Ch. 10 z5m20i12r04a28

Faith walked through the series of hallways within the Flygon mech; her eyes shined with wonder and curiosity. Despite its immense size, the hallways were narrow, and what rooms she spotted could only hit a handful of anthros at one time. Her paws brushed against the cold steel ground, her nails sometimes scraping against it, and she turned to Adrian.

Glorfindel, who walked ahead, led them along with David; A-Ninetales and Saria having gone to a separate hallway. His staff tapped against the floor, his other hand waved into various rooms, and he kept one eye on the others. David shrugged, his arms crossed, even as Adrian kept his eyes towards Glorfindel.

“This section of the ship is the living quarters,” Glorfindel said, turning around and stopping his walk, with Faith inches away from touching his legs. “This is where the workers and some of the officers sleep. They aren’t as luxurious as the higher-ranking ones or the captain, but they are serviceable.”

“Indeed,” David said as he rolled his eyes. “Though there is something that’s been bothering me. While I heard of something that acts as a ‘filter’ so something like this would be ignored by folks passing by, I’m more confused as to why it’s in the shape of a Flygon.”

“It in some way acts as a safeguard to the filters,” Glorfindel answered. “To explain, living beings such as ourselves have a built-in filter that causes us to ignore anything that conflicts with how we view the world. So no matter how obvious it is, like a massive Flygon mech flying through the sky, we would likely ignore the obvious and just see it as an unusual Flygon.”

David turned to the side. “The way you put it, it makes it sound like we want to be ignorant.”

“I wouldn’t put it in those terms,” Glorfindel said with a grin. “But that is true. This is why I’ve worked hard to remove any such biases from myself.”

David rolled his eyes before asking, “And while you’re here, there is something that I like to be confirmed. A-Ninetales said that you can transform others. Is that true?”

Glorfindel turned sullen even as he held two fingers together and made circular motions with them. “Ah, my personal favorite magical arts. Not to mention incredibly complex since one small mistake, a miswrote rune, an incorrect gesture, would leave the target in pain or death.” His eyes rolled upwards. “I know someone who has enough magical powers to convert an entire continent worth of people into dragons, but he doesn’t have the desire to learn. Such a lazy dragon.”

“But you can do it, can’t you?” David said even as his left eyebrow rose.

“Do you wish for a demonstration from me, a mage who gets such demands on a daily basis on top of learning new magical arts?” Glorfindel said, pulling his fingers away.

David squinted. “When you put it that way—”

“Then it’s settled,” Glorfindel said, spinning around and heading down the hallway. “But let me show you the bridge of the mech before taking you to your rooms. I’m sure you’ll love it.”

Glorfindel turned on the hallway, with the other three standing there before David laughed.

“You know,” David said, stepping forward, “I thought he was full of it. This will be a joy to tell A-Nin—”

David stopped midstep as a cracking sound emitted in the hallway, a circular symbol glowing on his forehead. Its green and golden light spread all over his body as though they were falling string. His fingers splayed out, his muscles flexed, and his yellow eyes opened wide, a tingling sensation flowing through his body.

His fur fell off his body, at first in bits before falling in huge clumps, with green and red plant-like scales replacing it. He rubbed one of the scales, feeling its grass-like texture, even as his huge hair-like mane fell off, exposing a giant leaf. A letter and some Wonder Orbs fell off the hair-like mane even as it dissolved, his jaw wide with his teeth changing shape. His claws lengthened and curved downward, turning green with two of his digits fusing together. He turned to his feet, where a similar change happened even as his wrists produced three massive leaves.

His face blushed even as his muzzle became beak-like, moving backward. His ears shrunk down, unable to be seen even as two large leaves grew on his rear as though they were tails. His hands rubbed over his beak, feeling a hook, even as his height shrunk down, his nose becoming nothing more than dots.

David turned to Faith and Adrian, with Faith looking stunned even as Adrian fell down laughing.

“Did-did I just—”

“Indeed you have, my Grovyle friend,” a voice came from the other end of the hallway, with Glorfindel leaning back with a wide grin. “I couldn’t resist.”

David’s face turned red, with him growling. “I’ll get you for this!” He leaped ahead, his right three leaves glowing bright before he felt a crash landing on top of him. He fell down, hearing laugher even as his arms were restrained. “Adrian! Get off me!”

“No chance for that!” Adrian said between laughs, with Faith’s ears flattened back. “This is not a place for a fight. Besides, I think you look great like this!”

“You’re only enjoying this because I’m smaller than you this time!”

“Maybe,” Adrian said with a wink.

