#purification au

400 years ago:

 "Numerous hearts and souls will be irrevocably harmed, and he is going to mess up my timelines! Trains are the only thing he remembers with regularity, and he will inspire others. Do you know what environmental damage creating a rail system before its proper time will cause? Do you even care?"

 In a grand hall above a snowy mountain, a small onion shaped fairy yelled at the Almighty Creator. The Fairy was a mere fraction of the size of the larger being and filled with ungodly amounts of rage. The Fairy did not care. If she thought it would be effective, she would've long since slaughtered them in hand-to-hand combat.

 "Though in other timelines his place was taken by others, there is now no one that could be called the Father of Modern Battling. His course is now set, and he must remain until his mortal life is done, no matter what timeline ripples occur. I have forbid Dialga from interfering in this as well."

 "You might be safe up here in your gilded halls, but your blindness will one day doom all of us who live below you should certain events come to pass early."

 The ground shook as the larger being stomped. In her own rage, Celebi was un-phased.

 "I am your Creator! You shall not speak to me like that again in these halls. I forbid you from interfering with this timeline ripple."

 The Fairy seethed, dark purple shadows floating off of her figure. One of the shadows wisped toward the larger being, who flinched minutely away from the synthetic darkness.

 "Never before this moment have I ever understood the Anti-Deist movement in this world. You have ensured I will never misunderstand again.”

 With great finality to her words, she concluded.

“You Are No God."

 The synthetic darkness around the fairy increased in the face of the divine judgement that rained down. At the end of the attack, the Fairy was untouched and Arceus was beyond frustrated in the face of such defiance.

 "Curse those humans who provided you and Lugia with such impurity! I may no longer be able to harm you just as you cannot permanently harm me, but I will not allow you remove Ingo from Hisui, this is the most entertainment I've had since Groudon-"

 Arceus halted their rant as Celebi screamed.

 "Entertainment? Is that what this is? You allowed this to happen as entertainment? You ruined and allowed for the ruination of the purity of countless hearts and souls, and the fluidity of MY timeline for entertainment?"

 "I forbid you from repeating this information. It shall not leave these halls."

 "Forbid." She spat.

"You use that word so often it begins to lose meaning. Very well. I propose a wager. That should provide you with your beloved entertainment!"

 The light around Arceus faded as they contemplated the idea of a wager.

 "Very well, state your terms. Perhaps I shall even agree."

 Celebi smirked to herself, for an all-powerful being, Arceus was truly not fit to be lord of anything.

 "Since he is without his memories of his true time, I cannot return Ingo to his proper place. You may do as you wish in the timespan of his life until Ingo can recall his lost memories, in one way or another. In return, I will not interfere directly with your little scheme, nor will I tell any Pokémon with the inherent power to stand against you about the fact that you have nearly ruined this world many times over, all in the cursed name of entertainment. You will get your desired RPG for as long as he does not recall who he was before he landed in Hisui, and you will not try to cut his mortal life short. If he should never recall in the span of his mortal life than I will never tell anyone of the discussion that happened here, nor will I try and fix the timeline. If he should recall, then I can fix the timeline error that you have allowed and the pain that it has caused."

 Arceus contemplated the bargain. When next they spoke, it was in the old language that would seal their wager.

 "Thine wager has been recorded in the annals of these halls. For as long as the terms are met by both agreeing parties, what is desired to come to pass will one day come to pass, no matter thy desire. So mote it be."

 A sound like a massive closing book and ancient prayer bells echoed through the cavernous halls.

 "No begone from my sight Once-Pure-One. And don't you dare try to find a way to involve Lugia in this with your twice cursed synthetic powers, I shall hold you to our bargain, and I shall hold to my side. For that reason, I feel I must tell you he needs your power of purification if he is to survive the night and the rest of his many mortal years in this time. After you are done return from whence you came."

 Celebi mock bowed to the one who she would never again call Creator. Leaving quickly after to find the heart-and-soul hurt man who was suffering so greatly.

 ---

 She found Ingo in the cave of the Noble blessed by Arceus, Sneasler. The distressed noble was searching through her stockpile of berries to find something that could cure the pale man frothing at the mouth in her cave. Her oldest kit was shaking the man every time he nodded off, careful of his claws to avoid further poisoning. The rest of the kits were piled together in the far corner out of the way, all distressed and crying. Lady Sneasler quickly noticed the intruder, crying out in relief.

