Before God
The creation of the universe and the events immediately following are topics firstly explored in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, whose folklore and mythology will serve as a cornerstone for all our future analysis. Canalave City’s library fills us with stories written in the most ancient times, and in accord to a common trope in the franchise, the more we proceed in our playthrough the more we understand the myths are rooted in reality.
The first strophe of the “Original Story” [はじまりの はなし], indulges us on the world’s very beginning, describing its state of being before the Original One raised from a primordial Egg.
ENG:
In the beginning, there was only a churning turmoil of chaos. At the heart of chaos, where all things became one, appeared an Egg. Having tumbled from the vortex, the Egg gave rise to the Original One.
JPN:
はじめに あったのは こんとんの うねり だけだった すべてが まざりあいちゅうしんに タマゴが あらわれた こぼれおちた タマゴより さいしょの ものが うまれでた
In the beginning, there was only a vortex of chaos. Everything was blended together. In the center, an Egg appeared. The Egg spilt over and fell, and a first being was born.
Originally, only a vortex of chaos existed. The Japanese term used for describing this state is こんとんの うねり, the equivalent for “vortex” specifically describing wave motion. We can then infer this chaotic singularity to be somehow fluid, which is why the text will later state the Egg “split over and fell” due to the undulation in the turmoil.
While this shares some similarities with Shintoism Creation Myth [天地開闢], with both having the world primordial state being sunk in chaos, the story diverges from real-life folklore imagining this phase in motion. While the traditional myth has movement as the sprouting force for creation, this is only incidentally true in Pokémon: chaos has always swirled on itself. What is, then, that actually caused the Egg to appear?
The key detail to answer this is found in the third verse. While localization claims “all things became one” at the center of the turmoil, the original version is clearer in affirming that everything was blended together even before the Egg sudden appearance. Given only the vortex of chaos existed back then, it’s evident “everything” was mixed in its folds — the act of swirling amalgamating all in a single thing.
This “everything” has to be taken in the most literal sense. In Pokémon Platinum, collecting all Plates will reward us with a Hiker appearing in Canalave library. The man is particularly interested in the stories about creation, and will update us with his current understanding of the ancient lore.
ENG:
“The way I see it, our world began when the spirit within people was born. When that spirit came to be, there followed awareness about the world.”
[…] “A Pokémon is said to have shaped this world. Could that Pokémon be the physical form of the original spirit?”
JPN:
じぶんは せかいの はじまり とは ひとに こころが めばえた しゅんかんだと かんがえているんです そう！ こころが うまれて せかいを にんしき しはじめた！
[…] そうなると せかいを つくったという ポケモンは こころの あらわれ とも かんがえられるのかなー！？
“I think the beginning of the world was the moment the Spirit within people sprouted. The Spirit was born and began to recognize the world.”
[…] “If that’s the case, can the Pokémon that made the world be thought as the embodiment of the Spirit?”
According to our lore-hunter, the starting point of the universe is to search in the Spirit within people. The term used here is こころ [kokoro] — which can be translated also as “heart”, or “mind”. It generally refers to the spiritual sphere of oneself, and it’s the same term used to describe the Spirit the Lake Trio will later bring to the world [note that while the localization draws a line between the two concepts, naming the primordial Spirit as “original”, this is completely absent in Japanese].
The Hiker suggests the “first being” born out of the Egg was the physical manifestation of the Spirit within people’s hearts. The implication would be humans existed before the universe was created, and indeed all the clues point to this realization: the “everything” the chaos was composed of was the literal amalgamation of everything the universe will be later made of. Space and Time, stars and planets, mountains and seas, plants, Pokémon and even humans all existed since the very beginning, their essences intermingled with one another in a great one singularity.
The Spirit within people also existed in this mixture, and it was its nature to “recognize the world”. But in order to do so, you first have to alienate yourself from it: it was this thought, the wish of people’s minds to exists as their own, to ultimately break the all-encompassing turmoil of chaos. And so, the craving for individuality led the Spirit to assume a concrete shape, an Egg from which emerged the “first being” [さいしょの もの], from which all lives will eventually manage to sprout in return.
World’s First Heartbeat
It will not come as shock the “first being” was none other than the Mythical Pokémon Arceus. The Pokédex addresses in multiple entries the Alpha Pokémon [そうぞうポケモン, Creation Pokémon] as the one who shaped the newborn universe.
It is told in mythology that this Pokémon was born before the universe even existed.
It is said to have emerged from an egg in a place where there was nothing, then shaped the world.
According to the legends of Sinnoh, this Pokémon emerged from an egg and shaped all there is in this world.
What is more up to debate, it’s if Arceus had its current shape in the moment of its birth. Given how the Pokédex describes the act of shaping the universe with its 1000 arms, it seems to be suggested we never really witnessed the demiurge in its prime.
It is described in mythology as the Pokémon that shaped the universe with its 1,000 arms.
This clearly alludes to depictions of Buddha with multiple hands in representation of supreme enlightenment, so we can imagine the 1000 arms to manifest when the creature can draw from its powers at the fullest. Indeed, Junichi Masuda always remarked comparing the creature to a “god” wasn’t proper, and Pokémon Legends: Arceus confirmed the one we see in-game to be merely an avatar of the all-encompassing deity.
“I bestow my blessing. And I bestow upon thee a part of myself. I would walk this world together with thee. Show me how it appeareth in thine eyes.”
The Japanese term used here is ぶんしん [bunshin], which can be translated as “avatar”, but has also the specific connotation of “one of the bodies resulted from the split of another one into many parts”. In other words, the Original One — as called on Plates engraving — eventually divided its body in many parts, resulting in the Arceus we know today.
The appearance of this primordial god is currently unknown, but Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl may have given us a glimpse of its former glory. In Hearthome City we can access the Foreign Building [異文化の建物, Cross-Cultural Building], a church-type structure on the outside of which we can notice a peculiar depiction. The mysterious entity is obviously reminiscent of Arceus, presenting both its typical wheel and the Plates floating around it, but it’s more anthropomorphic in appearance. And given how the Original One was born out of humanity’s wish, this is particularly fitting.
Coherently with the reconstruction thus far, the text engraved on the Mind Plate [ふしぎのプレート, Mysterious Plate] describes the Original One resting alone before the universe came to be.
ENG: The Original One breathed alone before the universe came.
うちゅう うまれるまえ そのもの ひとり こきゅうする
JPN: Before the universe was born, the Being Itself rested alone.
The Original One is そのもの, which can be translated as “the Being Itself”, or “the Very Being”. The connotation of the creature “breathing” is also an artifact of localization, and this makes sense as strictly speaking nothing to breath exists yet.
The inscription on the Insect Plate [たまむしプレート, Jewel Beetle Plate] could be more obscure to understand.
ENG: Where all creation was born, that is the being’s place of origin.
うちゅう うまれた ばしょ そのもの はじまりの ばしょ
JPN: The place where the universe was born is the Being Itself place of beginning.
Apparently, the “place where the universe was born”, which is to say where the Original One started its act of creation, is the same place the god itself came to be — in other words, the turmoil of chaos core. In all likelihood, this refers to the Hall of Origin. The original name for the deity’s seat is はじまりの間 [Space of Beginning], which while not using the same kanji for “space”, has basically the same connotation of the はじまりの ばしょ [“place/space of beginning”] engraved on the Plate.
