Michina Town was a small town located in the Sinnoh region.
It sat by a lakeside and had many natural resources. At the center of the town were the Michina Ruins.
Michina had thousands of years of history. Even though the environment was beautiful, the town was not actually very famous.
You could say the ruins were the only place in Michina truly worth visiting.
Damian and his two companions had now arrived in the town.
"Cynthia, do you know the history of Michina?"
Damian was wearing a black overcoat. He walked toward the center of Michina and asked Cynthia, who was following behind him.
Since Cynthia liked archaeology and mythology, she knew a little about ruins all over the region.
"I do know some things, but I'm not sure if they are accurate."
Cynthia thought for a moment. Then, she looked toward the large mountain in the center of Michina.
"I heard it from another professor who studies old ruins. They said that thousands of years ago, Michina was a barren and miserable place. However, it later received a gift from a god. Michina changed completely and became rich and fertile."
Cynthia spoke calmly. Since Sinnoh was a region with many myths, there were simply too many ruins and legends there.
Even Cynthia did not know every single myth in Sinnoh. After all, it took a lot of time to fully research just one ruin.
Therefore, Cynthia did not have a clear understanding of Michina's history. Originally, Michina was just an obscure little town.
"Who was that god?" Damian asked.
"It is said to be the Legendary Pokémon Arceus?" Cynthia hesitated for a second before giving an uncertain reply.
Arceus?
Caitlin showed a confused expression. What kind of Pokémon was that?
"It seems you don't know much either. It's okay. Let's go ask the guardian of the ruins here."
Damian looked at the mountain in front of them. This was Mt. Michina, and it was the center of the town.
The Michina Ruins were located at the very peak of Mt. Michina.
The three of them walked up the mountain path. Soon, they reached the top. The Michina Ruins were right in front of them.
"Who are you?"
A girl with brown hair tied into two buns had just pushed open the gates of the ruins. When she saw the three of them, a confused look appeared on her face.
"We heard by chance that there is a thousand-year-old ruin here, so we came specifically to visit," Damian said with a smile.
He recognized this girl. She was Sheena, the descendant of Damos who possessed the Power of Overcoming.
The Power of Overcoming was an ability that allowed a person to communicate with the hearts of Pokémon. This power was inherited from her ancestor, Damos.
To be honest, the ability to communicate with Pokémon hearts was not particularly rare. The Viridian Power, Aura, and even psychic powers could be used to communicate with certain Pokémon.
There were even special people like N. He could naturally sense the emotions of Pokémon and speak with them.
Compared to abilities like the Viridian Power, which had more uses, the Power of Overcoming could only be used for heart-to-heart communication. Furthermore, when a Pokémon was extremely angry, the Power of Overcoming would not work. The user could even be hurt by the shock of those angry emotions.
You could say that the Power of Overcoming had many limitations.
However, the most special thing about the Power of Overcoming was that it was not limited by time or space!
The movie version showed this clearly. Sheena's Power of Overcoming could even communicate with Palkia and Dialga, who existed in different dimensions, to ask them for help.
That was quite incredible.
"I see. Please come in, then. I am Sheena, the guardian of these ruins."
The girl named Sheena smiled when she heard his words. She stepped aside and made a gesture for the three of them to enter.
As the caretaker of the ruins, her duty was to protect this ancient site and tell more people about its history.
However, Sheena looked at Cynthia thoughtfully. She felt that this woman looked very familiar.
"Oh! Are you Champion Cynthia?"
Sheena finally remembered. She spoke to Cynthia in a surprised and happy voice.
Although Sheena rarely went out because she had to watch over the ruins, she was still a young girl. Also, the internet was very developed nowadays.
So, she had seen videos and photos of Cynthia online. However, because she was not a Trainer herself, she was not very interested in battles, so she did not know a lot.
Additionally, Cynthia was not wearing her signature black overcoat set. She was wearing casual clothes, which was why Sheena did not recognize her immediately.
"Yes, hello," Cynthia nodded and replied with a smile.
"It's such an honor. I didn't expect you to visit our ruins."
Sheena was still quite excited. After all, the person in front of her was the strongest Champion in the entire Sinnoh region.
"Please come in, you three. The other guardian is out, so I will show you around." Sheena led the three of them into the ruins.
She was very hospitable and quite talkative. Well, that was natural. Otherwise, as a guardian, how could she introduce the ruins to others?
They quickly finished touring the first floor. Then, Sheena led them to the second floor. The second floor was more open, but there were many more murals here, as well as a space-time instrument.
"Miss Sheena, what Pokémon is this?"
Damian walked up to a mural. The mural showed Michina Town in ancient times. However, in the sky above Michina, a Pokémon was drawn.
Its shape looked like a horse, a deer, and a centaur. Around its waist was a cross-shaped ring.
It was Arceus.
"Arceus. This is Arceus," Sheena said with a smile, her tone full of pride as she introduced it.
