"Since that's the case, things will be easier."
Having finally persuaded Arceus, Dylan nodded in satisfaction.
In the end, power still spoke the loudest.
If they hadn't first ganged up on Arceus and beaten it into submission, there was no way the vengeful god would be this cooperative. That would've been a dream.
But after that beating, things were different. I've already proven I'm stronger than you—why would I need to deceive you? What good would that do me?
"Dialga."
Dylan turned to Origin Dialga. To travel through time, of course they'd need its power.
The Dialga of this world was still lying on the ground half-dead. Arceus had hit it hard—just like in the movie, when it had been shot down after barely a few moves.
That last bit of strength had been used to send Ash and his friends through time. After that, it had collapsed completely. Some even wondered if it was already done for.
Even now, though it hadn't joined the last battle, Dialga hadn't recovered despite resting for a while.
Dylan recalled Eternatus and the others, not at all worried that Arceus might strike while his back was turned.
Though Arceus still harbored resentment, it was, after all, the Creator. It wouldn't stoop to betrayal.
"Wait for me here. I won't be long."
He gestured for Lillie and the others to stay put. Origin Dialga's eyes gleamed with a deep, mysterious light.
Time energy flowed around them, enveloping Dylan and Arceus—then both vanished.
After crossing the temporal rift, Dylan and Arceus arrived back in Michina, centuries in the past.
"We're here. Do you remember this place, Arceus?"
Dylan looked at the ancient temple ahead and asked the white-gold llama beside him.
Arceus lifted its head slightly, its crimson-tinged eyes filled with indescribable emotion.
Of course it remembered—too well.
"This was the day of your promised eclipse. Let's go see for ourselves what Damos is doing now."
Dylan released the shining Mewtwo from its Poké Ball.
Arceus nodded, though a swirl of emotion churned in its heart—hatred, but also tension.
What if Dylan was telling the truth?
It had seen Damos's betrayal with its own eyes, yes—but what if? What if what it saw hadn't been real? What if it had misunderstood?
If that were true… maybe it would bring it peace.
Arceus's emotions were tangled and uncertain. It didn't even know what kind of "truth" it was hoping for anymore.
With the shining Mewtwo's psychic power, the two entered the temple boldly.
Though they encountered many guards along the way, Mewtwo needed only a glance to hypnotize them, letting them pass unimpeded.
At this point in the timeline, Arceus had yet to arrive. Dylan and Arceus made their way into the inner chambers of the temple.
Along the way, they saw the Pokémon prepared in advance—the ones meant to ambush Arceus.
Seeing this, Arceus's eyes grew bloodier, its aura flaring in rage.
"Calm yourself," Dylan said gently. "Trust me—and trust in your bond with Damos. You chose him for a reason, didn't you? Because you saw the goodness in his heart."
"I was wrong," Arceus replied in a low voice.
"No. You weren't. Look for yourself."
Soon, Dylan and Arceus reached Damos's quarters. Inside were two men.
One was a rugged, burly man standing stiffly; the other, a red-haired priestly youth, was watching the time.
Beside him floated a bronze bell.
"Who are you—wait, Arceus?!"
The red-haired man—Marcus—stared in shock, but when he saw the white-gold god behind Dylan, his pupils shrank in disbelief.
How? Arceus wasn't supposed to arrive until nightfall!
But Arceus wasn't looking at Marcus—it was staring at Damos behind him.
And this time, at such close range, it noticed something.
Damos's eyes were dull and unfocused—completely lifeless. He was clearly under hypnosis!
Damos… had been controlled?!
"Damos never broke your promise," Dylan said quietly. "But not everyone around him shared his integrity."
He pointed at Marcus, who was struggling to speak but frozen by Mewtwo's psychic power.
"This man was one of Damos's subordinates. But fearing that returning the Jewel of Life to you would turn Michina back into a barren wasteland, he grew greedy. He used the Bronzong to hypnotize Damos and planned to ambush you when you came for the eclipse—using Damos as bait to catch you off guard and steal the Jewel."
Arceus's eyes flashed red again, but this time it turned toward Damos.
"And as you already know, what followed was tragedy. But through it all, Damos never betrayed you. Yes, humans are flawed and greedy—but the one you trusted, Damos, never was."
Dylan's voice was calm but heavy.
It was human greed—Marcus's greed—that had caused all this.
"And we've always respected you, Arceus. Please believe that, even if some humans are vile, not all of us are beyond redemption."
Arceus trembled. Dylan's words echoed in its mind as it stared at Damos. Memories surged back—of trust, of faith, of betrayal that might not have been betrayal at all.