Indeed, Legends: Arceus depicts the Hall of Origin with the same alchemic glyph we can also see on the Mystri Stage during the Sinjoh Ruins event in HeartGold and SoulSilver. According to Cynthia, the stage itself is meant to represent the place Arceus has to stand on in order to create a new world:
“According to an ancient document, time, space, and antimatter, or what combined we call the world, shall be born when Arceus stands on the Mystri Stage.”
We can then infer the glyph was also necessary for the Original One to shape the universe in its beginning. If the process was similar to what we witness in Sinjoh, then other entities played a crucial role. In the act of materializing a new Legendary Dragon, many Unown gathers around Arceus — making the actual symbol appear on the stage.
The true nature of Unown is never spoken in the games, but whether they were born out of the Original One thousand hands drifting apart from the main body or simply out of the Spirit embodiment’s creative force, they surely are primordial creatures. Paralleling the Hebrew tradition of the monotheistic God bringing the world in existence through the power of words, the Symbol Pokémon are the very letters Arceus wrote the universe with.
Contrary to Abrahamic religions, however, the Original One isn’t responsible for creation ex nihilo. As we’ve already addressed, everything existed already in the vortex of chaos: all the god had to do was separate its parts, allowing to set them apart from the collectivity and stand as individuals. This is what the text on the Pixie Plate [せいれいプレート, Spirit Plate] alludes to.
ENG: The Original One is in all things. The Original One is nowhere at all.
そのもの あらゆるところに いる そのもの あらゆるところに いない
JPN: The Being Itself is everywhere. The Being Itself is not everywhere.
The Spirit sought a physical form and materialized in the Original One, and in order for other things to exist the deity had to split its own body and externalize the “everything” from itself. This is ultimately why the Arceus we see in-game has to be a mere shell of the whole: it’s the conditio sine qua non for the world to exist on its own.
This process of gradual disaggregation is also subtly referenced by the Earth Plate [だいちのプレート, Earth Plate].
ENG: When the universe was created, its shards became this Plate.
うちゅう うまれしとき その かけら プレートとする
JPN: When the universe was born, those shards became Plates.
Arceus’ Plates are artifacts as old as the universe itself, and according to the lore they were made by “shards” resulting from the world’s creation. The subject of this shattering isn’t made clear through the text, but the idea is again the same: for everything to exist, something has to be broken, shards remaining as proofs of the act. It’s then safe to assume what was fractured in the first place is none other than Arceus original body, something which is also confirmed by Volo:
“[…] The tale of a brave soul who, together with the Pokémon at his side, went on a journey to search for the fragments of an all-encompassing deity. […] But now, let us discuss the fragments. They must surely be the plates!”
It’s worth noticing Legend: Arceus recontextualized the Plates origin with the introduction of the Blank Plate. Its original name is まっさらプレート [Unused Plate], which confirms us this is the shape those items had in the beginning, when they were still “unused”. As we’ll see, the essences of Types were only later bestowed to the relics — and we now know they were all originally imbued with normalcy, mirroring the creator’s typology.
Gods of Space and Time
The tale of the Original Story continues narrating the making of two beings ruling over Time and Space.
From itself, two beings the Original One did make.
Time started to spin. Space began to expand.
This obviously refers to the mythical beasts Dialga, the Temporal Pokémon, and Palkia, the Spatial Pokémon. As the Pokédex reiterates multiple times, those are the creatures from which Time and Space firstly arose.
[Dialga] A Pokémon spoken of in legend. It is said that time began moving when Dialga was born.
[Palkia] A legendary Pokémon of Sinnoh. It is said that space becomes more stable with Palkia’s every breath.
This is further confirmed by the Hiker, who explicitly concludes the two Legendary Pokémon stemmed from Arceus at the beginning of the universe.
“Within the newborn spirit, time and space were intertwined as one.”
“[…] Hmm… The spirit came to be, and from it, time and space were born… That seems to point to Legendary Dialga, the Pokémon of time, and Palkia, the Pokémon of space… And they lead back to Arceus, the Pokémon that made them arise.”
And again, from the engrave on the Icicle Plate [つららのプレート, Icicle Plate].
ENG: Two beings of time and space set free from the Original One.
そのもの じかん くうかんの 2ひき ぶんしんとして よに はなつ
JPN: Two avatars of Time and Space were released from the Thing Itself.
This led many fans to assume the Generation IV cover Legendaries to be “children” of Arceus, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Both the Plate and the Original Story address Dialga and Palkia as ぶんしん [bunshin], “avatars”. For reference, this is the same term Arceus uses to describe the “part of itself” it bestows to us in-game: the Original One first division brought the gods of Space and Time in existence, but they aren’t less close to the ancestral deity than Arceus itself. They are, in all respects, aspects of the Original One on the same hierarchical level of the Alpha Pokémon — the only difference the latter conserved the ability to split itself in more beings.
さいしょの ものは ふたつの ぶんしんを つくった じかんが まわりはじめたくうかんが ひろがりはじめた
The first being made two avatars. Time began to flow. Space began to expand.
An interesting observation can be made at the use of “ひき” in the Icicle Plate original text: this is a counter normally used for small animals, and attached to Dialga and Palkia is a good indication of how immensely powerful the first being was as a whole.
With Space and Time, the first proper Dimensions were also ready to emerge. According to Palkia Pokédex entry, the Dragon lives in “the gap between spatial dimension”.
It is said to live in a gap in the spatial dimension parallel to ours. It appears in mythology.
The Japanese term for this is 空間の 狭間 [Kūkan no hazama], which can be roughly translated as “Between Spaces”. This is the same construction later used in Generation V to describe the Interdream Zone, or 夢の狭間 [Yume no hazama], “Between Dreams”. With the latter being the region between the Dream World and the waking realm, we can imagine Palkia’s Between Spaces to be a boundary domain dividing our world from a proper Space World.
Although the Pokédex doesn’t indulge us on the place Dialga resides, Pokémon Legends: Arceus official website confirmed the existence of a Time World. And while the locution 時間の狭間 [Jikan no hazama], “Between Times”, is never really used in-game, we can infer a region on the edge of dimensions has to be there even for the realm of time. Indeed, “Between Times” is used in the Pokémon Adventures manga in reference to Celebi’s domain, even before Generation IV mythos were conceived.
The flow of time is said to be in constant flux in the world where Origin Forme Dialga resides, always moving in different directions and different speeds.
The Time World is described as a place in which the flow of time is irregular, constantly moving in different directions. This is ultimately what allows Dialga to move freely in the folds of time, being able to reach past and future ages at its will.
This Pokémon completely controls the flow of time. It uses its power to travel at will through the past and future.
This unending and confused flow stems from the heart of Dialga itself, whose beats are the source of the “vast river of time” which started to run at the dawn of ages.
A legendary Pokémon of Sinnoh. It is said that time flows when Dialga’s heart beats.
This Pokémon is revered as a deity in Hisuian legend. The birth of Dialga was what caused the vast river of time to begin flowing in our world.
As for Palkia, the deity of the spatial realm is described to expand space with its mere breath. As Laventon poetically puts it, it broke down the “wall of the world” [世の壁] with its birth, casting a “limitless sky” [際限なき空].
A legendary Pokémon of Sinnoh. It is said that space becomes more stable with Palkia’s every breath.
