"Long ago, when Sinnoh had just been made, Pokémon and humans led separate lives. That is not to say they did not help each other. No, indeed they did. They supplied each other with goods, and supported each other. A Pokémon proposed to the others to always be ready to help humans. It asked that Pokémon be ready to appear before humans always. Thus, to this day, Pokémon appear to us if we venture into tall grass."
The grove stood frozen in time, its colours muted as if slowly fading to grey. The being's vibrant blue coat was also now blue-grey in colour. Its eyes were wide in an extended adrenaline rush, its mouth still open in a soundless snarl. Hovering above the earth, its body stretched towards a creature of prey that was now long gone.
Inside, the being's mind worked quickly. Its mind, not trapped in time - unlike its body - was furious. It knew that should it even bother looking through its physical eyes it would still see the retinal picture of the two Guardians. But its sixth sense - its only one sense when it was without a body - told it another story.
Frustration warred with the need to plan. All it wanted to do was rage in its prison-like body and perhaps leave it altogether and destroy Celebi once and for all. But the ends didn't warrant the means. This body had been, and still was, very useful. It had unique powers of its own.
And so it waited, brooding, until things began to stutter back into movement again. The being watched with its one sense eagerly. Soon it would be free from this time bubble, which it could sense was now receding, leaving the previously frozen environment forced to speed up to catch up to the present.
Knowing it would be caught in the middle of the acceleration, the being braced itself. It could do nothing to the body yet, but could prepare to once it began to move again. The bubble shrunk further, and the being could sense the trees around it were in furious sped-up motion, a literal fast-forward ever increasing until they reached the present.
It waited. Soon it and the air around it were the only things still trapped in time. It waited. Nothing happened. Now fear gripped its heart. Trapped here forever, unable to recover; the only opportunity to escape by leaving the blue creature entirely.
No. No! It struggled, and then lashed out with its power. Water from nowhere shot into a similar nowhere and disappeared. It tried again. This time, a noise from above, translucent blue wings unfolding out from its shoulders and striving for altitude. Useless.
It cursed. I have many more powers, it thought. I will try this! Displacement!
Another unleashing of energy, and the time bubble reacted spontaneously, gripping its body tightly and squeezing. It yelped as the bubble exploded out from it and vanished. And then its body jerked uncontrollably, fell to the ground at a horrible speed. Pain shot from its muzzle and paws.
But it was not over. Its body's back legs rose back into the air again and flowed backwards; its chest head and front legs following. Panic gripped it. Somehow, inexplicably, it was now moving in reverse. This is worse than not moving at all!
It stopped where it had started from; outstretched in the air. And then something happened which it could never had guessed at; its body started growing younger. Arthritic joints healed, teeth grew back, eyes grew sharper. It was just about to let out an exultant cry when it felt itself devolve.
In surprise, it was pushed entirely out of the body's now small form. It hesitated where it hovered for a moment, watching as the body grew younger and younger, eventually growing foetal-like and being enclosed by a hard covering. An egg.
It watched for a second more, waiting for the egg to disappear. But time left it alone. Perhaps the results of the displacement had gone as far as they could, or maybe the bubble's effects had truly faded.
It was suddenly reminded of the last time it had been thwarted, only very recently. That time, it had been a seed. Now, it was just as uselessly staring at an egg. Somehow the two seemed to parallel each other perfectly. What was going wrong? Why were its efforts to track down and use the body of Celebi foiled every time?
It was that other one, that... The being searched for the name. Dialga. That Dialga. Maybe it had not been around the first time, but now it was, and its weapon was time itself. I am the death of time, it said to itself stubbornly. Had I not been using that body, I could have escaped its attack completely.
But the thought of the two of them opposing it together belied the certainty in its voice. Perhaps Celebi would have to be left alone for now. The egg, also. In its current, original, form it was not physically able to interact with the environment apart from attacking Pokémon with its many powers.
It floated away from the grove, through the trees, and into the open; restless and unable to gather its thoughts. Perhaps the egg would not hatch now, perhaps it was stuck in time still. Not that that was the first time for that to happen. The being had made it happen before, but always deliberately. It was not sure whether or not it had done so in this case, perhaps accidentally.