“Calm your anger,” Glorfindel said. “That is only a mere temporary change. By next morning, you’ll be restored to your former form.” He waved his hand to them. “I also want you to see this on the bridge. So, hurry.”

David growled and grumped even as he got up, picking up the Wonder Orbs and letters, the earrings attached to the head-leaf. Adrian walked beside him, laughing even as David’s face turned red. Soon, they walked ahead, with Faith turning downwards. The proof that what Glorfindel can do has been shown, she thought, but will Adrian go through with it?

She hoped not.

The sun shined down upon the Flygon mech’s metal skin, with it shining in the sky, as it hovered towards the hidden continent. Red waves emitted from its back, propelling it further on at a fast pace, with the clouds coming and going within seconds. Soon, it spotted land ahead, the hidden anthro continent where few Pokémon walked upon.

Though it was the smallest of the continents, it still held a diverse ecosystem, from forests that stretched for miles, lakes that dwarf Wailord, to deserts that stretched for miles. Not to mention rolling fields and tall mountains that seemed to stretch on for miles. And yet it held a dense population, with cities containing millions of anthros and tough roads that stretched outside of them and to each other, unheard of by most Pokémon.

And yet, ahead of the Flygon mech, a thin line that stretched upwards to the sky lay ahead.

Faith, Adrian, and David sat at the bridge, with anthros too focused on the controls to pay attention to them, as Glorfindel leaned against the staff with a grin. Her eyes were wide, seeing the massive cities below her that overwhelmed even Kucheat Town. A chill rolled down her spine, but she wiggled, with her leaning forward, seeing what looked like large anthros between the cities.

“What are those?” Faith asked, pointing at one of them.

“Ah, those guys?” Glorfindel answered with a shrug. “Those are mechs. You may see more of them in The Second Capitol, but they largely stick in the industrial section and rarely comes out from.”

“Fascinating,” David said, rubbing his large leaf before grunting, having put his stuff back into his room. “It seems that the anthros have it all.”

“Yeah,” Adrian said before tilting his head. “Still, how do the anthros feed themselves?” The others turned to him. “I mean, even with farming techniques that likely surpassed our knowledge, I honestly doubt that you’ll be able to produce with so many with such limited land to grow.”

“Eh, you do have a point,” David said, crossing his arms.

“Indeed. How they do it is that the anthros controlled their own population,” Glorfindel explained as he rubbed his free hand against the railing. “Cause the only other way to do it is through importing foods, which would help expose the existence of this hidden land.”

“Not to mention being a jugular vein that could put the entire continent to its knees,” David said, turning aside while closing his eyes.

“And because of the danger,” Glorfindel continued, “they impose a lottery every year, which every anthro, even outside of The Second Capitol, must participate. And the winners are allowed to leave this world for another, as approve—”

“Wait, wait, wait,” David said, squinting. “Now you’re getting confusing. What do you mean by lotteries where the winners get to leave? And while I thought of The Second Capitol as just a fancy name for this land, there seem to be much more than that, like it’s its own city. Can you explain what you mean?”

“You do not know?” Glorfindel asked, and the other three looked at each other. “I could’ve thought that A-Ninetales told you about the anthros’ history. Or that you know why they left.”

“He hinted that being on this continent isn’t their choice,” Faith said, recalling the discussion from yesterday. “Much like how Pokémon who came upon this continent are forced to stay.”

“I see,” Glorfindel said, rubbing the back of his blond hair. “In any case, let me give you the history.

“Long ago, around 1,500 years ago, the anthros’ original home was torn apart in war. It got to the point where living on it wasn’t feasible anymore, so they left. But, as the anthros left their home, their cradle, one of the ships’ researchers discovered how to travel through universes. And they used the vessel to transport it to another world in another universe, this world. They do not know whatever happened to the other ships or what’s going on in their home planet even now.

“The ship crash-landed onto this continent, where they started rebuilding before Pokémon discovered them. They made fast friends, including finding ways of communicating with each other. And over the first century, things went well until Pokémon discovered a tech they tried to hide.”

“Is it technology related to causing us to grow in size?” David asked, tilting his head.

“Indeed,” Glorfindel said even as he shook his head. “The macro technology they fear, since it played a heavy part in their world’s destruction since they needed,” he paused for a moment, “far powerful weapons that can burn and dissolve them to take them down. Though they tried to set up a fake system to set up a waiting list to put them in indefinite waiting, they managed to steal the tech. Even worse,” Glorfindel rubbed his chin a bit, “it seems that you Pokémon founded a way to enhance the tech beyond anything the anthros can do.”