The birth of Palkia was what caused the walls of our world to disappear, creating a sky that spans for infinity.
The Space World enlarged around the god’s essence, the sheer force of Palkia distorting powers allowing the Dragon to cross the boundaries of dimensions. And this obviously included the Time World as well.
Its total control over the boundaries of space enable it to transport itself to faraway places or even other dimensions.
When the Space World and the Time World intermingled, Space-Time was brought into the new universe — and that intersection of sets serves as the basis for the dimension we live in: the Material World in which both Time and Space coexist coherently. But how could two aspects so different generate a reality so harmonious? How could none of them have prevailed on the other, or tried to do so? As all sources point out — from the Original Story to the Draco Plate [りゅうのプレート, Dragon Plate] — three more beings were born in order to bind Time and Space.
ENG: From itself again, three living things the Original One did make.
さらに じぶんの からだから みっつの いのちを うみだした
JPN: Furthermore, It produced three lives from its body.
Draco Plate:
ENG: Three beings were born to bind time and space.
そのもの じかん くうかんを つなぐ 3びきの ポケモンをも うみだす
JPN: The Being Itself produced three Pokémon to connect Time and Space.
The three beings were able to “connect” [つなぐ] Time and Space, serving as the basis for the genesis of the spatiotemporal tissue. It’s relevant to note here the word “いのち” [lives] is used: despite they all originate from the Original One fracturing, the new trio is not composed of bunshin. They are their own independent lifeforms.
As the Hiker makes explicit, the text is referring to the Legendary Pokémon Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf.
“One Plate reads: ‘Three beings were born to bind time and space.’
Those three beings I read to mean the three Pokémon of the lakes. It’s about Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf.”
Pearl Pokédex entry for Azelf makes the case for all three beings to have born from the same Egg.
It is thought that Uxie, Mesprit and Azelf all came from the same egg.
The verb used here, うまれる [to be born], is actually different from the one used in the Original Story and on the Draco Plate, うみだす [to produce]. As we’ll see later, the former will be used again in reference to the Lake Trio’s birth, describing events further ahead in the timeline: we can then infer the mythos here described the origin of their Egg, more than their emersion as individuals. The three were still able to tie Space and Time inside their shell, but it wasn’t the right moment to come out just yet.
The Original Story’s narration continues with Dialga and Palkia wishing for “things” to exist.
ENG: The two beings wished, and from them, matter came to be.
ふたつの ぶんしんが いのると もの というものが うまれた
JPN: The two avatars prayed, and what are called “things” were born.
English localization decided to render もの [things] as “matter”. This isn’t a bad translation per se, as the word can generally refers to whatever concrete object, but it’s worth to point out there are more fitting words to describe the physical concept of “matter” [物質], which developers could’ve used if they wanted to stress out the connection. All “things”, all “objects” were born from the Legendary Dragons — from atoms to the largest of stars — making the popular suggestion of linking each Pokémon to a certain state of matter likely unsubstantiated.
Dialga and Palkia いのる [prayed] in order for things to exist. This doesn’t necessarily bring religious connotations with it, and it’s instead a very colloquial verb you can use in the hope something happens. Their necessity to wish for it, however, demonstrates the two avatars can’t externalize new matter from their bodies, despite being de facto projections of the Original One. It’s again the transcendent deity’s first incarnation who have to answer their prayer, fracturing itself in the many things which now fill the Material World.
From now on, myths and legends considerably shrink the timeline to a bare minimum. Pokémon Let’s Go, Pikachu! And Let’s Go, Eevee! added a chart in Pewter Museum of Science showing a rough chronology of the universe. From the little we ca see of it, real-life modern understanding of physical cosmology is carried over for the most past: from the emergence of sub-atomic particles to the first molecules, from the Dark Ages to the formation of stars and galaxies.
Pokédex entries for Cresselia confirm the Milky Way [天の川] to be the name of the galaxy the series is set in, and the star the Pokémon World revolves around is referred a Sun [太陽] multiple occasions.
Cresselia is reminiscent of the crescent moon. It leaves a brilliant line of light in its wake as it flies across the night sky. I daresay it resembles the heavenly maiden who created the Milky Way.
A new Pokémon species, rumored to be from the sun. It gives off light while spinning.
With real science mirrored so closely, we can imagine the events of creation taking place around 13,8 billion years ago, coinciding with the current dating of the Big Bang. This would also made the planet the series is set in about 4,5 billion years old like our Earth, although no precise temporal coordinates are ever given explicitly by the games.
Crucible of Life
According to the Hiker, Mt. Coronet is known as “the origin of Sinnoh”. Our first encounter with Cyrus in Diamond and Pearl moves the timeline even further back.
“According to one theory, Mt. Coronet is where the Sinnoh region began. In a newly created world… A world where only time flowed and space expanded… There should have been no strife. But what became of that world? Because the human spirit is weak and incomplete, strife has appeared…”
To the Team Galactic Boss understanding, Mt. Coronet is the origin of Sinnoh “in a newly created world”. While localization claims the “human spirit” is what ruined that unspoiled reality, the original dialogue has Cyrus blame the こころ [Spirit] in general — meaning the mountain had to exist before the metaphysical essence was spread to the world.
This makes sense considering Mt. Coronet is found in superimposition with the Hall of Origin, which would make the planet to exist in the former center of the chaos vortex — which is to say, in the very core of the universe. While developers generally try to avoid to give a name to the setting in order to keep it as separate as possible from real life, the Pokémon World is addressed as “Earth” [地球] in Hoothoot Pokédex entries.
Hoothoot has an internal organ that senses and tracks the earth’s rotation. Using this special organ, this Pokémon begins hooting at precisely the same time every day.
The proximity with Arceus domain obviously made the planet a fertile soil for creation. On the top of Mt. Coronet there’s its peak, the Spear Pillar [槍の柱, Spear Pillar]. Although in-universe this name will only be established after the events of Legends: Arceus, this is a clear reference to Shintoism Creation Myth. According to traditions, the deities Izanagi and Izanami were bestowed from the First Gods the spear Ame-no-nuboko [天沼矛], with which they made a primordial landmass arose, Onogoroshima [淤能碁呂島], upon which the pillar Ame-no-mihashira [天御柱] was built.
Whether it was Arceus doing, or Dialga and Palkia on its behalf in parallel with Izanagi and Izanami, Mt. Coronet was created when the gods pierced the Earth with the “Spear Pillar” which is now on its peak. In all likelihood, the Egg of the Lake Trio was also sent on the planet through the same spear.
Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf are based on the Imperial Regalia of Japan. The three sacred treasures all represent a primary virtue, drawing an evident parallel with the aspects of the Spirit the Pokémon will later bring to the world: the mirror Yata no Kagami [八咫鏡] incarnates wisdom; the jewel Yasakani no Magatama (八尺瓊勾玉) is a vessel for benevolence; and the sword Kusanagi no Tsurugi [草薙劍] is the embodiment of valour. According to tradition, the artifacts were brought to Earth from the Heavens above by the initiative of the legendary founder of Japanese Imperial line Ninigi-no-Mikoto, grandson of the goddess Amaterasu.
Although the legend isn’t paralleled one to one in Pokémon, the implication of the Lake Trio being sent on Earth from space is still present: the three were conceived in the very first stages of the genesis, before the planet could’ve possibly formed, which means they had to be sent on the land at some point in time. If that’s the case, maybe their single Egg was specifically needed in order to move them: a full-fledged ark, so that the primordial seed of life could safely fly across space and reach the amorphous world.