 "Please Pure-One, you must heal him! He was poisoned by one of my kin who did not take kindly to intruders on his territory. I would have him saved if it is within your power."

 Celebi landed near the man's head and began the purification.

"I will heal him, and you Will take care of him until the end of Arceus's schemes and I can return him to his proper time. He will be immune to any poisoning after this, but still vulnerable to other attacks."

 Lady Sneasler kneeled next the Pure-One as the nature spirit took the poison into herself to be purified.

 "This is not his correct time? He arrived here so noiselessly standing in a strange puddle, looked so strange, and helped me look for my kit so readily unlike the other humans in this land, that I had assumed so, but I had no idea how to contact you or Lord Dialga. I want to repay him for his kindness in saving my kit from my kin."

 Celebi sent a wave of peace to the suffering man. Allowing him to safely fall into a healing sleep while she worked.

 "Ingo is a good man filled with much kindness, despite his many oddities, and from a great many seasons into the future that I have come back from. No-one in this world deserves to left in such a state, especially from the powers that were supposed to ensure this situation would not happen. The coming years will be difficult for him. I only wish I could return him sooner, but until his memories return, I can do nothing but this for him."

 Lady Sneasler rose to her full height and began calming her many distressed kits.

 "I assume Lord Dialga is forbidden from interfering as well then. I will welcome this human as my Warden, and treat him as an equal, he will not want for a warm den in this time. The Pearl Clan will welcome him if I do."

 Celebi slouched as the last of the poison was finally removed. She curled into Ingo’s collar, close to his neck where she could hear his heartbeat.

 "That's comforting. May I stay in your den for the night Lady Sneasler? It has been an incredibly long day and I don't believe I can fly any longer."

 The Lady collected her kits and moved them closer to curl above and around the guests in the fur lined nest.

 "You will be safe here tonight Pure-One. I would grant you welcome to this den whenever your wings may fail you in this time. I shall keep the watch while you rest."

 Celebi felt equal sorrow and rage as she fell into a healing trance of her own to burn away the remnants of her partially closed heart and Sneasler poison.

---

The man on the floor seized in pain. The poison felt like fire in his bloodstream. For some reason Ingo was sure that Sneasels should not have poison, but in his pain, he could not determine why he thought that way. Ever since he had found himself standing in that puddle, he could not recall more than his own name. He heard the large white Pokémon that had saved him cry out, it almost sounded like relief. He was shaken awake again by a hard nudge to his shoulder from an oddly colored Sneasel. He blinked rapidly at the small green figure he saw floating above him. They made no sense, but through the pain radiating from his arm, nothing did. His seizing muscles suddenly released all tension, leaving him floating in an abyss without pain. A heavenly pure light shown around him, washing all the poison in his bloodstream away. The last he heard before succumbing to the peace of sleep was the chirps of Pokémon talking to each other in a language that could not be understood.

---

“I love you, David!”

Maxvid Week Day 4 - Alternative Prompt: Crime

If Ingo's music tastes lean towards goth and emo, then Emmet accidently became a brony trying to find the most obnoxious music possible to annoy his brother. As anyone with siblings should.

"No, this is Cabose." Akari holds up a Sylveon. "He likes ribbons, his friends, and time travel."

Cue Orrian standoff.

Warnings: Mention of blood. Intense Media harassment. Hinted effects of long-term mourning. That should be it?

Emmet laid lethargically on the couch. He hated his legally mandated day off, but even if Annie and Percy were not laying on his back like weighted blankets he would not have moved. This time of the year was always harder, as it had been for the last three years. His brother's Chandelure, Clarabel, would not even leave his brothers room, guarding it with the ferocity of a mother Ursaring. He drifted as the TV played some soap opera on near full volume. It was a pale imitation of the noise he was sadly still getting used to being without. He flinched as his door swung open, Annie and Percy complaining as they fell off his back. The rest of the Pokémon scattered around the room relaxed once they say who entered. Elesa marched in with a determined look, going directly for the TV remote and changing it to the first Galarian news station she could find. It was on a strange infomercial.

