An Anthology of Myths, Tales, Legends, and History of Arceus’ Glory
By Dr. Damien Shiftry, Folklorist, Anthropologist, Historian, Leader of the Traveling Tales Guild Team (Rank A)(Retired)
Scribe: Melos Smeargle, Rear Striker of the Traveling Tales Guild Team (Rank A)(Retired) and his wise decision to use a pen and ink well as opposed to his tail, this time. (Yes, you must add that, what part of “Every Word” went over your fluffy head?)[1]
In my many years of exploration with my wonderful team, we learned of many stories and their histories. We even made a few stories of our own but that is for another time (as many are rather unflattering *chuckles* if I do say so). I wish to have these tales written down for posterity, so that they are not lost in time as many such stories seem want to do. For this first tale, I suppose we shall begin at the beginning, (Ooh, I like that).
Creation stories differ from one town to another, as it seems details have been lost, changed, or simply misremembered over the thousands of retellings. While Arceus has occasionally come down and spoken with one chosen or another, the creation of the world is never discussed for obvious reasons. The version I wish to make record of is the one told to me by Mew himself, (at least the Mew I spoke to was a male incarnation this time. Mew’s life cycle can be discussed later but for now). I will acknowledge that Mew is an unreliable narrator at best, but there are a few factors in this story that point me towards it having more truth than other stories the pink trickster has told, which will be addressed in the discussion portion. (Pink Devil more like but I’ll never say that to their face).
Without further ado, the first tale is the Creation of Arceus’ Glory.
When Arceus awoke[2] for the first time, all was darkness. Her first thought was to fill it with light, and light shone from her. Alas, the world was still dark, for nothing existed to be illuminated by her. Arceus floated in the formless dark, contemplating this. Her contemplations led her to a new thought. She was alone. Struck with this, she made companions.
She felt within her the need for balance, one side cannot be more than the other lest it all fall apart. So her creations came in pairs or triplets to maintain that balance. She felt the openness of the space around her, and Palkia was born to tie it all together. And she felt the passing of the uncountable seconds bearing their weight upon her, and created Dialga to rule that burden. They were there, lit up by her radiance. She smiled at her children and the three were happy for some time.
But the urge to create came upon Arceus once more, and thus gave the two children siblings. She took the life she felt from her children and made the Great Deer Xerneas. Then, feeling the imbalance made the Winged Death Yveltal. From there she made a world for her children to roam. Creating the Earth, and Groudon to rule it. The seas, and Kyogre to rule them, and in the skies, Rayquaza to watch over the two titans. Still she continued, her creations covering all aspects of her new world.
Arceus and her children were happy again for a time. But a new imbalance was felt, her own. She had been created alone, and despite all her children showering her with love she felt separate from them. None were her equal after all, holding but a fraction of her power. Over time, she realized what she needed. A partner, not a child but a true partner who could challenge her, be there for her, support her and her them. In a moment of (what she will later claim at least) desperation to ease her loneliness, she poured her power into a new creation.
Exactly half of her power was molded into forming her equal. From this, Giratina was formed. Though the traitor would wage war, they were happy. Together, they created the mortals. Starting with mud, Arceus had Xerneas breathe life into it, while Giratina had Yveltal grace it with the touch of mortality. This creature became the base from which all pokemon were formed. The creature now known as Ditto. The first mortal. Together, Arceus and Giratina molded pokemon after pokemon. Starting with Mew, giving them their unique powers as a test for what they wished to do, the limits that mortals could endure, the highest mortal. The first true pokemon.
And there was peace and rejoicing for a thousand years, known as the Era of Heaven.
(Arceus above that last bit makes me want to puke.) Now, before moving on there is a bit to unpack here, both in terms of the story, narrator, and what we can piece together from it all. Firstly, (or lastly? No let’s keep it firstly) the ending, specifically the description of mew, is Mew’s own flair. As powerful as he was and is, there are other mortal Pokémon of similar power. What is interesting is the mention of Ditto, a rather rare Pokémon that even to this day prefers remaining transformed as opposed to their natural look, like a zoroark’s illusionary self. The why is personal and varied but that is neither here nor there for the moment.