With the Egg arrived on Earth, the three beings inside it made a prayer, and the Spirit was stemmed from their hearts shaping the world around them. As both the Original Story and the Dread Plate [こわもてプレート, Frightening Plate] tell.
ENG: The three living things wished, and from them, spirit came to be.
みっつの いのちが いのると こころ というものが うまれた
JPN: The three lives prayed, and what is called “Spirit” was born.
Dread Plate:
ENG: Two make matter, and three make spirit, shaping the world.
2ひきに もの 3びきに こころ いのり うませ せかい かたちづくる
JPN: The two for things and the three for Spirit prayed, and the world was shaped.
At this point it should be clear enough the prayer didn’t create the Spirit from nothing: again, the Original One made the Lake Trio’s wish a reality, externalizing the こころ from its own body. The Hiker particularly cares to stress this point, and comprehensibly so. Note that in the original version Arceus is never really equated to the Original One.
ENG:
“The myth describes how they gave spirit to the world, shaping it. But it all starts with Arceus, the first. It is known as the Original One.”
JPN:
これは みずうみの ３びき ユクシー エムリット アグノムの はなしと よみとれますねー こころが ゆたかに なるほどに せかいが ひろがっていく しんわ！ アルセウスという ぜったいてきな そんざいから はじまる ものがたり！
“You can read this as the story about the three of the lakes, Uxie, Mesprit and Azelf. The world expands as the Spirit is abundant. (But) The story starts with Arceus’ absolute existence.”
What the Lake Trio prayed for was for the Spirit to “being abundant”, displacing it from its original seat in the universe core, and spreading it all over across the Earth. But the Spirit itself, the meticulous researcher notes, began with Arceus’ “absolute existence” [ぜったい てきな そんざい], the Original One born as its very embodiment.
At this point in time, Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf are likely still inside their common vessel. The moment described as their proper “birth” in the script dates back to a period nearer to humanity’s dawn, and in future analysis we’ll argue that to be the a consequence of the development of those particular sentient lifeforms. But even if the three aspects of the Spirit weren’t yet brought independently, the whole essence permeated the planet, causing the world to “expand”.
With inorganic matter already having developed thanks to Dialga and Palkia’s prayer, atoms imbued with Spirit can only result in a single outcome: the advent of life as we know it. Mew are described in the Pokédex as the ancestors of every Pokémon, and while we have obviously to exclude gods and other special cases from this, the New Species can easily serve as the common ancestor for all earthling life.
Because it is able to use every move, there are many scientists who believe that it is the ancestor of all Pokémon.
The Mythical Pokémon likely developed in great number during the early stages of the planet’s history, rising from the ground as the wave of newly brought Spirit rapidly settled in the folds of matter. The same process is what may have generated many Kami of the Pokémon World, first and foremost the Super-Ancient Pokémon of Hoenn folklore. We know Rayquaza to be around for hundreds of millions of years at least, and the eternal clash between lands and seas has probably roots in this first evolutionary radiation.
It has lived for hundreds of millions of years in the ozone layer. Its flying form looks like a meteor.
But leaving Generation III to their own series of analysis, what we know is that life eventually managed to find its way to spread. From Mew, multiple species arose in an intricate net of phylogenetic relationships that grew bigger and bigger as millennia went by. The planet surface started to look more familiar, with landmasses and oceans slowly forming. And as the three lakes around Mt. Coronet took their modern shapes, the three guardians were finally ready to broke out of their shell.
The birth of Uxie, Mesprit and Azelf has two main consequences: one is the self-awareness some creatures gained on the main aspects of the Spirit, a topic we’ll save for another time. The second, is continental drift.
Among all the stories in Canalave Library, the “Sinnoh’s Myth” [シンオウの しんわ] is without a doubt the most obscure one. This is the extract from the official localization:
Three Pokémon there were. Into the lakes they dove. Deep, deep, drawing no breath. Deeper, deeper they dove. Into suffocating depths they dove. Deeper, then deepest they alight. From the lake floor they rise. Bearing with them the power to make vast lands, they rise again.
Of course, this refers to the three Spirit keepers. As we learn through our adventure, the Pokémon eventually made three bodies of water in Sinnoh their homes: Uxie resided in Lake Acuity; Mesprit in Lake Verity; and Azelf choose Lake Valor.
In the myth, they’re described diving deep into their lakes and then rising, bringing with them “the power to make vast lands”. But what exactly is this power? Is this a metaphorical tale about how the Lake Trio casted the Spirit among humans allowing the spread of civilization? If so, it surely looks very blurry and vague. Now let’s look at the Japanese version and a plausible one-on-one translation:
3びきの ポケモンが いたいきを とめたままみずうみを ふかく ふかく もぐりくるしいのに ふかく ふかく もぐりみずうみの そこからだいじなものを とってくるそれが だいちを つくるためのちからと なっている という
Three Pokémon there were. They held their breath, remaining in that state. They dove deeper and deeper into the lakes. They dove deeper and deeper, despite in pain. (And) from the bottom of the lakes, they fetched an important “thing” [もの]. That, is said to serving as the power for make the lands.
As Japanese is often ambiguous about the number of nouns, there’s often no way to tell if a word is singular or plural besides from context. Here for example みずうみ could be translated both as “lake” and “lakes”. Given the text is talking about the three guardians, and since we know they reside in different lakes, it’s safe to assume the act of diving described in the myth happened in all three bodies of water — and so the plural is what we should go for.
Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf dove deep into their respective lakes, in a process that was physically/mentally hurtful to them — so it’s definitely not something they use to do all the time — and then “fetched an important thing”. The word here used for “thing” is もの.
Even if it can be occasionally used as an emphatic particle to underline a concept or an emotion, this usually addresses something physical and concrete. It also doesn’t say anything else on the nature of said thing: it can be an object, but also a living entity or a person — for reference, this is the same word used to describe Dialga and Palkia’s “matter”, but also rendered as “being” for the Original One.
So, while reading the English localization you could have the impression the text is referring to some sort of abstract “power”, the reality is different enough: Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf dove deep down their lakes to retrieve a concrete object or a living entity from their floors.
The verb なっている [here translated as “serving”] is a continuous tense, describing a state of the subject that started in the past and is continuing till the present. It can be translated in many ways, and a more common interpretation would be the use of “have been” or “have become”. However, as stated before, the “thing” that was retrieved is likely something concrete, so it cannot be the power itself. Rather, it is “in a continuous state of possessing that power”, reduced here to a simpler “serving as” due to the presence of the conjunction ための — used to point to the purpose something has.
In short, the text is saying the purpose of the power is to make the lands, with the verb tense telling us this remains true at the time the myth was written. つくる [make] can refer both to an act of creation or to making things with pre-existing materials [for example it can be used referencing the construction of a building or the cooking of a meal]. So, the “thing” has either the power to generate lands from nothing or to rearrange them to create something new. Luckily for us there’s a creature fitting perfectly the profile.
There is an enduring legend that states this Pokémon towed continents with ropes.
The origin of Regigigas has always been a mystery, as one of the great absents from Canalave City literature — or at least that what’s it’s easy to assume. But looking more closely to the original script, it’s abundantly clear Sinnoh’s Myth tells us the story of how the Colossal Pokémon responsible for continental drift was extracted in ancient times by the bottom of their lakes by Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf.
