Thread: The Long March Of Time (Chapter 6 up!)

The Long March of Time

Formerly known as "The Pokemon World: A History".

EDIT: Removed the rant. I think it's scaring potential readers off.

EDIT2: Table of Contents:
Introduction (this post)
Chapter 1: Origins
Chapter 2: Worldbuilding
Chapter 3: Primeval
Chapter 4: Forerunners
Chapter 5: Arrival
Chapter 6: Turmoil

EDIT3: Here's the ffnet version, though I haven't revised that one as much as this one.

Alright, now about this fic. I was looking at the pages on the Pokemon world and such on Bulbapedia, and thought, “This would make a good story all on its own.” And this flowed naturally from there. I actually decided to post it here on Bulbagarden as increased motivation for me to finish writing it. I have a history of “getting writer’s block”, but the “History of the Pokemon World” page on Bulbapedia and my own imagination are sure to provide me with a lot of material. (I hope so anyway – I don’t want this to become a dead fic.) It’s also somewhat inspired by All Tomorrows, a short sci-fi story I’m a big fan of, and is written in a somewhat similar style. There was also a fake leak for Black and White that gave me some story ideas, such as… no, I won’t spoil it.

FIC STARTS HERE!

Rating: TEEN for occasional graphic violence
Universe: Mixes stuff from the anime and the games, along with original material.

Introduction

I have done it.

After many years of studying ancient mythologies, unearthing artifacts, and examining the brainwaves of Xatu and certain long-lived Pokemon, I have composed a history of our world. This history is by no means complete – it still has many holes, holes I intend to fill by visiting new regions and interviewing new people, as well as studying more ancient Pokemon. Nor is it intended to be a textbook- no, this is a story, a story that deserves to be told with passion and vigor, not just for route memorization. (Putting the story in history, as the saying goes.) There are things in here that every schoolchild will know, and then there are things only known because of intense scrutiny, this world’s darkest secrets. It is a story of mighty gods, powerful civilizations, and the various people and Pokemon that eventually led to the world we know today.

And it all started with an egg.

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Unfortunately, that's all the introduction is - an introduction - but I'm working on the first chapter as I type this, and it should be up in a day or two. If you want to wait until then to post a comment, that's fine.

That is quite possibly the shortest yet most hooking introduction I've ever read :p

Just a tip, Don't rush your first chapter out, take your time, and you will be able to make this fic stand out with a plot like that!

My only wonder is, whose POV will this be from? Or will it be from several?

Well, you hooked me before you started the fic. Your goal in writing this sounds very genuine, and has made me want to follow this.

I'll be content in reading this regardless of how long it gets.

Wow, replies already! Didn't think I'd get any with such a short intro...

@some colour no doubt: Glad you got hooked just by that. Self-confidence +1.
Oh, and it's from the perspective of an "omniscient"(he doesn't quite know everything, and some stuff on the thoughts of the characters is speculation) narrator.

@333Erufuun333: Self-confidence +2, and I don't plan on it being too long. Heck, one of my weaknesses as a writer is that I have a tendency to make scenes too short.

Chapter 1 is done!

This part is a story pretty much everyone is familiar with, so I tried to spice it up a little by describing it in detail.

Slightly OT: I actually have a question - how long is the average fanfic chapter? Because I think this is probably below average.

Enjoy!

Chapter 1: Origins

At first, there was only the maelstrom. Existing outside of time and space - for they themselves did not exist yet - this storm, the embodiment of chaos itself, whirled constantly, seemingly neverending.

Then by some miracle, came the egg.

It was simple and white, and not really anything you’d expect a universe-creating deity to pop out of. But, in a split second that lasted for an eternity, it cracked. The crack grew, and grew, until the egg looked like it was ready to burst. A few seconds later, it did burst, and in a flash of light revealed the first Pokemon ever to live.

Its white body stood out starkly in the blackness of the void. The wheel-like structure in the center of its body glowed with an eerie light. Its eyes, red and green, gazed through the nothingness with curiosity.

Today we know this being as Arceus.

The bits of eggshell –thousands, maybe millions of them – began to absorb some of the chaos. They were imbued with strange and wonderful powers, elemental powers that would literally shape the world to come. These shells became the elemental Plates. They converged toward Arceus, and it absorbed them.

Then, it started creating.

At first, it created sub-atomic particles without really thinking about it. Then, when Arceus realized it could create things, it began creating actual atoms. Those atoms formed into molecules, and those molecules formed into specks of dust. As Arceus’ creating power and skill began to grow, so did the cloud of dust, until Arceus decided to try something new, and started thinking about what would happen if the dust converged. And with that thought, the dust did converge, through this new law called gravity, until the pressure in the center was so great a chemical reaction started. The atoms in the dust particles began fusing together, creating massive amounts of heat that fused more atoms, and it went on and on until something spectacular happened.

The first star was born.