“The provisional government here panicked, but they did nothing. Instead, they looked through various paperwork to find the ‘perfect’ Pokémon who could fight the ones who threatened the others. As such, more stealing of macro techs, with Pokémon growing larger as the decades go by. And entire lands and seas began to tear apart when they came.”

“They?” David asked.

“Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina.”

A cold air hovered over the room, with all three of them staring wide-eyed at Glorfindel. For the three that he spoke of, those Legendary Pokémon, surpassed all others, for they ruled over all of time, space, and anti-matter. The only ones that come close to shaping the world as they did were Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza, and even so, their world-scale doesn’t reach a fraction to the universal scale of the top three.

And even then, there remained one that ruled over them.

“Geez, that must’ve been a nightmare,” Adrian said, his tail puffed up.

“Indeed,” Glorfindel said, the thin line far ahead becoming thicker as the ship got closer. “They were unhappy with the fact that outsiders of this universe came in and changed the entire course of this world’s path. Even more so with all of the destruction the macro tech caused because of their carelessness. They would’ve wiped them out of existence, but they were told not to. So instead, they force the anthros to fix their mess. And, once all of the destructive Pokémon were defeated and the tech returned, they were exiled here, not even allowed to leave to another universe.”

“Why not?” David asked, tilting his head. “Wouldn’t them leaving have the same effect if not better than exiling them onto one continent?”

“You would think so,” Glorfindel said, rubbing behind one of his ears. “However, the records show a couple of reasons. The Creation Trio wanted to punish them for what their mishandling did, and them simply leaving and never returning seemed too kind for their tastes. And even so, the One above them, Arceus, insisted that they stay.”

“Arceus?” Faith said even as she and the other two’s eyes widened. “You mean THE Original One? The One who created the universe and specifically created the Creation Trio to oversee the universal laws?” Glorfindel nodded. “Why did he want the anthros to stay.”

“The records don’t show, especially since he only showed up twice in the records. The one from 1,200 years ago during the peak of macro Pokémon and fairly recently.” Glorfindel shook his head. “Whatever the reason, the anthros were exiled here, where they used their technology to hide. They have to wrangle with the Creation Trio several times, like sending some anthros out of this universe so that they don’t overpopulate and the creation of The Philosopher.”

“The Philosopher?” David squinted while crossing his arms. “What’s that.”

“You’re staring at it now.”

David’s eyes twitched before turning ahead, sighing. “I don’t see—Wait.” He leaned forward, squinting some more before widening them and jumping back. “Gah!”

“Huh?” Adrian blinked as his back fur bristled. “What is it?”

“That thin line.” David shivered. “How huge is it?”

“Finally saw it.” Glorfindel extended a paw and snapped his fingers. “That is twenty miles thick and stretched up to 23,000 miles up.”

Faith gasped, her fur fluffing up along with Adrian. The thin line, an odd figure to them at first, became thicker as they approached closer, with the very top of it unable to be seen. Then, a green sphere formed over Glorfindel’s hand-paw, and he lifted it upwards, with it changing shape into a planet. Yet, at the equator, where the seventh continent lies hidden, extended a tall structure that reached out into space.

Near the three-fourths way was some kind of structure, circular with a series of crosses connecting with each other. This structure was massive, as large as the continent itself, and it remained stationary with only an outer ring around it spinning. The line continued upwards before it stopped as a large ball, with a cross-like wheel around it.

“I never imagine the anthros created anything like that,” David said, extending his hand upwards to it. “What is The Philosopher anyways?”

“It is a space elevator,” Glorfindel explained, lowering the three-dimensional image to the others. “The greatest feat the anthros ever created. It took the anthros over seventy-five years to build. It held the filters that hid the entire continent from prying eyes and contained a massive generator that powers the entire continent. In addition, it has other capabilities, such as mechs meant to protect it, allows space travel, and contains data of all of their research and blueprints. Of course, there could be more up there, but the Creation Trio demanded that after it’s been built and completed, that it’s left unused until they chose to end the exile. At the very least, they used their powers so that not a second of decay hits The Philosopher.” Glorfindel sighed a bit, his eyes shining at the image before him. “Oh, how I wish I could climb it, see and learn what the anthros here has created. It is such a holy object.”

David blinked and retracted his arm. “Eh, at least they can use it when the exile ends, right?”

“Indeed,” Glorfindel said, dispelling the image, and he shook his head. “If I’m still alive when that happens, I will climb it.”

Adrian turned to the physical space elevator, which had only gotten thicker, and he leaned towards it. “What I don’t understand is how they created it. The logistics that will take to make it is beyond anything my brain can comprehend.”