If this means the golem was actually created by the three with materials fetched from the submerged soil or just found sleeping somewhere in the deep, it was unknown at the time of Generation IV. Pokémon Legends: Arceus, however, helped to shed some light on the matter. After catching Regigigas, Adaman will say:
“Now that was one solid Pokémon! Like a giant born from the very earth!”
Of course, the Diamond Clan leader can’t possibly know what Regigigas true origins really are, but this was not the first nor will be the last time developers deliver lore exposition speaking to the players through a character — and the Canalave Hiker possessing knowledge predating the Original One should be enough to settle the matter.
If Regigigas is indeed a “giant born from the very earth” the implication may be the Lake Trio, in their act of painful submerging, impregnated the Earth’s core with their Spirit — resulting in the birth of the colossus.
“An Egg is the cradle of every being. The planet itself is an Egg in a sense… Life that comes from an Egg will come to an end in due course… to begin anew… That may be what Arceus wanted to show us.”
During the Sinjoh event in HeartGold and SoulSilver, Cynthia hints to the planet being a gargantuan Egg of some sort. Indeed, the image of Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf traversing the waters deeper and deeper, slowly approaching to the Earth’s core, is quite reminiscent of sperm cells fecundating an egg.
As for their motives, we don’t really have any precise clue, but as we’ll learn the Lake Trio coming out of their Egg resulted in humans becoming self-aware. The Pokémon using Regigigas as a “test-run” to their later spreading of Emotion, Knowledge and Will would parallel Hebrew mythology, as in some doctrines “golems” were constructs God created from mud before infusing life on the first man — and taking inspiration from real-life folklore is something the franchise constantly does!
Devil’s Gigantomachy
Of the many aces Hall Matron Argenta has in her sleeves, one among others may struck as an oddity: Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf can be in her team, in the same games we can catch them ourselves. In a context where the Multiverse wasn’t yet legitimized as an established narrative tool, the only thing we can conclude is the existence of multiple Lake Trios — this was further proved in later iterations, where they appear among the teams of Trainers in the Alola Battle Tree.
If this is true, then the Earth may have not been the only planet struck by a seed of life. Indeed, alien lifeforms are present in the franchise since Generation I, from Clefairy to Deoxys, meaning the Spirit permeated even the most remote corners of the universe. But while some worlds may have managed to develop just as fine, fate wasn’t so merciful for realities too distant from the Original One divine seat.
The inscription on the Flame Plate [ひのたまプレート, Fireball Plate] is one of the most cryptic, and at the same time important, bits of lore in the franchise.
ENG: The power of defeated giants infuses this Plate.”
プレートに あたえた ちから たおした きょじんたちの ちから
JPN: The powers bestowed to the Plates are the powers of defeated Giants.
The defeated Giants [たおした きょじんたち] are only mentioned in this instance, but the implication of Plates containing their powers is ground-breaking. The essences inside the legendary artifacts are the Types every Pokémon possess, and this engraving reveals us the almost unspoken truth: those energies were not originally under Arceus jurisdiction.
Types — other than Normal, being the “unused” state of the Plates at their creation — were the powers of giants, whose they were stripped of at their defeat. The games are never really explicit on the identity of these fallen titans, but the root for きょじん [giant] is the same for Regigigas category, きょだいポケモン [Gigantic Pokémon], and the colossus is addressed as “giant of the land” [大地のきょじん] in Adaman Japanese dialogue.
As we’ve established the golem to be born from the Earth’s core fecundated by the Lake Trio, we can speculate the same process is what generated other Gigantic Pokémon on planets struck by seeds of life — an idea Generation VIII strengthened a lot by introducing a second Gigantic Pokémon coming from outer space. What was, then, the cause of their corruption?
The Distortion World is described as “the world on opposite side of ours”. In this dimension everything is upside down: time doesn’t flow, space isn’t stable, the very rules behind causality are questioned. The Toxic Plate [もうどくプレート, Toxic Plate] describes this confusing domain.
ENG: The rules of time and space change within the opposite world.
せかいの うらがわ じかん くうかんの ことわり ことなる
JPN: The opposite side of the world differs in the truths of Time and Space.
According to Cyrus, this and our plane are like two strands of DNA: both can’t exist without each other, one even able to repair the breaks in its double.
“Genes can be considered the blueprints of all life-forms. That includes humans and Pokémon alike. Genes are contained in a DNA strand. A DNA strand consists of 2 chains of opposing characteristics in a spiral. If one of the chains were to be broken, the other could replicate it. One or the other cannot exist without its opposite.”
“Do you understand where I am going with this? This is a bizarre world. Time doesn’t flow. Space isn’t stable. Only that shadowy Pokémon lives here. This world is the opposite of our world — our world I wish to change. It is like the two chains composing the strand of DNA. The two worlds must be balancing each other to remain in existence. Without one, the other cannot exist.”
The same concept is summarized in the text on the Fist Plate [こぶしのプレート, Fist Plate].
ENG: The rift is born of disorder on the other side of this world.
せかいのうらがわ みだれるとき じくうのさけめ しょうじる
JPN: When the opposite side of the world gets disturbed, a rift in space-time is produced.
The nature of this reality and the creative process behind its design have been discussed in different occasions. A 2009 G4 interview with Junichi Masuda and director Takeshi Kawachimaru revealed modern physics to have played an important role in the Distortion World conceptualization.
G4: “Pokémon Platinum’s concept is based on some heady things like Einstein’s theory of relativity, matter, and antimatter. Would you kindly expand on that for the G4 audience?”
Kawachimaru: “I was the one that set the direction for Platinum. Mr. Masuda came to me and explained the original concept for the Pokémon Giratina. He mentioned antimatter as something — it’s there, but it’s something you can’t see. Mr. Masuda gave me a lot of key concepts to design around — matter, antimatter, Einstein’s theory of relativity. I was the one that had to make those concepts a realization in a Pokémon game — both visually and implementing certain tricks into the gameplay to give the player a sense of bipolarity.
There’s a concept in particle, in physics called CP violation. It helps explain the relationship between matter and antimatter. The relationship is bipolar. The reality is that anti-matter is something that’s very, very fragile. This concept weighs heavily in how we came up with Pokémon Platinum’s Distortion World.”
Kawachimaru refers to antimatter as the starting point of the concept. Indeed, this is something HeartGold and SoulSilver also mentions directly during the Sinjoh event, with Cynthia calling the place “world of antimatter” [はんぶっしつの せかい]. By the way, more than a scientifically accurate representation of reverse-charged particles — as a matter of fact, we don’t instantly annihilate upon entering in the Distortion World — this brings to the table a cultural subtext that is easy to miss.
Kawachimaru mentions the “CP violation” to describe the relation between the matter in the common reality and the antimatter in the Distortion World. Without even attempting to delving into the dense and incomprehensible jungle of theoretical physics, Wikipedia defines this as the principles according to which “the laws of physics should be the same if a particle is interchanged with its antiparticle (C-symmetry) while its spatial coordinates are inverted (“mirror” or P-symmetry).” The latter symmetry is particularly relevant.
Another interview with Masuda and Kawachimaru was published April 2009 issue of Nintendo Power magazine. Here the ideas behind the Distortion World are further expanded.
