"Damnable traitors!"
Every inch of Arceus's body was wracked with intense pain, and each wave of agony only caused the resentment boiling within its heart to surge higher and higher!
"Damnable traitors!!!"
Its scarlet blood-red eyes were filled with deep hatred as Arceus's gaze swept one by one across those Legendary Pokémon. That was a gaze of loathing so intense it sent chills crawling down one's spine.
All of them! Every single one of them—were traitors!
Why?
Arceus could not understand it. Why had all of these Legendary Pokémon chosen to stand against it? Clearly, back then, it was it who had been betrayed by humanity and gravely wounded.
It sought revenge against humans—what was wrong with that?
Pain! Its body hurt—so badly!
This pain was exactly the same as it had been a thousand years ago!
Back then, it was humans whom it had acknowledged that harmed it. This time, however, those injuring it were its own "children" and these Legendary Pokémon.
Isolated and abandoned, with no one to rely on.
Clearly, it was the creator of this world, yet at this very moment…
Arceus felt as though the entire world had betrayed it. Wherever it looked, there were enemies—there was not a single being willing to help it.
"Arceus, this can end here. From the beginning to the end, we should never have been fighting in the first place."
Reshiram moved a little closer. Lucas looked at Arceus, completely surrounded, and spoke in a low voice.
However, with its extremely sharp senses, Arceus heard Lucas's words clearly.
The blood-red light in Arceus's eyes suddenly flared!
"Ridiculous! Are you pitying me?!"
An ancient, cold telepathic voice filled with overwhelming fury echoed throughout the sky.
"Don't get too carried away, human!"
Were these words spoken from the stance of a victor, looking down on it in pity?
"It isn't pity, Arceus. I have always held the deepest and most sincere respect for you. Ever since I learned of your existence, that respect has been etched into my heart."
Lucas sighed softly and met Arceus's gaze head-on.
He could roughly understand Arceus's emotions, because from beginning to end, Arceus had believed that it was not in the wrong.
Yet under such circumstances, when the entire world seemed to be standing against it, how furious must it feel?
"But what you saw a thousand years ago wasn't the true truth. Damos never—"
"Absurd! I saw it with my own eyes—"
The crimson glow in Arceus's eyes deepened as it cut Lucas off mid-sentence.
"Yes, you did see it," Lucas interrupted in turn, his voice firm. "But was what you saw really the truth?"
Arceus froze.
"If you didn't deeply understand Damos as a person, how could you have lent him the Jewel of Life in the first place?"
"Heh—human nature is inherently vile, greedy, and filthy."
Arceus sneered coldly. Yes, it had understood Damos very well.
After the meteor crisis, all of its Plates had been blasted away by the meteor's impact. It was Damos who retrieved those Plates for it while it lay heavily injured and on the brink of death, allowing it to recover some of its strength and reclaim its Plates.
At that time, Damos was a kind and courageous human. After interacting with him, Arceus became even more certain of that.
But weren't humans creatures like this—constantly changing?
"The one who betrayed you wasn't Damos. The Damos you saw was being controlled."
Lucas revealed the truth.
Yes. Back in the temple, the one who laid the trap and severely injured Arceus was a controlled Damos—it was never Damos's own will.
"Impossible!"
Arceus's blood-red eyes sharpened as it rejected the claim without hesitation.
"Why is it impossible? Did you ever sense that 'Damos's' aura back then?"
"I…"
Arceus froze, even the crimson glow in its eyes dimming slightly. Indeed, because of its trust in Damos, the moment it entered the temple, it fell straight into the ambush.
It had never sensed whether that Damos was normal or not. All it saw was a blurred glimpse of Damos through pain after being caught in the trap.
The ominous crimson light in its eyes flickered uncertainly as Arceus replayed the scene in its mind over and over.
Impossible!
If what this human said was true, then wouldn't its thousand years of hatred have been wrong from beginning to end?