“Indeed,” a new voice said. The others turned around and saw A-Ninetales standing there. “Sorry if I surprised you all. I’ve been looking for Glorfindel and—” He paused, tilting his head a bit. “—and I see that David got pranked by him, didn’t he?”

David’s green face turned red, growling, as Glorfindel said, “He asked for a demonstration, and I granted it.” He shrugged. “Still, is there a reason for you looking for me?”

“I have a couple of requests I like to ask of you,” A-Ninetales said while stepping forward. “Both that needed to be private.”

“Does it need to be?” Glorfindel asked while rubbing one of his ears. “I’m sure that there isn’t any need for any privacy. Especially since I wish to admire The Philosopher some more.”

“In any case,” A-Ninetales said with a cheeky grin. “The first request is that I like for you to go into the backlogs on the restoration project of—”

“Oh. That kind of privacy,” Glorfindel said while shaking his head. He turned to the others. “I’m sure that you know about the multiverse and how they’re blocked off from each other by darkness, correct?” The others nodded. “What happened is that some Pokémon founded the tech that can allow multiverse travel, but it wasn’t repaired completely. It exploded, creating a massive rip in space that span for many miles.”

“Jeez!” David said as his eyes widened. “Was it going to spread out to the rest of the world?”

“Not anymore,” Glorfindel explained while stepping away. “The anthros managed to seal it off after a decade and a half of work. From what I heard, they found out from Arceus himself, who was furious that this had happened. The anthros were only spared when he saw that they were truly ignorant of the half-repaired device and their willingness to fix the riff.”

Faith shivered, turning to the space elevator ahead and the city that surrounds it. In her mind, she envisioned tall darkness that spread out, engulfing everything in its way and sending them to Arceus knows where. The vision morphed into Arceus, Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina towering over the entire continent, preparing to destroy it at a moment’s notice for a mistake.

No wonder why they wanted to leave.

“In any case,” Glorfindel said while taking a bow, leaning down to his knees, “I should take my leave. Take care, you three, and we’ll meet again when the ship lands.” He stood up straight and followed A-Ninetales even as Faith and Adrian waved at him. “But what do you wish to learn from the archives?”

“I wish to see this intruder the anthros fought off soon after the rift was sealed,” A-Ninetales said as they stepped out to the hallway, leaving Faith, Adrian, and David in the bridge with the other anthros who may or may not understand them.

They turned to each other and shrugged before looking out the window again, the space elevator becoming thicker hair strand by hair strand. David rubbed his chin, his eyes shifted down even as Adrian’s face became red, observing the object ahead. Faith hummed a bit, tilting her head.

“This is so overwhelming,” Faith said, rubbing the curls on her head.

“Tell me about it,” Adrian said while rubbing the necklace. “I wonder if they use macro technology to build that space elevator.”

“Eh, I have my doubts. Still, it’s best to ask next time,” David said while crossing his arms. “And I cannot believe that there was some kind of rift that could’ve destroyed the world. I wonder how they covered it up.”

“Good question, but I can offer up a guess.” Faith closed her eyes. “There needed to be a no-go area set up around the rift so that no Pokémon could go in by accident. One such way is to contact key groups such as the Pokémon Exploration Team Federation to,” she paused, her face turning pale. “To arrange for,” she stopped again, her eyes opening up but devoid of color. “For a cover story. And—”

Faith’s knees shook, her tails drooped, and her stomach felt ice forming within. The others blinked, her face white, and Adrian rubbed her back. David tugged his head leaf before standing by Faith at the other side.

“What is it?” David asked, kneeling down beside her.

“I-I-I,” Faith said before collapsing, pressing both of her front paws against her face. “That cannot be, but it must be the truth.”

“What is?” Adrian asked.

“The rift. I know where it was,” Faith said, tears falling against the floor. “It was in Resladerstadf.”

Adrian gasped even as David laughed a bit. “Resladerstadf? The place your parents tried to explore six years ago and disappeared in? Th-that’s ridiculous! Sure, it was a forbidden place for a decade and a half a-and,” his face paled as well. “And there wasn’t any explanation for why it was forbidden or why it was not so a few weeks ago, but that doesn’t mean that—” he swallowed, rubbing the back of his head. “I can’t believe it. And yet—”

They all turned to the hallway where A-Ninetales and Glorfindel walked out, each face white. Perhaps it was a coincidence, Faith tried to say to herself. And yet, it made too much sense. She groaned, shaking her head, hoping that it wasn’t the truth.

And yet, hope failed and fear consumed her.