Beast Speaker, Monster Tamer

61: Champion

Elise drifted in a sea of blackness, slowly going down, down, down.

It wasn't a blackness she feared, however. Much like burrowing beneath one's favorite blanket before getting up to school, it was warm and embraced her safely. It was somewhere Elise knew she should not be, yet she wanted to sink deeper into the all-encompassing void. Then something changed and the void was just a void anymore. All around her, there was an almost imperceptible tremble before a voice shook the dark.

"Welcome, young one."

She touched solid ground and the world bloomed into color. Soft grass glowed beneath Elise's fingers and she found herself in an idyllic meadow, hazy with gentle sun. The air was heavy with power, and each inhale filled her lungs with the weight of something far older her entire existence. Dandelions brushed her arms and the girl gazed around at the golden-kissed space. A space that seemed to have existed far longer than she have and will do so long after her. Gentle footsteps approached her from her right and Elise turned around, freezing as she saw a radiant white being approaching her. The grass barely bent as the form settled down next to her, folding elegant, gold-tipped legs beneath a massive weight. Yet Elise knew that she was in the presence of more than a dream conjured up by her mind.

"Though the circumstance that brought you to me leaves much to be desired, I welcome you warmly to my domain."

Each word rang in her head, the weight of the divine enveloping her. Blaziken's stories of the one who gave being to all Pokémons drifted to the forefront of her mind. "Y-You're..."

A glowing head dipped in a nod, answering her question. "Yes. I am the Creator of All Pokémons, the one who made them into being. I am Arceus."

Elise began to get to her feet to bow but a simple shake of a gilded head made her sit back down.

"You need not bow," Arceus hummed. "I need not for human reverence and worship. All I ask is some moments of your time so we could talk. About you. About your powers, child of man."

"O-Of course." The both of them now faced each other, though Elise found her eyes unable to directly look at the being in front of her, constantly slipping off the form in front of her. Her ears rung with each word coming from Arceus. "W-Why are you here..?"

Arceus took a breath and the land seemed to swell in tandem with that action. "Between the world of Pokémons and the world of man, there has always been a divide. Mankind fears what they do not understand, and what I've given life to is beyond much of the comprehension of even the greatest of their minds. Through the years, I've witnessed many injustices against my people. Helpless to interfere, all I could do was watch. The rules that restrict me restrict all other divines, to not come down to contact those in the physical planes. It is not something any of us can transgress."

Elise frowned, wondering if the god was violating those rules. "B-By seeing me like this... Are you breaking those rules?"

Arceus tilted a shining head. "Do not fret, young one. This is a representation of me. You, yourself, are recessed deep in your mind, and I simply pulled your consciousness to meet with me."

"What... happened to me?" Elise asked softly. "I don't remember why I would be in this state."

"Ah... Do you remember Kamino Ward?"

"Kamino... Ward?"

It struck her with painful clarity and Elise cried out, doubling over to clutch at her head in pain. The training camp, Muscular, Dark Shadow, the bar... All For One. She felt pins and needles crawl up her back and shuddered, the phantom feeling of the villain trying to pull her quirk out blooming uncomfortably. A gentle touch on her cheek made her flinch, but the images washed away to be replaced with a soothing coolness. The images faded and the fight left her as Elise slumped to the group, drawing in a ragged breath. "Thank you..."