"I am Emmet. Hello to you too Elesa. I did not expect you until later." Emmet's smile did not reach his eyes, even for his big sister-figure.

The electric gym leader looked at him with determination.

"You are going to watch this. And we are going to take a vacation."

Emmet sat up fully, his dull eyes following the infomercial currently playing.

"The slogan is verrrry catchy, but I do not see what vacuum sealed plastic bags have to do with a vacation."

Elesa scoffed as she rolled her eyes. "Oh, just watch you Dwebble!"

The infomercial ended and the title screen for the news channel played. The camera panned around to a smartly dressed pair of anchors. The woman began speaking.

"A recap of the breaking news today here in Galar for our foreign viewers. Gloria O'conner has abdicated her position as the League Champion before a surprise tournament earlier this morning. This occurred during a truly emotional speech given by the trainer. If you were unable to watch the broadcast, we will replay it in its entirety tonight at 7pm GMT. For now, suffice to say that the 22-year-old Champion was more miserable than she let on. Her public disappearances reaching near cryptid status, to borrow the Unovan term for ex-champion Hilda White, who left one week after taking the title and has not made a public appearance in Unova since. Champion Gloria's abdication comes only days after a return from an 8-month hiatus, many rumors saying that she took a break due to a pregnancy. Her only regular contact during this time was a Pokémon professor related individual whose identity we cannot state here. Shortly after her return, sans child, the Galarian SuperStar was announced, a league officiated tournament not seen on such a scale outside of the 4 grand slam Tennis opens. Gloria was reported to have fled the stadium on the back of her well known shiny Noivern. A reporter from our station caught up to her later in the Wyndon airport. We apologize for the language, viewer discretion is advised.

'Champion Gloria!' The camera was smooth, floating behind the clearly exhausted journalist, likely a Rotomdex. The journalist gasped for air as he neared the slight champion, dressed casually in surprisingly lower end but sensible clothing. The Bagon in her arms growled adorably at the offending man.

'Champion Gloria, a moment, please. Just two questions.'

The woman on the video raised an eyebrow, looking around at the crowd who was finally noticing who was standing among them. She raised her voice, although a lot of it was bleeped out.

'This guy gets two *beep* questions because he asked politely, the rest of you *beeeeeeeep* Mandibuzz don't get jack *beep*, not even an Eternatus-damned autograph. Capisce you miserable *beep*?'

Half of the crowd visibly backed off, but just as many pulled their own phones from bags and began filming.

The journalist who had finally caught his breath was able to ask his questions, it still came out in a rush.

'Champion Gloria, what made you decide to abdicate? Why today?'

The woman sneered, the Bagon in her arms almost snickering at the poor man.

'Ex-champion. And I quit gladly. Did you idiotic SOBs at the media and public really not notice how much Leon and I hated the damned Ponyta show you put us through? Don't even get me started on the rumors, sexualization, and all the other *beep* Bouffalant*beep* the media thought up the minute I turned 18. Like, you dumb *beep* even thought I was pregnant. It’s been public knowledge that I’m sex-repulsed asexual since I was 19 with no plans on having kids until my 30s, if I have any at all! The better question is why Leon put up with you monsters for so long. Next.'

The journalist was obviously startled, fumbling the mic he had in his hands. He stuttered over his last question.

'What are you going to do now?'

It was obviously the right question to ask. Gloria grinned ferally, showing all too many teeth.

'Three words, Mt. Battle, *beep*.'

Gloria turned on her heel, releasing a Hydreigon behind her to block the camera as she walked away. The Hydreigon's extra heads snapped at the crowd as she followed behind her trainer.

"We have since been unable to contact the ex-champion, her only clue being an obscure myth among the western training community, Mt. Battle. We also have yet to receive any verifiable information regarding this claim or its location. This news of course comes six months after the disappearance of a Champion-in-waiting, 17-year-old Akari Dawn of Sinnoh, whose Pokémon and further belongings were found alone at the peak of Mt. Coronet along with a significant amount of blood. Even now it is still unclear how and why they had been left behind, although it could not have been longer than 24 hours. Hindered by continuous unseasonably heavy snow on the mountain, all remaining search teams have been called off until spring. At this time, the Sinnoh League and her mother, Akari Johanna, have decided to declare Akari Dawn deceased-"

Elesa muted the news channel. The silence rang in Emmet's ears.

