Tryst with Destiny: The End of the Beginning

123: The Human and the Pokemon

(In the Meeting Room)

"As I was saying, for the next three hundred thousand years, the Pokemon and the Shadow Pokemon coexisted next to each other. It was a crude, brittle arrangement but one which sufficed for the moment. Meanwhile, our ancestors evolved as well. The once looked down, inferior now grew into large populations. Creating kingdoms and society, the human lived under their own human king. King Nereus was his name of the Strong dynasty," Dragon Emperor says as he continues with the story.

"Wait a minute, you said that the Shadow Pokemon were all about corruption," Serena interjects.

"Yes. That is correct," Dragon Emperor answers.

"And they just agreed to live by the terms of the treaty without any complaint? I mean, if the Pokemon represent the light then the Shadow Pokemon represent darkness. It should make sense that they would come into conflict with each other. Why didn't the Shadow Pokemon fight a war against the Pokemon?" Ash asks as Serena nods in agreement.

"Do you remember what Arceus and the others did when the negative energy was spreading?" Dragon Emperor inquires.

"They put up a barrier to contain the spread," Serena answers.

"Precisely. They put up a barrier. Having done that, the number of Shadow Pokemon which were born were very less compared to what would have been born had the negative energy been allowed to spread to its full potential. In simpler words, the Pokemon far outnumbered the Shadow Pokemon. It's exactly why the Shadow Pokemon didn't go to war against the Pokemon despite every fibre of their being wanting to. They were at a tremendous numeric disadvantage. Arceus and the other knew this, which is why they could get Drakus and the other Shadow Pokemon to agree to a treaty where the Shadow Pokemon couldn't leave their realm. In short, the Shadow Pokemon were caged to their prison and they did not dare leave because doing so would be considered an act of war against the Pokemon world and no one wants to fight a losing battle," Dragon Emperor says as all the military generals shake their heads in agreement.

"If it was really that way then how did it go wrong and how is it that we've never heard of any kind of Shadow Pokemon before?" Oak asks causing Dragon Emperor to smile.

"If it was all that simple and easy to understand then all this wouldn't be happening. You see the Shadow Pokemon were not willing to wage war without seeing a good chance of victory, but that did not mean that they did not plot and scheme against the Arceus and the others. For such is the nature of evil. It festers in the darkest and the most unlikeliest of corners... waiting, watching, biding its time and when the opportune moment comes, seizing it with cruelty, malevolence, wickedness and most importantly without showing any shred of mercy," Dragon Emperor says before turning to address everyone else.

"As I was saying, the once squabbling, imbecile, inferior humans had by now evolved into a powerful kingdom with society, law, order, purpose etc. The king Nereus Strong ruled with utter chivalry and elegance. Loved by all his subjects and to a certain degree even respected by the Pokemon. Head of a powerful army he was the first one to give the citizens of his kingdom a sense of peace and security. An epitome of justice and fairness he ruled with utter surety, knowing the future of the throne lay secure in the lives of his three sons. The eldest being Algrim the Strong and the younger twins, Anthony the Wise and Marcus the Fair. As the years passed, king Nereus became older and older until one point after which he became bedridden. His limbs became heavy with decay of disease and full of ever-increasing age. He knew in his mind that the time had come to pass on his legacy to his sons. But how would that legacy be passed, became the question which needed to be answered? The entire court and the dying King Nereus debated for ten days straight and they finally came to a solution," Dragon Emperor says as everyone shifts in their seats, eager to hear what's next.