Alpha and Omega

Within the darkness of the Infinite Void, a white shape loomed. A four legged creature, with strange pylon-like objects floating around it as it stared into a sphere before it.

Arceus looked on into all that she had made on the world below.

"Enough."

The Alpha creature jerked away from the view with a start. Someone else was here? How could they have gotten there without her knowing? Who could it be? What?…and for that matter, where?

The dark clouds surrounding the Domain pulsed with their normal thunder, a normally calming thing for Arceus, but they no longer seemed welcoming and kind. What could be causing this?

Slowly, she turned back toward the sphere, only to stop as the voice spoke again, its sound sending a chill through her.

"I will let this continue no longer."

"Who are you to decree this to me?" the Alpha shouted, glaring again at her surroundings. There was still no sign of the source of the voice.

"I am…the Alpha and the Omega…the Beginning…and the End."

With a valiant effort, Arceus held back her anger. So this being was an usurper, hardly the first, though. For now, it would be humored.

"…Go on…" she said tightly, trying to feign curiosity. The voice obviously wasn't fooled.

"I have watched you since your birth. All had known that you had power…far more than most others…yet you grew arrogant, thinking that you had all of Earth in your power." The White Alpha felt her eye twitch.

"But no…you felt the need to go even further." the voice seemed to grow angry now. The Void seemed to be filled with more lightning. Arceus felt fear begin to build up within her, it grew and overpowered her rage. She was losing control of her own Domain! This couldn't be, no one had the power to tear that from her!

"But you never had control." Arceus' eyes widened. She hadn't ever said that!

"I knew that you would think it before you even knew, my child. The voice seemed kinder now, almost forgiving…

Instantly, the rage returned. Forgiving?…FORGIVING? She wasn't the one who needed it! She didn't care if this so-called "Alpha and Omega" heard her thoughts.

"You listen here!" she shouted, her voice sounding miniscule after hearing the Voice's booming sound. "I will not have some crackpot of a pokemon trying to take my rightful title!" With that she stomped her front, left foot down.

Before the words had even finished leaving her mouth, Arceus knew that she had just kicked the Tauros in the ass…and here came the horns.

The Void had become silent, the clouds unmoving. The sudden lack of sound pressed against Arceus' ears like a wet blanket. Her fur stood on end as her limbs shook and her eyes were opened wide. She refused to move a muscle for fear that the storm would break even harder.

"Your…title…" the voice whispered. Arceus' eyes widened further.

"YOUR…TITLE!"

The very foundations of the Domain seemed to rumble. Its dark clouds convulsed and flashed in a sudden maelstrom of fury.

"WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I LAID THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH IN THE TIME BEFORE TIME ITSELF EXISTED?"

Arceus could not answer. She merely crumpled, pulling her legs in toward herself as her ears rang and the maelstrom continued to rage. Her mind retreated behind its psychic barrier, only to have it brushed aside as though it was nothing. Images flashed through her mind, images beyond anything she could comprehend.

Equations and names filtered through. Quantum theory. Anti-life equation. The Pattern theory of an electron. Probable mass of a singularity.

The pokemon gave a pathetic whine and closed even more within herself, desperately trying to block this out.

"WERE YOU THERE AS I SHAPED THE OCEANS OF SPACE AND TIME INTO PLANETS, STARS, AND GALAXIES?"

They became pictures now. Oceans falling from the sky, becoming a sphere as the void above exploded with the violent birth of stars. Chaos weaved through the newborn Earth as mountains tore through the surface of the waters. The blackened sky became whitewashed with the birth of Sol, shining its virgin light upon the world.

The white body seemed to fold into a formless ball with a whimper.

Even as Arceus did this, she had no choice but to think. This…being had taken control of her Domain, blown through the entirety of her power without an effort, and had memories that were impossible. No living thing could remember the beginning of time…could they?

No…no…it couldn't be true! She was-!

The thunder around her boomed again in outrage, seeming to build toward a climax. The images continued to swirl through her head.

This being…i-it can't be…b-but yet…could it…there isn't any other way…He is…and I just claimed power over him!

Silence…

Wait…silence?

Still trembling, the Alpha slowly opened an eye. That was when she noticed the wet streak across her face. Oblivious to everything else, she brought a leg up to her face, wiping it off. It was…a tear? But she hadn't…

Then she noticed what she was standing on.