"I am Emmet. I do not understand how you got a vacation out of that. Nor do I think I should leave the subway unattended."

Elesa sat heavily on the couch and grabbed his hands. Idly playing with his thinner-than-usual fingers, even as she just barely avoided making eye contact.

"We-I can't be here for this time of year again Emmet. We have searched this region high and low and we haven't found anything. I’m not saying it’s time to move on, just to step in a different direction. So." She made eye contact for just long enough for him to see the determination she had before her eyes flicked toward his forehead again.

"Mt. Battle isn't a rumor. It's in the Orre Region to the southwest. Between here and Kalos. Hilda is there, she wants a rematch on her own turf since you were the only person she never beat. It’s an endurance challenge of 100 trainers and only open to Orre citizens or by invitation. Last I heard she was training there to be a late-stage Area Leader since she was allowed to use Zekrom."

Her hand tightened around his.

"Emmet. Hilda issued us an official invitation for all the Colosseums and facilities in Orre as soon as the news broke that the Galarian Champion was headed there. We are getting some Kyurem-blessed battle therapy for you and your Pokémon."

She gently pulled him upright and lightly pushed him towards his room.

"I've even filled both our leave forms. The subway will be in the perfectly good hands of your depot agents. Now pack your stuff. We need to catch a train to Lumiose, if we hurry, maybe we can even get on the same ferry as Gloria O'conner. What happened to her was absolutely horrible and I want to know how she’s handling it. I also want to battle her."

 Feel free to skip-

A few things to note about this AU:

1. Gloria is an absolutely shameless SI as the pc from Galar. I did not grind for a shiny noibat. It came that way at the very beginning of the game, Modric is my baby. Hilda, Michael's, and Akari's teams will be formed off my teams as well, but not SIs. I'm open to suggestions for Wes.

2. Ultra-wormholes just DNE in this au. Alola can suck it, I hate that region more than I hate Kamado and Beni. Ingo got Clipped through the world by Giratina, lost his memories in the Backrooms [ie: distortion world], and got spit out in Hisui (Giratina is very sorry later okay. To be fair Ingo should not have jumped in that mirror-like puddle where there should not have been a puddle. It was also Arceus’s fault.)

3. The infomercial was for space bags. You can never unhear that slogan. Ever. I’ve been trying for years.

4. The ultimate goal is a healthy sibling relationship between Ingo and Emmet that is NOT unhealthy co-dependent. Emmet is not feral, just understandably mourning, and depressed. He gets character growth and still gets to punch god, but that was mostly egged on by Celebi and Elesa (the former is 100% feral and anti-deist [idea expressed in the podcast the Sleep Wake Cycle {my gosh guys, go give it a listen, its reunited twins with opposing superpowers in a thriving(?) post-Cthulhu-apocalypse US, they just finished season 1 in 34 episodes, lots of trigger warnings tho}] while the latter just wants people to stop hurting her siblings)

5. Annie = Eelektross, Percy = Archeops, Clarabel = Chandelure. Gordon = Galvantula. I have the others decided already.

6. I have seen the bald Ingo and the idea that he has been in Hisui for 10 years, but because its a stupid decision I have elected to ignore it (the latter part anyway). These muppets are 30 in this AU (I have a timeline and everything). They already went grey at a few years old; they don’t have to start balding early too, I will throw hands. 

The rest of the series will probably be posted on ao3 under the same profile name. I just want to get a significant portion written first.

Ask and ye shall receive. I think I’ll call this the Purification AU.

To explain the Yveltal/Xerneas/Celebi and Emmet in Orre thing.

From the games, we know that Yveltal and/or Xerneas were found in the mountains (likely) to the south-east of Kalos, beyond this, the exact location is not specified. These mountains are heavily forested with a specific biome, with what exactly is beyond them unknown. The Orre regions northern areas are arguably a similar type of forest, leading into mountains. It is entirely possible that Kalos and Orre could share a border in those mountains, with Orre simply being further down the coast (this is ignoring the landlocked state of Orre in the first Colosseum game, as it was retconned in XD, following the idea that the newest information is presented is the corrected information, then Orre is NOT landlocked.) It is also possible that Unova could be on the same landmass, due to the amount of similar weird-a** trains seen in Orre and Kalos both, that only appear otherwise in Galar, but I digress. I need a Pokémon Legends game taking place in the wild west of Unova and reaching into Orre please, explain the Outskirt Stand damnit!  