Kawachimaru: “I normally receive key terms from Masuda in the first stage of development, but there were many random terms like ‘antimatter’ and ‘e=mc2,’ ‘Reversed Mt. Fuji’ [‘Sakasa Fuji’] and so on. He explained that ‘Sakasa Fuji’ is the reflection of Mt Fuji on the lake, and it’s the antimatter world. It was challenging to put that concept into the game, so we did extensive research. I didn’t know what exactly ‘antimatter’ was either. I personally think I comprehend it well, but I wonder….
Masuda: “Yes. It exists but it actually doesn’t. It doesn’t exist but it does. That sort of thing. The mountain exists on the lake through human eyes, but it’s only a reflection and doesn’t exist. It’s a diverse world. You see it only because you are looking at it with your eyes. I’m impressed [with Kawachimaru] for being able to take ingredients that were not substantial and incorporate them into Platinum.”
The antimatter Masuda referred to in the first stage of development is actually an attempt to ground to modern science the concept of Inverted Fuji [逆さ富士]. The reflection of the mountain on Lake Tanuki gives the impression an upside-down relief exists in the mirror of waters: this is the true basis for Distortion World. A reality where everything is “upside down”, where matter is the opposite of matter, time and space don’t work, everything being in contraposition with its normal self.
The Platinum Japanese official website makes this even clearer, affirming in the Distortion World neither Time [時間] nor Space [空間] actually exist in the first place. What the dimension is made of is a different “concept” [概念], functioning in the opposite way of Space-Time as a whole. But if matter arose from the first two’ prayer, the obvious conclusion would be for antimatter to be a consequence of this third, new aspect of reality — more than directly equating it to the concept itself.
The Distortion World is needed for the universe very foundation, the Material World falling apart without it. We can then be sure it was around when the Time World and the Space World were casted into existence. This is something Mystery Files also suggest in saying both three aspects have to intertwine in order for a world to be born anew.
そこにアルセウスが上がることで時間・空間・反物質が交わり、世界が生まれたという伝説が残っている。
There is a legend that when Arceus got up there [the Mystri Stage], Time, Space, and Antimatter intersected and a world was born.
Since the Legendary Pokémon Giratina is the only sentient creature living here, the easiest assumption would be the Distortion World was born as a consequence of the Dragon sole existence — not differently than Dialga and Palkia. With the information given in Generation IV, this was indeed the only logical conclusion, to which both Cyrus and Cynthia agree after having studied the ancient texts.
“When this world was made, Dialga and Palkia appeared. Apparently, there was one more Pokémon that appeared at the same time. A Pokémon with as much power as Dialga and Palkia… But also one whose name was never to be spoken — Giratina! It’s said to lurk in another world… A world on the opposite side of ours…”
“The shadowy Pokémon must have made this bizarre world. That’s why trying to change our world disturbed it and made it reveal itself.”
This made sense: Giratina was an outcast, forbidden by the old folklore due to its violence, and that’s why it wasn’t present in the stories of creation even if it was as ancient as the other deities. The fact is, Legends: Arceus reveals this idea to be unfounded.
It was banished for its violence. It silently gazed upon the old world from the Distortion World.
Out of the nineteen Plates we can found in the game, five of them alludes to the Distortion World, three explicitly mentioning its ruler. Only three bears stories of Palkia and Dialga. The implication couldn’t be more evident: Giratina’s damnatio memoriae happened after the Plates were engraved. And despite this, the Icicle Plate still affirms only two avatars were set free to create the world: what other reason could’ve been to exclude the Renegade Pokémon, other than its birth being successive to that moment?
The inscription on the Spooky Plate [もののけプレート, Specter Plate] is revelatory in that regard:
ENG: The other side of this world was given by the Original One to its raging third.
そのものの あらぶる ぶんしん せかいの うらがわを あたえられる
JPN: The opposite side of the world is bestowed to the Being Itself raging avatar.
The Distortion World was bestowed to Giratina, meaning it was not originally its domain. The verb used has the specific connotation of “give to someone of lower status”, often as a reward — so even if it isn’t explicit in the original version, the localization claiming the gift was from the Original One seems to be accurate.
Giratina is also addressed as a ぶんしん [bunshin] like Dialga and Palkia: it is in every way a part of the Original One’s body in which the creator’s consciousness reversed, a projection of its Spirit in a different vessel. But while the first two Dragons were avatars of “space” and “time”, Giratina wasn’t conceived as the sovereign of “antimatter” — a role it will only later assume. It is, instead, the “raging avatar” [すさぶる ぶんしん].
There is one Hisuian verse that tells of a powerful light creating a deep shadow. I imagine that this deep shadow is Giratina.
So, Laventon is right in picturing Giratina as a “shadow” casted by god’s light. But why was it created in the first place? It should be obvious at this point that the common Western interpretation of the Pokémon as “Satan” is unsubstantiated: Giratina and Arceus are the same entity, the former being the incarnation of the latter’s rage. In other words, at some point the Original One felt the need to give its inner violence a husk of flesh, and that avatar was later awarded with its own dimension. And to whom the all-encompassing deity’s anger could’ve been directed, other than the primordial Giants who moved war against it?
I believe this Pokémon must hail from a world where the heavens and the earth are as one, though I have no way of proving it.
The Hisuian Professor imagines the Distortion World as a place where there’s no distinction between heavens and earth. This is a fitting description, considering how much space distorts itself there, but it also underlines an important truth: in Giratina’s domain, everything tends to blend as one. The sky and the land are the same, but also Space and Time are replaced by a single third concept. This inclination is rather peculiar, considering the original state of the universe was precisely a great singularity.
Pokémon Generations further explore this analogy, with Cyrus affirming the Distortion World is a world much alike the one he sought, a perfect reality that “requires no Spirit”. The vortex of chaos was broken in its unity by the Spirit of humanity’s will, and the world on the opposite side of ours serves as a counterbalance to that wish. It’s a dimension which spontaneously seek to nullify that first act of creation, a Chaos World [こんとんのせかい], like both the regular anime and the Pokémon Adventures manga fittingly refers to — using the same word for the primordial essence of the turmoil.
The two realities may have in theory existed independently, but history shows this is not what happened. The Spirit eventually managed to cross the boundaries of dimensions, sprouting lives in the Distortion World — as attested by the plants growing there even to these days. At that point, Chaos counterattack must have been to find its way to the other side — and when seeds of life tried to fecundate planets far from Arceus influence, corrupted Giants arose from their cores.
If this is true, it’s perfectly explained why Types originally belonged to the fallen titans. As creatures tainted by Chaos, they were able to manifest new aspects of diversity that were yet to be divided from the original turmoil. And so, an army of gargantuan warriors possessing mysterious and unseen powers was born, and determined to bring the Spirit supremacy to an end: the world had to return to that beautiful, chaotic singularity — the world “without conflict” ultimately sought by Cyrus. And if deicide was the path to take, so let it be.
But if the Giants ever managed to strike any significant damage, their campaign was destined to miserably fail. The Original One externalized all its rage towards the chaotic spawns, bringing Giratina in existence. Even if Dialga and Palkia may have taken place to the conflict, the Renegade Pokémon was violence incarnate: the perfect champion to send on the battlefield, if you wanted to extinguish your enemies lives for good.
