Pokémon: The Hour Before Dawn Trilogy | A Sinnoh Fanfiction

Chapter 54: Team Galactic

Library books and bulging notepads were neatly stacked on Cyrus' desk. On the rare occasions when Lycaon peered around the door, there was nothing to question. It simply seemed he was studying. His father didn't need to know about the stash of newspaper clippings, bright with highlighted sentences, in his desk's drawers. They were all about Team Titan.

Cyrus had never cared for famous Trainers, but he managed to find a copy of an old Modern Trainer magazine with Dyeus on the cover, in which the writers tried to piece together his story. They covered his actions in Team Titan in great detail. Cyrus had to ensure he copied everything that Dyeus did right, but didn't make the same mistakes.

In his notebooks were scribbled recollections of all Cynthia told him, and what they learned together, about Sinnoh's myths. Cyrus regretted giving her the Dread Plate he dug up, but he still recalled what its ancient characters said: 'Two make matter, and three make spirit, shaping the world.'

The three that made spirit were the lake guardians. Using something taken from each of them – Cyrus didn't know what yet – Dyeus created the Red Chain, the divine instrument that unleashed a Pokémon's true power at the mercy of the chain's holder; the opposite of what seemed so disappointing to Cyrus when Palmer caught Heatran. Cyrus was impressed that Dyeus and his minions created such a thing. However, he was sure they made a grave mistake by wasting it on Regigigas. Its strength could cause destruction. It couldn't remake the world. If Arceus intervened, what could Regigigas do? Nothing.

The clue had to be on that plate: 'two make matter.' Cyrus wasn't sure what they were, but any beings that made matter had to be a match for Arceus. Cynthia said it was theorised – and if she believed it, it was probably true – that the world began atop Mt. Coronet. Perhaps those two beings once appeared there. What exactly was Spear Pillar? It seemed it was a grand temple once, so what reduced it to rubble? Cyrus was sure it involved those beings.

Unbeknown to him, the answers were in his own home. Like all high-ranking members of Team Titan, Nona owned a copy of the original, unedited Holy Book. If Cyrus had read it, he would have known what happened 181 years ago, when Cynthia's ancestor tried and failed to do almost exactly what Cyrus intended to. It predicted what Cyrus would do and one of his own friends stopping him. There was a chance, albeit a small one, that it might have stopped him in his tracks. He might have spoken to Cynthia again. Perhaps he would have let his grandfather take him in. However, although he knew about the book, he wasn't interested. It gave Dyeus delusional ideas about being some hero, so Cyrus assumed it was religious drivel that only hindered Team Titan. He didn't need to be named in a prophecy. He would become a deity all by himself, altering the course of space-time if that was what it took.

Dyeus' Grunts were useless. Cyrus remembered that from battling them himself. Even his Admins were defeated by children, but they still got the job done. Whatever Cyrus thought of Ryoku and Hanabi, his curiosity and her obsessive loyalty were assets to Team Titan. If they had succeeded, it wouldn't have mattered how reprehensible they were, because they would have ceased to exist. Cyrus needed people that passionate. If they didn't exist, he would inspire them. It wouldn't matter how hypocritical that made him, because if he succeeded, there would be no spirit to perceive it.

As of then, however, Cyrus doubted he could inspire so much as a Magikarp. He knew where he could practice. It was time to recruit the first member of the new Galaxy Company which, as soon as Cyrus officially took over, would become Team Galactic. That was much better than Team Titan. He wasn't some wannabe hero, using a titan as a tool. He would be the star at the centre of a new galaxy, as Arceus once breathed alone before the universe came.

Golbat wasn't used to carrying anyone. Recently, Cyrus was so absorbed by his studies that he forgot to even open the window to let Golbat and Murkrow out to stretch their wings. It crashed onto roofs and many more times on the slopes of Mt. Coronet. Murkrow carried Cyrus the rest of the way to Eterna City, or rather Cyrus dangled precariously from its legs. The poor bird fainted as soon as they crash-landed. No-one glanced up. Trainers on Pokémon that weren't ready to fly were common sights. When passersby did look up as Cyrus strode to the Eterna Condominiums, it was only because he looked like the boss that every Galaxy Company employee feared. They hurriedly turned their eyes away. Cyrus used to hate being mistaken for his father, but if he could use it, he would. No-one would let his father know he wasn't at school if they thought he was Lycaon.