The young Arceus was thrilled by this development. It had created his own light to cast away the darkness. It soon wished it could create more. As soon as Arceus realized it could, a new star appeared. Then another, and another, until the space around him was filled with stars.

But Arceus wasn’t satisfied by just stars. It created smaller balls of rock and gas to spin around some of the stars. It created nebulas, as a cradle for newborn stars. It even created the first asteroids and comets to spice things up. As its power grew, the objects began to group together into a massive cloud of stars, until what we now know as a galaxy finally formed. Then Arceus simply waved one of its slender hooves, and more galaxies appeared. After that, it ran through empty space, new galaxies appearing in its wake.

By the time Arceus stopped running and turned around, a young universe lay before it.

But Arceus, as powerful as it was, was not immune to fatigue. Creating an entire universe was tiring for it, and Arceus decided it needed to sleep. But there was one problem that it needed to address first –

Who would take care of this new world?

Then Arceus had an epiphany. Why should it be the only creature in this universe? Drawing on the power of the plates it had absorbed, it created three new creatures from itself- a steel dragon, a water dragon, and a ghostly dragon. These creatures we know today as Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina. The first was charged with enforcing the laws of Time. The second was assigned the maintenance of Space. The third was given rule over antimatter, dark matter, and everything else that bent the laws of space and time.

However, the young Giratina was boisterous and prone to temper tantrums, and occasionally bullied its siblings. Arceus responded by giving Giratina a home in the alternate dimension known as the Distortion World, which, aside from a few incidences, is its home to this day. Arceus created alternate dimensions for Dialga and Palkia as well, though he allowed them to venture out more frequently.

Arceus then created an egg from itself, from which three new Pokemon hatched. These spritelike beings are today known as the Trio of Spirit – Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf. Arceus gave them charge over the spirit of any beings that would be born in this new universe, and tasked them with spreading its plates throughout the universe, so that they could be of use to life at some later point.

And with that, Arceus retreated to a pocket dimension of its own and fell asleep, waiting for when the universe would need it again.

The Trio of Spirit went straight to work, scattering plates throughout different planets in the universe. For millions of years, they flew through space, putting plates on small rocky planets that looked like they could support life.

Finally, they too needed to rest, and they settled down at the edge of a spiral galaxy, on a small planet near a medium-sized yellow star.

But as soon as they arrived, they decided the planet needed something extra.
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Author's Note:
When I was researching the Sinnoh legends in order to write this, I suddenly realized that Dialga and Palkia were the ones who created matter in said legends. However, by then I had already written the part about Arceus creating stars, and I liked that part enough that I decided to keep it that way. Artistic licence, I guess.

:o
A truly great legend/history, can see the universe literally being created in my head. As a history student, I love reading things like this, adds a bit of depth to what we write about.
I'll be honest, I like the way you did this, with Arceus creating the universe, not Dialga and Palkia, its almost like he's left them as 'caretakers' of what he made.
The imagery you conjoured is great, and you had me intrigued, and then it stopped...
More chapters please!

Loved it. Great way of retelling a legend. But I wonder what this extra something they need is?

I kind of snickered at your description of the deity pokemons' personalities when first born. Funny, but sensible. Everyone's a child at some point... even the gods...

Great! i stick to it.

@some colour no doubt: The "caretakers" thing was pretty much what I was going for, so I'm glad you caught on. And I already know what to do for the next chapter, so you'll see that sooner or later.
@Illusion: I'll give you a slight spoiler:

The planet has no life...yet.

@333Erufuun333: Thanks. I wanted Giratina's "violence" to be childlike instead of vicious, so you got that right on. I also like my god characters to have humanlike personalities...for better or for worse.
@Shadow Raikou: Wait, what?

it means ill be reading this

Originally Posted by Shadow Raikou

it means ill be reading this

Oh, thought that might be the case. Sorry about that.

This is great... The concept is good, and you execute it very well. I particularly appreciate your grammar and spelling, because quite a few fanfics fail in that regard. I'm hooked, so keep writing more please!

@ EricDLee: Thanks. And I'm proud of my spelling and grammar, though I use Microsoft Word and extensive proofreading to get it just right.

And now, ladies and gentlemen...Chapter 2!


Chapter 2: Worldbuilding

When the lake trio descended to the rocky surface of the planet, they realized it wasn’t yet a suitable place to rest. The ground was barren, the air was toxic, and the few pools of water that did exist on the planet were caustic and noxious-smelling. Their senses detected no other life on this world.

So they decided to create some of their own.

Using the power of the plates they had brought with them, particularly the ones now known as Mind Plates, they created a small pink being with an extraordinary power: It could rearrange its own molecular structure, its own DNA, and transform into whatever living being it desired to be. Once the creature was fully formed, it opened its pale blue eyes, and said its first word.

“Mew.”

And so the Pokemon which brought life to this planet named itself.