It was impossible; she certainly hadn't put it there.

Not like that matters, she thought wryly.

It was grassland in the middle of the Void. Perhaps…no…after a rage like that, (not to mention if He had a right to do so) the Being would never have felt sorry for her.

No, in its absence, there was time to think. How was she not what she thought? The lack of power had been made painfully obvious. But if it had just been that, then the Voice would not have been so angry. Then what was it?

"The stumbling block of all living creatures."

Arceus reared up in fear at the sound. She looked around frantically. There had to be someplace to go, somewhere to avoid the Being's anger!

"Peace, child." Unwittingly, she paused. He didn't sound angry, He sounded…sad…not regretful at what He had said earlier, but sad all the same.

"Look," he said gravely. "Upon whose hand do you rest?"

It was a field of course, she already knew that…or was that what He meant?

She slowly looked up, only to be greeted with a shock. There WERE fingers! She was standing on the Being's hand!

Still her legs knocked together. She thought she knew before, but she had to be sure.

"A-a-are you…" she gulped. "Are y-you really…?"

"I am. I Am who I Am., I who would lay down my life for my sheep, I who sent my Son to die for them, I who laid down the law for them. And you, my child…" He seemed to grow almost…mournful. "You wonder why. I shall tell you."

Arceus' fear was undiminished, but she stood her ground. There was nowhere she could run, anyway, no place to hide from God.

"Treachery…Greed…Murder…Lust…Hatred…" the former Alpha winced at the sound of each word. She knew where He was going with this. "All of these you have felt, done, or considered doing."

"B-b-but," she stuttered.

"Erased as they are by the actions of Ash, they were done nonetheless."

"But they were just-!"

"Can a white lie still hurt?" the Being became stern, while sadness still pervaded in its voice. "A sin is a sin, no matter the way it is done or said." The hand began to close.

"B-but, the people on Earth…" she started desperately. A single tear drifted down her cheek.

"Shall answer for their own actions, not for yours." As the cloud filled Void began to be replaced by darkness, a second tear joined the first.

"Surely you know the Law. Obedience is mandatory. Sin is to be punished, sinners paid their wages." Arceus sank to her knees.

"And the wages of sin…is death." The sky disappeared and silence reigned, a final, deadly silence.

The pokemon was undone. Her head sank as sobs rocked her. This was the end. She couldn't deny any of it.

"Please," she whispered. "Forgive me."

"It was done even before you asked," a soft voice said. Surprised, Arceus lifted her tear-streaked face.

This was the same grassland…but it wasn't the Void. A bright sun showed overhead in a blue, cloudless sky, no trace of a gigantic hand existed. Nor was the voice anywhere to be found. Which was odd, it sounded close this time.

"Look behind you," He said with a trace of amusement. Slowly, Arceus turned her head.

She was greeted with a magnificent, four legged figure. It shined brightly…too brightly. She turned away again.

"What is wrong?" the voice asked, concern evident underneath it. Despite all the power it still carried, it was gentle and kind.

"I…I can't look. It's too bright," she answered, feeling ashamed. Her shoulders sank from her emotion.

Something touched her head. Suddenly it felt like a weight had been lifted from her. Unbidden she lifted her head with a sigh of relief, the sadness and shame washing away. She opened her eyes.

"Look again," the Voice said with a soft command. Wordlessly, Arceus did so.

The light had not diminished, yet at the same time, she could look without her eyes hurting, whatever he had done had certainly done the trick.

She was shocked when she saw what He was.

Before her stood a white, magnificent figure surrounded by a halo of light. Strange pylon-like objects floated around him, but they looked nothing like her own. They were a bright, unyielding silver, and seemed to pulse with light. Their shape was almost like that of a shark's teeth.

"You're an…Arceus?" she said confusedly.

His stern eyes softened slightly. "I am who you see me to be," He explained. "You saw your form as God, but your own was imperfect. So you see me as close to such as your mind can handle, which is," He continued, "far more than what many others can."

A bit of the shame returned as she worked up the courage to ask the real question.

"Why did you choose to forgive me?" she asked timidly. She looked away, unable to look at His noble, kind, and yet hard and just face.

The grass underneath their feet rustled as he took a step forward toward her.

"Because I care for you," He said softly, His face close to hers. Arceus closed her eyes. She wanted to turn away as negative emotions returned again to the surface…but He did indeed seem to care, but how was that? He didn't even know her.

