Michina Town is a small town in the Sinnoh Region.
Michina Town sits by a lakeshore, rich in natural resources, and at its center lies the Michina Town ruins.
With a history stretching back thousands of years, Michina Town has beautiful scenery, but it isn't actually very famous.
You could say the ruins are basically the only real sightseeing spot in this little town.
Right now, Damian and the other two have arrived here.
"Cynthia, do you know the history of Michina Town?"
Damian, dressed in a black overcoat, walks leisurely toward the town center.
He looks back and asks Cynthia, who's following behind.
As a well‑known Sinnoh archaeology and mythology enthusiast, Cynthia has at least some grasp of most of the ruins scattered around Sinnoh.
"I do know a bit, but I'm not sure how accurate it is."
Cynthia thinks for a moment, then looks toward the mountain in the center of Michina Town.
"I heard from a fellow archaeology‑loving scholar that supposedly, a thousand years ago, Michina Town was still a desolate, miserable place. Later it received a gift from the gods, Michina Town manifested a miracle, and that's how it became fertile and prosperous."
Cynthia explains.
Sinnoh is a region packed with myths. There are just too many ruins and legends.
Even Cynthia doesn't fully understand every myth in Sinnoh; studying even one ruin thoroughly takes an enormous amount of time.
So when it comes to Michina Town's history, she doesn't actually know that much.
Michina Town is, after all, just a mostly unknown small town.
"Who was that 'god' supposed to be?"
Damian asks.
"Supposedly the legendary Arceus?"
Cynthia hesitates a second, then answers without much certainty.
Arceus?
Caitlin looks puzzled.
What kind of Pokémon is that?
"Looks like you don't really know either. No worries, let's go ask this ruins' guardian."
Damian looks at the mountain ahead.
This is Michina Town's great mountain, also the town's center.
The Michina Town ruins sit high up on its peak.
The three of them follow the mountain path upward and soon reach the summit; the ruins are right in front of them.
"And you three are…?"
A brown‑haired girl with her hair tied into two buns happens to be pushing open the main doors of the ruins.
She spots them and looks puzzled.
"We heard there was a thousand‑year‑old ruin up here, so we came by to visit."
Damian smiles sunny and bright as he answers.
He recognizes this girl at a glance.
She's a descendant of Damos, and she's inherited the power of Overcoming.
The power of Overcoming—a power that allows its user to communicate heart‑to‑heart with Pokémon, passed down from her ancestor Damos.
To be honest, the ability to communicate with Pokémon's hearts isn't all that rare.
The power of Viridian, Aura, and Psychic powers can all communicate with certain Psychic‑type Pokémon.
There's even a special case like N—because he's the offspring of human and Pokémon, he can innately sense Pokémon's emotions and talk with them.
Compared to more "functional" powers like the power of Viridian, the power of Overcoming only allows for spiritual communication.
And if a Pokémon is enraged enough, the power of Overcoming doesn't work at all; the user can even be hurt by that flood of rage.
You could say the limits on Overcoming are pretty severe.
Its biggest quirk, though, is that it isn't bound by Temporal and Spatial limits.
The movie showed that much.
Sheena's power of Overcoming could even reach Palkia and Dialga where they existed, and ask them to come help.
That's insane.
"I see. Then please, come in. I'm Sheena, the guardian of these ruins."
The girl named Sheena smiles when she hears that.
She steps aside and gestures the three of them in.
As the ruins' guardian, her duty is to protect this ancient temple site that's been handed down and to share the ruins' history and former glory with more people.
Even so, Sheena studies Cynthia thoughtfully.
She can't shake the feeling that this refined, elegant woman looks really familiar.
"Right! You're Champion Cynthia, aren't you?"
Sheena finally remembers.
Her eyes light up as she blurts it out to Cynthia.
Though she rarely leaves the ruins, Sheena is still a young girl—and the modern internet is very developed.
So she's seen videos and photos of Cynthia online.
She's just not a Trainer herself, and doesn't care that much about battles, so she doesn't know too much.
Plus, Cynthia isn't wearing her iconic black coat today; she's in casual clothes.
That's why Sheena didn't recognize her at first glance.
"Yes. Hello."
Cynthia nods, smiling as she answers.
"It's really such an honor. I never thought you'd come visit our ruins."
Sheena is clearly excited.
After all, this is Sinnoh's strongest Champion standing in front of her.
"Please, come in. The other guardian is out right now, so I'll show you around."
Sheena leads the three into the ruins.
She's very hospitable and quite talkative.
Well, that's only natural—otherwise how would she introduce the ruins to visitors as their guardian?
They finish the first floor quickly.
Then Sheena leads them to the second floor.
The second floor is more open, and there are more murals here—and a time‑space device.
"Miss Sheena, what Pokémon is this?"
Damian walks up to one mural.
The mural shows the Michina Town of ancient times.
Above the town's sky, a Pokémon is carved.
Its form is somewhere between horse, qilin, and centaur, with a wheel‑like structure at its waist shaped like a cross—called the "Thousand‑Arm Universe‑Brace."
This is Arceus.
"Arceus. It's Arceus, y'know."
Sheena smiles, voice full of pride as she introduces it.