"A thousand years ago, Michina was still a wasteland. One day, a meteor fell. Arceus appeared and stopped it, crushing the meteor."
"But because the meteor fragments fell, Michina, which was already poor, became even more lifeless. My ancestor, Damos, prayed to Arceus and received a response."
Sheena's expression showed longing.
Cynthia and Caitlin listened very seriously, while Damian...
"So, it really is different," Damian narrowed his eyes slightly. He had noticed it from the start.
In the original movie, because of a misunderstanding, Sheena hated her ancestor Damos very much. She thought Damos was shameful for breaking his promise and setting a trap to keep the Jewel of Life.
But during the introduction just now, Damian could hear that Sheena did not feel that shame toward Damos. Instead, she was full of pride.
And now, listening to the history she told, Damian probably understood.
The history of Michina in this world was clearly very different from the movie version.
"Then what happened next?" Damian asked Sheena curiously.
"Then Arceus appeared. It fused five of its Plates, the Earth Plate, Splash Plate, Meadow Plate, Zap Plate, and Draco Plate, into the Jewel of Life and gave it to my ancestor."
"The Jewel of Life was very powerful. Its power allowed the barren land to regain its life and become rich. That is how we have the Michina of today."
Sheena smiled as she spoke. But then, the guardian girl's tone became resentful.
"But an accident happened later."
Sheena continued her story.
"After using the power of the Jewel of Life to make Michina rich, my ancestor Damos also realized something. Relying on the gift of a god means that this prosperity is not our own hard work."
"So, Damos wanted to return the Jewel of Life to Arceus. Even though losing the Jewel would cause this rich land to slowly lose its life, Damos believed that with their own hard work, Michina would still stay alive."
"Because the Jewel of Life had already made the foundation of this land good."
Sheena bit her lip as she spoke.
"That's right. The god had already given them a chance. The Jewel of Life is just an outside object, after all. You cannot rely on it too much." Cynthia praised Damos's decision very much.
The Jewel of Life was Arceus's gift. As long as the Jewel was there, Michina did not have to worry about becoming a wasteland. But the Jewel was ultimately Arceus's treasure.
What if the Jewel was stolen? Or what if one day Arceus wanted to take the Jewel back?
The reason Damos prayed to Arceus at the beginning was that Michina's land was too barren. Combined with the destruction from the meteor fragments, they were completely helpless.
However, with the help of the Jewel of Life, the land had regained its life. People could rely on their own hands to keep the land fertile.
"Yes. But one of Damos's subordinates betrayed him. He was afraid that losing the Jewel would make Michina barren again. So, he stole the Jewel and tried to control Damos."
"But luckily, Damos was very alert and managed to stop that subordinate."
Sheena's tone became excited again. She straightened her back and lifted her head, feeling proud of her ancestor.
"Damos was very impressive!"
Damian clapped his hands. Well, he could not say it was only a little different from the plot he knew. It had changed far too much.
Hearing Damian's praise, the guardian girl showed a big smile.
"So, did Damos return the Jewel of Life to Arceus?" Damian asked this question.
"Emm..."
Sheena hesitated for a moment after hearing this. But after looking at Cynthia, she still shook her head.
"No. Damos waited his whole life for Arceus to descend again. He hoped to return the Jewel of Life to Arceus and thank it for the gift."
"But until the day he died of old age, Arceus never appeared again. Even when he prayed again, he received no response."
Sheena let out a sigh.
"It has been passed down until today. Every generation has been the same. We have been waiting for Arceus to appear again."
That's right. Besides guarding these ruins, Sheena's other mission was to wait for Arceus to return.
She wanted to give the Jewel of Life back to it and sincerely thank it for its gift to the land of Michina.
"I see."
Damian's eyes narrowed slightly. This was the biggest difference from the movie version.
If they followed the movie's setting, the Plates could actually be called part of Arceus's source of life. They were Arceus's most important treasures and part of its life.
In the movie, it was because the Plates were knocked out by the meteor that Arceus was heavily injured. And after Damos found the Plates and brought them back to Arceus, Arceus immediately regained its power, took back all the lost Plates, and returned to full health.
This showed how important the Plates were to Arceus.
But in reality, that was just the movie's setting. In the games, the Plates are important to Arceus, but they are not absolutely impossible to lose.
In Legends: Arceus, Arceus originally looked after the humans of the Hisui region. A legendary hero gathered ten Pokémon and challenged Arceus.
Arceus recognized the strength of humans. It returned to a world that did not belong to humans, and its Plates were scattered all over Hisui.
This was clearly something Arceus did on purpose.
This also showed that the Plates were not necessary for Arceus. At the very least, it was definitely not like the Arceus in the movie, where losing the Plates meant losing its life force.
"It seems that in this world, the Plates are not Arceus's source of life. So, it doesn't care very much about these five Plates. Or maybe..."
Damian thought to himself. But actually, there was another possibility.
This world's Arceus avatar... it has the Legend Plate!!