This is also mirrored by Giratina’s possible inspiration. The Pokémon appearance is reminiscent of Seta, the serpent-centipede of the Japanese heroic tale Tawara Tōda monogatari [俵藤太物語]. The beast is described as feasting on dragons’ hatchlings, with later games establishing Dragon as a recurring Type for Giants’ remnants.
The first half of the battle surely took place in the Material World, if later games are of any indications. Remnants of the Giants’ original bodies coming on Earth inside meteors will become a recurring motif in the franchise, showing how not only the titans were slain in pieces, but also how their planets of origin were likely torn apart.
It is implied, however, the conflict eventually moved to the opposite side. Ancient engravings in the inner chamber of Turnback Cave describe the Distortion World as a place where “life has faded”:
This is… That where life sparkles… That where life has faded… A place where two worlds overlap…
This confirms lifeforms existed at some point here, and were evidently “lost” [うしなう] during the conflict. Some Giants may have slipped back to the chaotic dimension seeing how their comrades were being recklessly crushed, to which Arceus and Giratina chased them down. But it is also possible the Spirit’s army decided to invade the Distortion World in order to get rid of the very roots of Chaos, once and for all.
Cut content reiterates this idea. In 2020, sprites from an early Pokémon Diamond and Pearl build leaked online, allowing us to have a look to Generation IV beta designs. Out of all of them, one obviously peaks the attention: Giratina was completely absent, and its place in the Pokédex was taken by a scrapped Legendary Pokémon whose name was supposed to be Kimairan [キマイラン], judging by Pokémon Battle Revolution internal naming system.
Nothing much can be said for this creature, as no Pokédex entries ever saw the light of public domain yet, but both its name and appearance betray its nature of a chimera. From the mammalian body structure to the avian wing on its back, arriving to the Cthulhu-reminiscent squid face, you could say this Legendary beast was a real mixture of everything. If the Chaos seeker of unity had ever taken a concrete shape, it would definitely look like Kimairan — it’s not by chance the Pokémon design was probably inspired by Hundun, the “central and primordial chaos” in Chinese mythology.
Whether Giratina actually slain the chimera in the heart of Chaos, the dimension was surely invaded at some point, killing all sentient lives lurking within it. And with that final cleansing, the Chaos World was torn in pieces, its unity breaking. It was likely at this point it took its current name: Distortion World is just localization for やぶれたせかい, which can be translated as “Torn/Shattered World”, but also “Defeated World”.
With the death of Chaos, the Original One rewarded Giratina for its military service in the conflict, bestowing to it the conquered dimension. Poetically, when the Giants plot was side-lined in development and Kimairan was cut, the Dragon also dethroned the chimera in the Pokédex.
Giants were defeated, and the essences of Types were now infused in the Plates and passed under Arceus domain. The Multitype Ability allows the Alpha Pokémon to change its typology matching the Plate it holds, and this power is referenced in the text of the Splash Plate [しずくプレート, Water Drop Plate].
ENG: The rightful bearer of a Plate draws from the Plate it holds.
プレート にぎりしもの さまざまに へんげし ちからふるう
JPN: The one holding the Plates, changes into many forms and releases (their) powers.
The Meadow Plate [みどりのプレート, Verdure Plate] fill us on the moment Types were shared to other Pokémon instead.
ENG: The powers of Plates are shared among Pokémon.
うまれてくる ポケモン プレートの ちから わけあたえられる
JPN: The powers of Plates are distributed to Pokémon that are born.
The implication would be for all the Pokémon pre-existing the conflict to be typeless — or all Normal Type — before the essences were given to the world. Maybe this final breath of diversity is what made the Mew lurking on Earth so malleable, capable of evolving in all kinds of different creatures.
Multiversal Madness
The Old Verse 15 is a poem on the contemplation of the limitless concepts of Time and Space. The author ends it with an important consideration:
The flow of time never stops… The past, future, and present… Space is ever-expanding dimensions… Our spirits, too, are as space…
While both realities are praised as unending in their spreading, the Spirit is specifically compared to Space. Not just “our” like English localization claims, but Spirit as a whole “is Space”.
じかんとは とまらないものかこと みらい そして いま……くうかんとは すべての ひろがりそして こころも くうかん……
Time is something that doesn’t stop. The past, the future, and the present… Space is the expansion of everything. And the Spirit is also Space.
It’s clear the writer is trying express how existence feels more akin to Palkia’s concept. Something in the never-ending expansion of Space just seems more familiar and warmer, compared to the unavoidable flow the temporal river. The future, after all, brings aging, and death.
Would it be weird, then, for Space itself to develop the deep desire of getting closer to Spirit?
It soars across the sky in a form that greatly resembles the creator of all things. Perhaps this imitation of appearance is Palkia’s strategy for gaining Arceus’s powers.
Legends: Arceus has casted a shadow on Palkia’s image. Prior to this game, the deity was always depicted on par with Dialga — really deprived of any sort of individual desires. But while the avatar of Time always remains super partes in assuming a shape akin to the Original One, its counterpart is now described assuming a physical form in the active attempt of getting closer to Arceus appearance and powers.
“The Spirit is also Space”, and opposite is true too. From the moment it was set free in the world, Palkia tried to imitate the body from which it came from. And eventually, it crossed the line: a comparison of the Pokédex entries of both the Legendary Pokémon reveals how rooted is the fear for Palkia in Hisuian distant folklore.
[Dialga] This Pokémon is revered as a deity in Hisuian legend
[Palkia] This Pokémon is feared as a deity in Hisuian legend.
This and the previous description settle the matter: at some point in time, Palkia tried to usurp Arceus’s seat as the legitimate ruler of the world. Since the event was known to the ancient humans, to a point the god of Space is still feared to these days, this probably happened after the war against the Giants.
Maybe the conflict itself served as a trigger. Even if they weren’t the main actors, it’s highly unlikely Dialga and Palkia were ignorant about the war. What could have the spatial deity thought, at the idea of Chaos making everything one again? Wouldn’t that mean it could have finally become as the Spirit? As the source of light it was so desperately trying to imitate?
Like that, while Chaos was defeated, it was able to persist in Palkia’s mind like a parasite, tapping the darker regions of its consciousness. If it couldn’t become as the creator, then it would expand its domain and engulf it — taking the throne of the Spirit up above, in the Hall of Origin.
As we know none of this was even accounted by any relevant ancient historian, Palkia’s rebellion was destined to fail at its dawn. The text for the Blank Plate [まっさらプレート, Unused Plate] reveals us how:
ENG: Three beings whose power can hold both time and space fixed.
3びきの ポケモンの ちから じかん くうかんを しばし とめる
JPN: The three Pokémon have the power to stop Space and Time for a short while.
Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf were born in order to “connect” Space and Time and allow the Material World to exist, but they also served another, secret role. Inside their bodies, lingers the power to “stop” [とめる] the two concepts, even if for a short while.
We see this ourselves both in Generation IV games and in Legends: Arceus, as both stories involve the creation of the Red Chain [あかいくさり, Red Chain] in order to tame one of the Legendary Pokémon. This artifact originates from the Lake Trio’s bodies, even if the process of manufacturing it differs from the titles. In modern Sinnoh, Cyrus forces the extraction of the red crystals on the three deities’ heads — as he writes in the reports on his computer.