"A thousand years ago, Michina Town was still barren. One day, a Meteorite fell from the sky. Arceus appeared, intercepted it, and shattered the Meteorite."
"But because the Meteorite's fragments crashed down, the already barren Michina Town became even more lifeless. It was my ancestor Damos who prayed to Arceus and received its answer."
Sheena's expression is full of yearning.
Cynthia and Caitlin are both listening closely.
Damian, though—
"So it really is different."
Damian narrows his eyes slightly.
He'd picked up on that from the start.
In the original movie, because of a misunderstanding, Sheena deeply hated her ancestor Damos—she felt that ambushing Arceus to seize the Jewel of Life and betraying their agreement was shameful.
But listening to her all the way up here, Damian can hear it clearly.
Sheena doesn't feel shame for Damos at all.
She's proud of him.
Now that he's heard this version of history, Damian more or less understands.
The history of Michina Town in this world is clearly very different from the movie.
"And then what happened?"
Damian asks Sheena, curious.
"After that, Arceus appeared, y'know. It fused five of its Plates—Earth, Splash, Meadow, Zap, and Draco—into the Jewel of Life and entrusted it to my ancestor."
"The Jewel of Life was incredibly miraculous. Its power brought life back to the barren land, made it fertile, and that's how we got today's Michina Town."
Sheena smiles as she speaks.
Then her tone turns bitter and angry.
"But later something unexpected still happened."
Sheena keeps going.
"After borrowing the Jewel of Life's power to make Michina Town prosperous, my ancestor Damos came to understand something. Relying on the grace of a god, this kind of vitality doesn't come from our own efforts."
"So Damos wanted to return the Jewel of Life to Arceus. Even though losing the Jewel of Life would mean this fertile land would slowly lose its vitality, Damos believed that with their own hard work, Michina Town could still stay alive and thriving."
"Because the Jewel of Life had already laid the groundwork for this land."
Sheena bites her lip as she talks.
"Exactly. The gods have already given their chance. The Jewel of Life is still just an external object; you can't rely on it forever."
Cynthia is sincerely impressed by Damos's decision.
The Jewel of Life is Arceus's gift.
With it in hand, Michina Town never has to fear becoming barren again.
But the Jewel of Life is Arceus's treasure.
What if it got stolen?
Or what if, one day, Arceus wanted to recall the Jewel of Life?
Damos only prayed to Arceus in the first place because Michina Town's land was too poor back then, and after another "ravaging" by Meteorite fragments, they had no way out.
But with the Jewel of Life's help, the land has already blossomed with life.
People can use their own hands to maintain that prosperity.
"Yeah… but one of Damos's subordinates still betrayed him. That man was afraid losing the Jewel of Life would cause Michina Town to become barren again, so he stole the Jewel of Life and tried to control Damos."
"But fortunately, Damos was very cautious. He turned the tables on that subordinate."
Sheena's tone grows high and proud again.
Her head lifts, chest straight, proud of her ancestor.
"Damos is awesome~!"
Damian claps.
He can't exactly say this matches the plot he knows.
He can only say it's changed a lot.
Hearing Damian's praise, the guardian girl breaks into a bright smile.
"So did Damos return the Jewel of Life to Arceus?"
Damian finally asks the key question.
Emmm…
Sheena hesitates for a moment when she hears that.
She glances at Cynthia, then still shakes her head.
"He didn't. Damos spent his whole life waiting for Arceus to descend again, hoping to give the Jewel of Life back and thank it for its grace."
"But even until he died of old age, Arceus never descended again. Even when he prayed once more, he never got an answer."
Sheena lets out a quiet sigh.
"After that, it's been handed down generation after generation to today. All of our ancestors were the same. We've been waiting all this time for Arceus to descend again."
Aside from watching over this ruin steeped in history, Sheena has another mission.
To wait for Arceus's return.
And to give the Jewel of Life back, to thank it sincerely for its gift to Michina Town's land.
"I see."
Damian's eyes flicker faintly.
This is the biggest difference from the movie.
If we go by the movie's setup, the Plates could pretty much be described as Arceus's source of life—a vital treasure and part of its life itself.
In the movie, because the Plates were knocked out by the Meteorite, Arceus was badly wounded.
Only after Damos found the Plates and returned them did Arceus immediately regain its power, recall all its scattered Plates, and revive at full strength.
That alone shows how vital the Plates are to Arceus.
But that's just the movie's version.
In the games, the Plates are very important to Arceus, but not absolutely irreplaceable.
In Pokémon Legends, Arceus once watched over the people of the Hisui region.
A legendary hero led ten Pokémon to challenge Arceus.
Arceus recognized humanity's tenacity and withdrew to a world that didn't belong to humans.
Its Plates then scattered all across Hisui.
It clearly did that on purpose.
From that, it's obvious the Plates aren't strictly necessary for Arceus.
At the very least, it's nothing like the movie version of Arceus, where losing the Plates means losing its life force.
"Looks like, in this world, Arceus's Plates aren't its source of life. So it doesn't especially care about these five Plates. Or maybe—"
Damian keeps turning it over in his head.
But in truth, there is another possibility.
The Arceus avatar in this world might have the Mythical Plates.
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