The mention of ditto indicates that they were either the first Pokémon, or that they are not, in fact, Pokémon at all but a proto-mon. Mew’s telling of the creation would have us believe the latter because he enjoys the self-given title of “The First Pokémon” which many believe, yet this admission of ditto’s existence before his own lends a certain amount of credence to the tale as a whole. Some parts may be muddled of course but it fits with many retellings of other regions My team and I have explored.
With a few notable exceptions. The first, (which hopefully Melos noted)[3] is that Arceus awoke “For the first time” This is important as it hints that Arceus is not an infinite goddess, but more a created immortal creator. This, in turn lends credence to the belief that, while wise and loving like a good mother, is as flawed as any created being can become, flaws that may be magnified by her incredible power. The first of these flaws is even acknowledged (if twisted to be a “non-flaw”) by the Church of the Empire is her Ego. Arceus as the creator simply knows best in her own eyes, but if she is imperfect so can her views and decisions. This ego, while not problematic in an infallible being, is potentially disastrous in someone of great authority. And Arceus is in a position of the highest authority.
The first hint of this is that she focuses the light to emanate from her and her alone. There is no mention of stars or the sun or even the moon in this or other stories. The first mention of this chronologically is during one small tale set during the Era of Heaven. How the sun and moon became how they are now we do not know, and while there are some stories, they hold little merit and many glaring issues. Secondly is Arceus’ obsession with a perceived “Balance” which lead to the creation of her mortal enemy Giratina in the first place is again a concerning attribute.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
The final bit of note is, in fact, the description of Giratina as Arceus’ equal. Not simply in strength, other tales specify that but Mew does not. Instead, Mew emphasizes “Her True Equal” the only other emphasis is on her own “First True Pokemon” (Arceus it hurts my soul). This hints that Giratina was not some schemer as other tales portray him as, at least not at first. He was equal to Arceus in all things, including love perhaps, the desire to create most definitely as the nest story will show, and perhaps, equal in the potential of her wrath. Some stories I will share will come back to this but for now I leave you with this.
Arceus does love us, as her created children. But as a mother who dotes too much can smother a child so too can Arceus smother us by over bearing on our lives. This is why she keeps her distance from us most of the time, only coming over when we seek her. But we must also keep in mind her own failures when asking for help, and as with anything to use our own judgement. At the very least, we can understand that even our creator is imperfect, and I find comfort in that. (The archbishop didn’t though. Ahh, nearly got lynched)
The second tale I need to pass upon my readers is The War, naturally. After the Era of Heaven came The War. It was the turning point of history, where the immortals removed themselves from the plains, the world was split in two and dungeons rose to prominence… And Humans were created, the inciting incident according to all historical records we have. Unlike the creation of the world, the war is not a story that has a hundred variations, but just one. There are many written accounts dated to The War, and they all say the same thing. This bothers me, as it only shows one viewpoint. That of a third party aligned with Arceus. This third party is unknown, and not the Pokémon. I will discuss this in more detail but I ask you, the reader, to not let this story wash over you passively. Truly read and wonder what might be missing as this retelling though complete in terms of what we have, feels almost forced. Or maybe I’m seeing things. This is the simplified version taught to early school children.
Giratina, equal to Arceus herself, created man. This is an undeniable fact, for Giratina proudly claimed humans as his creations. Arceus was furious. For she had heard Giratina’s ideas for humans, the path they could lead her world. She refused, and Giratina betrayed her, making humans from a ditto, casting away Arceus’ blessings and granting his own boon of ingenuity and cunning. For a time he hid his creations but soon, they engaged with the children of Arceus and She found out.
