Tryst with Destiny: The End of the Beginning

124: Race Against Time

(In the KIP meeting room)

Dragon Emperor subtly nods as everyone goes silent following Ash and Serena's answer.

"After the Shadow Pokemon finished training Algrim's army they violated the peace treaty and crossed over to the realm of the Pokemon. They had declared war and broken the peace treaty, so Arceus sent half of his army to battle against Drakus and Algrim's combined army," Dragon Emperor continues.

"Half? Why half?" Diantha asks.

"Do you remember what I told you regarding why Arceus and the other legendaries were able to force the Shadow Pokemon to sign their treaty without so much as a whiff of a protest?" Dragon Emperor asks back.

"Because the Pokemon far outnumbered the Shadow Pokemon?" Diantha answers in an unsure manner.

"Correct. Almost six to one when it came to the numeric strength of the army," Dragon Emperor replies.

"So even if he sent half of his army, they still had a three to one numeric advantage over the Shadow Pokemon," Serena remarks.

"But what about the human army? I mean, didn't Arceus take them into account?" Oak asks.

"No, he didn't. Firstly, because he was unaware of the involvement of the human army and secondly because he deemed the humans as insignificant beings. Why should he bother with the like of us? Weak, inferior and incapable of performing Pokemon moves. Surely they were no threat to his army and so after a while both armies clashed with each other and a battle took place," Dragon Emperor says.

"And the Pokemon lost?" Ash asks, unable to contain his inquisitiveness.

"No Ash," Dragon Emperor replies.

"They won?" Ash says in a confused manner.

"No, they were annihilated," Dragon Emperor replies.

"Oh! That's a very... subtle way to put it," Grace replies with a hint of sarcasm underlined in her voice.

"An army with hundreds of thousands of Pokemon was completely routed. Only a few thousand Pokemon and the legendaries who were leading the army managed to escape their fate. When the survivors returned a tidal wave of shocked engulfed the remaining Pokemon, Arceus in particular. The survivors told Arceus everything. Everything from the involvement of the humans of the northern kingdom in the battle to the manner in which the army of the Shadow Pokemon annihilated the Pokemon army, the way fire consumes a field of dry grass," Dragon Emperor says.

"Yeah, that's when Arceus realized he shit the bed," Gary says with Dragon Emperor nodding.

"Yes. This is when Arceus realized his folly. He realized how wrong he had been in the understanding of the human species. How wrong he was to literally exile the humans in the first place because now a huge problem was in front of him. The Shadow Pokemon were coming and he had lost half of his army. Time was running out and with each second wasted the Shadow Pokemon were inching closer. Arceus realized that if a second battle were to take place then the result would most likely be the same as the first one. Something needed to be done and something needed to be done quickly. And so... in a decisive moment, Arceus realized he had to do the one thing which he thought he would never have to do in his wildest dreams," Dragon Emperor says before turning to Ash and Serena.

"Turn to the humans for help," Ash says as Dragon Emperor nods.

"Correct my boy. Arceus realized that the humans had tipped the scale massively in favour of the Shadow Pokemon. If there was any chance to change the otherwise inevitable outcome of the next battle, then the scales needed to be balanced again. So, Arceus ordered Ho-Oh to immediately fly to the southern kings and pledge them for support in this desperate dark hour. Furthermore, Arceus ordered all the Pokemon to retreat so as to buy the southern armies enough time to come to their aid against the armies of the northern kingdom and the Shadow Pokemon," Dragon Emperor says.