"This video is purely hypothetical. There is currently insufficient evidence to support it."
As usual, it opened by piling on disclaimers, maxing out its defenses.
Yet Cynthia sensed something in Shuiye's wording, which differed from his previous videos.
His openings had always been the same: "This video has been artistically adapted. Any resemblance is purely coincidental."
But this time, did "currently insufficient evidence" mean relevant evidence might be discovered in the future?
Did Shuiye really think this theory could hold water?
After the opening disclaimer, the screen went black.
"In League Calendar year 172, Professor Oak, then just twenty years old, first proposed the concept of types in the journal Celadon and advocated classifying Pokémon by type."
"This great discovery, familiar to everyone, is considered the beginning of modern Pokémon studies."
"But have any of you ever considered a question: where did types originate?"
"Or, to delve deeper, where did all things originate?"
The male voice in the video was clear and gentle, and Cynthia soon became absorbed in his questions.
Honestly, the question was nothing new.
It was almost equivalent to the ultimate question people posed after grasping the vastness of the stars-what was the meaning of the universe?
"Clearly, no one can provide a precise answer."
"But perhaps the existence of this Legendary Pokémon can offer you some insight."
Light flashed across the black screen, revealing a Pokémon statue resembling neither quite a sheep nor a horse, yet exuding a sacred majesty.
"Arceus, a Legendary Pokémon revered by the people of Sinnoh as the Great Almighty and worshipped for generations since ancient times, yet whose veil of mystery has never been lifted."
"Of course, I prefer to call Arceus the creator of all things."
A magnificent epic of creation unfolded.
"..."
"The Earth Plate thrust up the planet's spine."
"The Thunder Plate burst forth with primordial lightning."
"The Insect Plate vibrated with the code of life."
"..."
The Thousand Cosmos Bangle shattered into eighteen Type Plates, whose energies gave rise to everything in this universe.
That included Pokémon, beings endowed with extraordinary powers and divided into eighteen types.
Then Arceus created Dialga and Palkia to govern time and space respectively.
To balance the instability that arose with the emergence of all things, Giratina, the deity governing antimatter, appeared.
One unfamiliar concept after another emerged in the video.
By the time Giratina appeared, Cynthia was already stunned beyond words.
She no longer cared whether Shuiye had made all of this up. She was utterly immersed in this creation myth and its overwhelming sense of epic grandeur.
Then the two dragon deities, Dialga and Palkia, began to fight.
The energy spilling from their battle brought Heatran into existence.
The violent-tempered Giratina began to rebel.
Arceus sent down the Spear Pillar to quell the war.
Through the birth and interactions of one powerful Legendary Pokémon after another, the Creation Era gave way to the era of chaos.
And the story only grew more compelling.
Yet just as Cynthia was anticipating even more exciting developments, the video stopped abruptly.
Instead, it jumped straight to the final advertisement.
"I recently caught a new Pokémon and equipped it with the Seventh-Generation Hoenn Luxury Ball, the latest development from the Devon Corporation. So what did I do with the old Poké Ball? I listed it on the Magikarp Platform. Who would've thought an ordinary Poké Ball could sell for over a hundred? The Magikarp Platform has professional staff who bring Psychic-type Pokémon right to your door to collect your items. For buying and selling secondhand Pokémon items, the Magikarp Platform is the place to go."
Cynthia: "..."
Shuiye, could you be any more shameless?!
At least tell us what happened to the deities of time and space before ending it!
For the first time in her life, Cynthia felt the urge to have Garchomp drop a couple of Draco Meteors on the person at the other end of the internet connection.
"Still not going to bed, little Cynthia?"
A familiar, elderly voice suddenly sounded behind her.
Startled, Cynthia turned around and said, half complaining and half wheedling, "Grandma, why did you come in without knocking?"
Only one person could walk right up behind Cynthia without being stopped by her many champion-level Pokémon.
Professor Carolina, the current director of the Celestic Town Historical Research Institute, Cynthia's grandmother, and the woman who had guided her onto the path of mythology scholarship.
The historian, cold by nature yet willing to smile for her granddaughter alone, feigned reproach. "I knocked for three whole minutes. You just didn't hear me. Ask Glaceon if you don't believe me."
Glaceon, who had followed Professor Carolina inside, nodded coolly, refusing to take its Trainer's side.
"You shouldn't stay up so late, even when you're home on vacation."
Professor Carolina set down the milk she was carrying and teased, "What, has the Sinnoh Champion's work piled up so much that you can't finish it even at night?"
Cynthia shook her head and held her phone out to the old woman, eager to share it. "No, Grandma. Look at this."
Professor Carolina, whose aging eyes had trouble focusing up close, squinted at the subtitles on the phone and read, "Arceus's creation of the world... Interesting."
Cynthia's eyes lit up. "Have you heard this hypothesis before?"
Professor Carolina was the absolute authority on Sinnoh's history. It was fair to say no one understood Sinnoh mythology better than she did.
Rather than answer directly, Professor Carolina began watching the video.
Cynthia, who had been about to watch it again anyway, naturally joined her.
Another half hour passed.
The grandmother and granddaughter emerged from their absorbed state and looked at each other in silence.
Only after a long while did Professor Carolina speak. "A very interesting video, and a very imaginative hypothesis."
Cynthia was inwardly shaken. Coming from her grandmother, who rarely showed approval, this was already high praise.
She asked, "Do you think this could be historical fact?"
Professor Carolina shook her head. "Though its logic is internally consistent, I can't make a judgment."
The Flying Spaghetti Monster Church was internally consistent too, but did that make it true?
Even academic hypotheses, which were proposed first and supported with evidence later, could not be established on a whim, let alone historical theories, which demanded even greater rigor.
She paused, then added thoughtfully, "Of course, we can't dismiss it outright either. Some things in it simply reminded me of a story my grandmother often told me when I was little."
"What story?" Cynthia asked curiously.
Professor Carolina murmured, "All ages, past and present, are called time; all directions, above and below, are called space..."
Then she shook her head helplessly. "I'm getting old. I can't remember the rest. All I recall is that it was a story about a Space-Time Rift and Arceus. My grandmother said her great-grandmother had read it in the Canalave Library as a child."
Cynthia nodded thoughtfully.
Grandma's grandma's great-grandmother... That must have been two hundred years ago. No wonder it was so hard for the story to survive.
The Canalave Library, though?
Cynthia considered it for a moment.
She still had a month of vacation left. Perhaps it was time to find something to do.