"The truth is exactly that. Humanity did wrong you, but Damos never betrayed you."
"Arceus, I understand your hatred. Humans truly did hurt you, but what I hope you understand is this— the person you acknowledged upheld the promise from beginning to end. He was simply powerless."
Lucas spoke in a deep, steady voice to Arceus, whose aura fluctuated wildly.
Silence fell.
"Impossible! Cunning human—this is nothing but your one-sided story. What proof do you have that Damos didn't betray me?"
After a long while, Arceus slowly raised its head, its blood-red eyes locking onto Lucas.
It still could not believe it. After all, it had seen it with its own eyes. Even if it had not sensed that person back then due to the sudden attack, a thousand years had already passed—who could say this wasn't just Lucas's attempt to shake its resolve?
"Dialga possesses the power of time that you bestowed. If you don't believe me, Arceus, then let us return to a thousand years ago and witness the truth with our own eyes."
Lucas smiled as he proposed a solution.
Although Arceus claimed it didn't believe him, its attitude had already subtly shifted. And that, in itself, proved one thing—
Only strength made words worth listening to.
If Lucas's side hadn't slightly gained the upper hand and demonstrated sufficient power, with Arceus's seething resentment, would it really have listened to him at all?
Arceus's blood-red gaze turned toward Dialga. Indeed, if it wanted to know the truth, then Dialga's power over time was perfectly suited for the task.
"Dialga, send me back to that night."
Arceus did not hesitate and directly issued the order.
At the dawn of creation, it had bestowed the powers of time and space upon Dialga and Palkia respectively.
As such, it no longer possessed time or space powers itself. If it wanted to rewind time, it could only rely on Dialga.
Dialga let out a low roar in agreement. Its principles were firm when dealing with other beings, but when it came to Arceus…
Well, listening to the boss was enough.
Even though Arceus was currently an enemy, that didn't change the fact that Arceus was still its "father."
"I'll go with you."
Lucas spoke to Arceus. Traveling through time was something he very much wanted to experience.
Moreover, he believed Arceus wouldn't ambush him midway. Of course—even if it did, Lucas wasn't foolish. He would naturally bring those top-tier Legendary Pokémon along.
That way, even if Arceus attacked midway, he would still have the power to resist. And as the user of time reversion, Dialga would also be able to detect if Lucas was in danger.
Arceus cast Lucas a cold glance, neither agreeing nor refusing.
"ROOAAAAR—!"
Dialga let out a mighty cry as crystalline, mysterious light flared within its dragon eyes.
The power of time!
After recalling Eternatus, Necrozma, and the other Legendary Pokémon, the figures of Lucas, Reshiram, and Arceus vanished from their original location in an instant.
"Huh? They're gone."
Seeing Lucas and Arceus suddenly disappear from midair, shock appeared on Green's face.
"They seemed to have communicated about something. It should be fine… right?"
Marnie tilted her head. Lucas had just recalled all the Legendary Pokémon that could be recalled, which suggested that some kind of connection had formed between him and Arceus.
And out of trust in Lucas, Marnie firmly believed that he would be fine.
A thousand years ago.
Nighttime in Michina Town.
Reshiram and Arceus suddenly appeared in midair, while Lucas remained mounted on Reshiram's back.
"So, this is Michina from a thousand years ago. Dialga's power really is incredible."
Lucas looked around. Everything was silent and still. Though it was a millennium in the past, Michina's natural scenery remained exceptionally beautiful.
All of this was thanks to the power of Arceus's Jewel of Life.
"The night when the moon is swallowed—it's today."
Arceus raised its head to the sky. The full moon was slowly being engulfed by shadow, and an icy chill surfaced within Arceus's eyes.
It was this very night. Even after a thousand years, it remembered it vividly.
"Arceus, let's hide first. Don't let the you of this era discover us."
Lucas glanced at the cold, oppressive Arceus and spoke.
