Nothingness

He opened his eyes, but he could only tell he did thanks to the wetness on his face. That’s right, his face. He pulled a paw to his head, and was surprised at what he found. Or rather, what he didn’t find. He didn’t have his helmet, his face was uncovered.

He was startled internally, and yet he didn’t move. The void surrounding him was pressuring him to stay down. It was a familiar place after all, the cold, smooth surface he was laying on confirmed it. It was that void he dreamt about, the one where he had that nightmare about Arceus.

Right, Arceus. The thought reminded him of the prior events. He got hit by the beam, he felt his existence slip away… He died.

And yet, here he was, still having his senses working. There was no pain, no aching, no trace of what happened to him, aside from the missing helmet he grew so accustomed to.

With a deep breath, he forced himself to stand up. There was nothing in sight, no single light source to illuminate the path or the environment around him, yet he could still see himself clearly, like his own body was the one producing light.

“Hello?” He said to nothing in particular. As he expected, there was no response.

He wandered around for a moment, hoping to find a wall or something that would give him a clue as to where he even was. And that’s when he heard it.

You’re finally here.

He almost fell back down due to the shock the sudden voice gave him. He recognized the voice, it was the one in his head, the one that helped him survive last time.

“Y-you… What… What happened to me? Where am I?” He looked around frantically, trying to locate the source of the sound.

You already know what happened to you, I’m afraid.
As to where you are, welcome to limbo. Or at least, that’s what I’ve called this place. It’s the realm everyone crosses before they… pass on.

“Limbo? So… I really died…” Part of him couldn’t believe it, but the other part found it hard to deny. He’d failed, everything was going to reset again, and it was all his fault.

Now now, keep those thoughts away, will you?
It’s very easy to blame yourself, but nothing could be further from the truth.

“How would you know?! I know nothing about how I even came here!”

…
I think it’s about time you get some answers.

“Answers? So you know who brought me to this world?”

Ha ha… Of course I do.
After all, I’m you.

“… what? You’re… You’re me? How is that even possible?”

Well, I am very glad you asked.
However, I think we should start from the beginning.
You see, back when we were human, this place took something from us. It was something really dear and important, we couldn’t just let it go.
So we spent the next few years working on a way to get it back.

“Are you insinuating that… I was the one who brought me here? The one responsible… is myself?”

Partially. When we succeeded, something went wrong. Our consciousness got split in half, basically creating you and me. I retained the body and the memories, while you retained your soul and your personality.
But a soul can’t work by itself, so the world gave you a body, in the form of one of its inhabitants. A Cubone.

“That… makes a bit of sense, but why a Cubone specifically?”

It didn’t have to be, but random chance exists.

“Okay… Hold on, you say you retained our body but I can’t see you anywhere. And why are you here in limbo too, actually?”

Well, our destinations were different parts of this world. You landed in the middle of nowhere, eventually meeting those two siblings.
Me, however, ended in the worst possible spot. Next to the one and only Arceus.
I took it as an opportunity to ask. I wanted to get back what we were robbed of, but Arceus denied.
In rage, I attacked. Arceus didn’t take it lightly and they attacked back, basically killing me on the spot. The body didn’t survive, so now I’m here.

“That just raises more questions than answers…”

Feel free to ask away, then.

“First of all, how did you know Arceus was important? You said you asked them about whatever was taken from us, but how would you know they’d know?” For the first time so far, there was a hint of hesitation from the other part of him.

…
That is something you’ll learn eventually.

“What?! Are you on my side or not? You said you’d give me answers!”

And I will, when the time is right. You can ask something else.

“I don’t like this. I don’t like this at all.” But he knew he wasn’t going to change the voice’s mind. After all, he wouldn’t convince himself, it was useless to try to persuade another part of him. “Fine. Why did Arceus attack back? I know they don’t want humans in this world, but they could have brought us back to ours. There was no reason to kill you, especially when he is pretty much immune to everything.”

That’s funny, isn’t it? When it happened, I didn’t think much about it. But seeing Arceus again after so long, it makes sense.
When I attacked, Arceus flinched. I got to do damage to them. I am sure they weren’t expecting to actually get hurt. I remember a small moment of surprise before the anger reigned over them.

“So you… you’re more powerful than Arceus?”

I don’t think it was a matter of power. Rather, I think it was a matter of being human. It would explain their distaste with us.

“But you’re powerful, still! How else would you have gotten me to perform moves? And to suddenly make me remember all the past cycles? Which by the way, you still haven’t explained.”

And I won’t explain it. Not yet, anyways.
As for those miracle moments… It wasn’t my power.
You see, there’s someone else here. Someone above you, me, Arceus, and every being you have seen.
It is with their power that I’m able to interact with you. It is with their power that I can help you survive what would otherwise be a guaranteed death.

“That doesn’t make sense… Someone else? I would’ve heard about them eventually, right?”

It’s a lot harder to describe than what you may think. They’re not a god, or a deity, or a Legendary, as Pokémon call them. They’re simply above us, by pure circumstance.

“I don’t get it…”

You will understand eventually. In fact, it may be sooner rather than later.

“Why do you say that?”

It’s part of the next step. Let me ask you this, Mark. What do you do with two halves of the same thing?

“You… put them together?”

That’s right. It’s been more than thirteen thousand cycles, but it’s finally time for the two of us to merge again.

“What… what will happen when we do that?”

I’m not sure. I’ve never done this before. We will become one again, you’ll regain your memories from your past life.

Mark slumped at hearing that. “But what’s even the point? We’re dead, both of us. It’s only a matter of time until we leave this limbo too.”

Maybe. I’ve been in this place all this time, incapable of dying due to my lack of soul. But if there’s a single, small chance of the impossible, wouldn’t you want to take it?

“A chance?”

Who’s to say you’re truly dead, Mark? After all, I’m seeing you right here. If there’s a way into limbo, why wouldn’t there be a way back?

“Are you… are you saying you can bring me back to life?!”

I’m saying that there’s a high chance it happens when we finally merge.

“I… What are we waiting for, then?! My friends are still fighting, I need to help them! I can’t let the others die on my behalf! Especially not Simon!” Mark was looking around frantically again. “W-what do you need me to do? Anything! I’ll do anything! Please!”

Will you please calm down?

“No! I need to do something! I can’t just sit around here and pray that-” He suddenly felt a force in front of him, pushing him down to the ground. “O-ow… Was that you?”

I may have no body, but I’m still here, Mark. I need you to calm down, and think. You’ve been here before, when you almost choked to death in your sleep.
Don’t you think I would have already fused with you right then and there?

“I…”

It isn’t in my hands, Mark. It’s in the hands of the one above us.
All we can do is wait for the opportunity to arise.

“B-but what if they don’t know we need them?!”

Oh, they know. They’ve been watching your travels since the very beginning, and they’re watching us right now.

Aren’t you?