPH”

  The pain first started as a cold chill in my gut, but it quickly got colder until a whole influx of pain entered my body.

  Is this what it's like to be hit with a super effective move…? I wouldn't wish it on anybody, It's the most painful thing I've ever felt.

  I started to cough and wheeze as saliva started to drip onto the ground from my mouth. Aggron hit me with an absolute monster of an ice punch, and I was terrified.

  I didn't even have the strength to resist anymore, as soon as Aggron retracted his ice punch I gasped and let out a few more coughs.

  The woman walks up to where I'm chained and starts to write on her clipboard. “Well, it seems like a Pokemon like you does feel pain after all…” she said as she started to draw a picture of me within just seconds, likely capturing me within the moment… of being humiliated.

  A younger assistant within the facility spoke to one of his friends next to him. “Yo, dude how does she do it?

  “Bro, I have no idea. But from what I do know she comes from a family of amazing artists” His friend said while trying his best to copy her art through the glass, but he just ended up with a bunch of scribbles.

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Oooh is she related to that Ethan kid from back in what now, like 7th grade? Heard he was the golden child of the family and ended up going on some journey, good for him honestly.”

  “You've got no reason to be here, Zekrom. Traitors to mankind like you should stay dead, you're done hiding. You died with that damn Cult you bastard…” She gets a ladder from the corner and places it in front of me, climbing up to my face and presenting photos, wait no… really good art.

  Wait,Traitor? Is this my business or did they get it confused with somebody else? No way am I going through this again, no nononononono…!

  She presented a drawing of Reshiram to me. “Nod no if you don't know, yes if you do.”

  At the drawing of Reshiram, I only remembered seeing it through my odd vision. So I nodded no for now.

  She then presented an image of Dragon Spiral tower. I remembered going there when I was a kid, so I nodded yes.

  Dragon Spiral tower was an incredibly boring trip for me, if it wasn't for me dropping that black rock then we would have never left, even if it was in quite a hurry. That was the last time I saw Mom and Dad actually normal, and that's when Aria evolved…that's…

  “Zekrom, what is this? Are you capable of crying?” she wipes a tear from one of my eyes and licks it, promptly spitting it on the floor from disgust.

  “It seems like you're crying, but who knows how manipulative you really are, Zekrom.” She said with a scowl in her voice “Powerful beings like you siding with the wrong side of humanity… shame on you.”

  One of the assistants entered my enclosure with a huge box of something that smells… absolutely incredible. The very essence of whatever was made fills my being with pure bliss, and a hint of déjà vu to confuse me more than ever.

  Before she could show me more pictures an assistant entered the room with a large package and plopped it down on the table with a heavy sounding slam. “Got something for Zekrom, somebody from Paldea sure loves this guy, since this was hand delivered by some professional baker.”

  “Oh, really?” She turns around and takes a good glance at me. “Guess he does embody ideals and all, maybe something in him forced him to aid evil… but anyways, I can't do much when you're emotional like this.” She walked out with a small huff and back straight, everybody quieted down Immediately when they heard the sound of her expensive leather shoes.

  Even the delicious smell of the fresh baked treats couldn't entice me enough to stop thinking. As the tears finally stopped flowing and my eyes became clearer I noticed that Aggron had already fallen asleep. At the first sign of everyone finally leaving me the hell alone I decided to finally close my eyes and get at least more than a second of sleep.

  -3 YEARS AGO-

  “Hey, Cecil!” a voice rang from outside the large tour van, which was plastered with the band's name on both sides “I thought I called top bunk earlier man!”

  Cecil turned his body sideways and slid the window open with an amused expression on his face “you were too busy filling yourself with that cheap booze from the show! I don't wanna hear shit man!” Cecil yelled as he shut the window and turned his body to look at me tuning a guitar on the couch.

  “Yo, just wanna remind you that tonight we’re gonna finally make it to your destination, and where everyone else is gonna play of course.” Cecil told me as he flicked a VIP pass from his pocket into my lap like he's practiced this dozens of times before this

  “Damn this looks good, drinking an expensive one when you leave man… In your honor” he said the last part with some hesitation as he sat on the bottom bunk. “It's clear you know something about guitars, you know?”