Anyway!

It is known in the games that when Yveltal and Xerneas go into and wake from their hibernation, that they require frankly massive amounts of life energy. Now, you might ask, what about all the gravestones in Kalos that have carvings of Pokémon? Yeah, those are the Pokémon that died when AZ (That Inexplicably Immortal Idiot King) fired the weapon with Yveltal’s power in order to stop the war, and died from it, either getting shot, or fueling the shot. BUT how does that relate to the desert in Orre?

AZ couldn’t leave the slumbering legendaries in Kalos proper, or life would’ve continued to be horrible due to their conflicting energies, so he moved them, and then over the course of time forgot where he put them. Whoopsie.

The Pokédex for Yveltal and Xerneas say that they can hibernate for 1000 years, so where did they get the life force required to survive that long in their cycle of waking up and going back to sleep? Xerneas is considered the being of Life, so it could get its power by nurturing life, it was found in a tree, what does that tell you? Using X as the canonical game, this would be the Pokémon found in the mountains, and why they are so wild and empty. It was also the easier of the two to get to (although it makes significantly more sense to use the Aspect of Destruction to fire a weapon, but whatever Lysander). Yveltal slumbered on, taking the power it needed to continue its hibernation from the region of Orre, leaving it a deserted wasteland and near the most inhospitable (if not the most inhospitable) place in the world. The region is only now returning to life because Yveltal is in the middle of its hibernation when it is taking the least amount of life force from region. This would explain why the alternate legendary cannot be caught in the same game. Because it’s still asleep. This does also mean that Orre would go through another period with a total lack of wild Pokémon in a couple hundred years. Oh well.

Now for why Emmet would go to Orre once Ingo was gone, besides getting some much-needed battle therapy (maybe at the behest of Elesa or his therapist if you don’t go with the criminal element), is because of the criminal element present there, well known for kidnapping people. Why Cipher would kidnap Ingo is not something he’s thinking about, he’s not at his best okay? While there, he would stumble across a rather annoyed Celebi, basically the only wild Pokémon known for living in Orre long term, (although they are never actually seen in XD, just mentioned a lot). Celebi is annoyed because Volo is fudging up the timeline and who do the Sinnoh legendaries and Volo even think they are? Emmet still gets to punch god, a couple of them actually. Celebi helps. He’s healing, and there is very little angst and unhealthy codependency.

 Tl;dr:

1104 words, Purification AU prequel

"Once, an engine attached to a train was afraid of a few drops of rain. It went into a tunnel, and squeaked through its funnel, and wouldn't come out again!" - The Sad Story of Henry, By Wilbert Awdry

 Elesa could only blink. The rain was pouring down in buckets and for some reason Ingo and Emmet were kneeling in front of a large broken pipe without umbrellas.

 "What are you guys doing?" She asked before she could stop herself.

 Both twins turned to look in sync.

 "Ah! Elesa right on schedule!" Ingo exclaimed.

 "I am Emmet, we need your umbrella." Emmet said at the exact same time.

 Elesa could only roll her eyes, fondly of course, at the twins. She stepped forward anyway and shared the umbrella with the two shorter boys, coincidentally covering the entrance to the pipe. "That didn't answer my question."

 Emmet was the one to rush to explain. "We were coming to meet you at the Pokémon Center, but we heard something in this pipe. We stopped to look-"

 "-and found a Dwebble hiding! For some reason, they do not want to come out. I fear they will get stuck." Ingo finished.

 Well used to their antics, Elesa only adjusted the umbrella to better cover the three of them. They may not have been very tall yet but covering three teenagers with a single umbrella was hard. She kneeled down herself to look in the pipe, careful to not get her dress in the growing puddles. There really was a Dwebble in the pipe - not that she hadn't believed them, but Dwebble weren't found anywhere near Driftveil City.

 "What have you guys tried to get it out?" Elesa asked curiously, staring at the miserable Pokémon.

 "We have tried food. I have also tried speaking softly and calmly." Emmet said with a pointed look at Ingo. Ingo cringed in return.