After letting Mew get its bearings, moving around and playing with its creators, they gave the new species explicit instructions on what to do. For you see, Mew was not just capable of rearranging its whole form – it could alter and rearrange individual cells in its body as well. And so Mew went on a journey across the entire planet, seeding the caustic pools of water with its cells.

These cells were specifically altered by Mew to be sturdy and survive in the cesspools, but a few were altered by the power of one of the plates – specifically, the one known in modern times as the Meadow Plate. In those particular cells, the power materialized in the form of a chemical – a compound known as chlorophyll. The cells became the first algae, and they started absorbing light from the planet’s sun to use as food. In the process, they left one vital byproduct:

Oxygen.

This gas, this elixir that would be vital to life in the years to come, filtered out of the acidic pools and started leaking into the atmosphere. It took a few million years, but soon the air was filled with this simple gas, along with other "waste" products vital to life, especially nitrogen.

And the skies were finally blue.

But the Trio Of Spirit wanted more. They knew that for life to thrive, they needed more water – and high enough terrain to form continents.

So they beseeched two of their draconic siblings for help, and they answered.

Dialga used the power of the Earth Plates on minerals in the ground to create a massive, crimson, reptilian behemoth, with thick armor plates and glowing blue ridges on its body. Palkia, in turn, used the Splash Plates on chemicals in the water to create a whale-like leviathan, with glowing red markings adoring its skin. These Pokemon were named Groudon and Kyogre by humanity billions of years later. For now, they just had a job to do.

Kyogre created rainclouds out of thin air, and they began to pour onto the surface of the planet, turning the pools of water into oceans. Groudon, meanwhile, began to form the continents, using its power to push them out up from the seas, and using its ability to intensify the sun’s rays to dry the new landmasses out.

It was virtually no time at all before the world started looking like the ocean-and continent mixture it is today, and for a while things seemed to be looking good.

But then Groudron noticed that Kyogre had a far vaster kingdom than he did.

He confronted his fellow world-shaper, and they began to argue over which was better - land or sea. It wasn’t long before it escalated into a full-on brawl.

The resulting conflict was devastating. As the two clashed, continents were formed and submerged, and oceans expanded then dried up due to the raging power of the legendary Pokemon. The Trio Of Spirit, Dialga, Palkia, and even little Mew tried to stop them, both verbally and physically. But nothing worked. The fighting raged on, earthquakes and tsunamis and all. Life on earth, as primitive and hardy as it was, was in dire danger.

So the other primordial Legends reluctantly called on their last resort: Giratina.

Fortunately, Giratina had matured somewhat by then and decided to help his siblings out. He used the Draco Plates, the Sky Plates, and gases in the ozone layer of the planet to create a Pokemon that would tame the fighting duo – the Pokemon we now know as Rayquaza, master of the skies.

Rayquaza descended to his fighting fellows and asked them what was wrong. When Groudron complained about Kyogre having more space on the planet than he did, Rayquaza came up with a quick solution.

He explained to Groudon that since water was more necessary for life than land was, it made sense that Kyogre would get more territory than Groudon did. However, he also reminded Kyogre to not be stuck-up about that fact that it had the larger domain. He reprimanded them both for ruining each other’s good work, especially when they had worked together so well before the argument.

Whether Giratina made Rayquaza to be a convincing debater, or if he was just that way by nature, no one knows. Either way, to the surprise of the other legends, its speech to the angry duo worked. Groudron and Kyogre agreed to stop the argument and fix what they had broken.

The first two put the continents and oceans back in their proper places, while Rayquaza gave his contribution: thickening the atmosphere of the planet. After that, the exhausted Ground-type and Water-type dug themselves into the planet’s crust and fell asleep, remaining so for the next few billion years.

Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf were tired too, and they finally found a place to rest – three lakes on a small continent. In the eons to come they would move from lake to lake as the ones they resided in dried up, but they rarely stayed awake for long. Dialga, Palkia and Giratina also retreated to their home dimensions. Only two conscious Pokemon remained on the planet: Mew and Rayquaza.

But it wouldn’t be that way for long.

First, the Spirit Trio had scattered the Plates throughout the planet, just like they had done on so many others. One Flame Plate fell into a volcano, and its increased power in its natural element took the form of the gender-bending Heatran. This Pokemon would influence volcanic activity for ages to come, changing the course of history many a time.

Second, the primitive, single-celled lifeforms survived after the conflict between Groudon and Kyogre, and they thrived in this new, ocean-rich world. After about a billion years, they had evolved into the first, simple multicelular organisms.

They were destined to be the first nonlegendary Pokemon.
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Author's Note: I wanted to find a way to make Mew the ancestor of all Pokemon while still making it a one-of-a-kind Pokemon (Since, unlike some continuities, all legendaries are one-of-a-kind in this canon). So, I came up with the cell explanation you see here.

Up next - Chapter 3: Primeval!

This is great. Hope theres a poke Rome. I want to hear about Nero burning down Rome with Charzards. while playing a pokeflute!