Time passed in silence.
At last, Arceus slowly closed its eyes. When they opened again, the red glow was gone—replaced by clear, gentle light.
"So that's how it was…" came its ancient, weary thought.
It felt sorrow—both for Damos and for itself, trapped in hatred for a thousand years.
It had hated Damos so deeply because it had trusted him so completely—entrusting him with five of its Plates, turned into the Jewel of Life, to fill this land with vitality.
And that trust, it believed, had been betrayed. That was the true source of its wrath.
Arceus was the Creator, the Divine One of Sinnoh, the God of the Beginning. But it, too, had the heart of a sentient being—capable of anger, grief, and despair.
No one could give their heart in trust and remain unmoved when that trust was shattered.
"Thank you, Dylan. If not for you… I might have made an unforgivable mistake."
Arceus turned its calm gaze on him. The hostility was gone, replaced by peace and divine grace.
If the Arceus before had been a vengeful god of wrath, now it was once more the benevolent guardian spoken of in legend.
Dylan smiled. "No need to thank me. I've always deeply respected you."
Arceus held his gaze. The respect was genuine—it could feel that.
Still, the beating earlier had also been very real.
Even now, it still carried the wounds from Eternatus and the others.
"So, what will you do now? Will you lift Damos's hypnosis?" Dylan asked.
Now that Arceus had found peace, it was up to it to decide what to do.
He didn't care either way.
Even if Arceus freed Damos and killed Marcus right here, it didn't matter to him.
Sure, it might alter the course of history—but that was Dialga's problem, not his.
"Whatever you choose, I'll support you," Dylan said, seeing Arceus fall into thought.
Arceus looked at Damos, its expression unreadable. Should it change the past?
"…No. Let everything stay as it was."
"Oh? You're not going to beat up your past self a little?" Dylan teased.
"And you're fine letting this version of you go through that pain again?"
"This is the flow of time. I must not disturb it."
Arceus shook its head. The weight of time was immense. Changing history could cause unpredictable consequences.
"Is that so?" Dylan tilted his head.
From what he knew of the movie, history didn't change much even after time travel—only the future's "results" shifted slightly.
"I said before—if I truly wronged Damos, then I must face punishment," Arceus said calmly.
Dylan blinked. So you're seriously letting your past self suffer again?
That's pretty hardcore.
"Dylan, this has been an invaluable lesson for me. I trusted too much in what my eyes saw as truth—and nearly caused a disaster beyond imagination."
"This trial… was good for me." Arceus seemed to sense Dylan's thoughts and explained softly.
"Haha, as expected of Arceus!" Dylan gave a thumbs-up.
Only the Creator would be this merciless—to itself.
"That said, if I can save Damos, I will. I don't wish to kill the friend I once cherished."
Arceus sighed. In the original history, both Damos and Marcus would have died by its own power—but that wasn't right.
A moment ago it said it wouldn't change history, and now it wanted to save Damos?
Arceus, you're kind of contradicting yourself here, Dylan thought silently, though he didn't say it aloud.
Under Arceus's will, Damos remained under hypnosis, while the shining Mewtwo erased Marcus's and Bronzong's memories of what had just happened.
Everything continued along the same path as before.
Night fell. The eclipse began.
In this timeline, the other Arceus appeared from the Hall of Origin and descended into the temple—only to be ambushed without warning.
Caught off guard and unguarded toward Damos, it was gravely injured before it could react.
Then came rage. The furious god unleashed its might, destroying the temple in an instant before retreating to the Hall of Origin to heal—carrying a grudge that would last a millennium.
Meanwhile, the current Arceus carried Damos out of the ruins just in time. Damos survived—the sole witness of that day.
"How pitiful. It never imagined its future self would just stand by and watch all this," Dylan said wryly.
"It is me. The future me is still me," Arceus replied with a tired look. "So I will not resent myself—only be grateful for the truth."
It could tell Dylan was teasing it.
"All right, then. Shall we go back? Or do you want to wait until Damos wakes so you can say goodbye?" Dylan asked.
"No need. A trace of memory will suffice."
A soft golden light flowed from Arceus into Damos—it had left him a memory.
"Let's go, Dylan. And… truly, thank you."
"Any chance that thanks comes with a reward?" Dylan grinned.
"What do you want?" Arceus asked with a faint smile.
It truly didn't know how to repay him—but it was willing to try.
Dylan fell silent, his gaze sweeping up and down the elegant, platinum-white llama before him.
Arceus tilted its head slightly. For some reason, Dylan's look made it uneasy.
(End of Chapter)