"I knew you since before you were born," the Being whispered. "I watched as you grew, as you felt ever more responsible about the world." Arceus snorted softly, everyone knew that part pretty much.

"My heart ached with yours as you watched the only one you have ever loved as family die." Her eyes opened with a start. He idid/i know! She had never told anyone that!

"My soul burned with fury as yours when you experienced the worst of betrayal at the hands of Man." She looked away again; not out of shame, but with a painful memory. Erased though it was from time, she still remembered.

"And my heart rejoiced with you when Man healed that wound." Arceus looked up into His hard, kind eyes. He had just named the three events that had affected her most. The betrayal had healed somewhat, but nothing could make her forget her brother's death.

The Being stepped closer to Arceus (He was significantly taller than her) and brought down his head to her's, resting his chin on her forehead. She gave a contented sigh and closed her eyes. She had never felt this before. She felt safe, something she never thought she needed to feel before.

She also felt loved and loving; not the love of a wife and husband, but more like that of a daughter and Father.

They stayed like that for several minutes, then the Being raised his head again and stepped back. Arceus shivered slightly from the loss of contact.

"All this, however, does not mean that there are no consequences," He said in a louder, sterner voice. Arceus looked up at him sharply, hurt evident in her eyes. But the Being gave a reassuring smile.

"It will not be harsh," he said softly. "In fact, think of it not as a punishment, but a way to get to know the world below with a new vision." She brightened a little, but then frowned.

"But…if I'm going down to Earth, aren't you coming with me?" He shook his head. "Why?" she asked. "I know who you are, but so many people down there don't. If you showed them what you showed me, they'd all believe in you!"

But He merely gave another shake. "They have my Word, the miracles I have made the Earth with, and the miracles they see every day. If they do not listen to these, then even seeing me in the form even above that which you have seen would do nothing to sway them."

Arceus nodded solemnly. "So then, I can tell them too?" she asked.

He smiled. "Of course," he said. "As all my people do. For it is said that if no one spoke of it that the rocks themselves would cry out. And you have time to do so…"

A sphere of the Void tore itself into existence. It warped as a white figure exited it before closing.

Arceus sighed. It would be a while before she returned to the Domain. But she had the whole world to explore.

She looked out across the seemingly endless forest as she thought this. Trees stretched for miles in every direction. The chirps of birds could be heard in every direction, accompanied by the occasional Mankey call.

But now Arceus faced a dilemma…where would she start?

That question had already been answered, and was the reason why she came here. On the path below was a very familiar figure, wearing a red cap, blue jeans, and a blue jacket. Accompanied by a small, yellow mouse and two other companions, he walked along the path to the next city.

Arceus descended.

Looks of awe were evident on everyone's faces as she grew near the ground. She shrank as she did so, soon becoming the size of a Rapidash.

"A-Arceus?" Ash asked in his usual, slightly raspy voice. "What are you doing here?

"Greetings, Ash," she said, touching down on the ground. "I have come to ask you a favor, all of you."

"Well of course," Dawn said. "Anything for the Crea-"

"Don't finish that!" Arceus interrupted sharply. Dawn winced, but didn't finish. She'd been rather forceful with that.

Now Brock spoke up. "Why not? Isn't that your ti-"

"No," she interrupted again, not wanting to hear that. "But I can tell you why. First though, would you mind if I traveled with you?"

"You…want to come…with…us?" asked Ash incredulously. "Why?"

Arceus shrugged. "I'm here for ten years anyway." Ash and Dawn blinked n surprise. "I might as well spend them with people that I know."

"I want to explore this world," she continued. "And I need a place to start."

Ash stared for a second, then shook his head confusedly before smiling. He put out his hand on Arceus' head. "We'd be glad to have you," he said. The others and Pikachu nodded their agreement.

They had walked for a little while, talking. Mostly about how other people would react when they saw Arceus. It was eventually decided that she would make herself invisible whenever someone came by.

No Ash had another question as well.

"Arceus," he said. The pokemon turned to face him. "Why don't you wanna be called the Creator anymore?"

She gave a soft smile. "It began when I met a certain someone in the Void…"

A/N: Yeah, not sure what inspired it (since I haven't cared about Pokemon since I was, like, seven), but I kinda like it...even if it didn't flow QUITE like I wanted it to.