Those kind of eggs never hatched. Humans called it a shame, then dismissed the issue. Pokémon however... the being had always found it amazing how any species, no matter whether they had parented the egg or not, knew instinctively how dangerous those eggs were. As if they could sense the malevolent and corrupting touch of the being now emanating from the unhatched foetus.
Both humans and Pokémon destroyed the eggs. Humans because there was no monetary or Pokémon-Box-filling gain in keeping it. Pokémon because...
The being suddenly remembered the Blissey. The being had corrupted the egg with a subtle touch, hoping to finally use its powers to hatch it unnaturally, only to sense the Blissey wrench the egg frantically out of its snug pouch - as if it couldn't stand the shell touching its fur - and dash it to the ground, screaming "Bad egg! Bad egg!".
After hysterically stamping down on the broken bits of egg shell and its contents, still screaming incoherently, the plump pink Pokémon had taken one look at the still form of its tiny baby Happiny and burst into sobs.
As soon as dozens of other Blissey in the area rushed to aid the grieving mother, most proffering their own eggs in desperate hope of comforting her somehow, the being had turned away. It was impossible to create what it now decided to coin a 'bad egg' and still expect the parents to look after it. Somehow, inexplicably, they knew straight away...
Back in the present time, the being shook off the vivid memory of the Blissey's tearstained face fur. It doesn't matter, it said. Then, it stopped. No! it said, glee coming into its tone. No, it doesn't matter at all now! It turned and raced back towards the glade. I will find the egg. I will corrupt it. I will find a mother. I will corrupt the mother. And then I will hatch the bad egg and raise it. And then I will be the bad egg. I will take its form and it shall be perfect! The complete form, immortal, invisible, invincible!
It reached the glade. It stopped. It threw out its senses in lightning fast reflexes. Nothing. It stared with its only one sense so intensely that the egg-shaped patch of air where the egg had floated, stuck in time, began to pixilate and fragment.
Gone. The egg, the only chance of recovering its body's powers, disappeared without a trace. Taken, obviously. But by whom? The being could not sense anybody close; no humans, not even any Pokémon.
Sudden insane fury made the being scream. A scream of corrupting displacing energy. Around it, trees flickered, bent in odd directions; turned upside down and inside out. The being screamed loud and long, letting its powers extend and unleash. And yet it did not help.
It needed to find a new host. Not in this Arceus-damned place where Guardians vanished at will through space and time. A human, it thought impulsively. I will corrupt a human! One weak, yet strong; one I can bend to my will, yet not destroy its powers in the process. Use its Pokémon - not corrupt them, but use them via their human Trainer.
No time to waste. Unlike its arch enemies Celebi and Dialga, the being had no control of time. True, it could destroy time and in effect have the same result as travelling through it - but what was there to travel through if it did not exist?
Soon, time would not exist at all. It would destroy it completely. One world, unmoving; one which the being would rule over completely. Perhaps even one space; every dimension melded into one world. I know all your powers, and I will destroy them. I will rule! I will have absolute power, and everything else will have none. Perhaps they will not even have life...
~~~
Far away the creature that called itself Dirkstrike grinned toothily at the object in his hands. Deep in his belly his hunger was painful. How lucky she had been to come across a lone egg, unprotected by a mother or father. Eggs were a prized meal, and she had never come across one this large in the wild.
He licked his chops in anticipation, the smell from inside making drool gather at the corners of his mouth. She wuffled at the air, nose upright, making sure no other stronger opponent wanting to fill its own belly was lurking anywhere close by. It would not do to lose a meal this precious.
He remembered a time long ago when he used to steal into the village's neighbouring farms as a child, open the bird coops and steal eggs by the handful. Most of the time, he escaped notice, and was able to scramble away up a tree to suck them contentedly one at a time, easing the gnawing hunger from his skinny belly.
He hoped the same principles applied to an egg this size. He had longer canines now, so would have to be careful not to break the entire shell down the side and lose the valuable contents all over the dirt. He knew she would probably not be able to stop herself from bending down on all fours and licking it from the forest floor.