Arceus remained silent, tacitly agreeing.
Reshiram and Arceus landed in front of the Michina Temple, hiding along its outer edge, with Arceus personally concealing both of their auras.
Time passed second by second. Soon, as the moon was about to be completely covered, spatial fluctuations appeared in the Hall of Origin.
Another Arceus flew out from the Hall of Origin. The only difference between it and the "llama" beside Lucas was that this Arceus's eyes were exceptionally clear, not the chilling blood-red ones.
"It's here."
From the shadows, Lucas watched as this Arceus floated down in front of the Michina Temple and walked inside.
Lucas carefully followed, with Arceus stepping along behind him.
At this moment, Arceus's emotions were extremely complicated.
It didn't want to believe that Damos had been controlled—otherwise, wouldn't its thousand years of hatred become a complete joke?
Yet at the same time, it desperately hoped that Damos had never betrayed it!
It was an incredibly contradictory state of mind, but that was exactly how Arceus felt right now.
And moreover…
Seeing how confident Lucas was, even without him saying it aloud, Arceus could roughly tell that the probability of Damos having been controlled was at least eighty percent.
Lucas and Arceus walked slowly down the corridor. The atmosphere was extremely eerie, but soon, violent noises erupted from within the temple.
"You've fallen into an ambush!"
Lucas's expression sharpened as he glanced at Arceus .
The crimson in Arceus 's eyes deepened.
Without another word, the two rushed toward the interior of the temple.
Inside, Arceus lay prostrate on the ground in agony, its body battered by countless Pokémon moves, pinned so firmly it could barely move.
"There."
Though the dazzling lights of various attacks stung his eyes, Lucas still did his best to scan the surroundings. He soon spotted Damos standing atop a high platform.
According to the movie, in the original timeline without Ash and the others interfering, Damos had been controlled by hypnosis through Bronzong by his subordinate, Marcus, who ordered him to attack Arceus.
"Dull expression, lifeless eyes—this is definitely hypnosis."
Lucas carefully observed this Damos. He was a rugged middle-aged man, but at this moment his expression was utterly vacant.
"Well, Arceus?"
Lucas turned his gaze toward Arceus .
Arceus stared blankly at Damos. With its level of power and perception, it only needed a moment of focus to immediately see that something was wrong with him.
But…
"So that's how it was…"
The blood-red color in Arceus 's eyes slowly faded as it looked at the hypnotized Damos with a complicated expression.
Damos truly had not betrayed it. This—was the truth.
It was wrong. It had misunderstood Damos and even hated him for a thousand years because of it.
Lucas blinked, looking at the silent llama. This sheep was probably experiencing a storm of emotions right now.
But this wasn't the time to zone out.
"Well… if you don't act soon, that version of you might get severely injured again."
Lucas poked Arceus 's body and pointed toward Arceus, which was still being relentlessly battered by countless attacks.
Hmm. Arceus 's body seemed pretty soft.
Arceus snapped back to its senses and looked at the Arceus being continuously assaulted by countless moves. Complex emotions surfaced in its clear eyes.
If it acted now, it could completely save Arceus.
It would also prevent the misunderstanding between Arceus and Damos, and eliminate the need for a thousand years of recuperation. But if it intervened now, it would undoubtedly alter history.
"Human, I haven't yet asked your name."
After a short while, Arceus let out a soft sigh and turned its gaze toward Lucas.
"Lucas. Lucas Blackthorn."
Lucas was momentarily stunned, then replied directly.
"You are an exceptionally outstanding human."
Arceus shifted its gaze back to the controlled Damos, deep blue light shimmering in its eyes.
According to history, the enraged Arceus would later unleash massive destruction, killing both Damos and Marcus within the temple before returning gravely injured to the Hall of Origin.
But this time, Arceus did not intend to let Damos die here.
As for this time's Arceus…
Letting it suffer a little didn't seem like such a bad thing, did it?
(End of Chapter)