 "I believe they are afraid of the rain! I do not understand why, it has a perfectly serviceable shell, and the rain would not affect them." Ingo said, making no obvious attempt to lower his voice.

 "It is a rock-type. Water-type moves have a times 2 effect. It is likely a self-defense mechanism." Emmet argued. It was obviously not the first time the twins had had this argument out here in the rain, which made Elesa wonder how long they had spent out here. Ignoring the rehashed argument, Elesa pulled a pokéblock out of her bag, setting it in the entrance of the pipe. She waited for just a few seconds before she saw the edge of a claw appear and disappear quickly. With an excited smile she placed another block down, a little closer to the open end. A few seconds later the claw flashed again. She set one last block down, this time on the very edge of the pipe, where she could easily see the little Pokémon. The boys went silent beside her as they noticed what she was doing.

 This time after swiping the block, the little Dwebble peered out at the trio.

 "Bravo!" Ingo yelled, causing the small Pokémon to scuttle back an inch. Reaching behind Elesa, Emmet lightly slapped his brother on the back of the head. "I am Emmet. Hush."

 The Dwebble crawled out again but did not fully leave the pipe when it saw the puddles on the ground. It looked pleadingly at Elesa. Despite wanting to be an only electric-type trainer, Elesa almost gave in to the adorable and pleading eyes. She was saved from having to make that decision when Ingo and Emmet both made cooing noises at the little bug. The Dwebble clicked their claws in response.

 "Do you think they have a trainer?" Elesa asked.

 "They are a verrrrry bad trainer if they left their Dwebble alone here."

 "I would be forced to report them for abandoning their Pokémon in the incorrect environment!"

 Dwebble looked between the three as they spoke, clicking its little claws after each word. Mentally, the rock-bug calculated the odds of making the jump to the louder teenager wearing black. They were the closest. The Dwebble squeaked in alarm when it started falling toward the water. They were saved just an inch before the water by hands underneath them.

 "Well, I think that settles that! Ingo, offer the Dwebble a pokéball." Elesa commanded. Ingo's frown deepened.

 "How am I supposed to do that? I've got my hands full!" He adjusted his grip on the bug that had jumped for him, holding them closer to his body where he could better support their weight. The bug seemed to enjoy being further away from the wet ground. Emmet excitedly dug through his pockets until he found a pokéball. His smile was wide as he offered the pokéball to the Dwebble.

 "I am Emmet and he is Ingo. Do you want to come with us?" In response the Dwebble touched a claw to the button, going inside the nice dry ball. It only shook once in Emmet's hands before clicking.

 "Bravo! We have another passenger!" Ingo exclaimed while clapping lightly with his now empty hands.

 "What are you guys going to name the little guy?" Elesa asked. "I think you should name him something like Rainy or Puddles."

 "Do not be cruel, Elesa! We already let you name Kevin." Ingo said as flatly as possible for him, still too excited to be truly annoyed. Emmet nodded his head in agreement with a large smile

 Elesa scoffed as she defended her nickname. "Kevin Durant is genius!"

 "It does not fit with our Train theme. Annie, Clarabel, Henrietta, James, Percy, and Kevin. One of those is not like the others." Emmet joked in perfectly natural deadpan.

 "Henry! We should name him Henry!" Ingo pointed excitedly at the ball. "He was a train, afraid of the rain!"

 "Yes." Emmet agreed, pointing at his brother. He held up the ball in display. "I am Emmet. This Dwebble will be Henry." Both broke down laughing in perfect sync.

Directly from my earlier post that explained it poorly:

AZ was an idiot and forgot where he put Yveltal and Xerneas after he fired the weapon. The desert in Orre is there because that’s where Yveltal slept. The mountainous forest to the north of Orre connecting to Kalos is so wild because that’s where Xerneas slept. Pokémon are in neither place in the Orre region because the conflicting energy of the two.

Celebi likes Agate because it’s as close to Xerneas as possible and still live, the balance between dimensions and powers that allow them to travel through time is FANTASTIC. Celebi would find Emmet and hop through time to find Ingo and punch god(s) like a BAMF. No Angst for Emmet, codependency healing only for this bamf-nerd. Who is better at purification of the heart and soul than Celebi?