She raised the egg to her open mouth, baring her fangs. She was about to plunge one carefully into its speckled blue top when a soft, cool mental voice intruded into her own litany of 'hunger, hunger, hunger, hunger'.
You will not do that.
"No." he said, noticing with interest how his eyes unfocused and began to gaze into the distance, completely unprompted by either him or Strike. "I guess I won't."
"Yes, I will." she said a moment later, and her eyes began to burn with intensity once more. "I am hungry. I must eat."
You cannot eat me.
He held up the egg curiously, raising it to eye level. "Why not? You are prey. If I was prey, you would eat me. I have nothing else to eat. And you will be food for days."
I do not wish you to starve on my account, the voice said calmly. But I am telling you now I am not prey. I am not predator, either.
"What are you?" she demanded suspiciously. "If you are not prey, you must be predator!"
No, it said firmly. I am something you remember from before. I am friend. Do you remember what it is like to have one of them? The voice began to grow in intensity and lose its slow calm tone. Human, you had a friend. Pokémon, you had a friend. And that friend was each other. Do you remember?
"Of course!" he/she said. "We are still friends!"
No. You have begun to forget your differences already, it said, chiding Dirkstrike so much she could not help the small whimper in her throat and a small cower. I am a friend, I wish to help you find those differences again. Because you are in much danger if you do not.
"What danger?" he snarled. "I am not weak. I can take care of myself." He put the egg down, baring his teeth at it. "You are no friend of mine!" He leaped to his feet and strode away.
Before he got five steps the voice cried out in sorrow. Your son is coming to kill you!
He stopped, she stumbled, and Dirkstrike fell to the earth in a flail of confused limbs. His son. Her son. They both had one; human and Pokémon. "Which one?" he asked in a deadpan voice.
Both, the voice said. Both!
"He is my son," Dirk and Strike said simultaneously. "I made him, I gave him life, and I am much more powerful than him. Should you be telling the truth and he is actually willing to return to kill me, he will not have an easy time of it."
I can see it, the voice whispered, pain-laced. I can see him as he delivers the final blow. It will happen.
Dirkstrike paced back to the egg. "Then why am I bothering talking about it? I will die. Yes, eventually. But not today. Today, I will live!" She dropped onto all fours and lunged towards the egg, all thoughts of care with her meal discarded by the hunger.
The moment her teeth touched around the eggshell there was a bright blue flash searing into her eyeballs even through her closed eyelids. She felt herself being blasted backwards in an immense unleashing of power, flying limply through the air.
Her eyes flashed open. Blinded! Her other senses flew into action. She somersaulted and landed on all fours, hackles sparking with electricity. She could still not see the enemy through the blinding retinal glare. It did not matter - the enemy was an egg.
She roared. A searing thunderbolt streaked towards the earth and the egg. From the egg she heard a much louder roar and a snapping sound - her attack had been deflected. She blinked furiously, willing her sight to return.
Look at me! demanded the voice; now an echoing abyss of underlying power. Look!
She roared once more, but did not strike at the egg again. "I cannot see!" She felt the immense power react by surging and enveloping the entire glade, including her form. She swore. Her vision turned blue and misty, the outlines of both trees and the egg outlined in a blurred white. And inside the egg...
She padded forwards, her eyes closed, mane vibrating. Inside the egg she could see a shining form. Amazingly, the curled up foetus had its eyes open, and it was staring at her. "You would be delicious." she said regretfully, "but you are not prey."
No, I am not, the creature inside the egg agreed. I wish to be your friend.
"Friends look after each other." Dirkstrike said. "I will keep you warm, and what will you do?"
It smiled. I will give you food, and many more things besides.
"Then we are friends." Dirkstrike said. It had not been so long since she had been with egg. It was easy for her to pad over and nose it carefully before dropping to her stomach and curling her flank round the egg. Almost instantly a deep and intense feeling of contentment and euphoria flowed through her. Her normal vision slowly started clearing, the temporary sense of blue and white vision fading.
Friends, the egg repeated happily. That is a good thing. And then, silently to itself, it mused, It has been a while since I have played the Game of Time as a free agent. How interesting this round will be...
