Pokemon - From the Brink

Chapter 29 - Our Shot

"Guardians...?" Midorima wondered.

"Do enlighten us, Janus." Megan encouraged. "After all, at this point, a fable may be our only place to turn for an answer."

"Well, the Fable of the Guardians is a tale passed down for many generations -" Janus began. "And, though accounts have differed and the story has likely been twisted throughout the years, there are a few common threads. First of all, the overview – essentially, the 'guardians' were people – ordinary humans like you and me – who had developed a spiritual connection to certain Pokemon of myth and legend."

The room remained silent, urging him to continue.

"These people were said to be able to summon a specific legendary Pokemon at will, no matter where in the world they were, and no matter how far away the Pokemon was. The Pokemon would, and I quote, 'appear in a flash of light' when their bonded human needed them most."

"In a flash of light..." I thought back to the blue light that had erupted up from around me.

"Not only that," Janus went on. "But it was said that the Pokemon 'summoned' in this way were far, far stronger than any legendary or mythical Pokemon had ever been. Something about the connection between them and their bonded human amplified their strength immensely, making them some of the most powerful creatures to walk the Earth."

"Bonding with humans..." Kudou spoke. "It sounds like the Bond Phenomenon."

"Yes – exactly!" Janus nodded. "And, well, for a while, there was a fair bit of research into the Bond Phenomenon and how it works – but it appears that that phenomenon and the guardians are practically unrelated."

"Really?" Shu-ling asked, as another who had experience bonding.

"What makes the two so different?" Skyra was curious.

"It isn't entirely clear..." Janus admitted. "We know that the Bond Phenomenon occurs when a Pokemon and Trainer resonate is a stressful situation – such as a battle, for example. But the guardians' Pokemon were never their own – they never actually captured the legendary Pokemon that they 'summoned'. They could call upon them on a whim."

"That... Sounds like an insanely useful power." Hikaru blinked.

"Of course, what exactly triggered those people back then to actually connect with those Pokemon... That isn't easy to figure out. Several theories have been proposed, but the favourite is that each person who called upon a legendary Pokemon was specifically suited to that Pokemon. This wasn't one of the Pokemon mentioned, but as an example: someone under extreme stress – and I mean extreme – wanting more than anything to turn back time – their plight would resonate with a Pokemon like Dialga or Celebi. If their strife was severe enough, and their body and mind were equipped to handle it, that person could, in theory, 'summon' a Pokemon like that."

"Hold on – surely there have been tons of people who have wished they could turn back time." Kiria said. "We all want to at some point."

"I don't doubt that." Janus nodded. "But it isn't really so simple – after all, the Fable of the Guardians only tells of two events in the history of the world where these 'guardians' ever existed. The first was said to have been relatively near the dawn of the Earth's creation – when everything was new and chaotic and mankind first began to develop, evolving in a world that was constantly under threat of annihilation from the untamed space around it. And the second..." Janus turned a page in his tome and looked up. "Was during the Great War."

"Hmm." Midorima folded his arms. "Some three thousand years ago."

"That's relatively recent actually – compared to the dawn of mankind, anyway..." Paolo nodded slowly.