Arceus demanded humans wiped from her world, but humans were smart, tenacious, and multiplied fast enough to prevent the purge. Giratina abetted his creations, a second betrayal, and soon it came to war. Pokemon, mortal and not alike stood with Arceus. The only exceptions being Jirachi, who granted the wishes of humans, The three sisters of wisdom, Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf who taught humans to use their knowledge to the fullest, and Darkrai, master of dreams. For this, they were cursed. Jirachi was thrown beneath a mountain, buried in the earth forever more. Only those who can brave the dangers of the dungeon can have their wish granted.
And Darkrai, having seen the dreams of humans and pitying them, was given a lighter sentence. He was stripped of his title, no longer the master of dreams but a Lord of Nightmares. None may sleep peacefully in his presence for his very existence brings forth the images of fear and death in the minds of pokemon.
The pokemon mortals who dared betray their mother were similarly cursed, their types changed to create the first poison and dark types, as a reminder of their poisonous and darkness filled hearts.
Many were slain in this war, this war with no winner. Giratina may have lost but Arceus did not win. In the end she, with all her might and glory, could not wipe her world clean of humanity. So she split them. One world for her children, the other for humans. To hold these worlds apart she created 3 anchors, submerged in 3 lakes, hidden within 3 dungeons. One in a vast forest, one in the deepest caverns and one a top the highest peaks. Finally, the last traitors, Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf, where separated, each guarding one anchor. Trapped in their lakes forevermore.
And Giratina? He was sent to the space between worlds. A place where meaning is lost, the laws of nature are no more rigid than water in a stream and the only light coming from the glimpses of the worlds that he will never, ever, be a part of again. Known forever as the Traitorous King of Distortion, Giratina.
And that’s it. Oh, there are many battles recorded and a list of sieges and heroes and what not. But surely you asked yourself, why would humanity warrant such an extreme response? In fact, humans have been summoned several times to deal with catastrophes that pokemon simply do not have the brain power to figure out. I met one once, when I was a child. A human brought over to foil a nasty plot to destabilize the empire and bring a devastating war visited my hometown. He was a decent chap, the reason I wanted to be an academic. I wanted to be as observant as he was… (I must share his story at some point). But back to my point, the deed had been done, why the purge? There is no answer beyond, Giratina betrayed arceus.
This is another issue I hold with the official version of The War, and another reason I reside in the guildlands and not the empire. Giratina, to be blunt, did not betray Arceus. He went behind her back to be sure, disobeyed her. But Giratina is not “Arceus’ Child” in that sense, he is her equal. A partner. Not someone inherently beholden to your whims. If a reason was given as to why humans could not be created that would be one thing but no reason is given, and I wonder if a reason was given to Giratina. I do acknowledge the horros humans wrought upon the world during The War. Their strategies were powerful and cutthroat. Admirably brazen and despicably honorless. That being said, they were fighting for their lives and the lives of their entire race.
I would be remiss in also acknowledging that Jirachi, despite the severity of their punishment, deserved it. He granted horrible wishes less to support humans and more to hurt Arceus. This he stated himself. (Jirachi chapter? Mmm, I’ll think about it). Darkrai though, he is a kind soul and deserves better than eternity as a pariah. As for the split in worlds, I ask again why? Why was this the best option as opposed to say… another continent? Would have been easier and you could have trapped the sisters in just as isolated environments. Distortion already existed even before the world was split so that’s not the reason either.
I’ve met very few people who take this view seriously, most just shrug and say that the reasons were lost to time, or that Arceus knows something we don’t. Alas, they could be right, but if that is the case why doesn’t she inform us? Arceus may have the right by power of withholding the information but doing so only makes one wonder why she would. The most probable reason is that her reasons are unflattering. Or maybe the truth is so horrible it would hang over our heads for the rest of our mortal lives. Whatever the truth, what remains is something that no other myth, legend or historical account has. Complete agreement on the facts, and that is highly suspect.
[1] If you insist, leaf for brains.
[2] Most stories tell of Arceus “Awakening” hinting that she herself is a created being, but no information of this unknown creator has been uncovered
[3] I did, have some faith