  “G-GAH!” My eyes snapped open as the dream suddenly came to a halt.

  That…that wasn't a dream, I was just reliving memories I didn't even realize could be so realistic. What the — is this? I would probably rather be interrogated than relive stuff like that.

  I looked around at the restricting chains and gauntlets around my limbs and sighed. “Maybe not” I muttered as I looked up from my sleep and saw more scientists taking notes on my reaction to waking up from a bad dream.

  How long did I even sleep? Probably no more than 10 minutes, since that fancy pokemon expert isn't harassing me.

  I suddenly felt some sort of current run through me, it felt like my head was being impaled with a sharp stick over and over. And it was somehow even worse than being stabbed in the chest with an actual stick.

  “This is going nowhere, I'm going to die here…” I muttered

  I finally realized what that pain was. It was just some guy charging his Pokegear while working at his desk. Those things are solar powered, just step outside for a few minutes for Arceus’s sake!

  Humanity was never meant to get this far! Their ideals have far surpassed their empathy and care for others! They must be.....

  ......

  ......

  “What the — am I thinking?”

  -AT AROUND THE SAME TIME-

  While Ethan wished he could remain more anonymous while doing something basic as going out to eat, he didn't exactly mind signing autographs or letting some children pet his pokemon. (Though it could get risky with a certain few)

  He thought being the champion of the Indigo League would lead to better riches, but it was fair for how easy it was to sweep the elite four and champion.

  As he ate his food his Pokegear suddenly flashed green, he was getting a call. He answered the call and said “Yo, what's up Crystal. You finally find out what that event at Saffron a few days ago was? Heard some people say it was a marketing stunt, some say it was Arceus coming to punish us for our sins or whatever.” He said as he drank the last of his moo moo milk

  “Well… not quite, but I might have a new legendary for you to train, since you're so good at that.” she said in a slight condescending tone.

  Ethan nearly choked on his food as he quickly turned down his poketch and put it close to his chin so nobody around could hear. “You're kidding, right? You're suggesting a legendary was behind that? Why couldn't you tell me cool stuff like this before?” He inquired.

  “Well, I'm legally able to tell you everything now, since you're the Indigo League champion. Which also comes with extra responsibilities like helping with missing person cases, being support when a disaster happens, and all that good stuff. Oh and your champion data just went through the system this morning, so that's why I'm making the call.”

  Ethan takes a bite from his burger as he quickly swallows it to respond. “Alright, no big deal. Stuff like that can't happen too often. But what about that legendary you mentioned? Who is it?” He asked as he opened his pokedex to register some data about it.

  “Well, I'm sure you remember your 1st grade lesson on Reshiram and Zekrom, right? I remember mine pretty well.” She asked, assuming he knew

  Ethan put his hand on his cheek as an armrest and bluntly answered “Nope, never heard of them.”

  She sighed and started to explain what she could actually explain without it being too confusing. “Well… I guess you could say Zekrom embodies ideals and Reshiram embodies truth, Yin and Yang and all that. And we have Zekrom in our facility, and he appeared injured but his wound healed relatively quickly despite the blood loss…and he shouldn't even be alive most importantly”

  “I'll come over now if I can!” he said excitedly. “Or you're still in Sinnoh aren't you? Can't you just send it?” he said curiously, trying to register this pokemon within his pokedex.

  “That's what I just got done doing, I got Professor Rowan to send me a really high quality ball to keep him in. And I'll send the Zekrom when you're ready. How close are you to Oak's lab? That's the only place I'm allowed to send such a strong thing.” She grabbed the pokeball from her bag and examined it as she waited for a response.

  Ethan got up and left his bill plus a decent sized tip as he rushed outside, his bag practically dragging on the floor. “I'm in Viridian city, that's only like…” he looked at his poke gear

  and saw a mere 50 minutes by foot “I'll be there in around 10 minutes.”