“According to myths, the Pokémon created Sinnoh with its power. However, capturing the Pokémon with a Poké Ball prevents it from using its full power… But with the Red Chain, the Pokémon can be shackled, and its power can be used without restraint…
The Pokémon of the lakes and Mt. Coronet are somehow connected. Capturing the Pokémon of the lakes will free the Pokémon of Mt. Coronet. From the Pokémon of the lakes, crystals can be extracted to create a Red Chain.
Using that Red Chain, the mythical Pokémon can be summoned and shackled to do as we command…”
The Galactic Team Boss notes how the Red Chain is not a power limiter — which is why the scientist is not interested in using Poké Balls for his plans: it controls the shackled mind, so that it can obey to the master command. Why such relic exists in the first place, if not out of fear an avatar may go rogue?
Indeed, Cogita is also aware of the Red Chain — and even for a woman so knowledgeable of a two-millennium old civilization, the stories around it are mere legends, confirming the item was used in the most distant past of humanity at least once:
“Ahh, Azelf’s Fang/Mesprit’s Plume/Uxie’s Claw… So the legends told it true. Then the Red Chain must be real as well.”
In the Hisuian title, the Red Chain is crafted after we retrieve an Azelf’s Fang, a Mesprit’s Plume, and an Uxie’s Claw from their respective Pokémon, but this appears more as a ritual to prove as worthy than list of ingredients — the trio still has to manifest the chain by themselves at the end of our quest.
The Sinnohan lady also reveals us the Red Chain real functioning, showing to be well informed on the genesis stories:
“Without the mind, were the rift to widen and the very world to end, would we even know it? One might even say the world–time, space, all creation — exists only because our minds are there to perceive it. Perhaps the Red Chain’s purpose is to let one see creation as it truly is.”
The term here for “mind” is the same normally used for the Spirit, and this is again a confirmation of what we established in the start: the universe exists because our minds wished for it. But the Red Chain is able to cut through this veil of subjectiveness, tearing apart every form of individuality.
This is what the minds of Palkia and Dialga go through when shackled: they witness the truth, they — even if just “for a short while” — return to the turmoil of Chaos before creation. And how do they react, other than being stunned in confusion? If the Space Pokémon ever desired the regain the primordial unity, showing what that truly would have meant was sufficient to extinguish its ambition.
Even if the rogue avatar was tamed, a punishment was required so that history would not repeat itself. As the official website alludes to, the Space World was at some point shattered, torn in infinite ribbons.
They say that the very space in the world where Origin Forme Palkia resides is in shreds, as if it had been torn to ribbons.
This likely references Palkia’s signature move Spatial Rend [あくうせつだん, Subspace Tear], which is able to “tears the foe along with the space around it”. The attack alone is proof of Palkia’s more belligerant nature, with Dialga’s Roar of Time [ときのほうこう, Roar of Time] being only able to “distort time” without tearing it apart, despite having more Base Power than its counterpart.
The Space World being torn to ribbons shows Spatial Rend was used multiple times in Palkia’s domain, in a manner it doesn’t seem physiological. This shattering could potentially be traced back to the period the god of Space went rogue — either as a mindless act of a creature tainted by Chaos, or as a form of punishment by Arceus itself, which is also able to learn Spatial Rend through dedicated events.
Be it as it may, many independent bubbles started to expand as their own from the realm of Palkia. Whether they were there from the beginning, or they are indeed a result of the rebellion, this multitude of Space Worlds may have been the basis for the Multiverse to exist.
Connecting the existence of multiple universes to Space specifically is consistent with what we know of multiversal travels. Despite worlds are made both of Time and Space, is through the latter we can move from one another: Hoopa specifically distorts Space with its rings, and we have no evidence time-manipulating Pokémon can cross the same boundaries besides Terapagos’ convergence — which however involves also Space.
This troublemaker sends anything and everything to faraway places using its loop, which can warp space.
All the primordial deity needed for division to further spread, was to give a Time World and a Distortion World to each self-expanding dimensions of Palkia — and respective avatars to each one of them. And if this seems too much even for an all-encompassing god, the inscription of the Legend Plate [レジェンドプレート, Legend Plate] confirms us only one entity watches all over the Multiverse.
ENG: From all creations, over all creations, does the Original One watch over all.
そのもの あらゆる うちゅうで ポケモンと ひとを みる
JPN: The Being Itself sees Pokémon and people in every universe.
At Last, It Rested
The creation of infinite universes consumed a considerable portion of the Original One powers. The Sky Plate [あおぞらプレート, Blue Sky Plate] addresses one of the last accounted acts performed by the god.
ENG: The being poured the remains of its power into stone and buried it deep.
そのものの ちからの かけら たまに こめて だいちに うめる
JPN: The Being Itself put fragments of its power into Orbs, and buried them in the ground.
Despite the localization renders this as “stone”, the term たま is consistently used for the Orbs. Palkia, Dialga, and Giratina all possess an Origin Forme manifesting when the Pokémon linger in their dimensions. When they invade the Material World, their shape alters and their powers are contained — resulting in the Altered Form [although the term is only officially used for Giratina, the concept behind it is the same for all three]. For the Renegade Pokémon, this process is actually mentioned in the Iron Plate [こうてつプレート, Steel Plate], although the English translation completely butchers its meaning.
ENG: That which fills the other side of the world can shape the rage and mold it.
せかいの うらがわに みちるもの いぶく ものの すがたを かえる
JPN: The being which fills the opposite side of the world changes its form.
Special Orbs exist containing the condensed powers of the Space, Time, and Distortion Worlds — allowing the three avatars to manifest their Origin Forme even outside their realms. Initially born out of the Original One as a last division of its remaining forces, the Orbs were then buried down the earth by the god.
In particular, each artifact’s Japanese name is actually a reference to the Generation IV games’ titles: the Adamant Crystal of Dialga is だいこんごうだま [Great Diamond Orb]; the Lustrous Globe of Palkia is だいしらたま [Great Pearl Orb]; and finally, the Griseous Core of Giratina is だいはっきんだま [Great Platinum Orb]. These were probably the sheer forms of the minerals, but with time going by some eventually got polished and lost their power — which is why the Adamant Orb, the Lustrous Orb and some Griseous Orbs can’t trigger any shapeshift.
The Origin Ore [オリジンこうせき, Origin Ore] is a peculiar case. Despite not being labelled as an Orb, this mineral is effectively still buried in ground. Its in-game description confirms affinity with Arceus, but its crystals are red instead of the usual green jade associated to the Alpha Pokémon.
An ore of mysterious power, spoken of in ancient myths and said to contain the power of almighty Sinnoh itself.
A possible explanation is the Origin Ore was actually part of the Original One before it externalized itself in the current Arceus. If that’s accurate, then the green jewels may have originally been more reddish in color — mirroring the ones on the Lake Trio’s heads and the Red Chain material.
This would also mean the mineral was sent on Earth much earlier than the Orbs, and since it’s found in the Primeval Grotto [太古の洞穴, Primeval Cave] in Coronet Highlands it may have arrived along with the spear which made the first mountain arose.
With this, the Original Story ends. The last passage reads of how Arceus, the days of creation having reached their conclusion, went to a deep state of sleep in the attempt of slowly regaining its powers.
ENG: The world created, the Original One took to unyielding sleep…
せかいが つくりだされたのでさいしょのものは ねむりについた
JPN: As the world was created, the first being went to sleep.
A slumber that will only end much later, when humanity will step foot on the Hall of Origin for the first time.